- Jimmy Walters: Soon as I saw you, I said to myself, that's a hot lookin' little number.
- Sheila 'Red': Don't let it throw ya champ. I'm 20 degrees cooler than you think.
- Jimmy Walters: Ah, one of them refrigerated dames, huh?
- Sheila 'Red': That's right. You're not the guy to defrost me either.
- Sheila 'Red': Are you making a pass at me?
- Geoffrey Collis: It appears that I am, Sheila.
- Sheila 'Red': A forward pass?
- Geoffrey Collis: Very forward. Well... do I complete it?
- Sheila 'Red': Nobody's blocking you.
- Sheila 'Red': Gil, I'm in it now. I'm a Ziegfeld girl.
- Gilbert 'Gil' Young: You sound like a bottle of milk that just got certified.
- Sheila 'Red': Aw, Gil don't spoil things. I just got to see it through, don't I? What do I tell our grandkids if I don't?
- Gilbert 'Gil' Young: Dames is just like traffic. Sometimes you gotta stop, sometimes you gotta go.
- [heads toward the door to leave]
- Sheila 'Red': Yeah but a smart driver don't beat the lights.
- Sheila 'Red': [Gil kisses her hard] Ok... so you know your own strength
- Gilbert 'Gil' Young: You ain't exactly anemic yourself.
- Gilbert Young: You know, it's a funny thing. What's happened to you always happens to people that try and be two places at once. And they wind up not being anyplace.
- Al: [singing] Oh, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Gallagher, Today I paid a visit to a gallery
- 'Pop' Gallagher: A gallery?
- Al: Of all the statues that they show, I think Venus de Milo, Is the greatest in all Greek mythology
- 'Pop' Gallagher: Oh, Mr. Shean, Oh, Mr. Shean, For de Milos' Venus, I'm not very keen
- Al: Why not?
- 'Pop' Gallagher: For the thing that spoils her charms Are the pair of broken arms
- Al: I didn't see them, Mr. Gallagher
- 'Pop' Gallagher: Where were you looking, Mr. Shean?
- Jerry Regan: Gee, Ma, you should have seen her come down them steps. Like this.
- Mrs. Regan: Well! I hope I didn't raise my boy to be a Ziegfeld girl.
- Gilbert 'Gil' Young: Remember, a pretty good moon, you let me kiss you after only slapping me twice.
- Sheila 'Red': Three times.
- Gilbert 'Gil' Young: Okay, three.
- Sheila 'Red': And then I told you you'll do for me, and I'll do for you.
- Sheila 'Red': Oh love! There's that silly word again! Gee, Sandra, why can't the men you want have the things you want?
- Patsy Dixon: [to Sheila] You've the right angle, honey. You marry for love. I did.
- Jenny: All five times.
- Sandra Kolter: And you still have another arm.
- Patsy Dixon: Yeah, I wish I was an octopus.
- Jenny: You are.
- Noble Sage: Get it, honey?
- Miss Sawyer - Auditioning Showgirl: Well, yes. Yes, I do.
- John Slayton: Are you sure you know what we're driving at?
- Miss Sawyer - Auditioning Showgirl: Yes.
- John Slayton: It's kind of subtle.
- Miss Sawyer - Auditioning Showgirl: Yes. Oh, yes!
- Noble Sage: Keep on saying that and see where it gets you.
- John Slayton: Fine. Be here tomorrow at 11.
- Miss Sawyer - Auditioning Showgirl: Oh, well, don't you want to see my legs?
- John Slayton: That's not our department, honey.
- John Slayton: Take off your hat and smile winningly.
- Miss Sawyer - Auditioning Showgirl: Yes, sir. Just my hat?
- John Slayton: Yes, just your hat.
- John Slayton: Look, kid, the Follies are life, and life is a cafeteria. You look at the pretty dishes and you pick out what you want, but you've got to pay for it when you get to end of the counter.
- 'Pop' Gallagher: When he gets here, that's our cue to be hard to get.
- Susan Gallagher: Right now, I feel awful easy to get.
- Susan Gallagher: Gosh, I hope he liked our act. I'm getting so tired of tank towns and trained seals.
- Sheila Regan: So he looks me over fore and aft, and when he gets to my feet, he says: "You'll do, my dear, I like my ankles slim too."
- Jerry Regan: Cucaracha! Look at that one. She looks better all wrapped up than the rest of them do unwrapped.
- Mischa: Franz, the job isn't good enough for you. I ask you, can such an artist as you play second fiddle in a Ziegfeld orchestra?
- Sandra Kolter, Franz Kolter: Yes.
- Mischa: No. It's a disgrace to your violin to make *jazz* music.
- 'Pop' Gallagher: Don't worry, baby. You'll be all right. Our act's like a snake. You cut it in half and both ends wiggle.
- Sandra Kolter: So, we never really had the thing I thought we had - faith in each other. If you have that, you don't mind about the other things. You don't even know you haven't got them. All of a sudden, I realize we haven't got them.
- Franz Kolter: All right! Take the job! Be a showgirl!
- Sandra Kolter: But, Franz.
- Franz Kolter: It's one or the other, Sandra. Me or the job.
- Jenny: Nervous?
- Sandra Kolter: Oh, Jenny, I can't even put on my lipstick.
- Jenny: Relax, honey. They won't be looking at your mouth.
- Sandra Kolter: Well, what is it you want me to do, give up the job? I know it's a rather foolish way to earn money, but, Franz, we need it!
- Franz Kolter: Do you really imagine I would stand by - while you showed yourself to other men?
- Susan Gallagher: I've just been peeking out at the audience. The women look like Christmas trees and the men look like - penguins.
- Sandra Kolter: Franz, you're ridiculous.
- Franz Kolter: All failures are ridiculous.
- Sandra Kolter: But, darling, you're not a failure!
- Franz Kolter: No?
- Gilbert Young: Hey, where does he get off, asking you to call him?
- Sheila Regan: A gent never forces himself on a lady.
- Gilbert Young: Gil, don't I look different this morning? I feel different.
- Sheila Regan: You never look different to me. A diamond don't have to be in no Tiffany settin' before I can see it.
- Annie: Mr. Geoff's coming over pretty soon.
- Sheila Regan: I know.
- Annie: And Mr. Geoff likes you full of zip.
- John Slayton: Listen, kids! I've got something important to say to you. Now, except for a couple of hardened veterans, you're all new to the big time. In a few minutes, you're going on in your first number. Do you know what that means? It means you're Ziegfeld girls. It means you're going to have all the opportunities of a lifetime crowded into a couple of hours. And all the temptations. Some of you are gonna wind up with your names in electric lights. Some of you are gonna wind up with a husband and kids. And some of you are gonna wind up - well, not so good. Now, I know what I'm talking about because I've seen all three happen. But, whatever it is, don't blame the Follies; because, it would've happened even if you were still where Mr. Ziegfeld found you. It just might have taken a little longer. So remember this, kids, and it comes straight from Mr. Ziegfeld: "The Follies is life in one stiff jolt, life running instead of walking, life speeded up to a mile a minute. But if you've got the right stuff, the pace won't bother you. And if you haven't, you'll come a cropper. It's strictly up to you."
- Sheila Regan: What goes on with life anyway? Why does it get so messed up?
- Annie: Life don't. People does.
- Frank Merton: Sandra, you've gotta make up my mind. You've gotta tell me whether I'm sitting, standing, crawling or flying.
- Sandra Kolter: Must I worry about your mind too? I have enough trouble with my own.
- Susan Gallagher: [singing] My schemes, Why all of my schemes, Are just like a-a-all my dreams, Ending, Ending in the sky, Up there in the sky, And let me tell you, Some fellows look and find the sunshine...
- John Slayton: [interupting] Hold it! Don't you know they quit beating a song to death 10 years ago?
- 'Pop' Gallagher: Oh, another intellectual.
- John Slayton: Won't do, honey, won't do. You don't slug an audience from the front nowadays. You kind of sneak up on it from behind.
- Frank Merton: You're a pretty smart girl.
- Sandra Kolter: If not knowing what you want is being smart - then I'm smart.