- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I wish we didn't have to leave the pram in the hallway. There's no room for my flowers.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I think the pram more beautiful than the flowers.
- J.M. Barrie: Every time a boy says, "I don't believe in fairies," there's a fairy somewhere in the world that falls down dead.
- George: He's right, you know.
- Jack: Then I must have killed tons of them.
- J.M. Barrie: They're Pan pipes... They might have even been left here by the Great God Pan himself.
- Jack: Wait a minute, those aren't Pan's pipes. Look, they're Peter's. They're the ones Peter got in his stocking at Christmas.
- J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan's, then.
- George: Who's Peter Pan?
- J.M. Barrie: Why, everyone knows who Peter Pan is.
- George: I don't. I think you've just made him up.
- Jack: And I think you stole those pipes from our nursery!
- J.M. Barrie: Aboslute poppycock!
- Jack: How'd they get here, then?
- J.M. Barrie: Well, I... I expect... uh... I daresay Peter left them behind when he flew back.
- Jack, George: Flew?
- J.M. Barrie: Oh, ye of little faith! Why do you think your mother, why do you think your loving parents put bars on the nursery windows? It's to keep you from flying away.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: This is a little out-of-hand, isn't it?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Not that I've noticed.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: He's following our boys around like a lap dog. If he's so fond of children, why doesn't he have any of his own?
- George: Do you like me very much?
- J.M. Barrie: So-so.
- George: Don't you love me?
- J.M. Barrie: I can take you or leave you.
- George: Then why do you write stories about me?
- J.M. Barrie: Because... because writing about a boy is the next best thing to being one.
- J.M. Barrie: Is this really Michael?
- Michael: Of course I'm Michael. Did you escape, too?
- J.M. Barrie: Escape?
- Michael: When we were being chased by that man.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Michael's dreams are as wayward as your own.
- J.M. Barrie: Oh, yes, you mean that man that looked like this.
- J.M. Barrie: Boys, I don't want to make a speech, but I just want you to know that if the play's a failure, well, it's entirely your fault.
- George: Why us?
- J.M. Barrie: Because you're the real authors. It had nothing to do with me. All I did was rub the five of you together to make a flame. That's all Peter Pan is. Just the spark I got from you.
- George: I had nothing to do with Wendy!
- J.M. Barrie: No, she's a spark from an entirely different quarter, for which I offer my humble apologies.
- Mary Barrie: He'll go on for hours if we give him the chance. Come on, Jim, the executioner awaits!
- Mary Hodgson: I don't wish to speak out of turn, but I do understand how you feel.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Do you, Mary?
- Mary Hodgson: I think so. I mean, it must be very hard for you at times.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: One grins and bears it.
- Mary Hodgson: And it can't be easy for Mrs. Barrie, either.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I was referring to the toothache.
- Michael: I had such a funny dream, Mary. I dreamt I saw Father's ghost in the garden, but that wasn't the funny thing. The funny thing was that he wasn't a ghost at all.
- Mary Hodgson: Well, I should hope not.
- Michael: No, I mean he was real and I was the ghost, because when he tried to touch me, he went right through me, and I fell in a river, and I couldn't swim.
- Mary Hodgson: You and your dreams. I wonder if you know half the time whether you're awake or asleep.
- Michael: Why do I have such bad dreams, Mary?
- Mary Hodgson: I don't know, to be sure. I've never had a bad dream in my life, except when I've had to do your mending.
- Michael: Uncle Jim has bad dreams.
- Mary Hodgson: I know he does, and I shouldn't wonder if he's not to blame for some of yours, too.
- Michael: Why, Mary?
- Mary Hodgson: Why ask me? You know him far better than I do.
- Charles Frohman: We opened "Napoleon and Josephine" in Omaha on a Monday and called it a tragedy. On Tuesday, we called it a comedy. On Wednesday, we called it off. Moral of the story is there's no such thing as bad towns, only bad plays. Isn't that right, Jimmy?
- J.M. Barrie: First rule of the American theater: The audience is never wrong. Do you remember when you put on "Romeo and Juliet" in the Bronx, and when it was all over, the audience cried out for the author? Not wishing to disappoint so discerning an audience, Charles modestly stepped forward and took the bows.
- Mary Barrie: Oh, Charles, you didn't!
- Charles Frohman: Whereupon they showered me... with rotten matzoh-balls!
- Mary Barrie: There is one small thing you could do for me, if you really want to give me a present.
- J.M. Barrie: Yes?
- Mary Barrie: The way you kissed me just now, the way you always kiss me, I'd be so grateful if you never did it again.
- Mary Barrie: What is this all about, anyway? I didn't even think you were interested in censoring plays.
- J.M. Barrie: The committee is for the abolition of censorship.
- Mary Barrie: Well, there you have it. Mr. Canaan must have thought I was a complete idiot. Isn't there anything I could do?
- J.M. Barrie: Yes, pass me the ink, would you?
- Mary Barrie: You're the richest writer in the country, and you have to smear your sleeves with ink. I meant, isn't there anything I could do to help you with the committee work?
- J.M. Barrie: You could try and read this handwriting if you like. It's even worse than mine.
- Mary Barrie: Would you like me to type-write them?
- J.M. Barrie: You don't know how to type-write.
- Mary Barrie: I could learn. The machine I gave you, you never use it.
- J.M. Barrie: [shrugging] If it amuses you. I'll be staying with Arthur tonight, so don't bother to wait up for me.
- Mary Barrie: Oh, can I really?
- J.M. Barrie: Really what?
- Mary Barrie: Type-write these papers.
- J.M. Barrie: I just said you could, although I can't think why you would want to.
- Mary Barrie: To be of use to you.
- Mary Barrie: Have you never read "The Little White Bird"?
- Gilbert Cannan: Can't say that I have.
- Mary Barrie: Well, it's all in there. A bachelor meets a boy in Kensington Gardens and makes him his own by telling him stories about Peter Pan.
- Gilbert Cannan: And who was George?
- Mary Barrie: The boy in the Gardens.
- Gilbert Cannan: And Peter Pan?
- Mary Barrie: Well, there you have me. I don't think Jim even knows where he came from.
- Gilbert Cannan: And this was before you were married?
- Mary Barrie: Oh, no, we'd been married four or five years by then.
- Gilbert Cannan: And you have no children of your own?
- Mary Barrie: No, no, we... we decided against it.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I wanted to get you an edition with illustrations, but your mother thought they might give you nightmares.
- Michael: Give me what?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Give you nightmares, darling, because... Oh, never mind. Why don't you wheel your father around the garden and show him all the flowers that have come up since he's been gone?
- Nico: Michael, look what Uncle Jim has brought you!
- Michael: Oh, may I go and open it?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Michael, darling, you really ought to...
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Let him go if he wants to.
- Jack: Why does he call him Uncle Jim?
- George: Well, why not?
- Jack: He's not our uncle.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Now, Jack, I think Uncle Jim suits him very well.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Jimmy, the operations were one thing, but if you start paying for the boys to go to school, well, I don't think Arthur could bear that.
- J.M. Barrie: Do you know how much money Peter Pan has made me since it first opened?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: What has that got to do with it?
- J.M. Barrie: Just over half a million pounds, not including America. Where would Peter Pan be if it weren't for George? Don't you think he deserves his share of the spoils?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: But what about the others? We can't just send George to Eton. It wouldn't be fair on the others.
- J.M. Barrie: Don't worry. I'll get my money's worth out of them yet.
- Michael: Dark and sinister man, have at thee!
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I wonder what we would have done without Mr. Barrie.
- Jack: We would have done all right.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: What was that, Jack?
- Jack: Nothing, Father.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I think it was something. Jack, I want you to listen to me. I understand how you feel about Mr. Barrie. No one understands as well as I do, because it's how I used to feel about him myself. The only thing we ever had in common was our love for you boys, and no father likes to share his children with another man. But now, I have heard so much from him that is wise and good, and I have come to regard him as a brother. His love for you boys is a great comfort when I think of your future without me.
- George: But... but you're nearly better! Mother said so!
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: There's always a chance, but...
- Jack: No, it's not true! Father, say it's not true!
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I'd howl if I thought it would do any good, but we must try to be brave. We mustn't think of ourselves. We mustn't, we mustn't...
- J.M. Barrie: I thought we'd agreed no interviews.
- Mary Barrie: It wasn't an interview. He just asked me a few questions, that's all. Oh, Jim, a few harmless questions. Why make such a fuss?
- J.M. Barrie: I do not wish to have our private lives paraded in public.
- Mary Barrie: You're a fine one to talk! What do you spend your entire life doing?
- J.M. Barrie: I've never given an interview in my life!
- Mary Barrie: That's because there's nothing left to interview. You spread us like jam on every page you write.
- J.M. Barrie: That's my affair.
- George: Your dog isn't going to bite me, is he?
- J.M. Barrie: Not unless you ask him agreeably.
- George: Why not?
- J.M. Barrie: He's uncommonly fussy about who he bites. He doesn't bite just any old whippersnapper.
- George: Am I a whippersnapper?
- J.M. Barrie: [reading] "Whippersnapper. Small boy. Young and insignificant person. Small and intrusive child. Origin unknown." Couldn't have written it better myself. There, small boy, does that answer your question?
- George: No, small man, it does not.
- Mary Hodgson: George!
- George: Coming!
- Mary Hodgson: You'll be locked in for the night if you don't come this instant!
- J.M. Barrie: Go on, then. I'll tell you some other time. Run along! If they catch you in here after lock-out time, there's no telling what they'll do to you.
- George: They?
- Mary Hodgson: George! I am not going to call you again!
- George: Coming! Aren't you coming, too?
- J.M. Barrie: No, I've some matters to attend to.
- George: But it's lock-out time.
- J.M. Barrie: Just so. Goodnight to you.
- J.M. Barrie: [writing] A story about a boy who disappears...
- Mary Barrie: When I was an actress, I told a reporter I'd been starring in London for six weeks, and the next day I read, "Mary Ansell has been starving in London for six weeks!" And I didn't think anybody knew!
- J.M. Barrie: All babies are birds, if they did but know it.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: You seem to know a lot about it.
- J.M. Barrie: You could say I'm something of an authority.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Oh, do you have any children?
- J.M. Barrie: One or two. No, I exaggerate. Just one.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: A boy?
- J.M. Barrie: A dog.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I see. And that makes you an authority?
- J.M. Barrie: Boys and dogs have a lot in common, only dogs have a better sense of humor.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I met a friend of yours.
- George: Who?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Your friend Mr. Barrie.
- George: Who?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: The man you meet in Kensington Gardens.
- George: Who?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: The man with the dog!
- George: Oh, him.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Did you know he was a very famous writer?
- George: No. But he can wiggle his ears.
- Mary Barrie: And who were you flirting with?
- J.M. Barrie: Oh, just a friend of a friend.
- Mary Barrie: What friend?
- J.M. Barrie: You don't know him.
- Mary Barrie: Her husband?
- J.M. Barrie: No.
- Mary Barrie: Is she married?
- J.M. Barrie: Respectably.
- Mary Barrie: Well, who is she?
- J.M. Barrie: If you must know, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the daughter of one George du Maurier, sister of one Gerald du Maurier.
- Mary Barrie: But we don't know the du Mauriers.
- J.M. Barrie: I didn't say we did.
- Mary Barrie: You said she was a friend of a friend.
- J.M. Barrie: I was referring to her son.
- George: Mr. Barrie says that one day Peter will fly away all together, so's he can stay a boy forever. But it's too late for me and Jack.
- Mary Hodgson: Jack and I.
- George: Jack and me. We're done for.
- Mary Hodgson: Say your grace first.
- George: Thanks for the tea.
- Mary Hodgson: That wasn't much of a grace.
- George: It wasn't much of a tea, either. Jack ate it all.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Jack, if you go on stuffing like that, you'll be sick tomorrow.
- Jack: I'll be sick tonight!
- J.M. Barrie: I'll make you a sporting offer. I'll give you a shilling now, and there's the the end of it, or I'll pay you a halfpenny for every night of the play I use it in.
- Jack: Mother, what do you think?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Well, dearest, it all depends on whether or not you think Mr. Barrie's play is going to be a success.
- [George whispers something in Jack's ear]
- Jack: In that case, I'll take the money.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: I get little enough time with the boys as it is, and... Besides, what right has he got to wander in here day in and day out as if he owned the place?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I invited him in.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Well, you didn't invite him in yesterday because I was the only one here
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Yesterday you invited him in.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Well, one tries to be civil.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I really don't see what you're making such an issue about. Jimmy is a friend of the boys, and they're friends of his. It all seems perfectly reasonable to me.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Well, it doesn't to me, nor to one or two other people, to be frank. They find the whole thing rather odd.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: What's odd about it, for heaven's sake?
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: You know perfectly well what I mean. I mean odd. Unhealthy.
- George: Mother says you smoke far too much, and one day you'll cough yourself in a hundred pieces.
- J.M. Barrie: Aye, but it won't be the cough that carries me off, but the coffin they carry me off in.
- George: Mr. Barrie's been telling us the most awful stories. Can't he stay and tell us just one more?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I'm sure he's had quite enough of both of you for one evening. Don't I get a kiss?
- Jack: Oh, all right, but if Father tries it, I'll kick him.
- George: Are you going out for long?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: No, and you'll be quite safe. Nothing can harm you once the night-lights are lit, despite what Mr. Barrie may have told you.
- Jack: I'm not scared.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Sweet dreams.
- George: Goodnight, Mother.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Why are you so fond of George?
- J.M. Barrie: Aren't you?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Of course, but I'm his mother.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: You don't mind, do you? About the boys?
- Mary Barrie: Not really. At least they help him take his mind off his depressions. I try to help him, but... I've been married to him for seven years now, and not once have I found the key. But they seem to have found it without even trying.
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Did Sylvia mention that we're thinking of moving from London?
- Mary Barrie: No, where to?
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Nothing's been decided yet. We're still in two minds about it. But I've got my eye on a house in Berkhamstead. It's not too far from London, and there's a good school for the boys.
- Mary Barrie: This has nothing to do with Jim, has it?
- Arthur Llewelyn Davies: Good heavens, no.
- J.M. Barrie: [writing a letter to George] P.S. Dear George, I am very fond of you, but don't tell anybody.
- J.M. Barrie: Peter Pan... the boy who couldn't grow up.
- Charles Frohman: Couldn't or wouldn't?
- J.M. Barrie: Well, don't ask me. I'm only the author.
- Charles Frohman: But isn't it right that Peter doesn't want to grow up, not that he can't? That's what so appealing about him.
- J.M. Barrie: All right, the boy who wouldn't grow up.
- Michael: Nothing much makes me cry anymore. I used to, lots, but not anymore.
- J.M. Barrie: I bet I can make you cry.
- Michael: I bet you can't.
- J.M. Barrie: Ten francs?
- Michael: Done. Am I for a story?
- J.M. Barrie: No, just a thought.
- Michael: About me?
- J.M. Barrie: About your father.
- Michael: You can't make me cry about him. I thought I would, but I didn't at all, except for a little bit. But Mother still cries, doesn't she? Do you love her?
- J.M. Barrie: Of course I love her.
- Michael: More than Mrs. Barrie?
- J.M. Barrie: You shouldn't ask questions like that.
- J.M. Barrie: Why didn't you go out sledding with the others?
- Michael: To be with you. Till death do us part.
- J.M. Barrie: Then hold out your wedding finger.
- Michael: What for?
- J.M. Barrie: So I can blow a smoke ring on it.
- Michael: But we're both boys.
- J.M. Barrie: You speak for yourself.
- Michael: You're a boy too.
- J.M. Barrie: I am what's commonly known as a grown-up.
- Michael: You're not common, and you're definitely not grown-up. You're old, but you're not grown-up. You're... you're one of us.
- J.M. Barrie: How did you know that?
- Michael: If you were grown-up, you wouldn't waste all your time with me.
- J.M. Barrie: You presume to know me very well.
- Michael: Inside out. Without a doubt. That's how I see the mystery of JMB.
- J.M. Barrie: Was there something else, Hunt?
- Hunt: Uh, yes, sir. As a matter of fact, uh, the wife and me have been doing a bit of talking, and, well, there's one or two things she thinks you ought to know about, sir.
- J.M. Barrie: What sort of things?
- Hunt: Well, forgive me, sir, but may I speak frankly?
- J.M. Barrie: I'd be obliged if you would.
- Hunt: Well, sir, it's about Mrs. Barrie and Mr. Canaan. You see, they've been down here together.
- J.M. Barrie: Yes, I'm aware of that. Mr. Canaan has my permission to come down here and work whenever he likes.
- Hunt: Yes, I know that, sir. But what I'm trying to say is that Mr. Canaan... Mrs. Barrie has been... well... taking liberties with her marriage vows, sir, if you get my meaning.
- J.M. Barrie: Are you trying to tell me that Mrs. Barrie and Mr. Canaan have been having an affair together?
- Hunt: [relieved] Thank you very much, sir, that's exactly what I've been trying to tell you! My wife has known about it for months, and I knew she had something on her mind, and the other evening I asked her what it was, and she said it was that Mrs. Barrie had been carrying on with Mr. Canaan! Then she said that one morning she had gone into Mrs. Barrie's bedroom and found...
- J.M. Barrie: Hunt, there's no need to say anymore.
- J.M. Barrie: Give up Canaan.
- Mary Barrie: What?
- J.M. Barrie: Give up Canaan
- Mary Barrie: But Jim, I thought we'd agreed...
- J.M. Barrie: We agreed nothing! Please, Mary, I can't stand the loneliness without you!
- Mary Barrie: You won't be lonely. You have plenty of friends. You have Sylvia.
- J.M. Barrie: What has she got to do with this?
- Mary Barrie: Sylvia has always meant far more to you than I have. And once you and I are divorced, I don't see why you and she can't...
- J.M. Barrie: [shocked] Sylvia is a married woman!
- Mary Barrie: Oh, Arthur's been dead for almost three years!
- J.M. Barrie: That makes no difference whatsoever! Sylvia is devoted to Arthur! Why, I would no more think of coming between Sylvia and Arthur than I would Canaan coming between us!
- Mary Barrie: I don't want forgiveness. I want to marry Gilbert Canaan. I want nothing else than a divorce.
- J.M. Barrie: I will not allow it! Run away with him, be his mistress, do whatever you like! But I will not grant a divorce!
- Mary Barrie: I will not be his mistress. I will be his wife. There is nothing you can do to stop me.
- J.M. Barrie: Please, Mary, please...
- Mary Barrie: I'm sorry, Jim, but if you won't grant me a divorce, then I shall apply for an annulment.
- J.M. Barrie: An annulment?
- Mary Barrie: I will say that our marriage has never been consummated.
- J.M. Barrie: I gave Mr. Frohman some of those old photographs I took of you dressed as Peter Pan, so it should bear a resemblance to the Devil in you.
- Michael: Is the Devil in me?
- J.M. Barrie: Especially when you smile.
- Michael: You shouldn't smoke so much, it's addictive.
- J.M. Barrie: So are you.
- Michael: But not for always. One day, quite soon, I daresay, I'll grow up, and then I'll be just like everyone else, and you'll get bored of me and find some other boy to love.
- J.M. Barrie: Did I get bored of George?
- Michael: You found me. Perhaps if I got bored of you first, that would be amusing, wouldn't it? Did Mrs. Barrie get bored of you?
- J.M. Barrie: I told you, I don't want to talk about her.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: What is it, darling? Oh, my Michael, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll be well again soon.
- Michael: Do you promise?
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: I promise.
- Michael: Goodbye, Mother.
- Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Oh, don't say goodbye like that. Let me see my Michael smile.