Brubaker (1980)
Robert Redford: Henry Brubaker
Photos
Quotes
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Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : What you gon' do about Abraham?
Henry Brubaker : I've got Purcell filling out forms in triplicate, and I'm going to get him released just as soon as I-
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Now why do you wanna go and do that?
Henry Brubaker : Do what?
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Look, why don't you just leave him be. I mean, all he knows is this place.
Henry Brubaker : You - You knew that he had been in here as long as he'd been in here.
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Just leave him alone. He's not- He's not botherin' nobody here.
Henry Brubaker : Hey... You can't hide in prison forever, Coombes.
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Henry Brubaker : Hey. Can we talk?
Walter : Who the fuck are you? I want the man!
Henry Brubaker : I am. I am the man. I'm the new warden here. My name's Henry Brubaker.
Walter : [throws Bullen and advances on Brubaker] Man, don't be fucking with my head. 'New warden' my ass!
Henry Brubaker : It's true - I swear it.
Walter : Then how come you look like a scumbag?
Henry Brubaker : 'Cause I'm fooling those guys out there.
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Henry Brubaker : I don't see playing politics with the truth.
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Henry Brubaker : Mess with me now; you're gonna regret it later.
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : We don't work this thing out fast, mister, you're not gonna be around later.
Henry Brubaker : Do you want ID?
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Listen, man. All I have to do is raise my right hand and that tower guard's gonna blow you out.
Henry Brubaker : ...or you can continue walking with me, like the smart escort I figure you to be.
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Henry Brubaker : What happened? What happened to your eye?
Abraham Cook : Oh, got hit.
Henry Brubaker : With what?
Abraham Cook : With a baseball bat, a trace chain, and a rope with knots in it.
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Lillian Gray : I want to know why you always think you can just walk out.
Henry Brubaker : Because that's murder they're talking about in there. And if I condone it, you can't turn around and tell these men why they're locked up. It's one standard for everyone, the way I see it.
Lillian Gray : And you can't see any options, no middle ground.
Henry Brubaker : No, I don't see playing politics with the truth, Lillian.
Lillian Gray : No way to compromise?
Henry Brubaker : Oh, on strategy, maybe... but not on principle.
Lillian Gray : [flustered] But that's what I... goddamn it, I agree with you...
Henry Brubaker : [bluntly] No you don't. Not really.
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Henry Brubaker : Why don't we build them a roof that won't cave in on their heads?
Huey Rauch : That's enough.
Henry Brubaker : An insured roof, this time.
Glenn Elwood : What do you mean?
Henry Brubaker : The collapsed roof isn't covered at all - that's what I mean. But we DO have coverage for thrashing machines, balers, swathers, a tractor...
Huey Rauch : Sounds pretty sensible to me to have the things insured. I approved those policies personally.
Henry Brubaker : You did more than that: your company sold us the policies. The only trouble with it is: we don't have any of that equipment on our farm. It doesn't exist.
Huey Rauch : What you HAVE got Mr. Brubaker is a piss-poor attitude.
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Larry Lee Bullen : I got picked up for vagrancy - a misdemeanor. Next morning, the toilet's broke clean off the damn wall. There's six men in the cell, and they stick me with destruction of city property over $50. Felony number three.
Henry Brubaker : Habitual. That judge gives you life for a toilet.
Larry Lee Bullen : Yeah, or give me the toilet for life. Same difference. Anyhow; here I am shoveling shit for dead men.
Henry Brubaker : Instead, how'd you like to be a trustee, and run my motorpool?
Larry Lee Bullen : Mr. Brubaker, I've been studying you since you first come in. And it's come clear to me that you are one weird fucking individual. I ain't got you figgered out yet - whether you're a good thing or a bad one.
Henry Brubaker : Does that mean you'll run my motorpool?
Larry Lee Bullen : [whistles] Wear them khakis? Get me a guitar? Be the warden's new boy?
Henry Brubaker : No, you're smarter than that.
Larry Lee Bullen : The whole world's fucked up, Mr. Brubaker. Ain't no use.
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Henry Brubaker : Tower number 3 - who'm I looking at? He's looking at me.
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Up there, you got Douglass Mizell.
Henry Brubaker : Who the hell is Doug Mizell?
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : He's a forger. Three times grand theft.
Henry Brubaker : I want a rundown on everybody that's got tower duty. I-
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : I do believe that's Purcell's job, sir.
Henry Brubaker : I want only murderers up there; one-time impulse killers.
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Well, aren't you taking kind of a chance doing that? Aren't you? I mean, uh...
Henry Brubaker : No, it's the habituals you can't trust. Murderers - most of 'em - already have it out of their system. Guys like you, right?
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : [laughs] There's nobody around here like me.
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Henry Brubaker : That's murder they're talking about in there. And if they condone it, how are you gonna turn around and tell these guys why they're locked up?
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Zaranska : Let's just take a little bit off around the ears.
[hands barber $2]
Barber : Costs five to get you no haircut now, Zaranska. Two only gets you a crew-cut.
Zaranska : Fuck, I could use this on a bed.
Barber : It'll all come off then. Maybe an ear with it.
Barber : [later] What's it be, my man?
Henry Brubaker : [hands barber $5] Leave the ears.
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C.P. Woodward : I'm not in the construction business for my health.
Henry Brubaker : Or anybody else's, it seems.
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Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : Hey, Brubaker, you know something? That's the first time I've heard those guys laugh in fifteen years!
Henry Brubaker : It doesn't bother you, does it?
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Henry Brubaker : You're not eating?
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : I don't eat that shit you're eating.
Henry Brubaker : Do you know anything about nutrition?
Richard 'Dickie' Coombes : I know about hungry.
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Henry Brubaker : What are you in for?
Abraham Cook : Manslaughter. Killed my baby brother with a rock.
Henry Brubaker : How long were you sentenced?
Abraham Cook : 35 years.
Henry Brubaker : [looks over Abraham's file] How long have you been here?
Abraham Cook : You know the answer to that.
Henry Brubaker : Yeah, 38 years and six months.