The Rockford Files (TV Series)

White on White and Nearly Perfect (1978)

James Garner: Jim Rockford

Photos 

Quotes 

• Armand Teasdale : [in slight awe]  I'm a good judge of people; that is a fine young man with a remarkable character.

  Jim Rockford : Oh, no doubt about it. Lance is perfect. It's his only flaw.

• Jim Rockford : This is Jim Rockford. At the tone leave your name and message, I'll get back to you.

  Salesman : Pacific View Lots. Perpetual care by people who care at an unbelievably low price. Call Montief and Snell, the full service mortuary. We won't rest easy until you rest easy.

• Lance White : No I promise to stay out of the way this time. You've got the job, the one being paid. I'm just here as a friend.

  Angela : [in complete adoration]  I think it's wonderful that Lance cares for others. It's why everyone loves him.

  Jim Rockford : Yeah, well we got snarled up in a case in August. I ended up doing ninety days on a county honor farm.

  Lance White : Well I'm sorry about that Jim. I had my clients' interest to protect, and you did break into that hotel room.

  Jim Rockford : What client? Who were you working for? Nobody ever seemed to know.

  Lance White : Well that was kind of a strange one. Those three little boys hired me.

  Jim Rockford : The triplets? They were only eight years old!

  Lance White : [humbly]  Yeah well, when their folks were killed by the Mob I took them in. Finally I made arrangements for them to live on a friend's farm in Vermont.

  Jim Rockford : [sarcastically]  Oh, isn't that nice, a happy ending; all of us got to go to a farm!

• Belle Labelle : [in awe]  Are you the Lance White who saved Mr. Hillman's life a long, long time ago when the Mob was moving in at the club and threatening his wife and four grandchildren?

  [a bored Jim is looking at a UCLA diploma on Lance's wall; the name is blotted out] 

  Lance White : [modestly]  Let's just say it's closer than I like to come.

  Jim Rockford : [unimpressed]  Isn't it about time for an intermission? I'm outta popcorn!

• Jim Rockford : [Referring to an unsolicited tip just received]  It hasn't occurred to you this is a trap?

  Lance White : [laughing]  A trap? C'mon Jim, I doubt that.

  Jim Rockford : I can't explain why you're still walkin' around. It's not gonna last long. You're naive, Lance, you really are! Ya hafta be cynical, you have to question things. You can't take someone named "Belle LaBelle" on face value! What's her angle, huh? Who's payroll is she on? You find out the answers to those things and then you start moving fast and crooked. You go through door sideways and low, at odd angles. You look for the Big Lie. Question everything!

  Lance White : [Blithely]  I'm going up to Lake Malibu. Why don't you come with me?

  Jim Rockford : [Appealing to heaven]  They'll kill 'im!

• Armand Teasdale : Well, what do you think of him, son?

  Jim Rockford : Oh, Lance? Well I, I guess you could say when they were passing out raincoats, he got a beauty.

  Armand Teasdale : Well I uh, I suppose it does seem a bit unfair to you. After all, you were the one who risked your life to save Veronica. Lance ends up with the girl and, I suppose, everything else... . And I think it's only fitting that uh, you should profit in some additional way beyond the bonus. After all, you're the real hero.

  Jim Rockford : Well, that really isn't necessary, sir...

  Armand Teasdale : [Cuts Jim off]  Fine, fine, just thought I'd offer. Nice seeing you.

• Jim Rockford : [Takes a drink of milk from the carton, moans as if in pain, and spits it out in the sink]  Awwgh!

  Rocky : I was worried about that one, that's why I put it in the front.

  Jim Rockford : Rocky, if you're worried about it, then throw it out!

  Jim Rockford : [Sniffs and then takes a drink from another milk carton]  Well that one's OK but I can still taste the other one, which I guess is a commentary on my whole life.

• Lance White : Well they wouldn't lie, Jim. Why would they?

  Jim Rockford : People lie all the time, Lance. I know it's a downer, I know that, but it happens.

• Jim Rockford : Hey, are you on some kind of medication? That thing keeps going off.

  Lance White : That's because I set it at ten minute intervals.

  Jim Rockford : Why do you do that?

  Lance White : Because time is valuable, Jim, and I don't like to waste it. I like to be aware that it's passing.

  Jim Rockford : Time is just a measurement. It doesn't improve because you watch it.

• [last lines] 

  Lance White : I don't think we should charge the Israelis for those missiles. It's a small country surrounded by bigger ones, an underdog. I'd kind of like to see that scale get balanced.

  Brad Davies : Well, sir, I don't mean to start out arguing with the new president, but that's really not a very good idea. You see, the production costs alone are over sixty million, and a gift like that would really put a bite into our profit picture.

  Lance White : Well, it was just a thought. Still, it sort of appeals to my sense of fair play.

  Brad Davies : But sir, the stockholders will sue us. The SEC will freeze our stock, we'll be ruined in three days.

  Jim Rockford : [Mocking Lance]  Oh, I wouldn't worry about all that! No, things have a way of working out. They always do!

• Lance White : Jim, you were called in first. I'm only here as a friend. I wouldn't take that job for anything.

  Jim Rockford : Not for anything, Lance?

  Lance White : No.

  Jim Rockford : Don't kid a kidder.

  Armand Teasdale : I'm prepared to pay five hundred a day.

  Lance White : Not for a thousand, not for ten. Ethics are ethics, Mr Teasdale, and they don't change when the price goes up.

  Jim Rockford : They usually do. But I'm not gonna argue about it, I'll take it.