The Last Tycoon (1976)

Diane Shalet: Stahr's Secretary

Quotes 

• Monroe Stahr : Listen.

  [He comes out from behind his desk] 

  Monroe Stahr : Has your office got a stove in it that lights with a match?

  Boxley : I think so.

  Monroe Stahr : Suppose you're in your office. You've been "fighting duels" all day.

  [He throws up his hands wildly] 

  Monroe Stahr : You're exhausted.

  [He throws himself down at a table] 

  Monroe Stahr : This is you.

  [Stahr points to the door] 

  Monroe Stahr : A girl comes in. She doesn't see you. She takes off her gloves. She opens her purse. She dumps it out on the table.

  [Stahr pantomimes the action] 

  Monroe Stahr : You watch her. This is you.

  [He looks out of the corner of his eye] 

  Monroe Stahr : Now... She has two dimes, a matchbox, and a nickel.

  [He bounces nickel on the tabletop] 

  Monroe Stahr : She leaves the nickel on the table. She puts the two dimes back into her purse. She takes the gloves... they're black.

  [Stahr kneels on the floor] 

  Monroe Stahr : Puts them into the stove. Lights a match.

  [He blows out an imaginary match] 

  Monroe Stahr : Suddenly, the telephone rings. She picks it up. She listens. She says, "l've never owned a pair of black gloves in my life!"

  [Stahr slams down the receiver] 

  Monroe Stahr : She hangs up. Kneels by the stove. Lights another match. Suddenly, you notice...

  [He abruptly points] 

  Monroe Stahr : There's another man in the room! Watching every move the girl makes.

  [Stahr sits back down, behind his desk once more, and smiles triumphantly] 

  Boxley : [asking as if against his will]  What happens?

  Monroe Stahr : l don't know. l was just making pictures.

  Boxley : What... what was the nickel for?

  Monroe Stahr : Jane, what was the nickel for?

  Stahr's Secretary : The nickel was for the movies.

  Boxley : What do you pay me for? I don't understand the damn stuff.

  Monroe Stahr : Yes, you do. Or you wouldn't have asked about the nickel.