Harry O (TV Series)

Mortal Sin (1974)

David Janssen: Harry Orwell

Quotes 

• Paul Vecchio : This man's very, very disturbed. Maybe that's why he seemed to be warning me, seemed to be begging me to try and stop him. Maybe that's why without realizing it he gave me a clue. It was some kind of a verse or poem. "Cherry-lipped lads and girls besides, like adulterous cooks, come to the tides."

  Harry Orwell : That's wrong. "Golden lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust." Shakespeare. I used to go with a very poetic girl. She was intelligent, but a light sleeper.

• [first lines] 

  Paul Vecchio : [knocks on door]  Harry!

  Harry Orwell : [Harry is asleep in bed. His voiceover narration:]  Being a sound sleeper can be either a blessing or a curse. It's a curse if someone yells "fire." It's a blessing if you sleep with someone who snores. I'm not a sound sleeper. A girl once said I'd awaken at the sound of a twinkling star. The girl was a poet. Some days I don't wake up all that easily. A man shouldn't be too consistent.

• Paul Vecchio : Breaking the seal of the confessional is a mortal sin.

  Harry Orwell : So is murder, Father.

• Harry Orwell : Death is always an indignity.

• [last lines] 

  Harry Orwell : Go with God, Paul.

  Paul Vecchio : I'll try, Harry. You too.

  Harry Orwell : [voiceover narration]  Pilgrim's Progress. He wasn't running so desperately. And maybe he was gaining some ground.

• Lt. Manuel 'Manny' Quinlan : You're not involved, Harry, okay? I'd like to keep it that way. I really don't want your thumb marks all over my case. Good-bye, Harry.

  Harry Orwell : [voiceover narration]  A cop survives on skill, gets promoted on publicity. Murder One is always an opportunity. And Manny wanted the stage uncrowded, so I left.

• Harry Orwell : Paul, I like you as a man. I'm finding it very difficult to have sympathy for you as a priest.

  Paul Vecchio : Yes, but I am a priest, Harry. It's not just a label; that is my identity. Sometimes I think that's my only identity. The Church. The Church sent me back to school to study psychology. That's where I learned all about the irrational basis of religion. So now I have doubts. I'm still a priest, Harry! I gave my word! Alright, maybe I'm failing as a a priest. That just means I've failed myself, not God.