The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Rip Torn: Slade

Quotes 

• Slade : How the hell did you know I didn't have the king or the ace?

  Lancey Howard : I recollect a young man putting the same question to Eddie the Dude. "Son," Eddie told him, "all you paid was the looking price. Lessons are extra."

• Slade : Six stacks, is that right, Shooter?

  Shooter : Six.

  Slade : Well, we've been playing 30 hours... uh, that rate, six thousand, that makes roughly, uh, $200 an hour. Thank you for the entertainment, gentlemen. I am particularly grateful to Lancey, here; it's been a rewarding experience to watch a great artist at work. Thank you for the privilege, sir.

  Lancey Howard : Well now, you're quite welcome, son. It's a pleasure to meet someone who understands that to the true gambler, money is never an end in itself, it's simply a tool, as a language is to thought. Good evening, uh... Mr. Slade.

  Slade : Good evening, Mr. Howard.

• [Slade blackmails Shooter into cheating on his dealing so the Kid will beat Howard] 

  Shooter : Hey, why are you doing this? It can't be for money.

  Slade : Yes, for my kind of money, gut money. I wanta to see that smug old bastard gutted. Gutted!

  Shooter : Like he gutted you.

  Slade : Yes, that's right, that's right!

• Cincinnati Kid : You call that an argument?

  Slade : No, that's a fact. The argument's leaning over there against the door jamb.

  [Referring to his muscleman] 

• Slade : How's your Melba these days?

  Shooter : Melba? Well, she's fine. Just fine.

  Slade : Yeah, she's a nice girl, Melba. A girl with quality and taste. Expensive tastes, I would imagine.

  Shooter : Well, I guess you might say that, yes.

  Slade : Well, that's as it should be. That's one of the great feminine characteristics. Taste for fine things. Of course, we can't always afford to indulge their tastes. That's the tragedy of it. That's when they start to drift away.