The Aviator (2004)

Leonardo DiCaprio: Howard Hughes

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Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Howard Hughes : [repeating over and over again]  The way of the future...

• Mrs. Hepburn : We don't care about money here.

  Howard Hughes : That's because you have it.

• Ava Gardner : You listened to my phone calls?

  Howard Hughes : No! No! No! Honey I would never do that! I'd never do that! I... I just read the transcripts, that's all.

• Howard Hughes : You don't care about money because you've always had it.

• [on "The Outlaw"] 

  Glenn Odekirk : Howard, you really think they're gonna let you put out a whole movie just about tits?

  Howard Hughes : [beat]  Sure. Who doesn't like tits?

  [cut to a panel of frowning members of the Motion Pictures Association of America] 

• Howard Hughes : Does that look clean to you?

  Ava Gardner : Nothing's clean, Howard. But we do our best, right?

• Howard Hughes : Look at me, Kate. Stop acting.

  Katharine Hepburn : Ha. I'm not acting.

  Howard Hughes : I wonder if you even know any more.

  Katharine Hepburn : Don't be unkind.

• Howard Hughes : I want ten chocolate chip cookies. Medium chips. None too close to the outside.

• Howard Hughes : [doesn't hear what Kate says]  Excuse me?

  Katharine Hepburn : Well, if you're deaf, you must own up to it. Get a hearing aid, or see my father. He's an urologist, but it's all tied up inside the body, don't you find?

  Howard Hughes : Mmm.

  Katharine Hepburn : Me, I keep healthy. I take seven showers a day to keep clean, also because I'm so vulgarly referred to as "outdoors-y." Well, I'm not "outdoors-y," I'm athletic. I sweat! There it is, now we both know the sordid truth: I sweat, and you're deaf. Aren't we a fine pair of misfits?

• Howard Hughes : What the *hell* does a senator from Maine need to fly to Peru for?

• Katharine Hepburn : I've been famous - for better or worse - for a long time now... I wonder if you know what that really means.

  Howard Hughes : I got my fair share of press on Hell's Angels. I'm used to it.

  Katharine Hepburn : Are you?

  Katharine Hepburn : Howard, we're not like everyone else. Too many acute angles. Too many eccentricities. We have to be very careful not to let people in or they'll make us into freaks.

  Howard Hughes : Kate, they can't get in here. We're safe.

  Katharine Hepburn : Oh? Oh, they can always get in. When my brother killed himself there were photographers at the funeral. There's no decency to it.

• Howard Hughes : Don't tell me I can't do it; don't tell me it can't be done!

• Howard Hughes : Actresses are cheap in this town, darlin'. And I got a lot of money.

  Katharine Hepburn : Please, Howard, this is beneath you.

  Howard Hughes : No no. This is exactly me. You come over here out of the blue and tell me you're leaving me for someone else and you have the nerve to expect graciousness?

  Katharine Hepburn : I expected a little maturity, I expect you to face this situation like an adul...

  Howard Hughes : DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME! Don't you EVER talk down to me! You are a movie star, nothing more!

• Howard Hughes : No, wait! Honey, you can't move! You can't move, you're safe here! You're in the germ-free zone now, y'understand?

  Ava Gardner : I'll take my chances.

  Howard Hughes : No, no! Honey, wait... wait, uh...

  [Ava removes the string barriers from the doorway and walks into the study. She turns on the light, revealing that entire room is covered with used tissues and string barriers everywhere. Silence for a moment] 

  Ava Gardner : Love what you've done with the place...

• Howard Hughes : Come in with the milk. Come in with the milk. Come in with the milk.

• Katharine Hepburn : What's that on the steering wheel?

  Howard Hughes : Cellophane. If you had any idea of the crap that people carry around on their hands.

  Katharine Hepburn : What kind of crap?

  Howard Hughes : You don't wanna know.

• Howard Hughes : Do you know those fellas? Do they work for me?

  Noah Dietrich : Everybody works for you, Howard.

• Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : All right, let's get down to business. Let's talk turkey. My investigation...

  [He nearly bursts into laughter] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : My investigation has turned up a lot of dirt. It could be really embarassing if this stuff got out. I'd like to save you from that embarassment.

  Howard Hughes : That's very kind of you, Owen.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : My committee has the power to hold public hearings. I'd like to spare you from that.

  Howard Hughes : [smirks]  Would you, now?

  [Brewster abruptly drops his silverware] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Look, do you wanna go down in history as a war profiteer, Howard? Is that what you want?

  Howard Hughes : [gravely]  What do you want, Owen?

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : You agree to support my C.A.B. bill, and I won't hold public hearings.

  Howard Hughes : I can't do that, Owen. Can't do that. The C.A.B. bill would kill TWA.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Sell T.W.A. to Pan Am. You'll get a good price. You'll get a fair price, I'm telling you.

  Howard Hughes : And then...? Then you won't go public?

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Right. That's right. The investigation's closed. Nobody knows a thing. It's better for everybody.

  [pause] 

  Howard Hughes : You know, Owen, I'm still wondering one thing. The picture of the llama you got last year. Where'd you sail from?

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [disinterested]  We didn't sail. We flew.

  Howard Hughes : You flew?

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Yeah.

  Howard Hughes : Ah.

  [Brewster stops chewing abruptly, realizing what Howard's implying] 

  Howard Hughes : [leans in]  Are you sure you want to do this, Owen? You want to go to war with me?

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : It isn't me, Howard. It's the United States government. We just beat Germany and Japan. Who the hell are you?

  Howard Hughes : [getting up from the table]  You tell Juan Trippe something for me, all right? Tell him thanks for the flowers. And he can kiss both sides of my ass.

  [leaves] 

• Glenn Odekirk : We installed the 450 radial, but the struts won't take the vibration. Minute we go contact, the struts start craking at the attach points.

  Howard Hughes : Dammit, Odie, if the 450's too big, figure something else out!

  Glenn Odekirk : We've done everything - we've rebuilt her from top to bottom. If we drain the fuel tank for a couple of runs she might make 180 mph.

  Howard Hughes : I want minimum 200.

  Glenn Odekirk : Yeah, well, I want a date with Theda Bara, but that ain't gonna happen either.

  Howard Hughes : Don't be so sure... OK, OK, OK, this is a simple engineering problem. We just gotta think it out.

  [pause] 

  Howard Hughes : So if the struts won't sustain the engine we need - then we gotta get rid of them.

  Glenn Odekirk : Then the top wing falls off.

  Howard Hughes : Then let it.

  Glenn Odekirk : What?

  Howard Hughes : Who says we need a top wing?

  [pauses] 

  Howard Hughes : Who says we need *anything*?

  [Glenn is warming up to Hughes' idea] 

  Glenn Odekirk : A monoplane...

  Howard Hughes : A cantilevered monoplane. They're doing it in France. To the hell with the top wing and the struts...

  Glenn Odekirk : 550 Whitney Wasp engine...

  Howard Hughes : 100 octane fuel will give us a top horsepower of - what?

  Glenn Odekirk : Seven hundred.

  Howard Hughes : Squeeze it to a thousand and we got the fastest plane ever built.

  Glenn Odekirk : You know, I just gotta say... we've already spent over $200,000 rebuilding this plane.

  Howard Hughes : To the hell with it.

  [smiles] 

  Howard Hughes : Tear it up, Odie.

  [Glenn takes a sledgehammer and annihilates the struts on the top wing; the top wing falls off] 

• Howard Hughes : You know, sometimes I - I get these feelings, Katie. I get these ideas, these - crazy ideas about the - things that may not - things that may not really be there. Sometimes I truly fear that I'm - losing my mind. And if I did, it would - it would be like flying blind.

• Howard Hughes : [pensively weighing options]  I could do that.

  Jack Frye : Do what?

  Howard Hughes : Buy it.

  Jack Frye : You wanna *buy* the airline?

  Howard Hughes : Well why not? We don't want a bunch of pencil-pushers gettin' in the way of us makin' our plane now do we?

  Jack Frye : No...

  Howard Hughes : [walking away]  You call Noel Dietrich. You tell him to start buying!

  Jack Frye : [yelling after him in shock]  Hang on Howard! You sure you don't want to stop and think about this for a second?

  Howard Hughes : Nope! I've got a tiger by the tail here and I'm not about to let go!

• Howard Hughes : Pull back on the wheel a bit.

  Katharine Hepburn : GOLLY!

  Howard Hughes : I don't think I've ever met anyone who uses the word Golly.

• Howard Hughes : Find me some clouds!

• Howard Hughes : [talking of Juan Trippe]  He owns Pan-Am. He owns Congress. He owns the Civil Aeronautics Board. But he does not own the sky.

• Howard Hughes : Will you marry me?

  Ava Gardner : You're too crazy for me.

• Professor Fitz : Well, the cumulonimbus formations about which you speak that look like...

  Howard Hughes : Giant breasts full of milk. I want clouds, damn it.

  Professor Fitz : Yes, clouds that look like giant breasts full of milk, cannot exactly be guaranteed for any particular occasion. So you might have to... to wait.

  Howard Hughes : Then we'll wait. Look, whatever they pay you at UCLA I'm doubling it, all right? You work for me now. Find some clouds. Find some clouds! Find me some clouds!

  Hell's Angels Pilot : Welcome to Hell's Angels.

• [Last day of the Senate Committee hearings] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Mr. Hughes, did you receive $43 million to manufacture 100 XF-11 spy planes for the United States Air Force?

  Howard Hughes : I did.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : How many functional planes did you deliver to the United States Air Force?

  Howard Hughes : None.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Would you lean a little closer to the microphone, sir?

  Howard Hughes : [annoyed, Howard does so]  None!

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Did you receive $13 million to manufacture a prototype of a flying boat known as The Hercules?

  Howard Hughes : [clears throat]  I did.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : And did you deliver that plane?

  Howard Hughes : I did not.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [stunned]  So, by your admission in this chamber, Mr. Hughes, you have received *$56 million*... for the United States government... for planes you never delivered.

  Howard Hughes : That is correct.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [Brewster can't believe his own luck, begins chuckling]  Well, excuse me for asking, Mr. Hughes, but... where did all that money go?

  Howard Hughes : Well, it went into the planes, Senator. And a lot more.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : More?

  [still darkly chuckling] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Do tell, Mr. Hughes? What other larcenies did you commit?

  Howard Hughes : I mean, I put *my* money into these planes, Senator. My money. See, the thing is...

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [attempting to stop Howard from speaking]  Mr. Hughes, your personal finances are n -- are not...

  Another Senator : [sitting next to Brewster]  Let him speak.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [wary]  Alright, proceed, Mr. Hughes.

  Howard Hughes : See, the thing is, I care very much about aviation. It has been the great joy of my life. That's why I put my own money into these planes and I've lost millions, Senator Brewster, and I'll go on losing millions. It's just... what I do. Now, if I've lost a lot of the government's money during the war, well, I hope folks will put that into perspective. You see, more than 60 other airplanes ordered from such firms as Lockheed, Douglas, Northrup and Boeing never saw action either. In all, more than $800 million was spent during the war on planes that never flew. Over 6 *billion* on other weapons that were never delivered. Yet, Hughes Aircraft, with her 56 million... is the only firm under investigation here today. Now I cannot help but think that has a little more to do with TWA than planes that did not fly!

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [now worried]  I think you've made your point, Mr. Hughes...

  Howard Hughes : One second, Senator Brewster! I have one more thing to say here to this committee... and that has to do with The Hercules. Now, I am supposed to be... many things that are not complimentary. I am supposed to be capricious. I have been called a playboy. I've even been called an eccentric, but I do not believe I have the reputation of being a liar. Now, needless to say, The Hercules was a monumental undertaking. It is the largest plane ever built. It is over five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field. That's more than a city block! Now, I put the sweat of my life into this thing, I got my reputation all rolled up in it. And I have stated several times that if The Hercules fails to fly, I will leave this country and never come back! And I mean it! Now, Senator Brewster, you can subpoena me, you can arrest me, you can claim I've folded up and taken a run-out powder, But, well... I've just about had enough of this nonsense. Good afternoon.

  [leaves] 

• Howard Hughes : I'm Howard Hughes, the aviator.

• Howard Hughes : I feel like a little adventure.

  Katharine Hepburn : Do your worst, Mr. Hughes.

• Howard Hughes : That's just what we do in my business.

• Katharine Hepburn : I've got a better idea, take me flying! Or better yet, I'll take you flying!

  Howard Hughes : Do your worst, Miss Hepburn.

• Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : All right this has gon on long enough. Juan Tripp is a great American. His airline has advanced the cause of commercial aviation in this country for decades. Juan Tripp is a patriot. Juan Tripp is not a man who's interested in making money.

  Howard Hughes : Well, I'm sure his stockholders would be happy to hear that.

  [Everybody starts laughing] 

• Howard Hughes : I care very much about aviation.

• Howard Hughes : I've been to Chatsworth, Santa Cruz, Encino, San Diego, Riverside, Van Nuys, and Bakersfield. It has been eight months! Where are my goddamn clouds, huh?

  Professor Fitz : They move, Mr. Hughes! Clouds move. That's what they do. They move!

  Howard Hughes : [pointing to the Hell's Angels planes]  Do you see that? It is costing me $5,271 A DAY to keep those planes on the ground! You get me some goddamn clouds, huh?

• [Howard takes Kate to the Cocoanut Grove] 

  Katharine Hepburn : Your kind of a joint, is it? Wouldn't have thought.

  Howard Hughes : Yeah, well, they're open late. I go to a hot dog stand on La Cienega, too; they're open 'til around 4.

  Katharine Hepburn : Are they? How marvelous!

• Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : ...we would like him to reappear. Would you ask him to return?

  Howard Hughes : No, I don't think I will.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Will you try to have him return?

  Howard Hughes : No, I don't think I'll try.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : You don't think you'll try?

  Howard Hughes : No, I don't think so.

• Howard Hughes : [Attempting a take-off of the Spruce Goose]  Power coming up!

  Glenn Odekirk : Power coming up!

  [Howard pushes on the throttles] 

  James McNamara : [On the radio]  Howard Hughes has just alerted us. Asked everyone to hold on. Tremendous horsepower kicking up.

  Howard Hughes : [Continuing to push on the throttles]  Let me hear it, Odie!

  Glenn Odekirk : 25 miles per hour! 30!

  James McNamara : Here we go. Here we go...

  Glenn Odekirk : 35!

  James McNamara : ...The airspeed indicator has moved up to 25... 30... 35...

  Glenn Odekirk : 40!

  James McNamara : ...As he pushes the throttle, that's 40...

  Glenn Odekirk : 45!

  James McNamara : ...45. More throttle. That's 45...

  Glenn Odekirk : 50!

  James McNamara : ...50. It's 50 over a choppy sea...

  Glenn Odekirk : 55!

  James McNamara : ...55. That's 55...

  Glenn Odekirk : 60!

  James McNamara : ...More throttle, that's 60...

  Glenn Odekirk : 65!

  James McNamara : ...65!

  Glenn Odekirk : 70!

  James McNamara : ...That's 70...

  Glenn Odekirk : 75!

  James McNamara : ...75!

  [Howard finishes pushing the throttles forward, the plane suddenly stops shaking as it takes off. There's a pause before everyone on the plane starts applauding] 

  James McNamara : And something momentarily cuts out, I believe we are airborne. We are airborne, ladies and gentlemen. I don't believe Howard Hughes meant this to be, I don't know. And we were up in the air. We were clearly up in the air.

  James McNamara : Ladies and gentlemen, the Hughes mammoth aircraft has flown this afternoon in Los Angeles harbor. And it will personally look, at this moment, that Howard Hughes will be around in the United States for some time to come.

• [from trailer] 

  Howard Hughes : I'm in a street fight, and I'm not going to lose.

• Jack Frye : You want me to bribe senators?

  Howard Hughes : I don't want them bribed, Jack. I want this done legal. I want them *bought*.

• Noah Dietrich : I've gotta tell you, the board over in Houston has been getting a little concerned about the cost of this operation out here.

  Howard Hughes : [grimacing]  Ah! Would you stop showing them the books, Noah?

  Noah Dietrich : That's illegal Howard.

  Howard Hughes : [smiling]  Well, maybe it's a little naughty.

  Noah Dietrich : We're incorporated in Houston. The board has to see the books.

  Howard Hughes : Well, incorporate a new division out here. We'll call it Hughes Aircraft. Get into that, will ya?

• Howard Hughes : Stop there, if you please, Miss Domergue. Have you had surgery, Miss Domergue?

  Faith Domergue : No.

  Howard Hughes : Do you have scars of *any* kind?

  Faith Domergue : No.

  Howard Hughes : Wipe off your lipstick. That's much better. Now you understand that you'd be under contract to me. Personally. Do you know what that means? Now turn around for me. Now very nice. You move well. Live with your family, do you?

  Faith Domergue : Yes.

  Howard Hughes : That's nice. Tell me somethin'. How old are you, Miss Domergue?

  Faith Domergue : Fifteen.

  Howard Hughes : Holy Mother of God.

• Ava Gardner : [infuriated to learn that Hughes was tapping her phone lines to keep an eye on her]  What do you wanna know, Howard? Was I screwing Artie Shaw last night? Was I screwing Sinatra the night before? You bet! Everyone told me you were a goddamn lunatic, but I didn't listen! It's no wonder Kate Hepburn dumped your demented ass!

  Howard Hughes : [exploding]  Shut your goddamn mouth!

  [Howard knocks Ava to the ground, but she rebounds quickly and knocks him down] 

  Ava Gardner : Get out, you pathetic freak!

  [he struggles to get back up, holding his cane; she follows him as he slowly heads for the door] 

  Ava Gardner : Get Out!

• Howard Hughes : [repeating over and over again]  Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints...

• Howard Hughes : You're the tallest woman I have ever met.

  Katharine Hepburn : And all sharp elbows and knees. Beware.

• Howard Hughes : Boy, you are just hitting on all six cylinders, aren't you? My God. Would you do me a favor and just? Would you just smile for me one time? Just once?

  [cigarrete girl smiles] 

  Howard Hughes : Yeah. Yeah. You see, you got a short upper lip. Makes for a much nicer smile. See, I wonder what gives a beautiful woman like you pleasure. I mean, say you're just standing there, right? And I just touch you. Just... Just like this. With my fingertips. Do you...? Do you like that? Do you? You see, I wanna learn what pleases you. I wanna learn everything about you. Would you let me do that? Would you give me that job?

• Glenn Odekirk : 352 on your last run!

  Howard Hughes : She'll go faster.

• Katharine Hepburn : [Hepburn has abandoned Hughes to work the room]  I'm an idiot, a complete idiot, and I'm sorry.

  Howard Hughes : Forget it.

  Katharine Hepburn : No, no, I'm a vain, preening ass without a single redeeming feature.

  Howard Hughes : Well that's not true, you have very good teeth.

• [Locked away in his projection room, a disheveled Howard approaches the door] 

  Howard Hughes : Hello? Who is it?

  Juan Trippe : [on the other side of the door]  Howard, it's Juan.

  Howard Hughes : Juan! Juan, right. Yeah. We had an appointment, right? Yeah. I remember that. Look...

  [trying to find an excuse] 

  Howard Hughes : I got a hell of a cold in here. A hell of a cold. So take a seat out there, because I don't wanna get you sick. I'd never forgive myself if I got you sick. I don't wanna get you sick. I don't wanna...

  [clamps his hand over his mouth, realizing he's repeating himself] 

  Howard Hughes : [Noah has brought a chair for Juan to sit on the other side of the door] 

  Juan Trippe : [to Noah]  Thank you.

  [to Howard] 

  Juan Trippe : Okay, Howard I'm sitting. I've brought along our accountings. Now, Pan-Am is trading at 13 and five-eighths. TWA at four and a quarter. Now, if you take...

  Howard Hughes : Ah, come on. Come on, come on, come on, come on! We both know I'm not gonna sell TWA. Besides that, you couldn't afford her anyway. Our domestic routes alone are worth more than twice Pan-Am!

  Juan Trippe : Well, considering our stock is trading at three times yours, I find that a... dubious claim, Howard.

  Howard Hughes : [frustrated]  What I --

  [sighs, clears throat] 

  Howard Hughes : What I mean is... you have no domestic routes, all right? I mean, you get TWA, you -- you span the globe. Now, I'm not gonna sell and you know I'm not gonna sell.

  [taps the door] 

  Howard Hughes : Here's the point: Owen Brewster works for you!

  Juan Trippe : Howard, I didn't elect Senator Brewster. We can thank the voters of Maine for that.

  [Juan begins smoking his pipe. From the other side of the door, Howard can see the smoke creep in under the door and begins backing away fearfully] 

  Howard Hughes : Now... if I appear at his hearings, Juan. It could get nasty.

  [coughs] 

  Howard Hughes : Real nasty for all of us!

  Juan Trippe : Well, I think considerably more for you, Howard. While the good people of America were losing sons at Anzio, you produced a dirty movie and built planes that don't fly.

  Howard Hughes : Well, that's just not fair, is it? I mean, the XF-11 flew quite well for an hour and 45 minutes. I mean, I wish you were up there with me, Juan. It was... it was exhilarating!

  Juan Trippe : Be that as it may, you still have to answer for the Spruce Goose.

  [From behind the door, Juan hears a large thump. Howard, now revealed to be stark naked, has just thrown a Kleenex box at the door] 

  Howard Hughes : IT'S CALLED THE HERCULES! AND IT WILL FLY, GODDAMN IT!

  Juan Trippe : I certainly hope so. The American people deserve something for their $13 million.

  Howard Hughes : I WON'T SELL TWA! I WON'T!

  Juan Trippe : [beat]  I know you won't, Howard. I know you won't. But I'm going to get it anyway. You're going to default on your loan from Equitable after Senator Brewster destroys your reputation and you can't find any additional capital for the airline. The hearings will also show Hughes Aircraft mismanaged and incompetent and it will go bankrupt too. But you won't be insolvent. You'll still have Tool Co. Perhaps, you'll return to Houston to rebuild your empire. I rather hope you do. By that time, Pan-Am will have bought TWA and painted all those magnificent Connies blue and white. So, when you do return, it will be on a Pan-Am plane.

  Howard Hughes : Well,

  [clears throat] 

  Howard Hughes : you seem to have me in a corner here, buddy. Not a position in which I'm very comfortable.

  Juan Trippe : [stands from his seat]  I think you're going to be less comfortable at Senator Brewster's hearings. Very public, Howard. Lots of camera, newsmen. I understand you're not particularly fond of crowds. Perhaps we should spare you that.

  Howard Hughes : [sarcastic]  Well, thank you, Juan! I find that... very moving! It's been a real pleasure. Noah will see you back to the airport now. You... you fly safe. You fly safe.

  Juan Trippe : Thank you, Howard, and you take care of that cold.

  Howard Hughes : Oh, don't you worry! I certainly will. Bye-bye.

• Howard Hughes : Now you made what, $5,200 a year on your last job? I'll pay you $10,000.

  Noah Dietrich : I guess I'll be working twice as hard.

  Howard Hughes : You'll be working four times as hard. I just got you at half price, Mr. Dietrich.

• Glenn Odekirk : Hey. You want the good news or the bad news?

  Howard Hughes : The bad news, always.

  Glenn Odekirk : All right. We installed the 450 radial, but the struts won't take the vibration. The minute we fire her up, the struts start cracking at the attach points.

  Howard Hughes : What's the good news?

  Glenn Odekirk : There isn't any.

• Katharine Hepburn : Are you making a Western, Howard?

  Howard Hughes : Yeah. Making a Western. I'm gonna call it "The Outlaw".

  Johnny Meyer : Yeah. And you know what it's about? S-E-X. It's all about S-E-X.

  Howard Hughes : It's a Western. A Western.

  Errol Flynn : You can't have fornication in a Western. It isn't done.

  Johnny Meyer : It's not real sex, skinny, it's movie sex! What "Scarface" did for the gangster picture, "The Outlaw" will do for the Western. Put the sex and guts and blood up there on the screen.

• Howard Hughes : What does 20,000 feet give you?

  Jack Frye : Less turbulence.

  Howard Hughes : Right, because it's above the weather. Jack, we wanna fly *above* the weather. Only one percent of the American population has set foot on an airliner. Why? Because they're scared to death, Jack, and they should be. I mean, 7,000 feet is bumpy as shit. You know that. We build a plane that flies above the weather - we could get every man, woman, and child in this country to feel safe up there. An airplane with the ability to fly into the substratosphere across the country, across the world; now, that is the future.

• Howard Hughes : All right, boys, I want you to rig up something like this. Should give the proper uplift ratios and reduce the need for additional torque support on the front. We are *not* getting enough production out of Jane Russell's breasts. All right, I want smooth titties, gentlemen. Smooth titties!

• Howard Hughes : No one airline should have a monopoly on flying the Atlantic. For Christ sake it just isn't fair. He owns Pan Am. He owns Congress. He owns the Civil Aeronautics Board. But, he does not own the sky. We're in a street fight with that son of a bitch now and I'm not gonna lose. I've been fighting high-hat lvy League pricks like him my whole goddamn life.

• Howard Hughes : How much?

  Roland Sweet : Not for sale.

  Howard Hughes : You ever cheat on your wife, Roland? You ever screw a colored girl? You ever steal anything? You ever hurt anyone?

  Roland Sweet : Good night, Howard.

  Howard Hughes : You ever go to a Communist Party meeting, Roland?

  Roland Sweet : TWA stock.

• Howard Hughes : Look, I mean, they are touching things. Noah. Noah, they are touching things.

• Howard Hughes : Little Howard likes citrus.

• Howard Hughes : I read in the magazines that you play golf.

  Katharine Hepburn : On occasion...

  Howard Hughes : How 'bout nine holes?

  Katharine Hepburn : *Now*, Mr. Hughes?

• [First day of Senate Committee hearings] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Mr. Hughes, it is the intention of this committee...

  Noah Dietrich : Mr. Hughes has a statement.

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : All right. All right. You may-- you may proceed With this, uh, statement, Mr. Hughes.

  [beat as Howard is still silent] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : Mr. Hughes, do you have a statement?

  Howard Hughes : I'm gonna... I'm gonna attempt to be honest here. I mean, my reputation's being destroyed, so I might as well lay all the cards on the table. Senator Brewster, if you hadn't gone too far overboard, if you hadn't have put the red-hot iron in my side, I might have been willing to take a shellacking in this publicity spree of yours. I might have been willing to sit back and take a certain amount of abuse, simply because, well...

  [chuckles] 

  Howard Hughes : Well, I am only a private citizen. Whereas you are a Senator, with all sorts of powers. But I think this goddamn circus has gone on long enough!

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [cracks his gavel]  That's quite sufficient, Mr. Hughes.

  Howard Hughes : You have called me a liar, sir, in the press!

  [begins pounding on a stack of newspapers on the table] 

  Howard Hughes : You have called me a liar, and a thief, and a war profiteer!

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : The witness will restrain his...

  [Howard suddenly stands and everything goes quiet] 

  Howard Hughes : Why not tell the truth for once, Senator? Why not tell the truth that this investigation was really born on the day that TWA first decided to fly to Europe? On the day that TWA first invaded *Juan Trippe's* territory?

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [sternly]  Sit down, Mr. Hughes?

  Howard Hughes : [still standing]  On the day that TWA first challenged the generally accepted theory that only Juan Trippe's great Pan-American Airways had the sacred right to fly the Atlantic!

  [the crowd goes crazy; cameras are flashing] 

  Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster : [cracking gavel again]  I asked for silence! I asked for quiet in this room and we are going to have quiet!

• Howard Hughes : Then you leave the big ideas to me.

• Howard Hughes : [to the Hepburns]  Some of us choose to work for a living.

• Howard Hughes : Stop thinking like an insect, Odie. Not just a plane to carry the troops. A plane to carry everything. The troops and the jeeps and the tanks and whatnot.

• Howard Hughes : Don't forget, every bill comes to me. They don't pay for anything. Look, those men decide whether or not to fund the plane, so I need them real happy. You do what it takes.

  Johnny Meyer : You betcha, boss.

  Howard Hughes : What about the girls? How are they in the bomb department?

  Johnny Meyer : Well, let's put it this way. It'll be a regular: boob buffet. I don't think the gentlemen from the Air Corps will have any trouble scoring tonight.

• Ava Gardner : Look, you got girls stashed all over town. You got a damn harem just at the Bel-Air. Why don't you marry one of your bungalow girls?

  Howard Hughes : Those are employees. I'm not gonna marry an employee. Jesus Christ, how would that look?

• Howard Hughes : [to Senator Owen Brewster]  Now, you introduced this bill to the Senate. A lot of words. You write all of them? Did you write any of them, Senator? Now this entire bill was written by Pan Am executives and designed to give that airline a monopoly on international travel. And you've been flogging this bill all around the world on their behalf, have you not?

• Katharine Hepburn : Saw your Scarface picture. Violent.

  Howard Hughes : Realistic.

  Katharine Hepburn : Movies are movies, Howard. Not life. Now, the stage. The stage is real flesh and blood. Human beings right out there in front of you, buster! Can't look away. Can't munch popcorn. That would be - rude.

• [Howard and the star of "Hell's Angels", Jean Harlow have arrived at the premiere] 

  Emcee : Big night for you, Mr. Hughes.

  [Howard can't hear him] 

  Emcee : BIG NIGHT FOR YOU TONIGHT!

  Howard Hughes : [finally hears him; smiles]  Very big, very big.

  Emcee : Tell us what it was like making this fabulous picture.

  Howard Hughes : [still can't hear him; continuing to smile]  Yes!

  Emcee : Yeah... So, 4 million clams from your own pocket. Nervous how the flick will fly?

  Howard Hughes : [has finally given up on hearing him]  Big night. You enjoy the show.

  Emcee : Yes, well, let me present the feminine star of this spectacle, "Hell's Angels", Miss Jean Harlow!

  Jean Harlow : Thank you. I would like to use this occasion to publicly thank Mr. Hughes for the opportunity he gave me. Thank you.

• Howard Hughes : You're my voice now. Make them understand that. Look, some of those fine folks down there still call me Junior. You tell them it's *Mr. Hughes* now.

• Howard Hughes : There's really only one thing you've gotta know. My folks, they're gone now. So it's my money! Now, what I choose to do with that money may seem *crazy* to those sons of bitches in Houston. And I'm sure as Hell it does, but it all makes good sense to me. You got that?

• Howard Hughes : You see that, Mr. Dietrich? You are looking at the largest private air force in the entire world. What do you think of that, now?

  Noah Dietrich : It's your money.

• Howard Hughes : Start 'em up!

• Frank : You may be directing this movie, Howard, but what you're asking, we can't do!

  Howard Hughes : Don't tell me I can't do it. Don't tell me it can't be done.

• Howard Hughes : Now, you made, what, $5,200 a year at your last job? I'll pay you 10,000.

  Noah Dietrich : I guess I'll be working twice as hard.

  Howard Hughes : Now you'll be working four times as hard. I just got you at half price, Mr. Dietrich.

• Louis B. Mayer : Howard, let me give you a little advice, huh? Why don't you take your oil money...

  Howard Hughes : Drill bits.

  Louis B. Mayer : All right, take your drill-bit money and why don't you put it in the bank. Because, if you continue making the movie the way you are, there isn't gonna be a distributor who will want to distribute it, you're not going to find anybody who wants to see the movie, and you're not gonna have any more oil money. So, welcome to Hollywood.

• Errol Flynn : You must all come sailing with me. Catalina, this weekend. What do you say?

  Howard Hughes : Yeah, Catalina. Sounds grand. Yeah.

  Errol Flynn : I've even managed to coax the luscious Miss De Havilland and her equally luscious sister to accompany me. Though I fear their mother will insist on coming along, to preserve their questionable virtue. We shall assault these twin monuments of pristine Britannic beauty nonetheless! What do you say?

• Katharine Hepburn : Do you like the theater?

  Howard Hughes : No.

  Katharine Hepburn : Oh, I adore the theater! Only alive on-stage. I'll teach you. We'll see some lbsen. If the Republicans haven't outlawed him by now. You're not a Republican, are you? I couldn't abide that.

• Katharine Hepburn : How did you vote in '32 ?

  Howard Hughes : Well, I didn't.

  Katharine Hepburn : You must! It's your *sacred* franchise.

• Howard Hughes : I don't wanna get into this if your Board doesn't have the balls for it.

• Howard Hughes : You cannot imagine what it was like, Katie. You cannot imagine the speed! She was like a winged bullet up there.

  Katharine Hepburn : What did she make?

  Howard Hughes : Oh, around, eh, 352.

  Katharine Hepburn : You did it!

  Howard Hughes : [pointing his finger to himself]  Fastest man on the planet.

  Katharine Hepburn : Hot dog! I'm so proud of you.

• Howard Hughes : I gotta go. If you'll excuse us, we have - we have to be somewhere.

  Errol Flynn : You are somewhere, Howard, you madman.

  Howard Hughes : Somewhere else. Excuse us.

• Howard Hughes : My decorator picked out the wallpaper and such. He's queer as a bedbug. But, I just hate this room. Gives me the willies. Like I'm about to be swallowed up by the latest issue of "Town & Country".

• Howard Hughes : The situation here revolves around Miss Russell's mammaries. Mr. Breen feels that they are too prominent, yes? More prominent than other mammaries have been up on the screen? Well, I hope to dispel that notion.

  [walks around the room removing the covers over poster-sized photographs cropped to reveal the low necklined, cleavaged revealing chests of female movie stars] 

  Howard Hughes : Jean Harlow. Ann Sheridan. Irene Dunne. Claudette Colbert. Rita Hayworth. Betty Grable. And the lovely Miss Jane Russell. Now, all these shots, save for Miss Russell, were enlarged from pictures that received Mr. Breen's seal of approval. Now, as you've probably noticed by now, they all contain - mammaries.

• Howard Hughes : Take a look. The XF-11 reconnaissance flier. Spy plane, really. Designed every inch of her myself. She's got a top speed of 450 - which means she can outrun anything they throw against her. After the Japs stole my H-1 design for their goddamn Zeros, I figured I needed to do them one better. Yeah, she's my Buck Rogers ship.

• Katharine Hepburn : Don't you see how this demeans me?

  Howard Hughes : Since when do you care about scandal rags, huh?

  Katharine Hepburn : Every time there's a picture of you with another woman, it's a slap in the face. Don't you understand that?

  Howard Hughes : Well, that's overstating it, just a bit, don't you think?

  Katharine Hepburn : Joan Crawford, Ginger Rogers, Linda Darnell, Joan Fontaine, and now Bette Davis, for God's sake!

  Howard Hughes : Look, they're Cracker Jack candy, honey. They don't mean anything to me.

  Katharine Hepburn : Oh, very nice.

• Howard Hughes : Katie, I don't understand. You're like a different person in there.

  Katharine Hepburn : Oh, they just expect me to be a certain way. There's only one real Kate, and that's your Kate.

• Howard Hughes : Put a team of investigators on Senator Brewster. I need to know *everything* there is about that shit bag. Where he goes, what he says, and who he screws. Get into it, right now!

• Howard Hughes : I need those suits first thing tomorrow. All right?

  Noah Dietrich : All right.

  Howard Hughes : Wait. Wait. Did I say Penney's or Woolworth's?

  Noah Dietrich : Penney's.

  Howard Hughes : Better make it Sears.

• Howard Hughes : It's a Kashmiri sapphire. Best in the world! I had my boys all over the damn globe looking for this.

  Ava Gardner : Why?

  Howard Hughes : Because. Look. It matches your eyes.

  Ava Gardner : I am not for sale.

  Howard Hughes : For chrissakes, Ava, it's just a present.

  Ava Gardner : You can't buy me, Howard, so stop trying. Don't buy me any more diamonds or sapphires or any other goddamn thing. You can buy me dinner. How about that?

  Howard Hughes : Jesus, Ava.

• Howard Hughes : Look, honey, I'll have them take all the bugs out. You just have to understand that I need to know where you are.

  Ava Gardner : Why?

  Howard Hughes : Because I worry about you, that's why!

  Ava Gardner : Bullshit! What do you mean, "all the bugs"? What do you mean, "all the bugs"?

  Howard Hughes : There's more.

  Ava Gardner : How many?

  Howard Hughes : I don't know, twelve. Twelve, maybe, and on the telephones.

  Ava Gardner : Oh, Christ, Howard, on the telephone?

• Glenn Odekirk : [on the radio before Howard's test flight piloting the Hughes XF-11 aircraft]  How's she sound, Howard?

  Howard Hughes : She's whispering to me, buddy.

  Glenn Odekirk : All right. Make her sing.

• Ava Gardner : Under my bed! You put a goddamn microphone under my bed!

  Howard Hughes : Now, listen to me. I am concerned about you, baby. I just wanna make sure you're okay. That's all.

  Ava Gardner : And who is in that car? That goddamn car's been with me 24 hours a day.

  Howard Hughes : That car is for your protection!

  Ava Gardner : The only one I need protection from is you - you sick bastard!

• Howard Hughes : All right, listen, boys. Something new. Jet airplanes. You know about jets?

  Noah Dietrich : No, but it sounds expensive.

  Howard Hughes : Oh, it will be, but we gotta get started.

• Ava Gardner : Lots of shopping in Paris.

  Howard Hughes : I'll buy you anything you want.

  Ava Gardner : You can buy me dinner. How about that?

  Howard Hughes : Dinner, then. We got a date?

  Ava Gardner : Okay, baby, you got a date.

• Howard Hughes : Whoever can start utilizing jet technology on commercial airliners is gonna win all the marbles. You understand?