The Aviator (2004)

John C. Reilly: Noah Dietrich

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Quotes 

• Doctor : [after detailing Hughes's terrible injuries in the plane crash]  He's getting blood transfusions now, but, uh...

  Noah Dietrich : Whose blood?

  Doctor : I'm sorry?

  Noah Dietrich : Whose blood?

  Doctor : From our stock.

  Noah Dietrich : Oh, he's not gonna like that.

  Doctor : Mr. Dietrich... I doubt he's ever gonna like or dislike anything again. I'm terribly sorry.

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

  Noah Dietrich : Everybody works for you, Howard.

• Noah Dietrich : Get a doctor! No one sees him like this!

• 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?

• Noah Dietrich : You've just placed the largest order for aircraft in the history of the United States, Howard! I've got a bill here from Lockheed-Martin for forty million dollars! Do you think I've got that just sitting around in petty cash?

• 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.

• [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 : 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 : 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.

• 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.

• Noah Dietrich : I've seen the books. I'm telling it to you straight. I'm not just crying wolf this time. We're in serious trouble. You've gotta make a choice. You wanna be bankrupted by the big plane - or by the big airline?

• 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.