Tucker: The Man and His Dream Movie Quotes
Preston Tucker
[making his closing arguments to the jury]
... When I was a boy, I used to, uh... I used to read all about Edison, and the Wright brothers... Mr. Ford, they were, they were my heroes... 'rags to riches' that's not just the name of a book; that's, what this country was all about!... We invented the free enterprise system, where anybody, no matter who he was, where he came from, what class he belonged to... If he came up with a better idea, about ANYTHING, there's no limit to how far he could go... I grew up a generation too late I guess because now the way the system works... The loner; the dreamer; the CRACKPOT, who, comes up with some CRAZY IDEA that everybody LAUGHS at, that LATER, turns out to REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD... HE'S SQUASHED, FROM ABOVE, BEFORE HE EVEN GETS HIS HEAD OUT OF THE WATER, BECAUSE THE BUREAUCRATS, THEY'D RATHER KILL A NEW IDEA THAN LET IT ROCK THE BOAT!... IF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WERE ALIVE TODAY, HE'D BE THROWN IN JAIL FOR SAILING A KITE WITHOUT A LICENSE!
[jury laughs]
Preston Tucker
... It's true!... We're all puffed up with ourselves now because we invented *the bomb*... Dropped the... Beat the daylights out of the Japanese; the Nazis... But if 'big business' closes the door on THE LITTLE GUY WITH A NEW IDEA, WE'RE NOT ONLY CLOSING THE DOOR ON PROGRESS, BUT WE'RE SABOTAGING EVERYTHING THAT WE FOUGHT FOR!... EVERYTHING THAT THE COUNTRY STANDS FOR! And one day, we're gonna find ourselves at the bottom of the heap, instead of king of the hill, having no idea how we got there; buying our radios and our cars from our former enemies!... I don't believe that's gonna happen; I *can't* believe it, cuz... if I ever, stop believing in plain old common horse-sense of the American people... there's no way I could get out of bed in the morning... Thank you.
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Abe
[to Tucker]
... When I was a little kid, maybe five years old, in the old country, my mother used to say to me; she'd warn me, she'd say, 'Don't get too close to people. You'll catch their dreams... '... Years later, I realized I misunderstood her... 'Germs', she said, not 'dreams', 'You'll catch their *germs*'...
[they both laugh]
Abe
I want you to know something, Tucker. I went into business with you for one reason - to make money. That's all... How was I to know...
[chokes up, head down]
Abe
... if I got too close, I'd catch your dreams...
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Abe
[after the trial outside the courthouse, with lots of spectators admiring Tucker's cars]
They *love* the cars, the people! Drives me crazy, that the motor company's dead... They'll never be made!
Preston Tucker
We made 'em.
Abe
Fifty cars...
Preston Tucker
Aw, what's the difference - fifty or fifty million. That's only machinery!... It's the *idea* that counts, Abe... The dream...
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[Closing title card]
[Closing title card]
: Although only fifty Tuckers were ever produced, forty six of them are still road worthy and in use today. Tucker's innovations of aerodynamic styling, padded dash, pop out windows, seat belts, fuel injection and disc brakes were slowly adopted by Detroit and are found in the cars you are driving now. Preston Tucker died of an illness six years after the trial, but his ideas will live forever.
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Preston Tucker
"Big ships fine," Confucius say. "Rowboats long in tooth, make big noise, go nowhere."
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Abe
Cars? You brought me here for cars?
Preston Tucker
[laughs, indicates a drawing]
Does that look like a car to you? THAT, is a gold mine I'm handing you on a silver platter.
Abe
Forget it; you got no chance.
Preston Tucker
Now how can you say that? You haven't even heard my ideas yet.
Abe
Ideas? Einstein's in the idea business; he makes up numbers so high only dogs can hear them. But what does it cost him? a piece of paper, a couple of pencils.
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Noble
I wondered why you do that with your nose?
Abe
What with my nose?
Noble
Move it like a rabbit.
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Preston Tucker
What do you want? A Job?
Alex Tremulis
Yes, sir.
Preston Tucker
You got it.
Alex Tremulis
In the design department?
Preston Tucker
Kid, you are the design department.
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Preston Tucker
Abe. Gee I appreciate you stopping by. How long you got between trains?
Abe
You like this? living in the middle of nowhere? Cupa coffee, 2, 3 in the morning, you could die first.
Preston Tucker
Or you could go into the kitchen and make some
Abe
Who needs coffee, 2 in the morning? You sit down, read the paper, chew the fat with the waitress. Here, you look around, there's nothin' but scenery
Preston Tucker
I always thought we're the scenery. How do you like your coffee?
Abe
In the city.
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Bennington
Mr. Tucker. I've always admired innovative men who are willing to take risks. You know, I myself introduced the nylon seat covers in our new line.
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Preston Tucker
Take it easy, kid. Life's full of surprises.
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Preston Tucker
These fellas are the best damn body knockers in the business.
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Preston Tucker
Who wants you to become President of the United States?
Junior
I thought you did.
Preston Tucker
As far as I'm concerned, the two crummiest things a person can be are a lawyer or a politician. Why would I want you to be the President of the United States, for God's sake? Most of them are both.
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Bennington
[to Preston, pointing at a photograph of Preston]
Now, this smile here, this is my downfall. The real you. The canary who ate the cat.
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Preston Tucker
It's advertising. You're not supposed to believe it. I mean, if you're selling candy, what do you advertise, it rots your teeth out?
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Preston Tucker
When you spot trouble, you got to nip it in the bud.
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Sen. Homer Ferguson
Quite an idea of yours, selling dealerships for cars that don't exist.
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Bennington
Don't you give me that crooked little smile you stole from Clark Gable.
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Preston Tucker
What's all this cloak and dagger business now?
Abe
Your office is wired. The board room, the whole plant, even washrooms.
Preston Tucker
What?
Abe
Ever since you road-tested the new car, 40 G-men have been following you around the clock.
Preston Tucker
What for?
Abe
You made the car too good.
Preston Tucker
Well, that's the whole idea isn't it - to build a better mousetrap.
Abe
Not if you're the mouse.
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Preston Tucker
Seat belts? How can you object to seat belts?
Bennington
Our marketing department says they imply the cars are unsafe.
Preston Tucker
People are unsafe.
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Howard Hughes
This prick, Homer Ferguson, he's after me, too. Subpoenaed me for a congressional investigation - which either I show up for, in person, or he's going to send me to jail. I'm already in jail.
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Sen. Homer Ferguson
The Big Three should be indicted for manslaughter, huh? Funny line.
[exits]
Preston Tucker
What was that all about? Did he say anything? What'd he say?
Abe
He said stay out of the car business or he'll cut your nuggies off.
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Preston Tucker
Nothing you say makes any sense. How come I always know what you mean?
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Vera
If they can make headlines with lies, we can make bigger headlines with the truth.
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Preston Tucker
Well, that's something I thought I'd never live to see: a politician with his hands in his own pockets.
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Abe
Captains go down with their ships, not businessmen.
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Marilyn Lee
Why would they do something so stupid like that if they know we can prove it's a lie?
Preston Tucker
Sweetie, people believe what they read in the paper, even if they don't believe it. Which doesn't make any sense, right? But, if enough headlines say that I'm a crook, well that's the end of me and the car.
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Abe
He's still a Jap.
Preston Tucker
Hey, Jimmy and me, we've been together 15 years. I've got him in my custody to work on the turrets. But his mother, his father, his 12-year-old sister, they're in a swell relocation camp in Colorado. If that makes you feel any better.
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Abe
Hey, didn't they put the Japs in camps someplace?
Preston Tucker
He's not a Jap. He's an engineer.
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Abe
We're being set up for something, believe me. We got no chance.
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[first lines]
Narrator
Chances are you've never heard of Preston Thomas Tucker: dreamer, inventor, visionary, a man ahead of his time.
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Abe
Congratulations. They hate you like poison and so do I.
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Abe
We haven't sold enough stock to buy a dead herring.
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[repeated line]
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Preston Tucker
This is history in the making.
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Abe
I got the best press agent in the business on the phone. To kick off the sale of the stock, he wants to unveil the car in the street outside the Stock Exchange, with a 100 piece band, the Rockettes, enough razzmatazz to make every investor in the country get down on his knees and *beg* to buy those shares
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Preston Tucker
Sweetheart, I had them eating out of my hand. By the time I left, I could've asked for the state of California and gotten Arkansas to boot.
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Preston Tucker
We have shatterproof glass. We also have seat belts. Now, why? Tell me why, gentlemen, has the Big Three in Detroit been allowed to make billions of dollars without spending one dime on safety? What I know, what you know, what the public knows, is that they don't give a damn about people. All they care about is profits. Let me tell you something, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, the entire automobile industry is guilty of criminal negligence. And if it were up to me, they'd be tried and convicted of manslaughter.
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