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'Big' Bill Shelly: Hey, Bertha!
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Boxcar Bertha: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
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Boxcar Bertha: I want somethin' I ain't ever had.
'Big' Bill Shelly: How you gonna get that?
Boxcar Bertha: Guts and luck.
'Big' Bill Shelly: Luck! Hell, luck is bein' a Vanderbilt or a Carnegie.
Boxcar Bertha: Just grabbin' somethin' good when it comes by.
'Big' Bill Shelly: Sure, enough, honey.
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'Big' Bill Shelly: Which way are you headed?
Boxcar Bertha: I don't know.
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Boxcar Bertha: Bill, I wanna thank you. You're a real straight shooter.
'Big' Bill Shelly: Hey, whoa, honey, I'm not that straight shooter.
Boxcar Bertha: Huh?
'Big' Bill Shelly: I mean, you ain't even seen me shoot.
Boxcar Bertha: Huh?
'Big' Bill Shelly: I'll at least light a fire for you. You probably don't even have any matches. Do you?
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Mr. Mendes, Gambler: Everybody's strikin'. East coast. West coast. What happens if everybody strikes? Firemen. Police. You know what that means? Anarchy. Chaos. We got a socialist people goin' on now. We got Reds comin' in. Reds around us. Reds in Washington goin' down. What's going to happen?
Boxcar Bertha: What are these Reds? That's all I ever hear about is Reds.
Mr. Mendes, Gambler: Big Bill Shelly, he's a Red.
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Mr. Mendes, Gambler: You're pretty. Very pretty. You have a remarkable figure. Quite - full.
Boxcar Bertha: Thank you.
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Rake Brown: Hey, who is that? Hey, what is this?
Boxcar Bertha: [Cradled in Bill's arms] This is Bill. I've known him awhile.
Rake Brown: Well, you've known me awhile, too, Toots.
Boxcar Bertha: It's not the same. Not at all.
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Sheriff: Harvey, who is that fella son of a bitch?
Harvey Hall: How's that Sheriff? I mean, which son of a bitch?
Sheriff: You know the one I mean. The one over there shaking hands with that nigger.
Harvey Hall: That's Big Bill Shelly, notorious Bolshevik. We drug him in last evening.
Sheriff: Well, I don't know about no Bolshevik, But I know, sure enough, he's a nigger lover. Harvey, go over there and make a nigger outta that white one.
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Harvey Hall: She's got her skirt up, somewheres around her chin. I got a clear view up to the ol' kazoo. I finally get her home and she says, I swear to God, she says, "Deputy, I don't know how to thank you." And I says, "Why, honey, I believe you do!" So, I climb in the back seat, their seat, and she lies back, she puts her legs up, and she acts just like she was born to do it.
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Harvey Hall: Can I be of service, ma'am?
Boxcar Bertha: Oh, shit, yes! I just can't figure out how to put that thing on that thing.
Harvey Hall: Well, honey, just leave it to Harvey.
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Harvey Hall: Where you goin' little lady?
Boxcar Bertha: Ah, to Africa.
Harvey Hall: Africa?
Boxcar Bertha: I'm a missionary. I've dedicated my life to the black heathen.
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Rake Brown: [Snickers, reading a newspaper article] Listen to this, "The notorious labor radical and Bolshivek spy, Big Bill Shelly, along with certain of his desperate confederates, broke out of Shelby County Penal Farm, assaulting a guard."
'Big' Bill Shelly: What's so funny about that?
Rake Brown: I was laughing at the spy part. You don't look like no spy to me. I always thought they wear glasses.
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Rake Brown: [Reading a newspaper article] "All other escapees, have been returned to custody, except for a negro." That's probably you, Von.
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Joe Cox: Listen, did anyone know you were comin' up this way?
'Big' Bill Shelly: Hell no.
[Sarcastically]
'Big' Bill Shelly: Just-just my police escort. Didn't you hear the sirens?
Joe Cox: Now, don't come on smart with me, boy. They got a price on your head. You and them nuts you busted out with! Whores and niggers, my God, ain't that a nice image for unionism?
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Boxcar Bertha: I'd do anything you want. Wanna quit, we'll quit. We'll go away.
'Big' Bill Shelly: I ain't a quitter. If you wanna leave, there are no chains on you, honey.
Boxcar Bertha: You dumb.
'Big' Bill Shelly: What do you mean?
Boxcar Bertha: I ain't leavin'.
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H. Buckram Sartoris: Yes, the Reader Railroad's seen a great deal these days. Woes, strikes, and, now, the indignity of it all, gangs of Communists, hoes - pardon me, ma'am - and niggers.
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Brothel Client: If I give you, eh, fifteen dollars, can I stay? I don't wanna sleep alone tonight.
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Boxcar Bertha: It looks like it's really over for you now, huh?
'Big' Bill Shelly: Hell no. Until I'm dead.
Boxcar Bertha: You don't have to rush it.
'Big' Bill Shelly: It's appointed, each man to die. Judgement
Boxcar Bertha: You don't have to rush it.
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Boxcar Bertha: [Final words] No! Don't take him! You can't take him. Can't take him. Stop it! Don't take him. Don't - take him! No! - No! - No!
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'Big' Bill Shelly: Don't believe anything the cops tell ya... even if its something good.
Boxcar Bertha Quotes
Extended Reading
