The Woman on the Beach (1947)

Joan Bennett: Peggy

Quotes 

• Tod : Peggy, did it ever occur to you that to me you'll always be young and beautiful? No matter how old you grow - I'll always remember you as you were the last day I saw you - young, beautiful, bright, exciting. No one who can see can say that to you. - - Peg, you're so beautiful... so beautiful outside, so rotten inside.

  Peggy : You're no angel.

  Tod : No. I guess we're two of a kind.

• Scott : Give in? What happens to you?

  Peggy : You find a kind of peace. You don't care anymore.

• Tod : Nice young fellow. Don't you think so?

  Peggy : Yes, he is. I like him.

  Tod : A little dull though.

  Peggy : Strong outdoor type.

  Tod : You like that, don't you Peg? You always admired virility.

• Peggy : We used to - drink a lot. We lived in a sort of strange state of excitement, always off balance, high pitched, tense, always just at the breaking point.

• Scott : Answer me Peggy, was there anything between you and Bill?

  Peggy : Oh, for heaven's sake, Scott, what of it? You're not my husband.

  Scott : Peggy, you're nothing but a...

  Peggy : Go on. Say it - I'm a tramp. You're just finding that out?

• Peggy : I was so proud of you: the great Tod Butler - fiery American painter who approached his canvas' like a prizefighter.

• Peggy : [to Scott, who's clutching a dead man's life jacket he has found]  If you're so afraid about ghosts, Lieutenant, what about that jacket you're holding?

• Scott : What do you mean about - ghosts?

  Peggy : I was merely suggesting you might be afraid of them.

• Peggy : You even looked at me as if I were a ghost.

  Scott : Well, what are you, anyway?

• Scott : The hard thing, I guess, is to - know yourself.

  Peggy : Yes, that is difficult. Anyway, what's the use?

• Scott : Do you love him?

  Peggy : Love him? I hate him.

• Scott : You're pretty well acquainted with this house, aren't you?

  Peggy : Oh, I've been here before. Such a lovely place - a canary and everything. So domestic and - so dull.

• Peggy : I wish I'd never heard of painting - or artists.

• Peggy : If you would sell the paintings, you wouldn't have to worry about writing.

  Tod : Peg, I've never been able to make you understand that those paintings are my eyes! Everything I saw in life, I set down on canvas. If I let them go I lose the last connection to the past - strong and alive.

• Tod : [dictating some text to Peggy, who is typing it out for him]  The theory that man is inherently good is bunk. Pure bunk. Each individual possesses a split personality, which...

  [pauses] 

  Tod : Oh, that's pretty dull stuff, isn't it?

  Peggy : Yes, it is.

  Tod : Thanks... That bad?

  Peggy : Mm-hmm.

  Tod : Oh, what's the use of kidding. I can't write.

• Peggy : Tod, please listen!

  Tod : I've listened to you enough. I listen to you tiptoeing in the dark, and sighing in your sleep. You think I need eyes to tell me you want to get rid of me? You murderous little sneak!

  Peggy : Tod...

  Tod : So, you wanna' be free? You'll get away when I choose to let you go! And I'm not ready yet - not quite!

• Peggy : Have you ever had everything and suddenly had nothing? Nothing but ghosts? Oh, why should I bore you with this.

  Scott : You're not! I think I understand. We're pretty much alike, aren't we?

  Peggy : Yes. Yes, perhaps we are.

  Scott : You're the first one who seems to know what I feel.