The Captain's Paradise (1953)

Alec Guinness: Captain Henry St. James

Photos 

Quotes 

• Prof. Killick : [With Capt. St. James and others at table in the ship's dining room]  Captain, the trouble with the human race is, that it's entirely sub-human.

  Capt. Henry St. James : There, Professor, I must raise a small cry of protest.

  Prof. Killick : I ignore it. Mankind has consistently misused science, ever since Prometheus brought down fire from Heaven.

  Capt. Henry St. James : In my opinion... I was just going to say, that the only hope for civilization...

  Prof. Killick : [Interrupting]  There isn't any!

  Capt. Henry St. James : ...is that every device of science - radio, television, all of them - shall be used to show one half of the world how the other lives.

  Mr. Wheeler : Well put, Captain.

  Capt. Henry St. James : Within reason, of course...

• Chief Officer Ricco : Mrs. 'Gibraltar' St. James: she's in there.

  Capt. Henry St. James : I know.

  Chief Officer Ricco : Madame 'Kalik' St. James: she's also in there.

  Capt. Henry St. James : I'm quite aware of the fact.

  Chief Officer Ricco : Then what do we do?

  Capt. Henry St. James : In the words of a famous English statesman, "We cultivate the faculty of patient expectancy." We wait and see.

• Maud St. James : [delighted with her new vacuum cleaner]  When you go off on your old ship tomorrow, I'm going to plug this in and give this house the biggest spring cleaning it's ever had.

  Capt. Henry St. James : That's the girl! Man toils and women spins.

• Capt. Henry St. James : [referring to his two wives]  That, Rico, is my solution to man's happiness on Earth. Two happy women, each in their way perfect, and in between the company of men, the clash of intellects to stimulate the mind.

• Capt. Henry St. James : Keep an eye on them. They're a wicked lot.

• Capt. Henry St. James : [On the bridge, musing out loud to no one in particular]  'He that would enter paradise must have a golden key.'

  Chief Officer Ricco : [Overhearing]  You said something about a key, captain...

  Capt. Henry St. James : I was merely quoting, Ricco, an old proverb.

• Capt. Henry St. James : [Greeting Susan Dailey and Daphne Bligh at table in the ship's dining room]  Good evening. I hope you're enjoying your trip... I can thoroughly recommend the Brown Windsor Soup.