Magnet of Doom (1963)

Charles Vanel: Dieudonné Ferchaux

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Quotes 

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Here's the whole story. I killed three black men 30 years ago as I tried to rejoin my brother's caravan, 250 miles away. These three black men incited rebellion among the porters and were preparing to kill me purely and simply to steal my food and supplies. I lit a stick of dynamite and threw it in their faces. In my shoes, would any of you have done otherwise?

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : You are a minority and have no right to interfere with my direction.

  Board Member : That's just it. This situation gives us the legal right to nominate an interim administrator. You're no longer in Africa. In France, laws protect the weak. The Napoleonic Code gives us the right...

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : You have no rights.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : I'm a skeptic by nature. I don't believe a word you said. But I don't care. You're hired. Morel handles business for me and is a real shyster. But I don't care. He has an honest face. Faces are important. I like yours. What did you say your name was?

  Michel Maudet : Michel Maudet.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : They're all the same. When thy have to give back the money you've entrusted to them, it's like ripping out their hearts. Bankers are such hypocrites.

  Michel Maudet : What about you? You were a banker in Paris.

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : So what? I was like them.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Maudet, if you ever become rich - if you ever become rich, never trust bankers. Safe in one bank, account in another. It's an ironclad rule. Remember that.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : There are three kinds of men.

  Michel Maudet : Which are?

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : Sheep, leopards and jackals.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Pop psychology is all a banker has to know which clients to trust.

• Michel Maudet : Couldn't we have settled in a less rotten country?

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : Not yet. We'll see about that later. I can't leave this country until I've gotten my money from my New York account.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Don't talk to me that way. You take advantage of my affection for you.

  Michel Maudet : Your affection consists of chaining me up in a corner.

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : Why say such things?

  Michel Maudet : Because it's the truth and you know it.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : I'm old, so when I get used to something, it's hard for me to lose it.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Did you find what you were looking for out there?

  Michel Maudet : Perhaps.

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : Now we're used to each other. Our relationship, our fights, are like those of an old couple who are no longer in love but who can't live without each other.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Last night, you tasted freedom, Michel. And reluctantly, I tasted solitude.

• Dieudonné Ferchaux : Not you!

  Michel Maudet : Why not me, after all? Isn't it the logical ending?

  Dieudonné Ferchaux : Brutus kills Caesar. Not Brutus, but Maudet.

  Michel Maudet : And you, old fool, you still think you're Caesar?