The Great Bank Robbery (1969)

Zero Mostel: Rev. Pious Blue

Photos 

Quotes 

• Sister Lyda Kebanov - Forger : Sister Lyda's ass is draggin'.

  Rev. Pious Blue : So is the Rev. Pious Blue's.

• Rev. Pious Blue : The Council hierarchy was most anxious that you leave for Samoa at once. Conditions are frightful. Natives gone wild - and sodden with wine. Women as naked as leaves in a hurricane.

  Rev. Simms : Well, why would the Council send me?

  Rev. Pious Blue : Because your lord hath said to my lord, Nebuchadnezzar hath his concubine. Forbidden swarms of locusts. Hebrews 40, verse 18.

  Rev. Simms : Hebrews 40? There are no 40 chapters in Hebrews.

  Rev. Pious Blue : And they said he wasn't up on scriptures. You have passed the test, my son. Good luck in Samoa. Giddy-up! Yah!

• Rev. Pious Blue : Ah, praise is more meaningful, in deed, when it comes from a woman of unsurpassed beauty. Would you like me to come over tonight and help you put up your preserves?

  Mrs. Applebee : [giggles]  Oh, Rev. Blue.

• Rev. Pious Blue : I want you all to meet Lilac Bailey, a painter whose pictures have tones of a Rembrandt, the brushstrokes of a Rembrandt, and usually the signature of a Rembrandt.

• Rev. Pious Blue : Brethren, my text for today is from the Book of Numbers, Chapter 22, Verse 1 thru 20. And begins with the words: Balam had an ass. And Balam rose up and saddled his ass and rode away. And God was angry. The ass saw the angel of the Lord standing out in the road. The ass rode quickly around him and into a field. And Balam smote his ass! The ass then saw the angel of the Lord again and fell down. And Balam smote his ass once more! And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and the ass said, "Balam, why dost thou smite me?" And Balam said to his ass, "Because thou art my ass and thou hast mocked me." And the angel of the Lord said, "Balam, wherefore hast thou smitten so thy ass? Behold, I came here to witness the, for thy way is most perverse." And Balam repented and cried out, "I rue that I ever smote my ass! Yes, I have sinned." Brethren, all of us are sinners. Each one of us here his smitted his ass. We are unrighteous. The fires of Hell are being stoked for the man who would take what is his neighbors. Brethren, repent. Do not smite your asses!

• Rev. Pious Blue : [singing]  You can be a rainbow rider, A rainbow rider, I know your pride is 10 feet wide, But, that ol' sky is wider, Riding rainbows can make your cares seem small, And it sure beats beatin' your head against the wall...

• Brother Jordan Cass - Tunneling : Dismas is beginning to crack with too much confinement. Says he hears voices in the tunnel.

  Rev. Pious Blue : There's nothing odd about that. It's a common phenomenon. Joan of Arc heard voices.

  Brother Jordan Cass - Tunneling : Chinese?

  Rev. Pious Blue : No, I think French.

• Rev. Pious Blue : Pump him for information.

  Sister Lyda Kebanov - Forger : And what if he attacks me?

  Rev. Pious Blue : That's a risk - he'll have to take.

• Rev. Pious Blue : What are you eating?

  Sister Lyda Kebanov - Forger : It's candy! It's Indian candy. I got it from a real fine Indian gentleman.

  Rev. Pious Blue : An Indian gentleman? Do you know what that is?

  Jeb : What is it?

  Rev. Pious Blue : Peyote. An Indian drug made out of cactus. That stuff's dangerous.

  Jeb : Poor baby.

• Rev. Pious Blue : Are we still headed for California?

  The Great Gregory - Balloonist : Would you settle for Oklahoma?