Who'll Stop the Rain (1978)

Michael Moriarty: John Converse

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Quotes 

• John Converse : You see, in a world where elephants are pursued by flying men, people are just naturally going to want to get high.

• John Converse : I've been waiting all my life to fuck up like this.

  Bender : Well, you finally made the big time.

• John Converse : I can't believe we did this.

  Bender : Sense of unreality is not a legal defence.

• John Converse : [about his wife]  If you really want to know, I think she's pretty moral, basically.

  Antheil : "Pretty moral, basically"? Oh, Jesus. What a couple of yo-yo's.

• John Converse : What about Danskin. He want a job with the agency, too?

  Smitty : He's a brute, man. A psycho. Dude like that, he can't deal with the public.

• Antheil : I was just reading your play. I liked a lot of it. I don't like the main character, though. This Marine. Sounds like a real jellyfish. I guess you're supposed to like him because he's against the Marine Corps. Is that it?

  John Converse : Something like that.

  Antheil : Why doesn't he *do* something? I mean, go over the hill, refuse an order. I couldn't sympathize with a character like that.

  John Converse : Not everyone did.

  Antheil : The Marine in the play, that supposed to be you?

  John Converse : No.

  Antheil : Maybe a little?

  John Converse : Maybe on some level.

  Antheil : Um-hmn. You know what I think, "on some level"? I think you're the kind of wise cocksucker that writes a tear-jerk play against the Marines and then turns around and smuggles a shitload of heroin into this country.

• Danskin : [Converse is singing]  Shut up! What the hell is the matter with you?

  John Converse : I don't know. But pretty soon I'm either going to be away from you, or dead. And either way, it's fine with me.

  Danskin : You want odds?

  John Converse : On what?

  Danskin : On dead?

• John Converse : [about Vietnam]  Don't they say this is where everybody finds out who they are?

  Ray Hicks : Yeah? What a bummer for the gooks.

• John Converse : Why'd you send her to Canada?

  Bender : I sent her there because her parents are criminals.

• Ray Hicks : That head guy. Who is he?

  John Converse : He's some kind of cop. He's not straight.

  Ray Hicks : No shit.

• Antheil : You know, our little friend in Saigon told me you were nuts... but she didn't tell me the half of it.

  John Converse : "Our little friend in Saigon"?

  Antheil : Yeah, Charmian. We go back a long way. Even a dipstick like you should have figured that out.

• John Converse : [as Danskin retches with exhaustion]  You okay?

  Danskin : I could beat you to death, you know that?

  John Converse : Absolutely!

• John Converse : [realizing his wife is a drug addict]  When did you start?

  Marge Converse : It's *your* wonderful smack.

• Charmian : What are you going to do with your money, Johnny? Such a dedicated non-swinger as you are.

  John Converse : I don't know.

  Charmian : [teasingly laughing]  Shit, you don't know, do you? You just know you want it, right?

  John Converse : [emoting]  "I desire to serve God and to grow rich like all men."

  Charmian : Who said that?

  John Converse : Oh, I don't know. Some great hustler of the past.

• Antheil : You know what I think, on some level? I think you're the kinda' wise cocksucker that writes a tear-jerk play against the Marines and then smuggles a shitload of heroin into this country.

  John Converse : I deny that. And no more literary conversation until I call my lawyer.

  Antheil : You mean Ben Odell? No Commie lawyer's gonna' help you now.

• [last lines] 

  John Converse : If we stay here with Ray, we'll be just as dead as he is.