Quotes

The Last Express

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Tyler Whitney: [dream sequence] Why don't you make it sing?

[Cath walks up to Alexei's table]
Robert Cath: Mind if I join you?
Alexei Dolnikov: [reluctantly] Why not?
[Cath sits down. Alexei silently sips his soup]
Robert Cath: I didn't mean to scare you off.
Alexei Dolnikov: For me, a bowl of soup is enough. I can take no pleasure in food, while millions of my countrymen go without bread. Good day.
[Alexei gets up and stalks off, leaving a confused Cath]

Anna Wolff: Don't you care about Rasputin?
Robert Cath: [playfully] Oh, sure I do, I like it. Just when you think he's dead, he pops back up again... Good night, Miss Wolff.

George Abbot: The world is changing and one does need to choose sides, and sometimes things change so fast that its hard to tell one side from the other.

August Schmidt: [Cath is preparing to detach the Restaurant Car from the sleeping carriages] Now I see. You think you can hijack this train and get my merchandise with paying for it?
Robert Cath: [occurs if you don't read August's letter to Baron Unruh] Goodbye, August.
Robert Cath: [if you do...] August, let me tell you something: Faulein Wolff is a spy. Your friends back in Germany said you'd have to get caught smuggling arms.
August Schmidt: Fraulein Wolff, a spy? And me, August Schmidt, betrayed? This can not be!
August Schmidt: [as the cars slowly pull apart] Tyler Whitney! We will meet again!
Robert Cath: Oh and there's just one more thing: My name isn't Whitney, it's Cath. Robert Cath.
August Schmidt: [checking his right ear] WHAT?
Robert Cath: MY NAME IS ROBERT CATH!

[first lines]
Conductor #2: Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. The Orient Express is now departing for Strassburg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, and Constantinople. All passengers should be on board.

Madame Boutarel: [In French] Francois, get ready for dinner. My God, what's that floating in my cologne?
Francois Boutarel: [In French] It's Eugene. I had to embalm him before we left.
Madame Boutarel: Eugene?
Francois Boutarel: My praying mantis. He died.
Madame Boutarel: How horrible. You should have thrown him in the garden. Claude speak to him!
Monsieur Boutarel: [In French] Francois, you must not touch your mother's things or use them in your experiments. You did quite well however, to use the cologne. The alcohol does have a preservative effect.
Francois Boutarel: My scarab whistle died too, but he didn't fit in the bottle.
Madame Boutarel: Claude, you really must speak to him. This obsession with death, does it seem normal to you in a seven-year old boy?
Monsieur Boutarel: Why not? It is a natural process like any other.
Madame Boutarel: But a toy whistle, how can it die?
Francois Boutarel: It's dead!

Conductor #1: [Entire conversation is in French] René, you spend more time here than in your own car.
Conductor #2: I tell you, I have nothing to do. Number 9 is empty until Vienna... the harem is hiding and the eunuch will chop off my head if I go near them. I have read my magazine three times, and here I am.
Conductor #1: That's not a magazine you're reading. It has more pictures than text. That's no way to learn what's happening in the world.
Conductor #2: All right. For the return trip you can give me one of Mr. Jaures's pamphlets.
Conductor #1: Go ahead and laugh, but it's the Socialists who'll keep us out of war.
Conductor #2: I am not afraid of war. It is the Germans who want it, not us. But if they start...
Conductor #1: That's not the point. In modern warfare, nobody wins. Everyone loses. It's the military, the politicians, the industrialists of all countries who are bringing us to war. And it is us, the workers, the people, who will pay for it. As always.
Conductor #2: What are you saying? Are you a Socialist?
Conductor #1: I am a worker, like you. The only way to avoid war is to organize all the workers of Germany, France and England. We're the ones who will suffer. Not the politicians.
Conductor #2: Say what you want, but if they start we'll take back the Alsace. And the Lorraine!
Conductor #1: You still don't get it. Modern war isn't fought with swords anymore. It would be a massacre. This isn't 1870!
Conductor #2: Excuse me, I have work to do. But your ideas interest me. We'll continue our conversation later.

Robert Cath: Come in, make yourself comfortable. Why, thank you, Kahina. I think I will.
Kronos: Good morning, Mr. Cath. I hope you have good news for me today.
Robert Cath: That depends. Do you still want the Firebird?
Kronos: Do you have it?
Robert Cath: What happened to Tyler?
Kronos: The misadventures of Mr. Whitney and his colleagues are of no interest to me. Let us conclude this transaction quickly. We both have many other things to do. I with my collection and you with your travels and special interests. Your treatment of Vassili Alexandrovitch for example...
[Takes a pill and sniffs it]
Kronos: Datura stramonium. Very interesting.
Robert Cath: It's very simple.
Kronos: Simple to us perhaps. But few European doctors would have thought of it. Once in Nigeria... But I digress, do you have the Firebird?
Robert Cath: Not technically.
Kronos: Then I shall waste no more of your time. I shall look forward to our next meeting, Mr. Cath.

Kronos: [after their meeting, Cath eavesdrops on them] He knows nothing, it is as I thought. The Austrian woman has the Firebird.
Kahina: Forgive me, Your Excellency.
Kronos: I told you so last night. Why have you not searched her compartment?
Kahina: The compartment is guarded, Your Excellency. Day and night.
Kronos: Ah yes, the dog.
Kahina: I am not afraid, Your Excellency. But if I enter the compartment that dog will attack me. If Your Excellency wishes, of course...
Kronos: I understand, Kahina. Several hours remain before Vienna. I will arrange a convenient absence for Miss Wolff and this animal whose presence seems to make you so uneasy. Then, Kahina, you will find the Firebird.
Kahina: Yes, Your Excellency.

Sophie: [In French when Cath enters the smoking salon] Look at that handsome man who just came in.
Rebecca: [In English] Sophie!
Rebecca: [In French] Don't worry, he won't understand. He's an American. If we don't look at him, he'll never know were talking about him.
Rebecca: [In English] Good Lord.
Sophie: Isn't he impressive? He seems to have just come in from outside, not at all like a European. Jacket open, hair mussed...
Rebecca: [In English] And he could certainly use a wash.
Sophie: [In French] Listen, if you are not interested in small details, you'll never become a great writer. Look at his sad eyes. He could be a model for the hero of a novel.
Rebecca: Eww.

Anna Wolff: And you were with an English woman. Was she your wife?
August Schmidt: Um, yes, um. That is, eh... Ah, Miss Wolf, may I present my colleague from America, Mr. Tyler Whitney. Herr Whitney, Miss Anna Wolf.
Anna Wolff: I - I'm sorry, I didn't catch the name.
Robert Cath: Tyler Whitney, have we met before?
Anna Wolff: I seem to remember hearing of a Mr. Whitney years ago in New York. You were trying to raise money to start a revolution in Cuba, isn't that right?
Robert Cath: Mexico. And it wasn't me. It must've been some place else that we've met.
August Schmidt: Herr Whitney is well known as a champion of freedom and justice in countries other than his own. But please don't let us interrupt your dinner.
Anna Wolff: Not at all. You're both very kind. One does get so bored on these long journeys. Good evening.
August Schmidt: [In the smoking salon] A beautiful woman.
Robert Cath: Is she?
August Schmidt: And a brilliant performer. To look at her, you would never think she was Jewish. Until Munich, sir!

Alexei Dolnikov: [During a chess match, entire conversation is almost in Russian] Still as bold as ever, I see. A girl who plays chess like a man.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: Your move.
Alexei Dolnikov: Remarkable. A trick worthy of your grandfather.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: Why do you keep bringing up my grandfather? It's me you're playing with, not him.
Alexei Dolnikov: Yes, he taught you well.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: [In English] I've had other teachers since then, Alexei Sergeivitch. I'm not little girl anymore.
Alexei Dolnikov: [In English] No, you're not.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: [Russian resumes] Are you sure?
Alexei Dolnikov: Yes.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: Are you absolutely sure?
Alexei Dolnikov: Absolutely.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: If that's the way you want it... OH!
Alexei Dolnikov: That makes us even.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: You ought to be ashamed of yourself, winning with a dirty trick like that.
Alexei Dolnikov: A typical female reaction.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: Another game!
Alexei Dolnikov: [later] It's your move, miss.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: Check and mate... Aren't you ashamed? Letting a woman beat you so easily?
Alexei Dolnikov: I could have won easily if I hadn't moved my knight.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: [later] Why ever did you leave the University? You can't imagine the fuss they made at home.
Alexei Dolnikov: [In English after "talk"] At the University all they do is talk. Talk changes nothing. Words are lost in the air like the sound of church bells. A single deed is better propaganda than a thousand pamphlets.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: Those are very nice words. Your move.

Tatiana Obolenskaya: [conversation is in Russian] According to you, everything is bad. All you want to do is tear things down.
Alexei Dolnikov: When men like your grandfather have the power of life and death over millions of Russians, someone needs to bring them down.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: But it's incredible. You're obsessed with my grandfather! What has he done to you to make you hate him so?
Alexei Dolnikov: It's what he has done to Russia. To all of us. Do you remember what happened last winter in Litvov?
Alexei Dolnikov: [later] This talk of political parties is a puppet show by the ruling classes. All government is slavery. One kind is as bad as another.
Tatiana Obolenskaya: It's your move. Once you've torn everything down, I don't suppose you've thought of what you'll put in its place.
Alexei Dolnikov: There is no need to put anything in the place of tyranny. Once Property is abolished, all men will be free and equal. A new and peaceful society will establish itself naturally. It's still your move.

Anna Wolff: [if she catches Cath in her compartment before or after the concert] What are you doing here?
Robert Cath: Searching your compartment.
Anna Wolff: [crossing her arms] What did you expect to find?
Robert Cath: Something that used to belong to a friend of mine.
Anna Wolff: [points to the corridor] Get out!
Robert Cath: By the way, you play beautifully. Too bad you didn't stick to music.
[leaves]

Kronos: [In the smoking room, Tatiana, Alexei, Abbot and Cath turn their heads in silence to the arrival of Prince Kronos and Kahina who meets Anna Wolff and August Schmidt] Fraulein Wolff, it is a privilege to meet so talented artist. My name is Kronos.
Anna Wolff: Your Excellency, you do me a great honor.
Kronos: [sniff's Anna's left hand and sits down at her table] My car is equipped with a piano. I wonder if you would do me the favor of joining me in a duet. It will help pass the time on this rather long journey.
August Schmidt: What a splendid idea!
Anna Wolff: Shall we say... three o'clock?
Kronos: I shall count the minutes until then.
Kronos: [leaves] Good day.

Kronos: [Cath meets Kronos for the first time in his private car] What an unexpected pleasure Mr. Robert Cath.
Robert Cath: Usually, people call me Tyler Whitney.
Kronos: You should take care when choosing a name for yourself. Names have power. The most primitive cultures understood this. But of course, it will be as you prefer.
Robert Cath: Not everyone has the luxury of choosing his own name Mister...
Kronos: Kronos. Whether you are Cath or Whitney is a matter of indifference to me. I am prepared to continue the discussions begun by my agent in Paris. Provided that you have the piece of which you spoke.
Robert Cath: Is Kronos your first name or your last name?
Kronos: I HAVE NO TIME TO... continue these delightful discussions of names. I have brought with me a rather heavy briefcase. I would like to know now if the proposed exchange interests you and if you are capable of completing it.
Robert Cath: Not just at the moment, but I have hopes of being able to do so.
Kronos: In that case we have nothing further to discuss. I myself must leave the train in Vienna. In case we don't see each other again, I wish you a pleasant journey to Istanbul and continued success in evading the British and French authorities. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Cath. Kahina will show you out.

Conductor #1: [entire conversation is in French] So you're here to continue our conversation of last night?
Conductor #2: I've thought about it. And I found the contradiction in Mr. Jaures argument.
Conductor #1: Oh yes? Explain yourself.
Conductor #2: You say that if there's a war, it won't be Germany against France. It will be the workers against each other.
Conductor #1: Precisely.
Conductor #2: And if they mobilize we should call a strike.
Conductor #1: If they mobilize-yes.
Conductor #2: And in that way, there will be no war.
Conductor #1: Naturally, without the workers there can be no war. With no railroads, no factories...
Conductor #2: There's the hitch. If we go on strike but the Germans workers don't, what will happen then?
Conductor #1: Wait a moment!
Conductor #2: That's the problem. They will be in Paris in three days. And where will your Mr. Jaures be then? In Brussels.
Conductor #1: Wait! You always simplify things. Obviously, we're talking about an international movement.
Conductor #2: Well, that's that. Too bad Mr. Jaures didn't come. I would have enjoyed asking him the question in person.
Conductor #1: You poor fool! Even if you had dared...
Conductor #2: Admit it. I've won the argument.

Conductor #1: [if Cath tricks Conductor Coudert with ringing the bell in an empty compartment. His dialogue is in French] It's the conductor, Madame. Did you ring?
Conductor #1: [no response] Electricity! That's the future for you...

Conductor #1: [conversation is in French] You again?
Conductor #2: Every time I do the Paris-Constantinople I promise my wife I'll bring her back a piece of the East. Last time it was a copper bracelet. This time it looks like a postcard at best.
Conductor #1: No tips?
Conductor #2: The American is a big disappointment. And the Russian-forget him. Neither of them seem to appreciate the luxury of first-class travel. The German is usually a big spender, I've had him before. But this trip he's not in good form, he seems to have something on his mind.
Conductor #1: Maybe your luck will change. I think he's got his eye on the musical angle in compartment F, who's been serenading us so sweetly all morning. When a gentleman wants to impress a lady, he can be counted on to throw lots of money around.
Conductor #2: Oh well, if you're right, some of it will maybe land on me. Anyway, I'm pinning my hope on the harem's escort. You know who they belong to, don't you?
Conductor #1: I don't believe it!
Conductor #2: With someone like that, you never know. They treat you like dirt, spit in your face, threaten you and then a little gift at the end and you can retire to the Cote d'Azur.
Conductor #1: Not me. I've got my retirement all set up and it's not in France. 1914 is my last year in Europe.
Conductor #2: You can't wait, eh?
Conductor #1: If you could see the nice little house that's waiting for me in Algiers, you wouldn't miss Europe either. It's paradise if you know how to enjoy it.
Conductor #2: Ask the ladies in the last compartments.
Conductor #1: Careful, you don't want to jeopardize your reward at the end of the trip.
Conductor #2: Reward? The only reward I'll get from this guy is a sword in the belly! So long.
Conductor #1: See you later.

Francois Boutarel: [conversation is in French] There are pretty ladies in the first sleeping car. They gave me candy.
Madame Boutarel: François, I forbid you to have anything to do with them. Claude, speak to him!
Monsieur Boutarel: Why? He would do well to begin exposing himself to different cultural practices. After all, Masjid-Es-Suleiman is a Muslim town.
Madame Boutarel: And if they kidnap him, would that be a good learning experience for him?
Francois Boutarel: They took me into their bed, played with me and gave me candy.
Madame Boutarel: Claude!

Robert Cath: [Confronting Milos in the engine cab] You won't make it.
Milos: You are not a Slav, this I understand. But how can you help the Austrians?
Robert Cath: I'm not helping anybody, I have a ticket in my pocket to Constantinople and I'm not gonna waste it.
Milos: Is this a joke to you?
Robert Cath: Who killed Tyler?
Milos: Tyler gave his life for our freedom. And you, what do you believe in? You believe in nothing?
Anna Wolff: [shoots Milos dead and he falls off the train] Good, we're slowing down.
Anna Wolff: [to the engineer] You can stop shoveling now.

Anna Wolff: [smoking in the personnel compartment of the baggage car] It seems you'll make it to Constantinople after all. Congratulations, you've won... What about finding out who killed Tyler? Or have you forgotten about him?
Robert Cath: Maybe it was one of the Serbs. Maybe Mahmoud... what difference does it make? They're all dead. I can't help Tyler, I can't help anyone. You were right, I never should have gotten mixed up in this. And neither should you.
Anna Wolff: At least I'm serving my country.
Robert Cath: What country? You're Jewish, you speak German, you come from Hungary - what is your country?
Anna Wolff: My father spent his life in the Austrian military, my brother was killed in action. I think that gives me the right to consider myself an Austrian.
Robert Cath: I hope the Emperor appreciates your sacrifice.
Anna Wolff: [pause] What about you? Once you get into Constantinople, where will you go then?
Robert Cath: To Jerusalem. There's a man there who has a manuscript that I'd like to get a look at. Do you want to come with me?
Anna Wolff: Oh, if I only could...
Robert Cath: Don't you think the Empire can totter along for a while without your help? I mean it, come to Jerusalem with me.
Anna Wolff: I'm thinking about it.

[last lines]
Anna Wolff: Don't look at me like that. This war won't last longer than a month. I'll come to Constantinople as soon as it's over. I'll take the first Orient Express that runs after the war. If I don't see you, I hope you'll find what you're looking for... take care of Max for me.

Rebecca: The French are so funny. Madame Caillaux seems to become some sort of national heroine. Somehow she's been transformed from an insignificant women enslaved and overshadowed by her husband, into a passionate avenger.
Sophie: [In French] If the middle classes are going to start writing history, we're all in trouble.
Rebecca: [In French] That's just the kind of thing a little aristocrat girl would say.
Sophie: [In French] Stop it. You even said yourself that she was like Madame Bovary.
Rebecca: What counts is she's acted. She's the very opposite of Madame Bovary. I'd say more Joan of Arc, really.
Sophie: Whom the English burned at the stake.
Rebecca: Must you always bring that up?
Sophie: Well, it happened.
Rebecca: What really interests me about Madame Caillaux is the way French scandals develop so differently from English ones. Like the Dreyfus affair. In England, if a Jewish army officer...
[dialogue fades]

Conductor #1: [Occurs if Cath throws Tyler's body off the train, entire conversation is in French] Everything fine?
Conductor #2: Not really. The police are in my car.
Conductor #1: I know that, but why did you leave?
Conductor #2: Oh well, if the eunuch wants to chop off their heads it's not my problem.
Conductor #1: So what are they looking for?
Conductor #2: Don't you know? They found a dead body on the tracks. They seem to think it was thrown off our train. They're checking all the compartments in my car. Yours is next.
Conductor #1: Who is dead?
Conductor #2: A foreigner. The body hasn't been identified yet.
Conductor #1: Then why do they think it is one of ours? Our passenger list is complete. No-one is missing.
Conductor #2: Who knows? I'm just following orders.
Conductor #1: On this train, if it isn't one thing, it's another.

George Abbot: [to Alexei in the smoking parlor] Good afternoon. Mind if I join you? So dreadfully dull, those long journeys. George Abbot. Nobel Industries, London. I couldn't help noticing your accent as you were talking to the conductor. The Ukraine perhaps? Your English is impeccable, if I may say so. You must have spent quite some time in England. I live just outside London myself, when I'm home. The city is just too active for me. Dangerous too. I don't suppose you were there last week when that bomb went off? Awful business really. Very messy. Bits of bodies strewn about and so on. Did you say you were going on to Odessa? The reason I ask is we happen to be looking for a representative in that part of the world. Preferably a bright young fellow with fluent English and Russian, such as yourself. Of course I realize with your family background you have probably never considered a career in business and of course there's no question you'd be doing it for money. But after all, you are a member of the new generation. It'd be a shame to bury yourself in the countryside, fiddling with agriculture and so on. Why, with your abilities you could literally help build a modern Russia. Surely you'll agree that Russia must make a connection with modern Europe in order to flourish and develop...
Alexei Dolnikov: [His response to each question is silence] Excuse me.
George Abbot: Must you go already? Oh well, do think about it.

Robert Cath: [Sees Anna reading in her compartment] I was afraid you'd gotten off in Vienna.
Anna Wolff: In Vienna? Why should I?
Robert Cath: I don't know. But I'm glad to see you.
Anna Wolff: The journey will be over soon enough.
Robert Cath: [after a silent second] So, what happens to August Schmidt now?
Anna Wolff: He will find the police waiting for him in Budapest, the guns will be discovered and confiscated.
Robert Cath: [thinly veiled sarcasm] I see, a job well done. You must be very proud of yourself.
Anna Wolff: [Getting nasty] You are one to talk. Is smuggling guns your idea of an honorable profession?
Robert Cath: Is that my profession?
Anna Wolff: It's like a game to you-taking sides. Today you help the Bosnians, tomorrow the English... Do you want to know why Tyler died? I'll tell you. For a thousand years people have been killing each other over the Balkans, it's not about to stop for one American. Our history is a chain of blood, it reaches deep into the past, it binds us, and it has nothing to do with you. Tyler is dead, you can't bring him back. Why don't you go home before the same thing happens to you?
Robert Cath: Tyler was my friend. Maybe the word doesn't mean much to you. To me, when a friend asks for help and you get there too late, you don't leave it at that.
Anna Wolff: Go away, please.

August Schmidt: [meeting Robert Cath for the very first time in the Restaurant Car] Ah, Herr Whitney, you are different then I'd imagined.
Robert Cath: Sorry to keep you waiting, I ran across an old friend.
August Schmidt: One does have the most unexpected encounters on trains. Shall we get down to business? Have you brought the gold...? First you kept me waiting, now you don't answer me! I have fulfilled my half of the bargain, if something has gone wrong, I would like to know it.
Robert Cath: Nothing has gone wrong.
August Schmidt: I'm glad. I trust you will mind if I ask to see the gold?
Robert Cath: I trust you won't mind either I ask to see what I'm buying.
August Schmidt: To see it? But you know that is impossible. The merchandise will be put on the train at Munich, it is what we agreed!
Robert Cath: Good then we're even. Herr Schmidt, it's been a pleasure. We'll talk again after Munich.
[leaves the table]

George Abbot: [in the salon] Excuse me, I couldn't help noticing you are by yourself. Mind if I join you?
August Schmidt: Please.
George Abbot: Normally, one doesn't go about introducing oneself to complete strangers, but we lone travelers are a sort of fellowship, aren't we? George Abbot, Empire Chemicals.
August Schmidt: My name is August Schmidt.
George Abbot: Not the August Schmidt? The rising young industrialist? A. B. Schmidt and Co, munitions, transport, artillery? One of the stars of the new German industry? Ha, ha. I must say, I'm very pleased to meet you.
August Schmidt: You embarrass me, sir. It is true we do quite a bit of business in England.
George Abbot: Yes, wasn't it your firm that just shipped I-I believe it was forty thousand rifles and a million cartridges into Ulster?
August Schmidt: No, that was not us.
George Abbot: Oh well, I must be thinking of a different German firm. One of your competitors perhaps. Whoever it is, they must be feeling rather disappointed. It doesn't look like we're in for a civil war after all. Not this week anyway.
August Schmidt: All these troubles in Ireland, it is unfortunate.
George Abbot: Yes, yes, it's awful. But really sir, I must congratulate you. The recent industrial growth in Germany, most impressive.
August Schmidt: Really?
George Abbot: Oh, yes. Our English businessmen could stand to learn a few things from, uh, entrepreneurs like yourself. All this political posturing aside, I really feel we're witnessing the birth of a new Europe, where business is the true international language. And the Orient Express... really quite remarkable if you stop to think about it. Here we are, we've just crossed from Germany into Austria and not so much as a customs check to let you know we've crossed the border. Now that's the new Europe. Another year or two and frontiers will be a mere formality, a relic of the past. We'll be able to travel from England to Germany as easily as going from one end of London to the other.
[chuckles]
August Schmidt: You would not believe sometime the troubles I sometimes have to explain to people. I have to keep up with what is happening abroad. To act quickly when the opportunity presents.
George Abbot: Oh, I assure you half the time home office thinks I'm just travelling on a lark. Old-fashioned attitude of course.
August Schmidt: Yes, still I do find myself sometimes quite tired in the evening. Mein Vater... my father had a small factory, he never left his little town. He was perhaps not much of a business man, but in the end of the day he would sleep in his own bed and he would be at peace. I sometimes wonder if we have really gained so much.
George Abbot: I couldn't help noticing you with Miss Wolf at lunch. You made quite a striking pair. May I ask if you've known her long?
August Schmidt: Long? He, he... Well, you know, I am a great admirer of her music. Ha, ha, ha.
George Abbot: Aren't we all. But you seem to have a special connection with her. Am I wrong? Come on! You can speak freely, we're all gentlemen here.
August Schmidt: In-in that case, I will admit that travelling has its compensations.
George Abbot: [they laugh] You can trust me, I won't breathe a word. The souls of discretion. By the way, what do you make of this Austrian-Hungarian ultimatum? It looks like a rather nasty business.
August Schmidt: The note is harsh, but I believe necessary. These Balkan regions have always needed a strong hand to bring stability.
George Abbot: Stability, yes. That's just where we must stand together. Of course we all have our little differences, but I can't help feeling that on some fundamental level the goals of England and Germany are not so very far apart.
August Schmidt: I'm glad to hear you say it.
George Abbot: But do tell me, I'd be quite fascinated to know: How did you begin your career?

Robert Cath: [In the smoking salon before Vienna] Mind if I join you?
August Schmidt: Of course. Cigar? The best Havana!
Robert Cath: No thanks.
August Schmidt: Americans don't know how to have pleasure. How can there be a life of the spirit if the body is not fed?
Robert Cath: How's Fraulein Wolff?
August Schmidt: I shall dine with her this evening.
Robert Cath: Tell me, August, how did a spiritual person like yourself end up as a munitions maker?
August Schmidt: You would find that quite difficult to understand. Unlike you, Herr Whitney, I am not motivated only by gold. I am always thinking of the higher interest of my fatherland.
Robert Cath: Where does the fatherland's interest lie in arming a band of Serbian terrorists?
August Schmidt: Terrorists? You surprise me. I had thought you would at least keep up the pretense of sympathy with the group that is paying you.
Robert Cath: I never said I wasn't sympathetic. I said they were terrorists. And you haven't answered my question. The last time I looked at a newspaper Serbia was allied to Russia and France.
August Schmidt: Your question is not a bad one. I leave it to you to find the answer.

August Schmidt: [plays if Cath shows August the Firebird egg] Have you brought the gold?
Robert Cath: I brought this.
August Schmidt: What is this?
Robert Cath: Something more precious than gold.
August Schmidt: Herr Whitney, I am not a Jewish pawnbroker! Our terms of payment were precise! If you cannot fulfill them, I shall consider our agreement broken and your reputation greatly overrated. Good day!

Robert Cath: [in the smoking salon if Cath hasn't been introduced to Anna via August] Are you reading about Madame Caillaux?
Anna Wolff: I don't believe we've been introduced.
Robert Cath: We haven't. I'm Tyler Whitney.
Anna Wolff: I know. Herr Schmidt told me who you were. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to finish my magazine.
Robert Cath: You still haven't told me your name.

Kronos: [if Cath returns to Kronos empty handed] Oh dear. I see that you have brought neither the briefcase, nor my Firebird. This game has gone on long enough.
[Kahina kills Cath with her iron bracelet]

Trainmaster: Monsieur, can I help you?
Robert Cath: Yes, I wanted to get something out of my suitcase.
Trainmaster: The baggage car is off-limits to passengers. Suitcases cannot be opened during the journey.
Robert Cath: Not even by you.
Trainmaster: The baggage compartment is sealed, Monsieur. In this way, passengers on the Orient Express are spared the inconvenience of customs checks. Now, I really must invite you to return to the passenger car.

Milos: Come in. It's good you're here. We have many plans to make.
Robert Cath: Your plans are your business. I want to talk about Tyler. I want to know who you think killed him.
Milos: Sit down. Let's have a drink.
Milos: [pours a glass] When we left Paris, I felt there was something wrong with Tyler. To me he says nothing. But he was like a frightened man. Always looking over his shoulder.
Robert Cath: That's not like Tyler. I thought there was something wrong in his letter.
Robert Cath: I tell you he was afraid of something. There was a shadow on him, I look into his eyes I see death.
Robert Cath: There were marks on his face, three lines like a knife.
Milos: It was none of my men. I loved Tyler like he was my brother. If I find out who killed him, I'll tear him apart with my own hands. Drink!
Robert Cath: It's a little early in the day for that. I'll see you later, Milos.
[Opens the door for Vesna]
Robert Cath: Why don't you come in... you'll be able to hear better.

George Abbot: Oh, excuse me. We seem to be sharing a compartment. No, no... please don't get up. I'll just sit here and read the paper. Don't mind me at all. It appears the train is quite full. Awful nuisance when you think you've got a compartment to yourself and then they stick a complete stranger in with you at the last minute. Happened to me any number of times. George Abbot.
Monsieur Boutarel: Claude Boutarel.
George Abbot: French then, are you? Are you going all the way to Constantinople?
Monsieur Boutarel: I'm travelling to a small town on the Gulf coast of Persia. With my wife and son.
George Abbot: Oh, lovely! Then it must be your family I saw next door.
Monsieur Boutarel: It is most probable.
George Abbot: By the way, I was wondering... you haven't seen a red cravat anywhere, have you? I was just unpacking and it seems to have disappeared.
Monsieur Boutarel: I believe my son has taken it.
George Abbot: Really. What was the name of the town you mentioned?
Monsieur Boutarel: Masjid-e Suleiman.
George Abbot: Of course! The new oil refinery they are building in Abadan. I say, you're not working for Anglo-Persian, are you?
Monsieur Boutarel: Why not?
George Abbot: Oh well, I suppose you being a Frenchman... I just assumed...
Monsieur Boutarel: I am an engineer, monsieur. The Anglo-Persian company is doing the most innovative research in oil exploration.
George Abbot: Yes, well... wouldn't want the Royal Navy be caught short on fuel oil, would we. Tell me, are the reserves in that little town, what's it called again, really as big as they say?
Monsieur Boutarel: I can not offer an opinion, monsieur.
George Abbot: No, of course you wouldn't. Quite brave of your wife to go all that way and live in the desert.
Monsieur Boutarel: She would not wish to be without me. And it would be a good opportunity for Francois. He has a fine scientific mind.
George Abbot: Seems like a very active little boy. I don't suppose you could ask him for my cravat?
Monsieur Boutarel: I think... eh, I remember him using it as a kind of sieve. To test salinity in water. Most remarkable in a boy of seven, don't you agree?
George Abbot: Quite remarkable.
Monsieur Boutarel: It is a natural curiosity of the scientific mind, monsieur.
George Abbot: Yes. All that trapped in the body of a little boy.

George Abbot: Oh Good Lord! Not this silly business with Madame Caillaux again! So typical. To devote weeks on end on the front page to this preposterous murder trial. One would think nothing else was happening in the whole of Europe.
Monsieur Boutarel: Hm?
George Abbot: Tell me, you're a Frenchman, what's your opinion of the affair? Why do the gory details of a murder trial exert such a fascination on the public mind? Not to say it only happens in France of course. The English papers aren't much better. But still, the French do push it rather far. Six columns across the front page of Le Figaro, with complete transcripts of the trial on page 12... it is a bit much, don't you agree?
Monsieur Boutarel: Excuse me, it is time I took my family to lunch.
George Abbot: Is it noon already? So it is. Perhaps I'll see you in the restaurant car.

August Schmidt: [in the Restaurant Car] Ah, Miss Wolff. Let me help you.
Anna Wolff: Oh, thank you.
August Schmidt: Are you comfortable? Yes, I am so glad. Everybody wanted to sit in your seat. I have been like a soldier fighting them away. I would not let anybody sit here. Ha ha ha. What shall we order... hmm. Shall we get some wine?
Anna Wolff: That would be lovely.
August Schmidt: I think good red wine, yes? Forgive me, perhaps you would like something lighter?
Anna Wolff: My father drank red wine and I'm afraid I picked up the habit. I know it's not very "ladylike".
August Schmidt: Nonsense.
[laughs]
August Schmidt: We will be able to share a bottle. I hope I will not get drunk!
Anna Wolff: [laughs] Why?
August Schmidt: I'm turning into a happy little devil, especially when I'm surrounded by a beautiful lady.
Anna Wolff: You're a charmer.
Anna Wolff: [later] and Also you know I can carry my violin anywhere I go.
August Schmidt: With a piano it's a little bit more difficult.
Anna Wolff: [in German] But Herr Schmidt, I really am interested in what you do.
[in English]
Anna Wolff: What is your business anyway? You make it sound so mysterious.
August Schmidt: I'm afraid you would find it very boring. But without going into detail... I will say that my work here is not only commerce and that in my own small way I am doing my part for the fatherland.
August Schmidt: [later] I have drunk too much wine, I am a little bit dizzy.
August Schmidt: [they laugh] But you-you also have drunk, Fraulein Wolff... I'm impressed.
Anna Wolff: I know I don't show it.
August Schmidt: Shall we have our coffee in the smoking car?
Anna Wolff: That would be lovely.

Anna Wolff: [in the smoking parlor] Is it very tiresome, your business in Vienna?
August Schmidt: Oh well, you know, you always hope that a man will keep his word. When he does not, one hates to lose a good bit of business, but...
August Schmidt: [in German] ... one has no choice.
Anna Wolff: [in German] Then your deal isn't happening? It's been called off?
August Schmidt: I too studied music in my youth. If I may say so, I was not without promise. Alas! Life had other plans for me.
Anna Wolff: We are none of us free to choose our own destiny, Herr Schmidt.
August Schmidt: Ah, but when you play, Madame, you make us all feel that we ARE free and that we can fly, with wings!

Anna Wolff: Oh, I'd better get ready for the concert.
August Schmidt: I will be in the front row.
Anna Wolff: You're very kind Herr Schmidt.
August Schmidt: Please, call me August.

Monsieur Boutarel: [During the hijacking, entire conversation is in French] I want to know what is going on.
Conductor #2: I'm sorry, sir, but the company no longer has control of the situation. We are asking all passengers to remain in their compartments until we are able to stop the train.
Monsieur Boutarel: Stop the train! Do you mean that the train is out of control? Oh my God, we're going to die!
Madame Boutarel: [François starts crying] Claude! Calm yourself! Oh, my darling, don't cry. Mama is here, everything is fine.
Monsieur Boutarel: This is absurd! I have a wife and a small child here! Something must be done! I demand to speak to the engineer immediately!
Conductor #2: I will send the trainmaster to you right away, monsieur. But please, stay in the compartment. It is for your own safety.
Madame Boutarel: Claude! Do as he says. Sit down! There's nothing you can do.

Kitchen Aide: [During the hijacking, conversation is in French] Why are we stuck here?
Cook: You young people don't know anything. It's incredible that they let you work in a kitchen on a deluxe train when you don't know the first thing about safety. Of course everyone must go to the back of the train, it's the safest place.
Kitchen Aide: What do you mean? There's going to be a collision?
Cook: Is it so hard to understand? They've cut the brakes, the alarm doesn't work. Obviously they took control of the train at the last stop. You think these bandits know how to drive a train? Anything could happen.
Kitchen Aide: They're going to kill us all...
Cook: Shut up, idiot!

Maitre D': [In French] Mademoiselle, I have saved your favorite table for you. What a pleasure to see you tonight with your charming friend. Never have I seen two such beautiful young ladies in one space. You are the queens of the Orient Express.
Sophie: Merci, Pascale.
[Thank you, Pascale]
Rebecca: He does lay it on a bit thick, doesn't he?
Sophie: Pascale? He talks like that to everybody.
[In French]
Sophie: You are beautiful tonight.
Rebecca: Sophie, you're embarrassing me.
Sophie: [In French] Why? It's true. You don't believe me? Turn around and ask our American if he finds you beautiful. I know he'll agree with me.
Rebecca: Sophie!
Sophie: I'm sorry, I forgot he's not your type. You wouldn't care if he likes you or not. So let's ask the woman in red there, behind me. She's gorgeous, isn't she? "Tall, slender, grieving, such majestic pain".
Rebecca: Sophie! Everyone can hear you.
Sophie: So what? What difference does that make to us? Why travel if you're going to worry about the same things as home. You're free. You just don't know it yet.
Rebecca: You make it sound so simple. If only you knew how difficult it was for me to get on this train.

Rebecca: These aren't new answers, Sophie. All of Russia may go into revolt.
Sophie: [sigh] After a month on the island you won't think about such things. Listen, why don't you write a play when you get there?
[In French]
Sophie: It could be brilliant. One of your amusing little pieces like the one you did on Reginald. I'll be Ariadne, you'll be Theseus. Josephine can be the Minotaur. Although you are so stubborn, that should really be your role.
Rebecca: Josephine?
Sophie: Oh yes, didn't I tell you? She wrote just at the last minute and positively demanded to come. She hates to be left out of anything. Oh, don't make such a face! Of course you and I will be together. After all, we can't spend all our time just staring at the sunset.

Rebecca: [Entering the Restaurant Car] There's absolutely no one here.
Sophie: But of course.
Maitre D': [In French] Ah ladies. So good to see you. We have kept your table for you.
Rebecca: Thank you.
Maitre D': [In French] Do you know, I was starting to really miss your presence. Without you the Orient Express would be just an ordinary train.
Sophie: Thank you, Pascale.
Rebecca: I'm absolutely famished.
Sophie: You'll have to get used to eating late, my dear Rebecca. On the island one never lunches before three o'clock. You see, during the day it is quite hot. Between twelve and three there is nothing to do but nap. There is a divine woman from the village who will do your hair. I fancy you in a looser style, with ringlets for example.
Rebecca: [In French] Not ringlets.
Sophie: Ah, but my darling, our goal was to reinvent you, wasn't it? The warm breeze off the sea will transform your soul. Listen: when the day cools down, the golden afternoon light comes, turning the water a deep blue and black. We will eat olives and homemade bread. The cook makes a very nice lamb dish, if I remember right. Then we will walk along the cliffs, like Sappho and her beloved, in light gauzy gowns, and watch the sun go down.
Rebecca: [In French] Followed, I suppose, by Josephine, Victoria, and Francesca? Also in gauze?
Sophie: Why not? You will see; on the island everyone becomes very close. Victoria is simply irresistible. Last summer she lolled around all day, like a big, lazy, orange cat, sleeping and waiting to be stroked.
Rebecca: I came to be with you, Sophie. Not with Josephine and that group of parasites.
Sophie: Of course! But Francesca has the most charming little house in Marbella. You cannot take everything so seriously, Rebecca.
Rebecca: I'm trying.
Sophie: [In French] Good. Now let's change the subject. For example, your clothes.
Rebecca: My clothes?
Sophie: [In French] Yes. Now that we are away from England, it's time for a new image.
Sophie: [later after getting their orders from the waiter] I wish we were on the island now. I hate those in-between times.
Rebecca: Oh, I love the in-between times. It's the only time I can really think.

Rebecca: I just can't imagine Charlotte deliberately letting herself in for that sort of life. I'm mean after the hell that Anne's been through.
Sophie: [In French] It's not so bad for Anne. She amuses herself, her husband amuses himself. I would say it worked out quite nicely for both of them. For Charlotte too.
Rebecca: Don't joke about it, it's too awful.
Sophie: [In French] But I'm not joking. I plan to marry myself when the right opportunity presents itself. You should do the same.
Rebecca: I shall never marry.
Sophie: [In French] Don't be so dramatic. I'm not saying you should do anything so complicated now - there's too much fun to be had. You'll still be young and beautiful for a good two or three years. If anything I think you'll be even more beautiful in a year or two, when you've gotten over your awkwardness and learned how to dress. But after that, what kind of fun can you have as an old maid?

Rebecca: Who is this prince? That's what I'd like to know
Sophie: I don't think he's a prince of anything.
Rebecca: It all sounds very mysterious... why do you think he invited us and not Madame Boutarel?
Sophie: It's very simple: he's a snob. He does not know me, he only knows my name, de Bretheuil. He thinks to invite the noblesse to make himself important. That's why he does not invite some petty bourgeois like the Boutarels, but he invites le Count Obelensky who he does not know.
Rebecca: Then you don't think we should accept?
Sophie: Why not? It'll be less boring than listening to Madame Boutarel.
Rebecca: Did I tell you what she said to me this morning? Apparently the reason she and her husband aren't sharing a compartment is that their little boy François...
[gets up]
Rebecca: Excuse me.
Sophie: Tu va bien?
[Are you okay?]
Rebecca: Yes, I won't be a minute.
Rebecca: [later] Was I? I'm sorry. Were you terribly bored?
Sophie: Yes!
Rebecca: I told Madame Boutarel about the concert and she was absolutely livid.

Rebecca: [in their compartment] It's easy for you to say that now. Now that I have nothing to go back to.
Sophie: That's not my fault.
Rebecca: You weren't talking like that in London.
Sophie: [In French] London is London. Here is here.
[In English]
Sophie: I don't know why I feel something one day and not another, but I won't pretend I feel it when I don't.
[In French]
Sophie: I'm not like you.
Rebecca: No-one's feelings can change that fast.
Sophie: Well, mine do.
Rebecca: You can't treat people as if they were your toys! There are consequences, you know. I have given up a lot to come on this trip.
Sophie: I don't care about the things you give up. For me, that's nothing. What you give to me, what you make ME feel, that's what I care about.
Rebecca: You won't give me a chance!
Sophie: [In French] You're always talking about consequences, sacrifices, obligations. I don't give a damn about any of it. If I wanted all that baggage, I would have married Philippe. At least that would have had its compensations.

Anna Wolff: [This scene spends on whether or not you followed Anna to her compartment and read August's letter to the baron. Here is the full version] Take off my sash!
[Cath unties her]
Anna Wolff: You could have taken off the sash first.
[Gets up, briefs Cath]
Anna Wolff: We're almost to the border! We've got to stop the train!
Robert Cath: Why?
Anna Wolff: Why? Once we're in Serbia, they'll kill us!
Robert Cath: And if we stop before the border?
Anna Wolff: The terrorists will be captured by the Austrian police.
Robert Cath: Along with the arms.
Anna Wolff: Yes.
Robert Cath: You're being used. You and August Schmidt.
Anna Wolff: What do you mean?
Robert Cath: Germany and Austria want war. All they need is an incident to set it off like Sarajevo. Sarajevo wasn't enough, but crates of machine guns captured in the hands of Serbian terrorists... now that could start a war. Anna, how do you think your superiors knew about the arms sale? Schmidt's been set up. Germany wanted this deal to happen and they wanted it blown wide open... by you.
[Anna leaves]
Robert Cath: Anna, wait!
Anna Wolff: [Version 2 after Cath mentions she's being used] I don't understand.
Robert Cath: It doesn't matter. Come on let's stop this thing.
[Anna leaves]
Robert Cath: [Version 3 after Anna mentions "they'll kill us!"] You mean they'll kill you, why would they kill me?
Anna Wolff: [Kisses Cath] You're right.
[leaves]

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The Last Express

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