MovieChat Forums > The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) Discussion > favourite quotes

favourite quotes

posted 17 years ago by ronangrace
21 replies | jump to latest

Love this movie, and this line always cracks me up :)
Amy talking about the invention of the hula hoop:

"Finally, there'd be a thingamajig
that would bring everyone together...
...even if it kept them apart spatially."

Another piece that gets me is Norville's phone conversation with his first boss in the mail room. It doesn't work in text of course, but the intonation of the boss on the "president of the company" line is hilarious. He's just not listening to Norville at all.

"Mailroom.
Good afternoon, this is Norville Barnes.
Barnes! Where the hell have you been? Where's my voucher?
I'm not sure.
I need that voucher! I told you a week ago it was important!
I'm president of the company now.
I don't care if you're PRESIDENT of the company! I need the voucher now!"

[–] Gingertom 16 years ago

Waring Hudsucker- Tough titty toenails

Moses- So ends the story of how Norville Barnes climbed all the way up to the 44th floor of the Hudsucker building,fell all the way down and didn't quite sqiuish his-self.

[–] khrismarang 16 years ago

"And they doc ya!!"

[–] SvavarElf 16 years ago

LONG LIVE THE HUD!

[–] khmmo 16 years ago

you know, for kids!

[–] sionxxii 15 years ago

Sure, sure!

[–] wright_hinsdale 15 years ago

I'll bet my Pulitzer on it!

[–] MeanerWithTheScenery 15 years ago

I'm getting orrrf this merry-go-round!

.

[–] SKG-2 12 years ago

The rest of Moses' line there is pretty funny too: "You know, they say there was a man who jumped from the forty-fifth floor? But that's another story."

[–] lubin-freddy 15 years ago

"This better be good.... I'm in a bad mood."

Just the way Paul Newman delivers the line.

"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx

[–] leaverus 15 years ago

Only a numbskull thinks he knows things about things he knows nothing about.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Lolawoo 14 years ago

This is a face only a mother could love. On pay day.

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring

[–] hotspurpagg 14 years ago

We'll call it...."The Wacky Circumference!"

[–] hotspurpagg 13 years ago

Not counting the mezzanine!

[–] Druff 12 years ago

All the good ones have been taken, so...

"It might interest you to know I studied a little Finnish in high school. I hope I'm not too rusty. [accidentally says something extremely profane in Finnish]"

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

He doesn´t say anything in Finnish.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] Druff 12 years ago

Then the scene makes no sense.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

He says something that sounds vaguely like "bosoms". The "language" itself though is just some made-up gibberish reminiscent of Swedish or Scandinavian languages in general.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] Druff 12 years ago

Whatever, the point is he tried to speak Finnish and accidentally said something offensive to the Finnish-speaking woman. Nit-picking jackass.

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Firstly, the point is that nothing was said in Finnish and offense was taken from a would-be word that would mean nothing to a Finn ("bosoms"). Secondly, correcting errors such as this is not really "nit-picking" in any way. Foolish of me to assume that someone would appreciate the information instead of merely being interested in tooting the horn...

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] Druff 12 years ago

Look. It's great to know after all these years that the words that come out of actor Tim Robbins' mouth are not actually Finnish. Thank you so much for telling me.

But it doesn't really matter. The JOKE in the scene is that Norville tries to say something courteous in Finnish, but he butchers it into something which is obviously very offensive and profane. As if a word that vaguely sounds like "bosoms" would elicit such a strong reaction. The fact that the Coens couldn't be bothered to figure out some actual Finnish for him to say is completely beside the point. A pity the joke is probably non-sensical to Finnish speaking viewers.

EDIT: Apparently the Finnish version subtitles say something approximating "The boobs of your wife are great" which does confuse/annoy Finnish speakers who can tell he says nothing of the sort.