A Damsel in Distress (1937)

Fred Astaire: Jerry Halliday

Photos 

Quotes 

• Jerry Halliday : Come on.

  George : No, no. Not me. I don't get pleasure out of these things.

  Gracie : Oh, come along, George, for the fun of it. It's lots of fun having fun, even if you don't enjoy it. Heel!

• Jerry Halliday : What's today?

  Gracie : Oh, I don't know.

  George : Well, you can tell if you look at that newspaper on your desk.

  Gracie : Oh, this is no help, George. It's yesterday's paper.

• Jerry Halliday : Thanks to you, every woman who can read either rushes at me or away from me.

• Lady Alyce : [She has just jumped into Jerry's taxi to get away from Keggs]  I suppose you're wondering what this is all about?

  Jerry Halliday : Oh, no. It's none of my business.

  Lady Alyce : And, and of course, you're much too well bred to inquire in other people's business?

  Jerry Halliday : Of course I am.

  [He turns to her] 

  Jerry Halliday : What's it all about?

  Lady Alyce : Well, I'm in a simple piece of trouble, and it would bore you to death if I told you about it.

• Jerry Halliday : I just saw a crowd of women running and why do you suppose they were running?

  Gracie : Because you were chasing them?

  Jerry Halliday : No, because they were chasing me.

• Jerry Halliday : I can't go now. She needs me! She's in trouble.

  Gracie : Oh, Jerry, don't be so pessimistic. Maybe she'll still be in trouble when you get back.

• Albert : His Lordship! He's coming to chase you out of the place!

  Jerry Halliday : Chase me out of the place?

  Albert : Please, sir. You'd better hurry! If you don't go, he's gonna 'orsewhip ya!

  Gracie : My, my, how old-fashioned! Horsewhipping a man in this day and age, when they can run over him with an automobile. What won't they think of next?

• Lady Alyce : It's a lot of fun, isn't it?

  Jerry Halliday : Yeah, it's all right.

  Lady Alyce : What do they call this thing?

  Jerry Halliday : The tunnel of love.

  Lady Alyce : Oh.

• Lord Marshmorton : I don't think the Marshmortons are fenced off from the rest of the world by some sort of divinity. My sister does, but she's such an ass.

  Jerry Halliday : Isn't she? I mean, is she?

  Lord Marshmorton : Of course she is! Always has been.

• Gracie : She's here?

  Jerry Halliday : Who?

  Gracie : The girl who slapped you.

  Jerry Halliday : Where?

  Gracie : On the jaw.

• Jerry Halliday : Regarding the state of Lady Alyce's feelings, you were mistaken, her father was mistaken, I was mistaken. Now I find she was mistaken.

• Jerry Halliday : I got here just as quickly as I could.

  Lady Alyce : You did?

  Jerry Halliday : Yes.

  Lady Alyce : You're feeling quite well?

  Jerry Halliday : Well, I'm used to all the excitement

  Lady Alyce : One of our gardeners got sunstroke yesterday.

  Jerry Halliday : Is that so?

  Lady Alyce : Yes, uh, he stood out in the sun too long without his hat on.

• Jerry Halliday : Now what happens? What can I do to help?

  Lady Alyce : Help?

  Jerry Halliday : You're in distress aren't you?

  Lady Alyce : Why, in a way, yes.

  Jerry Halliday : They're keeping you prisoner?

  Lady Alyce : Yes.

  Jerry Halliday : Well, I wouldn't have dreamed it possible in this day and age. Locking a girl up like a prisoner to keep her away from...

  Lady Alyce : The man she loves. How did you know?

  Jerry Halliday : Uh, you're quite sure about this being in love thing... I mean, it isn't just a quick schoolgirl crush?

  Lady Alyce : Oh, no.

  Jerry Halliday : The real thing.

• Jerry Halliday : You do really... shall we say, uh, care for this man?

  [He thinks she's fallen for him] 

  Lady Alyce : I love him.

  [She's talking about her American skier] 

  Jerry Halliday : [Thinking she means him]  Why?

  Lady Alyce : Well, in the first place he's the most charming man in the world.

  [Jerry lowers his head sheepishly and then smiles] 

  Lady Alyce : And in the second place, he's divinely handsome.

  [Jerry gets a sober look for a moment and then smiles] 

  Jerry Halliday : You're crazy.

  Lady Alyce : Well, I beg your pardon. I think so.

  Jerry Halliday : [Shrugs and tosses up his hands]  Well, all right, then. We won't argue that point any further. Go on.

  Lady Alyce : [Pointing to Jerry]  Uh, American?

  Jerry Halliday : Yes.

  Lady Alyce : You'd say, "He's got what it takes."

  Jerry Halliday : Listen, you know, I can stand just so much and then...

  [a knock at the door precludes another slap] 

• Lady Alyce : You see, I came to say that I'm sorry I slapped you. You see, father just explained everything to me, and now I understand how it happened.

  Jerry Halliday : Oh, I see. Your father explained to you why you slapped me?

  Lady Alyce : No, no, it seems to have... I mean, father made a mistake about you, and then after he spoke to you yesterday, well he naturally thought you were somebody else.

  Jerry Halliday : Naturally.

  Lady Alyce : And I don't know, of course. I thought you were being yourself. And then father explained that he thought you were the other man, and of course, how were you to know that I didn't mean you. And do you understand?

  Jerry Halliday : [Shaking his head solemnly]  Perfectly.

  Lady Alyce : And do you see why I slapped you?

  Jerry Halliday : Let me get this straight. Who did you slap, me or the other fellow?

  Lady Alyce : Why, you.

  Jerry Halliday : And who's the other fella?

  Lady Alyce : Jeffrey.

  Jerry Halliday : Jeffrey? Who's he?

  Lady Alyce : An American I met in Switzerland about a year ago.

• Jerry Halliday : Keggs, I have always felt that beneath that macabre exterior there lies a heart of gold.

  Keggs : Thank you, sir.

• Lady Alyce : I suppose you're wondering what this is all about.

  Jerry Halliday : Oh, no. Its none of my business.

  Lady Alyce : And - and, of course, you're much too well-bred to inquire onto other people's business.

  Jerry Halliday : Of course, I am. What's it all about?

• Jerry Halliday : [singing and dancing]  My bonds and shares, May fall downstairs, Who cares, who cares? I'm dancing and I can't be bothered now!

• Jerry Halliday : [singing]  I happen to be, the mother of three...

• George : I don't like those things. I never did, and I never will. Jerry, don't get me a ticket.

  Jerry Halliday : Why not?

  George : Because I've got a weak heart.

  Gracie : Oh, don't be silly, George! If Jerry pays for the ticket, how can that affect *your* heart?

• Gracie : Oh, you're still alive, huh?

  Jerry Halliday : Alive? I've just begun to live.

  George : You've just begun to live?

  Jerry Halliday : Why, I've just begun to live.

  Gracie : Oh, he's just begun to live.

  Jerry Halliday : [singing]  Oh, I've just begun to live

  Gracie , George , Jerry Halliday : I've just begun to live,

  Jerry Halliday : Yes!

  Gracie , George , Jerry Halliday : I've just begun to live, I've just begun to live Oh, I've just begun to live, I've just begun to live!

  [tap dancing] 

• Jerry Halliday : Slapping me made you love me.

  Lady Alyce : Yes.

  Jerry Halliday : Darling, slap me again.

• Jerry Halliday : Oh, I see. Your father thought I was he. Naturally, I thought he meant me. I see.

• [last lines] 

  Jerry Halliday : Come on, you Tottley Wildcats. Give!

• Jerry Halliday : Oh, anger makes you even more beautiful, Alyce. I imagine you'll be very interesting after I get to know you.

• Jerry Halliday : [singing]  I was a stranger in the city. Out of town were the people I knew. I had that feeling of self pity. What to do, what to do, what to do? The outlook was decidedly blue. But as I walked through the foggy streets alone, it turned out to be the luckiest day I've known. A foggy day, in London town, had me low, and had me down. I viewed the morning with alarm. The British Museum had lost its charm. How long, I wondered, could this thing last? But the age of miracles hadn't passed. For, suddenly, I saw you there. And through foggy London town, the sun was shining everywhere.