The Hustler (1961)

George C. Scott: Bert Gordon

Photos 

Quotes 

• Bert Gordon : Eddie, is it alright if I get personal?

  Fast Eddie : Whaddaya been so far?

  Bert Gordon : Eddie, you're a born loser.

  Fast Eddie : What's that supposed to mean?

  Bert Gordon : First time in ten years I ever saw Minnesota Fats hooked... really hooked. But you let him off.

  Fast Eddie : I told you I got drunk.

  Bert Gordon : Sure you got drunk. You have the best excuse in the world for losing; no trouble losing when you got a good excuse. Winning... that can be heavy on your back, too, like a monkey. You'll drop that load too when you got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself. One of the best indoor sports, feeling sorry for yourself. A sport enjoyed by all, especially the born losers.

  Fast Eddie : Thanks for the drink.

• Bert Gordon : I don't think there's a pool player alive shoots better pool than I saw you shoot the other night at Ames. You got talent.

  Fast Eddie : So I got talent. So what beat me?

  Bert Gordon : Character.

• Fast Eddie : I'm the best you ever seen, Fats. I'm the best there is. And even if you beat me, I'm still the best.

  Bert Gordon : Stay with this kid; he's a LOSER.

• Fast Eddie : You saw me beat Minnesota Fats for eighteen thousand dollars.

  Bert Gordon : Look, you wanna hustle pool, don't you? This game isn't like football. Nobody pays you for yardage. When you hustle you keep score real simple. The end of the game you count up your money. That's how you find out who's best. That's the only way.

• Bert Gordon : How's your hand?

  Fast Eddie : Fine.

  Bert Gordon : Good. I'd hate to think I was puttin' my money on a cripple.

  Fast Eddie : Hey, whaddaya say somethin' like that for?

  Sarah Packard : It's alright, Eddie. I'm sure Mr. Gordon meant no offense. It was a figure of speech.

  Bert Gordon : That's right, Miss Packard.

  Sarah Packard : And a fact is a fact.

  Bert Gordon : Smart girl, Eddie.

• Fast Eddie : What if I don't pay ya, Bert?

  Bert Gordon : [laughs]  You don't pay me? You're gonna get your thumbs broken again. And your fingers. If I want 'em to, they're gonna break your right arm in three or four places.

  Minnesota Fats : You better pay him, Eddie.

  Fast Eddie : So you figure you're still my manager, huh?

  Bert Gordon : I'm a business-man, kid.

• Bert Gordon : [to Eddie]  You owe me MONEY.

• Bert Gordon : Miss Ladybird, you're here on a rain check and I know it. You're hangin' on by your nails. You let that glory whistle blow loud and clear for Eddie and you're a wreck on a railroad track, you're a horse that finished last. So don't make trouble, Miss Ladybird. Live and let live! While you can. I'll make it up to you.

  Sarah Packard : How?

  Bert Gordon : You tell me.

• Bert Gordon : Do you know what you were doin'? You were waitin' to get beat. You were flattened out on your butt, swimming around in glory - and whiskey, probably decidin' how you could lose.

• Fast Eddie : You must have a lot of confidence in me.

  Bert Gordon : I don't. But, I got confidence in Findley.

  Fast Eddie : What's that supposed to mean?

  Bert Gordon : It means I've got confidence that he's a loser. All the way a loser. You happen to be only about one half loser - the other half winner.

• Fast Eddie : Hey, mister.

  Bert Gordon : The name's Gordon, Bert Gordon.

  Fast Eddie : *Mister*. You've been sitting in that spot for hours. Would you mind movin'? It bothers me.

• Bert Gordon : Did you see that big car parked out by the fire plug on the way in? Well, that's mine. I like that car. But, I get a new one every year, because I make it my business to know what guys like you and Minnesota Fats are gonna do. I made enough off you the other night to pay for it twice over.

  Fast Eddie : Well, in that case, you owe me another drink.

• Bert Gordon : Come on, it'll be a lot of laughs. Findley's parties are famous. He invites everybody from top to bottom, from high society to every hustler and tramp in town. It's another way of his in gettin' his kicks. It excites him to be around what he calls the criminal type. Some men are like that. Some women, too.

• Bert Gordon : I want to talk to you.

  Sarah Packard : Do we need words?

  Bert Gordon : Yeah, I think we do. We could try to cut each other up, but that'd be bad for everybody. Bad for me, bad for you, and worst of all it would be bad for Eddie.

• Bert Gordon : You got to be hard, Eddie.