The Missouri Breaks (1976)

Marlon Brando: Lee Clayton

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Lee Clayton : [after killing a man, dressed in a bonnet and shawl]  Granny's tired now.

• Lee Clayton : Do you believe that life is like a mountain railroad, Mr La Frambois?

  Tittle Tod : All I know, Jim, is that - life is not like anything I ever seen before.

• Tom Logan : Regulator? Ain't that like a dry gulcher?

  Lee Clayton : Well, that's not the softest term you could use, I'd say.

  Tom Logan : Well, Regulator, correct me now if I'm wrong, isn't a regulator one of these boys that shoots people and don't never get near 'em?

  Lee Clayton : That's it.

• Lee Clayton : [singing]  Life is like a mountain railway, With an engineer that's brave, We must make this run successful, From the cradle to the grave, Heed the curves, the fills, the tunnels, Never falter, never quail. Never quail! Keep your hand upon the throttle, And your eye upon the rail.

• Lee Clayton : I can track a bluebottle fly right up your nose. And I've taken to trackin' what people are thinkin'.

• Lee Clayton : I'd like almost anythin' better 'n' bein' burnt up.

• Lee Clayton : Well, you're about the last of your kind, old man. If I was a better businessman than I am a man hunter, I'd put you in the circus.

• Lee Clayton : You've got to give me some thoughts. I'm gonna turn my horse out. Then I'll wash my body. And, Miss, the only thing not on my diet would be the green top of the beet and okra. Ladies and gentlemen, excuse me, but I'm under a severe attack from a tooth.

• Lee Clayton : I tell you what. I got a nice hare on a stick over here. Let's go have a bite to eat.

• Lee Clayton : [to Tom]  You're smart. Farmers ain't smart. I don't know exactly where you came from or what you were doing, but I think you ought to go back to it, because you can't farm worth spit. Unless - unless you lost your nerve. In that case, cabbages is just what the doctor ordered. Is your nerve gone? Is your nerve gone?

• Tom Logan : I never carry a gun.

  Lee Clayton : I never wear a gun neither. Oh, once in a while I carry this little darlin' around. She's almost like a poem. You know, it's all hand-done. Etched, you know, scratched in silver. Oh, she's a beauty. Made for the president of Mexico. I diverted it for a hundred-dollar bill. But it doesn't shoot worth a damn. Some damn fool came along and filed off the top of the front sight. And you have to sort of play with it. It isn't easy.

• Lee Clayton : I'm about a quarter-ass horse thief. Anything to get some grits in my stomach. Not doin' too good at it neither. Otherwise I wouldn't be eatin' hare. I'd be in Dodge City, playin' with them big asses, drinkin' champagne.

• Lee Clayton : Lower your voice. I feel an attack of gas and that could be perilous to both of us.

• Lee Clayton : I believe that life is like a mountain railway, but not for the reasons in the song. I think life is like a mountain railway cause you don't have no idea what sleazy son of a bitch got his hand on the throttle.

• Lee Clayton : You ain't the first mental wizard I ever met, you know. I've met ranchers, outlaws, stock detectives who thought they was mental wizards like yourself.

• Lee Clayton : Oh, I could have picked off one or two of them maybe, but we'd have lost the rest, for sure. Well, now, supposin' you had a barn full of nasty old bats. You wanted to get rid of them. Well, the worst thing you could do is just get your gun and start shootin' and bangin' around. What good would it do you? It wouldn't do a damn bit of good. They'd leave and they'd be back by 7.30 in the morning. So, if you want to get rid of a whole lot of evil bats, there's only one way. And the way is this. You wait till the dawn comes. About 4.30 and you're waitin' outside by the barrels. Then you close the door real quick and all the bats are inside. And then while they're sleepin', the lovely little sweethearts, you have every one of the dirty little buggers at your mercy. And that's the only way you can do it.

• Lee Clayton : You know, about this time of year - Indian summer - gettin' there - they say you can see the Star of Bethlehem, if you look real good. I seen it once or twice. But you gotta look away and then you gotta look at it, see? You gotta look at it just a minute, like that, see? See what I mean?

• Lee Clayton : Well, you're about the last of your kind, old man. If I was a better businessman than I am a manhunter, I'd put you in the circus.