Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
It was like coming this close to your dreams... and then watch them brush past you like strangers in a crowd.
Most-quoted character in Field of Dreams (1989): in 32 of its 55 quotes
Most scenes with: Ray Kinsella (22), Shoeless Joe Jackson (10), Terence Mann (6)
You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.
More lines from Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
5 quotes
Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases — stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?
Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
This is my most special place in all the world. Once a place touches you like that, the wind never blows so cold again.
Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
If I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.
Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
I'd best be getting home. Alicia will think I've got a girlfriend.
Scenes with Dr. Archibald Graham (aka "Moonlight" Graham)
26 scenesI'd wake up at night with the smell of the ball park in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet... The thrill of the grass.
If you build what, who will come?
He didn't say.
I mean, Shoeless Joe...
He's dead. Died in '51. He's dead.
He's the one they suspended, right?
Right.
He's still dead?
Far as I know.
Hey, is this heaven?
No, it's Iowa.
Don't we need a catcher?
Not if you get it near the plate, we don't.
I bet it's good to be playing again, huh?
Getting thrown out of baseball was like having part of me amputated. I've heard that old men wake up and scratch itchy legs that have been dust for over fifty years. That was me. I'd wake up at night with the smell of the ball park in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet... The thrill of the grass.
Man, I did love this game. I'd have played for food money. It was the game... The sounds, the smells. Did you ever hold a ball or a glove to your face?
Yeah.
I used to love travelling on the trains from town to town. The hotels... brass spittoons in the lobbies, brass beds in the rooms. It was the crowd, rising to their feet when the ball was hit deep. Shoot, I'd play for nothing!
What's with the lights?
Oh, all the stadiums have them now. Even Wrigley Field.
Makes it harder to see the ball.
Yeah, well, the owners found that more people can attend night games.
Karin Kinsella Are you a ghost?
What do you think?
Karin You look real to me.
Well, then, I guess I'm real.
The voice is back.
Oh, Lord... you don't have to build a football field now, do you?
Terence Mann was a voice of reason during a time of great madness. He coined the phrase, "Make love, not war". Where others were chanting, "Burn, baby burn", he talked about love, and peace and understanding. I cherished every one of his books, and I dearly wish he had written some more. And I think that if you had experienced even a little bit of the Sixties, you might feel the same way too.
Pro-censorship woman
I experienced the Sixties.
No, I think you had two '50's and moved right on to the '70's.
What if the Voice calls while you're gone?
Take a message.
You've changed.
Yes, I suppose I have. How's this? Peace, Love, Dope! Now, get the hell out of here!
Now, what the hell is that?
Ray Kinsellla
What's is look like? It's a gun.
That's your finger.
No, it's a gun.
Take it out. Let me see it.
Get out of here! I'm not showing you my gun. [Mann reaches behind a shelf and grabs a crowbar.] Hey, what are you doing?
I'm gonna beat you with this crowbar until you go away.
You can't do that!
[Mann takes a wild swing; Kinsella falls while dodging it.]
Oh, there are rules? There are no rules here!
You're a pacifist!
Shit.
Gandil [After the pitcher nearly knocked Archie Graham off the plate.]
Hey Knuckles, what'd you throw at the kid for?
Cicotte He-he winked at me.
Gandil Don't wink, kid.
Graham
[The pitcher throws another ball at Graham's head.]
Hey ump, how about a warning?
Umpire Sure. Watch out you don't get killed.
The last two have been high and tight, so where do you think the next one's gonna be?
Archie Graham
Well, either low and away... or in my ear.
He's not gonna want to load the bases, so look for low and away. But watch out for in your ear.
I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves...
What do you want?
I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves. I want my privacy.
I mean, what do you want? [Gestures toward concession stand.]
Oh. Dog and a beer.
By the time I was ten, playing baseball got to be like eating vegetables or taking out the garbage. So when I was fourteen I started refusing. Can you believe that? An American boy refusing to play catch with his father.
Why fourteeen?
That's when I read "The Boat Rocker", by Terence Mann.
Oh, God.
Never played catch with him again.
You see? That's the kind of crap people are always trying to lay on me. It's not my fault you wouldn't play catch with your father!
So, what was it?
Hmm?
The "terrible thing" you said to your father. What was it?
I told him I could never respect a man whose hero was a criminal.
Who was his hero?
Shoeless Joe Jackson.
He wasn't a criminal. You knew that. [Ray nods.] So why'd you say it?
I was seventeen.
Fifty years ago, for five minutes you came within... y-you came this close. It would kill some men to get so close to their dream and not touch it. God, they'd consider it a tragedy.
Dr. Graham
Son, if I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.
Dr. Graham
[When Karin Kinsella is injured, Archie "Moonlight" Graham leaves the baseball field; this causes him to become his later self, Dr. Graham.]
She'll be all right. She'll be turning handsprings before you know it. (He looks wistfully at ball field.)
You can't go back? You can't go back... oh, God, I'm sorry —
Dr. Graham
It's all right. I'd best be gettin' on home. Alicia will begin to think I've got a girlfriend. [He turns to leave.]
Hey, rookie! You were good.
You lied to me.
Well, you were kidnapping me at the time, you big jerk!
You lied to me!
Well, you said your finger was a gun!
That's a good point.
I did it all, I listened to the voices, I did what they told me, and not once did I ask what's in it for me.
What are you saying, Ray?
I'm saying... what's in it for me?
What are you grinning at, you ghost?
"If you build it -" [gestures toward catcher, who is Ray's father, John Kinsella] "- he will come."
"Ease his pain. Go the distance." It was him!
No, Ray. It was you.
Is this heaven?
John Kinsella Is this heaven?
It's — it's Iowa.
John I could have sworn it was heaven.
Is there a heaven?
John Oh, yeah. It's the place where dreams come true.
Maybe this is heaven.
"Oh my God....It's my father...My God! I'd only seen him years later when he was worn down by life. Look at him. He's got his whole life in front of him and I'm not even a glint in his eye. What do I say to him?
"Why don't you introduce him to his granddaughter?"
Hey, Dad... you wanna have a catch?
John I'd like that.