Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham They say the day you die your name is written on a cloud.
Most-quoted character in Out of the Past (1947): in 52 of its 67 quotes
Most scenes with: Kathie Moffat (15), Whit Sterling (7), Meta (4)
You say to yourself, "How hot can it get?" Then, in Acapulco, you find out. I knew she had to wind up here because if you want to go south, here's where you get the boat. All I had to do was wait. Near the plaza was a little cafe, called La Mar Azul next to a movie house. I sat there in the afternoons and drank beer. I used to sit there half-asleep with the beer and the darkness. Only that music from the movie next door kept jarring me awake.
More lines from Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham
21 quotes Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham I sell gasoline, I make a small profit. With that I buy groceries. The grocer makes a profit. We call it earning a living. You may have heard of it somewhere.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham You don't get vaccinated for Florida, but you do for Mexico.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham And then I saw her, coming out of the sun, and I knew why Whit didn't care about that forty grand.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham I knew I'd go every night until she showed up. I knew she knew it. I sat there and drank bourbon and I shut my eyes, but I didn't think of a joint on 56th Street. I knew where I was and what I was doing...what a sucker I was. I even knew she wouldn't come the first night. But I sat there, grinding it out.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham She waited until it was late. And then she walked in out of the moonlight, smiling.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham I never saw her in the daytime. We seemed to live by night. What was left of the day went away like a pack of cigarettes you smoked. I didn't know where she lived. I never followed her. All I ever had to go on was a place and time to see her again. I don't know what we were waiting for. Maybe we thought the world would end. Maybe we thought it was a dream and we'd wake up with a hangover in Niagara Falls. I wired Whit but I didn't tell him. 'I'm in Acapulco,' I said. 'I wish you were here.' And every night I went to meet her. How did I know she'd ever show up? I didn't. What stopped her from taking a boat to Chile or Guatemala? Nothing. How big a chump can you get to be? I was finding out. And then she'd come along like school was out, and everything else was just a stone which sailed at the sea.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham It was a nice little joint with bamboo furniture and Mexican gimcracks. One little lamp burned. It was all right. And the rain hammering like that on the window made it good to be in there.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham She's a clever little girl and she's always a hop, skip, and a jump ahead.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham I don't like playing games when I'm the fall guy. You might remember that, Whit.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham It was the bottom of the barrel and I scraped it. But I didn't care. I had her.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham We found a little movie house in North Beach. We were on the run. We went to places we never would have seen in our lives. And after a while, we grew a little more sure of ourselves. We drifted back to more familiar places. Ball parks and the race tracks. Why not? After all, there was one chance in a million we'd bump into our past.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham It was meeting her somewhere like in the first times. There was still that something about her that got me - a kind of magic or whatever it was. I held her and we could laugh because we were together again. We'd played it smart and forgotten nothing. Forgotten nothing except one thing. He had followed her.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham I wasn't sorry for him or sore at her. I wasn't anything.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham [to Whit]
You liked me because you could use me. You could use me because I was smart. I'm not smart anymore. I run a gas station.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham [to Meta]
If you'll drop this Junior League patter, we may get this conversation down to where it belongs.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham I think I'm in a frame...I don't know. All I can see is the frame. I'm going in there now to look at the picture.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham You see, I've got the files that were in your briefcase. I also know the address of the Treasury Department. That's the theory, isn't it? Keep the files away from the Treasury boys. Save Whit from doing ten years in a federal pen. Now you correct me if I make a mistake...You get the files and you also get Eels' body, in case you want to keep it from the cops...I want the affidavit that Meta put in Eels' safe when she took the files out. The lie that somebody put on paper that I killed a guy named Jack Fisher. Cause you see, I only buried him. And you don't get the gas for being the undertaker...And you won't need Whit. All you need is Meta to unlock that safe in Eels' office. I hope Meta's still around.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham [to Kathie]
Did it take much persuasion to make you say I killed Fisher? Come on, feed my ego. Tell me he beat ya, tell me he had to drag every word out of ya.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham And cheer up Kathie. You'll get out of it all right. You always have.
Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham [to Kathie]
You're like a leaf that blows from one gutter to another.
Scenes with Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham
30 scenes
You just sit and stay inside yourself. You wait for me to talk. I like that.
Jeff I never found out much listening to myself.
I just want her back. When you see her, you'll understand better.
Jeff Maybe she's just an impulsive girl?
So we'll let it go at that.
Jeff I can let it all go.
Even $5,000 now, and 5 when you bring her back...and expenses.
Jeff Now that should have been the first thing you said.
Find her Jeff. Bring her back.
Jeff Why me?
Well, I know a lot of smart guys and a few honest ones. And you're both.
Jeff And what happens to her?
I won't touch her.
Jeff My name is Jeff Markam, and I haven't talked to anybody who hasn't tried to sell me something for ten days. If I don't talk I think. It's too late in life for me to start thinking. I could go down to the cliff and look at the sea like a good tourist, but it's no good if there isn't somebody you can turn to and say, 'Nice view, huh.' The same with the churches, the relics, the moonlight or a Cuba Libre. Nothing in the world is any good unless you can share it.
Maybe you want to go home.
Jeff Maybe that's why I'm here.
Is it?
You know, you're a curious man.
Jeff You're gonna make every guy you meet a little bit curious.
That's not what I mean. You don't ask questions. You don't even ask me what my name is.
Jeff All right, what's your name?
Kathie.
Jeff I like it.
Or where I come from?
Jeff I'm thinkin' about where we're going.
Don't you like it in here?
Jeff I'm just not ready to settle down.
Shall I take you somewhere else?
Jeff You're going to find it very easy to take me anywhere.
Jeff [at the roulette wheel]
That isn't the way to play it.
Why not?
Jeff 'Cause it isn't the way to win.
Is there a way to win?
Jeff Well, there's a way to lose more slowly.
I prefer it like that.
Jeff Chuck it in.
Don't you like to gamble?
Jeff Not against a wheel.
Tell me why you're so hard to please.
Jeff Take me where I can tell you.
When are you taking me back?
Jeff Is that why you kissed me?
No.
Jeff Whit didn't die.
He didn't?
Jeff No.
Then, why...
Jeff He just wants you back.
I hate him. I'm sorry he didn't die.
Jeff Give him time.
You are taking me back.
Jeff There's no hurry.
I could have run away last night.
Jeff I'd find you.
Yes, I believe you would. You're glad you did?
Jeff I don't know.
I am.
Jeff There was a little business, about forty thousand dollars.
I didn't take it.
Jeff How did you know it was taken?
It's what you meant. I don't want any thing of his or any part of him.
Jeff Except his life.
I didn't know what I was doing. I, I didn't know anything except how much I hated him. But I didn't take anything. I didn't, Jeff. Don't you believe me?
Jeff Baby, I don't care. [They kiss]
Jeff I didn't know you were so small.
I'm taller than Napoleon.
Jeff You're prettier too. [They kiss]
Did you miss me?
Jeff No more than I would miss my eyes.
You don't know Whit. He won't forget.
Jeff Everybody forgets.
Not Whit.
Jeff So we'll send him a postcard every Christmas.
Jeff, I'm glad you're not afraid of him.
Jeff I've been afraid of half the things I ever did.
And this time?
Jeff I'm only afraid you might not go.
Don't be. I'll be there tomorrow. Love me?
Jeff Mmm, hmm.
Poco?
Jeff What's that?
Little.
Jeff Mucho.
Jeff Whit my friend, there's a million dames in this world. They all look like her.
No they don't. So she was here.
Jeff According to all available evidence, she was.
Maybe you should have sent Stephanos. Could you find one dame in a million, Joe?
Joe And one with forty grand.
Jeff [after spilling a drink after seeing Kathie across the room]
Sorry.
Picked up some nerves.
Jeff I don't need a crack like that any more than I need your dough, which is what I've been telling you. I missed her. The dame caught a boat south.
Where?
Jeff Look, I got along before this job. I ate good and I grew as big as you did and if there's something you don't like you can say so.
I just asked where.
Jeff Chile, Guatemala...
I'm sorry. You missed her and you feel bad. I shouldn't have joked about it.
Jeff I'll give you back your $5,000 and turn the job over to Stephanos.
You're on. I fire people, but nobody quits me. You started this and you'll end it. Besides, Joe couldn't find a prayer in the Bible. You'll find her. Take it easy. Take your time.
Jeff You didn't have to kill him.
Yes I did. You wouldn't have killed him. You would have beaten him up and thrown him out.
Jeff You didn't have to do it.
You wouldn't have killed him. He would have been against us. Gone to Whit.
Ann It's all past.
Jeff Maybe it isn't.
Ann What'll happen?
Jeff I don't know. It's been a long time. I don't know how much he knows.
Ann Don't go, Jeff.
Jeff I've got to. I'm tired of running. I'd better clean this up someway. Just one thing, Ann. Do you want me to come back?
Ann Of course.
I had to come back. What else could I do?
Jeff You can never help anything can you? You're like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another. You can't help any thing you do, even murder.
You can't say it was that.
Jeff I can say one thing. I buried him. What did you tell him? About us? But you couldn't help it, could you Kathie?
He knew it. He looked right into me. He knew it.
Jeff How much?
What, Jeff?
Jeff I mean about Fisher. Did he look into you for that too?
No, I didn't tell that.
Jeff Don't lie to me.
I didn't. I wouldn't tell him that. I wouldn't tell anyone that. I swear it Jeff. Believe me.
Jeff Sure, sure I believe you.
I didn't know what to do. I was always afraid of him, and afraid of what I'd done. I couldn't live that way anymore. I couldn't stand it. Jeff, I've missed you. I've wondered about you, prayed you'd understand. Can you understand?
Jeff You prayed, Kathie?
Can't you even feel sorry for me?
Jeff I'm not going to try.
Jeff.
Jeff Look, just get out, will you? I have to sleep in this room. Just leave it where it all is. Get out.
Jeff Just remember, I'm coming out of this in one piece, Miss Carson.
Do you always go around leaving your fingerprints on a girl's shoulders? Not that I mind particularly. You've got nice strong hands.
Jeff Meta always talked about you like you were the ninth wonder of the world.
Eels She skipped one.
Jeff For me, it must be the eighth.
Eels All women are wonders because they reduce all men to the obvious.
So do martinis.
Jeff Doesn't your conscience bother you, crossing a nice guy like that?
Maybe he isn't such a nice guy. Maybe he crosses people too.
Jeff Is there a slip up baby? Did you by any chance send your friend up there to find Eels dead?
No Jeff.
Jeff Tell me. Tell me.
Don't Jeff.
Jeff Don't what?
I don't want to die.
Jeff Neither do I baby, but if I have to, I'm going to die last. Something slipped up, didn't it? They told you they were gonna knock him off, and they haven't done it, have they? They haven't because I tipped him off. He blew.
He's all right?
Jeff Didn't you want him to be?
Yes, yes, because if he died, they'll say you did it.
Jeff You're wonderful Kathie. You're magnificent. You can change sides so smoothly.
Don't Jeff. You're hurting me.
Jeff Whit wants to get Eels out of the picture. He wants to square an old account with me. Two birds together...A redhead takes me up to visit the chump who has to go. I have a drink. Leave my prints around. I leave and somebody gets him. Eels dies and the tax papers...They were in the briefcase that Meta took, weren't they? Papers go back to Whit. I'm the fall guy. There's only one thing missing - a plant. What was there to give me a motive? I wouldn't kill a guy for a martini. Tell me Kathie.
They made me sign it.
Jeff Sign what?
An affidavit.
Jeff Go on.
I couldn't help it Jeff. They made me sign it. I swear I couldn't help it. They said they'd find the body and tell the police I killed him.
Jeff Fisher. Then you did tell them about Fisher when you told them I did it! Perfect. Foolproof and beautiful. That Whit can really hate, can't he? You said it once, he can remember.
I never stopped hating him Jeff. I couldn't help myself. I was caught too. We don't have to be against each other now.
Jeff Aren't we?
No, we can break out of it. All we need is the briefcase. Then we've got them, Jeff. We can get anything we want from them.
Jeff I'd like that affidavit you signed.
We can get it. It's in Eels' office safe. We can make Meta get it. We can make them do anything.
Jeff Sure.
Oh, Jeff. You ought to have killed me for what I did a moment ago.
Jeff There's time.
No, you won't. I've never stopped loving you. I was afraid and no good, but I never stopped, even if you hated me. Did you?
Jeff Yes.
But you don't now.
Jeff No.
We could be together again, in a way we never were. We can go back to Acapulco and start all over as though nothing had happened. [They kiss]
Jeff What are you scared about? Joe isn't coming back. He got careless and fell in the river. Did you hear what I said? Joe's dead, Kathie. Can't you find some tears for him?
Do you think I sent Joe?
Jeff Oh, you're wonderful Kathie.
Jeff You take the frame off me. You pin the Eels murder on Joe.
Sure, sure.
Jeff I get a modest settlement, say, oh, say $50,000. That should be enough for me to spend my waning years in Mazatlan. Not Acapulco, because I'd keep thinking about you Kathie, up there in the women's prison in Tehatchapie. It won't be too bad. Hills all around you. Plenty of sun. You make me nervous. You'd be happier if you let the cops have her Whit. That's what you'll have to do. Somebody's got to take the rap for Fisher's murder. It's not going to be me.
Wait a minute. I'm not framing any woman.
Jeff When did you reform? I wouldn't try it, Whit, you're out of shape. Besides, it's not a frame. She shot him.
He was going to kill you.
Jeff You see Whit, self-defense. A cinch to beat. She might not even have to do time.
I'll say you killed him. They'll believe me.
Jeff Do you believe her? Go on Kathie, tell him about Joe. Last time I saw him, he was in the East Walker River.
I didn't send him after Jeff. It was his own idea.
Jeff He slipped and fell. When I got there, it was too late. That's a mean river.
He was trailin' you?
Jeff Well, you don't go fishing with a .45 in your hand.
Ann Was it the same?
Jeff I saw her and it was nothing.
Ann She can't be all bad - no one is.
Jeff No. She comes the closest.
Ann Are you going to see her again?
Jeff Tonight for the last time.
Ann Then look at her, look at yourself, and be very sure that there isn't even a little bit of love left for her. Then when you find out and you know it once and forever, send for me.
Jeff I don't have to find out. I know it now. [They kiss]
Ann That's all I wanted to hear.
Jeff You know, maybe I was wrong and luck is like love. You have to go all the way to find it.
Ann You do to keep it.
Don't you see you've only me to make deals with now?
Jeff Build my gallows high, baby.
No, no, we're starting all over. I want to go back to Mexico. I want to walk out of the sun again and find you waiting. I want to sit in the same moonlight and tell you all the things I never talked to you - till you don't hate me, till sometime you'll love again.
Jeff They'll always be looking for us. They won't stop till we die.
I don't care. Just so they find us together. If you're thinking of anyone else, don't. It wouldn't work. You're no good for anyone but me. You're no good and neither am I. That's why we deserve each other. [They kiss]
Jeff, we've been wrong a lot, and unlucky a long time. I think we deserve a break.
Jeff We deserve each other.
Jeff Very difficult girl.
Jose Rodriguez
Is there one who is not so, Señor?
You know San Francisco, don't you?
Jeff Yeah, I was there once at a party.
Then you get around.
Jeff Like the monkey and the weasel.
Eels Your uh... cousin is a very charming young lady.
Jeff No he isn't. His name is Norman, and he's a bookmaker in Cleveland Ohio.
You are an idiot.
Jeff So's he.
You think so?
Jeff Why not? He's in love with you.
Petey, Taxi Driver
[after seeing Meta]
Nice
Jeff Awfully cold around the heart.
