Brody quotes from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Jones

I had it, Marcus. I had it in my hand.

Brody

What happened?

Jones

Guess.

Brody

Belloq?

Jones

Wanna hear about it?

Brody

Not at all.

Doctor Jones, we've heard a lot about you.

Jones

Have you?

Professor of Archeology. Expert on the occult and, how does one say it... obtainer of rare antiquities.

Jones

That's one way of saying it.

You're definitely a man of many talents.

And you studied under Professor Ravenwood at the University of Chicago.

Jones

Yes, I did.

Do you have any idea of his present whereabouts?

Jones

Only rumors really. Somewhere in Asia, I think. I haven't spoken to him in ten years. We were friends once but we had a bit of a falling out, I'm afraid.

Now, you must understand that this is all completely confidential.

Jones

I understand.

Yesterday afternoon our European section intercepted a German communique that was sent from Cairo to Berlin.

You see for the last two years the Nazis have had teams of archaeologists running around the world looking for all sorts of religious artifacts. Hitler's gone nuts on the subject. He's obsessed with the occult, and right now there's some kind of German archaeological dig going on in the desert outside Cairo.

Now we have some information here but we can't make anything out of it and we thought maybe you could. "Tanis development proceeding. Acquire headpiece to Staff of Ra. Abner Ravenwood, USA."

Jones

The Nazi's have discovered Tanis...

What exactly does this mean to you, this 'Tanis'?

Jones

Well, Tanis is one of the possible resting places of the Lost Ark.

The Lost Ark?

Jones

The Ark of the Covenant. The chest the Hebrews used to carry the Ten Commandments.

Wait a minute, you're talking about THE Ten Commandments?

Jones

Yes, the actual Ten Commandments. The original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mt. Heron and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing. Didn't any of you guys ever go to Sunday school? The Hebrews took the broken pieces and put them in the Ark, and when they settled in Canaan they put the Ark in a place called the Temple of Solomon--

Brody

In Jerusalem.

Jones

Where it stayed for many years until, all of a sudden, whoosh! It was gone.

Where?

Jones

Well nobody knows where.

Brody

However, an Egyptian pharaoh--

Jones

Shishaq.

Brody

Yes. --invaded the city of Jerusalem in about 980 BC and he may have taken the Ark back to the city of Tanis and hidden it in a secret chamber called the Well of Souls.

Well of Souls?

Brody

However, about a year after the pharaoh had returned to Egypt, the city of Tanis was consumed by the desert in a sandstorm which lasted a whole year, wiped clean by the wrath of God.

Well, I see we've come to the right man. You seem to know all about this 'Tanis'.

Jones

No, Abner's the real expert. He did the first serious work on Tanis, collected some of the relics. It was his obsession really. But he never found the city.

Frankly, we're somewhat suspicious of Mr. Ravenwood. An American being mentioned so prominently in a secret Nazi cable--

Brody

Rubbish, Ravenwood's no Nazi!

What do they want him for then?

Jones

Obviously the Nazis are looking for the headpiece to the Staff of Ra and they think Abner's got it.

What exactly is the headpiece to the Staff of Ra?

Jones

Well the Staff is just a stick, I don't know, about this big, but nobody really knows for sure how high. It's capped by an elaborate headpiece in the shape of the sun with a crystal in the center. And what you did was you took the Staff to a special room in Tanis called the map room with a miniature of the city laid out on the floor. And if you put the Staff in a certain place at a certain time of day, the sun shone through here and made a beam that came down on the floor here. [pause] And gave you the exact location of the Well of Souls.

Where the Ark of the Covenant was kept?

Jones

And that's exactly what the Nazis are looking for.

What does this Ark look like?

Jones

There's a picture of it in here. [sets a huge book down on the table and opens it] That's it.

Good God!

Brody

Yes, that's just what the Hebrews thought.

Now, uh, what's that supposed to be coming out of there?

Jones

Lightning. Fire. The power of God or something.

I'm beginning to understand Hitler's interest.

Brody

Yes, the Bible speaks of the Ark leveling mountains and laying waste to entire regions. An army which carries the Ark before it... is invincible.

Brody

They want you to get ahold of the Ark before the Nazis do and they'll be willing to pay handsomely for it.

Jones

And the museum? The museum gets the Ark when we're finished?

Brody

Hell, yes.

Jones

You think she'll still be with him?

Brody

I don't know. Marion's the least of your worries right now though, Indy.

Jones

What do you mean?

Brody

Well, for nearly three thousand years, man has been searching for the lost Ark. That's not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It's like... nothing you've ever gone after before.

Jones

Oh, Marcus! What are you trying to do? Scare me? You sound like my mother! We've known each other for a long time. You know I don't believe in magic, a lot of superstitious hocus-pocus. I'm going after a find of incredible historical significance, you're talking about the boogie man. [mumbling as he tosses his revolver into a suitcase] Besides, you know what a cautious fellow I am.

You've done your country a great service.

And we trust you found the settlement satisfactory?

Jones

The money's fine, the situation is totally unacceptable.

Well gentlemen, I think that just about raps it up--

Brody

Where is the Ark?

I thought we'd settled that. The Ark is somewhere very safe.

Jones

From whom?

Brody

The Ark is a source of unspeakable power and it has to be researched!

And it will be, I assure you Doctor Brody, Doctor Jones. We have top men working on it right now.

Jones

Who?

Top Men.