Alvin MacCarron quotes from The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Alvin MacCarron

I don't care for B.S. I don't care to hear it. I don't care to speak it.

Alvin MacCarron

Did you know that in Princeton, Dickie Greenleaf half killed a boy? At a party over some girl. Kicked the kid several times in the head, put him in the hospital. Boy had a wire fixed in his jaw, lost some hearing. Why do you think Dickie's father sent him to Europe in the first place? The Rome police didn't think to ask Mr. Greenleaf, nor did they think to check on whether a Thomas Ripley had ever been a student at Princeton University. Oh, uh, I turned up a Tom Ripley who had been a piano tuner in the music department. You see, in America we are taught to check a fact before it becomes a fact. Taught to nose around when a girl drowns herself, find out if that girl is pregnant. Find out if Dickie had an embarrassment there. Mr. Greenleaf appreciates your loyalty, he really does. Marge, she has a hundred theories. There's a few things that she doesn't know. We hope she never knows.

Tom Ripley

I hope she never knows.

Alvin MacCarron

Three different people saw Dickie get into Freddie's car. One man will not testify because he was jumping somebody else's wife at the time, saw Dickie removing license plates from a red sports car. The police know about this man because he happens to be a policeman. [holds out two license plates] I found these in the basement of Dickie's apartment. They belong to Freddie's car. Mr. Greenleaf has asked me to lose these in the canal this evening. [puts the license plates down] Mr. Greenleaf feels that there was a silent promise in Dickie's letter to you which he intends to honour. He also intends to transfer a good portion of Dickie's income from his trust into your name.