Memorable quotes for
The Aviator (2004) More at IMDbPro »

Howard Hughes: I feel like a little adventure.
Katharine Hepburn: Do your worst, Mr. Hughes.

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Juan Trippe: If you let him testify at that hearing, the whole world will see what he's become. They should remember him for what he was.

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Howard Hughes: Do you know those men? Do they work for me?
Noah Dietrich: Everybody works for you, Howard.

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Howard Hughes: Come in with the milk. Come in with the milk. Come in with the milk.

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Ava Gardner: Get that crazy bitch away from me!

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Howard Hughes: Will you marry me?
Ava Gardner: You're too crazy for me.

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Ava Gardner: You listened to my phone calls?
Howard Hughes: No! No! No! Honey I would never do that! I'd never do that! I... I just read the transcripts, that's all.

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Katharine Hepburn: [flying Howard's plane] Howard, there's a rather alarming mountain heading our way.

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Howard Hughes: Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints... show me all the blueprints...

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[last lines]
Howard Hughes: The way of the future.

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Howard Hughes: [pensively weighing options] I could do that.
TWA Executive: Do what?
Howard Hughes: Buy it.
TWA Executive: You wanna *buy* the airline?
Howard Hughes: Well why not? We don't want a bunch of pencil-pushers gettin' in the way of us makin' our plane now do we?
TWA Executive: No...
Howard Hughes: [walking away] You call Noel Dietrich. You tell him to start buying!
TWA Executive: [yelling after him in shock] Hang on Howard! You sure you don't want to stop and think about this for a second?
Howard Hughes: Nope! I've got a tiger by the tail here and I'm not about to let go!

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Noah Dietrich: You've just placed the largest order for aircraft in the history of the United States, Howard! I've got a bill here from Lockheed-Martin for forty million dollars! Do you think I've got that just sitting around in petty cash?

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Noah Dietrich: I've gotta tell you, the board over in Houston has been getting a little concerned about the cost of this operation out here.
Howard Hughes: [grimicing] Ah! would you stop showing them the books, Noah?
Noah Dietrich: That's illegal Howard.
Howard Hughes: [smiling] Well, maybe it's a little naughty.
Noah Dietrich: We're incorporated in Houston. The board has to see the books.
Howard Hughes: Well, incorporate a new division out here. We'll call it Hughes Aircraft. Get into that will ya?

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Katharine Hepburn: What's that on the steering wheel?
Howard Hughes: Cellophane. If you had any idea of the crap that people carry around on their hands.
Katharine Hepburn: What kind of crap?
Howard Hughes: You don't wanna know.

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Howard Hughes: You have called me a liar and a thief and a war profiteer.

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Howard Hughes: You want to go to war with me?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: It's not me, Howard. It's the United States Government. We just beat Germany and Japan. Who the hell are you?

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Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: All right, let's get down to business. Let's talk turkey. My investigation...
[He nearly bursts into laughter]
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: My investigation has turned up a lot of dirt. It could be really embarassing if this stuff got out. I'd like to save you from that embarassment.
Howard Hughes: That's very kind of you, Owen.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: My committee has the power to hold public hearings. I'd like to spare you from that.
Howard Hughes: [smirks] Would you, now?
[Brewster abruptly drops his silverware]
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Look, do you wanna go down in history as a war profiteer, Howard? Is that what you want?
Howard Hughes: [gravely] What do you want, Owen?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: You agree to support my C.A.B. bill, and I won't hold public hearings.
Howard Hughes: I can't do that, Owen. Can't do that. The C.A.B. bill would kill TWA.
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Sell T.W.A. to Pan Am. You'll get a good price. You'll get a fair price, I'm telling you.
Howard Hughes: And then...? Then you won't go public?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Right. That's right. The investigation's closed. Nobody knows a thing. It's better for everybody.
[pause]
Howard Hughes: You know, Owen, I'm still wondering one thing. The picture of the llama you got last year. Where'd you sail from?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [disinterested] We didn't sail. We flew.
Howard Hughes: You flew?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: Yeah.
Howard Hughes: [leans in] Are you sure you want to do this, Owen? You want to go to war with me?
Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: It isn't me, Howard. It's the United States government. We just beat Germany and Japan. Who the hell are you?

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Howard Hughes: That’s just what we do in my business.

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Howard Hughes: [as Hepburn leaves him] Actresses are cheap in this town - and I got a lot of money.

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Doctor: [after detailing Hughes's terrible injuries in the plane crash] He's getting blood transfusions now, but, uh...
Noah Dietrich: Whose blood?
Doctor: I'm sorry?
Noah Dietrich: Whose blood?
Doctor: From our stock.
Noah Dietrich: Oh, he's not gonna like that.
Doctor: Mr. Dietrich... I doubt he's ever gonna like or dislike anything again. I'm terribly sorry.

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Katharine Hepburn: I expect you to face this situation like an adul...
Howard Hughes: DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME! Don't you ever talk talk down to me! You're a movie star, nothing more!

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Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster: [talking of Howard Hughes] I'll have him dragged here to Washington. I want to see the whites of his lies.

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Howard Hughes: [talking of Juan Trippe] He owns Pan-Am. He owns Congress. He owns the Civil Aeronautics Board. But he does not own the sky.

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Jack Frye: So you want me to bribe senators?
Howard Hughes: I don't want them bribed, Jack. I want it done legally. I want them bought.

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Glenn Odekirk: 352 on your last run!
Howard Hughes: She'll go faster.

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Katharine Hepburn: Let me take the wheel.

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[from trailer]
Howard Hughes: I'm in a street fight, and I'm not going to lose.

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Howard Hughes: I want ten chocolate chip cookies. Medium chips. None too close to the outside.

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Spencer Tracy: Trouble with Mr. Hughes?
Katharine Hepburn: There's too much "Howard Hughes" in Howard Hughes. That's the trouble.

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Katharine Hepburn: Can't you just eat ice cream out of a bowl, like everyone else?

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Howard Hughes: Look at me, Kate. Stop acting.
Katharine Hepburn: Ha. I'm not acting.
Howard Hughes: I wonder if you even know any more.
Katharine Hepburn: Don't be unkind.

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Jack Frye: You want me to bribe senators?
Howard Hughes: I don't want them bribed, Jack. I want this done legal. I want them *bought*.

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Noah Dietrich: Get a doctor! No one sees him like this!

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[Howard takes Kate to the Cocoanut Grove]
Katharine Hepburn: Your kind of a joint, is it? Wouldn't have thought.
Howard Hughes: Yeah, well, they're open late. I go to a hot dog stand on La Cienega, too; they're open 'til around 4.
Katharine Hepburn: Are they? How marvelous!

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Howard Hughes: [doesn't hear what Kate says] Excuse me?
Katharine Hepburn: Well, if you're deaf, you must own up to it. Get a hearing aid, or see my father. He's an urologist, but it's all tied up inside the body, don't you find?
Howard Hughes: Mmm.
Katharine Hepburn: Me, I keep healthy. I take seven showers a day to keep clean, also because I'm so vulgarly referred to as "outdoors-y." Well, I'm not "outdoors-y," I'm athletic. I sweat! There it is, now we both know the sordid truth: I sweat, and you're deaf. Aren't we a fine pair of misfits?

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[Howard is getting attention after flying around the world in 3 days]
Katharine Hepburn: You know, fame is supposed to be *my* turf.

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Howard Hughes: No, wait! Honey, you can't move! You can't move, you're safe here! You're in the germ-free zone now, y'understand?
Ava Gardner: I'll take my chances.
Howard Hughes: No, no! Honey, wait... wait, uh...
[Ava removes the string barriers from the doorway and walks into the study. She turns on the light, revealing that entire room is covered with used tissues and string barriers everywhere. Silence for a moment]
Ava Gardner: Love what you've done with the place...

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Howard Hughes: Does that look clean to you?
Ava Gardner: Nothing's clean, Howard. But we do our best, right?

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Howard Hughes: You're the tallest woman I have ever met.
Katharine Hepburn: And all sharp elbows and knees. Beware.

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[first lines]
Allene Hughes: Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e.
Young Howard Hughes: Quarantine. Q-u-a-r-a-n-t-i-n-e. Quarantine.

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Katharine Hepburn: I've got a better idea, take me flying! Or better yet, I'll take you flying!
Howard Hughes: Do your worst, Miss Hepburn.

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[on "The Outlaw"]
Glenn Odekirk: Howard, you really think they're gonna let you put out a whole movie just about tits?
Howard Hughes: Sure. Who doesn't like tits?

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Ava Gardner: You don't own me, Howard. I'm not one of your teenage whores and I'm not some damn airplane!

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Katharine Hepburn: I've been famous - for better or worse - for a long time now... I wonder if you know what that really means.
Howard Hughes: I got my fair share of press on Hell's Angels. I'm used to it.
Katharine Hepburn: Are you?
Katharine Hepburn: Howard, we're not like everyone else. Too many acute angles. Too many eccentricities. We have to be very careful not to let people in or they'll make us into freaks.
Howard Hughes: Kate, they can't get in here. We're safe.
Katharine Hepburn: They can always get in. When my brother killed himself there were photographers at the funeral. There's no decency to it.

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Glenn Odekirk: We installed the 450 radial, but the struts won't take the vibration. Minute we go contact, the struts start craking at the attach points.
Howard Hughes: Dammit, Odie, if the 450's too big, figure something else out!
Glenn Odekirk: We've done everything - we've rebuilt her from top to bottom. If we drain the fuel tank for a couple of runs she might make 180 mph.
Howard Hughes: I want minimum 200.
Glenn Odekirk: Yeah, well, I want a date with Theda Bara, but that ain't gonna happen either.
Howard Hughes: Don't be so sure... OK, OK, OK, this is a simple engineering problem. We just gotta think it out.
[pause]
Howard Hughes: So if the struts won't sustain the engine we need - then we gotta get rid of them.
Glenn Odekirk: Then the top wing falls off.
Howard Hughes: Then let it.
Glenn Odekirk: What?
Howard Hughes: Who says we need a top wing?
[pauses]
Howard Hughes: Who says we need *anything*?
[Glenn is warming up to Hughes' idea]
Glenn Odekirk: A monoplane...
Howard Hughes: A cantilevered monoplane. They're doing it in France. To the hell with the top wing and the struts...
Glenn Odekirk: 550 Whitney Wasp engine...
Howard Hughes: 100 octane fuel will give us a top horsepower of - what?
Glenn Odekirk: Seven hundred.
Howard Hughes: Squeeze it to a thousand and we got the fastest plane ever built.
Glenn Odekirk: You know, I just gotta say... we've already spent over $200,000 rebuilding this plane.
Howard Hughes: To the hell with it.
[smiles]
Howard Hughes: Tear it up, Odie.
[Glenn takes a sledgehammer and annihilates the struts on the top wing; the top wing falls off]

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Juan Trippe: [walks away from TV showing the Hughes investigation trial] Switch it off.
Pan-Am Employee: The hearings aren't over yet.
Juan Trippe: The hearings *are* over.
[Is looking at a map of the globe]
Juan Trippe: The airline bill will be defeated in the senate. TWA will beging flights over New York to Paris, leaving over Moscow to Japan - to Hawaii - to Los Angelses - To New York.
[Realizes that Pan Am's monopoly is finished]
Juan Trippe: Fuck.

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Howard Hughes: I care very much about aviation.

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Ava Gardner: Oh, a box of trash! You shouldn't have.

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Howard Hughes: Thats just what we do in my buisness.

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Howard Hughes: I read in the magazines that you play golf.
Katharine Hepburn: On occasion...
Howard Hughes: How 'bout nine holes?
Katharine Hepburn: *Now*, Mr. Hughes?

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Howard Hughes: Sometimes I truly fear that I... am losing my mind. And if I did it... it would be like flying blind.

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Howard Hughes: Little Howard likes citrus.

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Professor Fitz: Well, the cumulonimbus formations about which you speak that look like...
Howard Hughes: Giant breasts full of milk. I want clouds, damn it.
Professor Fitz: Yes, clouds that look like giant breasts full of milk, cannot exactly be guaranteed for any particular occasion. So you might have to... to wait.
Howard Hughes: Then we'll wait. Look, whatever they pay you at UCLA I'm doubling it, all right? You work for me now. Find some clouds. Find some clouds! Find me some clouds!
Hell's Angels Pilot: Welcome to Hell's Angels.

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Howard Hughes: I've been to Chatsworth, Santa Cruz, Encino, San Diego, Riverside, Van Nuys, and Bakersfield. It has been eight months! Where are my goddamn clouds, huh?
Professor Fitz: They move, Mr. Hughes! Clouds move. That's what they do. They move!

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Noah Dietrich: Nice day.
Howard Hughes: Yeah, very funny.
Noah Dietrich: Listen, I got a call from Houston. They're getting real nervous about all this.
Howard Hughes: Stop showing them the damn bills, Noah.
Noah Dietrich: That would be illegal, Howard.
Howard Hughes: Shit, no. Maybe it's a little bit naughty.

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Howard Hughes: What the *hell* does a senator from Maine need to fly to Peru for?

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Howard Hughes: I'm Howard Hughes, the aviator.

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Howard Hughes: Pull back on the wheel a bit.
Katharine Hepburn: GOLLY!
Howard Hughes: I don't think I've ever met anyone who uses the word Golly.

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Katharine Hepburn: Men can't be friends with women Howard. They must posses them or leave them be. It’s a primitive urge from caveman days. It’s all in Darwin. Hunt the flesh. Kill the flesh. Eat the flesh. That's the, ah, male sex all over.

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Howard Hughes: Stop there, if you please, Miss Domergue. Have you had surgery, Miss Domergue?
Faith Domergue: No.
Howard Hughes: Do you have scars of *any* kind?
Faith Domergue: No.
Howard Hughes: Wipe off your lipstick. That's much better. Now you understand that you'd be under contract to me. Personally. Do you know what that means? Now turn around for me. Now very nice. You move well. Live with your family, do you?
Faith Domergue: Yes.
Howard Hughes: That's nice. Tell me somethin'. How old are you, Miss Domergue?
Faith Domergue: Fifteen.
Howard Hughes: Holy Mother of God.

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