The Sundowners (1960)

Peter Ustinov: Rupert Venneker

Photos 

Quotes 

• Sean Carmody : [on hearing Venneker had been a ship's captain]  Why'd you leave?

  Rupert Venneker : My stomach. I was a notoriously bad sailor.

  Sean Carmody : Dad says you must have been a better sailor than you are a horseman.

  Rupert Venneker : What the devil is he talking about? I was cashiered from the 17th Lancers before he knew one end of a horse from the other! *Not* that he does now! Hah!

  Sean Carmody : What does cashiered mean?

  Rupert Venneker : Uh - kind of promotion from the army into civilian life.

  Sean Carmody : Oh, congratulations.

• Sean Carmody : Gee, it's gonna be fun. This is the first time I've ever been away from home.

  Shearer : What, with your Mom and Dad not fifty yards outside that window, and you call that being away from home?

  Rupert Venneker : Certainly. Being out in the world is a state of mind, not of geography. The distance between that tent and this bunker is the longest journey you will ever make in your life.

• Rupert Venneker : Nothing is as revolting to the young than to see their elders at play.

• Paddy Carmody : Do me a favor, will you? If you're gonna be a drover, look like a drover. Get rid of that silly flaming hat.

  Rupert Venneker : Let me tell you about this silly flaming hat, my good man.

  Paddy Carmody : And don't call me that. I'm not your good man.

  Rupert Venneker : Would you prefer boss?

  Paddy Carmody : Wouldn't be a bad idea.

  Rupert Venneker : This cap belonged to a ship's master in the China trade.

  Paddy Carmody : Oh, what happened to him?

  Rupert Venneker : Nothing happened to him. He's just not going to call you boss, that's all.

• Rupert Venneker : I don't know if you've got a father, but you're obviously a piece of true-blue British stock.

  Sean Carmody : My father's Irish.

  Rupert Venneker : Oh, is he? I'm sorry.

• Sean Carmody : Is she your boss?

  Rupert Venneker : My employer - which is a vastly different thing.

• Rupert Venneker : All right, fearless, lower your blunderbuss.

• Rupert Venneker : May I offer you a lift into town?

  Sean Carmody : Yes, please.

  Rupert Venneker : Well, I must say, I find you less repellant than most people your age.

• Rupert Venneker : Boy, get this man-eating mongrel off me. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off.

• Rupert Venneker : Many's the man who sunk to his doom in Yorkshire pudding.

• Rupert Venneker : So there you are, Carmody. Hale and chipper for the job ahead?

• Rupert Venneker : Pay a woman a compliment, she tries to turn it into a contract.

• Rupert Venneker : I've been here long enough. Most places are fit only for arrivals and departures. I like to do them both as often as possible.

• Rupert Venneker : Want a bit of everything, like me. Because you're young.

  Sean Carmody : But you're not, though.

  Rupert Venneker : I'm younger than I seem to you. I've never really grown up, you see. And you've never had time. That's why we're out here instead of in a comfortable tent, like your parents.

  Sean Carmody : Rupe...

  Rupert Venneker : No more questions. You're still growing upwards. I'm only growing sideways now. Apart from that, we have a great deal in common.

• Paddy Carmody : Look, mate, I was a bit shickered last night.

  Rupert Venneker : You looked like something sculptured from the sediment of a beer vat.

• Sean Carmody : What's China like?

  Rupert Venneker : Very full. Just as Australia's very empty.

• Rupert Venneker : Carmody, do you think that creature is planning to give us our baths?

  Paddy Carmody : I've got Ida to protect me. But I'd watch my step if I was you.

• Mrs. Firth : My word, you are lucky, all this traveling. I've always wanted to travel. I came from Port Augusta for a week about 15 years ago, and I've never been back since.

  Rupert Venneker : Have they missed you?

  Mrs. Firth : Ain't he a joker? With a beard too. I bet that scratches the girls, eh, love?

• Paddy Carmody : Rupe, we'd like you to come to Queensland with us. Now, what do you say?

  Rupert Venneker : I say, you'll hate yourself in the morning. But I think I'll linger a while and investigate the possibilities of Cawndilla.

  Mrs. Firth : Paddy, do you think he means me?

• Rupert Venneker : I didn't investigate the possibilities of Cawndilla, after all. Things got very serious after you left the party and... I'm an old fish, Carmody. I know the hook when I see it.

  Paddy Carmody : You ain't going back to her?

  Rupert Venneker : I probably will, eventually. She's an awfully pleasant little person. I flatter myself I created a rather good impression on her. Pity to waste it.

• Rupert Venneker : Friends, Romans, shearers.

  Mrs. Firth : Hello, Sean. How did you like the play?

  Rupert Venneker : Oh, don't question him, madame. Don't waken him from his dream. He fell in love with the leading lady.

  Sean Carmody : Honest truth, give a bloke a go.

  Rupert Venneker : Oh, no shame in that. When I was your age, I was head over heels in love with Lillie Langtry.

  [to Mrs. Firth] 

  Rupert Venneker : And now, my mulga-scrub lily, I'm head over heels in love with you.

• Rupert Venneker : Your good man seemed almost cheerful.

  Ida Carmody : Oh, no, not really. This job's got him down worse than I expected.

  Rupert Venneker : Well, he's a man who hates routine. What he need is a little excitement.

  Ida Carmody : But where's he gonna get it? Barring some sheep turning round and shearing him.

• Paddy Carmody : Spending the night in Cawndilla?

  Rupert Venneker : Would a cup of hot, strong tea be possible?

  Ida Carmody : You know, a few more visits to Mrs. Firth and you're gonna end up married.

  Rupert Venneker : I've paid many visits to many Mrs. Firths all my life and I'm still free. It's all a question of - technique.

• Paddy Carmody : I'm not guaranteein' anything, mind you.

  Rupert Venneker : None of that. No modesty. It's confidence gonna win the day.

  Paddy Carmody : Oh, it is? Well, that's good. I was afraid it was gonna be me.

• Rupert Venneker : Try not to show him that you're nervous. In fact, it might be good psychology if you could manage a hearty laugh.

  Paddy Carmody : You laugh. I can't think of anything funny.

  Ocker : We could tickle you.

• Rupert Venneker : Perhaps it would be better if I didn't accompany your family to Bulinga.

  Ida Carmody : We'd be glad to have you, and you know it. Though why you want to beats me.

  Rupert Venneker : Well, I'm a kind of elderly turtle, Ida. Hard shell, soft belly, wealth of experience. Not much of a mind to make use of it. Always in the soup. No joke intended. And this turtle can't share its shell with anyone. But only when it finds people who really belong to each other - as Paddy and you do. - it becomes attached, like a household pet. Not a very well-trained one at that.

• Ida Carmody : Since this is nosy day at Wattle Run, what are you gonna do about Mrs. Firth?

  Rupert Venneker : Mrs. Firth? I'm going to say goodbye to Mrs. Firth. She's a dear little body, isn't she? I just hope I don't hurt her feelings.

  Ida Carmody : Don't you worry about her losing you. She isn't losing one damned thing.

  Rupert Venneker : Ida, I thought you were my friend.

  Ida Carmody : I am your friend. I just don't like you very much right now.

• Paddy Carmody : Did you ever dream you'd have 200 quid in the kit - besides owning a racehorse?

  Rupert Venneker : We'll have think of a name for the brute.

  Paddy Carmody : Hey, that's right. We could call him - eh - Dynamite. Or what about Fireball?

  Rupert Venneker : Fireball? Grotesque. No, no. Something classical would be more appropriate.

  Ida Carmody : Wait. Why don't we call him Sundowner?

  Paddy Carmody : Yeah, I like that.

  Rupert Venneker : Sundowner. What does that mean? I've been called that on occasion. I assumed it was a term of abuse.

  Sean Carmody : No, that's the Australian word for people like us. A sundowner is someone whose home is where the sun goes down. It's the same as saying someone who doesn't have a home.

• [last lines] 

  Rupert Venneker : Lucky for you, we've got a sense of humor.