King Kong (1976)
Jeff Bridges: Jack Prescott
Photos
Quotes
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Dwan : How can I become a star because of... because of someone who was stolen off that gorgeous island and locked up in that lousy oil tank?
Fred Wilson : It's not *someone*! It's an animal, a beast who tried to rape you.
Dwan : That's not true. He risked his life to save me.
Fred Wilson : He tried to rape you, honey. And before you cry a lot, you should ask the natives on that island what they thought of losing Kong.
Jack Prescott : Actually, they'll miss him a lot.
Fred Wilson : Like leprosy.
Jack Prescott : No, you're dead wrong. He was the terror, the mystery of their lives, and the magic. A year from now that will be an island full of burnt-out drunks. When we took Kong, we kidnapped their god.
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Fred Wilson : [as the "Petrox Explorer" comes in sight of Skull Island] You know something? I always wondered how Cortez felt when he first saw the Inca treasure.
Jack Prescott : That wasn't Cortez; it was Pizarro. And he died busted, Fred.
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Jack Prescott : Listen, there is a girl out there who might be running for her life from some gigantic turned-on ape!
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Jack Prescott : You wouldn't.
Fred Wilson : Bet me.
Jack Prescott : Even an environmental rapist like you - even you - wouldn't be asshole enough to wipe out a unique new species of animal. Fred, the kids would burn every Petrox gas station from Maine to California.
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Jack Prescott : Kong! Kong! Kong! Kong! you heard them chant that! He exists. You saw the wall, right? Now who the hell do you think they're planning to give that girl to?
Fred Wilson : It's some nutty religion. A priest gets dressed up like an ape and gets laid.
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Carnahan : If he's not gonna eat her, why did he take her?
Jack Prescott : Apes are highly territorial. He's probably gonna take her back to his turf.
Carnahan : What for? Joe and the guys, uh, said that you said the ape was gonna marry her. Is that some kinda joke or did you really mean his huge...
Jack Prescott : I don't know, Carnahan! Look, I'm just as ignorant about this as you are, so quit askin' me so many dumb questions, will ya?
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Jack Prescott : [interrupts the briefing aboard the Petrox Explorer] And I'm not so sure human feet have never walked on that island before. You see, in 1605, Piero Fernandez DeQuerez was blown south from Timetang. He wrote in his log of piercing the white veil. That's obviously the cloud bank. And landing on the beach of the skull... Where he heard the roar of the greatest beast. The rest of that log entry unfortunately was suppressed by the Holy Office in Rome.
Fred Wilson : Who are you?
Jack Prescott : In 1749, a waterlogged lifeboat was found in the same area, it was empty, but drawn in blood on the thwart was the likeness of some huge, slouchy humanoid thing. And this strange warning... "From the wedding with the creature who touches Heaven, lady, God preserve thee." I also heard of a note in a bottle written by a dying Japanese submariner in 1944. I haven't been able to track that one down.
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Fred Wilson : Jack, the girl's about to come to, she could be hysterical, so follow me. Come on, Prescott, move it.
Jack Prescott : Can a guy get a cheeseburger around here?
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Dwan : [radiant smile] Hey, Jack, do I look different?
Jack Prescott : Yeah, you shine.
Dwan : That's right. I'm a star.
Fred Wilson : It's all set, Jack. Coast-to-coast tour. Lights! Camera! Kong! And probably Nuroyev and Fonteyn!
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Fred Wilson : Jack, let me straighten you out on a couple of points. One, that wall is an ancient ruin. Two, this island is uninhabited.
[Loud drumming begins, coming from the direction of the wall]
Jack Prescott : And three, there's an uninhabited German beer hall down there with a mechanical band.
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Boan : [told to get a move on, just scoffs] I ain't bustin' my ass for no white company, white man!
[chortles]
Jack Prescott : Okay. Take your time. Who gives a shit that radar's got the ape heading in our direction?
[which causes Boan to look up sharply, and work with more vigor]
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Jack Prescott : Jack Prescott. I'm from Princeton. Department of Primate Paleonthology.
Fred Wilson : Department of? You lyin' hippie! You're from another oil company! How did you know about this?
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Jack Prescott : Damn it, do we have a deal?
City Official : Yes, Professor, we have a deal. Where is Kong headed?
Jack Prescott : There's one place in Manhattan that looks exactly like a certain part of his native habitat. Let him through to it and you can trap him there. Let him climb to the top of the World Trade Center.
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Dwan : Ohhh!
Jack Prescott : We're gonna do it! Are you ready?
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Jack Prescott : You all right?
Fred Wilson : I just fell in a Goddamn hole.
Jack Prescott : No, you didn't.
Fred Wilson : What do you mean I didn't? Look at me.
Jack Prescott : You're not in a hole. That's a footprint.
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Jack Prescott : I was wrong when I called this thing a farce, it's a tragedy.
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Dwan : God, it's scary. It's like there's a curse on all of us.
Fred Wilson : Damn it! I'm tired of you trying to confuse this girl's mind! This is her big chance and yours too! You know there are stars in Princeton the same way there are in Hollywood, Jack. You want out, you want me to cable Harvard or Yale and get Kong another keeper?
Jack Prescott : Coast to coast tours, beauty and the beast, that's a grotesque farce!
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Fred Wilson : Jack, you want to talk for us?
Jack Prescott : I'll try.
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Dwan : I wish you wouldn't go ashore tonight.
Jack Prescott : Oh, you think it'd be better to watch some old movie with the crew?
Dwan : No, of course not.
Jack Prescott : There's nothing else to do on this ship.
Dwan : Well, use your imagination.
Jack Prescott : Eighty times around the deck is a mile. We could jog.
[laughs]
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[Jack takes a picture of Fred with Dwan]
Fred Wilson : Hey, hey, hey. Don't print those. I'm a married man.
Jack Prescott : Guaranteed to cover on People Magazine.
Fred Wilson : Print just one.
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Jack Prescott : The ape had the right idea.
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Fred Wilson : You had a year of medical school before you switched to zoology, right?
Jack Prescott : What do you got, crystal balls?
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Jack Prescott : You'll disappoint if you're here when I get back.
Dwan : What do you mean you'll be disappointed?
Jack Prescott : Oh, I was hopin' you'd be waiting for me in your cabin.
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Jack Prescott : Do you remember anything?
Dwan : No. No. Yeah.
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Dwan : How can I ever thank you? I'm Dwan. D-W-A-N. Dawn. That's my name. You know, like Dawn - except that I switched two letters, you know, to make it more memorable.
Jack Prescott : I'm a mere Jack.
Dwan : You must be kidding. I mean, how could anybody who had saved my life ever be mere to me?
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Dwan : Hey, that sounds dangerous.
Jack Prescott : I'll tell you, babe, it's a chance that comes once in a lifetime. You grab it or you're dead meat.
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Dwan : You know, you really shouldn't go ashore tonight. It's not a good night for Aries like you.
Jack Prescott : How did you know I was an Aries?
Dwan : By the shape of your ears.
[giggles]
Dwan : Alright, so I asked Fred Wilson. He knows everything about you.
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Carnahan : Are you trying to tell me there's people on this island?
Jack Prescott : Yes, I am. What's more, I'll characterize them. Scared people.
Dwan : Scared of what?
Jack Prescott : I don't exactly; but whatever it is, apparently, they thought they needed a wall this size to keep it out.
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Jack Prescott : You've been through so much excitement, it's in your blood like dope. You're going to need - new fixes.
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Dwan : Do you think I need furs?
Jack Prescott : Yes, I think you need furs.
