The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Frank Morgan: Billings

Quotes 

• Ruth Blair : Oh, Jack, is Ziegfeld a friend of yours?

  Jack Billings : Yes, we've been pals for years, but you wouldn't like him.

  Ruth Blair : No?

  Jack Billings : No, he's up one day and down the next. If he got $10,000 tomorrow, he'd spend it on the girl he happened to like tomorrow night. You wouldn't want to waste your time meeting a felloe like that.

  Ruth Blair : Oh, not if I met him on the right night.

• Jack Billings : This little lady has wiggled herself from the sands of the desert to the shores of Lake Michigan. And she's about to give you an exhibition absolutely free. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the dance that Little Egypt does inside, but to prove our generosity, we're going to give a demonstration of that famous dance, the hootchy-kootch! Egypt, wiggle!

• Ruth Blair : Hands up, mister, and give me all your money.

  Jack Billings : Well, I can't give you anything with my hands up, sweetheart.

  Ruth Blair : All right, fresh, 23 skidoo for you.

• Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. : Anna's show is all set. No, in this one - I want to star the girls.

  Jack Billings : Don't be ridiculous. Without personalities, you haven't got a chance.

  Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. : Oh, I'll have personalities, all right. Lots of personalities! But, they'll mostly be blondes and brunettes.

  Jack Billings : What are you going to call this opera?

  Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. : I'm going to call it: the Ziegfeld Follies.

• Stock Broker : No, we can't, Mr. Nagus. I'm sorry, but we can't hold your stocks any longer. Mr. Billings, we've had to sell you out too.

  Jack Billings : Well, that takes me back to my second childhood consistently. I was a poor kid when I started.

• Jack Billings : Ziggy, if you just put your mind to it, I think you'll be up and around in a week. Don't let me rush you, because while you're here convalescing, I'll be picking out the gals for the new show!

  [laughs] 

• Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. : Why is it, Jack, that in a world so old - life must be so short?

  Jack Billings : Short? I feel as if I'd been here 1,000 years. And I'm gonna stay 1,000 more. And you'd feel the same way if you'd snap out of it and get a new show started.