Sunday, November 1, 2009

Best Lonesome Dove Quotes from Parts I & II of Miniseries

This past summer, I analyzed and discussed my all-time favorite miniseries-- Lonesome Dove (1989). Well, folks, there's another marathon of it on today, and I've selected some of the best quotes from Parts I & II to talk about.
Best Quotes from Pt. I: Leaving:
1.) "The older the violin, the sweeter the music."-- Capt. Gus McCrae (Robert Duvall) in regards to his perspective on the aging process
2.) "Well, you're one to talk. When's the last time you changed?"-- Gus to Capt. Woodrow F. Call (Tommy Lee Jones) after Call has remarked that old rangerin' buddy Jake Spoon (Robert Urich) is still the same ne'er-do-good he always was
3.) "The only shot the boy's got at an education is listenin' to me talk."-- Gus telling Woodrow that young Newt Dobbs (Ricky Schroeder) will learn more about life if Gus can teach him about the finer things in life as opposed to being worked to death by Woodrow
4.) "Can we eat yet, or do we have to wait until the argument's over?"-- Cpl. Pea Eye Parker (Timothy Scott) humorously commenting on the captains' constant bickering
5.) "I doubt they'd shoot a boy, even in Texas."-- Ft. Smith, Arkansas, sheriff July Johnson's (Chris Cooper) wife, Elmira (Glenne Headly), convincing her husband to take son Joe with him to Texas (ostensibly to capture Jake Spoon, who murdered July's brother, Benny) so that Ellie can go to Nebraska to find her old flame, the imprisoned D. Boot
Best Quotes from Pt. II: On the Trail:
1.) "The best way to deal with death is to ride away from it."-- Capt. Call, telling the young cowboys, including Newt, Dish Boggett (D.B. Sweeney), and Jasper Fant (Barry Tubb), to not succumb to death (or the dark, negative aspects of life) during the funeral of Sean O'Brien, a young Irishman bitten to death by water moccasins while crossing the Rio Grande River on horseback
2.) "I don't know about friends. I'm sure you was a good customer."-- Call retorting to Gus after Gus says that Maggie (Call's now-deceased lover, a whore and Newt's mother) was a good friend of his-- from the San Antonio/creek scene-- one of the best in the entire movie
3.) "My wife is in Hell, where I sent her. She could make good biscuits, but her behavior was terrible."-- Po Campo, who is recruited by the captains to be camp cook after their original cook, Bolivar, quits
4.) "Listen to me, pretty lil' thing: Life in San Francisco is still just life. If you want only one thing in life, that one thing is liable to be a disappointment."-- Gus to Lorena "Lorie Darlin'" Wood (Diane Lane), who's all upset that Jake won't take her to San Francisco and free her from her menial existence in Lonesome Dove
5.) "Aye God, Woodrow, you don't never seem to get the point. It ain't dyin' I'm talkin' about-- it's livin'!"-- Gus basically summing up his whole philosophy, which is that life is meant to be lived

1 comment:

Ashley said...

Great job here, Ashley. I, too am a L.D. fan. Thanks for the quotes!