Three Days of the Condor

(1975)

[Literary analysts Turner and Janice confer over an ideogram.]

Turner: Are you sure about this ideogram?

Janice: Look at this face. Could I be wrong about an ideogram?

[Turner laughs.]

Turner: It's a great face. But it's never been to China.

[Turner is repairing some computer equipment.]

Dr. Lappe: We have people to service these machines.

Turner: These things are really pretty simple — they just look complicated.

Dr. Lappe: Mr. Turner, I wonder if you're… entirely happy here.

Turner: Within obvious limits, yes sir.

Dr. Lappe: Obvious limits?

Turner: It bothers me that I can't tell people what I do.

Dr. Lappe: Why is it taking you so long to accept that?

Turner: Well, I actually trust a few people. That's a problem.

[Turner stops at a deli to pick up lunch for the office.]

Jimmy: Hey, Shakespeare! How's it going?

Turner: Terrific. I'm building up a great collection of rejection slips.

Jimmy: Yeah, I know the feeling. I always wanted to be Escoffier.

Turner: Well, maybe it's not too late. You know, Van Gogh was thirty before he started to paint.

Jimmy: No kiddin'?

Turner: There's no mayonnaise on Dr. Lappe. On the other hand, Mozart was three when he started to play the piano, and he was composing at six.

Jimmy: Fast starter. 'S probably better.

Turner: Well, I don't know. Van Gogh never sold a painting in a whole lifetime. Mozart died a pauper.

[Joubert and his assassination crew corner Janice in the computer room.]

Joubert: Would you move from the window, please?

Janice: I won't scream.

Joubert: I know.

[Turner tries to convince Kathy of his wild story.]

Turner: Listen. I work for the CIA. I am not a spy. I just read books! We read everything that's published in the world. And we… we feed the plots — dirty tricks, codes — into a computer, and the computer checks against actual CIA plans and operations. I look for leaks, I look for new ideas… We read adventures and novels and journals. I… I… Who'd invent a job like that?

[Joubert confers with Atwood after Turner has escaped two attempts on his life.]

Joubert: Condor is an amateur. He's lost, unpredictable, perhaps even sentimental. He could fool a professional. Not deliberately, but precisely because he is lost, doesn't know what to do. Unlike Wicks, who has always been entirely predictable.

Kathy: I wish I knew more. About you, yesterday, today…

Turner: I don't remember yesterday. Today it rained.

. . .

Kathy: Sometimes, I— I take a picture that… isn't like me, but I took it, so it is like me. It has to be. I put those pictures away.

Turner: I'd like to see those pictures.

Kathy: We don't know each other that that well.

Turner: Do you know anybody that well?

Kathy: I don't think I want to know you very well. I don't think you're gonna live much longer.

Turner: Well, I may… surprise you.

[Turner has a plan to safely question Deputy Director Higgins, but he needs Kathy's help.]

Kathy: Do I have permission to take a shower?

Turner: You don't have to help, you know?

Kathy: Oh no, I'll help. You can always depend on the ol' spy-fucker.

[Turner gives her a long look, exhales, and walks away.]

Turner: 'Kay.

Kathy: Sorry.

Turner: No.

Kathy: No, I didn't mean… I didn't mean to say that. I'm really sorry. I'd like to help you.

• NOTE: The above scene, which gives additional motivation for Kathy's rather unusual assistance, is frequently edited out when broadcast, presumably because of language.

[Turner grabs Higgins out of a deli and questions him.]

Turner: This is no goddamned book! Somebody or something is rotten in the Company!

Higgins: You never complained 'til yesterday.

Turner: You didn't start killing my friends 'til yesterday!

[Turner and Kathy say their goodbyes at a train station.]

Kathy: You… you have a lot of very fine qualities. But…

Turner: What fine qualities?

Kathy: You have good eyes. Not kind, but… they don't lie, and they don't look away much, and they don't miss anything. I could use eyes like that.

Turner: But you're overdue in Vermont. [pauses] Is he a tough guy?

Kathy: He's pretty tough.

Turner: What will he do?

Kathy: Understand, probably.

Turner: Boy. That is tough.

[Wabash talks about his entry into the US intelligence field.]

Mr. Wabash: I go even further back than that. Ten years after The Great War, as we used to call it. Before we knew enough to number them.

Higgins: You miss that kind of action, sir?

Mr. Wabash: Nope. I miss that kind of clarity.

[Turner corners Atwood in his home.]

Turner: What does Operations care about a bunch of goddamn books? A book in Dutch. A book out of Venezuela. Mystery stories in Arabic.

Atwood: Wait!

Turner: What the hell is so important about…

[He stops as he sees the connection.]

Turner: Oil fields. Oil. That's it, isn't it? This whole damn thing was about oil! Wasn't it? Wasn't it?

Atwood: Yes, it was.

[Assassin Joubert unexpectedly kills someone in front of Turner.]

Turner: Why?

Joubert: I don't interest myself in "why". I think more often in terms of "when", sometimes "where"… always "how much".

. . .

Turner: I'd like to go back to New York.

Joubert: You have not much future there. It will happen this way. You may be walking. Maybe the first sunny day of the spring. And a car will slow beside you, and a door will open, and someone you know, maybe even trust, will get out of the car. And he will smile, a becoming smile. But he will leave open the door of the car and offer to give you a lift.

. . .

Joubert: Well, the fact is, what I do is not a bad occupation. Someone is always willing to pay.

Turner: I would find it… tiring.

Joubert: Oh, no — it's quite restful. It's… almost peaceful. No need to believe in either side, or any side. There is no cause. There's only yourself. The belief is in your own precision.

[Turner confronts Higgins in the streets of New York.]

Turner: Do we have plans to invade the Middle East?

Higgins: Are you crazy?

Turner: Am I?

Higgins: Look, Turner…

Turner: Do we have plans?

Higgins: No. Absolutely not. We have games. That's all. We play games. What if? How many men? What would it take? Is there a cheaper way to destabilize a regime? That's what we're paid to do.

. . .

Higgins: Fact is, there was nothing wrong with the plan. Oh, the plan was alright, the plan would've worked.

Turner: Boy, what is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?

Higgins: No. It's simple economics. Today it's oil, right? In ten or fifteen years, food. Plutonium. And maybe even sooner. Now, what do you think the people are gonna want us to do then?

Turner: Ask them.

Higgins: Not now — then! Ask 'em when they're running out. Ask 'em when there's no heat in their homes and they're cold. Ask 'em when their engines stop. Ask 'em when people who have never known hunger start going hungry. You wanna know something? They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!

Turner: Boy, have you found a home.

. . .

[Turner and Higgins stop in front of The New York Times.]

Turner: I told 'em a story. You play games; I told 'em a story.

Higgins: Oh, you… you poor, dumb son of a bitch. You've done more damage than you know.

Turner: I hope so.

. . .

Higgins: Hey Turner! How do you know they'll print it? You can take a walk… but how far if they don't print it?

Turner: They'll print it.

Higgins: How do you know?

Cast (partial)

• Joseph Turner -
• Katherine Hale -
• Deputy Director Higgins -
• Joubert -
• Mr. Wabash -
• Atwood - Addison Powell
• Janice - Tina Chen
• S.W. Wicks - Michael Kane
• Dr. Lappe - Don McHenry