Deadline at Dawn (1946)

Paul Lukas: Gus Hoffman

Photos 

Quotes 

• June Goffe : Golly, the misery that walks around on this pretty, quiet night.

  Gus Hoffman : June... the logic you are looking for... the logic is that there is no logic. The horror and terror you feel, my dear, comes from being alive. Die, and there is no trouble. Live, and you struggle.

• Gus Hoffman : [looking over Edna's correspondence]  The Divine Being made many loathsome creatures, but none so low as a woman with a cold heart. She held these letters for blackmail, even her own brother.

  [looks at photographs of various men on the wall] 

  Gus Hoffman : A blind man can see how many boyfriends she had. Evidently the water tasted good, so she jumped down the well.

• Gus Hoffman : Remember, Alex, speech was given to man to hide his thoughts.

• Gus Hoffman : [to June who is starting to shout]  Shhh. Let's not raise our voices. We are not exactly mice.

• Gus Hoffman : Put nothing in writing, that's the first law of life.

• Gus Hoffman : Who are you?

  Val Bartelli : Who likes to know?

  Gus Hoffman : A man with a gun in his hand. Don't move. The human body bleeds very easy. Don't move.

• Gus Hoffman : [speaking about his wife who ran off with another man]  You won't believe it. The first six years, I shaved every night before I went to bed... I thought she might come back.

• Gus Hoffman : [referring to the shadowy figure in the back of the cab]  You know this man?

  June Goffe : I can't see him in there.

  Gus Hoffman : Well, get out, kind sir.

  Edward Honig : [defiantly]  I won't!

  Gus Hoffman : There's a police booth down there.

  Sam - Taxi Driver : [to Gus]  Listen, I don't wanna get in no trouble. I work. I'm just a parasite on parasites.

  Sam - Taxi Driver : [to the man in the back of his cab]  What are you following her for?

• Alex Winkler : [sighs in the back of Gus' cab] 

  Gus Hoffman : Beg pardon?

  Alex Winkler : [distracted]  What?

  Gus Hoffman : You sigh like the end of summer. Troubled?

  Alex Winkler : Personal.

  Gus Hoffman : Oh... personal. That's killed a lot of people in its day.

  Alex Winkler : Yes.

  Gus Hoffman : [after Alex gets out of the cab]  By the way, if it's not too personal, what was that all about down there?

  Alex Winkler : Oh, uh, uh, personal.

  Gus Hoffman : All right, I'll buy it back. Forget I asked. Good night.

  Alex Winkler : Good night.