The Conspirators (1944)

Paul Henreid: Vincent Van Der Lyn

Photos 

Quotes 

• Irene Von Mohr : I suppose I owe you an explanation.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : Oh, some things are much better without explanation.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : I'm traveling in a strange city. A city of echoes and shadows. A hundred eyes watching your every move.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : Can I have butter, as much butter as I want?

  Vincent's Waiter : Certainly sir. What else

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : Don't rush me please. I want white bread, lots of butter. Steak, that thick, medium rare. Sauce Béarnaise. Lyonnaise potatoes, green salad. Do you have any Holland cheese?

  Vincent's Waiter : Yes senor. Edam and Gouda. Germans sell us lots of it

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : Then I won't have it. And for dessert, ah, Crepe Suzette made with good Dutch Curaçao. And coffee, real coffee.

  Vincent's Waiter : Will that be all senor?

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : I have been planning this dinner for three years.

• Irene Von Mohr : I've been here all evening!

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : You're a poor liar. A very poor liar. That's why I trust you.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : I traveled by night, through woods and across rivers, by foot and by wagon and smuggled into freight cars, across the Spanish border into Madrid and then to the last open port in the continent, Lisbon. Lisbon, the gateway to freedom.

• Irene Von Mohr : You don't trust me.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : I'll just say for the moment I'm delighted by your company, enchanted by your beauty, and extremely curious to know who you are and why you sat down at my table.

  Irene Von Mohr : Some things are much better without explanation.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : Touché.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : I was a school teacher in Holland. One morning I was writing a lesson on the blackboard. The Nazis came. They came so suddenly I didn't even have time to know what was happening. There were dead people in the streets. And a military band in the square. One of my pupils, a 14 year old boy, jumped to the blackboard and wrote three words on it: Long Live Liberty. A German officer shot that boy and arrested me. He arrested me for teaching dangerous thoughts. But, I escaped. Those who escape learn to hide, to do without food, without sleep, without rest. They also learn to throw bombs and cut wires, to blow up trains and destroy power stations. Many times a message left; so that when the Germans reach the scene, all they find is a wreck and a piece of paper with three words on it. The words a 14 year old boy wrote on the blackboard: Long Live Liberty.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : How did you find my hotel?

  Irene Von Mohr : You shouldn't have come here. I'll drive you to the corner.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : I'm going much farther than that.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : My instinct was right from the first. I've had every reason to suspect you and everything you've said and done since we met. Yet, my feelings kept denying my suspicions. When you look at me the way you're looking now, my questions disappear. Because, I know that no matter who you are or what you've done...

  Irene Von Mohr : You helped me last night. Please forget the rest.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : I can't forget you!

• Irene Von Mohr : That song is a fado. Fado means fate.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : I believe in fate.

  Irene Von Mohr : This song is about a love that can never be.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : I can't believe that. I tell you what this song is about. It's about a man and a woman who met in a strange and wonderful way. And each was in danger and each was of God and, yet, when the looked at each other...

  Irene Von Mohr : But, those aren't the words. To me, all these songs are sad. Like the first fado I ever heard. The words still haunt me. For the love of you, I lost God. For the love of you, I lost myself. Now I see myself alone, without God, without love, without - you. That's what the song is about.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : No. That's what the words are about. But, the song, if you listen with your heart, means: In the love of you, I lost myself. And now I'm alone no more; but, with God, with love, with you.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : It's late.

  Irene Von Mohr : Don't go yet!

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : There is no time.

  Irene Von Mohr : Forget time. Just one other moment.

  Vincent Van Der Lyn : There will never be enough time, Irene.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : Personally, I'm not important.

  Ricardo Quintanilla : But, you are. Every human being is important. Nothing in this world is quite as important. Every man has a right to be heard.

• Vincent Van Der Lyn : I'll be waiting, every moment, to come back to you.