The Rape of Richard Beck (1985 TV Movie)

Richard Crenna: Richard Beck

Quotes 

• Richard Beck : [to Barbara about a rape victim]  Will she go through the mug books?

  Barbara McKee : Eventually. Just give her some time.

  Richard Beck : How much?

  Barbara McKee : Depends. A couple weeks, a month. Some women can never look at the guy who attacked them.

  Richard Beck : Wait a minute. You're telling me we might catch the guy and she won't even ID him?

  Barbara McKee : I'm telling you she's terrified!

  Richard Beck : You know I don't understand you people. First you scream at us because you want action and then when we give it to you, you don't want it anymore.

  Barbara McKee : Well it may be action to you, but it's a nightmare to her. She's the victim, not the criminal.

  Richard Beck : And what do we do with the criminal?

  Barbara McKee : Let him walk, Beck. You're good at that.

• Richard Beck : Well, I was on the ground, and uh... the bald one, he grabbed my hair and he pulled my head back, pulled it back hard. And, then he started telling the other guy to come over. And uh, as he was coming toward me I... I... I... well I couldn't see anything, I could just see that he was uh, he was undoing his belt. I tried to get away and... well I couldn't, I just couldn't. And he kept screaming at me, and yanking my hair, and he kept screaming at me, and he kept telling me to say that I wanted it, that I asked for it, and I...

  [starts retching] 

• Barbara McKee : How long has it been since you slept, Beck? Can't seem to get clean? You take 10 showers a day and it doesn't help. You see a face that looks the same or a place and you freeze, afraid to take another step.

  Richard Beck : Why don't you get the hell away from me, lady?

  Barbara McKee : At first, you try and pretend it didn't happen, but that doesn't work so you try to accept it. Say "it didn't really matter. I'm okay in spite of it". But that doesn't do it either. Can't eat, pretty soon you lose your appetite for people too. You'd rather be locked in your room with the doors and windows locked than spend another minute with another human being. You're isolated, alone, just you and the guy who did it to you. It doesn't go away by itself, Beck: not by wishing or waiting or hoping, but if you deal with it, if you try and understand what it means, if you try to talk to someone about it, then gradually you'll start to make a dent.

• Richard Beck : [to his father]  I didn't let them do anything. They did it. Them, not me. They beat the hell out of me. They said they'd kill me and I didn't want to die. Can't you understand that?

  Chappy Beck : No, I can't understand that.

  [walks off] 

  Richard Beck : Dad. Dad! Don't walk out on me now!

• Richard Beck : [about a naked rape victim]  Where is she?

  Cop #1 : Still in the phone booth.

  Richard Beck : Is she hurt?

  Cop #1 : Well, she says she was raped.

  Richard Beck : Is she hurt?

  Cop #1 : She won't come out.

  Richard Beck : Where'd she get the dime to make a phone call?

• Richard Beck : [whispering]  Harlan... Harlan Bozer, this is the police. We have a warrant for your arrest.

  [kick the door open and finds the room empty] 

  Eric Gibbs : Now what?

  Richard Beck : Now we wait.

• Bozer : [holding a knife on Beck]  You lied to me, man! Got a gun!

  [to Eric] 

  Bozer : Put it down or I'm gonna kill him!

  Richard Beck : Don't do it, Gibbs, whatever you do, don't hit me...

  Bozer : WILL YOU SHUT UP? I'LL KILL HIM!

  Richard Beck : Better be fast, Harlan. You gotta stick both of us or you're a dead man.

  Bozer : He's not gonna shoot me. Not with you here, man!

  Richard Beck : No? Well I'm gonna jump away now and Gibbs here will blow you to pieces.

  Bozer : SHUT UP! I'll kill him, man!

  Richard Beck : If you stick me first, then Gibb has a clean shot at you. You never thought about that, did you, Harlan?

• Richard Beck : [knocking on the door]  Anita Parish?

  Anita Parrish : Who is it?

  Richard Beck : Cops. Open up or I kick.

• Sgt. Wally Rydell : Come on, Beck. Tell us the truth.

  Richard Beck : It is the truth.

  Sgt. Wally Rydell : You make me sick, Beck. You stink up the place. You and your safaris and all this cowboy crap. You got just what you deserved. You been asking for it.

• Lt. Hugo : Miss McKee tells me that a sexual assault warrant for a suspect named Weatherspoon was issued, but never served. You want to explain to me, and to her, why that is?

  Richard Beck : Well, sir, I uh, I tried to execute the warrant, but somebody must've tipped him off that we were coming because he just got away.

  Barbara McKee : Wrong, you were seen talking to him.

  Richard Beck : Lieutenant, this is police business, does SHE have to be here?

  Lt. Hugo : Yes, I invited her. I've worked very hard to establish an atmosphere of trust and cooperation among the hotline of volunteers and you let a rape suspect walk away.

  Richard Beck : Wrong, I traded him, I traded. Correct me if I'm wrong, Lieutenant, but murder is still the top tune on the charts, isn't it?

  Barbara McKee : Exactly, and rape has priorities somewhere below jaywalking.

• Sgt. Wally Rydell : [about an elderly rape victim]  What was she doing down in that neighborhood at that time of night?

  Barbara McKee : What's that got to do with it?

  Sgt. Wally Rydell : That's the first question the court is going to ask.

  Barbara McKee : I don't know! She was going somewhere, she was going to meet... the woman was raped! Does she have to be beaten to a pulp before you guys believe her?

  Sgt. Wally Rydell : No I believe her.

  Richard Beck : [about the elderly victim]  Can you tell me who'd want to rape her?

• Sgt. Wally Rydell : What do you want, Beck? We're trying to do police work here.

  Richard Beck : Oh! Oh, that's what it is, Wally! This is police work, right here.

• Dr. Greenberg : [as he examines Beck after his rape]  Have you ever had sex with a man before?

  [Beck shakes his head] 

  Dr. Greenberg : I'm sorry, Beck, you're gonna have to give me an audible answer.

  Richard Beck : No. Never.

• Richard Beck : Beck Standard Manual of Police Procedure, Rule 64: "To a cop, there is no such thing as 'straight home' ".

• Richard Beck : My old man used to say that cops are the modern equivalent of tribal hunters. The bad guys, they're the quarry and we're the hunters, we're in control. See, safari's a thing that makes you stay sharp, keep your senses tuned.

• Caroline Beck : Hello? Hello?

  Richard Beck : [comes in behind her]  Hello! Hello, hello. HELLLOOOOO? Who's there?

  Caroline Beck : Can you ever come in the house through the front door like a normal human being? I wish this dog would rip your leg off!

• Eric Gibbs : [to Beck]  Aren't we supposed to leave that for the coroner?

  Richard Beck : Beck Standard Manual of Police Procedure, Rule 81: "Coroners don't know jack."

• Richard Beck : You probably thought you hit the zenith when you made Homicide, well, you're wrong. This is where it all happens, right here in sex crimes. Modern technology at its finest. Look, they got desks, got typewriters, even got telephones, huh? Now no rapist could escape the net set by these highly trained specialists.

• Ray : [to Beck]  Turn just a little bit so I can kill you. I can just see this one little freckle thing on your neck. Maybe I'll blow a hole in it!

  [laughs] 

  Ray : Sonny! Sonny, get back here, man. I caught me a live rat!

  Richard Beck : You don't want to do this, Mister.

  Ray : Shut up! You clear your throat too loud and I'm gonna open it up!

• Richard Beck : [to Beck]  What do you think, that I came down here alone? I've got a whole backup.

  Ray : Oh, yeah? Well I don't see any, I think you're all by yourself here. Sonny, you ever hunted pig before? They squeal when you stab them. You wanna go first? Then, it'll be my turn.

  [to Beck] 

  Ray : Sonny's old lady walked out on him last month, you know. He's really not a bad guy. He's just lonely. You're gonna love it. Hell, it's better than dying, ain't it?

• Eric Gibbs : Beck Standard Manual of Police Procedure, Rule 18: "One out of every 10 stories a cop tells, 1's bound to be true?"

  Richard Beck : What's this about, Gibbs?

  Eric Gibbs : Cop stories going wild around here, Beck, guys are saying all kinds of things. I keep telling them they're full of crud. They're saying you knew those two punks, that you met them down before, lots of times. Just tell me so I can set them straight.

  Richard Beck : [grabs Gibbs and shoves him against the wall]  Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!

  Eric Gibbs : I was only trying to help!

• Blastig : What good's it going to do, Richard? They'll be back on the street by Thursday. You'll have to go back into court over this again and again and again and for what, won't make any difference! To hell with it!

  Richard Beck : That's not what we tell other witnesses, is it, huh?

  Blastig : That's our job, we're cops! You're a cop. This wasn't your fault and some hotshot defense attorney's going to try and make you look like scum, you don't deserve that!

  Richard Beck : No, I don't. And neither does anyone else.

• Richard Beck : Beck Standard Manual of Police Procedure: new rule. None of the old rules apply anymore. End of manual. Now bring them in.