Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Jeremy Irons: Claus von Bulow
Photos
Quotes
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Alan Dershowitz : You are a very strange man.
Claus von Bülow : You have no idea.
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Claus von Bülow : I'm not afraid, Alan. Let the chips fall where they may.
Alan Dershowitz : That's what an innocent man would say.
Claus von Bülow : I know.
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Alan Dershowitz : You do have one thing in your favor: everybody hates you.
Claus von Bülow : Well, that's a start.
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[seating Claus and Alan]
Maitre D' : Professor Dershowitz, Dr. von Bulow.
[he leaves]
Claus von Bülow : When I was married to Sunny, we never got this table. Now, two injections of insulin and I'm a doctor.
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Claus von Bülow : Well, so much for the first coma. The second, of course, was much more theatrical.
Alan Dershowitz : Theatrical? What is this, a fucking game? This is life and death; your wife is lying in a coma. You, you don't even make a pretense of caring, do you?
Claus von Bülow : 'Course I care, Alan. It's just, I don't wear my heart on my sleeve.
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Alan Dershowitz : I'm not a hired gun. I've got to feel there's some moral or constitutional issue at stake.
Claus von Bülow : But I'm absolutely innocent, and my civil liberties have been egregiously violated!
Alan Dershowitz : I've got two black kids facing the electric chair for a crime they did not commit. THEY are innocent.
Claus von Bülow : Well, before you assume I'm guilty, won't you hear my story?
Alan Dershowitz : No. Never let defendants explain; puts most of them in an awkward position.
Claus von Bülow : How do you mean?
Alan Dershowitz : Lying.
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Alan Dershowitz : Claus, did you hear what I just said?
Claus von Bülow : Of course I did! Did you hear the judge sentence me?
Alan Dershowitz : Uh, yeah, thirty years, that's tough.
Claus von Bülow : Twice trying to murder one's wife? Anything less would be monstrous.
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Alan Dershowitz : A priest? Well, a priest is the ideal witness: it's like getting the word of God.
Claus von Bülow : I checked. God is unavailable.
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Claus von Bülow : What do you give a wife that has everything?
[silence]
Claus von Bülow : An injection of insulin.
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Claus von Bülow : Oh, come on, Sunny, your father worked! Do you want the children to grow up thinking a male's place is in a deck chair?
Sunny von Bülow : Claus, you marry me for my money then you demand to work! You're the prince of perversion!
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Sunny von Bülow : Well, just because she had all the money before I had all the money does not mean she is my lord and master.
Claus von Bülow : 'Course not. I am your lord and master.
[Sunny glares at him]
Claus von Bülow : Just kidding.
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Alan Dershowitz : I gather that the older children denied that Sunny had a problem with pills and alcohol?
Claus von Bülow : A spectacular understatement.
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Alan Dershowitz : Your mother's death wasn't reported for five full days.
Claus von Bülow : True.
Alan Dershowitz : Where were you during that time?
Claus von Bülow : In the flat.
Alan Dershowitz : Where the body was?
Claus von Bülow : [Nods] My mother is my own business.
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Alan Dershowitz : All right, my friend...
Claus von Bülow : "Friend"? I like that.
Alan Dershowitz : Nothing personal.
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Claus von Bülow : How - ah, my prawns - how do you define a fear of insulin?
[silence]
Claus von Bülow : Claus-traphobia.
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Claus von Bülow : Oh, I've been meaning to mention. Our understanding about... my extracurricular activities...
Sunny von Bülow : Mmm?
Claus von Bülow : I've been involved with someone who... falls outside the parameters of our agreement.
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Alan Dershowitz : This is the most dangerous case I have ever worked on.
Claus von Bülow : You find that exhilarating?
Alan Dershowitz : No, I do not. I am breaking every rule. 'Cause the best way to win is to proclaim your innocence, and I have never done that for anybody. And the problem I got is, I see who you are. You'd do anything to win.
Claus von Bülow : So would you.
Alan Dershowitz : Yeah, but you don't trust the legal system.
Claus von Bülow : You're saying I'd manufacture... witnesses? Affidavits?
Alan Dershowitz : No. But you would sacrifice me.
Claus von Bülow : Oh, please.
Alan Dershowitz : See, the more I believe that you are innocent, the more nervous I am. I go out on a limb for you, you're proven guilty, I look like an asshole. My reputation, my credibility, my career, destroyed.
Claus von Bülow : That's the risk you're taking, isn't it?
Alan Dershowitz : Well, fuck you, fuck you, man... I'm glad we understand one another.
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Claus von Bülow : [warmly shaking his hand] Professor Dershowitz, how good of you to come!
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Claus von Bülow : There's a big difference between knowing about an affair, and have love letters crammed down your throat.