Raising Cain (1992)

Frances Sternhagen: Dr. Waldheim

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Quotes 

• [Dr. Waldheim talks about her cheap wig] 

  Dr. Waldheim : I hate this wig! I told them to get me a gray one. My hair is gray. They couldn't find one. I look like a transvestite.

  Sgt. Cally : Looks fine.

  Dr. Waldheim : You're very kind, but you don't lie very well.

• [Dr. Waldheim tells the detectives about multiple personalities] 

  Dr. Waldheim : All multiple personality patients, regardless of the differences in their background, seem to share certain childhood traumas. When these occur, the original personality splinters into others. For instance, if a boy is molested by his mother or abused by his father, the original...

  Dr. Waldheim : [the detectives grab Waldheim from going the wrong way]  Ah. The original personality forgets it ever happens. How could his loving parent do such a terrible thing? And he creates an alternate personality. This becomes the person it happened to. He is the one who suffers the pain for all the rest.

  Lt. Terri : [Terri turns to Cally]  Hm. Built-in fall guy. You do something bad, the other personality takes the rap. Sounds very convenient. Straight ahead.

  Dr. Waldheim : It is not a psychological state one wishes to acquire. Every time there is another trauma, there may be another personality. Pretty soon there are scores of them running around inside your head, squabbling amongst themselves as to which one gets to control the consciousness. Only one personality can control the consciousness at one time.

  Lt. Terri : So now they're talking to each other.

  Sgt. Cally : Sounds like one messed up guy.

  Dr. Waldheim : Yes. But, by carefully observing and documenting the formation and development of Cain's multiples, Dr. Nix was creating a whole new theory of personality evolvement.

• [Dr. Waldheim recommends hypnotizing Carter to find the missing babies] 

  Dr. Waldheim : Hypnotism is the fastest, though not always the most prudent method.

  Lt. Terri : We gotta find these babies now!

  Dr. Waldheim : Then I will need an absolutely quiet space where I can be alone with Carter.

  Lt. Terri : Whatever you need... and do it fast! I don't want to be walking behind any little coffins.

• [the detectives meet Dr. Waldheim] 

  Dr. Waldheim : [Waldheim looks at Carter for the first time]  It's uncanny. He looks exactly like his father.

  Lt. Terri : That's Carter Nix.

  Dr. Waldheim : It couldn't be anyone else. And his wife and child have disappeared?

  Sgt. Cally : It gets worse.

  Lt. Terri : We got a dead woman downstairs that could be his wife.

  Dr. Waldheim : Oh. So much tragedy in one family.

• [Dr. Waldheim tells the detectives about the book she wrote with Dr. Nix] 

  Dr. Waldheim : [about Dr. Nix]  I was especially interested in his work on multiple personalities. We wrote a book together based on one of his patients. In the book we called him Cain.

  Lt. Terri : Hm. 'Three Faces of Cain.' Or something?

  Dr. Waldheim : He had many more faces than that detective.

  Lt. Terri : [the group walk down the stairs as Lt. Terri guides Waldheim]  Down here. So what was the book called?

  Dr. Waldheim : 'Raising Cain: The Creation and Evolution of the Multiple Personality.' It was a best-seller. They even made a TV movie out of it.

• [Dr. Waldheim tells the detectives about the raw data of Dr. Nix] 

  Dr. Waldheim : The raw data was extradordinary detailed. It was as if he had gotten into a time machine and gone back to witness each one of Cain's personality-splitting traumas as it occured. I was never allowed to meet Cain. His true identity was known only to Dr. Nix. All the information I had, I transcribed from tapes recorded during their sessions.

  Lt. Terri : So, uh... how do you think he got this information?

  Dr. Waldheim : I never knew for sure. But years later when he got arrested for trying to buy babies, I suspected there could only be one answer.

  Sgt. Cally : Yeah?

  Dr. Waldheim : He had created Cain's multiple personalities in order to study them. He had taken some innocent child and split its personality. Now, he needed a control booth to test his theories. That's what he was buying the babies for.

• [Dr. Waldheim returns to Lt. Terri's office, confirming Carter is Cain] 

  Lt. Terri : Carter is Cain?

  Dr. Waldheim : And Josh and Margo and God knows who else. Now it is clear to me... how Dr. Nix got all his precise data. He traumatized his own son. Then over the years, he observed the effects.

  Jenny : Does Carter know what he did?

  Dr. Waldheim : Carter didn't do anything. Cain did all the killing.

  Jack : Who is Cain?

  Dr. Waldheim : One of Carter's multiples. One of the ones Dr. Nix created when he abused him as a child. When something bad is about to happen to Carter, or when something bad has to be done, Carter blacks out and Cain takes over. After the unpleasantness, Cain exits and Carter wakes up. He has lost some time. He doesn't remember how he got where he is... or what happened while he was asleep. He may be confused, but his conscience is clean.

• [Dr. Waldheim speaks to Carter's multiple personality Josh] 

  Dr. Waldheim : Carter, pay attention. You have to answer my questions... so I will be able to understand what's going on. Is that perfectly clear?

  Josh : [Josh talks in a little kid's sounding voice]  No.

  Dr. Waldheim : Why?

  Josh : Because I'm not Carter.

  Dr. Waldheim : You're not Carter?

  Josh : No.

  Dr. Waldheim : Well, wait a minute. If you're not Carter, then who are you?

  Josh : I'm Josh.

  Dr. Waldheim : Josh. And where is Carter?

  Josh : Carter's inside.

  Dr. Waldheim : Inside where?

  [Josh points to his head] 

• [Josh tells Dr. Waldheim the rhyme Margo taught him] 

  Josh : That's why I'm here.

  Dr. Waldheim : Can you explain that?

  Josh : That's what Margo says.

  Dr. Waldheim : Margo.

  Josh : That's what she says. 'Hickory Dickory Doc. Cain has picked his lock. He did a bad deed and Josh comes to bleed. Hickory Dickory Doc.'

• [Josh tells Dr. Waldheim about Margo] 

  Josh : [Josh whispers to Waldheim]  Shh! She heard me.

  Dr. Waldheim : Who heard you?

  Josh : Margo. She's right behind you.

  Josh : [Waldheim begins to look over her shoulder]  Don't look! I shouldn't be talking to you.

  Dr. Waldheim : How do you know she heard you?

  Josh : She's staring right at me. Like I did something bad.

  Dr. Waldheim : Josh, who is Margo?

  Josh : She protects the children. She won't let Baumse hurt them like he hurt me.