Argo Quotes
[first lines]Sahar: [narration]This is the Persian Empire known today as Iran. For 2,500 years, this land was ruled by a series of kings, known as shahs. In 1950, the people of Iran elected Mohammad Mossadeqh, a secular democrat, as Prime Minister. He nationalized British and U.S. petroleum holdings, returning Iran's oil to it's people. But in 1953, the U.S. and Great Britain engineered a coup d'etat that deposed Mossadeqh and installed Reza Pahlavi as shah. The young Shah was known for opulence and excess. His wife was rumored to bathe in milk while the shah had his lunches flown in by Concorde from Paris. The people starved. The shah kept power through his ruthless internal police; the SAVAK. An era of torture and fear began. He then began a campaign to westernize Iran, enraging a mostly traditional Shiite population. In 1979, the people of Iran overthrew the shah. The exiled cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini, returned to rule Iran. It descended into score-settling, death squads and chaos. Dying of cancer, the shah was given asylum in the U.S. The Iranian people took to the streets outside the U.S. Embassy, demanding the shah be returned, tried and hanged.
Movie: Argo
Alan B. Golacinski: Don't fucking shoot anybody. You don't wanna be the son of a bitch who started a war. They need an hour to burn the classified. I need you to hold. If you shoot one person, they're gonna kill every single one of us in here.
Movie: Argo
Lester Siegel: Hi, I only got a couple of minutes, I'm getting a lifetime achievement award.
John Chambers: Mazel tov, Lester.
Lester Siegel: I'd rather stay home and count the wrinkles on my dog's balls.
John Chambers: Mazel tov, Lester.
Lester Siegel: I'd rather stay home and count the wrinkles on my dog's balls.
Movie: Argo
[watching the Iranian demonstrators on TV]John Chambers: You ever think, Lester, how this is all for the cameras?
Lester Siegel: Well, they're getting the ratings, I'll say that for them.
Lester Siegel: Well, they're getting the ratings, I'll say that for them.
Movie: Argo
Tony Mendez: [proposing the Argo idea to the DCI]There are only bad options. It's about finding the best one.
C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner: You don't have a better bad idea than this?
C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner: You don't have a better bad idea than this?
Movie: Argo
Bob Anders: [as Mendez proposes his plan to get the houseguests out]We can't hold up under that. We don't know what the hell movie people do.
Tony Mendez: That's why I'm here. I'm gonna help you. I'll be with you the whole way. This is what I do.
Cora Lijek: Have you gotten people out this way before?
Tony Mendez: This will be a first.
Tony Mendez: That's why I'm here. I'm gonna help you. I'll be with you the whole way. This is what I do.
Cora Lijek: Have you gotten people out this way before?
Tony Mendez: This will be a first.
Movie: Argo
Tony Mendez: The only way this works is if you believe that you're these people so much that you dream like them.
Movie: Argo
Mark Lijek: [getting ready to go to the bazaar]I haven't been this nervous since our wedding.
Cora Lijek: Only this isn't a huge mistake, hopefully.
Cora Lijek: Only this isn't a huge mistake, hopefully.
Movie: Argo
John Chambers: Talk to me.
Tony Mendez: It's an exfil.
John Chambers: From where?
Tony Mendez: The worst place you can think of.
John Chambers: Universal City. [Tony hands John an issue of 'Time' magazine, with illustrations of the Iranian hostages on the cover]
John Chambers: How are you going to get into the embassy?
Tony Mendez: They're not in the embassy. During the takeover, six people escaped. They're hiding out in Tehran. That's who I'm gonna go get.
Tony Mendez: It's an exfil.
John Chambers: From where?
Tony Mendez: The worst place you can think of.
John Chambers: Universal City. [Tony hands John an issue of 'Time' magazine, with illustrations of the Iranian hostages on the cover]
John Chambers: How are you going to get into the embassy?
Tony Mendez: They're not in the embassy. During the takeover, six people escaped. They're hiding out in Tehran. That's who I'm gonna go get.
Movie: Argo
Tony Mendez: If we're caught, you and Pat go on trial for harboring the enemy. You know that, right?
Ken Taylor: Pat and I have discussed it. It's the risk we took.
Ken Taylor: Pat and I have discussed it. It's the risk we took.
Movie: Argo
Lester Siegel: [Tony finds the Argo screenplay]It's a turnaround. It's dog shit.
Tony Mendez: It's a space movie in the Middle East. Does it matter?
Tony Mendez: It's a space movie in the Middle East. Does it matter?
Movie: Argo
John Chambers: Let's see. Well, this one's got an M.A. in English. She should be your screenwriter. Sometimes they go along on scouts because they want the free meals... Here's your director.
Tony Mendez: Can you teach somebody to be a director in a day?
John Chambers: You can teach a rhesus monkey to be a director in a day.
Tony Mendez: Can you teach somebody to be a director in a day?
John Chambers: You can teach a rhesus monkey to be a director in a day.
Movie: Argo
Swissair Flight Attendant: [bell dings]Ladies and gentlemen, it is our pleasure to announce that alcoholic beverages are now available as we have cleared Iranian airspace. [Houseguests start laughing]
Movie: Argo
Ticket Clerk: I'm sorry I can't find your ticket.
Tony Mendez: [Very calm]Thank you. Could you check again?
Tony Mendez: [Very calm]Thank you. Could you check again?
Movie: Argo
Lamont: Call the Times, nail it to the goddamn door. CIA are the good guys.
Rossi: The Canadians are the good guys.
Lamont: Yeah, we're not greedy. Them, too.
Rossi: Only. Canada takes the credit, or they retaliate against the hostages. Great Satan wasn't involved. No CIA.
Lamont: Is that right, Jack?
Jack O'Donnell: Involved in what? We were as surprised as anybody. Thank you, Canada.
Rossi: The Canadians are the good guys.
Lamont: Yeah, we're not greedy. Them, too.
Rossi: Only. Canada takes the credit, or they retaliate against the hostages. Great Satan wasn't involved. No CIA.
Lamont: Is that right, Jack?
Jack O'Donnell: Involved in what? We were as surprised as anybody. Thank you, Canada.
Movie: Argo
Cyrus Vance: What's wrong with bikes, again?
Jack O'Donnell: We tried to get the message upstairs, sir.
C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner: You think this is more plausible than teachers?
Jack O'Donnell: Yes, we do. One, there are no more foreign teachers in Iran.
Tony Mendez: And we think everybody knows Hollywood people. And everybody knows they'd shoot in Stalingrad with Pol Pot directing if it would sell tickets.
Jack O'Donnell: We tried to get the message upstairs, sir.
C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner: You think this is more plausible than teachers?
Jack O'Donnell: Yes, we do. One, there are no more foreign teachers in Iran.
Tony Mendez: And we think everybody knows Hollywood people. And everybody knows they'd shoot in Stalingrad with Pol Pot directing if it would sell tickets.
Movie: Argo
Tony Mendez: I need you to help me make a fake movie.
John Chambers: [smiling]You came to the right place.
John Chambers: [smiling]You came to the right place.
Movie: Argo
Joe Stafford: [skeptical of Tony's plan]That man out there has got bad cards, and he is going to lose. And if he loses, it's our lives.
Kathy Stafford: And his life, too.
Kathy Stafford: And his life, too.
Movie: Argo
Tony Mendez: Sir, do you have this newspaper in front of you? Would you mind taking a look at it? What's in this picture?
Robert Pender: Tehran.
Tony Mendez: Right. What's on the ground?
Robert Pender: Snow.
Tony Mendez: Right. So what crops are the do-gooders inspecting under Frosty?
Robert Pender: Tehran.
Tony Mendez: Right. What's on the ground?
Robert Pender: Snow.
Tony Mendez: Right. So what crops are the do-gooders inspecting under Frosty?
Movie: Argo
John Chambers: Look, if you're gonna this, you gotta do it. The Kho-maniacs are Froot Loops, but they got cousins who sell prayer rugs and eight-tracks on La Brea. You can't build cover stories around a movie that doesn't exist. You need a script, you need a producer.
Tony Mendez: Make me a producer.
John Chambers: No. You're an associate producer, at best.
Tony Mendez: Make me a producer.
John Chambers: No. You're an associate producer, at best.
Movie: Argo
Jack O'Donnell: [to Tony Mendez]The whole country is watching you, they just don't know it
Movie: Argo
[shooting down ideas to exfiltrate the Houseguests]Tony Mendez: Sir, if these people can read or add, pretty soon they're gonna figure out they're six short of a full deck. It's winter. You can't afford to wait around till spring so it's nice enough to take a bike ride. The only way out of that city is the airport. We build new cover identities for them, you send in a Moses, he takes them out on a commercial flight.
Movie: Argo
Tony Mendez: Okay, you know those science fiction movies? Star Trek, Star Wars. They need an exotic location to shoot. Moonscape, Mars, desert, you know. Now, imagine this: they're a Canadian film crew on a location scout for a science fiction movie. We put it out there - the Canadian producers put out there - that we're looking at Egypt, Istanbul. Then we go to the consulate and say Hey, we wanna look at Iran, too. I fly into Tehran, we all fly out together as a film crew. Done.
David Marmor: Flamboyant cover identities should be avoided, as it increases operational visibility.
Tony Mendez: This is a lot more plausible than foreigners who wanna go be teachers in Iran.
Bates: You wanna blend in with the population, you don't look like a rodeo clown.
Adam Engell: Just gonna wake up tomorrow morning and be in the movie business? We already have credentials for the teachers.
Tony Mendez: No, sir, we have a contact in L.A.
Jack O'Donnell: Chambers.
Tony Mendez: John Chambers. He's a Hollywood prosthetics guy. He's got an Oscar, he did Planet of the Apes, and he's done a bunch of contract work for us in the past. I go see him, he sets us up. One, two days, make it look real.
David Marmor: Flamboyant cover identities should be avoided, as it increases operational visibility.
Tony Mendez: This is a lot more plausible than foreigners who wanna go be teachers in Iran.
Bates: You wanna blend in with the population, you don't look like a rodeo clown.
Adam Engell: Just gonna wake up tomorrow morning and be in the movie business? We already have credentials for the teachers.
Tony Mendez: No, sir, we have a contact in L.A.
Jack O'Donnell: Chambers.
Tony Mendez: John Chambers. He's a Hollywood prosthetics guy. He's got an Oscar, he did Planet of the Apes, and he's done a bunch of contract work for us in the past. I go see him, he sets us up. One, two days, make it look real.
Movie: Argo
Ken Taylor: [meeting Tony]I was expecting more of a G-man look.
Tony Mendez: I think you're thinking of the FBI, sir.
Tony Mendez: I think you're thinking of the FBI, sir.
Movie: Argo