Once Upon a Time in the West Quote
Cheyenne : What the hell is this?
Harmonica : [ off screen ] Can't you see? [ emerges from behind a pile of wood ]
Harmonica : It's a station. And all around it a town. Brett McBain's town.
Cheyenne : [ starts to laugh ] Was he crazy, heh!
Harmonica : Yeah in a very special way. An Irishman. [ starts measuring out a square and hammers wood spikes into the ground ]
Harmonica : He knew someday or another that railroad through Flagstone would continue on west. So he looked over all this county here. Until he found this hunk of desert. Nobody wanted it! But he bought it. [ continues with work ]
Harmonica : Then he tightened his belt, and for years he waited.
Cheyenne : Waited for what?
Harmonica : For the railroad to reach this point.
Cheyenne : Ah, but how in the hell did he know the railroad would pass through his property?
Harmonica : Them steam engines can't roll without water. And the only water within fifty miles west of Flagstone is right here. Under this land!
Cheyenne : Ah ha, he was no fool, our dead friend, ah? [ chuckles ]
Cheyenne : He was gonna sell this piece of desert for his weight in gold, wasn't he?
Harmonica : [ looks at Cheyenne ] You don't sell the dream of a lifetime! Brett McBain wanted his station: he got the rights to build it.
Cheyenne : How do you know all this?
Harmonica : I saw a document. It was all in order, seals, signatures, everything! One thing though, in very small print, there is a short clause. Which says that McBain or his heirs lose all rights, if by the time the railroad reaches this point... [ turns to Cheyenne again ]
Harmonica : ...the station ain't built yet.
Harmonica : [ off screen ] Can't you see? [ emerges from behind a pile of wood ]
Harmonica : It's a station. And all around it a town. Brett McBain's town.
Cheyenne : [ starts to laugh ] Was he crazy, heh!
Harmonica : Yeah in a very special way. An Irishman. [ starts measuring out a square and hammers wood spikes into the ground ]
Harmonica : He knew someday or another that railroad through Flagstone would continue on west. So he looked over all this county here. Until he found this hunk of desert. Nobody wanted it! But he bought it. [ continues with work ]
Harmonica : Then he tightened his belt, and for years he waited.
Cheyenne : Waited for what?
Harmonica : For the railroad to reach this point.
Cheyenne : Ah, but how in the hell did he know the railroad would pass through his property?
Harmonica : Them steam engines can't roll without water. And the only water within fifty miles west of Flagstone is right here. Under this land!
Cheyenne : Ah ha, he was no fool, our dead friend, ah? [ chuckles ]
Cheyenne : He was gonna sell this piece of desert for his weight in gold, wasn't he?
Harmonica : [ looks at Cheyenne ] You don't sell the dream of a lifetime! Brett McBain wanted his station: he got the rights to build it.
Cheyenne : How do you know all this?
Harmonica : I saw a document. It was all in order, seals, signatures, everything! One thing though, in very small print, there is a short clause. Which says that McBain or his heirs lose all rights, if by the time the railroad reaches this point... [ turns to Cheyenne again ]
Harmonica : ...the station ain't built yet.
Movie: Once Upon a Time in the West
