Review of The Paper Chase (1973) by Pavan R — 03 Dec 2010

"You have to choose between the girl you love and the diploma you've worked for all your life. You have 30 seconds.".

Great movie, Timothy Bottoms as a 1st year law student at Harvard, ad John Houseman, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, as his professor. This movie single handedly persuaded me to never try and become a lawyer...

[first lines].

Professor Kingsfield: Mr. Hart, would you recite for us the facts of Hawkins versus McGee?

[looks up].

Professor Kingsfield: I do have you name right? You are "Mr. Hart"?

Hart: [mumbles] Yes, my name's Hart.

Professor Kingsfield: You're not speaking loud enough, Mr. Hart. Will you speak up?

Hart: Yes, my name's Hart.

Professor Kingsfield: Mr. Hart, you're still not speaking loud enough. Will you stand?

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Susan: I know there's a lot of things to say, but it really isn't worth saying them, so please just get out.

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Professor Kingsfield: You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer.

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[after getting kicked out of class by Professor Kingsfield].

Hart: You... are a SON OF A BITCH, Kingsfield.

Kingsfield: Mr. Hart! That is the most intelligent thing you've said all day. You may take your seat.

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Professor Kingsfield: Speak louder, Mr. Hart! Fill the room with your intelligence!

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Susan: They finally got you, Hart, they sucked all that Midwestern charm right out of you. Look, he's got you scared to death. You're going to pass, because you're the kind the law school wants.

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Kingsfield: Mister Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer.

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Franklin Ford III: Damn good.

Hart: It was a good answer - not a complete analysis, not a hard question - but the point is, I did it. I did it in Kingfield's class, this is a goddamn dance.

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Hart: I found something. There's a room above the stacks that have all the professors' old notes from when they were law students here. They're just sitting there waiting. I want to see the notes... I want to see Kingsfield's notes on contracts.

Franklin Ford III: Oh no, I know what you're thinking.

[shakes head].

Franklin Ford III: Uh-uh.

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Toombs: Kingsfield drove him mad. He's driven a lot of lawyers mad over the past 40 years that he's been teaching here. I heard he ripped up a 1-L this morning so bad, the guy lost his breakfast.

Hart: That's true. That was me.

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William Moss, Tutor: So you flunked all your practice exams, huh? Every one?

Kevin Brooks: Yeah, every one.

William Moss, Tutor: Aww man, don't look like that, you'll be saved. Every person in this house almost flunked out of law school in their first year. It's not hard to see why; they had broads on the brain. It's the worst thing that can happen to a first-year law student. I don't suppose that's your problem?

Kevin Brooks: No, no. I'm married.

William Moss, Tutor: Well, the vote's split on that, but I've saved all kinds. I moved in here and saved all these dum-dums. They'll all graduate, all from Harvard. Did you bring any samples of your work?

Kevin Brooks: Yeah, I brought some notes...

William Moss, Tutor: Notes don't mean a thing.