Sgt. Joe Peterson: You mean you were a civilian once?
Lt. Eleanor MacKay: Oh, if you consider schoolteachers civilians.
Sgt. Joe Peterson: You, honest?
Lt. Eleanor MacKay: Mm-hmm.
Sgt. Joe Peterson: Well, and me without an apple!


--William Holden (as Sgt. Joe 'Pete' Peterson) in Force of Arms

Dutch Engstrom: They'll be waitin' for us.
Pike Bishop: I wouldn't have it any other way.


--William Holden (as Pike Bishop) in The Wild Bunch

Georgie Elgin: Let's say I try my small way to help
Bernie Dodd: That's what my ex-wife used to keep me reminding of, cheerfully. She had a theory that behind every great man there was a great woman. She also was thoroughly convinced that she was great and all I needed to qualify was guidance on her part.
Georgie Elgin: Still does not prove that the theory is completely wrong. I imagine one can go through history and find a few good examples.
Bernie Dodd: It's a pity that Leonardo da Vinci never had a wife to guide him, he might have really gotten somewhere.


--William Holden (as Bernie Dodd) in The Country Girl

Norma Desmond: My astrologist has read my horoscope, he's read DeMille's horoscope.
Joe Gillis: Has he read the script?


--William Holden (as Joe Gillis) in Sunset Boulevard

Norma Desmond: You're a writer, you said.
Joe Gillis: Why?
Norma Desmond: Are you or aren't you?
Joe Gillis: That's what it says on my Guild card.
Norma Desmond: And you have written pictures, haven't you?
Joe Gillis: I sure have. Want a list of my credits?
Norma Desmond: I want to ask you something. Come in here.
Joe Gillis: Last one I wrote was about Okies in the Dust Bowl. You'd never know because when it reached the screen, the whole thing played on a torpedo boat.


--William Holden (as Joe Gillis) in Sunset Boulevard

David Slater: Don't you find I have a certain weird charm?
Patty O'Neill: Yes, that's your whole trouble. You have entirely too much charm.
Donald Gresham: And it certainly *is* weird.


--William Holden (as Donald Gresham) in The Moon Is Blue

Patty O'Neill: If Cynthia came down now and cried over you a little and fussed over you right bit, I bet...
Donald Gresham: Let's not talk about Cynthia.
Patty O'Neill: Well, she called me a "professional virgin". That's what I came back to talk about. Not Cynthia, don't worry, only what she said.
Donald Gresham: It was a rather unfortunate phrase and I was mad...
Patty O'Neill: May I ask why does Cynthia object to virgins?
Donald Gresham: Look, nobody in their right mind could seriously object to being called a virgin.
Patty O'Neill: OK, but it's this "professional" that makes me mad. I'd like to have that explained.
Donald Gresham: It's not necessary to advertise it. That's really all the phrase means.
Patty O'Neill: What's wrong with advertising?
Donald Gresham: [exasperated] People who advertise are anxious to *sell* something!


--William Holden (as Donald Gresham) in The Moon Is Blue

[first lines]
Joe Gillis: Yes, this is Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, California. It's about 5 0'clock in the morning. That's the homicide squad, complete with detectives and newspaper men.


--William Holden (as Joe Gillis) in Sunset Boulevard

[repeated line]
Pike Bishop: C'mon, you lazy bastard.


--William Holden (as Pike Bishop) in The Wild Bunch

Betty Schaefer: Don't you sometimes hate yourself?
Joe Gillis: Constantly.


--William Holden (as Joe Gillis) in Sunset Boulevard