"He chopped down the family tree..."
Director: Robert Hamer
Cast: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson, Audrey Fildes
Kind Hearts and Coronets — Movie Quotes
Memorable Quotes
Revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold.
Context
Louis offers it as an Italian proverb in his memoirs while explaining how he plans his campaign against the D'Ascoynes.
Meaning
This line sums up Louis's philosophy. For him, vengeance is patient and a matter of refined taste rather than passion, which fits the film's link between manners and murder.
Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he's going to be hanged in a few hours, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.
Context
It comes from Louis's framing narration, written in his cell as the execution approaches.
Meaning
Louis borrows Dr Johnson's line to face his own death with literary composure. It shows his vanity and his habit of turning everything into style.
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