The King's Speech
The King's Speech is a 2010 film about King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.
- Directed by Tom Hooper. Written by David Seidler.
King George VI
- If I am King, where is my power? Can I declare war? Form a government? Levy a tax? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because they think that when I speak, I speak for them. But I can't speak.
Queen Elizabeth
- [to Winston Churchill, on the hold that Wallis Simpson seems to have on Edward VIII] Apparently she has certain skills - acquired at an establishment in Shanghai.
Lionel Logue
- [to King George VI, upon his learning that Logue has no formal credentials] It's true, I'm not a doctor. And yes, I acted. A bit. Well...I recited in pubs, I taught elocution in schools. When the Great War came, all our soldiers were returning to Australia from the front, a lot of them shell-shocked, unable to speak. Somebody said, "Lionel, you're very good at all this speech stuff, you think you could possibly help these poor buggers?" I did muscle therapy, exercises, relaxation, but I knew I had to go deeper. Those poor young blokes cried out in fear. No one was listening to them. My job was to give them faith in their own voice, and let them know a friend was listening.
Dialogue
- Queen Elizabeth: [Using the name "Mrs. Johnson"] My husband, well... he's required to speak publicly.
- Lionel Logue: Perhaps he should change jobs.
- Queen Elizabeth: He can't.
- Lionel Logue: Indentured servitude?
- Queen Elizabeth: Something like that.
- Lionel Logue: What was your earliest memory?
- King George VI: I'm not... here to discuss... p-personal matters.
- Lionel Logue: Why are you here then?
- King George VI: Because I bloody well stammer!
- Lionel Logue: You have a bit of a temper.
- King George VI: One of... m-my many faults.
- Lionel Logue: Do you know any jokes?
- King George VI: ...Timing isn't my strong suit.
- King George VI: [Logue is sitting on the coronation throne] Get up! Y-you can't sit there! GET UP!
- Lionel Logue: Why not? It's a chair.
- King George VI: T-that... that is not "a chair", that is Saint Edward's chair.
- Lionel Logue: People have carved their names on it.
- King George: Y-y-you...
- Lionel Logue: It's held in place by a large rock.
- King George: Th-that is the S-stone of Scone you are t-trivializing...
- Lionel Logue: I don't care how many royal arseholes have sat in this chair.
- King George VI: L-listen to me... listen to me!
- Lionel Logue: Listen to you? By what right?
- King George VI: By divine right, if you must. I am your king!
- Lionel Logue: No, you're not. You just told me you didn't want it.
- King George VI: L-listen to me...
- Lionel Logue: Why should I waste my time listening to you?
- King George VI: Because I have a right to be heard! I have a voice!
- Lionel Logue: [pause] Yes, you do. [stands] You have such perserverance, Bertie. You're the bravest man I know. You'll make a bloody good king.
- Princess Elizabeth: [watching a clip of Hitler speaking] What's he saying?
- King George VI: I don't know but... he seems to be saying it rather well.
- [As he is talking to King George VI, Lionel hears his wife returning home]
- Lionel Logue: Myrtle!
- King George VI: It's all right.
- [Lionel moves to the corner of the room, while Elizabeth calmly continues to sip her tea]
- Lionel Logue: [Motioning] Bertie, over here.
- King George VI: Are you all right, Logue?
- Lionel Logue: Yes.
- King George VI: [getting up and moving to Logue's corner] Well, shouldn't we go through? What is it?
- '[Myrtle Logue enters the living room, and looks into Lionel's study. Not seeing them, she turns round, and is confronted with the sight of Queen Elizabeth sitting at her table]
- Myrtle Logue: [lost for words] You're... You're..!
- Queen Elizabeth: It's "Your Majesty" the first time. After that, it's "ma'am." As in "ham." Not "ma'am" as in "palm."
- Lionel Logue: I haven't told her about us. Sit down, relax.
- [In the living room]
- Queen Elizabeth: I'm told that your husband calls my husband "Bertie," and my husband calls your husband "Lionel." I trust you won't call me "Liz?"
- Myrtle Logue: [nervously curtsying] Your majesty, you may call me "Mrs. Logue," ma'am.
- Queen Elizabeth: [holding out her hand to shake] Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Logue.
- [In the office]
- King George VI: Logue, we can't stay here all day.
- Lionel Logue: Yes we can. I have to choose the right moment.
- King George VI: Logue, you're being a coward.
- Lionel Logue: You're damn right.
- King George VI: [Getting up and opening the door] Get out there, man!
- Lionel Logue: [leaving the office] Hello, Myrtle, darling. You're early. I believe you two have met. But I don't think you know... King George VI.
- King George VI: It's very nice to meet you.
- Myrtle Logue: [nervously curtsying again] Will their Majesties be staying to dinner?
- Queen Elizabeth: [seeing her unease] We would love to, such a treat, but alas... a previous engagement. What a pity.
- Lionel Logue: [as George is lighting up a cigarette] Please don't do that.
- King George VI: I'm sorry?
- Lionel Logue: I believe sucking smoke into your lungs, well, it'll kill you.
- King George VI: My physicians say it relaxes the throat.
- Lionel Logue: They're idiots.
- King George VI: They've all been knighted.
- Lionel Logue: Makes it official, then.
- King George VI: All that work down the drain. My own brother, I couldn't say a single word to him in reply.
- Lionel Logue: Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?
- King George VI: 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen.
- Lionel Logue: Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl.
- King George VI: St... stop trying to be so bloody clever.
- Lionel Logue: What is it about David that stops you speaking?
- King George VI: What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?
- Lionel Logue: Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear.
- King George VI: Oh, bugger off!
- Lionel Logue': Is that the best you can do?
- King George VI: Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.
- Lionel Logue: Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.
- King George VI: Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!
- Lionel Logue: Yes!
- King George VI: Shit!
- Lionel Logue: Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!
- King George VI: Because I'm angry!
- Lionel Logue: Do you know the f-word?
- King George VI: F... f... fornication?
- Lionel Logue: [exasperated] Oh, Bertie!
- King George VI: Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse!
- Lionel Logue: Yes...
- King George VI: Balls, balls...
- Lionel Logue: You see, not a hesitation!
- King George VI: ...fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and... tits.
- Lionel Logue: You still stammered a bit on the w.
- King George VI: Well, I had to throw in a couple so they would know it was me.
- King Edward VIII: Sorry, I've been terribly busy.
- King George VI: Doing what?
- King Edward VIII: Kinging.
Taglines
- It takes leadership to confront a nation's fear. It takes friendship to conquer your own.
- When God couldn't save The King, The Queen turned to someone who could.
Cast
- Colin Firth - King George VI
- Helena Bonham Carter - Queen Elizabeth
- Geoffrey Rush - Lionel Logue
- Guy Pearce - King Edward VIII/Edward, Duke of Windsor
- Michael Gambon - King George V
- Timothy Spall - Winston Churchill
- Jennifer Ehle - Myrtle Logue
- Derek Jacobi - Cosmo Gordon Lang (Archbishop of Canterbury)
- Anthony Andrews - Stanley Baldwin
- Eve Best - Wallis Simpson
- Freya Wilson - Princess Elizabeth
- Ramona Marquez - Princess Margaret
- Claire Bloom - Queen Mary
External links
- The King's Speech quotes at the Internet Movie Database
- The King's Speech at Rotten Tomatoes
- The official The King's Speech site