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Terrence “Rusty” Regan
The owner of an illegal pornography store, the overweight and pretentious Geiger blackmails General Sternwood for $5,000, claiming that the old man’s daughter, Carmen Sternwood, owes him gambling debts. In response, Sternwood hires private detective Philip Marlowe to investigate Geiger’s motives. Marlowe discovers Geiger’s store, and tails him back to his house. There, Geiger entertains Carmen before being shot and killed by a fleeing aggressor. Marlowe later discovers that the Sternwoods’ driver Owen Taylor is the murderer, having killed Geiger out of jealousy over Carmen. The stereotypically macho Marlowe is crudely dismissive of Geiger, who is homosexual, saying that Geiger’s Chinese interior decoration “has a stealthy nastiness, like a fag party.” Geiger’s companion Carol Lundgren kills Joe Brody in revenge for Geiger’s death, mistakenly thinking Brody had murdered Geiger while stealing his racket, or criminal venture. Marlowe mocks Lundgren, saying he must have been fond of “that queen,” referring to Geiger. Whether intentional on the part of Chandler or not, Marlowe’s disdain and disgust for homosexuals shows the pitfalls of the detective’s rigid sense of masculinity. Career criminal Eddie Mars, who tells Marlowe he is Geiger’s “landlord,” had encouraged Geiger to blackmail Sternwood to see if the old man was hiding anything. If Sternwood paid up on Geiger’s casual threat, the implication would have been that he was hiding a much more profitable secret—that is, that he knew what happened to his missing son-in-law, Rusty Regan.
Arthur Gwynn Geiger Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Arthur Gwynn Geiger or refer to Arthur Gwynn Geiger. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
A pretty, spoiled and not very bright little girl who had gone very, very wrong, and nobody was doing anything about it. To hell with the rich. They made me sick.
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Chapter 13
Quotes
I know you, Mr. Mars. The Cypress Club at Las Olindas. Flash gambling for flash people. The local law in your pocket and a wellgreased line into L.A. In other words, protection.
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Chapter 14
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“What?” the blonde yelped. “You sit there and try to tell us Mr. Geiger ran that kind of business right down on the main drag? You’re nuts!” I leered at her politely. “Sure I do. Everybody knows the racket exists. Hollywood's made to order for it. If a thing like that has to exist, then right out on the street is where all practical coppers want it to exist. For the same reason they favor red light districts. They know where to flush the game when they want to.”
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Chapter 18
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I’m kind of glad that Taylor kid went off the pier. I’d hate to have to help send him to the deathhouse for rubbing that skunk.
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“It’s obvious to anybody with eyes that that store is just a front for something. But the Hollywood police allowed it to operate, for their own reasons. I dare say the Grand Jury would like to know what those reasons are.” Wilde grinned. He said: “Grand Juries do ask those embarrassing questions sometimes—in a rather vain effort to find out just why cities are run as they are run.”
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Arthur Gwynn Geiger Quotes in The Big Sleep
The The Big Sleep quotes below are all either spoken by Arthur Gwynn Geiger or refer to Arthur Gwynn Geiger. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
A pretty, spoiled and not very bright little girl who had gone very, very wrong, and nobody was doing anything about it. To hell with the rich. They made me sick.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13
Quotes
I know you, Mr. Mars. The Cypress Club at Las Olindas. Flash gambling for flash people. The local law in your pocket and a wellgreased line into L.A. In other words, protection.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14
Quotes
“What?” the blonde yelped. “You sit there and try to tell us Mr. Geiger ran that kind of business right down on the main drag? You’re nuts!” I leered at her politely. “Sure I do. Everybody knows the racket exists. Hollywood's made to order for it. If a thing like that has to exist, then right out on the street is where all practical coppers want it to exist. For the same reason they favor red light districts. They know where to flush the game when they want to.”
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Chapter 18
Quotes
I’m kind of glad that Taylor kid went off the pier. I’d hate to have to help send him to the deathhouse for rubbing that skunk.
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Explanation and Analysis:
“It’s obvious to anybody with eyes that that store is just a front for something. But the Hollywood police allowed it to operate, for their own reasons. I dare say the Grand Jury would like to know what those reasons are.” Wilde grinned. He said: “Grand Juries do ask those embarrassing questions sometimes—in a rather vain effort to find out just why cities are run as they are run.”
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