Remember, you only buy for the person whose name you pick, and it doesn't matter who picks you because it's bound to be a terrific gift. Go ahead, Blanche.
[Picking out a name for who she's going to buy a present for] Okay, I buy for... Dorothy.
Boy Blanche, I didn't realize you were such a big spender.
Go ahead Dorothy, you go.
Okay, I I buy for.... Ma.
Yes! [she and Dorothy slap each other five and cheer]
[Blanche, realizing she is going to get Rose's gift, now looks mortified]
This really was a great idea! This is really fun!
My turn... I buy for.... Rose.
No, no, Rose, you can't pick yourself.
Oh thank goodness, I'm so hard to shop for.
Blanche. [Blanche looks pained]
Thanks Dorothy, this really was a great idea. I don't wanna spoil the surprise, but in a couple of weeks someone in this room is gonna know how to yodel! [Blanche buries her head in the palm of her hand, while Dorothy and Sophia look on and grin]
[to Mary] So when's the baby due?
Ma! You're talking to a sixteen-year-old girl!
A knocked-up sixteen-year-old girl.
[Everyone looks at Mary, who nods slightly.]
Ma, how did you know that?
She had the same look of panic on her face that you had when you were pregnant. Sort of like a deer caught in the headlights. I only thought pregnant sixteen-year-old girls had that look until I saw Dan Quayle on TV.
[Merrill is being released from prison to see Blanche after she's written him letters, Sophia is running around with a small box putting things into it]
Merrill called, he's coming over, so I'm hiding our valuables.
Oh, Ma, I don't think he's dangerous. You've read those letters to Blanche. They're almost lyrical.
[Doorbell rings. It's Merrill]
Break out the finger sandwiches, Mr. Astaire looks hungry.
MMerrill
[To Dorothy] Are you Blanche?
MMerrill
[To Sophia] How about you, cutie?
Boy, this guy's done hard time.
[Blanche shocked to see Merrill who was released from prison]
Dorothy, you didn't tell me you were having company.
Well, how do you do, Merrill? [realizing who he is immediately jumps from the couch] MERRILL!
He is here to see Blanche, and we told him we don't know when Blanche will be back.
Oh, no, you wouldn't want to wait around for her, she's cold... frigid, hardly likes men at all.
And she's ugly, isn't she?
Ugly is kind of a strong word, Rose.
Stop that! You stop that right now, she is none of those things, she is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
MMerrill
All right, works for me, tell Blanche I'll be back.
[after Merrill leaves] And stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!
[about Mary's dog Samson] Did I ever tell you what that dog did to my friend Ida Silverman?
He ate her! Gobbled her up without a trace, support hose and all!
Ma, Ida's daughter told me she moved to Fort Lauderdale.
The woman's in denial! I saw that dog with Ida's blue scarf in his mouth and no one has seen her since!
All right, all right, I can pick up a cue. Picture it: Sicily, 1912. A beautiful young peasant girl with clear olive skin meets an exciting but penniless Spanish artist. There's an instant attraction. They laugh, they sing, they slam down a few boilermakers. Shortly afterwards he's arrested for showing her how he can hold his pallete without using his hands... but I digress. He paints her portrait and they make passionate love. She spends much of the next day in the shower with a loofah sponge scrubbing his fingerprints off her body. She sees the portrait and is insulted. It looks nothing like her, and she storms out of his life forever. That peasant girl was me. And that painter... was Pablo Picasso.
Ma, I have a feeling you're lying.
OK, I'm POSITIVE you're lying!