The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

Martha Hyer: Mary Gordon

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Quotes 

• Mary Gordon : I hate to break in on your grief, but you'll need some food. Katie asked me to look in on you, if you came to the funeral.

  John Elder : That's mighty nice of you, ma'am.

  Mary Gordon : I wasn't doing it for you, or any of you. I'm doing it because Katie asked me to. She liked that rocker.

  John Elder : She seemed to have confided a great deal in you, Miss Gordon.

  Mary Gordon : If she'd had her sons around her she wouldn't have had to confide in strangers. She told me what fine men you were, never forgetting her, sending her money, helping her send Bud through school. She was so proud. Her tall sons for whom she kept making up lies so she could hide her shame. Blamed Texas for taking her sons. Texas is a woman, she used to say, a big, wild, beautiful woman. You raise a kid to where he's got some size, and there's Texas whispering in his ear and smiling, saying, "Come and have some fun." "It's hard enough to raise children," she'd say. "But when you've got to fight Texas, a mother hasn't a chance." That's why she pushed Bud. She let Texas beat her with the rest of you. She was going to see Bud through college or die. Well, she died.