# O Lucky Man!

O Lucky Man! is a 1973 British comedy-drama fantasy film about an ambitious coffee salesman who has a series of improbable and ironic adventures that seem designed to challenge his naive idealism. It is the second film in the "Mick Travis trilogy", all starring Malcolm McDowell as everyman character Mick Travis, concluding with Britannia Hospital (1982).
    Directed by Lindsay Anderson. Written by David Sherwin, based on a story by Malcolm McDowell.

## Michael Arnold "Mick" Travis

* [graffiti] Revolution is the opium of the intellectuals.
* [Chatting up factory girl] Do you realize this Nigerian coffee is being packed straight back to Nigeria?

## Monty

* Try not to die like a dog.
* Beware of Mrs. Ball's treacle tart. There is many-a-fly that got stuck in that!

## Sir James Burgess

* Professor Stewart was too far in advance of his time, but his name will live long. We will stand in silence, in grateful memory for fifteen seconds.
* The dividing line between the House of Lords and Pentonville Jail is very, very thin.
* [to secretary] Miss Hunter, two Valium and a barley wine for Professor Stewart.

## Gloria Rowe

* The future is in your hands, Mr. Travis. Take it... now!

## Mr. Duff

* Always remember gentlemen, that you are a failure in catering if you don't know what to do with your leftovers.

## Other

* Alan Price: [about game of chess] If you don't take that castle soon, the National Trust will!
* Professor Millar: Michael, I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you happen to belong to a very rare group of encephaloids.
* Prison Governor: I've sensed the spark of idealism in you and I can move mountains, you know that, hmm. Oh, for a man like you, Travis. Michael, for a boy like you, you're still young! Everything is possible. The world is your oyster. I can see you stripped, building motorways. You have eyes like Steve McQueen. Did anyone ever tell you that?

## Dialogue

    Professor Millar: What do you think is the most successful animal that's ever lived on this earth?
    Michael Arnold Travis: The ant?
    Professor Millar: The dinosaur. Uh, do you realize that the dinosaurs dominated this globe for 140 million years before they became extinct? Modern Man has been on this planet for only a fraction of just over 40,000 years and yet already he faces extinction. In fact, the species will be lucky to survive beyond the year 2010. Mankind has only one hope: science. Technology is a survival kit of the human race. Even the politicians realize this. What they don't, or won't realize is, that the technical solutions are already entirely within our power. The entire population of India could be rehoused on the moon within ten years. It's only a matter of learning to live in a new way.
    Michael Arnold Travis: Would you like some soup, sir?
    Homeless person: No thanks, son. I don't take solids.
    Michael Arnold Travis: Yes, but what's gonna happen to me? Will I come out the same as I went in?
    Professor Millar: Not the same: better.
    Professor Millar: Now, I would just like you to sign this release form.
    Michael Arnold Travis: [reads from the form] "I hereby consent to lease the Millar Research Clinic all physical experimental rights in my body for one week for the sum of £100." Well, I'd like to help Professor Millar, but £150 is definitely my minimum price.
    Professor Millar: Definitely? A figure like that is just beyond us.
    Michael Arnold Travis: One hundred and fifty pounds... and I'm not going to argue about it.
    Professor Millar: A hundred and thirty.
    Michael Arnold Travis: A hundred and forty-five.
    Professor Millar: A hundred and thirty-five.
    Michael Arnold Travis: A hundred and forty.
    Professor Millar: Done! Sign by the cross.
    Patricia: Daddy owns so much that he rarely misses anything.
    Michael Arnold Travis: You're lucky. I've got to get there on my own.
    Patricia: And where?
    Michael Arnold Travis: Right to the top! [pause. Then, pointing to a skyscraper in the distance] How much is a building like that worth?
    Patricia: The ground floor is £810,000 a year, it costed ten times that to build, and every three months its value increases by 20%.
    Michael Arnold Travis: [Smiling patronizingly] How do you know?
    Patricia: [With assurance] My father owns it. He is the most evil man!
    Michael Arnold Travis: What is it?
    Patricia: Om. It means infinity or godhead.
    Michael Arnold Travis: Are you a Buddhist?
    Patricia: All religion's are equally true.
    Film director: Smile!
    Michael Arnold Travis: For what? There's nothing to smile about!
    Film director: You don't have to have a reason. Just do it.
    Michael Arnold Travis: But there's nothing to smile about.

## See also

* If.... (1968)
* Britannia Hospital (1982)

## External links

* O Lucky Man! quotes at the Internet Movie Database