Mannequin is a 1987 film about a down-on-his-luck Philadelphia artist who falls in love with a mannequin he created for a department store window. The mannequin was once a real-life princess from Ancient Egypt, and inspires him to become the best window dresser in town.

Directed by Michael Gottlieb. Written by Michael Gottlieb and Edward Rugoff. Starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

Ema "Emmy" Hesire

• There's got to be a better way. Please, gods, please, help me find it.
• [coming to life] My name is Ema Hesire, but you can call me Emmy.
• [to Jonathan] When you were making me, didn't you feel a certain inspiration? Almost like your hands were moved by force from this world. You made this body so that I could come to life!
• Tonight, we're gonna do something special, something that this store has never seen before!
• [looking at a stereo system playing] Where do they hide all the musicians?

Jonathan Switcher

• [to his boss] I'm fired, pick up my paycheck on the way out, never come back...
• [seeing Mannequin Emmy in a store window] It's you! I wanted to take you home, but they wouldn't let me. You know you're the first thing I've created in a really long time that made me feel like an artist.
• [to Emmy] I must be losing my mind. I guess all artists fall in love with their work, but you just seem so... special.
• [on the phone] Mom, lemme ask you, did I ever do anything really strange as a child? Is there any history of insanity in the family?
• That teaches him to mess with a man and his mannequin.

Hollywood Montrose

• Hollywood. Hollywood Montrose. Ooh! Doesn't it just sing!
• At least, she'll never tell you that your hips are too fat.
• Don't let Felix get to you, he's just got a bad case of Miami Vice.
• Diets don't work! It's those jelly doughnuts, they call to me in the middle of the night. "Hollywood, Hollywood, come and get me Hollywood!"
• [to Jonathan] Imagine pretending you're a regular stock boy when you're an A-number-one arteest!
• You know I would never bother you when you're getting a piece of wood...

Roxie Shield

• [to herself] I really should have listened when he asked me for help...
• [surprised] Jonathan, you're riding around town with a mannequin on the back of your motorcycle! What is wrong with this picture?!

Mr. Richards

• [to himself, frustrated] I put my future in the hands of a vegetable!
• [to Jonathan] You must lead a charmed life, it was all I could do to save your skin in there. No thanks are necessary, Switcher!

Others

• Captain Felix Maxwell: [to Jonathan] Switcher, you are one sick puppy!
• Mrs. Claire Timkin: Mr. Richards, this store has never been more successful, and it's all due to Jonathan Switcher. I don't care if he puts a rubber glove on his head and runs naked around the store screaming: "Hi, I'm a squid!"

Dialogue

Emmy: Mother, I don't want to settle down. I want to do things, I want to invent things, I want to try things that nobody's ever tried before... I want to fly.

Emmy's Mother: [sarcastic] Sure and I want to smoke and tell your father to go to hell!

Mannequin Factory Boss: You know, you could get the dummy of the week award, Switcher.

Jonathan: She turned out pretty good, didn't she?

Mannequin Factory Boss: I wasn't talking about her.

Jonathan: This job at Illustra is destroying your sense of humor. You gotta quit.

Roxie: I'm not the one who can't deal with reality.

Jonathan: Reality is very disappointing.

Roxie: I think you should see a professional.

Jonathan: A professional? What do you mean, a hooker?

Roxie: No, I mean a psychiatrist.

Jonathan: I can't afford a psychiatrist.

Roxie: Then call one of those shrinks on the radio.

Jonathan: A radio shrink? They're only good for people with problems that fit between the commercials.

Claire: Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?

Jonathan: Yeah, I could use a job!

Claire: What do you do?

Jonathan: Anything!

Claire: When can you start?

Jonathan: Uh, as soon as I finish this!

Claire: Young man, what's your name?

Jonathan: Jonathan Switcher!

Claire: You're hired!

Jonathan: Thank you! It's my lucky day!

Claire: I don't know how we're going to make this store great again.

Jonathan: Looks fine to me. What time do we open?

Claire: [sighs sadly] We are open.

Jonathan: Oh... Well, I'm sure things will pick up by lunch.

Hollywood: I am so glad you're working here!

Jonathan: You are?

Hollywood: Well, of course I am, darling. I never thought they'd hire anyone stranger than me.

Felix: Just what is your assignment here tonight, boy?

Jonathan: I'm helping Hollywood with the window.

Felix: Oh, the little Mary has an assistant now? Where do you people from come from?

Jonathan: Ohio.

Felix: [surprised] Ohio? You mean they got 'em in Ohio?

Jonathan: Hollywood, I don't know about men's thighs! They look fine to me, they really do!

Hollywood: Thank you. Albert called me "cellulite city". Maybe he's right. Maybe I should have my hips lifted.

Hollywood: An artist never leaves his work unfinished.

Jonathan: It looks fine to me.

Hollywood: In that case, I'm a dream that once was.

Jonathan: Why don't we stick to good old-fashioned tools for the time being?

Emmy: You've got good hands. I liked the way they felt when you were putting me together.

Emmy: Tonight, we'll do something different and special. Something that this store has never seen before. I just wish you didn't look so worried.

Jonathan: That's easy for you to say. You're a mannequin, you'll always have work. Me, I'm gonna wind up in the nuthouse after this. I wonder if insanity is covered in the employee health plan?

Roxie: You could've decided to tell me that you wanted to stand me up. Instead, you come here to me lying with this ridiculous story!

Jonathan: I'm not lying. I'm insane.

Felix: You suspect pilferage, sir? I'd be happy to strip-search him.

Mr. Richards: You people that work at night scare me. Just watch him.

Jonathan: [coming out of the elevator] Easy, Felix! I don't think she's armed!

Felix: You can fool Rambo but it won't work with me, Switcher! My brain is quicker than...

[before he can finish his sentence, the elevator doors close on him]

Jonathan: Just when I think you're real, you vanish. What's with you? What's with me?

Emmy: Didn't I tell you? You're the only one who can see me like this.

Jonathan: It's not exactly fair, is it?

Emmy: [points to the sky] Talk to them.

Armand: When you were making love to him, did he ever scream "Don't stop, Woody!"? [laughs]

[Roxie pushes him down the escalator]

Roxie: [hearing something break, alarmed] Oh, my camera!

Jonathan: How do you know you're not missing something better 5,000 years from now?

Emmy: [looks at him] Nothing could ever be better than being here with you.

Mrs. Thomas: [hearing Hollywood crying] Who's crying?

Lupe: It's either our new vice president, the fairy... or the dummy!

Roxie: Jonathan, I want to give you one last chance. Now come to Illustra!

Jonathan: What is in this for you, Roxie? An office with a view? I don't need Illustra or you. I have friends here; people who care. And someone who makes me feel good about myself. Goodbye, Roxie.

[Jonathan and Emmy leave Prince and Company on his motorcycle]

Roxie: [shouts after him] You'll be sorry! You're making a serious mistake!

Armand: Roxie! Roxie, Roxie. You know what you need to do right now? You need to put him and this whole nasty affair out of your mind. Now, how is the best way to do that, huh? Huh? By having a night of distasteful sex with someone you care absolutely nothing about! And proudly, I would like to be that person.

Roxie: Fine, let's go to your place.

Armand: Really?

Roxie: Drive fast before I have second thoughts!

Armand: Armand is the wind!

Felix: [handing Mr. Richards a container of show polish] Here, Mr. Richards. You better put some camouflage on, sir.

Mr. Richards: I am not going to put shoe polish on my face, thank you. And can we please get into the store, Felix?

Felix: [seeing Jonathan and Emmy leaving] It's him! It's her! Oooh, that little 'peevert'. He's stealing her before we can.

Mr. Richards: Okay, let's not do anything rash. We'll follow them quietly and look for just the right moment to grab them.

Felix: Don't worry, Mr. Richards. I'm an expert at surveillance. Hang on!

[They began chasing Jonathan and Emmy]

Jonathan: Mrs. Timkin, those video cameras. Did they pick up everything last night?

Claire: [smiles knowingly] I only saw what I needed to see.

Roxie: [to Emmy] Just where do you come from?

Jonathan: Roxie, you would never understand.

[Jonathan and Emmy leave Illustra directly before Roxie]

Taglines

• Jonathan Switcher loved talking to his work, but he never expected it to talk back. Now his life's heading in a different direction.
• Sometimes, life is strange and wonderful... he's strange and she's wonderful. She may be a mannequin, but he's no dummy.
• Just because Jonathan Switcher has fallen in love with a piece of wood, it doesn't make him a dummy.
• Some guys have all the luck!
• When she comes to life, anything can happen!

Main cast

External links

• Mannequin quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Mannequin at Rotten Tomatoes