Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022) Best Movie Quotes

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Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Jason Isaacs, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Ellen Thomas, Rose Williams, Roxane Duran, Christian McKay, Guilaine Londez

OUR RATING: ★★★½

Story:

Period drama directed and co-written by Anthony Fabian. Set in 1950s London, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022) centers on widowed cleaning lady Ada Harris (Lesley Manville), who after falling madly in love with a couture Dior dress, decides she must have one of her own. So after working to raise the funds to pursue her dream, she embarks on an adventure to Paris that will change not only her own outlook, but the very future of the House of Dior.

Our Favorite Quotes:

'We need our dreams. Now more than ever.' - Ada Harris (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Best Quotes

Ada Harris: It’s my lucky day today.
Chandler: Same as every day.

Pamela Penrose: [to Ada] You’re an angel. What would I do without you?

Archie: Well, if it isn’t the marvelous Mrs. H and her trusty sidekick. What can I get you, ladies? It’s been a lucky week.
Vi Butterfield: Two port and lemon. Every week’s lucky if you’re a bookmaker.
Archie: You’re not wrong there, love.

Archie: [referring to the dogs] Now these two are a proper judge of character. They like you, Ada Harris.
Vi Butterfield: Why they stick with you if they’re so smart?
Archie: [to Ada, referring to Vi] Why do you stick with her, her being so crabby?
Ada Harris: Met her my first shift building planes. Never had a better friend.
Vi Butterfield: Trouble with this one, she always speak the truth. Can’t help herself.
Archie: That is a terrible affliction.

Ada Harris: [after receiving a letter confirming her husband was killed in action] I should’ve known. He would’ve got back to me if he could’ve, one way or another. Well, that’s that then. Footloose and fancy-free.

'That's what we are. The invisible women.' - Ada Harris (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Lady Dant: The moment I laid eyes on Ravissante, I was ravished. To the tune of five hundred pounds.
Ada Harris: Five hundred quid, for a dress?
Lady Dant: Shh, shh, shh. Lord Dant. I don’t mind admitting things have been a bit bloody of late, but when I put it on, nothing else matters.

Vi Butterfield: [after Ada wins the pools] Ada, what you going to do?
Ada Harris: I’m going to buy a dress.
Vi Butterfield: Something pretty for the Legion Dance.
Ada Harris: Yeah. A Christian Dior dress from Paris. Five hundred quid.

Chandler: Single, Miss Violet?
Vi Butterfield: No cleaning up after no man for me.

Giles Newcombe: Mrs. Harris is the soul of discretion. One would never know she’d been but for the polish on my knobs.

'I'm a cleaner from Battersea. No mystery there.' - Ada Harris 'No, you're a cleaner who dreams of the most beautiful gown in the world.' - André Fauvel (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Pamela Penrose: [referring to her auditions] Oh, I don’t know why I bother. “Too young. Too old. Too tall. Too fat.”
Ada Harris: You’re just right, ducks.
Pamela Penrose: I’m twenty-three. Couple more years, and it’s all over for me.
Ada Harris: Oh, you’ve plenty of time.
Pamela Penrose: You can’t imagine what it’s like, Mrs. Harris, always having to worry about your looks.

Vi Butterfield: Hey, Cinderella, why did you bring them rags?
Ada Harris: I will go to the ball, when I get me dress.

Archie: Ada, the very girl I was after.
Ada Harris: What can I do for you, ducks?
Archie: Now, don’t get me excited. You know I’ve got a dodgy ticker.
Ada Harris: Oh, get away with you.
Vi Butterfield: She got bigger plans than you.
Archie: I can see that.

Ada Harris: That’s what we are, Vi. The invisible women.
Vi Butterfield: Speak for yourself. They see me coming.

'We mend, but we don't forget.' - Ada Harris (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Ada Harris: [referring to the dog she wants to bet on] Haute Couture, please.
Archie: The dog’s a bag of bones. It couldn’t win with a rocket up its a**.
Vi Butterfield: You tell her, Archie. She’s lost her marbles.
Ada Harris: No, it’s Haute Couture. It’s a sign. How could it be anything else?
Archie: Ada, girl, I’ve been doing this a long time, alright? Signs don’t win races.
Ada Harris: Not till tonight, they didn’t.

Archie: [after Ada loses her money on the dog race] Nothing wrong with dreaming, Ada, hmm? When I came to London, the streets were paved with my dreams. That’s what you are. You’re a dreamer. Plain as the nose on your face.

Ada Harris: You got a nerve. Coming into my home, drinking my tea, blackening his name. How much do you want? How much? And then you can leave.
RAF Officer: I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.
Ada Harris: Oh, have I? Well, I’ll tell you where you can shove your stick in a minute, if you don’t watch out.
RAF Officer: Oh, golly, no. I’m here to give you money, Mrs. Harris, not to take it from you.

Ada Harris: Righto, Paris, here I come. It’s a fair old walk.

'Dior, it's not just a gown. It's all the elegance, and the savvy, and all that.' - Ada Harris (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Ada Harris: Is it far, Dior?
Michel Simon: Oh, twenty minutes. But after you take wine, two hours.

Ada Harris: The binmen are on strike?
Michel Simon: Ah, yes. Now all Paris, smells like me.

Michel Simon: [to Ada] You are a noble woman. And remember, in France, the worker is king.

Ada Harris: Excuse me, dear. Where would I find the frocks?
Claudine Colbert: I fear you have the wrong address, madame. I will call someone to show you the way.
Ada Harris: No. No, no. Sorry. I’m after a frock. One of them five hundred pound ones.

'It's not sewing. It's making moonlight.' - Ada Harris (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Ada Harris: [as she’s being made to leave Dior] Hang on a minute. I’ve come miles. I saved every penny, scrubbing floors, and I don’t know what, so I can buy this frock.
Claudine Colbert: [in French and English] A Christian Dior gown is not for pennies. Have her removed at once.
Ada Harris: [as she places the cash on the counter] Right. If you think I ain’t got the money, there.
André Fauvel: [in French] It’s real money, Madame Colbert. If only everyone could do the same.

Marquis de Chassagne: [to Ada] Excuse me, cher Madame. But it would me my honor to have you view the collection as my guest.
Marquis de Chassagne: [as he gives Ada back her money] There you are. Merci. Shall we?

Marquis de Chassagne: [to Ada] My wife and I would come here together. I like to see beautiful clothes. And beautiful women, of course.

Ada Harris: [as she views the Dior dress collection] Ooh, that’s lovely.

'Life is not all moonlight and movies.' - André Fauvel 'Why can't it be? I've spent too long on my own, wishing my life away.' - Ada Harris (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Ada Harris: Who’s that bloke?
Marquis de Chassagne: Well, it’s the master himself, Monsieur Dior.
Ada Harris: Go on. Oh, he looks like my milkman.

Marguerite: Madame Harris, I regret, well, there is a difficulty with Temptation. It seems Madame Avallon demands it.
Ada Harris: How does that work, then? You only got the one dress?
Claudine Colbert: I’m sorry. Madame insists on exclusivity. Madame Avallon is one of our most devoted clients.
Marguerite: And her husband is known as The King of Rubbish.

Claudine Colbert: Venus is six hundred thousand francs.
André Fauvel: Four hundred and thirty pounds.
Ada Harris: Wrap it up. I got a plane to catch. I’m a day late as it is.

Marguerite: Mais Madame Harris, every dress is made and fitted individually for the client.
Claudine Colbert: Yes, this is haute couture.

'You're needed. Now more than ever. We clean up everybody's mess and make everything in the garden lovely. We're the ones they rely on. They don't even know what we do, but as sure as eggs is eggs, without us, it all goes tits up.' Click To Tweet

Ada Harris: [as the dressmakers clap for her] You don’t get all this hoo-ha when you buy a frock down Woolworths.
Marguerite: Well, I can tell you such things do not happen every day here either.

Monsieur Carré: Madame has the proportions of a model.
Ada Harris: Model railway, more like. One of the curvy bits.

Natasha: [referring to her book] It’s “Being and Not Being”.
Ada Harris: I like to curl up with a juicy mystery meself.

Ada Harris: You must have better things to do.
Natasha: No, not really. After the défilé, there’s always a certain feeling of emptiness.

Ada Harris: [to Natasha, after they clean André’s apartment] She’s a good worker. I can always find you a job, my girl, if the modeling don’t work out.

Ada Harris: My Eddie’s favorite. Be even better if we had a bit of gravy.
Natasha: And what’s the dish named?
Ada Harris: Toad-in-the-hole.

'There is hope for us all.' - Vi Butterfield (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) Click To Tweet

Natasha: [referring to Jean-Paul Sartre philosopy] Is Mrs. Harris the cleaner, or is there more to define her existence?
André Fauvel: Exactement.
Ada Harris: I’m a cleaner from Battersea. No mystery there.
André Fauvel: No, you’re a cleaner who dreams of the most beautiful gown in the world.
Ada Harris: Oh, dreams, eh?

Ada Harris: We mend, but we don’t forget.

Marquis de Chassagne: [to Ada] When you display your Dior dress to the world, it will be perfection.

See more Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Quotes

Ada Harris: My pal Vi thinks I’m barmy. “What do you want that dress for? When are you going to wear it?”
Marquis de Chassagne: Oh, I do not question your desire for a gown of such quality, even if it is for your eyes alone. No, no. On the contrary, I understand. You see, a rose like this one, or a beautiful gown such as yours, they recall the days when we were in the full flower of our youth.
Ada Harris: Oi, don’t write me off just yet.

Ada Harris: Blimey, they earn their keep, them girls. At least when I’m cleaning, I don’t have to smile and strip as well.

Marquis de Chassagne: Ah, well, Dior is not just about gowns. It’s also about elegance, and decadence, and the savoir-vivre of Paris, and you, Mademoiselle Natasha, you are the jewel of this Dior crown.
Natasha: Well, I would prefer to be at home with a book.

Natasha: Do you enjoy the show?
Ada Harris: Yeah, the one at the end, she’s a dead ringer for my Aunt Tilda. From behind.

Natasha: [referring to the Marquis] You have made a conquest.
Ada Harris: Oh, get away with you.
Natasha: You dare to follow your dreams, Mrs. Harris. Bravo.

Monsieur Carré: [as Ada arrives late for her dress fitting] You demand of us, “Vite, vite, vite,” but you have no respect. No, this cannot be done. Not at all. Now I depart.

Ada Harris: Dior, it’s not just a gown. It’s all the elegance, and the savvy, and all that. I know that.

Marguerite: [in French, as Ada looks at the Dior dress in awe] Madame Harris? Are you alright?
Ada Harris: It’s not sewing. It’s making moonlight. Have I gone to heaven?

Claudine Colbert: I have stood at Monsieur Dior’s shoulder day and night for ten years, since le maître unveiled his first collection. The most fashionable women in the world come to the Avenue Montaigne. Royalty and courtesans, thin, fat, young, old, ugly, or with a certain je ne sais quoi. But then there is you, Mrs. Harris. All my time as directress, I have never encountered anyone like you.

Claudine Colbert: Why do you come here, Mrs. Harris? Évidemment, the rich and titled must be seen, admired, copied. But this Dior dress that you desire so much, where will you wear it? At the Vienna Opera Ball? Or Queen Charlotte’s? Will you wear it to polish floors? Or will you keep it shut in your little wardrobe? A Dior dress is designed to astonish and delight. How will you do that, Mrs. Harris? You, forgive me for saying this, but you are nobody, invisible. How will you give this dress the life it deserves?
Ada Harris: It’s my dream. And my money’s as good as anybody else’s.
Claudine Colbert: Bien sûr. You may buy your dream, but what will you do with it?

Natasha: [referring to the flowers] Mrs. Harris, these are for you, from Monsieur le Marquis. He wishes that you visit for tea tomorrow.
Claudine Colbert: Le Marquis de Chassagne? But he receives nobody.
Ada Harris: But I am nobody, aren’t I?

Ada Harris: I never thought a place like Dior would have problems. I saw that dress, and I thought of dreams and fairy tales.
André Fauvel: Yes, we are like a fairy tale. Lovely, but not real. Is there a place for that today?
Ada Harris: Oh, we need our dreams. Now more than ever.

André Fauvel: [referring to the dress in the shop] If you can have this, why do you need Dior? Haute couture is a vanity for us and our clients. In truth, I don’t think the House of Dior can survive
Ada Harris: No, love. That would be a tragedy. You can’t allow that to happen.
André Fauvel: Well, I have an idea, but it requires a new way of thinking.

André Fauvel: Madame Colbert, she guards the temple.
Ada Harris: Well, she let a cleaning lady buy a Dior gown.
André Fauvel: Money talks.
Ada Harris: Yes. And you know what it says. So you have to do something about it. I know you can. You’re ever so clever.
André Fauvel: You’re the only one who believes.

André Fauvel: Mrs. Harris, I beg of you, you need to stop this coupling thing, before I die of humiliation. Please. Enough!
Ada Harris: Alright. I’m not deaf.
André Fauvel: Of course I’m in love with Natasha. I mean, who isn’t?

André Fauvel: I’m sorry, but life is not all moonlight and movies.
Ada Harris: Why can’t it be? I’ve spent too long on my own, wishing my life away. You don’t want to do the same thing.
André Fauvel: Mrs. Harris, I think your dreams of romance fit Paris very well. Forgive me, but perhaps it is you who wishes to be in love. You who must attend to your own heart.

Marquis de Chassagne: [to Ada] You know, as soon as I saw you, I felt this connection in my heart. I don’t know, perhaps, your smile, your kindness, your English humor.

Marquis de Chassagne: I do wish my Delphine could have known you. You see, you give comfort to those in need without asking anything in return.
Ada Harris: Is that right? Is that how you see me?
Marquis de Chassagne: You see why there is a connection between us?

Claudine Colbert: [after the sewings girls are being let go] Please, madame, you have reached into every corner of this establishment. Now, I insist that you respect our privacy. Where are you going, Mrs. Harris?
Ada Harris: To see the boss.
Claudine Colbert: You cannot. No.
Ada Harris: Come on, girls. Follow me. Vite. Vite.

Claudine Colbert: You must stop this at once. You have no idea what you are doing.
Ada Harris: Oh, yes, I do. It’s called a strike.

Ada Harris: This is your chance, André, and how many chances do you get in your lifetime?

André Fauvel: But today, there’s a new woman, a modern woman who knows what she wants and needs to be able to buy it. Today, there’s Mrs. Harris.

Claudine Colbert: Perhaps I have been too long in my post, too long the invisible woman behind the great man.
Ada Harris: Fighting talk. You go, girl.

Claudine Colbert: I’m not a revolutionary like you, Mrs. Harris. I simply wish to be left alone.
Ada Harris: Well, that’s all fine and dandy, and Lord knows you deserve it. But you know it’ll fall apart without you, don’t you? Trust me, I’ve seen it, over and over. When the lady ups and leaves, the gent don’t last ten minutes. You’re needed. Now more than ever. Who else is going to keep things up to scratch? Not André, or Monsieur Dior. What would two men know about that? You and me, you know, we’re two peas in a pod. We clean up everybody’s mess and make everything in the garden lovely. We’re the ones they rely on. They don’t even know what we do, but as sure as eggs is eggs, without us, it all goes tits up.

Ada Harris: [to André] And tomorrow, you tell Natasha how you feel.
Claudine Colbert: Oh, but Mademoiselle Natasha has left Dior. She’s leaving Paris. Like you, Mrs. Harris, she wishes to follow her dream.

André Fauvel: [after they find Natasha at the train station] Things are what they are not, and they’re not what they’re not.
Ada Harris: André, for God’s sake, just kiss her.
Natasha: Yes. For God’s sake, just kiss me.
[André finally kisses her]

Michel Simon: You did not find love in Paris, Madame Dior?
Ada Harris: Oh, no. No. I thought it was too late. But now I’m not so sure.

Pamela Penrose: But you don’t understand. Nearly all Mr. Korngold’s girls become stars. It’s my chance to lift myself out of the rut and be seen at last.
Ada Harris: Well, being seen isn’t everything, love.
Pamela Penrose: It is for me.

Ada Harris: Paris. Yeah, it was magical. So romantic.
Pamela Penrose: Mrs. H. You dark horse.

Pamela Penrose: [after Ada loans her Dior dress to her] I knew you’d rescue me, darling. You’re my fairy godmother.

Ada Harris: [after her Dior dress catches fire when Pamela wears it] Oh, Vi. I never got to wear it. Not even once.
Vi Butterfield: Oh, Ada, my darling. I’m so sorry, eh? Hey. We don’t need no fancy dresses. We’ll go shake our tail feather down at the Legion Dance, and they’ll all be looking at us.

Giles Newcombe: Are you quite alright?
Ada Harris: Not quite meself today. Not sure who that is even. Bit of an existential crisis.
Giles Newcombe: Paris will do that to you.

Ada Harris: Them days are over when you can treat people like scum and expect loyalty in return.

Delivery Man: You are Ada Harris?
Ada Harris: Well, not sure about that either.

Claudine Colbert: [as Ada reads her letter] Chère Madame Harris, We hope your return journey to London was pleasant. But we were troubled by a photo we saw in the social pages. We knew immediately that once again you had been too kind.

Marquis de Chassagne: [as Ada reads her letter] You will no doubt recognize these blooms as Princess Margaret’s Delight. We hope you enjoy the flowers, and that you will keep your new dress well away from naked flames.

Natasha: [as Ada reads her letter] We send it to you with all our love, and our very warmest thanks.
Christian Dior: From Christian, and all your friends at the House of Dior.

Archie: [seeing Ada wear the Dior dress she originally wanted to buy] You seem different.
Ada Harris: Well, it’s haute couture, you know?
Archie: Is it, now? Know what? It’s not the frock. I mean, it’s lovely and all, but, no, it’s you. You’re just beautiful.

Archie: You’ve always been beautiful. Inside and out. Just, there’s something, I don’t know, like a new spark or something.
Ada Harris: A je ne sais quoi?
Archie: That’ll be the fella.

Ada Harris: I owe you a dance, don’t I?
Archie: I think you do. I’d like to claim that dance with the loveliest girl in the room.
Ada Harris: It’s your lucky day.

Vi Butterfield: [as Chandler shows up to dance with her] There is hope for us all.

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