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The Mask · 1994 — Chapter 1 of 8 · 4'02" · B1

Stanley Hands Over the Tickets, Explained: crème de la crème

A woman lights up at concert tickets, then asks for one more so her best girlfriend will not sit home alone. The tickets are handed over and someone is called the nicest guy. The sweetness is the trick: "That was the most sickening display I've ever seen." names the cost, while another line insists he is wearing her down.

What happens

Stanley is praised for concert tickets at a counter that opens new accounts. A best girlfriend is in town, the show is sold out, and the tickets are given away. He is called the nicest guy while Charlie is asked to agree. One line calls it sickening. Another claims to be wearing her down. Someone else pitches the Coco Bongo. Tina Carlyle then meets Stanley Ipkiss.

First datesAsking for helpComplimentingSuggestingB1americanClean
IMDb ↗

Listen for

crème de la crèmehold anything you wanta change of pacewear someone down

00:00 / 04:02
Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Tap a line to replay it

Phrase of the scene

crème de la crème

the very best of the best

斯坦利在俱乐部外对查理吹嘘可可邦戈，说只有 crème de la crème 才配进门。

Only the crème de la crème get invited to that private club.

Also in this scene

  • hold anything you want

    I'll take whatever you hand me, with a flirty double edge

  • a change of pace

    something different from the usual routine

  • wear someone down

    to gradually make someone agree by tiring them out

Everything marked in this scene

28 notes across 69 lines

Phrase · A2pick someone upWhat time should I pick you up?
Soundpick you up

liaison

What time should I pick you up?
Phrase · B1here's the thingWell, see, here's the thing.
Phrase · B1come into townMy very best girlfriend just came into town.
Grammar · B2could we get an extra ticket

inverted request

so could we get an extra ticket for her?
Phrase · A2be sold outThey're sold out.
Soundsold out

liaison

They're sold out.
Grammar · B1there's no more

existential there

That means there's no more.
Phrase · B1sit home all aloneI can't let her sit home all alone.
Phrase · B1I'll tell you whatLook, I'll tell you what.
Phrase · B1Why don't you just do somethingWhy don't you just go with your friend?
Phrase · A2the nicest guyStanley, you are the nicest guy.
Phrase · B2wear someone down

to gradually make someone agree by tiring them out

I think I'm wearing her down.
Phrase · B1a change of pace

something different from the usual routine

You need a little change of pace.
Phrase · B2the urban jungledeep into the darkest heart of the urban jungle.
Slang · C1bwana

Swahili for boss, used here as a flirty joke

Tell me more, bwana.
Slang · B2joint

slang for a place or club

Hottest new joint in town.
Phrase · B2the crème de la crème

the very best of the best

Only the crème de la crème need apply.
Grammar · C1need apply

modal need

Only the crème de la crème need apply.
Phrase · B1leave it to someoneLeave it to me.
Phrase · B2a night on the townthe perfect night on the town.
Phrase · B2hold the phoneHold the phone.
SoundHold the phone

elision

Hold the phone.
Phrase · A2open an accountWhere can I open a new account?
Phrase · B2someone is lucky they caught someoneYou're lucky you caught me.
Phrase · B1have something in mindWhat kind of account do you have in mind?
Phrase · B2be terrible with somethingterrible with things like that.
Phrase · B1the pleasure is all mineThe pleasure's all mine.

Stanley Hands Over the Tickets, explained

What's really going on

The tickets are not about Friday night. Her friend would die to go, she cannot let that friend sit home all alone, and she could not take the tickets: three soft lines that still walk out with them. What he receives is the label. "Stanley, you are the nicest guy." is praise that ends the date. "That was the most sickening display I've ever seen." says the bargain out loud, but "I think I'm wearing her down." shows the compliment was heard as progress. The cure offered is a change of pace: a love safari to the Coco Bongo, where "Only the crème de la crème need apply." Status replaces niceness as the way in. Asked to hold something, someone answers "I will hold anything you want.", helpful and flirtatious at once. Names come last: Stanley Ipkiss, Tina Carlyle, and "The pleasure's all mine." He still offers more than was asked, and treats that as a win.

Theme

DeceptionA girlfriend excuse and "you are the nicest guy" take the tickets while sounding too kind to refuse.
RomanceA concert plan collapses into a compliment, then a love safari, then flirtation over a new account.

What you'll learn

  • Use die to go in the same situation
  • Hear wearing her down as pressure, not small talk
  • Catch who the line is aimed at

Listen for

  • pick you up — liaison
  • sold out — liaison
  • Hold the phone — elision
You need a little change of pace.

Once the tickets are gone, this tells him to stop repeating the same night and try a different one.

Only the crème de la crème need apply.

The Coco Bongo is sold as a club for the very top only. It is a status test, not an open invitation.

That was the most sickening display I've ever seen.

Said as the free tickets and the nicest-guy praise land together. It calls the exchange embarrassing.

I think I'm wearing her down.

His reading of the same moment: the soft no and the compliment mean she is close to giving in.

Questions about this scene

Why does she leave with the tickets after saying she could not take them?

She asks only for one extra ticket. When the show is sold out, she says she cannot let her friend sit home all alone. The offer comes back as "Why don't you just go with your friend?" She answers that she could not, and "Come on" plus "you are the nicest guy" finish it. The refusal is how the tickets change hands.

Is he actually wearing her down?

Two lines read the same moment in opposite ways. "I think I'm wearing her down." takes the praise as progress. "That was the most sickening display I've ever seen." takes it as a loss. Nothing after "Stanley, you are the nicest guy." puts a pickup time back on the table. The night she describes is her friend at the concert.

What does "crème de la crème" mean in this scene?

It is a French phrase for the best of the best. Pointed at the Coco Bongo, it means the club is supposed to keep ordinary people out. The pitch replaces another nice gesture with a door that runs on status.

Why does the Coco Bongo come up right after the tickets?

The concert is finished as a plan. "You need a little change of pace." answers the brush-off, and a love safari names the replacement: "Hottest new joint in town." "So how do we get in?" is the new problem, and "Leave it to me." promises the door can be handled.

Who is the woman opening an account?

She asks where to open a new account, says she is terrible with that sort of thing, compliments the tie, and gives her name as Tina Carlyle. The man at the counter answers "Stanley Ipkiss." and "The pleasure's all mine." The scene ends on that introduction.

The Mask · 8 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 2school is outArguing the Plan Against Niko
Watching · Chapter 1crème de la crèmeStanley Hands Over the TicketsChapter 2school is outArguing the Plan Against NikoChapter 3put downStanley Becomes the MaskChapter 4you can quote mePeggy Questions StanleyChapter 5beat him to the punchPolice Grill Ipkiss Over PajamasChapter 6written in the starsThe Mask Cornered by PoliceChapter 7I'm historyStanley Confesses He's the MaskChapter 8one hell of a timeStanley at the Police Station
Chapter 1 of 8 · about 28 min to go