MovieChat Forums > Dark City (1998) Discussion > Quote meaning?...

Quote meaning?...

posted 2 years ago by jcdugger (379)
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Hello! - Early in the movie, the hotel desk clerk says "The only thing that makes you a guest in this place, pal, is cash on the barrelhead!"... "Cash on the barrelhead?"... What the heck does that mean? I've never heard that term before. I know he's basically saying "pay up" but can anyone expand on that? Have you ever used that line or heard it used before? Thanks!

[–] Corbell (10995) 2 years ago

It is an older saying, from a time when peopel would set up... sparse stores and use barrels as store counters.

I think in my childhood, (middle aged man here) I heard it once or twice. I think that was part of the point of using it, to give an old timey feel to the scene.