Daily Dialogue — October 27, 2013

POLA: But it’s different with girls don’t you think?
FREDDIE: How is it?
POLA: Well, you know what they say about girls who wear glasses.
FREDDIE: What are you talking about?
POLA: Men aren’t attentive to girls who wear glasses.
FREDDIE: Did you ever try it?

Pola shakes her head.

FREDDIE: You brought ’em with you didn’t you?
POLA: Yes.
FREDDIE: Then why don’t you put ’em on, find out for yourself.
POLA: With you?
FREDDIE: Why not?
POLA: Well… (she pulls glasses from handbag)
FREDDIE: Now look, if you’re worried about me, I’ll tell you right now before you put ’em on I think you’re already quite a strudel.
POLA: Honestly?
FREDDIE: Absolutely. I’ve thought so from the first minute I saw you.
POLA: Well, if you really think so. (she hesitates)
FREDDIE: Go ahead, put ’em on.
Pola slips glasses on.
FREDDIE: You’re crazy.
POLA: No?
FREDDIE: You look better with ’em on.
POLA: I do?
FREDDIE: Gives your face a certain… mystery.
POLA: No kidding?
FREDDIE: And distinction, a certain kind of distinction.
POLA: Well whaddya know about that?
FREDDIE: You’re already a very good looking girl, you know. If you don’t mind me saying so–
POLA: No, not at all!
FREDDIE: And the glasses, that particular type, gives your face a very interesting… difference.
POLA: You don’t think they make me look like an old maid?
FREDDIE: I’ve never seen anybody in my whole life that reminded me less of an old maid.
POLA: What’s your name?

— How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), screenplay by Nunnally, plays by Zoe Akins and Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert

http://static.movieclips.com/embedplayer.swf?shortid=YacE

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is meet cute, suggested by bolo boffin. Today’s suggestion by Traci Nell Peterson.

Trivia: Writer and humorist Dorothy Parker’s famous quip that “men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses” was purposely bobbled by screenwriter (and producer) Nunnally Johnson for Marilyn Monroe’s character Pola to assert to David Wayne (as Freddie) that “you know, men are seldom attentive to girls who wear glasses.”

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Traci: “This meet cute works, a self-conscious bombshell wooed by the sincere geek. The dialogue on its own could be corny/insincere, but the deadpan/clinical delivery makes it very sweet and fulfilling.”

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