Daily Dialogue — March 16, 2015

Randolph Duke: [Valentine overhears the Dukes talking in the bathroom] Pay up, Mortimer. I’ve won the bet.
Mortimer Duke: Here, one dollar.
Randolph Duke: [chuckling] We took a perfectly useless psychopath like Valentine, and turned him into a successful executive. And during the same time, we turned an honest, hard-working man into a violently, deranged, would-be killer! [laughs] Now, what are we going to do about taking Winthorpe back and returning Valentine to the ghetto?
Mortimer Duke: I don’t want Winthorpe back, after what he’s done.
Randolph Duke: You mean, keep Valentine on as managing director?
Mortimer Duke: Do you really believe I would have a nigger run our family business, Randolph? [Valentine’s eyes widen with outrage] Of course not. Neither would I.

— Trading Places (1983), written by Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Competition.

Trivia: In 2010, as part of the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act, which was to regulate financial markets, a rule was included which barred anyone from using secret inside information to corner markets, similar to what the Duke brothers tried to do in the movie. Since the movie inspired this rule, it has since become known as the Eddie Murphy Rule.

Dialogue On Dialogue: This is an example of exposition as Revelation. And such a nice twist: The whole thing boiled down to a one-dollar bet.

If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments.