Classic 70s Movie: “Dog Day Afternoon?

September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Zach Jansen.

Movie Title: Dog Day Afternoon

Year: 1975

Writers: Screenplay by Frank Pierson (winner of Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay); inspired by a magazine article by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore

Lead Actors: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penelope Allen, Sully Boyar, Susan Peretz, James Broderick, Lance Henriksen

Director: Sidney Lumet

IMDB Plot Summary: A man robs a bank to pay for his lover’s operation; it quickly turns into a hostage situation and a media circus. (To be honest, though, the “tagline” on the poster, while less detailed, is more exciting: “The robbery should have taken 10 minutes. 4 hours later, the bank was like a circus sideshow. 8 hours later, it was the hottest thing on live T.V. 12 hours later, it was all history. And it’s all true.”)

Why I Think This Is A Classic 70s Movie: Just look at the wardrobe.

Okay, all kidding aside, Dog Day Afternoon is everything a 70s movie should be: It’s dark, gritty, violent, socially conscience, and stars Al Pacino (sorry, one last joke). But what makes it a classic 70s movie is the fact that it was one of the first Hollywood films (when Hollywood still made films like this) to feature homosexuality without having it being a character’s defining trait. When you think of Sonny in Dog Day Afternoon, you don’t automatically think “gay.” He’s much more than his sexual preference and the movie does a great job at showing that. We learn so much about Sonny before that reveal that it becomes just another part of his complex characterization, like his having served in the Army or worked in a bank. As groundbreaking as that concept was/is, here we are 40 years later and there are still films and TV shows that use “gay” as a character’s defining trait as if it’s the same as being determined or romantic. Dog Day Afternoon proves that having a gay character can be so much more than that, that sexuality doesn’t define a person as much as their actions and words do, that just because a character is gay, he/she doesn’t have to display every stereotypical or clichéd gay mannerisms (which is insulting to the audience, and makes me wonder why the actor would choose to portray the character as such let alone take the part).

There’s so much more that makes the movie quintessentially 70s (the cinematography, Sidney Lumet’s work in the mid-‘70s, the intense method acting), but I always go back to it having the balls to break the mold with Sonny’s character.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: While I’m sure the “Attica!” scene and the phone conversation between Sonny and Leon are the go-tos here, but I prefer the cryptic and tense scene when Agent Sheldon convinces Sonny to let him into the bank. Sheldon’s stoic approach toward Sonny and the situation is in direct opposition to Detective Moretti’s street cop instincts and tactics. Sheldon’s in the bank for maybe a minute, but he gets all he needs in order to take Sonny and Sal down. His last words before leaving, whether the truth or just to shake Sonny up, ooze with subtext and puts the already on-edge Sonny into a further state of paranoia.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: I’ve a couple. For a moment of levity in a thoroughly tense film:

Sonny: Is there any special country you wanna go to?
Sal: Wyoming.
Sonny: Sal, Wyoming’s not a country.

And because its subtext plays so much into the film’s final sequence:

Sonny: You’d like to kill me? Bet you would.
Sheldon: I wouldn’t like to kill you. I will if I have to.
Sonny: It’s your job, right? The guy who kills me… I hope he does it because he hates my guts, not because it’s his job.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Easily the most interesting aspect of the film is how it was written. Coming from theater, Sidney Lumet was a director who adhered vehemently to his scripts. But he felt that Dog Day Afternoon needed to have a more natural feel and during rehearsal, after the cast nailed down the original text, he encouraged the cast to improvise — and some of those improvisations were written into the final screenplay. When watching the film, there is a strong sense of naturalism in every scene; the characters — even the smaller supporting ones — come alive and you fully believe that this character is a bank teller or pizza delivery guy or FBI agent or whatever. At times, the movie feels more like a documentary than a narrative film.

Thanks, Zach! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 70s Movies.

Thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies we should all watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!