Daily Dialogue — February 3, 2015
TAXI DRIVER: At the bus station.
HARRY: How much does it cost to go to the bus station?
TAXI DRIVER: About ten bucks.
HARRY: It’s a deal. There we go.
Harry loads his luggage into the front of the cab, then climbs into the back seat.
HARRY: It’s not far, is it? My cat is thirsty.
TAXI DRIVER: Oh, is that a cat in there, sir?
HARRY: Yeah.
TAXI DRIVER: I’m gonna have to charge you for it as if it was luggage.
HARRY: All right.
TAXI DRIVER: Hey, are you a salesman?
HARRY: Yeah. I’m one of the last of your traveling salesmen.
TAXI DRIVER: We don’t see many of you fellas anymore.
HARRY: We’re a dying breed.
TAXI DRIVER: What do you sell?
HARRY: Cats.
TAXI DRIVER: Oh, is that so?
HARRY: Let me tell you something. Times are bad. Don’t you believe what they’re saying in the papers about a recession. We’re in a depression.
TAXI DRIVER: You better believe it.
HARRY: Time was when I could go into a town, sell six or seven cats before lunchtime. Siamese, Burmese, Manx, Persian…
TAXI DRIVER: Hey, my mom had a Persian.
HARRY: Russian blue, chocolate, calico, rex.
TAXI DRIVER: What’s a rex?
HARRY: See what I mean? People don’t know cats anymore. A rex is a 20-pounder.
TAXI DRIVER: Geez, it must cost an arm and a leg to feed that thing.
HARRY: That’s why nobody buys them anymore. But Chicago — great town for cats.
TAXI DRIVER: Why is Chicago a great town for cats?
HARRY: I don’t know. It just is.
— Harry and Tonto (1974), written by Paul Mazursky, Josh Greenfeld
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Pets. Today’s suggestion by Will King.
Trivia: Pieces of liver were placed around Art Carney in order to attract the cats that played Tonto into cuddling with Carney in pivotal scenes.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “Retiree Harry Combes has been tossed out of his New York apartment because it’s being torn down, so he decides to move to Chicago to be near his daughter, and begins a long cross-country trip that changes him entirely. In this sequence he refuses to release his grip on his cat’s carrier, so he can’t fly and must take the bus instead. This is one of those scenes that ties bigger pieces together. There’s nothing grand revealed here — it’s small talk, but through it we begin to get a feel for Harry and some of his backstory, and why his cat Tonto is so prominent in his life.”
I should add, it also sets into motion the road trip element of the narrative.
If you have any suggestions for this week’s theme, please post in comments.