Daily Dialogue — January 18, 2017

“You move me, I’ll break up in little pieces. But what a deal. Look, there’s this dough, see? There’s all this dough! 350 Gs! Do you hear what I’m saying? 350 Gs! In the park, in Rosita, Rosita Beach State Park… just south of Dago in Santa Rosita. It’s in this box buried under this… buried under this big W. You’ll see it. You’ll see it under this… under this big W. You can’t miss it, a big… a big W. And it’s been there… And it’s been laying there for fifteen years. (The group worry about his health) Listen. I tell you, I’m giving it to you. And don’t let them kid you. Don’t let them kid you. Don’t let them give you the business, see, because it was mine and I paid for it… paid for every lousy buck of it, ya hear? But watch out. Watch out for the bulls. Lousy, stinking bulls are everywhere. Bulls all over the place. You just drive down and dig it up. Dig it all up. And then… and then you fix yourselves all up. Fix yourselves all up. Walk down the street like a king, back to the old neighborhood. See the fellas, the dames… the dames, all with a big hello… a big hello for old Smiler. Good old Smiler… everybody’s friend. Everybody’s…”

— It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), story and screenplay by William and Tania Rose

The Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Greed, suggested by Jenny McNabb. Today’s recommendation by Will King.

Trivia: The film was so crammed with action that each leading actor was given two scripts: one for the dialogue and one for physical comedy.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “The main theme of this film is greed and what it does to people. A random group of people try to help an unfortunate criminal who dies in an auto accident and his dying confession sets them off on a cross-country chase where everyone is out for themselves to get to the hidden treasure first. Alliances form, break up and reform as each tries to find the ‘big W’ first, and it all begins with this moment — the inciting incident.”