Daily Dialogue — July 14, 2010

Phyllis: Mr. Neff, why don’t you drop by tomorrow evening about eight-thirty. He’ll be in then. 
 Walter Neff: Who? 
 Phyllis: My husband. You were anxious to talk to him weren’t you? 
 Walter Neff: Yeah, I was, but I’m sort of getting over the idea, if you know what I mean. 
 Phyllis: There’s a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour. 
 Walter Neff: How fast was I going, officer? 
 Phyllis: I’d say around ninety. 
 Walter Neff: Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket. 
 Phyllis: Suppose I let you off with a warning this time. 
 Walter Neff: Suppose it doesn’t take. 
 Phyllis: Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles. 
 Walter Neff: Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder. 
 Phyllis: Suppose you try putting it on my husband’s shoulder. 
 Walter Neff: That tears it.

Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), Double Indemnity (1944), screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, based on a novel by James M. Cain

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is femme fatales. 

Trivia: Barbara Stanwyck was the first choice to play Phyllis, but she was unnerved when seeing the role was of a ruthless killer. When she expressed her concern to Billy Wilder, he asked her, “Are you a mouse or an actress?”

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