Daily Dialogue — July 30, 2017

Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] Dr. Randall, what a surprise! Are you having lunch here?
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] I will if it’s that sample. Huh… I wish it was that simple.

Edmund Edwards: [offstage] This guy never heard of contact lenses?

Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] The test results have come back.
Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] And?
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] And I’m afraid the results are very disturbing. It seems that Angelique has a rare case of brake fluid… [pause] Bran… fluid. Bran flavor.

David Barnes: [offstage] Brain fever!
Edmund Edwards: [offstage, loudly] Say it!

Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] Brain fever!
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] Yes. Brain fever. Or what we call in Austria…

They both goggle at the word.

Jeffrey Anderson: Kopfgeschlagen. At the current rate of inflation, her brain will laterally explore the…
Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] Literally explode?
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] Exactly, within the next three houses.
Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] Hours?
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] Yes, will literally explode within next three hours. I would suggest leaving the restraint.
Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] Restaurant?
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] Restaurant, yes.
Celeste Talbert: [as Maggie] Her brain will actually explode?
Jeffrey Anderson: [as Dr. Randall] Yes, yes, I’ve, um, seen it happen. It’s a dreadful, dreadful thug. Thing.

— Soapdish (1991), screenplay by Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman, story by Robert Harling

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Television.

Trivia: Extensive re-shoots on this film forced Kevin Kline to withdraw from Hook (1991). He was replaced by Robin Williams.

Dialogue On Dialogue: The comedic device for this scene: Jeffrey Anderson (Kevin Kline) refuses to wear glasses (they’re ugly), his vanity getting the better of him… and his nearsightedness gets the better of him as well when trying to read the teleprompter.