Daily Dialogue — July 5, 2018

Ninotchka: Must you flirt?
Leon: Well, I don’t have to, but I find it natural.
Ninotchka: Suppress it.

— Ninotchka (1939), screen play by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder and Walter Reisch, based on an original story by Melchior Lengyel

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Billy Wilder.

Trivia: Ernst Lubitsch disliked Gottfried Reinhardt and S.N. Behrman’s original screenplay, so he commissioned a rewrite from Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch. Lubitsch himself made some significant uncredited contributions to the screenplay.

Dialogue On Dialogue: One of Ernst Lubitsch’s best movies. The dialogue sparkles and there are some wonderful Lubitsch touches. There’s a reason Wilder had this sign in his office:

Here’s a scene with some great banter where you can see Wilder’s touch.