Daily Dialogue — June 1, 2017

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.

— Double Indemnity (1944), screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler, novel by James M. Cain

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Seduction.

Trivia: Various studios expressed interest in the story when it first appeared in serial form in 1935, but realized it was unfilmable within the strictures of the newly-established Production Code.

Dialogue On Dialogue: It’s precisely because of the above-mentioned Production Code filmmakers in Hollywood were inspired to write scenes like this: Seduction through words… and lots of subtext.