Daily Dialogue — June 3, 2017

JEFF: That’s very nice, but I just have one bed.
LISA: If you say anything else, I’ll… Stay tomorrow night too.
JEFF: I won’t be able to give you any… pajamas.
LISA: You said I’ll have to live out of one suitcase. I’ll bet yours isn’t this small.
JEFF: This is a suitcase?
LISA: Well, a Mark Cross overnight case.
JEFF: Ooh.
LISA: Compact, but, uh… ample enough.

She opened it, and there is a negligee in rosé.

JEFF: Looks like you packed in a hurry. Look at this. Isn’t that amazing?
LISA: I’ll trade you… My feminine intuition for a bed for the night.

— Rear Window (1954), written by John Michael Hayes, based on the short story by Cornell Woolwich

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Seduction. Today’s recommendation by Gisela Wehrl.

Trivia: The original story by Cornell Woolrich had no love story and no additional neighbors for L.B. Jeffries to spy on, and those elements were created by Alfred Hitchcock and John Michael Hayes. Hayes was encouraged by Hitchcock to spend time with Grace Kelly before writing the Lisa character and Hayes admitted that elements of Lisa were inspired by the actress.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Today’s commentary by Gisela: “The sexual tension enriches every scene between the both (even if they argue). If you take Jeff’s lines literally, it seems as if he doesn’t want Lisa to stay. But his dialogue really says that they would share one bed naked. When Lisa mentions the suitcase, it’s not just about seducing Jeff for the night. She wants to seduce him to live their life together — what Jeff always has neglected. She wants to show him, that she could live the way he does. Her negligee is an ironic statement as it wouldn’t mate Jeff’s trips as a journalist. Beyond that it’s unambiguously an erotical invitation. Jeff, who doesn’t care about fashion and had commented about it ironically before, is stunned what makes him loose his irony.”