Daily Dialogue — October 31, 2011
Peter: I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth, but I had to find out your part in all this.
Regina: Alex — how can you tell if someone is lying or not?
Peter: You can’t.
Regina: There must be some way.
Peter: There’s an old riddle about two tribes of Indians — the Whitefeet always tell the truth and the Blackfeet always lie. So one day you meet an Indian, you ask him if he’s a truthful Whitefoot or a lying Blackfoot? He tells you he’s a truthful Whitefoot, but which one is he?
Regina: Why couldn’t you just look at his feet?
Peter: Because he’s wearing moccasins.
Regina: Oh. Well, then he’s a truthful Whitefoot, of course.
Peter: Why not a lying Blackfoot?
Regina: (confused) Which one are you?
Peter: (smiling) Whitefoot, of course.
— Peter (Cary Grant), Regina (Audrey Hepburn), Charade (1963), screenplay by Peter Stone
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is lies. Charade suggested by Saint.
Trivia: Seven studios rejected the original screenplay. Peter Stone turned it into a novel which was serialized in Redbook, and it was then turned back into a screenplay — which had interest from all 7 studios.
Dialogue On Dialogue: A great way to frame this week’s theme: How can one character tell if another character is telling the truth or not? And therein lies suspicion, conflict… and drama.
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