Daily Dialogue — February 25, 2019

Reporter: [to Al Capone] An article, which I believe appeared in a newspaper, asked why, since you are, or it would seem that you are, in effect, the mayor of Chicago, you’ve not simply been appointed to that position.

Other reporters laugh.

Capone: Well, I’ll tell ya, you know, it’s touching. Like a lot of things in life, we laugh because it’s funny and we laugh because it’s true. Now, some people will say — reformers, they’ll say, ‘Put that man in jail! What does he think he is doing?’ Well, what I hope I’m doing, and here’s where your English paper’s got a point, is — I’m responding to the will of the people.

— The Untouchables (1987), written by David Mamet

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Barber Shop.

Trivia: Eliot Ness and his role in bringing down Al Capone had been completely forgotten at the time of his death in 1957. No Chicago newspaper carried news of his passing. His heroic reputation only began with the posthumous publication of the Untouchables book he had co-written with Oscar Fraley, and the television series adapted from it.

Dialogue On Dialogue: The introduction to Al Capone’s character in The Untochables takes place in a barber shop. His response to the reporter’s question, the amiable relationship with the reporters, the act of getting a shave… all of it a ruse to shroud the violence of the man at the scene’s center.