Daily Dialogue — January 27, 2018

“Is it safe?”

— Marathon Man (1976), screenplay by William Goldman based on his novel

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Question.

Trivia: Producer Robert Evans was set upon getting Laurence Olivier to play the role of Szell. However, because Olivier at the time was riddled with cancer, he was uninsurable so Paramount refused to use him. In desperation, Evans called his friends Merle Oberon and David Niven to arrange a meeting with the House of Lords (the upper body of the British parliament). There, he urged them to put pressure on Lloyd’s of London to insure Britain’s greatest living actor. The ploy succeeded and a frail Olivier started working on the film. In the end, not only did he net an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but his cancer also went into remission. Olivier lived on for another 13 years.

More Trivia: Laurence Olivier took the role of Szell in part to leave a great deal of money to his wife and children, as he expected to die from the cancer that afflicted him throughout production. He performed the role while undergoing treatment for his cancer, which included heavy doses of painkillers to allow him to work every day. The pain medication affected his memory and at times the actor could not remember more than one or two of his lines at a time. In a testament to the actor’s fierce concentration, his performance garnered rave reviews and an Oscar nomination and despite working under such aggressive medical treatment, the actor experienced a full recovery allowing him to enjoy the success of this film and a series of leading roles that followed.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Sometimes a question can be as effective as a knife in exacting a confession from a character. Or a dentist’s tool.