Daily Dialogue — June 26, 2019

“I can’t stay too long, they’ll come looking for me. Dr. Hill… Dr. Hill, there’s a plot. I know that sounds crazy, you’re probably thinking, Oh my God, this poor girl has really flipped, but I haven’t flipped, Dr. Hill, I swear by all the saints I haven’t.”

— Rosemary’s Baby (1968), screenplay by Roman Polanski, book by Ira Levin

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Telephone Call. Today’s suggestion by @thebajaman.

Trivia: Ira Levin felt that this film is “the single most faithful adaptation of a novel ever to come out of Hollywood.” William Castle speculated the reasons for this were because it was the first time Roman Polanski had ever adapted another writer’s work, unaware he had the freedom to improvise on the book.

Dialogue On Dialogue: If shot today, I suspect most directors would drop into the scene much later, for example, with Rosemary (Mia Farrow) already dialing the phone or even later in mid-conversation with the nurse. But starting the scene as ‘early’ as it does allows the scene to build to a slow burn.