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Marathon Man (1976) Screenplay by William Goldman, based on his novel [Christian begins to torture Babe by using a dental probe and a mouth mirror to check for cavities] Babe: [the probe hits a cavity] Ow. Christian Szell: That hurt? Babe: Uh-huh. Christian Szell: I know. I should think it would. You should take better care of your teeth. You have a...[hits the cavity again] quite a cavity here. Is it safe? Babe: Look, I told you I can't...[Christian stabs the probe into the nerve; screaming in pain] AAH!AAAH! Aah! [Babe's painful screams and moans continue] Karl: You think he knows? Erhard: Of course he knows! He is being very stubborn. [Christian then opens a small bottle of oil of cloves, which he applies to Babe's badly aggravated cavity to kill the pain] Christian Szell: Is it not remarkable? Simple oil of cloves, and how amazing the results. Life can be that simple: [holds up the oil] Relief...[and the probe tool] Discomfort. Now which of these I next apply? That decision is in your hands. So... take your time... and tell me... is it safe? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzw1_2b-I7A Dialogue on Dialogue: It's bad enough to be tortured so that you divulge information you're trying to keep hidden, but it is sheer, unendurable horror to be tortured over a secret you have no clue about. I'm ashamedly not familiar enough with movies to say whether this type of dialogue began with Marathon Man, but it is certainly a masterpiece of the type of dialogue monsters like Szell use to torment their victims: the seemingly solicitous appeals to the victim's health (you should really take better care of your teeth), which only foreshadow the angle of attack. This scene is also brilliant for playing to the deep mistrust most people already have of dentists. A dentist visit is scary enough when you know he or she is trying to help you. Being in the hands of a sadistic, Nazi dentist hell-bent on extracting (pun intended) information from you is just about the scariest thing imaginable. P.S. Now that I think of it, this piece is probably more appropriate to the agony theme for next week, so feel free to save it for then!

The Elephant Man (1980), screenplay by Christopher De Vore & Eric Bergren & David Lynch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waUNXVFwHdA&feature=player_detailpage#t=395 OPERATING ROOM - THE LONDON HOSPITAL We see a bellows pumping air into the open grate of a cast iron stove. We hear moaning in the background. The coals flare to a fierce glow. From the mouth of the stove protrude the handles of several cauterizing irons, their heads imbedded in the coals. Up above the irons, Treves stands by a waist-high operating table covered with black leather. His face is illuminated by an oil lantern held by a nurse. The room is fairly dark owing to the oppressive overcast sky seen through two windows. There is also a large sink, a cupboard containing dressings, gags, manacles, emetics and other unattractive things, and two hard chairs. TWO STUDENTS and two other DOCTORS, MR. FOX and MR. HILL, are present. The two Students are pulling with constant pressure on a rope tied to the patient's leg. Treves and Mr. Fox are working on a chest wound caused by a machine accident. There are gear-wheel marks getting progressively deeper as they near a great open gash. Mr. Hill places a cotton mask over the patient's nose and mouth and applies drops of chloroform. The patient struggles, but soon his moans subside and he is unconscious. TREVES: How long has this man been here? FOX: Three quarters of an hour. TREVES: Mmmm. Hodges, Pierce come closer. Mr. Hill, take hold of the rope please. It's a machine accident. I expect you'll be seeing a good deal of this. The two medical Students come forward. They stare uneasily at the gaping wound, which bubbles each time the man takes an agonized breath. Treves and Fox quickly and expertly tend the wound as Hodges and Pierce look on. TREVES (off handedly): Abominable things these machines. One can't reason with them. FOX: What a mess. Treves now notices that the student's faces have gone a trifle ashen. TREVES: What got you into medicine, Hodges? HODGES: My father, sir. He's built quite a successful practice. I hope to take it over one day. TREVES: Is that your case as well, Pierce? PIERCE: Yes sir. Though of course I do have a great desire to help my fellowman. Treves smiles at them knowingly. TREVES: Of course you do realize that medicine has changed quite a bit since your father's time. In those days we didn't even wash our coats. In fact, the sign of a truly accomplished surgeon--was his black operating coat, so stiff with dried blood and pus that it could stand up by itself in the corner. I've still got mine upstairs... You don't mind blood, do you? HODGES & PIERCE: Oh no, sir. (etc.) TREVES: Good, that's one thing we've always plenty of. Dialogue on dialogue: Comparing the script to the film, the script is both description heavy and dialogue heavy. At some point during the production the filmmakers realized that the unnecessary dialogue could be cut. The bit about how “medicine has changed” sounds particularly superfluous since we are already seeing how different the practice was back then compared to now. What remains in the final film is much more refined, visual and efficient.

Prometheus (2012) Written by John Spaihts and Damon Lindelof In the first draft of the script almost everything was narrated visually as Shaw typed her surgery instructions. I think it was a good idea to actually make Shaw interact with the machine as a way to show clearly the stakes of what she was about to go through. http://youtu.be/QQH8K2WZPrY?t=53s MED POD: Emergency procedures initiated. Please verbally state the nature of your injury. SHAW: I need cesarean! MED POD: Error. This Med Pod is calibrated for male patients only. It does not operate for the procedure you have requested. Please seek medical assistance elsewhere. SHAW: Surgery. Abdominal. Penetrating injuries. Foreign body. Initiate. Ah! MED POD: Surgical procedure to begin. Running diagnostics. SHAW: Get it out! Come on! Oh god! Ah! Come on! MED POD: Initiating anesthetics. Commence surgical procedure.

Not exactly surgery but close enough... Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Howard Ashman (musical play "Little Shop of Horrors") Roger Corman (based on the film by) Charles B. Griffith (1960 screenplay) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHsDKqKE_kc ORVIN When I was young and just a bad little kid My momma noticed funny things I did Like shootin' puppies with a B B gun I'd poison guppies, and when I was done I'd find a pussy cat and bash its head That's when my momma said What did she say? She said "My boy, I think someday You'll find a way to make your natural tendencies pay" You'll be a dentist (Be a dentist) You have a talent for causing things pain (Pain) Son, be a dentist (Son, be a dentist) People will pay you to be inhumane (Humane) Your temperament's wrong for the priesthood And teaching would suit you still less Son, be a dentist you'll be a success Here he is folks, the leader of the plaque Watch him suck up that gas, oh my God He is a dentist and he'll never ever be any good Who wants their teeth done by the Marquis De Sade? Oh, that hurts, wait, I'm not numb Ehh, shut up, open wide, here I come I am your dentist And I enjoy the career that I picked (Love it) I am your dentist And I get off on the pain I inflict (Really love it) I thrill when I drill a bicuspid (Bicuspid) It's swell though they tell me I'm maladjusted (Dentist) And though it may 'cause my patients distress (Distress) Somewhere, somewhere in heaven above me I know, I know that my momma's proud of me Oh, momma 'Cause I'm a dentist and a success Say aah (Ahh) Say aah (Ahh) Say ahh (Ahh) Now spit Trivia: The dentist's office originally was more grungy and blood-splattered but those details did not go over well with test audiences. The set was cleaned up and the scenes re-shot for the final film. When producer David Geffen originally tried to get the film made, Steven Spielberg was attached to produce and Martin Scorsese to direct. John Landis was also attached to direct for a while

The Meaning of Life (1983), written by Graham Chapman & John Cleese & Terry Gilliam & Eric Idle & Terry Jones & Michael Palin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclS1pGHp8o First Man: Hello, can we have your liver...? Mr Brown: My what? First Man: Your liver... it's a large glandular organ in your abdomen... you know it's a reddish-brown and it's sort of a -- Mr Brown: Yes, I know what it is, but I'm using it. Second Man: Come on sir... don't muck us about. [They move in.] Mr Brown: Hey! [They shut the door behind him.] [The first man makes a grab at his wallet and finds a card in it.] First Man: Hello! What's this then...? Mr Brown: A liver donor's card. First Man: Need we say more? Second Man: No! Mr Brown: Look, I can't give it to you now. It says 'In The Event of Death'... First Man: No-one who has ever had their liver taken out by us has survived. Dialogue on dialogue: Drama, conflict, urgency, humor, plot twists... Monty Python at their very best.

[…] Daily Dialogue Theme for Next Week: Surgery […]

Okay, if Little Shop of Horrors counts (and why not?), I gotta throw in some Young Frankenstein. He's a surgeon. I’m going to operate under the assumption that dialogue concerning surgery is fair game, as it deals with procedure and stakes. It’s similar to laying out the rules in a heist movie, the one in charge lays out what has to happen, and in execution, things can start to go wrong and the audience can understand why (it was supposed to be a simple procedure...) (I transcribed the exchange from the movie since it's different, and I think more effective, than the first draft by Gene Wilder) FREDDY "As the minuteness of the parts formed a great hindrance to my speed I resolved therefore to make the creature of a giant stature." Of course. That would simplify everything. INGA In other words, his veins, his feet, his hands, his organs would all have to be increased in size. FREDDY Exactly. INGA He would have an enormous shwanstucker. FREDDY … that goes without saying. INGA Woof! IGOR He's gonna be very popular. When Inga thinks contemplates the meaning of what’s being discussed, her mind goes straight to the gutter. It’s surprising because it comes out of left field, and more so since the scene takes place in the sophisticated environment of the dining room. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen the trailer for the movie before, so here it is, from the mind of Mel Brooks (I love that guy!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOPTriLG5cU Young Frankenstein is one of those undisputed classic comedies, and a wonderful tribute to classic horror, but the whole movie centers around a surgery: why everyone thinks it’s impossible, why one doctor believed it could, how he performed the operation, and the results of that operation on himself, the patient, and the world.