The Day of the Dolphin

The Day of the Dolphin

Theatrical release film poster by Tom Jung
Directed by Mike Nichols
Produced by Robert E. Relyea
Joseph E. Levine
Screenplay by Buck Henry
Based on The Day of the Dolphin by Robert Merle
Starring George C. Scott
Trish Van Devere
Paul Sorvino
Music by Georges Delerue
Cinematography William A. Fraker
Edited by Sam O'Steen
Distributed by Avco Embassy Pictures
Release dates
  • December 19, 1973 (1973-12-19)
Running time
 104 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $8.1 million[1]

The Day of the Dolphin is a 1973 American science-fiction thriller film directed by Mike Nichols and starring George C. Scott. Loosely based on the 1967 novel Un animal doué de raison (lit. A Sentient Animal), by French writer Robert Merle, the screenplay was written by Buck Henry.

Plot

A brilliant and driven scientist, Jake Terrell, and his young and beautiful wife, Maggie, train dolphins to communicate with humans. This is done by teaching the dolphins to speak English in dolphin-like voices. Two of his dolphins, Alpha ("Fa") and Beta ("Bea"), are stolen by officials of the shadowy Franklin Foundation headed by Harold DeMilo (Fritz Weaver), the supportive backer of the Terrells' research. After the dolphins are kidnapped, an investigation by an undercover government agent for hire, Curtis Mahoney (Paul Sorvino), reveals that the Institute is planning to further train the dolphins to carry out a political assassination by having them place a magnetic limpet mine on the hull of the yacht of the President of the United States.

Cast

Production

The novel was translated into English by Helen Weaver and published in the US in 1969 under the title The Day of the Dolphin.[2][3]

The film version was originally going to be directed by Roman Polanski for United Artists in 1969, with Polanski writing the script.[4] However, while Polanski was in London, England, looking for filming locations in August 1969, his pregnant wife, the actress Sharon Tate, was murdered in their Beverly Hills home by disciples of Charles Manson. Polanski returned to the United States and abandoned the project.[5][6]

The following year it was announced Franklin Schaffner would make the movie for the Mirisch Corporation.[7] These plans were frustrated and Joseph Levine ended up buying the project from United Artists for Mike Nichols.[8]

The film was mostly shot on Abaco Island in The Bahamas.[1] Production was extremely difficult and Nichols later described it as the toughest shoot he had done to date.[9]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews when released in 1973. Pauline Kael, the film critic for The New Yorker, suggested that if the best subject that Nichols and Henry could think of was talking dolphins, then they should quit making movies altogether.[10]

The film was not successful commercially, though it was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Original Score (Georges Delerue) and Best Sound (Richard Portman and Larry Jost).[11] Levine also claimed the movie had guaranteed pre-sales of $8,450,000 to cover costs, including a sale to NBC, which had expressed interest into turning the story into a TV series.[1]

Alpha the dolphin was named best animal actor in the 24th Patsy Awards.[12]

Levine admitted the film was not a success:

The rushes looked great. But it just didn't jell somehow. I really think Mike [Nichols] was the wrong guy to direct. And George C. Scott!... He got paid $750,000 for that movie—and ran us over schedule. The first three days of shooting he reported in with a "virus".[13]

Differences from the novel and other sources of inspiration

Merle's novel, a satire of the Cold War, is supposedly the basis for this film, but the film's plot was substantially different from that of the novel. The movie is instead inspired in part from the scientist John C. Lilly's life. A physician, biophysicist, neuroscientist, and inventor, Lilly specialized in the study of consciousness. In 1959, he founded the Communications Research Institute at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands and served as its director until 1968. There he worked with dolphins exploring dolphin intelligence and human-dolphin communication.

See also Bottlenose dolphin communication and John Lilly and cetacean communication.

Cultural references

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mike Nichols's latest: filming with dolphins By Nora E. Taylor. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current file) [Boston, Mass] 27 Dec 1973: B5.
  2. ↑ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (May 16, 1969). "Tanked Bond". The New York Times. p. 45. (subscription required (help)). a provacative and altogether chilling science fiction thriller - an Ian Fleming with humanity.
  3. ↑ The Bookshelf: Man Is About to Draft His Friend, the Dolphin Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current file) [New York, N.Y] 06 June 1969: 16.
  4. ↑ MOVIE CALL SHEET: 'New Leaf' Next for Weston Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 25 Apr 1969: i12.
  5. ↑ THE WORLD OF HOLLYWOOD: Tragedy Strikes Those Who Beat Odds Against Success HOLLYWOOD ODDS Champlin, Charles. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 10 Aug 1969: B.
  6. ↑ Dreams, Nightmares of Roman Polanski: ROMAN POLANSKI GELMIS, JOSEPH. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 26 Dec 1973: d20.
  7. ↑ Son Of 'Help!': Son of 'Help!' By A.H. WEILER. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 15 Feb 1970: 93
  8. ↑ Mike Nichols' 'Dolphin': Mike Nichols By A. H. WEILER. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 12 Mar 1972: D13
  9. ↑ Movies: Levine in the land of moguls, where exploitation is king Campell, Mary. Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file) [Chicago, Ill] 23 Dec 1973: e10.
  10. ↑ Smith, Cecil (March 29, 1974). "The Script and the Role Are His". Los Angeles Times. p. G25.
  11. ↑ "The 46th Academy Awards (1974) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-28.
  12. ↑ Parrott, Jennings (May 8, 1974). "He's Underworked, Overpaid---and Fed Up". Los Angeles Times. Newsmakers (column). p. A2.
  13. ↑ Baltake, Joe (December 10, 1978). "Levine: Hollywood's lion roars". Chicago Tribune. Knight-Ridder Newspapers. p. 40, section 6.
  14. ↑ Treehouse of Horror XI#Night of the Dolphin


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