The Day of the Dolphin
Encyclopedia
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 (A Sentient Animal
), by French writer Robert Merle
, the screenplay was written
by Buck Henry
.
s 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 limpet mine
on the hull of the yacht
of the President of the United States
.
, 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. 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
).
The film was originally going to be directed by Roman Polanski
; 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. Polanski returned to the United States and abandoned the project.
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.
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
and starring George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
. Loosely based on the 1967 novel, Un animal doué de raison (A Sentient Animal
A Sentient Animal
A Sentient Animal is a 1967 science fiction thriller novel by French novelist Robert Merle. The plot concerns dolphins that are trained to communicate with humans, and their use in espionage. The central character is a government scientist with similar ideas to those of John C...
), by French writer Robert Merle
Robert Merle
Robert Merle was a French novelist.-Biography:Born in Tébessa in French Algeria, he moved to France in 1918. A professor of English Literature at several universities, during World War II Merle was conscripted in the French army and assigned as an interpreter to the British Expeditionary Force...
, the screenplay was written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
by Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
.
Plot
A brilliant and driven scientist, Jake Terrell, and his young and beautiful wife, Maggie, train dolphinDolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s to communicate with humans. This is done by teaching the dolphins to speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
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
Fritz Weaver
Fritz William Weaver is an American actor and voice actor.-Life and career:Weaver was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Elsa W. and John Carson Weaver. His mother was of Italian descent and his father was a social worker from Pittsburgh. Weaver attended Peabody High School...
) 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
Paul Sorvino
Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
) reveals that the Institute is planning to further train the dolphins to carry out a political assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
by having them place a limpet mine
Limpet mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
on the hull of the yacht
USS Sequoia (presidential yacht)
USS Sequoia is a former United States presidential yacht used from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Carter, who had it sold in 1977. The ship was decommissioned under Roosevelt and lost its "USS" status at that time, but by popular convention is still often used...
of the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Cast
- George C. ScottGeorge C. ScottGeorge Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
as Dr Jake Terrell - Trish Van DevereTrish Van DevereTrish Van Devere is an American actress.-Early life:Van Devere was born as Patricia Louise Dressel in Tenafly, New Jersey. She was married to the actor George C...
as Maggie Terrell - Paul SorvinoPaul SorvinoPaul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...
as Curtis Mahoney - Fritz WeaverFritz WeaverFritz William Weaver is an American actor and voice actor.-Life and career:Weaver was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Elsa W. and John Carson Weaver. His mother was of Italian descent and his father was a social worker from Pittsburgh. Weaver attended Peabody High School...
as Harold DeMilo - Jon KorkesJon KorkesJon Korkes is an Hungarian-born American stage, movie, and television actor.-Life:He was born in Budapest on the 1. January, 1945 as a son of Jetti Korkes. He moved to the States, after the revolution in Hungary, in 1956. First he works for theaters, just later starts to act in movies and television...
as David - Edward HerrmannEdward HerrmannEdward Kirk Herrmann is a U.S. television and film actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D...
as Mike - Leslie CharlesonLeslie CharlesonLeslie Charleson is an American actress most famous for her work in daytime television.-Biography:Charleson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her career began on short-lived soap A Flame in the Wind in 1964...
as Maryanne - John David CarsonJohn David CarsonJohn David Carson was an American actor. He was born in North Hollywood, California. Carson began his career at a young age, acting in television advertisements, and later doing cartoon voice-acting for Hanna-Barbera. He attended Los Angeles Valley College where he played a lead role in their 1969...
as Larry - Victoria Racimo as Lana
- John DehnerJohn DehnerJohn Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs. Prior to acting, Dehner had worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and later became a radio...
as Wallingford - Severn DardenSevern DardenSevern Teakle Darden, Jr. was a comedian and actor, and an original member of The Second City Chicago-based comedy troupe as well as its predecessor, the Compass Players...
as Schwinn - William Roerick as Dunhill
- Elizabeth WilsonElizabeth WilsonElizabeth Welter Wilson is an American actress. She was elected to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.-Life and career:Wilson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the daughter of Marie Ethel and Henry Dunning Wilson, who was an insurance agent...
as Mrs Rome
Production and reception
The film received mixed reviews when released in 1973. Pauline KaelPauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
, the film critic for The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
suggested that if the best subject that Nichols and Henry could think of was talking dolphins, then they should quit making movies altogether. The film was not successful commercially, though it was nominated for two Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, for Best Original Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue
Georges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
) and Best Sound (Richard Portman
Richard Portman
Richard Portman is an American sound engineer. He won an Academy Award for Best Sound and has been nominated for ten more in the same category...
and Larry Jost
Larry Jost
Larry Jost was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Sound. He worked on over 45 films between 1961 and 1984.-Selected filmography:* The Day of the Dolphin...
).
The film was originally going to be directed by Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
; however, while Polanski was in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, looking for filming locations in August 1969, his pregnant wife, the actress Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
, was murdered in their Beverly Hills home. Polanski returned to the United States and abandoned the project.
Differences from the novel and other sources of inspiration
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, 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
John C. Lilly
John Cunningham Lilly was an American physician, neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, psychonaut, philosopher and writer....
's life. A physician, biophysicist
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
, neuroscientist
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
, and inventor, Lilly specialized in the study of consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
. 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.
Cultural references
- On June 25, 2007, Stephen ColbertStephen ColbertStephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
recommended his The Colbert Report viewers rent this film after making an allusion to it that received little reaction from the studio audience. http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/183090/june-25-2007/threatdown---coral-reefs
- In the 1999 James TobackJames TobackJames Lee Toback is an American screenwriter and film director.-Early life:Toback was born in New York City. His mother, Selma Judith , was a President of The League of Women Voters and a moderator of political debates on NBC. His father, Irwin Lionel Toback, was a stockbroker and former...
film Black and White the characters played by Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr.Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...
and Brooke ShieldsBrooke ShieldsBrooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
share a rambling, improvised discussion about the movie and the meanings of the dolphin's relationships to the film's humans specifically as a touchstone for their own relationship.
- A reference to the film appears in the episode "Six Feet Under the Sea" on the television series Psych.
- The Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror XITreehouse of Horror XI"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of The Simpsons twelfth season and the 249th overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik , John Frink and Don Payne and...
" has a story that is titled, "Night of the Dolphins", that involves LisaLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
freeing a dolphin who then takes over earth because dolphins lived on the land until the human race drove them into the ocean.