Movie #174 Day of the Dolphin *1973*

What if I told you I watched a film directed by Mike Nichols?  Would that interest you?  What if I added that it was written by Buck Henry?  I bet you would think I was talking about the 1968 classic The Graduate.  What if I added it starred George C. Scott and Paul Sorvino?  Stumped?  What if I told you that George C. Scott played a marine biologist that had taught dolphins to understand and actually speak English?  What if I went on to say that these English speaking dolphins were kidnapped by terrorists in an attempt to blow up the presidential boat in an assassination attempt?  You's probably think I was high, or that this was a delayed April Fools joke.  This is no joke I'm afraid.  This is The Day of the Dolphin.

I had heard about this film by it's movie poster alone.  It read "UNWITTINGLY HE TRAINED A DOLPHIN TO KILL THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES".  How could you not want to see this movie.  That tag line alone asks so many questions.  How did he train them? How did he do so "unwittingly"? How does a dolphin commit murder / assassination? At what point, and how often do American Presidents and dolphins really interact?  Good news.  All these question and more are answered during the film.

I watched this late Sunday night.  I was very tired when I fired up my Netflix.  After about 10 minutes I sort of had to question if I had fallen asleep or if what I was seeing on screen was really happening.  The film opens with G.C. Scott breaking the 4th wall with a narration.  Explaining the nature of dolphin, their extreme intelligence and their similarities to man kind.  This was cross cut with an example of what I will refer to as dolphin porn.  This is not to say dolphins getting it on (although there are mentions made of a male dolphin wanting to get a little randy with its female, human trainer), it is more like gratuitous shots of dolphins frolicking.  This imaginary is used frequently throughout this film.  While the closest human get to titilation is G.C. Scott in short shorts.

Paul Sorvino plays a dirty investigative reporter working for an anonymous boss.  He seems to be wise to the very secret training and experiments that G.C. Scott and his interns are working on.  In one of my favorite moments, Sorvino has fallen asleep on a picnic table on the beach.  When he wakes up, without any knowledge of why the dolphins have been kidnapped, he deduces that these trained mammals are going to be used to blow up the president.

Did I mention that the dolphins speak English?  Not clicks or squeaks or normal dolphin speak.  They say things like "Fa loves Ma", "Fa play ball" and "Bad man hurt Fa" in ridiculous helium infused voices .  There is an unintentionally funny scene where G.C. Scott is showing the foundation leader (the institution that funds the dolphin research) how the dolphins language has evolved.  It involves a series of at least 10 reel-to-reel machines being played, one at a time, with Scott announcing the month and date of each recording.  The scene goes on and on like a clip from a Family Guy episode.

There is a point in the film where the dolphins are forced to make a decision.  We break from the dolphin porn and cue the sentimental music.  The cutting stops are we are given long takes of what I think is supposed to be the dolphins "contemplating".  I believe the movie is genuinely asking its viewers to wonder what is going on inside the dolphins mind.  This film takes anthropomorphism to its most extreme.

Day of the Dolphin, or should I say Oscar nominated Day of the Dolphin (1973 Best Score & Best Sound), reminded me a lot of Sam Fullers White Dog (Movie #123).  In that film a dog had been trained to hate white people.  This film is just as exploitative.  This movie was made during a time in America when people didn't trust their government and loved aquatic mammals.  Fortunately there was never much of a risk of the dolphin blowing up Boat1.  The terrorists plans seem to be going well until one of the dolphins escape.  He makes it back to camp and informs the other what is going on (like an aquatic Lassie).  They send this dolphin off to stop the attack.  *SPOILER ALERT* the dolphin with the bomb strapped to his back was stopped not in the nick of time, but more like half a mile from the Presidents boat.  He never even got near it, removing any drama from the scene that might have existed.  It is the equivalent of discovering a bomb with the timer set to go off in 6 minutes.  Then defusing it with 4 and a half minutes left.

I don't want this review to turn into an episode of The Chris Farley show in which I say things like "you remember that one scene?  That was cool".  But their are a few other noteworthy moments I'd like to mention.  Picture a group of rich, old, white men in 1970's business attire, sitting on a dock in the tropics questioning two dolphins.  Then picture a dolphin calling one of the men a liar.  Then picture this man putting down his pipe and putting up his dukes to apparently go fisticuffs with the dolphin.  The other notable scene is once the dolphins have been kidnapped Sorvino mentions that the terrorists will probably kill them.  The female trainer asks why and G.C. Scott replies something to the effect that if the terrorists are caught, the dolphins could testify against them in a court of law.   The movies wants us to believe that a dolphin could be considered a creditable witness in a court of law.

This movie is the pinnacle of "so bad it's good" films for me.  I would grow a dorsal fin to see some of the out takes or behind the scenes action.  I have this image of Nichols saying "cut" and someone handing G.C. Scott a cigar and him kicking one of the dolphins for upstaging him.  I can just hear him cursing the dolphins between every take.  This may have something to do with the less than convincing endearing monologue he delivers to the dolphins, and he udder uncomfortableness while in the water with them.   

So how does the creators of one of the greatest films of the 60's make a talking dolphin movie not 5 years later?  My best guess is that they must have had coke habits to support and they took the first treatment that shoved in front of them.  Still I found enough silliness to enjoy myself in the movie.  I give Day of the Dolphin ★★1/2.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.