156 Quiz Answer

The answer this week is “Tootsie.”  This movie, though a riotous comedy, had a deeper meaning.  A farce with strong social comment, it was also an attack on sexism; in a way it has become sort of an unofficial landmark of the feminist movement.  The U S Library of Congress deemed the motion picture "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

It was quite a film; it had ten Academy Award nominations and it was the second highest grossing movie after “ET, the Extra-Terrestrial.”

My thanks to all who participated.

(Also for Three-Word Wednesday and ABC Wednesday: "F" is for "Frank")
Here's this week's Berownial quiz.  I wrote the following little scenelet, basing it on a popular motion picture.  Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is: name the movie.

"I thought if we could sit down and talk, we could work this out together."
"Work what out?  Your actor was fired, canned, tossed off the set.  There's nothing to ponder over.  I can see you're upset; your fifteen percent as his agent was just heaved out the window with him."
"I just want to be sure that you are entirely aware of Frank's caliber.  He is one of the finest actors of this generation."
"Yeah, on the stage.  He is a theatre actor.  He won a Tony Award and all that."
"Actually, he won two Tonys."
"That's the ticket.  No question he's a good stage actor, yada yada, but what I do here is, I make TV commercials.  Frank was hired to appear in a commercial for Suncrest Salad Dressing.  In fact, he was going to star in it."
"That's why this is so important.  They plan to run that commercial for a year.  The salary and residuals would amount to a considerable sum."
"Which would mean a considerable sum for his agent."
"Well, we should leave me out of this.  In any event, we are willing to negotiate a percentage of the total sum in order to bring this to a valid close."
"You don't listen good, do you?  It has been brought to a close and your boy has been fired.  He doesn't get any pay, zero - fifteen percent of which belongs to you."
"We would hate to have to take this to the union."
"Take it to the union.  Take it to the United Nations!  If the guy won't do what the director tells him to do, he's out.  Period."
"But what if the director is wrong?  It happens that a top actor like Frank knows better than any TV-commercial director what's right and what's not."
"That's crazy.  He wasn't hired for his expertise as a theatrical genius.  He was hired to play a tomato in a salad-dressing commercial!"
"And he can play a tomato better than any other actor in the country!"
"But he's no use to us if he won't take direction.  The director told him to sit down and he refused.  You know what he said?  'A tomato doesn't sit down!'"
"Well, you've got to admit he was right.  A seated tomato is a contradiction in terms."
"Another contradiction in terms is an actor who refuses to take direction and nevertheless expects to be paid!"


(Also submitted to Sunday Scribblings)