Dartmouth on Screen
To paraphrase an old standby, "Dartmouth's on screen again!" It happens often enough-a flash of dialogue or a wellplaced prop will capture the College name for posterity. From We Went to College, the story of a college reunion by Maury Rapf '35, to Animal House, the paean to fraternity crassness co-written by Chris Miller '63, many a movie is based on Dartmouth life but doesn't mention the College by name. Others bring the College right into the picture-out of pride, derision, or sentimentality. Wanting to create on film an ode to his alma mater, producer Walter Wanger '15 hired Budd Schulberg '36, Maury Rapf '35, and Lester Cole to write Winter Carnival. The plot and the characters could, with some minor adjustments, be applied to any setting, but that is the Eleazar Wheelock snow sculpture, preserved for all ages. And though the screenwriters may poke fun at the College, the film still wins applause from undergraduates.
Other uses of the College name are less inspiring. In M*A*S*H, Ring Lardner Jr. gave the Big Green a fictional beating, and in Goodbye Columbus, an acerbic Richard Benjamin parodies Dartmouth camaraderie as he introduces partygoers to one another: "Dartmouth? I'd like you to meet Columbia. Dartmouth, too? Oh, Dartmouth, meet Dartmouth." A less noticeable but somewhat kinder reference is in The Thomas Crown Affair, in which Steve McQueen plays a millionaire whose hobby is bank robbery. Though the handsome crook tells the beautiful insurance investigator (Faye Dunaway) that he went to Dartmouth College, she still wants the money back. What's Up, Doc?, written by Buck Henry '52, contains a sentimental bow as one character explains that, yes, the music school she will attend is small, but there are those.... Perhaps the kindest allusion, brief as it is, occurs in Oh GodBook II. God, played by George Burns, takes a liking to the daughter of a young suburban couple. While the child's jersey could account for the presence of God, it seems more certain that David Birney '61, who plays the child's father, accounts for the presence of the jersey.
HAWKEYE: It is you! Did I ever tell you how Androscoggin College beat Dartmouth six tonothing in a raging blizzard because I intercepted a pass? They had this greatpasser, you see, and we held them, nothing-nothing till the last 20 seconds, andthen, snow and all, he let one go, and it went sailing...boom!TRAPPER JOHN: Lucky your mouth wasn't open. It would have got stuck in your throat.HAWKEYE: Oh, baby! How are you, Trapper John?TRAPPER: I thought you'd never remember!HAWKEYE: He's Trapper John! Only man in history who ever foundfulfilment in the ladies'can of a Boston & Maine railroad car. When the conductor caught him in therewith his Winter Carnival date, she screamed, "He's trapped me." What haveyou been doing since those days, Trapper?DUKE: What does he have to do? A score like that, a man could just live on hisreputation.
McQueen (above left) in The Thomas Crown Affair: a Dartmouth grad gone bad. A little girl in afamiliar jersey (center) attracts divine attention in Oh God Book II, starring David Birney '61. At apreppy party (right) in Goodbye, Columbus, Richard Benjamin waxes sarcastic on the Dartmouthnetwork.
WINTER CARNIVAL - Changes 4/24/39 31. 70. INT. ANN'S DRAWING ROOM - PROCESS The porter is just carrying out the luggage. Ann is feverishly adding the finishing touches. The band music can be heard. ANN If you could give me one good reason for burying yourself alone in this jerk-water station for four hours...... JILL Now, darling, Dartmouth may be your big moment, but to me it's just another railroad junction. ANN (eager to go) Well - if you're sure you don't mind JILL (breaking in, roughly) Now, if you don't get out of here, I'll Ann stops her with an affectionate hug. JILL (huskily) That's better. Now run along into those six waiting arms. Sounds like a date with an octopus. ANN (smiles, then with a quick goodbye kiss) Don't forget to write. JILL (calling after heramused) Don't forget to sleep. Ann hurries out. 71. INT. CORRIDOR - MEDIUM SHOT As Ann comes out. Margie all but knocks her over as (CONTINUED)
Special editor Robert A. Eshman '82 was undergraduate editor and Whitney Campbell Intern atthe MAGAZINE during his senior year. Currently, heis writing free-lance in San Francisco, California.
