The Singing Detective

Synopsis: "While hospitalized with an extreme case of psoriasis, novelist Dan Dark reworks his first book in his head. Feverish, paranoid and prone to musical outbreaks, he confuses himself with his protagonist, a detective investigating the murder of a prostitute in 1950s Los Angeles."
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Musical
Director(s): Keith Gordon
Production: Paramount Pictures
  1 win & 3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
5.6
Metacritic:
45
Rotten Tomatoes:
39%
R
Year:
2003
109 min
$293,296
Website
736 Views


That the guy

That's the guy.

Does he get

to screw her first?

Sure. She can be coming

and going at the same time.

What's your poison?

Saucer of milk.

This looks like a cathouse.

Think of it as a kennel.

Consider it thunk.

So...

How much is that doggie

in the window?

Which one?

Lot of mongrels, this place.

The one with the waggedy tail.

l do hope that doggie's

for sale.

Dee dum!

lt's a crummy tune, mister.

But otherwise...

Otherwise?

l'm your fluffy little pooch.

What'd you say?

Okay, so you want to be a dog.

No, no, l just want to sh*t

on the sidewalk.

How much is that doggie

in the window?

The one with the waggley tail.

Hey. l like Patti Page.

But does she like you?

We're in business.

Come on, l got you,

-l got you.

-What are you, new?

Yeah, l been dealing

with you for three months.

Close the blinds.

All right, l'll get

the blinds in a minute

if you'll give me a second.

Close the f***ing blinds!

That f***.

Do you know who l am?

l'm the Singing Detective.

Quote, come on, exclamation mark

come on, comma, b*tch,

exclamation mark,

unquote, he panted...

Come on!

Come on, b*tch!

Oh, yeah, yeah!

Come on.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

He panted...

as he drove his...

throbbing... into her...

What the f*** you

trying to do?

Tear me open, what?

ls the water?

What is that?

What is that?

Let go! No!

l don't want

a parrot that talks

l don't want a bowl

of little fishies

He can't take a goldfish

for a walk

How much is that doggie

in the window?

The one with the waggley tail?

How much is that doggie

in the window?

l do hope that doggie's for sale

No...

That's wrong. That's my...

She's my...

Woman love, hey, hey, hey

Hey, woman love,

hey, hey, hey

Hey, woman love,

hey, hey, hey

Hey, woman love,

hey, hey, hey

Hey, woman love,

hey, hey, hey

Well, l went to my doctor

not so long ago

A-walkin' in a circle

and moanin' low

He looked at me and said,

''Good Lord above, son

You need a vaccination

of a-woman love''

You are... Mr...?

Dark.

Daniel Dark.

Very inflamed.

How are you feeling today?

Extensive lesions.

Temperature through the roof.

Difficult case.

We moved him to a private

room after several

disruptive outbursts.

How long have you had

psoriatic arthropathy...?

''Ow wrong?''

Since Pearl Harbor.

26 years.

And do you have

much movement

-in your joints?

-Not very...

Hydrocortisone injections

all major joints

including the toes.

And the history?

-Oh, initially, coal tar.

-Right.

-Then gold injections.

-Mm-hmm.

Butazolodin, lndomethocine.

Not successful.

The courses Prednisone,

Prednisolone,

lengthening.

PUVA, not successful.

Then Methotrexate

after positive liver biopsies.

Oh, well, then, excuse me.

Much nausea?

Do you, uh, vomit, yes, mm?

Y-yeah...

lnduced neutrophenia.

Wart-like lesions.

Removed.

Withdrawn.

You're, uh...

he's hyper...

You're hyperventilating.

Um, are you experiencing some

kind of visual dislocations?

-Mind tripping?

-l think...

Oh, yesterday he said

there was a dog in the bed,

uh, chewing his ankles.

Okay, things are not good here.

Um, how do you feel about

Mr...

Dark, how would you feel about

one of the new Retinoids?

Hmm?

lt... it-it wasn't my ankles.

lt was chewing my balls.

l see.

But what l'm asking you is if

you understand the question...

No! l don't!

Because l have regressed into

the pathetic condition

of total dependency, Doc.

ln short,

and in the vernacular,

l'm a f***ing kid again.

The last time l had

to endure anything

this demeaning

was in my baby-buggy.

l was drooled over

by slobbering cretins...

-Mr. Dark!

-who apparently escaped

from the local cuckoo house.

They thought they were

doctors and nurses.

What, uh...

what exactly did you, uh...

what'd you do for a-a living,

Mr., what, l forget his name...

Dark?

What did l do?

l'm an author.

Oh... oh.

l didn't realize...

Dan Dark.

Trash that doesn't sell.

Detective stories

about a gumshoe

who warbles.

Well, that sounds interesting.

Um, what... what...?

Hey, listen to me.

Please, please...

W-What is it?

Will you please listen?

l can't talk

lying flat out like this.

l need... help

to sit up, please.

Oh. Well, help him up.

You know, l-l really, um...

You understand,

l'm on a very tight schedule...

-Listen...

-There you go.

Listen... listen...

listen!

l'm no hero,

and l've reached the end.

Of what?

My tether.

Oh, come on!

F...!

l'd like...

Christ, l'd like

to get out of it, but l can't!

Listen! l can't s...

l can't stand it,

l really truly can't stand

any... more!

l can't get on top of it,

l can't think straight,

and l can't tell what is

from what isn't,

and if l don't tell someone,

if l don't admit it,

l'll never get out of it.

Oh, l'm sorry...

Oh, the shame.

The tears...

All this oozing, useless liquid,

it just hurts my... skin.

My face, and...

and when l laugh,

it hurts my jaw.

l'm a prisoner inside my...

...my own skin.

On the hop!

Librium.

Valium.

Antidepressants.

And the barbiturates,

of course.

Bah, bah, bah, bah

Bah, bah, bah, bah

Bah, bah, bah, bah

Bah, bah, bah, bah

At the hop

Well, you can rock it,

you can roll it

Do the stop

and even stroll it

-At the hop

-Hop, hop, hop, hop

When the record starts spinning

You calypso

when you chicken at the hop

Hop, hop, hop, hop

Do the dance sensation

that is sweeping the nation

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Dennis Potter

Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. After graduating from Oxford University, he initially worked in journalism. After standing for parliament as a Labour candidate at the 1964 general election, his health was affected by the onset of psoriatic arthropathy which necessitated Potter changing careers and led to him becoming a television dramatist. His new career began with contributions to the BBC's Wednesday Play anthology series in 1965, and continued to work in the medium for the next thirty years. He is best known for his BBC TV serials Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Singing Detective (1986), and the television plays Blue Remembered Hills (1979) and Brimstone and Treacle (1976). His television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social and often used themes and images from popular culture. Potter is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative dramatists to have worked in British television. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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