Why/Haven't I/Told You?

Written by David Fiore
Published March 08, 2005
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What I find strange is that none of the fascinating pieces that I've read (and I've barely scratched the surface, of course) really does much of anything with--for me--the key scene. Oh sure Silencio is breathtaking, that first conversation in Winkie's lays the foundations for a free-fall and Diane hooked by the phone is intense...but the heart of the film beats somewhere between here
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and here:

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and what song is playing during this charmed interval?

I make up things to say on my way to you,
On my way to you, I find things to say.

I can write poems too, When you're far away,
When you're far away, I write poems too.

But when you are near, my lips go dry,
When you are near, I only sigh, Oh, dear.

Refrain:

I've told ev'ry little star,
Just how sweet I think you are,
Why haven't I told you?

I've told ripples in a brook,
Made my heart an open book,
Why haven't I told you?

Friends ask me:
Am I in love?
I always answer "Yes",
Might as well confess,
If I don't they guess.

Maybe you know it too,
Oh, my darling, if you do,
Why haven't you told me?


"I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" (composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and deliciously bubble-gummed by Linda Scott) The scene comes exactly halfway through the film, and it's more of a turning point, as far as I'm concerned, than the belated switch-over between Betty's tale and Diane's. Up until this moment, we've been splitting our time between following Betty & Rita's screwball sleuthing and Adam Kesher's bizarre game of "High Noon" with fate. Many people have identified the director and the actress as two aspects of the same dreamer, and I'm right on board with that, so far as it goes--but where exactly does it go? I mean, there it is--the actor (or purposive self) being seen in the way that every one of us wants to be seen (as a ray from the heavens), and the director (or interpretive self) catching that lightning in a looking-glass bottle...but the much anticipated moment of integration never comes! These two halves remain have-nots--Betty has to leave to keep her date with Rita (a date which will bring them face to face with Diane's corpse) and Adam is compelled to refocus his gaze upon the lip-synched spectacle on stage, an elaborate cue for him to speak the much-rehearsed line: "this is the girl".

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Why/Haven't I/Told You?
Published: March 08, 2005
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Section: Video
Writer: David Fiore
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