In "The Black Shield of Falworth," (1954) here starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis delivered a line that had the theater audience, including me, rolling in the aisles. I could hardly believe my ears!

Decades later, I heard Janet Leigh in a TV interview where she mentioned that Tony Curtis (her husband) had been raised in Brooklyn or the Bronx (I forget which) and the accent he grew up with was so ingrained that he was constantly taking speech and elocution lessons to get rid of it -- but sometimes it would just pop through. I sat up straight when she mentioned "The Black Shield of Falworth." She described exactly what I had seen and heard.

I can't really remember the plot, but I think Myles Falworth, the young knight-in-training had just rescued the beautiful Lady Anne from some dire peril and they were heading to someplace where they would be safe. They were riding double on Myles's horse. At one point, he reins in the horse and points to a castle off in the distance. Then he delivers the line:

"Yonduh lies duh castle o' my fadduh!"

Janet Leigh said that she just about fell off the horse. But they called it a wrap and printed it! In later the TV version of the film, they cut it out. Too bad! It was classic. Videos are available, though. I wonder. . . .

Don Firth