What do loose lips sink?

One of the many little treats in David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner is the "Somebody Talked!" poster that appears in the lobby of the Campbell Scott character's office. With a hand hopelessly rising out of the water, it looks like something a post-war Despair, Inc. would have produced. The movie itself was okay, but I was really impressed with the way Mamet intentionally obscures the film's time period. The interior sets have a cramped 1950s feel--including the delightfully paranoid office where Scott summons his secretary with a device reminiscent of a Marshall footswitch. The exterior shots are modern, the cars are newish and there's even a reference to a CD-ROM. I don't think the Spanish Prisoner succeeds as either a spoof or a thriller, but I still found it engaging in a "what does it all mean?" kind of way.

 

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Posted by Gene Smith on May 24, 2004. Before this there was Findability.org launches. Next up is At the Blockbuster.

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Gene Smith is a principal with nForm, one of Canada's leading user experience consulting firms. He writes about information architecture, interaction design, community, the web and other such topics. More >

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