I was particularly angry when Johnny took up smoking as part of his impersonation of Dr. Bartok, after Johnny had said "You know I don't smoke" at the beginning of the picture. Why couldn't Johnny as Dr. Bartok simply have said "I've given up smoking. It's not good for you."????????? I was almost expecting a scene where Johnny/Dr. Bartok would light two cigarettes, and give one to Evelyn!
shareBack then, smoking was not known to be harmful to one's health, so there was no particular reason for him not to start smoking to complete the illusion.
shareYes, it was. The term "coffin nails" was widespread, and even used in movie dialogue. ("Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" comes to mind)/ It just wasn't stigmatized as it is now. That's taken 30 years of relentless conditioning from the mid-60s when the first warnings were placed on cigarette packs.
shareChildren, children, calm down. Let the man have a smoke if he wants to!
shareI agree, let the man smoke, but it was way too much. All I was doing during the movie was watching him smoke constantly in every scene he was in. As for today's world, I have no objection to smoking at all. In fact I resent people trying to stop others from smoking. Only thing I say is ..... if you continue smoking .... stop suing the cigarette companies. Remember it was your choice !
shareI think we may be reading too much into the smoking. Yes Muller did not smoke but Bartok apparently chained smoked. It was a tool to show that Muller was taking on Bartok's habits. He could always give it up later.
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