"Is it safe?"
That has to be one of the best, most chillingly delivered lines of all time - Olivier was brilliant in that role.
My dentist even comically tried that line on me once when I was in for a check up - thankfully he stopped there!
Brilliant movie. J
First time I saw this movie, my mom was watching it, and I walked into the living room just as Szell (Olivier) was starting to ask - Is it Safe? Very creepy.
Yes, this movie should be required viewing by all dental students.
yes, this one and "The Dentist" should be viewed by all dental students to find out about the proper way to treat patients..
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I missed the beginning of this movie, but for God's sake THAT is my question: Is WHAT safe?????? I am as baffled as Dustin Hoffman in that scene...
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SPOILER
Yes, I certainly think asking "is it safe?" was meant literally, but I also think it showed that he was just a sadist -- that there was no answer that could be given to placate him, and that he just enjoyed torture.
nick-392- great answer!!! Right, nothing Hoffman said would have been correct!
I always thought the answer to "is it safe" was numbers. He was waiting for Hoffman to give him numbers to the combination lock on a "safe" with diamonds. So answering yes or no like he was doing was not the right answer, so he would keep drilling his teeth.
No, he's asking if it's safe to pick up the diamonds ... i.e. is there a plan to rob him?
He doesn't accept Hoffman's "yes" or "no" since it's fairly obvious that Hoffman is just making up an answer. The intent is to torture him enough to be certain that the answer he's getting is genuine.
(BTW ... the diamonds are in a safe deposit box, not a safe, and Szell has the key to it.)
Sorry to resurrect such an old thread but I still don't understand this and I don't buy any of the other plausible suggestions on this list. Surely he wanted *something* - he wanted to know what Doc had said before he died. Why? My initial thought was he wanted to find the deposit box key which was left at the scene of the tanker explosion. But that was obviously not the case because Szell just wandered into the bank at the end of the film. So what did he want? What could Doc have possibly said to Babe that szell et al could have been interested in? Did he want to know if Doc had tipped off the feds and they would be waiting for him in the bank? "Is it safe for me to get the diamonds?" So confused.
Also, what was all that with the opera and the football?
Thanks for reading.
"Is it safe?" is one of my favorite movie lines - ever.
I took it to mean, as you said, is it safe for him to go there and get the diamonds.
My other favorite line (even older) is Richard Burton asking "were you out there?" in The Robe
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In me the tiger smells the rose - Siegfried Sassoon
I think it was explained later in the movie pretty clearly, Szell just wanted to know if it's safe to take the diamonds and nobody is going to steal them from him, Babe later asks him if all of this (murder of brother, torture, etc.) was just because of this, even when he was not even sure it is not safe. I can try to find dialogue in subtitles (it's in 1:55:08 at the scene in water reservoir in the end, sorry for messy formating):
Babe - OK, let`S See What yOu gOt.
Szell - lf yOu Will juSt give me a chance tO get thiS Open.
Babe - That`S OK. Take yOur time.
Babe - All thiS happened becauSe yOu Were afraid yOu Were gOnna be rObbed?
Szell - YeS.
Babe - But yOu Weren`t Sure.
Szell - NO.
Babe - JeSuS ChriSt.
Hope this answer question of all unsure people what was Szell asking when he asked "is it safe?", he thought Doc told his brother the answer.
Peter Markoff
The best - Fight Club, American Beauty & Falling Down.
My mother and I watched this movie together, and the next time we visited the dentist, I arranged for him to ask my mother "Is it safe?" when she took her turn in the chair. I can still hear the screech.
shareI completely agree with the OP
This is one of my all time favourite movie quotes. And Olivier did a perfect job saying that line. He sounded so chilling, creepy yet methodical.
Remember, there might be some MOMENTARY DISCOMFORT.
Does anyone remember the 'Rockford Files' episode that was aired shortly after 'Marathon Man' came out in which Jim Rockford's friend, Angel, is tortured in a similar fashion? It was a riot! Angel, while being forced into the chair, says something like, "Oh, I've seen the movie, and you guys won't get nuthin' out of me!".
He who conquers himself is mightier than he who conquers a city.
Jwalsh67,
I do remember that episode with S. Margolin as Angel. It was funny.
To those on this thread who felt no answer would spare young Levy further "discomfort".
Having read the book and watched the film, my impression was Szell did not do this for pleasure, but only to get information.
By the posts I have read on this thread, some do not understand that Szell feared being robbed of his fortune if he were to personally retrieve his diamonds. Both Doc and Janeway demonstrated dislike of the dentist and the idea these two having a scheme cooked up to relieve Szell of his diamonds was not only plausible, but a likelihood. Having worked out the odds against him
(in their ballpark, so to speak), the necessary question must be asked:
Is it safe?
- JKHolman
The way Hoffman delivers that just makes it one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard in a film. It’s brilliant.
shareI actually had a dentist use that line on me as a joke before a root canal once. She knew I was a big movie fan. I used to bring in a portable DVD player and listen to the DVD commentary tracks on movies while getting dental work done. She figured I probably knew the movie so after giving me the novacaine and getting ready to go in she paused and tried to deliver the line like Szell. Made me laugh and helped calm me before the procedure. The assistant was really young and didn't get it so the dentist explained the movie to her while she worked.
shareBeing young is no excuse not to know great movies.
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