Donald Pleasence


I cannot believe that he literally had 1 line in the entire movie and he was like the third billed actor. I was shocked when he said his line and that was the end of him in the movie. Talk about found money, but it's kind of insulting I think.

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Anthony Hopkins won an oscar for only 7 minutes on screen. Sometimes it's just how it is.

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Well he was in it for about 22 min but at least you remember Anthony Hopkins in the movie - I mean Pleasence had 1 line and that was it

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I wonder if they cut out a lot of his stuff. That does happen at times.

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Yeah, it does look like a lot of courtroom stuff ended up on the cutting room floor.

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If you read the shooting script, you'll see that Donald Pleasance's character had a much bigger part, and some of it was even shot. But it didn't work and it was all cut. Of course, Donald Pleasance was a big star and had negotiated for third billing, so they had to honor it, even though he only had a line or two in the finished film.

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Interesting that DP portrayed Satan in the film The Greatest Story Ever Told.

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A similar thing happened with Bob Mitchum and Jim Coburn in "Midway". They each had very little screen time (Mitchum about 5 minutes and Coburn less than a minute) but were given very high billings in the film.

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It seems you know the one line, and so too do the people who responded to your comment. I therefore apologise for my ignorance. Who was Doctor Harmon (Donald Pleasence's character) and what was his line? I too found it odd that he would receive such high billing (fourth) and that I would struggle as much as I have to see him in the movie. Thank-you in advance to you or anyone who is able to assist.

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Sitting next to Paul Sorvino at the "interrogation." He's the one who takes the 50 questions out of the briefcase. He is also seen briefly at the beginning of the courtroom scene.

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Thank-you.

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