The Day of the Dolphin (1973)

Dr Jake Terrell, who has been training a pair of dolphins for many years, has had a breakthrough. He has taught his dolphins to speak and understand English, although they do have a limited... See full summary »

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Buck Henry (screenplay), Robert Merle (novel)

Stars:

George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Paul Sorvino

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George C. Scott	...	Dr. Jake Terrell
Trish Van Devere	...	Maggie Terrell
Paul Sorvino	...	Curtis Mahoney
Fritz Weaver	...	Harold DeMilo
Jon Korkes	...	David
Edward Herrmann	...	Mike
Leslie Charleson	...	Maryanne
John David Carson	...	Larry
Victoria Racimo	...	Lana
John Dehner	...	Wallingford
Severn Darden	...	Schwinn
William Roerick	...	Dunhill
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Mrs. Rome
Phyllis Davis	...	Receptionist
Pat Zurica	...	First Mate

Storyline

Dr Jake Terrell, who has been training a pair of dolphins for many years, has had a breakthrough. He has taught his dolphins to speak and understand English, although they do have a limited vocabulary. When the dolphins are stolen, he discovers they're to be used in an assassination attempt. Now he is in a race to discover who is the target, and where the dolphins are, before the attempt is carried out.

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Plot Keywords:

dolphin | assassination | exploding boat | mine | compassion | 

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Taglines:

Unwittingly He Trained a Dolphin to Kill the President of the United States

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 1974 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

El día del delfín

Filming Locations:

Abaco Island, Bahamas

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$2,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenwriter Buck Henry provides the voices of the dolphins when they speak human words.

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Quotes

Alpha: Fa!
Dr. Jake Terrell: Well fa... you've had quite a day haven't you?

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: Six Feet Under the Sea (2009)

User Reviews

Excellent Movie - Still Keeps You On The Edge of Your Seat

Our family hadn't seen this movie for a long time and so I decided to get my taped copy out (aired on Showtime in 1989) and was surprised to see the excellent film quality -- even though the tape was recorded in SLP. We enjoyed the movie very much. The beginning is a little slow but rest of the movie more than makes up for it. I loved the dolphins, I wish I knew more about how they made the movie -- I was looking for any trivia here at IMDb.com but didn't find any. I think children would really love the parts that involve the dolphins interacting with the "owner"/ humans (and fascinating) but this movie is NOT for children as there is violence toward humans and dolphin as well and it would be frightening for young ones. I feel it has a lot of different things to like. I can't say more without spoiling the story but I wish there was closed captioning for some of the dialog. We viewed this in Full Screen but the 2003 & 2006 DVD releases come in Wide Screen: 2.35:1 aspect ratio and I am sure the beautiful scenery benefits by it.