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The Day of the Dolphin

PG Released Dec 19, 1973 1h 44m Mystery & Thriller Adventure List
43% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 41% Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings
Marine biologists Jake (George C. Scott) and Maggie Terrell (Trish Van Devere) have for many years been doing dolphin research in the Florida Keys, and have even coached some dolphins to speak primitive English. But when two of the dolphins are kidnapped, an investigation proves that the Terrells' financial backers, the Franklin Foundation, have had sinister intentions all along. The dolphins are to be used to deliver and detonate explosives beneath the president's yacht. Read More Read Less

Critics Reviews

View All (28) Critics Reviews
Pauline Kael New Yorker If Mike Nichols and Buck Henry don’t have anything better to make movies about than involving English-speaking dolphins in assassination attempts, why don’t they stop making movies? Feb 10, 2022 Full Review Richard Combs Sight & Sound A glibly sour and sentimental thriller. Mar 27, 2020 Full Review Jay Cocks TIME Magazine What is left, besides a lot of pretty dolphin footage, is some bad intercollegiate-revue satire, a shadow of Sea Hunt, and a calculated sentimentality that evokes memories of Lassie Come Home. Mar 24, 2015 Full Review Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia An atypical mix of scientific drama and political thriller. Jul 23, 2021 Full Review John Simon Esquire Magazine Worst of all is the suspense plot, simplistic enough to be rather more laughable than the high-pitched, anile voice in which the bottle-nosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) shrills his truncated banalities. Jul 25, 2020 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A strange hybrid of family film and adult drama, this ends up playing like Flipper Meets The Parallax View. Rated: 2.5/4 Feb 22, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (57) audience reviews
Alec B Alternates between hilariously baffling and extremely boring. Given the talent involved it is no wonder everyone would prefer this fiasco forgotten. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review Eleanor S I haven't see this movie in years but I remember it was great. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/22/22 Full Review robert p Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone 'Neath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence "Fools", said I, "You do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words, like silent raindrops fell And echoed In the wells of silence And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sounds of silence!! Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Alternates between hilariously baffling and extremely boring. Given the talent involved it is no wonder everyone would prefer this fiasco forgotten. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member An toothless adaptation of Robert Merle's powerful anti-war novel, which I only remembered having seen because I was discussing bad movie adaptations of novels. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review steve d An unintended comedy that needs to be seen to be believed. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Day of the Dolphin

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The Day of the Dolphin

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Movie Info

Synopsis Marine biologists Jake (George C. Scott) and Maggie Terrell (Trish Van Devere) have for many years been doing dolphin research in the Florida Keys, and have even coached some dolphins to speak primitive English. But when two of the dolphins are kidnapped, an investigation proves that the Terrells' financial backers, the Franklin Foundation, have had sinister intentions all along. The dolphins are to be used to deliver and detonate explosives beneath the president's yacht.
Director
Mike Nichols
Producer
Robert E. Relyea
Distributor
AVCO Embassy Pictures
Production Co
Arco Embassy
Rating
PG
Genre
Mystery & Thriller, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 19, 1973, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 7, 2006
Runtime
1h 44m