In this week's featured film for our Monday Evening Chat, "The Scarlet Clue," we are treated to a couple of examples of "indefinite talk" as performed by Mantan Morelamd and Ben Carter! Here is a tidbit adapted from Wikipedia:
"During the 1940s, Mantan Moreland teamed up with Ben Carter as his straight man, touring America in vaudeville and making personal appearances in the nation's movie theaters. Moreland and Carter performed comedy routines the former learned when he became Flournoy Miller's understudy in the 1930s, including the famous "indefinite talk" routine, in which they would speak to one another, start a sentence only to be interrupted by the other, yet they understand each other perfectly. They had developed an excellent rapport and impeccable timing."
If you would like to read through the complete texts of the two dialogues, transcribed from "The Scarlet Clue," please take a look at "The Wit and Wisdom of Birmingham Brown" section of information for "The Scarlet Clue" which is found at: http://www.charliechan.info/id52.html
