Out of the Gutter

Tony Thomas’ latest bluenose screed (Letters, Dec. 25) against what he perceives to be “spoken obscenity” in today’s movies is utterly preposterous. He claims that Hecht, Raphaelson, Sturges and Wilder never “found it necessary to use gutter language.”

How dare he presume to speak those men’s minds! For one thing, he overlooks a little trifle called the Production Code, which prohibited profanity, thus rendering such speculations moot. But more to the point, one of those very icons, Billy Wilder, did in fact begin using impolite language as far back as “Irma La Douce” (1963) and continued to do so right up through the 1980s. To insist that the others would not have done likewise had their careers lasted as long is gross impertinence.

Mr. Thomas is correct in one respect: “Tequila Sunrise” is a bum picture. But he might better have invested his energy criticizing the banal dialogue, two-dimensional characters, and sub-”Miami Vice” direction, rather than merely sitting there counting the number of times they used the F-word.

MICHAEL SCHLESINGER