Mrs. Landingham and Charlie's Risqué Film Banter
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Mrs. Landingham and Charlie engage in casual conversation about films while shuttling binders, establishing a light-hearted tone.
Mrs. Landingham and Charlie discuss 'Dial M' and 'Prince of New York', revealing their familiarity with the films and setting up a humorous exchange.
Charlie describes 'Prince of New York' in detail, prompting Mrs. Landingham to humorously question why the President would enjoy it.
Mrs. Landingham admonishes Charlie for mentioning 'erotic' in the Oval Office, adding to the light-hearted banter.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Casually amused, relishing banter's relief from routine pressures
Shuttles binders alongside Mrs. Landingham, engages eagerly in film banter confirming 'Dial M' knowledge, reads vivid 'Prince of New York' synopsis from sheet including erotic seizure detail, deflects her mock scolding with self-deprecating humor before they halt at Ellie's interruption.
- • Assist in binder transport without delaying duties
- • Share movie insights to build rapport and pass time entertainingly
- • Personal movie tastes like the President's can spark enjoyable diversions
- • Avoiding provocative words honors Oval Office decorum
Amused with feigned prim outrage, delighting in playful camaraderie
Shuttles heavy binders with Charlie through Oval shadows, initiates and sustains cinephile banter on Hitchcock's 'Dial M for Murder' and 'Prince of New York,' delivers mock outrage at 'erotic,' warmly greets Ellie with 'Ellie!' and nods before discreetly exiting to clear the way.
- • Efficiently transport binders while maintaining workflow
- • Foster light-hearted staff bonding through shared film enthusiasm
- • Humor and cultural references humanize high-stakes environments
- • The President appreciates specific Hitchcock elements like the key search
Neutral and expectant, carrying underlying tension from public defiance
Enters off-screen as 'WOMAN (OS)' interrupting with 'Excuse me,' then appears visibly as Eleanor 'Ellie' Bartlet, announces she was told her father wanted to see her, prompting Mrs. Landingham's greeting and exit.
- • Respond promptly to her father's summons
- • Navigate staff interaction en route to confrontation
- • Family obligations demand immediate attention despite external conflicts
- • West Wing staff recognize her as the President's daughter
significantly referenced in banter about his movie preferences, Ellie seeking to meet him
- • summon Ellie (inferred)
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Heavy binders serve as multifunctional props grounding the staff's routine workflow; shuttled back and forth between Mrs. Landingham and Charlie amid banter, their vinyl spines scraping palms symbolize ceaseless administrative churn, abandoned mid-exchange when Ellie interrupts, heightening the pivot from levity to drama.
Charlie brandishes and reads from this single sheet, delivering rhythmic synopsis of 'Prince of New York'—Dostoyevsky update with sex, crime, epileptic erotic seizure climax—fueling banter's provocative peak and Mrs. Landingham's mock horror, transforming abstract film lore into tangible comic relief before interruption.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"MRS. LANDYNGHAM: Hard to imagine why you didn't think the President would enjoy that, Charlie."
"CHARLIE: Well he would have especially enjoyed the scene where the Prince Myshkin character has a seizure while engaging in an erotic fantasy in a Long Island church."
"MRS. LANDYNGHAM: Charlie, please don't say the word "erotic" in the Oval Office."