always wondered , does anybody know what the purpose of the reapeted sentence he was saying over and over in the movie "twenty dwarves took turns doing handstands on the carpet" ?

I watched this last week one night when I couldn't sleep. I was wondering the same thing. Great movie btw. Don Cardi probably knows the answer.

I believe that he said this repeatedly to improve both his speech and his memory for he desired to be in hollywood movies.


Don Cardi

Just to add to what DC said, for people improving speech or practicing lines etc... they practice words which are more likely to be mispronounced. Twenty many times sounds as if it is spelled twenny, handstands comes out as hanstands.

DMC and DC are right: it's an attempt at "self-improvement" on the film Bugsy's part. He was born to a poor family in New York, didn't have much schooling, and wanted to be accepted in "better" circles. So he attempted to remove some of the rough edges from his speech and behavior. Another example: he corrects Jack Dragna, who says he's "disinterested" in Bugsy's proposal, and Bugsy tells him he should have said "not interested" because "disinterested" means "objective."

I don't know if the real-life Bugsy repeated that "twenty dwarves" sentence, or engaged in pedantry with Dragna. The story of the screen test has been repeated many times, but no actual evidence of a screen test ever surfaced. The movie had many fictionalized events. On the other hand, Ben Siegel, like Meyer Lansky, Charlie Luciano, Frank Costello and Joe Adonis, was a protege of Arnold "the Brain" Rothstein, who was born into an upper-class family and traveled easily in society circles. In his "autobiography," Charlie Luciano is quoted as saying something to the effect, "I wished Arnold coulda lived longer--he coulda knocked the spots off me and made me into a real gentleman, like him." Perhaps Rothstein polished Bugsy, too?

thanks guys

I've done some intensive research on this and haven't ever come up with anything supporting his use of this repetative phrase.

I do recall reading somewhere that Siegel constantly bugged ( no pun intended ) George Raft to get him into the movies.


Don Cardi

I've done some intensive research on this and haven't ever come up with anything supporting his use of this repetative phrase.

I do recall reading somewhere that Siegel constantly bugged ( no pun intended ) George Raft to get him into the movies.


Don Cardi [/b][/quote]DC, from looking at various websites the whole "twenty dwarves" seems to be one of the most common sentences used for training your voice. I guess whoever put it in the movie just figured that he was doing something to get into movies and to "better" himself so odds are he would have used that line.

Although the first time I watched the movie I kept trying to look for some kind of deeper meaning behind the sentence.

I just watched this again, in Mexico no less while I was on vacation a few weeks ago, and said to myself "when i get back home, I have to ask the experts what this "twenty dwarves" is all about".

I forgot to ask, but am glad to have come upon the answer.

Thanks experts!