It's February 14th, and what better way to mark the occasion than with an entry devoted to one of the all-time great screen couples, Charlie Meadows and Barton Fink?
Anyone who's read the script for Barton Fink or trawled through the deleted scenes included in home media releases will know that the initial meeting between Barton and Charlie originally ran on a little longer than in the theatrical cut of the film. Once Barton has delivered his spiel about his ambitions to create a theatre about and for the Common Man, Charlie has a little more to say about his own preoccupations, and he and Barton enjoy a moment of shared amusement. Bolding indicates what was missing from the theatrical cut.
Barton: ...to put it in your language, the theatre becomes as phony as a three dollar bill.
Charlie: Well, I guess there's a tragedy right there.
Barton: Frequently played, seldom remarked.
Charlie: Whatever that means. [Laughs]
Barton: [Laughs] You're alright Charlie. I'm glad you stopped by. I'm sorry if I...well, I know I sometimes run on.
Charlie: Hell no, Jesus! I'm the kind of guy I'll let you know if I'm bored. I find it all pretty damned interesting. I'm the kind of schmoe that's generally interested in the other guy's point of view.
Barton: Well, we've got something in common then.
Much of what was cut here serves mainly to reinforce details and information that have already been established elsewhere, namely that Barton is a hypocrite (his obvious lie when he professes to share Charlie's interest in what anybody else has to say) and that Charlie's language, while ostensibly lively, indicates preoccupations with hellishness and suffering (yet another "Hell", "Damned" and "Jesus" work their way quite starkly into his speech). The most interesting point to be excised from this scene concerns Charlie's assurances that he would let Barton know if he were tiring of him - another ostensibly genial remark that seems implicitly threatening when viewed with hindsight. And while the viewer recognises Barton's claim that he shares Charlie's interest in other people's perspectives to be false, it is nevertheless an early hint that Barton, self-appointed pilgrim of the life of the mind, may have found both a kindred spirit and his match in Charlie, someone who already knows more about the life of the mind than Barton can possibly wrap his head around.
All in all, it's not as baffling or unfortunate a cut as the scene in which Barton uncovers Charlie's wad of cotton wool from his sink, although if I regret anything being removed here it's the moment in which Barton and Charlie share a spontaneous outburst of laughter (some of Barton's laughter does make it into the theatrical version but it's not clear that this is in unison with Charlie). It's here that the initial animosity shown by Barton toward Charlie completely dissolves and we get a sense of the two of them making a genuine human connection. In the theatrical cut, Barton appears to warm up to Charlie solely on account of his willingness to act as an audience to his own pretensions, but this moment of laughter suggests that there may have been deeper human feelings involved right from the start.
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