Movie: Day of the Dolphin
Tagline: “Unwittingly, he trained a dolphin to kill the President of the United States”
There are times when a straightforward, reportorial tagline might well be the best tactic for enticing moviegoers. This is not one of those times. The problem? The tagline refers to the unnamed, unknown “he” of the film, the formidable George C. Scott, playing a marine biologist/linguist who teaches dolphins to speak English in high-pitched, squeaky voices, instead of focusing attention on the real draw of the movie: a dolphin assassin. Repeat: a dolphin assassin!