DAILY BEAST Column: The premise is simple enough: Directed by Rob Reiner and written by the late Nora Ephron, it opens in 1977 with two college grads—Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan)—sharing a long drive to New York City. On the surface, they couldn’t be more different, and engage in a long argument about the nature of relationships between men and women. “Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way,” claims Harry. A decade later, the two meet again in the Big Apple and pick up where they left off. Their nightly chats eventually blossom into a romance, and the two find themselves struggling to come to grips with the complicated feelings they share for one another…
[Concerning the classic “fake orgasm” scene…] Well, we were working hard on that scene and knew we had a good scene. Billy actually came up with the line, “I’ll have what she’s having.” I figured I needed an older Jewish woman to play the customer at the deli who says it, and I told my mother, “You know, this scene is going to be pretty funny and the line you have is hopefully going to be the topper. But if it isn’t, and it’s not as good as the lines she’s delivering, I may have to cut it.” And she said, “Oh, it’s ok! I just like spending the day with you.” So, she came down to Katz’s Deli, had a hot dog, and the rest was history…
In the original ending, they drifted apart and then ran into each other one day on the street years later and chatted about where their lives went, they walked away, and the camera pulled up. It would not have been as satisfying, I think… (more)
EDITOR: While the original ending might have been more realistic, it would not have satisfied those of us who suffered through the repeated lost opportunities of the two of them to recognize their love.
