Monday, October 28, 2019

All the King’s Whom

From All the King’s Men (dir. Robert Rossen, 1949). Jack Burden (John Ireland) and Sadie Burke (Mercedes McCambridge) are getting acquainted. Jack wonders what Sadie is doing on Willie Stark’s (Broderick Crawford) political campaign:

“Hey, tell me, what are you on this merry-go-round for?”

“I take notes.”

“For whom?”

“For those whom pay me.”
Yes, she’s being sarcastic.

Whom was and is fading, but it’s taking an awfully long time on its way out the door.

Related posts
“I don’t know whom to believe” (Perry Mason) : “Just whom are you talking to?” (Nancy) : “Shouldn’t that be ‘whom’?” (Mutts) : “Whom are we kidding?” (Peanuts)

comments: 3

Daughter Number Three said...

I confess to having a vague to bad grasp of when to use "whom." I am part of the fade.

Michael Leddy said...

The more formal the setting, the more I tend to use it when needed. But it can sound awfully stilted.

Elaine said...

My son said he finally understood it when he took German....