D.B., you are the winner!
To my knowledge (and this can be challenged!), the first use of the terms ”introvert” and “extrovert” in a movie occurred in Dinner at Eight, which came out in 1933. The descriptions were surprisingly accurate, and they were delivered by an unlikey source: Jean Harlow’s ditzy blonde, Kitty Packard. Here’s the setup and dialogue:
Kitty (Jean Harlow) is in bed eating bon bons. Her husband, Dan Packard, played by Wallace Beery, is questioning why she doesn’t go out.
Dan: I do things and get out and get to moving…
Kitty: Dr. Talbot says that I’m an intravoyt (spelled phonetically to capture Jean Harlow’s marvelous pronunciation) and you’re an extravoyt.
Dan: A what?!
Kitty: An intravoyt, you dummy! And that’s why I gotta be quiet a good deal and have time to reflect in.
Dan: What do you have to reflect about? I have to think and act at the same time!
I truly couldn’t have said it better myself.
Great job, D.B.!
And to top it off, you found an earlier reference to introvert that I had missed: Local Boy Makes Good, from 1931. You are correct that introvert is not used in conjuction with extrovert in the movie, but it is used in isolation in a derogatory manner, referring to an emotionally withholding person – an ”emotional introvert.”
So D.B. is the winner of a signed copy of INTROVERT POWER. Well deserved!
D.B., please send your address to me at lahelgoe@suddenlink.net, and I’ll get your book in the mail. Meanwhile, I’m putting Local Boy Makes Good in my Netflix queue…
Thanks to all of you who participated!
Best, Laurie
moonmaiden76 // Feb 4, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Wait… didn’t she say it the other way around? That she was an introvert, and he an extrovert?
Laurie // May 3, 2010 at 3:59 pm
Hi moonmaiden76 — YES! You are correct. I finally changed these around. There is something wrong with my blog alerts — been buried in a writing project so haven’t written here for ages (ironic, huh?). Anyway, thanks so much for alerting me on this. All best, Laurie