Langella and his then-girlfriend were best friends with Bancroft and her husband, Mel Brooks. Langella acted opposite Bancroft in a production of the play "Skin of Our Teeth" and in one scene, Bancroft delivered the line "I love you," with "heartbreaking honesty every night," Langella wrote. "Her voice quivering, her eyes welling with tears." Langella was confused because every time she said the line, she looked at the second button from the top on his shirt, and one night he asked her why. "That's about where Mel comes up to on you," Langella says she replied.
