48661
Current Talk '24 I / Re: And Now The Return of Another New Slideshow (Sort of), Part 2 [**Now featuring alternate versions of scenes - see replies #18,#21,#23,#49,#64,#69,#76,#88,#90,#100,#105,#107,#115**]
« on: March 08, 2017, 03:18:00 AM »
It's interesting that the version of the Nancy Hodiak sequence that I've shared has so little dialogue once she actually shows up. However, what's more interesting is that the novelization versions has loads more dialogue. Could this mean that the version of the script the novelization used contained one of the infamous intermediate rewrites that we've already come across several times? Or did Dan "Marilyn" Ross embellish the scenes himself? The fact that DC's script doesn't have a rewrite of the sequence may mean nothing because, considering he wasn't planning on shooting it, DC may have simply wanted a copy that contained the camera shots and set ups that he wanted to use for Daphne's attack. But whatever the case, I thought I'd share how things play in the novel just in case it's based on some intermediate rewrite:
We begin with the novel's version of Scene 70, just to show how close it is to the script:
So, the only bit of dialogue in that that doesn't appear in the script is Maggie's "Don't count on it" - but that paragraph in the novel is in keeping with the script saying "Maggie smiles, shakes her head. He won't be able to." And as we've seen in past rewrites, it's not at all unusual to add lines. However, when it comes to Scene 71's version in the novel, there's quite a bit of new material added:
Scenes 72 through 75 are pretty much like the script - but once we get to the novel's version of Scene 76 things soon deviate again:
And there you have it...
We begin with the novel's version of Scene 70, just to show how close it is to the script:
Inside the house Jeff was busy framing a recently com- pleted portrait of Nancy Hodiak. Everything was done except for attaching a new wire to the back of the frame. Maggie was there watching him work and in a worried state of mind. She said, "We'll never discuss David. I know it. And it's not David we need to talk about. It's their attitude. I'm not doing any good in that house. That's why --" She hesitated, leaving her sentence unfinished. Jeff finished working and gave her all his attention. "That's why what?" She gave him a sober look. "I'm going to give my notice tonight." Jeff moved nearer to her. "I'm going back to Boston." He took her in his arms. "I won't let you do that." She looked up at him. They kissed. She was still in his arms when there was a knock on the door. Jeff released Maggie reluctantly. "Damn! It's Nancy Hodiak. I'll talk you out of it later." Maggie smiled wanly and shook her head. "Don't count on it." |
So, the only bit of dialogue in that that doesn't appear in the script is Maggie's "Don't count on it" - but that paragraph in the novel is in keeping with the script saying "Maggie smiles, shakes her head. He won't be able to." And as we've seen in past rewrites, it's not at all unusual to add lines. However, when it comes to Scene 71's version in the novel, there's quite a bit of new material added:
Jeff opened the door. "Come in, Nancy. I wonder you took a chance coming down that steep embankment on a night like this." She smiled. "I had to. I couldn't wait to see the por- trait. Anyway, I was careful and picked my steps." Jeff smiled. "I suppose I shouldn't have built down here, but it's such a perfect spot otherwise. You know Maggie?" "Of course," Nancy Hodiak said brightly. "Hello Maggie. Awful weather, isn't it?" "It surely is," she agreed. She'd met the wealthy young matron a few times and had found her pleasant. Jeff said, "The portrait is complete, even to a frame and a wire to hang it with." "Wonderful!" Nancy exclaimed happily. Let me see it." Jeff went over and held it up for her. "I hope you like it." "Oh, look at it!" Nancy said with delight. She turned to Maggie. "Isn't it well done?" "I think it's one of the best things Jeff has turned out," she agreed. Nancy told him, "I love it, Jeff. It takes some ego to give your own portrait to your husband for his birthday. But that's the way I am. You better wrap it. I don't want it to get wet." "It won't take a minute," Jeff promised. Nancy turned to Maggie again. "My husband doesn't like me driving alone on these dark stormy nights. But I had to pick this up. I want to surprise him." "Your husband is bound to like it," Maggie assured her. "I hope so," Nancy said, looking around the room and taking everything in. "I like this place. It's so, well, so artistic!" "Jeff has made it comfortable." "More than that," the young matron said. "It has the feeling of being a creative place." "He has good taste," Maggie agreed. Jeff came back to them with the wrapped portrait. "I've wrapped it doubly to be sure the rain doesn't get at it." "Wonderful!" Nancy said. "I'll see you up to the road," Jeff suggested. "No," Nancy protested. "That's not necessary." "I don't mind." She moved to the door with the portrait in her hands. "I won't allow it. Enjoy your company." She gave Maggie a special smile. "I managed getting down and going up is much easier. After all, it's not Mount Everest!" Jeff smiled. "I'm so used to it I don't think anything about it." "I'll manage nicely," the young matron said. "Good- night, Maggie. Nice to see you again." Maggie said goodnight to her and Jeff saw her to the door. When he came back in he told Maggie, "You won't believe this but I heard another roll of thunder just now. When these storms begin they never come to an end!" |
Scenes 72 through 75 are pretty much like the script - but once we get to the novel's version of Scene 76 things soon deviate again:
A short distance away on the fringe of the macabre scene, Jeff and Maggie, holding umbrellas against the heavy rain, were talking to a police officer in raincoat. Jeff was holding the ruined portrait and studying it with obvious distress. "This is unbelievable," Jeff declared. The officer's bony face was sober. "You didn't hear anything that could have been a scream?" "No," Jeff said,staring at the damaged painting in a dazed way and then finally lowering it. "Jeff offered to escort her back to her car but she refused," Maggie volunteered. "That's true," Jeff recalled. "I almost insisted on it, but she didn't seem to want me to go with her." The officer frowned. "You're sure she was alone" She had no one in the car with her?" Jeff and Maggie exchanged glances. "I don't think so," he told the officer, "though I really don't know. Why did you ask?" The officer's eyes were cold. "She might have had some- body in the car with her that she didn't want you to discover. And it could have been that somebody who did this." "I hadn't thought of that," Jeff admitted. "But I doubt if that was her reason. I think she just didn't want me going out in the rain on what she considered a needless errand." "It didn't turn out that way," the officer said grimly. Jeff shifted his umbrella to the other hand. "No, it didn't," he said quietly. "She was my friend as well as my client. I'm badly upset by her murder." "We wouldn't have known about it yet if Jeff hadn't come out to get his car to take me home," Maggie said earnestly. Jeff nodded. "It was then I saw her car still here and knew something was wrong. So I called you people." "It's a bad business," the officer said. "We'll want to talk to you later and get detailed statements." "We'll do anything we can," Jeff said soberly. "What about her husband," Maggie asked. "He'll have to be told. She was giving him the portrait for a birthday present." The officer looked bleak. "We've already sent a message out to him but he can't be reached. He's out of the area tonight. We'll have to locate him." Jeff said, "How did it happen? I mean, how was she murdered?" "She was strangled," the officer said in his dry voice. "How awful!" Maggie gasped. The officer gave her a sharp glance. "But the crazy thing is, it looks like some kind of an animal bit her first." |
And there you have it...