North by Northwest by Hitchcock (and Ernest Lehman)

When I think of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), I think of the iconic set pieces (the crop duster chase, the Mount Rushmore scenes, Cary Grant's brilliant performance, but also the screenplay, written with Hitchcock’s occasional feedback, by Ernest Lehman.

Recently, in a commentary written for Turner Classic Movies, Guillermo del Toro calls it cinema's only flawless action movie:

North by Northwest, 1959 by Alfred Hitchcock, is a perfect perpetual motion machine and is made by one of the greatest clockwork makers in cinema history – a filmmaker that could blend seamlessly comedy, drama, action, and suspense. … This is one of the canonical films of Alfred Hitchcock, The most perfect action film ever made, in my opinion.

The film follows Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant), a suave yet hapless advertising executive who is mistaken for a government agent and is subsequently thrust into a web of espionage, deceit, and danger. Thornhill's journey—from a mistaken identity at the Plaza Hotel to the climax atop Mount Rushmore—is packed with twists, yet the pacing never feels overwhelming. Lehman’s transitions between action, comedy, and romance are seamless. Thornhill’s evolution from a complacent Madison Avenue executive to an unwilling yet capable hero is one of the screenplay’s greatest strengths. His transformation feels organic, propelled by Lehman’s writing, which keeps him grounded despite the extraordinary situations he faces.

While Hitchcock is the master of suspense, it was collaborating with Ernest Lehman that produced an entertaining thriller, as well as an example of how a well-structured screenplay can become the foundation for cinematic excellence.

By the way, as a writing exercise, I re-typed the screenplay for North by Northwest (as well as The Prize from 1963, Sabrina Faire, released as Sabrina in 1954, The Sweet Smell of Success, co-written with C. Odets in 1957, and Executive Suite from 1954). If you are interested in a pdf for scholarly purposes (e.g, you need to copy and paste into a scholarly article using the Fair Use clause), just send me an email. No promises that it is free from typographical errors (of my own), but the fountain files are also available, for making your own corrections.

Frank Daniel's 5 essential elements of a "good story well-told"

Frank Daniel (1926–1996) was a screenwriter, film producer, screenwriting teacher and mentor to many, including David Lynch, Miloš Forman, and Terrance Malick. He is the originator of the "eight sequence method" for outlining a screenplay.

"I am sorry to say he died not long ago, and I have to tell you that he was my only teacher. He gave much to other people, he helped many people. He was a noble-minded and non-egoistic man, and no one understood the art of film-making as he did. He understood it and truly loved it – his criticism was always constructive and never purposely offended anybody. He was open about saying what he didn't like, but he did it in a way that would help you. And that cannot be said about most of the critics in USA. I am very sorry he is not here." — David Lynch

In D. Howard and E. Mabley's book The Tools of Screenwriting, Daniels gives his essential elements of "a good story well told"

1. The story is about somebody with whom we have some empathy.
2. This somebody wants something very badly.
3. This something is diffcult, but possible to do, get, or achieve.
4. The story is told for maximum emotional impact and audience participation in the proceedings.
5. The story must come to a satisfactory ending (which does not necessarily mean a happy ending).

"Man on Fire" (2004) three act structure

Man on Fire (2004) is a Tony Scott film (IMHO his best) from a screenplay by Brian Helgeland, based on a novel of the same name by Quinnell.

Theme and background

In some sense, the theme is forgiveness for one’s past. This is Creasy’s dramatic problem. Creasy (the protagonist) starts the firm believing he can’t be forgiven (the anti-theme).

The story follows Creasy, a man hired to protect a young girl, Pinta. Creasy has flaws: he’s an alcoholic and suicidal, feeling guilty about the things he did years ago when he worked as a CIA operative. However, cheerful Pinta gives his life a sense of purpose.

In relation to the theme, Creasy sees Pinta as his path to the forgiveness he seeks, almost in a (christian) Jesus-like way as someone who will “wash away” the sins he committed as a mercenary. To emphasize the judeo-christian aspect, the script (omitted in the film version) even has the following VO from Creasy:

Ezekiel 25:17 Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children.

Three act structure

Pinta’s parents are Lisa (mom, American) and Samuel (dad, Mexican), a couple in their 30s. Samuel’s lawyer, Jordan, tells him that he must get a bodyguard for Pinta in order for her to be driven to school in Mexico City (this is due to the spate of child kidnappings and the fact they, as rich parents, must have “kidnapping insurance” for Pinta). Creasy arrives in Mexico City to visit his old friend Rayburn. Rayburn is living in comparative luxury. Through a connection with Jordan, Rayburn offers Creasy a job as Pinta’s bodyguard. Creasy accepts, taking a bedroom in the Pinta’s family mansion in downtown Mexico City.

This is perhaps the inciting incident which starts Creasy on his journey. We are now into act 2.

Creasy soon becomes depressed, continues to drink in his room after work, and one night (drunk) he tries to kill himself. However, his gun misfires and the primer doesn’t discharge. Creasy calls Rayburn, asking if he’d ever seen something like this happen. Pinta watches him call Rayburn. Rayburn says “The bullet never lies” (a similar line is in the script, on page 32). To Creasy, it’s a sign.

This freak accident changes his attitude and he accepts the friendship (and potential forgiveness) of Pinta. He helps her with her schoolwork, helps her train for her swimming competition, and becomes devoted to her protection. As a nun at her private Catholic school says, he’s her surrogate father. There’s even a scene, one that seems minor at first glance, where Pinta’s parents are out-of-town and Creasy shares a dinner with Pinta and Rayburn and his family. It shows Creasy as a man with a family. He’s happy.

Then she’s kidnapped, during which time he is shot twice (almost killing him). This is the midpoint twist. Creasy now has lost the one person that can forgive his past sins. He reverts to his old ways and decides to kill everyone involved, especially the kidnapper (a man referred to as “The Voice”, later as Daniel).It turns out Pinta’s father and lawyer were both involved in the kidnapping scheme.

He (barely) recovers, gathers intel (sometimes by graphic tourture), and weapons helped by Rayburn and his money and connections. During one of the intell-gathering torture sessions, he finds one of the kidnapped girls alive. He thinks for a moment she’s Pinta. (This is on page 94 of the script). Not her, but this gives him a new sense of hope.

In some sense, this hope points a way for Creasy to possibly solve his dramatic problem - forgiveness. This is another turning point, and the start of act 3.

He finds where the brother and ex-wife of the kidnapper live and kidnaps them. Then he learns Pinta is still alive.

Now his path to forgiveness is (possibly) restored. Creasy offers to trade the brother’s life for Pinta. The kidnapper, The Voice, counters: Pinta’s life for Creasy’s. Creasy accepts, calls Lisa and tells her Pinta is alive. Now Creasy accepts the theme of the film, that he can be forgiven.

He relays instructions of where she should meet him (somewhere far out in the Mexican countryside). There, Pinta is released to Lisa and Creasy, finally forgiven, walks to accept his fate in the hands of Daniel/The Voice.

3 act breakdown of "Meet the Robinsons"

Let's look at one of my favorite movies, the inventive and energetic Disney animation, Meet the Robinsons (2007).

While overall quite a lot of fun, with a strong emotopnal theme, terrific music and memorable visuals, IMHO the film is complicated by too many subplots that don't contribute to the emotional core of the story. The description below skips a lot of these subplots. For a sequence breakdown that includes these details, see the blog post by Kirby Kirby Marshall-Collins, From Okay, But: A “Meet the Robinsons" Scene-by-Scene Breakdown. Despite these issues with subplots (which are IMHO relatively minor flaws in the story-line, but others may disagree), this is still one of my favorite movies.

The breakdown below follows the O'Bannon model [OL12], emphasizing the protagonist's Dramatic Problem arising from the Inciting Incident and the Point of No Return.

Note: The film goes back and forth in time using both flashbacks and a time machine. This in itself presents it's own set of plot problems which I'm also going to ignore.

Act 1: The Conflict.

Our protagonist Lewis (later renamed Cornelius) is 12, an energetic, science prodigy, and apiring inventor who's so far has spend his life in an orphanage. His roommate is Goob, another orphan who loves baseball.

So many potential adoptive parents have rejected him, Lewis is convinced that no one wants him. Mildred (voiced by the awesome Angela Bassett), the house mom of the orphanage, counters that they don’t know that; maybe his mom just couldn’t keep him. Lewis was the only one who saw her, so he decides to build an invention, his Mind Scanner, to look into the past and find his mom.

Lewis works on his Mind Scanner over months, keeping poor Goob up most nights building it. Finally, it’s the day of the InventCo-sponsored science fair. Goob can hardly stay awake but has an important event as well, a baseball game (he plays outfield). In fact, Goob falls asleep in the outfield and is, in fact, hit in the head by an easily caught ball. Because of that, they lose the game and his teammates are mad at him. Goob blames it all on Lewis, vowing revenge. Goob goes up hating Lewis.

At the science fair, an InventCo scientist, Mrs Lucille Krunklehorn (voiced by the legendary Laurie Metcalf) is a judge. Lucille's husband Bud will be important later but is not shown until later. (Bud and Lucille will later adopt Lewis/Cornelius.) Lewis barely notices young Franny, who has entered trained frogs into the science competition. (Lewis will later marry Franny the frog trainer.)

Lewis sets up his Mind Scanner machine. From the future, Bowler Hat Guy (BHG), an older and very disgruntled version of Goob, has arrived using a stolen Time Machine. Goob/BHG wants to steal Lewis' invention because he hates Lewis. Lewis' future 13-year old son Wilber follows BHG into the past in another Time Machine to try to stop him. (In this future, there are only two such Time Machines and the stolen Time Machine was Wilber's responsibility.)

In some sense, this defines BHG/Goob as the antagonist. This can also be regarded as the inciting event.

After BHG/Goob steals the Mind Scanner and returns to the future, Lewis is devastated. Wilber tells Lewis he's from the future and has a Time Machine. Lewis doesn't believe him. To prove it, Wilber tosses Lewis into his Time Machine and they fly away.

While traveling to the future, Lewis realizes he doesn't need a Mind Scanner, he can just use the Time Machine to see his mom. Wilber and he get into a fight over this and they crash the Time Machine in Wilber's front yard. Wilbur wants Lewis to fix the machine. Lewis bargains that if he fixes the time machine, Wilbur will take him back to see his mom. Wilbur agrees.

This is the Lock in.

Act 2: The Conflict intensifies.

Bowler Hat Guy attempts to pass off the Memory Scanner as his own at InventCo, but the CEO says he "hasn’t thought this through." (A recurring joke.) He can’t even figure out how to turn it on. They throw him out the doors of InventCo HQ.

Wilbur and Lewis push their broken machine into the garage. Even though Lewis keeps failing, Wilbur simply says, "Keep moving forward," his dad’s motto. Also, based on an actual quote:

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. -- Walt Disney

Bowler Hat Guy arrives outside, undetected. BHG uses a robotic hat to control Frankie, leader of Frannie's frogs. Frankie approaches the table to get Lewis, but he can’t capture him since he’s too small. Frankie warns BHG hasn’t thought this through. (Recurring joke 2.)

This failing, BHG (again using a robot hat) decides to get a dinosaur, a life-sized T-Rex, to get Lewis. The Robinsons band together to save Lewis from the T-Rex. T-Rex corners Lewis outside, but "big head and tiny arms" means that it can't grab Lewis. T-Rex warns BHG hasn’t thought this through. (Recurring joke 3.)

Franny and the other Robinsons invite Lewis to join their family. He's elated. Wilbur confesses the truth about the Time Machines. Realizing now who Lewis really is, they decide he needs to go back to his time and life his life.

Unfortunately, before this can happen, BHG/Goob captures Lewis. He offers to take Lewis to see his mom if Lewis fixes the Memory Scanner. Lewis fixes his Memory Scanner and learns BHG is Goob in the future. Lewis learns disgruntled future Goob knew just the moment to go back to, so as to ruin Lewis' life. Lewis tells BHG he's sorry about the baseball game and that if he’d let go of the past and kept "moving forward" his life would’ve turned out better. BHG would rather blame Lewis. (This also establishes part of Lewis' character arc.)

Done with Lewis, BHG takes Lewis to the now empty orphanage building (still in the future) and dumps tied up Lewis on the roof of the orphanage. Wilber recovers Lewis from BHG, stealing back the Mind Scanner as well. They almost make it back to the Robinson home when BHG/Goob catches up to them and takes back the Mind Scanner. BHG tries to remarket the working Mind Scanner to InventCo. BHG shows the scanner and signs the paperwork with the InventCo executives. This changes the future, causing Wilber to stop existing.

Before Wilber disappears, he tells Lewis that it's up to him - he must fix the Time Machine in the garage and go back to the science fair and stop BHG from originally stealing the Mind Scanner.

The world is darker. Lewis rushes into the Robinson garage. No one is there. The only thing there is a screen that shows what happened in the new dystopian future.

This is the Point of No Return.

Act 3: The Resolution.

Lewis scrambles to fix the machine, as the world gets darker and darker. Lewis goes back to the past, not to his birth mom but to the InventCo-sponsored science fair to stop BHG from taking his Mind Scanner.

Lewis stops on his way to the science fair to wake up Goob at the baseball game, who is sleeping in the outfield. Goob wakes up just in time to catch the ball and save the game. Everybody cheers for him!

At the science fair, Lewis pleads for one more chance. Lucille whispers a date to Lewis to plug in. The memory scanner works perfectly, showing her wedding to Bud, who has just arrived at the fair to drive Lucille home. A frog lands on Lewis, and Franny and Lewis finally notice each other. She asks if he thinks she’s crazy for training frogs to sing. He says no, and it's love at first sight.

Lucille and Bud love Lewis and decide to adopt him, but rename him "Cornelius." They move Cornelius into their house and show him what room will be the lab.

The emotional ending is accentuated by music from Little Wonders by singer/songwriter Rob Thomas.

Bibliography:
[OL12]Dan O'Bannon and Matt Lohr, Dan O'Bannon's guide to screenplay structure, Michael Wiese Productions, 2012.

Deemer's book Screenwright - a review

Charles Deemer wrote a 1998 book titled Screenwright: the craft of screenwriting. Last time I checked, lots of compied were available used at low cost. Then, in 2013, he revised it a bit as a hypertext e-book, but as a collection of html pages, not a hypertext pdf. Moreover, he posted it free online: hypertext Screenwright.

I like this version for several reasons, but the main one is that's it's the only free, detailed discussion of screenwriting from an expert. His experience is detailed in his online resume and online biography. At this point, you the reader is thinking "hurry up and describe his system so I can get on with my day." Patience!

Another thing I like about his book: he doesn't advocate one system or another. He does present several systems, and spends a good amount of time devoted to the beginning writer exploring their own writing system. Are you a "tree person" (meaning basically you like to outline first) or a "forest person" (creation is discovery)? He even gives a "writing method preference test". Besides that, he does spend time discussing several methods. He discusses in some detail Syd Field's "3-act paradigm":

• The hook
• The complication
• The hero's call to action
• First act plot point, leading to the
• Hero's goal
• Midpoint plot point
• Act two plot point
• Hero's new goal, leading to the
• Climax and resolution

He gives numerous examples of analysis and break-downs of dynamic structure of films using this paradigm, from Chinatown to True Lies. Deemer also briefly looks at some "spin-offs" by people such as Dave Trottier "6-events paradigm" (catalyst, big event, pinch, crisis, showdown, realization), and Chris Vogel's Hero's journey.

There's lots of details on the writing process, with encouragement and helpful advice on each stage of the process.

For more details, the table of contents is at this link. Check it out!

Chris Mack on story design and character

Chris Mack (a creative executive on Netflix) and stage 32 presented a workshop on pitching a series idea to Netflix. The 3 hour workshop is online and free but you need to sign up with stage 32, locate the workshop in their education section, order it (which might require a credit card, but they won't charge it). If you don't have time for all that, see the attached for a sketchy version of only a small part of his presentation. He gave some good advice on story design and character, IMHO.

***** Story design. Key story questions:

• Who are the characters?
• What do they want? (internal goal and external goal)
• Why do they want it?
• How do they go about getting it?
• What stops them?
• What are the consequences?

Robert McKee quote:

Of the total creative effort in a finished work, 75 percent or more of a writer’s effort goes into designing story. [repeats the questions above] Finding the answers to these grand questions and shaping them into story is our overwhelming creative task.

The last two questions of McKee can be revised to

• What are the central conflicts?
• What are the stakes?

Central conflicts generate story! Answer these questions for your protagonist. Challenger yourself to get the best answer possible. Repeat this for each main character.

Characters. Backstory. Traits. Arcs. Describe each of your main characters. Three key ingredients for a “rootworthy” character:

• Catalyst. (Underlying motivation or backstory, centered around one reason that feeds into their main goal. Think “call to action” or personal tragedy or inherently wanting to do the “right thing.”)
• Moral compass. (A set of rules the character sets for themself. This allows the audience to set expectations on how a character will act. Think fighting for the greater good or protecting their family or uncovering some hidden truth for the sake of justice.)
• Transformation. (What obstacles and challenges spur growth in the character? How do they handle themselves under trials? Note the trials and challenges must make sense given the character’s Catalyst. Their actions must be consistent with their Moral Compass. Think sacrifices made, learning to control their skills/power, overcoming hardships. Note that a character can have both an external arcs/transformation and an internal arc/transformation.

Backstory: Tell us only the parts that inform us about the story itself - e.g., the potential flashbacks. We want to know:

• The characters' wants, fears, and needs.
• How do/did they approach life?
• What motivates/motivated them?
• What choices did they make in the past?

Traits: These help bring the character to life for the audience. There are 3 types of traits.

• Moral - values and beliefs, (These give you ideas for emotional acrs for your characters.)
• Emotional/physical. (As an emotional arc, think going from honest to dishonest, unselfish to greedy, and so on. As a physical trait, ask how this affects their actions? For example, wild could lead to risky situations, tieless leads to being exploited, busy leads to unattentive, and so on. Subvert expectations. What if they are strong but are also insecure? What if they are ugly but very confident?)
• Personality quirks. (Are they friendly, adventurous, timid? Ambitious? Thoughtful? Combine characters that have opposing personality traits. Think The Odd Couple.)

Relationship dynamics: What is the character’s relationship to the protagonist? If it’s an ensemble, how do the characters compete with each other? Characters having the same goal but different motivations makes for conflict (which is good for adding dramatic tension).

See Chris Mack's excellent presentation for more details!

Howard Hawks' narrative story structure

Some notes on narrative story structure employed by Howard Hawks, as gleaned from Gerald Mast’s biography Howard Hawks, storyteller.

Howard Hawks is famous for using Ben Hecht or Charles Lederer or William Faulkner as screenwriters on his films, and is not well-known as a screenwriter himself. None-the-less, he write many of his earliest films, and was known to rewrite many others. For example, the idea to make Hildy female (as in his version of The Front Page that Hawks titled His Girl Friday) was his, although Charles Lederer (and uncredited Ben Hecht) wrote the script. A quick look at his filmography will show you he kept writing into the 1960s (fyi, he was born in the 1890s). Mast’s book describes Hawks’ four part screenplay structure:

• Part 1: The prologue. This part either (a) establishes conflict in the past or present of the major characters, or (b) initiates a conflict among the major characters.
• Part 2: Develop this central conflict from the point of view of one of the major characters, or let the perspective (or lifestyle) of one of the major characters dominate the action.
• Part 3: Either (a) allow another one of the major characters to dominate the action, or (b) develop conflict by allowing two (or more) major characters to work together.
• Part 4: Resolve the central conflict, often by returning to the physical setting in the prologue, but now the opposing characters see each other in a new light.

The first and last part match up well with most other “screenplay structure” suggestions, parts 2 and 3 seems to me like more of a stylistic structural component that he superimposed on a script. In any case, here is an example using one of my favorite movies. Example: His Girl Friday. Part 1 involves (a) Hildy’s divorce from Walter and her planned marriage to Bruce, (b) the important to-be-written newspaper story of the execution of an innocent man. Part 2 involves Walter scheming behind Hildy’s back to (a) get Hildy to work on the newspaper article for him, (b) to block Bruce’s efforts to get him out of town. Part 3 involves Hildy writing the article (and in the process discovering how much she loves being a good reporter) and helping to save the innocent convict. Part 4 involved Bruce leaving, and Hildy and Walter becoming reunited.

Script breakdown and film review of "Jennifer's Body"

 The 2009 comedy-horror film Jennifer's Body was directed by the extremely talented Karyn Kusama and written by the even more talented (if that's possible) Diablo Cody. 

This 2009 comedy-horror takes place in Devil's Kettle, a small-town in Minnesota. It tells the story of a cold, snarky HS student Jennifer (Megan Fox) who's assaulted by some Satan worshippers and turns into a succubus. There are a lot of movies in this genre but this one gets my vote for the best of all of them. Rather than told from Jennifer's POV, it's told from the perspective of her much kinder, smarter bestie Anita, who everyone calls "Needy" (engagingly acted by Amanda Seyfried). How does Needy react to Jennifer's odd behavior? How does the behavior affect her own relationships, with Jennifer, with her boyfriend Chip, her friends at school?

One reason I think this is a great script to study is that Diablo Cody is a Acadamy Award winning screenwriter (for Juno), and it clearly shows in the detailed interpersonal dynamics surrounding Needy. Thanks to Cody's careful wordsmithery (if that's a word) we see the story from the perspective of someone losing a friend (an evil spirit has taken over Jennifer) but not her life (as Jennifer is not really evil enough to kill Needy). With a confident voice, this script tells a compelling story with especially strong dialogue, full of clever idioms, and creative visuals. This script is different from most horror scripts in the sense that it tells the story of a non-sympathetic character (Jennifer) entirely from the POV of a sympathetic one who's not a victim. (A comedy-crime/horror film that uses a similar narrative device is that of Arsenic and Old Lace, written by Academy Award winners Julius and Philip Epstein and directed by another incredibly talented director, Frank Capra.) A second reason I think this is a good example to study is because it is directed by Karyn Kusama, an exceptionally talented filmmaker (who also directed the truly frightening horror film, The Invitation). 

Massive spoilers ahead. 

Breakdown: 

* The film opens with a flash-forward. Needy is confined in a women's correctional (mental) hospital. We see a bit of what her life is like there, with exercise and cafeteria meals, and so on.

* Another flashback to how Needy actually got there: she killed Jennifer, then even bragged about it to the police who arrested her.

* The main story opens as a much further flashback to two months earlier (which we'll call "present day", as the script does). The town is established, and the main characters (Needy, Jennifer, Chip) are established in their school environment. Chip is a drummer in the marching band, Jennifer is a cheerleader on the flag team, and Needy is just a sweet girl who's been friends with Jennifer since they were children. In a voice over (which might have been cut in the film), the relationship between the girls is described:

NEEDY (V.O.)

... back then, we were tight. Sisters, practically. People found it hard to believe that a babe like Jennifer would associate with a dork like me. But we’d been the Wonder Twins since we were practically preverbal. Sandbox love never dies.

* Jennifer tells Needy they are going out tonight (it's Thursday) to watch a rock band "Soft Shoulder" play at a local bar (Needy and Jennifer are 16-17 years old). Needy doesn't want to go but doesn't like disappointing her friend, so agrees.

* Before Jennifer is to pick up Needy, Chip sits on Needy's bed as they talk about her "date" with Jennifer. He complains about the seedy bar and then they start to make out. That's quickly interrupted by Jennifer arriving to pick up Needy. I like this exchange to describe Jennifer:

CHIP

I think you forgot, like, two buttons.

NEEDY

I think remembered two buttons.

(Sadly, I can't keep quoting great lines because I'd never finish this review.)

* The get to the "club" as Jennifer calls it - really a crowded crappy bar with a few pool tables on one end and a stage at the other - and Jennifer talks disparagingly about those there she knows.

* The band shows up - "all stylish and shit" as Jennifer says, and they start to set up their instruments as Jennifer flirts with them. The band leader Nikolai takes a liking to her. Jennifer goes off to get them a drink and Nikolai says to his bassist "She's exactly what we're looking for." Somehow they get convinced Jennifer's a virgin (the treatment here is different in the script than in the movie.)

* The band starts their set and a fire breaks out. Needy and Jennifer escape through the bathroom window while lots of people get trapped inside and die.

* Nikolai and his band escape the fire. Outside, Nikolai asks Jennifer to join him in his van. Needy pleads to Jennifer to leave with her but Jennifer get in the van. (Not clear how Needy got the keys to Jennifer's car here.) Needy magically goes home.

* From her bedroom, Needy calls Chip, waking him up, and they talk about the fire that burned the bar to the ground. Chip is obviously concerned and asks is he should come over. While they talk, the doorbell rings. They hang up.

* Needy answers the door but no one is there. She shuts the door and finds Jennifer, covered in blood, inside. Jennifer attacks her, scaring Needy to death. Needy screams then Jennifer vomits blood and gore before leaving.

* That night, Needy cleans up the mess made by Jennifer.

* In chemistry class the next day, Jennifer acts as though nothing happened. If anything, she might even be slightly more self-centered (if that's possible). Their chemistry teacher gives a speech that

the day will be one of remembrance for those who died in the fire, including nine students. A football jock, Jonas, sobs in the front row. Jennifer's reaction:

JENNIFER

(dry)

Oh look, they're united in grief. That'll last.

* After class, Needy hurries to talk to Chip. She tells him about Jennifer's visit. He's supportive but doesn't believe her. A goth, Colin, passes by and tells Needy he's glad she made it out okay.

* Jonas is out on the football field by himself. Jennifer joins him. They talk about his best friend Craig who died in the fire. Jennifer tells him she was the last one to speak with him before he died (a lie, of course) and that Craig told her:

JENNIFER

... he always thought you and me would make a totally bangin' couple.

Jennifer leads Jonas into the neighboring woods where they start to make out just before she eats him.

* Needy makes a fried bologna sandwich in her kitchen. At the moment Jonas dies, Needy reacts. She's scared, her knees shake, and she sees a flash of the carnage in the woods.

* The chemistry teacher is about to get into her car to go home when he hears Jonas' scream. He walks to the woods and discovers the dead body.

* Needy, still in shock, accidentally drops her bologna sandwich on the floor as her mom Toni comes in. She tells Needy she had a nightmare. They talk a bit, being supportive of each other. Toni has not heard listened to the news (she's been working). Needy doesn't want to spoil the mood so doesn't tell her about the fire. 

* The parents of Jonas meet the police at the edge of the woods as they put his body bag into an ambulance. They react emotionally to his death with tears and screaming.

* Jennifer emerges naked form swimming in the lake, gets dressed, and calmly walks off into the woods. (It's in the script but I don't remember seeing this in the version of the film I watched.)

* Jennifer calls Needy and tells her how good she feels. She pokes herself with a needle and watches the wound heal itself. She lights her tongue on fire with a lighter, watching it heal as well. Needy has a call on her other line. She takes it, disappointing Jennifer who says "Pooh. I'm crossing you out."

* Chip tells Needy he has to meet her and talk. They meet at a local park. Chip describes Jonas's dead body to Needy. Needy says "this can't be a coincidence," both the fire and Jonas.

* The next scene is a montage of newspaper headlines, memorials, and so on. In a VO, Needy says "We were famous. We were saints. ... We were healing ... We had faith ... We were fucking idiots."

* In chemistry class the next day, Jennifer looks worn down and possibly sick. Needy asks her about it. Although Needy is confused by her response, we learn Jennifer gets run down if she doesn't feed. The chemistry teacher explains that the rock band from the fire is donating 3% of their profits from their hit song to the local families affected by the fire. Needy asks about the other 97% but gets criticized, showing how popular the band has become.

* In the hallway after class, Needy and Jennifer walk together. Colin approaches Jennifer and asks for a date. She says no, but changes her mind and tells him she'll text him the address. Colin leaves. Chip joins them. Jennifer leaves. Chip asks if he can come over that night. He bought more condoms.

* Colin drives to the address Jennifer texted him. It's a vacant house under construction or renovation. He meets Jennifer upstairs in a candle-lit room. They start making out and you can guess what happens to him next.

* The previous scene is intercut with the scene of Needy and Chip in Chip's bedroom having sex (yes the dialog a few scenes ago said Chip would come over to her place but they are in Chip's house now). As with Jonas, just when Colin dies Needy gets frightened and has flashes of his death. She screams and Chip stops, worried about her.

NEEDY

It's her.

CHIP

Do you need more foreplay?

Needy gets dressed and runs out of the house, drives home and homes her mom is home, someone that can comfort her. She's not and sits on the kitchen floor alone and miserable. She goes to her bedroom only to find Jennifer in her bed. Needy screams "Get out!" They argue. (In the film, not in the script, they end up kissing, which is weird.) Finally Jennifer tells her the story:

JENNIFER

Well, I got pretty messed up. I almost died. You know those guys in Soft Shoulder? Totally evil. They’re basically agents of Satan with awesome haircuts. I figured that out as soon as I got into their molester van.

* We get a backflash to the terrible things done to Jennifer by the rock band in the dark woods near Devil's Kettle (which are actually twin waterfalls near the town). The band said they sold their souls to Satan in order to be popular. Then they said an incantation and sacrificed their "virgin". Except the sacrifice doesn't work if they don't have a virgin. In that case, the "virgin" becomes a succubus. 

* Needy kicks her out anyway. 

* At Colin's funeral, Colin's goth friends try to say something poetic about him. Colin's mom will have none of it and tears each of them a new asshole. She ends with a gem of a speech ending with this great line:

MRS GRAY

... I got the monopoly on pain!

* The next day, Needy is in the hall day-dreaming of Jennifer as a monster when Chip runs up to join her. Needy tells Chip she has something to tell him that's very important.

* They meet up and Needy tells him about the occult research she's been doing on Jennifer. Chip tries to be supportive but is more interested in the dance they plan on going to together. (This dialogue is a bit different in the film, but they end up basically in the same situation.)

* Establishing shot/montage of the students preparing the school for the dance.

* Needy at home that night getting dressed in a nice gown. Her proud mom Toni takes a picture of them together.

* Chip's getting ready in his bedroom when his mom comes in and gives him her rape spray. (A small aerosol can of pepper spray.) He puts it in his jacket. Chip's mom takes a picture of Chip and his little sister.

* Alone, Needy nervously sips a drink at the dance. The chemistry teacher takes the mic on stage and interrupts everyone for an important announcement: the rock back Soft Shoulder will take a break from their sold-out national tour to play for them tonight. Needy gags. Then she notices Jennifer and Chip aren't there.

* In the dark, Chip is walking through the park in his suit when Jennifer interrupts him. She somehow convinces him that Colin was Needy's real boyfriend and that they can talk about it inside the abandoned pool house. They break in through a window and start to kiss when Chip stops, feeling both sad and guilty. Jennifer gets mad.

* This previous scene is intercut with Needy running to Chip's. His mom says he left 20 minutes ago. He always takes a short-cut through the park. Needy runs through the park when he hears Chip screaming in the pool building. Needy breaks in the same way. Chip has been bitten. Needy attacks Jennifer. She calls her insecure.

JENNIFER

I am not insecure. God, what a joke! How could I be insecure? I was the Snowflake Queen!

NEEDY

Yeah, two years ago. When you were socially relevant.

This pisses her off and Jennifer fights back with eyes blazing. Needy finds Chip's pepper spray and sprays it into Jennifer's face. Jennifer vomits blood and gore on Needy. Jennifer floats above the pool.

CHIP (croaking)

She can fly?

NEEDY

She’s just hovering, Chip. It’s not that impressive.

They fight some more, Needy is bitten or scratched by Jennifer at one point, and Jennifer says

JENNIFER

I’m gonna eat your soul and shit it out, Lesnicki.

Jennifer hurls herself at Needy but Chip rams a long pool skimmer pole through her.

JENNIFER

You losers are more trouble than you’re worth.

It seems they won but Chip dies of his wounds anyway.

* Chip's mom is told of his death.

* Needy refuses to go back to school. She waits for Jennifer to get weak again.

* In the film, here is where Needy creeps into Jennifer's bedroom with boxcutters and kills her. (In this script, this scene occurs in the opening.)

* It's night and we're back in the women's correctional hospital. Needy explains in VO that if you are wounded by a succubus you retains some of their power. Needy, locked in her jail cell, floats up to the window way up high, breaks out, and then walks out to the local highway.

* She hitches a ride with an old man, explaining to him she's following this band Soft Shoulder. She tells him it's going to be their last show.

Review of script:

Extremely well-written. A different take on a well-trodden horror genre. Smart writing Needy as the protagonist. Some things to watch for:

(1) Throughout the script there are scenes with missing sluglines (changes in location or time generally deserves a corresponding slugline).

(2) Another of Cody's stylistic choices is that names are sometimes in all caps after they've been introduced, as well as certain actions. I don't know but my guess is this is code for "close up on" that character or action. James Cameron also does this in his scripts but he tends to have the name in all caps name at the beginning of the line.

Some of this has been indicated above, but here are a few more comments on the difference between the script and the film. One minor scene was cut (explained below), one important scene was moved from the beginning to the end (also indicated below), and lots of dialogue was tweeked, rewritten or trimmed. But basically, IMHO the script has no weaknesses and the film more-or-less follows the script. I do think that moving that early scene to the end (probably the director's choice) made the movie more emotionally satisfying.

Review of film:

If my memory is working correctly (always a dubious statement), I've seen this three times. The first time was in the theater. It didn't make a strong impression. I watched it again a few years later. I think I saw it more of a vehicle for Megan Fox and judged it from that perspective. Then I read the script, was bowled over, and saw it was directed by Kusama, who I've since become a huge fan of, and decided to watch it again. Now, looking at it from the POV of Needy, I really enjoy like this film. Amazing what 3 viewings will do:-)

The plot was well-paced, as it followed familiar genre lines. The emotional core of the story deals not so much with people being afraid of being eaten but from the POV of a friend who's not sure how to process the realization that her BFF is evil.

The themes were not just the meaning of friendship between two girls, even if one is a killer. As their friendship cracks, their allegiances to each other erodes. Another theme is the hypocrisy of rock band fans who will accept any kind of behavior from the musicians they love. Finally, there is a bit of a vengeance theme, as Jennifer ends up going after Chip, and Needy gets her revenge by waiting until the time is right, them killing her. Symbolism, especially in the film (less so in the script), is played by the BFF necklace each of them wears. It's broken during the fight when Needy kills Jennifer.

Let me expand a bit on the plot and theme aspect of the film (and the script). In a "monster in the house" horror film (the monster being Jennifer and the "house" being the Devil's Kettle HS), it's typical for there to be a character flaw or sin of the victim(s) that precedes the arrival of the monster. As in a fable, as sin is punished in some way. In this film, the sin is the above-mentioned hypocrisy of the HS students. Needy, the science nerd, is not one of the socially relevant group (to borrow a phrase from Needy). When she leaves the school entirely, she's no loner part of the hypocrisy. Thus she's officially overcome the sin and can take on her problem. 

The acting on the part of Amanda Seyfried I thought was spot on. Megan came off a little dull sometimes, missing the delivery of a nuanced phrase other times, but generally was good. Johnny Simmons as Chip was compelling and had good chemistry with Amanda in their scenes together.

Direction by Kusama was excellent. Some tweeks she made to the script helped out a lot, especially when she rearranged a few scenes form the beginning to the end. The camerawork and lighting throughout was good, and (wisely) followed the script closely.

The music was typical pop/rock music. It added to the atmosphere, grounding us in the HS scene the main characters live in. Maybe it's my own unusual taste, but I didn't find the music to be exceptionally good, just typical.

Production design was excellent. I'm sure they shot at a real HS. Special effects were good as well. The only CGI effects I remember were (a) one or two shots of Jennifer's mouth growing inhumanly wider, and (b) the gore in Jennifer's vomit, which turned into a needle-like texture, (c) scenes of Jennifer or Needy floating (likely shot using green screen techniques). The other special effects were all in camera or with extensive make-up. In any case, they all were important for the believability of the story.

Editing was excellent and for the most part (wisely) followed the script closely.

The dialogue really shines in this script. Some of the best I've read in any horror film.  I like the funny, snarky tone and thought almost all the funny lines landed well. It kept the characters compelling and communicated exposition in a funny way.

More lessons from the script for "His Girl Friday" (1940)

I've blogged before, here and also here, about one of my favorite films, His Girl Friday. This film, and its script, are in the public domain. The film screenplay was written by Charles Lederer, a friend of the great writer Ben Hecht, based on the play The Front Page, co-written by Hechtand Charles MacArthur (brother of "genius grant" creator, John D MacArthur).

The script and film largely tell the same story. However, the film changed some character names and also had a different (and better, IMHO) ending than the screenplay. Here is the list of characters:

• Walter Burns (Cary Grant), head of a newspaper, once married to former newspaper reporter Hildy and still in love with her. He is the antagonist.
  
• Hildegard "Hildy" Johnson (Rosalind Russell), once a newspaper reporter who worked for Burns. She is the protagonist.
  
• Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy), Hildy's fiancee, who will give her all she thinks she wants - a house, a normal marriage, etc.
  
• Mrs Baldwin (Alma Kruger), Bruce's mom
  
• Duffy (Frank Orth), as assistant editor to Burns
  
• Louie (Abner Biberman), a gangster friend of Burns
  
• Earl Williams (John Qualen), a pitiful (mentally handicapped?) who's on death row, and the one Hildy is trying to save
  
• Mollie Malloy (Helen Mack) a young woman who's taken pity on Earl, befriending him.
  
• Mayor (Clarence Kolb), he uses Earl's executon to garner votes for his re-election.
  
• Sheriff Hartwell (Gene Lockhart), the bumbling sheriff that allows Earl to escape.
  
• Joe Pettibone (Billy Gilbert), the messanger carrying a reprieve from the governor, which the mayor and sheriff try to bribe to go away.
  (Pettibone is Pinkus in the script)
  
• And several minor characters who play reporters:
  Porter Hall as Murphy,
  Ernest Truex as Bensinger,
  Cliff Edwards as Endicott,
  Roscoe Karns as McCue,
  Frank Jenks as Wilson, and
  Regis Toomey as Sanders (Sanders is Schwartz in the script?, if so, he's also a reporter).
  Pat West as Warden Cooley.
  
• Edwin Maxwell as Dr. Eggelhoffer, psychiatrist who interviews Earl to see if he's crazy.
  
• Marion Martin as Evangeline (the blonde girlfriend of Louis)
  

The script is available in various places on the internet as a pdf. It is worth studying. Threads to pay attention to:

1. 
   The camera directions add a visual feel. Note:
   
   1. These camera directions take a lot of space on the page, and are considered my many as excessive by today's script standards. Such directions usually are left to the director, besides taking up space on the page.
      
   2. Today, camera directions are sometimes included, but in an abbreviated fashion. For example, the original
      

      CLOSE SHOT OFFICE BOY as he bends over paper. We catch a glimpse of the squares of a crossword puzzle.
      

      might be rewritten today as
      

      OFFICE BOY (15) bends over the crossword puzzle page in a newspaper.

2. The actor parentheticals add a blocking/physical feel.
   Note:
   These actor directions are considered as excessive by today's script standards. These are usually dropped altogether, but if they are included they're sometimes given in an action line. For instance
   

   HILDY 
       (with a smile) 
      Hello, Skinny. Remember me?
   

   would simply be
   

   HILDY 
      Hello, Skinny. Remember me?
   

   Perhaps her happy demeanor would be indicated during her character introduction. But
   

   WILLIAMS 
        (putting out hand to stroke her hair)
      Don't cry, Mollie, there's nothing to cry about.
   

   might be rewritten today as
   

   Williams puts out his hand to stroke Molly's hair. 
                WILLIAMS 
      Don't cry, Mollie, there's nothing
      to cry about.
   

   Usually parentheticals are reserved for tone, eg, if a line is to be read sarcastically. However, one modern script with lots of parentheticals is the script for Saw (2004, written by Wan and Whanell and available online).
   
3. The changing dynamic between what Hildy wants externally (husband, house, kids) and what Hildy needs internally (to make a difference, to be respected, to be independent as a professional).
   
4. Keep an eye on the dynamic between Walter Burns and Bruce Baldwin, Hildy's two love interests in the story. Observe how their different personalities represent Hildy's different wants. (Energetic, driven and self-confident Burns connects to her internal want of being a good reporter. Shy, legalistic, and conservative Bruce connects to her external want of wanting a stable home and family.)
   
5. Pay attention to the changing romantic connection between Hildy and Bruce vs Hildy and Burns.
   
6. The lack of "intercuts" wastes a lot of space on the page in the phone conversations between Hildy and Burns. (The others are covered as a one-way dialog, but they involved minor characters.)
   

Here is a plot summary, based on the script.

A scene of a busy newsroom, one end an elevator and stairs, the other end the windowed-off office of the managing editor, and inbetween a bullpen of activity (called the "City Room"):
* telephone switchboard operators,
* office boys running errands,
* reporters in a hurry.

The elevator doors open and Hildy emerges with her fiancee Bruce. She greets the office boys and operators with a friendly smile and kind words. Bruce is sweet towards Hildy, then she leaves him to wait while she talks to Walter. In her walk along the length of the City Room, the greetings she receives makes it clear she is much loved.

The first scene between Burns and Hildy. They are much more alike than Hildy and Bruce. Burns and Hildy are both fast-talking, tough-minded reporters, with a nose for news. We learn they were once married and that Burns is bothered by the fact that Earl Williams (a criminal with some sympathetic aspects) is to be executed tomorrow. Then they start to bicker over things Burns did that caused Hildy to divorce him (not taking his marriage seriously - allowing the newspaper to take precedence, a curtailed honeymoon, no house that he promised her, etc). Hildy wants him to stop "phoning me a dozen times a day -- sending twenty telegrams ...". Burns wants to get married again.

More wonderful banter. Hildy's insistent she won't return. Burns makes up a lie that Sweeney won't be a work today since his wife is delivering a baby. He begs her to come back to work and offers a raise. She reveals that she's engaged, and to be married tomorrow. She wants to quit the newspaper business. He says she'll be unhappy doing anything else. Burns insists on meeting Bruce.

Burns and Hildy walk the length of the City Room, everyone's quit listening to their banter. Burns whispers to an operator to have his assistant editor call him in the restaurant in 20 minutes. As Hildy’s about to introduce Burns to Bruce, Burns intentionally mistakes Bruce with an elderly office “boy”, profusely flattering him. When Bruce tries to tell Burns that he is the real Bruce, Burns gets rude. When Burns recognizes the real Bruce he insults him snidely and insists on taking Hildy and Bruce to lunch.

At the restaurant, Hildy is warmly greeted by the staff. Burns asks Bruce about the wedding. It’s revealed that his mother will join them and Mom with live with them for the first year. Burns is called away to the phone booth. There he tells the newspaper than Hildy is returning. He returns to the table and fakes being crushed by sudden bad news about his reporter Sweeney. He tries to convince Hildy to help him out this afternoon to help write an article what Sweeney was supposed to write. She refuses. Burns says if she’ll help him, he will buy a $100000 life insurance policy from Bruce. She agrees, with Bruce’s encouragement, provided that it is paid with a certified check.

In the press room of the criminal courts building, reporters are playing cards while waiting for court news. There is a bank of phones at one end of the room for them to use once something happens. They are especially interested in the Earl Williams case, where he may get the death sentence carried out. Hildy enters. They all greet her warmly. "No, I'm not back for good. I'm just covering the Earl Williams story for Mr. Sweeney who had a sudden attack of something but will be all right by tomorrow. No, I haven't made up with Walter Burns...." She learns by talking to the reporters that Williams is delusional and hid out at Molly Molloy. The Mayor orders him arrested. The cop that arrives is killed by Early because he (in his delusional state) assumed he was there to murder him.

Hildy learns that a new psychiatrist (called an "alienist" in the script), Dr. Max J. Egelhoffer, is going to interview Williams. The execution by hanging is creating a big controversy (told in a darkly humorous way by the reporters).

Burns and Bruce have a discussion of the life insurance policy. Burns still loves Hildy and wants her to be his beneficiary of his policy.

On the phone, Hildy warns Bruce not to put the certified check in his wallet, but to put it in his hat instead. (She knows Louis can pick his pocket.) Louis follows Bruce anyway and scams a cop to arrest Bruce claiming Bruce stole his (Louis') watch. Bruce goes to jail, but at least he keeps his hat.

Hildy interviews Earl Williams in his jail cell. He believes the Golden Rule means to "do away with the profit system and have production for use only. There's enough food and clothing and shelter for everybody if we'd use some sense. ... Food was meant to be eaten, not stored away in restaurants while poor people starved; clothing was meant to be worn, not piled up in stores while people went naked." In this way, Hildy established that he lacks the ability to understand the consequences of his actions. Hildy then asks "Is that how you came to shoot the policeman?" Earl answers "Sure. You see, I'd never had a gun in my hand before and I didn't know what to do with it. Well, when I get stuck, I know that there's an answer for everything in production for use. So it came to me in a flash: what's a gun for? To shoot! So I shot. Simple isn't it?"

Back in the press room of the courthouse, Mollie Malloy shows up to berate the reporters for their slanders against Earl. She says "I never said I loved Earl Williams and was willing to marry him on the gallows! You made that up!" Hildy shows up and starts typing up her interview with Earl. Finally, Hildy says "Come on, Mollie. This is no place for you" leading Mollie toward door. Mollie says "They're not human!" Hildy says "They're newspaper men, Mollie. They can't help themselves. The Lord made them that way."

Mollie and Hildy leave together. Bruce calls for her. When she returns she speaks to him and learns he's in jail. She goes to the jail. Convinces the police lieutenant in charge to release him, or else "the Post will run the story of that roulette game on 43rd Street that you brother-in-law runs." The LT lets Bruce out. Bruce tells Hildy he lost his wallet but has his hat.

Hildy and Bruce go back to the press room in a cab. Hildy leaves Bruce in the cab, intent on finishing the interview, then taking the cab directly to the train. Hildy goes back to the press room by herself, types up the interview then takes it to the phone, asks for Burns, and tears it up over the phone. "ear that? That's the interview I wrote... Yes, I know we made a bargain. I just said I'd write it -- I didn't say I wouldn't tear it up." She hangs up.

Earl Williams is being questions by the incompetent Dr Egelhoffer and the Sheriff. Earl escapes just as Hildy is about to storm out of the press room. The reporters rush to the window to watch police search for Earl, gunshots being clearly heard, some even hitting the windows of the press room. Each reporter quickly calls his newspaper, sends in a report by phone, then leaves the press room (presumably to watch the action on the street).

Hildy calls Burns backs and tells him the news about Earl's escape an that she's back on the job. Hildy runs downstairs and corners Cooley, a policeman who witnessed the escape. Hildy brides Cooley (with 450 dollars) to tells her how Earl escaped. Colley agrees.

Reports return to the press room, including Hildy. Some file more reports but they don't know how Earl got his gun. Hildy does (but it hasn't been yet revealed to the audience). They ask Hildy how Earl escaped and she jokingly says "the Sheriff let him out so's he could vote for him." More machine gun fire downstairs and the reporters rush out of the room again. Hildy and Burns have a phone conversation taking 3 pages (at the time, intercuts were not used). We learn that "The Sheriff gave his gun to the Professor, the Professor gave it to Earl, and Earl gave it right back to the Professor -- right in the stomach! Who? No, Egelhoffer wasn't hurt badly. They took him to the County Hospital where they're afraid he'll recover." Burns promises to join her there in the press room. She tells him to hurry, as Bruce is downstairs in a cab. Burns hangs up and tells Louis and his blonde girlfriend to play a trick on Bruce in the cab.

A reporter comes in and files another report by phone. Hildy gets another phone call from Bruce, in jail again. Hildy rushes out again to help get Bruce out of jail.

The Mayor enters the press room looking for Sheriff Hartman. Hartman enters and tells the reporters how to find Earl (at Mollie's). They all run out, leaving the Mayor and Sheriff alone. Another reporter enters and makes fun of both of them, also making clear that the Governor doesn't like the Mayor and conversely, files a report then leaves.

Mayor and Sheriff leave to find a more private room to discuss something important. They go to Sheriff's office and agree that if they don't hang Earl, they will lose the upcoming election. A messenger Pinkus (Pettibone in the film) comes to tell them that Earl has a reprieve from the Governor. The Mayor bribes Pinkus to leave, to return the next day, hoping he can capture Earl before Pinkus returns.

Hildy is in the press room when Louis shows up with $450 in counterfeit bills. She also demands Louis returns Bruce's wallet, which he does then leaves. Hildy is alone when Earl crawls through the window. She gets the gun from him and calls Burns, telling him to hurry over. She gets a call from Bruce and asks him to wait more. Bruce hangs up on her. Mollie shows up and gives Earl moral support.

The reporters want to get in but the door is locked. Hildy hides Earl in the rolltop desk. She asks Mollie to pretend to have fainted, as a distraction. Mollie lays does, closes her eyes and Hildy unlocks the door. Mrs Bardwin (Bruce's mom) shows up and berates Bruce. Mollie recovers and the reporters grill her so heatedly she goes crazy and jumps out the window (Mollie doesn't die). Mrs Baldwin faints. Burns arrives and Mrs Baldwin recovers, very upset. Burns tells Louis to take her out of the room. Burns talks Hildy into focusing on the story and to ignore Bruce for the moment. Hildy begins typing up the story furiously.

Bruce shows up, having been released from jail again. (He bailed himself out.) She keeps typing. Bruce asks for the money she owes him. She gives him $450 (in counterfeit bills), as well as his wallet. He tells her he's going on the 9pm train and tells her to meet him there. Bruce leaves. Burns and Hildy lock the door again. A reporter shows up, demanding to be let in. Burns offers him a job at his paper, tells him to go talk to Duffy right away. Reporter leaves. Burns calls Duffy and tells him to "Stall him along until the extra comes out." Hildy finished her article. Burns kisses her.

Louis returns, says his cab crashed into a police car and he lost Mrs Baldwin. The implication is that Mrs Baldwin is dead. Hildy wonders how she will tell that to Bruce. Burns tells Louis to get some men to haul the desk with Earl in it out of there. Having called the local hospitals with no luck, Hildy gets ready to leave to search for Mrs Baldwin.

The Sheriff shows up with the reporters and demand that Hildy tell them where Earl is. He's about to arrest Hildy and Burns and confiscate the desk when Mrs Baldwin enters, with two deputies. Bruce is there as well, but she has him stay outside the press room. Mrs Baldwin and Burns argue over who kidnapped her. Burns insults her and she leaves. The Sheriff discovers Earl hiding in the desk, then takes him out. The reporters all run for their phone and file a report. The Sheriff returns and puts Burns and Hildy in handcuffs.

Pinkus returns, drunk, and mentions the reprieve to Burns and Hildy and the bride the Mayor gave him. Burns and Hildy use this information to get the Sheriff to release them.

Burns reminds her that Bruce is expecting to meet Hildy at the train station to take the 9pm train and that he (Burns) promised she'd be there. Burns asks Hildy to stay another hour to finish the article, telling her she can make the 10pm train instead. Conflcted, she flips a coin: Heads she goes, tails she stays to write the story. She stays and wires Bruce to call off their engagement. Burns proposes again. She excepts (under pressure from Louis, who kidnaps a judge to perform their marriage ceremony.

After they are married, Hildy learns that Bruce has been arrested again, this time for passing counterfiet money (the money Burns gave him via Louis). As she chases Burns around the table, Louis has the last line, said to the judge: "I think it's going to work out all right this time." (This is not the ending of the movie.)

Breakdown of "The Red House Mystery" by A.A. Milne (1922)

"The Red House Mystery" by A.A. Milne (1922) is in the public domain.

Major characters:

• Mark Ablett (40), owner of Red House, unmarried, mustasch and beard, independently wealthy, and his
father was a parson
• Bill Beverley, friend of Mark and Antony, guest at Red House
• Antony Gillingham, friend of Bill and guest at “The George” until after the murder, then a guest at the Red House until the inquest
• Mrs. Stevens, housekeeper and aunt to Audrey, lives at Red House
• Audrey Stevens, parlor maid, lives at Red House
• Elsie Wood, housemaid (also eferred to as second parlor maid)
• Matthew Cayley (28), cousin of Mark Ablet, lives in room on first floor of Red House (others live upstairs)
• Robert Ablett, brother of Mark, clean shaven. Arrived from Australia (he was there for 15 years) the day he was killed.
• Miss Betty Calladine (18), guest at Red House
• Mrs. John Calladine, mother of Betty and driver of the car (owned by Mark?), guest at Red House
• Major Rumbold, retired, guest at Red House
• Miss Ruth Norris, actress, guest at Red House
• Inspector Birch, policeman from Middleston
• Angela Norbury, a young (single) lady living nearby, possibly a romantic interest of Cayley
• Mrs Norbury, owner of Jallands (a neighboring cottage) and Angela’s mother
• the Coroner, presumably from Middleston

Minor characters:

• Joe Turner, boyfriend of Audrey (mentioned only)
• landlord and landlady of The George
• police associates of Inspector Birch
• train station employees
• inquest witnesses: Andrew Amos (lives in the “inner lodge” of the Red House estate), Parsons (a gardener who lives in the “outer lodge” of the Red House estate), John Borden (a local man who happened to be on the train station platform when someone who might have been Mark was seen boarding a train)
• inquest jury (no names but listening to evidence collected at the inquest)

Locations:

• Red House, interior (kitchen, dining room, library and underground tunnel, bedrooms, housekeeper’s room, suite of 3 rooms: office and Cayley’s room and bathroom) and exterior (the Temple, bowling green and lake/pond, all on the estate)
• Waldheim (the closest town), in particular The George inn
• Stanton train station (Robert arrives there from Australia)
• golf course
• police station in Middleston
• Jallands, a neighboring country cottage belonging to a widow Mrs Norbury (it is 600 yards from the nearest road, with no driveway)
• The Lamb, an inn/meeting house/theater in Stanton (where the inquest takes place)

(click to enlarge)

The Red House is about a half-mile from the nearest town of Waldheim (which has no police station) and about 3 miles from the next largest town of Stanton (which has no police station either). The nearest police station is in Middleston, about twenty miles away.

The timeline is not linear. Chapter 1 begins after breakfast. Chapter 2 covers who was at breakfast.

Chapter 1. Mrs. Stevens is Frightened.
Location(s): The Red House, housekeeper’s room
Characters: Mrs. Stevens, Audrey Stevens, Elsie, Robert Ablett, Matthew Cayley
Summary: Audrey and her aunt talk about the arrival of Mark Ablett’s brother, Robert Ablett. Robert arrives and waits for Mark in Mark’s home office. While Audrey is searching for Mark, a gunshot is heard from within the house. Audrey was out of the house at the time. The chapter ends with someone banging on the front door.

Chapter 2. Mr. Gillingham Gets Out at the Wrong Station
Location(s): The Red House, kitchen/dining room
Characters: Major Rumbold, Mrs Calladine, Betty Calladine, Bill Beverley, Ruth Norris, Antony Gillingham, landlord and landlady of The George, Matthew Cayley
Summary: Background on Mark and Cayley. Introduction to Mark’s guests (Major Rumbold, Mrs Calladine, Betty Calladine, Bill Beverley, Ruth Norris). Mark, Cayley and the guests have breakfast. After that, except for Mrs Calladine, the guests play golf at the golf course (driven to by Mrs Calladine, who eats lunch with friends instead). Mark and Cayley stay at the Red House. Antony arrives while they are out to visit with friend Bill. Chapter 2 ends at the same time that chapter 1 ends: with banging on the front door. This time we learn it is Cayley who is doing that.

Chapter 3. Two Men and a Body
Location(s): The Red House, exterior, office and Cayley’s room.
Characters: Antony Gillingham, Matthew Cayley
Summary: We get a good read on the geometry of Red House (see the diagram on page 2). Cayley and Antony break into the office via the rear window. They discover Robert shot between the eyes, dead. Antony agrees to stay at the Red House during the police investigation. Antony sees the window to Cayley’s room open and suggests to Cayley that the killer might have escaped out the window into the back bushes and gardens.

Chapter 4. The Brother from Australia
Location(s): Golf course, tea at golf course (in a club house?), car (back to the Red House), Red House (various), exterior
Characters: Major Rumbold, Mrs Calladine, Betty Calladine, Bill Beverley, Ruth Norris, Antony Gillingham, Inspector Birch
Summary: The guests finish their golf match, have tea at the golf course, and drive back to Red House in Mrs Calladine’s car. When they arrive, Antony explains the situation. Mrs Calladine, her daughter Betty, and Ruth Norris decide to leave for London. The Inspector does over the clues with Antony and Cayley.

Chapter 5. Mr. Gillingham Chooses a New Profession
Location(s): Red House
Characters: Antony Gillingham, Inspector Birch, Matthew Cayley, Elsie, Audrey, Mrs. Stevens,
Summary: Inspector interviews Cayley, Audrey, Elsie. Elsie told him she overheard Mark say to Robert 'It's my turn now. You wait.' Facts of the case so far: Robert had been shown into the office (witness Audrey); Mark had gone in to Robert (witness Cayley); Mark and Robert had been heard talking (witness Elsie); there was a shot (witness everybody); the office had been entered and Robert's body had been found (witness Cayley and Gillingham). And Mark was missing.

Chapter 6. Outside Or Inside?
Location(s): Red House exterior (front garden), car, at the end of the scene Antony and Bill start along path towards The George in Waldheim
Characters: Major Rumbold, Mrs Calladine, Betty Calladine, Ruth Norris, Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham, Matthew Cayley,
Summary: Every one of the guests except for Bill leaves. Antony and Bill decide to walk to The George, pay Antony’s bill and get his things.

Chapter 7. Portrait of a Gentleman
Location(s): Red House exterior from front garden of house along path towards The George in Waldheim
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: Antony and Bill discuss the character of Mark (somewhat controlling, set in his ways) and of Cayley (loner but hard working). For example, Mark believed in ghosts and thought the house was haunted. One night, for fun, guests devised a ghost character played by Ruth Norris who appeared in costume on the bowling green. This upset Mark so much he left and went to his room, calling for Cayley. Bill was there and assumed Cayley calmed him down. This clue plays a role in chapter 9. Antony suspects Cayley is complicit in the murder somehow.

Chapter 8. "Do You Follow Me, Watson?"
Location(s): Red House interior (Antony’s bedroom upstairs, hall downstairs) and exterior (path to “bowling green” still on the estate)
Characters: Matthew Cayley, Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: Antony and Bill talk in Antony’s bedroom, while Antony gets dressed for dinner, then go down to the hall and smoke a cigar. They talk to Cayley and they discuss what Elsie told the Inspector. Cayley thinks it was accidental. Cayley leaves then Antony and Bill walk from the Red House to the “bowling green” (still on the estate) to talk privately. Bill shows he can imitate Mark’s rather monotonous, high-pitched voice. Antony asks Bill to be Watson to his Sherlock. They discuss the case. In particular, they notice each room has a lockable door with a skeleton key on a hook hanging either inside or outside the room, depending on the room.

Chapter 9. Possibilities of a Croquet Set
Location(s): Red House exterior, “bowling green”
Characters: Matthew Cayley, Bill Beverley Antony Gillingham
Summary: Antony and Bill continue to discuss the case. Antony suspects that the story of the ghost character played by Ruth Norris appeared on the bowling green (which upset Mark) lends evidence that there is a secret (very long) tunnel from the house to the bowling green. They search the shed where the croquet balls were kept (“bowling” refers to lawn bowling, related to croquet). While there, Antony hears someone coming, so they sit on a nearby bench and Bill talks as if Antony is there while Antony sneaks around looking for the spy. He sees Cayley’s head pop out of a box where croquet balls are stored. Antony goes back to Bill, they decide to play a game of bowling and then quit. As they walk back to the Red House (it’s bedtime), they run into Cayley. They innocently discuss things, with no indication from Cayley that he was spying on them and no indiction from Antony or Bill that they knew it. Antony and Bill realize that the reason Miss Norris was hurried away (by Cayley) because she knew about the secret passage.

Chapter 10. Mr. Gillingham Talks Nonsense
Location(s): Red House interior (dining room, hall, Antony’s room) and exterior (Cayley outside the dining room window, Antony and Bill walk to the park and lake).
Characters: Matthew Cayley, Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham, Elsie
Summary: Antony comes down and talks to Cayley. Cayley tells him the police plan to drag the lake, in case the gun was dumped there or Mark drowned. Cayley leaves and Bill joins Antony. Bill and Antony have breakfast and discuss the case in guarded terms, as Cayley is smoking outside the dining room window. Antony goes up to his bedroom and meets the parlor maid Elsie there. He tells her the inquest will be the next day. Antony then goes to the hall and meets Bill again. They agree to walk in the park (in the Red House estate), but detour to the lake. They surmise Mark did not drown himself. They surmised Cayley told Ruth Norris of the tunnel, as he wanted her to like him. The chapter ends with the question: Where does the secret passage begin?

Chapter 11. The Reverend Theodore Ussher
Location(s): Red House exterior (lake) and interior (library) Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: At the lake, Antony and Bill decide to search the library for the beginning of the tunnel. They walk back and , making sure Cayley is not nearby, enter the library. It’s full of books and is well-organized by subject. Antony comes across a shelf of sermons (remember Mark’s father was a parson). When he sees 'The Narrow Way, being Sermons by the Rev. Theodore Ussher' he gets an inspiration. He takes out the book and tries pressing the back of the bookshelf in various places. Eventually, the shelf swings open, revealing the tunnel entrance. They close it back, agreeing to search it later in the afternoon or that night when Cayley is away.

Chapter 12. A Shadow on the Wall
Location(s): Police station in Middleston, Red House exterior (lake/pond), Red House interior (office and Cayley’s room)
Characters: Inspector Birch and other police associates, Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: Inspector Birch calls London police about the case, and the train station in Stanton with a description of Mark Ablett. In the afternoon, the Inspector and his associates go to the lake to drag it for a body or the gun. Antony and Bill talk with the Inspector at the lake. The Inspector does not need them there. (No mention is made of Cayley being at the lake in this chapter. However, it appears that is is there after all – see chapter 14.) So Bill and Antony go back to the Red House. Antony mentions the idea that Cayley recommended dragging the lake so might be planning on planting something there after the police are done with it. At 3pm, 24 hours after Antony and Cayley discovered the body, Antony and Bill enter the office. As Antony recreates the events, he remembers Cayley left to get “water”. He returned with a sponge and a handkerchief. Antony remembers a shadow he saw at one point that does not appear unless Cayley quietly shut his room (just beside the office) while getting the sponge and handkerchief. Why would he quietly shut his room just to “get water”?

Chapter 13. The Open Window
Location(s): Red House interior (office and Cayley’s room), Red House exterior (path to lake)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: Antony and Bill talk about what Cayley did which needed him to quietly shut his room (just beside the office) while getting the sponge and handkerchief. Bill discovers a collar at the bottom of the trash basket in the office. Bill opens the window to Cayley’s room to get some air. At that, Antony thinks it must have been Cayley wanted the door shut so he could quietly open the window. Then they agree to search the passage but first they must be sure Cayley is at the lake. Bill sneaks off to the lake to spy on the Inspector and hope to catch and eye of Cayley, then rush back. Antony will wait for Bill in the library. Bill leaves for the lake.

Chapter 14. Mr. Beverley Qualifies for the Stage
Location(s): Red House exterior (path to lake, car in driveway) and interior (library, hall)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham, (in the distance) Inspector Birch, Matthew Cayley
Summary: Bill returns from the lake to meet Antony in the library to tell him Cayley is indeed with the Inspector at the lake, as expected. They open the shelf door to the tunnel. Antony decides to go in to see if it’s safe. As soon as he does, Bill hears Cayley outside. He has just enough time to close the door, straighten the sermon shelf, move over to another shelf and make up an excuse for being in the library (he’s trying to verify a quotation on a bet with Antony), when Cayley opens the door. Cayley says that nothing was found at the lake so far but mud. Cayley stays to write a letter (before he takes the car to Stanton) so Bill tries tapping a Morse code message to Antony (annoying Cayley in the process, as he thinks it is merely nervous tapping). It seems to work. Bill tells Cayley he’s waiting for Antony as they plan to walk into town. Cayley finishes his letter and Antony doesn’t open the tunnel door while Cayley is there. Cayley gets in the car. Antony walks up to them, apologizing to Bill for being late. Cayley asks them to deliver his letter to Jallands in town and then he leaves in the car. Antony and Bill decide to deliver the letter instead of investigating the tunnel. Antony tells Bill that he took the length or the tunnel to the bowling green, then ran back. In the tunnel, he discovered in the passage a large locked cupboard.

Chapter 15. Mrs. Norbury Confides in Dear Mr. Gillingham
Location(s): Path from the Red House to Jallands, Jallands interiors (living room)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham, Matthew Cayley (in the car in the distance), Angela Norbury, Mrs Norbury (her mother)
Summary: Antony and Bill walk to Jallands to the letter. They see Cayley in the car in the distance returning to the Red House. Antony surmises that Cayley just wants to get back into the tunnel and wrote the letter to make sure they were gone from the house while he did. They meet (beautiful) Angela and her mother. Bill and Antony discover that the mother nearly arranged the engagement between Angela and Mark (before he disappeared, that is). They assumed it was Cayley that was interested in Angela. In fact, Angela was not interested in Mark (nor Cayley, except as a friend) but when she turned to Cayley for support, he apparently fell in love with her. Now she has his letter, which she dreads opening. They learn from Mrs Norbury that Mark went to Middleston the day before yesterday, But why? Bill and Antony leave Jallands, and head back to the Red House.

Chapter 16. Getting Ready for the Night
Location(s): Red House exterior (path from Jallands to the lake then to the house), Red House interior (hall, bedrooms)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham, Matthew Cayley
Summary: Antony meditates on how and why Cayley may have killed Robert. If Bill could imitate Mark’s voice so successfully, why not Cayley? This would explain the voice Elsie heard the day of the murder. They stop at the lake and plan their night. Cayley will likely check on them in their bedroom before leaving to take the tunnel to throw Mark’s body (they presume) in the lake. They plan to wait for his visit and for him to get into the tunnel before running to the lake to watch Cayley dump the body. They discuss using two pine trees, one for each of them, behind them and a fence on the far side of the lake to determine the position Cayley’s boat is when he dumps the body in the lake. (They need two lines to intersect in order to determine the point where the boat is located.) They decide not to call the police but to dive for the dumped body themselves. They walked back to the house together. Cayley was in the hall as they came in. They said hellos then went upstairs to dress for dinner. They dressed, discussed strategies more, then went downstairs together for dinner.

Chapter 17. Mr. Beverley Takes the Water
Location(s): Red House interior (dining room, billiard room, hall, bedrooms), Red House exterior (path around house)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham, Matthew Cayley
Summary: They have dinner, take a stroll with Cayley around the house, play billiards with Cayley, have drinks with Cayley in the hall, then go to bed. They wait for Cayley to check on them (he does) then Bill dresses and goes to Antony’s room (in the dark). They leave then house via Antony’s 2nd floor bedroom window and head off for the lake. Antony points out each other’s tree to mark the boat from. After waiting for some time, Cayley arrives at the boat with a paper bag in his hand. He puts the bag in the boat with him, pushes off, rows into the middle of the lake, dumps the bag into the lake, then rows back and ties up the boat at the shore. Cayley leaves. Antony tells Bill to wait until he returns. Antony plans to follow Cayley back to the house, check everything’s okay, then return. He does. When he gets back to Bill, they do the dive. Bill dove 3 or 4 times before finding it, but gets the bag back into the boat. In the bag: (a) all of the clothes Mark wore when Robert died (including underwear but not the collar), (b) stones (for weight), (c) letters, (d) two keys including the office key and the key of the passage cupboard (see chapter 14). On the way back to the house, they unlocked the cupboard in the tunnel. It was empty.

Chapter 18. Guess-work
Location(s): Red House interior (bedrooms)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: The inquest is today at 3pm. After breakfast, Antony gets packed to be ready to go to The George after the inquest. They tell Cayley that Bill is leaving for London after the inquest and Antony is leaving for The George. In fact, Bill will go with Antony to The George. Then Bill and Antony goes to the park to talk by themselves. They have this timeline: Monday Robert's unpleasant letter came in the morning (saysing Robert would arrive the next day around 3pm) then Mark told Mrs. Norbury about Robert (the black sheep of the family), on Tuesday Mark tells his guests he got his brother's letter that morning, Robert arrived later that day, was killed about the time Antony arrived. They have the puzzle of the missing collar in the bag of clothes (see chapter 13). Also, the puzzle of why hide clothes if there is a body to hide? They surmise that Mark is alive and that Cayley helped him escape by helping disguise him with a change of clothes and hiding the clothes he wore.

Chapter 19. The Inquest
Location(s): The Lamb, an inn located in Stanton
Characters: All major characters but Mark and Robert Ablett, as well as Andrew Amos, Parsons, John Borden
Summary: The Coroner asks everyone questions about Mark and Robert. The chapter only covers interviews with Bill, Andrew Amos, Parsons, Audrey Stevens, Elsie, Cayley, Antony, Inspector Birch, and John Borden. The Coroner sums up and turns it over to the jury. They deliberate and announced that the deceased had died as the result of a bullet-wound, and that the bullet had been fired by his brother Mark Ablett. The chapter ends with Andrew Amos and Parsons going out of the room together, with Antony between them.

Chapter 20. Mr. Beverley is Tactful
Location(s): The Lamb Inn in Stanton exterior, walking along the road from the Lamb Inn to Waldheim, The George interior (dining room); implicit location: Plough and Horses Inn (pub/dining room) in Stanton
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham; implicit character: innkeeper of the Plough and Horses Inn
Summary: Antony tells Bill that Amos and Parsons are old friends of his (in the previous chapter he indicates he doesn’t know who they are, so perhaps this is a joke). Bill and Antony discuss a poster for a local play that Mark, Cayley and Bill acted in last December. Antony asks if they share the same dentist. Bill says yes, Cartwright, on Wimpole Street. Antony asks: was Mark fond of swimming? Bill says no. Antony asks Bill to return to Stanton and go to the other inn there, the one closest to the train station, the Plough and Horses Inn. To drink a few beers and ask if a stranger stayed there on Monday night. They agree to meet again for dinner at The George at 8pm. Bill leaves. Antony walks another 20 yards, takes a lane off to the left and stops at a gate on the right side of the lane. Time jumps to 8pm when they meet for dinner. Bill tells Antony the innkeeper told of a woman who stayed Monday night, and no one else. She had her own car and drover herself. Antony announces that Robert was not killed by Mark or Cayley, but will give other details tomorrow. They finished eating and went to bed. The morning there was a letter for Antony from Cayley.

Chapter 21. Cayley's Apology
Location(s): The George interior (dining room)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham; implicitly Matthew Cayley
Summary: This whole chapter is a letter from Cayley to Antony, read over breakfast by Bill (eating with Antony at The George). The letter mentions a letter Antony wrote to Cayley, so this is a response. Cayley confesses to killing Mark (who pretended he was Robert to trick the guests, especially Ruth Norris who he was mad with) over Mark’s mistreatment of Cayley’s brother and over Cayley’s jealously regarding Mark’s relationship with Angela Norbury. Other than that, he outlines events as Antony already knows.

Chapter 22. Mr. Beverley Moves On
Location(s): The George interior (dining room)
Characters: Bill Beverley, Antony Gillingham
Summary: Antony tells Bill (they are still eating breakfast at The George) that he needed the dentist Mr. Cartwright of Wimpole Street to identify the teeth of Robert Ablett as those of Mark. Antony wrote a letter to Cayley telling him Antony was telegraphing to Cartwright to identify the body as that of Mark. Cayley knew the truth would come out then. Antony explains which clues lead him to the solution. The clothes were an important clue since (Antony reasoned) they were important for Cayley. The collar had to be taken off by Mark since otherwise Cayley would have included them in those he dumped. Antony explains more clues (but not why he stopped at the gate on the walk back from the inquest). Bill says to Antony about Cayley: "He's a clever devil. If you hadn't turned up just when you did, he would never have been found out." They wonder if Cayley has committed suicide as a result of being caught.