Excerpt: William Goldman's
Adventures
in the Screen Trade.
p. 181
I mumbled, cursed, paced around. No ideas at all. This
was a detective story, and traditionally they don't
start until there's a case, until the detective meets
his client and finds out what he's supposed to do. I
could have always had him getting the phone call when
he's told to go see Mrs. Sampson, but the thought of
credits running over a phone call with snappy dialog
like "Yes, this is Lew Harper" or "Fine,
I'll be there" made my eyes glaze over just thinking
about it.
And there wasn't any time. So in desperation I decided,
what the hell, he had to get up in the morning, everybody
gets up in the morning, what's special about our guy?
Not all that much, maybe, but it was the best I could
come up with. This is what I wrote and sent that day,
and what was the eventual opening of the movie.
IN BLACKNESS, there is the loud metallic ticking of
a clock.
FADE IN ON
LEW ARCHER S EYES. The eyes blink. Again. Again. Now-
FULL BACK TO REVEAL
HARPER lying alone in bed in his small crummy off ice.
It's early morning. Across the room is a tv set, on
but blank, no programs yet. An alarm clock is on a table
nearby. HARPER lies there, wearing underwear shorts
and shirt. The clock continues to tick. HARPER continues
to stare. At nothing.
CREDITS START TO ROLL
Now the clock goes off like an explosion. HARPER half
rises, swipes at the clock with his hand and
CUT TO
THE CLOCK, the sound dying suddenly as it hits the
floor. |
