TNMC
This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
The Weston Front
Reviews and Commentary from the Heartland
review of the script for
"HARROW ALLEY"
by
Walter Brown Newman
Once again it is all quiet on the Weston Front. I am slowly working my way through a stack of scripts which showed up mysteriously in my mailbox. Now, at least one of these projects will be going ahead but the others I fear are destined for the proverbial scrap heap of history. Not that this fate will in every case be deserved or warranted by the subjects or the writing but, all too often, nothing will come of some considerable effort. I will not say that this is fair or just -– remember, this is the same industry which produced Dude, Where’s My Car?, Swept Away, and now this nonsense about Cancun. The old expression "De Gustibus Non Est Disputandem" (there’s no accounting for taste) springs to mind. But that is neither here nor there right now. Instead we’ll move on to the most recent entry.
There have been a few films done of the period covered by today’s script –- a very few; Tom Jones, Moll Flanders, even Restoration but their track record at the box office has been spotty at best. While the date is never mentioned, the action of this particular story must take place during the year 1665 as the central theme is the ravaging of the city of London by the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) and references are made to King Charles II. I should note at the outset that this outbreak of the plague devastated London and that by August 1665 that city was experiencing a death toll of 6,000 persons per week. So this was indeed a bleak time for Londoners. As alluded to in the script, the court and those who could afford it, left the city behind and fled to the countryside in hopes of escaping the epidemic. The Lord Mayor of London, left to do the best he could, instituted some draconian measures to enforce quarantines on affected homes and to prevent infected persons from leaving the city and thus spreading the disease. Taken all in all it was a fairly grim time.
Here we have the setting for this story which opens with a highwayman, Gamaliel Ratsey about to be hanged for his career as the notorious outlaw "Captain Montressor." Ratsey, a perfect thug, is both surprised and disappointed to note that the route to Tyburn is not thronged with onlookers as is usually the case for an execution. Unknown to him, the first signs of the plague have been detected and crowds are discouraged for health reasons. As might be expected, at the last minute Ratsey is preserved from death by the intercession of Harry Poyntz. Harry, a successful tailor is also an Alderman for the city of London and, empowered by the Lord Mayor, snatches Ratsey from the hangman to augment the manpower needed to remove an anticipated surplus of plague victims. Poyntz does not expect that Ratney will last very long and is most certainly expendable. As Poyntz is making his proposal to Ratsey the hangman’s young assistant collapses with the symptoms of the plague and as the few onlookers hurry away Ratsey quickly signs on with Poyntz.
Poyntz is rather an odd duck –- cool and professional, he has a young wife, Jemimah or "Jem," at home who is but 15 and quite pregnant. While Jem seems a comely and likable lass it appears that Poyntz has no real affection for her. Jem is an attractive girl who came with a great dowry (which allowed Poyntz to set up his own business) and is now large with child but that is about it. It is quickly clear that while Jem is attached to Poyntz this is, for him, more a marriage of convenience or economic advantage. Interestingly enough, the nondescript and demonstrably retiring Poyntz finds himself thrust more and more into the role of government as the effects of the plague begin to ravage the city. If left to his own devices it is clear that Poyntz would take his young wife and flee to the country but he has no choice in the matter. The Lord Mayor of London has imposed upon his alderman to remain and help him to keep order and morale alive in the city. As the plague becomes ever worse Poyntz seems to somehow rise to the occasion and even grows as a human being. Jem notices the changes in her husband and he, wonder of wonders, actually begins to fall in love with his young wife.
Ratsey in the meantime finds himself in rather an odd position. A temporarily free man, although obligated to Poyntz, with little responsibility but to remove the corpses of plague dead. It is not his preferred line of work but it beats the alternative. Having once been exposed to the plague in his youth he feels he is immune to the disease and so plunges into his duties with thoughtless abandon. As the sickness reaches epidemic proportions wiping out entire families Ratsey finds to his great surprise that his new occupation is remarkably profitable. In but a few weeks he is well clad in the clothes left behind by the dead and rolling in the cash which comes from liquidating their belongings on a flourishing black market.
As the epidemic peaks Poyntz, exhausted by his duties and now madly in love with his young wife, reaches the end of his tether. So too does Ratsey who watches his companions dying around him and suddenly finds that they too had been exposed to the disease in their youth. Ratsey is stunned to recognize his own vulnerability and begins to self-destruct. It is at this point that the paths of these two protagonists change radically. Poyntz accidentally discovers that the child just borne by his young wife is not his and he is crushed by the revelation. In a cold fury he sends her and the child away from him. Horribly shaken and disillusioned he begins to drink heavily and, running into Ratsey at a pub, quickly scribbles a full pardon for the man he recruited from Tyburn. He then turns back to the bottle. Ratsey stumbles out into the night a free man but unsure which way to turn. When Ratsey comes to his senses he finds himself destitute and dirty outside of one of the few functioning bakeries. The woman who runs the bakery is recently widowed and needs help so she recruits Ratsey. It is not long before the former highwayman finds his elusive redemption in the hard but rewarding work of the bakery. As the drama comes to a close we find Ratsey a completely reformed man. Now a stalwart member of the community as London emerges from the plague, he also finds himself recruited from time to time to act as a constable. It is in this latter position that he finds himself called to a tavern to arrest a man for a double murder. He is taken aback to find that the murderer is none other than Poyntz now a dazed and rootless drunkard who barely realizes that he has murdered two people simply because they annoyed him. Ratsey shakes his head in wonder as he escorts his former savior to prison.
Now, normally I don’t reveal the ending of a script but in this case it is likely the only way any of our readers will know how this tale turns out. I say this because the likelihood of this ever making it to the big screen or small is, well... slim to none. It is not that the screenwriter has not done his research –- the script is largely quite accurate, perhaps too accurate -- for at 177 pages this is a large work and unlikely to attract a Martin Scorsese to direct it. There are a few anachronisms –- sayings thrown out by Poyntz which will not come into vogue until the following century –- plus there are far too many examples of period song and period sermon thrown in for atmosphere. It’s fairly obvious that Mr. Newman knows his period but perhaps a little too well. I fear that the viewer will too quickly be overwhelmed and even left cold by the experience. One of the tricks of screenwriting is knowing what to leave out and much could have been left out of this one. Frankly, while I found this an interesting read, the prospective viewer would be well-advised to get a copy of "Restoration" on video or go to the library and pull out a copy of Daniel Defoe’s "A Journal of the Plague Year."
Frederick J. Chiaventone, an award-winning novelist and screenwriter, is a retired Army officer and Professor Emeritus of International Security Affairs at the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. His most recent book, Moon of Bitter Cold, a novel of Red Cloud’s war, has just been nominated for the Pulitzer. His most recent piece for American Heritage magazine (October 2002) is on Native American leadership.
Novel "Moon of Bitter Cold" Named Winner of Prestigious 42nd Annual "Wrangler Award"
Frederick J. Chiaventone has been selected to receive the annual "Wrangler Award" for "Moon of Bitter Cold" as the Best Novel of the American West 2002. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum announced the 2002 winners of the 42nd Western Heritage Awards. The black-tie awards gala will be held on April 12, 2003 in the Museum's majestic Sam Noble Special Events Center. The event will honor principal creators in six literary categories. Popular actor, William Devane, will serve as emcee for the event. Other recipients of the award this year include Jeffery Katzenberg of Dreamworks SKG and actor Patrick Stewart. Past recipients of the coveted award include actors Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Tom Selleck, and Sam Elliott, and authors A.B. Guthrie, Dr. Brian Dippie, David McCullough, Alvin M. Josephy, Thomas Berger, and James A. Michener. Chiaventone's previous novel "A Road We Do Not Know" about the disastrous battle of the Little Bighorn won the Ambassador William Colby Award for Literature. A screenwriter as well as novelist, Chiaventone is managed by Michael Prevett of The Firm.
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums