Peirse, A (2017) The Script, The Séance And The Censor: Writing Night Of The Demon (1957). Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 38 (1). pp. 73-94. ISSN 0143-9685
Abstract
In his memoirs, screenwriter Charles Bennett reflects upon writing the British horror film Night of the Demon (1957, Jacques Tourneur). He reveals his lack of fondness for the film’s executive producer, commenting ‘Hal Chester, if he walked up my driveway right now, I’d shoot him dead’. Chester rewrote elements of Bennett’s script to focus attention on the fire demon, and arranged additional filming after Tourneur had completed directing duties. This much of Night of the Demon’s production history is well documented. However, drawing upon extensive research at BFI Special Collections and the BBFC, this article offers an alternative reading of the film. Focusing on creative process, I utilize draft screenplays, reader reports and letters to piece together how the original writer envisaged Night of the Demon and how various institutional pressures impacted upon the final script. Crucially, by examining the séance – the act two midpoint – I provide a revisionist account of the film, one that draws away from the now-standard discussion of whether Bennett and Tourneur knew the fire demon would be shown at the film’s beginning and end. Instead, this article is a consideration of the power of storytelling to generate fear.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 IAMHIST & Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television on 03 Apr 2017, available online: https://doi.org.10.1080/01439685.2017.1300001. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Media & Communication (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Feb 2018 11:39 |
Last Modified: | 03 Oct 2018 00:39 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/01439685.2017.1300001 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:127530 |