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| "You horrible room!": Angela Stevens as June Drake in Ed Wood's The Sun Was Setting. |
Here's a quirk of B-movie history for you. At least three of Ed Wood's unproduced screenplays have been published in book form: The Vampire's Tomb (1954), The Ghoul Goes West (1953-55), and The Frank Leahy Story (1974). But only two of Eddie's produced scripts have ever been published to my knowledge: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) and Bride of the Monster (1955). I'd love to analyze and scrutinize Eddie's screenplays more closely, both the ones that were made and the ones that weren't, but they're just not available to me. I have no idea how people get them.
In the case of Eddie's made-for-TV melodrama The Sun Was Setting (1951), I thought I'd take matters into my own hands and recreate the script myself by carefully transcribing the finished film. This is not the first time I've done something like this. Years ago, I painstakingly transcribed Glen or Glenda (1953). But that transcript is still a mess in terms of formatting. Perhaps someday, I will finish it. The Sun Was Setting is more manageable, due to its shorter runtime. In any event, it is my hope that this quasi-script will give us an opportunity to see how Ed Wood constructed a screen story.
NOTE BEFORE WE CONTINUE: This is not in any way, shape, or form the actual screenplay that Ed Wood used when making the movie. It is purely a fan-made work. It is not formatted as a standard Hollywood script would be but rather in a form that I feel would be most easily readable. If you feel you can do better, you likely can and should. In fact, I invite you to do so. J.B.
W.D.B.C.
FILMS
present
" T H E S U N W A S S E T T I N G "
STARRING
ANGELA STEVENS
RICHARD POWERS
PHYLLIS COATES
Fade to black.
Fade in.
2. INT. APARTMENT - TWILIGHT.
We are in the fashionable Manhattan apartment of June Drake, an attractive and well-dressed young woman in her 20s. We start with a shot of a doctor's note propped up on an end table. Then we pan over to June as she stares hauntedly out the window. She is wearing a white long-sleeved suit jacket over a black blouse with black pants.
June steps away from the window and starts pacing around the room, feeling the furniture and various knickknacks along the way. She walks over to the end table with the note, picks up the note, reads it, then crumples it up ruefully and tosses it carelessly on the floor.
There's a knock at the door. June does not turn to look.
JUNE: Come in!
Paul, a tall, handsome gentleman in a gray suit, strides in, tosses his hat on a chair, and walks over to June, who has returned to staring out the window.
PAUL: Hello, beautiful!JUNE: (wheeling around) Paul!PAUL: You look surprised. I just found out about your trouble, and I had to see you more than ever.JUNE: (turning away from him) Oh, I wish you hadn't.
Paul pulls June toward him, but she seems reluctant to make eye contact.
PAUL: Look at me, June. Why couldn't it have been you to tell me? Seems I was the last to find out. Did you think it would make a difference?JUNE: I didn't know, Paul.PAUL: I tried to reach you everyday, but you wouldn't answer the phone or the door. Then you sent word to me that you didn't want to see me anymore. I didn't know what was the trouble, and I couldn't find out.JUNE: Why couldn't you have just forgotten me or even hated me, Paul? Why did you have to come back? It would have been so easy if you just hated me.PAUL: Hate you? When I love you so much?JUNE: (rubbing the lapels of his jacket) Then you still love me, Paul.PAUL: I'll always love you.
She turns away from him and sits down. He crouches down next to her.
JUNE: I wish you didn't.PAUL: You don't really wish that.JUNE: No, I guess I don't really. But why did you have to come back, Paul?PAUL: Because you need me, and I need you.JUNE: There'll be someone else later when...PAUL: (interrupting) No one can ever mean as much to me as you do.JUNE: Oh, it's easy for you to say that now, Paul.PAUL: I say it now, and I'll say it forever.JUNE: I think you will, Paul.PAUL: Of course I will. June, will you marry me?JUNE: No.PAUL: I mean it, June. Won't you marry me?
She stands up and begins to walk away from him. He follows her.
JUNE: No, no, Paul. I couldn't do that to you. Oh, how can I explain it?PAUL: There's nothing to explain. I don't care what happens in the next couple of months. I love you, June, and I want you. I want you as my wife, even for the little while that's left. Oh, please, don't say no.JUNE: And in two months? No, I couldn't do that to you.PAUL: June, can't you see what you mean to me? I know what to expect.JUNE: (again caressing his suit jacket) You know what to expect, but do you realize what it means?PAUL: I don't get you.
June turns her back on Paul and begins walking away from him. She crosses the room and turns to face Paul.
JUNE: Four months ago, I was given six months to live. Four months of that six are gone. Two months. Not much time left, is there? I don't really mind. I've lived a rather full life. I've done most of the things I ever really wanted to do. I couldn't take it if you were any more to me than you are now.
Paul walks over to June and looks deeply into her eyes.
JUNE: (getting emotional) Don't you realize, in two months June Drake will be dead?PAUL: Oh, please forgive me, June.
June gets very close to Paul and grabs his lapels. He hugs her.
JUNE: It's all right. Just remember me once in a while.PAUL: One moment we're happy and the next... well...JUNE: I know, darling, but I'm more happy now than anyone in the whole wide world.
She breaks away from him and starts walking around the room again.
JUNE: You know, some people seek all their lives for happiness. I found it by just sitting in this room, waiting for death to take me on. At first I couldn't believe it. I could see death's dark figure lurking in every corner, feel its fingers digging into my shoulders. (She pantomimes this.) I hated life then.
June takes Paul's arm, and they walk together toward the window.
JUNE: One day as I was looking out of the window, I realized the sun was setting. The radiance of it suddenly thrilled me. The life of that day was passing. But it wasn't really gone, just passing away to return again another day. When I leave this world, I too will go on to another, one more beautiful and more forgiving than this. It will be beautiful there. (She begins rubbing Paul's suit jacket again.) I must leave you behind for a while, darling, but one day we'll meet again. I know we will. And I am happy, real happy.PAUL: Oh, why isn't there something I can do?JUNE: Would you really want to do something for me, Paul?PAUL: Name it.
She turns away from him and starts crossing the room. He follows.
JUNE: I haven't been out of this room for four months. (She sits down and looks up at Paul.) Now I want to leave it. Will you take me out?PAUL: Of course! Dinner, a movie.
June now looks away from Paul as she imagines her night out.
JUNE: No, I mean really out. Nightclubs, dancing, Chinatown, maybe the Village, all of the interesting places. Oh, I know I'd enjoy it!PAUL: Oh, darling, why do you torture yourself? You know the doctor says any excitement may hasten the end that much sooner.JUNE: I don't care! What difference does it make, now or two months from now? Get plenty of sunshine, diet, rest, no excitement. Perhaps you may become strong enough to overthrow the infection. Those were the doctor's words, you know. I ate properly. I bathed in the sun. And I have rested. You just asked me to marry you. What do you think the excitement of the wedding would do?PAUL: Forgive me, darling.JUNE: Oh, Paul, please! Please, you gotta do this for me! You're the only one I can turn to! Do this one last thing for me. I'm begging you, Paul. If you love me, you will.PAUL: Please don't put it that way. Don't torture me! Don't you see I can't?JUNE: Can't you realize I want this one last fling at life, one more happy night? Or is this too much to ask?PAUL: I'm sorry. I wished I could.JUNE: I'm sorry, too, Paul. Goodbye.
Fade to black.
Fade in.
3. INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT.
June is seated in an easy chair, stewing in anger. She is still wearing the white jacket from the previous scene.
JUNE: You horrible room! I will go out! (She stands up.) I'll go even if I have to go alone!
There's a knock at the door. June does not go to answer it but instead leans against the chair.
JUNE: All right! Come in!
Rene enters. She is a pleasant brunette woman about June's age, wearing a black dress with matching hat, gloves, and purse.
RENE: My, don't we sound inviting tonight!JUNE: I'm sorry, Rene. I'm just a little upset, I guess.
June turns away from Rene and walks into an adjoining room. Rene walks toward the doorway but does not enter this other room.
RENE: Well, take it easy, kid. You shouldn't get upset. What's wrong?
June reemerges, now carrying a small case. She also has a black dress draped over her arm.
JUNE: (setting the case down on a cabinet) I'll show them all!RENE: What in the world do you think you're doing?
June walks right past Rene and casually drapes the dress over a chair.
JUNE: I'm going out.RENE: Well, I've been telling you these past few months you should go out once in a while, get your mind off things that are bothering you. When you locked yourself up in this room, seeing only me, I told you it was all wrong. I'm glad to see you're finally coming to your senses. A dinner and a good movie is just what you need.
While Rene has been talking, June has crossed over to the cabinet and started rifling through the contents of the small case. June now walks toward Rene.
JUNE: Why must everyone recommend a dinner or a movie? I'm going nightclubbing. (June punctuates this statement by setting the case down on the end table.) My resting days are finished!RENE: June, don't be ridiculous! You know what such an excursion would do to you! Why, your heart wouldn't last an hour in your condition.
June has seated herself on the end table. She stares out into the middle distance rather than address Rene directly.
JUNE: An hour? Ten minutes? Two seconds? I don't care anymore. It'll be fun while it lasts.
We punch in for a closeup of June, then resume the two shot of Rene and June.
RENE: You're over 21. But, well, I wish you wouldn't.
Rene walks away, eyes closed in sorrow. June stands up and follows her, bringing her dress with her. As June speaks, Rene turns to face her.
JUNE: You've been a real friend, Rene, and I appreciate it. But this last chance I must have. I did ask him to take me out. (June ruefully tosses her dress on a chair.) He refused.RENE: Paul? Did you see him? When?JUNE: He was just here. It's a wonder you didn't meet him in the hall. He left just before you came in. He loves me, I guess. I can't blame him for not wanting me dying on his hands. I know that's why he didn't want to take me out.RENE: Oh, don't be ridiculous! Paul never thought anything of the kind!JUNE: Oh, didn't he?
As Rene speaks, June turns away from her and stares into the distance.
RENE: No, he didn't. He isn't that kind! He loves you! Why, he's been eating his heart out these past few months, trying to get in touch with you. He never knew your condition until I told him.
This grabs June's attention, and she turns to face Rene.
RENE: Yes, I told him this afternoon! I couldn't bear to watch him feeling the way he does. He'd rather be near you, June, than live. He worships you! And if he wouldn't take you out tonight, it's because he doesn't want you hurting yourself.JUNE: I know, Rene. But I was so disappointed. I love him, and I did so want to have this one last night with him. (She picks up the dress and begins feeling it.) Of course I know how the night will end. But I wanted him to be with me. I could have taken it all so much better. (She clutches the dress to her as she becomes emotional.) I wanted this one last night with him!
Rene puts her arms around June.
RENE: Come on, take your bath. You'll feel better.
Rene leads June to the adjoining room. June enters, but Rene does not.
Fade to black.
Fade in.
4. INT. APARTMENT - SLIGHTLY LATER THAT NIGHT.
The door to the adjoining room is open, and we can see that June is now wearing the black dress from earlier. She feels her hair, to make sure it is perfectly in order.
JUNE: I feel so wonderful! (June enters the main room and starts striding cheerfully toward Rene.) Better than at any time in my whole life, except maybe my high school graduation.RENE: (sadly) You are very beautiful, June. And you must go out?JUNE: Yes, I must go.RENE: Well, if you must, you must. (She sighs and bends down to pick up her purse.) I'd better be leaving now.
June picks up a fur coat and begins to put it on. Meanwhile, Rene starts walking toward the door, then suddenly pivots to face June.
RENE: Why can't I go with you? (June shakes her head no.) Well, tonight's your night, all yours, so make a swell night of it.JUNE: Thanks, Rene.
At this intensely sad moment, Rene and June cannot bear to look at each other.
RENE: Goodbye, June, and good luck.JUNE: Goodbye.
Rene quickly hugs June one last time, then departs.
JUNE: (watching her leave and fondling the fur coat) Wonderful Rene.
June tosses aside the fur coat and begins to adjust her dress. There's a knock at the door. This time, June actually goes to answer the door. Paul is standing there, smiling. He is wearing a tuxedo and is holding a box with a corsage in it.
PAUL: Hi!JUNE: Paul!
Paul walks into the room.
PAUL: I've come back!JUNE: Oh, Paul!PAUL: I went home, had some time to think...JUNE: Yes, Paul?PAUL: Well, I, uh... I changed my clothes. I thought you might like this.JUNE: Oh, Paul, you're a darling!
He hands her the box. She opens it, takes out the corsage, and begins to smell it. He picks up the fur coat. She obliges by letting him slide it over her arms and onto her shoulders.
PAUL: (hugging June) Where to first?JUNE: The Village all right?PAUL: Village it is.
Together, they start walking toward the front door. After only a few steps, however, June collapses in Paul's arms.
JUNE: (smiling weakly) We almost made it, didn't we, darling?
He hugs her closely as she loses consciousness. The camera pans down. The corsage drops from June's hand and falls on the floor.
Fade to black.
5. END CREDITS SEQUENCE
WRITTEN, DIRECTED,
and PRODUCED by
EDWARD D. WOOD Jr.
ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE
and CO-DIRECTION by
BEN BRODY
JUNE...ANGELA STEVENS
PAUL...RICHARD POWERS
RENE....PHYLLIS COATES
CAMERA DIRECTOR.......RAY FLIN
PRODUCTION MANAGER..DON DAVIS
ASST. DIRECTOR....HAYES STEWART
EDITOR.............DAN NATHAN
MAKEUP..........CURLEY BATSON
HAIR DRESSER...JOSEPHINE SWEENEY
SCRIPT SUPERVISOR.....BOBBIE SIERKS
STILL PHOTOGRAPHER..JAMES M. DOOLITTLE
SET DESIGNER........FRANK SILOS
MUSIC ARRANGEMENT...EDW. D. WOOD JR.
SOUND.............GLEN GLENN
Processed by Consolidated Film Industries
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
MILTON BOWRON
JOE CARTER
DON DAVIS
THE END
So what can we glean from this little exercise? Well, I think it's important to remember that The Sun Was Setting occurred fairly early in Ed Wood's career, so this transcript gives us an idea of how Eddie was writing in the early 1950s. This is the same era that produced Glen or Glenda, and I think Glenda and Sun are tonally similar. In Cult Movies 3 (1988), critic Danny Peary compared Glenda to daytime soap operas, and I think the same could be said of The Sun Was Setting.
The dialogue for The Sun Was Setting is credited to both Ed Wood and Ben Brody. This is nothing too unusual. Ed has credited co-writers on many of his films. Both Bride of the Monster and Jail Bait (1954) give credit to Alex Gordon. Virtually all of the movies that Eddie made with Stephen C. Apostolof in the 1970s give Steve a co-writing credit as well, regardless of how much input he actually had in the script. The Sun Was Setting is the only known credit for the shadowy Ben Brody. That being said, this film contains many hallmarks of Ed Wood's writing. To wit:
- June's credo in the film is "I don't care!" She says it three times in this short film. Her attitude is one of hard-boiled cynicism. This makes her a first cousin to the also-doomed Paula Perkins (Jean Moorhead) in The Violent Years (1956), whose motto is the very similar "So what?"
- When slow-to-catch-on Paul says, "I don't get you" to June, this is identical to a moment in the iron foundry sequence from Glen or Glenda when the unseen Joe says the same thing to coworker Jack. And when June explains to Paul in the wordiest way possible that was given six months to live and now only has two of those months left, it reminded me of the moment in Glenda when Dr. Alton (Timothy Farrell) informs us, in a similarly repetitive and wordy way, that "seven out of ten men are bald."
- June's intense, dramatic monologues are prime Wood, very similar to the tone of his many short stories and novels from the 1960s and '70s. I have identified death as one of Ed Wood's three muses, the others being alcohol and women's clothing. So June's soliloquy about "death's dark figure" stalking her is something that might have been taken directly from Ed's fiction. In her monologues, June uses some of Eddie's favorite words, like "radiance" and "thrilled."
- As we discussed last week, resurrection was another theme in Ed Wood's work. Here, June imagines meeting Paul in the afterlife someday, her death being a mere interruption in their relationship rather than the end of it. She also imagines that the day itself is continually being resurrected: "The life of that day was passing. But it wasn't really gone, just passing away to return again another day."
- I should not need to explain the significance of June fondling her fur coat. Suffice it to say, Ed Wood had a thing for soft, fuzzy garments.
I could go on, but you get the idea. The Sun Was Setting is very much of a piece with Ed Wood's other writing, especially of this period. The question is, what did the mysterious Ben Brody contribute to this script. Which lines of "additional dialogue" are his? The film's often flat, repetitive dialogue ("And you must go out?" "Yes, I must go." "Well, if you must you must.") is so quintessentially Woodian that I don't see where Ben Brody could even get a foothold in this script. But Eddie bothered to credit him, so he must have contributed something.
Incidentally, I might as well tell you that when I transcribed The Sun Was Setting, it was not to write this particular article. No, I had something else in mind for this material, but
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