Sunset at Blandings (17 page)

June
25/74

I must get characters and names
.

Hero :- Bill
Yardley, Freddie Nicholas.

Sister:— Mrs
Wentworth MP (Fay). A widow.

Ld Chancellor
:— Sir Julius Corder.

Bodyguard :—
Sergeant Murchison.

Heroine :—
Surname, Garland. Jane Garland. Susan Garland.

Housemaid :—
Marilynn.

Lady Garland
(Dora). She is a widow.

No)

Heroine met
him when her dog was ill.

Sir Julius
genial. Likes hero.

June
26/74

When ‘sister’
meets Dora, she is v. severe about a shabby and insolent man she met who was
looking after pig. Dora dismayed says ‘That was Clarence’. Any hope she had
had of marrying Ld E to ‘sister’ died, and ‘sister’, though not an impressionable
woman, had the feeling that her visit had not begun well. To change an
unpleasant subject she said ‘I see you have Mr X staying here.’

Good)

‘He painted my
Peke. Your Jane recommended him.’

Sequence

1.
Gally and Beach.

2.
Gally and Dora.

3. Gally and Heroine. G & Ld E. G. says Ld E
must have pig painted.

4. Sir Julius and Dora. Bodyguard.

5. Gally and Hero

Here is a gap
to be filled. It should take up 5 and a good deal onward.

7. Mrs Wentworth arrives. Scene at sty with Ld E.

8. Mrs W. meets hero.

9. Mrs W and Dora. She tells Dora hero’s real name.

7. The quarrel (See June 25)

8. Gally v heroine. He

[7, 8 and 9
are ringed; the 7 and 8 following are also ringed; and the whole sequence
from 1 to the second 8 is then crossed out.]

6. Julius & sister in hotel. […?…] . Dora’s
invitation has arrived. He tells sister he loves Dora.

7. Hero and Julius in Jno R’s taxi. Hero has met
Sir J when he came to paint Peke.

1.
Beach tells Gally that
Dora & heroine are at castle and Sir J and sister expected. I understand
that Sir J will arrive shortly before Mrs W.

X)

June 27/74

Ld E & Gaily. G. suggests painting pig. Ld E demurs. He
reminds G. of the former artists. G says this chap is not like that.

Ld E & Hero. Ld E tells him of former artist who made pig look
like drunken ping in Xmas number. Hero reassures him. Ld E criticizes
portraits of ancestors. Says his sisters object, but he has got rid of all
except Dora.

Good)

and she will be leaving soon. She has brought her daughter here is
in love, but she’ll get over it soon.

Sequence

1.
Sir Julius and sister.
He says he loves Dora and is handicapped by bodyguard. He knows Gally. G. coming
later.

2. Cut to hero. Gally meets him at station.

3. Ld E & hero.

4. This ought to be hero-heroine. Qy: He tells her he
has sold strip in USA.

Sir
J-sister.)

Sir Julius met Dora at country house, started to woo her but
always bodyguard there. This time he is going to evade him.

Aug 3. 1974

Notes for Scenario

Try this. Gally puts jewel in
Florence’s
room.

When G. shows it to her, she says ‘I don’t know how it got there’.
‘You think it was what spiritualists call an apport?’ ‘Brenda wd never
believe I stole it: ‘Not at first, of course, but gradually the weight of
evidence … She wd tell the story—dine out on it, in fact—and you wd find
people locking up their spoons when you were around.’

Gally, before taking F to her room: ‘I have been devoting much
thought to this case. I bought a copy of What Every Young Detective Ought to
Know’.

3. Gally meets Dora. Short scene. ‘Where is Florence?’ Then play
the scene with Florence.

10. Here is where there shd be a passing of time and more stuff
before Ld E spills beans. Ld E means to tell F abt Jeff but forgets.

Qy. Ld E makes note in bedside book and discovers it later.

YES)

What I need is some sequence which threatens to expose Jeff &
is averted and reader thinks all is & well then Ld E spills beans.

X)

Query? Have Gally meet Diana after his scene with Vicky.

Nov 2. 1974

Sequence

1.
Sequence ? ? with Ld E
seeing Jeff and V embrace and telling Florence that it is Smith whom V loves,
not Jeff.

2. F suspects Smith of being Jeff and phones Dame Winkworth
and gets a description of Jeff.

3. F tackles Gally Ø who has to come clean. G tells
Vicky about F’s kicking Jeff out. (This gives V the idea of stealing the
jewel) . G tells V he will try to egg Ld E to defy Florence. After all, it’s
his castle.

4. G tells Ld E F wants to kick Jeff out —his last
chance of getting Emp’s portrait painted. Ld E goes to F and throws his
weight about. F has to consent to Jeff staying.

Is
this right?
No. F is resolute abt
kicking Jeff out.

O.K.)

5. Brenda arrives.

4. Ld E and F ‘It’s my castle, isn’t it. I’m the
Earl of E, aren’t I?

‘Anybody looking at you would think you were a tramp.

‘That is a V. offensive remark.

‘You’ve got two holes in your coat.

3. Φ
Florence accuses Gally of bringing
Jeff to castle. G. denies it. F. phones Dame D for description of Jeff.
Having got it, she goes back to Gally and denounces him. G. then tells Vicky.

O.K.
)

Then Brenda arrives next day at tea time and goes straight to Florence’s
room, leaving jewel case in hall.

Dec 20/74

Sequence

1. G. tells Ld E Florence is kicking Jeff out.

2.
F in hammock. She
accuses G. and says she has told V she is kicking Jeff out. G. says she can’t
because Ld E will not permit it. F caves in.

3. Brenda arrives Δ. B and F. ‘I want to show
you my jewels’. Beach sent for. Jewel gone.

Δ
P. tells B penniless but wants to marr V.
He cd steal your jewel to get money to elope.)

4. V. tells G she stole jewel to prevent Jeff being
kicked out.

He says he will hide it in Ld E’s study.

5. Back to B and F. They decide to have Claude
search J’s room. B suggests this.

6. Φ J catches Claude. J rushes off to curse
F. Brave.

7. F tells B abt J being violent. B says that looks
as if he were innocent.

Φ Would it be better if Ld E catches Claude and C explains.
Ld E rushes off and curses F., who takes offence and says she’s leaving)

‘It isn’t as if Florence was Connie.

‘No, Connie’s bite spelled death.

‘I’m not afraid of Florence. I once saw her spanked
by her nurse for stealing jam.

Qy Make F divorced and her husband wants
reconciliation

She says she is going back to him.

If so, make F more attractive in scene with Jeff.)

Query—Should
Gally hide jewel in F’s room. Ld E finds it when looking for stamps. Ø He
comes to G in hammock. G. says nobody must know that F is a kleptomaniac.

Good)

Or looking for
something he dropped (Report of Shrop Agriculture Society) when he was having
his row with F. Finds it behind writing desk.

If F is
divorced, make husband Amer. millionaire. When Gally tells them to elope, he
says husband will give her money. V. says I wrote to him. No answer. G says
the letter must have been intercepted by F.