I Walked with a Zombie Page #6

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There is a trestle table with a straight chair behind it,

typewriter on a stand, and a small wooden filing cabinet with

an old-fashioned letter-press on top of it. There is a

surveyor's map of the plantation on one wall, and on the

other a Geodetic Survey chart of the island of St. Sebastian.

(For 75c, we can purchase the U.S. Geodetic chart of Anacapa

Island, engraved by Whistler, possibly the most beautiful map

ever drawn. We can use this for the map of our fictitious

island.) Holland is seated at the table with a ledger open

before him. He has obviously been working. Betsy sits in a

chair drawn up to one corner of the table. She is in her

nurse's uniform.

HOLLAND:

I made it clear in my letter to the

company. This is not a position

for a frightened girl.

BETSY:

(quietly, but on the

defensive)

I am not a frightened girl.

HOLLAND:

That's hard to believe, after what

happened last night.

BETSY:

(before he can continue)

If I were as timid as you seem to

think, Mr. Holland, I wouldn't have

gone into the tower in the first

place.

HOLLAND:

And what is so alarming about the

tower, Miss Connell?

BETSY:

(not so sure of herself)

Nothing -- really. But you must

admit it's an eerie sort of place --

so dark --

HOLLAND:

(smiling faintly)

Surely nurses aren't afraid of the

dark?

BETSY:

(indignantly)

Of course not!

Holland waits --- looking at her a little quizzically.

BETSY (cont'd)

But frankly, it was something of a

shock to see my patient that way,

for the first time. No one had

told me Mrs. Holland was a mental

case.

HOLLAND:

A mental case?

BETSY:

I'm sorry...

HOLLAND:

(again the impersonal

employer)

Why should you be? My wife is a

mental case. Please keep that in

mind, Miss Connell -- particularly

when some of the foolish people of

this island start talking to you

about Zombies.

Paul rises and walks around the desk. Betsy also stands.

HOLLAND (cont'd)

You will find slave superstition a

contagious thing. Some people let

it get the better of them.

(breaks off and looks at

her intently)

I don't think you will.

BETSY:

No.

Holland gets up and crosses to the jalousied door. He holds

it open for Betsy to precede him into the garden.

HOLLAND:

Come along. I'll introduce you to

Dr. Maxwell and your patient.

INT. JESSICA'S BEDROOM - DAY

It is a beautiful woman's bedroom, feminine but with no

suggestion of the bagnic; elegant rather than seductive, and

reflecting a playful yet sophisticated taste. The furniture

is Biedermeier. There is a large bed, a trim chaise lounge,

a little slipper chair and in one corner of the room, that

hallmark of great vanity, a triple-screen, full-length

mirror, also a Biedermeier style. Before it is a tabouret,

the surface of which is literally covered with expensive

looking perfume bottles and cosmetic jars. Mrs. Holland had

evidently taken the tasks of beauty seriously enough to stand

up to them. There is one picture in the room. It is

Boecklin's "The Isle of the Dead," framed in a narrow frame

of dark wood. Near the open window stands a beautiful gilt

parlour harp. (Size 22) Behind it, arranged conveniently for

playing, is a small Empire chair. There is no other

furniture near this arrangement, and the harp, the empty

chair and wind-stirred glass curtains give a dual effect of

elegance and loneliness.

The CAMERA is FOCUSED on this harp as the scene opens. The

glass curtains blown by the wind, steal across the strings

bringing forth tinkling notes.

The CAMERA PANS RIGHT to reveal Betsy and Dr. Maxwell at Mrs.

Holland's bedside. Dr. Maxwell is a small, neat man with a

charming voice and a pleasant but somewhat professional

personality. He is dressed in tropical whites and wears a

cummerbund. Alma is removing the breakfast tray and, as she

passes Betsy on her way to the door, she makes a little

curtsey. Mrs. Holland is lying back against the pillows on

her bed in a semi-reclining position.

In the daylight her emaciated, pale face and great, empty

eyes are pitiful but no longer frightening.

DR. MAXWELL

I'm afraid it won't be easy for me

to explain Mrs. Holland's illness,

Miss Connell. We have our own

diseases here. But, if you'll sit

down --

(indicates a chair)

Betsy seats herself. Dr. Maxwell takes a cigarette case from

his pocket. He takes a cigarette, holds it up.

DR. MAXWELL (cont'd)

To put it simply: Mrs. Holland had

one of those high fevers often found

with our tropical maladies. We might

say that portions of the spinal cord

and certain lobes of the mind were

burned out by this fever. The result

is what you see -- a woman bereft of

will power, unable to speak or even

to act by herself. She will obey

simple commands.

BETSY:

Does she suffer?

DR. MAXWELL

I don't know. I prefer to think of

her as a sleepwalker who can never

be awakened -- feeling nothing,

knowing nothing.

Betsy looks to Jessica.

DR. MAXWELL (cont'd)

There's very little we can do

except keep her physically

comfortable -- light diet -- some

exercise --

BETSY:

She can never be cured?

DR. MAXWELL

I've never heard of a cure.

BETSY:

Is this disease common in the

tropics?

DR. MAXWELL

Fortunately, not. This is my first

experience with it as a physician.

But I have seen half-witted field

hands -- whom the other peasants

call Zombies. I am sure they

suffer from a similar destruction

of spinal nerves as the result of

high fever.

He crosses the room and clasps shut the black leather bag in

which he carries his medicine kit. Betsy rises and walks

over to him.

BETSY:

Could you give me the details of

treatment and diet?

Dr. Maxwell picks up a couple of sheets of typewritten paper

which have been lying beside the bed. He hands them to

Betsy.

DR. MAXWELL

I prepared these for you last

night, Miss Connell.

BETSY:

(taking the papers)

Thank you.

He picks up his bag and walks toward the door. Betsy walks

with him. At the door, he half turns and says:

DR. MAXWELL

I'll be by in a day or so, Miss

Connell, and see how you are

getting on.

Betsy nods and then turns back into the room. She walks up

to the bed and stands looking at Jessica, then down at the

list of typewritten instructions. Evidently the list calls

for her to carry out some detail of the regime, for she puts

it down and starts out of the room in a businesslike fashion.

DISSOLVE:

EXT. FOUNTAIN -- DAY

Holland is standing by the fountain as Betsy comes out of the

door of the tower and starts to cross the garden. He turns

toward her. She stops and smiles.

HOLLAND:

You didn't find your patient so

frightening in the daylight, did

you?

BETSY:

Mrs. Holland must have been

beautiful ---

HOLLAND:

(coldly)

Many people thought her beautiful.

Betsy is about to pass on when he asks abruptly:

HOLLAND (CONT'D)

Tell me, Miss Connell. Do you

consider yourself pretty?

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