Isle of the Dead Page #12

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OLIVER:

(nods thoughtfully)

I suppose a war correspondent

could get the plague.

(cheerfully)

Well, I'd better try for some sleep

—- while I'm alive to enjoy it.

Good night, gentlemen.

He starts for the stairs. The CAMERA DOLLIES WITH him, then

PANS WITH him as he climbs.

INT. THE CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Oliver comes up onto the landing and starts down the

corridor. Suddenly, a shadowy form materializes from the

darkness and a voice whispers to him.

MISS WOLLSTEN:

Mr. Davis -—

Oliver, startled, stops and stares.

MISS WOLLSTEN:

Will you help me? Mr. St. Aubyn

is ill —- very ill

OLIVER:

(starting forward)

His room is down here, isn't it?

INT. GIRLS' BEDROOM - NIGHT

MED. FULL SHOT. Both girls are in their beds and both seem to

be asleep.

CLOSE SHOT — Cathy. She sleeps soundly.

CLOSE SHOT — Thea. She is wide awake listening to the sound

of excited footsteps in the hall. Thea looks toward the door.

INSERTTHE BOTTOM OF THE DOOR FRAME AND THE FLOOR. Light

passes the door. There is darkness then more light goes past.

MED. CLOSE SHOT — Thea. She rises to one elbow and waits for

a moment, watching the closed door. Then she swings her feet

to the floor and begins to reach for a wrapper which hangs at

the foot of the bed. She puts it on, stands up and starts

tiptoeing across the room, CAMERA PANNING WITH her. CAMERA

HALTS as Thea pauses at the foot of Cathy's bed. She looks at

the motionless figure of the sleeping Cathy. Then, CAMERA

PANNING WITH her again, she goes to the door and stands

there, listening.

INT. THE CORRIDOR - NIGHT

DOLLY SHOT. Albrecht and the dapper, uniformed figure of Dr.

Drossos come down the corridor. The CAMERA DOLLIES BEFORE

them.

ALBRECHT:

If he's not dead, he's certainly

a sick man.

Albrecht and Dr. Drossos turn at St. Aubyn's door and go in~

INT. ST. AUBYN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Oliver and the General are standing at the foot of St.

Aubyn's bed. Miss Wollsten stands near the head of the bed,

looking down at the motionless figure of the consul. Albrecht

and Dr. Drossos enters Dr. Drossos nods to the General and

crosses to the bed. While the others wait tensely, he feels

the man's pulse. He shakes his head and takes hold of the

blanket's edge, to pull it up over the dead man's face.

MISS WOLLSTEN:

(fighting hysteria)

No. No. I won't believe it.

He's not dead.

GENERAL:

This is Dr. Drossos, chief medical

officer of my division.

MISS WOLLSTEN:

I don't care who he is. He

doesn't know.He can't tell ——

DR. DROSSOS

(pityingly)

I'll make any test you want.

Look.

Dr. Drossos plucks a feather from the pillow, a little curl

of fluff,and holds it before St. Aubyn's mask-like face.

INSERTTHE FEATHER at St. Aubyn's face.

It doesn't move.

BACK TO SCENE:

MISS WOLLSTEN:

(stubbornly)

He's not dead. I tell you he's

not dead.

Dr. Drossos sighs. He turns and picks up a hand mirror from

the chest of drawers behind him.

DR. DROSSOS

If there is the finest breath

of life it will cloud a mirror.

He takes a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully

polishes the mirror to clarity, then holds it before the dead

mouth. He turns the unclouded mirror, so that the others may

observe it.

DR. DROSSOS

You see?

MISS WOLLSTEN:

(clinging desperately to

her delusion)

The breath can stop, the heart can

stop —— it still doesn't mean

death. Men have lived --

Dr. Drossos nods with approval. Being entirely devoid of

sentiment, his manner is that of a teacher answering the

argument of a particularly bright student.

DR. DROSSOS

Quite right. In cataleptic trance,

a man may live for days with no

visible sign of life. The breath

suspended,the heartbeat stilled--

(looking down at St.

Aubyn)

But this man is dead.

Dr. Drossos turns away to replace the mirror on the chest of

drawers. As he does so, Oliver steps forward and starts to

pull the blanket over the dead man's face. Again, Miss

Wollsten stops it.

GENERAL:

What difference does it make?

Covered or uncovered, the eyes see

no more.

As he speaks, the General starts toward the door.

INT. CORRIDOR - NIGHT

CLOSE SHOT ON closed door of St. Aubyn's room. The door opens

and the General starts to step into the corridor. He is

suddenly motionless, obviously arrested by something he sees.

CAMERA DRAWS ASIDE TO disclose Thea. The girl evidently is

frozen in the act of trying to slip away. She starts to put

her hand to her throat, but, as she is not wearing the

necklace, fumbles nervously with the collar of her robe.

Then, still under the General's relentless stare, she goes

back to her room. At this moment, Oliver comes out of St.

Aubyn's room. He looks down the corridor, then worriedly back

to the General. Albrecht and Dr. Drossos also come out and

the four men start toward the stairs.

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