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THOM BROWNE New York.
SCREENPLAY BOOK
“THE LETHAL DESERT”
Edit by: Ling Zhu & Martina Gerosa
CHARACTERS: WILSON FAMILY MOTHER: Madame Eleanor Wilson
DOCTOR: Sarah Thompson
SON: Eric Wilson
PSYCOLOGIST: Doctor Colins
DAUGHTER1: Carol Wilson
AMERICAN TOURIST1: Madame Helen Smith
DAUGHTER2: Ginevra Wilson
AMERICAN TOURIST2: Madame Alice Pierce
DETECTIVE: Thom Browne
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Important menber of the american Parliament
SETTING: EGYPT: Cairo: Mena Hotel House Camp: White Desert 5
SUMMARY: The play opens with Detective Browne arriving at the Mena House Hotel in Cairo. While observing the presents, the Wilson’s family arrives. Mrs. Wilson happens to be a sadistic and domineering mother. Sarah is attracted to Eric Wilson. Having been thwarted in her desire to free the young Wilsons, Sarah confronts Mrs. Wilson whose apparent reply is a strange threat: “I’ve never forgotten anything – not an action, not a name, not a face.” The day after the trip to the White When the small party composed by the Wilson’s family, Detective Brown, Sarah Thompson, Doctor Colins, Madame Smith and Madame Pierce reaches the White Desert, Mrs. Wilson uncharacteristically sends her family away from her for a period. Later, she is found dead with a needle puncture in her neck. Sarah places the time of death considerably before the times at which various of the family members claim last to have seen the victim alive.
has, in turn, discovered Mrs. Wilson to be dead and, suspecting another family member, failed to report the fact. None of the family would have needed to murder the victim with a hypodermic. This places the suspicion on one of the outsiders. The murderer is revealed to be Madame Smith who had been incarcerated in the prison in which the victim was once a warden. Indeed Mrs. Wilson had addressed that peculiar threat to Madame Smith, and not to Sarah. Disguised as an Arab servant she had committed the murder and then relied upon the suggestibility of Mirs. Pierce. Madame Smith overhears that her criminal history is about to be revealed to the world and commits suicide. The family, free at last, take up happier lives.
Attention is focused on a hypodermic syringe that has seemingly been stolen from Dr. Colins’s tent and later replaced. Detective Brown then calls for a meeting and explains how each member of the family
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SCENE I: Detective Brown is arriving at the Mena House Hotel in Cairo. He is relaxing and having a cocktail in the hall of the hotel, while The WILSON FAMILY ARRIVES.
The Mena House Hotel in Cairo. The Mena House Hotel in Cairo.
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The same night, he was reading a book in his room, while he hears THE TALK: “SHE’S GOT TO BE KILLED” (Erik and Carol Talking)
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SCENE II: Sarah Thompson and Doctor Collins are chatting together and their attention focuses on the Wilson’s family. Its members have a particular attitude. They are dependending on the mother who moves and control them as puppets. They are always together and they are never leaving their mother alone. Sarah says to Doctor Colins that she met Erik on the train to go to Cairo and they felt in love. Now, since the old mother is around, Erick does not speak or even look at Sarah anymore, and this makes her nervous and souspicious. Detective Brown,in the hall, notices the attitude of the family and starts observing them.
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They ar e that mo co-dependent an ves and control d dependent o n t them as puppets he mother .
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A butler comes and announce that the trip to the White Desert is ready. The Wilson’s, Madame Pierce, Madame Smith, Sarah, Doctor Collins and Mister Brown get ready to attend the trip. They will stay all together in the camp close to the desert.
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SCENE III: The day after the party left the hotel, they spend the day in the camp. All of the characters are supposed to attend a trip in the desert that starts at 3 pm. Madame Wilson decides to stay in the camp sunbathing and observing the landscape. Strangely she lets her children free to go in the desert without her. Madame Smith and Madame Pierce decide to stay in the camp too because of the heat. All the others attend the trip. Suddently Doctor Collins starts feeling bad and he goes back to the camp. He has fever and he goes resting in his tent. The Wilson’s and Detective Brown come back from the trip and they found Madame Wilson DEAD.
The Trip in the White Desert
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‘Mother...?’
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SCENE IV:
Detective Brown begins questioning suspects and Doctor Collins tells him that his hypodermic syringe disappeared.
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The detective starts thinking and he claims that the mother didn’t die for an overdose of medicine but for a puncture of the missing syringe.
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Remembering the talk he heard from his room he says that the children couldn’t be responsible of the death of their mother because they could have just added more medicine to kill her.
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So he starts investigating on the American Tourists. Madame Pierce felt asleep and the butler saw her. Lady Smith claimed that she went back to her tent but nobody could confirm that. So she has no alibi.
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The detective remembers what the old mother told to Sarah the first day: � I remember everything, every face, every gesture and every voice� She was not looking at Sarah, but at Lady Smith.
The butler told detective Brown that an Arab went to speak at the old mother around 1pm. Since he suspects Lady Smith he goes to check her tent and he finds the syringe hidden in her stuff.
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Disguised as an Arab servant she had committed the murder and then relied upon the suggestibility of Mirs. Pierce.
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Madame Smith overhears that her criminal history is about to be revealed to the world and commits suicide.
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The family, free at last, take up happier lives.
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