Thursday, January 13, 2011

Movie Pitch #2

So those evil geniuses (genii?) over at Anomalous Material had the Hollywood Fantasy Draft come back for a second round. Having participated in Round 1, I decided to do it again. Rules are the same as last time but this time around, you could choose actors and directors that have passed on (which, judging by my casting, I took full advantage of).

So here is my pitch for the Otto Preminger-directed Desire of the Soul.

The Logline
Life seemed perfect for them until two strangers entered their lives.

The Characters
  • Rock Hudson is Roy Grayson, a Virginia suburbanite with an ideal life, a steady job at an advertising agency and a stable marriage. However, recently his life has gotten more secretive.
  • Doris Day is Janet Grayson, Roy's wife. She is a housewife who has grown bored with her daily and married lives.
  • Montgomery Clift is Dave Mareau, a new co-worker at Roy's agency. He appears that he wants to know Roy, but it soon becomes something else...
  • Tony Curtis is Max Kovan, Roy and Janet's new neighbor. He is a young widower who has moved from New York City to start a new life.
  • Thelma Ritter is Helen Jordan, Janet's close friend. Janet goes to her when something is troubling her. She is also the one who introduces Janet to Max.
  • Lee J. Cobb is Trevor Watson, Roy's boss. He is the one who introduces Roy to Dave.
  • Lee Remick is Nancy Baker, Roy's secretary. She is the one who discovers the extent of Roy's friendship with Dave.
The Outline
Theme: The main theme is infidelity. It will become a tad more clear once you read the outline.

Setting: Virginia, 1958

Prologue: We get a glimpse of Roy and Janet's morning routine: Roy heads off to work while Janet cleans the house and has friends over for gossip. Both get bored after their tasks are done, more so for Janet. It is also revealed that their marriage is in a bit of a slump.

Act One: Trevor introduces Dave to the agency's employees. Being polite, Roy asks Dave to go out for a drink after work. At the bar, Roy notices that Dave is making passes at him, embarassing Roy. The day after the incident, Dave's interest in Roy has only intensified. Roy avoids his advances, but Dave tells him that he'll give in sooner or later. And later that night, Roy does.

Act Two: Roy returns home after his fling with Dave, lies to Janet about his whereabouts and goes upstairs to get some sleep. It is here we are introduced to Max, courtesy of Helen and her neighborly nature. Janet is attracted by Max's charm, but doesn't show it. It's also here where Roy and Dave's illicit relationship is discovered by Nancy.

Act Three: It's here where Janet and Max start seeing more of each other. Helen continuously asks Janet if she and Max are more than just friends, but Janet vehemently denies it. But during one of their meetings, Max admits to Janet that he's in love with her. Upon returning home, Janet is questioned by Roy about her whereabouts. Janet lies about who she was with and furiously brings up what Nancy had told her. She cries when she's alone, upset over two affairs: Roy's and her own.

Epilogue: Max proposes to Janet while Dave drunkenly breaks it off with Roy. Roy professes his love to Janet as a means of apologizing for his actions, but Janet belittles him for his dishonesty and announces she is leaving him for Max. The final image is Roy staring at Janet's wedding ring in his hand.

So what do you think? Would you see this?

2 comments:

  1. "So what do you think? Would you see this?"

    YES! Great work. Hoping to participate in the next Hollywood Fantasy Draft if and when it happens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice job, Anna. I'm generally not a big fan of films dealing with infidelity but your cast certainly is intriguing. Talk about the who's who of classic cinema.

    ReplyDelete

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