Point Blank

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1966. Early Draft script for the 1967 film, seen here under the working title "Point Blank!"

The lead character, named Parker here (as he was in the novel), was renamed Walker in the finished film (the role played by Lee Marvin).

A foundational crime film of the late 1960s, setting the stage for the New Hollywood era. A blunt, unapologetic, nihilistic work, one of the gems of early neo-noir, with touches of French New Wave. Viewers and critics have often questioned whether or not the film is really a dream that its protagonist has after he is shot in the very beginning. Director John Boorman claims to not have an opinion on the matter, and has said that the film is about the lead character's brutalizing experiences in World War II that had dehumanized him and left him desperately searching for his humanity.

The film's oblique final sequence, wherein Parker/Walker realizes he has been unknowingly eliminating the competition for a shadowy figure who now wishes to hire him, was not developed at this stage of the script's history. The ending instead adheres more closely to that of the novel.

Goldenrod titled wrappers, rubber-stamped copy No. 6, dated December 5, 1966, with credits for screenwriters Rafe Newhouse and David Newhouse. Title page integral with front wrapper. 91 leaves, with last page of text numbered 91. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, all leaves dated variously between 12/4/66 and 12/9/66. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, bound with two gold brads.

Housed in a green cloth clamshell box.

Grant US. Silver Classic Noir. Spicer US.

[Book #160106]