ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - November 30th
"MISERY" released in 1990
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Famed novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is the author of a successful series of Regency romance novels featuring a character named Misery Chastain. Wanting to focus on more serious stories, he writes a manuscript for a new novel that he hopes will launch his post-Misery career. While traveling from Silver Creek, Colorado to his home in New York City, he is caught in a blizzard and his car goes off the road, rendering him unconscious. Paul is rescued by a nurse named Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who brings him to her remote home. When Paul regains consciousness he finds himself bedridden, with both his legs broken as well as a dislocated shoulder. Annie claims she is his "number one fan" and talks a lot about him and his novels. As a reward for saving him, Paul gives Annie his new manuscript, although Annie is shocked by the profanity in it. Later, Annie buys a copy of Paul's most recently published book, Misery's Child, when she discovers that Misery dies at the end of the book, causing her to fly into a rage. She reveals that she lied about calling his agent and the authorities; nobody knows where he is. Paul tries to escape from his room, but she has locked the door.
The next morning, Annie forces Paul to burn his latest manuscript. When he is well enough to get out of bed, she insists he write a new novel titled Misery's Return, in which he brings the character back to life. Paul complies, believing Annie might kill him otherwise. He also tells her he will use Annie's name in the book in appreciation of her nursing him back to health. When the first few chapters show continuity errors, Annie chides him angrily and forces him to start again. One day, Paul sneaks out when Annie is away and begins stockpiling his painkillers. He tries poisoning Annie during dinner, but fails. Paul later finds a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about Annie's past. He discovers that she was suspected and tried for the deaths of several infants, but the trial collapsed due to lack of evidence. Annie had quoted lines from his Misery novels during her trial. Annie later drugs Paul and straps him to the bed. When he wakes, she tells him that she knows he has been out of his room and breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer to prevent him from escaping again.
The next morning, Annie forces Paul to burn his latest manuscript. When he is well enough to get out of bed, she insists he write a new novel titled Misery's Return, in which he brings the character back to life. Paul complies, believing Annie might kill him otherwise. He also tells her he will use Annie's name in the book in appreciation of her nursing him back to health. When the first few chapters show continuity errors, Annie chides him angrily and forces him to start again. One day, Paul sneaks out when Annie is away and begins stockpiling his painkillers. He tries poisoning Annie during dinner, but fails. Paul later finds a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about Annie's past. He discovers that she was suspected and tried for the deaths of several infants, but the trial collapsed due to lack of evidence. Annie had quoted lines from his Misery novels during her trial. Annie later drugs Paul and straps him to the bed. When he wakes, she tells him that she knows he has been out of his room and breaks his ankles with a sledgehammer to prevent him from escaping again.
Meanwhile, the local sheriff, Buster (Richard Farnsworth), who has been investigating Paul's disappearance at the insistence of Paul's publishing agent Marcia (Lauren Bacall) is informed by a local shopkeeper that he has sold Annie considerable quantities of typing paper. Buster pays Annie a visit, but when he finds Paul drugged in the basement, Annie fatally shoots Buster and tells Paul that they must die together. He agrees, on the condition that he must finish the novel in order to "give Misery back to the world". As Paul nears completion of his novel, Annie prepares to kill them both - but Paul has one last desperate gamble left to save himself and to get revenge of his torturer!
[Annie has just read Paul's latest novel]
Annie Wilkes: YOU! YOU DIRTY BIRD, HOW COULD YOU!
Paul Sheldon: What?
Annie Wilkes: She can't be dead, MISERY CHASTAIN CANNOT BE DEAD!
Paul Sheldon: Annie, in 1871, women often died during childbirth. But her SPIRIT is the important thing, and Misery's spirit is still alive.
Annie Wilkes: I DON'T WANT HER SPIRIT! I WANT HER! AND YOU MURDERED HER!
Paul Sheldon: No... I didn't.
Annie Wilkes: WHO DID?
Paul Sheldon: No one! She... she died! She just slipped away!
Annie Wilkes: SLIPPED AWAY! SLIPPED AWAY? SHE DIDN'T JUST SLIP AWAY! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU MURDERED MY MISERY!
Top and Above: After being injured in a car accident, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is nursed back to health by his "number one fan", Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates)
Producer Andrew Scheinman first read Stephen King's novel Misery on an airplane, and later recommended it to his director partner at Castle Rock Entertainment, Rob Reiner. Reiner, who had first wanted to adapt one of King's novel into a horror movie ever since seeing Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), invited famed writer William Goldman to write the film's screenplay. King was initially reluctant to sell the film rights to Misery because he was skeptical that a Hollywood studio would make a movie faithful to his vision. However, King was impressed with one adaptation of his works, Reiner's own film Stand by Me (1986), and agreed to sell Misery under the proviso that Reiner would either produce or direct the film. Given that Reiner was a director with a career of comedies, once he read the novel he identified with the theme of "a guy who needed a new challenge, who needs to push himself and grow", and decided to direct the adaptation himself.
Reiner worked closely with Goldman on the screenplay, with the director explaining that "We got rid of the most gory and horrific parts. I wanted to concentrate on the idea of this chess match between the artist and his fan." This included changing one of the most pivotal scenes in the movie; in the original novel, Annie Wilkes severs one of Paul Sheldon's feet with an axe. which Goldman loved (and later stated that scene was the reason he choose to write the screenplay in the first place) and argued for it to be included. However, Reiner and Scheinman's script revision changed the method of torture to Paul getting his ankles broken with a sledgehammer. Goldman subsequently wrote that this was the correct decision after seeing a first cut of the movie and agreed that an amputation would have been too severe.
Reiner worked closely with Goldman on the screenplay, with the director explaining that "We got rid of the most gory and horrific parts. I wanted to concentrate on the idea of this chess match between the artist and his fan." This included changing one of the most pivotal scenes in the movie; in the original novel, Annie Wilkes severs one of Paul Sheldon's feet with an axe. which Goldman loved (and later stated that scene was the reason he choose to write the screenplay in the first place) and argued for it to be included. However, Reiner and Scheinman's script revision changed the method of torture to Paul getting his ankles broken with a sledgehammer. Goldman subsequently wrote that this was the correct decision after seeing a first cut of the movie and agreed that an amputation would have been too severe.
[Annie desperately tries to keep the pages of Misery's Child from burning]
Annie Wilkes: No! Not my Misery! No, no, no! Not my Misery!
[Paul the grabs the typewriter and hits her violently in the head, causing that Annie's sleeve catches fire]
Annie Wilkes: No!
[Annie turns off the fire, moves the typewriter aside and gets up to grab Paul]
Annie Wilkes: I'm gonna kill you, you lying cocksucker!
Top: Local Sheriff Buster (Richard Farnsworth) investigates Sheldon's disappearance;
Above: Sheldon and Annie have a brutal, climactic fight!
According to Goldman's book "Four Screenplays," the main character role, Paul Sheldon, was offered to William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, and Warren Beatty, all of whom declined. Beatty in particular commented before declining that the hobbling scene made Paul Sheldon "a loser for the rest of the film." Jack Nicholson was then offered the role of Paul Sheldon but passed because he was not sure he wanted to do another movie based on one of King's novels, after what he had experienced with Kubrick on The Shining. It was then that James Caan accepted the lead role after Nicholson turned it down. Incidentally, Caan had previously turned down Nicholson's role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), in which he also is the victim of a psychotic nurse (Nurse Ratched) and who also won an Oscar for her role (Louise Fletcher). Jessica Lange at one point was up for the role of Annie Wilkes before Anjelica Huston was offered the part, and was interested, but was unable to accept it due to her commitment to The Grifters (1990). Bette Midler also turned the role down before, according to Reiner, Goldman suggested that Kathy Bates, then unknown, should portray the psychotic Annie Wilkes. Legendary actor Richard Farnsworth was later cast as the local sheriff, Buster.
Before production even began, Reiner studied Alfred Hitchcock movies to figure out how to shoot a thriller, watching nearly every Hitchcock film (apparently, Reiner had Hitchcock on the brain so much that Caan overheard Reiner chastising himself one day on set, asking himself, "Who do you think you are, Alfred Hitchcock?"). With principal photography beginning in Nevada on 20th February, 2000, Caan and Bates clashed over their acting methods. Caan believed in as little rehearsal as possible. Bates, with her theater background, was used to practicing a lot. When she commented to director Rob Reiner that Caan was not attempting to relate or listen to her, Reiner told her to use that frustration toward her character. As filming continued, Bates would often end up getting upset over the violence. Caan recalled that his co-star was crying when it came time to shoot that infamous scene, with Bates also crying before shooting the fight sequence at the end. Ironically, Bates reportedly was disappointed that a scene was cut in which she kills a young police officer by rolling over him repeatedly with a lawnmower, a scene which Reiner was afraid that the audience would laugh at.
Caan once showed up to the set hungover and all of the scenes he shot that day were unuseable. Reiner later told Caan he had to do the scenes again because there was "a problem at the lab." When Caan learned it had nothing to do with labs, he offered to cover the money he lost the studio. But the most difficult scenes for Caan to film where when he had to stay in bed for fifteen weeks of shooting. Caan said he thought that Reiner was playing a "sadistic" joke on him, knowing the actor would not enjoy not moving around for so long. Caan was not used to playing a reactionary character, and found it much tougher to play. For the hobbling scene, Caan's fake legs were molded out of gelatin and armatures with wire were inserted into the prosthetic ankles so that after Annie hit them with the sledgehammer, they would bend at the desired, gruesome angles (there were holes so that Caan could slip his real legs up to the knee).
Before production even began, Reiner studied Alfred Hitchcock movies to figure out how to shoot a thriller, watching nearly every Hitchcock film (apparently, Reiner had Hitchcock on the brain so much that Caan overheard Reiner chastising himself one day on set, asking himself, "Who do you think you are, Alfred Hitchcock?"). With principal photography beginning in Nevada on 20th February, 2000, Caan and Bates clashed over their acting methods. Caan believed in as little rehearsal as possible. Bates, with her theater background, was used to practicing a lot. When she commented to director Rob Reiner that Caan was not attempting to relate or listen to her, Reiner told her to use that frustration toward her character. As filming continued, Bates would often end up getting upset over the violence. Caan recalled that his co-star was crying when it came time to shoot that infamous scene, with Bates also crying before shooting the fight sequence at the end. Ironically, Bates reportedly was disappointed that a scene was cut in which she kills a young police officer by rolling over him repeatedly with a lawnmower, a scene which Reiner was afraid that the audience would laugh at.
Caan once showed up to the set hungover and all of the scenes he shot that day were unuseable. Reiner later told Caan he had to do the scenes again because there was "a problem at the lab." When Caan learned it had nothing to do with labs, he offered to cover the money he lost the studio. But the most difficult scenes for Caan to film where when he had to stay in bed for fifteen weeks of shooting. Caan said he thought that Reiner was playing a "sadistic" joke on him, knowing the actor would not enjoy not moving around for so long. Caan was not used to playing a reactionary character, and found it much tougher to play. For the hobbling scene, Caan's fake legs were molded out of gelatin and armatures with wire were inserted into the prosthetic ankles so that after Annie hit them with the sledgehammer, they would bend at the desired, gruesome angles (there were holes so that Caan could slip his real legs up to the knee).
TRIVIA: In the original idea for the novel "Misery," Annie planned to kill Paul Sheldon by feeding him to Misery the Pig and take his skin to bind the book he had written. The title would have been "The Annie Wilkes 1st Edition."
Top: Director Rob Reiner on set with Kathy Bates and James Caan;
Above: A scene from William Goldman's 2015 Broadway production of Misery, with Bruce Willis as Paul Sheldon and Laurie Metcalf as Annie Wilkes
On Misery's release in 1990, audiences, King fans, and critics alike were mostly unanimous in their praise. Roger Ebert in particular praised Bates, stating," Bates, who has the film's key role, is uncanny in her ability to switch, in an instant, from sweet solicitude to savage scorn. Some of the things Stephen King invents for her to do to the writer are so shocking that they could be a trap for an actor - an invitation to overact. But she somehow remains convincing inside her character's madness." Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune wrote,"Like any good work of popular culture, Rob Reiner's film of Stephen King's best-selling book Misery functions on more than one level", while Empire Magazine's Phillip Thomas noted, "From start to harrowing finish, it is blissfully apparent that Rob Reiner can indeed turn his hand to virtually anything." Along with the strong reviews, Misery was also a box office success, grossing $10,076,834 on its opening weekend, finishing at second at the box office behind Home Alone (Misery eventually finished with $61 million domestically). In 1991, Bates won both the Golden Globe for Best Actress and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her chilling portrayal of Annie Wilkes. In her Oscar acceptance speech, one thing Bates earnestly said was, "I'd like to publicly apologize to James Caan for the ankles!"
Goldman would again adapt Misery, this time for the stage. First appearing at the Bucks County Playhouse in 2012, the play was transferred to Broadway from November 2015 to February 2016, starring Bruce Willis as Paul Sheldon and Laurie Metcalf as Annie Wilkes. The play received mixed to average reviews from theatre critics; Willis was widely criticized for his portrayal as Paul Sheldon with reviewers saying that while the actor tried his best, he "lacked emotion" as the captured character. However, on a more positive side, Metcalf was met with unanimous critical acclaim for her performance as Annie and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Goldman would again adapt Misery, this time for the stage. First appearing at the Bucks County Playhouse in 2012, the play was transferred to Broadway from November 2015 to February 2016, starring Bruce Willis as Paul Sheldon and Laurie Metcalf as Annie Wilkes. The play received mixed to average reviews from theatre critics; Willis was widely criticized for his portrayal as Paul Sheldon with reviewers saying that while the actor tried his best, he "lacked emotion" as the captured character. However, on a more positive side, Metcalf was met with unanimous critical acclaim for her performance as Annie and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 89%
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