Lot 238
238
The Nightcomers, 1972
THE NIGHTCOMERS, 1972 Another picture I enjoyed making was The Nightcomers, a 1971 thriller based on Henry James' The Turn Of The Screw that was directed by Michael Winner, an Englishman who, like David Niven, had an arch sense of humour as well as a stout, characteristically British sense of class
The Nightcomers, 1972

Details
The Nightcomers, 1972
A collection of material relating to The Nightcomers, including:
- two shooting scripts, both 114pp. of mimeographed typescript, both with black paper covers;
- a typescript letter from the Director, Michael Winner to Marlon Brando, on Michael Winner M.A. (Cantab) headed stationery, [n.d. but circa December 1970], informing Brando you asked me to report on the various continuing activities on "The Nightcomers!"... Elliott is doing his utmost to secure a bank loan guaranteed by a couple of rich property men he has unearthed...but they were talking about June when they could commit to pay up...it is difficult to get the paperwork through in time to start on January 25th...otherwise I am suggesting that these people sign a firm contract for June... 1pp.;
- some loose script pages including pp. 40 - 40A detailing Quint's speech about his father, the speech annotated in Brando's hand in blue and black ballpoint pen with suggested alternatives to the wording; accompanied by three pages of The Royal Cambridge Hotel headed stationery inscribed in an unknown hand with Quint's speech and two corresponding typescript versions, one with additional notes in Brando's hand; and a letter from Michael Winner to Brando, on Michael Winner M.A. (Cantab) headed stationery, dated 24 January, 1971, enclosing script with 'Irish' version written in, also letter from author who did it..., 1p.; with the corresponding letter from Joseph O' Conor, regarding the rewrite of the speech;
- a quantity of mimeographed typescript production paperwork, including approximately 4pp. of scene synopses, 15pp. of looping sheets, 30pp. of shooting schedules, 44pp. of call sheets and movement orders;
- approximately 76 black and white facial portraits of Brando as Peter Quint, all -- 5½x4in. (14x10.2cm.); a black and white photograph of Brando on set with Michael Winner reading Variety newspaper -- 8x10in. (20.3x25.4cm.); and 4 black and white stills of Brando with other characters during the filming, all -- 11x14in. (28x35.5cm.);
- a typescript letter, signed from Michael Winner, dated 4 September, 1978, regarding a forfeit that Winner had been obliged to carry out after losing a bet with Brando on the pronunciation of the word "integral", the forfeit being to sell French Ticklers in Piccadilly Circus, accompanied by 27 black and white photographs of Winner carrying out the forfeit; and related material (a lot)

Lot Essay

Six years later, when I went to London for the filming of Superman, I invited Michael for dinner. During the evening, I asked him, "How do you pronounce the word 'integral'?"
"Integral," he answered.
"No, I think it's pronounced integral."
"That's not how it's pronounced in England," he said.
I responded that there must be only one proper pronunciation for the word, and repeated that I thought it was integral...so I said, "Let's have a bet."
"All right Marlon - a hundred pounds," he said, and walked toward me offering his hand.
"No", I said, "let's think of something else...I know: the loser has to sell French ticklers in Piccadilly Circus for one hour."

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