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Deleted scene - 2 of ?

Scene 59. INT. CHUCK’S ROOM -- NIGHT

Chuck is already getting down to studying when his Mother appears at his door. She waits at the door watching.

MOTHER: We hardly ever see you these days?

CHUCK: I’m down at the library.

She moves behind him to look at what he’s studying. He looks back at her. We see her disbelief. And so...

MOTHER: If you’re smoking “mary jane” I can handle it. You can tell me.

CHUCK: I’m just studying.

His Mother nods, accepting it, but not really accepting it.

MOTHER: I used to be pretty good at Latin, you know? (picks up a piece of paper) Futue te... Which verb’s that?

Chuck is embarrassed, but he recovers.

CHUCK: It means... “to twist.”

Mother nods. She picks up some more papers. Detailed Latin homework and geometry. She is surprised at his diligence.

MOTHER: You did all this?

Chuck nods. Afraid to hope that she might praise him. But wanting her to. But finally she says...

MOTHER: Don’t you think you’re taking this exam a bit too seriously? It’s the summer, Charles... You should be enjoying yourself.

It’s absolutely the wrong thing to say. Charles responds coldly.

CHUCK: I got the red hair. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

He stares flatly at her. She can see he’s tuning her out.

MOTHER: You can be a real cold one.

Chuck can’t respond. She exits. Chuck looking after.

______________________________________________________________

The above deleted scene was transcribed from a draft of the the script to The Man Without a Face (1993) (screenplay by Malcolm MacRury, based on Isabelle Holland’s 1972 YA novella of the same name).

The scene would have occurred directly after the “waxing poetic” scene from the film where Charles comes home and happily questions his Mother about her knowledge of Shakespeare but before the scene where McLeod acts out Portia’s “quality of mercy” monologue from The Merchant of Venice.

The actors involved would have been Nick Stahl and Margaret Whitton.

Contextual note 1: The Latin phrase Chuck’s Mother finds is a reference to a dropped extended scene from the script. Charles believes he has found the closest Latin equivalent to “fuck you” -- he uses it to insult his older sister, Gloria.

Contextual note 2: Chuck’s comment about “the red hair” is a reference back to an alternate bit of dialogue that didn’t make the film. In the beginning of the film, when Gloria laughs about Charles needing more time than others his age to study their Mother says “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s like having red hair.”

#the man without a face #tmwaf #deleted scene #2 of ?#charles norstadt #chuck norstadt #catherine palin #nick stahl #margaret whitton #1993 film #malcolm macrury #isabelle holland #justin mcleod

#saving hope #tv shows #ctv #morwyn brebner #malcolm macrury #erica durance #michael shanks #benjamin ayres #illustration #vintage art #alternative movie posters

Trivia: The screenwriter of The Man Without a Face, Malcolm MacRury, appeared briefly in the film. He is credited as "Holyfield Master 2."

#the man without a face #trivia #malcolm macrury #tmwaf

THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE (1993)

Directed by: Mel Gibson

Written by: Malcolm MacRury

Music by: James Horner

Starring: Mel Gibson, Nick Stahl

This movie is so sad to watch now a days. Not because of the subject matter but because how bad the career of the two leads have gone. This was Mel Gibson’s directorial debut and while this movie isn’t anything special directorial wise it shows he had the chops. Considering how big of a leap this and Braveheart is it shows how confident Gibson was when making this. Then you have Nick Stahl in his first ever acting gig and you can see he could have been different from the wave of child actors with their future. But now look at them. Gibson is on the road to hell with his drunken, anti-semitic remarks (and starring in such “hits” as The Beaver and Get the Gringo) and Stahl is now into drub rehab and disappeared for a few days while on a binge. Those stories makes you wanna invent a time machine, go back to 1993, and warn these two before they make their horrible decisions.

That and it’s funny to me how this movie tries so hard to get rid of the notion that Gibson’s character ISN’T a pedophile. The book this is based on pretty much states it as fact that the art teacher is having sex with the kid. Yet Gibson, probably rightly so, wanted to make sure none of that is shown in the adaptation. But it’s clunky at best and in the end it makes the town look pretty shitty because they are accusing a man without really talking to him. I saw this when I was in 7th Grade and even at that age I thought something was fishy about the plot. Little did I know that the original writer, Isabelle Holland, had more grim ideas going in this little story.