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		The Screaming Woman
The Screaming Woman The Film | The Music Audio | Video References | Links Compositions: Films Previous: The Cowboys Next: The Poseidon Adventure Chronological filmography Alphabetical filmography Television films Miscellanea		The Film Original air date: January 29, 1972 Studio: Universal Studios Running time: 74 minutes Director: Jack Smight Cast: Olivia de Havilland, Ed Nelson, Laraine Stephens, Joseph Cotten, Walter Pidgeon, Charles Knox Robinson, Alexandra Hay, Lonny Chapman, Charles Drake, Russell C. Wiggins, Gene Andrusco Technical information: Ray Bradbury first wrote "The Screaming Woman" as radio play, broadcast November 25, 1948; a short story version was published in 1951.  Later, Bradbury would adapt the story for television himself for a February 22, 1986 episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater starring Drew Barrymore.
		In between, the story was filmed for an ABC movie of the week by director Jack Smight, with a teleplay by Merwin Gerard.  Dowager Laura Wynant (screen legend Olivia de Havilland) has just returned from a five-month stay at a sanitarium when she notices a neighbor's dog acting strangely on the grounds of her estate.  Investigating, she hears the voice of a woman who has been buried alive.  Her son, Howard (Charles Knox Robinson), and daughter-in-law, Caroline (Laraine Stephens), don't believe her, seeing her far-fetched tale as further evidence that she should be committed to a mental institution—which would allow them to sell her estate to a real estate developer and pocket millions.  Even her trusted friend and attorney, George Tresvant (Joseph Cotten), is dubious when he and Howard investigate but find no evidence of the buried woman. Mrs. Wynant is likewise rebuffed by a sheriff's deputy and all of her neighbors except Carl Nesbitt (Ed Nelson)—who buried his wife alive, thinking she was dead after striking her head during a heated domestic dispute. For the most part the acting and direction is workmanlike, but de Havilland shines in her television debut, especially in a tense showdown with her guilty neighbor, while veteran actors Joseph Cotten and Walter Pidgeon make brief but welcome appearances. (Pidgeon plays Dr. Amos Larkin, the only person who doubts the obvious psychological explanation for Mrs. Wynant's bizarre behavior.) In a later interview, Bradbury praised the contributions of Gerard and Smight (calling The Screaming Woman "a much nicer film" than what the director had done with his Illustrated Man).
The Screaming Woman The Film | The Music Audio | Video References | Links		The Music Theme: John Williams Music Supervision: Hal Mooney Williams' score is predominantly for strings, piano and percussion, with much of the writing recalling his 1965 Essay for Strings and some of the quieter suspenseful passages reminiscent of this music for the Ghostbreaker pilot, although solo woodwinds and harpsichord make appearances later in the film.
The Screaming Woman The Film | The Music Audio | Video References | Links		Audio No music from The Screaming Woman has ever been released in any format.
		Video This film has never been released on video, although it has turned up in recent years on Scream, a Canadian cable channel.
		References "Film-TV Composers Schedule a Strike" New York Times, December 1 1971 "Miss De Havilland in Fright Film," Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times, January 29 1972 "Film and TV Music Writers File $300-Million Suit on Contracts," Richard F. Shepard New York Times, February 8 1972 "John Williams: The Television Work," Jon Burlingame Cue Sheet, March 1991, 8:1, 16-20 "From SCA to CLGA to SCL," Jon Burlingame Society of Composers and Lyricists, 1992 Conversations with Ray Bradbury, Steven L. Aggelis University Press of Mississippi, 2004
The Screaming Woman The Film | The Music Audio | Video References | Links		Links Internet Movie Database entry for The Screaming Woman Turner Classic Movies Database entry for The Screaming Woman
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