New World, 1979. Samantha Eggar's original screenplay from the production of David Cronenberg's classic film, in which Eggar plays “Nola Carveth,” a woman undergoing a messy divorce and an unusual therapy process at the center of a series of brutal murders. Eggar has written her name ("Sam") on the title page in yellow highlighter, and written character notes in pencil on the verso: “Nola / Shoulders up and forward / Look at people from side long glances.” Eggar has highlighted all of her lines, including Nola's famous monologue in which she tells her husband Frank: “I disgust you. I sicken you. You hate me, don't you?” after revealing a monstrous foetus she's been gestating.The script features some differences from the finished film, particularly in this “revelation” scene. In the script, Nola reveals two wombs, rather than one, and her birthing process is more complicated and Cronenberg-esque:“As Carveth watches, innerly recoiling in disgust, the larger of the two most developed foetuses begins to pinch off at its base, as though special circular muscles in Nola's skin where the sac joined her body began contracting in a grotesque imitation of a uterine contraction.”This scene may have changed due to budgetary restrictions. In the finished film, Nola simply opens up the womb and removes the foetus, reducing the need for special effects to allow the womb to move and function on its own (the final version, while simpler, may actually be more effective, as it further emphasizes Nola's physical bond with her brood). Samantha Eggar gives one of the most memorable performances in horror film history in Cronenberg's opus, which was based on his own horrific divorce. Eggar, who Cronenberg partly chose because of her resemblance to his ex-wife, loved the script and the filming process. In an interview with the website TerrorTrap, she said:"I was really fascinated by how David had come upon this idea of the hives growing on me, these children of anger growing on the outside of my stomach. This little army I was bearing. I thought…"Goodness, what a mind this is...to conceive such a fantastical thing."And it wasn't only David's concept that was multi-layered, multi-dimensional. It was also reflected in the writing itself. As an actor, when you have a sort of Shakespearean way to the writing that is so rich and robust, you revel in it. And really, the part of Nora Carveth was exactly that."Surprisingly, Eggar only worked on the film for four days. Her childhood neighbor and friend Oliver Reed, who called her “my first love” and “first friend” in his memoir, Reed All About Me (p. 10), co-starred as Nola's psychiatrist, and she loved working with him.

11 x 8.5 x .5 in; 27.94 x 21.59 x 1.27 cm

Provenance: From the Estate of Samantha Eggar

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