Good Night, Nurse!

"Good Night, Nurse!" is an 8 page original outline treatment for a screenplay, believed to have been written by Alfred Hitchcock in 1922. If the date is correct, then it is the earliest known surviving piece of original screen writing by Hitchcock.

Treatment

"Good night, Nurse!"

The reason for the depressed look on the face of Felix Dayton, was due, he told his fellow club members, to the fact that he was about to elope the following evening. And those members who knew Juanita Luiz — the Spanish dancer of temperament, realised that Felix had something that needed (some) shaking off.

Juanita Luiz held the secret of 'perpetual youths' and Felix Dayton, part heir to his uncle's estate, seemed good enough to settle upon.

Late the following evening find Felix and Juanita arriving at an old Tudor inn on the Bath Road. Felix finds that one of the guests is leaving for the north and is waiting for a car which is picking him up. This fact gives Felix an idea to escape from Juanita. He contrives to lock the man in his room, and take his place in the car. He is horrified, however, when the car has sped from the hotel, to find an arm creep around his neck, in the dark, and a voice softly say "Darling, isn't it wonderful — our eloping." He switches on the interior light and sees the face of a fair girl, who is screaming at finding a strange man by her. The car slows up & Felix dashes out across the fields.

Several days later, we find Felix back in his rooms reading two letters — one from Juanita threatening proceedings for breach of promise and the other from his cousin Egbert with the news that his uncle is ill. This latter fact provides him with an incentive to pay a visit.

Arriving at his uncle's house in Mayfair he finds his cousin well installed as the 'favourite' and recently engaged to his uncle's nurse with whom he fell in love in the space of a couple of days. The uncle looks on this match with favour.

When Felix is introduced to the nurse he is dumbfounded to find that she is the 'girl in the car'. An exchange of signals prevents the recognition of the meeting. She later explains that she abandoned the folly of running away, and warns him that his uncle is not at all pleased with Felix's move of living, and this fact may be reflected in his will.

Faced with the possibility of being disinherited, and also of the fact that he had 'fallen' for the nurse, he plans to re-establish himself in his uncle's favour, and 'side track' Egbert in his 'affair' with the nurse.

Felix makes tracks for the flat of Juanita, and pleads that his uncle has disinherited him, and the money will go to his cousin Egbert. Juanita becomes interested in Egbert, and Felix slyly suggests that they will be in the Park on the morrow morning.

Felix calls on Egbert, and they take a stroll and eventually meet Juanita.

The latter 'vamps' poor simple Egbert, and the result of the mornings work is an appointment for Egbert to take Juanita to the 'Midnight Follies'.

Felix persuades Mary — the nurse to accompany him to the Follies, where he will reveal Egbert's duplicity.

The effect of these events prove to establish Felix in Egbert's place both in regard to his uncle and the nurse, Mary.

His uncle declares that Egbert shall be made to stand by his promise to Mary, and not play fast and loose with her. Felix informs his that cannot be so, because he has learnt the Egbert was secretly married to Juanita yesterday. At this news his uncle is delighted, much to Felix's surprise, for he explains that he was himself in the clutches of Juanita and now that Egbert has married her, it has put an end to a trouble that has caused him to be unwell. He declares that he will not only compensate the nurse handsomely, but will give Egbert a marriage settlement beside making him his heir. Felix nearly faints at such a result of his labours.

Anyhow, he consoles himself that Mary the nurse will be a good consolation prize. He asks her on what day she would like to be married, she suggests he asks his uncle, "Why," he returns. "Because I am going to marry your uncle!" she replies.

Images