The original short story

Numerous times, I've read/heard the late writer-director Curtis Harrington talk about his unpublished short story "The Secrets of the Sea," which formed the basis for the "Night Tide" screenplay. It was finally published last year in his autobiography, and it's quite an interesting read. The plot, tone and atmosphere are similar but there are numerous deviations and the mysticism/murder angles were not yet devised. Spoilers ahead...

There are only three main characters in the story: sailor Harry Koretzky, blonde Maura the mermaid and carnival barker Sam. Harry and Maura meet at the bar and hit it off, so he accompanies her home and the two have sex. The next morning while having breakfast on her balcony (he clad only in his underwear) Maura explains her job as a mermaid. Here's where it really deviates! A seagull swoops down, so Maura grabs it, brings it into the apartment and kills it for her dinner! Harry's freaked out by this but still enamored with her, so he follows her to work and, following a brief conversation with Sam, catches her act as a topless mermaid. Their romance blooms and one night they decide to take a rowboat into the ocean, but they soon lose track of the shore. Maura dives underwater and stays submerged for quite a while; Harry is unconfident as a swimmer and nervously awaits her return. She finally emerges, in awe of the underwater paradise. Still adrift the next morning, Maura decides to drag Harry into the water so he can see "the secrets of the sea" for himself, but he struggles to remain on the boat and Maura drowns. He returns to shore and searches the papers for reports of Maura's disappearance or the discovery of her body but weeks pass and there's nothing. Finally, he decides to disguise himself and go to the carnival to see if she's been replaced. He passes Sam, who gives him a brief, knowing look, and is horrified to find Maura's corpse floating in rancid formaldehyde.

The story is well-written and the backbone of the film is there, but there's no hint that she might really be a mermaid nor is it explained how Sam retrieved her from the ocean (in a way, it almost seems like Harrington sold out with his script by wrapping up the tale with a more concise explanation). There's also a chapter in the book devoted to the movie with a few anecdotes that I don't recall hearing before. If you're a fan of the film or of Curtis Harrington (whose tell-all touches on virtually all of his directorial efforts from shorts to theatrical features to TV), I'd highly recommend getting a copy of "Nice Guys Don't Work in Hollywood."