MovieChat Forums > Deathtrap (1982) Discussion > How did the play end?

How did the play end?


The original stage play, I mean.

The final scene (the one the film has set
in the theatre) must have been different,
surely? Anyone know?

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I was curious too... found this in a 'study guide':

He heads upstairs to collect his things, at which point Sidney jiggles the handcuffs—the real trick Houdini manacles—and frees himself. He runs to the wall of weapons, grabs a crossbow, and as Clifford stands at the top of the staircase, shoots an arrow into his chest. Clifford falls down the stairs, apparently dead once again. Sidney proceeds to arrange the room to reproduce his original scenario of attempted murder, struggle, and a killing in self-defense. He telephones the police to report the grisly events: “I just killed my secretary. He was coming at me with an ax. That’s right. And wait till you hear this part. You’re going to think I’m drunk but I’m stone-cold sober. I shot him with a medieval cross-bow.”

But as he continues his fantastic story, a hand reaches out from the dark and clutches his throat. Once again Clifford has returned from seeming death to enact his revenge—but this time it’s for real. The young man has pulled the arrow from the cross-bow out of his chest, and now he stabs Sidney with it repeatedly until both the young man and the famous playwright fall dead of their wounds.

A third and final scene concludes the action. Helga and Porter, Sidney’s lawyer, stand in the playwright’s study digesting the astonishing turn of events. Helga, in a trance, explains to the astonished attorney the various feints, ruses, and betrayals Sidney and Clifford have played on them and each other. As they talk, it strikes both simultaneously that the story would make a successful play. In her excitement at the prospect, Helga asserts her right to half the future profits on the basis of her visionary insight into the facts of the case. Indignant, Porter objects, saying that he will be the one to do the actual writing. As they quarrel, Helga threatens to expose to the world her psychic discovery of Porter’s secret use of the telephone: “You speak through handkerchief, in high voice. Say dirty words to all your friends. . . . For shame. . .” Enraged, Porter advances on her “menacingly.” Helga grabs one of Sidney’s knives—they very one she said earlier would be used in a murder—and brandishes it at the lawyer. As the curtain falls, they are circling the desk, she threatening Porter with the knife, while he reviles her with a string of obscenities, two potential killers stalking each other over the authorship of a play.

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Thanks for taking the time to relay that, LondonTheatreGuy! That's quite a different ending from the movie, but it would have to be to make any sense.

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Are we to believe Helga really was psychic? How retarded.

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Yes, she had to be psychic; it's the only way she and Porter could know what actually happened, since there were no living witnesses. The same type of device was used years before in Rashomon, except, instead of a psychic, it's a medium channeling the spirit of the murdered samurai.

He carries illegal weapons, drives fast cars, and wears clothes obviously designed by a homosexual.

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A far better ending than the movie.

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I remember seeing the play on Broadway - the ending might have been better - but hte problem with the play was that after the first act - which has every one watching jump 5 feet in fright - the 2nd act just didn't work - it was a let down.

"The art of flying is throwing yourself at the ground and missing" - Douglas Adams

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There are many endings that would work without much thought.





Rebuild the WTC exactly as before and keep old movies accurate!


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Thanks, I was wondering how the play ended.

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