19 Nocturne Boulevard
Julie Hoverson
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The Temple, from a story by H.P. Lovecraft adapted by Julie Hoverson (19 Nocturne Boulevard reissue of the week)
The crew of a U-Boat in the Great War find some danger runs very very deep CAST Cap. Karl Heinrich - Rick Lewis Lt. Keinze - J. Hoverson Crew: Shawn Connor & Bryan Hendricksen Music by: Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com) Recorded with the assistance of Ryan Hirst of Neohoodoo Studio Editing and Sound: Julie Hoverson Cover Art - Brett Coulstock "What kind of a place is it? Why it's a U-boat of the Kaiserliche Marine - can't you tell?" ______________________________________________________________ THE TEMPLE Cast: Lieutenant Commander Karl HEINRICH, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, Lieutenant-Commander in the Imperial German Navy, Prussian (mid 30s?) Lieutenant Jurgen KIENZE, second in command, "womanish Rhinelander" (30) Boatswain MULLER, elderly "superstitious Alsatian swine" SCHMIDT [mid 20s - goes mad] ZIMMER [mid 20s - leads delegation to get rid of idol] BOHIN [mid 20s - goes mad] RAABE [early 20s - engineer] SCHNEIDER [early 20s - engineer] OLIVIA Did you have any trouble finding it? What do you mean, what kind of a place is it? Why, it's a U-Boat of the Kaiserlich Marine, can't you tell? (That's World War I, for all you younger folks...) [My apologies for any mischaracterization of Germans - it's all from Lovecraft's original text. His complete lack of knowledge of U-Boats also - But I had to leave in the portholes to support the story. Any mistakes in military etiquette of the time are probably mine, though.] MUSIC SCENE 1. AMBIANCE U-BOAT ENGINE SEAMEN [murmuring voices] SOUND HATCH OPENS, CLANGING FOOTSTEPS KIENZE Achtung! Kapitanleutnant Heinrich on deck! SEAMEN [instantly silent] HEINRICH [commanding, slightly angry sounding] Ser gut! I have been reviewing the log regarding the sinking of the British freighter Victory, and I must say [getting ominous] that you are - most definitely - [spitting out the words] the single, absolute, most efficient U-boat crew in the Atlantic. [laughs] At ease, at ease. SEAMEN [Excited chatter] KIENZE I myself cannot wait to view the film we took. HEINRICH Ya, ya. [aside] The camera was off before we sank the lifeboats? KIENZE As always, Kaleu. SOUND HEARTY CLAP ON SHOULDER HEINRICH Most excellent. Come Kienze, I have a bottle of some fine Schnapps. You must help me celebrate. MUSIC in then under SCENE 2. HEINRICH [on a recording, tired sounding] On August 20, 1917, I, Karl Heinrich, Graf von Altberg-Ehrenstein, Lieutenant-Commander in the Imperial German Navy and in charge of the submarine U-29, deposit this bottle and record in the Atlantic Ocean at a point to me unknown but probably about North Latitude 20 degrees, West Longitude 35 degrees, where my ship lies disabled on the ocean floor. MUSIC HAS FADED OUT SCENE 3. SFX SUBMARINE SURFACES SOUND HATCH OPENS AMBIANCE CALM SEA, OCCASIONAL BIRDS SOUND FOOTSTEPS ON METAL HEINRICH [grunt - stretching noise] There is nothing like the first step out on deck after a victory, eh?. KIENZE A "Victory"? [chuckles] Ya. Very amusing. MULLER [off] Kaleu, sir! Come! SOUND FOOTSTEPS ON METAL HEINRICH What could be so-- Oh! MULLER He must be from the Victory, sir! KIENZE Alive? HEINRICH Don't be foolish, Kienze, we were far too long submerged. He would have had a better chance if he let go and braved the waves. [shouting off] Remove the corpse! [NOTE - red text will come back at the end in echoes] ZIMMER Sir! His hands are in a death grip! HEINRICH Fingers break more easily than railings. ZIMMER [hesitantly] uh... Aye sir! SOUND POUNDING NOISES HEINRICH [sanctimonious] One more victim of the unjust war of aggression the English schweinhunds are waging upon the Reich. KIENZE Truly, he is our victim. Nothing more. HEINRICH You do not see the whole picture - [amused] Just like a soft-headed Rhinelander. If you were a solid Prussian like myself-- SEAMEN [OFF - NOISE OF AN ALTERCATION] HEINRICH Vas is los? Go and see. SOUND FOOTSTEPS ON METAL KIENZE What is this? What is this? Achtung! SOUND SCRAMBLE OF MEN GETTING TO THEIR FEET KIENZE What is so very exciting? ZIMMER Sir! Schmidt took something from the pocket of the ... [gulp] d-dead one. KIENZE Schmidt? Would you show this to me? SCHMIDT It is nothing, Leutnant. KIENZE I will judge that. Give it me. [beat] Well, this is... certainly something. I am confiscating it - now put that over the side. SOUND FOOTSTEPS ON METAL HEINRICH So? KIENZE A bauble. Ivory, I think - looks like a classical bust, ya? HEINRICH Not a senator, though - this one is much too young and handsome. KIENZE Possibly a kaiser? HEINRICH Or a god. KIENZE [reluctantly] It is yours, if you want it. It might be valuable-- HEINRICH No, no. I have not the sentimental-- MULLER [off, screams] SOUND FOOTSTEPS RUNNING ON METAL HEINRICH [puffing only slightly] What is it? SCHMIDT [shivering with fear] Muller, sir - it is Muller! KIENZE Muller's unconscious. HEINRICH Wake him. SOUND SLAPS MULLER [wails] SOUND ANOTHER SLAP MULLER [gasps, is silent] HEINRICH Get him up here. [command] Stations! SOUND RUNNING FEET CLANG AWAY KIENZE Are you going to talk sense now? MULLER [hollow] His eyes! His eyes! KIENZE Whose eyes? Speak sense! SOUND SLAP HEINRICH Enough! Muller. Tell me what is wrong. MULLER Ya, mein kapitan! [trying to calm down] The body - the eyes were closed. But when they rolled it over the side, they opened - and they were mocking us! HEINRICH [casual] Superstitious rubbish. Muller, you have seen corpses before now, and-- MULLER Sir! But that is not all! He-- [sullen, inward] You will not believe me! KIENZE You are under orders to speak. MULLER I-- watched as the body hit the water. I saw it sink beneath the waves, and-- HEINRICH And--? MULLER [almost a whisper] It drew its limbs in, and swam away. KIENZE You filthy lying--! [grunt as about to slap him again] HEINRICH Nein, Leutnant. [calming] Muller. You know this cannot be true, don't you? MULLER But I saw-- HEINRICH Water is deceptive. It is strange, ya, that the body simply sank - but that is probably due to its waterlogged condition after being held under on our railing for hours. Beyond that--? It is all a trick of the light. MULLER Truly? HEINRICH I will hear no more about it, ya? MÜLLER But you should keep no part of him on the ship - it is bad luck. The statue-- HEINRICH Is nothing. It is a trinket. You go about your duties now, Boatswain. SOUND RELUCTANT FOOTSTEPS AWAY HEINRICH Pfaugh. [muttered growl] Superstitious Alsatian swine! Why am I surrounded by inferior-- KIENZE Kaleu? Do you wish that I throw the bust overb-- HEINRICH Nonsense. We do not give in to fear. We are men of the twentieth century - and, more importantly, officers in the Kaiserliche Marine. KIENZE I could... tell them I threw it-- HEINRICH Do not show weakness. It makes you sound unreliable. MUSIC in and under SCENE 4. HEINRICH [canned] The next day a very troublesome situation was created by the indisposition of some of the crew. Evidently suffering from the nervous strain of our long voyage, they had had bad dreams. When weather turned choppy, we descended to a depth where the sea was comparatively calm, despite a somewhat puzzling southward current which we could not identify from our oceanographic charts. MUSIC HAS FADED OUT SCENE 5. SOUND HATCH CLOSES SFX SUBMARINE SUBMERGES SOUND FOOTSTEPS ON METAL RAABE Under-Engineer Raabe, here to make a report, sir! HEINRICH Where is Schneider? RAABE He is ... unwell, sir. HEINRICH What is wrong? RAABE He... did not sleep well, sir. HEINRICH What? KIENZE It is the same with many of the men, Kaleu. They are feverish and say they have had bad dreams. HEINRICH If they are shirking, I will-- RAABE Sir, no! Schmidt is burning up with fever, screaming all night in his berth. HEINRICH [sympathetic] Then you did not sleep well either, I expect? RAABE Nein, Kaleu. HEINRICH [very pleased] Yet you are here, like a good sailor. Good man-- MULLER [muttered off] It is the idol. It is accursed. HEINRICH What? Muller? MULLER [panicky] Nothing. I said nothing sir. KIENZE He said-- HEINRICH [grim] I heard what he said. Muller, I will have none of this wild peasant superstition on my ship! KIENZE [amused undertone] You forget, mein noble Kapitan, I am a commoner as well. HEINRICH [dismissively] Burgher stock. [teasing slightly] And they made you an officer - you must have some good qualities. MULLER What does it matter? We are all doomed! RAABE [dismissive] Doomed? Because some men are sick? HEINRICH Sehr gut. We must remain rational at times like these. Retain our iron German will. [sharp] Kienze? KIENZE [snapping to] Ya mein kapitanleutnant? HEINRICH Remove Boatswain Muller. KIENZE Ya, Kaleu. MUSIC in and under SCENE 6. HEINRICH [can
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