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We see Elaine coming down a corridor in the hotel. There are staff members walking by in the background. The
walls are painted cinder block and it appears to be part of the service floor. Elaine has been actively
searching for Letti and Peddler, but she hasn't been able to find either of them and she wants an answer.
Note: |
Elaine reaches a set of brown double doors. They are mounted on special
hinges to allow them to swing 116° in both directions. Also known as "Saloon Hinges", these are typical in
service areas to allow staff to quickly be able to go from room to room while their hands are full or they are
pushing a cart. This keeps them from having to stop to open the door, potentially ruining the natural flow and
order of things. The hinges rely on an internal spring to help close the door behind a person, helping add
even more efficiency back into the busy staff's schedule.
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The camera is now on the outside of the door and we can see Elaine via a 12 inch by 12 inch window whose focal
point rests approximately 5½ feet off of the floor.
Someone else must have just come through here as the door is swinging shut. Using her left hand, Elaine catchs
the door, and opens it, while helping to secure the door with her right. She exits through the door, allowing
the door to close behind her under it's own force. It is quiet except for the sound of Elaine's footsteps and
she walks across the tiled floor.
Note: |
Just to a degree, the large heavy doors closing on their own help to slightly
personify the concept of danger. You definitely wouldn't want to be in the way of one of these, while it is
shutting at full force.
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Elaine must be nearing the entrance to the hotel. She is still looking around, but there is so trace of Letti
or Peddler.
We are now outside of the hotel. It is dark outside, but the illumination of the street lamps help to provide
a quaint and pleasant feel, even this late at night. It's a reminder of the vital roll that electricity has
played to help provide us with an escape from darkness. The rolls of light and dark have played a vital roll
in this film, and it's usage now is no exception.
There is a yellow taxi cab parked in front of the hotel, and Creeson, clad in his stunning Wessex uniform has
just gotten done thanking a customer who had entered the cab just moments before.
The cab pulls away and Creeson begins walking back toward his designated spot, when all of a sudden he sees
Elaine coming towards him. He tips his hat to her:
Creeson: May I help you, Miss Kalisher?
Note: |
Creeson is always very friendly, and calling Elaine "Miss Kalisher" definitely
helps solidify the idea of a personal touch. The staff know her by name and this shows the level of care they
put into giving a patron their undivided attention. They want you to feel at home, and calling you by name
definitely helps achieve this. Unfortunately, Elaine isn't up for casual conversation. She needs to find Letti
and Peddler before something bad happens.
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Elaine: Did a man come by here? Uh, a derelict. He's gaunt
wearing an overcoat.
Creeson feels the question is rhetorical and the tone of his voice confirms this fact:
Creeson: Wuh, yes ma'am there's people like that up and
down these streets all day long.
Elaine is serious.
Elaine: No I mean from inside the hotel.
Creeson: No, there's no way we'd let anyone like that in here.
Elaine: Could he have gone out a side door?
Creeson: He wouldn't have lasted 2 minutes. Someone would
have grabbed him.
Creeson is telling the truth, and Elaine believes him. The friendly doorman is confused and wants to help
Elaine in any way that he can.
Creeson: Is something wrong?
Elaine: I don't know.
Elaine isn't sure, but she think that something awful may be happening to Peddler. Here she was, stalking him,
hoping to catch a glimpse of him doing something wrong, and here Letti becomes the primary suspect. She begins
to forgive Peddler for thinking he was responsible for the murders, and starts thinking that he is just a
victim.
Note: |
Elaine turns to go inside, wanting to find Pedder. Creeson breaks a long
golden whistle out of the v-taper of his uniform jacket. The whistle rests of a gold lanyard and is what Creeson
blows to get taxi cabs to stop in front of the hotel. Creeson blows the whistle long and hard. This is his way
of going about his duties, and as he is in mid-blow while Elaine is only halfway through the door. Elaine must
have heard the whistle blow, but doesn't pay it any attention. This is a small way for Creeson to divert
attention away from himself. By blowing the whistle right after talking to Elaine shows that he honestly doesn't
know what is going on, and that he has a job to do, and he will continue to do it well.
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Note: |
Elaine marches through the aisles in between the elaborate columns. She is in
the same area as she was when she first arrived at the hotel, but this time, instead of making a beeline for the
Registration Desk, she comes straight down the center aisle.
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On Closer Inspection...: |
The Ambassador's signature fountain can be seen on the left side of Elaine as
she comes down the center aisle. Also note that there is a brown door with a split pediment top on the right
side in the background. While the name was covered up during earlier shots, it is illuminated this time in a
light cyan colored script font. The name above the door reads "The Palm Room" and it was a real room in the
Ambassador, until the hotel's demise in 2006.
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Note: |
Elaine seeks out Judith, who is standing at her podium. It's the same podium
that she was standing behind on Page 10. It is almost directly in the center when you first arrive, to the left
of the registration desk.
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Judith is on the telephone. It is unknown who she is talking to. "Yes I understand"? She may be talking to
Mr. Rogas, the hotel's manager. Or maybe Creeson telling her to keep an eye on Elaine. Judith doesn't mention
Elaine, referring to her as "someone", but the caller doesn't need to know who she is talking about. Judith is
there to provide good service and that's exactly what she intends on doing. She is more than happy to get off
of the phone to help Elaine. After all, she's still hoping for a top notch write up.
Judith: Yes I understand. Can I get back to you? There's
someone here. Thank you.
Judith hangs up the telephone - an older, decorative model with rotary dialing typical of an anachronistic
telephone used exclusively to provide a sense of eloquence and class.
Elaine: Judith I need your help.
Judith told Elaine when she arrived that she would personally handle any problems and she intends on doing
whatever it takes to fulfill this obligation.
Judith: What is it Elaine?
Elaine: I've seen the man with the boots.
Judith: Are you sure? Where?
Elaine: Here.
Judith: In the hotel?
Judith seems genuinely concerned.
Elaine: Letti brought him in through the back.
Judith: Well what on earth for?
Elaine: I don't know. But, I think he's still here.
Note: |
It is Elaine's comment here that gives notion to the idea that she didn't hear
the exchange between Letti and Peddler. Or maybe she did, and just didn't believe that Letti was going to get
this man a hot meal. Either way, she sure wouldn't mention Letti wanting to feed the man to Judith, because the
exchange wouldn't end well: "Well what on earth for?" "She said she was going to get him something to eat."
"...And that's a bad thing?" Judith would end up thinking the worst of Elaine, thinking she was unpassionate
and uncaring, and so it is better that Elaine plays dumb..
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Judith: Come with me.
Note: |
Judith looks smashing in her dark blue blazer and matching miniskirt. She
steps from behind the podium and Elaine follows her. They walk towards the far end of the hallway. The door at
the end of the hallway would be the Ambassador's "Venetian Room", although, as we've noticed on Page 10, the
Wessex will not techincally open this room until June 11, or in about 2 weeks. Notice the exquisite use of
illumination.
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On Closer Inspection...: |
There is a small bell next to the telephone and a small sign reading "Ring
Bell (?)for Service".
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Elaine follows Judith as Judith walks confidently, knowing exactly where she is going.
We are now back in the kitchen area. It is very busy and there are busboys and cooks talking about an order.
Letti comes around the corner with a cigarette in her mouth and a 1 foot tall bucket, 8 inches in diameter and
filled with colorful purple, red, yellow and white flowers.
On Closer Inspection...: |
We have passed this sign several times, but now we are given a better chance
to read it. It reads "Be Alert for Safety - Expect the Unexpected". Boy if that couldn't be any
truer...
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Note: |
All this time Elaine has been searching for Letti or Peddler, and Letti turns
out to be back in the kitchen area, preparing an organizing flowers. What is going on?
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Letti brings the bucket of flowers over to a work table, sets them down and, using a pair of scissors begins
trimming the ends of the flowers.
Note: |
The use of scissors contributes to the idea of danger being used as a plot
metaphor.
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Note: |
Cutting the ends of the flower's stem on a 45° angle will help them to
last longer inside of a vase, as the angled cut on the stem allow's water to soak up inside of it better. If the
stem was cut flat, it would sit squarely on the bottom of the vase, preventing any water from being absorbed back
into the flower.
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We see Judith, followed by Elaine, coming around the corner, approaching Letti's worktable.
Judith: Letti?
Letti: Yeah?
Judith: I need to speak to you.
Letti continues trimming flowers.
Letti: I'm busy.
Judith: Did you let someone in here?
Now Letti is the one answering the question as if it is rhetoric:
Letti: Yeah, I let a lot of people in here. The laundry service,
the flower delivery...
Judith seems slightly annoyed and agitated.
Judith: No, I mean... one of the derelicts.
Letti doesn't answer the question, answering it with a question of her own. This only helps to make her look
slightly more suspicious.
Letti: Don't you have something better to do?
Judith: Letti you know how Mr. Rogas feels about encouraging
those people.
Now Letti is the one who seems annoyed:
Letti: Look. No bums been in here.
Note: |
While most of the hotel patrons would have been a little more timid and would
have relied on Judith to do their talking for them, Elaine is not. She is not afraid to speak up. Many times,
if Letti would have been as forceful with any other patron, they wouldn't have no choice to leave, probably
fuming, with nothing they could have done or said but to fill out a comment card at the front desk. Elaine jumps
right in. Notice how Judith doesn't turn her head, but rather shifts her eyes towards Elaine. She is more than
likely proud of Elaine for standing her ground, and not having to make her do all the talking. She could also be
thinking that Elaine is getting a little bit too nosy, and that she is going to have to keep an eye on her.
However, she can't show her true emotions to Elaine and must continue to put on the air of ignorance, all the
while providing Elaine with the vibe that she has her utmost and undivided attention towards making everything
better, and solving this mystery.
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Elaine: No. No, I saw you. You brought him right in through
the service door downstairs.
Letti: Sweetie, I don't know what you're talking about, but if
you don't mind, I'm one of the people who works around
here.
Judith: Well I can see we're not going to get anywhere with
you.
Judith turns apologetically to Elaine:
Judith: I'm sorry. I'll take this up with Mr. Rogas.
Judith turns to leave, exiting down the little hallway that she and Elaine had entered through.
Note: |
Judith's comment is designed to make Elaine feel better. This goes along with
what we mentioned earlier about how other patrons would just go about their business, putting their faith in the
hotel manager resolving the issue and making everything alright. Elaine doesn't buy it. She saw Letti with her
own two eyes, and she's not afraid to confront Letti here and now:
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Elaine: Where'd you take him, Letti?
Letti gives Elaine a blank stare:
Letti: Weren't you listening?
Elaine: You and I know better, don't we?
In case Elaine overheard their exchange, Letti sticks to her guns, claiming he ate a quick plate of food.
Letti: I got him something to eat.
The more questions a person ask, the more nervous that a person will feel having to come up with answers on the
spot:
Elaine: Where?
Letti: What does it matter, where?
Elaine: It matters to me.
Letti: The maintenence room.
Elaine: You didn't have time. I was just a few seconds behind
you. You took him on the elevator, didn't you?
Spotlight On...: |
Letti Gordon
Letti - A variation of the English/French Laetitia, Letti is a
Latin name, meaning Joy or happiness. Letti is happy in what she does, even though she doesn't always put on
the air of happiness...
Gordon - Derived from Welsh "spacious fort". It could have
also originated from the Irish word for "beloved" or from the Spanish word "gordo", meaning "fat"... We would
hope that in this case her name means "beloved"...
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Note: |
The general populace all seem to reach one conclusion: There's too much
everybody else, and not enough Louise Fletcher. Louise (Letti) does a very good job in the part that she did
play, and we value everything that she does in the movie. Letti is trying to cover herself, and the following is
her longest and most heartfelt monologue:
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Letti: What are you trying to do, get me canned!?
Letti takes off her glasses to face Elaine eye-to-eye. She lets them rest around her neck, supported by
her decorative golden lanyard.
Letti: The poor guy was eating out of the garbage. Now what
would you do?
Note: |
Letti seems genuinely sincere. She was only trying to do a good deed, and
she's hoping her forcefulness to get Elaine to believe her will make Elaine believe her:
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Letti: For the love of... You can't even do a good turn around
here without somebody getting you into trouble.
As sincere as Letti appeared to come off, Elaine didn't buy a word of it. Letti won't give her a straight
answer. No one will. And she can't find any trace of Peddler nor has Creeson or any of the other staff
members seen him leave. Something feels wrong. Elaine knows she is onto something. She just needs a
definitive answer to prove her curiosities correct.
Elaine: What's up there Letti?
Letti gives Elaine a blank stare. She knows Elaine is onto her, although she also knows that Elaine really
doesn't know a thing. In Letti's mind, she has already told Elaine everything she needs to know.
Note: |
Elaine approaches the ancient and antique elevator that started all of the
commotion. With her right hand index finger, she reaches for the "UP" button, on the panel to the left of the
elevator. We get a much better view of the UP and DOWN buttons, as well as the overall discoloration occuring in
the stone tiles surrounding the button.
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Note: |
Is Elaine ready for all of this? A buzzer tells her that the elevator is
ready, and the doors are soon to open. This wasn't exactly the "vacation" she was expecting, but she's
definitely not shy, timid or afraid. She is ready to face whatever lies ahead, but first she is eager to learn
exactly what it is that she is facing.
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Note: |
The door to the elevator sweeps open. This is reminiscent of our journey when
Elaine first started. She was so excited to witness all of the hard work the staff had been putting into making
that night's event in the ballroom spectacular. Unfortunately she never got that chance. Now, instead of
rushing to the elevator excited to catch a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the hotel's inner workings, she is now
hesitent to want to enter, all the while eager to find "the truth".
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Elaine readies herself, then pulls back the retractable metal gate.
Elaine steps inside of this small, dank and dreary little space...
Elaine isn't wanting to take a trip... she's just wanting to check on something.
She turns around to face the numbers on the floor number indicator above the elevator door.
Note: |
The camera focus is now upon the elevator's floor number indicator. It's more
specific focus is on the numbers between 11 and 15. It's panning effect is to focus the viewer's attention on
the fact that the number 13 is missing. It is missing, obviously, because there is no 13th floor, thus no way is required to access it. The viewer knows something is going on the hotel, but we don't know where. There is never a light lit up on the floor number indicator, so we really don't know where all the bad things are
occurring...
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Elaine stares long and hard at the numbers 11 through 15. Thirteen is missing, but could there, just
maybe be a 13th floor, even though there isn't a number 13 on the floor number indicator to indicate it's
presence?
The look in Elaine's eyes as she brings her head down, definitely say yes. She's not sure, but it appears she
is definitely fathoming the possibility of a hidden floor, tucked away between the 12th and 14th floors.
It is a definite possibility, and Elaine is eager to learn more.
Elaine exits the elevator, shutting back the retractable metal gate in order for the elevator door to shut and
return it to it's regular function of waiting to transport service workers to various floors throughout the
hotel.
Note: |
This is the third time this evening that Elaine has been outside, and the
second time that she has exited through the hotel's main entrance. The last time, however she never got any
farther than the last step before Creeson was "kind of" able to assist her.
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On Closer Inspection...: |
There is an older blue truck sitting in front of the Wessex, just to the left
of it's front entrance. The top of it's cab is white, and it is sitting in front of a yellow taxi cab, which is
parked also in front of the Wessex, just to the right of it's front entrance. As an older yellow taxi drives
across the screen from left to right, we begin to see Elaine, coming down the steps in front of the
hotel. A newer yellow taxi drives from right to left, while a black car, followed by a grey jeep, rides from
left to right. Elaine steps into the opening in between the two vehicles parked on either side of the entrance.
She pauses at the vehicle's outside edge, and makes sure she looks to her left and then to her right. A black
car coming from the right slows down and stops so she may cross. As she runs across the street, an older brown
car with a tan colored top coming from the left also slows and stops so that Elaine may cross. A maroon colored
blazer drives from right to left.
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Elaine has made it to the other side and turns to face the hotel.
On Closer Inspection...: |
While it is charming during the day, it is equally just as charming at
night. The fabric on the canopy sign is translucent to allow light from up under it to escape through it,
causing the canopy to radiate, almost as if bioluminesced. The flags on the third floor billow as three equally
spaced spotlights, also on the third floor, shine back towards the hotel, illuminating the corinthian styled
dentile moulding above the main entrance's rounded archway. The archway itself is definied by the escaping of
light coming from a fixture mounted on the ceiling in the open area behind the archway. There is a light on in
the center window on every floor, and it gives the hotel an inviting, symmetric, and uniform feel. There is also
a light coming through the two windows on either side of the center window on the second floor, in addition to
the second window to the left of the center window on the third floor. Light also appears from the first and
fourth windows to the left of the center window on the fourth floor. Other rooms appear to be devoid of light.
We know the hotel caters to quite a few patrons, so these rooms are more than likely not empty, but rather,
probably contain visitors with busy early morning schedules and thus who have probably already decided to go to
sleep.
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Using her right index finger as a pointer, Elaine begins counting the floors of the hotel. We see the floor
with the rounded arches so that's 4 ... 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ... 10 ...
Note: |
The camera shows Elaine, still counting. This transition is for a very simple
reason. As we have already discussed, the Sheradon Town House, the hotel used to film all exterior shots of the
hotel, possesses it's frieze above the 10th floor. The camera could not have panned up any higher for obvious
asthetic reasons. By cutting to Elaine, we can cut back to the hotel, but this time we get to witness some of
the hard work put into this movie by it's Construction department. The "new" frieze, created only for this
movie, is shown on the model that was created for this very scene.
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Musical Note: |
As the camera switches back to Elaine, the music begins to slowly rise. As
it switches to the "model" of the Wessex [let's just say it's top floors because I hate referring to this a
model, and am much more content referring to it as being an actual part of the real thing] we can count two more
floors below the hotel's demonic concrete carved frieze. The music turns very ominous as the frieze becomes the
camera's focal point. There are two more floors above it. These floors are supposed to be counted as 11 ... 12
... (pass over the frieze) ... 13 ... 14.
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Note: |
Assuming the frieze was being counted as a floor, the count would become ...
13's the frieze ... 14 ... 15. The top two floors would become 15 & 16 and the 13th floor, which doesn't exist,
but would when counting with cardinal numbers, would become 14.
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Errors in Continuity: |
There should be 16 floors. Elaine later states that she counted 15 (although
she doesn't refer to the frieze as being a floor). There would be 15 floors if you counted the frieze as a
floor, or as we have counted, 14 if the frieze wasn't counted. Where are the other floors? While the
"ballroom" floor on the Sheradon Town House is only about a quarter of the size of the hotel, we cannot see it
from the camera's current angle, and therefore it is hard to consider it when doing the overall count of the
hotel's floors. There are, in actually, 19 floors, according to the panel in the hotel's service elevator.
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Elaine runs back across the street towards the hotel. She is likely going to her room to dwell on and ponder
upon, this strange conundrum. The problem is vexing, but she wants an answer. She had better get some good
rest as she plans on visiting with the City Engineer's Office first thing in the morning.
CONTINUE TO PAGE #21
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