The Last Words of Dutch Schultz
Encyclopedia
The Last Words of Dutch Schultz is a novel by Beat Generation
author William S. Burroughs
, first published in 1970. Rather than use traditional chapters and text, however, Burroughs wrote the book in the form of a convoluted film screenplay
.
Based upon the life (or, to be more precise, the death) of 1930s German
-Jewish-American gangster Dutch Schultz
, the novel uses as its springboard Schultz's surreal last words, which were delivered in the midst of high-fever delirium after being mortally shot while urinating in the men's room of a Newark
bar. Phrases such as "French-Canadian bean soup" took on a different meaning for Burroughs as he invented stories to go along with some of the nonsensical statements made by Schultz in his dying hours.
The screenplay is made up of a series of loosely connected vignettes in roughly chronological order. It begins from the point of view of a dying Dutch Schultz, looking up at two police detectives. He has a brief flashback to his own shooting; from there, the movie makes a transition to Schultz's memories of childhood, with the remainder of the movie a series of loosely interconnected vignettes in chronological order depicting Schultz's childhood and rise to power. Occasionally, there are brief, surrealist digressions depicting real events which occurred during Schultz's life (such as the Stock Market Crash
), interspersed with equally surreal yet seemingly unrelated digressions involving Burroughs' own fictional characters. A lengthy segment is dedicated to Schultz hiring a carnival
sideshow
freak
who can hypnotize people by speaking phrases which plant subliminal messages; Burroughs inserts this fictional character into Schultz's legal team during his income tax trials, and credits him with helping Schultz avoid prison time. Large segments are dedicated to Burroughs' own creation, "Albert Stern," a morphine
addict who randomly appears at intervals throughout Schultz's life and who ultimately attempts to take credit for his murder. Despite no records existing of a contemporary of Schultz named "Albert Stern," a period mugshot appears in the book depicting "Stern;" the mugshot has since been incorrectly identified as Otto Berman
. As of 2007, the identity of the boy in the mugshot has not been discerned, although Burroughs' insertion of a photo of himself into the book—ostensibly depicting the police stenographer who transcribed Schultz's last word—indicates that the mugshot might be a prank on Burroughs' part, as it is the only photo in the book not to depict a readily identifiable individual.
The script begins with a series of detailed, coherent explanations by Burroughs of the identities of various characters, how the film should be shot, etc. As the screenplay progresses, Burroughs' instructions becoming increasingly absurd
and cryptic; at one point, Burroughs calls for Jack Diamond to appear as a motionless man in a chair who speaks without moving his lips, specifying that this should be achieved by the actor's dialogue being recorded into a cassette recorder which is then played behind the actor during filming. Throughout the script, Burroughs calls for a peep booth-style 16mm sex loop—depicting a red haired young man having aggressive intercourse with a Spanish woman in a brass bed—to be played at seemingly random intervals.
owned the rights to the film, but nothing ever came to fruition. The closest it has ever come to being filmed is a 2002 Dutch short combining live action and rotoscope
animated scenes. The short only features portions of Burroughs' script, with some segments varying slightly from the source material. The film features Rutger Hauer as the voice of Schultz.
A similar novel-cum-screenplay is 1992's Reality Is What You Can Get Away With: An Illustrated Screenplay by Robert Anton Wilson
.
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
author William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
, first published in 1970. Rather than use traditional chapters and text, however, Burroughs wrote the book in the form of a convoluted film screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
.
Based upon the life (or, to be more precise, the death) of 1930s German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-Jewish-American gangster Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
, the novel uses as its springboard Schultz's surreal last words, which were delivered in the midst of high-fever delirium after being mortally shot while urinating in the men's room of a Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
bar. Phrases such as "French-Canadian bean soup" took on a different meaning for Burroughs as he invented stories to go along with some of the nonsensical statements made by Schultz in his dying hours.
Structure
Despite the title, very little of the screenplay deals with Schultz's cryptic words. Although Burroughs specifies that a recording of Schultz's dying words should be playing throughout the film as the soundtrack, virtually nothing which is actually depicted onscreen has anything to do with the real Schultz's dying monologue. Burroughs creates his own dying words for Schultz to actually speak, and which reflect Burrough's narrative; occasionally, these made-up snippets of speech include Schultz's actual words. Similarly, large segments of the story are told from a third-person perspective, as opposed to being told from Schultz's perspective.The screenplay is made up of a series of loosely connected vignettes in roughly chronological order. It begins from the point of view of a dying Dutch Schultz, looking up at two police detectives. He has a brief flashback to his own shooting; from there, the movie makes a transition to Schultz's memories of childhood, with the remainder of the movie a series of loosely interconnected vignettes in chronological order depicting Schultz's childhood and rise to power. Occasionally, there are brief, surrealist digressions depicting real events which occurred during Schultz's life (such as the Stock Market Crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
), interspersed with equally surreal yet seemingly unrelated digressions involving Burroughs' own fictional characters. A lengthy segment is dedicated to Schultz hiring a carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
sideshow
Sideshow
In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...
freak
Freak
In current usage, the word "freak" is commonly used to refer to a person with something unusual about their appearance or behaviour. This usage dates from the so-called freak scene of the 1960s and 1970s. "Freak" in this sense may be used either as a pejorative, a term of admiration, or a...
who can hypnotize people by speaking phrases which plant subliminal messages; Burroughs inserts this fictional character into Schultz's legal team during his income tax trials, and credits him with helping Schultz avoid prison time. Large segments are dedicated to Burroughs' own creation, "Albert Stern," a morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
addict who randomly appears at intervals throughout Schultz's life and who ultimately attempts to take credit for his murder. Despite no records existing of a contemporary of Schultz named "Albert Stern," a period mugshot appears in the book depicting "Stern;" the mugshot has since been incorrectly identified as Otto Berman
Otto Berman
Otto Biederman, known as Otto "Abbadabba" Berman , was an accountant for American organized crime. He is known for coining the phrase "Nothing personal, it's just business."...
. As of 2007, the identity of the boy in the mugshot has not been discerned, although Burroughs' insertion of a photo of himself into the book—ostensibly depicting the police stenographer who transcribed Schultz's last word—indicates that the mugshot might be a prank on Burroughs' part, as it is the only photo in the book not to depict a readily identifiable individual.
The script begins with a series of detailed, coherent explanations by Burroughs of the identities of various characters, how the film should be shot, etc. As the screenplay progresses, Burroughs' instructions becoming increasingly absurd
Absurd
Absurd or The Absurd may refer to:* Absurdity, general and technical usage - associated with extremely poor reasoning, the ridiculous, or nonsense....
and cryptic; at one point, Burroughs calls for Jack Diamond to appear as a motionless man in a chair who speaks without moving his lips, specifying that this should be achieved by the actor's dialogue being recorded into a cassette recorder which is then played behind the actor during filming. Throughout the script, Burroughs calls for a peep booth-style 16mm sex loop—depicting a red haired young man having aggressive intercourse with a Spanish woman in a brass bed—to be played at seemingly random intervals.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
Although there have been occasional reports over the years of filmmakers wanting to adapt Burroughs' story for the screen, to date no one has seriously taken on the project. For a brief period, Dennis HopperDennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
owned the rights to the film, but nothing ever came to fruition. The closest it has ever come to being filmed is a 2002 Dutch short combining live action and rotoscope
Rotoscope
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films. Originally, recorded live-action film images were projected onto a frosted glass panel and re-drawn by an animator...
animated scenes. The short only features portions of Burroughs' script, with some segments varying slightly from the source material. The film features Rutger Hauer as the voice of Schultz.
A similar novel-cum-screenplay is 1992's Reality Is What You Can Get Away With: An Illustrated Screenplay by Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
.
See also
- The Illuminatus! TrilogyThe Illuminatus! TrilogyThe Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson first published in 1975. The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction-influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magick-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both...
by Robert SheaRobert SheaRobert Joseph Shea was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In...
and Robert Anton WilsonRobert Anton WilsonRobert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
, which also made extensive use of Schultz's last words. - closet screenplayCloset screenplayRelated to closet drama, a closet screenplay is a screenplay intended not to be produced/performed but instead to be read by a solitary reader or, sometimes, out loud in a small group....
External links
- Transcript of Schultz's last words that inspired Burroughs' novel.