Unmade Movies: Hitchcock's The Blind Man

Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman''s unfinished screenplay, completed by Mark Gatiss

''Achingly tense scenes... and a masterpiece of a climax'' Radio Times

The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks.

One of seven ''unmade movies'' available on audio, The Blind Man is set in 1961, and features a famous blind jazz pianist, Larry Keating, who agrees to a pioneering surgical procedure: an eye transplant. The operation is a success, but his new eyes are those of a murdered man - and burned onto their retina is the image of his killer. Can Larry track him down before he strikes again?

The proposed follow-up to North by Northwest, The Blind Man was to be set in Disneyland and star Jimmy Stewart - but Walt Disney refused permission, Stewart pulled out and Lehman dropped the project, leading to a 16-year rift with Hitchcock. Decades later, the unfinished script was rediscovered by producer Laurence Bowen in a research institute in Texas - along with extensive notes and letters between Hitchcock and Lehman. Completed and directed by Mark Gatiss, it stars Hugh Laurie (House) as Larry and Rebecca Front (The Thick of It) as Sylvia, with Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun of the Dead) giving a masterly impression of Hitchcock as the narrator. Prepare to be blown away by this explosive new psychological thriller from the Master of Suspense...


Production credits
Written by Alfred Hitchcock and Ernest Lehman
Completed and directed by Mark Gatiss
Adapted for radio by Laurence Bowen
Produced by Laurence Bowen and Peter Ettedgui
Co-Producer: Laurent Bouzereau
Original music by Blair Mowat
Sound Design: Wilfredo Acosta
A Feelgood Fiction production for BBC Radio 4

Cast
Larry Keating - Hugh Laurie
Sylvia Whitehead - Rebecca Front
Victor Farmer - Nicholas Woodeson
Jenny Stiles - Kelly Burke
Mortie Levitt/Captain Barzoni - Andy Nyman
Linda Whitehead - Hilary Connell
Herman Graubner - John Guerrasio
Dr McGraw - John Light
Autograph Girl - Hollie Burgess
Narrator, Alfred Hitchcock - Peter Serafinowicz

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 October 2015

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