Dirk Bogarde's annotated screenplays from bfi:
Victim (1961), "His own copy is filled with subtle rewrites to the dialogue, giving a sense that the script was valued and respected. No random doodling here – instead we get Bogarde’s own ‘emotional graph’, a handwritten chart plotting key scenes with corresponding levels of intensity required. This helped Bogarde remain focused during a production in which scenes were shot out of story order."
The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954), "Tempers frayed during the making of this Second World War survival drama. Bogarde had begun the project in genuine awe of co-star Michael Redgrave, and had expressed his happiness at the prospect of acting with him. But a curt rebuttal from the older man, “This is not acting; it is just reacting”, led to a frosty atmosphere. The situation was made more awkward by the plot’s requirement to film long hours crammed in a dinghy waiting for rescue in the North Sea. Dominating a whole page of Bogarde’s copy of the script are furious doodlings of seemingly random images."
Doctor in the House (1954), "Bogarde’s copy of the script has very little annotation, other than jottings on what he was wearing."
Ill Met by Moonlight (1957), "Ill Met by Moonlight was a pleasant enough experience for Bogarde, but director Michael Powell found the actor’s air of detachment exasperating – no more than a “picture postcard hero in fancy dress”. Indeed, Bogarde’s script has a suitably un-thumbed quality, and certainly no indication of Powell’s direction being noted down. Its only embellishments are two pages where dried flowers have been attached – one from an olive tree."
Song Without End (1960), "found Bogarde playing composer Franz Liszt in a Hollywood film with an enticing fee of $100,000 and the prospect of a career boost across the Atlantic. He embraced the gruelling three-week, 10-hour-day training at the piano and formed a deep and lasting rapport with his beautiful leading lady Capucine, yet the film was doomed. Bogarde described it as a “grinding and profoundly unhappy experience” and his script doesn’t seem to have been treated with any reverence. Pages of doodlings and phone numbers and notes suggest it was simply paper he had to hand."
Once a Jolly Swagman (1949), "Bogarde was oddly cast as a mud-splattered speedway rider whose wife threatens to leave him if he doesn’t give up the sport. It’s more of a romantic drama than its US release title Maniacs on Wheels would suggest. A sensuous female nude in pin-up pose dominates an early page of Bogarde’s copy of the script."
"Many of the scripts are annotated, or even rewritten, as Bogarde frequently tweaked poor dialogue. They’re populated with sketches of strange landscapes and figures – some skilfully drawn; others child-like doodles impatiently scribbled as a distraction. These are rarely connected to the scene itself. At other times, Bogarde appears to use his scripts simply as convenient scrap paper to jot down phone numbers or other things to remember."
