On High in Blue Tomorrows is a film directed by Kingsley Stewart, written by Lawrence Ashton, and starring Nikki Grace as Susan Blue and Devon Berk as Billy Side. The shooting script is dated April 6, 2005. The film is based on a cursed story, and Nikki becomes trapped in the world of the film.
Plot[]
The film involves an affair between Sue and Billy, both of whom are married. Billy has two children. Nikki describes the film as about marriage "in some ways."
The film seems to change during production, due to the curse. Based on the accents, the film seems to take place somewhere in the American South. However, once Nikki becomes trapped in the world of the film, Billy lives in Los Angeles and Sue lives nearby (likely in the San Fernando Valley, or possibly in Inland Empire). Even though Nikki initially says the film does not involve a murder, the film as finished seems to end with Sue being stabbed to death on Hollywood Boulevard.
Specific scenes:
Scene 35 on the top of page 57: Billy goes to Smithy's (Sue's husband's) house and sees Sue in the window. He says he didn't think she'd be there, and then wants to apologize for the things he said the night before. Sue asks if the things he said were the truth, and cries. Billy asks if she is sorry, and asks why she is crying. She tells him to look in the other room.
Sue and Billy flirt in a gazebo. He says he has been with his wife since he was a little boy; she says she's heard there is nothing little about him now. She asks why Billy is doing this now, and he says it's because he never met her before. She says she can't afford to have that feeling, because all she sees from this is blue tomorrows.
Sue is at Billy's house while his wife and kids are away. She tells him she is heading out, and asks if Billy needs anything. He asks, “Quittin’ time already?” She says she’s late for gym. Billy asks if that's "Jim" with a G or a J. Sue, unamused, says, "That's original." Billy asks why she would want to exercise. He persuades her to stay for a drink, served by his butler. He pushes her to stay for dinner, but when she mentions his wife and kids, he angrily says, “Don’t ruin this.” She responds, “There’s nothing to ruin, Billy.”
Sue and Billy passionately kiss at Billy's house. Sue asks if this is what he wants; she says that she won't fall in love with him.
Sue and Billy talk in the dark at Billy's house. Sue says she is afraid that her husband knows about them, and says he will kill them.
There is a scene where Sue takes Billy's car to get groceries, and parks it in an alley.
Sue bleeds to death on Hollywood Boulevard after being stabbed, surrounded by three homeless people.
Relationship to the Curse[]
Initially unbeknownst to the cast or crew of the film is the fact the film is actually a remake of an earlier uncompleted, allegedly cursed, production. The producers have deliberately hidden this fact, but Freddie learns of it. The original had a different title. Apparently, the original filmmakers discovered "something inside the story." It was based on a Polish Gypsy folk tale called "Vier Sieben" (German for 47), which was said to be cursed, "and so it turned out to be," according to Kingsley. Both leads in the film were murdered. Despite this knowledge, all involved proceed with the production of On High in Blue Tomorrows.
Trivia[]
- The film shoots on Stage 4 at Paramount Studios. The Paramount lot also played itself in Lynch's Mulholland Drive (Stage 4 was also glimpsed in that film, in the shot through the entrance gate). Lynch's use of the Paramount lot is a tribute to one of his favorite films scenes, in which William Holden and Nancy Olsen's characters walk the back lot at night in Sunset Boulevard. (Source: Lynch on Lynch, edited by Chris Rodley 2005 edition, Faber and Faber Ltd., p. 273.)
- In addition to being a play on the character Susan Blue's last name, the title is referenced twice in the dialogue of the film. When Sue and Billy are at the early stages of their courtship, she tells him that all she sees coming from it are "blue tomorrows." When Sue dies, the homeless woman tells her she will have "no more blue tomorrows," then adds, "You on high now, love."
- Sue's husband is named Smithy in the film, and Kingsley calls the house Smithy and Sue share "Smithy's house." It is unknown if the role had been cast at the start of production; Kingsley at one point mentions a "ninety-year-old niece" who kept asking him who was playing Smithy.