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Seems like they started out trying to make Del as annoying as possible, but toned it back to make him a character that the audience would ultimately enjoy by the end.

This was a great post, thanks for the info.
It made the "meeting Del" scene at Thanksgiving make more sense, because there seemed to be a reaction from Neal's wife that was more complicated than just "you brought this dude home".

Darn thing will not work for me. I get a "connection lost" error.

You're welcome! Current location for the script:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=13826379601490546068

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.

I was always under the impression Neal's wife thought he was having an affair anyway. The part where he calls her from Wichita, I believe, is where you get that feeling from her. He's already called her from a city or two and is now telling her he STILL isn't coming home, so she's suspicious.
Although, if he WAS with another woman,he'd be making life a lot harder on himself. He could've gotten away with that with probably one "delayed flight" phone call.

Add me to the list of people who think the end result was far superior to the script you provided. The movie works far better with Del and Neal having their edges sanded down. In particular, I like how the movie makes Neal a far more sympathetic character. Apart from the long dismissal of Del in the hotel that first night, he's basically a nice guy who's simply become frazzled by all the frustrations he's faced in the 48 hours of the movie, yet his good nature never disappears completely. When he's with the little girl on the train, the one short period of time that he's apart from Del, he's cheerful and pleasent. And yet, mere minutes later, when he spies Del dragging his chest across the frozen field, he instinctively does the right thing and goes to help out. The script doesn't paint Neal as half as generous as Martin ended up portraying him.

Thanks for providing this most interesting look at how the movie was first going to be. While there were a few good laughs that were omitted from the film we know, I have to say what we saw was a true improvement over this script, overall. The principle parts I like better in the film than in this script are the way Neal and Del continue to argue and bicker almost until the ending in the script. In the movie we know, they seemed to be getting along better, understanding each other more as we progressed.
I will say the bit about them overshooting Chicago and winding up in Wisconsin helped it to make sense that it took so long for them to get back to Chicago, since they really should have made it much earlier.
I really like the ending we know, where Neal figures out that Del doesn't really have a home and goes back to find him still at the train station. In the script, Del pushes himself again into Neal's life and that makes him less sympathetic to me.
I think it was more enjoyable as a film to not be concerned that Neal's wife thinks he is having an affair, as the script indicates. Since scenes were filmed with that in mind, I now understand why she seemed as odd as she did in a couple of her scenes.
Whether book or film, a really good editor can make a huge difference in the overall quality of the product. A three-hour version matching this script would not have been nearly as good a film.

It seems like she was made out to be a real bitch who had it in her mind that the only reason Neal was late getting home is because he was having an affair and that he made up "Del Griffith" as a cover up, for this woman he was sneaking around with.
This really explains her response of
"What's going on Neal?"
when he tells her he's in Kansas - and her
"I don't see what the snowstorm in Chicago has to do with this"
line.
I always felt she sounded skeptical of Neal in that scene or odd in the context of the film, but knowing this backstory, it makes sense now.

After reading this I caught that bit in the diner about the pizza. I always wondered where Del got the beer from he spilled on the bed in the motel! so I guess this ties that together.
Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lenier up and down the court for 48 minutes.- Roger Murdock

Me too. In my mind, the way she and Del looked at each other, I thought perhaps THEY had an affair and knew each other! Neal is probably thinking at the end he can kill two birds with one stoneoffer a place for Del to have Thanksgiving dinner, and prove to his wife that he's real.

That was always a mystery to me as well. The way they look at each other when he finally makes it home, and the way Del and her greet each other was always very strange to me. It was as if something else was going on - well now we know.
Great post - thanks!

Actually that does clear up something I always found weird about the movie. The wife's reactions always seemed so melodramatic to me. Like seriously lady your husband's just a little late, it's not that big of a deal!
But now, ok so that's why she's so happy at the end especially seeing that Del is real. I'll just keep that info for my own head cannon the next time I watch.

Now it says the website is unreachablewe're having really back luck with this, eh?

Hey, I'm sorry about that! I was sure I updated my signature link, but guess something went wrong. Link in my sig in this post should work!
EDIT
current location:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=13826379601490546068

I second that! Please re-upload the script

Still no luck lol. I didn't reply until now because I didn't want to be annoying butstill curious to read it.

Hey there,
You can grab it from my signature You can also pm me an e-mail address to send the file to if you don't trust the link. All I can tell you is that it's fine
EDIT
current location:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=13826379601490546068

Hi Hilwo,
The page no longer exists on your website, and the datafilehost link just leads to an executable file that I don't trust.
Any chance of making it available again?

EDIT
current location:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=13826379601490546068

I'd love to see more as well, this is one of my all-time favorite films. But hard to do a Director's Cut without the Director.

I would love to see the full 3 hour version of this movie. Just to see all those scenes. So very curious.

I would love to read that. Where did you find it? It sounds like it explains a lot. I wish they wouldn't have cut the black eye scene. Leaving it out just leaves plot hole.