THE FAN SITEWho really wrote "Poltergeist?"
Disclaimer: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor are the credited writers of the film. While I cannot prove there were other writers involved, the following information is interesting nonetheless.
Perhaps not as well known as the controversy over who really directed the film, the story of how the script came to be written is equally fascinating. Contradictions, accusations, rumors, and incomplete information abounds. The official story goes something like this: "Poltergeist" and "E.T." began originally as "Night Skies," which was to be the sequel to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" at Columbia Pictures. Steven Spielberg had the idea of a farm family who is terrorized by a group of evil aliens, with one of the aliens who becomes friendly with one of the family's children. A script was written by John Sayles, and an SFX artist even began work on the alien creatures. Columbia later decided they didn't want the project, so Spielberg pitched it to MGM. He would produce, and find someone else to direct. At first Spielberg offered "Night Skies" to Tobe Hooper, but Hooper felt the alien aspect wasn't really his thing and said he'd like to do a ghost story instead.
Hooper claims to have pitched Spielberg on an idea he had been developing off and on for the past eight years at Universal. He'd happened to get the old office of director Robert Wise, who made "The Haunting." Hooper found a book about poltergeists in Wise's desk, and thought the idea would make a good movie. Supposedly, according to Hooper, he worked with William Friedkin to try to get Universal interested in the project. The idea was to use the studio's surround sound process for the poltergeist effects. He and Spielberg collaborated by mail on a treatment while Spielberg was shooting "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Hooper claims to have come up with the idea of a family situation, people who were next door neighbors to a cemetery, but that his version didn't have an ending. He claims that the idea of the ghosts kidnapping the child didn't come until late in the development process, and that the idea was both his and Steven's.
In 1982, two writers named Paul Clemens and Bennett Michael Yellin would allege that in January of 1980, they submitted, via their agent, a script treatment called "Housebound" to Spielberg's production company, Amblin'. Spielberg's office denied ever receiving the manuscript. Clemens had auditioned (with Debra Winger) for Spielberg on "1941," but did not get the role. Clemens liked Spielberg, and admired his movies. "Housebound" had been registered with the Writer's Guild in September of 1979. It was a haunted house story concerning the tribulations of a three child family whose youngest daughter was kidnapped by the house, and hidden somewhere inside it. As the family attempt to get her back, they can hear her voice calling out somewhere within the house for help. It's discovered that the home was built on top of a swamp where people had died under mysterious circumstances, and at the climax, the bodies of those who died come crashing up from beneath the home's floorboards. Clemens and Yellin said they never heard anything back from anyone at Spielberg's office after their treatment was submitted.
Spielberg's 11 page treatment, then called "Night Time," was dated March 31, 1980. This treatment did not list Tobe Hooper as co-writer. Spielberg further revised this draft over the next five months, adding 15 pages of amendments by August 18, 1980, and then a further 5 pages on August 23, 1980. By this time, the story was called "It's Night Time."
Elements of the story that were there from the very beginning included the Freelings, the suburban setting, the TV set, the dead bodies in the newly dug pool, Tangina, and the paranormal researchers. Things that didn't make it into the finished script included the neighbors turning against the Freelings, the family being composed of four kids instead of three, and the bodies under the house actually being the bodies of white settlers killed in the early 1800s by Indians. The amendments to the treatment changed this to a cemetary that had the headstones relocated but not the bodies.
Elements NOT in the treatment at all were: the tree, the clown, the house imploding, bodies exploding up from under the house and yard, toys floating around the bedroom, and the closet turning into a mouth and sucking things in. And in this early version, Carol Anne is never "kidnapped" by the ghosts (rather, she gets possessed by one of them; the family then flees the house, leaving her behind).
First Spielberg approached Stephen King to write the script, but King's agent wanted too much money. Spielberg then met with co-writers Michael Grais and Mark Victor about possibly writing a remake of "A Guy Named Joe" (Spielberg would later do this as "Always" in 1989, without Grais and Victor). Grais and Victor were more interested in Steven's ghost story, however, and soon they got the job of writing what eventually was called "Poltergeist." Ultimately, though, Spielberg was not happy with their draft, and over a 7 day period (after the film had already been scheduled for production and as a writer's guild strike loomed), decided to re-write the script, churning out over 100 pages with the help of Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall at his house (along with Tobe Hooper, who "hung around" as Spielberg worked on that draft). This official first draft (at 115 pages) was dated February 9, 1981. "Poltergeist" began shooting three months later.
In late 1981, Paul Clemens first became aware of the similarities between "Housebound" and "Poltergeist" while at a party at the home of "Alien" producer Ronald Shusett. He'd been in conversation with one of the "Poltergeist" actors, who had just completed shooting on the film, as Clemens had also just finished his horror film "The Beast Within." Clemens had become friends with another "Poltergeist" actor previously-Dominique Dunne-since the two of them had auditioned together on "Ordinary People." As Clemens and the other "Poltergeist" actor (not Dominique) traded stories, Clemens realized with surprise how similar the storyline of "Poltergeist" was to "Housebound." He decided to obtain a copy of the "Poltergeist" script as soon as possible. Once he and Bennett Yellin read it, they got it to Clemens' attorney/business-manager, and then it quickly found its way to the desk of the barrister/solicitor copyright infringement specialist team (that became their lawyers on the case). The legal team agreed to take their case solely on a contingency basis, as they felt it was that strong.
Here's an article excerpt from a 1982 issue of "Cinefantastique", written by Donald Moore:************************
Blockbuster films draw legal action like a honey pot draws flies. Poltergeist has been hit by a $37 million suit by actor Paul Clemens (who starred in The Beast Within, Death in Canaan and Promises in the Dark) and Bennett Michael Yellin. Clemens and Yellin claim that substantial portions of a script their agent submitted to Steven Spielberg's office in January of 1980 found its way into Poltergeist. Spielberg's office denies ever receiving the manuscript. The story Clemens and Yellin wrote involved a strange house which traps a family (consisting of a mother, father, an older daughter, middle son and a young daughter) and hides the youngest daughter somewhere within its structure, while the family can hear her ethereal voice calling for help. Clemens and Yellin registered their script with the Writer's Guild West on September 7, 1979 and it bears some striking similarities to Poltergeist, including a murderous tree that comes to life, and a room with saliva dripping from around the edges of a door frame, and an interior of smooth, glistening pink flesh resembling a throat which Clemens described as a kind of "well" going into the depths of hell. In Clemens and Yellin's finale, bodies of people who have drowned in the swamp on which the home was built-come violently up out of the water and break through the floor-boards of the house. "We think there's clear story misappropriation," said Clemens' and Yellin's attorney, Derrick Fisher. "Spielberg might defend his story against copyright infringement by claiming it was an 'independent creation." Well, you can have independent creation in maybe one of these plot elements, but there are so many of them which are almost identical." In 1981, Clemens had obtained a first draft copy of the Poltergeist script, but was counseled by his attorney to wait and see what similarities remained in the finished movie. The first draft had prompted author/director Frank DeFelitta to protest a scene he felt was lifted from his film "The Entity" (to be released by 20th Century Fox next spring) in which a mother is literally raped by a ghost. In that case, the script was changed. The plaintiffs have already lined up two expert witnesses, magazine editor Forrest J. Ackerman and author Ray Bradbury, who have agreed to go over each story and render their own professional opinions as to similarities in plot and structure. Ackerman also served for the defense in the Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Wars lawsuit, and Bradbury read Clemens' original story when asked back in 1979 for his literary advice. Clemens insists he has no personal animosity towards Steven Spielberg. "I like Spielberg," he said. "I've met him twice and he was enourmously gracious to me. I love his films. This is just a specific case. I'm not out to 'get' Spielberg. But look at the evidence! He's the only person we sent this script to and he makes this movie."
The above was from
Volume 13, No 2/Vol 13 No 3 (November-December 1982) "Krull" was on the front cover.
"Housebound" was not a script in the usual sense but rather a script-length treatment much in the same format as Kubrick's original draft of "Full Metal Jacket." There were allegedly 67 points of similarity between "Housebound" and "Poltergeist" (including the young daughter stolen away by the house and an ongoing search for her, the tree coming to life, the bodies coming up out of the water beneath the shattered floorboards of the house, a room turning into a throat with a tongue, etc.). What the plaintiffs in the case believed was that an intern or other lower level "ghostwriter" employee at Amblin read the treatment, and then jotted down a bunch of ideas from it which were then presented to the "Poltergeist" creative team as their own (the intern/ghostwriter's) contribution. It was not believed that Spielberg himself "stole" or authorized the theft of the material; he was simply too busy a man to be reading spec submissions from then unknown writers. What remains unclear is exactly when these alleged unauthorized "borrowings" took place.
In addition, "Housebound' didn't have a number of elements: the TV, a character like "Tangina," the clown, the house imploding, or the toys flying around the room, so those elements were original to "Poltergeist."
Richard Matheson did feel that his "Little Girl Lost" was "borrowed" from -- more than it was in "Housebound" actually, where the daughter was literally INSIDE the house, rather than in another dimension. But in "Housebound" people could hear the young girl from time to time as they were desperately trying to locate her (it was as though the house itself had devoured/abducted her and was hiding her away as bait as it then played games with the other characters trapped inside it).
(for more on Richard Matheson's short story and later "Twilight Zone" episode "Little Girl Lost," see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Girl_Lost). In addition, it was later rumored (but not confirmed) that Matheson was hired to write the "Twilight Zone" movie partly in an effort to head off any potential suit over "Poltergeist."
This is from a Cinefantastique, 1986 article about "Poltergeist II:"
A lawsuit pending against Steven Spielberg and POLTERGEIST's co-writers could, meanwhile, prove more than tiresome. Spielberg and associates still stand accused of having appropriated substantial portions of a script written by actor Paul Clemens and Bennet Michael Yellin. The script, they maintain, had been forwarded to Spielberg's office in January 1980. Its protagonists underwent a fate which would sound more than vaguely familiar in the context of POLTERGEIST. The case could reach the courts during the next few months, Clemens told us, although he's been instructed by his lawyers not to discuss the case. MGM, the distributor of POLTERGEIST II, also had no comment on how the outcome of the case could affect their release.
The plaintiffs had a respected, award-winning genre writer lined up to be an expert witness should the case go to trial. The defendants had an even more well-known award-winning genre writer prepared to testify on their behalf. The plaintiffs' expert witness would have focused not only on what he felt were the many points of similarity between "Housebound" and "Poltergeist," but would have used his extensive knowledge of genre literature to point out what he believed was the originality of "Housebound." On the other side, the defendants' witness would have tried to discredit those points. Forrest Ackerman was never going to be an expert witness in the trial, but was only a consultant -- along with Ray Bradbury -- earlier on in the four year journey toward a court-date.
By the time the case was set for trial in Federal Court later that year (1986), it was agreed that even though (because of alleged sloppy book-keeping of Clemens' agent in 1980) they lacked the crucial messenger receipt proving that "Housebound" had been delivered to Amblin' (thus making "access" the weak link in their case), it was felt that they still had such a strong case overall (based solely on the numerous points of similarity), that they stood a 50/50 chance of winning. And it was apparently because of this that they received a settlement offer just three days before the case was set to go to trial.
As I researched this topic, in January 2009, I did receive a statement from someone involved with the Clemens/Yellin lawsuit, further confirming that the suit was settled:
That case was settled around 20 years ago [1986], just prior to the commencement of trial, following many days of deposition testimony given by the plaintiffs, Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Tobe Hooper and Stephen King and experts retained by all parties. The terms of such settlement were requested by the defendants and agreed upon by the plaintiffs to remain confidential. As such I am not in a position to comment about either the nature of or the terms of the settlement.
A side note: Several years ago, an unknown person claimed on the (now closed) Spielbergfilms.com message board that the Clemens/Yellin lawsuit was settled for a "not particularly large" sum of money (at least according to today's standards).I did receive this statement from someone connected to the defendants:
"I did get to look at the similarities the plaintiffs said were stolen from their treatment, and I have to say, I was not impressed. Most of it looked like standard haunted house stuff to me, things it would be easy to dream up if you were writing a story in that genre. Spielberg struck me as a completely honest guy, and already on the roll he was on, why would he bother stealing something like that? Much easier just to pay them for the idea, if he saw it and wanted it that much. I also know the screenwriters, Mark Victor and Michael Grais, and can't imagine literary theft from them, either. If there was any crossover of ideas, it would have been with Richard Matheson's 'Twilight Zone' episode, 'Little Girl Lost' - but I don't think that notion was particularly original with him, either, and in any case I'm pretty sure Spielberg and Matheson were friends."
However, in 1997, Robert "Bob" Martin, the original editor of "Fangoria" magazine, made a post on the old Usenet bulletin board. In the post, he discussed, jokingly, how he knew enough to write a "dark side of Spielberg" book. After discussing the "Twilight Zone" film, he moved on to "Poltergeist:"
Another cool chapter would be about the committee of eight writers who wrote -- and, for many scenes, outright *stole* from multiple sources -- the Poltergeist script credited to Spielberg and two writers. MGM even shut down production on a TV movie because there was a set-piece, involving a ghostly hand emerging from a television screen, that the writing committee wished to incorporate into the Poltergeist script, but other appropriations were not so above-board. Spielberg was unaware that his "ghost writers" had sticky fingers until the lawsuits hit. Veteran fantasy writer Richard Matheson and actor/screenwriter Paul Clemens were paid off. Spielberg has, wisely enough, not taken a bogus writing credit since.) (Another chapter might play compare and contrast between Spielberg's many pronouncements on "artist's rights" and his role as 800-pound bear producer on other director's films).
Paul Clemens confided in me about his case against Spielberg when I met him on the set of "The Beast Within." I never wrote about it in FANGORIA because I had established a policy of not treating the familiar stories about who stole what as news, since there were so many people writing to me about their "stolen" ideas, most of it baseless or trivial. I believed Clemens, but I didn't feel that was sufficient to make an exception. As a guy who grew up in Hollywood, Clemens knew how things go well enough that he wouldn't sue at the drop of a hat (Clemens himself pointed this out to me when we spoke about this).
When Tobe Hooper claimed to me that he was being shut out of creative credit for Poltergeist, I reported that in Fango because it *was* news. I never had it confirmed that Clemens was paid off, I heard it as a rumor. The case simply disappeared, which itself suggests that someone traded their silence for wads of cash.
I used the term "committee" loosely, in that there were never 8 people working on the script at once; but there were uncredited writers working on the script after Grais and Victor, after it had been scheduled for production (causing a great rush to get the script in shape; this is when I believe there were unauthorized borrowings). My source for this sort of info was a number of personal friends who were on Spielberg's payroll at the time, who spoke in confidence.
One fascinating aspect to me is the fact that a ghost-themed TV movie
that MGM had in the can was never broadcast because some
elements of the script were wanted for Poltergeist. My source for this
named the TV movie in question, and I was able to confirm its
existence and late-term cancellation.Since I never wrote about all
this, I have no record of the name of that project.
My best estimation of the number of writers on the script, total, is
eight. This is not including Tobe, who told me flat-out that the basic
story and concept were his. I don't discount Tobe as readily as
everyone else in the world does, but I've despaired of convincing
anyone else of his truthfulness.
You can quote me exactly on any of this, including the Usenet posting,
but please be clear that I name no sources nor do I claim any high
degree of reliability for these anonymous sources.
But I nevertheless do believe I have a better grip on how Poltergeist
was put together than the vast majority of people.
In any event, without having access to the draft that Grais and Victor wrote (before Spielberg-and his apparent ghostwriters-re-wrote it), it's difficult to construct an accurate timeline of when certain elements of the story were added. Finally, check out the right side bar article in this 1982 "Cinefantastique" article:
Below, some scans of the film's script:
