Twisted Nerve

[Steve Crook]

Does anyone have a copy of Roy Boulting's Twisted Nerve (1968) that they could check something on?



I am told there is an epigraph to the film which says something like "A twisted nerve, a ganglion gone awry" which I suspect could be a bit of manufactured verse by scriptwriter Leo Marks who was known for making up verses (like "The life that I have").



Steve

[Andrews]

You've got the first part just right, the rest is: "predestinates the sinner or the saint." What is the source of the verse "The life that I have"?



Charlie

[Steve Crook]

When Leo Marks got the job of reorganising the agents codes for SOE (Special Operations Executive) at the start of WWII - he was only 23 - they used to use codes based on poems.



The trouble was that if it was a well know poem and the nasties managed to discover just a few words from it they could easily guess the rest and would have the key to the codes.



Leo started writing his own original verses for the agents to use so that they couldn't be guessed - a lot of them are very rude :)



When his girlfriend was killed in an aeroplane accident he wrote the poem

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours



The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours and yours



A sleep I shall have

A rest I shall have

Yet death will be but a pause



For the peace of my years

In the long green grass

Will be yours and yours

and yours

Soon after that he was asked to give a poem to Violette Szabo for her second mission to occupied France and he decided to give her that poem. She asked who had written it & Leo said he'd tell her when she got back - but she never came back. She was captured, tortured and murdered at Ravensbruck.



In the film Carve Her Name With Pride (1958) they made out that it was Violette's husband Etienne who had written it because it fitted in with the story better.



See http://www.violetteszabogcmuseum.org for more about Violette Szabo.



Steve

[Steve Crook]

Andrews:

You've got the first part just right, the rest is: "predestinates the sinner or the saint."



Charlie

Thanks Charlie.

I is mentioned in one other place that I can find where it is attributed to Keats but with no indication of the poem it's from



Steve

[DB7]

Hi Steve, I was asked about this t'other day. Did you ever source the poem?

[Steve Crook]

DB7:

Hi Steve, I was asked about this t'other day. Did you ever source the poem?

Not for certain. I suspect it was made up by Leo Marks



Steve

[DB7]

I've the Boulting biog and there's an essay on Twisted Nerve so I'll have a shufty through it.

[dylan]

A twisted nerve, a ganglion gone awry

Can such a thing predestinate

Who becomes a sinner, or a saint?

Keats



This is a quote from another site with no indication of which Keats' poem so it could still be one of Marks' code-poems.

[DB7]

The book credits the poetry as 'probably' Marks work. (his son had Downs Syndrome - as did Hywel Bennett's character)

[DB7]

No puppet master pulls the strings on high,

A twisted nerve, a ganglion gone awry,

Predestinates the sinner or the saint.

[dylan]

DB7:

The book credits the poetry as 'probably' Marks work. (his son had Downs Syndrome - as did Hywel Bennett's character)

Bennett's character was psychopathic - his brother had Down's Syndrome. The film suggested a link between the two.

[awalan]

I didn't remember the name of the movie,but I do remember the quote,it was "Who can chart the course of a twisted nerve,or a ganglion gone awry"

And I'm pretty sure it was displayed at the end of the movie.

[Holly]

Here's a question regarding "Twisted Nerve" that has bothered me for years....in the film, what exactly is Hywell Bennett saying to Ms. Haley Mills that has her absolutely terrified? The scene is where Martin/Georgie is kneeling on the floor in front of Susan as she sits on her bed, then as he begins to speak, a voice-over of his mother is heard. I could never quite make out what he is saying, but it absolutely horrifies and disgusts Susan, though the next thing she says is, "No Georgie, I would not laugh". I first saw this movie when I was a young girl, as I've always been a fan of Ms. Mills, ever since "Polyanna". "Twisted Nerve" was my first "slasher" movie and it scared me silly. I remember leaving the theater after dark and checking the backseat of the car before getting in, just in case "Georgie" might be lurking there, LOL!

[Santonix]

Just noticed on Play.com that Twisted Nerve is due for region 2 DVD release on 4th June.

[kelp]

Oh, come on somebody, tell us what he is saying to Ms Mills, you've got me wondering now as well as Holly.

[samkydd]

Apparently the performances of Billie Whitelaw and Barry Foster in Twisted Nerve impressed Alfred Hitchcock enough to give them parts in the film Frenzy.

[Joenoir]

Bennett's character was psychopathic - his brother had Down's Syndrome. The film suggested a link between the two.

I remember there was a quite a furore at the time because of this suggested link. Of course it was fuelled by the newspapers and the film company exploited it.

[cornershop15]

This film was shown on ITV4 a couple of years ago. I missed the beginning and only half-watched it. There'll be other chances, I'm sure ...



Three of my favourites among the supporting cast, all Armchair Theatre veterans: Barry Foster Billie Whitelaw and Frank Finlay

Trivia:

Like Hywel Bennett and Hayley Mills, Billie appeared in three films with Frank (The Comedy Man, Twisted Nerve and Gumshoe) AND Barry - Twisted Nerve, Frenzy and Maurice. While Barry and Frank were among the cast of four films: Robbery, Twisted Nerve, Inspector Clouseau and The Wilde Geese

[doojeen]

Nice to see this on YouTube in one continuous performance: