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SYNOPSIS
Gordie Lachance, a writer, is remembering back 25 years to 1959, in a
Castle Rock, when he was 12 years old. His friend Vern’s brother Billy is overheard
saying he’s seen the body of a missing teenager in the woods. Vern and Gordie, and the
mates Teddy and Chris decide to find the corpse, and hope this will get their pictures in
the papers. Chris takes along his father’s .45 pistol.
The four boys have series of adventures; Gordie is nearly caught by the local dump’s gurad dog, they ‘race the train across a high trstle bridge and are almost run over; they camp out for the night and get very scared until Gordie distracts them with a story. The next day, they go swimming in a pool and come out covered with leeches.
Just when Vern spots the body in the grass, Billy and the other town thugs, led by Ace Merrill, drive up to claim the corpse. Everything looks pretty desperate until Gordie produces the pistol, at which point the gang drives off. The boys then return to Castle Rock without the body (the police are later informed anonymously).
Grown up Gordie’s memories have been revived on learning that Chris had been killed while trying to quieten a brawl in a bar, and has been writing his recollections of the last summer of childhood into a story. Now he’s finished it and goes outside to play with his own kids.
REINER ON KING ‘I was very nervous because I wanted him (King) to like it. I didn’t actually watch the film with him. I showed up after it was over and ran into him. He was visibly moved... he said, “Listen, I’ve got to compose myself. I’ll come back and talk to you.” He came back in about 15 to 20 minutes and we sat and we talked. He said this was by far the best film that had ever been made out of any of his works.’
S.O.S. / SAVE OUR STORY
It is the closing moments of the movie. Grown-up Gordie’s voice (by courtesy of Richard Dreyfuss) has been with us throughout the film, commenting on the adventures of the summer. Now we’re looking at the grown-up Gordie, sitting in front of word processor and we realize that he did become a writer, and even as he’s been recalling and recounting the story, he’s been typing it into his computer. Dreyfuss/Gordie writes his final lines, ‘I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, did anyone?’
Well, satisfied with the job, Dreyfuss/Gordie leans forward, stretches out an arm and something clicks off. In cinemas all over the world, regular users of word processors go into shock. Some even call out – ‘Save it!’ he didn’t save it. He only made one movement where he should have made two – a saving moment and a switching-off moment. It’s gone! The story’s been wiped out!
Nonsense, said Reiner. As Dreyfuss/Gordie finished the story, the shot showed him seated; the next shot showed him standing up. Why wouldn’t he have pushed the save button before he switched it off? After all, pushing a save button doesn’t make any noise.