REDBURN From Man to Boy – His First Voyage – A Filmscript - 5. Appendix

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Redburn Appendices

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Redburn Script Notes

1) Time Setting: June to August, 1839.

2) Character and Costume Notes:

REDBURN: From the Hudson River Valley; 19-20 years old. Redburn’s education is of the highest class. Personal tutors opened his mind in all directions, but in his heart, a love of learning and books competes with a desire to be among men; to grow to be respected by them, as one of them. He is a young Gay man yearning for freedom; freedom from his family, from their expectations for him, from their pressures for him to marry. So he, like many 19th century Gay men, is led to the sea for its autonomy; for its out-of-sight camaraderie that more often than not leads to love and reciprocal physical relationships. He is no novice to physical love, having proceeded his way through many ‘boyish romances’ in his village. These contacts, though reciprocated, were limited to touch. Thus, when he lays a hand on Lavender for the first time, Lavender knows he’s dealing with experience. Lavender’s placing his mouth near Redburn’s as Redburn climaxes grows into a lifelong love of this maneuver, but Harry is the first person he kisses and is kissed by. He is not prepared for the emotional world he is thrust into. First, learning of Blunt’s lifelong devotion to his dead partner’s memory affects his soul deeply – the ancient Greek myths of same-sex love as the noblest form of human devotion is exampled in a stinky forecastle in the summer of 1839, by a slight and totally modern young man. Secondly, he is disoriented by the sincerity of The Greenlander’s interest in him – he does not recognize it as love. Once he does, it is too late; he does not feel the same way for him. Thirdly, the passion of hate from Jackson is unexpected, but quickly gives him focus. Redburn’s attitude to his crewmates, other than Jackson, is one of fear-based caution mingled with a full-on erection to be among them and learn from them. In stature, he is average height, but has a well-developed body from working on his relatives’ farms. He is vivacious and jocular, and laughs and smiles with the freedom of most teenagers. He has shoulder-length brunette hair which he usually wears tied back with a black ribbon. He has soulful ‘Spanish’ brown eyes. (For more information, see Series Appendix 2 – “Redburn’s Sexual Expressions” (Volume 3, page 279).

CLOTHES: He brings very few pieces of clothing on ship, all of a working nature: two pairs of long trousers (with patched knees), one pair of knee breeches, which he wears when first coming onboard. He has four pairs of shirts: white, red, indigo and navy. He wears a billowy leather Scotch cap (no pom-pom on top) of the type that will evolve into the baseball cap. Later on, Dutchie lends him a proper seafaring tarpaulin hat with a brim. Over all he wears his brother’s red hunting jacket. Since he has no jumper (a seaman’s “frock”), he must wear this jacket even when it is only slightly chilly. For their trip overland, Harry dresses Redburn in Harry’s ‘working’ clothes: full-length light-colored trousers, a dark-blue baize jacket, a flashy silk plaid vest and a starched vermillion cotton scarf tied into a huge lineal bowtie. After Harry comes onboard, he borrows freely from this boy’s brand-new seafaring kit, and is seen wearing duck trousers and navy and indigo jumpers instead of his coat. In Liverpool he buys a jackknife and holster. For a time, early in the passage over, he wears The Greenlander’s green and white scarf around his neck, with the man’s silver ring as a pass-through above the knot. He begins the voyage with a pair of high farm boots, which he finds totally unsuitable for the work. He cuts off the tops and folds the ends down, but mostly, when the weather permits, he goes barefoot. Later, Harry buys him a pair of sailor pumps.

PETER: Redburn’s brother. Born in New York City, moved ten years previous to a village on the Hudson; 28 years old. Peter has watched his immediate family’s fortunes fall precipitously. With a recession, his father’s textile import business waned, forcing the family to live in the cheaper hinterlands, near other relations who could help out. From bad to worse, his father died suddenly, and the business being heavily leveraged, could not go on. Whatever he could do, he did to make sure his brother and sister continued to receive their education, but in the course of this grueling work, he became exposed to tuberculosis. He is aware of his brother’s affectional orientation, but as long as he sees his younger brother being discreet about it, he can avoid bringing it up. He is the same way, but has never had the sort of freedom of sensuality that his brother has enjoyed, and thus never initiated or exchanged mutual love with a romantic partner. In many ways he envies the boldness of his brother’s spirit. Peter also fears its recklessness, but he cannot live Redburn’s life for him. He feels the early stages of the disease tapped the strength out of Peter, and invests in his brother the hopes of the happy life he can never enjoy for himself. Peter is deeply moved by the filial affection his brother showers upon him.

CLOTHES: He wears conservative business attire, and a low-sloping top hat that was in fashion circa 1825.

TOBY: Born and raised in New York City; 21 years old. Sparked by mutual love-at-first-sight, neither Toby nor Redburn know when they first bump into each other that they are destined to be the love of the other’s life. Toby reappears in the following film, Typee, and thereafter. Toby is an inch or two shorter than Redburn and of a slightly more wiry build. He is lithe and jocular in the extreme; handsome, with fine dark curls, and placid blue eyes. He has been toughened by a life at sea since the age of sixteen.

CLOTHES: He is meticulous and trim in his spotless sailor garb. He takes pride in his appearance, and is first drawn to cruise Redburn because of that young man’s odd and flamboyant attire.

CAPTAIN RIGA: Latvian-born; mid-50s. Bushy haired and dapper in full beard and mustache, Riga is officious and sardonic. While at dock or on land, he wears his finest clothes and polishes his finest manners. At sea he wears outdated and worn clothes, and only speaks to the ship’s officers and his steward. When first seen, his hair is dark, then quickly grays at sea, where it stays gray until land is sighted. It suddenly turns jet-black again, and Lavender’s hands look stained for a few days. He is fond of Lavender and sees that the lad always looks nice wearing his hand-me-down clothes.

CLOTHES: In public he dresses like a lawyer, and uses Lavender in his silk turban as a sort of accessory to draw people’s attention to him and his high status. He likes a bit of color flash in his neckwear, and he likes to see color on the back of his cabin boy. At sea he wears what is warm and serviceable; mainly clothes he has had for twenty years.

LAVENDER: (aka the Steward; cabin boy) African American New Yorker; 18 years old. An orphan boy apprenticed to a Bowery barber, Lavender became the victim of sexual usage by the barber, and of men who paid the barber as pimp. At fourteen, he ran away and signed up as ‘boy’ on a ship. Here the Captain took notice of the handsome youth, and groomed him to be a steward. Captain Riga signed him away to join him on the Highlander about 18 months ago. Riga makes no sexual demands on him, which Lavender finds to be both a relief and troublesome. If Riga is not attached to him, Lavender could be replaced by another boy who captures Riga’s eye in the future. Lavender is accustomed to using his sexual appeal to obtain what he requires. He knows most men find him intriguing, and uses that knowledge as needed. In Redburn he encounters, for the first time, a ‘type’ like he is. He wonders what Redburn’s game is, seeing the other teen does not use his obvious appeal for mercenary advancement. Redburn puzzles him, but also attracts him. The Cook is his only true friend onboard, which hurts him when Doctor Thompson lectures him on ‘profligate’ ways. He is a couple of inches taller than Redburn, lean, smooth-complected and has gray eyes.

CLOTHES: On duty, Lavender wears the colorful clothes from Riga’s youth: swallowtail jackets, vests and knee breeches with stockings. These are out of date, but in vibrant Regency colors: mulberry, snuff, crimson, etc. While berthed, or on land with Riga, he ties a long yellow silk scarf around his head in a turban. At sea, he wears no headgear at all. Off duty, he wears his own clothes, which are current, tasteful and restrained: long trousers, plain shirts and an indigo monkey jacket. On his right ring finger he wears his most valuable possession: a man’s baguette diamond ring in gold. This is the only thing the barber ever gave to him. ^[19]

FIRST MATE: Pennsylvania-born son of a preacher; 35 years old. He is at the point of his career where he needs to be noticed by ship-owners. He does this by being the consummate business manager of the Highlander, counting the days he can receive his own commission and see the backside of Riga for good. He accepts things the way they are for as long they function, and will advise the Captain with what he believes he wants to hear. His clothes in port speak to his professionalism. He has dark hair, is tall and thin, and has a drawn-out face.

CLOTHES: In sight of land, he wears clothes better suited to a rakish accountant than a sailor. When first seen, he is jacketless, wears a striped calico shirt with sleeve garters, vest, snuff-colored trousers and a beaver-skin hat. During the voyages he wears jerseys, a tight pea coat and a red wool toque cap.

SECOND MATE: (aka Mr. Riggs) African American New Englander; mid-40s. A terse man who is bulky and not overly tall. He is generally curt and offers one piece of advice for most occasions: “Chuck it overboard.” He feels the ship cannot run without him, and that the bunch of dandies onboard the Highlander makes his job all the harder.

CLOTHES: From first to last, he is seen in a loose pea coat and a tight-fitting blue stocking cap. He is a man of few words, and even fewer clothes.

THE PAWNBROKER: New Yorker: mid-60s. As a religiously-inclined Jewish man of his age, he has little patience for the hustlers and prostitutes who frequently come in his shop. Stolen goods are a constant problem, because the nascent NYPD routinely comes in and ‘shops’ for whatever they fancy with the ‘testimony’ that it was stolen. Much of his profits are siphoned off for protection from the beat cops’ superiors. He lives for the rare gentleman bringing him true valuables, of the fowling piece type.

CLOTHES: Being a frugal man, he wears fashions current in about 1825: a black squaretail jacket, vest and high ruffled shirt. His head is covered by an embroidered and tasseled smoking cap.

HUSTLER: (in pawnshop) Irish-born Bowery Boy; 16 years old. A freckled, and slightly pimpled strawberry-blond youth doing what he has to to-get-by without resorting to robbery, or cheating, or anything ‘bad.’ He went out of his way to come to lower Manhattan to liquidate a ring his ‘husband’ gave to him. ^[20] His own Bowery neighborhood being none too safe to attempt the same. His pride is hurt by the Pawnbroker’s accusation, but he’s relieved the man did not outright steal the ring, claiming that he needed to hand it over to the police.

CLOTHES: The unique hustler uniform on both sides of the Atlantic is the same; a trademark by which their clients may know them. This Bowery boy looks overly youthful in beige corduroy knee breeches and pale-blue stockings with a sportingly tight jacket in dark-blue baize. He has a jocular clerk’s cap in tan tweed. Billowing under his chin, and layered about his neck, is a red silk scarf. This piece of wealthy extravagance, as part of an otherwise boyish ensemble, is the signal to his clients that he is ‘sporting.’ In later generations, this will evolve into the visual code of hustlers wearing red neckties to signal themselves to their potential clients. ^[21]

JACKSON: Bowery Boy; mid-40s. A career sailor who contracted yellow fever while on a long-haul tour and was discharged about seven years ago. He partially recovered his health, but never recovered his hair or full liver function; thus he appears thin, totally bald, sallow and jaundiced. An old acquaintance of the First Mate, he enjoys his ‘senior sailor’ status, knowing that he can kick back when he needs a rest. Because of his compromised health, he has battled tuberculosis for the last several years. He is in the final stages of the disease, and every day wakes feeling his body die a bit more than the morning before. He has a lot in his past to atone for (slave running; opium smuggling; a long list of rapes; and hate crimes), and no time in which to do it. Men in his position either repent and aim the remainder of their life to doing good, or they break bad and fully embrace the notion of going out with a bang as their final legacy. He’s gone bad: resents robust life as exhibited in the others around him, fears usurpation by better-bodied sailors, and hates love in any human manifestation. He uses intimidation to hold onto position and his sanity (so he doesn’t have to face the fear of after-life retribution for his wrongs to other people). He is average-build, with only one remarkable physical feature: a walleye. He has one hefty gold earring in his right ear (signifying he has rounded the Cape of Good Hope).

CLOTHES: He has several pairs of overalls: some in nankeen; others in denim; some in duck. Under these he wears several pairs of colored shirts all at one time – one because he has shrunk in his clothes, two so he appears to still be bulky, and three because he is constantly chilled in his waning health. On his hairless head he wears a “large white wool hat, with a broad rolling brim.” ^[22]

THE GREENLANDER: Sailor of Viking stock; 28 years old. A man who went to sea for the usual reasons of freedom and male-male camaraderie. He is borderline between believing he will find a mate, and be settled at sea with him, and a doomed feeling that such ‘accidents’ are rare. Redburn has no idea the hopes his actions fan, nor can he relate to the motivations for The Greenlander’s self-preservation turn of a cold shoulder on him after the youth breaks his heart. He likes sex, and he likes to talk about sex, though he couches his experiences in feminine pronoun. He is genuinely turned on and intrigued by Harry, and after an initial wish to hurt Redburn, he grows fond enough of Harry to be respectful, and to wish the lads best of luck in their partnership. He hopes that what he says about Harry’s ‘type’ is wrong and that the boys can build a lasting relationship. But Redburn’s heartbreak tilts him firmly back to the hope side of things – seeing how Redburn was broken just like he was. With rare, and lavish detail, Melville paint a vivid physical picture of The Greenlander: tall and slender-waisted, but muscular on top with broad shoulders and chest, wavy flaxen hair, fair and smooth skin, and clear blue eyes. He wears a pair of gold earrings with a diamond-studded anchor on each. On his fingers he has several thick silver bands, some plain, some with sea motifs like leaping dolphins. His hair is long enough that he sometimes ties it back with a colorful ribbon.

CLOTHES: A typical Gay sailor, he is fastidious to a fault, both on land and at sea. He has a large wardrobe, and all items of clothing look brand new because he maintains them with love. He dresses “…very tastefully too, as if he knows he is a good-looking fellow.” Every day a new ensemble: he has pairs of trousers in white duck, indigo cotton, navy wool. He has shirts in light-blue flannel, red and blue wool, and natural linen. When he wears a jersey, he has French striped tee-shirts on under them, and his jerseys are white with indigo collars and flaps, or indigo with white collars and flaps. Over these he wears a leather belt. He has two monkey jackets, one in green baize and one in navy wool. Around his neck, he has an endless variety of scarves, some in fine wool flannel with paisley patterns, others in solid colors of silk – but his favorite – the one he wears more than the others, is green and white with a check pattern in lustrous silk. To hold the ends of the scarves in place as they ride his chest, he uses a polished shark vertebra. His preferred headgear is a broad brimmed hat “bright as a looking glass” complete with a pair of long-trailing green ribbons.

DUTCHIE: From the Hook in Holland; mid-40s. He comes from a sailing family, and from a young age listened with intent to his uncles and older cousins talk about Batavia, Curaçao and all the other corners of the Dutch trading world. Frankly, he finds the conditions and freedom on American ships much more to his liking. He is investing his money and in a few years he’ll have to decide where to settle down, and which of the women he is in long term relationships with will be invited to his new home. He is good-natured, rather optimistic, and looks to find the best in the people he has to work and live with, even Jackson. He is not too tall, and has thinning vivid red hair and a freckled complexion. He is a stout man with well-developed legs and arms that sport a couple of fading tattoos beneath his abundant freckles.

CLOTHES: A second thought at best, his clothes are worn and faded from long use at sea. He favors red shirts and dark wool trousers. He has a medium-blue monkey jacket and faded navy pea coat. He lends Redburn a worn, but sensible canvas sailor’s hat. He wears the same model, only newer, and with a red ribbon to identify it as his.

BLUNT: An English-born Irish Traveler; 25 years old. Given to an orphanage near London soon after being born, his young mother was forced to abandon him due to family pressure to keep the baby secret. In the orphanage, several other Irish kids made sure he knew about, and was proud of his heritage – knew it was superior to the one surrounding him. This early-life sheltering amongst one’s own set Blunt on a path to a life of strong attachments. At eight years of age he was signed over to the Royal Navy as a powder monkey, or one of the little boys who supply the gun decks with gunpowder when under attack. A teenage boy became his protector and family on ship, and as the two grew up together, love and reciprocal devotion blossomed. After ten years of life together, this young man sacrificed himself to push Blunt out of the way of exploding ordinance. Blunt feels guilty; sometimes wishes they had died together, rather than one live on and feel the pain he does. After his partner’s death, Blunt became increasingly spiritual. Several visits of his partner to his dreams prompted Blunt to begin a journal, and plummet the depths of dream symbology. These records provide great comfort to him in his ongoing despair. He consults with spiritualists in Liverpool and New York who look into crystals to try and soothe the causes of his cares. Tough young, he cannot conceive of a time when love will be a comfort to him, if it comes from somebody else. Far from being morose about it, he lives each day as one closer to reunion, and is grateful. Outwardly he believes he hides all his inner turmoil, but he is wrong. His nightmares, and his prematurely graying hair let everyone close to him know he is far from happy. His physicality is extreme. Lithe and quick, he is on the smaller side, prone to desperately far-away looks broken by self-abashed grins and a hand to the back of the head, as well as long periods of quiet introspection and flashes of anger. He has a love of language first born by his ‘family’ in the orphanage, then expanded many fold by the diverse characters around him in the navy. He speaks with a ‘standard’ London accent, but can turn on a dime to cant a lilting Irish, or a tough Bowery Boy accent – or anything else he fancies. He has a bushy head of dark straight hair, graying along the center. It is medium length, and because of his hair product, he wears it spiky.

CLOTHES: His look is particular; all of his clothes are too big for him, and make him look boyish. But, they are lovingly darned, cleaned and kept safe from over-use. The style is somber, of the type approved in the Royal Navy. These are in fact the clothes of his deceased partner, ever and always about him. He wears a gray fisherman’s sou’wester in inclement weather; a naval cap at other times. In bad weather, his partner’s boots come up to his knees and rattle about on his feet; otherwise he wears pumps or goes barefoot.

COOK: (aka Doc; the Doctor; Mr. Thompson; Dr. Thompson) African American New Yorker; 55 years old. A religious man, who might have been content to be a preacher if his early circumstances had allowed, he is not fond of the sea. His cookhouse gets much of the worst of the weather, and the constant drafts reminds him how his career is winding down due to advancing age. Frugal in the extreme, he has a tidy sum waiting for him in a New York bank, and never ventures off ship when in port to spend money. He is content with his few books, and the company of Lavender, whom he genuinely likes and worries about. After Lavender and Redburn split, Lavender returns to the Cook’s bunk, where he knows he is safe. Cook is not judgmental; humbly he believes one cannot remove the splinter from a neighbor’s eye without first removing the plank from his own. He has a warm face, usually dressed in a half-smile and sly eyes that invite a person into the joke.

CLOTHES: To suit the dignity of being the ship’s ‘doctor’, he wears long sleeve shirts and vests with his apron over them. The shirts are fashioned from bed ticking; his vests are long and old-fashioned waistcoats, and generally appear worn and faded. A maroon one is his favorite. He wears dark trousers and has a buff-colored jacket for when he steps away from the cookhouse. Usually his sleeves are rolled up. On his head, in the best of chefly fashion, he wears a massive single toque with a heavy tassel.

HARRY: (aka Harry Bolton) From Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk; 22 years old. He is a very accomplished Artful-Dodger-type hustler, and a practiced fabricator of the truth he believes his hearers want to believe. He tells Redburn he is 20, and grew up with a well-off aunt in Bury before shipping as a ‘boy’ on an India-man. In fact, he was given up to an orphanage and apprenticed against his will at age 13 for the grueling voyage. In circumstances similar to Blunt, Harry was protected by an older sailor and had his education finished on board ship. Unlike Blunt however, Harry’s ‘protector’ grew disinterested in him on the long return voyage and exposed the lad to usage for money to line the older sailor’s pocket. On this leg of the journey, Harry professed a passionate hatred for shipping to the first mate, and afterwards, the officer introduced Harry to a high-class London ‘big brother’ (a pimp of male prostitutes) who saw Harry’s potential. Excelling at entertaining posh clientele, he soon graduated to the upper echelons of ‘The Club’ and the cultivated tastes of the ruling class of Britain. Harry is super attentive, witty and very well-read. He entertains as much with his mind as with his form. As his profession demands, he is an inveterate liar, and leaves Redburn constantly wondering who and what this remarkable boy might be. He likes sailors for fun, and this is initially what led him to “The Baltimore Clipper,” and drew him forcefully to the innocence of Redburn. His vitality commands the attention of everybody in the game, but leaves him wondering if Redburn is attracted to his ‘game,’ or to the real Harry. His budding love for the American takes him by as much surprise and wonder as it does Redburn, and he starts the Highlander’s return voyage in the sincere hope of getting a fresh start with Redburn. But, pressures mount, and he reverts to what he knows best. He has no intention of breaking Redburn’s heart, but like Lavender, he feels others’ reaction to him is not ultimately his doing. Among many other things, he is an accomplished singer and dancer. Physically, he is the same height as Redburn – if a few pounds lighter – lean and described by Melville as having “silken muscles.” He has longish and youthfully cut chestnut hair, an evenly dark complexion, and large hazel eyes.

CLOTHES: His ‘sporting’ attire for the docks is much like the Bowery boy Hustler: knee breeches, stockings, shirt, baize jacket, bright scarf under his chin, and a clerk’s cap. For the trip to London, he wears his high-class working attire: full-length light-colored trousers, a snuff-colored baize jacket, a bright silk plaid vest, and a moss-green starched cotton scarf tied into a huge bowtie. On his head he wears a youthful brimmed hat, like a low-profile cowboy hat. His sea wardrobe is instinctively calculated to appeal to sailors: two “Guernsey frocks” (corded knit sweaters), one in white, one in indigo; light-colored jumpers and trousers, a sea-green monkey jacket, and all his various scarves. His headgear is a billowy tweed fisherman’s cap with visor. All his clothes look new and clean.

3) As part of a photo montage for The Secret Melville No. 5, two the sailor couples in Redburn should have formal, early 19th century-style pictures taken and mounted in gutta percha cases with gilt frames. For this screenplay, the couples are: Blunt and Partner; Harry Bolton and Lavender. See Moby-Dick Text Endnote No. 20 (Volume 2, page 348) for a gallery of authentic sailor wedding-type portraits for staging inspiration.

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