Alien: Outside the medical bay

leading from

Alien: Making the Movie
and August 1978

Page from Terry Rawling's Alien script1978-06 1978-06 scene 84a Interior Corridor Outside Infirmary Window, p41

a) In the corridor
There was a scene filmed where Lambert, Brett and Parker are hanging around a corridor looking through the window into medical room.

Here we are introduced to the corridor with a large window looking into the medical bay. We're looking here at one version of the cut found in the laserdisc edition of Alien and make comparisons in brackets to the final Director's Cut of the film which seems to include another version of the filmed scene.

Lambert stands in the middle of the corridor with her arms folded, Parker sits against the wall looking through a pornography magazine and he says "Hey Brett look at that" pointing to the magazine spread, while Brett who's smoking stands by the window staring through, he replies to Parker "wait a minute,  Jesus Christ!" backing away to the wall behind him sitting down next to Parker shocked, muttering "What is it?" and Parker starts to take notice seeing it now as more important that the contents of his erotic magazine, responding "What the hell's happening here?".

(In the director's cut, we see Dallas and Brett remove the helmet and Dallas says "What the hell is that?" before Brett is seen staring through the window and backing away, saying "Jesus Christ what is that thing?")

Parker, chewing on something, perhaps gum,  raises a finger yelling out "How's he breathing?" (in the final Director's cut he says "Hey, how the hell's he breathing?)
Brett responds quietly "Still alive or what?" (in the final Director's cut he says "Is he still alive or what?)

Parker then yells out "How come you guys don't freeze him? How come you don't freeze... what is that anyway?"  (In the Director's Cut he yells:"And why don't you guys freez him? How come they don't freeze him?" ) and turns to Brett at his said saying "What the hell's going on now? What is that?" (In the Director's Cut, he says "What's going on there?")

Image from earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Frame from the Alien Director's Cut

Image from earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Image from earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Frame from the Alien Director's Cut

b)  Lambert confronts Ripley
After Ripley refused to let Lambert and Dallas back in carrying Kane with the facehugger attached to his face through the airlock, this would be a scene where Veronica Cartwright as Lambert had to go and slap Sigourney Weaver as Ripley.

Sigourney as Ripley calmly climbs down the stairs from the upper deck and marches through the corridor yelling "Alright, what the fuck is going on!?" (Director's cut, in the directors cut, she franticly comes down the stairs, yelling "What the fuck is going on?")

In the earlier takes Veronica as Lambert kept trying to slap Ripley, but Sigourney who hadn't been told kept ducking every time. What we have in the laserdisc cut is a slap sound that's not particularly associated with anything but in the final we have a slap associated with the sound, but she knocks Sigourney against the wall, and so I would assume this is just one of those earlier takes

Then Ridley secretly told Veronica, "Would you just get her this time". She went forth, grabbed her by the shoulder pushing her against the side of the corridor yelling "You bitch!" slapped her and recalled that she then back handed her, really hitting her. The noise resounded through the stage and everyone was quite shocked. The final director's cut shows Sigourney reaching out to the wall on the camera's side of the partition between the corridor and the chamber with the ladder, instead of being knocked against the wall by the stairs

Ridley was happy with the take and Sigourney's cheek was red from the blow.

Lambert would then be pulled away by Parker and then Brett had his arms around her from behind restraining her as she half coherently shrieked "She was going to leave us out there. Let go of me!"

Sigourney was enraged. She felt that it wasn't right for the character that Lambert would cry, so this scene would be cut out of the film despite Ridley being happy about the shot, (although it would be later integrated into the director's cut some years later). Veronica thought it was a perfect reaction since Ripley ought to have been enraged in response.

It was also known that Veronica was peeved that Sigourney had been given the role that she had auditioned for and thought she had.  It was also believed that she harbored anger and hostility towards her competitor. (See also: Veronica Cartwright cast as Lambert)

Frame earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Frame earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Frame earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Frame earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Frame earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Image from earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

c)  Argument with Dallas through the window
Sigourney stood there calmly regaining composure

Dallas from the medical room yells "When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed!"

Ripley replies "Even if it's against the law?" (In the director's cut, Sigourney really comes back at Dallas with her words)

"You god damned right!" yells Dallas

"Well maybe she shouldn't have! Who the hell knows what that thing is, how come you guys brought it up here!" shouts Parker. (In the Director's cut, Parker says "Well maybe she has a point you know. Who the hell knows what that thing is there")

"Right!' responds Brett.

"We'll call that settled" says Ripley, "How is he?" as she turns to stare through the window where Dallas and Ash with breathing masks and medical gowns are standing either side of Kane with facehugger attached, who's lying on the medical bed.

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Image from earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

Image from the Alien Director's Cut

Image from earlier take included in the Alien Laserdisc

d) Explanation

Dallas says to Ash "How are we going to get that off him"

Ash remains non responsive

Dallas raises his voice " How are we going to get it off!"

Ash mumbles through his mask something near enough to "Just a minute, just a minute, I'm going to get something" as he goes to open a box and takes out an instrument.

In the corridor they wait, Parker hanging on to a pipe by the window says "My god!"

Ripley asks "What happened to him?" and then yells "What happened to him?"

Brett replies "I don't know. Tell me" in Lambert's direction.

Lambert responds "He was in the derelict, look we were inside and there was nothing around so he volunteered to go down below, found these egg things, that was the last communication and the next thing we bring him up and he's got this thing on his face."

After the take that where Veronica delivered the slap on the face of Sigourney, Gordon Carroll who knew Sigourney's parents and took a very protective stance towards here, rushed over to Sigourney to make sure that she was alright

Page from Terry Rawling's Alien script1978-06 scene 84a Interior Corridor Outside Infirmary Window p42

e) See also: Nostromo's infirmary references Ralph McQuarrie's Death Star Corridor painting?

 

1.  (37:43) Ridley Scott: Oh, this is an additional scene that we didn't have in the film. This was where I think Veronica whacked you, she'd given a huge...
   (37:50) Sigourney Weaver: She did
   
   (37:50) Ridley Scott: ...whack, first time...
   
   (37:52) Sigourney: Oh you asked her to do that?
   
   (37:52) Ridley Scott: No, absolutely not, but I, but it's like
   
   (37:58) Sigourney: No, she really hit me, you can see how surprised I was, (38:00) and you put it in?
   
   (38:02) Ridley Scott: Well, you know, by the time this is mixed and everything, I think it's okay. The only reason some of these things come out, wham, they have to be, she really hit you wow.
   
   (38:12) Sigourney: And you, no one told me that she was going to do this, 
   
   (38:13) Ridley Scott: I, sorry (chuckle)
   (From the commentary from the Alien Quadrilogy blu-ray)
2. Scifi Now: In the director's cut, there was a scene following the quarantine altercation with Kane, where you slap Sigourney Weaver across the face! Was that real?
   
   Veronica Cartwright: That was real. But every time I went to slap her she kept ducking. Then, Ridley Scott said to me 'would you just get her this time!' So, I went to hit her and then I back-handed her and she was not a happy camper. Oh, she was pissed! She felt it wasn't right for the character that I would cry and so it was cut out of the film. However, I thought it was a perfect reaction, of course you'd be pissed!
   
   Scifi Now:Ripley and Lambert didn't really get along anyway did they?
   
   Veronica Cartwright: I think we'd all been in space too long. We were all aggregated with one another and that was what the whole thing was. After Dallas died Ripley becomes the captain but she has to earn that; nobody was just going to let her be the captain. I was sort of the voice of reason that thinks, 'let's get the fuck out of here!'. (Scifi Now, January 2019 (published mid December 2018)
3. Charles Lippincott: There was a day on the set when Veronica was suppose to slap Sigourney. Ridley was into natural acting, so he secretly instructed her to slap Sigourney as hard as she could. Sigourney was unaware of this. Word was Veronica was peeved Sigourney had been given the role she had auditioned for, which she thought she had, so she harbored anger and hostility towards her competitor... So when she lifted her hand and whaled Sigourney, the noise resounded through the stage, shocking everyone. Ridley was happy with the take. Ripley's cheek was red from the blow. (Charles Lippincott on Facebook, Saturday 15th of December 2018) 
4. Charles Lippincott: Veronica auditioned for, and got, the role of Ripley.
   
   When she showed up on the set for her first day, she thought she had the role of Ripley. Imagine her surprise when she found out Sigourney was playing Ripley. Neither she, nor her agent, knew the role she had auditioned for, and thought she got, was given to another actress.
   
   Add to this the fact Gordon Carroll knew Sigourney's parents, and took a very protective stance towards Sigrouney.
   
   On the day of the slap, immediately after the take, Gordon rushed over to Sigourney to make sure she was all right. (Charles Lippincott on Facebook,  Sunday16th December 2018)