Our ‘Dream Role for Damian Lewis’ series continues with a great fan from Belgium who first thought she had to cast our guy in a role that would bring him to, well, Belgium 🙂 It seems though one thing has led to another and Greet has ended up putting Damian in a courtroom as a defense lawyer. Many thanks go to her for sharing her script with us!
I was thinking about the perfect role for our favourite actor.
My first idea was I really love Damian to come and film in Belgium, so I was thinking in the line of ‘In Flanders Fields’, a documentary about the liberation route of the First World War that would bring him to Ypres, Poperinge, Wijtschate, Passchendaele, etc. But it has been documented many times, and what to choose as a plot is difficult…
I also loved watching North and South, the role that Damian would be perfect for is the character George Hazard. A remake of this miniseries would be great, but when I started putting these ideas on paper, I thought of something else…
I was going through my books and suddenly my attention was drawn to a book that really hit me while I was reading: Knock On Any Door by Willard Motley.
This book was released on May 5, 1947, I read it in Dutch (of course :)).
The role of the lawyer Andrew Morton would be perfect for Damian. He will, as Morton, defend the actions of Nick Romano who is on trial for murdering a policeman.
Nick Romano is is facing the death sentence by electric chair. Andrew Morton will defend this young criminal, trying to clarify what has driven this boy to kill this policeman.
While I was doing some research, I found out that this book has been filmed in 1949 starring Humphrey Bogart as the lawyer Andrew Morton, perfect for a remake starring Damian Lewis as Andrew Morton, I believe 🙂
The plot (source Wikipedia)
“Against the wishes of his law partners, slick talking lawyer Andrew Morton takes the case of Nick Romano, a troubled punk from the slums, partly because he himself came from the same slums, and partly because he feels guilty for his partner botching the criminal trial of Nick’s father years earlier. Nick is on trial for viciously killing a policeman point-blank and faces execution if convicted (the event is shown in a dark opening scene, but the killer’s face is not seen).
Nick’s history is shown through flashbacks showing him as a hoodlum committing one petty crime after another. Morton’s wife Adele convinces him to play nursemaid to Nick in order to make Nick a better person.
Nick then robs Morton of $100 after a fishing trip. Shortly after that, Nick marries Emma, and he tries to change his lifestyle. He takes on job after job but keeps getting fired because of his recalcitrance. He wastes his paycheck playing dice, wanting to buy Emma some jewelry, and then walks out on another job after punching his boss. Feeling a lack of hope of ever being able to live a normal life, Nick decides to return to his old ways, sticking to his motto: “Live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse.” He leaves Emma, even after she tells him that she is pregnant. After he commits a botched hold-up at a train station, he returns to Emma so as to take her with him as he flees. He finds that she had committed suicide by gas from an open oven door.
Morton’s strategy in the courtroom is to argue that slums breed criminals and that society is partly to blame for crimes committed by people who are forced to live in such miserable conditions. Morton argues that Romano is more a victim of society than a natural-born killer. Yet, his strategy does not have the desired effect on the jury, thanks to the badgering of the seasoned and experienced District Attorney Kernan, who delivers question after question until Nick shouts out his admission of guilt. Morton, who actually believed in his client’s innocence, is shocked by Nick’s confession. Nick decides to change his plea to guilty. During the sentencing hearing, Morton manages to arouse sympathy for the plight of those trapped by birth and circumstance in a dead-end existence. He pleads that if you “knock on any door” you may find a Nick Romano. Nevertheless, Nick is sentenced to die in the electric chair. Morton visits Nick prior to the execution and watches him walk the last mile to his just reward.”
This book is well written, it blows you away and you feel as reader sympathy for the young criminal, you don’t want him to end in the electric chair. The main character in this thrilling, emotional book is Nick Romano, a young man from the slums of Chicago. He was initially raised as a great kid, he even was an altar boy growing up, his father even thought he might be a priest. Surrounded by wrong friends and a difficult home situation, he becomes a victim of his environment, and starts his career as a small criminal.
It is a fascinating book to read, it touches your heart, it is compelling what makes it a real page-turner.
The film can start in the Court of Justice and through different testimonials we can learn all about the life of Nick Romano and why he eventually committed this terrible crime with flash backs about his upbringing, his young life, the suicide of his wife and the bullying of the policeman which leads to killing him point-blank.
Damian would be perfect as Romano’s lawyer. He can convince the jury with a stunning performance, and he can make a difference in this kid’s life, trying to get him on the right path: even being with him when he walks the last mile will be an amazing scene, absolutely breath-taking, I’m totally convinced that this is the perfect role for Damian.
A film based on this book, even it will be a remake, is going to be a real hit, an astonishing performance by Damian Lewis is guaranteed. He is excellent as an actor and will do a perfect job!
