LET ‘ER RIP (5-page short drama screenplay) by John Staats writing as “Weak Won”

An outlaw’s last words are more befitting than he intended.

The SimplyScripts 2020 Writer’s Tournament is officially underway! The annual writer’s tournament kicked things off in its first week with the theme, Money Is the Root of All Evil. If you’re a casual or new visitor of the site, this year’s tournament paired writers off in teams, with each writer given criteria to meet in a two to six-page short screenplay – they’re given a genre along with other random items to include in their individual stories. Now, this may seem like a difficult task, especially considering that each writer was given only a week to complete their scripts. But, hey, that’s why it’s called a challenge. And after reading through the Week One entries, it was clear that the talented writers here at Simply Scripts were more than up to the task.

My favorite of the bunch for Week One and, coincidentally, the highest scoring entry, was Let ‘Er Rip, written by the immensely talented John Staats.

His genre? Historical. Which isn’t exactly my favorite. But my expectations were COMPLETELY subverted by the time I finished this delightfully morbid tale, of which the criteria included; a gavel, a reporter and a park. Which he seamlessly weaved into a very entertaining little gem… while being historically accurate.

The subject of this sharply-written historical piece was infamous cowboy turned outlaw/train robber, Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum of the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang that operated in America’s west in the 1880s.

The story opens with the judge banging a GAVEL (that’s one criteria item) before sentencing Ketchum to death by hanging. For what exactly? Felonious assault of a train – yes, you read that correctly. I know this may sound like a spoiler, but I’m sure you knew what happened to the Titanic before watching Titanic. This is merely historical fact – Ketchum was the first person to suffer capital punishment for the offense of “felonious assault upon a railway train” in New Mexico Territory (which did not become a state until 1912).

Ketchum was accused of attempting to rob a train – the conductor recognized “Black Jack” and shot him in the arm, which was later amputated. But as a REPORTER (criteria item No. 2) interviews him in jail, Ketchum denies the accusation.

That’s exactly how the U.S. government felt about the law – they later found it to be unconstitutional. Unfortunately for old “Black Jack”, the law wasn’t changed until after his hanging. Just his luck, huh? Well, karma might’ve been in effect in this instance – after all, there were numerous other robberies and murders. So, one couldn’t feel TOO sorry for the outlaw.

During his interview with the reporter, despite being sentenced to hang, Ketchum expresses a more positive view on his time in prison while rubbing on his plump belly.

Perhaps he’s been living a little TOO well – it’s been said the man packed on about thirty extra pounds while behind bars. Now, what relevance does his immense weight gain have in this story? That’s one aspect I won’t spoil for you. However, the ending stays true to historical fact while somehow being funny yet incredibly morbid without being gratuitous. You’ll have to see for yourself. But, interesting fact – the story is so historically accurate that a good portion of the reporter’s voice-over dialogue at the end was the actual reporter’s verbatim written account of the hanging – taken from an article written in the Denver Times back in 1901.

Its title taken from Ketchum’s last words, Let ‘Er Rip is an incredibly entertaining historical short that would be awesome to see on screen.

BUDGET: Low to mid budget. It’s a historical period piece, but there’s ways to keep the budget sensible in regards to props and costume. Historical reenactment groups can be a source to rent out stuff on the cheap. Also, vintage props in general can be pretty cheap to rent and even purchase. Though it may take someone good with their hands with carpenter skills to put together the gallows – perhaps one can be fashioned from an old, wooden swing set. It will be a great opportunity for the filmmakers and set designers to get creative!

About the writer: As a fly-fishing fanatic and skier living in the Arizona desert, John Staats has plenty of time for writing. After focusing on features and shorts for the screen, John has now ventured into writing for the illustrated page with hopes of eventually writing a full-feature graphic novel. His feature Impasse has also been published as an e-book on Amazon. John can be contacted at jestaats(a)hotmail.

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.