Miller Time

Producer Jeremy Thomas thinks he’s got a project worthy of following his multi-Oscar-winning “The Last Emperor”: An original screenplay--romantic drama--by Arthur Miller. Still untitled, it’s the celebrated playwright’s second film script. He did “The Misfits” in 1961, which starred his then-wife Marilyn Monroe in her last film. (Also the last film for Clark Gable.)

Thomas was unwilling to discuss details with us. But director Karel Reisz (“The French Lieutenant’s Woman”) offered tidbits: “It’s set in a small New England town that’s been turned upside down by a murder trial of a boy accused of killing his mother,” Reisz said. “The people know he’s not guilty and several band together to raise the money for his defense. It’s against this backdrop that the love story is told.”

The same backdrop was the basis for Joan Barthel’s book, “A Death in Canaan,” based on a real incident that occured near Miller’s Connecticut home. It was later adapted as a TV movie.

The director added that barring last minute contractual problems, Debra Winger will star. She told us that it’s one of several possible projects.