When Romero portrayed a real-life monster in 'The Assassination'

Before I Wake was the unproduced George Romero script I was most interested in reading when I visited the George A. Romero Archival Collection in October 2024 (click here for more about that), but I read two other scripts, including The Assassination.

Like Before I Wake, The Assassination also came close to production before falling apart. In fact, it actually got as far as casting. Ed Harris and James Coburn had signed on for prominent roles, pop singer Ricky Martin was in talks for a part, and Anthony Quinn was set to play the story's central figure, Rafael Trujillo, the longtime dictator of the Dominican Republic.

Unlike Before I Wake, it's easy to figure out why The Assassination wasn't filmed: Anthony Quinn died. Around the time the film was to begin shooting, the 86-year-old Quinn passed away of respiratory failure, and he was pretty much irreplaceable to the project. 

The script I read is described on its title page as a revision by Romero of a script by Michael January, inspired by the book, Trujillo: Death of the Goat by Bernard Diederich. Trujillo was the real dictator of the Dominican Republic, and he was assassinated in 1961 after his regime brutally ruled the country for decades. He was nicknamed the Goat as well as El Jefe, and there's been discussion about just how involved the United States was in his death.

I don't know how accurate this script is to real life. I'm certain much has been changed or invented for the purposes of telling a dramatic story. Reading the script has made me interested in reading more about the actual history, but it would probably be unwise to view the script as a factual re-telling.

The revolution will not feature zombies

After opening in the chaos that ensues following Trujillo's death, The Assassination jumps from 1961 to 1955. Trujillo is entrenched in power, tolerated by the United States government because of his anticommunism and pro-business relationship with American interests but increasingly becoming an embarrassment because of his oppressive, brutal tactics. Trujillo even has a dissident kidnapped from New York City and brought back to the Dominican Republic to be tortured and executed.

Our main character is Henry Greerson, who is appointed deputy consul to the Dominican Republic. A veteran of the Korean War, he's sent to "keep an eye on things," but eventually, he becomes convinced Trujillo needs to go. It might be in the best interest of America, but for his own conscience, Greerson gets involved with a conspiracy to take the dictator down.

The conspirators include:

• General Diaz, an experienced soldier kicked out of the Dominican military by Trujillo as a scapegoat;
• Lt. Amado, a young army officer who is disgusted with himself after he essentially pimps his cousin out to Trujillo;
• brothers Tavito and Antonio, a pilot and family man respectively who had a significant moment meeting Trujillo when they were children;
• Teresa Mirabel, the wife of a political prisoner.

The story unfolds as these characters and others come together and plot the assassination of the man oppressing the country and killing their friends and families. It takes place over many years and incorporates numerous real historical events, including Castro seizing power in Cuba, the election of John F. Kennedy as president, and the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Richard Nixon, still vice president, turns up for an early meeting with Trujillo, as does Nixon's close friend, Bebe Rebozo, as well Ambassador Joseph Farland. A few other wives of the conspirators are prominent, including Mary Greerson, whose father, we're told, has it in for Henry and pulled strings to get him this assignment.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Romero's zombie movies are about revolution, a new society literally devouring the old one. The social order has been overturned, new forces have risen to take charge, and the old power structure has been torn down. This is quite evident in Land of the Dead in which the undead overrun Fiddler's Green, the capitalist enclave ruled by the corrupt Kaufman, but it's also reflected in earlier drafts for Day of the Dead, in which the governor of Florida has established a fiefdom on an island where he uses an army of trained zombies to keep himself entrenched, only for the zombies and other revolutionaries to bring him down.

It's a similar idea Romero explored in another unproduced film: Copperhead Conquers the Warhawks. Described as a sci fi action movie in the vein of Robocop and set after a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Copperhead is the story of a soldier who undergoes a transformation into a superpowered cyborg to destroy a group of terrorists. However, Copperhead ends up joining with the rebels to bring down the totalitarian government of the future, but in the end, he kills the leaders of both factions, seizing power for himself, a cynical ending that fits Romero's oeuvre. 

Looking at it through that lens, it's easy to see why The Assassination appealed to Romero. Not only would it have allowed to move outside the horror and work with a big-name cast, but it would have allowed him to explore this theme. He was also interested working on a bigger scale, more epic in scope, and The Assassination - with its large number of characters, political intrigue, and rebels plotting the overthrow of a government - would fit the bill.

The Assassination, even if highly fictionalized, is based on real people and events. There are no zombies or cyborgs, but Romero casts a cynical, suspicious eye toward the government and military while also being dubious about the long-term success of any revolution. Trujillo is taken down in the end, but the country falls into more violence, and most of the conspirators wind up dead or are about to be killed. Meanwhile, Henry and Mary leave the country, having not been able to affect much in the way of positive change, mostly witnesses to what their government's policies have resulted in.

"The sharks eat cooked meat tonight."

Trujillo, in the script (and real life), is a complete monster who enslaves, tortures, and murders people while indulging in wealth, extravagance, and vice. In many ways, he reminds me of Gasparilla, the villain from an earlier, unfilmed version of Day of the Dead. 

Gasparilla, who had been governor of Florida when the zombie outbreak started, also rules a Caribbean island by the time the story begins, and he indulges in all manner of depravity and brutality. He uses the military to train and control zombies, feeding the dead the flesh of people he keeps imprisoned. Gasparilla also hosts wild, out-of-control parties that resemble the orgies of Roman emperors.

Trujillo doesn't have an army of the living dead at his disposal, but he has a personal assassin, a loyal army, and the backing of the U.S. government. He throws lavish parties, intimidates visiting American dignitaries, and has a private torture chamber. As far as he's concerned, he's untouchable.

These dark moments in the script feel like they came from a horror director like Romero. People are murdered, kidnapped, and tortured, and Trujillo's torture chamber is something straight out of a horror movie. The victims are dumped off a cliff into the ocean, and when one victim is electrocuted, the men taking him to the ocean note, "The sharks eat cooked meat tonight."

We also see the results of a failed coup against Trujillo early on. Those rebels are thrown out of an airplane to their deaths. During a flashback scene, Antonio and Tavito, as children, witness escaping slaves being gunned down.

Final thoughts

My biggest critique of The Assassination is the decision to center it on the Greersons. It feels like an attempt to tell another country's story through the eyes of Americans, and while it never quite falls into the "White Savior" category, it does muddy the waters some. I don't necessarily blame Romero and company for that. I imagine this was a prerequisite to get the movie made, but it's worth pointing out. On the plus side, I believe Ed Harris would have played Henry and made him more compelling than he is on paper. 

Through Henry Greerson, we get some pointed criticism of American foreign policy and capitalist scheming that leaves another country at the mercy of a dictator. Additionally, the U.S. fails to provide adequate support when the decision is finally made to topple him nor does it help the citizens caught in the chaos afterward, but I think these points could have come through just as well from the perspective of the Dominican characters.

With so many characters to balance and juggle, the script would have benefited from minimizing Henry and Mary (especially their bickering) and focused more on the revolutionaries themselves, especially the brothers Antonio and Tavito. Antonio is the reasonable family who urges caution and discretion, only gradually taking on the revolutionary mantle of his more hotblooded brother.

All that said, The Assassination was a fascinating read, a strong demonstration that Romero had the talent (if not the opportunity) to venture outside the horror genre while retaining his artistic identity. It also highlights an idea at the center of many of his zombie movies: humans are the real monsters.

It's a shame it didn't it didn't get made, but that's my refrain for many unproduced scripts I've read.