My "Geraldine"

...for a stage play adaptation of a movie named...

"Wait Until Dark"

@ Wenatchee's Riverside Playhouse

2011

I was tasked to build a "Geraldine" knife for the play "Wait Until Dark".

<image> <-- 1967 Movie

OK, reading the script: The knife is roughly five inches of handle shaped like a naked woman, and in white. The blade has to come straight out of the end.

Here's the initial four "Geraldine" knives I made.

(Above) The functional knife next to the one that gets slapped into the back of the wall through a hole hidden as part of a black & white cat photo. (below) The original 'stabbed in the back' knife version next to the non-functional stand in that Susy drops on the floor.

I made the handle body for these by hand out of FEMO (hence the slight variations) and used 1" wide x 1/8" aluminum strip for the "blade".

Version #1 for Mr. Roat to use on stage - and has the operational mechanism and is a front side only.

Version #2 to be stabbed into Mike's back was a long piece of aluminum strip bent 90 degrees to slip into a sewn pocket of the raincoat Mike puts on.

Version #3 [made to replace #2] ended up being a shortened version of #2 epoxied to a very strong magnet to be 'placed' onto the raincoat - that now has a thin steel metal panel inside the outer layer.

Version #4 to be 'thrown' and appear next to Susie's head ...is a short aluminum piece mounted to a wood disk 'slapper', mounted on a hinged arm, to quickly place the knife handle through the hidden hole in the wall at about a 30 degree angle.

Version #5 is just a solid aluminum bar made to look like the functional knife, for Susie to drop on the floor during her 'scuffle' with Roat. I used a steel wire wheel on a grinder to give the multi directional reflections (to give the suggestion of a sharpened knife blade) and a dremel with a cut-off wheel to add the 'blood groove' to the blade.

#5 In place for use, the key is also one of the props.

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