John Rothman as Roger Delicore, the nervous library administrator.
As Venkman, Stantz and Spengler walk and talk, the library administrator hurriedly walks up behind them, interrupting, he nervously introduces himself…
Roger:“I’m Roger Delicore. Are you the men from the university?”
Venkman assumes the position of leader of the group, introducing the three men…
Venkman:“Yes. I’m Dr. Venkman. Dr. Stantz, Egon.”
In another subtle poke, Venkman doesn’t introduce Dr. Spengler with his full title. As a result, Roger only shakes hands with Venkman and Stantz. Roger goes on to say…
Roger:“Thank you for coming. I hope we can clear this up quickly and quietly.”
Roger is anxious in both his speech and body language. Clearly, the strange events of the day have unsettled him, and he has no clue what Venkman & co have in mind, or for that matter, who they are. As library administrator, he’s in the business of ‘calm and quiet’. Venkman senses the man’s anxiety and chooses to add to it.
Venkman: “Let’s not rush things. We don’t even know what you have yet.”
Venkman can’t help himself. He looks straight at Roger, adopting the most serious tone. It’s funny, not only because Bill Murray is a master of this kind of wry humour, but because we know Venkman is playing further mind games, sensing the man’s stress levels and using them to amuse himself. Venkman walks away.
We’re back inside the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library as Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman enter the busy hall, continuing their conversation from outside. In response to Venkman’s question, Stantz responds…
Stantz:“Of course you forget, Peter, I was present at an undersea, unexplained, mass sponge migration.”
The mind boggles. It’s another line of joyfully quirky dialogue from Ray. Dan Ackroyd’s delivery has a childlike quality to it. He’s like an excited kid at Christmas – perfect breeding ground for Bill Murray’s sarcastic cynicism.
Venkman:“Ooh, Ray, those sponges migrated about a foot and a half.”
In the foreground, sitting cross-legged on the library floor next to a table, we see the bespectacled figure of Dr. Egon Spengler at work with some kind of listening device. Venkman notices Spengler and quickly creeps up behind to where he’s sat. Venkman grabs a heavy book and starts making moaning-groaning noises that sound likes he’s saying “Egon“. At the same time, he drums with his knuckles on the wooden table. We cut to a close-up of Spengler’s (Harold Ramis) face looking alarmed, tricked into thinking he’s made a discovery. Then suddenly, Venkman slams the book down hard on the table top, causing a jump-scare for Spengler as the noise overloads his ears. Venkman enjoys taunting people. It’s his only amusement amid the ridiculous pursuits he finds himself caught up in.
There’s a quick cut to a shot of the library administrator (John Rothman) and another man, who are distracted by Venkman’s noise. Of course, the library administrator will be part-responsible for the continued observation of quiet inside the study area of the library. Venkman’s disruption will be bothersome.
The camera cuts back to Egon Spengler as he quickly gathers himself. Standing up, joined by Ray Stantz the three men begin to walk and talk. Spengler says to Venkman…
The three amigos, Venkman, Stantz and Spengler.
Spengler:“Oh, you’re here.”
Venkman:“Yeah, what have you got?”
Spengler:“This is big, Peter. This is very big. There is definitely something here.”
It’s hard to see why Stantz and Spengler would be so anxious for Venkman to be present. Are they so caught up in their work that they’ve failed to notice his utter apathy? Maybe his apathy is why they want him present? Maybe, they’re so convinced of a paranormal encounter, that they want the most hardened sceptic present, to confirm the reality of what they think they will find. This is their chance to finally win him over.
It’s immediately noticeable that Spengler’s character is vastly different to Ray Stantz. He’s much more focused and matter-of-fact, to the point that he’s seemingly oblivious to Venkman’s practical joke. He just stands up and starts talking without the faintest recognition of anger or amusement at Venkman’s trick. Venkman’s mocking continues…
Venkman:“Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. You remember that?”
As he speaks, Venkman touches his temple in recollection, amused by the memory. Spengler responds in a straight tone, pointing a finger toward Venkman…
Spengler:“That would have worked if you hadn’t stopped me.”
It’s a very funny exchange between the two, and quickly establishes Spengler as the serious thinker of the group. He’s seemingly impervious the Venkman’s jibes, or possibly, he’s so used to them, that he’s stopped acknowledging them. From a comedy angle, it plays as dry-on-dry banter, which makes for another fun nuance between the three men.
Dr. Raymond Stantz, the excitable puppy of the Ghostbusters.
Just as Peter Venkman is getting close to an intimate moment with Jennifer, Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Ackroyd) bursts excitedly into the room announcing…
Ray Stantz:“This is it! This is definitely it! Did those UV lenses come in for the video camera? And that blank tape? I need it. The one you erased yesterday.”
The mood is ruined. Such is Stantz’s enthusiasm, he doesn’t apologise for bursting in or even seem to care that he might be interrupting Venkman. As Stantz begins to grab equipment from shelves in the lab, Venkman appears unexcited, remaining seated next to Jennifer before eventually saying to her…
Venkman: “Can you excuse me for a second?”
Jennifer:“Sure”
Venkman gingerly gets up from his seat, sneaking up to Ray, and with a jump, air-slaps him over the the top of the head while saying in with a half-suppressed shout…
Venkman: “I’m right in the middle of something, Ray!”
As he does this, Venkman looks back at Jennifer, suddenly aware that he might have looked too animated in his annoyance of being so rudely interrupted, in the eyes of Jennifer. He retreats somewhat by saying more calmly to Ray…
Venkman: “Ah, I need a little more time with this subject. Could you come back in an hour, hour and a half?”
Venkman stands closely to Stantz as she says this, giving him an intense look with his eyes, as if to communicate the hidden reason behind the reason. Ignoring Venkman’s direct request, Stantz launches excitedly into explaining himself…
Ray Stantz:“Peter, at 1:40 PM at the main branch of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue, ten people witnessed a free floating, full torso, vaporous apparition. It blew books off shelves from twenty feet away and scared the socks off some poor librarian!”
Ghostbusters is co-written and conceived by Dan Ackroyd and his co-star Harold Ramis. Ackroyd, a talented comedy actor, plays the role of the tactless geek with genuine understanding. He’s the excited puppy of the team, as his introduction demonstrates.
Dr. Stantz is referring to the librarian, form this we learn that she is still alive, despite her frightening encounter. We also learn there have been numerous other witnesses. The line – “free floating, full torso, vaporous apparition” has become one of the many classic quotes among fans of the film. It’s funny that the men have two opposing agendas here. Venkman responds…
Venkman:“I’m very excited. I’m very pleased. I want you to get right down there, check it out and get back to me.”
So far, Venkman hasn’t said a genuine thing to anyone. As he says the line in his distinctively dry, deadpan tone, his response reveals how little investment he has in his work. Ray’s revelations mean nothing to Venkman. He doesn’t seem to believe or care. It’s like he’s heard it all before from Ray.
Ray Stantz:“No, no.”
Venkman:“Get right back to me…”
Ray Stantz: “You’re coming with us on this one! Spengler went down there and took PKE valances. Went right off the top of the scale. Buried the needle! We’re close on this one. I can feel it!
Venkman appears to be fighting a losing battle against Ray’s determined enthusiasm. Ray mentions Spengler, the third member of the team who has already found his way to the library to take readings on his P.K.E meter (Psychokinetic Energy Meter). Ray Stantz’s belief in the paranormal is complete, and for now, it has brought an end to Venkman’s fraudulent pursuit of Jennifer. The audience feel it’s the least he deserves.
Ray brushes past Venkman, certain in his mind. Venkman stands for a second and says to himself…
Venkman: “I can feel it. We’re very, very close.”
We surmise that Venkman’s meaning of “we’re very, close” alludes to his encounter with Jennifer, as opposed to anything Ray has said.
Peter steps back to Jennifer who is still seated, sitting down to face her saying…
Venkman:“I have to go now, Jennifer, but I’d like to work with you some more. Perhaps you could come back this evening, say at -“
Before Venkman can say anymore…Jennifer finishes his sentence by saying…
Jennifer:“Eight o’clock?
Venkman: “I was just about to say eight o’clock! You are a legitimate phenomenon!”
Jennifer plays right into Venkman’s quick-witted hands. This man doesn’t miss a trick. Bill Murray’s timing is brilliantly sharp. From this scene, we discover how well-honed and knowing Ramis & Ackroyd’s script is.
As the male students marches angrily out of the lab, soft music begins to play as Peter Venkman, seating himself beside Jennifer, places one hand across her back and another on her forearm in an attempt to comfort her.
Venkman:“You may as well get used to that, that’s the kind of resentment that your ability is going to provoke in some people.”
Venkman is closing in for the kill, using kindness as a foil to groom his prey. Like I’ve mentioned already, Ghostbusters has unusual ingredients for a film widely perceived as one for all the family. Still, it’s funny black humour, though clearly targeting a younger male-demographic.
Jennifer:“Do you think I have it, Dr. Venkman?”
Asks Jennifer, with sincerity. She seems all-the-more vulnerable to us now that she is alone with Venkman. In his response, Venkman briefly pauses before he says…
As Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters theme-song fades, we arrive at the door of the Paranormal Studies Laboratory inside Weaver Hall. On the glass face of the door, the words “VENKMAN BURN IN HELL” have been crudely dorbed in red lettering that looks like blood. It’s the first piece of character information about Dr. Peter Venkman, played by Saturday Night Live alumnus, Bill Murray. Underneath the graffiti, in an official capacity, the names of Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Ackroyd), Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) and Dr. Peter Venkman are traced on the door. The camera then pans down to the door handle, on which hangs a ‘maid service door hanger’, asking to have the room ‘made up’. We hear the voice of Peter Venkman coming from the room.
Peter Venkman: All right, I’m going to turn over the next card. I want you to concentrate. I want you to tell me what it is.
In this brief establishing shot, we learn that Dr. Venkman is a man with enemies – we’re about to find out why. The maid sign on the door handle is a subtle indicator of a quirky personality at work.
As Alice Drummond’s terrified librarian screams out, Ray Parker Jr’s iconic Ghostbusters theme song bursts to life as the equally iconic ‘no ghosts’ logo fills the screen. It’s a sudden divorce from the intensity of the previous scene, ushering in a cartoonish tone. We’re only treated to a few bars of the song for now, but for younger viewers, it acts as a pressure release valve from the horror of the introduction and a promise of fun to come.
Ray Parker Jr. sporting the famous logo.
As the song runs, we see an establishing shot taken from behind the Alma Mater sculpture of the goddess Athena, which faces the Low Memorial Library on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. This maintains gothic continuity with the earlier shot of the stone lions outside the library – a sense of watchful statues buildings.
The goddess Athena in the movie.A recent image of the sculpture from a similar angle.
We then see another establishing shot, low on the entrance of the university building which signposts ‘Weaver Hall Department of Psychology’. In real life, this building is Havemeyer Hall. Of course, the hall shares its name with one of the stars of the film. Sigourney Weaver.
Weaver Hall Department of Psychology, as seen in the film.
In real life, it is Havemeyer Hall – dedicated to science & mathematics.
Trivia: Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters theme song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11th 1984, remaining there for three-weeks.
Trivia: Michael C. Gross designed the ‘no ghosts’ logo, loosely basing it on ‘no’ European road signs.
Wide-eyed with fright, moving quickly while constantly checking behind for an unknown pursuer, the librarian franticly searches for an exit point, like a rat trapped in a maze. Elmer Bernstien’s music mirrors her urgency as she rounds a corner and the music stops. Suddenly, she’s confronted by a low, guttaral roar as her hair begins to blow and her face is illuminated by a sharp, bright light. The popular saying, “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost” could not be more perfectly attributed as her arms flail and she screams out with terror.
It rounds off what is an excellent, wordless introduction that sets the stage for our protagonists while establishing a creepy tone. In a career that has spanned five decades, for actress Alice Drummond, it must seem peculiar that just a few scenes of dialogue-free acting have come to be her defining screen moment. Such is the popularity and classic status of Ghostbusters.
Lighting and music continue an atmosphere of unease as the librarian stands at a small desk to complete an entry in a log book. Still, she is alone. The music pauses before a lone whistle is heard as she makes her way down another aisle. Coincidentally (or not?), the lone whistle is similar to the theme music to The X-Files, a mid-1990’s TV-show about paranormal investigators. As the librarian continues about her work, on one side there are tall, heavy book shelves, on the other, smaller wooden filing drawers. Suddenly, one of the drawers of the smaller cabinet begins to open by itself, revealing a tray full of library index cards. The music becomes more urgent as the cards begin to blow out and scatter. Almost in unison, another drawer opens and the same happens again, until a third and a fourth…
The angle switches to face Alice Drummond’s librarian, whose expression quickly morphs from worry to fear as she turns to witness the unusual activity. Frightened, she lets out a weakened scream and begins to run away.
Once again, the invention of in-camera, practical illusions contribute to a feeling of more organic movie-making, something that is celebrated and pined-for in the today’s ‘more advanced’ digital age.
Trivia: The bank of smaller cabinets is a false wall. Behind the cabinets, special effects technicians pushed the drawers open and blew air through to disperse the cards.
Ghostbusters: Scene by Scene 