Jonathan Demme’s The Silence Of The Lambs is a rare film. The movie is loved by both critics and paying audiences, unabashedly a genre piece but still regarded as a serious film - and the adaptation of a popular novel that can stand alongside the original book, though Thomas Harris’ novels have had many well-received adaptations.
The movie is a great watch but had to leave some very interesting things on the chopping block. Here are ten weird things cut from The Silence Of The Lambs movie that was in the book!
Clarice’s Close Relationship With Ardelia Mapp
Though you might never guess it from her brief appearance in the movie, Clarice’s roommate and queer-coded possible love interest Ardelia Mapp is one of Clarice’s strongest supporters. Ardelia, a black woman, understands the sexism Clarice is up against while reminding her that Clarice’s race opens doors that are slammed shut on Ardelia. Ardelia is a source of solace and practical advice, offering sound warnings about ways that the system can and will fail Clarice even if it has favored her so far.
Ardelia is only seen through Clarice’s eyes in The Silence Of The Lambs, but, happily, readers get to see more of Ardelia’s own accomplishments and character in the novel Hannibal.
Hannibal’s Cell Neighbor Sammie
After Multiple Miggs’ suspicious death, a new unfortunate asylum inmate takes up residence next to Hannibal Lecter. Sammie is pronounced untreatable by Dr. Chilton. Hannibal takes an interest in him.
The reader can infer that Hannibal is not motivated by compassion; his desire to ridicule Chilton is at the forefront, with a side order of intense boredom. Hannibal can engage in limited religious dialogue with Sammie and requires Clarice to engage with him as well.
Clarice’s Successful Horse Rescue
Clarice and Hannibal’s exchange about screaming lambs, perhaps someday silenced, is a justifiably famous slice of cinema. The framing, the acting, the score, the build-up all add up to a perfect sequence. In Harris’ novel, Clarice tells a more circuitous story. After coming to her relatives’ ranch, Clarice is treated to a horse ride. She slowly realizes that all of the horses on the ranch are blind, or lame, and Clarice begins to realize the damaged horses are fatted for slaughter on the ranch. On the morning of the lambs’ slaughter, Clarice breaks the horse she had ridden out of its pen and makes her escape to a nearby town.
The horse is placed at the orphanage with her and lived a full and happy life. Clarice is only secondarily haunted by the screaming lambs, none of which she tried to save. The filmmakers wisely cut a significant fraction of the exchange as portrayed in the novel to maintain tension and clarity.
Clarice’s Best Male Ally
FBI Academy shooting instructor John Brigham doesn’t play a major role in the film. Almost every male character in the book sexualizes Clarice at least once. The sole exceptions are Jack Crawford, who still uses Clarice’s gender as a way to exclude her and bond with rural policemen, and John Brigham.
Brigham, an ex-Marine, successfully goes out of his way to change his barracks habit of using sexualized language in the workplace. He provides Clarice with steady mentorship, practical shooting advice, and unwavering respect that is unique among men she interacts with.
Clarice’s Search Of Catherine Martin’s Apartment
Harris uses Clarice’s search of Catherine Martin’s apartment to great effect. The scene shows Clarice’s solid investigation skills, provides her with an antagonist from the justice department and humanizes Catherine Martin and her mother very effectively. The scene provides Clarice with room to decide that her feelings about class need to be set to the side.
Most interestingly, Clarice’s discovery of Catherine Martin’s stash of sexual photographs of herself, and evidence that Catherine had more than one partner, are not used to paint Catherine Martin as somehow deserving of her fate. Harris, and Clarice, see them as evidence of Catherine’s humanity, an all-too-unusual take on sexually active women.
Most Traces Of Paul Krendler’s Existence
Paul Krendler, the major adversary in The Silence Of The Lambs’ sequel Hannibal, barely makes an appearance in the film.
In the book, Krendler is a major roadblock to Clarice. He embarrasses Clarice in front of Senator Martin, orders her to return to school, pulls her out of Hannibal’s Tennessee holding cell, and attempts to have her disciplined.
Hannibal’s Prank On Chilton
In the film, Hannibal provides a false identification for Buffalo Bill as “Louis Friend,” which proves to be an anagram for the scientific name of fool’s gold. In the book, Hannibal makes an even nerdier science joke.
Hannibal reminds Clarice that Dr. Chilton is not really an MD, and identifies Buffalo Bill as “Billy Rubin.” After Hannibal escapes in Tennessee, he leaves a note with the chemical formula for bilirubin in his abandoned cell. Bilirubin is a chemical contained in human bile, and some characters in the novel note it’s just about an exact match for Chilton’s hair color.
Jack Crawford’s Wife
Jack Crawford’s driven nature and leadership skills come through clearly in the film, but the film is definitely Clarice’s story. As a result, Jack Crawford’s worry over the illness and eventual death of his beloved wife, and the attendant shifts in his place in the power structure of the FBI, don’t make it onscreen.
The cuts resulted in a tighter film, but the humanization of Jack Crawford is a welcome gem in the book.
Clarice’s Growing Solidarity With Other Women
Demme’s film does an excellent job of conveying the feeling that many subtle forces conspire against Clarice’s success because of her gender. The book is much more explicit. The novel has the benefit of conveying Clarice’s inner monologue, where she always takes careful note of the way almost every man she meets tries to sleep with her and must be handled correctly lest he blocks an important avenue of access or investigation.
Her inner monologue also conveys her growing identification with other women. Clarice begins the novel admiring her father and desiring to be treated like a man would. As the novel progresses, she surprises herself by drawing strength from the memory of her mother and her feelings of sisterhood with the first victim of Buffalo Bill that she personally examines. Eventually, Clarice presses herself to access sisterly feelings for Catherine Martin and sees her gender as a source of investigatory strength instead of a roadblock.
Clarice’s Threatened FBI Academy Career
A major plotline that greatly raises the stakes for Clarice did not make it into the movie. Clarice is still a trainee, rather than a full FBI agent. All of the work she does for Jack Crawford pulls her from her classes. In the novel, Clarice is often told that she will be recycled and forced to start her FBI training from scratch.
Powerful people like Paul Krendler threaten her with it, and even Jack Crawford confirms that Clarice must drop the investigation or face recycling. She chooses to try to save Catherine Martin at great cost to the thing she values most - her career.
NEXT - The Silence of the Lambs: 5 Things That Aged Well (& 5 That Didn’t)
