Tracking Down ‘Sign’s’ Elusive Writers

An ominous sign? An April Fool’s Day prank? Who really wrote “The Seventh Sign�?

A source who worked on the film said of credited writers W. W. Wicket and George Kaplan: “Those aren’t the names that were on the script when the movie was shot.�

Movie trivia buffs may recognize George Kaplan as the name of a character who doesn’t exist in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.�

Writer George Kaplan does exist, according to the Writers Guild of America. Then again, some writers are listed under pseudonyms (as well as their own names). This according to a guild representative who could find no previous credits for Kaplan. (Wicket, however is credited with co-writing 1986’s “SpaceCamp.�

But a production source recalled that it was Ellen and Clifford Green whose names were on the original script of “Seventh Sign�--which was then called “The Border�. The Writer’s Guild wouldn’t say whether the Greens are actually Wicket and Kaplan. Coincidentally, all four “writers�--the Greens, Wicket and Kaplan--are represented by the same William Morris agent.

The agent also declined to speak for the record about whether the Greens--whose only credit is 1985’s “Baby . . . Secret of the Lost Lagoon�--are Wicket and Kaplan.

“What’s the point? Why don’t you just print the names that are on the credits?�

But a source who worked on the production told The Times: “There were problems (during filming). The writers want to distance themselves from the project.�