during the frequent downtime during the filming of "casino royale", filmways hired southern to do a "tightening and brightening" job on the screenplay of the occult thriller "eye of the devil", which starred david niven and featured sharon tate in her first film role. through the winter of 1966–67 he also began work on the screenplay for roger vadim's "barbarella", and he contributed to a tv version of "the desperate hours" directed by ted kotcheff and starring george segal and yvette mimieux.