What's the Matter With Helen

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WHAT'S

THE M TTER WITH HELEN?

Final

raf t Screenplay .

y

HENRY

FARRELL

RF VISED FIN L

SCREENPL Y

. November

27

1970



:--

.

.. .

1

(NOTE: THE FOLLO IH NG TRt \.IEH AND NE1'lSREEL FOOTAGE T8

DUMNY ONL

Y.

1

1m

FINAL

F 0 0 1 ~ G E TO 3;':; SELECTED LATER.)

BEFORE TITLES,

AB

RUPTLY

On the' small BIACK AND illlTE screen of the 1930'

8

we se e

the la s t feN seconds of the

t ra i le r

for

a new comedy- .

.

romance. The MUSIC comes to

us

in mid p h r s e ~ to su¥,gest

that

,,,e

have

entered

the

theatre

a t

the very

'cl imax'

of

the

t ra i le r .

Throughout

(and

through the newsreel sequence

following) a l l technical aspects are consistent

with

the

achievements

and

l imitat ions of 1933.

The following words,

with appropriate musical

emphasis,

and backed

by pimlheel

§ l i t t e r

zoom a t us, one

upon

the

other ,

from

an

irrunaculate

mOderne 'oac kground. . .

A _ NEW - HIGH-

IN

-

SCREEN

- ROMANCE

-

2 CLOSE

SHOT

- LEW AYRES (IN CHARACTER) - STOCK

His mlJlle appears across

the

bottom of the SHOT:

Lew

Ayres.

3 CLOSE SHOT - GINGER ROGERS (IN CHARACTER) - STOCK

Her

name appears: Ginger

Rogers.

4 CLOSE TV O

SHOT

- LEW

AYRES,

GINGER ROGERS - STOCK

5 '

Smiling, kissing. The following

words

write themselves

del i r iously across

the i r

faces: TOGETHER

n . . . .

RTWORK

FRAME

Moderne, as before. Out .of

it

material izes a pai r of dice.

They ro l l swift ly toward .us, come up

snake

eyes. The black

. dots expand to

reveal smiling l ikenesses

,

of the s ta rs .

Then, OVER,

'

in razzle-dazzle le t te r ing: '.

DON'T

BET

ON

LOVE

And

underneath, another

happy

scral .l :A Romantic Winner

HOLD fo r fa s t MUSIC climax.

6

INSERT

-

RTWORK

C RD

A

di f ferent

s tyle; s ta r t s SATURDAY

HOLD

very

br ie f ly .

GUT TO:



7

TITLES: UNIVERSAL

PICTURES

NEWSREEL

-

1933 -

STO K

(The foHOI ling, i f and as

stock

wil l allml:)

<::.

8 INSERT - TITLE CARD - THE PRESIDENCY - WASHINGTON, D.C. -

February 20, 1933 (appropria t e MUSICm-IDER

and OUT

9

NEWSREEL SHOT

-

FRANKLIN

D.

ROOSEVELT

At his

of f i c i a l desk, surrounded

by standing digni ta r ies ,

signing some

his tor ic

docuraent.

VOICE OVER

Last week, continuing his policy

of

progressive

reform, President

Franklin

Delano Roosevelt signed

the

much delayed

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - )

Bil l , which will provide

wider

- - - - - - - - - - - - - )

for industry as well

as

a

much

needed - - - - - - - - - - - - - - )

for

the

private

ci t izen.

On

hand,

among others ,

to t,i tness the

signing was - - - - - - - - - - - - - ) who

termed the

occasion

both his tor ic

and heartening . • .

10 NEWSREEL SHOT

. -

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

11

Aboard ship,

arr iving

in Honolulu, being

presented

with

l e i

upon l e i .

VOICE

OVER

MeanWhile, the Firs t Lady continued

in

bel

effor ts to extend United

States

goodwill ,

arr iving

in Honolulu

aboard the S.S . - - - - - - - - - - - - )

for

a

br ie f stay on the f i r s t leg of her

journey

. to the Orient . . On

hand

to

g r t ~ l r s

. Roosevelt was ------- . : .--_)

whcpresented

the Firs t Lady with

the t radi t ional

is land

symbol of

welcome and

fr iendship . . .

Other

celebr i t ies arr iving

t iith

the Firs t

Lady were. . . .

NEWSREEL SHOT -

CHARLES

FARRELL

VOICE

OVER

Screen idol> Charles Farre l l

.and

Mrs. Farre

l l •••



12

13

NEWSREEL

SHOT

NORMA ·

SHEARER.

VOICE OVER

And another reigning screen favori te ,

Miss Norma Sheare r .

~ T U R

TO SHOT

OF

MRS.

ROOSEVELT

VOICE OVER

De·

spi te

such glamorous

competition,

however, Mrs. Roosevelt remained

the s ta r

of the

occasion -- a

gracious enlissary

carrying

a message

of warmth and friendship wherever

she goes.

14 INSERT TITLE CARD:

THE

HILL-BRUCKNER MURDER TRIAL

Braddock, Iowa Feb. 22, 1933

15

SIMULATED

NE1ATSREEL SHOT BRADDOCK COURTHOUSE .B

DAY

16

17

Bleak and

wintry.

People come and go, pass on

the

sidewalk.

VOICE OVER

Emotion continued high in

this

small

country

courthouse

as

young Leonard

Hil l

and

lATesley

BructJler, af te r six

.

weeks of one

of the century s

gr i s l ies t

murder t r i a l s were

sentenced to l i f e imprisonment.

INSERT STILL

PHOTOGRAPH

OF ELLIE

BANNER

Her body,

seen only par t ia l ly past the ·edge

of

a lunchroom

counter, one hand reaching out from under a spread of blood

sPI . t tered hair

VOICE OVER

During the

course of

the

t r i a l

the

jury was shown photographs such as

these, depicting the

bruta l

mutilation kil l ing of Ell ie Banner,

lunchroom

mmer-proprietor,

one

of

Braddock s

most

resp

ected

ci t izens .

INSERT STILL PHOTOGRAPH

ELL

IE I S

HArm

A

CLOSE SHOT,

her hand, the palm BI.;ash wi

th

b l.ood.



18

EXT. SIDE

OF COURTHOUSE

- MED.

SHOT

- LENl IY HILL, I lliS

BRUCKNER, GUARDS, R O ~ m

-

DAY

4.

lolES

and LENNY APPEAR under GUARD and are hurried dOI1D steps

toward a police car

waiting

a t the curb. The

ROVID

surges

threa teningly tOloJ ard them, and the CAMERA is JOS l LED,

so

that the scene seems

even

more frenzied than

it

rea l ly

i s .

VOICE

OVER

There

,Tas a

tens

e moment

as crowds,

displeased a t the verdict , threatened

the

orderly

departure

of the condemned

ki l le rs from the courthouse to the i r

cel ls

in

the county

j a i l .

The POLICE manage to get the

boys

into the car

and

i t MOVES

OFF OUT of the F R f u ~

19 EXT.

FRONT

OF COURTHOUSE -

LONG

SHOT - ADELLE BRUCKNER,

HELEN

HILL,

trlAL HAYS, C R O ~ m

-

DAY

ADELLE, HELEN and MAL APPEAR

from the

entrance and

the c row

including several

NEWSMEN,

moves toward them. Mal t r ies

to

ward them

off .

VOICE OVER

Leaving

moments l a te r are the

convicted men's mothers, Adelle

Bruckner,

on the le f

t ,

and Helen

Hil l accompanied by defense

counoil , Malcolm Hays. During

the sensat ion

packed

days of the

t r i a l

Mrs.

Bruckner and Nrs.

Hil l

have

been

subjected to

nearly as

much

public cur iosi ty as the i r sons.

Widows, s teadfast in

their

support

of the i r sons, the two women, bound

together by common

tragedy,

have

. become nearly

inseparable during

these l a s t s ix

weeks. Refusing

a l l

contact

, ith the press ,

one

can

only

vlOnder a t the ordeal thes e two

.motJiers have suffered together

Through the

abov

e , the CANERA has r.lOVED FORlvARD, JOSTLED as

in

the

previous

SHOT,

t rying

for a

close

look

a t

Adelle

and

Helen. ].Ie have a glimpse of Mal rushing ahead to a t axi

waiting a t

the

curb, opening the

door. The

crowd

moves in

on Adelle and Helen,

and

the C A ~ m R A CARRIED ALONG i n

the

movement, achieves a CLEAR SHOT of the two l lOmen. Ade l le

is

the more

fashionable and vivacious

of the

two.

Even

a t

th i s moment her natural

gaiety and

optimism are not

ent i re l

dimmed. Helen is more

plainly dressed.

She has a quiet ,

gracious, well-bred look.

(CONTINUED)



Rev. 1 2 2 L ~ 7 0

5

19

20

CONTINUED:

Adelle looks a t the crowd with indignat ion;

Helen

s

hrinlts

from

it

wi

th

an a i r of martyrdom. C A ~ I E R A i s .JOSTLED again

so

t ha t it

MOVES CLOSER to Helen. t th i s

moment

she

glances

down,

s t a r t s ,

suppresses

a

cry, reaches

out

t o

Adelle . Adelle catches

a t

Helen ' s arm and

with Nal s help

(as he comes in to

SHOT) moves

her along toward the tax i .

-

The CAMERA

the t ax i

•

for a

l a s t

VOICE OVER

Mrs. Hil l seems

suddenly-overwhelmed

y the

day s

emotional s t ra in . • •

PANS

as

Mal

and Adelle guide Helen

Mal S L ~ l S t h e

door,

and the CAMERA

look

a t

them through

the w i n d o \ ~ .

VOICE OVER

And so

the

ordeal comes

to

an end

for these

two ..

wmen as

t he i r

sons

go

to

pr i son

for

li

e .

to and

in

to

MOVES

IN

Ins ide the t ax i , Adelle leans urgent ly forward to

the

DRIVER

and we

go to

a

FROZEN FRAME.

TITLES: TO EXTE

ND

ACROSS FULL

WIDE

SCREEN)

21

UNDER

TITLES:

Par t s

of

the FROZEN FR AME ( the f i r s t

of

the opening sequen

fol lowing t i t l e s )

begins

to

APPEAR

in fragments, in COLOR

to es tab l i sh

the

new

WIDE

SCREEN

project ion.

As

the

t i t l e

come

to

an

end, the

scene,

fu l ly

in COLOR and vITDE

SCREEN

i s completed and ACTION RESUMES.

22 INT.

TAXI

-

HELEN,

-ADELLE,DRIVER-

PAST

DRIVER -

DAY

.

. . .

- -

Adelle i s leaning forward

to

the Drl vel'

as

before.

ADELLE

Bil ly , get

_a

wiggle

on

23 ANOTHER

ANGLE - ADELLE, HELEN

s the taxi

moves

forward, Adelle

turns

to Helen

-

w o

re ta ins her gracious, martyred expression,

but wi t h a

hin t

of

tension underneath.

ADELLE

Better n o \ ~ honey?

CONTINUED)

_. . _ . _ • - .

.___ ._ __ _ _ _ _

~

_ _ . .

__



23

CONTINUED:

H L f ~

(calm)

Do you have a handkerchief?

ADELLE

Sure.

(opens

purse)

You re not going to cry,

are

you?

You

never cry.

Instead

of

answering, Helen holds

out

her

arm and

hand.

24 CLOSE SHOT - HELEN S ARM

lffiND

6.

The hand

has been

cut , close

to

the

wris t .

Blood is runnin

d01 ITI into her palm. e

are

reminded

of the photo

of

Ada

Banner s hand.

A

drop of blood drips

on t o

Helen s purse.

25

RE'lURN

TO

PREVIOUS SHOT -

ADE

L

LE,

HELEN

Adelle , holding the

handkerchief in

her hand, s tares hor

r i f i ed a t Helen s

wound.

ADEL .E

\Vbat happened?

HELEN

(s t i calm)

I ve been

cut.

Somebody cut me

back

there.

Can

I

have

the

handkerchief,

please?

With

a

l i t t l e gasp,

Adelle presses

the handkerchief down

over Helen s

cut.

HELEN

Thank

'

you.

'

Helen s pat ient

expression does

not

change.

Nervous, Adell

turns to the Driver.

ADELLE

Bil ly ,

please

step

on

t l

26 EXT. ADELLE S

SCHOOL OF DANCE ,- ADELLE, HELEN, DRIVER

- DAY

The

taxi PULLS TO

A STOP.

Adelle gets out, pays the Driver

takes Helen s

arm

and hurr ies her to\vard the school,

a

not

too-successfully

converted s tore

front .

(CONTINUED)



26

7.

CONTINUED:

The

dis

play window bears the legend: ADELLE'S NEW YORK

SCHOOL OF DANCE - Social Professional -

Private

or Class

Lessons. At

the

center stands

a l i fe-sized

cut-out of

Adelle in abbreviated chorus costume,

obviously

made some

years

ear l ie r .

There

is also a

on RENT

sign

in

the

window

Adelle unlocks the door. She and Helen enter. The

taxi

moves

on.

27 INT.

CLASSROOM

-

ADELLE, HELEN -

D Y

; .

The room

is

dominated by practice

mirrors and

an upright

piano,

though

a couch and upholstered ~ h i r s i ndicate

that

the room

doubles

as a l iving room

af te r

hours. Much

of the

character of

the

place is

now

obscured, because the more

indicative furnishings are hidden in large cardboard car tons

packed

for removal. At

the back

of the

store

glimpse

a

cramped

kitchen and dining

area. Adelle closes the

door,

goes

into

the kitchen area

and

reaches

for

a

bot t le .

ADELLE

I know i t s

against

your re l igion,

but

you bet ter

have

a shot of

gin

.

HELEN.

.

(mildly)

I d prefer a f i r s t aid ki t • .

ADELLE

Of

course

Adelle replaces

t he bott le

of gin

. . She looks

a t the

car

tons

, t r y i n g to

remember

where

.she's

packed

the f i rs t

aid

ki t ,

dithers a bi t , remembers, goes to a

carton,

takes out

some gauze,

adhesive

tape, and a bott le

of iodine.

She

fumbles

a l i t t l e

with these.

Helen watches ~ i t h a fa int ly

·,amused,affe

.

ct ionate smile.

- ,

-

. .

. ,

ADELLE

I 6al l tha t real classl

HELEN

What?

.

ADELLE

The way

you

didn ' t scream

or

anything.

I d

.

have

ra ised the

roof

Adelle s ta r t s

to apply

the

bandage to Hel en s cut.

CONTINUED)



27

CON1 INUED;

HELEN

Iodine f i r s t ,

dear.

Adelle nods, applies ant isept ic . Helen f l inches from

the

s t ing. Adelle lOOKS

alarmed

by th is .

HELEN

(continuing)

I t ' s a l l r ight .

Go

ahead.

Adelle applies the bandage.

ADELLE

You never saw

~ l o did i t?

HELEN

I didn ' t

even

feel

i t .

Just

suddenly noticed the blood.

ADELLE

What

ldnd

of a screwball would

do such

a thing?

(f in ishes apply

ing bandage)

HoI about a

l i t t l e

gin no ,;?

Helen

shakes head.

ADELLE

( continuing)

Well, 1 \1011. t . s·ay no 1

8.

Adelle

moves off

in

direct ion

of kitchen,

to

fe tch a glass .

On her way she glances a t a l l the

cartons.

. , :

ADELLE

(half

to

herself)

Holy Moses,

I .s t i l l

got a heap

.

to

get done.

if

T m

going

to . make

t

out

. of

here

on Friday.

28

nIT. KITCHEN

AREA -

ADELLE

HELEN IN B.G. - DAY (TlHLIGHT)

Adelle

enters kitchen, opens

cupboard,

takes

out a

glass.

Out

in

the

classroom

Helen

crosses to

the

l lindow,

where

the

cut-out i s

in

strong

si lhouet te

against the cur tains .

ADELLE

(cal l ing, over

shoulder)

Hey, I didn ' t t e l l youl I ve

decided the new school s

going

to be e.ll different l Just. for

kids. Out there

in Hollywood,

kids are

t h eca t ' s meow since

Shirley Temple,

you

know?



8 CONTINUED

Adelle carr ies the glass back to the

classroom.

She sings

in a babyish voice and does a

l i t t l e

shuff le .

ADELLE

r

t ...

It

Animal c r a c ~ e r s in my soup . . •

29 INT. CLASSROOM - HELEN,

ADELLE

- DAY (TWILIGHT)

9.

Helen turns back: from the window as Adelle returns

witb

the

glass and

bot t le

of gin. She

pours

hersel f a good snort .

ADELLE

"Lions and t igers loop the loop

. . . "

You

have heard

of Shirley

Temple?

HELEN

I hardly

ever go to

the movies, but I

have.

ADSLLE

Well Out there in HollY1100d,

a l l

the parents

are crazy

to

get

the i r kids

in

the movies.

So

why shouldn't

I

help?

HELEN

af ter a moment)

You

won't mind being so

far

away

. . .

from your son?

Adelle 's

bubbliness subsides. She looks suddenly hurt and

baffled, almost

chi ldl ike.

ADELLE

Of course

I wil l . But

l ~ h t

can

I do?

(Helen

doesn't

·ans.ler)

He

turned

on

me. Really

turned

on

me

You saw . . •

(Helen nods

sympatl1etically)

I

don ' t understand.

I did

everything

I

could

for

him; And

i t wasn't

my faul t his fa ther

t ~ a p o \ ~ d e r

HELEN

I 'm

sure

i t

vlasn't .

But

bet te r

to suffer

in jus t ice

than to do

i t , dear.

(CONTINUED)



.

29 CONTINUED

ADELLE.

Yeah • .•

She goes to window,

l i f t s

out

cut-out ,

speaks to

i t

as

she sets t

down.

ADELLE

(continuing) .

Dumb

cluck. There

you were

in

the Fol l ies

--

on your

way And

you had to f all ·

for

a dreamy,

gorgeous,

lousy

son-of-a

. ••

Helen coughs

meaningfully.

ADELLE

(continuing)

Sorry,

Helen.

But

tha t s

what he

was.

HELEN

(sympathetically)

Men

can

be quite a bi t lower than

the angels.

ADELLE

You never told me what happened

to your

fe l ler .

HELEN

(matter-of-fact)

My

husband

died

when Lenny was

five

years old.

(

CONTI

NUED )

10



11

.

.

29

CONTINUED: (2)

Helen s tone implies tl-tat

she doesn t

really want

to

ta lk

about

:it.

ADELLE

Any man in

your

l i f e

af ter that?

Helen shakes head.

ADELLE

(continuing)

No

kidding?

Helen shakes head

again.

·

Didn t

ADELLE

(continuing)

you Vlant

one?

Helen shakes head

again,

amused.

Hhy?

ADELLE

(continuing)

ELEN

{l ight ly)

I never found

O ~ l e

\'1 1.0

wante

d me.

(pause)

Anywa:y, tha t side

of

l i f e has

never in terested me

very

much.

ADELLE

ltTell.

.•

to eac h

his

own.

There s a sudden RING from the

phone.

Adelle

moveS to

answer

i t .

Adelle s

ADELLE

in to phone)

e \ ~

York

School

of Dance

We

hear

the BUZZ of

the open

ne, BREATHING.

ADELLE

Hello?

The

BUZZ and

BREATHING continue.

Adelle Shrugs,

s ta r t s

to hang up. hen

~ A N

(on phone)

Mrs. Bruckner?

( C

ON'l'INUED)

.



29

CONTINUED 3)

ADELLE

This i s she.

MAN

(on phone)

Is 4rs.

Hil l there?

ADELLE

Hold on.

(to

Helen)

Someone with asthma for

you.

12.

Rather surprised, Helen take:;;

the

receiver . Adelle stays

nearby.

Hello?

HELEN

( into phone)

M N

(matter-of-fact)

I thought you'd l i lce to Imow

I 'm

the

one

\;l .O cut

you today.

Helen

regis te rs shock,

then

controls i t . Adelle notices

th is .

Jhy?

HELEN

( into pllone)

MAN

I

wanted

to

see you

bleed.

Like

Ell ie

Banner.

I

wanted

to

be

sure

you

~ a n . you l l

bleed

al l

r ight . So wil l the

other

one.

you've no

.that

~ a y .

HELEN

( in a shaky

voice)

r ight to speak

to

roe

ADELLE

What's going

on?

Adelle

takes the phone

from

Helen.

HAN

(into phone)

Those boys should

hav

e

gone

to

the

gallows. Somebody's got

to pay

for "hat

they

did

to El l ie .

And

somebociy'B going to. You and her.

Wherever

you

are, I 'm going to s h o ~

up and

. . •



13

29

CONTINUED:

(

4.)

Horrified, Adelle

slams

down the phone . After a moment,

Helen

s tar ts

dialing a number.

HELEN

I'm

going

to cal

l

the

police.

ADELLE

Don't

Helen stops, stares a t her.

ADEI,LE

(continuing)

\ fe l l be a l love r the

papers

again.

don' t want any

more of

that .

HELEN

He's

dangerous, Adelle.

ADELLE

.

OIIr

do

you

know?

He

may

be

jus t

a

- -

a

harmless

cranlc.

Silently, He

len holds

out her

~ l r i s t

Adelle stares at

i t .

Then

- -

ADELLE

. Please

don't

do

anything yet.

(moves

tovlard

kitchen)

I ll go f ix

us something to

eat.

Adelle hurries off

to

the kitchen.

Helen

stares

af ter

her, uncertain,

holding

her wrist .

30

INT.

CLASSROOM

-

HELEN - NIGHT

.

31

I t s la : e

;

A

InFFFUSEDLIGHT shm ls

in

through the

curta ins

so that w see Helen dimly seated

on .

theedge

of

the couch

.

(her bed).

Beyond the

curtains

a

NEON SIGN of the period

FLASHES O ~

and OFF.

t FLICKERS ACROSS through the whole

scene. Helen's

hair

is

down,

long

and flowing. The l ight

catches

i t as she brushes

i t .

There s

a

SOUND

o.s . from

the

next

room.

HELEN·

Adelle.

•. ?

ANOTHER

ANGLE

-

TO INCLUDE

ADELLE

She

enters; Nearing rather daring

pajamas. She

looks

un-

happy,

near tears .

CONTINUED)



31 cmrTINUED :

ADELLE

couldn t

sleep.

Figured

you

probably

cou ldn t ei ther .

HELml

prayed

fo r a vihile, and f e l t

be t te r .

14

Adelle

walks over

to

the

curtained

windows. The

NEON

SIGN

f lashes across her

face.

ADELLE

(very l o s t )

don t understand.

HELEN

Ylhat, dear?

ADELLE

l.jes

saying he

hated me. That

>waS always too busy ,Ihen he

needed me. Of course I ~ } s busy

- - busy

dancing

my fee t of1' to

make a

buck so

we

could

eat

did everything coul d.

HELEN

Even i Jhen

it

fee l s very bad,

t e l l yourse lf

there

has

to

be a

reason..

Up there?

Helen nods.

w nt a

ADELLE

ADELLE

(continuing)

reason

down here.

Adelle

suddenly burs t s

i n to

tea r s , kneels by Helen, who

touches

her shoulder

in an

>

ef fo r t

to comfort

[ler.

ADELLE

(continuing)

don t have anything

to

f a l l

back on l ike you. don t

bel ieve

. • •

(looles

up

suddenly)

Listen, why

dar,'

t >you corne

..

Ji th

me

- - out to

Cali forn ia?

CONTINUED)



3l CONTINUED: (2)

HELEN '

1,le11 ... I ...

ADELLE '

Don t worry

I ve socked

a

I i

t t l e dough

a ~ l a y

Plenty for

two

t ra in t ickets

i f

you

don t

mind

an

upper

. . •

and enough l e f t

to

get the school

going somehow.

After a moment,

Helen gives

a

radiant

smile.

H L N

I have a l i t t l e money saved, too.

1 m so

happy you

suggested i t .

I didn t l ike to myself.

But

I m

a

good bookkeeper, you

knOl.r, and

I

could l earn to

play

the

piano •• .

Adelle

s ta r t s

,

laughing

through

her

tears .

ADELLE

you

k i l l

me.

You real ly

k i l l me.

I

never

k n o ~ r

what s

going on with

you.

I thought you d

say

--

( imitates Helen s

. ref ined ' vo ice)

Oooh no 1 Couldn t

possibly

you re just

being

kind

Adelle giggles,

wipes her

eyes.

HELEN

Hhy

should

I?

No

one l ikes the

idea of having

to go on alone.

(pause)

You are kind, of course. And

one

'

good thing has

come out of

th i s .

'

You

' and

we

ve grown

very

fond

or .each

other.

I .

don t

know

about you, but I get

very

lonely at times. I t s good

to have a friend you

can

depend

on.

Adelle

nods, then

moves away.

ADELLE

Hrs. Hil l , you re quite a

gir l

- -

You rea l ly

are,

Mrs.

Hi

(snaps

f ingers;

I

up

again now)

No No more, t.lrs. Hil l .Yo Ll . l l

be He len Martin, and I ll be

Adelle . . • s tuar t .

MORE)

,(

CONTINUED

)

15



31 CONTINUED; 3)

ADELLE

contld)

Nel l names, new

l ives

\ lhole new

shuff le for both of

usl

Okay?

Helen

nods.

ADELLE

continuing)

I f

the school catches on, weIll

hire

one of

those high-priced

lawyers

I

Maybe e\7e:l Clarence

Darrow.

For

the

appeal?

Helen nods again.

ADELLE

continuing)

AnY' ay,

I I I

be lo thousand

miles

away

from

everything

including

tha t screwball on

the

- phone. -

shade

of

anxiety)

I was

r ight

not

to cal l

the

cops,

~ a s n l

t

I?

-

HELEN

I _h-ink so, dear.

ADELLE

One thing kind of puzzles

me

Why did he want to

speak

to you

f i r s t

-(

CONTINUED)

16.



17

31

CONTINUED: 3)

HELEN

(af ter

a moment)

Maybe he knows I m the most

guil ty.

ADELLE

That s

crazy.

HELEN

No. I m Lenny s mother. And

Lenny was the

ringleader.

He

admit te ir i t . Ii ithout his

influence, I

doubt

your boy

.••

·

(breaks off)

I the

most

guil ty,

dear.

The phone RINGS. They both freeze.

the

phone,

then

stops,

frightened.

and

picks

i t

up.

Yes?

HELEN

(into phone)

lI,AN

(on

.

phone)

Your l ight

1..rent on

•

Helen gives a l i t t l e nod

at

Adelle.

M N

(continui

ng)

Adelle s tar ts toward

Helen moves ahead

of

her

•

so

I

know

you re awake.

HELEN

Kindly refrain from

disturbing

us

any further;

Helen

puts

down the

phone • . She and .

Adelle exchange glances.

Then Adelle

crosses

to tbe window, pulls

back the

drape and

.

looks

out.

32

LONG

POINT

OF

VIE W

SHOT

-

STREET OUTSIDE,

PHONE BOOTH

DIRECTLY ACROSS, SEEN

THROUGH I-IINDOW

- NIGHT

33

The

booth

is empty,

the door open.

A vague f i g u r ~ perl1aps

the

Man, moves o f f into the far shadows and

vanishes.

RETURN

TO

SHOT

OF ADELLE

She turns,

closes

·

the

drape.

Standing

beside the

cut-ou

t ,

she looks across

at Helen,

who lOOKS

grave.

CONTINUED)



33

34

18

CONTINUED:

After

a

mo

ment, Adelle

forces

asrni le , does a

l i t t l e shuffle

and

says

- -

loudly, a l t t t l e

too

er.lphatically

-

"California,

here

we come The CAHERA HOVES

IN

on the cut-out,

into

a

TIGHT CLOSEUP.

EXT.

ADELLE'S

ACADEMY

(IN

HOLLYWOOD)

-

TIGHT

CLOSEUP

-

FACE CUT-OUT - SEEN THROUGH WINDOW - DAY

The C ~ I T R

PULLS

BACK and we see

Adelle 's smiling

face and

over i t , on the

irrtervening

glass , a

reflect ion

of palm

t rees and

a

Buick limousine

parked

at

the curb . . As

the

CAMERA CON1'INUES BACK f o r a

WIDER ANGLE,

we see above and

flanldng

the

cut-out: ADELLE

STUART'S ACADEMY OF THE

DANCE Professional Trainirrg for

Children - - Tap,

Ba.llet,

Adagio,

Modern, etc . vi see

enough

of

the building to

recognize t as

one of

those Spanish-Ital ian-

Me

di terranian

two-storied

off ice bUildings

such as can s t i l l

be found bere

and

there

along Sunset

Blv::l.

Throughout,

we

HEAR,

over

a

plodding

PIANO ACCOMPANIMENl

("Goody,

Goody")

the DIN

of

TAP SHOES . laboring

in ragged unison

on

hardwood.

35

INT.

ADELLE'S ACADENY - 1ST FLOOR CLASSROOM - CLOSE SHOT -

ADELLE - DAY

As Adelle leads

her dance class in

a

routine. Her

nevi

image is

very

Jean

Harlow, hail' platinum, eyebrows

del icately arched. She carr ies a black walking

s t ick

and

counts as she dances

ADELLE

Shuf-fle

-

back

-

front Shu-fIe

-

back

-

front

Turn - two -

three . ••

36

ANGLE ON

1ST FLOOR CLASSROOM - ADELLE,HELEN, .WINONA · PAlMER,

MRS. R

GG, STUDF&ITS,

NOTHERS,

OTHERS .

The class

i s comprised

of a

mini-legion

of l i t t l e gir ls

carrying

black i ~ a l k i n g s t icks , uniformly dressed in

rehearsal costumes with f lar ing

pleated

skir ts and Mary Jane

tap

shoes

with

wide

black

bows. The

notable exception

is

th

costume of

iUNONA

PAU1ER, "ho wears

a

kind of

Sonja Henie

skating

outf i t trimmed

in

white

fur ,

and

vlhite

shoes.

"Iinoua

i s unhappily conscious of the c r i t i ca l

glances from

other students

and

"atching mot- bers. I n b .g . ,

back

to

CANERA, Helen accompanies

a t the [liano.

(CONTINUED)



.

CONTINUED:

.ADELLE

(dancing, counting)

four Turn -

two

- three -

four t p heel - brush -

Stampl .

Shuffle

-

back

- frontl

. ••

He],.en

hi t s

a

mild

cl inker

. on

the

piano.

37 .ANGLE

ON HELEN -

ADELLE AND

.KIDDIES

19

as

she

makes a backward glance

of

apology a t

Adelle.

Her

appearance is as before, though she wears a

touch

of makeup

ADELLE

(dancing,

counting)

Turn - two - three -

fourl

Turn

br

- three - four

(wrong

again)

Step -

heel

- brush - stampl

. . ( to Helen)

Okay, tha t s

it

Helen stops playing.

ADELLE

(c ontimling; to

kids)

Time's up for today. Kids, you're

going

to

be

jus t

swell

The

children scramble

to put 6.side ·the i r canes,

gather

up

t he i r

things

and

escape. Adelle

moves

quickly

to

catch

up with the t roubled vlinona,

but

i s short-stopped by

the

aggressive

approach

of four

mothers:

MRS.

GREENBAUM,

a

determined Jewish lady; p.Lump MRS.

SCHULTZ;

the

gaudily

dressed and hennaed MRS. BARKER; and

the worried-looking

and "refined" MRS. PLUM

.

MRS. GREENBAUM

Miss

Stuar t , have any

of

those

ta lent scouts

said t hey l l

come

to the reci ta l?

ADELLE

Universal

and

Columbia. He

haven't heard from

the

other

studios yet .

MRS. SCRULTZ

You

jus t

gotta get t4G ft.

CONTINUED)



37

CONrINUED:

MRS

B RKER

Miss

Stuar t ,

I to ld

you Charlene

has

t rouble with her

eyes . I f

you

put her in the

back

row a t

the r ec i t a l , l ike today

ADELLE

I

haven

t

forgot ten ,

i rs.

Baker.

MRS B RKER

Barker.

20.

The four mothers exchange

Tt t - t t t s a t Adelle I s vagueness.

Adelle is

looking 0 . 5 .

38 MED. SHOT -

ADELLE'S

POINT

OF VIEW - lHNONA AND

.

~ f R S

RIGG

Winona,

led

by MRS. RIGG,

is

jus t

leaving through

the

f ront

entrance.

39 RETURN TO SCENE - ADELLE, MOTHERS

ADELLE

I ll

see

about

it

next t ime.

Excuse me, please .

Adelle

hurr ies in direc t ion of the entrance.

40 EXT

ADELLE S

ACADEMY HOLLYWOOD)

-

WINONA, MRS

RIGG -

DAY

Winona and Mrs. Rigg go

down

the

s teps to

the s t r ee t , toward

a

Buick l imousine parked a t the curb. Further

down

the

s t ree t a

work crew

i s

breaking

dOlm

the pavement. SOUNDS

of

a

t r i p

hammer

punctuate

th i s

scene. Adel les comes out

. Df the Academy and follows Winona

and Mrs • Rigg

•

41 CLOSE

SHOT

- ADELLE, WINONA

MRS RIGG

Adelle catches

up

with Winona and Mrs. Rigg next

to

the

l imousine.

ADELLE

( to Mrs. Rigg)

Excuse me, Mrs. Palmer

• .

Mrs. Rigg opens her

mouth

to

speak,

but

Adelle

goes

s t ra ight

on.

. (

CONTINUED)



CONTINUED:

42

ADELLE

(continuing)

Winona,

what s

the matter?

were doing

jus t

great la s t

WINONA

I

hate

my

costume.

ADELLE

You

time.

..

(to Mrs.

Rigg)

We do

ask

a l l

the ·gir ls to · dress

al ike.

·MRS RIGG

I t s

her

fa ther s idea. He had

i t made up special , in four

different

colors.

ADELLE

But can t

you

see,

a s her mother

- -

HRS. RIGG

I m

jus t the

housekeeper, Miss

s tuar t .

ADELLE

Oh.

WINONA

(calmly)

vre don

I

t ta lk

about

my

mother.

She S

bad.

I t

was

in

a l l

the

newspapers.

Mrs.

Rigg

shushes viinona.

MRS. RIGG

(to Adelle)

ll ·t ry and explain to Mr ·. Palmer,

though I .

doubt he l l l i s ten . He s

a

Texas

man.

( takes lHnona s

arm)

Come.

along,

Nonie.

Mrs. Rigg

leads

Winona

off .

ANOTHER ANGLE - CHILDREN, I>1OTHERS

Various

Children and mothers come down the

steps. At

the

foot

of them, a

FEI1ALE

MIDGET very made up

and

,rearing a

picture hat, t r ips

along

the .sidewallc The

children

stare

at

her, fascinated · in

the

way children are

by midgets.

14r5. Plumb tugs a t Donna •

.

MRS.

PLUMB

Don t stare

· Donna. I t s r .ude.

21



43 ANGLE ON

ADELLE W I N O N ~

MRS.

RIGG, arHERS

Adelle stands watching as

Mrs. Rigg

and

~ T i n o n a get into

the limousine. Winona glanc es over her shoulder at the

midget before she exi ts .

Donlt

MRS. BARKER

(cal l ing to Adelle)

forget ,

Miss

Stuart

I

I won t.

Adelle watches as

SOUND

of tl1e t r ip

moment. She puts

u

the

s teps .

ADELLE

(smiles)

the limousine

drives

off . Then

the

hammer becomes par t icular ly loud

for

a

her

hand

over

her

ears, then

runs

back

22.

4 A

INT.

ADELLEIS

ACADEMY

- 1ST

FLOOR CLASSROOM

-

ADELLE

. -

DAY

as Adelle ·

enters .

The classroom i s empty ·now.

ADELLE

Helen?

No

answer. Adelle

goes on

up the

s ta i r s .

44 INT. LANDING

AT HEAD

OF STAIRS ADELLE - DAY

She

arrives fram

the

sta irs_

As she crosses

to the

door

to

the

l iv ing

quarters,

see

through

an

open

doorway

the Recital Ha

·l l

another classroom

rea l ly

with

a small

stage-platform

at one

end,

a

side wall covered with mirrors,

and a spot l ight .

45

INT.

SITTING

EOOM

- DAY .

Two doors on .

one

side

lead

to

bedrooms,and

a

th i rd door

leads

s t ra ight ahead in t o a

kitchen

and

dining

area. The

furnishings

are

mostly ra ther worn,

Spanish-style repro

ductions, and there is a small radio on a table

next

to

the

· kitchen. Crossing the si t t ing-room, Adelle picks up

a

copy of

MOVIE

.LIFE

and

smiles

to

herself .

ADELLE

Helen . • . ?

St i l l

no

answer.

room, looks in

kitchen.

Adelle

goes to the

open door

to

Hel

en

s

Finding i t

empty, she moves on into

the



46 INT. KITCHEN -

DAY

She moves direct ly through the kitchen,

to

a

door

at

the r ear, opens the door and steps outside.

47 EXT.

REAR

STAIRCASE - DAY

At the back of the building

is

a wooden sta ircase whic h

leads down to a small backyard

area

t hat i s next to an

alley. Adelle, standing

a t the top of the s ta i r s looks

down.

48 EXT. BACKYARD - POV SHOT - HELEN

49

Helen

closes the

door of a home .-made

rabbit hutch

that

i s placed

against

the al ley fence,

and

comes up

the

s ta i r s carrying a rabbi t . She and Ad e

l l e

enter the

kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN -

DAY

as Helen

carr ies

the

rabbit and

gently

puts t

in

a

small empty

cage

by

the

sink.

fI..ELEN

She s

expecting.

Poor l i t t l e

thing.

ADELLE

.

.

8 t i l l

the country g i r l a t

heart .

l l t he same,you re

real ly

the

Marion

Davies type.

HELEN

.

Marion

who?

Adelle holds

up the ~ 4 V I E

LIFE

magazine • . Marion Davies

i s

on the

cover.

ADELLE

You

ne

ve

r

s ~ l

Poll

y

of the

Circus?

CONTINUED

2

3



.

50

CONTINl; ED:

HELEN

(a.

l i t t l e

reproving) ,

I told yeu the

only

moving picture

I ve seen

in

f ive years was Sign

of

the Cross •

ADELLE

(a l i t t l e

sigh)

l>1el1.

• .

Marion Davies

is lovely.

Helen

looks a t

the

photograph

again.

A

look:

of

pleased

skepticism

crosses ,her

face.

HELEN

I 'm

not

one bi t l ike

her.

, ADELLE

you c auld be.

INT. ADELLE S BEDROOM -

HIGH

ANGLE - NIGHT

CAMERA SHOOTS

TOWARD

the dressing

table

, - -

upon which

the re s a

jumble of

cosmetics, two par t ia l ly

eaten

sand

wiches,

a hand mirror, the MOVIE LIFE cover of

~ a r i o n

Davies. Adelle is busy cut t ing

Helen's

hair .

ADELLE

I t s

important

to

know what type

you

are;-Helen. The public ahra,Ys

looks for

types. Like I 'm

J ean

Harlow.

Definitely

HELEN

I think I ve

heard of her.

She's

English i s n t she?

51 CLOSE

ANGLE

-

TO

,FAVOR ADELLE

Adelle

Sighs, goes ,

to table , picks

up MOVIE LIFE, r i f f l e s

through

the pages to a picture

of

,

Sean Harlow, holds i t

n

front of

Helen's face.

Helen looks

s l ight ly troubled.

Adelle i s unai ll are of th i s .

ADELLE

No, dear, she comes from

Kansas

City

and

they ca l l her

the

Blonde

Bombshell.

HELEN

(looks at

picture)

Lovely.

You're pre t t i e r tha.n

she i s .

(CONTINUED)

24.



5

CONTINUED:

Adelle puts the MOVIE LIFE

back

and cont

i

nues

·

shearing

Helen s hai r . CAMERA

now MOVES

to FAVOR Helen.

Helen

shear

gives

AD

ELLE

We could be s i s t e r s .

( to herse l f , as

i f

reassur ing

herself )

The publ ic . always looks

for

types .

i s

not

concentra t ing.

her ha ir , she becomes

a sudden, involuntary

1-]hile Adelle

cont inues

increasingly t roubled.

j e rk of her

head.

ADELLE

(cont inuing)

Something

the matter?

to

She

25·

Helen

shakes

her head,

but cont inues

to

look

tense .

Adelle

picks up the hand mirror , holds it

in

front of

Helen.

ADELLE

I know how i t

fee l s

to have

your hai r c

u t

off . I used to

wear mine longer than Jeannet te

MacDonald I S .

. (encourag ing)

But

i s n t tha t gOing to look

nif ty? .

Helen doesn t

answer.

Adelle

leans

forward

to

look

a t

her

n the hand mirror .

52

CLOSE SHOT

-

PAST ADELLE

1 0

HELEN .IN

MIRROR

. Adelle sees Helen s t ense , dis t ressed face in the mirror .

53 ~ T U R N TO

PREVIOUS SHOI .

You

don t

ADELLE

(c

hagr

ined)

l ike

i t ?

Oh.

HELEN

(With an ef for t )

No, it s f ine . Really

qui te

Marion Davies.

( C

O T

INUED )



53

CONTINUED:

Adelle

looks uncertain, holdlngthe shears

poised.

DELLE

Really'?

HELEN

Of

course.

(forcing

i t

Snip ai lay I

26.

Adelle s tar ts

shearing again.

Helen

continues to struggle

with her tension.

ADELLE

Penny

for them

Helen t r i e s

to

smile.

D

E

LLE

(continuing)

Come

on.

Let i t

out.

You can t

hold everything back.

Helen

t r ies to

speak

very matter-of-factly, ut she can t

disguise the emotion underneath.

HELEN

I hate thinking

about the

past.

But

sometimes

I

can t

help it

That ear l ier hurt ,

baffled look

crosses

Adelle 's

face

again

•

ADELLE

The

boys?

HELEN

No.

FUrther back. Lenny's

father . How

he ·

died •••

Adelle stops shearing.

She

lo

.oks

very

at tent ive.

ADELLE

Tell

me.

HELEN

We

had

a

l i t t l e

farm

•••

ADELLE

You and Mr

Hill?

CONTINUED)



53

CONTINUED: (2)

HE

L

EN

(nods)

I t was such a pre t ty day. I

fixed him his lunc h and t ook

i t ou t t o him

in

the f i el d .

Adelle s t a r t s

shearing

again.

HELEN

continuing)

I brought Lenny wit h me, and

Mr.

Hil l

took

us

on a r ide

around the

f ie ld .

On

the

plough.

Adelle continues shearing. C MER

MOVES

IN

for

a

TIGHT CLOSE U P of

Helen.

The

SOUND

of Adelle

working

the shears

now

t a

kes

on

a

new qual i ty ,

suggestive

of

the blades of the

plough.

HELEN

We s tar ted out, and

t hen •••

the

harness

seeme d

to

come

loos e

SOUND OUT.

.

SOUND ON.

HELEN

(con

t

inu

i ng )

Mr.

Hil l

got

off

to

fix

it

And suddenly

-- the

horses

were frightened by something

- -

I

couldn t

hold

th

em

HELEN

(continuing)

And the blades - - they re

big ,

you

know,

those blades

and sharper t han they

look

:

A look of great

fear

crosses Hel e

n s

face.

Im LEr

(con

t

in

u ing )

an

d Mr. Hil l - -

he f e lL ••

Helen ca t

ches

her breath

almo

s t c

onvulsively.

27



5

55

56

FLASH POV SHOT -

WHAT

SHE

IS REMEMBERING

\ ~ e .Bee

MATT

HILL run over

by

the

blades

of

the

plough.

SHOT - M TT HILL - HIS BODY

Bloody, broken,

lying in the

f ie ld .

RETURN TO

SHOT

OF

HELEN

. Her emotion is in tense,

but

s t i l l jus t under control .

There s

a

pause. Adelle is too horr if ied

to

speak a t

f i r s t .

Then

she notices the

shears poised

in

her

hand,

sets them down. Gently,

Adelle

reusllurlngly touches

Helen s

shoulder.

The r e s a suggestion of a r e play

here with the

ro les reversed of the ea r l i e r

scene

a t

night

between them

af te r the

t r i a l . )

HELEN

Lenny

s a ~ t a l l . And he

blamed

me.

For

not being able to save

his father.

ADELLE

You said

he was only

three. He

was too young to

think

a

thing

l ike tha t .

HELEN

ut

he

did.

Children

do,

.somehow.

They jus t

look

a t you and make

you

feel gui l ty .

ADELLE

No. When Wes

began

looking a t

me

tha t

way, I fe l t sad. I

fe l t hurt . But not

gui l ty .

(pause)

That s

the

difference

between

us, I

suppose

• .

HELEN

Maybe

you re the

lucky one,

dear.

•

Helen s

calm

is beginning t o

return

• . She makes a

l tt

l e

gesture

with

her fingers

to

indicate to Adelle to

go

on

shearing.

Adelle

picks

up

the scissors again and giv

es

another

snip.

28



57

INT

• .

RECTIAL HALL

-

NIGHT

CM-lERA SHOal S from the upper hallway through the open

doorway of the rec i ta l hall which

i s in darkness. e

HEAR the S U ~ ~

0 . 5 . of

MUSIC from the

radio

a Paul

Whiteman-type orchestra. n the darkness we

glimpse

Adelle as she t ra jns the spotl ight toward

the

ful l - length

mirror.

She

switches i t

on,

revealing Helen

standing

there .

ADELLE

You

got

to

see

yourself

fu l l -

length to get the whole effect l

29.

58

CLOSE SHOT

-

HELEN

She

takes a

couple of

steps

nearer

the mirror to gaze a t

herself . The t ransformation is

real ly

quite

successful ,

softening her

appearance.

A tt le l ips t ick and

eyeshad01 l

have also been applied. Adelle appears behind He len .

Helen

gives

Adelle

a

l i t t l e

nod

and

a

smile.

Both

women

.stand

looking

a t

themselves in si lence. Suddenly

a

th i rd

ref lec t ion in

Silhouette, appears

between

them in the

mirror,

standing in the doorway. Both Adelle and Helen

are transfixed with

t e r ror .

Helen

IS

hand

involuntarilY

goes

to

her wrist that

was

cut . After

a moment

the m n

steps

forward into the

l igh t .

He (HA14ILTON STARR) i s

dressed

in the height of 30

t

s

fashion,

thea t r ica l

and

somewhat

Sinis ter ~ l i t h the turned-Up col la r

of

his top

coat nd

slouch

hat down

almost over his

eyes.

HAMILTON

l Ive s ta r t led

you?

pause)

So

sorry .

The

front door

~ l a s

ajar

so

I jus t came s t ra ight

on up.

59 ANOTHER

ANGLE

- HAMILTON, ADELLE,

HELEN

·

Hamilton steps up

to

the- women.

see

now he

IS ·

ra ther

distinguished-looking,

f .i f ty ish handsome

in

a John

Barrymore

way.

Less frightened

now,

but s t i l l shocked,

Adelle and Helen

continue

to stare

a t

him.

DELLE

shakily)

You should

have

rung

the

be l l .

HAMILTON

I hate

to

spoi l

an entrance,

rIm

afraid .

Are

you

Miss

Stuart?

(C ONT I NUED )



59

cONTnruED:

ADELLE

Yes.

IlJ\MILTON

I ve heard excellent reports

of

you.

Adelle looks astonished.

HAMILTON

(c ontinuing)

In

the

profession. I give private

lessons, you

see in voice

and

dict ion - - to a fel' moppets

with

ambitious mothers. Among them

is

your Charlene Barker - - a small

but

horrendous

creature

of

absolutely

no

t a lent

lhatsoever.

Adelle can't. help

smil ing a t

th i s .

HAMILTO

(c ontinuing)

Now, since the advent of the

ta lk ing

picture

HELEN

( to Adelle)

What los he

t ry ing

to

say?

Adelle

gives

an

amused

shrug.

Helen

remains

suspicious.

Hamilton

looks

a t

her

ra ther s ternly .

HAMILTON

I t s

quite

simple,

my dear

lady.

Jus t concentrate

for a moment.

( to Adelle)

slonce the

ta lk ing picture

i s

here to s tay, ,your moppets must

speak

dlostinctly as

well

as

shake

t11eir fa t

l i t t l e

legs.

Hhy· not expand ·

your

curriculum

to

include

courses

in

drama and

elocution given by myself?

ADELLE

( to

Helen)

MaJ'be he [s got

something.

Shir ley doesn't j u s t dance

she'S a rea l ac t ress , tool

. CONTINUED)

30



.

9

CONTINUED:

(2)

HELEN

But

we

don t even

know who he

i s .

HAMILTON

My

name

i s Hamilton s t a r r

.two r

I S ,

but prophetic

nonetheless .

( to Adelle)

What time do

you

conclude

your

c lasses . n

the

day?

ADELLE

Four- th i r ty .

HAMILTON

That IS lhen I ll re turn tomorrow

tlTith some

ra ther

impressive

references.

(a f lour i sh ,

doffs hat)

.

Unti l

then, ladies

- -

goodnight r

31

Hamilton tUrns to

leave. Adelle

and Helen s t a r t to follow.

HAMILTON

(continuing)

Don't bother .

I

l ike to

f ind

my own

way out as wel l as in .

Shal l I close the f ront door,

by the .lay? Rather unwise to

leave it open

. • .

.

Adelle

and Helen

nod. They watch

as Hamilton s t a r t s

down

the s t a i r s .

60 POV SHar OWN

THE

STAIRS,

FRONT

OOR HAMILTON ·

Hamilton

goes

down

the

s t a i r s . By

the

f ron t door

he tu rns ,

gives

a l a s t

gal lant

wave

and

ex i t s , clos ing the door

f irmly behind him.

61

ANarHER ANGLE

ADELLE

HELEN

Helen's

hand

has

gone

to her

wrist again.

Adelle

not ices

t h i s .

HELEN

You're

(a l i t t l e snippy)

much too

t rus t ing ,

Adelle .

( CONT INuED )



6 CONTINUED

Helen turns back to the -

5i

t t ing room. Adelle follows.

ADELLE

He s harmless.

I

can

t e l l .

HELEN

How?

ADELLE

-You get

an ins t inc t

•••

HELEN

That

man

on

the phone said

hetd

f ind us,

wherever

are.

ADELLE

Oh,

tha t s a

lo t

of hooey.

11;

IS

not

l ike

you to be

scared.

HELEN

- I was

the

one who

got

cut ,

remember.

(pause)

What rea l ly

scared me

was finding

you d

le f t

the front door

open.

How

d you

ADELLE

(a

b i t net t led)

knO\ l

i t was me?

HELEN

I m sure I d never

do

anything

so

careless .

Goodnight;

dear.

Helen

exi ts to her room, closing the

door

behind her.

Adelle stares af te r her, a

l i t t l e

puzzled. e bring up

SOUND

of the

opening

bars of

Goody Goody

on the piano

before

- -

62 INT. ADELLE'S ACADEMY - 1ST FLIlOR CLASSROOM - WIN-ONA AND

OTHER

CHILDREN,

HELEN

-

AFTERNOON

-

The

kids

are

dancing

to _ he

tune

of Goody Goody,

played

by

Helen

on

the

piano. Helen has kept the

Marion

Davies

look

and wears

a new

dress.

Hinona

s t i l l

stands out

from

the other kids, in

a different

color ver-

sion

of her Sonja Renie

costume.

CLOSE ON

ADELLE

standing at the

side:.

watching t he kids.

OONTINUED)

32.



63

CONTINUED:

ADELLE

(under her breath)

Step

-

heel drop

-

brush

-

step

• • . .

She

TAPS

impatiently on the

f loor ,

and

SNAPS

her

f ingers ,

t ry ing to

jazz

up

the pace.

33

64 ANCIl Hli;R ANGLE

-

MarHERS LINCOLN PALMER

Looking

somewhat

out of place

among

the

others ,

LINCOLN

PALMER,

lVinona s fa ther , watches. He s

a handsome

br

e

ezy-

looking man in

his

l a t e t h i r t i e s , dressed in the

height

(jf Cal i fornia

spor t s - s ty le aff luence

of the period. He

looks, als 0 ,

somewhat

unimpres-sed

by the

performance, in

cont ras t to

the

doting mothers.

65

CLOSE

SHar

- ADELLE

66

st ll

TAPPING impatiently

on the f loor .

She

glances across

in di rec t ion of Line.

CLOSE

SHCIl -

LINe

He

not ices

her

-

glance, gives

a

pol i te but not very convinc-

ing

nod of

approval .

67

s r

-

ADELLE

68

She s teps

on

to

the

f loor and CLAPS her hands

for qu ie t .

Dancing

and

piano stop.

ADELLE

Kids,

you re

-

dOing the steps

okay,but

we need

-

to jazz i t u

a b i t •••

h atch

(another quick

glance in Linc r s

direct ion)

t h i s

Behind

her , Helen s t a r t s to play again. Adelle quickly

shakes

her head

a t

Helen,

who stops. Adelle

tu rns

to a

nearby phono

g

raph, s t a r t s

a

RECORD of

a

t inny orches

t

ra l

vers ion of the same tune.

SHar -

LINe

Watching

Adel le .

-



.

.

69

70

34

SHar HELEN

She

s i t s

with her hands

folded

n

her

lap., calmly wat.ching

Adelle .

RETURN TO

SHOT O

ADELLE

She

TAPS

out

the

t ime

with

her

foot ,

then goes

in to

her

rou t ine . She's shOl'ling off for Line, of course , and t h i s

i s

the

f i r s t t ime we see her rea l ly do her s t u f f .

71 SHOT LINe, MOTHERS

The

mothers have an " I don t see she ' s so much be t t e r

than our kids" expression, but Linc

responds.

I t ' s ap-

parent tha t in his mind

Adelle

s tops

be

ing a. teacher

and

becomes an

avai lab le

dame;

72

RETURN TO

SHar

OF

ADELLE

She

does a f as t

f in i sh ,

stops.

ADELLE

(a

l i t t l e

breathless)

There See What I mean?

. (glan ces a t

watCh)

My, it s

a f te r

four- th i r ty See

you a l l

on

Fr.iday.

The c lass breaks up, as

befor

e .

Adelle,

pretending

not

to

not ice

t ha t

Linc i s

on

his

fee t

and

coming

in

her

di rec t ion ,

goes quickly across to Helen

•.

ADELLE

Helen on

"Goody,

Goody"

a f te r the break would you

make

a note to

. speed it up

•••

. .

.. Linc presses close through the mill ing Idddies , unaware he

i s hot ly pursued

by Mrs.

Schultz

.

and

~ 1 r s Greenbaum.

·

Helen

gets

up,

. l eaves

MRS;

SCHULTZ

Miss

Stuar t ,

any word

fro

m

the

other

t a l en t

scouts?

ADELLE

Sure. e got Paramount

coming

t oo .

CONTINUED)



72

CONTINUED:

MRS

GREENBAUM

You didn t loni\.

a t

Rosalie once

today.

How

do you

knot1

i f

s he's

doing

good or bad - - or

.,hat?

I

did

she s

wel l .

ADELLE

look,

].lrs. Greenbaum.

lld

doing - - except ional ly

Really.

Mr

Palmer •••

Mrs. Greenbaum i s re luctant to go.

ADELLE

(c ont inuing)

See you on Friday,

Mrs.

Greenbaum.

r ~ R S GREENBAUM

(a cl ine her)

They'r

e

very

in te res te

d

in

Rosalie

a t RKO

ADELLE

(a dubious

look

a t ROEalie) .

That ' s

wonderful, ·

Mrs. Greenbaum

r ms GREENBAUM

She could make you famous

•• .

ADELLE

I

bet

she h i l l .

Bring

her

a

l i t t l e

early

Friday,

huh?

MRS GREENBAUM

I will if

she s

not

t es t ing l

Mrs. Schul tz

and ·Mrs, Greenbaum s t a r t to move av,ay.

Adelle turns

to

Line,

ADELLE

Mr Palmer

- - about lfinona' s

pract ice

costumes. , .

LINC

You don t l ike them?

ADELLE

Well - -

WINONA

I

th ink

they re dumb

( impatient)

Daddy, can we

go

home now?

35



72

CONTINUED:

(2)

ADELLE

We have B rule here tha t

a l l

our gi r l s dress a l ike . I t makes

Winona

self-conscious to stanq

out from

the

others .

LINC

I t shouldn t . I f you ve

got

i t , why be afra id to l e t it stand

out,

Hiss

Stqar t?

ADELLE

(amus

ed)

I f

you ve got

i t , you don t

have

to

draw

a t ten t ion to i t ,

Mr.

palmer.

I m

WINONA

( to Line)

hungry.

I,INC

( to

Adelle

)

Tpis

i s a very

in te res t ing s u j e c t ~

M:i ss

Stuar t .

I d l lke to c hat

some more

about i t - - maybe

over

dinner

tonight?

Tonight?

ADELLE

( s t a r t l ed )

LIl fC

You got a date ton ight? Tomorrow

night , then?

ADELLE

(af te r a moment)

Oh,. t on i gh t s .

ju s t

·f ihe .J

LJ1I[C

Seven

o clock?

Adelle nods

LINe

(cont inuing)

I ll

pick

you up.

(leads l-J inona off)

Come on, baby do l l .

36.



37.

72 CONTINUED: (3)

lVINONA

I

want

a

giant chocolate malted.

Linc and

she runs

('ut

-out.

liinona go out. Adelle stands ifatching them. Then

to th

e window

to look

out. She stands

beside her

73 POV

SHOT THROUGH

WIN OW

- LING, WINONA

They cross

to

a

Packard

sports roadster..

Linc opens

the

door

to

le t Winona in •.

74

EXT.

STREET

. IN

FRONT OF ACADEMY

- LINC,

WINONA

-

ADELIE

IN WINDOVI

Winona

looks up,

catches

sight

of Adelle in the ·window

beside her

cut-out.

She nudges Linc,

who

gives her a

snappy

salute.

Embarrassed

to

be

caught

showing

so

much

direct

interest , Adelle waves

quickly back

and

disappears.

Linc

s tar t s the

car and

drives off .

Along

the s t ree t , at

curbside,

we see

saw-horses

and lanterns

to

mark

the

progress of

the

work crews.

75 INT. ADELLE 'S

~ C D E M Y

- 1ST FLOOR CLASSROOM - ADELLE

Adelle walks toward the

s tairs .

She catches sight of

herself

n a mirror,

touches

up

her

hair , walks on. A

beat, and

there1s a

SCRE M

from somewhere upstairs .

Adelle

reacts,

runs out

into

the

IOi-ler

hallway, then

stops.

76 ANGLE SHOT

-

UP STAIRS

-

HELEN, HAMILTON

STARR

Helen

is

cowering

against the wall, star ing down

at

a

man with

his .

back to us

on

the

s tai rs •

Adelle

. HELErr

(catching

sight

of

Adelle)

The man looks around. I t s Hamilton. He

carr ies

a small

portfol io.

ADELLE

Holy Moses

r

CONTINUED)

•



.

.. .

76 CONTINUED:

HAMILTON

Ladies

I Please I

HELEN

(to Adelle)

I found him

n there ••.

She

indicates upstairs

classroom. Hamilton s tar ts

down

the s ta i r s toward Adelle, who backs

away.

HAMILTON

Your

class

was

running

a

bi t

la te

so

I decided to

inspect

the fac i l i t ies . Ilm sorry i f

I

alarmed

your partner.

ADELLE

(not amused this

time)

Surprise entrances are

one

thing,

,Mr. Starr . SnoopL 1g s another.

HAMILTON

(unruffled)

You re

r ight .

I

admit

I

suffer

from

the disease of curiosi ty

.

Now

~ l h r shall

we

discuss

the

sordid business

detai ls?

Adelle hesi ta tes, then

looks

amused again. From

the

top

of the

s ta i rs Helen

s t i l l

looks ,

dubious.

HELEN

(tOUCh of irony)

You

s t i l l have

your

inst inct

Adelle?

ADELLE

,( to

Helen)

Yes. He makes me laugh.

HAMILTON

(quietly,

to Adelle)

e

have

the

bond

of humor, 1 1iss

Stuart . 11m

glad.

(more loudly)

Miss

Martin may

s t i l l

think 11m

Jack the Ripper but

my

references

are

A I. You could make a s tar t

y call ing

up

Constance Bennett.

(CONTINUED)

38,



(6 CONTINUED:

(2)

ADELLE

(impressed)

Did

you hear that , Helen?

Connie

Bermett

.

HELEN

s t i f f ly)

s t i l l

fee l

we don' t

know anything

about

him.

HAMILTON

(taps portfol io)

have l e t t e rs from

the

immortals

He opens

portfol io,

takes out stack of

l e t te rs , thrusts

them

at

Adelle.

HAMILTON

(c ontinuing)

Belasco,

of

course - -

John

Barrymore understudied the

. ghost when he played Hamlet

George

Bernard

Shaw

Sir

Herbert

Tree

Mrs.

Pat

Campbell

ADELLE

(impressed,

seeing

name on le t te r )

Kay Francis

( to

Helen)

Did you hear a l l

those

names?

HELEN

1'm

afra id

they mean l i t t l e to

me. But

everything s up

to

you,

of course.

Helen

ex i t s

quickly

in

direc t.

ion of her

room.

HAMILTON

( to Adelle)

11'hat is there

about me

tha t

Miss

Martin .

doesn't

l ike?

She IS not

types.

ADELLE

(amused)

used to theat r ical

HAMILTON

n th i s town'

CONTINUED)

39



CONTINUED:

(3)

ADELLE

Even for t h i s town you

Ire

a

pre t ty specia l kind of ham, Mr

Sta r r . r.et Is go to my off ice .

Adelle

tUrns back

down the s t a i r s . Hamilton fol lows,

"Lilt ing

his hat even fur ther

over his

eyes.

77

INT. KITCHEN

-

HELEN

- NIGHT

LJ-O.

I n f . g ; , a

radio

plays

muted re l ig ious ORGAN MUSIC. Helen

is preparing rabbi t

food,

t ea r ing

up l e t tuce ,

e t c . After

a

moment the MUSIC STOPS, and i s succeeded

by the

urgent,

sanctimonious

mid-t ' lestern

VOICE of

Sis te r

Alma • .

SISTER ALMA S VOICE

(on

radio)

1-1y, tha t

was beau t i f

u l nus iC,

Brother

Evans

I

guess

you

get

the insp i ra t ion to

play t ha t

music

from

the

same

place

I get

my energyl

CAMl :RA

PANS AlilAY

to

the

door

to Adelle IS bedroom. I t i s

half-open.

SISTER LM IS VOICE

( c ont inuing)

Everywhere

I go, folks

cOl)le

up

to

me and

. say, Sis t e r Alma ••••

78 . NT.

ADELLE'S BEDROOM-

MEMENTO

SHELF - NIGHT

On

one I'lall of the room

hangs a

fancy knick-knack

she l f .

On

i t

are arranged

photographs

and mementos

of

Ade l le s

son, Wes. A

pai r

of

baby shoes

cas t in bronze opposi te

his picture · as a baby: Silver mug

and

baby

spoon:

photo

graphs of

Wes aged 8 a n d l 1 a n d 15:

8 school

pennant:

e tc . . .

Then

CAMERA PANS AlfAY past the ra the r

f l u f f i l y decorated

room,

with

a Kewpie

de l l

on

the

bed, to. Adelle standing

n

f ron t

of

her

dressing

tab le .

Dres

s

ed

for

the

evening,

she has

duplicated as

much as poss ib le a

Harlow-ish

dress

of

the period. She

gives herse l f a

f ina l

once-ever.

SISTER

AIlI.A S

VOICE

where

do

you get the energy

to hold .

three

serv ices each and

every day? I 'F romthe pure love

of

God,

I

I

t e l l them.

'The loire

of God · i s a fo.untain tha t never

stops

playing

•••

(C ONT mliED )



41

78

CONTINUED:

Adelle

turns

the bedroom.

s ta res

a t t

face.

.Then,

and

ex i t s .

away from

the mirror and s t a r t s to

e x i t

from

She

.

passes

the memento she l f , stops. She

f o r a moment

and

the l os t

1001<

comes over

her

t h i n l ~ i n of her

date

with Line, she smiles

79 INT.

KITCHEN - ADELLE,

HELEN

Adelle enters

from her

bedroom. Helen i s st ll preparing

the

rabbi t food.

SISTER ALMA S VOICE

The love of

God - - ,

Adelle SWITCHES OFF the radio ; Helen looks up. Adelle

does a l i t t l e fashion model parade, showing

off

her dress .

HELEN

Very . • •

(searches for .

appropr ia te

word)

. • •

swank, dear • .

.

(touc.h of

anxiety)

Will you be out la te? .

ADELLE

I don t

suppose

so . Lis ten , i s

tha t a l l

you re

having for supper?

Lettuce and

carro

t s ?

HELEN

That s for

y rabbi ts .

ADELLE

Oh.

(pause)

By

the

. way I took on Mr. Sta r r .

:

guessed.

H L N

ADELLE

Don t

l e t the Dracula ac t scare

you,

he s

ju s t

a

show-off.

I

r ea l l y th ink

h e l l

be

an

as se t .

HELEN

I

hope so.

O.S. , doorbell RINGS downstairs.

C

ONT INUED

)



BEST OF FRIENDS - Rev. 12

/8/7

0

79

CON

TINUED:

ADELLE

The

re

s

my

date.

Adelle turn

s aw,ty , hurr i

es

downstairs.

for a moment. H e ~ mouth goes a li t

t l e

swi

tches

the RADIO

B

C

K

ON

. . .

Helen ~ T a t c h e s

her

taut

. Then she

SISTER

ALMA S

VOICE

(on

radi

o)

Oh, how I love these

evening

v i s i

s

~ l i

th

my

de

a r

fr iend s

I

80

INT.

1ST FLO

OR

CLASS

RO

OM

A

ND

ENTRY

HALL

- ADELLE

Adell

e hurr ies through the

classroom

to ·t he f r ont door.

Bell RINGS again

o.s .

She finds t he door double-locked,

raises impatient eyes to heaven, struggles with it a

moment, gets i t

open.

81 ANOTHER

ANGLE - ADELLE,

T R A ~ P

huge,

un),em

pt

,

~ T l i s k e r y TR HP s tands

outside. He s t a re s

. a t Ad

e l

le

with

1n

tent ,

rather angry eyes. Adelle rec

oi

l s

in sudden t

er ror.

DELLE

(a

f r ig htened ·

~ I h i s p e r )

~ l h a t do

yo

u

n t

TR

MP

What

do

you

think I . ,ant

?

ADELLE

I don

t

know • .

TR MP

Cup of

coffee and

a

sandwich.

·

(whining)

Had. nothi n to

eat

since

la s

t

night. Lost

my

j ob s ix months

ago.

I t s a hard

--

ADELLE

(suspicious)

VIhy did you ring

th ts

b

el l?

Why pic

),

on me?

T P

I . picl ton eve

ryb ody

. You l ock

as

i f you could

spar

e a dime .

CONTINUED)

42.



Rev. 12/8/70

81

CONTU:UED:

82

After a moment, Adelle· beg: .ns searching her purse

rather

feverishly.

She vlatches

the tram

·p

covert ly

a t the same

time. He

maintains his

stare .

TRA lIP

(continu:l.ng)

I f

you

don't

have

any

change,

how

about a buck?

You look

as

i f you

could

spare . i t .

ADELLE

I came out l'fithcut

any money.

Tramp looks ·

dj.sbe

l ieving.

ADELLE

(continuing)

I t s true You can see for

yourself l

.Adelle

s ta r t s

to hold out her purse. · Then, o.s.SOUND

of

car approaching. She looks up. Relief floOds her .

face.

She closes her purse again.

EXT. STREET - ROADSTER - LING - NIGHT

Linc

drives up

in

a

f lo r i s t s

box.

her the

box. The

his

roadster and gets

out.

Smiling, he: hurries toward

tramp glares a t

them.

ADELLE

(to Linc)

He ,

ants

a

handout. D'you have

any

change.

He

carr ies

Adelle, hands

Linc

reaches

in his

trouser pocket for

a

quarter

• .

Adelle

takes

.

· and hands

t

to the tramp.

She

smiles hopefully

a t him, as Linc ·helps her iiJto the

car .

T ~ P

Thanks,

lady,

not many

people

care

about people

anymore.

He

s ta r t s

to

move

on.

83

ANGLE O

CAR

Adelle takes out a big gardenia corsage.

ADELLE

Gardenias

t Joan C r a \ ~ f o r d s

favori te

CONTINUED)



.

.

83

CONTINUED:

LINC

They look even bet te r on you.

(I-lith

complete

s incer i ty)

You're a knockout .

He

s ta r t s

up

the

motor.

84 INT.

ROADSTER

-

ADELLE

& LINe PROCESS)

Linc speaks loudly, exuberantly,

above the

ROAR

of

the

engine.

LINC

•••

Firs t my oi l t·/ells came

in .

So then,

i ns t ead of risking the

dough on more, I figu red I had

enough

- -

and

sold out. Two

t1eeks

la te r - - the crash I ••

EXT.

ANOTHER

STREET - ROADSTER - ADELLE & LINC - NIGHT

The roadster zooms down anothe r street. .

86 EXT.

ROADSTER

-

HOVING

SHOT -

ADELLE L I t ~

(PReCESS)

Adelle and Line as before.

LmC

The green s tuff i s st ll good,

so I 'm

loaded while

a lo t

of

other guys are wiped

out.

That 's

the

story

of how Line

Palmer joined tbe N e ~ Rich

which

i s o n ~ hel l o r a bet ter

club

than

the

Old

Poor

ADELLE

(admir in

gly)

I t s lilce a story

in

the movies.

87 EXT. OCEAN

- LIGHTED GAMBLING SHIP - NIGHT

A l a rge l igh ted sh ip g l i t t e r s

in the

not too d is t a n t b .g .

88 OMITTED

44



89

90

INT.

GANBLING

SHIP -

SALOON

- FULL SHOT - NIGHT

The

saloon is l ike

a nigh

tclub, with

a

dance f loor

surrounded y tables. fin ORCHESTRA PLAYS Guy Lombardo-

type MUSIC. There a r

e PEOPLE on

the dance

·

floor and

a t

the tables,

many

of

the:n

in elegant evening clothes.

MED.

SHOT

-

ADELLE

LING

-

NIGHT

They

are seated

at a ringside table, finishing dinner.

Adelle, very

much

relaxed now

wi th Linc,

leans close, half

I hispers. A LATIN TYPE MAN, sleekly

groomed

and dressed

n

a

tuxedo,

too obviously

avai lable ,s i ts alone in

near

b.g.

ADELLE

I t s so r i tzyl

LINC

The money

they take

in,

i t ought

to

be

• . .

There i s

a

l i t t l e

f lurry as

a movie

s t a r ~ s h type

WOMAN

escorted

by

three

men, make

an

e

ntrance,

and

are seated

a t

a

ta

b

le .

ADELLE

Is that

Garbo? I

thought she

wanted

to be alone.

Linc . shrugs his

shoulders;

he

i s n t

sure.

LINC

(pouring

champagne)

Okay.

Now

t e l l

me

something.

What?

Anything

h

. • .

ADELLE

.

LINC

.

about you

•

.

ADELLE

LINe

Ever

been

married?

After a moment,

Adelle

shakes

her head.

LINe

(continuing)

Love 'em

and leave em, eh?

I don t blame you

a t a l l .

CONTINUED)



90

CONTINUED:

.

ELLE

I ve got nothing against marriage/

I t s jus t the old est story

in

the world, I guess. Never met

the r ight man.

LINC

I

bet

you

have a

great

time

playing

the

f ie ld .

(broad

smile)

Know

I

do.

.

A f l icke r of disappointment crosses Adel le s

face.

· Then

the l IlJSIC segues in to a tango. Adelle brightens.

ADELLE

Oh a tango/

(and then,

dubious)

You

kno11how • . • ?

C

ONTlNUED

) .



3'

go

91

CONT I NTJE. D :

LINe

Sorry,

lady

even you couldn tt

teach

me

to

dance.

47.

As Adelle

turns

a wis t fu l eye on the dancers on

the

f loor ,

Linc

looks

around, spots the GIGOLO,

gives

him the s ignal ,

produces

a

b i l l ,

which

he

l1.o1ds down

out

of

Adelle

IS

s igh t .

The

gigolo r i ses , comes over, bows

to

get Adel le s a t t en -

t ion .

GIGOLO

( to

Linc)

Mind

i f I

ask the lady

to dance?

LING

( to Adelle)

Want

to , D e l ~ • . ?

Adelle

hes i t a te s ,

but

she

c a n l t r e s i s t .

LINC

(continuing)

Go on. . . get

up there

. . • •

Adelle turns to the gigolo, a l l smiles . He helps

her

r i se

with one hand, takes

Line s

b i l l with

the other .

They move

out onto the f loor

and

s t a r t dancing spec tacular ly .

Linc

gr ins

with

pr ide as the

other

dancers s t a r t to yield

the f loor to them.

ANarHER

ANGLE

- ADELLE,

GIGOLO

Dancing,

the only

ones

nOVI

92 INT.

HELEN S BEDROOM ... HELEN -

NIGH;r

The

door

i s open.

O.s.

SOUND of

muted

ORGAN MUSIC on the

rad io .

Helen Si t s n

her sparsely

furnished bedroom

austere in cont ras t to

Adel le s

on a rocking cha i r .

She

s t rokes a rabbi t While l i s t en ing to the radiO. A

few sam-

plers IGOD.IS LOVE e t c . adorn

the

wal ls .

SIS fER

AW.A S VOICE

(on radio)

My, tha t was beaut i fu l , Brother .

Evans I Friends ,

maybe you can t

do the foxtrot to

t ha t kind of

music but you can

sure

ref resh

your soul . Oh, how I love these

evening

v i s i t s l.;ith my dear

devoted ~ r i e n d s . . • •



93

INT.

G MBLING

SHIP -

ADELLE, GIGOLO,

LINe

There

is a

round

of

applause, Linc the

loudest , 8.5

the

tango

comes to

an end.

Leaves j lde l le , somewhat brea th

l ess , re turns

to the t ab le .

LINC

(holds up cham-

pagne

bot t le )

That

deserves

a

l i t t l e

reward.

ADELLE

I won't say 'no.

t

Line

f i l l s up the i r glasses and Adelle s t a r t s to

s ip

it

as in

b .g .

the orches tra

swings

in to Did You Ever

See

Dream Walking?

ADELLE

(continuing;

l i s ten ing;

then

s ings

sof t ly )

. . 'Did you ever see a dream ~ I a l k i n g

Lincnods .

Well I did - -

Did

you

ever

hear

a

dream talking?

Well

I did

. (bre aks off )

Linc

. • . would you say you were

a case of once b i t te n, twice shy?

LINC

Honey, I

wasn t bi t t en ,

I lias

savaged.

Really?

ADELLE

(surprised)

LINC

I j us t got

led

up

the

old garden

path .

ADELLE

All

the

same

• . .

doesn t

everyone

want

to se t t l e down in the end.?

Linc shoots

her

an amused, quizz ica l

look

as

if

to

say,

I

knm l

your game.

. .

I

got

LINe

(shrugs)

plenty

of t ime.

CONTINUED)

48.



97

48A 50

Passing the l ighte Iwrk-lanterns beside the t r ench the

roads ter

draws up

outs ide

the

Academy.

Jidelle and

Linc

look a t each other .

Then Linc puts his arms around

Adelle

and kisses her.

C JVIER

PANS AWAY and

U to:

EXT.

C DEMY

UPPER vliN OW HELEN

NIGHT

Helen s tands

a t

the

window,

s ta

r ing

down

a t the

car . Her

mouth

tautens

a l ttle.

98

POV

SHOT ROADSTER

Adelle

and Line are

st ll in

the

same

kiss . F ina l ly

Adelle

breaks

al fay.

99 .CLOSE

SHOT -

HELEN

She

t u rns away.



100

CLOSE SHGr - ADELLE, LINC

I be t t e r

DELLE

a f te r

a moment)

go i

n .

51

Linc gives a l i t t l e shrug, betl een surprise and disappoin t-

ment.

LINC

Okay.

DELLE

I m t idd ly

as a w

ink

.

Very

much

the

gentleman

aga in ,L inc

gets

ou

t

and holds open

the passenger

door

for Adelle. She, meantime ,

has t a l ~ e n

her

key

a b i t fumblingly from

her purse.

LINC

When

can

I

see

'you again?

. ADELLE

Jus t ask

.me

s t l l i ~ b l e s

a l i t t l e

as

she get

s out

of car )

OoopS

Line helps her

t o the

f ron t door.

ADELLE

(singing)

Did

you

ever see

a

dream

\,alking?

We11 I did

- -

"

.

She fumbles with her key in the lock of

the

door.

Li n e

smi les , takes over

and

opens t he door for her . They look

a t eaeh other for .moment. Li ne moveS close .

You re a

ADELLE.

(e ant inuing)

r ea l gent le

man,

Line

stops,

gives

a

l i t t l e

Sigh.

LIN

C

Yeah.

too.

(k isses her

ght

ly ,

looks a t

her

again)

I

kind of

l i ke you being scared.

Makes me

f ee l

pro tec t ive .

DELLE

Cal l me tomorrow?

Line nods and ex i t s . Adelle gives

him

t ip sy tt

e

wave,

blows

a kiss and

goes ins ide .



52

101 INT.

ENTRY

HALL 1ST FLOOR

CLASSROOH

-

ADELLE NIGHT

She enters, leaving the front

door

open. She moves

forward

then remembers,

goes back

to

close the

door.

Then, H m ~ I N

to · herself ' ,

taking

a few

dance steps,

she makes

for

the

s ta i rs .

1 0 2 /

INT.

LANDING

-

HELEN

103

104

She

waits

as Adelle

approaches.

Adelle see.s

her,

smiles

and

HICCuPS. Helen frowns s l ight ly .

HELEN

Did you have a nice time?

(a

Heavenly

. . .

ADELLE

bi t t ipsy)

Just heavenly

HELEN

.

I

d bet ter make you s

omecofi'ee.

ADELLE .

(shake

shead)

It ll l{eep me avJake.

(glances a t Helen)

Okay, so I

got

a

snoot ful l l

(then glances toward

reci ta l

hall)

Holy Moses,

what

on ear th s going

on n there?

ANGLE ON

RECITAL HALL

The door is

open.

The

hal l

is moonlit. A few crepe paper

streamers have been

hung. Adelle enters, followed by

Helen.

HELEN

I star ted the -decorations far

the rec i ta l .

ADELLE

Don

t

~ l s t e

your

time.

-Helen stares a t her.

ADELLE

(continuing)

He're going to have

i t

n a real

theatre . Scenery - -

l ights

orchestra - - the works

HORE)

CONTINUED)



104

CONTINUED:

ADELL

E (c

ont

d)

\ ~ h i r l aroun

d in

..

uncert

&

in

t r i umph)

Courtesy

of' Mr.

Lincoln

Palmer.

HELEN

But

it s

our

rec i ta l .

(a.fter a. moment)

\vell.

Tha.

t

s

very generous

of'

him.

·

ADELLE

He s a

v[onderful

generous man

(half

to herself)

The

f i r s t I ve been serious about

. in

years

•.

HELEN

Is he

serioUS about you?

ADELLE

I

think so.

(pause)

He

cal led me

a knockout.

He

len looks disconcerted for

a moment.

hersel f and

smiles

a t

Adeile:

But the

tone doesn t quite ring true

Then

sile recovers

l ightness of

her

HELEN

Well, he s

a

very

fast w o r l ~ e r l

That s wonderful, dear. m

so

happy

for

you

•••

(pause)

I

only hop . . .

She

breaks off . Adelle s ta res a t her

•

.HELEN

.

(continuing)

When are you going to

t

e l l

him?

ADELLE

Wbat?

Helen gives Adelle

a

fa in t pity ing smile.

HELEN

.res nev

e·r answered any of your

l e t t e r s

has he?

(C

ONTINUED)

5



54

104

CONTINUED

(2)

ADELLE

No.

(s tares a t Helen)

You do ac t l ike a

ki l l joy

sOlftetimes •

HELEN

11m

sor ry .

. ADELLE

(ra ther

indignant)

I come home

from

a grea t evening

with a great guy and you

have to bring

up

Hes •• .

H L N

(se l f - r ighte ous)

I j us t thought Mr. Palmer

ought

to know before you get too

involved

• .

ADELLE

( turning away)

him

•

. HELEN

you re

not scared. t ha t

he l l l

ADELIE

( turning bacle

on Helen)

Of

course

1

amI Scared as hel l

Helen winces. Adelle

turns

away again,

and

smiles f a i n t l y

to

hersel .f .

ADELLE

. {continuing)

But Line I s the kind of

old-rashtoned

guy who

l ikes

a

g i r l to be scared.

( ra ther brusquely)

Goodnight.

HELEN

Goodnight, dear . I

hope

you

remembered to close

the

f ron t

door?

Adelle gives a

resigned

nod.

Helen ex i t s . .Adelle

s ta res

af t e r her,

then

sn i f fs her

gardenia

corsage. She smile s

faintly

again. hen

105/

LONG

SHm

106

Adelle SINGS

and

dreamily dances a

f e ~

s teps

in the moonlit

recital

han.

( CONT INUED )



105/

CONTINUED:

106

ADELLE

(slowly)

'80 you met

someone

who

se t

you

back

on your heels - - goody,

goody . • . So you met someone and

now

you

know hm .

i t fee l s -

goody,

goody

•• .

I

DISSOLVE TO :

107 EXT.

THEATRE

MARQUEE

- NIGHT (MUSICAL T'RANSITION UNDER)

A

few latec.omers hurry i nto the thea t re underneath the

marquee which

reads :

ADELLE 8 KIDDYSTAR REVUE

TONIGHT ONLY

108

INT.

THEATRE - STAGE - NIGHT

DISSOLVE

TO:

55

. The stage

of

a movie thea t re

of

the time , as a

small

pi t

orchestra segues

from

the f ina l

s t ra ins

of Goody Goo

dy

in to Animal Crackers In My

SouP.

rt The cur ta in opens to

reveal

a

giant

soup

bO';ll and

spoon

as the se t t ing. 11inona ,

her

hair a mass of curls in the Shir ley Temple s ty l e , SINGS

the verse

of

the song, then climbs to the edge

of

the

bowl

and

begins

to

s t i r

t

with

the

giant

spoon.

From

ins ide

th bowl

comes

a chorus of

l i t t l e

gi r l s

( including

Charlene and Dona)

dressed

in a var ie ty

of animal

cos-

tumes , \mo jo in

Winona

for a tap rout ine.

109

SHar

' - AUDITORIUM -

LINC,

OJ'HERS

Line, beaming, s i t s in

one of

· the front rows. e recognize

other parents nearby.

1 l O S H 0 1

- BACKSTAGE - HAMILTON, ADELLE, HELEN, MRS. GREENBAUM

ROSALIE

Hamilton

and

as Helen,

in

Sam costllme.

on Rosalie.

Adelle watch

the

performance from the wings

the

b .g . ,

s i t s

mendi.'1g the seam of an Uncle

Nearby,

Mrs.

Greenbaum is put t ing l ipnticl{

THE STAGE - NUMBER

As Animal Crackers cont inues , Sue Ann

in

a bu t te r f ly

costume i s lowered on a

11ire

from the top

of the

s ta

ge

,

and

f ina l ly

the

number

comes

to

an

er.

d.



112

THE

AUDIENCE

-

VARIOUS

ANGLES

as they APPLAUD approvingly .

.

113

CLOSE SHOT - LING

as he APPLAUDS, grinning I'/i th pr ide.

114

BACKSTAGE

- ROSALIE, MRS. GREENBAUM

in

the

wings.

APPL- I.USE

continues

,

o.s . , ends.

Mrs

Greenbaum

is

fussing

with Rosal ie ' s

costume o.nd makeup .

Adelle

gives Rosalie a hug

and

propels her forward

for

her

cue.

ADELLE

Good luck,

honey.

MRS.

GREENBAUM

(kneeling down to

Rosal ie ' s height)

Get out there and

knock

'em dead

Rememb

e r the

Warner Brothers

are in the front row.

115 MED. SHOT - STAGE - ROSALIE

Plumed and gl i t t e r ing

l ike

an overdressed

Christmas

. t ree ,

Rosalie a.dvances to center stage as the ORCHESTRA s t r ikes

up

Oh, You

Nasty Man)" She

begins her

rendi t ion in

t he

style

of

Mae

West.

116 CLOSE SHOT - ADELLE,

MRS.

G R E E N B A i l l ~ HAMILTON

Adelle and

Mrs. Greenbaum watch

from the wings:

Adelle

TAPPING

her

foot in

time with

the music, .as Mrs.

Greenbaum

goes through the

gestures along

with

Rosalie.

Hamil t on

appears

behind

Adelle, stares O.S, with an

expression

of

incredulous dis tas te . Adelle glances a t him.

ADELLE

(whispering)

Rosal ie ' s

not

bad,

Hammy.

HAMILTON

[ you l ike child

singers .

ADELLE

(SUddenly .

remembering)

I ve

gotta rnakemy

change.



117

118

CLOSE SHOT

- HELEN

.

She

continues to sew

thecostUJ:le in her

corne r . ( 0h,

You

Nasty

Man II continues o. s . ) smal l t ab l e fan tu rns

beside her .

She

reaches

over to t u rn the

fan toward

her,

and

in ,do ing so , acc identa l ly

scrapes

her hand with the

turn ing b lade . She

l e t s

out

a

little

CRY, t hen s t a re s

a t her bleeding hand

and

f reezes

INSERr - HELEN S HA

ND

A drop of blood wel l ing on it.

57

119

CLOSE

SHOT -

HELEN

s t a r i ng

a t it

projec t ing

in her

mind:

120 FLASH

SHOO

- FROM TAXI

SEQUENCE

(MUSIC our

Her ,

palm

f i l l i n g ~ l i t h

blood,

f i r s t drop sp lashing

on her

, purse .

121

R TURN TO SHOT

OF HELEN S FINGER (MUSIC

IN

The drop of

blood

i s about to s p i l l . She covers it I TUh

her other hand

to prevent

t h i s

•

122 CLOSE SHOT - STAGE ROSALIE

She

warms up to her number now, r e a l l y BELTS it out .

123

CLOSE

SHOT - HELEN

She still c lasps her f inge r . As Helen hears it with in her

.

mind,

. we HEAR above the MUSIC the FAINT

SOUND

of the plough

blades .

The

revolv ing

blades

of t h e fan

cas t shadOlvs

acrosS her face . She grows t ense , clenches ner

hands.

Adelle

comes up,

adjus t ing

her costume. She wears a

glamor

ized vers ion of

a

navy off icer

1s uniform

with abbrev ia t ed

shor t s in blue ve lve t , gold epaule t s , and a gold-tr immed

whi te

cap

se t

a t

a

rak ish

r u ~ g l e

(NOTE:

This

i s

Ade

l l e s

old costume

tha t she wears in the

cardboard

cutou' t . )

ADELIE

Helen

. • •

PLOUGH

BLADES

SOUND STOPS Helen looks

up.

ADELLE

(continuing)

You

a l l

r ight l

(CONTnWED)



123

CON l INUED:

HELEN

(c ant ro l l

ing

herself)

Just a l i t t l e t i red.

(forces smile)

Sue Anne's costume

spl i t

again.

ADELLE

I ve told her mothe r a dozen

times

that

gir l has

got to

watch

her diet .

O.s.,

Rosalie 's

number ends.

APPLAUSE. Adelle turns

to

go.

Don't

l e t

ADELLE

c ontinuing)

i t get you

d o ~ m

Helen no

ds.

Adelle hurries

off.

124

SHOT

- STAGE - ROSALIE

125

126

She curtsies

to the

APPLAUSE, then exi ts

to

the

wings.

SHOT

- ADELLE, STUDENTS

Adelle

waits

in

the ~ i n g s

with

a

group

01 her

students

dressed in

various

mili tary c ostumes some

in

blue

satin

sai lor sui ts ,

others as soldiers , s t i l l others as

West

Point

cadets,

Uncle

Sam,

e tc .

but

a l l

1

1eavily

rouged

and

mascared.

Rosalie

appears

from

the

stage.

ADELLE

(to

Rosalie)

Honey, you

were just wonderful

when you got warmed up •

.. ROSALIE

(shakes

head, very

. "pro

")

I t

went

bet ter a t ·t he

rehearsal.

You've

HRS.

GREENEA

UM

( to

al l )

just

seen a

s tar

being born

SHOT

- STAGE -

KIDDY M.C. ORCHESTRA

The KI Y M.e., a

l i t t l e

gir l in a

tux

and top hat,

ad-

dresses the audience.

(CONTINUED)



. .-27

CONTINUED;

KIDDY M.C.

And

noW

to con c

lude the

f i r s t

hal f of Ade l I e s Kiddystar Revue

a sa lu te to our Presid ent ;

Frankl in Delano

Roosevelt

HMilit a ry

en

Parade

t

RETURN TO SHOT OF ADELLE,

STUDENTS

Adelle propels

them

on to the stage as the ORCHESTRA

SWINGS INTO IIYankee

Doodle."

"i9

128

SHar - HELEN

She f in i shes sewing

the

costume

and

gets up, carrying it

over her arm. Her

manner

i s

abs t rac ted . She passes T W

STAGEHANDS se t t ing down a

prop bar

counter . They drop a

pai r

of smal l

sandbag

, reights

ju s t a t one

end

of

it

HEARING the SOUND,

Helen turns and lOOKS in t ha t

d i r ec t ion .

129 CLOSE saar - HELEN (MUSIC DOviN)

130

She

f reezes , as

when she s ta red a t her f inger . vie HEAR

the PLOUGH BLADES SOUND again .

FLASH

SHar - HELEN S

HALLUCINATION

- ELLIE

BANNER

1

S BODY

NO

SOUND)

Suggested

by

the

sandbags, Helen sees ~ h a t

she

saw

in the

courtroom photos. El l ie

1 s bloodied head,

arm

and head ex

tending

past the

edge

of

her luncheon counter . But she

rea l ly

sees it I t i s

there , b r igh t ly and

br i e f ly

i l l umi -

nated.

131 FLASH SHOT - ELLIE BANNER S HAND

. Fi l l ed with blood.

132

RETURN TO CLOSE

SHar

-HELEN

(MUSIC

Up)

She backs

away, t ransf ixed

\-lith fea r .

Shadows

from the

revolving f ~

cross

he r

face .

HAMILTON S VOICE (o . s . )

Helen •••

Helen

looks

up

sharply

in di rec t ion of Hamil ton's

voice.



33

ANCII HER

ANGLE - HAMILTON

He

walks to\ ' lardHelen from the half-open s tage door.

n

her dis tor ted view, he 's a s i lhouet t e at f i r s t , black,

strange then , a s h e comes nearer , ' recognizably

Hamilton.

HAMILTON

Is tha t Sue Anne's costume? Let

me

take

it

to

her before

her

fa t

mother has a

heart

a t tack .

bU

Helen nods and hands Hamilton the

costume. He

exi t s with

it

34

MED.

SHar -

STAGE STUDENTS

They're in

the

f i r s t part

of the

mili tary

number,

a

pro

fusion of red,

white

and

blue. The

kiddies are

carrying

wooden

r i f l e s , American

f l ags , b a tons

, according

to t he i r

costumes,

and go

i n toe .

br i sk mil i ta ry

t ap .

35 CLOSE ·SHOT HELEN

Trying

to

control herse l f , l i ps moving

in

s i l en t prayer.

36 NOTHER ANGLE -

Mrs. Schul tz , dis t rac ted , rushes

up

to Helen.

The plump

Sue

Anne follows

behind

her ,

gasping for

breath ,

st ruggl ing

with

the harness of

her bu t te r f ly costlL'ne from the previous

number.

MRS. SCHULTZ

There ' s

something vlrong

with the

harness

Sue

Anne i s t rapped

inside

her costume I

SUE

NNE

I t ' s

j us t

too

t igh t ,

Mama,

and

I can ' t

undo

it

Helen,

dazed,

- fumbles with the harness . Adel le , . seeing

the

t rouble she 's having, rushes up

and s t ruggles with

t h eh a r -

ness ,

a lso .

Sue

Anne

gasps. But the harness i s

hopeless ly

jammed.

O.s. ,

"Yankee Doodle" has

segued in to

Sai lor ' s

Hornpipe. "

ADELLE

Holy

Moses, I 'm

near ly

on •••

. (ca l l s ) .

Han

niy see i f you can

help

Sue

Anne

Adelle moves

hurr ied ly

t 1 ~ a r d

the

s tage , almost

col l id ing

with Hamilton

as

he approaches.

She

climbs a high s tepladde

leadlng

to

a

platform

from which

she ' l l

make

her

entrance .



137

61

WIDE SHar - S

TUDENT

S (ON STAGE)

The chorus i s danci r i r ; i t s

way

up the steps - -

on

e i the r

s i de __ ge t t i ng

in to

pos i t ion . When fma l l y they

are

ranged

up

the s teps ,

there

is a modulat ion n the

music

and the ORCHESTRA

HITS

"s ta rs

and

StripeS Forever , as the

sa t in

drapes pu l l open - - to

revea l

Adelle a t the top,

smart ly sa lu t ing , and

now

the backdrop l ight.s

up

to

reveal

a

giant

NRA

insign

ia

of the

per iod ,

with

the eagle out

.

l ined in c i rc l ing l igh t s

,

as

Adelle

comes

dancing

down

the

s teps .

SHar

- AUDITORIUM-

LINC

He watches admiringly.

·

139

POV

SHar -

STAGE

-

ADELLE

From Linc IS POV. C MER SHaarS

on

Adelle

I s

shapely

legs .

14

SHOT

-

BACKSTAGE

- HAMILTON,

SUE

ANNE, MRS. SCh'ULTZ

Hamilton

grapples

with

Sue

Anne

IS harness • The chi ld

huffs

and puf fs.

MRS. SCHULTZ

She1s asphyxiat ing

I Youl l l have

to

cut

i t

(ca l l s to stagehand)

Mister , do

you

have a

knife?

The f i r s t

stagehand

CO lles up, takes a

knife

from his pocke

and hands t to Mrs. Schultz , ~ l h o

hands

t to

Hamilton.

Hamilton

f l ips a

blade open.

· 4 ·

ANOTHER

ANGLE - HELEN

She

reac ts

as

Hamilton

f l i p s open

the blade .

Her hand goe

involuntar i ly to ·her

wris t .

She

takes a

step

back and her

f oo t col l ides with one of the

sandbags. She looks d o ~ m

42 POV FLASH SHar -

HELEN

IS

HALLUCINATION -

ELLIE BANNER S BODY

As

before,

only seen

fu l l

length

now,

and

close

a t

hand.

143

RETURN TO PREVIOUS SHOT

-

HELEN

44

Her horror increases .

PLOUGH

BLADES SOUND UP

LOUD.)

POV

FLASH SHar

-

tIELEN SliALLUCINATION -

MATT HILL S BODY

I t has replaced

El l ie ' s

body-- seen

as ea r l i e r , ju s t thrown

free of

the plough.



62

145 SHor

- HELEN (HUSIC

up

146

She backs away, st ll s ta r ing then

stOi S

shor t .

POV SHOT

- HAMILTON,

SUE

ANNE,

~ m s

SCHULTZ HALLUCINATION)

n Helen's dis tor ted vis ion

Hamilton

nml seems

moving toward

her

threateningly with the

kni fe .

him,

Sue

Anne

and her

mother

gr in approvingly.

to be

Behind

147 RETURN

TO PREVIOUS

SHar

- HELEN

She ut te rs

a

s ing le long, agonzied SCREAM held over next

TWO SHarS.

148

· ANOI HER

ANGLE - HAMILTON,

SUE

ANNE,

MRS. SCHULTZ

REALITY)

149

150

Hamilton has jus cut Sue Anne

s

harness. He, Sue

Anne

and

her

mother

spin

around

in

astonishment.

CLOSE SHCYl - STAGE -

ADELLE

At

the

climax

of

her pat r io t ic solo,she stands

in

f ront of

the shimmering American

Eagle backdrop,

sa lu t ing the f lag .

Hearing the scream, her salute \'lavers and

her

smile fades

momentarily. The

kids

on

stage hear t too

and

f a l t e r in

the i r

rout ine .

INT.

RECITAL

HALL

- HELEN - NIGHT

Helen

s tands, looking out the

l1indow.,

wearing a robe

.

over

her nightgown.

151 EXT. STREET OUTSIDE

ACADEMY- ROADSTER-NIGHT

Line drives

up

in

the

roadster bringing

Adelle

horne.

152 CLOSESHOT - HELEN

Alerted

by

the

SOUND

of

the

car

Helen

looks

down

a t

the

roadster .

153

ROADSTER - HELEN S P V

Line has

his arms around Adelle. They

kiss .

154 .BACK TO HELEN

With a

fa in t

frown, she

s t a r t s to

turn away. Then

she

not ices

something else

. down in

the

s t ree t .



155

EXT. STREET OUTSIDE

ACA

DEMY - HELEN'S POV - MAN

ACROS

S

STREET

Adelle

. and Line are s t i l l kissing • .A l i t t le further

u

the s t

re et ,

on

the

oPPosite side , stands

the

f igure

of a

MAN

. H e s

i l luminated brief ly

as

he

l ights

a cigaret te •

CLOSE

SHOT

-

HEIEN

Staring apprehensively indi rec t ion

of

man.

157

INT.

ROADSTER

- ADELLE

AND LINC

- NIGIn

Linc

takes

lea ther bound l iquor case

from

door pocket,

s ta r t s to open

s i lver capped

bot t le .

ADELIE

I

jus t can t get ove r

i t l Rignt

there

--

my

big monent a l l

bitched

upl

LINC

Honey,

you

carr ied i t

off ust

great

. Line

offers her

a drinlc which she accepts.

ADELLE

Everybody

saw

I

I never ·flubbed

a moment l ike that in

my

whole

l i fe before I

LINC

I told you, no one out front

even knew what was going on

ADELLE

They

a l l· know now

God

knows

what

they must think. ; What"s

the matter

with Helen?

LINC

All that Bible-punching

usually

gets you in

tne

end - -

ADELLE

·

I honestly thought - -

here 's

a

laugh

- -

she had one more

foot

on the ground than

I

didl

(appalled again)

My big moment

- -

I

To break the mood

Line

puts his arm around

Ad

e l l e and

kisses her.



INT. RECITAL HALL HELEN

She 1s s t i l l

interitly watching

the

man

down the s t r

ee

t . ·

159

EXT.

STREET HELEN S POV

The

vague

figure

in

the shadows across the

s t ree t

t akes

a puff on

his

cigaret te drops

i t to the

sidewa lk t hen

moves

off

into the

shadows. Adelle and

Linc

break

away

and get

out of the c

ar.

160 INT. RECITAL

HALL

HELEN

See1ng

that

Adelle

i s

about

to come in she moves

quickly back t ~ l a r d the s i t t ing room.

161 EXT; STREET ADELLE S

POV

ROADSTER, LINe NIGHT

Linc gets in

~ T a v e 6

and drive s off .

(CONTINUED)

6



62

CONTINUED:

Adelle

waves

bacK,

then

tUrns away, SINGING

to herse l f .

ADELLE

So

you met

someone

who

se t you

back on your

heels

- - goody,

goody • • . •

65

INT.

C DEMY

- FRONT

ENTRY

1ST

FLOOR

CLASSROOM

- ADELLE -

NIGHT

Adelle casual ly l e t s go of the door as she turns back.

I t

swings

back

automat ica l ly , but doesn

I t c lose . .

Unaware

of t h i s , she goes on

up

the s t a i r s ,

HUMNING

the tune.

163 INT. SITTING ROOM

164

· 165

A s lan t of l i gh t

hi t s

the s i t t i ng r oom f loor from Helen s

room,

through

her

pa r t

ia

l l y

open

door.

I t

vanishes

as

Helen Si len t ly

closes the door.

Adelle

ente rs ju s t

a f te r

Helen s door

c loses .

She

glances a t it

then

goes

in to

her

own bedroom and closes

the door.

INT. HELEN S ROOM

- HELEN

Through the wall , she HEARS

Adelle

HUMMING.

A

thou

ght

suddenly occurs to her . She becomes

anxious.

She

eases

her own

door

open s i l e n t ly and

carefUlly ,

and s teps out

to the Si t t ing

room.

She goes

to the

top of

the

s t a i r s ,

looks

down.

POV ANGLE s Wr

OWN

THE STAIRS ·

The f ron t door i s open to

the night ;

166 . CLOSE

SHOT

-

HELEN

167

Extremely apprehensive, she

forces herse l f

to .godown the

s t a i r s . She closes the f ront door quickly, double lo

ck

s

it. Then she glances through the window out a t the s t r e e t

ANOTHER

ANGLE - HELEN

Adelle s cu t-out in

r.g.

in vivid s i lhoue t te . Helen

tUrns

back

from the window, re l i eved and s t a r t s up the

s t a i r s again. When

she ' s halfway

up the

s t a i r s , the

phone RINGS from

the

s i t t i ng

room.



168

66

INT.

SITTING

ROOM

•. DELLE

Adelle comes out

from

her bedroom. She wears a

very

fancy

black lace-trimmed teddy.

She

moves to a n S ~ l e r

the

phone.

As

.she approa

che s ,

·

Helen

a r r i

v

es

from

th

e

s t a i r s

and

moves

.

ahead of

he

r .

(Phone

contin ues

RINGING

unt i l Adelle

picks

i t uP.)

H L N

Don't answer

i t

DELLE

(under

her brea th)

.

Holy Moses

( to Helen)

The doctor

to ld

you to r e s t .

H L N

(resents the

impli

ca t ion

of

th is )

I 'm

.

a l l

r igh t .

. \pause)

Please d a n t

answer

it.

Adelle moves to

the phone.

Helen clamps her hand over it

as i f

to

guard i t .

She

IS

off

DELLE

(under her brea th)

her rocker.

H L N

What did you say?

(before Adelle

can

a n s ~ l e r

I heard \ ~ h a t

you sa id

DELLE

Give me the phone.

Helen doesn ' t move.

Please

DELLE

(continuing)

Helen

doesn ' t

move

Adelle

i s

suddenly

exasperated.

DELLE

(c ont inuing)

Helen, th i s

i s impossible

I

You Id

be t t e r go

back

to working

n

a s tore

somewhere'

.

CONTINUED)



168

CONTINUED:

Helen f l inches, but

doesn1t

release the p hone.

HELEN

( cal1n)

There i s none so blind as they

tha t

wi l l

not

see.

I

am

not

off my

rocker, dear. I saw him I

Who?

ADELLE

star ing)

HELEN

not a n s w e r i n g ~ h i s

Just a minute

ago

out

In

the

s t ree t

\ Ihen you and Line were

ADELLE

You

jus t

happened t o be looking

out

the

l findow when

Line

brought

me

home?

HELEN

ignoring her)

He was smoking a

cigare t te .

Watching.

Just l ike tha t other

night .

Adelle looks unconvinced.

Helen relaases the

phone.

With

a martyred

expression,

Adelle

picks t up.

ADELLE

Hello?

Adelle

l i s tens

but the only

SOUND on

the l ine is

of someon

.BREATHING.

ADELLE

continuing)

Who i s this?

Abruptly, whoever

t

i s hangs up,

leaving

only the i n s i s -

tent

BUZZ of

the

dia l tone. Adelle

puts

dovm the

receiver.

I told

And you

again •

HELEN

mildly)

you.

(moves toward

her bedroom)

l e f t the front door

. MORE)

open

(CONTINUED)



6

68

CONTINUED:

(2)

HELEN (cont d)

(pausing

a t

• ' .

bedroom

·c1oor)

When you needed me . I was there .

I

understand

I m

no longer wanted

here.

1 m

in

your

~ a y

1 11

s t a r t looking for

a n e ~ l

job

·tomorrow.

Helen ·closes her bedr·

oom

door. Puzzled; indecisive,

Adelle

flops on the

couch

and s ta res

a t

the phone • .

168A INT. HELEN'S BEDROOM .-

HELEN

- NIGHT

168B

168c

Helen l i e s in bed. The bedside lamp

i s

switched on. On

the wall above the bed

is

a sampler, BLESSED RE THE MEEK

Helen s

eyes

are

wide

open,

her face

.

very

s t i l l

and

expressionless.

INT. SITTING ROOM -DAY

Adelle

has

fa l len asleep on the couch n her

black

lace

teddy. She

wakes

.

up,

wonders where she is for a moment.

She

is obviously suffer ing

£rorn a hangover. She

gets

up,

goes in to her bedroom.

INT.

ADELLE'S

BEDROOM

_ .

ADELLE . -

DAY

A Japanese kimono l ies on the bed • . Adelle picks t up,

puts t on. She walks out again, tying

i t .

She glances

a t

the

memento

shelf

as she

does

so •

168D INT. KITCHEN: DAY

Adelle enters the kitchen.

She makes

a

face

as she passes

Helen s

door,

which i s

closed. She

· goes ·

to

the

cupboard,

gets down a bot t le

of

Bromo, pours t

from

glass to

glass.

She

s ta r t s to

drink the

· foaming l iquid .when

Helen appears

. .

She

is

fully

dressed ,as

i f

for

t raveling.

She

stands

in

the back doorway holding the rabbi t s

scrap

pan.

Her

manner i s

very calm.

.HELEN .

Shall I make you some coffee

before I l eave?

Unnerved

by Helen s unexpected

appearance,

Adelle spins

around.

Helen s ta r t s

to f i l l

the · coffee percolator •

(CONTINUED)



69-7

168D

CONTINUED:

DELLE

You

don t have to. 1

can

manage.

HELEN

I t s a

pleasure.

After

a moment,

Adelle

moves

to

the

breakfast

nook.

on

the

table

i s a

par t ia l ly

completed

j igsaw

puzzle,

Adelle

works

a t

id ly

while

she ta lks .

Spread

which

DELLE

Helen,

maybe

you d

bet te r

stay

on

unt iL ••

She

breaks off . Helen looks over a t her.

HELEN

Until

when?

ADELLE

(shrugs)

Until . • .

(a

smile

)

What

say we s i t th i s out together?

HELEN

Whatever you think best .

(meekly)

I ll t ry not to do anything

foolish

again.

DELLE

But you didn t .

I l ~ a s the

foolish one

•••

(pause)

1 m sorry.

Helen glances

a t Adelle for a moment; Then

she

smiles,

goes

over

and

kisses Adelle

on the cheek.

169 INT. STAIRS, 1ST

FLOOR

C L A S S R O ~ -

DELLE

-

D Y

Adelle

comes o ~ m the s ta i r s from the

l iv ing

quar ters .

She S

dressed

now

in pract ice

slacks.

She comes

in to

the classroom, looks

0.5.,

stops

and

notices some t

hing.

l 70 ANOTHER

ANGLE

The

cut-out of Adelle is

no longer in the wlnd0\1. She

s tares

for a moment,

then goes out in to lo\.,er hallway

and cal ls

upstairs .

ELLE

elen . ?



1 (1/

INT. HALLWAY -

HELEN ADELLE

-

DAY

172

71

He

le

n emerges

from

the 81 t t i r .g

room

upstai rs

tci

f in d

Adelle

standing

jus t

outside the

lower classroom.

AD

ELLE

Did you move

my

cut -out?

HELEN

I sn l t it in the window?

No,

it

S

ADELLE

(shakes

head)

gone

I

Helen comes down the s t a i r s .

HELEN

(groWing

alarm)

I t

IS him

•••

the

man on the

phone

•••

l e t t i ng

us

know

•••

.

-

Adelle, half-convinced,

doesn I t mo' what to

say.

HELEN

(c

ent inuing)

Why donl t

you t e l l Linc?

He l l

knew what . to do.

Adelle considers t h i s a moment, shakes her head.

ADELLE

No. I canl t do

tha t .

(a

beat )

Not

ye t . Maybe the

kids took it

She

tu rns , moves

away,

her expression t roubled. Helen

moves a f te r

her .

HELEN

.Ade.l l e

•••

.She

breaks off as Mrs. Barker

and

l i t t l e Charlene app

e

ar

outside

and

enter . Charlene i s carrying an 8 x 10 glossy

of

herse l f .

.She runs

to

Adelle .

CHARLENE

Miss Stuar t I brought you a

present . • • a picture of

mel

I t

says ITo the most

wonderful

teacher in the whole wide world I I .

CONTINUED)



171/ CONTINUED:

172

MRS

B RKER

(beaming)

She just begged

and

begged to

come early

so she

could give

i t

to you.

Adelle

takes the

picture, casts

Helen

a

f leet ing

glance.

Helen moves

off ,

Adelle

forces a smile .

How

sweetJ

you, dear.

. ADELLE

I t s thoughtful

of

173 EXT. UPSTAIRS

BACK LANDING

-

ADELLE

-

LATE

AFTERNOON

Adelle smoking a Cigarette,

leans

on the

rai l ing

as she

loo s

o ~ m in

gloomy

speculation a t

Helen who is

tending

to

the rabbits .

174

EXT

B CKY RD

ADELLE S P N - HELEN

72

Helen turns away from

the

hutch

carrying

a rusted l'laterer-

feeder.

HELEN

I t

IS rusted

through. Those poor

things

have

been

without

water

a l l day.

.

ADELLE

.Too

bad.

HELEN

I think there 's another one down

in the

·cel lar

.•

;

Helen exi ts to

the door below the exterior staircase.

·

175

INT.

BASEMENT -

HELEN

The

place is

dim .and shadowy. Then

the door

opens . and

Helen

enters .

She

switches

on a l ight ,

then

descends

s tairs ,

going

toward a

rear

enclosure

past the furnace,

which includes

along with a collection

of

shelved oddments,

a number

of

open

packing crates and

boxes.

EXT LANDING - ADELLE

She stands .for a moment

gett ing

a bi t

of

air ,

takes

another

puff an her cigaret te .

(CONTINUED)



176

CONTIrlUED:

Suddenly

the

somm

of Helen

SCR"SAMING 0 8

breaks the

8i-

~ e n c e

Adelle, s tar t led

hurrles down

the s ta i r s .

ADELLE

(panicky)

Helen .••

?

What

is

i t

. . •

?

What s

the matter •••

?

73

177 ANOTHER

ANGLE

- ADELIE ·

She

reaches

the

doorway,

s tar ts

down

the s ta irs toward

Helen

then her

l ips part

in a

s i lent

horrif ied gasp

as her eyes

follow the

direction in

which

Helen is looking.

178 ZOO SHOT - CUT-OUT, FACE

n a corner

of

the basement.

t has

been savagely slashed,

and something

red,

to

look

l ike

blood,

has been

poured over

.i t . I t is

hide ous.

179 CLOSE SHOT - ADELLE

s t i l l unable to

speak.

18 SHOT - WIDER ANGLE -

Cm-OUT

The .

breasts have

been similarly slashed and doused with

red

paint

like\ Taise

the

abdomen,

the

thighs.

And

a

large

kitchen

knife

protrudes

from the stomach.

181 CLOSE

SHOT

- HELEN

She

Illovestoward the

cut-out

and Adelle. As

she gets.

there, Adelle--

her face seized with a sudden spasm

of

revulsion __ reaches out pu l ls

the

knife

from the

cut-out

and

hurls i t to one side. Doing

th i s

she topples the

cut-out

• . Then Adelle runs up the

basement

s ta i r s .

182

INT.

LOWER

HALLWAY AND

BASE -1ENT DOOR

- ADELLE

as she runs out.

Then, s lowly, she

down

the s ta i r s .

She pauses,

leans

against the wall.

t u rns

back and looks through the door,

pov

SH0r

- BASEMENT -

HELEN

AND CUT-OliT

Helen s t i l l stands

gazing at

the

cut-out, as i f hypnotized

by i t . I t looks very

l ike her hal1ucinatlon of

Ada

Banner s ruined body.



. ,.

184 .RETURN TO SHOT

OF ADELLE

ADELLE

Come away I Come aNay froll i t

185 ANOTHER

ANGLE

Helen

comes

up

out

of

the

basement.

She

looks

l ike

some

one emerged from a t rance . Adelle reaches in , sltfitches

out

the l i gh t , then BANGS

the

door

closed.

186 EXT.

LING'S HOlJSE

- ADELLE, LI N

( IN

ROADSTER - NIGHT

They approach the house

y

a long dr i ve,

pul l

to a stop

n

f ron t

of

the steps

of what in th a

t

day 1-las

the l a te s t

thing in Cal i fornia mansions.

187

CLOSER

ANGLE

- ADELLE,

LING

(IN

ROAD

STER)

74

Adelle

i s so preoccupied,

it s

a moment before she rea l izes

they

have stopped.

unaware

of Linc ' s

quizzical

gaze, she

looks around.

Vlhere

are

ADELLE

(astonished)

we?

LINC

( a i r i ly )

I 'm

rent ing

it for the summer

with

an

opt ion

to

buy.

He opens the car door. Looking around in wonder, Adelle

l e t s him help her out and lead her up the

s teps .

188

"INT .LINC

'SHOUSE-MRS .R IGG - NIGHT

Mrs • ·

Ri

gg

hurr ies across

a

wide entrance ha l l with a

curving

s ta i rcase

leading offi , to

the

front

door. Be

fore she

reaches

the

door,

.it

opens. Linc

shows Adelle

ins ide .

MRS.

RIGG

I thought I heard you. Good

evening,

Miss Stua r t .

Adelle nods,

dis t rac ted

both

y

her own

preoccupation

and

. ltlonder a t the house • .

(CONTINUED) .



..

188

CONTINUED

LING

(to Mrs. Rigg)

Is Nonie asleep?

~ 1 R S

RIGG

(nods)

And

dinner

will

be

ready

shortly

.••

Mrs. Rigg exits , Adelle, gazing around, hardly notices.

Then she1s aware of Linc1s glance upan her.

ADELLE

I t1s

·

just

l ike

the

movies.

LING

Come and see some more.

75

He

takes

her arm.

CAMERA

TRUCKS

with

them .

into

a

spacious,

luxurious

l iving

room •

. 189 NT. LIVING

ROOM - ADELLE, .LINC

- NIGHr

There is a blazing f i re in the

stocked bar

cart

at one

side.

but

doesn

It say anything.

fireplace,

with

a we1l-

Adelle looks around, smiles,

LINC

Drink?

Adelle

nods.

LINC

. What IS

continuing)

your

pleasure?

um Gin

. Coming .up.

.

ADELLE

W : t t h ~ sl ight.

effort) . . ...

rickey?

.

LINC

.

Linc goes

round

behind the

bar cart

and s tar ts

mixing

drinks. He watches Adelle.

LINe

Like to

t e l l

me about

i t

CONTINUED)



76.

89 CONTINUED:

190

ADELLE

(trou1;led)

I

, ant to,

but --

LINe

,

Or

did

you

t e l l

me already?

Adelle looks

s ta r t l ed

LINC

(c ontinuing;

very

casual)

Something came in the mail th i s

morning I thought maybe it

was

from

you.

He

takes a

l e t t e r

from

his

coat pocket and lays

it

on the

bar

ca r t Then

he

continues

mixing

drinks.

Adelle

approaches

the l e t t e r wari ly . She takes

out

a

newspaper

cl ipping

from

the

envelope.

N W

ANGLE

- PAST ADELLE - CLIPPING

I t

, is a neNS

photo of

herse l f and Helen,bear ing

their '

names, taken a t the

t r

i a l

and

capt

i OIled:

MarH RS

OF

ACCUSED

KILLERS.

191

ANarHER

ANGLE

-

ADELLE,

LINC

Af 1,,;,:...,.. ) r n t : m o n t ~ \ d Q ~ ~ O :f ol.clo -bhc c ~ i . p p : L n . g

aJ lU

. . L c . t ~ a . L : t C l.L

in

the envelope.

ADELLE

I

never

sent

you th i s l

LINe

You

didni t?

I

thought

maybe ,

it was

your

way

of

l e t t ing

me

know

without

having to t a lk

about

it

(smiles)

Then

I

guess i t came from one

of

those nuts who

Sign

themselves

A

Welhlisher you know?

ADELLE

(in

a suspicious

,

tone)

,

Yes.

That 's who it must

have

been.

Wellwisher

• •

, MORE)

CONTINUED)



191

CONI INUED:

ADE

L

LE

(c ont

'd)

(picks

up

~ v e l o p e

looks a t

postmark,

lays

t down again)

••• who l ives near vlhere l ive .

Line hands

Adelle her

drink.

LINC

So

you

wanted

to keep

a secret

from

me?

Adelle

hes i ta tes .

LINC

(continuing)

We don t have to t a lk about t

i f you don t want t o .

Phew

ADELLE

(af ter a

moment)

(gives him a

quick smile)

No guy can be t ha t marvelous • • .

. (pause) .

Now

,

I 'm glad the

s e c re t s

out.

(another

pause)

Helen's kid was the r ingleader ,

you

kno1-r. Wes jus t • . .

(breaks

off)

LINC

Dtyou hear from him a t

a l l?

ADELLE

I .

wri te

every l ' l eek,but he

never

answers.

He j us t won' t have.·

any th lng to do

w i t h me •

. .

.. (the

los t

look)

There 's no way I can get

through.

LINC

lYhat

about

the appeal? ·

Adelle

shrugs.

LINC

(c

ont inulng)

Maybe I can help.

CONTINUED)

77



191

CONTINUED:

(2)

ADELL

E

(inc

redu1.octs)

How?

LINe

Judging from ~ h a t

I

read in the

papers,

.

that

Im1y

er

s

not

so

hot.

LiKe me

to

put you on

to

someone

ADELLE

You'd do

that?

LI N

Be my

guest

.

After a moment, Adelle

raises her

glass to

Linc.

ADELLE

One

guy

can be

·that

marvelous.

They

CLINK glasses, then

drink.

Struck

by

something, Line

holds up the le t

te

r

for a

moment.

LINC

I f

you didn ' t

know abo

ut

this

what's been eating you?

ADEL

LE

I 've

been wonderi

ng

for

·

days

whether

t o t ry

and t e

l l you

or

not. I l1as scared

.

.

Line looks

very protective,

then

puts his arms

around

Adelle.

192

ANOTHER ANGLE - ADELLE

LING

78.

His

arms

go

around her

comfortingly. Adelle

is

·

on

the

verge of tears . Linc'

s hand

stroKes

her

back

soothingly.

She presses against him.

I t

turns, for

both

of

them, into

s r i o ~ s

love-maKing.

193

INT. LIN

G'S

HOUSE -

ENTRANGE HALL

- MRS. RIGG

- 'lIGH

T

She

enter

s

the

l iving room f rom the

entrance

ha lL

NRS.

RIG

G

Dinner's ready. Shall I

?



194

ANOTHER ANGLE

- LIVING

ROO

- NRS.

RIGG

.

She breaks

off ,

looking

around

n surprise. The room

s empty.

She

turns b ~ c k in to the entrance hall .

195

OMITTED

196 INT. ACADEMY - ENTRY

HALL

-

ADELLE,

HELEN

Helen i s clearing

the

bullet in board. Adelle s a t the

·

door, tak ingtbemai l

from .the MAILMAN . The mailman

exits . Flipping through

the mail,

Adelle doesn' t close

the

door.

ADELLE

Water

and

pOI ler

phone

o l l Y ~ T o o d Dres s

Store here s

one

for

you.

She

hands

a

l e t t e r

to Helen. Helen

takes i t , g lances

a t

i t .

197

INSERT

-

LETTER

- IN HELEN'S H t;ND

I t is addressed

to

Mrs. Helen Hill ,

etc.

There's no

return

address.

198 RETURN

TO SHOT

OF HELEN ADELLE

Helen stares a t the le t te r .

HELEN

I t s

addressed to Mrs. Helen

Hill . . .

(CONTINUED)

7



80.

198 CONTINUED

Adelle looks

up,

snat ches the l e t t e r ,

glances

a t

H .

ADELLE

I never

not iced.

(glance a t

Helen)

~ a i l e d from arotmd

here, too.

She

hands the l e t t e r

back

to

Helen.

ADELLE

Aren t you

going

to open i t ?

See

who i t s from?

Helen shakes her head

and

goes out the f ront ·

door.

199

EXT. STREET - HELEN,

MAlIMAN

-

DAY

The

mailman has

paused

and i s

sor t ing

mail .

Helen,

waving

the l e t t e r ,

ca l l s a f te r

him.

H L N

Mr.

Mailman

(catches

up with

him, hands him

l e t t e r )

11m .sor ry , there s no

one of

t ha t

name

a t

t h i s address.

200 INT. ACADEMY -

ENTRY

HALL - ADELLE

She

watches

t h i s "11th a fa in t ,

suspicious

smile. Helen

re turns .

ADELLE

.Very

smart .

H L N

I t

seemed

the best .

th ing

to

do.

Helen s t a r t s to move

away.

ADELLE

Helen

• . .

Helen s tops .

ADELLE

(continuing)

Do you

wish

me well?

H L N

(surpr ised)

Of course.

(CONTINUED)



200

CONTINUED:

ADELLE

Then you Ire a Wellwisher?

Helen stares

at

her.

ADELLE

(c ont

lnuing)

Some people who

cal l

themselves

Wellwishers

do

crazy things, you

know.•

HELEN

. . (quietly) .

11m afraid don

It

understand

you.

Helen moves away.to

the

f i r s t floor classroom.

Ade

11e

follows.

ADELLE

(excited,

a

l i t t l e

shaky)

Suppose the same person that

wrecked my cut-out sent a

photograph of

you and

me

- -

at

the t r i a l --

to

Linc?

Helen looks

astonished.

ADELLE

(continuing) ,

WelL ••

I f

that

same

person

wanted

to throw me off

the

scent, she d

arrange to get a

piece

of

bad

news herself? Yes?

HELEN

can I t

believe

you

could

think

such, a thing of me.

, (angered

but calm)

l lhy dOh t you face the

t ruth

instead? ,

ADELLE

am facing t ~ And i t s not very

pleasant,

Helen.

Helen looks steadi ly

at

Adelle.

A

sl ight

gleam appears

in

her

eye.

81.



',

.

200 CONTINUED:

(2)

HELEN

Vengeance i s mine,

s a i t h

the

Lord.

DELLE

( ra i ses her

eyes

to

heaven)

Here we

go

HELEN

. (gr ips her

arm)

Listen to me

I

Adelle looks fr ightened.

\

HELEN

(continUing)

There i s

someone

out to

seek

·

revenge on us He made those

phone

ca l l s ,

stabbed

your

cut--out

and a l l

the

other

th ings . Did

you ever look a t

El l i e

Banner 's

face?

ADELIE

No,

thank

you.

HELEN

She looked qui te a b i t l:Lke us.

A

working woman. · About the same

ge

DELLE

So?

HELEN

(quiet ly)

Our Qons wanted to k i l l

Ade] . le .They ;hateci. us .

was

the f i r s t

revenge.

us,

That

Adelle looks

incredulous ,opens

her

mouth

to objec t , but

Helen

goes

on - -

HELEN

(cont inuing)

I ve always

been ready

to

admit

I deserved

Lenny1s

hat red. I

l ive with t ha t hat red I rIm not

ITKe

you

t ry in g to

buy

my son

back by

get t ing

a r ich man to

CONTINUED)

82



200 CONTINUED:

3

ADEL

LE

(appalled, ner

control snapping)

I 11ant

you out

of here

HELEN

(gazing

a t

her

steadily)

Maybe

th i s

lawyer wil l help Wes

i f he's paid enough but don't

imagine

you can

get

him back.

You

deserved

his hatred

Right

away

I

you

out

ADELLE

Tonight

I I l1ant

83.

After

a moment Helen

lowers

her

eyes.

She gives a resigned

nod

and walks

to

the s ta i r s , l ike a dismissed servant.

Adelle

watches

her, fur ious,

tears

s ta r t ing

to

her

eyes.

201 INT.

SITTING

ROOM

.- RADIO

-

NIGHT

n

f . g . , the

RADIO PLAYS re11gious

MUSIC. Helen

appears

from the

exter ior l a n d L ~ g

carrying a large sui tcase. She

closes the door behind her, crosses kitchen and s i t t ing

room to her

own

bedroom, goes inside and

closes

the door .

The door of

Adelle 's

bedroom

opens. She comes out, dressed

for

the evening, an

envelope

in

her

hand. She SlolITCHES OFF

the radio ,

goes to Helen's door, KNOCKS on i t . Helen opens

the

door.

ADELLE

Here's your check.

HELEN

. (takes i t

Thank you. I ll be gone by the

time you

ge t back. .

ADELLE

Okay.

O.s.

a

car

horn

HONKS.

ADELLE

(continuing)

There's .LLrtc. Goodbye, Helen.

( turning to go)

Be careful .

I

forgive

HELEN

(quietly)

you, dear.

Adelle

stares

a t

Helen for a moment then exi ts down

the

~ b : i

'Y' ':

_



2 lA

20lB

CLOSE

SHOT - HELEN

She ~ T a t c h e s

Adelle 0.8. for

a moment,

her

face impassive.

Then

she SWITCHES O the rad io . RELIGIOUS MUSIC PLAYS.

Helen s t a r t s back

.

to her

own room, but changes

course

midway,

and goes in to Adel le s

room ins t

ea

d.

INT.

ADELLE

S

E D R O O t ~

-

HELEN

She enters . She looks around,

sees the

.

memento

she l f .

Then she not ices a large pl10to of Line on the bedside

t ab le . She shakes her head.

HELEN

( to her se

l f )

He t ha t maketh haste to be r ic h

sha l l not be innocent .

84.

She

tu rns

She

picks

her body.

tu rns and

away,

sees

Adel le s

black lace teddy on the bed.

it

up,

runs

he r

f ingers

over

it

holds

f t

up to

Then

she d

rops it slowly back

on

the bed. She

walks out of

the

1 0 om.

20lC

INT. SITTING ROOM

Helen exi ts from Adelle IS bedroom, goes to he r own bedroom

next door, leavin

g the door open.

Her sui tcase i s

on

the

bed.

Helen disappears momentarily from s igh t , th

en

re -

appears carry ing

one

of the samplers from the

wal l . She

puts i t in

the case

•

O.s.

t

he r e s

a SOUND above the

radio

MUSIC, as of

someone bumping

L 1to som

e th

ing .

Helen

looks

apprehe

nsive

.

She

walks

out

to

the

s i t t i ng

room,

SWITCHES OFF the rad io . The SOUND i s HEARD

a g

a i n o . s .

20lD ANOTHER ANGLE

- SITTING

ROOMj

RECITAL

HALL

- HELEN S

POV

CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY

toward

the rec i t a l

ha l l , which

. is in

darkness. Helen s

hand

appears, slf1tches ·on a

l igh t . The

hall i s empty.

2 2 SHar -

HELEN

Relieved, she swit

ch

es

out

the l i gh t and moves t o th e

landlrig and

the

s t a i r s • I. he

s mm

i s HEARD

again

• Helen

pul l s up Short , more

f r igh

te

ned

nOVI Indecisive for

a

moment, she

s t a r t s back in to

the

si-tt ing room.

203 ANGLE

FROM

STA

IRS - NEWEL POST IN NEAR F.

G.

Helen,

·her back

to the s t a i r s . ente :cs the s i t t i ng room . As

.

she

does so, a man I s

hand appears

on

the n e \ ~ e l post .

(C

ONT

INUED)



203

CONTINUED:

. NAN S VOICE

Mrs. Helen

Hill?

Helen whirls around. The HAN r ises int

0

the

SCENE.

204

ANarHER

ANGLE

-

MAN,

HELEN

205

206

The man rs face seems impenetrably dul l , ordinary. He

looks a t Helen n a f l a t unemotional, methodical ~ a y .

MAN

(moves

toward

Helen)

Did you get my

le t te r?

Helen stares

a t

him Her expression

is

now beyond :fear.

Silent ly , in

a kind

of automatic

reaction, she

shoves at

him

with a l l

her st rength. The man

stumbles

back

toward

the s ta i rs .

CLOSE

SHOT -

HELEN

Before

ne

can

catch his

balance, she

shoves him

again.

ANGLE S ar

-

U THE ST}HRS - THE

MAN

HELEN IN B.G.

The man s mask is cracked for a moment ·

of

complete te r ror

and panic before he plunges

dmmward.

207

R V RS SHOT -

DOWN

THE STAIRS

J

W,ST HELEN

-

t fllN

He

lands a t

the bottom of the

s ta i rs

n the

entry. The

front door is open. His head s tr ikes hard against

the

. .

bottom

of

i t then .goes s t i l l twisted

to

one side. The

front

door

CLOSES

LOUDLY as a

resul t .

208

CLOSE

SHOT - HELEN

-

209

She s ta r t s forward, then

stops

• Fearful ly, she looks dmm-

ward.

FLASH SHOT - HELEN S · HALLUCINATION - l 1ATT HILL S BODY

I t

l i e s

by the front door

where the

man lay only a moment

before.

The

eyes

are open and s taring.



210

8

RETURN TO SHOT OF HELEN

She backs away, breathing

hard.

She ~ T a l l s quickly to tbe

s i t t ing room

then stops.

They C

i s

a

PLOUGH BLADES

SOUND

UP

LOU:D.

She

puts

her hands to

her

ears, but

i t continues.

She TURNS ON

the

radio. s

the SOm{D of RELIGIOUS

OR

G N

MUSIC

f i l l s

the

room,

the

PLOUGH BLADES SOUND STOPS. She.

continues to stand, breathing more

calrnly

nOI'. The hymn

r ises to

a

climax,

ends.

SISTER ALMA S VOICE

(on radio)

Oh, the

blessed re l ie f

of

opening

your heart to God

211 EXT. ADELLE S e D ~ ~ - LONG SHOT -ADELLE, LINe

(IN ROADSTER) - NIGHT

212

The roadster draws up

outside. Adelle and Linc

kiss

good

night,

Adelle

gets

out,

hurries

in; i t s

just

s ta r t ing

to

rain.

INT.

ACADEMY

- FRONT ENTRY -

CLOSE

SHOT - ADELLE

The

door

opens

as

she le ts herself

in.

The entry

hall

i s in

darkness. Bhe closes the door nd reaches f'or the l ight

switch. As

she

does

so, we see .Helen s t anding agains t the

wall, impassive. Adelle doesn't

notice her.

HELEN

Don't turn on the l ight .

Adelle turns, star t led.

ADELLE

Helen

I t h o ~ h t

you

were

. going to - -

She

breaks

O

f f .Sh e t s l o o k i n g

at

something

e l s eo . s . now,

a t

f loor level ,

her

expression horr if ied.

213 ANOTHER ANGLE

The

body of

the

man

l ies

a t Helen's feet .

HELEN

(matter-of-factly,

after

a moment)

He

was up there.

(indicates

sta irs)

He called me . by

m y

name.

He

called me Helen

Hill

.

. (pause)

So

I

pushed

him.

I

nrJTl'TlITH1CfI

\



213 CONTINUED :

ADELLE

i-iho

i s

he?

Helen gives an

I

haven ' t the

fa .in tes t

idea I shrug. After

·a moment, Adelle goes to Nard the body,

bends

down, s1;arts

to reach inside the coat . Then ,ou t of fear and revuls ion

she

suddenly

d r a ~ l S

away. Helen

wai ts

a

moment,

then

obedient ly bends

down

and

takes the

man1s

wal let

and

a

couple of le t te rS from his

coat

pocket . She hands them

to Adelle. Adelle moves toward the off ice

•

. 2 4 INT.

OFFICE

- ADELLE

as she

enters

and sWitches

on a l igh t . She

s i t s a t

the

desk and checks through the wal let ,

then the

l

e t t e r s .

Hel

stands

outs ide

the off ice , in the ha l l .

AdellI:'

reads the

second l e t t e r ,

then l e t s t

drop to the desk.

She

re s t s

her head

on

her

hands.

ADELLE

Holy

Moses .

Helen

. takes a

t imid

s tep

toward

her .

ELLE

.

(looking up)

D You have

a

cousin in

VTest

Virginia?

HELEN

Not

tha t

I

know

of. Why?

ADELLE

Well,

she

died. And

apparent ly

l e f t you

some

money.

(pause)

The

man who

ca l led you by your

name

was with

a

company

t ha t .

locates

missing he irs .

(gets up, blazing

suddenly)

I

wish to

God .

I ' d

never

met YOU

Adelle

walks

past

Helen

in to

the

hal l .

2 5 ANOTHER ANGLE

Adelle walks in to the ha l l , t ~ l a r d the

body, then

s tops .

2 6

CLOSE

SHar - HAN

His

body on

the f loo r .



Rev. 12/8/70

217

RE

rL TIN 1 0 SHOT OF

ADELLE

Behind her,

He

l en p i c l ~ s up the \'Tallet and l

e t te rs from

the

ooffice desk

and

com es

tOHard

Ad

e

l l e .

ADELLE

0

(b i t terly)

Is

ther

e a

reason for th is

-

up

there?

Helen

doesn' t o answe r .

ADELLE

(continuing)

Is

there

any

r eason on God's

earth why

I

should have

to

s ta r t

al l ove r

again

-

aga

j.n?

Helen giv

es Adelle a thoughtful ,

sympathetic

look. Then

she goes calmly over

to

t he phone and picks

t

up.

ADELLE

(inc

redul

ous )

You're not going

to

ca l l the

police?

Linc.

HELEN

(shakes

head)

(s ta r t s

to

dial )

He's

the onl y

one

\ fho

can he l p

u s

nov[.

Adelle looks stunned for a moment. Then-

ADELLE

(almost ~ I i l d l y

Put

down that phone

Receiver in hand, :

Helen

os O

ares back

a : ~ A d e l l

e

o Then oshe

replaces the phone.

HELEN

(mildly)

You haven t told Line

anything

yet?

ADELLE

Not yet.

88

Helen look s a b i t reproacbful .

Thinking hard, she loo ks out

of

a

se t

look comes over her face.

Helen

in direct ion of

the body

. 0

Adell e turns away f ro m he r .

the

window. After a mOEl ent ,

She turns back, , all,s past

T{

NUED )



Rev. 12/8/70

217 · CONTDrJED:

Come onl

ADELLE

(almost brusquely)

Helen

gives her an inquiring look .

. ADELLE

(c ontinuing)

You've

got

to

help me out of

th is .

218 EXT. ADELLE'S ACADEMY - STREET OUTSIDE - NIGHT (RAIN)

The

s t ree t

is completely empty and s i lent . There's on e

l ight from a second f loor room

across

the s t ree t . I t s

switched

out.

219

CLOSE SHOT - ENTRANCE - HELEN

The

front

door

of

the Academy opens. Helen appears,

looks

wari ly

up and down the s t ree t , goes inside

agai

n,

A moment la te r , she

reappears,

walking backl lards,

carry-

ing the

man's

body. Adelle walks forwards,

carrying

the

legs . Helen is remarkably calm, Adelle . highly nervous ·

220

ANOTHER ANGLE

They carry

the

body down the

s teps , the ra in beating down

on

them.

Adelle

alnost loses

her

grip

for

a

moment,

then

regains

it

221 LOlV ANGLE - FROI 1 ACROSS TRENCH - ADELLE HELEN MAN

Adelle and. Helen manage

to

get the body

across

the s ide-

walk and · the plant€r s t r ip

to

the brink of ·the trench.

They

poise the

body close to the edge.

88A



222 POV SHOT - DOWN INTO TRENCH

I t

i s

deep. There i s shallow wate r and mud down there .

223 NGLE SHOT

-

FROM BOTTOM OF TRE N H -

MAN,

ADELLE

HELEN

Helen

gives

the

man

a shave and he fa l l s

224 REVERSE

SHOT

-

DOWN

INTO

TRENCH

-

M N

He

lands

face up in the

water.

225

NEYI ANGLE - ADELLE, HELEN

Helen

looks

around, checking the street . Then she takes

Adelle

1

s arm and

leads her back

to the Academy.

226

INT. C DEMY

-

FRONT ENTRY - ADELLE

HELEN

as they return,

Helen s t i l l leading

Adelle.

Helen closes

the door.

Adelle

breaks away from

her,

walks quickly to

the office .

227 INT.• OFFICE - .ADELLE, HELEN IN

E.G.

as

Adelle

enters, takes a bottle of gin from a drawer,

pours some

into

a

dixie cup,

and gulps

i t . Helen

1-latches

tolerant ly.

Helen

nods.

ADELLE

( to Helen, indi.-

eating gin)

I

guess

th is

s

s t i l l

against

your

religion? ·

ADELLE

(continuing)

Sure

are some funny things your

rel igion

seems to okay

(pours another

snort)

Listen,

you'd

bet ter

stay

on

fo r a

while,

j u s t

in

casc

••

HELEN

Oh I don't

think

I should.

CONTINUED)

89



7

CONTINUED

ADEL

LE

(scared)

I d rea l ly appreciate

i t , Helen •

.

HELEN

(milking i t )

I f

you

rea l ly

\.yant

me

to

• . .

ADELLE

Please.

HELEN

you

mustn t say

any

more

t e r r ib le

things

to

me • . They hurt .

ADELLE

I

~ o n

t .

HELEN

( i t s milked)

Just for a day or two, then. i ie l l

be

l ike we used

to be

f r i ends.

ADELLE

Thanks.

HELEN

I

m

·

a

l i t t l e t: .l'ed now. ·

I

m

going

to get

out of these wet

things and go

to

bed.

ADELLE

You

can

do tha t

yo

u

can

go

to

sleep nowZ-

HELEN

I ll pray awhile f i r s t .

Helen turns away, t h e n turns back, as i f she

IS

forgotten

something.

HELEN

Oh,do

you

have

a

match?

Surprised,

Adelle

picks

up

a

bookmatch

from

the

desk.

Helen removes from inside her dress the l e t t e r from the

man s coat pocket.

She burns

it very careful ly,

l e t t ing

the

ashes f a l l o n an ashtray.

HELEN

(continuing;

seeing

Adelle s surprise)

I t

I

s just that

l e t t e r

about me.

One

can t be too

careful .

CONTINUED)

90.



91

227 CONTINUED: (2)

Helen ex i t s , car rying the asht ray in l 'ront of he r ra the r

solemnly

- - l ike a burn t of fe r in g . Adelle - - u tte rly

overwhelmed, exha

uste

d s lumps dOlm

n the cha i r .

ADELLE

HHEWI

BRING

UP SOUND

of a couple of bars of Goody Goody

before

. 228

INT.

ACADEMY - 1ST FLOOR CLASSROOM - ADELLE, STUDENTS,

MOTHERS - DAY

.

Adelle

leads

her

students in a rout ine to

the

MUSIC of

"Goody

Goody

played on the ph

onograph. Mothers

wat c h

proudly.

229

IN' '. RECITAL

HALL

- HANILTON STUDENTS,

HELEN

IN B.

G.

· 23

Hamilton·

dr t l l s

a class in voice

product ion. He

.

and

about

s ix

chi ldren intone lugubr iously . I n b . g . ,

Helen

i s a t

the window, ostens ib ly watering some potted plan t s

on

the

s i l l .

HAMILTON

AND

STUDENTS

Mayy,

Heee,

Maah,

Hooo

e , Mooo

Ahhh, Ayyy, Eeee, Ohhh,

Oooo

EXT. OVER

HELEN

IS

SHOUIDER

- STREET OurSIDE - POLICE,

WORKMEN

Al.ffiULANCE

CROIVD

Down the s t r e e t , a small crowd has gathered around the

t rench. A police

car

and an ambulance are parke d the re .

COPS supervise

wh i l e T ~ r o STRETCHER-BEARERS ca r ry a body

with a

blanket over t

i n to

t he ambulance •

.

HAMILTON

'SVOICE

. ( o. s • ) .

Once millre,

k i t t ens ,

. th rus t ing

t

f o r \ ~ a r d - - in to the ora l cav i ty

Use

those

orrgan tonesl

HAMILTON ND

STUDENTS (0

.

s .

)

MAYY MEEE AH, 1 0 0 0 E MOeO

The a mbulance doors

c lose .

.The ambulance

drives

o:ff'.

231 .

INT.

1ST FLeOR GLASSROOM- ADELLE, STUDENl'S, MOTHERS

Adelle

leads

the rout ine for a moment, be f ore

the

MUS

IC

ENDS. Then

she

glances at her

watch.

(CONTINUED)



231

. CONTINUED:

ADELLE

Okay

t ha t s

i t . Time's up

for today.

Kids,

you ' re

going

to

be

jus t

swell 1

The

children

scramble

to

gather

up

their

things

and

escape

• . Adelle moves to

go

ups ta i rs .

232

EXT.

OVER HELEN 1

S

SHOULDER

- STREET OUTSIDE

POLICE,

WORKMEN

CROlVD

n f . g . He

l en s hand holds

t he

wat

e rer . Outside, the

police car drives

away.

The crol d s tar ts

to

disperse.

H ~ n L T O N

STUDENTS

(o .s ; )

Aaah,

Aaay,

Eeee,

Ohhh 00001·

. .

9



233

93

INT. LANDING : ADELLE, HAMILTON STUDENrS, HELEN

IN

B.G.

She enters framthe land i ng from

the

s ta i rs , and continues

into

the

reci tal hall . She

t r i es to catch

Hamilton

S

eye,

pointing to her

watch.

HAMILTON

(to

students)

And

nOI.

l e t

s do

our

stop pl(lsives

fram the diaphragm.

Students

a l l

place handS on diaphragms.

HAMILTON

Phuuu PhuuUl

All

together ~

He catches Adelle 's eye and gets the

message.

HAMILTON

(continuing; to

students)

The

bird

of time i s on the wing

again, chickabiddies. Class

dismissed t

234 ANarHER

ANGLE

'As the stUdents disperse, Hamilton comes over

to

Adelle.

HAMILTON

Dear

lady. I notice name

is s t i l l

not in

your

i l lustr ious

windOl"

ADELLE

Oh Hammy

I'm sorry. I promise

to

see

about

i t tomorrow.

Okay?

Hamilton ' looks dubious'. , ,

. ADELLE

(continuing)

Cross

my

heart

r

Hamilton

bows

and

exi t s .

Adelle

goes

hurriedly

to

Helen

a t the window.

HELEN

" (qUietly)

The police just went al"ay.

Adelle looks out

the

window.



235

236

237

94

EXT. STREET

OUTSIDE

- ADEL1E

I

SPOV

Two se t s of mothers and s

tudents

are 1Vallting past

the

t rench . They s top a mo:nent, t a lk Wit l

someone in

the crOl'ld

then

walk

on.

RETURN TO SHOT OF ADELLE AND HELEN

Adelle

turns

away from the \ ~ i n d o w s ighs wi th

r e l i e f .

ADELLE

I f anyone

.

had looked

.

back in th i s

direc t ion ,

my

heart would have

stopped

•••

Adelle clutches her neart

and breathes

quickly .

Then

she

moves

away.

ADELIE

11m bea t .

(c

ont inuing)

Going to take

(turns back)

you

okay,

.Helen?

CLOSE

SHar - HELEN

She

looks

very

calm and composed.

HELEN

a nap;

There i s no peace, sa i th ·the

Lord,

unto

the

Vficked .

.

(a

fa in t

smile)

But 11m a l l r igh t , thank you.

238

CLOSE

SHar

- ADEI,LE

She 'gives ' Helen a quizz ica l glance., shrugs, .and goes

off

· · to .her

room.

239 INT. ADELLE'S ROOM - ADELIE : NIGH

.

240

Adelle wakens

from a

r es t l e s s s leep , turns

on the

l igh t ,

sees

by

the c lock

tha t i . t s

close

to e ight . She

yal ffiS,

get

out

of bed,

goes to

the

door. O. s . , from th

e s i t t i ng

room

rad io ,

fa in t

SOUND of Sis t e r Alma's

voice .

Adelle opens

the door. RADIO SOUND UP.

ANOTHER ANGLE - SITTING ROOM

- ADELLE

As

Adelle

comes out from

her

bedroom.

( C

ONT INUED

)



-

240

CONTINUED:

SISTER

LM

. (on radio)

Let

me t e l l you,

brothers and

s is te r s , · a drink of whiskey wil l

.never ·give you the

kind

of l i f t

I 'm

talking about

95

Adelle

makes a

face

at th is , moves to switch the radio to

another sta t ion, then

notices

Helen's

door

is open and

the

bedroom in darkness.

Adelle

moves to close the door. She

glances

inside the

bedroom.

241 INT.

HELEN S BEDR001'l - ADELLE

Adelle

stands n the doorway.

From

room

we

can see

the

room is empty •

the l ight n the s i t t ing

Adelle S1'1itches

on

the

.l ight •

SISTER

ALMA

\ on

radiO)

The l i f t I m ta lking about,

brothers

and

Sisters , is

confessing

your mistakes to a merciful God

Joy

sha l l

be in heaven

over

one

sinner tha t repentethl

•.•

Adelle turns back

into

the s i t t ing room •

.ADELLE

Helen •••

?

No

answer. Adelle l i s tens for

a moment.

SISTER

ALMA

(on radiO)

I don t care

what

Dlistakes you 've

made ·

., - t e l l

i t a l l ,

a l l

to God

I

·

God

·is

never

·shocked."No, s i r ..

Now she reacts

to

the

voice

on t te

radio.

SISTER LM

(continuing;

on

radio)

God

wil l

understand a l l

and

forgive

a l l . So repent, brothers

and s is te r s , repent

before

it

is too

la te .

Confession is good

for the

souL

•• I .

An .

idea

suddenly davms on her,

and she

quickly SNAPS OFF

the radio.



242

243

OMITTED

INT. OPEN

HAND CHURCH

- SISTER ALMA - NIGHT

Sis te r Alma i s on stage ,

as

t vTere, beneath

a

rep l ica

of a huge we l coming hand. Alma i s in r ich f l owing vlhi te

sa t in , wi

tl

a shoCllder-to-shoulder corsage

of orchids .

She 's

an

in ten t

.•

thea t r i ca l

personal i ty

with

a

hint

of

ruthlessness . She SINGS

the

HYMN, ' supported by

a

chorus

of GIRLS

in white chi f fon , which

the

CAMERA reveals as

t moves

back.

96

244 ANOTHER

ANGLE

- HELEN,

CONGREGATION

Helen and other members of the congregat ion s i t with rap t

expressions

and

l i s t en to

the

SINGING. There

are

desperate

looking

SPINSTERS,

\ofIDO\<lS

in elaborate hats , LONELY-LOOKING

MEN.

Occasionally

one of them jumps

up

in

a s ta te

of great

excitement .

Glory to

Amenl

SPINSTER

(jumping up)

God

s i t s

down)

LONELY-LOOKING

MAN

(jumping

up)

s i t s

down)

WIDOW

(jumping

up)

Oh Sweet

Jesus , love mel

. s i t s down)

245 LONG SHOT

-SISTER ALMA

GIRLS, CONGREGATION

.

The HYMN

CONCLUDES. The

g i r l s

move forward to

the edge of

the

stage

to

put

down large gi lded

baskets in

the shape

of

open hands

a t the heads

of

the

a i s le s .

SISTER

ALMA

(addresses

congregation)

And

nm. ,

my beloved brothers

and

Sis te rs

MORE)

(CONTINUED)



245

CON rINUED:

SISTER II

Ll@.

(cont '

d )

For

the glor i f i ca t inof

our

dear

Lord

- -

and

for the continuation

of

our

blessed works here at the

Haven

of

the

Open Hand

- -

we

ask

your offering

of

love

tonight.

Form

YOllr l ines. in

the

ais les

and leave your

gi f t s in

the

golden

baskets

here

.

before

me.

Then come, come t·o

me and

be

anointed with the .o i l .of

everlast ing

youth

97.

The

ORGAN THROBS and the CHORUS breaks into

a

rousing ren-

di t ion of "Stand

Up,

Stand Up For

Jesus."

One of the

gi r l s bears

a

jeweled

gold chalice

reverently

to

Sis ter

Alma's Side.

246

SHOT

- CONGREGATION,

HELEN

Various

members

of

the congregation get up and move

to\'/ard

the a is le

drawing

bi l l s from

their pockets, wallets

and

purses. Helen,

much

affected, joins them.

247 CLOSE SHOT

-

HELEN

An expreSSion of momentary panic

crosses her

face

as sl1e

real izes she 's

come away

without her purse. Then her

finger goes to the gal

d

wedding band

on

her

ha

nd.

She

takes

t

off

and

continues

toward

the

head

of the

a is le

happy

again.

48 CLOSE SHOT

-

GILDED

BASKET , .

H NDS DROPPING N

~ l O N E Y

While

the

CHORUS continues, bi l l s and

coins ·

are dropped in

.

the basket

by

the

hands.

of the

fa i thful .

249

CLOSE

SHOT

- SISTER L ~ f f i

250

She

observes

this

approvingly.

Oh,

what

a

of faith

a l l

around

SISTER

ALMA

glorious demonstration

Oh,

the love

feel

me

at

this

momentl

ANOTHER ANGLE

-

SAD-FACED

GIRL, SISTER AU lA

The g i r l

an intense expression on her

face,

perhaps

a

bi t

too

much

makeup, opens her purse and

makes a

small donation,

then

approaches

Sis ter

Alma.



250

CONTINUED:

SAD-FACED GIRL

. S,"/eet Jesus save

me

98.

Sis te r Alma talces a handkerchief and

wipes

the l i p s t i c k from

the g i r l s mouth, then dabs her

. I i t

h the o i l .

SISTER

AL]\ .A

I

cleatlse

thee

~ i t h

the pure

water

of the

Holy

Ghost. Go

and s in

no more

SAD-FACED GIRL

Bless you.

She moves

on.

250A

ANOTHER

ANGLE -

WIDOW,

SISTER L P ~

The

W i d o l ~

in

the

e labora te

hat drops

in

severa l s i lve r

dol la rs , ·presents herse l f

to Sis te r

Alma

SISTER ALMA

(warmly)

God

bless

you, s i s t e r , God bless

youl .

(dabs o i l from

the chal ice

on

her

forehead)

youth i s

yours

forever

IIlith

a

hopeful

smile ,

the

widow moves

.

on.

WIDOW

(ha l f

to herse l f )

S.leet

Jesus love

me

. .

W ~ d o W xits .

251

CLOSE

SHOT

- HELEN,

SISTER

ALMA

252

In the

l ine . The

MUSIC

grows · more ·

and

more conducive

to

re l ig ious

frenzy.

The

r ing

clu thced

in

her

hand,

Helen

looks

up a t Sis te r Alma with fever ish

hope.

EXT. OPEN H rm

CHURCH

- .sTREET - BUS - NIGHT

A

bus dra\1S

up

near

the

c[1urch. Adel le

a l igh t s

from

i t .

She sees the sea rchl ight sweeping across the

por t r a i t

of

Sis

t e r Alma, and hurr

i es

tOl>1ard the

etltrance.



, .

.

98

252A INT. OPEN I IAND

CHURCH

- TOWARD THE

ENTRANCE

- ADELLE - NIGH

Adelle

enters

looks around sees

the

l ine of

the

f ai t hful

moving towa

rd

the other end of the

church. She

hurri es

forward pushing her

,lay pas t

people.

252B

ANOTHER

ANGLE - HELEN,

SISTER

AUlA

Helen arrives at the gilded basket

and

drops t n the ring.

Observtng

th is

Sister Alma raises

an eyebrow.

253

SHOT

- ADELLE

She sees Helen pushes her way toward her.

54 RETURN TO PREVIOUS SHOT - HELEN SISTER ALMA

Helen has

now

presented

herself

before

.

Sister

Alma.

CONTI NUED)



254

CON EINUED;

Shets very t ense .

SISTER

ALMA

(not

very

enthusiast ic)

God-bless -you,

s i s t e r ,

youth- is

yours-forever.

Sis te r lma quickly dabs

o i l

from the

chalice on

Helen ts

forehead,

then smiles

encouragingly a t

the vroman behind

Helen.

HELEN

1

tve come to

confess

SISTER ALMA

.

(surpr1sed)

Confessj.on is a matter between

you and the Supreme

Being,

s i s te r .

HELEN

must

confess] need

His

forgiveness

SISTER ALMA

(promptly)

Oh, you have it God i s a l l

mercifu l and a l l forg iv ing .

HELEN

(desperate)

But

have to

confess before

- -

SISTER AUlA

to ld you, Sis t e r , God

forgives

you. Take my

word

for it and

move along.

HELEN

, You

to ld me

to come to you.

You

promised me

joy

n Heaven.

f

tm forgiven, why don t t feel

joy?

Her

impatience

r iSing,

Sis t e r

Alma's

manner

becomes

con

siderably

l e s s

gracious.

SISTER ALMA

offered you the open hand,

s is ter , but you refused

i t .

~ o v e along

99

Helen doesn t budge,

but s ta res

imploringly a t

Sis te r

Alma.

Sis t e r Alma MtJrTERS under her breath, then

turns

and nods

knowingly to an USHER ( l ike a barman

s igna l l ing

to a

bouncer)

.



10

55

ANOTHER ANGLE

- USHER, ADELLE HELEN, OTH RS

The usher

makes

a move t.Ol ,ard Helen. Then Adelle shoves

her way

f o r ~ a r d

and takes

Helen

I s arm.

Nol

HELEN

(st ruggl ing

, f ran t i ca l ly

( to Sis te

r

Alma)

I want

to

be saved

I want to

be

f'orgiven J

People s t a r e . Adelle

t r i e s

to pu l l Helen away.

Helen

s t ruggles even more f r an t i ca l ly .

HELEN

(continuing;

to

Adel l

e)

Let

me alone

You

want

me

to

be

damned?

Desperately,

she t r i e s

to h i t

a t Adelle. Adelle pul ls

her

around

and SLAPS her

across

the face. There ' s a

stunned

s i lence

- -

during which Sis te r Alma, Whose fa ce

has

grovm hard

with

displeasure , resumes her usual manner.

She smiles grac iously a t

Adel le .

SISTER

A L ~ . A

You

only

did what had to be done,

s i s t e r .

God has fo r g iven you.

56

CLOSE

SHOT-

HELEN

The

s lap

has

calmed her. She looks

up

pa the t ica l ly .

HELEN ,

Is

there no forg iveness . . fa r

, ,me'? ',

57

CLOSE

SHOT

- SISTER AI.MA

There

i s n forgiveness,

judging from

her

fa ce.

258

SHOT

- ADELLE, HELEN

59

Helen

looks

compl

e te

ly broken.

She

allmqs Adelle

to

put

,

an arm around her nml

and

lead her

away.

CLOSE SHOT

-

SISTER

AIMA,

WIZENED OLD MAN

A wizened OLD ~ f f i presents

himself

to

Sis te r

Alma.

(CONTINUED)



259

260

CONTINUED:

SISTER Ali1A

\ ~ a r m l y )

God bless you,

brother

(anoints him)

Youth

i s yours foreverl

INT. ADELLE S ACADEMY -

Ef\1TRY

- ADELLE, STUDENTS - DAY

lO

The

s tudents are leaving

both

the lower and upper

c lass -

rooms, through

the

hal l , down t h e s t a t r s .

Adelle, anxious

t o

be by herse l f , makes

her

way toward the s t a i r s . She

i s in tercepted

by

Hamilton Sta r r .

H MILTON

How i s dear Mrs.

Martin t ·oday?

ADELLE

The

doctor

gave

her

something

to make her

sleep.

Shels been

working

too

hard, you knou.

H MILTON

(sympathet

tc

)

I kn01i . The

highstrung

type,

thrm'ls herse l f in to everything.

(pause.)

And then t ha t man dying in the

t rench outSide

What

s

ADELLE

( s t a r t l ed ,

too

quickly.)

t ha t got

to

do

with

HAMILTON

i t ?

For

people

of her

type,

any

kind

of shock ·canbe

most in jur ious .

·

Reinember how

she

f i r s t reacted

to me? .

Adelle

st ll

looks s t a r t l ed . Hamilton

gives her

a curious

look.

Then, a t a

movement

up

above, Adelle looks sharply

toward

the landing.

ANGIE SHar -

TO

LANDING, PAST ADELLE ,

HAMILTON

STUDENTS -

HELEN

She's in her

nightdress:

diSheveled, in a s t a t e of di s t r es

A pai r of s t raggl ing s tudents react with open cur ios i ty .

Helen

seems

unaware of them and s ta res at Hamilton.

( C

ONT

INUED )



.

261 CONTINUED:

262

HELEN

Doctor? . .

I l'lant

to speak to

the

doct or

•• .

ADELLE

(s ta r t ing up tOl'lard

her)

Helen You're

not supposed to

be up • . •

HELEN

Doctor

- -

HlIMILTON

t S only me, ~ i s s Martin

- - but

i f

I

can

ass i s t

you.

Adelle grabs Helen, looks

about sharply

a t Hamilton.

ADELLE

I t I S

a l l

r igh t

( to Helen)

You must get

back in bed •• . I

She leads Helen a;' ay.

SHill

- HlIMILTON STARR

watching

a f te r them, a

curious and

unreadable

expression

on

his face . Then he

turns

and ex i t s .

·

263 NT.

HELEN'S BEDR001 l - HELEN, ADELLE

Adelle

ente rs ,

leading Helen, who obedient ly

gets

in t

bed •. Adelle

goes

to

the bureau,

. takes out a

bo t t l e

of

p i l l s .

She

Shakes one of them in to her hand and re turns

to · Helen.

ADELLE

Time for your p i l l .

Helen regards

the p i l l

with

what

seems to

be

perplexi ty ,

and

then

takes

it

_'latching

Adelle

carefu l ly ,

she

takes

a

glass

of \"ater from her bedside table

and

swallows.

Try and

ADELLE

(cont inuing)

s leep norl.

CONTINUED)

102



"THE DEST OF FR

H

NDS"

- Rev.

12/21/70

10

263

264

CON rI

N1TED:

HELE

N

You know I

can t

sleep.

ADELLE

Have you

prayed?

HELEN

(matter -of- fac t )

The damned

can t

pray.

Adelle·

looks

a t her, then shrugs and moves away, toward

the

door.

HELEN

(continuing) .

I f you d

l e t

me

atone,

I d

be

a l l

r ight nrnq. The

Lord welcom

es

sinners with

open

arms, but you

hi t them

in

the face.

At

the

door,

Adelle sighs.

ADELLE

.

I ve

got to

get

ready. Linc

I

are going

out

for

awhile.

and

sleep.

HELEN

and

Try

I know why, of

course.

Just as

know why you re

keeping me here.

(smiles fa in t ly)

You re

afra id .

I f you

l e t

me

speak,

you re damned.

Helen

looks rather pleased at th i s .

ADELLE

. .

(wearily)

Helen, a

want

is for

you to

get well

as soon as

possible

•

.Then go away, as far as pOSsible . .

Adelle exi t s , closing the door

behind

her. CM4ERA HOLDS

on Helen as

she l is tens to

Adelle s

RECEDING FOOTSTEPS

..

CLOSE SHOT - THE NIGHTSTAND, 1vATER

GLASS,

ETC.

Helen s closed

hand enters

the FRAM E •

opens, drops the p i l l

which has been

secreted

there . The

hand

turns , fa l l s f la t

on the

surface

of the stano, f ingers spread. The CAI'- ERP.

PULLS BACK to

.

S h ~ l tha t

she i s boosting

hersel f

labo r iously

onto

her feet .

Once

stand ing, bracing

he

r se l f on the

stand

she leans forward a bi t ,

eyes .closed, in

an evident dizzy

spell .

.

. (CONTINUED)



REV.

12/21/70

264

CONTINUED:

10

Then Srle

s t ra ightens ,

.opens

her eyes,

makeS

her ca

r ef ul

to

the

closet , thinks .of someth

ing;

steps. She turns away,

toward the deor.

264A INT. LIVING ROOM

as

Helen s l ips by Adelle 1 s d.oer l re

CATCH

a gli... lipse .of

Adell

putt ing

en her dress.

265 INT.

KITCHEN

- HELEN - LATE

DUSK

She enters,

cresses te

back

deer, gees .outside.

266 EXT. BACK

STAIRS

- HELEN

Helding

ente

the

ra i l ing,

she

meves e ~ m

the

s ta i r s ,

EXT.

BACKYARD -

HELEN

- TWILIGHT

The sun

is

en the

verge

.of se t t in g

in

a

red··purpl

e g l o ~ l

lfith an a i r .of intense cencern, she ma}:es her W8 y

toward

the hutches, .opens the deer of the f i r s t ene , r eaches .

inside, s t

rokes the rabbi t .

HELEN

a faint murmur)

Seft • . •

se sef t

. ••

The gelden l ight fades teward

night

time blue . As t does,

a MAN (we see .only his feet)

steps

INTO T

HE

FRAME,

close

behind He len. Helen turns, leeks up, CRIES OUT.

68pov

ANGLE SHOT - HAMILTON STARR

He . stands towering

over

her,

his

thea t r ica l features

dis ter ted in

th i s

l ight ,

se that

he

appears,

fer a memen

t ,

. thoreughly r.Jenacing. He hold s semething

in

his hand .

HAMILTON

I t i s

.only I •• . Helen . ••

ANOTHER

ANGLE -

HELEN,

HAMILT

ON

Relief comes

to

Helen s face, n

we

see

tha t what

Hamilton

is carrying is

a vThite

rese.

Hel en c l eses

the

hutch.

(CONTINUED)



CONTINUED:

Hil.MILTON

I m

sor ry . I alto/ays seem to

f r igh ten you.

indicates

flower)

I saw t h i s on lilY way hOme .. . .

in

a yard

as passed

. • •

and

so

borrovTed

it

for

you.

10

He

holds Ol'.t the f lower and

then,

has t i ly

withdraws.

HMULTON

(cont inuing)

Ah . . •

a t horn . . .

always

a thorn,

eh?

He

reaches

in to his pocket, takes

out

his pocket knife ,

opens

it cuts off the thorn . He

holds

the

f lower

out to

Helen, who

takes it holds

i t to her breas t .

HAMILTON

. . (cont inuing) .

You

must

be cold. Shouldn t

we

go

ins ide?

Hesi tant ly , almost f a t e f u l l ~ r

Helen takes

his hand. He

helps her up,

and smiling,

leads her toward the

house.

As he moves Pa,st the CAMERA we are aware

of

his 1' .and,

closing the knife , s l ipping

i t in to

his

pocket .

n the

l a s t l i gh t

of

the day, they

move

up

the

s t a i r s

and

enter th

bui lding,

now ominously

dark.

270 EXT. MINIATURE GOLF COURSE -

WIND1>1ILL

- NIGffi'

.A Windmill with a

door in the center

turns slowly

against

a

blurred,

blu ish

sky

with a backdrop of palm t r ees . A

.golf

ba l l s a i l s

nea t ly ,through the door •

.271 .

CLOSE SHOT -ADELLE, LINC

Linc

has ju s t · made

the shot . He looks

pleased.

272

CLOSE SHOI' -

MOUND

- BALL

A green

with

a mound

leading up to

the

hole .

A b a l l '

l i e s

a t the b ot t om

of

the mound. '

Adelle

s

hands appear.

She

makes

a

shot . The

ba l l

goes up the

mound,

a ~ o s t to the

hole ,

then ro l l s

back

again.



THE

273

274

BEST

OF

FRIEi\TDS

-

Rev.

12/14/70

SHOT -

ADELLE,

LINC

as the

bal l

ro l l s

back

again.

ADELLE

Adelle,

th is

i s

not your

day.

ANOTHER

ANGLE

A

drawbridge

moves up and

dOviD across

a cast le moat. A

GOLFING

COUPLE

stand in

front of

i t .

The man

i s just

making his shot.

He

miscalculates.

His bal l hi ts the

drawbridge

as

it

goes up.

WOM N

(pleased)

Haywire again, George

The woman prepares

to

make

her shot . CAMERA

PANS

W Y

as

Adel'le and Linc come up and vlai t the i r

turn

a

l i t t l e distance

.away.

Adelle

looks

abstracted.

ADELLE

quiet ly)

Line

••• How

well

dlyou think

you

know me?

LINC

rld- say you're clear as the sun

a t noon.

ADELLE

You

car

.

It

imagine

me

doing something

crazy? Stupid?

smiles)

Terrible?

LINC

Imagination has never been my

strong

point , honey;

Line looks amused. Adelle hesi ta tes . 0 . 5 .

SOUND

of a golf' bal l pinging against a windmill blade

. r h e y

both glance

in direct ion

of

it .

V N

I

S

VOl

CE

0. s . )

You certa inly came a cropper that

t ime, Milly I

Line and Adelle turn back to

each other. C MER FOLLOliS

as

they walk

on to

the spo tv lhe re the Coupl

e ma

de the i r

shots.

ADELLE

j

okir.g)

Marriage.

Nothing

l ike i t .

CONTINUED)

10



I'THE BEST

OF

FRIENDS -

Rev. 12 1

1 70

274 CONTINUED:

LING

Here

we

go

What?

ADELLE

(baff led)

107/10

Smiling,

Linc

prepares to

make

his

shot.

Adelle

stares

.a t him.

LING

i sten, when a g i r l

start;') t e l l ing

a

guy on

the i r f i r s t

date tha t

he

needs to se t t le

down -

ADELLE

Line,

I

swear

I had

absolutely no

in tent ion

-

LINC

You

don ' t

have

to

fool me

any

more, honey·.

Adelle

stares a t him, opens her

mouth

to protes t

while Linc

makes a

perfect

shot.

Pleased,

he turns

back to Adelle.

LING

(continuing)

11m

crazy about you.

You

want to

marry

me. KnOVl

something? I want

to marry you.

Adelle

i s speechless.

LINC

(continuing)

Your shot.

Adelle

takes Linc IS hand, kisses it p r e s se s i

t

to her

cheek.

275

OMITTED

276 GLOSE SHOT -

ADELLE

Lincls hand

pressed against her cheek.

She

looks

up

a t

him I'li

th

a

stunned,

adoring

smile.

77 R TURN TO SHO' , - ADELLE, LInG

thru

279 LING

m I accepted?

( CONTINUED)



TIll BEST OF FRIENDS • Rev. 12/1L1/70

277 CONTINUED:

thru

279 ADELLE

I won't

say

no •.

She

kisses

his hand again.

LINe

Great. We'll drive down

to

tonight and t ie the knot.

ADELLE

Tonight?

LINC

Yuma

If' a th ing 's worth doing, it 3

worth

dOing r ight

away.

Adelle

f l ingsher arms around . hiro. There are tears in

her

eyes.

LINC

. (continuing)

Hey, honey; don' t . . •

ADELLE

11m jus t doing that dumb thing

women do, crying when they ' re

happy.

(smiles)

may

as

well ~ r a r n you, I do a

lo t

of

dumb th i

ngs.

LINC

I ll

run

you

home

and you can

pack

a sui tcase . Then I ll

pi

ck

you up an hour la te r . Okay?

10

Adelle

nods,

and Linc takes her in his arms and they kiss ,

.. t o · the amusement of the

other

golfers • .

CONTINUED)



·

'l'HE BEST OF FRIENDS -

Rev. 12/15/70

280

EXT. ADELLE T B

ACADE1. Y

- STREET - ADELLE, LINe (IN

ROADSTER) -NIGHT

The roads te r draws

up outs ide

the Academy. Adelle

ge ts

quickly

out tu rns back, l eans over, kisses Linc,

then runs

up

the s teps .

Linc drives of f .

281

CLOSE

SHOT

-

ADELLE

.Running

up

to the f ron t door • . She s tops looks a t

the

sign in

the window

ADELLE'S

DANCE ACADEMY e tc .

-

and

smiles .

ADELLE

(s inging)

'Pack

up

a i l my

cares

and woe

. Here I go, ~ l i n i n low

Bye Bye

Blackbird

••• .

Then

she goes

on

and l e t s

herse l f

in

a t

the

f ron t

door.

282

INT. ACADEMY

- FRONT

ENTRY

-

ADELLE

- NIGHT

She en t e r s

closes

the

f loor i s

in darkness .

goes on up the s t a i r s

door behind

her .

The

whole f i r s t

She swi tches on the ha l l

l i gh t

HUMMING

Bye Bye Blackbird .

283

INT. LANDING

-

ADELLE

- .NIGHT

She reaches it

from the s t a i r s .

It s also dark. S t i l l

HUMMING she

sWitches

on

another

l i gh t

then

goes

·

to

the

s i

t t i ng room.

284 INT. SITTING ROOM - ADELLE

ThE;

s i t t i ng room i s a lso dark . as Adelle

enters

•

. (CONTINUED)

110



277

t h ru

279

CONTINUED: (2)

ADELLE

(not

taking t h i s

up)

Couldn t Mrs. Rigg come over

Linc looks doubtfu l .

ADELLE

(cont inuing)

la te r? .

Nonie

can

make

do for once with

two

maids

and a

but le r I

Linc

smiles and nods. They walk off .

11

280 EXT. ADELLE

rS ACADEMY - STREET - ADELLE, LINC IN ROADSTER

NIGH'r

The

roadster

draws up

outside

the

Academy.

quickly out ,

tu rns

back,

leans over, kisses

up the s teps . Linc drives off .

281 CLOSE

SHOT -

ADELLE

Adelle

ge ts

Linc, then

runs

Running

up

to the front

door.

She

s tops ,

looks a t the

s ign

in

the window

ADELLE'S DANCE

ACADEMY

e tc .

and

smi les .

ADELLE

(singing)

pack

up

a l l

my cares

and

woe

.

Here

I go,

winging

Imq

Bye

Bye

Blackbird

•••

'

Then she

goes

on and l e t s herse l f in a t

the

f ron t door.

She en te r s closes the door behind her . The whole f i r s t

f loor i s

in

d a r k n ~ s s She

switches

on the ha l l li4i1ht,

goes on up

the

s t a i r s HUMMING

Bye Bye

Blackbird.

283

INT. LANDING - ADELLE - NIGHT

She reaches it

from the

s t a i r s .

It s a l so dark. S t i l l

HUMMIN

she

switches on another l i gh t

then

goes to the

S i t t i ng room.

284 INr .

SITl ING

ROOM - ADELLE

The

Bitting

room is also

dark

as Adelle . enters.

(CONTINUED)



111

CONTINUED:

A shaf t of l igh t c ames

from

under Helen ts d oo

r . The

door

to the .

ki tchen

i s closed . Adelle s t a r t s for her

own

room,

changes her mind, €Soes

to

Helen I s

door and KNOCKS

on i

t.

No answer. After

a

moment, she opens the

door.

INT.

HELEN S

BEDROOM

;

ADELLE:

as

Adelle l o o l ~ s

in . I t s empty.

On

the unmade bed is an

open

su i tcase ,

almost

complete ly packed.

The re s t

of

Helen s th ings

are strewn around

the room. Disconcerted,

Adelle

tu rns back

in

t o t

he Si t t ing room.

ADELLE

Helen ••• ?

No

answer.

286

.

CLOSE SHOT

- ADELLE

in the s i t t ing

room.

kitchen

door. As

she

the

ki tchen

the SOUND

·

the

door and. goes in .

She heSita

t es , then moves

t l ~ a r d

reaches it she HEARS

from

inside

as

of a

FAUCET

DRIPPING. She

opens

287

INT. KIT

CHEN

- ADELLE:

The

ki tchen

i s

a lso dark.. DRIPPING

SOUND continues.

Adelle switches

on

a l i gh t .

Then

stands

f ro ze

n in horror .

288

FLASH - SINK

· Spla t te r s and

t r i ck les of watery

blood.

289 FL SH PART O

KITCHEN

FLOOR

Splat tered with

blood.

290

CLOSE

SHOT -

ADELLE

S t i l l

numb with

horror .

29

POV SHar KITCHEN

ll the f lash de ta i l s

put

toge ther , with a t r a i l of blood

· leading

toward the

door to

the exte r io r

s t a i r s .



292

293

. 112

CLOSE

SHar -

ADELLE

She moves to a chair ,

almost

s i t s in i t ,

gets up

quickly

as she rea l izes t he r e s blood

on

the sea t .

She

opens her

bag takes

out

cigare

t t e 1d

l ighte r ,

and

shaki ly li

gnts

a c igare t t e . She takes a deep drag. Then, c igare t te in

hand, she f o l l m ~ s the t r a i l

. of blood · to · the other door,

and opens it

EXT, LANDING - ~ T O O E N STAIRCASE - ADELLE

as

she .comes out on it

or two neighboring NIGH '

LAUGHING, a car paSS i

ng,

another

deep drag

of

her

exte r ior

l igh t .

I t s

qui te dark out

here.

One

SOUNDS a

woman suddenly

a

horn

HONKING. Adelle takes

c iga re t t e , then switches

on

the

294

POV .SHar - vroO EN srI. IReASE .

As

the

l igh t

i s

switched on.

I t

has

a

reddish bulb,

and

casts a s t range

glow over

everything - - including the

drops of blood

cont inuing on

down

the s teps ,

295

CLOSE

SHar - ADELIE

Her

face in

the reddish .

glow.

She s t a r t s dovm

the s teps ,

taking

quick nervous drags on the

Cigarette

now.

296

ANOI'HER

ANGLE - BACKYARD - ADELLE

as she reaches it

She not ices t ha t a dark c lo th has been

l a id over

the rabbi t hutches, A st ispicion dawns n O \ ~ She

heSi ta tes ,

thEm

goes on

.

andwi th a quick gesture ,

s t r ips

off the

c lo th .

297

P JIl

SHOT -RABBITRUI'CRES

Shadowed but unmistakable

are

the l i t t e red

and

slaughtered

corpses of Helen

s r a b b i t s _

RETURN

TO SHOT

O

ADELLE

She

turns quickly away_ Her l i ps soundlessly

form

th e

words, Roly Moses

f bef'ore

she makes a GAGGING SOUND, She

pauses, t ry ing

to get

a hold on herse l f , She takes a l a s t

drag on the Cigaret te ,

drops the

but t ,

s teps on it

Then,

as

i aware of something,

she looks

up sharply.



.LL

299

LOW ANGLE SH(JI -

UP

STEPS - HELEN

She stands on the exterior landing, wearing her

nightgmm.

300

CLOSE SHOT - ADELLE

star ing up at her.

301 ANarHER ANGLE. - ADELLE, · HELEN

Adelle staring up a t

Helen

n the

reddish

glow.

H L N

(calmly) .

I

couldn It leave my poor creatures

a l l alone, could 17

After a

moment, Adelle decides

t o g o

up the steps,

toward

Helen.

HELEN

(continuing) .

t

was

the s rne wit

h

Lenny's

father .

Adelle

stares a t her, not understanding.

H L N

I

had to

I real ly

Just the

(continuing)

leave him, too, you know.

couldn' t bear him.

idea

of

him touching

me

. . .

But

You

(gives a l i t t l e

grimace)

you

can t just

•••

leave

have to release them.

302 CLOSE SHar - ADELLE

,HELEN

them.

·

Adelle

has reached

the

top of the steps. She stands

close

. to Helen.

Helen,

me you

I

just

I don't

ADELLE

i f you Ire trying to

kil led

your husband

don

It believe you.

(Shrugs)

believe

you

HELEN

t e l l

I t IS •• •

Oh but I did. I

pushed

him.

(CONTINUED)



302

n4.

CONTINUED:

Remembering Helen s previous "I pushed him (about the man),

Adelle gives a s ta r t . he

looks

more frightened n O ~ i .

HELEN

I

always

told

you

I was the

gui l ty

one--remember.

Adelle

gives a

quick, frightened nod.

HELEN

(continuing)

But you l ~ o u l d n t l e t

me

speak.

You didn ' t want the t ru th .

Adelle s tares a t her.

Thinks

for a moment. Then

ADELLE

(a b i t shaky)

.

Helen,

I

think

you

should

speak

now.

You must I 'm gOing to ca l l Sis ter

Alma - - t e l l her tha t she 's

got

to

see

yeu,

and l i s t en to you, and

l e t

you

Jr.now t ha t . . . God has forgiven

you

•••

r ight

a \ ~ a y

•

. HELEN

(doci le)

Whatever

you think

best .

: .

Helen allows

Adelle

to

take

her

arm

and lead her ins ide.

303 INT. SITTING

ROOM,

KITCHEN - ADELLE, HELEN, PHONE IN

F.G.

Adelle

moves

hurriedly ahead

through the blood

stained

kitchen

into the s i t t ing

room.

The s i t t ing room phone is in f .g .

Helen

follows.

She smiles fa in t ly now.

ADELLE

(making t ime,

talking

for the .sake of talking)

Everything's oin to

be

a l l r ight .

Linc and I are get t ing

marr ied- -

HELEN

Linc and you

are get t ing married?

ADELLE

(nOdding)

And heTs promised to help the

boys - - and you

- -

you l l

confess

and be saved.

Helen continues to smile fa in t ly .

Encouraged

by th i s ,

Adelle

p i l ~ s

up

the

phone. Helen stands

close behind her,

mildly expectant, Naiting.

(

CONTINUED



115

303 CONTINUED:

HELEN

You're

so

good to me. I fee l

ashamed

ADELLE

( s t a r t s

to dia l )

Don't

worry

I

Everything's

going

to

be a l l r igh t )

The

the

blessed

peace

of

repentance

304 CLOSE SHar

- HELEN S HAND

She has been

holding

i t

behind

her

back

since emerging

from the

kitchen.

NOli she l i f t s

it

and

reveals t ha t

she

i s clenching a ki tchen knife .

305 RETURN TO SHar OF ADELLE

AND HELEN

306

Adelle d i a l s . · A look of t e r r ib le surpr ise - - pas t t e r ro r

crosses

Adel le s face as the Imife

goes

in her . back.

S t i l l

clutching

the phone,

she stwnbles forward.

ANOTHER

ANGLE

. - ADELLE HELEN

.

Trail j .ng

the phone, Adelle

s taggers

across the

room tm,ard

landing. Helen moves

behind

her and plunges

the

knife

in

her back a

aecond and

f ina l t ime. Adelle drops

the

phone

and f a l l s to the f loor,where she l i e s

s i l en t .

Helen

s ta res

dovm

a t

her

•

Then,

suddenly

the

doorbel l

RINGS

s ta r t l ing Helen. She drops the kni fe .

307 EXT.

C DEMY - DETECTIVE- NIGHT

He .1s . a t

the

f ront door, a neat ,

pleasant

looking MAN

w i t i n g ~ He reacheaou t , . RINGS the be l l again .

308

INT BEDROOM

BATH

-

HELEN

-

NIGHT

309

The

be l l RINGS

·

as Helen

moves

to the bathroom, washes blood

from

her

hands,

then puts

a

robe

.

over

her

bloodsta ined

nightgo'm.

TNT.

SITTING ROOM

.

as Helen

crosses i t toward the landing .

She

pauses momen

t a r i l y next

to Ade l le s body, not ices the

bloodstained

knife . She

pickes

i t

up,quickly

\qipes

it

off ", i th a hand-

. kerchief . She places

the

knife in the

pocket

of her

robe,

s t a r t s down

the s t a i r s .



'..

310

INT. ENl PANCEHALL - NIGHT

Hand over

her pocket , Helen opens the

dODr

with her other

hand. DET ECTIVE SGT. IllEST

s tands on the thres hold.

He

c a r r i e s

a

briefcase .

I lEST

Mrs.

Hil l?

After

a

moment. Helen gives .him

a smile.

HELEN

Yes.

WEST

I m De

t

ect ive Ser

g

eant

tIe.

s t .

May

I c orne ill?

HELEN

Of course.

WEST

(as

she

admits

him)

I d l ike to t a lk

to

you.

116

Helen closes

the

door

carefu l ly ,

then moves toward the lowe r

classroom.

HELEN

This way, please .

311

. INT.

CLASSROOH

- HELEN,

~ J S T

west follows

Helen

in to

the

room. She

turns

on the l igh t s .

WEST

You re

Leonard Hi l l IS mot

.

her ,

then?

Yes.

. HELEN

(hand

t ightens

over

pocket)

WEST

Is

Mrs.

Bruckner

here?

This

concerns her too.

HELEN

I m

af ra id

she s out

a t the

moment.

- '

\

(CONTINUED)



311

312

11

CONTINUED:

R elen

motions him

poJ.:ttely to

a chai r . He

s i t s

down > 1pens

his briefcase, takes out

a notebook

and

a

manila

envelope.

He opens the m a n ~ i l a

envelope, remOveB

a lli\otog,rallh

from ;Lt

As he hands

it to Helen, we see it s

of

the Man.

.

CLOSE SHOT

-

HELEN

She s ta res blankly a t

the photograph.

West watches her .

She

looks up a t

him with ·an

expression of po l i t e inqui ry .

WEST

You

don It

know

him?

Helen shakes her head,

W ST

(cont inuing)

Never seen him? .

Helen shakes

her head

again •

W ST

(cont:inu:i.ng)

They

found his body three

days

ago, in tha t ·t rench across the

s t r e e t .

HELEN

Oh •••

Such a

dreadful

acc ident .

Helen

s i t s

down

calmly.

She

gives

\<lest a

look of

pol i te

concern.

WEST

He knew El l i e Banner •

. Helen s t a r t l ed for

a moment •

He

was

W ST

cont inuing)

her lover .

HELEN

af t e r

a

moment)

What an extraordinary coincidence.

(pause)

Of

course ,

I understand now why

you thought I might

have

kn .own

him.

(Ilpologetic)

I wish . I could help

you.

CONTINUED



312

CONTINUED:

WEST

Mrs. Hill ,

ha

ve you

or Irs. Bruckner

ever

had

any threatening phone calls?

HELEN

.(surprised)

No.

Why?

WEST

I t s a thing they often

do.

Who?

HELEN

(apparently

be1'lildered)

West

scrutinizes her for a

moment.

WEST

The

important

thing

i s ,

you're

out

of danger.

I

am w l i ~

HELEN

smile )

tha t s always

nice

to

hear

[

As i f an

idea

has just

struck

her, she stops smiling. A

look of alarm

crosses

her face

.

.

HELEN

(continuing)

Were

Miss

Stuart

Mrs. Bruckner

and

I

in danger from th i s man

who

loved

Ell ie

Banner?

l l t i

313

CLOSE SHOT

-

HELEN, WEST IN

B. G.

Helen

tenses on

th is la s t word, turns sl ight ly

away

from

West. Th

e

PLOUG

H

BLADES

S U ~ I s ta r t s .

I t continues

over

the

FLASH SHOTS

that sh

ow what's

passing

through her mind. In

the

b.g. ,

west l\:eeps .speaking.

CONTINUED



fA

314 ·

FIASH - PHeYrO

ace

of

the

lIlan.

315

FLASH •

M l\N

Fal1ing in to

the plough.

316

FIASH

- MATT

HILL

His bloodied face.

119

W ST UNDER)

Her death real ly shattered

him. Your boys were out

of

reach,

of

course, so

he

fixed

on the i r mothers.

He

traced

you

out here

and

••. well,

I

think

you1ve

had a lucky escape,

317

FLASH

- .MAN

Neck

twisted,eyes

star ing.

3 8 JUjTURN TO HELEN

She turns . back to face ~ l e s t .

watches

her,

PLOUGH SOUND STOPS. West

HSLEN

I t s a bi t of a shock.

(pause)

I

hate

anything to

do

~ i t h

violence,

you know.

I t s

so

. . •

unforg

i vable. That s

why

what

happened with my son

. • .

(breaks off)

Is i t

a l l

r ight

i f

I

t e l l

Mrs.

Bruckner?

W ST

Sure. Hell, t ha t s i t .

(turns

away

. I ll see myself out.

HELEN

Goodbye,

Sergeant.

West s ta r t s to

leave.

Helen suddenly thinks of something.

Oh

HELEN

(continuing)

West turns back, inquiring.

(C

ONTINUED)



318 CONTINUED:

HELEN

cont inu i

ng)

I never even offered you a cup

of coffee.

I 'm

so sorry.

That s

HE:ST

(smiles)

a l l

r igh t .

120

West

ex i t s .

S t i l l apparent ly cOP.lposed, Helen

Natches a f te r

him.

O.s.

f ron t

door

opens and closes .

319

CLOSE

SHar

- HELEN

She pul ls the knife from her pocket ,

l e t s t

drop

to

t he

. f loor . She smiles to herse l f , and moves quickly toward

the s t a i r s .

320

ANGLE ON STAIRS - HELEN

320A

She runs

up

the s t a i r s , ca l l ing .

HELEN

Adelle? •• Adelle? ••

ANGLE ON

UPPER FLOOR LANDING

CAMERA HOLDS

on the landing

as

Helen exi ts o .s .

HELEN

(o . s . )

Oh,

there

you

are .

What a

pre t ty

dress •••

(pause)

That was

a

detec t ive .

He

sa id

we

\ ~ e r e

in

danger

That man

wan'GeUto k i l l us

his s tory

about my cousin was jus t

made

up. You see I 'm

not off

my

rocker. From

n O ~ l on you ' re

gOing

to

l i s t en t ome , a re n t you,

dear?

321

EXT. ADELLE S

ACADEMY

ND

FLOOR vrINDOWS LOW

ANGLE

SHar -

NIGHT

CAMERA SHOOTS UP to the

second

f l oo r ~ r i n d o ~ 1 S

CONTINUED)



321

322

323

324

121

CONTINUED:

Light

omes

from the reci ta l hal l . The windows are all

open drape billows s l ight ly in

the

breeze.

O.s.>

from

t h e ;ecital hall comes t h e 5QUNl) of Goody Good;,''' iJla;red.

on the piano.

CAt IERA

MOVES

Ff Y

AND

UP

to

show Line f

roadster

drawing up

outs ide the

Academy. II/hile

the ~ U S I C

continues fa in t ly

he

gets

out,

goes

up

the steps and

RINGS

the doorbell . There s

no answer.

After

a moment,

he HEARS

the

NUSIC,

steps back, looks up in direct ion of

windows.

Then he

RINGS the bel l again. St i l l

no ans1,fer •

so

he t r ies

the

door.

I t opens.

INT. ACADEMY STAIRS -

UN

He s tar ts

up the s ta i rs . MUSIC

i s HEARD o.s

•

Adelle?

No.

answer.

.

LINC

(call ing)

INT. LANDING, SITTING

R O ~

- LINC

He reaches

the

landing from the s ta i r s HUSIC c antL'1ues

o.s .

He looks into the s i t t ing room. Doors

to the

bed-

rooms and the exter ior s ta ircase are

closed.

The phone

s t i l l l i es

on the f loor .

Line turns in direct ion of the

reci ta l hal l .

INT.

RECITAL

HALL - LINC

as

he enters . He looks

around, and a t f i r s t seems

more

puzzled than horr i f ied by what confronts him.

3 5 MED. SHJT HELEN

Playing

Goody Goody

on the piano. She

i s

wearing

a

dress now,

her

hair

is

neat ly in

place, and her manner and

expression

are

exactly as we ve seen them

when

She s

been

the accompanist a t

Adelle s

classes .

She hits a mild

cl inker

and

looks

up

with

an

apologet ic smile,

then

con-

t inues .

326 CLOSE SHGr -

LINC

s tar ing a t th i s . Then

he

stares at s ~ m e t h i n g e lse .



.

FULL SHar

-REFLECTION

IN MIRROR

A r e a r v i e ~ agains t the spot l igh t - -

an

i l l -de f ined s i l

houette.

. 328 RETURN TO LING

s ta r ing

a t

t h i s .

He

takes a

couple of

s teps

forward.

329 CLOSE

SHar

- HELEN

33

a t

the

piano.

She glances

up a t him.

HELEN

Jus t a moment,

please.

Miss Stuar t

i s not

qLtite

f in i s hed ye t .

ULL SHOT

- ADELLE IS BODY - ON PLATFORM

n

the

f u l l glare of

the

spot l igh t propped

up

agains t

a

s tepladder . I t

is

dressed

in

her

production number naval

costume.

The face i s

blood-drained

and blu ish

so

tha t

her

re

furbished

makeup

stands

out

in grotesque

cont ras t .

I t seems posed in a

f r igh t fu l

imi ta t ion of l i f e .

As the

CAl 1ERA MOVES

TOWARD

Adelle in to a TIGh T CLOSEUP, Goody

Goody cont inues o.S. on the piano.

FADE e T .

. .

THE

END

122

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What's the Matter With Helen