분야
hwp by
Randall Wallace
EARLY DRAFT
Out of BLACK we hear the sound of an airplane roaring by.
EXT. POV OF AN AIRPLANE
Flying over American heartland. We see the earth through the
pilots perspective as sky and ground swap positions, the
plane swooping down and storming over the ground.
THE PLANE
is a biplane, racing over a field lush with young plants. It
releases a trail of crop spray, and climbs again...
Up into a crystalline blue sky where sunshine pours like
honey over family farms stretching to the horizon. Maybe
its not heaven, maybe its just Tennessee. But as long as
theres been an America, men have fought and died for this
place -- as volunteers.
Far off, but visible from the plane is
A BARN - DAY
The barn is unpainted except for hand lettering that says
"McCawley Crop Dusting." Another plane noise, this one made
by kids, brings us to TWO BOYS, sitting in the shell of an
old plane propped on crates, scavenged of its engine, seats,
and wheels.
The boys sit in its cockpit, butts crowded onto the nail keg
theyve replaced the seat with. Theyve even attached a 2x4
as propeller, as if their imaginations needed any help. They
wear overalls and have bowl haircuts: RAFE and DANNY, 10
years old.
RAFE
Bandits at 2 oclock.
DANNY
Power dive!
They buzz their lips in a flying noise and work the controls,
Rafes bare feet on one pedal, Dannys on the other.
RAFE
Its Germans!
DANNY
Kill the bastards!
Rafe looks at Danny in shock -- then they both laugh and go
right back into their game, manufacturing their own machine
gun and engine sounds.
RAFE
Good shooting, Danny!
DANNY
Good shooting, Rafe!
RAFE
Land of the free...
DANNY
Home of the brave!
RAFE
Theres another one!
Their vocal motors roar again... But a mans hand grabs Danny
by the straps of his overalls and jerks him from the cockpit.
Its Dannys FATHER and hes a fearsome sight; drunk, his
hair uncombed, his face unshaven, his teeth -- those still
left -- are rotting. Hes also missing an arm; but the one
thats left is potent, and hes shaking Danny with it.
DANNYS FATHER
You no count boy! Johnson come lookin,
said hed pay a dime for you to shovel
his pig shed, and I cant find you no
place.
DANNY
Daddy, I told you I was comin here.
His father slaps him off his feet. Rafe is so horrified he
cant get a sound out. Danny isnt even surprised. But when
his father snatches him up again, twisting the overall straps
so tight they choke him, he struggles. It does no good; his
father starts marching across the field, dragging and
strangling Danny.
DANNY
Da!... Dad...
The fathers drunken anger makes him oblivious -- until
CRACK! The 2x4 propeller slams him across the back, knocking
him to the ground and making him drop Danny.
The father rolls over to see 10-year-old Rafe, holding the
2x4 like a bat.
RAFE
Let him alone!
The fathers eyes bulge in rage; he struggles to his feet.
DANNY
Rafe... Daddy... No!
The man looks murderous, but Rafe draws back the board.
RAFE
Ill bust you open, you...German!
The words ring something deep in the mans booze-broken
brain. He begins to cough, convulsively; it brings a blossom
of blood to his mouth. He wipes it with his hand, but blood
clings to his teeth. He chokes out --
DANNYS FATHER
I fought the Germans.
He looks at Danny in shame, with the realization of what hes
just done. He turns and staggers away.
Danny looks at Rafe -- a communication between boys joined by
something deeper than blood. Then Danny runs off after his
father.
DANNY
Daddy! Daddy! Wait.
Danny catches him, takes his fathers hand, and walks away
with him.
The crop duster we saw in the air has just landed, behind
Rafe. The pilot, RAFES FATHER, shuts off the engine.
RAFES FATHER
Whats goin on, son?
RAFE
Nothing. Dannys Dad just come to get
him.
Rafe turns back to the ramshackle plane and replaces the 2x4
propeller. His father looks toward Danny and his father,
walking away, then looks at his own son.
RAFES FATHER
Hey, boy -- you wanna go up?
Rafe cant believe it; he runs to the plane and hops into his
fathers lap. As his father cranks the engine and tucks him
into the harness, Rafe says --
RAFE
Daddy, sometime will you take Danny up
too?
RAFES FATHER
Sure will, son.
The engine races to life...and we --
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. NEW JERSEY AIR BASE - DAY
American P-40 fighters blast through the air, props screaming
and wind singing by their wings.
There are eight pilots in their individual seats, and we
focus on two: RAFE MCCAWLEY has grown lean and handsome.
And DANNY WALKER is very much the same.
Their planes start swapping positions in the formation; while
the other guys are flying along in a tight line, Rafe and
Danny are playing, one of them gunning his engine to go high,
the other diving and coming back up in his place,
leapfrogging.
It scares the other guys, having their planes flashing in and
out, so close. The TRAINING CAPTAIN, watching through
binoculars on the ground, talks into his RADIO --
TRAINING CAPTAIN
McCawley! Walker! Cut that out!
RAFE
I thought this was a traini
