who continue to believe in themselves despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This is GUS GORMAN.
Behind the teller몶s wicket is a middle-aged female CLERK with the requisite officious manner and heart of stone common to her profession. As the MAN ahead of GUS finishes his turn and walks away, she barks out:
CLERK
Name?
GUS
(as he tries to
untangle his
yo-yo string)
Gus Gorman.
without a hot plate.
Dont you just love chintz?
And look.
They match.
Sweet, right? Your rooms here.
My room is just across the way...
...and Amanda Armstrongs
down the other end.
- You grew up here?
- My whole life.
Youll meet my parents
when they come to visit.
- They visit?
- Regularly.
- What do you teach?
- Speech, elocution and poise.
Dinners are communal,
so Ill handle that.
But breakfast
with a smile on my face without feelin like the good Lord gypped me.
INT. RALPHS
It is late, the supermarket all but deserted. We are tracking in on a fortyish man in Bermuda shorts and sunglasses at the dairy case. He is the Dude. His rumpled look and relaxed manner suggest a man in whom casualness runs deep.
He is feeling quarts of milk for coldness and examining their expiration dates.
VOICE-O
without Workers,
devoid of function,
pure movement...
rotating, thrusting...
a machine of desire. Round shapes
and jerking movements become one
within the image of two clocks.
One -hour and one -hour clock.
Day shift and night shift, hours each,
mark the Metropolis working day.
Two groups of Workers,
uniformed, in rows of six,
march in unison,
the exhausted half as fast as the fresh.
"They moved
with piercing blue eyes
and a strong chin. As he walks, he sings a happy song.
STAN
Im going to the movies
To see the brighter side of life!
Im going to the movie
Everythings gonna be alright!
Forget all my troubles
Put my own life on hold
Let a studio tell me
how I should view the world
Where everything works out
I love it that way
Im going to the movies
The movies today!
Stan merrily walks up t
with large bare trees, in the far background stands a
3 storey stone house.
Sc 3 INT SCOTTISH HOUSE CORRIDOR DAY Sc 3
A small girl roller skates down a dimly lit corridor. A parlour maid
looks down the hall where the girl has disappeared.
Sc 4 INT SCOTTISH HOUSE DRAWING ROOMDAY Sc 4
Three men wearing long grey aprons are fitting the packing for a
piano. On one of the mens arms is a tattoo of a
stone lions.
INT. MAIN READING ROOM - DAY
People are dotted throughout the room sitting at the long oak tables polished by decades of use. Reading lamps with green glass shades cast a golden glow on the tables. The patina of age is everywhere. It is very quiet.
LIBRARIAN
A slightly stout, studious looking girl in her late twenties circulates quietly among the tables picking up books and putting t
stone.
If I dont, my mind seems to go off
in a hundred directions at once --
DAVID
Then take the pills.
WHALE
I wanted to be alert for your visit
today. Especially since I saw so
little of you in the hospital.
The remark hits its target.
DAVID
Im sorry, Jimmy. But with this
movie and two difficult stars --
WHALE
"The fault, dear David, is not in
ourselves but in our stars."
DAVID
(too anxious to
with it.
HARRY (CONT.)
(at truck)
Hey, wait a minute!
Harry chases after the vehicle.
CUT TO:
EXT. EAST SIDE ESTATE - DAY
Lloyd Christmas pulls the limousine into a long, tree-lined driveway. He gets out and looks up in
awe at an IMPRESSIVE STONE MANSION. He WHISTLES to himself, then walks to the front
door and RINGS THE BELL.
The double-front doors of the mansion open and MARY SWANSON appears. S
with Bob
and Reed at his side.
A long line of secretaries flanks the entrance.
BOB
... Youve got that radio address to
go over and the American Bar Association
at the Monroe tomorrow night...
The President pauses at one of the desks and fixes a stare.at
one of the secretaries, (RANDI). She looks up from behind a
pdir of clear-pane glasses, and blushes at him effectively.
MITCHELL
(smiling at Rand