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gc #A-33587
NIGHT GALLERY
"THE DEVIL IS NOT MOCKED"
FADE IN:
1 INT. CASTLE LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 1
The master, a tall, gaunt, aristocratic man of advanced years,
sits in a huge chair before the fireplace, the dancing flames
casting flickering shadows across his saturnine countenance.
At his feet, gazing adoringly up at him, is a child of 10.
MASTER
You have asked what your grandfather
did in the Great War? Listen atten-
tively, child, and I will tell you...
(a smile of nostalgic
remembrance)
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...for while many are the vile
charges made against our lineage --
let no man deny our patriotism.
As he is speaking, camera has slowly tightened on the Master's
face. The distant rattle of ghostly machine gun fire.
SHIMMER DISSOLVE
FADE IN:
2 EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - FULL MOON - NIGHT (STOCK) 2
Clouds race across the full moon. In b.g. can be heard the
mournful baying of wolves. Suddenly, incongruously, we hear
the staccatto burst of a machine gun.
3 EXT. RUGGED COUNTRYSIDE - NAZI SOLDIERS - NIGHT 3
Camera pans two members of a machine gun nest to include a
Radio Man who tries to raise somebody on his transmitter.
O.s. wolves can still be heard, slightly closer.
RADIO MAN
Hello...Wagner Three, here is Mozart
One. Wagner Three, here is Mozart
One...
One of the machine gunners sees something, prods the other.
There is a short burst of fire. Radio Man turns to them.
RADIO MAN
More partisans?
MACHINE GUNNER
(disdainfully)
No. Wolves.
CONTINUED
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3 CONTINUED 3
He laughs. The transmitter crackles and the Radio Man turns
back to it.
4 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - FAVORING COMMAND CAR - NIGHT 4
A Nazi command car comes to a halt alongside the road. A con-
voy of trucks continues to grind along the road behind it.
There is a driver, Deiterich; an orderly in his 30's, Kranz;
and a monocled Nazi General, Fritz von Grunn - an Erich von
Stroheim fan, if there ever was one. Kranz leans in over the
speaker of the radio, turns to the General.
KRANZ
The sector to the west is cleared,
General. No sign of any more parti-
sans.
GENERAL
You are surprised? They have shown
their true color. Serbs, Croatians,
Slavs...stupid peasants putting on
an act for their womenfolk.
Kranz holds a small flashlight, looks at his watch.
KRANZ
The castle should be surrounded in
fourteen seconds.
GENERAL
Show it to me, Deiterich.
Deiterich swings out of the driver's seat, loads his flare
gun, fires it into the air. The General leans forward.
5 EXT. CASTLE - NIGHT 5
The flare, its little parachute opening. And in the glare of
the magnesium, we see a great stone castle atop a hill.
6 CLOSEUP - FLARE 6
as it drifts down through the air.
7 EXT. CASTLE COURTYARD - TORCH - NIGHT 7
The torch moves away from camera and we discover ourselves in
the courtyard of the castle. Hugo, a hunched-over servant in
his 60's, scurries to light various other torches in the court-
CONTINUED
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7 CONTINUED 7
yard. From without the walls can be heard the Nazi trucks as
they pull up and unload their troops. There is also, in the
distance, the sound of a wolf or two baying - possibly dis-
turbed by the nocturnal activity.
8 EXT. OUTSIDE CASTLE WALLS - COMMAND CAR - NIGHT 8
It pulls to a halt as the trucks pass it, stop in b.g.
Deiterich immediately lifts his machine gun, points it o.s.
at the gates. The General snaps his fingers at Kranz.
GENERAL
Microphone!
9 EXT. CASTLE GATE - SOLDIERS - NIGHT 9
Several move into position with portable spotlights which they
are prepared to light. A machine gun is set up. Everything
is focused on the impressive wooden doors to the castle.
10 VON GRUNN 10
He takes the microphone from Kranz. It is his moment of
glory. He flicks the cord, a bit like Sinatra on stage, and
speaks into it:
GENERAL
Achtung, achtung...
He grimaces as the system squeals with feedback, casts a
jaundiced eye at Kranz who turns the dial, returns the look
sheepishly. The General tries again:
GENERAL
Achtung, achtung. This is General
Fritz Schlossman von Grunn - Commandant
in Chief, SS, Balkan Forces of the
Occupation. Your headquarters are
surrounded...
11 EXT. CASTLE COURTYARD - SERVANT - NIGHT 11
As the General's announcement is heard, the servant lights one
last torch mounted on the stone walls and hurries towards a
door which now opens. Camera moves with him as he intercepts
a tall man in his 50's (who will be called The Master) who is
trailed by a servant girl who helps him on with a long,
flowing formal cape. An old woman appears in the doorway
behind him, kitchen help - worried.
CONTINUED
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