gc #35221 4
6 CONTINUED 6
CHARLIE
Pretty picture: Pretty Girl On A
Summer Day. My wife...
(then)
The picture'd fool me, too...
Camera has begun moving closer on Charlie - holding him in pro-
file, now - as he keeps watching Irene.
CHARLIE
...if I didn't know the...that cold,
wintry! things...use her!
(then)
It's going to be different this time,
worse! I can feel it...
IRENE
(distant call)
Charlie...?
Abruptly, surprisingly, Charlie glances aside, directly at
camera, suspicious, resentful:
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CHARLIE
...one of you wants to keep her!
IRENE
(still distant)
Charlie...!
He turns to watch her running toward him across the meadow.
CHARLIE
...But how can you?...if I won't let
go.
7 NEW ANGLE 7
Irene reaches Charlie, goes into his arms, happily. Her mouth
is pressed against the fabric of his coat; she's saying some-
thing over and over which we can't make out...Nor can he,
apparently:
CHARLIE
...What?
She looks up at him, gravely, says nothing.
CHARLIE
What?
IRENE
(a shy whisper)
...There's a baby! This time,
there is a baby.
CONTINUED
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gc #35221 5
7 CONTINUED 7
Camera pushes close on Charlie. Beat. He closes his eyes...
cradles her now, no longer the embrace of equals, of lovers.
When he opens his eyes again, he's looking directly at camera.
We see his anger.
ABRUPT CUT TO:
8 EXT. COUNTRY HOUSE - FORMAL VIEW - DUSK 8
As if posed for a still photo, for a real-estate dealer's file.
Obviously, once quite imposing -- like the home of the richest-
man-in-town -- but past its prime, by-passed, not well cared
for, and too long vacant. Sound of car engine idling. (Note:
the voice of the real-estate dealer is local, but more con-
temporary Southern than those we heard in the kitchen.)
MAN'S VOICE
Best speak up quick naow, 'f y'like
it.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
I don't...
(then)
but my wife does.
MAN'S VOICE
Done an' done! have the lease ready
fer signin'.
Car engine races.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Three months; the summer.
MAN'S VOICE
Nah, full year, Mr. Evens, don't
pay me t'make it livable fer jes
summer. Been standin' empty li'l bit.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Li'l bit??...How long?
MAN'S VOICE
Jes' since after th'war.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Civil War?
MAN'S VOICE
Naow, naow, Mr. Evens...
Sound of car in gear and moving away...lost...replaced by
softer sounds of a mid-summer day: bees and, from time to time,
CONTINUED
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gc #35221 6
8 CONTINUED 8
a bird call. Some time during above, angle adjusts: a less
formal view, to include Irene, in the b.g., sitting on the
lawn in a dark blot of shade cast by a single ancient oak.
When she waves toward camera, pull back to include Charlie in
f.g. He's just emerged through the front door, waves to her,
and checks the mailbox:
CHARLIE
Nothing...And that was a month ago,
I signed the lease.
(shrugs)
There is no one.
He gazes across the lawn toward Irene.
9 ANGLE ON IRENE 9
CHARLIE'S VOICE
We're in touch with no one...except
you...No need to write letters to
you, is there...?
10 CLOSE ON CHARLIE 10
still watching Irene...He turns sharpley toward camera now;
a pale smile:
CHARLIE
...you're all dead.
Beat. He starts across the superb lawn toward Irene.
11 MOVING TOWARD IRENE - CHARLIE'S POINT OF VIEW 11
She's surrounded by meadow-flowers, daises, weaving them into
a chain.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
She has this...ability to be some-
one else. Not insanity, she's not
insane. It's a...an openness in
her, a...vacancy, available to others;
she's like an inn, or an empty room,
and for a time, someone lives there,
lives in her!...but then leaves. And
Irene stays and...
12 CHARLIE - TRACKING 12
At a certain moment, he may look up at camera to admit:
CONTINUED
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