by Anna Sidak
FADE IN
INT. THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
MOVING
JAKE and DAISY ANDERSON make their way across the lobby and quickly find the gallery displaying Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks." She's talking a mile a minute, gesturing. He listens with an air of anxiety.
INT. GALLERY
Heedless of the MUSEUM GUARD, Daisy leads Jake up close to the painting. As he blots the rain from her face and hair with his handkerchief, a pan takes in her black oxfords, house-dress, cardigan, her severe institutional hairdo. Jake removes her clip-on name tag, folds his handkerchief, and puts both in his pocket, then steps back a bit to view the painting.
CUT TO:
FULL SCREEN PAINTING
The night-time painting depicts an early 1940's all-night diner illuminated with newly popular fluorescent tubes. The 3/4 view is from the sidewalk outside the diner, looking through the large windows of the corner section at a row of nondescript buildings. Two customers, a man and a woman, are seated facing the viewer. Another customer is seated with his back to the viewer. Both men are wearing hats. A counterman, wearing a white uniform and a white cap seems to be staring past the couple at a man in the window of the store front behind them which is partially illuminated by light from the diner.
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INT. GALLERY
Jake captures Daisy's hand when she raises it as though to touch the painting's painted window. He steps a bit to the right and lets his eyes trace out certain portions of the painting as he notices its second floor windows are open to the night and that the woman at the counter has red hair like Daisy's.
INSERT:
PORTION OF PAINTING SHOWING STORE FRONT AND UPSTAIRS OPEN WINDOWS - FOLLOWED BY SPECIAL EFFECTS: CLOSE-UP OF WOMAN WITH DAISY'S FACE SUPERIMPOSED
Jake maneuvers Daisy back behind the velvet guard rope where they belong.
DAISY
(forming the classic frame—palms out, thumbs touching—her voice a bit too loud)
It'll work. It's perfect. Crew shoots through.
MUSEUM GUARD
(raising a warning hand)
Let's keep it down, Miss.
Jake gives the guard an apologetic smile.
DAISY
(abashed, whispering)
This is the set I've looked for all over town.
"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," if ever I saw one.
JAKE
(his voice low, not quite a whisper)
Your first time around, Daisy, as a producer?
DAISY
(In a normal tone)
But not the last, I assure you. And this one I'm going to direct as well.
A chocolate frappe, please. Or is there a No Food sign?
JAKE
(gives her a questioning look)
'She said innocently?' What are you, a starved waif eyeing a steak?
Miss Walker said you finished your lunch.
DAISY
It seemed appropriate, that's all. Did I say something wrong?
JAKE
As often as I've seen this painting, it's never occurred to me to
order anything at the counter.
DAISY
I'm already scouting locations for the T-Mann's "Disorder and Early Sorrow."
When that's wrapped up, who knows?
JAKE
Are you? Who's got the nerve to take that on, nuance and all?
DAISY
Top secret. I can tell you this much: it calls for a three-story 1890's frame —
white with a porch. With a little remodeling, Hemingway's birthplace would be perfect.
JAKE
Better rethink it, pal. It was Berlin. Tall brick townhouse, sweeping open
staircase with balustrade, ballroom. Big Folk about and all that?
DAISY
Aren't you ashamed of yourself?
JAKE
A little.
DAISY
Fat chance I've got at Berlin!
JAKE
(sighing)
Daisy!
DAISY
(edging past the rope, opening her arms in a grand gesture)
Just look at this place! Just please look! Coffee urns against the wall, a
marble counter-top. Perfect. The first time I read old Ernie's story, I knew
it should be shot in St. Paul or Fargo. Some cold-space place. Moscow.
I swear I even thought of this diner.
MUSEUM GUARD
(resettles his hat displaying full head of white hair)
Please stand away, Miss.
JAKE
(pulling her back behind the rope)
We didn't mean to get so close. Sorry.
(to Daisy)
Not Madrid, then?
DAISY
It's startling to realize it was actually Spain. Where I've never been.
Anyway, this is it, "A Clean Well-Lighted Place." Don't you agree?
JAKE
(hesitating)
Don't I agree? It's a painting, for God's sake. I suppose you've chosen the cast?
DAISY
Sam Waterson's the older waiter, he's sorting silverware out of sight. Robert
Duvall, who's having tea at the end of the counter, plays the old man who
flunked suicide. They wanted the feel of the place before we began.
A Baldwin for the counterman-—my frappe guy, in white.
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JAKE'S POV - PAINTING - SPECIAL EFFECTS: FRAPPE GUY LEANS OVER COUNTER TO KISS RED-HAIRED WOMAN
JAKE
I thought the old man was at a tree-shaded table on the terrace.
DAISY
How could he be? Do you see a terrace?
JAKE
Tea? Wasn't he drinking cognac? Or brandy?
Or was it that anti-aging elixir: absinthe?
DAISY
(her voice a little shrill with annoyance)
Only if he brought his own. This place doesn't have a liquor license.
It's only a diner.
JAKE
The old man's niece, the one who cut him down? A dumb thing to do,
on more than one score. Do you think she regretted that, later?
DAISY
(giving Jake a reproachful look)
How would one know, she's only off-screen. Unless she verbalized.
Are you trying to start something?
JAKE
(notices her hands are shaking)
Are you OK? You're not going to go to pieces on me are you?
Are the lights too bright? I hope you're not going to start lurching about.
That doesn't fool anybody.
DAISY
(trying to suppress a spastic movement, wraps her arms awkwardly around
her head, concentrating on the painting, speaking to an imaginary light crew)
OK, fellows, use the umbrella. We only want light on the woman's
face here, how she looks when her husband tells her to dummy up.
INSERT:
JAKE'S POV - CLOSE UP OF WOMAN - SPECIAL EFFECTS: DAISY'S EXPRESSIONLESS FACE SUPERIMPOSED
JAKE
(contritely)
Are we in this scene?
DAISY
We're that couple at the end of the bar. We're a song-and-dance team with
rent-money problems. A red-haired nymphomaniac and a wife-beater. She used
to be beautiful until he got a little rough. Bit parts, for now, just something to play
with. Duvall's driver—manager of the apartments we've turned our backs to—is
keeping an eye on us from the window of the shop behind us.
I like your hat, by the way. He's afraid we're going to skip town.
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PAINTING - SPECIAL EFFECTS: JAKE AND DAISY'S FACES SUPERIMPOSED ON COUPLE AT END OF BAR - JAKE'S FACE ALSO SUPERIMPOSED ON MAN IN STOREFRONT WINDOW
JAKE
Sounds like a good idea. Who's this guy to my right? I mean to the right
of this wife-beater wearing a hat? I would never wear a hat like that. The
only hat I would ever wear might be a 10-gallon Stetson.
I wonder why Hemingway didn't tell us anything about these people.
DAISY
(hugging herself, tucking her hands into her armpits)
So cold, so cold, why is it always so cold? Why are you always so cold?
JAKE
(takes off his sport coat and wraps it around her)
I'm not at all cold, in fact, it's a little too warm in here. Maybe we
should be thinking about getting you back. You're not getting the
shakes, are you? Remember last time I had to carry you out.
Maybe it's too soon for you to be here.
You need to learn to relax.
DAISY
(clutches the coat around her with her left hand, reaches over with her right
and pulls a pocketknife out of the left pocket. She absently flicks it open.)
You need to learn to go to hell.
JAKE
That's not at all becoming to you. To talk like that.
DAISY
But please can't we stay a bit longer.
JAKE
Five minutes, tops, and we're out of here. Now this guy facing away from
us with a cup of coffee and a paper bag on the counter. Who is he?
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CLOSE-UP OF MAN SEATED WITH BACK TO CAMERA - SPECIAL EFFECTS: HE RESETTLES HAT TO DISPLAY WHITE HAIR OF GUARD.
DAISY
He's just a face in the crowd, but we've dumped that whole bit.
He was disappointed and wants to get sloshed, I guess.
JAKE
Do you suppose he's nursing a grudge along with a bottle of scotch in that
paper bag? He could be wearing a shoulder holster. Maybe he's a hit man
waiting for the proper moment— then POW! Through the kitchen, man! GO!
Or carries poison. In case of frappe. Arsenic's big this year.
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JAKE'S POV - PAINTING - SPECIAL EFFECTS: HITMAN WITH BACK TO WINDOW MOVES RIGHT ARM AS THOUGH REACHING FOR GUN IN SHOULDER HOLSTER - COUNTERMAN COVERS HIS EARS - COUPLE CRINGE, MAN LEANS FORWARD TO SHELTER WOMAN - BANG! - MAN DOES A FOSSE HAT TILT AND PLACES HIS HAND ON HIS HEART.
CLOSE SHOT - BLOOD POURS THROUGH HIS FINGERS
The coat falls to the floor as Daisy collapses against Jake, both arms around his neck.
JAKE
(holding both Daisy's wrists with left hand and kicking knife away)
Hey! You bitch! You tried to stab me! Guard!
DAISY
Do you love me?
JAKE
What's the big idea?
DAISY
It just happened to be in my hand. I found it somewhere.
GUARD
Do you need some help there?
DAISY
Possibly. This poor man's wife has suffered a sinking spell.
Imagine what his life must be with a wife like that.
JAKE
(to guard)
Yes. Please call a cab for us. Tell him to make it snappy.
DAISY
(letting herself slide down along Jake's arm to the floor)
This is what it looked like: M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I, that sinking spell.
JAKE
(pulling Daisy to her feet)
Where'd you find the knife?
DAISY
I don't think it was in Spain.
JAKE
What? Oh. Yeah. Sure it was.
DAISY
Let's not worry about the extra, then. He's back in the picture.
This time he gets a line.
JAKE
What does he say?
GUARD
They're on their way.
DAISY
(to guard)
Let's try that again. Maybe with a question mark at the end?
But thinking about the last time you were really, really happy.
CUT TO:
PAINTING - SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE SHADES ARE DRAWN, THE LIGHTS OUT, THE STREET DARK.
FADE OUT
© Anna Sidak 2001
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