New York Movie (Third draft)

(We see a female usher standing by the red curtain leading up to the cinema balcony. She is lost in thought, slightly frowning. She is the CITY SISTER. The conversation that follows is a recorded telephone conversation between her and her COUNTRY SISTER. On the movie screen are trailers showing images similar to those being narrated by CITY to COUNTRY with an occasional title in bold across the screen such as ROMANCE…INTRIGUE…SUSPENSE.)

CITY
The storm gathers…

(A young man pulls apart the red curtain. He shows the CITY SISTER his ticket. She uses her flashlight and confirms his seat is on the balcony.)

...and the wind blew his balcony door wide open, catching the lampshade knocking it over. The rain speckles my blouse. I look at his eyes wet with rain. He seemed handsomer than ever.

(CITY’S telephone story pauses. In the movie house, The young man thanks CITY. She steps forward just past him and looks at the trailer. The trailer has an image of a woman holding a telephone looking concerned. The young man in the movie house lingers for a moment hoping for another smile, a wink, something, but CITY is lost in the images on the movie screen.)

COUNTRY
Did you kiss?

CITY
Yes...

COUNTRY
And.....?

CITY
His tongue was a typewriter

COUNTRY
Oh my!

CITY
Every kiss... a quick keystroke. Birdlike. Amateur.

COUNTRY
Listen to you?!

CITY
What?

COUNTRY
Amateur? You would prefer a professional?

CITY
A professional kisser…yes.

(They laugh)

CITY
Stop interrupting. So his amateur lips are moving across my face and my neck. His attentions are intoxicating. I’m feeling drunk from all the affection till I feel a little prick

COUNTRY
Stop! Right! Now!

CITY
No, no, no! It’s his teeth

COUNTRY
His teeth?

CITY
He starts biting me.

COUNTRY
That’s too much

CITY
I don't know...I...ah…I sort of liked it.

COUNTRY
No you didn't. Noooo....Nonononono

CITY
Yes. I did. (Laughs a little evil joyful laugh at her sister's reaction). So now I can feel his teeth and his tongue and his hairy arms. He’s biting and begging and I’m blinded by the moonlight and the stormy sky. Then one by one he bites the buttons off my dress and…

COUNTRY
Tell me you didn’t!?!!

(CITY sister laughs)

COUNTRY
You didn’t????

CITY
I wish I could see your face.

COUNTRY
(A touch upset now)I can never tell when your lying or telling the truth.

CITY
You never could.

COUNTRY
Well, if you didn’t…then what did happen?

(The young man goes back to his seat.)

CITY
Nothing

COUNTRY
He didn’t try anything more forward?

(Pause in conversation. The Usherette moves toward the baroque wooden carved column and looks sadly and longingly at the movie screen.)

CITY
There wasn’t even a he?

COUNTRY
Wait? What?

(In the movie house, a man seated suddenly turns around and looks at CITY, She doesn’t take notice. After a beat he turns back around to watch the trailers.)

CITY
There wasn’t a date

COUNTRY
But

CITY
Don’t be so gullible. It didn’t happen. None of it

COUNTRY
It was so detailed. It sounded so…

CITY
I stole it. It happened to Jane Greer in last week’s picture


COUNTRY
You aren’t seeing anyone at all?

CITY
Sure. Last week I was out with Robert Mitchum every night. The week before that I was painting the town red with Dick Powell, and then it was George Raft…

COUNTRY
When are you going to abandon these ridiculous fantasies?

CITY
Sis…

COUNTRY
There are plenty of boy’s left here. If you came home there’d be ample time to meet someone and fall in love

CITY
Hitch up with some corn fed cattle puncher?

COUNTRY
I don’t understand you

CITY
That’s not the answer. Not for me

(A young girl gets up out of her seat, she is visibly upset possibly crying. The dark browed man seated next to her turns around and follows her with his eyes.)

COUNTRY
Come home, please!

CITY
I am home.

COUNTRY
No! You know what I mean

CITY
I’m happier here OK? I know you don’t believe that, but I’m where I belong.

COUNTRY
I worry about you alone up there without any family around you. We hear horror stories about single girls in the big cities.

(The trailer shows a young woman fleeing a man in a trench coat through a city street at night.)

CITY
I should come home to avoid a horror story? That's ridiculous. If you think your world is any less horrible than mine, you need to open your eyes!

(The dark browed man gets up and follows the girl who just left. He appears to be hiding something in his coat. He pauses behind the usherette for a moment, possibly to say something to her, but thinks better of it and leaves in pursuit of the girl.)

COUNTRY
I think you’ve lost all hope.

CITY
Wrong. I’ve just brought self delusion to a near stand still.

COUNTRY
So, now I’m deluded? You’re the one with all the fantasy talk.

CITY
Let’s forget it

COUNTRY
When does it end…after you’ve lost your looks and you hit rock bottom?

CITY
What do you know about rock bottom? Trust me, this this isn’t rock bottom. It’s no where near rock bottom

(On the movie screen, we see Bela Lugosi stalk his prey. The usherette moves out of his way back to her original position by the red curtain.)

CITY
Everything terrible you’ve ever thought up or saw or read in the paper…eventually everything terrible happens. To everyone. Sure, it happens in the city, but happens just as often in the country. Don’t kid yourself. Ok? Everyone gets scalped in the end.

(The Dark browed man returns into the movie house, he has the girl by the arm. She is upset, but doesn't resist as he leads her back to their original seats.)

COUNTRY
How can you think like that? If I held that kind of view I wouldn't be able to keep going? Is that what you really think? If it is what is their possibly left to look forward to?

CITY
Every other Friday night.

COUNTRY
A new picture?

CITY
In the movie house we are all looking at the same thing. That gives me…something

COUNTRY
What?

CITY
Maybe....?... I don’t know.

(Something stirs behind the red curtain. The usherette goes and looks up the step toward the balcony. There she sees the image of Bela again. The silhouette of a huge fat man in a suit steps into the image and obstructs the view of Bela. The man puffs on his cigar looking down at the usherette. He takes out a handkerchief and wipes the back of his heck. Next, the man unbuttons his vest. He rubs his belly. He drops his cigar which rolls down to the bottom of the steps where the usherette stands. He looks down at the cigar. She bends over to pick it and looks back at the silhouette of the fat man who folds him arms at the top of the stairs…waiting. Before She can decide on a course of action, the lights fade.)

New York Movie (first draft)

(We see a female usher standing by the red curtain leading up to the cinema balcony. She is lost in thought, slightly frowning. She is the CITY SISTER. The conversation that follows is a recorded telephone conversation between her and her COUNTRY SISTER. The scene on the movie screen is almost exactly as narrated by CITY to COUNTRY.)

CITY
The storm gathers and the wind blows the door to his balcony wide open, catching the lampshade like a sail knocking it over. The rain drops speckle and then drench us. I looked at his eyes; his face now wet seemed handsomer than ever.
(She holds for a dramatic pause.)

COUNTRY
And then, did you kiss?

CITY
His tongue became a typewriter

COUNTRY
Oh my!

CITY
Every keystroke a quick kiss. Still he was gentle, even if amateur.

COUNTRY
Listen to you?!

CITY
What?

COUNTRY
Even if amateur? Would you prefer a professional?

CITY
A professional kisser…perhaps.

(They laugh)

CITY
Stop interrupting. So his amateur lips are moving across my face and my neck. The attention is intoxicating till I feel a little prick

COUNTRY
Stop right now!

CITY
No, no, no! It’s his teeth

COUNTRY
His teeth?

CITY
His is so lost in the passion, that he starts biting at me.

COUNTRY
That’s too much

CITY
You’d think so, but I have to confess…I liked it.

COUNTRY
No

CITY
Yes. I did. So know I can feel his teeth and his tongue and his hairy arms as if they were everywhere at once. He’s biting and begging and I’m blinded by the reflections of moonlight piercing the stormy night sky. Then he bites the buttons of my dress and…

COUNTRY
Tell me you didn’t

(CITY sister laughs)

COUNTRY
So you didn’t?

CITY
I wish I could have seen your face.

COUNTRY
(A touch upset now)I can never tell when your lying or telling the truth anymore

CITY
What do you mean ‘anymore’? You never could.

COUNTRY
Well, if you didn’t…then what did happen?

CITY
Nothing

COUNTRY
He didn’t try anything more forward?

(Pause in conversation. The Usherette moves toward the baroque wooden carved column and looks sadly and longingly at the movie screen.)

CITY
There wasn’t even a he?

COUNTRY
Wait? What?

CITY
There wasn’t a date

COUNTRY
You didn’t go out with the cinema owner’s son?

CITY
I don’t even know if the cinema owner has a son.

COUNTRY
But

CITY
Don’t be so gullible. It didn’t happen. None of it

COUNTRY
It was so detailed. It sounded so…

CITY
I stole it

COUNTRY
It was a lie

CITY
Not a lie. I stole it. It happened to Jane Greer in last week’s picture

COUNTRY
Sis! I want to know what is happened, what is really happening

CITY
Really, really truly?

COUNTRY
We’re all worried. Aren’t you seeing anyone? Anyone at all?

CITY
Sure. Last week I was out with Robert Mitchum every night. The week before that I was painting the town red with Dick Powell, and then it was George Raft…

COUNTRY
When are you going to abandon these ridiculous fantasies?

CITY
Sis…

COUNTRY
There are plenty of boy’s left here. If you came home there’d be ample time to meet someone and fall in love

CITY
Love? A man isn’t always the answer.

COUNTRY
That’s just more fantasy talk. Sis…come home

CITY
I am home

COUNTRY
No! You know what I mean

CITY
I’m happier here OK? I know you can’t believe that, but I’m happier here!

COUNTRY
When are you going to realize? Too late? After you’ve lost your looks and hit rock bottom?

CITY
Come on! What do you know about rock bottom? Trust me, this this isn’t rock bottom. It’s no where near rock bottom

COUNTRY
I lose so much sleep worrying about you alone up there. No family, no one to protect you. We hear stories about single girls in the big cities. Horror stories

CITY
That’s ridiculous. I should come home to avoid the horror stories? If you think your world is any less horrible than mine, you need to grow up! Open your eyes!

COUNTRY
I think you’ve lost hope.

CITY
I haven’t lost all hope. I’ve just brought self delusion to a near stand still.

COUNTRY
I just don’t want all those terrible things to happen to you

(On the movie screen, we see Bela Lugosi stalk his prey. The usherette moves away from the screen back to her original position by the red curtain.)

CITY
Everything terrible you’ve ever thought up or saw or read in the paper…eventually everything terrible happens to you. To everyone. You’ll know loneliness. You’ll know hunger. If the Indian doesn’t tear off your scalp, eventually the worms and the alley rats will.

COUNTRY
That’s it?

CITY
Yes. Sometimes lonely. Sometimes bored. Except every other Friday night.

COUNTRY
A new picture?

CITY
Yes. Till then it’s avoidance, anxiety, fear…but in the movie house we are all looking at the same thing. That gives me…something

COUNTRY
Comfort?

CITY
Maybe. I don’t know.

(Something stirs behind the red curtain. The usherette goes and looks up the step toward the balcony. There she sees the image of Bela again. The silhouette of a huge fat man in a suit steps into the image and obstructs the view of Bela. The man puffs on his cigar looking down at the usherette. The man unbuttons his vest. He rubs his belly and then slaps his belly. He drops his cigar which rolls down to the bottom of the steps where the usherette stands. He looks down at the cigar. She bends over to pick it and looks back at the silhouette of the fat man who folds him arms at the top of the stairs…waiting.)