BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Masques.
#005
Written by
George R.R. Mart1n
Directed by
Alan Cooke
-
First Draft
September 3, 1987 (Blue)
September 2, 1987
WITT/THOMAS PRODUCTIONS
956 North Seward Street
Hollywood, CA 90038
(213) 856-0589 (213) 856-4994
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
"Masques"-
FADE IN:
1 INT – CATHY’S BATHROOM - NIGHT
The room is filled with steam. Through the frosted glass of the shower stall, we glimpse Cathy rinsing her hair. She turns off the spray, reaches out and takes a bath towel off the rack. She emerges, the towel wrapped discreetly around her as the doorbell rings.
CATHY
Coming...
The Camera FOLLOWS as she pads barefoot through her apartment to the front door. As the bell RINGS AGAIN, she opens the door a crack.
2 CATHY'S POV
Three young children in Halloween costumes. stand there with trick.or-treat bags open hungrily.
CHILDREN
. (shout in unison)
Trick or treat!
3 CATHY
takes a couple of miniature candy bars from. a bowl near the door, and drops them into the bags. -
CATHY
Happy Halloween.
The two older kids run down the hall, but the smallest little girl lingers a moment.
LITTLE GIRL
Thank you.
As she scoots after the others, Cathy's father CHARLES CHANDLER arrives like Robert E. Lee in Confederate uniform, white beard, and sword. Cathy admits him..
CHARLES
Am I early, are you late, or is that your costume?
Cathy gives him a quick KISS, shuts the door.
CATHY
I'm late. I'm sorry, Dad. I lost track of time at the office.
CHARLES
(teasing)
You never lost track of time when you worked for me.
CATHY
(teasing back)
Course I did … every morning.
(beat)
If' you can hold the trick-or- treaters
at bay while I get dressed, I think we'll
be just in time to be fashionably late.
Cathy retreats towards here bedroom as Charles seats himself on her sofa to wait, the scabbard of his mock sward making the notion awkward.
CHARLES
A likely story. I figure an hour and a half.
CATHY
That was the old Cathy. I'll be ready in fifteen minutes.
Charles doesn't believe a word of it.
CUT TO:
4 INT - FATHER'S CHAMBER - NIGHT
We PAN slowly across the floor, where a dozen children from the underground sit listening as father tells them a story. They're of various ages, from three to sixteen, and a few are dressed in lovely, homemade costumes, but all of them are
engrossed. It's a ghost story, so their eyes are wide, and sometimes one of them shivers.
FATHER
... and from that day forward,
John always kept a light burning
1n his window by night, so that
Deirdre might find her way back
to him. And in the deepest part
of winter, when the snows lay
thick against the walls of his
cottage and the cold wind came
shrieking from the north, he would
take down his bow and walk through
the forest, calling her name
until his voice grew hoarse and
his tears froze hard on his face.
But she never answered, and till
the end of his days, John never
saw her again.
We MOVE IN on Father as he concludes the tale, and FIND Vincent standing behind him, listening as raptly as the children. Vincent is dressed more formally than usual (perhaps in something reminiscient of the Beast's costume in the Cocteau film). Four BOOKS are piled on the table beside him (contemporary hardcovers, not leather-bound). When the story ends, the children REACT with enthusiasm.
ELLIE
That was a good one.
KIPPER
Tell us another one,
Father...
The one about the Headless Horseman.
DAVID
Yeah, tell us that one.
FATHER
You've had enough ghosts for one
night. Go on, now. Mary told
me she needs help to carve up some jack-o-lanterns...-
That does it. The kids STAMPEDE out of the room, each of them eager to get there first.
VI NCENT .
Every year, they ask for the same stories.
By now they must know them better than you do.
FATHER
(chuckles)
Old stories are like old
friends... every so often, we need
to drop in on them again, just
to see how they're doing.
(beat, fond smile)
And one little boy I remember
would never have let a mere
jack-o-lantern deny him a visit
to Ichabod Crane.
They exchange a smile of shared memory, and then Vincent rises. Father's mood turns serious.
FATHER
You're determined to go, then?
(off Vincent's nod)
I wish you'd reconsider.
VINCENT
Father, surely on this night of all nights,
I can walk among them in safety.
FATHER
Vincent, Vincent... there is no
safety up there. For you or
anyone else.
Vincent NODS gravely, acknowledging the sad truth of Father’s statement.
His fingers absently brush against the books on the table beside him.
VINCENT
Sometimes we must leave our safe places,
Father, and walk empty handed among our enemies.
FATHER
Those are her words.
VINCENT
(nods)
Our lives have been so different... and yet, somehow,
I feel as though we understand each other.
I will not lose this opportunity. I must see her, talk to her...
Father frowns, shakes his head in helpless surrender.
FATHER
Go, then. If you're set on it, I can't very well stop you.
(Vincent starts for door)
Vincent...
(Vincent pauses)
Be careful.
Vincent nods and EXITS. Wearily, Father slumps back in his chair, and lays his hand upon the stack of books. We CLOSE IN and PAN SLOWLY down the stack, reading the titles on the spines. There are FOUR books, titled Too Many Heroes, Three Hundred Days, A Terrible Strength, and Fables and Fantasies, all written by BRIGIT O'DONNELL.
CUT TO:
5 INT. CATHY'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Charles is waiting when Cathy comes out, beautiful in a Marie Antoinette/French Courtesan Costume.
CHARLES
Fifteen minutes... I don't believe it.
My little girl has changed, hasn't she?
CATHY
I'm. trying... very hard.
CHARLES
You don't know how pleased I am
that you let me talk you into this. Since you
quit the firm, I hardly ever get to see you.
CATHY
They keep me pretty busy...
but I've missed you too, Dad.
CHARLES
Now, don't be shy about leaving me
to fend for myself. I'm not so old
that I don't remember how
romantic these affairs can be. A lot of
your old friends will be there tonight.
CATHY
I'm going to this party to be with you.
CHARLES
(playful)
You're going to this party to meet
Brigit O'Donnell, just like everyone else.
CATHY
(smiles)
Well... that too.
6 He reaches out and takes her hand, squeezes it.
CHARLES
(soft, sincere)
Have I told you how beautiful you look?
(beat)
Sometimes you remind me so much of your mother...
Deeply touched, Cathy leans over, kisses him.
CATHY
Happy Halloween.
CUT TO:
7 EXT.- COSTUME SHOP - NIGHT
A modest storefront, its window lettered to read MOE'S MASQUERADE CITY COSTUME RENTALS. The sign in the door says OPEN, but a. we watch a hand flips the sign to CLOSED just as MICHAEL -- a big, heavy-set man in his late fifties-- appears at the door. A folded NEWSPAPER sticks from a pocket of his rumbled raincoat.
MICHAEL pushes the door open and finds MOE, the short, balding proprietor, standing in his. way.
MOE
Sorry, I'm closed.
MICHAEL
(Irish accent)
I must have a costume.
If it's money you're wanting, I've got it.
He pulls a handful of crumpled fifties from the pocket of his coat. Moe looks at them, hesitates, and then admits him to the shop and locks the door behind him.
8 INT. - COSTUME SHOP - NIGHT
Very little but bare hangers remains on the racks up front; the shop has been picked clean. Moe gestures around at his depleted merchandise.
MOE
Tomorrow, you come back,
you could have your pick .-
Jesse James, Darth Vader, King Arthur,
whatever you want. Closing time
on Ha1loween night... Well, maybe
I can find something in back.
You don't mind a little frayed,
maybe a missing button?
MICHAEL
That doesn't matter.
.
Moe shuffles through a curtain into the back in the shop. Michael takes the newspaper out of his pocket and is glancing down at it as Moe re-emerges carrying a rather tattered 19th century British army -red coat uniform.
MOE
Here, this will maybe fit...
A look of absolute fury crosses Michael's face. He drops the paper on the counter, reaches across with a meaty fist, and seizes Moe by his shirtfront.
MICHAEL
Are you having a bit of fun with me, is that it?
(shakes him, furious)
Get that damnable rag out my sight
and get me something decent.
He shoves him back contemptuously. Moe stumbles against the wall, and the costume falls to the floor. Scared, Moe hurries through the curtain again. We HEAR him fumbling around and he returns with a cheap clown costume --oversized, covered with polka dots, the mask a plastic clown-face secured around the head by an elastic band.
MOE
Here... so, it's too big, there's nothing else...
if this doesn't suit you, take your business elsewhere-
Michael takes the costume from him with a frown.
MICHAEL
It will do.
MOE
Changing booths over there --
(gestures)
9 INT. CHANGING ROOM
Michael nods; we FOLLOW him into one of the changing room. He hangs up the costume, strips off the raincoat and his suit jacket, we SEE the butt of a REVOLVER jammed into his belt as he begins to change.
10 ANGLE ON MOE
as Michael re-emerges, dressed in the clown outfit.
MOE
That'll be twenty for the rental, and fifty for the deposit.
You bring it back by six tomorrow or
I got to charge you another day.
Michael tosses two crumpled fifties onto the counter.
MICHAEL
Keep the money. I'll be keeping the costume.
He EXITS the shop, the bell RINGING as he opens the door. Moe shakes his head in disgust, rings up the sale and grabs the bills. The folded newspaper, forgotten, lies besides them on the counter. Moe picks it up.
11 INSERT - THE NEWSPAPER
The paper is open to a small item on the society page. The headline reads MASKED BALL TO FETE IRISH PEACE ACTIVIST.
12 BACK TO THE SCENE
Moe shrugs, drops the paper in the trash, and begins to count out his cash drawer for the night.
CUT TO:
13 EXT. - FASHIONABLE APARTMENT- NIGHT - ESTABLISHING
A high-rise on Central Park West, obviously lavish and expensive, with a penthouse and roof garden atop it.
14 INT. - BRENNAN PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
A pair of elevator doors OPEN, and we FOLLOW Cathy and her father out into a cloakroom/ ANTECHAMBER (note -- it should be established here that TWO elevators travel to the penthouse level). A BUTLER (whose extremely proper face has been done up with green make-up and false antennae to transform him into an alien) bows to them, accepts the crisp white invitation offered by Charles and admits them through a set of ornate wooden doors. They enter a huge, high- ceilinged BALLROOM where the party is in progress.
This ball is a major function of a very high social set --everything should be extremely upscale. The room is quite large and filled with people, the dance floor crowded with costumed socialites while others chat, flirt, eat, and drink on the peripheries. Ornate chandeliers hang from the high ceiling, but the lighting is dim, hazy, romantic. Across the width of the room, a series of French doors open onto a ROOF GARDEN.
A band is playing from a stage at one end of the room, while servants (wearing their customary uniforms, but with their faces MADE UP in various exotic ways) circulate with trays of champagne, hors d'oeuvres. The costumes tend toward the elaborate and fanciful. Everyone wears masks or make-up, ranging from simple dominoes to elaborate headpieces that completely hide the face.
We FOLLOW Cathy and Charles as they enter and make their way through the throng of partygoers. Charles snatches two glasses of champagne from a passing tray, hands one to Cathy. They CLINK their glasses together.
BRENNAN (O. S. )
Charles. Is that you... and...
surely not Cathy!
Their host, BRENNAN, a man of Charles' age costumed as a KNIGHT, comes up and pumps Charles' hand, smiling. He's trailed by a group of Cathy's OLD FRIENDS, in various costumes, holding drinks. Cathy recognizes one woman, LAUGHS with delight. They HUG, begin to talk.
CUT TO:
15 INT. - ELEVATOR SHAFT - NIGHT
Vincent climbs on top of an elevator, gazes up the shaft, and braces himself as the car begins to ascend.
CUT TO:
16 INT. - BALLROOM - NIGHT
The party rages on. The camera TRACKS PAST Cathy and her friends as they discuss the guest of honor.
JEFF
Have you met Brigit yet? She’s astonishing...
MARIE
Ravishing is what he really means.
CATHY
Last time I heard, it was still legal to be both.
GREG
You know she sold Three Hundred Days to Hollywood?
MARIE
Romeo and Juliet with Irish accents...
I don't see what all the fuss is about.
JEFF
Oh, I thought it was a wonderful story.
.
GREG
She's got guts, you have to give her that.
This peace thing has gotten her death threats
from both sides. Her mother and her
husband were both murdered, you know.
JEFF
Her father's IRA. Wanted for one
of those bombings in London.
John Brennan, with Charles beside him, interrupts the animated conversation.
BRENNAN
Cathy, I was going to introduce your
father to Brigit. Care to come along?
CATHY
I’d love to.
Brennan leads them across the crowded room. Ahead of them, the throng of costumed admirers surrounding the guest of honor suddenly LAUGH at some witticism. Muttering apologies, Brennan pushes through until CAVANAUGH, a big man costumed as a Viking, stops Charles.
CAVANAUGH
(Irish accent, brusque)
Hold up there.
(when Charles stops)
Let's have a look here...
He reaches down, PULLS Charles' sword partly out of its scabbard, tries the edge with his thumb, nods.
BRENNAN
(apologetic)
I'm dreadfully sorry, Charles.
Mister Cavanaugh here is one of
Brigit's bodyguards.
CAVANAUGH
No edge to it. Very good.
(slides the sword back)
No offense, sir, but there's been
threats... Orangemen, Croppies, what have you...
CHARLES
(confused)
Croppies, did you say? I’m afraid I don't understand.
BRIGIT (O.S.)
(Irish accent)
No reason you should...
17 ANGLE ON BRIGIT
as the crowd parts for her. Brigit O'Donnell is around thirty, beautiful, sophisticated, with a playfulness to her eyes and her mouth, a hint of the tomboy and the rebel. This is a stubborn, free-spirited, passionate woman who has gone her own way all her life. Her costume, while different from Cathy's, is enough alike so that the same vague description might be applied to both, and the OWL MASK she wears is identical to Cathy's.
BRIGIT
It's from an old war... an Irish Catholic rising
against the British and their Protestant allies.
The rebels had short cropped hair, you see. .
CATHY
That was... what, two hundred years ago?
(off her nod)
A long time to remember a haircut...
BRIGIT
(impressed)
We Irish have long memories. My father taught me
all the songs about the brave Croppy boys when
I was still in the cradle, and every year we’d hear
the Orangemen march past, banging their Lambeg
drums and singing how they put the Croppies down.
CHARLES
(gallantly)
I stand instructed... I'm afraid history
was never my subject, and most of what
I did learn I've managed to forget.
BRIGIT
Forgetting is a trick that Ulster could stand to learn.
(smiling, to Cathy)
I like your mask. I wrote a story about an owl
-woman once... just a little fable, for children...
CATHY
...children of all ages. I found
it just last year, and loved it.
BRIGIT
Did you now? It's not easy to find, that one...
CATHY
You have a real gift. I wish you
wrote more children's stories.
BRIGIT
I wish I could... but there are darker things
than ghosts in Ireland now, and you can't hear
the fairy music for the gunfire. Which is another
way of saying, I'm not the innocent I was then.
18 EXT. - ROOF GARDEN- NIGHT
A chill October wind is blowing, and the roof garden is deserted, forlorn. Past the stone parapet overgrown with ivy, we SEE the city lights and the roof of a second building. Vincent APPEARS on the roof of the second building, and LEAPS, landing with cat-like grace atop the parapet. He steps down onto the roof garden. We FAINTLY HEAR the music from the party drifting across the roof. Vincent stands with the wind snapping at his cloak, tentative, knowing that he is about to cross over into another world. Then he strides through the garden to the penthouse and its French doors. He touches the doorknob, hesitates just a moment, then OPENS THE DOORS. The SOUNDS of music and conversation grow MUCH LOUDER.
CUT TO:
19 INT.- BALLROOM- NIGHT
Cathy and Brigit are still talking when both of them SHIVER in the the blast of cold air from outside. Cathy looks up.
20 CATHY'S POV
The width of the ballroom is between them, but for an instant she SEES Vincent clearly, standing framed in the doorway. Two costumed dancers move past her in f.g. blocking her view, and they're gone, the doors are closed again and Vincent is gone.
21 CATHY
can't believe what she's seen.
BRIGIT
Catherine? What's wrong?
CATHY
Nothing, I... I thought I saw
someone I know. Please, excuse me . . .
Brigit smiles politely as Cathy starts across the dance floor. The party is dimly-lit and crowded, costumed dancers swirling all around her, waiters crisscrossing with trays. She fights her way through with increasing urgency as she's jostled and blocked, and strange costumed faces loom up at her out of the crowd, offering her drinks, canapes, dances.
As she struggles across the floor, she glimpses here a SWIRL OF CLOAK, there a FLASH OF LONG HAIR, and but each time the apparition is gone as swiftly as it appeared. A man in a HOODED CLOAK stands by one of the tables, and Cathy rushes up behind him, thinking he's Vincent... but when he turns, it's a strangers face made up as DRACULA.
Finally she reaches the doors, looks around in confusion. There's no sign of Vincent. Cathy flings open the doors and steps out onto the roof garden.
22 EXT. - ROOF GARDEN - NIGHT
Cathy moves through the garden, calls out.
CATHY
(softly)
Vincent!
(more loudly)
Vincent!
She waits for a long beat, listening, looking around, but there's no answer but the wind.
23 INT. - BALLROOM - NIGHT
Vincent moves slowly around the periphery of the party.
He's clearly ill-at-ease and discomfitted, he's never experienced anything remotely like this in his world below. Yet there's a certain fascination in his eyes as well. He's taking it all in with a wonder that's almost childlike in its innocence, and a wariness that's all too adult. A WAITER appears beside him with a tray, covered with a mound of caviar and an array of tiny pancakes.
WAITER
Caviar, sir?
VINCENT
Caviar...
(smiles)
WAITER
It’s Beluga, sir.
VINCENT
(with awe)
…from Russia...
"
He makes no move to take any of the caviar, but looks at the silver tray with fascination, until Brigit dances past, waltzing in the arms of her bodyguard, Cavanaugh. Vincent NOTICES HER, and follows her with his eyes. We INTERCUT between his face and Brigit's, as she whirls around the floor. Near the end of the dance, her eyes meet Vincent's; he LOOKS AWAY at once. When the music stops, Brigit LOOKS AROUND THE ROOM as Cavanaugh leads her off the dance floor.
CAVANAUGH
What is it? Trouble?
(looking around)
Brigit spies Vincent again, and clearly she senses something extraordinary about him.
BRIGIT
No, Edward... it's all right.
(exasperated by his suspicion) .
Oh, go on with you now. This is
a party... not every man who looks
at me is wanting to lay me in my grave
She walks away from him, straight to where Vincent stands, half in shadows.
VINCENT
Brigit 'Donnell...
BRIGIT
Herself.
She SMILES and offers Vincent her hand. He hesitates for a LONG SOLID beat, very tentative, and then finally reaches out and takes it lightly.
CUT TO:
24 CATHY
as she re-enters the ballroom. For an instant she's certain that she chased an illusion. Then she SEES Vincent and Brigit at that precise instant when their hands meet. Off her REACTION, we
.
FADE OUT
END OF ACT ONE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
25 INT. - BALLROOM - NIGHT
ANGLE ON VINCENT AND BRIGIT
VINCENT
I did not mean to intrude... if I disturbed you, I'm sorry.
BRIGIT
No need. A little disturbance is good for the soul.
(studies his face)
What extraordinary make-up...
you look as though you might have
ridden with Cuchulainn, sailed with Theseus...
Self- conscious, Vincent turns slightly away, shadowing his features, and adjusts his hood.
VINCENT
Only in my dreams... and sometimes in books like yours.
(beat, awkward)
Your writing has... helped me through dark times...
you've touched me, made me think...
(beat, awkward)
I just wanted... to tell you... to thank you.
Brigit is obviously moved by his sincerity.
BRIGIT
Come. Thank me outside,
before I die
from the smoke and noise in here.
She LINKS ARMS with Vincent, who is clearly discomfitted and unsettled by this easy acceptance. He begins to SHY AWAY, then catches himself, and lets Brigit drag him toward the doors. We PULL BACK from them, across the room, to reveal CATHY watching them exit together.
26 CLOSE ON CATHY
She's uncertain, worried, perhaps a little jealous. A man's gloved HAND enters frame and taps her on the shoulder. A tall, dark haired stranger stands behind her. He's wearing a PIRATE's costume.
A knotted bandanna serves as his mask, a ragged short cape hangs to his waist, and on his belt is a large curved KNIFE SHEATH, very piratical, studded with phoney costume gems.
DONALD
Masks make life so interesting.
Under those feathers, you might
be anyone -- a childhood friend,
an old lover... help me now, am
I getting warm?
CATHY
(smiles)
I’m afraid not...
DONALD
A famous writer, then?
CATHY
(laughs)
You're getting colder.
DONALD
Oh-oh. Have I just tripped over my sword again?
The butler's the real pirate... I slipped him a ten-spot
to tell me what the guest of honor vas wearing.
CATHY
(amused)
I don't think you'll get a refund. Brigit's wearing an owl mask too.
DONALD
I’ll consider it money well spent. I'm Donald Phillips.
CATHY
Cathy Chandler.
DONALD
Well, Cathy Chandler, can I run
up a jolly roger and steal you
away for this dance?
Cathy HESITATES, and glances back over her shoulder, but Vincent and Brigit are out of sight now. She turns back to Donald, confused, and forces an uncertain smile.
CATHY
Why not?
He sweeps her out onto the dance floor.
CUT TO:
27 EXT. - ROOF GARDEN- NIGHT
Brigit leans against the parapet as they talk, the wind in her hair, looking out over the city. Vincent has moved a few steps away from her. We can still HEAR the music from inside, but now it's mingled with city sounds from the streets below. Brigit takes a deep breath of the night air.
BRIGIT
The night has a special magic to
it, don't you think? This night
especially.
VINCENT
Halloween?
BRIGIT
In the old religion, they called it Samhaim
(SAOWEN) .. the night when the walls between
the worlds grew thin, and spirits of the underworld
walked the earth... A night of masks and balefires,
when anything is possible and nothing is quite as it seems.
(beat)
Your city has its own magic as well...
the lights, the towers... listen to it...
They share a moment of silence, as we HEAR traffic, horns, a police siren in the distance, etc.
BRIGIT
In Derry, the night has a darker music...
bombs, gunfire, the screams of dying men...
VINCENT
Yet you always return. The whole world is open to you...
you could choose to live anywhere.
BRIGIT
Oh, I've thought of leaving... but Derry's my home.
Whatever else I might be, I'm still a Bogside girl,
my father's daughter, my husband's widow.
VINCENT
When you wrote of Ian in Three Hundred Days,
I felt as though I knew him... you made him
live again with your words.
When Brigit looks at Vincent, he instinctively TURNS HIS HEAD away so his features are hidden. She has tears in her eyes, but a fierce, stubborn smile on her lips.
BRIGIT
(proudly)
I know. Aye, he's dead, but I will not forget him,
or let him be forgotten. It's been two years since
he got into that car, and an hour hasn't passed that
I haven't spoken of him, written of him, thought of him.
VINCENT
I don't want to waken painful memories...
BRIGIT
Oh, it hurts, it hurts... but such sweet pain.
(beat)
Ian and I were born six blocks apart...
and yet, in different worlds. A stiff necked
Orangeman and a Croppy girl from Bogside,
we were .. daft enough to fall in love, but not
so big a pair of fools to think that he could live
in my world, or me in his. So we tried to create
a new world that we could share together...
well, you know how that ended.
VINCENT
(compassionately)
Yes. And I know you built a bridge together,
you and he. Your work, and his, will help
to heal your people. The Ian you wrote of would
think that as good a memorial as any man could want.
BRIGIT
(bitter smile)
Sure, and he'd better, for it's the only sort he's
likely to get. Every time I raise a stone over
his poor sweet head, some bastard knocks it to
pieces... even the dead are spared none of the hate...
Brigit turns, rests her arms on the parapet, and gazes out over the city in silence for a moment.
BRIGIT
It could have been me, you know...
and there are times I wish it had been.
(very softly, begins to recite)
She is far from the land where her young hero sleeps...
OVERCOME WITH MEMORY AND EMOTION, Brigit cannot continue. But Vincent remembers the poem, and picks up the recitation where she left off.
VINCENT
(reciting)
...and lovers are round her, sighing:
But coldly she turns from their gaze, and weeps,
For her heart in his grave is lying.
She sings the wild song of her dear native plains,
Every note which he lov'd awaking;
Ah! little they think who delight in her strains,
How the heart of the minstrel is breaking.
Brigit TURNS to face him as he recites, and silently MOUTHS the last few words along with Vincent. She’s deeply touched, and when he’s done she smiles sadly.
BRIGIT
(very softly)
Thank you.
CUT TO:
28 INT. - ANTECHAMBER - NIGHT
ANGLE ON ELEVATORS
as the doors open and Michael steps out in his cheap clown costume. The butler accosts him.
BUTLER
Your invitation, sir.
MICHAEL
My… aye, I've got it here somewhere... .
(pats his pockets)
Damn... I'm thinking I lost it somewhere.
I had one, I swear.
BUTLER
I’m afraid I can't admit you without an invitation.
MICHAEL
(angrily)
I'm telling you I ws. invited! Are you calling me a liar now?
29 ANGLE ON CAVANAUGH
standing by the bar, not far from the doors to the antechamber. Be HEARS Michael's raised voice, and RECOGNIZES the sound of the Irish accent. At once he slams down his mug of beer, and moves toward the door.
30 BACK TO THE SCENE
BUTLER
Mister Brennan' s instructions were quite firm.
Perhaps I should summon him.
Michael REACTS with obvious alarm.
MICHAEL
No... no, you needn't bother yourself...
I'm thinking I just remembered where I left it,
the very place... I'll just get it and come back.
BUTLER
Very good, sir.
Michael moves away toward the elevators. The doors open to disgorge a group of partiers dressed like Henry VIII and his six wives. Michael watches them as they move toward the entrance... he sidles in behind them... The Butler is caught up in the swirl of feminine pulchritude... trying to check all the invitations... Michael SLIPS INTO THE ROOM, unnoticed...
He nearly collides with CAVANAUGH as the bodyguard bursts into the anteroom, shoves past Michael to GRAB Henry VIII by his ermine collar... -
CAVANAUGH
Hold it!
HENRY VIII
(nasal NY voice)
What's the meaning of this?
The bodyguard releases him with a look of disgust.
31 CATHY AND DONALD
The camera FOLLOWS them as they dance. Donald is smiling, but Cathy is distracted, pensive, her mind on Vincent.
DONALD
A penny for your thoughts...
(off her silence)
or maybe you'd prefer a tax free municipal bond?
(beat)
Hey, I can't be that bad a dancer.
CATHY
(wan smile)
You're not. I'm sorry. I’m not very good
company at the moment, I realize.
DONALD
I'll be the judge of that.
Donald LEADS her off the dance floor, snares two champagne glasses from a passing waiter, hands one to her. Cathy accepts it, but she GLANCES back over her shoulder. Donald picks up on it at once.
DONALD
He’s a lucky rogue, whoever the hell
you're looking for...
CATHY
I'm sorry. I'll try to be a bit more sociable.
Charles Chandler ENTERS, smiling, pleased to see Cathy in the company of a gentleman.
CHARLES
(playfully, to Cathy)
Don't I know you from somewhere?
(off her smile) .
Having a good time? Who might this be?
CATHY
Donald Phillips, my father, Charles Chandler.
(they shake) .
CHARLES
Donald Phillips? Not the Donald Phillips of
Gernsback, Campbell, and Phillips, surely.
DONALD .
(brief hesitation)
Ah... actually, yes.
CHARLES
(with enthusiasm)
I never dreamed you'd be so young. Bert Prasker
is one of my partners. He's still nursing his wounds
from that licking you gave him in the Scott case.
(to Cathy)
Be careful, Catherine, this one isn't as harmless
as he seems. How do you two happen to know each other?
DONALD
We don't, actually...
(beat, smile)
...but I'm trying to rectify that.
We PAN OFF Cathy and Donald to FIND MICHAEL across the room, watching... Now he moves through the crowd, eyes searching, probing... WE should sense tension and danger in his presence…
CUT TO:
32 EXT. - ROOF GARDEN - NIGHT
Brigit and Vincent walk together through the garden. They do not touch, but there is a closeness between them.
BRIGIT
My father used to tell me of New York,
when I was just a little girl. He came here
a dozen timrd... never quite legally, of course...
raising money for the cause, collecting for
the widows and the orphans... and for the weapons
to make more of them. He always promised that
one day he'd take me with him, across the ocean...
(sadly)
…one day...
VINCENT
He never did?
(beat)
BRIGIT
(painfully)
My father cast me out. Three years ago,
it was. My wedding day. He came to the
church, called me a traitor and an orangeman’s
whore. I’ve not seen him since.
(beat)
By rights, I ought to hate him.
VINCENT
There's no hate in you... only grief.
BRIGIT
Aye... How can you hate the man who
taught you what love meant?
Brigit SHIVERS visibly in the wind.
VINCENT
Are you cold? Perhaps we should go back inside....
BRIGIT
Cold? No... why, it's naught but a brisk fall day...
(beat, mischievous)
... but I'd borrow your cloak, if you're willing to lend it.
VINCENT
My cloak?
BRIGIT
Edward and the others, they'd give
their lives for me, and I love them for it.
But sometimes, I want nothing so much as to get
away from them for a few hours.
VINCENT
They only want to keep you safe.
BRIGIT
I'm sick unto death of safety.
I look at that city out there, and I want to touch it...
to walk its streets and meet its people and listen
to its music. I want to see all the things
my father told me of... and I can't.
Can you imagine how that feels?
Vincent knows how it feels very well.
VINCENT
(softly)
Yes...
.
BRIGIT
To hell with the risks!
(grin)
Sometimes we must leave our safe places, Vincent,
and walk empty-handed among our enemies.
33 CLOSE ON VINCENT
Responding to the echo of his own words to Father, he SMILES slowly, then unfastens his cloak and whips it about Brigit's bare shoulders.
CUT TO:
34 INT. - BALLROOM - NIGHT
A cloaked, hooded figure RE-ENTERS the party through the french doors, alone. It's Briget, hidden in the voluminous folds of Vincent's cape. She moves quickly through the costumed crowds toward the door. .
35 EXT. ROOF GARDEN - NIGHT
as Vincent LEAPS from the parapet across to the next roof, then clambers down over a ladder and begins to swiftly descend a series of fire escape.
36 NT. BALLROOM - ANGLE ON CAVANAUGH
He scowls, drains the mug of beer in his hand, and stalks toward the french doors, worried about Brigit. The cloaked figure PASSES within a foot of him as they hurry in opposite directions, but Cavanaugh fails to make the connection and storms by without a second glance..
37 ANGLE PAST DONALD ON CATHY
as she SEES Brigit heading toward the elevators, and recognizes Vincent's cloak.
CATHY
(to Donald)
Excuse me.
She hands him her drink, rushes after the cloaked figure.
DONALD
Hey! What the...
37a ANGLE. MICHAEL (THE CLOWN)
watches the hurried departures, knows something's up. He hurries out after them, roughly elbowing a couple of people aside in his haste...
38 ANGLE ON ELEVATORS
as Brigit enters, Cathy rushes to the doors.
CATHY
Vincent! Wait!
Brigit turns, PUSHES BACK THE HOOD, smiles, and puts a finger to her lips. Donald RUSHES UP behind Cathy as the doors shut.
DONALD
Brigit O'Donnell, right?
CATHY
Something very strange is going on...
The second elevator arrives, its door CHIMING as it opens. Cathy enters quickly.
CATHY
... and I'm going to find out what.
I don't mean to be rude, but ..
Before the doors can shut, Donald enters as well, and hits the button for the ground floor.
DONALD
Hey, no problem. It's been years since
I've gone elevator racing...
MICHAEL watches the elevator doors close; both elevators are in use. He frantically looks around, takes off to find the stairs...
CUT TO:
39 EXT. - FASHIONABLE APARTMENT/PARK - NIGHT
Central Park is across the street. The DOORMAN opens the door for some newly arrived guests, and holds it open as Brigit makes her exit, the cloak folded neatly over her arm. She pauses on the sidewalk, looks around. Vincent STEPS OUT .of the shadows. Brigit smiles and returns his cloak, which he accepts with a grave, courtly bow. They CROSS THE STREET and ENTER THE PARK.
EXT. - APARTMENT. ANGLE ON DONALD AND CATHY
as they emerge from the doorway.
CATHY
(to doorman)
Did you notice a woman wearing a black cloak?
Red hair, wearing a mask like mine...
DOORMAN
Yeah. Sure. A looker like that, I'd have to be dead not to notice.
She met this guy in a cat mask, gave him the cape.
CATHY
Which way did they go?
DOORMAN
They come, they go... I'm supposed to remember?
Donald pulls out his wallet, peels off a couple of bills, slaps them into the doorman's hand.
DOORMAN
Now that I recall, they walked off into the park... north, I think...
CATHY
(to Donald)
I have to go after them. I can't explain, it's a...
a personal thing. Look, I appreciate your help,
but there's no need for you to leave the party.
DONALD
Do you hear me complaining? Besides,
what would your father think if I let
you go walking in the park alone?
CATHY
I'll be fine. Really.
DONALD
My car's close by. You'll stand a lot
better chance of finding the....
Cathy hesitates, then NODS. Donald grins, and they hurry off to his car.
PAN OFF Donald and Cathy to FIND MICHAEL hanging back, close enough to have overheard the conversation with the Doorman. He slips away...
FADE OUT
END of ACT TWO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
40 EXT. - CENTRAL PARK RESERVOIR - NIGHT
Vincent and Brigit walk slowly along the shore. Moonlight reflects off the water beside them, and an air of melancholy hangs over Vincent. Brigit REMOVES HER MASK, smiles.
BRIGIT
I'm beholden to you, Vincent. You cannot
know what this means to me...
(off his smile)
... or perhaps you can at that.
(beat, very gently)
Will you be telling me about her, then?
VINCENT
(sharp, surprised)
... about who?
BRIGIT
Your lady. The one who's breaking your heart.
Do you think I'm blind?
(beat)
You didn't come to me just to say you
liked my books. Something about
Ian and me struck close to home.
Vincent TURNS sharply away from her. He struggles visibly as he tries to decide what to tell her. Finally, with great difficulty, he begins to speak.
VINCENT
She brings me... such joy... and such pain...
as I have never known. I have no place
in her world, and she has none in mine...
our bond endangers...everything...
people I love, secrets I am sworn to keep,
the beliefs I've lived by...
BRIGET.
Aye, that sounds like Ian and myself,
sure enough. They do not understand,
do they? The way my father raged…
VINCENT
Yet you went on... despite everything...
BRIGIT
Oh, yes... we went on... till he died for it.
(beat)
Are you asking me for counsel, then?
Forget you ever knew her, and both of
you will be happier. If you want what's
best for her, take care you never see her again.
If Ian and I had never met, he might still be alive.
VINCENT
You wrote... that the price of your love
had been high, but you would pay it willingly
until the end of your days... that you would
change nothing, regret nothing...
BRIGIT
That’s damned unfair, you quoting
my own words back at me, after
I gave you all that good advice!
(smiles, softer)
Your brain tells you all the sensible things to do...
but the heart knows nothing about sense,
and the heart is as stubborn as the Irish.
Vincent is about to reply when he suddenly HEARS a nearby footfall and looks up sharply.
BRIGIT
(alarmed)
What is it?
CUT TO:
41 EXT. - CENTRAL PARK- NIGHT
We FOLLOW Michael as he leaves the roadway and moves steathily through the undergrowth toward the lagoon. His pistol is drawn, and he moves from shadow to shadow, crouching, concealing himself behind trees and rocks, listening to Brigit and Vincent talk. The sound of their VOICES grows steadily louder.
42 CLOSE ON MICHAEL
as he presses against the side of a large tree. Listens. Hears only silence. Spinning, he WHIRLS around the trunk of the tree, gun in hand, and runs smack into Vincent as he STEPS OUT from behind the other side of the tree.
43 CLOSE ON VINCENT
His face contorts in a ferocious SNARL. Michael brings up the gun to fire. Vincent ROARS and attacks. The gun FIRES and is sent spinning from Michael's grasp as Vincent SEIZES hold of him.
CUT TO:
44 DONALD'S CAR -PARK
as it turns a corner, its headlights piercing the darkness. He and Cathy REACT to the sound of the gunshot and Vincent's ROARS. Donald BRAKES as Michael comes flying across the roadway, and SMASHES HARD against the wrought iron post of a streetlamp.
DONALD
What the hell...
They leap out of the car. Donald kneels over the clown
CATHY
Is he...?
DONALD
(opening Michael's eye, checking pulse)
Out cold, but he'll live. Maybe a concussion.
But Cathy isn't listening .. she's SEEN.Vincent.
45 CATHY'S POV
of Vincent, standing beneath the great tree several feet away, his form draped by the shadows. As we watch, Brigit STEPS OUT of the foliage to stand beside him. She looks shaken, stares at the scene and crosses herself.
46 VINCENT
tears his eyes away from Cathy with difficulty, and REALIZES he must leave, much as he might wish otherwise. There will be police and doctors to deal with, questions to answer.
He cannot stay. He gives Cathy one last, heartfelt look, turns, and MELTS AWAY into the shadows.
47 CATHY
reacts with dismay as Vincent vanishes, calling after him.
CATHY
Vincent!
But he's gone. Cathy turns away, confused and heartsick. Brigit looks from Cathy to the spot where Vincent fled, back again. Clearly, she grasps the situation. She moves toward the others as Donald RISES.
DONALD
Brigit O'Donnell, I presume...
where'd the other guy go?
BRIGIT
He had... promises to keep.
(touches Cathy's arm, lightly)
... though I'. thinking he'd rather have stayed...
Cathy looks up, gives Brigit a grateful smile, regains control of the situation.
CATHY
Brigit, are you all right? What happened here?
BRIGIT
I'm fine... but it's not for want of him trying.
She LEANS OVER Michael's unconscious form, reaches down, and PULLS OFF his plastic clown mask. We MOVE IN CLOSE on Brigit when she sees his features. She REACTS STRONGLY, surprised and dismayed.
CATHY
Brigit... what's wrong? Do you know him?
BRIGIT
(angry, thoughtless)
Oh, him and his sort, I've known them all
my life. Michael MacBride, his name is.
He's a good…
(hesitation)
... a good IRA man.
48 ANGLE ON DONALD
as he REACTS. with a tight, quirky smile, BRIEFLY seen and then gone again.
49 THE SCENE
CATHY
It's all right now. We’ll call the police.
DONALD
No need. Actually, I can handle
it from here, thank you.
CATHY
(Surprised)
You?
DONALD
(sheepish smile)
I'm afraid I wasn't quite, ah, honest with you, Cathy.
He reaches under his pirate costume, pulls out a wallet, flips it open for Cathy's inspection.
50 INSERT- THE WALLET
One side displays a BADGE, the facing half a photo ID with "Donald's" face and the INTERPOL name and insignia.
51 THE SCENE
Donald closes the wallet again, shrugs apologetically.
DONALD
(to Cathy)
I thought your father was about to blow
my cover for a moment there back at the
party, all that lawyer talk.
(to Brigit)
My apologies, Mrs. O'Donnell. We'd
received a tip that an attempt would be
made on your life, and I was supposed
to stay close to you. Unfortunately, I, ah,
hooked up with the wrong owl...
BRIGIT
It's perfectly all right. Alls owls look alike by night.
52 DONALD
searches around, finds Michael's pistol, unties his bandanna, and uses it to pick up the gun.
DONALD
Evidence. Got to be thorough.
He deposits the bandanna.wrapped gun in the trunk of his car, slams it shut, continues.
DONALD
We'll drop you back at the party.
No reason everyone's Halloween
needs to be ruined.
CATHY
No. I'll see it through.
(beat)
As long as the masks are coming off...
(removes her mask)
I'm with the District Attorney's office, Donald.
DONALD
. (taken aback)
Are you? This is a night for surprises.
(beat)
Well, if someone will help me load
sleeping beauty into the car...
CUT TO:
53 EXT.- CENTRAL PARK. NIGHT
We FOLLOW as Vincent walks alone through the darkness, his face grave, melancho1y. There are a lot of people in the park tonight, far more than usual. Vincent HEARS voices ahead of him -- laughter, footsteps .. and for a moment, old habits take hold. He stops, steps back warily into the shadows. Then he REALIZES-what night it is. After a brief hesitation, he STEPS OUT, walks forward.
He strides down a footpath into a large grassy CLEARING in the park. A huge, roaring BALEFIRE burns in its center, surrounded by costumed people talking, laughing, drinking, dancing as an old man dressed as a GRASSHOPPER fiddles from atop a large rock.
54 VINCENT
stares at the fire and the people, the flames throwing flickering light across his features. A couple of the dancers notice him, approach LAUGHING, dance around him. We INTERCUT between Vincent's face and their masks. One of them, a sexy young woman done up as an ELF, tries to draw him into the circle, to join in the good times, but he resists. He has no place here, no part in this fellowship -- without Catherine, this easy acceptance is hollow, meaningless. Finally the elf woman shrugs, lets go, runs off back to the others. Vincent walks away from the fire. Peop1e are coming and going all around him, all of them in costume. A man dressed as a HAMBURGER pedals past on a bicycle, and nods to him gravely.
When he approaches the DRAINAGE PIPE that opens into the underground, he finds a MIME is performing in front of a small group of costumed people. Vincent begins to edge around them. The Mime BARS his way, begins to pantomime around him, making Vincent part of his performance. For a brief moment Vincent allows it, then…
55 CLOSE ON VINCENT
as he bares his fangs and gives the mime a terrifying, ferocious SNARL.
56 BACK TO THE SCENE
as the startled mime scrambles back out of the way, and -trips oyer his own feet. Vincent sweeps past him, into the darkness of the drainage pipe, as the people APPLAUD.
57 INT.- DRAINAGE PIPE - ANGLE ON VINCENT
as he opens the secret door to the underworld. Briefly, he pauses, listening, and faint and far off we HEAR the sound of music -- the fiddler at the balefire, echoing over the hills. Vincent SMILES a swift, sad smile, steps through the door, closes it behind him. When the secret door slides shut, the distant music CUTS OFF SHARPLY. Vincent lowers his head and begins his descent.
CUT TO:
58 INT -. DONALD'S CAR - NIGHT
Donald drives, Brigit beside him in the front, while Cathy shares the back seat with the unconscious Michael. They're moving down a major avenue, weaving in and out of cabs. Michael begins to MOAN. Brigit looks back.
CATHY
He's coming to.
Donald's eyes flick quickly to the rear-view mirror, as he turns the wheel hand-over-hand. They drive down a series of dark side streets, turning several times.
MICHAEL
Oh, god... where...
(winces, touches head)
... my head hurts something fierce.
BRIGIT .
You ought to be grateful it's still attached
to your shoulders, Michael MacBride.
MICHAEL
Ah, don't be taking that tone with me, woman.
You know I'd never harm you.
Damn it, it was Sean sent me.
BRIGIT
(cold, angry)
And am I supposed to care?
He made it quite clear to me,
he does not have a daughter.
MICHAEL
he's dying, girl...
(off her shock and dismay)
There's not much time left him...
he wants to see you again, he sent me to you ..
BRIGIT (tearful)
Aye, that he did... with a gun in your hand!
My own flesh and blood... What did I ever
do to make him hate me so?
59 ANGLE PAST DONALD
Donald's face is grim and dangerous as he listens. We MOVE IN closer on him as the conversation continues.
MICHAEL
You got it all wrong. It wasn't you I was after,
girl, it vas him that was with you...
him with the cat mask.
CATHY
(shocked, alarmed)
Vincent?
BRIGIT
He was a friend...
MICHAEL
A murdering Orangeman was what. he was!
We had the word, girl ... it's Sean they're after,
but they have no love for you... I was to keep
you safe, to bring you secretly to your father...
60 CATHY
REACTS STRONGLY, everything falling into place for her. All at once, she knows the terrible truth.
CATHY
(alarmed)
Where are we? This isn't --
61 EXT.-. UNDER THE EL - NIGHT
The car stops suddenly with the SQUEAL OF BRAKES. They are on some dark, utterly deserted side street near the waterfront, beneath the iron pillars of an elevated train, surrounded by warehouse., factories.
CATHY'S POV
as Donald turns around, his gun in his hand. When he speaks, his carefully cultivated Americanisms have been replaced by a distinct IRISH ACCENT.
DONALD
The best thing about Croppies,
they’re as stupid as they are ugly.. .
FADE OUT
END or ACT THREE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
62 INT.- UNDERGROUND GARAGE- NIGHT
Donald has forced everyone out of the car, and backed them up against the wall. Michael is groggy and unsteady, and Brigit helps to support him.
CATHY
Don't do this, Donald. Put down
the gun... don't let this get out of hand.
DONALD
It got out of hand a long time ago.
(to Michael)
Do you remember William Craig?
MICHAEL
Sure... a lying, murdering Orange bastard, he was. -
DONALD
You and your lads didn't even have the courage
to face him when you gunned him down. You
waited till he was good and drunk,
and caught him leaving the pub.
MICHAEL
It was no more than he'd done for better men than him.
CATHY
Stop it! Both of you! Donald, you don't need
to do this. Turn him over to the police,
let him pay for his crime.
DONALD
Oh, he'll pay for it, sure enough.
BRIGIT
(to Cathy)
It's no use, Catherine.
You cannot talk sense to them.
(glances at Michael)
... to any of them.
It's like a sickness with them now,
and there's not a drop of human decency
left in the lot of them.
DONALD
Shut up. I've heard enough of
your damned pious speeches.
(to Michael)
Empty your pockets.
Defiant, Michael makes no move to comply. Donald cocks the hammer on the pistol with a sharp, distinct CLICK. Brigit looks frightened.
BRIGIT
Michael, do as he says.
Slowly, Michael TURNS OUT the pocket of the clown costume, and spills their contents on the street.
63 ANGLE ON MICHAEL'S FEET
as a rain of crumpled bills, loose coins, matchbooks, and other loose items CASCADES down around his clown shoes. Among the items is a HOTEL ROOM KEY, attached to an oversized, embossed plastic KEY RING.
64 DONALD
smiles. Faintly, we HEAR the distant RUMBLE of an on-coming subway train.
DONALD
(to Michael)
My name is Jamie Craig.
William was my brother.
(Note: we will continue to refer to this character as -Donald- in the script, for the sake of consistency).
CATHY
Your brother is dead.
You won't bring him back with murder.
The RUMBLE GROWS LOUDER.
DONALD
(louder)
I'm no murderer. This is an execution...
The sound of the subway is now MUCH LOUDER.
DONALD
(shouting)
For Ulster, and Billy!
The subway ROARS BY directly beneath, and the sound is DEAFENING. We SEE Michael snarling some curse, Cathy screaming "No!" to Donald, and Brigit pleading, but we do not hear the words. Michael goes for Donald, who squeezes off TWO SHOTS as Michael leaps forward, but even the sound of the gun is drowned out.
65 MICHAEL
Falls to the ground... The DEAFENING SOUND of the subway train recedes ...
66 BRIGIT AND CATHY
Silent tears run slowly down Brigit's cheeks, and she looks straight at Donald.
BRIGIT
(very quietly)
Damn you to hell.
Cathy wraps her arms around Brigit, who lays her head against Cathy's shoulder and begins to weep.
67 DONALD
edges forward, never taking his eyes off them, the gun trained. He KNEELS, picks up the hotel key with his free hand, rises and backs off a step with the key in the palm - of his hand, glances down at it.
68 INSERT - THE KEY RING
in Donald's hand. CLAREMONT ARMS is stamped on the plastic in large letters, with a street address below. Donald's fingers CLOSE over the key.
69 BACK TO THE SCENE
adjusts the fold of his short cape, so it conceals the pistol from view.
DONALD
We're going for a ride.
(To Cathy)
You drive.
(beat)
Get going.
CATHY
Where are you taking us?
DONALD
There were three of them that killed William.
I got the first a year ago, and Michael MacBride
here was the second. You might say he was sort
of a bonus. It was the other one I was hoping she'd lead me to..
(gestures with key)
... gentleman name of Sean O'Neill, who I'm thinking
might just be found in a certain hotel... ill too.
But maybe a visit from his loving daughter will cheer him up...
OFF Brigit's look of FEAR and HORROR, we
CUT TO:
70 INT. - VINCENT'S CHAMBER - NIGHT
Vincent slumps in his chair, brooding, as Father enters his chamber. Vincent looks up silently.
FATHER
Lana said that you'd returned. Am I disturbing you?
Vincent shakes his head. Father sits beside him.
FATHER
Did you find Brigit?
VINCENT
A man came after her with a gun tonight.
She's given so much to her land and her people...
beauty, courage, wisdom, all she had to give...
and in return, she has gotten violence and grief and pain.
Father takes Vincent's hand; squeezes it. He remembers all too well the insane hatreds of the world above.
FATHER
Sometimes... during my first few years in the
tunnels... I would lie awake at night, wondering
if I'd done the right thing. Was I building a better,
saner place down here, I asked myself, or just
running from the evil above? I was full of such anger...
I wanted to avenge all the wrongs I'd suffered.
VINCENT
Yet you never went back up...
FATHER
No. If I had, I think my anger would
have consumed me... too long a sacrifice ..
VINCENT
(finishes the quote)
Can make a stone of the heart.
Suddenly Vincent senses something, REACTS with alarm.
FATHER
What's wrong?
VINCENT
Catherine...
Father smiles with acceptance. The closeness of the moment has melted any resistance.
FATHER
Go to her, then.
(briskly, waving)
Go on. It's Halloween, isn't it? And...
(smiles)
... you're not a child any more.
They exchange a quick smile of shared understanding and Vincent exits, running.
CUT TO:
71 INT. - HOTEL ROOF - NIGHT
SEAN O'NEILL, Brigit's father, occupies one of two beds in this cluttered, seedy hotel room. He's in his sixties, a big man with, a strong face, but he looks bloated, weak, in pain. His hair is plastered to his forehead by sweat, and periodically he's overcome by FITS OF COUGHING. Sean is a sick, dying man, hanging on stubbornly but fading. He's sitting up in bed, wearing an old sleeveless undershirt and a three day stubble, the tangled bedclothes around his waist. The window is OPEN, curtains blowing in the wind. Outside, the NEON LIGHT of a bar across the street flashes ON AND OFF, and the ironwork of a FIRE ESCAPE is visible.
A water tumbler and a bottle of IRISH WHISKEY are visible on the bedside table. Sean is pouring himself a glass when he HEARS the door being unlocked.
SEAN
Michael?
72 ANGLE ON DOOR
as it swings open, and Brigit comes through. She sees her father and HESITATES, overcome with emotion .. then is roughly SHOVED into the room from behind. She STUMBLES and falls to her knees by her father’s bed. Donald steps through behind her, gun in hand, holding Cathy roughly by the arm and forcing her through. When they're all inside, he KICKS the door -shut, and pushes Cathy away from him, over toward the bedside table.
Brigit looks up into Sean's face, and we INTERCUT between them. Trembling, Sean SETS DOWN the glass and the whiskey bottle, and they EMBRACE. It's an emotional reunion, but hardly the sort either dreamed of.
SEAN
(tearful)
Brigit...
DONALD
Very touching. brings a tear to my eye, it does.
SEAN
(weak but defiant)
And who the hell might you be?
Where’s Michael?
DONALD
Burning in hell, old man, where
you'll be joining him soon.
CATHY
Jamie, he' s an old, sick man.
SEAN
I’m still strong enough to spit
on the likes of him. .
(to Donald).
Go on, do your worse. I'm dying anyway.
His defiant laugh disintegrates into a fit of COUGHING. Donald waits until he stops.
DONALD
Oh, you'll die soon enough. But not until
you've seen your daughter die before you.
Both Cathy and Sean react with HORROR.
SEAN
(terrified, begging)
NO, please...
(coughs)
... not Brigit...
(coughing)
... she's... she never... you want, not her...
dear god, have mercy...
ANGLE ON DONALD
DONALD
(cold-faced)
I'll give her the same mercy you gave Billy.
Brigit faces him calmly as he slowly raises the gun, aim., PULLS BACK the hammer.
73 CATHY
reacts back behind her, grabs the tumbler full of whiskey off the bedside table, and FLINGS IT at Donald. Her aim is dead on .. she BOUNCES the glass off his nose, and gets the whiskey in his eyes. As Donald SCREAMS and claws at his face, Cathy grabs him, spins him around, SLAMS HIM back against a dresser.
74 CLOSE ON THE GUN
as it flips from Donald's grasp, lands on the bed.
75 THE FIGHT
Donald and Cathy are grappling when we HEAR a GUNSHOT. They FREEZE, startled.
76 ANGLE ON THE BED
Sean has recovered the gun, fired it into the ceiling. Now he aims it at Donald.
SEAN
Back off, now.
(they break apart)
I may be dying, but at least I'll be able to take
one more murdering Orangeman with me before I go.
Brigit reacts with HORROR. She pulls away from him.
BRIGIT
Father, no...
SEAN
I don't like it any better than you, girl,
but it's got to be done. He's no better
than his brother... murdering scum...
it was his sort killed your mum.
BRIGIT
(cold, deliberate)
Yes... and it was your sort who killed Ian.
She STANDS, and STEPS IN FRONT OF DONALD.
77 THE SCENE
Brigit blocks her father's aim. He grows frantic.
SEAN
Get out of the way!
BRIGIT
No. It has to stop.
SEAN
Do as I tell you, girl. I’m your father!
BRIGIT
Are you now? That's news to me.
Go on, if you're so bound and determined
to kill him. What's one more body? Think
what a fine hero I'll be, once I'm dead.
(off his hesitation)
Well, go on ! What are you waiting for?
I’m nothing to you, a traitor, an Orangeman's
whore... Shoot!
78 CLOSE ON SEAN
He takes careful aim, his teeth clenched. But his hand begins to tremble…he can't do it.
SEAN
Brigit...
(lowers gun; breaks down weeping)
79 CLOSE ON DONALD'S HAND
Donald sees his chance, and quickly draws a dagger from his boot. Light SHINES off the razor-sharp blade as he pulls it, and we know it's not a fake.
80 ANGLE PAST BRIGIT ON DONALD
Donald GRABS Brigit from behind, twisting her arm back and holding the knife to her throat. He pulls her back, toward the open window.
DONALD
Come on, Brigit darling.
We’re leaving this party.
We follow, focus TIGHT on them, as he throws one leg over the sill onto the fire escape. Outside the flashing neon light dimly illuminates a DARK FIGURE.
DONALD
I'll find you again, old man.
As he speaks we TRACK FOCUS to REVEAL Vincent crouching on the fire escape outside; an instant later he REACHES THROUGH the window, grabs Donald around the neck and jerks him backwards through the window. Donald kicks and screams, but Vincent's strength is overpowering. The night air is filled with blood-curdling SNARLS.
DISSOLVE TO:
SEAN
(frightened)
Brigit!
Now Vincent hurls Donald back through the window like a rag doll. Donald rolls into some furniture badly injured but alive. Brigit crosses to fall into her father's arms, holding him like she'll never get the chance again.
Cathy kneels beside Donald, checks him, then looks toward the window, where Vincent peers through the wind-tossed curtains. Cathy give. him a look of deep gratitude, nods that they'll be alright...
And Vincent is gone...
Cathy turns, looks toward the bed where
SEAN AND BRIGIT
still hold each other, years of hard feelings and pain melting away, leaving only the love of a father and daughter... warm, strong, unconditional..,
CATHY
is moved by this reunion, looks out into the night... she knows who's responsible...
DISSOLVE TO:
81 EXT.- CLAREMONT ARMS - NIGHT - HIGH ANGLE FROM THE ROOF
An ambulance has just PULLED .AWAY from the curb. A couple of police car. stand by, their lights flashing. A few spectators have gathered, most of them in costume, although in this neighborhood it's hard to tell who is a hobo and who is only playing at one.
CLOSER ANGLE - CATHY AND BRIGIT
They stand together on the front steps. As we watch, a couple of uniformed cops lead Donald out of the building in handcuffs. He's groggy, his costume torn and a bit bloodied, but very much alive. Cathy now looks up...
CATHY'S POV
Vincent stands high on the roof of the Claremont Arm, his cloaked figure silhouetted against the full moon...
BACK TO SCENE.
Cathy turns to Brigit...
CATHY
They'll take your father to the hospital...
I'll arrange for you to stay with him, if you like.
(off her nod)
Brigit, you know...
(hesitates)
BRIGIT
... that there are warrants out on the man,
and he must be arrested too? Yes.
I've lived with that since I was six.
(beat)
We won't have long together...
... not even three hundred days.
She TAKES Cathy's hand in one of hers, and holds it tight.
BRIGIT
But we have to take what we're given…
three hundred days, a few months...
Cathy looks in her eyes, and a deep understanding seems to pass between the two women.
CATHY
(softly)
... or a single night.
Brigit smiles sadly, gives Cathy a quick hug, and climbs into the second police car. Both cars PULL AWAY, flashers going. The crowd begins to dissipate as spectators leave, return to the hotel. Finally Cathy stands alone on the sidewalk. She looks UP, again...
82 CATHY'S POV . THE ROOF of THE CLAREMONT ARMS
Vincent is gone.
83 OMITTED
84 CATHY
is standing on the sidewalk, disappointed. Suddenly, Vincent emerges through the front door of the Claremont Arms. Their eyes meet, and we SEE all the longing and love and fear in their faces
VINCENT
Will she …
CATHY
She’ll be alright.
VINCENT
Good. . .
He starts to turn away, but Cathy takes his hand.
CATHY
(firmly)
No. Don’t leave.
Vincent gives her an inquiring look. Cathy is nervous, insecure, and very vulnerable, but determined to say it.
CATHY
She told me... that this is a special night...
Samhaim (SAOWEN)... when...
VINCENT
(remembers, smiles)
... when the walls between the worlds grow thin,
and spirits of the underworld walk the earth...
CATHY
Vincent, we can't waste it.
85 VINCENT
looks at her for a long, solid beat, his face closed. Then he NODS, and his face breaks into the warmest, gentlest, most radiant SMILE we've ever seen on him. Cathy SOBS with joy and relief. Off their EMBRACE, we
DISSOLVE TO:
85A EXT. NEW YORK -NIGHT
A romantic, magical, gossamer night on the streets of New York, streets turned strange and fabulous and enchanted by the sorcery of Halloween. Use DOUBLE EXPOSURE and LAP DISSOLVES as Cathy shows Vincent a side of this almost .mythic city that has always been barred to him before.
86 OMITTED
87 HOLD CLOSE on their faces, with various reactions. OVERPRINT STOCK of assorted New York landmarks: the lights of Broadway and Times Square, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Staten Island Ferry and the Statue of Liberty, etc.
88
thru OMITTED
91
92 Vincent and Cathy, walking closely together down at a littered but deserted street very late in the morning. -There's an ease between them, an acceptance .. on this night of masks and illusions, for a few short hours, they've been able to taste a life they'll never know.
DISSOLVE TO:
93 EXT. - EAST RIVER-DAWN (MATTE)
The huge stone arches of the BROOKLYN BRIDGE dominate the background as Cathy and Vincent sit together on a bench near the river. The sky is a dark pre-dawn blue, just starting to lighten, a magic hour. The great span of the bridge, stretching away over the river, is still festooned with lights, but Cathy and Vincent have eyes only for each other.
VINCENT
I've lived here all my life, Catherine...
yet somehow it's as though I'd never
seen the city until tonight.
CATHY
You've seen so much of the violence and hatred of my world ...
I wanted you to know that there's beauty a. well.
VINCENT
(tenderly)
I've known that
since the night I found you, Catherine.
She smiles, LIFTS HER FACE to him. They seem enchanted, mythic lovers of the Samhaim night. For a fleeting second, it seems that they will finally kiss, but just as Vincent begins to move, we HEAR pounding footsteps. The magic is shattered. They look up, BREAK APART slightly.
94 ANGLE ON JOGGER
A balding, pudgy man in jogging clothes, doing his dawn run, heaves into view, sees Vincent, and REACTS.
JOGGER
What the...
(stops, laughs nervously)
Geez, you gave me quite a fright
(annoyed)
Hey, man, Halloween was yesterday.
He jogs on, annoyed.
95 BACK TO THE SCENE
Vincent RISES from the bench. Cathy begins to reach after him, checks the motion .. somehow, with the rising of the sun, the distance between them is back.
VINCENT
I must go….
Cathy nods, wordless but accepting. She and Vincent exchange one last fond look before he turns and is gone.
96 CATHY
sits alone on the park bench. We MOVE IN SLOWLY on her as she looks out at the Brooklyn bridge while dawn light fills the sky. She's weary but content after the long enchanted night. She sits for a moment, pensive, wistful, replaying every precious memory in her head. Then she hugs herself, and SMILES a slow, sweet smile.
FADE OUT
THE END