A Hard Day's Night Page #7

A voice shouts off from outside.

VOICE OFF:

That's one of them... stop thief!

INTERIOR CORRIDOR

From Ringo's P.O.V. we see down to the right the city man,

JOHNSON, approaching with a GUARD. RINGO turns the other way

to the left when he is joined by [the] three other boys.

From their P.O.V. down the corridor we see the two girls,

autograph books in hand, followed by ten girls from the same

school.

Both groups are closing in on the BOYS. There's no escape.

RINGO:

(looking down at the

handbag in his hand)

Oh Mother!!

INTERIOR LUGGAGE VAN

Very dark, and behind bars we see GRANDFATHER. He is sitting

crouched up on a wooden box tea chest and looks pretty

miserable. He turns towards the CAMERA; in the foreground of

the SHOT we see PAUL standing.

In the background an impassive GUARD is reading a paper which

he does throughout the scene.

GRANDFATHER:

(bitterly)

And to think me own grandson would

have let them put me behind bars!

PAUL:

Don't dramatise.

The CAMERA PULLS BACK and we see GRANDFATHER in the luggage

compartment of the guards' van. In with him are a crate of

chickens and a dog. The chickens peck at him; GRANDFATHER

moves listlessly away.

PAUL:

Let's face it, you're lucky to be

here. If they'd have had their way

you'd have been dropped off at

Stafford already.

GRANDFATHER proudly turns away from PAUL who dodges round so

he can still see his face.

PAUL:

Well, you've got to admit you've

upset a lot of people. At least I

can keep my eye on you while you're

stuck in here.

GRANDFATHER turns away again.

PAUL:

All right, how about Ringo? I mean...

he's very upset, you know... and as

far as your girlfriend, little

Audrey's concerned, she's finished

with men for the rest of her natural,

and another thing...

GRANDFATHER:

A harmless bit of fun, aah, none of

you have any sense of humour left

these days.

PAUL:

Oh, it's all right for you but those

two girls were scared to death!

Honest, Grandad, why? I mean, why do

you do these things?

GRANDFATHER:

(cutting in)

You're left-handed, aren't you, Paul?

PAUL:

Yeah... so what?

GRANDFATHER:

Why do you always use your left hand?

PAUL:

Well, don't be daft, I've got to.

GRANDFATHER:

And I take a left-handed view of

life, I've got to.

PAUL grins. After a moment of looking at him, PAUL opens the

door of the luggage compartment and joins GRANDFATHER on a

box.

PAUL:

Shove up!

GRANDFATHER produces a penny.

GRANDFATHER:

Odds or evens?

PAUL sighs.

PAUL:

Odds.

GRANDFATHER flips the coin.

The guards' van door opens and JOHN, GEORGE and RINGO come

in, with them are the girls, RITA and JEAN.

JOHN:

(as he sees PAUL behind

the bars)

Don't worry, son, we'll get you the

best lawyer trading stamps can buy.

PAUL:

Oh, it's a laugh a line with Lennon.

(to Ringo)

Anyroad up... It's all your fault.

RINGO:

Me? Why?

GEORGE:

Bag-snatcher.

GRANDFATHER:

That's right; convict without trial...

Habeas corpus.

JOHN:

(casually)

Every morning.

JOHN has been looking around the guards' van.

JOHN:

Gaw, it's depressing in here, isn't

it? Funny...

(he pats the dog)

'cos they usually reckon dogs more

than people in England, don't they?

You'd expect something a little more

palatial.

(he shudders)

Come on. Let's have a little action.

Let's do something, then.

PAUL:

Like what?

JOHN:

Well, I've got me gob stopper.

(he produces his mouth

organ.)

Look, a genuine Stradivarius, hand

tooled at Dagenham.

And to RINGO's beat on a tea chest they are off, PAUL and

GEORGE improvising other sounds, much to the GIRLS' delight.

During the number, GRANDFATHER quietly lets the latch off

the chicken crate and chickens begin to wander through the

scene.

EXTERIOR TRAIN IN MOTION FROM ABOVE (NIGHT)

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