All About Eve Page #7

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MARGO:

Behind in your dues? How much?

BIRDIE:

I haven't got a union. I'm slave

labor.

MARGO:

Well?

BIRDIE:

But the wardrobe women have got one.

And next to a tenor, a wardrobe woman

is the touchiest thing in show

business-

MARGO:

(catching on)

Oh-oh.

BIRDIE:

She's got two things to do - carry

clothes an' press 'em wrong - an'

just let anybody else muscle in...

As she talks, Margo hurries to the door and out after Eve.

INT. BACKSTAGE - CURRAN THEATER - NIGHT

Margo pops out, looks for Eve, then stares in amazement.

EVE, near the wings. She stands before a couple of cheval

mirrors set up for cast members. She has Margo's dress held

up against her body. She turns this way and that, bows as if

to applause - mimicking Margo exactly...

MARGO watches her curiously. Then she smiles.

MARGO:

(calling)

Eve-

EVE, startled, whips the gown away, turns to Margo.

MARGO smiles understandingly.

MARGO:

(quietly)

I think we'd better let Mrs. Brown

pick up the wardrobe...

Wordlessly, Eve brings it toward her...

INT. MARGO'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Margo's asleep. A bedside clock with a luminous dial reads 3

A.M. exactly. The phone rings. Her head comes up out of the

pillow, she shakes it. She fumbles, switches on a lamp, then

picks up the phone.

MARGO:

Hello..

OPERATOR'S VOICE

We are ready with your call to Beverly

Hills...

MARGO:

Call, what call?

OPERATOR'S VOICE

It this Templeton 89970? Miss Margo

Channing?

MARGO:

That's right, but I don't

understand-

OPERATOR'S VOICE

We are ready with the call you placed

for 12 midnight, California time, to

Mr. William Sampson in Beverly

Hills...

MARGO:

I placed...?

OPERATOR'S VOICE

Go ahead, please...

BILL'S VOICE

(a loud, happy squawk)

Margo! What a wonderful surprise!

Margo jumps at his vehemence. As she does so, the SCREEN

WIPES DOWN DIAGONALLY LEFT TO RIGHT, so that Margo remains

in the lower right-hand diagonal of the screen and Bill is

is closed in the upper left. He, too, is in bed, reading.

His clock says midnight.

BILL:

(continuing)

What a thoughtful, ever-lovin' thing

to do-

MARGO:

(dazed)

Bill? Have I gone crazy, Bill?

BILL:

You're my girl, aren't you?

MARGO:

That I am...

BILL:

Then you're crazy.

MARGO:

(nods in agreement)

When - when are you coming back?

BILL:

I leave in a week - the picture's

all wrapped up, we previewed last

night... those previews. Like opening

out of town, but terrifying. There's

nothing you can do, you're trapped,

you're in a tin can-

MARGO:

In a tin can, cellophane or wrapped

in a Navajo blanket, I want you

home...

BILL:

You in a hurry?

MARGO:

A big hurry, be quick about it - so

good night, darling, and sleep

tight...

BILL:

Wait a minute! You can't hang up,

you haven't even said it-

MARGO:

Bill, you know how much I do - but

over the phone, now really, that's

kid stuff...

BILL:

Kid stuff or not, it doesn't happen

every day, I want to heat it - and

if you won't say it, you can sing

it...

MARGO:

(convinced he's gone

mad)

Sing it?

BILL:

Sure! Like the Western Union boys

used to do...

Margo's eyes pop. Her jaw and the phone sag.

MARGO:

Bill... Bill, it's your birthday.

BILL:

And who remembered it? Who was there

on the dot, at twelve midnight...?

Margo knows damn well it wasn't she.

MARGO:

(miserably)

Happy birthday, darling...

BILL:

The reading could have been better,

but you said it - now "many happy

returns of the day..."

MARGO:

(the same)

Many happy returns of the day...

BILL:

I get a party, don't I?

MARGO:

Of course, birthday and welcome

home... who'll I ask?

BILL:

(laughs)

It's no secret, I know all about the

party - Eve wrote me...

MARGO:

She did...?

BILL:

She hasn't missed a week since I

left - but you know all that, you

probably tell her what to write...

anyway, I sent her a list of people

to ask - check with her.

MARGO:

Yeah... I will.

BILL:

How is Eve? Okay?

MARGO:

Okay.

BILL:

I love you...

MARGO:

(mutters)

I'll check with Eve...

BILL:

What?

MARGO:

I love you too. Good night, darling-

BILL:

See you...

Margo hangs up. Bill hangs up. He replaces the phone, picks

up his book... SLOW WIPE until ONLY MARGO is on screen. She

puts her phone away. She gets a cigarette. She lights it.

She rolls over on her back...

INT. MARGO'S BEDROOM - DAY

Margo is propped up in bed, still reflective. Birdie comes

in with her breakfast tray and a "hi" which gets a "hi" from

Margo. She starts on some petty chores. Margo takes a sip of

orange juice...

MARGO:

Birdie-

BIRDIE:

Hmm?

MARGO:

You don't like Eve, do you?

BIRDIE:

Do you want an argument or an answer?

MARGO:

An answer.

BIRDIE:

No.

MARGO:

Why not?

BIRDIE:

Now you want an argument.

MARGO:

She works hard.

BIRDIE:

Night an' day.

MARGO:

She's loyal and efficient-

BIRDIE:

Like an agent with one client.

MARGO:

She thinks only for me...

(no answer from Birdie)

...doesn't she?

BIRDIE:

(finally)

Well... let's say she thinks only

about you, anyway...

MARGO:

How do you mean that?

Birdie stops whatever it is she's doing.

BIRDIE:

I'll tell you how. Like - let's see,

like she was studyin' you, like you

were a play or a book or a set of

blueprints. How you walk, talk, think,

eat, sleep-

MARGO:

(breaks in; sharply)

I'm sure that's very flattering,

Birdie, and I'm sure there's nothing

wrong with that!

There is a sharp, brisk knock. Eve comes in. She's dressed

in a smart suit. She carries a leather portfolio.

EVE:

Good morning!

Margo says "good morning," Birdie says nothing. Eve shows

off the suit, proudly.

EVE:

Well - what do you think of my elegant

new suit?

MARGO:

Very becoming. It looks better on

you than it did on me.

EVE:

(scoffs)

I can imagine... you know, all it

needed was some taking in here and

letting out there - are you sure you

won't want it yourself?

MARGO:

Quite sure. I find it just a bit too -

too "Seventeenish" for me...

EVE:

(laughs)

Oh, come now, as though you were an

old lady... I'm on my way. Is there

anything more you've thought of-?

MARGO:

There's the script to go back to

the Guild-

EVE:

I've got it.

MARGO:

And those checks or whatever it is

for the income tax man.

EVE:

Right here.

MARGO:

It seems I can't think of a thing

you haven't thought of...

EVE:

(smile)

That's my job.

(she turns to go)

See you at tea time...

MARGO:

Eve...

(Eve turns at the

door)

...by any chance, did you place a

call from me to Bill for midnight

California time?

EVE:

(gasps)

Oh, golly. And I forgot to tell you-

MARGO:

Yes, dear. You forgot all about it.

EVE:

Well, I was sure you'd want to, of

course, being his birthday, and you've

been so busy these past few days,

and last night I meant to tell you

before you went out with the Richards -

and I guess I was asleep when you

got home...

MARGO:

Yes, I guess you were. It - it was

very thoughtful of you, Eve.

EVE:

Mr. Sampson's birthday. I certainly

wouldn't forget that. You'd never

forgive me.

(she smiles shyly)

As a matter of fact, I sent him a

telegram myself...

And she's gone. Margo stares at the closed door. Then at

Birdie. Birdie, without comment, goes out. Margo, alone,

looks down at her orange juice. Absently, she twirls it in

its bed of shaved ice...

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