All the King's Men Page #5

DISSOLVE TO:

Interior:
Train Club Car, Day

Willie, jacket off, works over a speech with Duffy as

Pillsbury and Sadie look on.

WILLIE:

Now right here... right here I'd

like to add something about last

year's taxes... eh?

DUFFY:

I wouldn't add a thing. Just give

them the facts.

PILLSBURY:

Yeah... and the figures.

DUFFY:

Great speech.

Sadie sips her drink.

DISSOLVE TO:

Exterior:
Street Corner (Upton), Day

Willie stands on a platform, next to an American flag, reading

from his prepared speech.

WILLIE:

What this state needs is a balanced

tax program. Last year, last year

the state claimed to have spent on

roads...

Sadie turns and walks away, no longer able to listen. Jack

follows her toward the hotel.

Interior:
Hotel Lobby (Upton), Day

As Jack and Sadie cross the street, enter the lobby, and sit

down next to the front window. We can still see Willie and

his small street-corner audience in the background.

JACK:

Do you mind if I sit with you, Sadie?

SADIE:

(shrugs)

Stand... sit...

JACK:

Thanks... Tell me, what are you on

this merry-go-round for?

SADIE:

I take notes.

JACK:

For whom?

SADIE:

For those who pay me.

JACK:

Which is.

SADIE:

People.

JACK:

Smart people.

SADIE:

Oh, yeah. Anybody that pays me is

smart.

JACK:

You don't have to be smart to frame

a guy like Willie Stark.

SADIE:

No. No, brother, you don't.

JACK:

(lights a cigarette)

It is a frame, isn't it?

SADIE:

Why don't you give me a cigarette?

JACK:

(gives her the pack)

To split the vote and win the election

for Harrison, huh?

SADIE:

If you know, why do you ask?

JACK:

I just want to make sure.

SADIE:

Yeah.

JACK:

Look, why don't you tell the boys

back home to save their money. Willie

couldn't steal a vote from... from

Abe Lincoln in the Cradle of the

Confederacy.

SADIE:

I wish the poor... had enough sense

to have somebody give him a good

greasing for the beating he's going

to get. 'Cause this way all he gets

out of it is the ride.

(looks at Willie

through the window)

Hey, those speeches! Ain't they awful?

Ain't they just plain awful? Question

to you:
if somebody told him he was

a sucker, do you think he'd quit?

Willie has just finished his speech and is on his way over

to the hotel.

JACK:

I don't know, Sadie. I really don't

know.

WILLIE:

(as he comes into the

lobby)

Did it sound all right, Mr. Burden?

JACK:

Fine, Willie, fine.

WILLIE:

Thanks.

He and Jack go upstairs together. Sadie watches them.

DISSOLVE TO:

Interior:
Sadie's Hotel Room (Upton), Night

Sadie lies on her bed, listening to Willie in the next room,

rehearsing one of his speeches.

WILLIE'S VOICE

Now, friends, if you will bear

patiently with me for a few minutes,

I'll give you the figures. What we

need is a balanced tax program...

JACK'S VOICE

No, Willie, no.

Sadie pulls off a shoe and hurls it at the wall.

SADIE:

What I need is some sleep. Shut up!

Interior:
Jack's Hotel Room (Upton), Same Time

Willie lies on his bed. Jack finishes shaving in the bathroom

as he continues to rehearse him.

JACK:

(shouting back at

Sadie)

Shut up yourself!

(goes to bed, shakes

Willie)

Listen, Willie, try it on your feet

this time.

WILLIE:

Oh, no. Wait a minute. My feet are

killing me. Let me stay here, huh?

JACK:

All right... Look, Willie, you tell

'em too much. Just tell 'em you're

going to soak the fat boys and forget

the rest of the tax stuff.

WILLIE:

(pathetically)

That's what I say.

JACK:

But it's the way you say it. Willie,

make 'em cry. Make 'em laugh, make

'em mad, even mad at you. Stir 'em

up and they'll love it and come back

for more. But for heaven's sake don't

try and improve their minds.

WILLIE:

(suddenly)

A man don't have to be governor.

JACK:

(surprised)

What?

WILLIE:

A man don't have to be governor.

Pause.

JACK:

Well, they haven't counted up the

votes yet.

WILLIE:

(quietly)

Oh, I'm going to lose, Mr. Burden. I

know that. Don't try and fool me.

I'm not going to lie to you. I wanted

it. I wanted it so badly I stayed up

nights thinking about it. A man wants

something so badly he gets mixed up

in knowing what he wants. It's

something inside of you. I would

have made a good governor. Better

than those other fellows.

There is a knock on the door.

JACK:

Come in.

WILLIE:

(almost to himself)

A great governor.

Sadie enters. She immediately spots the liquor, and pours

herself a drink.

SADIE:

Since you won't let me sleep you

might at least give me a drink.

WILLIE:

(muttering)

Build them highways... greatest system

of highways in the country.

JACK:

(to Sadie)

Help yourself.

WILLIE:

I'll build schools.

SADIE:

(to Jack)

What's up?

JACK:

Nothing... except Willie here has

been saying as how he's not going to

be governor.

SADIE:

(directly, to Jack)

So you told him.

JACK:

I don't tell anyone anything... I

just listen.

SADIE:

(goes to Willie)

Who told you?

WILLIE:

Told me what? Told me what?

SADIE:

That you're not going to be governor.

WILLIE:

(getting up)

Jack! Told me what?... Told me what?

Jack says nothing. Sadie gulps down her drink, bangs the

empty glass on the bureau top, and turns to face Willie.

SADIE:

(loudly)

All right! That you've been framed,

you poor sap.

Willie looks at her steadily for a moment.

WILLIE:

(quietly)

Framed?

SADIE:

And how! Oh, you decoy, you woodenhead

decoy! And you let 'em. You let 'em

because you thought you were the

little lamb of God. But you know

what you are?

(she waits for his

answer; he has none)

Well, you're the goat! You are the

sacrificial goat! You are a sap...

because you let 'em.

JACK:

Sadie! That's enough.

SADIE:

Enough? He didn't even get anything

out of it. Oh, they'd have paid you

to take a rap like that, but they

didn't have to pay a sap like you.

Oh, no, you were so full of yourself

and hot air, all you wanted was a

chance to stand up on your hind legs

and make a speech: my friends, what

this state needs is a good five-cent

cigar. What this state needs is a --

WILLIE:

(to Jack)

Is it true?

SADIE:

(prayerfully, to the

ceiling)

He wants to know if it's true.

WILLIE:

Is it true?

JACK:

That's what they tell me.

There is a long pause. Willie looks almost as if he is going

to cry. Sadie pours out another drink, a stiff one.

SADIE:

(handing it to him)

Here.

Willie drinks it all.

JACK:

Hey, lay off that. You're not used

to it.

SADIE:

(jeeringly)

He's not used to a lot of things.

Are you, Willie?

JACK:

(angrily)

Why don't you lay off of him, Sadie?

SADIE:

(ignores Jack)

Are you, Willie? Are you? Are you...

are you, are you, are you?

She shoves the bottle at him. He takes it and pours himself

a drink.

DISSOLVE TO:

Interior:
Sadie's Hotel Room (Upton), Morning

Willie is snoring on the bed. Sadie's coat is thrown over

him. She is in the bathroom, applying lipstick. Jack enters.

SADIE:

Hi.

JACK:

Well, things seem to have quieted

down.

SADIE:

(laughs)

Yeah, I quieted him down.

JACK:

Yeah. How was he? Noisy?

SADIE:

Oh, he reared some. He's been telling

me all the things he's going to do.

He's going to do big things, this

fella. He's going to be President.

He's going to kill people with his

bare hands. I quieted him down...

Hey! Who's Lucy?

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