All the King's Men Page #9

Jack kisses Anne on the cheek. Anne comes over and shakes

Willie's hand.

ANNE:

I'm very glad to have met you.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

Interior:
Hotel Lobby (State Capital), Day

People stand before the election return board in the hotel

lobby. Camera pulls back, revealing a newspaper picture of

Willie, and the headline

STARK ELECTED GOVERNOR

WILLIE WINS:

DISSOLVE TO:

Exterior:
Street Outside Willie's Hotel Balcony, Night

A crowd stands below Willie's hotel window, chanting together:

CROWD:

We want Willie! We want Willie!

A high angle from the balcony shows Anne, Jack, and Adam in

the center of the excited crowd, looking expectantly upward.

Some of the people around them are carrying torches. Arc

lights play over the dome of the state capitol in the

background. In response to the chants, Willie appears on the

balcony. With him, standing on the balcony, are Tom and Lucy.

The crowd erupts into cheers as he steps outside.

WILLIE:

(raises his hands for

silence)

This is not a time for speechmaking.

I should get on my knees and ask God

to give me strength to carry out

your will.

Loud cheers. Adam watches Anne. She applauds. Willie looks

down at the crowd and continues his speech.

WILLIE:

This much I swear to you. These things

you shall have. I'm going to build a

hospital. The biggest that money can

buy... and it will belong to you.

That any man, woman, or child who is

sick or in pain can go through those

doors and know that everything will

be done for them that man can do. To

heal sickness. To ease pain. Free.

Not as a charity, but as a right.

And it is your right that every child

shall have a complete education.

That any man who produces anything

can take it to market without paying

toll. And no poor man's land or farm

can be taxed or taken away from him.

And it is the right of the people

that they will not be deprived of

hope...

The crowd applauds, and Willie waves. We see Anne, face aglow,

turn to Jack.

ANNE:

Does he mean it, Jack? Does he?

STANTON:

(as he walks away)

That's his bribe.

Anne and Jack watch Adam as he leaves.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

Montage:
Willie Becomes Governor

Willie, Sadie, and Jack leaving their old campaign

headquarters.

Willie, Sadie, Jack, and others going upstairs in the

governor's mansion. The ousted politicians are just packing

up and leaving.

JACK:

(voice over)

What if it was his bribe! He swept

the old gang out of office. What if

they hollered like stuck pigs? He

jammed through bill after bill and

the people got what they wanted.

Willie yelling at the legislators during a session.

WILLIE:

I demand that this bill be passed.

Nobody's going to tell me how to run

this state.

Road excavation -- a bulldozer clears away dirt.

A huge crane maneuvers over a dam site. Men are seen working

on the girders of a large power plant.

JACK:

(voice over)

He started to build the roads, the

schools, the power dams, to change

the face of the state from one end

to the other... His methods?

Shots of uniformed policemen roughing up citizens. Willie

and Sugar Boy move in on a man being held by cops.

Willie looks on as Jack thumbs through his little black book.

JACK:

(voice over)

Politics is a dirty game... and he

played it rough and dirty. Willie's

little black book was a record of

sin and corruption. And me, Jack

Burden? I kept the book and added up

the accounts.

Willie in a nightclub, surrounded by some show girls. A

photographer takes a picture of Willie with a girl balanced

on his knee.

Willie leads a marching band out onto a football field.

JACK:

(voice over)

Clown, show-off, playboy, they yelled

at him. Building football stadiums.

Fiercely proud of his son who played

in them.

Shot of Tom in football uniform running across the field

with the ball. Willie, in the stands, hugs Lucy.

WILLIE:

Oh, look at him go. He's going to be

All-American.

Willie makes an inspection of the police. He stops to adjust

an officer's tie.

JACK:

(voice over)

They said he was building up a private

army. But he was building, always

building...

Sign at building excavation reads HERE ON THIS SITE WILL BE

ERECTED THE GOVERNOR STARK HOSPITAL -- "TO HEAL SICKNESS. TO

EASE PAIN. FREE. NOT AS A CHARITY -- BUT AS A RIGHT"... WILLIE

STARK.

JACK:

(voice over)

Always playing up to the crowd.

Letting them trample on tradition.

Well, tradition needed trampling on.

A square dance at the governor's mansion. Willie dances with

Anne.

JACK:

(voice over)

The crowd loved it... Willie loved

it... and so did I.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

Interior:
Executive Office Corridor, Day

Jack walks down the corridor on the way to Willie's offices.

Interior:
Willie's Executive Offices, Day

As Jack enters from the corridor, Sadie is coming out of

Willie's private office.

SADIE:

(through open door)

You low-down, no-good redneck...

She slams the door hard. We hear Willie laugh.

JACK:

(to secretary)

What goes on here?

SECRETARY:

That's what Sadie wants to know.

(she shows Jack

newspaper containing

photograph of Willie

at the nightclub)

The boss poses for too many pictures.

Jack grins, then walks into Sadie's office.

SADIE:

I'll kill him.

JACK:

Why, Sadie, I'm surprised at you.

SADIE:

I'll kill him.

She goes to the door to yell to the secretary.

SADIE:

I hate all women.

She slams the door again, and returns to her desk.

SADIE:

Was she pretty?

Jack shoves the paper at her. She ignores it.

SADIE:

Was she pretty?

JACK:

If I met her on the street I'd never

recognize her.

SADIE:

Was she pretty?

JACK:

How should I know? I wasn't looking

at her face... Look, if it's going

to cause all this grief, why don't

you let him go?

SADIE:

Let him go? I'll kill him. I'll drive

him out of this state.

JACK:

Just because a guy's sitting with a

couple of girls on his knees in

public...

SADIE:

Public or private... I know him. How

about what happened in Chicago? That

girl on skates... and the time you

both went to St. Louis... There's a

new invention, you know, Photography

and newsreels. Willie Stark in a

nightclub... Willie Stark with a

blonde.

JACK:

You could always bleach your hair.

SADIE:

I could also break every bone in his

neck. After all I've done for him...

Now he goes two-timing me.

JACK:

He's been two-timing Lucy. So there's

another kind of arithmetic for what

he's doing to you.

SADIE:

Lucy?

(laughs)

If she had her way he'd be back in

Kanoma City slopping the hogs right

now. And he knows it. He knows what

she'd do for him. She had her chance.

JACK:

You seem to think Lucy's on her way

out, don't you?

SADIE:

He'll ditch her... Give him time.

JACK:

You ought to know.

She slaps his face.

JACK:

Hey, you got the wrong guy. I'm not

the hero of this piece.

The door to Willie's office bursts open and Willie dashes

out.

WILLIE:

All right, come on, both of you.

Let's go, hurry it up.

They go out through the reception room, pick up Sugar Boy,

and head down the corridor.

WILLIE:

Come on. Pillsbury put his hand in

the pork barrel and got caught. You

know, I never did trust that guy.

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