All the Money in the World Page #7

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BULLIMORE:

Of course, Ma'am. This way.

Bullimore leads Gail around the corner of the entry hall.

He shows her to a RED PUBLIC TELEPHONE BOOTH of the kind

found on the streets of London.

BULLIMORE (CONT'D)

Mr. Getty had it installed speciallyfor his guests' convenience, in casethey wanted to make telephone calls.

33.

GAIL:

Rome is long distance.

BULLIMORE:

I am able to provide change.

Bullimore produces a small change dispenser. Gail stares at

him. She reaches into her purse and gives him a ten-poundnote. Bullimore parses out the coins.

BULLIMORE (CONT'D)

I'll leave you in private.

EXT. SUTTON PLACE -- REFLECTING POOL -- DAY

GETTY:

You don't have children, do you,

Chace.

Chace shakes his head.

CHACE:

I guess it didn't seem right, doingwhat I do for a living. Maybe Inever found the right situation. I

liked my freedom.

GETTY:

I know just what you mean. There's

something my father always used tosay: "The man who has children giveshostages to fortune."

CHACE:

Your father was a wise man.

GETTY:

He told me I'd never be worth a damn.

So I made him look like a pauper.

CHACE:

Well. You certainly did that.

An awkward silence, then:

GETTY:

I love my grandson, Chace.

CHACE:

I'm sure you do, sir.

GETTY:

I love all my grandchildren, of

course. But Paul is special.

(MORE)

34.

GETTY (CONT'D)

I don't know what I would do if

anything happened to that boy. I

want you to go to Rome and bring himback, as quickly and inexpensivelyas possible.

CHACE:

I'm going to need some kind ofresources to work with if you wanthim back alive.

GETTY:

Of course. But I don't want youjust giving my money away, see.

Find the boy, Chace. And find out

who took him.

Chace walks away, a look of uncertainty on his face.

GETTY (CONT'D)

Chace. There's one more thing.

(a beat)

The boy's mother.

INT. SUTTON PLACE -- ENTRY HALL -- DAY

Gail Getty sits in the phone booth, stuffing 50p coins into

the coin slot.

GAIL:

I'm running out of change, Giovanni...

Giovanni?

The phone goes dead. She's out of change. She hangs up thereceiver and slouches into the phone booth, dejected.

CHACE (O.S.)

Ma'am?

Gail looks up. Fletcher Chace is standing there.

CHACE (CONT'D)

My name is Fletcher Chace. I'm goingto help you find your son.

INT. SUTTON PLACE -- ENTRY HALL -- DAY

Gail walks back into the entry hall, annoyed. Chace follows.

GAIL:

I'm sure you're quite good at whatyou do, Mr. Chace. My former fatherin-

law only buys the best.

(MORE)

35.

GAIL (CONT'D)

But I don't need a retired policeman,

or a former secret agent, or a plastictoy soldier to solve the mystery ofwhat happened to my son, becausethere is no mystery. I don't need a

man of danger to catch the criminals.

I need one thing only, and that isseventeen million dollars.

CHACE:

Paying the ransom doesn't guaranteeyou get your son back.

GAIL:

Not paying the ransom nearlyguarantees I don't.

CHACE:

I'd say your son's chances are betterthan that.

GAIL:

Why don't you explain the odds to

me. Is it a coin toss? Heads he

lives, tails he dies? I can see how

that's a gamble worth taking whenthere's real money at stake --

CHACE:

Let me rephrase that.

GAIL:

A billion dollars earns seventeen

million dollars a month sitting in abank vault. He could buy a Matisseevery day and never spend it all.

CHACE:

I don't think this is about moneyfor Mr. Getty.

GAIL:

I'm sorry. I didn't realize this

was your first day on the job.

CHACE:

Ma'am, I've had to bargain with alot of rich people. Sheikhs, sultans,

emirs. The one thing I've realizedis that money is never just money.

It always stands for something.

Usually it stands for the one thingthey've never had. Until you knowwhat that thing is you're just beatingyour head against the bricks.

(MORE)

36.

CHACE (CONT'D)

(a beat)

Look, I don't blame you. You came

here for seventeen million dollars

and instead you got me. But I'm the

one who has the old man's ear, andI'm offering to help you.

GAIL:

I'm not leaving until I speak to himface-to-face.

BULLIMORE (O.S.)

I'm afraid Mr. Getty has alreadydeparted the estate.

Gail turns. Through the window, we see Getty's limousinedriving through the front gates, and away.

BULLIMORE (CONT'D)

He is traveling on business, and itis uncertain when he will return.

Gail stares out the window, her back to us, visibly trembling.

Bullimore brings Chace's coat and hat.

CHACE:

I'm sure you'll want to be gettingback to Rome on the next flight out.

I'm headed there myself. I can offer

you a ride to the airport.

BULLIMORE:

I'll dial a taxicab straight away.

Gail is silent. Finally she turns. Her voice is icy:

GAIL:

You're both much too kind.

CUT TO:

THE TRUNK OPENS:

revealing a cloudless blue sky. Two men step into frame.

One is stout, bearded, chubby-cheeked. He smokes a cigarwith an air of authority. This is CHIPMUNK.

The other is rough but handsome, with the style that eventhe poorest of Italians somehow manage. This is CINQUANTA.

They gaze at us as you would at a rug that needs moving.

CINQUANTA:

Uno, due -

37.

They reach in and hoist us out of frame.

EXT. CALABRIAN LANDSCAPE -- DAY

The two men carry Paul's body across the sun-bleached, rockylandscape out of a Sergio Leone movie. Paul's arms and legshave been tied off; his head is inside a burlap sack.

They set the boy down beneath a wizened tree. Cinquantapulls down his ski mask, then removes the burlap sack fromPaul's head. The boy, fearful, avoids looking at them.

A severely bow-legged man emerges from the house. This is

PICCOLINO, and he is their leader. Piccolino bends down,

examines the boy as you would a goat, then smiles.

The men embrace in celebration. Laughing, back-slapping. A

pretty young woman comes out with a tin plate of beans andpasta. Cinquanta orders her to give it to Paul.

CINQUANTA:

This is for you.

PAUL:

Thirsty.

Cinquanta yells orders at his wife again.

CINQUANTAA few days. That's all. Your familywill give us our money, and you'llgo home. Some days, no school, it'sfun. A holiday.

The boy eats. The food tastes terrible.

CHIPMUNK:

Our food's not good enough for you?

PAUL:

I'm just not used to it.

CINQUANTALeave him alone. He eats only inthe best places, right?

PAUL:

Sometimes. Not usually, though.

CINQUANTAYou'll tell us. I want to know all

the things the rich eat. I am

Cinquanta, this is Piccolino, andthis is Tamia, the Chipmunk. Not

our real names, eh?

38.

PAUL:

I figured.

CINQUANTAWe'll make friends. I'll tell youthings about me, and you tell methings about you.

PAUL:

I don't want to know anything about

you.

CINQUANTASmart boy. We talk about you then.

PAUL:

What do you want to know about me?

CINQUANTATell me about your grandfather.

Tell me about your mother. Tell me

about the money.

INT. 727 AIRLINER -- DAY

Fletcher Chace sits in an aisle seat, studying his files onGail and Little Paul. The STEWARDESS cracks open a tinyairplane bottle of Campari for him and pours it into a glass.

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