Argo Page #10

VANCE:

What.’s wrong with the bikes again?

Vance, with a copy of Comics Week. THE NEXT STAR WARS?

Next to it, a photograph from the press event: Mendez

holding a laser gun. CANADIAN EPIC WILL BE FILMED IN THE

MIDDLE EAST.

TURNER:

... you think this --

O.’DONNELL

We tried to get the message

upstairs --

TURNER:

-- this is more plausible than

teachers?

O.’DONNELL

One, there are no foreign teachers

in Iran anymore --

MENDEZ:

-- two, we think everybody knows

Hollywood people. And everybody

thinks they would shoot during

Stalingrad with Pol Pot directing

if it.’d sell tickets.

(beat)

There are only bad options. It.’s

about finding the best one.

TURNER:

You don.’t have a better bad idea

than this?

O.’DONNELL

This is the best bad idea we have,

sir. By far.

Vance and Turner exchange looks.

TURNER *

(to Mendez)

The United States government just

sanctioned your science fiction

movie.

146 INT. MENDEZ.’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT 146

Mendez is packing to go. He packs a passport with his

photo and the name KEVIN COSTA HARKINS. He takes off his

wedding band and places it with care -- almost with

ceremony -- in a spot on his dresser.

ARGO - Final 56.

145 CONTINUED:
145

147 OMITTED 147

148 INT. O.’DONNELL.’S CAR - NIGHT 148

O.’Donnell is driving, Mendez in the passenger seat. They

just sit there for a moment. In the car.

O.’DONNELL

I.’m required to remind you that if

you.’re detained, the agency will

not claim you.

MENDEZ:

Barely claim me as it is.

O.’DONNELL

Your .‘In Case Of.’s.’ good?

MENDEZ:

Just Christine.

They don.’t need to look at one another. A shared

understanding.

MENDEZ *

Guess I should have brought some

books to read in prison.

O.’DONNELL

Nah. They.’ll kill you long before

prison.

Tony gets out of the car, pulls his bags from the back

seat, and slams the door. Headed into the airport.

149 INT. ARGO PRODUCTION OFFICE - DUSK 149

Siegel is standing in the office watching Jimmy Carter

speak mournfully on TV, Chambers watching from a desk

behind him.

SIEGEL:

Bad news, bad news, even when it.’s

good news it.’s bad news. Christ.

(a phone starts

ringing)

John Wayne.’s in the ground six

months and this is what.’s left of *

America. *

ARGO - Final 57.

(CONTINUED)

CHAMBERS:

(picking up the

phone)

Studio Six.

INTERCUT WITH:

150 INT. DULLES AIRPORT - NIGHT 150

MENDEZ:

We.’ve got a green light.

Chambers gives Siegel a thumbs-up.

MENDEZ:

Keep the office running till you

hear otherwise.

(this means thank *

you)

Argo f*** yourself.

151 INT. ARGO PRODUCTION OFFICE - DUSK 151

CHAMBERS:

Argo f*** yourself.

152 OMITTED 152 *

153 INT. CHRISTINE.’S HOUSE - NIGHT 153

The phone in the living room rings. No one is home.

154 INT. DULLES AIRPORT - NIGHT 154

Mendez hangs up the airport pay phone.

CUT TO:

155 INT. DULLES AIRPORT - LATER 155

He sits near a mailbox inside the terminal writing on a

postcard with the Washington Monument on it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BUDDY-MAN. NO PHONE FOR A WHILE.

JACK WILL CALL. LOVE YOU BOTH. Then he adds: SO MUCH.

He drops the card in the box and heads toward a gate

marked .“LUFTHANSA..”

ARGO - Final 58.

149 CONTINUED:
149

156 OMITTED 156 *

157 INT. CANADIAN AMBASSADOR.’S RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY 157

The Houseguests are gathered around Bob Anders.

BOB ANDERS:

-- it was thirty seconds for

Christ.’s sake. To get some air in

the yard. I couldn.’t breathe --

MARK LIJEK:

You know what the rules

are.

JOE STAFFORD:

All it takes is one second

to spot you.

BOB ANDERS:

Who saw me go out?

MARK LIJEK:

It doesn.’t matter. You did

go out.

CORA LIJEK:

I did, actually. I saw

you.

BOB ANDERS:

(to Cora Lijek)

Miss Hall Monitor. Creeping

around with her notebook --

MARK LIJEK:

(something roused)

Don.’t talk to her that way.

CORA LIJEK:

(to Mark)

I.’ll defend myself. Okay?

BOB ANDERS:

Little Laura Ingalls.

Watching every move --

A sound at the door, and they go silent.

LEE SCHATZ:

Dad.’s home.

Ken carrying his briefcase, cheerfully oblivious to what

he.’s walked into.

TAYLOR:

You.’re getting a visitor.

158 OMITTED 158 *

159 INT. WEST WING - MORNING 159

An NSC LIAISON, holding a file with a red stripe, walks *

to Jordan.’s office.

ARGO - Final 59.

160 INT. CHIEF OF STAFF OFFICE - MORNING 160

He finds Jordan sitting on a long table, looking

exhausted, silently watching one of the monitors: .“The

Today Show.” on NBC.

JORDAN:

A man in Scranton.’s putting a flag

on his lawn for every day of

captivity.

(beat)

When he runs out of lawn, Kennedy

wins the primary.

Vance hands him the folder.

LIAISON *

The six with the Canadians are *

coming out.

Jordan, brought back from Scranton and politics by this,

opens the file and looks at it.

JORDAN:

(after a moment)

Who signed off on this?

161 OMITTED 161

161A EXT. ISTANBUL - DAY 161A

ESTABLISHING SHOT. WIDE. OVER the city, featuring the

famous domed mosques.

SUPERIMPOSE:
ISTANBUL - JANUARY 25

162 EXT. ISTANBUL - PLAZA ON THE WATER - DAY 162

Mendez walks, the BOSPHORUS in the b.g. He reaches the

doors of an OFFICIAL-LOOKING BUILDING and goes inside.

163 INT. IRANIAN CONSULATE (ISTANBUL) - DAY 163

Mendez sits in a reception room with a few VISA

APPLICANTS. Photographs of the Ayatollah Khomeini hang

on the wall. Two REVOLUTIONARY GUARD OFFICIALS in illfitting

suits sit at a desk.

ARGO - Final 60.

164 INT. IRANIAN CONSULATE - VISA OFFICE - DAY 164

The IRANIAN CONSUL OFFICIAL, late 30s, is smoking.

CONSUL OFFICIAL:

What will be the purpose of your

visit to Iran?

MENDEZ:

Business. Film production.

The Consul Official looks at his Canadian passport.

CONSUL OFFICIAL:

Why didn.’t you get your visa in

Canada?

MENDEZ:

My boss waited until I was here to

send the telex.

(lighting cigarette)

If he had a thought in his head,

it would die of loneliness. *

Pointed look from Mendez. The universal condition of

boss hatred almost always works for him, and it does now.

Consul nods. Stamps the passport. KINGDOM OF IRAN -- He

crosses out KINGDOM and writes by hand: ISLAMIC REPUBLIC

OF.

164A EXT. BLUE MOSQUE - MORNING 164A

Tony walks through the doorway revealing the historic

mosque, we hear the call to prayer echo through the

courtyard. Tony walks through the courtyard. We see

some TOURISTS with .‘70s Instamatics. Locals are HEADING

IN TO PRAY.

165 INT. HAGIA SOPHIA - UPPER LEVEL - LATER 165

We see the beautiful ceiling of the former cathedral.

PULL BACK to reveal Tony stands looking out over the

second level balcony. A MAN walks up behind him.

MAN (O.S.)

.‘Iran is a hundred percent not in

a pre-revolutionary state..’ End

quote.

Mendez looks up:
a MAN, late 40s-50s with a British

accent, is talking to him. PETER NICHOLLS, an Oxbridge

type and a very good spy.

ARGO - Final 61.

(CONTINUED)

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