Battle of the Sexes

1 MONTAGE 1 MONTAGE 1

Huge on the screen, A plastic doll stares at us. A commercialfor Talky Crissy.

TALKY CRISSY:

Hi! Please dry my hair.

V/O

All girls love Talky Crissy with

her growing hair....

The screen divides in two to accommodate both Talky Crissyand a squadron of B52s unloading its cargo. Hundreds of bombsunzip the sky.

V/O (CONT’D)

... as the last US ground troops

are withdrawn from Vietnam, the

bombing continues...

The screen divides into smaller squares accommodating thebest and the worst of the early 1970’s. Clips of Hawaii Five-

O, Here’s Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, stills from

commercials, documentary footage from Town Bloody Hall, each

taking centre screen for a few seconds and then shrinking toallow the next clip to take precedence.

“The Kenwood Chef does everything but cook. That’s what wives

are for”.

“Flying Dutchman tobacco: lead Women around by the nose”.

“Don’t worry, darling, you didn’t burn the beer. SchlitzMalt”.

Then a news clip takes centre screen:

NEWSCASTER:

Good evening, in a landmark ruling,

the Supreme Court today legalized

abortions. A majority from Texas

and Georgia said that the decision

to end a pregnancy during the first

three months belongs to a woman and

her doctor not the government.

Town Bloody Hall takes precedence as a woman in the audienceaccuses Norman Mailer on the stage.

TOWN BLOODY HALL

...the dog talks, you know! That a

woman should talk at all is

something you are finding a little

hard to take...

BATTLE OF THE SEXES -Simon Work File -4/7/16

1A

1B

2

Which fades in favour of the doll Talky Crissy again:

V/OBut there’s someone new in town.

EXT. FOREST HILLS TENNIS COURT. US OPEN. DAY. 1A

BILLIE JEAN KING’s 29 year-old face, big on the screen,

concentrating hard. We hear a grunt and the noise of a serve.

A flash and Billie Jean has reached the ball, returned it.

The ball comes back, but she is across the court with

lightning speed and putting every ounce of energy into theshot, returns it again.

We are inside her head: only the sound of her furiousbreathing, the ball and the squeak of tennis shoes can beheard.

Back comes the ball, again and again, each time, Billie Jeanpunches it back until....

...The world crashes in: a sudden surge of applause andcheering. The focus on Billie Jean’s face finally relaxes

into a huge smile of triumph.

UMPIRE V/OGame, set and match to Miss King.

She throws the racket high into the air and we see she issurrounded by thousands of fans applauding wildly.

LARRY KING, Billie Jean’s husband, jumps onto the court and

embraces her.

Title:
Battle of the Sexes

EXT. HIGH RISE OFFICE. NEW YORK. DAY. 1B

A faceless, glass office building. Distant traffic andhonking horns. Moving in on one of the many windows, wefind...

TV (V.O.)

...and Billie Jean King’s triumph

in the US Open adds another GrandSlam to a list of titles that makes

her the most successful woman

player of all time and brings aphone call from a very specialfan....

OMITTED:

BATTLE OF THE SEXES -Simon Work File -4/7/16

3

3 OMITTED 3

4 INT. OFFICE. NEW YORK. DAY. 4

...fifty-four year old BOBBY RIGGS, tennis racket in hand,

staring at the TV.

On the TV, Billie Jean is on court holding up the trophy fromthe US Open.

The TV cuts to a boardroom where she is now talking on aspeaker-phone to PRESIDENT NIXON.

BILLIE JEAN:

Hello, Mister President.

PRESIDENT NIXON V/O

I just wanted to congratulate you

on your great successes this year

and being the first sportswoman to

earn over a hundred thousand

dollars in a season.

BILLIE JEAN:

Thank you, Mister President. Thank

you very much, Sir.

TV (V.O.)

With five Wimbledon titles, a

French Open win and now a fourth US

Open crown, the Old Lady as she is

affectionately known on the circuit-

shows no sign of hanging up her

tennis shoes any time soon....

Bobby switches off the TV with a sigh. He bats a ball ofscrunched up paper expertly into the trash, wanders backbehind a large, largely empty desk. He sets the Newton’s

Cradle desk toy going, his eyes following it’s progress backand forth for a while.

Snaps out of it. Presses the intercom.

BOBBY RIGGS:

Has that contract from Diemberger

come in yet, Mike?

MICHAEL O/S

Oh, yes, Sir. I turned it around

yesterday.

BOBBY RIGGS:

You did?

BATTLE OF THE SEXES -Simon Work File -4/7/16 4

MICHAEL O/S

Just needed a signature. Hope that

was the right thing to do, Sir.

BOBBY RIGGS:

Oh. Yes. Sure. Anything else come

in?

MICHAEL O/SNo, Sir.

Sits back. Opens his desk drawer. Pulls out a pack of cards.

Suddenly shoves them back in and slams the drawer as ifburned. Presses the intercom again.

BOBBY RIGGS:

Mike, I think I’ll take an early

one.

MICHAEL O/SVery good, Sir.

Bobby grabs his coat and leaves.

5 EXT. CHURCH/NEW YORK STREET. DAY. 5

Bobby hunches down the street.

A bunch of kids on rollerskates, one of them with a boom-box

on his shoulder playing the Stones at full volume, speedpast, knocking Bobby off the sidewalk.

BOBBY RIGGS:

Hey! Hey!

Completely ignored, Bobby turns into a church and goes in.

6 INT. CHURCH. DAY. 6

A semi-circle of chairs around a table in a side-chapel ofthe church. A rag-tag bunch of people- mostly men- aresitting. One of the men is telling a rambling story about hisgambling addiction.

Bored, Bobby starts making fish faces with his mouth. Asatisfying popping noise.

GAMBLERS ANON LEADER

Would anybody else like to speak?

Sir?

He’s looking at Bobby. Bobby points at himself. Really? Me?

He stands up. Sighs. Here we go.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES -Simon Work File -4/7/16

BOBBY RIGGS:

My name is Bobby and I am an

addict.

ADDICTS:

Hi, Bobby.

BOBBY RIGGS:

At least that’s what Priscilla

says. My wife. Lovely lady.

His face briefly shines and then he remembers.

BOBBY RIGGS (CONT’D)

She’s gonna leave me unless I quit

gambling.

A couple of ‘we hear you, Bobby’s from the room.

BOBBY RIGGS (CONT’D)

Puzzles me, this word: gambling.

Every time she gets the car out the

garage Priscilla’s gambling big

time. Never checks the mirror,

sticks it in reverse, puts her foot

down, straight out onto the

highway. Jeez Louise, that’s

gambling. But here I am. Gamblers

Anonymous.

GAMBLERS ANON LEADER

And what’s your point, Bobby

BOBBY RIGGS:

My point? Everybody gambles all the

time. Life’s a gamble, right?

That’s the thrill of it: this way

or that way, the yes or the no, the

heads or the tails of being alive!

Yet here I am and here you are,

heads bowed, ashamed of ourselves.

But that ain’t right. You fellas

aren’t here cos you’re gamblers-

we’re all gamblers. You’re here cos

you’re terrible gamblers. That’s

what the problem is. You lose,

right? And you end up here.

More ashamed nods from the Gamblers.

BOBBY RIGGS (CONT’D)

I get it. But there’s one thing

worse than losing, friends: it’s

not being in the game. If you’re

not in game, what’s the point?

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