Beginners Page #8

INT. ANNA’S HOTEL HALLWAY

Arthur runs down the hotel hallway, followed by Oliver, they

come to a corner and Anna jumps out, scaring them, they laugh

and continue on together.

10/29/07 44.

INT. MELROSE BOOK STORE NIGHT

Oliver and Anna are in the overcrowded used book store we saw

earlier. Oliver sees her down the aisle.

OLIVER:

Hey, what did you get?

She puts the cover of Liv Ullman’s “Changing” over her face -

Ullman’s face on the cover becomes Anna’s.

OLIVER (CONT’D)

Liv Ullman. Very serious.

ANNA:

And I found this crazy book.

She holds an old copy of THE JOY OF SEX in front of her face.

OLIVER:

That’s kind of a classic American

thing.

Anna opens the book to a large drawing of a couple having

sex.

ANNA:

Maybe we can figure out some

classic American things to do.

Oliver takes the book and flips through the pages.

OLIVER:

Yeah, Like page 75?

ANNA:

Uh-huh.

OLIVER:

Or 75 all the way through, through

80.

LATER...

Oliver, Anna and Arthur sit at the end of an aisle looking at

a book on “Old Hollywood”. The book has a photo of Louise

Brooks from the Twenties.

OLIVER:

(reading)

Louise Brooks, star of silent

screen... effectively banned from

Hollywood in early Thirties, ended

up working as a salesgirl at Saks

Fifth Avenue.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/07 45.

CONTINUED:

Anna listens. Oliver turns the page, we see a photo of

Veronica Lake.

OLIVER:

Veronica Lake.

ANNA:

Oh I love her.

OLIVER:

She was a pin-up model and a film

star... Success was short-lived...

series of broken marriages... She

struggled with mental illness and

alcoholism. She died of hepatitis

at the age of 53.

ANNA:

All these actor stories end sad. I

can tell you that already. It’s

not a good life.

Oliver closes the book, they share a look, and something

vulnerable. Anna changes the mood, pulls out The Joy Of Sex,

skips through the pages as she talks.

ANNA (CONT’D)

So. Now I want real Mexican food.

She stops on an illustration she likes.

ANNA (CONT’D)

And I want to try page... 46.

EXT. STREET TACO TRUCK - NIGHT

Oliver, Anna and Arthur walk up to a typical L.A. Taco truck

on the side of the street. There is nothing fancy looking

about it.

ANNA:

No.

OLIVER:

Yeah.

ANNA:

Really?

OLIVER:

It’s really good.

JUMP CUT:
They’re sitting on milk crates by the truck, ready

to take their first bite, Anna dives in un-selfconsciously,

we’re not sure what she thinks.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/07 46.

CONTINUED:

OLIVER:

What do you think?

ANNA:

It’s so good.

Oliver’s so relieved.

OLIVER:

It’s good? Oh, I wasn’t sure you’d

like it.

ANNA:

Why?

OLIVER:

You’re an actress and staying in

that fancy hotel.

Anna can barely swallow her huge bite...

ANNA:

I like this place.

INT. ANNA’S HOTEL ROOM

They lie on the bed, continuing their conversation, side by

side, looking up at the ceiling together.

ANNA:

I used to love hotels. But now I’m

always in a new apartment or... in

another hotel somewhere.

OLIVER:

How do you keep hold of friends...

or boyfriends?

ANNA:

It makes it very easy to end up

alone - to leave people.

OLIVER:

You can stay in the same place and

still find ways to leave people.

She reaches up with her hand, their fingers intertwine.

ANNA:

You are like that? Its what you do?

Oliver nods yes. They know each other much better than either

one knew.

ANNA:

So we are the same?

(CONTINUED)

10/29/07 47.

CONTINUED:

OLIVER:

Yeah, I guess so.

The look to each other.

CUT TO PAST:

INT. HAL'S HOUSE - OLIVER’S ROOM - NIGHT

Thumps and loud 1920’s music wakes Oliver in the middle of

the night. He turns the lights on, discombobulated.

He gets up, works his way through the dark house. Turning on

lights.

OLIVER:

Pop?

INT. HAL'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Hal’s awake, he’s taken down dozens of books from a wall to

wall bookshelf. A huge physical task. MARIA a nurse is with

him. Oliver’s dumbfounded.

HAL:

Oh, did I wake you? Yeah. (Handing

Maria some books) Thank you Maria.

(to Oliver) And now that you’re

here, uh, would you please put

those up there?

OLIVER:

What are you--? Pop. What?

HAL:

I’m reorganizing.

OLIVER:

Prednisone makes you crazy.

HAL:

I’m just not sleepy. I feel great.

INT. HAL’S OFFICE

Oliver and Hal are sitting at either side of his desk, Arthur

is in hal’s lap. The sound from last scene bleeds over...

OLIVER (V.O.)

Pop, you should rest.

Hal looks sick but energized, he shuffles his desk of papers.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/07 48.

CONTINUED:

HAL:

As soon as I finish these papers.

Right, papers? (In a different

voice) Right, Hal. As soon as

you’re done, you can rest.

Oliver can only sit and worry.

CUT TO PRESENT:

EXT. ELYSIAN PARK

Anna, Oliver and Arthur are walking in Elysian park, a view

of downtown behind them. Oliver's looking at her face, she

notices.

ANNA:

What?

OLIVER:

Nothing, you’re pretty.

ANNA:

No...

OLIVER:

Yeah.

ANNA:

Jewish girls are not pretty. They

can be "interesting", or cute, but

not pretty.

OLIVER:

You’re kidding right?

ANNA:

That’s what my mom told me.

OLIVER:

She did not.

Anna laughs. As Anna continues to explain, the sound begins

to fade down...

ANNA:

No, you’re right, this girl at

school told me that. And I went

home and my mom said, ‘Anna, who

told you that?

And Oliver’s narration fades in over them walking...

(CONTINUED)

10/29/07 49.

CONTINUED:

OLIVER (V.O.)

This is what it looks like when

Anna tells me about being Jewish in

2003. And when I tell her that my

mother was Jewish. And then my

father turned in his gay badge when

my mother turned in her Jewish

badge. And they got married in

1955.

CUT TO NARRATED SEQUENCE

STILL PHOTOGRAPHS FLASH BEFORE US:

PHOTOS OF GEORGIA IN 1938, F.D.R., BUSINESS MEN...

OLIVER (V.O.)

My mother didn’t know she was

Jewish until she was 13. It was

1938. This is what people looked

like.

THEN LIONS AND GIRAFFES FROM 1938. THEN ADOLF HITLER ON TIME

MAGAZINE COVER.

OLIVER (V.O.)

And lions and giraffes. This man

was Man of the Year.

THEN GEORGIA’S FATHER IN 1938, GEORGIA’S SWIM TEAM PHOTO.

OLIVER (V.O.)

Her father tried to hide that they

were Jewish. This is the swim team

that asked her to leave once they

discovered that she was Jewish.

THEN A QUICK SERIES OF ANGLO LOOKING FEMALE MODELS AND PINUP’S

FROM 1938.

OLIVER (V.O.)

This is what pretty looked like in

1938.

NOW A STILL PHOTO OF HAL IN 1938.

OLIVER (V.O.)

My father realized he was gay when

he was 13. It was 1938.

THEN A SERIES OF PHOTOS OF MALE MODELS IN SWIM SUITS AND

EXERCISING.

OLIVER (V.O.)

This is what pretty looked like.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/07 50.

CONTINUED:

THEN PHOTOS OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL, G.I.’S FROM W.W.2, AND

JAMES DEAN.

This is the high school where they

first met. This is the war they

both went to. And this man was

popular when they met again.

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