Bridge of Spies Page #5

TITLE:
PESHAWAR AIR STATION, PAKISTAN

Sitting in the shadows is a huge black aircraft. The

streamlined body of a glider, enormous wings. The U-2. The

pilots begin to surround it, examining it.

WILLIAMS:

From this moment forward, you will

not refer to the U-2 as a spy plane

or reconnaissance aircraft. You

will refer to it as “the article.”

“The article” has an eighty-foot

wingspan. Powered by a single Pratt

and Whitney J57 P37 engine. 10,000

pounds of thrust. Maximum speed of

430 miles an hour. She may not be

quick but at your cruising altitude

of 70,000 feet, nothing will come

close to you.

POWERS:

Seventy-thousand.

(CONTINUED)

12.17.14 FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT 27.

CONTINUED:

WILLIAMS:

The idea is the enemy doesn’t even

know you’re there.

Powers smiles; it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

The other pilots fan out. Joe Murphy looks at the tail

attached with three short bolts.

MURPHY:

Looks kinda flimsy.

WILLIAMS:

Every extra pound of weight costs a

foot in altitude and we need to

accommodate the cameras.

The pilots gather around a structure on which is mounted

several camera lenses.

WILLIAMS (CONT’D)

That’s a thirty-inch lens. A pin-

sharp panoramic camera. Four times

as powerful as any aerial

reconnaissance cameras we’ve ever

used. You’re gonna be taking

pictures. Lots of pictures. At

70,000 feet “the article” can

photograph 2,000 square miles of

territory in one pass. Now,

drivers, give Agent Sumner your

undivided attention.

Sumner directs them to a table festooned with gear of all

kinds.

CIA AGENT:

The items you will need on your

mission are here.

FBI FIELD OFFICE -- EVIDENCE ROOM

Donovan and Doug Forrester stand in front of twenty-five

large trestle tables covered with the equipment seized from

Abel’s studio. Agent Blasco is reading through a list.

BLASCO:

A hollow-handled shaving brush; a

complete set of cipher tablets on

edible silver foil; specialist

photographic equipment -

DONOVAN:

Yeah, we get the idea. Thank you.

(CONTINUED)

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CONTINUED:

Blasco grudgingly hands over the list and steps away.

Donovan examines the list. He notices something on the

paper.

DONOVAN (CONT’D)

Excuse me, agent Bosco. Blasco?.

BLASCO:

Sir?

DONOVAN:

There seems to be a sub-section to

this list here.

BLASCO:

Well most of this stuff came from

his studio. But the rest was from

the hotel room he was holed up in.

Where we found him.

DONOVAN:

The hotel room you searched?

BLASCO:

Well, yeah.

DONOVAN:

Can I see the warrant?

BLASCO:

What?

BROOKLYN COURTHOUSE -- JUDGE BYER’S CHAMBERS

Donovan watches as Judge Byers looks through his half-glasses

at a document on the desk before him. Forrester is standing

further back by the door as is Asst. Attorney General

Tompkins.

JUDGE BYERS:

Yeah, explain this to me? There was

a warrant.

DONOVAN:

Well, there was a warrant, a civil

detention writ -- for the arrest of

an alien. But there was no search

warrant for suspicion of criminal

activity.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

12.17.14 FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT 29.

CONTINUED:

DONOVAN (CONT'D)

So that search, and the evidence

that is the fruit of that search,

that’s all tainted and should not be

admitted.

TOMPKINS:

What protections is he due, your

honor? The man is not -- the man

is, what, “Rudolf Ivanovich Abel,”

he is a Soviet citizen, he is not an

American.

DONOVAN:

1886, Yick Wo v. Hopkins, the court

held that even aliens, in that case,

Chinese immigrants, could not be

held to answer for a crime without

due process of law...including any

alien that entered this country

illegally -

JUDGE BYERS:

The Department of Justice has its

first allegiance to the United

States. I don’t see how an alien,

if he’s here illegally, how he

suffered deprivation of rights.

Rights as what? An American?

Rights as what, counselor?

He stands. In no uncertain terms:

JUDGE BYERS (CONT’D)

We are in a battle for civilization.

This Russian spy came here to

threaten our way of life. Now we

have a courtroom of people waiting.

Get out there, sit beside the

Russian, and let’s get this over and

done with. And your motion is

denied.

COURTROOM:

As people take their seats, Tompkins turns to the man next to

him and glancing at Donovan, says:

TOMPKINS:

He should take some insurance out on

himself.

(CONTINUED)

12.17.14 FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT 30.

CONTINUED:

Abel is sitting next to Donovan.

ABEL:

How did we do?

DONOVAN:

In there? (gropes) Not too good.

Apparently you’re not an American

citizen.

ABEL:

That’s true.

He dabs at his nose with his handkerchief.

DONOVAN:

And according to your boss, you’re

not a Soviet citizen either.

Abel is always mild:

ABEL:

Well...The boss isn’t always right

but he’s always the boss.

Donovan looks at him.

DONOVAN:

Do you never worry?

ABEL:

(shrug)

Would it help?

A door opens by the judge’s bench and Judge Byers enters.

There is general movement as the bailiff calls:

BAILIFF:

All rise.

CLASSROOM:

Every child rises to his feet. With hands on hearts, they

begin to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

PULL-DOWN SCREEN. FROM THE BLACK A FLASH OF WHITE LIGHT AND

AN ATOMIC BOMB IS DETONATED -- IN BLACK AND WHITE AND ON

FILM.

NARRATOR:

First, you have to know what happens

when an atomic bomb explodes.

(CONTINUED)

12.17.14 FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT 31.

CONTINUED:

Kids watching in a classroom. Roger Donovan is among them.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)

...There is a bright flash, brighter

than the sun.

Onscreen we see footage of trees rocking wildly from the

blast.

An animation of an idyllic house. with a tree and hayricks in

a field. Suddenly an atomic explosion rips the house

sideways. Glass flies, branches are blown through the air,

straw and leaves are sucked violently past.

Faces of students -- riveted, hardly breathing -- a girl

scared to tears.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)

...It can smash in buildings, and

break windows all over town. But if

you duck and cover, like Burt -

Animation of Burt the Turtle.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)

You’ll be much safer.

ON ROGER, apprehensive.

NARRATOR (CONT’D)

There are two kinds of attack. With

warning, and without any warning...

DONOVAN HOME -- BATHROOM

Donovan opens the bathroom door. He looks in on his son, who

has filled the bathtub to the very top with water. Roger has

a bruise under one eye.

DONOVAN:

Hm. what’s going on in here?

ROGER:

Okay Dad, this is really important.

When the war begins, the first thing

they do is cut off all the water and

all the electricity. So the first

thing we should do is keep this

filled, and use the shower in your

room, use the sink downstairs, the

garden house outside -

(CONTINUED)

12.17.14 FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT 32.

CONTINUED:

DONOVAN:

Those are good ideas. But Roger, I

don’t see this as being something

you ever have to worry about.

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