Capote Page #8

SHAWN:

He hasn't written a word yet,

though he says it's the nonfiction

book of the decade...

We HEAR Truman before we see him:

TRUMAN (O.S.)

He's little, but terrifying -

We see Truman in the corner entertaining a small group. Jack

Dunphy stands off to the side. Nelle settles next to Jack.

TRUMAN (cont'd)

He's as short as I am. And almost

as pretty. I'd be with him right

now but he's being given new

accommodations -

Guests laugh.

TRUMAN (cont'd)

Most people assume he's a monster.

I don't see him that way. The book

I'm writing will return him to the

realm of humanity -- it's the book

I was always meant to write...

Nelle and Jack stand back, watching.

JACK:

Watch out. This. is the start of a

great love affair.

NELLE:

Oh yes. Truman in love with Truman.

6 4 OMIT

65 INT. LIZ PAVILLON RESTAURANT - DAY

Truman is being interviewed over lunch.

TRUMAN:

... I was in Marilyn's apartment

just last week. I had to break it

to her that, of the four Matisses

hanging on her wall, two were

upside down.

The REPORTER laughs. A waiter passes. Truman taps his glass.

TRUMAN (cont'd)

Another.

(to reporter)

To answer your question, I'm

following "Breakfast at Tiff any's"

by blazing a different path - by

inventing an entirely new kind of

writing:
the non-fiction novel.

REPORTER:

You have a subject?

Truman takes a last sip of his drink -- utterly serious now.

Green

TRUMAN:

On the night of November 14, two

men broke into a quiet farmhouse in

Kansas and murdered an entire

family. Why did they do that?

It's been suggested that this

subject is tawdry - it's not worthy

of literature. I disagree. Two

worlds exist in this country - the

quiet conservative life, and the

life of those two men - the

underbelly, the criminally violent.

Those worlds converged ' that bloody

night. I spent the past three

months interviewing everyone in

Kansas touched by that violence. I

spent hours talking to the killers - and I'll spend more.

(waiter brings his drink)

Researching this work has changed

my life, altered my point of view

about almost everything. I think

those who read it will be similarly

a£ f ected.

(he sips)

Such a book can only be written by

a journalist who has mastered the

techniques of fiction -

REPORTER:

You're speaking of yourself.

TRUMAN:

You're really very clever.

CUT TO:

6 6 INT. TRUMAN AND JACK'S HOUSE, BEDROOM - DAY 66 *

Truman sits in bed, writing on a yellow LEGAL PAD, surrounded

by PILES of notes. He squints his eyes, concentrating. Jack

enters, delivers a CUP OF COFFEE. Truman doesn't notice.

6 7 INT. TRUMAN AND JACK'S HOUSE, BEDROOM - LATER 67 *

Truman is rifling through the boxes, looking for particular

notes. He can't find what he needs. The phone RINGS.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET, BROOKLYlJ HEIGHTS - LATE AFTERNOON

Jack and Truman walk.

TRUMAN:

Perry's decided to appeal. He

claims their attorney was

incompetent - that he never raised

the issue of temporary insanity.

JACK:

So you find them a new lawyer.

TRUMAN:

They're facing execution in six

weeks, Jack. They need someone to

argue whether or not that's right.

JACK:

Okay.

TRUMAN:

I'd also like to see them alive,

yes, thank you very much. I need

to hear their story.

They walk in silence for a few moments.

TRUMAN (cont'd)

If you met him you'd understand.

It's .as if no-one's ever asked him

a single question about himself.

He's so... damaged - and strange -

unexplored. . . . (then)

I don't trust this Hickock fellow.

Perry's the only person who can

describe to me what happened that

night. I need to hear him say it.

JACK:

Just be careful what you do to get

what you want.

TRUMAN:

I'm finding them a lawyer.

JACK:

Truman. You're finding yourself a

lawyer.

CUT TO:

Green

6 9 INT. CAR, DRIVING, TWO-LANE KANSAS HIGHWAY - DAY 69 *

Truman drives alone, concentrating intently. He has to

stretch to see over the dashboard.

7 0 EXT . KANSAS STATE PENI-IARY (KSP ) , LANSING - DAY 70 *

A turreted, Civil War-era fortress an hour's drive from

Kansas City. Truman pulls up to the GUARDHOUSE.

7 1 INT. KSP , WAITING ROOM/WARDEN' B OFFICE - DAY 7 1

Truman waits alone, looking at the lone decoration: a

campaign poster, showing a fat man in a suit grinning while

holding a shotgun. Across the bottom it reads: WALK TALL

WITH KRUTCH. A YOUNG PRISON GUARD sticks his head out of the

office door.

YOUNG PRISON GUARD

Warden Krutch will see you now.

7 2 INT . KSP , WARDEN' B OFFICE - DAY 7 2

Wood-paneled walls, government-issue desk. On the wall

behind the desk is a CHART - a racial accounting of the

current inmate population. It reads: WHITE - 1405, COLORED -

360, MEXICANS - 12, INDIANS - 6.

WARDEN =SHALL KRUTCH is fat, coarse, sweaty even in winter.

And it's spring. He's running for Congress - there are

"KRUTCH FOR CONGRESS" bumper stickers laying around the

office. He's enjoying a chance at a little publicity. The

YOUNG PRISON GUARD stands quietly by the wall.

KRUTCH:

We do well by our boys. Showers

once a week. Feed em good. We'll

be feeding Perry smith in the

infirmary soon if he don't eat.

Get the food in through his arm.

TRUMAN:

What are you talking about?

KRUTCH:

Hasn't eaten in a month. But it's

not his right to kill himself.

It's the People's right. The

People of this State.

(MORE )

KRUTCH (cont'd)

And that's who I work for, the

People. You can write any of this

down.

TRUMAN:

No one told me.

KRUTCH:

Yah. Won't eat.

TRUMAN:

When can I see him?

KRUTCH:

(checking desk calendar)

How about you come back Thursday?

TRUMAN:

No. That's no good. I need to see

them now, then whenever I want for

as long as I want.

KRUTCH:

Not how we do things here.

Pause.

TRUMAN:

I see.

Truman glances at the campaign stickers, the young prison

guard, then back at Krutch.

TRUMAN (cont ' d)

I understand what a burden

unlimited visitation might be - on

this institution, and on the People

who pay for it. 1 want to be clear

that I don't expect the citizens of

Leavenworth County to have to

shoulder that burden.

Truman reaches into his jacket, pulls from it an ENVELOPE

STUFFED with CASH. He lays it on the desk.

TRUMAN (cont'd)

To be dispensed as you see fit.

Krutch is stone-faced as he regards the money. Finally:

KRUTCH:

I didn't know where to count your

boy - being half-Indian. I did him

a favor though.

(MORE)

KRUTCH (cont'd)

(points to race chart)

Counted him White.

TRUMAN:

You're a kind and generous man.

CUT TO:

7 3 INT. KSP, DEATH ROW - DAY 73 *

The second floor of a small building in the corner of the

prison complex. Decrepit. The one hall is lit by meshcovered

BARE BULBS in the ceiling. Twelve cells - six on

each side. Each is 7 by 10 feet, with one small, high WINDOW

covered by bars and wire. The YOUNG PRISON GUARD opens the

heavy GATE at the end of the hall and shows Truman in.

They walk down the row of cells. In one of them we notice

Lowell Lee Andrews ( 20, white, spectacled, ENORMOUSLY FAT)

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