Carol

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EXT. NYC SUBWAY STATION. APRIL 1953. NIGHT.

Out of the darkness, the screeching moan of an arrivingtrain. A dark swarm of bodies file out of the LEXINGTON and

59TH ST STATION. We descend upon the crowd, singling out ayoung man in coat and hat, JACK TAFT, late 20s, who weaves

through the line of COMMUTERS, some opening umbrellas to thepatchy skies. JACK buys an evening paper at a newsstand andmakes his way across 59th.

EXT./INT. RITZ TOWER HOTEL. NIGHT.

JACK enters the hotel and we follow him as he walks throughthe lobby to the bar. JACK easily finds a stool, nods to theBARTENDER and tosses him the newspaper. The BARTENDER pointsto a bottle of Dewars and JACK gives him a thumbs up. Hescans the cocktail lounge adjacent to the bar - not muchactivity in there, either: a FEW TABLES OF BUSINESSMENgetting drunk, an ELDERLY COUPLE, TWO WOMEN tucked away in acorner table. JACK checks his watch and the BARTENDER sets

down his drink.

JACK:

Not much going on for a Friday.

BARTENDER:

It’s early yet.

JACK downs his scotch, slides his empty glass over to theBARTENDER, taps out a rhythm along the edge of the bar.

JACK:

Say Cal, make it a double, wouldyou? And one for yourself. I gottamake a call.

JACK gets up.

INT. RITZ TOWER HOTEL. BAR/LOUNGE. NIGHT.

JACK makes his way through the lounge on his way to atelephone booth. He takes another look at the TWO WOMENtucked away in the corner, deep in conversation, and thinkshe recognizes one of them. He begins approaching them.

JACK:

Therese? Is that you?

THERESE, the younger of the women, turns to look at JACK.

JACK (CONT’D)

What do you know!

(he starts over)

I’m saying to myself, I know that

girl.

It seems to take her a split second to react, to stand and

greet JACK with a short hug.

THERESE:

Jack.

JACK:

Gee it’s great to see you, Therese.

It’s been, well, months.

THERESE:

Months.

The OTHER WOMAN at the table lights a cigarette. THERESEglances at her, and they hold a brief, tense look beforeTHERESE remembers her manners.

THERESE (CONT’D)

Jack, this is Carol Aird.

JACK holds out his hand. CAROL shakes it.

JACK:

Pleased to meet you.

CAROL:

Likewise.

CAROL retreats back to her own thoughts, smokes.

JACK:

Hey, Ted Gray’s meeting me here anda bunch of us are heading down toPhil’s party. You’re going aren’tyou?

THERESE:

Well - yes. I just planned to get

there a little...(looking to Carol)

CAROL:

You should go ahead.

JACK:

You coming along?

CAROL:

No, no. (to THERESE) I should make

a few calls before dinner, anyway.

I should really run.

THERESE:

You sure?

CAROL:

Of course.

THERESE:

(to JACK)

Well... it would be great to catcha ride.

CAROL takes a step towards THERESE, but no more.

CAROL:

You two have a wonderful night.

Nice meeting you, Jack.

JACK:

Nice meeting you.

And she’s gone. THERESE doesn’t move, doesn’t turn around towatch CAROL leave.

JACK (CONT’D)

Alright, well let me go make surethe loaf is on his way. Back in aflash.

JACK takes off. A beat before THERESE turns and scans the bar

and beyond for CAROL. But she’s gone.

INT. RITZ TOWER HOTEL. BAR/LOUNGE. MOMENTS LATER

JACK, through the glass of the phone-booth door, is finishinghis call. He emerges from the booth, passing the bar on theway, where the bartender spots him, and holds up the paper.

JACK:

Keep it!

JACK returns to where he left THERESE but stops when hedoesn’t see her, glancing around. He’s about to ask a WAITERif he’s seen her when he spots THERESE emerging from theladies lounge. She looks pallid.

JACK (CONT’D)

There you are! Thought you ditchedme. You alright? He said he’d meetus out front.

INT./EXT. NYC TAXI CAB. NIGHT.

THERESE sits against the window in the back of a taxi,

crowded with JACK and OTHER 20-somethings, MALE AND FEMALE,

all involved in animated conversation we can’t hear. The taxi

stops for a light and THERESE catches sight of an ELEGANTCOUPLE, arm-in-arm at the corner, crossing the avenue as thelight changes. A strong gust of wind gives the woman somedifficulty as she tries to knot a green silk scarf around herhead.

As they reach the sidewalk, she turns back to face theavenue, and then recedes, swallowed by swirling lights andreflections.

CUT TO:

FLASHBACK:
DECEMBER, 1952

BRIEF SHOTS (INT. TOY DEPARTMENT - FRANKENBERG’S)

A toy train whizzes by the faces of miniature pedestrians ona department store display. CAROL AIRD, seen from a distance,

in winter coat, stands watching. She wears a green silk scarfover her head, loosely tied.

She turns, smiles.

INT. THERESE’S APARTMENT. EAST 50’S. DECEMBER 1952. MORNING.

An alarm blares over the sleeping face of THERESE BELIVET,

huddled under covers. THERESE doesn’t stir though the alarmcontinues. Finally, THERESE, in one skilled manoeuver, pushesherself up and out of bed, still cocooned within theblankets. She finds the alarm clock and shuts it off. She

looks at the alarm clock. It reads 7.00 A.M.

THERESE moves through her morning rituals: she throws openher window shades, moves on to a small gas stove, strikes amatch and lights the stove to take the chill off, moves on tothe kitchen sink set in one corner of the room, which doublesas a partial home darkroom - developer and fixer traysstacked to the side of the sink, an Argus C3 camera from thelate 1930s set on a shelf above the sink, along with acollection of red or amber light bulbs and photo paper.

The room is sparsely furnished, and much of the wall space istaken up with THERESE’S B&W photos, mostly NY CITY STREETSCENES and URBAN LANDSCAPES. THERESE is brushing her teethwhen the doorbell rings. Once. Twice. Three times. She shedsher blankets and goes to the window, opens it, leans out.

EXT. THERESE’S APARTMENT BUILDING. CONTINUOUS.

THERESE’S boyfriend, RICHARD SEMCO, looks up at her from the

street, striding his bicycle. He’s well-bundled in scarf andhat.

THERESE:

I like your scribbles.

RICHARD looks around to the street behind him covered in

children’s chalk scribblings.

RICHARD:

Yeah - I’ve been busy! (grinning ather): I don’t know how you look amillion bucks first thing in themorning.

THERESE:

I won’t be a minute.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK. NY CITY. MORNING.

RICHARD rides THERESE to work through the park. She sits withher arms wrapped around his hips while he stands pumping awayat the pedals.

RICHARD:

So I got the schedules. In the

mail. You listening to me?

THERESE:

I’m listening! You got the

schedules.

RICHARD:

And there are two sailings to

France in June, one in July.

THERESE:

Wow.

RICHARD:

So whaddya think?

THERESE:

I think... I think it’s so cold I

can’t think straight.

RICHARD:

Oh yeah? Well let’s get you warmedup.

RICHARD accelerates. THERESE laughs, holds on tighter.

RICHARD begins to sing: “I love Paris in the... summer-time!”

as they speed away.

EXT. FRANKENBERG’S DEPARTMENT STORE. MORNING.

Outside the employee’s entrance, RICHARD and THERESE stand ina longish line of MOSTLY YOUNG STAFF waiting to begin theirwork day. Everyone looks exactly the same: a lot cold, alittle Soviet-factory-worker glum.

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