Cat People Page #13

SHOT of a transverse bus, as with a hiss of air brakes it

stops directly alongside Alice. She grasps the platform rail

to steady herself. The doors open.

BUS DRIVER Climb on, sister.

Alice steps up. A snarl sounds in the darkness, looks behind

her. Her eyes are carried upward.

The wet shrubbery at the top of wall stirs, settling, as if

something had only that moment passed through it.

Alice is looking back over her shoulder, fascinated by what

she has seen. She is standing just within the bus, but the

driver cannot close the door.

BUS DRIVER:

(exasperated)

Are you ridin' with me, or

ain'tcha?

Alice nods weakly, and steps In.

INT. TRANSVERSE BUS - NIGHT

Alice Is fumbling in her purse for change. She has been

greatly shaken by her fright. Her hands are trembling. The

bus driver looks up at her.

BUS DRIVER:

You look as if you'd seen a

ghost.

ALICE:

(eagerly)

Did you see it?

The driver looks at her in amazement. Abashed, Alice drops

a coin in the box and moves on. The driver shakes his head

morosely, as if crazy women were the cause of all

misfortune in this world, and pulls the gear that operates

the door.

EXT. SHORE OF PARK LAKE - NIGHT

The waterfowl are nesting on the shallow, reed-fringed shores

of the lake. Their heads are tucked in under their wings.

Suddenly, one of the fowl, the leader, comes to life, and

starts to cluck.

CLOSE SHOT - the tall reeds swaying, moving unnaturally, as

If something wore stealing quietly behind them.

All the birds have wakened now, and silently are swimming out

to the safety of the deeper water in the middle of the lake.

EXT. ARCHED BRIDGE OVER BRIDLE PATH - PARK - NIGHT

A mounted policeman, in glistening raincoat and cape, sits

quietly on his horse. A cone of lamplight illuminates him.

Overhead, from the bridge, a dark shadow glides. There is the

deadened sound or padded paws on the stonework of the bridge.

The horse, sensing the presence and hearing the sound, rears

suddenly and plunges. The policeman struggles to rein in the

maddened animal.

The policeman gets the horse in hand, although it continues

to snort and start nervously. He bends down from the saddle

to pat the horse's lathered neck.

POLICEMAN:

What got into you, Joe?

EXT. SHEEPFOLD - PARK - NIGHT

Inside the sheepfold there is panic. The sheep mill about in

the darkness, leaping over each other in blind fright,

bleating piteously.

EXT. SHEEP CARETAKER'S HUT - PARK - NIGHT

The caretaker comes out of his hut, with a lantern. He has

been roused from his sleep, and goes toward the fold,

muttering.

CARETAKER:

The woolly fools!

EXT. SHEEPFOLD - PARK - NIGHT

The caretaker stumbles over something on the ground inside

the sheepfold. He holds up his lantern.

CLOSE SHOT of a killed lamb lying torn on the muddy ground.

The muddy soil around the dead animal Is trampled.

The caretaker raises his lantern higher, and peers into the

light.

The bodies of three more slain lambs lying on the earth, are

revealed by the caretaker's lantern.

The caretaker hobbles over to the last body, pausing for

just a second at the body of each lamb on the way. He

reaches the last body, and kneels down beside it, examining

the ground.

CLOSE SHOT of the prints of an animal In the soft mud around

the body of the fourth lamb.

CAMERA MOVES a few feet beyond the body. Here, going off

toward the sheep pasture gate, are more prints, but not the

prints of the animal. Those are the dainty imprints of a

woman's slippered-foot.

The caretaker, stunned and a little frightened by what he has

seen, brings a whistle up to his lips,and blows it shrilly.

EXT. PARK ENTRANCE - NIGHT

Irena is standing under a street lamp. She seems dazed and

bewildered. She is dabbing at her lips with her

handkerchief. The caretaker's whistle is blowing in the

distance. Irena frowns, puzzled, irresolute. Another whistle,

closer, responds to the caretaker's whistle. A taxi drives up

and stops beside her.

TAXI DRIVER:

Taxi?

Irena looks up, nods and gets into the cab.

DISSOLVE:

INT. IRENA'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Oliver is pacing the floor. The room lights are on full. He

is smoking a cigarette nervously. There is the sound of the

door being opened. Oliver turns around.

Irena has let herself In. She closes the door behind her and

leans up against it. She is blinking in the glare of the

light, She looks ghastly, white, and drawn, her shoes and

stockings are wet, muddied, torn. She has lost her hat, and

her hair is in wild disorder. In her hand she is crumpling

and re-crumpling a soiled lace handkerchief.

TWO SHOT of Irena and Oliver. Irena's exhaustion is so great

that she looks as if she were about to collapse. Oliver jumps

quickly to her side, putting his arm around her waist to

support her. She draws away from him,

OLIVER:

Are you all right?

IRENA:

Please...please...don't touch

me...don't come near me.

OLIVER:

(weakly)

All right.

Oliver hesitates and looks at her with sympathy.

OLIVER (cont'd)

Look, Irena, I'm sorry. I've been

worried to death. I didn't know

where you were. I thought..

There is a pause. She turns away from him.

OLIVER (cont'd)

These things...what happened

tonight...happen in every family.

I was all on edge. You've got to

understand, and you've got to

forgive me.

Irena starts toward her room, mumbling brokenly.

IRENA:

I forgive you.

She stumbles. Oliver tries to help her, but she eludes his

hand and slips into her room. Oliver stands at the closed

door.

INT. IRENA'S BATHROOM - NIGHT

She has turned on the water taps and is filling the tub

with water. She is pulling off her wet clothes as rapidly

as she can.

INT. IRENA'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Oliver stands at the door to Irena's room.

OLIVER:

Irena? Irena?

IRENA'S VOICE

(over the sound of running water)

What do you want?

Oliver Is worried.

INT. IRENA'S BATHROOM - NIGHT .

CLOSEUP of the base of an old-fashioned bathtub that has

floor supports of ornamental balls with tiger claws extending

down over the tops. Over the scene comes the broken sobbing

of Irena.

CAMERA MOVES UP, and we see Irena In the tub. She sits very

still in the still water, but her glistening shoulders shake

as she tries to control the storm of her hysteria.

DISSOLVE:

INT. IRENA'S BEDROOM - DAY

CLOSE SHOT of Irena sleeping. She moves slightly in her

sleep. Her lips move as if she were trying to speak.

LAP DISSOLVE:

OVER HER FACE:

SPECIAL EFFECT SHOT. An army of gigantic, thin, angular cats

marches up from the back of the screen until their weird

shapes, and glowing eyes fill the entire screen from frame to

frame. Then through their ranks comes stalking a knight in

chain armor with ragged grave cerements for cloak and tabard.

He is unearthly tall and, as he walks forward, it is as if a

statue were moving. It is the same figure we have seen on

horseback as King John of Serbia. The face under the crowned

helmet is in darkness. When he comes up close, this darkness

is divided and reveals the face of Dr. Judd. Suddenly, and

with a savage movement, this knightly figure draws his sword.

It comes flashing from the scabbard and instantly changes, to

an enormous Yale key on a ring. The key grows constantly

larger, blotting out everything else from the screen. Over

this sequence is the music of "Berceuses du Chat" in the

softer portions of the melody we hear constantly the

repetition of Judd's suggestions:

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