Cat People Page #3

OLIVER:

(as he picks up his

things)

Boys who come to tea can't expect

to stay to dinner.

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE IRENA'S APARTMENT & STAIRWAY - TWILIGHT

Irena has followed Oliver out and stands in the doorway

Oliver turns to look at her.

OLIVER:

When am I going to see you again?

Tomorrow?

Irena nods with a smile, Oliver continues to the head of the

stairs and turns back.

OLIVER (cont'd)

What time tomorrow?

Irena shrugs her shoulders.

OLIVER (cont'd)

Dinner?

Irena nods and smiles at him.

SHOT of stairway as Oliver comes down the stairs. He reaches

a landing, turns, and looks up, Irena is looking down at him

from the bannister. They both smile. He continues down the

stairs. At the very bottom he looks up again. Irena is still

standing watching him. He smiles up at her and exits.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

INT. DRAFTING OFFICE - MORNING

WIDE VIEW. The Consolidated Ship and Barge Construction

Company has a handsome drafting office. Severe and modern,

it is nevertheless a room that immediately suggests

shipbuilding. A wide doorway opens in from the hall, in the

f.g. are three draftsmen's tables, glass-topped and lighted

from beneath. Behind them are several tables for other

workers. There are a number of rows of filing cabinets, and

at one side is a water cooler. The back wall of the office

is unadorned, wide, and slightly curving. At the moment, a

group of office workers are just starting to paste up the

sectional plans of a ship, entitled "PROJECT NO. 457," on

this wall. The ship's bow can be seen taking form in

detailed constructional profile.

Two of the three draftsmen's tables in the f.g. are now

occupied. Oliver sits working at one of them.

The center one is unoccupied. At the other one, a tall,

lean Englishman works. This is James Carver. At the back

wall, Alice Moore is supervising two workers, who are doing

the actual pasting. She holds in her hands a small sheet of

paper with the detailed mathematical measurements of the

project,

Beside her, Commodore Judson, head of the Consolidated Ship

and Barge Construction Company, stands watching the beginning

of the project with genuine delight. He is a bald, bearded

gentleman and would look like an amiable tramp rather than

the head of a successful shipbuilding company, if it were not

for the seamanlike neatness of his clothes.

ALICE:

(motioning to one of the

men at the wall)

A little more to the left, Harry.

Easy...just a hair...

She lifts her hand to indicate that it's in position.

COMMODORE:

By George! This is going to bo

our best yet. Wait till she rides

into Tokyo Bay.

ALICE:

She's got what it takes all right,

Commodore.

Alice turns and goes to the desk between Oliver and Jim

Carver. She picks up a sheet of paper from the desk and is

just about to return to the wall, when she is stopped by

the sound of a cat's mewing. She listens. The mew is

repeated. Carver raises his head and also listens. Alice

takes a look at the floor under and around her desk,

Oliver is still bending over his work, Alice looks

suspiciously and questioningly at Carver, Carver replies by

throwing his hands out to show that he doesn't know,and

then pointing to himself and shaking his head to announce

that the mew is not coming from him. The mewing continues

during this, which is one reason Carver and Alice do not

speak. They are listening. Alice and Carver both turn and

look at Oliver, He knows very well that they are looking at

him, and his pose is one of elaborate innocence. There is a

light cardboard box on his desk.

The CAMERA FOCUSES on it as the lid of the box rises, and

the head of a very small Siamese kitten pokes out, Alice

hurries to Oliver's desk, uttering a cross between a coo

and a cry of pleased surprise.

ALICE (cont'd)

A-a-ah!

She picks up the kitten and cuddles it against her cheek.

ALICE (cont'd)

It's a darling! Where'd you got

it?

OLIVER:

Bought it.

The Commodore has joined them.

COMMODORE:

You're not going to start keeping

cats, are you?

(scratching kitten's head)

OLIVER:

No, Commodore, I just got it for a

friend.

CARVER:

We arrive at the inescapable

conclusion that our Oliver

(he is addressing the

assembled multitude)

has a girl.

COMMODORE:

A brilliant deduction.

He takes Carver's arm and draws him away/

ALICE:

A girl friend?

OLIVER:

(almost as if correcting her)

A girl.

ALICE:

Anybody I know?

Oliver takes the kitten and puts it back into the box. It

makes vain efforts to scramble out past his restraining

hand,

OLIVER:

Not yet, but I know you'll like

her.

Alice watches him try to got the cover of the box over the

protesting kitten.

ALICE (SPEAKING LIGHTLY)

If you like her, she's okay with

me.

CAMERA PANS DOWN to CLOSE SHOT of kitten, and as the lid of

the box hides It from view, we

DISSOLVE:

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE IRENA'S APARTMENT - NOON

MED. SHOT. Oliver, with the boxed kitten under one arm, is

ringing the bell to Irena's apartment. After a moment, she

opens the door. She is wearing a paint-stained smock and has

obviously boon interrupted in her work. She smiles at Oliver,

and he bends down to put the box on the floor.

OLIVER:

Look, Irena. I brought you a

present.

He takes the kitten out of the box and sets it on the floor.

Irena stoops down beside it. Seeing her, the kitten draws

back, arching itself. Oliver, puzzled, looks from the cat to

Irena. She leans forward, smiling, trying to coax the kitten

to come to her. The kitten snarls and spits viciously at her.

Oliver scoops it up in his hands.

OLIVER (cont'd)

Why, you little devil!

IRENA:

(as she rises to her feet)

It's all right. It's just that

cats don't seem to like me.

OLIVER:

But this is only a kitten. It's

very friendly. When I had it in the

office, Alice � the girl who works

in our department � it played with

her.

IRENA:

(smiling uncomfortably)

Cats just don't like me.

Oliver has stuffed the kitten back into its box and put the

lid over it. He is obviously disappointed. Irena puts her

hand on Oliver's arm.

IRENA (cont'd)

(Brightly)

I know what we can do. You got it

at a pet store, didn't you?

OLIVER:

Yes.

IRENA:

Good. We could exchange it for some

other pet?

She looks up at him. He nods.

IRENA (cont'd)

I'll get my hat and coat.

She turns to go back into the apartment for her coat and hat.

DISSOLVE:

INT. PET STORE - DAY

All is tranquil in Miss Plunkett's Pet Shoppe. Outside it

is raining, a soft autumn rain. Miss Plunkett sits nodding.

Most of the birds and animals are sleeping. Above Miss

Plunkett, in a circular stand, a brilliant macaw swings. It

looks very much like Miss Plunkett, and, like her, is

peacefully nodding in sleep. A little bell tinkles, and

there is the sound of the door opening and closing. Miss

Plunkett sleeps right on. We see that Irena and Oliver have

entered the shop. Immediately there is a transformation.

The birds begin to call back and forth to one another,

their calls growing excited, shrill. The monkeys, awakened,

clamber excitedly in their cages, whimpering and chattering

madly. The puppies begin to bark, the cats to meow. In a

moment the sound has grown to sheer cacophony. The macaw,

too, has awakened, and is screeching its head off. Miss

Plunkett snaps out of her stolen rest and looks about her,

blinking curiously. Her lips form the words of amazement,

"Landie, dearie me!" but there is so much noise now that

nothing she says can be heard. She looks up to see what

may have startled the animals into such noisy activity;

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