Chinatown Page #5
- R
- Year:
- 1974
- 130 min
- 866,269 Views
Sophie BUZZES.
GITTES:
(continuing)
Whitey, what's new, pal?... Yeah,
listen, where did you get those
photographs... Yeah, blowing a fuse
over the El Macando love nest -that's
cute, Whitey... so who sent
them to you... I sent them?
(Gittes laughs a little
hysterically)
Why would I be asking how you got
them if I sent them?... Whitey?...
Whitey?... C'mon, level with me for
once, my tit's in the wringer and
it's beginning to hurt... yeah...
yeah -- yeah.
He hangs up.
WALSH:
So he says you sent them?
22.
GITTES:
(after a moment)
-- they're all a bunch of phonies.
INT. DEPARTMENT WATER & POWER - HALL
Gittes stops outside a door marked: HOLLIS J. MULWRAY CHIEF
ENGINEER:
He enters an outer office. The SECRETARY looks surprised.
GITTES:
Mr. Mulwray, please.
SECRETARY:
He's not in, Mr.
GITTES:
Gittes.
SECRETARY:
May I ask what this is regarding?
GITTES:
It's personal. Has he been out long?
SECRETARY:
Since lunch.
GITTES:
Gee whiz -(
he glances at his
watch)
-- and I'm late.
SECRETARY:
He was expecting you?
GITTES:
Fifteen minutes ago. Why don't I go
in and wait?
Without waiting for a response, he does. The Secretary half
rises in protest but Gittes is through the inner door.
MULWRAY'S INNER OFFICE
The walls are covered with commendation, photos of Mulwray
at various construction sites, large maps of watershed areas
and reservoirs in the city. On the desk is a framed, tinted
photo of Evelyn in riding clothes.
Gittes moves to the desk, watching the translucent pane in
the upper half of the door leading to the outer office as he
does.
23.
He begins to open and close. the desk drawers after quickly
examining the top. He tries one of the drawers and it doesn't
open. He reopens the top drawer, and the bottom one opens.
He looks in it, pulls out a checkbook. He opens it -- riffles
through the stubs like he was shuffling cards.
Drops it -- finds a set of keys, an old phone book, and a
menu from a Water Department lunch at the Biltmore Hotel in
1913. Then, Gittes hauls out the blueprints that Mulwray had
laid across the hood of his car -- they read in bold type:
WATERSHED AND DRAINAGE SYSTEM FOR THE LOS ANGELES BASIN.
He flips through them -- reads one notation in Mulwray's
neat hand:
"Tues. night. Oak Pass Res. - 7 channels used."Gittes spots a shadow looming in front of the translucent
pane. He quickly tosses item after item back, kneeing the
drawer --nearly knocking a spare pair of Mulwray's glasses
off the desk top when he does. He catches them, puts them on
the desk and is pacing the room as the door opens.
RUSS YELBURTON enters the room. An anxious Secretary is right
behind him.
YELBURTON:
Can I help you?
(extending his hand)
Russ Yelburton, Deputy Chief in the
Department.
GITTES:
(equally pleasant)
J.J. Gittes -- and it's not a
departmental matter.
YELBURTON:
I wonder if you'd care to wait in my
office?
This is more a request than an invitation. Gittes nods,
follows Yelburton out, through the outer office to his offices
down the hall.
YELBURTON:
(continuing; as they're
going)
You see -- this whole business in
the paper with Mr. Mulwray has us
all on edge -
INT. YELBURTON OFFICE
Smaller than Mulwray's, he has most noticeably a lacquered
marlin mounted on the wall. There are a couple of other
pictures of Yelburton with yellowtail and other fish he's
standing beside.
24.
There's also a small burgee of a fish with the initials A.C.
below it, tacked onto the wall.
YELBURTON:
After all, you work with a man for a
certain length of time, you come to
know him, his habits, his values,
and so forth -- well either he's the
kind who chases after women or he
isn't.
GITTES:
And Mulwray isn't?
YELBURTON:
GITTES:
Maybe he takes it very seriously.
Gittes winks. Yelburton chuckles appreciatively, loosening
up a little.
GITTES:
You don't happen to know where Mr.
Mulwray's having lunch?
YELBURTON:
I'm sorry, I -
GITTES:
Well, tell him I'll be back.
Gittes spots a card tray on Yelburton's desk.
GITTES:
(continuing)
-- Mind if I take one of your cards?
In case I want to get in touch with
you again.
YELBURTON:
Help yourself.
Gittes fishes a couple off the tray, puts them in his
handkerchief pocket. He goes out the door, nearly running
into a man who is standing by the Secretary's desk - about
GITTES' age only a head taller and a foot wider, dressed in
a plain suit that fits him about as well as a brown paper
bag.
GITTES:
Mulvihlll, what are you doing here?
25.
OUTER OFFICE - YELBURTON, MULVIHILL AND GITTES
MULVIHILL stares at Gittes with unblinking eyes, remains by
the desk.
MULVIHILL:
They shut my water off, what's it to
you?
GITTES:
How'd you find out? You don't drink
it, you don't take a bath in it,
maybe they sent you a letter. Ah,
but then you'd have to be able to
read.
Mulvihill moves toward Gittes, shaking with fury. Yelburton
steps between them.
GITTES:
(continuing)
Relax, Mulvihill, glad to see you.
(to Yelburton)
Do you know Claude Mulvihill here?
YELBURTON:
Hope so. He's working for us.
GITTES:
turns off onto a winding road. It goes up into the foothills.
Gittes swerves, missing a dog stretched out lazily in the
road. Gittes honks and yells indignantly at the sleepy animal.
Gittes stops on a curve. Above a steep bank and partially
hidden is the Mulwray home -- designed and constructed with
shade and curves that are dramatic. When he turns off the
ignition, the distant SOUND of the SURF can be HEARD.
Gittes heads up to the entrance.
rings the bell. He waits. Powerful CHINESE BUTLER with heavy
hair and a half- jacket of gold on one front tooth, answers
the door.
GITTES:
J.J. Gittes to see Mr. Mulwray.
He hands the Chinese Butler a card from his wallet. The Butler
takes it and disappears, leaving Gittes standing in the
doorway.
Gittes stands, and sweats, watching a Japanese GARDENER trim
a hedge. There's a SQUEAKING SOUND. Gittes moves a few feet
off the porch.
26.
POV - GARAGE
A chauffeur is washing down a cream-colored Packard with a
chamois. Steam rises off the hood. The squeaking has obviously
come from the chamois.
CHINESE BUTLER:
In doorway.
CHINESE BUTLER:
Please.
Gittes looks behind him. The Chinese Butler is gesturing for
him to follow.
follows him, trying to check out the rooms as he goes. A
maid is cleaning in the den. They pass through it out some
French doors along a trellised walkway to a large pond with
running water.
CHINESE BUTLER:
You wait, please.
Gittes is left standing by the pond. It's suddenly very quiet
except for the runnning water. The pond is over- flowing.
After a moment, the Gardener comes running back. He smiles
at Gittes, probes into the pond.
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"Chinatown" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/chinatown_73>.
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