Crash Page #6

JAMES:

Oh yes. I thought he was a medical

photographer, doing some sort of accident

research. He wanted every conceivable

detail about our crash.

HELEN:

When I first met Vaughan, he was a

specialist in international computerized

traffic systems. I don't know what he is

now.

VAUGHAN:

(speakers)

The second star is stuntman and former

race driver - Colin Seagrave, who will

drive our replica of James Dean's car.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

Seagrave, a coarse and burly man, wriggles his way behind the

wheel of the delicate little racecar without acknowledging the

cheers of the crowd. He wears James Dean clothes - a red

windbreaker, a white $-shirt, jeans, loafers, prescription glasses

with clip-on sunshades.

As he talks, Vaughan tours the phalanx of tripod-mounted cameras

to check their placement, and chats off-mike with the pair of

cameramen with hand-held cameras. He seems to be more the director

of the event, possibly the ringmaster, than an actor in it.

VAUGHAN:

(speakers)

I myself shall play the role of James

Dean's racing mechanic, Rolf W0therich,

sent over from the Porsche factory in

Zuffenhausen, Germany. This mechanic was

himself fated to die in a car crash in

Germany twenty-six years later. And the

third and in some ways most important

party, the college student Donald

Turnupseed, played by movie stuntman Brett

Trask.

Trask, slim and wiry, wearing loafers and a blazer, waves his hand

and gets into a replica of Turnupseed's two-tone, black-and-white

1950 Ford Sedan. He starts up the Ford, which smokes badly, and

drives it up the hill about 100 yards.

VAUGHAN:

(speakers)

Turnupseed was on his way back to his home

in Fresno for the weekend. James Dean was

on his way to an automobile race in

Salines, a dusty town in northern

California. The two would only meet for

one moment, but it was a moment that would

create a Hollywood legend.

At this point Vaughan, who is dressed in light-blue cotton 1950s

mechanics' overalls, sees James and Helen in the thin crowd and

waves to them, as though they were long-standing aficionados of

crash spectacles. He doesn't wait to see if they react, but

immediately steps into the passenger side of the Porsche,

microphone still in hand.

VAUGHAN:

(speakers)

You'll notice that we are not wearing

helmets or safety padding of any kind, and

our cars are not equipped with roll cages

or seat belts. we depend solely on the

skill of our drivers for our safety so

that we can bring you the ultimate in

authenticity. All right, here we go. The

fatal crash of James Dean!

Vaughan hands the microphone to a stills cameraman who obviously

also functions as an assistant and then settles all the way into

the silver car.

Seagrave starts the Porsche, which settles quickly into a husky

idle. A few blips of the throttle, and then the Porsche is backed

down the road to the edge of the lighted strip of road.

When the Porsche stops, the excited crowd goes quiet. An assistant

with a walkie-talkie kneels beside the silver car on the driver's

side, coordinating the start with his opposite number standing

next to the Ford over the hill.

There is a calculated pause before anything happens, and then the

Porsche spins its wheels and accelerates up the hill.

From their vantage point in the stand, James and Helen can clearly

see that the Ford has also started and that the two cars are

headed towards each other, each in its respective lane.

The Porsche accelerates hard, the Ford lumbers along at a moderate

pace, swaying clumsily on its soft springs.

As the cars approach each other, James notices a fresh clearing at

the side of the road at just about the point where they seem

likely to pass each other. Sure enough, when the cars are about

thirty yards apart, the Ford wanders over the center line. As the

Porsche approaches it, it seems to move back into its own lane,

but then suddenly swerves again as though making a left turn.

The Porsche in its turn swerves to avoid the big American car but

they collide, the immense chrome grill punching into the side of

the fragile race car, crumpling it like a wad of tin foil and

shunting it unceremoniously off the road into the clearing that

has been prepared for it.

As the Porsche hobbles to a stop, Vaughan seems to stand up on his

seat and then throw himself out of the car, rolling over what's

left of the front hood onto the ground. Seagrave remains slumped

in the driver's seat. Vaughan lies still where he lands, a few

feet ahead of the crumpled nose of the racecar.

The door of the Ford opens and Trask stumbles out. He begins to

walk around in a dazed and agitated manner, and the crowd, which

had been buzzing, goes silent again. Trask walks down the road

away from the crash site and disappears into the shadows at the

edge of the road.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - GRANDSTAND - NIGHT

There is no movement from either Seagrave or Vaughan. James is not

sure how to react, but Helen seems genuinely worried.

JAMES:

Is this part of the act or are they really

hurt?

HELEN:

I don't know. You can never be sure with

Vaughan. This is his show.

A stills cameraman runs out of nowhere and kneels beside the

apparently stricken Vaughan in the weeds at the side of the road.

It is not clear whether he is taking his picture or ministering to

him. It soon becomes clear that he has handed him a radio

microphone because Vaughan's low, melodramatic growl now ripples

out of the woods from the tree speakers.

VAUGHAN:

(speakers)

Rolf Wütherich was thrown from the Porsche

and spent a year in the hospital

recovering from his injuries. Donald

Turnupseed was found wandering around in a

daze, basically unhurt. James Dean died of

a broken neck and became immortal.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

Vaughan now leaps to his feet, hands raised in triumph. Seagrave

stirs behind the wheel, then raises his hands. Trask emerges from

the woods, waving to the now-supercharged crowd.

Seagrave tries to get out of the collapsed car but is jammed

behind the wheel. Without missing a beat, Vaughan dances over to

the Porsche and begins to haul Seagrave out of his seat.

SEAGRAVE:

Hold me. I'm dizzy. I can't stand up.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - GRANDSTAND - NIGHT

Helen stands up as the crowd buzzes.

HELEN:

I know that man, Seagrave, the stunt

driver. I think he's genuinely hurt.

Helen makes her way down the rickety grandstand steps towards the

road, and James follows her.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - NIGHT

Just as James and Helen step onto the road, six police cars,

lights flashing and sirens wailing, converge on the lit stretch of

road, three from each end. They screech to a halt and dozens of

cops pour out of the cars.

The crowd panics and streams down from the grandstands onto the

road. A loudspeaker mounted on one of the police cars begins to

blare.

POLICE:

(loudspeaker)

This is an illegal and unauthorized

automotive demonstration which is in

contravention of the Highway Traffic Act.

You are all liable to fines and possible

arrest and confinement... Disperse at

once! Disperse at once!

Rate this script:3.5 / 6 votes