Dog Day Afternoon Page #14

He takes a defiant step into the street. The crowd SCREAMS

as they get their first view, which is of Sonny telling the

Cops off. They don't need to hear the words, they can see

it.

SONNY:

(screaming)

Attica! Attica! Go ahead! Blow

off the front of the whole God damn

bank!

He holds his hands wide offering himself as a target to the

hulking officer.

SONNY:

(to the TV)

If it wasn't for you guys they'd

kill everybody and say it was me and

Sal.

(to Moretti)

You tell 'em to put the guns down.

I can't stand it.

He means it. Moretti gestures to the officers to back away,

lower the guns. The crowd YELLS: Sonny has beat the Cops.

He is momentarily their hero.

It's a breaking point. Moretti makes a decision.

MORETTI:

(Cop language command

to put gun away)

All right - put the guns down!

He has to YELL it twice before the Cop slowly, angrily, stuffs

the gun into his holster.

SOUND:
The crowd screams.

ON SONNY:

hearing the Crowd APPLAUSE. He turns and grins and waves to

them. They SCREAM more. He turns and waves to the media.

They've been YELLING.

MEDIA:

Hey, over here! Give us a wave!

It is at this point that newsman leans out a window of the

second floor of the bank, quickly lowering a mike boom.

Sylvia sees this above her head.

ON MORETTI:

unhappy, looking around at Sheldon, who shrugs. He did what

he had to do.

ON SONNY:

Suddenly realizing what control he has, enjoying it. He

turns mockingly his left and his right profile to cameras.

INT. TENEMENT HALLWAY

A FAT WOMAN runs heavily, stumbling, a delighted grin on her

face, up the stairs PAST CAMERA, yelling to someone unseen

upstairs.

FAT WOMAN:

Vi! Oh, Jesus. Vi! Turn on the

TV, turn the TV on, you can see it's

him.

INT. VI'S APARTMENT - DAY

Small, jammed with little things of sentimental value and

cheap furniture, clean, but well-worn. VI, a small woman in

her fifties, with a perpetual smile, and the sweating Fat

Woman trot in, just as Vi's HUSBAND, a dour man in his

fifties, is exiting.

FAT WOMAN:

...I swear to God it looked just

like him!

He hesitates in the doorway as the two women rush to the TV

which is already on, the station showing live coverage of

the bank robbery. On SCREEN, Sonny can be seen ordering the

cops around. Moretti looks furious.

ON THE TV SET:

VI:

(as the recognizes

Sonny)

Oh, My God in Heaven!

TV NEWSMAN:

...the robber, whose identity is not

known, came out of the bank, with a

hostage, Mrs. Sylvia Ball...

FAT WOMAN:

(proud)

Did I tell you? He looks good!

IMAGE OF SYLVIA ON TV

VI:

What's he doin' this for? He didn't

tell me he needed money. He would

of told me.

TV NEWSMAN:

...Mrs. Ball, is everyone all right

in the bank?

HUSBAND:

Why rob a bank when you got a sucker

for a mother?

SYLVIA:

Oh, yeah, the one girl was cryin',

but we're havin' a ball, so far, if

just nobody shoots...

VI:

Why didn't he tell me?

NEWSMAN:

What about the man inside the bank?

What is he doing?

HUSBAND:

I just hope he gives the wrong name.

He reaches for TV to turn it off. Vi stops him.

SYLVIA:

Sal? He never talks, only goes:

'Sonny, you want me to shoot that

one, this one.'

HUSBAND:

Is that all there is -- that little

bastard down there in the bank?

TV NEWSMAN:

Mrs. Ball, do you think they might

shoot, if they get desperate?

VI:

You got money for the subway?

SYLVIA:

Hey, wait, he's goin' back in.

(she turns OUT OF

PICTURE)

FAT WOMAN:

Subway! It's a special occasion --

take a cab, for God's sake!

NEW IMAGE:

Sonny returning toward bank.

EXT. BANK - DAY

TWO SHOT - SONNY AND MORETTI

as they shake hands. As Sonny starts into the bank first,

he holds the door open, waiting for Sylvia. In the meantime,

the 2nd-floor media man yells down to her.

SYLVIA:

(looking up toward

them)

I gotta go now.

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