Frankenstein Page #4

INT - PARENTS' BEDROOM - NIGHT

... as his mother falls back on the sweat-soaked sheets,

blowing air like a bellows, trying to give birth ...

EXT - MANSION - NIGHT

... while her SCREAMS mingle with the howling of the wind.

the stump of the long-dead oak tree pokes from the earth in

the foreground like a gravestone, lashed by the rain.

INT - DOWNSTAIRS PARLOR - NIGHT

VICTOR stares out the window at the raging storm. Elizabeth

appears at his side. He doesn't look at her.

VICTOR:

As a boy, I stood at this window and watched God

destroy our tree.

b.g screaming stops, Victor and Elizabeth turn, gazing up

the grand staircase. The sudden silence is even more

frightening. The FAINT CRY of a newborn infant drifts down

A door opens upstairs, throwing a spill of light. Victor's

father appears in silhouette, comes down the stairs toward

them. He pauses halfway down, unable to continue.

VICTOR:

Father?

A FLASH OF LIGHTNING floods the room, revealing Victor's

father on the staircase. Face haggard. Eyes hollow. Clothes

spattered with blood. Hands glistening wetly red.

ELIZABETH:

Oh God.

The blood.

(CONTINUED)

15

Father sits down shakily on a step. Victor and Elizabeth

race up the stairs and pause before him.

FATHER:

I did everything I could.

Victor lets out a sob of anguish. Elizabeth begins to cry.

Father gathers them into his arms.

EXT - FRANKENSTEIN ESTATE - CEMETERY - DAY

A BABY CARRIAGE stands amidst leaning gravestones, gothic

and ornate, a chill breeze billowing the lace.

A PRIEST recites a Latin burial mass. DOZENS OF MOURNERS are

gathered before the Frankenstein family mausoleum ... an

imposing edifice of stone and spidery wrought-iron, its

steepled roof crowned by a massive granite crucifix.

A sleek black casket lies atop the bier, ringed with flowers

and sorrow. The trees are windswept and bare, branches stark

against a steely gray sky. Victor and Elizabeth stand apart

from the others, staring at the casket. Softly:

VICTOR:

How could all my father's knowledge and skill

fail to save her?

ELIZABETH:

It's not ours to decide. All that live must die.

It's God's will.

Victor raises a grim look at the huge crucifix atop the

mausoleum. Christ returns his gaze with blank stone eyes

VICTOR:

What kind of God is He to will this?

ELIZABETH:

She was mother to me as well. But ours is the job

of the living. It's up to us now to hold this

family together. We must think of Father and be

strong for him.

(beat)

I cannot do that alone.

VICTOR:

God took her from us.

ELIZABETH:

He left a beautiful gift in her place. A baby

boy. To cherish and love as our very own. Your

brother

(CONTINUED)

16

Victor glances at the baby carriage. He seeks her hand.

Their fingers clasp. Comfort and strength.

VICTOR:

Our brother.

The baby starts CRYING as the casket is lowered, its thin

voice carried on the wind ...

EXT - MEADOW - DAY

A gorgeous, sun-dappled day. Tall grass waving on the

breeze. Butterflies skittering. WILLIAM, 11 months-old,

toddles into view. He doesn't get far. PLOP! Down he goes,

right on his ass. His face scrunches up in surprise and he

bursts into tears.

Elizabeth hurries over and scoops him up, cradling and

comforting him. Victor rises from a picnic blanket to join

them. Nanny Justine looks up from her task of laying out the

silverware and food.

JUSTINE:

Poor William! What indignant tears!

ELIZABETH:

There, there ... shhh ...

Victor takes the baby and swoops him high in the air. The

child shrieks and wails, held aloft.

ELIZABETH:

Victor, have a care! You'll make him dizzy!

VICTOR:

The world is a dizzying place.

She tries to reclaim the baby. Victor feints, keeping Willie

out of reach. Elizabeth grows crosser:

ELIZABETH:

Oh, do give him here! He needs to be comforted

and held!

VICTOR:

He needs to vent his outrage to the skies! Make

yourself heard, Willie! Learning to walk is not an

easy thing! Why should it be so?

Elizabeth is exasperated to realize that the baby has begun

to laugh. She glares at both of them. Men.

(CONTINUED)

17

ELIZABETH:

That's the nature of all progress, William. Don't

let your brother sway you otherwise.

JUSTINE:

Quite right!

Victor cradles Willie as if to shield his delicate ears. He

peers at Elizabeth with mock-grave suspicion and speaks to

the baby sotto-voce, in deepest confidence, man-to-man:

VICTOR:

Don't listen, Willie. Progress is a feast to be

consumed. Women would have you believe you must

walk before you can run. or run before you can

waltz!

ELIZABETH:

(laughing)

Give me that child before you fill his head with

drivel!

Victor waltzes the baby in circles. Elizabeth stalks them.

VICTOR:

Devil take walking, ladies! My brother shall

learn to waltz!

He grabs her by the waist, pulls her into it. There's no use

resisting. She succumbs and they dance with the baby between

them. Justine is gasping with laughter.

JUSTINE:

Elizabeth, really! He's quite mad!

ELIZABETH:

Scandalous! What would your dear mother say?

JUSTINE:

(thinks a beat)

one-two-three, one-two-three, twirl-two-three ...

Laughing, Victor and Elizabeth waltz little William around

in a sweeping arc. They pass within inches of the CAMERA,

bodies wiping frame ...

INT - GRAND BALLROOM - NIGHT (6 YEARS LATER)

... and 'Come now. Magnus? Agrippa? Next thing you know,

you''ll be teaching toadstools to speak.' and CREATURE sweep

from before our eyes to reveal the grand ballroom ablaze

with candlelight and spectacle as a HUNDRED DANCERS swirl

about the floor in a

(CONTINUED)

18

breathtaking waltz to the music of a full string ensemble

(NOTE:
The music here should be our movie's distinctive

WALTZ/LOVE THEME, which will reoccur later.)

Victor and Elizabeth dance magnificently, room spinning

about them in a blur. Now 24, he's in the prime of manhood.

Elizabeth, 23, is a drop-dead beauty radiating poise and

intelligence. They're so right for each other, so beautiful

together, your heart could break just looking at them.

Justine, now 21, has blossomed into a beauty herself. She's

at the sidelines, wearing a lovely gown, wishing someone

would ask her to dance. William, now 7, scampers to her

side. She stoops to straighten his collar and smooth back

his hair. Waltzing couples swirl past them.

WILLIE:

Auntie Justine, Papa said I could have a sweet.

JUSTINE:

You can. But not before dinner.

The music ends amidst applause. The men bow to the ladies,

the ladies curtsy in return. Victor escorts Elizabeth off

the dance floor. Elizabeth fans herself, flushed and happy.

JUSTINE:

You dance so beautifully together.

ELIZABETH:

And you look so lovely.

They share a sisterly hug and a radiant smile. The orchestra

recommences. The music is lush. Justine looks hopefully to

Victor, keeping her tone light:

JUSTINE:

Victor? Spare me one dance?

Elizabeth catches Victor's eye.

ELIZABETH:

Go on, ask her. Please. I'm quite out of breath,

Victor gallantly offers his arm. Justine takes it, lighting

up as he escorts her onto the dance floor ...

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