From Here to Eternity Page #15

WARDEN:

You ain't enjoying life much, are

you, kid?

76.

PREW:

(thin smile)

They can kill you but they can't

eat you, Top.

Warden studies Prew thoughtfully. Prew turns to go back into

Choy's.

WARDEN:

Prewitt.

Prew stops, turns back.

WARDEN:

Could you stand a weekend pass?

Prew stares at him for a second, incredulously, unable to

find his voice.

PREW:

I thought -

WARDEN:

You thought what, kid?

PREW:

How about Dynamite?

WARDEN:

Leave Dynamite to me. He signs most

anything I put in front of him

‘thout readies it.

Though Prew is overjoyed he is somehow unable to say

"thanks"; Warden grins broadly at him.

WARDEN:

I hear you gone dippy over some

dame you met at the New Congress

Club.

He slaps Prew on the shoulder roughly.

WARDEN:

What’d you say her name was?

.

FREW:

Lorene...

WARDEN:

Pretty name.

77.

Warden walks off across the street. Prew stares after him.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WAIKIKI BEACH - DAY

CLOSE SHOT PREW AND LORENE

Lorene is covering Prew with sand and has him almost

completely buried. Only his face remains uncovered. He is

griming up at her. She seems thoughtful.

PREW:

... Lorene...

She throws a towel over his face. He chuckles under it.

LORENE:

My name’s Alma.

The chuckle from under the towel dies.

LORENE:

Alma Schmidt...

There is a sound as of strangling from under the towel.

LORENE:

Mrs. Kipfer picked Lorene out of a

perfume ad. She thought it sounded

French...

Lorene whisks the towel away. Prew's face is comic in its

surprise and chagrin.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. COCKTAIL LOUNGE - NIGHT

MEDIUM SHOT AT BAR ALMA AND PREW

(NOTE:
From this point on "ALMA" will be used instead of

"LORENE.")

A fashionable Waikiki night spot. An orchestra in b.g, is

playing "Someone's Rocking My Dream Boat." Alma and Prew are

seated at the bar. She is dressed modestly and becomingly,

might well be taken as a society girl. Prew is wearing a

civilian suit; he looks bound and choked in it.

PREW:

Alma...

She smiles ruefully, realizes her real name has rubbed off

some of the enchantment.

78.

PREW:

No, honest, I like it. Alma's a --

swell name. It was great you gettin

away today.

ALMA:

I told Mrs. Kipfer I was sick. But

I bet she doesn't believe it,

PREW:

There's no tellin when I'll get

into town next. The Warden gave me

a break this time. But Holmes and

those others, they got me on the

edge. I just about went off the

deep end the other day.

ALMA:

You must hate the Army.

PREW:

Hate the Army...?

ALMA:

Sure. Look what it's doing to you.

PREW:

It's not the Army that's doing it.

It's Man. I love the Army.

ALMA:

Love it? Well, it sure doesn't love

you in return.

PREW:

When you love something it doesn't

mean they got to love you in

return.

.

ALMA:

Yes, but a person can stand just so

much from something -

PREW:

No! A man loves a thing, he's gotta

be grateful.

(pauses, gropes for

thoughts)

I left home when I was seventeen.

Both my folks was dead, then. I

bummed around. I got all sorts of

jobs. I rode the rods.

(MORE)

79.

PREW(cont'd)

I landed in jails. I didn't belong

nowhere. Until I entered the

Profession.

She frowns, not understanding the last word.

PREW:

The Army. I enlisted at Fort Myer

and I learned how to box and I

learned how to play a bugle. I

never had much call for the boxing

-but if it weren't for the Army

I'd never of learned how to play a

bugle.

ALMA:

A bugle?

Prew nods. He takes the mouthpiece out of his pocket, shows

it to her.

PREW:

This is the mouthpiece I used to

play a Taps at Arlington.

Alma takes the mouthpiece, looks it over, seems unimpressed.

PREW:

(as if saying "I was

elected President")

They picked me to play a Taps -- at

Arlington Cemetery.

She still looks dubious, hands the mouthpiece back. He tries

desperately to communicate.

PREW:

Look. Think. You ever think how

strange a tree would look to one

who had never lived upon the earth?

Well, somehow that's how I feel

when I play a bugle...

There is a boisterous shouting nearby.

MAGGIO'S VOICE

Hello, citizen! I told ya I'd meet

ya, dint I?

They turn and ANGLE WIDENS to INCLUDE Maggio, who has just

come up to the bar. He is in uniform. Prew is pleased to see

him but also alarmed; there is something near-desperate under

Maggio's drunkenness.

80.

PREW:

How'd you get a pass?

MAGGIO:

I dint get no pass. I just took

off. I meant to bring a girl with

me but -

PREW:

You better get your tail back to

the Post. Right away.

Maggio shakes his head violently in the negative.

MAGGIO:

I'm out for the night. I got a

bellyfull. A nail, Prew. A stinkin

nail. I'm thirsty for a nail.

Prew gives him a cigarette. Maggio hops on an empty bar stool

a few places removed from Prew and Alma.

MAGGIO:

Climb up on my shoulders, Prew. You

can see everythin from up here.

(to Bartender)

A beer. A BEER!

MEDIUM SHOT AT SIDE OF ROOM TWO MPs

watching Maggio, attracted by his voice and behavior.

MEDIUM SHOT AT BAR FEATURING MAGGIO

Maggio talks across others at the bar to Prew and Alma.

MAGGIO:

I been in a crap game in the

latrine. I win twenty bucks.

PREW:

How much did you lose?

MAGGIO:

Lose? Oh, lose. I lost twenty-seven

bucks.

(dejectedly)

That's why I ain't got no girl.

A tray on the bar contains olives, nuts and pretzels. Maggio

snatches up two olives, shakes them in his fist beside his

ear.

81.

MAGGIO:

COMIN OUT! THE TERROR OF GIMBEL'S

BASEMENT! COMIN OUT! SEV-EN! SEVEN!

SEV-EN!

(rolls the olives out on

bar)

Snake eyes.

MEDIUM SHOT BARTENDER SEVERAL OTHERS AT BAR

laughing.

MEDIUM CLOSE SHOT PREW AND ALMA

Prew is increasingly concerned for Maggio.

ALMA:

You like him, don't you?

PREW:

(nods)

He's such a comical little guy and

yet somehow he makes me always want

to cry while I'm laughin at him.

MEDIUM SHOT AT BAR FEATURING MAGGIO

finishing a long gulp of beer. He puts glass down on the bar,

hard.

MAGGIO:

The Royal Hawaiian’s jist around

the corner. That's where them movie

stars stay. Rita Hayworth and Joan

Blondell and Maureen O'Hara... You

look like a movie star, Lorene...

yes, you do... How long 'fore we

get in the war, Prew?

PREW:

I don't know. Maybe we won't get

in.

MAGGIO:

Tha’s what you say.

He jumps off the bar stool suddenly, tears off his tie.

MAGGIO:

Hot in here.

He throws tie on the bar, The Bartender starts to protest.

MAGGIO:

Swimming It's a great night for

swimmin.

.

(MORE)

82.

MAGGIO(cont'd)

(kicks off shoes)

Goin swimmin with a movie star...

He is unbuttoning his shirt as he abruptly dashes away,

People around are laughing at him again.

MEDIUM SHOT ALMA AND PREW

as Prew watches Maggio rush out. He sees something else o.s,

which worries him.

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