Gangs of New York Page #5

BILL THE BUTCHER

I'll expect you first.

MONK:

Me? Oh, I don't know. All that talk of blood loyalty makes me quake. I'll

spill blood when the price is right. But blood for ceremony? I prefer holy

communion.

BILL THE BUTCHER

You saw us fight today. You know we can pay any price.

MONK:

Not mine. Not now, and not any time after.

BILL THE BUTCHER

We'll see. Independence is a slippery thing. But being a rival ... well,

that's dead dangerous.

Bill brushes past Monk and leaves, followed by the NATIVES.

Now the RABBITS file out, with Monk among them.

HAPPY JACK:

Come on, boyo. I'll put you up tonight.

AMSTERDAM:

I'll do for myself, Jack.

HAPPY JACK:

You can't.

(Amsterdam stares at him)

There's no mistaking you're his son.

Happy Jack leaves Amsterdam alone in the room.

Now, by himself, sure of no one seeing, Amsterdam CRIES.

CUT TO:

15 INT. MORTUARY NIGHT

Mr. Cornelius is seated in his office, enjoying a late supper while

looking out his window at the bordello activity across the alley. A NOISE

at the door disturbs him: Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM:

What's the cost to bury my father proud and proper?

MR. CORNELIUS

For a plot, a headstone, hands to break the earth...

AMSTERDAM:

How much?

MR. CORNELIUS

What are your current means?

Amsterdam turns out his pockets, which contain Bill the Butcher's pirate

knife as well as the cash Happy Jack pressed on him. Cornelius TAKES it

all.

MR. CORNELIUS

Of course you'll have to wait three days for a city permit. But all this

may do for part.

AMSTERDAM:

No.

Amsterdam takes the knife back from Cornelius.

AMSTERDAM:

That's owed another.

CUT TO:

16 EXT. STREET/PARADISE SQUARE DAY

A grey day. Amsterdam stops in front of a window. He STRUGGLES with his

scarf, trying to keep himself warm. His eye strays for a moment, and he

sees he is outside Mr. Cornelius' Establishment. Then he NOTICES something

else....

.... his FATHER, propped up in a coffin, on public display. There is a

large sign beside the body: "The Dead End of Lawlessness. Tammany Abhors

Crime. Tammany Means Justice."

A sizeable CROWD is goggling at the body. Amsterdam BULLS his way through

the people to the street. He looks in the gutter, then looks up quickly.

Someone is watching him: Johnny. He's carrying an armful of wood.

JOHNNY:

Firewood?

Amsterdam grabs the longest plank Johnny has.

JOHNNY:

It's a penny the load.

AMSTERDAM:

Later.

He turns with the plank in his hand and starts to RUN back through the

crowd.

JOHNNY:

Hey!

Johnny manages to GRAB the other end of the plank. But Amsterdam's so

strong he YANKS him right along. The Crowd YELLS as it parts for

Amsterdam, who CHARGES through using the plank like a battering ram, with

Johnny on the far end, born along by stubbornness and momentum...

... toward Mr. Cornelius' window. Amsterdam SHATTERS the window and the

Crowd SCATTERS in a blizzard of GLASS.

Amsterdam stumbles into the window and against the coffin, which falls

over, spilling Vallon's BODY, knocking the boy over. Amsterdam picks

himself up as Johnny stands frozen.

AMSTERDAM:

Help me.

He starts to pull his fatherls body from the window.

AMSTERDAM:

Come on! Help me, goddamn it!

In a daze, Johnny steps forward and HELPS Amsterdam pulls the body onto

the street.

Now:
the SOUND of WHISTLES and WHEELS and RUNNING HORSES as a wagon full

of POLICE arrives on the scene. Behind them, the Crowd returns, yelling

insults.

The police RUN toward the window. Mr. Cornelius dithers at the front of

the crowd.

Amsterdam and Johnny exchange a look. Then Johnny RUNS for it. Amsterdam

stays with the body...

... as the cops close in, SWINGING clubs. Amsterdam's grabbed and hit a

couple of times. The Crowd yells. A COP swings his arm back to give

Amsterdam a good wallop...

... and someone grabs his arm: Bill The Butcher.

BILL THE BUTCHER

Easy, crusher. What's this all about?

CRUSHER:

Ask the boy.

AMSTERDAM:

I paid Cornelius for my father to rest in honor. He told me I had to wait

on a permit, but he only wanted time to...

BILL picks up the Tammany sign from the ground.

BILL THE BUTCHER

Make another Arrangement, looks like. For advertising.

(to cop)

Better go along. I'll see to all this.

COP:

The boy...

BILL THE BUTCHER

Take the little malefactor.

The Cops YANK the wildly flailing Amsterdam to his feet and DRAG him off

to their wagon. Bill The Butcher approaches Cornelius.

BILL THE BUTCHER

Give the boy what he paid for.

CUT TO:

17 EXT. STREET/PARADISE SQUARE DAY

Amsterdam is HURLED into the police wagon. The door is locked behind him.

He pulls himselt to his feet, looks out the tiny barred window, SEES ...

... Dead Rabbits join up in a rough funeral procession. SEVERAL help LOAD

Vallon's body back into the coffin and place it onto Mr. Cornelius' fancy

funeral wagon. Monk Eastman LEAPS up onto the wagon and closes the coffin

lid tight.

There are PEDDLERS everywhere. One dispenses drinks from a portable

samovar. A SAILOR hawks ships in a bottle, repeatedly shouting the same

advertisement:
"Encourage the work of a landswamped sailor!" A SILHOUETTE

ARTIST offers to draw portraits of passersby.

Funeral music is furnished by STREET MUSICIANS: a drummer, a fiddle

player, and a horn player, with a couple of BUSKERS performing along side

for good measure.

Mr. Cornelius takes the wagon reins and guides the horses out of the

square. The gang FOLLOWS solemnly behind.

And across the square, the police wagon carrying Amsterdam starts MOVING

OFF in the opposite direction. He keeps looking out the tiny wagon window.

The funeral procession leaves the square and activity returns quickly to

normal. Peddlers' CRIES once again fill the air. The Buskers start PLAYING

a snappier tune. SNOW begins to fall.

CUT TO:

18 INT- TOMBS DAY

A huge, awful prison building modeled on an Egyptian mausoleum.

Amsterdam--trying to hide his growing fear--waits on line with other

PRISONERS, all of them older than he.

At the head of the line, prisoners are being processed by a JAILER and a

couple of COPS. Each prisoner is asked several cursory questions, then

told to strip. Every one of the men is SCARRED in some way.

AMSTERDAM nears the front of the line. The MAN just ahead of him

undresses. His left buttock is missing, and his back is covered with whip

scars. A PRISONER behind Amsterdam WHISPERS loud enough for Amsterdam to

hear...

PRISONER:

Ain't his first Tombs trip.

ANSTERDAM steps up to the desk. The JAILER hardly takes notice of him.

JAILER:

What do they call you?

And this is the first time in the film we have heard his name.

AMSTERDAM:

Amsterdam.

The JAILER looks him over.

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