His Girl Friday Page #2

HILDY:

Hello, Beatrice. How's "Advice to

the Lovelorn"?

BEATRICE:

(looking up)

Hildy! I'll be a monkey's uncle!

What are you doing here?

HILDY:

Point of information -- what does a

girl say on meeting her divorced

husband? OR:

(What does a girl do,

etc.)

BEATRICE:

(illustrating)

My advice is duck and cross with

your right.

Hildy moves on. CAMERA TRUCKS WITH HER to the end of the

room where she pauses before the frosted glass partition

which separates Walter Burns' office from the rest of the

City Room.

INT. BURNS' OFFICE LONG SHOT

as she opens the door. Burns is shaving with an electric

razor and Louie is holding the mirror up in front of him.

CLOSE SHOT BURNS

shaving, Louie holding the mirror.

LOUIE:

A little more round the chin, Boss.

MEDIUM SHOT:

There is a sound of the door closing and Burns, without

looking up, says:

BURNS:

What do you want?

HILDY:

Why, I'm surprised, Mr. Burns. That's

no way to talk to your wife -- even

if she's no longer your wife.

BURNS:

(grinning)

Hello, Hildy!

HILDY:

Hello, Walter.

(to Louie)

Hi, Louie -- how's the slotmachine

king?

LOUIE:

Oh, I ain't doing that any more. I'm

retired. I'm one of you fellas now --

a newspaper man.

HILDY:

Editorials?

BURNS:

Get going, Louie. I got company.

The door flies open and Duffy comes busting in.

DUFFY:

Walter!

BURNS:

I'm busy, Duffy.

DUFFY:

Well, you're not too busy to know

that the Governor hasn't signed that

reprieve!

BURNS:

What?

DUFFY:

And that means Earl Williams dies

tomorrow morning and makes a sucker

out of us!

BURNS:

You're crazy. Where's Mac?

DUFFY:

He's on my phone. He just called me.

BURNS:

They can't do that to me!

He grabs the phone on his desk:

BURNS:

Give me that call on Duffy's wire!

Hello -- Mac? Burns. Where's the

Governor? -- What do you mean, you

can't locate him?

(apparently pleading

to the one man in

the world who can

help him)

Mac, you know what this means. We're

the only paper in town defending

Earl Williams and if he hangs tomorrow

we're washed up! Find the Governor

and when you find him tell him we

want that reprieve!... Tell him I

elected him and I can have him

impeached! Sure, you can do it, Mac --

I know you can. I always said you

were the greatest reporter in the

country and now you can prove it.

Get going! Attaboy!

He hangs up.

BURNS:

(to Duffy,

sarcastically)

The greatest reporter in the country!

First I gotta tell him what news to

get! Gotta tell him how to get it --

then I gotta write it for him

afterward! Now if you were a decent

City Editor --

CLOSE SHOT DUFFY AND BURNS

with Louie and Hildy in the b.g.

DUFFY:

Don't blame me. I'm City Editor in

name only. You do all the hiring

around here.

BURNS:

Yeah! Well, I do the firing, too.

Remember that, Duffy, and Keep a

civil tongue in your head.

MEDIUM SHOT:

HILDY:

I don't like to interfere with

business, but would you boys pardon

us while we have a little heart-to-

heart talk?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes