Hope and Glory Page #5

MAC'S face goes white with anger.

MAC:

What did we know? We were

seventeen.

CLIVE:

(with a far-off look)

I heard the drum and fife

yesterday, Mac, marching past.

Made my hair stand on end.

I thought, I've been asleep for

twenty years.

MAC wants to hit him. He turns away, trembling.

MAC:

Go the Hell.

He puts an arm about MOLLY and plunges into the blacked-out

dark-winter-night. As GRACE turns back, she glimpses the

children on the landing above.

GRACE:

Do you know what time it is? Go

back to bed, this instant.

They dart out of sight.

INT. ROHAN HOUSE - CHILDREN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

BILL and SUE slide under the bedclothes. SUE is whimpering.

BILL:

We're not going to be like them

when we grow up. We're not even

like them now.

He picks up the earphones and twiddles with the crystal

wireless. It is the News again. BILL fiddles with the lead

soldiers, his eyes getting heavy.

EXT. BATTLEFIELD - DAY

BLACK AND WHITE:

Infantry advance as shells bust all about them. CLIVE and

MAC push forward, side by side. MAC is hit, goes down,

cries out for help, but CLIVE does not seem to notice.

A muddy field. Silence. Aftermath of battle. BILL searches

among the dead. They are half-buried, covered in mud, all

one texture with the earth. BILL finds CLIVE and MAC, lying

side by side, dead. He is quite unconcerned, pulls his

father's Sam Browne which slips off easily. He wipes the

mud away and starts to eat it. It seems to be made of

chocolate.

EXT. SUBURBAN STREET - DAY

COLOUR:

A 1938 Vauxhall 12 is parked outside a recruiting centre. A

boisterous crowd of young men mills about, passing in and

out, encouraging each other, cheering each new man who

steps out a soldier.

Next door is a pub and there is a continuous exchange of

customers between the two establishments. BILL and SUE wait

inside the car. She is whining in the back, sucking her

thumb. BILL sits in the driving seat, pretending to drive,

making all the right noises.

SUE:

He's never going to come back.

He's gone off to be a soldier and

Mummy doesn't even know.

BILL:

It doesn't matter, I can drive

the car home.

SUE:

You wouldn't.

BILL:

Would.

SUE:

You couldn't.

BILL:

Could.

CLIVE, arm in arm with a PAL, comes out of the pub and over

to the car. He gets in after much handshaking and back

slapping.

CLIVE:

Sorry, kids. Joined up. I needed

some Dutch courage to tell your

mother.

The PAL opens the passenger door and leans in.

PAL:

Never say die!

CLIVE:

Steady the Buffs.

PAL:

Up the Arsenal!

CLIVE leans across and slams the door closed. The PAL waves

at the window. CLIVE pulls away. The PAL runs alongside,

waving. CLIVE laughs and waves back.

CLIVE:

He's one of the best.

Still the PAL keeps up with the car, running frantically.

SUE:

Daddy you shut his hand in the

door.

The PAL jumps on the running board and crouches there, red

faced, eyes bulging. He waves desperately at the window.

CLIVE:

The silly bugger.

He pulls up the and opens the door. The PAL clasps his hand

and writhes in agony.

CLIVE:

You silly bugger. We're trying to

win a war and you start off by

shutting your fingers in the

bloody car door.

INT. ROHAN HOUSE - GARAGE - DAY

CLIVE is putting the car on blocks, taking off the wheels.

BILL helps him.

CLIVE:

That's it for the duration.

(runs a duster over the

bodywork)

I shall miss the old girl. Pop in

and give her a polish, Billy boy.

Just now and then. A car needs to

be cherished.

GRACE has appeared at the door and heard some of this.

GRACE:

Has Sue got it right?

CLIVE:

What's that?

GRACE:

You joined up.

CLIVE:

Oh, that.

GRACE:

I wish you could have told me

yourself.

(he takes Grace in his

arms.)

Oh, Grace, it's not for long.

They say it'll be over by

Christmas.

CLIVE laughs and tickles her, trying to get round her, keep

it light. GRACE laughs despite herself. BILL makes a face,

disgusted by the show of sentiment.

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