Ida Tarbell Page #3

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EXT. TARBELL HOUSE - ESTABLISHING - NIGHT

A simple farmhouse located on the edge of town. The Tarbell

family homestead. Title: Titusville, Pennsylvania.

IDA (V.O.)

Good to see you, brother. I got here as

soon as I could.

INT. TARBELL HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

Ida enters, is greeted by her brother WILL TARBELL. He’s now

fortyish, bespectacled and balding. Prematurely middle-aged.

WILL:

Good to see you too.

IDA:

Is he really dying?

WILL:

He’s been dying for 10 years. I think it’s

just his way of getting us to visit.

IDA:

Where is he?

WILL:

Upstairs, torturing his doctor. Go on up,

see for yourself.

13.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

An old man lies sleeping in a darkened room: FRANKLIN TARBELL

(78). Ida stands watching him from afar. Finally, the old man

stirs, reaching instinctively for his rusty old rifle.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Who goes there?

Ida steps out of the shadows, hands raised.

IDA:

Don’t shoot. It’s your only daughter.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

(a weak smile)

Ida Belle. Come closer. Let me see you.

Ida pulls up a chair next to his bed.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Now there’s a sight for tired eyes.

IDA:

What did the doctor say?

FRANKLIN TARBELL

(dismissive)

Doctors, what do they know? One says eat

all you can, another says take nothing but

milk and honey. So I do the opposite, and

drink only whiskey.

Ida smiles. A nice moment between them. He reaches over,

taking down a folder containing all of her clippings.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I’ve kept all of your articles. They’re

very good, Ida. Very good!

IDA:

You’re my father. You have to say that.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I say it because it’s true.

(beat)

What happened with that job in New York?

IDA:

I got it. Mr. McClure hired me.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

A very wise man. What do you say to a

little jigger of rye to celebrate?

(a wink)

I won’t tell if you don’t.

14.

TIMECUT -- LATER

Ida and her father quietly sipping whiskey together.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Remember when you used to come to work with

me at the shop? I’d give you the reins,

you’d sit up on my lap. You always wanted

to drive the wagon, didn’t you? Even then.

(Ida smiles)

Ida, there’s something else I need you to

do for me now.

Ida looks at him. Worried.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I want to make sure your mother is taken

care of after I’m gone.

IDA:

Father, please-

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I’m dying, Ida. And when a man knows that,

he wants to see that his family is secure.

You and your brother must sell the farm.

Get a good price for it.

IDA:

(shocked)

Sell the farm?! But you said you’d never do

that.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Things change. Times change.

IDA:

What about the business?

FRANKLIN TARBELL

The business is gone. We sold it to cover

some of our debts.

IDA:

Sold it to whom?

FRANKLIN TARBELL

The South Improvement Company. For thirty

years, I slaved away in that place, morning

noon and night. All to make sure this would

never happen. And now it has.

A beat as Ida tries to process all of this.

15.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Promise me that you will take of your

mother. She doesn’t have to know all the

details.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Late night. Ida and Will together. Voices hushed.

IDA:

When did you know about this?

WILL:

Six months ago.

IDA:

(annoyed)

Six months ago? And nobody thought to tell

me about it before now?

WILL:

(shrugs)

You were in Paris. What could you do?

Ida looks over a letter in her hand.

IDA:

What is the South Improvement Company?

Will hefts a box of files onto the kitchen table.

WILL:

This is the South Improvement Company.

If the cancer doesn’t bury him, then all

the paperwork probably will.

A VOICE offscreen yells out.

GLORIA (O.S.)

Will! Come to bed!

WILL:

Gloria. Light sleeper. I’ll see you in the

morning. Don’t stay up too late.

Will goes, leaving Ida alone with the box of paperwork. She

pulls out a file at random, stares at it.

INT. KITCHEN - LATER STILL

The wee hours of the morning, and Ida is still at the kitchen

table, examining the contents of the box spread before her.

She reads a letter from the South Improvement company to

Franklin Tarbell. We see the phrases “...purchase of your

business” and “assessed at fair market value...”

16.

CLOSE ON ANOTHER DOCUMENT

More words and phrases “...for a settlement payable in cash,

or if you choose, in stock of The Standard Oil Company...”

CLOSE ON ANOTHER FILE

It’s a company prospectus. Towards the end of the file are

two columns of names listing the company’s board of

directors, none of which mean anything to us.

Except for one name that is crossed out. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER.

Replaced by another name: PETER WATSON. Ida stares at it,

confused.

INT. BEDROOM - MORNING

Franklin is sitting up eating breakfast, Ida beside him.

IDA:

...but you said the company wasn’t listed

for sale?

FRANKLIN TARBELL

It wasn’t. Three men came in one day and

said:
“Mr. Tarbell, we wish to purchase

your company as a going concern.” They said

they could pay us in cash or in Standard

Oil Stock. We took the cash.

IDA:

How much did you get?

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Four thousand six hundred and eighty two

dollars.

IDA:

(stunned)

Four thousand dollars, for 30 years in

business?! That’s not right.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

Right or wrong, we had no choice. The South

Improvement Company owns the railroad, they

own the refineries, they own the oil creek.

Hell, they probably even own this bed.

Ida looks over some of the documents, troubled.

IDA:

The thing that confuses me is: if you were

bought out by the South Improvement

Company, then why were they offering you

stock in The Standard Oil Company?

17.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

I don’t know. But I wish now we’d taken it.

Might actually be worth something.

IDA:

Do you mind if I bring these back to New

York? I want to have a closer look at this.

FRANKLIN TARBELL

(shakes his head)

Don’t waste your time on that, Ida. It’s

ancient history now. Nobody wins against

the Standard.

IDA:

I have to go now or I’ll miss my train.

Ida leans over, kisses him on the forehead.

IDA:

I’ll bring these back in two weeks,

promise.

And with that, Ida is gone. The old man sighs.

INT. OFFICE OF MCCLURE’S MAGAZINE - DAY

Back in New York - an editorial meeting in progress. Present

are Sam McClure, Phillips, JACCACI (30’s, art director), and

two other junior staff writers PIERCE and LOWRY (20’s)

SAM MCCLURE:

So...front cover, what have we got?

PHILLIPS:

I like the Yuba Gold Fields story. Life of

the miners and the growth of Yuba City.

It’s a solid piece of American writing.

SAM MCCLURE:

Digging. Why is it always about digging?

What else have we got, above ground?

Ida sweeps into the room with her notes, finds an open seat

next to Phillips.

SAM MCCLURE:

(sarcastic)

Ah, Miss Tarbell, good of you to join us!

IDA:

Sorry I’m late. Please continue.

18.

JACCACI:

The Wright Brothers latest triumph. How the

brothers flew an unmanned glider in Kitty

Hawk last summer with the new box kite

design. We even have diagrams of it.

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