Ida Tarbell Page #4

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SAM MCCLURE:

Okay, but it’s not front cover, is it?

(beat)

Mr. Lowry? Any interesting new essays?

LOWRY:

Um, “Lions, Tigers and Other Great Cats” by

Samuel J. Hopkins. People love to read

about animals. Apparently.

SAM MCCLURE:

Yes, if they’re under twelve. What about

for the adults?

PIERCE:

“Dewey at Manila” - with the American fleet

in the Philippines, by Howard Marks.

SAM MCCLURE:

All right, give him 3000 words. It’s

patriotic, I like it. What else?

PIERCE:

“Off the rails” - adventures of a steam

train driver. Older piece by Mark Twain.

SAM MCCLURE:

Fine, but we’re not paying him any more

royalties. He should be paying us at this

stage.

(then)

Miss Tarbell? Anything you wish to discuss

with us today?

All eyes in the room turn expectantly to Ida. A beat, then:

IDA:

What about the trusts?

SAM MCCLURE:

What about them?

IDA:

Well, nobody’s writing about that, and yet

when you leave the city, it’s all anyone

talks about. The oil industry, sugar, beef.

That’s what we should be writing about.

19.

PHILLIPS:

(nodding in agreement)

She’s right. Nobody’s doing it. And it’s

all Teddy Roosevelt talks about these days.

SAM MCCLURE:

Nobody’s writing about it because nobody

wants to read about it. People don’t want

anti-trust legislation. They want human

interest:
captains, kings and pirates.

(a beat)

What else?

CLOSE ON IDA - feeling shot down, suddenly small. The meeting

continues on around her.

INT. MCCLURE’S OFFICE - SOME TIME LATER

McClure is packing up his briefcase when there is a soft

KNOCK at the door. Ida enters, looking a little unsure.

IDA:

Mr. McClure, I’ve been thinking, and well,

I have an idea for a story. Human interest.

SAM MCCLURE:

Can it wait till after lunch? I’m late for

my wife. She gets terribly vexed when I am

late. Which according to her, is often.

IDA:

This’ll just take a minute.

SAM MCCLURE:

(checking his watch)

You’ve got exactly two.

IDA:

Well, this is a story about a man. A man of

giant ambition who built a kingdom out of

nothing and changed the world we live in.

SAM MCCLURE:

Alexander the Great. Did it last year.

McClure grabs his coat and hat, heads out. Ida trails him:

INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

IDA:

No, this is an American, living. A man who

seized control of a new industry that

shaped the modern American economy.

20.

SAM MCCLURE:

Vanderbilt, the railroads?

IDA:

(shakes her head)

What company controls 90% of all the oil

produced in this country?

SAM MCCLURE:

Standard Oil.

IDA:

And who is the head of Standard Oil?

SAM MCCLURE:

(realizing)

Oh no...

He steps into an old gurney elevator, Ida follows him in:

INT. ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS

IDA:

All this time I’ve been looking for a story

to come to me, and it’s been sitting there

right under my nose.

SAM MCCLURE:

You want to profile John D. Rockefeller?

IDA:

Not just a profile. Tell the entire history

of the Standard Oil Company and how it

became the world’s biggest monopoly.

SAM MCCLURE:

And how do you propose doing that..?

IDA:

By telling the story of John D.

Rockefeller. They are one and the same.

SAM MCCLURE:

Rockefeller’s one man, the Standard Oil

Company is huge.

IDA:

“An institution is but the lengthened

shadow of one man.” Emerson said that.

SAM MCCLURE:

“Absolutely not.” Sam McClure said that.

21.

INT. LOBBY - FOLLOWING

The doors open, and they step out. Ida still pitching him:

IDA:

He’s nothing but a wolf in sheep’s

clothing. And I can prove it.

SAM MCCLURE:

Isn’t he retired now?

IDA:

Well, effectively, yes. But he still sits

on the board of directors, and he is the

majority shareholder.

SAM MCCLURE:

I’m sorry, the answer is no.

IDA:

(with rising passion)

What do people want? They want captains and

kings and pirates. You said so yourself.

Rockefeller is a captain, a king and a

pirate. He is the Napoleon of businessmen.

SAM MCCLURE:

And he could crush you and me like a bug!

Do you know how many lawyers a man like

Rockefeller has working for him?

IDA:

Lots, I imagine. So he shouldn’t have

anything to worry about.

SAM MCCLURE:

Very funny!

IDA:

This is a man who has never, and I mean

never, had to account for a single thing

that Standard Oil has done. He doesn’t play

by the same rules as you and me, Mr.

McClure. And he never has.

SAM MCCLURE:

That’s because men like Rockefeller don’t

have to. They make the bloody rules!

Besides, you’ll never get near him. He’s

too private.

EXT. STREET - DAY

McClure exits onto the street, Ida still trailing him...

22.

IDA:

He’s a public figure, and public figures

are public property. He can’t stop us.

SAM MCCLURE:

Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm, I

really do. But let’s learn to walk before

we try to run.

IDA:

You’re scared of him, aren’t you?

SAM MCCLURE:

(stops; spins on her)

He’s the richest most powerful man in the

world. Hell yes, I’m scared of him! And you

would be too, if you had any sense. Find

another story.

IDA:

This is the one I want to do. This is a

public issue of national interest which our

readers need to know about.

A TRAM comes hurtling along, McClure pulls Ida from its path.

SAM MCCLURE:

Please, watch yourself, Miss Tarbell!

You’ll get yourself killed.

Ida just stands there, that same fierce determination we saw

in her as a girl. McClure is totally exasperated by her.

SAM MCCLURE:

Look, you could write about anything, or

anyone. Why Rockefeller?

IDA:

(simply)

Because he’s a bully, and I can’t stand

bullies.

SAM MCCLURE:

You really think this is a story?

IDA:

I know it’s a story, and now is the time to

tell it. Let me do this, and if I’m wrong,

I’ll pay you 50 dollars a week.

SAM MCCLURE:

(weighing it)

All right. Fine. 5000 words. But be careful

how you write it. Lawyers are very

expensive, and I am very cheap.

23.

McClure looks down, sees he has just stepped in a steaming

pile of horse manure.

SAM MCCLURE:

Ah, sh*t. now look what you made me do!

Off Ida’s smile, we CUT TO -

INT. OFFICE OF MCCLURE’S MAGAZINE - ANOTHER DAY

JOHN SIDDAL, the new office intern, up to his ears in paper

files which he has been tasked with filing.

Siddal is a refined young man of 21, short and squat, with a

somewhat nervous disposition. Patrician manners in a too-

tight Brooks Brothers suit.

He loads up a batch of files, and as he turns to go...

He crashes right into...Ida.

The files land everywhere. He is woefully embarrassed.

He stands there a moment. Despondent.

SIDDAL:

Oh God, I am so sorry.

IDA:

No, that was entirely my fault. I should

learn to look where I’m going. Here, let me

help you.

Ida helps him gather up the files. After a moment:

IDA:

I’m Ida Tarbell.

SIDDAL:

Yes, I know. I read your “Life of Lincoln.”

In fact, I brought it to our book club at

Harvard last year.

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