Inventing the Abbotts Page #17
- R
- Year:
- 1997
- 110 min
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155 EXT. SHOP (DOWNTOWN HALEY) - DAY 155
Alice comes out on the street laden with packages andshopping bags. She's startled by Doug when he falls inbeside her and follows her down the sidewalk.
DOUG:
Where's Pam?
ALICE:
I don't know.
DOUG:
Is she with Eleanor?
(CONTINUED)
INVENTING THE ABBOTTS - Rev. 3/20/96 101.
155 CONTINUED:
155ALICE:
I don't know.
DOUG:
In Chicago?
ALICE:
I don't know.
DOUG:
I couldn't find Eleanor's name in
ALICE:
Maybe it's unlisted.
DOUG:
Well, do you know Eleanor's
address?
ALICE:
No. I don't know her address, I
don't know her phone number.
You'd have to ask my father for
it. All right?
Alice turns and steps into another shop -- leaving Dougbehind on the sidewalk.
156 INT. HOLT HOME - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT (CHRISTMAS, 1959) 156
PERRY COMO SINGS "The Little Drummer Boy" ON the
TELEVISION. Doug rises from the sofa.
157 INT. HOLT HOME - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS ACTION - NIGHT 157
Helen is peeling apples to make a pie. Doug enters andstudies her for a beat.
DOUG:
Are you okay?
HELEN:
I'm fine.
DOUG:
You look... tired.
HELEN:
Just a cold.
DOUG:
You sure?
(CONTINUED)
INVENTING THE ABBOTTS - Rev. 3/20/96 102.
157 CONTINUED:
157HELEN:
I do wish Jacey had come home forChristmas. Maybe that's what'swrong with me.
DOUG:
I guess that free-lance draftingjob was too good for him to turndown.
HELEN:
I don't think that's why he didn'tcome home. I wrote him a letter,
you know. About Lloyd and me.
Has he mentioned it to you?
DOUG:
No.
Doug wants to avoid the topic of Jacey. He opens therefrigerator.
DOUG:
When did you start drinking beer?
HELEN:
Oh... I bought those for you. I
had them in the basement; I keptforgetting to bring them up.
He does a bemused take on her.
HELEN:
Good heavens, I know you drinkbeer.
Doug takes out two bottles of beer and opens them.
DOUG:
Here. Have one with me.
HELEN:
I bought those for you, honey.
DOUG:
It's not good to drink alone, Mom.
HELEN:
Don't be silly.
DOUG:
Come on. Sit down. Have a beer.
(CONTINUED)
103.
157 CONTINUED:
(2) 157He pulls out a chair for her. She reluctantly comes overand sits down. Doug sits and proposes a toast.
DOUG:
Merry Christmas.
HELEN:
Merry Christmas.
(takes a sip)
It's beer.
DOUG:
Let's drink 'em all.
Helen laughs girlishly.
HELEN:
Charlie was always trying to getme to drink beer.
DOUG:
Why do you always call himCharlie?
HELEN:
That was his name.
DOUG:
Why don't you ever say 'yourfather'?
HELEN:
Sometimes I do, don't I? I don't
know. When I think of him, I
think of 'Charlie.'
DOUG:
Did you ever... meet anybody else?
HELEN:
You mean another man?
DOUG:
Yeah.
HELEN:
Well, everyone always thinksthings are more possible than they
are. I mean, single men don'tstay in Haley if they have anystarch. The only eligible manaround was Drew Carter, but he
smells like his dog.
(CONTINUED)
INVENTING THE ABBOTTS - Rev. 2/16/96 104.
157 CONTINUED:
(3) 157Her remark cracks Doug up -- Helen laughs, too.
HELEN:
I wish I'd remembered the beers
sooner. It's nice to see yousmiling.
DOUG:
Sorry.
HELEN:
Don't be. Everyone has sad times.
Doug dissolves into tears. He lowers his head and
shields his eyes with his hand. Helen leans over and
strokes his hair. After a few moments, he rises and
wipes away his tears with a dish towel.
HELEN:
I'll tell you a secret. I did
have a friend. A man in Chicago.
I used to see him when I went upto Chicago to visit Bea duringsummer vacations.
DOUG:
'Used to see him' -- you don't seehim anymore?
HELEN:
No.
DOUG:
Did you like him?
HELEN:
He was a wonderful man. A little
boring, but really, verywonderful.
DOUG:
How long did this go on?
HELEN:
About eight years or so, it waswhen you boys were still at home.
DOUG:
That's a long time. Did you everthink about marrying him?
HELEN:
He proposed. But, well, obviously,
I said no.
(CONTINUED)
105.
157 CONTINUED:
(4) 157DOUG:
Why?
HELEN:
Because I'm in love with... your
father. With my memory of him.
He was the one for me. Oh, I
don't know... there's different
kinds of love, darling. Some
people you love no matter what.
Other people you love if the
situation is right. To me the
best kind of love is the 'no
matter what' kind.
(slight beat)
Well, I am a cheap drunk, aren't
I?
158 EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - ROAD - DAYS LATER 158
The bus cruises along the narrow ribbon of pavement.
159 INSIDE BUS - ANGLE ON DOUG 159
-- sitting by himself; there's not many passengers today.
We hear the VOICES of rambunctious CHILDREN...
160 INT. HALEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - CLASSROOM - DAY 160
(LATE SPRING, 1960)
The second-grade students are in the midst of an artproject where they make a design by gluing various sortsof dried beans to colored paper -- but the beans arebeing thrown about the room and other beans have beenspilled on the floor. Helen wearily attempts to rein inthe unruly children:
HELEN:
Too much noise, please. Let's
finish up. Keep the glue on the
paper. Sam, Lillian, Jack -- in
your seats, please...
Helen suddenly loses her energy and interest in policingthe children. Their hijinks continue as she steps out ofthe classroom.
INVENTING THE ABBOTTS - Rev. 3/20/96
106.
161 INT. HALEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS 161
ACTION:
Helen steps over to a window and stares out -- lost inher own thoughts and oblivious to the NOISE from herclassroom.
162
INT. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - THEATER - DAY (LATE 162
SPRING, 1960)
Doug is on a cat-walk in the fly loft high over the stagefloor. He strains as he drops 20 pound slabs of pig-irononto a counterweight carriage, then he releases the lineand flies a canvas backdrop up into the loft. He locks
off the line, wipes his brow, turns, and finds Jaceystanding behind him.
DOUG:
What-the-hell do you want?
JACEY:
Mom...
163 INT. AIRPORT TERMINAL (PHILADELPHIA) - THAT NIGHT 163
Doug sits in an almost empty terminal waiting to catch ared-eye flight to Chicago. A group of just arrivedstewardesses pass by chatting with a captain and otherflight officers. Eleanor Abbott does a take on Doug,
steps away from her co-workers, and doubles back to him.
ELEANOR:
Hi, Doug!
Doug almost doesn't recognize her. She is twenty yearsold now and very grown-up, very stylish in her stewardessuniform. She smiles at him.
ELEANOR:
How's your chin?
(as he doesn't respond)
Remember... the pencil?
DOUG:
Yeah. I have a little scar.
ELEANOR:
You going home? Back to Hole-in- the-Ground,
Illinois.
DOUG:
My mother died.
(CONTINUED)
INVENTING THE ABBOTTS - Rev. 3/20/96 107.
163 CONTINUED:
163ELEANOR:
(taken aback)
Oh God. Oh no. Oh, Doug, I'm
sorry.
DOUG:
She had cancer. I just saw herChristmas. She was tired, but I
thought she just had the flu orsomething. She didn't tell us.
The hospital told Jacey when theycalled him.
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