JFK Page #14

BOWERS:

Towards the underpass, I saw two men

standing behind a picket fence...

they were looking up towards Main

and Houston and following the caravan

as it came down. One of them was

middle-aged, heavyset. The other

man was younger, wearing a plaid

shirt and jacket.

Inside the railroad tower, Bowers glances out, busy with the

main board, flashing lights, a train coming in.

BOWERS:

There were two other men on the

eastern end of the parking lot.

Each of 'me had uniforms.

We see the parking lot from Bower's point of view - at a

distance, but we have a sense of the cars and see the men at

a distance, tow uniformed men. The parking lot is bumper-to-

bumper with a sea of cars. Rain that morning has muddied

the lot. These brief images are elaborated on later.

BOWERS:

At the time of the shooting there

seemed to be some commotion... I

just am unable to describe - a flash

of light or smoke or something which

caused me to feel that something out

of the ordinary had occurred there

on the embankment...

We feel the growing intensity: music, drums - but all blurred.

We see a puff of smoke but no sound because of the window

Bowers is glancing through. A motorcycle cop shoots up the

Grassy Knoll incline. People run, blurring into a larger

mosaic of confusion. Bowers is confused, seeing this.

INTERCUT with Jim's heart pounding as he reads.

Back in Dealey Plaza, S.M. Holland, an elderly signal

supervisor, stands on the parapet of the railway.

HOLLAND (V.O.)

Four shots... a puff of smoke came

from the trees... behind that picket

fence... close to the little plaza -

There's no doubt whatever in my mind.

We see the scene from Holland's point of view - the puff of

smoke lingering under the trees along the picket fence after

the shooting.

GARRISON BEDROOM - ANOTHER NIGHT(1966)

Jim is asleep, having a tortured dream.

DREAMSCAPE FLASHBACK: We see the Zapruder film, in slow-motion

and J.F.K.'s face just before he goes behind Stemmons Freeway

sign. Jim sits up suddenly.

JIM:

NO!

Liz stirs, shaken.

LIZ:

Honey, you all right?

(looks at watch)

JIM:

It's incredible, honey - the whole

thing. A Lieutenant Colonel testifies

that Lee Oswald was given a Russian

language exam as part of his Marine

training only a few months before he

defects to the Soviet Union. A

Russian exam!

LIZ:

(sitting up, angered)

I cannot believe this. It's four-

thirty, Jim Garrison. I have five

children are gonna be awake in another

hour and ...

JIM:

Honey, in all my years in the service

I never knew a single man who was

given a Russian test. Oswald was a

radar operator. He'd have about as

much use for Russian as a cat has

for pajamas.

LIZ:

These books are getting to your mind,

Mr. Garrison. I wish you'd stop

readin' them.

JIM:

And then this Colonel tries to make

it sound like nothing. Oswald did

badly on the test, he says. "He

only had two more Russian words right

than wrong." Ha! That's like me

saying Touchdown here...

(points to the dog)

...is not very intelligent because I

beat him three games out of five the

last time we played chess.

LIZ:

(gives up)

Jim, what is going on, for heaven's

sake! You going to stay up all night

every night? For what? So you'll

be the only man in America who read

the entire 26 volumes of the Warren

Report?

JIM:

Liz, do I have to spell it out for

you? Lee Oswald was no ordinary

soldier. That was no accident he

was in Russia. He was probably in

military intelligence. That's why

he was trained in Russian.

LIZ:

(with a quizzical

look)

Honey, go back to sleep, please!

JIM:

Goddammit! I been sleeping for three

years!

She takes him now, gently, and pulls him down on top of her

and kisses him.

LIZ:

Will you stop rattling on about

Kennedy for a few minutes, honey...

come on.

LAFAYETTE SQUARE - NEW ORLEANS - MORNING(1966)

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