JFK Page #6

MARTIN:

God's sake, chief. The President

was shot.

BANISTER:

A bullshit President! I don't see

any weeping for all the thousands of

Cubans that bastard condemned to

death and torture at the Bay of Pigs.

Where are all the tears for the

Russians and Hungarians and Chinese

living like slaves in prison camps

run by Kennedy's communist buddies -

All these damned peace treaties!

I'm telling ya Jack, that's what

happens when you let the n*ggers

vote. They get together with the

Jews and the Catholics and elect an

Irish bleeding heart.

MARTIN:

Chief, maybe you had a little too

much to drink.

BANISTER:

Bullshit!

(yells across the

room)

Bartender, another round...

(finishes drink)

Here's to the New Frontier. Camelot

in smithereens. I'll drink to that.

NAPOLEON'S RESTAURANT - DAY(1963)

Several hours have elapsed. The clientele has grown,

drinking, watching the tube with the insatiable curiosity

the event engendered. People stare in from the street...

There is a silence in the restaurant.

TELEVISION INSERT: image of a Dallas policeman hauling a

Mannlicher - Carcano rifle with a sniperscope over the heads

of the press gathered in the police station.

NEWSMAN 3

This is the rifle, it is a Mannlicher -

Carcano Italian rifle, a powerful

World War II military gun used by

infantry and highly accurate at

distances of 100 yards.

We see images of the textbook boxes - the sniper's nest in

the sixth story of the Book Depository - and then the view

out the window looking down at Elm Street.

NEWSMAN 3

The assassin apparently fired from

this perch... but so far no word,

much confusion and...

CUT TO Newsman 2 at a different location or in studio.

NEWSMAN 4

A flash bulletin... the Dallas Police

have just announced they have a

suspect in the killing of a Dallas

police officer, J.D. Tippit, who was

shot at 1:
15 in Oak Cliff, a suburb

of Dallas.

Police are saying there could be a tie - in here to the murder

of the President.

TELEVISION INSERT: Lee Harvey Oswald, a bruise over his

right temple, is apprehended at the Texas Theatre.

NEWSMAN 4

The suspect, identified as Lee Harvey

Oswald, was arrested by more than a

dozen police officers after a short

scuffle at the Texas movie theatre

in Oak Cliff, several blocks from

where Officer Tippit was killed,

apparently with a .38 revolver found

on Oswald. There is apparently at

least one eyewitness.

TELEVISION INSERT: Oswald is booked at the station. A surly

young man, 24, he claims to the press:

TV OSWALD:

No, I don't know what I'm charged

with... I don't know what dispatches

you people have been given, but I

emphatically deny these charges.

VOICE FROM THE BAR

They oughta just shoot the bastard.

The room bursts out with an accumulated fury at the young

Oswald - a tremendous release of tension. On the TV we see

the excitement in the newsmen's eyes; they all sense that

this is the break they're looking for in the case.

Garrison and Ivon watch the TV, and then Garrison stands and

pays the bill.

LOU:

One little guy with a cheap rifle -

look what he can do.

JIM:

Let's get outta here, Lou. I saw

too much stuff like this in the war.

As they leave, the camera holds on the image of Oswald.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATERFRONT - TWILIGHT(1963)

The sun is setting through thunderheads over the Mississippi

River waterfront as Banister and Martin wobble out, drunk,

down the street.

BANISTER:

Well, the kid musta gone nuts, right?

(Martin says nothing,

looks troubled)

I said Oswald must've flipped. Just

did this crazy thing before anyone

could stop him, right?

MARTIN:

I think I'll cut out here, chief. I

gotta get home.

BANISTER:

(strong-arms Martin)

Get home my ass. We're going to the

office, have another drink. I want

some company tonight.

BANISTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT(1963)

Rain pours down outside 531 Lafayette Street as Banister

opens several locks on the door and turns on the lights.

The frosted glass on the door says "W. Guy Banister

Associates, Inc., Investigators." It's a typical detective's

office with spare desks, simple chairs, large filing cabinets

and cubicles in the rear.

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