Jonathan Demme and the Making of 'The Manchurian Candidate' Page #2

People adore you,

they crave your company,

and yet here you are,

holed up as if you were some sort of

emotionally challenged individual

like your father.

Shut up, Tom.

Instead of Raymond Prentiss Shaw,

handsome, intelligent,

people-loving war hero

with a great deal to offer his party.

- No.

- And his country.

RAYMOND:

No.

- No, what?

- No.

I haven't even asked you

a question yet.

RAYMOND:
No to the question

you're going to ask.

No to all of the questions

you pretend to want to ask.

Your hair is too flat.

And no, you may not engage

in your usual backdoor

And that tie...

political thuggery to shovel me

onto the presidential ticket.

Tie's wrong. Something less busy.

Oh, you're not interested.

Of course I'm interested.

I wouldn't be here if I wasn't.

But not if it means attacking

the reputation

of a statesman like Tom Jordan,

which I am sure

was part of your plan.

Excuse me, when have I ever

attacked Senator Jordan, despite...

Despite what?

Despite the shameful way

his daughter toyed with you

that summer at the shore.

You chased her away, Mother,

let's not have any illusions about...

She wasn't in your league, but if that's

the way you choose to remember it...

You destroyed any possibility

of us ever...

Honey, you are oversimplifying things

a little bit, but it's okay.

I'll stay out of it.

You have my word.

[CROWD CHEERING]

Thank you. Thank you.

I think you all know my mother,

Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw.

And some of you, no doubt,

remember my father,

the late Senator John Shaw.

I've been honored to serve

my two terms in Congress.

[MEN AND ELLIE

SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

But I also grew up on the Hill.

I've seen how the game is played

by professionals,

how deals are struck,

committees bullied,

agendas bought and sold.

And with apologies to my mother,

I wish to remain an amateur.

RAYMOND [ON TV]:

I believe democracy is not negotiable.

[CROWD CHEERING ON TV]

I believe that freedom from fear

in the world at large and here at home

is not negotiable.

I know how much Americans

have to fear today.

But I can tell you

that I've been there.

I've faced the enemy firsthand

on the battlefront.

I know what it is to be afraid.

But I am living proof

that we can win.

We can prevail.

We must secure tomorrow today.

Thank you.

ELLIE:
Bluffing?

- That was the inference.

They should be down on their fat,

white knees, thanking me

for saving this party from

committing political seppuku.

You gave them every opportunity

to do the right thing, senator.

No. I gave them one opportunity and

that was unusually generous of me.

See if you can get ahold of

Bob Arthur,

because I'm gonna wanna

meet with him.

Thank you very much

for arranging this.

- I appreciate it.

HEALY:
Sure.

ELLIE:
Mr. Secretary.

- Senator.

Thank you very much

for taking this meeting.

LEONA:
Good to see you again.

- Leona. So nice to see you, Leona.

Buddy. Gentlemen.

No, I thought we settled it

this morning.

All right, I'll keep you posted.

The decision is final.

ELLIE:

Thank you very much.

- How's Jeanine?

UTLY:
Senator.

Tom Jordan's on the ticket.

Now, we don't need your blessing,

but we'd like it.

Okay, so before we get started,

I'm just...

[LAUGHS]

I'm dying to know...

...which genius hatched the idea of

pairing a sound bite from Nebraska

with a relic who thinks that keeping

suicide bombers off our buses

is unconstitutional.

Was it you, Gordy?

All the research indicates

that an Arthur-Jordan ticket

sits quite well

with the American people.

"Sits quite well"

translates into how many votes?

MAN 1:
Your son is largely unknown

outside of New York.

I mean, his public service,

his congressional record,

while commendable,

is not the kind of thing...

My son is a war hero.

MAN 2:
Governor Arthur has agreed

to consider Raymond

for a cabinet-level post.

We didn't come here

to have a discussion.

Did we come here

to have a discussion?

WELLS:
Ellie, you don't have the votes

to block this.

Not even to push the nomination

to a second ballot.

Oh, Jim, even running against

this cut-and-fold vice president,

with his party's record of

abysmal failure at home and abroad,

Governor Arthur is still unelectable

to the presidency...

...without help.

Consider, that our intrepid Arthur

can hold on to his own home ground,

and the Northeast,

and even California,

we are still dead across the South.

He's not dead completely

in the South, senator...

ELLIE:
And the Southwest,

where they win by landslides.

I mean, you know this.

Your focus groups,

your polls all tell you this.

They back me up, right?

Now, you're counting on

Tom Jordan to help you get

the black vote, women

and college kids.

My gut instinct says he won't,

and on Arthur to somehow hold

the centre, where he is soft at best.

We're confident

this is a winning ticket, Ellie.

What's your margin of error, Vaughn?

Five points?

Three?

I can swing that, and you know it.

Oh, I could swing seven

away from you.

That's more than enough

to split the ticket.

And deny us the White House

another four years? No.

No, not even you.

Not even you, senator,

will do that, you are bluffing.

Oh, no, no, no, senator,

I would and I will

and I will do whatever is necessary

to protect America

from anyone who opposes her.

I can't...

Am I the only person in this room

who's been reading

these NSA reports?

- I've read them.

- All right, then you know,

you know we are on the brink

of another cataclysm,

probably nuclear, on our own soil.

Oh, Ellie, that's a bit extreme.

ELLIE:

And it's not from random terrorists,

but from covert alliances

of disaffected nations

who have all been made bold

by this kind of Jordan one-worlder

who believes that human beings

are essentially good

and that our power is somehow,

I don't know,

shameful or evil or never to be used.

Make no mistake,

the American people are terrified.

They know something's coming.

They can feel it.

And we can either shovel them

the same old sh*t and call it sugar

or we can arm them.

We can arm them with a young,

vibrant vice president.

We can give them heat, energy,

give them a war hero with heart,

forged by enemy fire

in the desert in the dark,

when American lives

hung in the balance.

Give us a few minutes.

Thank you.

Mr. Secretary,

thank you for your time.

- Thank you.

ELLIE:
Really appreciate it.

- Leona, good evening.

- Thank you, Ellie.

Well, they're gonna have to make

their own decisions.

I am proud...

[CROWD CHEERING]

... to offer into nomination

the name of the next vice president

of these United States:

Raymond Shaw!

TV NEWSCASTER 1:
A remarkable

development. Twenty-four hours ago,

New York Congressman

Raymond Prentiss Shaw

wasn't even being mentioned

as a possible candidate

for the vice presidential nomination

four years from now,

much less this current convention.

Some incredible news

from the convention floor tonight.

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