Kate and Leopold Page #2

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LEOPOLD:

You dance like an angel, Miss

Fairchild. You light up the room. I

thank you.

Miss Fairchild curtseys heavily. Leopold glances at his card,

sees the name Miss Serena Clacket and shudders.

He spots a VERY LOVELY WOMAN hidden amongst the guests. She

scribbles in a small note pad, occasionally glancing around.

Hiding his dance card, he saunters over.

LEOPOLD:

Good evening. I do not believe I

have had the pleasure.

The young woman stares vacantly at Leopold until she realizes

he is addressing her. She puts her pad away.

CARLSON:

...Julia Carlson.

Leopold takes her hand and kisses it gently.

CARLSON:

I'm sorry. Will you excuse me?

LEOPOLD:

(slightly tipsy)

You are not from the area, are you?

CARLSON:

(smiles and shakes

her head "No")

Are you?

LEOPOLD:

This is my estate.

CARLSON:

Really?

(looking around the

room)

Well it's not home but it's much...

Leopold regards her curiously. The orchestra starts up. There

is a hubbub amongst the guests.

LEOPOLD:

Shocking! The TA-RA-RA-BOOM-DE-AY.

CARLSON:

The? Oh, that's from Paris, isn't

it?

LEOPOLD:

It is a scandal nonetheless.

Leopold spots Uncle Otto observing him from across the room.

LEOPOLD:

Miss Carlson, do me the honor?

CARLSON:

I'm afraid I'm not much of a dancer.

LEOPOLD:

(smiling seductively)

Truly I would be in your debt. Any

admonition would be erased simply by

presenting a partner as lovely as

yourself.

CARLSON:

No, no. Really, I...

Leopold stiffly holds out his arm. A beat. Carlson, stuck,

takes it WITH HESITATION and is escorted to the dance floor.

They dance. ALL but Leopold and Carlson gaily sing "TA-RA-RA-

BOOM-DE-AY." Leopold, flushed, looks quite smitten. Carlson,

shy at first, eventually smiles brightly.

LEOPOLD:

I suppose we really ought to sing

along.

CARLSON:

(embarrassed)

Oh, golly.

They half sing, half speak the TA-RA-RA-BOOM-DE-AY, their

emphasis on "BOOM." Laughing giddily, their dancing becomes

freer, picking up speed. The room SPINS. Finally:

CARLSON:

(breathless)

Thank you for the dance. It was

lovely. I hope it wasn't too awful

for you.

LEOPOLD:

Not at all. It was most enlightening.

There is a slight pause. The Grandfather CLOCK strikes

midnight.

CARLSON:

I really must be going.

LEOPOLD:

I won't hear of it.

CARLSON:

(moving away from him)

No, I'm quite late as it is.

LEOPOLD:

I shall see you to the door...

CARLSON:

(stopping him

resolutely)

You're very sweet. I had a wonderful

time.

(she watches him,

memorizing his face.

Then firmly)

Goodbye.

Leopold takes a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. He

watches Carlson pass through the crowd and out the courtyard

door. He surveys the room. After a moment he follows her.

EXT. GARDEN - NIGHT

Leopold makes his way through the manicured garden in the

dark. He hears an EERIE METALLIC SOUND. He slows down, brushes

back the thicket. The silhouette of a woman is revealed. She

is once again writing in her notebook.

LEOPOLD:

Miss Carlson?

Carlson spins around quickly, panicked. Leopold STOPS.

Partially hidden in the brush, a sleek, oddly shaped,

MECHANICAL device. It's door open, lit from within, casting

a weird glow.

LEOPOLD:

Good God...

CARLSON:

What are you...? You frightened me.

Leopold moves toward the contraption and is about to touch

it...

LEOPOLD:

What sort of mechanism is this?

Carlson shakes her head, unsure of how to proceed.

LEOPOLD:

Answer me!

CARLSON:

It's perfectly all right. It's...

Leopold carefully examines the apparatus, stepping inside.

Carlson FREEZES.

CARLSON:

(carefully,

deliberately)

Listen to me. Please. Move very

slowly. Step out of the machine.

Step out and I'll explain whatever

you want to know.

LEOPOLD:

What is this? Who are you?

His hand comes to rest on a glowing red lever.

CARLSON:

Oh, God.

She YANKS on his arm. Instinctively he pulls away,

accidentally thrusting the lever into action. Carlson falls

from the machine.

CARLSON:

(suddenly frantic)

Get out of there! Get out now!

The machine LIGHTS UP.

LEOPOLD:

Miss Carlson... I...

CARLSON:

No!!!

The compartment door snaps shut.

CARLSON:

Sh*t!!

There is a BRIGHT WHITE FLASH. Blackness fills the screen.

CUT TO:

INT. N.Y.C. LABORATORY - 1995 DAY

The compartment door slides OPEN revealing DR. KAU, 30's, an

Asian doctor with a THICK BROOKLYN ACCENT. Her face full of

enthusiasm drops as she sees the unconscious Leopold.

DR. KAU

Sh*t!!

She turns to her co-workers, warning them.

DR. KAU

Sh*t!!

She looks back at Leopold.

DR. KAU

Sh*t!!

Her co-workers, DR. PLODDER, austere, authoritative, DR.

DRAKE, muddled and timid, peer inside the compartment door.

DR. DRAKE

Good God!

DR. PLODDER

Everybody stay calm... Lock the front

door.

Dr. Drake and Kau make a move to inspect an unconscious

Leopold.

DR. PLODDER

No, no, no. You mustn't touch him.

The consequences could be

catastrophic.

DR. KAU

He could be hurt, or even dead.

DR. PLODDER

...All right. Touch him.

They approach Leopold. Dr. Kau finds Carlson's note pad on

the ground next to Leopold. She reads the last entry.

DR. KAU

...But I'm stuck and it's only a

dance and he IS the seventh Duke of

Albany...

They all look at one another, then back at Leopold.

DR. DRAKE

Carlson...!

DR. PLODDER

(racing from the room)

Give me a minute...

DR. KAU

Sh*t!

INT. LAB - KATE'S OFFICE - DAY

KATHERINE COLES, a radiant workaholic, types frenetically

into the computer while talking on the phone, trying hard

not to sound upset.

KATE:

Who's upset? People fall in love,

they have to climb back out.

(she laughs but she

is not smiling)

So, what? We'll just be friends now,

Right?

She stops typing and listens for a while. She runs her hand

through her hair.

KATE:

I see. Well I appreciate your honesty.

(using her middle

finger she pushes up

her glasses)

No. I'll just think of this as

surviving another dating accident.

Take care or good luck or whatever

I'm supposed to...

The line goes dead.

KATE:

...say... Goodbye.

Dr. Plodder bursts in. Kate sees his distress and instantly

becomes very centered.

DR. PLODDER

She's back.

KATE:

(rising)

That's impossible! She wasn't supposed

to return until...

DR. PLODDER

Kate. It's Carlson. Something went

wrong.

He hands her Carlson's note pad. Slowly, she sits down.

KATE:

...The 7th Duke...

INT. LAB - DAY

KATE:

(all business, reading

from a printout)

...of Albany. He was the... IS the

son of Emery and Eliza. He was of no

actual importance until he vanished

at the turn of the century without a

trace. It was a sensation. In the

30's they even made a movie about

him. "The Tenuous Duke" with Ronald

Coleman.

DR. DRAKE

(absently)

I love Ronald Coleman.

KATE:

Despite much speculation and a nation

wide investigation, a body was never

found. He was never heard from again.

DR. KAU

Until now.

There is a stunned silence. They stare at Leopold in awe.

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