King Kong Page #21

ANN climbs out of the car and HEADS TOWARDS THE STREET!

ANN:

Goodbye Jack ...

JACK runs after her.

JACK:

Are you nuts? Come on - I'm not gonna let you get killed!

EXT. 35TH STREET - NIGHT

ANN walks into the middle of the road ...

ANN:

He won't harm me ...

(yelling)

Kong !

KONG is 50 yards away ... he sees ANN, ROARS and WALKS TOWARDS her on

his KNUCKLES.

JACK runs up to ANN. Go ... Please Ann, I ...care about you! Ann ......

love you.

ANN stares at him for a long moment ... KONG is looming up behind her.

ANN (CONT'D)

Jack ... you don't know what love is.

KONG'S HAND gently lifts her up ... without breaking his stride, KONG

walks straight past JACK.

JACK:

Ann ... Ann!

ANN:

It' s alright Jack ... it' s alright.

JACK watches ANN disappear into the night ... TEARS well up in his EYES

... for a moment he angrily fights them off . . .

JACK STARTS CRYING. They are the tears of a 17 year old boy alone in

the battlefield ...

JACK slides down the wall of the EMPTY STREET, head in hands, SOBBING

LOUDLY.

EXT. MID-TOWN/STREETS & ROOFTOPS - NIGHT

KONG is moving along a ROOFTOP - about 10 STORIES HIGH. He is holding

ANN close to his breast. He looks down at the STREETS - now largely

DESERTED. All around him the MANHATTAN SKYLINE resembles some GAUDY

PRIMEVAL LANDSCAPE.

SUDDENLY . . .

BAM! BAM! BAM ... HEAVY MACHINE GUN FIRE RICOCHETS all around. KONG

ROARS ... ANN clutches his FINGERS as he BOUNDS along the ROOFS at HIGH

SPEED! A SEARCHLIGHT suddenly swings onto KONG from BELOW ...

ARMY VEHICLES are RACING along the QUIET STREETS ... An ARMORED CAR is

firing at KONG ... followed by a TRUCK carrying a MOBILE SEARCHLIGHT.

The STREETS are TEEMING with these VEHICLES as the ARMY spreads out

across town in the hunt for KONG.

As BULLETS WHIZZ around him, KONG LEAPS ACROSS THE STREET - 10 stories

high! He LANDS on the opposite ROOFTOP and BOUNDS AWAY ...

ANOTHER SEARCHLIGHT FINDS HIM! ... And ANOTHER! The ARMY are closing

in. MACHINE GUN FIRE rips past him as he LEAPS another GREAT DISTANCE

across the STREET. ANN clings on, her EYES TIGHTLY SHUT.

ARMORED CARS and MOBILE SEARCHLIGHTS coverage on KONG ... He has RUN

OUT OF ROOFTOP ... ahead of him, across the CAVERN of 34th STREET,

rises the SHEER WALL of the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING!!!

KONG leaps across the CHASM, crashing into the SIDE of the EMPIRE STATE

BUILDING! GLASS RAINS DOWN 12 STORIES TO THE STREET as KONG uses

WINDOWS for HAND AND FOOT HOLDS. He is ONE-HANDED - his other hand

still holding ANN protectively to his CHEST.

FOUR SEARCHLIGHTS swing onto KONG ... A MOBILE ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN

screeches to a HALT on 34th STREET -this is obviously the army's

KILLING WEAPON OF CHOICE. Within seconds the LARGE GUN TARGETS KONG ...

POV Looking up CROSS-HAIRS at KONG, high on the side of the building -

a total SITTING DUCK.

GUNNER:

Ready to fire, sir!

COMMANDER:

How many points do we get for a big monkey?

The GUNNERS LAUGH ... the COMMANDER raises his BINOCULARS to watch the

spectacle.

COMMANDER (CONT'D)

Stand by ...

AT THAT MOMENT ... KONG ROARS DEFIANTLY at the SOLDIERS, swinging ANN

out over the street.

COMMANDER (CONT'D)

(shocked)

Hold your fire! He's carrying a woman!!

The ORDER is shouted down the STREET to the ASSEMBLING SOLDIERS.

SERGEANT:

(yelling)

Hold your fire!!!

KONG carefully places ANN on his BROAD SHOULDER ... she GRABS HOLD OF

HIS FUR.

The MILITARY watch helplessly as KONG starts climbing the EMPIRE STATE

BUILDING.

CUT TO:

EXT. 39TH STREET - NIGHT

JACK is several blocks away, unaware of the situation at the Empire

State Building.

He wanders down an EMPTY STREET ... a few ABANDONED CARS are dotted

around, but all is QUIET. His shoulders are slumped, his stride falters

... he looks like a BROKEN MAN.

A VEHICLE APPROACHES ...

JACK turns as a MILITARY POLICE CAR pulls up along side him.

MP:

For Chrissake buddy! Get your ass inside - there's a goddamn gorilla on

the loose!

JACK doesn't react ... he keeps on walking.

MP (CONT'D)

(angry)

Hey! Did you hear me, mister?

A 2nd MILITARY POLICE VEHICLE pulls up ...

2ND MP

Hey Bill ... you gotta hear this! The stupid ape's climbing up the

Empire State Building carrying a goddamn woman on his shoulder! Naval

planes are being dispatched from Wrights Field at dawn. Guess the boys

want a little target practice! Orders are to blow the son of a b*tch

away as soon as he puts the girl down!

The 2nd VEHICLE ROARS AWAY ...

CLOSE ON JACK, still walking as the 1st MILITARY POLICE VEHICLE cruises

up along side ...

MP:

Ya want a tip, buddy? Get down to Fifth Avenue ...they blow that ugly

sh*t off building there's gonna be bits gorilla all over the street!

It'll take the sanitation department a week to clean it up!

The MP LAUGHS LOUDLY as the VEHICLE ROARS AWAY, leaving JACK alone in

the street. He is outside a CINEMA -showcasing some new epic movie

about World War One Flying Aces. An overly romanticized POSTER features

a Jean Harlow type in an embrace with a pilot.

The STREETS are wet ... LIGHTS glisten off the surface. JACK pauses -

glancing at the reflection ...

POV WET STREET ... the UNDERSIDE OF AN AIRPLANE is reflected in the

water!

JACK slowly looks up ...

TWO OLD AIRPLANES have been strung high across the street to promote

the movie ... a FOKKER TRIPLANE ... and a SOPWITH CAMEL!

CLOSE ON JACK'S REACTION ...

CUT TO:

The SOPWITH CAMEL lands with a bounce on the street! JACK has released

the support ropes ... he hurries over to the PLANE, quickly assessing

it's condition.

KID (O.S.)

That thing can't fly, mister!

JACK is surprised to see a little AFRICAN-AMERICAN KID -about 8 years -

emerge from the shadows. He is clearly a HOMELESS URCHIN.

KID (CONT'D)

They wouldn't hang it on wires if it was still working.

JACK is peering into the cockpit.

JACK:

I'm not so sure, kid.

CUT TO:

EXT.EMPIRE STATE BUILDING/MANHATTAN - PRE DAWN

WIDE SHOT ... KONG climbing the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, silhouetted

against the LIGHTENING SKY. He is nearing the top.

LOOKING DOWN ... ANN clings to KONG'S SHOULDER, a DIZZYING 1000 foot

drop to the street below.

KONG scales the final 130 feet of the Empire State Building - the

airship mooring mast - and CLIMBS ONTO the STEEL DOME AT the TOP. He

gently places ANN down on the LIP and STANDS on TWO LEGS ...

WIDER ... KONG BEATS HIS CHEST, ROARING DEFIANTLY!

WIDER ... KONG is a SPECK on the summit of the HUGE building,

surrounded by the vista of MANHATTAN ... his ROAR echoes over the city.

EXT. 39TH STREET - DAWN

KONG'S ROAR REACHES JACK ... HE PAUSES FOR A MOMENT, THEN HURRIES TO

THE PLANE, CARRYING A CONTAINER OF PETROL NE HAS JUST SIPHONED FROM A

CAR.

KID:

They used to fly these in the war, mister.

JACK:

Is that right?

JACK pours PETROL into the plane's GAS TANK.

KID:

Are you gonna start it up?

JACK:

Yeah.

KID:

Why?

JACK:

Coz of something I lost.

KID:

What's that?

JACK:

Compassion.

KID:

What's compassion, mister.

JACK kneels down in front of the KID ...he takes the KID'S HAND and

presses it against his chest.

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