Kramer vs. Kramer Page #5

TED:

Billy!

ON BILLY--He sits in the living room watching television,

a chocolate doughnut in one hand and a remote control

device for watching television in the other.

Off-screen Sound: a Saturday morning kiddie program

from the television set.

BILLY:

(focused on T.V.)

Uh, huh...

TED:

You got a letter from mom.

Instantly, Billy turns down the volume of the

television.

BILLY:

(excited)

When is she coming home?!

ON TED--as he starts to read, slowly, carefully, so

that Billy can absorb it.

TED:

"My dear, sweet Billy: Mommy has

gone away. Sometimes in the

world daddies go away and mommies

bring up their little boys. But

sometimes a mommy can go away too,

and you have your daddy to bring

you up."

As Ted continues to read, Billy starts turning up the

sound on the television, using the remote control device.

TED:

(raising his voice

so he can be heard)

"I have gone away because I must

find some interesting things to

do for myself in the world.

Everybody has to, and so do I.

Being your mommy was one thing,

but there are other things and

this is what I have to do. I

did not get a chance to tell you

this, and that is why I am writing

you now."

By now the volume from the television is so loud that

Ted has to shout to make himself heard over it.

TED:

"I will always be your mommy and

I will always love you. I just

won't be your mommy in the house.

But I will be your mommy of the

heart. And I..."

(he looks up, about

to tell the child

to lower the volume)

Billy.

HIS P.O.V.:
Billy sits, watching television with an

almost ferocious intensity on his face, doing his best

to block out Ted's voice.

ON TED--He watches his son for a second, then carefully

refolds the letter, puts it away.

TED:

(as he reaches across,

turns down the sound

on the T.V.)

It's okay...It's okay. We'll talk

about it some other time.

CUT TO:

32 INT. KITCHEN, KRAMER APT. - LATER THAT DAY

CLOSE ON THELMA--reading Joanna's letter.

THELMA:

Oh, God...OhmyGod...

She finishes the letter, looks up at Ted.

THELMA:

What are you going to do?

TED:

I don't know, Thel...This whole

thing has happened so...Pow,

like that.

THELMA:

I mean, what are you going to do

about Billy?

TED:

(stiff)

I'm gonna keep him, why?

THELMA:

Look, this is nothing personal,

but I don't think you can do it.

TED:

Thelma, I've lost my wife, I'm

not losing my child.

THELMA:

(backing off)

All right...Okay...But let's

get something straight, right now.

I mean, I'm sorry about what

happened between you and Joanna,

but it's not my problem, understand?

REVERSE ON TED--he nods.

CROSS-CUTTING BETWEEN THEM:

THELMA:

I'm not going to have you calling

every fifteen minutes just

because you can't find a hot

water bottle, understand?

Ted nods.

THELMA:

I've got enough trouble raising

my own kid. I don't need another

one. Got it?

TED:

Got it.

THELMA:

You're on your own, understand?

TED:

I understand.

THELMA:

You're sure?

TED:

I'm sure.

ON THELMA--a long pause, she looks at him with all the

warmth of a top sergeant facing a raw recruit. Then:

THELMA:

All right. Who's Billy's

pediatrician?

ON TED--He hasn't the foggiest idea.

THELMA:

(machine-gun delivery)

Ed Davies. 230 East 76th Street.

472-8227. Fifty bucks a house

call, thirty for an office visit.

Write this down:
I'm not telling

you twice. What's the nearest

hospital?

ON TED--as he grabs a piece of paper and starts writing

frantically.

TED:

Wait a minute! Wait a minute!

THELMA:

(not waiting)

Lenox Hill. 77th Street between

Park and Lex. The emergency

number is 327-0800.

TED:

Slow down...Slow down...

CUT TO:

33 INT. TED'S BEDROOM - DAY

WIDE SHOT--Ted stands in the middle of the room, sorting

out a huge pile of dirty clothes. Thelma sits on the

edge of the bed, watching.

THELMA:

Colors in one pile, white things

in another and shirts in a third.

In the BACKGROUND we SEE the bathroom door as it opens

and Billy Kramer steps out, freshly bathed and wearing

clean clothes.

THELMA:

(without looking

around)

Brush the teeth. Hang up the

towel and flush the toilet.

Billy immediately turns on his heels and heads back into

the bathroom.

CUT TO:

33A INT. LIVING ROOM, KRAMER APT. - DAY

CLOSE ON A SILVER CIGARETTE BOX--that is inscribed, "Ted

and Joanna Kramer, Married April 4, 1970." HOLD FOR A

BEAT then Ted's hand reaches into FRAME and picks it up.

MED SHOT TED--as he takes the cigarette box and balances

it on a stack of scrap books, photographs, ash trays,

etc., etc., that he is carrying. He crosses to another

table, picks up a framed photograph of Joanna and Billy

and piles that on top of everything. We realize that

Ted is going through the apartment from top to bottom

and methodically cleaning out every trace of Joanna that

he can find.

CUT TO:

33B EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT

ESTABLISHING SHOT

CUT TO:

33C INT. LIVING ROOM, KRAMER APT. - NIGHT

WIDE SHOT--as Ted goes through the room, picking up

Billy's clothes which have been strewn every which way.

THE CAMERA TRACKS WITH HIM as he carries them into

Billy's room.

33D INT. BILLY'S ROOM - NIGHT

Billy is fast asleep, the only light coming from the

night lamp on the dresser. Ted dumps the soiled

clothing in a hamper, hangs up Billy's jacket, then he

neatly folds the boy's sweater and crosses to the dresser.

CLOSER IN ON THE DRESSER--as Ted opens a drawer and

starts to put the sweater away. Suddenly he spots

something.

CUT TO:

HIS P.O.V.:
There, in the drawer, sitting on top of a

pile of clothing is one of the photographs of Joanna that

Ted put away this afternoon. Billy has retrieved it and

hidden it here, hoping that Ted wouldn't find it.

CLOSE ON TED--as he takes a long look at the photograph,

then turns to his son.

HIS P.O.V.:
Billy asleep, tangled up in the covers.

ON TED--He removes the photograph from the drawer,

crosses to the bed and places it on the nightstand

nearby so that Billy will be able to see the picture

of Joanna when he wakes up in the morning. He sits

for a moment longer on the side of the bed and reaches

across and smooths down his son's rumpled hair.

FADE TO BLACK:

34 INT. TED'S OFFICE - LATE AFTERNOON

ON TED--clearly in a rush, loading his briefcase with

work to do that evening. He starts for the door and

THE CAMERA TRACKS WITH HIM as he walks along the outer

office corridor, heading for the elevator. As he passes

the door to O'Connor's office:

TED:

(calling out)

'Night, Jim.

O'CONNOR (O.S.)

(calling out)

Hey, Ted. C'mon in. I wanna'

talk to you.

Reluctantly Ted stops, turns around and walks back to

the door to O'Connor's office.

CUT TO:

35 INT. O'CONNOR'S OFFICE - LATE AFTERNOON

O'Connor sits back in his chair, his feet propped on the

desk a drink in one hand.

O'CONNOR

(jovial)

What's the big rush. C'mon in,

put your feet up, have a drink.

REVERSE ON TED--hanging in the doorway, clearly anxious

to leave.

TED:

Can't do it tonight. Gotta

pick up Billy. I'm late.

O'CONNOR

(paying no attention

to that)

Listen, I heard a terrific joke

today. There's this Polish

skydiver--

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