Kramer vs. Kramer Page #8

CROSS-CUTTING BETWEEN TED AND HIS POV, as he manages to

notice every single pretty girl that passes, thread his

way through the crowd and still balance Billy's enormous

work of art.

CUT TO:

49 INT. AGENCY - DAY

ON THE ELEVATOR DOORS--as they open, Ted squeezes off

and AS THE CAMERA TRACKS WITH HIM, he crosses the

waiting room and enters the offices proper. He pauses

at his secretary's desk and deposits Billy's papier mache

thing. She jumps up from her desk, takes the papier

mache thing and her notebook in hand, and follows Ted

as he walks down the corridor towards O'Connor's office.

SECRETARY:

Mr. O'Connor called. There's a

meeting with the Revlon people

in the board room and you're

fifteen minutes late.

TED:

(in a rush)

I know....I know.

SECRETARY:

Mr. Schmidt can't have the figures

on the television buy until Monday.

TED:

No. Uh, uh. Tell him I asked for

it Friday. I want it Friday.

Period.

SECRETARY:

Mr. Lombardo from packaging wants

to meet on Friday.

TED:

Fine.

50 By now they have reached the board room. He

enters without knocking, his secretary still in tow.

SECRETARY:

And Mrs. Kelsey called to ask

if Billy can come to Stephanie's

birthday party on Tuesday.

CUT TO:

50 INT. BOARD ROOM - DAY

The room is filled with executives in three piece suits

and O'Connor who is doing a lot of backing and filling.

TED:

(as he enters)

Yes. Remind me to pick up a

"Crying Chrissie" doll at lunch

on Tuesday.

ON O'CONNOR--Clearly he is very irritated at this.

O'CONNOR

(sardonic)

If it's all right with you, Mother

Kramer, can we get down to work

now?

CUT TO:

51 INT. PHYLLIS BERNARD'S OFFICE - DAY

It is a real mess, legal files and law books scattered

everywhere. In the midst of all this chaos sits PHYLLIS

BERNARD, as we said before, she is about thirty, very

pretty in spite of her glasses.

ON PHYLLIS--She looks up as Ted enters. It is clear

from their attitude that they have known one another for

a long time and are very relaxed together.

PHYLLIS:

Hello, Kramer.

ON TED--He drops into a chair and shoves a stack of

papers across the desk to her.

TED:

Hiya, Phyllis. These are the

Revlon contracts. I thought

you ought to check them out.

PHYLLIS:

Sure.

She takes the papers and starts to rifle through them,

stopping every so often and making a note in the margin.

As she does, we notice that the second and third buttons

of her blouse have come undone and that she is not wearing

a bra.

CLOSER ON TED--as he realizes this.

ON PHYLLIS--She glances up to ask Ted a question about

some point or other, notices the direction of his gaze

and, unselfconsciously buttons up her blouse.

She goes back to her papers as Ted continues to watch her.

ON PHYLLIS--not looking up from her papers.

PHYLLIS:

Yes.

TED:

(baffled)

Yes, what?

PHYLLIS:

(looks up, serious)

Yes, I'll have dinner with you.

CUT TO:

52 INT. TED KRAMER'S BEDROOM - LATE AT NIGHT

ON THE BED--Although the room is dimly lit, we can SEE

quite clearly that Ted and Phyllis are in bed together.

They have finished making love and Ted lies back, half

asleep. Phyllis reaches across to the nightstand, puts

on her glasses and checks her watch.

PHYLLIS:

Kramer, I've got to go. I've got

an eight o'clock closing tomorrow

down on Centre Street.

TED:

(half asleep)

Mmmmnph...I'll get you a cab...

But he makes no move to get up.

Phyllis gets to her feet and in the dim light we can SEE

that, except for her glasses, she is naked.

PHYLLIS:

(as she crosses the

hall on the way to

the bathroom)

That's okay. It's just that I've

got these clients that are--

CUT TO:

53 INT. BATHROOM - NIGHT

There is Billy Kramer, standing by the toilet, buttoning

his pajamas. He looks up at Phyllis.

His P.O.V.:
There stands Phyllis, naked as the day she

was born, a look of stunned amazement on her face.

PHYLLIS:

(softly to herself)

Oh, God.

Too startled to cover herself.

ON BILLY--He looks her up and down, then:

BILLY:

(very serious)

Do you like fried chicken?

ON PHYLLIS--suddenly remembering to cover herself.

PHYLLIS:

(hoping desperately

it is the right answer)

Ah.. .Yes.

SHOT--Phyllis and Billy.

BILLY:

So do I...

And he shuffles off to bed. Phyllis waits, frozen until

he disappears into his room. Then, she turns and flees

back into the bedroom.

CUT TO:

54 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

ON PHYLLIS--as she bursts into the room, closes the door

behind her, leans against it.

PHYLLIS:

(eyes wide)

I just met your son.

ON TED--who has leapt out of bed and is scrambling into

his pants.

TED:

Like that?!

Phyllis nods.

TED:

And?

PHYLLIS:

He wanted to know if I liked

fried chicken.

TED:

Do you?

Phyllis nods rather frantically.

TED:

(grinning)

So what's your problem?

CUT TO:

55 INT. KITCHEN, KRAMER APT. - EVENING

ON TED AND THELMA--stand side by side. He is cutting,

chopping, making some kind of stew. Thelma stands

nearby watching, sipping a glass of white wine.

FROM O.S. we can hear Billy and Kim running around,

playing.

TED:

You ever think about getting

married again?

THELMA:

No, not really...

(she thinks for

a moment, then:
)

I guess it's different if you

don't have children, but...I

dunno, even if Charley and I

don't live together, even if

we're sleeping with other people,

even if Charley was to marry

again...He'd still be my husband.

That stuff about "Till death do

you part?" That's really true.

TED:

(nodding toward a

cookbook that is

propped open nearby)

How many onions does it say to

use?

THELMA:

(without bothering

to look in the book)

Three. And add some basil.

TED:

(as he does)

D'you think you and Charley'll

ever get back together again?

THELMA:

No. I don't think so.

TED:

C'mon, Thel. So Charley had a

little fling. So what? All in

all he was a pretty good husband.

THELMA:

Look, I know this isn't gonna

make any sense, okay? I mean

forget the logic part...But I

keep thinking if Charley really

loved me, he wouldn't have let

me divorce him.

CUT TO:

56 EXT. CENTRAL PARK - DAY

WIDE SHOT--The Saturday Father and his daughter, clearly

with nothing to say to one another, stand eating ices

from a nearby vendor. THE CAMERA PANS AWAY FROM THEM

across to Billy, Ted and Phyllis. She is dressed in a

very nice suit, silk blouse, high heeled shoes and looks

distinctly out of place in Central Park on a Saturday

afternoon.

At the moment, Ted is trying to teach Billy how to bat.

TED:

Now look, you hold it like this...

(he places Billy's hands

on the bat just so)

...and you swing like this...

(taking him through

the motions)

ON PHYLLIS--watching. She can't believe what she's

seeing. Finally, she can't stand it any longer.

PHYLLIS:

(impatient)

No, no, no, Kramer. That's not

how you do it. Look....

She crosses to Billy, gently takes the bat from him and

demonstrates.

PHYLLIS:

...you hold it like this...

(showing him her grip)

Farther down the bat. And you

swing like this...

(to Ted)

Throw me one.

ON TED--as he gives Billy a look that says, we have to

humor her. He throws a ball.

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