Lost Horizon Page #4

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LOVETT:

(proudly)

Not at all.

He lifts the lid and Barnard peeks inside.

INSERT:
OF BOX

Wrapped carefully in absorbent cotton is something that

resembles a dry chicken bone.

BACK TO SCENE:

Barnard reaches for the box, but Lovett pulls it away from

him.

BARNARD:

Sorry.

LOVETT:

This is the only thing I was able

to save when those heathens

surrounded me.

BARNARD:

(he is allowed to

take it out and

examine it -

unimpressed)

Uh-huh.

LOVETT:

You see, from this vertebrae I

shall be able to reconstruct the

entire skeleton.

BARNARD:

Wait a minute, you expect to be

knighted for finding that soupbone?

LOVETT:

It was the vertebrae of a

Megatherium - found in Asia.

BARNARD:

Yeah, I remember. You said that

before.

LOVETT:

Sir Henry Derwent was knighted,

and he never got beyond the mesozoic

era.

Barnard stares at Lovett unbelievingly.

BARNARD:

Ah, poor fellow.

Lovett glares at him resentfully, and snaps the lid shut

on his box.

LOVETT:

Yes, it just shows—

(taking offense)

I don't know why I'm talking to

you. I don't know you. Who are

you?

BARNARD:

(turns away)

Okay, brother.

LOVETT:

Don't call me brother.

BARNARD:

Okay, sister.

(chuckles to himself)

No offense. No offense!

36. CLOSE SHOT - GLORIA AND BARNARD

Gloria sits slumped in her seat, looking glumly out. Barnard

glances at her curiously. Finally he makes a friendly

overture.

BARNARD:

Cigarette?

Gloria turns her head, surveys Barnard coldly, and without

responding, turns back.

BARNARD:

I say, will you have a cigarette?

GLORIA:

No.

BARNARD:

(unabashed)

Say, you're an American, aren't

you?

GLORIA:

(irascibly)

Say, listen - will you go and annoy

the rest of your playmates? Let me

alone!

He shrugs his shoulders and slides back into his seat.

37. FULL SHOT

All is silent for a moment. Conway is writing on a small

pad - which he rests on an uplifted knee. George is

rummaging through a closet - rear of the cabin.

38. MED. SHOT - GEORGE AND CONWAY

Conway still writes, undisturbed. George reaches into the

closet and emerges with a bottle of whiskey. His face lights

up.

GEORGE:

(holds up bottle)

Hello! Look what I found!

He crosses to Conway.

GEORGE:

Just what I needed too.

CONWAY:

(looks up - smiling)

You?

GEORGE:

Just this once, Bob. I feel like

celebrating. Just think of it, Bob -

a cruiser sent to Shanghai just to

take you back to England. You know

what it means.

(hands him cup)

Here you are. Don't bother about

those cables now. I want you to

drink with me.

(holds his cup up)

Gentlemen, I give you Robert Conway -

England's new Foreign Secretary.

Conway watches him, amused. George gulps down his drink.

CONWAY:

(after a slight

hesitation - downing

his drink)

Hurray!

GEORGE:

How I'm going to bask in reflected

glory!

(dreamily)

People are going to point to me

and say, "There goes George Conway -

brother of the Foreign Secretary."

CONWAY:

Don't talk nonsense. Give me the

bottle.

Conway takes the bottle from him and pours himself a second

drink.

GEORGE:

That's why they're sending for

you, Bob. With all these foreign

entanglements, it was bound to

happen. They need you.

Conway, with a poured drink in hand, laughs.

GEORGE:

All right, you can laugh if you

want to. But who else can they

get? Who else is there in all of

England half the fighter, half the

diplomat, who has half your

knowledge of the foreign situation?

They can't stop you now, Bob.

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