Magnolia Page #2

NARRATOR:

The tale told at a 1961 awards dinner

for the American Association Of Forensic

Science by Dr. Donald Harper, president

of the association, began with a simple

suicide attempt --

CUT TO:

EXT. ROOFTOP - MORNING - FLASHBACK (1958).

A seventeen year old kid SYDNEY BARRINGER steps up on to the

roof of a nine story building and looks down.

NARRATOR:

Seventeen year old Sydney Barringer.

In the city of Los Angeles on March 23, 1958.

CAMERA DOLLIES towards Sydney landing in a CLOSE UP of his feet

on the ledge, they wobble a bit -- he jumps, disappears from FRAME.

BEAT. The following happens very quickly:

ANGLE, looking up towards the sky...Sydney falls past CAMERA....

ANGLE, looking down towards the street...Sydney continues to fall...

ANGLE, a random window on the sixth floor of the building SMASHES....

ANGLE, Sydney's stomach...a BULLET rips into it as he falls...blood

splatters and his body flinches....

ANGLE, looking up towards the sky...Sydney's body and some shattered

glass FALL directly at the CAMERA...which pulls back a little to reveal:

a SAFETY NET in the foreground....Sydney's body falls LIMP into the

net...FREEZE FRAME.

NARRATOR:

The coroner ruled that the unsuccessful

suicide had suddenly become a succesful

homicide. To explain:

CUT TO:

EXT. ROOFTOP - FLASHBACK.

Replay of shot. Sydney steps up on the rooftop. CAMERA pushes

in towards him quickly, this time moving into his COAT POCKET --

NARRATOR:

The suicide was confirmed by a note,

left in the breast pocket

of Sydney Barringer --

DISSOLVE INTO:

INT. COAT POCKET - THAT MOMENT

CAMERA catches glimpses of the note, " I'm sorry..."

"...and in this time..." "...so I will go " "...and be with God..."

NARRATOR:

At the same time young Sydney stood

on the ledge of this nine story building,

an argument swelled three stories below --

QUICK DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BUILDING/HALLWAY - THAT MOMENT

CAMERA pushes in towards the door of ROOM 638. We hear same screaming

and yelling coming fram behind the door;

NARRATOR:

The neighbors heard, as they usually

did, the arguing of the tenants --

QUICK DISSOLVE TO:

INT. APARTMENT #638 - THAT MOMENT

An ELDERLY COUPLE (early 60s) are savagely fighting and

throwing things. The OLDER MAN is backing away from the OLDER WOMAN

who is coming at him with a SHOTGUN.

NARRATOR:

-- and it was not uncommon for them

to threaten each other with a shotgun

or one of the many handguns kept in the

house --

OLDER MAN:

Put it down, put that f***in' thing

down Fay --

OLDER WOMAN:

-- I'II f***ing tell YOU. I'll shoot you

in the face and end this argument and

we see who's right --

NARRATOR:

And when the shotgun accidentaly went off,

Sydney just happend to pass --

The OLDER WOMAN stumbles a bit on some furniture and the SHOTGUN

goes off -- FIRES past the OLDER MAN's head -- and SMASHES the

window behind him -- SYDNEY falls past and gets shot in the stomach,

then falls out of FRAME -- (They're oblivious to this)

OLDER MAN:

You CRAZY F***IN' B*TCH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

OLDER WOMAN:

SHUT THE F*** UP.

FREEZE FRAME on the two of them yelling and screaming:

NARRATOR:

Added to this, the two tenants turned

out to be:
Fay and Arthur Barringer.

Sydney's mother and Sydney's father.

CUT TO:

INT. APARTMENT - DAY - LATER

CAMERA moves through the scene as POLICEMAN and DETECTIVES

question the OLDER COUPLE. Neighbors and lookie-loos around.

NARRATOR:

When confronted with the charge, which took

some figuring out for the officers on

the scene of the crime, Fay Barringer

swore that she did not know that the gun

was loaded.

FAY BARRINGER:

I didn't know -- I didn't know --

ARTHUR BARRINGER

She always threatens me with the gun,

but I don't keep it loaded --

DETECTIVE:

-- and you didn't load the gun?

ARTHUR BARRINGER

Why would I load the gun?

CUT TO:

INT. APARTMENT/HALLWAY - THAT MOMENT

CAMERA moves through as OFFICERS are talking to and getting

statements from VARIOUS NEIGHBORS...CAMERA closes in on

an EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY, speaking with a DETECTIVE.

NARRATOR:

A young boy who lived in the building,

sometimes a vistor and friend to Sydney

Barringer said that he had seen,

six days prior the loading of the shotgun --

The DETECTIVE turns his head and calls to another --

DETECTIVE:

C'mere a minute --

CUT TO:

INT. APARTMENT - DAY - FLASHBACK.

CAMERA moves into a bedroom area where we see a FIGURE from

the back sitting on the bed --

NARRATOR:

It seems that the arguing and the

fighting and all of the violence was far

too much for Sydney Barringer and knowing

his mother and father's tendency to fight,

he decided to do something --

CAMERA reveals that it is Sydney Barringer who is loading

the shotgun. The YOUNG BOY is sitting nearby, watching Sydney

mumble to himself as he loads shells into the shotgun.

CUT TO:

INT. APARTMENT/HALLWAY - PRESENT

CAMERA moves in on the YOUNG BOY, who looks INTO CAMERA.

YOUNG BOY:

He said he wanted them to kill

each other, that all they wanted to

do was kill each other and he would

help them if that's what they wanted to do --

CUT TO:

EXT. BUILDING/ROOFTOP - DAY - FLASHBACK

This is a WIDE ANGLE REPLAY of the whole event. We see the whole

bui1ding...Sydney starts to jump and the film suddenly slows down...

A diagram is made to reflect the narration...this is done like NFL

coverage where the x's and o's and arrows and lines are drawn to

indicate placement and moves, etc.)

An x appears on the top of the building over Sydney.

NARRATOR:

Sydney Barringer jumps from the ninth floor rooftop --

His parents argue three stories below --

An o is marked to indicate their position. Image goes into MOTION

with Sydney jumping...an ARROW is drawn that displays the PATH of

his fall --

NARRATOR:

Her accidental shotgun blast hits Sydney

in the stomach as he passes the arguing

sixth floor window --

Freeze Frame shows Sydney, hanging mid-air -- the glass shattering and

starting to fall to the ground -- an X marks the spot where he is hit.

NARRATOR:

He is killed instantly but continues

to fall -- only to find, three stories

below -- a safety net installed

three days prior for a set of window washers

that would have broken his fall and saved

his life if not for the hole in his stomach.

A squiggly line with an arrow is drawn from Sydney to the net to

indicate the path -- UNFREEZE frame and watch Sydney fall into the net

CUT TO:

INT. APARTMENT - DAY

CAMERA moves in on the PARENTS then over to some DETECTIVES and OFFICERS

who are making sense of this, they nod to each other as if to say,

"well we know what we have to do..."

NARRATOR:

So Fay Barringer was charged with the

murder of her son and Sydney Barringer

noted as an accomplice in his own death...

CAMERA moves towards the little EIGHT YEAR OLD BOY as he watches

the older couple CRY and SCREAM as detectives begin to cuff them --

NARRATOR:

...and it is in the humble opinion of this

narrator that this is not just "Something

That Happened." This cannot be "One of those

things..." This, please, cannot be that.

And for what I would like to say, I can't.

This Was Not Just A Matter Of Chance.

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