Matinee Page #5

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And you say...

"Here I am!

What have you got for me?"

Hey, Larry.

Where do you want me

to put this thing?

Put it next to the ax

on the floor up there, sweets.

What ax?

Isn't that --

Ruth corday.

She's somethin', huh?

She's got that...

Bearing.

All the real stars

have that,

whether they're movin'

big equipment...

[Clicking]

Or whatever.

They got it.

[Sigh]

Yeah.

Hey, don't!

Don't touch that part.

I'll get that later.

Just leave it.

Is all this

stuff yours?

Yeah!

"Atomo vision,"

"rumble rama."

It takes a lot more

to scare people these days.

Too much competition.

Give me them pliers,

will ya, kid?

Now they got bombs that'll

kill a half a million people.

Nobody's had a

good night's sleep in years.

So, you gotta have

a gimmick, you know?

Somethin' a little extra.

Hey, that thing's live!

I'm sorry!

I'd better go.

Um, I'll see you Saturday.

Yeah, God willing.

[Electrical current

crackling]

[Ringing]

Hello?

Sherry, it's Stan.

Hello, Stan.

Um, listen, uh...

I'm not gonna be able

to go with you on Saturday.

Oh, no?

How come?

Well, uh,

coach Burnett called,

and they want guys to put

sandbags up in front of

the all-purpose room...

In case there's

a missile attack.

Oh, Stan,

the all-purpose room?

Yeah, 'cause it

faces South.

They think it's gonna take

all day, unfortunately.

I'm sorry.

[sigh]

I understand.

That's important.

So, we'll just

do it next weekend.

Uh, yeah.

I'll see you at school.

Bye, Stan.

Johnny angel

johnny angel

hey, Sherry.

Dwight, you little brat.

Go back

and knock first.

Uh-uh.

You weren't supposed to write

to that guy in jail!

Gimme those!

Boy, these are dirty.

His poems don't rhyme.

They're not supposed to rhyme.

I'm gonna show mom.

You are not!

What do you want?

You to take me to the

horror movie Saturday.

It's got a guy

that turns into an ant.

Some people

throw up at it.

How wonderful!

Okay.

Okay, okay.

Okay, okay.

Neat!

This one's real hot!

Better hold onto it.

[Sighing]

["The great pretender"

performed by the platters]

oh yes [Man]

We should've elected Nixon.

He put those bombs

in Russia.

I'm the great pretender

this whole thing

would be over.

pretending

that I'm doing well

blow each other up.

my need is such

they don't even

have religion.

I pretend too much

how ya doin'?

I'm lonely

but no one can tell

we're doin' fine, my friend.

Except for this big truck load

of sociopathology...

That's just about to be dumped

out here on duval street.

We're just dandy.

Socio what?

This so-called monster movie

that's coming on Saturday.

I never heard

about that.

Maybe it's time you took

a good look at what's going on

in your own town, mister.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Smell the wreckage

of young minds.

Gag on it.

What's your name, friend?

Harvey.

Do you know they let

children see these things?

What's the message

they put out?

That atomic power

is nothing but trouble?

And it's all right for

mutations to rip the clothes

off of young women?

That's what they teach

the youngsters, harv.

That's a long way from

George Washington and

the cherry tree, isn't it?

Yeah.

This is our

organization, harv:

Citizens for

decent entertainment.

Gee, can I keep this?

Sure. Keep it

and read it, harv.

Yeah, I will.

Harv, I don't think you'll mind

if I take this back from you.

You must get caught

pretty often, harv.

You ever do any time?

Yeah, opa-locka

boys' reformatory.

I just got out.

I did seven months.

Not long enough.

You didn't learn very much.

It was supposed

to be a year,

but, you see, I write poems,

and this guy in New York

got me out early.

Poems?

Yeah, you wanna

hear one?

I don't think so, harv.

You guys really

from that, uh --

it's a funny world, harv.

Almost nobody's

what they seem to be.

And the ones that are,

you really have

to watch out for.

Can we give you

some advice?

Get yourself

a square job, harv.

You're not very good

at this.

Hold 'im.

And at one hour, twenty-eight

minutes, "the end" comes up,

count five,

house lights up.

Those doors open.

That's the timetable.

Those are the facts.

That's not

the whole story.

I know some of you have

never been in the motion

picture business before,

and some of you have been

at it a long time.

But I want all of you

to look at the faces out here...

During this picture.

There's gonna be room in their

heads for only one thought:

Don't let it get me.

They know we can't hurt 'em,

but they're still gonna be

scared half to death.

And all of you,

when you thread the projector,

when you tear the tickets,

when you sell

the jujubes,

you're all a part of it.

And just when it gets the worst,

when they're sitting there...

And their hearts are going

like trapped animals

out here in the dark,

we save them.

And they say,

"hey, it's all right!

Thank God! Hey,

can I see that again?"

P.S., no, they can't.

We clear between shows.

That was wonderful, Larry.

I'm all a-tremble.

Thanks.

Where are the guys

applying for the job?

Only one showed up.

I sent him to try

the suit on.

Only one?

How many people

are gonna want to dress up

in a rubber "mant" suit?

Hey, not bad.

Lawrence woolsey.

Harvey starkweather.

Take your head off.

Harvey starkweather.

What kind of job exactly --

it's just

a one-day thing.

Some of it's

running electrical stuff,

switches and things

back here behind the screen.

But the other part,

you have to scare people!

Really shake 'em up.

Think you could do that?

Yeah, I could do that

real well.

Good.

Because, when you

put the suit on,

when you hit these switches,

those people --

this is where

I came in.

Those people out there

in the dark --

[mother]

Fred! Oh, my God!

[Dad]

Shh. You'll wake

the kids up.

Are you kidding?

I'll wake them up right now.

No, honey.

I would have called you

to say it was over,

but they want

to keep a lid on it.

Dad?

[Explosion]

[Thunder rumbling]

[Sighing]

[Rattling noise]

[Woman]

See the nurse

before the show.

[Radio]

Major Rudolph Anderson, a navy

pilot from South Carolina,

was shot down by a russian

missile over Cuba earlier today

and is presumed dead.

Anderson, the first-known

casualty of the showdown,

was one of the pilots

whose reconnaissance...

First revealed the presence

of soviet missiles in Cuba.

I hope this thing closes

faster than it opens.

Thirty seconds.

All right,

let's add it up.

Office to stairwell,

fifty-eight seconds.

Stairwell to shelter,

eleven seconds.

Zero hour checklist,

fifteen seconds.

Check air-intake level,

eight seconds.

Automatic door,

twenty-eight seconds.

Sixteen and five is

twenty-one, twenty-two --

Stan, how's it going?

Hey, any of you guys

seen gene?

So!

Sherry!

Neat!

So this is how you're spending

your day, not sandbaggin'

the all-purpose room.

Down here at

the monster show?

No!

See, I --

that's very immature,

Stan.

Who's that?

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