Meet Joe Black Page #21

PARRISH:

You know, darling, this is going to

be a wonderful party.

ALLISON:

(gently)

Yes, it is.

Allison wades into the maelstrom now, Parrish watches her

go, swarms of purveyors and caterers following her.

EXT. WINE BAR, LAWNS, COUNTRY ESTATE - AFTERNOON

Ambrose, the head caterer, is making a last minute check

of the bar's stock, Quince ambles up, in the background the

activity has built to a pitch, waiters adjusting their uni-

forms, purveyors' trucks pulling out in a cloud of dust.

QUINCE:

Give me a Seagrams and '7'.

Ambrose looks at him blankly.

QUICNCE (cont'd)

No got? Okay a double V.O., water

back.

AMBROSE:

I'm afraid this is a wine bar, Mr.

Quince.

QUINCE:

Okay, give me a bottle of wine.

AMBROSE:

Red or white?

QUINCE:

Both.

Joe appears, looking bewildered, jostled by caterers setting

up last-minute tables, a drummer from the band rolls his

traps past on a little cart. Joe doesn't seem to know where

he is, when his eyes alight on Quince, he heads for this

oasis. Ambrose sets down two bottles of wine and departs.

QUINCE (cont'd)

(to Joe)

Red or white?

JOE:

No, thank you.

Quince sips the red, now the white, now he pours some of

each into one glass.

QUINCE:

C'mon, have a drink. You look like

you need one bad as me.

JOE:

Do I? I'm a little confused.

QUINCE:

Confused, huh? About what?

JOE:

Love.

QUINCE:

'Love'? Oh, man, I've got troubles

of my own.

JOE:

You love Allison, don't you?

QUINCE:

Oh yes, I do.

JOE:

How did you meet?

QUINCE:

I was a world-class loser and she

was a happy, little rich girl --

and for some reason she took me in.

JOE:

But she loves you?

Quince smiles, nods embarrassedly.

JOE (cont'd)

How do you know?

QUINCE:

Because there's nothing we don't

know about each other and it's okay.

I mean the deeper, darkest secrets

-- they don't matter.

JOE:

'The deepest, darkest secrets --'?

QUINCE:

Yeah, it's like you know every inch

of each other's souls -- and then

you're free.

JOE:

What do you mean 'free'?

QUINCE:

Free to love each other. Com-

pletely. Totally. No fear.

Quince seems uncharacteristically within himself.

QUINCE (cont'd)

All that hoopla up there reminds me

how I will never measure up to a man

like Bill Parrish - or his daughter.

He drains his wine.

QUINCE (cont'd)

Do you like me, Joe?

JOE:

Oh yes, you are one of my favorites.

QUINCE:

What would you say if you knew

it was me who brought down Bill

Parrish?

(a moment)

I told Drew and the Board that Bill

depended on you. Drew led me on,

but I had no business telling him

in the first place. He was setting

up Bill from day one. Drew and

Bontecou are going to chop up the

company and sell it off for parts.

Bontecou was outside, Drew was Mr.

Inside. And I was the fool who made

it all happen. Oh God, what do I do?

Joe regards Quince.

JOE:

Go to Bill Parrish and tell him

everything. He'll forgive you.

Quince drains one more glass of wine.

QUINCE:

You think so? How do you know?

JOE:

Because that's the kind of man Bill

Parrish is.

A moment.

QUINCE:

Well, maybe... I guess you know him

better than anybody.

Another moment.

JOE:

-- Getting to.

The orchestra behind them plays a few riffs, sound checks,

getting close.

QUINCE:

Do you think I should wait to tell

him 'till after the party?

JOE:

No.

Quince nods anxiously, then smiles gratefully. They look on

as the pre-party activities swirl on around them.

EXT. FRONT ENTRANCE, COUNTRY ESTATE - SUNSET (LATER)

The moment just before sunset, the last pre-party minutes,

a procession of guests' cars winding up to the guest house,

being directed into adjacent fields. Susan cuts past a re-

ceiving line that files up the stairs, she skirts the house

and heads straight for the action, the party on the lawns in

the rear, climbs a terrace where she commands a view of the

event on which the curtain is just about to rise.

EXT. LAWN, COUNTRY ESTATE - SUNSET

Guests milling, emerging from the crowd Susan sees, isolated

by a fountain, Joe. He looks up towards her, he knows she

has seen him, they proceed to a rendezvous that has not been

prearranged but which they intuit. Susan slants through the

guests, stopping here and there, excited greetings and cha-

tter float on the wind, "He, Susie!", "What a party", "You

look great", she keeps moving, a shimmering wraith.

Joe is on the right coordinate to meet her, his graceful,

unfailing step carrying him speedily to a destination he is

not certain of, but where he knows he will find Susan.

EXT. GARDEN, COUNTRY ESTATE - SUNSET

The very last rays of the sun setting over the wide expanse

of river, the light catching Susan and Joe as they enter the

garden, the party forming behind them, the river flowing in

front of them.

SUSAN:

I like you in a black tie.

JOE:

I love you in an evening gown.

SUSAN:

It beats a surgical, doesn't it?

He smiles.

SUSAN (cont'd)

Daddy told me you might be leaving?

JOE:

Yes. Your father and I, our time

together has come to an end.

SUSAN:

Where are you going?

Joe attempts to answer, but nothing comes out.

SUSAN (cont'd)

You won't tell me?

JOE:

Well -- I --

SUSAN:

And you can't tell me who you are.

Again the same indescribable gesture from Joe.

SUSAN (cont'd)

I'm in love with a man, I don't know

who he is, where he's going or when.

JOE:

I can tell you the when part. Tonight.

SUSAN:

It gets worse.

JOE:

No worse than it gets for me. I'm

in love with a woman whom I don't

want to leave.

SUSAN:

Then don't.

A moment.

JOE:

We know so little about each

other --

SUSAN:

We know all that we need to know --

JOE:

But there's so much to tell you --

SUSAN:

Don't. That will come later.

JOE:

Will it?

SUSAN:

Lightning struck. We caught it in

a bottle. Don't let it out. I want

to be with you, Joe --

Another moment.

JOE:

What will we do?

SUSAN:

'Love will find out the way'.

JOE:

'Love will find out the way'?

SUSAN:

It's a saying.

JOE:

I believe that, don't you?

SUSAN:

Yes, that's why I said it.

They are on the brink of some decision, Joe is about to make

some declaration when Allison is heard --

ALLISON (O.S.)

There you are!

Allison appears.

ALLISON (cont'd)

What's going on here? Tete-a-tetes

on my big night?

(to Susan)

C'mon honey, you're needed.

(to Joe)

Can it wait?

But before he can answer --

ALLISON (cont'd)

Glad to hear it!

(to Susan)

Let's go.

She takes Susan's arm and marches her off, Joe, in thrall,

watches them go as the MUSIC erupts behind them, as 'up'

dance tune, a lilting, catchy melody envelops them all. The

curtain has risen on William Parrish's 65th birthday party.

INT. PARRISH'S STUDY, COUNTRY ESTATE - NIGHT

Quince is "on the carpet", sweating through a confession,

Parrish moroses but philosophical at his desk.

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