Moonstruck Page #6

From within can be HEARD the faint strains of VICKI CARR

SINGING and one DOG BARKING. Loretta appears, carrying

champagne, approaches the front door, unlocks it, and goes

in.

INT. THE CASTORINI HOUSE - THE FRONT HALL - NIGHT

MUSIC:

VICKI CARR is SINGING "IT MUST BE HIM."

The front hall is typical of big old brownstones. There's a

big old oak coat rack with a built-in mirror and an umbrella

stand. There are several coats hanging from it. The floor is

littered with boots. There's also a side table.

On the table is a large cut-glass bowl filled with a couple

of pounds of hard candy.

Loretta comes in and takes off her coat. A single MAD HOWL

is HEARD, followed by a PANDEMONIUM OF BARKING. FIVE DOGS

charge into the hall to greet Loretta. They are totally

cockeyed, crackpot mutts. Their names are JUDAS, LUCY, LEO

FATBOY, AND JONES.

LORETTA:

Hello, boys and girls. Guess what

happened to me?

The VOICE of the OLD MAN is heard calling out from upstairs.

OLD MAN'S VOICE

How long must I wait? Quanto tempo

devo aspettare?

The Five Dogs turn away from Loretta and charge up the stairs

toward the voice. Loretta walks toward the living room.

INT. THE CASTORINI HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

This is the source of the Vicki Carr song, which is just

ending. COSMO CASTORINI, Loretta's father is just turning

off the old stereo. He is a powerful man, about 65, with a

huge shock of white hair and gold wire glasses. He's wearing

a big old red silk robe over blue pajamas, and royal blue

slippers. The room it filled with lumpy upholstered furniture,

once grand, now threadbare; shawls and doilies cover holes

in failing fabric. There's a fireplace containing a dying

fire. Cosmo's wing chair, with his newspaper on it, is beside

a lit fringed lamp. Cosmo sees Loretta as she comes in.

COSMO:

Hi.

He sits in his chair and puts his feet up on an old

needlepoint ottoman. He starts to read the paper.

LORETTA:

Where's Ma?

COSMO:

Bed.

LORETTA:

You're not sleepy?

COSMO:

I can't sleep anymore. It's too much

like death.

LORETTA:

Pop, I got news.

Cosmo puts down the paper and takes his feet off the ottoman.

COSMO:

Alright. Let's go in the kitchen.

Cosmo gets up and heads for the kitchen. He hums and continues

as Loretta opens champagne.

INT. THE CASTORINI HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

Loretta and Cosmo sit at the kitchen table. It's a big tin

table with a black-and-white design. Loretta has put two old-

fashioned champagne glasses on the table, the split of

champagne, a bag of sugar cubes, and a bottle of bitters.

She pours the champagne, drops a little lump of sugar into

each glass, and adds a dash of bitters. She hands one of the

drinks to Cosmo.

LORETTA:

Here.

(She Toasts)

Ti amo.

(Translated:
I love

you.)

COSMO:

Ti amo.

LORETTA:

You look tired.

COSMO:

What's your news?

LORETTA:

I'm getting married.

COSMO:

Again?

LORETTA:

Yeah.

COSMO:

You did this once it didn't work

out.

LORETTA:

The guy died.

COSMO:

What killed him?

LORETTA:

He got hit by a bus.

COSMO:

No! Bad luck! Your Ma and I been

married fifty-two years an nobody

died. You were married, what, two

years, and somebody is dead. Don't

get married again, Loretta. It don't

work out for you. Who's the man?

LORETTA:

Johnny Cammareri.

COSMO:

Him? He's a big baby. Why isn't he

here with you telling me?

LORETTA:

He's flying to Sicily. His mother's

dying.

COSMO:

More Bad Luck! I don't like his face,

Loretta. I don't like his lips. When

he smiles I can't see his teeth.

When will you do it?

LORETTA:

In a month.

COSMO:

I won't come.

LORETTA:

You've got to come. You've got to

give me away.

COSMO:

I didn't give you away the first

time.

LORETTA:

And maybe that's why I had the Bad

Luck. Maybe if you gave me away, and

I got married in a church, in a

wedding dress, instead of at the

City Hall with strangers standing

outside the door, maybe then I

wouldn't had the Bad Luck I had.

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes