Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Page #39

Cedar is on his feet.

CEDAR:

(addressing the

court)

—and in the interests of my client,

the only other living relative of

the late Martin W. Semple, we cannot

permit a fortune so huge to be

dissipated by a person whose

incompetency and abnormality we

shall prove beyond any reasonable

doubt.

269. PANNING SHOT OF SPECTATORS

CEDAR'S VOICE

I have before me a series of

articles written by a newspaper

woman who was an eye-witness to

his conduct ever since he came to

New York.

CAMERA STOPS on Babe and Mac. Cedar's voice goes on:

CEDAR:

She tells how, in the midst of a

normal conversation, he would

suddenly begin playing his tuba.

She tells of his attacks upon

several of our eminent writers -

for no apparent reason. In fact,

there are many instances not

recorded in these articles in which

Mr. Deeds satisfied an unnatural

desire to smash people up without

provocation.

270. MED. SHOT - FRONT OF COURTROOM

CEDAR:

I, myself, unable to keep pace

with his mental quirks, and

constantly fearful of assault,

turned down an opportunity to

represent him as his attorney.

This newspaper woman, whom we have

subpoenaed to testify, tells how

he tied up traffic for an hour

feeding doughnuts to a poor horse.

And by his own statement, waiting

for that horse to ask for a cup of

coffee.

There is laughter in the courtroom - which quickly subsides

when the Judge pounds his gavel.

CEDAR:

We have photographs to substantiate

this little episode, and other

photographs showing Mr. Deeds

jumping upon a fire engine. This

scarcely sounds like the action of

a man in whom the disposition of

twenty million dollars may safely

be entrusted. This writer of these

articles - a woman whose

intelligence and integrity in the

newspaper world is unquestioned -

held him in such contempt that she

quite aptly named him "The

Cinderella Man."

CLOSEUP - LONGFELLOW

CEDAR'S VOICE

We have witnesses here from Mandrake

Falls, his own home town, who will

tell of his conduct throughout his

lifetime, proving that his

derangement is neither recent nor

a temporary one.

Longfellow's interest is only slightly aroused. He lifts

his eyes in a casual glance around him.

MED. CLOSE SHOT

Featuring Cedar.

CEDAR:

We have others who will tell of

his unusual behavior when he invited

the great leaders of the musical

world to his home, and then

proceeded to forcibly eject them.

Only recently when he was in the

County Hospital for observation,

he not only refused to be examined

by these gentlemen, the state

psychiatrists, but he actually

made a violent attack upon them.

CLOSE SHOT - THE JUDGE

As Cedar continues talking, CAMERA PULLS BACK to WIDER

SHOT.

CEDAR:

In these times, with the country

incapacitated by economic ailments,

and endangered with an undercurrent

of social unrest, the promulgation

of such a weird, fantastic and

impractical plan as contemplated

by the defendant, is capable of

fomenting a disturbance from which

the country may not soon recover.

It is our duty to stop it! Our

government is fully aware of its

difficulties and can pull itself

out of its economic rut without

the assistance of Mr. Deeds, or

any other crackpot.

MED. PANNING SHOT

Of farmers, the Swede and others.

CEDAR'S VOICE

His attempted action must therefore

be attributed to a diseased mind

afflicted with hallucinations of

grandeur, and obsessed with an

insane desire to become a public

benefactor.

275. CLOSE SHOT AT FRONT OF COURTROOM

Featuring Cedar.

CEDAR:

(suddenly)

Your Honor, at this time, we would

like to call our first witness:

Miss Louise - Babe - Bennett.

276. FULL SHOT

There is a mild stir, and all wait

expectantly for Babe to appear.

CLERK:

Miss Bennett, please.

Babe, eyes on Longfellow, slowly walks to the stand.

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