Music Box Page #3

lined them up on the riverbank.

That's why I came to America.

Lt made me ashamed

of being Hungarian.

You are American.

We are American.

You're lucky...

...to be young in America.

Not in Europe...

...during the war.

Let's start from the beginning.

- Let's start from the beginning.

- Okay.

- " Had." Had a dog. Had a dog.

- What?

- " Had, " not " has."

- Maybe we should forget this, go home.

Six million dead! Six million dead!

Six million dead!

- I'm not scared, Grandpa.

- Me either.

Nazi, go home! Nazi, go home!

You see them?

They've already decided I'm guilty.

See, Mike, it's white folks like you that

ruin a nice integrated neighbourhood.

Okay, gypsy, you piss on the poor man.

Everybody piss on the poor man.

Gypsy piss too.

I've gotta sneak into my own house

like a robber.

Mikey, no, no, no.

I'm not afraid, Grandpa.

Go home! Nazi, go home!

Nazi, go home!

Okay.

I'll get the stuff you want.

- Is this your wedding picture?

- Yeah, it is.

Ann looks just like her mother.

Lt must have been hard,

a widower with two kids.

Ln the beginning, yeah.

But then Annie took care of everything.

I like you better

with a moustache, I think.

You need the bank papers too?

Yes, everything.

Come away from there.

- Are you okay?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

Get out of here. Leave us alone!

- Nazi, go home! Nazi, go home!

- Leave us alone!

- Nazi, go home! Nazi, go home!

- Go, go, go. Come on. Come on.

You must be elated this morning.

Old man in a Bears cap,

his arm around his grandson...

...being threatened by

a screaming mob. A jury will love it.

I think he should be shot

for taking Mikey over there.

What jury? I won't have a jury.

Sure you will.

The world will be your jury.

Even paragons of virtue like

Judge Silver are human beings.

- Good morning, Mr. Talbot.

- Morning, Jimmy.

I did some checking

on your prosecutor.

I didn't ask you to do that.

He was a federal prosecutor

in Philadelphia, good one.

Never lost a case.

Nine months ago, he shows up

at Justice in Washington...

...volunteers for

Special Investigations.

I'll make phone calls to Philadelphia,

find out what happened there.

I can handle my own case, Harry,

I don't need any help.

From what I hear with this case, you're

gonna need all the help you can get.

What's that supposed to mean?

- Hear from who?

- Hear from "whom."

I thought you'd mastered

the English language.

- Hear from whom?

- Better.

- Hey, Georgine!

- Don't you have a boy to get home to?

Georgine, I found it.

Same thing happened before.

A man by the name of Walus,

charged with war crimes in Lithuania.

They prepare this elaborate case,

they bring him to trial...

...they brought over all these

witnesses. He was the wrong man.

The wrong man.

The witnesses were mistaken.

They simply had the wrong man.

The judge found him innocent.

Yeah, so tell me about my dad.

Well, he goes to church,

to the cemetery.

He buys strudel at the bakery,

he plays checkers in the park.

He even makes a few bets on the Cubs

and the Bears games.

Oh, I'm gonna have to tell Karchy.

He's always after Karchy for betting.

- Do you know an Irma Kiss?

- Who?

Mrs. Irma Kiss, a widow.

Oh, Kiss. Yes, Irma Kiss.

She makes doughnuts at the church.

- That ain't all she makes.

- What?

Off and on for 10 years now.

Three, four times a month.

I don't believe it.

No.

Now, he doesn't spend

a lot of money...

...but he did spend much more

for a while a couple of years ago...

...but then I guess he learned

to stick to $10 bets.

- Who's Tibor Zoldan?

- I don't know.

Mike wrote him a $2000 check

three years ago.

It's the biggest check

he's ever written.

This group he belongs to,

the Attila Circle...

...it's just a bunch of little old guys

who drag out the picket signs...

...whenever some dimwit

Communist diplomat...

...makes the mistake

of coming over here.

Honestly, Ann, I don't think there's

no devil here to advocate.

What?

Irma Kiss.

Papa, who's Tibor Zoldan?

A friend from the refugee camp.

He went back to the old country,

then he came here.

I gave him some money

to get started...

...and he got himself killed

in a car accident...

...and then I didn't

get my money back.

Are you ready?

I've spent my whole life

trying to forget what I saw.

- Now I have to remember.

- We have to do this, Papa.

All right, let's begin with Mrs. Kiss.

Irma Kiss?

Jesus Christ.

Damn lawyers.

They find out everything.

Papa, why didn't you

ever marry her?

I couldn't marry anyone

after your mama.

You didn't need another mama.

How about you?

You meet anybody

since you got divorced?

Well, yeah.

I mean, I've met a few men.

What about Dean?

Yeah. What about Dean?

He's a nice man.

- And he still loves you, Annie.

- Okay.

Tell me how you joined

the gendarmes.

Papa was a peasant.

We were very poor.

I didn't go to school. No money.

I liked the gendarme.

They paid good,

had a nice uniform...

...with a feather on the hat.

And the music.

- Hello.

- Well, hello.

So you wanna take a swing at me this

time? Ls that why you invited me here?

Look, I've always had a working

relationship with the other side.

We just got off on the wrong foot.

The night before court, you wanna

work on the working relationship.

Terrific.

What do you really want?

My father was manager

of a restaurant.

- Yeah?

- But he didn't have music like this.

And the room wasn't near

as pretty as this.

Yeah. I...

I wasn't too keen on the smell

of grilled onions...

...so after I got my degree,

I became a...

I worked for the county

as an assistant to the DA.

And after a while...

...Uncle Sam came after me.

Here I am, and here we are.

Cheers.

So how does a Laszlo

become a Talbot?

It's easy to fall in love when you've

got something in common.

Oh, yeah? Like what?

Like he didn't wanna be

a Talbot anymore...

...and I didn't want to stay a Laszlo.

Sounds like heaven.

So, what happened?

With all these lofty ambitions?

Lt was a big move from

Damon Avenue to Lake Forest.

I guess I never quite got there.

What is this stuff? It's unusual, huh?

It's good, but it's different.

It's called Bull's Blood.

Lt kind of sneaks up on you.

Clobbers you.

I bet.

- It's a Hungarian trait.

- Really?

I heard about your wife. I'm sorry.

You must've felt very bad.

Yes. Lt was...

...a terrible accident.

The police report said

you were drunk.

Lt must not have been very easy

to cover up.

You know, I liked you, Mrs. Talbot.

Now I think I must have

misjudged you.

You are your father's daughter.

Well, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to upset you.

Yes, you did.

You find the soft spot,

then you like to turn the knife.

So didn't joining legal aid

ease the guilt, Jack?

What if going after war criminals

doesn't do it either?

What are you gonna do then?

You're gonna find Jesus.

You're gonna get yourself born-again?

Do you honestly think you need

a self-serving reason...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes