One Way Passage

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MAIN TITLES:

over an ocean liner anchored in a harbor.

DISSOLVE TO:

IMAGES:

of the cast with their names and roles SUPERIMPOSED, over which we hear the

film's love theme.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

EXT. HONG KONG - DAY

A couple of shots from stock footage of the city.

SUPERIMPOSED text reads: HONGKONG

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SALOON - DAY

Swinging doors open as the CAMERA TRACKS THROUGH them and into the crowded

barroom. It's lunchtime on November, 21, 1932, and the place is full of

Westerners, mostly civilians but also some scattered sailors. We hear a trio

singing "If I Had My Way," a pop ballad from 1913. We have missed the first

line of the chorus ("If I had my way, dear, forever there'd be") but it hardly

matters:

TRIO:

(singing lustily)

A garden of roses for you and for me ...

We PAN OVER to a piano keyboard where a burning cigarette is balanced upright

on the next-to-last key. The pianist, accompanying the singers, snatches the

butt and takes a drag.

TRIO:

A thousand and one things, dear, I would do ...

We PAN OVER to the trio standing in a corner by the swinging doors -- three

ugly, heavyset Westerners, two men and a woman. Someone tosses them a coin

from off screen and the guy in the center fails to catch it. He has to bend

over to pick it up off the floor.

TRIO:

Just for you, just for you, just for you.

Another coin is thrown. This time, the guy on the left fails to catch it. The

coin falls toward the floor with a loud metallic clank. The singers look down

at the floor. We PAN DOWN just long enough to reveal a spittoon near the

singers' feet, then PAN BACK UP to the singers who reluctantly decide not to

retrieve that particular coin. Never once during all this do they miss a note.

TRIO:

If I had my way, you would never grow old,

And sunshine I'd bring every day ...

On the word "day," a female patron approaches the heavy woman and whispers a

question in her ear. Conveniently, there is a pause in the song, just long

enough for the singer to reply:

HEAVY WOMAN:

(brusquely)

First door to your left, dearie.

The female patron departs. We TRACK DOWN the crowded bar and see: two sailors

and a bartender toasting one another with huge glasses of beer; a bartender

pouring drinks for other sailors and their "dates"; various civilian men and

women wearing the latest styles; uniformed chauffeurs; ship's officers and

crew of various nationalities; etc. At one point, we briefly glimpse someone

carrying away the spittoon to retrieve the coin.

TRIO:

You would reign all alone

Like a queen on a throne,

If I had my way.

The song ends. Patrons applaud. We PAUSE at a middle-aged American bartender

mixing a complicated drink. He grins and speaks to an unseen patron who sits

at the bar, just off screen.

BARTENDER #1

I haven't made one of these since

the Fourth of July.

In the background, we hear the trio begin a new song, another standard, this

one from 1918:
"Till We Meet Again." The bartender takes a long whiff of the

drink's aroma and adds some more ingredients.

BARTENDER #1

I was makin' one when the quake hit

'Frisco.

The bartender stirs the drink expertly and glances around.

BARTENDER #1

Believe me, friend, I wouldn't go to

all this trouble for any of these

foreigners.

With great pride, he adds a few finishing touches, pours the contents into a

glass and tops it off with an olive. The unseen patron's hand reaches in to

pick up the glass but the bartender raises a finger at him.

BARTENDER #1

Uh uh. Gotta wait a minute to let

the oil sink in.

The patron withdraws his hand. Tossing a lemon slice behind his back and

catching it in midair, the bartender twists it with a flourish over the glass.

He inspects the drink closely, glances at the patron, then gives the lemon

slice another grand twist before proudly sliding the glass away.

Simultaneously, we hear the trio conclude their song to much applause.

BARTENDER #1

There you are, partner. You can tell

your grandchildren about that one.

Finally, we catch our first sight of the patron, DAN HARDESTY, a handsome

thirtyish American man, as he puts the glass to his lips. But before he can

drink he's bumped into from behind by a woman with her back to him. Half the

drink spills out and ends up on the floor. Dan turns angrily to the woman who

wears a big floppy hat.

DAN:

Say, what in the name of--?!

The woman, a dark-haired American beauty named JOAN AMES, also turns and the

two come face to face. She, too, has spilled some of her drink and is wide-

eyed with anger. But as soon as their eyes meet, their attitudes change.

Both are somehow instantly smitten.

And both realize they are holding the same obscure cocktail.

In the background, we hear the pianist play the film's bittersweet love theme.

After a pause, Joan finds her voice first.

JOAN:

Why, I'm so sorry.

DAN:

(a slight grin)

I'm so glad.

JOAN:

(off his glass)

Such a beautiful drink, too.

DAN:

Yes. Paradise cocktail.

(glances at his)

Seem to be a few drops left.

JOAN:

(steadily)

Always the most precious, the last

few drops. That's luck.

DAN:

(surprised)

Yes.

(beat)

Uh, my name is Dan.

JOAN:

Mine's Joan.

DAN:

Hello, Joan.

JOAN:

Hello, Dan.

They shake hands like old friends.

DAN:

May we, er, drink to our meeting?

JOAN:

We should.

(raises her glass)

Here's... Here's "hail and farewell."

DAN:

Oh, that seems a bit ruthless.

Let's say, uh--

Abruptly, two German voices drift in from the crowd -- apparently a couple of

sailors saying "till we meet again" to each other -- "Auf wiedersehen!" "Auf

wiedersehen!" -- Dan glances in their direction, then turns back to Joan and

raises his glass, inspired.

DAN:

Auf wiedersehen.

Joan looks at Dan sadly for a beat and then agrees:

JOAN:

Auf wiedersehen.

They swallow their drinks, never taking their eyes off one another. Dan holds

his empty glass by the stem and slowly turns it upside-down. Joan watches,

puzzled, as Dan smashes the top of the glass against the side of the bar and

drops the stem on the countertop where it rolls back and forth for a moment.

He grins at Joan who promptly responds in kind, smashing her glass and placing

her stem on top of his, much to his surprise and delight. We get a CLOSE VIEW

of the crossed stems. Dan gallantly tips his hat to Joan.

DAN:

And so.

Dan appears ready to leave but Joan puts an arm on him.

JOAN:

Please. Shall I introduce you to my

friends?

Joan gestures to some people crowded behind her at the bar. Dan glances at

them and thinks it over but decides against it.

DAN:

I think not. Luck has allowed us a

few drops of a Paradise cocktail--

JOAN:

And that would destroy the charm.

You're right. Let's trust luck will

come again.

Joan puts her hand in Dan's. They stare into each other's eyes for a long

moment. A dark look crosses her face. Her eyes waver and, with a slight grin,

she abruptly turns her back on him, as if he were suddenly a total stranger.

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