One Way Passage Page #3

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BURKE:

(increasingly irritated)

No.

DAN:

Didn't you ever have a boyhood? Can't

you swim?

BURKE:

No.

DAN:

Ha!

BURKE:

What's so funny?

DAN:

I was wondering what you'd do if you

were a cop in Venice.

BURKE:

Is that supposed to be a funny crack?

DAN:

Well, it has its humorous side.

Without Burke seeing, Dan rapidly unlocks the railing mechanism, pushes the

railing hard to make it swing free, then jumps backward off the deck, dragging

Burke with him as he falls. The two disappear over the side.

CUT WIDE as Dan and Burke fall backward into the water below, still cuffed

together. They hit the surface with a splash and disappear from view again.

IN THE WATER:

Dan and Burke bob to the surface. Dan forces Burke's body under the water and

digs around in Burke's vest pocket for the handcuff key. Somehow, he is able

to find it and unlock his cuff as the two men struggle. Burke tries to come up

for air but Dan forces him down again. Somewhere above, a whistle blows and

someone shouts, "Man overboard!"

ON DECK:

Officers and passengers rush to the ship's side to see what's happening.

IN THE WATER:

Dan looks up to see:

ON DECK:

A crowd gathering at the railing, peering down at him.

IN THE WATER:

With all those people watching, Dan has no choice but to haul Burke out of the

water by his hair.

ON DECK:

An even larger mob gathers.

IN THE WATER:

Dan reluctantly puts an arm around Burke and starts swimming for shore.

DAN:

(to the crowd)

It's all right, I've got him!

ON DECK:

Among the passengers watching with concern is none other than Joan. She peers

down at the two men in the water, failing to recognize Dan.

IN THE WATER:

Dan struggles toward shore with an unconscious Burke in tow. Peering up, he

sees:

ON DECK (TELEPHOTO ZOOM SHOT FROM BELOW)

Joan, wearing her big floppy hat, leans over the railing.

IN THE WATER:

Dan sees Joan (and her hat) and smiles in recognition. He keeps swimming.

ON DECK:

The crowd of onlookers, grouped near a raised anchor, watch with interest.

IN THE WATER:

Dan reaches a wooden pier and helps Burke on to a floating log lashed to it.

DAN:

Here ya are. Reach for the log.

Hold on.

Burke, regaining consciousness, grips the log as Dan pulls himself atop it.

Straddling the log, Dan helps Burke out of the water.

ON DECK:

The crowd at the anchor watches in relief.

IN THE WATER:

Dan and Burke sit on the log. Dan rises.

DAN:

Lucky for you I knew where that key

was.

BURKE:

(still dazed)

Yeah. Thanks.

Dan helps Burke to a nearby ladder.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. DAN AND BURKE'S STATEROOM - LATER

Dan puts on dry clothes as Burke, already changed, sits behind him, checking

and holstering his pistol.

BURKE:

Hey, you know, somebody must have

left that rail unfastened. Leanin'

there and, all of a sudden, we're in

the ocean.

DAN:

(dryly)

Yes. We ought to sue the company.

BURKE:

I still can't see why you saved my

life with what's facing you.

DAN:

Ah, suppose we don't discuss that.

BURKE:

Well, anyway, I - I kind o' feel

like I ought to do you a little

favor.

DAN:

What? For a little thing like your

life?

Dan hears the click of the handcuffs behind him and glances in Burke's

direction. PAN OVER TO Burke holding the open handcuffs in his hands.

DAN:

I'll tell you what you can do.

BURKE:

What?

DAN:

Those are not particularly becoming

to the well-dressed man. 'Sides,

once this ship's at sea, there's no

chance for a getaway. Kind o'

tough on both of us to be ironed.

What do you say?

Burke looks at the cuffs and thinks it over. After a beat, he pockets them.

BURKE:

All right, Dan.

DAN:

(surprised but pleased)

Thanks.

BURKE:

But if you try to pull a fast one on

me, I'll knock you off cold. Is that

understood?

DAN:

Obviously.

BURKE:

I ain't kiddin'.

DAN:

Well, I couldn't suspect you of that.

Burke gives Dan a double take. Dan looks amused.

DAN:

Well, it's kind of stuffy in here.

All right if I go on deck?

BURKE:

(casually)

Sure.

Dan grabs a cap and heads for the door. Burke rises and follows, grabbing a

jacket.

BURKE:

But I'll go along with ya.

Dan nods in reluctant agreement and the two men exit the stateroom.

DISSOLVE TO:

A NEON SIGN:

shaped like an arrow. It reads: "To gangplank"

We PAN OVER AND DOWN from this to the PURSER'S STATION where Dan is in the

middle of a conversation with the uniformed purser.

DAN:

I have an important message to

deliver to her and, like an idiot, I

forgot her last name. Her first name

is "Joan."

PURSER:

I'm sorry, sir, but--

DAN:

(gesturing)

She's about, uh-- Oh, she's about so

tall. Jet black hair and large brown

eyes.

PURSER:

Well, without her last name, it'll be

awfully hard for me to find her.

During this conversation, we PAN OVER to Burke who watches and listens from

under the gangplank sign, shaking his head in disbelief. Burke looks in the

direction of the gangplank as he hears a noisy crowd.

THE GANGPLANK:

is being unhooked from the ship. A huge crowd of well-wishers fill the dock,

waving to passengers on deck and chattering noisily. Running through the crowd

is Skippy who races up the gangplank just as it is pulled away and jumps onto

the ship ahead of the two Hong Kong policemen who are chasing him. Skippy,

relieved, sits in the doorway where the gangplank was anchored a moment ago

and waves to the policemen who, left stranded at the dock, wave their

nightsticks at him angrily.

SKIPPY:

(salutes the police)

You must come and see us sometime!

Skippy, sitting in the gangplank doorway, laughs his inimitable, irritating

laugh and waves good-bye. As he does, a man comes up to Skippy from behind and

pauses next to him - at first, we see only the man's legs. The boat's whistle

blows ominously as Skippy looks down to see the two flat feet beside him. His

face falls as he looks up to see Burke, hands in his pockets, towering over

him grimly.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

A MAP OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN

This map will reappear throughout the film to mark the ship's progress.

Three points on the map are identified: Hong Kong, Honolulu and San Francisco.

A superimposed text reads: 1st DAY

A superimposed image of the S. S. Maloa appears in the center of the map,

heading east on the high seas.

DISSOLVE TO:

CABIN DOOR:

A brief glimpse of the door to cabin B-55 upon which hangs a PLEASE DO NOT

DISTURB sign.

DISSOLVE TO:

A CLOSER VIEW OF THE SIGN

which allows us to see a handwritten addition: "By Doctor's Orders"

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. JOAN'S CABIN - DAY

A TRAY:

loaded with medicines, powders and pills -- the sort of things taken by

terminal heart patients.

DOCTOR'S VOICE

No more parties. No more cigarettes.

No more dancing. And no more

cocktails.

DISSOLVE TO:

JOAN AND HER DOCTOR

Joan sits glumly as the doctor stands over her, trying to be gentle.

DOCTOR:

You're cutting your months into

weeks, your weeks into days--

JOAN:

And my days into hours. Is that it?

DOCTOR:

It is.

JOAN:

What you really mean -- and you're

too kind to say -- is that if I stay

in my stateroom, lie in bed, deny

myself everything, even the - the

mildest diversion, I may live to

arrive at that charming sanitarium.

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