Pearl Harbor Page #10

DENTIST:

Please excuse me. Just relax.

Leaving his patient with a mouth full of instruments, the

Dentist moves to his outer office, which looks directly out

over Pearl Harbor. He speaks in Japanese.

DENTIST:

Takanawa... Yes?...

He seems confused by the call, but he responds by looking out

over the harbor, then saying into the receiver --

DENTIST:

Yes, they are all...no wait, I see the

big one moving. The one that's flat on

top, what do they call it?...

INT. SURVEILLANCE BASE - DAY

Some tired Army Intelligence types -- A LISTENER, a TRACKER,

and an INTELLIGENCE SUPERVISOR, are sitting at a bank of

phones. The LISTENER is a Japanese-American.

LISTENER:

Here's something, over the line from

Tokyo.

He switches on the recording equipment and looks to the

TRACER, sitting at a battery of equipment.

TRACER:

It's connected to a local dentist. His

office is beside Pearl Harbor.

INTELLIGENCE SUPERVISOR

This dentist, is he a spy?

LISTENER:

Sounds too innocent. His accent is from

the old country. Somebody official-

sounding calls, he thinks it's

discourteous not to respond.

INT. BARBER SHOP - DAY

Admiral Kimmel is settling into the barber chair when his

AIDE enters and nods for the barber to move a few paces away,

so that he can speak privately.

AIDE:

Sir, we just had an intelligence

intercept. Someone from Tokyo called a

local dentist whose office looks over

Pearl. They wanted to know the exact

location of the ships.

ADMIRAL KIMMEL:

Someone from Tokyo asks a dentist how the

ships are sitting... What are we supposed

to do about that?

AIDE:

I...don't know, Sir. But it just seemed

significant.

ADMIRAL KIMMEL:

Have intelligence keep monitoring him.

The Admiral sinks back into the chair.

EXT. MILITARY BASE HOSPITAL - DAY

A young amateur PHOTOGRAPHER, about 16, wearing a hat with

"PICTURES OF PARADISE" printed on it's crown is ready to snap

a shot of Evelyn and her nurse friends having a picnic lunch

on the lawn outside the hospital.

PHOTOGRAPHER:

Closer, ladies! Closer! Now smile!...

Great! Next week I'll show you a print

and you can order your Pictures of

Paradise!

He hustles off. Betty hands out picnic baskets.

BETTY:

Barbara, here's yours...and Evelyn, here

you are.

Evelyn opens her basket, and finds a lei of Hawaiian flowers

stuffed in the top. Betty scoots over and puts the flowers

around Evelyn's neck.

BETTY:

It's been a month and you haven't smiled.

We just want you to know we love you.

Evelyn's touched -- but before she can react two P-40's zoom

out of the skies, wings clipping the tops of the palm trees

as they blast over head.

INT. COCKPIT'S OF THE P-40'S - DAY

Danny and Anthony are the pilots; as they pull up and away,

they pass over some officers on the golf course, scaring the

sh*t out of them as they putt.

EXT. MILITARY BASE HOSPITAL - DAY

The nurses have sprawled to the ground; now even Evelyn is

smiling.

BARBARA:

What is it with nurses and pilots?

EXT. MILITARY BASE HOSPITAL - PEARL HARBOR - EVENING

Evelyn walks out of the hospital. She's still wearing her

lei. The sun is going down in a spectacular sunset.

She stares at the orange glow at the edge of the world. She

breathes in the sea air, and tries to breathe out the

sadness. The water of the harbor laps close to where she

stands, the sunset polishing its surface.

She takes the lei from her neck, plucks a single flower, and

holds it like the rose Rafe once gave her. Then she tosses

the rest of the lei into the ocean and watches it float away,

as the sun sinks behind the horizon.

INT. MILITARY BASE HOSPITAL - NIGHT

Evelyn finds her purse, and tucks the flower into it. She's

alone in the hospital, everyone else has gone; she turns her

mind toward work, something to lose herself in.

EXT. MILITARY BASE - NEAR THE PILOTS' BARRACKS - DAY

Danny is walking toward the barracks when a COLONEL hopping

mad, confronts him.

COLONEL:

You're Walker, right?

DANNY:

Yes Sir.

COLONEL:

That was a nice little stunt you pulled,

buzzing the base.

DANNY:

You liked that?

COLONEL:

Oh yeah. I liked it so much I'm cutting

you out of the squadron.

DANNY:

Sir?

COLONEL:

I don't buy that hot dog sh*t. So you

and your buddies are gonna transfer your

planes up to Haleiwa.

DANNY:

Hale-what?

COLONEL:

You'll love it. No base, no bars, just

lots of sun and aircraft maintenance.

DANNY:

Sir, I --

COLONEL:

Too late for apologies, Walker.

DANNY:

I wasn't gonna apologize, Sir. I was

just gonna say it was worth it to feel

like a real pilot again, even if it was

only for five seconds.

The Colonel glares at him and stalks away.

INT. BASE CANTEEN - NIGHT

Danny and Evelyn are having coffee at the base canteen.

DANNY:

How's everything?

EVELYN:

We got some soldiers in traction from a

jeep accident, but it's quiet. Except

for the occasional fighter plane buzzing

us.

DANNY:

That might not have been such a good

idea. They're making us fly out of a

half-paved airfield. The real punishment

is that I won't be back to the barracks

till it's too late for dinner or coffee.

So I guess it's goodbye for awhile.

EVELYN:

I was just thinking that war is a series

of goodbyes. Do you think that's why

we're meeting. To help us say goodbye to

Rafe?

DANNY:

I swore not to talk about him tonight,

but there's all this stuff I think I

ought to tell you, that he didn't get a

chance to. Rafe was...he was lonely. He

had such high expectations of himself

that he always felt empty. The week he

met you he told me he felt his heart had

always lived in winter, and for the first

time in his life he has seen the spring.

He's been lost in his own thoughts of Rafe; now he notices

the tears welling up in her eyes.

DANNY:

Sorry.

EVELYN:

He told me he didn't want to leave me

with regret. Now that's all I have.

DANNY:

Hey, have you seen Pearl Harbor at night?

EVELYN:

Well...sure.

DANNY:

From the air?

EXT. HALEIWA AIR FIELD - NIGHT

A P-40 takes off from the remote airfield, lit only by the

full moon.

INT. P-40 - NIGHT

Evelyn sits on Danny's lap, like Rafe sat in his Daddy's lap

years before. Danny flies easily, the cockpit open, his arms

slipped under hers.

The sky above them is startlingly clear; a billion stars

dancing around a full moon.

EVELYN:

So beautiful!

DANNY:

Hang on.

He spins the plane in an easy half turn, inverting their

heads above Pearl Harbor, gorgeous in the moonlight, the

battleships aglow, the moon reflected in the peaceful water,

embraced by the island of Oahu.

EXT. HALEIWA AIR FIELD - NIGHT

The P-40 soars easily in and settles to earth. Danny shuts

down the engine. Danny carefully removes the harness around

her. She looks overhead. The stars are still bright above

them.

EVELYN:

I didn't realize until tonight that I've

stopped wanting to live.

She turns in his lap, and looks at him. Their eyes connect.

Tentatively, almost reluctantly, they kiss.

EXT. MILITARY BASE HOSPITAL - NIGHT

The POV of someone moving through the gathering darkness

approaches the hospital.

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