Pearl Harbor Page #2

DANNY:

If I had guns I'd be chewing up your --

Rafe feints left, banks right, and appears behind Danny.

RAFE:

If you had guns, you'd be pissin' on 'em.

They're almost to the landing strip, Rafe behind Danny. But

as Danny's wheels are about to touch, he guns his engine and

snaps the nose of his plane straight up.

THE OTHER PILOTS stop laughing.

ANTHONY:

He's doing an inside loop!

TRAINING CAPTAIN

Aw, sh*t...

Danny pulls it off, just barely making a full circle to come

in behind Rafe and bounce to a stop on the runway.

DANNY:

Yee-hawww!!!

Danny taxis his plane over to join the others. He's grinning

as he slides back his cockpit cover; then --

DANNY:

Where's Rafe?

Red, tall with flaming orange hair, tips his chin toward the

air. Seeing Rafe's plane still in the air, Danny starts to

refasten his harness.

TRAINING CAPTAIN

You're down, Walker! That's an order!

DANNY:

What about him?

TRAINING CAPTAIN

He's not taking my orders anymore.

Danny's just about to ask what the hell that means, when he

notices Rafe climbing in a deliberate spiral.

DANNY:

He's gonna do it.

BILLY:

Do what?

DANNY:

It.

(beat)

Aw, sh*t. Aw sh*t sh*t sh*t...

RAFE'S PLANE reaches two thousand feet, just a speck above

them, and seems to pause in the air.

DANNY:

I shouldn't'a done an inside loop.

I shouldn't'a done an inside loop.

BILLY:

Why?

DANNY:

Cause now he's gonna do an outside loop.

TRAINING CAPTAIN

Aw sh*t. Aw sh*t sh*t sh*t...

Anthony and Billy join in, like an involuntary chant --

ANTHONY & BILLY

Aw sh*t sh*t sh*t...

RAFE, IN HIS COCKPIT, is tightly controlled, yet serene. He

noses the plane into a power dive.

The P-40 screams toward the ground, picking up speed, going

so fast it begins to shudder.

THE OTHER PILOTS are transfixed. Red is so nervous he can't

get the words out.

RED:

Aw sh- sh- sh- sh-

BILLY:

Sh*t.

RED:

Yeah.

DANNY:

You can do it, Rafe. You can do it.

The P-40, hurtling toward the ground at nauseating speed,

snaps into a half roll, streaking upside down over the

runway. Rafe hangs inverted in his flight harness, the

asphalt of the runway shooting past, ten feet beyond his

head.

He pushes the plane into a climb, his cockpit on the outside

of the circle. The plane reaches the top of its arc, and

almost stalls; but Rafe noses it over again, toward the

earth, only this time he has very little altitude. The plane

hurtles down, still with it belly on the inside of the

curve...

And makes it full circle. Rafe's head now is barely a foot

off the asphalt as the plane shoots past, still inverted.

THE OTHER PILOTS burst into cheers.

RAFE, IN HIS COCKPIT permits himself a smile.

He lands, and the guys run out to meet him...all except for

the Training Captain, who stands there shaking his head.

Danny jumps on the wing, as Rafe stops and slides back his

canopy. Danny grabs him by the harness and shakes him.

DANNY:

You could've killed yourself, you stupid

bastard!

He dives into the cockpit, hugging Rafe.

DANNY:

That was the most beautiful thing I ever

saw.

INT. COLONEL DOOLITTLE'S OFFICE - DAY

COLONEL JIMMY DOOLITTLE, mid-forties, is commander of the

base. He's as tough as he is good in the air. And right now

he's frowning at Rafe McCawley, standing at attention before

him.

DOOLITTLE:

There are some people who think the

outside loop is reckless and

irresponsible.

RAFE:

How could it be irresponsible, Sir, if

you were the first man in the world to do

it?

DOOLITTLE:

Don't get smart with me, son.

RAFE:

Never, Sir. I just meant it's dangerous

only for the kind of pilot who wants to

show off, rather than inspire the other

pilots in his unit. And all you've done

for me, Sir, working out the transfer, I

did it to say thanks. To honor you, Sir.

What the French call a "homage."

DOOLITTLE:

That's bullshit, son. But it's really

good bullshit.

RAFE:

Thank you, Sir.

Doolittle stands, moves around his desk, and shakes Rafe's

hand.

DOOLITTLE:

Good luck over there McCawley. I admire

your decision.

RAFE:

Thank you, Sir.

INT. NEW JERSEY AIRFIELD - BARRACKS - NIGHT

The pilots are getting slicked up for a night on the town.

Danny's at the mirrors with the others; he's putting on

cologne, and looks terrific in his uniform.

Anthony and Billy are combing their hair at the sinks. Billy

declares to his image in the mirror --

BILLY:

You good-lookin' sumbitch...don't you

EVER die!

ANTHONY:

That's your line for tonight, ya know.

BILLY:

What, good-lookin' sumbitch?

ANTHONY:

No, numbnuts, die. You get your nurse

alone, you look her in the eye, and say,

"Baby, they're training me for war, and I

don't know what'll happen. But if I die

tomorrow, I wanna know that we lived all

we could tonight." I've never known it

to fail.

Red finishes brushing his teeth at the sink beside them.

RED:

He's n-never known it to work, either.

The guys head out laughing, running into Rafe coming in.

DANNY:

Doolittle didn't kill you? Attaboy!

Rafe catches Danny's arm.

RAFE:

Danny, there's something I gotta tell

you...

EXT. NEW JERSEY BARRACKS - NIGHT

Rafe and Danny are walking on the parade ground; the other

guys are already on the bus that will take them into town.

Danny's upset by what Rafe just told him.

DANNY:

How could you do this?

RAFE:

The Colonel helped me work it out.

DANNY:

I don't mean how'd you do the paperwork,

I mean how the hell did you do it without

letting me in on it?

RAFE:

I'm sorry, Danny, but they're only

accepting the best pilots.

DANNY:

Don't make this a joke, Rafe. You're

talking about war, and I know what war

does to people.

RAFE:

Danny, you know how many times I saw you

come to school with a black eye or a

busted nose, and couldn't do a thing

about it -- for you, or for your mother...

or your father, with his lungs scorched

out with mustard gas, and more left of

his lungs than there was of his spirit?

You've made your sacrifice, Danny. It's

time I made mine.

BILLY:

(from the bus)

The nurses are waiting!

RAFE:

Let's go.

DANNY:

Nah, you go on.

RAFE:

I have to talk to Evelyn. And I want you

to meet her.

DANNY:

Some other time. I don't feel like a

party.

Danny walks away. The bus driver's ready to leave, and Red

is honking the horn for Rafe to come. Rafe reluctantly lets

Danny go, and heads for the bus, where the pilots are

chanting --

PILOTS VOICE:

Nurses! Nurses! Nurses!

INT. A MOVING TRAIN - DAY

The trains of 1942 have their own beauty, with felt seats,

shaded lamps, and paneled compartments even in the economy

section. But the glow of the train is outshone by EVELYN

STEWART. She's one of ten young women, Army nurses, gathered

at one end of the car as it rattles along the track.

The other nurses are pretty and ripe -- maybe a bit too

ripe. Their lips painted bright red, their faces powdered,

their spirits high.

Evelyn listens in amusement to BETTY, a cute blonde with

unmissable b*obs, and BARBARA, a burnette equally endowed.

BETTY:

Do you have trouble with your b*obs in

the uniform?

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