Pearl Harbor Page #23

RAFE:

(whispering)

Bombers.

DOOLITTLE:

I want to introduce a couple of people.

Doc White is a flight surgeon; he has

volunteered for gunnery training so that

he can go on the mission, because we

can't spare the weight of an extra man.

DANNY:

(whispering)

A long range bomber mission.

DOOLITTLE:

...And Ross Greening, who will oversee

your equipment. Any questions?

DANNY:

Who'll be the first one in, Colonel? I'd

like to volunt --

Rafe elbows his ribs so hard it takes his breath away.

DOOLITTLE:

I thought I'd made it clear, I'm not

just putting this mission together -- I'm

leading it myself.

RAFE:

I take it back, about the flowers. We're

all gonna die.

EXT. EGLIN FIELD - RUNWAY - DAY

CLOSE - A B-25 bomber, from different angles.

The pilots look them over, liking what they see.

DOOLITTLE:

This is what we'll fly -- the B-25.

There's one thing you have to be aware of

from the very beginning. You see that

private?

They look down the runway a few hundred feet. A private

waves, and starts painting a red line across the runway.

Another private, close by, paints a green line.

DOOLITTLE:

Green means go. Red means dead.

MONTAGE - THE TRAINING - EGLIN FIELD - DAY

The pilots practice takeoff's. Red is Rafe's copilot;

Anthony is Danny's. Nobody can get airborne before the red

line.

INT. EGLIN FIELD - LECTURE ROOM - DAY

Doolittle is instructing the men.

DOOLITTLE:

You're having trouble getting airborne in

the shorter space because you're not

revving the engines enough. You've got

to push them to the limit before you ever

start to move.

Rafe is distracted; he's lost in though, looking at Danny --

and looks away just before Danny realizes it.

MONTAGE CONTINUES - EXT. EGLIN FIELD RUNWAY - DAY

Pilots practice hard, revving the engines, taking off

hard...all of them crossing the red line, takeoff after

takeoff. Rafe pushes his engine hard and still crosses by

twenty feet; Danny pushes even harder, and misses by ten

feet.

Doolittle watches with Greening from the edge of the runway.

DOOLITTLE:

We've got to get the weight down.

INT. HANGER - EGLIN FIELD - DAY

Greening has removed the intensely complex Norden sight from

a bomber and put in on a table for Doolittle.

GREENING:

Okay, forty pounds gone. And in it's

place, this.

He shows Doolittle an aluminum strip on a swivel.

GREENING:

Weight, 3 ounces. Cost, 20 cents.

DOOLITTLE:

Does it work?

EXT. EGLIN FIELD - DAY

Doolittle pilots a B-25 at treetop level onto a practice

bombing range. Greening uses the makeshift sight, and drops

a 500-lb sack of flour, right in the middle of the bull's-eye

target chalked on the ground.

EXT. FLORIDA COAST - DAY

The B-25's are practicing, flying at treetop level. Red is

Rafe's copilot, Anthony is Danny's. Doolittle is flying the

lead bomber.

DOOLITTLE:

Right down to the treetops. Low as you

can.

Rafe brings his plane down, smoothly. Then Danny's plane

appears -- under him. Rafe jerks his nose up quickly.

Rafe's angry; Danny's laughing -- but he scares the sh*t out

of his crew.

EXT. EGLIN FIELD - NIGHT

Danny's outside, looking up at the moon. Rafe appears and

moves up beside him.

DANNY:

Fun today. Like old times.

RAFE:

Danny, what the hell are you trying to do

out there?

DANNY:

What do you mean? I'm just doing what

we've always done.

RAFE:

No. You're trying to beat me.

DANNY:

We've always tried to beat each other.

RAFE:

Bullshit. We've played with each other,

pushed each other. This is different.

Like you want to prove that you're

better than me. Who's that for --

Evelyn?

Danny's anger flares for a moment -- but Rafe's hit home.

DANNY:

Maybe just trying to measure up.

RAFE:

What's between you and her is between you

and her. But here's what's between you

and me. Everybody has a hero, Danny.

And you're mine.

Danny's caught off-guard.

RAFE:

When we were growing up, I had

everything. You had nothing. You

climbed out of a hole I couldn't even see

the bottom of. I think maybe when I went

off to England, I was trying to measure

up to you. Measuring up's over. Let's

just look out for each other. Okay?

They embrace, closer now than ever.

MONTAGE - INTERCUT

with the planes practicing their short takeoffs, we see

Roosevelt in one of his fireside chats, his voice broadcast

across America...

ROOSEVELT'S VOICE

Good evening, America...

Families all across America are gathered around radios,

listening.

ROOSEVELT'S VOICE

I'm told that 80% of American families

are listening to these fireside chats of

ours, and I'm happy we can come together,

as one great American family. I'd like

each of you within the sound of my voice

to find a map...

The FAMILIES do, gathering around encyclopedias, school

books, any reference they have, spread on kitchen tables,

suburban living room rugs, or farmhouse hearths...

And the B-25's, all sixteen of them, begin a journey in

formation, flying at treetop level across America:

Mississippi delta land, Texas plains, Arizona mesas...

ROOSEVELT'S VOICE

Look at the Pacific Ocean. It covers

half the surface of the earth. And look

at the great Atlantic. The oceans both

divide and connect us to our enemies, and

either they will come to us, or we will

go to them...

The formation of B-25's reaches San Francisco.

EXT. SAN FRANCISCO NAVAL AIR STATION - DAY

Doolittle leads the bombers to a landing. IN RAFE'S PLANE,

everybody's wondering why they're here.

RED:

N-naval station? What's g-going on?

RAFE:

Wish I knew, Red.

EXT. SAN FRANCISCO AIR FIELD - DAY

The crews climb from their planes, and almost before they're

out, teams of men use straps and cranes to hoist the bombers

onto flatbed trucks. Doolittle walks up to Rafe and Danny,

watching the baffling operation.

DOOLITTLE:

Want to see where they're going?

EXT. SAN FRANCISCO HARBOR - EVENING

Cranes lift the planes from the trucks and hoist them onto

the flight decks of the carrier USS HORNET. The pilots stand

on the pier, watching.

ANTHONY:

I guess that settles it. Somewhere in

the Pacific.

RED:

With a s-short r-runway.

They all gather around Doolittle as he moves up to them.

DOOLITTLE:

You have rooms at the Biltmore. I

suggest a nice meal and a good night's

sleep. We leave tomorrow.

Doolittle walks to join a captain.

INT./ EXT. SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL - NIGHT

The pilots get off the bus and carry their duffels into the

lobby.

ANTHONY:

San Francisco, here we are!

DANNY:

(grinning)

I don't reckon we can get hogbrains and

grits, but I hear a man can eat good in

this town.

RAFE:

I'm gonna turn in. I hate being on the

water. I think this is the last sleep

I'll get for awhile.

INT. LOBBY - NIGHT

The other guys drop their duffels with the bell hops; Rafe

moves to the reception desk.

RAFE:

McCawley.

The manager hands him a key, and smiles curiously.

MANAGER:

Have fun.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

Rafe enters his room and finds the light on...and Evelyn's

there waiting.

RAFE:

What?...

EVELYN:

They were bringing back a ship full of

wounded and needed extra nurses along. I

wrote Colonel Doolittle, and told him I

needed to see you before you go.

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