Pleasantville Page #19

CUT TO:

CLOSE UP. A BRIGHT RED ROSE.

Drops of moisture cling to the petals as it GLEAMS BRILLIANT

RED IN THE MORNING SUN ...

AERIAL SHOT. PLEASANTVILLE.

The rain is gone now. The town glistens in the sunlight

complete with a huge RAINBOW arching across the sky.

Literally all the COLORS IN THE RAINBOW shine against the

black and white of the town. It looks like a greeting card.

INT. SODA SHOP.

Betty and Mr. Johnson are asleep in the booth, lying in each

other's arms. Sunlight streams in through the window, warming

Mr. Johnson's face which has now turned to color. He opens

his eyes and looks outside ...

MR. JOHNSON

(seeing the rainbow)

Oh my Gosh ...

EXT. LOVER'S LANE.

Birds are chirping. David and Margaret also lie asleep in

each other's arms, beneath the shelter of the rocky overhang.

Margaret lifts up and sees the rainbow. She has turned to

color as well ...

MARGARET:

(awed)

Oh my God ...

INT. JENNIFER'S ROOM.

She has passed out on her bed with her book on her chest.

Jennifer's hair is still tied in a bun and she still wears

Mary Sue's glasses, but her face has returned to its rosy

pink hue. She blinks open her eyes, feeling the sunlight, and

looks out the window.

JENNIFER:

(looking at the rainbow)

Oh my God ...

INT. BOWLING ALLEY.

The men are all passed out across the various lanes and

scoring tables. It looks like a YMCA shelter. After a moment

or two Big Bob yawns, and stretches, and glances out the

glass doorway. He sees the rainbow and freezes in shock.

BOB:

(horrified)

Oh my GOD!

CUT TO:

EXT. ELM ST. DAY.

David comes gliding up Maple Street in the sunshine with a

huge smile on his face. He has that special grin and faraway

look that a boy only knows once in his life. Perplexingly he

is still in black and white. Bud turns on Elm Street and

starts heading for his house when he glances up and suddenly

freezes.

HIS POV. TREE TRUNK.

There, tacked to the bark, is a hastily scrawled public

notice:

TOWN MEETING TONIGHT

ALL "TRUE" CITIZENS

OF PLEASANTVILLE

ANGLE. DAVID.

He looks up at it for a moment.

INT. PARKER KITCHEN. DUSK.

George and Betty stand face to face in their suburban

kitchen. He is black and white. She is in full color.

BETTY:

I told you where I was.

GEORGE:

All night?

BETTY:

I got caught in the storm. You were

gone all night too.

GEORGE:

(the ultimate defense)

I was in a bowling-alley.

Betty turns--glances out the window.

GEORGE (CONT)

(sudden smile)

Look. Let's just forget about it.

Let's just go to the meeting and ...

BETTY:

I told you, George. I'm not going.

GEORGE:

(bigger smile)

Sure you are.

BETTY:

No I'm not.

She turns to face him. George flinches slightly.

BETTY (CONT)

Look at me George. That meeting's not

for me. Look at my face.

GEORGE:

It's fine. You'll put on some make up

and ...

BETTY:

I don't want to put on some make up ...

George's eyes widen. It's a watershed moment.

GEORGE:

(protesting)

It goes away ... It'll go away.

BETTY:

(gently)

I don't want it to go away.

He suddenly squares back his shoulders and puffs out his

chest.

GEORGE:

(the '50s patriarch)

Okay--now you listen to me ...

(beat)

You're gonna come to this meeting and

you're gonna put on this make up, and

you're gonna come home at six o'clock

every night and have dinner ready on

this table.

BETTY:

(softly)

No I'm not sweetie.

His expression leaves as quickly as it came. Betty moves

closer to him.

BETTY (CONT)

(half whisper)

... There's a meatloaf in the fridge.

You just put it in the oven and turn

this little knob up to three-fifty.

If you put the pie in forty minutes

later, it'll be hot in time for

dessert.

George's eyes widen.

BETTY (CONT)

I made a couple of lunches for you

and put them in brown paper bags ...

(much quieter)

I'm gonna go now.

GEORGE:

Where are you gonna go?

BETTY:

I'm gonna go now.

She turns and starts out the kitchen door when George calls

after her.

GEORGE:

Betty, don't go out there like that!

They'll see you!

(beat)

They'll SEE you!

And she closes the door behind her.

GEORGE (CONT)

Betty, come back here!

EXT. TOWN HALL. NIGHT.

Dozens of black and white citizens stream in through the

front door.

SHOT. OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE STREET.

Several "transformed" teenagers stare at the spectacle with

their FLESH COLORED SKIN AND BRIGHT BLUE EYES. They seem to

hang back in the shadows.

INT. TOWN HALL.

Big Bob stands at the podium beneath a permanent banner that

reads "PLEASANTVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE." As the only

legally constituted body in Pleasantville, it is a natural

place for a town meeting. There is nothing bright and cheery

however. The floor lamps in each comer cast huge, looming

shadows up the walls. The light at the podium bathes Big

Bob's face in a blinding splash of light. The whole thing

evokes some weird twisted image from German Expressionism--

like they are about to go look for Frankenstein. It is grayer

than gray.

CLOSER. PODIUM.

Big Bob stands at a lectern with a Rotary insignia on the

front. He speaks calmly but compellingly to a hundred men and

women who hang on his every word. Bob holds a BRIGHT YELLOW

GRAPEFRUIT.

BOB:

This was found over in Dave Murphy's

trash can. There were four of them

like this ...

There is a murmur from the crowd ...

CLOSE UP. GEORGE.

He sits up on the stage in an honored position right behind

Bob. George wears a shiny new ROTARY PIN in his lapel, as a

full-fledged member of the Chamber of Commerce. He sits stoic

and upright with the sense of safety and reassurance that a

shiny new pin can give you.

SHOT. BOB.

He holds up a pair of BRIGHT RED BOXER SHORTS.

BOB:

Jane Davidson found these in her

son's laundry basket.

There is a LOUDER MURMUR. The crowd shifts in their seats.

Bob points behind him to a BRIGHT GREEN lawn chair.

BOB (CONT)

This is from Mary Petersen's front

porch. She found one last week.

There were two more this morning ...

The MURMUR starts to grow ...

CUT TO:

EXT. ELM STREET. NIGHT.

David and Margaret stand beneath the big Elm tree outside

Margaret's house: a statue of two young lovers. They wrap

their arms around each other in a classic silhouette. The

meeting across town seems a million miles away. After a

moment or two, David reaches behind the tree and pulls out a

beautifully wrapped gift. It is three feet long with a bright

RED bow.

DAVID:

(softly)

I got you something.

Margaret's eyes widen. She beams at him, then tears off the

wrapping paper revealing a great big umbrella ... a real

umbrella. She looks up at him thrilled.

MARGARET:

It's beautiful. Where'd you get it?

DAVID:

It was a prop for the school play ...

She looks down and giggles.

MARGARET:

Can I open it?

DAVID:

Sure ...

Margaret gives him a quick kiss then opens the umbrella. She

puts it back on her shoulder and turns a series of

pirouettes--like her own kind of rain dance. Margaret points

her face up to the sky as if she is being showered by a

summer storm. All at once a pair of HEADLIGHTS round the

corner.

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