Rebel Without a Cause Page #20

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PLATO:

Help me in!

JIM gives PLATO a hand over the windowsill.

Inside arcade. JIM and JUDY are seen in an entering shaft

of moonlight. PLATO hits the floor and disappears into

darkness.

JIM:

Hey where'd you go?

PLATO:

I'm here. Shut up.

JIM:

Come out come out wherever you are!

PLATO:

Shut up. Are you nuts?

JIM:

No. I'm scared.

A match flares and lights a candle on an antique Spanish

candelabra. PLATO is revealed bending over it. He lights

the other candles through the following:

PLATO:

We're safe here. I hope.

(holds up candelabra)

What do you think?

JIM:

(gazing around)

Wow! Well now-there-then!

His wonderment is justified. The floor of the arcade is

marble and there are marble benches and neo-Roman busts

lining the walls.

PLATO:

Isn't it crazy?

JIM:

Wowee ow wow! Let's take it for

the summer.

JUDY:

Oh, Jim!

JIM:

No--come on. Should we rent or are

we in a buying mood, dear?

JUDY:

(laughing)

You decide, darling. Remember our

budget.

PLATO:

Don't give it a thought. Only

three million dollars a month!

JUDY:

Oh, we can manage that! I'll

scrimp and save and work my fingers

to the bone...

JIM:

Why don't we just rent it for the

season?

JUDY:

You see, we've just--oh, you tell

him, darling. I'm so embarrassed I

could die!

JIM:

Well--we're newlyweds.

JUDY:

There's just one thing. What about--

PLATO:

Children? Well, we really don't

encourage them. They're so noisy

and troublesome, don't you agree?

JUDY:

Yes. And so terribly annoying when

they cry. I just don't know what

to do when they cry, do you dear?

JIM:

Of course. Drown them like puppies.

JUDY:

See, we're very modern.

PLATO:

Shall I show you the nursery? It's

far away from the rest of the house.

If you have children--Oh I hate the

word!--or if you decide to adopt

one--they can carry on and you'll

never even notice. In fact, if you

lock them in you never have to see

them again, much less talk to them.

JUDY:

Talk to them! Heavens!

JIM:

Nobody talks to children! They

just tell them one thing and mean

another.

PLATO:

It's wonderful that you understand

so well--and so young too! You

know the most wonderful feature

about the nursery?

JIM:

What?

PLATO:

There's only one key.

JIM:

We'll take it!

PLATO:

Come on!

PLATO leads them away from us down the arcade, the candelabra

casting wild shadows on the walls. They are laughing as

they disappear through the glass doors at the end and their

laughter echoes stonily.

DISSOLVE TO:

Med. shot. A street and an alley. Night seen through the

windshield of a police car. Its radio is on low. Two

officers are in the front seat. One of them drinks coffee

from a container. Suddenly MOOSE's heap moves past on the

street ahead. In it are MOOSE, GOON and CRUNCH.

Full shot. The street as MOOSE's heap continues up the

empty street. The police car slides out of the alley where

it has been concealed, and follows at a distance. Its

headlights are off.

Close shot. CRUNCH, GOON and MOOSE (Process). They are in

the front seat of MOOSE's heap.

MOOSE:

What time is it?

CRUNCH:

Hang loose. We got all night.

MOOSE:

That maid saw us. She could

identify us too.

CRUNCH:

You still want to go home, Moose?

MOOSE:

No.

CRUNCH:

Then shut your mouth before your

guts run out!

GOON:

What guts?

DISSOLVE TO:

Inside glass solarium. A swimming pool lies at the center.

There is no water in it. Framing the pool is a flagstone

walk with marble benches spotted here and there. The great

glass room had once been planted thickly with tropical

foliage.

But now what palms and lianas remain are withered and dead

with lack of care. At the edge of the pool, near the deep

end, a blanket has been spread and a candelabra burns upon

it. In its mysterious light our three kids are revealed:

JIM, bouncing precariously at the end of the diving board;

JUDY on the blanket nearby; PLATO on the pool's bottom. All

three are laughing hysterically when suddenly JIM starts to

lose his balance.

JIM:

(yelling)

Quick! Fill the pool!

JIM falls in. PLATO rushes to him.

JIM:

Let's see how long we can stay under.

PLATO:

Man, you're schizoid!

JIM:

(in another outburst

of laughing)

I'm what? What?

JUDY:

You can't talk underwater!

JIM:

(gargling)

I bet you hear everything I say!

PLATO:

(gargling)

Isn't he schizoid?

JIM:

(gargling)

Hey! How 'bout that!

They laugh again. JIM swings up the ladder and goes to JUDY.

PLATO follows.

PLATO:

Haven't you noticed your personality

splitting?

JIM:

Not lately.

They all sit on the blanket.

JIM:

How do you know so much about this

junk, Plato?

PLATO:

I had to go to a head-shrinker. I

only went twice though. My mother

said it cost too much, so she went

to Hawaii instead.

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