Rebel Without a Cause Page #8

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Full shot. Normal students watching intently.

LECTURER (O.S.)

As this star approaches us, the

weather will change. The great

polar fields of the north and south

will rot and divide, and the seas

will turn warmer.

Low angle. LECTURER. A dry, elderly man in a stiff white

collar. He is seated at a desk, the light from the reading

lamp spilling upward onto his face.

LECTURER:

The last of us search the heavens

and stand amazed. For the stars

will still be there, moving through

their ancient rhythms.

Angle shot. Students. Some watching, some taking notes.

An OLD LADY TEACHER in f.g. taps the heads of two kids in

the row before her. They stop their whispering. She smiles

at them.

LECTURER (O.S.)

The familiar constellations that

illuminate our night will seem as

they have always seemed, eternal,

unchanged and little moved by the

shortness of time between our

planet's birth and its demise.

Med. shot. PLATO staring upward.

LECTURER (O.S.)

Orion, the Hunter.

PLATO looks off.

Med. shot. JIM (from PLATO's angle). JIM is seated in the

row ahead of PLATO. His lips are parted as he looks up.

JIM:

Boy!

PLATO:

(leaning forward)

What?

JIM:

(surprised)

Once you been up there, you know

you been some place!

LECTURER (O.S.)

Gemini, the Twins.

Two shot. JUDY and BUZZ. BUZZ has his arm around her. He

is nuzzling her ear. She is blandly watching the dome.

LECTURER (O.S.)

(continuing)

Cancer, the Crab.

BUZZ pokes JUDY who looks at him. He curves his wrist

toward her, opening and closing his first two fingers like

the pincers of a crab.

BUZZ:

I'm a crab!

She laughs. So do the others.

Med. shot. JIM (PLATO behind). Seen from JUDY's angle. JIM

turns at the sound of the laughter, and smiles.

LECTURER (O.S.)

Taurus, the Bull.

JIM:

(in good imitation)

Moo!

He waits for approval.

Angle shot. JUDY, BUZZ and group (seen from JIM's angle).

He is in f.g. They are staring at him. Nobody laughs.

CRUNCH:

(flat)

Yeah, moo.

BUZZ:

Moo. That's real cute. Moo.

GOON:

Hey, he's real rough--

CRUNCH:

I bet he fights with cows.

BUZZ:

Moo.

They turn from him. JIM withers and looks front. JUDY

smiles a little and looks away so the others cannot notice

her amusement.

LECTURER (O.S.)

Sagittarius and Aries--all as they

have ever been.

PLATO leans in and touches JIM's shoulder, lightly at first,

then harder. JIM turns to him.

PLATO:

You shouldn't monkey with him.

JIM:

What?

PLATO:

He's a wheel. So's she. It's hard

to make friends with them.

JIM:

I don't want to make friends.

He turns back, unhappy at having revealed himself.

Another shot. JUDY, BUZZ, CRUNCH. JIM seen in b.g. The

kids are whispering among themselves and pointing at JIM,

who looks up and notices. He is getting uncomfortable.

LECTURER (O.S.)

And while the flash of our

beginning has not yet traveled the

light years into distance--

Full shot. The dome. The star rushes nearer, looming

larger and larger. The music rises in tension and volume.

LECTURER (O.S.)

Has not yet been seen by planets

deep within the other galaxies, we

will disappear into the blackness

of the space from which we came.

Two shot. JIM and PLATO staring upward, cringing back into

their seats as the light on their faces increases. Music is

up loud.

Full shot. The dome seen past PLATO's head. The heavens

grow brighter as the star plummets near. Music at crescendo.

LECTURER (O.S.)

Destroyed as we began in a burst of

gas and fire.

The sky is blasted by a wild flash of light. Music reaches

explosion. The stars appear again.

Moving shot. Faces of normal kids watching seriously--very

impressed.

LECTURER (O.S.)

(continuing)

The heavens are still and cold once

more. In all the complexity of our

universe and the galaxies beyond,

the Earth will not be missed.

Med. shot. JIM and PLATO looking up.

LECTURER (O.S.)

Through the infinite reaches of

space, the problems of Man seem

trivial and naive indeed. And Man,

existing alone, seems to be an

episode of little consequences.

PLATO ducks his head down on the back of JIM's chair. JIM

looks at him.

LECTURER (O.S.)

That's all. Thank you very much.

The lights go on. The rustle and confusion of kids

stretching after sitting too long. Scattered applause. JIM

rises and ruffles PLATO's hair.

JIM:

Hey, it's over. The world ended.

PLATO looks up at him.

PLATO:

What does he know about Man alone?

Med. shot. LECTURER as he reaches over and turns a dial.

"Morning Song" by Grieg comes on softly.

Low angle. OLD LADY TEACHER rising. She stares around at

the bustling students and claps her hands sharply, but the

noise is barely heard above the tumult.

TEACHER:

(shrill)

May I have your attention? May I

please have your attention?

Classes will meet at the busses

outside. May I have your attention?

(to herself)

The heck with it.

She picks up her coat and bag.

Planetarium parking lot. School busses and autos, some new

and some heaps, are parked in f.g. Beyond is the dome of

the Planetarium. Kids mill about, some already driving off

in their cars. One bus, already full, pulls past camera.

Med. shot. Front of bus seen from within. Driver in f.g.

Kids swarm up the steps and enter. PLATO is among them, but

keeps looking back for JIM. PLATO boards the bus and pauses

near the driver to peer through windshield. His face clouds.

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