Schindler's List Page #3

He shrugs; it sounds more than fair to him. But not to Stern.

STERN:

Pots and pans.

SCHINDLER:

(nodding)

Something they can hold in their

hands.

Stern studies him. This man is nothing more than a salesman

with a salesman's pitch; just dressed better than most.

STERN:

I don't know anybody who'd be

interested in that.

SCHINDLER:

(a slow knowing nod)

They should be.

Silence.

EXT. CRACOW - NIGHT

A mason trowels mortar onto a brick. As he taps it into a

place and scrapes off the excess cement, the image DRAINS OF

COLOR.

Under lights, a crew of brick-layers is erecting a ten-foot

wall where a street once ran unimpeded.

EXT. STREET - CRACOW - DAY

A young man emerges from an alley pocketing his Jewish

armband. He crosses a street past German soldiers and trucks

and climbs the steps of St. Mary's cathedral.

INT. ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL - DAY

A dark and cavernous place. A priest performing Mass to

scattered parishioners. Lots of empty pews.

The young Polish Jew from the street, Poldek Pfefferberg,

kneels, crosses himself, and slides in next to another young

man, Goldberg, going over notes scribbled on a little pad

inside a missal. Pfefferberg shows him a container of shoe

polish he takes from his pocket. Whispered, bored --

GOLDBERG:

What's that?

PFEFFERBERG:

You don't recognize it? Maybe that's

because it's not what I asked for.

GOLDBERG:

You asked for shoe polish.

PFEFFERBERG:

My buyers sold it to a guy who sold

it to the Army. But by the time it

got there -- because of the cold --

it broke, the whole truckload.

GOLDBERG:

(pause)

So I'm responsible for the weather?

PFEFFERBERG:

I asked for metal, you gave me glass.

GOLDBERG:

This is not my problem.

PFEFFERBERG:

Look it up.

Goldberg doesn't bother; he pockets his little notepad and

intones a response to the priest's prayer, all but ignoring

Pfefferberg.

PFEFFERBERG:

This is not your problem? Everybody

wants to know who I got it from, and

I'm going to tell them.

Goldberg glances to Pfefferberg for the first time, and,

greatly put upon, takes out his little notepad again and

makes a notation in it.

GOLDBERG:

Metal.

He flips the pad closed, pockets it, crosses himself as he

gets up, and leaves.

INT. HOTEL - DAY

Pfefferberg at the front desk of a sleepy hotel with another

black market middleman, the desk clerk. Both are wearing

their armbands. Pfefferberg underlines figures on a little

notepad of his own --

PFEFFERBERG:

Let's say this is what you give me.

These are fees I have to pay some

guys. This is my commission. This is

what I bring you back in Occupation

currency.

The clerk, satisfied with the figures, is about to hand over

to Pfefferberg some outlawed Polish notes from an envelope

when Schindler comes in from the street. The clerk puts the

money away, gets Schindler his room key, waits for him to

leave so he can finish his business with Pfefferberg... but

Schindler doesn't leave; he just keeps looking over at

Pfefferberg's shirt, at the cuffs, the collar.

PFEFFERBERG:

That's a nice shirt.

Pfefferberg nods, Yeah, thanks, and waits for Schindler to

leave; but he doesn't. Nor does he appear to hear the short

burst of muffled gunfire that erupts from somewhere up the

street.

SCHINDLER:

You don't know where I could find a

shirt like that.

Pfefferberg knows he should say 'no,' let that be the end of

it. It's not wise doing business with a German who could

have you arrested for no reason whatsoever. But there's

something guileless about it.

PFEFFERBERG:

Like this?

SCHINDLER:

(nodding)

There's nothing in the stores.

The clerk tries to discourage Pfefferberg from pursuing this

transaction with just a look. Pfefferberg ignores it.

PFEFFERBERG:

You have any idea what a shirt like

this costs?

SCHINDLER:

Nice things cost money.

The clerk tries to tell Pfefferberg again with a look that

this isn't smart.

PFEFFERBERG:

How many?

SCHINDLER:

I don't know, ten or twelve. That's

a good color. Dark blues, grays.

Schindler takes out his money and begins peeling off bills,

waiting for Pfefferberg to nod when it's enough. He's being

overcharged, and he knows it, but Pfefferberg keeps pushing

it, more. The look Schindler gives him lets him know that

he's trying to hustle a hustler, but that, in this instance

at least, he'll let it go. He hands over the money and

Pfefferberg hands over his notepad.

Rate this script:5.0 / 3 votes