Sweet Smell of Success Page #37

INT. BEDROOM

With the door closed, she leans against it as if afraid of

falling. She gropes for the door handle, finds the key and

turns it.

INT. LIVING ROOM - HUNSECKER AND SIDNEY

Hunsecker is studying the closed door.

HUNSECKER:

(to himself)

Another crisis past.

(walking away)

She'll be fast asleep in five

minutes, loaded with those headache

pills...

SIDNEY:

Sidney seems not to hear this remark. He is concentrated on

the door; he moves hesitantly towards it, apprehensive.

CAMERA includes Hunsecker in background.

HUNSECKER:

Now we'll get to you, Sidney.

(turning to Sidney)

As far as the column is concerned -

tonight you have forfeited every

ethical consideration I ever felt

for you...

Much more concerned with his anxiety for Susan, Sidney

interrupts.

SIDNEY:

(cutting in)

Look, J.J., I'll grant you anything

you want.

(as Hunsecker is

about to interrupt)

Susie's off her rocker tonight! Go

in and see what she's doing! Go in

and talk to her quietly - unless

you want a corpse!

Sidney's conviction is impressive. But Hunsecker is

unwilling to admit the danger, he continues.

HUNSECKER:

(acid)

Let me finish what I started to

say -

Seeing that Hunsecker is not taking his advice, Sidney

strides swiftly to the door of Susan's bedroom. He knocks

on it.

INT. BEDROOM

SHOOTING TOWARDS the door. Susan is sitting on the bed in

foreground. In a methodical, hypnotic way, she is destroying

the contents of the drawer, tearing letters into small

fragments. Sidney's voice is heard outside: "Susie!" Susan

appears not to hear it; CAMERA TRACKS closer to her.

Sidney's voice is heard again, louder: "Susie!" Susan turns

sharply towards the door.

SUSAN:

A CLOSE UP. Susan rises to her feet, staring at the door.

She begins to back away from it.

RESUME REVERSE ANGLE

CAMERA PULLS BACK as Susan glances down at the record player

beside her. She turns the knob. We hear the clatter of a

record dropping and music begins. The tune is "The Sage."

INT. LIVING ROOM

CLOSE SHOT of Sidney. He hears the music starting.

HUNSECKER:

Hunsecker has come forward. But now, as he listens to the

gramaphone record playing in the bedroom, Hunsecker relaxes,

assuming that this is a sign that Sidney's suspicions are

unfounded.

HUNSECKER:

(coming forward)

What a cornball you are, Sidney...

CAMERA TRACKS to include Sidney. He does not share

Hunsecker's confidence; he knocks again, calling:

SIDNEY:

(anxiously)

Susie!

(in growing fear)

SUSIE!

CAMERA TRACKS closer to Sidney. As he tries the doorknob,

CAMERA TILTS DOWN. Sidney's hand tries the doorknob, finds

it locked, shakes it forcefully.

DETAIL:

From inside the bedroom. We see the doorknob rattled.

RESUME SUSAN:

A CLOSE UP. She realizes that Sidney means to insist. She

turns away towards the blowing curtains in background.

RESUME LIVING ROOM

A DETAIL SHOT. Sidney's hand is still shaking the doorknob.

He releases it. CAMERA PULLS BACK to a TWO SHOT of Sidney

and Hunsecker as Sidney retreats from the door in

apprehension. Now Hunsecker has begun to share Sidney's

anxiety. He moves to the door, knocks and then pounds on it.

HUNSECKER:

(with authority)

Susie, this is J.J.! Open up!

SUSAN:

A CLOSE UP. She comes forward past the blowing curtains.

The wind whips at her hair. Over scene we hear the rumble

of the traffic on Broadway far below.

RESUME HUNSECKER

He is pounding on the door again. CAMERA makes a quick pan

to Sidney who, in a split second, realizes that Susan may

have gone out on the balcony. He turns, dashes towards the

study to look out on the terrace.

RESUME SUSAN:

She has now started to climb onto the parapet. Sidney leaps

into shot, dragging her bodily off the parapet and out of

shot. We hear Susan cry out, a hysterical gasp. CAMERA,

looking through the windows of Susan's bedroom, sees the

door fly open as Hunsecker bursts into the room. He looks

swiftly around, advances towards the open window.

Exasperated by the sound of the gramaphone, he switches it

off; he steps out onto the terrace. CAMERA PANS with him as

he turns to look back into the study where Susan's inanimate

figure is sprawled on the floor, half across the low

upholstered footstool. Sidney, white and shaking, is

standing over her.

REVERSE ANGLE:

CAMERA at floor level. Susan is framed in foreground. The

lower half of Sidney can be seen beside her. Hunsecker is

on the terrace in background. Shocked, he moves quickly

into the room.

HUNSECKER:

A CLOSE UP. He looks down at his sister. He is badly

shaken. The sharp bite of terror produces a reaction of

something akin to anger. But he swiftly controls it. He

moves past CAMERA.

REVERSE ANGLE:

Hunsecker stoops into shot. Tenderly, he lifts the girl's

body to get it into the arm chair. Susan is quite lifeless,

limp with the dead weight of a creature that has lost any

instinct for self-preservation. But as she feels her

brother's arms, and as she recognizes who it is, she breaks

out in hysteria.

SUSAN:

(wildly)

No! NO! Don't touch me!

HUNSECKER:

(sharply)

Susan!...

But Susan strikes at him, a vicious gesture of revulsion.

Hunsecker lets her go. She falls into the arm chair, her

face hidden from him; she begins to sob.

SUSAN:

(her body shaking)

Go away!...Go away!...

Hunsecker would like to comfort her, but he dare not touch

her again for fear of inviting another rebuff. He is deeply

hurt and wounded. Embarrassed that Sidney should watch this

moment, Hunsecker rises. To cover his emotion, he walks to

the tray of drinks in background; he pours a brandy and

comes back. Stooping, he offers it to Susan. Her only

reaction is again to wrench herself away from him, facing

the opposite direction.

SUSAN:

(sobbing bitterly)

GO AWAY!

Hunsecker sets down the drink, stands up.

HUNSECKER:

(in a choked voice)

Talk to her, Sidney...

SIDNEY:

(hushed)

Talk to her yourself...

Over scene the telephone rings. It is ignored. While

Hunsecker looks down at the girl, helplessly, the telephone

continues to ring.

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