Sweet Smell of Success Page #40

REVERSE ANGLE:

Kello, moving silently up behind Sidney, slows down, amused

at Sidney's prescience.

KELLO:

Hi!

(coming to join Sidney)

I just been on the phone to J.J.

Kello's manner is almost affectionate. He shakes his head,

admonishing Sidney.

KELLO:

(mildly)

You been a bad boy, Sidney. J.J.'s

going to write about you in his

column tomorrow.

REVERSE ANGLE:

SHOOTING ACROSS Kello onto Sidney. Sidney's smile is tired.

SIDNEY:

I thought he would.

KELLO:

Yeah...

(then)

And another thing - he's gonna say

you 'resisted arrest'...

(as Sidney nods)

You know J.J....!

Sidney turns away to look back towards Phil. Then, taking

Kello totally by surprise, he wheels, striking the cop

viciously across the mouth.

KELLO:

Kello's head jerks back. Recovering at once, he guffaws,

lurches into CAMERA with a sudden vicious movement. There

is a sharp guttural cry over scene.

LONGER ANGLE:

Phil runs forward towards the figures of Sidney and Kello

seen beyond him. In doing so, he blocks the view so that we

do not clearly see the violence with which Kello strikes

Sidney down. Phil, in foreground, is seen to relax. When

he moves aside, clearing the view, Sidney is writhing on the

ground at Kello's feet.

CLOSER ANGLE:

Kello wipes his knuckles on his handkerchief. He signals to

Phil to help lift the body at his feet. Phil enters shot

and they raise Sidney, half carrying, half dragging him out

of shot.

LONG SHOT:

The cops carry the figure of Sidney Falco across Duffy

Square; they bundle him into the police car. The pigeons in

the square, circle.

HUNSECKER'S TERRACE

CAMERA LOOKS down towards Duffy Square in the distance. The

police car can be seen moving off, circling the square and

disappearing southward on Broadway. CAMERA PULLS BACK to

include Hunsecker in foreground.

HUNSECKER:

A CLOSE SHOT, SHOOTING sharply upward at Hunsecker. He

looks down, quiet impassively, and there is a slightly

insane grandeur, a paranoiac superiority in the way that he

turns back, dismissing Sidney from his thoughts.

INT. LIVING ROOM

CAMERA SHOOTS towards the closed door of Susan's room.

Hunsecker walks into the shot, stops before the door. He

begins to take off his tie and unbutton his shirt, clearly

preparing to go to bed. As an after-thought, he comes back

to the door, addresses it:

HUNSECKER:

(gently)

Susie?

(getting no answer)

Are you in bed...?

CAMERA MOVES CLOSER. It is at a low level, still emphasizing

the man's dignity. He strolls for a few paces.

HUNSECKER:

(continuing)

I don't have to tell you, of

course, that I cleared your

boyfriend's name; I didn't let you

down...

CAMERA has now moved so that we are shooting past Hunsecker

onto Susan's door. He gets no answer except silence.

HUNSECKER:

A CLOSE SHOT, REVERSE ANGLE. We now see in his face a

flicker of fear. With what is clearly an effort, he

reassumes a confident manner.

HUNSECKER:

...I was saving this news for

breakfast, but I think I'll jump

the gun! I'M GONNA GIVE YOU AND

DALLAS THE BIGGEST WEDDING THIS

TOWN HAS EVER SEEN!

Still no answer from inside the bedroom. Hunsecker's forced

expression remains unnaturally fixed upon his face. He

calls out:

HUNSECKER:

Susie...?

INT. BEDROOM

The room is quite empty. CAMERA SHOOTS across the bed

towards the door in background. Susan's discarded fur coat

lies on the bed. And the doors of the wardrobe are open.

Hunsecker's voice can be heard continuing over scene:

HUNSECKER (O.S.)

(outside)

I'm getting the Mayor to perform

the ceremony and - NO, I think I'll

fly the Governor down from Albany...

(a pause)

Do you hear...?

A pause. Then, very tentatively, the bedroom door is opened.

HUNSECKER (O.S.)

(outside)

Are you listening?...

Now he opens the door and comes in.

HUNSECKER:

A BIG CLOSE UP. The sight of the empty room freezes his

face for a moment. His eyes look round.

INT. BEDROOM

From Hunsecker's viewpoint. A PANNING SHOT, from the open

door of the cupboard to the fur coat. CAMERA PULLS BACK to

include Hunsecker. He steps to the bed, picks up the coat.

REVERSE ANGLE:

There is a dazed, incredulous look on his face. But, as he

glances over his shoulder, CAMERA ZOOMS PAST him towards a

little door in the wall behind him: It is ajar, showing a

couple of inches of light.

RESUME HUNSECKER

Once again Hunsecker reassures himself that Susan must be

behind the door. But his voice is even more false as he

declares:

HUNSECKER:

(a note of anger

appearing in his voice)

Susie!...You won't threaten

me!...Nobody walks out on J.J.

Hunsecker!

CAMERA NOW MOVES CLOSER and closer to Hunsecker. The ANGLE

is a weird one, tilting grotesquely upward.

HUNSECKER:

(continuing)

You need me - you all need me!...

Hunsecker, his fists clenching fiercely at the fur coat,

walks towards the door. CAMERA PANS with him. He stands a

few inches from the narrow opening. He seems about to push

the door open further, but is afraid to do so.

INT. BATHROOM

CAMERA SHOOTS ACROSS the bathtub, showing enough of the tiny

room to make it clear that it, too, is completely empty.

Through the slit in the door, we can see only a glimpse of

the movement of Hunsecker outside. Hunsecker's voice

continues:

HUNSECKER (O.S.)

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall

not want".

(a sneering laugh)

That's bunk in a book! I'm the

Shepherd of millions of little men

and women!...

INT. BEDROOM

A DOWNWARD ANGLE, SHOOTING past Hunsecker to the door. As

Hunsecker retreats from the door, he is still clutching the

fur coat. He stands alone in the middle of the room and his

gestures are a little wild. CAMERA rises higher to shoot

down at Hunsecker, alone in the little room.

HUNSECKER:

(continuing)

...I don't ask them to get on their

knees, but they come to me for

advice and guidance! Who are you

to reject me!

With an increasingly eccentric manner, Hunsecker strides out

of the bedroom door into the living room again.

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