The Barefoot Contessa Page #5

drinking cup, Maria had it

The people with the money in their

hot little hands put her up there

and she could do no wrong

But I can remember very well

the day it did look like

the roof fell in on all of us

It was in London.

Back in the States

the picture was a smash

from coast to coast

I and Kirk Edwards had flown

over to see S Montague Brown

who wanted it for his

theatres in England

I could tell right

away something was wrong

Kirk didn't even look at me

And S Montague Brown

was eating and drinking

as if the Labour Party had

just been elected unanimously

May I know what the

depression is about?

- Maria

- What about Maria?

Maria's mother is dead

Everybody's mother's

gotta die sometime

Don't let it get you down like this

As a matter of fact, we can milk this

for some good exploitation in Spain

Maybe even worldwide. A big church

funeral, using pesetas, remember

Oscar, shut up

Mr Muldoon, it seems that Maria's

mother was murdered by Maria's father

Murdered? Her father

murdered her mother? When?

- Last night

- How'd you hear about this?

The Madrid office just telephoned

The papers? Has it

got to the papers?

Not yet

As you know, over here crime is

not exploited to sell newspapers

Without it you could

print the three main papers

in England on postage stamps

I am not interested

in selling newspapers

or in debating good and bad taste

The newspapers have

not yet picked it up

and won't, as long as

Maria stays out of it

Boss, you're 100% right

We gotta keep her out of it.

Does she know about it yet?

I've put in a call to Harry

Dawes. He can find out

- You want Harry to tell her?

- Of course not

Certainly not until the trial is

over and it's too late to be news

And we're finished

playing the key cities

Boss, you think of everything

Ah, what a business, show business

For years you sweat

and dream and dig

and finally you come

up with the jackpot

You've made it. You got a right to

open your collar, take off your shoes

and relax in Las Vegas

for the rest of your life

So what happens? Her father

chokes her mother to death

It could make ya cry

Montague, if there's one thing I

know about, it's Mr John Q Public

He wants clean people on the

screen for his children to look at

Don't let the eggheads

tell you he wants

high-class acting

and fancy dialogue

Oscar, the phone

He wants to forget his troubles,

look at clean people, escape

He don't wanna see

drunks, sex maniacs

divorcees, communists, murderers

And no children of murderers. He's

got enough of that at home. Hello?

Hello? Yeah, Mr Edwards

is right here. Put him on

- It's Harry, for you

- You talk to him

Hello? Hello? I hear nothing

Hello, Harry? No, this is Oscar

Yeah, how are you, Harry?

Fine, fine. Say,

how is it out there?

You don't say? Whaddaya know?

Nice day in California

Are you paying for

this call yourself, Oscar?

Harry, the reason we called...

What's new and all that, but also...

have you happened

to see Maria lately?

Oh, you just left her? Oh,

good, good. Say, how is she?

Fine, fine. Say, Harry, something

kind of important has come up

I say, something kind of

important has come up

Yeah. That maybe

you should know about

but that maybe you should keep

Maria from knowing about right now

Yeah. Yeah, it's got to

do with Maria in a way

Her old man knocked off her old lady

Her father murdered her mother

What?

I can't hear you, suddenly

What? What do you mean, you know?

Does Maria know?

How? The papers?

Her brother sent a cable?

Now, I hope Maria understands

that if the papers find out

it can not only ruin

the picture, but her also

She does? Harry says

Maria understands perfectly

And you too. This is no

time for you to be artistic

Remember, this is money out of

your pocket too, so take no chances

You do? Harry says

he understands also

I must say, Harry, you're being

very cooperative about this

And please extend our

heartfelt sympathy to Maria

at this time of her grief

What?

What? We can what?!

We can extend our sympathy

to Maria in person?

Harry, what are you talking about?

Didn't you tell me you just left her?

You left her at the airport?

She's flying to Madrid

to be with her father?

Who do we know in New York for

a snatch job between planes?

Dawes, are you outta your mind?

How could you let her do this? What?

What kind of an answer is that

against a $10 million world gross?

You don't say? Well, I'm just

as normal as you are, buster

Remember that in the years ahead

when you're directing

cigarette butts on TV

She loves her father

Neither the picture nor her

career mean as much to her

as being with her father

in his time of need

Starring Francis X Bushman

and Clara Kimball Young

Friday, Saturday and

Sunday at the Bijou

There will be a cornet

solo on Saturday night

Well, you remember

what happened

The trial drew more people than

"Madame X", and played better

Maria hired the best lawyers

in Spain. She never slept

You'd think it was her own

life she was fighting for

Harry and Jerry flew over

They couldn't help

much, but they were there

Nobody asked me and I wasn't

anybody's friend especially

but I stuck around

You couldn't help feeling

sorry for the old man

You could tell just by looking at him

that half the time he

didn't know where he was

And you wouldn't give a

bent kopeck for his chances

the way he kept admitting, over and

over, that he killed the old lady

Things picked up for the

home team when Maria's brother

a ganef if ever I saw

one, took the stand

He testified that his mother had

beaten up the old man many times

and how, on the night of the murder

she not only smashed

his radio, but hit him

But if I had to write down what

no actress should ever make public

I would copy Maria's testimony

in her father's defence

She left out nothing

She told about the squalor and filth

into which she and

her brother were born

and how they grew up like animals

She told about a mother

who was full of hate

and how she got back

the hate she gave

Maria handed Mom a rough

time on that witness stand

I couldn't help wondering how

this would go in box-office heaven

where Mom is the commanding saint

But that courtroom was

with her all the way

Some of them cried, even the judges

They must be appointed in Spain,

because I don't know of anybody

ever getting elected whose

mother was not an angel

And, as it turned out

the audiences of the whole world

could have been sitting

in that courtroom

From Scarsdale to

Singapore, they loved her

Her father beat the rap,

of course. Self-defence

And Maria walked out

of that courthouse a bigger star

than when she broke all

the rules by walking into it

So how are you going to figure it?

Suppose you're me

and what the public wants

and thinks is your business

You're standing in

the middle of them

asking yourself "Where

did I lose these people?"

You realise maybe the public

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes