The Birds Page #9

MELANIE:

I'm neither poor nor innocent, but

the truth of that particular...

MITCH:

The truth is you were running around

with a pretty wild crowd...

MELANIE:

Yes, but...

MITCH:

...who didn't much care for propriety

or convention or...

MELANIE:

Yes.

MITCH:

...the opinions of others, and you

went right along with them, isn't

that the truth?

MELANIE:

Yes, that's the truth. But I was

pushed into that fountain, and that's

the truth, too.

MITCH:

Sure. Do you really know Annie

Hayworth?

MELANIE:

No.

(pause)

At least, I didn't until I came up

here.

MITCH:

So you didn't go to school together.

MELANIE:

No.

MITCH:

And you didn't come up here to see

her.

MELANIE:

No.

MITCH:

You were lying.

MELANIE:

Yes, I was lying.

MITCH:

Did you really write a letter to me?

Or was that a lie, too?

MELANIE:

I wrote the letter.

MITCH:

What did it say?

MELANIE:

It said, "Dear Mr. Brenner, I think

you need those lovebirds, after all.

They may help your personality."

That's what it said.

MITCH:

But you tore it up.

MELANIE:

Yes.

MITCH:

Why?

MELANIE:

Because it seemed stupid and foolish.

MITCH:

Like jumping into a fountain in Rome!

MELANIE:

I told you what happened in Rome!

MITCH:

Do you expect me to believe...?

MELANIE:

I don't give a damn what you believe!

Angrily she gets into the car, is about to slam the door

when Mitch catches it in his hands.

MITCH:

I'd still like to see you.

MELANIE:

Why?

MITCH:

I think it could be fun.

CLOSE SHOT - MELANIE

pulling the door shut.

MELANIE:

That might have been good enough in

Rome last summer. But it's not good

enough now.

CLOSE SHOT - MITCH

MITCH:

It is for me.

CLOSE SHOT - MELANIE

MELANIE:

But not for me.

CLOSE SHOT - MITCH

MITCH:

What do you want ?

CLOSE SHOT - MELANIE

MELANIE:

(angrily sarcastic)

I thought you knew! I want to go

through life laughing and beautiful

and jumping into fountains naked!

Good night!

MED. SHOT - THE CAR

as it pulls away. Mitch yanks his hands back from the door.

CLOSE SHOT - MITCH

as he watches the car leave.

LONG SHOT - THE ROAD

The car turns the bend and disappears. Empty road. Only the

long line of telephone poles and wires and... something

strange on the wires.

CLOSE SHOT MITCH

His attention caught by the poles and wires.

CLOSE SHOT - THE WIRES

Hundreds of birds sitting on them.

MED. SHOT - MITCH

standing and watching. A wind blows off the water. He shivers

suddenly, turns up his collar, and heads for the house.

DISSOLVE:

INT. ANNIE HAYWORTH'S LIVING ROOM - MED. SHOT - ANNIE

HAYWORTH:

In an easy chair, reading. She is wearing a robe and smoking,

absorbed in her book. She turns when she hears the front

DOOR OPENING.

ANNIE:

Miss Daniels? Is that you?

MELANIE (O.S.)

Yes.

Annie rises to greet her. As Melanie ENTERS THE SHOT:

ANNIE:

Hi.

(seeing her face)

Is something wrong? Is that cut

beginning to bother you?

MELANIE:

(touching her head)

No, it's not the cut that's bothering

me.

ANNIE:

(concerned)

Would you like some brandy?

MELANIE:

If you have some, I'd...

ANNIE:

I'll get it, sit down, Miss Daniels.

Do you want a sweater or something?

A quilt?

As Annie gets the brandy:

MELANIE:

No, thank you.

(pause)

Won't you call me Melanie?

ANNIE:

All right.

(she smiles)

MED. SHOT - MELANIE sitting, tucking her legs up under her.

She is disturbed by her conversation with Mitch and, in fact,

by the way this entire trip has worked out. Annie brings her

the glass of brandy, and she takes it gratefully.

MELANIE:

Thank you.

ANNIE:

(sitting opposite her)

It gets a little chilly here at night

sometimes. Especially if you're over

near the bay.

Melanie nods and sips at the brandy. There is a long pause.

ANNIE:

Well, how'd your evening go?

Melanie shrugs.

ANNIE:

Did you meet Lydia?

Melanie nods.

ANNIE:

Or would you rather I changed the

subject?

MELANIE:

(with a tired smile)

I think so.

ANNIE:

(nodding)

How do you like our little hamlet?

MELANIE:

I despise it.

ANNIE:

(laughing)

Well, I don't suppose it offers much

to the casual visitor. Unless you're

thrilled by a collection of shacks

on a hillside. It takes a while to

get used to.

MELANIE:

Where are you from originally, Annie?

ANNIE:

San Francisco.

MELANIE:

How'd you happen to come here?

ANNIE:

Oh, someone invited me up for the

weekend a long time ago.

There is an awkward pause. Annie shrugs.

ANNIE:

Look, I see no reason for being coy

about this. It was Mitch Brenner.

Melanie nods.

ANNIE:

I guess you knew that, anyway.

MELANIE:

I suspected as much.

ANNIE:

You needn't worry. It's over and

done with. A long time ago.

MELANIE:

Annie -- there's nothing between

Mitch and me.

ANNIE:

Isn't there?

(she shrugs)

Maybe there isn't. Maybe there's

never anything between Mitch and any

girl.

MELANIE:

What do you mean?

ANNIE:

I think I'll have some of that, too.

(she pours brandy,

drinks, sighs)

I was seeing quite a lot of him in

San Francisco, you know.

(she smiles weakly)

And then, one weekend, he asked me

up to meet Lydia.

MELANIE:

When was this?

ANNIE:

Four years ago. Of course, that was

shortly after his father died. Things

may be different now.

MELANIE:

Different?

ANNIE:

With Lydia.

(pause)

Did she seem a trifle distant?

MELANIE:

(smiling)

A trifle.

ANNIE:

Then maybe it isn't different at

all. You know, her attitude nearly

drove me crazy. I simply couldn't

understand it.

ANNIE:

When I got back to San Francisco I

spent days trying to figure out just

what I'd done to displease her.

MELANIE:

And what had you done?

ANNIE:

Nothing! I simply existed. So what

was the answer? A jealous woman,

right? A clinging possessive mother.

(she shakes her head)

Wrong. With all due respect to

Oedipus, I don't think that was the

case at all.

MELANIE:

Then what was it?

ANNIE:

Lydia liked me, you see. That was

the strange part of it. In fact, now

that I'm no longer a threat, we're

very good friends.

MELANIE:

Then why did she object to you?

ANNIE:

Because she was afraid.

MELANIE:

Afraid you'd take Mitch?

ANNIE:

Afraid I'd give Mitch.

MELANIE:

I don't understand.

ANNIE:

Afraid of any woman who'd give Mitch

the only thing Lydia can give him --

love.

MELANIE:

Annie, that adds up to a jealous,

possessive woman.

ANNIE:

No, I don't think so. She's not afraid

of losing her son, you see. She's

only afraid of being abandoned.

MELANIE:

Someone ought to tell her she'd be

gaining a daughter.

ANNIE:

She already has a daughter.

MELANIE:

What about Mitch? Didn't he have

anything to say about this?

ANNIE:

(apologetically)

I can understand his position. He

went through a lot with Lydia after

his father died. He didn't want to

risk going through it all over again.

MELANIE:

I see.

ANNIE:

So it ended. Not immediately, of

course. I went back to San Francisco,

and I still saw Mitch every now and

then... but we both knew it was

finished.

MELANIE:

Then what are you doing here in Bodega

Bay?

ANNIE:

You get straight to the point, don't

you?

MELANIE:

I'm sorry. Forgive me.

ANNIE:

No, that's all right, I don't mind.

I came up here for two reasons. To

begin with, I was bored with my job

in San Francisco. I was teaching at

a private school there... well, you

know, you probably went to one

yourself.

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