The Butler Page #16

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INT. WHITE HOUSE - RD WARNER’S OFFICE - DAY - 1986

Cecil stands across from the Chief Usher, RD Warner.

RD WARNER:

Morning, Cecil.

CECIL:

Morning, Mr. Warner. May I sit

down.

RD Warner’s stare says ‘no’. Cecil remains standing.

CECIL (CONT’D)

I’ve been here for almost thirty

years now, and for all that time,

the black help has been paid a

smaller salary than the white help.

And I just don’t think it’s right,

Mr. Warner. There are black

housemen who should be engineers by

now, they should’ve been promoted

years ago.

RD WARNER:

You think so?

CECIL:

I’m gonna have to be paid the same

as the white help or I’ma have to

move on.

Silence.

RD WARNER:

I guess you’ll be moving on then.

CECIL:

I told the President that you’d say

that. He told me to tell you to

take this up with him personally.

Cecil smiles his warm smile. RD Warner is livid.

CECIL (CONT’D)

Excuse me.

Cecil walks out of the room.

INT. HALLWAY - WHITE HOUSE - NIGHT - 1986

NANCY REAGAN, 61, sharp and savvy, walks down the hall toward

Cecil with Reagan’s Treasury Secretary, JAMES BAKER.

95.

NANCY:

I’m not comfortable with all the

foreign policy hawks surrounding

Ronnie, we need more moderates on

his staff. And I want a summit

with the Russians. Ronnie needs to

meet with them face to face if we

really want to thaw this ice.

She passes Cecil, but then stops and turns around.

NANCY (CONT’D)

Cecil.

Cecil turns around with a smile.

CECIL:

Yes, Mrs. Reagan?

NANCY:

(to James)

We will talk.

CECIL:

Yes ma’am?

Nancy glances at him with a sharp stare.

NANCY:

You’re very popular around here.

Everyone says you’re the man that

got them raises and promotions. I

had no idea.

Cecil smiles with humility.

CECIL:

I wish I could take credit for

that.

NANCY:

I’d like to invite you to the State

Dinner next week.

CECIL:

But I’m going to be there, Mrs.

Reagan.

NANCY:

No, not as a butler, Cecil, I’m

inviting you as a guest.

Cecil is confused.

96.

CECIL:

But...the President prefers for me

to serve him personally.

NANCY:

Don’t you worry about, Ronnie. I’ll

take care of that. So we’ll see you

next week? You and your wife.

CECIL:

My wife?

NANCY:

It’s... It’s Gloria, yes?

CECIL:

Yes.

Nancy nods, then continues down the hall. Cecil watches her

go, stunned at the invitation.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - ENTRANCE HALL - DAY - 1986

Gloria and Cecil enter the entrance hall. Gloria looks around

in amazement, Cinderella at the ball. Amused, Cecil wanders

behind her.

CECIL:

(to Gloria)

This is the Entrance Hall.

Holloway approaches them with a tray of champagne flutes.

HOLLOWAY:

Can I get you a glass of champagne,

Mr. Gaines?

Cecil rolls his eyes.

CECIL:

Shut up!

Holloway smirks. Then they hear:

LOUD SPEAKER:

Ladies and Gentleman, the President

and First Lady of the United

States.

We hear ‘Hail to the Chief’ as Ronnie and Nancy walk down the

stairs with honor guards to great fanfare.

Gloria stares at Nancy in awe.

97.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - STATE DINING ROOM - NIGHT - 1986

Cecil and Gloria are seated at separate tables. He looks

around at all of the butlers serving the room - carefully

setting dishes, refilling water. He looks uncomfortable.

CECIL V.O.

It was different sitting at the

table instead of serving it. Real

different. I could see the two

faces the butlers wore to survive

and I knew I lived my life with

those same two faces. Gloria looked

so happy, but I didn’t feel the

same way. I guess I wished we were

there for real instead of show.

Everyone gets ready to eat.

RONNIE:

I think that’s Bon appetite

everybody.

Carter walks by to take a used utensil from Cecil.

CARTER:

(whispering in Cecil’s

ear)

You a black motherf***er!

INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY - 1986

Ronnie sits with PAT BUCHANAN, 47, jowly, the Communications

Director. They are across from Republican Senator NANCY

KASSEBAUM, 53, and a few other Republican Senators.

Cecil pours tea for Senator Kassebaum who smiles at him.

RONNIE:

I want to make myself clear on this

issue. If Congress passes sanctions

against South Africa, I will be

forced to veto those sanctions.

Cecil stops pouring for a split second, then starts up again.

SENATOR KASSEBAUM

Well, Mr. President, we feel that

would be a major mistake. The

brutal repression of South African

black citizens is no longer just a

foreign policy issue, but a United

States racial issue.

98.

Cecil stands at the back, staring forward, it’s clear he’s

listening. Senator Kassebaum turns to Ronnie with urgency:

SENATOR KASSEBAUM (CONT’D)

We’re Senators from your own party.

That’s why we feel so comfortable

in letting you know that South

Africa is a human rights disaster.

Black people are being beaten,

tortured, gunned down in the middle

of the street. Americans see this

on TV, they’re horrified by

Apartheid.

Ronnie looks frustrated with the Senators.

RONNIE:

I’ve made my decision.

Cecil can’t believe his ears.

SENATOR KASSEBAUM

Mr. President, your reputation as a

world leader is at stake. The

United States of America needs to

be on the right side of history on

the race issue.

Ronnie looks at them all with his iron will.

RONNIE:

I’ll say it again. If Congress

passes this bill, I will veto it.

Period.

Pat Buchanan smiles at the Republican Senators who just sit

there and stare at Ronnie. Unbelievable.

Cecil stares at Ronnie too, disturbed on a deep level.

CUT TO - COTTON FIELDS - FLASHBACK - CECIL’S DREAM.

He’s a boy in the cotton fields with his father, playing in

the cotton.

CUT TO - THE HOUSE - FLASHBACK - CECIL’S DREAM

Thomas Westfall walks up to 15 year old Cecil who’s reading

on the porch.

99.

THOMAS:

What? You reading now? Get up and

do the dishes ‘fore I shoot you in

the head.

INT. GAINES HOUSE - BEDROOM - LATER - 1986

Cecil awakens. Bothered by the State Dinner and Reagan’s

words. He can’t sleep. Restless, he leaves the bedroom.

CECIL V.O.

Nothing seemed right to me after

that State Dinner. I got all

confused.

INT. GAINES HOUSE - LOUIS’ BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING - 1986

Cecil has not slept. But he’s not tired. He’s going through

Louis’ boxes. He looks at his baseball trophies and studies

his various awards. He sees the faded flier: MAMIE TILL,

MOTHER OF EMMET TILL, SPEAKS OUT!

Then he sees a copy of the civil rights book: ‘RACE, REFORM

AND REBELLION’. He thumbs through it, looks at the pictures

and finds one of the burning bus.

CECIL V.O.

They started writing books about

everything Louis and his friends

had done.

Inside the book he finds an old mug shot of Louis.

CECIL V.O. (CONT’D)

Louis was never a criminal, he was

a hero. Fighting to save the soul

of our country.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - ENTRANCE HALL - DAY - 1986

Tired, Cecil passes out cookies to bratty CHILDREN on a White

House tour. For the first time he looks irritated at work.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - PRESIDENT REAGAN’S CLOSET - DAY - 1986

Shoes lay everywhere. On his hands and knees Cecil shines

them. He looks tired, almost angry.

100.

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