The Day the Clown Cried Page #17

ANOTHER ANGLE:

SHOOTING PAST Helmut and group and in f.g. toward the main

yard, where we see Galt and Uhlmann approaching. During the

ensuing dialogue, Galt spots Helmut, nudges Uhlmann and

together they come toward him.

KELTNER:

Give in, Franz. You know he's going

to talk you out of it again.

HELMUT:

I'll be careful. I swear. Besides, I've

got to have it. I explained before...

a clown can't change his costume.

It's his trademark.

FRANZ:

I know ... I know ... but ...

Galt and Uhlmann join the group, looking to start trouble.

GALT:

(interrupting)

Why should he give it

to a Jew clown? Right, kid?

FRANZ:

That's got nothing to do with it.

GALT:

What's the matter with you bastards

anyway? All he ever did for us was

cause trouble, but for them ...

(nodding toward the other side)

... he can't do enough.

(a beat)

I say he's one of them.

KELTNER:

(cooly)

If he were, he'd be over there

Through this Helmut remains silent -- his eyes focused on

the coat.

GALT:

That's where he belongs.

Franz and Keltner get to their feet. Herman remains seated.

FRANZ:

What're you so hot about? It's no skin off your ...

UHLMANN:

(cutting in)

We've got a good reason for not liking them.

GALT:

If it wasn't for them ... we wouldn't be in here.

This surprises the men. Herman gets to his feet.

HERMAN:

What'd you mean?

UHLMANN:

A bunch of them got picked up with papers

we'd sold them. And what'd they do?

Turn us in, they did. The ungrateful ...

KELTNER:

So that was it! Counterfeit papers.

I can imagine the prices.

GALT:

Supply and demand, Reverend.

Supply and demand.

Deliberately, Franz hands his coat to Helmut.

FRANZ:

Take it, Doork -- anytime you want it.

Helmut accepts the coat ... nodding his head in the gracious

manner of a ruler accepting homage from a faithful subject.

He turns smartly and slowly struts away with as much dignity

as he can muster in his big shoes which flap with every step

he takes. The others stand and stare at Galt and Uhlmann.

UHLMANN:

What's so terrible about what we did?

Lot of them got out of the country with our

papers. They were damn good counterfeits.

Keltner, without a word, turns and goes off after Helmut.

GALT:

(calling to Keltner, very proudly)

And what's more, we never charged

for children. Never.

MED. SHOT - HELMUT, KELTNER

As Keltner catches up with Helmut. The CAMERA MOVES BACK as

they walk along the side of the barracks toward the door.

KELTNER:

I've been meaning to ask you.

Heard anymore about the request

for a review of your case?

Helmut doesn't hear him as he's deep in his own thoughts.

HELMUT:

Did you hear the laughs I got yesterday?

Keltner nods.

HELMUT:

Not just from the children ... but the adults, too.

You know where a lot of clowns make a big

mistake? They play just for the children.

They forget ... it's the parents, the adults

that buy the tickets.

KELTNER:

Never thought of that.

Helmut stops, faces Keltner, a sly smile on his face.

HELMUT:

They said I couldn't come up with anything new.

Keltner looks puzzled.

HELMUT:

At the circus. Schmidt and the rest. Wait'll they

see my act now. It's funny. Really funny.

(a beat)

Isn't it?

KELTNER:

The children certainly enjoy it.

Helmut begins to move along again with Keltner following.

HELMUT:

What I needed was time. Time to concentrate

on new material. A man's got to have time alone.

KELTNER:

(glancing around)

You call this being alone?

Helmut takes a few more steps then stops short.

HELMUT:

Do you think ... maybe ... they'd let me

go to other camps and entertain?

Keltner is about to say something ... but shrugs his

shoulders. He knows there's not much point in trying to

make Helmut look at things the way they really are. Helmut

starts to walk again.

HELMUT:

I'd have to get to the Commandant.

Would need his permission.

They arrive at the steps to the barracks. Helmut swings

Franz's coat over his shoulder as he starts up the steps.

HELMUT:

If you have time later, I'd like you to see something

I've been working on. I hunch down and do a tiny

soldier parading. Think they'll like it?

KELTNER:

(pointedly)

Who? The adults?

HELMUT:

(matter of fact)

The children, of course.

KELTNER:

I thought the smart clown

only played to the adults.

Helmut, caught in a contradiction of his own "theory" of

clowning, gives Keltner an annoyed look, then goes into the

barracks letting the door slam behind him.

CLOSE SHOT - KELTNER

As he stands at the bottom of the steps -- he shakes his

head and smiles as he marvels at the change taking place in

the pompous Helmut as the little gentle clown within him

struggles to emerge.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PRISON YARD - PAN SHOT - CHILDREN - DAY

The CAMERA is PANNING across the faces of about forty

children behind the fence as they watch Helmut o.s. Some of

them are laughing; some clapping; some squealing with glee,

and a few just watching quietly, but with laughter in their

eyes. Behind them, near the barracks on the non-Aryan side,

a number of adults also are looking on, but they hang back,

fearful that getting too close to the fence might provoke

the always anticipated wrath of the guards.

EXT. PRISON YARD - FULL SHOT - DAY

We see now that Helmut on his side of the fence is

performing for the children on the other side of the

menacing barbed wire fence. Behind him, also at a safe

distance because they still aren't certain of the official

reaction to all of this, a number of his fellow political

prisoners are watching his antics. But, in spite of his

talk about the importance of playing to the adults -- it is

the children that Helmut plays to -- and it is for their

laughter that he listens. The CAMERA MOVES IN to --

MED. FULL SHOT - HELMUT

And we see that he has used the chalk to whiten his face.

With charcoal he has blackened his eyebrows, formed a wide

black mouth and drawn lines down over his eyelids to his

cheekbones, giving him the appearance of a clown at once sad

and happy. At the moment he is coatless, but Franz's coast

lies nearby on the ground. For the stunt he is doing now

Helmut carries the remains of an old broom and a piece of

cardboard. He is trying to sweep a small heap of dirt he

has gathered onto the cardboard, but each time he tries, the

dirt goes over the cardboard and he mus sweep it into a pile

again. After a few attempts he feigns exasperation and

ponders the problem. Inspiration comes. He sweeps the dirt

into a pile again, bends over and very carefully sweeps it

into the front of one of his shoes, holding up the split top

to let it in. This accomplished, he is very proud of

himself, but when he tries to take a step, some of the dirt

comes out. Frustrated, he ponders again, and again has an

inspiration. He removes the shoe and puts it under his arm.

But as he walks away with it, all the dirt slides out

through the open toe. The children roar with delight.

CLOSE SHOT - LITTLE GIRL

She is a flaxen-haired youngster of about five who holds a

weathered rag doll as she jumps up and down for sheer joy at

Helmut's performance.

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