The Day the Clown Cried Page #19

SCHARFF:

(not worried)

I know about it, sir.

BESTLER:

Close the window.

Scharff carefully closes the window. Bestler walks around

desk to stand leaning against the wall.

BESTLER:

Just what do you think fraternization

means, Lieutenant Scharff ?

SCHARFF:

Communication. Social contact.

Giving aid, talking ...

(shrugs helplessly)

BESTLER:

How long has this been going on?

SCHARFF:

Just the last two or three weeks.

BESTLER:

And the Commandant approved?

SCHARFF:

Well, sir, children are very hard to handle.

BESTLER:

This clown! Who is he?

SCHARFF:

(trying hard to remember)

It's ... I know. It's Doork, the Great.

BESTLER:

Not his clown name, you idiot.

His number. His identification.

SCHARFF:

If I have the Colonel's permission

to leave, I will check it at once.

BESTLER:

Later. Right now I want these

performances halted. Understand?

SCHARFF:

Yes, sir.

Bestler begins shuffling papers from the folder. Scharff,

uncertain whether he has been dismissed or not, hesitates.

Bestler glances up.

BESTLER:

(shouting)

Immediately!

SCHARFF:

Yes, sir !

He salutes and bolts from the room, almost crashing into the

door in his flight.

CUT TO:

PRISON YARD - FULL SHOT - DAY

Shooting past the children in f.g. to Helmut through the

fence, as he bows to the applauding youngsters. Behind him

we can see a number of soldier-guards coming through the

cordon of watching prisoners, and waving them to disperse.

They do so reluctantly, as the guard from Helmut's barrack

moves forward to Helmut, who is just about to start another

routine.

GUARD:

(shouting)

That's all. Show's over. Everybody clear out.

Helmut stops, startled.

MED. SHOT - HELMUT, GUARD

ANGLED to include children across the fence.

HELMUT:

What's wrong?

GUARD:

(to Helmut)

Get back to the barrack.

(to children)

You heard me. Show's over.

The children don't move, but stand staring at Helmut as if

waiting for him to tell them what to do. This frustrates

the guard, who isn't accustomed to being questioned.

GUARD:

Go on. Get away.

Still the children refuse to budge. Angry, the guard goes

close to the fence, waving his arms at them.

GUARD:

Move, damn it, before I come over there and ...

The youngsters scuttle back a few feet fearfully, but there

they stop, their eyes still on Helmut. The guard turns to

Helmut.

GUARD:

Get them moving before somebody gets hurt.

Helmut goes up to the fence and speaks to the children

softly.

HELMUT:

That's all the show for today. Go back inside.

The children back away with long faces. Finally convinced

that Helmut is through, they turn and wander back toward

their barracks, but with many a backward look at him.

Helmut continues to encourage them, as the guard looks on.

HELMUT:

That's right now, go along.

I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.

Goodbye. Until tomorrow.

Many of the children wave to him. The guard takes Helmut by

the arm, turns him toward the barrack and hustles him off.

MED. TWO SHOT - HELMUT, GUARD

The CAMERA MOVES BACK as they come toward it, the guard

firmly propelling Helmut along.

GUARD:

Get inside and take that stuff off your face.

HELMUT:

I don't understand. What's the matter?

GUARD:

Orders. No more shows.

HELMUT:

You mean ... not ever?

GUARD:

That's right.

HELMUT:

But we weren't doing any harm.

GUARD:

The Commandant thinks you are.

HELMUT:

The Commandant?

GUARD:

The new Commandant. He minds.

HELMUT:

Just because I make them laugh a little ...

GUARD:

You know the rule ... no mixing with Jews.

HELMUT:

I wasn't mixing! I was only ...

The guard stops him and turns him so that they are face to

face. The CAMERA MOVES UP TO --

TIGHT TWO SHOT - HELMUT, GUARD

GUARD:

(quietly, threatening)

Look, it's not my order. It's the Commandant's.

(more kindly)

Now do what I tell you and

save yourself a lot of grief.

He pushes Helmut toward his barrack and then turns and walks

off, the CAMERA PULLING BACK to --

WIDER ANGLE:

Helmut watches the guard go, then, dejectedly, shuffles

toward his barrack. As he nears it, Keltner, Franz, Adolf,

Herman, Ludwig, and the other regulars intercept him.

MED. SHOT - GROUP

They crowd around Helmut, anxious to know what's happened.

FRANZ:

What happened?

HELMUT:

(still bewildered)

He says I've got to stop -- with the children.

KELTNER:

(nodding)

I've been expecting it.

LUDWIG:

Because they're Jews?

KELTNER:

Because of the laughing.

HELMUT:

Why should that bother them?

KELTNER:

When you rule by fear, laughter is the

most frightening sound in the world.

Silently the men walk up the steps and into the barrack, the

CAMERA PANNING with them until we ...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PRISON YARD - FULL SHOT - DAY

It is a warm, sunny afternoon and most of the prisoners on

both sides of the fence, are out warming their weary bones.

On the Aryan side, a number of prisoners, including Ludwig

and Herman, are having a makeshift soccer game using a bound

bundle of rags for a ball. They play with fierce rigor for

such emaciated men, yelling at each other and kicking up

clouds of dust as they try to work off their frustrations.

On the non-Aryan side of the fence, the children, now about

50 in number, are grouped near the wire barricades staring

across it, their faces dour. It appears they are watching

the game.

MED. LONG SHOT - CHILDREN

Shooting past the soccer players in f.g. toward the fence.

Through the men we can see the children, but the play moves

away from them. They continue to stare straight ahead,

obviously watching something else. Suddenly many of them

press close to the fence straining to see.

CUT TO:

EXT. BARRACK "H" - CHILDREN'S POV

Helmut can be seen standing in the doorway. After a beat,

he quickly retreats back into the barrack.

CUT TO:

INT. BARRACK "H" - DAY

The CAMERA MOVES BACKWARD down the aisle between the bunks

as Helmut walks dejectedly down the aisle, nervously

fingering his white ascot. The barrack is empty except for

Keltner, who is arranging the sprouts of his potato plant

over a little trellis of sticks. Helmut turns and walks

back up the aisle to stand in front of Keltner.

HELMUT:

I can't go out there. I can't take

another day of them staring at me.

KELTNER:

They'll get over it. Disappointment

is no stranger to those children.

HELMUT:

They look at me as though it was all my fault.

Haven't they been told why I can't ...

KELTNER:

I'm sure they have.

HELMUT:

Then why do they stare?

KELTNER:

(holding up the plant)

It's amazing how a thing like this

can feed off itself. Think how lucky

we would be if we could do that.

Helmut glances disinterestedly at the plant as he reaches up

to his bunk and brings down the coat belonging to Franz. He

holds coat up for Keltner to see.

HELMUT:

I sewed a button on. Look all right?

KELTNER:

(inspecting coat)

Fine.

Helmut gently pats the coat, then folds it and puts it back

on his bunk.

HELMUT:

I did make them laugh. Didn't I?

Keltner nods.

HELMUT:

(continuing; angrily)

I wish they'd get them out of here.

Prison is no place for little children.

KELTNER:

We've been all over that before.

You've got to stop thinking about them.

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