The Distinguished Gentleman Page #16

The intercom BUZZES.

DODGE:

(into phone)

Yes?... Bring them right in!

(hanging up)

Look. Son. It's great to getyour name in the paper.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 81.

115 CONTINUED:
(2) 115

DODGE (CONT'D)

I bet the gentleman from Iowa wasall over the evening news in DesMoines tonight. Getting goodpress -- letting them know youcare -- that's what it's all about.

Smart move, Tommy. But that's as

far as I'd go with this, if I were

you.

The door opens. Dodge turns to see Olaf Anderson, TommyO'Connor, and Zeke Bridges enter.

DODGE:

What a surprise!

ANDERSEN:

Mr. Chairman!

DODGE:

Mr. Chairman! Hello, Tommy. Zeke

you're looking well, good to see you.

ZEKE:

(wheezing)

Good to see you, you old sum' b*tch.

O'CONNOR

Evening, Mr. Chairman, thanks fortaking the -- Tommy, you s.o.b., theylet you in here?

(indicating Andersen and

Bridges)

You folks finally get to press flesh!

Olaf, meet Tommy Johnson. Tommy, OlafAndersen. Chairman of Gulf Coast

Power.

TOMMY:

The boys here have told me a lotabout you.

O'CONNOR

Yeah -- I told him you voted for him!

They all share a laugh. Except for Bridges, who squintsat Tommy.

ANDERSEN:

Glad to meet you, son. They tell meyou've got a real talent for the

game.

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 81A.

115 CONTINUED:
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O'CONNOR

And this is Zeke Bridges, CEO ofPyramid Insurance.

ZEKE:

(still puzzling)

Congressman.

TOMMY:

Good to meet you.

DODGE:

Help me with these, would you,

Tommy?

He hands Tommy a couple of drinks.

TOMMY:

(to Zeke)

Chivas on the rocks?

ZEKE:

(taking the drink)

You look awfully familiar.

Tommy just smiles.

DODGE:

Tommy and I were just talking aboutpower lines.

TOMMY:

Yeah, what a coincidence. I

thought this little party might befor me.

(to Anderson)

You may not like this.

(to Dodge)

I think we should hold those

hearings.

DODGE:

You really fell for the line thatparents group fed you, didn't you?

Tommy is struck by Dodge's intelligence.

TOMMY:

How'd you know I met the parentsgroup?

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 81B.

115 CONTINUED:
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DODGE:

Oh, I keep my ear to the ground,

that's what a good politician does.

Listen, Tommy, why don't we just getOlaf's take on this.

ANDERSEN:

It's tragic, cancer's a terriblething, but there's no way you canlink it to power lines. Truth is,

there's a bigger electromagneticfield given off by an electricblanket, or a microwave oven, than

by those derricks.

TOMMY:

But there are studies that say -

ZEKE:

For every study that says one thing,

I'll show you a study saying another.

We've studied it ourselves. Nada.

ANDERSEN:

There's not a single state healthofficial anywhere in this countrywho says power lines cause cancer.

TOMMY:

But what if you're wrong?

As Tommy persists, Andersen looks increasingly angry.

TOMMY:

People didn't use to say smokingcauses cancer, either. What if the

evidence is just building, and someday we wake up and discover thatyour power lines are killing us?

ANDERSEN:

(exploding)

"Kill us"? "Kill us"? You callingme a murderer? You're saying there'sblood on these hands? How dare youtalk to me like that, you -

O'Connor puts a restraining arm on Andersen.

O'CONNOR

Calm down, Olaf, calm down, he

didn't mean it that way, did you,

son? Alright, gentlemen. Easy.

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 82.

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Andersen backs off, regains his composure. The outburst

makes an impression on Tommy.

TommyI'm just saying, it's worth lookinginto.

ANDERSEN:

Tommy -- do you want to move the powerlines? Do you know how much itwould cost to bury them? Millions.

Tens of millions. I don't have that

money. The state doesn't have that

money. You people up here suredon't have that money. You know

who'd end up paying for it? Folks

who sent you here, that's who.

O'CONNOR

Now how'd you like the people inyour district to think of you as theputz who tripled their electric bill?

You think they'd thank you for thaton election day?

TOMMY:

All I'm saying is, maybe we shouldhold hearings to look at -

O'CONNOR

Think for a minute, boychik. You

hold your hearings. Overnight,

everyone who lives near a substationfinds the value of his home in the

toilet. You kill the real estate

market.

ZEKE:

You kill the insurance companies.

O'CONNOR

You kill the school district.

ANDERSON:

You kill the local economy.

DODGE:

For a smart boy, you're notthinking very politically.

Tommy watches the LIGHTNING.

TOMMY:

Maybe I should think about it.

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 83.

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DODGE:

Yeah, the system ain't perfect,

but the fleas come with the dawg.

ANDERSEN:

Oh, by the way, Tommy, on a completelydifferent subject -- You don't have astate PAC yet, do you? I'd like to

give you a hundred thousand dollarcorporate contribution to start one

up.

ZEKE:

My company would be honored to dothe same.

TJ:

Can you do that? I thought therewere limits -

O'CONNOR

Oh, it's all aboveboard, we all

believe deeply in the rules. It's

just that the state rules are oftenmore flexible about these things.

ANDERSEN:

Are you interested?

TJ:

I'm always interested in thehappiness of my constituents.

DODGE:

I'll drink to that.

Dodge and Andersen shoot each other a look.

116 OMITTED 116

&&

117 117

118 EXT. TOMMY'S HOUSE - NIGHT 118

Tommy pulls up in a Corvette with Florida congressionalplates in front of his Capitol Hill row house.

119 INT. TOMMY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 119

Tommy slips into bed next to Celia, who's half asleep.

CELIA:

Mmmm...

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 84.

119 CONTINUED:
119

Mmmm...

TOMMY:

CELIA:

So what did he say?

Who?

TOMMY:

Dodge.

CELIA:

The hearings.

TOMMY:

Oh -- I, uh, haven't asked him yet.

Celia suddenly looks quite awake.

TOMMY:

(casual)

It wasn't the right moment.

Besides, I was thinking, maybe Iought to line up some other Membersfirst -- you know, get my ducks in

a row.

Oh.

CELIA:

120 INT. HOUSE STEAM ROOM - DAY 120

Dick Dodge and several other towel-clad MEMBERS.

DODGE:

You see that ABC poll?

Free fall.

THIRD MEMBER:

DODGE:

President in trouble like that, he's

liable to do something desperate.

Some damn fool stunt.

Invade Japan.

FOURTH MEMBER:

FIFTH MEMBER:

Declare war on Congress, more likeit.

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 3/25/92 85A.

120 CONTINUED:
(A1) 120

The door opens. Eli Marshall, fully dressed, comes in.

MARSHALL:

You shafted me on the ethics bill.

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 86.

120 CONTINUED:
120

DODGE:

Hello, Eli, good to see you.

don't you loosen your tie?

Why

MARSHALL:

It's a closed rule. I can't get myamendments on the floor. I can't geta recorded vote. I can't get squat.

DODGE:

Last time I looked, it was the Rules

Committee in charge of that. This

isn't the Rules Committee, Eli.

This is the steam room.

MARSHALL:

This is the U.S. Congress! The

American people deserve better than -DODGE

You know what your problem is, Eli?

You've got sermonitis.

The other Members chuckle.

DODGE:

Can't open your mouth withoutclimbing into the pulpit, can you?

Why don't you just calm down, have

a massage -MARSHALL

I've got news for you, Dick. I'm

going to run against you for Speaker.

I may not have a rat's ass of achance to beat you. But I sure as

hell can tell the world the kind of

sleaze you stand for.

121 EXT. CAPITOL TERRACE - DAY - TOMMY AND DODGE 121

DODGE:

I went too far with him, I know it.

You know him pretty well, don't you?

TOMMY:

Oh, I don't know...

DODGE:

Come on, you play basketballtogether, you're seeing his niece,

you've been to his church -TOMMY

How did you know that?

(CONTINUED)

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