The Distinguished Gentleman Page #8

Tommy was born to wear a tux. In his lapel, a red-andgold

eagle pin. On his arm, Loretta, in a dramatic

shoulderless and nearly backless gown, with three-quartergloves. The other Women in sight are far more conservatively

dressed.

62 INT. UNION STATION - ADIRONDACKS RESTAURANT - NIGHT 62

A STRING QUARTET provides the music. Tommy and Lorettalinger uncertainly near the entrance. Then:

TOMMY:

Let's meet some natives.

Tommy leads her over to two Men, 30s, excellent haircuts.

Both wear pins. He extends a hand.

TOMMY:

Tommy Johnson, how'd you do, niceparty, heck of a railroadstation, isn't it?

RAFE:

Rafe Simon, freshman from Tulsa.

And this is Bo Chandler -

BO:

-- from Lufkin, Texas. You must

be the one who didn't come to Harvard.

TOMMY:

No, I couldn't, it was my Princetonreunion....

RAFE:

Jeff Johnson? You're Jeff Johnson?

The guy from Florida?

TOMMY:

That's right.

RAFE:

(to Bo)

The rest of us are out there on the

campaign trail, raising money,

kissing ass, making speeches,

dragging our butts from place toplace -- and he slides in on purename recognition!

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 39.

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He puts his face close to Tommy.

RAFE:

Let me tell you something, Jeff.

A tense beat. Then Rafe breaks into a smile.

RAFE:

F***in' brilliant.

Bo winks at Tommy.

TommyThank you. Thank you both very much.

(to Loretta)

Isn't that nice, now, don't you think?

(to Rafe and Bo)

This is Miss Loretta, boys.

She extends a regal hand to each, Liza Doolittle at theball.

LORETTA:

How do yo do. How do you do.

TOMMY:

And it's Tommy. My friends callme Tommy. "Jeff" is my...

professional name. So what line

of work were you boys in beforeyou got elected? You lawyers orsomething?

RAFE:

Oh, no, I did morning weather andtraffic for KTOK in Tulsa.

BO:

You don't remember me? I was a tightend for the Oilers -- my knee gimped out.

The origins of the gentlemen's political success is notlost on Tommy.

BO:

Hey, stop by my reception afterthe swearing in tomorrow, okay?

RAFE:

Yeah, but don't you go to hisreception before you go to myreception.

(CONTINUED)

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TOMMY:

Fine, but I'm gonna be realoffended if either of you miss myreception.

They leave.

TOMMY:

I think we have to have a

reception.

AT THE BUFFET, as Tommy and Loretta help themselvesgenerously to oysters and champagne, they overhear TWOMEMBERS passing by.

FIRST MEMBER:

So then I ran an ad calling him adraft dodger, but then he ran anad calling me a plagiarist.

SECOND MEMBER:

What did you do?

FIRST MEMBER:

Oh, leaked a rumor that his fatherin-

law was a Nazi. I went up tenpoints in a weekend.

TOMMY:

(to Loretta)

We're in the majors, doll.

62A THE BALCONY is full of people working one another. As

Tommy and Loretta pass some large stone statues, a manextends his hand -- liquor lobbyist KEN KORNGOLD.

62A

KORNGOLD:

Congressman? I'd like to introduce

myself. Ken Korngold. National

Distilled Spirits Association.

TOMMY:

Tommy Johnson. Distilled Spirits,

is that right?

KORNGOLD:

It's super that you won, congressman.

Any way we can help, please don't hesitate.

TOMMY:

Pleasure's all mine, Ken, hope youcan make it to my reception. Do

you happen to have a card?

(CONTINUED)

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62A CONTINUED:
62A

KORNGOLD:

(giving him one)

I sure do.

63 INT. UNION STATION - MEN'S ROOM - NIGHT 63

Tommy is along a wall where other guests are similarlyoccupied.

TOMMY:

You now what I love about this place?

The way everyone calls you aMember. Every time I hear that,

it makes me think of Mr. Happyhere.

The Member next to him bursts out laughing.

TOMMY:

Don't you be peeing on my shoe.

They go to the sinks. The Member introduces himself.

IOWA:

Mike Strangland. Iowa -- first CD.

You got a CD?

that, too.

TOMMY:

Sh*t, I missed

IOWA:

First Congressional district.

TOMMY:

Ohhh. Tommy Johnson. Florida.

So Iowa -- how'd you get toWashington? You do the cropreport on tv?

IOWA has a big open face and a flat Midwestern voice.

IOWA:

No -- I owe it all to the Vietnamese.

War hero?

TOMMY:

IOWA:

P.O.W. When I got back to Cedar Rapids,

I spent so many years telling theRotary Club what was wrong in Washington,

they finally told me to put up or shutup -- so I put up. And here I am.

(CONTINUED)

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TOMMY:

Wait a minute. What's wrong inWashington?

IOWA:

C'mon -- there's acid rain killingfish, and no one's stopping it...

there's topsoil washing away, and noerosion program... there's chemicalsin our livestock -- God, I sound like

a Boy Scout.

TOMMY:

That's alright, Iowa -- this placecould use a few geeks like you.

64

INT. UNION STATION - ADIRONDACKS - TOMMY'S DINNER 64

TABLE - NIGHT

Tommy shakes hands around the table, taking businesscards as he goes.

FIRST LOBBYIST:

Pete Slocum. Asbestos Information

Institute.

SECOND LOBBYIST:

Mike Gustofson. Freedom to

Advertise Coalition.

THIRD LOBBYIST:

Paul Zeckhauser. American Tobacco

Council.

TOMMY:

Hey... thank you... nice to seeyou... hope you can make it to myreception. Have y'all met MissLoretta?

TOMMY'S TABLEMATE is lawyer-lobbyist TOMMY O'CONNOR, 40s.

As Waiters serve lobster bisque, he hands TJ a businesscard.

O'CONNOR

Tommy O'Connor. Soon as I saw how

you got elected, I knew you were areal comer. Hell, I bet old Olaf

Andersen voted for you.

TOMMY:

Who's Olaf Andersen?

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 43.

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O'Connor points. ON THE DAIS, Andersen is engrossed withDodge.

O'CONNOR (O.S.)

I won't tell him you asked.

Chairman of Gulf Coast Power.

Constituent of yours, client ofmine.

BACK TO SCENE:

O'CONNOR

Pays the rent, know what I mean?

Say, could I host a little welcome-

to-Washington thing for you down atmy law firm? Meet some of my clients,

five hundred a head -- you couldpick up twenty, twenty-five grandto get you started.

TOMMY:

(cautious)

And how much of that do you get?

O'CONNOR

(amused)

Oh, it doesn't come off the top.

Down the road, I'll bill 'em each

five hundred an hour whenever I

take you to lunch.

TOMMY:

Tommy, I think this is the beginningof a beautiful relationship.

65 INT. UNION STATION - ADIRONDACKS - NIGHT - ON DODGE 65

making a speech from the dais.

DODGE:

Tonight we unite the two greatpillars of our system -- politicaland financial. To the forty-fournewly-elected Members of Congress,

I say, Look around you tonight.

Look around, and be thankful for

the generosity.

Tommy inspects the sea of barracudas.

(CONTINUED)

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN - Rev. 4/3/92 44.

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DODGE:

The people you see not only provided

tonight's hospitality. They are the

people you serve. That's our system

of checks and balances at its best.

Their support helped get you

elected... your work will help

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