The Elephant Man Page #8

FOX:

You never mentioned his mental state.

TREVES:

He's imbecile, no doubt from birth.

He speaks, but... it's all gibberish.

No, the man's a homeless idiot...

(to himself)

I pray God he's an idiot.

The E.M., as he is getting into the cab, stops, turns and

looks to the upper stories of the hospital. Treves and Fox

are joined by three laughing colleagues who clap Treves on

the back.

THE FIRST:

Quite a coup, Freddie. You'll look

splendid in the journal.

THE SECOND:

Where ever did you find that creature?

From the upper story we watch the cab drive away.

THE THIRD (V.O.)

It's a pity.

FOX (V.O.)

I pity the poor cab driver, myself.

From outside the window we see Treves surrounded by his

laughing friends.

ENTRY HALL - TREVES' HOME

We see a door. It opens and Treves walks in. He shuts the

door, locks it, goes to a coat rack on the wall and hangs up

his overcoat and hat. He notices his reflection in a mirror

and examines himself wearily. Anne's smiling reflection

appears beside his.

ANNE:

Did it go well, darling?

TREVES:

Yes, very well, I think. Are the

girls in bed?

ANNE:

Yes, and they send their kisses.

Would you like your sherry now?

TREVES:

No, I think a whiskey.

We move past Anne's reflection to a CU of Treves.

WHITECHAPEL - NIGHT

We now see a bunsen burner roar of flame reflected in Bytes'

eyes. Pulling back we see Bytes, quite drunk, sitting, cooking

sausages over the hot brick.

He takes another drink from his gin bottle. Up comes a wet

belch and he takes another drink.

The E.M. is crouched against the wall with a bowl of potatoes

and a cup of water in front of him. With his good hand, he

is picking tiny pieces of potato and feeding himself. The

eating is fairly loud and animal-like. The drinking is even

worse.

The Boy is across the room asleep, wrapped in ragged little

blankets.

The E.M. takes a drink of water, making a loud smacking,

slurping sound.

Bytes looks up from his cooking with a smoldering look, just

waiting for him to make the sound again. He does and Bytes

takes his crop and violently jabs him.

BYTES:

Belt up, you misbegotten garbage.

(mumbling to himself)

How can I eat with that?

Bytes takes a mouthful of gin and mockingly slurps it

mimicking the E.M.'s sound.

BYTES:

(yelling)

How can I eat with THAT?

The E.M. picks and eats some more and then drinks again very

tentatively.

Because of his fear the water catches in his throat and he

spits and coughs out onto the floor, gasping and wheezing

for breath.

Bytes is up and whacks him with his riding crop.

BYTES:

Out of my sight!

The E.M. struggles to get up, carrying his food.

BYTES:

(not satisfied with

his speed)

NOW!

He jabs the E.M. again, spilling his potatoes and water onto

the floor.

BYTES:

You clumsy sod!

He pushes the E.M. again, then slips on the potatoes and

falls heavily to the floor, crying out in shock. Then rage

hits him. The E.M. backs up.

BYTES:

YOU!

The Boy wakes up in fear. Bytes moves quickly toward the

E.M. raising his crop. The E.M. stumbles and falls backward

onto the floor. His head goes back and he begins gasping for

air. Bytes yanks him up and hits him in the face with his

riding crop. The force of the blow knocks a glob of spit

into the air from the E.M.'s mouth. The E.M. gasps and wheezes

horribly as Bytes hits him again and again.

From across the room.

BOY:

Bytes! DON'T...

Bytes goes right on with the beating.

BYTES:

This won't do, my lad. This just

won't do!

RECEIVING ROOM - LONDON HOSPITAL

We see the eyes of the Boy. As we pull back from them, they

widen with recognition.

WIDE SHOT of the Receiving Room. Treves has entered and the

Boy walks quickly up to him.

BOY:

Our man is sick. Come right away.

TREVES:

What is it?

BOY:

Like this.

(he breathes heavily

in and out to

demonstrate the E.M.'s

difficulty)

TREVES:

I'll get my bag.

INSIDE THE SHOP:

We hear the sound of wheezing coming from the E.M. who is

sitting propped up against the stage, wrapped in a blanket.

His head bent forward toward his knees. Bytes is going to

the door as it opens and the Boy leads Treves in.

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