The Fabulous Baker Boys Page #17

SUSIE:

You're kidding.

JACK:

He had a mind that escalated things.

SUSIE:

So, what happened?

JACK:

He calls her, asks her to marry him, she thinks

he's crazy, he asks her again, she still thinks

he's crazy but says yes anyway, and the next thing

you know he's got his brothers down there and

they're tearing the thing right off the curb.

Susie blinks.

JACK:

(continuing)

I don't know. Maybe he thought some rich guy was

gonna try and call her.

SUSIE:

Wow. But I still don't see how ...

JACK:

Ma didn't want it around. After.

SUSIE:

Oh.

Jack glances out the window.

SUSIE:

(continuing, carefully)

Frank said you saw him die.

Jack glances up quickly, surprised. He nods.

SUSIE:

(continuing)

Frank said ---

JACK:

Frank wasn't 'there.

Susie stops, looks down. Jack studies her for a moment,

then decides.

JACK:

He took me out to the docks one day. We did that a

lot. There were other places, but he loved the ocean.

He'd worked boats as a kid. Never got rid of it.

It was always in him. He'd drink a little when we'd

go. If he drank enough, he'd do this funny Irish jig.

To make me laugh.

(pause)

He drank a lot that day.

Susie studies Jack as he stares into his glass.

JACK:

(continuing)

There was a lot of wind. He was up on this cargo

shelf, right over the ocean. And he started to

do the jig. One minute he was there ...

(shrugs)

I thought it was a joke at first.

He did things like that. Games.

(pause)

I was laughing when it happened.

Jack stares at the glass in his hands, then glances

up and catches Susie looking at him.

JACK:

You got pretty eyes, you know that.

INT. JACK'S BEDROOM

Jack's bed. In the darkness, we see Susie's profile,

her eyes looking up toward the ceiling. Jack's body

falls slowly across her and he kisses her neck.

EXT. JACK'S APARTMENT BUILDING - MORNING

We see Eddie, wearing his Christmas sweater,

sleeping on the fire escape.

INT. JACK'S APARTMENT - DAY

Susie is dressed, sitting at the piano, staring out the

window as she absently hits a key. She is smoking one

of Jack's cigarettes. Distracted. Jack comes to the

doorway and watches her. Plink. Plink. Plink.

JACK:

You gotta move 'em around if you want to

play a song.

Susie starts, looks at her hand on the piano,

pulls it away.

SUSIE:

Oh. Hi. Sorry.

JACK:

Coffee?

SUSIE:

Yeah... No.

JACK:

Look, if you want to leave...

SUSIE:

Yeah, maybe ... No. God, I hate these cigarettes!

Susie throws the cigarette out the window,

then looks down.

SUSIE:

(continuing)

Sh*t. I think I started a fire.

JACK:

If our feet get hot, you grab

the piano.

Susie smiles weakly.

JACK:

(continuing)

Why don't you go. I'll see you

tomorrow night at the Ambassador.

Susie doesn't move.

SUSIE:

I followed you last night. I

mean, I was here. Outside. I was

about to come up when you came out.

Jack waits.

SUSIE:

(continuing)

The reason I came by ... I couldn't tell Frank...

I'm leaving. The act.

Susie stares up at Jack, but he says nothing.

SUSIE:

(continuing)

It's a ... I met this guy at the resort. He liked

my voice. And, it's ... He thinks I can sell cat

food just by singing about it. Can you believe it?

Susie tries a laugh. Jack nods.

SUSIE:

(continuing)

You can always get another girl.

JACK:

(looks out window)

There's always another girl.

INT. LOUNGE

Jack and Frank stand in a lounge, talking to NICK, the

manager. Busboys move in and out, preparing the room

for the evening.

NICK:

Sick? How sick?

FRANK:

The flu.

NICK:

So she's got a few sniffles.

FRANK:

Doctor's orders.

Nick frowns, looking at the two pianos across the room.

NICK:

You got no right springing this on me, Frankie.

It's unethical.

FRANK:

Look, Nick. You want us to pack up, we'll pack up.

NICK:

What am I gonna do? Put a record

player out there?

(exiting)

Bad, Frankie. Bad.

JACK:

(to Frank)

What're you doing?

FRANK:

Just until we find another girl.

JACK:

Cancel, Frank.

FRANK:

You want to know how much I got tied up in

deposits with Willie? We're in for three

weeks solid, Jack.

JACK:

Better give her pneumonia.

INT. BACK ROOM

Jack and Frank find themselves in the back room of

Willie's again. They do not look happy.

GIRL (O.S.)

Remember me?

Jack and Frank look up. A girl in a yellow and black

dress is in the doorway. She looks like a bumblebee.

GIRL:

Monica. Monica Moran. I came in the last time

you guys were looking for a singer.

(smiling)

Perseverance. First rule of show business.

Jack and Frank just stare at her.

MONICA (GIRL)

I bought a book. That's what it says.

EXT. WILLIE'S - LATER

Frank is looking at a list.

FRANK:

We got the Roosevelt on Thursday, the Park in a

couple of weeks. Larry Shelton said he'd let me

know by Friday on the Ambassador. That's it.

Frank folds the paper carefully.

FRANK:

(continuing)

I got some calls out. Things

that might be good for us.

Frank looks over at Jack for the first time. He's

leaning against the building, staring at his shoes.

FRANK:

(continuing)

We'll try for a girl again next

week.

Jack nods.

FRANK:

(continuing)

Okay. Well, the Roosevelt then.

INT. ROOSEVELT HOTEL - LOUNGE

Once grand, now dark and dusty looking. A small crowd.

FRANK:

You know, my brother and I have been playing

together, gosh, I don't know. Jack?

JACK:

Twenty-eight years.

No response. Bored, brutally indifferent faces.

FRANK:

Of course, uh, back then it was, uh, a little

different. We were just kids. Just about the

only one who would listen to us was the family

cat, Cecil. We must've shaved three lives off old

Cecil, huh, Jack?

Frank laughs and his voice, eerily magnified by the

microphone, is the only sound in the room.

FRANK:

(continuing; hanging tough)

Yeah, well, anyway. It's nice to be back here in

the Roosevelt Room, because this has always

been ...

Frank falters as he sees Mrs. Baker enter the lounge and

seat herself at a table in the back of the room.

Jack follows Frank's eyes and spots her.

FRANK:

(continuing)

a very special place for Jack and I.

(recovering)

And tonight we'd like to open with a very special

song. It's the song my mother and father danced

to the night they were married. This is for them.

INT. LOBBY

Jack watches as Frank gives Mrs. Baker a hug.

FRANK:

You should've told us you were coming, Ma.

We would've come and got you.

MRS. BAKER

Spur of the moment.

FRANK:

So what'd you think?

MRS. BAKER

Thrilling.

(glancing at Jack)

Both of you.

FRANK:

The audience was a little off

tonight.

MRS. BAKER

A few empty tables. It's cozier.

Besides, Mel Torme couldn't fill this place

on a Wednesday night.

FRANK:

I guess you're,right. Well, what do you say we

get a little midnight snack?

Theo's should still be open.

MRS. BAKER

No, no. You boys are tired.

FRANK:

No, we're not. Jack?

JACK:

No.

MRS. BAKER

I'm tired. Really. I should get

home.

FRANK:

You sure?

MRS. BAKER

(nodding)

Just call me a cab.

FRANK:

A cab? Ma, come on. My car's just a half

block down. You wait here.

MRS. BAKER

(smiling)

All right.

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