The Founder Page #6

He does a slow lap around the building, taking in the arches

from all angles. Halfway around, the shifting perspective

causes the arches to meet. They form a giant “M” (the

McDonald’s logo as we know it today), 30 feet high.

ON KROC-- standing before the “M”, bathed in its golden,

glowing light. Like Moses before the Burning Bush.

EXT. KROC’S HOUSE (DES PLAINES, IL) - DAY

A modest home in the Chicago suburbs. Kroc pulls up in his

car.

31.

INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

ETHEL (53) is at the table, eating dinner by herself.

RAY KROC (O.S.)

Ethel!

Kroc comes bursting in, burning with excitement.

RAY KROC (CONT’D)

I’ve seen the future!

Ethel’s face falls.

ETHEL KROC:

Again?

RAY KROC:

I saw a restaurant, Ethel. It’s

like nothing you’ve ever seen.

They’ve got this system, the

Speedee System...

ETHEL KROC:

Ray...

RAY KROC:

Just hear me out.

ETHEL KROC:

I’m too old for this.

RAY KROC:

This place, it’s like something

sprung from the mind of Henry-

ETHEL KROC:

I can’t do it. Not again.

RAY KROC:

Don’t you want to be a part of

greatness?

ETHEL KROC:

I want to be part of a cruise.

(BEAT)

All our friends are taking trips,

enjoying their golden years. And

us, we’re still scrapping and

scraping like a couple of 25-yearolds.

When do we get to start

living, Ray? When do we finally get

to start enjoying our lives?

32.

RAY KROC:

Ethel, this place-

ETHEL KROC:

It’s revolutionary.

RAY KROC:

(bristles at her sarcasm)

As a matter of fact...

ETHEL KROC:

It’s never going to get any better,

Ray. We’re never going to have

anything more than we have right

now. And that’s okay.

(BEAT)

What’s not okay is us wasting our

lives reaching for some brass ring

we’re never going to grab.

RAY KROC:

(flash of anger)

Maybe if I had a wife who had an

ounce of vision. Who gave me an

ounce of support.

ETHEL KROC:

Support? Support?

This sets her off-

ETHEL KROC (CONT’D)

All I’ve done is support you! I’ve

had your back through thick and

thin, through one cockamamie idea

after another. The wax cups, the

Fold-A-Nook, the Multi-Mixer, on

and on, every last one. And you

have the nerve to say I don’t

support you?

RAY KROC:

(backing off, chastened)

I’m sorry.

ETHEL KROC:

I’ve believed in you, Ray. Our

whole marriage. Long past the point

any rational, thinking person

would’ve.

RAY KROC:

You’re right.

33.

ETHEL KROC:

I’ve sacrificed, I’ve saved. Made

do, gone without. My belt’s so

tight, I’m out of notches.

RAY KROC:

You’re right.

ETHEL KROC:

“Support”?

(BEAT)

How dare you?

Kroc just stands there in shamed little-boy silence.

EXT. MOVIE THEATER - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc steps to the ticket window.

RAY KROC:

One ticket, please.

The marquees reads MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION.

INT. MOVIE THEATER - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc sits in the theater, the light of the screen flickering

off his face. In his hand is his flask. He takes a discrete

swig.

INT. PRINCE CASTLE SALES - KROC’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

June Martino watches Kroc pace, ringing phone to his ear.

EMPLOYEE (O.S.)

McDonald’s Hamburgers.

RAY KROC:

Dick McDonald, please.

EMPLOYEE (O.S.)

He’s not available at the moment.

RAY KROC:

Mac, then.

The employee puts the phone down, goes off to check. Through

it, Kroc hears what sounds like a BIG CROWD.

34.

EMPLOYEE (O.S.)

I’m sorry, he’ll have to call you

back. We’re real busy right now.

Kroc glances at his watch, puzzled by the commotion.

RAY KROC:

What time is it there?

EMPLOYEE (O.S.)

10 o’clock.

RAY KROC:

(thrown)

What time do you open?

EMPLOYEE (O.S.)

11.

ON KROC-- amazed. They don’t even open for another hour.

INT. JOHNSON’S DRIVE-IN - KITCHEN - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc out on a drive-in sales call, giving his standard spiel.

RAY KROC:

(flat, distracted)

Mr. Johnson, are you familiar with

the notion of the chicken and the

egg? I mention it because I think

it’s applicable here.

EXT. JOHNSON’S DRIVE-IN - PARKING LOT - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc hauls the sample Multimixer back to his car, shoves it

in the trunk. He takes a swig from his flask, staring off.

INT. MIDWAY AIRPORT - SHORT TIME LATER

Kroc steps to the TWA ticket counter.

RAY KROC:

One ticket to Los Angeles.

INT. MCDONALD’S - KITCHEN - EVENING

The dinner rush. Mac and Dick hustle about making sure things

run as smoothly as possible.

ON DICK-- reloading the Lazy Susan with bun tops.

35.

RAY KROC (O.S.)

Do it for your country.

DICK MCDONALD:

(turns, surprised)

Ray.

MAC MCDONALD (O.S.)

What are you doing here?

Mac is there, too.

RAY KROC:

If you boys don’t want to franchise

for yourselves, fine. But do it for

your country. For America.

(BEAT)

This place you’ve created, it’s not

a restaurant. It’s not even a

place. It’s an idea.

ON DICK-- absorbing.

DICK MCDONALD:

(to nearby employee)

Tommy, finish the buns.

INT. BACK OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

Kroc stands before the brothers.

RAY KROC:

That drive back home on 66, I

passed through a lot of towns. A

lot of small towns. In the middle

of each one of them was a Main

Street. And on each of those Main

Streets were always the same two

things:
a courthouse and a church.

A courthouse topped with a flag. A

church topped with a cross. Flags

and crosses, crosses and flags.

The brothers look at each other, unsure where this is going.

RAY KROC (CONT’D)

As I drove along, I pondered those

crosses and flags. I asked myself

why they’re so ubiquitous. What

they mean. And as I did, I couldn’t

help but think about your

restaurant. About these-

36.

He goes over to the blueprint, plants a finger on the arches.

RAY KROC (CONT’D)

Now, forgive me if this flirts with

blasphemy, but to my mind, these

arches share a great deal in common

with the Christian cross and the

American flag. A building topped

with a cross is a gathering place.

A place where decent, wholesome

folks can come together and be with

others who share their values. The

same can be said of a building

flanked by a pair of your arches.

Those arches mean more than simply

“delicious hamburgers inside”. They

signify family. Community. The ties

that bind. They represent goodness,

togetherness, a place for Americans

to gather and break bread.

McDonald’s can be that, too. The

new American church, feeding bodies

and feeding souls. And not just on

Sundays. Seven days a week.

(BEAT)

Crosses. Flags. Arches.

ON MAC-- blown away. He looks over at Dick, expecting a

similar reaction. He’s surprised to see a conflicted look on

his face.

MAC MCDONALD:

(to Kroc)

Would you please give us a minute?

INT. BACK OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

The brothers, alone in the office.

DICK MCDONALD:

(tempted, torn)

I don’t know...

MAC MCDONALD:

It’s your dream, Dick.

(eye contact)

Bigger than your dream. Arches-

your arches--coast to coast.

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