The French Connection Page #10

40.

WHIP GIRL:

You're Fifty Dollars short.

The look of anger turns to one of consternation as NICOLI

reacts to her.

WHIP GIRL:

M'sieru - the tab for this scene is

a hundred and a half.

(he moves to door)

Hey Frenchie - if you don't come up

with the scratch, you're gonna run

into my man downstairs.

Medium close shot of NICOLI advancing on the WHIP GIRL as

she backs away and begins to cringe. He grabs her and hurls

her back across the couch.

Close shot of the GIRL.

WHIP GIRL:

Don't hit me. Don't. Please.

We hear the door slam as she sobs.

WHIP GIRL:

You filthy f*ggot sonofabitch.

INT. CUTTING ROOM - DAY

Close shot of two pro football players smearing each other

on the field, others falling on top of them.

Medium close shot of DEVEREAUX at a Movie-ola working out

his narration (DIALOGUE IN FRENCH)

DEVEREAUX:

This is the new American religion,

professional football. It is where

everybody goes instead of church on

Sunday to express that peculiar

American taste for bloodshed and

violence.

Several close shots of the violent action.

Intercut with faces of the crowd.

Close shot of DEVEREAUX.

41.

DEVEREAUX:

These men, playing a "game" - make

more money each year than many

important business leaders, artists

or government officials.

(zoom out)

It tells us something about this

country and how its men live, or go

to war with a smile, and sometimes

die without a cause.

The phone rings - it is CHARNIER.

EDITOR:

It's for you - Alain Charnier.

Hold close up of DEVEREAUX.

INT. MUTCHIE'S BAR - NIGHT

In Lower Manhattan. There are SIX or EIGHT MATRONS still

there, stevedores and truck drivers. Most of them are

clustered at the far end of the bar, where MUTCHIE, a gray-

haired gone-to-paunch Irishman with spectacles as thick as

pop-bottle bottoms stands behind the mahogany bar. The

cluster of customers is involved in a typical New York

saloon argument.

DOYLE is ignoring the debate and watching the television.

He is approached by a small MAN in a long coat and baggy

suit with suspenders. This is JESUS THE BOOSTER.

JESUS:

Hey, Bo.

DOYLE:

Hiya, Jesus.

JESUS:

Can you use a new suit for

Christmans?

DOYLE:

Whatta you got?

JESUS reaches into his trousers and pulls out three suits

(jackets and pants). They are of the latest style and

color, and still on hangers!

JESUS:

Whatta you?... a 44... 46?

DOYLE examines one of the jackets.

42.

DOYLE:

Where'd you get this fag sh*t?

JESUS:

This is what the tough guys are

wearin'. You know I only steal

from the best. It's Bonwit Teller.

DOYLE:

Pass.

JESUS:

Forty dollars -- was $250.

DOYLE:

Whyn't you get it dry cleaned and

burned.

JESUS blends into the crowd and we pick up the dialogue of

MUTCHIE and his cronies, BAD EDDIE, LEE and PUGGY.

MUTCHIE:

A big man could alluz beat a little

man. That's why Wilt Chamberlain

could murder Jim Brown if they ever

fought.

BAD EDDIE:

No chance. Brown'd kill him.

MUTCHIE:

Chamberlain's seven foot tall,

right? He's got a twelve-foot

reach. It's geophysics. He's

punchin' down on you with leverage.

He cave your chest in.

BAD EDDIE:

Best I ever seen was The Rock. He

was the calmest and the meanest.

Guys like Sugar'd be pukin' before

a fight. Jake LaMotta'd be pukin'.

Marciano was calm like he was goin'

to church. What about the night he

fought LaStarza? He hit him so

hard he broke the blood vessels in

LaStarza's arms. He was the

strongest meanest bastard ever lived.

PUGGY:

Hey, Mutchie, give us another bullet.

MUTCHIE pours him a straight Scotch in a shotglass.

43.

MUTCHIE:

Blackjack Burns coulds been the

greatest ever --

PUGGY:

-- He was a stone tanker.

MUTCHIE:

That's right, he couldn't fight

legit. One night at the Garden

about 1950, '51 -- he fought either

Jake LaMotta or Gus Lesnevich, I

think it was -- he took one o'

those cream puff punches in the

sixth -- the laziest left you ever

seen -- missed him entirely. Down

goes Blackjack without even workin'

up a sweat and the whole Garden

gets up in its feet and I swear to

Christ, everybody starts singin'

"Dance With Me Henry."

LEE:

I fought a guy in Cleveland once.

I knew he was a dirty fighter so I

stick a crowbar in my crotch.

Right here. Second round he gives

me a shot -- Boom -- he breaks his

hand, the fight's over.

PUGGY:

F*** it, I like nitroglycerin,

that's my game.

MUTCHIE:

What about you, Doyle? Who's the

best fighter you ever seen?

DOYLE:

(a few drinks behind him)

Willie Mays.

BAD EDDIE & LEE

Willie Mays?!

DOYLE:

With a baseball bat! One swing!

Knock your f***in' head off.

TIME LAPSE. The DRINKERS are gone. MUTCHIE is at the bar

cleaning up. DOYLE is in the open adjoining kitchen area

cooking breakfast.

44.

MUTCHIE:

What ya doin' out so late? Hidin'

from the cops?

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