The Ghost and the Darkness Page #8

Synopsis: Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman (Henry Cele), seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.
Production: Paramount Home Video
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
50%
R
Year:
1996
110 min
622 Views


ABDULLAH:

(advancing on Patterson now)

-you do not call me a liar- you know

nothing of their health- consider

yourself fortunate I persuaded so

many to stay- consider yourself

fortunate I have decided to stay-

PATTERSON:

(losing it)

You think you matter?

(gesturing toward the

train which is close to

stopping now)

-Beaumont is on that train- he

matters-

CUT TO:

PATTERSON, moving in on Abdullah now-

PATTERSON:

He sees this chaos, he'll replace

you all.

ABDULLAH:

He'll replace you, too- that's all

you really care about.

PATTERSON:

You think so? Fine.

(finished arguing)

It's best you get out. Go. Tell all

your people to go, run home where

they'll be safe under the covers and

when the bridge is built and the

railroad is done, they can tell their

women that out of all the thousands

who worked here, they were the only

ones to flee-

(And he wheels around,

starts to walk away as we-)

CUT TO:

ABDULLAH. Quiet, staring after Patterson.

CUT TO:

SAMUEL. Patterson has won. As the two of them exchange a quick

glance-

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT standing in the door of a passenger car, handsome as

ever. Somehow his clothes are still pressed.

Patterson moves up. In a splendid mood. Samuel is happy too.

PATTERSON:

Pleasant journey?

BEAUMONT:

(stepping off the train)

How could it be? I hate Africa.

Now there is the sudden sound of men singing- Patterson looks

around and we

CUT TO:

ABDULLAH and his workmen, moving away from the train- they are

singing the same song that the workmen sang just before The Ghost

and The Darkness attacked- it's pretty- but it's also a little

unnerving.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. Listening a moment.

BEAUMONT:

Lovely sound- they seem happy.

PATTERSON:

Don't they, though?

BEAUMONT:

So work must be going well?

CUT TO:

PATTERSON. He and Samuel share another glance.

PATTERSON:

(delicately)

Truthfully?

(beat)

There has been the occasional odd

hiccup- but then, as you so wisely

told me, I'd never built in Africa.

BEAUMONT:

But overall, you're pleased?

SAMUEL:

(moving in)

I have never experienced anything

like it.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT; almost longingly looks back at the train.

BEAUMONT:

I almost feel like getting right

back on.

(glances at his watch)

CUT TO:

PATTERSON AND SAMUEL. They do not breathe.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. He really wants to leave and for a moment it looks like

he just might.

BEAUMONT:

(a sigh)

I suppose it would be a dereliction

of duty not to at least look around.

Now Abdullah wanders happily by.

PATTERSON:

(waving)

Morning, friend, glorious day.

ABDULLAH:

As are they all.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. He takes a step inside the passenger car.

CUT TO:

PATTERSON AND SAMUEL. Hoping.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. Reluctantly returning. He has a large box.

BEAUMONT:

I do need to see Starling.

PATTERSON:

(dully)

Starling?

BEAUMONT:

Awhile back he ordered some bibles-

(indicating the box)

-I've brought them.

(looking around)

Is he here?

PATTERSON:

(beat)

Yes he is.

BEAUMONT:

Well, I need to speak to him.

SAMUEL:

(helpfully)

Let me deliver the bibles.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. His eyes flick from one man to the other. It's over.

BEAUMONT:

Excellent show.

(voice low)

Where is Starling?

CUT TO:

PATTERSON. The jig is up. He gestures-

PATTERSON:

Here he comes now.

(And on that-)

CUT TO:

HALF A DOZEN NATIVES CARRYING STARLING'S COFFIN. They start to put

it on the train and as they do-

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. Stunned. And furious! He storms off the train and we-

CUT TO:

THE BRIDGE:

as Beaumont sees it. Patterson and Samuel are with him.

Little more work has been done than the last time we saw it. A few

men are working slowly.

And now there are guards with rifles patrolling it.

CUT TO:

BEAUMONT. A deadly look at them. He storms off.

CUT TO:

THE HOSPITAL:

as Beaumont sees it- Patterson, Samuel, and Hawthorne stand

quietly.

It's much more crowded than the last time. Still under control,

but barely.

Beaumont is icy now. He gestures sharply toward Hawthrone to join

them.

CUT TO:

OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL

THE FOUR MEN speak low and fast-

BEAUMONT:

What in hell is going on?

SAMUEL:

The Ghost and The Darkness have come.

BEAUMONT:

(snapping)

In English.

PATTERSON:

It's what the natives are calling

the lions-

(beat)

-two lions have been causing trouble-

BEAUMONT:

-what's the surprise in that, this is

Africa?

PATTERSON:

It hasn't been that simple so far.

BEAUMONT:

What have they done besides kill

Starling?

(beat)

How many have they killed?

(Patterson nods for

Hawthorne to answer)

CUT TO:

HAWTHORNE. Doing his best.

HAWTHORNE:

Well, of course, I can't supply a

totally accurate answer because

there are those that are actually

authenticated and there are those

that we once thought were workers

killing each other or deserting

from camp so any number I give is

subject to error-

BEAUMONT:

(cutting through)

How many?

HAWTHORNE:

Thirty, I should think.

BEAUMONT:

(stunned)

Christ!

(whirling on Patterson)

What are you doing about it?

(Now from there-)

CUT TO:

SOMETHING VERY ODD:

We are looking at a small railroad car in a deserted area. This is

not near the track but off by itself, in an area surrounded by

thorn trees.

Several workers are erecting a cloth tent to cover it, trying to

disguise the fact that the small railroad car is, indeed, nothing

but a small railroad car.

It is difficult work and they are perspiring heavily.

PULL BACK TO REVEAL

PATTERSON AND BEAUMONT looking at it.

BEAUMONT:

This is supposed to be salvation?

(staring at Patterson)

What kind of idiocy are we dealing

with here?

PATTERSON:

(keeping control)

I'm calling it my "contraption"-

we're going to surround it with a

boma- a fence, to you- and we're

going to leave a small opening

opposite that door.

CUT TO:

THE RAILROAD CAR. There is, in fact, an open front door. Patterson

gestures for Beaumont to follow him inside.

CUT TO:

INSIDE THE CAR AS THEY ENTER. It has been divided in half by thick

metal bars from floor to ceiling. The bars are close together,

only a few inches between them.

PATTERSON:

In that half will be bait- human

bait- I'll start things off-

(points to the open

doorway)

-a sliding door will fit above that

and a trip wire will run across

the floor.

BEAUMONT:

(The smile is back)

Genius- the beast will enter,

tripping the wire, the door will

slide down, trapping him, you, safe

behind the bars, will have him at

your mercy and will shoot him.

Patterson nods. Beaumont explodes.

BEAUMONT:

Are you running a high fever, man?

How could you expect something as

lunatic as this to succeed? How

could you even conceive of it?

PATTERSON:

I didn't conceive of it for the

lions- I built one in India when

there was trouble with a tiger.

BEAUMONT:

(incredulous)

And it worked?

PATTERSON:

(He hates to say this)

In point of fact, it didn't.

(hurrying on)

But I'm convinced the theory is

sound.

CUT TO:

THE TWO OF THEM. They move outside. The tension between them is

considerable. Beaumont looks at Patterson for too long a moment.

PATTERSON:

What?

BEAUMONT:

I made a mistake hiring you-

you're simply not up to the job.

(Silence. Then-)

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William Goldman

William Goldman (born August 12, 1931) is an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist, before turning to writing for film. He has won two Academy Awards for his screenplays, first for the western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and again for All the President's Men (1976), about journalists who broke the Watergate scandal of President Richard Nixon. Both films starred Robert Redford. more…

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