The Great Gatsby Page #3

DAISY:

Oh Nicky...

NICK:

What?

15.

DAISY:

Its just, well, you see, I thinkeverything’s terrible anyhow. You

know I’ve been everywhere and seen

everything and done everything, andI’ve had very bad time Nicky... I’m

pretty cyncical about everything.

Daisy gazes melancholic across the bay; an awkward silence.

Nick tries to change the subject-

NICK:

Your daughter; I suppose she talks,

and... eats, and everything?

DAISY:

Pammy? Oh yes...

Daisy leans on a stone balustrade and gazes down toward thedock, where a green light glows in the velvet dusk.

DAISY (CONT’D)

Listen Nick, when she was born, Tom

was God knows where - with God

knows whom - and I asked the nurse

if it was a boy or a girl. She toldme it was a girl, and I wept. 'Allright,' I said, 'I'm glad it's agirl. And I hope she'll be a fool -

that's the best thing a girl can bein this world, a beautiful little

fool.’

She breaks off, and looks at Nick with that smile of hers...

DAISY (CONT’D)

All the bright precious things fadeso fast...

And as a sad, sweet underscore plays, WE PUSH out over thewater, and across the bay toward Gatsby’s castle...

DAISY (CONT’D)

And they don’t come back.

EXT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - DOCK - NIGHT

WE DISCOVER:
At the end of Gatsby’s dock, A MAN - his dark

silhouette is cut against the paler black of the night sky.

In the distance behind him we see headlights. It is Nick,

pulling up at his bungalow.

16.

EXT. NICK’S BUNGALOW - NIGHT

Nick gets out of his car. He stops. Through the trees, he cansee The Man gazing intently across the bay.

NICK (V.O.)

When I arrived home I noticed that

a figure had emerged on myneighbor’s dock.

Nick goes closer, and watches The Man...

NICK (V.O.)

And something told me it was... Mr.

Gatsby.

The Man reaches out-

NICK (V.O.)

He seemed to be... reaching toward

something out there in the dark.

A green light on dock pulses in the distant darkness...

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SANITARIUM - DOCTOR’S OFFICE - WINTER - NIGHT

Nick, troubled...

NICK:

The green light.

DOCTOR:

Green light?

Nick struggles with a painful memory...

NICK:

I don’t want to talk about this

Doctor.

Nick breaks off; and after a VERY LONG SILENCE, he admits:

NICK (CONT’D)

I can’t talk about THIS.

DOCTOR:

(delicately)

Then write about it.

17.

NICK:

(skeptical)

Write?

DOCTOR:

Yes. Write.

NICK:

Why would I do that?

DOCTOR:

After all, you said that writingbrought you solace, once upon atime.

NICK:

Yeah, well. It didn’t bring anyone

else much solace... I wasn’t any

good.

The Doctor offers Nick a pen; but Nick does not accept.

DOCTOR:

No one need ever read it. You can

always burn it.

NICK:

What would I write about?

DOCTOR:

Anything. Whatever you can’t quite

talk about; a memory; a thought; aplace... Write it down.

CLOSE ON:
Nick considering the challenge...

NICK:

(to himself)

A place...

Slowly he takes the pen.

We hear the clatter of metal wheels on train tracks; AS THE

SCREEN FILLS WITH WORDS, we hear them as voice-over.

NICK (V.O.)

The Valley of Ashes was a grotesqueplace...

18.

EXT. THE VALLEY OF ASHES - DAY

HIGH AND WIDE:
A vast dumping ground comprised of massivemounds of smoldering ash; train tracks cut through its heartand the gleaming towers of the city shimmer in the distance.

NICK (V.O.)

New York’s dumping ground, half waybetween West Egg and the city...

IMAGES illustrate the poverty and hopelessness of life here.

NICK (V.O.)

...Where the burnt out coal that

powered the booming, golden citywas discarded by men who moveddimly and already crumbling throughthe powdery air.

A train waits at a drawbridge spanning a small, foul creek.

DISCOVER:
Nick, aboard the train, looking out at the awfulwasteland...

NICK (V.O.)

...This fantastic farm was ever-

watched by Dr. T. J. Eckleberg...

NICK’S POV:
A gigantic paint peeling billboard reads: “Dr.

T.J. Eckleberg.”

NICK (V.O.)

...A forgotten oculist whose eyesbrooded over it all like the eyesof God.

INT. TRAIN - DAY

Tom, flushed with booze and heat, glances covertly around thehalted carriage. Nick sits opposite.

NICK (V.O.)

Tom had invited me to town, on the

pretense of a lunch at the YaleClub....

As the carriage moves, Tom suddenly pulls Nick to his feet.

NICK (V.O.)

But the day took an unexpected

turn...

Tom drags Nick from the moving train.

19.

TOM:

Come on--!

EXT. THE VALLEY OF ASHES - DAY

As the train pulls off, Nick, exasperates, chases Tom.

NICK (O.S.)

What are we doing?

TOM:

Trust me!

NICK:

Wait a second would you!?

TOM:

(calls back)

Dominate Nick! Dominate!

PAN DOWN TO DISCOVER: Tom and Nick outside a small garage.

A sign reads:
“GEORGE B. WILSON. Cars Bought and Sold.”

INT. WILSON’S GARAGE - CONTINUOUS

As Tom and Nick enter the dim garage, WILSON, a nervous,

spiritless man, appears from the back office.

TOM:

Hello Wilson! How's business?

WILSON:

(unconvincing)

I can't complain. When are yougoing to sell me that car?

TOM:

I've got my man working on it.

WILSON:

Works pretty slow, don't he?

TOM:

(coldly)

Maybe I'd better sell it somewhereelse?

WILSON:

I don't mean that, I just...

20.

Wilson’s grovelling is terminated by the sound of chunky redheels corkscrewing down stairs from above. All turn to see:

MYRTLE WILSON. Buxom. Smoldering. Elementally sensual.

MYRTLE:

If its business you’re talking, youshould be talking to me...

(to her husband)

Get some chairs why don't you; sosomebody can sit down...

Myrtle smiles slowly and, walking through her husband as ifhe were a ghost, shakes hands with Tom.

MYRTLE (CONT’D)

(without turning)

Hurry up!

WILSON:

Oh, sure... Sure...

Wilson hurries out back.

TOM:

Mrs. Wilson... Nick Carraway.

MYRTLE:

A pleasure...

TOM:

Nick’s a writer...

Myrtle is completely uninterested.

NICK:

(feeble)

I’m in bonds, actually...

TOM:

(intently to Myrtle)

Get on the next train.

MYRTLE:

(playing hard to get)

Now...? Are we gettin’ that dog?

TOM:

Whatever you want. And you can callup your sister...

(glancing to Nick)

She’ll like him...

NICK:

Oh no, that’s alright, I’m busy...

21.

MYRTLE:

Catherine’s said to be very goodlooking, by people who oughta know.

NICK:

Really I can’t...

TOM:

(whispers to Nick)

Do you want to embarrass Myrtle...?

That’s rude.

CUT TO:

INT. MYRTLE’S APARTMENT - DAY

The muffled sounds of sex...

CLOSE ON:
A puppy mouthing a soggy dog biscuit that dissolvesinto a saucer of milk.

Nick, horrified, perches on a couch in a small room stuffedwith tacky, pretentious objects; obviously bought by Tom.

Nick springs to his feet and yanks open the front door, onlyto be startled by a slender, louche girl in her twenties,

with a sticky bob of red hair. This is CATHERINE.

She sweeps into the room, pivots, and extends her hand.

CATHERINE:

I’m Catherine; ain’t we havin’ a

party?

NICK:

Oh, I’m... I’m not sure now’s a

good time-- I was just going-

But Nick’s exit is blocked.

MRS. MCKEE

Hello...!

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