The Great Gatsby Page #4

MRS. MCKEE, a shrill woman in her 30s, enters with MR. MCKEE -

a feminine man with a bit of shaving cream on his cheek.

MR. MCKEE

(extending his hand)

Chester McKee, pleasure to meet

you.

NICK:

Nick Carraway.

22.

MRS. MCKEE

Where’re the kids?

Nick is still trying to leave, but Catherine corners him...

CATHERINE:

What’s the matter? Don’t ya like

me?

SUDDENLY! The bedroom door whooshes open and Myrtle appearswearing an astounding, red jersey sheath dress.

MRS. MCKEE

Myrtle Turtle...! Oh, that dress isadorable!

MYRTLE:

(with impressive hauteur)

It's just a crazy old thing. I slipit on when I don't care what I look

like!

Tom appears behind Myrtle, arrogantly buttoning his shirt.

TOM:

Get some ice Myrtle, beforeeveryone goes to sleep.

Myrtle sweeps into the kitchen; Tom opens the liquor cabinet.

NICK:

(making for the door)

Tom, I really should be going...

TOM:

(grabbing Nick’s arm)

Nonsense...

NICK:

Tom; I don’t think-- Daisy’s my-

Tom pulls Nick back toward the party.

TOM:

Listen Nick, you like to watch; Iremember that from college. Andthat’s OK, I make no judgment; but

we’ve got a whole summer - do you

want to sit on the sideline and

watch, or do you want to play ball?

CATHERINE:

Yeah. Ain’t we good enough for ya?

23.

Catherine winks, pushes Nick into his chair, and fearlesslylands herself in his lap.

CATHERINE (CONT’D)

Take off yer hat and stay awhile...

TOM:

Hey Nick! McKee’s in the artistic

game.

MCKEE:

Photography.

TOM:

Nick’s artistic.

NICK:

No...

MCKEE:

Really?

NICK:

Ah, no, well, I write a little...

Tom clunks the gramophone needle onto a record and Catherineraises her voice above the music.

CATHERINE:

Do you live on Long Island, too?

NICK:

I live at West Egg.

CATHERINE:

Really? I was there at a partyabout a month ago. At a man namedGatsby's. Do you know him?

NICK:

I live right next door to him...

CATHERINE:

He's a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm's.

You know, the evil German king...

CUT TO:
Tom raising Myrtle’s skirt suggestively.

TOM:

Hey McKee, take a picture of that!

MYRTLE:

(girlish glee)

Oh, don’t!

(MORE)

24.

MYRTLE (CONT'D)

I’m not one of those models...! But

you can if you want...

Catherine leans close and whispers in Nick’s ear.

CATHERINE:

Neither of them can stand who

they're married to.

NICK:

Doesn’t she like Wilson either?

MYRTLE:

(overhears)

...He’s a greasy little scumbag!

Tom grins arrogantly and offers a drink to Catherine.

CATHERINE:

No thanks; I feel just as good onnothing at all...

With a suggestive glimpse of tongue, Catherine pops a pill...

CATHERINE (CONT’D)

Nerve pills, I get them from adoctor in Queens. You want one?

NICK:

My nerves are fine thanks...

Catherine smiles mischievously, puts a pill on her tongue andsuddenly kisses Nick... He splutters, but Catherine tips thescotch to his mouth, washing the pill down.

NICK (V.O.)

I had been drunk just twice in mylife and the second time was that

afternoon...

DISSOLVE TO:
Blurry freakish images of time passing... Thewhiskey is in demand by all; Catherine dances a solo. Themusic is sexy, dirty, deafening. The images become wilder,

nauseatingly violent...

As Catherine undresses Nick...

NICK (V.O.)

That night, in the hidden flat thatTom kept for Myrtle, we were buoyedby a sort of chemical madness, awillingness of the heart that burstthunderously upon us all... Andsuddenly, I began to like New York.

25.

As the puppy sits on the table groaning faintly through thesmoke, Myrtle suddenly springs to her feet!

MYRTLE:

...I've got to get a massage, and awave, and a collar for the dog, andone of those cute little ash-trayswhere you touch a spring, and awreath with a black silk bow for

mother's grave!

Pivoting through the smoky air, Myrtle begins to strip...

MYRTLE (CONT’D)

My dear I'm giving you this dress!

Myrtle strips as Mrs. McKee greedily lunges for the dress.

MRS. MCKEE

Adorable! Adorable!

SUDDEN CUT:
Nick, very drunk, finds himself at the bathroomwindow, observing the infinite life of the city...

NICK (V.O.)

High over the city our yellowwindows must have contributed their

share of human secrets to the

casual watcher in the street...

INT. SANITARIUM - NICK’S ROOM - WINTER - NIGHT

Nick, now alone, pen in hand, writes furiously.

NICK (V.O.)

...and I was him too, looking upand wondering...

EXT. THE STREET BELOW MYRTLE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Nick, simultaneously in the street below, can see himselfupstairs looking out from Myrtle’s window.

NICK (V.O.)

I was within and without; enchanted

and repelled by the inexhaustiblevariety of life...

POETIC VISUAL:
The Manhattan skyline - millions of lightedwindows frame silhouettes of this inexhaustible humanity...

26.

INT. MYRTLE’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

SUDDENLY WE HEAR Tom violently yelling!

TOM:

You’ve got no right to speak her

name!

Tom and Myrtle emerge from the bedroom half-dressed...

MYRTLE:

Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! I'll speak it

whenever I want! Daisy! Dai-SUDDENLY!

A short, sharp movement, Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose!

CLOSE ON:
Nick. AS MYRTLE SCREAMS, BLOOD FLIES ACROSS THE

ROOM IN ABSTRACT SLOW MOTION!

PULL OUT:
Through the window; this drama becomes merely onemore of the countless many that play out in this vast city...

DISSOLVE TO:

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

Nick’s been reading to the Doctor. He sits on the couch, manyhand-written pages on his lap. He admits...

NICK:

I have no clue how I got home.

EXT. NICK’S BUNGALOW - PORCH - MORNING

Nick is still asleep. Harsh morning light.

CLOSE ON:
His eyelids slowly flutter awake.

He realizes he’s been sleeping on the porch in his underwear.

NICK (V.O.)

But I do know that I awoke with a

distinctly uneasy feeling...

His pants lie next to him, his shirt is on the railing, hisjacket is in a tree, and his car is parked in the bushes...

A sudden feeling of disquiet makes Nick look up...

NICK (V.O.)

....that Gatsby was watching me.

27.

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

The Doctor leans forward.

DOCTOR:

(slightly incredulous)

Watching you...?

NICK:

Yes. He was watching me. In fact, Iknow now that Gatsby was alwayswatching me...

DOCTOR:

And how do you know that?

NICK:

Because I got an invitation... Iwas the only one.

FADE IN IMAGE:
An immaculate CHAUFFEUR, in uniform of robin's

egg blue, stands on Nick’s doorstep, holding a silver tray onwhich rests an invitation...

NICK(CONT’D)

No one, except me, every receivedan actual invitation to Gatsby’s...

The words written on the invitation PUSH FORWARD: “Dear Mr.

Carraway, the honor would be entirely mine, if you wouldattend my little party...”

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - TWILIGHT

A line of limousines stretches from the lights of Manhattantowards Gatsby’s gates.

NICK (V.O.)

You see, the rest of New York

simply came, uninvited...

As an open-topped Rolls Royce motors through Gatsby’s gates,

a roadster packed with rowdy revellers, swerves onto theverge and roars cheekily by...

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