The Great Gatsby Page #5

NICK (V.O.)

The whole city packed intoautomobiles and all weekend, everyweekend, ended up at Gatsby’s...

28.

CRANE HIGH AND WIDE: Gatsby’s magnificent castle. Illuminatedfountains line a driveway packed with limousines; crowds ofglamorous people stream up the broad marble stairs.

EXT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - PORTICO - TWILIGHT

Dressed in white flannels, Nick offers his invitation to a

doorman who shrugs.

NICK (V.O.)

And I mean everyone: from everywalk of life, from every corner ofNew York City, this kaleidoscopiccarnival spilled through Gatsby’s

door...

A gaggle of gorgeous, but obviously low-class girls,

carelessly sweep Nick through the portico and into...

INT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - HALL OF MASTERS - CONTINUOUS

A bizarre mix of characters surge toward light at the end ofthis dark, vaulting, vomitorium-like passageway. BANG! Doorsburst open; the dazzling spectacle of the Grand Ballroom...!

INT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - GRAND BALLROOM - TWILIGHT

Champagne fountains vault to the ceiling. At the base of thefountains waiters scoop finger-bowl sized glasses onto trays.

Nick, almost unable to believe his eyes, takes in theimpossible variety of guests at Gatsby’s...

NICK (V.O)

A caravansary of...

IMAGES OF THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS illustrate his voice-over...

NICK (V.O.)

Billionaire play-boy publishers,

and their blond nurses... Heiresses

comparing inheritances on Gatsby’s

beach... My boss, Walter Chase,

losing money at the roulettetables... Gossip columnists...

Alongside gangsters and governorsexchanging telephone numbers...

Silent film stars... Broadwaydirectors... Morality protectors...

Casino collectors...

(MORE)

29.

NICK (V.O.) (CONT'D)

Underage hecklers... And EwingKlipspringer, dubious descendent ofBeethoven!

Overwhelmed, and out-of-place, Nick approaches the bar...

NICK:

(to the bartender)

Do you know where I might find thehost, Mr. Gatsby?

He brandishes his invitation.

NICK (CONT’D)

I live just next door...

BARTENDER:

Mr. Gatsby? I’ve never seen him

sir. Why, no one has...

The bartender automatically hands Nick a martini.

NICK (V.O.)

Alone, and a little embarrassed, I

decided to get... roaring drunk.

He downs the martini in one gulp, steps over an even drunkerguest, who collapses at his feet, and makes his way out to:

EXT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - TERRACE - TWILIGHT

Nick gazes out over the impossibly decadent party...

NICK:

Wow.

As, unbeknownst to him, a mysterious, masked guest stalkstoward him from behind...

VOICE:

I thought I might see you here...

Startled, Nick turns to find... Jordan Baker.

NICK:

Hello.

JORDAN:

I remembered you lived next door...

NICK:

Its like... an amusement park.

30.

JORDAN:

Shall we?

Jordan seductively leads Nick down the terrace steps...

NICK:

Did you get an invitation?

JORDAN:

People aren’t invited to Gatsby’s.

NICK:

Well I was... I seem to be the onlyone. Who is this Gatsby?

A haughty East Egger, TEDDY, interjects...

TEDDY:

He was a German spy during the war.

JORDAN:

Teddy Barton. Nick Carraway.

NICK:

(to Teddy)

A German spy...?

Teddy’s annoying East Egger friend, NELSON, chimes in...

NELSON:

No, no, no, no. He’s the Kaiser’s

assassin.

And the third of the East Egger trio, LANGUID GIRL, adds...

LANGUID GIRL:

I heard he killed a man once.

NELSON:

Its true!

LANUID GIRL:

You look at him sometimes when he

thinks no one’s watching... I’ll

bet he killed a man.

TEDDY:

Kills for fun! Free of charge.

NELSON:

Well he’s already richer than God.

Nick turns to Jordan; an alarmed whisper.

31.

NICK:

You don’t believe he killed a man

do you...?

JORDAN:

(wickedly)

Let’s go find him, and you can askhim yourself...

As the dance-floor erupts, and world-famous dancer Gilda Greyis announced, Jordan leads Nick off...

INT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - GRAND BALLROOM - EVENING

MUSIC FEVERISHLY BUILDS! As Nick and Jordan bound up awinding staircase, Jordan teases seductively...

JORDAN:

Oh, Mr. Gatsby...!

(to Nick)

Shall I lead you into his clutches?

INT. GATSBY'S CASTLE - LIBRARY - EVENING

BANG! Nick and Jordan explode into a dark room. A stout,

middle-aged man wheels to them with unsettling intensity.

OWL EYES:

You won’t find him...!

He plucks two finger-bowl sized cocktails from a row lined upon the table and hands them to Nick and Jordan.

OWL EYES (CONT’D)

This house and everything in it,

are all part of an elaboratedisguise. But Mr. Gatsby doesn’t

exist.

JORDAN:

Phooey; I’ve met him!

OWL EYES:

Which one; the Prince, the Spy, theMurderer? I’ve been wandering his

halls drunk for about a week now -

but no matter where I look, I can’t

find anyone who knows anything real

about Mr. Gatsby.

32.

JORDAN:

(blithely dismissive)

Well I don’t care; he gives large

parties - and I like large parties,

they’re so intimate; at smallparties there isn't any privacy.

NICK:

(slowly to Owl Eyes)

But if that’s true; what’s all this

for...?

OWL EYES:

That, my dear fellow, is thequestion...

Owl Eyes looks to the window; and Nick and Jordan follow hisgaze to... Gatsby’s garden, where, as the band hits fever

pitch, and twilight becomes night... THE PARTY HAS BEGUN!!!!

EXT. GATSBY’S CASTLE - POOL - NIGHT

As the music nears its final crescendo, the evening’s many

fantastical characters dance uproariously around the pool!!!

On an elaborate flotilla in the center of it all Jordan and

Nick are kicking a wild Charleston. The number finally peaks!

NICK:

I didn’t expect all this...

JORDAN:

(coy)

What did you expect?

NICK:

I don’t know...

JORDAN:

Disappointed?

NICK:

Not in the slightest...

Jordan and Nick look as if they might just kiss...

TEDDY:

(to Nick)

Penny-less pantywaist!

Teddy leers between them and pulls Jordan away...

33.

TEDDY (CONT’D)

I’m stealing her away Carraway!

Over wild applause, the ORCHESTRA LEADER announces...

ORCHESTRA LEADER

Ladies and gentlemen, please makeyour way to the grand terrazzo; forthe premiere of Mr. VladimirTostoff's “A Jazz History of the

World”, and accompanying fireworks!

Nick follow Jordan, but Teddy cuts him off-

TEDDY:

Look around you! Rich girls don’t

marry poor boys-

On cue, a drinks tray floats into frame. There is a flurry ofmovement... Teddy rudely snatches a couple of martinis...

Nick, disoriented and empty-handed, begins up the stairs, andas he does so, hears the voice of the man holding the tray...

MAN:

Your face is familiar. Weren't youin the Third Division during thewar?

NICK:

Yes; The Ninth Battalion.

CUT TO:
THE MAN. He is tanned and handsome; just past thirty.

MAN:

I was in the Seventh. I knew I'd

seen you somewhere before... Havinga good time, old sport?

NICK:

(very tipsy)

The whole thing’s incredible - I

live next door...

(brandishing his now

crumpled invitation)

He even sent me an invitation, but

I still haven’t met Mr. Gatsby, noone’s met him; they say he’s third

cousin to the Kaiser and second

cousin to the devil!

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