The Great Gatsby Page #8

NICK:

It’s fine, thank you.

WOLFSHEIM:

I understand you’re looking for a

business gonnegtion-

GATSBY:

No, no. This isn't the man. This is

the friend I told you about.

WOLFSHEIM:

Oh! Beg your pardon, I had a wrong

man.

Woldsheim pats Nick on the back, unsettling him further...

Gatsby, a quick glance to his watch and Wolfsheim, jumps up.

GATSBY:

Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have tomake THAT call.

(gesturing to Nick)

Meyer, do you mind?

Gatsby leaving Nick and Wolfsheim alone.

WOLFSHEIM:

Gatsby! What a gentleman! From oneof the finest families in the

Midwest... Sadly all dead now. Letme tell you, when I made thepleasure of Mr. Gatsby’s

acquaintance just after the war, Iknew I had discovered a man of fine

breeding. A war hero! Such...

medals. And, an Oggsford man.

Oggsford College in England. Youknow Oggsford?

47.

NICK:

I've heard of it...

WOLFSHEIM:

Then you would know that a man likethat can be trusted. With a friend,

with someone like you, he wouldnever so much as look at yourwife...

NICK:

I’m not... married.

WOLFSHEIM:

But you work on Wall Street, right?

NICK:

(totally confused)

Yes...

Nick studies Wolfsheim, noticing an oddity about his outfit.

WOLFSHEIM:

Looking at my tiepin?

CLOSE ON:
The pin.

WOLFSHEIM (CONT’D)

Finest specimen of human molars...

Before Nick can recover, Gatsby suddenly returns.

GATSBY:

Gentlemen. Everything alright...?

NICK:

Oh, yes... We were just talkingabout other people’s wives...

GATSBY:

(taking his seat)

Other people’s wives? Ah... I see.

Gatsby looks to Wolfsheim.

GATSBY (CONT’D)

Other people’s wives... Meyer?

Wolfsheim nods, smiles, and checks out the dancing girls...

WOLFSHEIM:

Well, my work here is done. I’ll

leave you gentlemen to talk aboutyour sports and your women...

48.

Wolfsheim follows his favorite dancer off...

GATSBY:

You’ll have to excuse him... In his

old age, he’s prone to “digress...”

He’s a regular around here; a real

denizen of Broadway...

NICK:

Who is he anyhow?

GATSBY:

Meyer? He’s a gambler.

Over Nick and Gatsby’s shoulders is Wolfsheim, mingling withthe ladies; but occasionally glancing in their direction...

NICK:

An actor?

GATSBY:

Meyer? No. He’s the man who fixed

the 1919 World Series.

NICK:

Fixed it?

GATSBY:

Fixed it.

NICK:

How did he manage that?

GATSBY:

He just... saw the opportunity, Isuppose. He’s a very smart man.

(tries to change subject)

Now, old sport, about Miss Baker,

and that request we spoke of...

Before Gatsby can go on, Tom Buchanan looms over the table.

TOM:

Hey Nick! Nick! Where’ve you been!?

Daisy’s furious you haven’t called

up.

Nick and Gatsby stand.

NICK:

This is Mr. Gatsby, Mr. Buchanan.

CLOSE ON:
Gatsby. With strange intensity he offers his hand.

49.

GATSBY:

I’m so very, very... delighted to

make your acquaintance.

Tom turns back to Nick.

TOM:

I wouldn’t have expected to find

you in this temple of virtue.

NICK:

I'm having lunch with Mr. Gats-

Nick turns, but inexplicably, Gatsby is gone.

PUSH TOWARD:
Nick, surprise rising into anger...

CUT TO:

EXT. THE HOTEL SAYRE - ROOFTOP GARDEN - DUSK

Jordan is perched at an elegant table, overlooking TimesSquare and the advertisement of the man in the beautifulArrow shirts.

DISCOVER:
Nick, frustrated, dodging the fashionable andfamous...

NICK:

I’m looking for Ms. Baker. Yes. Thefamous sporting star. The golfer...

There... I’ve spotted her.

Nick comes to an abrupt halt in front of Jordan.

NICK (CONT’D)

What game are you and Gatsbyplaying at!?

An immaculate MAITRE’D offers Nick a chair.

MAITRE’D

Will the gentleman be joining?

NICK:

(frustrated)

One moment please-

JORDAN:

Please, Nick, sit down. This is a

polite restaurant.

As Nick’s frustration and Jordan’s embarrassment grow-

50.

NICK:

It’s all very strange. He picks me

up in his fancy yellow car... Andhe’s going on and on and on about

his life and the war and rubies and

Oxford and... What is-

JORDAN:

If you’ll just have a seat--

NICK:

What is this big request!?

JORDAN:

Nick--! He just wants you to inviteDaisy to tea.

NICK:

Tea?

(not what Nick expected)

Daisy...? And Gatsby...?

Nick sits...

NICK (CONT’D)

Why?

JORDAN:

Well... I don’t know quite where tostart. You see... I met Gatsby,

five years ago, in Louisville...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. DAISY’S HOUSE - LOUISVILLE - DAY

TIGHT ON:
Golf shoes biting into soft, green grass.

JORDAN (O.S.)

It was the day I got my new Englishgolf shoes.

WIDE:
A row of fancy Louisville homes - red, white and bluebunting “tut, tutting” in the breeze - are set along a

beautiful, green stretch of park.

JORDAN (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Daisy was by far the most populargirl with the Officers from CampTaylor...

Across the road, 18 YEAR OLD DAISY is perched in the frontseat of her flashy white roadster, beaming, happy...

51.

JORDAN (O.S.) (CONT’D)

One of them was in the car with

her.

Beside Daisy REVEAL: A handsome lieutenant: YOUNG JAY GATSBY.

JORDAN (O.S.) (CONT’D)

It was Gatsby. And the way he

looked at her...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. THE HOTEL SAYRE - ROOFTOP GARDEN - DUSK

The silhouettes of Jordan and Nick, leaned close, are lit

magnificently against the beaded lights of the city...

JORDAN (O.S.)

Is the way all girls want to be

looked at.

Their eyes meet; a conspiring flicker.

NICK:

(blown away)

So what happened?

JORDAN:

Well, I don’t know...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. FRENCH BATTLEFIELD - DAY

Gatsby leads his men on a heroic charge out of the trenches-

JORDAN (O.S.)

Gatsby was sent off to war...

A MASSIVE EXPLOSION rocks the battlefield!

JORDAN (O.S.) (CONT’D)

But when the war ended... For some

unknown reason, Gatsby couldn’t

return...

DISSOLVE TO:

MONTAGE.

A NEWSPAPER FILLS THE SCREEN:

52.

“AMERICA’S WEALTHIEST BACHELOR TO WED: TOM BUCHANAN LURES

LOUISVILLE’S SWEETHEART.”

JORDAN (O.S.)

A year later, Tom Buchanan ofChicago swept in and stole her

away...

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SEELBACH HOTEL - DAISY’S GRAND SUITE - NIGHT

An exquisite string of pearls coils around Daisy’s neck.

JORDAN (O.S.)

He gave her a string of pearlsworth $350,000.

REVEAL:
Tom, tightening the clasp.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SEELBACH HOTEL. DAISY’S GRAND SUITE - MORNING

JORDAN (O.S.)

But, the morning of the wedding,

Daisy received a letter...

On the bed, Daisy, hysterical, clutches a bottle in one handand a letter in the other.

DAISY:

(screams)

Tell them Daisy’s changed her mind!

JORDAN:

Daisy! Please, everyone’s waiting!

Daisy reaches for the pearls around her neck...

YOUNG DAISY:

Give them back!!

Suddenly! Daisy tears the pearls and hurls them; they explodeinto a hundred shimmering pieces against the hard wood floor!

CUT TO:
A set of stern, white heels clicking down the hall...

REVEAL:
Daisy’s hard-mouthed MOTHER.

DAISY’S MOTHER

What on earth is going on in here!?

53.

her mother’s eyes land on the bottle, and then the letter...

PUSH IN:
The last line of the letter reads: Love, Jay.

DAISY:

Leave me alone!

DAISY’S MOTHER

Jordan, run the bath! Now!

DISSOLVE TO:

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