The Great Waldo Pepper Page #5

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is sittin' out there.

CAA!

Waldo,

we've been together

all our lives.

Tell me to fly it

and I'll fly it.

Tell me to skip it

and I'll skip it.

But I gotta know now.

Are you ready?

Yes!

Are you sure you're ready?

Yes!

Down from the heavens,

all for you,

the Stiles Skystreak!

Ladies and gentlemen,

for the first time

in the history of aviation,

the most difficult,

the most dangerous

aerobatic maneuver

ever performed

in the entire world.

Mr. Ezra Stiles

will now perform

the outside loop!

He's over the

top now folks,

and into his dive

at 200 miles an hour.

He's coming out

of the dive upside down

and centrifugal force

is trying to throw him

out of the cockpit.

Put the power on.

Power on! Late!

Tremendous

pressure's are driving

the blood to his head.

He could black out

any second.

Oh, he's trying to push

over the top and make

history here for you, today.

It's all right folks.

He's under control.

He's not gonna

make it, is he?

He'll make it.

Well, if he don't

we'll go right into the

opera singer routine.

Duke, get into

the opera costume.

He'll make it.

Get the plane ready.

Don't let

it hang there.

Piece of cake, Ezra!

Pull back. That's it!

Now power! Now power!

Don't let it slide back.

Jesus, don't let

it slide back!

Go back! Go back!

Ace, get that goddamn

plane started! Go back!

Listen. Let me...

Let me get the belt.

Can you move your legs?

Can you move your legs?

Not much.

Well, try.

They're jammed.

Son of a b*tch!

Hey, one of you guys

give me a hand, will ya?

Oh, Christ! Waldo!

They're smoking!

They're smoking!

Hey!

Put that away,

goddamn it!

Put those

cigarettes away!

Get 'em away

from the plane!

Damn it!

Get 'em away!

Fire! Fire!

Don't let me

burn, Waldo!

Somebody give me

a hand. Quick!

Please! Help me!

Come on, help me.

Don't just stand there.

Help me!

Help me get him out!

Don't let me burn!

Don't let me burn!

Waldo!

Waldo, I'm burning!

I'm burning!

Waldo!

Get away!

Get away from here,

you goddamn vultures!

Get away. Go back!

Go back!

Go on! Get away!

Get away!

What the hell

is he doin'?

Get away!

It's permanent, Waldo.

The Regional Board

met in Wichita.

Permanently grounded.

It's a federal offense

if you ever fly again.

That means jail.

I put in my

pitch for you.

Did everything I could,

but they wouldn't budge.

It's a miracle

no one was killed

in that crash.

If there had been,

you'd of been up

for manslaughter.

As it was,

they figure they're

letting you off easy.

Well, they did

the right thing.

There's no doubt about it.

You can come work

for me if you want to.

It's the best

I can do.

It's clerkin', sure,

but you'd still

be in aviation.

No, thanks, Newt.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Well, if you

change your mind,

let me know.

What do you think

about Kessler?

What?

Doin' the outside loop,

last week, in St. Louis.

Well,

somebody was

bound to do it

sooner or later.

Yeah, I suppose so.

Take it easy, hotshot.

Yeah.

Hey.

Who is it?

It's me, Doc.

Waldo Pepper.

Goodbye!

Just a minute, huh, Doc?

Howdy, Doc.

Oh, hey, you're

lookin' good, Doc.

Real good.

What you been doin'?

Get to it, Pepper.

Oh, nothing, I...

Well, I'm healing

pretty fast,

and I was thinkin'

about maybe gettin'

back into flying.

I can't advise

you on that.

You wanna go

to jail, go to jail.

I'd use another

name, of course.

I wouldn't want star

billin' or anything.

With me?

You get me the worst

publicity that a man

could ever ask for,

you get me

suspended for a year,

and here you are now,

asking me for a job.

Come on, Doc.

You're crazy.

There's not an outfit

in this part of the country

that'll even touch you.

Ah, it's all

gone anyway.

They don't wanna see

stuntin' anymore.

They want speed,

records, fast, faster.

Get yourself a bug,

hit 200, you're home free.

I can do that.

Goodbye, Pepper.

Your friend Olsson's doin'

pretty good in Hollywood.

Maybe the CAA

hasn't set itself

up in the west yet.

Try California.

CAA.

See you, Doc.

You're not a

bad sort, Waldo.

But you're dangerous.

How's the pay?

Good.

The people are

kind of nutty but you

get used to them.

I haven't been

out of work

since I got here.

Who do I see

about getting a job?

Don't worry about it.

Finish! Cut!

Axel, move in.

Come on, Axel.

I'll be right back.

Now, you'll be in that

position over there.

All right, gentlemen.

All right.

Stand by, everybody!

Roll 'em!

Speed.

Action.

Cut! Did you got that?

Okay for you?

Okay, Joe? Good.

Cut! Print!

That was a good one.

Let's just wait

a minute, Frank.

Just a minute.

I am just too cat-like

to fall that way.

Every fan I have will

know in his heart

it simply isn't me.

I have too much

natural grace.

Couldn't he club me

with a wrench or

somethin' like that?

You know,

my reflexes are...

Hey, you were great.

That's a terrific fall. Okay?

One more time, please.

And Axel, will you use

the gun butt on him this time.

Props, will you move the

debris out of the way so the

men can bring the table in.

Well, you must be

the famous Patsy.

Mmm-hmm.

Axel says I'm

supposed to be

real nice to you.

You're damned right.

Hi, honey.

Hi.

Werfel asked me

to give you a message.

He wants you

to reconsider.

But I thought he

had all his pilots.

Not after this morning.

Another mid-air?

We've been

through that before.

Tell him no.

I'm glad.

I already did.

Hey, let's us do it.

You're talking to

an airline pilot, son.

Western promised

me an opening at the

end of the month,

once my application

passes CAA review.

Ah, who'd approve you?

I'm clean.

I took my

year's suspension.

You really wanna

get thrown

to the lions?

It's a lot better

than getting

creamed by Fokker.

I can't do that kind

of air work anymore,

anyhow. I'm out of practice.

But we can work

our way back.

I couldn't get

the job myself,

but Werfel knows you.

You could

vouch for me.

I'd even use

an assumed name.

How about it?

Do you think we could?

God knows Werfel

pays his pilots big.

All their next of kin

agree on that.

These are the outtakes

on that scene where Dick

had that piece of bad luck.

Oh, Dick's gonna be

all right, more or

less, thank God.

And thank God we had

two cameras on it.

We got it from different

angles, I think we can

use the same one for

both Curtin's crash

and Landis's.

I'm positive the

audience will never notice

they're the same crash.

Ah, that's supposed

to be Madden's plane

flying over, but I think

we'll probably

cut that part out.

And start him going up

again to help McKinnon.

Oh, here's the same crash

from a different angle.

You'll see what I mean.

Actually, Dick was lucky

to get out of it alive.

He'll be in the hospital

for at least a couple

of months, and no use to us.

All right, that's enough.

Let's have some

lights, please.

Now then, we've shot

everything up to where

Madden comes back

up to help McKinnon.

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