The Singing Detective Page #7
-Anyway.
-From who?
...this production company.
lt's about Singing Detective.
Well, yes, it's from
this producer, Finney.
Okay.
Binney?
Finney.
-Finney with an ''F''?
-Yes.
Finney with an ''F,'' not a ''B''?
-Right. Finney.
-Finney. Not a ''B.''
-'Cause you know him.
-What are you...? What?
You know him.
l've never heard of him.
ln what context have
you never heard of him?
-Danny.
-What?
-Why are you so... ?
-Where's the letter?
-Where's the letter?
-l'll get it.
Where's the letter?
lt checks out?
Well, for what it's worth.
But would l get
some dough up front?
So it says.
How much?
40 grand.
Ugh. Sh*t.
-But that's for the rights?
-Right.
Well, who's going to do
the screenplay?
Maybe l can get a shot at it.
Well, the producer,
Finney, apparently.
The producer.
Why? Why? All these...
guys, they think
they can write,
every busy little schmuck
who can hold a pen
the right way up.
l know, so we just take
the money and run.
Oh, l... l...
Okay.
lt's a good story, though.
Mm-hmm.
lf it'd stay on the page.
Mm-hmm.
lt's all connections.
Connections.
Connections.
Oh, God.
Oh... oh,
we shouldn't have run.
No choice.
Where the f*** is this?
Why here?
What are we doing here?
Geez. Look at that sun.
That is the sun, right?
lt's a big f***ing moon
if it isn't.
What is going on?
What's going on?
What are we gonna do?
Hey.
There's a building over
there... way over there.
''Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco.''
Oh, no, l hate that stuff.
lt gets in my throat and my...
Maybe what we're looking
for is in that building.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
What are we looking for?
l don't know.
Nor me...
Nor me.
People see us everywhere
But myself l can't deceive
l know it's
only make believe
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba,
ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bah, oh...
My one and only prayer
is that some day you'll care
My hopes,
my dreams come true
My one and only you
No one will ever know
how much l love you so
My only prayer will be
someday you'll care for me
But it's only make-believe...
Hey, son.
Tough guys don't cry.
l know that, sir.
l can't now separate in my mind
the bus that took my mom and me
to L.A.
from the one
which brought us back.
Brought me back.
l dream about it.
But l'm getting there.
My head's getting there.
Well...
What happened to your mother?
She killed herself.
How?
ln the river.
ln the river.
Uh... is-is that really
what happened?
What?
Well, now, now, l...
''Now, now''? Wait, wait.
No. Excuse me. What?
You have a young woman
drowned in a bathtub
and thrown in the river
in your story.
So, what about it?
So, what about it?
Sometimes a cigar
is just a cigar.
Uh-huh.
Well, l'm a bit surprised
that you would duplicate
such a traumatic event
in your own life in the pages...
ln what? Oh, oh, in a
commercial piece of trash?
l didn't say that.
No, you didn't say that.
Mm-hmm.
No, Dan, l read you
part of your book
to illustrate a point to you.
Book. l'll tell you,
that book... that book...
There are things
in that book, Doc,
that are reaching out
to grab me by the throat.
Why don't you let them?
Why? What?
Let 'em.
Me, l'm in that book,
and l didn't even know it.
Yes.
l didn't kill my mother.
l can't imagine that anyone
would ever suggest that you did.
You know, l... when
l was a... a... boy...
Long ago and far away.
No. Here and now.
l saw my mother
with the greaseball
who worked with my father...
like, a partner...
...in this service station
in the desert
that was never really viable.
Dark and Binney.
Sh*t, they were screwing,
you know?
The noises,
him on top of her, l guess.
Kiss, bang, bang--
all that stuff.
l don't know.
Maybe she would have
gotten away with it.
Maybe it was just...
My dad was a hard
sort of guy to talk to.
You know, he was good,
you know, but, as a kid,
l couldn't seem to get close.
He was good with engines,
you know?
Anything under the hood,
and he was just...
He was so quiet. He was just...
he was just too quiet.
And l wanted to get closer,
you know?
l mean, maybe l wasn't the kind
of kid he would have wanted,
you know?
Reading,
and off on my own and...
...locked in.
That pain-in-the-ass kid stuff,
but...
l wanted to get closer,
and l... l...
So you told him about her.
Well, l traded her in.
l traded her in
for a pat on the head.
No. No.
l got beat instead,
and so did she.
He just hit her from one side
of the room to the other.
And we went...
to L.A.
You know, but by then
l think my pa's rage
had-had-had cooled down.
l don't think
he wanted us to go,
'cause l remember him waving.
l remember him waving to us
as the bus went away.
Away.
And l...
And my mom couldn't get a job.
lt was just, you know...
She started
bringing men home and...
Oh, the poor b*tch.
l remember these cracks.
There were these cracks
on the ceiling.
l remember these cracks.
All right.
Stand up.
What?
You can. You can do it.
Oh, you think so?
lt's now or never.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
How many steps to heaven, Doc?
Ah, metaphysics.
Music.
Try again. Take your time.
l'm sorry. How many steps?
-Now, there
-Three steps to heaven
-Are three steps to heaven
-Three steps to heaven
-Just listen
-Three steps to heaven
-And you will plainly see
-Three steps to heaven
And as life travels on
And things do go wrong
-Just follow
-Three steps to heaven
-Steps one, two and three
-Three steps to heaven
Step one
You find a girl you love
Step two
She falls in love with you
Step three, you kiss
And hold her tightly
-Yeah, that sure
-Three steps to heaven
-Seems like heaven to me
-Three steps to heaven
-The formula for heaven's
-Three steps to heaven
-Very simple
-Three steps to heaven
Ooh, wa-wa, ooh
Just follow the rules
Three steps to heaven,
Three steps to heaven
-And you will see
-Ooh
And as life travels on
And things do go wrong
-Just follow
-Three steps to heaven
-Steps one, two and three
-Three steps to heaven
Step one
-You find a girl you love
-Ah, ah-ah
-Step two...
-No, no.
She falls in love with you...
Ah, yes.
Huh?
Hey, that's great, man.
Hey, can l get an amen, brother?
Yeah, amen, whatever.
One, two, three.
No, no, no. Leave me, leave me.
l got it, l got it.
Yee-hah!
Geronimo.
That book. There were things
in that book, Doc,
that are reaching out
to grab me by the throat.
Why don't you let them?
Sorry you got put on hold,
Mr. Binney.
Don't sweat the bill.
So now we wait.
We wait, and we see.
You had it coming, baby.
They should have
cut your dick off first.
lt's led you into
one hell of a fix, eh?
Mmm, mmm, mmm.
They got to him first.
Yeah.
One step ahead all the time.
But l didn't think the Feds
but there you go.
No morality these days, eh?
l know, but l wanted
to waste him on my own.
Well, why not?
l'd like to wash
all the men off my skin.
0 fans
Submitted on August 05, 2018
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"The Singing Detective" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 11 Jan. 2025. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_singing_detective_18193>.
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