The Stunt Man Page #18

Cameron pales, knowing that drunken Henry's desire for revenge can

expose him to the police. He grabs the dime from Henry's fingers

and drops it into a PEANUT VENDING MACHINE.

HENRY:

What the hell you doin'?

Cameron stuffs the bag of peanuts in Henry's shirt pocket, grabs his

suitcase and hustles him out of the bar toward the FRONT DOOR.

CAMERON:

- 95

I'm putting you in a cab for your

own good and sending you to the

airport. He's mine, Henry, all

mine. Just leave that son-of-abitch

to me!

They have reached the HOTEL DOORWAY. By now, Henry is convinced

Cameron means business. He stops.

HENRY:

Do whatever you wanna do, but I

better do it with ya! You'll need

help 'cause that goddamn looney is

dangerous.

CAMERON:

(blustering)

Not to me, he ain't. I'm going to

the cops. You gotta earn your

living in pictures, but I don't give

a sh*t. He can't hurt me.

HENRY:

Don't be too sure. Damned psycho

nearly strangled me! Don't believe

me? Wanna see marks...?

(tears open shirt collar

to show bruises)

...Lucky to be alive!

CAMERON:

(confused)

Henry, what are you talking about?

I watched that whole thing today, he

didn't even touch you.

- 96

HENRY:

Not today. When Burt went into the

water.

(Cameron is wide-eyed)

I could tell from up there in the

chopper something' was wrong. So, I

stopped shootin' and that crazy man

gets me by the throat and starts

screamin' to roll the film...I mean

that guy's down there dying and he's

screamin', "Keep shooting! Keep

shooting!" Then, he starts fighting

me for the switch and it falls

down...like a crazy house up there,

with him thrashin' on the floor...He

didn't care about Burt. All he

cared about was to get that man

dyin' on film! Sickest thing I ever

seen!

As Henry's last words sink in, Cameron stands pale and shaken.

HENRY (CONT'D)

I better grab that cab.

Henry takes the suitcase from Cameron's numb hand and pushes through

the door, looks back for a parting shot.

HENRY (CONT'D)

You tell 'em everything...don't

mince words...

As he goes towards cab, some MERRYMAKERS push their way into the

lobby.

144

CLOSE ON CAMERON

Staring ahead, Henry's words echo like his own death warrant. The

merrymakers jostle past him, discussing suntan ointments. Cameron

turns and walks across the HOTEL LOBBY and UP the STAIRS...his pace

increasing until he is taking them three at a time.

145

CLOSE ON DOOR LOCK

Cameron's hand thrusts KEY into the hole, flings open the DOOR TO

NINA'S BEDROOM and barges in.

CAMERON:

(overwrought)

Nina...your crazy Eli...

146

147

147A

- 97

He FREEZES. Over his shoulder, we see Nina, naked, lying on the

bed. Raymond, also naked, sits slumped on the edge of the bed,

utterly disconsolate. The three stare at each other, an absurd

tableau. Cameron whirls and leaves, slamming the door behind him,

almost off its hinges.

INT. HOTEL LOBBY

He comes down the steps like a madman. Raging, Cameron stomps

across the lobby toward the glass doors that will take him out of

Eli's grotesque wonderland. He collides with a group of returning

night FISHERMEN still in their slickers, carrying their equipment,

their catch wrapped in newspapers. For a moment he is tangled in

their tackle, FISH TUMBLING AND SLIDING along the marble floor.

FISHERMAN:

Jesus...don't step on 'em.

Cameron stares at them, whirls and rushes back across the lobby and

up the stairs.

INT. NINA'S BEDROOM

As Cameron bursts in.

room, glaring at him.

She stands in her robe in the center of the

NINA:

(screaming)

Get out of here!

Hearing WATER running in the bathtub, he dashes in, but finds the

bathroom empty. He moves to the closet and slides the door so

violently that it almost falls off: No Raymond.

NINA (CONT'D)

Get out!!!

(raging)

I'll have you thrown out!

She crosses to the phone.

CAMERON:

Is there anybody in this whole

company you haven't screwed?

In the HALLWAY, a little group of PASSING TOURISTS turn in

wonderment at the tumult through the open doorway. Nina leaves the

phone, crosses to the door and kicks it shut in the people's faces

with all her strength.

NINA:

- 98

(furious)

You stupid, ignorant bastard! How

dare you storm in here like you won

me in a raffle?!

Cameron, realizing for the first time that instead of being ashamed

or frightened, she is livid with rage?

CAMERON:

(coldly)

My girl gave me her key!

NINA:

I am not your girl! I am that man's

girl! That man and I have been

lovers for six months! I've known

you two days!

CAMERON:

(ironically)

Then gee, ma'am, I sure hope you

didn't tell him about all that

ballin' last night.

NINA:

Don't you dare be clever with me!

He came scratching at the door

tonight like a beaten dog, begging

me to say that you were some twenty-

four hour nonsense.

(against her will she

starts to cry)

...and I had to tell him I thought I

was falling in love with...

CAMERON:

(not giving an inch)

You couldn'a said that with your

clothes on?!

Nina lets out an incoherent roar of rage.

NINA:

Goddamn you! The wounded stud! He

is entitled to some dignity! To

lose his "pure and faithful lover"

without the new boy barging in!

Where do you suppose he is now?

CAMERON:

Did ya look in the laundry hamper?

- 99

NINA:

GET OUT! Get the HELL OUT!!

Cameron crosses to the door. Searching through this madness for

some kind of logic, turning on her.

CAMERON:

I don't have any rights? I don't

have the right to be pissed off...?

NINA:

You don't have the right to breathe!

I knew him before I met you! Do you

understand that?! Before I met

you!! If we were frightened, we

woke each other in the dark...we

slept in each other's arms...

CAMERON:

(interrupting)

The word is "f***!"

NINA:

All right, the word is f***! You

narrow, insensitive, stupid...!

CAMERON:

(interrupting)

Don't. Don't push me. I don't know

this freaky world you live in, but I

know that there still must be a

couple of places where people

somehow believe in...

He is at a loss for words.

NINA:

Believe in what? You're blushing.

A place where what? Don't get

embarrassed at this late date!

CAMERON:

...A place where a guy has a right

to blow his top if he finds his

lover screwing...

NINA:

(interrupting)

Raymond's lover! Raymond's lover!

Say it! Raymond's lover!

- 100

Cameron, exhausted, slides down the wall and sits on the floor.

NINA (CONT'D)

I'll have it typed up and

notarized...! Raymond's lover! And

you will sign where it says, agreed!

He says nothing. She on the bed and he on the floor, are drained of

all strength and emotion.

NINA (CONT'D)

(quietly)

You won't turn me into some rotten

whore because your papa once told

that a woman is a certain way "and

that's how it's gonna be 'til

Gabriel blows his horn..."

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