The Stunt Man Page #23

you did save that man's life.

- 124

ELI:

Yeah, that was really nice of me.

I'm a nice person. I just wish I

had the strength to go to his room

and break his spine. On the last

day of filming the queen decides to

come out of the closet! Wouldn't

that have made a lovely headline?

You understand, of course, that the

film would've been destroyed. Doing

that to me...

NINA:

Eli, what's wrong?

ELI:

Nothing serious. Just a little

self-indulgence. Feel-sorry-for

Eli-time.

Eli, on the edge of nervous exhaustion, is actually close to tears.

ELI (CONT'D)

I'm sorry, but you know...it's too

goddamn much. Why's everybody on my

back? When's somebody gonna say,

"There, there Eli?" I'm really

surrounded by friends, allies and

you..."What else can I do for your

film, Eli?"

NINA:

(wounded)

That's not fair.

They have reached a turn in the corridor where each would go his

separate way. They stop.

ELI:

What's not fair...getting my

feelings "hurt?" When did I lose

you to that soldier boy, Nina? That

nice, wholesome, swell-looking

kid...wanted by every cop, the FBI

and God knows who else, for God

knows what crime.

Nina is paralyzed with shock.

- 125

ELI (CONT'D)

Come on, Nina, those blue eyes have

bedazzled our little girl. For

Christ's sake, he reeks of blood.

NINA:

You sound as crazy as...

(she stops)

ELI:

(wryly)

As who?

NINA:

He thinks you're trying to...

(she can't say 'kill')

...harm him.

ELI:

Any number of people are trying to

harm him...

He walks off down the corridor.

INT. HOTEL BASEMENT - LATER THAT NIGHT

Partly crated props and costumes, luggage belonging to the departing

film crew is piled against the wall and on shelves. In the

cavernous half-lit room, Cameron, once again the coiled, stealthy

animal, moves through the shadows among the racks of suitcases,

pulling them aside, searching. Discovering one, he sets it on the

floor. It's locked. With a metal bar, he breaks the lock and

eagerly rifles the contents. Then, sensing a presence, he turns.

There stands Nina at the base of the steps watching him. With only

a glance to her, he goes on with his search.

CAMERON:

How'd you know I was down here?

NINA:

The desk clerk...

He finds a WALLET, opens it, getting to his feet triumphantly.

CAMERON:

How about that for luck? Burt's

from Idaho...no picture on the

driver's license.

Cameron stuffs the wallet in his pocket, moving along the row of

suitcases. He pulls out a duffel bag, unzips it, shaking the

- 126

contents on the floor. Now with the open bag on his arm, he goes

along the row of costumes and props like a man in the supermarket,

stuffing in things he will need: a pair of hiking boots, a couple

of work shirts, a heavy jacket. Passing a shelf of bayonets, he

picks one out and throws it in the bag.

NINA:

(quietly)

Who are you?

CAMERON:

(ignoring the

seriousness)

Name it...

Above the bayonets are army helmets. He tries one on.

CAMERON (CONT'D)

Hey, how's this? A World War One,

uh...what did they call 'em?...

dogfaces... somethin'... doughboys.

(flings a nurses uniform

at her)

Wanna be the nurse?

179A

From some hospital props, he grabs a wheelchair and shoves it toward

her.

CAMERON (CONT'D)

...You tell me this wouldn't work?

A pretty nurse pushing a vet in a

wheelchair? When we hit that

roadblock, we'd have 'em crying like

babies.

NINA:

(quietly)

Who the hell are you?

CAMERON:

Somebody trying to stay

alive...anybody--that can get past

the dogs and the quicksand...

(making a shrewd guess)

Who did Eli say I was?

NINA:

I'm asking you, God damn...

She has fiercely grabbed his naked shoulder.

- 127

CAMERON:

Easy with that tatoo...it mighta

lost me Eli, but it won me Lt. Emily

Schmidt, the greatest b*obs in

Southeast Asia...and a very

patriotic chick. So I got this

tattoo, for 28 bucks. And when she

saw this shoulder, let me tell ya,

holy Jesus! Following which I got

the clap from the Lt. And hepatitis

from the tattoo needle. You know

what bothers me? I think Emily is

gonna be very offended by Eli's

picture.

Nina cannot endure another moment of this charade.

NINA:

Why do they want you? What did you

do?

CAMERON:

Eli'd tell you...I was a soldier. I

did the same as everybody, just one

of the boys... emptied my M-16 at

any sound... don't know whether I

killed gooks or cherries...the new

kids from the States, we call 'em

cherries, which they were for maybe

fifteen minutes. The dry season is

when it really breaks loose. You

get very tired. It's like falling

asleep at the wheel. You close your

eyes and it still goes on. You're

killin' them, they're killin' you.

Couldn't tell ya now what was real

except I'm here.

We sense in him the fatigue he is describing, then, pushing aside

that memory.

- 128

CAMERON (CONT'D)

Hey, once when things were rough and

the grass ran out, I shot the hell

out of a water buffalo.

(he considers, then passes

judgment on himself)

Actually, I wasn't a bad

soldier...better than most. Got

lotsa pretty ribbons. Funny...sort

of like when I did that first stunt

and everybody started clapping...

nothing like a slap on the back to

ruin a man, blow his sense of

proportion. So, I got home...and,

uh...I guess I expected something.

Nothing fancy, but... something, you

know...a free car wash, double blue

chip stamps, extra time on the

parking meter... I don't know...

Instead, people... uh, didn't seem

too pleased.

(trying to hide a lot of

pain)

In fact, they acted like I was gonna

start killing babies...

She crosses to him, deeply moved.

CAMERON (CONT'D)

Sh*t. I was supposed to get

married, run an ice cream parlor.

(picks up his suitcases)

I gotta go.

179B

Although they're standing only a couple of feet apart, he lifts his

hand tentatively, as if to wave goodbye.

NINA:

...What about the roadblocks?

CAMERON:

I'll go through the woods.

NINA:

Don't you suppose there'll be cops

in the woods.

- 129

CAMERON:

I suppose there are cops in the

woodwork! But what the hell...it's

a nice night.

(he starts to go)

Lovers facing farewells have a gift for suspending time, and Nina

speaks out, unable to let him leave.

NINA:

I've always liked the woods at

night. They're very romantic... You

can hunt for truffles. It might be

such fun, we'd just keep going.

Cameron can't afford to fall for her softness.

CAMERON:

You said "we." What about your two

scenes?

NINA:

That's true...One of them is three

pages of me making a tunafish salad

for an American flyer in 1917... And

I've got to weigh that against

losing the man I love. It's a big

decision.

CAMERON:

Nina, you're making me crazy.

NINA:

I'm sorry. I'm a little crazy

myself. I can't let you go and I

don't even know who you are.

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