The Trial of the Chicago 7 Page #4

And we HEAR a CROWD start to chant--faint at first but then

growing in volume-

CROWD (V.O.)

The whole world is watching! The

whole world is watching! The whole

world is watching!...

SCHULTZ closes his eyes for a moment and shakes his head

slightly at the cluelessness of Foran’s question.

SCHULTZ:

Yes sir, I do.

And SCHULTZ exits first as we

CUT TO:

39 EXT. COURTHOUSE -DAY 39

We see the source of the chanting--a massive crowd being held

back by rope lines and police officers. While most of the

crowd is shouting its support of the defendants, a healthy

number are making it clear they find the defendants’ hair too

long and politics too left and are urging them to go live

someplace else.

22.

We whip-pan to different signs: “Free the Chicago 7”; “Out of

Vietnam Now!”; “What About White Civil Rights?”; “Love It Or

Leave It!”, etc.

A40 INT. COURTHOUSE ROTUNDA -SAME TIME A40

A couple of POLICE OFFICERS escort ABBIE and JERRY through

the front doors and through the rotunda. Press and

photographers are being held back by a velvet rope as

flashbulbs spray-

ABBIE:

You alright?

JERRY:

I was until I saw this.

ABBIE:

Most of them are on our side.

Someone from the crowd shouts out-

CROWD MEMBER:

(shouting)

We love you, Abbie!

ABBIE turns to flash the guy a peace sign when the guy throws

an egg at him. Incredibly, JERRY grabs the egg out of the air

without breaking it as the POLICE OFFICERS head into the

crowd to find the guy who threw it.

ABBIE:

Jesus Christ. How did you do that?

JERRY:

Experience.

JERRY stands there a moment...

ABBIE:

You don’t know what to do with the

egg now, do you.

JERRY:

No.

They head through the rotunda as we-

CUT TO:

23.

40 INT. COURTHOUSE CORRIDOR -DAY 40

The corridor’s lined with press. The elevator dings and the

doors open as WILLIAM KUNSTLER and LEONARD WEINGLASS step

off. KUNSTLER is a rumpled man in his 40’s and WEINGLASS is

quieter though no less a legal mind.

The reporters immediately start shouting questions.

KUNSTLER:

Hang on, quiet down please. I want

you all to meet a new addition to

the defense team, this is Leonard

Weinglass, one of this country’s

most talented First Amendment

litigators.

REPORTER (SY)

Bill, can you tell us-

KUNSTLER:

(quieting the others)

Go ahead, Sy.

SY:

Can you tell us the status of

Charles Garry?

KUNSTLER:

Charles Garry is still in the

hospital and you should contact his

office for information. Marjorie.

MARJORIE:

Does that mean you’re representing

Bobby Seale today?

KUNSTLER:

It’s very important that it be

understood that for his own

protection, I am not acting as

Bobby Seale’s attorney today. One

more. Jack.

JACK:

Bill, I was told that it was Hayden

who wanted to bring Mr. Weinglass

in. That Hayden has concerns about

your seriousness.

KUNSTLER:

Well-

24.

WEINGLASS:

This is William Kunstler. You want

to find out how serious he is, meet

him at a witness stand.

KUNSTLER:

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

KUNSTLER and WEINGLASS head into-

41 INT. COURTROOM -CONTINUOUS 41

The gallery is packed with diehard supporters of the

defendants as well as a full press section in the back.

There’s more than the usual amount of security and we’ll

notice a half-dozen MARSHALS wearing blue blazers and badges.

DAVID DELLINGER is talking to the WIFE and SON we met

earlier.

SCHULTZ, FORAN and an ASSISTANT are talking at the

prosecutor’s table.

We move down and find JOHN FROINES and LEE WEINER already at

the defense table. FROINES and WEINER are Rosencrantz and

Guildenstern and are never separated.

FROINES:

Weiner.

WEINER:

Yeah.

FROINES:

I get why they’re trying to smoke

Abbie and Jerry and Hayden, even

Rennie and Dellinger, but for the

life of me I can’t figure out what

the two of us are doing here.

WEINER:

I feel exactly the same way. But

this is the Academy Awards of

protest and as far as I’m concerned

it’s an honor just to be nominated.

We move down the defense table where TOM is sitting next to

RENNIE. TOM points to a piece of paper in front of RENNIE...

TOM:

What is that?

25.

RENNIE:

I’ve been keeping a list every day.

Americans who’ve been killed since

the day we were arrested.

TOM:

Why?

RENNIE:

With the trial starting it might

get easy to forget who this is

about.

TOM nods a little.

KUNSTLER and WEINGLASS takes their seats at the defense table

next to TOM and RENNIE.

KUNSTLER:

Fellas.

RENNIE:

Good morning.

WEINGLASS:

Good morning.

TOM:

Good morning.

KUNSTLER:

(quietly to TOM)

I just got a question about my

seriousness. Whatever’s going on

between you and Abbie, keep it out

of this building.

TOM:

I just feel like this is gearing up

to be-

A heavy door on the side of the courtroom opens with a bang

and BOBBY SEALE, handcuffed and in prison coveralls, is

brought in by two MARSHALS.

A group of 8 or so African-Americans sitting together in

front, along with FRED HAMPTON--21, handsome and a steady

leader.

KUNSTLER moves so he can talk to both BOBBY and FRED

privately.

KUNSTLER:

Fred.

26.

FRED:

Bill.

KUNSTLER kneels down next to BOBBY-

KUNSTLER:

(quietly)

Did you have breakfast this

morning?

BOBBY:

(pause)

What?

KUNSTLER:

Did you have breakfast?

BOBBY:

I did.

KUNSTLER:

What’d you have?

FRED:

What are you doing?

KUNSTLER:

I’m talking to him about breakfast

because that’s the only thing I’m

allowed to talk to him about.

FRED:

That’s right.

KUNSTLER:

Bobby-

FRED:

We have instructions from our

lawyer.

KUNSTLER:

If you need me I’m sitting right

there. You just look at me and say,

“I need you”.

FRED:

We don’t need you.

BOBBY:

You two gonna be like this?

27.

KUNSTLER:

(to BOBBY, re:
the African-

Americans in the gallery)

They shouldn’t sit together. The

jury’s not gonna like that look.

BOBBY:

This isn’t my jury. And if they

don’t like the look, they can-

FRED:

No, he’s right.

(to the group)

Spread out, okay? In pairs.

KUNSTLER:

And Fred?

KUNSTLER makes a subtle gesture to his head to indicate that

they should take off their berets.

BOBBY:

No, they’re dressed just fine.

FRED:

It’s alright.

(to the group)

Take your very scary hats off.

(back to KUNSTLER)

Don’t mess us up.

KUNSTLER:

Alright, good pep talk.

KUNSTLER goes back to his seat just as ABBIE and JERRY are

sitting down.

ABBIE:

You see the crowd out there?

JERRY:

I have an egg.

KUNSTLER:

Get rid of that.

JERRY:

You don’t think I want to?

ABBIE:

It’s like we’re, you know,

whatshisname, we just met him.

28.

JERRY:

Yeah.

ABBIE:

(beat)

What is his name?

JERRY:

Who?

ABBIE:

The drummer. The greatest drummer

ever.

JERRY:

Gene Krupa?

ABBIE:

No, I’m talkin’ about--Gene Krupa?-I’m

talkin’ about the drummer for

Cream, we just met him last night.

JERRY:

Ginger Baker.

ABBIE:

Thank you. The crowd outside is so

big it’s as if we’re Ginger Baker,

is what I was trying to say.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote