Titanic (Scriptment) Page #11

JACK:

Take my hand. I'll pull you back in.

ROSE:

No! Stay where you are. I mean it. I'll let go.

JACK:

No you won't.

ROSE:

What do you mean no I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me.

JACK:

You would have done it already. Now come on, take my hand.

Rose is confused now. She can't see him very well through the tears, so she wipes them with one hand, almost losing her balance.

ROSE:

You're distracting me. Go away.

JACK:

I can't. I'm involved now. If you let go I have to jump in after you.

ROSE:

Don't be absurd. You'll be killed.

He takes off his jacket.

JACK:

I'm a good swimmer.

He starts unlacing his left shoe.

ROSE:

The fall alone would kill you.

JACK:

It would hurt. I'm not saying it wouldn't. To be honest I'm more concerned about the water being so cold.

She looks down. The reality factor of what she is doing is sinking in.

ROSE:

How cold?

JACK:

(taking off his left shoe)

A couple degrees above freezing.

He starts unlacing his right shoe.

ROSE:

You're crazy.

JACK:

With all due respect, I'm not the one hanging off the back of the ship. Now give me your hand.

Rose stares at this madman for a long time. She looks at his eyes and they somehow suddenly seem to fill her universe.

Like the lights of a safe harbor.

Then she looks down at the freezing turbulence below. Rose nods her head slowly.

ROSE:

Alright.

She seems overcome by vertigo as she unfastens one hand from the rail and reaches it around toward him. He reaches out to take it, firmly. She could still spook and pull away in an instant. His voice is calm and even.

JACK:

I'm Jack Dawson.

ROSE:

(voice quavering)

Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dawson.

Rose starts to turn. As she shifts her footing, turning to face the ship, one foot slips off the edge of the deck and she drops...

She plunges, and lets out a piercing SHRIEK.

Jack, gripping her hand, is jerked toward the rail. Rose barely grabs a lower rail with her free hand.

QUARTERMASTER ROWE, up on the docking bridge hears the scream and heads for the ladder.

Jack holds her hand with all his strength, bracing himself on the railing with his other hand.

JACK:

I've got you. I won't let go.

Rose looks down. Her legs are kicking 60 feet above the black water as she tries to get some kind of a foothold on the smooth hull. Now that she has decided to live, the height is terrifying.

He tries to lift her bodily over the railing. She can't get any footing in her dress and evening shoes, and she slips back. Rose SCREAMS again.

ROSE:

HELP!

Rowe slides down the ladder from the docking bridge like it's a fire drill and sprints across the fantail.

Jack, awkwardly clutching Rose by whatever he can get a grip on as she flails, gets her over the railing. They fall together onto the deck in a tangled heap, spinning in such a way that Jack winds up slightly on top of her.

ROWE:

Here, what's all this?!

Rowe runs up and pulls Jack off of Rose, revealing her disheveled and sobbing on the deck. Her dress is torn, and the hem is pushed up above her knees, showing one ripped stocking. He looks at Jack, the shaggy steerage man with his jacket off, and the first class lady clearly in distress, and starts drawing conclusions. Two seamen chug across the deck to join them.

ROWE:

(to Jack)

Here you, stand back! Don't move an inch!

(to the seamen)

Fetch the Master at Arms.

CUT TO A FEW MINUTES LATER as Jack is being detained by the MASTER AT ARMS, a burly fellow who is the ship's equivalent of a cop. He is trying to decide whether to arrest Jack or not, but he can't get an answer from Rose about what was going on.

Following a steward, Hockley and Lovejoy come up the steps to the poop deck. They are followed by COLONEL ARCHIBALD GRACIE, a rotund blowhard with whom Cal was having a cigar and a brandy. Gracie has come along to see what the fuss is, still carrying his snifter. Cal sees Rose sitting on a bench, hunched over and crying, and goes to her. She pulls away from him, and turns her face away. Jack doesn't want to say what was going on until Rose does, instinctively protecting her.

They decide to arrest Jack, but Rose speaks up and tells them she was leaning over to see the propellers and she slipped and almost fell overboard. This man saved her. He was almost pulled over himself, and he risked his life to save her.

COLONEL GRACIE:

So the boy's a hero then. Good for you son, well done.

Jack goes from suspect to hero in an instant. The Master at Arms wants to know from Jack if this is true. Jack looks at Rose, who is begging him with her eyes not to say what really happened. Jack confirms what she has said.

Now they have a secret together.

The men accept the story, because to them it's only natural that a woman, a fragile creature in need of male protection, could spontaneously fall overboard if left unattended.

Cal is relieved that she is alright, but upset that she was out at the stern in the dark by herself studying marine propulsion in the middle of the night. He puts his arm around her to escort her back up to first class. Gracie reminds him that he should do something for "the boy". Cal has forgotten about Jack.

Cal considers Jack, appraising him. A steerage ruffian, shaggy and ill-mannered. What to do? Give him twenty bucks? No...

Cal amuses himself by inviting Jack to a dinner party he's having the following night. The Captain and a number of notable people will be at his table, and it would be his pleasure to announce Jack's heroic deed. Jack graciously accepts Cal's condescending offer. He wants a chance to see Rose in her world. Jack sees that she is a girl in emotional trouble, and he is fascinated by her, drawn into the vortex.

As they are leaving, Lovejoy hands Jack his coat and reminds him to tie his shoes. Only Lovejoy's cold eye has caught the discrepancy with the story. If Rose slipped suddenly, how could Jack have had time to take his things off... and if she hadn't slipped, what is he doing partially undressed?

End the scene on Lovejoy's ominous gaze.

BACK IN THEIR stateroom Cal and Rose are alone. Rose undresses stiffly for bed, making it clear she is sleeping in her own room. Cal is frustrated by her moodiness. He is unable to comprehend what is wrong with her. Aren't they a Camelot couple, living the fantasy most people can only dream of? He is rich and handsome, she is beautiful and high-born. The world is their oyster. What can be so terribly wrong? Cal doesn't see her pain. He doesn't know why she's spoiling the mood, embarrassing him in front of his rich friends, not being a good little showpiece fiancee.

To lift her spirits, in the only way that makes sense to him, he decides to give her an expensive present. He goes to the safe and dials the combination.

Cal says that he was planning to give this to her in New York, in time for their engagement gala next week.

But he'd like her to have it now.

He opens a black velvet jewel case.

Inside is the "HEART OF THE OCEAN".

Rose gasps at the sight of the necklace, more from surprise than pleasure.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes