Vertigo Page #15

He turns on Madeleine almost desperately.

SCOTTIE:

Madeleine, think hard!!

She shakes her head frantically, hopelessly, close to tears.

Pause.

SCOTTIE:

(Quietly)

Go on with your dream. What was it

that frightened you?

MADELEINE:

I stood alone on the green, searching

for something, and I started to walk

to the church. But then the darkness

closed in, I was alone in the dark,

being pulled into darkness, and I

fought to wake up...

She looks at him, frightened again by the memory. He goes to

her reassuringly.

SCOTTIE:

You're going to be all right now,

Madeleine. I've got something to

work on now. I'm going to take you

there -- to the Mission -- this

afternoon. And when you see it, you'll

remember when you saw it before, and

that will finish your dream and

destroy it. I promise. You'll be

free.

She looks up at him and tries to smile.

SCOTTIE:

All right?

She nods.

SCOTTIE:

I'll take you home. If your husband

is awake, say you couldn't sleep and

went out for some air. And come back

to me about noon. Come along.

He raises her to her feet. She smiles up at him gratefully.

MADELEINE:

No, I'll go alone. I'm all right.

They stand there for a moment, looking at each other.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. HIGHWAY SOUTH OF SAY FRANCISCO - (DAY)

Tall trees line the road on both sides and arch across to

meet high above, forming a long shadowy tunnel shot through

with streamers of sunlight. We are as though in the front

seat, of a car, traveling fast, looking up and ahead to the

distant end of the tunnel, and the trees flash by.

EXT. THE HIGHWAY - (DAY)

Another angle to show the green Jaguar traveling along the

road through the tunnel of trees.

INT. THE JAGUAR - (DAY)

Madeleine and Scottie; he is at the wheel, staring straight

ahead, lost in thought. Madeleine, now smartly-dressed in

her grey suit, is staring up at the tunnel of trees. Scottie

glances at her. She smiles at him timidly.

EXT. THE HIGHWAY - (DAY)

SHOOTING down the road toward the end of the tunnel of trees,

and the Jaguar moving away fast. It sets clear of the trees

and into daylight.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. THE HIGHWAY: A ROAD JUNCTION - (DAY)

Side angle SHOT of the Jaguar as it turns off onto a side

road. The CAMERA PANS the car, then loses it as it goes out

of the SHOT, and HOLDS on a road sign that reads:

MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA 3 MILES

EXT. MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA - (DAY)

We are looking along the cloisters, down the long corridor

of arches. In the foreground a small sign a standard reads:

EL CAMINO REAL:

MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA FOUNDED

JUNE 24, 1797

The music of the Mission theme, mingled with Carlotta's theme,

begins to drift in, an evocation of the past; a sighing that

grows end seem to have behind it the echo of lost voices

calling. The CAMERA MOVES AND EASES AROUND A BIT to look

through the arches across the green toward the open side and

the valley and the hills beyond. A lone nun is crossing the

green to the church. A clock strikes the half hour. The CAMERA

PANS to look at the large wooden two-story house on the far

side of the green, then the little garden, then the Plaza

Livery Stable, and the road alongside. The Jaguar stands

there empty. The CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN along the whitewashed

stone Castro House, sees the pepper tree, MOVES along the

Plaza Hotel, and comes to REST SHOOTING at the saloon that

forms the far corner of the hotel. Three tourists exit from

the entrance of the hotel, get into their car. The car moves

toward the CAMERA, and goes past, and out of the SHOT. The

CAMERA DOLLIES IN to the front door of the saloon. Over the

door is a sign:
PLAZA HOTEL BAR ROOM.

On either side of the door are posters proclaiming rewards

for the apprehension of bandits who have held up Wells Fargo

Express Wagons. The CAMERA SHOOTS THROUGH the open door.

INT. PLAZA HOTEL BAR ROOM - (DAY)

Empty, silent; old pool tables in the foreground, the bar in

the background. As the CAMERA SCANS the room:

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. PLAZA HOTEL FRONT PARLOR - (DAY)

It too is silent and deserted. In the far wall, a fireplace,

with an old clock on the mantel. In one corner, small old

organ, with a hymnal open on the rack; in the other corner,

a Victorian sofa. The flowered rug is faded, the furniture

is shabby.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PLAZA HOTEL - (DAY)

Looking toward the lovely pepper tree and the whitewashed

stone Castro Rouse, and the tall eucalyptus tree beyond. The

CAMERA PANS SLOWLY past the empty Jaguar and come to REST on

the dark opening of the Livery Stable and MOVES SLOWLY toward

it.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. LIVERY STABLE - (DAY)

The dark interior of the Livery Stable. The figures of Scottie

and Madeleine are seen a little way in. Madeleine is seated

in a surrey, while Scottie stands by her.

INT. LIVERY STABLE - (DAY)

Madeleine's eyes are closed. Scottie, leaning against the

surrey, looks up at her intently. After moment he calls to

her softly.

SCOTTIE:

Madeleine...?

She opens her eyes and looks down at him.

SCOTTIE:

Where are you now?

She smiles at him gently.

MADELEINE:

(Softly)

Here with you.

SCOTTIE:

And it's a all real.

MADELEINE:

Yes.

SCOTTIE:

(Firmly)

Not merely as it was a hundred years

ago. As it was a year ago, or six

months ago, whenever you were here

to see it.

(Pressing)

Madeleine, think of when you were

here!

She looks down at him with, a worried, regretful smile,

wishing she could help him. Then she looks away into the

distance, and speaks almost at irrelevantly.

MADELEINE:

(Dreamily)

There were not so many carriages,

then. And there were horses in the

stalls; a bay, two black, and a grey.

It was her favorite place, but we

were forbidden to play here, and

Sister Teresa would scold us...

Scottie looks up at her in desperation, then looks about the

stable for help. His look scans the carriages and wagons

lined against the wall, goes past the old fire truck on which

there is a placard proclaiming the world's championship of

1884, and finally stops at a small buggy -- a Bike Wagon --

To which is hitched a full-sized model of a handsome grey

horse.

SCOTTIE:

Well, now, here!

He races to the horse. On it hangs a sign: "Greyhound World's

Greatest Trotter."

SCOTTIE:

Here's your grey horse! Course he'd

have a tough time getting in and out

of a stall without being pushed, but

still... You see? There's an answer

for everything!

He looks across to Madeleine eagerly. She is staring ahead,

lost in the past.

SCOTTIE:

Madeleine! Try!

No answer. The music is more insistent, now, a pulling wind,,

and the faint voices call more clearly. Madeleine slowly

rises to her feet as though sensing the call. Scottie moves

back to her and stands there looking up. He raises his arms,

she puts her bands on his shoulders and slips to the ground

with his help, and he is holding her. Their heads are close

together.

SCOTTIE:

Madeleine, try... for me...

With a small movement, their lips come together, and they

kiss; not impulsively, as before, but with deep, sure love

and hunger for each other. Their lips part, but he still

holds her tightly, his head pressed down against hers, and

she is looking past him, her eyes wide with anxiety. And a

clock strikes the three-quarter hour.

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