Vertigo Page #18

Another scene dissolves to the screen: the graveyard at

Mission Dolores. The CAMERA IS APPROACHING the grave of

Carlotta Valdes. Now we see Scottie approaching the grave.

Now the CAMERA REVERSES, MOVING closer to the grave. It is

open; there is a great black abyss, with the headstone to

mark it.

A CLOSEUP OF SCOTTIE coming to a stop as he stares down. The

black depths of the grave fill the screen, and now, suddenly

we start to fall. A BIG CLOSEUP OF SCOTTIE, his hair

windswept, staring down in horror as he falls. REVERSE ANGLE:

he is still falling, but now from the tower of the Mission

at San Juan onto the roof where Madeleine fell, and at the

moment of impact the picture clears, and Scottie is sitting

up in bed, staring ahead in horror, awakened by the sound of

his own scream. The scream is echoed by a fog horn in the

distance.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SANITARIUM BEDROOM - (DAY)

We see a portable phonograph with a record on, and we hear

Mozart at his gayest, most incisive, most sparkling. And

then we find Midge standing nearby, smiling across at Scottie,

who is seated in a wheelchair wearing a dressing gown over

pajamas. His face is gaunt and expressionless. We are in a

light and pleasant bed-sitting room. Through the window we

can see a lovely garden, and a few patients accompanied by

nurses strolling along the paths.

MIDGE:

(Brightly)

It's Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus. I had

a long talk with the lady in musical

therapy, and she said Mozart's the

boy for you, Johnny. The broom that

sweeps the cobwebs away. That's what

the lady said. You know, it's

wonderful how they've got it all

taped now, John. They've got music

for melancholiacs, and music for

dipsomaniacs, and music for

nymphomaniacs... I wonder what would

happen if somebody mixed up their

files?

There is no reaction on Scottie's face, and Midge makes a

grimace of dissatisfaction at the weakness of her joke. She

looks across at him uncertainly.

MIDGE:

But I brought you a lot of other

things. You can see what you like.

And the thing shuts off automatically.

She crosses to him swiftly kneels beside him.

MIDGE:

Ah, Johnny, please try. Johnny, try!

You're not lost. Mother's here.

No reaction. Long pause. Then we hear the door open.

Scottie does not seem to hear, but Midge turns her head. A

nurse is looking in, with a significant look at Midge.

MIDGE:

Time? Okay.

The nurse goes out. Midge rises.

MIDGE:

I'll be in again, John. Do you want

me to shut that off? It shuts off

automatically.

Her eyes crinkle with anxiety. She nods and goes to the

phonograph and shuts it off. She comes back to him slowly,

and stands behind him, and puts her hands on his shoulders.

MIDGE:

(Softly)

Ah, Johnny-O... you don't know I'm

here, do you?

She leans down and kisses him lightly on the top of the head,

and smiles gently.

MIDGE:

But I'm here.

She moves to the door, going out of the SHOT, and we hear

the door open and close. Scottie has not moved, his face

does not change expression. His head bends down, and his

gaze is fixed on the floor.

INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE SCOTTIE'S ROOM - (DAY)

Midge, walking down the corridor, meets the nurse near the

open door of an office.

MIDGE:

Could I see the doctor for a moment?

The nurse backs up a step and looks in the open doorway.

NURSE:

Doctor...?

The Doctor looks up and sees Midge in the doorway.

DOCTOR:

Oh. Yes, Miss Wood?

The nurse continues on up the corridor. Midge remains in the

doorway.

MIDGE:

Doctor, how long is it going to take

you to pull him out of this?

DOCTOR:

It is hard to say. Six months, at

least. Perhaps a year. It depends to

a certain extent on him.

MIDGE:

He won't talk.

DOCTOR:

No. We have ways of digging out

knowledge. But it takes longer. He

is suffering from acute melancholia,

together with a guilt complex. He

blames himself for what happened to

the woman. And we know little of the

background.

MIDGE:

I can give you one thing: he was in

love with her.

DOCTOR:

Ah? That complicates the problem.

MIDGE:

I'll give you another complication:

he still is.

The Doctor studies her carefully.

MIDGE:

And you know something, Doctor? I

don't think Mozart's going to help

at all.

She attempts a bright, gay smile but it comes out wrong. She

turns and walks away down the corridor.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

EXT. SCOTTIE'S APARTMENT - (NIGHT)

Once again a foggy night. The street lights ringed in the

mist, and Coit Tower barely discernible in the distance. The

fog horns sound.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SCOTTIE'S APARTMENT - (NIGHT)

The living room, is mostly in shadow. One light in a far

corner is lit. There is a fire in the fireplace, but it is

almost burnt out, and casts only a faint glow.

An easy chair has been drawn up before the fire, and next to

it is a small table on which is a bottle of whiskey, the

remains of a highball, and an ashtray full of cigarette butts.

There is no sign of life in the apartment. The telephone

rings in the bedroom. It continues to ring.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. ERNIE'S RESTAURANT, UPSTAIRS ROOM - (NIGHT)

Scottie is seated at the bar, exactly as he was the first

time he saw Madeleine. The dinning room is crowded. Scottie's

glance wanders about the room as he drinks, but he does not

seem to be so much searching as waiting. And then he stiffens.

From somewhere across the room a man and a woman are making

their way among the tables toward the exit, and their relative

positions as they move recall exactly the way Madeleine and

Gavin Elster moved toward him on that night. And as the woman

moves toward him, difficult to see clearly because of the

movements of the waiters crossing her path, he could swear

that it is Madeleine, and so could we. Although she does

not wear an evening dress. Scottie stares, fearing and hoping

as the woman gets closer and closer. And then she is there,

and pauses near him to wait for the man, exactly as Madeleine

did -- but it is not Madeleine.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. BROCKLEBANK APARTMENTS - (DAY)

Scottie in the foreground, and across the street the apartment

building from which Madeleine used to emerge, with the

forecourt of cars. A long moment, then a man emerges and

crosses the street and walks toward the Fairmont Hotel.

Another wait, and then a woman comes out of the apartment

house. She has Madeleine's figure and Madeleine's style.

Scottie freezes. The woman crosses the forecourt toward a

car out of our sight. Scottie moves to follow the course of

the woman, and we move with him, and now the car comes into

sight, it is the green Jaguar. The woman opens the car door.

Scottie races across the street and into the forecourt. By

the time he gets to the Jaguar, the woman is in behind the

wheel and has the motor started. Scottie races up to her,

then stops short. The woman is not like Madeleine in features,

and is a good deal older. She looks up startled as Scottie

comes to a stop by the open car window.

Rate this script:4.7 / 3 votes