Vertigo Page #20

SCOTTIE:

(Strongly)

But before! Where did you live

before!?!

JUDY:

Salina, Kansas!

And that stops him dead, and he stares at her, denying.

JUDY:

Listen, what is this? What do you

want?

SCOTTIE:

I want to know who you are.

JUDY:

I told you! My name is Judy Barton!

I come from Salina Kansas. I work at

Magnin's! I live here! My gosh, do I

have to prove it?

She moves swiftly to the dresser and rummages in her bag.

JUDY:

You've got to prove you're alive

these days! All right, Mister. My

Kansas driver's license. Judy Barton.

Number Z296794. Four-Twenty-Five

Maple Avenue, Salina, Kansas.

She pulls out another card: a California license. She hands

it to him.

JUDY:

There! See the address on this one?

This place here! California License

issued May 25, 1954! Want to check

my thumb print? Satisfied.

(Pulls the card away)

And whether you're satisfied or not,

you can just beat it!

A long moment as he stands before her, sagging a little

defeated. She becomes remorseful and sympathetic.

JUDY:

(Gently)

Gee, you have got it bad, haven't

you? Do I really look like her?

He stares at her with an intensity that makes her crinkle

her eyes in embarrassment.

JUDY:

She's dead, isn't she.

An almost imperceptible nod.

JUDY:

I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I yelled at

you.

He turns away slowly toward the door. His eyes fall on some

framed photographs on the dresser and he pauses, then moves

closer to see them clearly. One is of a girl about sixteen

standing with a woman in her late thirties; they have their

arms about each other; they both have dark hair. Scottie

stares at it, then glances at Judy.

JUDY:

Yes, that's me. With my mother.

Scottie's eyes move to another photograph, of a man in his

early forties standing before a store. Above the store a

sign says:
A. M. BARTON, HARDWARES.

JUDY:

That's my father. He's dead. My mother

got married again... I didn't like

the guy.

(Smiles, wistfully)

So... I decided to see what it was

like in sunny California.

(Pause)

I've been here three years.

(she grins)

Honest!

He smiles back at her, liking her directness.

SCOTTIE:

Will you have dinner with me?

JUDY:

(Immediately wary,

the smile fading)

Why?

SCOTTIE:

Well, I feel I owe you something for

all this...

JUDY:

No, you don't owe me anything.

SCOTTIE:

Then will you for me?

JUDY:

(Warily)

Dinner... and what else?

SCOTTIE:

Just dinner.

JUDY:

Because I remind you of her?

SCOTTIE:

Because I'd like to have dinner with

you.

She smiles, pleased with the gallantry of his answer, and

regards him thoughtfully.

JUDY:

(Slowly)

Well... I've been on blind dates

before... Matter of fact, to be

honest, I've been picked up before.

(Grins)

Okay.

SCOTTIE:

I'll get my car and be back in half

an hour.

JUDY:

Oh, no! Give me time to change and

get fixed up!

SCOTTIE:

An hour?

JUDY:

Mmm.

SCOTTIE:

Okay.

He flashes her a smile and goes, closing the door. She

stares after him for a long moment, then moves slowly and

sits down on the edge of the bed. She stares straight ahead,

thinking, her face an impassive mask. The CAMERA MOVES IN

until her head fills the screen, and her eyes are deep with

dark memory. We DISSOLVE THROUGH to what she sees: THE MOMENT

IN THE TOWER OF THE MISSION. MADELEINE IS RUNNING UP THE

STAIRS OF THE TOWER: SCOTTIE STRUGGLING DESPERATELY AFTER

HER. SHE REACHES THE TOP, OPENS THE DOOR, DARTS INTO THE

BELL TOWER, SLAMS THE DOOR BEHIND HER AND LOCKS IT. SHE TURNS.

GAVIN ELSTER STANDS NEAR THE OPEN ARCH, HOLDING HIS WIFE

FAST; SHE IS DRESSED IN A GREY SUIT EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE

MADELEINE WEARS. HER BODY IS LIMP. SHE IS OBVIOUSLY DEAD

ALREADY. ELSTER LOOKS AT MADELEINE, THEN PUSHES HIS WIFE OUT

THROUGH THE ARCH. MADELEINE MAKES A FUTILE GESTURE TO STOP

HIM, AND SCREAMS. ELSTER COMES TO QUICKLY, PUTS HIS HAND

ACROSS HER MOUTH, AND DRAWS HER BACK INTO THE SHADOW BEHIND

A MASONRY ABUTMENT. THEY ARE LOST FROM SIGHT...

DISSOLVE THROUGH to Judy, seated on the edge of her bed,

staring with the memory of the horror of the moment. She

sits very still. Then slowly she rises and moves to the

window. She looks out, watching Scottie go down the street.

She turns away and goes to the closet and opens the door.

She pushes some clothes along the rack. We see the grey suit.

She reaches into the closet and brings out a suitcase, lets

it lie there, just outside the closet, and stares down at

it. Then she turns back, goes to the writing desk sits down,

and takes a sheet of paper. She picks up a ball point pen,

clicks out the Point, stares ahead for a moment, then begins

to write. As she writes, we hear her voice.

JUDY'S VOICE

Dearest Scottie ... and so you've

found me. This is the moment I dreaded

and hoped for, -- wondering what I

would say and do if ever I saw you

again, I wanted so to see you again.

Just once. Now I'll go and you can

give up your search.

(pause)

I want you to have peace of mind.

You've nothing to blame yourself

for. You were the victim. I was the

tool, you were the victim of a man's

plan to murder his wife. He chose me

to play the part because I looked

like her; he dressed me up like her.

He was quite safe because she lived

in the country and rarely came to

town. He chose you to be the witness.

The Carlotta story was part real,

part invented to make you testify

that Madeleine wanted to kill herself.

He knew of your illness; he knew you

would never get up the stairs of the

tower. He planned it so well; he

made no mistakes.

(pause)

I made the mistake. I fell in love.

That wasn't part of the plan. I'm

still in love with you, and I want

you so to love me. If I had the nerve,

I would stay and lie, hoping that I

could make you love me again, as I

am for myself... and so forget the

other and forget the past. But I

haven't the nerve to try...

She pauses and looks up and thinks, and wonders, and tries

to see into the future, and as she does, the fear in her

eyes dissolve into anxious hope, and then resolve.

She puts the pen down, rises slowly, takes up the letter and

tears it into small pieces and drops the pieces into the

wastebasket. She turns to the closet, pushes the suitcase

back in with the toe of her foot, pushes the grey suit far

back into darkness, and closes the closet door. She walks to

the dresser, and stares at herself in the mirror. She opens

a candy box in which we see trinkets and pieces of junk

jewelry, and takes out two plain hoop earrings. She puts

them on and looks to see how much change they make. She takes

up an eyebrow pencil and slightly exaggerates the arch of

her brows. She stares at herself impassively for a long time.

DISSOLVE TO:

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

The room is filled with diners; waiters come and go. There

is a sound of chatter and a slight clatter of dishes at a

side table. We are looking from the bar, and at a table

against the far wall we see Judy and Scottie, dining. They

are talking amiable; Scottie is being genial and

companionable, but there is no particular sense of intimacy.

Judy looks about quite a bit, obviously admiring the room,

and the food and the clothes of the people about her. She is

dressed neatly, but more simply and more cheaply than are

the other women in the room, and she is conscious of it, and

keeps fiddling with the shoulders at her dress.

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