Vertigo Page #9

Scottie gets out of his car and looks off out of picture.

EXT. BRIDGE - (SUNSET) - LONG SHOT

Madeleine walking away round the dockside. The vast bridge

towers above her. She carries the nosegay. Scottie moves

into the f.g., and makes off in the same direction. Madeleine

disappears round the corner of the old fort wall. Now she

is out of sight, we see Scottie quicken his pace as he

approaches the corner of the fort wall.

EXT. BRIDGE - (SUNSET) - MEDIUM SHOT

SHOOTING back, we see Scottie approach the wall and peer

cautiously around.

EXT. BRIDGE - (SUNSET) - SEMI-LONG SHOT

From his viewpoint, we see Madeleine standing at the waters'

edge. She is mechanically tearing off the lace-edged paper

from the nosegay.

EXT. BRIDGE - (SUNSET) - CLOSEUP

Scottie watching her curiously.

EXT. BRIDGE - (SUNSET) - SEMI-CLOSEUP

Madeleine lets the paper drift away down to the water. She

proceeds to unwind the wire around the flowers and begins to

scatter them an the water.

CLOSE SHOT OF FLOWERS FLOATING ON THE WATER

EXT. BRIDGE - (SUNSET) - CLOSEUP

Scottie watching Madeleine.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - SEMI-LONG SHOT

The full figure of Madeleine, scattering the rest of the

flowers. Then she raises her head and stares up at the sky.

A moment in which her body seem poised, and then she is gone,

lost to view in the water.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - LONG SHOT

Scottie dashes around the wall and the CAMERA PANS him to

the water's edge. He is throwing his coat off.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - SEMI-LONG SHOT

SHOOTING down into the water, we see Madeleine's upturned

face as she floats away. She disappears now and again.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - MEDIUM SHOT

SCOTTIE, running down the few stone steps towards the water.

When the water is up to his knees, he swims out towards her.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - CLOSEUP MADELEINE

Her eyes staring, sinks beneath the water. She is surrounded

by the scattered flowers. Scottie swims in and grabs her.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - CLOSEUP

As he holds her, the two heads are pressed together. He turns

and starts to swim back with her. The screen is filled with

their two heads. Madeleine's staring eyes begin to close as

she is moved away.

LAP DISSOLVE:

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - MEDIUM SHOT

We see Scottie coming up some stone steps. He is staggering

with the weight of Madeleine's water-soaked body and clothes.

He carries her over towards the green Jaguar.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET) - MEDIUM SHOT

Resting her for a moment, he throws open the door on the

passenger's side.

EXT. DOCKSIDE - (SUNSET)

Scottie's head is close to hers. She is now breathing heavily.

SCOTTIE:

(whispering)

Are you all right?

Her eyes open slowly.

SCOTTIE:

(Calling softly)

Madeleine...

Her eyes show no sign of recognition or response; they move

past his face and stare out. The CAMERA SLOWLY MOVES IN

until her head fills the screen. She stares out as though in

a trance.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT.SCOTTIE'S APARTMENT - (DUSK)

The empty green Jaguar is drawn up at the curb before the

red door of a small, well-kept house.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SCOTTIE'S APARTMENT - (NIGHT)

We are in the living room of a comfortable a bachelor

apartment. There is a picture window that looks up to Coit

Tower on Telegraph Hill. The room is softly lit. A fire is

lit in the fireplace; the logs are blazing well, Scottie, in

a pair of grey trousers and an old sweater, is wandering

about the room, trying to think things out. Through an open

door we can see into a small kitchen where Madeleine's clothes -

all of them - hang, on a cord over the electric stove, drying.

And through another open door we can see into the bedroom

where Madeleine lies, in the larger-than-single bed, under

the covers, asleep. She sighs and turns restlessly, and

Scottie glances at her from the living-room as he wanders,

and then she turns again, and the sigh becomes words, spoken

in sleep, and he stops, and listens.

MADELEINE:

(Faintly, distantly)

Please... thank you... please...

Scottie waits, taut, but there is no more. He starts to turn

away and suddenly, still distant, but more clearly:

MADELEINE:

(Appealingly)

Where is my child?... have you seen

my child...?

Scottie stiffens with the shock of recognition and his eyes

go wide with apprehension staring at the lost, eye-closed,

troubled woman in the bed. And at that moment the telephone

on the bedside table rings sharply. He makes a dash for it.

The ringing brings the woman to with a sharp start, and she

instinctively clutches the bedclothes to her chin and raises

up a little and stares with wide-eyed fright at the man

running towards her. Scottie takes the phone.

SCOTTIE:

Yes?... No, it's all right; I'll

call you back. Yes. Yes!

He hangs up, and tries to smile down at Madeleine, who has

not moved, but has followed his every move with fright and

apprehension.

SCOTTIE:

Are you all right?

No answer, only the eyes staring at him. And then he realizes,

with some embarrassment, that she cannot move, that she is

naked under the bedclothes, and he reaches across to the

dressing gown he has laid out for her on the bed, and moves

it closer to her.

SCOTTIE:

Oh... you'll want this...

He gives her a reassuring nod and smile, straightens up and

goes to the door, and goes into the living room, closing the

bedroom door behind him. And she stares after him as he goes.

In the living room, he moves to the fireplace, puts another

log on, and watches it catch. The bedroom door behind him

opens, and he turns to face Madeleine. She has the dressing

gown belted tightly around the middle and holds it together

with one band at her breast. And she stands there staring at

him nervously, frightened, not wanting to admit that she

does not know how she came there, but wanting very much to

know. And she cannot help herself: knowing her own fears,

she has to ask.

MADELEINE:

Why am I here? What happened?

SCOTTIE:

You...

(Then, not liking the

sound of the truth)

...fell into the Bay.

She puts a hand slowly to her hair, understanding now why it

is wet.

SCOTTIE:

I dried your hair as well as I could.

But you'd better come here by the

fire.

And now, knowing that he dried her hair, she realizes that

he must have taken her clothes off, too, and she looks down

at her body with deep awareness of her nakedness, and draws

the dressing gown more closely to her, and looks back at him

with frightened embarrassment. And her head begins to move

quickly, the eyes darting about the apartment as though

seeking a way of escape, and she sees the clothes hanging in

the kitchen. And she looks back to Scottie appealingly.

SCOTTIE:

They're almost at dry. Here. Why

don't you come over here?

He pulls a low-stool over before the fire. Madeleine crosses

slowly, keeping her eyes always on him, and sinks down on

the stool. He smiles a at her companionably.

SCOTTIE:

Would you like some coffee?

She shakes her head.

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