The City on the Edge of Forever
Page 18
as CAMERA PULLS BACK we see the sign is hung around the neck of a legless cripple, hunkered down on his stumps on a wooden push-board that rolls on roller skate wheels. He has a tray of apples and pencils beside him. His cap is pulled down far over his eyes, and the beard stubble looks as though it nests a troupe of nits. A VOICE O.S. speaks to him just as a PAIR OF LEGS MOVE INTO FRAME. All we see are the legs.
KIRK’S VOICE O.S.
Are you Trooper?
TROOPER looks up with rheumy eyes. In that face is the true meaning of the worst social era America ever faced. He is a man destroyed. The light has gone out in the eyes, the mouth speaks a silent sadness. Disillusioned. He was the drummer boy who went to war, and came back to find no one needed him. He nods up at the unseen person.
TROOPER
Good apples, fellah. Pencils? I fought at Verdun.
KIRK’S VOICE O.S.
Someone told me to come see you.
TROOPER
(shakes his head as if to clear it)
I just sell apples and pencils.
KIRK’S VOICE O.S.
Perhaps it’s time for you to diversify your wares.
TROOPER
Who are you?
Kirk hunkers down next to him on the filthy sidewalk. And we see Kirk fully for the first time in this scene. Trooper looks nervous about it.
KIRK
I’m just a Bo who needs some easy information.
TROOPER
I don’t know much ’cept there’s nine guys on this block sellin’ apples. Try them.
KIRK
There’s two bucks in it for a few words.
TROOPER
I din’t do nothin’. I been right here sellin’—
KIRK
I’m not after you, mister, I want you to find out something for me…I was told you know everything that goes on in this neighborhood. Now, you want to make a couple of bucks?
TROOPER
(warily)
How do I know you ain’t crooked as a hairpin?
KIRK
Take a two-dollar chance.
Trooper ponders a moment, licks his lips, nervously nods.
KIRK
A man wearing peculiar clothes.
TROOPER
What kind of clothes?
Kirk looks around (without being melodramatic) and pulls a parcel toward them. He opens it enough to show Trooper the Enterprise comet insignia, the velour material, the bright color, so stark beside Trooper’s own drab garb.
KIRK
He’d be carrying a…weapon.
TROOPER
What’dya want him for?
KIRK
For about two bucks.
TROOPER
Let’s see it.
Kirk fishes out two crumpled dollar bills. Trooper touches them with an outstretched hand. But doesn’t take them.
TROOPER
I s’pose I gotta find out before you give it to me.
Kirk gives him the two crumpled balls of money. Trooper is astonished. It is the first real life we’ve seen in his face.
KIRK
I think I can trust a man who fought at Verdun.
There is disbelief and a kind of grandeur in Trooper’s face as he is confronted with dignity, trust and honesty. He nods firmly as Kirk rises, the legs MOVE OUT OF FRAME and Trooper watches him go. Then, determined, he gathers his wares and, using two padded blocks of wood with hand-grips, he propels himself down the sidewalk on the roller skate platform as we
DISSOLVE TO:
89 INT. EDITH’S APARTMENT—KIRK & EDITH—NIGHT
That plain little room. They are eating cake and having coffee, at that same little square table covered with oilcloth. There is MUSIC OF THE PERIOD UNDER.
EDITH
Too rich?
KIRK
(preoccupied)
Pardon?
EDITH
The cake. Did I make it too sweet?
KIRK
No, it’s delicious. I’ve never tasted anything like it before.
EDITH
(surprised)
You’ve never tasted angel food cake before?
(beat)
Jim…?
KIRK
(still distracted)
Uh-huh…?
EDITH
I’d like to ask you a great manyquestions. But I’m afraid you might give me answers.
Kirk lays down his fork, gets up and walks to the window. He stares out at the night. She follows him in the shadowy room, stands behind him, barely touching.
EDITH
A skyful of stars.
KIRK
(softly)
You’ll never know how many.
EDITH
Are you going away, Jim?
KIRK
Perhaps. I don’t want to.
EDITH
It’s that Chinese fellow, isn’t it?
KIRK
In a way. I know him. And he knows me.
Edith turns him to her. She puts her arms around him, lays her head against his chest.
EDITH
All my life I’ve belonged to other people. I know things will be cleaner, happier, I try to tell them, so they’ll wait, so they’ll hope. But now I don’t belong to anyone. And I’m losing my own hope…Jim…
He holds her away for a moment, speaks earnestly.
KIRK
You’re right. There are a million tomorrows. The one you believe in is the best one. I know.
EDITH
How do you know, Jim?
KIRK
(helplessly)
Because I love you…and I know.
A KNOCK on the DOOR. They stand a moment. Another KNOCK. Edith looks at Kirk, he nods for her to open it. She goes to the door. It is Spock. She steps aside. He doesn’t come in, just stares at Kirk. Kirk nods and walks past Edith. He turns for a beat to look at her, then follows Mr. Spock out. The door closes and we HOLD on EDITH.
90 INT. TENEMENT—HALLWAY—SPOCK & KIRK
CLOSE 2-SHOT in the dim hallway, one bulb glowing far down the passage.
SPOCK
The little man without legs was here.
KIRK
Is it Beckwith time?
SPOCK
He thinks so. Good chance.
KIRK
Where is he?
SPOCK
I have the address.
Kirk nods, and they go. Down the corridor as we
DISSOLVE TO:
91 EXT. NEW YORK STREET—ANGLE ON ALLEY MOUTH
REDRESS OF ALLEY SCENE 86. A group of SHADOWY MEN wait in the corners and behind crates. Trooper is there, as Kirk and Spock come upon the group. As they arrive, the burly men in the shadows turn to look and we catch their faces. The dregs. The gutter men. The outcasts. The strongarm types one sees on any skid row. We can almost smell the stench of sour rye and sweat. (Redressed extras from previous crowd scenes can be used here as the men will be seen in shadow only.)
TROOPER
(nods his head)
I think the guy you’re lookin’ for, the guy with them hoity-toity clothes like you showed me…we saw him duck back in there somewhere.
KIRK
Has he got the pha—the weapon?
TROOPER
If he has, he ain’t usin’ it.
SPOCK
(softly, to Kirk)
We can’t let him kill anyone—the time flow—
Kirk nods understanding. He motions the street thugs back. They vanish, leaving Kirk, Spock, and Trooper alone. Kirk fishes a dollar bill out of his vest pocket, hands it down to the cripple.
TROOPER
Hey, you din’t haveta do that, two bucks was enough.
KIRK
Thanks, Trooper. You take a powder. He’s ours, now.
92 ANOTHER ANGLE—FULL SHOT
as they smile briefly at each other. Then Trooper fades away into the dark. Kirk and Spock start down opposite sides of the alley, holding close to the walls, half in crouch, moving st
ealthily.
93 WITH KIRK—HAND-HELD
CLOSE BEHIND HIM as the alley tilts and weaves in the FRAME. Across the alley, past Kirk, we can see Spock moving like a mountain cat, smooth as oil, silent. Suddenly, a garbage can comes clanging with NIGHT-SHATTERING IMPACT down on Spock, who is sideswiped by the can, and falls beneath it. ARRIFLEX CAREEN-PANS UP-ANGLE to the low rooftop, and Beckwith framed against the night sky, the phaser leveled at Kirk. Spock is struggling with the garbage can as Kirk in f.g. looks up, sees Beckwith and realizes he is pinned against the wall and cannot escape. MAKE THIS DANGEROUS!
94 ANGLE FROM BECKWITH
as he fires. A blur of movement from the alley mouth and Trooper is there, hurtling toward Kirk on his little cart. He hits Kirk dead-center and the Enterprise Captain is flung sidewise as the phaser blast lances out. Trooper is hit, and with a SHARP, SHORT SCREAM THAT CUTS OFF IN MID-NOTE he is gone.
95 WITH SPOCK—HAND-HELD
as he springs to his feet, grabs the garbage can, and with incredible strength hurls it up at Beckwith.
The can strikes Beckwith and he falls, dropping the phaser into the alley where it lands near Kirk with a rainbow of blast-lines. Kirk grabs it. Beckwith clambers to his feet and vanishes over the rooftops. Spock stands a beat, watching, then goes to Kirk, who is rising. They look down at the power-blasted spot where Trooper was vaporized. The bricks are cleft in half, the cement is sundered, and the cripple is gone. All that remains is one of the hand-pedaling devices with its raggedy grip.
SPOCK
Any death in this era that alters the sum of intelligence…alters time permanently.
KIRK
If he mattered in the time-flow.
They stand long in silence.
SPOCK
Why did he do that for you?
KIRK
Because I gave him two dollars.
(beat)
Mr. Spock, you know history: where is Verdun?
Spock does not answer. They stand in silence; a life has been taken. They stare down at the hand-grip left by Trooper and CAMERA RISES UP AWAY FROM THEM in the alley as we
DISSOLVE TO:
96 EXT. NEW YORK STREET—SAME AS 65—DAY
Edith Keeler in her blue-as-the-sky cape with its sunburst, on her little dais, talking to a tiny crowd of half a dozen men and women.
EDITH
There are great times on the way. Days of gold and nights cool and sweet-smelling. This isn’t the only happiness, this world turning under us. Look up tonight, see them all out there…see them burning, smiling…
CAMERA PANS RIGHT to a doorway where Kirk and Spock are standing beside one another, watching Edith from concealment. CAMERA CLOSE ON THEM, the street scene in b.g. with EDITH’S VOICE UNDER.
SPOCK
She speaks as though you’ve talked to
her.
KIRK
(a little dead)
She doesn’t know who we are.
SPOCK
Her ideas are years ahead of their time.
KIRK
Yes.
SPOCK
My race has a word for her kind of person: liira: open.
KIRK
Yes. That, too.
SPOCK
Captain…
Edith finishes, the crowd leaves at once, and Kirk does not even wait for Spock to complete his sentence. He steps out where she can see him.
97 thru 100 SEQUENCE—SELECT BEST ANGLES
(NOTE: this sequence is the heart of the climax. It is imperative that the order of action, and the angles on closeups, be tight and specific. No camerawork has been indicated here purposely, so the pace and layout of shots can be best developed by on-set choices.)
Spock moves away so Edith will not see him.
Edith comes to the curb with a smile, waving across to Kirk.
Kirk sees Beckwith emerging from a building. Beckwith does not see Kirk. The building is between Kirk and Spock where he has now moved.
A huge beer truck—as noted previously in Scene 81—lumbers around the corner and into the street as Edith steps off the curb. She doesn’t see it. Kirk and Beckwith and Spock see the truck as it bears down on Edith.
101 thru 107 ANOTHER SEQUENCE—SLOW-MOTION—NO SOUND
as though time—which is our primary subject here—were being silently stretched to the point of unbearability.
Beckwith starts toward the woman.
Kirk’s face twists in anguish as he starts toward Beckwith to stop him from saving Edith’s life. He stops, his hand closes on empty air as it did when she fell down the stairs. He cannot stop Beckwith! He will sacrifice everything for her.
Spock sees what is happening. He moves toward Beckwith.
The truck slips slowly, silently toward Edith.
Spock reaches Beckwith and grabs him in a body-lock that immobilizes him.
Kirk’s mouth opens to scream. His empty hand reaches.
Edith laughs a word at Kirk.
108 XTREME CLOSEUP KIRK.
109 XTREME CLOSEUP SPOCK.
110 XTREME CLOSEUP EDITH.
111 XTREME CLOSEUP THE TRUCK.
All In Slow-Motion
CUT TO:
112 CLOSE ON KIRK—NORMAL SPEED
and HOLD HOLD HOLD on his face as we HEAR the SOUND of the TRUCK SCREECHING TO A HALT. As Kirk’s face crumbles, we know what has happened.
113 ANOTHER CLOSE ON KIRK—IN LIMBO
SPECIAL EFFECT as his face RECEDES FROM CAMERA back and back and back as though it were falling into a bottomless pit, until it is barely a speck of tortured light against a blackness that becomes, in SPECIAL EFFECT, a
RIPPLE-DISSOLVE THRU:
114 ANGLE IN SPACE—THE ENTERPRISE
as the speck of light that is Kirk’s face becomes a star, one of many in an infinity of stars with the Enterprise against it. All of this INTERCUT in RIPPLE LAP-DISSOLVE so we get the impression of something happening to the warp and woof of space and time. The face of Kirk, the Enterprise, the stars, all OVERLAP as we
RIPPLE-DISSOLVE TO:
115 EXT. PLATEAU OF THE GUARDIANS
as Kirk in EXTREME CLOSEUP emerges from the Time Vortex CAMERA PULLS BACK to FULL FRAME showing us his emergence from the pillar of light. Behind him comes Mr. Spock with Beckwith in a judo-like hold. Both Kirk and Spock are in 1930s garb, Beckwith still in his Enterprise uniform. The Guardians are there, waiting. The Time Vortex continues to make its distinctive SOUND, indicating it has not turned off.
1ST GUARDIAN
Time has resumed its shape.
SPOCK
What of the death of the cripple?
1ST GUARDIAN
He was negligible.
SPOCK
But he found Beckwith for us. He must have counted.
1ST GUARDIAN
He counted.
(beat)
But not enough. Not in the eternal flow, the greater river.
Kirk, through all this, stands there as if stunned by the hammer. His face is dead. He cannot co-ordinate.
SPOCK
Everything is the same as before?
1ST GUARDIAN
Everything.
116 CLOSER ON SPOCK & BECKWITH
with the Time Vortex behind them, fairly close. Beckwith abruptly twists out of the grip Spock has on him and, without a moment’s hesitation, flings himself back into the Time Vortex. Mr. Spock gives a strange HOWL of frustration—so uncharacteristic of him—and makes a move to follow, but at that instant the VORTEX BECOMES SILENT, DARK. Spock whirls on the Guardians.
SPOCK
He went back! It was all for nothing!
1ST GUARDIAN
No.
SPOCK
But he’s in there, Old Earth. 1930!
1ST GUARDIAN
The Vortex cannot be set for the same exact time twice. He has created a fracture and plunged into it.
SPOCK
Then where is he? Escaped?
1ST GUARDIAN
Not t
his time. He wanted Forever. The Vortex has given him Forever. Like the Möbius strip that has no end, that curves back on itself eternally, he is locked in time.
SPOCK
Forever? He cannot escape?
1ST GUARDIAN
His Forever will be in the heart of an exploding sun, a nova. He has named
his own doom…
117 SPECIAL EFFECT—ON BECKWITH
as he materializes in the exploding, fiery heart of a supernova. We see him appear, scream in incredible anguish and then vanish…then reappear alive, scream as he dies again…and then vanish once more…reappear…scream…die…over and over and over as we
FADE TO BLACK
and
FADE OUT.
END ACT FOUR