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FADE IN TITLES 1 WATERHOLE - STONEWALL PASS, NEVADA - LATE DAY The desert between Las Vegas and Tonopah, nothing but sage and greasewood. Sound in the distance, a motor. It comes closer then fades, comes closer, fades. Pan off the waterhole in the direction of the sound. It approaches again, a figure appears in the distance. 2 ON THE MOTORCYCLE Only the rider's back, silver-streaked hair. This gaunt figure circles lazily in the moonlight, motorcycle tires rumbling over the alkali. The circles get bigger and now bigger, and as he comes around this time, the moonlight catches his face, aristo- cratic cheekbones, a stringy beard, a pilot's light windbreaker. This is Howard, age 62, looks over 70. 3 ANOTHER ANGLE - HOWARD sweeping under the moon, wider and wider and now he speeds towards the waterhole, giving the Harley full throttle. 4 ON THE WATERHOLE A knoll running up to the edge of it. 5 ON HOWARD heading straight for the knoll, the chopper kicking up sage and greasewood and alkali behind it. Tremendous speed -- it hits the knoll. 6 ON THE MOTORCYCLE Howard flying through the air, his knees clutched around the machine, his eyes wide with joy, laughter ringing through the desert. The motorcycle clears the waterhole on the leap, Howard snug in the saddle, lands in the mud on the other side, skids, churns, the tires spitting mud, now he rolls out on the desert again. 7 ANOTHER ANGLE - HOWARD sweeping into a figure eight, testing his motor now, picking up speed once more, heading straight for the knoll. 8 ON THE KNOLL The motorcycle invisible, only the sound blasting through the night, louder, louder, and now the motorcycle hits the top of the knoll. A rock, a stone, something, it kicks, it stutters, it flies short. 9 ON HOWARD His face exactly the same as before, exultation at the leap, but there is no motorcycle under him now, only air. 10 ANOTHER ANGLE - HOWARD His momentum carrying him over the water and he lands with a crunch on the other side, his head hits the mud, a flare of blood spurts from his ear. 11 HOWARD'S POINT OF VIEW His eye catching sight of his motorcycle fluttering down, landing with a splash, bubbling as it disappears into the waterhole. TITLES OUT 12 EXT. DESERT - DUSK - ON HOWARD picking himself up, stumbling across the desert, nothing but silence around him, his feet kicking over the alkali. He trips, rights himself, moves on. 13 ANOTHER ANGLE - HOWARD faltering, falling. He picks himself up, his face scratched, his lips crusted with saliva, blood caked around his ear. 14 HOWARD'S POINT OF VIEW Way in the distance, the headlights of a car. 15 ON HOWARD He starts to raise his hand, almost furtively, but then he draws it back. He does not want to wave. He looks towards the moon, spins once like a shot-putter. Now he falls. The headlights pass on down the Interstate. Darkness. 16 EXT. NEVADA HIGHWAY - NIGHT - LONG SHOT Two headlights, one dimmer and more yellow than the other, are coming down the Interstate now. Sound -- a man singing. The song is horrible, the voice joyous. MELVIN (v.o.) (singing) 'Well, he called his elves together To soup up his old sleigh So Rudolph and the other reindeer Could rest on Christmas Day....' 17 INT. CAR - NIGHT - ON MELVIN DUMMAR a face with no secrets, a cowlick and sideburns, looking younger than his thirties; Montgomery Ward pants and a shirt with cowboy roses. MELVIN (singing) 'He's got a million miles to travel And he'll do it in one day Oh that's because old Santa Claus Got a souped-up Santa sleigh.' The song trails off into a hum as Melvin pulls off onto the side of the road. 18 ON MELVIN undoing his fly. As he reaches into his pants, the sound of a car in the distance, he quickly turns to hide himself, the car passes. Now he reaches in again, but another car catches him in its lights. MELVIN Jeesuz. He climbs back into his car, stomps on the gas, and he zooms off the highway and on to the alkali, up an old cattle road. Now he scuds to a stop, steps out onto the emptiness of the desert. 19 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN pissing, sighing with relief, his sigh mingling with the crackling of his urine as it hits the desert crust. 20 ON MELVIN'S FACE Pleasure. The same pleasure he feels at eating, sleeping, defecating, copulating. Climbs back into his car. Starts up the motor, backs around, and the headlight catches a body lying in the deserted cattle road. 21 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN blinks. Squints, now he throws the car into low gear, rolls slowly towards the body, stops a few feet away. 22 ON MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW The body doesn't move. Limp, dead. 23 ON MELVIN following the shaft of the headlight, moving towards the body. Poised a step away. Now he crouches over it. A grunt. Melvin rolls it over. A beard, Howard's long hair. He lifts him, the headlight shines full into Howard's eyes, they open, flicker. Howard grunts again. MELVIN Whut? Howard doesn't stir, doesn't answer. Melvin cradles Howard's head, and the ear comes into view, fresh blood trickling over the clotting. Melvin heaves Howard up, half-stumbling, half- carrying him towards the car, opens the passenger side and shovels him in. 24 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN slamming the door shut. Now Melvin looks out towards the desert. 25 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW Only blackness and silence. 26 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN climbs into the car on the driver's side, looks over at his passenger. Howard has scrunched himself into a corner, his eyes are wide open now, and wild with terror. Melvin catches it. Melvin smiles, nothing from Howard. Melvin smiles again. MELVIN Whut's the matter, ol' buddy? Howard doesn't answer. He turns his head a little but as he turns, blood oozes. MELVIN Whut are you doin' out here? Silence again. Howard doesn't take his eyes off Melvin. Melvin leans toward him. Howard braces himself against the door. MELVIN (peering into Howard's face) That ear don't look too good to me. You want a doctor? Howard shakes his head. MELVIN (Cont'd) There's a doctor in Beatty. That ain't but a few miles. Want to go to Beatty? Howard doesn't answer, just holds himself stiff against the door. MELVIN We'll go to Beatty. Okay? He throws the car into gear, spins around and heads off to- wards the interstate. 27 INT. CAR - NIGHT Melvin at the wheel, Howard hiding in the corner of the seat offering Melvin as narrow a view of his face as possible. Suddenly a clatter, Melvin's head whips around, Howard has been taken with the shakes, terrible heaves, his teeth chat- tering. Howard doubles over trying to warm himself, clutching both shoulders cross-handed. Melvin reaches for the heater, clicks it on, nothing happens. MELVIN This ain't but a '66 -- damn heater never did work. Howard shudders again, a terrible whistling through his teeth. Melvin bangs the heater with his fist. HOWARD It's okay. MELVIN What do you mean it's okay? Now you just hold on there. Melvin pulls over to the side of the road. 28 ON MELVIN climbing out, opening the trunk. The trunk light shows two giant plastic bags full of white powder, some horse harness, a bow and arrow, a fishing rod, stuffed animals and pull-toys, a ratty blanket and a pillow. He fishes out the blanket and pillow. 29 TWO-SHOT - HOWARD AND MELVIN Melvin leans towards Howard, drapes the blanket over him, but does not drape. It is about the size of a shirt and the pil- low he places under his head would fit a doll. Howard regards them. MELVIN They belong to my little girl. Can't sleep without her bumby. Melvin laughs. MELVIN Shit. Howard shivers, the tiny blanket falls off him. He doesn't have the strength to pick it up, Melvin bends over to re- trieve it, as he does his head hits the dashboard and the heater whirrs on. MELVIN Well, damn! Damn! 29-A INT. CAR NIGHT He laughs again. Nothing from Howard, still underneath the baby blanket, but now allowing his head to ease back ever so slightly into the pillow. Melvin reaches his hand under the heater. MELVIN Warm as toast! You brought me luck, ol' buddy. That heater ain't worked since my wife kicked it last time I undressed her in the car. Howard stirs slightly, Melvin squints over at him. Melvin reaches across Howard, flips open the glove compartment -- a torrent of bills and kleenex, a flashlight, half-eaten candy bars, some knitting needles, a pair of scissors, old Dixie cups. Melvin rummages around in the mess. MELVIN I was lookin' for a band-aid. HOWARD Keep your eye on the road. MELVIN How's that? HOWARD I said keep your eye on the road. MELVIN Well, up yours, ol' timer. HOWARD What? MELVIN I said 'Up yours.' Melvin rummages some more, more papers fall out, Howard half- tries to pick them up. MELVIN Leave 'em. They ain't but a bunch of collection notices. He snaps the glove compartment shut, looks over at Howard's ear. MELVIN We ain't gonna get to Beatty any too soon. HOWARD No doctors. MELVIN There ain't no doctors there. Just a public health nurse. HOWARD No nurses. MELVIN You don't like nurses? HOWARD No, I don't. MELVIN Okay, okay. They ride in silence. Howard is heaving now, Melvin watches him closely. HOWARD I'm not going to Beatty. MELVIN Where are you going? HOWARD Where are you going? MELVIN Aw, Jeezus. HOWARD I'm sorry --- MELVIN Don't apologize --- HOWARD I never apologize but I'll try to explain --- MELVIN Don't explain! HOWARD You want to stop at Beatty, fine. I don't. I'm going to Vegas --- Howard is silent. Melvin grits his teeth. Howard shrugs. MELVIN Man, you sure beat it, don't you? Squirrelly ol' wino layin' out there in the west 40, nobody sees you 'til kingdom come -- I pick you up and what do you do? Rag me. HOWARD I'm sorry. MELVIN What? HOWARD Nothing. I just think I'll rest a while. MELVIN You do that. You lay back now -- we're coming up to Beatty now -- you still don't want to stop? HOWARD No, no stops, please. MELVIN You'll be sorry, you're gonna miss the knockers on the public health nurse there. Howard smiles. HOWARD Nice, huh? MELVIN Do we stop at Beatty or no? Howard sighs. HOWARD No. Melvin stomps on the gas. MELVIN Vegas, here we come. They drive for a long while in silence. 30 HOWARD is silent, always watching Melvin, shifting, shaking some, Melvin loose at the wheel. HOWARD You're not a bad driver. MELVIN I been driving since I was seven years old. HOWARD How'd you reach the pedals? MELVIN Make it nine. I had most of my growth by nine. HOWARD I'll bet you did. Jacking off in that trailer. MELVIN How'd you know I lived in a trailer? HOWARD Didn't you say so? MELVIN They was my three brothers in the trailer with me. HOWARD In one trailer? MELVIN Two of us slept on cots and two on the old dinette table. We didn't have nothing but an outhouse. I remember the first day I went to school I peed in the water fountain. HOWARD Interesting. MELVIN Took me right down to the Salvation Army, bought me shoes and carted me back to school. HOWARD What'd you say your name was? MELVIN Melvin Dummar. HOWARD You're kidding me, Melvin. Melvin smiles, looks over at Howard. MELVIN Hey, ol' buddy. You want to do me a favor? HOWARD Depends on what it is. MELVIN I've written a song. HOWARD No --- MELVIN It's a Christmas number -- 'Santa's Souped-Up Sleigh.' HOWARD Oh God. MELVIN I sent it to Hollywood Music. You know you give them the words -- they write you the music -- seventy dollars and worth every penny -- you want to hear it? HOWARD No. MELVIN Here's how it goes -- (sings) 'Well, he called his elves together To soup up his old sleigh So Rudolph and the other reindeer Could rest on Christmas Day 'He's got a million miles to travel And he'll do it in one day Oh that's because old Santa Claus Got a souped up Santa sleigh' HOWARD Enough, sir --- MELVIN Wait till you hear the talk part -- a dramatic narration like Red Sovine -- (speaks) 'Now listen there fat man Just because you're Santa Claus That don't give you the right To come around and making all that noise In the middle of the night. Now I don't care who you are, fat man You get those reindeer off my roof --' HOWARD Please stop --- MELVIN What's the matter? HOWARD My ear. MELVIN Told you we should have stopped at Beatty. HOWARD It's the sound. MELVIN What do you mean, the sound? HOWARD Your song. MELVIN You're cruel, man, you know that? You're a cruel man. HOWARD I have an aversion to song. MELVIN You never sung in your life? HOWARD Not if I could help it. MELVIN That's how you got to be an ol' asshole. Now you come along on the chorus -- (sings) 'He's got a rocket burnin' mighty quick Turnin' souped up Santa's sleigh He'll come in like a streak of light And he'll blast off right away...' You got that? HOWARD I don't know. MELVIN Now sing along with me. Or you gonna walk to Vegas. (sings) 'He's got a rocket burnin' mighty quick' Motions to Howard to join in. HOWARD (mumbling; gingerly singing) Turnin' souped up Santa's sleigh' MELVIN Now you're gettin' it! Once more --- Howard starts to sing. HOWARD (singing) 'He's got a rocket burnin' mighty quick Turnin' souped up Santa's sleigh....' MELVIN (speaking) 'Now now, Mr. Fat Man, what are you trying to do? Now that chimney's too small and you might fall -- so you just get down off that roof' Melvin points to Howard and Howard joins in. HOWARD AND MELVIN (singing) 'When you hear those rockets roar You'll know Santa's on his way But he'll be back again next year In his souped up Santa's sleigh!' Howard seems pleased with himself. MELVIN You done it! And you want to know something? HOWARD What? MELVIN You weren't bad. HOWARD Come on. MELVIN Now you sing me one of your songs --- HOWARD I don't know any songs --- MELVIN Anythin'. 'Stop And Smell The Roses,' 'My Woman, My Woman, My Wife' -- whatever you like -- HOWARD I don't know any songs. My father was the singer in the family, 'When The Sunset Turns The Ocean's Blue To Gold,' 'Bill Bailey.' (imitates) 'Sonny, you do the verse, I'll take the chorus.' And off he'd go. MELVIN What songs do you know? HOWARD Me? Nothing -- (shrugs) 'Bye Bye Blackbird.' MELVIN There you go! Melvin punches Howard in the arm. MELVIN Lay it on me, ol' timer. HOWARD Don't be crazy. MELVIN 'Ladeez and gentlemen -- to wind up our program tonight -- and I want y'all t'drive home safely -- y'hear? -- we got a brand new number by an ol' ol' timer -- he's been a pickin' and a strummin' for many a year -- so let's hear it for this little ditty -- the ol' timer and "Bye Bye Blackbird!" -- take it, ol' timer!!' Howard looks at him. HOWARD Let me out. Melvin winks. MELVIN Come on. Howard starts to hum a little. MELVIN Ooh, that's nice -- did I hear a word? HOWARD 'Bye, Bye, Blackbird.' MELVIN There she goes. HOWARD (starting to sing faintly) 'Pack up all my cares and woes Here I go Singing low' HOWARD AND MELVIN (singing) 'Bye, bye, blackbird!' Howard is gaining strength. HOWARD (singing) 'Where somebody waits for me Sugar's sweet So is she' HOWARD AND MELVIN (singing) 'Bye, bye, blackbird!' Melvin turns to Howard, presenting him like an emcee. HOWARD (singing) 'No one here can love and understand me Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me Make my bed and light the light I'll arrive Late tonight Blackbird ---' MELVIN (singing) 'Blackbird!' HOWARD AND MELVIN (singing together) 'Blackbird Bye! Bye!' Howard's face is aglow with joy, but no more so than Melvin's. MELVIN Hey! Melvin reaches out his hand -- Howard gives it a boogie slap. MELVIN I like that song -- clean up that lyric a little and she'll take right off. Suddenly Howard withdraws -- dim and distant. They ride again in silence. Melvin looks over to him. MELVIN How're you doin'? HOWARD I'm fine. (after a moment) So where are you going now? MELVIN Home to Gabbs. Bringin' back some stuff for our trailer my sister wanted to get rid of. HOWARD What do you do in Gabbs? MELVIN I work in the Mag Ox Plant. You know -- Maalox -- you get an ulcer --- HOWARD I know, I know --- MELVIN You know what? HOWARD I know Maalox comes from magnesium oxide. All the Jews in New York drink it. Melvin looks at him. MELVIN Well that's more than most people know. HOWARD Thank you. MELVIN I wasn't complimenting you. That was just a comment. HOWARD Still I appreciate it. Silence. MELVIN Don't bother me, dirty work or no. Was a milkman once -- used to stink of sour milk. Now I smell like Maalox. HOWARD What a shame. MELVIN I remember once -- I was delivering milk in the middle of the night -- and it come to me -- why don't I get a job on graveyard like some of them old gals' husbands -- so I went around to McDonnell Douglas and Hughes -- HOWARD And what happened? MELVIN Nuthin.' HOWARD What a shame. MELVIN You keep saying 'what a shame' --- HOWARD I might have done something. MELVIN Done what? HOWARD I'm Howard Hughes. Melvin's head swivels, he squints over at Howard beside him. Now he looks back at the road. Suddenly he turns back to Howard. MELVIN How's that? HOWARD I said I'm Howard Hughes. Melvin stifles a smile, tries to look very serious, steals another look over at Howard, now he shakes his head to himself. MELVIN Well I believe in anybody callin' themselves anything they want to. HOWARD I appreciate that. 31 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW Windshield, a raindrop, then another. Then a sudden downpour, a desert shower, stopping almost as soon as it starts. 32 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW The rain clearing, just a gray sky. He opens the window. Howard opens his window. MELVIN (breathing in) Greasewood. HOWARD (breathing in) Sage. MELVIN Nothing like the smell of the desert after the rain. HOWARD Greasewood and sage. They roll along for a while. 33 HOWARD AND MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW - NIGHT Way in the distance, the casinos and hotels rising out of the desert -- Las Vegas. 34 OMITTED 35 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW - NIGHT rolling into Las Vegas on the boulevard. The blaze of neon lighting up his and Howard's face. MELVIN Can I let you off at the Salvation Army? HOWARD No thanks. What are you going to do? MELVIN We'll keep pluggin'. 36 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN AND HOWARD HOWARD Let me off at The Sands. Melvin drives down Las Vegas Blvd., and pulls in at The Sands. HOWARD Over there. Melvin drives around the back, towards the bungalows, slowly, about 10 MPH. HOWARD Stop --- MELVIN Right here? HOWARD This is the place. Melvin stops, looks over at Howard. MELVIN You got a friend in the kitchen? Give you some money to get that ear attended to? Howard doesn't answer, fiddling with the door handle. HOWARD How do you get out of this thing? Melvin reaches across Howard, flips the door handle, the door opens. MELVIN Well I enjoyed it, ol' buddy. He smiles at Howard, swings the door wide open, Howard hesi- tates. Suddenly --- HOWARD You got any money? Melvin sighs, reaches in his pocket, fumbles. 37 CLOSEUP - HOWARD waiting, watching. 38 ON MELVIN fishing in his pocket. MELVIN Ain't got but a quarter change --- Howard doesn't answer, holds out his hand, Melvin drops the quarter into it. Howard gets out now, shuts the door. HOWARD Thank you, Melvin. And he is gone. 39 EXT. GABBS, NEVADA - BEFORE SUNRISE The middle of nowhere. In the distance, dense, white chemical smoke curling up off the ridge where a magnesium plant hovers. Down below, almost a mile away, the town, rutted dirt streets lined with trailers. 40 OMITTED 41 ON MELVIN driving down a baked-clay side street, dirty dogs clearing out of the way. A battered Airstream trailer lies ahead on the right. Pulling into the yard, grassless and sandy, a plastic pool caked with mud. A pull toy straddling an old clothes wringer. A clothesline, a child's snowsuit pinned to it. 42 ON MELVIN climbing out of the car, picking his way to the door of the trailer, past a new Honda leaning against the air drums. 43 INT. MELVIN'S TRAILER - DAWN A dinette set fighting for space with a child's bicycle and toys. A new TV, a dishrag from the evening meal draped over it. Melvin moves to a partition, a blanket strung on a piece of twine. 43-A MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW Darcy, a nymphet 10 years old, sound asleep. He bends to kiss her, tucks the blanket around her. She smiles. Melvin adjusts the heater, then moves off, pulling the partition closed. 44 ON LYNDA in her middle twenties, hunched sexy shoulders of an ex-cheer- leader, busky and redolent with sleep now. Melvin peels off his clothes, they drop at his ankles as he climbs into bed. ON MELVIN AND LYNDA He touches her. And she stirs. Melvin is glazed with the heat of her sleep, the warmth of the bed, Lynda's proximity. He rustles, she tries to quiet him, but now he moves over her. Excited by her, and now she by him, their intimacy always contained, conscious of Darcy beyond the curtain. 45 LATER Melvin falling asleep. Lynda awake beside him. The sound of a car pulling up. Lynda freezes. A car door opens, shuts. Another car door opens, shuts. ON LYNDA She doesn't move, tuned into the sounds, familiar with them almost, dreading them. Now she gets up and goes to the win- dow, looks out. 46 EXT. MELVIN'S YARD - EARLY MORNING - LYNDA'S POINT OF VIEW A jump cable being connected to a battery in Melvin's car. A spark flies, the car starts. Repossession men in their Montgomery Ward suits, flip the cable off, throw it in the trunk of their car. One starts to close the trunk, the other stops him. ON MELVIN'S MOTORCYCLE One lifts the handlebars, the other the rear wheel, and they heave it into their trunk. 47 INT. TRAILER - EARLY MORNING - ON LYNDA She starts for the door, then stops. She lifts the curtain of the other window. 48 EXT. MELVIN'S YARD - EARLY MORNING - LYNDA'S POINT OF VIEW Melvin's car driving down the dusty street. Following it the repo car, the trunk lid catching the dawn light as it bobbles over the motorcycle. 49 CLOSEUP - LYNDA turning back to Melvin. He sleeps soundly, oblivious, beati- fic. Lynda reaches for the telephone. 50 ROAD TO GABBS - DAWN - A PICKUP jaunting down the road. At the wheel in a straw cowman's hat, Clark Taylor. Stashed in a rack behind him, like a shotgun, his guitar. 51 INT. MELVIN'S TRAILER - DAY - LYNDA pressing a doll of Darcy's into a little wicker suitcase. Darcy dressed and scruffy, wiping the sleep from her eyes. They hear Clark's truck pull up Lynda goes to the door, makes a motion for Clark to wait. 51-A EXT. MEL'S YARD - DAY - CLARK reaching for his guitar, opening the case, starts to noodle as he waits. 52 ON LYNDA frantically finishes throwing clothes into a bag as Melvin begins to stir. She half-pulls, half-pushes Darcy out the door. Darcy heads for the pickup. Lynda reaches for her own bag, and she sees Melvin turn over. She rushes out the door, then stops. Goes back. 53 ON LYNDA AND MELVIN For an instant, the feeling she might want to climb into bed with him. She reaches down, jostles him awake. Melvin looks up. LYNDA Good-bye, Melvin. She leaves. 54 ON MELVIN He blinks, sits up. MELVIN Hunh? 54-A MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW The partition pulled, Darcy's bed empty. 55 ON MELVIN He throws himself out of bed, dives out the door. 56 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW - THE PICKUP TRUCK already disappearing up the road, Darcy's face pressed to the rear window. She waves. The old dog sitting where Melvin's car was. Melvin spins for his motorcycle. Nothing there but an oil rag in the dust. 57 CLOSEUP - MELVIN blinking, bewildered. He looks down the road, the smoke ever curling up from the magnesium plant. 58 EXT. RENO, NEVADA - DAY - ESTABLISHING SHOT 59 EXT./INT. MOTEL ROOM - RENO - DAY Clark Taylor exits a motel room and heads for his truck. In- side, Lynda lies in the shards of a glass coffee table as Darcy creeps out of the bathroom where she has been hiding. Lynda and Darcy stare at the doorway for a long time. LYNDA Musicians stink. Darcy moves to Lynda now, sinks in her mother's arms, now she turns and helps her mother up on the couch. She examines Lynda's face, touching a bruised cheek; licks the blood from a scratch on her forehead. They just lie there. DARCY It's my fault. LYNDA What are you talking about? DARCY He didn't want a kid around. LYNDA He said he wanted a kid. He said he wanted you. Been after me for months. I would divorce Melvin and he would adopt you. DARCY Didn't Johnny Pike say that? After a moment. LYNDA Yeah. DARCY What did Johnny Pike play? LYNDA Bass. Lynda gets up wearily from the couch, picks up the pieces of glass. Darcy helps her. DARCY How're we gonna pay for this? LYNDA With a job. DARCY What job? LYNDA I don't know -- a job. DARCY At the donut shop? LYNDA Maybe not a donut shop again. (smiles) Maybe a donut shop. DARCY It doesn't matter, Ma. Lynda sighs. LYNDA Or cocktail waitress --- DARCY I'll have to help you. LYNDA What are you talking about? DARCY Don't you remember? Last time you flunked. You thought a Moscow Mule was a King Alfonse and a King Alfonse was a Moscow Mule? And then you had the fight with the bartender? A heel is broken in Lynda's shoe. She throws it against the wall. LYNDA I remember. DARCY I think I want to go home. Silence. LYNDA I can't go home, honey. DARCY I know it's hard without a car for you. But you know I only have to walk to school. Lynda looks at her. LYNDA You miss school. DARCY I miss my friends. LYNDA And Daddy? After a moment. DARCY I don't miss him. (after another moment) Yeah, I miss him. LYNDA Me, too --- DARCY (jumping up) Good! LYNDA (jumping up) But, I wouldn't go back to that sonofabitch if he were the last man on earth! DARCY Don't swear, Mama. LYNDA I'm sorry. She touches Darcy. LYNDA C'm'on, I'll walk you to the bus. Lynda makes her way across the room, picks up the broken shoe, strips the padding off the sole, takes out a ten-dollar bill. 60 INT. BUS TERMINAL - RENO - DAY Lynda coming away from the ticket window, counting her change, a couple of dollars. She presses the ticket into Darcy's hand. Now she moves to the lunch counter. 61 LYNDA'S POINT OF VIEW - A LUNCH COUNTER CUSTOMER Sitting at the counter, chewing on a ham sandwich. Lynda looks at the sandwich warily. LYNDA You're not eating here. Take a seat, honey, I'll be right back. 62 ANOTHER ANGLE - LUNCH COUNTER Lynda undoing a grocery bag. Pulls out a loaf of Italian bread. LYNDA (to the Counterman) Hey, you got a knife? He turns around from the sandwich board, Lynda smiles. He hands her the knife. She cuts the loaf in half. Reaches for a jar of mustard resting on the counter. Smears the bread. Now she removes a packet of ham from the grocery bag, lays the whole, thick stack on one of the slabs of bread. She steals a leaf of lettuce from a plate that hasn't been cleared, presses it on the ham, covers the concoction with a second slab of bread. Wraps the sandwich up in the waxed bread paper. COUNTERMAN Now how about something to drink? Lynda opens her palm to the nickel and dime that remain. LYNDA Give us a Milky Way. The Counterman flips her a Milky Way, she opens it, breaks it in half, hands half to Darcy. They walk out, munching on their halves of candy bar. 63 EXT. BUS BAYS - RENO BUS STATION - DAY Lynda kisses Darcy at the door. Darcy climbs up, moves to a seat on the bus, Lynda following her from the platform. Darcy takes a seat, opens her brown bag. 64 ON DARCY waving to Lynda, reaching into the bag, lifting out the sand- wich, takes a huge bite. She flashes the "okay" sign. 65 ON LYNDA The bus is thrown into gear, Lynda waves hysterically as the bus backs out. And then all of a sudden it disappears. 66 EXT. RENO STREET - GO-GO SALOON - DAY - LYNDA walking down a Reno street. The sound of music coming from a doorway. She looks through the window. 67 OMITTED 68 EXT. GABBS - BUS STOP - DAY The bus arrives. Darcy gets off -- runs to Melvin. They hug. 69 BAGGING ROOM - BASIC MANUFACTURING - GABBS, NEVADA Melvin is seated astride a crate in front of a bagging machine. He holds open the bag, the magnesium oxide powder pours out, the machine seals the bag. Melvin heaves it on a treadmill behind. At the base of the treadmill is Little Red, sacking the bags on a pallet as they come off. A forklift reaches in, plucks the pallet, and shovels it onto a trailer outside. The whistle blows. Melvin hits a button -- the machine stops. Melvin reaches for his lunch pail. Opens it. The remains of a sandwich, encrusted with staleness. He snaps it shut, follows Little Red out onto the loading platform. They jump down, move into the weigh-shack. 70 INT./EXT. WAREHOUSE AREA - DAY A gauge for a scale, a radiator, a five-gallon coffee urn. It is cold out and when they enter the shack, their breath vaporizes. They sit on the edge of the radiator. MELVIN Your coffee's on. LITTLE RED I always leave it on. MELVIN How long's it been on? LITTLE RED What's the date today? MELVIN Twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth --- LITTLE RED Twenty-four, twenty-five days. I start it on the first of the month. Little Red looks at Melvin. LITTLE RED You can't go on like this, Mel. MELVIN Like what? LITTLE RED Moonin' like a baby. Lynda'll come back. They always do -- take me, I can't stand my wife. MELVIN You told me. LITTLE RED But I always go back. I'm going back this weekend. You wanna come? MELVIN See your wife? LITTLE RED I got a sister. MELVIN You got a sister? Little Red reaches for a coffee cup. MELVIN She short like you with red hair? LITTLE RED Tall with blue. Takes tolls on the Golden Gate Bridge. You'll like her. Little Red places the cup under the coffee spout. It doesn't flow. He tips the urn, now releases the spigot, the coffee spurts out. Follow the coffee from the spout to the floor. On the floor, a hole has been worn, like a crater, from the drippings of the coffee. LITTLE RED What do you say, Melvin? Melvin sighs, looking at the hole in the floor. MELVIN I don't want to go to San Francisco, Red. But I'll hitch a ride with you to Reno. 71 EXT. GABBS HIGHWAY - LATE AFTERNOON Melvin driving, Little Red beside him. Little Red is drunk. He reaches for his bottle, takes a pull, tries to hand it to Melvin. LITTLE RED Here you go, Mel. MELVIN Put that stuff away. LITTLE RED You sure are good, Mel. 72 ON LITTLE RED half-asleep, occasionally lighting a cigarette, smoking it dreamily. 73 ANOTHER ANGLE Little Red sleeping in the front seat. Suddenly he leaps up, Melvin almost swerves off the road. LITTLE RED What happened? MELVIN You dropped your cigarette! Smoke pours up from under Little Red. He jumps out of the car. MELVIN You little red asshole! Melvin whips off his jacket, starts beating away at the smoking seat. Little Red is running around outside of the car, cooling himself. Finally, Melvin who is making no headway, rips the whole seat out from its slides, throws it in the road. MELVIN Now you drive. And stay awake! Little Red dutifully climbs into the driver's seat. Melvin lays down in the rear, goes to sleep. 74 EXT. MUSTANG RANCH - NIGHT The car is stopped. Melvin coughs, wakes up. 75 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW Little Red is gone. It is night. Nothing around but desert. Melvin peers in another direction. A barbed-wire fence, a group of trailers, elevated guard tower, spotlights. MELVIN Oh, no. 76 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN climbing out of the car, walking slowly to a high gate made of hurricane fencing. He tries the knob, nothing happens. Jiggles it. A Voice booms out over the desert. VOICE Yes? MELVIN You got a little red-haired guy in there? VOICE Name? MELVIN Little Red. VOICE Just a minute. Melvin cups his hands, blows air through them, stomps his feet in the cold. VOICE He's here. Melvin jiggles the gate again. VOICE What do you want? MELVIN Him. VOICE Are you a customer? MELVIN No, sir, I'm not. VOICE 'Ma'am'--- MELVIN No, ma'am, I'm not. VOICE We can't let you in unless you're a customer. MELVIN I don't want to get laid, ma'am. I just want my buddy. VOICE Hold on. The wind whistles, a coyote calls. Melvin stomps his feet. VOICE Sorry --- Melvin looks around the desert, shrugs. He walks back to the car, climbs into the driver's seat, reaches for the ignition. No key. 77 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN climbing slowly out of the car, jiggling the gate again. VOICE What do you want? MELVIN I'd like to get laid. The gate buzzes, Melvin moves through, walks up to the trailer. He presses a buzzer, a face appears at the window, lets him in. 78 INT. TRAILER - NIGHT MADAM Welcome to the Cottontail Ranch. MELVIN Thank you, ma'am. There are a couple of security men lolling in the lounge. MADAM Your friend's with Tina in 4, right down the hall. Melvin starts down the hall. MADAM Just a minute -- Melvin keeps walking, the security man blocks his path. MADAM It'll cost you twenty-two fifty. MELVIN You're kidding. The security man moves a step closer. MELVIN I got a problem --- MADAM What's your problem? MELVIN I don't have twenty-two fifty. MADAM What have you got? MELVIN I got shit. My wife's left me, my little girl's home with my brother's family, I almost got burned up in a car, and now my best buddy's crapped out in a cathouse in the middle of the desert! After a moment. MADAM I see. MELVIN Let me get my buddy. MADAM You can't go back there for less than twenty-two fifty. MELVIN All I want's the key to the car. You can have him. MADAM I don't know what to tell you, son. We don't make the rules. The county does. Twenty dollars for the trick. A dollar for a towel. A dollar-fifty deposit on the towel. Melvin looks at his watch. MELVIN Lynda give this to me for my thirtieth birthday --- She takes the watch from him. MELVIN You get the phases of the moon --- MADAM Our girls know the phases of the moon. She hands the watch back. Melvin shifts, parts a curtain on the window. MELVIN Tell you what. He's got a brand new spare tire on the Monaco -- four-ply radial -- non-skid -- whitewall --- MADAM What am I going to do with a tire? MELVIN (points at the security man) I don't know, maybe you can hang it on his dick! The security man smiles. MELVIN (to the Madam) Help me, lady. She drums her fingers. MADAM Go get your friend. 79 INT. TRAILER CORRIDOR - NIGHT The security man buzzes Melvin through a door, and Melvin moves down the curtain corridor, opens the door to number 4. 79-A INT. TRAILER ROOM #4 - NIGHT A pretty girl, Tina, is practicing tap dancing on a practice board in a corner of the room. Little Red is resting on the edge of the bed, his head slumped on his chest. All his clothes are off except one shoe and a sock. He holds the shoe in one hand. He is fast asleep. TINA That's as far as he got. Our license requires we give him thirty minutes -- he's got seven to go. Melvin looks down at Little Red. MELVIN Give me a hand here. Tina gets up, Melvin lays Little Red on his back, together they start to dress him. MELVIN You married, Tina? TINA I got a kid in Carson City, my hus- band's in Reno. My mother's in Vegas and you just passed my father out in the hallway. MELVIN Lord. Tina is struggling with Little Red's pants. TINA You do his fly. I don't want to catch him in it. Melvin sighs. MELVIN You sure got a sense of humor. My name's Melvin Dummar. Let me shake your hand, Tina. Tina shakes Melvin's hand. Their eyes meet. TINA You married, Melvin? Melvin beams, looks down at Red, dressed all lopsidedly, still sound asleep. MELVIN Where could we put this if we wanted to share a few minutes together? TINA In the hallway. No one will know the difference. They heave Little Red onto a chair outside the crib. Prop him up, and close the curtain on him. MELVIN There's only one problem. TINA What's that? MELVIN I haven't got twenty-two fifty. TINA That's all right, he's still got seven minutes. And besides, my watch just stopped. 79-B RENO - NIGHT - MELVIN AND LITTLE RED speeding along, approaching Reno, the neon beckoning. 80 EXT. MOTEL - RENO - NIGHT Melvin exits Little Red's car and enters the motel office. Little Red drives off. 81 LYNDA'S MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT Melvin enters, looks into the unmade bed, checks the sheets. Now moves into the bathroom. Spies some false eyelashes on the shelf. Examines them between his fingers. Now he sits down on the commode. As he does, he sees the fringe and tassels of a go-go costume, lovingly laid out to dry on a towel. He picks it up, holds it away from himself. Now he brings it close, smells it, buries his nose in the tiny swatch of material. 82 INT. GO-GO SALOON - RENO - NIGHT - MELVIN muscling his way through the crowded casino, up to the scattered characters at the bar. 83 LYNDA dancing go-go, kind of enjoying it. 84 GO-GO DANCER next to Lynda; her name is Lucy and her arm is in a cast. She pokes Lynda's elbow, tries to yell over the noise. LUCY A guy's waving at you over there. Lynda looks down. LYNDA Oh my God, it's Melvin. She dances off in the other direction, but Melvin runs around the bar following her. She dances back the other way now, but Melvin has leaped up on the stage and pulled the plug on the speaker. He carries a suitcase. Silence in the bar. Two security men head towards Melvin. MELVIN You come home with me, Lynda. Get out of this place and come home with your husband, Melvin Dummar. A Voice from the crowd. VOICE You go home, Melvin. ANOTHER VOICE Yeah, go on home, Melvin. Lynda looks on helplessly. MELVIN Lynda, you're my wife! Now come home! The security men leap on the bar. MELVIN Git outa these bars, Lynda, and come back where you belong. LYNDA I won't! MELVIN You gotta! LYNDA I can't! MELVIN Why not?! LYNDA I love to dance! LUCY (hugging Lynda) Oh, Lynda! You make me feel so good. Melvin throws off the security men, and rips open the suitcase. MELVIN All right, you like these damn bars?! Then you can live in these damn bars! LYNDA How's Darcy? MELVIN She's fine! Melvin strews Lynda's clothes on the bar, shirts, pants, underwear. LYNDA Oh Jeezus, Melvin. Now as the security men charge Melvin a last time, he leaps off the bar, at the same time throws a torrent of fringe and tassels at Lynda. Lynda catches them in the face, they stop her. She reaches down and picks a few up. LYNDA He cut up my best Day-Glo. The owner plugs in the music, instantly the girls resume dancing. Melvin threads his way out to catcalls and a single "Attaboy, Melvin!" The owner beckons Lynda. JERRY How often does this happen, Lynda? LYNDA I'm sorry, Jerry. JERRY I feel for you and everything, but you know it's not the best thing for business -- LYNDA I know, I know. (sighs) I was quittin' anyway. She heads for her dressing room. 84-1A EXT. GO-GO CLUB - NIGHT - MELVIN stomps off into the night. 84-1B RENO BUS STATION - NIGHT - AN OUTBOUND BUS pulls out of the station, Melvin sitting alone in the back. FADE OUT FADE IN 84-A EXT. RENO OUTSKIRTS - DAY - MELVIN burning up the road in Little Red's car, Darcy riding with him this time. 85 INT. CLUB 29 - RENO - LATE AFTERNOON Another saloon -- Lynda in another go-go costume, serving drinks now. The Owner leans over her shoulder. OWNER Someone here to see you. Lynda looks up. It is Melvin. LYNDA Oh God. She walks right up to him. LYNDA What do you want, Melvin? MELVIN No fights, no bickering -- just carrying out the law, plain and simple. (hands her a paper) Interlocutory decree. She's final in six weeks. (hands her a ring) And my wedding ring -- keep yours if you like. LYNDA Aw, Melvin. MELVIN I'll be seein' you, Lynda. He stalks off. She unfolds the document. LYNDA Hey, wait a minute! What's it say about Darcy in here? MELVIN I get custody. LYNDA What do you mean, you get custody? MELVIN No daughter of mine's going to hang around these bars. Lynda throws the tray of drinks she is carrying in his face. Melvin comes up spitting, reaches over the bar for a customer's glass of beer and throws it at Lynda -- The Owner jumps on the bar, grabs Melvin by the neck. OWNER Now, wait a minute! MELVIN (loosing himself) I was goin' anyway. Melvin turns on his heel and walks out. OWNER (exasperated) Hey, look, Lynda -- LYNDA Never mind. I quit. She draws the string on her go-go costume, it drops to the floor in front of the astounded Owner and patrons. And now, with the utmost dignity, Lynda, all naked, strides to the dressing room past the gawks of the bewildered customers. 85-A EXT. CLUB 29 - MAGIC HOUR Melvin leaps into Red's car beside Darcy, roars off with tires smoking. A fender falls off into the street. Melvin keeps going. 86 EXT. RENO STREET - LUCY'S HOUSE - NIGHT A house on a side street, the Reno neon glitter burning bright in the b.g. Lynda walks to the door. 86-A INT. LUCY'S HOUSE - NIGHT Lucy picks up Lynda's bag, leads her to a bedroom. 86-B INT. LUCY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT Lucy turns on the light. The room is a mess, but cozy. LYNDA Gee -- and I almost had to spend the night with some sonofabitch lawyer. LUCY Are there any other kind? LYNDA I just want to get my little girl back. My husband's divorcing me. LUCY Why? LYNDA Because he can't make any money and it makes him feel bad. Lynda pitches her bag on the bed, starts undressing. Lucy hangs up her clothes. LYNDA So I can stay here as long as I want? LUCY Long as you want. Until your baby comes. Don't ask me how, I always know. LYNDA And did you know I'll never see the father again? LUCY Don't worry, kid. You'll get an abortion, it'll all be over --- LYNDA (interrupting) Oh, no, I had one of those. I kept dreaming of bunnies drowning. Lynda climbs under the covers. LUCY I'll bet I know what that means --- LYNDA Don't tell me. I'm just not going to do it again. LUCY Melvin knocked you up. That bastard. LYNDA Maybe Melvin. Maybe not Melvin. Melvin's okay. LUCY You mean we like Melvin? A few kind men left in this world, right? But we're leaving him, right? LYNDA Melvin's left me. LUCY What are you going to do now? LYNDA Same thing I always do. Go home to Mother. FADE OUT FADE IN 87 LOS ANGELES - FREEWAYS - DAY - ESTABLISHING SHOT down the San Diego past Disneyland. 88 BEHIND DISNEYLAND - LYNDA'S MOTHER'S HOUSE A sea of tract houses. Zoom in on one, any one. The Sisk's dog, "Tramp" is outside. We see some girls on bicycles go by and two boys tossing a football. 89 INT. LYNDA'S MOTHER'S HOUSE - DAY Lynda sits on a couch in a pair of pregnant hot pants and a bra watching television. Lynda is eight months pregnant. Her mother, Mrs. Sisk, sits beside her. The dog, "Tramp" wanders in. MRS. SISK You want something cold to drink, Lynda? LYNDA No thanks, Ma. MRS. SISK I'm going out for a few minutes. LYNDA Okay, Ma. MRS. SISK Anything happens, call a cab to take you to the hospital. LYNDA Nothing's going to happen, Ma. The door slams. 90 OMITTED 91 LYNDA ON THE COUCH watching the TV set. She reaches for a book, "The Magic of Believing." Glances at it, then back at the TV set. Now she looks at the phone. 92 INT. MELVIN'S TRAILER - DAY Melvin is fixing breakfast. Chaos. Toasters, griddle cakes, pop up tarts. Bubbling coffee pot. Whirring milkshake blender. Vegamatic. Darcy is watching "Easy Street" on television. Melvin has his eye on it. 93 ON THE TV WALLY And here we go with the Gateway to Easy Street! A lady dressed like a phonograph record can't decide which gate to choose. 94 ON MELVIN AND DARCY DARCY Gate number 2. MELVIN Gate number 1. The lady chooses door number one -- she wins. Melvin's face lights up. WALLY And you've entered it, madam, the Golden Gate! Inside.... The gate swings open. WALLY A brand new camera and! -- a trip to Hawaii on United Airlines -- United, the friendly airline --- MELVIN I told you! I told you! Melvin claps his hands with delight. DARCY Geez -- MELVIN Whatsa matter? DARCY I'm jealous, Daddy. MELVIN Aw no, honey, it's a wonderful thing -- lookit that -- Hawaii -- the friendly skies -- look! -- look how happy she is! -- aw gee, she's embarrassed -- Wally kissed her --- The telephone rings. Darcy turns the television set off, tumbles outside and climbs on her bike. Past the windows of the trailer, riding lazily in the dusty twilight, past dogs, past a kid on a wagon, past a basket of laundry. Melvin picks up the phone. Darcy keeps riding around the trailer. MELVIN Hullo? LYNDA Hello, Melvin? MELVIN Hey, Lynda. How's it going? LYNDA How's what going? MELVIN I dunno, whatever you got going. LYNDA Could Darcy come down and see me? MELVIN You pregnant? LYNDA What do you mean, am I pregnant?! What do you say a thing like that for?!! MELVIN I dunno. You sound pregnant. For what other reason would you ask me to let Darcy go down there and hang around them bars? LYNDA I don't go to bars, Melvin. MELVIN And that air in L.A. All that smog. All them people. How preg- nant are you? For your sake, you better hope it's a girl. LYNDA What are you talking about, Melvin? MELVIN Because if it's a boy and it looks like Clark Halsted, I'm going to kill it. LYNDA I just want to see Darcy. MELVIN And then I'm going to kill you. (after a moment) I'd rather have you come up. LYNDA Where? MELVIN Las Vegas. We'll do it in Las Vegas. I'll marry you there. LYNDA You just divorced me, Melvin. What do you want to marry me for? MELVIN I don't want my little girl having illegitimate kin. LYNDA Melvin? MELVIN Yes, honey? LYNDA I've been reading this book 'The Magic of Believing.' MELVIN Yeah, what's that? LYNDA It's about you. MELVIN (smiling) Hey. LYNDA It says you can be anything you want to be if you'll just believe in yourself. And you believe in yourself -- it's just the believing hasn't been enough to let you become what you believe you can be. MELVIN Rome wasn't built in a day. We'll keep plugging. LYNDA I've been thinking, Melvin. I haven't been good to you. I haven't believed in you like you believe in you. MELVIN How's insurance sound to you? LYNDA Insurance. Real estate. Anything but bagging at Basic. MELVIN Yeah, the ol' paycheck-to-paycheck. Frustratin', when I know I was born for something else. LYNDA You really want to marry me, Melvin? Mrs. Sisk enters (she's been eavesdropping) and frantically, silently, signals "No! Not again!" MELVIN I heard you was livin' with whores over in Reno. LYNDA I knew you didn't. MELVIN But I want you to know I'm not going to hold it against you, however --- LYNDA Melvin, don't start gettin' around me now --- MELVIN Aw, honey, I want to get around you. I been missin' you. Miss your lovin' --- He starts to sing over the telephone. MELVIN (singing) 'My woman, my woman, my wife --' 95 EXT. GAS STATION - LAS VEGAS - DAY - MELVIN AND LITTLE RED are waiting in Little Red's car, which has been specially spruced and decorated for the occasion; as has Little Red. A replacement fender is in evidence. 96 INT. GAS STATION RESTROOM - DAY - LYNDA waits as Darcy struggles with the ties on an 8-month pregnant sateen suit, bought for the wedding. Now she presents herself to Darcy. LYNDA How do I look? DARCY (worshipful) Fat. But nice. 97 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY - LITTLE RED drives to the door of the restroom. Melvin leaps out and swings the door open. Darcy helps Lynda in. 98 EXT. SILVER BELL WEDDING CHAPEL - LAS VEGAS BLVD. - DAY Melvin helps Lynda out. He is dressed in boots, spurs, double-knit pants and his best cowboy roses shirt. Before they go inside, he gives his hair a lick with his comb. Then he takes Darcy and gives her hair a lick with his comb, wipes the comb off and puts it back in his pocket. 99 INT. SILVER BELL WEDDING CHAPEL - DAY A tiny room with ice-cream chairs and a white pulpit under an arbor of wax flowers. The Owner, a kindly, fat woman is at her desk at front. MELVIN We're the Dummars. OWNER Not yet, you're 'The Dummars.' MELVIN Oh yeah, we're the Dummars and we're getting married again. OWNER Wonderful! Were you with us the first time? We've had a lot of repeaters -- repeaters are our favorite folks. MELVIN No, ma'am. OWNER (to Lynda) Would you like a veil? Lynda looks over at Melvin. MELVIN How much is a veil? OWNER Four dollars. Lynda motioning "don't." MELVIN We'll take a veil. Owner hands Lynda a pink veil. LYNDA Ya got a blue one? To go with my suit? OWNER I've got white. The second time around the girls like a color. MELVIN We'll take white. OWNER Now, on the music --- MELVIN What have you got? OWNER We have Inspirational, 'Because,' we have Hawaiian, the 'War Chant,' we have --- LYNDA MELVIN 'Because.' 'Hawaiian War Chant.' They look at each other. LYNDA 'Hawaiian War Chant.' OWNER Very good. That's five dollars on the veil, five dollars on the music, fifteen dollars for the ceremony, four dollars for the license, ten dollars for the witnesses -- thirty- nine dollars all together. Melvin reaches in his pocket, pulls out all his money. OWNER Thirty-nine out of forty. Thank you. She hands Melvin a dollar back. MELVIN That don't leave us much for break- fast. I wasn't counting on the witnesses. The Owner indicates a terribly decrepit old couple, waiting in an ante-room in two chairs, wearing their Sunday best. OWNER Well, they've got to make a living, too. Darcy tugs on the Owner's arm who is pressing button behind her desk. DARCY A bag of rice, please. OWNER Well aren't you sweet, honey? She hands Darcy a bag of rice and collects fifty cents. The Hawaiian War Chant starts. The lights lower. A Justice of the Peace materializes behind the pulpit. And Lynda and Melvin, with Darcy behind then, move stately down the aisle. 100 PULPIT - JUSTICE OF THE PEACE JP 'Til death do us part.' MELVIN 'Til death do us part.' JP Lynda and Melvin, I now pronounce you man and wife. Melvin and Lynda kiss. LYNDA This is it, Melvin. He hugs her tight. MELVIN Ooh, you got a fat belly, woman. The witnesses come forward. The old Lady kisses Melvin and the old man busses Lynda -- a long long time. They all start up back the aisle -- Darcy is throwing rice. The old man falters. The wedding party stops. OLD LADY What's the matter, George? (to Lynda and Melvin) He gets weak in the heat -- I better take him home. They turn to go, the Owner pays them off at the desk and they leave. OWNER Now what am I going to do? I got three couples coming in at eleven --- 101 MONTAGE - MELVIN, LYNDA AND DARCY Outside, Melvin and Lynda saying good-bye to Little Red; inside, witnessing a dozen marriages. Kissing their opposites. Darcy scattering bags of rice. Melvin enjoying immensely. 102 EXT. SILVER BELL CHAPEL - THAT NIGHT Melvin is drying himself with a towel, Lynda has loosened her suit and her stomach hangs over pants, Darcy asleep in the car. OWNER (paying Melvin) That's 12 couples at ten dollars each -- 120 dollars -- (looks up) And may I say you were wonderful! You're so in love -- it's good for business. Come back as witnesses anytime. (reaches into her drawer) And here's some party packets -- five dollars free at Caesar's Palace -- five dollars free at the Sands -- five dollars free at the Desert Inn -- Love ya both! 103 VEGAS MONTAGE - NIGHT - LYNDA, MELVIN AND DARCY eating, drinking, dancing, playing the slots. Darcy hitting nickel jackpots, Melvin buying chances on classic cars, Lynda spraying complimentary perfume. 104 ANOTHER ANGLE - THE DUMMARS at the Desert Inn. Melvin, Lynda and Darcy playing auto-poker. They hit a flush. Cheers. 105 EXT. DAIRY - DAWN thru 111 Dairy work montage. Bonnie and Jim Delgado are out on the loading dock with Melvin, George, Pete and Ralph. Other drivers are pulling in, loading and driving out. 112 INT. ROCKWOOD DIARY - BELLFLOWER - THE DRIVER'S ROOM Melvin walking to the Cashier's window, pushes a stack of bills through the cage. MELVIN That's 225, Bonnie. She counts it. BONNIE 225 is right. MELVIN I tell you I'm going to win that color TV. I'm going to be Milkman of the Month. BONNIE Well, you're in the lead, Melvin. (smiles) And you want to know something? I'm rooting for you. She blushes. MELVIN You married, Bonnie? But Bonnie doesn't answer, folds up the money, starts to turn back to her desk. BONNIE Hey -- almost forgot -- Bill wants to see you. 112-A INT. BILL'S OFFICE - DAIRY - DAY - MELVIN Walks down the hall, enters an inner office. A sign "JIM DELGADO, Assistant Manager." JIM Listen, Melvin, I just want to tell you, you been doin' real good! MELVIN Why, thank you. JIM Only thing is -- you know that engine that blowed up your first week -- I talked to Mr. Rockwood -- there's just no way we can see to doing anything but deducting it --- MELVIN Now, wait a minute --- JIM We'll take it real slow, just a few dollars a week --- MELVIN That wasn't my fault -- you give me that old junker -- the motor was shot. JIM You signed the note, Melvin --- MELVIN Didn't you know I was in the lead for the Zenith 197K with the tri- focus picture tube? JIM What can I tell you, Melvin? We figure Driver of the Month on net -- and with your deductions coming up --- He shrugs. Suddenly, Melvin reaches across and grabs him by the shirt. MELVIN Listen, you sonofabitch, that color TV is mine! That's for me! My wife and my little girl! Deduct whatever the hell you want, but you know it and I know it -- I am the goddamn Driver of the Month! Bill is choking. JIM Let go, Melvin. Melvin doesn't let go. JIM Let go, or don't come back tomorrow. Melvin releases him. MELVIN What do you say? JIM You're a good driver, Melvin --- MELVIN Driver of the Month! Twenty new damn accounts! JIM I'm sorry about the engine, Melvin but it's your responsibility --- MELVIN Am I or am I not?! Jim waits. JIM You'll pay for the engines? MELVIN I asked you, you bastard, am I Driver of the Month?! JIM You are. MELVIN And do I get the color TV? After a moment. JIM Okay. Melvin nods. MELVIN Deduct your goddam engine. A-113 EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY Melvin walks up the ramp to the main entrance. 113 INT. HOSPITAL - ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - BABY NURSERY CORRIDOR - DAY Melvin passes among a few visitors, patients and medical staff. He stops at the nursery where a baby is raised to the window. Nurses attend to several other infants. 114 CLOSEUP - MELVIN registers nothing. 115 INT. LYNDA'S ROOM - DAY - LYNDA Waiting, looking up at the ceiling. Melvin enters. There is a long silence. Two other women lie quietly in their beds. LYNDA I'm sorry, Melvin. MELVIN He's got them beady eyes and that slack tongue. Looks just like Clark Taylor. LYNDA He could be yours, Melvin. MELVIN Mine! LYNDA You remember the morning the car was repossessed? MELVIN You mean the morning you woke me up to say good-bye? Silence. LYNDA I am sorry, Melvin. I prayed. I prayed for a little girl. Lynda doesn't move. MELVIN Jee-zus! He strides into the bathroom. The sound of him urinating. Two nurses appear. One has a stack of photographs. NURSE BURNS Hello, everybody! What we have here is a few pictures taken at delivery -- Miss Crockett and I work together -- she photographs -- I process. MELVIN (returning) I'll bet you do. You married, Miss Crockett? NURSE BURNS I'm Miss Burns. My partner's Miss Crockett. MELVIN How do you do, Miss Crockett. LYNDA No thank you, Miss Burns. MELVIN How much? NURSE CROCKETT A hundred and twenty dollars for five beautiful color prints. LYNDA A hundred and twenty dollars! You got some racket! Git outa here! MELVIN Wait a minute -- let me see 'em. Miss Burns shows him the pictures. Melvin giggles -- then he giggles some more. Miss Crockett exits the room. MELVIN Belly button looks like a corkscrew. LYNDA Tell her to go away, Melvin. Melvin looks some more. MELVIN How much you gettin' for 'em? A hundred and twenty? Nurse Burns clears her throat. Melvin looks at her nameplate heaving on her breast. MELVIN Did I ask if you was married, Miss Burns? LYNDA Melvin! MELVIN We'll take 'em. I'll give you the cash tomorrow. He snatches the pictures, grabs a pen from her breast pocket, scribbles something on the clipboard. MELVIN And my boy's name is Faron Dummar. Hands her the clipboard. MISS BURNS What a good name. MELVIN He's a good boy. Lynda smiles. Miss Burns goes. LYNDA Melvin? MELVIN Yes, Lynda? LYNDA How's Darcy? MELVIN She's waiting downstairs. They won't let her come up. LYNDA Why not? MELVIN Hospital rules. But the first nurse, Miss Crockett, reappears with Faron. NURSE CROCKETT Dairy-time! MELVIN Gimme that baby and forget them jokes! He snatches Faron, carries him gingerly over to Lynda, lays him beside her. She uncovers a breast. Melvin watches tensely. The two nurses leave the room. Now Melvin seems to relax. He starts to hum, he begins to sing a lullaby of his own making. Everything peaceful. Darcy appears secretively at the door. He motions her to come in. He is still singing as Darcy climbs on his lap to watch her mother nurse. 116 EXT. CHURCH OF THE LATTER DAY SAINTS - ANAHEIM - NIGHT Music -- a chorus booming forth with "Now Thank We All Our God." 117 INT. CHURCH - NIGHT The church empty, in the choir loft a chorus of thirty-five singers rehearsing. CHORUS (singing) '...Lord Sabaoth his name From age to age the same' 118 CLOSEUP - MELVIN singing up a storm. 119 CLOSEUP - BONNIE The Cashier at Rockwood Dairy. Singing and sneaking a look at Melvin. CHOIRMASTER (singing) 'On earth is not his equal.' (speaks) That's it for tonight, folks. See you on Sunday. The group breaks up. Bonnie heads straight for Melvin, bumping into him accidentally. They walk to the parking lot together. 119-A EXT. CHURCH PARKING LOT - NIGHT BONNIE You have a lovely baritone, Melvin. MELVIN Why thank you, Bonnie. BONNIE Everybody thinks so, we're so pleased you joined us. MELVIN I dunno, I felt like getting back to the church. I tried them all when I was a kid, Nazarene, Four Square Gospel, Church of Christ, but Latter Day Saints -- I was born Mormon, you know -- only one ever made me happy. BONNIE Are you happy now? MELVIN Can't seem to get ahead, Bonnie. The job 'n everything, you know -- bought too much car, I guess. Can't stand living under the same roof with my mother-in- law and not paying the mortgage -- baby clothes, baby furniture -- BONNIE The Church will help you. MELVIN I know, Bonnie. Mormons are kind. You got that Mormon aura, Bonnie. They arrive at Melvin's truck. MELVIN Well, we'll just keep pluggin' BONNIE (radiant) What a beautiful attitude, Melvin. 120 INT. LYNDA'S MOTHER'S HOUSE - MORNING Melvin staggers in wearing his work clothes. The TV is switched to "Easy Street." Mrs. Sisk bustles around. Baby Faron is crying, Darcy is holding him, Lynda sips a drink. A neighbor can be seen outside mowing his lawn. MELVIN What are you doing? LYNDA Just a little brandy. They repossessed the car today. Melvin shrugs. MELVIN It's okay. LYNDA Sure. Faron starts to scream. Lynda takes him from Darcy, puts him on the breast. Melvin takes off his shirt. MELVIN Whaddya got for supper? LYNDA Bell peppers. MELVIN I hate bell peppers. LYNDA I got bell peppers. How was God tonight? DARCY Ssh! -- it's the Gateway to 'Easy Street!' Melvin's face lights up, looks at the screen. DARCY Gate number two. LYNDA Gate number one. MELVIN Gate number three. 121 TV SET A Contestant dressed as a lady martian is in agony. CONTESTANT Gate number three. WALLY WILLIAMS Madam, you have entered the Golden Gate! Inside.... Gate number three revolves, revealing a large boat. WALLY WILLIAMS A Chris Craft with depth finder and --- Suddenly, Melvin jumps out of his chair. 121-A HOLLYWOOD - TVC STUDIOS - DAY Melvin and Lynda run through the main gate to TVC Studios, late. They rush towards the rear entrance of a sound stage, following the signs pointing to "Easy Street:" LYNDA (running) I'll never do it. MELVIN (pulling her along) You'll do it. I got confidence in you. Now remember, once you're at the Gateway, keep on betting up. Settle for nothing. They enter the stage door and find themselves: 122 OMITTED 123 INT. BACKSTAGE - DAY Passing ballerinas, comics, rope dancers, torch singers, jugglers, jews harp players putting last minute touches on their act, signing releases. LYNDA But suppose I'm a few hundred dollars ahead, my God, think what we could do with a few hundred dollars. MELVIN Try a few thousand?! Try them on for size! We'll be flying to Hawaii with cash besides! Be bold, baby! LYNDA Baby? MELVIN We're in show business now. 123-A THE EASY STREET NEON LOGO goes berserk, signalling the start of the show. 123-B WALLY WILLIAMS greets the audience to thunderous applause, calls Act # One on stage. 123-C ACT # ONE performs their specialty. Wally Williams leads Act # One to the dias for the audience's judgement. 123-D MELVIN AND LYNDA join in the applause for Act # One. 123-E ON STAGE Wally now presents Act # One with a check for $500 and leads them to the Gateway. WALLY WILLIAMS Now it's time for the Gateway to Easy Street. There are three doors in front of us. (to Act # One) Now, which gate do you choose? Act # One agonizes. EUREKA One. The model swings open the gate, a platform jammed with tiles. ANNOUNCER (v.o.) 200 square feet of...Z-Brick. Give character and elegance to your walls. From the family of Z-Brick Products. It's worth $276.60! 123-F MELVIN AND LYNDA horrified at the prize. 123-G ON STAGE Wally calls today's Act # Two on stage. They perform their material. 123-H WALLY leads Act # Two to the dias, and invites the audience's judgement. 123-J THE AUDIENCE loathed them. Amongst universal booing hissing and shouts of "NO!", Melvin and Lynda applaud bravely. 123-K ON STAGE Humiliated, Act # Two leaves the stage. Wally approaches the mike. WALLY WILLIAMS Now, from Anaheim, California, Mrs. Lynda Dummar, you are on! 123-L LYNDA Down the ramp from the clapping audience, Lynda takes the stage, launches into her act. 123-M WALLY races from the wings as Lynda completes her act. He leads her to the dias, turning to the audience. WALLY WILLIAMS How about Lynda Dummar, ladies and gentlemen? 123-N THE AUDIENCE loved her. Wild applause. Melvin, amongst them, trying to catch his breath. 124 ON STAGE Wally presents Lynda with the check for $500. WALLY WILLIAMS Now Lynda -- do you want to keep your five hundred dollars or do you want to bet it for what's behind one of the three gates to Easy Street? Lynda looks at the Gateway, then at the money in Wally's hand. 125 MELVIN - IN THE AUDIENCE trying valiantly to get Lynda's attention. Nodding his head like a marionette. The audience yelling "No! No!" LYNDA (tranced) Okay. Wally leads Lynda by the hand to the Big Gateway. 126 AUDIENCE Melvin is signalling like crazy, raising three fingers, throwing the three fingers at Lynda. Lynda looking from gate #1 to gate #2 to gate #3, the audience squealing advice. 127 MELVIN - IN AUDIENCE flailing and throwing three fingers at Lynda. MELVIN Three!! Three!! Lynda turns to Wally. LYNDA Two. WALLY WILLIAMS Gate number two...Carol! Carol draws the curtain. The Announcer's voice comes over. ANNOUNCER (v.o.) The Sonny James Living Room Suite by Berkline! The model starts walking around the living room set. ANNOUNCER (v.o.) The arms have a saddlebag effect with tufting in the seats and backs for deep-down comfort. Complete with tables and lamps! It retails for...$1,307! Lynda jumps up and down. Suddenly the air is filled with Bonus Golden Gate Fanfare. The audience goes insane. 128 MELVIN - IN THE AUDIENCE MELVIN That's my wife! 129 ON STAGE Wally and Lynda hugging. WALLY WILLIAMS Lynda, you've done it! You've opened the Golden Gate! The Golden Gate to Easy Street! Look what else you've won. Carol drives a golf cart on stage towing a piano. ANNOUNCER (v.o.) The Kimball Country French Artist Console -- including hand-carved cabinetry, grand-style side-hinged top and grand lyre. From Kimball ...It retails for...$1,700! WALLY WILLIAMS (to a staggered Lynda) And with that new piano, you're probably gonna wanna have it tuned and take lessons. So you'll need a tuning fork and some sheet music, so to take care of those expenses take a look at the rest.... The revolve turns to reveal the flashing light board, which is flashing. WALLY WILLIAMS $10,000 in cash! (applause) That makes the total value of your Golden Gate...$11,700! (applause) 130 MELVIN - IN AUDIENCE falling off his chair. 131 ON STAGE Music, applause, commotion, the credits rolling, Wally being kissed by a frantic Lynda, everybody taking bows. WALLY WILLIAMS Do you know what you're going to do with the money, sweetheart? LYNDA I sure do know what I'm going to do with the money. 132 INT. REAL ESTATE OFFICE - ANAHEIM - DAY Melvin and Lynda are seated beside scale models of two houses. REAL ESTATE MAN So which'll it be? The Landlord?! Or the Sentinel. MELVIN The Landlord! LYNDA How much are they again? REAL ESTATE MAN (elated) The Landlord is 59,900! (depressed) And the Sentinel is 44,300. LYNDA We'll take the Sentinel. MELVIN Now wait a minute, honey -- LYNDA I won the goddamn money! And we're going to live in the goddamn Sentinel! Go out on the fallen faces of Melvin and the Real Estate Man. 133 EXT. THE SENTINEL - ANAHEIM - DAY A little house in a development on a quiet street. 134 INT. HOUSE - DAY All the rooms empty but for the living room where the Sonny James living room suite by Berkline is laid out. It doesn't look as good here. 135 ANOTHER ANGLE - LIVING ROOM - DARCY AND LYNDA seated on the window sill, a pad and a pencil and some figures laid out in front of them. LYNDA If we're very, very careful --- DARCY Do I get the tap dancing lessons? LYNDA I think so. DARCY And my Girl Scout uniform? LYNDA I think we'll have to wait on that til next month, honey. 136 EXT./INT. HOUSE - DAY - DARCY'S POINT OF VIEW looking out the window. DARCY Here comes Daddy. Melvin rolls into the driveway, driving a Cadillac which pulls a boat cradle. On it rests a twenty-five-foot outboard. 137 EXT. HOUSE - DAY - LYNDA dazed by the sight of Melvin's possessions, staggers outside with Faron in her arms. Over the fence, the neighbors are having a barbecue. The mother is taking pictures. MELVIN Hey, Ortiz! Give us a picture! Mrs. Ortiz swings her camera around. Melvin poses proudly by the boat and the new car. Darcy and Lynda and Faron creep out to explore them. Now Lynda straightens up. LYNDA (suddenly) Take 'em back, Melvin! MELVIN I can't, I'd lose my down payment. Melvin, with great proprietariness, slaps the fender of the Cadillac. MELVIN We got a lotta horses here, honey. 138 EXT. BACKYARD - DAY - MELVIN is at the tiller of his boat. He wears a duck-billed cap, and in clipped tones is addressing a CB. MELVIN Come in Long Beach, come in...come in Long Beach Coast Guard, this is Country Roads --- He looks up as the back door of the house opens, Lynda is holding a suitcase in one hand, Faron in the other. A taxi appears at the end of the driveway. MELVIN Where you goin'? LYNDA I'm leaving you, Melvin. MELVIN You can't leave me --- LYNDA Oh yes I can --- MELVIN You leave me now, I'm never takin' you back, Lynda. LYNDA I'm never coming back. And remember, half of the house is mine. I spoke to the real estate man --- MELVIN It was me got you on the show. LYNDA It was me won the money -- I get half. MELVIN You're gettin' nuthin'! LYNDA Melvin, you're an asshole --- MELVIN Don't call me no asshole --- LYNDA Then what are you?! The first time we have a prayer of getting ahead, you go out and buy a big fancy car, a big, fancy boat --- MELVIN You can't take it easy on 'Easy Street.' LYNDA Huh? Melvin turns to Darcy. MELVIN (to Darcy) You like this boat, Darcy? DARCY I do, Daddy. MELVIN You like that car? DARCY I love it, Daddy. LYNDA Cut it out, Melvin --- MELVIN I seen cars like that boil by on the way from Reno to Vegas when I was a little kid. I'd be cleanin' out the goddam tar heater while my father was layin' road for them to drive by on, and now I've got one! LYNDA You got me cryin', Melvin. MELVIN Don't make fun, Lynda. LYNDA We're poor, Melvin -- poor! MELVIN Lynda, we're on Easy Street. LYNDA I'm on Easy Street! I won! Melvin climbs down from the boat. There is a terrible silence. It seems for the moment as if he might hit her. But he can't. MELVIN Lynda -- don't go --- She puts Faron down, turns back to him. LYNDA Melvin, you are an asshole -- but I love you. MELVIN Now wait a minute --- LYNDA Aw, c'est la vie. MELVIN What does that mean? LYNDA It's French. I used to dream I'd be a French interpreter. MELVIN You don't speak French --- LYNDA I told you it was a dream. She goes. Melvin watches emptily as Lynda climbs into the taxi with Faron. Darcy comes running out of the house. DARCY G'bye, Daddy. Will I see you? MELVIN You'll see me, honey. Darcy chases out front and the taxi disappears with Darcy waving to Melvin through the rear window. 139 INT. HOUSE - SUNSET - MELVIN shuffles through the back door, into the living room of "Easy Street" furniture. It is well battered now -- he slumps in a chair. CB RADIO (from the boat outside) 'Hello there, Country Roads, small craft warning from Point Dume to the Mexican border, barometric pressure twenty-two point nine....' 139-A EXT. LOS ANGELES - FREEWAYS - NIGHT Zoom in on a milk truck. 139-B EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT - ROCKWOOD TRUCK pulling up to a curb, Melvin hustling out, juggling cartons of milk in a container, working two or three houses at once. 139-C ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN leaving gallons of milk on tops of cars, in baby strollers, all the appointed places. Sweating, running, hustling. 139-D EXT. MRS. WORTH'S HOUSE - NIGHT Melvin rushing up with his delivery. From out of the dark- ness --- MRS. WORTH Is that you, Melvin? Melvin stops. MELVIN Yes, ma'am. She appears at the doorway in her bathrobe. MRS. WORTH I thought it was you. MELVIN Yes, ma'am, two quarts of Hy-line, a Garden Cottage and 25-pound laundry compound. MRS. WORTH Sounds right, Melvin. Wouldn't you like a nice hot cup of coffee. MELVIN Oh I dunno, ma'am -- I got my whole route ahead of me. MRS. WORTH It's cold out, Melvin -- don't you want a cup of coffee? Melvin looks back at his truck. MRS. WORTH A nice-hot-cup-of-coffee. Melvin takes a deep breath. MELVIN Well, don't mind if I do, Mrs. Worth. MRS. WORTH Melva. MELVIN Melva. 139-E MELVIN He brings her order inside. MRS. WORTH Melva -- Melvin -- get it? Melvin smiles. MELVIN Yes, ma'am, I do. She turns around. MELVIN I mean Melva. She pours some coffee, sets it on the kitchen table. MRS. WORTH Cream? MELVIN Yes, ma'am. MRS. WORTH Sugar? He looks at her, her parted bathrobe. MELVIN Four. She scoops them in. They sit down. They drink in silence, Mrs. Worth watching Melvin. MRS. WORTH Why don't we take our coffee in- side? Where it's warmer. Would that suit you, Melvin? MELVIN Suits me fine. 139-F MRS. WORTH leads the way into a May Company living room. They sit. MELVIN (brightly) Where's Mr. Worth today? MRS. WORTH He's working graveyard. He won't be home for an hour. MELVIN A tough shift, graveyard. MRS. WORTH He doesn't have any choice. Neither do I. If you know what I mean, Melvin. MELVIN Yes, ma'am, I do. MRS. WORTH Makes for a long night. MELVIN You bet. MRS. WORTH I thought you'd never come, Melvin. I lay in bed waiting all night. Then finally -- you came. MELVIN Yes, I did. Melvin smiles. MELVIN You got any more coffee there, Melva? MRS. WORTH Do you want any more coffee, Melvin? MELVIN No, Melva, I don't. MRS. WORTH So what do you say, Melvin? MELVIN You know what I say, Melva? MRS. WORTH What? MELVIN Let's get to it. Mrs. Worth takes off her robe. They sink to the living room floor. 139-G EXT. MRS. WORTH'S HOUSE - DAWN - MELVIN rushing outside, buttoning pants, Mrs. Worth reaching the door with him. MRS. WORTH Don't forget tomorrow, Melvin. A quart of Lo-Fat and a pound of Nippy Cheddar. MELVIN Yes, ma'am! He leaps into his truck, Mrs. Worth disappears inside. Melvin drives off: 139-H OMITTED 139-I EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - DAY - ON MELVIN hustling into a house with an order. Hustling out. 140 EXT. ROCKWOOD DAIRY - LOCKERS - DAY Christmas lights strung around the lockers. Melvin unloading full cases of milk, tamping ice around them. His movements are slower now, the enthusiasm is gone. Some ice won't chop for him. He leaves it in a block on top of the milk. It perches precariously. 141 INT. ROCKWOOD DAIRY - JIM DELGADO'S OFFICE - A CHRISTMAS TREE on Jim's desk. Melvin looking through it at Jim. JIM After 'Easy Street,' you paid us a thousand dollars. Rather, your wife did. You still owed us twenty- four hundred. That's back to thirty- four now -- MELVIN No kiddin'? JIM I've got a note here for 3500 dollars -- plus another note for 2500 -- the balance you owe us on the truck -- MELVIN I told you about that truck! JIM On your uniforms, 250 dollars -- we'll take that out of next week's earnings -- a total of six thousand and fifty dollars -- Sign where the x's are --- He passes some papers over to Melvin. Melvin reads them quietly. Bonnie enters and delivers some paperwork to Jim. MELVIN You got me paying a hundred and ninety-five dollars a week interest -- for God's sake -- I'll never catch up --- JIM It's up to you, Melvin. Melvin blinks. MELVIN I got to get me another job. JIM Wherever you go, you'll be working for us. Melvin bends his head over the paper. JIM Did you sell your boat? MELVIN I sold it. JIM What about the Cadillac? MELVIN They took it. JIM That's right they did, didn't they? Well you just got to hustle a little more, kid --- Bill looks up at the route map behind him. JIM We got Ralph over here in Artesia -- he could use a little help --- MELVIN My God, that's clear across the county -- I can't make it, Bill, the milk gets warm -- JIM Get up a little earlier. MELVIN I'm up at 2 now -- JIM (shakes his head sincerely) Tough. MELVIN I used to collect in the afternoon. I don't even have time to get my money out of my customers. You got me running in circles --- JIM Planning's the name of the game. You got to organize your time, Melvin. Bill waits. Now he holds out his hand, Melvin signs the papers which are well-crumpled. Hands them over. MELVIN (sags, tries to brighten) 'We'll keep plugging.' 142 LA HABRA - TIKI RESTAURANT A Polynesian place, strobe-lite and palms and grass skirts. Christmas trees, a Christmas party. Familiar faces from The Rockwood Dairy dancing up a storm, the music loud. Melvin gets up, goes to a pay telephone. Dials, drops coins. MELVIN Lynda? LYNDA Hello, Melvin. MELVIN How're you doin'? Lynda is back home in Anaheim with Mother, Darcy is there and so is the dog "Tramp." LYNDA I'm doing okay. What do you want, Melvin. MELVIN I was calling about Christmas. LYNDA Oh yeah, Christmas. MELVIN What does Darcy want? LYNDA I'm getting her a Barbi. You can get her Ken. Silence. MELVIN How about Faron? I was thinking about an airgun. LYNDA Faron's nine months old, Melvin. Silence. MELVIN Lynda? LYNDA Yeah? MELVIN You still there? LYNDA I'm still here. Silence. Jim Delgado approaches, waits impatiently as Melvin resumes his conversation. LYNDA Melvin, tell you what -- you buy Darcy what you wanna buy her -- and I'll buy her what I wanna buy her -- okay? MELVIN I was hoping you'd say that. LYNDA Good-bye, Melvin. MELVIN Good-bye, Lynda. Melvin hangs up slowly, turns to Jim. JIM You said you were a big Country and Western singer -- we built our entertainment around you -- Are you going to or aren't you, Melvin? MELVIN I'm sorry, Jim, I don't feel like singing tonight. JIM I knew you'd crap out. MELVIN Now wait a minute --- JIM Never mind, Ralph will whistle through his belly button. Jim walks off. 143 OMITTED 144 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN seated in a corner by himself. One of the drivers comes over, Ralph. RALPH Gee, Mel, we heard you wasn't going to sing --- MELVIN New Year's maybe --- RALPH I told my wife you sang Country. She's crazy for Country. MELVIN I'm real sorry, Ralph. And tell your wife I'm sorry too, will you? Another old-timer comes by, George, a veteran of the driver's locker room. GEORGE Delgado was saying how you was yellow --- MELVIN Did he? GEORGE I said if Melvin don't want to sing, that's his right. MELVIN What'd he say? GEORGE It's not what he says, Melvin. It's what he don't say, y'know what I mean? There is a sudden fanfare from the band. 145 ANOTHER ANGLE - THE STAGE Jim Delgado at the microphone. JIM Ol' Melvin Dummar promised us a song tonight -- but I'm afraid -- or am I thrilled? -- he's chickened out. Melvin stands up. MELVIN Who says?! I got a song! I got a song right here! Applause and cheers as Melvin makes his way to the stage. JIM I guess I had it wrong -- take it, Melvin. Melvin moves out in front of the band. MELVIN These Japs here probably don't know 'Six Days On the Road.' (turns to the band) You know 'Six Days On the Road?' They shake their heads. MELVIN Well this song I written is sung to 'Six Days On the Road.' And now I'm going to sing it. He grabs a guitar from a startled Polynesian musician. MELVIN (sings) Well I pulled out of Rockwood Headed down the Santa Ana Freeway I got my Divco wound up and I guess it's running okay. Well I know it's the middle of the night But heck that's all right 'Cause I'm a milkman for Rockwood, So everything's okay. Well my truck's kind of old And man it's awful slow The temperature is hot and the oil pressure is low If I make it to my route tonight Everything will be all right Ten hours on the road -- I just hope I Make it home by tonight. 146 ON THE AUDIENCE They are getting with it, starting to clap in rhythm. 147 ON MELVIN He looks toward Jim. MELVIN (singing) I know Jim Delgado will be checking my books today 'Cause a big milk bill he said I have to pay But that don't bother me tonight 'Cause I can dodge ol' Jim all right Twelve hours on the road I just hope I make it home today. Well it seems like the price of milk gets higher every day -- But us poor milkmen don't get no raise in pay --- The guys boo along with their wives. Jim doesn't smile. Melvin smiles down at his friends, looks to them as he sings. The crowd is really with him. Melvin spots Bonnie down in the audience. She is smiling up at him worshipfully. He sings to her now. MELVIN (singing) Well it seems like a week since I left my house last night You know I could have a lot of women but somehow it don't seem right Yeah I could find some to hold me tight but I'd never make my deliveries all right Fourteen hours on the road man I hope I make it home today. The place is absolutely quiet now, the people all on his side. Melvin sees Jim Delgado leave. He points at him. Melvin takes it real slow for a finish. MELVIN (singing) Now I work like a dog trying to collect my pay But all my customers say -- can't you come back some other day Boy I just know that there's an easier way Twenty hours on the road I just know I'm going to make it home today. Dead silence, then applause and cheering erupts. Melvin is shy on the stage, his friends, Pete and Ralph and George rush over to him, lift him off the stage, the band strikes up -- Bonnie rushes to Melvin. She throws her arms around him. MELVIN (all embarrassed) Hey, that was nice. You married, Bonnie? Bonnie steps away from Melvin, looks him in the eye. BONNIE No I'm not, Melvin Dummar. And neither are you any more. Melvin waits. BONNIE So what do you say? MELVIN (shrugs) Gee, I don't know, Bonnie. BONNIE I'll take care of you, Melvin -- til you get on your feet. I got my kid's child support money saved up --- MELVIN You got kids, Bonnie --- ? BONNIE I got two kids --- MELVIN Oh my Lord --- BONNIE Listen, Melvin, I got a cousin up in Utah -- lost his lease on a gas station -- we run it right we get a thousand a month clear -- I've been waiting for this moment -- and the moment is now -- so what do you say?! Melvin hesitates. BONNIE Or don't you come swinging your dick around the cashier's office no more! MELVIN Bonnie? A Mormon girl -- swearing?! BONNIE Bet your ass! Melvin looks over at Jim Delgado who is dancing with a Japanese hostess. Melvin shakes his head. MELVIN When do we leave? BONNIE Tonight. 148 EXT. SERVICE STATION - WILLARD, UTAH - DAY Melvin's milk truck rolls in with a U-Haul behind it. The U-Haul is jammed with bedding, Melvin's "Easy Street" furniture, the Kimball French Provincial piano, a goat, a lamb, and some rabbits. Bonnie tumbles out with her two tow- headed kids. Melvin leads the goat out, ties it to one of the gas pumps. He looks around, exhilarated by the new surroundings, the sense of a fresh start. 149 EXT. GAS STATION - LATE AFTERNOON Melvin hustling around the pumps, handling two cars at once, flipping hoods, washing windows, collecting cash. Terry and Bonnie help out. DRIVER (smiling) You're goin' to get a coronary running around like that. MELVIN Better than starving to death! He grabs the man's cash, locks up the pumps now. The man drives off and Melvin trudges up to the house behind the station. 150 INT. MELVIN'S HOUSE - DAY A pathetic place, the "Easy Street" furniture squeezed in on top of the Kimball piano. A television set drones away. The telephone rings. Melvin and Bonnie look at each other. Bonnie grabs the phone. BONNIE (on phone) I'm sorry, Mr. LaMar, Mr. Dummar is in Salt Lake today. Yessir, yessir, I understand -- yes, I'll give him the message. She hangs up. BONNIE He's not going to make the gasoline delivery next week -- unless he has a check. MELVIN Well, we'll give him a check. BONNIE What check? MELVIN Well, I can't pump gas unless I give 'em a check, can I, honey? BONNIE But our check's no good, Melvin. MELVIN Easter weekend. Oughta pump a thousand gallons. Give 'em a check tomorrow, we'll have it covered by Monday. (back to the TV) Hey, look at this, ol' Howard Hughes died. That's too bad. 151 ON THE TV - HUGHES NEWSREEL FOOTAGE NEWSCASTER MELVIN 'The reclusive billionaire I told you about pickin' up expired at 1 p.m. this after- that old wino in the noon on a flight to Houston, desert -- Texas -- no direct heirs are known, and a search for a BONNIE will has begun ---' You told me, Melvin. MELVIN Sure didn't look anything like that. BONNIE Well, why would he? Those pictures are 40 years old. SHARON (one of Bonnie's kids) When are we going to eat, Ma? BONNIE In a minute, honey, in a minute. Bonnie gets up and moves to the stove. The TV is droning on. Melvin sniffs. MELVIN Chicken? BONNIE This time, don't tell me how Lynda's is better. Melvin watches as the pictures of Hughes flash by, in an airplane, at the Hell's Angels premiere, flying around the world. 152 and OMITTED 153 154 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY Melvin hustling, pumping gas into a car, wiping windows. Takes cash, the car drives off. Melvin calls through to the grease rack. MELVIN Hey, Terry -- I'll be inside. Terry, a teen-age helper, rolls out from under a car. TERRY You going up to the house? MELVIN In the office. Got class at four o'clock. TERRY What class, Melvin? MELVIN Business Practices. Weber State -- four o'clock. TERRY Business? Terry rolls back under the car. 155 thru OMITTED 159 160 INT. GAS STATION - DAY Melvin, his back to the door, his nose buried in a textbook. 161 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY Ventura, the crisp, three-piece-suited character we saw at the Desert Inn, appears at the door. He calls in to Terry. VENTURA Hey! Terry rolls out. TERRY Yeah? 162 CLOSEUP - TERRY looking up. 163 CLOSEUP - VENTURA hesitating, checking out Terry's face. VENTURA Where's Melvin? Terry points towards the office. 164 INT. OFFICE - DAY Ventura walks in. Melvin has his head in his book. Ventura studies the back of Melvin's head. VENTURA Hello. Melvin swivels around. MELVIN Yes sir? 165 CLOSEUP - MELVIN All earnestness, his ready smile. VENTURA You got cigarettes? MELVIN Sure we got cigarettes. What kind of cigarettes you like? VENTURA Uh -- Camels. MELVIN Camels? We don't get much call for them -- that's a real cigarette. Nowadays they want brown ones or thin ones or long ones, lo-tar, no-tax -- lemme see -- (reaches into rack) There you go. Ventura hands him a dollar. Melvin goes to make change. VENTURA Say, if I was heading down to Las Vegas --- MELVIN Catch Interstate 15, take her right on through --- Melvin hands him the change, sits back down to his books. Terry can be seen outside. VENTURA (watching Melvin) I heard I could get 6 and 50, takes me over the line, and then head south --- MELVIN Sure, you could do that --- Stays with his book. VENTURA (watching Melvin) But I guess 15's my best bet. A car horn honks outside, Melvin runs out. VENTURA So what do you think? MELVIN Give me a minute -- VENTURA Sure thing -- Melvin runs to the pumps. 166 EXT. STATION - AT THE PUMPS - DAY - MELVIN servicing another car. Looks over, sees Terry rolling down the door to the grease rack. They wave good night. 167 ANOTHER ANGLE Melvin walking back to the office. 168 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW Sees Ventura leaving the office. 169 INT. GAS STATION - DAY Melvin ringing up the cash. Sits down to his books again. 170 CLOSEUP - BOOK Stuck in the binding of the page Melvin is studying, is an envelope. 171 CLOSEUP - MELVIN puzzled, looks at the envelope, Now looks out the window of the office. Ventura is nowhere in sight. 172 CLOSEUP - ENVELOPE In longhand, "Dear Mr. McKay, please see that this will is delivered after my death to Clark County Court House, Las Vegas, Nevada." Signed "Howard R. Hughes." 173 ON MELVIN turning the envelope over. And over. 174 EXT. STATION/INT. LIMOUSINE - DAY Ventura jumping in the car. DRIVER Where to? VENTURA Airport. The Driver hits the gas and they zoom out on to the Ogden/ Salt Lake Interstate. Ventura tosses the pack of cigarettes out the window. 175 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY - BONNIE'S POINT OF VIEW FROM HOUSE Melvin climbing into his tow truck. MELVIN (calling up) See you, honey, I'm off to class. Mind the store. 176 EXT. UTAH HIGHWAY - DAY - CLOSEUP - MELVIN bent over the wheel of the truck, speeding down the interstate, driving with wild concentration. 177 LONG SHOT - TRUCK pulling off the road onto a knoll which overlooks the marshes leading to the Great Salt Lake. Melvin, a dot in the distance, climbing out of his truck, standing on top of the knoll, slowly raises his hands in the air. A scream, paralyzing, explosive, rising up out of Melvin and shattering the countryside. 178 EXT. MORMON SQUARE - SALT LAKE CITY Melvin hurrying past the Temple and the Tabernacle. 179 INT. CHURCH BUILDING/LOBBY/MC KAY'S OFFICE - DAY Melvin delivers the envelope. 180 INT. MELVIN'S HOUSE - WILLARD - DAY - CLOSEUP - BONNIE She drops a telephone receiver. Screams. 181 EXT. MELVIN'S GAS STATION A van rolling up to it. 182 ON THE DOOR OF THE VAN Emerging from it, a directional microphone, followed by four TV engineers in suede jackets, with porta-pak equipment, and a shag-hair-cutted newscaster, all heading straight for Bonnie who is bouncing up and down in front of the station. 183 EXT. MELVIN'S GAS STATION - DAY New day. The place is swarming with TV vans, cars, reporters, minicameras. WALTER CRONKITE (v.o.) 'A 31-year-old gasoline station at- tendant from Willard, Utah, was made a beneficiary of the purported will. His share is estimated at 156 mil- lion dollars -- The will, discovered yesterday at the World Headquarters of the Mormon Church --- ' 184 EXT. MELVIN'S HOUSE Melvin, unseen, is crouched on the brow of the hill, watching the circus below. 185 ON THE HILL - MELVIN circling around behind the crowd. 186 OMITTED 186-A MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW - TV CAMERAS closing in on the station, interviewing Bonnie, her eldest child, Sharon. Roger Dutson is there. TERRY I just heard Bonnie come screaming out of the pay phone -- it was Chuck Henry from ABC News in Los Angeles.... SHARON (with another reporter) Well, I guess I don't have to sell night crawlers any more.... 187 thru OMITTED 190 191 INT. MELVIN'S LIVING ROOM - WILLARD - NIGHT Melvin sitting surrounded by his relatives -- his father, his mother, his six brothers and two sisters, and Fred Smith. Also present are Dutson (Melvin's lawyer) and Bishop Poole. MELVIN Gee, it's nice to meet you again, Fred -- I haven't seen you since I met you at your mom's wedding -- When was that, two years ago? FRED First thing, Melvin, is a press conference --- MELVIN No press conference, Fred, please. 192 EXT. MELVIN'S GAS STATION - DAY The next day. On the hill behind Melvin's gas station is a sea of reporters and TV cameras. Fred Smith is lecturing them. Melvin's family is there along with Roger Dutson. FRED There'll be no litigation questions -- questions only on the basis of the will -- no litigation questions --- 193 MELVIN AND BONNIE standing on the summit of the hill. Melvin in his best cowboy roses shirt. REPORTER Mr. Dummar, the relatives of Howard Hughes claim this will is a forgery Fred Smith puts his hand over the lens of the Reporter's camera. A scuffle, then Fred pulls the second plug. A suspicious man is noticeable among the onlookers. 194 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN IN THE PRESS CONFERENCE MELVIN He was just an ol' wino -- asked me for some money -- I give him a quarter -- I told him I once applied for a job at Hughes Aircraft -- He told me he owned Hughes Aircraft --- 195 ANOTHER ANGLE REPORTER Melvin, did you ever believe a dream like this could come true? MELVIN In the dream, there's no hassle. 196 thru OMITTED 198 199 INT. MELVIN'S GAS STATION OFFICE - DAY Later -- a TV screen. JIM DELGADO He may be getting 156 million dollars -- I'd just like to see the 4500 that he owes our dairy -- of course, I wish him good luck and everything.' 200 EXT. MELVIN'S GAS STATION - DAY Vans pulling away, cars pulling away, reporters vanishing. Melvin pumping gas again, comes around to collect money from a Driver. He's the same suspicious individual seen earlier in the crowd. MELVIN That'll be four-fifty. The door opens slightly. The Driver pulls a gun. DRIVER You remember me, Melvin? I was with you. We were all together. You and me and Howard. But it was me that give him the quarter! Melvin slams the door on the Driver's arm, the gun fires and shatters the car window, Melvin wrestles the Driver from the car, pinning him to the ground. Terry and Bonnie jump into the scuffle. 201 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN watching as the Box Elder Sheriff's car drives away with the Driver, handcuffed in back. 202 AT HOME - MELVIN AND BONNIE A stack of mail, Bonnie is reading to Melvin, Melvin is watch- ing "Gunsmoke." BONNIE (reading) '...Some of the money will pay for me to help my parents, some pay debts --- ' MELVIN Let's go on to the next. BONNIE 'Dear Mr. Dummar -- I have my own wealth so I do not want a thing --- ' MELVIN Haven't we heard that one? BONNIE 'Dear Mr. Dummar --- ' MELVIN Skip to the end, okay? BONNIE 'P.S. Do not give away the money until you have settled all your tax obligations to Uncle Sam. Re- member Joe Louis.' Melvin yawns. MELVIN I think that's enough for tonight, Bonnie. He gets up. BONNIE Where you going? MELVIN To bed. BONNIE You're going to bed so early? MELVIN I'm opening at six tomorrow. BONNIE At six? MELVIN I was talking to this guy from the highway department -- he said they may jog the new freeway by here -- Labor Day, we'll never see another car --- BONNIE By Labor Day, you'll be a million- aire. Melvin smiles. MELVIN Turn out the lights when you go to bed, will you, honey? 203 EXT. RESIDENTIAL AREA - CALIFORNIA - NIGHT - ESTABLISHING SHOT Lynda and her new husband Bob's house. The lights are out in most houses. 204 INT. LYNDA'S HOUSE - NIGHT Lynda asleep next to her new husband Bob. The telephone rings with a chime. Lynda wakes up, picks up the phone. LYNDA (into phone) Hello? Who's that? Is that you, Melvin? 205 INT. MELVIN'S GAS STATION - NIGHT Melvin is seated in the darkened office of the gas station, phone in hand. MELVIN (into phone) Yeah, it's me. Intercut: LYNDA God, Melvin, what happened? MELVIN I dunno. I guess that old wino really was Howard Hughes. Silence. LYNDA Are you all right, Melvin? MELVIN Yeah, I'm all right. How's Darcy? LYNDA She's real proud. Silence. MELVIN Don't let any of the kids at school make fun or anything. LYNDA Don't worry, Melvin. Melvin? MELVIN Yeah? LYNDA Melvin, I'm sorry I didn't believe you. MELVIN Aw, Lynda, that's okay. LYNDA Melvin? MELVIN Yeah? LYNDA Why did you call me? MELVIN I dunno...I better go now. Good- bye, Lynda. LYNDA G'bye, Melvin. Bob, who has not stirred, moves as Lynda hangs up the phone. BOB (drowsy) What was that? LYNDA Nothing.... Bob rolls over. Lynda lies there staring at the phone. 206 EXT. CLARK COUNTY COURTHOUSE - DAY - ESTABLISH 207 INT. CLARK COUNTY COURTROOM - LAS VEGAS - DAY - MELVIN seated in the modern witness chair. A spotlight set in a cave in the ceiling. The cave comes down to meet the witness chair -- it gives the feeling the witness might be sucked up into it. 208 COURTROOM - SPECTATORS The gallery filled, up front is Melvin's family, sisters, brothers, mother and father. On another bench, Lynda with Faron and Darcy. Beside them, Bonnie with her children. Other spectators, Lucy from Reno, Little Red, Mrs. Worth, Tina from the Cottonwood Ranch and Fred Smith. 209 ON THE BENCH Judge Hayes, a short, unhealthy-looking young man. He bends down towards Melvin. JUDGE HAYES Melvin, turn your chair around and face me. Melvin turns his chair around. JUDGE HAYES Are you lying, Melvin? MELVIN No, sir. JUDGE HAYES Melvin, I want you to know there is a still, small voice that many people are blessed with that tells them when the truth is being spoken. It has been said, 'What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world yet lose his own soul?' If you are lying, Melvin, which you are, in my opinion, your soul may be in jeopardy, but I am not con- cerned about your soul, Melvin, right now I am concerned about your hide, because if I find that you are lying before this Court, I will make it a special duty to have a piece of your hide. I will direct that the district attorney bring a criminal prosecution against you and I will make it my special project that if you are convicted I will recommend that you do prison time. And I want you to know Nevada State Prison is no country club like the Gabbs local jail or wherever you have served time. If you're lying, you're going straight to Nevada State Prison. All right, Melvin? MELVIN You bet, Your Honor. JUDGE HAYES Brother Dummar, I want the truth. Where did that will come from? MELVIN A man brought it to the station. JUDGE HAYES You persist in the answers that were elicited from you this morning? MELVIN I do, Your Honor. JUDGE HAYES Do you know who wrote the will? MELVIN I do not know. JUDGE HAYES Did you in any way participate in the preparation of that will? MELVIN No, I did not. JUDGE HAYES Do you know of anyone else who participated in the preparation of that will? MELVIN No, I don't. The Judge looks down at the battery of lawyers. He sighs. JUDGE HAYES Gentlemen, I've done my best. 210 CORRIDOR - COURT HOUSE Melvin surrounded by his relatives and Bonnie and Lynda and the children. Syvella, his sister, holds up a sign "We're with you, Melvin!" The court bell rings, everybody hustles back, Melvin finds himself standing for a moment with Lynda and Darcy and Faron. LYNDA You're doin' good. MELVIN You think so? LYNDA Real good. Lynda hesitates. LYNDA Bob --- MELVIN Who's he? LYNDA My husband wishes you luck. MELVIN Well, you thank him. The bells rings again. Melvin picks up Faron. MELVIN (to Darcy) You hold on to Faron, honey. Give your mama a rest. Darcy takes Faron. LYNDA What happens now? MELVIN I got to face the meanest lawyer in the whole damn world. 211 INT. COURTROOM Harvey Maxwell, an urbane five-foot seven-inch man from Los Angeles, is examining Melvin. MAXWELL How did you open the envelope? MELVIN Steamed it open. MAXWELL Why didn't you take a knife or a letter opener and open it the way everybody else opens an envelope? MELVIN I was scared. MAXWELL What were you scared of? MELVIN That it might actually be true. MAXWELL Why was that frightening? MELVIN I don't know. MAXWELL Had you ever performed this little act before of steaming open an envelope? MELVIN Yes. MAXWELL What were the occasions for this activity? MELVIN Looking at letters that my ex-wife had written to her boyfriend and what have you, before she could mail them. 212 LYNDA She smiles at Melvin reassuringly. Syvella raises the sign. 213 ON MELVIN AND MAXWELL MAXWELL Why did you take the will to the church? MELVIN Because I was too afraid to take it anywhere else. MAXWELL Say that again. Melvin hesitates. MELVIN I thought they would help me. MAXWELL Mr. Dummar, you believe, do you not, that if in the name of God, you lie, God will hear you and you will incur his wrath. You believe that don't you, Mr. Dummar? MELVIN Yes, I do. Suddenly Maxwell darts across the room, snatches up from the counsel desk a weather-beaten Bible. MAXWELL Mr. Dummar, I have a Bible here. Please stand up. Melvin stands. MAXWELL Put your hand on it, raise your right hand. Melvin raises his hand. MAXWELL Do you swear before God that this story about how that will was left to you is the truth? MELVIN I do. MAXWELL All right, sit down. Melvin sits. MAXWELL That's all for now. Mr. Frost? Frost, a Los Angeles lawyer for Hughes' relatives, heads straight for Melvin. FROST Can you give me one reason on earth why this strange man would have left that will with you, Melvin Dummar? MELVIN No, I don't. I've been wondering that myself. FROST Did you come up with an answer? MELVIN No, I haven't. FROST Melvin, isn't it true you can't come up with an answer because it never happened that way? MELVIN That is the way it happened. FROST Well, Melvin, if it meant eternal damnation in hell would you just say it still happened that way? MELVIN Yes, I would. FROST Melvin, you know, don't you, that perhaps other than your relatives, there is nobody in this courtroom who believes you. You know that, don't you? MELVIN I don't know what people believe. And I don't care. People have been calling me an asshole all my life. And it don't matter either way. The courtroom erupts, Judge Hayes slams his gavel. Melvin leans back. Darcy waves. Melvin waves back. FROST Let's go back to when you got the will, and everybody celebrated and you were a national hero, Melvin. And they asked you about your getting over a hundred million dollars and I think you sobbed, choked, went into a sort of deep, heavy mood. I was kind of caught by it as I watched it on TV, but then my wife said, 'My God, it is just like the women on the game shows!' I don't watch the game shows myself, but soon after I learned you had gotten your wife on one. Melvin looks at Lynda. She waves. FROST Let's go through the Golden Gate together, Melvin. Tell us the real truth. I know the dream is so much better -- My God, I was a child in Minnesota during the Depression and I can remember, kind of hoping one of those trucks going by might have a box of chewing gum on it and it would fall off. That was the dream -- it never happened. And I never tried to make it happen. Frost takes a deep breath. FROST Let's make a deal, Melvin. Tell us the truth and you know what I'll give you -- I'll plead in your be- half a whole day to have the judge give you probation. But if you don't tell the truth, I'll do my utmost to see you never breathe another free breath in the state of Nevada. Silence. JUDGE HAYES Mr. Dummar, do you wish to make any response to what I would characterize as an offer from Mr. Frost? MELVIN I would like to say I don't know if the will is a forgery or not. If it is, I didn't do it. And if it isn't -- (shrugs) I guess it's for real. FROST That's no deal, Melvin. MELVIN I know that. FROST And I'm sorry. MELVIN Yes, sir. Frost stalks back to the counsel table. He is exhausted. Pilbrow, another lawyer, rises unsteadily. Looks at Melvin. 214 PILBROW'S POINT OF VIEW - MELVIN Fresh as a daisy, his head tucked into his neck, he is snapping his fingers, trying to get a rise out of Faron. 215 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW - LYNDA raises Faron's hand with hers, waves to Melvin. 216 INT. MELVIN'S HOTEL ROOM - LAS VEGAS - DAY Melvin is packing, Roger Dutson, Melvin's lawyer enters, a broad smile on his face. Melvin looks up. ROGER You did it, Melvin. The Judge set a trial for July 6 --- MELVIN What does that mean? ROGER That means he believes you. On July 6th, they're going to deter- mine the validity of the will. Like he said, 'It's the only will we've got,' plus the positive testimony by the handwriting ex- perts. I think the will is going to be admitted to probate. You're going to get your inheritance. MELVIN You think so? ROGER Of course it's going to be a long, long road -- but we've won the first battle. I can tell -- the T-shirt people called again -- Rockwood Dairy says they'll lift the garnishes on your entire earnings at the filling station --- MELVIN Really? ROGER The T-shirts are an easy fifteen thousand. What do you say? MELVIN No, thanks --- ROGER But you can use the cash --- MELVIN You want to get paid? ROGER No no no -- it's just they started paving the freeway today down from the gas station -- within two weeks, you're going to be pretty lonely up there. MELVIN Don't worry about me. Roger sighs. ROGER Well, you won, Mel -- MELVIN Then what are you so sad about? ROGER I just hope you don't have any illusions. They'll fight it through every court they can -- the relatives -- Summa -- meanwhile the government'll be taking out taxes -- the states'll be taking out taxes -- the lawyers'll be taking out legal fees -- the money's going to be siphoned off -- MELVIN I knew all that the day I found the will. ROGER You're kidding. MELVIN Melvin Dummar's never going to see 156 million dollars -- in fact he's never going to see a dime. Melvin closes his suitcase, puts it on a cart and pushes it out the door. MELVIN But Howard Hughes sang Melvin Dummar's song. Howard Hughes sang 'Santa's Souped Up Sleigh.' The door slams. ROGER (bewildered) 'Santa's' what, Melvin? Melvin has gone. 217 EXT. CLARK COUNTY COURTHOUSE - DAY Melvin rolls up in Little Red's old car, Lynda is standing on the sidewalk with Faron and Darcy. MELVIN Sorry -- LYNDA It's okay. Gave me a chance to get them fed. You really want to do this? MELVIN See my kids? Get them out of that smog? You kiddin'? Lynda looks at the car doubtfully. MELVIN Little Red lent it to me for the trip. He went back up with Bonnie in the tow truck. (to Darcy) Hop in, kids. There's Lifesavers and comic books back there. Darcy pushes Faron into the back seat. MELVIN I bought a pair of shoes for Faron -- help him try them on, Sister. Darcy takes Faron's shoes off. MELVIN You got money to get back to L.A.? LYNDA Don't worry about me, Melvin. MELVIN (smiles) It's in my blood. LYNDA You're not going to hassle me when I want them back end of the summer? MELVIN You've got my word. LYNDA That's what I'm afraid of. MELVIN Howsa bout you takin' me back the end of the summer? Lynda smiles. LYNDA You're married, Melvin. Melvin shrugs. MELVIN So are you. Lynda smiles again. LYNDA I do miss it sometimes, Melvin -- it was always exciting. Lousy -- but exciting. MELVIN We could make it that way again. LYNDA It is now. Lynda smiles once more. LYNDA Give us a kiss. She kisses him hard. He blushes. MELVIN End of the summer? LYNDA Maybe. Now he piles into the car. LYNDA (yelling) G'bye, kids! But Darcy is reading a comic book out loud to Faron. They don't even look up. 218 EXT. TONOPAH HIGHWAY - LATE AFTERNOON Melvin rolling along in Little Red's car. Darcy and Faron have moved into the front seat, sound asleep. Melvin rests his hand on Darcy's forehead. 219 ON MELVIN THROUGH WINDSHIELD Windshield, a raindrop, then another. Then a sudden downpour, a desert shower, stopping almost as soon as it starts. 220 ANOTHER ANGLE - MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW The rain clearing, just a gray sky. He opens the window. Howard opens his window. They're in Little Red's car. 221 ON MELVIN breathing in the desert after the shower. MELVIN Greasewood. HOWARD (breathing in) Sage. MELVIN Nothing like the smell of the desert after the rain. HOWARD Greasewood and sage. They roll along for a while. HOWARD How about letting me drive? MELVIN You? HOWARD Just for a little while. MELVIN Drive? HOWARD I'm a goddamn good driver --- MELVIN You haven't driven a car since they put out the last Hudson. HOWARD I'm a goddamn good driver. I'll bet you. 222 ON MELVIN He looks at Howard. 223 ON HOWARD waiting. 224 ON MELVIN Smiles, pulls off the road. MELVIN When we get to Vegas, I'll run her into town. Howard hesitates. MELVIN Take the wheel, ol' timer. Howard gets out and Melvin slides over. 225 MELVIN'S POINT OF VIEW Howard looking carefully at the dashboard. Very slowly he puts the car into gear, very slowly he releases the brake, and very slowly he rolls it out onto the road. 226 ON MELVIN AND HOWARD Melvin watching as Howard drives. Howard watching Melvin watching him. Now Melvin's head begins to nod. His eyes close. 227 ON HOWARD Driving, now he turns, sneaks a look at Melvin who is sound asleep beside him. Gives the car a little gas and begins to sing. HOWARD (singing quietly) 'Make my bed And light the light I'll arrive Late tonight Blackbird! Blackbird! Bye! Bye!' Howard props his arm out the window, adjusts the mirror, now he gives the car more gas. He is very happy. 228 MELVIN'S CAR rolling down the highway to Las Vegas. From it -- HOWARD (v.o.) (singing) 'Pack up all my cares and woes Singin' low Here I go Bye bye blackbird....' The car becomes a dot. It never disappears, nor does the music end. FADE OUT THE END