Scripts: Vertigo (12/Sep/1957) - part 8
EXT. A CEMETERY SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO - (DAY)
It is grey and deserted. In the distance a figure comes into
views walking slowly, approaching a grave. It is Scottie.
EXT. A CEMETERY SOUTH OF SAN FRANCISCO - (DAY) - MEDIUM
SHOT
A closer view brings him to a stop before the grave, and he
stares down at it impassively. The gravestone tells us it is
Madeleine's grave.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. SAN FRANCISCO - (NIGHT)
A foggy night, the city hidden in mist. The flash of beacons;
fingers of fog; the spasmodic growls and ories of fog horns.
INT. SCOTTIE'S BEDROOM - (NIGHT)
Scottie in bed, sleeping restlessly. His head fills the
screen, rolls from, side to side. In a SLOW DISSOLVE while
his head remains on the screen, there comes into focus and
is superimposed as it gets closer the head and shoulders of
the portrait of Carlotta. The CAMERA PANS DOWN until it
reveals the nosegay. The portrait is cleared from the screen,
a new image is superimposed; the final scene at the inquest
between Scottie and Gavin Elster. But this time, though it
is not distinct, a woman's head can be discerned on Elster's
shoulder. Elster turns to the woman and says: "Tell him he's
not to blame; tell him." The woman turns her head to smile
at Scottie. It is Carlotta Valdes again, dressed as in the
portrait, with the necklace at her throats, and she is alive.
The picture fades away. Scottie's restless head is alone on
the screen again.
Another scene dissolves to the screen: the graveyard at
Mission Dolores. The CAMERA IS APPROACHING the grave of
Carlotta Valdes. Now we see Scottie approaching the grave.
Now the CAMERA REVERSES, MOVING closer to the grave. It is
open; there is a great black abyss, with the headstone to
mark it.
A CLOSEUP OF SCOTTIE coming to a stop as he stares down. The
black depths of the grave fill the screen, and now, suddenly
we start to fall. A BIG CLOSEUP OF SCOTTIE, his hair
windswept, staring down in horror as he falls. REVERSE ANGLE:
he is still falling, but now from the tower of the Mission
at San Juan onto the roof where Madeleine fell, and at the
moment of impact the picture clears, and Scottie is sitting
up in bed, staring ahead in horror, awakened by the sound of
his own scream. The scream is echoed by a fog horn in the
distance.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. SANITARIUM BEDROOM - (DAY)
We see a portable phonograph with a record on, and we hear
Mozart at his gayest, most incisive, most sparkling. And
then we find Midge standing nearby, smiling across at Scottie,
who is seated in a wheelchair wearing a dressing gown over
pajamas. His face is gaunt and expressionless. We are in a
light and pleasant bed-sitting room. Through the window we
can see a lovely garden, and a few patients accompanied by
nurses strolling along the paths.
MIDGE
(Brightly)
It's Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus. I had
a long talk with the lady in musical
therapy, and she said Mozart's the
boy for you, Johnny. The broom that
sweeps the cobwebs away. That's what
the lady said. You know, it's
wonderful how they've got it all
taped now, John. They've got music
for melancholiacs, and music for
dipsomaniacs, and music for
nymphomaniacs... I wonder what would
happen if somebody mixed up their
files?
There is no reaction on Scottie's face, and Midge makes a
grimace of dissatisfaction at the weakness of her joke. She
looks across at him uncertainly.
MIDGE
But I brought you a lot of other
things. You can see what you like.
And the thing shuts off automatically.
She crosses to him swiftly kneels beside him.
MIDGE
Ah, Johnny, please try. Johnny, try!
You're not lost. Mother's here.
No reaction. Long pause. Then we hear the door open.
Scottie does not seem to hear, but Midge turns her head. A
nurse is looking in, with a significant look at Midge.
MIDGE
Time? Okay.
The nurse goes out. Midge rises.
MIDGE
I'll be in again, John. Do you want
me to shut that off? It shuts off
automatically.
Her eyes crinkle with anxiety. She nods and goes to the
phonograph and shuts it off. She comes back to him slowly,
and stands behind him, and puts her hands on his shoulders.
MIDGE
(Softly)
Ah, Johnny-O... you don't know I'm
here, do you?
She leans down and kisses him lightly on the top of the head,
and smiles gently.
MIDGE
But I'm here.
She moves to the door, going out of the SHOT, and we hear
the door open and close. Scottie has not moved, his face
does not change expression. His head bends down, and his
gaze is fixed on the floor.
INT. CORRIDOR OUTSIDE SCOTTIE'S ROOM - (DAY)
Midge, walking down the corridor, meets the nurse near the
open door of an office.
MIDGE
Could I see the doctor for a moment?
The nurse backs up a step and looks in the open doorway.
NURSE
Doctor...?
The Doctor looks up and sees Midge in the doorway.
DOCTOR
Oh. Yes, Miss Wood?
The nurse continues on up the corridor. Midge remains in the
doorway.
MIDGE
Doctor, how long is it going to take
you to pull him out of this?
DOCTOR
It is hard to say. Six months, at
least. Perhaps a year. It depends to
a certain extent on him.
MIDGE
He won't talk.
DOCTOR
No. We have ways of digging out
knowledge. But it takes longer. He
is suffering from acute melancholia,
together with a guilt complex. He
blames himself for what happened to
the woman. And we know little of the
background.
MIDGE
I can give you one thing: he was in
love with her.
DOCTOR
Ah? That complicates the problem.
MIDGE
I'll give you another complication:
he still is.
The Doctor studies her carefully.
MIDGE
And you know something, Doctor? I
don't think Mozart's going to help
at all.
She attempts a bright, gay smile but it comes out wrong. She
turns and walks away down the corridor.
FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
EXT. SCOTTIE'S APARTMENT - (NIGHT)
Once again a foggy night. The street lights ringed in the
mist, and Coit Tower barely discernible in the distance. The
fog horns sound.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. SCOTTIE'S APARTMENT - (NIGHT)
The living room, is mostly in shadow. One light in a far
corner is lit. There is a fire in the fireplace, but it is
almost burnt out, and casts only a faint glow.
An easy chair has been drawn up before the fire, and next to
it is a small table on which is a bottle of whiskey, the
remains of a highball, and an ashtray full of cigarette butts.
There is no sign of life in the apartment. The telephone
rings in the bedroom. It continues to ring.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. ERNIE'S RESTAURANT, UPSTAIRS ROOM - (NIGHT)
Scottie is seated at the bar, exactly as he was the first
time he saw Madeleine. The dinning room is crowded. Scottie's
glance wanders about the room as he drinks, but he does not
seem to be so much searching as waiting. And then he stiffens.
From somewhere across the room a man and a woman are making
their way among the tables toward the exit, and their relative
positions as they move recall exactly the way Madeleine and
Gavin Elster moved toward him on that night. And as the woman
moves toward him, difficult to see clearly because of the
movements of the waiters crossing her path, he could swear
that it is Madeleine, and so could we. Although she does
not wear an evening dress. Scottie stares, fearing and hoping
as the woman gets closer and closer. And then she is there,
and pauses near him to wait for the man, exactly as Madeleine
did -- but it is not Madeleine.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. BROCKLEBANK APARTMENTS - (DAY)
Scottie in the foreground, and across the street the apartment
building from which Madeleine used to emerge, with the
forecourt of cars. A long moment, then a man emerges and
crosses the street and walks toward the Fairmont Hotel.
Another wait, and then a woman comes out of the apartment
house. She has Madeleine's figure and Madeleine's style.
Scottie freezes. The woman crosses the forecourt toward a
car out of our sight. Scottie moves to follow the course of
the woman, and we move with him, and now the car comes into
sight, it is the green Jaguar. The woman opens the car door.
Scottie races across the street and into the forecourt. By
the time he gets to the Jaguar, the woman is in behind the
wheel and has the motor started. Scottie races up to her,
then stops short. The woman is not like Madeleine in features,
and is a good deal older. She looks up startled as Scottie
comes to a stop by the open car window.
SCOTTIE
Where did you get this car?!
THE WOMAN
(Startled by his
vehemence)
I beg your pardon?
SCOTTIE
This car...!!
THE WOMAN
Oh! Why... I bought it from a man
who used to live here, in this
apartment building. Mister Gavin
Elster. I bought it from him when he
moved away.
As Scottie stares at her, she grasps the connection.
THE WOMAN
0h! You know him! And his wife? The
poor thing. I didn't know her. Tell
me -- is it true that she really
believed --
But by this time Scottie has turned and walked away, and she
stares after him, a bit taken aback.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR - (DAY)
Framed in the columns of the forecourt, Scottie wanders up
the front walk and passes through the doors into the Art
Gallery.
INT. PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR - (DAY)
Scottie wanders to the entrance of the room in which hangs
the Portrait of Carlotta, and stops and looks towards the
far corner. Some people pass before him, but then as the
vista clears he sees walking toward him from Carlotta's corner
a woman who must surely be Madeleine. He stares, rigid, as
she comes closer, and then she passes out of view as she
heads for the exit. Scottie turns to keep her in sight, and
as she passes through the doors to go out to the courtyard
she turns a just a bit so that she is silhouetted slightly
in profile against the cuter light, and once again surely it
is Madeleine. Scottie heads for the door fast, pushes through
the courtyard.
He breaks into a run and catches up with her and puts out
his hand to take her arm, and as he does she turns, startled
by his sudden appearance at her side -- and they both stop
and stare at each other. It is not Madeleine. A moment, as
the woman stares at him, frightened.
SCOTTIE
I'm sorry.
He turns away. The woman walks on.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. PODESTA, BALDOCCHI - (LATE AFTERNOON)
Scottie stands before the window looking at the floral
display. In the foreground is a group of madeup nosegays and
one of them is exactly like the nosegay Madeleine carried to
the grave, to the portrait, to the moment she threw herself
into the Bay. A porter closes the shop door and locks it. A
moment, then Scottie turns away to move down Grant Avenue.
He stops short. Coming up Grant Avenue, headed for Sutter
Street, is a group of shopgirls who have just come out of
work, and among them is one who -- again -- must surely be
Madeleine. Scottie watches them come closer, trying to get a
clear view through the crowd of passersby, catching sight of
the girl only in glimpses, and as the girls come abreast of
him they stop to make their farewells. The one nearest to
Scottie, seen in profile, might have the same features as
Madeleine. He cannot be sure. This girl's hair is dark, where
Madeleine's was light; her features on closer inspection
seem heavier, and she wears much more makeup. And yet there
is something about the way she carries herself. The other
girls cross the street while the one nearest to Scottie goes
on alone. He instinctively turns and follows.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. SUTTER STREET NEAR LEAVENWORTH - (LATE AFTERNOON)
A trolley coach passes, heading west. The girl starts to
cross the street in the middle of the block, waits for another
trolley coach to pass, continues to the opposite side, and
goes into the Empire Hotel, one of the typical inexpensive
residential hotels of that neighborhood. Scottie remains on
the opposite side of the street, watching, wondering what to
do next.
He waits, and then, in much the same way it happened to him
long ago at the McKittrick Hotel, his attention is attracted
to a window on the second floor. The girl appears and opens
the window about eight inches, then pulls down the blind.
Scottie stares at the window, calculates in his mind the
geographical position of the room, then starts across the
street.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. UPSTAIRS HALL JUDY'S HOTEL - (DUSK)
Scottie moves down the hall counting doors and comes to a
stop. He knocks. The door opens, and the girl stands and
looks at him, and waits. Scottie stares at her, searching
for a sign of recognition, but there is none.
JUDY
Well? What is it?
Her voice is flat and slightly nasal, in sharp contrast to
Madeleine's low, husky voice. Scottie winces slightly at the
sound of it. He keeps staring at her for a moment. Then:
SCOTTIE
Could I ask you a couple of questions?
JUDY
What for? Who are you?
SCOTTIE
My name is John Ferguson, and --
JUDY
Is this some kind of Gallup Poll, or
something?
SCOTTIE
No, there are just a few things I
want to ask you, and --
JUDY
Do you live here in the hotel?
SCOTTIE
No, I happened to see you come in,
and I thought --
JUDY
0h, I thought so! A pick-up! Well,
you've got a nerve, following me
right into the hotel and up to my
room! You beat it! Go on! Beat it!
And she starts to close the door on him hard. Scottie holds
it open against her.
SCOTTIE
No, please! I Just want to talk to
you!
JUDY
(Pushing on the door)
Listen, I'm going to yell in a minute!
SCOTTIE
I'm not going to hurt you! I promise!
Please!
She hesitates, impressed by the urgency in his voice.
SCOTTIE
Just let me talk to you.
JUDY
(Hesitating)
What about?
SCOTTIE
You.
JUDY
Why?
She is still holding on to the door, ready to slam it.
SCOTTIE
Because you remind me of someone.
She laughs a short, ironic, skeptical laugh.
JUDY
I've heard that one before, too. I
remind you of someone you used to be
madly in love with, but she ditched
you for another guy, and you've been
carrying the torch ever since, and
then you saw me and something clicked.
(scornfully)
Huh!
SCOTTIE
(With a rueful smile)
You're not far wrong.
JUDY
Well, it's not going to work. So
you'd better go.
SCOTTIE
Let me come in.
Her mouth drops open with shock at his effrontery.
SCOTTIE
You can leave the door open. Please.
I want to talk to you.
A moment, then she backs into the room a little, and he
follows.
JUDY
I warn you, I can yell awfully loud.
SCOTTIE
You won't have to.
JUDY
(Doubtfully)
Well... you don't look very much
like Jack the Ripper...
But still she moves until she is next to the phone, her hand
almost touching it. She eyes him carefully.
JUDY
What do you want to know?
SCOTTIE
Your name. And --
JUDY
Judy Barton.
SCOTTIE
Who you are --
JUDY
Just a girl, I work at Magnin's --
SCOTTIE
-- and how you happen to be living
here.
JUDY
It's a place to live, that's all.
SCOTTIE
But you haven't lived here long.
JUDY
About three years.
SCOTTIE
No, a year ago! Where did you live a
year ago!!?
JUDY
(Puzzled)
I told you! Right here!
SCOTTIE
(Strongly)
But before! Where did you live
before!?!
JUDY
Salina, Kansas!
And that stops him dead, and he stares at her, denying.
JUDY
Listen, what is this? What do you
want?
SCOTTIE
I want to know who you are.
JUDY
I told you! My name is Judy Barton!
I come from Salina Kansas. I work at
Magnin's! I live here! My gosh, do I
have to prove it?
She moves swiftly to the dresser and rummages in her bag.
JUDY
You've got to prove you're alive
these days! All right, Mister. My
Kansas driver's license. Judy Barton.
Number Z296794. Four-Twenty-Five
Maple Avenue, Salina, Kansas.
She pulls out another card: a California license. She hands
it to him.
JUDY
There! See the address on this one?
This place here! California License
issued May 25, 1954! Want to check
my thumb print? Satisfied.
(Pulls the card away)
And whether you're satisfied or not,
you can just beat it!
A long moment as he stands before her, sagging a little
defeated. She becomes remorseful and sympathetic.
JUDY
(Gently)
Gee, you have got it bad, haven't
you? Do I really look like her?
He stares at her with an intensity that makes her crinkle
her eyes in embarrassment.
JUDY
She's dead, isn't she.
An almost imperceptible nod.
JUDY
I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I yelled at
you.
He turns away slowly toward the door. His eyes fall on some
framed photographs on the dresser and he pauses, then moves
closer to see them clearly. One is of a girl about sixteen
standing with a woman in her late thirties; they have their
arms about each other; they both have dark hair. Scottie
stares at it, then glances at Judy.
JUDY
Yes, that's me. With my mother.
Scottie's eyes move to another photograph, of a man in his
early forties standing before a store. Above the store a
sign says: A. M. BARTON, HARDWARES.
JUDY
That's my father. He's dead. My mother
got married again... I didn't like
the guy.
(Smiles, wistfully)
So... I decided to see what it was
like in sunny California.
(Pause)
I've been here three years.
(she grins)
Honest!
He smiles back at her, liking her directness.
SCOTTIE
Will you have dinner with me?
JUDY
(Immediately wary,
the smile fading)
Why?
SCOTTIE
Well, I feel I owe you something for
all this...
JUDY
No, you don't owe me anything.
SCOTTIE
Then will you for me?
JUDY
(Warily)
Dinner... and what else?
SCOTTIE
Just dinner.
JUDY
Because I remind you of her?
SCOTTIE
Because I'd like to have dinner with
you.
She smiles, pleased with the gallantry of his answer, and
regards him thoughtfully.
JUDY
(Slowly)
Well... I've been on blind dates
before... Matter of fact, to be
honest, I've been picked up before.
(Grins)
Okay.
SCOTTIE
I'll get my car and be back in half
an hour.
JUDY
Oh, no! Give me time to change and
get fixed up!
SCOTTIE
An hour?
JUDY
Mmm.
SCOTTIE
Okay.
He flashes her a smile and goes, closing the door. She
stares after him for a long moment, then moves slowly and
sits down on the edge of the bed. She stares straight ahead,
thinking, her face an impassive mask. The CAMERA MOVES IN
until her head fills the screen, and her eyes are deep with
dark memory. We DISSOLVE THROUGH to what she sees: THE MOMENT
IN THE TOWER OF THE MISSION. MADELEINE IS RUNNING UP THE
STAIRS OF THE TOWER: SCOTTIE STRUGGLING DESPERATELY AFTER
HER. SHE REACHES THE TOP, OPENS THE DOOR, DARTS INTO THE
BELL TOWER, SLAMS THE DOOR BEHIND HER AND LOCKS IT. SHE TURNS.
GAVIN ELSTER STANDS NEAR THE OPEN ARCH, HOLDING HIS WIFE
FAST; SHE IS DRESSED IN A GREY SUIT EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE
MADELEINE WEARS. HER BODY IS LIMP. SHE IS OBVIOUSLY DEAD
ALREADY. ELSTER LOOKS AT MADELEINE, THEN PUSHES HIS WIFE OUT
THROUGH THE ARCH. MADELEINE MAKES A FUTILE GESTURE TO STOP
HIM, AND SCREAMS. ELSTER COMES TO QUICKLY, PUTS HIS HAND
ACROSS HER MOUTH, AND DRAWS HER BACK INTO THE SHADOW BEHIND
A MASONRY ABUTMENT. THEY ARE LOST FROM SIGHT...
DISSOLVE THROUGH to Judy, seated on the edge of her bed,
staring with the memory of the horror of the moment. She
sits very still. Then slowly she rises and moves to the
window. She looks out, watching Scottie go down the street.
She turns away and goes to the closet and opens the door.
She pushes some clothes along the rack. We see the grey suit.
She reaches into the closet and brings out a suitcase, lets
it lie there, just outside the closet, and stares down at
it. Then she turns back, goes to the writing desk sits down,
and takes a sheet of paper. She picks up a ball point pen,
clicks out the Point, stares ahead for a moment, then begins
to write. As she writes, we hear her voice.
JUDY'S VOICE
Dearest Scottie ... and so you've
found me. This is the moment I dreaded
and hoped for, -- wondering what I
would say and do if ever I saw you
again, I wanted so to see you again.
Just once. Now I'll go and you can
give up your search.
(pause)
I want you to have peace of mind.
You've nothing to blame yourself
for. You were the victim. I was the
tool, you were the victim of a man's
plan to murder his wife. He chose me
to play the part because I looked
like her; he dressed me up like her.
He was quite safe because she lived
in the country and rarely came to
town. He chose you to be the witness.
The Carlotta story was part real,
part invented to make you testify
that Madeleine wanted to kill herself.
He knew of your illness; he knew you
would never get up the stairs of the
tower. He planned it so well; he
made no mistakes.
(pause)
I made the mistake. I fell in love.
That wasn't part of the plan. I'm
still in love with you, and I want
you so to love me. If I had the nerve,
I would stay and lie, hoping that I
could make you love me again, as I
am for myself... and so forget the
other and forget the past. But I
haven't the nerve to try...
She pauses and looks up and thinks, and wonders, and tries
to see into the future, and as she does, the fear in her
eyes dissolve into anxious hope, and then resolve.
She puts the pen down, rises slowly, takes up the letter and
tears it into small pieces and drops the pieces into the
wastebasket. She turns to the closet, pushes the suitcase
back in with the toe of her foot, pushes the grey suit far
back into darkness, and closes the closet door. She walks to
the dresser, and stares at herself in the mirror. She opens
a candy box in which we see trinkets and pieces of junk
jewelry, and takes out two plain hoop earrings. She puts
them on and looks to see how much change they make. She takes
up an eyebrow pencil and slightly exaggerates the arch of
her brows. She stares at herself impassively for a long time.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. ERNIE'S RESTAURANT, UPSTAIRS ROOM - (NIGHT)
...continue to part 9
