Monthly Archive for March, 2012

*For Introduction with submission guidelines go to Oct 13

For easy access to the beginning of the script and older excerpts go to the Home page.

*Heywood Gould is the author of 9 screenplays including “Rolling Thunder,”Fort Apache, The Bronx,”Boys From Brazil”and “Cocktail.”

EMPIRES OF CRIME

By Heywood Gould

HOUR VI

ACT FOUR (Con’t)

INT. DA GIACAMINO’S RESTAURANT. DAY

Charley poses for the PAPARAZZI with his arm around Igea.

        CHARLEY
Take one with my fidanzata.
We’re gonna get married and
make bambini like good
Italians…

Martin Grayson runs up with an armful of NEWSPAPERS…

        GRAYSON
Home run, Charley. We made
every paper and every
column…Winchell Louella
Parsons, Hedda Hopper,
Variety The Hollywood
Reporter…”

The Waiter pushes his way through the crowd around Charley’s table, carrying a pot of espresso.

        CHARLEY
You know the guy who owns
the Hollywood Reporter.
Wilkerson? Benny stole the
Flamingo right out from
under him…What’s this
producer’s name again?

        GRAYSON
Marty Gosch. He’s done a
lot of Spanish language
movies.

The Waiter pours coffee.

        CHARLEY
So he ain’t exactly Jack
Warner.

        GRAYSON
He knows everybody in the
business, Charley. Can we
show him a good time?

Charley takes a sip and makes a face.

        CHARLEY
What kinda broads does he
like..? Wait a second the
fleet’s in…

Charley has seen a familiar face across the crowded room. He rises and weaves his way through the crowd to the bar where RED HAFFENDEN is nursing a drink. They greet each other, cautiously. “Hey Red…” “Hi Charley…”

        HAFFENDEN
Haven’t seen you since we
won the war.

        CHARLEY
Yeah, you and me,
singlehanded. Some
coincidence you showin’ up
in my joint after all these
years.

        HAFFENDEN
Just passin’. Thought I’d
drop in.

Charley smiles; he knows that’s not true.

        CHARLEY
You’re still doin’ the same
thing, I see. How come they
make you guys wear them
baggy suits?

        HAFFENDEN
It’s the uniform of the
day…They’re watching you,
Charley. They got your phone
tapped, your house bugged.

        CHARLEY
Get to the point, Red. You
didn’t come here to tell me
what you know I already
know.

        HAFFENDEN
Scuttlebutt is you’re
selling your life story.
You gonna talk about the
war?

        CHARLEY
It’s part of my life story,
no?

        HAFFENDEN
People aren’t ready to know
what really happened…

        CHARLEY
You mean Dewey don’t want
‘em to know.

        HAFFENDEN
The Navy, too. There’s a
three hundred and fifty
page secret report on your
activities. You guys have
something called the code
of silence. We have
something called
classified material.

        CHARLEY
There’s also something
called respect. And I
didn’t get any from Dewey.
He called me a skulking
dog in front of my guys…

        HAFFENDEN
The Navy is not responsible
for Dewey’s bad manners.

        CHARLEY
They send you here?

        HAFFENDEN
I kinda volunteered,
Charley. For old time’s
sake.

        CHARLEY
Okay for old time’s sake
I’ll tellya what. My
brother’s real sick in San
Francisco. You get me
temporary visa to go visit
him I’ll forget the war
ever happened.

        HAFFENDEN
The Navy doesn’t make deals.

        CHARLEY
I was never in the Navy.
You guys never even gave
me a uniform to impress the
broads…

        HAFFENDEN
I’m telling you as a friend,
Charley. I know you want to
get back in the limelight,
but this isn’t the way to
do it.

        CHARLEY
That sounds like a threat,
Red.

        HAFFENDEN
The Navy doesn’t make
threats. C’mon Charley, you
got a great life here.
Beautiful weather, great
food, a gorgeous girlfriend.
Why make trouble for
yourself?

        CHARLEY
I guess I like the action.
Get me a visa, Red. If not
I’ll send you two seats to
the world premiere of the
Lucky Luciano story. If you
can’t get a date, take
Dewey.

INT. NAPLES AIRPORT. DAY

Grayson and Charley enter, followed by Rizzo and several BODYGUARDS. Charley grimaces as they walk and clutches his side.

        GRAYSON
Gosch has called all the
studios. If you can get out
to Hollywood they’ll roll
out the red carpet…

        CHARLEY
I got the Navy workin’ on
a visa for me.
(stops)
Slow down a little, my lunch
is talkin’ back…I’d just
like to see New York again.
Get a corned beef sandwich,
walk around Times Square…

Suddenly, a bolt of pain shoots through him. He gasps and staggers. Grayson stops him from falling.

        GRAYSON
Charley, you okay?

        CHARLEY
Pain…Can’t breathe…

        RIZZO
I’ll get a doctor…

Grayson and the Bodyguards take him to a chair. He has gone dead white under his tan; sweat pours off him, but he manages a smile.

        CHARLEY
Yeah…I thought that waiter
was actin’ nervous…

        GRAYSON
This is just a heartburn…

        CHARLEY
Guess my life story was
worth more than I thought.

        GRAYSON
Don’t talk…

        CHARLEY
There was this guy named
John Barrett. In the
Tombs squawkin’…We didn’t
know how to shut him up. So
Meyer had a bright idea:
send him a poison chicken.
See that’s how that
started…Now they done it
to me.

        GRAYSON
Lie down, Charley…

Charley lies back, eyes glazed as he looks back into the past.

        CHARLEY
I shoulda done it legal. I
coulda made twice as much
money and I’d be sittin’ in
Lindy’s right now eatin’ a
piece of cheesecake.

INT.TOM’S STUDY. DAY

Next morning. In his bathrobe, Tom is on the phone with a reporter, while Frances watches.

        TOM
I did not frame him. I
convicted him on the
evidence…Of course I’m
proud. It was probably the
best thing I ever did in
public life. Yes you can
quote me.
(slams down the phone)
What a country! As soon as
anybody dies they become a
saint.

        FRANCES
Don’t be cranky, Tom.
Charley was always good
copy…

        TOM
He was a drug dealing
murderer. How many times do
I have to tell people that?
How many times do I have to
tell you?

A MAID enters.

        SECRETARY
The Associated Press is on
the phone and a man from
NBC News.

        TOM
See that? Day after day I
sit here in solitude, Tom
Dewey, the man who lost to
Truman. But Lucky Luciano
drops dead and all of a
sudden I’m in demand.
(resigned)
Put them through. I’ll talk
to everybody…

INT. LANSKY BUNGALOW. DAY

Late afternoon. Meyer sits in the gloom staring at the photo of Charley, Benny and himself in their dapper, younger days. Teddy looks in.

        TEDDY
Meyer, you got company…

She ushers in Agents Snyder and Whitman (from Part I).

        MEYER
Hey, you got a guys got a
warrant?

        WHITMAN
We don’t want to intrude.

        MEYER
Since when does the FBI
ever intrude?

        SNYDER
We just wanted to tell you:
Lucky Luciano just died.

        MEYER
In bed with a chorus girl,
I hope.

        WHITMAN
He had a heart attack at
the Naples Airport.

        MEYER
At least it was quick…

        SNYDER
Our bureau chief would like
you to come down and answer
some questions, Meyer.

        MEYER
Can’t help you, boys.

        WHITMAN
Well… We just thought you
oughta know..

        MEYER
Thanks it was a nice
gesture…

He reaches for a cigarette as Teddy escorts them out. When she returns.

        MEYER
I knew they weren’t gonna
let him write that book…

        TEDDY
Meyer, you know you can’t
smoke..

        MEYER
Just takin’ one for Charley.
He started me on this. Got
me my first girl, too. He
was always talkin’, always
up to somethin’. Always
laughin’. I betcha he was
laughin’ at the end.

With a sigh he gets up. He opens a drawer and puts on a YARMULKE. Then, takes out a PRAYER BOOK.

        MEYER
Cover the mirrors, Teddy.
I’ll say the prayer for
the dead and then we’ll
get a corned beef sandwich
in Charley’s memory.

And with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth, Meyer walks to the window, murmuring in Hebrew…

CLOSING MONTAGE… Charley narrates the destinies of those who survived him.

        CHARLEY
(v.o.)
Empires rise and fall. You
gotta know when your time
is up…

FRANK COSTELLO…Dapper, impatient…Walking through the lobby of his apartment building.

        CHARLEY
Frank wanted to take over.
Vito had other ideas.

An ASSAILANT steps out from behind a pillar and shoots him in the head. He runs out as Costello crawls , a bloody gash in his temple.

        CHARLEY
Chin Gigante, the guy he
sent to kill Frank, couldn’t
shoot straight, so he ended
up giving Frank a haircut.
That was good enough. Frank
retired and died in bed at
the age of 82…

GENOVESE…Scowling behind dark glasses he is escorted, handcuffed to a waiting PADDY WAGON by two COPS.

        CHARLEY
Vito owned every racket in
Manhattan, but it wasn’t
enough. His eyes were bigger
than his stomach. So he got
into heroin smuggling and
was ratted out by a small
time dealer. He died in
the Atlanta Penitentiary…

Cradling Bruzzer in his arms MEYER walks on the beach at sunset with TEDDY.

        CHARLEY
All Meyer wanted was peace
and quiet, and a nice piece
of broiled chicken, but the
feds had unfinished business.
He took it on the lam to
Israel, but they threw him
out. Then he flew around
South America offering a
million bucks to any
dictator that would take
him in. No luck so he came
home half dead from
emphysema and a bad heart.
The feds tried him three
times, but each time he
got off. He had coffee
and shmoozed with the old
timers in Miami until he
passed at the age of 83.

TOM…in his black suit, brooding at his oaken desk in his large, gloomy office.

        CHARLEY
There’s nothin’ worse than
a favorite who runs outta
the money. Dewey never
lived down the loss to
Truman. But in the end
he did the right thing
by me.

ST. JOHN’S CEMETERY…Charley’s TOMB, a large white stone crypt, built in the classical style with pillars and plinths. The name “LUCANIA” is carved in the lintel.

        CHARLEY
He let them bury me in the
family plot me. St.John’s
Cemetery, Queens, New York.
Back to the name I was born
with. Back with my mother
and father. A lotta guys I
knew are layin’ around here.
Some of ‘em I put in the
ground myself. It was a
little late, but I got my
wish. I came home…

THE END

Next: All links to script and voting.

In a new department the Daily Event will reoffer some of these scripts. Read them and decide: would you like to have seen this movie?

Our first script is EMPIRES OF CRIME. Seven years in development it is a six part mini-series commissioned by a broadcast network and later reacquired by a cable station.

The story is about the founders of Organized Crime, Meyer Lansky, and “Lucky” Luciano, their fifty year partnership and the empire they created. Their friendships and families, lives and loves. It is also about their implacable enemy Thomas Dewey, a young Republican attorney who built a political career prosecuting the Mob that propelled him to the NY Governor’s Mansion and almost to the White House.

*For Introduction with submission guidelines go to Oct 13. Use Contact Us, above, for submissions.