TODAY'S NUGGET: Charley Varrick (1973) - Allowing the Audience to Add 2 + 2

[Quick Summary: After Charley and sidekicks rob a bank, they discover it's unreported mob money and are hunted by an unrelenting enforcer.]

I really liked following these characters around because they always surprised me.  

Or as screenwriter Josh Olson put it better:

You wanna tell a story that, going forward, seems pretty continuously surprising and then going backwards seems pretty inevitable that it ended up there (…) That’s something I think Charley Varrick actually pulls off.

One of the surprises was how the script "let the audience add up 2 + 2."* 

In the scene below, I love how we learn so much without being told:
- Boyle, the president of the bank, is crooked.
- Boyle has previous dealings with Molly, the enforcer.
- The scene flows from Boyle to Molly, like a letter sent from one to the other.

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

We are angled on the doors of the Conference Room.

Boyle enters, closes and locks the doors, then automatically rubs an Oriental carving, the God of Money, on the belly, passes down a long conference table and takes a chair at the very end. He pulls a rolling table toward him. This table has a cassette on it which he loads with a blue, translucent plastic tape. He clicks it on, then speaks into a hand mike.

BOYLE: This morning a Western Fidelity Branch Bank in Tres Cruces, New Mexico, was robbed of roughly three quarters of a million dollars. The size of the take...

                                                                              CUT TO

INT. MOLLY'S CAR - BLUE CHEVROLET - DAY

We are close on an identical cassette, playing the same tape as:

BOYLE'S VOICE: ...Plus the urgency of the situation makes it inevitable that I should call on you personally to become involved.

We are pulling back to include the driver of the car, Molly, maybe fifty. He is a powerful man, smooth-faced and piggy-eyed. He is heavy bodied but moves easily and is enormously light on his feet. He has a faint southern accent, a little pussy cat smile and an IQ of 154. He wears a beautifully cut pale gabardine suit, slightly western in tailoring and off-white Stetson, not too wide in the brim. He smokes a heavy, leather-covered pipe. 

BOYLE'S VOICE: All the arrangements will be the same as last time. I hope and fully expect the same kind of outcome. I know you realize that there is extraordinary concern from this end, so please expedite. Good luck.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Don't overload the information, but do make it clear. 

ex. We expect a bank president to ask for help, but not from an enforcer = It is pretty clear that a bank president is up to no good.

Charley Varrick (1973)(8/11/72 draft)
by Dean Riesner
Adapted from the novel, "The Looters," by John Reese

* From Billy Wilder's 10 Rules of Good Filmmaking (h/t to Lubitsch).

TODAY'S NUGGET: Superman 2 (1980) - The Art of Combining a Pratfall, Story, & Romance

[Quick Summary: Superman begins a relationship with Lois Lane, only to be interrupted three Kryptonian criminals arrives to hunt him on Earth.]

I thought this was a great sequel script because it has enough new story AND still has the same themes of Superman I.*

I particularly liked the scene below because it combines several things:
- Story - Lois steps out a window to make Clark prove he's NOT Superman.
- Romance & conflict - Clark wants to rescue Lois, but also protect his identity.
- Pratfall - I'm a sucker for any type of action that add humor and movement.
- Theme - Notice how it is built along the lines of "a love story + man can fly."

EXT. SIDE OF PLANET BUILDING - DAY

LOIS falls through the air.

INT. PLANET STAIRWELL - DAY

A revolving blur shoots down the stairwell.

EXT. STREET - PLANET ENTRANCE - DAY

SUPERMAN is almost instantly at the street entrance to the Daily Planet, looks up.

BACK TO LOIS

LOIS hasn't far to go.

BACK TO SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN inhales, blows up at her with his super-breath.

BACK TO LOIS

The gust of wind hits LOIS, breaking her fall, wafting her slightly upward like a leaf.

ANGLE ON PASTRY SHOP - SUPERMAN'S POV

TWO DELIVERY MEN emerge from the pastry shop, under a closed awning, carrying an enormous wedding cake toward a waiting delivery van.

BACK TO SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN smiles, turns on his X-Ray vision.

ANGLE ON STREET - SUPERMAN'S POV

The heat vision hits the closed metal awning apparatus, popping it open. The awning unfurls over the DELIVERY MEN and wedding cake as LOIS hits the awning, bounces, rolls off the edge, missing the cake by a hair, falling heavily into the fruit pushcart. The PUSHCART MAN screams as fresh fruit, especially bananas, goes flying.

ANGLE ON SIDEWALK

Ripe bananas hit the pavement near the feet of the DELIVERY MEN, burst open.

CLOSE ON LOIS

LOIS, totally smeared and smothered in squishy fruit, looks up in shock.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that this scene had real story, real stakes, and was not about another set piece that would look great but ring hollow.

Superman 2 (1980)(Mar. 1977, shooting script, revised)
Story by Mario Puzo
Script by Mario Puzo and David Newman and Leslie Newman & Robert Benton (& Tom Mankiewicz (uncredited))

* As mentioned in my previous post, the director's instructions to the writer were: “The most important thing when you look at it is this: make a love story. And prove a man can fly.”

TODAY'S NUGGET: Superman I (1977) - Power of A Love Story + Proving a Man Can Fly

[Quick Summary: After Kal-El is sent to Earth, he becomes Clark Kent and saves humanity from Lex Luthor's schemes.]

THINGS I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT SUPERMAN 1 & 2:
- They were shot back to back. (Part 1 for this week's blog. Part 2 next week.)
- Director Richard Donner, a Superman fan, had this reaction to a previous draft: "[The first draft script] was disparaging. It was just gratuitous action....I was like, ‘Man, if they make this movie, they are destroying the legend of Superman.’ "
- He hired writer Tom Mankiewicz and instructed him: “The most important thing when you look at it is this: make a love story. And prove a man can fly.” 

It is fitting that the first time we see Superman fly is in service of the love story.  

The writers were clever to have him reveal his hidden super-powers to save Lois (which earns our sympathy) rather than fight a bad guy (which isn't as compelling). 

Also, I like this scene because it never cuts Superman a break.   He still faces real obstacles (wrong phone booth) and interruptions (pimp).

EXT. METROPOLIS STREET

The CROWD grows rapidly in size, staring up, pointing excitedly. CLARK arrives on the scene, looks up as well, eyes widening in horro. 

ANGLE ON LOIS - CLARK'S POV

The helicopter dangles half-over the edge of the roof.

BACK TO CROWD

Determined, CLARK pushes his way through the crowd, looking for something.

ANGLE ON PHONE BOOTH - CLARK'S POV

A phone booth stands on the corner - but this is a modern booth - it covers only the top half of the body.

BACK TO CLARK

CLARK shrugs in disgusted frustration, heads for a nearby alley, runs for it.

INT. HELICOPTER

LOIS looks up past the unconscious PILOT to the edge of the roof. She has only one chance. She unbuckles her safety belt, tries to crawl over him. As she moves, the helicopter shifts position, swings out farther over the roof.

INSERT SHOT - CABLE

The cable jerks with the weight. Sparks fly. It holds together by a thread.

BACK TO LOIS

LOIS tumbles back with the movement, falls out the door, grabbing her unbuckled seatbelt at the last minute on the way out.

EXT. STREET - ANGLE ON LOIS - CROWD'S POV

The CROWD screams. LOIS dangles from the roof, holding on to her seatbelt for dear life.

EXT. ALLEYWAY

An incredibly garish BLACK PIMP exits an alley doorway, stoned, stops in awe as he sees: SUPERMAN in full costume, heading toward him, determined.

PIMP: Say, Jim! That is a bad outfit! Who's your tailor, baby? Who cuts your threads?

SUPERMAN: Excuse me...

With a burst of energy, SUPERMAN rises from the ground, flies up into the night sky.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The writers created the best motive one would need to fly (love) and thus did convince me that this man could fly.

Superman (1977)(Mar. 1977, shooting script, revised)
Story by Mario Puzo
Script by Mario Puzo and David Newman and Leslie Newman & Robert Benton (& Tom Mankiewicz (uncredited))

TODAY'S NUGGET: Stalker (1979) - Suspense is Watching a Character Decide

[Quick Summary: A man leads two curious others through the Zone to a room that grants one's deepest wishes.]

Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, known for big idea films, stated of this one: 

“[T]he existence in the zone of a room where dreams come true serves solely as a pretext to revealing the personalities of the three protagonists.”

So if the room is unimportant, what is? How the characters act and react on their way to the room, which shows us their priorities and fears.

It sounds boring...yet the writers managed to keep my attention with suspense of what the characters would choose to do.

For example, in the scene below:
- Stalker tells his paying clients (Writer, Professor) that there are booby traps to the building. 
- Writer, who is impatient w/Stalker's method, decides to take a direct path instead.
- Note how each reacts (Stalker - safety first; Writer - impatience; Professor - fear)
- Also note that I'm not so focused on getting to the room, but on the decisions.

EXT. FIELD - DAY

...Writer begins to move toward the building. Stalker moves in front of him.

STALKER: Wait -

WRITER: Take your hands off me.

STALKER: All right. Then let Professor be my witness, I didn't send you in there. You're going on your own free will.

WRITER: On my own free will, anything else?

STALKER: No. Go ahead.

Writer slowly walks toward the building.

STALKER (CONT'D): And God hope you're lucky.

Writer gets closer.

STALKER (CONT'D): Hold on! If you suddenly notice something or...or even feel something strange, even the slightest thing, come back right away! Otherwise-

WRITER: Just don't throw anything else at my head.

Writer keeps going, getting closer and closer to the building. He takes careful steps.

A voice.

VOICE: Stop, don't move!

Writer freezes. He stops and stares at the building.

STALKER: Why did you do that?

PROFESSOR: What?

STALKER: Why did you stop him?

PROFESSOR: What do you mean? I thought it was you. 

Professor and Stalker exchange glances. Writer walks back to Professor and Stalker.

WRITER: What happened? Why did you stop me?

STALKER: I didn't stop you. 

WRITER: Who then? You?

The three look at each other.

WRITER (CONT'D): What the hell?

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This script was able to get across big ideas in very little space (58 pgs.) , in large part because the suspense is all in the characters, not plot.

Stalker (1979)
by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
Based on the short story, "Roadside Picnic," by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky