Daily Dialogue — September 30, 2014
INT THE PLANE NIGHT.
INSERT.
THE VIAL OF PILLS, LABELLED, “MILITARY SPECIAL PRISONS,” SCHUMANN, WILLIAM.
A. TWO PILLS EVERY FOUR HOURS. SHOULD THE PATIENT BECOME VIOLENT THE DOSAGE
CAN BE INCREASED TO…
THE PILLS SPILL OUT OF THE FRAME.
ANGLE
THE PLANE, IN A VIOLENT RAINSTORM, BUCKING WILDLY. AMES, ON HIS KNEES,
GATHERING UP THE PILLS, REPLACES THEM IN THE VIAL, SHAKES OUT TWO, AND GIVES
THEM TO SCHUMANN. WHO TAKES THEM. MOSS THEN STRAPS HIMSELF BACK IN AND BREAN
CONTINUES TALKING ON THE TELEPHONE.
THE THREE STRAPPED IN, THE PLANE TOSSING WILDLY. BREAN ON THE PHONE.
SCHUMANN: You gonna git me back tomorrow? (PAUSE) Cause they havin beans tomorrow…
BREAN: (ON THE PHONE) (HE PICKS UP A BOTTLE OF SCOTCH AND STARTS DRINKING FROM IT.) A slight, a slight, well, no, we’re gonna deal with it, we just, I need a little readjustment…we need to rethink…
MOSS: Yes, William, Uh, we have this thing we’re doing…
SCHUMANN: Long’s you git me back for the beans…
MOSS: …for the beans, yes…
BREAN: (ON THE PHONE) We’re gonna, just, may have to call off the…
HE GESTURES AT THE SILENT TELEVISION, WHERE WE SEE THE SIGNS OF THE
SCAFFOLDING, SIGNS READING, “WELCOME HOME OLD SHOE,” ET CETERA…
Well, maybe, you know, ah, ah, he’s sicker than we thought, and rush him under wraps to Walter Reed to do a complete…
SCHUMANN: (TO AMES) R’if y’r gonna keep me out, I’d kinda like the chance, t’go to church… (HE LEANS TOWARD AMES AND WINKS LASCIVIOUSLY, AND NUDGES HIM IN THE RIBS)
AMES: Oh Lord. What have you done to me? What have you done to me…?
BREAN: Wilfred.
AMES: …what have you done to me…
BREAN: All Combat takes place at night, in the Rain, and at the Junction of four Map Segments…
AMES: …what are we going to do…?
MOSS: He’s fine, as long as he gets his medication.
BREAN: Speaking of that… (HE LOOKS AT THE VIAL) We’re gonna need a whole lot more of this….
AMES: Well, get on the phone, and get it…
MOSS: You know, I think you people are looking at this All Wrong. If you look at the backstory — the guy’s coming back from Combat and Torture. Of course he is gonna be … uh … uh … “fucked up”. Of Course he’s gonna “need a little help”… (GESTURES PUTTING A HYPODERMIC IN HIS ARM)
AMES: (TO HIMSELF) Oh, Lord….
ANGLE, ON THE TV, WHERE WE SEE THE PRESIDENT, WEARING AN OLD SHOE BUTTON.
PRESIDENT: …a proclamation of a Day of National Rejoining…
THE TELEVISION GOES ALL FUZZY, THEN CONKS OUT.
…a day of Humility, a day of Pride…in the Return of…
SCHUMANN: N’ybody gotta Beer…?
THE LIGHTS IN THE PLANE FLICKER, AND THEN COME ON, WE SEE THE LIGHTNING
FLASHING OUT OF THE WINDOW, THE CO-PILOT COMES BACK INTO THE CABIN…
BREAN: (ON THE PHONE) Just….do what I …look: get me a …hello…? Hel…? I’m going to need an ambulance, we take him, the last moment, right from the Pl…no, we land, we puttem in the ambulance. Air force jet lands, we take somebody else off that jet…what the fuck do I care? Somebody in a Hospital gown. And we need a ……hello? Hello…?
THE LINE GOES DEAD.
BREAN: Cause I don’t think this dog is gonna hunt….
MOSS: He’s going to be fine, aren’t you boy…?
BREAN: Yeah, well, perhaps… (TO PHONE) Speaking of which: I have a prescription here, I’m going to give you the number, I need you standing by with a crate of the stuff…. it’s … what is it?
MOSS: An anti-psychotic…
BREAN: (TO TELEPHONE) It’s an anti-psychotic, the num… the number…hello…hello…
BEAT. THE BUFFETING STOPS. THE CO-PILOT ENTERS.
CO-PILOT: We have been experiencing some buffeting, but I think from here on out, it’s going to be fine.
HE RETURNS TO THE COCKPIT. BREAN TRIES TO REDIAL THE TELEPHONE.
SCHUMANN: Long’s I git back for my Beans.
MOSS: This is nothing, Wait’ll you’ve worked with a movie star, one time, this is nothing, we keep him shot-up and happy — the Old Days, I used to think I was a pharmacist, the kind of stuff I had to do. One time…
SCHUMANN: Cause the beans, y’know, y’can tell if they’re puttin stuff in it.
BREAN: Uh huh…
SCHUMANN: So you don’t have to fear it.
BREAN: Uh huh…
MOSS: Mmm.
BREAN: What kind of stuff? (TO PHONE) Hello…?
SCHUMANN: (PAUSE. SCHUMANN LOOKS AT THEM WARILY) What do you mean, “What kind of stuff?”
AMES: No, no, he didn’t mean anything at all…
BREAN: (TO MOSS) Give’ em another pill…
AMES: No. No. He didn’t mean anything by it at all…
BREAN: (TO PHONE) Hello? No, operator…
MOSS ADMINISTERS A PILL TO SCHUMANN.
SCHUMANN: What the fuck did you mean, “What kind of stuff?”?
MOSS: (TO BREAN) …this is nothing. This is nothing. D’you ever shoot in Italy? Try three Italian starlets on Benzedrine, this is a walk in the park…
SCHUMANN: (AS IF COMING TO) …who are you? (PAUSE) Who are you sonofabitches… (HE LOOKS AROUND WILDLY)
AMES: We’re just, actually, we’re friends of… can we get another pill into him…
SCHUMANN: Where are you taking me…?
BREAN: (TO PHONE) Hello…?
A HUGE FLASH OF LIGHTNING, THE PLANE IS PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS, THE ENGINES
STOP:
INT THE DARK CABIN. THE WIND WHISTLING.
AMES: (SOFTLY) Oh, Heck.
— Wag the Dog (1997), screenplay by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet, novel by Larry Beinhart
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Politics. Today’s suggestion by Jon.
Trivia: During the filming of Wag the Dog (1997) Dustin Hoffman, his co-star Robert De Niro and director Barry Levinson had an impromptu meeting with President ‘Bill Clinton’ at a Washington hotel. “So what’s this movie about?” Clinton asked De Niro. De Niro looked over to Levinson, hoping he would answer the question. Levinson, in turn, looked over to Hoffman. Hoffman, realizing there was no one else to pass the buck to, is quoted as saying, “So I just started to tap dance. I can’t even remember what I said.”
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Jon.
“What I like most about this clip and the film, is the very strong characterization. These characters make this film. Every character is strong (the protagonist in their life). This clip reveals that, with these four characters confined together and having to face and talk to each other. Each one has their own agenda and is more concerned about themselves, their world, and their thoughts than what anyone else has to say.
Reading the script from this point, it seems very disjointed and chaotic. It only makes sense in the context of knowing who the characters are. Elsewhere in the script, Brean (De Niro) and Moss (Hoffman) have a lot of dialog, often in long passages, as if they like to hear themselves talk, which they do. These kind of roles are an actor’s dream. These actors have the opportunity to go off into the world of their role and pretty much ignore the other characters. Everyone plays off of everyone else.
After this scene the planes crashes, they are all stuck together in the middle of nowhere, and Winifred has a classic dialog scene (I couldn’t find a clip for it). It appears Heche added the last two lines compared to the script I found. She just goes completely off:
[the plane has crashed, leaving Winifred, Stanley, and Connie alone at night in the rain with an “ill” William Sherman]
Winifred Ames: Oh, God. What do we do now? Huh? Huh? What do we do now, huh, boy producer? Huh? Mister win-an-Emmy, social-conscience, whale-shit, save-the-rain-forest, peacenik-commie, fuckin’-hire-a-convict-shithead? Huh? What do we do now, liberal, affirmative action, shithead, peacenik commie fuck? What do you want to do now?
Stanley Moss: This is nothing! Piece of cake! Producing is being a samurai warrior. They pay you day in, day out for years so that one day when called upon, you can respond, your training at its peak, and save the day!”
If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please head to comments.