dizzy with freedom

     Mr. House comes home while Carol Lipton is in his apartment looking for "clues."

     (It's so scary!  Viewers might feel like calling 9-1-1 and asking for some policemen to come over and hold their hand while they watch this part.)

     The door makes that "latch" sound; Carol looks scared, and hyper-aware, and she gently tiptoes away from the part of the living room where the person entering would be able to see her.

     Through the light and shadows of the apartment (what Mr. House thinks is his empty apartment), she slips away from where he's walking toward and goes into the hallway-shaped kitchen.


     CAMERA VIEW of one end of the kitchen:  Carol is close to us -- as Paul House moves through the living room, she comes toward CAMERA, and disappears off to the side, right before he appears over at the other end of the kitchen.



     (Of course she could have solved this problem before it started by -- not stealing a key and busting into someone's place, right?!  

When she says to Ted on the phone -- "this is just the craziest thing I've ever done!" and he replies, "Yes, it's crazy -- but soon we'll be too old to do anything crazy!" I thought, Well it isn't my kind of thing, but I get where these characters are coming from.  And -- it's a movie, not real life...  To me, it was compelling, unforgettable dialogue.)

INT.  Paul's bedroom

He enters; the phone rings, he answers it.

MEDIUM SHOT:  Carol hiding under the bed.

PAUL
Oh, hi.  Yeah.  I know.  I-I ... Yes, I miss you, too.  I did.  I made all the arrangements.
(listens)
Yeah, look.  I... Okay, I have to run.  But I'll see you later, okay?  Okay.

                           After hanging up the phone, he thinks for a few seconds, then turns back to the phone and picks up the receiver.

PAUL
Extension five.  Well, keep ringing, would you please?
(pause - listening)
Because I just talked to her.  What?  Okay.  Uh, will you tell her... yes, tell her that Tom called.
(pause)
Tom. - Thank you.

EXT.  New York street - Day

CAMERA TILTS and PANS from street level, up a modern glass and steel office building.

INT.  Larry's publisher's office - Day

Down an aisle between a row of desks and a wall dotted with furniture and file cabinets, Larry Lipton is walking behind Marcia Fox, who converses with him glancing back over her shoulder.  They're walking toward the CAMERA.


LARRY
So, I thought your rewrites were great.  I really think you helped your book, you know?  It's... It's dense a little bit, but, uh...

MARCIA
Well, I don't want it to be too transparent, I mean...

LARRY
That's... That's something you're never gonna have to worry about, you know?  This book makes Finnegan's Wake look like airplane reading, you know?  But-But it's long.  It's - It's-It's...

MARCIA
You know, you're the only editor in the world I'll take suggestions from, but even you shouldn't push it.

_________________________________

{Manhattan Murder Mystery.  Screenplay by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman.}

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