his movies often have characters who are late for their shrink

{Manhattan Murder Mystery.  Directed by Woody Allen; produced by Robert Greenhut; written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman; cinematography by Carlo Di Palma.  Dist. - TriStar Pictures.  Starring Alan Alda; Woody Allen; Anjelica Huston; Diane Keaton.  1993.}

_________________________

..."Well, you know...
You
would be my first choice."

CAROL
Me, huh?

TED
Yeah.

CAROL
(with a little laugh)
Well.  Oh, boy.

TED
Well, you...  Can I give you a lift?  Do you, uh, I'm gonna go east.  Do you...

CAROL
Thanks.  No, I- I think I'll stick around, I need to think.  I need my...  I feel a little, you know, tipsy.

TED
I didn't offend you by what I said, did I?

CAROL
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.  You didn't offend me, no, I was very, uh, flattered by this, Ted.  Flattered.  Well, anyway.

TED
See you later.

                                  He stands up and bumps into a low table in front of the sofa.

CAROL
See you.  Oops, careful.  Whoops.

TED
Sorry.  Excuse me.

CAROL
Excuse me.

                    She watches him walking away.

EXT.  New York street - Day

MED. TRACKING SHOT of Ted walking toward us.  It's a pensive moment.

In one of the lounge windows, Carol can be seen, looking out.

A bus approaches and stops.  CAMERA ZOOMS in on the bus; behind one of the windows is Lillian House, Paul's wife who was supposed to be dead.  


She is not dead.  Her eyes are open, she's sitting up; her expression is the bored/patient/semi-relaxed one that many people have on when they are riding on public transportation.


Carol stares, an astonished look on her face.  She stands up a little, then sits back.

INT.  Lounge - Day

Full view of the room.  In the background, Carol, still seated by the window.  She stands up, picks up her purse, and starts crossing the room, bumping into people.  She reaches the staircase, and hurries downstairs.

She comes out of the building onto the sidewalk, looking around.  The bus is gone.  Carol walks toward CAMERA in a tracking shot.

INT.  Lipton apartment - Day

Larry is working in the kitchen, putting things away in cupboards.  Behind him, in the front hall, door opens and Carol enters.


She leans against the wall, still shocked by what she saw.  Larry doesn't notice that she's upset -- he keeps going around doing things, and talking to her:

LARRY
I got a great sweater at Brooks Brothers today, for Nick.

(from the sitting room) --
Really beautiful.  It's cashmere.  Very expensive.  The kid looked so handsome in it, though.  Also, I decided I'd cook dinner tonight.  My one dish -- tuna casserole.

                             He starts setting the table.

CAROL
Well, no wonder he had her cremated.

LARRY
What?

CAROL
(voice over)
Mrs. House.

LARRY
Oh, Jesus.  You're not on about Mrs. House again.  I thought we'd have a light dinner, you know, because we had a rich lunch at Twenty-One, I thought.

CAROL
Larry.

LARRY
(voice over)
What?

CAROL
I just saw Mrs. House.

LARRY
(voice over)
What are you talking about?  The ashes?

CAROL
No, no, no.  A bus.  It passed me, and she was on it!

"Central Park" by Leonid Afremov

-30-