Screenplay by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA NOMINEE BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY WES ANDERSON & ROMAN COPPOLA ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY WES ANDERSON & ROMAN COPPOLA BAFTA AWARD NOMINEE BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY WES ANDERSON & ROMAN COPPOLA SPIRIT AWARD NOMINEE BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY WES ANDERSON & ROMAN COPPOLA INT. BISHOP’S HOUSE. DAY sea is almost invisible in the misting rain, and the mainland is a shadow across the sound. Suzy sits in the high A landing at the top of a crooked, wooden staircase. There window, watching. is a threadbare, braided rug on the floor. There is a long, wide corridor decorated with faded paintings of sailboats TITLES OVER: and battleships. The wallpapers are sun-bleached and peeling at the corners except for a few newly-hung strips which are The family stuck indoors all day out of the rain. clean and bright. A small easel sits stored in the corner. In bedrooms, bathrooms, and corridors, we see the boys. They Outside, a hard rain falls, drumming the roof and rattling shoot marbles. They throw jacks. They play cards. They eat the gutters. grilled cheese sandwiches together in the kitchen. A ten-year-old boy in pajamas comes up the steps carefully In half-open doorways, we see the parents. Mr. Bishop is a eating a bowl of cereal as he walks. He is Lionel. Lionel tall, fifty-year-old man in Madras trousers and horn-rimmed slides open the door to a low cabinet under the window. He glasses. He reads the newspaper and drinks coffee. Mrs. takes out a portable record player, puts a disc on the Bishop is a tan, forty-five-year-old woman in a Lilly turntable, and sets the needle into the spinning groove. Pulitzer-type wrap-around skirt. She washes her hair, topless, in the kitchen sink. A child’s voice says over the speaker: In windows, we see Suzy with her binoculars. She watches wet RECORD PLAYER (V.O.) branches shaking in the woods. She watches a man in a In order to show you how a big symphony slicker fishing from a row-boat. She watches a white colt in orchestra is put together, Benjamin Britten a field. She eats a bowl of tomato soup alone in the pantry. has written a big piece of music, which is made up of smaller pieces that show you all In the distance, a seaplane flies by below the clouds. the separate parts of the orchestra. CUT TO: As Lionel listens, three other children wander out of their bedrooms and down to the landing. The edge of a cliff above a white beach. A rocky peninsula curls into the background. Brisk wind rustles the tall The first is an eight-year-old boy in a bathrobe. He is grass. A fifty-year-old man, bald on top with long hair on Murray. The second is a nine-year-old boy in white boxer the sides, stands next to a surveyor’s levelling instrument shorts and a white undershirt. He is Rudy. The third is a on a tripod. He wears rubber boots and a parka. He is the twelve-year-old girl in a cardigan sweater with knee-high narrator. He speaks to the camera: socks and brightly polished, patent-leather shoes. She is Suzy. She carries a one-month-old striped kitten. The boys drop down to the floor next to their brother. They lie on their stomachs with their chins propped up on their fists, listening. Suzy sits in the windowsill. She opens a book called Shelly and the Secret Universe. There is an illustration on the cover of a young gymnast with a glowing amulet around her neck. Suzy starts to read -- then pauses. She lowers her book. She raises a pair of junior binoculars to her eyes. She looks out into the rain. EXT. BISHOP’S HOUSE. DAY A rickety, three-story, stone-and-shingle house on a hillside with turrets and a widow’s walk. A weather vane swings creaking on the roof. Tree tops sway in a cluster below. The 8 9 NARRATOR GADGE This is the island of New Penzance. Sixteen Morning, sir. miles long. Forested with old-growth pine and maple. Criss-crossed by shallow tidal creeks. Gadge flips open a small, spiral-bound note-book. Scout An important seabird habitat. There are no Master Ward goes over to a latrine made from thick sticks paved roads but instead many miles of and rope. A tall, stooped scout digs a trench next to it intersecting foot paths and dirt trails and a with an army-shovel. He is Deluca. ferry that runs twice daily from Stone Cove. The year is 1965. We are on the far edge of SCOUT MASTER WARD Black Beacon Sound, famous for the ferocious Deluca. Latrine inspection. and well-documented storm which will strike from the east on the fifth of September -- in Deluca stops digging. He pulls on a rope and water runs down three day’s time. a chute. It bursts through a valve, spins a little door, and a small, red flag flips up. Scout Master Ward nods. SCOUT MASTER WARD Good. Gadge makes a note. Scout Master Ward strides away. He stops in front of a scout with long hair over his eyes sitting on a stump twisting something in his fingers. He is Roosevelt. SCOUT MASTER WARD Roosevelt. How’s that lanyard coming? ROOSEVELT (frustrated) I don’t know. I think I skipped a stitch. INSERT: A small, woven, multi-colored cord with a rabbit’s foot attached to the end of it. It has been braided exceedingly badly and is brutally twisted and misshapen. Scout Master Ward studies the lanyard briefly. He looks perplexed. He pats Roosevelt on the back gently and does a secret handshake with him. Gadge makes a note. Scout Master Ward EXT. SCOUT CAMP. DAY strides away. A clearing in the woods with ten small, khaki tents pitched An off-road motorcycle races by in the background behind the in a row. A banner on a flag-pole ripples in the wind. It tents. It jumps a mound of dirt, kicks sideways in the air, reads Camp Ivanhoe. A bugler in a khaki uniform with a and revs away riding a wheelie. Scout Master Ward frowns. yellow neckerchief plays a staccato tattoo. He has a gauze patch over one eye. He is Lazy-Eye. Scout Master Ward stops in front of a pile of boards and logs stacked six feet high. A thick-set scout with black A thirty-five-year-old man in the same uniform emerges hair and a crooked tooth approaches with more logs in his through the flaps of a larger tent. He is Scout Master Ward. arms. He is Skotak. He puts on a wide-brimmed felt hat. A badge on the crown reads Khaki Scouts, Troop 55. He lights a cigarette. A thin SCOUT MASTER WARD scout with curly hair and sunglasses joins him at his side. Skotak. What’s all this lumber for? He is Gadge. SKOTAK SCOUT MASTER WARD (cheerily) Morning, Gadge. We’re building a tree house. 12 13 Skotak points up. Scout Master Ward squints. There is a small platform under construction about sixty feet above them. Two scouts are sawing something in half on it. Scout Master Ward looks astonished. SCOUT MASTER WARD That’s not a safe altitude. Scout Master Ward circles around the trunk while looking up at the tree house. He stammers: SCOUT MASTER WARD Why’s it up so high? If somebody falls -- it’s a guaranteed death. SKOTAK Well, where would you’ve built it? SCOUT MASTER WARD (pause) Lower! Gadge makes a note. Skotak looks sheepish. Scout Master Ward strides away. He stops in front of a very small scout with tiny eyes poking at an anthill with a stick. He appears to THAT’S NOT A SAFE ALTITUDE. be contemplating pouring lighter fluid on it. He is Nickleby. SCOUT MASTER WARD Nickleby. Spot check. Nickleby stands up. He looks extremely disheveled. SCOUT MASTER WARD Your socks are down. Your shirt-tails are untucked. Your trousers are not properly pressed. You are reported for uniform violation! Gadge makes a note. Nickleby slouches. Scout Master Ward strides away. He stops in front of a work-bench covered with newspaper where one scout sifts green powder through a funnel into cardboard tubes and another makes wax stoppers with a metal press. They are Panagle and Izod. A sign on the side of the table reads No Smoking. Scout Master Ward hands his cigarette to Gadge, who holds it away at arm’s length. SCOUT MASTER WARD How many rockets you up to, Panagle? PANAGLE Sixteen and a half. SCOUT MASTER WARD (to Gadge) That enough for the Hullabaloo? 16 17 Gadge shakes his head. Scout Master Ward turns to Izod. As Scout Master Ward reads, all the scouts begin to join him one-by-one. They range in age from twelve to fifteen. They SCOUT MASTER WARD unscrew the tops of tin mess-kits and assemble folding Izod, go fetch another pint of gun-powder from utensils. The chef brings a tray of scrambled eggs to the the armory shed. table. The scouts serve themselves noisily. Izod dashes around the corner. Scout Master Ward strides Scout Master Ward starts to take a sip of coffee from a away. He shouts: metal cup -- then stops. He looks up from his magazine. SCOUT MASTER WARD SCOUT MASTER WARD Redford! Halt! Who’s missing? The motorcycle skids to a stop in front of Scout Master Scout Master Ward silently reels off a list of names, Ward, engulfing him in a thick cloud of dust. He coughs and scanning the troop. He turns and shouts across the camp: waves his arms in the air. As the smoke clears, we see that the rider is a bronze, all-American-looking boy with blond SCOUT MASTER WARD hair. He is Redford. His motorcycle has flames painted on Shakusky! Breakfast! the gas tank. He tries to cover for himself: Silence. Scout Master Ward calls to Lazy-Eye: REDFORD Safety-test, sir. SCOUT MASTER WARD Lazy-Eye. SCOUT MASTER WARD (bristling) Lazy-Eye plays another tattoo. Silence. Come again? Scout Master Ward closes his magazine. He flicks his cigarette REDFORD into a red bucket labelled Fire. He picks up a strip of The vehicle appears to be in good working bacon and chews on it as he rises to his feet and walks down order. I’m just checking if -- the row of smaller tents. The last one is sealed at the front. Scout Master Ward stands with his hands on his hips SCOUT MASTER WARD and says: (angrily) Reckless cycling. Second warning. Next SCOUT MASTER WARD time, I take away the keys. Shakusky? You in there? Gadge makes a note. Redford scowls. Scout Master Ward strides Scout Master Ward tugs on the tent’s flaps. He frowns. He away. He walks past a scout in a white apron cooking bacon says to Gadge: over a charcoal grill. He is Chef. SCOUT MASTER WARD SCOUT MASTER WARD It’s zipped from the inside. Morning, Chef. The other scouts begin to gather with their tin breakfast Chef rings a bell hanging on a post. Scout Master Ward plates in their hands, watching curiously while they eat. arrives at a long picnic table. He sits down and opens a Scout Master Ward’s voice softens: magazine called Indian Corn. There is a picture on the cover of a scout troop crossing a bridge in Indonesia. SCOUT MASTER WARD Sam? INSERT: Scout Master Ward looks concerned. He produces a wooden- The first page. A caption across the top reads Scout handled scout pocket-knife. He unfolds a few blades and Master-in-Chief. There is a drawing of a seventy-year-old gadgets and decides quickly on a thin tool with a hook on man on horseback. He has silver hair and a moustache. the end. He crouches down and slips the hook through a small A signature below reads Commander Pierce. There is a gap at the base of the flap, twists left and right, then quotation in large text: “An eagle was never hatched from a pulls up briskly, unzipping the tent. goose’s egg.” 20 21