TIME
ENOUGH AT LAST
Originally
Broadcast November 20, 1959
- 1. Standard opening
- Shot of the sky...the various nebulæ and planet bodies
stand out in sharp, sparkling relief. The CAMERA has begun to PAN
DOWN until it passes the horizon and is flush on the OPENING SHOT
OF THE PLAY.
- 2. Int. Small bank [Day] Long angle shot looking
up
- Through high windows following the beams of sunlight until
we're looking eye level across the bank from the front door. Three
tellers' windows on the left, bank officers' desks on the right,
safe deposit vaults at the far end opposite the front door, flanking
the president's office. CAMERA PANS left until we're shooting toward
the first teller's window with the little sign underneath the barred
partition which reads: "Henry Bemis, Teller." DOLLY IN CLOSER until
we're shooting over the partition down on him. He's a rotund, squat,
plain-faced little man in his fifties with enormously thick glasses
which are obviously an integral part of his living. At this moment
he's making change for a customer, but on his lap is a big heavy
book open about halfway. As he counts out the change he looks down
at the book, chuckles, wets his fingers to separate bills, then
wets them again to turn the page of the book. He finishes counting
out the money.
- Bemis
- Mrs. Chesters, have you ever read David Copperfield?
- Woman
(grumpily)
- How's that?
- Bemis
- A wonderful book! Here's this poor little fellah whose
father has passed on and his mother has married a miserable man
named Murdstone. And Murdstone has this sister Jane-
- Woman
(looks up from the change he's given her to glare at him)
- Mr. Bemis! You short-changed me again. You own me one more dollar.
See? There's twenty-four here. I should have twenty-five.
Bemis peers myopically over toward the money, sorts it, then realizes
his mistake.
- Bemis
- I'm terribly sorry. I thought there were five ones there and there
are only four.
- (he hands her another bill)
- I'm really sorry, Mrs. Chesters.
- (then smiling)
- There's another character in the story named Macawber. Mr. Macawber.
He's always being taken to debtors' prison-
The woman grunts again, turns her back and starts to walk away.
- Bemis
(calls after her)
- There's a wonderful woman in it too named Peggoty. She's David's
nurse—
- 3. Med. close shot Bemis
- He sighs deeply, closes the cage drawer, goes back to poring
over the book.
- 4. Med. close shot page of book
- As seen from over his shoulder. A shadow crosses it. Bemis
switches the book so that it's back in the light. Again the shadow
crosses it. This time Bemis looks up.
- 5. Angle shot looking up toward Mr. Carsville's
face
- This is the president of the bank, a little martinet of a man
with a perpetually suspicious glint in his eye. Fastidious, insufferably
correct, and about as warm as an ice tray.
- 6. Two shot Carsville and Bemis
- Carsville
- I wonder if I might see you in my office, Mr. Bemis?
- Bemis
(gulps)
- Why...why certainly, Mr. Carsville.
- (he rises, smiles diffidently, gulps again)
- I don't suppose you ever read David Copperfield, did you,
Mr. Carsville?
- Carsville
(icily)
- No, Mr. Bemis, I have not! Now if you'll be good enough
to accompany me?
Bemis, with trepidation, puts down the book and starts to follow the
bank president past the other two tellers, who immediately busy themselves
at their jobs.
- 7. Angle shot looking down at Bemis
- As he walks toward the office.
- Narrator's voice
- The time is the day after tomorrow; the place is anywhere so long
as it can accommodate a bank, a main street, and a library - along
with a myopic little man named Henry Bemis who has only one passion
in life and that is to read.
- (a pause)
- Mr. Henry Bemis - conspired against by brow-beaters and hen-peckers
and by clocks whose hands waggle disapprovingly at him and always
disallow the moments he'd love to use to read what he would.
- (a pause)
- In a moment from now, however, Mr. Bemis will have his chance
to read in a world much different than the one he knows - a world
without clocks or bank presidents; a world for that matter, without
anyone!
- 8. Med. close shot door to president's office
- As the two men arrive. Carsville opens the door, motions Bemis
in, then squares his small shoulders, goes in behind him, and slams
the door.
CUT TO BLACK:
OPENING BILLBOARD
FIRST COMMERCIAL
FADE ON:
- 9. Int. Carsville's office [Day]
- The bank president sits behind a giant, extravagantly neat
desk where everything is in carefully placed piles. In front of
him stands little Henry Bemis, his hands folded in front of him.
- Carsville
- Now, Mr. Bemis, I shall come to the point of our interview. I
shall arrive via the following route which is namely: what constitutes
an efficient member of this organization. Viz — a bank teller
who knows his job and performs it, i.e., an organization man who
functions within an organization! You, Mr. Bemis, do not function
within the organization. You are neither an efficient bank teller
nor a proficient employee. You are a reader, Mr. Bemis.
- Bemis
- A reader, sir?
- Carsville
- A reader. A reader of books. Of magazines. Periodicals. Newspapers.
Pamphlets. Brochures. Catalogues. Advertisements. Tracts. Ad infinitum!
When you're waiting on customers you have a book in your lap. When
you're making the daily tally sheets, one eye is on a printed page.
I see you constantly going down into the vault downstairs during
your lunch hour. Do you know how I became president of this bank,
Mr. Bemis? I was a teller once myself, you know. Thirteen years
a teller, I'm proud to say. Became a bank president because I would
spend my lunch hour in the following manner. Five minutes sandwich.
Two minutes milk. One minute cookie. Fifty-two minutes spent learning
of banking and finance. Practicing adding up figures. Subtracting.
Dividing. Compounding interest. And after twenty-one years passing
through the ranks - you know how I wound up?
Bemis shakes his head miserably.
- Carsville
- I wound up as president of the bank.
- (he drums his fingers on the desk)
- Ultimatum, Mr. Bemis. You will henceforth devote your time to
your job and forget reading - or you'll find yourself outdoors
on a park bench reading from morning to night - for want of having
a job! Do I make myself perfectly clear?
- Bemis
(nods humbly)
- Yes, sir, you do. It's just that-
- Carsville
(impatiently)
- Just that what, Bemis? Make it quick and then get back to your
cage.
- Bemis
(forlornly, softly)
- It's just that...my wife doesn't allow me to read at home. When
I come home at night and pick up the paper, she yanks it out of
my hand. After dinner when I try to look at a magazine, she hides
them. It's gotten so that...I find myself trying to read the labels
on condiment bottles on the dinner table. Now she won't even let
me use catsup.
- Carsville
- Unasked I give you my reaction to this. Your wife is an amazingly
bright woman. I remember last November you spent the better part
of the days reading campaign buttons on customer's lapels. You'll
recall, Mr. Bemis, the young woman who took considerable offense
at this and tried to hit you with the umbrella.
- Bemis
(unhappily)
- I remember that very well, Mr. Carsville. She never gave me a
chance to tell her that I was only looking at who she was voting
for.
- Carsville
(rises and turns his back, folds his hands behind him)
- Good day, Mr. Bemis.
- Bemis
(sighs)
- Good day, Mr. Carsville.
- 10. Track shot
- As he turns and starts toward the door. He pauses momentarily
by a table near the door that has some magazines on it. He tilts
his head so that he can read the cover of one of the magazines.
- 11. Different angle Mr. Carsville
- Who looks over his shoulder, clears his throat warningly. Bemis
hurriedly takes his eyes off the magazines, smiles a little sick,
and then hurries out of the office.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 12. Int. Bemis living room [Day]
- SLOW PAN SHOT ACROSS THE ROOM, which is small, tidy, and antiseptically
unattractive, as if furnished by a woman yoga whose basic tenant
of living is self-denial. The CAMERA WINDS UP ITS PAN on a shot
of Mr. Bemis sitting in the corner of the room with a newspaper.
His wife's voice pierces the quiet.
- Helen's voice
- Henry? HEN—RY?
Bemis puts the paper down and forces a smile.
- Bemis
- Yes, dear, I'm in the living room.
- 13. Full shot the room
- As Helen enters. This is a woman in severe clothes and severe
shoes and a severe face. She strides purposefully over to Henry,
back hands the paper out of his hands.
- Helen
- Do you want more coffee or don't you?
- Bemis
(shakes his head)
- No thank you, dear.
- Helen
- Then tell me that and don't sneak off into the living room to
bury yourself in newsprint! I think we've gone over this quite
enough, Henry. I won't countenance a husband of mine sacrificing
the art of conversation-
- (she stops, staring at him)
- All right! What's so funny?
- Bemis
- Nothing dear. It's just that that sounded sort of funny. A husband
of yours.
- (smiles)
- How many husbands have you had? I'm the only one.
- Helen
(throws the paper aside)
- I would appreciate that not being rubbed in! We're playing cards
tonight. I want you to change your shirt.
- Bemis
- Cards?
- Helen
(challengingly, ready to pounce)
- That's quite right - cards! We're going over to the Phillips'
house.
- (a pause)
- Well, Henry? Anything to say?
- Bemis
(looks up at her tiredly, takes off his glasses and puts them aside,
rubs his eyes)
- No, dear. Nothing to say. What time are we due there?
- Helen
- In about fifteen minutes. That's why I want you to change your
shirt. Try to look at least remotely respectable!
- 14. Med. close shot Henry
- As with open and blind eyes he feels around for the glasses.
- 15. Close shot Helen
- As she watches him, just a suggestion of some strange and almost
malevolent enjoyment of his disability.
- 16. Close shot Henry's hand
- As it gets close to the glasses.
- 17. Close shot Helen's hand
- As it moves them away.
- 18. Close shot Henry
- As he finally reaches them, picks them up, puts them on. He
looks up smiling at Helen.
- Henry
- I'll be ready, dear.
Helen stares at him again with an undisguised dislike. She whirls
around and walks out of the room.
- Helen
(over her shoulder)
- See that you are!
- 19. Full shot the room
- As Henry rises, starts to walk out, suddenly stops, bites his
lip in deep concentration, cranes his neck to look off into the
foyer and the distant dining room to make sure he's not being watched.
Then he goes over almost on tiptoe to the corner of the room to
a small end table, opens the drawer, feels deep into the back of
the drawer, and takes out a small pocket book. We can see its cover
which reads, "A Book of Modern Poetry." He looks at the cover and
smiles, puts it under his coat, then starts to walk out of the
living room.
- 20. Flash shot Helen
- As he almost bumps into her. She stands towering over him like
a prison guard.
- 21. Two shot
- Helen
(in a very soft voice)
- Henry?
- Bemis
(forces a smile)
- Yes, my dear?
- Helen
- What have you got, Henry?
- Bemis
- Got?
- Helen
- Got.
- Bemis
- Why nothing, dear—
Helen reaches in almost gleefully to take out the small pocket book
hidden in his coat.
- Helen
- What's this, Henry?
- Bemis
- That?
- Helen
(nods)
- This.
- Bemis
- That's odd. How did that get there?
- Helen
- I could only hazard a guess.
- (she looks at the cover and reads)
- "A Book of Modern Poetry."
- (a pause)
- Yours, Henry?
Bemis nods miserably.
- Helen
- Would you like to read me some, Henry?
- Bemis
(his eyes go bright)
- Read you some? Aloud? From the book?
- Helen
- Do you want to?
Bemis takes the book from her proffered hand.
- Bemis
- Why...why, Helen, I'd be delighted to. This has lovely things
in it, really. There's one or two from Longfellow. Edna St. Vincent
Millay. Robert Frost. Carl Sandburg-
- 22. Med. close shot the book in his hand
- As with shaking, excited fingers he starts to open it.
- 23. Extremely tight close shot first page
- And then all the others as he turns them. Each one has been
criss-crossed with a black pencil so that none of the writing can
be seen. He turns page after page. CAMERA PULLS BACK for a MEDIUM
SHOT of Bemis with his stricken white face under the thick glasses.
- Bemis
- Helen? Who did that?
- Helen
- Who do you think did it, Henry? You should thank me, really! A
grown man who reads silly, ridiculous, nonsensical doggerel!
- Bemis
- It isn't doggerel! There were some beautiful things here-
- Helen
- I say it's doggerel. I also say it's a waste of time.
She grabs the book from him, rips at it with her hands, tearing out
pages that flutter out. Bemis goes down on his knees, grappling for the
pages.
- Bemis
- Helen, please. Please, don't—
She continues to rip at the book and the pages continue to flutter
down. His glasses slip off and once again he's left groping in a world
without sight.
- 24. Angle shot looking up at Helen
- Her face distorted with dislike. PAN SHOT down to her foot
which is very close to the glasses. We can see his hand nearby
groping over the floor looking for them.
- 25. Close shot her foot again
- As it moves over to step on the glasses.
- 26. Angle shot looking up at her face
- Willful, purposeful, evil.
- 27. Close shot the foot
- As it's about to come down on the glasses. Just at this moment
Henry's hand finds them, retrieves them.
- 28. Angle shot looking down on him
- As he puts the glasses on and looks up at her.
- 29. Reverse angle looking down at him tight
on his face Helen's p.o.v.
- He rises very slowly, stares at the woman.
- Bemis
(in a low voice)
- Why, Helen? Why do you do these things?
- Helen
- Because I'm married to a fool.
- Bemis
- There'll come a time, Helen. There'll come a moment when—
He leaves the rest unsaid.
- Helen
(challengingly, ugly)
- When what, Henry?
- Bemis
- When I'll be forced to pay you back for twenty years of indignities,
and cruelties, and misery-
Helen throws back her head and laughs, a shrill, piercing, grating
laugh which goes on for a moment then suddenly seems to die in her throat
as she stares at the intense face of the little man in front of her and
for the first time a look of concern crosses her face which boarders
on fear. Bemis goes down and picks up the rest of the pages, crumples
them up in his hand, carries them over to a waste basket, puts them in.
Then he starts out the room.
- Helen
- Henry—!
He stops but keeps his back to her.
- Helen
- Are you going to change your shirt now? We've only got a few minutes.
Bemis slowly turns toward her.
- Bemis
- I'm going to bed, Helen. I learned those poems by heart. I'm going
to bed and say them to myself. And you can't vandalize what's inside
my mind. You can't climb in there and pencil out some beautiful
language.
He turns and goes out of the room.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 30. Int. Bank [Day] Close shot clock on wall
- Which is just striking noon. PAN SHOT down the wall to a LONG
ANGLE SHOT of Bemis at his cage as he looks up at the clock, pulls
down the cage window, puts out a sign which reads: "Next window
please," takes a small lunch bag, pulls a book out from the back
of a drawer, walks slowly past the cages over to the vault entrance.
- 31. Med. close shot vault entrance
- A large, heavy sealed door that is partly opened. Bemis slips
in behind.
- 32. Angle shot looking down stairway leading
to vault
- As he very slowly walks down.
CUT TO:
- 33. Int. Vault room
- Flanked and crowded by safe deposit boxes, et al. Bemis sits
on the floor, adjusts his glasses, opens up the bag, starts to
gnaw on a sandwich while he reads, voraciously, delightedly, all-consumingly.
- 34.-37. Different angles Bemis
- As he eats and reads. First a small book, then a newspaper,
then a pamphlet.
- 38. Med. close shot newspaper
- That he's laid aside neatly as his feet. The headline stares
up. It reads, "'H Bomb would mean total destruction,' says scientist."
- 39. Angle shot looking over Bemis's shoulder
- Toward newspaper.
- 40. Close shot Bemis
- As he takes out a pocket watch, looks at it, puts it alongside
in view.
- 41. Different angle Bemis
- Looking toward him from the newspaper so that both the headline
and Bemis's face are visible.
- 42. Pan shot across the floor
- Over the newspaper toward the watch. At this moment there's
a loud rumble that grows and grows and grows until suddenly it's
an earsplitting, detonating, all-consuming, giant moment of thunder.
- 43. Extremely tight close shot pocket watch
- As the glass over its face cracks.
- 44. Extremely tight close shot newspaper
- As suddenly dust and plaster start to drip on it.
- 45. Close shot Bemis
- As his eyes beneath the thick glasses suddenly look up startled.
The walls and floor start to shake. Cracks appear. Bemis slowly
inches to his feet very alarmed now. He goes to the door and starts
to open it. He wrenches it to get it open.
- 46. Med. long shot over his shoulder
- Toward the open door and the foot of the stairway as a huge
flash of light and noise blasts him back.
- 47. Angle shot looking down on floor
- As Bemis lands head first back into the room, dust and plaster
falling on him.
- 48. Angle shot looking down at him
- As he lies motionless on the floor.
FADE TO BLACK:
END ACT ONE
ACT TWO
FADE ON:
- 49. Int. Vault high hat shot looking across
floor
- At Bemis who awakens from unconsciousness, struggles to his
hands and knees, touches his glasses, which hang askew off one
ear, then rises blindly, groping, not completely with it yet.
- 50. Moving shot with him
- As he gets up on his feet, stumbles over to the now smashed
open door, which hangs on half a hinge, walks up the debris-and-dust
covered stairway.
CUT TO:
- 51. Different angle as he reaches the top
- Stands there looking out toward what should be the interior
of the bank.
CUT TO:
- 52. Reverse angle Bemis's p.o.v.
- This is the interior of the bank as seen through his myopic
eyes, distorted, hazy, and completely out of focus.
- 53. Close shot Bemis
- As with nervous trembling fingers he adjusts the glasses and
puts them on.
CUT TO:
- 54. Reverse angle again Bemis's p.o.v.
- As seen just at the moment he puts his glasses on. This is
the interior of the room, smashed beyond recognition. A gaping
hole in the wall, tellers' cages, desk, money, beams, everything
lying around in smashed heaps.
- 55. Moving shot Bemis
- As he picks his way over the rubble over toward the front door.
- 56. Different angle looking at him
- As he comes out the front door and looks slowly from side to
side.
- 57.-60. Series of shots
- Destroyed buildings, smashed beyond recognition.
- 61. Med. close shot Bemis
- As he takes a few steps across a concrete sidewalk and sits
on what is left of a curb. He looks to one side.
- 62. Pan shot across the sidewalk
- To what is left of a newspaper stand. A torn and battered newspaper
lies face up on the sidewalk, just a remnant of its headline remaining.
It reads: "H Bomb"
- 63.-66. Different angles flash shots of the
headline
- 67. Extremely close shot Bemis
- As he buries his face in his hands. CAMERA PULLS BACK until
it's shooting long on Bemis, a tiny, solitary figure of a man sitting
in front of rubble.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 68. Ext. Street Bemis
- He comes out from behind a corner looking around and over his
shoulder up to the sky, past rubbish and debris, as he walks toward
the camera. He suddenly stops dead, looking across at something.
- 69. Pan shot over the rubble
- To the remnants of a glass outdoor phone booth. About one pane
of glass remains unscathed.
- 70. Different angle Bemis
- As he walks over to it. En route he sees its door lying off
to one side. He slowly enters the booth and almost as if in a trance
lifts up the receiver, dials a number. There's absolutely no sound
in the receiver. He puts the receiver back on the hook, turns and
stands framed in the entrance to the booth, looking out at the
nothingness that surrounds him.
- 71. Med. close shot
- As he touches a bruise on his head, looks down at his fingers.
- 72. Shot over his shoulder toward phone booth
- As suddenly the phone falls to the ground with a clatter of
broken glass. An odd sound of a bell which is like a death knell.
- 73. Med. shot Bemis
- Bemis
(very softly)
- They're all dead. They must be. Everybody's dead.
- (a pause as he thinks)
- Except me. I'm all right.
- (another pause)
- Why am I all right? I was right in the middle of-
- (he stops abruptly)
- The vault. I was down in the vault. That's why I'm alive - because
I was down in the vault.
- (another pause as he takes a step out of the booth)
- The thing of it is, though...the thing of it is...I'm not at all
sure I want to be alive.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 74. Int. Bank long shot looking down
- Past the destroyed tellers' windows at Bemis as he walks the
same route he's taken so many times toward Carsville's office.
He pauses by his own cage, bends over, and picks out his sign,
which is warped and bent. He stares down at it, then throws it
aside.
- 75. Track shot with him
- As he walks toward Carsville's office. He reaches the closed
door, tries it, then pushes in on it and it gives way under his
pressure to fall on the ground.
CUT TO:
- 76. Int. Carsville's office
- Very little of it remains, except a section of the desk which
has been thrown as if by some giant hand to a corner of the room
to stand crazily on one end. Suddenly Bemis starts, as the sound
of a voice is heard.
- Carsville's voice
- And so, ladies and gentlemen, members of the Interstate Banking
Association, I can only tell you that an adherence to duty...a
constant remembrance that a bank, like a political office, is a
public trust...and a sense of loyalty and devotion to duty is what
makes a bank great. These things are of the essence. These things
are basic above all things. Just the qualities I've mentioned already.
There's a pause as Bemis takes a frightened, almost nightmarish, compelled
walk over to the desk.
- 77. Angle shot looking over the desk
- There's a lifeless hand holding onto the microphone of a battery
operated dictaphone.
- 78. Pan shot over to the dictaphone
- It still runs.
- Voice
- That's my speech for the Thursday night banquet, Miss Jackson.
Would you type that up in triplicate for me?
- (then the voice suddenly takes on a kind of dead repetitious tone)
- Would you type that up in triplicate for me? Would you type that
up in triplicate for me? Would you type that up in triplicate for
me?
- 79. Different angle the dictaphone
- As it suddenly bursts apart.
- 80. Angle shot looking from behind the desk
- Up toward Bemis's face as he closes his eyes at the horror
of what he's looking at, stumbles backwards across the room and
then out the door.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 81. Ext. Street shadow of Bemis
- As he walks. CAMERA PULLS BACK for shot of him as he steps
up a row of concrete steps that lead to nothing except a yard full
of debris.
CUT TO:
- 82. Angle shot looking down at his feet
- As he bends over and extricates a mailbox torn in half. The
name "Bemis" is on it. He stares at it very thoughtfully for a
long moment, then looks up and around and illogically, wildly,
calls out.
- Bemis
- Helen? Helen, where are you?
He walks back down the steps, skirts them and walks over to a large
hole.
CUT TO:
- 83. Reverse angle looking from the hole up
toward him
- As once again he shudders at what he sees, then backs away.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 84.-87. Series of walking shots different
angles Bemis's feet
- They pass signs on the ground which read, "Post Office," "Dime
a Dance," "Bijou Theatre."
DISSOLVE TO:
- 88. Ext. Street [Day] Long shot looking through
the facade of what was a grocery store
- Half of the sign remains on the remnant of the window. On the
other side, on the high shelves laden with canned food, sits Henry
Bemis, an open, half-eaten can of soup lies to one side, a can
of beer to the other. He sits there, leaning against one of the
counters, staring off at nothing. He reaches down to pull out his
watch, pats for it, then realizes he doesn't have it. Then he smiles
sadly.
- Bemis
- Maybe I can pick up a new watch. Maybe I can find a jewelry store.
- (then he looks up at the canned food)
- I won't starve to death anyway. Lots of food. It'll last for years.
For years and years. All the food I can eat. All the food and then
some.
He takes a deep breath, puts his head back, closes his eyes, takes
off his glasses, and then very slowly drops off to sleep.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 89. Ext. Destroyed street [Night] Pan shot
down sidewalk
- Until we're once again shooting in toward the grocery store.
Candles have been lit and Bemis sits on a packing crate, reading
the torn fragment of a newspaper. He lays it aside, goes over to
a shelf, takes out a carton of cigarettes, opens up a pack, lights
the cigarette on one of the candles. Then he sits back down on
the crate, takes a deep drag on the cigarette, looks at the smoke
as it streams out into the quiet night air. Then he rises again,
goes over to a box of cigars, takes a handful and puts them in
his pocket. He sees a box full of pipes, empties it on the top
of the crate, selects one, puts that in his pocket, too. Then he
crosses over to stand at the broken window staring out into the
street.
- 90. Reverse angle looking toward Bemis
- From the sidewalk.
- Bemis
(reflectively, with little emotion)
- The worst thing...the worst thing. Is being alone.
- (a pause)
- Is this the way it's going to be? I mean...I mean will it be just
sitting here on a box and eating and smoking cigarettes and reading
the same half of a newspaper over and over again?
He reaches up and rubs his face, feeling the tremendous sense of depression
that suddenly weighs over him. He retraces his steps back into what was
left of the store, blows out the candles, then turns and walks out the
skeleton door frame and out onto the street.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 91.-94. Series of moving shots Bemis walking
night and then day
- SUPERIMPOSE pics of destroyed buildings.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 95. Ext. Street Bemis
- He lies on what was once a couch that has been flung onto the
sidewalk by the explosion. He opens his eyes, blinks up at the
sun, rises, dusting himself off, straightens his tie, succumbing
to a habit of a lifetime, and then sort of smiles at himself, realizing
what he's done. He pauses, looking off across the street.
- 96. Pan shot over to a convertible
- That lies practically unscathed at the curb.
- 97. Reverse angle Bemis
- As he smiles a little excitedly.
- 98. Angle shot looking down
- As he runs over to the car.
- 99. Med. close shot car
- As he gets in, honks the horn, turns the key. For a moment
the engine seems to start and take, then dies down. He tries to
start it over and over again. Nothing happens. He leans against
the horn, his eyes close for a moment, then gets out of the car
and starts back toward the other side of the street. Again he stops.
- 100. Close shot his foot
- As it kicks away some debris to reveal a sign which reads,
"Sporting Goods." His eyes go up, looking toward a display case
that's been turned over on its side. He goes over to it, wrestles
with it, finally turns it over. It lands with a crash of broken
glass.
- 101. Med. close shot open display case
- In it are guns and ammunition.
- 102. Close shot Bemis's hand
- As he reaches in for a revolver, takes it out.
- 103. Med. close shot Bemis
- As he sits on the remnant of a curb and starts to examine the
gun. He lays it down at his side, stares forlornly out in front
of him.
- 104. Different angle Bemis's face
- As gradually we see a resolution taking form. Once again his
hand reaches for the gun. He picks it up and studies it again.
- Bemis
- If it just weren't for the loneliness...for the sameness. If there
was just something to do. Just something to do.
- (another silence)
- I'm sure I could be forgiven for this. The way things are...I
know I could be forgiven...
The CAMERA PANS OVER to a shadow on the road. We see the gun in his
hand. Slowly rising in an arc toward his head then suddenly stop. The
hand goes down. The gun falls to the ground.
- 105. Flash shot the gun
- As it lands on the ground.
- 106. Pan shot across the ground
- To a set of concrete steps covered by the remnants of a large
sign.
- 107. High hat shot
- Looking toward Bemis as he runs toward the camera.
CUT TO:
- 108. Extremely tight close shot sign
- As Bemis suddenly hovers over it. The sign reads: "Public Library."
- 109. Long angle shot looking down
- From a high stack of books at Bemis as he stares up in silent
amazed, fascinated wonderment.
- 110.-112. Different angles Bemis
- Walking through the bookshelves.
- Bemis
(as he walks)
- Collected Works of Shakespeare. Complete Works of Dickens. Collected
Plays of G.B. Shaw. Poems of Browning...Shelly, Keats. Great Dramas
of the World.
- 113. Close shot Bemis
- As he stands at the bottom of one of the high racks and suddenly
in exultation pounds at it, screaming.
- Bemis
- Books. Books. All the books I need. All the books I want.
Several books topple over to land near him and he continues to pound
and shake, laughing, crying.
- Bemis
- Keats. Shelly. Shakespeare. Shaw. Books.
DISSOLVE TO:
- 114. Ext. Library [Day] Long shot Bemis
- As he comes out from the center of a corridor carrying an armload
of books. The CAMERA PULLS BACK to take in a shot of row upon row
of books spread out in a line put there by Bemis in neat stacks.
- 115. Moving shot Bemis
- As he walks from stack to stack. He sings songs as he goes
past each stack hitting the top book.
- Bemis
- January. February. March. April. May. This year. Next year. Year
after. Year after that.
He stops at the last stack of books, turns to survey the long line
of stacks and then hesitantly, almost fearfully, he reaches for the first
book, holds it in his hand for a moment, feels it, fondles it, then he
tucks it under his arm and walks over to the steps and sits down. His
eyes scan the rows of books that we see behind him, then down to the
pavement a few feet below him where there is a half-cracked clock lying
face up. He puts the book down, rises, goes over to stand over the clock,
smiles down at it.
- Bemis
- And the best part...the very best part...there's time now. There's
all the time I need. All the time I want. There's time enough at
last.
He retraces his footsteps back over to the steps, sits down, leans
against a pillar, looks down at the book, which lies open to its first
page. He bends over to pick it up.
- 116. Extremely tight close shot his glasses
- As they fall on the steps and break.
- 117. Extremely tight close shot
- Looking up toward Bemis from the ground. The look on his face
could only be described as that of a man suddenly beset by a demon.
First horror, then fear, then a sick, all-pervading sadness and
realization.
- 118. Reverse angle Bemis's p.o.v.
- The book and broken glasses, distorted, fuzzy out of focus
as his hand comes out from behind the camera, groping, touches
the glasses, feels of them, and then lets them drop. Then the hand
gropes over to the book, picks it up, holds it out in front of
him. The page is blurred.
- 119. Different angle Bemis
- Tears roll down his face. He slowly rises, the book clutched
in his hands. The CAMERA STARTS A SLOW DOLLY away from him as he
stands there all by himself amid the books, crying.
- Bemis
- It isn't fair. It isn't fair at all. There was time now. There
was all the time I needed. It isn't fair...it isn't fair...
The CAMERA CONTINUES its dolly back until we're on a tableau of the
tiny figure of a man and the echo of his voice crying in the silence,
the rubble, the loneliness. Over this tableau we hear the NARRATOR'S
VOICE.
- Narrator's voice
- The best laid plans of mice and men...and Henry Bemis. The small
man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Nothing but a moment
out of an eon of moments. Nothing but an instant out of an eternity.
Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape. Just a piece
of the rubble. Just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself.
Mr. Henry Bemis...in the Twilight Zone.
Fade to black.
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