What is this from?
Posted on | August 14, 2004 at 3:32 pm | 3 Comments
I’ve wracked my brain and I just can’t figure out what movie (or TV show?) the following scene is from. I want to use something similar to it in my screenplay, but I don’t want to plagiarize. So, if someone could let me know, I’d appreciate it. The scene is set in an office. The authority figure is a portly African-American gentleman and the other guy is a youngish, athletic turk. I don’t remember their names (or exactly where they worked), so I’m making up my own names. The dialog is paraphrased.
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: Muchonski, get in here!
COP/REPORTER: Yeah, Chief?
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: Did you go behind my back and keep investigating the IntylliCorp case/story after I told you to back off?
COP/REPORTER: Who told you that, Chief?
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: No one told me, Mike! I saw your car accident in the IntylliCorp parking garage on the six o’clock news!
COP/REPORTER: Chief, I can explain… the chemicals that IntylliCorp is putting in everyone’s scones (points to half-eaten biscuit on the chief’s desk) is causing the population to… um, leave the toilet seat up, and… um, vote Republican. The Head Dietitian at IntylliCorp was murdered because she…
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: Stop right there, Mike! You’ve told me all this before, and it doesn’t sound any more plausible now than it did then. Did I or did I not tell you to abandon this case/story?
COP/REPORTER: But Chief… people, including your grandmother, are dying out there because…
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: MIKE! What did I tell you?
COP/REPORTER: To find another case/story.
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: And what did you do?
COP/REPORTER: I kept pursuing the IntylliCorp case/story anyway. But I have proof…!
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: Mike, I know we’ve been down this road before and you’ve always proven yourself in the past, and what you’ve found out will undoubtedly prove to be true, but I’m under pressure from the CEO of IntylliCorp, as well as by the Mayor/Owner, to get you off this case/story. Hand me your badge & gun/press pass & pen. You’re suspended!
COP/REPORTER: But Chief!
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: NOW, Mike!
COP/REPORTER throws tools of trade on the desk and storms out.
COP/REPORTER (looking back): You’re going to regret this, Chief!
POLICE CAPTAIN/NEWSPAPER EDITOR: Yes, yes, I know I will.
CO-WORKER to COP/REPORTER: What are you going to do now, Mike?
COP/REPORTER: I’m going to my girlfriend’s, and then I’m going to turn this city upside down!
That’s about it. I just can’t figure out where I’ve seen it before. Thanks.
Latre.
Comments
3 Responses to “What is this from?”
August 14th, 2004 @ 3:40 pm
It sounds like the opening of Act 2 in "The Sound of Music" to me.
Say, what are you going to use to write your screenplay? Hollywood is a "Final Draft" town, lock-stock’n a couple of smokin ones… that’s been my life for the past couple of weeks, trying to get Final Draft to run under Linux (via emulation or VMware or whatever). It’s little more than a customized version of MS-Word, really, but it’s got some mangy copy protection which means you have to have the CD in the drive when you launch it or it won’t save documents. So it’ll install and run under the standard Windows emulator, but it doesn’t see the CD in the way it expects to (?). And under VMware, it works great (albiet slower) but I’ve yet to crack the problem of how to get it to link to the files on my Windows box, which is where the woyf’s scripts are still kept… ’tis a dilly of a pickle, but I’m learning a lot – I just hope it’s stuff that’ll be useful later, somehow.
Anyway, re: your above scene – sometimes the authority figure is white, and I remember at least one time when he was relatively physically fit and it was the reporter who was a down-on-his-luck wreck… my two favorite versions of the scene would have to be Elliot Gould’s in "Capricorn One" and Arnold’s in "Last Action Hero", but I’m a sucker for cameos and referential humor and both of them used it.
August 14th, 2004 @ 4:07 pm
I’d say that only about 5% of the time is the authority figure white…
I don’t have any screenplay software yet. What’s the buzz on Movie Magic Screenwriter? I can get a discount on it from Project Greenlight.
August 14th, 2004 @ 5:27 pm
Never heard anything about any other screenwriting program, to tell you the truth. All I know is, if you submit something other than ‘Final Draft’ format to the bigshots around here, it’s like offering them a resume written in crayon.
But there’s lots of venues outside of mainstream Hollywood. Aren’t there? Somewhere… there must be… please? It seems – I remember, once long ago, there were… other places, like – cities, or even countries. (and I mean, besides the beach) Wasn’t there a New York? The world didn’t used to be bounded by Hollywood Blvd and Melrose, I’m nearly sure!