Miller's Crossing Page #4

Leo

And they'll be right, but that ain't the point.

Call me a big-hearted slob, but I'm gonna square

it for ya.

He picks up a phone on his desk and starts to dial.

. . . Yeah, I think I'll do that, this very same

night. Looking at you moping around takes away

all my . . . What did you call it? Joy de veever.

Tom stands and walks over to the desk.

Tom

Joi de vivre.

He takes the receiver from Leo and prongs the phone.

Leo

Well look, if your gonna laugh at me, the hell

with you.

Tom walks to the door, putting an his hat.

Tom

And with you. I'll square myself with Lazarre if

you don't mind. Thats why God invented cards.

He pauses in the doorway and turns back to Leo.

. . . There is something you can do for me.

Leo

Name it.

Tom

Think about what protecting Bernie gets us.

Think about what offending Caspar loses us.

Leo chuckles good-naturedly.

Leo

Come on, Tommy, you know I don't like to think.

Tom has stepped into the hallway and, just as he closes the

door:

Tom

Yeah. Well, think about whether you should start.

The door clicks shut.

CUT TO BLACK:

2. FADE IN:

THE WOODS CREDIT SEQUENCE

Although it is day, the tree cover gives an effect of

almost cathedral-like darkness. The sun filters down

through the leaves in gently shifting patterns.

We hear only the sound of the wind and the creaking and

groaning of tree limbs in the breeze.

Head titles are supered over the dissolving series of woods

scenes.

In the last woods scene the angle is low--almost ground-

level. The sun dapples the floor of the forest, which is

carpeted with pine needles.

With a whoosh of rustling leaves the wind gusts a fedora

into frame. For a moment it lies still in the foreground,

sunlight rippling over it, making it seem almost alive.

Then the wind picks up again and the hat tumbles away from

us, end over end, in slow motion into the background,

impossibly far away until . . . it dissappears.

As we fade out, we hear a distant knocking.

3. FADE IN:

CLOSE SHOT TOM

Unshaven, eyes closed, motionless.

The head credits continue over this one-shot scene.

The knocking continues, faintly, offscreen. As we hear a

door opening we pull back to a looser shot, revealinq that

Tom is slumped back on a tired green sofa.

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