Mission: Impossible Page #3

INT. JET - DAY

-- and come out on another wedding ring, this one on a MAN's

finger. One of several he's drumming on an arm rest in the

plush first class cabin of a commercial airliner. He shoves

some money into his wallet, and as he does so we catch a

fleeting glimpse of a photograph of CLAIRE.

The pilot's voice makes an announcement.

VOICE (O.S.)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have leveled off

at our cruising altitude of thirty-eight

thousand feet-and we should be arriving

in Prague right on schedule.

A FLIGHT ATTENDANT makes her way between the seats, passing

out menus.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT

Would you like to watch a movie Mr Rosen?

A passenger takes one. The ATTENDANT continues on.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT

(CONT'D)

Would you like to watch a movie Mr

Phelps?

The MAN with the wedding ring looks up. JIM PHELPS is in his

mid-forties, good-looking, intense. He's a tired man, and

not just now, it's a profound fatigue. He looks up at the

ATTENDANT and smiles warmly.

PHELPS:

No, I prefer the theatre.

A look crosses the FLIGHT ATTENDANT'S face; her tone becomes

stilted.

FLIGHT ATTENDANT

Would you consider the cinema of the

Ukraine?

PHELPS:

Perhaps you'd choose one for me.

The ATTENDANT turns and walks away. PHELPS sits back, shakes

a cigarette out of a pack, and taps it nervously on the

armrest.

AT THE FRONT OF THE CABIN.

The FLIGHT ATTENDANT opens a case loaded with video 8

cassettes of feature films. She opens a panel in the top of

the case and withdraws a tape hidden back there.

BACK AT PHELPS' SEAT

The ATTENDANT returns with the tape and hands it to PHELPS.

He takes it without a word and she moves on.

PHELPS reaches down and turns a lever on the support between

his seat and the empty one beside him. He flips up a small

movie screen and angles it toward himself, away from the

other passengers. He puts on a headset, opens a door in the

armrest, and puts the tape in.

He presses play.

ON THE TAPE,

the image of a man comes on. EUGENE KITTRIDGE is fortyish,

but seems permanently stuck in the Nixon era -- horn rimmed

glasses, short short haircut, rather be caught dead than

tieless. But if he catches your eye, he will never, ever

look away. He's seated at a desk, looking into the camera.

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