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Scripts: Vertigo (12/Sep/1957) - part 1

                                  "VERTIGO"

                                      By

                       Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor

                               Draft 9-12-1957

        

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - CLOSE SHOT

       We see a close view of a roof parapet and the curved rail of 
       a fire escape. In the bag, are large skyscrapers with all 
       their windows fully lit in the late winter afternoon. This 
       background is used for the CREDIT TITLES of the picture.  
       After the last card has FADED OUT, we HOLD on to the empty 
       parapet, when suddenly a man's hand reaches and grips the 
       top of the rail. It is followed by another hand and, after a 
       beat, we see the face of a man in his early 30's. He is an 
       Italian type, with rough features. He turns quickly and looks 
       below him and then turning back, springs up over the empty 
       parapet and is lost from view. We STAY on the EMPTY SCENE 
       for a second or two as we HEAR the scraping of boots on the 
       iron ladder. Someone else is coming up. Presently, two more 
       hands and the head of a uniformed policeman with cap and 
       badge starts to climb over the parapet. The CAMERA PULLS 
       BACK so that by the time he has completed his climb, he is 
       in full figure. He dashes out of the picture drawing his 
       gun.  Immediately following him over the parapet, a detective 
       in plain clothes climbs over. This is JOHN FERGUSON, known 
       as SCOTTIE. He too pulls a gun and dashes out of the picture.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - LONG SHOT

       A vast panorama of the San Francisco skyline. Nearer to us 
       are three tiny figures running and jumping over the roof 
       tops. The man on the run, whom we first saw climb over the 
       parapet, is dressed in a white shirt and light tan linen 
       slacks, and wearing sneakers. The uniformed man is shooting 
       at him. Scottie is dressed in medium grey clothes. The CAMERA 
       SLOWLY PANS the group across the roof tops.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - MED. SHOT

       We now see a short gap between rooftops, with a drop below.  
       The pursued man makes the leap successfully followed by the 
       uniformed policeman. Scottie makes the same leap, but almost 
       trips in taking off and is thrown off balance. He tries to 
       recover, lands awkwardly on the opposite roof, and falls 
       forward, prone, with a heavy impact that hurts and drives 
       tile breath from his body. He tries to rise but raises his 
       head with a look of pain -- one leg is doubled up under the 
       other. The tiles give way, and he slides backwards, and his 
       legs go over the edge of the roof, then his body. In his 
       daze he grasps at the loose tiles, and as he goes over the 
       edge he clutches on to the gutter, which gives way, and he 
       swings off into space, looking down.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - CLOSE SHOT

       Scottie looking down.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - LONG SHOT

       From Scottie's viewpoint, the gap beneath the building and 
       the ground below. It seems to treble its depth.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - CLOSEUP

       Scottie looking down with horror. His eyes close as a wave 
       of nausea overcomes him.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - MEDIUM SHOT

       In the distance the fleeing criminal. The policeman, seeing 
       what has happened to Scottie, returns to the slope of the 
       roof and strains to reach down to Scottie.

                               POLICEMAN
               Give me your hand!

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - CLOSE UP

       SCOTTIE'S HEAD. His hands grip the edge of the guttering.  
       The tips of the fingers of policeman straining to reach 
       Scottie, are at the top of screen. Scottie begins to open 
       his grip but stares down, he quickly resumes his grip looking 
       up hopelessly towards the helping hand. He looks down again.  
       FROM SCOTTIE'S VIEWPOINT - the ground below still a long way 
       away.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - MEDIUM SHOT

       The policeman's hand in foreground, his face beyond.

                               POLICEMAN
               What's the matter with you? Give me 
               your hand!

       Policeman endeavors to stretch out his hand further.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK)

       The tiles beneath the policeman's heel begin to give. The 
       Policeman starts to slide. He claws desperately at the surface 
       of the roof.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - CLOSEUP

       Scottie, his eyes closed. He opens them as he hears a wild 
       cry.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - LONG SHOT

       The policeman falling through space.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - CLOSEUP

       Scottie stares down in horror.

       EXT. SAN FRANCISCO ROOF TOPS - (DUSK) - LONG SHOT

       The body of the policeman sprawled on the ground below.  
       People are running into the alleyway; they stare at the body, 
       look up to where Scottie is hanging. We see the light on 
       their upturned faces. And now we hear a police whistle blown 
       shrilly, again and again.  Up to this moment the background 
       music has had an excitement to match the scene, and now it 
       cuts off, abruptly, leaving on the echo of the police whistle 
       as the DISSOLVE begins. Then, in the DISSOLVE, we hear the 
       gentle insistence of Scarlatti played by a chamber orchestra.

                                                                DISSOLVE TO:

       INT. AN APARTMENT ON RUSSIAN HILL - (LATE AFTERNOON)

       It is fresh, light, and simple, and crowded with books, 
       phonograph records, pictures. The most striking feature of 
       the apartment is the view: The rising hills of San Francisco 
       framed by a large picture window. To one side of the window 
       is the owner of the apartment, MAJORIE WOOD, called MIDGE, 
       at a commercial drawing table concentrating with professional 
       intensity on a drawing of a slim, a elongated woman with few 
       features and fewer clothes. A brassiere sits on a table at 
       Midge's elbow, and she studies it as she draws. Midge Wood 
       is about thirty-seven, attractive, straight-forward, well-
       but-simply-dressed; she wears glasses but does not whip them 
       an and off as they do in the movies. The music comes from a 
       gramophone. The other occupant of the room is Scottie. He 
       sits in a big chair, with his feet stretched out on an ottoman 
       and his head far back. There is a drink on a table nearby. 
       He rouses himself to reach for it, and in doing so knocks 
       over his walking stick that has been propped against the 
       chair. He reaches out to catch it, and in the quickness of 
       trying to keep it from falling, he wrenches his body around.

                               SCOTTIE
               Ow!!

                               MIDGE
                       (Paying little 
                       attention)
               I thought you said no more aches and 
               pains?

                               SCOTTIE
               It's this darned corset. It binds.  
               He retrieves the stick.

                               MIDGE
               No three-way stretch? How very un- 
               chic.

                               SCOTTIE
               Well, you know those police department 
               doctors: no sense of style.
                       (Sighs gratefully)
               Ah, tomorrow!

                               MIDGE
               What's tomorrow?

                               SCOTTIE
               Tomorrow... the corset comes off.  
               And this thing goes out the window.
                       (He waves the stick)
               I shall be a free man. I shall wiggle 
               my behind... free and unconfined.

       He raises his eyebrows with a surprised and gratified smile.  
       Midge looks over at him with a grimace.

                               SCOTTIE
               Midge, do you suppose many men wear 
               corsets?

                               MIDGE
               More than you think.

                               SCOTTIE
                       (Interested)
               How do you know? Personal experience?

                               MIDGE
               Please!
                       (Then, impersonally)
               And what happens after tomorrow?

                               SCOTTIE
               What do you mean?

                               MIDGE
               What are you going to do? Now that 
               you've quit the police force?

                               SCOTTIE
                       (Gently)
               You sound so disapproving, Midge.

                               MIDGE
               No, it's your life. But you were the 
               bright young lawyer who decided he 
               was going to be chief of police some 
               day.

                               SCOTTIE
                       (Gently)
               I had to quit, Midge.

                               MIDGE
               Why?

                               SCOTTIE
               I wake up at night seeing him fall 
               from the roof... and try to reach 
               out for him.

                               MIDGE
               It wasn't your fault.

                               SCOTTIE
               I know. Everybody tells me.

                               MIDGE
               Johnny, the doctors explained --

                               SCOTTIE
               I know. I have Acrophobia. What a 
               disease. A fear of heights. And what 
               a moment to find out I had it.

                               MIDGE
               Well, you've got it. And there's no 
               losing it. And there's no one to 
               blame. So why quit?

                               SCOTTIE
               And sit behind a desk?  Chairborne?

                               MIDGE
               It's where you belong.

                               SCOTTIE
                       (With a grin)
               Not with my Acrophobia, Midge. If I 
               dropped a pencil on the floor and 
               bent down to pick it up, it could be 
               disastrous!

                               MIDGE
                       (Laughs)
               Ah, Johnny-O...

       She considers him for a moment, then goes back to her work.  
       By now he is up and wandering about with the help of the 
       stick.

                               MIDGE
                       (Finally, as she works)
               Well?... what'll you do?

                               SCOTTIE
               Nothing for a while. You forget, I'm 
               a man of independent means. Or fairly 
               independent.

                               MIDGE
               Mmm. Why don't you go away for a 
               while?

                               SCOTTIE
                       (Grins)
               To forget? Don't be so motherly, 
               Midge. I'm not going to crack up.

                               MIDGE
               Have you had any dizzy spells this 
               week?

                               SCOTTIE
               I'm having one now.

       She looks up sharply with quick apprehension.

                               SCOTTIE
               From that music.

                               MIDGE
               Oh!

       She goes and turns off the gramophone. Scottie has wandered 
       over to the drawing table.

                               SCOTTIE
               What's this do-hickey here?

       He turns the brassiere over with his stick

                               MIDGE
               It's a brassiere. You know about 
               those things. You're a big boy, now.

                               SCOTTIE
               I've never run across one like that.

                               MIDGE
               It's brand new. Revolutionary uplift.  
               No shoulder straps, no back straps, 
               but does everything a brassiere should 
               do. It works on the principle of the 
               cantilever bridge.

                               SCOTTIE
                       (Impressed)
               Uh-huh!

                               MIDGE
               An aircraft engineer down the 
               peninsula designed it. He worked it 
               out in his spare time.

                               SCOTTIE
               What a pleasant hobby.

       He wanders back to the chair and watches her work for a long 
       moment. Then:

                               SCOTTIE
               How's your love life, Midge?

                               MIDGE
               That's following a train of thought.

                               SCOTTIE
               Well?

                               MIDGE
               Normal.

                               SCOTTIE
               Aren't you ever going to get married?

                               MIDGE
                       (Lightly)
               You know there's only one man in the 
               world for me, Johnny-O.

                               SCOTTIE
               Yeah, I'm a brute. We were engaged 
               once though, weren't we?

                               MIDGE
               Three whole weeks.

                               SCOTTIE
               Ah, sweet college days. But you're 
               the one who blew it. I'm still 
               available. Available Ferguson. Say, 
               Midge, do you remember a guy at 
               college named Gavin Elster?

                               MIDGE
               Gavin? Gavin Elster? You'd think I'd 
               would. No.

                               SCOTTIE
               I got a call from him today. Funny.  
               He dropped out of sight during the 
               war, and I'd heard he'd gone East. I 
               guess he's back.
                       (he fishes out a slip 
                       of paper)
               It's a Mission number.

                               MIDGE
               That's Skid Row... isn't it?

                               SCOTTIE
               Could be.

                               MIDGE
               He's probably on the bum and wants 
               to touch you for the price of a drink.

                               SCOTTIE
               Well, I'm on the bum; I'll buy him a 
               couple of drinks and tell him my 
               troubles. But not tonight. If you 
               won't drink with me, I'll drink alone, 
               tonight.
                       (He rises to go)

                               MIDGE
               Sorry, old man. Work.

                               SCOTTIE
               Midge, what did you mean, there's no 
               losing it?

                               MIDGE
               What.

                               SCOTTIE
               My... the acrophobia.

                               MIDGE
               I asked my doctor. He said only 
               another emotional shock could do it, 
               and probably wouldn't. And you're 
               not going to go diving off another 
               rooftop to find out.

                               SCOTTIE
               I think I can lick it.

                               MIDGE
               How?

                               SCOTTIE
               I've got a theory. Look. If I can 
               get used to heights just a little at 
               a time... progressively see?

       He has been looking about eagerly, sees a low footstool, 
       drags it to the center of the room as he speaks.

                               SCOTTIE
               Here, I'll show you what I mean.  
               We'll start with this.

                               MIDGE
               That!?!

                               SCOTTIE
               What do you want me to start with --
               the Golden Gate Bridge?

       He has stepped up on the footstool and stands there proudly 
       looking up and down.

                               SCOTTIE
               Now. I look up, I look down. I look 
               up, I look down. Nothing to it.

                               MIDGE
                       (Overlapping)
               Stop kidding. Wait a minute.

       She dashes to the kitchen, returns quickly with a small 
       aluminum household ladder.

                               SCOTTIE
               Ah, that's my girl! Here?

       He steps on the first step.

                               MIDGE
               Step number two.

                               SCOTTIE
               Okay.

       He gets up on the second step and goes through the routine.

                               SCOTTIE
               I look up, I look down. I look up, I 
               look down. I'm going to go right out 
               and buy me a nice, tall stepladder. 
               Here we go.

       He gets on the top step.

                               MIDGE
               Easy, now.

                               SCOTTIE
               This is a cinch. I look up, I look 
               down. I look up --

       And at this moment he makes the mistake of turning and looking 
       out through the picture window.

       FROM SCOTTIE'S VIEWPOINT

       We see the depth down to the street below the window. The 
       whole picture begins to weave.

       INT. MIDGE'S APARTMENT - (LATE AFTERNOON) - CLOSEUP

       of Scottie -- expression of nausea.

       FROM SCOTTIE'S VIEW POINT - LONG SHOT

       The weaving view changes to the original scene where the 
       ground receded in a rush and the body of the policeman fell 
       into space.

       INT. MIDGE'S APARTMENT - (LATE AFTERNOON) - MEDIUM CLOSE

       SHOT

       Scottie's face distorted with agony -- his eyes close and he 
       begins to slump. CAMERA PULLS BACK SLIGHTLY as Midge now 
       comes into shot, putting up her hands to him to hold him, 
       and his weight is on her and his head is slumped, and the 
       joke is over.

                               MIDGE
               Johnny!

                               SCOTTIE
                       (Muttering, his face 
                       tight, his eyes shut)
               Oh, damn it! Damn it, damn it --

                                                                DISSOLVE:

       EXT. A SHIPYARD - (DAY) - LONG SHOT

...continue to part 2