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| 日期：2006-8-8 21:00:48 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Malcolm X
FADE IN:
1 EXT. ROXBURY STREET - THE WAR YEARS - DAY
It is a bright sunny day on a crowded street on the black side of
Boston. PEOPLE and KIDS are busy with their own things.
SHORTY bops his way down the street. He is a runty, very dark
young man of 21 with a mission and a smile on his face. He wears
the flamboyant style of the time: the whole zoot-suit, pegged legs
and a wide brim hat with a white feather stuck in the hat band.
2 OMIT
3 OMIT
4 OMIT
5 EXT. STREET - DAY
FOLLOW SHOT. Shorty dodges through the crowd with his packages.
His smile is one of anticipation. He nods to a PAL without
stopping; eyes a COUPLE OF CHICKS dancing on the street, but is
not dissuaded.
6 INT. BARBER SHOP - DAY
Shorty has his jacket and hat off, his sleeves rolled up. He is like a
surgeon preparing for an operation. His equipment is spread out on
a table: can of lye, large mason jar, wooden stirring spoon, knife,
the eggs. His actions have the character of a ritual: each thing
being done just so, in time-honored fashion.
He slices the potatoes and drops the thin slices into the mason jar.
He adds water and makes a paste of the starch.
Behind Shorty is a spirited barbershop conversation. ONE MAN is
getting a haircut; TWO OTHERS are watching (TOOMER, JASON)
one of them from behind a newspaper. A middle-aged barber,
CHOLLY, is doing most of the talking.
CHOLLY
After I hit the number that woman wasn't no good
to me at all.
The men laugh.
ANGLE - Shorty pries open the can of lye, whiffs it. It's good and
strong. He pours some in the mason jar, stirring with the wooden
spoon. He cracks the eggs into the mixture and stirs. He waits as
fumes rise and feels the outside of the jar as it gets hot.
ANOTHER ANGLE - The barbershop SEEN from a door, slightly
ajar. A woolly head, entirely in shadow, peers out.
CHOLLY'S VOICE
She says I'm cheap cuz I won't cop her a diamond
ring. Had the indignation to call me a cheap
black sunovabitch to boot.
TOOMER
And when a black woman call you a cheap black
sunovabitch you've been called a cheap black
sunovabitch.
Cholly is annoyed. It's _his_ story.
CHOLLY
Will you let me tell it?
ON SHORTY - He opens the bulky package he has been carrying,
unfolds a large rubber apron and gets into it. Now he dons a pair of
rubber gloves.
SHORTY
Where's Homeboy?
He is all ready; one of his hands is filled with a huge glob of
Vaseline. His manner is indignant as if he were asking the whereabouts
of an exasperating child.
CHOLLY
Red's in the head, man.
TOOMER
You mean hiding in the head.
CHOLLY
Hey, Red. Your man's here and waiting on you.
His hands full, Cholly opens the door with his feet and MALCOLM comes
out, a big, gawky, bright-faced country boy, wearing downhome clothes
and an expression of apprehension.
TOOMER
Gonna get that first conk laid on, hunh,
Homeboy?
CHOLLY
Man, don't scare him more than he's scared
already. Ain't too bad...
Malcolm allows himself to be led to an empty chair, where Cholly drapes
him with a double sheet, tucking it tightly around his neck and adding
a protective collar of paper.
CHOLLY
...Like anything else. First time a chick gets her
cherry popped, she might put up a little fight. But
pretty soon you can't give her enough. Right,
Homeboy?
CLOSE - MALCOLM
Malcolm gulps, his eyes on the fuming mason jar.
Shorty starts massaging a great quantity of Vaseline into Malcolm's
scalp, covering his neck and ears as well. All the men have gathered
around, involved in the ritual. For Malcolm it is closer to being a
kind of execution.
CHOLLY
Git his forehead and eyebrows.
SHORTY
I know what I'm doing.
Shorty applies the Vaseline to that area. Now he brings over the
steaming jar and places it nearby.
SHORTY (contd)
Listen. You pull my coat if it's still stinging
when I get through 'cause this shit can burn a
hole through cement.
CHOLLY
Hold tight, baby, and keep your eyes shut.
Malcolm nods his head, clenches his eyes and grits his teeth. Shorty
applies the congolene with a comb, working it into Malcolm's hair.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
MALCOLM
I thought you said it was gonna sting... this
ain't nothin'.
For a moment nothing happens, then the heat hits him. He yells, tries
to catch his breath: his head is on fire.
MALCOLM (contd)
You motherfucker. You're killing me. I'm
burning up. My damn head is on fire.
He nearly leaps out of the chair, but the barber restrains him.
Shorty, utterly unmoved by the outburst, continues working the
congolene into his hair.
Malcolm breaks out of the chair wildly. But the three men drag him to a
basin where Shorty has attached the shower spray. His cries filling the
room, Malcolm is ducked under the spray. Shorty starts rinsing out his
hair.
SHORTY
Don't fight me, man. Let me git it out.
Malcolm is a little relieved, he tentatively opens his eyes, then he
feels the congolene again and there is another outburst. Shorty forces
his head under the spray, spurts the water all over his head, wetting
Malcolm and the shop in the process.
7 OMIT
8 OMIT
9 INT. CLOTHING STORE - DAY
SHORTY
Well, Homeboy, you almost there. Turn around.
Shorty is supervising as Malcolm tries on a zoot suit. He slips into
the jacket...
Shoes-off, Malcolm steps into the tight-fltting peg-legged pants ......
dons a wide-brimmed hat with a bright blue feather.... Finally, fully
outfitted, he leans forward toward his new image in the full-length
mirror, twirling a long, dangling key chain.
SHORTY
Well, all right, then.
MALCOLM
Well, all reet, then.
The transformation is complete. The two laugh and slap hands.
10 EXT. ROXBURY STREET - DAY
Malcolm and Shorty come strutting down the street: two conked,
zoot-suited sharpies. Hometown boy has departed. And the CHICKS on the
street notice them, especially Malcolm, the taller of the two, the
lighter-skinned, the more dominant. They walk imperiously past, fully
aware of their impact.
CLOSE SHOT - MALCOLM
FREEZE FRAME. He becomes a STILL.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
When my mother was pregnant with me, she told
me later, a party of Klansmen on horseback
surrounded our house in Omaha.
10A ANGLE. KLAN on horses in front of house.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
They brandished guns and shouted for my father
to come out. My mother went to the door where
they could see her pregnant condition...
ANGLE. A pregnant Louise Little on porch.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
...and told them my father was in Milwaukee,
preaching.
ANGLE. The Klan breaks all the windows in the house then rides off into
the glorious D.W. Griffith _Birth of a Nation_ moonlit night.
CLOSE - LOUISE LITTLE
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
The hooded Klansman said the good, white
Christians would not stand for his
troublemaking, and to get out of town.
ANGLE. The terrified Little children look out a broken window at their
mother.
ANGLE. AN OLD FRAME HOUSE IN OMAHA
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
They broke every window with their rifle butts
before riding off into the night, their torches
flaming.
ANGLE. FRONT PORCH OF THE LITTLE HOUSE - AN EMPTY ROCKER ON IT
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
My father was not a frightened Negro as most
were then and as many still are today. He was
six feet four and very black...
10B CLOSE - EARL LITTLE
He looks directly into the camera, wearing a Baptist Minister's robe.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
...and had a glass eye. He believed, as did
Marcus Garvey, that freedom, independence and
self-respect could never be achieved by the
Negro in America . . .
10C CLOSE - EARL LITTLE
He wears a Garvey hat, ornate with gold braid.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
...that, therefore, black men should leave
America and return to the land of their origin.
10D ANGLE. Earl Little, in a wagon with little Malcolm.
CLOSE - EARL LITTLE:
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
My father dedicated his life to his beliefs
because he had seen four of his six brothers
die violently...
10E WIDER ANGLE. WE SEE Earl in front of a podium in church. He is
preaching.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
...three killed by white men and one lynched.
There are nine children in our family.
ANGLE. The nine Little children.
CLOSE - LOUISE LITTLE
She is a pretty, mature woman and white-looking.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
My mother was an attractive woman, an educated
woman, a strong woman.
10F CLOSE - LOUISE AND EARL
A posed wedding picture, serious but sweet.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
She was very light, her mama was raped by a
white man. One of the reasons she married my
father was because he was so black, she
disliked her complexion and wanted her children
to have some color.
CLOSE SHOT
Flash bulb of camera flashes.
11 OMIT
12 OMIT
13 OMIT
14 OMIT
15 INT. ROSELAND STATE BALLROOM - NIGHT
CLOSE - MALCOLM AND SHORTY
They both were posed for a picture. The music "FLYING HOME" is blaring
as LIONEL HAMPTON and his band is killing. The music is WILD, the
dancing is frantic, the clothes are OUT, and the crowd is predominately
BLACK, although there is a peppering of WHITES, especially white chicks.
And Malcolm is a little bug-eyed as he nudges Shorty, watching mixed
couples on the floor.
A BOY in extreme zoot-suit flips him; a WHITE GIRL in long blond
hair wigs him. Malcolm is a little open-mouthed.
A VOICE
SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME!
ANGLE - THE BALLROOM - NIGHT
People start moving off the floor, making room for the dancers. The
music begins to get faster and more furious.
CLOSE - HAMPTON'S BAND - NIGHT
It is a fast Lindy. People start clapping to the beat as they form a U
around the DANCERS, with the band at the open end.
16 INT. THE DANCE FLOOR
TWO COUPLES are on the floor, dancing wildly. They are quickly joined
by a half dozen OTHERS. These are the best dancers and constitute the
main event of a Saturday night black dance. People crowd and push to
get better vantage points and the competition is under way.
ANGLE ON THE CROWD
It is dominantly black, but there are some whites in the audience,
mostly women. One is SOPHIA, a spectacular blonde with a degree of
refinement, something of a thrill-seeker. Many of the men try to catch
her eye, but for the moment Sophia is just watching, looking for no one
in particular, but nonetheless looking.
ANGLE: - COUPLE ON THE DANCE FLOOR
Getting ready to enter the fray, the GIRL takes off her shoes and
bounces out on the floor barefoot with her partner. Their advent is
greeted with cheers and ad libs. Clearly the crowd has its favorites.
WIDER SHOT
The music gets faster and the dancing takes on a more frantic and more
remarkable quality.
FOLLOW SHOT - MALCOLM
He is looking for his partner, the girl he brought and now he sees her.
He makes his way through the watching audience.
CLOSE - LAURA
She is a fine chick, cool and beautiful. She smiles as she sees Malcolm
approaching.
TWO-SHOT. Laura and Malcolm stand together, delighted to be with one
another, starting to move to the music, as they watch the dancers.
MALCOLM
Come on, baby, let's show 'em how.
Laura smiles shyly; she's willing.
MALCOLM (contd)
You better get out of them shoes, girl.
Laura laughs, goes quickly to a bench and changes into a pair of
sneakers.
17 INT. THE DANCE FLOOR
Because of the competition, Laura and Malcolm begin at high speed. In a
moment they are executing the most intricate steps of the "flapping
eagle" and the "kangaroo." Malcolm starts boosting her over and around
his hips, then boosting her over his shoulders. Laura is the perfect
partner. She loves it.
ANGLE WITH THE CROWD
So does the crowd, who loves new stars. There are ad lib remarks: "Go,
man, go." "Hey, Red." "Mmmmmm ummm."
ANGLE: - SHORTY
A big, fat, hefty BLACK WOMAN takes Shorty out to the dance floor, and
she takes the lead. As they do the Lindy she is slinging Shorty around
like a rag doll. This woman slides him through her legs and Shorty has
had enough, he runs off the dance floor, and hides.
TWO-SHOT. Laura and Malcolm are, in the phrase, cooking on all burners
now; and when they execute an especially intricate step, even Hamp
waves over.
Malcolm is sweating and flushed and enormously elated. He sees that
people are watching him, goading him on. He notices that Sophia, in
particular, has not taken her eyes off him; she is clapping in time to
his steps.
Seeing new stars in the making, the other dancers move to the side of
the floor, marking time, yielding the dance floor to them. Laura and
Malcolm go into a solo.
ANGLES
The crowd loves it. Malcolm and Sophia are very aware of each other.
The finale is the classic drag, with Laura hanging limp around
Malcolm's neck as he capers off the dance floor to the spontaneous
applause of the audience.
CLOSE SHOT - SOPHIA (SLO-MO)
Clapping enthusiastically -- in open admiration.
CLOSE SHOT - SHORTY
Waiting to catch them as they come off. Shorty is whistling and shaking
his hand appreciatively. He is also looking out for his dance partner.
SHORTY
Hey, man, gimme some skin.
MALCOLM
Shorty, this is Laura.
Laura is flushed and out of breath and joyous.
LAURA
'Lo. I've got to freshen up.
MALCOLM
Now you come back.
Laura laughs as she goes. She surely will be back.
SHORTY
That's a fine chick.
MALCOLM
Fine as May wine.
SHORTY
Except she live on the hill and got a grandma.
MALCOLM
Make it too easy and it ain't no fun.
Then his vision catches Sophia, who is approaching him. She makes a
simple, direct gesture, "Want to dance?" Malcolm eyes Shorty and
wordlessly glides into Sophia's arms.
ANGLE - THE DANCE FLOOR
Immediately from the glances of the other men at the dance, he is the
cynosure of all eyes. He has new status. It's a heady feeling because
she is the first white girl he has ever been with socially who is not
an obvious whore. He begins to show off a little, cuts a few fine
steps.
TWO-SHOT. They are dancing closer than before. Sophia begins to rock
his black world.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
Trying to play it cool -- but he is beginning to pant. Not from the
dancing, but from the situation: a gorgeous white chick asking for
it.
SOPHIA
Why don't you take your little girl home, Red,
and come on back?
He stops in his tracks. He can't believe it.
SOPHIA (contd)
Just walk. Don't run. It'll be here when you
get back.
He can only grin.
18 EXT. LAURA'S HOUSE - ROXBURY - NIGHT
The porch of a respectable house. Malcolm with Laura; he anxious to get
away.
MALCOLM
I better not come in.
LAURA
I ain't stupid.
MALCOLM
I mean it's late, baby.
LAURA
I know where you're going.
MALCOLM
I'm going to bed. I gotta work tomorrow, need
my rest.
Laura walks to the door.
MALCOLM (contd)
Baby, I'll call you tomorrow.
LAURA
What for? I ain't white and I don't put out.
The front door opens, it's Laura's grandmother, MRS. JOHNSON.
MALCOLM
'Night, Mrs. Johnson.
He runs down the porch steps.
19 INT. SOPHIA'S CAR - NIGHT
The lone light emits from the car radio which plays The Inkspots' "IF I
DIDN'T CARE."
ANGLE - SOPHIA
Sophia pulls her tight sweater over her head to expose two full ripe
white breasts. Malcolm's eyes are popping out of his head. NOTE: It's
very unusual for women not to wear a bra back in that day but you might
say Sophia was way ahead of her time.
SOPHIA
Malcolm, look at them. Have you ever seen white
breasts like these?
CLOSE - MALCOLM
He shakes his head.
SOPHIA (contd)
Put your black hands on them.
He is paralyzed.
SOPHIA (contd)
Please do as I say.
Malcolm mumbles something. He then kisses Sophia as if his black life
depended on it and he commences to kill it.
SOPHIA (contd)
Hey, baby.
She stops him for a moment, but he buries his head in her long neck.
SOPHIA (contd)
Am I the first white woman you've been with?
She already knows the answer. He laughs.
MALCOLM
Sheeet, you ain't. I had aplenty.
SOPHIA
...That isn't a whore?
Knowing she's right, Sophia becomes the aggressor.
A beat -- both panting -- then Malcolm stops abruptly. He raises his
hand to his face, then to Sophia's hand which is still caressing him.
SOPHIA
That's alright. Baby, take your time. Sophia's
not going anywhere. I told you to walk, don't
run.
MALCOLM
Shhhh! I don't like women that talk.
CLOSE - SOPHIA
She shrugs, then moves to embrace him.
SOPHIA
Who wants to talk?
The couple starts at it again.
19A INT. MOVIE THEATRE - DAY
On the screen, Bogart and Cagney are blasting away the dirty, flat-
footed coppers with machine guns. It's one of those great Warner
Brothers gangster B movies, maybe _The Roaring Twenties_.
ANGLE - MALCOLM AND SHORTY
Malcolm and Shorty sit, transfixed in their seats.
MALCOLM
Don't you know, you can't hump the Bogart.
SHORTY
Eat lead, coppers.
80 EXT. BOSTON COMMONS - DAY
A bright, sunny day, long shadows in the park. The Commons is almost
empty. Two improbable zoot-suited blacks race past trees, and run over
the grass. Malcolm and Shorty are playing Cops and Robbers while
PASSERSBY stare.
SHORTY
Bang, bang. You're dead.
MALCOLM
Naw, you missed me, copper. Try this on for
size.
Malcolm fires an imaginary tommy machine gun at Shorty.
SHORTY
I forgot to tell you I'm wearing a bulletproof
vest.
MALCOLM
The hell you are.
SHORTY
I'm tired of always playing the cops. I wanna
be Bogart sometimes.
MALCOLM
You're too small to be Bogart.
SHORTY
I'm not too short to be Cagney.
Shorty shoots Malcolm from behind.
SHORTY (contd)
Pow. Take that.
Malcolm acts as if he's been hit.
MALCOLM
Ahhh! You got me, you dirty, filthy, rotten,
stinking copper, only a low-down yellow rat
bastard would shoot a man in the back.
Malcolm starts to stagger, this is a long drawn out Hollywood drawn-out
death a la Cagney death in _Public Enemy_.
LOW ANGLE - MALCOLM
Malcolm falls directly into the camera, face first, and Shorty stands
over him.
SHORTY
He use to be a big shot.
21 OMIT
22 OMIT
23 OMIT
24 OMIT
25 OMIT
26 EXT. THE TROLLEY TRACKS - NIGHT (REMEMBERED TIME)
MATCH CUT
CLOSE EARL LITTLE
Earl Little's face is in the same exact position as Malcolm's from the
previous scene. His mouth opens in terror as the moving trolley comes
closer and closer to the black man lying on the tracks.
27 INT. A HEARING ROOM - DAY
A room, clinically empty; table, chair, and MR. HOLWAY. He is putting
papers into his briefcase; the hearing is concluded.
LOUISE
What you mean took his own life?!
HOLWAY
I'm sorry, ma'am. You heard the verdict. A man
bash in the back of his head with a hammer, lay
down on the tracks and kill himself! We merely
act on the verdict. We don't make them.
He is nearly out the door.
LOUISE
Do you pay or don't you?
HOLWAY
Read the policy, ma'am. It clearly states.
28 OMIT
29 INT. SOPHIA'S APARTMENT - MORNING
Malcolm lies in bed, naked under the sheet. A half-empty whiskey bottle
and an ashtray full of butts are on the night table: last night's
partying.
SOPHIA
You like 'em scrambled soft or hard, sweetie?
MALCOLM
C'mere.
WIDEN TO SHOW SOPHIA at the stove fixing eggs. She wears an apron and
nothing else. It's a nicely furnished middle-class apartment.
SOPHIA
Sweetie, they're almost ready.
MALCOLM
You hear me, girl?
She shrugs, shuts off the burner, smiles and ambles toward him.
SOPHIA
You the man.
MALCOLM
You better believe it.
She starts to sit down on the bed next to him.
MALCOLM (contd)
Sit over there.
He points to a nearby chair. Sophia makes an amiable hand-shrug and
complacently goes.
SOPHIA
You evil this morning.
MALCOLM
What's your story, baby?
He doesn't want to hear her; he wants to talk. He goes right on:
MALCOLM (contd)
You one of them white bitches can't get enough
black dick. Is that what you are?
Sophia smiles. She aims to please. Malcolm smacks the bed next to him.
She gets up and comes over.
MALCOLM (contd)
Take it off.
She takes off the apron.
MALCOLM (contd)
Now kiss my feet. Kiss 'em!
CLOSE - SOPHIA
As Sophia bends to do so.
MALCOLM
Feed me.
ANGLE. Sophia now has the scrambled eggs on a plate at Malcolm's side.
She spoons some into his mouth. He chews and swallows slowly, then
grabs her head and brings it to his. A long, brutal kiss. Then he pulls
her head away by the hair. She looks at him: anything he wants.
MALCOLM
Yeah, girl; that's your story. When you gonna
holler "rape," sister?
SOPHIA
Me?
MALCOLM
You will, baby -- if the time come.
SOPHIA
Lemme feed you, sweetie, while they hot.
Malcolm lays back on the pillow and she holds out the eggs to him.
MALCOLM
Sure wish your mama and papa could see you now.
And that ofay you gonna marry.
30 EXT. A BEACH - BRIGHT SUNLIGHT - DAY
Malcolm and Laura are on a deserted Cape beach. They are dressed but
have their shoes and socks off, and he has his trousers rolled up. They
walk, like birds, avoiding getting their feet wet as the waves roll in.
LAURA
Malcolm, you can be anything you want. You got
class and you're smart.
MALCOLM
All them books you read and you still don't
know nuthin.
LAURA
I do know I love you.
Laura stops him and moves to him. Her kiss is a tender one, exploratory.
Then Malcolm responds, embracing her fully. Her arms go around him as
they both drop into the sand.
CLOSE - MALCOLM AND LAURA
LAURA
Oh, Malcolm, I love you. Please, there's no one
around. Now?
Malcolm turns his head from her, he gets up.
MALCOLM
Let's go.
LAURA
Why? Is it because of your white gal? Folks say
you're running around town with her.
MALCOLM
Save it, baby. Save it for Mr. Right, 'cause
your grandma's smarter than ya think.
She looks at him.
LAURA
She raised me, my mother died when I was six.
Is your mother alive?
MALCOLM
Yeah, she's alive.
31 OMIT
32 OMIT
33 INT. DRUGSTORE - EVENING
Laura is eating a banana split. Malcolm is smoking and drinking coffee.
MALCOLM
You know how dumb I was? I used to think that
"Not For Sale" was a brand name.
Laura looks over. She doesn't understand.
34 INT. LITTLE KITCHEN - DAY
Louise's hand reaches for a small sack of flour stamped "Not For Sale."
She brings it down on the table with a hard, controlled whap.
MISS DUNNE'S VOICE
I did knock.
Louise doesn't look up.
LOUISE
Did you hear me say come in?
WIDEN TO SHOW Louise with a WHITE SOCIAL WORKER, MISS DUNNE complete
with pad, pencil and goodwill. Huddled out of sight, but nonetheless
visible, are five small BLACK CHILDREN.
MISS DUNNE
There's no point in fighting about it. I'm
sorry. May I sit down?
Louise is very aware of the children and struggling for self-possession.
LOUISE
As you nice enough to ask, we'll git you one.
One of the children brings over a chair. Miss Dunne sets out her papers.
MISS DUNNE
It's the same questions, Mrs. Little. Since the
death of your husband--
LOUISE
Murder.
MISS DUNNE
-- there is a serious question as to whether --
LOUISE
These are my children. Mine. And they ain't
no question. None.
MISS DUNNE
I think sometimes, Mrs. Little, candor is the
only kindness.
PAN THE CHILDREN'S FACES
MISS DUNNE (contd)
All of your children are delinquent, Mrs.
Little, and one, at least, Malcolm is a thief.
LOUISE
Get out.
MISS DUNNE
(still sitting)
Your control over your children, therefore--
LOUISE
Did you hear me?!
MISS DUNNE
You'll regret this, Mrs. Little.
LOUISE
If you don't move out through that door, you're
going to be past all regretting.
The terror-stricken children huddle together.
FREEZE FRAME. It becomes a still.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
We were parceled out, all five of us. I went to
this reform school and lived at this woman's
house. She was in charge.
34A A SMALL CLEAN ROOM WITH A COT, A CHAIR AND A BUREAU.
MRS. SWERLIN
(motherly, friendly)
This is your room, Malcolm. I know you'll keep
it clean.
34B A DINING ROOM TABLE. FIVE WHITE BOYS AROUND IT.
MRS. SWERLIN
This is Malcolm, our new guest. We'll treat him
like a brother.
34C A CLASSROOM.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
I was special. The only colored kid in class. I
became a sort of mascot. Like a pink poodle.
34D KIDS PLAYING IN THE SCHOOL YARD.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
I didn't know then that I was a nigger.
MALCOLM PLAYING BASKETBALL.
34E MALCOLM SPEAKING BEFORE HIS CLASS.
34F MALCOLM DOING HOMEWORK.
34G A HORSE HAVING ITS TEETH EXAMINED.
MRS SWERLIN
He's bright.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
They talked about me like
34G CONTD
MRS SWERLIN (contd) MALCOLM'S VOICE (contd)
Good grades. I wasn't there. Like I was some
Fine athlete. kind of pedigreed dog or a horse.
President of his class. Like I was invisible.
36 INT. OSTROWSKI'S CLASSROOM - DAY
OSTROWSKI is talking to Malcolm, it's after school, the classroom is
empty.
OSTROWSKI
The important thing is to be realistic. We all
like you. You know that. But you're a nigger
and a lawyer is no realistic goal for a
nigger...
MALCOLM
But why, Mr. Ostrowski? I get the best grades.
I'm the class president. I want to be a lawyer.
36 INT. THE DRUGSTORE - P.M.
Laura and Malcolm. Neither is talking. She is simply watching him as he
sips his coffee and puffs on a cigarette.
36A INT. OSTROWSKI'S CLASSROOM - DAY
OSTROWSKI
...Think about something you can be. You're
good with your hands. People would give you
work. I would myself. Why don't you become a
carpenter? That's a good profession for a
nigra. Wasn't your pa a carpenter?
Malcolm is silent.
OSTROWSKI (contd)
Jesus was a carpenter.
36B INT. THE DRUGSTORE - P.M.
CLOSE - LAURA
LAURA
It's not the end of the world, Malcolm.
37 OMIT
38 EXT. A SIGN - BLINDING SUNLIGHT - DAY
It reads "KALAMAZOO STATE HOSPITAL FOR THE MENTALLY INSANE"
39 INT. A ROOM IN THE HOSPITAL - DAY
The room is totally white and Louise sits in a white smock at a window
in a rocking chair.
CLOSE LOUISE
As she rocks.
LOUISE
I said it just as plain, I said, don't let them
feed that boy no pig, because he got enough of
the devil in him already. I told her she ain't
got no reason talk to me that way cuz' my hair
blow in the wind. You want my skin. All right,
I'll give it to you. I'll scrape it off. See
how you like it.
ANGLE - Louise starts to sing a Negro spiritual.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
He has been standing there in deep pain all along.
THE SOUND OF A SPEEDING TRAIN IS HEARD.
40 EXT. THE YANKEE CLIPPER - DAY
The crack train of the New York, New Haven & Hartford speeds through
the New England countryside.
41 INT. GALLEY OF TRAIN - NIGHT
THREE ELDERLY BLACK WAITERS and Malcolm wearing a sandwichman's uniform
are crowded around a portable radio in the galley where food is
prepared. The four stand around TULLY, a bland-faced personification of
fine Pullman service. They are all listening to the JOE LOUIS-BILLY
CONN heavyweight championship fight.
TULLY
Nigger, shut up so we can hear.
MALCOLM
C'mon, Joe.
WAITER #1
Turn it up, Tully.
TULLY
It is up. Fool be quiet.
WAITER #2
Tully, move the antenna. . . .
Tully turns some knobs.
WAITER #3
This Mick is tough.
TULLY
Joe is just playing possum. He's waiting for an
opening.
The waiters are acting as if they are at ringside.
RADIO ANNOUNCER
A left jab to the jaw and a right cross, scored
by Louis and Conn is hurt, as Louis rips a
right to the jaw. Conn is staggering, but he
won't go down. Conn bops a left hook, he's
reeling around the ring. Louis hooks a left and
a right to the jaw and Conn is down.
The waiters are going crazy.
RADIO ANNOUNCER
He's taking the count, four, five, six, seven,
he's on his back, eight, nine, he's getting up,
no! The referee says it's over. The bout has
stopped.
The waiters are all jumping up and down when the galley door opens. MR.
COOPER, the white man in charge of the kitchen, pops his head in.
COOPER
What in hell's going on?
In a moment's notice Tully and the others have resumed their customary
servient roles.
TULLY
Nothing, Mr. Cooper.
COOPER
Got a lot of hungry customers out there.
TULLY
Yes sir, Mr. Cooper, soup done finished.
MALCOLM
On my way, Mr. Charlie.
Cooper eyes him narrowly.
COOPER
The name is Mr. Cooper and don't you forget it.
Mr. Cooper.
RADIO ANNOUNCER
The winner and still champion, Joe Louis, but
what a fight Billy Conn gave.
42 OMIT
43 OMIT
44 OMIT
45 INT. A PASSENGER TRAIN - DAY
As Malcolm hefts his sandwich basket and a large container of coffee
down the aisle, hawking as he goes.
MALCOLM
Get your good haaaam and cheeeeese sandwiches.
I got coffee, I got cake and I got ice cream
too. Right chere.
ANGLE FAVORING A WHITE CUSTOMER, BLADES.
BLADES
Hey, boy. Gimme a cheese on white and coffee.
Malcolm's mood is exuberant: the fight is still in his ears. He makes
the delivery with a flourish and a smile.
MALCOLM
Yes, sir. Best in the house.
BLADES
You mighty pleased with yourself, boy.
MALCOLM
Yes, sir. I aims to please.
BLADES
I like you, boy.
45A INSERT - FANTASY PROJECTION. Malcolm picks up a slab of cream pie and
pushes it in Blades' face.
45B BACK TO THE PASSENGER CAR
Normality again: Malcolm finishes serving him with complete servility.
He pulls out a bill.
BLADES
Keep the change.
And takes a satisfying bite out of his thin sandwich.
46 EXT. THE RAILROAD TRACKS IN HARLEM - P.M.
As the Clipper surfaces in Harlem, pulls up to the 125th Street
station.
47 EXT. 125TH STREET STATION - P.M.
Malcolm, out of uniform and dressed in his zoot suit, comes down from
the Park Avenue station in Harlem. He is hit with the sights and sounds.
Everything delights him: the noise, the lights, the women, the pimps,
the signs, the windows, the crowds, the laughter, the music.
48 OMIT
49 OMIT
50 OMIT
51 ANGLE - CROWD
A CROWD OF PEOPLE run by Malcolm yelling and screaming.
CROWD
The Brown Bomber, The Brown Bomber, Joe Louis,
the heavyweight champion of the world. Joe got
the belt back. Lawd have mercy. Great day in
the morning.
50A CLOSE - MALCOLM
He runs after them.
50B EXT. 125TH AND LENOX AVENUE
All traffic has stopped, there is a huge spontaneous celebration going
on. Black folks are everywhere, it seems as if all of Harlem is out on
the streets. The citizens of Harlem are hugging, kissing, drinking,
dancing, folks are hanging from street lamps, yelling out their
windows, holding up hand-made JOE LOUIS banners, everyone has great
reason to be joyous. The heavyweight champion of the world is a BLACK
MAN -- JOE LOUIS, THE BROWN BOMBER, he has regained his championship.
CLOSE: - MALCOLM
Malcolm quickly looks at his watch, he's running late for his train, as
he fights his way through the crowd like a salmon going upstream, the
CAMERA CRANES up to see him eventually get lost in a sea of BLACK
HUMANITY "cutting loose."
FADE OUT.
51- OMIT
56- OMIT
FADE IN:
57 EXT. SEVENTH AVENUE - NIGHT
Malcolm, newly conked and sharp as a tack (zoot suit, trouser crease
like a knife's edge, orange knob-toed shoes) walks toward his goal:
Small's Paradise.
The street is crowded with PEOPLE, KIDS and HUSTLERS.
YOUNG HOOKER
Slow down, daddy, what's your hurry? Lemme show
you somepin brand new.
Malcolm smiles "No thanks" keeps moving.
HUSTLER
Hey, man, hundred-dollar ring -- diamond; and a
ninety dollar watch. Take the both of them for
a quarter; twenty-five bucks.
Malcolm waves; he's not having any. Goes on.
58 EXT. SMALL'S PARADISE - NIGHT
Before entering, Malcolm sharps himself a bit, picking off some lint,
cocking his hat. And enters.
59 INT. SMALL'S PARADISE - NIGHT
The restaurant is crowded, both at the bar and at the tables beyond.
The immediate impression is of subdued well-being, of decorum, of easy
affluence. This is the world Malcolm wants into. He digs it, drinking
in its details.
ANGLE - BAR
A big man, FOX, accidentally bumps into Malcolm almost knocking over.
MALCOLM
The word is excuse me.
FOX
Look, country boy, you shouldn't have been in
my way.
Everyone becomes quiet in the bar.
FOX (contd)
So what are you gonna do? Go run home to your
Mama.
Malcolm grabs a bottle off the bar counter and with lightning speed
brings it crashing down on Fox's head. As he lays on the floor with
head bleeding, Malcolm kicks him in the stomach _two times_. It's done,
the fight is over and people pull him off of Fox.
MALCOLM
Don't ever again in life step on my Florsheims
again, and never talk-bout my mother.
ANGLE WITH MALCOLM AND THE BARTENDER
MALCOLM
Gimme a whiskey.
BARTENDER pours him a double.
MALCOLM
I ordered a single, Jack.
BARTENDER
The double's on that gentleman. Jack!
He points.
ARCHIE AT THE TABLE - FROM MALCOLM'S POV
The elderly man nods. He is big, he is very black. The same color as
Malcolm's father.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
He raises his glass, toasts Archie and downs it. Then leaning into the
bar, asks:
MALCOLM
Who is he, man?
BARTENDER
That's West Indian Archie.
MALCOLM
Whut's he do?
The bartender would not normally answer this, but Malcolm is the man of
the moment, so the bartender speaks:
BARTENDER
This and that.
Malcolm nods, then looks over again at Archie -- in appreciation.
Archie wiggles a finger for him to come over.
59A AT ARCHIE'S TABLE
Malcolm is standing.
ARCHIE
Sit down. We ain't fixing to eat you. You look
brand new in town. Pretty handy with a bottle.
MALCOLM
He had it coming.
Malcolm sits. There are no introductions. He just nods at SAMMY and
CADILLAC.
ARCHIE
What they call you?
MALCOLM
Red, and I ain't no punk.
ARCHIE
You better not be. Cause if a cat toe you down
in this town, you better stand up or make
tracks.
SAMMY
Man live by his rep.
ARCHIE
That's a fact. What you do, boy?
MALCOLM
I'm working trains. Selling.
ARCHIE
Bet you like that shit.
MALCOLM
Keeps me out of the army.
ARCHIE
When they want your ass, won't nothing keep you
out.
MALCOLM
Not this boy... I ain't fighting their war. I
got my own. Right chere. Heard tell you're a
good man to know.
ARCHIE
Heard where?
MALCOLM
Where I come from. Boston.
Sammy and Cadillac are watching a little skeptically. Archie is
flattered.
ARCHIE
Sombitch and I ain't never been to Beantown.
MALCOLM
Man's rep travels.
ARCHIE
How 'bout that?
Then seeing Sammy and Cadillac's dubious visages, Archie adds:
ARCHIE (contd)
You ain't bullshitting me, is you, boy?
MALCOLM
My papa taught me one thing: don't never
bullshit a West Indian bullshit artist.
Archie laughs. Even Sammy smiles. Cadillac still holds his judgment.
ARCHIE
Is your papa West Indian?
MALCOLM
No, my mama. She's from Grenada.
ARCHIE
I like you, country.
SAMMY
Only where'd you get them goddam vines.
CADILLAC
And them shoes. Oh, my.
ARCHIE
Yeah, got to do something about you.
SAMMY
You putting a hurtin' on my vision.
Sammy covers his eyes. Malcolm plays off the insults.
MALCOLM
Where can I get a hold of you?
ARCHIE
YOU can't. I'll get a hold of you.
MALCOLM
Lemme write it down for you.
Malcolm reaches for a pencil.
ARCHIE
Don't never write nothing down. File it up
here, like I do.
(touching his head)
'Cause if they can't find no paper they ain't
got no proof. Ya dig?
MALCOLM
Yes, sir.
Archie looks at him sharply.
ARCHIE
Boy, look me in the face.
Malcolm does so.
ARCHIE (contd)
Did you just now con me?
MALCOLM
Yes, sir.
ARCHIE
Why?
MALCOLM
'Cause I want in. And it don't take a lot to
know you there, daddy.
Archie and Sammy laugh at his directness. Cadillac smiles. Archie
pushes back his chair, about to get up.
ARCHIE
I got me a little run to make.
Malcolm has suddenly been excluded and he wants desperately back in.
MALCOLM
Can I run with you, Mr. Archie?
Archie eyes him, weighing him seriously.
ARCHIE
I like your heart and I like your style. You
might just do, Little. Lessen you got to git
back to that train job.
MALCOLM
I done told the man what he could do with his
train.
ARCHIE
When?
MALCOLM
Just now.
The three established hustlers smile at the newcomer in their midst.
ARCHIE
Come on, baby. We going shopping...
60 OMIT
61 OMIT
62 OMIT
63 INT. ARCHIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Malcolm is looking at himself in a mirror in Archie's room. He has on
the full outfit now, together with a new white on white shirt and a
Sulka tie. Looks great.
ARCHIE
Just the middle button, baby. Just the middle
one.
Malcolm buttons the jacket and turns around, demonstrating for Archie's
inspection.
ARCHIE (contd)
You looking good, Little. Real clean. Clean as
the Board of Health. But you missing something.
MALCOLM
What?
ARCHIE
Frisk me, baby. Give me a real pat down.
Malcolm doesn't understand, but he senses something -- and becomes
excited. Archie has walked over to him.
ARCHIE (contd)
Go ahead. Do me.
Malcolm frisks him carefully: pats his sides, his pockets, under his
arms, his legs. Archie is clean to the touch.
ARCHIE (contd)
(triumphantly)
And I'm still carrying.
He smacks the small of his back. Then, reaching under his coat, he
takes a revolver out from the middle of his back. And hands it to
Malcolm.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
Holding the deadly instrument, fascinated by it, hefting it, feeling
its power.
ARCHIE
It's yours, baby. Put it on.
Malcolm slips it carefully into the small of his back, behind his
trouser belt. His first gun: the feeling shines in his eyes, Bogart has
become a black man.
ARCHIE (contd)
How's it feel?
MALCOLM
Solid, daddy.
ARCHIE
Okay, baby. Now you outfitted. You ready to
tackle the street?
MALCOLM
Let 'em come. I'm ready.
64 INT/EXT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS - SERIES OF CLOSE SHOTS
A FIVE DOLLAR BILL. CAMERA GOES IN for the last three digits.
64A STOCK MARKET BOARD at the end of a day's trading. GO IN for the last
three numbers.
64B PREACHER in a pulpit, reading from the Bible.
PREACHER
Let us turn to the Gospel according to St.
John. Chapter 3, Verse 83.
A VOICE
3, 8, 3.
Malcolm scribbles the number onto a piece of paper.
64C A CASH REGISTER
Ringing up an amount: $2.98.
A VOICE
2, 9, 8.
Malcolm's hand writes out the number.
64D CLOSE - TRAIN TERMINAL SIGN
It reads "New York to Chicago." PAN DOWN TO SHOW "Train arrives 1:05."
VOICE
1, 0, 5.
Archie with Malcolm as the latter writes down "1, 0, 5."
ARCHIE
I told you less paper, less trouble.
MALCOLM
I'm working on it.
ARCHIE
I keep all my numbers in my head. I've never
written any down.
He taps his head.
64E CLOSE - FACE OF AN ELDERLY WOMAN
ELDERLY WOMAN
I saw it in my dream. 5, 5, 5. And last week my
sister had a dream and she hit.
64F CLOSE - FACE OF AN ELDERLY BARBER
BARBER
I got it from Ching Chow. It got to be 2, 5, 1.
65 OMIT
66 OMIT
67 OMIT
68 OMIT
68A INT. MOVIE THEATRE - NIGHT
CLOSE - MALCOLM
WE ARE TIGHT ON Malcolm's intense face, he is pulling on a fat joint.
We hear BOGART blasting his way out of a police blockade.
A phone rings.
69 OMIT
70 OMIT
71 INT. ARCHIE'S ROOM - NIGHT
There is music playing. Wordlessly, Archie sprinkles a few grains of
fine crystal onto a round shaving mirror. He slides it across a table
to Malcolm and hands him a short straw. Sophia sits next to Malcolm;
she and Archie are already high. Malcolm leans over the mirror, placing
the straw in his nostril.
TIGHT CLOSE SHOT - MALCOLM'S FACE
In the mirror (something satanic about him) -- as he sniffs the cocaine
well into his nose.
A beat as he leans back waiting for the drug to take hold, Malcolm
looks into dressing mirror.
ARCHIE
It hit?
MALCOLM
Nnnnnnn!
Malcolm with gun in hand does his Bogart gangster imitation.
ARCHIE
Ain't nuthin' in the world to give you that
real deep cool. Like girl. You there?
MALCOLM
I'm there, daddy. Wheww. I'm cool enough to
kill.
ARCHIE
Bet you are.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
FREEZE FRAME
SOPHIA'S VOICE
Malcolm, you're so funny.
She continues to laugh.
BACK TO REAL TIME.
MALCOLM
You got any money.
Before Sophia can answer he grabs her pocketbook, dumping all the
contents on the floor but the dough.
SOPHIA
Baby, I was gonna give it to you.
MALCOLM
Well, bitch you move too slow.
ARCHIE
Sometimes you got a big ugly mouth.
MALCOLM
Yeah, and I'm putting my money where my ugly
mouth is. I'm putting you back in the numbers
right now.
(to Sophia)
Baby, what's today?
Sophia is not sure of this, or anything else.
SOPHIA
August 2nd. I think. Yeah.
She laughs at her achievement.
MALCOLM
Daddy, put me down for a combination. Combinate
me, daddy: 8, 2, 1. You got me? 8, 1, 2; 1, 8,
2...
With each number he throws a bill at Archie.
MALCOLM (contd)
1, 2, 8; 2, 8, 1. I git 'em all?
ARCHIE
(angrily taking the money)
I'll take your goddam bet.
Malcolm slides his tongue down Sophia's throat.
72 OMIT
73 OMIT
74 OMIT
75 EXT. SMALL'S PARADISE - NIGHT
A miserable night, raining and cold. Malcolm turns into the bar.
76 INT. THE BAR - NIGHT
Shaking off the rain as Malcolm walks through. He is now a familiar
figure to the bar's DENIZENS. He is met with ad lib cries: "Hey,
Little," "Have a taste," from the men; and from the women: "Come here,
sugar," "Where you been?"
Malcolm acknowledges the greetings, strolls down in the bar. It's
immediately clear that a subtle change has come over him. He is no
longer the neophyte but a well-groomed, smooth, fully polished hustler.
ANGLE - BOOTH
Malcolm sits into the booth and motions for the waitress.
ANGLE - HONEY
A fine copper tan waitress comes to him.
HONEY
I thought you said we were going to the movies
last night.
MALCOLM
I say a lot of things.
HONEY
And like a fool I believe it.
MALCOLM
Do your job, Get me a bourbon on the rocks and
a pack of Lucky's.
Honey stares at him.
MALCOLM (contd)
I said now.
She leaves. He leans his head back against the booth --
A FEMALE VOICE
Daniel come in yet, Honey?
Malcolm turns his head sharply at the sound of the voice. It's
familiar, a sound from the seemingly distant past. He looks toward the
bar and sees the women who asked the question.
LAURA - MALCOLM'S POV
It's Laura, but not the Laura we last saw. She is still young, still
vulnerable, but she is bolder, more self-assured, more vividly dressed.
She is unaware of Malcolm.
HONEY
Ain't that him now?
ANGLE FAVORING DANIEL. He is a young, cocky, nervous, gingerbread
colored boy who comes over to her quickly. He goes to the corner of the
bar and quickly grabs Laura's neck and kisses her hungrily.
DANIEL
Hey, gorgeous, how you been? Waiting long?
Lemme see you. Wow!
It's obvious he's a junkie. And in need of a fix. QUICK!
SHOT - MALCOLM
Honey places his drink and cigarettes before him. He's watching, taking
it all in immediately. Laura is clearly crazy about Daniel.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
He looks, then belts down his drink.
CLOSER - LAURA AND DANIEL
Daniel motions to her pocketbook and she takes out a five-dollar bill.
He grabs it, and bolts for the door.
WITH MALCOLM AND HONEY
She has been watching Malcolm.
HONEY
You know that gal?
MALCOLM
Mind your own goddamn business ... She comes in
a lot?
HONEY
'Bout every other night, Red.
MALCOLM
With him?
Honey nods.
MALCOLM (contd)
She know?
HONEY
If she got eyes, she do.
ANGLE - LAURA
Walking toward the door, looking for Daniel. She leaves the bar.
CLOSE - MALCOLM AND HONEY
MALCOLM
Is she hooking?
HONEY
Not yet. But the way things going, that boy
gonna turn her out any day.
Malcolm smacks the table in frustration.
HONEY (contd)
You stuck on her?
CLOSE - GLASS
Malcolm's glass on the table is trembling.
MALCOLM
Shut up, bitch.
He raises his arm to hit her and it is held back before it can find its
mark.
ARCHIE
Don't do that.
Archie is standing above him. Malcolm nods, and Archie lets his arm go;
standing next to him is Sophia.
ARCHIE (contd)
Honey, he didn't mean it.
Archie wiggles his fingers and Honey goes, but not before throwing
daggers at Malcolm and Sophia. Archie sits down, takes out a cigar. For
a good beat there is a coolness between them. Then Malcolm reaches over
and lights Archie's cigar. Sophia stares at her man, he then motions
for her to sit down beside him.
ARCHIE (contd)
Thanks. You got it. Who's beating on you, Red?
You looking a little up tight.
The father-son thing is back, but Malcolm will never again be the
student.
MALCOLM
Daddy, where's my money?
ARCHIE
What you talking?
MALCOLM
You owe me six big ones.
Archie looks at him, non-comprehending.
MALCOLM
1, 2, 8 hit, didn't it?
ARCHIE
You din't have no 1, 2, 8.
MALCOLM
Was you that high? Old man, I threw the slats at
you. I said to combinate me.
ARCHIE
You never had it.
MALCOLM
The bitch was there.
Archie doesn't even look at Sophia.
ARCHIE
Shit, what else she gonna say?
MALCOLM
Then skip it, man. But you slipping, baby. You
done slipped.
Archie is controlling himself. Everyone in Small's is all ears, a
falling out between Malcolm and Archie -- their reps are at stake.
ANGLE. Archie looks at Sammy. Sammy is neutral. Archie digs in his
pockets, comes up with a roll. He peels off six $100 bills and throws
them on the table in front of himself, as he gets up.
MALCOLM
Oh, sit down, man. What you tasting? I'm buying.
ARCHIE
I ain't drinking hot piss with you. Come on, Sam.
SAMMY
Be right there.
Archie goes.
SAMMY (contd)
Twenty-two years he didn't never forget no
number.
MALCOLM
Got to be a first time, daddy-o.
SAMMY
He gonna, check the collector he turn into. His
rep is on the line, boy, and so's yours. If you
lying, one of you is dead.
MALCOLM
Ain't gonna be this mother.
Sammy goes.
MALCOLM (contd)
Come on, sweetlips, I got us some g-i-r-l,
girl. Let's you and me fly.
77 OMIT
78 OMIT
78A OMIT
79 OMIT
80 OMIT
81 OMIT
82 OMIT
83 OMIT
84 OMIT
85 EXT. ONYX CLUB - NIGHT
The well-known 52nd Street nightspot features Billie Holiday. A
stand-up cutout of her is outside.
86 INT. ONYX CLUB - NIGHT
This is a plush nightclub, with a mixed black and white AUDIENCE. Some
of the hustlers from Small's are in evidence.
CLOSE - BILLIE
Lady Day starts into "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS."
ANGLE - TABLE
Malcolm and Sophia high as a kite and on the town.
CLOSE - ARCHIE
He makes his way toward Malcolm's table. There is murder in his eyes.
ANGLE - TABLE
ARCHIE
You're a damn liar.
CLOSE - ARCHIE
ARCHIE (contd)
You _took_ me, you bastard, and now I'm taking
you.
ANGLE - TABLE
MALCOLM
It's me or you, ain't it, Pops?
ARCHIE
You know it.
MALCOLM
I'll give you back the 600.
ARCHIE
I don't want your money.
MALCOLM
I'm wearing, Archie.
ARCHIE
There's two guns on you.
His eyes gesture. Malcolm looks:
MALCOLM'S P0V
Sammy at the nearby bar: his hand in his coat pocket.
CLOSE - ARCHIE
His hand is also in his pocket.
MALCOLM
And every cat's watching, ain't they? It's a
toe-down.
ARCHIE
That's what it is. Walk on out.
MALCOLM
Let Billie finish.
ARCHIE
Now.
Archie backs away from the table, his gun on Malcolm.
ANGLE. As Sammy moves a step toward Malcolm, Malcolm rises in his seat.
SOPHIA
You had the number.
MALCOLM
Baby, I got to let this old man win. Keep the
faith, and tell Billie I'll see her later.
CLOSE - BILLIE
She knows what's going on.
ANGLE - Sammy and Archie are walking behind Malcolm, when he pushes a
waitress into their path with drinks flying everywhere, Malcolm darts
away.
87 INT. ENTRANCE TO THE TOILET
He races into the men's room.
ANGLE. Archie and Sammy run after him.
88 INT. MEN'S ROOM - NIGHT
There is an open window. Archie is leaning out, looking both ways.
89 EXT. OUTSIDE THE MEN'S ROOM WINDOW - NIGHT FROM ARCHIE'S POV
A tiny alleyway. No one is visible.
ARCHIE
The dirty yellow rat bastard.
90 INT. MEN~S ROOM - NIGHT
SAMMY
Don't push it. You way ahead. You back on top.
That boy loves you, man.
ARCHIE
What you say?
SAMMY
He gave it to you, Archie. He did.
91 EXT. THE STREET - NIGHT
Malcolm comes running out of an alleyway and onto the street. He stops
to catch his breath, to regain his composure. He is shook up,
frustrated, but mostly saddened. He then runs down the block and into a
CLOSEUP.
91A INT. LITTLE HOUSE - LANSING MICHIGAN - NIGHT (REMEMBERED TIME) -
FINAL FLASHBACK
CLOSE - EARL
Earl is sitting up in bed, he wakes his sleeping wife Louise, next to
her is a baby in a crib, another child. Malcolm sleeps between Earl and
her.
91AA ANGLE - HOUSE
Outside the house are 5 members of THE BLACK LEGION. They are dressed
in the style of the KKK, but in black sheets rather than white. WE SEE
gasoline cans being passed around.
EARL
Somebody out there. Wake the children.
Earl starts to put on his overalls and reaches for his gun which sits
on a nearby chair when an explosion of flames greets the house.
EARL (contd)
Everybody out. OUT! OUT! Get the kids.
ANGLE - CHILDREN'S BEDROOM
Flames roar through the room and the Little kids are hysterical. Louise
rushes in and pushes them past the fire, she has infant in hand covered
in a blanket.
CLOSE - EARL
91C EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT
The entire house is in flames. The Little family stands in front of it,
just out of harm's way.
ANGLE - BLACK LEGION
They sit on their horses watching the results of their work.
CLOSE - BLACK LEGION LEADER
BLACK LEGION LEADER
Boy, good thing we're good Christians. Nigger,
it's time for you to leave this town.
CLOSE - EARL
EARL
This here is 'pose to be a free country.
CLOSE - BLACK LEGION LEADER
BLACK LEGION LEADER
Rev, we warned you 'bout that Garvey preaching,
stirring up the good nigras here. Boy, next
time you're a dead nigger.
CLOSE - EARL
EARL
I ain't a boy. I'm a man, and a real man don't
hide behind no bedsheets.
Earl takes his pistol out from behind his back and fires above their
heads.
EARL (contd)
Take these here bullets for dem sheets.
ANGLE - BLACK LEGION
The bullets send the Black Legion flying into the glorious D.W. Griffith
moonlit night.
ANGLE - HOUSE
The burning house collapses behind the Little family.
ANGLE - EARL AND LOUISE
LOUISE
Earl, I know you a better shot than that. You
shoulda killed 'em all, shot 'em dead.
EARL
Just wanted to scare 'em, they won't be
bothering us no more.
CLOSE - YOUNG MALCOLM
Young Malcolm stares at his father while the house still burns behind
him, no doubt drawing on the great courage displayed by his father.
EARL
They won't be here no time soon. I'm a MAN!
91D EXT. STREET - LANSING - NIGHT (REMEMBERED TIME)
It's raining cats and dogs and it's foggy. We hear a big thud, then a
grunt and Earl Little falls across the trolley tracks, the sound of men
running away is heard in the distance.
ANGLE - A STREETCAR APPROACHES
ANGLE - EARL ON TRACKS
He has been beaten to a bloody pulp.
ANGLE - CLOSER SHOT OF STREETCAR APPROACHING
CLOSE - EARL
He opens his one good eye.
CLOSE - STREETCAR MOTORMAN
He sees something ahead in the fog and rain.
ANGLE - MOTORMAN'S POV
CLOSE - HAND REACHES BRAKE LEVER
CLOSE - STREETCAR WHEELS STOPPING, SPARKS FLY
CLOSE - MOTORMAN
Winces and then makes the Sign of the Cross.
ANGLE - LONG SHOT OF PASSENGERS
Jumping out of the streetcar to attend to Earl.
PASSENGER'S VOICE
Somebody get a doctor.
MOTORMAN'S VOICE
No doctor, get him a priest.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
My father's skull, on one side was crushed in,
and then laid across some tracks, for a
streetcar to run him over. His body was cut
almost in half. My father, Earl Little lived
two and a half hours in that condition. Negroes
were stronger than they are now.
92 INT. A CAR - NIGHT
Shorty is driving with Sophia in the front seat. Malcolm is in the
back. They are in the country -- outside New York.
SHORTY
Man, I'm glad we got you out of there. With
West Indian Archie on your ass, your name on
the wire -- Boston the best goddam place in the
world for you -- things are too hot and it's
not even summer.
Malcolm has withdrawn within himself. He takes out a packet of cocaine
and sniffs it.
SOPHIA
We'll take it easy. I got a place fixed up on
Harvard Square. How's that sound?
SHORTY
Yeah. Cool it and lay dead for a while, Homeboy.
And don't worry none.
The drug takes hold. Malcolm is out of it.
SHORTY (contd)
I'll stake you, baby. I got my band. I'm
blowing great sax. Hell, you ain't even heard
us--
He and Sophia keep talking it up, trying to bolster Malcolm.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
Stoned, his nose running, Malcolm stares out of the window at the
receding landscape. FREEZE FRAME.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
Like every hustler I was trapped. Cats that
hung together trying to find a little security,
to find an answer -- found nothing. Cats that
might have probed space or cured cancer --
(Hell, Archie might have been a mathematical
genius) -- all victims of whitey's social order.
Music of a dance combo heard in BG.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
Three things I was always scared of: a job, a
bust and jail. I realized then I wasn't afraid
of anything. I didn't care.
93 OMIT
94 INT. HARVARD SQUARE APARTMENT - DAY
Shorty, Sophia and PEG face Malcolm -- stoned in a chair. PEG is 17,
Sophia's kid sister and Shorty's date.
SHORTY
You got to eat somethin', Red.
SOPHIA
You want eggs, baby?
MALCOLM
Yeah and get a slave, too, huh, baby?
SHORTY
I ain't doing bad.
MALCOLM
Man, the name musicians ain't got shit. How you
gonna have something? I need a stake, a bundle,
a grand. My woman can't afford it; my homey
ain't got it. How about you baby? What you got?
Peg smiles, afraid of Malcolm.
SHORTY
Jesus, Red, she's just a kid.
MALCOLM
Jesus ain't got nothin' to do with this.
Shorty eyes him with amazement. The degree of Malcolm's depravity
surprises even him.
MALCOLM
Surprise you, baby? Well, that's the way it is.
What kind of scratch you got on you? Turn out.
Let me have it. All of you--
Glances exchanged among Shorty, Sophia and Peg. Shorty reaches into his
pocket.
95 INT. HARVARD SQUARE APARTMENT - NIGHT
Malcolm with Sophia, Shorty and Peg around him.
MALCOLM
We gone rob this town blind. Anybody want out
say so.
Nobody answers; they'll go with Malcolm.
MALCOLM (contd)
Okay. I got the stake and I got a fence. I need
a driver.
PEG
How about Rudy?
MALCOLM
Who's Rudy?
SHORTY
Yeah, Rudy.
JUMP CUT:
95A SAME LOCATION - LATER
RUDY is with them. He is a good-looking, very-light skinned black,
tough as they come.
RUDY
I'm half wop, half nigger and ain't afraid of
no one.
MALCOLM
What can you do?
They are in the process of appraising each other, seeing which one has
the bigger penis.
RUDY
You name it, feller.
SHORTY
Rudy does catering. Rich joints on Beacon Hill.
MALCOLM
That ain't bad.
SHORTY
Tell him about Baldy.
RUDY
Yeah. This rich ofay, like he's 60. I give him
a bath on Friday.
Peg and Sophia are listening, a little horrified.
RUDY (contd)
Then I put him to bed and pour talcum powder on
him like a baby. He gets his jollies off.
MALCOLM
So what about him?
RUDY
So? The man got silver, china, rugs--
MALCOLM
Might be all right.
RUDY
Might be, shit. Man, I know this town. I got my
own fences. Who the hell are you? Who put you
in charge?
Malcolm smiles easily.
MALCOLM
You want to be the head man?
RUDY
That's right.
MALCOLM
Head nigger in charge?
RUDY
I'm the man.
MALCOLM
Okay, baby. Let's flip for it. Flip this.
He takes out his gun, a .38 revolver. He dumps the shells on the table,
then reinserts one shell and twirls the barrel.
MALCOLM (contd)
I'll flip first.
He puts the revolver to his own head.
PEG
Don't.
Malcolm squeezes the trigger. It clicks. Now he twirls the barrel again
and hands the gun to Rudy.
MALCOLM
Your flip, baby.
Rudy is staring at him; so are they all. Malcolm puts the gun to his
temple again.
SOPHIA
Red, for God's sake--
He pulls the trigger a second time. Click. Now he twirls it again.
SHORTY
Christ, Red, no--
PEG
I can't stand it.
Malcolm puts the gun to Rudy's head.
MALCOLM
Your turn, Rudy. You want me to flip for you?
RUDY
Jesus Christ, no. Okay, okay. You got it, you
got it! You're the boss.
A beat.
MALCOLM
Don't never try to cross someone who ain't
afraid to die.
SHORTY
You the man!
Nodding accord from Rudy and Shorty. Sophia can hardly stand.
MALCOLM
All right. We'll start with Old Talcum Powder.
You draw the house, where everything is. You
and Peg go out and buy them tools like I told
you. We hit tonight on account of in the
daytime some of us got that high visibility.
Ya dig?
Rudy is at a table drawing a diagram; the girls have left. Shorty and
Malcolm alone at a window.
SHORTY
What did you do, Homey, palm it?
MALCOLM
Yeah.
He breaks open the gun -- the bullet is in the next slot to be fired.
MALCOLM (contd)
Palmed it right in the goddam chamber.
SHORTY
Jesus Christ, Homey, you are nuts.
Malcolm starts laughing: a silent, hysterical laugh.
96 EXT/INT. A BEACON HILL HOUSE - NIGHT
The robbery, IN QUICK CUTS:
--A door lock is picked by Sophia.
96A --Pencil flashlight passes an upstairs window.
96B --Rudy in the car.
96C --Silver removed from a drawer by Shorty.
96D --Peg walking down the street, as lookout.
96E --Malcolm takes off his shoes.
96F --The sleeping OLD MAN, OLD TALCUM POWDER, as Malcolm takes a watch, a
wallet from within inches of his pillow. Then, more boldly, picks up
the man's hand and removes a ring from one of his fingers. Shorty
watching with bated breath, he's about to have a heart attack.
97 INT. MANSION - DAY
A Boston matron, MRS. CRAWFORD, is showing the girls her collection of
U.S. silver. In a fine New England home.
PEG
Beacon Hill survey.
SOPHIA
We're doing a survey for the Athenaeum Society
-- We wondered if you'd permit us to include
your collection in the catalog of Great New
England Antiques--?
MRS. CRAWFORD
Now these are my prizes. My Paul Revere silver
coffee service.
SHOT -- AN ARRANGEMENT OF MUSEUM-QUALITY PIECES
PEG
Lovely, just lovely.
Sophia is casing the room carefully as the matron continues.
MRS.CRAWFORD
And my husband's collection of scrimshaw should
be included.
SOPHIA
May we see it?
MRS. CRAWFORD
Won't you step this way?
97A OMIT
98 OMIT
98A OMIT
101 INT. A COURTROOM - DAY
The prisoners face the bench: Peg, Sophia, Shorty, Rudy and Malcolm.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
The average first offender gets two years for
burglary. We were all first offenders. That's
what Sophia and Peg drew--
JUDGE
Two years in the Women's Reformatory at
Framingham.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
But our crime wasn't burglary. It was balling
white girls. They gave us the book.
JUDGE
Burglary, count one -- 8 to 10 years; count two,
8 to 10 years; count three, 8 to 10 years...
He continues giving them 8 to 10 years, behind Malcolm's comment:
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
Fourteen counts of 8 to 10 years.
JUDGE
The sentences to run concurrently.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
Shorty thought he hit us with 114 years till I
explained what concurrently meant. It meant a
minimum sentence of 10 years hard labor at the
Charlestown State Prison. The date was February
1946. I wasn't quite 21. I had not yet begun to
shave.
CAMERA HAS GONE IN for a TIGHT CLOSE SHOT of Malcolm's face: a hardened
hustler, pimp, dope peddler and now jailbird at the ripe old age of 20.
FREEZE FRAME.
CUT TO BLACK.
FADE IN:
102 INT. THE CELL CORRIDOR - DAY
It is the afternoon lockup: about 3:30 P.M. The line of PRISONERS
stands in front of their cells, as two guards, WILKINS and BARNES, one
white, one black, slowly walk past the P.M. check.
The procedure is routine, done without emotion, as it is done three
times a day: the black guard calls out the prisoner's name, the
prisoner answers with his number, then steps into his cell. Whereupon
the white guard slams the door shut and locks it.
GUARD WILKINS
Jackson.
PRISONER
A 231549.
Door is slammed and gate locked.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
Each time a gate is locked his tension increases. His face is a mask
hiding his fury, violence and the hunger of an advanced junkie who has
not had a fix in over a week.
GUARD WILKINS
Crichlow.
SECOND PRISONER
A 5991301.
Same procedure.
ANGLE. SHOOTING PAST MALCOLM, FAVORING TWO OTHER PRISONERS. The guards
are approaching Malcolm's cell. Past Malcolm are two experienced
PRISONERS who have been watching Malcolm during the scene. They whisper
surreptitiously without moving their bodies, and barely moving their
lips. One of the prisoners is PETE, a huge barrel of a man, a lifer --
beaten by the system and a lifetime of incarceration. The other is
BEMBRY, a man of no great physicality, but who possesses immediately
the gift of leadership. It is clear that Pete and others look up to him
with great respect.
PETE
Looka Satan.
BEMBRY
I see him.
Bembry's language is very unhip. He speaks carefully. He respects words
and he respects himself, something which sets him apart from all the
other prisoners.
PETE
He bout to bust.
BEMBRY
No, he's not gonna bust. But he's not gonna fix
his face to please them, neither.
ANGLE. The check-in has reached the man next to Malcolm.
GUARD WILKINS
Harrington.
THIRD PRISONER
B 775717.
GUARD BARNES
Yeah. Lucky Seven.
Door slammed and locked.
CLOSE SHOT - MALCOLM
The guards are now in front of him.
GUARD WILKINS
Little.
Malcolm doesn't move.
GUARD BARNES
State your number.
Malcolm doesn't answer, doesn't blink.
GUARD WILKINS
Little.
ANGLE. Bembry in the FG of the scene.
BEMBRY
He's a new fish, Mr. Barnes. Give him a break.
It's a bold step by Bembry and the prisoners look over at him with
admiration. Barnes accepts the irregularity and calls over to Bembry.
GUARD BARNES
0kay, I'll give him a break. Now state your
number, Little.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
MALCOLM
I forgot it.
CLOSE SHOT - BEMBRY
Shaking his head in anguish. He knows what's coming.
ANGLE. Barnes makes a small gesture and Wilkins seizes Malcolm,
grabbing his head and uniform at the same time. Stenciled on the chest
of his faded dungarees is Malcolm's number. The guard bends Malcolm's
head to the number, shoving the material in Malcolm's face.
GUARD WILKINS
Can you read, boy? Thass your number.
GUARD BARNES
Now say it.
MALCOLM
I'm Malcolm Little, not no goddam number.
GUARD WILKINS
Oh, yes you is, baby; thass all you is.
And slams Malcolm hard. He slumps to the floor.
GUARD BARNES
Two days in the hole. Take him.
Wilkins drags Malcolm off as Barnes resumes the roll call.
GUARD BARNES (contd)
Burnham.
FOURTH PRISONER
A 551613, sir.
JUMP CUT:
103 INT. A SOLITARY CELL - DAY
Only the faintest light comes into the hideous room, which consists of
a mattress and a slop bucket. If Malcolm were to stretch out his arms,
he could touch both walls. He lies half on the stone floor, half on the
mattress.
A clang as the heavy door is opened.
GUARD CONE
Time's up. Get on your feet.
Malcolm stands.
GUARD CONE (contd)
Little, state your number.
A beat as Malcolm stares at the man, refusing to answer.
GUARD CONE (contd)
You just drew two more days.
And slams the door shut.
104 INT. SOLITARY - NIGHT
It is almost pitch black. We can almost smell the stench of the room.
Malcolm sits stony-faced, his back against a wall.
TRUSTEE'S VOICE
Water.
The long spigot of a watering can is pushed through an opening in
the cell door. Malcolm, animal-like, leaps at it and bends the spout,
wrenching it off in his fury.
105 OMIT
106 INT. SOLITARY CELL - DAY
TWO-SHOT - A WHITE CHAPLAIN AND MALCOLM
CHAPLAIN GILL
Do you know what a friend you have in Jesus,
son?
MALCOLM
Preacher, take your tin Jesus and the Virgin
Mary, both, and shove 'em.
Door slam.
107 INT. SOLITARY - NIGHT
Malcolm is alone at the bars: the hope of freedom filling his mind.
Malcolm pulls at the bars, tries to shake them in impotent fury. He
pounds the walls. Empty, sick, defeated, his nails scratching the
walls, he slides to the floor of the cell.
It is the low point of his life: nowhere to turn, nothing to hope for.
108 INT. SOLITARY - LATER
Guard Cone is shaking him into consciousness.
GUARD CONE
All right, Little. Get up.
Malcolm just about makes it. The guard is in half-focus.
GUARD CONE (contd)
State your number.
He is beaten.
MALCOLM
A 859912.
A shower is heard.
109 INT. SHOWER ROOM - DAY
Malcolm stands with bowed head as the hot water cascades over his
broken body. He lets it run and run, but it cannot really touch his
problems. On a nearby bench are his clothes, his towel and the makings
for a conk: lye, Vaseline, comb, etc.
He turns for a moment as he sees he is being watched by someone. It's
Bembry standing nearby. Malcolm turns away, trying to find solace in
the water. He wants no part of the world or anyone, just to be left
alone.
BEMBRY
I know how you feel. Like you want to lay down
and die.
Malcolm shows no flicker of interest or understanding.
BEMBRY (contd)
I brought you something.
He puts down a small matchbox on the bench next to Malcolm's things.
Malcolm eyes him like a snake -- but the punishment has reduced him to
deep insecurity and his belligerence is more cautious than angry.
MALCOLM
Who the hell are you?
BEMBRY
Put it in a cup of water. It's nutmeg.
MALCOLM
Man, what do you want?
BEMBRY
You need something. It's not a reefer, but
it'll help some.
MALCOLM
Man, get outa my face. I ain't nobody's punk.
But he steps out of the shower, fills a tin cup with water and empties
the contents of the matchbox into it. And drinks it down quickly.
BEMBRY
Sit down or it might knock you down.
Malcolm sits, toweling himself as the spice hits him. For the first, he
smiles; this is the first relief he has tasted in prison. He at Bembry
wonderingly, unable to figure him out.
MALCOLM
If you ain't trying to punk me, what's your
hype?
BEMBRY
I can show you how to get out of prison. And
it's no hype.
MALCOLM
Talk, daddy, I'm listening. Hey that ain't bad.
You got some more?
BEMBRY
That's the last stuff you'll ever get from me.
MALCOLM
What did you give it to me for then?
BEMBRY
'Cause you needed it. 'Cause you couldn't hear
me without it.
This is a new breed of cat; Malcolm has never met anyone like him. He
eyes him closely, as he slips into his clothes.
MALCOLM
What in the hell are you talking about?
He begins to conk his hair, but is paying attention to what Bembry is
saying.
BEMBRY
I think you got more sense than any cat in this
prison. How come you are such a fool?
Malcolm looks over, piqued.
BEMBRY (contd)
Nobody can bust out like Bogart does it, in the
movies. Because even if you get out, you are
still in prison.
Malcolm is putting the conk into his hair now.
MALCOLM
You ain't lying.
BEMBRY
When you go busting your fists against a stone
wall, you're not using your brains. Cause
that's what the white man wants you to do. Look
at you.
These last words are spoken sharply with disgust. Malcolm turns his
hands massaging the conk into his hair.
BEMBRY (contd)
Putting all that poison in your hair.
MALCOLM
Man, you been locked up too long, everybody
conks. All the cats.
BEMBRY
Why? Why does everybody conk?
MALCOLM
Cause I don't want to walk around with my head
all nappy, looking like--
BEMBRY
Like what? Looking like me? Like a nigger?!
Why don't you want to look like what you are?
What makes you ashamed of being black?
MALCOLM
I ain't said I'm ashamed.
He turns the water on to wash out the conk -- which has begun to burn.
Bembry restrains him, holding his arm.
MALCOLM
Leggo. I got to wash it out.
BEMBRY
Let it burn. Maybe you'll hear me then.
But it is burning now.
MALCOLM
Man, you better get off me.
He wrenches away from Bembry and puts his head in the water.
BEMBRY
Sure, burn yourself, pain yourself, put all
that poison into your hair, into your body --
trying to be white.
MALCOLM
Man, I don't want to hear all that.
BEMBRY
I thought you was smart. But you just another
one of them cats strutting down the avenue in
your clown suit with all that mess on you. Like
a monkey. And the white man sees you and he
laughs. He laughs because he knows you ain't
white.
Malcolm is drying his hair, finishing his conk. But some of what Bembry
has said disturbs him.
MALCOLM
Who are you?
Malcolm is completely humiliated. Bembry sees this and stops the
barrage.
BEMBRY
The question is, who are you? You are in the
darkness, but it's not your fault. Elijah
Muhammad can bring you into the light.
MALCOLM
Elijah who?
BEMBRY
Elijah Muhammad can get you out of prison. Out
of the prison of your mind. Maybe all you want
is another fix. I thought you were smart.
And he is gone. Malcolm stands looking after him, a long thoughtful
moment. He is pulling the comb through his hair.
110 INT. PRISON LICENSE SHOP - DAY
PRISONERS are working on a beltline that stamps out and finishes
license plates. Bembry is on the stamping machines, working as he talks
to the other prisoners. Malcolm is painting the plates, a little
removed from Bembry, but listening with interest. Barnes, with rifle,
idles by a window.
A whistle sounds, ending the work shift. The inmates quickly file out
into the yard. Bembry stays. Malcolm is half decided.
GUARD BARNES
You taking the yard?
BEMBRY
I'm staying.
Barnes gestures to Malcolm.
MALCOLM
Me too.
He goes.
BEMBRY
What you sniffing around for? I told you I gave
you your last fix.
MALCOLM
I ain't never seen a cat like you. Ain't you
scared talking like that in front of an ofay?
BEMBRY
What's he gonna do to me he ain't already done?
MALCOLM
You the only cat don't come on with that
"Whatcha know, daddy" jive; and you don't cuss
none.
BEMBRY
I respect myself. A man cuss because he hasn't
got the words to say what's on his mind.
MALCOLM
Tell you this: you ain't no fool.
BEMBRY
Don't con me. Don't try...
MALCOLM
Okay, okay.
BEMBRY
Don't con me.
MALCOLM
What do you do with your time?
BEMBRY
I read. I study. Because the first thing a
black man has to do is respect himself. Respect
his body and his mind. Quit taking the white
man's poison into your body: his cigarettes,
his dope, his liquor, his white woman, his
pork.
MALCOLM
That's what Mama used to say.
BEMBRY
Your mama had sense because the pig is a filthy
beast: part rat, part cat, and the rest is dog.
Malcolm has been pondering all this and now grows animated as he thinks
he has come to the essence of a hustle.
MALCOLM
Come on, daddy, pull my coat. What happens if
you give all that up? You get sick or somethin'?
I pulled a hustle once and got out of the draft.
BEMBRY
I'm telling you God's words, not no hustle. I'm
talking the words of Elijah, the black man's
God. I'm telling you, boy, that God is black.
MALCOLM
What? Everybody knows God is White.
BEMBRY (contd)
But everything the white man taught you, you
learned. He told you you were a black heathen
and you believed him. He told you how he took
you out of darkness and brought you to the
light. And you believed him. He taught you to
worship a blond, blue-eyed God with white skin
-- and you believed him. He told you black was
a curse, you believed him. Did you ever look
up the word black in the dictionary?
MALCOLM
What for?
BEMBRY
Did you ever study anything wasn't part of
some con?
MALCOLM
What the hell for, man?
BEMBRY
Go on, fool; the marble shooters are waiting
for you.
MALCOLM
Okay, okay. Show me, man.
110A CLOSE SHOT - A DICTIONARY
WE CAN READ the fine print of the definition:
DICTIONARY
Black, (blak), adj. Destitute of light, devoid
of color, enveloped in darkness. Hence, utterly
dismal or gloomy, as "the future looked black."
MALCOLM'S VOICE
You understand them words?
BEMBRY'S VOICE
Read it.
PULLBACK TO SHOW Bembry and Malcolm in a small PRISON LIBRARY. No one
else is in the book-lined room.
MALCOLM
I can't make out that shit.
BEMBRY
Soiled with dirt, foul; sullen, hostile,
forbidding -- as a black day. Foully or
outrageously wicked, as black cruelty.
Indicating disgrace, dishonor or culpability.
DICTIONARY
See also blackmail, blackball, blackguard.
MALCOLM
Hey, they's some shit, all right.
BEMBRY
Now look up "white."
Bembry turns the pages of the dictionary to "w."
BEMBRY (contd)
Read it.
CLOSE SHOT - DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF "WHITE"
MALCOLM'S VOICE
White (whit), adj. Of the color of pure snow;
reflecting all the rays of the spectrum. The
opposite of black, hence free from spot or
blemish; innocent, pure, without evil intent,
harmless. Honest, square-dealing, honorable.
Malcolm stumbles through the definition as well as he can. Bembry takes
over the reading, giving it ironic emphasis.
MALCOLM
That's bullshit. That's a white man's book.
Ain't all these white man's books?
SHOT - THE SHELVES OF BOOKS
BEMBRY
They sure ain't no black man's books in here.
MALCOLM
Then what you telling me to study in them for?
BEMBRY
You got to learn everything the white man says
and use it against him. The truth is laying
there if you smart and read behind their words.
It's buried there. You got to dig it out.
MALCOLM
Man, how'm I gonna know the ones worth looking
at?
Bembry smiles at Malcolm. He is a remarkable man who always takes
careful measure of his listener. He never talks down to his audience;
he talks to them. (A manner Malcolm later will adopt.) Bembry can talk
funky or salty or, as we will see, in the cadence and eloquence of the
Bible. Right now he goes into street talk.
BEMBRY
I'll pull your coat, daddy. Cause lots of these
can't nobody read, be he black or white or a
Ph.D. with their suspenders dragging the ground
with degrees.
Malcolm laughs. He likes and admires the man. Then caught by a passage
he does not understand:
MALCOLM
Man, I'm studying in the man's book. I don't dig
half the words.
BEMBRY
Look 'em up and and out what they mean.
MALCOLM
Where am I gonna start?
BEMBRY
Start at the beginning. Page one, the first
one. Here--
CLOSE SHOT
As Bembry's hand opens the book to page one.
CLOSE IN ON A PICTURE OF AN AARDVARK WITH ITS DEFINITION
MALCOLM
Aardvark, noun. An earth pig; an ant-eating
African mammal. Man, that sounds like the
dozens.
ANGLE - TWO-SHOT
BEMBRY
Read it and keep on reading.
Malcolm's finger runs down to the next definition:
DICTIONARY
Abacus, noun. An ancient and primitive Chinese
counting device.
BEMBRY
If you take one step toward Allah, He will take
two steps toward you.
111 OMIT
112 OMIT
113 INT. MALCOLM'S CELL - NIGHT
He is reading on his bunk as Barnes walks by. The lights in the cell go
out. Malcolm looks up, annoyed at being interrupted. He shifts his
position to the floor of the cell so that he can catch the dim light
coming from the corridor and goes on with his reading.
CLOSE SHOT - THE BOOK
Malcolm is studying the dictionary, the last of the "a's": the words
azimuth, Azores, Aztec, azure, etc. He reads a word, then holds his
hand over the printed definition to test himself, half-mouthing its
meaning. Malcolm is also copying the dictionary in a school book word
for word.
114 INT. LIBRARY - DAY
There are several books on the desk before Malcolm. WE SEE their
titles: W.E.B. DuBois's _The Soul of Black Folks_, Carter G. Woodson's
_Journal of Negro History_, Durant's _Story of Philosophy_, H.G.
Wells's _Outline of History_, Spinoza, Thoreau, etc.
GUARD BARNES'S VOICE
Closing. Knock it off.
Malcolm is surprised the time has gone so fast. He gathers up his books
with care. He cherishes them, putting them back on the shelf carefully.
GUARD BARNES
You studying to be the first colored
President of the States?
115 INT. LICENSE SHOP - DAY
The machines are idle; no one is in the room but Malcolm. He starts
to reach inside his jacket when Barnes sticks his head in.
GUARD BARNES
You taking the yard or not?
MALCOLM
I'm staying.
GUARD BARNES
Then give me a butt.
Malcolm takes out a half-filled pack of cigarettes, about to offer one,
then pauses. Malcolm hands him the pack of cigarettes.
MALCOLM
Take 'em. I don't smoke no more.
He takes the pack happily and goes. Malcolm reaches into his jacket
again, takes out a book. WE SEE its title: Mahatma Gandhi's _My
Struggle_. He sits next to the license press to read.
116 EXT. THE PRISON YARD - DAY
A baseball game is in progress. A BLACK TEAM is playing a WHITE ONE.
Most of the CONVICTS are watching the game; partisanship at every
pitch. A base hit gets a big reaction.
ANGLE - MALCOLM AND BEMBRY
They are out along the right field wall. They walk throughout the scene.
ANGLE - The ball is hit over the fence for a home run. There is a big
cheer from the black prisoners. Pete, the batter, trots proudly around
the bases.
MALCOLM
Ole Pete ain't much in the head, but he can lay
in there with the wood.
BEMBRY
Lemme tell you about history: black history.
You listening?
TWO-SHOT - Malcolm still watching the game.
MALCOLM
You pitch, baby; I'll ketch.
BEMBRY
The first men on earth were black. They ruled
and there was not one white face anywhere. But
they teach us that we lived in caves and swung
from trees. Black men were never like that.
Malcolm is listening to Bembry's intent statement.
BEMBRY (contd)
We were a race of kings when the white men went
around on all fours.
There is a crack of the bat and Malcolm turns to watch another base
hit, by a black convict, stir the crowd.
MALCOLM
This a helluva game. Somethin's going on.
He sees a black convict, CHUCK, nearby and calls over:
MALCOLM (contd)
Hey, whatsa score?
CHUCK
10 to 1; we murdering them, Din't you hear?
MALCOLM
What?
CHUCK
The Brooklyn Dodgers brought up Jackie Robinson
and we pounding the hell out of them,
celebrating.
MALCOLM
How bout that?
BEMBRY
Sure, white man throw us a bone and that's
supposed to make us forget 400 years.
MALCOLM
A black man playing big league ball is
something.
BEMBRY
I told you to go behind the words and dig out
the truth. They let us sing and dance and
smile -- and now they let one black man in the
majors. That don't cancel out the greatest
crime in history. When that blue-eyed devil
locked us in chains -- 100,000,000 of us --
broke up our families, tortured us, cut us off
from our language, our religion, our history.
SHOTS OF THE FACES OF THE BLACK BALL PLAYERS AND THE CONVICTS
In the stands, cheering and joyous.
BEMBRY (contd)
Do they know who they are? Do you know where
you came from? We are the Original People.
Malcolm is listening to him now.
BEMBRY (contd)
What's your name, boy?
Malcolm is startled; answers like a boy.
MALCOLM
Little.
BEMBRY
No. That's the name of the slave-master who
owned your family. You don't even know who you
are. You're nothing. Less than nothing. A zero.
Who are you?
CLOSE SHOT - MALCOLM
Wrapped in thought.
ANGLE ON MALCOLM
MALCOLM
I'm not Malcolm Little and I'm not Satan.
BEMBRY
Who are you?
CLOSE - MALCOLM
Malcolm cannot answer because he truly does not know.
A ball is hit. Malcolm watches its flight but his face is fixed
somewhere between understanding and anger: it is the face of the future
leader.
BEMBRY
I told you we are a nation, the lost Tribe of
Shabazz in the wilderness of North America.
117 INT. ANOTHER PART OF THE PRISON - LATE AFTERNOON
The rays of the sun come through bars that cut across Malcolm and
Bembry's face.
BEMBRY
Allah has sent us a prophet, a black man named
Elijah Muhammad. For if God is black, Malcolm--
MALCOLM
Then the devil is white.
BEMBRY
I knew you'd hear me. The white man is the
devil. All white men are devils.
MALCOLM
I sure met some.
BEMBRY
No. Elijah Muhammad does not say "that white
man is a devil." He teaches us that the white
man is the devil. All white men.
CLOSE SHOT - MALCOLM
Listening.
BEMBRY
Have you ever known a good white man in all
your life? Think back, did you ever meet one
who wasn't evil?
A prison whistle is heard.
119 OMIT
120 INT. A NICHE IN A PRISON WALL - P.M.
Malcolm and Bembry standing close together. The feeling is of someone
taking communion: with Bembry the minister and Malcolm the communicant.
Their voices are little more than whispers.
BEMBRY
The body is a holy repository.
MALCOLM
I will not touch the white man's poison: his
drugs, his liquor, his carrion, his women.
BEMBRY
A Muslim must be strikingly upright.
Outstanding. So those in the darkness can see
the power of the light.
Malcolm lifts his head.
MALCOLM
I will do it.
BEMBRY
But the key to Islam is submission. That is why
twice daily we turn to Mecca, to the Holy of
Holies, to pray. We bend our knees in submission.
Bembry kneels in a praying position. Malcolm stands.
MALCOLM
I can't.
BEMBRY
For evil to bend its knee, admit its guilt,
implore His forgiveness, is the hardest thing
on earth--
MALCOLM
I want to, Bembry, but I can't.
BEMBRY
--the hardest and the greatest.
MALCOLM
I can't.
BEMBRY
For evil to bend its knee, admit its guilt,
implore His forgiveness, is the hardest thing
on earth--
MALCOLM
I want to, Bembry, but I can't.
BEMBRY
--the hardest and the greatest.
MALCOLM
I don't know what to say to Allah.
BEMBRY
Have you ever bent your knees, Malcolm?
Malcolm laugh-snorts:
MALCOLM
Yeah. When I was picking a lock to rob
somebody's house.
BEMBRY
Tell Him that.
MALCOLM
I don't know how.
BEMBRY
You can grovel and crawl for sin, but not to
save your soul. Pick the lock, Malcolm; pick
it.
MALCOLM
I want to. God knows I want to.
121 INT. MALCOLM'S CELL-NIGHT
Malcolm holds a letter in his hand. He reads it carefully. He has read
it several times before.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
I received a letter that day from the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad. The Messenger of Allah wrote
me, a nobody, a junkie, a pimp and a convict.
VOICE OF ELIJAH
I have come to give you something which can
never be taken from you: I bring you a sense of
your own worth, the worth of one human being.
The knowledge of self.
The room becomes transformed. It is suddenly suffused with light. And
standing in the cell with Malcolm is ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. He has
materialized, but he can be seen through. He is MALCOLM'S
HALLUCINATION.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
It was like a blinding light and I became aware
that he was in the room with me. He wore a dark
suit and on his face I saw a pain so old and
deep and black I could scarcely look at him. I
knew I was not dreaming. He was there.
ELIJAH
I tell you that the most dangerous creation of
any society in the world is the man with
nothing to lose. You do not need ten such men
to change the world. One will do. The Earth
belongs to us, the Black man and whatever is
around it, and on it and in it. Praises are
due to him forever for bringing to us again,
our self and our property, the UNIVERSE OF SUN,
MOON, AND STARS.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
And suddenly as he came, he was gone.
The hallucination disappears.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X (contd)
And then I could do it.
Malcolm goes down on his knees. There are tears in his eyes as he
begins praying:
CLOSE - MALCOLM
MALCOLM
Allah Akbar: all praise to Him who is
all-seeing, all-understanding.
He continues to pray.
VOICE OF MALCOLM X
We are told that Saul, on the road to Damascus,
heard the words of truth, he fell from his
horse. I do not liken myself to Paul, but I
understand. It happened to me.
122 INT. BEMBRY'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
A poorly furnished, small, but immaculate room. There are two couches,
a table set for eating, and, on the walls, a portrait of Elijah and a
Muslim banner. It is dinner time in a Muslim home.
SIDNEY, aged 20, a perfect specimen of the Fruit of Islam, stands
behind his chair, waiting. Their mother, LORRAINE, a woman of Bembry's
age, is seated, but she, too, awaits Bembry.
SHOT - BEMBRY
BEMBRY
In the name of Allah, the beneficent and the
merciful to whom all praise is due.
At the window Bembry saying the evening prayers.
BEMBRY'S VOICE
Dear Brother Malcolm: I am back in the bosom of
Islam, praise Allah...
He comes to the table, nods and sits. Sidney respectfully sits after
him. Food is passed. It is simple fare: natural foods, milk, greens.
The portions are small. They eat in silence, but there is warmth and
love at this table.
BEMBRY'S VOICE (contd)
... We don't have much, but what we have is
yours. Lorraine and my two sons join with me in
saying that when you come out, which will not
be too long, come straight to us.
123 INT. PRISON BARBER SHOP - DAY
Malcolm is reading Bembry's letter as he waits his turn. There is a
WHITE CONVICT in the chair, just being finished by a WHITE BARBER -
SIMMONS. A BLACK BARBER - SLIM sits by. Both are convicts. NOTE:
Malcolm now wears glasses, all that reading in his badly lit cell has
ruined his eyes.
BEMBRY'S VOICE
You write thanking me. Don't thank me. Praise
Allah. He did it all.
SIMMONS
Next.
Malcolm starts for the chair. Simmons moves away to light a cigarette
as Slim takes over.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
Dear Bembry. Please thank the Honorable Elijah
Muhammad for the money and tell him I have not
written him because I have not yet proven
myself.
124 INT. SMALL'S PARADISE - NIGHT
Archie and Cadillac are reading a letter they have received. They look
at each other incredulously.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
But I have written everyone else.
125 ANOTHER PRISON - DAY
Shorty is waving a letter he has received to his CELLMATE.
SHORTY
Look like Homey got himself a brand new hype.
126 INT. ELIJAH'S OFFICE - DAY
An immaculate room, well furnished. ELIJAH sits in a chair as Bembry
stands reading Malcolm's letter.
BEMBRY
"I wrote the Mayor, the Governor and the
President, but for some reason I haven't heard
from them"...
Bembry laughs; Elijah smiles.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
Tell the Messenger of Allah that I have
dedicated my life to telling the white devil
the truth to his face. I greet you with the
ancient words: "As Salaam Alikum."
ELIJAH
Wa-Alaikum Salaam.
MALCOLM'S VOICE
P.S. I finally worked my way through the
"Z's"...
127 INT. PRISON CHAPEL - NIGHT
TITLE - 6 YEARS LATER
A GROUP OF PRISONERS, mostly white, but with a goodly smattering of
black convicts, are listening to a lecture by CHAPLAIN GILL.
CHAPLAIN GILL
Are there any questions?
ANGLE. Malcolm seated next to a black convict, raises his hand. It's
the only hand up. The Chaplain searches for another questioner, but
there aren't any.
Pete, sitting next to Malcolm, whispers.
PETE
Watch out, baby, this cat is heavy on religion.
CHAPLAIN GILL
I see this has become a struggle between good
and evil. Satan has a question.
There is laughter from the convicts.
MALCOLM
Yes it is, Chaplain Gill. But I wouldn't want
to say which one of us is what.
Laughter, especially from the black convicts.
CHAPLAIN GILL
Why don't you just ask your question?
MALCOLM
You've been talking about the disciples. What
color were they?
CHAPLAIN GILL
I don't think we know for certain.
There are reactions from the convicts. Malcolm is sharply challenging a
white man about color.
MALCOLM
They were Hebrew, weren't they?
CHAPLAIN GILL
That's right.
MALCOLM
As Jesus was. Jesus was also a Hebrew.
CHAPLAIN GILL
Just what is your question?
MALCOLM
What color were the original Hebrews?
CHAPLAIN GILL
I told you we don't know for certain.
MALCOLM
Then we don't know that God was white.
There is a strong reaction to this.
CHAPLAIN GILL
Now just a moment, just a moment--
MALCOLM
But we do know that the people of that region
of Asia Minor, from the Tigris-Euphrates valley
to the Mediterranean, are dark-skinned people.
I've studied drawings and photographs and seen
newsreels. I have never seen a native of that
area who was not black.
CHAPLAIN GILL
Just what are you saying?
MALCOLM
I'm not saying anything, preacher. I'm proving
to you that God is black.
127A INSERT FLASH - A BLOND, BLUE-EYED JESUS ON THE CROSS
(Note: Try to get footage from _The Last Temptation of Christ_ [Willem
Dafoe])
MALCOLM'S VOICE
God is black.
128 INT. ELIJAH'S OFFICE - DAY
Malcolm opens the door, the room is dark and he sees a small, slight
man standing against the window, he doesn't move. This is the same man
who appeared in Malcolm's cell, this is the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.
Malcolm slowly moves toward him; he is completely humbled in his
presence.
CLOSE - ELIJAH
He turns from the window to Malcolm.
ELIJAH
My son, you've been a thief, drug dealer and a
pimp and the world is still full of temptation.
When God bragged how faithful Job was, the
devil argued that only God's protective hedge
around him kept him pure, the devil said remove
the hedge and he will curse his maker.
Malcolm, your hedge has been removed and I
believe you will remain faithful.
CLOSE - MALCOLM
He cannot say anything and he drops his head, he is overwhelmed with
heartfelt emotion.
129 INT. BEMBRY'S LIVING ROOM - P.M.
In contrast to the peaceful family scene, the room is a beehive of
activity. Sidney is turning out leaflets on a mimeograph machine;
Lorraine is busy making up a mailing list using 3 x 5 file cards;
Bembry is recruiting on the telephone.
MALCOLM
How many you turning out?
SIDNEY
500.
MALCOLM
Make it 1000. We got a lot of fishing to do.
SIDNEY
Brother Malcolm, I want you to meet Brother
Earl. He just joined the Nation.
Earl moves toward Malcolm and extends his hands. Malcolm shakes it
warmly.
MALCOLM
We can always use another good brother.
EARL
I'm a willing servant for Allah.
129A EXT. CHURCH - DAY
Sunday service has let out and Malcolm, Earl, and Sidney are "fishing."
They're trying to convert the Black Christians. Malcolm speaks, while
the others hand out leaflets.
MALCOLM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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