Raising Arizona

 

 

 

Screenplay by       Ethan Coen

          Joel Coen

 

Produced by       Ethan Coen

          Mark Silverman

 

Directed by       Joel Coen

 

 

 

Cast List:

 

Nicolas Cage      H.I. McDonnough

Holly Hunter      Edwina

Trey Wilson      Nathan Arizona, Sr.

John Goodman      Gale

William Forsythe    Evelle

Sam McMurray      Glen

Frances McDormand    Dot

Randall "Tex" Cobb    Leonard Smalls

T.J. Kuhn      Nathan Arizona, Jr.

 

 

 

 

OVER BLACK:

 

VOICE OVER

My name is H. I. McDunnough...

 

 

A WALL

 

With horizontal hatch lines.

 

VOICE OVER

... Call me Hi.

 

A disheveled young man in a gaily colored Hawaiian shirt is launched into frame by someone offscreen.

 

He holds a printed paddle that reads "NO. 1468-6 NOV. 29 79."

 

The hatch marks on the wall behind him are apparently height markers.

 

VOICE OVER

... The first time I met Ed was in the county lock-up in Tempe, Arizona...

 

 

FLASH

 

As his picture is taken.

 

 

CLOSEUP

 

On the paddle: "NOV. 29 79."

 

VOICE OVER

... a day I'll never forget.

 

A bellowing male voice from offscreen:

 

SHERIFF

Don't forget the profile, Ed!

 

 

ANGLE ON THE STILL CAMERA

 

It is mounted on a tripod. A pretty young woman in a severe police uniform peers out from behind it.

 

WOMAN

Turn to the right.

 

HI

What kind of name is Ed for a pretty thing like you?

 

ED

Short for Edwinna. Turn to the right!

 

HI obliges, but still looks at Ed out of the corner of his eye.

 

HI

You're a flower, you are. Just a little desert flower.

 

 

FLASH

 

On his eye-skewed profile.

 

HI

Lemme know how those come out.

 

 

LOW ANGLE CELL BLOCK CORRIDOR

 

As Hi is escorted away from the camera toward his cell.

 

At the far end of the corridor a huge con is sluggishly mopping the floor.

 

VOICE OVER

I was in for writing hot checks which, when businessmen do it, is called an overdraft. I'm not complainin', mind you; just sayin' there ain't no pancake so thin it ain't got two sides. Now prison life is very structured – more than most people care for...

 

 

INTERCUTTING

 

HI'S POV of the MOPPING CON, tracking as he approaches, and the Mopping Con's POV of Hi as Hi approaches.

 

VOICE OVER

... But there's a spirit of camaraderie that exists between the men, like you find only in combat maybe...

 

The Mopping Con snarls as Hi passes:

 

CON

Grrrr...

 

VOICE OVER

... or on a pro ball club in the heat of a pennant drive.

 

 

NEWSREEL FOOTAGE

 

A ballplayer connects – THWOCK – for a home run and the crowd roars.

 

 

PRISON HALL

 

Panning a circle of men who sit facing each other in folding chairs. The pan starts on Hi.

 

VOICE OVER

In an effort to better ourselves we were forced to meet with a counselor who tried to help us figure out why we were the way we were...

 

At this point the pan has reached the COUNSELOR, an earnest, bearded young man who straddles a folding chair with his arms folded over its back.

 

He is addressing one of the Cons:

 

COUNSELOR

Why do you use the word "trapped"?

 

 

CLOSEUP BLACK CON

 

The huge muscle-bound black man with a shaved head is knitting his brow in consternation.

 

CON

Huh?

 

COUNSELOR

Why do you say you feel "trapped" in a man's body?

 

CON

Oh ...

 

He bites his lip, thinking; then, in a resonant bass voice:

 

CON

... Well, sometimes I get the menstrual cramps real hard.

 

 

PAROLE MEETING ROOM

 

Three PAROLE OFFICERS – two men and a woman-face Hi across a table.

 

CHAIRMAN

Have you learned anything, Hi?

 

HI

Yessir, you bet.

 

WOMAN

You wouldn't lie to us, would you Hi?

 

HI

No ma'am, hope to say.

 

CHAIRMAN

Okay then.

 

 

EXT 7-ELEVEN NIGHT

 

A beat-up Chevy pulls into the all-night store's empty parking lot.

 

VOICE OVER

I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn't easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House...

 

Hi is getting out of the Chevy in a Hawaiian shirt, holding a pump-action shotgun.

 

VOICE OVER

... I dunno, they say he's a decent man, so...

 

He primes the shotgun – WHOOSH – CLACK – and heads for the store.

 

VOICE OVER

... maybe his advisers are confused.

 

 

FLASH

 

Full-face exposure of Hi once again in front of the mug-shot wall.

 

ED

Turn to the right!

 

Hi obliges but shoots sympathetic glances at Ed who is obviously upset, wiping away tears and snuffling behind the camera.

 

HI

What's the matter, Ed?

 

ED

My fai-ants left me.

 

VOICE OVER

She said her fiancée had run off with a student cosmetologist who knew how to ply her feminine wiles.

 

 

FLASH

 

On Hi's profile. He turns back to Ed.

 

HI

That sumbitch.

 

SHERIFF (O.S.)

Don't forget his phone call, Ed!

 

HI

You tell him I think he's a damn fool, Ed. You tell him I said so – H.I. McDunnough. And if he wants to discuss it he knows where to find me...

 

As another police officer starts to lead him away:

 

HI

... in the Munroe County Maximum Security Correctional Facility for Men...

 

 

CLOSE ON ED

 

Looking up through her tears as Hi is led away.

 

HI (O.S.)

... State Farm Road Number Thirty-one; Tempe, Arizona...

 

 

BACK TO HI

 

Struggling to call back over his shoulder as he is firmly led out the door.

 

HI

... I'll be waiting!

 

The door slams.

 

 

LOW ANGLE CELL BLOCK CORRIDOR

 

As Hi is once again escorted toward his cell.

 

The Mopping Con is now in the middle-background, having worked his way about halfway up the corridor since last time we saw him.

 

VOICE OVER

I can't say I was happy to be back inside, but the flood of familiar sights, sounds and faces almost made it feel like a homecoming.

 

 

CLOSE ON MOPPING CON

 

As Hi passes.

 

CON

Grrrr...

 

 

PRISON HALL

 

Group is meeting again.

 

COUNSELOR

Most men your age, Hi, are getting married and raising up a family. They wouldn't accept prison as a substitute.

 

Hi looks sheepish.

 

COUNSELOR

... Would any of you men care to comment?

 

Two convicts sitting next to each other, GALE and EVELLE, appear to be friends.

 

GALE

But sometimes your career gotta come before family.

 

EVELLE

Work is what's kept us happy.

 

ANGRY BLACK CON

Yeah, but Doc Schwartz is sayin' you gotta accept responsibilities. I mean I'm proud to say I got a family... somewheres.

 

 

HIGH ANGLE CELL

 

Looking down from the ceiling. In the foreground, lying on the top bunk, hands clasped behind his head as he stares off into space is MOSES. Moses is a gnarled, elderly black con with wire-rimmed spectacles. On the lower bunk, also with hands clasped behind his head and staring off at the same spot in space, is Hi .

 

VOICE OVER

I tried to sort through what the Doc had said, but prison ain't the easiest place to think.

 

MOSES

An' when they was no meat we ate fowl. An' when they was no fowl we ate crawdad. An' when they was no crawdad to be foun', we ate San'.

 

HI

You ate what?

 

MOSES

(nodding)

We ate San'.

 

HI

You ate sand?!

 

MOSES

Dass right...

 

 

PAROLE BOARD ROOM

 

Hi faces the same three PAROLE OFFICERS across the same table.

 

CHAIRMAN

Well B, you done served your twenty munce, and seeing as you never use live ammo, we got no choice but to return you to society.

 

SECOND MAN

These doors goan swing wide.

 

HI

I didn't want to hurt anyone, Sir.

 

SECOND MAN

Hi, we respect that.

 

CHAIRMAN

But you're just hurtin' yourself with this rambunctious behavior.

 

HI

I know that, sir.

 

CHAIRMAN

Okay then.

 

 

HIGH SHOT

 

Of a 7-Eleven parking lot, at night, deserted except for Hi's car which sits untended, its engine rumbling.

 

VOICE OVER

Now I don't know how you come down on the incarceration question...

 

Hi backpedals into frame with a shotgun and a bag of cash.

 

VOICE OVER

... whether it's for rehabilitation or revenge .

 

He spins and grabs his car-door handle. Locked. He tries the back door. Locked.

 

VOICE OVER

... But I was beginning to think...

 

As we hear the wail of an approaching siren, Hi takes it on the heel and toe.

 

VOICE OVER

... that revenge is the only argument makes any sense.

 

 

FLASH

 

On Hi against the mug-shot wall.

 

ED

Turn to the right!

 

SHERIFF (O.S.)

Don't forget his latents, Ed!

 

 

CLOSE ON Hi 'S HAND

 

We see his right hand being efficiently manipulated by Ed's two hands: She is rolling each of his inked fingers into the appropriate space on an exemplar sheet.

 

HI (O.S.)

Hear about the paddy-wagon collided with the segment mixer, Ed? Twelve hardened criminals escaped.

 

Ed’s hand lingers on top of his. Hi 's other hand enters to rest on top of hers.

 

HI (O.S.)

Got a new beau?

 

ED (O.S.)

No, Hi, I sure don't.

 

Hi slips a ring off his own finger and slides it onto Ed's.

 

HI (O.S.)

Don't worry, I paid for it.

 

 

LOW ANGLE CELL BLOCK CORRIDOR

 

The surly Mopping Con has now worked his way up to the foreground.

 

Hi is being escorted past him to his cell.

 

VOICE OVER

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and for once they may be right.

 

Halfway up the corridor Hi points casually at the floor.

 

HI

You missed a spot.

 

The Mopping Con turns to watch him recede.

 

CON

Grrrr...

 

 

HIGH ANGLE CELL

 

Same high shot with Moses on the top bunk, Hi on the lower.

 

VOICE OVER

More and more my thoughts turned to Ed, and I finally felt the pain of imprisonment.

 

MOSES

An' momma would frow the live crawdad in a pot of boihn' water. Well one day I decided to make my own crawdad...

 

We begin to crane down to tighten on the absently staring Hi .

 

VOICE OVER

... an' I frew it in a pot, forgettin' to put in the water, ya see...

 

Moses' voice is mixing down as we lose him from frame.

 

VOICE OVER

... and it was like I was makin' popcorn, ya see... The joint is a lonely place after lock-up and fights out...

 

We are now very close on Hi, staring.

 

VOICE OVER

... when the last of the cons has been swept away by the sandman.

 

 

HI'S POV

 

The underside of the top bunk.

 

A sudden flash whitens and fades to leave the image of Ed, smiling behind her camera, softly supered on the underside of the bunk.

 

 

BACK TO HI

 

He wearily turns his head to profile on the pillow and shuts his eyes.

 

VOICE OVER

But I couldn't help thinking that a brighter future lay ahead – a future that was only eight to fourteen months away.

 

Eyes closed, he is illuminated by a flash.

 

 

PAROLE BOARD ROOM

 

Hi and the same three officers.

 

CHAIRMAN

Got a name for people like you, Hi. That name is called recidivism.

 

SECOND MAN

Ree-peat O-fender.

 

CHAIRMAN

Not a pretty name, is it, Hi?

 

HI

No Sir, it sure ain't. That's one bonehead name. But that ain't me anymore.

 

CHAIRMAN

You're not just tellin' us what we wanna hear?

 

HI

No Sir, no way.

 

SECOND MAN

'Cause we just wanna hear the truth.

 

HI

Well then I guess I am tellin' you what you wanna hear.

 

CHAIRMAN

Boy, didn't we just tell you not to do that?

 

HI

Yessir.

 

CHAIRMAN

Okay then.

 

 

TRACKING

 

Over Hi's shoulder as he strides toward a door marked "Processing" and flings it open.

 

It is the familiar booking room. Ed looks up from her camera, having just snapped a picture of another suspect against the hatched wall.

 

HI

I'm walkin' in here on my knees, Ed – a free man proposin'.

 

Hi cocks a finger at the suspect.

 

HI

Howdy Kurt.

 

 

ED'S ROOM

 

As she nervously frets at her white bridal gown in front of a mirror.

 

VOICE OVER

And so it was.

 

SHERIFF (O.S.)

Don't forget the boo-kay, Ed!

 

 

CLOSE SHOT ED

 

Gazing earnestly into the camera. A congregation is seated behind her – the bride's side wearing police blues; the groom's side, Hawaiian shirts.

 

ED

I do.

 

 

CLOSE SHOT HI

 

Also staring into the camera.

 

HI

You bet I do.

 

 

REVERSE

 

Over their shoulders, the minister.

 

MINISTER

Okay then.

 

 

FLASH

 

On the newlyweds smiling at the camera.

 

 

FLASH

 

On the newlyweds smiling at each other, profile to the camera.

 

 

HIGH WIDE SHOT TRAILER PARK

 

In the middle of a vast expanse of desert.

 

VOICE OVER

Ed's pa staked us to a starter home in suburban Tempe...

 

 

 

INT. MACHINE SHOP

 

Hi is working the drill press, wearing goggles and sweat-stained overalls.

 

VOICE OVER

... and I got a job drilling holes in sheet metal.

 

Next to him idly stands Bud, a veteran of the shop, with a grimy face and a pair of goggles pushed up on his forehead.

 

BUD

So we was doin' paramedical work in affiliation with the state highway system-not actually practicin', y'understand – and me and Bill's patrollin' down Nine Mile –

 

HI

Bill Roberts?

 

BUD

(barking)

No, not that motherscratcher! Bill Parker! Anyway, we're approachin' the wreck, and there's a spherical object arestin' on the highway...

 

He pauses to blow and pop a bubble with his chewing gum.

 

BUD

... And it don't look like a piece a the car.

 

VOICE OVER

Mostways the job was a lot like prison, except Ed was waifin' at the end of every day...

 

 

CASNIER'S WINDOW

 

Hi is scowling at his paycheck. Behind the barred window a fat cashier grins.

 

VOICE OVER

... and a paycheck at the end of every week.

 

CASHIER

Gummint do take a bite, don't she?

 

 

EXT. TRAILER

 

Hi sits in a lawn chair in front of the trailer. Ed sits on his lap, his arms around her. Both are wearing sunglasses, looking at the setting sun. The scene is suff-used with a warm yellow light.

 

VOICE OVER

These were the happy days, the salad days as they say...

 

As the sun sets, the light is turning from yellow to amber. Hi and Ed watch, their heads following its slow downward arc.

 

VOICE OVER

... and Ed felt that having a critter was the