Eyes Wide Shut
The following is a replication
of the typescript copy. The typographic features, formatting,
spacing, and spelling (including typographical errors) have been
retained as closely as possible. Omissions in the original are
noted. Page breaks in the typescript are represented here by dotted
lines.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INT BILL & ALICE'S APT - LIVING
ROOM - NIGHT
cards stand open everywhere in
the comfortable Central Park West
apartment.
year-old , HELENA, and the BABY-SITTER,
a young college girl.
BILL and ALICE HARFORD, an attractive
couple in their thirties, are
in evening clothes preparing to
leave for a party.
How do I look?
You look great.
My hair okay?
Perfect.
You're not even looking
at it.
It's absolutely beautiful.
You always
look beautiful.
Oh, shut up... OK, let's
go.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BABY-SITTER
Oh, you look so-ooo lovely,
Mrs.
Harford.
Thank you, Roz.
(to Helena)
All ready for bed?
Yes, Mommy. I took my bath
and
brushed my teeth.
What time do you want Helena
to go to
bed?
Please, Mommy, can I stay
up late
tonight and watch the (name
of TV
show) Ple-eease.
When is it on?
Ten-thirty.
Okay, darling, but just for
tonight.
Thank you, Mommy.
Doctor Harford?
Yes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOORMAN
The car is here.
OK, we'll be right down.
OK the car's here - let's
go.
(to Baby-sitter)
Roz, we might be late tonight
but I'll
hold the car to take you
home.
Oh, that's great, Doctor Harford.
Thanks very much.
BILL takes ALICE's hand and gives
her a loving wink.
BILL'S car pulls up behind a stretch
limo.
The driver hands Bill a clip board
with a form attached to it.
Can you sign this, Doctor?
Okay, thanks..
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DRIVER
Thanks. (handing his
card) Just phone
about half hour before you want
to be
picked up.
OK. Fine.
Have a good evening.
Big party already in progress.
on the invitation roster.
and his wife, ILLONA, a Hungarian
beauty, stand to one side
greeting their guests in the large
entrance hall.
Bill!...Alice!... I'm
so glad you could
come. It's wonderful to see
you both,
cheeks.
And Alice, my dear, forgive
the pitiful
understatement but you look
totally
beautiful.
smiles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZIEGLER
And Bill, that osteopath you
sent me
to? He was wonderful. You
should see
my serve now.
Yes, he's the top man in the
world.
BILL and ALICE, carrying champagne
glasses make their way through
the glitterati.
lights and antique ornaments.
BILL's attention is caught by
one of the musicians on the bandstand.
I don't believe it.
What?
The guy at the piano. That's
Nick
Nightingale, I went to medical
school
with him.
He's plays pretty good for
a doctor.
He's not a doctor. He
dropped out. I'm
going to have to say hello
to him.
Okay, I'll go and get us some
more
champagne.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BILL
I'll see you at the bar.
Nick!.. Nick Nightingale!
Hey! Bill Harford! What a
surprise.
How the hell are you?
God, how long has it been?
Ten years?
And a couple.
How's life been treating
you?
Not too bad. And you've become
a
pianist.
My friends call me that.
And how do you happen to
playing
here tonight?
I know my Cole Porter and
I work
cheap.
How about you. Still in the
doctor
business?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BILL
You know how it is, once a
doctor,
always a doctor.
In my case, never a doctor,
never a
doctor. You _don't_ know how
that is.
I never did understand why you
walked
away.
No? It's a nice feeling.
I do it a lot.
polite smile.
Okay, we're off again.
Listen, if I don't
catch you later, I'm down
in the
Village for the next two weeks,
at the
Cafe Sonata. Come by if you
get a
chance.
Cafe Sonata, right. Okay,
and listen, it
was great seeing you again.
Same here. Take care.
dance floor to the bar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
and finds she is holding - or
touching - a man's hand.
I think that's my glass.
I'm absolutely certain of
it.
European accent.
as he does so.
Did you ever read the Latin
poet Ovid
on The Art of Love?
Didn't he wind up all
by himself, crying
his eyes out in some place with
a very
bad climate.
But he also had a good time
first. A
very good time.
By the way, my name is Sandor
Szabo.
I'm Hungarian.
Pleased to meet you.
My name is Alice.
I'm American.
Would you like to dance,
Alice?
Why not? - Sandor.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACROSS THE ROOM - BILL & THE
MODELS
GAYLE, the taller model, shouts
to BILL above the music.
Nobody likes you?
(louder)
Nobody likes you, is that the
problem?
Put it this way, nobody
_wants_ to admit
how much they like me. But
I'm
confident it can still happen.
Do you know Nuala Windsor?
Nuala...I certainly feel
like I do. How
do you spell, Nuala?
N..u..a..l..a.
Is that a Hawaiian name?
No, it's an agency name.
You were very kind to her
once.
Only once? That sounds like
an
oversight.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was on a shoot, modelling
at
Rockefeller Center, on a very
windy
day. You happened to be passing
by.
And you got something in your
eye?
Just about half of 5th Avenue.
You
were such a gentleman.
That can happen when you're
in a
hurry.
You actually had a _handkerchief_
-
which was also clean!
That's the kind of hero I
can be
sometimes!
What do you do, Alice?
Well, actually, I'm looking
for a job at
the moment. I was an editor
at a
publishing house but they went
broke.
Perhaps I can be of some help.
I know
a few people in publishing.
And you're married?
And you're here tonight with
your
husband?
I am, indeed..
How sad.
But of course I should have
guessed
that. If you weren't
with your husband
tonight you wouldn't be so
careful.
May I ask why a beautiful woman
who
could have any man in this room
wants
to be married?
You can ask.
You know why women used
to get
married, don't you?
Why don't you tell me.
It was the only way they could
lose
their virginity's and
be free to do what
they wanted with other men.
The ones
they really wanted.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALICE
Fascinating.
Victor and Illona have a fabulous
art
collection.
They do, don't they.
Have you ever seen the Impressionist
stuff upstairs?
I don't think so.
There are a couple of magnificent
Bonnards up there.
Are there?
Do you like Bonnard?
Yes, I do.
Would you like me to show
them to
you?
Well, maybe not just right
now.
We won't be gone long.
NUALA slowly leading BILL to the
door.next page
(2) recensione cinema Indice Home Page