GYPSY: 1 House Of Chimps 9

Below the opening segment of the long thought of Elvis script.  As mentioned HERE there is a strange painting -- this segment ends with its discovery.  This is rough draft work.  A puzzle piece.  The first attempt at putting  a nine minute opening segment together, introducing the person, place, and thing; the King, Graceland, and the painting that shouldn't be there.

FADE IN:

DANNY FISHER'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT

What a bedroom.  Fit for Napolean.  No, Caesar.  In Alexandria.

Two pistols, a .38 revolver, and a .45 1911 Colt, on the bedside table.

SOUNDS important now: Dun-dada-dun-dada-dun-dun.  

(Like a drumroll for George Washington)

A BLONDE and a GINGER in the bed.  

Dun-dada-dun-dada-dun-dun.

A man rises out of the females.  Dun.

Dada.  Dundun.  He's a King.  A Star.  DANNY FISHER.

And this be refractory.  He's just here to cuddle.  

He's handsome.  They purty.  He likes his face pillowed in the thigh right now.

No, no.  THE BEDROOM.  Purple and gold.  Tigers everywhere.  Interior design for a 3rd World boy king.  He likes pictures of tigers underscored by pictures of pistols.

These two princesses on the bed aren't feeling the pea under the mattress.  These two princesses aren't feeling much.  They asleep.  Or stoned.  Or both.

Danny Fisher rises out of bed.  

He walks past the tigers.

Wit the tigers.  They call him the Tiger Man.

DANNY FISHER'S UPSTAIRS HALLWAY -- MOMENTS LATER

Danny Fisher has deep bluish black hair.  Sideburns.  He's wearing sunglasses at night.  As such he stumbles past rarely utilized furniture.

DANNY FISHER

Hell, Man.

Indeed.  Who put that chair there?

FOLLOWING Danny, the house is a study in loud color; tiger stripes, and rooms drempt up by a boy, part Charlie Kane, part Tony Montana: army room, armory room - pistols and ammo;  jungle room, jungley junk; an all fluffy white room with a white piano, and gaudy trinkets on every gaudy stand.  You understand gold records can get superfluous.

ROOMS occupied not so privately by DANNY'S BOYS partnered up with a few of the lesser lights of the evening's herded up WOMEN.  Women who all but gasp in astonishment to see Danny Fisher, in a golden silk robe, pass by.

The BILLIARD ROOM: Here's RED.  Red is a big boy.  Red is called Red on account of his red hair.  Red is instructing a cute little bird named STACEY on how to shoot 9-Ball whilst smokin a cigar, sippin on bourbon, when all of a sudden here's Danny Fisher in the doorway.

You can just imagine how interested in 9-Ball the Bird is.

DANNY FISHER

Hi.

STACEY

Hi, yourself.

Then she leans back down over the pool table to shoot her shot.

DANNY FISHER

Nice dungarees you got on.  What's your name?

STACEY

Stacey.

No reaction from Red.  He just goes on chalking that pool cue.

DANNY FISHER

Where'd you get them dungarees?

STACEY

The J.C. Penneys.

DANNY FISHER

Stacey?

STACEY

Yeah? 

DANNY FISHER

You want some iced cream?

DANNY FISHER'S KITCHEN -- MINUTES LATER

Stacey and Danny Fisher are sitting at a marble counter, hunched over a gigantic bowl of ice cream Lady and the Tramp style; a scoop of every kind; a dollop of every conceivable topping.

STACEY

I go to Humes.

DANNY FISHER

I went to Humes.

STACEY THE BIRD

Everyone knows that.  

(beat)

I'm a senior.

DANNY FISHER

Big shot on campus?

STACEY THE BIRD

Just thought you should know.

Eyes. 

Dun-Da-Dun-Dada-Dun-Dun.  Chhh!

CUT TO:

THE BLUE ROOM -- LATER

Here is Stacey taking down her dark blue dungarees framed by the navy blue velvet curtains hung from the canopy of this bed.

Danny Fisher watches her with stoned fascination.

White cotton panties.  He thought so.  

Add a brunette to the blonde and the ginger.

Dun-da-da-dun-Dada-dun-dun.  Not a drumroll, a nice pluck on the bass.  A nice pluck on the bass outro'd with PISTOL FIRE.

CUT TO:

DANNY FISHER'S BACK YARD -- NEXT DAY AFTERNOON

The BOYS are out back blasting away at targets.

Danny is all got up in his Federal Agent gear, shoulder harness, gold badge on his black shirt.  He's got nine pistols out in front of him, on a cheap card table, and now it's his turn.

Boom.  Blam.  Dada-dun-dun.

BACK ENTRANCE TO THE HOUSE -- LATER

Boys is walking in for lunch.

Danny Fisher holds back FAT PHIL.

A little nod in the general direction of the swimming pool.

As the other boys barrel into the house, Danny and Fat Phil sneak out to the swimming pool, and better yet, the POOL SHED.

INSIDE THE HOUSE

Kitchen folk is putting out, (river deep, mountain high),  platters full, mountains high, of fried chicken. 

INSIDE THE POOL SHED

Fat Phil counts out the PILLS on a plastic raft.

He pops two.  Danny six.  

Dun-dun-dun-DADA-dun-dun!  Chhh!

CUT TO:

OUT BACK AT SUNSET

The boys is racing Go-Karts all over Hell.  Tearin up the grass, and banging into each other.

OUT FRONT  AT SUNSET

Fat Phil is just back from town, and he's driving a Cadillac of GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS through the gates.

CUT TO:

THE GAME ROOM -- LATER

BOYS is playing pool.  Boys is playing air hockey.  Boys is at the bar serving Rum and Pepsis to Girls.

Danny, Red, and a couple others are sitting in lawn chairs brought in.

Danny has a manuscript on his lap.  He looks at first to be reading it.  But actually he's asleep.

Here's Fat Phil right behind him, one hand on Danny's shoulder, the other hand cupped with medicine.

FAT PHIL

Bossman.

Danny looks up.  Without a millisecond of hesitation, the pills are handed off.  And Danny eats them.  He's back.  He is alive again!

RED

What's it about?

For a second Danny's confused.  Then he remembers the manuscript on his lap.

DANNY FISHER

What's it about?  Its called "Tickle, Tickle".  It ain't about nothing.  I..

(flips some pages)

I'm a sailing instructor.

RED

A sailing instructor?

DANNY FISHER

S'posed to start next week.

FAT PHIL

I like L.A.

RED

It don't like you, fat ass.

FAT PHIL

Drop that fat shit, Red.

For a moment here ol'Danny is the boy wit faraway eyes. 

DANNY FISHER

Da-da-dun.  Dun.  Dun.

RED

What now?

DANNY FISHER

Nothun.

Dun-dun-Da-Dada-dun-dun!  Chh!

Rum and Pepsis handed out.

AND OUT IN THE FRONT HALL OF THE MANOR -- LATER

All the boys and all the girls are crowded around a PIANO.  

Christmas caroling.  In July.

I'll Have A Blue X-mas Witout'Choo.  

Dada-dun-dun.

THERE is a MOMENT here.. Danny slides away from the piano.  He makes his way to the end of the room, and turns to have a look:

Like some kind of Last Supper lined up and down the piano.. a bunch of dudes with his haircut, his glasses, his shirts, his jewelry, singing his song, like him.

And the WOMEN.  Young girls.  They're all looking out from the painting.  Looking for where he went.

Danny sneaks out of the room. 

HERE IN THE YARD AT MIDNIGHT

Danny Fisher is walking in the courtyard.  Caged in CHIMPANZEES watch him.

DANNY FISHER

(to the chimps)

What are you up to?  You monkeying around?

Danny lights a cigar.   

He plays with his pocket.  Up comes his hand.  Hand opens.  Three black beauties.

Hmm.  Could just go to sleep.  Spits the cigar on the grass.

GULP go the pills.  

Dun-dun-dun-dada-dun-dun.  Chh!

DANNY FISHER

Monkeys, Man. 

DANNY FISHER'S BEDROOM AT 2 IN THE MORNING

Girls.  Three of'm.  Danny and the One cuddling.  The other TWO girls.. cuddling with each other.  Really, really cuddling.

This should be good.  This should be really good, man.  But he's dropping.

He monkeys out of bed.  Three beautiful girls with all that heavy mascara on them eyes just staring at him.

Dada-dun?

IN THE HALLWAY

Danny is out of the room.

DANNY FISHER

Red?

Walking down the hallway.

DANNY FISHER

Phil?

Stumbling a bit.  Weak.  Drunk.  And down on that blood sugar.

He comes to a room, and knocks..

KID JACK opens it, a youngster enlisted in the Mafia..

KID JACK

D.  What's up?

DANNY FISHER

Naw, nothing.  Looking for Phil.

KID JACK

I ain't seen him..

Danny peaks in the room.

KID JACK

I was just telling Charlene here how we was listening to that Paul McCartney album the other day --

CHARLENE pokes her head into view.

CHARLENE

I don't care for them.

KID JACK

He'd be better just writin songs for you, right?

DANNY FISHER

I guess.

KID JACK

Neil Diamond can suck a dick!  Right?

DANNY FISHER

'Night, Mam.

Danny walks.

INSIDE THAT ROOM, after Kid Jack closes the door, he breathes a sigh of relief that Charlene were not attractive enough for the King.

KID JACK

Where were we? 

BACK TO:

ROOMS 

Rooms and rooms, full of coupling.

Danny Fisher searching.

DANNY FISHER

Phil!  Where's my shit, man?

Nothing.  Just blackness.  Just a ratty upstairs hallway, and no butler to get him where he need to go.  And where he need to go is either higher or lower than right here.

Danny rubs his eyes.  They get clear.  He looks down at his hands.  Ten fingers, eight gold rings.

He looks at the carpet.  Tore up in three places.

He looks in the direction he considers to be where windows should be, but instead looks straight at a wall where hangs A PAINTING.

Got to be two feet by four feet.  Just about the ratio of a movie screen.. and --

He steps closer, and really LOOKS.

A Jesus bein born picture is what it is.  But like Rembrandt got pissed on moonshine, and crowded Baby Jesus with hooligans.

Mary is big-boned, and Joseph got white hair.  The Wise Men are Colored -- dressed like The Temptations.

And the Baby Jesus?  There's two of him.

Danny is stupefied.  

Dun-dun-dun-dada-dun-dun!

And, here, all this building Dun-dun -- feels like the sequence should now burst into climactic MUSIC: Caught in a trap!  I can't walk out!    

It does not.  All goes white noise.