| Inflating a Dog Screenplay
Chapter 11: My Arcinella (in which Captain Mac seems reluctant to sell) |
by Eric
Kraft
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The screen rights are available.
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INT. ELLA’S OLD CAR. AFTERNOON.
It’s a 1948 Studebaker. Ella is driving; Peter is in the back seat;
Patti is in the front passenger’s seat, the sidekick’s seat. A fine
drizzle has begun to drift lazily down from the gray sky.
Ella turns onto a street with just one tiny white house.Read it again, Patti.ELLAUnfortunate circumstances force me to sell the most beautiful boat presently afloat. Captain Mac . . . Maco . . . Macomangus, Bay Way.PATTI(reading the Reporter) She brings the car to a stop in front of the house, but leaves the motor running. A white picket fence surrounds a tiny front yard. Rambling roses grow along the fence.Bay Way.ELLA He walks to the front door. A length of string extends from a hole beside the door; he pulls it, and a tiny tinkling sound comes from inside. He waits for someone to come to the door, but no one does. He rings twice more and returns to the car.It’s like a doll’s house.ELLAYes.PATTI(breathily, charmed)Do you think he’s home?ELLAI don’t know, but I’ll find out.PETER We get a glimpse of CAPTAIN MAC watching from behind a curtain. Then the curtain falls and the man withdraws.I guess he’s not home.PETERHe’s looking out the window.PATTI(whispering) They all go to the door, and this time Peter knocks.Come on. Let’s all go.PETER The door opens an inch, and Captain Mac peers out.Hello! Anybody home?PETER He begins closing the door, then seems to relent a bit.I guess you didn’t hear the bell.PETERI heard it, but I figured you’d go away.CAPTAIN MACGo away?PETERMost of ’em do, if I just wait ’em out.CAPTAIN MACWho?ELLAPeople who come about my Arcinella.CAPTAIN MACWho’s Arcinella?PATTIMy boat.CAPTAIN MACBut your boat is for sale, isn’t it?ELLAMaybe . . . maybe not.CAPTAIN MACAren’t you Captain Macomang—PETER(consulting the ad)Yep, that’s me. Captain Mac.CAPTAIN MACDid you place this ad for the boat?PETERYep.CAPTAIN MACWell, then we’d like to see it. My mother and I and . . . my girlfriend.PETERDon’t get carried away.PATTI(muttering)Sorry.CAPTAIN MAC(eyes downcast)You mean we can’t see the boat?ELLAI don’t want a lot of strangers poking around my Arcinella.CAPTAIN MACThere are only three of us . . . and we’ll be really careful.ELLAI just don’t want to sell her to you.CAPTAIN MACWhat’s wrong with us?PATTI(hurt)Nothing. It’s just that, well, maybe I don’t want to sell my Arcinella at all.CAPTAIN MACBut you advertised it . . . her.PETERI did, but I’ve had a change of heart.CAPTAIN MACAt least let us see the boat . . . after we drove all the way down here.ELLAMaybe some other time.CAPTAIN MAC Well . . . come in out of the rain and dry off and I’ll make you some tea.CAPTAIN MAC (CONT’D.)(as if embarrassed) CUT TO:
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 Here
are a couple of swell ideas from Eric Kraft's vivacious publicist, Candi
Lee Manning.
You'll find more swell ideas from Candi Lee here. |
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Copyright © 2001 by Eric
Kraft
The screenplay for Inflating a Dog is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this teleplay may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. The illustration at the top of the page is an adaptation of an illustration by Stewart Rouse that first appeared on the cover of the August 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. The boy at the controls of the aerocycle doesn’t particularly resemble Peter Leroy—except, perhaps, for the smile. |
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