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Corky and the Cooters – Screenplay<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />....
by ....
Harry Day....
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Corky and the Cooters....
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Act One....
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Scene One – Early Morning with the Cooters....
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It is just before sunrise and the countryside is all colors of tan, brown and gray. We see a nice but modest white farmhouse, a barn and a garden. Ben Cooter crawls down a row, picking ripe vegetables. We hear a screen door creak and we see Ben’s eyes widen.....
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Farmer....
Hey there!....
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Ben rises up fast and starts to run. We hear the fiddles and Bob Will’s Big Balls in Cow Town play as the farmer raises his double barrel shotgun and blasts at Ben’s backside. We see vegetables fly into the air.....
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Ben....
Yow!....
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We see the tattered seat of Ben’s pants made so by the bird shot. We listen to Bob Wills as Ben runs thru a farm field and into the woods. We here more gun blasts. He stumbles and continues to run, dropping the last of his stolen vegetables. He looks back and stumbles again, falling into a shallow creek. As the song goes on, we hear dogs barking and see Ben running in carious shots thru the woods. He slow down and catches his breath. He looks around him and sees some green growth poking up from the leaves. He bends down and studies them.....
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Ben....
Onions?....
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He pulls a handful of wild onions and walks along side the creek that gradually turns into a deep gully. After some walking we see up ahead an old backwoods place in the middle of nowhere in the Mississippi Delta. Part of the place is half rough hewn shanty built out over the deep gully. The other half of the place is a mini house trailer. They are crudely joined with nailed boards and duct tape.....
The place is covered with trees. The sky is light enough to see Ben’s silhouette approaching the shanty form the other side of the gully. He drops down the far side and walks along the bottom of the place. He looks up and sees some movement up thru an oval hole cut in the shanty’s floor.....
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Ben....
Uh oh.....
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We see something drop thru the hole as Ben quickly scrambles up their side of the gully. We hear laughs inside.....
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Rube....
Hehehe!....
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Ben pushes the door into the place and enters. We see Rube Cooter tying his pants back up around his waste.....
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Rube....
Where’s the eats, Ben?....
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Ben pulls out a large handful of green onions and lays them on a table. Rube steps up and looks at the onions and then at Ben.....
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Rube....
Onions?....
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Ben....
Old Mister Maynard hit me in the ass this time.....
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Ben turns around and shows Rube his tattered pant’s seat.....
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Rube....
Pull them down, let’s take a look.....
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Ben drops his pants for Rube to see. His buttocks are peppered with birdshot.....
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Rube....
Yep, he got you good this time.....
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Ben....
You gonna pop the pellets out, Rube?....
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Rube....
Hell no, they’ll grow out in time. It won’t do you any harm.....
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Ben....
Okay, if you say so.....
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Rube grabs a handful of onion and bites off the white rooty ends. Ben quickly grabs up the rest and does the same. They visibly struggle to chew and swallow the onions. Rube, still chewing, puts on a ragged hunting jacket and grabs the lever action rifle off of the deer hoof gun rack above the front door. He steps outside and underneath their crude porch made of the knocked out shanty wall where the trailer connects and a few wooden poles.....
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Rube....
Get the key, Ben....
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Ben walks over to another table in the corner, picks up the truck key, looks back towards Rube, and then reaches under the table and grabs a clear Mason jar.....
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Ben....
Mm, shine.....
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He looks around slyly, unscrews the lid and takes a slurp. He replaces the lid and flops the jar in his hunting jacket. Ben walks outside and follows Rube to there battered pickup. The deep crease across the truck bed shows its contents and junk. There are two remnants of pickups with parts and colors matching to their running truck. Ben gets into the passenger side and hands Rube the keys. Rube puts the keys in the ignition and turns. Nothing. He turns them again. Nothing. He turns them a third time and the truck cranks up with a rattle and boom. Before Rube puts the truck in gear, he sniffs the air.....
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Rube....
You’ve started already, have you?....
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Ben....
What? No.....
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Rube....
Bullshit, I smell it.....
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Ben....
So what, let’s go. It’s already daylight.....
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Rube....
Because of you!....
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Ben....
I didn’t make the sun come up. . . hell, I got shot?....
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Rube....
Aw, shut up.....
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Ben looks at Rube and takes a deep breath and looks away, out the window. Rube puts the truck in gear. It sounds old. It looks old. They drive slowly down the two tire track path with one head light gleaming in front, one red tail light glowing in the rear.....
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Scene Two – Corky the Clown....
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We see a common apartment duplex on the edge of a small Delta town. Inside, we see the rear view of Corky asleep in his recliner. We listen to Willie Nelson’s Bloody Mary Morning. We see his clown shoes a few sizes too big, then his clown suit and than his clown wig. The table next to his chair has an ashtray filled with cigarette butts. Crushed and dented beer cans are strewn around him.....
We flashback to the night before and see various scenes of Corky in a plain white t-shirt and boxer shorts, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, yelling at the television, laughing out loud and spitting spittle and spilling beer. He looks at his watch and sighs. We see him sitting before a mirror putting on clown makeup. He starts with a heavy white base and then adds red to areas and then trims it out in black. He continues to drink and smoke. He lets out a horrible cough.....
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Corky....
Harruunk!....
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We watch Corky pull on the clown jumpsuit of green, yellow and red colors. He pulls on his curly red wig, takes a long swallow of beer and looks in the mirror. He inhales a full breath and tries to look bulky. He lets it out in disgust and plops down on his recliner. He opens a fresh beer, takes a sip and lights a new cigarette. He looks at his clown shoes and wiggles his feet back and forth. He laughs to himself and takes a long slug of beer.....
Corky sees a photograph of his dad on the paneled wall. His dad is in an Army uniform. We see a picture of Corky in uniform with his family and relatives, but we see that his apartment is too small for anyone else to live. We see government check stubs, coupons, more cigarettes and his wallet and keys on a table. We again see Corky from behind, his clown shoes poking up. He snores.....
It is morning. Corky’s watch alarm is going off but he continues to sleep. The watch face tells us it is <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />..7 a.m... We see Corky sleeping, his alarm beeping. We see the watch face again. It is a quarter past ..8 a.m... At ..8:49 a.m... Corky opens his eyes. The alarm is still beeping. He looks around the room and then looks at his watch. He shuts off the alarm.....
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Corky....
Dammit!....
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He rises out of the chair, adjusts his clown suit and red wig, scratches himself, grabs a matching clown bag, looks inside, nods, grabs his cigarettes, keys and wallet and walks out the door. We watch him get into a beat up sub compact car, crank it and drive away. We watch Corky thru the windshield. He snorts real hard and spits out the window. He bays out a cough.....
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Corky....
Harruunk!....
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He reaches for his cigarettes, pulls one out of the pack with his clown mouth and lights it up. He exhales and relaxes in his seat. He does not look relaxed. He looks perturbed.....
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Scene Three – Corky’s Car....
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We see thru Corky’s windshield the straight two lane road. There are empty farm fields to his left and right. Before him we see a vast brown leaf forest stretching from as far south as north. The trees look short and small from far away but as we near, they grow larger. They tower and loom. Corky passes a road sign that says Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge. The rising sun to his rear lights up the face of the forest. We see the silhouette of Corky the Clown driving his car towards the Refuge, the huge trees towering to either side of the road. We watch the car enter the Refuge from its tree line. We hear an animal snort as the car passes a right curve in the road.....
Shadows dominate the forest floor. Vine, bramble, cane and privet choke the low deer trail entries into the woods. Corky’s car begins to run poorly. The car no longer reacts to the gas pedal and starts so slow. Corky presses the gas pedal and curses.....
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Corky....
Dammit!....
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The car comes to a stop on the side of the road. The engine still runs. He turns off the car. Corky just sits there and then throws a fit, swinging his arms wildly, then gripping the steering wheel and shaking it, and himself, wildly. From outside the car we hear the muffled curses.....
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Corky....
Rabble rabble rabble!....
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Corky exits the car and looks around. He pops the hood and looks at the engine. It looks okay. He slams down the hood.....
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Corky....
God damned transmission!....
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He kicks the car tire with his clown shoe and coughs.....
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Corky....
Harrunng!....
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He immediately hears a similar sound in the near side of the woods. ....
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Beast....
Haarrunk!....
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His eyes widen and he crouches down and looks over the car, into the woods. He hears a rustling. He looks down the road towards his destination but sees no cars. He cannot see around the curve of the road from whence he came. He slowly eases to his open car door and slowly reaches inside and grabs his clown bag. The noise of the rustling shakes the tops of the nearest cane thicket.....
Corky crouch walks across the roadway and down the far embankment towards the wood line, ever watching across for the beast.....
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Beast....
Harunnk!....
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Corky....
Oh shit…....
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He runs into the forest and briefly down a low deer trail. He stops and looks back to his car. ....
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Corky....
Shit, what to do, what to do. . .....
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He looks down the deer trail leading into the forest, looks to the direction the road travels and then looks to the left into the deep forest.....
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Corky....
I can cut across the forest, cross the bayou and catch the north/south highway on the far side of the Refuge. Catch a ride and get there this afternoon. I never said what time I’d be there. . . “just make sure you be here,” she said.....
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Corky hears the animal snort....
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Beast....
Hrunk!....
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The cane thicket parts and out pops a dark pink and brown/black beast. Corky’s eyes widen. He hits the ground and slowly rises up to see. The animal paws the ground and charges Corky’s car.....
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Corky....
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