not feed the bears.
Bradford
Dramatis Personae
BUSINESSMAN
SECOND BUSINESSMAN
OLD WAITRESS
HARRY
FARMER
JOHN PRICE, CHIEF OF POLICE
REGULAR
MAYOR
PRIEST
BILLY BATES
TOWNSWOMAN (MARY)
WOMAN DISPATCHER (MAY FOWLER)
BOBBY BARNES
OFFICER
SECOND OFFICER
ANNA MOORE
GINNY MOORE, HER DAUGHTER
REPORTER
SECOND REPORTER
FIREMAN (JERRY BATES, BILLY’S FATHER)
TOWNSMAN
MAN
TROOPER
SECOND TROOPER
NURSE
BILL SIMONS
BUS STATION ATTENDANT
PASSERBY
FADE IN.
EXTERIOR: MAIN STREET, BRADFORD, A SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWN.
Pan past several firemen working in the ruins of a burnt, still smoldering building, across the street to the facade of an old diner, “The Coffeecorner.”
(ANGLE INTERIOR: THE COFFEECORNER. Businessmen in shirt-sleeves, in the bay window, looking out at the burnt building.)
BUSINESSMAN: . . . gonna cost someone couple bucks, put that building back up.
SECOND BUSINESSMAN: The question is, but who.
BUSINESSMAN: Another question: Who did what?
SECOND BUSINESSMAN: Well, that's always the issue, isn't it . . . ?
(An old WAITRESS tops up their coffee. Camera pans with the WAITRESS, back behind the counter.)
WAITRESS: . . . top it up, Harry?
HARRY: Thank you very much. (He addresses the man to his right:) All I'm saying, you get people down the Capital, telling other people how to live their lives, and got no notion how those people live, then, yes, then people lose their respect for the Institution.
(The WAITRESS takes a pot of coffee. Camera follows her down to the far end of the counter, past a FARMER.)
FARMER: What they talking about down there?
WAITRESS: Oh, they're arguing about the Doe season . . .
FARMER: Jimmy! Whyn't you come up with a new subject, talk about the weather, some damn thing.
BUSINESSMAN: Weather's changing all the time, you talk about the weather, you never know where you stand . . .
(Camera follows her down to PRICE, a man around forty, in a corduroy sportscoat, plain shirt, and a tie. He is looking at a road map.)
WAITRESS: More coffee . . . ?
PRICE: Yes. Thank you.
WAITRESS: ’Nother order toast?
PRICE (checks his watch): No, thank you. I don't have time.
BUSINESSMAN (offstage): Yes, I can attest to the usefulness of passing laws, but I can't see laws ‘bout something none of your concern.
PRICE (to the WAITRESS. He points to the map): Could you tell me where this is . . . ?
WAITRESS (she checks the map): Right out the door, one block down State Street.
PRICE: Thank you.
(He drinks his coffee, camera follows him down the counter to the cash register.)
HARRY: Mister, you tell me, you ain't from around here: how many acres does it take to support a doe all winter?
PRICE: I have no idea.
HARRY: F‘course you don't, neither do they down state, then they should stay out of it. Keep the peace, ’stead of getting so involved with the law.
PRICE (to the WAITRESS): What do I owe you . . . ?
WAITRESS: That'll be ninety-five cents.
(He pays her.)
BUSINESSMAN: You want to use the law for something, find out who burnt the Emporium . . .
SECOND BUSINESSMAN: Charley Hopkins would've found him in an hour.
FARMER: You going today? The Memorial?
BUSINESSMAN: That's today, Lord, isn't it?
FARMER: Yep.
BUSINESSMAN: Time flies, don't it?
FARMER: I've noticed it does.
BUSINESSMAN: You going down the Memorial . . . ?
(PRICE walks out of the restaurant.)
(ANGLE EXTERIOR: STATE STREET, TOWN OF BRADFORD. A SMALL NEW ENGLAND TOWN. He has just exited from The Coffeecorner, and behind him, in the bay window, we see the REGULARS whose conversation we have just been hearing. PRICE stands on the sidewalk for a moment, looks up at the sky and shivers a bit. One of the REGULARS comes out behind him, stands near him, lighting a cigarette.)
REGULAR: Just passing through?
PRICE: No. I think I'll stay a bit longer than that.
(The REGULAR moves off Camera follows PRICE to an old station wagon at the curb. It is piled high with personal effects, clothing, and furniture. PRICE opens the passenger door, takes out a raincoat, puts it on, consults his map, and moves off down the street.)
EXTERIOR: BRADFORD LIBRARY. DAY.
A small granite block; cut into it, a five-point star, with the name “Bradford” on it, and the badge number 2121 and “Sacred to the Memory of Charles Hopkins, Chief of Police 1968-1987.”
MAYOR (voice over): What is a “good man"?
(Angle:
