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COP What the hell -- ? BRAKES SQUEAL.Several squad cars are now massed at the entrance to the park -- but there's one problem.The city's snow plows don't operate on the park roads -- and the entrance is blocked off with SAWHORSES reading "CLOSED TO TRAFFIC."A huge steep drift prevents them from entering -- and so all t... |
ALFRED I took the liberty of preparing tea. (indicating tbe monitors) I take it you've been watching the news? BRUCE Yeah...lot of crazy people in this world. |
ALFRED I should inform you...Christmas is approaching, and we've received our annual solicitation from the Fireman's Toy Fund. (eyeing the equipment) If I may inquire...? BRUCE Oh, yeah.Watch this. |
ALFRED Most ingenious, sir.What exactlyit? BRUCE What does it look like? |
ALFRED To the untrained eye, sir, it looks remarkably like...the skeleton of an umbrella. BRUCE Good guess, Alfred.That's exactly right. |
ALFRED Splendid, sir, and if I may say, I'm glad you're putting your time to such productive use. (beat) Now -- the Toy Fund.Our contribution last year was a half-million dollars... BRUCE We can do better than that. |
ALFRED Then there's the foster-parents program... the Gotham homeless crusade... ALFRED (cont.) Is something troubling you, sir? BRUCE Yeah...the holidays, I guess.Always gets me thinking about... (he changes the subject) And to tell you the truth, I'm a little -- concerned about Vicki. |
ALFRED (anxiously) Miss Vale, sir...? BRUCE Yeah.I've been thinking about it lately. Thinking about it a lot... (gravely; shaking his head) ...and I still can't figure out what to get her for Christmas. |
GUARD Up and at 'em, Pengy.-- Pengy? GUARD (cont.) Boniface... PAROLE OFFICER You want to return the money you stole. BONIFACE Intact.The map will show you where it's buried. PAROLE OFFICER All of it.Forty-two million dollars. PAROLE OFFICER II Why this sudden change of heart? MR. BONIFACE Gentlemen, I want my deb... |
VICKI I'm going to give you the happiest Christmas you've ever had. VICKI Homeless. (beat) I was just down here Tuesday.Seems like there's more every day. VICKI (cont.) Christmas time.And they say there's over a thousand people living in the park already. BRUCE -- Yeah. |
VICKI They're already razing the tenements and SRO's downtown.These people don't have anyplace else to go. (beat) If the city starts selling off the park... BRUCE -- Yeah.I guess I'll pass on dessert. |
VICKI (taking his hand) Bruce, you do a lot more than most people even dream of. BRUCE Sure.Comes off the top of my taxes -- |
VICKI That's not what I meant. BRUCE -- What I "do" doesn't come close to the root of the problem, Vicki. (long pause) I'm just a Band-Aid. |
VOICE FROM BEHIND Bruce!It's been ages! BRUCE Randall.You remember Vicki.-- How's the construction business? |
SHAW The park tower?All systems go.If we can get the junkies and winos cleared out... (a big grin) Not too late to get in on the deal. BRUCE I'll think about it. |
SHAW Say, Walter Barrett's due back from Europe.We should all get together at the club. (clapping him on the shoulder) Nice to see you again,Miss Veal. VICKI What a pig. BRUCE I've known him since he was seven years old.He was a pig then too. |
VICKI Now he wants to gobble up the park... (shivering) Bruce -- isn't there something you can do about people like that? BRUCE What, tie him up with a bat-rope? |
VICKI No, you idiot.I meant you.Bruce. RED BERET I We were on patrol.Saw the whole thing. JOGGER I was attacked.Three men in ski masks -- COP I (indicating the RED BERETS) And these two broke it up? JOGGER These two??They ran like rabbits.I never saw anybody take off so -- RED BERET II Hey!Somebody had to go for t... |
RED BERET I Piss off, geek. ANCHORWOMAN ...and tomorrow, the city's power elite will be turning out in force to greet millionaire industrialist Walter Barrett, who returns to Gotham after a five-year stay in Europe... Moments later, the owner of the high heels enters; she opens her black fur coat and unwraps her muffl... |
COP One-delta-niner -- 10-80 on Riverview north-bound at 33rd -- 10-78, repeat 10-78. BATMAN Evasive. |
WOMAN It's a fake. SHAW Hmm.It cost me a half a million dollars. You're sure? WOMAN Absolutely.You see, I...happen to know where the real one is stashed. SHAW I guess you'd know.I have some "friends" in the art world.They say that -- for certain hard-to-get items -- you're the one to call. WOMAN (O.S.) How flatteri... |
WOMAN'S VOICE Now Hecate.You don't want that scrawny little bird -- PENGUIN Do you want me to wring that creature's neck? SELINA You try it, I'll do the same to you. (as he grumbles; bemused) I saw him, you know. PENGUIN Saw who? SELINA Batman.He was dreamy. PENGUIN Dreamy?!?Are you insane!?My God -- (sputtering w... |
VICKI Must be.He reminded me of you. NEW BAT-MURDER? Batman Suspect in Slaying of Millionaire Developer Commissioner Gordon Refuses Comment BRUCE -- You work for this rag? (snatching up a paper) Your boss is calling for Gordon's resignation -- unless he brings Batman in for questioning... THEIR POV - SOUVENIR SHOP BA... |
NEWS VENDOR Hey, pal -- you buyin' or borrowin'? VICKI That's what happens when you go after the rich and powerful. BRUCE Hey, it wasn't me, remember?I am rich and powerful -- Looking for Love.Eyes widening, he digs in his pocket for a quarter and races back to the newsstand.VICKI keeps walking... |
VICKI Maybe it's almost...good.In a weird way. I mean, Shaw, and Barrett -- if people like that were really scared, maybe they'd -- VICKI (cont.) Hey, I'm late for work.You can read that later. BRUCE Quiet.I'm looking for a personal ad. "Tall, Dark And Handsome -- You saw me on the roof 12/16.I was in black; you were... |
VICKI Is this some kind of bad joke? BRUCE It's her.That cat woman, or whatever she is. (reading aloud) "I jumped a bus into Gotham Park hoping you'd follow, but you were too shy..." |
VICKI What does she want -- a date? BRUCE She's trying to contact me.Says she's gonna leave me another ad... |
VICKI WHY DID YOU KILL MY STORY? PROVOST Close the door. (waiting for her to calm down) Your story isn't news.With Shaw dead -- VICKI But the project's still going ahead!If attacking homeless people in the park isn't news, I'd like to know what is -- PROVOST There's a psycho out there in a mask and cape -- killing o... |
SEKOWSKY Jeez!Talk about gratitude -- !! BRUCE Well, Alfred, it's official.I'm a wanted man. (beat) "New evidence"...I've gotta find that woman.Did you check the personals? He throws a nervous look at ALFRED.ALFRED speaks into a microphone: |
ALFRED Who's there? GORDON Jim Gordon, Alfred.I've got to see Bruce. ALFRED Mr. Wayne will see you, sir. A curious BRUCE ushers GORDON into the library, gestures toward the liquor cabinet.The Commissioner nods his head no. He's fidgety, ill at ease -- he obviously doesn't want to be here. |
GORDON Sorry to bother you.Bruce -- I'll get right down to it.You knew Shaw and Barrett -- BRUCE I saw them occasionally.We all sat on the board of the Fluegelheim... |
GORDON Did you have any...dealings with them, or -- BRUCE No.I never liked the way they did business. |
GORDON The thing is, Bruce, you're all lumped together in the public mind -- the Five Families of Gotham, that sort of thing -- and, uh... (taking a card from his pocket) Harrison Provost got this in the mail. BRUCE Then Batman is behind all this. |
GORDON Batman or a damned good imitation. BRUCE Well.He's changed tactics, hasn't he. |
GORDON (shrugging; at a loss) Shaw, with his high-rises -- Barrett, a druglord, major polluter -- they weren't exactly model citizens.Who knows, it could be some crazy social-conscience kind of thing. BRUCE You mean he's going after...the root of the problem. |
GORDON Let me know if you get one of these. We'll put all our resources at your disposal. BRUCE Changed my mind, Alfred.I'll be dropping in on the Fluegelheim after all. |
VICKI What is it? BRUCE I just had a weird sense of deja vu. |
TIPTREE Harrison -- we really ought to warn Bruce. We owe him that much. BRUCE Good to see you two.Looks like the Five Families are suddenly down to three. (looking around) In fact, if somebody dropped a bomb on this room right now -- |
PROVOST Is that your idea of a joke, Bruce? BRUCE Not at all.Commissioner Gordon seems to think we should all be hiring bodyguards. |
TIPTREE PROVOST Oh, that's absurd.I already have. BRUCE Thing is, I can't imagine why Batman would be after us.Can you? |
SELINA You two look like you need a drink.-- And is this who I think it is? PROVOST Selina Kyle -- Bruce Wayne. SELINA Our absentee board member!I've been wanting to meet you forever. TIPTREE Selina's the new Curator of Antiquities. She brought the Temple over block by block -- SELINA You two won't be terribly upse... |
SELINA Tax year's almost over, you know.I hope we can count on your usual generous donation. (indicating PROVOST and TIPTREE) Someone's got to set an example for those two tightwads. BRUCE They're proccupied.This string of murders -- |
SELINA I asked them if they'd consider including us in their wills. (chuckling to herself) They didn't seem a bit amused... She's making small talk with a bunch of STUFFED SHIRTS and their overdressed WIVES.She glances across the room at the statue of Bastet, sees SELINA draped all over BRUCE.A frown crosses her face..... |
SELINA -- and this is my good friend Bastet, the Egyptian Cat Goddess. BRUCE I think we've already met.-- This is quite an expedition you've put together. |
SELINA I'm glad you think so.I have to say, Bruce -- you're not at all what I expected. BRUCE Sorry to disappoint you. |
SELINA Oh, it's not that.Not at all.It's just that I'd always heard you were... BRUCE What? |
SELINA (coyly) Oh...sort of a... BRUCE (smiling; fascinated) No.Come on.What? Oh.Selina Kyle -- my friend Vicki Vale. |
SELINA The photographer.I've seen your pictures in the Gazette. VICKI The Globe. SELINA Oh, that's right.The tabloid one.-- What an original dress! BRUCE Selina supervised the reconstruction of the temple.Brought it back from Egypt... stone by stone. |
VICKI Really.She must be awfully tired. (to SELINA) How'd you get to be in charge of a huge project like this? SELINA It was easy.I slept with the Pharoah. SELINA (cont.) Excuse us, won't you, sweetheart?We have some boring museum business to talk about. SELINA (cont.) I.Short leash. BRUCE Pull in the claws, okay?She... |
SELINA I'm sorry, Bruce.Sometimes I get a little...aggressive, you know? (handing him a card) Look, I need to talk to you.Come by sometime.I'll give you the private tour. BRUCE Wait.Let me explain about Vicki -- |
SELINA (shushing him) I understand.Anyone who's that protective must have a pretty good reason for it. VICKI How's "business"? BRUCE Relax, okay?I like you better. |
VICKI If you're looking for your fellow millionaires, they left some time back. PROVOST Don't worry about that.I've had the office swept for bugs.No one's listening... TIPTREE in his paneled study at home.There's an open bottle on the table and he's been hitting the sauce -- hard.His VOICE QUAVERS: TIPTREE It's just ... |
SELINA Mummified cats.Bastet's sacred animal. They were buried by the thousands at Bubastis.-- Oh, careful! SELINA (cont.) Canopic jars.In the process of mummification, the internal organs were buried separately. (pointing to each jar in turn) Lungs -- stomach -- liver -- intestine -- BRUCE You're in a gruesome line o... |
SELINA Keeps me interested.And that's not easy to do... BRUCE This one I know.It's a gryphon, right? |
SELINA Very good.A mythical demon, half-bird, half-lion...sweeping down from the sky to deliver retribution and justice. BRUCE Poor guy.Birds and cats -- you wouldn't think the two halves would cooperate. |
SELINA Only under certain circumstances. (beat) I'm really glad you came, Bruce.I was afraid I'd given you the wrong impression. Or maybe it was the right impression. BRUCE What was it you wanted to talk to me about? |
SELINA Your collection.I'd love to see it.I mean, everyone says you've got a fabulous -- BRUCE (shrugging) No. |
SELINA It must be strange.Having all that power, and money -- never really knowing if that's what people are attracted to. BRUCE What are you attracted to? |
SELINA I think you're a little bit nuts. (beat) I think you're a little -- bored with your life.Having everything you want.No variety, no...danger.And every once in a while you need to take a risk.Shake it all up. BRUCE How? |
SELINA Maybe by...coming here today. SELINA (cont.) That's one thing I can give you, Bruce -- danger -- a little something you can't get at home. ...and he SNEEZES IN HER FACE.She backs off in shock as he covers his face.His eyes are watering and he's WHEEZING. She rushes over -- SELINA Are you okay? BRUCE Is there a... |
LEAD GUARD No sir, Mr. Provost.We came straight from the bank vault. GUARD II 'Copter should be just touching down. We'll have you safely out of here in no time. "Here Comes Santa Claus" echoes up from the streets.BATMAN watches as a COPTER descends toward the HELIPAD on the roof of the Globe... PROVOST and the LEAD G... |
GUARD II We'll check the stairs.See you on the roof. PROVOST No -- my private elevator.It's safer. shooting DOWN on the car as it rises.The shaft above it is filled with BIRDS -- starlings, crows, pigeons and the like, swooping and gliding among the gears and cables... In BG, the helicopter on its pad, idling noisily,... |
CATWOMAN (O.S.) Some people just can't take discipline. (beat) Go ahead.Finish 'em off... CATWOMAN (O.S.) You might as well.You're going to get blamed for it anyway. CATWOMAN (O.S.) Oh, come on, angel.You know you want to. (purring loudly) Besides -- I want to see how you do it! BATMAN Who are you? He catches her le... |
CATWOMAN My, aren't we frisky tonight. CATWOMAN I should tell you -- I've got nine lives to play with -- and you've only got one... BATMAN ducks instinctively and the CATWOMAN breaks free -- FALLING BACKWARD onto the roof.It's a strategic move: when he rushes at her, she BRACES HERSELF against the ground and KICKS UPW... |
CATWOMAN Did I tell you I invited company?-- Keep 'em busy, angel, I've gotta scat. -- just as the DOOR gives way -- and an ARMED SWAT TEAM comes crashing out onto the roof! PENGUIN Look at that, boys -- they do flock together!! CATWOMAN Ooh.Where have you been all my life? CATWOMAN (O.S.) Nevermore.Nevermore! CATW... |
CATWOMAN Gee...I'm so fickle. DRIVER What the hell is this? TRAFFIC COP Awright, what's the problem here? (spotting BATMAN) Jesus. |
PATROLMAN Good God.Cowan -- get to the car -- radio the commissioner!! TRAFFIC COP Is he dead?What do we do? PATROLMAN The mask.Get the mask off. TRAFFIC COP Some kinda seam here on the neck... -- a BURST of FINE GREEN MIST spews forth from concealed JETS in the gold-and-black BAT-EMBLEM, and the COPS reel backward,... |
RED BERET I This is wack, man.Nothing ever happens around here anymore. DICK NO.WAIT! The KID GIGGLES -- oddly, uncontrollably.Then he sprints off into the woods, dancing, leaping.As he disappears from view, he lets out a shrill, piercing, almost FERAL SHRIEK -- COP Dumb son of a bitch!! ALFRED Commissioner Gordon c... |
ALFRED I told him that since you were Batman, you'd require no protection from Batman. BRUCE Jesus, Alfred -- !! |
ALFRED In future, sir...I strongly advise against trying to fly off twenty-story buildings. BRUCE It's just a few bruises. |
ALFRED One bruise, sir.Which covers your entire body. BRUCE I'm getting too old for this line of work. (beat) Cops placed me at the scene of the crime -- that weird kid of Vicki's saw my face -- |
ALFRED I shouldn't worry overmuch.I doubt the two of you move in the same circles. BRUCE -- and I got the living shit knocked out of me by a woman. |
ALFRED Sir -- such outmoded sexist attitudes are quite unbecoming. In a lavishly-appointed guest room on Gotham's Upper East Side (or equivalent thereof), we find a pair of PLAINCLOTHES COPS settled in for a stakeout: rumpled topcoats thrown across antique chairs, french-fry bags and GREASY BURGER WRAPPINGS littering t... |
He hears a VISITOR arriving in the entry hall.He gets up... BRUCE ambles out and sees SELINA, who's just arrived, doing her patetented thing on ALFRED. |
SELINA English accents are so stimulating. (beat) You have the most beautiful silver hair! SELINA (cont.) Bruce! BRUCE Selina.What are you doing here? |
SELINA I wanted to see your things, remember? And I got tired of waiting for you to call me back. (gesturing toward ALFRED) He's adorable.How long have you had him? BRUCE leads SELINA down a hallway to the armory.He glances back over his shoulder and sees ALFRED peering snoopily around the corner. You heard about Harr... |
SELINA It's incredibly awful.It got me a little worried. (sidling up closer) I hate to think of something happening to you. BRUCE Same here. |
SELINA It's odd, though.Danger, the thought of suddenly dying -- in a weird way it gets you sort of...aroused.Don't you think? SELINA Bruce, this is incredible. (indicating a suit of armor) Malaysian -- ? BRUCE Not bad.Sarawak warrior caste. |
SELINA It's like -- everything in here is another little piece of your mind.I was right about you. (turning to face him) Promise, okay?Promise you'll show me every inch of this place. PAGE 87 MISSING FROM HARD COPY ALFRED The police have no files whatsoever on Selina Kyle. BRUCE (abstractedly) London...Cairo...Belgiu... |
ALFRED What exactly are you -- BRUCE Her credit card records. (looking up) Every major art theft in the last five years -- she's been on the scene or close to it. |
ALFRED You mean she's some sort of -- collector? A...cat burglar, or -- BRUCE Could be.Museum curator, authenticator -- she's got the perfect cover for it. (beat) What would she want with that stupid raven? |
ALFRED Raven, sir? BRUCE That's what the Catwoman took from Provost.A little raven statuette, about so big... (shaking his head) But it couldn't have been that valuable. |
ALFRED How very odd. (long pause) I'm sure it's nothing, but -- BRUCE What, Alfred? |
ALFRED Your father had a raven, sir.A small statue of the very sort you describe.It used to sit on his desk. BRUCE What happened to it? |
ALFRED After your father's...demise, Mr. Tiptree came to the house and asked if he could have it.As a keepsake.I saw no harm... (shrugging) That was thirty years ago. BRUCE Wait a minute.Mr. Tiptree? |
ALFRED George Tiptree.Your friend Elliott's father. BRUCE What are you looking for -- Batarangs? |
TIPTREE Bruce!Come on up. (to the COPS) I want to talk to Mr. Wayne alone. BRUCE I brought you a Christmas present.Sorry about the wrapping -- the police made me open it. |
TIPTREE ...I'm afraid I don't have anything for you. BRUCE I think you may have something that belonged to my father. |
TIPTREE -- You know? TIPTREE (cont.) It'll all be over tomorrow.One way or another, it'll all be over. (looking up; despondent) I've decided, Bruce.I'm gonna give him the last two ravens.He's already got the others. BRUCE What are you talking about?Who? |
TIPTREE Batman.I don't know how he found out, but -- BRUCE It's time you told me what's going on here. |
TIPTREE Didn't you ever wonder where it came from, Bruce?All the privilege, all the power ...all the money? (beat) The ravens are a...a kind of map, Bruce. The key to an incredibly vast fortune. BRUCE Whose fortune? |
TIPTREE Gotham City's. The cobblestone streets of 19th-Century Gotham.A massive EXPLOSION blows open one wall of a municipal building, and total CHAOS erupts: fires starting, BYSTANDERS screaming, POLICE rushing to the scene... TIPTREE In 1880 the Gotham City Treasury was looted.It was a fantastic operation -- perfect... |
TIPTREE Our ancestors.They bought Gotham City -- carved it up and ran it into the ground. In five years they were rich beyond imagining. (pause) We've just been following in their footsteps.And in all this time no one's ever suspected -- BRUCE -- that they were the ones behind the robbery? The FIVE PATRIARCHS in front... |
TIPTREE (O.S.) They had five ravens made.Five ravens which -- combined -- would reveal the location of the treasure they'd stolen. (beat) But they never touched it.They never needed to.It's still there to this day. TIPTREE The ravens, and the secret -- have been passed down through generations.Father to son... (shakin... |
TIPTREE Yeah.I've got it, Bruce, and I'm going to hand it over.He's right, you know. We've all been feeding -- feeding on the soul of Gotham... BRUCE (cont.) I don't believe you, Elliott.My father was a decent man -- an honorable man.He would never have taken part in a scheme like this. |
TIPTREE It wasn't his doing, Bruce.It was -- BRUCE That doesn't matter.If he knew that his fortune was based on a crime -- a crime against the city... (violently) Reputation or not, he would've tried to -- |
TIPTREE Christ, Bruce!Do you want me to spell it out for you?!? TIPTREE (cont.) He was a decent man.He was an honorable man.That's why they had him killed. TIPTREE They killed him...to protect their secret ...and now the bill's come due.Now the bill's come due. VICKI I feel so awful for him, Alfred.There must be some... |
ALFRED I see, sir.When shall we expect you back? BRUCE Get your cap.You're driving. It's late, and the house is dark as TIPTREE treeds silently downstairs carrying an OVERSIZED SUITCASE.The lights are on in the kitchen, where the COPS are playing poker and watching TV. CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS twinkle in the darkness.TIP... |
STAKEOUT COP I Shit -- that's Tiptree!! COP Mr. Tiptree!What the hell are you -- BRUCE According to this, he's directly below us. |
ALFRED The subway, sir? BRUCE Yeah.Take a right. It's slightly more crowded here in the hub of Gotham.TIPTREE emerges onto the platform and spies a squad of TRANSIT COPS thirty or forty feet away -- speaking into WALKIE-TALKIES as they scan the crowd. |
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