PROJECT SUBMISSION PACK
FILM: Finding Steve McQueen
DATE: September 2015
1. Submission Form p2
2. Sales Estimates p3
3. Script Report p4
4. Script p8
FF II LL MM SS UU BB MM II SS SS II OO NN FF OO RR MM
PROJECT TITLE: Finding Steve McQueen DATE: 9/3/2015
APPLICANT DETAILS APPLICANT CONTACT DETAILS NAME: Viki Marras ADDRESS: 9107 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600 POSITION: Head of Development Beverly Hills, CA, 90210 COMPANY Paradox Studios TEL: (310) 271-1355 EMAIL: [email protected]
PROJECT DETAILS PRODUCER/S Silvio Muraglia-All Roads Lead To Rome BUDGET: and CREDITS Anthony Mastromaouro -Louder than PRODUCTION Paradox Entertainment-US Words COMPANIES & Identity Films-US NATIONALITY:
WRITER: Ken Hixon GENRE: Heist/ Thriller
NAME CREDITS (1 or 2) Approached Confirmed DIRECTOR Mark Steven Johnson Daredevil, Ghost Rider CAST 1 Liam Hemsworth The Hunger Games CAST 2
SHOOTING SCHEDULE – Prep, Principal, Post, delivery SHORT SYNOPSIS / LOGLINE The true story of the largest bank heist in US History. In 1972, a Estimated: group of bank robbers in Youngstown, Ohio discovered that Richard Prep: January-February 2016 Nixon, along with other high-ranking government officials, had Shoot: March-April 2016 hidden assets in a Laguna Nigel safe deposit vault. Armed with this Post: Through December 2016 information and dissatisfied with the government policies that Delivery: January 2017 crippled the rust belt at the time, they took matters into their own hands.
FINANCE DETAILS FINANCIER NATURE OF INVESTMENT AMOUNT £ % BUDGET Proposed Approached Confirmed Paradox Studios Debt 33% Ambi Distribution Debt 33% TBC Bank Banked tax credit 25% Premiere Picture Equity 9%
% Premiere Stakeholder Proposed Corridor 1st TBC banked tax credit TBC recoupment BOND TBD schedule 2nd Paradox Studios/ Ambi Distribution for all 3rd Premiere Picture AUDITOR TBD financiers: 4th 5th
SALES INFORMATION SALES AGENT: Ambi Distribution SALES ESTIMATES CONTACT: Julie Sultan LOW: $10,060,000 TEL: (310) 274-2000 MEDIUM: EMAIL: [email protected] HIGH: $16,460,000
TERRITORY DISTRIBUTOR MG RIGHTS TBC COPRODUCTIONS COUNTRY % SPEND DETAILS
TITLE: Finding Steve McQueen GENRE: Action BUDGET: US$xxM PRODUCER: Andrea iervolino, Silvio Muraglia DATE: 08.06.2015 CAST: TBD
TERRITORY ASK ACCEPT
NORTH AMERICA 3,000,000 1,700,000 GERMAN SPEAKING EUROPE 1,500,000 1,350,000 UNITED KINGDOM 1,000,000 850,000 FRENCH SPEAKING EUROPE 1,200,000 950,000
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 800,000 450,000 SPAIN 500,000 450,000 JAPAN 800,000 650,000 SOUTH KOREA 500,000 250,000 CHINA 800,000 550,000 ITALIAN SPEAKING EUROPE 800,000 500,000 SCANDINAVIA 500,000 350,000 C.I.S. 800,000 100,000 BENELUX 300,000 180,000 MIDDLE EAST 400,000 250,000 SOUTH AFRICA 300,000 120,000 TURKEY 140,000 70,000
SOUTH AMERICA 600,000 400,000 PAN EASTERN EUROPE 200,000 150,000 ISRAEL 100,000 50,000 GREECE 150,000 0 PORTUGAL 100,000 50,000 INDONESIA 200,000 50,000 SINGAPORE 200,000 50,000 TAIWAN 200,000 50,000 MALAYSIA 200,000 80,000 PHILIPPINES 150,000 50,000 INDIA 200,000 50,000 THAILAND 200,000 30,000 PAY TV - ASIA 200,000 100,000 HONG KONG 150,000 30,000 AIRLINE/SHIP/HOTEL 270,000 150,000
TOTAL WORLDWIDE 16,460,000 10,060,000
These projections are strictly confidential.
PROJECT COVERAGE FORM
TITLE: Finding Steve McQueen AUTHOR: Ken Hixon SUB TO: Nadia Naguib SUB BY: n/a FORM: Screenplay LENGTH: 117m BASED ON: n/a LANGUAGE/S: English BUDGET: n/a GENRE: Crime LOCATION: California/Pennsylvania PERIOD: 1970s READER: Thom Phipps DATE: 18th July 2015
ELEMENTS: n/a
LOGLINE: 1972 - a criminal gang rob a bank that’s maybe connected to President Nixon
COMMENT SUMMARY: A great premise and pace easily overcomes a few problems with structure and characterisation
Excellent (4) Good (3) Fair (2) Poor (1) PREMISE X STORYLINE X CHARACTERISATION X DIALOGUE X STRUCTURE X PACE X ORIGINALITY X AUDIENCE APPEAL X 28 TOTAL
OVERALL SCORE: [28]/32 = [88]%
MAIN CHARACTERS:
HARRY – a charming, hot-headed crook who styles himself on Steve McQueen MOLLY – a spunky and independent-minded widow HOWART LAMBERT – a smart and determined FBI agent AMIL – the head criminal, violent, charming, and a little unhinged RONNIE – Harry’s brother, a naïve, spaced-out innocent with a wounded disposition JIMMY – Harry’s uncle, level-headed W MARK FELT – deputy director of the FBI. Distinguished.
PREMISE: The ‘true’ story of a gang of crooks who burgled a bank vault in Laguna Niguel and the FBI agent tasked with tracking them down. As the crooks fall out and the Watergate scandal begins, the agent discovers that the vault may be connected to president Richard Nixon.
SYNOPSIS:
The story takes place over four separate, intertwining timelines -
· In early 1972, a gang of criminals, featuring our protagonist HARRY, plans a heist on a bank in Laguna. · In late 1972, after the heist, the FBI, lead by LAMBERT, investigate the robbery and track down the criminals. · In the years after 1973, Harry - on the run - meets and falls in loves with MOLLY in a small town. · In 1980, Harry tells Molly the truth about his criminal past and gets into more trouble.
In chronological order:
We meet the gang, including HARRY (29, a young, car-racing hot-head), AMIL (60s, his uncle, the leader, a vicious hot-head), JIMMY (Amil’s brother, level-headed) and RONNIE (Harry’s sweet and spaced-out brother), amongst others. Harry works for Amil in a legitimate capacity but has aspirations to join Amil’s criminal gang. He steals a truck of TVs to prove his worth, sparking his uncle’s ire.
Amil and Jimmy are tipped off by Bobby Lohman, a union boss, that President Nixon has $30 million of illegal campaign donations in a bank in Laguna Niguel. Amil, who hates Nixon, is eager to rob the place, while Jimmy’s a little less eager. They set about preparing for the heist, inviting Harry to join the crew after he proves his worth and driving skill.
After some preparation, they rent a condo overlooking the bank and begin the three-evening heist - they freeze the alarm, cut a hole in the roof of the vault, and start breaking open safety deposit boxes (they use a mirror to guard their location from night to night). In the first two nights, they fail to find Nixon’s promised $30m, and an already unstable Amil becomes increasingly manic and dangerous, threatening to shoot a cop who nearly stumbles in on them. Harry begins to worry that he’s in over his head and wants to get his brother out of the gang. In the third night, they - again - fail to find the cash and finish the heist.
They split their winnings and go their separate ways. On a plane ride away, Ronnie examines some rare baseball cards he’d taken from one of the safety deposit boxes and sees a printed number for a Cayman Islands Account in Nixon’s name, which he throws away.
The robbery’s investigated by Howard Lambert (a decent, smart man). He’s told by his superiors that solving it is very important to “highers up” - going all the way to the Oval office. During his investigations, he finds several connections between one safety deposit box and one of Nixon’s senior staffers, and begins to wonder if he’s stumbled into a conspiracy (meanwhile, the Watergate Scandal is beginning to roll into action in the background). But when he asks questions, he’s stonewalled by the administration.
Lambert eventually discovers the mirror the crooks had used to guard the crime scene, uses it to lead him to their condo, their fingerprints, and eventually the entire gang (except Harry, who slips away). They’re all arrested and Harry goes on the run. Lambert is offered a job in DC on the Watergate investigation.
In 1973, Harry - working in a dive bar - meets MOLLY (early 20s, sparky and smart). He uses a fake name - John Baker. Even though she’s the daughter of the town sheriff, thus putting him at risk of discovery, he falls in love with her, and the town, and settles down over the years, even getting a job working as a handyman for the Sheriff’s office and a local bank.
In 1980, Harry’s working as a handyman for the bank when Amil and the gang return, having been released from prison. Amil, who thinks Harry ratted them out for the Laguna heist, threatens Molly’s life unless Harry helps him to rob the bank the next week. Harry confesses his criminal past to Molly. Although she’s upset, she decides to leave town with him. When Amil (and the rest of the gang) show up to rob the bank, Harry escapes and activates a hidden alarm, trapping them in the bank. He flees with Molly, before revealing that he’s already contacted the FBI to give himself up - he’s sick of living a lie. He’s arrested by Lambert and goes to prison.
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS: I really enjoyed this script. The premise - the nominal ‘true story’ fictionalized to intertwine with real-world events (Nixon, Watergate, and so on) was compelling and interesting, offering a fantastic ‘behind the scenes’ of the end of the Nixon administration.
While the storyline is fairly simple when laid out chronologically (as in the synopsis above), the intertwining multiple-timeline structure means that the script is constantly setting up and resolving mysteries as it goes along, which kept me eagerly reading. Various items - the box of matches, the baseball cards, the dishwasher - pay off in unexpected ways, turning a straightforward heist film into a series of dramatic setups and punchlines, which I really enjoyed.
In terms of structure, this sort of twisty-turny film lives and dies on how clear it is where/when we are and what’s going on at a particular point in time, and I think for the most part the script achieves this admirably; I in particular enjoyed the various smart cuts from one location/time over another, such as the Dairy Queen cut on page 46. I did find myself a little turned-around at parts - there are (at least) four timelines, not counting flashbacks, two of which take place within weeks of each other. There’s an inadvertent implication when we first meet the gang that this is happening after the heist, when it’s actually before. Whether this was intentional or not, it took me a little while to work out what was going on, and recalibrating the introduction (or at least making crystal clear that one storyline is taking place in say April, the other March) would help a lot with clarity. I also felt that there were a few too many Act 2 scenes of the gang hanging out, going to bars, sitting in the hot-tub, etc. These could be cut down - I wanted them to hurry up and get to the heist!
Tonally, the script successfully blends the heist / true-crime genres with a surprisingly effective love story, although there are a few parts that stuck me as odd. A series of gags in which the gang listed celebrities they fancied (pg 12) was funny, but featured a ‘cutaway’ mechanic that was not repeated elsewhere, while Harry’s various car chases (there are at least three) seemed to me to come from a different, more action-y film. They sat awkwardly against the Nixon story lines and I’d be tempted to cut then down.
The characterization is where the script could afford maybe a tiny re-think, with a few characters falling into fairly stereotypical roles that I’d seen a hundred times before. Harry, the hot-head styling himself from Steve McQueen, eager to get into the illegal business. Criminal Uncle Jimmy and unhinged uncle Amil. The overbearing Italian mother. And while the innocent babe- in-the-woods character of Ronnie does have the vital plot role of taking the baseball cards and disregarding Nixon’s account details, as soon as he was introduced, I knew that he’d eventually wind up taking the fall for Harry’s actions. In addition, many of the early scenes of the gangsters hanging around felt like they could have come out of any number of Sopranos/Goodfellas knockoffs - I’d either make them more interesting, or less long. Same goes for the FBI scenes, which featured a couple of ‘there’s a conspiracy and it goes all the way to the top!’ scenes that I’d seen before.
I did, however, really enjoy the character of Molly. As someone who’s neither a criminal nor an FBI, she could have felt like a dull sideshow, but her sparky character and fun dialogue (as well as the added jeopardy of her law-enforcement family) made her a compelling character and one I’d want to spend time with. I’d maybe cut down some of the scenes of her talking with her family, which added very little other than ramming home the ongoing ‘republican vs liberal values’ theme.
Indeed, there were also a few moments when the dialogue lapses into obviousness, with long speeches about karma (p29), and Amil’s repeated rants about Nixon and the failure of the American dream. A later scene intercutting Nixon’s “I am not a crook!” speech with Harry pretending to not be a crook also felt very on-the-nose. The script as a whole seems slightly too eager to hit the ‘it’s the seventies!’ button, and I felt like we’d gotten it by the third time Nixon appeared on TV or someone mentioned Vietnam.
POTENTIAL:
This is an original script, telling a story I haven’t heard before in a novel way. Of course, it wears its references on its sleeve in the musical choices and in-script discussions - Layla is a clear shout-out to The Goodfellas. Indeed, the various time-jumps, period setting and the gangster milieu gives it a distinctly Scorsese vibe. Again, to avoid being damned by the comparison, I’d re-think some of the more ‘seen this before’ gangster scenes.
In terms of audience appeal, I can see this script - pending casting etc - being appealing to audiences. It’s smart and clever and there’s an appetite for period pieces / true crime stories in the market right now. It’s likely to do better in America - where the Nixon / Watergate is part of the national memory. Also, I would consider re-thinking the title - I at first thought the script was going to be a biopic of McQueen, who is mentioned throughout. It’s a slightly “clever”, subtext-y title, and something a little simpler and more impactful might do better with audiences. However, pending a few tweaks to structure and characterization, I would have no hesitations but to recommend this script whole-heartedly.
FINDING STEVE McQUEEN
Screenplay by Ken Hixon
23 April 2015 ...
On March 24, 1972 the safe deposit vault at United California Bank in Laguna Niguel, California, was broken into and looted by professional burglars from Youngstown, Ohio.
It was the biggest bank heist in the history of the United States.
This screenplay is inspired by the true story of Harry Barber and the events surrounding this heist.
...
IDENTITY FILMS EXT. MAIN STREET - BROOKVILLE - EARLY MORNING CHYRON: BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA - 1980 We TRACK DOWN the empty street to the VOGUE THEATER; a modest, small town movie house. The darkened marquee features a new double-bill: “WHEN A STRANGER CALLS” and “A LITTLE ROMANCE.” We RISE UP over the marquee and THROUGH the open window on the second floor to find... HARRY BARBER (aka JOHN BAKER), 37, boyishly handsome with short, close-cropped hair. Harry lays a leather duffel bag onto the bed and begins to pack. But he’s not packing for a vacation. He’s preparing for an escape...
INT. BATHROOM - MOLLY’S HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY MOLLY MURPHY, 30, is caught somewhere between pretty and plain with dark hair that frames her fair complexion. She props the “Blondie - Hearts of Glass” album on a shelf beside the bathroom mirror. The cover features Deborah Harry with her trademark blonde hair. Molly carefully begins to section her hair with clips...
INT. FBI HEADQUARTERS - WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY A middle-aged SECRETARY rushes down a corridor and into a CONFERENCE ROOM where a morning briefing is underway. She heads for HOWARD LAMBERT, who is chairing the briefing, and whispers into his ear. Lambert reacts. Then quickly excuses himself and hurries out of the conference room...
EXT. HARDWARE STORE - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry sits in his 1960 Dodge pickup truck in front of the hardware store. He stares into his side-view mirror at a SECURITY GUARD sweeping the sidewalk in front of the bank across the street. Harry looks back to the hardware store as a CLERK flips the “CLOSED” sign over to “OPEN”...
INT. BATHROOM - MOLLY’S HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Molly squeezes strips of aluminum foil to the roots of her hair...
EXT. FBI HEADQUARTERS - WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY A D.C. POLICE CAR with its red lights flashing and an UNMARKED SEDAN wait at the curb. Lambert hurries outside carrying a THICK FILE FOLDER as he ducks into the sedan... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 2.
INT. HARDWARE STORE – BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry stands beside a display of drill bits next to the window. He watches the bank’s security guard hoist the American flag across the street. Harry pulls a handful of 3/8” drill bits off of their peg...
INT. BATHROOM - MOLLY’S HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Molly mixes bleaching powder and developer in a bowl...
EXT. STREETS OF WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY The sedan speeds through the city behind the police escort...
INT. SEDAN - DAY Lambert sits in the back seat, intensely studying the contents of that mysterious file folder...
INT. BASEMENT WORKSHOP - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry takes a spool of two-strand bell wire from a sack. He slips a short spindle through the center of the spool and installs it into a cradle he has fabricated in the bottom section of a large metal toolbox. He slips the end of the wire through a hole in the bottom...
INT. BATHROOM - MOLLY’S HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Molly brushes the bleaching mixture onto her hair, then folds strips of aluminum foil over the bleached sections...
INT. DULLES AIRPORT - WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY The ROTORS OF A HELICOPTER begin to spin as the engine comes to life. The police car leads the unmarked sedan across the tarmac towards the waiting helicopter...
INT. BASEMENT - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry installs a toggle switch into a hole drilled in the bottom of a removable toolbox tray. He places the tray into the top of the toolbox, concealing the spool of wire beneath it. He arranges hand tools in the tray to hide the toggle switch, then closes the toolbox lid... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 3.
INT. BATHROOM - MOLLY’S HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Molly trims and styles her freshly bleached hair...
INT. PANCAKE HOUSE - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry enters the busy restaurant, then pauses as he SEES: a uniformed lawman (SHERIFF GERALD KELLY) at the cashier. Harry quickly turns and walks into the men’s room...
EXT. DULLES AIRPORT - WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY Lambert ducks as he approaches the idling helicopter. As he climbs into the aircraft he drops the file folder and the downwash of the rotors sends the pages flying in all directions. He hesitates, then climbs onboard before the helicopter ascends. A BEAT before we PAN OVER to reveal-- A PIECE OF PAPER pinned to a chain-link fence by the blast of the rotors. It’s a WANTED POSTER with ten fingerprints and three mug shots - left profile, front, right profile - of a younger Harry (age 27) with much longer hair. WANTED BY THE F.B.I. FOR BANK BURGLARY; BANK LARCENY; CONSPIRACY HARRY JAMES BARBER
INT. MEN’S ROOM - PANCAKE HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry’s REFLECTION in the mirror as he raises his head from the sink. He’s just splashed water over his face. He grabs some paper towels to dry off...
I/E. PANCAKE HOUSE - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry walks through the restaurant. In the BACKGROUND a morning NEWSCAST AIRS on the TV behind the counter: NEWSCASTER (V.O.) Former President Richard M. Nixon filed a lawsuit yesterday demanding that the government pay him for his White House papers and tapes, which he contends were illegally taken from him after he resigned in August 1974... Harry sits at a table across from Molly (in a booth with a view of the parking lot outside). Molly is dressed in a leather biker’s jacket. Her artfully cut blonde hair is exactly like Deborah Harry’s on the album cover. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 4.
MOLLY You look terrible. HARRY Didn’t sleep much. (re: her hair) Olivia Newton John? MOLLY No, Deborah Harry. You know, Blondie? HARRY Oh. A WAITRESS arrives with Molly’s breakfast order and a cup of coffee for Harry. WAITRESS The usual, John? HARRY Just coffee. The waitress steps away. MOLLY You’re not going to eat? Harry lights a cigarette, then: HARRY (under his breath) Aww, hell... MOLLY What’s going on? HARRY Look...around this time tomorrow you’re gonna find out that I’m not who you think I am. MOLLY What’s that supposed to mean? HARRY Means...you don’t really know me.
EXT. PARKING LOT - NIGHT CHYRON: EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - 1970 A vacant parking lot adjacent to a fire-belching refinery. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 5.
Harry (age 27 with shoulder length hair) is at the wheel of a 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. He REVS the engine as he puts on a pair of driving gloves. He cinches his seat belt. Puts a CASSETTE TAPE into the car stereo. And shifts into first. “LAYLA” (Derek and the Dominoes) BEGINS as Harry floors the accelerator. The Charger shoots towards a line of TWENTY PARKING LOT LAMP POSTS spaced approximately 30 feet apart. The speeding car SLALOMS between the posts with well-practiced precision -- then it does a SQUEALING tight turn around the last lamp post and zigzags back. Harry is poetry in motion -- clearing the concrete stanchions with only inches to spare. But then he SEES -- a POLICE CAR -- parked at his starting point with its lights flashing. Harry completes his slalom course, does a SQUEALING circle around the cop car, and flies out of the parking lot with the cop car in hot pursuit...
INT. PANCAKE HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1980 Harry (age 37) and Molly sitting in the booth. MOLLY I know you -- don’t sweat it. HARRY Dammit, Molly, no you don’t. Just listen to me -- MOLLY I don’t sleep with strangers, so believe me -- I know who you are. And I know who you always wanted to be, too...
EXT. STREET - EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - NIGHT - 1970 TELEPHOTO ANGLE on a hilly street (ala “Bullit”). The speeding Charger crests the top of the hill and goes airborne for 60 feet before the tires hit the pavement...
EXT. DOCKWEILER BEACH - LAX - NIGHT - (MINUTES LATER) Harry (age 27) SINGS along to “LAYLA” as the Dodge Charger roars along Vista Del Mar with the moonlit beach on one side and the airport on the other. A departing jet soars over the road. In the distance the cop car follows with its SIREN blaring and red lights flashing... Chunks of the Charger’s right front poly-cord tire begin to sling off. The tire quickly delaminates and BLOWS... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 6.
Harry brakes to a skidding stop as the COP pulls over and approaches. Harry TURNS OFF the tape deck. A BEAT. COP You again, huh? Figures. HARRY Have we met? COP Wrote you a ticket last week on Harbor. You were driving a ‘69 Mustang. HARRY ‘68 -- I traded it in. COP For a Dodge Charger? HARRY Four-forty Six Pack with three two- barrel carburetors -- four-hundred horsepower, stock. COP Wow. What’d you have in that Mustang, a three-ninty four-V? HARRY Yeah -- three-hundred-and-twenty H.P. tops. But you had to wind it up tighter than a yo-yo. COP Could’ve slapped on a three carb intake, but those aluminum manifolds aren’t worth a damn. (re citation book) Remind me -- what’s your name? HARRY Steve McQueen. COP Yeah, and I’m John Wayne. Cut the shit, kid. What’s your real name? CLOSE ON Harry... HARRY Name’s Harry. Harry Barber. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 7.
INT. PANCAKE HOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1980 Harry (age 37) and Molly sitting in the booth. MATCH CUT to Molly as if Harry had been speaking to her instead of the cop in the previous scene. MOLLY Your real name’s Harry? HARRY Harry James Barber. Yeah. MOLLY I don’t get it. You changed your name ‘cause you got forty-one speeding tickets? HARRY No. I changed my name ‘cause... MOLLY ...‘cause why? HARRY (under his breath) Christ... (exhales before) ‘Cause the FBI’s looking for me. Eight years ago I ripped off a bank in California. It was the biggest bank heist in U.S. history...
EXT. BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIFORNIA - DAY - 1972 CHYRON: LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIFORNIA - 1972 The bank is next door to a bar named Gnarly’s. Police officers are gathered on the sidewalk. A sedan pulls up as our FBI Special Agent in Charge, Howard Lambert, climbs out. Another FBI agent, DAN HOLBROOK, approaches. LAMBERT They get the vault open yet? HOLBROOK Locksmith’s working on it. Says they probably drilled into the lock from the inside and jammed it. Look at this, Chief... Holbrook points to a bank alarm mounted high on the wall. An odd-looking mass of hardened material (expandable foam) has oozed out of the louvered alarm enclosure. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 8.
LAMBERT What is that stuff? HOLBROOK It’s not bird shit. Whatever it is, it sure shut up the alarm.
INT. BANK - VAULT - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Lambert, Holbrook, several policemen, and the bank manager watch as a locksmith finally manages to open the vault. Water seeps over the threshold. Lambert leads the group inside. And they are dumbstruck by what they find: The vault is a shambles. Over 450 safety deposit boxes have been broken open. The emptied boxes (and the contents that the thieves weren’t interested in) have been dumped on the floor, which is covered with a soupy mixture of water and cement dust. HOLBROOK (under his breath) Son-of-a-bitch...
I/E. ROOF - VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Holbrook inspects the roof. Lambert uses his penknife to pry up a section of plywood sawn from the roof... INSIDE THE VAULT We see Lambert looking down through the hole in the roof and the corresponding hole in the ceiling of the vault... BACK ON THE ROOF Holbrook walks over to join Lambert. HOLBROOK No cigarette butts, nothing. Clean. LAMBERT This is not local work. HOLBROOK How do you know that? LAMBERT This is Southern California -- why break a sweat chopping a hole through the roof when all you need is a starter pistol and a freeway map? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 9.
HOLBROOK You calling our homegrown talent lazy? LAMBERT We’re the bank robbery capital of the world for two good reasons: on- ramps and off-ramps. But the last time I saw a vault job like this in Southern California: Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin did it. Something shiny catches Lambert's eye. A SMALL MIRROR lies on top on an A/C unit. One edge of the mirror is smeared with roof tar (the same roof tar as on the edges of the plywood section cut from the roof). HOLBROOK What’s that doing here? LAMBERT Got me. Lambert slowly pivots and surveys the view: the ocean and beach, the shops, the golf course behind the bank, and the homes and condos in the hills above the town. HOLBROOK Between 5:00 PM Friday afternoon and 8:30 AM this morning. That’s how the time lock on the vault is set up. LAMBERT I was here Saturday -- in the parking lot. HOLBROOK What were you doing in the parking lot? LAMBERT Sam plays Little League. This is the drop-off and pick-up spot for the out-of-town games. HOLBROOK You didn’t notice anything? LAMBERT Nope. HOLBROOK How do you blast a three-foot diameter hole in concrete without anyone noticing anything? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 10.
LAMBERT Have to be very good or very lucky -- or both. HOLBROOK How big a crew do you think we’re talking about?
INT. AIRPLANE - CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY CHYRON: CLEVELAND, OHIO - 1972 A GROUP OF MEN board the passenger jet together... LAMBERT (V.O.) (answering Holbrook) This is speciality work. You got to have an alarm guy who knows security systems backwards and forwards... AMIL DINZIO, Harry’s uncle, is in his mid-sixties. He’s the alpha dog of this wolf pack... LAMBERT (V.O.) Need somebody with a lot of experience with explosives to blow a hole this precise ... CHARLIE MULLIGAN is in his late-fifties, dressed in a leisure suit and sporting a well-lacquered 70’s hairdo... LAMBERT (V.O.) And you got to have at least one look-out up on the roof here -- probably some muscle with his finger glued to the trigger... RAY DARROW is in his mid-forties. He’s wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a Madras sport coat. LAMBERT (V.O.) Then you need a couple grunts to haul everything up here and bust into all the safe deposit boxes. RONNIE BARBER, Harry’s older brother, is in his early 30’s with a scraggy goatee. He looks like a roadie for the Grateful Dead: torn jeans, baggy fatigue jacket, and worn flip-flops. He has a sweet, wounded disposition. LAMBERT (V.O.) So, at least five guys, minimum. Maybe more. But they were pros. This is textbook. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 11.
Harry (age 29) is the last to step onto the plane...
INT. PANCAKE HOUSE - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1980 Harry (age 37) and Molly still seated at their booth. Molly just stares for the longest time as Harry squirms. HARRY Say something. Molly rises from the table. HARRY (CONT’D) Where you going? MOLLY Ladies room. Molly walks away. Harry knew telling her the truth would be hard, but not this hard. He lights another cigarette before he looks out the window to see -- Molly in the parking lot, getting into her car (a 1976 Gremlin). HARRY Aww, shit...
EXT. PANCAKE HOUSE - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry runs out of the restaurant and chases after Molly as she drives off in her battered Gremlin. HARRY Molly! Wait! Hey! She turns onto Main Street and speeds away. HARRY (CONT’D) Dammit...
EXT. STREET - SOUTHGATE, CALIFORNIA - DAY - 1972 CHYRON: SOUTHGATE, CALIFORNIA - 1972 Harry (age 29), Ronnie, Amil, Ray and Charlie drive along a palm tree lined street in a brand new 1972 Lincoln Continental with Nevada license plates. Harry is driving. Amil is riding shotgun. And Ronnie is sitting between Ray and Charlie in the back seat. CHARLIE So, Harry, where are all the movie stars? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 12.
HARRY How the hell would I know? CHARLIE You’re the one who grew up out here. HARRY Aren’t any movie stars in Southgate. RAY I could use some Hollywood poontang. Like that hippie chick on “Mod Squad.” Wouldn’t mind slipping her the high hard one. INSERT: TV Guide cover of actress PEGGY LIPTON with her male co-stars on “Mod Squad.” CHARLIE Hippie chicks? Shit. If I liked hairy armpits I’d be a homo. I’ll take that...what’s-her-face...you know, on “All in the Family?” RONNIE Edith Bunker. INSERT: TV Guide cover of actress JEAN STAPLETON as Edith Bunker on “All in the Family.” CHARLIE Jesus Christ, no -- the daughter. The blonde. The one with the tits. RONNIE Goldie Hawn. INSERT: TV Guide cover of actress GOLDIE HAWN on “Laugh In.” CHARLIE Shut up, Ronnie. Goldie Hawn’s on “Laugh In” and I got bigger tits than she does. HARRY Don’t tell my brother to shut up. CHARLIE How about both of you shut up? RAY I’d nail Goldie Hawn, tits or no tits. I bet she’s a real spinner. CHARLIE Just fuckin’ forget it. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 13.
AMIL Sally Struthers. INSERT: TV Guide cover of actress SALLY STRUTHERS on “All in the Family.” CHARLIE Sally Struthers -- there you go. RAY Who’s Sally Struthers? CHARLIE Somebody shoot me and put me out of my fuckin’ misery. Ray puts his hand on the gun in his shoulder holster. RAY Sure -- just lean forward a bit so I don’t hit Ronnie here. AMIL Sit back and enjoy the scenery. All of you. Okay? Jesus... After a beat: RONNIE Palm trees look like candles on a birthday cake when they catch fire. Harry glances at his brother in the rear view mirror...
INT. KITCHEN - BARBER HOME - DAY DELFINA “DEL” BARBER is washing dishes with an ever- present cigarette dangling from her mouth. She is Amil's sister and Harry’s and Ronnie’s mother. A televised basketball game can be HEARD (O.S.). She glances out the window above the sink and NOTICES: the 1972 Lincoln Continental pulling up to the curb...
EXT. BARBER HOME - DAY (CONTINUOUS) Harry, Ronnie, Charlie, Ray, and Amil climb out of the parked Lincoln. Delfina steps out of the modest tract home drying her hands with a dish towel; her cigarette still tucked into the corner of her mouth as she talks. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 14.
DELFINA What is this, you don’t call or nothing? Just show up out of the blue like the goddamn Avon Lady? HARRY Hi, ma. Delfina presents the un-cigaretted side of her face so Harry can give her a peck on the cheek. DELFINA I don’t believe this. RONNIE Where’s the dog, mom? DELFINA Moochie died last year. I told you that. Go say hi to your dad -- he’s watching the Cavaliers game. They’re playing the Lakers. Harry and Ronnie go into the house. CHARLIE How you doing, Del? DELFINA I’m good, Charlie. If the asthma don’t kill me. Long time no see. CHARLIE You don’t come to Youngstown much, so Youngstown came to you. DELFINA Yeah, no kidding. Go in and get yourself a drink. There’s a bottle of Canadian Club on top of the fridge. Charlie enters the house as Amil approaches with Ray. DELFINA (CONT’D) You can’t pick up the phone and tell me you’re coming? AMIL What’s the point of telling you we’re coming when we’re already here? Ray, this is my sister, Delfina. Everyone calls her Del. RAY A pleasure to meet ya. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 15.
DELFINA Nice to meet you, too. Go on in -- make yourself at home. Delfina waits for Ray to step inside then hauls off and slaps Amil across the face. Amil staggers back, then: AMIL What-the-hell’s that for? DELFINA Told you when I shipped Harry off to Youngstown that I didn’t want him working on your crew. And Ronnie's supposed to be looking after our mother so she don’t O.D. on stool softeners. AMIL There’s no such thing as making you happy, you know that? Harry and Ronnie aren’t working on my crew, okay? Charlie, Ray, and me came out here for some sunshine. I brought your boys along ‘cause I thought you’d like to see them. DELFINA Don’t bullshit me, Amil. AMIL I need to take a piss, Del. Can I go in the house now?
INT. BEDROOM - BARBER HOME - LITTLE LATER A Steve McQueen poster is pinned to the wall. Harry surveys the bedroom that he and Ronnie shared growing up. JACK BARBER, Harry’s father, steps into the bedroom with a can of beer in his hand. Jack is a long-time carpenter as evidenced by his sunburned face and bad knees. JACK Where’d Ronnie go? HARRY He’s out in the garage making a grave marker for Moochie. JACK Are you kiddin’ me? Jesus. HARRY Mom told him you buried her in the backyard. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 16.
JACK I put the damn dog in the garbage can... HARRY Ronnie don’t need to know that. Jack sits on one of the beds. Sighs. JACK Told him to join the navy. HARRY I know... JACK But he wanted to be GI Joe. HARRY I know... JACK In the Navy you come home with the clap and a tattoo -- that’s as bad as it gets. But in the army... HARRY I know, dad, I know. JACK Your big-shot uncle was supposed to get him out of Vietnam. DELFINA (O.S.) Don’t start with that shit, Jack. Jack and Harry DISCOVER Delfina standing in the doorway. DELIFINA And don’t sit on the bed, you’re gettin’ wrinkles in it. Jack rises and walks out of the room. Delfina smooths out the bedspread. DELFINA Amil tells me you’re working a route for his vending machine business. HARRY Yeah. DELFINA And you’re okay with that? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 17.
HARRY (shrugs) It’s a job. DELFINA Lugging bags of nickels and dimes around for your uncle -- that’s a career, huh? HARRY Pays the rent. DELFINA Who could ask for anything more? HARRY What are you talking about? DELFINA Ronnie's got an excuse. What yours? HARRY Excuse for what? DELFINA For not getting a real job. Like at the GM Plant in Lordstown. That’s what I told you to do. I’ll bet you didn’t even apply. HARRY I applied. DELFINA No, you didn’t. And don’t say you did, ‘cause I know you didn’t. HARRY All right, I didn’t apply at the GM plant. DELFINA See, I told you so. HARRY (to himself) Jesus...welcome home. DELFINA You don’t have one thimble-full of ambition. Not one goddamn drop. HARRY Don’t worry about me, ma... I got ambition. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 18.
I/E. WAREHOUSE - YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO - DAY CHYRON: YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO - 1972 Harry (age 29) stocks a vending machine. He’s wearing a gray uniform with his name stitched above the breast pocket. He WATCHES boxes containing ZENITH COLOR TVS being loaded into a semi-trailer. A surly SEMI DRIVER supervises the loading. He notices Harry: SEMI DRIVER Hey, you. HARRY Me? SEMI DRIVER Yeah, you. Something’s wrong with your vendin’ machine there. HARRY Oh, yeah? SEMI DRIVER Yeah, it chews up the bags of potato chips -- they come out just goddamn crumbs. HARRY Is that right? Gee, I’m very sorry to hear that, sir. SEMI DRIVER Don’t be a smart-ass. Just fix it. The semi driver turns back to the loading of his truck. Harry opens a box containing small bags of potato chips. He crushes each bag of chips with his hand before he loads them into the vending machine...
INT. TRUCK STOP - OUTSIDE YOUNGSTOWN - LATER Harry refills gumball machines in the entry of the truck stop. The newspaper machines DISPLAY the front page headlines:“NIXON VISITS CHINA” and “NIXON MEETS MAO” with photos of President Nixon shaking hands with Chairman Mao. As Harry turns around he NOTICES the surly semi driver from the warehouse eating lunch in the restaurant... Harry surveys the parking lot before he singles out the driver’s semi-trailer. The one that was filled with all of those color televisions at the warehouse... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 19.
EXT. TRUCK STOP - OUTSIDE YOUNGSTOWN - DAY Harry opens the back doors of a van with “DINZIO BROS. VENDING SUPPLY, INC.” painted on it. He pulls out a pair of WIRE CUTTERS from a tool box and slips them into his pocket. Then he grabs a TIRE IRON and wraps it up with his heavy jacket... Harry walks across the parking lot to the semi-trailer. It’s parked in a row of other semis -- providing cover for Harry as he sneaks up to the passenger window. The tire iron wrapped up in his jacket barely makes a sound as he breaks out the window...
EXT. DINZIO VENDING SUPPLY - YOUNGSTOWN - DAY (LATER) Harry sounds the semi’s AIR HORN as he pulls around to the loading dock in the back of the building. JIMMY DINZIO, Amil's older brother (and Harry’s uncle), an overweight man in his late-sixties, steps outside. JIMMY What the hell is this...? Harry triumphantly displays the cargo manifest. HARRY One-hundred-and-forty 36-inch Zenith color TVs with remote control. JIMMY Mary-mother-of-bleeding-Jesus, what are you doing, you fuck-nuts?!
INT. OFFICE - DINZIO VENDING SUPPLY - YOUNGSTOWN - DAY Amil SLAPS Harry across the face. AMIL What part of “no” did you not comprehend? Your mother made me promise her that I would never- ever put you on my crew. And you’re out there hijacking trucks? HARRY I didn’t hijack it. I hot-wired it. AMIL And you drive it here?! You dumb little shit! "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 20.
HARRY Didn’t know where else to take it. AMIL And then you leave the van with Dinzio Brothers painted all over it in giant fucking letters at the truck stop? And you want me to let you work on my crew?! Jimmy perfunctorily KNOCKS on the door as he enters. JIMMY May I interrupt? AMIL What? JIMMY I got Freddy and T.J. spray painting the trailer so the fuzz don’t spot it. Willie went over to the truck stop to pick up the van. He’ll take the semi out tonight, wipe it down good and torch it. Talked to Cleveland. They’ll take the whole load for 10K. (to Harry) And I sent Bernie out to buy me a pair of pinking shears so I can cut off your testicles when you’re through with your little heart-to- heart here. Jimmy walks out of the office. AMIL I don’t know what to do with you. HARRY Put me on your crew, that’s what. I’m gonna be somebody and gumball machines aren’t part of my plan. And neither is being a trained monkey working at the GM plant in Lordstown. Just give me a shot. I won’t let you down. I promise. I know what I’m doin’. AMIL Yeah, you’re a genius. HARRY Bagged those TVs without getting caught. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 21.
AMIL Let me tell ya something, Harry... there’s only two kinds of crooks: those who have been caught and those who will be.
INT. LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY - 1972 W. MARK FELT, Deputy Director of the FBI, a distinguished looking man in his early-sixties, briskly strolls along a wide corridor. CAMERA PULLS BACK to REVEAL that Felt is followed by ONE-HUNDRED FBI AGENTS. They’re all business.
INT. KITCHEN - LAMBERT HOME - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Lambert prepares the coffee while in the BACKGROUND a NEWSCAST airs on the TV: NEWSCASTER (V.O.) ...police apprehended five men attempting to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. last night. The five suspects will be arraigned on... The phone RINGS. Lambert answers it. LAMBERT Lambert residence...Why? What’s up?...Felt? He’s there right now?...I’m on my way. Lambert hangs up the phone as his wife, JANET, enters. JANET Who was that? LAMBERT The Deputy Director of the Bureau just flew in with one-hundred agents to investigate that bank job. (slight beat) What on earth was in that vault?
INT. FBI FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA - DAY Lambert enters to discover total chaos. One-hundred agents are competing for telephones, desk space, and coffee. Holbrook and Special Agent SHARON DRACH (rhymes with “hawk”) approach Lambert. Drach is the only female FBI agent in the office. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 22.
HOLBROOK What’s going on here, chief? LAMBERT Good question. Where’s Felt? DRACH In your office, sir.
INT. LAMBERT'S OFFICE - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - DAY Felt sits behind Lambert's desk reviewing one of his case files. Lambert enters as Felt looks up and smiles. FELT Howard -- good to see you. How are you? LAMBERT Confused, sir... FELT So am I. The inventory of the safe deposit boxes that the bank supplied seems somewhat incomplete. LAMBERT Four hundred and fifty-six boxes were broken into. Some of the bank customers appear to be exaggerating the value of the contents while others seem unwilling to divulge any information at all. FELT Obviously a professional crew. LAMBERT Yes, sir. I’d estimate a five-to- seven men. FELT But not local? LAMBERT No. Definitely not local. This is very high caliber work. But I feel our office is well-equipped to handle this investigation. FELT Of course you are. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 23.
LAMBERT Then...with all due respect, sir...why have an additional one- hundred agents been assigned to this investigation? Felt rises from the desk and closes the office door. FELT There’s a very high level of interest in this case, Howard. LAMBERT From Mr. Hoover? FELT Higher. LAMBERT Higher? FELT This incident appears to have created some consternation in the Oval Office. LAMBERT Can you tell me...? FELT (cutting him off) No, I can’t. I haven’t been offered an explanation myself. LAMBERT Isn’t there anything you can give me to run with? FELT There’s a bumper crop of secrets in Washington these days, Howard. That’s why I want you to resolve this case as quickly as possible -- so we can find out what they’re not telling us. I’ve got to get back. You report directly to me. LAMBERT Yes, sir. Felt walks out of the office. Holbrook and Drach step in: HOLBROOK Everything okay? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 24.
LAMBERT Get me a cup of coffee. DRACH We’re out of coffee. And desks and telephones and toilet paper.
INT. BASEMENT - FUNERAL HOME - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1980 Molly works as a cosmetician for the mortuary. She applies polish to the toenails of a heavy-set dead woman on the stainless-steel table. After Molly finishes up she turns and GASPS as she discovers Harry in the doorway. HARRY Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare ya. MOLLY Dammit, what are you doing here? HARRY I need to talk to you. MOLLY Arnold will can me if he finds you down here. So fuck off. HARRY (re: dead woman) That’s Randy Tutweiller’s wife. She died? Damn. I didn’t know that. MOLLY Yeah, surprises are a real bitch, aren’t they? Molly removes the cotton rolls from in between Mrs. Tutweiller’s toes. HARRY Thought Arnold didn’t want you painting their toenails anymore? MOLLY Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you don’t want your toenails looking nice. Men are such idiots. God, I wish women had cocks so I could be a lesbian. They HEAR the elevator gate being opened upstairs. MOLLY (CONT’D) Shit! Get out of here! "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 25.
HARRY Can we just go somewhere and talk? MOLLY No! Go! Get out! Now!
EXT. FUNERAL HOME - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - LATER Harry sits on the tailgate of his 1960 Dodge pickup truck with a short piece of thick black wire in his hand. Molly comes out of the rear of the mortuary carrying a large bag. She ignores Harry and climbs into her Gremlin. She turns the ignition, but the engine won’t start. Harry walks over to the Gremlin. HARRY Just hear me out and I’ll plug your distributor back in. Molly gets out of her car and walks away. Harry follows her down the sidewalk... HARRY (CONT’D) Just let me talk to you, please. MOLLY You’ve been in Brookville for seven years. Why confess now? HARRY ‘Cause something’s gonna happen tomorrow and I...I’m gonna have to... MOLLY ...gonna have to what? Run away? Hide? Rob another bank? What? HARRY Can we just go somewhere and talk? MOLLY Sure, how about the sheriff’s office? HARRY That’s not funny... Molly stops and turns to face him. MOLLY No shit. What’s funny about being with a guy for seven years and you don’t even know what his name is? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 26.
HARRY It doesn’t matter what my name is. I’m still me. And I never lied to you. MOLLY You lied to me from hello, my name is John Baker! So, don’t tell me you never lied to me. (a beat) Who are you?
I/E. DEER MEAT TAVERN - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1973 A cinder-block establishment across a two-lane blacktop from a cemetery. The interior is decorated with stuffed deer heads and antlers. Harry (age 30) is behind the bar getting ready to open for business. He dumps buckets of ice into the cooler. Molly (age 22) walks in through the propped-open front door. She’s attired in a black dress and shoes. Her hair is primly fixed with barrettes. MOLLY Who are you? HARRY We don’t open ‘til noon. MOLLY You’re new. HARRY Yeah. Started last month. She sits at the bar. Takes off her high heels and puts them on the bar beside her purse. MOLLY Give me a boilermaker. HARRY We’re closed. MOLLY They’re burying my husband at the cemetery across the road, so give me a boilermaker and a dollar’s worth of quarters. HARRY Beer’s not cold yet. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 27.
MOLLY Like that really matters right now? She holds out a dollar bill. Harry takes it from her, exchanges it for four quarters, and places them on the bar. He opens a bottle of beer, pours a shot of bourbon, and serves Molly. She knocks back the shot. MOLLY (CONT’D) Turn around for a second. HARRY Why? MOLLY ‘Cause I hate panty-hose. Harry turns around. Molly hikes up her dress, pulls down her panty-hose and stuffs it into her purse. MOLLY (CONT’D) Coast is clear. She scoops up the quarters and takes the beer with her as she goes to the jukebox and selects a few songs before “EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL” (Ray Stevens) begins to play. Molly pulls the barrettes from her hair and sways to the song as she chugs her beer at the jukebox. Harry reacts to her odd choice of music and her odd behavior as he stocks the cooler with bottles of beer. Molly finishes her beer, goes to the open door, and hurls the empty bottle into the parking lot. MOLLY (CONT’D) Rot in hell, Donald Lee Murphy! (to Harry) Another round, please.
I/E. DEER MEAT TAVERN - BROOKVILLE - DAY (LATER) Molly sits at the bar glumly SINGING along with “BRAND NEW KEY” (Melanie) on the JUKEBOX. MOLLY I rode my bicycle past your window last night -- I roller skated to your door at daylight... Molly uses a cocktail napkin to mop her tears. Harry places a new stack of cocktail napkins in front of her. HARRY I’m sorry for your loss. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 28.
MOLLY I’m not. But thanks anyway. Just put all my eggs in the wrong basket. You ever done that? HARRY Yeah, you could say that... MOLLY Never marry your high school sweetheart. It’s a big mistake. HARRY I’ll take your word for it. MOLLY Year ago he knocked up my best friend. She had identical twins. Look just like him -- both of ‘em. HARRY You have kids with him too? MOLLY No, I’m not that stupid. Never did trust him. HARRY Why’d you marry him then? MOLLY Because I’m a well-programmed robot like all the other girls in this dumb town. At least I was a robot with a diaphragm, thank God. Or thanks mom is more like it. HARRY How did your husband pass away? MOLLY He didn’t pass away -- he passed on the right. Rear-ended a flatbed truck parked on the side of the road. He was drunk. Drunk and decapitated. HARRY (grimaces) Oh, Christ... MOLLY And he wasn’t exactly still my husband. I left him. Moved back home with my folks. (MORE) "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 29.
MOLLY (CONT'D) Would’ve been my ex-husband once the divorce went through. But now I’m the Widow Murphy and I get the life insurance. Ain’t karma grand? HARRY Karma? MOLLY Yeah, karma. Consequences. Reap what you sow. Goodness always equals good and bad always bites you in the ass. You just never know when... We hear the SOUND of tires crunching gravel outside. Molly and Harry look over to see a POLICE CAR with two uniformed COPS pulling up to the tavern. HARRY (under his breath) Shit... MOLLY Shit! Molly jumps off her stool, grabs her purse and shoes, and dashes behind the bar. MOLLY (CONT’D) Don’t tell ‘em I’m here. She conceals herself in a cubbyhole beneath the bar. Harry is perplexed by her reaction; he had the same impulse but Molly took the only good hiding spot. The two cops step into the tavern (JEFF and MARK). JEFF You’re the new guy. HARRY Yeah. JEFF Molly Murphy come in here? HARRY Who’s that? JEFF Young woman, black dress, kinda mousey lookin’? (Molly reacts with indignation to the “mousey” remark.) "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 30.
HARRY No one here but me. Not open yet. MARK (to Jeff) Thought she was headed over here. JEFF (to Harry) If a chick in a black dress shows up tell her there’s a memorial service waiting for her across the road. HARRY Will do. The cops return to the patrol car and drive away. Harry helps himself to Molly's shot of bourbon on the bar and knocks it back in one gulp. MOLLY (O.S.) They gone? HARRY Yup. Harry refills the shot glass with bourbon and offers it to Molly as she emerges from beneath the bar. MOLLY Thanks. She, too, knocks back the shot, then: MOLLY (CONT’D) He was a cop. HARRY Your late husband? MOLLY Yeah. HARRY Well, they’re waiting for you. MOLLY Let ‘em wait. I just want to hide right now. Can’t go home ‘cause everybody’s coming over after. I don’t even have my car, my sister drove me to the cemetery. Harry sizes her up for a beat. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 31.
HARRY You know the Vogue Theater in town? MOLLY Of course. Harry takes out his keys. HARRY I rent the apartment upstairs in front -- I think it used to be the manager’s office or something. This key unlocks the door to the lobby and this key is for the apartment. And that key’s for my pickup. It’s parked out back. MOLLY How will you get home? HARRY I’m not worried about me right now. Just leave the lobby door unlocked so I can get in. Molly take the keys and picks up an unopened bottle of Jack Daniels from the back-bar as she heads for the door. MOLLY Put this on my tab. HARRY You bet. MOLLY What did you say your name was? HARRY John Baker. MOLLY Molly Murphy. Nice to meet you.
I/E. DINZIO VENDING SUPPLY - YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT - 1972 Jimmy and Amil escort BOBBY LOHMAN through the building to his Cadillac parked in back. Loman’s a Teamster official with the Cleveland local. LOHMAN Hoffa got reamed big time by Nixon. Had to drop his trousers and bend over the warden’s desk for a good dose of Tricky Dicky to get out of the pen. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 32.
AMIL Fuck Nixon. LOHMAN Exactly. That’s the whole idea. It’s the perfect heist. Rip off the President of the United States. Hell, it don’t get bigger or better than that. AMIL I love it. Talk about stickin’ it up Nixon’s ass. JIMMY Hold on a minute -- Hoffa know about what you’re pitching us? LOHMAN What Jimmy Hoffa knows or don’t know is for him to know, not you. JIMMY I’m just askin’ how solid this information is. LOHMAN Told ya: sterling fucking silver. Our guy was in the room when the White House capos were shaking down the Dairy Board for off-the- book campaign contributions. He even brought me a little souvenir. Bobby takes a BOX OF MATCHES out of his pocket. LOHMAN (CONT’D) For you. Keep it. He tosses the box of matches to Amil. Amil studies the match box: it features the White House logo on it. LOHMAN (CONT’D) I’ll be waiting for your call. Lohman climbs into his car and drives away. Jimmy and Amil watch him drive off. JIMMY This is too good to be true... AMIL Why would Bobby make up shit like this? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 33.
JIMMY Just don’t compute. Nixon’s gonna win re-election hands down. What’s he need all this bag money in some bank in California for? AMIL ‘Cause he’s a crook and crooks don’t know how to stop when they’re ahead. So, it computes perfectly. We hit the bank, take the thirty mil, and Nixon can’t do squat about it ‘cause the money’s filthy-dirty. JIMMY Seems to me the President of the United States can do whatever the fuck he wants. He’s got the CIA, FBI, ATF, IRS -- talk about an alphabet soup enema. No thank you. AMIL It’s the Commander-in-Chief who’s gonna be shitting in his pants -- not us. JIMMY Look, I know you don’t like Nixon... AMIL He’s a cocksucker and a motherfucker and a bullshit artist... JIMMY (to the Gods) ...sweet Jesus, here we go... AMIL ...Nixon’s hosed the steel companies here in town, he’s trying to flush the unions down the crapper, he’s shooting college kids with M-16s, bombing little naked Cambodian children running around the fuckin’ rice paddies, and he’s cramming a couple hundred- thousand American boys through a goddamn meat grinder in Vietnam! JIMMY This ain’t personal, Amil. We’re professionals. We don’t know California. Let’s just stay in our own backyard. Life’s too short, we’re not gettin’ any younger. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 34.
AMIL Stop with the we’re not gettin’ any younger horseshit, will ya? You wanna retire? Retire. But I’m not giving up this kind of action for some bingo games in the basement of Saint Ignatius. JIMMY We ain’t hurting for cash flow, that’s all I’m saying. Let’s just stick to the business we got. AMIL Thirty million dollars -- I’d say business is lookin’ up for us.
EXT. LAMBERT HOME - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY - 1972 Many of the suburban homes in the neighborhood sport yard signs READING: “RE-ELECT NIXON” -- including Howard Lambert's house. Lambert pulls into his driveway, gets out of his car, and yanks the sign out of the lawn.
INT. KITCHEN - LAMBERT HOME - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Janet is making dinner as Lambert enters with the sign. JANET (re: the sign) Bruce Milberger put that up this afternoon. Didn’t think you’d mind. LAMBERT I’m a federal employee -- it’s not appropriate. JANET We voted for Nixon in ‘68, aren’t we going to vote for him again? Lambert is distracted by a NEWSCAST on the kitchen TV: NEWS FOOTAGE of President Nixon arriving via Marine helicopter at his home in San Clemente. LAMBERT (musing aloud) San Clemente... JANET What? LAMBERT The Western White House. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 35.
JANET What about it? LAMBERT San Clemente is only eight or nine miles away from the bank... JANET What does Nixon’s house have to do with the bank? LAMBERT Maybe nothing. I don’t know. That’s the problem. Lambert picks up the phone and dials, then: LAMBERT (CONT’D) (to phone) It’s Lambert, I want everyone in the office in one hour. (beat) And I mean everyone.
INT. FBI FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - NIGHT The office is packed with agents, including Holbrook and Drach. Lambert strolls into the office. He pulls out a chair and stands on it so everyone can see: LAMBERT I want deep background on every safe deposit box customer, including the customers whose boxes weren’t broken into. Employment history, business associates, finances, political affiliations, everything there is to know. And I want it by five PM tomorrow afternoon. Get to it...
INT. LAMBERT'S OFFICE - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - NIGHT Holbrook and Drach follow Lambert into his office. HOLBROOK Uh, shouldn’t we be looking for the bad guys? LAMBERT Sure. Once we can figure out who they are. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 36.
HOLBROOK I thought they were the guys who broke into the vault...? LAMBERT We’re ten days into this. There’s no fingerprints, shoe prints, hair, blood, stolen cars, missing dynamite, no eyewitnesses, no informants, no leads, no nothing. And maybe the reason we’re getting nowhere is that we’re treating this like a burglary case. HOLBROOK How are we supposed to treat it? LAMBERT What’s the golden rule of a homicide investigation? HOLBROOK Motive. LAMBERT Motive. As in: why this bank, why these safe deposit boxes? DRACH Because they knew what they were looking for... LAMBERT Exactly. Were there any customers with out-of-state addresses? HOLBROOK Seemed like they were all local. LAMBERT Let’s have a look. Lambert spreads a print-out of safety box renters on his desk. They scan the list of bank customers before: HOLBROOK Here we go. “C. W. Colson” -- P.O. box in Arlington, Virginia. LAMBERT Arlington? (thinking) I want you to personally handle the background check on Mr. Colson. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 37.
HOLBROOK I’m on it. Holbrook walks out of the office. Drach starts to leave too until Lambert stops her: LAMBERT Sharon, have you been following this Watergate thing? The burglary? DRACH From what I read in the paper that crew is just a bunch of amateur hour clowns. We’re dealing with real pros on this bank job. LAMBERT No doubt about that. DRACH You think our case has something to do with that Watergate circus? LAMBERT I don’t know what the hell’s going on...but I do know that the last time the Bureau assigned over one hundred agents to a single investigation was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. (beat) That I do know.
INT. OFFICE - DINZIO VENDING SUPPLY - YOUNGSTOWN - DAY - 1972 Amil, at his desk, studies a dozen SNAPSHOTS of the bank in Laguna Niguel. Harry (age 29) steps into the office wearing his company uniform. HARRY Back already? How was your trip? AMIL Short. Come look at this... Amil shows Harry a snapshot of the BURGLAR ALARM on the bank in Laguna Niguel. AMIL (CONT’D) It’s a newfangled burglar alarm. Something I haven’t dealt with before. Take a look around town and see if you can find one like it. And go buy a car with cash but don’t use your real name. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 38.
Amil gives Harry an envelope of cash. AMIL (CONT’D) Bring me the receipt and the change. And don’t go car shopping in your work clothes...
EXT. BUSINESS DISTRICT - DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT MUSIC UP: “OUTTA SPACE” (Billy Preston). Harry sprints down the sidewalk with a RINGING BURGLAR ALARM under his arm and a crow bar in his hand. He’s wearing a pair of hard-shell EAR PROTECTORS but they’re not much defense against the alarm’s DEAFENING CLANGING. Harry turns into an alley and tosses the RINGING burglar alarm and crow bar into the backseat of a souped-up 1969 Camaro with racing stripes. He jumps behind the wheel, fires up the growling engine, and peels down the alley...
EXT. ANOTHER STREET - DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT Two uniformed cops -- attempting to roust a wino passed out in a storefront doorway -- react to the CACOPHONY of the RINGING BURGLAR ALARM as the Camaro races past...
EXT. STREETS OF DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT The Camaro speeds down an empty boulevard accompanied by the ear-shattering CLANGING of the burglar alarm. Several blocks behind the Camaro, a police car turns onto the boulevard with its red lights flashing... Harry notices the red lights in his rear view mirror; his profane reaction cannot be heard over the burglar alarm: HARRY (Shit! Fuck!) The Camaro makes a skidding turn onto an intersecting side street. Harry floors it down the narrow side street as the police car makes the turn and tries to catch up... The Camaro makes another SCREECHING turn onto a wider street and flies past a second police car with its lights flashing as it approaches from the opposite direction... The second police car almost T-bones the first police car as it emerges from the side street in hot pursuit. The second police car makes a wild U-turn and joins the chase... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 39.
EXT. STREET - INDUSTRIAL AREA - YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT The Camaro -- chased by the two police cars driving abreast -- speeds down a bumpy two-lane road intersected by numerous railroad tracks. The Camaro and the police cars bounce into air as they cross each pair of railroad tracks -- giving the pursuit the appearance of a high- speed game of leap-frog...
I/E. ABANDONED STEEL MILL - YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT The police cars have dropped back into single-file formation as they pursue the Camaro... Harry swerves and drives over a fallen chain-link fence into a weed-choked parking lot. The police cars follow as the Camaro roars across the parking lot and drives inside a steel mill through an open set of sliding doors... The Camaro weaves around the huge industrial equipment in the cavernous factory with the police cars on its tail... Harry leads the police cars down a narrow corridor lined with offices and into a large open office area. The cars PLOW THROUGH DESKS AND EMPTY FILE CABINETS as the Camaro circles the space and speeds back into the corridor... Harry speeds across the steel mill and spots an exit: a large roll-up door has been left partially raised... The Camaro races through the opening out of the steel mill and LAUNCHES off of a loading dock... The police cars are slightly taller than the Camaro and the cop in the first police car slams hard on his brakes and skids to a stop with the hood of his car just under the partially opened roll-up door... But the second police car can’t manage to stop as quickly and REAR-ENDS the first, shoving it through the opening and causing the roll-up door to decapitate the flashing lights off of the first police car and causing steam to HISS from the now punctured radiator.
EXT. HILL TOP - OUTSIDE YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT Amil and Charlie wait by their parked Cadillacs. The lights of Youngstown can be SEEN in the distance. They hear the distant CLANGING of the burglar alarm and SEE a pair of headlights racing towards them... Amil and Charlie stuff wads of cotton into their ears as the Camaro arrives. Harry kills the engine, takes the RINGING alarm out of the Camaro and hands it to Charlie. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 40.
Charlie carries the alarm over to the trunk of his car, wraps it up in furniture blankets to muffle the BELL, closes the trunk, gets behind the wheel, and drives away. Harry pulls off his ear protectors as Amil removes the cotton from his ears. HARRY Jesus...doesn’t that damn thing ever shut up? AMIL Not until the battery runs down. Any trouble getting here? HARRY No sweat. Amil picks up a gas can and offers it to Harry: AMIL Torch the car. Let’s go. HARRY Torch it? I just bought it. It’s got a 427-cubic-inch ZL-1 in it. It’s a fuckin’ masterpiece. AMIL You always torch the car after a job. Come on, let’s go.
EXT. HILL TOP - OUTSIDE YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT TRAVELING ANGLE of Amil and Harry driving away in Amil's Cadillac. Harry glances sadly back at the burning Camaro. AMIL Turn in your uniform and keys in the morning. HARRY (stopping) What does that mean? AMIL It means...turn in your uniform and keys. HARRY But...what am I supposed to do? I can’t go back to California -- all those speeding tickets have gone to warrant by now. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 41.
AMIL I took care of those while I was out there. Can’t work for me if you got outstanding warrants. HARRY You mean, I’m in? I’m on the crew? AMIL Yeah, you’re in. HARRY I’m in? I’m really in? AMIL Your mom finds out about this, she’ll run me down a garbage disposal head first. HARRY She won’t find out. AMIL Goddamn right, she won’t.
INT. DINZIO VENDING SUPPLY - YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT Amil, Jimmy, Charlie and Harry study the now silent burglar alarm like a circle of surgeons. Its lock has been picked and it sits on a workbench with the lid open. AMIL There’s the motion detector -- that’s what triggered it when Harry pulled it off the wall. No wires. Works off a radio signal. Took five minutes to pick the lock on the bench here. There’s no way I can do it hanging upside down from the roof of the bank. JIMMY To hell with it. Got other irons in the fire. Don’t need this job. AMIL We’re doing this job, Jimmy. JIMMY We don’t need to need to bust our balls on some pie in the sky bank job in some fuckin’ lagoon. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 42.
AMIL It’s Laguna Niguel. It’s Spanish for...something...I don’t fuckin’ know. Just stop with the we-don’t- need-this-job shit. JIMMY You just said you can’t pick the lock upside down. So how the hell are you gonna shut up the alarm? HARRY I know how you could do it. CHARLIE What are you talkin’ about -- you know how to do it? HARRY Buddy in California -- his older brother worked at a surf shop. We’d hang out there and watch him fix surfboards. He had this shit in a aerosol can that he’d spray into the dents. It would come out goopy and then it would swell up and expand like crazy, get rock hard in like a couple of minutes. Then he could trim it off, sand it, patch the fiberglass, and the surfboard would be like new. AMIL So, okay, now I know how to fix a fuckin’ surfboard -- what does that have to do with this alarm? HARRY You squirt the goopy shit through the vents in the alarm, it swells up and hardens so the clapper don’t work on the bell. Amil absorbs his suggestion, then he grasps him by the neck. Harry flinches until Amil kisses him on the forehead. AMIL You son-of-a-gun... Amil pats Harry’s cheek. AMIL (CONT’D) I love this kid! "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 43.
EXT. HILL TOP - OUTSIDE YOUNGSTOWN - DAY (MORNING) ANGLE ON the still smouldering carcass of the Camaro that Amil had Harry torch last night... AMIL (O.S.) This used to be a great country. Could make a decent living with your hands. Wouldn’t be rich, but you’d have a pot to piss in... WIDER - to reveal Amil, Jimmy, Charlie, Ray, Ronnie, and Harry gathered beside Amil’s Cadillac overlooking this industrial area. They pass around a bottle of brandy to spike their paper cups of coffee. Amil unwraps a cigar. AMIL (CONT’D) But all these assholes like Nixon, they’re just eating up the little guys. We’re just bunch of fuckin’ ants at their picnic. They spot us carrying off a few crumbs and they break out the flame-throwers. Amil lights his cigar with a match from the box imprinted with the White House logo. He studies the matchbox. AMIL (CONT’D) This ain’t just a heist we’re pullin’ off here. No, sir, this is real fuckin’ justice. We’re gonna steal Nixon’s picnic basket, boys. An AIR HORN BLASTS in the distance. JIMMY Here we go. CHARLIE Fire in the hole. AMIL Another thousand decent paying jobs bite the dust. They WATCH the valley below as a series of controlled explosions are detonated around the base of a tall steel mill smokestack. The soaring cylinder of bricks implodes and collapses into a billowing cloud of dust...
EXT. ROAD - OUTSIDE BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1973 ...a swirling cloud of thick mist. A mosquito abatement truck spews a FOG OF INSECTICIDE in its wake. A COUNTY EMPLOYEE is behind the wheel; Harry (age 30) rides shotgun. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 44.
I/E. VOGUE THEATER - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY The mosquito abatement truck (with its sprayer disabled) drops off Harry in front of the dilapidated movie theater. The paint is peeling in the lobby; the concession stand is coated with dust. Harry enters through an unlocked door and climbs up the stairs...
INT. SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY - APARTMENT - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY (CONTINUOUS) Harry comes down the hall and TAPS on his own door. HARRY It’s me... He steps into the apartment (which used to be the manager’s office). There is no sign of Molly. He NOTICES his keys on a table next to the unopened bottle of Jack Daniels.
INT. AUDITORIUM - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1973 The auditorium is illuminated by a bare work light. The walls are water damaged. The screen has a long rip in it. Harry walks down the aisle and across the row of seats to Molly. He points to the seat next to hers: HARRY That seat taken? Molly folds down the seat for him and Harry sits. HARRY (CONT’D) Thought you’d be passed out with an empty bottle of Jack Daniels. MOLLY Had plenty to drink this morning. HARRY You were doing pretty good there. MOLLY How much is old man Weigler charging you for that dumpy apartment? HARRY Fifty bucks a month. Didn’t ask for any money up front. Wanted someone around to keep the vandals out. It’s a good deal. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 45.
MOLLY Used to come here every weekend. HARRY When was it shut down? MOLLY About five years ago. Saw “The Graduate” here. Three times in the same day. You ever see it? HARRY Yeah. MOLLY Elaine...Elaine...Elaine... Molly sighs wistfully. MOLLY (CONT’D) When Dustin Hoffman shows up at the church and rescues her from marrying that jerk -- that was so fantastic. Wish somebody had showed up at the back of the church yelling my name when I married Donald. (slight beat) Girls like to be rescued. HARRY Do they? MOLLY You rescued me today. Thanks. HARRY Welcome. MOLLY No lies -- that’s my new rule number one. HARRY Pretty good rule. MOLLY Yeah. You don’t need any other rules if you got that one... HARRY I guess not. She looks him over for a beat. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 46.
MOLLY I’m going to have sex with you, but not today. I’m not exactly sure when -- but I’ll let you know. Okay? HARRY (reacts; then:) Okay. MOLLY I’m starving. Want to get something to eat? HARRY Sure. Where do you want to go? MOLLY Dairy Queen. They got good milk shakes there.
EXT. DAIRY QUEEN - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1980 Harry (age 37) and Molly (age 29) sit outside. Molly sips a milk shake; Harry’s not having anything. MOLLY I’m starving. HARRY Didn’t eat your breakfast. MOLLY Yeah, well, I suddenly lost my appetite for some reason. HARRY Feds are going to find out where I’ve been hiding tomorrow. MOLLY How do you know that? HARRY Doesn’t matter. MOLLY Matters to me. HARRY Less you know, the better. Don’t want ‘em to hang an accessory charge on you. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 47.
MOLLY Accessory to what? HARRY Dammit, Molly, just quit -- that’s all I’m gonna tell you about tomorrow. MOLLY You’re turning yourself in? HARRY I didn’t say that. MOLLY I think that’s a good idea. Pay the price and get it over with. HARRY This is Federal shit, it’s ten years easy. But I’m not going to jail -- not if I can help it. MOLLY So, then...what? You’re just taking off tomorrow? HARRY One way or the other, yeah. Tears well up in her eyes; then she rises: MOLLY Got a make up job in Brockway. Fifteen-year-old girl in a car wreck. I wanna do a nice job for her folks. Can I have the wire to my distributor, please? HARRY I’ll walk you back. MOLLY No. Don’t. Just because I have ovaries doesn’t mean I don’t know how to connect the coil to the distributor cap. Harry pulls the wire out of his back pocket and gives it to Molly. He watches her walk away from the Dairy Queen. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 48.
INT. MARION STATE BANK - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry enters the bank. He looks around as if he were casing the joint: scrutinizing the open walk-in vault and the surveillance cameras on the walls. BEN (O.S.) Admiring your work? Harry greets BEN, the bank manager. JOHN Hey, Ben. BEN Great job on the ceiling. Those new panels really brighten it up. We on for tomorrow? JOHN On my way over to Walt’s to pick up the laminate. BEN And the smell from the glue -- it'll be gone by the time we open Monday, yeah? JOHN We got all day Sunday for the glue to cure. By Monday morning you’ll be fine. BEN Good deal. Then we’ll do it just like we did last Saturday. I’ll meet you here at nine tomorrow morning to let you in and turn off the alarm. JOHN Sounds like a plan.
EXT. MARION STATE BANK - MAIN ST. - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry crosses the street to his pickup truck. He opens the driver’s door, then looks back at the bank. AMIL (V.O.) (pre-lap) See your alarm up there on the corner of the building? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 49.
EXT. BANK - GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY - 1972 Amil has an arm around Harry’s shoulders (age 29). Charlie, Ronnie, Ray stand nearby. They are casing the bank from across the street. A beer truck is making a delivery to Gnarly’s -- the bar next door to the bank. AMIL (CONT’D) That’s the only thing between us and that vault. CHARLIE Yeah, well, eighteen inches of concrete ain’t cream cheese. AMIL You can do it your sleep, Charlie. RAY Gonna wake up a few folks when he sets off that shit. And what about that joint next door? CHARLIE Throw on a few more sand bags -- no big deal. RAY (re: the bar) Gee-narly? What kind of name is that -- Italian? HARRY It’s not Gee-narly, it’s gnarly. You know, like...radical, extreme, balls out. CHARLIE It’s a gay bar? HARRY It’s a surfer bar. Jesus...
INT. GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT A wet T-shirt contest is underway hosted by a muscular MASTER OF CEREMONIES. Eight young women are lined up on the stage wearing white T-shirts and bikini bottoms. The crowded bar CHEERS as the M.C. sprays down each girl’s chest with water from a three-gallon lawn sprayer. Amil, Charlie, Ray, and Harry sit at a table near the stage. Harry is embarrassed by his companions’ lecherous behavior. He stands up as Amil stops him: "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 50.
AMIL Where ya going? HARRY To find Ronnie.
EXT. BACK DOOR - GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Ronnie and a skinny young woman sit on empty aluminum beer barrels sharing a joint. She is wearing Ronnie's fatigue jacket to cover her wet T-shirt. Ronnie smiles. Harry watches them from a distance. Touched...
EXT. STREET - BANK/GNARLY’S - NIGHT (LATER) Harry sits on a bench across the street from the dark bank and the busy bar. He smokes a cigarette in peace, then his attention is drawn to a commotion at Gnarly’s: The muscular M.C. and two other burly guys forcefully eject Charlie from the bar. CHARLIE Okay, all right already, get your son of a bitch hands off me, you motherfuckers!
EXT. STREETS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - NIGHT Harry behind the wheel of the 1972 Lincoln. Amil rides shotgun. Ray and Charlie are in the backseat. HARRY I told you they weren’t hookers. CHARLIE They’re shaking their wet titties around and they’re fuckin’ shocked that somebody wants to give ‘em a Ben Franklin for a blow job? Jesus Christ, pardon me! HARRY They’re just girls having fun. AMIL For not being whores they sure act like they’re sellin’ something. HARRY They’re college girls, locals -- just regular girls. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 51.
RAY Regular girls don’t do that shit. HARRY They do in California. CHARLIE Well, then girls out here got no morals. HARRY Oh, yeah, right -- they got no morals ‘cause they won’t give you a blow job for a C-note? CHARLIE You got no common sense, you know that? Ronnie's got more... (suddenly) Hey, hey, wait a minute, where the fuck’s Ronnie? AMIL Oh, shit! We forgot, Ronnie. Turn around. HARRY It’s okay. We didn’t forget him. He met a girl at the bar. RAY Are you kidding me? RAY (CONT’D) Ronnie got lucky? AMIL Goddammit, Harry, you’re supposed to keep an eye on him. HARRY Let Ronnie have some fun, for Christ’s sake. He deserves it. CHARLIE Ronnie gets laid and I can’t even buy a blow job? What’s wrong with this picture? It’s like the fuckin’ Twilight Zone out here...
INT. FBI FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - DAY - 1972 Lambert is being briefed by Drach. They study a large wall map of Southern California with a series of circles drawn on it with Laguna Niguel at the center. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 52.
DRACH Hotels, motels, vacation rentals, campgrounds, RV parks, airlines, bus lines, trains -- every group of men traveling together checked out as legitimate. Holbrook approaches: HOLBROOK Chief? I got something for you. Lambert steps away from Drach to confer with Holbrook. HOLBROOK (CONT’D) C. W. Colson is Charles Wendell Colson. AKA Chuck Colson. DOB 10/16/1931. The PO box is a mail drop a couple of miles from his house in Arlington. Married twice, three kids. Did a hitch in the Marine Corps. Quite a resume. LAMBERT What does Colson do for a living? HOLBROOK He’s Special Council to the President of the United States. LAMBERT Nixon? HOLBROOK (nodding) He’s Nixon's political communications liaison with organized labor, farmers, industrial organizations, and other lobbying groups. LAMBERT Give me your notes. I need to make a phone call. And don’t share this information with anyone else. HOLBROOK Yes, sir. To Drach as he heads to his office: LAMBERT Sharon, keep looking. They were in that vault all weekend -- they had to sleep sometime, somewhere. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 53.
EXT. CONDOMINIUMS - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY - 1972 The 1972 Lincoln pulls into the complex with Amil, Charlie, Ray and Ronnie. Harry is driving. He finds a parking spot and they climb out of the car. AMIL Nice neighborhood. RAY Very classy. HARRY (re: the car)) Classier than this piece-of-shit. CHARLIE It’s a goddamn Lincoln Continental! It don’t get any better than this. HARRY Handle’s like a Lazy Boy recliner. CHARLIE Who are you: Steve McQueen? What did you want us to rent -- a fuckin’ Ferrari?
I/E. CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY The two bedroom condo is decorated and furnished in high 70s style: shag carpet, smoked mirrors, etc. It opens onto a large deck with a commanding view of a golf course below and the town and ocean beyond. Harry unlocks the front door and the crew enters. CHARLIE This is groovy, baby. AMIL Good work, Harry. HARRY Check this out... Harry leads Amil out onto the deck. A REDWOOD HOT TUB sits in the corner. HARRY (CONT’D) See that building there on the other side of the golf course? AMIL (looks, realizes) That’s the goddamn bank... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 54.
HARRY Yup. Amil grins. AMIL Good work, kid. Ray and Charlie come out onto the deck. RAY Talk about a hole-in-one... CHARLIE What’s the wine vat for? We’re supposed to crush our own grapes? HARRY Hot tub. CHARLIE What the hell’s a hot tub?
EXT. HOT TUB/DECK - CONDOMINIUM - LAQUNA NIGUEL - SUNSET Harry, Ronnie, Amil, Ray and Charlie are submerged up to their necks in the steaming water. Charlie wears a shower cap to protect his carefully coiffed hair. They are completely mesmerized by their unobstructed view of the sunset over the glimmering ocean. After a long silence: AMIL Like a picture postcard... RAY No shit... RONNIE (lost in thought) Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky... Charlie does a “where did that come from?” take. AMIL That Shakespeare? RONNIE Rabindranath Tagore. CHARLIE Robin-the-fuck-what? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 55.
RONNIE Indian philosopher. RAY Which tribe? RONNIE Brahmin. RAY Oh...Cochise is my favorite. Apaches were tough customers. The SQUAWKING of a few seagulls flying overhead attracts Charlie’s attention, then: CHARLIE (to Amil) You should read that “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” AMIL Heard that’s a pretty good book. CHARLIE You’ll never look at a cocksuckin’ seagull the same way again, I’ll tell ya that. RAY They’re smart birds. CHARLIE You have no idea. We FOLLOW THEIR GAZE up to the birds flying overhead...
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - OUTSIDE BROOKVILLE - SUNSET - 1973 ...and BACK DOWN to reveal Molly (age 22) riding on her Honda Dream 150cc motorcycle with Harry (age 30) sitting behind her. They enjoy the unavoidable physical intimacy required of two people riding the same motorcycle...
EXT. KELLY HOME - OUTSIDE BROOKVILLE - NIGHT It’s a handsome farm house fronting a country road. Molly and Harry pull up and dismount their motorcycle. MOLLY Just remember, don’t say anything about us meeting each other at the Deer Meat, okay? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 56.
HARRY Okay. MOLLY Just tell ‘em we met in town. HARRY Where in town? MOLLY Dairy Queen.
INT. KELLY HOME - OUTSIDE BROOKVILLE - NIGHT Molly escorts Harry through the house: MOLLY And don’t bring up Nixon or Watergate, my dad’s a Republican. And he hates Billie Jean King and Jane Fonda and Phil Donahue. Are you a Pittsburgh Pirates fan? HARRY I don’t have to be. MOLLY No, that’s a good thing -- my dad loves the Pirates. HARRY Go Pirates.
EXT. BACK DOOR - BACKYARD - KELLY HOUSE - NIGHT Molly leads Harry out onto the back steps -- and Harry freezes like a deer caught in the headlights. Nearly everyone here is in a law enforcement uniform, including Jeff and Mark (the cops who were looking for Molly at the tavern) and Sheriff Gerald Kelly, Molly's father. MOLLY Hey, everybody. This is John Baker. He’s new in town, so don’t act like the SWAT team and scare ‘im off. She pulls Harry down the steps. The party guests converge on Harry as he stiffly shakes hands and meets the group. ON MOLLY Slipping away to join her sister, POLLY KELLY, 26, who is arranging the food on a picnic table. Polly is the model of a conservative, small town woman. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 57.
MOLLY (CONT’D) (re: Harry) What do you think? They look over at Harry. Sheriff Kelly has an arm around him as he makes some friendly but emphatic point... POLLY Looks kinda nervous. MOLLY Daddy gives everybody the third degree. He’s cute, isn’t he? POLLY You already slept with him, didn’t you? MOLLY No! POLLY When will you ever learn to keep your legs crossed? MOLLY Polly -- we haven’t done it. That’s why I brought him here tonight. POLLY You’re gonna hop in the sack with him here? Daddy will love that. MOLLY I want to sleep with him, but it’s been so long...I don’t trust myself. POLLY Wouldn’t trust you if I were you, either. MOLLY Haven’t been laid in over a year. I’m so horny. POLLY (grimaces) Can’t you keep anything to yourself? MOLLY Thank God I got a motorcycle or I would’ve gone through a thousand- dollars worth of batteries by now. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 58.
POLLY I’m gonna get the coleslaw and pretend that I’m an only child. Polly walks away as ROSE, Molly’s mother, steps over. MOLLY Hi, mom. You like him? They look over at Harry; he’s making a forced effort to laugh as much as the back-slapping cops surrounding him. ROSE He’s a doll. Your dad seems to like him, too. He’s a Pirates fan. How about that? MOLLY How about that. (slight beat) So you think it’s okay if I sleep with him? ROSE Molly -- you’re not supposed to ask me questions like that. MOLLY I got a new rule, no lies -- what good are rules if you don’t use ‘em? So, you think it’s okay? ROSE (musing) Ohhh...well...I don’t know, honey. I mean...if you want to, sure. Why not? You’re a big girl. MOLLY I love you, mom. ROSE Just don’t use your new rule on your father or your sister. You know how they are. Molly skips away from her mother towards Harry. MOLLY I love you, mom. ROSE I heard you the first time. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 59.
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - OUTSIDE BROOKVILLE - NIGHT Molly and Harry on her motorcycle driving back to town. Harry has his hands around her waist. She moves his hand up onto her breast. Harry is pleasantly surprised.
INT. APARTMENT - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - NIGHT Harry and Molly are naked and intertwined in his bed. HARRY Didn’t tell me your dad was the sheriff. MOLLY If I told guys my dad was the sheriff I’d still be a virgin. HARRY Maybe I’ll have to stick around here for a while. MOLLY You better. Or I’ll have my dad arrest you for impersonating my boyfriend. HARRY I’m your boyfriend now? MOLLY Could be. If you don’t mess up. HARRY Don’t think your sister likes me much... MOLLY Polly always looks like she’s cleaning out the litter box. It’s a birth defect. HARRY Your dad wants me to come by the sheriff’s station and see about paneling his office. MOLLY Really? HARRY Yeah, told him how I grew up around tools. How my old man’s a carpenter and I used to work for him. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 60.
Molly shifts up on her elbow to look at him: MOLLY Do not let my father talk you into being a cop. HARRY You don’t have worry about that. He pulls her close and kisses her...
EXT. MARION COUNTY COURTHOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry studies the old red brick courthouse. He screws up his courage and climbs up the broad steps...
INT. SHERIFF’S OFFICE - COURTHOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY The DESK SERGEANT is watching a TELEVISION NEWSCAST of President Nixon at a White House press conference: NIXON (on the TV) ...I want to say this to the television audience. I’ve made my mistakes, but in all of my years of public life I have never profited, never profited from public service. I’ve earned every cent. And in all my years of public life I have never obstructed justice. And I think, too, that I could say that in my years of public life that I welcome this kind of examination, because people have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I am not crook. The Desk Sergeant finally notices Harry. DEPUTY Oh...hey, Harry. Can you believe this crap? Greatest President we’ve ever had and this is how they treat him. What a world. HARRY What a world. The Sheriff in? DEPUTY He said you were coming’ by -- I’ll get ‘im. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 61.
The deputy steps away. Harry glances around and his carefully-constructed casual demeanor suddenly evaporates as he SEES: the FBI wanted flyer for Harry James Barber posted on a bulletin board. He looks younger and his hair is much longer in the poster. Harry quickly snatches the flyer off the bulletin board and folds it up... KELLY (O.S.) Just the man I’m looking for. Harry pivots towards Sheriff Kelly and surreptitiously stuffs the folded wanted flyer into his hip pocket. KELLY (CONT’D) Damn sink fell off the wall in the janitor’s closet. Took half the wall with it. Thought I’d have you take a look at it before I show you what I had in mind for my office. HARRY (heart racing) Sure...
INT. JAIL - COURTHOUSE - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry follows Kelly down a long row of jail cells. KELLY You ever think about a career in law enforcement, John? HARRY Uhhh...not really...something that I...you know...never... KELLY ...thought of? HARRY Yeah, there you go -- thought of. KELLY You should think about it. PRISONER (O.S.) Hey! Hey, you! Sheriff Kelly and Harry turn back to a PRISONER who has his face pressed to the bars of his cell. PRISONER (CONT’D) Dropped something, buddy. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 62.
The prisoner points to the folded wanted flyer on the floor. Harry starts back, but he’s passed by Sheriff Kelly who walks back to the middle of the cell-block and retrieves the flyer. He walks back towards Harry who is in a near state of paralysis. KELLY This yours? Harry takes the folded wanted poster from him: HARRY Yeah. Thanks.
EXT. COURTHOUSE - MAIN STREET - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry has just vomited into a trash can on the sidewalk. He wipes his mouth and tears up the wanted flyer...
I/E. STAIRS - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry starts down the stairs with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. WEIGLER (O.S.) That you, John? Harry hides his duffel bag on the landing and continues down the stairs to the lobby where we meet MR. WEIGLER, a rotund man in his seventies. HARRY How ya doing, Mr. Weigler? WEIGLER Ran into the sheriff this morning at the Pancake House. He told me you’re doing some work for him over at the courthouse. HARRY Yeah. I was just over there. WEIGLER He’s been twisting my arm for years about getting this place spruced up and back in business. Said I should see if you’d be interested in the job. HARRY Well...ummm...take a long time... a lot of work... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 63.
WEIGLER Can’t be making that much working the day shift at the Deer Meat. HARRY That’s for sure, but...I don’t know, Mr. Weigler. I... Harry is distracted as he SEES Molly pull up on her motorcycle on the sidewalk outside the lobby. Molly has cut her hair and dyed it red. WEIGLER Why don’t you crunch up some numbers for me? I’m not made of money here...but I could give you free rent and a fair wage. Harry is too absorbed by Molly to respond; she looks so beautiful. She gives Harry a wave and a fetching smile. WEIGLER (CONT’D) John...? What do you think about my business proposition here? HARRY (looking at Molly) I think...I’m...out of my mind... but...sure, Mr. Weigler, why not?
INT. FELT’S OFFICE - FBI HQ - WASHINGTON - DAY - 1972 INSERT ON a Washington Post article with the headline: WATERGATE SUSPECT GOT CAMPAIGN CASH -- The byline is: By Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The article begins: “A $25,000 cashier's check, apparently earmarked for President Nixon's re-election campaign, was deposited in a bank account of one of the five men arrested...” FEMALE VOICE (O.S.) (via intercom) I have Special Agent Lambert on the line, sir. Felt sits behind his desk in the baronial office. He peruses the newspaper as he activates his SPEAKER PHONE: FELT Howard, good afternoon...or morning, in your case. LAMBERT (V.O.) Good morning, sir. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 64.
FELT I spoke to Mr. Colson. He said that all he had in his safe deposit box was an album of baseball cards. He estimates their value between two and three hundred dollars. LAMBERT (V.O.) Baseball cards? FELT Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, so on and so forth. Said he’d try to recollect all the cards he had and send me a complete list... INTERCUT WITH:
INT. LAMBERT'S OFFICE - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - DAY Lambert is on the phone, standing at his desk. LAMBERT We’re supposed to believe that, sir? That he’d keep an album of baseball cards in a safe deposit box three thousand miles away from his home? FELT We’ll have to take Mr. Colson at his word -- that’s all we can do at the moment. LAMBERT I’d like to speak to Mr. Colson if that’s all right with you. FELT No, Howard, I’m afraid not. Neither you nor anyone else on your team is to have any contact with Mr. Colson. Is that clear? LAMBERT But, sir... FELT (cutting him off) Sometimes smoking guns are too hot too handle, Howard. Have to give them time to cool down. LAMBERT Colson is all I’ve got right now. I can do the interview by phone. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 65.
FELT I said no contact. Do I need to put that into a written order? LAMBERT No, sir. I just feel like...you know things that you aren’t sharing with me. Sir. FELT Absent proof, what I know is irrelevant. It’s better for both of us if your pursuit of the facts is not encumbered by unsubstantiated rumors. LAMBERT How am I supposed to pursue the facts if you won’t let me talk to Colson? FELT There will be nothing to pursue if you persist with Colson. This case will be over, Howard. They will pull the plug. LAMBERT Who’s they? The White House? A LONG BEAT. FELT Do you read the Washington Post? LAMBERT No, sir. FELT You should. Goodbye, Howard. Lambert hangs up the phone. Perplexed and annoyed. Drach steps into the office. DRACH We’re getting Chinese for lunch. You want anything? LAMBERT Yeah, today’s Washington Post. DRACH What? LAMBERT Get me a copy of the Post! "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 66.
EXT. DECK - CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY - 1972 Charlie slowly turns the head of a SLEDGE HAMMER into the flame of an acetylene torch that Ray holds. One end of the hammer has been filed into a cone-shape with a fine point. Once the hammer heats up, Charlie plunges the head into the hot tub to quench it and temper the steel. The water HISSES and steams as Ray turns off the torch. CHARLIE One down -- one to go.
I/E. CONDOMINIUM - DECK - DAY Harry sits with the handle of another sledge hammer wedged under his thigh to steady it. He files one end of the head into a conical shape. Newspapers are spread across the floor to catch the metal shavings. Charlie and Ray enter from the deck... CHARLIE Step on it, Harry, you’re holding up the show. HARRY How come I have to do all the hard work here? CHARLIE ‘Cause you got them nice big muscles from jerking off all night long.
INT. KITCHEN - CONDOMINIUM - DAY Harry, Ronnie, Ray, and Charlie stand around the break- fast bar watching Amil; he places a doorbell into a new METAL TOOL BOX and latches the lid. Several large holes have been drilled into the top and sides of the tool box. The door bell is connected to a transformer on the counter. The transformer is connected to a power cord with a plug on it. Amil plugs in the transformer: the DOOR BELL RINGS. Amil pulls the plug to silence the bell. AMIL Okay, doorbell works. Now let’s see if the goopy shit works. Harry picks up an aluminum canister with a long spout and vigorously shakes it. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 67.
CHARLIE Look at that wrist action -- this is definitely a boy who knows how to polish his pud. HARRY Shut up, asshole. CHARLIE Watch your mouth, junior. AMIL How about both of ya shut-the-fuck- up? I’m sick and tired of it. CHARLIE Jesus -- your homo nephew is so fuckin’ sensitive. AMIL Charlie... CHARLIE Forgive me for stating the obvious. AMIL (to Harry) Just show me how this shit works. Harry inserts the spout through a hole in the tool box and empties the contents of the cannister. They all watch with rapt attention as the foam rapidly expands and oozes from the holes in the tool box. RAY Look at that, will ya... AMIL How long does it take to get hard? CHARLIE Depends how much soap he uses on his dick. AMIL Goddammit, Charlie, enough! You got me? Charlie puts his hands up in surrender. CHARLIE I read you. Jesus. Amil turns and addresses the entire crew: "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 68.
AMIL It’s all business from here on. Vacation is over. We’re here to settle a score with Richard Milhous Nixon. We’re gonna hit that bank Friday night and we are doing it by the book. And there’s not gonna be any wisecracks or temper tantrums or fuck-ups. There is nobody here who is worth more than thirty million bucks to me. So don’t tempt me -- you will lose. Everybody got it? Charlie? CHARLIE I said I got it, I got it. AMIL Ray? RAY Yeah. Fine. AMIL Ronnie? RONNIE (raises his hand) Here. Amil does a slight take on Ronnie, then: AMIL Harry? Harry plugs in the transformer. All we hear is the FAINT HUM of the doorbell trying to move its frozen clapper. HARRY It’s hard.
EXT. PARKING LOT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The parking lot is vacant; a tall wall separates it from Gnarly’s parking lot next door. The sounds of ROCK MUSIC and PEOPLE PARTYING spill over from the raucous surf bar. Amil, Charlie, Ray, Ronnie and Harry -- dressed in black and wearing ski caps and gloves -- emerge from the golf course carrying duffel bags of tools and an extension ladder. They head to an alcove in the back of the bank where a dumpster resides. Wordlessly, they go to work... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 69.
The ladder is erected and Amil and Ray climb up onto the roof. Amil drops down a rope. Charlie ties it to one of the duffel bags and Amil hoists it up... Ronnie and Harry pull BURLAP BAGS and a SHOVEL out of a long duffel bag. They start filling the burlap bags with dirt from a planter along the back of the bank... The flat roof of the bank is surrounded by a waist-high parapet wall. Ray crouches and turns on his battery- operated POLICE SCANNER. We HEAR local police calls until Ray plugs in his ear piece and silences the speaker. He pulls an Uzi out of his backpack, rises and checks the street in front of the bank... Charlie drops one end of a garden hose down to Harry below. Harry connects it to a hose faucet. He takes a faucet key out of his pocket and turns on the water... Ray gives Amil the all clear. Amil, with the aerosol can of foam in hand, sits on the edge of the parapet wall. Charlie grasps Amil's knees as he leans back. Amil, hanging upside-down, inserts the long nozzle into a vent on the burglar alarm and fills it with expandable foam... Charlie cuts off the padlock on the power switch to the rooftop air-conditioning unit and flips off the switch. He severs a flexible conduit emerging from the box, then untwists the conduit from its fitting -- revealing the wires inside. He strips the ends of the wires and connects them to the leads of an extension cord... Ray glances over the wall at the burglar alarm below. The foam has oozed out of the alarm vents and hardened. He gives the “thumb-up” to Amil... Amil -- with an electric drill in hand -- paces off the roof from the front of the bank, making turns based on his calculations from casing the inside of the bank. He arrives at a spot in the rear of the building before Charlie tosses him the extension cord. Amil plugs in the drill and starts drilling a hole in the roof... Harry is at the top of the ladder pulling up the heavy burlap bags full of dirt... Amil uses the hole that he drilled to insert the blade of a RECIPROCAL SAW into the roof. He begins sawing... The bags of dirt and all of the equipment have been hoisted to the roof. Ronnie climbs the ladder before he and Harry pull the ladder up onto the roof behind them... Amil has cut a three-foot square section in the roof. Charlie uses a flat-bar to pry the plywood free from the nails attaching it to the roof joists... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 70.
INT. CRAWL SPACE - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Amil and Charlie drop through the hole in the roof to the top of the concrete vault four-feet below. They use flash- lights to survey the crawl space which is filled with ducts and pipes. Charlie spots what they are looking for. CHARLIE There it is. Charlie and Amil duck-walk to an alarm system terminal box. Amil unscrews the cover and uses an electronic probe that BEEPS whenever it touches a live wire among the myriad of wires inside. Charlie takes notes. AMIL Yellow wire -- black with yellow stripe -- Purple with white stripe -- brown with green stripe -- brown -- purple with black stripe -- and red. It’s an 18 volt positive ground setup. Phone line to the alarm company’s got one, two, three...seven relays. But the wires are for show, cut one of those and the gig’s up. Looks like they spent all their dough on that wireless alarm and went bargain basement with the rest. CHARLIE Is the transmitter for the wireless alarm there? AMIL No, could be anywhere, but it don’t matter now. Let me see. Charlie hands the note pad to Amil. Amil muses for a beat, makes some notations, returns the pad to Charlie, and takes out a small pair of wire cutters... AMIL (CONT’D) Okay, here we go. Amil clips the wires in the order Charlie reads out: CHARLIE Brown with green stripe -- yellow -- red -- purple with black stripe -- black with yellow stripe -- brown -- purple with white stripe. They pause for a beat: "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 71.
CHARLIE (CONT’D) We good? AMIL (to walkie-talkie) Any calls on the scanner, Ray? RAY (V.0.) (via walkie-talkie) Not a fuckin’ peep. Sounds like they only got one patrol car working tonight and he’s writing a ticket for an illegal bonfire on the beach. (chuckles) I love this town.
INT. CRAWL SPACE - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Charlie uses a powerful hammer-drill with a very thick and long bit to drill into the concrete roof of the vault. Harry sprays water to keep the dust down...
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT A fluorescent fixture is always on inside the vault. Water drips from the dozen holes that have already been drilled in the concrete ceiling. More water gushes down as the drill bit punches through another hole...
I/E. ROOF - CRAWL SPACE - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Charlie inserts half-sticks of dynamite into the holes in the concrete. He wires the charges and hands the spool of wire up to Amil. CHARLIE Bring on the sand bags. Ronnie hands down the bags of dirt to Harry who piles them on top of the dynamite-filled holes...
EXT. BANK - GOLF COURSE - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The crew darts to the shrubs bordering the golf course. Amil plays out the spool of wire. Charlie clips the pair of wires and connects them to a small detonator. CHARLIE Fire in the hole... Charlie jams down the plunger on the detonator: "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 72.
BOOM! A LOUD EXPLOSION blasts a tall plume of potting soil and smoke out of the hole in the roof of the bank!
INT. GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Another wet T-shirt contest is underway. A few bottles of liquor fall off the back-bar. The bartenders react...
EXT. GOLF COURSE - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The crew reacts with alarm: AMIL Jesus Christ, Charlie! What the fuck?
EXT. GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT A BOUNCER steps out of the bar. Looks to the doorman. BOUNCER We having an earthquake?
EXT. GOLF COURSE - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The crew is hiding in the bushes. AMIL Goddammit! CHARLIE It was tough drilling, so I upped the charge. A minor miscalculation. Don’t have to shit yourself, Jesus. RAY (re: police scanner) Shut up...I think we’re getting a call...Yeah, fuck...Patrol car’s on the way to check the bank. CHARLIE Christ, wasn’t that loud... RAY Let’s get out of here. AMIL Sit tight. Harry take a walk around front. See what you see. Here, take my radio... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 73.
EXT. BANK - GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Harry comes around the corner of the bank building to see -- a LAGUNA NIQUEL POLICE CAR pulling up. Two officers get out and peer into the windows of the dark bank... Harry crosses the street, blending in with the Gnarly’s patrons, before hiding behind a utility pole to report: HARRY (into walkie-talkie) Cops are checking out the bank. Doesn’t look good... RAY (V.O.) (via walkie-talkie) Shit! Harry notices a ‘67 Mustang Fastback parked nearby. HARRY (into walkie-talkie) Hold on. I got an idea. Harry walks over to the Mustang and checks to see if the passenger door is locked: it is, but the wing vent window isn’t. He pushes open the wing vent and opens the door from the inside. Harry climbs over the console into the driver’s seat. He takes out his pocketknife and screws the corkscrew attachment into the keyhole of the ignition switch and yanks out the cylinder. He selects the screwdriver attachment on his knife, inserts it into the ignition housing, turns it -- and the engine starts.
EXT. STREET - BANK - GNARLY’S - NIGHT The Mustang does a long, smoking PEEL-OUT as it leaves its parking spot. The SCREECHING tires attracts the attention of the patrons in front of Gnarly’s... The Mustang races down the block, then does a bootleg turn and speeds back in front of the bank. Now the two cops are paying attention, too... Harry does DONUTS in front of the bank. The crowd in front of Gnarly’s begin to CHEER. Harry skids to a stop. Throws it into reverse. And speeds away backwards... The cops have seen enough. They jump into their squad car and give chase... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 74.
EXT. ALLEY - GNARLY’S - NIGHT The Mustang roars down an alley and stops behind Gnarly’s. Harry grabs the walkie-talkie, jumps out of the car, and runs across the parking lot. He leaps up onto the hood of a parked car and uses it as a launching pad as he...
EXT. GOLF COURSE - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT ...jumps over the tall fence between the bank and Gnarly’s -- startling Amil, Charlie, Ray, and Ronnie. CHARLIE Jesus Christ, what the...? HARRY Let’s go.
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Chunks of concrete litter the floor along with pieces of steel re-bar. A last piece of re-bar CLATTERS onto the floor as it’s cut by the acetylene torch. The ladder is lowered through the hole blasted in the ceiling. Amil and Charlie are the first two down... CHARLIE Fuck me -- there’s a thousand goddamn boxes here. AMIL Five-or-six hundred tops. CHARLIE We’ll never get all these fuckers popped open. AMIL I came here to personally rob the President of the United States. And I’m not leaving until I do. (calling up) Harry, Ronnie -- get the damn tools down here. Let’s go. Harry comes down the ladder as Ronnie lowers the tools. CHARLIE Guess we start with the big boxes. AMIL No, doin’ every box in order on each wall. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 75.
CHARLIE Can’t squeeze thirty mil into a small box. AMIL It’s not all gonna be cash. These ain’t drug dealers -- they’re slick, they’re politicians. We’re talkin’ bearer bonds, cashier’s checks, off-shore bank records. That’s how these cocksuckers roll.
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The purpose of the conical-shaped sledgehammers is revealed: the pointed end on the hammer is held to the lock of a safe deposit box while another unaltered sledgehammer is swung against it to pierce the lock and open the door (there are two locks on each door). Amil and Harry team up on one wall of boxes, while Charlie and Ronnie team up on the other wall. Amil and Charlie have the easier jobs of holding the cone-ends to the locks, while Harry and Ronnie swing their sledges against them -- some locks take more than one blow.
EXT. ROOF - BANK - GNARLY’S - LAGUNA NIGUEL - LATE NIGHT Ray patrols the roof with his Uzi in hand while monitoring the scanner via his earpiece. Gnarly’s has closed for the night. Ray watches a bus boy hose down rubber floor mats on the sidewalk in front of the bar.
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Ronnie and Harry have taken off their shirts. Emptied safe deposit boxes are piled in the center of the vault. While Ronnie and Harry punch open more boxes, Amil and Charlie sort opened boxes and cull out the valuables. CHARLIE Fuckin’ Krugerrands up the wazoo. AMIL Diamonds, too. Some very swanky shit -- look at this stash. CHARLIE (re another box) Merry Christmas -- more hundred dollar bills. Charlie chuckles as: "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 76.
CHARLIE (CONT’D) You ever hear the one about the guy who had a hundred dollar bill tattooed on his pecker? AMIL No, do I have to? CHARLIE He wanted to see how fast his old lady could blow a hundred bucks. Charlie laughs. Amil checks his wristwatch: AMIL Okay, that’s it. Sunrise is in a half-hour. Let’s wrap up.
EXT. ROOF - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The only things they’re taking with them are three large duffel bags of loot and the ladder. Amil supervises while Harry smears on asphalt roof cement to seal the cut plywood section back into place. AMIL Little more there. Good. Hide that shit over there by the A/C unit. Amil pulls a SMALL MIRROR out of his pocket, sticks it into the roof tar and positions it at a precise angle.
INT. CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY The dining room table is piled with the produce of the night’s work: jewelry, gold and other rare coins, cash, Rolexes, stamp collections, antique firearms, silver table settings, stock certificates, bearer bonds, etc. Ray and Charlie study the haul while Charlie devours some left-over pasta. CHARLIE Four million bucks there, easy. RAY Thought we was lookin’ for thirty? CHARLIE Only popped about a hundred boxes tonight. We’ll catch up tomorrow. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 77.
INT. KITCHEN - CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Charlie places his dirty bowl into the dishwasher. He pokes at the buttons but he can’t get it to turn on. CHARLIE How’s this motherfucker supposed to work? Piece of shit... Harry steps into the kitchen. HARRY The buttons don’t work unless you flip the lever. CHARLIE What lever? There’s just buttons here. Harry walks over and flips a lever beneath the door handle of the dishwasher. HARRY This lever. CHARLIE Well, ain’t you Thomas Edison, boy genius. HARRY What? You don’t have a dishwasher at home? CHARLIE Yeah I got a dishwasher at home -- I’m married to one, fuck-nuts.
EXT. DECK - CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Ronnie soaks in the hot tub. Amil stands at the railing looking through a pair of binoculars. BINOCULAR POV -- The reflection of the small mirror stuck in the tar on the roof of the bank. RONNIE (O.S.) What’s the mirror for? Amil lowers the binoculars. AMIL It’s a burglar alarm for burglars, Ronnie. Where’s your brother? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 78.
INT. BATHROOM - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1974 Harry (age 31) sits on the floor of the shower stall with his arms wrapped around his bent knees -- letting the hot water soak into his aching shoulders. Molly (age 23) slides open the shower curtain. Her hair is black now. MOLLY There you are -- been looking all over for you. Got something to show you. HARRY I’m dead. MOLLY You got paint on your neck. She scrubs a smear of paint off his neck. HARRY One hundred and thirty-five gallons -- I don’t ever want to see a paint roller again... MOLLY Come on, get dressed.
INT. STAIRS - LOBBY - VOGUE THEATER - DAY It’s taken months of hard work, but the theater has been restored to its former glory with fresh paint and new carpeting. Molly pulls a weary Harry down the stairs. Mr. Weigler fiddles with an antique popcorn machine behind the re-stocked concession stand. WEIGLER You found him. MOLLY I always get my man.
EXT. VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - DAY Molly leads Harry out of the lobby and escorts him across the street... MOLLY Just walk straight across the street with me. Don’t look back. HARRY Don’t have my shoes on. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 79.
MOLLY You don’t need your shoes, just your eyeballs. Come on. HARRY What are we doing? MOLLY Okay, you ready? HARRY Ready for what? MOLLY Turn around. Harry turns and SEES the theater’s marquee, it READS (in mismatched plastic letters):
GRAND RE-OPENING FRIDAY! STEVE MCQUEEN - BULLITT - 8 PM.
MOLLY (CONT’D) I told Mr. Weigler that it’s your favorite. Next week he’s getting “The Graduate” since I’ve been helping out and stuff... Exhausted. Emotional. Harry turns away. MOLLY (CONT’D) John? Hey...are you crying? HARRY I’m not crying. MOLLY You okay? HARRY I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I guess I’m just...happy. Molly smiles sweetly. MOLLY Nothing wrong with being happy. HARRY You...your folks...Mr. Weigler... everybody in town...everyone’s so damn nice to me. Aww, hell... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 80.
MOLLY Everybody here likes you, Harry. Especially me. HARRY My whole life I was trying to figure shit out. What I wanted to do, where I wanted to be. Then I come here and it’s like...I’m me and I belong here. Go figure. MOLLY Go figure. HARRY (quietly) Just wish I’d come here before... MOLLY ...before what?
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT - 1972 NIGHT TWO is underway: Harry (age 29), Amil, Ronnie and Charlie punch open safe deposit boxes. RAY (V.O.) (via walkie-talkie) Amil? Amil! Hey, goddammit, anybody hear me down there? Amil WHISTLES to stop the work. AMIL (to walkie-talkie) Yeah, Ray, right here. RAY (V.O.) Unmarked car just pulled in back.
EXT. ROOF - PARKING LOT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Amil joins Ray. He peeks over the wall and sees a SEDAN parked in the rear parking lot with an unseen MAN behind the wheel. Amil ducks back down as they whisper: RAY I can smell an unmarked car -- it’s a cop, shit! AMIL Any traffic on the scanner? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 81.
RAY Not a goddamn thing. Charlie, Ronnie, and Harry emerge from the vault. Amil signals them to stand still. RAY (CONT’D) I say I take him out now and we make a run for it before anyone else shows up-- AMIL We’re bank burglars. Not cop killers. RAY Either that or we can grow wings and fly the fuck away... Amil wrestles with the situation at hand. AMIL Goddammit. Okay, but no head shot. Give the son of a bitch a chance to survive. RAY No guarantees, ya know? AMIL Do the best you can do -- but wait ‘til we get the ladder ready so we can get down from here fast. Ray heads over to Charlie, Harry, and Ronnie...
EXT. PARKING LOT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The man in the car searches for something in the glove box. Then he sits up and opens the car door...
EXT. ROOF - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Ray ducks his head down and turns to Amil, who is supervising Ronnie, Harry, and Charlie as they extract the ladder from the hole in the roof. RAY (whispered shout) He’s out of the car! "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 82.
EXT. PARKING LOT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The man opens the trunk of his car as the trunk light reveals a SHOTGUN inside...
EXT. ROOF - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Ray and Amil peek over the edge at man below. RAY Touches that shotgun he is dead.
EXT. PARKING LOT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The man opens his briefcase and finds what he couldn’t find in the glove box: a pack of gum. He unwraps the gum and takes out a stick. Then he closes the trunk.
EXT. ROOF - PARKING LOT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT The ladder is ready. Amil whispers to the crew: AMIL Once Ray opens up get down that ladder double-time. Ronnie first, then Harry, Charlie, me, and Ray. Don’t wait for nobody -- spread out and get back to the condo as fast you can. HARRY Wait a minute, why does somebody have to get shot? AMIL You got no vote here, Harry. All right, let’s go. Ray cocks the Uzi. Harry grabs the barrel. HARRY I didn’t sign up for this. RAY Let go, motherfucker... HARRY There’s gotta be a better way to do this -- Amil whips out his .45 automatic and presses the end of the barrel to Harry’s forehead. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 83.
AMIL I said ‘no vote.’ The look in Amil’s eyes convinces Harry that his uncle is deadly serious. A LONG BEAT. AMIL (CONT’D) Okay. Let’s do this. Ray takes aim on the man as -- a STATION WAGON driven by some LITTLE LEAGUE MOM pulls into the parking lot... LITTLE LEAGUE MOM Hi, Howard. They’re not back yet? NEW ANGLE - as we REVEAL that the man is Howard Lambert: LAMBERT Hi Grace. Shouldn’t be too long. Ray reacts with puzzlement: RAY What the fuck!? Amil peeks out at the parking lot as...two more cars pull in. A LITTLE LEAGUE DAD gets out of his car as well. LITTLE LEAGUE DAD Didn’t go to the game, Howard? LAMBERT Had to work today. LITTLE LEAGUE DAD I used that excuse, too. Couldn’t stand to watch them lose again. Another car pulls into the parking lot. AMIL What are these assholes doing here? Finally, a VAN pulls into the lot. A team of LITTLE LEAGUERS spill out to meet their waiting parents... RAY AND AMIL drop back down against the wall; drained by the rush of adrenalin that they’ve just experienced... CHARLIE Somebody want to tell me what the hell’s going on here? AMIL Little League game. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 84.
CHARLIE What? RAY They’re just picking up their kids. Son of a bitch. I almost pulled the trigger on a cop. Fuck...fuck...fuck! AMIL It’s okay, Ray. It’s okay. Let’s everybody get back to work. RAY Motherfucker! AMIL It’s okay, Ray... RAY Jesus-leaping-fuckin’-Christ... AMIL Everybody get back to work. They all head back to the opening in the roof. Everybody except for Harry. He now realizes that he’s as expendable to Amil as Lambert was. Amil turns back to Harry. AMIL (CONT’D) I said get back to work.
INT. KITCHEN - CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Harry sits at the breakfast bar eating a bowl of Cocoa Puffs while Amil and Charlie have it out: CHARLIE No! Fuck it! I’m not going back into that vault tonight. Two nights is my limit. AMIL We stop when we get the thirty mil. CHARLIE Ray almost got us the electric chair! That’s what happens to cop killers! So shove your thirty mil! I don’t like the smell of burning hair -- especially when it’s on my head! Charlie walks out. Amil tends to pasta on the stove. Harry eats his cereal, then quietly suggests: "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 85.
HARRY Maybe the thirty million’s not there... AMIL Won’t know that ‘til we open all the goddamn boxes, will we? HARRY Got a lot of boxes left to go -- we’ll never get ‘em all open in one more night. Amil SLAMS the lid of the pot down on the breakfast bar -- causing milk and cereal to slosh out of Harry’s bowl. AMIL Look, you wanted on my crew -- you went out of your way to get on my crew. Well, you got what you wanted, ace. So, shut the fuck up and do what you’re told!
EXT. DECK - CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Ronnie sits at the patio table working on a jigsaw puzzle. Harry surveys the view. The reflection of the sun glints in the small mirror on the roof of the bank. HARRY Wish we could’ve lived somewhere like here instead of Southgate. Southgate is just Youngstown with palm trees. No difference to me. RONNIE If you look at the pieces too hard you can’t see the pattern. HARRY I see the pattern, all right. I don’t fit wherever. Don’t want to work for dad and I’m not cut out for this shit, either. Think I’ll just take my money and run. RONNIE Harder doin’ a puzzle you already done once -- screws you up. HARRY Maybe Florida or Hawaii for you and me? I like warm weather. How’s that sound to you? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 86.
RONNIE Gotta take care of Gram. She falls asleep smoking cigarettes. And she’s afraid of black people. HARRY Aunt Evie can take care of Gram -- just like she’s doing right now. Ronnie takes out his pocket knife and whittles down one of the puzzle pieces. HARRY (CONT’D) I don’t think you’re supposed to use a knife, Ronnie. RONNIE Scissors don’t work -- the pieces are too thick. HARRY (a beat) I don’t like the way they treat you in Youngstown. It’s Hawaii or Florida. You pick. ‘Cause we’re not going back to Youngstown. And we’re not working for Uncle Amil anymore, either...
EXT. MAIN STREET - BROOKVILLE - NIGHT - 1980 TRAVELING SHOT of Harry (age 37) behind the wheel of his pickup, driving along Main Street. It’s his last night in Brookville. This is goodbye and his mood reflects that... The Pancake House is closed. A deputy has a smoke on the steps of the Courthouse. He waves to Harry as he passes. A group of high school kids gather at the Dairy Queen... The DARKENED MARQUEE of the Vogue Theatre features a double- bill: “WHEN A STRANGER CALLS” and “A LITTLE ROMANCE.” Harry parks and climbs out. He NOTICES Molly’s Gremlin is parked nearby and SEES that the lights are on in his apartment...
INT. AUDITORIUM - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - NIGHT Molly (age 29) sits in the auditorium alone. Harry walks down the aisle to the row that Molly is seated in... MOLLY Why did you come to Brookville? HARRY What...? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 87.
MOLLY Why didn’t you run away to Mexico or Tahiti or something? HARRY ‘Cause I was always talking about places like that. I even went to Hawaii after the bank job. That’s why they didn’t catch me when they busted everyone in Youngstown. Was there for a month. Then I started runnin’ out of money. I’d seen cop shows. I knew I had to hide somewhere where they wouldn’t think I’d go. Driving through Brookville and the water pump went out on my truck. By the time it was fixed I had a job at the Deer Meat. Then I met you. MOLLY You stayed here ‘cause of me? HARRY What do you think? Molly rises from her seat and goes over to Harry: MOLLY Thought that’s why I stayed around here, too. ‘Cause of you. But the truth is...I’m so used to being crazy Molly in this rain puddle that if I went to a bigger pond I’d find out I’m just another ...average minnow. HARRY You’re not an average minnow, believe me. MOLLY We’ll find out about that. Won’t we? HARRY We? MOLLY Yeah. You and me. We’re leaving here tomorrow. Together. And that’s a statement, not a question. I’m not asking if I can go, I’m telling you that I am going. With you. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 88.
HARRY Don’t I have some say about that? MOLLY Nope. I already packed my bag. HARRY I don’t want you to have to lose everything ‘cause of me. MOLLY All I got to lose is you. HARRY But...you could find some other guy to -- MOLLY No, I couldn’t. I could find other guys to screw me or screw me over. But you’re the only guy crazy enough to love me even though I’m crazy. And I’d be crazy on top of crazy to let you go. And I’m not that crazy, okay? HARRY (sighs, then:) Okay. You’re coming with me. But here’s the deal -- if something goes wrong and they catch me -- you stay here. MOLLY Why? HARRY Because this is where we belong. MOLLY Why would I want to stay here without you? HARRY So, I’ll know where to find you when I get out. Promise me. MOLLY I’ll promise anything you want. Harry smiles. HARRY I love you. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 89.
MOLLY You should. I’m the best thing that ever happened to you. They share a long, deep kiss...
INT. APARTMENT - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - NIGHT As Harry and Molly make love...
EXT. BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT - 1972 There’s a full moon above the bank...
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT - 1972 NIGHT THREE is underway and time is running out. Amil, Harry (age 29), Charlie and Ronnie are hammering open safe deposit boxes as fast as they can. They aren’t slowing to carefully sort the contents of the boxes; they dump the boxes on the floor where they stand, then quickly chuck the obvious valuables into duffel bags... CHARLIE This is fuckin’ ridiculous -- killing ourselves here. AMIL You can pay for your big house and swimmin’ pool running a barber shop? Be my fuckin’ guest. CHARLIE Can make my house payments without your make-believe thirty million -- tell ya that fuckin’ much. And it’s not a barber shop, it’s a hair salon for men.
EXT. BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT A newspaper delivery man stocks a vending machine in front of the bank with morning newspapers. The headline READS: “POLL PREDICTS LANDSLIDE FOR NIXON.”
EXT. ROOF - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Ray, with Uzi in hand, watches the newspaper man, then steps away from the front of the bank. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 90.
RAY (walkie-talkie) Amil -- you read me?
INT. VAULT - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Amil WHISTLES the work to a halt and responds to Ray: AMIL (to walkie-talkie) Right here, Ray. What’s up? RAY (V.O.) Getting busy out here. Definitely a Monday morning, you know. AMIL (to walkie-talkie) I know what fuckin’ day it is. (to the others) Get back to work. HARRY Ray’s got a point. Don’t want to be loading out with people around. AMIL Got thirty-five minutes ‘til sunrise. Just keep going. HARRY Gonna need some extra time to lug all this shit across the golf course. AMIL Goddammit, Harry, get back to work! CHARLIE Hate to say it, but I think Junior’s right here. AMIL We ain’t leaving ‘til we got Nixon’s money! Everybody got that? CHARLIE Pack up boys, were finished. AMIL Since when do you run this crew? CHARLIE Since you lost your fuckin’ mind -- that’s when! I don’t think your cocksuckin’ thirty mil is here! (MORE) "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 91.
CHARLIE (CONT'D) But even if it is -- too fuckin’ bad! It’s time to go! ‘Cause I don’t wanna have to explain to my sister how her bat-shit husband got us all fuckin’ busted! (to Ronnie & Harry) You heard me, goddammit, pack up! Get everything up the ladder, then hose down the floor -- make sure we don’t leave no shoe prints. Ronnie and Harry start packing. Amil hurls his sledge hammer across the vault. AMIL Shit! Fuckin’ asshole Nixon! CHARLIE We gave it our best shot... AMIL Fuckers like him always come out on top, they always do! They’ll be putting up statues of him and plaster his dog-ass face on first- class stamps and he’s a bigger goddamn crook than you and me put together times fuckin’ ten! CHARLIE And maybe someday somebody will nail somethin’ on him. Okay? Hope springs eternal, right? AMIL Never happen. CHARLIE You wanna write a letter to the editor or ya wanna help us pack up and get the fuck outta here?!
EXT. ROOF - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Harry is the last man off -- he hoses down the roof as he backs towards the ladder...
INT. CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY A MONTAGE of the crew meticulously cleaning the condo. They all wear hair nets and rubber gloves... Harry strips the beds and puts the sheets into a brand new garbage can... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 92.
Ronnie uses a rug-cleaning machine to shampoo the carpet... Ray washes down the walls... Amil pulls the hairs out of the shower drain and flushes them down the toilet. Then he pours bleach down all of the shower and sink drains... Harry empties the refrigerator, tossing everything into the garbage can. Charlie drains the dirty hot tub...
EXT. CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY The crew gathers by the 1972 Lincoln-Continental which is now hitched to a trailer carrying a speedboat. Charlie, Ray and Ronnie load duffel bags of loot into the boat. ON AMIL As he pulls Harry aside. Harry avoids eye contact. AMIL Look. I know I’ve been a little tough on ya. But I can see how one of these days...you’ll be runnin’ this crew. You’re smart and you got balls. You’re gonna go far. I promise you that. Okay? HARRY (softly) Okay. Ray and Ronnie secure the canvas boat cover. CHARLIE I always wondered what a twelve million dollar boat looked like.
EXT. TERMINAL - LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY The Lincoln towing the boat creates a minor traffic jam as it pulls over to the curb. The trunk is popped as Ronnie and Harry climb out and retrieve their luggage. Amil steps out of the car. He gives thick manila envelopes to both Ronnie and Harry. AMIL Have fun in Hawaii. I’ll see ya back in Youngstown. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 93.
INT. TERMINAL - LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY Harry and Ronnie enter the terminal. Harry steps aside to count the cash inside his envelope. His face goes cold. HARRY There’s only 10 grand in here. (to Ronnie) Let me see how much you got. Ronnie rummages through his backpack before pulling out a leather-bound album of BASEBALL CARDS. HARRY (CONT’D) What’s that? RONNIE Baseball cards. From the bank. Amil said I could have it. I wanted the Johnny Bench MVP card. Ronnie finds the envelope of cash and gives it to Harry. Harry counts Ronnie’s take. It’s the same as his. HARRY Twelve million dollar heist and all we get is 10K a piece? Shit. RONNIE You can have my cut, I don’t care. HARRY Well, I care, and I don’t want your money.
INT. TERMINAL - LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY A long row of “Tel-a-Chairs” -- fiberglass lounge chairs with a coin-operated television cantilevered off the arm rest. Waiting passengers are watching soap operas and game shows. Harry WATCHES a BROADCAST of Richard Nixon flashing the victory sign at a campaign rally. Ronnie comes over as Harry rises from the chair. HARRY What took you so long? Ronnie shows his ticket to Harry. Harry freezes. HARRY (CONT’D) Ronnie, what...this is a ticket to Youngstown. We’re going to Honolulu. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 94.
RONNIE I don’t like palm trees anymore, Harry. Don’t want to be around ‘em. Goin’ back to Ohio. Okay? HARRY (slight beat) Sure, Ronnie. Sure. I’ll go change my ticket... RONNIE I don’t need no baby-sitter. HARRY I’m not a baby-sitter, I’m your brother. RONNIE No. Go pick coconuts. Hang ten. Harry stops. Sees that his brother is serious. RONNIE (CONT’D) I mean it. Do your thing. I’ll be okay, Harry. Harry sighs. Finally agrees. HARRY You got to promise you won’t do anymore jobs for Amil... RONNIE Family, you know. He’s our uncle. HARRY He’s dangerous, Ronnie. And what he does is dangerous. Just collect your disability checks and take care of Gram. Okay? RONNIE Hang ten, man.
INT. JET - IN TRANSIT TO HAWAII - DAY Harry gazes out his window. Thinking about Ronnie. FLIGHT ATTENDANT (V.O.) Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard Pan Am Flight 14 to Honolulu. At this time, we will begin our complimentary beverage service... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 95.
INT. JET - IN TRANSIT TO OHIO - DAY A FLIGHT ATTENDANT stops with the beverage cart at Ronnie's row. He’s seated in a window seat browsing through the album of baseball cards. FLIGHT ATTENDANT Can I get you something to drink, sir? RONNIE How long’s it take to fly to Honolulu? FLIGHT ATTENDANT (stops, unsure) This flight’s to Cleveland, sir... RONNIE Yeah, I know. Just wonderin’. FLIGHT ATTENDANT Would you like something to drink? RONNIE Got any chocolate milk? FLIGHT ATTENDANT No, sorry, just regular milk. RONNIE Got any tequila? FLIGHT ATTENDANT Tequila? I’m afraid not. Ronnie shrugs. RONNIE I’m cool. The flight attendant moves on. CLOSE ON RONNIE - he notices a BUSINESS CARD peeking out from behind one of the baseball cards and pulls it out. It bears the Presidential Seal and READS: “Charles W. Colson – Special Council to the President of the United States – 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW – Washington, DC 20500 – Telephone: 202-555-0214.” Ronnie flips the business card over. Written on the back in ball-point pen are the words: “First Cayman Trust National Bank” followed by a ten-digit banking number. Ronnie uses the corner to pick his teeth as he browses through the album. Then he disposes of the business card by slipping it into the seat pocket in front of him... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 96.
INT. LAMBERT’S OFFICE - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - DAY Lambert sits at his desk reading the Washington Post. The front page headline READS: NIXON AIDES SABOTAGED DEMOCRATS. A small circle of light dancing on his office wall catches Lambert’s attention -- and then he realizes that it’s the reflection of the sunlight off of the crystal of his wristwatch. And then he realizes something else... He pushes the button on the intercom: LAMBERT I need Holbrook and Drach... (beat) And a ladder.
EXT. ROOF - BANK - LAGUNA NIGUEL - DAY Holbrook and Drach watch as Lambert kneels beside the now repaired hole that the burglars cut into the roof. He experiments with the mirror discovered at the scene. NEW ANGLE As Lambert rises and points to the condominium and apartment complexes above the golf course. LAMBERT I want each and every condo and apartment on the entire hillside checked out -- door-to-door -- and I want it done today.
INT. CONDOMINIUM - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT A FBI forensic team packs up their gear; they haven’t found any evidence of the crew’s presence. Lambert, Holbrook, and Drach watch from the entryway. LAMBERT Looks like we drilled a dry hole. Maybe I’m wrong about that mirror. DRACH They stayed here, I know it... LAMBERT Female intuition isn’t admissible evidence. Should be, but it’s not. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 97.
DRACH They poured bleach into the traps of all the sinks and bathtub -- only pros do that. LAMBERT Or my wife. HOLBROOK Place was rented by a guy named Steve McQueen? Pays first, last, and the deposit in hundred dollar bills then splits after two weeks? LAMBERT We need hard proof. Let’s go. Lambert walks out the front door; Holbrook follows him. Drach takes one more look around, then something occurs to her... She step into the kitchen and opens the dishwasher to find: it’s filled with dirty dishes. DRACH (to herself) Men... (calling out) I got fingerprints in the kitchen!
INT. LAMBERT’S OFFICE - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - LATER The office is dark. Lambert is dozing in his chair with his feet up on his desk. Holbrook enters: HOLBROOK Chief? Chief? Holbrook pulls up the venetian blinds as daylight floods the office and rouses Lambert. HOLBROOK (CONT’D) We got hits on the fingerprints.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - LATER Lambert and Holbrook watch as Drach pins mug shots of Amil, Charlie, Ray, and Ronnie to the bulletin board -- but Harry’s photo is not among them. DRACH It’s a crew out of Youngstown, Ohio -- Amil Dinzio, Raymond Darrow, Ronald Barber, Charles Mulligan. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 98.
LAMBERT That’s only four suspects, we found five sets of fingerprints. DRACH Washington’s working on it in double-shifts around the clock. FELT (O.S.) Excellent work. They turn to FIND Deputy Director Felt in the doorway. LAMBERT We still have a set of finger- prints we haven’t ID’ed yet. FELT You will. Let me buy you a cup of coffee, Howard. You look like you could use one...
I/E. RESTAURANT - SANTA ANA - DAY Felt and Lambert drink their coffee at a window booth. FELT You were in Sacramento before you came to Southern California, weren’t you? LAMBERT (nodding) Yes, sir. And Boise and Indianapolis before that. FELT Well, now it’s time for you to come to Washington, D.C. LAMBERT (stopping) Sir? FELT Have you been reading the Post? LAMBERT Yes, sir... FELT Good. I need a man who can work the halls of power without being awestruck by the architecture. (MORE) "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 99.
FELT (CONT'D) Tell me, will Mrs. Lambert file for divorce if I ask you be in Washington in three weeks? LAMBERT She’s not going to be happy, but I don’t think she’ll divorce me. Felt smiles. FELT Good. That should be ample time to finish up with this case.
EXT. RESTAURANT - SANTA ANA - DAY Felt and Lambert walk out of the restaurant. An unmarked car pulls up before an agent hops out and opens the door. FELT Well, you have to hand it to them -- these fellows from Youngstown certainly upset the applecart. LAMBERT Whose applecart, sir? FELT You’ll have to ask them what they were after -- and who it belonged to. That way you can say you didn’t hear it from me. Which you haven’t. (a beat) It’ll give us something to talk about when you get to Washington. Felt climbs into the backseat. The sedan drives off down the street as we CLOSE ON Lambert’s perplexed reaction.
INT. FBI FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - DAY Lambert returns to Holbrook and Drach. HOLBROOK You’re not going to believe this, chief... LAMBERT It’s very hard to surprise me these days. But you can try... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 100.
DRACH They flew from Cleveland to Las Vegas under their real names: Amil Dinzio bought the tickets, he was traveling with Charles Mulligan, Ray Darrow, Ronald Barber, and Harry J. Barber. LAMBERT Harry J. Barber? (re: the photos) Where’s his photo? HOLBROOK Not in our database. He’s probably the fifth set of fingerprints that we haven’t ID’ed yet. LAMBERT All right, you got them flying to Vegas from Cleveland. How did they get here from Vegas? DRACH Thirty-five minutes after they landed in Vegas, Hertz rented a Lincoln Continental to a customer named Steve McQueen. Neighbors at the condo in Laguna Niguel remember seeing a Lincoln with Nevada plates. LAMBERT I want every square inch of that Lincoln Continental searched. I don’t care if we have to buy the car so we can take it apart. Get a bulletin out to all of the local P.D.s nationwide to search for misdemeanor fingerprints. See if we can’t get a match on this Harry J. Barber. And if you can’t find him start looking for Steve McQueen.
EXT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY - 1980 Harry (age 37) is unloading cartons of ceiling panels from the bed of his pickup truck. He stacks them just inside the propped open doors to the bank. Mollym(age 29) pulls up in her Gremlin and gets out. Harry doesn’t yet notice the stunned look on her face... HARRY Thought you were going shopping with your mom? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 101.
MOLLY He’s dead... HARRY Who? MOLLY Steve McQueen. Harry stops. Her words hanging in the air. MOLLY (CONT’D) I just heard it on the radio. Cancer. In Mexico. HARRY Shit... Molly embraces him as we got to...
INT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - LATER Harry works on an extended scissor-lift, replacing old suspended ceiling panels with new ones. It’s a Saturday and he’s the only one in the bank -- or so he thinks. Suddenly, the scissor-lift begins to lower. Harry looks down; his confusion turning to shock when he sees AMIL holding the controls to the scissor-lift. Amil’s aged over the past seven years; he’s in his late- sixties now, but his short-cropped gray hair makes him look even harder. He lowers the lift all the way down. AMIL Funny thing -- T.J. and Willie went into the vending machine business for themselves a few years back. Last week they’re at an auction in town here, looking to grab a few machines cheap, and they see this guy drive by in an old pickup truck just like that one parked outside. T.J. calls me up and says: I think I saw your fuckin’ nephew. And I tell T.J. he better cut back on the Courvoisier and Pepsi. Guess I owe T.J. an apology. Or a bottle of Courvoisier and a six-pack of Pepsi. HARRY What are you doing here? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 102.
AMIL It’s been seven years. Six of which I spent in the pen with your Uncle Jimmy and Charlie and just about everybody else I ever worked with. Except you. Ain’t that interesting? Wonder how that happened? Harry climbs out of the scissor-lift basket and heads to the door. Amil pulls out a .45 automatic. AMIL (CONT’D) Don’t even fuckin’ think about it. HARRY I’m just locking the door so no one else can come in. Harry locks the door. AMIL They’re real comedians at the Witness Protection Program settin’ you up as the janitor in a bank. Talk about a fox in the henhouse. HARRY I’m not in any witness program. And I’m not a janitor. I do construction and remodeling jobs. AMIL You tellin’ me you didn’t rat us out? HARRY I didn’t rat out anybody. I’m not a snitch. All I did was run away. AMIL Run away to here -- to this shit- hole town? HARRY Got back from Hawaii just in time to see the Feds walk Ronnie out of Gram’s house in handcuffs. FBI drove him right past me. So I took off. AMIL You been here? This whole time? HARRY Yes. This is where I’ve been. Suddenly, Amil viciously KNEES Harry in the crotch. Harry drops to his knees, groaning. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 103.
AMIL That’s from your family, asshole. Thanks for staying in touch. (slight beat) Get up. It’s time to go home. We got some big time legal bills and it’s all hands on deck these days. HARRY I’m not going anywhere. AMIL Your mother’s right about you -- you got shit for ambition. Mr. Fix- it here in Po-dunk, Pennsylvania. (scoffs) Let’s go. HARRY No. AMIL This cocksuckin’ town’s more important to you than your own damn family? HARRY Yes -- it is. AMIL You break my heart, Harry. Thought we had a future together, you and me. But you turned out to be a piss-poor investment. HARRY Then why don’t you just shoot me? Be doing me a big favor right now. AMIL Aww, Christ -- you gone screwier than Ronnie. What am I going to do with you? (re: the vault) That’s a Throckmorton. Fucker’s older than your grandmother. Piece of shit, I’ll tell ya that. Get up, come ‘ere, I’ll teach you something. I said, come here. Harry joins Amil in front of the closed vault. AMIL (CONT’D) Upgraded to an electronic time lock. It’s a piece of shit, too. (MORE) "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 104.
AMIL (CONT’D) Put a magnet right there and it holds the motion detector tight. Swing the door like a wet cat and the alarm won’t go off. There’s four bolts three-inches around. Drill here and here and here and here. Three-eighths-inch drill bit. Thread the holes with a 24 pitch tap and screw in grease nipples. Clutch is disengaged when it’s locked. Which means, if you connect all the grease fittings together and hook ‘em up to a grease gun, and start pumping it in, it pushes those big-ass bolts right back into the door. Bingo. In like Flynn. That’s how we’re gonna do this job, Harry. HARRY I am not robbing this bank. AMIL You’re through with this arm-pit town. It’s over, the gig’s up. Time to help out your family. HARRY Fuck you. AMIL Once a crook, always a crook. There’s no undoing that. Just like you can’t undo your family -- it’s a life sentence, you don’t get to just walk away. HARRY I walked away from you, Amil. You talk family the way Nixon talked law and order. It’s bullshit. You said you hated him but you’re just like him. You put on a big show and take everyone for all you can get. And now you want to rip off the people who live here. Honest people, decent, hard working people -- the kind you used to pretend to care about. AMIL Yeah. Well. Fuck ‘em all. It’s payback time. ‘Cause unlike Nixon, I didn’t get no Presidential pardon. Pulled six years hard time. And Nixon walked scott-fuckin’-free. (MORE) "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 105.
AMIL (CONT'D) God bless America. Way I see it, you got a lot more in common with Nixon than me. I paid my debt to society -- but you haven’t. And I sure hope and pray that the Feds don’t find you, Harry. Good luck with that. Amil starts for the door, then turns back: AMIL (CONT’D) By the way, your girlfriend drives the stupidest car ever made: a ‘76 Gremlin? Hardly Detroit’s finest hour. What’s her name? HARRY You leave her alone... AMIL Never mind. I got her license plate number. I can find her name without your help. It’s just a phone call. Take care, Harry... Amil starts to open the door when: HARRY I’m working here next Saturday. AMIL (slowly turns back) Are you? HARRY All day. Amil smiles. AMIL Well in that case pick up a half- dozen three-eighths-inch drill bits. I’ll bring the grease gun. Oh, and I already had her info... Amil takes out a piece of paper and reads: AMIL (CONT’D) Molly Murphy. 409 Walnut Street. But I won’t need this now, will I? HARRY No. Amil tears up the paper into small pieces and lets them flutter to the floor before he walks out of the bank. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 106.
INT. LAMBERT’S OFFICE - FIELD OFFICE - SANTA ANA - DAY - 1972 A mugshot of Harry (the same one used in the wanted poster) is dropped on Lambert’s desk. Lambert looks at the photo and then to Holbrook. LAMBERT Harry J. Barber? HOLBROOK He was right under our nose. Southgate P.D. Forty-one speeding tickets. Arrested a year ago for driving on a suspended license. LAMBERT Call the Youngstown office -- tell them it’s showtime.
EXT. STREET - BARBER HOME - SOUTHGATE - DAY Six sedans pull up in front of the house. Lambert, Holbrook, and Drach are in the lead vehicle...
EXT. STREET - BARBER HOME - SOUTHGATE - DAY Drach, Holbrook, and several other agents walk Delfina Barber out the front door in handcuffs; still with that cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth.
INT. BEDROOM - BARBER HOME - SOUTHGATE - DAY Lambert gazes at the poster of Steve McQueen pinned to the wall. He smiles and walks out of the bedroom...
INT. FBI GARAGE - LAS VEGAS - DAY Lambert observes as a team of agents disassemble the interior of the 1972 Lincoln Continental. Something catches his eye as the passenger seat is removed... Lambert retrieves something wedged between the cushions: the matchbox with the White House logo printed on it...
EXT. DINZIO VENDING SUPPLY - YOUNGSTOWN - DAY FBI agents escort Jimmy and Amil in handcuffs out of the building (along with other handcuffed employees). Jimmy glares at Amil who shrugs in response... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 107.
I/E. CHARLIE’S HOUSE - STREET - YOUNGSTOWN - DAY Charlie is mowing his front yard with an expensive riding lawn mower. He reacts as he SEES a dozen unmarked cars approach his home. Charlie makes a U-turn and flees on the rider mower across the next-door neighbor’s lawn in what amounts to a slow-speed chase. The unmarked cars block him in as two dozen FBI agents jump out...
EXT. CAR WASH - DETROIT, MICHIGAN - DAY Several FBI agents chase Ray through a car wash. Both hounds and hare are sprayed with water and splattered by suds...
EXT. STREET - GRANDMA DINZIO’S HOME - YOUNGSTOWN - NIGHT Harry (age 29) watches from the end of the block as Ronnie is loaded into a car by several FBI agents. As the car drives by -- Ronnie raises his manacled hands and gives Harry the peace sign. Harry’s heart sinks.
EXT. GARAGE - LAMBERT HOME - LAGUNA NIGUEL - NIGHT Lambert parks beside his wife’s station wagon. He gets out of his car and notices the “Re-Elect Nixon” yard sign. He suddenly yanks the sign out of the grass, snaps it over his knee, and stuffs the sign into a garbage can.
EXT. VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - NIGHT - 1980 Harry (age 37) and Molly (age 29) sit on top of the dark marquee with their legs dangling over the side. MOLLY How come you never asked me to marry you? HARRY Said you never wanted to get married again. Been telling me that from the day we met. MOLLY Yeah, but sometimes it’s the thought that counts. HARRY Will you marry me? "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 108.
MOLLY No. But thanks for asking. Happier not married to you than I ever was married to a headless dead guy. (long beat) So, I just wait in my car at the Dairy Queen? HARRY Yeah. Make sure you got a full tank. MOLLY Wish you’d tell me what you’re doing tomorrow? HARRY I’ll be trying to get to you. MOLLY How am I supposed to sleep tonight? HARRY Wanna watch a movie before we go to bed? MOLLY I guess. HARRY Which one? MOLLY You know which one.
INT. AUDITORIUM - VOGUE THEATER - BROOKVILLE - NIGHT They have the theater to themselves -- the light of projector flickers behind them. Harry has his arm around Molly who has nodded off. He tenderly kisses her forehead. DUSTIN HOFFMANN (V.O.) (“The Graduate”) Elaine...Elaine...Elaine...!
EXT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry sits on the tailgate. His truck is filled with tools and several sheets of wood-grained Formica laminate. Ben pulls up in his car and gets out. BEN ‘Morning, John. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 109.
HARRY ‘Morning, Ben.
INT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY Ben unlocks the glass doors and Harry, carrying the large metal toolbox, follows him inside. BEN Let me call the security company. Ben heads over to his office... Harry sets the toolbox on the tellers’ counter. He pulls out a length of wire from the hole in the bottom of the toolbox. He kneels, takes a pair of wire-strippers out of his pocket, and clips two thin wires connected to an alarm button mounted beneath a teller’s station. Harry strips the insulation off the ends of the wires and twists them to the wires he pulled out of his tool box. BEN (O.S.) (CONT’D) John? Harry quickly rises from behind the tellers’ counter. HARRY Right here. Dropped something. BEN Oh, I’ll have to call the dispatcher at the sheriff’s station if your working on the tellers’ counter today, tell ‘em to ignore the silent alarm. HARRY No, I’m doing the customer desks today. Just setting up my tools. BEN Okay, just don’t push any buttons. Call me when you’re done. HARRY You bet. Ben walks out, gets into his car, and drives away. BACK TO HARRY. He wraps the wire coming from his toolbox around a cabinet knob to secure it, and pulls out more wire from the bottom of the toolbox as he backs around the tellers’ counter... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 110.
EXT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY (MINUTES LATER) Harry comes out the front door still pulling out wire from his toolbox. He sets the box in the entryway and slides the doormat over to conceal the wire. He opens the toolbox, removes the tool tray, and cuts both strands of the twisted wire from the spool. He strips the insulation and twists them to the leads connected to the toggle switch installed in the tool tray. He puts the tray back and closes the toolbox. Harry fetches a short piece of wood from his truck. He makes sure no one is watching, then checks to see if the piece of wood will slip through both door handles. It does. He puts it on top of the toolbox...
EXT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY (AN HOUR LATER) Harry has removed the top of one of the stand-up customer desks in the lobby. He uses the tailgate and a saw horse to support it while he sands it with an electric sander. Suddenly, the power is cut to the sander. Harry turns to see -- Amil holding the power cord. Ray and Charlie stand behind Amil carrying duffel bags. Charlie has gained weight since Harry last saw him -- but his well-sprayed 70s hairdo hasn’t changed, it’s just darker from the hair dye he now uses. Ray is more gaunt with blood-shot eyes and a cocaine-induced sniffle. CHARLIE Mister Pud-wipe. Long time no see. HARRY Didn’t tell me everybody was comin’. AMIL We’re a crew, ain’t we? Just like old times. HARRY Christ -- is Ronnie with you, too? AMIL Relax. He’s back in Southgate since he got out. I’m on your ma’s shit list -- and so are you, ace. Let’s go inside. HARRY I should stay out here in case somebody comes along. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 111.
AMIL I said let’s go inside. HARRY All my tools are out here. AMIL Screw your tools. Amil grabs Harry...
INT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY (CONTINUOUS) ...and propels him inside, followed by Ray and Charlie. Amil pats down Harry while Charlie closes the drapes. Ray takes a sawed-off shotgun out of his duffel bag. AMIL Where’s your drill? HARRY By the vault. Everything’s there. CHARLIE I’ll pull the tapes on the cameras. HARRY I already did. Recorders are in the manager’s office. See for yourself. CHARLIE I will. And I wanna tell you something here right now: you are a piece of shit in my book! You’re a cocksucker and a fuckin’ traitor to your family! Charlie spits in Harry’s face and heads to the office. Charlie wipes his face as Ray aims his shotgun at him: RAY Do something stupid so I can blow your face off. ‘Cause I don’t buy that crap you fed your uncle. I think you’re a rat-fuckin’ stoolie. Just gimme half a good reason -- that’ll be plenty enough for me. Amil pulls a pencil out of Harry’s carpenter’s belt, walks over, and makes four marks on the vault. AMIL Start drilling, Harry. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 112.
HARRY I’ll get my gloves Harry starts for the door. AMIL Fuck the gloves. I want your fingerprints all over this goddamn vault. We took the fall for the bank job in California -- you’re taking the fall for this one. We got rock-solid alibis. Right now the three of us are on a fishing trip in Wisconsin. And we got witnesses and plane ticket receipts to prove it. So, start drillin’. Come on, let’s go. Ray nudges him with the sawed-off shotgun. RAY Your uncle’s talkin’ to you, asshole. Suddenly, Harry spins around and snatches the weapon away from Ray; CLUBBING him with it as Ray drops to the floor.
EXT. MARION STATE BANK - BROOKVILLE - DAY (CONTINUOUS) Harry runs out the front door and jams the sawed-off shotgun through the door handles. Suddenly, a BULLET SPIDERWEBS the thick glass as Harry looks back to see -- AMIL -- charging across the lobby with his .45 in hand. Harry opens the toolbox and flips the toggle switch in the tool tray to trigger the silent alarm. Amil FIRES as another BULLET creates a fracture in the glass door... Harry runs off as we PAN OVER to reveal... AMIL -- pounding on the bolted glass doors a la Dustin Hoffman in “The Graduate.” AMIL Harry...Harry...Harry...!
EXT. MAIN ST. - DAIRY QUEEN - BROOKVILLE - DAY Harry unfastens his tool belt and lets it drop as he sprints down the street away from the bank... He passes the Vogue Theater...running as fast as he can to the Dairy Queen two blocks away where... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 113.
MOLLY ...waits in her Gremlin. Harry jumps into the car. MOLLY Are you okay? HARRY (out of breath) Yeah... Two sheriff’s cars approach with their SIRENS ON... MOLLY Oh, shit. HARRY It’s all right...they’re not coming for us. The sheriff’s cars roar past on their way to the bank. MOLLY What happened back there? HARRY Ummm...family reunion. MOLLY So, which way do we go? HARRY Head north on County Line Road.
EXT. COUNTY LINE ROAD - DAY (MINUTES LATER) Molly and Harry riding in the Gremlin: MOLLY I brought some sandwiches and potato salad if you’re hungry. Harry laughs. MOLLY (CONT’D) What’s so funny? HARRY Nothing...just glad you didn’t forget the potato salad. Molly freezes as she looks to see Sheriff Kelly up ahead, speeding towards them with his red lights flashing. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 114.
MOLLY Oh, no -- that’s daddy’s car. He’ll see us. What do we do? HARRY Wave. Harry and Molly wave as Sheriff Kelly races by them; he waves back. Harry points up ahead. HARRY (CONT’D) Pull off up there when you hit the old Sunset Drive-in and park behind the screen. MOLLY Okay. HARRY (a beat, then:) I was thinking last night -- while you were asleep -- about rule number one. That’s when I decided. MOLLY Decided what? HARRY No more lies. That’s the only way to live your life. She glances at him -- puzzled by his resolution. HARRY (CONT’D) Don’t miss the turn.
EXT. SUNSET DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATER - DAY (CONTINUOUS) The weed choked drive-in has been shuttered for years. Molly pulls the Gremlin off of the road and onto the gravel lane behind the screen. Molly reacts as they pull around the screen to reveal -- AN ARMY OF FBI AGENTS waiting for them. She skids to a halt. Trapped. MOLLY Oh, my God... HARRY It’s okay, calm down. Listen to me. Are you listening? MOLLY Oh, no...dammit... "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 115.
Harry leans over and turns off the engine... MOLLY (CONT’D) What...? And tosses the keys out the open driver’s window. MOLLY (CONT’D) What are you doing? HARRY Listen up. You’re right. You are the best thing that ever happened to me -- ever. Being on the run is no way to live. I can’t let you live like that, too.... (beat) “No more lies” doesn’t work if your whole life is one big lie. MOLLY I can’t believe you did this... HARRY It’s your rule. MOLLY Rules are meant to be broken. HARRY I tried that -- didn’t work out too good for me. Think I’m better off stickin’ to the rules. Harry kisses her and gets out of the car with his hands up. Several FBI agents converge on him with their weapons drawn as a HELICOPTER approaches in the near distance. They frisk and handcuff Harry. Other agents escort Molly from the car as the helicopter lands. Lambert climbs out of the helicopter and walks over to Harry. LAMBERT Hello, Harry. Howard Lambert, FBI. Been looking for you for a very long time. Quite surprised to get your call this morning. Didn’t give us much notice. Wasn’t sure that you would actually show up, but you kept your word. HARRY The truth will set you free -- except in my case. "Finding Steve McQueen" - 4/23/15 - Page 116.
LAMBERT A changed man, huh? HARRY We’ll see...
EXT. HELICOPTER - COUNTRYSIDE - DAY The helicopter ascends with Lambert and Harry onboard. Molly waves to Harry. Harry takes a last look at her and at Brookville as we slowly... FADE OUT.
END TITLES BEGIN: IN 2005 IT WAS REVEALED THAT W. MARK FELT WAS THE “DEEP THROAT” IN THE BOOK “ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN” WRITTEN BY WASHINGTON POST REPORTERS BOB WOODWARD AND CARL BERNSTEIN. HARRY BARBER WAS SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS FOR BANK BURGLARY; HE WAS RELEASED AFTER THREE YEARS ON GOOD BEHAVIOR. HE IS NOW A HANDYMAN LIVING IN CALIFORNIA. MOLLY MURPHY IS A TAXIDERMIST LIVING IN PENNSYLVANIA.
THE END