the dead circus screenplay by adam davenport based on the novel by john kaye revisions by adam davenport and john kaye Contact: Adam Davenport Richard Demato and David Slomak 310-593-1018 Fuse Entertainment [email protected] 323-850-3873 this happened? "We're not in Wonderland anymore, Alice." --Charles Manson OVER BLACK, A TITLE CARD: october 12, 1969 EXT. DEATH VALLEY - NIGHT An undersized hippie with a rubbery face pensively strums a beat-up guitar from the seat of a stolen dune buggy. This is CHARLES MANSON (”CHARLIE”) and it’s the night of his arrest. Charlie watches as some headlights eerily wind their way down the mountain a few miles away. Beside him is a bag with $20,000 in small bills and six canisters of 16mm film. CHARLIE The money is for you to do as you please. But keep that film hidden until you hear from me. Okay? In shotgun is his partner ALICE McMILLAN, a middle-aged flower child of a woman with strawberry hair. She’s tripping on ten milligrams of LSD. She nods hesitantly. She knows their separation is near. CHARLIE You’re a good chick, Alice. ALICE Used to think I was bad, but not anymore. CHARLIE Ain’t none of us bad. (stares into the darkness) We’re just doin’ the best we can. Alice points at the mysterious headlights crawling across the landscape. There is warning in her voice, edged with fear. ALICE Those cars are getting close. Charlie only nods, his eyes moist, his blank expression only a transparent protection against his private pain. ALICE They’re comin’ for you, Charlie. CHARLIE Might be. ALICE What’re you gonna do? 2. CHARLIE Hide, I guess. You should do the same. Whatever you do, Alice, don’t look back. ALICE What happens if they find us? Charlie closes his eyes, a new peacefulness in his face. CHARLIE I don’t know. It doesn’t matter for me anyhow. In jail or not, I’m still serving a life sentence... ANOTHER PART OF THE DESERT - LATER Alice, alone, runs across the valley as if pursued. She’s carrying a metal case containing the film canisters inside. The dune buggy is now a small speck miles away in the background. The distant SOUND of a police siren is heard. Alice stops to catch her breath, her face wet with tears. ALICE (in disbelief) They got Charlie... She continues on, not looking back. LATER - THE NEXT DAY Alice wanders through the wild, uninhabited terrain. The sun, like a blast furnace, blows sand into her face. She continues to roam, calculating her next move... CUT TO BLACK. INSERT CARD: july 3, 1969 A drumbeat bumps in the black. Music blares: Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit...” JEFFERSON AIRPLANE One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small... EXT. DEVONSHIRE DOWNS - NIGHT - 1969 Three months earlier. A rock show in Northridge. CHRIS LONG follows his act, Fiddlefuck, backstage. He’s dressed like a hippie, in buckskin and bell bottoms, but there is a slickness about him too, a player in the making. 3. Long locks eyes with a groupie who’s been waiting for him to notice her. It’s Alice. She’s wearing a see-through blouse, hacked-off jeans, and a pentagram necklace. LONG What are you doing back here, sweetheart? ALICE I hear Jamie Cooper likes redheads... Long looks at her, amused. ALICE ...who give good head. LONG (trying not to laugh) What did you say your name was? ALICE I didn’t. Who are you? LONG I’m Jamie’s manager. ALICE That supposed to impress me or something? LONG You tell me. ALICE Well, my boyfriend says I should use my pussy to make new friends. What do you think he meant by that? Alice tilts her head, gives him a sly, complicitous smile. INT. VAN - NIGHT Long’s dented, rusted-out VW van pulls out of the parking lot as Alice unbuttons his Levis. ALICE You really get hard fast. LONG Glad that makes you happy. 4. ALICE Sex makes me happy. She goes down on him. He groans, surrendering his stamina to the initial excitement. After he comes... ALICE By the way, what’s your name? LONG Chris. ALICE Chris what? LONG Long. ALICE Wait, you’re kidding, right? LONG What? ALICE Chris Long? That’s like some kind of a porn star name. LONG Well, it used to be Von Lang but I changed it. ALICE Yeah, why is that? LONG You could say it’s a secret. A pause. Alice looks away, then back at Long. ALICE I’ve got a secret too. LONG Then I guess we’re even. ALICE I killed someone. LONG (unsure where she’s going) Who? 5. ALICE Give me a ride home, I’ll tell you. EXT. SPAHN MOVIE RANCH (CHATSWORTH) - NIGHT Chris Long’s VW van approaches the gates leading into SPAHN MOVIE RANCH. ALICE Park over there. She points at a WOODEN BUNKHOUSE surrounded by deep weeds, one of several decrepit, prop buildings that make up the remnants of a western movie set. Welcome to Spahn Ranch. Long remains silent as he cuts the engine. Alice reaches for the door handle. LONG Finish your story. ALICE I’ll tell you everything except the very end. LONG I want to hear everything. ALICE Charlie has to say it’s okay. LONG Charlie? ALICE Charlie is God. Alice clocks Long’s dubious expression. ALICE Just wait, see for yourself. Once again Alice reaches for the door handle. Long stops her arm. LONG Alice, tell me what happened. Alice laughs, a laugh that is slightly out of control. She takes his face in her hands. Kisses him. Hard. Long stares into her strange blue eyes, trying to decide what the fuck is happening. 6. LATER - MORNING Long wakes up naked, turns over to reach for Alice. She’s not there. Instead, Charlie is squatting on the floor, studying Long with concentrated attention. Although there is a sense of peace in his body, his hair is wild and he’s dressed in filthy jeans patched to cover holes in his knees and crotch. CHARLIE (with a guileless smile) Morning, sunshine. Bet you could use some coffee. Long moves the blanket to cover himself. Charlie squints but continues to regard Long with a smile. CHARLIE I’m Charlie. Long pulls on his bell bottoms, eases himself back a little. LONG You’re the guy they call God. CHARLIE Who told you that? LONG Alice. CHARLIE Alice is good people. But sometimes she gets to yakking too much when she’s stoned. So whatever she told you last night, you should probably take with a grain of salt. Now I’m not sayin’ it was bullshit, only that you should forget you heard. Long nods, unsure whether to be relieved or scared shitless. A moment later Alice enters carrying a cup filled with steaming coffee. She stares at Charlie with a worried expression until he looks up at her and winks. CHARLIE You made a friend, Alice. ALICE Yeah. I did. Chris is in music, Charlie. He manages a band... shit, what’s it called again? 7. LONG Fiddlefuck. ALICE Fiddlefuck... That’s right. She laughs, amused. Charlie feigns taking offended. CHARLIE Surely must be devil music! LONG (straight-faced) They’re an experimental band. ALICE Oh man, you gotta hear Charlie sing. LONG Well, we can check it out sometime. Somehow Alice doesn’t find his response all too convincing. ALICE You don’t understand. You have to. INT. LONG HORN SALOON - DAY ON JUKEBOX: “NEVER LEARN NOT TO LOVE” BY THE BEACH BOYS A mock cowboy saloon at Spahn Ranch. A wooden bar and jukebox stocked with 45’s. Charlie’s face seethes with resentment as he watches Long listen to the complex harmonies. CHARLIE I wrote that. (peers at Long closely) Was one of my tunes. I called it “Cease to Exist.” Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys stole it. LONG No kidding. Charlie withdraws from his back pocket a piece of lined white paper folded into a square. He places the paper on the bar. CHARLIE Dennis changed the title and a bunch of the words. These are my original lyrics. I’ve written hundreds of tunes. (MORE) 8. CHARLIE (CONT'D) Songs that will change the world when they end up on the radio. And that’s why you’re here, mister. You’ve been sent to help put things in motion. It’s all part of the plan. Long unfolds the paper and his eyes scan over the lyrics. LONG If you know the Beach Boys, how come you need my help? Charlie gazes at Long with a new intensity as Alice silently appears in the entrance, monitoring their new guest. CHARLIE I don’t need anyone’s help. You’re the one who’s here. You fucked Alice. And now you’re part of the Family. This is what’s supposed to happen. It’s the way it is. Karma. Charlie looks at Alice expectantly: What is it? ALICE Uhh... Should I get the Bolex? CHARLIE No... not this time. Long’s not sure about any of this. EXT. SPAHN RANCH - NIGHT Charlie’s acolytes sit around him on the ground in a semicircle, watching quietly while he uses his knife to draw various geometric symbols in the dirt by his boots: a CONE a PYRAMID a SQUARE He sits staring at them with grim bemusement, ignoring Long, who stands in the shade with his arms hanging loosely at his sides.