MICKEY (The Mickey Goldmill Story) By Carl Kirshner

WGA #1372541

© Carl Kirshner 2014 “Everybody’s a somebody, ain’t they?” FADE IN:

EXT. MIGHTY MICK’S GYM, NORTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA - DAY THE FADED PORTRAIT OF A BOXER IN HIS PRIME towers proudly over the derelict sidewalk below.

INT. MIGHTY MICK’S GYM - DAY An 8mm cine projector FLICKERS noisily away as an old B & W BOXING MATCH plays out on a small screen in a dark corner of the empty gym. SUPERIMPOSE OVER FIGHT - July 6th, 1961. An elderly figure MICKEY GOLDMILL (late 60’s) watches a classic bout from the comfort of a rickerty chair. After a moment of quiet observation he climbs to his feet and trundles over towards the flickering screen. He reaches out with a shaking hand and places it on the gray scratchy image. His fingers gently brush along the CROWD that surround the canvas ring. It appears as if he is trying to connect with the soul of somebody long lost to him. The CHEERS of the excited horde rise to a deafening crescendo as he drops his head in his hands and breaks down in tears. The MONOTONE movie dissolves into BRUTAL LIVING COLOR.

EXT. BUSTLING RINGSIDE, RENO, NEVADA (1910) - DAY JACK JOHNSON, the fearsome black heavyweight champion, lands a series of punishing blows to the mangled face of undefeated white challenger JIM JEFFRIES. A ROARING MOB of riotous FIGHT FANS scream for blood. SUPERIMPOSE OVER ACTION - Reno, Nevada. June 4th, 1910. The one-sided spectacle is grim and merciless. One THUNDERING PUNCH after another. The champion reels back his giant arm and delivers a cruel right cross that rips Jeffries’ top lip from his face. Blood sprays like a geyser. The bell RINGS. The demoralised challenger, blinded by crimson sweat, stumbles instinctively towards the SCREAMS of his CREW. He slumps on the stool in the corner and empties his lungs into a spit bucket. His breathing is labored and desperate. Jeffries’ anxious MANAGER leaps to his aid and sponges away the blood from his stinging eyes. 2.

MANAGER Your mouth is hanging off and everything. You gonna’ let this mango monkey do this to ya’? A frantic CORNERMAN works the cuts and ruptured lip. JIM JEFFRIES (slurring) I’m doin’ alright. What round is it? MANAGER What round? Ya’ don’t even know what day it is! Get out there and don’t come back ‘till you got this biscuit lip’s balls in your mouth! The bell sounds for the 15th. Jeffries pulls himself up. Driven by his survival instinct he staggers aimlessly out of the corner. The two fighters square off momentarily before the formidable Johnson unleashes a flurry of devastating handwork that sends Jeffries PLUMMETING to the canvas. The crowd go berserk, infuriated by Johnson’s effortless domination. ANGRY CROWD Bury that moulignon! The REFEREE rushes in for the count. REFEREE One, two, three... RINGSIDE Moving among the increasingly ANGRY CROWD we pick out a proud- looking man - ABE Goldmill - late 20’s - dressed in a black frock typical of a Jewish immigrant of the period. His cheering is at stark odds with that of his fellow spectators. His inappropriate rooting doesn’t go unnoticed by a couple of INCENSED ROUGHNECKS standing close by. They whisper to each other in menacing tones. ABE GOLDMILL Take it to him, Johnson! Standing knee high to his father is YOUNG Mickey Goldmill. Scampish and slight, even for a six year old, he carries an innocent yet somewhat intense demeanor. YOUNG MICKEY Papa, why do you want the black man to win? 3.

ABE GOLDMILL You have to do the right thing, son. He’s the champ, Mickey. By the grace of God go us all. The man ruffles the confused boy’s dark locks and smiles knowingly. ABE GOLDMILL (CONT’D) One day you’ll understand. Back in the ring the bewildered challenger climbs weakly to his feet and fumbles forward. He is immediately rocked by a POWERHOUSE UPPERCUT and sent FLYING THROUGH THE ROPES. An enraged MOB run to the ringside, reach through and push the exhausted, bloodied Jeffries back onto the canvas. The referee scampers forward to begin the count but Jeffries’ despondent corner throw in the towel. The carnage is finally over as the black champion holds up his hands in victory - dashing the dreams of the ‘Great White Hope.’ The angry crowd EXPLODE in uproar as chairs and bottles are thrown into the ring. Vile racist chants turn the air blue. ANGRY CROWD Kill that black bastard! A frail OLD NEGRO, sensing the danger around him, makes a beeline for the nearest exit. He is quickly set upon by the two incensed roughnecks who proceed to beat him to the ground. Choler builds in the nearby Abe Goldmill. Unable to take the racial injustice he storms over and drags away the smaller roughneck and lays him flat with a straight blow to the jaw. The larger of the aggressors halts the savage beating and turns to face the good samaritan. HEFTY ROUGHNECK If it ain’t the nigger lover? He whips out a lethal blade and throws it skillfully from hand-to-hand. HEFTY ROUGHNECK (CONT’D) Come on, you dirty, kike! I’ll cut you up into pig shit. They begin stalking each other, moving slowly inside the circle of ROGUES and VILLAINS that have formed around them. Young Mickey is pushed to the back of the crowd and struggles to make his way through the sea of legs that block his way. The roughneck’s eyes search wildly for an opening. He lunges at Abe and SLASHES him painfully across the chest. Abe backpedals instinctively as the hefty rogue attacks once more. This time Abe grabs his powerful arm and swiftly brings his knee up BREAKING the man’s elbow. The attacker screams and drops the knife. 4.

The smaller, SCRAWNY ROUGHNECK rushes forward and jumps on Abe’s back and wrestles him around the neck. The hefty roughneck picks up the gravel-covered blade with his one good arm and without hesitation PLUNGES it into Abe Goldmill’s heart. He collapses in a bloody heap as the large lowlife straddles Abe and stabs at his body like a primeval animal. Tiny Mickey pushes his way to the front of the crowd. He breaks through and is confronted by the horrific sight of the killer wiping his hands clean on Abe’s matted hair. The Killer’s FOREARM TATTOO of a GRINNING SKULL and ANCHOR catches young Mickey’s eye. YOUNG MICKEY Papa! The screaming boy runs over and kneels down beside his dead father. He clings to the slaughtered body of the hapless Abe Goldmill. YOUNG MICKEY (CONT’D) Papa? The distraught child gazes up and LOCKS EYES with his father’s smirking murderer who swiftly turns and vanishes into the sea of onlookers. The horde of HARD-HEARTED SPECTATORS stare down their callous snouts at the tiny weeping child that is Mickey Goldmill.

EXT. ST. MARY'S ORPHAN ASYLUM - NIGHT A shadowy white stone building that houses the starving unfortunates of fate and circumstance. A place you wouldn’t put your killer in. Above the foreboding entrance steps are inscribed the flickering candlelit words: "Industrial Home for Destitute Children."

INT. WASHING BLOCK, ST. MARY’S ORPHAN ASYLUM - NIGHT Fresh fosterling Mickey Goldmill’s diminutive body is pinned to the slippery floor by a JUVENILE GANG of brutish inmates. His hungry frame is no match for their thuggish strength. JUVENILE GANG Do it! Mickey’s half-clothed body cowers under the menacing shadow of the LARGE THUG that towers above him. LARGE THUG I’ll bust you up, filthy Jew. 5.

His strong hand grabs Mickey and tears at his soaking undergarments. A large boot stamps on his tiny fingers. Mickey screams in agony. The gang of tormenting youths cackle and holler like a pack of bloodthirsty hyenas. JUVENILE GANG Break his face! The large thug whips a cord belt from around his waist. LARGE THUG I’m gonna’ do you real good. Mickey’s terrified face freezes as the barbaric hoodlum’s muscular figure moves menacingly over him and obscures the frame.

INT. BOYS DORMITORY, ST. MARY’S ORPHAN ASYLUM - NIGHT Cobwebbed ceiling lamps cast a shadow of gloom over the endless rows of somber, soiled bedspreads. The dorm sleeps soundly except for the solitary figure of tearful Mickey. His battered body shakes uncontrollably as he gasps for breath on his squalid bunk. YOUNG MICKEY Papa. A FRIENDLY VOICE pipes up. TEENAGE ANGELO They hurt you real bad, huh? Those Malamutes got it coming. Tovoli ain’t here no more ‘cause of them. He’s wit’ the angels. But the next chance I get they’re going to join him. ANGELO CARMINE - early teens. Petty thief and rascal. Brawny and strong for his age. His gentle demeanor belies the potential for explosive violence. TEENAGE ANGELO (CONT’D) They call me Angelo. What’s your label, kid? Mickey wipes his eyes and stutters nervously. YOUNG MICKEY Mickey Goldmill. The mournful sight of the trembling Jordan touches the hardened inmate. TEENAGE ANGELO Don’t you worry about nothing. I’ll look after you, little Mickey. (smiles) Everybody needs an angel sometime. 6.

Angelo Carmine’s kind words offer a brief moment of solace for the traumatized child until a shaft of piercing light cuts short the friendly exchange. A group of JUVENILE THUGS enter the dormitory and amble toward Mickey’s bedside. TEENAGE ANGELO (CONT’D) (under breath) Figlio di puttana. A familiar MEAN FACE leans over and nuzzles up to the increasingly anxious child. LARGE THUG I’ve been spreading the word about your little flower. Now it seems everybody wants a petal. He runs his rough hand through Mickey’s white curls. TEENAGE ANGELO Leave the kid alone. The large thug glances over at the intense Angelo Carmine. LARGE THUG Keep your beak out, ya’ thieving guinea bastard. A foul tongue snakes its way toward Mickey’s quivering mouth. LARGE THUG (CONT’D) How about a goodnight kiss for daddy? Angelo’s knuckles turn WHITE as his fingers curl tightly around a lead pipe by his bedside. TEENAGE ANGELO Pezzo Di Merda! Angelo springs from his bunk and SPLATTERS the grinning thug’s forehead with a sickening whack. He drops shrieking to the floor. The thug’s posse scatter as Angelo unleashes his anger until winded and depleted he can pummel no more. The battered thug mumbles weakly and jerks his head in a nervous spasm. Angelo leans over his bloodied visage and whispers into his ear. TEENAGE ANGELO (CONT’D) How’s that for a goodnight kiss, lover boy? 7.

EXT. ST. MARY’S ORPHAN ASYLUM - CONTINUOUS Angelo SMASHES his way out of a side window with the lead pipe. He tumbles out then reaches back in and pulls Mickey through the shattered glass frame. Through stain-glazed windows the panic of WHISTLES and FLASHING LIGHTS bring the dorm of doom back to life. Angelo sweeps little Mickey up in his arms and bolts down the pebbled sidewalk. They disappear down an adjacent alleyway and vanish swiftly into the cover of night.

EXT. RAILWAY TRACK, OUTSKIRTS OF RENO - DAWN Angelo and Mickey have been trekking the best part of the night and appear grungy, disheveled and ready to drop. Despite his obvious fatigue Angelo carries the fading Mickey on his weary shoulders. In the near distance a steam engine FREIGHT TRAIN grinds noisily to a halt near a towering wooden water crane. Angelo picks up pace and hurries toward the back of a dusty boxcar with Mickey clinging weakly to his neck. Upon reaching the slow moving locomotive he holds up Mickey and shoves him into the sliding door joined to the caboose. He grips a rusty handrail and with the last of his strength pulls himself into the carriage.

INT. BOXCAR - CONTINUOUS Angelo and Mickey are greeted by the sorrowful sight of a VAGRANT FAMILY sitting on wooden boxes. They appear despondent and devoid of hope. Their scant shackles are tied in the ragged sacks that round out their earthly possessions. Mickey stares at a STARVING CHILD who clings desperately to his SCRAWNY MOTHER. Angelo peers back out the door to check for guards. With the coast clear he turns to address the doleful head of the family. TEENAGE ANGELO Where we heading? A downcast VAGRANT MAN raises his heavy head and shares a sullen gaze with Angelo Carmine. VAGRANT MAN Doesn’t really matter, does it? Angelo takes a seat on a empty crate and concurs ruefully. TEENAGE ANGELO Guess it don’t. 8.

EXT. PHILADELPHIA SKYLINE - DAY The sunlight glimmers through the impressive concrete structures silhouetting the city of brotherly love.

EXT. ITALIAN MARKET, NINTH STREET, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - DAY The rambling figures of new arrivals Angelo and Mickey snake their way through the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. They take in the sights and sounds with youthful relish. SUPERIMPOSITION - Ninth Street, South Philadelphia. A BURLY FISHMONGER proudly proclaims in Italian that he has the “Freshest catch in Philly.” Angelo glances around the buzzing marketplace and declares with juvescent optimism. TEENAGE ANGELO The world is ours, Mickey. For the first time young Mickey Goldmill SMILES.

EXT. EMPTY STREET CORNER, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - DAY Angelo and Mickey loiter outside a butcher shop. They peer hungrily through the window at a row of juicy fowl hanging on metal hooks. The famished duo lick their lips. Angelo hands a brick to a somewhat reluctant Mickey. TEENAGE ANGELO Don’t you worry none. All you got to do is crack the corner and the whole window goes. Mickey weighs the rock in his trembling hand. TEENAGE ANGELO (CONT’D) Time to lose your cherry, kid. Mickey hesitates momentarily then winds back his arm and hurls the brick with all his might. The window pane comes CRASHING DOWN along with a mountain of plump turkeys. Angelo pulls out a potato sack from inside of his grubby jacket. TEENAGE ANGELO (CONT’D) Grab em’! Mickey snatches up a couple of large birds and shoves them into the sack. Angelo throws the bag over his shoulder and they bolt down a neighboring side street leaving a trail of snow white poultry feathers flittering in their wake. They are seconds from a clean getaway when a LARGE COP jumps in front of them blocking their escape route. He brandishes a menacing baton at the two fugitives. 9.

LARGE COP Get here, you whoresons! Angelo grabs Mickey by the scruff of the neck and pulls him down an adjacent alleyway. ALLEYWAY - CONTINUOUS In blind panic Angelo plunges into a trash can and CRACKS his head against a drain pipe. He staggers momentarily. Mickey continues running and disappears through a small gap in a nearby wall. The wrathful cop jumps Angelo and pins him to the ground, forcing his face to the stone. LARGE COP (CONT’D) We got cages for wild animals! A punishing truncheon smashes into Angelo’s side. He screams in agony. Defiant Angelo gazes up at the large lawman whose toothy grin leers down at him in cruel satisfaction. TEENAGE ANGELO Come on, you bluebottle bastard. The indignant youth is dragged to his feet. LARGE COP We’ll have to do something about that dirty mouth of yours. More damaging blows rain down on Angelo. His legs finally buckle and he drops to the cobbled floor. The callous cop proceeds to batter the life out of Angelo with his baton. From behind the wall little Mickey watches helplessly. The panting cop pulls at Angelo’s hair, ripping out chunks while he struggles to drag his limp body out of the alleyway. Frightened Mickey turns and runs. He disappears onto the lonely streets of Philadelphia.

EXT. MIKVEH SYNAGOGUE, EAST STREET - NIGHT God’s tears pound the sidewalk as the bereft and forgotten Mickey curls up on the soaking steps of the red-bricked house of worship. He shivers and cries with the biting cold. Tilzer and Sterling’s classic song “Wait ‘till the sun shines

Nellie” sounds over a stirring VISUAL MONTAGE. (The montage covers the period between 1912 and 1922) The sequence plays out in SEPIA FILM STOCK giving the sense of an old time Nickelodeon. 10.

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES spin dramatically toward the screen: “TITANIC SINKS AFTER HITTING ICEBERG” (April 14th, 1912) Teenage Angelo is thrown into a jail cell by a SMIRKING COP. Mickey beams impishly with bony arms outstretched and a begging cap in hand. ASSORTED PEDESTRIANS CURSE and SPIT harshly at the despairing street urchin. Famished Mickey is caught stealing an apple from a fruit stall. The FURIOUS VENDOR drags Mickey by the hair and throws him hard against a nearby wall. He smashes his head against the stone until his face streams with blood. “GREAT BRITAIN DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY” (August 4th 1914) Mickey is pushed into a street fight with a YOUNG THUG and is quickly beaten to his knees. LEERING CHILDREN jeer at him as blows thunder down on his body. Mickey doesn’t fight back. Mickey stands on a street corner selling the ‘Philadelphia Inquirer.’ He holds a few meager cents in his weary hand. Mickey brawls again and this time a talent for fighting is becoming apparent. He SHATTERS the eye of a SIZABLE BULLY but eventually succumbs to his first BROKEN NOSE. Mickey pickpockets an unsuspecting PASSERBY. He counts the stolen green in an alley but is jumped and robbed by a THUG. A dark figure nearby grabs the fleeing robber and punches him out. IT IS ANGELO CARMINE. Mickey and Angelo throw their arms around each other as they are reunited once again. “JACK DEMPSEY BECOMES HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP!” (JULY 5th, 1919) Mickey - now early teens - stops past the entrance to a dingy side street and catches a SCAR-FACED MOBSTER - MASSIMO GAZZO blowing away a blubbering STOOL-PIGEON. The gangster LOCKS EYES with Mickey who turns swiftly away. Another vicious street fight but this time Mickey bashes the life out of a CRUMBLING ADVERSARY and for the first time Mickey raises his arms in TRIUMPH. The scar-faced mobster Gazzo scrutinizes Mickey’s victory closely. “PROHIBITION ACT BECOMES LAW!” (January 16, 1920) The newspaper headline and melodic song FADE as a row of Philadelphia shop fronts dissolve back into LIVING COLOR. 11.

EXT. NORTH FRONT STREET, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - DAY A pair of rough, tarnished hands polish away at a glistening leather shoe. A harsh brush scuffs and a cloth rag polishes. SUPERIMPOSITION - June 4th, 1922. The skilled hands belong to TEENAGE Mickey who spits and shines like a pro. He has filled out somewhat and his hardened face appears markedly older than his 17 years. MASSIMO GAZZO For a Jew boy you gloss them treads like a frickin’ swamp donkey. MASSIMO GAZZO (30’s) local Mobster. The kind of man who drops a glove at your foot and you’re dead. TEENAGE MICKEY Thanks, Mister Gazzo. MASSIMO GAZZO So you know me, kid? TEENAGE MICKEY Everyone knows you, Mister Gazzo. MASSIMO GAZZO And I never forget a face. Gazzo catches Mickey’s uneasy expression as he places his hand dubiously inside his plush coat. He pulls out a pack of Lucky Strikes and a strip of matches. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Thought I was gonna’ pop ya’ in broad daylight? Gazzo smirks as he lights up his cancer stick and drags a toke. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) If you was one of the bingo-bongo canaries flying around here you think you’d be kneeling down in front of me without your brains jumping on your lap? Mickey appears increasingly uncomfortable. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) That’s right, you’d be floating down the Delaware with the gulls pluckin’ at your eyes. Gazzo inspects his shoe, and suitably impressed, places his other foot on Mickey’s shine box. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Only natural ya’ can stumble into a little trouble every now and again. (MORE) 12. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Stubbing toes, banging heads. Shooting stoolies. Mickey glances up, alarmed. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) What’s a’ matter? You don’t think I see things? Mickey continues to shine away lickety-split. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) I figure we can use this little understanding to our advantage. Mickey puts down his brush and picks up his polishing rag. He spits on Gazzo’s handmade leather shoe and rubs away appearing somewhat distant but hanging on every word. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Guns, they leave a trail a’ shit you can’t always scrub from your hands. You’re handy wit’ the ol’ dukes. Come in real useful. Mickey chooses his words carefully. TEENAGE MICKEY I appreciate the offer, Mister Gazzo, but I don’t bother nobody and nobody bothers me. I figure I'm happier that way. MASSIMO GAZZO Let me do the figuring, okay? What’s the matter? You wanna’ spend the rest of your life with some uppity scum sneering down his snot nose at ya’? TEENAGE MICKEY I figure it ain’t always gonna’ be like this. One day I’m gonna’ find me fame and glory. I got dreams. MASSIMO GAZZO And how you going to pay for them dreams, kid? With the reeking dog shit under your nails? Mickey finishes off Gazzo’s shoe. The mobster gets to his feet and brushes himself down and appears pleased with Mickey’s hand work. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Ya’ shine like a porch monkey. You know the pool joint? Be there at eight thirty sharp. Here’s a little something for you, Mickey. 13.

Gazzo hands over a five dollar bill. Mickey knows better than to take the tainted moolah, but it’s more money than he’s seen in a long time. TEENAGE MICKEY Swell. Say, how’d you know my name? Gazzo adjusts his hat ‘just-so’ and strolls casually away. MASSIMO GAZZO You don’t think I hear things? Mickey takes out a small flask of illegal booze and swigs deeply as he considers the specter of opportunity that fades ominously in the distance.

EXT. LOW RENT NEIGHBORHOOD, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - EVENING OUT OF BUSINESS signs hang above once prosperous shop fronts. Tired Mickey wanders along the gloomy walkway. He carries his shine box under his left arm and swigs from his small hip flask. All around him HUNGRY FIGURES pound the sidewalk in search of a slice of hope and a serving of dignity. On a street corner a couple of CACKLING COPS beat a desperate JEWISH IMMIGRANT with their wooden batons, laughing louder with every brutal swing. He pleads for mercy but to no avail. The more injustice Mickey sees around him the more his rage builds. He squeezes the flask neck until his knuckles almost burst through his skin. He swiftly polishes off the last of the booze and continues angrily on his way.

EXT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL, NORTH FIRST STREET - EVENING Mickey stops outside of Gazzo’s seedy establishment. He makes a move to enter but stops momentarily; his conscience weighing heavy within him. A disheveled YOUNG COUPLE huddled in an adjacent doorway stare up at Mickey in absolute despondency - their meagre possessions heaped behind them in a shabby heap of despair. The FRAIL MOTHER holds her SCREAMING BABY close to her empty nipple as it shrieks for milk. The harrowing cries pierce Mickey to the quick. Years of grinding poverty have cut Mickey deep and his anger and frustration for a way out seep from his every pore. Filled with an unsettled mix of booze-fueled courage and blatant desperation he vanishes through the dingy doorway.

INT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL - CONTINUOUS A typically seedy cover for an illegal racket. Mickey enters and ALL EYES are on him. 14.

The atmosphere is heavy with suspicion and paranoia as SCOUNDRELS and LOWLIFES hover around shoddy pool tables waiting for a chance to chalk up a kill. Mickey approaches a MENACING MOBSTER who stands at the entrance to a shadowy hallway. TEENAGE MICKEY I’m here to see Mister Gazzo. The imposing figure gestures permission for him to pass.

INT. DARK HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS At the far end of the hallway Gazzo appears from out of a side room. He wipes fresh blood from his hands and clocks the uneasy teenager in the distance. He waves Mickey over whose anxiety grows with every step. MASSIMO GAZZO In there. Gazzo points toward the side room. Mickey swallows hard, unsure of Gazzo’s intentions. The largest part of him wants to run for his life but he musters all his inner will and enters.

INT. SIDE ROOM - CONTINUOUS A dank, sparse abode. Looks like hell with a sink basin. Mickey is confronted by the unsettling sight of a badly beaten, unconscious SNITCH strapped tightly to a chair. The door SLAMS behind Mickey, startling him. MASSIMO GAZZO Look at Rip Van Winkle here. Gazzo walks over and leans into the tormented man’s ear. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) You know what happened to the bird that shit in its own nest? A BEEFY HOOD hands Gazzo a pair of nasty-looking pliers. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) That’s right, it got its filthy wings clipped! Gazzo grabs the stoolie’s right hand and shares a cackle with his fellow hood as he proceeds with the torture. Mickey turns away. Gazzo quickly finishes his ‘handiwork’ and ushers Mickey out the room. 15.

INT. DARK HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Gazzo turns to Mickey with a face that would freeze the balls off a polar bear. MASSIMO GAZZO Stay loyal and everything will be sunshine and rainbows. And Mickey about our little understanding? Just you remember: one swallow don’t make a freakin’ summer.

EXT. OBSCURE LOCATION - TWILIGHT White light and glare. Dreamlike. Mickey is running through a ROARING CROWD in SLOW MOTION. He claws his way through the stifling hustle and bustle. He reaches out at a SOLEMN FIGURE with its back to him. It moves further away and out of his desperate grasp. Mickey mouths SILENT WORDS filled with frustration. His face is wrenching and tearful. He finally reaches the somber figure and grabs at its shoulder. It swings around to face him. It is revealed as Mickey’s deceased father, ABE Goldmill. His face is DEATHLY WHITE and his DARK RED EYES stream with blood. He reaches out to Mickey. ABE GOLDMILL I’M DEAD.

INT. LIVING ROOM, MICKEY’S JOINT, DOWNTOWN - NIGHT Mickey’s sweltering face jumps into frame. He tries to find his bearings as he comes around from his unnerving nightmare. He climbs off his dingy bed and walks toward the musty window. He lifts up the rattling wooden frame and breaths in the putrid mix of garbage and sewer gas as his shaking hand reaches for an illegal brew on a nearby table. He drinks deeply, wiping away the HAUNTING IMAGE of his murdered father. He watches through hazy eyes at the debauchery playing out on the shadowy street below. TWO VAGRANTS fight over an empty bottle of moonshine. The bigger hobo throws the smaller bum to the ground and jumps on his neck and head. The depressing show of inhumanity could be Mickey’s future and his uneasy features show it. He pulls back from the window frame and closes his eyes. His face is a picture of despondency and impending despair. He shuffles a few paces to the side and places his head flush to the peeling wallpaper He mumbles something incoherently. His anger builds as he PUNCHES viciously at the wall, harder and faster. 16.

His fists dent the plasterboard as he cries out from the bottom of his tortured heart. He screams and punches until his bloody knuckles can take no more. He drops to his knees in a heap of disintegrating hopelessness. The years of struggle and violence have finally caught up with Mickey Goldmill and he falls apart like a ruptured soul.

EXT. ENZIO’S GROCERY STORE, CANTRELL STREET - DAY The well-stocked vegetable outlet looks a lot like the one Mickey robbed a couple of years back. He stops outside and stubs out a cigarette before disappearing through the store front.

INT. ENZIO’S GROCERY STORE - CONTINUOUS Mickey approaches the counter and is greeted by jovial, rotund shopkeeper ENZIO PENNINO. Hoagie Carmichael’s classic HEART AND SOUL plays on a tinny radio. ENZIO PENNINO Yo, Mickey, how’s it going? TEENAGE MICKEY Just swell. How’s Maria? ENZIO PENNINO The wife? It’s bad news, Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY She still sick? ENZIO PENNINO No, she’s still freakin’ breathing. She’s the only woman I know who cooks like a hooker and bangs like a cook. The burly shopkeeper hands over his lottery numbers to grinning Mickey who snatches an apple and a bottle of soda. ENZIO PENNINO (CONT’D) Hey, you eat like a bird. You wanna pack on some muscle there. What you want is one of these. You take this bread... Enzio takes a whole italian loaf and fills it with italian ham, salami, tomatoes, lettuce, hot and sweet peppers, onions, pickles, provolone cheese, oil, vinegar, pepper, salt and oregano. Mickey watches on and licks his lips in anticipation. ENZIO PENNINO (CONT’D) There you go, Mickey. Now that’s a sandwich. 17.

TEENAGE MICKEY What ya’ call this beast? ENZIO PENNINO I call it an Enzio or maybe even a Hoagie. TEENAGE MICKEY A Hoagie? ENZIO PENNINO Yeah, after the guy singing on the radio. Hoagie Carmichael. Got a nice ring to it, right? An Enzio Hoagie. That’ll stick, kid. TEENAGE MICKEY What’s the damage? ENZIO PENNINO You don’t have to pay. Mickey coughs up some change and places it on the counter. TEENAGE MICKEY I always pay, Enzio. You know that. ENZIO PENNINO (smiles) Yeah, I know that. TEENAGE MICKEY Maria still good to look after Angel, tonight? ENZIO PENNINO Sure. She loves the kid. Don’t forget to give my best to Gazzo. Mickey salutes and disappears through the shop door. Enzio continues marking his receipts as a SMALL DOG appears and snarls by his leg. It tears viciously at his ankle. ENZIO PENNINO (CONT’D) Get away, you little rat bastard, ya’!

EXT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET, PHILADELPHIA - DAY Assorted STREET TYPES and WISEGUYS hover around the entrance. They smoke hard and talk harder. Mickey appears around the corner. A couple of DRUNKS wave an acknowledgment. Mickey waves back and swipes a smoke from an extended, craggy hand and enters the gym. 18.

INT. ANGELO’S GYM - CONTINUOUS The gym HEAVES with the animated vitality of brutal youth. Mickey strolls in and observes the pugilistic pomp from a distance. BLACK and WHITE BOXERS hit the speed bags, jump the skipping ropes and pound heavy bags - bashing out a sweating chorus of pent up fury that plays out a cacophony of hope-fired hate. In the ring at the far end of the gym SPARRING PARTNERS snort through heavy nostrils as they pummel away at each other, each seeking an opening that will find the spaghetti basket and bend the other one double. One of them succeeds. Mickey watches a BOXING TRAINER holding the heavy bag for a STOCKY CONTENDER who thuds the bag like a wild elephant. The trainer catches Mickey through the corner of his eye and turns to face him. It is Angelo Carmine. He has filled out substantially in the last ten years or so. He’s heavier set with a battle-scarred face but is instantly recognizable. He finishes with his prospect and makes his way over to Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY Looks kinda’ promising? ANGELO You think so? He’s got a crystal chin and a gut full a’ butterfly shit. I’ve seen more potential in a potato. TEENAGE MICKEY A potato? ANGELO The way he takes shots to the head it won’t be long before he’s a bona fide vegetable. Gotta’ tomato in the making. Angelo guides Mickey through an adjacent door that leads to a back room. ANGELO (CONT’D) You lookin’ real peachy. You staying strong, Mickey? TEENAGE MICKEY Yeah, Gazzo keeps me real busy. 19.

INT. LOCKER ROOM - CONTINUOUS The dank room is lined with rusty metal lockers. Broken benches run the width of the clammy room. Mickey enters followed by Angelo who closes the door swiftly behind him. TEENAGE MICKEY I want you to know I ain’t happy about this. It don’t sit right in my gut. ANGELO You’re a good kid - you’re just up to your neck in shit like the rest of us. Angelo walks over to a locker, opens it and takes out a wad of bank notes. He hands them to the reluctant Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY I spoke to Gazzo about the rates. He’s being pinched by the stripes. ANGELO Who can tell a cop from a crook these days? An angel from a devil? The line is gettin’ blurred, Mickey. Mickey sits down to rest his weary feet. He examines a hole in his shoe where his muddy toe pokes out. TEENAGE MICKEY I got word about the fight tonight. It’s Lang. The animal that blinded Noodles Cafuano. ANGELO What you worried about? I'm taking another dive, ain’t I? TEENAGE MICKEY I just think that one day you’ll take one-too-many punches and then, maybe, one day, you ain’t gonna’ get up no more. ANGELO I got to fight to pay back the moolah, you know that. A few more brawls and Gazzo will have his dough and the joint’s all mine. Angelo closes his locker and turns the key until it clicks. ANGELO (CONT’D) Come on, let’s get outta’ here, it stinks. 20.

INT. ANGELO’S GYM - CONTINUOUS Angelo walks Mickey back toward the entrance, proudly eyeing the mishmash of prospects that continue their punishing regimes. ANGELO I got big plans for this place, Mickey. One day, I swear we’re going to breed a champ here and I’m gonna’ hang that goddamn belt right on that wall over there. TEENAGE MICKEY Wouldn’t that be a thing a’ beauty? Angelo’s optimistic mood changes. ANGELO I appreciate you looking after Angel for me. I’ll collect her after the fight tonight, okay? TEENAGE MICKEY Sure. I’ll make it over later. ANGELO Ah, who wants to see your ol’ buddy get mangled and embarrassed anyway? Kiss the angel for me, will ya’? Mickey waves and exits the sweltering joint. Angelo Carmine disappears back through the pugilistic sea of blood, sweat and tears.

EXT. ST. LOUIS SCHOOL, SPRUCE SREET - DAY A large brick building that houses the future winners and the losers of the capitalistic rat race. Mickey strolls along a path that leads to the large metal entrance gates. As he makes his way into the buzzing school yard he spies a HECTIC BRAWL taking place. He peers over the circle of combat and pushes pell-mell through the small circle of JEERING YOUTH. TEENAGE MICKEY Angel? He steps forward and pulls a THUGGISH BOY off an ANGRY GIRL who is being pinned to the ground. The fiery pre-teen climbs to her feet and makes a beeline for the boy whom Mickey holds back. She whacks him flush on the snout, knocking him flat on his backside. 21.

YOUNG ANGELINA That’s what you get for being a tattle-tail-snail, Clemenza! Mickey hastily grabs the girl by the arm and hurries her out of the heaving school yard. In the background the boy’s infantile SCHOOL CHUMS ridicule his humiliating defeat.

EXT. SIDEWALK, SPRUCE STREET - CONTINUOUS Mickey walks the feisty young girl along the assorted shop fronts that line the busy street. YOUNG ANGELINA I punched him real good, didn’t I? Just like pa showed me. ANGELINA CARMINE (10) - a fiery, dark-haired youngster with a wit and savvy beyond her years. A tough, good-natured cookie. TEENAGE MICKEY I don’t think your pa would be too happy if he knew you were fighting with boys, Angelina. Boys can be real mean sometimes, ya’ know? YOUNG ANGELINA That blabber chops Clemenza deserved it. He told teacher I was cheating in class. TEENAGE MICKEY And were you? YOUNG ANGELINA Yeah, but that’s not the point. Uncle Mickey, can I have a piggy? Angelina jumps on his back. He lifts her up onto his shoulders. TEENAGE MICKEY You’re getting kinda’ heavy for this. Angelina holds onto Mickey’s hat, full of the joy of youth. YOUNG ANGELINA I can see the whole world from up here, uncle Mickey. I can see the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and everything. TEENAGE MICKEY Ain’t that something? They round a corner. 22.

YOUNG ANGELINA Papa isn’t going to get hurt again tonight, is he? TEENAGE MICKEY Don’t you worry about a thing. Your pa’s pretty tough and the guy he’s fighting? Why, he’s only two feet tall and wears a frilly dress. Angelina beams from ear-to-ear. YOUNG ANGELINA You’re funny. Where we going? Mickey hops over a DRUNKEN VAGRANT sprawled on the sidewalk. TEENAGE MICKEY I’m taking you to aunt Maria’s. You like your aunt Maria, don’t ya’? YOUNG ANGELINA She’s okay. But she sure parps a lot and Stoney keeps pooing on the carpet. TEENAGE MICKEY That’s what dogs do sometimes. YOUNG ANGELINA Uncle Enzio wasn’t happy ‘cause he slipped on the poop and bashed his head on the floorboards. He said words I didn’t understand and threw Stoney out of the window.

EXT. ENZIO’S GROCERY SHOP, CANTRELL STREET - DAY Mickey stops outside of Enzio Pennino’s vegetable outlet. He kneels down and lowers Angelina down off of his shoulder. TEENAGE MICKEY You be a good girl for aunt Maria and no locking the cat in the cupboard again, alright? Me and your pa will see you after the fight, okay? YOUNG ANGELINA I hope papa wins. Love you, uncle Mickey. She throws her arms around Mickey, plants a kiss on his forehead and vanishes excitedly through the entrance. A DOG FLIES OUT OF A SECOND STORY WINDOW. 23.

It lands on a grocery box next to Mickey. It yelps and bolts off down the street. An angry CRAP-COVERED FACE yells out from the window above. ENZIO PENNINO That dog shit again! Mickey smiles to himself, lights a cigarette and continues on his way.

EXT. VARIOUS LOCATIONS - SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - DAY Mickey runs around town collecting money for Gazzo’s numbers racket. He takes cash from SHOPKEEPERS and VARIOUS BUSINESSES. It isn’t something he enjoys and judging by the faces of the people he filches from the feeling is mutual.

EXT. DOCKYARD, SOUTH BROAD ST - EVENING The tangerine sun sets majestically on the Delaware river. Cargo hooks and large metal winches decorate the waterfront like metallic Christmas tinsel. It is calm and serene and in stark contrast to the usual hectic loading and unloading of haulage ships and freight containers. A faint light emanates from a warehouse near the waterside. Moving closer, a distant sound becomes more recognizable as the jeering of an EXCITED CROWD.

INT. FREIGHT WAREHOUSE - EVENING An electrified gathering of blood-crazed FIGHT FANS clamor for blood as two BARE KNUCKLE FIGHTERS wallop the life out of each other. FIGHT FAN #1 Tear him a new one, Carmine! FIGHT FAN #2 I got fifty bucks on you, ya’ lame guinea! Bust him up! TUREAUD LANG - a black bruiser built like a brick shit house batters away at Angelo Carmine’s heavily bruised body. Angelo’s face looks like a pound of dripping mincemeat. Watching from an overhanging handrail is Massimo Gazzo and a few of his MOBSTER CRONIES who exchange words of crooked confidence, assured of the rigged outcome. 24.

MOBSTER #1 What’s he trying to do out there? His eyes are closed and everything. MOBSTER #2 The guy’s got brain damage. MASSIMO GAZZO What are you blind, da’ both of yuz? Can’t you see he’s trying to give a good show? MOBSTER #2 I ain’t so sure, Mister Gazzo. It don’t look like he wants to go down to me. Lang continues to make gruesome work of Angelo Carmine’s battered visage. One MIGHTY BLOW finally knocks defiant Angelo down onto the cold concrete. He can hardly breath through his bloodied teeth as the self-satisfied Lang raises his hands above his head in vicious victory. A CHEERING CLAN from the SCARFO CRIME FAMILY punch the air. Making his way to the front of the crowd is anxious Mickey. He’s just in time to catch Angelo’s brutal demise. He watches as his old friend struggles for air and claws at the floor trying desperately to get away. Jeering Lang ambles over to the floored Angelo and without a second thought STAMPS DOWN hard on his kneecap. Lang BODY DROPS the other knee and it snaps with a sickening CRACK. Angelo cries out in agony as his kneecap pops. STIRRING IMAGES FLASH inside of Mickey’s mind. Angelo carries young Mickey in his arms and away from the children’s orphanage. A callous cop batters the life out of Angelo’s body. From behind a wall frightened young Mickey watches helplessly then RUNS AWAY down an alley leaving his friend behind. Fury builds in teenage Mickey’s eyes as the grinning Lang leaps onto Angelo’s shaking ankle and CRUNCHES it in a bloody sock. Mickey can’t take anymore of the savage injustice and runs over to battered Angelo and drags him away from the spiteful animal that is Tureaud Lang. TUREAUD LANG (pointing) I ain’t finished with him yet, boy. 25.

Lang’s huge hands grab hold of Mickey and CHUCKS him back into the crowd. He picks Angelo up and grips him in a punishing bear hug. He proceeds to SQUEEZE the life out of the semi-conscious Carmine. Lang’s eyes widen in murderous blood lust. Furious Mickey leaps back into the arena and PUNCHES Lang hard in the side. Lang drops Angelo who collapses in a mangled mess at his feet. Mickey drags Angelo’s limp body from the ring and hands him to a few of the jeering crowd. Mickey turns to face the awesome opponent. TEENAGE MICKEY (under breath) I ain’t running this time, Angelo. The big fighter beckons angry Mickey toward him. TUREAUD LANG Come on! The crowd ERUPT in excitement. MASSIMO GAZZO What’s he doin’ in there? MOBSTER #1 Got a death wish, he has. Lang grimaces menacingly through bloody gums as he gestures Mickey forward. Mickey raises his fists in a classic bare knuckle pose. Lang throws SEARING CROSSES and POWERHOUSE SWINGS but Mickey somehow evades the onslaught. TEENAGE MICKEY I just want to clear up somethin’ about the rules around here. TUREAUD LANG There ain’t no rules. Mickey LUNGES forward and delivers the most AGONIZING PUNCH to the BALL SACK ever. The black fighter turns blue - his eyes nearly popping out of his skull. TEENAGE MICKEY No rules, ya’ say? Mickey delivers a hate-filled RIGHT CROSS that SHATTERS the jaw of brutish Lang sending him plummeting sparko to the floor. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT’D) That’s my kinda’ fight! 26.

The crowd go silent. Gazzo’s cigar DROPS from his mouth. Mickey walks over to Angelo, picks him up and throws him over his shoulder. He pushes his way through the awestruck crowd and out of the warehouse. Lang lays flat out like a slab of comatose beef.

EXT. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - NIGHT Breathless Mickey staggers along the sidewalk carrying the unconscious Angelo in his arms. He stumbles into the large infirmary through green metal doors that adorn the entrance.

INT. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT Mickey is greeted by a NURSE and a couple of PORTERS. They swiftly take mangled Angelo from him, place him on a trolley and push him away down the corridor. Mickey watches as his badly wounded friend vanishes through an emergency ward door. He takes a step back and close to exhaustion, collapses on a steel chair.

EXT. ENZIO’S GROCERY SHOP, CANTRELL STREET - NIGHT In a candlelit window frame high above the shop sign the seconds seem like hours as young Angelina waits anxiously for any sign of Mickey or her father.

INT. CORRIDOR, JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - MORNING Sleeping Mickey is slumped forward in a waiting chair. He is woken by the shake of a DOCTOR’S hand on his shoulder. DOCTOR You can see your friend now. Mickey stirs and comes around quickly. TEENAGE MICKEY (hazy) How’s he doin’? DOCTOR His jaw is broken, ribs and ankle are pretty much shattered. Possible internal injuries. Hard to say what his chances are. TEENAGE MICKEY He’ll pull through though, right? 27.

DOCTOR I don’t know. How did you say he got like this? TEENAGE MICKEY Fighting. He’s a fighter. DOCTOR Not anymore he isn’t.

INT. HOSPITAL WARD - CONTINUOUS Mickey and the doctor enter through swinging doors. The doctor points out Angelo in the far corner. Mickey shakes his hand and the physician exits. Mickey approaches the bedside and takes off his cap. He takes in the uneasy sight of unconscious Angelo strapped in bandages and casts. He steps in closer, gripping the brim of his cap. Mickey bends forward and kisses Angelo on the forehead. He places his cap back on his head and walks sadly away.

EXT. PHILADELPHIA ZOO, 34TH STREET, GIRARD AVENUE - DAY Mickey strolls alongside the tiger pen with Angelina. She appears half-interested in the colorful big cats that prowl menacingly along the enclosure. YOUNG ANGELINA How come we ain’t going to see papa like you promised? TEENAGE MICKEY Like I said: your pa, he kinda’ hurt his leg a bit and the doctor, well he said it would be best if he got a chance to rest on his own for a while. He did real good though. YOUNG ANGELINA Did he really win the fight? TEENAGE MICKEY Sure did! Why, that other guy didn’t stand a chance. He holds up his fists and runs around her, shadow boxing comically. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT’D) Your pa gave him the old one-two and before you knew it he was as flat as one of aunt Maria’s pancakes. Mickey falls on his back with his tongue hanging out. 28.

YOUNG ANGELINA Really? TEENAGE MICKEY Sure! The other guy didn’t know what hit him. You could see little stars and birds flying around his head and everything. Angelina isn’t buying Mickey’s antics. YOUNG ANGELINA He got hurt bad, didn’t he? Mickey kneels up to face her increasingly tearful eyeline. He chooses his words carefully. TEENAGE MICKEY It’s just going to take a little time for him to get better, that’s all. Please, Angel, don’t cry now. Angelina throws her arms around Mickey and sobs. YOUNG ANGELINA I don’t want papa to die. Do you think he’ll die? TEENAGE MICKEY Your pa ain’t gonna’ die, Angel. Don’t you worry about that. Everything is going to be just swell. Mickey smiles and lifts her high up onto his broad shoulders. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT’D) Everything’s gonna’ be sunshine and rainbows.

EXT. BOOKBINDER’S RESTAURANT, WALNUT STREET - DAY An extravagant sign hangs above a classy window dressing. “America’s famous seafood restaurant.” Mickey and Gazzo sit at a large table by the window.

INT. BOOKBINDER’S RESTARAUNT - DAY Mickey appears ill-at-ease in the plush surroundings. Gazzo scoffs a plate of something slushy and unappetising. He disposes of the slimy clam down his gullet. Mickey watches as he licks his lips and saviors the delicacy. 29.

MASSIMO GAZZO Scarfo and his boys ain’t too happy some Jew boy wiped out their top dog. Lang was one of their best bruisers and now he’s wearing his balls for earrings. TEENAGE MICKEY I couldn’t stand there and watch Angelo get crushed like a bunch a’ grapes. MASSIMO GAZZO Yeah, you got dignity - good for you. But I got a problem here. Angelo, he still owes me a wad for the gym and from what I hear he ain’t gonna’ be jumpin’ no fences anytime soon. TEENAGE MICKEY Don’t you worry, Mister Gazzo, he’ll figure a way to pay you back. MASSIMO GAZZO I ain’t worrying. I’ve already figured a way. Gazzo raises his wine glass and gulps it until empty. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) I want you to fight for me. TEENAGE MICKEY Fight for ya’? MASSIMO GAZZO Listen, you took out their best fighter and now they’re all over the place looking for ya’. TEENAGE MICKEY I was just taking care of my friend. Can’t blame me for that. MASSIMO GAZZO You don’t understand me, kid. Nobody ever put that gorilla on his ass. Now every hustler on the South side wants your dukes. A WAITER approaches the table and clears an empty bottle. He eyes Mickey’s shabby clothes and strolls snobbishly away. TEENAGE MICKEY Mister Gazzo, I’ve spent most of my life fighting one thing or another. I don’t think I want to spend the rest of it doing the same. 30.

MASSIMO GAZZO Well, let me put it to you this way: you fight for me and I’ll make sure the gym is safe and the debt is cleared. You don’t? I promise you that Carmine and his little Angel will be out on the street selling themselves faster than a three cent dock whore.

INT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY It is dark and still. The entrance door opens, casting a light that silhouettes a hanging heavy bag. Angelo enters on crutches followed closely by Mickey who flips a light switch that illuminates the gym. ASSORTED BOXERS Happy birthday, Angelo! The excited gathering rush forward to greet their hobbling mentor. Handshakes aplenty. Angelo is thrilled to be back. Angelina appears proudly holding a birthday cake. A small candle flickers away in the middle. She reaches her father and smiles proudly. YOUNG ANGELINA Happy birthday, daddy. Mickey takes the cake from Angelina as she throws her arms around smiling Angelo. They embrace as Mickey smiles on admiringly.

INT. UPSTAIRS LIVING ROOM, ANGELO’S GYM - THAT EVENING Pictures of Sicilian landscapes hang from the wall and small Italian figurines decorate the mantel. A tatty sofa and a few wooden chairs round out the sparse but habitable abode. Mickey and Angelo sit at the dinner table finishing a humble meal of fish and vegetables. ANGELO You’re nothing but a filthy Jew to them, Mickey. They’ll crap all over ya’. TEENAGE MICKEY It ain’t right I don’t do the right thing by you and Angel. It don’t lay good in my heart, ya’ know? I’d rather Gazzo dig out my eyes than see you on the street. ANGELO We’ll find another way. 31.

TEENAGE MICKEY How long ya’ think Gazzo’s gonna’ give ya’ to find the dough? He means what he says. You know that. I just can’t sit by and let you lose this place, Angelo. Angelina peers around her bedroom door and listens to the conversation. A look of unease before she disappears again. ANGELO It ain’t your responsibility. Those guys, they’re animals. It was my choice to get involved. Not yours. I’ll get out of it. TEENAGE MICKEY I don’t really figure on fighting the rest of my life. It’s all I’ve ever done. But maybe this time something good can come out of something bad? Angelo reaches out to clear the dishes but struggles to climb to his feet. ANGELO What’s the matter? You wanna’ end up a cripple like this - or worse? I couldn’t watch ya’ getting hurt. TEENAGE MICKEY You looked out for me when I was a kid. You took me off the street when nobody would stop to piss on me in the gutter. If it weren’t for you I wouldn't be here. Maybe I'll get hurt, maybe I won’t. But no matter what happens we got to fight our heart out for this. One way or the other we gotta’ pay.

EXT. SIDEWALK, CANTRELL STREET - MORNING Mickey walks Angelina to school. She skips along on her jumping rope but appears somewhat pensive. TEENAGE MICKEY Ah, it's only a fight or two and I can look after myself pretty good. YOUNG ANGELINA I don’t want you to get hurt like papa did. I don’t like it when he cries. It makes me sad. TEENAGE MICKEY And who’s gonna’ hurt your uncle Mickey, eh? (MORE) 32. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT'D) Don’t you know I got a stone jaw to go wit’ the rocks inside my head? I got marbles for eyes and boulders for ears. YOUNG ANGELINA (smiles) And gravel for brains? TEENAGE MICKEY That’s right, kid. I’m one hundred percent indestructible rock!

EXT. JUNK METAL YARD, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - NIGHT Heaps of scrap metal are piled high like small metallic skyscrapers. The iron and steel walls surround the seedy gathering of GAMBLERS, RACKETEERS and FIGHT FANS. Money changes hands as PUNTERS place bets and chase the odds. Gazzo and his crew send glances of mutual respect toward the SCARFO MOB who return the gesture then mouth silent insults under their breath. The mob cheer as Mickey appears from out of the crowd. He takes off his jacket and shirt to reveal a wiry but muscular body. Mickey’s opponent emerges from the opposite end of the horde. He is BONE-CRUSHER KRUG. His bald head shines with sweat as his anvil-like chin protrudes like the head of a shark. The two fighters step toward each other inside of the circle of money-driven blood lust that has formed around them. Mickey’s confident opponent looks him up and down and grins at his smaller frame. Krug unexpectedly throws a RIGHT CROSS that SKIMS Mickey’s forehead. Mickey steps back. The crowd ROAR and the FIGHT IS ON. KRUG circles Mickey, stalking his prey like an animal. A few jabs at Mickey who ducks easily out of reach. Krug sends out a left hook that catches Mickey flush on the jaw. Then another. Mickey is caught with a flurry of HARD JABS to the nose and gut. He appears to be taking Krug’s best shots without fighting back. MOBSTER #1 What’s he doin’? Go on, hit the bastard! Mickey takes another hard cross to the temple. Cuts open above his left eye and his lips dribble with blood. 33.

He doesn’t raise his fists and continues to take blinding punches to the face and body. The crowd are beginning to sense a set-up. Boos and hissing fill the air. FIGHT FAN #1 Go on - take the dive, you pigeon, ya’! Gazzo, appearing unnervingly assured, watches Mickey taking a savage beating. Mickey’s brow looks like raw sliced beef as blood trickles down his chest in crimson streaks. MOBSTER #1 (to Gazzo) What’s he tryin’ to prove out there, that he’s some kind a’ tough guy? MOBSTER #2 Look at him. He’s scared to throw a punch. The chickenhawk’s turned yellow. Mickey, almost blinded with blood and sweat peers toward Gazzo through squinting eyes. Gazzo nods his head. Mickey suddenly explodes with an UPPERCUT FROM HELL that SHATTERS Krug’s teeth. The meatball drops like a bad habit. He kneels on wobbly knees as Mickey winds back and lets loose a BOLO PUNCH that would kill an elephant. Krug is out cold. The fight is over. The CROWD ERUPT. Massimo Gazzo, all smiles, runs into the ring and raises Mickey’s bloody arms in victory. He turns Mickey to face the Scarfo mob who grin knowingly and get the message as Gazzo shows off his fearsome new fighter. The crowd hit the air and CHEER the bloody Mickey Goldmill.

BARE KNUCKLE FIGHT MONTAGE - (JULY TO DECEMBER - 1922) The sequence plays out in scratchy B & W FILM STOCK giving the sense of impending technological change. The only color we see is BLOOD - shocking and in your face. The classic Georgian’s song, "I wish I could shimmy like my Sister Kate" plays over the brutal brawling. Mickey lands a devastating right cross to the face of a blood-splattered OPPONENT who lands flat on his back. Mickey KNEE DROPS his chest breaking his sternum. Gazzo raises his hands in victory. FISTS CLENCH dollar bills. MOUTHS YELL their support. Gazzo counts a heap of dough and shares it with a BENT COP. 34.

Another ANGRY BRUISER chews on Mickey’s nose, ripping at it with his rancid choppers. Mickey responds with a crotch grab and twist. Mickey head butts the adversary splattering his eye. Mickey leaps on him and pummels his face into a mess of trifle. Gazzo counts up a mountain of bills and takes a large cut for the gym debt. Mickey is handed a few meagre bills but appears grateful. Angelo sits at home and appears depressed. He winces in agony and drinks deep to numb the pain of his injuries. Gazzo and SCARFO shake hands and make an UNDERHANDED DEAL. A clearly reluctant Mickey is on his knees being THRASHED harshly by an animal-like BEARDED BRAWLER. The beating comes to a sorrowful end and Mickey has lost. It is painful to watch. Gazzo and Scarfo look on gleefully as their agreement is honored by the battered and bleeding Mickey. Bandaged Mickey sits in his small room with his head in his hands. He WEEPS away his hurtful pugilistic betrayal. Mickey approaches a newsstand and picks up a newspaper in his rough hands. The INQUIRER headline proclaims: “TRIUMPHANT DEMPSEY DEMOLISHES JIM DARCY IN 4 ROUND SLAYING!” Angelina sits in class as her TEACHER points to a blackboard. Angelina knows the answer. Her smiling tutor praises her. Mickey finishes off a mean-looking CHINESE FIGHTER. He turns away assured of victory. Unexpectedly the man jumps up and ROUNDHOUSE KICKS Mickey from behind, landing deep into his kidneys but Mickey doesn’t go down. He runs forward and delivers an ELBOW to the eye of his foe. The fighter falls and rolls on the floor clutching his face. Gazzo and his mob applaud the savage display. Exhausted and downcast, Mickey departs the fight circle without raising his hands or acknowledging smirking Gazzo and his cronies. Drunken Mickey watches angrily from his first story window as the poor on the street appear poorer and the rich appear even richer. He throws a bottle of empty booze onto the sidewalk and slams the window down shutting out the world. BARE KNUCKLE FIGHT MONTAGE ENDS

INT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY A pair of fast hands hammer a hanging speed ball. Angelo looks on. 35.

ANGELO Let the rhythm flow through ya’. Relax the breathing. That a’ boy. At that moment, Gazzo, along with TWO LARGE HOODS enter the gym. They are well-dressed (over-coat, ties, flashy suits.) Gazzo sits down near the ring and watches two YOUNG BOXERS sparring away. His accomplices sit nearby. They look around suspiciously. Gazzo watches as the sparring partners dance around each other - occasionally throwing a punch here and there. MASSIMO GAZZO Look at ‘em. They don’t know whether to fight or fuck each other. Angelo notices Gazzo and his cohorts. Judging by his taut expression they’re not welcome. ANGELO (to boxer) Keep time wit’ it. Angelo turns away from his speed ball-hitting PROSPECT and limps over to Gazzo. MASSIMO GAZZO Kid looks sharp. ANGELO Yeah, I’m working on it. MASSIMO GAZZO Nice to hear. Hope he’s better than that canvas muncher that went down last night. First round. What are you tryin’ to do to me, Carmine? ANGELO You had one of my best. MASSIMO GAZZO Well, tell me: how am I supposed to get you a shot with Scarfo when all you keep doing is sending me over bums with butterflies for balls? ANGELO The kid had a glass jaw. Nothing can train that out of a fighter. MASSIMO GAZZO You know Scarfo runs the legit circuit but still you keep on delivering me these sacks a’ shit. What am I goin’ to do wit’ ya’? 36.

ANGELO Takes time to train these kids. MASSIMO GAZZO Time? That’s all I seem to give you these days. Like a goddamn watchmaker, I am. Gazzo gets up to leave. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) I think it’s about time I got myself a real fighter. And I think I know just where to find one. He strolls a few steps then stops. He bends over, points to his backside and yells at the two boxers in the ring. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Hey, you stick it right in here, ya’ pansy fruits! Gazzo and his gang cackle as they make their way out the gym.

INT. GAZZO’S OFFICE, POOL HALL - DAY Mickey sits across the desk from Gazzo who puffs on a large Havana and drinks bootleg whiskey from a crystal decanter. TEENAGE MICKEY I just figure now that the debt’s paid I don’t need to fight no more. I figure I'll help you with the numbers and Angelo wit’ the gym. MASSIMO GAZZO Just let me do the figuring, okay? I’m not talking street brawling. I’m talking about the legitimate boxing ring, here. TEENAGE MICKEY I don’t think I'd be too good wit’ all them, you know, boxing rules? MASSIMO GAZZO Screw the rules. Take a look at that son-of-a-bitch Jack Dempsey. He’s making a fortune knocking out guys that wouldn’t last five minutes in the ring with you. Gazzo stubs out his cigar and fills up his glass. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) I’ll even take you off the numbers racket. (MORE) 37. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Look, I’m giving you a chance to make some real dough, here. Don’t piss it away like a moulignon. You’re a good fighter. With proper ring training you’ll go a long way. TEENAGE MICKEY And make me a heap of dough like last time? MASSIMO GAZZO Angelo owed a truckload on that place. You did your good deed. There’s no real moolah in brawling, kid - but in the ring? Mickey considers briefly as he studies his damaged hands. The painful brawling wounds are still agonizingly fresh on his injured face and knuckles. TEENAGE MICKEY I’m sorry, Mister Gazzo, but I figure my fighting days are over. Gazzo gestures irately and Mickey rises to leave. MASSIMO GAZZO Remember those dreams you had? That fame and glory? Well, they’re all yours, kid. All you got to do is fight for ‘em. You hear me? Fight for ‘em!

EXT. COLONIAL MOVIE HOUSE, TENTH AVENUE - EVENING Mickey saunters along the sidewalk when something catches his hazy eye. He stops outside of the cinema that is running Rudolph Valentino’s latest romance, “BLOOD AND SAND.” He watches as TWO YOUNG WOMEN drool over a poster showing off the matinee idol’s good looks. YOUNG WOMAN #1 Rudolph Valentino. Ain’t he something? YOUNG WOMAN #2 He sure is. Now, that’s a real somebody. Mickey turns to them and smiles. TEENAGE MICKEY Everybody’s a somebody, ain’t they? The women stare down their nose at him. 38.

YOUNG WOMAN #1 He ain’t no bum that’s for sure. TEENAGE MICKEY All that stuff ain’t for real, ya’ know? It’s all make believe, like a kinda’ fairy story or somethin’. Mickey moves toward them as the women step back, ill-at- ease with Mickey’s friendly manner. YOUNG WOMAN #1 Get lost or I'll call the cops. TEENAGE MICKEY Hey, ladies, don’t be getting the wrong idea, here. I’m just... TWO WELL-DRESSED MEN appear and approach their dates. They eye-up the somewhat inebriated Mickey standing nearby. SHORT MAN This guy bothering you? The women gesture that he is. TALL MAN (mumbling) Looks like a panhandling, Kike. The tallest of the two men turns to Mickey. TALL MAN (CONT’D) I don’t think it’s nice you upsetting the ladies, boy. Go on beat it before I wipe the floor with you. The smirking foursome group up and proceed to make their way into the cinema entrance. Mickey’s dignity is pricked. TEENAGE MICKEY Just ‘cause you got some nice shoes and a fancy jacket you think you’re better than me? You guys think you’re a couple a’ big shots? Well I ain’t impressed. What you think about that? TALL MAN What you say you slimy little runt? I’ll knock your block off. He storms over to Mickey. YOUNG WOMAN #1 (after him) No, Johnny, don’t. 39.

SHORT MAN Whack that drunken scum out. The tall man reaches out to grab Mickey by the throat but receives a HARD CROSS to the chin. He drops to the floor like a sack of well-dressed potatoes. The women SCREAM as the man’s bulkier buddy rushes in and jumps on Mickey, grabbing him around the neck. Mickey kneels down on one knee and throws him over his shoulder. The stubby escort lands flat on his back and shrieks out in pain. YOUNG WOMAN #1 Don’t hurt him! Mickey lifts the man up by the scruff of the neck and lets loose his poverty-driven rage. TEENAGE MICKEY You think I ain’t a somebody, huh? POLICE WHISTLES sound nearby. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT’D) You ain’t no better than me! SHORT MAN Take my money but don’t hurt me! Enraged Mickey’s eyes fill with tears of frustration. TEENAGE MICKEY I don’t want your dirty money! I just want a chance at a life! You understand me? He lets go of his attacker. He straightens up and staggers back, falling flush against the poster of Valentino. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT’D) It ain’t supposed to be like this. It ain’t right. I don’t wanna’ fight no more. I just want... I just want... Two BURLY POLICEMEN jump Mickey. LARGE COP Get here, ya’ goddamn degenerate! They pin him to the ground and blow their whistles as the heavy batons go to work on teenage Mickey’s arms and legs. Rudolph Valentino’s emotionless face overlooks Mickey’s brutal beating. 40.

INT. POLICE CELL, POLICE PRECINCT - NIGHT A battered but battling Mickey is thrown in the drunk tank. ANGRY COP Get in there, lowlife! The cell door slams shut as bloodied Mickey sprawls on the floor. He jumps to his feet and rushes back toward the bars and reaches out at the ANGRY COP. The infuriated lawman smashes his baton hard against the iron bars bashing Mickey’s fingers. ANGRY COP (CONT’D) You better get used to those bars, boy ‘cause that’s all your filthy immigrant kind ever gonna' see. Your creed ain’t nothing but shit. Never have been and never will be. TEENAGE MICKEY I’ll kill you! ANGRY COP You’re a stinking nobody on your way to no place but the gutter. Mickey unleashes a barrage of kicks and punches as a LARGE COP walks menacingly into frame. LARGE COP We got cages for wild animals. The cops familiar ‘toothy’ grin fires up an already raging Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY I owe you one for Angelo, ya’ pig bastard. This time I’m ready for ya’! The grinning cop stands to the side to reveal a group of pipe-hitting ROOKIES fueled with immigrant-bashing hate. The cell door is yanked open and the THREE BRUTES bundle in on Mickey. Blood splatters the cell walls as a relentless SLOW MOTION rain of bony fists and hard batons pummel the youth beyond his senses. Mickey’s heartfelt cries ECHO through the dank corridors of the rundown police station.

EXT. MIKVEH SYNAGOGUE, EAST STREET - DAY Mickey sits on the steps of the red-bricked building. His vandalized face is barely recognizable from the previous nights beating. 41.

DISTURBING IMAGES B & W/COLOR flash inside his troubled mind. Young Mickey confronts the killer wiping his hands on his dead father’s matted hair. Young Mickey’s half-clothed body cowers under the menacing shadow of the asylum rapist. Young Mickey is beaten to his knees. Leering children jeer at him as powerful blows thunder down on his frail body. Teenage Mickey’s brow looks like raw sliced beef as blood trickles down his chest in crimson streaks. Teenage Mickey pummels an opponent’s features into a mess of bloody trifle as triumphant Mickey raises his hands in bloody victory. A piercing CAR HORN from a Model-T Ford snaps Mickey out of his reverie and back to reality. He climbs to his feet, finishes the last of his illegal brew and staggers into the synagogue.

INT. MIKVEH SYNAGOGUE - CONTINUOUS Mickey enters and touches the small decorative Mezuzah and places his fingertips to his lips. He appears emotional as he takes in the architectural splendor of the shul. TEENAGE MICKEY Now I understand what you meant, pa. Our kind ain’t got no choice but to fight in this life. I guess God made me a fighter so that’s what I’m gonna’ be. Mickey turns away with heartfelt determination. The local RABBI appears and confronts the inebriated lost soul. RABBI What’s the matter, Mickey? Been fighting? You got trouble again? TEENAGE MICKEY Mickey’s always got trouble. RABBI You want to talk? TEENAGE MICKEY About what? God? He ain’t got no time for Mickey Goldmill. RABBI God has time for everyone. Mickey loosens his collar as his frustration rises. 42.

TEENAGE MICKEY Is that right? Well he ain’t got no time for me. Never has, never will. I come to this, like, biblical place out of duty to my father and nothin’ else. Your invisible god ain’t gonna make me happy none. RABBI What would content you? What do you want, Mickey? From your life? TEENAGE MICKEY What do I want? I’ll tell you what I want. I want respect. I want to be admired. I want to be somebody. Do you understand? You get me? RABBI But at what price? TEENAGE MICKEY Whatever it takes. RABBI Mickey, God doesn’t care how rich or successful you become. How famous you get or how well you do. TEENAGE MICKEY Yeah, well he don’t care how poor I get that’s for sure. RABBI All that matters is that you do the right thing. Choose the right way. By yourself and by others. TEENAGE MICKEY If I have to take the wrong path and it gets me out of this life then it’s gonna be worth it for me. Who’s gonna care if I do the right thing and fail? Stay in the gutter where I am. Where I’ve lived my life, where I'll probably die. The Rabbi considers briefly then addresses Mickey. RABBI Your family will know. People you love and who love you will know. You will know. But above all that, God will know. No admirers, no bankers, no hangers-on will ever be more worthwhile a crowd than they. 43.

EXT. STEPS, PHILADELPHIA ART MUSEUM - DAY Mickey sits at the top of the steps of the newly constructed building. He looks out over the vast city landscape. His mind deep in thought and contemplation. He dusts off his cap and then continues on his way.

INT. GAZZO’S OFFICE, POOL HALL - DAY Mickey appears in the doorway straight-faced and meaning business. Gazzo glances up from behind his desk. TEENAGE MICKEY I want that fame and glory. The cigar-puffing mobster smirks from ear-to-ear. MASSIMO GAZZO You got it.

EXT. ROOFTOP, ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY Angelo attends to his homing Pigeons. He opens the coop and throws in some food. Mickey watches as the birds squawk and fight over a handful of seed. ANGELO Look at that? They live side-by- side - day in and day out as peaceful as can be. But as soon as you throw something in the ring they all want to rip each others throats out to get at it. That’s what we are to them, Mickey - nothing but birds. But what can ya’ do? They own the goddamn cage. Angelo reaches in and grabs a pigeon. He holds it up then lets it loose. It takes to the air and flies swiftly away. TEENAGE MICKEY I know I got what it takes. I could beat anyone of those guys. ANGELO You’re a helluva’ brawler, Mickey, I'll give you that. But it takes a special breed of fighter to go from the freedom of the street and adapt to the constraints and rules of the boxing ring. A lot have tried and a helluva’ lot got tanked - me included. 44.

TEENAGE MICKEY I’ll do whatever it takes, Angelo. Angelo picks up a broom and hobbles into the coop and sweeps the muck-covered floor. ANGELO If anybody deserves a shot it’s you, Mickey, and I’ll do whatever I can to help ya’ but you gonna’ have to want this more than anything you’ve ever wanted before in your life. Mickey appears contemplative. TEENAGE MICKEY Maybe this is what I’ve needed all along: a real reason to fight? Do the right thing by all of us. Remember when you said that one day you were gonna’ train a champion and have that belt hanging on the wall? ANGELO Yeah. TEENAGE MICKEY Maybe that champion could be me?

INT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY The vibrant gym is filled to capacity. The sound of grunting and punching fills the air. At ringside Angelo watches Mickey as a COCKY FIGHTER outsmarts him with superior hand speed and flashy footwork. In comparison, Mickey appears strong but clumsy and out of his depth. ANGELO Guard that breadbasket. You’re as open as the grand canyon. Another flurry of lightening blows and Mickey reels back. He’s hurt and is clearly flummoxed. Angelo pokes his head through the ropes and bangs the canvas. ANGELO (CONT’D) You ain’t listening to me. TEENAGE MICKEY I can’t fight wit’ these glove things. I feel like a bear with swollen knuckles. Mickey’s opponent grins at his technical inadequacy and mounting frustration. 45.

ANGELO Just keep your elbows tight in and protect that side. Mickey adopts a classic defensive position. He doesn’t look comfortable in the disciplined stance but somehow finds his own style. The opponent sends in jab-after-jab. Most hit their mark. Mickey adapts somewhat to the confines of technique and begins to instinctively block some of the dazzling handwork. ANGELO (CONT’D) That’s it. Good. Parry that jab. Ride the blow, Mickey. The cocky fighter appears to be getting great pleasure from hitting Mickey as his barrage of whacks become more powerful. The previously tepid jabs become AGONIZING BODY BLOWS. Mickey is on the ropes. His opponent whispers in his ear. COCKY FIGHTER Get back to the streets, ya’ punk. Mickey bounces back and ELBOWS him in the face. TEENAGE MICKEY Son-of-a-bitch! Mickey lets loose a dynamite right - knocking the arrogant fighter flat on his ass. Mickey climbs out the ring, flustered and perspiring. ANGELO What the hell are you doing in there? This ain’t no alley! TEENAGE MICKEY I can’t fight like a tied-up turkey. Mickey’s opponent staggers to his feet unsure of what day it is. Angelo gestures him over. ANGELO Time. Take ten. Mickey’s sparring partner climbs hazily through the ropes and staggers past Angelo and Mickey in a befuddled daze. Angelo grabs him and shoves him in the proper direction. ANGELO (CONT’D) Make that twenty. He wanders off - colliding with every boxer and bag in his path. 46.

TEENAGE MICKEY I guess I hit him pretty hard? ANGELO Forget ‘bout that ‘cause power is one thing but without skill and technique you’re just an animal. You won’t last two minutes in the real ring. If you wanna’ be in with a fighting chance you got to play the fighting game. Mickey takes off the large brown mitts and wipes his brow. TEENAGE MICKEY All this rules stuff. This ain’t like the fighting I know. ANGELO Well, go on back to your boxcars and basements! Go and get your eyes ripped out and your chest caved in. That what you want? Mickey shakes his head. ANGELO (CONT’D) You got a whole lot of heart but you gotta’ whole lot of hate too. We’d need to get that out of you. Discipline that mind if we got any chance of you going the distance. TEENAGE MICKEY Whatever it takes, Angelo. ANGELO Then listen up. We gotta’ start by curbing that rage and channelling all that festering anger into a flurry of blinding devastation. We’ll work on your defense and your timing. We got to make you tight and impenetrable. Angelo’s passion for the fight game rises within him. ANGELO (CONT’D) You’re gonna’ be like the Alcatraz of fighters. No one can break in and you’ll be busting a nut to break out. You’re gonna eat lightning and you’re gonna crap thunder! Now, things are gonna’ change for you around here and the road - it ain’t gonna’ be pretty, but you got two choices, Mickey. Two choices: ADAPT or DIE! 47.

EXT. CHICKEN FARM, DOWNTOWN PHILADELPHIA - DAY Angelo and Mickey stand outside a rickerty fence that overlooks a sea of squawking poultry. TEENAGE MICKEY I don’t like chickens. ANGELO Well they’re smaller than turkeys. Never mind about all that. Now this is where I take all the good prospects to build up their speed. TEENAGE MICKEY By watching chickens? ANGELO No - by catching chickens. Mickey climbs over the shaky fence and walks among the ocean of panicking poultry. TEENAGE MICKEY What’s this got to do with fightin’? ANGELO If you can catch one of these chickens you can catch any itchy little bastard in the ring. A chicken flaps past Mickey’s face. He heads off after it. Angelo watches as Mickey runs amok. He dives forward with his arms outstretched and grabs at anything that moves but doesn’t come close to catching a clucking fowl. He slips on chicken muck and falls flat on his face. A flurry of chicken legs dart past his flustered expression. TEENAGE MICKEY Ah, chicken shit.

INT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY The usually heaving gym is empty. The only sound is that of a heavy bag being clobbered in the corner. Mickey strikes the dark leather from every angle as Angelo looks on and instructs. TEENAGE MICKEY But I wanna’ fight like Jack Dempsey. ANGELO Listen: you’ll never be a Jack Dempsey. (MORE) 48. ANGELO (CONT'D) He’s a heavyweight and you’re a lightweight. Besides all that, Dempsey’s what they call a Swarmer. You know what you are? TEENAGE MICKEY No. ANGELO You’re a Slugger. Now a Slugger is a fighter who generally lacks finesse and footwork in the ring but makes up for it through sheer punching power. This heavy bag will teach you to develop awesome strength, but you got to learn to pull your punches. TEENAGE MICKEY Pull my punches? ANGELO That’s right. Drive into the bag three to four inches then WHIP IT BACK as fast as you can. If the bag is swinging this means you are pushing more than you’re punching. A proper strike should have a CRACK to it. You wanna’ break bones when you send in those body shots. Mickey pummels the bag like there’s no tomorrow but NO crack. Angelo scratches his head. ANGELO (CONT’D) Time! You’ll get there. Let’s get to work on that neck. INSIDE THE RING Mickey kneels in the middle of the canvas. He has a truss around his neck supporting a dumbbell. Mickey’s head moves up and down as the veins in his neck appear close to bursting. ANGELO (CONT’D) A Slugger's most important assets are his power and his chin. You need that magic ability to absorb punishment while remaining on your feet to dish out the deliverance. This is why we gotta’ make that neck a pillar of rock. TEENAGE MICKEY I can take a punch, Angelo. I’ve had more people chewing on me than a two dollar floozie. 49.

ANGELO Fifteen minutes on the street is one thing, but fifteen or twenty rounds in the boxing ring is quite another. When you run out of wind in there and can’t breath no more? You’re as good as dead. Now push! Angelo forces Mickey’s head downward. Mickey winces in pain. THE SPEED BALL Mickey is having a hard time with the leather tear drop. He hits it a few times but is nowhere near any kind of rhythm. ANGELO (CONT’D) We got to hone that hand-to-eye coordination. Timing is the key if you’re going to land a combination to a bobbing, evasive head. Mickey appears angry with himself as he constantly misses the ball. ANGELO (CONT’D) Focus on it. Center that energy. Don’t think, kid... feel. Mickey turns away and punches the wall. TEENAGE MICKEY Shit. BACK OF THE GYM Mickey struggles to jump rope. He skips a couple of times then trips and lands on his knees. ANGELO Pick ‘em up. I’m the cripple around here. Young Angelina enters the gym. She skips over on her jumping rope. She positions herself next to fumbling Mickey. YOUNG ANGELINA This is how you do it, uncle Mickey. It’s as easy as pie. This is how you got motivizationated. TEENAGE MICKEY You mean motovazationed. YOUNG ANGELINA Yeah. Something like that. 50.

Mickey forces a smile and continues to tangle himself up in the rope. TEENAGE MICKEY I feel like I got three legs. ANGELO This’ll help with those flat feet. Put some spring in your strides. Angelo watches the stark contrast between effortless Angelina and Mickey’s clumsy, frustrating attempts. Angelo appears half-convinced as he offers up encouragement. ANGELO (CONT’D) It’ll take a little time but we’ll get there. Somehow, we’ll get there. Mickey’S TRAINING MONTAGE Carl Fenton’s 1922 classic song, “I'll build a stairway to paradise” plays on the soundtrack. Mickey hits the speed ball. Most of the time he misses and punches the air in frustration. Angelo encourages him. Mickey’s skipping is clumsy but he occasionally manages to jump the rope but still trips up endlessly. Mickey performs sit-ups and push-ups. Pain is written over his sweltering face. Angelina sits close by and reads to him from a book of EDGAR ALLAN POE poems. Mickey punches the heavy bag with all his heart but still no cracking sound. Mickey takes a medicine ball to his gut and grimaces through gritted teeth. He looks close to puking. Angelina offers him her lollipop. Mickey is back at the speed ball but this time he is getting the hang of it - mostly missing - but better than he was before. Angelo stops him, takes over and refines his technique. Mickey jumps rope again and this time he jumps without falling and is beginning to improve. Proud Angelina skips happily alongside him. Mickey spars with a SPEEDY BOXER. He flusters Mickey with his superior footwork. Angelo appears concerned at Mickey’s flat feet and scratches his head. Mickey runs up a MOUNTAIN OF COAL but only gets a quarter way up before tumbling back down in a black, sooty mess. Mickey runs up the steps of the newly constructed Philadelphia art Museum but collapses halfway up. He brushes stinging coal dust from his eyes and staggers back down. 51.

Mickey now hits the speed ball like he means business. Angelo appears pleased with the progress. Mickey is cornered by the speedy boxer but evades the blinding handwork coming his way. He eventually succumbs to the boxer’s superior skill. Mickey double jumps the rope and cross skips. He now looks impressive. Mickey chases a chicken and almost grabs it but it darts back through his legs. The screaming chicken ATTACKS Mickey. Mickey gets halfway up the mountain of coal before collapsing back down the slope, exhausted and at his wits end. Angelo pushes him back up - yelling at him defiantly. Mickey ducks and weaves out of the speedy boxer’s range. He fights back with a barrage of well-timed hooks and punches that have the flash fighter flat on his butt. Angelo gives him the thumbs up. Mickey appears pleased with himself. Mickey finally CATCHES A CHICKEN and holds it high above his head. Angelo is delighted. The chicken craps over Mickey. Angelina stands by the rickerty fence and giggles. Mickey pounds the heavy bag until it finally CRACKS. Mickey REACHES THE SUMMIT of the coal mountain. He yells out to beaming Angelo far below. Mickey finally reaches the top step of the Philadelphia art museum steps while carrying Angel in his arms. The delighted young girl hugs him and plants a kiss on his sweaty cheek. Mickey PUNCHES THE AIR in triumph. TRAINING MONTAGE ENDS

EXT. PHONE BOX, NORTH FIRST STREET - DAY Angelo speaks confidently into the handheld receiver. ANGELO He’s ready.

EXT. NONPARIEL A.A BOXING CLUB, KENSINGTON STREET - NIGHT A SMALL CROWD of eager FIGHT FANS hustle and bustle for position outside the boxing club entrance. A large blue and white POSTER declares the MAIN EVENT: “HOMER SMITH VS TONY CANZONERI” Beneath the poster are the names of supporting fighters. 52.

“MUGGER MULLIGAN, CRUSHER CRANSTON” etc. “Mighty Mickey Goldmill” is last on the endless list.

INT. DRESSING ROOM, NONPARIEL A.A - NIGHT Dented lockers run the length of the buzzing room. Chipped wooden benches line up alongside each other in rows of pale red. Mickey sits amongst the sweating bodies of VARIOUS BOXERS. Some are preparing to fight and others lay beaten beyond their senses. Some have won, but most have lost. Angelo kneels beside Mickey taping up his hands. ANGELO Squeeze them fingers tight. A clamor builds outside the dressing room as a BATTERED BOXER is hurried in and laid out on a bench. He appears comatose. The CLUB DOCTOR briefly examines him then signals it’s too late. The boxer is dead. A sheet is pulled over his lifeless, bloody visage. A tough-looking bruiser - FRANK LEVINE - looks blankly at the dead fighter and whispers something to his MANAGER. They share an ominous smirk and glance over toward Mickey who stares back at them. A FIGHT PROMOTER appears at the dressing room door. FIGHT PROMOTER Levine. Goldmill. You’re on. ANGELO This is it. You ready, kid? LEVINE climbs to his feet and STARES menacingly at Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY I’m ready.

EXT. HEAVING RINGSIDE, NONPARILE BOXING CLUB - DAY A gathering of FIGHT AFICIONADOS assemble inside the shabby joint. Their tobacco smoke wavers in the air. Wooden chairs with tight aisles either side square out the rundown arena. The main event is an hour or so away and the joint is only quarter full. Mickey and Levine climb through the dangling ropes and into the blood-spattered ring. Mickey unrobes as does Levine. They are walked to the center of the ring and given the usual formalities by the REFEREE. 53.

REFEREE Let’s have a clean fight. The two fighters return to their corners. Angelo gives Mickey his wisdom. ANGELO Remember: keep tight and don’t lose control. Let rip when I tell ya’ you got that? Deep breaths. The BELL RINGS. ANGELO (CONT’D) Go get him, Mickey. Levine HURTLES out of his corner like a bull in a china shop. Mickey takes him head on and they BATTLE IT OUT like a pair of pit bulls. They seem evenly matched for height and size but Levine has the speed advantage and Mickey has the power. They ease off momentarily, sizing each other up and looking for an opening. Mickey spots a chance and rushes forward delivering a stunning LEFT HOOK that has Levine clinging on for life. In the sweaty clinch Mickey is HEADBUTTED hard and falls to one knee, clutching his face. Levine rabbit punches him while he is down. The referee pulls Levine away and cautions him. The SMALL CROWD BOOS. Mickey is back on his feet and determined to deliver payback. He starts an assault of piercing BODY HITS that take Levine’s wind from him. Levine is on the ropes as Mickey pummels away at his mid section. ANGELO (CONT’D) That’s it, Mickey! LEVINE’S MANAGER Move it! Levine somehow manages to maneuver out of danger but Mickey sticks to him like glue and keeps up the pounding pressure. Gazzo and his MOB look on admiringly. Levine hits back with several counter jabs but doesn’t appear to have an answer for Mickey’s vicious onslaught of hooks and crosses. ANGELO That a’ boy, Mickey! Work that eye! Mickey pounds the face of Levine. His eye opens up like an overripe melon. 54.

Mickey staggers him with a SEARING UPPERCUT that knocks Levine off his feet. Levine is down. The referee counts to eight before Levine is back up on wobbly legs. The BELL sounds as the fighters return to their respective corners. ANGELO (CONT’D) Great work, Mickey. Keep on him and don’t give him a chance to breath. Wear him down and when he’s cowering let him have it. Keep that control and don’t lose your mental focus. You got it? TEENAGE MICKEY (wheezing) I got it. Levine breathes heavy on his stool and appears almost beaten. LEVINE Bastard hits like a sledgehammer. Levine’s MANAGER covers up in front of him then pushes something in his glove. The rusty end of an IRON NAIL sticks out between the THUMB and main part of the leather mitt. The BELL sounds for ROUND TWO. ANGELO And keep those defenses as tight as a gnat's ass. This time it is Mickey who rushes out and quickly forces Levine back into his corner. ANGELO (CONT’D) Empty that bread basket! Levine is tied up and almost bent double by Mickey’s onslaught of body punches. LEVINE’S MANAGER Now! Levine clenches his glove tight and lands a searing right cross to Mickey’s temple CUTTING him instantly. Again and again the nail TEARS into Mickey’s face. Levine continues to jab at him until blood and spit spews though Mickey’s cheeks. Mickey punches blindly in air as Levine continues to batter at his bloody face and body. Mickey somehow stumbles over to his corner and Angelo quickly towels his face clean. 55.

ANGELO Those dirty bastards. Never mind what I said about losing control, just kill him, Mickey! KILL HIM! Mickey’s flesh-serrated face EXPLODES WITH RAGE as he hurtles forward. He sends in a blitzkrieg of anger-driven HOOKS and hate-filled CROSSES. He punches at Levine’s mitt. The bloody nail flies from the glove. Mickey moves in for the kill and batters Levine savagely around the head. Mickey has him desperate on the ropes. He JUMPS UP and delivers a devastating blow that rips Levine’s gum-shield from his dripping mouth, splattering his screaming manager with blood. Mickey continues to SWING at Levine’s unresponsive head. Levine is a second from permanent brain damage when the referee JUMPS IN to stop the brutal carnage. The bell sounds and the fight is over. Mickey has won. The referee grabs Mickey and holds up his arm in victory.

INT. DRESSING ROOM, NONPARIEL A.A BOXING CLUB - NIGHT It is virtually empty - only the solemn atmosphere of the evenings blood, sweat and tears hangs heavy in the air. On a rest bench Mickey flinches as the doctor inserts a needle into his messy cheek and sews a painful stitch. It is one of many. CLUB DOCTOR You lost a bucket out there. How do you feel, Mickey? TEENAGE MICKEY (weakly) One-in-a-million. I got a lot a’ blood in me. Smartly-clad Gazzo pokes his head around the dressing room door. MASSIMO GAZZO Where’s that champ? Gazzo marches over proudly and inspects Mickey’s appalling injuries. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) That cockroach. You gonna’ come across that kinda’ scum, kid. The fight game’s a shit sandwich and you just took your first bite. He reaches inside of his plush jacket. 56.

MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Here, I got something that’ll ease ya’ pain. Gazzo takes out a small wad of bills and hands them to Angelo. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) You keep winning like that and you’re gonna’ be one punch away from the title. The club doctor gestures Gazzo to move away. He complies at his own pace. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) You make sure to stitch him up good. I don’t want no leaking tomato on my hands. When you’re done healing come drop by the hall and we’ll talk. Gazzo exits. His voice echoes in the corridor. MASSIMO GAZZO (O.S.) (CONT’D) You did real good, Goldmill. Like lightning you was. Mickey glances blankly at Angelo who counts the meagre winnings. The club doctor continues to sew Mickey together.

EXT. NONPARIEL A.A (BOXING CLUB) - LATER THAT NIGHT Angelo and bandaged Mickey appear from out the entrance. Waiting to greet them is Enzio Pennino and excited Angelina. Angelina runs forward and leaps into exhausted Mickey’s arms. YOUNG ANGELINA You did it! I just knew you’d win! Did you get hurt? TEENAGE MICKEY Not a bit. YOUNG ANGELINA You look kinda’ hurt. TEENAGE MICKEY Ah, that’s just to make the other guy feel better. Mickey struggles to hold Angelina but puts on a brave face. ANGELO Here, Angel. Your Uncle Mickey’s very tired. 57.

TEENAGE MICKEY It’s alright, Angelo. I always got the strength to carry an Angel. (to Angelina) Just don’t ask for a piggy, okay? Angelina giggles as they continue down the dark sidewalk. ENZIO PENNINO (O.S.) I’ll get Maria to cook you up something special, Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY (O.S.) That’s real nice, Enzio, but I don’t know how much of it’ll come back outta’ my cheeks.

INT. LIVING ROOM, UPSTAIRS, ANGELO’S GYM - NIGHT Mickey is half-asleep on the sofa. The living room door opens, casting a shaft of lamp light on Mickey’s broken face. Angelina stands in the doorway. Mickey lifts his head. YOUNG ANGELINA I had a bad dream, Uncle Mickey. I can’t sleep. TEENAGE MICKEY Ah, bad dreams are just dreams. They can’t hurt ya’, kid. YOUNG ANGELINA Are you okay? You’re real red. TEENAGE MICKEY I’m good, Angel. Real peachy. YOUNG ANGELINA You don’t look like a peach. You kinda’ look like a tomato. TEENAGE MICKEY Yeah, ain’t that the truth? Maybe Uncle Enzio should put me out front and sell me for a nickle? YOUNG ANGELINA Uncle Mickey, what does Kike mean? Mickey forces a smile. TEENAGE MICKEY Ah, it don’t mean nothing. Why? 58.

YOUNG ANGELINA Because one of the boys in school called my best friend one and it made her cry. I wanted to sock him, but teacher said I shouldn’t. Some people are so mean. TEENAGE MICKEY Ah, that’s only the ones who need a little more love than the others. YOUNG ANGELINA That bully Clemenza called my other friend a nigger. I think I know what that means. I don’t like him at all. Mickey sits up and considers tactfully. TEENAGE MICKEY That’s the way some people are, Angel. It’s like, say, if they see two bears standing side-by- side, say like a brown bear and a white bear? Well, they know they both look different, but they know for sure that they’re both still bears. But when it comes down to seeing each other that way? Well, with some people, it seems that the straight thing of what we are just seems to slip away from ‘em, kid. YOUNG ANGELINA Are you going to be the champ, Uncle Mickey? TEENAGE MICKEY Of the whole world, Angel. YOUNG ANGELINA I think I’m gonna’ be a teacher. TEENAGE MICKEY That’s a good thing to be. YOUNG ANGELINA I told everyone in school that one day you were going to be the champ. They told me that no Kike ever done nothing good and never would. They said you’d throw fights and take dives ‘cause a Jew like you wasn’t good enough to win the right way. 59.

TEENAGE MICKEY Well, I guess they don’t see those bears too good, either, do they? YOUNG ANGELINA (smiles) No. I guess not. Goodnight, Uncle Mickey. TEENAGE MICKEY Goodnight, Angel. Angelina closes the door plunging Mickey into semi- darkness. He rolls over and pulls a blanket around himself. He murmurs weakly under his breath. TEENAGE MICKEY (CONT’D) The right way.

EXT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL, NORTH FIRST STREET - DAY The sidewalk is deserted. It’s early in the morning and the usual crowd of drunken lowlifes have yet to rise from out of their alcohol-soaked abodes.

INT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL - DAY Gazzo and Mickey stand alone amongst the empty sea of green baize tables. Gazzo’s left eye scrunches as he pulls back his pool cue and sleekly pockets the blue. MASSIMO GAZZO You see that? Straight down. What’s so freakin’ hard about that? Gazzo circles the table like a pinstripe barracuda. TEENAGE MICKEY I know what I want now and I ain’t never going down for nothing. MASSIMO GAZZO Then you ain’t never getting nowhere. Wise up, will ya’? Gazzo chalks his cue. He lines up another ball. TEENAGE MICKEY It don’t have to be this way. MASSIMO GAZZO You think it’s just down to me? There’s Scarfo, the Syndicate. I got my own Guineas and Micks crawling out my ass. There’s only so many diapers a rat can eat. (MORE) 60. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT'D) The real money’s in the rigging. You ain’t dumb and you know the score. Gazzo pockets the pink. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Look, you’ll make some moolah and maybe somewhere along the line you might get a shot at that fame and glory. TEENAGE MICKEY It ain’t just about the money for me, no more. MASSIMO GAZZO Well, wise up - it is for me and everyone else in this sick racket. Look, don’t take it to heart, kid. You don’t think Dempsey took a dive to get a shot? It’s a game, Mickey, that’s all it is - and the name of the game is money. Gazzo straightens up and cricks his back. TEENAGE MICKEY I got what it takes, Mister Gazzo. Ain’t nobody can beat me out there. MASSIMO GAZZO Listen to ya’ - you’re talking like you took too many shots to the head already. No fighter can guarantee a win. I don’t give a damn if they’re Jack Dempsey or Jesus Christ. TEENAGE MICKEY I’m tellin’ ya I ain’t ever gonna’ lose for you. MASSIMO GAZZO Yeah? And how’d you figure that? Mickey’s face turns cold. TEENAGE MICKEY Because to really lose anything in this life you gotta’ have somethin’ worth holding onto in the first place. I lost that somethin’ a long time ago. MASSIMO GAZZO I can’t push you into the ring, Mickey. Your choice. 61.

Mickey watches as Gazzo continues to clear the table like THE HUSTLER on speed. TEENAGE MICKEY I’ll make a deal wit’ you, Mister Gazzo. MASSIMO GAZZO I’m all ears; like a shithouse rat, I am. Mickey grabs the pool cue and holds it firmly as Gazzo is about the strike the last ball. TEENAGE MICKEY The first fight I lose, I promise on my father’s soul I’ll play the game anyway you want. But until I go down or until they beat me blind I’m gonna’ fight the only way I know how: I’m gonna’ fight to win! THWACK as Gazzo pockets the black.

FIGHT CAREER MONTAGE - (DECEMBER 1922 TO JANUARY 1933) NEWSPAPER HEADLINES and BOXING PERIODICALS provide details of various fight locations and national historical events. George Gershwin’s classic, “Someone to watch over me” plays over searing SOUND EFFECTS that accompany the SAVAGE ACTION. A boxing glove SPLATTERS the face of brutalized Mickey. SUPERIMPOSITION - Goldmill VS Russo (September 14, 1923) Mickey is fighting ferociously but GUINEA RUSSO is a formidable opponent. Mickey chases Russo and pounds him with a right and a left. Russo gets in an uppercut that staggers Mickey. They stand toe-to-toe like a pair of pit bulls. Trainer Angelo screams from the corner to finish him. Mickey lands a left to Russo's gut then delivers a huge right cross that sends Russo flying THROUGH THE ROPES. Mickey instinctively goes after Russo but the REFEREE holds him back. Dazed Russo stumbles back into the ring but sinks straight to his knees. The REFEREE waves his hands. It’s over. “SLUGGER FIRPO KNOCKS CHAMP DEMPSEY OUT OF RING!” A FLASHBULB BURSTS then fades into the classic B & W photo of JACK DEMPSEY laying outside the ropes as LUIS FIRPO looks on. 62.

Mickey and Angelo celebrate the win with Gazzo and Scarfo’s mob. Booze and broads aplenty. The future looks bright. Mickey is back in the gym and training his heart out. Angelo looks on admiringly. SUPERIMPOSITION - Goldmill VS ELLIS (September 23, 1925) Battered Mickey slumps on the stool in his corner. He takes a swig of water and spits blood into the bucket. Angelo works the dripping cuts. The bell rings and Mickey leaps up and staggers across the ring. Mickey corners the powerful ELLIS and unleashes a lethal assault - one raw punch after another. The SPECTATORS go wild - everyone's baying for blood as Ellis staggers on the ropes. Mickey batters his visage into a bloody pulp. Ellis collapses on the canvas. The REFEREE counts him out. Mickey DANCES ABOUT THE RING - KISSING HIS GLOVES. He thrusts them upward thanking the heavens. “DEMPSEY LOSES HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE IN TEN ROUND DECISION!” Mickey holds the newspaper headline in his hands and appears deeply affected by his hero's loss. He takes out his anger and batters away at a heavy bag until breathless and blind with sweat. “JAZZ SINGER TALKIE A SENSATION!” SUPERIMPOSITION - Goldmill VS COBB (October 6, 1927) THE THIRD ROUND - Mickey is in serious trouble. COBB knocks him with a punishing left, then a dazzling series of rights and uppercuts. Mickey is PUNCHED ACROSS THE RING but doesn’t go down. THE SIXTH ROUND - Furious Mickey forces COBB into his corner then lands a right hook to the temple and a flurry of mesmerizing handwork. Cobb drops and takes a seven count. Cobb climbs to his feet and Mickey dishes out the punishment to the beaten and helpless opponent. THE CROWD are on their feet. The kill is looming and they love every second of the barbaric display. Mickey lands one SAVAGE BLOW after another. Splattered Cobb finally drops like he’s fallen into a coma. The Ref counts. The fight is over. Mickey reads THE RING magazine. He spies a list of promising prospects but finds nothing of himself. He bins it irately. 63.

Mickey and Angelo stand in the aisles of ST THOMAS AQUINA’S CHURCH as a YOUNG COUPLE exchange their wedding vows. “ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE OF MORAN GANG!” SUPERIMPOSITION - Goldmill VS Valachi (February 14th, 1929) Towering VALACHI lands a solid blow to ADULT Mickey’S jaw but Mickey stands strong. Mickey, now older in appearance and filled out in muscularity, moves forward with a rapid series of body blows and uppercuts. Mickey is forced back by a monumental flurry of cutting crosses that open him up like a grapefruit. Angelo winces in his corner and averts his eyes as if he feels every searing blow battered Mickey painfully endures. Mickey suddenly goes for the head. Valachi is in the corner of the ring taking a relentless pasting. Valachi's arms hang at waist level as Mickey lands one blow after another. Valachi is about to go down when the REFEREE JUMPS IN and stops the massacre. Mickey watches from the back of Angelo’s gym as Gazzo’s mob are all smiles and handshakes toward an UPCOMING PROSPECT. Mickey appears hurt and dejected and storms off in anger. Angelo gambles away his winnings around a seedy poker table. Mickey hands over his hard-earned winnings to help desperate Angelo. Angelo trains Mickey but appears half-hearted and distant. SUPERIMPOSITION - Goldmill VS Carter (October 24, 1931) Mickey fights like a man possessed. Carter clinches to avoid the endless, brutal body blows. For the first time Angelo is ABSENT from Mickey’s corner. ROUND THREE - Carter is looking strong and has Mickey in trouble. A searing right cross slices open Mickey’s forehead. Mickey's face is so soaked with blood that it's impossible to distinguish the cuts on his face. Mickey fights almost BLIND but somehow makes it through to the bell. ROUND FIVE - Carter is starting to tire as Mickey’s relentless attack wears him down. A heavy glove lands hard on Carter’s lip almost TEARING it from his face. It hangs like a piece of chopped liver. ROUND EIGHT - Mickey is working over a demoralised Carter. Punches to the ribs, jabs to the head, bolos to the body. Carter’s eyes have swelled like balloons and his face appears a mess of blistered tissue. 64.

The bell RINGS and Carter wanders over and collapses in his corner. Unable to come out for the ninth the REFEREE walks over to Mickey in SLOW MOTION and raises his hands in bloody victory. Despite the win, Mickey appears emotionally desolate as he glances over at the EMPTY ringside seats that were once filled by Gazzo and Scarfo’s mob. Greedy tobacco-stained fingers scrape away the last of Angelo’s gambling dough. Angelo looks like a lost soul. Angelo watches as grinning Gazzo counts out a wad of loan money. He signs a paper and snatches the cash from the hood. Mickey sits alone in a derelict dressing room nursing his face with broken ice from a steel bucket. He appears despondent as he gazes down at the newspaper headline at his feet. “DEMPSEY DOUBTS HIS RETURN TO THE RING.” Mickey stands alone in Angelo’s gym. Isolated, downcast and a million miles from a title shot. FIGHT CAREER MONTAGE ENDS

EXT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL, NORTH FIRST STREET - DAY Mickey strolls along with his hands in his pockets and a pace in his stride. He stops outside of Gazzo’s shabby joint. SUPERIMPOSITION - December 5th, 1933. A newspaper stand on the corner declares the headline: “PROHIBITION ENDS AT LAST!” Mickey stubs out a cigarette and disappears through the shoddy entrance.

INT. BASEMENT, GAZZO’S POOL HALL - CONTINUOUS Angelo and a SMALL CROWD of desperate GAMBLING TYPES are playing dice. Angelo shakes his fist and kisses his knuckles. ANGELO Come one, baby. Do it for daddy. Snake eyes. He throws the dice. His numbers don’t come up. He bites his lip in frustration. He is pushed to the back of the crowd. 65.

Mickey appears at the far end of the dank basement. He spies Angelo who stands outside the despairing ring of wagerers who yell for lady luck. Angelo spots Mickey and dashes over. ANGELO (CONT’D) Hey, Mickey - throw me a fin, will ya’? I’m on a losing streak. MICKEY You’re supposed to be at the gym. How come you’re not at the gym? ANGELO Forget the gym, will ya’? I got myself some real turkeys here. They don’t know shit from Shinola. MICKEY Forget that, okay? We gotta’ talk. ANGELO Yeah. Talk. Sure. Mickey collars Angelo. MICKEY I mean it.

EXT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL, NORTH FIRST STREET - DAY Mickey strolls alongside disheveled Angelo. He is unshaven and looks as if he’s been up forty eight hours straight. ANGELO What’s the matter with you? Pulling me outta’ there like a deadbeat. MICKEY You don’t come down the gym or nothin’. You disappear for days. You don’t come home at night. Angel’s havin’ troubles with that Clemenza. ANGELO Don’t get involved, Mickey. Men and women. Angelo takes out a hip flask and tugs deeply. ANGELO (CONT’D) I had three good runs back there. I was up twenty bucks. Just needed a double to stoke my way back in. 66.

MICKEY It ain’t peachy you hangin’ around wit’ these bums day and night. Pissing your money down the toilet. It’s like you’re throwing everything away. A man’s got to believe in something in this life. ANGELO It’s my life, ain’t it? MICKEY I know - but what’s going on wit’ you, Angelo? It’s like you don’t wanna’ be around anybody no more. ANGELO People change. What can I say? Mickey stops him dead in his tracks. MICKEY This ain’t you. This ain’t right. None of this is right. You ain’t helping nobody, no more. We got the gym to take care of. We got fights to train for. We got... ANGELO WE GOT NOTHING! It’s over, Mickey. MICKEY What ya’ mean, it’s over? What you talkin’ about? ANGELO I’m finished! I want out of the fight game. It’s over for me. MICKEY What are you saying? You got like a mentalization or something? ANGELO Wise up for once, will ya’? It’s over for you, too. Angelo turns away and continues walking. Mickey catches up. MICKEY Nothing ain’t over for me. I got good fights coming. I’m getting noticed. I still got a chance at a shot. ANGELO You got eyes but you don’t see nothin’. (MORE) 67. ANGELO (CONT'D) You ain’t never lost a fight in ten years and still you ain’t ranked higher than a rat’s ass. You never played their game, Mickey. You never threw a fight. Now you’re yesterday’s news. You’re just another Gazzo meatbag heading for the freezer. MICKEY Why ya’ talkin’ crazy like this? I ain’t finished wit’ the fighting. ANGELO Well it’s finished with you! You ain’t nothing to them, no more, not even the rat shit on their shoes! Mickey EXPLODES and pins Angelo up against the wall. MICKEY You think I took all them punches for them? Do ya’? I took all of those beatings for us! For Angel. I gave it all - all the guts I had and for what? For you to just walk away like this - after all these years? Like we never meant nothing to nobody? You fought for every brick in that gym. I painted the walls with my own blood, sweat and tears. Look at ya’! You can’t even piss without crying. And now you’re saying that all that hell was for nothin’? Crawl away like some kinda’ mongrel! Angelo’s eyes well with tears. ANGELO I can’t do this life no longer. The line’s getting blurred, Mickey. MICKEY It ain’t just your life! ANGELO I’m drinking myself blind ‘cause I don’t want to see you end up like all the other broken dreamers drowning their hearts at the bottom of a bottle - who wake up every morning wishing they were dead. Like me! Mickey pulls away but Angelo clings on tearfully. 68.

ANGELO (CONT’D) I felt EVERY PUNCH you ever took, kid - every punch. But I can’t see you getting mangled and damaged no more, Mickey. I love you too much to let that happen to ya’. I can’t be no part of the slaughter, no more. MICKEY We got dreams. We got... got to make everything right. I can’t do it without ya’. I need you, Angelo. ANGELO It’s the final bell, kid. Time. Angelo’s words hit Mickey like a sledgehammer. Mickey’s face drops and he steps away - confused and clearly broken. ANGELO (CONT’D) No dreams last forever, Mickey. Not even ours. Dejected Mickey lowers his head and walks away.

EXT. SOUTH STREET HOUSING TENEMENT, PHILADELPHIA - DAY A run-down housing condominium stands between a church and a meat factory. Dilapidated and grim. If it was an animal you’d put it down. CARLOS CLEMENZA (O.S.) Get off my back, bitch!

INT. LIVING ROOM, SOUTH STREET HOUSING TENEMENT - DAY A framed wedding picture of ANGELINA CARMINE and CARLOS CLEMENZA falls from the mantel and shatters on the floorboards. ANGELINA I ain’t one of your bar whores. I got a right to know what you’re up to - I'm your wife! Angelina is now in her early 20’s and has grown into a fine- looking woman. Darkly attractive with hair like silk and a sleek, shapely figure. CARLOS CLEMENZA You’re like a chain around my neck. Her intoxicated husband - CARLOS CLEMENZA - mid 20's - swigs from a half-empty bottle. He’s handsome and strong, but only on the outside. 69.

ANGELINA Then you should have married one of your cheap mob sluts! I won’t let you treat me like this no more. Clemenza erupts and grabs Angelina by the throat. CARLOS CLEMENZA Listen, you dumb little bitch. I’ll do what I want when I want. You got that? He grips her hair and bangs her head against the wall. Angelina scrunches her eyes in agony. She instinctively kicks him in the groin sending him reeling and cupping his throbbing manhood. Clemenza throws his whiskey bottle at Angelina. It smashes on the wall, missing her face by inches. Small shards of wet glass splinter her face. She slides down the wallpaper and crumples on the floorboards, screaming. Clemenza rushes forward and kicks her viciously. CARLOS CLEMENZA (CONT’D) You’re lucky I don’t carve your eyes out! Clemenza yanks open the front door and slams it behind him nearly taking it off its hinges. Nursing her bloody face, sobbing Angelina picks up the broken wedding picture shattered by her side. She cuts her finger on a sliver of glass. A dribble of blood trickles down the photo, distorting the smiling face of the once-happy bride that stares back at the now distraught Angelina.

INT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY Mickey watches from the ringside as a JUVENILE BOXER is making work of an OLDER OPPONENT’S rib cage. Mickey looks every inch a trainer-in-the-making. MICKEY Get outta’ that corner, will ya’? What are you two - married or somethin’? Slip da’ jab! Battered Angelina appears at the entrance to the gym. The two slugging prospects notice her and stop fighting. MICKEY (CONT’D) Hey, what you doin’? I didn’t hear no bell! Mickey follows their eyeline and clocks Angelina who collapses in the doorway. 70.

MICKEY (CONT’D) Angel? Mickey rushes over to Angelina’s side and holds her up. He positions her gently against the gym wall. MICKEY (CONT’D) What happened? Hey, one of you call a doctor! Move it! ANGELINA (weakly) Please, don’t hurt him. He didn’t mean to do it. It was my fault, Mickey. Please. Don’t tell, pa. MICKEY It’s okay, Angel. Don’t you worry about nothin’. Mickey’s here, now. No-one’s gonna’ hurt you again. Mickey’s face turns to ice and his knuckles twist white.

EXT. OLDE CITY BAR, BROAD STREET, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - DAY SHIFTY-EYED RUMMIES and a few CHEAP HOOKERS round out the depressing atmosphere in the shabby boozer. Clemenza and his drinking buddy - STEINER - 30’s - are chatting up two SCANTLY-DRESSED WOMEN sitting by the bar. One is filing her nails and the other sips a gin and tonic. They look a lot like the two ‘dates’ who stood outside the Valentino movie. WOMAN #1 Get back to that rock you worms crawled from under. CARLOS CLEMENZA Hey, Steiner, I get it - they’re hookers. Well, why didn’t you say so, ladies? Clemenza slaps down a five dollar bill on the bar. The older women takes out a nail file and stabs the bill. WOMAN #2 Go screw your fist. CARLOS CLEMENZA (half-laughing) Calm down, babycakes - it ain’t no big thing. She stares at Clemenza’s crotch. WOMAN #2 I can see that. 71.

Surrounding BARFLIES cackle at the cutting remark. Inflamed Clemenza snatches the nail file from the bill and holds it up against the women’s cheek. CARLOS CLEMENZA Take that back you cheap floozie or this thing’s gonna’ make your face look even uglier than it is now. Mickey appears at the far end of the bar. Steiner spots him. STEINER (to Clemenza) If it ain’t the punching Jew. Clemenza turns to face Mickey who moves menacingly toward him. CARLOS CLEMENZA So that bitch been crying to you again? I told you: stay out of my business, Goldmill. Clemenza pulls out a long knife but Mickey doesn’t flinch. CARLOS CLEMENZA (CONT’D) Come on! I’ll cut you up. Fueled by rage and instinct Mickey picks up a bar stool running and BREAKS it over squirming Clemenza who drops like a bad habit. The two women SCREAM as Steiner jumps on Mickey’s back and holds his own cut throat razor to Mickey’s throat. Mickey is cut but throws him off and proceeds to let loose his animal rage and BATTERS THEM BOTH in a furious, blinding attack. Bar stools FLY and glasses SMASH. Cowering Steiner somehow manages to crawl away and stumbles out of the bar. Mickey pulls back from Clemenza’s crumpled body. MICKEY (breathless) I’m telling you for the last time, Clemenza: if you ever touch the Angel again, I’ll kill ya’!

INT. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, WELLS STREET - NIGHT Beaten Angelina lays on an iron-framed bed in the middle of the quiet ward. She is sleeping soundly. Mickey hangs close by the bed. He stands vigil with cap respectfully in hand. 72.

MICKEY All I’ve ever wanted was for someone like you to be proud of someone like me. I’ve got to not liking myself too much in my life. Ain’t been too proud of where I’ve been heading. But recently I got to thinking that, if someone as special as you could think so much of me, then how could I ever think so little of myself? I never could see the mileage in all that religion, but seeing you here’s made me realize I’ve been looking for angels in all the wrong places. There’s been one right alongside me all the time and I didn’t even know it. You just pull through for Mickey, okay? Is that all right wit’ you? Cause’ Mickey, he... A STAFF NURSE approaches. STAFF NURSE Best to let her rest. There’s nothing you can do here. MICKEY She gonna’ be alright? The nurse offers a comforting smile. STAFF NURSE We hope so. Mickey places his cap on his head and walks reluctantly away.

EXT. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, WELLS STREET - NIGHT Mickey appears through the large green doors that adorn the entrance. He ambles along the sidewalk, deep in thought and oblivious to everything around him. A GUN BARREL points out of a car window. A shaking finger squeezes the trigger. BULLETS RICOCHET inches from Mickey’s face. Instinct takes over and he darts into an adjacent alleyway with his hands covering his head. He stands flush to the wall - his heart races as car tires SCREECH away. Mickey pokes his head around the corner and spies the hit- car fading into the murky distance. Mickey’s eyes burn intensely but his voice rings unnervingly calm. MICKEY Clemenza. 73.

EXT. GAZZO’S POOL HALL, NORTH FIRST STREET - NIGHT Mickey runs along the murky sidewalk carrying a rusty pig iron in his tightly clenched hand. He spots the hit-car parked outside the seedy joint. He rushes toward it and SMASHES the windscreen to smithereens. He glares up at the top story window, waving the weapon menacingly. MICKEY You wanna’ shoot me, Clemenza? I’m standin’ here. You don’t have to hide in the dark with that ratfink punk! I’m an easy target! You wanna’ beat up on the Angel, huh? You wanna’ put a bullet in me? Mickey rips open his shirt and points to his chest. MICKEY (CONT’D) Put it right there. But you’ll never kill me none ‘cause it’ll go right through ol’ Mighty Mick! There ain’t nothin’ left inside a’ there but an empty space. Gazzo saw to that. Didn’t ya’ Gazzo? “You’re just one punch away, Mickey, one punch away!” For ten years I've been one punch away. All I wanted was a chance - a shot. You never got me that shot, but you sure-as-hell took a shot at me, didn’t ya’! I gave you my best! And you gave me nothing back! SHADOWY FIGURES appear at the window and peer down at Mickey. MICKEY (CONT’D) But now I know with you, I’m always gonna’ be one punch away. This ain’t meat. You got that, Gazzo? The mind is still working and da’ soul’s still strong. None of your bullets can ever stop that. I still got my self- respect. I never went down, Gazzo! I never took a dive. Tonight, I walk away. Proud. Standing tall. My blood belongs to me. It belongs to me! Mickey chucks the pig iron and storms away down the deserted sidewalk. Gazzo’s face appears behind smoke-stained curtain nets. MASSIMO GAZZO That’s what you think, Goldmill. 74.

EXT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH 44TH STREET - DAY The rain pours from dark clouds. A gaggle of SOAKING CHILDREN scurry along the sidewalk.

INT. LIVING ROOM, UPSTAIRS, ANGELO’S GYM - DAY Rain streaks down the window frame as Mickey rests on a sofa. Angelina sits in the far corner of the room reciting poetry. ANGELINA “Yet if hope has flown away in a night or in a day, in a vision or in none, is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” MICKEY You always got a way wit’ words, Angel. I always did know you’d make like a good teacher. When did you wrote that? ANGELINA I didn’t. Edgar Allan Poe, did. MICKEY Edgar Allan Poe? I’ve heard that name somewhere. Isn’t he the guy who delivers Enzio’s bananas? Angelina giggles. ANGELINA I used to read him to you in the gym. Remember? I taught you to skip, too - ya’ three-legged flat foot. MICKEY I guess you don’t remember much when your tongue’s hanging outta’ your ears. Say, how’s your bruises, huh? They healing good? ANGELINA It’s been three weeks, Mickey. They’re healing just fine. It’s my heart that needs mending. Angelina sits up and wanders over to the window frame and looks out thoughtfully at the rain pounding the sidewalk. ANGELINA (CONT’D) “A dream within a dream.” What’s really a dream, Mickey? Mickey turns on his side and appears reflective. 75.

MICKEY Well, I don’t know for sure, Angel. I used to dream about being the champion of the whole world. I was gonna’ hang that shining belt on the wall of the gym for everyone to see. But all that fightin’? Those hopes and dreams? They’re over for me. But, you know, I kinda’ came to realize that some dreams ain’t always meant to be reached, they’re just meant to be kinda’ aimed for. They’re there to give you like a’ sort of a’ purpose in ya’ life. And along the way, if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll find the real reason to be hanging around this place. Mickey carefully studies Angelina’s shapely figure that is silhouetted against the window. She turns back around. Mickey averts his gaze. ANGELINA How come you never found a girl or got married or nothing? MICKEY What would anyone want with a punched-out punk like me? I ain’t none-too smart. I can’t read or write and I ain’t no oil painting that’s for sure. I can’t do no Charleston, either. My body moves like some kinda’ printing press. ANGELINA You always make me smile, Mickey. You always have. Mickey breaks into a very flat Jolson. MICKEY “I’D WALK A MILLION MILES FOR ONE OF YOUR SMILES...” ANGELINA You can’t sing none either. MICKEY Ain’t that the truth? Angelina ambles over to the living room table. She twiddles a fork in a small plate of stale pasta. ANGELINA I remember the first time I fell down in the schoolyard and scraped my knee. (MORE) 76. ANGELINA (CONT'D) You were the first one to pick me up and make me laugh again. You made me feel safe. Protected. MICKEY You know, you’ve been pretty good to me, too. ANGELINA I’ve been nothing but trouble. I nearly got you shot, didn’t I? MICKEY I’d take a lead sandwich over one of Enzio’s Hoagie jobs any day. Angelina smiles knowingly. MICKEY (CONT’D) You know, there was a time in my life when I didn’t believe in nothin’ or nobody. I didn’t care if I went to sleep and never woke up again. But seeing you growing up wit’ all them smiles and that love you had for life made me want to live again. You’ve meant more to me than you’ll know. You’ve been like an angel on my shoulder. Guiding me good and givin’ me hope. Angelina is visibly touched by Mickey’s sincerity. ANGELINA You’ve always been here for me. MICKEY And I always will be. That’s what friends are for, ain’t they? ANGELINA Is that what I am to you? Mickey senses Angelina’s emotional intensity, but makes light of it. MICKEY Sure. You’re one-in-a-million. Angelina lowers her head before gazing upward through her big brown eyes. Words tumble out like petals from a rose. ANGELINA I love you, Mickey. Mickey startles but holds his smile. Angelina walks over and kneels down in front of him. She reaches out to touch his cheek. Mickey pulls away. MICKEY Angel. 77.

ANGELINA Let me in. MICKEY There ain’t nothing left. She leans over and places her deep red lips on his forehead. ANGELINA “Take this kiss upon the brow. And, in parting from you now, thus much let me avow...” Mickey drops his emotional guard and Angelina kisses him deeply and passionately. Mickey catches his breath. MICKEY Was that Poe again? ANGELINA Yeah. MICKEY I’m beginning to like that guy. They kiss and fall into each others arms.

INT. REST ROOM, BASEMENT, GAZZO’S POOL HALL - NIGHT Drunken Angelo staggers into the rest room. It is a vile, piss-caked stink hole with crap for wallpaper and vomit for carpet. He leans up against the wall and takes a leak with one hand while the other clutches a bottle. He ambles over to a broken sink and stares at himself in the cracked mirror. He is barely recognizable - heavily stubbled and panda-eyed. ANGELO You know what, Carmine? I think Mickey’s right. A man's got to believe in somethin’ so I believe I'll have myself another drink. He lifts the bottle to his lips but it is empty. ANGELO (CONT’D) Great. The rest room door squeaks open. TWO HEAVY HOODS enter. They both look like they eat nails for breakfast. The door closes behind them. HEAVY HOOD #1 Mister Gazzo - he ain’t too happy with the way things are. ANGELO Who is? The world’s a sewer. 78.

HEAVY HOOD #2 He figures you ain’t gonna’ pay up without a bit of persuasion. So we got ourselves a little work to do. The hood takes out a pair of STEEL PLIERS. Angelo beckons them towards him. ANGELO Think you can take me? Come to daddy, ya’ guinea fags! They rush forward and bundle Angelo who tries to fight back but he is a mere shadow of his former self and it’s not long before he succumbs to the brute force of the hefty mobsters. They hold him down on the cold, wet floor - his head awash with dripping pipe water as they beat him around the face. HEAVY HOOD #1 Gonna’ make mugs out of us, are ya’? You pay up or next time it’ll be the Angel. You got it, punchy? Angelo cries out as they continue their brutal handiwork. Carlos Clemenza pokes his head around the rest room door and smirks at the pitiful sight of shrieking, squirming Angelo. CARLOS CLEMENZA (under breath) Just like your daughter - a real screamer.

INT. ENZIO’S GROCERY STORE, CANTRELL STREET - DAY Enzio Pennino stands behind the counter preparing a tasty Hoagie sandwich for Mickey. He takes out a long, serrated knife and cuts a loaf in half. Mickey watches as he expertly slices and dices. MICKEY How’s Maria these days? ENZIO PENNINO The wife? You know, I sometimes wonder if the screwing you get is worth the screwing you get? Enzio throws some cheese and tomato into the mix. ENZIO PENNINO (CONT’D) How’s Angelo? He don’t look too good last time I see him. He was standin’ outside Aquina’s crossing himself and mumblin’ some biblical stuff. He okay? 79.

MICKEY He’s going through like a mental fog or somethin’. He don’t see things too clear these days. Lot a’ clouds around the head. ENZIO PENNINO Yeah, well, everybody loses their way, sometimes. The path in life don’t always run straight, Mickey. Lot of holes in the freakin’ road. Enzio wraps up the food and gives it to Mickey. MICKEY Yeah. Mickey hands over some change. Enzio sweeps it up and throws it in the cash register. ENZIO PENNINO Take care and give my best to the ol’ man and the Angel. MICKEY See you later.

EXT. ENZIO’S GROCERY STORE, CANTRELL STREET - CONTINUOUS Mickey strolls along the walkway, unwrapping the sandwich and dodging pedestrians at the same time. He rounds a corner as he takes a large bite. He stops mid-munch. His face freezes. STEINER (O.S.) Keep walking, Mickey. I hear it's good for the digestion. A LARGE GUN is shoved hard into Mickey’s lower back. STEINER (CONT’D) Remember me, huh? MICKEY Steiner. STEINER Yeah, sure you do, bruiser. Mister Gazzo wants to see you. Don’t try nothin’ funny. After you working me over like a potato sack, just give me any excuse and I'll pop your liver like a balloon. Mickey continues down the sidewalk with Steiner close behind. 80.

MICKEY So, big man is that a real gun you got there? STEINER Sure it is, Buster. Why’d ya’ ask? MICKEY Because I’d have thought an asshole like you would have come huntin’ for me with your fingers.

EXT. PARK BENCH, FAIRMOUNT PARK, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - DAY Gazzo sits on the iron bench throwing bread to the ducks that quack in the large pond that oversees the parkland. A SIZABLE BODYGUARD stands nearby, shifty and untrusting. MASSIMO GAZZO I heard the Chinese eat these with pancakes. BODYGUARD You don’t say? Mickey walks into frame with Steiner a few steps behind. MASSIMO GAZZO (to Steiner) Take it on the arches. You done your good deed. Grinning, square-jawed Steiner wanders away. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Sit down, Mickey. Mickey takes off his cap and complies at his own pace. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) I like birds. They eat the bread and they don’t ask questions. And they never shit in their own nest. MICKEY You’re wasting your time, Gazzo. I’m done wit’ the fightin’. MASSIMO GAZZO And who can blame ya’? Standing there like a slab of beef, getting pounded ‘till you’re puking your spine up. It’s a shit business. But that’s all it is - business. Somewhere along the line you got delusions that it meant something more to ya’. (MORE) 81. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT'D) Now, you’re saving everybody from the big bad world again. You’re a real hero, Mickey. MICKEY Two things a man shouldn’t run from in this life: the women he loves and a friend in need. MASSIMO GAZZO Dignity? You got it in spades. You don’t go changing do ya’? Solid, reliable and pride to the brim. But you ain’t always so wise. You know, Clemenza ain’t too happy you’re bumping uglys with his wife. Some of the elders don’t like it none either. It’s an Italian thing, Mickey. So what is it with you? That Angelo and the kid ain’t been nothing but trouble. You’re always bailing them out of one pile or another. MICKEY Family first. It’s a Jewish thing. The BODYGUARD smirks. Gazzo turns and throws him a look. He coughs and straightens back up. MASSIMO GAZZO Some people, they just take advantage. You give them your toys to play with but when the time comes to collect they don’t wanna’ give the ball back. Now Angelo owes a whole heap of pelf and that’s a bona fide lack of respect. I even heard he’s planning to rip-off my joint with a couple of junkies. MICKEY He’d never stoop to that. MASSIMO GAZZO Desperate men, Mickey? So many chances we give him. But he’s running out of line and the rod’s about to snap. MICKEY I can’t do nothin’. He won’t listen to nobody, no more. MASSIMO GAZZO I know you’re not one for soft talking, so I’ll put it to you straight: you’re gonna’ fight for me one last time. 82.

MICKEY I’m finished wit’ it. It’s over. MASSIMO GAZZO You don’t understand, Goldmill. It’s out of my hands and they don’t just wanna’ take the gym this time. They want their pound of flesh and they don’t care who they ice to get it. Understand? They won’t split no hairs, Mickey. It’s a miracle your friend ain’t pushing daises with his dick. It’s just, as they’ve found out in the past, it’s pretty hard getting dough out of a pile of chopped-up mince in a bucket. Mickey squeezes the brim of his cap and appears pensive. MICKEY How did everything so good get so bad? All I wanted was to better this life; to do the right thing. MASSIMO GAZZO Yeah, well even the best intentions can end up killing us, Mickey. Gazzo throws in the last of the bread. Ducks fight frantically over a piece of stale crust. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Scarfo’s got this fighter. Sailor Mike. He’s kinda’ over-the-hill but he’s a contender. He’s bad news even by his low standards. But the one thing you and him got in common is that you’ve never taken a dive. What’s more to the point: you’re both known never to have taken a dive. No set-up. No fix. Big odds. MICKEY My fighting days are done. I’m movin’ on. Thinking a’ training or something? MASSIMO GAZZO Good for you. Go train a champ. Now onto business. Gazzo takes out a thin cigarillo. His bodyguard fumbles inside his jacket for a lighter. He holds out his huge hand in front of Gazzo’s face and flicks the Zippo. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Scarfo is going real heavy on this. (MORE) 83. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) The word is: you fight Sailor - you go down like a cue ball and all’s good with the world. Just like I showed ya’. Mickey turns to Gazzo - straight and earnest. MICKEY I ain’t throwing away the one thing I got left. For nothing or no-one. MASSIMO GAZZO You can leave this all behind you once and for all. Cut ties. Your ‘family’ will owe nobody nothing and everybody grows old together. We’ll get a nice slice of apple pie and your life can be all sunshine and rainbows. But if you let that dignity and pride stop you from doing the right thing by all of us? Gazzo leans in menacingly - his chin ready to cut glass. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) You’ll all be meeting your makers. And that Mickey Goldmill is a bona fide guarantee.

INT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH FIRST STREET - DAY Mickey trains alone as the thuds of his determined punching echo around the empty gym. He works the heavy bag like a seasoned pro - sticking, holding and burrowing deep. Angelina enters the gym carrying her school books. She watches Mickey from a distance. She looks on as Mickey pounds the bag with every ounce of strength he can muster. Mickey stops for a breather and holds the bag steady in his sweating forearms. ANGELINA How come you didn’t drop by the school today? I got worried. Mickey doesn’t answer and appears distant. ANGELINA (CONT’D) What is it, Mickey? What’s wrong? MICKEY I got to fight again. Angelina’s demeanor appears culpable as she closes the distance. 84.

ANGELINA It’s because of pa, isn’t it? Mickey continues to pummel the dark, hanging leather. ANGELINA (CONT’D) You don’t have to do this, Mickey. Mickey turns irately. MICKEY If I don’t they’re gonna’ kill him. Then they’ll come and take the gym and who knows what else they’ll do? If I take this fight it’ll give your pa another shot at life. Maybe us, too? And for that I’m willing to take a dive. Angelina’s face drops. ANGELINA Dive? Oh, Mickey. MICKEY It’s the only chance we’ll get of seeing rid a’ those animals and getting on wit’ our lives the way we was always meant to... He turns to face her. MICKEY (CONT’D) The right way. Angelina places her books under a ringside rope and takes a seat on a rickerty wooden chair. She appears reflective. ANGELINA As long as I’ve known you, you’ve never thrown a fight. You never got a shot at anything because you held onto the one thing that nobody could ever take away from you: your Integrity. Your honor. You can’t just throw it away for them like this. There has to be another way? MICKEY It’s too late, Angelina. Angelina concurs dolefully as Mickey’s words ring true. MICKEY (CONT’D) For a while I kinda’ lost my way. I couldn’t see where my life was heading or what it was supposed to be meanin’. But now I see things like they really are for me. (MORE) 85. MICKEY (CONT’D) How they really are for all of us. It’s time that integrity and honor paid its dues. Mickey fills with the old Goldmill pride as he gazes around at the faded, yellow walls and green canvas ring. MICKEY (CONT’D) And you know something? I got me some of them dreams again, Angel. ANGELINA If anything happened to you? Mickey leans into Angelina, confident and reassuring. MICKEY Nothing’s gonna’ happen to me, okay? Three, four rounds and that’s it. It’ll be over for good. I’m Mighty Mick, remember? I got me them rocks in the head, marbles for eyes... ANGELINA ... and gravel for brains? MICKEY Yeah. That’s right, Angel. Angelina simpers momentarily before locking eyes with Mickey. ANGELINA Mickey? MICKEY Yeah? ANGELINA I’m pregnant. Mickey’s smile drops as his face turns to ice. Uncertain Angelina holds her breath. Mickey looks away and continues pummeling the heavy bag. Angelina senses his coldness and stupor. ANGELINA (CONT’D) I’ll put on something to eat. She strolls away. Mickey pounds the bag with the ferocity of a tiger - and with every punch - a grin grows wider and wider. Mickey finally stops punching and grips the bag firmly in his gloves. MICKEY If it’s a boy can we call him Dempsey? 86.

Angelina turns in her stride. Mickey beams and they run into each others arms and cling on as if it were their last moment on earth.

INT. BEDROOM, UPSTAIRS, ANGELO’S GYM - NIGHT Mickey sleeps soundly. Angelina is close by his side. The bedroom door creaks open as a DARK FIGURE enters and creeps menacingly along the bedside. A strong hand GRIPS Mickey’s forehead, waking him. Before he has a chance to move, Carlos Clemenza lifts up a vicious looking axe and swings it down hard on Mickey’s mouth. CARLOS CLEMENZA YOU’RE DEAD! CLANK! Mickey wakes up. He takes a deep breath as he adjusts to reality. He glances over at Angelina, leans forward and kisses her gently on the lips and rises quickly from his bed.

EXT. ANGELO’S GYM, NORTH FIRST STREET - DAWN Mickey stands on the dark, empty sidewalk. He stretches out his arms and loosens up as he prepares for his morning run. He places a woolly cap on his head and jogs off down the street.

EXT. ITALIAN MARKET, NINTH STREET - DAWN The morning sun breaks through the orange cloud as Mickey runs amongst the bustling chorus of MARKET TRADERS who set up their goods for the days trading. Mickey shadow punches the air as he dodges FISHMONGERS and GROCER'S laying out their wares on frosty pavements.

EXT. DOCKYARD, SOUTH BROAD ST - MORNING Mickey picks up pace, his jog turning into dash - then into a full fledged sprint. He runs like a man possessed.

EXT. MIKVEH SYNAGOGUE, NORTH 44TH STREET - MORNING Mickey bolts down the pebbly road before coming to a breathless halt outside the red-bricked house of worship. He centers himself momentarily before disappearing up the steps that lead into the shul. 87.

INT. MIKVEH SYNAGOGUE - CONTINUOUS Mickey paces slowly around the impressive surroundings, taking in the splendor of the synagogue. MICKEY I see a lot a’ bad things in this world that sometimes makes me doubt all this religious stuff. But then I see other things that makes me think that, maybe, you’re hangin’ around this place after all. I always tried to do what’s right by ya’ pa. Lived my life the best way I could. Mickey slowly approaches the lectern of worship and takes off his cap. He is dignified and solemn in his speech. MICKEY (CONT’D) I know I got to lose this fight. But that guy’s gonna’ have to kill me before I go down. I ain’t gonna’ be beaten like no mongrel. He’ll have to give it everything he’s got to earn the right to take away the most precious thing I got left from you. But I’m gonna’ do the right thing by ya’ pa. By Angelo. By Angel. By me. Mickey lowers his head and strolls respectfully away. MICKEY (CONT’D) By the grace of God go I.

EXT. PHILLIES BALL PARK, BROAD STREET - EVENING A BUZZING CROWD of assorted FIGHT FANS hustle and bustle through the busy entrance - smoking and chewing gum in electrified anticipation of the brutal spectacle ahead. SUPERIMPOSITION - July 30th, 1934 A red and yellow POSTER displays the headline fight: “BENNY BASS VS JOHNNY JADICK” In smaller lettering below sits the secondary attraction. “’SAILOR’ MIKE FALCONETTI VS ‘MIGHTY MICKEY GOLDMILL”

INT. DRESSING ROOM, BALL PARK ARENA - EVENING Mickey sits in the dank dressing room. He wears an ill- fitting, brown shabby robe. Angelina kneels at his feet. She wraps Mickey’s hands with pre-fight bandages. 88.

ANGELINA I never could do this right. MICKEY You’re doin’ swell. They share a nervous exchange. ANGELINA How many rounds? MICKEY Ten. Mickey climbs to his feet and walks over to an iron rack. He picks up a pair of battered boxing gloves that have seen better days. He slips his hands into the shoddy leather mitts. Angelina laces them up carefully for him. The dressing room door swings open. Gazzo and a FEW MOBSTERS stand in the shadowy doorway. Gazzo puffs away, looking every bit the ‘wiseguy’ in his plush long coat and panama. MASSIMO GAZZO If it ain’t the champ. You feeling strong, Mickey? Mickey doesn’t answer. Gazzo is clearly not welcome. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) I know you’re going to give the crowd a great show out there, tonight. And don’t worry, Goldmill, there’ll be a few bucks in it for ya’. (to MOBSTERS) Well, you know what these Jews are like? Gazzo’s MOB CHUMS cackle. Gazzo’s mood turns borderline intense as he addresses silent, brooding Mickey. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Have a party out there but just do everything right. Looking good there, Angel. Real pretty. The seriousness of Gazzo’s intent is very clear. MASSIMO GAZZO (CONT’D) Let’s hope you stay that way. A rose should have all its petals. Gazzo turns to leave, continuing his previous conversation. 89.

MASSIMO GAZZO (O.S.) (CONT’D) So, as I was sayin’ - this dumb guy came up to me yellin’ “Mister Gazzo, my sister just got graped” So I says to him, “Don’t you mean raped?” So he cries out, “God, no, there was a whole bunch of them!” Gazzo and his cronies cackle and disappear down the corridor. A suited and booted RING OFFICIAL stops on his way down the hallway and pokes his head around the door. RING OFFICIAL Goldmill? You’re on. He disappears as Mickey’s DARKLY-CLAD ADVERSARY strolls ominously past the entrance and into the murky shadows. Mickey climbs to his feet and stares at a TORN POSTER of ex- champ JACK DEMPSEY hanging from the paint-flaked wall. He gazes at his own distorted image in a cracked mirror. No matter where he looks he sees broken fighters and shattered dreams. ANGELINA You ready, Mickey? Mickey turns to her, straight-faced and resolute. MICKEY I’m ready.

INT. CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS Mickey and Angelina enter the dark hallway. They walk a few quiet steps before they spot a SHADOWY FIGURE hovering in the distance. It is Angelo. He stands holding a spit bucket and towel. They approach the solemn man and stop a few feet away. Angelo hesitates momentarily before speaking his peace. ANGELO I know you won’t go down without a fight, kid, so I figured you’d need someone to hold you together out there. Angelo wrestles with his emotions. ANGELO (CONT’D) I know what you’re doing - and if it means anything to you... I’m sorry. I’m so... sorry. Angelo leans a tearful head on Mickey’s shoulder and breaks down. 90.

ANGELO (CONT’D) I never meant to let you down, kid. Angelina comforts her forlorn father. ANGELINA Pa. Mickey throws his glove around Angelo’s shoulder and holds him close. His compassion and heart rises to the surface. MICKEY There ain’t another man I’d rather have in my corner. Angelo fights back the tears as he locks eyes with Mickey. ANGELO I owe you my life, kid. Mickey responds sincerely. MICKEY And I owe you mine. Time.

INT. CROWDED ARENA, PHILLIES BALL PARK - CONTINUOUS Mickey and Angelina appear from out a small entrance tunnel with Angelo a few steps behind. They make their way down the narrow gangway that leads to the ringside. A LARGE HORDE of eager FIGHT FANS, REPORTERS and MOB TYPES round out the impressive crowd. The rich are seated - the poor are not. Some wish Mickey well as he passes down the aisle, whilst others fire-off insults from the safety of the crowd. CROWD MEMBER Good luck, Jew boy, you’re gonna’ need it. He’ll kill ya’! A vexed Enzio Pennino turns to the cackling CROWD MEMBER and SLAPS him around the chops. ENZIO PENNINO Shut your piehole, you freakin’ loser. His lungs he’ll punch out! A few steps further and Angelina stops Mickey. ANGELINA I’ll watch from here. Mickey holds out a glove and taps her gently on the nose. MICKEY Don’t be throwing no tomatoes, okay, Angel? 91.

Angelina is on the verge of tears as Mickey and Angelo continue on their way. ANGELINA (under breath) You’re the angel, Mickey. Angelina vanishes into the crowd. SHIFTY EYES follow her. Angelo is the first at the ringside. He lifts up the middle rope as Mickey climbs up small wooden steps and enters the ring. Angelo follows closely. In the opposite corner Mickey’s OPPONENT unrobes. Mickey does likewise. The BURLY REFEREE motions for two fighters to come to the center of the ring for the pre-fight formalities. Mickey and his opponent stand face-to-face. “SAILOR” MIKE FALCONETTI - Mid to late 30’s. Dark, strong and intense. A few inches taller than Mickey, he is stockier and thick set. He glares at Mickey. Something soulful and chilling is being communicated but Mickey barely makes eye contact with his menacing foe. REFEREE Let’s have a clean fight. The fighters make their way back to their respective crews. From his corner, Mickey spies Gazzo and his ASSORTED CRONIES. They share a variety of HOOKERS who are dressed-to- the-nines. They laugh and joke amongst themselves. The prospect of a big payoff from the fixed fight fills them with joy. SCARFO’S MOB are seated nearby. In stark contrast to Gazzo’s gang they glare menacingly at Mickey as an ominous reminder of the severity of their involvement. Clemenza and Steiner join the end of Scarfo’s row. They appear equally cold and intense. Emotional Angelo delivers his wisdom. ANGELO I know you’re gonna’ fight this guy hard. You do what you got to do out there. But don’t get hurt no more than you gotta’. I love ya’ kid. Mickey acknowledges Angelo as he places Mickey’s gum-shield in his mouth. Mickey bites down hard and knocks his gloves together. The BELL RINGS. THE FIGHT IS ON. 92.

ROUND ONE - Falconetti storms out of his corner and heads straight for Mickey. They stand toe-to-toe and exchange a series of wild blows. Some hit their mark while others miss wildly. At first they appear equally matched. But it is soon apparent that Falconetti is clearly the more powerful of the two fighters. After the initial free-for-all they settle back and maneuver their way around each other - sizing the other up tactfully. Angelina watches anxiously amidst a nearby STANDING CROWD. A flashing right cross catches Mickey and staggers him back into his corner. Falconetti smells blood and charges forward, unleashing a series of forceful body blows that bend Mickey double. Mickey tries to escape the corner but is locked in tight and unable to free himself from Falconetti’s powerful onslaught. ANGELO (CONT’D) Get out a’ there! Mickey manages a few counter punches but they connect with little effect. Mickey seems no match for Falconetti’s pure power and struggles for any kind of meaningful response. Falconetti delivers an illegal SHATTERING ELBOW to Mickey’s nose. It BREAKS like a sugar cone. Mickey reels in agony and drops to one knee. Falconetti winds up for the KNOCKOUT BLOW. The BELL RINGS as the referee jumps in and pulls Falconetti clear. Angelo jumps into the ring. Mickey slumps down on his stool. Angelo kneels in front of him and examines his broken face. The nose is busted. MICKEY I can’t breathe. Uneasy Angelo pushes down on the nasal passages, clicking and clearing them. Mickey winces in pain. ANGELO He’s too strong for you, Mickey. Don’t go through no more of this. FALCONETTI’S CORNERMAN looks over at Mickey’s battered exterior. CORNERMAN Good job, Sailor. You turned that kike’s face into a mess of cherries. He’ll be swallowing blood for the rest of the fight. FALCONETTI Rest of the fight? He won’t be going another round. Panting Mickey glances over at smirking Falconetti. Mickey’s face turns to ice. Angelo catches Mickey’s glazed expression. 93.

ANGELO What is it, Mickey? Mickey doesn’t respond and appears strangely reflective. Gazzo looks on admiringly as Angelo wipes Mickey down. MASSIMO GAZZO One thing about that Jew: he can take a terrific beating. HOOKER #1 (to Gazzo) He’s gonna’ get killed. That Sailor’s an animal. Gazzo squeezes her breast as she squeaks like a mouse. MASSIMO GAZZO He ain’t only one. Like a dirty rat, I am. Gazzo’s mob snigger at their head-honcho’s uncouth antics. The BELL RINGS. ANGELO Just keep out of danger for another round or two. That’s all you got to do. Just stay away from him! ROUND TWO - Once again Falconetti is the first out of his corner and finds Mickey quickly. Lightening jabs to the face have Mickey on the defensive. Mickey responds with a strong body combination, but relentless Falconetti tears in with a blinding assault that has Mickey back on the ropes. A searing right cross RIPS OPEN Mickey’s left eye. Blood SPURTS in painful SLOW MOTION. Angelo lowers his head. Angelina turns away unable to take in the pugilistic savagery. Falconetti unleashes a torturous onslaught that hacks at Mickey’s increasingly bloated face. Mickey’s battered eyes freeze as he catches something through his bloody vision. It is a FOREARM TATTOO of a GRINNING SKULL and ANCHOR. Mickey turns and maneuvers instinctively out of his corner and unleashes a desperate, thundering combination to the head. Falconetti covers up and grins through his gloves. FALCONETTI You punch like ya’ take it up the ass. Mickey delivers a ferocious uppercut. FALCONETTI IS DOWN. Gazzo LEAPS out of his seat. Angelo appears startled. The referee rushes forward pulling Mickey aside. 94.

REFEREE One, two, three... Falconetti fumbles to his hands and knees. Dazed and unsure of what just hit him. MOBSTER #1 The Kike dropped him! Scarfo shifts uneasily in his seat. Gazzo looks horrified. MASSIMO GAZZO (screaming) Get up, you guinea bastard! REFEREE Seven, eight... Falconetti climbs to his feet on the NINE count. The referee motions for the fight to continue. MASSIMO GAZZO Christ. Mickey charges into Falconetti who clings on intuitively. Unsure of the emotions he is feeling Mickey’s gut instinct drives him forward. He continues to pound Falconetti’s mid- section. Mickey’s fearsome foe struggles to cling on. SAILOR MIKE You wanna’ play rough, Jew boy? Falconetti leans into Mickey and BITES SAVAGELY at his ear. He chews on the gristle - his blood-stained teeth tear and snarl. Mickey screams as do some of the FEMALE CROWD. The referee charges in pulling them apart. Mickey holds a glove to the side of his head as blood pours down the leather mitt. The fraught referee marches over and warns Falconetti and his corner for foul play and deducts several points. The BELL RINGS and Mickey hobbles back to Angelo who is waiting anxiously with a towel. Mickey flops in his corner. Angelo attends to the agonizing wound. ANGELO That animal! MICKEY Jesus. The referee rushes over. REFEREE Mickey, you okay? Mickey catches his breath and quickly composes himself. 95.

MICKEY I’m alright. The referee gazes at Mickey’s dripping ear wound. REFEREE I might have to stop the fight. MICKEY No! Don’t you stop nothin’! REFEREE But you’ll win by foul. Mickey thinks on his feet. MICKEY I don’t wanna’ win like no dog. The concerned referee considers momentarily then gives Mickey the benefit of the doubt. REFEREE I’ll give it another round. But if that bleeding don’t stop... MICKEY I got a lot of blood in me. The referee moves hesitantly away. Through pain and fatigue Mickey addresses Angelo with a mix of fear and uncertainty. MICKEY (CONT’D) Angelo. That guy. There’s somethin’ about that guy. ANGELO What is it, Mickey? Mickey rises from his stool. Angelo swiftly applies a glob of grease to Mickey’s mangled ear. Mickey appears pensive and struggles to make sense of his mental confusion. ANGELO (CONT’D) One more round Mickey. That’s all we need and we can go home, okay? You can’t take no more of this. MICKEY I’ve got to do the right thing, Angelo. Mickey glances to the heavens. A look of fiery determination flashes across his battered eyes. MICKEY (CONT’D) The right thing. The BELL RINGS. 96.

ROUND THREE - Falconetti charges out of his corner. Mickey rushes out to face the heat of the battle. Falconetti lets loose with pure savagery and batters Mickey around the ring. Mickey fights back with the heart of a lion. THIS IS WAR. FIGHT MONTAGE The next SIX ROUNDS are an extraordinary battle of guts and stamina. The two boxers fight like warriors in the coliseum. SUPERIMPOSITION CARDS display the transition between rounds. ROUND FOUR - The two men circle each other like bleeding barracudas. Falconetti unleashes a brutal barrage of potent swings and body combinations that have Mickey staggering. Mickey is knocked down by a devastating right cross but struggles back to his feet only to be knocked down again. Mickey lays stunned and lost in the middle of the blood- spattered canvas. Angelo yells for Mickey to stay down. A RINGSIDE MASS yell for him to get up. Anxious Angelina makes her way toward the front of the crowd. Mickey reels from a blitzkrieg of sledgehammer hooks and searing jabs. Angelo’s taut face reveals his heartfelt torment for Mickey’s suffering. ROUND SIX - The tables are turned as Falconetti appears to be in trouble. Bloodied Mickey has him in the corner and is dishing out the punishment. Mickey delivers a stunning left that crashes against Falconetti’s's iron chin, followed by a powerhouse bolo to the ribs that makes him writhe in agony. They continue to battle cruelly like battered pit bulls as the ref pulls them apart. The BELL RINGS to end the round. ROUND EIGHT - Falconetti throws a swift jab then feigns a hook. Mickey falls for the deception and receives a terrifying SLOW MOTION THWACK to the temple and a bracing left hook that sends him plummeting to the canvas again. Falconetti strolls away confident of an eight round knockout. Bewildered Mickey glares through loose ropes and spots Angelina in the crowd. She looks heartbroken at the damage Mickey is taking. Mickey gives her a weak thumbs-up and forces a painful smile. He climbs back to his feet as incredulous Falconetti turns back and moves in for the kill. 97.

Mickey is driven back against the ropes and receives a harrowing besting. He somehow manages to survive until the bell. He collapses on Angelo as distressed Angelina turns away. For the first time Falconetti’s corner look worried as they attend to their fighter’s growing lesions. Mickey is on his stool looking desperate. He no longer resembles himself. His face has been mashed. His body is covered in raised welts from the savage assaults delivered by the fearsome rival who stares menacingly at him from his corner. Gazzo is living every uneasy moment on the edge of his seat. Antsy Scarfo gestures something to Clemenza who rises from the aisle and heads toward Angelina in the near distance. ROUND NINE - Falconetti unleashes a punishing facial onslaught that cuts Mickey’s face into a fillet of steak. Mickey wanders blindly while sweltering Falconetti attacks like a shark in a meat factory. Blood splatters all at the ringside. Falconetti seems determined to end it this round. All looks lost as Mickey staggers aimlessly around the ring. The ref steps forward to stop the one-sided butchery when Mickey unexpectedly delivers a stunning uppercut from the depth of his soul and DROPS FALCONETTI. THE CROWD GO WILD! REFEREE Seven, eight, nine... Falconetti is SAVED by the BELL. Angelo rushes out and guides Mickey back into his corner. Mickey drops onto his stool a shattered figure. Tearful Angelo kneels in front of Mickey, prayer-like. ANGELO You done what you had to do, Mickey. We can go home now, kid. Dazed Mickey gazes over at the crowd. He spots Angelina whose face STREAMS WITH TEARS. They share a glance of the very deepest kind. She mouths gently that she loves him. MICKEY (gasping) I did it, Angelo. I fought him hard, done everything right. Mournful Angelo proudly concurs. ANGELO That’s right, Mickey - you did everything right. You did it. 98.

Scarfo watches as Clemenza hovers close behind Angelina who is unaware of his ominous presence. Clemenza locks eyes with his mob boss. Weary Falconetti breathes hard and stares over at Mickey. His furious cornerman unleashes his frustration. FALCONETTI’S CORNERMAN You going to let this filthy Yid humiliate ya’ like this? You’re a disgrace. Falconetti explodes with rage. FALCONETTI I’m gonna’ kill him! Exhausted and heartbroken, Mickey turns to sorrowful Angelo. MICKEY Time. Mickey rises weakly from his stool, glances over at sobbing Angelina and kisses his gloves. The BELL RINGS for the FINAL ROUND. Falconetti jumps from his stool and rushes furiously from his corner. Mickey and Falconetti exchange a series of hostile blows but Falconetti quickly gets the upper hand. A right cross shakes Mickey to the core. His legs buckle under him. Mickey is suddenly knocked back into his corner with an incredible body blow. The protective COVER IS RIPPED from the corner post exposing dangerous protruding metal bolts. The ref rushes in but can’t break through Falconetti’s savage onslaught. Mickey’s back is RIPPED by the rusty iron as merciless Falconetti dishes out crushing blows to cornered, despondent Mickey. His face is POUNDED REPEATEDLY. Falconetti has murder in his eyes as he batters Mickey into submission. FALCONETTI You dirty, Kike! I’ll cut you into pig shit! Mickey is almost blind with blood and is about to drop with terminal exhaustion and sorrowful obligation. Angelo crosses himself as the fire dies in Mickey Goldmill. STIRRING B & W IMAGES of Mickey’s life flash across his mind as Falconetti’s cruel words echo around his beaten visage. 99.

Falconetti wipes his bloody hands on his dead father’s hair. The FOREARM TATTOO of a GRINNING SKULL and ANCHOR. Mickey’s crying father reaches out through bloody eyes. ABE GOLDMILL I’m dead! Grinning Falconetti winds back his right glove and prepares to finish Mickey when his EYES WIDEN with fury. Something supernatural erupts deep inside of Mickey like a raging volcano. Mickey suddenly unleashes a pounding body blow from Hades. Falconetti is bent double as Mickey EXPLODES with every ounce of strength in his heart and lets loose ravaging, cutting cracks to Falconetti’s stunned face. ANGELO (pleading) No, Mickey! Scarfo leaps from his seat and screams to Gazzo. SCARFO That dirty Jew's not going down! Scarfo signals furiously to hovering Clemenza and runs his finger slickly across his throat. Grinning Clemenza produces a flick-knife and whispers intensely into Angelina’s ear. CARLOS CLEMENZA (hissing) You shamed me. Angelina's face freezes. She is STABBED in the back. Clemenza vanishes swiftly into the SWARMING CROWD. Raging Mickey suddenly grabs Falconetti by the head and pummels his staggered face into the protruding metal lugs. Mickey turns him around and knocks him THROUGH THE ROPES and dives out after him. The referee WAVES HIS HANDS wildly. Mickey IS DISQUALIFIED. Ecstatic Gazzo punches the air with heart-pounding relief. MASSIMO GAZZO You beautiful bastard! Scarfo clenches his fist as all bets-in-blood are honoured. Angelo catches sight of horrified Angelina stumbling from the nearby crowd with her bloody hands outstretched and pleading. He leaps off the ring and dashes swiftly to her aide. 100.

Frantic Mickey grabs the ringside bell and leaps on top of Falconetti. He bashes away at him with the metal object like a man possessed. Distraught Angelo cradles his dying daughter in his arms. Mickey throws the bloody bell aside as he is grabbed by a RING OFFICIAL but pushes him furiously away and continues to batter at his father’s comatose murderer with his gloves. With his enemy unconscious beneath him, Mickey, now in SLOW MOTION, EXTENDS HIS ARMS IN THE AIR in the fighter's VICTORY gesture. TIME SLOWS TO A STANDSTILL as frenzied Mickey thrashes about wildly, screaming silent words no-one can hear. His eyes glow with fury and with his mouth and face bloodied, he looks like a demon from Hell. Any trace of humanity has vanished into the agony of Mickey Goldmill’s tortured soul. Gazzo’s previous joyful expression is overtaken by a sense of cold, hard guilt as he stares at the broken man before him. Distraught Angelo cradles dead Angelina as Mickey Goldmill COLLAPSES on the lifeless body of ‘Sailor’ Mike Falconetti. Rise above the carnage as blinding flashbulbs FADE TO BLACK.

INT. SIDE ROOM, JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT A white sheet is placed across the face of Angelina Carmine. HALLWAY Desolate Angelo walks morosely down the empty corridor. His silhouetted figure casts a long shadow of the deepest sorrow.

EXT. JEFFERSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT Angelo appears through the large green entrance doors. He wanders aimlessly down the deserted sidewalk. He looks drained of every drop of human emotion and feeling.

EXT. ST THOMAS AQUINAS CHURCH, MORRIS STREET - NIGHT Angelo stands at the bottom of the church steps. He looks up at the back-lit stained glass CRUCIFIX that adorns the entrance. He crosses himself tearfully. He walks up the concrete stairs that begin his path to soulful redemption. 101.

EXT. LAUREL HILL CEMETERY, RIDGE AVE - MORNING Time has passed. A solemn ocean of gravestones stretch as far as the eye can see along the picturesque panorama of peace and tranquility. Doleful Mickey Goldmill lays a bunch of deep red roses on Angelina’s grave. The headstone reads: ANGELINA CARMINE Born April 3rd, 1915 Died July 31th, 1934. “All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.” Below in beautiful gold lettering are inscribed the words: LITTLE BABY DEMPSEY... “Sleeping with the Angel.” Mickey falls to his knees and clings onto the marble headstone and cries like no man has ever cried before.

INT. COLONIAL MOVIE HOUSE, TENTH AVENUE - NIGHT Lonely Mickey watches a B & W PATHE NEWSREEL of a classic boxing match in the half-empty flea pit. He raises a calloused hand and reaches out at the CROWD of hustling GRAY FIGURES on the silver screen. His hand begins to shake. Mickey’s trembling hand AGES IN TIME as his frail fingers now stroke at the B & W image of the 8mm JOHNSON VS JEFFRIES fight playing in the gym. The painful memories seem like yesterday to the tearful figure of elderly Mickey Goldmill who stands alone and broken in his empty, shadowy gym. A BLARING COMMOTION emanates from outside the gym cutting into Mickey’s painful, personal reflection. He wipes his eyes dry and gathers himself together. He ambles over to the whirring cine projector clicks it off.

EXT. MIGHTY MICK’S GYM - CONTINUOUS A group of ROWDY YOUTHS have another SMALLER TEEN up against the brick wall. Old Mickey appears out the entrance. He rushes over and pulls them off their helpless quarry. OLD MICKEY Leave the kid alone, ya’ punks. The lead bully - PAULIE PENNINO (mid-teens) points a stern finger at frail-looking Mickey. PAULIE PENNINO Go back to your wheelchair before your lungs I’ll punch out. 102.

OLD MICKEY You’re Enzio’s boy, ain’t ya’? PAULIE PENNINO So what? Mickey takes a decisive step forward. Paulie’s teenage victim stands with his back flush to the wall. OLD MICKEY So you think you’re tough, do ya’? Across the street a DARK FIGURE with its back to us watches on. The JEERING GANG egg-on the rotund bully. GANG MEMBER Go, on, Paulie! Put him on his ass! Paulie moves toward Mickey and lifts up his dukes. PAULIE PENNINO I don’t sweat you. Mickey mirrors Paulie in a classic boxing pose. OLD MICKEY I just want to get one thing straight about the rules. PAULIE PENNINO This is the street, old man. There ain’t no rules. Mickey drops down into a familiar crouching stance and delivers a BALL PUNCH that would stop a sperm bank. OLD MICKEY No rules, ya’ say...? Mickey follows up with a jaw-cracking RIGHT CROSS that knocks Paulie flat on his back. OLD MICKEY (CONT’D) That’s my kinda’ fight! Mickey turns on the shocked group of teenagers. They stare open-mouthed at the sight of Paulie Pennino laid out sparko. OLD MICKEY (CONT’D) YOU WANT SOME A’ DIS! Mickey’s rage SCATTERS THE GANG. The bullied teenager falls away from the wall and approaches grimacing, Mickey. BULLIED TEENAGER Did you used to be a boxer or something? Was you like a fighter? 103.

OLD MICKEY Somethin’ like that. Mickey turns to leave. BULLIED TEENAGER Hey, you think you can teach me to fight like that? Ya’ know? OLD MICKEY Come inside and let’s see what ya’ got. BULLIED TEENAGER What about my friend? Mickey glances down at the slab of lard on the sidewalk. OLD MICKEY That’s your friend? BULLIED TEENAGER Yeah, well, we’re always fighting. He thinks I’m trying to ball his sister. I just like her, ya’ know? OLD MICKEY I guess you’d better bring him in. The bullied teen lifts chunky Paulie onto his shoulder. BULLIED TEENAGER He’s kinda’ heavy. Hey, you really think you could teach me to fight? Look after myself a bit? Like, think I could make a good fighter? OLD MICKEY Champion of the world. What’s your name, kid? BULLIED TEENAGER Rocky Balboa. Mickey smiles. OLD MICKEY I knew a Rocky once. Marciano. Gave me a pair of cuff links. BULLIED TEENAGER/YOUNG ROCKY Hey, my dad’s got a couple of turtles named... Mickey throws a right cross and catches Rocky on the nose. OLD MICKEY The first thing you got to learn is not to lead with your face. That’s the fastest way to a broken nose. 104.

BULLIED TEENAGER/YOUNG ROCKY I’ve never had my nose broken. OLD MICKEY Then let’s keep it that way. They disappear through the entrance. DARK FIGURE (O.S.) You still got it, Mickey. You still got it. The dark figure across the street is now revealed as the elderly Angelo Carmine, now FATHER ANGELO CARMINE. He is dressed in a black frock and cassock collar and looks every inch the classic priest. FATHER ANGELO CARMINE Bless you, Mickey. By the grace of God go us all. Father Angelo Carmine smiles, turns and walks quietly away. Move slowly up to the PAINTED PORTRAIT of Mickey Goldmill in his prime that towers over the quiet, breezy sidewalk below. SUPERIMPOSITION OVER WALL PAINTING After Angel’s death Mickey retired from professional boxing. He went onto train the legendary heavyweight world champion ROCKY BALBOA who successfully defended the title ten times. He never married. Mickey Goldmill died August 15th, 1981. FREEZE on the proud PAINTED IMAGE OF MIGHTY MICKEY GOLDMILL.

FADE OUT.

The End.