MILK by DUSTIN LANCE BLACK DRAFT: Revisions 3 (SKE notes, prod notes, w/o annotation) July 20, 2007 (323)559-4247 FADE IN: TITLE CARD: "NOVEMBER 27TH, 1978 10:49AM" INT. CITY HALL / MAYOR MOSCONE'S OFFICE - DAY Clutched in a lifeless hand, a lit cigarette burns an ever- widening hole in the carpet floor. The DEPUTY MAYOR steps into the office, finding his boss lying face down before him. INT. S.F. CITY HALL / DAN WHITE'S OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER Young CLEVE JONES, 23, blond, always mistaken for a teen, pushes his way through the chaos of COPS and AIDES into Dan White’s office door with SCOTT SMITH, a curly, thinning 30. JIM RIVALDO, 38, a New England transplant in a 3 piece suit, and his similarly clad counterpart DICK PABICH, 23 are focused on this second lifeless body, their mentor, their boss, a lanky man in an old brown suit laying face down in a pool of blood, HARVEY MILK, 48. Cleve freezes at the image of the man's well worn Wingtips. A hole in the bottom of one. OFFICERS turn Harvey’s lifeless body over. Others look away. Cleve won’t. Jim mutters: JIM RIVALDO It's over. We've lost it. DICK PABICH A year ago he was pinching asses on Castro. Now what? Icon? Cleve shuts it out. He looks out the second story window to see what Harvey must have last laid eyes upon: the SF Opera House, and beyond it, the neighborhood that has become their home, The Castro. INT. ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL - MOMENTS LATER The very picture of loveliness, MARY-ANN, 28, finds her husband DAN WHITE, 31, sitting in the pews praying. He’s a handsome, devout, all-American man in a three-piece suit. She sits by him. A weight hangs. He can't make eye contact. DAN WHITE Something has happened. She puts her arm around him, feels a gun at his side. She holds him, firmly gripping the revolver in his holster, to conceal, to keep him from using it, potentially on himself. 2. INT. CITY HALL / HARVEY'S OFFICE - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER Jim searches, frantic. Drawers open, contents spill. Finally, he finds a cassette tape titled "IN CASE." EXT. S.F. CITY HALL / FRONT STEPS - SAME A shell shocked DIANNE FEINSTEIN, 45, wades into a crowd of REPORTERS. Those surrounding her try to quiet the crowd. DIANNE FEINSTEIN As President of the Board of Supervisors, it's my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot... and killed. Gasps from the throng of reporters. Dianne struggles to be heard above the ruckus. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (CONT'D) Police have a suspect... Supervisor Dan White. INT. S.F. CITY HALL / HARVEY'S OFFICE - DAY Officers are investigating the crime scene down the hall. Harvey's body hasn't been moved. Inside the office, a player turns the “IN CASE" tape. A cadre of Milk’s aides and friends listen: Cleve, Scott, Jim & Dick. History is being written from the grave: HARVEY MILK RECORDED WILL This is Harvey Milk, speaking on Friday, November 18, 1977. This is to be played only in the event of my death by assassination. I’ve been thinking about this for some time prior to the election and certainly over the years. I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, a gay activist, becomes the target or potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid or very disturbed with themselves. The following are my thoughts, my wishes, my desires. I stood for more than just a candidate. I have always considered myself part of a movement, part of a candidacy. I wish I had time to explain 3. HARVEY MILK RECORDED WILL (CONT'D) everything I did. Almost everything that was done was done with an eye on the gay movement. Just down the hall, an investigator searching Harvey's coat pockets pulls out an "Tosca" opera ticket. INT. NY OPERA HOUSE 1944 - NIGHT TITLE CARD: "NYC 1944" In the cheap upper level of the opera, a young MAN, 27, in a long coat stands at the ledge, soaking in every note. Finally, a TEENAGE BOY sneaks out from under his coat. TEENAGE BOY What's wrong? MAN Just look straight ahead. This is Puccini. Do you know Puccini? The teen looks left. COPS have come up to the balcony. TEENAGE BOY Do you have any money you could lend me? For the train home? MAN What's your name? TEENAGE BOY Harvey. MAN Do you need someone to take care of you, Harvey? TEENAGE BOY No. I can handle myself just fine. MAN (a sincere warning) Harvey, don't let anyone catch you doing this. They'll put you in jail, tell your folks. What we do, you and me, it's wrong. Hide it. The cops approach. Harvey sneaks away from the man to listen to the rest of the Opera. Harvey eyes the cops, fearful as they question the man he was just “with.” One looks over. Harvey turns back to the Opera. Fear in his eyes, he begins MOUTHING ALONG TO PUCCINI. 4. INT. NYC APARTMENT 1958 - DAY TITLE CARD: 1958. A RECORD PLAYER PLAYS THE SAME SONG FROM PUCCINI'S "TOSCA" in a very nice, conservatively decorated NYC apartment. Flashes of a CLEAN CUT HARVEY, early 30s, having sex with a very attractive JOE CAMPBELL, 18. INT. NYC APARTMENT 1958 - MINUTES LATER THE MUSIC STILL PLAYS AS Harvey puts on his suit. He's very 1950's clean cut, Wall Street conservative. Joe is still in bed. Harvey notes a small stack of PINK FLIERS next to Joe's things on the floor. He says nothing, but they weigh on him. HARVEY MILK I don't think I can go. I need to do some shopping. JOE CAMPBELL Do it later. HARVEY MILK (a charming deflection) We need fresh coffee beans. Only the best for me and Joe-i-san. JOE CAMPBELL I'll get it. Just take the train to the park after work and hang out. I want you to meet these guys. I like em'... and none of em' are over 30. Joe smiles at the bait he's dropped. Harvey's not taking it. HARVEY MILK What are the fliers for? JOE CAMPBELL (sees them spilled out, busted) We're organizing. HARVEY MILK Are you still putting them in people's mailboxes? (no answer) You could ruin their lives if you expose them. And if they find out it's you that exposed them, they could expose us. Joe slips on his hipster clothes, making it clear that the generation gap is even wider than their age gap. 5. JOE CAMPBELL Yes, Harvey-san, you got the Wall Street job, the apartment, everything a queen could want. Everything but the chance to be who you are like a normal human being. You gotta wake up or you're gonna get left in the dust. HARVEY MILK (suddenly fiery) Go ahead, keep pushing. I've seen this before. You'll lose EVERYTHING. Including me. You and your friends could learn a lesson from MY generation. Discretion. Joe is crushed. He's no match for Harvey's sharp tongue. Tears come. Harvey tries to ignore them. HARVEY MILK (CONT'D) Just tell your friends to come here. Where we can have some privacy. Joe gathers his things into a bag, and walks out of the apartment. Harvey knows Joe isn't coming back. He knows why... Joe is right. REVEAL: A giant "BARRY GOLDWATER" poster hangs behind Harvey. He can't finish his tie. The fight has hit home. Harvey begins whistling along to the Puccini record in the background. He fights hard, but fails to stay composed. A MUSIC BASED OPENING CREDIT MONTAGE BEGINS: A collection of photos, videos, and grainy period film include: Super 8 footage of Harvey Milk in his suit on Wall Street, his hair just a tiny bit longer. He dramatically burns his BankAmericard in protest. The United States invades Cambodia. / Nixon visits China. / The gays riot at Stonewall in NYC. A scruffy Harvey and a new hippie boy, SCOTT SMITH (from the opening, but now only 21) film each other with an 8mm camera as they share a joint. Harvey's no pro. Scott is. Nixon goes on television making excuses. A home movie of a long haired, beaded and bearded Harvey driving through the Midwest, the camera reveals little Scott 6. Smith is with him. Included are images of late 60's Middle America: small businesses, farms, nuclear families, etc. Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in Tennis. Created and actual footage of SF in '72. The Hippies are dwindling, the gays are arriving, disco is giving birth. The old inhabitants (the Catholics, the cops, the Chinese) don’t know what to make of all the new ruckus. Scott and Harvey wake up in their car amongst the redwoods just north of San Francisco. Filtering into the images and music is a new POST MORTEM voice over. Well recorded, more relaxed, at times jovial: HARVEY'S POST MORTEM V.O. (-NOT THE RECORDED WILL-) When a person dies, especially in dramatic fashion, there's always a slim chance he'll become a legend of some sort. I wouldn't say I lived my life for that, but I tried my best to leave things in place, just in case. You see-- Shots of SF police dragging gay men in wigs out of bars, gay protests, blood in the streets, police beating men down, crime scenes, police tape, etc.