The Stunt Man

THE STUNTMAN Screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus Adaptation by Richard Rush From the novel by Paul Brodeur FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT Melvin Simon Productions Presents A Richard Rush Film - 1 - THE STUNTMAN FADE IN: 1 EXT. ROADSIDE DINER - EARLY MORNING A strip of two-lane highway runs through a tall pine forest. There is a truck-stop coffee shop beside the roadway. A few 14-WHEELERS are scattered across the big dusty parking lot. Morning sunlight glints off their chrome stacks. It bakes the asphalt and warms the mangy hides of stray DOGS asleep in the dirt. A HELICOPTER hovers about the treetops like a lazy hummingbird. It's the beginning of a perfect day. A highway PATROL CAR slowly trolls among the trucks and dogs and parks beside the slat and shingled building. TWO TELEPHONE LINEMEN are scaling a power pole at the forest's edge. 2 POWER POLE - ANGLE ON TELEPHONE LINEMEN High on the pole, the linemen lean back against their safety straps to work, their bodies forming a "Y." One of them suddenly turns, pointing at a nearby treetop. FIRST LINEMAN Lookee there! He grabs a PORCELAIN INSULATOR from his belt, cocks his arm and hurls it across the open stretch. It lands smack in the middle of the tree. SQUAWK! A rattle of leaves, a rustle of feathers and a HUGE BUZZARD comes flapping out. The lineman cackles over his marksmanship. 3 CLOSE ANGLE ON BUZZARD - MOVING SHOT The big, frightened beady-eyed bird is lumbering through the sky, flapping for its life and suddenly..