"Death Row - Part II," Scene C

It's back to the Death Row Cell in the morning, presumably the next morning:

KILLER IS ASLEEP ON THE BOTTOM BUNK.  LAVERNE PACES QUIETLY IN THE CELL.  A PIGEON LANDS ON THE CELL'S WINDOW.  LAVERNE CROSSES SLOWLY TOWARDS IT.

LAVERNE

Here, pidgy, pidgy.  (GETTING CLOSER) Stay right there.  (STILL CLOSER) Maybe we can be friends.

LAVERNE REACHES FOR THE PIGEON.  IT FLIES AWAY.

LAVERNE (CONT'D)

Stupid bird.  What does Burt Lancaster got that I don't got.

KILLER

I can tell you haven't been here very long.

Officer Kluger coming in and asking if Laverne had a nice night was kept, except that Laverne is "Smith" rather than "Jones" in this version.

LAVERNE

Could you try calling me DeFazio?  It is my name.

KLUGER

DeFazio, Smith, after tomorrow night, it's only gonna make a difference to the worms.  Let's go.

LAVERNE JUMPS ON THE BARS LIKE A CAT AND HOLDS ON.

LAVERNE

Well, I ain't goin'.  (TO KILLER) Back me up on this one and I'll shine your shoes for a month.

KILLER

Hey, you don't see me cryin', do ya?

LAVERNE

I don't see you goin' either.

The next page was kept, although for some reason Killer onscreen says she's in prison for killing her "first husband," rather than just her husband as in the script, implying she got married again in prison.  This is the original first part of the conversation Laverne and Sheba have once they're sharing a cell:

LAVERNE

Look, Sheba, this is going too far.  You can get me off the hook if you just tell them the truth.

SHEBA

I suppose I could tell them about having the meeting at your house.  You being the secretary of the gang.  Carrying the dynamite and handing the teller the hold up note...

LAVERNE

Well, how about if you lie.

SHEBA

I really couldn't do a thing like that.

LAVERNE

I'm never gonna get outta here.

SHEBA

How do you want to spend the rest of our lives?  (BEAT) Hey, you could braid my hair.

LAVERNE

I'd rather wring your neck.  Why are you doin' this to me?  You're being so selfish.

SHEBA

I am not selfish....

Instead, onscreen this became Laverne trying to squeeze Sheba through the bars and then the girls arguing about "the cause," with Laverne calling it stupid and Sheba saying it's not stupid.  Then the part about Sylvia's mother and the soup and being Sylvia Berman was kept.  The next part was also different in the script:

SHEBA

I don't like the name either, alright?  So, I changed it.  And I got tired of living at home with my parents, and maids and all that money.

LAVERNE

Sounds terrible.

SHEBA

Well it is.  Or it was.  (BREAKING DOWN) I'm not really sure anymore.  I don't know what to do.  I just want to go to Bardwell's and hang out at the make-up counter.

LAVERNE

You know something?  You're a real fruitcake.  I'm getting outta here.

Onscreen, Sylvia sounds more like a surfer girl than a rich girl, and Laverne sort of tries to comfort her.

The last page, with Laverne "clanking" the paper cup and Kluger telling her she already got her phone call and will die that night, was all kept.

Well, you know, for a scene in this script, I don't hate it.  The Birdman of Alcatraz reference is relatively cute, and I almost like the odd callback to Bardwell's.  By the way, Killer's reply, "I can tell you haven't been here very long" may be a muddled lesbian joke, I don't know.  

It still bugs me that Kluger and presumably the other authorities don't care that these may not be the actual Smith and Jones.  They just want to fry someone soon, it doesn't really matter whom.  And I do feel that LeRose writes like he's never had a real conversation with a woman, because even someone who's as shallow as Sheba would not suggest that Laverne braid her hair during their last day on Earth.  (And from a comedic standpoint, "Hey, we could braid each other's hair" is better.)

This closes out Act I.  Act II, with Lenny and Squiggy and so much more is on its way....