We go to a "holding cell - Saturday afternoon":
LAVERNE IS IN A SMALL HOLDING CELL WITH THREE OTHER WOMEN. ONE IS AN OLDER LADY, NAMED ESTELLE, ONE IS A BLACK GIRL IN HER LATE TWENTIES, NAMED TONI, AND ONE IS A MIDDLE-AGED WHITE WOMAN, NAMED SHERI. THERE ARE TWO WOODEN BENCHES, ONE ON EACH SIDE OF THE CELL AND A SMALL WINDOW WITH BARS ON THE MIDDLE WALL. SOME GRAFFITI IS WRITTEN ON THE WALLS. LAVERNE IS PLAYING CARDS WITH THE OTHER WOMEN. THEY ARE PLAYING FOR CIGARETTES.
As with Hildie in "Dead in German," they specifically wanted to cast a young Black actress for Toni. However, neither of the two other women is middle-aged or old. Laverne drawing an L on the wall was added.
In the script, the other women agree with Estelle about the bad prison food in Cleveland, while onscreen Toni argues about that. This dialogue was dropped:
LAVERNE
Yeah, the worst... except for Juarez. Don't ask.
SHERI
(TO LAVERNE) What're you in here for?
LAVERNE
Me? Oh -- well -- I beat up a sailor.
THERE'S A BEAT.
TONI
What for?
LAVERNE
I didn't like the way he looked at me when I punched him in the gut.
And instead of Laverne explaining how she took the hankie because of the "eggy" on her teeth, there was this:
SHIRLEY
You know, you look great!
LAVERNE
Am I getting out? Did you get my bail money?
SHIRLEY
You got roses in your cheeks.
LAVERNE
What about my bail?!
SHIRLEY
Oh, posh, your bail.
LAVERNE
Posh my bail?
SHIRLEY
I have the feeling that something good will happen soon.
LAVERNE
Yeah?
Between Shirley bringing out the milk and Pepsi and her revealing Boo-Boo Kitty, this was omitted:
SHIRLEY
Milk and Pepsi, magazines, crossword puzzles and pen, a calendar... Here...
SHIRLEY REACHES INTO BAG AND HANDS LAVERNE A CALENDAR.
LAVERNE
A calendar?! You said I'd be home in no time!
SHIRLEY
That was a little thoughtless. I'll take that back. Now, I brought you one more thing. Close your eyes.
The information that one of Laverne's cellmates "cut up her husband into little pieces and claimed it was suicide" was not in the script.
Norman's entrance doesn't actually happen until Scene H in this version, so I'll discuss that part later.
After Laverne tells Shirley about her cellmates in this scene, the script goes right into the part with the guard gathering them for the line-up. Onscreen, Shirley has just found out from Norman that the bail is $500, so Laverne urges her to get it.
Here's how things go in print for the last page of this scene, and act:
SHIRLEY
Buck up, Laverne. You gotta be strong. Knock 'em dead in there.
LAVERNE
I don't want to line up.
SHIRLEY
Look at the bright side. This will look great in the brewery paper. The "Who's Doing What" column.
LAVERNE IS LED AWAY WITH THE OTHER PRISONERS. SHE TURNS BACK TO SHIRLEY.
LAVERNE
Get me out of here!
LAVERNE EXITS, LEAVING SHIRLEY ALONE.
SHIRLEY
(YELLS AFTER HER) Buck up! You can still count on me. I got a million plans to get you out. You'll only be in here one day.
SHE PUTS BOO-BOO KITTY BACK IN THE BAG AND STARTS AFTER LAVERNE. SHE STOPS, COMES BACK, AND WITH HER PEN, REACHES THROUGH THE BARS AND MARKS A "ONE" ON THE CELL WALL. THEN SHE EXITS.
Thoughts:
- It seems weirdly fitting that Laverne's imagined crime was against a sailor.
- Shirley tries to follow Squiggy's advice to lie to Laverne, and it does not go well. She turns into a parody of her usual optimism, while clearly fearing the worst, and the tonal shifts are jarring.
- The calendar joke amuses me.
- I'll discuss later whether moving this scene, and E, before C, was a good idea for filming.
No comments:
Post a Comment