As promised, here is the shocking (not really) conclusion to last weeks post...the song from Woman in the Window, written for the title character herself. First, a little setup:
Alice has had a long night. She had met Richard and invited him to her apartment to see some paintings, where the two were interrupted by Frank, a man she had been seeing. After an altercation, Richard prevails by inadvertently killing the uninvited guest.
Realizing that they both could be held seriously accountable for this, Richard plans to dispose of the body and in an attempt to make him anonymous, he tasks Alice to get rid of all of the man's personal belongings.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On The Ferry At Four
Music by Cynthia Wong, Lyrics by Lee Cavellier, Book by Sara Wordsworth
Lights slowly rise on the outside deck of the Staten
Island Ferry. A clock shows the time,
4:10 AM. We hear the thump of the diesel
engine, and sense a thickness in the humid, pre-dawn summer air. ALICE carefully enters the otherwise deserted
deck, making sure the coast is clear.
SHE’s clutching a small purse and wearing a long, light raincoat, dark
glasses and a shawl over her hair.
(We hear RICHARD’s VOICE, ominous
in tone.)
RICHARD
(V/O)
You’ll get on one of the ferries.
Right away. Not during rush
hour. Drop everything overboard. Be very careful that you aren’t seen.
ALICE
(luxuriously, to herself:)
AND
I WASN’T, WAS I?
NO,
NO ONE COULD HAVE CAUGHT A GLIMPSE, THE SLIGHTEST GLIMPSE OF ME,
AS
I HURRIED ‘LONG MY WAY TO THE BOAT…
AND
NOW I’M FINALLY HERE
ALL
ALONE,..
NOT
A SOUL,
NOT
A PERSON IN-
(A nearby hawk screeches.)
ALICE
(jumping)
What the-?! Oh God...just a...
(Singing briskly, hyping herself
back to where she was..)
AND
NOW I’M FINALLY HERE
ALL
ALONE,..
NOT
A SOUL,
NOT
A PERSON IN SIGHT,
NOT
A SINGLE-
(Music is cut off again as a passing boat's foghorn yells.)
Holy Mother-of...!
(Music.
Singing very briskly, hyping herself back to where she was...)
AND
NOW I’M FINALLY HERE…
ALL
ALONE...
NOT
A SOUL,
NOT
A PERSON IN SIGHT,
NOT
A SINGLE SET OF EYES-
(SHE catches a glimpse of the
Statue of Liberty. Spoken:)
And what are you looking at, Miss Liberty? It was an accident, after all! An accident!
FROM
YOUR COOL, STEELY GLARE, IT’S APPARENT YOU’RE AWARE OF WHAT I’VE DONE…
ACCIDENTALLY…
YES,
THAT COOL, STEELY GLARE MAKES IT CLEAR YOU KNOW THE WEB THAT I HAVE SPUN…
SO
WE DID WHAT WE DID, AND WE SAID ‘THAT’S THAT!’
BUT
NOW SOMETHING INSIDE OF ME IS GNAWING LIKE A RAT…
OH,
I HAVEN’T HAD THIS FEELING SINCE I KILLED MY NEIGHBOR’S CAT…
ACCIDENTALLY.
NO,
REALLY, ACCIDENTALLY!
FROM
YOUR COOL, STEELY GLARE, IT’S APPARENT THAT YOU’RE PUTTING ME ON TRIAL
MONUMENTALLY.
YES,
THAT COOL, STEELY GLARE ALMOST COVERS UP THAT EVER-KNOWING SMILE…
(indignantly.)
What?!
HE
WAS OLDER, BUT CUTE, ALSO SLIGHTLY TANNED…
NOT
THE POINT, I ASSURE YOU IT WAS TOTALLY UNPLANNED…
BUT
THEN FRANK CAME BARGING IN AND GRABBED…I CAN’T BELIEVE I HANDED HIM THE
SCISSORS!
WHY
THE SCISSORS?!
A
LAMP OR A CLOCK COULD HAVE WORKED WELL TO BLOCK THE ASSAULT…
BUT
INSTEAD I GRABBED THE SCISSORS…
WRETCHED
SCISSORS!
SO FORGIVE MY BAD MOOD, BUT THIS COULD BE CONSTRUED AS MY FAULT…
ACCIDENTALLY…
IT'S BETWEEN YOU AND ME, 'CUZ I CAN'T LET PEOPLE SEE WHAT HAS OCCURRED…
ACCIDENTALLY.
AND I LIKE BEING FREE, SO I'M BEGGING OF YOU NOT A SINGLE WORD...
‘CUZ
THE GLASSES ARE WASHED AND THE BLOOD STAIN OUT…
AND
THE SCISSORS ARE BOILED SPIC AND SPAN WITHOUT A DOUT…
ONLY
ONE MORE TASK REMAINING, SO IT’S TIME TO FEED THE TROUT!
(She starts tossing items into the
river as she sings.)
ACCIDENTALLY,
I’LL ‘LOSE’ THIS WALLET…
UNEXPECTEDLY,
‘BYE BYE’ KEYS…
INCIDENTALLY…HIS
HANDKERCHIEF IS GONE-
(SHE tries to throw the
handkerchief into the water but the wind brings it back. She keeps trying, getting more upset as she
keeps failing…)
IS
GONE…IS…IS…
Damn
it!
(SHE finally holds the handkerchief
out over the rail and drops it gently into the river.)
GONE!
(SHE gazes up at the Statue again.)
And
still you stare at me. There’s no crime in wanting freedom, is
there? Look at you, Miss Liberty. You’re free!
Free as a bird!
(ALICE dangles ‘Frank’s’ beautiful,
bejeweled poket watch over the railing.
SHE peers at the Statue, and retracts it.)
But
still…you clutch some things, Lady. Your
torch…your book. They’re your quiet
power, aren’t they?
AND
I COULD USE A NET, SHOULD HE SET IT UP FOR ME TO TAKE THE FALL…ACCIDENTALLY.
DAY
WILL COME, YOU CAN BET, WHEN HE’LL TURN ME IN OR PIN ME TO THE WALL.
I
mean, how well do I know this man?!
OK,
SURE, I WAS STUCK WITH SOME THINGS TO TOSS.
AND
I KNOW THAT IT’S LOUSY TO ASSUME A DOUBLECROSS…
BUT
I CANNOT BE COMPLACENT ‘CUZ I’M MURDER ADJACENT, AND THIS WATCH COULD BE THE
KEY!
SO
I’LL PUT IT IN MY POCKET,
THEN
I’LL TAKE IT HOME AND LOCK IT UP…
ACCIDENTALLY.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now, some extra fun!!
Since a blog is nothing without it's readers, I am going to invite YOU to be part of the process!
Same question as last time...just cuz I wanna know! Have you ever felt a movie would be better if someone burst into song? (I feel that way all the time...)
Leave a comment below, with the film moment you feel should be musicalized!
Until next time...
-Lee
...of 'Lee'rical Wordplay...
.....in case there was any question...
No comments:
Post a Comment