TITANIC: AFTERMATH
Chapter One
FADE IN:
INT. LIZZY'S (ROSE'S) KITCHEN - DAY
A table is piled high with Titanic books.
Buried amongst them sits LIZZY CALVERT, amateur Titanic enthusiast, eyes glued
to a book. Her rapt concentration is interrupted by the DOORBELL. Lizzy rises
with excitement and anticipation.
INT. FRONT DOOR - LIZZY'S HOUSE - DAY
Lizzy pauses, reminding herself not to look
too eager. She opens the door, revealing BROCK LOVETT. He smiles, holding a
bundle of papers, abundantly pleased with what he's about to show her.
Brock has abandoned his search for the Heart
of the Ocean and has become engrossed in the Titanic's human story.
He is trying to prove himself to Lizzy, but
she is unsure whether she wants to pursue a relationship with this former
treasure hunter.
LIZZY
(good-naturedly) Hi, Brock. So, what's the
big surprise?
BROCK
Gonna ask me in?
Lizzy cracks a warm smile and invites him in.
She can't help showing that she likes him.
INT. LIZZY'S (ROSE'S) KITCHEN - DAY
Brock grabs a soda from the fridge, while
Lizzy sits at the table, becoming more pensive. Brock joins Lizzy. He attempts
to read her facial expression.
BROCK
You still think I'm a grave robber, don't
you?
LIZZY
It's just that your book...it's like a
treasure hunt all over again for you. I think you press people a little too
hard at times.
BROCK
I'm sorry, Lizzy. I just can't back down when
I'm so close to finding what I'm looking for. When you see what I've found,
you'll understand. Now, when you talked with Rose before she died, she said she
knew a little about Ruth's whereabouts after the sinking.
LIZZY
Molly Brown told her a few things in 1914,
but she had trouble contacting Molly, and lost track of her mother after that.
So, did you find some information on Ruth?
Brock nods and smiles. This is his gift to
her.
LIZZY
How did she make out? How did she manage
without Hockley's money?
BROCK
She did just fine. She got married again in
1916, and died a happy old woman in 1946. I guess she decided new money wasn't
so bad after all!
They laugh. Lizzy feels somewhat sorry for
berating him.
LIZZY
Well! That's good news. I was hoping she
didn't suffer too much. Thank you. But that's not all, is it? What's that you
brought with you?
BROCK
You'll never believe it, Lizzy! Through all
my research on the Heart of the Ocean, Hockley's descendants were holding out
on us. There's been a memoir all along. It took some convincing, but they let
me run off a copy.
LIZZY
You mean Cal's memoirs? Really?
Brock hands the diary to her proudly. She
examines it eagerly.
LIZZY
Brock...that's incredible...I mean, what a great
find! Does he talk about Rose?
BROCK
Yes, and lots more. You know, it really says
a lot about the man.
LIZZY
But Cal was such a creep! What new insight
could he possibly offer?
BROCK
Plenty. Read.
Lizzy begins to read out loud.
LIZZY
"1929 has been a difficult year for all.
With the crash in October, we have lost almost everything. Our lives have again
been altered inextricably by the hand of fate. I am particularly concerned
about our eldest adopted son, Geoffrey. He's taking this very hard."
Lizzy looks up at Brock, incredulously.
LIZZY
He adopted children? Rose said he offered aid
to some orphans after the sinking, but surely that was just a ploy to improve
his image.
BROCK
Read on.
LIZZY
"It is a time for reflection upon the
past, the present and the future. The mood of overwhelming personal crisis
draws me back to 1912, after the sinking of the Titanic...
FADE INTO CAL'S VOICE
EXT. WRECKAGE SITE - DAWN - APRIL 15, 1912
CAL (VO)
...when my life changed before my
eyes...forever.
The water shimmers with glints of dawn's
crimson hue. All is quiet, except for the rhythmic lapping of the ocean waves.
The ethereal beauty of the sea is broken by
pieces of the shattered wreckage of the once great leviathan. A deck chair...a
fragment of ornate woodwork...a man's body in a life jacket...
Twenty-eight severely frozen men stand atop
the overturned Collapsible B, gazing hopefully toward the Carpathia. SECOND
OFFICER LIGHTOLLER commands them to lean left and right, as the scant remainder
of the air pocket underneath the boat ebbs away with each passing wave.
Lightoller blows a WHISTLE, attracting the
attention of four lifeboats about 800 feet away.
The Carpathia takes survivors on board four
miles away, as a regatta of tiny lifeboats wearily approaches the rescue ship.
Faint pink clouds float near the horizon,
accented by a crisp crescent moon. The surrounding icebergs glow like giant
opals in the rose-colored light of dawn. This otherworldly scene is one perhaps
not meant for human eyes.
EXT. CARPATHIA - DAWN
All is silent except for the shuffle of feet
on the decks and the shrill squeal of the block and tackle, as it hauls a
terrified woman up in a bo'sun's chair.
The survivors are emotionally and physically
depleted, but board the ship in an orderly fashion.
INT. CARPATHIA GANGWAY DOOR - AROUND 6:15 AM
Completely broken and in shock, BRUCE ISMAY
stands, trembling.
CHIEF PURSER BROWN
Your name please, sir.
ISMAY
(mumbling) I'm Ismay. I'm Ismay.
The ship surgeon, DR. MCGHEE, approaches him.
DR. MCGHEE
(kindly, gently) Mr. Ismay, will you not go
into the saloon and get some soup or something to drink?
ISMAY
No, I really do not want anything. (diverting
his eyes from a widow's gaze) If you can get me in some room...
EXT. UPPER DECK - 8:30 AM
Amidst a flurry of activity, people peer over
the side of the ship at people climbing onboard from a lifeboat. They search
anxiously, though silently, for their loved ones. JACK THAYER (17) climbs on
deck and spots MARIAN THAYER (39). They embrace joyfully.
MARIAN THAYER
Where is Daddy?
JACK THAYER
I don't know, Mother.
INT. BRIDGE OF CARPATHIA - AROUND 9:00 AM
An OFFICER looks out to sea. CAPTAIN ROSTRON
strides toward him, a bundle of electricity.
OFFICER
Another ship is approaching, sir.
CAPTAIN ROSTRON
(incredulously) The Mount Temple's broken
through the ice field?
OFFICER
It's the Californian, sir.
CAPTAIN ROSTRON
But there should be no one else in the
vicinity for hours.
Puzzled, he peers through binoculars to view
her name.
CAPTAIN ROSTRON
Tell them we have all the survivors on board.
EXT. ICE FIELD - MINUTES LATER
The Carpathia steams toward us, leaving the
Californian behind to search for additional survivors.
CAL (VO)
The immensity of the disaster was not
immediately apparent, but soon the terrible truth emerged. 700 people, not even
a third, had survived, and over 1500 had perished. Yet, people clung to their
hopes as long as they possibly could, and reality settled in only gradually.
EXT. FIRST CLASS - NEAR WIRELESS OFFICE - DAY
Bright, sunny, cold day. Carpathia's
passengers offer Titanic's victims hot drink, dry clothing, a place to rest.
Some women keep faith that they will find their husbands. For others, their
inner grief brims over into an irrepressible flood of tears.
CALEDON HOCKLEY and RUTH DEWITT BUKATER are
consumed with thoughts of Rose. Ruth has a knot in her stomach with a mother's
worry, as she fights to block out the realizations of grief that are erupting
all around her. Cal desperately swims against the current of what he knows to be
the grim truth, though he maintains a brave countenance for Ruth. Ruth is
heartened by a joyful reunion that takes place nearby. Her head darts around,
as she hopes to catch a glimpse of her daughter's figure in the distance.
RUTH
Most of the women of first class have
probably survived. I'm sure she is here somewhere. There is just so much
confusion.
Cal receives a potent pang of guilt from the
nether-reaches of his psyche, as he recalls the SOUND OF GUNSHOTS. He struggles
to escape this seemingly alien burst of intense emotion.
CAL
I will make a good, thorough search for her,
Ruth. I won't stop until I've found her.
Cal composes his message on a Marconi slip,
emotionally retreating into a business-like manner. He appears cold and
insensitive to Ruth, but he's waging an internal battle.
CAL
"To...Nathan Hockley, Atlantic City.
Ruth and I safe. Rose missing, search underway. Lovejoy, lost. Possessions
lost, including Heart of Ocean. - Cal"
Cal looks for Ruth's approval.
RUTH
The servants, Cal. Trudy and Sophie.
Ruth feels responsible for their loss. She
sees other people standing nearby with their maids. She considers sharing her
thoughts with Cal, but thinks the better of it and looks away.
CAL
Yes, of course.
Cal flushes with embarrassment as he adds the
servants' names to the slip. He hands it to a steward who is collecting them.
Cal follows Ruth out of the crowd. Concealed
within in the blur of the crowd, the images of TRUDY and SOPHIE gaze numbly at
them.
Cal pauses to ask CHIEF PURSER BROWN to
search his list of survivors for Rose. Cal no longer has his faithful bulldog
of a manservant to hunt her down, but LOVEJOY's memory adheres tenaciously to
his consciousness in the form of a distant shadowy presence.
Ruth continues on. Her nerves can't handle
the noise and disorder, and she struggles to maintain her self-control. Her
whole life has been scattered to the wind. She walks by two women who softly
decline an offer of coffee.
WOMAN
Go away. We have just seen our husbands
drown.
EXT. UPPER DECK - FIRST CLASS - NEAR RAILING
- DAY
Ruth joins a group of women, attempting a
polite smile as she approaches.
The group includes the COUNTESS OF ROTHES
(27) and maid ROBERTA MAIONI, GLADYS CHERRY, MRS. J. STUART WHITE (55) and maid
AMELIA BESSETTI, and two other maids, HARRIET BINGHAM (60) and ELLEN BIRD
(about 20).
The maids gratefully receive coffee from a
lady Carpathia passenger, and pass cups on to their mistresses before taking
any themselves. Ruth refuses the offer of coffee. She only half listens to the
conversation.
MRS. WHITE
Oh, these poor widows! If only the men
passengers were saved instead of those worthless stewards. They got in the boat
under the pretense they could row and knew nothing about it.
GLADYS CHERRY
The only man worth his salt was that one
seaman.
COUNTESS OF ROTHES
I wish...more people had listened when he
asked to go back for the people in the water.
All fall silent. Worried Rose was amongst
them, Ruth retreats to the railing, allowing only the sea to bear witness to
her tears.
Ruth stares silently out to sea. Cal
approaches her. At a loss for consoling words, he determines it is time to take
action.
CAL
I don't see Rose anywhere up here. Perhaps a
more extensive search. I will go.
Both are embarrassed--Rose may be in
steerage, but Ruth is somewhat encouraged by this new hope. She blots away her
tears, then turns toward Cal.
RUTH
Yes. I will remain here with the Countess.
COUNTESS OF ROTHES
(sympathetically) Yes, Ruth. We can all keep
an eye out for Rose up here.
EXT. FIRST CLASS - DAY
Cal walks by a woman who comforts her
shrieking child. Cal recalls the WAILING OF THE LITTLE GIRL he picked up and
the SCREAMS of people on Titanic's deck.
He glances around nervously as a FAINT
GHOULISH CHORUS weaves its way amidst the child's cries, then glides back from
whence it came, as he wriggles himself free from its influence.
Cal sees before him a ship of widows.
CAL (VO)
The survivors were coming to the realization
that, in all likelihood, they would never find their loved ones. I wasn't sure
which was worse, the sound of grief, or its silence, as reflected in the eyes
of those who mourned. I wished to be released from this miserable ship and resume
life as it had been. I just had to find Rose, and this would all be over.
INT. SECOND CLASS LOUNGE - DAY
ANNA LIVINGSTON, a pretty blonde woman (about
28) who is six months pregnant, comforts a sobbing woman.
WOMAN
If I had known my husband would drown, I
would never have left his side.
ANNA
I understand.
Anna would have stayed behind with her
husband if she were not pregnant.
CAL (VO)
After an extensive exploration of first
class, I embarked upon a vain search of second cabin. I hoped more than
anything to find Rose...yet I still dreaded the thought that I might find her
down in steerage...with HIM.
Cal drags himself out of the room.
EXT. SECOND CLASS - NEAR STAIRCASE RAILING -
DAY
Cal pauses at the top of the stairs.
CAL (VO)
I was still furious with her, running off
with that steerage filth. She could have been safe with me right now.
Cal recalls Rose's condemnation, "YOU
UNIMAGINABLE BASTARD".
CAL (VO)
I couldn't shake the idea that she would
rather die...with him than to have a life with me. I wondered what I could have
done differently. If only she had let me know. But was it too late? What should
I say to her now? I just couldn't think.
ROSE'S IMAGE chides Cal: "I'D RATHER BE
HIS WHORE THAN YOUR WIFE!"
Two women watch Cal in the background. One of
them approaches.
RUTH BECKER (12) watches nearby.
WIDOW
(polite, but insistent) Excuse me sir, but
how were you saved? How did you get in a boat?
Caught off guard, Cal cringes with
embarrassment. He glances away, as memories flood in. Cal recalls placing the girl
in a lifeboat. The VOICES OF PANICKING PEOPLE churn around in his head.
Cal looks to excuse himself. A squalid little
DRUNKEN MAN with a cockney accent shoves the woman aside, as he moves to
intercede. Given his patently evil demeanor, he too might be from another
dimension.
DRUNKEN MAN
Leave the gentleman be! (to Cal) Never mind
these widows. They've asked me that one three times already, and I'm damn tired
of them. I say a man's got just as much a right to live as a woman.
CAL
Yes, certainly...
Cal replies hurriedly, with an obvious look
of distaste, then turns to move away. The drunken man turns toward him. We see
every dirty pore in his face, as he croaks out his words.
DRUNKEN MAN
Y' lose your horror of the dead.
Cal races away from this slovenly troll, who
downs a gulp of sour whiskey. Behind him, a steward apprehends the drunken man.
SECOND CLASS STEWARD
What? You're up here again? Now, get back
where you belong, or...
CAL (VO)
I did not like this sordid, repulsive little
man. To me, he embodied everything ungentlemanly. Yet, I could not escape the
connection between his philosophy and my own. I admitted to myself that a real
man is not one who makes his own luck, but is one who makes luck for others. I
knew that I had not behaved as a gentleman, but as a coward.
Cal tries to dismiss the idea, as he hurries
down to steerage.