a large and very comfortable office over-looking st. patrick's cathedral. at the moment the office is filled to bursting with men and women, slumped in chairs, sitting on desks, all of them very tense. among the crowd of people we note: murray fisher, a young and very ambitious junior executive and phyllis bernard, an attractive woman in her early thirties. she is a lawyer with the agency.
as the doors to the outer lobby open and ted and o'connor appear.
the suitcase is now full. joanna zips it shut and looks around to make sure that she hasn't forgotten anything.
joanna carries in the suitcase, sets it by the front door, then she crosses to the living room and sits down at the dining table.
ted kramer paces back and forth, eyeing the phone. then, coming to a decision, he crosses to it, picks up the receiver and starts to dial.
the building is dark except for the kramer apartment which is ablaze with lights. hold as we hear:
it is a beautiful sunny morning and the super stands in front of the building hosing down the sidewalk. hold as a garbage truck enters frame and the garbage men begin loading sacks of trash into the back of the truck. as it begins to grind up the garbage with an ungodly sound, the camera pans up to
as ted kneels down and begins to clean up the mess.
as the two of them enter the school and disappear from view.
ted stands in the middle of the room, sorting out a huge pile of dirty clothes. thelma sits on the edge of the bed, watching.
as ted goes through the room, picking up billy's clothes which have been strewn every which way.
as ted emerges from the building, starts to hail a cab.
as the cab pulls to a stop. ted leaps out and rushes inside.
ted and billy sit at the dining table, a large pizza between them.
as billy shuffles off toward his room. ted sits for a beat picking at the food on his plate.
it is that same afternoon and billy is running back and forth with a group of other children.
the show is over and the parents and children mill around eating popcorn, drinking lemonade from paper cups. ted stands off to one side, talking to the teacher as billy runs around.
the saturday father and his daughter, clearly with nothing to say to one another, stand eating ices from a nearby vendor. the camera pans away from them across to billy, ted and phyllis. she is dressed in a very nice suit, silk blouse, high heeled shoes and looks distinctly out of place in central park on a saturday afternoon.
o'connor, murray and the art director are in o'connor's office as the door opens and ted enters, carrying a pile of papers, charts, graphs, etc., etc.
the dining area. ted sits down and tries to resume his meal alone.
it is late, only a few lights are still on.
thelma having washed and dried the dishes is now wiping off the top of the counter top, more to keep busy than anything else. she looks around as ted enters.
it is a gray, cloudy day in mid-november. snow is falling.
a large, very plush office: lots of antiques, beautiful nineteenth century paintings on the wall along with autographed photographs of at least three ex-presidents of the united states. sitting behind a large and imposing desk is john shaunessy, a handsome, formidable man in his early sixties. he is well-dressed, a cornflower in his buttonhole, that sort of thing. at the moment, shaunessy leans back in his chair as ted finishes his story.
ted sits at the dining table, the supper dishes have been pushed aside. he has a legal pad in front of him and is writing. the camera dollies in closer.
o'connor stands with his back to ted, looking out the window. from the beginning this is clearly an awkward and unpleasant moment.
as ted grabs a picture of billy from his desk, takes his jacket and coat and stalks out the door.
ted sits across from the interviewer, a polished young man in his middle twenties, very efficient, he sounds a bit like a tape recording.
the same young man sits across the desk from ted.
ted and phyllis, getting ready to go to bed. they look like a couple that has been married at least five years. ted is busy talking as he takes off his tie, jacket and starts to unbutton his shirt. phyllis is getting undressed also, hanging things in the closet, putting things away in drawers. but as ted continues to talk, she watches him apprehensively, it is clear that something is wrong.
it is a saturday afternoon. hold for a beat as we see ted kramer and billy approaching. billy is talking a mile a minute. ted listens intently, absorbed in the boy's description. as they turn into the entrance of the office building:
a long corridor with desks for secretaries lined up next to doors leading to smaller individual offices. as they approach a door in the foreground that bears a small sign reading, "ted kramer":
as ted, now fully dressed, wearing a dark blue suit, white shirt, conservative tie, leans over billy and wakes him.
it is a bleak january morning, the streets around the courthouse are mobbed with people on their way to work. we see ted kramer, a tiny figure among hundreds, coming out of the subway. he crosses the street and starts up the steps of the large and forbidding courthouse.
as ted gets off the elevator and starts down the corridor, toward the courtroom. in the f.g., – standing by the door of the courtroom itself is john shaunessy, he greets ted, they shake hands and talk together for a moment. then, as they enter the courtroom:
as the judge enters, takes his seat.
as gressen gets to his feet.
as joanna gets to her feet, crosses to the witness stand and is sworn in.
shaunessy smiles, turns his back on joanna and walks back toward the respondent's table.
ted sits at the dining table poring over law books, writing copious notes on a legal pad. billy sits across from him drawing in a pad with magic markers. hold for a beat as billy looks up at his father. it is clear that something is bothering him.
shaunessy and ted stand talking, reviewing the case. then the two men shake hands, the lawyer waves goodbye, turns and starts back into the building. the camera pans with ted as he walks toward the main exit.
as he turns and walks away from her, leaving her standing, watching him as he disappears.
as ted ushers them across the street, away from the saturday father.
as mrs. willewska brings billy back from school.
a postman enters the building carrying a bag of mail.
it is early monday morning.
billy's bags are packed and stacked neatly in the living room.