SCENE 45: MGM BRITISH STUDIOS
45_25_001.
45_25_002.
45_25_003.
45_25_004.
45_25_005.
45_25_006.
45_25_007.
45_25_008.
45_25_009.
45_25_010.
45_25_011.
45_25_012.
45_25_013.
45_25_014.
45_25_015.
45_25_016.
SCRIPT
He walks along the corridor to the club.
Signs on the door read:
HERE LIES
BOB
DYLAN
PASSED AWAY
ROYAL ALBERT
HALL 27 MAY
1966
R.I.P.
I LOVE
HAROLD
IT WAS EITHER
THIS OR
A MILK ROUND
Posters all along the wall advertise forthcoming fixtures
He goes inside.
It is a very dim but spacious room, with great white portraits of rock stars painted on the black walls.
The place is full of young people.
We follow THOMAS as he moves among them, looking for the GIRL.
A group, the Yardbirds, is playing up on stage.
The music is deafening.
SINGER singing off:
Stroll on
‘Cause…
THOMAS moves on through the crowd looking for the GIRL.
Nobody takes any notice of him.
They are all listening to the music, keeping absolutely still, not even following the rhythm by moving their heads, their hands or feet.
The Yardbirds continue their number.
SINGER:
… it’s all gone
Treat you right
You make me cry
You’re tellin’ me
You didn’t see…
Close-up of THOMAS in the crowd.
SINGER:
I love no more
If you wanna know
I love you so…
Another close-up of THOMAS, still searching the faces in the crowd.
SINGER off:
… And I don’t wanna let you go
Stroll on
Stroll with your feet
Stroll…
Resume on the Yardbirds, watched by the crowd of young people.
Camera pans with THOMAS pushing his way round.
SINGER off:
… on
‘Cause you really love me
Stroll on
Be a pair tonight
Stroll on…
Close-up of the lead guitarist.
SINGER off:
…It’ll be you turn tonight
If you don’t change your mind…
Resume on the group, seen from below.
SINGER:
…You ain’t gonna find anymore my kind…
Resume on the lead guitarist, playing a solo.
THOMAS edges through the crowd.
As he passes, camera follows him revealing the only couple dancing: a blonde girl wearing striped trousers and a silver coat [Janet Street-Porter] and a West Indian in maroon trousers.
Behind the two dancers, THOMAS goes and looks among some people lined up against the wall, listening.
The GIRL is not there.
THOMAS moves behind another group of listeners.
He moves towards another group, looking around.
Camera follows his zigzag movements through the audience thronged around the stage.
THOMAS moves through the crowd right by the stage.
The group can be seen from the back of the stage.
The crowd watches silently below them.
But there is something wrong with one of the loudspeakers: it begins to crackle.
The lead guitarist shows signs of nervousness and stops playing for a moment.
He and the singer try to adjust the speaker.
Then he continues playing, and the singer moves away.
The lead guitarist continues to play but he is still having trouble.
He fiddles with the control knob and the singer comes across to help.
He adjusts something at the back of the speaker.
The crowd watch interestedly as the lead guitarist comes back to the edge of the stage and starts to play again.
But the loudspeaker is still playing up.
The guitarist is getting more and more edgy – finally he turns and smashes his guitar against the offending speaker, without ceasing to play.
SINGER off:
…Stroll on…
…The reason why
You make me cry…
The spectators seem to be fascinated by this development.
Even THOMAS breaks off his search to see what is happening.
SINGER off:
…You didn’t see
A richer beau
I love her no more…
The guitarist again bangs the speaker with his guitar, watched by the crowd who stand facing him in the background.
SINGER off:
…Do you wanna know
I love you so
I don’t wanna let you go
Stroll…
The guitarist hits the loudspeaker again, as a boy hurries onto the stage from the crowd, flipping buttons on the amplification control box, gesturing at the guitarist.
SINGER off:
…on
Gonna make you see
Stroll on
‘Cause you really love me
Stroll on
It’ll be your turn tonight
Stroll on…
The guitarist stands in front of the boy trying to fix the amplifier.
The singer continues his song accompanied by the remaining members of the group.
SINGER:
…If you don’t change your mind
You ain’t gonna find anymore my kind…
The guitarist turns and hits the guitar against the amplifier with renewed strength.
He is banging the neck of his guitar so hard against the loudspeaker that the instrument shatters.
He throws it viciously to the floor.
GUITARIST, to the SINGER
Give ‘em the song again.
Close-up of the guitarist’s foot stamping on the guitar, going right through.
We see another member of the group playing bass guitar, then camera moves across to the singer.
SINGER:
…Stroll on
‘Cause it’s all gone
Treat you right…
The drummer plays furiously, keeping up an insistent rhythm.
SINGER off:
…You make me cry
You’re tellin’ me…
Close-up of the lead guitarist kneeling down by his guitar.
By now it is split in two, and only held together by the strings.
He snaps these as well.
Then he picks up the neck of the shattered guitar and starts to throw it into the audience.
SINGER off:
…You didn’t see…
…I love no more
If you wanna know I love you so…
At this, all hell breaks loose.
Everyone in the audience wants that piece of guitar.
From the stage, we see them scream and push, and some end up on the floor.
Camera pans down to a group of girls fighting over the fragment.
Close-up of the singer.
Girls in the audience scream hysterically as he finishes the song for the second time.
SINGER:
…If you don’t change your mind
You ain’t gonna find anymore my kind.
Even THOMAS gets caught up in the scuffle: in fact he is perhaps the wildest of them all.
At the end he is the one left holding the piece of guitar.
Clutching it in his hand, he shoulders his way through the crowd.
Camera pans right over the screaming crowd as THOMAS runs towards the exit.
THOMAS runs out into the passage leading to the club, pursued by the crowd.
Two girls jump aside as THOMAS rushes past, followed by two boys.
One of the boys trips and falls.
THOMAS rushes out of the club, and down the alley outside.