Raise
The Titanic
By
Adam Kennedy
REVISED
FINAL DRAFT
FADE IN:
1 BLACK
SCREEN 1
A high, almost shrill, MUSICAL NOTE stings and holds. Soft thunder of KETTLE DRUMS under PRESENTATION CREDIT. As the DRUMS FADE and the PICTURE BEGINS TO BLEED THOUGH
we HEAR a SOUND like a jungle moan. It gets LOUDER, more tortured, like an immense non-human
labor pain. As our PICTURE COMES CLEAR, a huge and brutal iceberg thrusts forward through the mist
and CENTERS ON SCREEN.
2 EXT.
NORTH ATLANTIC, ICEBERG – DAY 2
As we EXAMINE the glacier-like mass of the iceberg, the SOUND gets deeper, louder and more agonizing.
A great section of the ice mass separates and calves off with a tortured, ugly SOUND. As this new iceberg
slides down into the black water the birth cries tail off into a hollow gurgling sigh. There is an eerie ribbon of
silence as the iceberg resurfaces and rights itself in the water.
DISSOLVE TO:
2A EXT. NORTH
ATLANTIC – NIGHT
2A
SHOOTING ACROSS dark mass of iceberg, INTO THE BLACK we HEAR the hard-edge BLAST of a
SHIP’S HORN, REPEATED urgently, ship’s BELLS cutting through, MEN SHOUTING, WOMEN SCREAMING, the GRINDING and CRUNCHING of METAL and WOOD being torn apart, GLASS BREAKING, colliding forces.
3 EXT.
BOAT DECK – TITANIC – NIGHT 3
Chaos. Panic. The deck tilting, passengers running, stumbling, falling, shouting. The HORN and the BELLS
continue. And the SOUND of an ORCHESTRA PLAYING. And rockets pop and splutter in the dark above
the ship. People SMASH GLASS and battle toward the lifeboats.
4 HIGH
ANGLE – BOAT DECK 4
A lifeboat, over-crowded, collapses and hangs from one davit. As women and children tumble screaming into
the water, the Titanic lurches sharply, the deck crew loses control of the lifeboat and it dives stern first into the
sea. We PAN ACROSS AND ISOLATE on a small MAN pushing his way through the crowd.
5 SINGLE
ON MAN 5
He is bearded, gray hair, in his fifties, short and wiry and intense. As the passengers surge on to the boat deck
he is struggling to get off it.
6 INT.
GRAND SALON 6
The bearded Man fights his way down the staircase clogged with people and we STAY with him as he crosses the
salon, tables and chairs sling-shotting across the floor. As the ship tilts sharply he exits into an inner passageway.
7 FOLLOW
SHOT – BEARDED MAN 7
As he hurries along narrow corridor, he meets a young Junior Third Mate checking staterooms for slow-moving passengers. The Bearded Man takes out a short-barreled revolver and forces the young man to take him down a series of narrow companionways to the cargo hold, eight decks down. The Junior Third Mate takes out his keys,
and unlocks the door to the hold.
8 EXT.
BOAT DECK 8
The ship’s tilt and taking on of water has brought the starboard edge of the boat deck almost to ocean-level. The rockets, boat horns, whistles, shouts, and the screaming has now reached pandemonium level.
9 CARGO
HOLD 9
The Bearded Man releases the Junior Third Mate, stumbles across the cargo area till he comes to his vault,
an eight-foot square cube of steel. As he stands by the vault door, stroking it like a pet dog, we COME IN
CLOSE ON him. A glint of madness in his eye. He takes out a ring of keys, fumbles to unlock vault door.
BEARDED MAN
(a horse whisper)
Thank God for Southby . . .
10 REVERSE –
ANGLE ON JUNIOR THIRD MATE
10
He stands in the doorway, transfixed, watching. Then he turns and runs toward the companionway.
11 EXTREME
CLOSEUP – BEARDED MAN’S MOUTH
11
BEARDED MAN
(softer now,
but with a hollow
ECHOING SOUND)
Thank . . . God . . . for . . . Southby . . .
12 EXT. FULL
SHOT – OCEAN
12
With the BAND still PLAYING, tiny lifeboats jammed with people pulling away as quickly as possible, the
Titanic slowly up-ends itself and with a ponderous, somehow sensual shudder, it gives up the struggle and slides
slowly down into the black. As WE PULL UP AND BACK only the icebergs are left. And the scattered
lifeboats and the faint SOUND of CHILDREN CRYING.
13 UNDERWATER
– NIGHT
13
The sinking effect. The KETTLEDRUMS again. And that thin, piercing sustained MUSICAL NOTE. In a
stunning funeral sequence the Titanic plunges slowly downward to its grave at the bottom of the Atlantic. As
it settles heavily, like an old buffalo, on the ocean floor, we SEE our MAIN TITLE.
RAISE THE TITANIC
As the TITLE WASHES AWAY we DESOLVE THROUGH from BLACK TO GOLD, from death to life,
from ocean darkness to the summer brilliance of . . .
14 EXT.
WASHINGTON, D.C., WHITE HOUSE – DAY
14
From a VERY HIGH POSITION we DROP DOWN toward the White House. Two small figures exit from
the front door, turn left and walk west toward the street. As we COME IN CLOSE we IDENTIFY retired
Admiral JAMES SANDECKER, 61, trim, gray-haired, intelligent, in a conservative civilian suite, and Dr.
GENE SEAGRAM, 37, a substantial, attractive man. Full energy and no nonsense. Articulate, solid and
inventive when he sticks to science, a tendency to be ingenuous and/or stubborn when he encounters other
areas and problems. Not a monomaniac but he has some of the characteristics. As they walk we ROLL
CREDITS and interject the following dialogue.
SEAGRAM
I don’t like it. I don’t like anything about it.
SANDECKER
Neither do I. But the President’s right.
They need to be told.
SEAGRAM
If we go public on this thing, we’re dead.
SANDECKER
Nobody’s talking about going public.
SEAGRAM
You know what I mean.
It’s either secret or it’s not secret.
SANDECKER
We can trust these people.
SEAGRAM
I don’t trust anybody. If this Russian
thing hits the papers the whole project
could blow sky high.
SANDECKER
Let’s worry about that when it happens.
We’ve got our hands full now with
Busby and Kemper.
15 EXTREME CLOSEUP
– PUSH BUTTON COMBINATION VAULT LOCK
15
A hand is punching up a combination. We PULL BACK and SEE a heavy steel door in the outer area of
Seagram’s laser lab, Seagram is working the combination with Sandecker beside him. Also there are
GENERAL DALE BUSY, 58, tall, slender, distinguished, in service dress uniform. Four stars. And Admiral HARRY KEMPER, 52, in blue service dress uniform. He is compact, balding wears glasses. And SAM NICHOLSON, 48, head of the Soviet section of the Central Intelligence Agency. He looks like a Williams
graduate. Hair combed straight back, Paul Stuart suit, and striped tie. Apparently different but missing nothing.
These men are bright capable professionals. Informed and aware. As the lock releases the door, it swings
slowly. Heavily opened we HEAR the following dialogue.
BUSBY
Dang it, I can’t believe it, Jim.
KEMPER
Let me get this straight. You’re
saying you planted a man on a Russian
island and now you can’t locate him?
SANDECKER
I’m saying we got a deviation
from the plan. He’s four days
overdue at the pickup point.
NICHOLSON
Why didn’t you let the C. I.A. handle
it? We do that stuff all the time.
SEAGRAM
The man we used had to be a mining
engineer.
NICHOLSON
So why are you telling us now?
SANDECKER
Because we’re sitting on a powder
keg. If it goes up we’ll need all
the help we can get.
BUSBY
How the hell did we get ourselves
in a crack like this?
SANDECKER
Dale, I engineered this thing and
I’ll take the blame. So let’s not
waste time growling at each other.
15A INT.
LASER LAB 15A
As the men enter . . .
KEMPER
What is this project? What do you
call it?
SANDECKER
The Sicilian Project. We think it
could be the ultimate defense system.
Dr. Seagram here conceived it and
perfected it. Gene . . .
SEAGRAM
We’re talking about laser science.
That’s the principle.
He gets up, walks to electronic map, presses switch. A border of lights flicker on, all around the borders of
the United States.
SEAGRAM
(continuing)
Each one of those lights will be
a power station. Each station,
when activated, projects a beam
from ground to infinity. Those
beams fan out and connect. They
make an invisible screen. Like a
wall. No rocket, no warhead, no
missile, can penetrate it.
KEMPER
Is this theory you’re talking about?
Or does it work?
SEAGRAM
It works. It’s been tested.
SANDECKER
The President thinks the Sicilian
Project is our number one defense
priority.
SEAGRAM
There’s only one catch. To install
the system, to make it function, we
need a self-contained power source.
A gigantic one. We need a specific
mineral. Byzanium.
BUSBY
Byzanium? I never heard of it.
SEAGRAM
I’m not surprised. Very few people have.
No deposits have been located in the
last seventy years.
NICHOLSON
But there may be some on that Russian
Island. Is that the wrinkle?
SEAGRAM
That’s right. That’s what we think.
SANDECKER
So we sent a man in.
BUSBY
(he gets up, walks to map)
Well, let’s hope he gets out.
Because if he doesn’t, if the
Russians pick him up, we’ll be
kissing butts in the Kremlin
for the next five years.
As he looks at map we MOVE IN TIGHT ON Barents Sea and isolate on two Russian islands,
Novaya Zemlya.
DISSOLVE TO:
16 EXT.
ISLAND – HELICOPTER SHOT – DAY
16
Bleak, cold, isolated. Wind, snow and nothing else. We SEE movement, MOVE CLOSER, make out a
man dressed completely in white. This is SID KOPLIN, 44.
17 SINGLE ON
KOPLIN
17
He carries a small Geiger counter. As he moves near a pile of rocks, nearly snow-covered, we SEE the counter
start to jump and BUZZ. As he explores the rocky area, he probes with his axe handle, chips away at ice and
snow, we STAY WITH HIM. Counter continues to react. At last, on his hands and knees, in a protected place overhung by rocks, he finds a three-foot wide passage between two boulders. As he disappears into the
darkness we HEAR the Geiger counter CHATTER.
17A INT.
PASSAGEWAY 17A
Koplin finds a tunnel-like chute down to a lower level. He sits down and slides down the chute.
18 INT. MINE
18
Dark, tight, low ceiling. As he explores with his flashlight we SEE rough timbers shoring up the ceiling and on
the floor of the cave sections of railroad track. At last he comes to an ore car in a larger room. In the flashlight’s beam he reads . . . “Palmer and Sons – Denver, Colorado.”
On the drilling wear he reads . . . “Freeland Carde Forge and Iron Works – Pueblo, Colorado.”
On the hand tools and on a pick, he reads . . . “Scott and Killefer – Blacksmiths – Idaho Springs, Colorado.”
19 INT.
TUNNEL
19
Koplin crawls. Digs out a mineral sample, puts it in canvas bag, and keeps crawling.
20 INT.
GROTTO
20
Koplin emerges from the tunnel and stands up. Grotto floor gleams like an ice palace. In a recessed rock
wall he finds a paper packet for chewing tobacco and a folded copy of The Rocky Mountain News. As he
turns back toward grotto . . .
21 KOPLIN’S
POV
21
A shovel handle sticks up vertically from the ice floor. A wooden bar lashed across it makes a crude cross.
22 ANGLE ON
KOPLIN
22
He moves TOWARD CAMERA holding cross in f.g. He stops and looks down.
23 DOWN SHOT
– KOPLIN’S POV
23
Clearly VISIBLE THROUGH ice is the preserved body of a dead man, dressed as he was when he died, his
arms folded across his stomach, a piece of wood the size of a cedar shingle lying on his chest. Burned on the
wood . . .
HERE LIES
SGT. JAKE HOBART, UNITED ARMY
FROZE IN A STORM
On a rattle of AUTOMATIC WEAPON FIRE we . . .
CUT
TO:
24 EXT. SNOW
FIELDS – DAY
24
FULL SHOT of Koplin running.
25 SINGLE ON
KOPLIN
25
As we come in CLOSE we HEAR another burst of GUNFIRE. Koplin takes a bullet in his right shoulder
and goes to his knees. We STAY ON HIM. As he pulls himself up and staggers on, we HEAR MORE
SHOTS. And a dog BARKING.
26 SINGLE ON
DOG
26
He’s a Komondor, trained to kill, snarling and straining at his leash as he moves ahead through the snow storm, scenting blood now. We EASE BACK AND TAKE IN a Russian soldier in winter gear, controlling the dog
with one hand, holding a machine pistol in the other.
27 LOW ANGLE
ON KOPLIN
27
Losing blood and fighting the wind, he staggers ahead. While the barking is getting closer and the guard dog
gains ground on him.
27A ANGLE ON
RUSSIAN SOLDIER 27A
He fires his pistol.
27B SINGLE ON
KOPLIN 27B
A bullet tears through Koplin’s left thigh. Trying to stop the blood by pressing on the femoral artery with his
left hand, he stumbles and staggers ahead.
28 FULL SHOT
28
The Russian soldier and his dog trots ahead through the snow. And then the soldier turns the dog loose.
29 SINGLE ON
KOPLIN
29
He’s trying to keep going but he’s getting weak. He looks up in the direction of the dog’s BARKS.
29A INTERCUT: 29A
Koplin running, dog pursuing. Also the soldier.
30 KOPLIN
30
As the dog overtakes him, Koplin turns, tries to fight him off, but the dog takes him to the ground tries to get
at his throat. In b.g. soldier arrives.
31 SOLDIER’S
POV
31
Koplin struggles with the dog. Then suddenly, we HEAR the soft SOUND of a SILENCED WEAPON.
32 FULL SHOT
32
The dog drops dead on the snow beside Koplin, a bullet in its head. The soldier starts to bring his pistol
up. We HEAR another muffled pistol SHOT and a bullet explodes through his forehead. He is catapulted
backward and lies spread-eagled in the snow.
33 CLOSEUP –
KOPLIN
33
He’s mesmerized by what he’s just seen. He turns slowly, looks up and behind him, trying to stay conscious.
34 KOPLIN’S
POV – LOW ANGLE
34
A man steps forward through the snow screen, MISTING IN AND OUT OF FOCUS as Koplin tries to
see him. We COME IN TIGHT ON a WAIST SHOT of DIRK PITT, a rugged, hard-eyed man. He holds
a pistol. As Koplin loses consciousness we slowly . . .
FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
35
EXT. SOVIET EMBASSY, WASHINGTON – NIGHT
35
A stone mansion, wrought-iron gate. U.S.S.R. seal. Russian soldiers, stocky, square-faced, standing guard.
35A INT. SOVIET
EMBASSY CORRIDOR – MOVING SHOT – NIGHT 35A
High ceilings. Marble floors. Tapestries on walls. Paintings of generals on horseback, warships at sea.
CAMERA MOVES UP at a staircase to the second floor, down a corridor. Through half-closed door we
HEAR voices.
PREVLOV (V.O.)
Are these the photographs you told
me about?
MARGANIN (V.O.)
Yes, sir. These enlargements just
came in half an hour ago.
CAMERA ENTERS.
36 INT.
OFFICE
36
CAPT. ANDRE PREVLOV is behind his desk. His assistant, PAVEL MARGANIN, stands beside him.
Maps and blow-up photographs are spread on a desk. Prevlov is smooth and well-groomed, the antithesis of everything we associate with the Kremlin. He seems cultured and civilized. Marganin is neat, rigid and proper,
a solid career civil servant, total patience and a talent for detail. Marganin puts a large photo in front of Prevlov.
MARGANIN
These are the most recent satellite
photos of the area. Here’s Novaya
Zemlya and there’s the ship our trawler
sighted.
PREVLOV
(he studies the photos then points)
You see that? That configuration,
it’s an American Ship. Looks like a
whaler. About sixty miles off shore,
I’d guess . . .
(beat and still looking)
How about this, Marganin? Did you
notice this?
He points.
MARGANIN
Yes. But I can’t make it out.
PREVLOV
Look right here . . .
(beat, beat)
The silhouette. It’s a helicopter.
I’d say returning to the ship from
the island. Flying low to avoid radar
detection.
(after a beat)
So we have an American ship and
helicopter. Perhaps that explains
who killed our soldier. Would you
like some brandy?
MARGANIN
No. Thank you.
PREVLOV
No bad habits. Right, Marganin?
MARGANIN
(he’s embarrassed)
It’s not that. Brandy gives me a headache.
37 EXT.
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE – NIGHT
37
We SEE AIR FORCE ONE and other government jets, mechanics running, trucks coming and going. It’s
a dreary, rainy night.
37A EXT. MAIN
GATE 37A
A limousine comes through. Guard salutes. Limo proceeds to terminal area.
SANDECKER (V.O.)
If it weren’t for Dirk Pitt we’d
be back at square one. And our
mining engineer would be stretched
out dead on that Russian island.
37B EXT. ANGLE
ON TERMINAL 37B
Limo stops near a building that houses “Distinguished Persons” room. Sandecker and Seagram get out and
head for the building. We GO with them.
SANDECKER
Dirk got him out. He had to shoot
a soldier to do it. But he got
the job done.
SEAGRAM
Who is this guy, Dirk Pitt? All
of a sudden he’s involved in the
Sicilian Project and I never
heard of him before.
SANDECKER
He used to be a Navy man. Put
in his time and retired early.
Since then, he and I have tackled
quite a few things together.
SEAGRAM
You mean he works for you?
SANDECKER
Sometimes he does. Sometimes he
doesn’t. Depends on the job. If
it’s something that looks
impossible, something that can’t
be done, chances are he’ll take
a crack at it. Anything else . . .
thumbs down.
38 INT. TERMINAL
38
They come Inside “Distinguished Persons” room.
SEAGRAM
You mean he only works when he
feels like it?
SANDECKER
That’s right. I have to take
him when I can get him.
SEAGRAM
He sounds like a pain in the
ass.
39 EXT. LANDING
AREA – SANDECKER/SEAGRAM’S POV – NIGHT
39
A small Navy jet taxis up to a spot forty yards from the terminal where Sandecker and Seagram wait.
40 ANOTHER
ANGLE
40
As Sandecker and Seagram come outside and move toward the plane, an ambulance wheels in, turns and backs slowly toward the jet side door. The wind blows the rain against the side of the plane.
41 TRAVELLING
TWO SHOT
41
We FOLLOW Sandecker and Seagram. As they arrive at the side of the T-39, the door jogs out and up and
the six-step stairway drops down. They start to mount the steps with Seagram ahead. OVER THEIR
SHOULDERS we SEE Dirk Pitt suddenly fill the doorway. He is bareheaded and jacketless, otherwise in the
same clothes he wore on Novaya.
PITT
(to Seagram)
Where do you think your going?
SEAGRAM
We have to see that man you brought
in. It won’t wait.
PITT
Yes, it will. We have to get him to the hospital.
He shouts off to the ambulance attendants.
PITT
(continuing)
Bring a gurney over.
42 ANOTHER
ANGLE
42
SANDECKER
How is he?
PITT
Bad shape, Jim. They patched
him up before we flew out of
Norway but he lost a lot of blood
and he’s doped to the gills.
SEAGRAM
(one-tracked mind)
He can talk, can’t he? We have
to ask him some questions.
PITT
Maybe you didn’t hear me. I said
this man’s going to the hospital.
As fast as we can get him there.
SANDECKER
(a hand on Seagram)
Come on, Gene.
The ambulance men run up with a gurney. One of them disappears inside the plane with Pitt.
43 TWO SHOT
– SEAGRAM AND SANDECKER
43
They are beside the plane.
SEAGRAM
(he’s hot)
Who the hell does he think he’s
talking to?
SANDECKER
Don’t push it, Gene.
44 HIGH
ANGLE
44
Pitt and the ambulance man carry Koplin out and stretch him on the gurney. A Navy medic moves alongside
holding a plasma bottle up. Koplin is covered by a rubber sheet.
45 TRAVELLING
SHOT – SINGLE ON KOPLIN
45
His eyes are open but glazed. His lips are moving and muttering but he doesn’t know what he’s saying.
46 EXTREME
HIGH ANGLE
46
We SEE the gurney pushed into the ambulance. The medics climb in the back and the attendants climb in the
front. Then the ambulance takes off. HONKER GOING and lights flashing.
47 OMITTED
47
48 INT. LIMO
– PITT, SANDECKER, SEAGRAM
48
SEAGRAM
I don’t believe that . . . it doesn’t
make sense. I won’t be satisfied
till I hear it from Koplin himself.
PITT
Then go to the hospital, for
Pete’s sake, and wait till he comes to.
SANDECKER
(to Seagram)
Let him finish the story, Gene.
PITT
He’s sure there was byzanium there
once but somebody took it out.
Koplin said they must have taken
five hundred pounds. Maybe half
a ton.
SEAGRAM
We’re sunk. That means the Russians
got it.
CAMERA DROPS DOWN TO A LOOSE THREE-SHOT, FAVORING Pitt.
PITT
Koplin says no. Not the Russians.
He says that mine was worked by
Americans.
SANDECKER
How did he figure that?
PITT
He found clothes in the mine,
packages of American chewing
tobacco. And all the tools and
equipment had been shipped from
Colorado. Also there was a copy
of the Rocky Mountain News dated
sometime in 1911.
SEAGRAM
1911!
PITT
(going on)
And he found a man. Frozen stiff.
Somebody had burned his name in a
board and left it with the body.
‘Here lies Sergeant Jake Hobart
United States Army. Froze in a
storm. February 10, 1912.’
SANDECKER
Are you saying that the Army sent
a bunch of men to a Russian island
seventy years ago to steal maybe
half a ton of byzanium?
PITT
I’m not saying anything. I’m just
telling you what Koplin told me.
49 HIGH
ANGLE – ANDREWS AIR BASE, MAIN GATE
49
Guard waves the limo through.
50 OMITTED
50
thru thru
52
52
53 INT. CITY
ROOM
53
Not peak activity, but there are quite a few people here. We PUSH IN ON DANA ARCHIBOLD, 30,
busy at her typewriter. She’s attractive, bright, and courageous. And she’s been liberated all her life.
HOLDING her in f.g. we SEE Seagram coming across toward her. Her name rhymes with FAN, not
CANE, and not JOHN.
54 ANOTHER
ANGLE
54
As he arrives at her desk.
DANA
I thought you fell in. I gave up
on you three hours ago.
He leans down and kisses her.
SEAGRAM
I got hung up. I’m sorry.
She stands and shuffles papers into her briefcase, preparing to leave.
DANA
I don’t like what I see on your
face. You look like somebody
stole your popsicle.
SEAGRAM
I wish I could tell you . . .
They start toward the door.
DANA
Just give me the headline. Leave
out all the names and places.
SEAGRAM
I can’t even do that.
DANA
I though you were a nice solid
man. A scholar and a scientist.
Home at six. Pipe and slippers.
Now all of a sudden you turn into
Charlie Chan.
SEAGRAM
It’s not funny.
DANA
Who said it was funny? Did I say
it was funny?
SEAGRAM
I think I just saw five years of work
go down the drain.
55 INT. MAIN
LOBBY, NEWSPAPER BUILDING
55
The elevator door opens. Dana and Seagram come out and walk towards the front door.
SEAGRAM
Do you know anything about a guy
named Pitt?
DANA
(a quick look; then,
very casual)
Who?
SEAGRAM
Dirk Pitt his name is. I just met
him tonight. Does that ring a
bell?
DANA
No, I don’t think so. Why do you
ask?
SEAGRAM
It’s all right. It’s not important.
They exit and the door closes behind them.
56 INT.
KITCHEN OF SANDECKER’S HOME – NIGHT
56
Pitt and Sandecker are at a table. They’ve finished eggs and coffee.
SANDECKER
Want some more coffee?
PITT
No, thanks. I have to get some
sleep.
He rises.
56A TRAVELLING
TWO SHOT 56A
They walk through the house.
SANDECKER
I need you on this one, Dirk.
PITT
No, you don’t. You need Sherlock
Holmes. You really think I can
track down that stuff after almost
seventy years?
SANDECKER
It has to be someplace. It didn’t
just evaporate
PITT
(takes a drink)
The way I see it, you only have
one lead. The dead man . . . Sergeant
Jake Hobart. That means classified
Army Archives.
SANDECKER
That’s General Wiggin’s baby.
PITT
(he grins)
Last time I saw Art Wiggin he won
ten bucks off me in a poker game.
(beat)
All right. I’ll call the General
tomorrow and see what I can find
out.
57 EXT.
SANDECKER’S HOME – NIGHT
57
Sandecker and Pitt walk toward a car at the curb.
PITT
One more thing . . .
SANDECKER
What’s that?