EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - LONG SHOT - (PLATE) (15)
The FULL SHOT showing the children running toward the CAMERA -
Annie herding them at the rear. The crows - about two hundred -
rising over the schoolhouse roof and descending toward and
reaching the running children. Shot as a moving background
with six or seven children in front on a treadmill with the
mechanical birds coming into top of screen as though
continuing on from the plate. The birds swing around and
among the foreground children.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (4) (S)
A side view of running children with Melanie in front urging
them forward. Birds fly between them, two or three others
wheel around, one live one sweeps by in foreground.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (3) (P)
Three or four children running. Birds overhead - one or two
children spread out as others come in from sides and take
their places. Birds swerve in and out.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (2) (S)
Profile of running child. Bird catches up and bites.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (3) (S)
A nearer side on view without Melanie. Birds wheeling in and
out - others overhead.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (P)
Bird on top of girl's head (showing feet and wings).
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (2) (S)
A three-quarter back of two children running - lots of birds
overhead and others wheeling. Screen almost full of birds.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (P)
One-half child's face - a bird's head and beak on left,
dashing round to the child.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - CLOSE UP (L)
of feet running.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - HIGH MOVING SHOT (6) (L)
showing the crows among the running children.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (P)
Big head of girl - bird lands on her right shoulder - wing
over her face.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (P)
One SCREAMING child as bird swoops from top left down to
lower right.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (2) (S)
Head and shoulders of boy who ducks behind pole -- bird goes
by as another attacks him from right-hand side.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (FP)
Back view of boy's head running. He looks back.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (½) (P)
Big head of bird coming at CAMERA.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (FP)
Back view of little girl running. She looks over her shoulder.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (½) (P)
Big head of bird coming into CAMERA.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (3) (L)
Straight back CLOSE SHOT of Annie dragging slow children. No
birds in back, but several wheeling around them.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - HIGH MOVING SHOT (6) (L)
showing the crows chasing the children down the street -
with the Bay in the distance.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (3) (S)
A bird dives to head of Michele and she falls OUT of picture.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - CLOSE UP (1) (L)
of Michele as she hits ground.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - CLOSE UP (½) (L)
Her glasses smash.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (2) (S)
Flash Cathy - she sees and runs back. Birds swirling around.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (1) (S)
Six birds descend on fallen Michele - legs running by.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (3) (S)
Cathy RUSHES IN. She disperses birds and bends to pick up
Michele.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (2) (S)
Melanie stops, looks back and sees Cathy and Michele, heads
of other children rushing by in foreground. Birds swirling.
Melanie dashes out left.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (3) (S)
Melanie reaches Cathy and Michele -- Michele is now on her
feet. Birds swirling -- Melanie looks about -- sees.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (2) (L)
Station wagon across the street. Birds swirling about and
children running by.
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD (5) (L)
Melanie drags Cathy and Michele to the station wagon. We see
the Bay in the distance and children running on the bottom
of the street.
INT. STATION WAGON - CLOSE SHOT (8) (S)
Shooting inside the wagon across the front seat. The three
scramble in, Cathy first, then Michele and Melanie last --
the door SLAMS on crows swooping around. Cathy and Michele
are SCREAMING with fright.
INT. STATION WAGON - P.O.V. (3) (FP)
Through the windshield we see crows attacking. Bay and running
children in distance.
INT. STATION WAGON (3) (P)
The faces of the three - Birds are fluttering on the rear
window.
INT. STATION WAGON - MELANIE (3) (P)
wheel in foreground. She starts to slam hand on horn ring.
INT. STATION WAGON (2) (S)
Crows attacking side window.
INT. STATION WAGON (2) (S)
Hand on horn ring.
INT. STATION WAGON (2) (P)
Cathy and Michele's faces huddled together.
INT. STATION WAGON (2) (P)
Melanie's big head - she looks down.
INT. STATION WAGON - CLOSE UP (1) (P)
Knob of wiper -- her hand comes in and pulls it out.
INT. STATION WAGON (3) (FP)
Wipers starting. Crows retreat.
INT. STATION WAGON (2) (P)
The three faces staring out.
INT. STATION WAGON - P.O.V. (3) (P)
through windshield. The crows are starting to go away.
INT. STATION WAGON (2) (P)
Melanie looks out and sees:
EXT. SCHOOL ROAD - P.O.V. (6) (FP)
through windshield. Annie running back with stick. She beats
the last of the crows away.
INT. STATION WAGON (6) (S)
Melanie flops in exhaustion over the wheel as Annie comes
round to the side window and starts to open the door.
DISSOLVE
INT. THE TIDES - FULL SHOT
It is lunchtime and there is a busy bustle to the place as
DEKE CARTER officiates behind the bar and HELEN CARTER, his
wife, rushes back and forth between diners at the tables. A
DRUNK sits at the bar, old, grizzled, the weary wisdom of
booze in him. In one of the booths sits SEBASTIAN SHOLES in
his shirt sleeves, eating a hurried lunch quickly and
efficiently. A WOMAN and TWO CHILDREN are seated at another
table, about to order. A party of noisy SALESMAN is laughing
and clowning around throughout following at a table in the
rear. The phone from behind the bar has been placed on the
counter, and Melanie is speaking into it while Deke listens.
Over her head, the television set is blasting with its
perennial Western, the gun shots punctuating her conversation.
MELANIE
Daddy, there were hundreds of them.
No, I'm not hysterical, I'm trying
to tell you this as calmly as I know
how. All right, Daddy. Yes Daddy.
(she takes a deep
breath)
Just now. Not... fifteen minutes
ago.
The door to the Tides opens and MRS. BUNDY, sixtyish, wearing
walking shoes and a tweed suit, a very masculine-looking
woman with short clipped white hair, comes in, passes through
foreground, goes to bar, her attention slowly caught by what
Melanie is saying.
MELANIE
At the school. No, I don't. Just a
minute.
(to Deke)
What's the name of the school?
DEKE
Just the Bodega Bay School.
(to Mrs. Bundy)
Help you, Mrs. Bundy?
MRS. BUNDY
I need some change, Mr. Carter.
As Deke opens cash register...
MELANIE
The Bodega Bay School.
(to Deke)
Could you turn that down, please?
Deke gives Mrs. Bundy her change, turns off television.
MELANIE
I don't know how many children.
Thirty or forty. Yes.
Mrs. Bundy goes to cigarette machine, pauses to listen to
Melanie.
MELANIE
No, the birds didn't attack until
the children were outside the school.
Crows, I think. I don't know, Daddy.
Is there a difference between crows
and blackbirds?
MRS. BUNDY
(turning from machine)
There is very definitely a difference,
Miss.
MELANIE
They're different, Daddy.
(to Mrs. Bundy)
Thank you.
(into phone)
I think these were crows. Yes,
hundreds of them. Yes, they attacked
the children, attacked them.
(exasperated)
Daddy, a little girl was sent to the
hospital in Santa Rosa. Well, all
right, but you act as if I'm... all
right, all right.
(pause)
No, I can't come home now. I just
can't, Daddy. How is it there? I
mean... are there birds? In the sky?
But no trouble. Well, I hope...
(pause)
I don't know when. I simply can't
leave now. Tell Mother not to worry.
All right, Daddy, good-by.
She hangs up. Mrs. Bundy is at her elbow.
MRS. BUNDY
They're both perching birds, of
course, but of quite different
species. The crow is brachyrhynchos.
The blackbird is cyanocephalus.
MELANIE
Thank you.
(to Deke)
Do you know Dan Fawcett's number?
DEKE
In the book right here, Miss.
As Melanie looks it up...
DEKE
(to Mrs. Bundy)
I don't see what difference it makes,
Mrs. Bundy, crows or blackbirds. If
they attacked the school, that's
pretty serious.
MRS. BUNDY
(with a superior smile)
I hardly think either species would
have the intelligence to launch a
massed attack. Their brain pans aren't
large enough for such...
MELANIE
(dialing)
I just came from the school, madam.
I don't know about their brain pans
but...
MRS. BUNDY
Birds are not aggressive creatures,
Miss. They bring beauty to the world.
It is mankind, rather, who...
HELEN
(going to door leading
to kitchen)
Three Southern fried chicken, Sam.
Baked potato on all of them.
LAUGHTER from salesman at table.
MELANIE
(into phone)
Hello, may I speak to Mitch Brenner,
please?
(pause)
Yes, I'll wait.
MRS. BUNDY
(continuing to Deke)
...insist on making it difficult for
life to survive on this planet. If
it weren't for birds...
DEKE
Mrs. Bundy, you don't seem to
understand. This young lady says
there was an attack on the school.
MRS. BUNDY
Impossible.
MELANIE
(in background)
Mitch? I'm glad I caught you.
Something terrible has happened.
Her background conversation continues through following:
DRUNK
(suddenly)
It's the end of the world!
HELEN
What's this about the school?
DEKE
Bunch of crows attacked the school,
Helen.
DRUNK
It's the end of the world.
(suddenly quoting)
"Thus saith the Lord God to the
mountains, and to the hills, to the
rivers and to the valleys; Behold,
I, even I, will bring a sword upon
you, and I will destroy your high
places.
HELEN
The Lord's not destroying anything,
Jason.
DRUNK
"In all your dwelling places, the
cities shall be laid waste, and the
high places shall be laid waste!"
(he nods)
Ezekiel, Chapter six.
HELEN
(quoting)
"Woe unto them that rise up early in
the morning that they may follow
strong drink."
DRUNK
(nodding)
Isaiah, Chapter 5. It's the end of
the world.
MELANIE
Yes, all right, I'll wait for you.
Good-by.
(she hangs up)
MRS. BUNDY
(laughing)
I hardly think a few birds are going
to bring about the end of the world.
MELANIE
(turning to her)
These weren't a few birds.
CLOSE SHOT - THE WOMAN AND THE CHILDREN
waiting for their lunch, listening to the conversation;
becoming very nervous.
BACK TO SCENE
DEKE
I didn't even know there were many
crows in Bodega Bay this time of
year.
MRS. BUNDY
The crow is a permanent resident
throughout its range. In fact, during
our Christmas Count, we recorded...
CLOSE SHOT - SHOLES
eating.
SHOLES
(suddenly, from his
table)
How many gulls did you count, Mrs.
Bundy?
BACK TO SCENE
MRS. BUNDY
Which gulls, Mr. Sholes? There are
several varieties.
SHOLES
The ones that've been raising the
devil with my fishing boats.
MRS. BUNDY
Probably herring gulls. They arrive
in November, you know, and don't
migrate North again until March or...
MELANIE
(leaping upon this)
Have you had trouble with gulls?
SHOLES
One of my boats did last week.
DEKE
(making a connection)
This young lady got hit by a gull
only Saturday.
SAM'S VOICE
(from kitchen)
Pick up the chicken.
HELEN
Now it's gulls. A minute ago, it was
crows.
(she picks up tray,
shrugs, goes to table)
Deke, I'm still waiting for those
Bloody Marys!
DEKE
Coming right up!
CLOSE SHOT - WOMAN
as Helen brings food. She is beginning to get really
frightened.
WOMAN
Could you ask them to lower their
voices, please? They're frightening
the children.
LITTLE GIRL
Timmy has a canary.
HELEN
That's nice. Are you Timmy?
LITTLE BOY
My cousin is Timmy.
BACK TO SCENE
SAM'S VOICE
(leaving table, coming
to bar)
A whole flock of gulls nearby capsized
one of my boats. Practically tore
of the skipper's arm.
HELEN
(coming back)
You're scaring the kids. Keep it
low.
DEKE
You're scaring me, too. Are you trying
to say all these...
(he shakes his head)
That sounds impossible, Sebastian.
SHOLES
I'm only telling you what happened
to my boat.
MRS. BUNDY
The gulls were after your fish, Mr.
Sholes. Really, let's be logical
about this.
MELANIE
What were the crows after at the
school?
MRS. BUNDY
What do you think they were after,
Miss...?
MELANIE
Daniels. I think they were after the
children.
MRS. BUNDY
For what purpose?
MELANIE
To...
(she hesitates)
To kill them.
There is a long silence.
MRS. BUNDY
Why?
Another silence.
MELANIE
I don't know why.
MRS. BUNDY
I thought not. Birds have been on
this planet since archaeopteryx,
Miss Daniels; a hundred and twenty
million years ago!
A TRAVELING SALESMAN ENTERS, goes to bar, listens.
MRS. BUNDY
Doesn't it seem odd that they'd wait
all that time to start a... a war
against humanity?
MELANIE
No one called it a war!
SALESMAN
Scotch, light on the water.
MRS. BUNDY
You and Mr. Sholes seem to be implying
as much.
HELEN
Are you finished here, Sebastian?
SHOLES
Let me have some apple pie, Helen.
(to Mrs. Bundy)
Who said anything about war? All I
said was that some gulls...
HELEN
(yelling to kitchen)
One apple pie! You want more coffee?
SHOLES
No. ...came down on one of my boats.
They could have been after the fish,
just as you said.
SALESMAN
Your captain should have shot at
them.
SHOLES
What?
SALESMAN
Gulls are scavengers, anyway. Most
birds are. If you ask me, we should
wipe them all out. World would be
better off without them.
MRS. BUNDY
(outraged)
Birds?
SALESMAN
Yeah, birds. All they do is make a
mess of everything. Who needs them?
MRS. BUNDY
We need them.
SALESMAN
Not if they're starting a war.
MRS. BUNDY
They are incapable of organized
warfare!
MELANIE
Have you ever seen a jay protecting
a nest?
MRS. BUNDY
I have seen jays doing everything it
is conceivable for jays to do.
Ornithology happens to be my
avocation, Miss Daniels. You're
talking about preservation of the
species, a hen protecting her young.
There's a vast difference between...
MELANIE
Maybe they're all protecting the
species. Maybe they're tired of being
shot at and roasted in ovens and...
MRS. BUNDY
Are you discussing gamebirds now?
All birds are not gamebirds, you
know.
MELANIE
I don't know anything about birds
except that they're attacking this
town.
SALESMAN
Then fight back. Get yourselves guns
and wipe them off the face of the
earth.
MRS. BUNDY
That would hardly be possible.
DEKE
Why not, Mrs. Bundy?
MRS. BUNDY
Because there are 8,650 species of
birds in the world today, Mr. Carter.
It's estimated that five billion,
seven hundred and fifty million birds
live in the United States alone. The
five continents of the world...
SALESMAN
(muttering)
Kill them all. Get rid of them.
Messy animals.
MRS. BUNDY
...probably contain more than a
hundred billion birds!
DRUNK
It's the end of the world!
DEKE
Well, we seem to have more than our
share of them right now, Mrs. Bundy.
Maybe this young lady's right. Maybe
they've all gone crazy.
HELEN
Here's your pie, Sebastian. You want
it at the table?
SHOLES
No. Here's fine.
(he begins eating)
HELEN
Where are the Bloody Marys, Deke?
DEKE
Coming.
HELEN
(angrily)
Are we running a business here -- or
a bird sanctuary?
SHOLES
(beginning to change
his mind)
Actually, those gulls must have been
after the fish.
MRS. BUNDY
Of course.
SHOLES
Makes a lot more sense than... well,
an attack.
MRS. BUNDY
Of course it does. If we believe
that birds are attacking, why... why
next we'll believe that grasshoppers
and cockroaches are capable of...
DRUNK
Cockroaches! Urghh!
CLOSE SHOT - WOMAN
getting more and more anxious.
WOMAN
Hurry, children. Finish your lunch.
BOY
Are the birds gonna eat us, Mommy?
SHOLES
Maybe we're all getting a little
carried away by this. Admittedly, a
few birds acted strangely. That's no
reason to believe...
MELANIE
This isn't a few birds! I keep telling
you that! These are gulls and swifts
and crows and...
MRS. BUNDY
And what? Vultures? Hawks? Eagles?
MELANIE
Maybe! Is it impossible?
MRS. BUNDY
Yes. I have never known birds of
different species to flock together.
The very concept is unimaginable.
(laughing)
Why if that happened, we wouldn't
have a chance. How could we possible
hope to fight them?
SHOLES
We couldn't. You're right, Mrs.
Bundy.
WOMAN
(calling from table)
Excuse me, may I have a check, please?
HELEN
(concerned)
Is everything all right, ma'am?
WOMAN
Yes, I... I'm anxious to get on the
road.
SAM
(coming from kitchen)
What's the matter? Something wrong
out here?
DEKE
Nothing's wrong.
SAM
All this shouting.
MRS. BUNDY
We're fighting a war, Sam.
SAM
A war? Against who? Did the
Russians...?
SHOLES
Against birds.
WOMAN
(suddenly)
I'm glad you all think this is so
amusing. You've frightened my children
half out of their wits.
BOY
I'm not scared, Mommy.
WOMAN
Keep quiet. If that young lady saw
an attack on the school, why won't
you believe her?
SAM
What attack? Who attacked the school?
WOMAN
Birds did. Crows! And you're all
sitting around here debating! What
do you want them to do next? Crash
through that window?
LITTLE GIRL
(frightened by her
mother)
Mommy!
WOMAN
Quiet! Why don't you all get home?
Lock your doors and windows!
(her hysteria rising)
Put on your coats, children!
(to Deke)
What's the fastest road to San
Francisco?
DEKE
The freeway, ma'am.
WOMAN
Where do I get it?
SALESMAN
I'm going out that way, lady. You
can follow me.
WOMAN
Then let's go. Now!
SALESMAN
I haven't finished my drink.
WOMAN
(on edge of panic,
shouting at her
children)
Put on your coats! Do you want to
get trapped here?
BOY
I can't find my scarf.
WOMAN
Look in your sleeve!
The door opens. Mitch and Al Malone come in.
MITCH
Melanie?
At the far table, the salesman begin singing, rowdily.
MITCH
(going to her)
I got here as fast as I could.
Where's Cathy?
MELANIE
At Annie's house. She's all right.
SAM
Al, why aren't you over there where
the attack was?
MALONE
Because I just got back from Dan
Fawcett's place, that's why.
MITCH
He was killed last night. By birds.
MALONE
Now hold it, Mitch. You don't know
that for a fact.
MRS. BUNDY
What are the facts, Mr. Malone?
MALONE
Santa Rosa police think it was a
felony murder. They think a burglar
broke in and killed him.
WOMAN
Were the Santa Rosa police at your
school today?
(impatiently, to
salesman)
Are you coming?
SALESMAN
Take it easy, lady.
(through window)
There isn't a bird anywhere in sight.
DRUNK
(quoting)
"Look at the birds of the air: they
do not sow or read, yet your heavenly
father feeds them."
WOMAN
I'll never feed another bird as long
as I live!
SALESMAN
Something like this happened in Santa
Cruz last year. The town was covered
with seagulls.
WOMAN
Can't you please finish your drink?
MRS. BUNDY
That's right, sir, I recall it. A
large flock of seagulls got lost in
a fog and headed in for the town,
where all the lights were.
SALESMAN
They made some mess, too, smashing
into houses and everything.
(shaking his head)
They always make a mess. We're better
off without them.
MRS. BUNDY
The point is that no one seemed to
get upset about it. They were gone
the next morning, just as if nothing
at all had happened. Poor things.
WOMAN
I'm leaving! Are you coming?
SALESMAN
All right, all right!
(he downs his drink)
Hope you figure this out, folks.
DRUNK
It's the end of the world.
The Tides is silent for a moment.
SHOLES
Well, I'd better get back to the
cannery. What do I owe you, Deke?
DEKE
Let's see. Scallops and coffee...
MITCH
Hold it just a minute, Sebastian.
Sholes turns to him.
CLOSE SHOT - MITCH
his face very serious.
MITCH
Sebastian, I'm not an alarmist.
SHOLES
No one ever said you were, Mitch.
MITCH
(flatly)
I think we're in trouble. I don't
know how or why this started, but I
know it's here and I know we'd be
crazy to ignore it.
MRS. BUNDY
(sarcastically)
Ignore what? The bird war?
MITCH
(exploding)
Yes, the bird war, the bird attack,
the bird plague, you can call it
what you want to, they're out there
massing someplace and they'll be
back, you can count on that!
MRS. BUNDY
Ridiculous!
MITCH
Mrs. Bundy, why don't you go home
and polish your binoculars?
SAM
Go on, Mitch.
MITCH
If we don't do something now, if we
don't get Bodega Bay on the move...
SHOLES
Look, Mitch, even if this is true,
even if all the birds...
MITCH
Do you believe it's true, Sebastian?
SHOLES
(after a long pause)
No. I don't, Mitch. Because I can't
see any reason for it.
MITCH
It's happening. Isn't that a good
enough reason?
SHOLES
(thoughtfully)
I like Bodega Bay as well as any
man. If I thought...
(he shakes his head)
MITCH
Then help me, Sebastian. You're an
important man in this town. If you'll
help, the rest will.
SHOLES
Help how? What do you want to do?
MITCH
I'm not sure, but...
SHOLES
If you don't even know what you want
to do...
MELANIE
Listen to him, please.
SAM
(taking position beside
Melanie)
You listen to him, Sebastian!
MITCH
I only know we've got to drive them
away from town -- before they drive
us away.
SHOLES
How?
MITCH
Mrs. Bundy, you said something about
Santa Cruz. About seagulls getting
lost in the fog, and heading in for
the lights.
DEKE
We don't have any fog this time of
year, Mitch.
MITCH
We'll make our own fog.
SHOLES
How do you plan to do that?
MITCH
With smoke.
MALONE
There's an ordinance against burning
anything in this town, unless it's...
MITCH
We'll use smoke pots. Like the Army
uses.
DEKE
What good'll that do? Smoke's as bad
as birds.
MRS. BUNDY
Birds are not bad!
SHOLES
How can we go on living here if we
blanket the town with smoke?
MITCH
Can we go on living here otherwise?
Pause. They are silent.
SAM
(slowly)
It's worth a try, Sebastian.
There is more silence as they all consider. And then suddenly:
MELANIE
Look!
They turn toward the window.
