From Dusk Till Dawn

From Dusk Till Dawn  

Story by             Robert Kurtzman

Screenplay by          Quentin Tarantino

Produced by          Gianni Nunnari

               Meir Teper

Directed by          Robert Rodriguez

Cast List:

George Clooney       Seth Gecko

Quentin Tarantino      Richard Gecko

Harvey Keitel        Jacob Fuller

Juliette Lewis       Kate Fuller

Ernest Liu       Scott Fuller

Salma Hayek         Santanico Pandemonium

Tom Savini        Sex Machine

Fred Williamson         Frost

Cheech Marin       Chet Pussy

Carlos

Border Guard

"I earnestly wish an end would come to this bloody race I am forced to run."

 – Countess in Jess Franco's "La Comtesse Noire"

FADE IN:

EXT. LIQUOR STORE – DAY

A convenience store in a Texas Suburb. No other businesses surround it.

CLOSEUP: A light switch is flipped on.

The sign on top of the store lights up. It reads: "BENNY'S WORLD OF LIQUOR".

SUBTITLE APPEARS AT BOTTOM OF SCREEN:

"BIG SPRING, TEXAS

109 MILES WEST OF ABILENE

345 MILES EAST OF THE MEXICAN BORDER"

A Texas Ranger patrol car pulls into the parking lot and a real live Texas Ranger, EARL MCGRAW, steps out. McGraw is in full ranger uniform – button shirt, cowboy hat, boots, mirrored shades, tin star and a colt revolver on his hip.

It's about an hour and a half before sundown and McGraw is off duty for the day.

The only other car in the parking lot is a 1975 Plymouth

(Charley Varrick's car).

INT. BENNY'S WORLD OF LIQUOR – DAY

A young Hawaiian Shirt wearing man named PETE sits on a stool behind the counter.

A few CUSTOMERS fiddle about.

A MAN wearing a black suit, black tie, and wire rim glasses holds hands with a PRETTY BLONDE GIRL in cutoffs and bare feet. They look through magazines.

Another black suit wearing MAN holds hands with a RED-HEADED GIRL in a prep school uniform. They look through the beer cooler in the back of the store. Both girls are around seventeen.

MCGRAW enters the store.

MCGRAW

Hot goddamn day!

PETE

Haven't felt it a bit. Been inside with the air conditioner blastin' all day long.

MCGRAW

Not even for lunch?

PETE

I'm by myself today, ate my lunch outta the microwave.

McGraw walk over to the beer cooler, as if done ritually every night (it is), takes out a beer, pops it open and joins Pete by the front counter.

MCGRAW

Jesus Christ man, that microwave food'll kill ya as quick as a bullet. Those burritos are only fit for a hippie high on weed. Pull me down a bottle of Jack Daniels. I'm gettin' tanked tonight.

PETE

Whatsamatter?

MCGRAW

Awww, it's just been a shit ass day. Every inch of it hot and miserable. First off, Nadine at the Blue Chip got some sorta sick, so that mongoloid boy of her's was workin' the grill. That fuckin' idiot don't know rat shit from Rice Krispies. I ate breakfast at nine, was pukin' up pigs in a blanket like a sick dog by ten thirty.

PETE

Isn't there a law or something against retards serving food to the public?

MCGRAW

Well, if there ain't there sure oughta be. Who knows what goes on inside a mongoloids mind?

PETE

You could sue the shit out of her, ya know. That kid belongs under a circus tent, not flippin' burgers. You could own that fuckin' place.

MCGRAW

What the hell would I do with that grease pit? Besides, Nadine's got enough of a cross to bear just taking care of that potato head. Then all this Abilene shit happened. You heard about that bank robbery in Abilene, didn't ya?

PETE

That's all that's been on the box all day. They killed some people, didn't they?

MCGRAW

Four Rangers, three cops, and two civilians. And they took a lady bank teller as a hostage.

Pete doesn't say anything.

MCGRAW

They'll probably make a run for the border, which would bring 'em this way. And if we get our hands on those shit asses, we're talking payback time. We'll get 'em all right. I gotta piss. I'm gonna use your commode.

PETE

Knock yourself out.

McGraw drops his last drip of beer, crushes the can and exits in the bathroom.

The black suited man by the beer cooler turns around and, with the prep school girl in tow, walks rapidly toward Pete. We see that the girl is crying.

BLACK SUITED MAN #1

(to Pete)

Do you think I'm fuckin' playing with you, asshole?

(points to the tearful prep school girl)

Do you want this little girl to die?

(pointing to the blonde with the other guy)

Or that little girl? Or your bosom buddy with the badge? Or yourself? I don't wanna do it, but I'll turn this fuckin' store into the Wild Bunch if I even think you're fuckin' with me.

The two men in black suits are the notorious Abilene bank robbers, SETH and RICHARD GECKO, "The Gecko Brothers." And the other customers are all being held hostage. Seth is the one with the prep girl. Richard is the one with the blonde. Everybody speaks low and fast.

PETE

What do you want from me? I did what you said.

SETH

Letting him use your toilet? No store does that.

PETE

He comes in here every day and we bullshit. He's used my toilet a thousand times. If I told him no, he'd know something was up.

SETH

I want that son-of-a-bitch outta here, in his car, and down the road or you can change the name of this place to "Benny's World of Blood."

Richard, holding tightly the hand of the terrified girl, leans next to Seth's ear and whispers something. Seth looks at Pete.

SETH

Were you giving that pig signals?

PETE

What? Are you kidding? I didn't do anything!

Richard whispers something else in Seth's ear.

SETH

He says you were scratching.

PETE

I wasn't scratching!

SETH

You callin' him a liar?

Pete controls himself.

PETE

I'm not calling him a liar, okay? I'm simply saying that if I was scratching, and if I did scratch, it's not because I was signaling the cop, it's because I'm fuckin' scared shitless.

Richard speaks for the first time in a low calm voice to Seth.

RICHARD

The Ranger's taking a piss. Why don't I just go in there, blow his head off and get outta here.

PETE

Don't do that! Look, you asked me to act natural, and I'm acting as natural – in fact, under the circumstances, I think I ought get a fuckin' Academy Award for how natural I'm acting. You asked me to get rid of him, I'm doing my best.

SETH

Yeah, well, your best better get a helluva lot fuckin' better, or you're gonna feel a helluva fuckin' lot worse.

The toilet flushes.

SETH

Everybody be cool.

Everybody goes back to what they were doing.

McGraw steps back out of the back. He appears to be unaware of the situation.

MCGRAW

Yeah, and I'm gonna be right back at it tomorrow. So tonight I'm gonna sit in front of the box and just drink booze. How much is the bottle?

PETE

Six-fifty.

Out of nowhere Richard WHIPS out his forty-five automatic and SHOOTS McGraw in the head.

McGraw goes down screaming.

Richard stands over him and SHOOTS him twice more.

Seth charges forward.

SETH

(to Richard)

What the fuck was that about?

RICHARD

(in a low monotone)

He signaled the Ranger.

PETE

(hysterical)

I didn't.

(to Seth)

You gotta believe me, I didn't.

RICHARD

(to Seth)

When they were talkin', he mouthed the words "Help Us."

PETE

You fuckin' liar, I didn't say shit!

Richard SHOOTS Pete and Pete falls down behind the counter.

Seth grabs Richard and throws him up against the wall.

SETH

What the fuck is wrong with you –