CANVAS BACK MAC

INT - DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT

SUPER: “May, 1948.  Sons of Sicily Social Club. Brooklyn, New York.”

CLOSE UP

on a pair of hands rushing to tie the laces on an old pair of red boxing gloves worn by somebody with pale, wiry arms. The gloves are comically large, with ripped seams, a few holes and unusually long laces.

The room reverberates with the sound of crowd STAMPING and CLAPPING offscreen.

A door OPENS offscreen.

                        VOICE FROM DOOR (o.s.)

Showtime. You ready to earn another Purple Heart, Mister War Hero?

The man tying the gloves (TOM EVANS) shakes his hands in frustration.

                        TOM EVANS

Give us a minute! Where’d you get these damn gloves?

The man wearing the gloves (MAC MACKOUCKAS) answers:

                        MAC

Borrowed ‘em.

The door CLOSES.

The picture freezes on the boxing gloves and we hear the voice of Mac, as an old man.  His voice is rough, yet animated and emphatic.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

Before I was a boxer, I was a dancer.

BLACK SCREEN

SUPER:  “Two weeks earlier.”

FADE IN

on a crowd of feet dancing to SWING MUSIC. 

INT - DANCE HALL IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK- NIGHT

One pair of feet, in shiny black shoes offset by white pants, is particularly animated.
We pan up from these feet to see MAC MACKOUCKAS, a young white man in his mid- twenties, a little north of six feet and south of two hundred trim pounds.  Mac dances expertly with a YOUNG LADY while the U.S. Navy BIG BAND plays.  Mac wears Navy dress whites and a Navy cap. Several other dancers are similarly attired, but none of them dance as well as Mac.

Among the other dancers is TOM EVANS, a thin man just under six feet, wearing glasses and dancing with his wife CELIA, a pretty Mexican woman about six months pregnant.

The song ends and Mac shakes hands with the Young Lady.

Mac steps off the dance floor as the band strikes up Glenn Miller’s song “In The Mood”.  Tom and Celia continue slow dancing despite the uptempo music.

LILLY ROBBINS steps in front of Mac as he exits the dancefloor.  Lilly is a cute redhead, also in her mid-twenties.

                        LILLY

How come you don’t dance with me anymore, Mac?

                        MAC

You’re Freddy’s girl now.

                        LILLY

You’ve danced with every girl here, and I’ll bet you didn’t ask one of them if they were single or not.

                        MAC

It’s just dancing, Lilly.

                        LILLY

Exactly.  So let’s just dance. I promise not to get swept off my feet again.

Lilly smiles and extends her hand, and Mac does the same.  Just as they are about to touch, Mac reaches behind Lilly and grabs a broom leaning against the wall.

Mac spins away and dances into the middle of the dancefloor with the broom. He clowns around with the broom as if it were his partner, twirling, spinning and dipping it, and then throwing it over his head and catching it.  He’s a great dancer.  The other dancers form a circle around him.

INT - BAR AREA IN DANCE HALL - NIGHT

MOUSE, a stubble-headed mountain of a man sits at a table near the bar, arm wrestling a much smaller man in front of a crowd.  Mouse easily defeats his opponent and the crowd
CHEERS, but the CHEERS turn to LAUGHTER as the crowd looks to the dancefloor.  Mouse turns around with an annoyed expression on his face.

INT - DANCE FLOOR - NIGHT

Mac dances romantically with the broom, stroking the straws as if it were a woman’s hair.  The other dancers LAUGH and back away to give him room.

Mac hams it up with the broom, spinning, twirling and flipping it.  The crowd LAUGHS and APPLAUDS.  Mac looks to Lilly and extends his hand.

Lilly hesitates for a second, then dances out to meet Mac in the middle of the dancefloor.

Mac dances in a circle around Lilly, sweeping around her with the broom.  Lilly puts her hand to her mouth and laughs.  Mac offers her the broom and Lilly takes it.

Mac runs the entire length of the dancefloor, slides the last ten feet and plops himself down into a chair at an empty table next to Mouse’s table, just as the band hits the last HIGH NOTE of “In The Mood”.

The MUSIC STOPS and in the sudden silence Lilly is left standing alone in the middle of the dancefloor holding the broom.  She looks at Mac fanning himself in the chair and breaks into LAUGHTER.  The whole crowd LAUGHS along and APPLAUDS.

As Mac fans himself his elbow tips a glass of water on the table.  In slow motion, we see the glass teeter on the edge of the table.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

I remember two key moments in my boxing career:  one turned me into a boxer, the other turned me into a winner.  In that moment my future hung in the balance.  If what happened next didn’t happen I never woulda been a boxer.

The glass falls off the table and BREAKS, splashing water on Mouse’s pants leg.

Mouse jumps up, grabs Mac from behind, hauls him to his feet and spins him around.

Two men in their mid-twenties sitting at the bar run over and get between Mac and Mouse.  The first is KID, short, thin, dark-haired and with a baby face, and the other is EUGENE, tall and heavyset with a blonde soup-bowl haircut.  The are both about Mac’s age.

                        EUGENE

Hey, take it easy.  It was an accident.

                        MOUSE (to Mac)

You’re gonna pay for that.
                        MAC

Of course, I’m sorry.  What were you drinking?

                        MOUSE

That’s not what I meant.

Mouse rolls up his sleeves, revealing huge arms.  Tom runs up to them.

                        TOM

Okay, let’s settle down.

                        MOUSE

Let him go.  Unless he doesn’t want to be let go.

Mac bristles and takes a step forward.  Tom, Kid and Eugene push him back.

                        KID

Mac ain’t scared of anything, he’s a veteran!

                        EUGENE

With a Purple Star.

                        KID (correcting)

Purple Heart.

                        EUGENE

And  Purple Heart too. He’s got both.

                        MOUSE

Sounds like he’s real good at getting injured.  Navy boy, huh?

                        MAC

These days.  Used to be Marines.

                        MOUSE

No kidding?  My old man was a Marine.

                        MAC

That so?  Where was he --

                        MOUSE

I hated my old man.

Mac raises his fists, but Tom jumps between them.
                                                TOM

Come on, fellas.  Can’t we settle this like gentlemen?

                        MAC

Ask him.

Mouse’s scowling mug breaks into a big grin.

                        MOUSE

Like gentlemen?  Sure, why not?

BLACK SCREEN

SUPER: “Two weeks later. Sons of Sicily Social Club, Brooklyn, New York.” 

INT - DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT

CLOSE UP

on Tom Evan’s fumbling hands finish tying up the boxing gloves.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

Settling it “like gentlemen” apparently meant beating the tar out of each other in the ring instead of in the street.

Tom slaps Mac’s knee.

                        TOM

Let’s go.

INT - BOXING RING IN THE SONS OF SICILY SOCIAL CLUB - NIGHT

Two hundred people are packed into the room.  Cigarette smoke hangs thick in the air.

Mac and Tom are on one side of the ring, Mouse on the other.  Mac looks down at his gloves.

                        MAC (showing gloves to Tom)

Hey, Tom.

Mac’s gloves are on the wrong hands; the left is on the right and the right is on the left.

                        TOM

What the -

                        MAC

They’re backwards.
                        TOM

For Pete’s sake, why didn’t you say something before?

                        MAC

You looked like you knew what you were doing.

                        TOM

Can you make a fist?

                        MAC

Sure.

                        TOM

Good enough.  Maybe nobody’ll notice.

Kid and Eugene stand outside of the ring, tending to the stool, towel and bucket. 

Mouse glares across the ring and Mac swallows nervously.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

His name was Mouse, but he didn’t look like a mouse to me.  He looked more like a mountain.  A big angry mountain with storm clouds gathering at the peak. He was semi-professional, sparring partner to Rosco Battaglia, the heavyweight champion of the world.  And me, I counted boxes in the shipping depot at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  So can you blame me if I was just a little bit scared?

The smoke hangs so thick that Mac can barely make out the crowd.  He waves a huge glove in front of his face to clear the smoke.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

Lilly said she was coming with Fabulous Freddy, but I didn’t see them, just Sonny, my old buddy from Iwo Jima.

Sitting ringside is SONNY KLINE, a one-legged veteran in a wheelchair.  Sonny is about five years older than Mac and wears a green U.S. Marine Corps jacket with a Purple Heart pinned to it.  A collection of small American flags wrapped together with a rubber band protrudes from his jacket pocket.

The bell RINGS.  Mac and Mouse advance to the center of the ring.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)           

He was an awful big fellow, but what he didn’t know was I was as strong as two men in my right arm, ‘cause I had to compensate for my gimpy left.  I was still carrying around a bullet fragment from when I took a hit at Iwo Jima.

Mac shuffles around Mouse, in a very graceful but unboxer-like way. Mouse LAUGHS and casts a quick grin at his cornerman.  The picture freezes on Mouse’s smirking face.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

Ha!  That was all I needed!  I was on him like cold on ice.

Just as Mouse grins at his cornerman Mac springs forward and SMASHES a roundhouse right into Mouse’s jaw.  The crowd GASPS.

Mouse’s eyes roll up in his head and he topples like a felled tree, sending a thunderous BOOM through the suddenly silent hall. 

After a beat of silence the crowd ERUPTS in WILD CHEERS and APPLAUSE.  Flashbulbs POP all around. 

Sonny applauds and salutes Mac.

Tom, Eugene and Kid rush into the ring and surround Mac.

                        TOM

Incredible!

                        EUGENE (to Tom)

C’mon, let’s get him up.

Tom and Eugene lift Mac onto their shoulders.  Kid is too short to help support Mac, so he holds Tom’s arms to help bear the load.  They spin Mac around and around.

MAC’S P.O.V.

The room is spinning, flashbulbs POP through the smoke and the crowd CHEERS.  The spinning stops, and through dizzy eyes Mac sees Lilly emerge through the haze like an angel from a cloud.

INT - BOXING RING - NIGHT

Mac jumps down and rushes to Lilly, who stands on the ring apron on the other side of the ropes.  A handsome man with slick black hair combed back stands behind her, grinning: it is FABULOUS FREDDY CICIO.  He’s smoking a cigarette and wearing two-tone shoes and a very expensive suit.

                        MAC (to Lilly)

What’d you think?

Lilly takes Mac’s face between her hands and plants a big kiss on his cheek.
EXT - BACKYARD OF OLD MAC’S HOUSE - DAY

OLD MAC, in his late sixties or early seventies, sits in his backyard wearing a light sweater.  His face is deeply lined and his nose shows evidence of having been broken.  He’s being interviewed, and he grins continuously, delighted to be the subject of an interview.

                        INTERVIEWER (o.s.)

Do you remember the first time you got knocked out?

                        OLD MAC

Sure I do, you kidding?  You always remember your first time.  I think I was about ten years old ...

FLASHBACK

EXT - BROOKLYN SCHOOLYARD PLAYGROUND - DAY

YOUNG MAC, about ten years old, tussles with YOUNG EUGENE, about the same age.  Eugene is a little bigger than Mac, and wears the same blond bowl haircut he’ll have for the rest of his life.  YOUNG TOM and YOUNG KID watch the fight with FIVE OTHER CHILDREN.

YOUNG LILLY strolls by, spinning a toy parasol over her shoulder.  A little white bonnet rests atop her curly red hair.  She smiles at Mac and waves as she walks by.

Mac stares at Lilly, mouth hanging open, forgetting the fight.

                        YOUNG MAC

Lilly Robbins. Whatta dame.

Eugene’s fist SMACKS into Mac’s face, and Mac falls over unconscious, but with a big, happy smile on his face.

INT - BOXING RING, SONS OF SICILY SOCIAL CLUB - NIGHT

Lilly’s kiss leaves a red imprint on Mac’s cheek.  Mac’s eyes flutter and he stumbles backwards into the arms of Tom, Eugene and Kid.  Mac has a big, happy smile on his face.

Lilly’s face is flushed and beautiful.

                        OLD MAC (v.o.)

Whatta knockout.

Fabulous Freddy draws on his cigarette and studies Mac through squinted eyes.

EXT - WEGMAN’S COFFEE SHOP - NIGHT           

A “Help Wanted” sign hangs on the front door.  Inside we see Fabulous Freddy, Lilly, Mac, Tom, Kid and Eugene sitting at a booth.

INT - WEGMAN’S COFFEE SHOP - NIGHT

Mac, Eugene, Kid and Tom are all crushed into one side of a booth while Lilly and Fabulous Freddy sit on the other side.  The table is crowded with food, and Mac stuffs apple pie into his mouth.

                        FABULOUS FREDDY

You were fabulous, Mac, fabulous!

EXT - OLD MAC’S BACKYARD - DAY

                        OLD MAC

Everything was fabulous to Freddy, that’s how he got his name.  It was fabulous this, and fabulous that, and don’t you look fabulous today? Never just good or okay, always fabulous.  (laughs) He was a funny guy.  I couldn’t help liking him, even though I felt strange that he was dating Lilly after me and her called it quits.  Because you know, sometimes even when you call it quits it ain’t really over. (winks)

INT - RESTAURANT - NIGHT

                        LILLY (to Mac)

You were really -

                        FABULOUS FREDDY (interrupting)

Can I talk freely?

Mac, Tom, Eugene and Kid and look at each other.

                        MAC

It’s free to talk.

                        FABULOUS FREDDY

I want you to box for me.  I can get you ten fights, and maybe ... (raises a finger)... just maybe, a spot on the Hurricane Tony Show.

                        KID

Wow, did you hear that?  Hurricane Tony!
                        MAC

Freddy, I’m not a boxer.  That was dumb luck tonight.

                        FABULOUS FREDDY

Dumb luck and a hard right to the jaw.  Listen, who thinks it was just dumb luck tonight?

The table is silent.

                        FABULOUS FREDDY

And who thinks Mac is blessed with a natural gift?

Freddy raises his hand, as do Kid, Eugene and Tom. 

Lilly raises her hand, smiles, and she gives Mac a deep, meaningful look.

                        TOM

Wait a minute.  With all respect, Freddy, you book singers, dancers, magic shows, Lilly’s trained poodles.  And, it’s a good act and everything, Lilly, but it ain’t boxing. 

                        FABULOUS FREDDY

It’s all show business.  I’ll book the fights, and you keep knocking people out.  Think you can handle it, Mac?

                        EUGENE

He can do it.

                        KID

‘Course he can.

                        TOM

What’s in it for you?  What’s in it for him?

                        FABULOUS FREDDY

I usually take twenty-five percent, but Mac’s a friend so I’ll make it twenty.  And Mac, I’m gonna guarantee you thirty ... no, not thirty ... fifty bucks a fight.

Mac drops his fork.

                        FABULOUS FREDDY (cont.)

You can all be in on it, a team like you were tonight.  Mac can pay you what, maybe five dollars a fight each? Out of his purse, of course.  I’ll put something together by Memorial Day, and then we can make the announcement at the V.A. club after the parade.

EXT - OLD MAC’S BACKYARD - DAY

Old Mac LAUGHS.

                        OLD MAC

And that’s how I got into the fight game.  I signed a contract with Fabulous Freddy for ten fights.

                        INTERVIEWER (o.s.)

And you got knocked out ten times in a row?

                        OLD MAC

More or less.

EXT - ST. BARTHOLOMEW’S CHURCH IN BROOKLYN - DAY

Church bells RING out on a bright, clear Sunday morning. People exit the church, some stopping to chat with a short, thin gray-haired priest in his mid-sixties known to his flock simply as PADRE.

Tom helps Celia carefully down the steps.  Celia is very pregnant.

                        PADRE

I’m planting trees today, Tom.  Care to help?

                        TOM

I’d love to, Padre, but the baby’s been kicking all morning, and I need to get Celia home.

                        PADRE

Celia, did anyone ever inform you of the nine month rule?  I believe you’ve been pregnant for at least a year and a half.

Celia caresses her belly.

                        CELIA

It’s only been five months.  I’m just showing more than some girls. 

                        TOM

Little Tommy’s going to be the size of a Christmas ham.

                        CELIA (laughing)

It might be a girl.
                        TOM

Not a chance.  Every first born child in my family tree going all the way back to Adam and Eve has been a boy, and always named Tom.

                        PADRE

I didn’t realize Cain and Abel had an elder brother named Tom.  I must have missed that chapter in Genesis.

Padre sees Mac exit the church.

                        PADRE (cont.)

Excuse me, I think I just found my beast of burden.

EXT - CHURCH GARDEN - DAY

Padre sits on a stump, holding a gardening book.

A row of seven sapling trees with their roots and soil wrapped up in canvas lean against the side of the church. Mac, in his undershirt and wearing work gloves, carries one of the  saplings to a fresh hole, puts it in, loosens the canvas sack, then fills the hole with dirt.

                        MAC

Now I heard everything.  A boxing priest!

                        PADRE

I wasn’t a priest at the time, just a young spit like you. Then came my thirteenth fight ....