DARKNESS.  As the MAIN TITLES BEGIN, the theater thrums with

            a subsonic HISS¹ which mounts in all the rattling² power of

            THX, and we...

 

            BURN IN, BRIGHT LIVING COLOR:

 

            EXT. STRATOSPHERE - DAY

 

            The glory of stratospheric dawn.  The engines of a silver

            Lockheed U-2F rasp upon the trace oxygen here at 72,500 feet.

            Scattered³ cloud formations hang over the blue brilliance⁴ of

            sea far, far below.  In the haze⁵, the looming⁷ edge of land.

 

            SUPER: FLIGHT G-3101. OCTOBER 14TH, 1962. OVER CUBA.

 

            The spy plane's CAMERA DOORS whine⁸ open.  The glassy eye of

            the 36-inch camera focuses.  And then with a

            BANGBANGBANGBANG, its high-speed motor kicks in, shutter⁹

            flying.

 

                                                           MATCH CUT TO:

 

            INT. O'DONNELL BEDROOM - DAY

 

            A simple CAMERA, snapping away furiously in the hands of a

            giggling¹⁰ MARK O'DONNELL, 4.  He's straddling and in the face

            of his dad, KENNY O'DONNELL, 30's, tough, Boston-Irish, with

            a prodigious¹¹ case of morning hair.  Kenny awakens¹², red-eyed.

 

                                HELEN (O.S.)

                      Mark, get off your father!

 

            Kenny sits up to the morning bedlam¹³ of the O'Donnell house.

 

            KIDS screech¹⁴, doors bang all over.  Kenny pushes Mark over,

            rolls out of bed, snatches up the corners of the blanket and

            hoists¹⁵ Mark over his shoulder in a screaming, kicking bundle.

 

            INT. O'DONNELL HALLWAY - DAY

 

            Kenny, with Mark in the bundle on his shoulder, meets his

            wife HELEN going the other way in the hall with LITTLE HELEN,

            1, in her arms.

 

                                KENNY

                      Hi, hon.

 

            They kiss in passing.  Daughter KATHY, 12, races by in angry

            pursuit of her twin, KEVIN, 12.

 

                                HELEN

                      Don't forget, Mrs. Higgins wants to talk

                      to you this afternoon about Kevin.  You

                      need to do something about this.

 

                                KENNY

                      Kids are supposed to get detention¹⁶.

 

            Kenny dumps the bundle with Mark in a big pile of dirty

            laundry.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            EXT. MCCOY AIR FORCE BASE - FLORIDA - DAY

 

            A pair of massive FILM CANISTERS unlock and drop from the

            belly¹⁷ of the U-2.  TECHNICIANS secure them in orange carrying

            cases, lock them under key, fast and proficient¹⁸.  They whisk

            them out from under the spy plane.

 

            The Technicians run for an idling Jeep.  They sling¹⁹ the cases

            into the rear of the vehicle which in turn accelerates away

            hard, curving across the runway for another waiting plane.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            INT. O'DONNELL KITCHEN - DAY

 

            A kitchen out of the late 1950's.  Kenny drinks coffee, ties

            a tie, rifles through a briefcase²⁰ at the kitchen table.  The

            horde²¹ of kids, ages 2-14, breakfast on an array of period

            food.  Kenny grills²² the kids while he goes over papers.

 

                                KENNY

                      Secretary of Defense²³...

 

                                KEVIN

                      Dean Rusk!

 

                                KENNY

                      Wrong, and you get to wax my car.

 

            KENNY JR. smirk²⁴ at Kevin.

 

                                KENNY JR.

                      Rusk is State, moron²⁵.  Robert McNamara.

 

                                HELEN

                      Got time for pancakes?

 

                                KENNY

                      Nope.  Attorney General?

 

            A PHONE RINGS as the kids cry out en masse.

 

                                KIDS

                          (chorus)

                      Too easy!  Bobby, Bobby Kennedy!

 

            Kenny glances up at the wall.  There are two phones, side by

            side.  One RED, one BLACK.  It's the black one ringing.

            Helen answers.  Kenny goes back to his papers.

 

                                KENNY

                      All right, wise guys, Assistant

                      Secretary of State for Latin America...

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            EXT. STEUART BUILDING - DAY

 

            A U.S. Navy truck lurches to a stop in front of the run-down,

            brick-faced seven-story Steuart Building on 5th and K.  Rear

            doors BANG open, and out hop²⁶ two MARINE²⁷ GUARDS, side arms

            drawn²⁸, film canisters in a carrying case between them.

 

            SUPER:  NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION²⁹ CENTER

            (NPIC), WASHINGTON D.C.

 

            As the Marines approach the building, front doors SLAM open.

 

            INT. OPERATIONS OFFICE, NPIC - DAY

 

            A bespectacled OPERATIONS MANAGER hands a clipboard to one of

            the big Marine Guards who in turn hands him a set of keys.

            The Manager unlocks the film cases.  PHOTO INTERPRETERS swoop³⁰

            in, whisk away the contents: SPOOLS³¹ OF FILM.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            EXT. O'DONNELL RESIDENCE - DAY

 

            A black Lincoln pulls away from the modest white house on a

            tidy Washington D.C. residential³² street.

 

            EXT. WASHINGTON D.C., AERIAL - DAY

 

            The car threads its way through the Washington traffic, past

            the big administrative³³ buildings, down tree-lined avenues,

            takes a turn into a gate.  As the car stops at the gate, the

            CAMERA flies past, revealing it's the gate to the WHITE

            HOUSE.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            INT. NPIC - DAY

 

            CLOSE ON the five-thousand rolls of film spewing through

            processing equipment, its streaking³⁴ passage leading us

            straight through the development machinery³⁵ to:

 

            A SERIES OF VARIOUS SHOTS:

 

            Photo Interpreters power up light tables, stereoscopic

            viewers, zip across the floor in wheeled chairs.

 

            Flying switches, flickering³⁶ lights, humming motors.  It's an

            eerie³⁷ dance of technological³⁸ black magic.

 

            Another pair of Interpreters loom⁶ out of the darkness, side

            by side, ghostly looking, their glasses reflecting the glare

            of the light table, like magicians staring into a crystal

            ball.

 

            IMAGES FILL THE SCREEN

 

            Aerial shots, flashing by.  Cuban countryside from 72,500

            feet.  A MAGNIFYING GLASS swings down on its arm in front of

            us, magnifying the carpet of trees... and a row of six canvas

            covered OBJECTS among them.

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            EXT. WHITE HOUSE - WEST WING - DAY

 

            Kenny, in business suit and tie, trots³⁹ up the steps, and a

            MARINE GUARD snaps the door open for him.

 

            INT. WEST WING - CONTINUOUS

 

            Kenny, briefcase in hand, weaves his way through the empty,

            ornate hallways of the West Wing.  Past magnificent doorways⁴⁰,

            early American furniture, paintings.  He finally reaches a

            doorway, goes through into:

 

            INT. KENNY'S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

 

            A long, narrow affair, window at the back looking out into

            the Rose Garden.  Kenny dumps his briefcase on the desk,

            shucks off his coat, removes a folder⁴¹ from his briefcase,

            turns and heads back out...

 

            INT. WEST WING HALLS - CONTINUOUS

 

            And into the warren of offices and halls that is the working

            White House.  He takes a right, passes the doors to the Oval

            Office right next to his office, goes down a long, straight

            hall, into...

 

            INT. MANSION⁴² - CONTINUOUS

 

            The formal main building, the executive mansion.  He passes

            the busts⁴³ of Presidents past, turns left into an elevator.

            The doors close.

 

            INT. 3RD FLOOR - FAMILY QUARTERS - DAY

 

            The doors open.  Kenny strides out onto a DIFFERENT FLOOR,

            the third.  He heads down the long, posh hall of the family

            quarters.  Fine furnishings, art.  The living White House.

 

            He approaches the double doors at the end of the hall guarded

            by a cluster of SECRET SERVICE AGENTS.  An agent opens one of

            the doors.

 

                                KENNY

                      Morning, Floyd.

 

                                SECRET SERVICE AGENT

                      Good morning, Mr. O'Donnell.

 

            INT. PRESIDENT'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS

 

            Kenny enters the elegant bedroom.  The figure alone at a side

            table by the window, drinks coffee, breakfast still spread

            out before him, Washington Post obscuring his face.

 

                                KENNY

                      Top o' the morning, Mr. President.

 

            The figure lowers the paper.

 

            It is PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY.  He's wearing boxers⁴⁴ and a

            tank top.  Unshaven.  Bed-head.

 

            Kenny O'Donnell, former ward-pol and long-time Kennedy man,

            is his Chief of Staff...

 

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      Morning, Kenny.  You see this goddamn

                      Capehart stuff?

 

            The President rattles⁴⁵ the paper.  Kenny collapses⁴⁶ in the

            chair opposite the President, sprawls⁴⁷, comfortable.

 

                                KENNY

                      Bayh's going to lose, but it's good

                      groundwork for us for '64.

 

            Kenny steals a piece of buttered toast off the President's

            plate.  The President spares him a glance.

 

                                THE PRESIDENT

                      I was eating that.

 

                                KENNY

                      No you weren't.

 

                                THE PRESIDENT

                          (scanning the paper)

                      I was, you bastard⁴⁸.

 

            Kenny takes a defiant⁴⁹ bite.

 

                                THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D)

                      So what've we got today?

 

                                KENNY

                      Today, for your information, is Pulaski

                      Day.  We're going to Buffalo⁵⁰...

 

                                                           SMASH CUT TO:

 

            INT. HOTEL LOBBY - DAY

 

            SUPERIMPOSE: BUFFALO, NEW YORK

 

            A luxury hotel crowded with LOCAL POLS: the Democratic

            machine of Buffalo.  Beyond the open floor-to-ceiling

            windows, a CROWD.  The Pulaski Day Parade, a glimpse of '69s

            Americana.  High School bands blare Sousa.  The scene is

            deafening⁵¹, boisterous⁵².  Pols trail Kenny as he crosses the

            room: fast, tough, on-the-go.

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