Appendix 3: Extract from screenplay of Lord Luxon

Appendix 3: Extract from screenplay of Lord Luxon

INT. TEMPEST HOUSE, SURREY, 1763, DAY.

The camera sweeps through the Palladian splendour that is Tempest House. From the oak panelled walls of the Long Gallery several generations of Luxons stare down disdainfully. A MAID hurries past carrying a silver tray. Though the tall windows we catch glimpses of verdant, rolling hills and flocks of sheep.

When the maid reaches the entrance hall we see LORD LUXON standing, contre-jour, in the doorway. He is young, languorous and impeccably dressed. WILLIAM, Lord Luxon’s personal manservant, in full liveried uniform, is the epitome of quiet correctness. The latter stands in the sunshine on the gravelled forecourt holding two horses.

MAID

(Bobbing a curtsy, panting)

From the half dozen pairs of kid gloves on offer, Lord Luxon leans over the tray and selects a pair which matches his tightly fitted jacket precisely.

MAID

Will you be requiring me to send on your luggage, Sir?

(Already walking outside)

Where I am going, I can acquire anything that I need.

CUT TO:

CUT TO:

LORD LUXON

CUT TO:

EXT. LUXURY HOTEL, CONTEMPORARY NEW YORK, DAY.

LORD LUXON stands behind the glass doors of a luxury hotel in a quiet street off Sixth Avenue, waiting for an ELDERLY PORTER to flag down a cab. It is August and New Yorkers stroll by in various stages of undress. The porter wipes the back of his neck with a handkerchief. Lord Luxon, inside the air-conditioned hotel is cool and immaculate. A visibly sweating and be-suited WILLIAM, waits outside, ready to open the door for his master. A row of FEMALE RECEPIONISTS gaze admiringly at Lord Luxon: he stands on the polished marble floor, legs apart, one arm folded neatly behind his back.

When a yellow cab draws up, William opens the glass door for Lord Luxon and there is a minor scuffle next to the cab as William darts forward in front of the porter, insisting on opening the car door himself, fumbling with the mechanism as he does so.

LORD LUXON

(Getting into the cab)

Wait for me here, William. I doubt I shall return before sunset. Get them to feed you. Doubtless in this land of plenty you will find some lavish servant's hall.

WILLIAM

LORD LUXON

(To the porter)

You!

(Put out at being addressed in this

How may I help you, sir?

LORD LUXON

Have my manservant taken to the servants' quarters and feed him.

PORTER

(incredulous)

LORD LUXON

(Ignoring him)

Drive on!

WILLIAM

(Leaning into the driver's

Fraunce's Tavern, if you please,

William raps on the top of the cab as if a carriage ready to depart. The yellow cab drives off. The porter looks at the disappearing head of Lord Luxon with an air of disbelief and distaste.

PORTER

(to William)

WILLIAM

PORTER

You hungry?

WILLIAM

(With feeling)

That I am.

PORTER

WILLIAM

PORTER

I guess his lordship won't object if we put lunch on his tab.

CUT TO:
EXT. SIXTH AVENUE, DAY

LORD LUXON is spellbound. His gaze takes everything in, the women, the dogs, the traffic, the speed of life, the energy, the wealth, the excitement of this great city. As he looks up at the skyscrapers, there is a look of avarice on his face.

Lord Luxon pulls out a handkerchief and dabs delicately at his forehead while the cab stops at an intersection. The police have stopped the traffic to let a convoy drive by. Lord Luxon watches a large, black limousine coming towards them. It is flanked by armed policemen on motorcycles. As it glides past him, Lord Luxon observes the DIGNITARY, bathed in the bluish light cast by tinted windows. Next to him is a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. They sip iced drinks from tall glasses. Lord Luxon watches the convoy hungrily as it recedes into the distance and, with distaste, flicks a chewing gum wrapper from the seat next to him onto the floor of the cab.

CUT TO:

LORD LUXON walks up the steps of Fraunces Tavern, an eighteenth-century building on the corner of Broad and Pearl.

CUT TO:

INT. FRAUNCE’S TAVERN, NEW YORK, DAY.

With him are MRS STACEY, in her late forties, elegant, worldly, confident, and ALICE, her niece, a pretty, rather bookish young woman with a hesitant manner. Lord Luxon turns towards his companions.

LORD LUXON

(Mildly amused)

And you say that this is the oldest building in Manhattan?

MRS STACEY

(To Alice)

I can see it’s going to be difficult to impress someone who owns a thirteenth-century castle in Scotland...

ALICE

You own a castle, Sir?

I rarely stay there. I can assure you, Madam, that most caves are more comfortably appointed.

Mrs Stacey opens up the museum brochure and flicks through the pages.

MRS STACEY

Come on, Alice, you’re the history girl...

(to Lord Luxon)

Did her mother tell you Alice is at Princeton?

Alice rolls her eyes.

LORD LUXON

(Trying to cover up his ignorance)

Princeton? I cannot recall...
But it was kindness itself, Madam, to respond so generously to your sister’s request.

MRS STACEY

I’m always happy to show visitors around my favourite city.

Lord Luxon gives a graceful bow. Mrs Stacey giggles like a schoolgirl.

ALICE

I’m not sure how tactful it is to invite Lord Luxon to the place where Washington bade farewell to his troops after thrashing the British!

(Laughing)

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since the American Revolution ... We’re all friends again now.

CLOSE IN on Lord Luxon. He forces a smile. Then close in on Alice who is observing him. She can’t get the measure of him.

[…]

EXT, NEW YORK HARBOUR, DAY.

(Looking at the skyline)

Who owns New York?

ALICE

LORD LUXON

There is a gentleman of my acquaintance who owns a great deal of it. He once bet half a street of houses that one raindrop would reach the bottom of a window before another.

ALICE

(A BEAT)

Did he win?

LORD LUXON

Yes, he has the luck of the devil. But then, so, they say, do I.

ALICE

LORD LUXON

On that occasion in particular. Look where that encounter has led me. I have need of a ...guide.

Alice is not sure how to take this. They contemplate the view.

LORD LUXON

If you cannot tell me who owns New York, perhaps you will answer this question: if you had desired to sabotage the American War of Independence, how would you have gone about it?

Alice bursts out laughing.

ALICE

LORD LUXON

I thought it might intrigue you.

ALICE

LORD LUXON

(smiling)

Quite the contrary, I can assure you.

Series of shots of Alice talking and Lord Luxon listening intently as their boat glides across blue water, dwarfed by the Manhattan skyline.

CUT TO:

The sun is setting. The sound of distant cab horns and traffic. Central Park is a resplendent oasis of green. Lord Luxon and Alice lean over the well-appointed balcony of a 12th floor appartment.

LORD LUXON

Extraordinary!

ALICE

It’s quite something, isn’t it?

Faith, see how man has tamed nature herself, nay, imprisoned her in this glorious square of green.

ALICE

The way you speak...it reminds me of...

Yes?

ALICE

Lord Luxon takes Alice’s hand and kisses it.

LORD LUXON

May I call on you again?

Alice looks at him flattered and uncertain. Slowly she nods.