1.

FADE IN:

1 INT. ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY - DAY - 2000 1

SOMEONE’S POV - MAYBE OURS

Moving along a hallway of an ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY, past

doors - some open, some closed - as if looking for somebody -
and maybe not for benign reasons.

FRANK (V.O.)
When I was young, I thought house
painters painted houses.

We glimpse some of the elderly men and women in the rooms,

but like everyone else in their lives, disregard them and
keep looking for someone else.

FRANK (V.O.)
What did I know?

We turn a corner into another hallway, keep looking -

FRANK (V.O.)
I was a working guy.

We drift into a rec room where more elderly men and women
watch TV, play cards, stare off at nothing -

FRANK (V.O.)
A business agent for Teamster Local
One-O-Seven out of South
Philadelphia...

We approach a particular man sitting apart from the others in

a wheelchair. He’s about 80, better dressed than everyone
else here, white dress shirt, cuffs monogrammed FJS, dark
slacks, aviator sunglasses.

FRANK (IN SYNC)

One of a thousand working stiffs...
This is who we’ve been looking for - Frank Sheeran - perhaps
to kill him. But he pays no attention to us, even as we come
in close enough to see his gold watch encircled with
diamonds, and the distinctive ring made from a gold coin on a
finger.

2 INT. EMPTY HOUSE - A BLANK WALL - DAY 2

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 2.

We see a young man’s hand with the same gold and diamond
encrusted watch and diamond pinky ring raise a gun at an
unseen target.

FRANK (IN SYNC)

... until I wasn’t anymore...
TWO QUICK GUNSHOTS to the back of an UNKNOWN MAN’S head.

The blank wall explodes in red, as though a bucket of blood

had been thrown against it. The blood begins to slowly ooze
down the wall covering it with red streaks.

FRANK (IN SYNC)

... And started painting houses...
myself.

3 INT. ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY - DAY - 2000 3

BACK in the ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY, Frank gives us a moment

to grasp what he’s said. Then:

FRANK
In this particular matter, the
whole thing was built around the
wedding.

4 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - MORNING - 1975 4

A wedding invitation sits on a bureau next to Frank’s gold

watch.

FRANK (IN SYNC)

Bill Bufalino’s daughter was
getting married in Detroit.
Frank puts the watch on his wrist. The gold ring is on his
finger next to his wedding band. He’s quite a bit younger
than when we saw him at the assisted living facility. About
55.

FRANK (IN SYNC)

Bill was a Teamster lawyer, but
more important, he was Russell
Bufalino’s cousin.
He zips a suit and shirt into a garment bag like a body in a
body bag.

5 EXT. FRANK’S HOUSE - MORNING - 1975 5

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Frank arranges luggage in the trunk of his Cadillac, leaving

a space for more.

FRANK V/O
Russell didn’t want to fly. He
wanted take care of some business
along the way. Business -- in
Russell’s case -- means one thing -
- collecting money. So we’d drive.
Him and his wife Carrie and me and
Irene.

6 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - MORNING - 1975 6

While Frank’s wife Irene talks on the kitchen phone to

Russell’s wife Carrie about what to wear, Frank draws a line
on a AAA map.

FRANK V/O
We’d take Highway 76 to 476 to
Allentown -- up to Wilkes-Barre --
then west on 80 through the rest of
Pennsylvania -- across Ohio to
Toledo -- then north on 75 to
Detroit.

7 EXT. BUFALINO’S HOUSE - DAY 7

Irene and Carrie smoke cigarettes on the sidewalk while Frank

and Russell Bufalino add his and his wife’s luggage to the
trunk. Russell’s about 15 years older than Frank.

FRANK V/O
It would take two days with the
business stops and all the
cigarette breaks we’d have to make
for our wives, since Russell didn’t
allow smoking in the car since that
bet with Jimmy Blue Eyes on
Lansky’s boat they took out of Cuba
when Castro kicked them out and
took their casinos.

8 EXT. OCEAN - DAY 8

A pack of cigarettes floats on the water. In the distance, a

cabin cruiser motors away.

FRANK V/O

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 4.

Russell threw his cigarettes

overboard and hasn’t smoked since.
So Jimmy Blue lost 25 grand on
that.

9 INT. FRANK’S CADILLAC - PHILADELPHIA - DAY - 1975 9

Frank drives along a city street with Russell in front and

the women in back.

FRANK V/O
But Russell and Lansky and Giancana
and Trafficante lost about a
million dollars a day on account of
Castro, so maybe it was the memory
of that, more than the smoke in the
car, that irritated him.

CARRIE
Can we stop soon?

BUFALINO
We’re not even on the highway for
Christ’s sake.

CARRIE
You won’t stop on the highway.

10 EXT. PHILADELPHIA - DAY - 1975 10

The women smoke outside the car again. Russell considers the
AAA map Frank marked up, Frank watches some kids in parochial
uniforms play soccer on a Catholic school yard.

FRANK V/O
We didn’t have soccer growing up.
All we had to amuse ourselves was
fight. Which I guess was good for
us, since when our country needed
soldiers, we were ready.

11 EXT. ANZIO - ITALY - DAWN - 1943 11

American soldiers on a beach dig at the sand like sand crabs

as mortars explode around them.

FRANK V/O
One thing I can say for sure is a
beach is not a place you want to be
pinned down. Sunbathing on a towel,
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As Frank, 22, shovels at the sand, soldiers on both sides of

him fall dead from rifle and mortar fire.

FRANK V/O
An exploding shell spreads its
shrapnel in an upward angle. If you
can get down low, it flies over
you, so this is what I recommend.

Frank jumps into the hole he’s made. Another soldier clambers
out of a hole to grab his rifle.

FRANK V/O
If you don’t get down low, it cuts
you in half.

A blast hits the soldier reaching for the rifle and separates
him at the waist.

12 EXT. ANZIO - NIGHT 12

It’s raining, and the beach looks empty - until we begin to

descend beneath the surface level of the sand.

FRANK V/O
A normal foxhole wouldn’t protect
you at Anzio. You had to dig
deeper.

We follow a ladder that leads us deep into a large foxhole

buttressed with planks like in a mine. Still, the rain is
causing mud cave-ins and suffocations.

13 EXT. ANZIO - DAY 13

Frank pees into a helmet in the foxhole.

FRANK V/O
If you left the hole in daylight,
snipers would pick you off. Where
did you think you’d go anyway?

He climbs a ladder just high enough to slosh the pee onto the
beach.

FRANK V/O
You ate out of cans. You played
cards. You prayed. You promised to
sin no more.

14 EXT. ANZIO - NIGHT 14

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An ominous deep-throated, unrecognizable sound.

FRANK V/O
At night you got shelled by a piece
of artillery the Germans kept
camouflaged during the day.

A shadowy hulk of machinery glides in the dark.

FRANK V/O
They’d move it around on railroad
tracks after dark, when our planes
were on the ground.

Frank listens to the cannon’s roar from his foxhole.

FRANK V/O
We called it the Anzio Express. It
sounded like a freight train in the
night sky and you knew when it hit
there’d be nothing left to send
back home of the guys it landed on.

The shell hits some men in one of the other foxholes, killing
and burying them all at once.

15 EXT. ANZIO - DAY 15

A long row of dead soldiers in a trench. Some arriving fresh-

faced recruits are all but ignored by the ‘veterans’ like
Frank.

FRANK V/O
We watched replacements march in
and be carried out, sometimes on
the same day.

One of the new replacements lifts his head from the trench
only to have it shot off.

FRANK V/O
It was like they found the bullets
rather than the other way around.

16 EXT. ANZIO - DAY 16

As Frank and his friends play cards in the trench, the new
guys sit apart from them.

FRANK V/O

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They had to wonder why no one

talked to them. You didn’t talk to
them because you knew they’d be
dead soon and it would be easier if
you didn’t know their names.

17 EXT. ANZIO - DAY 17

Frank eats out of a can in the trench.

FRANK V/O
We couldn’t advance. All we could
do was hold the position. 6,000 of
us died doing that.

Suddenly the German position is being hit from behind. Frank

ventures up the ladder to cautiously peer over the lip of the
foxhole.

FRANK V/O
But then the main force finally
broke through on the other side and
we were able to climb out of our
holes.

18 EXT. ANZIO - DAY 18

Frank and his foxhole survivors have rounded up the surviving

German soldiers.

FRANK V/O
After 411 days of combat -- 122 of
them at Anzio -- you could say we’d
had enough. Here these Germans are
shooting at you, trying to kill
you, and now they want to
surrender. Some guys took this
personally.

Frank and a few other guys are going around executing German
prisoners.

FRANK V/O
So maybe you didn’t understand what
they were trying to say.

Frank shoots a German begging for mercy in English.

FRANK V/O
Or maybe they tried to escape.

Frank shoots a German who is not trying to escape.

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FRANK V/O
I don’t mean a massacre. I’m
talking about a handful. A couple
handfuls.

Frank hands a German prisoner a shovel and motions for him to

dig.

FRANK V/O
Our lieutenant said it made more
sense for them to dig than us, but
I didn’t think they would.

But they do, a line of German prisoners digging like Frank

did on the beach.

FRANK V/O
You wonder why anyone would dig
their own grave. What’s someone
going to do if you refuse, shoot
you?

Frank watches as his German keeps digging.

FRANK V/O
I guess you cling to some hope that
maybe the guy with the gun will
change his mind by the time you’re
done. Or maybe you’re happy for the
few extra minutes of life.

FRANK V/O
Or maybe you think you cooperate,
you’ll get a nice clean shot with
less pain. I don’t know.

Frank’s prisoner finishes digging his grave, and Frank shoots

him. As he falls into the hole he dug, the Doris Day song
“Que Sera Sera” begins and carries over.

19 EXT. ITALY - DAY 19

As the Americans come through a small Italian town looking

like something out of hell, Frank notices some of the people
taking down little German flags and putting up little
American ones.

The song continues over.

20 INT. BOARDING HOUSE - PHILLY - NIGHT - 1946 20

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Frank lies on a bed, staring up at the ceiling of a cheap

boarding house room.

FRANK V/O
The Army gave you a hundred dollars
a month for three months. This
seemed like a lot of money to me,
but it isn’t. It runs out, and then
you’re on your own.

21 INT. BLOOD BANK - PHILLY - DAY 21

Frank sells his blood for $10 a pint. The song continues
over.

22 INT. WAGNER’S DANCE HALL - NIGHT - 1947 22

A fight breaks out between two guys. Frank and another

bouncer throw them out. Coming back in, he notices a shy girl
sitting along the wall. She notices him but looks away.

FRANK V/O
They say good girls like bad boys.

23 INT. MOTHER OF SORROWS CHURCH - DAY 23

Frank and the shy girl are getting married. Her father
doesn’t look happy.

FRANK V/O
My first wife Mary loved me, but
her family hated me. They thought I
was what they used to call shanty
Irish, and that they were what they
used to call lace-curtain Irish.

24 INT. MARY’S PARENTS’ HOUSE - PHILLY - DAY - 1948 24

Mary’s father looks even less happy here as they eat dinner
in silence. An infant girl sits in a highchair.

FRANK V/O
We didn’t have any money so we
moved in with them. I wouldn’t
advise this if you can help it.

“Que Sera Sera” ends.

25 EXT. SWIFT’S MEAT COMPANY - PHILLY - DAY - 1949 25

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Frank and some others lug hindquarters across a loading dock

and hang them in a refrigerated truck. Frank comes back out,
and the yard manager closes the truck’s doors, slaps an
aluminum seal on the lock, and has the driver sign a paper on
his clipboard.

Frank watches. When the yard manager heads back to his

office, Frank goes over to the driver.

FRANK
How you get to be a driver?

JOEY
Apply at the Local. If the roster’s
full, they put you on a list.

FRANK
(in Italian)
Okay to say I’m a friend of yours?

Joey can tell just by looking Frank isn’t Italian, but his
accent isn’t bad. Joey likes that.

JOEY
Where you learn to speak Italian?

FRANK
Italy.

26 INT/EXT. FRANK’S CADILLAC - HIGHWAY - DAY - 1975 26

Irene Sheeran, in back with Carrie Bufalino, puts some

lipstick on. They have finally made it out of Philly and onto
Highway 276. As Frank drives, he regards the countryside.
It’s summer. Lush and beautiful.

IRENE
Can we stop soon?

Russell looks at Frank and sighs.

27 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY - 1975 27

Irene and Carrie smoke outside the car while Frank fills the
tank. Russell buys some gum and candy and comes back out to
where Frank is.

BUFALINO
Look where we are.

FRANK
I know. Generated on February 16, 2024
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They regard the unremarkable surroundings like they weren’t

so unremarkable. A tractor-trailer roars past and --

28 INT/EXT. HIGHWAY 476 - DAY - 1950’S 28

Frank drives a truck along 476, the same highway he’ll drive
to Detroit on 25 years later with Russell and their wives.
The engine starts making noises it shouldn’t.

29 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY - 1950’S 29

The same gas station. Frank has the truck’s hood open and
stares in at the misfiring engine. Russell appears out of
nowhere with some tools.

BUFALINO
What’s the problem?

FRANK
I don’t know. Something.

Russell listens to it.

BUFALINO
It’s the carburetor.

He selects a No. 7 wrench from his tools and begins making

adjustments.

BUFALINO
A carburetor only does one thing,
so there’s not much to it.

In a few moments the engine is sounding normal again.

BUFALINO
There you go.

He wipes his hands on a rag, shakes Frank’s hand, and heads

off with his tools.

FRANK
What do I owe you?

Russell waves back, ‘nothing,’ and puts the tools in the

trunk of his car. Frank watches after him as the car drives
off.

FRANK V/O

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 12.

I thought maybe he owned the place.

He owned something. You could tell.
It turns out he owned the whole
road.

30 EXT. SOUTH PHILLY - NIGHT - 1950’S 30

A place called The Friendly Lounge according to its sign.

31 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT 31

Frank hangs out with Joey and some other drivers, all
Italians except him. Across the room at another table sits a
group of low-level mob guys.

JOEY
You should meet Skinny.

Frank and Joey get up and head for the other table.

FRANK V/O
Skinny Razor owned the Friendly
Lounge. He also pushed a little
money. Loans. Book. Lotteries.
Nothing big.

Joey introduces Frank to Skinny Razor, who shakes Frank’s

hand and makes room for him and Joey at his table.

FRANK V/O
He got the name working at a
butcher shop in South Philly --

32 INT. BUTCHER SHOP - DAY 32

A place that specializes in chicken so fresh it’s still

alive. A younger, skinnier Skinny waits on a customer.

FRANK V/O
The Italian ladies would come in,
pick the chicken they wanted by
looking at them in the cages, and
Skinny would take out a straight
razor and cut the chickens’
throats.

33 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - CONTINUED 33

But now, Skinny is eating steak at his table.

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 13.

FRANK
You like steak?

SKINNY
I do. More than chicken.

FRANK
I deliver steak.

SKINNY
Do you.

FRANK
I could deliver you steak.

SKINNY
Could you.

34 EXT. MEAT COMPANY - DAY 34

As loading dock workers carry hindquarters like Frank used to

and hang them in his refrigerated truck, he signs for the
load. It’s summer.

FRANK V/O
After your truck is loaded, the
yard manager puts an aluminum seal
on the lock and off you go.

The yard manager slaps the seal on the lock.

35 EXT. FOOD FAIR MARKET - DAY 35

Frank backs up to the store’s loading dock, climbs out and

joins another manager with a clipboard.

FRANK V/O
When you get to where you’re going,
the manager there breaks the seal
and the meat is put in the
refrigerators.

The manager breaks the seal and workers unload the

hindquarters.

FRANK V/O
Once the seal is broken, there’s no
way to put it back on, so don’t
even think about that.

36 EXT/INT. MEAT COMPANY - DAY 36

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 14.

The same loading dock as before, but now there’s snow on the
ground.

FRANK V/O
But when winter comes, the yard
manager isn’t so anxious to leave
the comfort of his office.

A heater glows in the yard manager’s office as Frank signs

for 25 hindquarters.

FRANK V/O
So your offer to put the seal on
the lock for him sounds pretty good
to him.

The yard manager hands Frank the seal. He crosses the

freezing cold dock with it. Shuts the doors of the truck and
reaches for the lock, but palms the seal instead.

FRANK V/O
Now you can deliver, say, five of
your twenty-five hindquarters to
someone else.

37 EXT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - DAY 37

As Skinny’s guys carry hindquarters into the back of the

Friendly Lounge, he pays Frank some cash, and Frank puts the
seal on the lock.

FRANK V/O
Of course, you’re five hind-
quarters short now. But it’s just
as cold where you’re going as where
you’ve been.

38 EXT/INT. FOOD FAIR MARKET - DAY 38

The store manager rubs his gloves together and breaks the
seal on the lock.

FRANK V/O
So your offer to help the guys
there sounds pretty good to them,
too.

Frank helps the dock guys carry the last of the twenty
hindquarters to the store’s refrigerators. They leave but he
stays behind.

FRANK V/O Generated on February 16, 2024

 15.

Now you take five hindquarters from

the left rail and hang them on the
right rail with the new delivery.

Back on the dock, the store manager signs for the shipment --
25 hindquarters and Frank hops back into his truck.

FRANK V/O
Of course at Inventory they’ll see
the shortage, but anyone could have
taken them, they got no proof it
was you.

39 INT. MEAT COMPANY - DAY 39

The manager warms his hands over his glowing heater.

FRANK V/O
And the yard manager is never going
to admit he was too lazy to go out
in the cold and do his job in the
first place.

40 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT 40

Skinny Razor and his mob friends enjoy a delicious, and very
inexpensive, steak dinner, courtesy of Frank.

FRANK V/O
But I got carried away one day.

41 EXT. FOOD FAIR MARKET - DAY 41

The store manager breaks the seal. The truck doors open
revealing no hindquarters inside. Frank looks mystified.

FRANK
What the fuck?

MANAGER
What the fuck is this?

FRANK
I don’t know. Maybe the guys forgot
to load it.

Everyone on the dock looks at Frank.

MANAGER
You didn’t notice you were driving
a light truck? Generated on February 16, 2024
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FRANK
I didn’t.

42 EXT. LOCAL 107 - PHILADELPHIA - DAY 42

The familiar two-horses-and-a-wheel International Brotherhood

of Teamsters logo on the door of the Local.

43 INT. LOCAL 107 - DAY 43

Frank sits with a young Teamster lawyer, Bill Bufalino, whose

daughter’s wedding Frank will drive across three states to
attend 25 years later.

BILL
Ever show up late?

FRANK
No.

BILL
Any moving violations?

FRANK
No.

BILL
You drink on the job?

FRANK
No.

BILL
Ever hit anyone?

FRANK
On the job?

BILL
Yeah.

FRANK
No.

All this seems to be satisfactory to the lawyer.

BILL
Frank, I don’t care if you did it
or not. It makes no difference to
me. I’m here to defend you. But did
you?
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 17.

Frank isn’t sure if he’s supposed to admit it or not.

Eventually --

FRANK
I work hard for them when I’m not
stealing from them.

Bill smiles. He likes Frank. He won’t be the last to

appreciate his honest dishonesty.

BILL
Well, they have to prove it first.
If they can, what they’re going to
want is names. Would you give them
names to keep your job?

44 INT. COURTROOM - DAY 44

Skinny Razor is among the spectators in the courtroom. The

same Teamster attorney stands before the judge.

BILL
Your Honor, if this were about
right and wrong, the company would
have sought Mr. Sheeran’s
dismissal. They didn’t. What they
sought -- and offered him money in
exchange for -- were the names of
conspirators he couldn’t give them.
He couldn’t give them because they
don’t exist. They don’t exist
because he never stole anything. He
never stole anything because he’s
an exemplary employee who has never
taken a day of sick leave. The only
rule he ever broke was his own
union’s, by helping others carry
sides of beef from his truck to
their refrigerators in the dead of
winter.

45 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT 45

As Frank walks in, Skinny and the guys give him the hero’s
welcome he didn’t get when he returned from the war.

FRANK V/O
The judge threw the case out. He
said if he owned stock in that
company, he’d sell it.

Skinny and the mob guys toast Frank. Generated on February 16, 2024
 18.

FRANK V/O
The more important thing was I
ratted out nobody. Not even my lazy
yard manager. This meant everything
to Skinny and his friends.

Skinny introduces Frank to Angelo Bruno, a higher mob guy.

BRUNO
That was a good thing you did,
Frank. Everybody’s proud of you.
Sit down with me.

Frank sits. As Bruno pours him a glass of wine --

FRANK V/O
Angelo Bruno was Skinny’s boss and
the boss of all Philadelphia, and a
silent partner is just about
everything Downtown, including the
Villa d’Roma --

46 EXT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 46

A restaurant on Ninth Street downtown.

FRANK V/O
-- which is where I was properly
introduced to his boss -- the old
guy who helped me with my
carburetor that day on Highway 476
-- Russell Bufalino.

INT. FRANK’S CADILLAC - MOVING - DAY - 1975

Russell naps in the passenger seat while Frank drives.

CARRIE
Can we stop, Frank? An hour’s up.

EXT. RURAL PENNSYLVANIA - DAY - 1975

Frank pulls the car over. The women get out to smoke. The car
doors shutting wakes Russell up.

BUFALINO
Where are we?

FRANK
Outside Wilkes-Barre.

BUFALINO
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 19.

I got some things to do in Wilkes-

Barre. Wake me when we get there.

Russell closes his eyes again to nap.

FRANK V/O
I had no idea how big Russell was
when I met him. His territory
included Pennsylvania, upstate New
York, parts of New York City,
northern New Jersey and Ohio, and
interests in Florida, Canada, and
Havana before Castro threw him out.

Frank regards his wife and Carrie smoking outside the car,
framed by the windshield.

FRANK V/O
Not only that, his wife Carolina
was related to the Sciandras of the
Cosa Nostra, which meant her family
went back to the earliest days of
the mob, which was like she came
over on the Mayflower.

INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT - 1950’S

Russell, 20-some-years younger, sits at a table with one of

Frank’s steaks on his plate.

FRANK V/O
Anything that concerned anything,
you had to go to Russell. And you
had to go to where he was because
he never came to you. You either
went to Villa D’Roma -- or Vesuvius
-- or his curtain shop in Pittston.

INT. CURTAIN SHOP - PITTSTON - PA. - DAY - 1950’S

A succession of guys sits down with Russell in the back of

his shop amidst bolts of fabric.

FRANK
You wanted to bribe a judge, you
asked Russell. You weren’t sure how
much to give him, Russell would
tell you. You wanted to up one of
your guys, he’d tell you if you
should. You wanted to get rid
someone - you needed Russell’s
permission.

INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT - 1950’S - CONTINUEDGenerated on February 16, 2024

 20.

Russell takes a bite of steak.

BUFALINO
I knew you were okay that day on
the highway. I could tell.

The angle shifts to show Frank sitting at his table.

BUFALINO
You did the right thing, my Irish
friend. Those guys have wives and
kids and you saved them from jail.

Russell pulls back the folds of a napkin in a bread basket

with the care of a man inspecting a bird’s nest.

BUFALINO
Taste this bread. The only place
you can get it this good is Philly.
Whenever I’m here, I take some home
with me. It’s got prosciutto baked
into it.

Frank tastes a small bite. Russell waits for his reaction.

FRANK
E buono, grazie.

BUFALINO
E buono, dice. Dove fa un Paddy
impari l’italiano?

FRANK
L’Italia. Nella guerra.

Russell is pleased and impressed with Frank’s Italian and the

fact he was in the war. Regarding the prosciutto bread --

BUFALINO
Allora. Guardilo. Here’s the
secret. This is what you do.

He takes a piece and dips it in his wine.

FRANK V/O
When you go to confession -- which
I used to do more than I do now --
you know which priest’s line to get
on. You want the fairest one who
won’t give you a hard time. Russell
was that priest.

Frank follows Russell’s example and dips his bread in the

wine. Generated on February 16, 2024
 21.

BUFALINO
But Frank. Always remember. Never
eat alone. You might choke.

Frank isn’t sure he understands.

BUFALINO
Whatever it is, you let everyone in
the chain make a decent profit. You
buy a thing for a thousand, you
don’t sell it for two thousand --
you sell it for fifteen hundred and
let the next guy sell it for two.

FRANK
I understand.

BUFALINO
I know you do. Let’s eat.

They eat the wine-soaked bread.

47 INT. CAR - MOVING - DAY - 1999 47

Frank rides in the passenger seat of the same car from the
opening scene, traveling north to south on the highway. As it
passes a motel --

48 EXT. MOTEL - WILKES-BARRE - DAY - 1975 48

Traveling south to north, Frank pulls the Cadillac off the

highway where the same motel sits.

49 INT. MOTEL LOBBY - WILKES-BARRE - DAY 49

Frank and Russell check in while their wives smoke outside.

FRANK V/O
I quit my job -- but kept my union
card -- and started doing a little
business for Skinny and his
friends, who all worked for Angelo,
which meant they all worked for
Russell.

50 EXT. HOUSE - PHILLY - DAY - 1950’S 50

Frank sits in an idling car, the tailpipe breathing steam
into the chilly air.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 22.

FRANK V/O
Business -- as I said before --
whether you were Skinny, Angelo,
Russell, or anyone else Downtown --
always meant collecting money.

Skinny hurries down the steps of his house in a robe and

slippers, small paper bag in his hand.

FRANK V/O
That’s what they did. They
collected money.

Skinny hands the bag to Frank in the car.

SKINNY
Don’t use it. Just show it to him.

Frank sets the bag on the seat. Skinny scampers back up the
steps of his house. Frank drives off.

51 INT. FRANK’S CAR - LATER - DAY 51

Frank sits in his car, watching a street corner. Sees a guy

come around it, takes a gun out of the bag, gets out of the
car and intercepts the guy on the sidewalk.

FRANK V/O
In those days, you took a gun with
you to show a guy. These days, they
shoot you with it.

The guy is terrified by the mere sight of the gun and goes
with Frank back to the car without argument.

52 INT. FRANK’S CAR - MOVING - DAY 52

Frank notices that the guy has peed in his pants. He rolls
down a window.

FRANK V/O
In those days, you wanted your
money tomorrow. These days, they
want it yesterday.

53 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - LATER - DAY 53

Skinny regards the guy standing before him in wet pants.

SKINNY
Tomorrow. Generated on February 16, 2024
 23.

DEADBEAT
Tomorrow. I swear.

SKINNY
Here.

DEADBEAT
Here. Tomorrow.

Skinny nods, Okay, go. But the guy doesn’t go.

SKINNY
What.

DEADBEAT
How am I going to get home?

SKINNY
Take a fuckin bus, get out of here.

The deadbeat leaves.

FRANK
He peed in my car.

SKINNY
I always make sure they pee before
they get in the car. I should’ve
told you that.

54 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 54

Frank, his wife Mary and their two daughters eat dinner with
Russell and Carrie Bufalino.

FRANK V/O
The more I got to know, the more I
knew Russell didn’t come to Philly
only for the prosciutto bread.

Russell tries to show Frank’s daughter Peggy how you eat

prosciutto bread dipped in wine.

FRANK V/O
He and Angelo were involved in
every type of crime known to man:
Loansharking, gambling, hijacking,
prostitution, drugs and murder.

And Peggy somehow senses this. Russell makes her

uncomfortable. She shakes her head no; she doesn’t want any
bread dipped in wine.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 24.

FRANK V/O
Everyone including the FBI knew
this, but there wasn’t much they
could do about it, unless someone
talked. And if someone talked --
they didn’t talk much.

FLASHCUT to a parked car’s interior lighting up with gunfire.

55 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - EVENING 55

Frank comes in to find Mary cooking and his daughter Peggy

sulking.

FRANK
What’s the matter with her?

MARY
The grocer slapped her for eating a
grape.

It’s no big deal to Mary, but is, apparently, to Frank.

FRANK
Which. On the corner?

MARY
It’s nothing. She shouldn’t have
done it.

FRANK
(to Peggy)
Come with me.

56 EXT. GROCERY STORE - EVENING 56

Frank leads Peggy to the corner store.

FRANK
Stay here.

He leaves her on the sidewalk, disappears inside, comes back

out pushing a guy in an apron.

FRANK
This him?

Peggy nods. The grocer tries to look tough.

GROCER
I know judo.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 25.

Frank throws the guy to the ground, puts his hand on the curb
and stomps on it, crushing it.

FRANK
Let’s go. It’s dinner time.

Peggy is too stunned to move. Stares at the man writhing on

the ground.

57 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - LATER - NIGHT 57

The family eats in silence. Peggy steals glances at her

father, afraid of him now.

FRANK V/O
No one in Philadelphia ever touched
any of my daughters again. Grocers,
teachers, boyfriends, anybody. At
least they never told me about it.

58 INT. MOTHER OF SORROWS CHURCH - DAY 58

Frank’s third daughter is being baptized. The others are

there, along with lower-level guys like Skinny.

FRANK V/O
I still wasn’t making a lot of
money, but I was doing all right.
Then one day Whispers DiTullio came
over to my table at the Bocce Club
and asked me if I could use ten
grand.

59 INT. BOCCE CLUB - NIGHT 59

A short, furtive man in his 30’s sits with Frank, and, true
to his name, whispers too quietly for us to hear.

FRANK V/O
This is not the same Whispers they
blew up in that car around the same
time --

FLASHCUT to a car blowing up. Then back to the Bocce --

FRANK V/O
This is the other Whispers. The one
you always saw hanging around
wanting to be bigger than he was.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 26.

We have to come in closer in order to hear what Whispers is

whispering:

WHISPERS
I pushed a lot of money to this
place. More than I should. More
than I pushed anybody. Now I’m
lucky I get the vig.

FRANK V/O
He was talking about a linen supply
place.

60 INT. LINEN SUPPLY HOUSE - DAY 60

A big industrial laundry service, but with a lot of idle

machines.

FRANK V/O
They supplied fresh linen to
restaurants and hotels. Pick it up,
wash it, iron it, deliver it.
Normally, this was a license to
print money --

61 INT. BOCCE CLUB - CONTINUED 61

WHISPERS
Except this other laundry place,
down in Delaware, is siphoning off
a lot of their business.

62 INT. CADILLAC LINEN SERVICE - DAY 62

This place looks a lot like the other place, only busy.

WHISPERS V/O
I’m a little concerned my place,
because of this place, is gonna go
out of business and never be able
to pay me.

FRANK V/O
Whenever anybody says they’re a
little concerned, they are very
concerned. When they say they’re
more than a little concerned,
they’re desperate.

63 INT. BOCCE CLUB - CONTINUED 63

Generated on February 16, 2024
 27.

WHISPERS
I’m more than a little concerned.

64 EXT. CADILLAC LINEN SERVICE - DAY 64

As workers haul laundry out to Cadillac Linen Service trucks

--

FRANK V/O
I knew he didn’t want me to go down
there and show a gun. You don’t pay
ten grand for that.

65 INT. BOCCE CLUB - CONTINUED 65

Whispers passes an envelope across the table.

WHISPERS
I want you to bomb or torch or burn
this place to the ground, put these
fuckin guys out of business.

FRANK
Who.

WHISPERS
The Cadillac Linen Service. The
competition. Are you listening?

FRANK
You need to speak up a little.

WHISPERS
I want them gone. Closed down.
Burned to the ground. They can go
collect their insurance, which
being Jews, you know they will, and
leave the other place the fuck
alone.

Frank takes a quick look inside the envelope.

FRANK
This isn’t ten grand.

WHISPERS
It’s two grand. You get the rest if
there’s nothing left of this place.
Nothing. I don’t want them starting
back up in a couple weeks. Then
nothing’s changed and I’m out ten
grand besides. Generated on February 16, 2024
 28.

FRANK
Am I sure you’re good for it?

WHISPERS
I’m good for it. If I’m not you’ll
do something terrible to me and I
don’t want that. I just want these
Jew fucking washerwomen burnt to
the ground.

Frank studies him. Then puts the money in his pocket.

WHISPERS
One thing. We don’t mention this to
anybody. Including Skinny. We see
each other Downtown, we just say
hello, that’s it, like usual.

66 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 66

Frank takes five hundred from the stack of bills and gives
the rest to Mary, at the kitchen table with their three
girls.

FRANK
I hit on a four-dollar bet.

She knows it isn’t true, but doesn’t care. Peggy knows it

isn’t true and does care.

67 EXT. CADILLAC LINEN SERVICE - DELAWARE - DAY 67

Frank drives slowly past the front of the Cadillac Linen

Service building. Then around the side. Then around the back.
He notes a burglar alarm box.

68 EXT. CADILLAC LINEN SERVICE - DELAWARE - NIGHT 68

He sits in his parked car, having a look at the building at

night. Gets out and crosses past the trucks, peers in one of
the industrial windows at the washing and pressing machines
inside.

69 EXT. GAS STATION - DAY 69

He fills a 5-gallon can with gasoline. Puts it in the trunk

of his car where there are three more gas cans and a box of
dynamite.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 29.

70 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 70

He puts a dark jacket over his dark clothes and heads for the
door.

71 EXT. FRANK’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT 71

As he comes out and walks toward his car, he sees Skinny

standing next to his own, and stops.

SKINNY
Angelo wants to see you.

72 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - LATER - NIGHT 72

Skinny leads Frank into the restaurant.

FRANK V/O
The place was empty except for
Angelo, Russell and Phil the bar-
tender. Everything was amplified
like on a landing craft headed for
a beachhead.

The squeak of the bartender’s bar towel as he wipes a glass.

The click as he sets it on a rack. His footsteps as he walks
to the door. The snap as he locks it. Even the drip of wine
falling back into Russell’s glass as he dips his bread in it.

BRUNO
Sit down, Frank.

Frank sits. Listens to a silence before --

BRUNO
What’re you doing in Delaware?

Frank glances from Angelo Bruno, who’s studying him to

Russell Bufalino who isn’t, and wisely decides to tell the
truth.

FRANK
Blowing up a laundry service.

BRUNO
For who?
(nothing from Frank)
This is not one of those times to
not say.

FRANK
For Whispers. The other Whispers. Generated on February 16, 2024
 30.

BRUNO
You know who owns the Cadillac
Linen Service?

FRANK
Some Jews in the laundry business.

BRUNO
They own part of it. Someone else
owns the other part. You know who?

FRANK
No.

BRUNO
I do.

FRANK
Who.

BRUNO
No. I do. I own the other part. Not
I know who owns the other part.

FRANK
I didn’t know that. That’s
something I didn’t know.

BRUNO
Whispers didn’t tell you it was Jew
mob?

FRANK
He said Jew washerwomen.

BRUNO
Jew washerwomen. What else he say?
I’ll bet he said keep it to
yourself.

Frank nods. Listens to the amplified sounds. Then --

FRANK
I should’ve checked. I’m sorry for
not checking. I’ll give him his
money back.

BRUNO
He won’t need it. You can keep it.

FRANK
You sure?

BRUNO Generated on February 16, 2024

 31.

He won’t need it.

FRANK
Thank you.

BRUNO
Thank Russell. I wouldn’t have
wasted my time. I’d have let the
Jews have you.

FRANK
(to Russell)
Thank you.

Russell nods, you’re welcome, and finally speaks.

BUFALINO
This Whispers - like the other
Whispers - has aspirations. He put
you in a spot. If you had done
this, the only one the Jews would
know was you. They saw you driving
around. They would have got you,
and this Whispers would have kept
whatever he owed you.

FRANK
I don’t know for sure he’d do that.

BUFALINO
If he didn’t, he thought about it.
That’s enough. When in doubt have
no doubt.

The three of them at the table freezes into a tableaux, a

poorly-attended Last Supper.

FRANK V/O
When someone has to go, no one ever
says, “he has to go.” They tell you
to do it by not telling you not to.
Or at most they say “it’s what it
is.”

The tableaux unfreezes. Bufalino shrugs.

BUFALINO
It’s what it is.

73 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 73

Whispers waits on the street. Sees Frank come around a the

corner and walk toward him, a friend walking toward friend.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 32.

FRANK V/O
They found him dead on the
sidewalk, shot at close range with
a .32 by an unknown assailant.

Frank shoots him in the head and keeps walking.

FRANK V/O
All I know about it is I could
never find my .32 after that. It
must have ended up someplace.

74 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - MORNING 74

Frank sits at the kitchen table reading a newspaper article.

There’s an accompanying Weegee-like photo of Whispers’ body
on the sidewalk.

FRANK V/O
The next morning I sat there
staring at the paper for an hour. I
kept thinking -- that could have
been me. And it would have been if
it wasn’t for Russell -- no
questions asked. I owed him my
life.

75 INT/EXT. CADILLAC - WILKES BARRE - DAY - 1975 75

Frank and Russell drive along a street in Wilkes-Barre.

BUFALINO
Here it is.

Frank pulls to curb in front of a closed jewelry store.

FRANK
You want me to come in with you?

BUFALINO
No, I’m just picking something up.

As Russell goes into the store to collect some money, Frank

waits in the car.

FRANK V/O
After that, everyone started
treating me different.

76 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - DAY - 1950’S 76

Generated on February 16, 2024
 33.

Frank and Skinny sit at the bar together.

FRANK V/O
Skinny wouldn’t let me pay for
drinks anymore.

77 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT - 1950’S 77

Frank and Angelo Bruno sit at a table together.

FRANK V/O
Angelo wouldn’t let me pay for
dinner.

78 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - DAY - 1950’S 78

Frank and Russell sit at a table together.

FRANK V/O
Russell wouldn’t let me pay for
drinks after dinner.

The angle shifts to show two Jewish mobsters at the table.

FRANK V/O
Even the laundry service Jews who’d
wanted me dead were nice to me.

A waitress sets down another round of drinks.

FRANK V/O
Even the waitresses. Flirting. You
know.

The waitress gives Frank a smile.

FRANK V/O
All that separated who I was in
their eyes yesterday and who I was
today, was one thing -- that
particular matter with Whispers on
the sidewalk. This did not escape
my notice.

79 EXT. PHILADELPHIA - NIGHT 79

Frank walks down a rain-slicked Downtown street with the

Villa d’Roma waitress.

FRANK V/O
Generated on February 16, 2024
 34.

I’d been drifting Downtown the last

couple years. Now I was way down
there. I was part of the culture. I
was a fixture like the lights and
the signs.

They step on reflections of lights and neon signs on the wet

pavement.

FRANK V/O
No time is a good time to leave
your wife, but that’s when I left
mine.

They disappear behind an apartment door on the corner.

80 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT 80

Frank sits at a table with a glass of wine, going over a

scribbled list of names and numbers on a small note pad,
crossing out some, underlining others.

FRANK V/O
I started pushing money of my own,
not just collecting for Skinny. You
could call this a step up, but with
any step up in business comes
headaches, too. The ladder of
success is not lined in silk,
necessarily.

He checks his watch. Looks at the door. Circles one of the

names on his list.

FRANK V/O
I had this one guy I made a loan I
couldn’t find anywhere. Skinny
tells me he seen him at Harry the
Hunchback’s bar, the Yesteryear,
where I catch up with him.

81 INT. THE YESTERYEAR - NIGHT 81

The guy whose name Frank circled is crying as he sits with

Frank, but not because he’s scared.

FRANK V/O
It turns out his mother died and
the funeral set him back the money
he owes me. I felt bad for him.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 35.

82 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT 82

Frank comes in, and Skinny looks up.

SKINNY
You get your money?

FRANK
Not yet.

SKINNY
Let me guess. His mother died.

FRANK
You heard.

SKINNY
I heard ten years ago.

83 EXT. THE YESTERYEAR BAR - NIGHT 83

Frank parks and heads for the entrance -

84 INT. THE YESTERYEAR - CONTINUOUS 84

Frank strides over to the deadbeat’s booth and drags him out
of it. Beats him to a pulp until he’s lying in his own blood
on the floor. Harry the Hunchback comes out from behind the
bar and stares at Frank.

HARRY
What’re you doing?

FRANK
I got a problem with this guy.

HARRY
You got a problem, take him
outside. What am I supposed to do
about all this blood?

FRANK
He owes me money.

HARRY
He owes you money. He owes you
money? He owes me money. He’s
borrowing money from you and not
paying me?

Frank shrugs. Harry the Hunchback goes over to the guy on the
floor and starts kicking him. Generated on February 16, 2024
 36.

85 EXT. WAREHOUSE DISTRICT - NIGHT 85

Two parked cars. Boxes of jewelry being transferred from the

trunk of one car to the other.

FRANK V/O
Another time, this guy gets a load
of hijacked jewelry and never comes
up with the money. When you do
something like that, you know
better.

86 INT. THE FRIENDLY LOUNGE - NIGHT 86

Frank sits at a table with a woman we recognize as a younger

Irene. Angelo Bruno and his wife are with them. As the women
talk to each other --

BRUNO
Russell needs a favor.

And, as Bruno talks to Frank in confidence --

FRANK V/O
Angelo wanted me to deliver a
message. This is after he already
delivered one telling the guy what
it is, so I know we’re past just
showing a gun.

87 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 87

A car pulls up behind Frank’s parked car.

FRANK V/O
Now if you’re going to actually use
a gun, it should be a new one
that’s never been fired. You don’t
want to get blamed for something
somebody else did before you even
had it. So I recommend one out of
the box.

A guy climbs out and hands him a small paper bag through the
window. Frank sets it on the seat beside him and pulls away.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 37.

What kind? That depends. The cops

call a .32 a woman’s gun because
it’s easier to handle and has less
kick than a .38. It also makes less
noise than a .38, and a whole lot
less noise than a .45.

Close on the paper bag as Frank keeps the car under the speed
limit.

FRANK V/O
But sometimes you want a lot of
noise. Like in the middle of the
day to scatter bystanders.
Sometimes you don’t want a lot of
noise. Like in the middle of the
night.

88 INT. THE “JEWELER’S” HOUSE - NIGHT 88

The “jeweler” wakes up to a noise, a kind of low rumbling and

climbs out of bed to investigate, taking a gun from his night
stand with him.

FRANK V/O
The point of this is, if a guy with
welsh out on a load of hijacked
jewelry, there’s no telling what
he’s capable of doing, or what he’s
capable of saying. He’s a rat in
the making.

The “jeweler” follows the sound to a door off the kitchen.

Opens it and descends wooden steps to the basement where a
washing machine is running.

FRANK V/O
In orderly society, there are
certain rules that you follow and
that’s what it is.

The “jeweler” regards the washing machine, which is the last

thing he ever regards as a .32 behind his head pops.

89 INT. MOTEL LOBBY - MORNING - 1975 89

Frank and Russell are checking out of the Wilkes-Barre motel.

BUFALINO
I got it.

FRANK Generated on February 16, 2024

 38.

No, I got it.

BUFALINO
Frank. Please. I got it.

FRANK V/O
Russell and Carrie never had
children.

90 INT. BOWLING ALLEY - DAY - 1950’S 90

Russell and his wife Carrie, along with Frank and his second
wife, Irene, and his still-growing family, four daughters
now, bowl.

FRANK V/O
He adopted me, so to speak.

Russell helps one of Frank’s girls with a heavy ball. Peggy,

still unsure of him, keeps her distance.

BUFALINO V/O
Peggy’s afraid of me.

91 INT. BOWLING ALLEY - LATER 91

Frank and Russell drink beers and watch the women and
children bowl.

FRANK
She’s afraid of me.

BUFALINO
She is?

FRANK
She’s a sensitive girl.

Russell nods. Smiles at Peggy, but she looks away.

BUFALINO
You happy with what you’re doing,
Frank?

FRANK
It’s all right. I’d like it more if
it was more steady.

BUFALINO
Did you like driving a truck?

FRANK Generated on February 16, 2024

 39.

Not so much, but I liked being

outdoors. And I liked being part of
something.

BUFALINO
The union.

FRANK
Yeah.

BUFALINO
What about union organizing?

FRANK
I looked into that. There’s a long
line.

BUFALINO
I imagine so. But things can
change. Like the weather. You know
what they say about the weather.

He tells him in Sicilian.

FRANK
What’s that mean?

BUFALINO
The weather’s in God’s hands.

92 EXT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 92

A thunderstorm throws rain down on Frank he hurries from his

car to the Villa d’Roma.

93 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 93

Summoned by Russell, Frank finds him at his usual table with

a telephone receiver to his ear.

FRANK
I’m sorry, I’ll wait over --

BUFALINO
Sit. Sit.

Frank sits. Into the phone -

BUFALINO
That friend I told you about is
here. Can I put him on?
Generated on February 16, 2024
 40.

He holds out the phone to Frank.

FRANK
Who is it?

BUFALINO
Friend of mine.

Frank takes the phone.

FRANK
Hello?

HOFFA
Frank?

FRANK
Yes.

HOFFA
It’s Jimmy Hoffa.

The image of Frank and Russell at the table freezes --

FRANK V/O
Nowadays, young people don’t know
who Jimmy Hoffa was. Maybe they
know he disappeared, that’s it. But
back then, there wasn’t an American
alive who didn’t know who he was.

ELVIS PRESLEY on The Milton Berle Show. Hound Dog.

FRANK V/O
From 1955 to 1965, he was as famous
as Elvis.

THE BEATLES on The Ed Sullivan Show, but we keep hearing

Elvis.

FRANK V/O
From 1965 to 1975, he was as famous
as the Beatles.

The Elvis song continues over HOFFA orating before a crowd of

workers.

HOFFA
If you got it, a truck brought it
to you. Food, clothing, medicine,
fuel for homes and industry. The
day our trucks stop America stops.

BACK TO THE VILLA D’ROMA Generated on February 16, 2024

 41.

as the image of Frank on the phone and Russell at the table

unfreezes --

HOFFA
I hear you’re a brother.

FRANK
Yes, sir. Local 107. Since 1947.

HOFFA
Our friend speaks very highly of
you. And he’s not an easy man to
please. Especially when you’re
Irish like us.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy was to labor what Russell
Bufalino was to me. A man among men
--

BACK TO THE TEAMSTER RALLY

Hoffa moves among his Teamster brothers, campaigning for the

union presidency.

FRANK V/O
Both believed the end justified the
means. Who doesn’t. Maybe Bobby
Kennedy and two or three other
people. At least that’s what they
say.

BACK TO THE VILLA D’ROMA

Frank still on the phone with Hoffa.

HOFFA
Management is working with the
government to sow dissent in our
ranks when what we need is unity.
We need solidarity more than ever
before in our history. Do you want
to be a part of history, Frank?

FRANK
Yes, I do.

HOFFA
Can you be in Chicago tomorrow?

94 EXT. CHICAGO - DAY 94

Cars pull into a parking lot behind a building.

Generated on February 16, 2024
 42.

HOFFA V/O
Go to Chicago. Speak to Joey Glimco
at Local 777. You’ll be working in
Public Relations.

Frank and Joey Glimco climb out of one of the cars.

FRANK V/O
Joey Glimco -- who was not known
for his physical stature -- he was
almost as short as Jimmy -- ran
Local 777 in Chicago.

Frank and Joey Glimco and several other men enter the back
door of the building --

FRANK V/O
You’d never know how much he liked
to eat, because of his size, but he
liked to eat.

95 INT. BATHHOUSE - CONTINUOUS 95

The men come through the tiled bathhouse and head for the
locker room.

FRANK V/O
But you could never be sure who
might be listening at meetings at
restaurants, or even at the Local
itself, so when there was a meeting
Joey would organize it at a place
that was safe.

The men come past long folding tables where food is being
laid out.

FRANK V/O
They’d close the place to the
public and bring in the food and
wine and put it on long tables.

The men are now in white robes, eating.

FRANK V/O
We’d sit in Turkish bathrobes, eat
and drink and discuss union
business. We’d get a massage, then
eat again. We’d take a steam bath
and sweat out all the food and
alcohol, take a shower and start
eating again.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 43.

The men look like ghosts in the steam-filled room.

FRANK V/O
The problem that summer wasn’t
management. It was Paul Hall’s V/O
Union, which was with the AFL-CIO,
which was trying to organize the
same non-union cab drivers we were
trying to organize. This is what we
had to deal with. This is what we
discussed. How to encourage these
drivers to join us rather than
Paul’s union.

96 EXT. CHICAGO - NIGHT 96

Frank stares up at the underside of a dashboard of a car he’s

hot-wiring.

FRANK V/O
If a rebel cabbie left his cab at a
stand and went in for a cup of
coffee, he came out to find his cab
gone.

97 EXT. LAKE MICHIGAN - NIGHT 97

Several pairs of headlights move along a road leading to Lake

Michigan. All of them belong to cabs. Frank is driving one of
them.

FRANK V/O
After that, he’d never see it
again.

Frank and the other “cab drivers,” Local 777 guys, push the
cabs into the lake while cops stand around watching.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy had Mayor Daley’s cooperation
on this. The cops wouldn’t help us
push, but they made sure no one
stopped us.

One of the men is going from cop to cop handing over

envelopes as the others push the cabs into the water.

FRANK V/O
We dumped a lot of cabs in Lake
Michigan, which proved to be a lot
of work - especially for Joey -
who, as I said, was not a big man. Generated on February 16, 2024
 44.

The work of dumping the cars in the lake exhausts Joey.

FRANK V/O
I told him maybe it would be easier
if we used candy instead.

98 EXT. CHICAGO - NIGHT 98

The trunk of a car opens revealing boxes of dynamite. Joey

and Frank carry the boxes to a back door of a cab garage,
held open by another man.

99 INT. CAB GARAGE - NIGHT 99

The place is silent. Full of taxi cabs. Suddenly they start

exploding --

FRANK V/O
Then we’d report to Jimmy.

100 INT. GROCERY STORE - CHICAGO - NIGHT 100

Joey Glimco taps watermelons to find a good one.

JOEY
One thing about Jimmy, never make
him wait. You have a meeting with
him, get there on time. Get there
early. Seriously.

FRANK
Then pick one and let’s go.

101 INT. HOTEL SUITE - CHICAGO - LATER - NIGHT 101

Joey carefully cuts a hole in a watermelon. Frank checks his

watch.

FRANK V/O
The other thing about Jimmy -- he
didn’t drink. I know -- an Irishman
who doesn’t drink - but he didn’t
drink -- and didn’t like people
drinking around him. It was also
common knowledge he didn’t like
watermelon.

Joey pours a quart of rum into the hole in the water-melon,

then hides the bottle.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 45.

102 INT. HOTEL SUITE - LATER - NIGHT 102

They sip from bottles of ginger ale -- Joey, Frank and Jimmy
Hoffa -- but only two of them are eating watermelon.

JOEY
I never seen a man walk through a
crowd like Frank does and never
touch a single person. Everybody
parts out of his way. It’s like
Moses.

Jimmy nods to himself as he studies Frank. It’s like they’re

alone in the room.

HOFFA
Maybe you should stay in Chicago a
while.

FRANK
Whatever you want.

Jimmy seems pleased. Joey sucks on a slice of laced

watermelon. To both of them --

HOFFA
You two sure like watermelon.

103 EXT. CHICAGO - DAY 103

Frank and Jimmy sit alone in the back of a parked car. The
driver smokes outside it.

HOFFA
Everybody has to be united in the
same direction or there’s no
progress for the worker, Frank.
Dissenters are like Nazi
collaborators. You were in the war.
You know what I mean. You know what
happens when you got to get from
Point A to Point B. Sometimes a
little beer spills on the way. With
that in mind, I’m wondering if
you’d help me straighten out a
couple matters. All you got to do
is show up. Everything else is
taken care of. You can do it in a
day. Will you do this for me?

He waits for Frank’s answer to this thoroughly vague

assignment.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 46.

FRANK
Sure.

104 EXT. FRANK’S HOUSE - PHILLY - DAY 104

A car pulls up in front of Frank’s house. The driver takes

his overnight bag from the trunk and carries it for him to
his front door.

FRANK V/O
All in one day I flew to Puerto
Rico, took care of a matter there
for him, flew to Detroit and took
care of a matter there, another in
Chicago, and came home.

105 EXT. MINIATURE GOLF COURSE - NIGHT 105

Frank’s wife Irene and daughters, and Jimmy and his wife,
Josephine, play miniature golf. Jimmy dotes on Peggy, helps
her with the club.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy fell for my daughter Peggy
right away. And she fell for him.
Maybe because she thought he wasn’t
like Russell and me and my other
associates - he was legitimate or
so she thought - and no one would
get their fingers broken.

JO HOFFA
Smile.

Jo Hoffa snaps a picture of Jimmy and Peggy together.

106 INT. CLASSROOM - DAY 106

Peggy stands in front of a blackboard reading an essay from a

piece of paper.

PEGGY
If you have it, a truck brought it
to you. This is what Mr. Hoffa
says, and it’s true. He’s the
president of the Teamsters union.
He started its Pension Fund. Before
that, the workers had nothing but
Social Security when they retired,
which you can’t live on. The
Pension Fund changed that. Generated on February 16, 2024
 47.

It must be Career Day. Frank’s in a chair next to her as she

goes on with her essay.

FRANK V/O
The Pension Fund changed every-
thing. It was what everything was
about. And Jimmy had complete
authority over it. He decided who
could borrow from it and who
couldn’t.

107 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - DAY 107

Irene brings out a candle-lit birthday cake for Peggy. Frank,

Jimmy and Jo are the only other adults there.

FRANK V/O
It’s basically the same as what I
did with Skinny: loan money for a
fee to guys like that deadbeat at
Harry the Hunchback’s bar whose
mother didn’t die. Only Jimmy
loaned money to the biggest guys in
the mob.

A SERIES OF SHOTS

of six particular bosses in their legitimate places of

business, restaurants, dry cleaners, bars, social clubs and
cooking dinners in their homes.

FRANK V/O
He loaned money to Santo
Trafficante. To Meyer Lansky. To
Carlos Marchello down in New
Orleans. To Tony Salerno and Tony
Provenzano in New Jersey. To my
boss and friend, Russell in
Philadelphia.

108 INT. CURTAIN SHOP - PITTSTON - PA. - DAY 108

Russell in his legitimate place of business again, his

curtain shop, discussing fabric with someone.

FRANK V/O
And even when Russell wasn’t
borrowing, he was at the table
getting a taste of what was on it.

109 EXT. ATLANTIC CITY - DAY 109

Generated on February 16, 2024
 48.

A guy looks at a vacant building site.

FRANK V/O
Let’s say a guy wants to build a
hotel. He goes to the Teamsters for
a loan --

110 INT. OFFICE - DAY 110

The guy meets with another guy in a Teamster office. The one
behind the desk wears a pin with the Teamster logo on his
lapel.

FRANK V/O
He sees Allen Dorfman -- who
managed the Fund for Jimmy -- who
is happy to make the loan, but
wants to make sure the Fund gets
paid back. So he tells the guy to
meet with Russell who he knows will
make sure the guy pays back or
else.

111 INT. CURTAIN SHOP - PITTSTON - PA - DAY 111

The guy who wants the loan speaks to Russell in the curtain
shop.

FRANK V/O
Russell tells the guy he'll help
him get the loan -- for which he
tacks on a 10-percent fee -- which
he splits with Dorfman who splits
that with Jimmy.

112 INT. BANK - DAY 112

Money being put into safety deposit boxes.

FRANK V/O
Just like everything else, no one
eats alone, and no one chokes.

113 EXT. LAS VEGAS - DAY 113

back before all the goofy hotels went up, back when it still
looked like a desert dotted with building cranes.

FRANK V/O
Generated on February 16, 2024
 49.

The Fund was the mob’s own private

bank and with it they flourished.
Teamster money built the casinos in
Havana and Las Vegas and Atlantic
City.

A counting machine in a counting room in one of the casinos,

counts money.

FRANK V/O
That Pension Fund was the golden
goose that laid the golden eggs.

114 INT. BEAUTY PARLOR - DAY 114

Several women sitting under hair dryers.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy also invested part of the
Fund in his own ventures -- which
were always kept in his wife,
Josephine’s, name.

We move across the women to find Jo Hoffa.

FRANK V/O
She owned, so to speak, a fleet of
Cadillac carriers, some charter
fishing boats, twenty-two percent
of a Florida land development
called Sun Valley -- that sort of
thing.

115 EXT. CHICAGO - DAY 115

A man in sunglasses sits at a sidewalk table sipping an

espresso, the same man from the earlier scene who we saw shot
as he was frying eggs and sausages.

FRANK V/O
One of Jimmy’s clients was Sam
‘Momo’ Giancana, who was friends
with the Kennedys from back when
Jack’s father made his money along-
side the Italians as a bootlegger
during Prohibition.

116 EXT. GRAVEYARD - CHICAGO - DAY 116

Some men walk across the lawns of a graveyard, jotting down

the names on the tombstones. Generated on February 16, 2024
 50.

FRANK V/O
Momo helped Joe Kennedy get his
womanizing son elected president by
making sure he won in Illinois.

117 INT. POLLING PLACE - CHICAGO - DAY 117

One of the men from the graveyard signs one of the names from
the tombstones on the voting register.

FRANK V/O
In exchange, Jack was going to get
Castro out of Cuba so Momo and his
friends could get their casinos in
Havana back.

118 INT. HOUSE - DAY 118

Jimmy Hoffa watches Kennedy’s inauguration on TV.

FRANK V/O
But Jimmy didn’t trust Jack and
Bobby for one reason. They were
millionaire kids.

JIMMY
If there’s one person you can’t
trust it’s millionaire kids.

FRANK V/O
It didn’t matter they were Irish.
It didn’t matter they were
Catholic. Jimmy didn’t like them.
Especially Bobby, who on top of
being a millionaire’s kid, was
mental.

A shot of Robert Kennedy as his brother is sworn in.

FRANK V/O
The Teamsters were the only union
to back Nixon.

119 INT. SENATE CHAMBERS - DAY 119

The McClellan Committee senators are arriving.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 51.

So what is the first thing Jack

Kennedy does when he wins? He puts
his crazy brother in charge of the
Justice Department.

Jimmy Hoffa is already there, on time like always, looking

irritated that he’s been made to wait, sitting with his union
attorneys, including Bill Bufalino. Bobby Kennedy arrives and
takes the center seat. Jimmy covers the microphone and turns
to Bill.

HOFFA
He’s fifteen minutes late.

FRANK V/O
And what is the first thing he
does? He goes after not just Jimmy
-- which in a way you could
understand -- but Giancana and all
the other guys who put his brother
in the White House.

Hoffa raises his right hand, and is sworn in.

FRANK V/O
I don’t know where you learn
something like that. I guess in
Massachusetts, which is a place
I’ve never liked -- except for the
clam chowder, which isn’t bad.

Bobby Kennedy regards Hoffa like he’s an insect.

BOBBY
Are you saying you don’t remember
doing any favors for Johnny Dio or
you don’t remember the
conversation?

HOFFA
I’m saying, to the best of my
recollection, I must recall on my
memory, I cannot remember.

BOBBY
Where did this twenty thousand
dollars come from?

HOFFA
From individuals.

BOBBY
Which individuals?
Generated on February 16, 2024
 52.

HOFFA
Offhand, that particular amount of
money I borrowed I don’t know at
this particular moment, but the
record of my loans, which I
requested, I have, and out of all
the moneys I loaned over this
period of time I went into these
ventures.

Everyone looks at each other to see if that made any sense to

them.

FRANK V/O
The two of them were like that
story about the guy who chases the
whale. Only with Bobby and Jimmy,
they were both chasing it. And at
the same time were both the thing
being chased.

120 INT. NIGHTCLUB - KINGSTON - DAY - 1975 120

The place is closed. Empty except for Frank at the bar with a
beer, and the owner and Russell, who Frank can see beyond a
doorway to a back room. The owner gives Russell an envelope.

FRANK V/O
When you’re starting out, you
always arrived for a meeting with
someone like Russell with an
envelope.

121 INT. BUFALINO’S HOUSE - NIGHT - 1960’S 121

Christmas lights glow on a tree. Sinatra sings from a hifi.

Wearing an apron, Russell slices meat off a leg of prosciutto
and stirs it into a simmering pot of sauce.

FRANK V/O
It wasn’t payment for anything. No
one was “paid” for anything. It was
how you showed your respect.

FRANK
Is there anything you don’t put
prosciutto in?

BUFALINO
No.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 53.

122 INT. BUFALINO’S HOUSE - LATER - NIGHT 122

Russell and Carrie, and Frank and Irene and the girls eat
Christmas dinner together.

FRANK V/O
But Russell wouldn’t accept
envelopes from me anymore.

123 INT. BUFALINO’S HOUSE - LATER - NIGHT 123

Now they sit around the Christmas tree, opening gifts.

FRANK V/O
Instead he gave them to me, in the
form of jewelry for my wife, and
gifts for my girls.

Peggy, as always, is uncomfortable in Russell’s presence.

124 INT. BUFALINO’S HOUSE - LATER - NIGHT 124

Frank and Russell retire to the den to drink some limoncello

and talk in private.

FRANK V/O
By this time, with the Kennedys
running things, everyone was sure
everyone’s phone was bugged. You
couldn’t say anybody’s name on the
phone anymore. Everybody was “that
friend,” or “your friend,” or “our
friend,” whether they were your
friends or not. When you talked
about Bobby Kennedy, he was “our
friend.” You could barely talk on
the phone anymore.

125 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - DAY - FLASHBACK 125

Frank has his kitchen phone to his ear.

BUFALINO
We need to talk about our friend.

FRANK
That’s done. I took care of it.

BUFALINO
I’m talking about our other friend.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 54.

FRANK
The one we talked about.

BUFALINO
No, the other one.

Frank doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

FRANK
We should talk in person.

BUFALINO
I’m meet you at the place.

FRANK
The place last time.

BUFALINO
No, the other place.

FRANK V/O
It was impossible. You may as well
throw the phone away.

BACK TO BUFALINO’S DEN AT CHRISTMAS where Frank and Russell

can speak English.

BUFALINO
Jack, supposedly, is doing
something about Cuba. The old man,
supposedly, had a word with him.
Finally he’s giving us an envelope,
supposedly.

126 EXT. PHILLY - DAY 126

Frank drives himself to a South Philly trucking company,

climbs out of his car and speaks to a guy.

BUFALINO V/O
You need to go see Phil at
Milestone Hauling. He’ll have a rig
for you.

127 EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY 127

Frank behind the wheel of a Milestone semi.

BUFALINO V/O
Drive it down to Baltimore to a
concrete plant on Eastern Avenue.
It’s the only one there. Generated on February 16, 2024
 55.

128 EXT. CONCRETE PLANT - BALTIMORE - DAY 128

Frank pulls the rig onto the grounds of the plant. There’s a
little landing strip next to it.

BUFALINO V/O
A guy will meet you there. A fairy
named Ferrie.

Dave Ferrie climbs out of a small plane on the landing strip

and directs Frank to back his rig up to where some army
trucks are parked.

BUFALINO V/O
You’ll pick up some things and
he’ll give you some paperwork for
the load in case you get stopped.

Frank watches some Maryland National Guardsmen transfer

weapons and ammunition from their trucks to his.

129 EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT 129

Frank drives the rig down Route 13.

BUFALINO V/O
Drive the truck down to Florida.
That’s where you’ll leave it. At a
dog track outside Jacksonville.

130 EXT. JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - DAWN 130

Frank pulls the truck onto the parking lot of a deserted dog
track.

BUFALINO V/O
A guy with big ears will meet you
there and give you a car to get you
back to Philly.

As the guy gives Frank the keys to a car, Frank regards his
ears. They don’t look so big.

BIG EARS
What are you looking at? You
looking at my ears?

FRANK
No.

BIG EARS
Generated on February 16, 2024
 56.

I had an operation, so there’s no

need for anyone looking at my ears
anymore.

Big Ears walks away. Frank climbs into the car and watches as
a bunch of Cubans begin unloading the weapons and ammo from
the truck.

FRANK V/O
Russell and Giancana and Lansky and
the rest figured Castro was a lot
like them. He was a boss. He had a
crew. He had territory.

131 EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY 131

Frank drives the car back up north.

FRANK V/O
But he had come onto their
territory and took their property.
No one is supposed to get away with
that.

132 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 132

Frank, Irene, Peggy and another daughter, Delores, watch a

report on TV about the just-failed Bay of Pigs invasion.

FRANK V/O
Everybody knows what happened after
that. Jack Kennedy fucked it up. He
was supposed to provide air cover
and at the last minute didn’t. The
poor saps who weren’t killed
outright on the beach were rounded
up and who knows what happened to
them after that.

Castro makes an anti-American speech on the TV.

FRANK V/O
Everybody else did what they were
supposed to do -- even that fairy
Ferrie -- but those million-aire
Kennedys could fuck up a one-car
funeral, and did. Everybody
Downtown started thinking the same
thing -- maybe Jimmy was right
about them.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 57.

133 EXT. MIAMI - DAY 133

The sun-bleached coastline of Miami Beach in 1961. Everyone

in short-sleeves and sunglasses.

FRANK V/O
But Cuba or no Cuba, there was
still a union to run.

134 EXT. DEAUVILLE HOTEL - MIAMI - DAY 134

Frank climbs out of a cab. A bellman helps him with his

luggage. Everyone else arriving looks just as much like a
gangster as he does.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy appointed me sergeant-at-arms
at the 1961 International
convention. It was first one I ever
attended.

135 INT. DEAUVILLE HOTEL - MIAMI - DAY 135

Frank stands next to check-in tables outside a ballroom,

scrutinizing the faces of those showing their union cards to
clerks for admittance.

FRANK V/O
One of the matters approved was an
increase to the expense account.
For someone like me who traveled a
lot on union business, I
appreciated that.

136 INT. DEAUVILLE HOTEL BALLROOM - MIAMI - DAY 136

While Jimmy addresses the convention delegates, Frank surveys

them, looking at their hands for cameras or guns.

FRANK V/O
The other big thing was filling the
International vice president
position vacated by Owen Brennan
who died about a month before of a
heart attack. Jimmy chose Frank
Fitzsimmons.

Fitzsimmons gets a handshake from Jimmy as he joins him at

the podium.

FRANK V/O Generated on February 16, 2024

 58.

Jimmy used to always say, “I may

have faults, but being wrong isn’t
one of them.” But with Fitz --
well, we know how that went.

137 INT. DEAUVILLE HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT 137

Jimmy pours Frank a glass of ginger ale.

FRANK V/O
One thing that wasn’t discussed on
the convention floor but was on
Jimmy’s mind, was Philly.

HOFFA
I’m a little concerned about
Philly. I’m a little concerned
about Joe McGreal.

138 EXT/INT. TRUCKING COMPANY - DAY 138

Joe McGreal walks into a trucking company office where the

owner has an envelope waiting for him.

FRANK V/O
Joe McGreal was part of a rebel
faction in Local 107. He was also a
shake-down artist.

BACK TO THE HOTEL SUITE

HOFFA
Guys like that give the union a bad
name.

FRANK
I’ll take care of it.

HOFFA
No, I don’t want that. I want you
to run for president of the Local.
If you run, I guarantee you you’ll
win. That’ll take care of the
McGreal matter.

Frank is stunned by Jimmy’s belief in him, if that’s what it

is.

HOFFA

Generated on February 16, 2024

 59.

You’re like family to me, Frank,

but that’s not why I’m doing this.
I’m not giving you anything you
didn’t earn.

FRANK
I don’t know what to say.

HOFFA
Say you’ll do it. That’s all you
have to say.

FRANK
I’ll do it.

HOFFA
Then it’s done. You want some
watermelon?

FRANK
What?

Jimmy smiles, but leaves it at that.

139 EXT. TRUCKING COMPANY - PHILADELPHIA - DAY 139

Frank parks his Cadillac near the loading docks of the same
trucking company McGreal shook down, and climbs out.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy was right about his
guarantee. I won the election.
Maybe I won on my own. I’ll never
know.

140 INT. TRUCKING COMPANY OFFICE - DAY 140

Frank comes into the same office where McGreal picked up the
envelope.

FRANK V/O
But I’m proud to say McGreal never
shook down another employer in
Philadelphia. Or, if he did, I
never heard about it.

The trucking company owner takes an envelope from his desk to

give to Frank, but Frank shakes his head no.

FRANK

Generated on February 16, 2024

 60.

I just wanted to come over and

introduce myself. Frank Sheeran.
President of Local 107.

The owner is stunned, figures there’s something else afoot,

but tentatively shakes Frank’s hand.

141 INT. LOCAL 107 OFFICE - DAY 141

Frank in his own office now, behind a desk, working with some
union guys on legitimate business.

FRANK V/O
This was as happy as I’d ever been.
Or would ever be. And it might have
gone on forever if it wasn’t for
that nut in Nashville.

142 INT. COURTROOM - NASHVILLE - DAY 142

A recess. Jimmy conferring with his attorneys at the defense

table. The prosecution lawyers at their table. Spectators
milling around.

FRANK V/O
Bobby’s Kennedy’s Get Hoffa Squad
had Jimmy on trial in Tennessee for
the car-carrier company in his
wife’s name. She was also part
owner of that Florida land-
development company bought with
union funds I mentioned, but that
trial was in Chicago, and the nut
was in Nashville, not Chicago.

A young man in a raincoat emerges from the milling crowds and

walks down the aisle toward the defense table.

FRANK V/O
Some people say you always run away
from a guy with a knife and toward
a guy with a gun. I don’t know that
I agree with that.

The nut pulls out a gun and points it at Jimmy, who rushes
the guy, grabbing his arm. The gun goes off and everyone
scrambles for cover, but Jimmy has hold the nut, wrestles him
to floor and beats on him with his gun until the marshals get
there and take over.

FRANK V/O
Generated on February 16, 2024
 61.

Jimmy asked me to come down to be

with him after that. I would have
done it without being asked, but he
asked.

143 INT. COURTHOUSE - NASHVILLE - DAY 143

Frank, Jimmy’s bodyguard now, walks alongside Jimmy toward

the courtroom.

FRANK V/O
During the day, I watched out for
nuts in the courthouse.

144 INT. ANDREW JACKSON HOTEL - NASHVILLE - NIGHT 144

The camera makes a trip around the suite to see who the
occupants are, beginning with another bodyguard sitting in a
chair in the open doorway.

FRANK V/O
At night, Ed Partin watched out for
them and I watched television --

Frank sits watching the unfolding events of the Cuban Missile

Crisis on the TV, jacket off, gun on the coffee table.

FRANK V/O
-- while Jimmy strategized with his
attorneys in his suite at the
Andrew Jackson Hotel, which, apart
from being a very nice hotel, had
excellent fried chicken.

We regard each of the attorneys as they eat fried chicken.

FRANK V/O
Frank Ragato was Santo
Trafficante’s lawyer, loaned to
Jimmy as a favor. Bill Bufalino -
no relation to Russell as I
mentioned -- was the union lawyer
out of Detroit. Tommy Osborn was
very young and very smart.

Jimmy, the only one not eating chicken, paces.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 62.

Jimmy had reason to be a little

concerned. People were actually
going to jail because of the
millionaire’s son. Johnny Roselli
for one. Carlos Marcello for
another. Even Russell was being
investigated.

Back to Frank watching the TV.

FRANK V/O
The Cuban Missile Crisis is going
on -- the world could end any day -
- and what is the government doing?
Going after Jimmy.

145 EXT. HIGHWAY - TENNESSEE - DAY 145

Deserted stretch of highway. A lone Lincoln Towncar parked on

the shoulder.

FRANK V/O
And what is he doing?

A Tennessee State Highway Patrol car pulls over and parks.

But rather than what normally happens, a man gets out of the
Towncar, walks to the police car and hands the trooper an
envelope, returns to his own car, drives off.

146 INT. ANDREW JACKSON HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT 146

Jimmy and his lawyers arrange surveillance photos of jurors

on a coffee table. To one on which someone has already
written “Patrolman’s Wife,” Jimmy adds a check-mark flourish.

Frank is in the same chair as before, again watching

television. Ed Partin is in the same chair as before in the
doorway, again watching for nuts.

FRANK V/O
And what is Ed Partin doing?

147 INT. A BATHROOM SOMEWHERE - DAY 147

Ed Partin removes tape that holds a small tape recorder to

his ribs --

148 INT. OFFICE - DAY 148

Generated on February 16, 2024

 63.

-- and places it on the coffee table in federal prosecutor

Walter Sheridan’s office.

FRANK V/O
And what happens?

149 INT. COURTROOM - NASHVILLE - DAY 149

The man who rendezvoused with the trooper out on the highway
is called to the stand. As he raises his right hand to be
sworn in, Jimmy, at the defense table, raises his own and
spreads his fingers. The man nods.

FRANK V/O
The Teamster who made the Ten-K
payoff to the juror’s patrolman
husband took the Fifth.

The Teamster witness leans into the microphone.

TEAMSTER
On the advice of counsel, I
respectfully decline to answer that
question under the protection
afforded me by the Constitution.

SHERIDAN
All I asked is are you a member of
the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters.

WITNESS
One the advice of counsel, I
respectfully decline to answer --

FRANK V/O
But it didn’t matter. They had Ed
Partin’s tape. And Jimmy now had
jury-tampering to add to his list
of woes.

150 INT. LOCAL 107 - PHILADELPHIA - DAY 150

Frank comes into the lobby from the street and is surprised
to find it empty. Not even the security guard is there.

FRANK V/O
The only bright spot for Jimmy
during all this was what happened
that November.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 64.

He comes down a hall and finds everyone standing around a

television set. To them --

FRANK
What is it?

No one says anything. Some are weeping. He looks at the TV

and surmises what we already know: John Kennedy has been shot
in Dallas.

151 EXT. WASHINGTON DC - DAY 151

All the flags are at half-staff except the one outside

Teamster headquarters in DC. As Jimmy emerges from the
building, a news crew intercepts him.

REPORTER
Mr. Hoffa, will you be attending
the service?

HOFFA
I wasn’t invited.

REPORTER
You don’t have to be invited. A
million Americans will be there.

HOFFA
In that case, I need to check my
schedule.

Jimmy continues toward his waiting car, trailed by the news

crew.

REPORTER
If you were to go, and were asked
to speak, what would you say?

HOFFA
I’d say Bobby Kennedy is just
another lawyer now.

TV IMAGE

The slain president’s solemn funeral procession Jimmy isn’t

part of. A camera focuses on Robert Kennedy.

FRANK V/O
Bobby didn’t know who was behind
the matter in Dallas any more than
anyone else. But he knew he was to
blame. He knew how things worked.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 65.

Mob bosses are among the mourners paying their respects, or

trying to appear so. Russell, Tony Salerno, Colombo,
Giancana.

FRANK V/O
A boss has a problem with another
boss, he doesn’t fix it by kissing
an underboss. To kill a dog, you
cut off its head, not its tail.

152 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 152

Russell sits with his wife at his usual table, dipping

prosciutto bread in wine.

FRANK V/O
The second that bullet took the top
of Jack Kennedy’s head off the
Organized Crime program just
stopped.

153 INT. COURTROOM - NASHVILLE - DAY 153

Jimmy regards the jury, which has just rendered its verdict.
Frank watches from his usual spot in the back of the
courtroom.

FRANK V/O
It just came a little too late for
Jimmy whose trials were already
underway.

The judge motions to Jimmy to rise. Jimmy stands.

JUDGE
Mr. Hoffa, most defendants that
stand before this court for
sentencing have either violated the
property rights or personal rights
of other individuals. You stand
here convicted of having tampered
with, really, the very soul of this
nation.

154 EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY - 1975 154

The Cadillac parked at the side of the highway. All the

luggage is out of the trunk. As Frank and Russell change a
flat tire, the wives seize the opportunity for a cigarette. A
truck roar by and --
Generated on February 16, 2024
 66.

155 EXT. PENNSYLVANIA - DAY - 1960’S 155

-- a prison bus roars past on the same highway.

FRANK V/O
He got eight years for that.

156 EXT. LEWISBURG FEDERAL PENITENTIARY - DAY 156

The black bus pulls past the gates of the penitentiary.

FRANK V/O
And another five for the Sun Valley
land development thing.

157 INT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - DAY 157

Jimmy Hoffa - Inmate No. 33298-NE - is fingerprinted and

photographed and given a blue denim prison uniform.

FRANK V/O
That’s thirteen years of school.
But it could have been worse. It
could have been some place other
than Lewisburg.

158 INT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - DAY 158

Jimmy and several other Teamsters and mobsters eat spaghetti

and meatballs and ice cream in the cafeteria.

FRANK V/O
Lewisburg is where they put
everyone from Downtown, and they
pretty much ran the place. Lunch
time was like Happy Hour at the
Friendly Lounge. Jimmy said they
had the best ice cream he’d ever
tasted, and he loved ice cream.

159 INT. VISITORS ROOM - LEWISBURG - DAY 159

Jimmy sits with his lawyers at a table. Opposite him is an

empty chair.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 67.

Question 41 in the Federal

Correctional Institutions brochure
is: “How can I take care of my
business while in confinement,” and
the answer is: “You must appoint
someone else to run your business
while you are confined.”

A visitor, Frank “Fitz” Fitzsimmons, comes in and sits down

in the empty chair.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy chose Frank Fitzsimmons.
Fitz’s main qualification was he
was weak. Jimmy could control him.
Fitz liked to drink and play golf
and that was about it.

160 EXT. GOLF COURSE - DAY 160

Fitzsimmons whacks a golf ball off a tee.

FRANK V/O
The problem is -- weakness is a
weakness, and that leads to other
problems. But in Lewisburg, Jimmy
had the other thing to be concerned
about. The Little Guy from Jersey -
Tony Provenzano.

161 INT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - DAY 161

Provenzano, who is even smaller than Jimmy, moves down the

cafeteria line alongside much taller inmates.

FRANK V/O
Tony Pro -- before he went to
school for a semester for extor-
tion -- ran things in New Jersey
for Tony Salerno. He also ran a
Teamster Local in north Jersey.

162 EXT. NEW JERSEY - DAY 162

A car drives down a highway past farms.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 68.

I never liked Pro. He’d kiss you

for nothing. One time he had a guy
kissed for getting more votes than
him in a union election -- and they
were on the same ticket.

163 INT. CAR - MOVING - DAY 163

The guy in the passenger seat fiddles with the radio.

FRANK V/O
He just couldn’t stand someone
being more popular than him and had
Sally Bugs strangle the poor guy
with a nylon rope and bury him on a
farm.

As the guy settles on a station and sits back in his seat,

Sally Bugs, in the back seat, loops a rope around his neck
and strangles him --

164 INT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - CONTINUED - DAY 164

Pro sits at Jimmy’s table with his tray of food. Jimmy’s done
with his, except for his ice cream, which he savors.

PRO
I got to talk to you about a
problem I got with my pension.

HOFFA
I know.

PRO
You know? What do you know?

HOFFA
I know you’re having a problem with
that.

PRO
Will you look into for me?

HOFFA
There’s nothing to look into. It is
what it is.

PRO
What is it?

HOFFA
Generated on February 16, 2024
 69.

You lost it. You forfeited it when

you came here.

PRO
Yours is forfeited, too?

HOFFA
No.

Pro can’t imagine why his is gone and Jimmy’s isn’t, but
Jimmy doesn’t elaborate. He just eats his ice cream.
Eventually --

PRO
Your pension is still there.

HOFFA
Un-huh.

PRO
We’re both sitting here.

HOFFA
We’re both sitting here for
different things. You’re sitting
here for extortion. I’m sitting
here for fraud.

PRO
So?

HOFFA
So that’s the difference.

PRO
I don’t see the difference.

HOFFA
I didn’t threaten anybody, you did.

PRO
So what? That makes no sense.

HOFFA
It does if you think about it.

PRO
It doesn’t, but I don’t want to
debate. Just do something about it.

HOFFA
There’s nothing I can do.

PRO Generated on February 16, 2024

 70.

There’s always something you can

do.

HOFFA
It’s Federal law.

PRO
I don’t care. You can still do
something about it.

HOFFA
I can’t. What can I do.

PRO
You can get me my fuckin money.

HOFFA
How?

PRO
Some other way.

HOFFA
What way.

PRO
The same way you got your money.

HOFFA
I earned my money.

PRO
You’re here for fraud. You stole
money. I stole money. Okay, in a
different way. Fine. Still. I want
what I’m owed.

HOFFA
You people.

PRO
What?

HOFFA
What?

PRO
What did you say?

HOFFA
I can’t help you.

PRO
Generated on February 16, 2024
 71.

You people, you said. What does

that mean, you people.

HOFFA
I’m tired of talking about this.

PRO
You people?

Jimmy ignores him. Eats his ice cream like Pro’s not there.
Suddenly Pro lunges across the table, and grabs him. They
tumble to the floor and fight until the guards get there to
break it up.

165 INT. SHOE STORE - OHIO - DAY - 1975 165

Irene and Carrie try on dress shoes. Russell collects an

envelope from the store owner. Frank regards a row of mens
shoes including a tasseled pair with spikes.

166 EXT. GOLF COURSE - DAY 166

Fitzsimmons, as he is so often, is back on the golf course,

lining up a putt.

FRANK V/O
So Jimmy had the Pro problem, and
he had the Fitz problem. The Fitz
problem was everyone Downtown liked
him. He’d make Pension Fund loans
to people Jimmy never would. And
after the Dorfman thing, he even
lowered the interest.

167 EXT. ALLEN DORFMAN’S HOUSE - DAY 167

A garage door opens automatically. The man behind the Lincoln

Continental backs out.

FRANK V/O
Allen Dorfman, you remember, ran
the Fund. He was an ex-Marine and
had worked with Jimmy a long time.
He was one tough Jew.

The windows of the Lincoln suddenly explode from shotgun

blasts. Holes erupt in the body of the car.

FRANK V/O

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 72.

His car was hit -- I don’t know --

fifty times. The car -- not him --
is the point I’m trying to make.

Dorfman yanks the glove compartment open to get to his gun as

the shotgun blasts keep pocking the car.

FRANK V/O
That’s not how you kiss some-body.
That’s how you send a message. But
the message wasn’t for him,
because, like I said, he wasn’t
afraid of anybody.

As the dust settles, Dorfman can’t quite believe he’s not

dead.

168 EXT. WRECKING YARD - DAY 168

The Lincoln is destroyed. Dorfman is fine. Fitz regards the

car nervously.

FRANK V/O
The message was for Fitz, who
everyone knew had no balls. After
that, anybody who wanted anything
from the Pension Fund got it.

A TV IMAGE shows Robert Kennedy making an announcement.

FRANK V/O
When Bobby announced he was running
for president, he had to step down
as Attorney General. Lyndon Johnson
replaced him with Ramsey Clark.

169 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 169

A celebration is going on at the bar. Frank is there.

Russell. Angelo. Skinny and the rest of the regulars.

FRANK V/O
Everybody approved of Ramsey Clark.
He didn’t bother anybody. He even
disapproved of wire-taps, if you
can imagine. We called him Pamsey
Clark.

Everyone lifts their glass.

EVERYONE
To Pamsey. Generated on February 16, 2024
 73.

170 INT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - NIGHT 170

Jimmy paces in his cell.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy would’ve celebrated, too, but
now he was worried about Fitz
finally -- Pro or no Pro -- Bobby
or no Bobby -- which that terrorist
took care of for good in the
kitchen of that hotel in Los
Angeles two months later.

171 INT. HOTEL KITCHEN - DAY 171

It’s chaotic in the kitchen, but not because of an

assassination. This isn’t the Ambassador, it’s a hotel in
Miami and they’re cooking for hundreds of people.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy had reason to worry.

172 INT. BALLROOM - MIAMI HOTEL - DAY 172

Frank regards the ballroom while the hotel staff sets out
glasses, dish and silverware and centerpieces on the tables.
There’s a big picture of Fitz on the stage.

FRANK V/O
The convention was coming up again
and this time there wasn’t a single
picture of him in the convention
hall -- just one out in the lobby
in a corner.

173 INT. LOBBY - MIAMI HOTEL - DAY 173

Frank has a couple of hotel maintenance guys rescue the

poster of Jimmy from the lobby corner.

FRANK V/O
It was like Fitz’s people were
trying to erase him like this was
Russia.

174 INT. BALLROOM - MIAMI HOTEL - DAY 174

Now two posters flank the stage, one of Fitz, and the other
smaller one of Jimmy as Jimmy’s wife speaks --
Generated on February 16, 2024
 74.

JO
As he looks forward to his next
parole hearing Jimmy sends you his
good wishes and, God willing, will
see you all the next convention.

While there is enthusiastic applause from the membership,

Frank notes the rather fainter applause by Fitz.

175 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - NIGHT 175

Frank sits alone with Russell at his usual table.

BUFALINO
How’s everyone at home?

FRANK
Good. How’s Carrie?

BUFALINO
Good. How’s Jimmy?

FRANK
Not good. He wants to get out.

BUFALINO
That’s understandable.

They dip bread in wine. Then --

BUFALINO
We need to talk about something
other than Jimmy for a minute. I
wonder if you could help out with
another matter.

176 EXT. COLUMBUS CIRCLE - DAY 176

An Italian-American Civil Rights League rally.

FRANK V/O
A few months before, Joey Gallo got
that nut from Harlem to kiss Joe
Colombo.

A black man walks up to Colombo, shoots him in front of his

wife and kids, and is shot by Colombo’s bodyguards.

FRANK V/O
No doubt he had someone’s approval,
but not like that, not in front of
the man’s family. Generated on February 16, 2024
 75.

177 EXT. NEW YORK - NIGHT 177

Crazy Joey climbs out of a car with his young wife and his
bodyguard, smiling and waving to photographers before going
into a nightclub.

BUFALINO V/O
Now this fresh kid’s running around
New York with show business big
shots getting himself in the papers
all the time.

178 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - CONTINUED 178

BUFALINO
Not only that, he’s shaking down a
couple of restaurants in Little
Italy.

179 INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT 179

Crazy Joey shares a table with other glamorous types.

FRANK V/O
Running around like you’re Errol
Flynn -- okay. Kissing someone in
front of his family -- not okay but
okay. Messing around with Little
Italy -- that’s definitely out.

180 INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY 180

A pile of guns on a coffee table.

FRANK V/O
For something like this you want
two guns: the one you intend to
use, and a backup.

Frank regards the guns while the man who gathered them --
red-haired John Francis -- waits.

FRANK V/O
You want something with more
stopping power than a .22. A .32 or
a .38.

He moves the .22’s and silencers aside.

FRANK V/O
Generated on February 16, 2024
 76.

You certainly don’t want a

silencer. You want noise to send
the witnesses running for cover.

He adds the .45’s to the other rejects.

FRANK V/O
But not as much noise as a .45
makes -- which you could hear in a
patrol car blocks away.

181 EXT. NEW YORK - DAY 181

Little Italy on a normal spring day.

FRANK V/O
Normally, nothing like this happens
in Little Italy. It’s bad for the
tourist business if tourists think
it’s unsafe, and people from
Downtown make a lot of money on the
tourist business here.

Downtown Guys sitting outside a social club.

FRANK V/O
Plus tourists don’t know how to be
good witnesses. They don’t have the
sense like normal people to tell
the cops it was eight midgets who
did it.

Tourists taking pictures on a corner.

FRANK V/O
But it would be late and the
tourists from Idaho would be in bed
by then, and the fact it was Little
Italy would relax Joey and relaxed
is what you want.

We, a POV, find and enter Umberto’s Clam House.

182 INT. UMBERTO’S CLAM HOUSE - DAY 182

The POV regards the interior, the two entrances on Mulberry

and Hester, the arrangement of tables like it’s making a
diagram of the place.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 77.

It was his birthday, so he’d

probably be there with his wife and
other relatives -- which, in this
case, was the point. Because of the
Colombo thing, they should have to
see what it’s like. His bodyguard
would be there, too.

A waiter comes past with plates of spaghetti with clam sauce.

FRANK V/O
The place could be crowded or not
late at night. One good thing about
late is he’d have a couple drinks
in him and that would slow him down
a little.

The POV finds an empty table for four, reserved perhaps for
someone special.

FRANK V/O
There’s no way you could get closer
than fifteen feet before someone
reached for their piece. Joey
himself would be carrying, although
it would probably be in the wife’s
purse. The bodyguard’s would be
closer at hand, so you’d want to
deal with him first.

183 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 183

Frank’s daughter Peggy, late teens now, watches unnoticed

through a crack in the bathroom door as her father slips a
.32 and a .38 in the back of his waist-band and puts his
jacket on.

184 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 184

It’s late. The house is dark. As he’s leaving, Peggy appears

at the top of the stairs.

PEGGY
Where are you going?

FRANK
I have to go out. Go to bed.

185 INT/EXT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 185

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 78.

Frank gets into John Francis’s car. Peggy watches from a

window.

186 EXT. LITTLE ITALY - NIGHT 186

Umberto’s Clam House is the only place open this late. Crazy
Joey’s Lincoln pulls up in front. He climbs out and helps the
other passengers out, the first being his wife.

FRANK V/O
Umberto’s is on the corner of
Mulberry and Hester Street, so I’d
get out on Mott Street and walk
there and John Francis would drive
around the block a couple times.

John Francis pulls his car over. Frank gets out on the corner
of Mott and Hester Street and the car pulls away.

FRANK V/O
If I didn’t come out, he’d leave.
If I came out it was done but he
wouldn’t have seen anything so he
could never say anything except he
dropped me off on Mott Street,
which is nothing.

Frank walks toward Umberto’s Clam House.

FRANK V/O
Sometimes with something like this
you want to go to the bathroom
first. It gives you a chance to
make sure no one followed you in.
It also gives you a chance to make
sure there’s nobody in the bathroom
you have to worry about. It also
gives you a chance to go to the
bathroom. You don’t want to be
uncomfortable.

Frank opens the Mulberry Street door of Umberto’s.

FRANK V/O
But I went before and in a place
this small, this late, you may as
well just go right to work.

187 INT. UMBERTO’S CLAM HOUSE - CONTINUOUS 187

Generated on February 16, 2024

 79.

Frank steps inside. Walks toward the bar. Notes Crazy Joey
Gallo and his wife at a table with another couple, a
bodyguard and a little girl who must be his daughter.

Before the bartender can ask Frank what he wants to drink, he

walks toward Gallo’s table and shoots the body-guard with the
.38. Gallo’s wife and the other couple dive for cover,
pulling the girl down with them.

Gallo pushes away from the table to run. Frank shoots him
once from behind just as he reaches the door, twice more on
the sidewalk, then walks up the block just as John Francis
pulls around it. He gets in the car.

FRANK V/O
Naturally, the next thing you want
to do is get rid of the gun. John
Francis liked a place in Yonkers.

188 EXT. YONKERS - LATER - NIGHT 188

Frank throws the gun into the Hudson while John Francis waits
in the car.

FRANK V/O
There’s a spot like this in
Schuylkoll River in Philly. If they
ever sent divers in they’d find an
underwater armory.

189 INT. COFFEE SHOP - OHIO - DAY - 1975 189

Frank washes his hands in the mens room.

FRANK V/O
It turns out the Gallo thing was
good for business. That’s the
irony. Right now I guarantee you
there’s a tour bus parked outside
Umberto’s and 27 tourists gawking
at the chair he was sitting in. And
they got to eat somewhere.

He comes out and past Russell on a pay phone. Frank can’t be

sure, but it seems Russell maybe stops talking to whoever
he’s talking to until Frank is out of earshot. He joins his
wife and Carrie at a table.

190 INT. PAROLE HEARING ROOM - DAY - 1973 190

Generated on February 16, 2024

 80.

Jimmy sits before the parole board, reading from a prepared

statement about how he will devote his life on the outside to
education.

FRANK V/O
Jimmy’s parole board hearing didn’t
go so well. For one thing they
weren’t any more pleased than Tony
Pro was about his one-point-seven
million dollar pension.

191 INT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - DAY 191

Jimmy is escorted down the cell block by guards.

FRANK V/O
Luckily, all the money the
Teamsters threw at Nixon’s cam-
paigns over the years paid off.

192 EXT. LEWISBURG PENITENTIARY - DAY 192

Frank and Jimmy’s lawyers escort him past reporters and

photographers as he’s released.

FRANK V/O
Up to his ears in Watergate, the
President still found time to
pardon him and there was nothing
the parole board could say about
it.

193 EXT. LUMS - MIAMI - DAY 193

Frank waits at the pick-up counter of a hotdog stand. A TV by
the grill, like every TV in America, broadcasts the Watergate
hearings.

FRANK V/O
The first thing he did was go down
to Miami for a well-deserved
vacation. The first thing I did was
pick up some chili dogs for us from
Lums, which he loves almost as much
as ice cream.

Frank watches as his order is assembled.

FRANK V/O

Generated on February 16, 2024

 81.

The secret is they steam them in

beer. There’s not a better hotdog
in America.

194 INT. JIMMY’S CONDO - MIAMI - DAY 194

The Watergate hearings are on the TV here, too, but Frank and
Jimmy aren’t watching as they eat their chili dogs.

HOFFA
What am I going to do with Fitz? He
actually thinks he runs things. I
appointed him. Now he thinks he’s
somebody.

FRANK
He’s very popular Downtown.

HOFFA
Of course he is. He loans money to
anyone. If the banks did that - can
you imagine? -- we’d have a
financial crisis. I need another
napkin.

Frank hands him some.

HOFFA
He’s not going to step down. I have
get him out of there in an election
-- which I can do -- I just can’t
believe I have to.

Frank nods, but his silence says something.

HOFFA
What.

FRANK
Like I said, he’s popular Downtown.

HOFFA
Downtown doesn’t run this union.

FRANK
With Fitz, they do.

HOFFA
This cocksucker has fucked
everything up. Him and that other
cocksucker. That cocksucker is
campaigning for him.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 82.

FRANK
Because of his pension.

HOFFA
Because of his pension he doesn’t
deserve.

FRANK
He carries some weight, Pro. A lot
of votes.

HOFFA
I know.

Jimmy wipes at his shirt with a napkin.

HOFFA
Do I really have to make peace with
this cocksucker? I hate the idea of
that.

FRANK
Without him, Fitz would lose.
There’s no doubt.

Jimmy tries to picture sitting down with Pro, and it’s enough
to ruin his otherwise nice lunch.

HOFFA
If I sat down with him, would you
come along?

FRANK
Of course.

Jimmy glances away to the TV. John Dean is testifying, his

wife sitting stoically behind him.

HOFFA
That’s a good-looking broad, that
Mo Dean.

195 INT. PRIVATE CLUB - MIAMI - DAY 195

Frank and Jimmy sit at a table waiting. Jimmy checks his

watch. Looks at Frank.

HOFFA
Fuck it. Let’s go.

FRANK
Let’s give him a few more minutes.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 83.

HOFFA
This isn’t right. You don’t do
this. You don’t make a man wait.

FRANK
I know.

HOFFA
The only time you do is when? When
you want to say something. When you
want to say, Fuck you. That’s the
only time.

Frank nods. They wait. Finally, the door opens and Tony Pro,
wearing shorts and a polo shirt like he just came from the
pool, comes in with another man. They join Jimmy and Frank at
the table.

PRO
I just heard it’s eight degrees
back home. Can you believe that?
It’s what, seventy outside? Why
don’t we live here year-round is
what I want to know.

Jimmy doesn’t say anything. Regards Pro’s casual attire.

Eventually --

PRO
What.

HOFFA
You’re late.

PRO
There was traffic.

HOFFA
I’ve never been late for a meeting
in my life.

PRO
(to his cousin)
Wasn’t there traffic?

The cousin nods.

HOFFA
I’ve never waited for anyone who’s
late more than ten minutes.

PRO
I’d say fifteen. Fifteen is right.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 84.

HOFFA
No. Ten.

PRO
I don’t think so. Ten is not
enough. You have to take traffic
into account.

HOFFA
That is taking traffic into
account. That’s why it’s ten.

PRO
I still say fifteen.

HOFFA
Ten.

PRO
Fine. We disagree on that. I’m
here. What can I do for you?

Jimmy can barely think straight as mad as he is about Pro

being late, but eventually collects himself.

HOFFA
I want to ask you for your
endorsement for -

PRO
Before you tell me, let’s get the
other thing straightened out.

HOFFA
I can’t do anything about your
pension. Not with Fitz in there.
With Fitz there, you should talk to
Fitz about it.

PRO
I did. He says he’ll take care of
it. No questions asked. You
wouldn’t do that, but he will. I
meant the other thing.

HOFFA
The other thing.

PRO
You know.

HOFFA
I don’t know.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 85.

PRO
Your apology.

HOFFA
My apology. For what.

PRO
For what you said when you were
sitting there eating your fucking
ice cream like some fucking king.
That was an ethnic slur -- “you
people.”

Jimmy just looks at him. Then --

HOFFA
I’ll apologize for that -- after
you apologize for being late -- you
mother fucking wop cocksucker.

Now Pro just looks at Jimmy while Frank shakes his head
wearily. Eventually --

PRO
I’ll apologize for that -- after I
kidnap your granddaughter, rip her
guts out and send them to you in an
envelope.

Jimmy goes for him. Frank and Pro’s cousin try to pull them
apart, like the guards did in the prison cafeteria, but, just
like then, it isn’t easy.

196 INT. CAR - MOVING - MIAMI - NIGHT 196

Frank drives Jimmy back to his condo after the disaster with
Pro. They drive in silence. Then --

HOFFA
You think Russell would do
something about the Little Guy?

FRANK
That would be complicated.

HOFFA
I know, but maybe you could talk to
him. Have a conversation. See what
he says. I’d appreciate it.

197 EXT. NEW YORK - NIGHT 197

Generated on February 16, 2024
 86.

Frank and Russell climb out of Frank’s car.

FRANK V/O
There’s no way what Jimmy wanted
was going to happen. Russell, Pro
and Pro’s boss Tony Salerno were
all Genovese technically.

They head for the entrance of Vesuvius restaurant.

FRANK V/O
But maybe things could be smoothed
over without going that far. Maybe
calmer heads could get together and
prevail.

198 INT. VESUVIUS - NIGHT 198

Frank and Russell share a table with Tony Salerno.

SALERNO
I don’t approve of what Pro said to
Jimmy.

FRANK V/O
Now that Bobby Kennedy was long
gone and Eliot Richardson was all
tied up with Watergate, we could
speak English again wherever we
wanted.

SALERNO
But I’m not going to tell him what
he can say and what he can’t say.
Jimmy says things too he shouldn’t
sometimes.

BUFALINO
He’s very upset.

SALERNO
I’m sure he is. Who talks like that
about a man’s grandchildren? But
someone has to calm him down.

FRANK
I don’t know what to tell him to
calm him down.

SALERNO

Generated on February 16, 2024

 87.

I don’t know if it will calm him

down but you can tell him I always
liked him and I won’t stand in his
way.

199 EXT. GOLF COURSE - DAY 199

Fitz plays golf with the diminutive Tony Pro.

FRANK V/O
That didn’t calm him down. But at
least for a while he dealt with
Fitz instead of the Little Guy.

200 EXT. TEAMSTER OFFICES - DC - DAY 200

Jimmy, always a magnet for reporters, stands outside what
used to be his office building, giving a televised interview.

HOFFA
This guy travels around the country
to every goddamn golf tournament
there is. He does this and collects
a full-time salary as Teamster
president. How do you do that?
There’s not enough hours in a day.
I went to prison for fraud. This is
fraud what he’s doing.

201 EXT. MARINA - LAKE MICHIGAN - DAY 201

A man and his family walk along a dock carrying fishing

tackle and a cooler.
FRANK V/O
Fitz responded to Jimmy’s criticism
by asking Jimmy’s old friend and
ally Dave Johnson to resign from
Local 299 so Fitz’s son Richard
could take over.

As Dave Johnson and his wife and kids near his 45-foot cabin
cruiser, it suddenly blows up.

202 EXT. STREET - DETROIT - DAY 202

A man comes out of the Nemo Bar and walks toward his white
Lincoln Continental.

FRANK V/O Generated on February 16, 2024

 88.

Jimmy responded by sending a

message back that Fitz’s son
Richard should be happy with things
the way they were.

Richard Fitzsimmon’s Lincoln blows up.

203 EXT. UNION HALL - DAY 203

Jo Hoffa puts a file box in the trunk of her car and climbs
in behind the wheel.

FRANK V/O
Fitz responded by suggesting to
Jimmy’s wife Josephine she might be
happier working somewhere else and
fired her from her union job, which
cost them forty-eight grand a year.

Her hand shakes as she turns the key in the ignition, but the
car doesn’t blow up.

204 INT. NBC STUDIO - DAY 204

Jimmy is the guest on “Meet The Press.” A make-up girl dabs

moderator Lawrence Spivak’s face, but when she tries to do
the same for Jimmy, he waves her off.

FRANK V/O
The thing with Jo enraged Jimmy so
much he tried to discredit Fitz for
good by playing the highest card in
the deck. The organized crime card.
Jimmy on-camera now, in the middle of the program.

HOFFA
Frank Fitzsimmons has sold this
union out to his underworld pals.
The mob controls him, which means
it controls our Pension Fund. I’m
talking about a billion dollars in
loans this man has given to known
racketeers for their illegal
enterprises.

FRANK V/O
This sort of thing got everyone’s
attention.

205 INT. VESUVIUS - NIGHT 205

Generated on February 16, 2024
 89.

Salerno, Russell and Frank again.

SALERNO
Is he serious?

BUFALINO
He doesn’t mean any of this.

SALERNO
Maybe he got religion in prison.

BUFALINO
He didn’t.

SALERNO
People do. Remember Whispers. The
other Whispers.

BUFALINO
He’s just doing what the
millionaire’s son did to him
because it worked.

SALERNO
I don’t know. When I hear a
thundering herd of hooves, I think
of horses, not zebras. Maybe he
means what he says.

BUFALINO
I don’t think he does.

SALERNO
Either way it’s not good. Some-one
should tell him maybe he wants to
cash in that big pension and spend
more time with his grandchildren.

FRANK
I don’t think he wants to do that.

SALERNO
He should think about it is all.

206 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 206

Frank walks along with Jimmy who is walking his dog.

HOFFA
Who said that?

FRANK
It doesn’t matter. It was said. Generated on February 16, 2024
 90.

HOFFA
Was it Russell?

FRANK
No.

HOFFA
The Little Cocksucker from the
Miami Fiasco?

FRANK
No.

HOFFA
Who.

FRANK
The other Tony.

HOFFA
Which other Tony? They’re all named
Tony. What’s the matter with
Italians -- they can only think of
one name.

FRANK
Salerno.

That Tony means something to Jimmy, but not enough

apparently, even after some reflection.

HOFFA
I’m not retiring. Someone can tell
him that.

Someone means Frank. He’s right in the middle of this now.

Jimmy cleans up after his dog.

HOFFA
How’s everything at home?

FRANK
Good.

HOFFA
That’s good. How’s everything in
Philly?

FRANK
Good.

HOFFA
That’s good.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 91.

Silence.

HOFFA
What’s wrong.

FRANK
Nothing. It’s not the right time.

HOFFA
What isn’t.

FRANK
107’s putting together a
testimonial dinner for me. I was
thinking of asking if you might
present the award.

HOFFA
Who’s going to be there?

FRANK
Everyone.

Jimmy doesn’t respond, wondering perhaps if he’d be safe with

“everyone” there.

FRANK
I understand.

HOFFA
No, I’ll be there. I don’t give a
fuck who’s there. You deserve this.
I’d be honored.

207 INT. THE LATIN CASINO - NIGHT 207

We come past a poster on an easel that says, “Frank Sheeran
Appreciation Night,” and make our way into a crowded
ballroom.

FRANK V/O
Everyone was there.

Russell, Bruno, Tony Salerno and Tony Pro and their wives at
one table, and other guys from Downtown at others.

FRANK V/O
Even the mayor was there, Frank
Rizzo. And the head of the NAACP,
Cecil Moore. And the former D.A.,
Emmett Fitzpatrick.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 92.

They are on the dais with Frank and Jimmy. Just below it at a
table are Josephine Hoffa and Frank’s wife Irene and his
daughters.

FRANK V/O
John McCullough of the roofer’s
union put the tribute together and
he went all out.

Waiters move around the tables, serving dinner to two

thousand people.

FRANK V/O
Usually at these things, you get
chicken. If you’re lucky, maybe a
piece of meat. John arranged it so
you could have prime rib or
lobster. I had the prime rib and it
was excellent.

Skinny Razor stands at the head of a line where a bartender

in a tuxedo mixes him a drink.

FRANK V/O
And the bar was an open bar. And
not just beer and wine. You could
get any drink you wanted and not
pay for it.

Russell and Salerno regard Jimmy eating prime rib up on the

dais.

BUFALINO
Jimmy’s always been good to deal
with far as I’m concerned, and the
fact is there’s only so much money
they can loan and when that well’s
dry, it doesn’t matter who’s in
charge of it.

SALERNO
I’m not concerned about new loans.
He said to someone once Fitz is
out, he’s going to call in old
loans. Real estate, casinos,
whatever it is, you don’t pay, he’s
taking them over.

BUFALINO
He said that?

SALERNO
Who does he think he is, Castro?
Generated on February 16, 2024
 93.

208 INT. THE LATIN CASINO - LATER - NIGHT 208

As dessert is served, a line of fishnet-stockinged dancers

high-kick on stage.

FRANK V/O
For entertainment John had the Gold
Digger Dancers, with those legs
that don’t quit. And later, that
Italian singer, Jerry Vale, who
always seems to be at these things.

Russell has found a place he can speak to Jimmy in

confidence.

BUFALINO
I don’t understand why you’re doing
this. You don’t need the money.

HOFFA
It’s not about money.

BUFALINO
Then I don’t understand what all
this talk is about.

HOFFA
It’s my union.

BUFALINO
I don’t know. It seems maybe it’s
about something else.

Nothing from Jimmy.

BUFALINO
Some people -- not me -- are a
little concerned. Some people --
not me -- feel you -- might be --

HOFFA
Might be what.

BUFALINO
Demonstrating a failure to show
appreciation.

HOFFA
I’m not showing appreciation?

BUFALINO
Some people -- not me -- might
think so.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 94.

HOFFA
I went to school for eight years. I
didn’t name one name.

BUFALINO
I know.

HOFFA
I had to sit there listening to
that whining cocksucker from New
Jersey when all I wanted to do was
eat my ice cream in peace.

BUFALINO
I know.

HOFFA
I’m not showing appreciation?

BUFALINO
According to some people -- not me.

HOFFA
Fuck them.

Jimmy walks away. Frank watches from across the room

concerned.

FRANK V/O
One thing you don’t do is say no to
Russell. The other thing you don’t
do is walk away from him. You wait
for him to walk away. You don’t
walk away first.

209 INT. THE LATIN CASINO - LATER - NIGHT 209

Russell and Salerno watch Jimmy up at the podium, finishing

his presentation to Frank.

HOFFA
Frank has devoted his life to this
union. As a shop steward, as an
organizer, as a mediator -- he’s
been tireless in his service to the
working men and women of this
state. He also holds a record you
may not know, which I don’t think
anyone will ever beat: Most arrests
on a picket line -- 26 times in 24
hours.

The guests applaud and laugh. Generated on February 16, 2024

 95.

HOFFA
I’ve known Frank a long time. I
respect him. I rely on him.

HOFFA
He is a union man to his bones, and
he is my friend. I am honored to
present this award -- and this
beautiful watch -- to Frank
Sheeran.

Frank joins him at the podium as everyone applauds. Jimmy

puts a gold diamond-encrusted watch on his wrist, pats him on
the back, turns the microphone over to him.

FRANK
Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you all.
Thank you to my wife Irene, and my
lovely daughters for putting up
with me all these years. I know I
don’t deserve all this tonight. But
I have arthritis and I don’t
deserve that either --

Everyone laughs.

210 INT. THE LATIN CASINO - LATER - NIGHT 210

As Jerry Vale sings “Sorrento,” a photographer motions Frank

and Jimmy to stand together for a picture.

HOFFA
Look at all these people who came
out. I truly had no idea you were
this strong.
FRANK
It’s a free steak and an open bar.

HOFFA
No, they’re here for you.

The camera flashes.

PHOTOGRAPHER
One more.

HOFFA
I really do appreciate all the
support you’ve given me. I mean it.
It’s not just words. I’m glad
you’re on my side.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 96.

FRANK
It’s an honor.

The camera flashes again.

211 INT. THE LATIN CASINO - LATER - NIGHT 211

Now Jerry Vale’s singing an Irish song as Frank and Irene and
other couples dance. Russell and Salerno are talking at their
table. Salerno, who doesn’t look happy, gets up and leaves.
The song ends and Russell gestures to Frank he needs to talk
to him. They find a private spot.

BUFALINO
I didn’t want to do this in front
of everybody.

He hands Frank a small jewelry box. Inside, Frank finds a

gold ring with an Italian coin on top.

BUFALINO
Only three people in the world have
one of these, and only one of them
is Irish. I have one. Angelo. And
now you.

FRANK
I don’t know what to say.

BUFALINO
Put it on. Let’s see if it fits.

Frank slips the ring on. It fits. Jerry Vale starts another
song.

BUFALINO
There’s one other thing. I’m sorry
to do this to you on your special
night but it can’t wait. It just
got out of hand with our friend.
You got to talk to him. For his
sake.

He’s looking at Jimmy dancing with Jo.

FRANK
I don’t know what else to tell him
I haven’t told him already.

BUFALINO
Tell him what it is.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 97.

Frank isn’t sure he heard right. Russell nods to emphasize

what he shouldn’t have to.

212 INT. THE LATIN CASINO - LATER - NIGHT 212

Alone in the men’s room, Frank and Jimmy wash their hands.

FRANK
I just spoke to Russell. He just
spoke to Salerno.

HOFFA
Yeah?

FRANK
He means what he’s saying.

HOFFA
So do I. He can’t seem to get that
through his head.

Jimmy dries his hands on a towel. Notices how ashen-faced

Frank is.

HOFFA
Don’t look so concerned.

FRANK
I’m a little concerned.

HOFFA
Nothing’s going to happen to me. I
got more records and lists ready to
be mailed to the press than that
motherfucker can imagine. I know
things he doesn’t know I know. He
should be a little concerned, not
you.

FRANK
He is. He told Russell to tell me
to tell you what it is.

Jimmy looks at Frank like Frank looked at Russell when he

said it.

HOFFA
He said that?

Frank nods gravely. Someone else comes into the men’s room.
Jimmy drops the hand towel in the towel hamper and leaves.
Frank stays behind to wash his hands again.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 98.

INT. CADILLAC - MOVING - DAY - 1975

Frank and Russell in front, the women in back, as Frank

drives along the highway through Ohio.

FRANK V/O
The wedding was all well and good,
but the real point of our trip to
Detroit was a peace mission.

EXT. GAS STATION - OHIO - DAY - 1975

An attendant checks the oil. The women are buying cigarettes

from a machine while Russell buys some candy. Frank’s making
a call in a phone booth.

FRANK
I’m with the old man. We’re driving
up. He hopes this thing can be
worked out.

HOFFA
What’d he say?

FRANK
He said let’s work this thing out.
Sit down after the wedding and work
it out.

HOFFA
I’m not going to the wedding. Too
many people I don’t like are going
to be there.

FRANK
We could do it at your place if you
want. At the lake.

HOFFA
At the lake, huh.

FRANK
Or anywhere.

HOFFA
From day one I wanted to work this
out.

FRANK
I know.

HOFFA
From day fucking one.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 99.

FRANK
I know.

HOFFA
Just you two, right? Not the Little
Guy.

FRANK
Of course the Little Guy. That’s
the point.

HOFFA
No. Just the three of us.

FRANK
The three of us defeats the
purpose.

HOFFA
I’m not sitting down with that
cocksucker.

FRANK
It’s time to sit down. Everybody
says so.

HOFFA
Not with him.

FRANK
You’re making me work hard.

HOFFA
Just us.

Jimmy hangs up. Frank lets himself out of the booth. Russell
comes up to him with a small paper bag.

BUFALINO
What’d he say?

FRANK
He’s thinking about it.

BUFALINO
That’s all right. That’s good. You
want a Snickers?

213 INT. HOWARD JOHNSONS - OHIO - DAY 213

They’re checking into another motel.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 100.

214 INT. HOWARD JOHNSONS - OHIO - LATER - DAY 214

Russell hangs up a phone, crosses a patio where Irene and

Carrie wade in the pool with swimming caps on, sits with
Frank at a patio table, sips a Diet Coke.

BUFALINO
Maybe you should give Jimmy another
call. See if he’s thought about it.

215 INT. HOWARD JOHNSONS - OHIO - LATER - DAY 215

Frank speaks on the pay phone near the pool.

HOFFA
When are you getting in?

FRANK
Tomorrow morning.

HOFFA
Good. I changed my mind about the
other thing.

FRANK
You did?

HOFFA
I’m meeting with the Little Guy
tomorrow afternoon.

FRANK
With the Little Guy.

HOFFA
Tony Jack set it up.

FRANK
With the Little Guy. Where?

HOFFA
In public, where do you think. The
Red Fox. On Telegraph. You know it?

FRANK
Tony Jack is Pro’s cousin.

HOFFA
They’re all fucking cousins, what
are you going to do. But Jack’s
okay. I talked with him several
times after the Fiasco in Miami.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 101.

FRANK
I’d feel better if I was there.

HOFFA
So would I, that’s why I asked when
you’re getting in.

FRANK
What time is the meeting?

HOFFA
2:30, and he better not be late.

FRANK
The Red Fox.

HOFFA
On Telegraph. I’ll be there at 2.
So you should be there at 2.

FRANK
I’ll be there at 2.

Frank hangs up, a little puzzled about Jimmy’s change of

heart. Walks back to the patio table.

BUFALINO
What’d he say?

FRANK
He’s going to meet with Pro.

BUFALINO
That’s good.

FRANK
Tony Jack arranged it.

BUFALINO
That’s good.

216 INT. MOTEL ROOM - HOWARD JOHNSONS - EVENING 216

Frank and Irene change out of their driving clothes into

something nicer for dinner, like people used to do.

FRANK V/O
Maybe Jimmy was setting up Pro. Or
maybe he was counting on Pro to act
like Pro so his cousin Tony Jack
could see it.

FRANK V/O Generated on February 16, 2024

 102.

Or maybe this wedding really was

bringing everyone together.

There’s a knock on the door. Russell and Carrie, dressed

nicely, too, now. As they all leave --

FRANK V/O
Whatever it was, you’d think
Russell would have asked when the
meeting was, whether he was
supposed to come or not. Something.

The door closes. We remain in the empty room.

FRANK V/O
But he didn’t.

217 INT. ITALIAN RESTAURANT - OHIO - NIGHT 217

The two couples share the best table in the restaurant.

FRANK V/O
We ate that night at a little
Italian place Russell owned a piece
of.

A waiter deliver plates of food.

FRANK V/O
I had spaghetti marinara and
broccoli rabe -- and afterwards --
like you do in Italy -- some salad
-- with dressing Russell made
himself in the back.

218 INT. RESTAURANT KITCHEN - LATER - NIGHT 218

Frank watches Russell prepare his special salad dressing in

the restaurant’s kitchen.

BUFALINO
You got to start with good olive
oil. If you don’t have that don’t
bother.

He pours about a cup of olive oil in a mason jar.

BUFALINO
Same with the balsalmic. If it’s
not aged at least ten years, forget
it, you may as well eat Wishbone.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 103.

He pours some thick black balsalmic vinegar in the jar.

BUFALINO
By the way, we got a little change
in plans. We’re going to hang
around here tomorrow morning and
drive up in the afternoon.

Frank doesn’t say anything as Russell adds salt and pepper to

the mason jar. Eventually --

FRANK
I told Jimmy we’d be there in the
morning.

BUFALINO
I know.

Russell holds something up that looks like his own gnarled

hand.

BUFALINO
You know what this is? Ginger root.
This is the secret to good
dressing.

Frank isn’t thinking about salad dressing; he’s still reeling

from Russell telling him he’s not going to let him be with
Jimmy at the meeting with Pro. As Russell chops up some
ginger room and puts it in the jar --

BUFALINO
We did all we could for him. But he
made one too many threats. It’s
clear he intends to eat alone. It’s
what it is.

Russell looks to Frank for a nod that he understands, but

Frank doesn’t nod. Russell swirls the mixture in the jar
around like a snifter of brandy and dips a finger in to taste
it.

BUFALINO
Frank?

FRANK
What.

BUFALINO
Don’t call him.

219 INT. HOWARD JOHNSONS MOTEL ROOM OHIO - LATER - NIGHT 219
Generated on February 16, 2024
 104.

Frank lies awake in bed next to his sleeping wife. The phone
rests on the night stand next to him.

220 INT. HOWARD JOHNSONS - OHIO - MORNING 220

Frank comes down to the breakfast room. Russell is the only

other guest there this early, filling a plastic bowl with
cornflakes.

BUFALINO
Morning.

FRANK
Good morning.

BUFALINO
How’d you sleep?

FRANK
Fine.

BUFALINO
Want some Total?

FRANK
Okay.

Russell prepares him a bowlful.

BUFALINO
We’re going up to Port Clinton
today.

FRANK
I thought we were staying here.

BUFALINO
The women are staying here. We
won’t be gone long. Three hours
tops.

They sit with their cornflakes. Russell eats his. Frank lets
his get soggy.

FRANK
What’s in Port Clinton?

BUFALINO
A plane.

FRANK
A plane.
(Russell nods) Generated on February 16, 2024
 105.

To where?

BUFALINO
Detroit.

This isn’t making any sense to Frank.

FRANK
We’re going to Detroit now?

BUFALINO
You’re going to Detroit now. Then
you’re coming back. Then we’ll take
our time driving up. Nice leisurely
drive.

Frank has no idea what he’s talking about, but doesn’t like
it, whatever it is.

BUFALINO
I got to put you into the thing,
Frank. Otherwise you’d never let it
happen, and it’s gonna happen.

Russell looks at Frank with the fondness of a father to a

son.

BUFALINO
I got to do this for your sake.

Russell eats his cornflakes. Frank only stirs his.

221 INT. CADILLAC - MOVING - HIGHWAY 80 - OHIO - DAY 221

As Frank drives, Russell sits in the passenger seat looking

out at the scenery.

FRANK V/O
I had to be in it. I knew too much
already not to be. Either way Jimmy
would be gone, but this way what
could I ever say against anyone?
Nothing. This way -- and it was
only out of respect for Russell the
others had agreed -- I’d be safe.

222 EXT. AIRSTRIP - PORT CLINTON - OHIO - DAY 222

They drive onto a grass airstrip on the edge of Lake Erie

where a small plane waits. Frank parks and gets out. Russell
stays in the car.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 106.

FRANK V/O
And so would Irene. All she and
Carrie knew -- and could ever say -
- is we took the Caddy for a couple
hours to run some errands while
they ate lunch and smoked
cigarettes at the motel coffee
shop, and then we were back.

Frank climbs the steps of the plane and sits in one of its
six seats. The pilot closes the door without looking at him
and returns to the cockpit. As the plane begins to taxi,
Frank looks out the window at the Cadillac.

223 EXT. MICHIGAN - DAY 223

The plane descends over the northwest shores of Lake Erie.

Lands on the Pontiac Airfield. The pilot lowers the steps and
Frank climbs out and walks to a parked Ford that’s empty. He
gets in, finds keys under the mat, starts it up.

224 INT/EXT. FORD - PONTIAC, MICHIGAN - MOVING - DAY 224

Frank drives along Telegraph Road. Opens the glove

compartment, notes the little .22 in it, closes it, sees the
Red Fox restaurant up ahead, checks his watch.

FRANK V/O
I couldn’t see him, but it was two
o’clock, so he was there, and he’d
be expecting me no later than five
after. Jimmy knew Pro had no
respect for punctuality, but he
knew I did.
Frank drives past the Red Fox and makes a left onto Seven
Mile Road.

225 EXT. PONTIAC, MICHIGAN - DAY 225

Frank drives across a railroad bridge. Then down a

residential street with old modest houses on acre lots.
Checks an address scribbled on a torn piece of newspaper.
Pulls over and regards a house with brown shingles.

FRANK V/O
Everything was close to every-thing
else. The airstrip. The restaurant.
The house. And where he’d go after
that.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 107.

Frank notes a Buick parked at the end of a single-lane

driveway running alongside the house.

FRANK V/O
Some people said that was in a 55-
gallon drum that ended up in a New
Jersey dump. Or in the end zone of
Giants stadium, under the grass.

Frank opens the glove box and takes out the .22. Gets out of
the car, shoving the pistol in his back waist band under his
jacket.

FRANK V/O
These people never had a body on
their hands. You don’t want to
drive one more mile than you have
to if you can help it.

He climbs the brick steps of the brown-shingled house and

opens the unlocked front door.

226 INT. HOUSE - PONTIAC - CONTINUOUS 226

A man on his hands and knees looks up at Frank through Coke-

bottle glasses.

SALLY BUGS
Hi, Frank.

Sally has a matte-knife in his hand and uses it to cut some

linoleum he’s laying out on top of the wood floor of the
entry.

Frank ignores him. Surveys the entry. Then walks into the
adjacent living room, glimpsing as he goes two young Italian
guys in the kitchen playing cards. Sally Bugs comes in, parts
the blinds and looks out.

SALLY BUGS
Chuckie’s late.

FRANK V/O
Chuckie was Jimmy’s foster son. He
was in the thing too but didn’t
know it.

Sally Bugs sees a car pulling to the curb.

SALLY BUGS
Is that him?

Generated on February 16, 2024

 108.

A Mercury pulls in with just the driver in it, a guy wearing

a wide-collared paisley shirt and gold chains like he’s in
Saturday Night Fever. Frank nods.

FRANK V/O
All Chuckie knew, he was picking up
one of Pro’s guys - Sally, who he
didn’t know -- and me -- who he did
know -- and we were all picking up
his dad at the Red Fox for a
meeting. He was in it, as you say,
stupidly.

227 EXT. HOUSE - PONTIAC - MOMENTS LATER 227

Frank and Sally Bugs come out of the house and approach the
Mercury.

FRANK V/O
I felt sorry for Chuckie. If anyone
deserves to be forgiven, it’s him.

SALLY BUGS
I’m Sally.

CHUCKIE
Hi. Hi, Frank.

FRANK
Chuckie.

SALLY BUGS
Let’s go. I don’t want your father
yelling at me for being late. You
can sit in front, Frank.

Frank isn’t sure he wants to sit in front. Sally Bugs, we may

remember, strangled that poor Teamster Secretary-Treasurer in
the front seat. But Sally already has the car’s back door
open and is sliding in.

SALLY BUGS
What the fuck is this?

CHUCKIE
What.

SALLY BUGS
It’s wet back here.

CHUCKIE
I had a frozen fish I had to drop
off to someone. Generated on February 16, 2024
 109.

SALLY BUGS
A fish? The seat is wet from a
fish?

CHUCKIE
Sorry.

Sally Bugs lays his handkerchief on the seat and sits on it.
Frank climbs into the front passenger seat.

228 INT. MERCURY - MOVING - DAY 228

Chuckie makes a right off Seven Mile Road onto Telegraph.

SALLY BUGS
What kind of fish?

CHUCKIE
I don’t know. A fish. To eat.

SALLY BUGS
You don’t know what kind?

CHUCKIE
No.

SALLY BUGS
Where’d you get it?

CHUCKIE
At a fish place.

Frank checks his watch. It’s 2:40.

229 EXT. RED FOX RESTAURANT - DAY 229

They pull into the parking lot as Jimmy is coming out of the
restaurant. Chuckie taps the horn and waves. Jimmy regards
the Mercury a moment, then comes over to it.

CHUCKIE
Sorry I’m late.

HOFFA
You’re late? What the fuck are you
even doing here? Who invited you?

SALLY BUGS
Hi, Jimmy.

HOFFA
Who the fuck are you? Generated on February 16, 2024
 110.

SALLY BUGS
I’m with Tony.

HOFFA
You’re with Tony. You’re with this
cocksucker who’s late again? I’m
not waiting for this cock-sucker
again. He was supposed to be here
at 2:30. It’s 2:40. I don’t wait
for anyone more than ten minutes.
Mother fucking cocksucker.

SALLY BUGS
He’s at the house.

HOFFA
What house?

SALLY BUGS
He’s with Russ.

HOFFA
He’s with Russ? What the fuck’s
going on here?

SALLY BUGS
Look who’s here.

Jimmy leans down to see who’s in the passenger seat.

FRANK
Hi, Jimmy.

HOFFA
Frank. Where were you? You were
supposed to be here at two. What is
this?

FRANK
Russell decided to come. But not
here. He doesn’t know the place.
It’s not comfortable for him.

HOFFA
Russell’s here?

Frank nods. Jimmy relaxes a little.

SALLY BUGS
Get in. We’ll bring you back after
to get your car.

Sally Bugs pushes open the back door for Jimmy to get in and
the image freezes. Generated on February 16, 2024
 111.

FRANK V/O
No way in a million years Jimmy
would ever get in a car with one of
Pro’s guys in it -- unless I was in
it, too. Which is why I was in it.
I made it safe.

The image unfreezes: Sally Bugs taps the seat next to him.

SALLY BUGS
There was a fish in here, but I
cleaned it up.

HOFFA
What?

SALLY BUGS
Chuckie had a fuckin fish in here,
he doesn’t even know what kind, but
it’s okay now, I wiped it up.

HOFFA
You put a fish in here? In your
car?

CHUCKIE
For Bobby Holmes. Bobby likes fish.

SALLY BUGS
I cleaned it up. It’s all right.

Jimmy looks at Frank again as if to ask, Is it all right?

Frank nods. Jimmy gets into the back seat next to Sally.

HOFFA
Chuckie, never put a fish in your
car. Unless it’s wrapped up good.

CHUCKIE
I know.

The Mercury pulls out of the lot.

230 INT. CHUCKIE’S MERCURY - MOVING - DAY 230

The Mercury drives the same route Frank took earlier.

HOFFA
Frank. You couldn’t come by at 2:00
and tell me this? I had to wait
there forty minutes like a moron?

FRANK Generated on February 16, 2024

 112.

I came as soon as I got in.

HOFFA
You got in this morning.

FRANK
I didn’t. Russell had some business
in Port Clinton this morning.

HOFFA
This morning. Okay. But it’s this
afternoon. All due respect to Russ
but no one could come over at 2:00
and tell me it was 2:30? At the
very least?

FRANK
I’m sorry. I apologize.

HOFFA
(like Sally’s not there)
And who the fuck is Pro sending a
fucking errand boy.

FRANK
Sally’s not staying.

HOFFA
That’s right he’s not staying. But
Pro sent him is the point when he
should’ve come picked me up
himself.
(to Sally)
Can you even see out those glasses?

SALLY BUGS
I can see, Jimmy.

231 EXT. HOUSE - PONTIAC - CONTINUOUS 231

The Mercury pulls into the driveway behind the Buick and the
Ford and idles. Jimmy and Frank get out. Sally Bugs comes
around and gets into the passenger seat.

As Chuckie backs the car out, Jimmy and Frank head for the
house. Jimmy, as he always does with whoever he’s with, walks
ahead.

HOFFA
You got your friend with you?

Glancing back, he sees Frank touch the small of his back.

Generated on February 16, 2024
 113.

HOFFA
Good. You never know with this
cocksucker, with or without Russ
there.

He opens the front door.

232 INT. HOUSE - PONTIAC - CONTINUOUS 232

As soon as he’s inside, Jimmy knows there’s a problem. He

should hear voices, but it’s quiet. And there’s no one in the
living room, which he can see from here. And there’s this
badly-cut piece of linoleum under his feet.

FRANK V/O
He knew right away what it was.

FIVE QUICK VIGNETTES:

Tony Pro playing Greek rummy with some guys at his union hall
in New Jersey.

Tony Salerno watching a soccer game on a TV.

Fitz on a golf course chipping a ball out of a sand trap.

Russell napping in the back of Frank’s Cadillac parked on the

Port Clinton airstrip.

Irene Sheeran and Carrie Bufalino smoking cigarettes in the

motel coffee shop.

FRANK V/O
Just not my part of it.

BACK TO THE HOUSE

HOFFA
Let’s get out of here, Frank.

As Jimmy bumps past Frank to leave, grasping the knob of the

door Frank just closed, Frank shoots him twice behind his
right ear.

He slumps to the floor. Blood runs onto the temporary

linoleum. Frank tries to open the door, but Jimmy’s body is
against it. He gently tugs Jimmy away from it, gets it open,
sets the .22 on Jimmy, walks out and closes the door.

233 EXT. PORT CLINTON - LATER - DAY 233

Generated on February 16, 2024

 114.

The plane taxies to a stop on the airstrip. The pilot,

careful not to look at Frank, lowers the steps for him. He
comes down them and crosses to the Cadillac, where Russell is
napping.

Frank climbs in and starts it up. Russell wakes as the car

pulls out. Just by looking at Frank, he can tell the little
errand in Detroit has been taken care of.

BUFALINO
Anyway, I hope you had a pleasant
flight.

FRANK
I hope you had a good sleep.

And that’s it. They drive in silence.

234 INT. CHURCH - DETROIT - NEXT DAY 234

Jimmy’s lawyer’s daughter comes down the aisle on the arm of

her father. The church is packed, and a lot of them are
wiping at tears with Kleenex.

Frank doesn’t have Kleenex, and wouldn’t use it if he did. He

quickly wipes at his eyes with the back of his hand.

His daughter Peggy glances at him curiously. Russell glances

over less curiously as Frank looks down at the gold ring he
gave him and the watch Jimmy gave him.

235 INT. CAR - MOVING - NIGHT - 1999 235

The wedding march is swallowed up by the roar of trucks on

the highway. Sitting in the passenger seat, Frank has the
same expression of grief and remorse on his face, but he’s
twenty-some years older. He looks out the window as the car
he’s in passes the Howard Johnsons.

236 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - PHILADELPHIA - DAY - 1975 236

A TV broadcasts a news report on Hoffa’s disappearance. He’s

been missing a couple days now. Frank comes in from outside,
takes his coat off, regards the TV and his wife and daughters
who are watching it.

FRANK
Still no word?

Irene shakes her head no. Frank pours himself a drink.

Generated on February 16, 2024
 115.

FRANK
I should call Jo.

IRENE
You haven’t called her yet?

FRANK
I’m calling her now.

Irene turns back to the TV report. Peggy doesn’t. She studies

her father.

FRANK V/O
I’m not sure what it was. Maybe I
looked hard, instead of worried. Or
that I should have been rushing out
to hurt somebody, and wasn’t.
Whatever it was, it was wrong, and
just by looking at me, she knew.

Peggy watches her father turn and head upstairs.

FRANK V/0
She stopped talking to me that day.
August 3rd, 1975. She has a good
job and lives outside Philly now --
but my daughter Peggy disappeared
from my life that day.

237 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - LATER - NIGHT 237

Alone in his bedroom, Frank sits on the edge of his bed

dialing a phone. He can hear the report from downstairs
faintly up here as people who know nothing theorize about the
disappearance. The call connects.
FRANK
Jo? It’s Frank.
(pause)
Whatever you need, anything I can
do, I’m here.

She’s crying now. He puts the receiver to his head like it’s
a gun, then back to his ear.

FRANK
It’s gonna be all right. I’m sure
he’s all right.

238 EXT. FUNERAL PARLOR - NIGHT 238

Generated on February 16, 2024

 116.

The two Italians who were playing cards in the kitchen lift a
body in a black garbage bag from the trunk of the Buick.

FRANK V/O
Not that it was any of my business,
but Russell told me later they
cremated Jimmy at a funeral parlor
a mile from the house.

They carry it to the back door of the funeral parlor.

FRANK V/O
They put him in a box and fired up
the oven.

239 INT. FUNERAL PARLOR - NIGHT 239

A pine coffin burns in a cremation oven.

FRANK V/O
The oven burns so hot it melts
everything -- bones, teeth, watch,
rings -- but leaves the shape of
the body, like Pompeii.

The cinders of the coffin fall away to reveal an ashy body.

It comes out and someone pokes at it, dissolving it to ashes.

FRANK V/O
It was no more complicated than
that.

240 INT. GRAND JURY ROOM - DAY 240

The father of the bride from the wedding, attorney Bill
Bufalino, sits at the defense table. His client, Frank, is
being question by a D.A.

FRANK V/O
Everyone who ever had anything to
do with Jimmy was hauled in and
questioned. And everyone took the
Fifth, which is what you do.

FRANK
On the advice of counsel, I
respectfully decline to answer that
question under the protection
afforded me by the Constitution.

D.A.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 117.

Let me ask you this: What color is

my pen?

FRANK
On the advice of counsel, I
respectfully decline to --

241 INT. COURTHOUSE - DAY 241

Frank and his lawyer head for the back exit.

FRANK V/O
Still, everyone got indicted and
convicted for one thing or another,
just not for that. No one, as you
know, even went to jail for that.
And no one talked. Which is unusual
since usually three people can keep
a secret only when two are dead.

242 EXT. THE HOUSE IN PONTIAC - DAY - FLASHBACK 242

The two Italians playing cards in the kitchen.

FRANK V/O
The Andretta brothers got twenty
years for squeezing cash out of a
trucking company in exchange for
labor peace.

243 INT. PRISON - DAY 243

Tony Pro walks down a cell block with other inmates.

FRANK V/O
Pro was convicted with them, but he
was already back in school for that
other thing I mentioned before --

244 INT. CAR - MOVING - DAY - FLASHBACK 244

The man in the passenger seat finds the radio station he

wants and sits back.

FRANK V/O
That poor Secretary-Treasurer who
got more votes than Pro, which they
finally got him on.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 118.

As the nylon rope loops around the guy’s neck to strangle

him, Coke bottle glasses on a face come into frame.

FRANK V/O
Sally Bugs, you recall, did that
one.

245 EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING - DAY 245

From very far away, someone watches Sally Bugs walk from his
car to the building.

FRANK V/O
Sally was seen going into a federal
building. This by itself isn’t a
crime. Everyone has to do that
sometimes. But Sally -- who knows
better -- didn’t tell anybody about
it - which you must always do. When
you don’t, it can only mean one
thing: You’re not going there for
tea.

246 EXT. NEW YORK - NIGHT 246

Sally comes out of the Andrea Doria Social Club.

FRANK V/O
I suppose there’s a chance it
wasn’t that. But when in doubt,
have no doubt.

Frank and John Francis walk up to him.

FRANK
Hi, Sal.

SALLY BUGS
Hi, Frank.

Sally looks at John Francis, who he doesn’t know. As he waits

for an introduction, Frank shoots him twice in the head - one
of the bullets coming out shattering a lens of his thick
glasses.

FRANK V/O
Sally was dead by the time he hit
the ground, but to discourage
anyone with an idea to look out
their window after two shots, John
gave him three more.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 119.

John Francis pumps three shots into Sally’s body.

247 INT. OPERATING ROOM - DAY 247

Tony Salerno on a surgical table getting a colonoscopy.

FRANK V/O
Tony Salerno they got on an income
tax thing. The same week, he was
diagnosed with cancer.

248 INT. VILLA D’ROMA - DAY 248

Russell has what seems to be a very cordial conversation with

another man at his table.

FRANK V/O
Russell got hooked threatening to
strangle Jack Napoli over 25,000
dollars worth of jewelry he took on
credit and never paid for.

BUFALINO
It’s what it is, Jack.

249 EXT. VILLA D’ROMA - DAY 249

Russell is escorted out of the restaurant by federal agents.

FRANK V/O
Napoli was rigged. They had it on
tape. They called it extortion even
though it was Napoli who was
clearly in the wrong.

250 INT. CAR WASH - DAY 250

Frank’s car inches through a car wash covered in suds.

FRANK V/O
They got me for my Cadillac. I
bought it from Eugene Boffa who
leased truck drivers to freight
companies and paid them substandard
wages, skimming the difference.

Frank peers through soapy windows of the car wash at his

Cadillac as leather tongues from the ceiling shimmy and sway
and push the suds around.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 120.

FRANK V/O
They said I paid under-market value
for the car, and I had no receipts
to prove otherwise. They said the
car was a bribe to let Boffa
continue to pay his non-union
wages.

Frank watches the Cadillac as spray-hoses rinse it and the

dryer blowers switch on.

FRANK V/O
I loved that car, but it wasn’t
worth the eighteen years they gave
me for it.

251 EXT. SANDSTONE PRISON - DAY 251

A remote prison set down amidst bare trees.

FRANK V/O
We all went to Sandstone,
Minnesota, which is no Lewisburg.
It’s up by the Canadian border,
where it’s colder than Philly, New
York and Chicago put together.

252 EXT. SANDSTONE PRISON - DAY 252

Bundled up against the cold, Russell, Salerno and some other

old inmates in wheelchairs roll bocce balls across snow-
patched ground. Frank, who’s getting no younger himself,
watches from the sidelines.

FRANK V/O
Russell got Parkinson’s there. Tony
Salerno couldn’t control his urine
anymore. The arthritis in my hands
moved to my back, and neuropathy
was in my feet. I couldn’t feel
either one of them. Neurontin
helped a little but it also makes
you dingy. If you take it at night,
okay, but during the day it makes
you forgetful. We were all falling
apart and the freezing fucking cold
wasn’t helping.

253 INT. SANDSTONE CAFETERIA - DAY 253

Generated on February 16, 2024

 121.

Frank comes in with a paper bag, shuffles across the

cafeteria.

FRANK V/O
I needed a cane, but they won’t
give you a cane in prison, since
you could use it as a weapon.

He sits with Russell.

BUFALINO
You got it?

Frank nods. Takes prosciutto bread out of the bag and begins
breaking it into pieces. Eventually --

BUFALINO
Jimmy was a nice man. Nice family.
I didn’t want it to go that far.

FRANK
I know.

Frank pours two glasses of grape juice.

BUFALINO
I should have protected you some
other way. I can’t forgive myself
for what I did to you.

FRANK
It’s all right.

Russell regards his shaking hand as he tries to steady it

enough to dip a piece of bread in the juice.

BUFALINO
Is this my punishment?

254 EXT. SANDSTONE PRISON - DAY 254

Frank waits for Russell on the so-called bocce court with

other old inmates. Spots him in his wheelchair as it’s pushed
by another inmate the other way.

FRANK
Where you going?

BUFALINO
To church.

FRANK
To church? Generated on February 16, 2024
 122.

BUFALINO
Don’t laugh. You’ll go, too, when
the time comes.

Frank watches Russell as his wheelchair rolls along the

frozen earth.

FRANK V/O
Russell went to church. Then he
went to the prison hospital in
Springfield. Then he went to the
graveyard.

255 EXT. GRAVEYARD - DAY 255

The number of people in attendance seems too small for

someone of Russell’s stature.

FRANK V/O
I got out that October. Irene died
in December. December 17th. Lung
cancer. No surprise.

Frank stands at his wife’s grave with three of his grown

daughters, supporting himself on aluminum canes like a polio
victim. Peggy is there, but stands apart from her sisters and
father. He looks at her, but she won’t look at him.

256 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - DAY 256

Frank moves around the house on his canes, emptying ashtrays

of butts with lipstick marks on the filters.

257 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY 257

He sits in a chair in front of a TV he’s not watching,

drinking alone.

258 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY 258

He fills a plastic container marked with the days of the week

on it with dozens of pills, gets confused and starts over.

259 INT. FRANK’S HOUSE - NIGHT 259

He comes past in his pajamas, negotiating a dark hallway on

his canes. Trips and falls and can’t get up.

Generated on February 16, 2024

 123.

260 INT. ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY - DAY 260

Elderly men and women dot a rec room like checkers on an

abandoned board. Some sit at games, dominos, cards,
Candyland, others regard a television with the sound turned
down too low for them to hear.

Frank sits apart from them in a wheelchair, the gold watch on

his wrist, the gold ring on his finger, his eyes hidden
behind aviator sunglasses. He’s been here for months.

261 INT. ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY - ANOTHER DAY 261

Frank sits in his wheelchair in his room. There’s a small

framed photograph in his lap. A nurse comes in to take his
vitals. As she does --

FRANK
This is my daughter Peggy.

It’s the snapshot of Peggy and Jimmy at the miniature golf

course. The nurse gives it a perfunctory glance.

NURSE
Is it. I don’t think I’ve met her.

FRANK
She hasn’t been around much.

NURSE
She’s your only child?

FRANK
I have four daughters.

NURSE
Really.

Frank nods. None of them have been around much.

NURSE
Who’s that with her?

FRANK
Who’s that?

NURSE
Relative?

FRANK
That’s Jimmy Hoffa.

NURSE Generated on February 16, 2024

 124.

Oh.

She clearly doesn’t know who that is. Frank doesn’t bother
telling her.

262 EXT. ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY - ANOTHER DAY 262

Frank sits with two young FBI men in the courtyard. He

actually seems pleased to have them here. At least they’re
visitors.

FRANK
I’m sorry but I have to direct you
to my attorney Mr. Ragano if you
want to talk about Mr. Hoffa -- or
any other matter for that matter. I
got nothing new to say.

FBI AGENT
He’s dead.

FRANK
Who’s dead?

FBI AGENT
Your attorney, Mr. Ragano.

FRANK
He’s dead? Who did it?

FBI AGENT
Cancer.

Frank didn’t know.

FBI AGENT
Everybody’s dead, Mr. Sheeran. But
Mr. Hoffa’s children aren’t. They
live with not knowing, and that’s
hard to do.

Frank actually seems like he might be thinking about talking

to them. But then --

FRANK
You seem like nice fellas. And I
appreciate you coming to see me.
But I can’t help you.

263 EXT. BANK - OUTSIDE PHILLY - DAY 263

Generated on February 16, 2024

 125.

An orderly tries to assist Frank as he struggles out of a

taxi with his canes.

FRANK
I got it. I’m fine. You stay here.

264 INT. BANK - DAY 264

He comes in on his canes. Stands in a short line. Looks

around like he’s casing the place. Makes it to the front, but
lets someone go ahead of him so he can wait for a particular
window.

The customer there leaves and he hobbles toward it. The

teller, his daughter Peggy, sees him coming and puts her
“closed” sign up before he gets there.

FRANK
Peggy, don’t.

She’s walking away from the counter toward the back.

FRANK
I just want to talk to you. Peggy.
I’m dying.

Peggy goes through a door and closes it. The other customers
look at Frank.

265 EXT. HOUSE - PHILLY - DAY 265

The taxi, parked outside a small house.

266 INT. HOUSE - PHILLY - DAY 266

Frank sits with one of his other daughters, Delores.

DELORES
What do you want me to do?

FRANK
Call her. Tell her I want to talk
to her.

DELORES
Talk to her and tell her what?

FRANK
I want to tell her I’m sorry.

DELORES Generated on February 16, 2024

 126.

For?

FRANK
I know I wasn’t such a good father.
I tried to be. I tried to protect
her. All of you.

DELORES
From what?

Now that he thinks about it, he’s not sure what.

DELORES
You have no idea what it was like
for us. We couldn’t come to you
with a problem because of the
horrible things you’d do to fix it
for us. You thought you were
protecting us, but it was the
opposite. We didn’t get protected
because we were too afraid to go to
you for protection.

DELORES
We were protected from nothing, or
anyone, ever. You have no idea the
things people did to us.

FRANK
What did they do to you?

DELORES
Why. What are you going to do about
it? You can’t even walk.

Delores regards him a moment. Then --

DELORES
You weren’t a bad father -- you
were a nightmare.

267 INT. CASKET STORE - ANOTHER DAY 267

They build them and sell them here. It’s more like a workshop
inside a warehouse. The salesman used to be a rock and roll
promoter, but now he does this. He wears a porkpie hat.

SALESMAN

Generated on February 16, 2024

 127.

I could tell you something else but

I’ll tell you the truth: It makes
no sense going with anything more
expensive than particle board for
cremation. Will it be cremation? Or
burial?

FRANK
Burial.

Frank surveys the rows of caskets from his wheelchair, the

orderly by his side.

SALESMAN
Is it for a man or a woman?

FRANK
It’s for me.

268 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 268

Frank is in a hospital room, in his wheelchair, hooked up to

IVs, looking through some unframed photographs someone has
brought over.

The image of his face suddenly changes from film to video as

a camera is switched on. He seems out of it. Morphine or
Dilaudid for all the pain.

VOICE
You saw the monsignor.

Frank slowly runs a hand through his hair, guided by the

morphine.

VOICE
What’d you tell him?

FRANK
I told him it’s been 60 years since
my last confession.

VOICE
What’d he say to that?

FRANK
He said that’s okay.

VOICE
What else you tell him?

FRANK
That’s between me and him. Generated on February 16, 2024
 128.

VOICE
Come on, Frank.

FRANK
I told him I’ve done some things
I’m not proud of.

VOICE
You told him what those things are.

FRANK
He doesn’t need details. You don’t
have to tell him everything to get
absolution. It’s not required.

VOICE
So you got what you needed from
him.

FRANK
I’m at peace.

The video camera tilts down to the photos on Frank’s lap,

there’s one of Russell and Frank on top then back up to his
face.

VOICE
Are you?

Frank looks up at the camera with that look of quiet menace

we saw before.

FRANK
You’re not being clever. You think
you are, but you’re not. Be
satisfied. You got enough. Don’t be
probing.

VOICE
You didn’t tell him about the
house.

FRANK
I didn’t have to tell him about the
house. You’re not listening. You
don’t have to say everything.

VOICE
You do.

FRANK
You don’t. I just told you.

VOICE Generated on February 16, 2024

 129.

No, you do. You. It’s the last

thing you got to do.

Frank knows he’s right, but won’t admit it. The camera keeps
shooting as he leafs through the photos. Eventually --

FRANK
I know what I got to do. I’m not
stupid. I got to say it. I don’t
have a fuckin chance after this if
I don’t. I die and -- I know what I
got to do.

He looks up at the camera.

FRANK
Ask me the question.

VOICE
Do you stand by what you’ve told
me?

FRANK
Yeah.

VOICE
Everything.

FRANK
Yeah.

VOICE
The war.

FRANK
Yeah.

VOICE
Whispers, the jeweler, Gallo.

FRANK
Yeah.

VOICE
Sally.

FRANK
They deserved it, all of them. I
got no remorse.

VOICE
And none for their families?

FRANK Generated on February 16, 2024

 130.

I didn’t know their families.

VOICE
You knew Jimmy’s.

Silence as the camera keeps taping him. Tilts down to the

photo that’s now on top in his hands - Appreciation Night -
Jimmy and Frank then back up to his face.

FRANK
Did I have any choice?

VOICE
I don’t know. Did you?

FRANK
If I’d refused, someone else would
have done it, and I’d have been
dead, too.

VOICE
You sure about that?

It kills Frank to keep looking at the photograph but he

forces himself to for several more moments before looking
back up at the camera. The anguish shows.

FRANK
What kind of a man does what I did
to a friend?

Silence as the video camera unmercifully records his face,

his guilt and remorse. The morphine doesn’t dull that.
Eventually --

VOICE
Frank. Whatever happens now
happens, but you stand a slightly
better chance now.

FRANK
(to himself)
E nelle mani di Dio. Like Russell
used to say.

VOICE
It’s in God’s hands.

Frank nods. The morphine takes his hand and slowly combs it
through his hair again. The camera shuts off, and the image
of his face switches from video back to film. He watches as
the guy with the video camera, who we still don’t see,
gathers his stuff.
Generated on February 16, 2024
 131.

FRANK
Don’t forget.

VOICE
I know. Leave the door open a
little.

Frank nods. His eyes follow the figure as he heads out.

VOICE
I’ll come visit you around
Christmas.

FRANK
When’s Christmas?

VOICE
Few weeks.

FRANK
Christmas is in a few weeks?

VOICE
Yeah.

FRANK
Okay. Give my love to your family.

VOICE
I will. I’ll see you later.

FRANK
I’m not going anywhere.

From outside the room, the door starts to close, but stops
just short of covering up our view of Frank in the room.

We can just make him out, in the sliver of light between the
edge of the door and the frame, sitting alone in his
wheelchair.

Generated on February 16, 2024