Skip to main content

The Adventures of Chet Chesterfield - Episode 6: The Curse of Cantors Claw

I wrote this as a short film I wanted to do. Then I realized it was probably a little too ambitious to do without resources. Then I wanted to see it done as a comic short and then that sort of fell through as well. I like this. I think it's as fun as all hell. I know it's sort of cheesy, but it's supposed to be. And as far as the formatting goes, I did my best for what blogger is capable of, I know what a real screenplay looks like...

TITLE CARD: The Adventures of Chet Chesterfield

TITLE CARD: Episode 6 – The Curse of Cantors Claw

EXT. MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN

CHET CHESTERFIELD, 30s, handsome and well built. He’s a notorious treasure seeker. He’s hacking his way though mountainous terrain.

ANNOUNCER
Last time on the adventures of Chet
Chesterfield!

EXT. BACK ALLEY

Chet is talking to a man with his face wrapped in a headdress like he’s from the Middle East. His name is HANDSOME JACK.

They are talking, but cannot be heard over the announcer.

ANNOUNCER
Handsome Jack told our hero of a map
that would lead him to the fabled—


CUT TO:


INT. BLACK BACKGROUND

The audience is treated to the sight of a treasure chest with a gnarled claw engraved on it.

ANNOUNCER
--treasure of Cantor’s Claw!

CUT TO:

INT. BAR

Chet punches a ne’er-do-well unconscious with one hand, he has a cloth map in the other.

ANNOUNCER
Once he’s acquired the map and
rescued the lovely—

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE BACKGROUND

A voluptuous beauty, head to toe, dressed in a sun dress: KATE CORWIN.

ANNOUNCER
--Kate Corwin--

CUT TO:

INT. ROOM

JIMMY MAGILLACUTTY, Chet’s trusty partner, is prepping his pack. He’s wearing an aviators cap with goggles on it.

ANNOUNCER
--he recruited his old partner,
Jimmy Magillacutty and a—

CUT TO:

EXT. WILDERNESS – DAY

KATE, CHET and MAGILLACUTTY, dressed and packed for an extended stay in the wilderness walk along a trail.

Ahead of them is HAJI, their ethnic guide. He’s also dirtied up and ready for action.

ANNOUNCER
--a local guide and they started
on their way—

They get further and further down the trail…

ANNOUNCER
--up the treacherous pass with
the hopes of finding the cursed
treasure that would make them rich
beyond their wildest dreams…

FADE TO:

EXT. WILDERNESS – TRAIL – DAY

The group is hiking the wilderness, on their way to the treasure.

Kate and Chet have one conversation in the back of the line, while Magillacutty and Haji have their own talk in the front.

HAJI
The stars are in our favor my
friend. The Mayavati’s have not
been in this area for some time.

MAGILLACUTTY
It’s not the Mayavati’s I’m
worried about.
(beat)
It’s the Cantors.

HAJI
(nodding in agreement)
Hmmm…

Haji and Magillicutty move on and we catch up with Chet and Kate.

KATE
I’m so glad you happened by when
that brute was…

CHET
Don’t worry about it.

KATE
I just wanted you to know how
grateful I am.

CHET
Maybe you won’t be so grateful
if I get us all killed seeking
this treasure…

Something lurks in the bushes, a black figure…

Chet doesn’t notice…

Or does he?

KATE
Oh don’t be silly. We won’t
be killed.

CHET
Oh, won’t we?
(to Jimmy, up ahead)
Jimmy?

MAGILLACUTTY
I see ‘em…

Magillacutty is keeping watch out of the corner of his eye, instantly a bad ass.

He and Haji share a look, both suspecting trouble…

Kate is instantly concerned and confused.

KATE
See what, Chet?

CHET
Shhh…
(beat)
Stay back…

KATE
What…?

She quiets…

Magillacutty and Haji, at point, walk down the trail, tensed but as casually as possible.

Without warning, they each pull a Cantor Thug from the brush, wrestling them to the ground.

At the same time, Chet turns to assail the would-be assailant that has materialized behind him.

Kate screams one of those great Hollywood screams, with gnarled fingers in front of her face and everything.

An awkward, old-school Hollywood wrestling match ensues. As the fights continue, Kate stands aghast, watching.

A fourth Cantor Thug appears behind Kate…

She turns and screams!

From his struggle, Chet looks up to see the Cantor holding Kate roughly…

CHET
Kate!

He quickly ends his fight with a well placed knee in the thugs groin, then a punch in the face and a hefty throw.

In the background, Haji and Magillacutty are still struggling with their foes.

Chet gets up and faces down Kate’s captor…

CHET
Let the girl go...
(beat)
We’ll settle this...

With a grunt of agreement, the Thug shoves Kate to Chet who catches her and angles her behind him...

CHET
Stay close.

Chet and the Cantor put their dukes up...

Kate backs up, trying to catch her breath...

Chet and the Cantor circle each other until...

KATE
CHET! BEHIND YOU!

Chet turns around to catch both arms of a fifth thug bringing a knife down on him.

They struggle...

The fourth Cantor sees his opportunity and goes in for the kill, but Kate pounces on his back and flails!

He’s immediately disoriented.

Chet quickly dispatches the would-be back stabber with his own knife and turns to deal with the thug Kate has occupied.

Chet punches him in the face three times, quickly, but he’s still standing.

Twice more...

Nothing.

Then he falls gently to his knees.

Chet helps Kate down.

Haji and Magillacutty come from around the side, panting...

MAGILLACUTTY
It was an ambush...
(beat)
Already we’re being ambushed...

HAJI
Indeed, the Cult of Cantor is
quite cunning.

CHET
Are you all right Katherine?

She melts in his arms...

KATE
I am now.

CHET
We should stop for the night...
Set camp...

MAGILLACUTTY
On it.
(beat)
Haji?


Haji nods his head and they disappear in to the thick underbrush to make camp.

Kate and Chet, still holding each other, watch Haji and Magillacutty leave.

CHET
That’s the second time I’ve had to
rescue you.
(beat)
Let’s not make it a habit.

KATE
Chet Chesterfield, nothing could
ever happen to me when I’m with
you...

CHET
Is that so?

They kiss passionately, as only they could in movies of old.

CUT TO:

EXT. CAMPSITE

From a distance, Haji and Magillacutty are setting camp. Starting a fire and unrolling sleeping bags.

After a beat or two, Chet and Kate arrive, arm in arm.

Another beat, then a SHADOWY FIGURE in silhouette moves into the very near foreground.

He has a sword.

ANNOUNCER
That’s all for this exciting
installment of the Adventures of
Chet Chesterfield!
(beat)
Be here next time for episode 7!

TITLE CARD: (super imposed over the last frame) NEXT TIME: Episode 7 – The Capture of Kate Corwin!

ANNOUNCER
The Capture of Kate Corwin!

Fin.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Salt Lake Comic Con 2017 Schedule

It's time for another year of Salt Lake Comic Con and another hectic schedule for me. But! that doesn't mean it's not a helluva lot of fun. I hope you're able to join me at any of these panels. Especially if you like Star Wars. And please, please, please come to my signing and visit. Get some books signed. I'd love that enormously. Here is my Thursday schedule: Everything here is a highlight. That first panel about behind the scenes of the prequels is with Pablo Hidalgo and I'll be asking him questions about what it was like to be there on set for most of the prequels. Then I'll be asking questions of Michael Biehn, who I've been a fan of since I was a little kid. Aliens and Terminator were favorites. If you want to ask him a question, please hit me up on Twitter with it. I will ask it at the panel. And you don't want to miss Fauxthentic History's Infinity Gauntlet live episode. It's going to be soooo good. Here is Friday: ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Missed Opportunities of Days Gone By

“Hello?” I said into the phone, accepting the call from a number I didn’t recognize. “Hey,” the feminine voice on the other replied, as though I should know the sound of her voice. At a loss, I said, “Can I help you?” “It’s Brooke.” Her name stopped me. It couldn’t possibly be her. We hadn’t spoken in years, a decade perhaps. “Brooke?” “Yeah, Brooke Baker. This is Mark, right?” Jesus Christ. It was her. “Yeah, it is Mark. Brooke. Wow. How are you? It’s been a long time since… well… since anything.” “I know.” “So, how are you doing?” “Okay, I suppose…” Her voice belied her words, though. Something was up. “I… It’s just been so long and I guess I wanted to hear your voice.” “I don’t think I had a number for you. Ever. I offered a couple of times, but…” “I was a brat back then.” And that’s how a random phone call turned into a two-and-a-half hour catch-up session. We spoke of everything under the sun: people we still knew, how different we were, h...
14 comments
Read more

Anatomy of a Scene: The Third Man

It's time again to break down a classic scene. One that's well-written and, in my view, a fine example of excellent craft. I've done some of these articles from books (like The End of the Affair   and Starship Troopers ) and other movies (like Citizen Kane , City Lights , Raiders of the Lost Ark , and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ), but now it's time to take a look at a scene from The Third Man . It blends the best of Orson Welles (as he's in the film and drives this scene) and Graham Greene, who wrote this particular screenplay. Before we get to the scene, we need some context. The Third Man is a tale of the black market in Vienna, just after World War II. It's about a cheap, dime-store Western novelist named Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotton) and his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles.) Lime offered Martins a job in Vienna, so Martins leaves America and arrives, only to find that Harry Lime is dead. Penniless, without a friend or reason to be...
Post a Comment
Read more