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1 NOTE: download musical references at: You will peform musical selections a-cappella, without music. 1 BLACK 1 ON SCREEN: Art is true only when art remains true to itself. - Eartha Kitt WE HEAR people settling into chairs and turning pages. Someone adjusts a microphone. Rolling. ENGINEER (O.S.) CONDUCTOR (O.S.) One... two... (O.S.) I ve posed for pictures with Ivory Soap... MUSIC: I WANT TO BE EVIL TRT 3:32 FADE UP: 2 INT. RCA RECORDING STUDIO DAY 2 BLACK & WHITE Eartha, in glamorous sequins, is speaking into a ribbon microphone, a CONDUCTOR leads a SMALL ORCHESTRA deep behind her, with its own microphones. Bouquets of roses are everywhere in the room. Bottles of champagne sit in frosted buckets and a big flute of champagne sit on the floor near most musicians. To one side behind a sound booth window are a PRODUCER and SOUND ENGINEER at a mixing board. The producer has a great smile, drinks the champagne like it s beer....i ve petted stray dogs and shied clear of dope. My smile is brilliant. My glance is tender. But I m noted most, for my unspoiled gender... The producer is loving it....i ve been made Miss Reingold, though I never touch beer. And I m the person to whom they say: you re sweet - my dear. The only etchings I ve seen have been behind glass.

2 Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon page 2. With a glance, she tells the Producer otherwise. And the closest I ve been to a bar was at - ballet class... Prim. And proper. The girl who s never been kissed. Well I m tired of being pure. And not chased. The music picks up pace and now Eartha sings. Like something that seeks its level... I wanna go to the devil! I want to be evil. I wanna spit tacks... I wanna be evil, and cheat at jacks... I WANT TO BE EVIL plays to the end. PICTURE TRANSITIONS FROM BLACK & WHITE TO COLOR BY END TUNE The Producer and Engineer are ecstatic. Eartha smiles, knowing she did great. She sips her champagne. PRODUCER That s the one. Take a break before the next track, Eartha Mae. At the name, Eartha stops and her smile disappears. A sad and foreboding cast crosses her face. Lights go down, leaving a single spot on Eartha. Behind her, the studio walls crack and open, as if a gate. Outside are cotton fields, bathed in yellow sun. Eartha turns to look at it as camera pushes past her. 3 EXT. COTTON FIELD - DAY 3 WE HEAR the sound of someone walking, brushing against foliage... 4 EXT. COTTON FIELD - CONTINUOUS 4 WE TRACK WITH MAE, about 7 years old, dressed in rough burlap, as she walks down a row in a cotton field. She plays her hand along the cotton plants as she walks. Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon scene 2

3 Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon page 5. MAE (CONT D) I know who chose the moment that would be the last time I saw you Moma, alive. She said to everyone, Eartha Mae, she s too quiet. That was the last time I saw you Moma. Alive. I know who did this Moma, and so does Pearl. We all know. But there was no white man justice for blacks in the south. Eartha Mae steps past the woman and continues walking. Then she breaks into a run as the wind gets stronger. THE DRUMS MORE INSISTENT 7 EXT. RIVER EDGE - DAY 7 Eartha Mae runs to the edge of the river, looks around. The wind blows her hair to one side. She listens to the sounds around her. She opens her mouth and screams a primal scream. MAE Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! MATCH 8 INT. STAGE - DAY 8, 16, is screaming, along with other, less committed voices. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! She turns and dances down stage into a GROUP OF AFRICAN- AMERICAN DANCERS, various ages in their late teens and early 20s. All are dressed in informal attire, following the moves of a LEAD DANCER. At the front of room stands KATHERINE DUNHAM in her 30s, and beside her a TALL WOMAN. They watch with an air of judgment. The dancers do their best to follow the routine. Some are having a tough time. Eartha is joking around and having fun with the moves, challenging her friend JOYCE. The routine ends, the dancers move toward the exit, some talking together. Eartha meets Joyce by the door, with another girl DANCER. Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon scene 6

4 Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon page 7. (CONT'D) Especially when she sees some of those skimpy outfits. DANCER You can stay with me. We have a spare room. The dancers begin a routine behind Eartha as she walks toward Camera. 9 INT. STAGE - CONTINUOUS 9 The lights dim to a spot light and the music stops, the dancers continue in the shadows. Their routine responds to Eartha s words. The only real thing is love. New York is stacked tall against a seven year old who has never seen electric lights, or flush toilets. Aunt Mamie, you traded my dirt paths for city streets and gutters, my cotton fields for factory floors... The dancers react in pain....the peach switch opening blood across my bare skin, for an electric cord casting bruises across my face. (beat) Love is the only real thing, Aunt Mamie. I was touched by God, they said, when I sang at your church. Their voices told us to beam with pride. But you gave me no real thing. Every time my heart wanted to leap, it was left to die. The dancers close in on Eartha, then leave her alone. I had learned down south not to share me, and you proved I was right. No one wanted what I could give. I decided when I was young, if you want my tears and refuse my joy, I refuse you my tears. (MORE) Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon scene 8

5 Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon page 8. I always knew the only real thing, is love. 10 INT. THEATRE BALCONY - DAY 10 Eartha stands at the edge of the balcony, looking down at herself on the wide stage. One day a teacher gave me a ticket to see Cyrano de Bergerac. I braved it, alone, and watched in wonder at the first play I had ever seen. 11 INT. THEATRE STAGE - CONTINUOUS 11 Eartha is alone, center stage. She walks to the edge of the proscenium. And the miracle I saw, and felt: The audience, and Jose Ferrer. They loved him, and they told him. The house lights come up. They loved each other. And I wanted that love. A love that flowed over you like a wave and kept you afloat like the ocean. I knew I could do that. I wanted to live in those moments of love. 12 INT. STAGE TWO - DAY 12 On the stage is a chair, a lounge, a modern circular sofa. Eartha steps on as a jazz-club beat starts. She performs solo A Different Kind of Cat complete with cat-crawl dance. A DIFFERENT KIND OF CAT - TRT 1:32 CROSSFADE TO: Eartha Kitt: c'est si bon scene 9