Actors:
Holly - Diane Wiest
Mickey - Woody Allen
Vocalist in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Chris Barry
Drummer in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Michael Bramon
Bass Player in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Joe Cerratto
Guitarist in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Pierre Major
Guitarist in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Richard Paul
Mickey - Woody Allen
Vocalist in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Chris Barry
Drummer in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Michael Bramon
Bass Player in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Joe Cerratto
Guitarist in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Pierre Major
Guitarist in The 39 Steps (uncredited) Richard Paul
Script:
(get the full script here)
The film cuts abruptly to Mickey's flashback of his date
with Holly, beginning with a rock club performance. The
soft jazz becomes loud, pulsating rock. Three punkers--a
girl with pink hair, a girl with a spiked mohawk, and a guy
with Stevie Wonder braids and sunglasses--watch and bop
their heads to the sounds of the offscreen rock band, The 39
Steps.
The camera moves to the stage, revealing a sleazy-looking
rock band in the midst of their number.
THE 39 STEPS
(singing)
"I want to be like you
I said I'm going to fit into your
group..."
As the band loudly plays on, the camera moves across the
spellbound audience, sitting at crowded, smoky, small
tables, to reveal a stricken Mickey and a mesmerized Holly
squeezed together at one of them. A nearby member of the
audience swills beer from a bottle. Holly, beating time to
the music and enjoying herself, takes a puff of her cigarette.
She wears a wristful of silver bracelets. She glances at
Mickey impatiently. He's the only one in the place wearing
a suit.
THE 39 STEPS
(singing)
"I don't wanna be different
Said I'm gonna be just like you
Because I'm gonna buy the records
That they play on radio...
Holly turns back to the band, who are still in full swing.
The camera moves down the body of the lead singer, singing
into a microphone, from his longish, curly red hair, through
his cut-off red shirt and sweaty torso, to his guitar. He
wears several silver bracelets on his wrists and gold
bracelets on his upper arm. The microphone screeches
feedback.
THE 39 STEPS
(singing)
"I'm gonna dance at clubs
Gonna do just what I'm told
Because I'm bleedin' now
And I'm bleedin' now
I wanna slip, slip, slip, slip,
slip
Into the crowd
I wanna slip, slip, slip, slip,
slip
Into the crowd..."
The camera moves back to Holly and the even more stricken-
looking Mickey. They are crowded in with people. In the
background, a waitress holds up a tray. A man drinks from a
glass mug; people chatter indistinctly over the loud band.
The club is noisy, smoky, and thick with people. Holly
glances at Mickey once again, this time unable to contain
her annoyance.
HOLLY
Oh, why are you making those faces?
MICKEY
(leaning over to
Holly, gesturing)
I can't hear you. I can't hear
anything. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna
lose hearing in my ear! I'm--
HOLLY
(interrupting,
gesturing to the
offscreen band)
Listen, you are witnessing genius!
MICKEY
(pointing to his ears)
I, I, my ears are experiencing a
meltdown! I can't hear anything.
HOLLY
(overlapping,
gesturing dramatically)
Look, can't you feel the energy?
It's tangible energy! The room's
alive with positive vibrations!
She opens a vial of cocaine.
MICKEY
(gesturing, trying to
talk over the band)
Holly, I'm frightened! I'm--After
they sing... they're gonna take
hostages! Now let's--
Holly holds a short metal straw of cocaine to her nose and
sniffs it.
MICKEY
(panicking)
Don't, no, please. Will you-- No,
don't...
HOLLY
(holding the straw
towards Mickey)
You want some?
THE 39 STEPS
(singing in the
background while
Holly and Mickey talk)
"I want to dress like you
Say, I'll buy all the clothes
I want to fuck like you
Yeah, I'm sure it shows
Because I'm..."
MICKEY
(shaking his head)
I don't. No. No.
HOLLY
(overlapping, sniffing)
Come on, Mickey. Come on.
MICKEY
(overlapping, gesturing)
But, no, you've been doing that all
night! You're gonna...you're gonna
burn a hole in your... You're gonna
develop a third nostril! Really,
(putting his hand on
Holly's shoulder)
don't, please.
While Mickey pleads with her, Holly puts her cocaine vial
into her purse. She holds a finger against one nostril and
sniffs. She then picks up her lit cigarette and continues
to smoke.
MICKEY
Can we, can we go?
HOLLY
(looking at the
offscreen hand,
bopping her head to
the music and smoking)
No!
MICKEY
(touching his ear in pain)
My--uh...
The camera leaves the crowded tables and moves back to the
band. The lead singers continues to sing with his band,
swaying his body to the music...
THE 39 STEPS
(singing)
"...Gonna buy the records
That they play on the radio..."
...as the film cuts abruptly to outside the rock club. The
music has stopped. Mickey and Holly, almost in dark
silhouette, are walking at a fast clip along the sidewalk,
arguing. They pass some lighted clothing store windows; a
few cars go by in the dark street.
HOLLY
(enthusiastically)
I love songs about extraterrestrial
life, don't you?
MICKEY
Not when they're sung by
extraterrestrials.