Short screenplay for the Sept 2016 "Time Machine" contest.

KILLING HITLER

OVER BLACK

A huge crowd CHEERS, hundreds of thousands of throats shout
a name, over and over...

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER


FADE IN:

INT. ACCESS STAIRWAY - SPORTS STADIUM - DAY

A NAZI BROWNSHIRT SOLDIER wearing Swastika armbands lies
unconscious, his forehead bloody.

Outside, the chant continues:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER

EXT. STADIUM UPPER STANDS WALKWAY - DAY

A lone figure skulks between pillars, keeping low.

The chant continues:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER


INT. STADIUM - PILLAR - DAY

The figure -- let's call him SMITH -- crouches down with his
back against a pillar.

He opens a leather satchel.  He takes out parts of a rifle.
He snaps them together expertly.

The chant continues:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER

Smith stands up and peeks out from behind the pillar.


STOCK FOOTAGE:  NAZI RALLY

Adolf fvcking Hitler smiles at an audience of diehard Nazis
who hang on his every evil word.

They thrust their right arms out and chant at their rock
star Fuhrer:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER


INT. STADIUM - PILLAR - DAY

Smith squints through his rifle's telescope sight.  Makes
adjustments.

He flicks a switch.  A RED LASER LIGHT SHINES.


EXT. PODIUM - DAY

Hitler smiles and gives his trademark limp arm salute.

The crowd chants:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER

                         EXCITED WOMAN (V.O.)
             Ich liebe dich, Mein Fuhrer!
                  (English subtitle:)
             I love you, my Fuhrer!

                         HITLER
             Danke, danke, ich bin hier die
             ganze Woche.
                  (English subtitle:)
             Thank you, thank you, I'm here
             all week.

A red light spot touches Hitler's chest, right over his black
heart.

BLAM!  Hitler clutches his chest and reels back from the
microphone.

Horrified SCREAMING from tens of thousands of throats.

                         EXCITED WOMAN (V.O.)
             Nein!  Mein Fuhrer!
                  (English subtitle:)
             No!  My Fuhrer!


INT. STADIUM - PILLAR - DAY

Smith crouches down and hastily disassembles his rifle,
dropping the parts back into the leather satchel.

HEAVY FOOTSTEPS give him cause for panic.

Suddenly he's surrounded by NAZI GUARDS who cover him with
their machine pistols.

Smith slowly puts down the leather satchel and raises his
hands.  He smiles the smile of a man who knows he has already
won.

                         SMITH
             Too late, you Nazi swine, I got
             him.  Do your worst.

                         NAZI OFFICER
             Bringt ihn zu den Fuhrer!
                  (English subtitle:)
             Bring him to the leader!

Hands grab Smith and roughly drag him up.


INT. OFFICE - DAY

NAZI GUARDS force Smith to sit down in a chair.  They secure
his wrists to the chair's arm rests with steel clamps.  They
step back and snap to attention.

Smith looks around.  Maybe wondering why he's still alive.

A NAZI wearing a brownshirt uniform stands looking out the
window, his back to Smith.

Smith frowns, this guy looks kinda familiar...

                         ADOLF HITLER
             Your weapon is quite sophisticated.
             But I have seen its like before.
             And no doubt will see it again.

In the background, the stadium crowd chants:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER

Hearing this, Smith is confused.

                         ADOLF HITLER
             You wonder why the crowd continues
             to cheer.  You should know that
             the Fuhrer made a remarkable
             recovery and returned to the podium.

Smith frowns, trying to figure this out.  Who IS this guy?

                         ADOLF HITLER
             No one suspects he died, as a
             result of your bullet, and has
             been replaced.

Smith shakes his head, this is crazy.

The Nazi turns around to face him.

Smith's eyes widen in astonishment!

The Nazi looks like Hitler!  Same evil face, same evil
mustache.

                         SMITH
             My God!  You're a clone!

Enraged, Hitler bounds forward and slaps Smith so hard that
his chair falls over onto its side, he goes down with it, ow!

                         ADOLF HITLER
             INSOLENT SCHWEINHUND!  I AM NO
             CLONE.

The Nazi guards lift Smith and the chair upright again.
Smith's dazed and bleeding from the mouth.

                         SMITH
             My mistake, I do apologize.

Hitler's rage switches off, just like that.

                         ADOLF HITLER
             But the cloning process is only
             one-half of the miracle.  The
             second half would not even be
             possible, if not for you time
             travelers.

Smith reacts with surprise!  Then tries to hide it.  Emoting
required.

                         SMITH
             I have no idea what you're--

                         ADOLF HITLER
             Come, now.  I know what you are.
             You jumped here from our future,
             did you not?  Your weapon confirms
             this.  Do you think you are the
             first?  There have been many
             before you.  All of you leaped
             back through time with the idea
             that assassinating me will change
             history for the better.

He leans in close and shouts in Smith's face:

                         ADOLF HITLER
             IT NEVER DOES.  HA!

Hitler struts back to the window, laughing an evil laugh.

                         ADOLF HITLER
             We have seen many sophisticated
             weapons and inventions from the
             future.  Including a clever device
             capable of recording brain patterns.

Smith is intensely interested in hearing about this!

                         ADOLF HITLER
             Its owner died before he could
             explain his intentions.  Perhaps
             he wished to make a copy of my
             mind for posterity, so that it
             might be examined by future
             philosophers?  This is the only
             logical explanation.

Smith begins to understand...

                         SMITH
             You used this device... to write
             your brain patterns into the blank
             minds of your clones.

Hitler puts a finger to his own nose and points at Smith
with his other hand.  You got it!

The stadium crowd is still chanting:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER

                         ADOLF HITLER
             So you see, your actions have
             proven futile.  You shot a clone.
             A decoy.  His death is meaningless.
             I can easily make others.

                         SMITH
             Damn all you Nazis to Hell.

A NAZI DOCTOR in a white coat enters, pushing a trolley laid
out with gleaming surgical instruments.

                         SMITH
             Two sugars with just a splash of
             milk, please.

                         ADOLF HITLER
             You will tell us everything we
             wish to know of your future world.
             So we can better prepare for
             conquering it.

The Nazi Doctor picks up a surgical saw and touches the blade
with his thumb, producing a droplet of red blood.  He grins
at Smith.  A sadist who loves his work.

                         SMITH
             I would venture to guess that if
             you're here, the brain pattern
             recorder can't be far away.  You
             would want to keep refreshing the
             image so it's always up to date.

                         ADOLF HITLER
             The machine's location is of no
             importance to you.  You should be
             concerned with your own situation.

                         SMITH
             You really should have taken my
             wristwatch.

                         ADOLF HITLER
             What nonsense do you speak?

                         SMITH
             But of course, you've never
             watched any Bond movies, have you?
             A great pity.  Maybe learning
             that the villain never gets away
             with his plans for world
             domination would have been
             educational for you.

Hitler frowns, struggling to understand.  He looks at Smith's
wrist.

SMITH'S WRISTWATCH

The dial glows.

                         HITLER
             Schneiden Sie seine Hand!  Holen
             Sie sich das Uhr!  Schnell!
                  (English subtitle:)
             Cut off his hand!  Get the
             timepiece!  Quickly!

The Nazi guards leap forward and grab Smith's arms.

The Nazi Doctor brings his saw down on Smith's wrist.

Smith smiles at Hitler.  Too late, Nazi scum!

Hitler's eyes widen in horrified realization.

SCREEN WHITE OUT

A DEAFENING EXPLOSION

FADE TO BLACK

A beat.  Then...

                         EXCITED WOMAN (V.O.)
             Ich liebe dich, Mein Fuhrer!
                  (English subtitle:)
             I love you, my Fuhrer!

An excited crowd chants:

             HITLER
             HITLER
             HITLER

The End.





Here are the results for the Hot Tubs & Time Machines Contest:

                                     1st 2nd 3rd Total
The Third Option - 14001              1   5       13
The Long Game - Southern_land                 1    1
Unneeded - Centos                     2   1   1    9
The Amazing Story... - Road Warrior           3    3
Tim's Time Express - StoryWriter      2   1   1    9
Kronos - Crayon                       1       1    4
Killing Hitler - dpaterso             1            3

Join me in offering congrats to 14001 for attracting most votes with
The Third Option. Well done that writer. Runner-up congrats to Centos
and StoryWriter for your efforts.

1st place vote = 3 points, 2nd = 2 points, 3rd = 1 point. All the
contestants voted, so no need for a voting bonus. Thanks everyone
for taking part and making the contest possible.

For those who didn't score as highly as they might have wished: this
doesn't mean your script was crap, it just means this particular group
happened to vote for other entries. You've just had practice writing
to theme and deadline, which is possibly the main purpose of these
little fun contests, so well done for that.

Comments are invited in this thread. Feel free to tell the world
why you think your superior entry should have won!