NEWS FOR THE CADDYMAN, Wash's Project : Movies : Amazon Studios

NEWS FOR THE CADDYMAN

Former girl-in-every-port sailor nuisance-parks beat-up Cadillacs to lure one no-shit meter maid. Is this the bastard daughter/demo race driver he longs to meet but can’t?

Synopsis:
SPEC PERRY, when he was in town, used to poke fun at local girls, see? But one took him serious and got pregnant. Spec split before his daughter A.B. was born—that was his way. Private detectives said the mom died, A.B. moved back to Seattle, working as a meter maid. So Spec moved to town, to get next to her. But how to get to know her?
In forced retirement, he saves Cadillacs of his youth, parks anywhere, moving them just before tickets are issued. Spec’s a nuisance, giving lifts to street people, a mission pastor, even a mongrel dog with loose bladder at big moments. Spec and AB continually tangle over his mis-parked cars. Spec yells at A.B. in frustration, is jailed for assault. A.B. later bails him out.
During Spec's jail stay, some of the Caddys get towed. At the impound auction, Spec meets A.B. and DEALER DAN, heir to the family Cadillac dealership, whose heart is in acting (seen in many stage & screen personae he breaks into often). Both have come to bid, too.
Spec beats all comers in the bidding, but needs help getting the Caddys home. A.B. and Dan drive a Caddy to Spec’s motor home. There, Dan lusts for a special Caddy of Spec’s. When Spec drives A.B. and Dan back to town; they fight like the former lovers they are. A.B. wanted Dan to sponsor a racing team with her as driver. Like mom, like daughter, A.B. got pregnant instead. And got rid of the baby, got a racing license and was involved in another driver's fatality.
While eating in a Skid Road mission, Spec hears a sermon on reconciliation. He storms out, looking for A.B. and ends up saving her from an accident. He pries out of her what happened to her baby: “Didn’t want her to turn out like me.”
Spec disrupts a commercial shoot with Dan as an outrageous George C. Scott/George Patton, to inform Dan of details he never knew. Dan's true long-standing feelings for “Annie” (A.B.) are revealed.
Spec’s court hearing: comedy of errors: wrong building…he's late…prosecutor's out to make a name…Dan posing as an art critic. The judge gets to the bottom of it: how Spec located A.B. by detectives, trailed her, saved her life. The D.A. accuses A.B. of favoritism, ticketing Spec but a few times for many offenses. She’s suspended and not happy with Spec’s further recalls of her mom the night A.B. was conceived. But she warns Spec the county D.A. is checking licenses on Caddys.
A motley crew of street people help convoy Spec’s beater Caddys out of the county, past a fairground race course where they help A. B. get going with an impromptu demolition derby race. Spec gives A.B. a Caddy, his other cars become competitors and Spec drives, too. The promoter’s truck smashes him and Spec has a stroke.
Still later, Dan sponsors a real demolition derby team (“till the cars run out”). A.B. drives, stroke-ridden Spec attends, enjoying his last moments. Back at the dealership, new-mom A.B. brings new son to new-husband Dan. A cynical car shopper thinks it’s an urban myth of happy endings. Dealer Dan’s son gives the shopper a noise of disdain as the Dog soils the snotty shopper’s shoes. Yes!

Latest Work

Creator: Wash Phillips
Genres: Comedy, Drama
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4.8 stars

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Creative Notes:

This screenplay has been revised several times over maybe 10 years. Being a fusion of comedy and drama, NEWS FOR THE CADDYMAN takes time to be bawdy in one instance and bittersweet in another and even laugh-out-loud elsewhere. Some readers have said it has the feel of a genre piece (but are unable to say what genre that is). Expect the unexpected.