Script File

GONIES

LOGLINE: During the 1940’s, a dangerous old man goes after two little boys, who end up tormenting him.
SYNOPSIS: Imagine Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn growing up in Oakland California in the 1940’s in a large family with a small budget – two clever little kids who find ingenious and delightful ways to overcome life’s inequities and create a spiritual plane on which they can slide.
Phillip and Dickie provide us little boy insight into life in the 1940’s as they cope with tension-filled events in their quest to 1) prove that an old man is responsible for a child’s disappearance and 2) find ways to overcome the disadvantages inherent in growing up in a family of meager means.
Phillip and Dickie take on the responsibility of providing candy, popcorn, coke, and Bon Bons for the children (and themselves, of course) for the Saturday movies because their parents cannot afford to provide the money for such embellishments.
Their little boy curiosity and a suggestion by Walter Finale lead them to investigate Devereaux’s involvement in Michael Murphy’s disappearance. Throughout the movie, the boys rely heavily on the advice of 14-year-old Walter Finale, who the boys believe is the source of all the truths necessary for understanding their world.
Walter’s suggestions and their own sense of justice get them involved in often funny self-concocted solutions for creating a more equitable world. GONIES is a grade school primer on problem solving, on the drawbacks of taking shortcuts to success, on decision-making grounded in ethical if not technically “legal’ strategies.
Phillip and Dickie’s most serious troubles begin when they confront Mr. Devereaux, who does not want them on his property and will do anything to keep them out. When Devereaux attacks the boys for trespassing, Phillip and Dickie feel they are obligated, on principle, to respond. However, the boys greatly underestimate the danger Devereaux poses, despite Devereaux’s obvious meanness, even after they obtain some evidence that Devereaux may be responsible for Michael Murphy’s disappearance.
When the boys begin to search for clues to prove that Devereaux murdered Michael Murphy, the ongoing confrontations escalate. Comic episodes, interposed among the battles, provide a counterpoint to what would otherwise be a dark story. This is an “injun Joe” story, not a Friday the 13th.
At the end, the boys have a hand in Devereaux’s death, and they help reveal that Devereaux did kill Michael Murphy.

  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Historical
  • Number of Pages:
    110
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • MAC FILM FESTIVAL
    BRAZIL
    September 7, 2015
    FINALIST
  • MILAN FILM FESTIVAL
    Milan, Italy
    September 1, 2015
    finalist
  • MALLORCA FILM FESTIVAL
    SPAIN
    October 10, 2015
    FINALIST
  • SCREENPLAY FESTIVAL

    December 31, 2015
    semi finalist
  • RICHMOND FILM FEST
    RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
    November 29, 2015
    QUARTER FINALIST
Writer Biography

Editor, base newspaper Oakland Army Terminal, Oakland, CA. Radio newswriter, American Forces Network (AFN) Frankfurt, Germany. Author of the novel PHILLIP & DICKIE, from which the screenplay GONIES was adapted. Editor of YOU CAN COPE, a self-help psych book published by Prentice-Hall. Author of the textbook, WORDSHOP, an innovative vocabulary text for ESL students. Textbook editor for various publishers. Honorable Mention from Writers Digest for excerpt from PHILLIP & DICKIE.

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Writer Statement

If you liked Tom Sawyer, you're going to love GONIES, and this one actually has an ending.