EXT. OCEANSIDE RESTAURANT IN KEY WEST – MORNING
An older man (around 59 years old) is sitting at one of the tables at an outdoor restaurant in Key West, sipping Cuban coffee, reading a book of quotations. At a nearby table are a beautiful young woman and handsome young man. They are wearing dark, expensive-looking sunglasses and have an air of celebrity. The older man notices a waitresses pointing at the couple and talking to another waitress.
WAITRESS:
“Who's that behind those Foster Grants?”
The older man recalls that the girl’s question started out as an ad slogan for Foster Grant sunglasses. According to the trademark file for the slogan in the US trademark database, it was first used in commerce on October 8, 1959.
The young male celebrity also overhears the waitress. He gives her a flirty grin and responds.
YOUNG MALE CELEBRITY:
“I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
A Yankee Doodle do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam’s,
Born on the Fourth of July.”
The older man remembers that those lines are from the song by George M. Cohan titled “Yankee Doodle Boy.” It was written for the stage show Little Johnny Jones, which was first performed in Hartford, Connecticut on October 8, 1904.
The young woman celebrity seems hurt that her male companion is paying more attention to the waitress than to her. She whispers to him.
YOUNG FEMALE CELEBRITY:
“Keep the home-fires burning.”
The older man overhears her and recalls that those words come from an old World War I song. The lyrics were written by Lena Guilbert Ford and the music was composed by Ivor Novello. It was first published as sheet music under the title “‘Till the Boys Come Home” on October 8, 1914, but the title was later changed to “Keep the Home-fires Burning.”
The young male celebrity, seems offended that the woman is trying to rein him in. He stands up angrily, pushes his chair back so fast it falls over and yells at her.
YOUNG MALE CELEBRITY:
“I am not a number – I am a free man!”
The older man is startled by the fact that the young man’s words come from one of his favorite TV series from the late Sixties, The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan. The line was used at the beginning of each episode starting with the second episode, "The Chimes of Big Ben," which originally aired in the UK on ITV on October 8, 1967. (An updated remake of the series begins airing this fall.)
The angry young male celebrity stalks off, leaving the beautiful young woman in tears.
The older man recalls a line from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was entered into England’s Stationers’ Register (Britain’s early version of a Copyright Office) on October 8, 1600. We hear the line echo in the older man’s mind.
VOICEOVER:
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
FADE OUT.
