INT. PSYCHOLOGISTS OFFICE - DAY
Mr Kringle is lying on a couch in Dr Steiner’s therapy suite
DR STEINER: 48, overweight, mostly bald, clean shaven, six feet tall, wearing a formal shirt and trousers.
DR STEINER: Mr Kringle, are you relaxed?
MR KRINGLE: Yes Bartholomew, I’m relaxed
DR STEINER: What are your earliest memories Mr Kringle?
MR KRINGLE: Growing up in Alabama in the 1860s
DR STEINER: What happens when you come back to reality.
MR KRINGLE: Did anyone tell you Doctor that you have an incredibly soothing voice. I could fall asleep on this couch.
DR STEINER: Tell me about the events leading up to your fall.
MR KRINGLE: Well, I was delivering Christmas presents when a lapse of concentration caused me to slip on the roof and well you know the rest.
DR STEINER: So you really think you’re Santa Claus?
MR KRINGLE: I guess you could describe me that way
DR STEINER: What would you say, Mr Kringle if I told you that there is a pill that can make all your fantasies and disconnect from reality disappear. I can prescribe a pill that will make you see everything that is real and nothing that is unreal so to speak.
MR KRINGLE: Why in heavens would I want to do that. Dreams and fantasies are a big part of what keeps people happy and for want of a better word, sane.
INT. PSYCHOLOGISTS OFFICE - EVENING
Duncan Hadley enters the Psychologists office.
DUNCAN HADLEY: So, doc, do you think you can help him?
DR STEINER: I’m afraid, he’s clearly delusional. I see it as a challenge, Mr Hadley. Unfortunately my fee will have to increase. It will take all my expertise.
DUNCAN HADLEY: Just how much exactly?
INT. HADLEY FAMILY HOME LIVING ROOM
TV Reporter Kelly Fay arranges to interview the Hadley family in their home.
KELLY FAY: Today, I am going to interview the Hadley family and the man who claims to be Santa Claus. Mr Kringle has just been released from hospital. What would you say to our viewers, Mr Kringle to convince them that you are the real Santa Claus?
MR KRINGLE: There is a reason why Santa Claus has eluded the media for so long. It is not my responsibility to convince people of my identity. It is my responsibility to bring joy to the world and children in particular.
KELLY FAY: Do you denounce your rivals who claim to also be Santa Claus?
MR KRINGLE: If they do a good job and brighten up peoples lives I can’t see what I would have to complain about.
KELLY FAY: Why do you think you fell off a roof? Don’t you think you should be used to negotiating rooves and chimneys with all your experience?
MR KRINGLE: Well, I’m not getting any younger.
KELLY FAY: Turning to you Christopher, what makes you so sure that Mr Kringle here isn’t just a bum off the street?
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: Mr Kringle is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met. He told me stories. Some were good and others, not so good, but if he says that he is Santa Claus then I believe him.
KELLY FAY: Duncan Hadley, how long do you think you can support this homeless man and give him food and lodgings just because he claims he is Santa Claus?
DUNCAN HADLEY: Well, eh. That’s something that we will have to discuss as a family.
EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND - LUNCH TIME
Horace McClintock approaches Christopher in the yard with Horace’s best friend Max Henreid
HORACE MCCLINTOCK: If it isn’t the boy who believes in Santa Claus. Why don’t you go home to mammy.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: Leave me alone Horace McDorace.
HORACE MCCLINTOCK: You’re just an airhead. Everyone knows that guy in your house isn’t Santa Claus. He’s just a fraud. Santa Claus doesn’t exist. He’s something that big companies use to sell things. My Dad says so.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: Mr Kringle is my best friend. He is real. I know he is. Your Dad is a liar.
HORACE MCCLINTOCK: I still say you’re an airhead. That hobo is going to make a fool out of you Hadley. He’s just a parasite.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: What’s a parasite?
HORACE MCCLINTOCK: It’s what my Dad calls him. A bloodsucker.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: I ought to thump you one Horace McDorace
HORACE MCCLINTOCK: Go ahead then
INT. HADLEY FAMILY HOME KITCHEN - EVENING
HADRIAN HADLEY: Dad, when I grow up, I want to be a Doctor.
DUNCAN HADLEY: Now son, becoming a Doctor isn’t easy. There are college fees and it takes a long time to qualify. A lot of money is needed. Money that your mother and I don’t have.
MELANIE HADLEY: Duncan, he’s only ten. Who knows what they want to be at ten years old?
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: When I grow up I want to be a toymaker like Mr Kringle. I want to make lots of toys for children, only I don’t want to live at the north pole.
DUNCAN HADLEY: Well son, it takes a lot of money to build your own factory. Don’t you think you should aim lower.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: What do you think Mr Kringle?
MR KRINGLE: Well I guess you don’t really know what a job is like until you’re immersed in it. As a toymaker, there were days when I had second thoughts, when things go wrong and toys either aren’t popular or don’t work. But the greatest thing of all is when it does work and when it does bring joy. Bringing joy is what my job is all about.
HADRIAN HADLEY: Only you’re not who you say you are.
MELANIE HADLEY: Hadrian!
HADRIAN HADLEY: Christopher should know the truth.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: I believe in you Mr Kringle
MR KRINGLE: I know you do Christopher. And one day Hadrian will too.
INT. OFFICE OF HARDECKER & CO - MORNING
MR HARDECKER: Come in Hadley. Myself and my son watched the news last night. We saw your interview. I don’t think I made myself clear. You will get one more chance. Throw this hobo onto the street or you will lose your job. Am I clear?
DUNCAN HADLEY: But sir, it will crush my son. He adores Mr Kringle.
MR HARDECKER: This is your last warning Hadley. I can’t have this imposter infecting children’s minds and particularly that of my son.
DUNCAN HADLEY: Yes Mr Hardecker.
INT. HADLEY FAMILY HOME CHILDRENS BEDROOM
Duncan Hadley enters the children’s bedroom.
DUNCAN HADLEY: Hadrian, can you leave myself and Christopher alone?
HADRIAN HADLEY: Yes Dad
Hadrian leaves the room
DUNCAN HADLEY: Christopher, do you remember the pet rabbit you named Furball
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: Yes Dad
DUNCAN HADLEY: You loved that rabbit until the day he died, didn’t you?
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: Yes Dad
DUNCAN HADLEY: Well son, there is a time with everything we love, where they will have to leave us.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: What are you talking about?
DUNCAN HADLEY: I have decided that once Mr Kringle’s leg heals well enough, we will have to leave him to make his own way in this world.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: You want to throw Mr Kringle out on the street?
DUNCAN HADLEY: Not exactly. There are plenty of job opportunities in this world for an out of work Santa Claus. He just needs to find an alternative career path.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: But Dad, he is Santa Claus. He has the most important job in the world.
DUNCAN HADLEY: I’m afraid son that there is no easy way of saying this. He has to go.
Christopher becomes emotional
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: No Dad you can’t
DUNCAN HADLEY: I’ve made my decision and it is final.
INT. HADLEY FAMILY HOME KITCHEN - EVENING
MR KRINGLE: I have enjoyed my stay here Mrs Hadley and your cooking is as good as Mrs Kringle
MELANIE HADLEY: There is a Mrs Kringle?
MR KRINGLE: Well sadly she passed away when she was 124.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: Mr Kringle, my Dad says that now that your leg has healed it is time for you to be leaving us.
MR KRINGLE: Christopher, I knew that this day would come. Your Father, finds it hard enough to support you and the rest of the family. I will be forever grateful for that.
CHRISTOPHER HADLEY: I wish you could stay.
MR KRINGLE : All good things come to an end, Christopher.
INT. SMALL APARTMENT IN THE CITY - DAY
Mr Clayton, the landlord, shows Mr Kringle a one room apartment.
MR CLAYTON: Six Feet one inch tall, thinning fair hair, 47, slim build, wearing a beige shirt and chequered trousers.
MR CLAYTON: Mr Hadley has kindly paid a deposit and two months rent. Thereafter you will have to pay your own way. What are you going to do?
MR KRINGLE : I will have to find employment
MR CLAYTON: As you can see, this is a one room apartment. You’ve got your bed, your shower and your kitchen all in the one room. The shower is a bit temperamental so be gentle. Blue is hot. Red is cold. Only one of the thingamagigs on the hob actually works and the heating doesn’t work, so it might be a little cold.
MR KRINGLE: I’m quite used to the cold Mr Clayton
MR CLAYTON: Is that a fact?
MR KRINGLE: If anything Mr Clayton, I will try to leave it in a better state than I received it in.
MR CLAYTON: Well it is quite clean, aside from the crumbs on the kitchen counter and the stains on the carpet.
MR KRINGLE: Yes, Mr Clayton it will do quite nicely.
MR CLAYTON: Kringle eh? I can’t say, I’ve met many Kringles in my time. Are you from around here?
MR KRINGLE: You could say that I come from up north.
MR CLAYTON: Is that a fact? Well I guess I’ll let you get settled in.
INT. EMPLOYMENT OFFICE - MORNING
Mr Kringle attends the local employment office. Where he is being served by Mrs Smitz
MRS SMITZ: Five Feet eight inches, shoulder length dark hair, 42, three stone overweight, dressed in a red suit and white blouse.
MRS SMITZ: Ok, Mister, your form is almost completely blank.
MR KRINGLE: Well I’ve never been in paid employment until now.
MRS SMITZ: You’ve claimed welfare haven’t you?
MR KRINGLE: No, I haven’t
MRS SMITZ: What have you been surviving on?
MR KRINGLE: Mainly milk and cookies
MRS SMITZ: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
MR KRINGLE: I guess, up to now, people have been kind to me.
MRS SMITZ: Your date of birth looks a little off. By about a hundred years. If I put this into the system it will probably cause a computer meltdown. What’s your real date of birth? You don’t look a day over forty five
MR KRINGLE: Why thank you.
MRS SMITZ: Do you have any identification to corroborate your date of birth, such as a passport or driving licence.
MR KRINGLE: The only thing I’ve ever driven is a sleigh and I usually fly by night under the radar so to speak.
MRS SMITZ: A regular wise ass. I can’t complete any request for welfare or help you find work unless you provide me with information.
MR KRINGLE: I guess I’ll have to look elsewhere. Thank you for your time.
INT. KITCHEN OF A RESTAURANT - EVENING
Mr Kringle is lead through a large kithen of a restaurant by Herb Alvarez, the owner.
HERB ALVAREZ: 41, FIVE FEET FOUR INCHES, THINNING DARK AND GREY HAIR, SLIGHTLY OVERWEIGHT, WEARING A WHITE SHIRT WITH SLEEVES ROLLED UP TO HIS ELBOWS AND BLACK JEANS.
HERB ALVAREZ: Frankly, I don’t care if you’re off the books or not. It’s hard to find a kitchen cleaner nowadays, but if the IRS come calling I expect you to run as far and as fast as you can. Most people who take this job don’t provide tax numbers and don’t last long. Are you sure you can stick the work?
MR KRINGLE: I’m used to a lot of hard work Mr Alvarez. I’m used to working 364 days a year and 365 if it’s a leap year.
HERB ALVAREZ: Well if you want to work 364 days a year Mr Kringle, I won’t stop you. It doesn’t comply with regulations, but sod regulations eh?
In front of Mr Kringle is a pile of pots and pans in a sink
HERB ALVAREZ: So, you have a number of pots and pans to clean and also, don’t forget the dishes over there. I trust I don’t have to show you how to operate the dishwasher?
MR KRINGLE: I’m sure I’ll get the knack of it Mr Alvarez
HERB ALVAREZ: Please call me Herb. 365 days a year eh? I’m sure we’ll just get along fine.
EXT. COUNTRYSIDE OUTSIDE CITY - MORNING
Mr Kringle is wandering the countryside.
MR KRINGLE (shouting while looking around): Rudolf, Rudolf, Rudolf
A van passes. A man sticks his head outside the van window.
VAN DRIVER: What happened old man? Did you lose your marbles?
MR KRINGLE: Rudolf, Rudolf
A man approaches.
PEDESTRIAN: Have you lost your grandson?
MR KRINGLE: No. My reindeer.
PEDESTRIAN: Just how many have you lost?
MR KRINGLE: Six
PEDESTRIAN: Six reindeer this far south in the heat of the summer? They wouldn’t survive. Who do you think you are anyway? Santa Claus?
Mr Kringle has a dejected look on his face.