Waiting for Chester
Waiting for Chester - Treatment
TREATMENT: WGA REGISTRATION NO. 1900364
BOOK: “WAITING for CHESTER”
- by J. Kasper (Jozef Kasprzak)
SCREENPLAY: WGA REGISTRATION NO. 1892024
- by Pinaki Ghosh/Jozef Kasprzak
- adapted from book “Waiting for Chester"
WEBSITE: www.waitingforchester.com
GENRE
Feature Film/Television Series
TARGET AUDIENCE
Mature adults, Seniors and Youth appreciative of a wholesome expression of nostalgia. Boomers, energized by the magic of the 50s and 60s.
CHARACTERS
Joe
Before those high school years in the early 1960s, Joe is somewhat challenged by a timidness, (partly as a result of his exposure to a new land as well as the innocent ignorance of these times). Apart from an acceptably normal appearance and a willingness to belong, it is the unique people around him that influence his maturity.
Chester
As a comfortably affluent senior, he is easily approachable and displays a pleasantness of appearance. Chester provides Joe with casual employment around his modest lakefront home, that in the years to follow includes chauffeuring Chester to his favourite hotel venues. His friendship and support prove a dramatic influence on the remainder of Joe’s life.
Anita
An older sister of one of Joe’s friends, she is often noticed as a result of her sultry attractiveness. Soft-spoken and mysteriously noticeable, Anita’s rare exposure provides a dramatic influence on Joe’s maturity.
Jim
A few years older than Joe, he becomes a mentoring friend at school and as a work mate at a local service station.
Maton
A middle aged mechanic at the same service station, he proves a fascinating individual working alongside Joe and Jim.
Edna
A middle aged, flamboyant and busty blond, she makes occasional visits to the service station. Her dramatic moods are influenced significantly by her intake of alcohol.
Krys
A pleasantly attractive and sensitive gal that becomes Joe’s eventual soul mate.
STRUCTURE
Adapted from an autobiography, the Book and Spec Script Screenplay WAITING FOR CHESTER is receptive to the use of voice-over narration as witnessed in films such as Taxi Driver and Forrest Gump. Moreover, several scenes are warmly influenced by the background streaming of appropriate melodies of that time.
SYNOPSIS
As a Screenplay, born from the autobiography of the same name, "Waiting for Chester" relates the youthful adventures of the youngest member of an immigrant family. Arriving in Canada, from Europe in the early fifties and settling in an impoverished region of Hamilton Ontario, the lead character’s Family sets forth to evolve a suitably comfortable lifestyle. The fateful coincidence of events that transpired through family, friends and fascinating acquaintances sends an innocently ignorant seven-year old through an overwhelming journey toward maturity. This, often amusing cultivation toward adolescence proves ever more stimulating by his exposure to those magical high school years during the emergence of the Rock and Roll era. "Waiting for Chester" is a return to the chasteness of our youth and the morally wholesome side of life.
WAITING FOR CHESTER
INTRODUCTION:
- at present day:
“It was such a relief to escape the highway on this bitterly cold December evening. The traffic—while not particularly heavy—was challenged by snow flurries dancing over the occasional stretch of black ice. The wind continued to howl as I entered the refuge of an almost empty mall parking lot. Settling near a large department store, my dear lady alit from our car, scurrying into the brightly lit expanse to pick up a parcel. Meanwhile, a few empty rows ahead, my eyes were accidentally drawn to a late-model two-door as it sat idling within the glow of a light pole. Youthful in appearance, a couple sat huddled in the front seat. Their silhouettes appeared almost still. Both bundled in coats able to withstand a blizzard, they embraced gently with occasional soft kisses, pausing only to study each other with a release of emotion from within.”
- an untypical revelation:
“In this fast-paced world, driven by compounding schedules and the never-ending commitment to flighty electronic communication, it seemed so uncharacteristic to see youthful devotion interpreted in this manner. As they continued yielding to patience and adoration, I imagined an innocence of expression over their faces. Dialogue was not obvious or necessary as caressing hands swept through their hair with cautious gentleness and admiring concentration.”
- and a meaningful recollection:
“It seemed so appropriate to have my car radio tuned to “the oldies,” streaming “PEOPLE,” hauntingly and romantically interpreted by Barbra Streisand. Leaning my head back on the seat rest, this melody—along with the vision of enchantment before me—served as a clear reminder of a similar moment in my youth, so long ago.”
THE STORYLINE:
- the prevailing theme
With the Screenplay generally spanning his years from infancy through high school, JOE (JOZEF), the lead character and youngest of a family of five, follows the ambitious exploits of his caring parents as they start a life in Canada. His engagement with friends and classmates during these years, is pleasantly enhanced by an emerging Rock Era spilling over with countless melodies, expressed by uniquely defined artists. With succeeding school terms, Joe took notice of automobile classics cruising by with couples fused to one side as they approached the local A&W. His most memorable encounters were those involving the blossoming attraction and exposure to the female being. As with so many teenagers of that time, romantic attraction was usually accompanied by innocent ignorance.
Waiting for Chester suggests a film with a smattering of the boisterous antics of “American Graffiti”, the wholesome naivete demonstrated in “The Summer of 42” and the musical passion of “The Jersey Boys”. It is strongly felt that the movie goers of today are ready to embrace realistically charged productions again i.e. “La La Land.”
- the chronology
Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Joe’s Polish parents were taken into occupation in Germany, where they laboured on a farm for well-to-do estate owners. They never spoke harshly regarding their treatment. Joe was born in 1945 having a brother two and sister four.
In the seven years that followed, the Family lived in Belgium where Joe’s father laboured as a coal miner. As letters from friends, already in Canada surfaced, they were encouraged to follow.
After first settling in an impoverished East end of Hamilton, the Family applied themselves to accepting various jobs to promote their prosperity. Joe took on duties such as yard work for neighbours and delivering papers. After an attempt at worm picking proved a failure he found satisfaction in taking on work as a pin boy at a local bowling establishment.
Upon approaching his teen years and still somewhat affected by youthful shyness, it was the emergence of the early Rock stars and their enchanting melodies that helped melt any teenage animosities toward pretty gals sporting pony tails, poodle skirts and saddle shoes. His first slow dance was unforgettable.
Soon after, his Family’s moved to an acreage outside of town into an older farmhouse. Joe’s parents applied themselves to developing a market garden business on their five-acre plot. In the meantime, Joe had little problem in developing a circle of friends nearby. Living within a stone’s throw of Lake Ontario, their gang-like gatherings along the shores examined various means of sparking excitement and creative forms of mischief. Attempting to be cool, the group, mainly boys experimented with cigarettes while tinny transistor radios blared the hits of the day. Their favourite form of mischief was engaging with lovers in cars parked nearby, during the evening hours. One of the “Glover Road Gang”, as they were called, had a sister in her late teens that made the odd appearance to escort him home. She was often seen passing by in a car driven by her date. Anita, with a vixen like appearance, couldn’t help but be noticed. Comments about her often included exaggerated assumptions related to her virtue.
Joe’s most influential acquaintance was CHESTER (Chester Irving). He was elderly and retired. Rather slender and short in stature, he walked with a spring in his step. His thinning hair was combed back tightly. Chester’s most prominent feature was a rather large Jimmy Durante type nose. Always dapper in dress and upbeat in character, he was easy to accept as an employer when he requested Joe’s services with the yard work at his home. Little was it known that Chester would prove a dramatic influence on Joe’s life moving forward.
As the years progressed, Joe’s family experimented with various forms of farming without success. They continued to be resilient to life’s challenges and offered undying support to all three siblings.
Those high school years proved most exciting. Apart from the challenges with curriculum and studies, encounters also included sports of all types. With a greater appreciation of the female being came increased attention to dress and hair styles. Joe yearned to be one of those senior “Knights” in cool dress, sporting a ducktail hairdo with a Ford coupe visibly parked in the school yard. Seeing them driving by with a gal alongside and music blaring enchanting sounds, only added to this longing.
Innovations in lifestyle included the emergence of entertainment venues such as drive-in restaurants and theatres, race car tracks and uniquely restyled autos of all types to get you there.
The exciting events (not all successful or complimentary) that emerged in Joe’s teen years were the result of his dedication to belong. After gaining a driver’s licence, Chester approached him to act as a chauffer on evenings when he desired to visit his favourite hotel(s). It was generally speculated that Chester’s licence had been suspended because of driving under the influence. Those evenings, as Joe sat by waiting, proved intriguing indeed and led him to witness several interesting events.
Chester upgraded his cars, first to a new Chevy Impala and then one of the first Mustangs ever sold in the Hamilton area. Joe was more than thrilled especially since Chester permitted him to take them to school.
The most exciting encounters resulted from a job that Joe phased into at a local Shell service station, while still working for Chester. Over three years employed there, Joe worked alongside some interesting characters and was confronted with some unique situations.
After some humorously unusual encounters with used car salesmen, Joe eventually purchased his first car, a 53 Ford coupe. At school, he graduated socially to become one of the “Knights”, often seen driving by with a gal alongside. As a student, he worked hard to maintain above average grades with a vision to moving on to University.
Chester’s caring and generosity extended into a meaningful friendship that introduced him to sports like golf and boating. One summer, Joe was invited to drive Chester to visit his sister Myrtle in British Columbia. The trip besides being accompanied by some spectacular scenery led to some memorable moments with Myrtle’s family.
After some three weeks, the return drive from B.C. was accompanied by a most regrettable event. Chester continued to urge Joe to stop at hotels on route after only a few hours of driving.
With an eagerness to return home, Joe’s patience eventually wore thin and a falling-out transpired between the two. Although quite minor in nature it was one that, through their stubbornness, ended their friendship and association forever.
It had been previously rumoured that the small Family farm where Joe's family lived, was to be expropriated by the Municipality. Upon returning home Joe learns that the rumour is now fact and that his family had made plans to relocate to a larger acreage, attempting to start a business in fur farming.
It is this relocation that results in Joe meeting the daughter of a nearby rancher, also consumed in the raising of mink. His infatuation with this gal (KRYS) and the resulting courtship proves dynamically compelling. Unfortunately, her father considered Joe to be a threat to his family’s current way of life and soon tried to discourage any further courtship. After a long period of not seeing each other Joe and Krys were able to reunite.
On that final date, a dance party, they both returned home, on a cold winter evening. With the car idling in the driveway, Joe and Krys embraced, occasionally studying each other’s faces, while listening to Barbra Streisand’s hypnotic melody “People.”
-epilogue
It is that exact moment that was recollected upon witnessing the couple in the mall parking lot, so many years later, as described in the INTRODUCTION.
As the magic of those teen years drew to a close, the destiny that awaited Joe was more than unexpected. He postponed his university education to plan a binding union with his soul mate Krys. They married when he was twenty-one and she nineteen and set goals to develop a respectable family environment. While giving birth to two wonderful daughters, they continued their career paths with Joe reaching accreditation in Engineering while employed with a major Oil Company.
After several years of retirement and celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary, Joe understood that the most important thing Chester taught him was the importance of forgiveness. Not offering Chester similar mediation led to the end of his friendship. It was Krys who suggested maybe reaching some closure by investigating the span of Chester’s life. Upon locating Chester’s gravestone, Joe began sobbing, not by learning that he had died as expected, but that any pardon between the two of them was no longer possible.
CONCLUDING REMARKS:
Because of a respect for the music of those years, it is so often that hearing a certain melody reminds us all of an event from the past.
Apart from Barbra Streisand and her melody “People,” other scenes in the Screenplay “Waiting for Chester” included:
Tommy Edwards singing “It’s all in the Game”
The Silhouettes and “Get a Job”
Jimmy Rodgers and “Kisses Sweeter than Wine”
Elvis Presley and “One Night with You”
Connie Francis and “Where the Boys Are”
Del Shannon and “Handyman”
The Clovers and “Love Potion #9”
Elvis Presley and “Devil in Disguise”
Del Shannon and “Little Town Flirt”
The Animals and “The House of the Rising Sun”
(The Book “Waiting for Chester” enlists significantly more musical titles while expressing it’s storyline).