THE FASTEST WOMAN ALIVE
"A thrilling play...amazing…a marvel…unfolds like a rocket…a wonder it’s not in a Broadway theatre”
“...like TOP GUN for women…empowering piece; its effect is undeniable. I left feeling proud to be a woman.”
“Funny and thrilling… Simultaneous action and jump cuts... directors and casts will find the play foolproof. Because it's a cinematic natural, expect Jackie to zoom around the big screen.
Thrills of a 3-ring circus on a dime--
Jackie Cochran begins as barefoot starving white trash, becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier; buddies with Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, Ike, LBJ; founds the WASP and Mercury 13, captures and holds more flight records than any pilot ever.
ABOUT JACKIE --
The astonishing and glamorous Jackie Cochran soared through life. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier; she battled the military to create WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), 1,000 women who risked their lives flying more than 75-million miles while testing and ferrying every military aircraft flown in World War II. She was named Business Woman of the Year, became a soul-mate to both Amelia Earhart and Chuck Yeager, and to this day she holds more flight records than any man or woman who ever lived. The Fastest Woman Alive whirls us through her adventurous life in dramatic and touching scenes giving us a picture of this quintessential American who began her life in hopeless circumstances, seized her dream, and achieved more than anyone imagined was possible.
FASTEST was born at the insistence of
JOHN LARS EICKELBERG
a design engineer at Boeing Aircraft
after he wondered why
they had a "Cochran Conference Room"
THE FASTEST WOMAN ALIVE
EXT. SKY - DAY
A clear blue sky - empty of all but a few clouds. All is quiet. Then...!
EXPLOSION OF JET ENGINES: Two silver jets blast upward cutting through sky.
INT. SABRE JET F-86 - DAY
JACKIE COCHRAN, ravishing blonde, 45, eyes on sky, ecstatic.
Radio buzz-
YEAGER (RADIO VO)
Tell the tower you’re going
for it, Jackie.
JACKIE
Why worry ‘em? 25,000 feet.
EXT. TWO F-86 JETS - DAY
Jets climbing together at incredible speed.
EXT./INT. SABRE JETS - DAY
CHUCK YEAGER, 30, easy grin after years of combat, wing on wing with Jackie.
JACKIE (RADIO VO)
Don’t fly so close to
me, Yeager!
YEAGER
Gotta see your hands on the
controls, Jackie.
INT. SABRE JET - DAY
Jackie opens throttle, surging higher. Altimeter: 37,000
feet. She looks at sun but SEES A GRASS FIRE.
INT. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CONTROL TOWER - DAY
US Air Force and Canadair MONITORS eagerly scan dials and sky.
CHART reads: “May 19, 1953; Jackie Cochran, pilot, test flight #3, Sabrejet F-86. Maj Charles “Chuck” Yeager flying chase. Take-off 8:05 AM.
MONITOR
She’s still climbing. Which
test is this?
EXT./INT. SABRE JETS - DAY/NIGHT
Jackie thrilled, seeing daylight fade to stars. Altimeter:
47,000.
JACKIE (VO)
My God. Stars!
They are in clear space night. Millions of stars.
INT. or EXT. of either jet
YEAGER (VO)
Most guys would look back
to earth. Now, Jackie...
JACKIE (VO)
I’m ready, Yeager.
YEAGER (VO)
...a pack of mighty men lost
nerve half-way down. There’s
no skin off no lady who
does.
JACKIE (VO)
I’m diving now. You can sit
up here working your jaw, or
you can come along.
Jackie splits an S curve, dives full-throttle straight down.
Blood rush to her head.
YEAGER (VO)
Damn, woman!
Yeager peals off to “chase.” Jackie’s plane shaking. She holds
tight.
YEAGER (VO)
Speed?!
JACKIE (VO)
Mach .(point) 96... Shit.
YEAGER (VO)
Your right wing’s dropping.
Talk to me.
Jackie’s wing twisting, about to snap off; the other starts dipping.
JACKIE (VO)
I can’t seem to... .97
YEAGER (VO)
Stay conscious. Jackie?
JACKIE (VO)
Don’t know if I can....98.
Violent shaking. Jackie works controls; they do not respond.
JACKIE (VO CONTD)
Nothing works. We’re about
to explode. .99. Ahhh...!
(Her yell echoes on into-)
VO CHEERS of crowd.
[as Jackie becomes 1st female to break the sound barrier]
Director Randi Minjauw