Racing to the Altar
In the summer of '65, four friends make a mad dash to Vegas to get married before midnight to avoid facing the Vietnam draft.
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I’m so old I remember that marriage was no excuse where the draft was concerned.
I have no idea if to get married was a real solution, you should check this.
Are the 4 friends 2 couples (better to specify), or do they get the brides on location?
I like this logline.
So they make a mad dash to Vegas, get married before midnight, avoid the draft, and then live happily ever after. Is that your story?
Lumieregirl has done her homework. The premise is based upon an actual historical event. On the afternoon of August 26, 1965, Eastern Standard Time without advance notice, President Johnson signed an executive order that any man who got married after midnight on that day would no longer automatically qualify for a draft deferment.
It was shortly after noon on the west coast. Still enough time for couples to race to Las Vegas and get married — Las Vegas because it was one of the few places where couples didn’t have to get a blood test and wait for the results. They could just show up and get hitched.
Their objective goal is clear, easy to understand: get married by midnight. They have a credible, powerful motivation: avoid the draft. There is a clear audio/visual marker to know whether they succeed or fail. Either they get to Vegas and say “I do” in time or they don’t. And there are so many possibilities for comedy and conflict, obstacles and complications in the 4 hours it takes to drive to Vegas from the L.A.
(What happens after they say “I do” is denouement and/or another story, another film.)
This is a fantastic story idea. Run — don’t walk — with it!
Main character must pursue a goal, maybe he reaches it maybe not, but that is always the end of the story – what is the problem? Assuming that get married can spare people from vietnam, some friends have 1 day to find 4 wifes and get married in las vegas. Hard to write sure, but if I understand correctly the concept, I found it interesting. There are many possibilities about the resolution, maybe they learn on the jurney that they can’t get married for this reason, etc etc… In some way it’s like American Pie, 4 friends swear to lose virginity before the school ends. Would you say : “So they find ladies, get laid, and then they go to college?” 🙂
FFF, maybe I misread it as two couples.
Great story idea. After reading dpg’s comments, I’m even more interested. If they’re four friends who need to find women to marry them before midnight, I think that needs to be spelled out more clearly. Maybe most people wouldn’t make my mistake of thinking the story’s about two couples, but don’t give them that opportunity. And maybe use an adjective or two to hint at the genre. I’m thinking comedy (mad dash), but it is a serious subject. This story could work well as both a straight out comedy, or as a serious social drama with comedic elements.
Good point, Lee Brooks. Is it about 4 guys trying to get married to 4 girls or 2 couples? And why not just focus on 1 guy trying to convince and transport 1 girl to Vegas before midnight? If it’s 4 guys, then there is the danger that the audiences emotional investment (cathexis) in the final answer to the dramatic question becomes divided 4 ways instead of concentrated/invested in one couple for maximum dramatic effect (catharsis).
Best to make it about one guy if the story ends after the marriage goal.
However if this story goes on after the marriage goal or is planned for a sequel better to have 4 guys. Look at Big Wednesday where there are four friends 3 try and dodge the draft 1 fails and is forced to enlist and 1 enlists on his own merits.
The group dynamic creates a dramatic premise when the friend that was forced to enlist dies and the one who wanted to enlist returns home.
I’m not sure if this story extends beyond the marriage goal or not but it sods like a good premise the logline needs clarification as to the exact end point of the story. Also as mentioned above by Lee and DPG it also needs clarity regarding who the group of friends are exactly.
Hope this helps.
But, many husbands were drafted. You should put it that they get married in Vegas and flee to Canada to avoid the Vietnam draft.
>>>But, many husbands were drafted.
IF they married after August 26, 1965 (in which case they no longer qualified for the marriage deferment).
So they are 2 couples, and it’s a speed race. I like it, but for those who are not familiar with the story It could be useful to specify that they are 2 couples in my opinion. I Still think that if it’s a comedy, they could be 4 boys that travel to vegas as many couples did to avoid the draft but they have to find the girls too. Very difficult and more heroic!