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[phone ringing]
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Okay.
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Pitch me on slate.
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So, we are moving forward
with Every Dame Needs a Fella,
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a comedy where Gene Tierney,
posing as a nun,
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tricks William Holden into marrying her.
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Gene Tierney.
She's got an ass on her, right?
8
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Then there's Tippecanoe.
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Humphrey Bogart plays future president
William Henry Harrison
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as he slaughters the Shawnee.
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[laughs]
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[exhales]
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What's with the long face?
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These movies are embarrassing.
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They are not up to the standards
of this studio.
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I run the studio.
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Let me determine what
or what is not beneath the standards.
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These are good pictures. They're hits.
I like them.
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I don't mind making movies
that are popular.
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I do mind making movies that are idiotic.
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These movies are idiotic,
and you pay me to tell you that.
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Richard has a picture
that we are very excited about.
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It's about Peg Entwistle,
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the young actress who jumped off
the Hollywoodland sign.
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It's about fame and ambition
and what Hollywood does to people.
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Yeah, my daughter wants a test for that.
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Oh, Ace, imagine what it would be like
to see Claire win an Oscar?
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It would be terrible! Can you imagine that
girl running around town with an Oscar?
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I mean, she'd take it everywhere.
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She'll figure out a way
to turn it into a dining utensil.
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-No, no. I don't want it.
-Ace,
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you could win an Oscar with this picture.
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Dick, I just won two Oscars.
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Let me tell you something.
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After you've won eight Oscars,
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there's no thrill
to winning another Oscar.
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You know what the thrill is?
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Money. That's the thrill.
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This is what I want. Write it down.
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Tits, sword-and-sandal,
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and, uh, you can throw in, uh,
a picture with a boy and a dog.
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Uh, maybe the dog dies at the end.
Maybe the kid has to kill the dog.
43
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You figure it out.
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Ace, I will make all of those pictures
for you, but you got to give me Peg.
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-What's the budget?
-400,000, all in-house players.
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You got 75.
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Ace, we have to build
a Hollywoodland sign!
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So you have her jump off
the Hollywood Bowl!
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Seventy-five is all you get.
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Now, get out of here.
Let me finish my lunch.
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Oh, Ace.
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[Archie] Raymond, I don't understand.
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All the studio agreed to
was a screen test.
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So you expect me to overhaul my script,
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a script the studio was fine
with buying as-is.
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It wouldn't be a complete rewrite.
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Really just the--
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the main character's name,
from Peg to Meg.
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[Archie] Camille, I'm sure you're grand,
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but with you as the star
and me as the writer,
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it becomes a message picture,
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for colored folks, limited distribution.
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Now y'all know that.
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Now, I didn't come to Hollywood
to make those kinds of pictures.
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Just like I didn't set out
to play domestics.
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I wrote Peg to prove my writing
was not limited by my race.
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That I can write for anyone.
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That I can write about a white girl from
London who grew up in New York City--
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I think we're getting a little ahead
of ourselves. It's just a screen test.
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Stop saying that, Raymond.
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Even if no one outside the studio
sees my screen test,
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it's still proof that a woman of color
could carry a picture.
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Miss Stinson!
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I'm off.
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What are we telling Mrs. Amberg?
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You'll be at a distributors conference
in Fresno,
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where they're testing out
a new movie format.
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Great, and, uh,
you got the hacienda I like?
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Yes, sir, and 100 roses in the bedroom,
like you asked.
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-You're a genius!
-Thank you.
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Have a great weekend, Mr. Amberg.
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Who are you?
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00:03:47,602 --> 00:03:49,979
Uh, I'm-- I'm Raymond Ainsley, sir.
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Uh, I'm directing Peg.
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Camille Washington,
I'm one of your contract players.
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-[Ace] And who's he?
-I wrote it.
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Wrote what?
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Peg.
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I just don't get the impression
this Rock Hudson is very good.
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I think we should give
the kid a shot.
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If he's terrible, I'll talk to Henry.
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A colored writer?
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What the fuck kind of commie bullshit
are you trying to pull on me?
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And were you gonna clue me in
on your plans to sink the fucking studio?
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The script was a blind submission.
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Have either of you fuckwits
ever heard of the Hays Code?
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Ace, there is no deviant sexual behavior
in this picture.
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There's no interracial relationships.
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Repellent subject matter!
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Anti-national feeling!
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And then they're gonna throw us out
of every movie theater in the South
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for a generation!
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Ace, he's the writer.
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He isn't a face up on the screen.
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Never, in the history of Hollywood,
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has there ever been a motion picture
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made by a motion picture studio
for a mainstream audience
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written by a colored person!
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And I'm not gonna be the first!
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All right, look.
We're gonna tell this guy,
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"Thank you very much for your services,"
and we go find a new writer.
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This script does not need a rewrite.
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Fine,
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then we slap somebody else's name on it,
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we pay him to sit on the set
and nod approvingly
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while the actors don't fuck up the lines.
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And last time I looked, it doesn't say
the "Dick and Ellen Studios."
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It's Ace Pictures!
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Now get this the fuck done, okay?
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[big band music playing]
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[bell dings]
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["Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall"
by the Ink Spots playing]
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♪ Into each life ♪
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♪ Some rain must fall ♪
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♪ But too much is falling in mine ♪
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-[Jack] Hey Arch, need a hand?
-Hey.
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-Uh, no, I'm just replacing the fuel pump.
-Oh, well, let me do that.
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Listen, I've been meaning to talk to you.
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Uh, I know you're just the writer,
and the director and producer,
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they call the shots, but...
131
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I got an audition for Peg.
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The boyfriend, Sam Harrington.
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-Great role by the way.
-Yeah. Uh-huh.
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And-- and I was wondering if, uh...
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If maybe you'd feel comfortable
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putting in a good word for me.
I know Rock Hudson's also auditioning
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and I don't want to come
between you and him, but...
138
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I just got a feeling, you know?
I got a feeling I'm better for the role.
139
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Why you think you're better than him?
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You seen him act?
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Well, no... [chuckles]
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-But--
-And I haven't seen you act, so...
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how can I put in a good word?
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[Jack] All I'm saying is
Rock's taken care of, you know?
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He's gonna be fine.
He's got that big-time agent, you know?
146
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I got nobody. I'm just...
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I'm alone in this town, so...
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-All I got is a dream.
-Jack.
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[voice shaking]
What about my dream?
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You think you're alone?
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Ain't nobody more alone
in this town than me.
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I barely got my foot in the door,
you asking me to help you!
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Choose you!
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[dramatic music playing]
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[crying]
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Well, ain't nobody ever chosen me, Jack.
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I just...
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I got a wife at home.
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00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,025
I got twins on the way, and...
160
00:08:04,567 --> 00:08:06,110
I'm out here turning tricks.
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If Henrietta ever finds out about this,
she's gone.
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I wanna provide for my family.
I wanna do it the right way.
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I don't wanna do this anymore.
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You can help me do it the right way, Arch.
165
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I hear you, okay?
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But what you need to do
is go into that audition
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and be so good, they can't help
but give you that part.
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[crying]
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You hear me?
170
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Now, that's not in my hands.
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That's just gonna be up to you.
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["Slap That Bass" playing]
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♪ Slap that bass ♪
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♪ Slap it till it's dizzy ♪
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♪ Slap that bass ♪
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♪ Keep the rhythm busy ♪
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♪ Zoom, zoom, zoom ♪
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00:08:46,526 --> 00:08:48,819
♪ Misery has got to go ♪
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00:08:50,905 --> 00:08:52,156
♪ Slap that bass ♪
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♪ Use it like a tonic ♪
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♪ Slap that bass ♪
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♪ Keep your Philharmonic ♪
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♪ Zoom, zoom, zoom ♪
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♪ And the milk and honey will flow ♪
185
00:09:01,999 --> 00:09:04,669
♪ Slap that bass
Slap away your trouble ♪
186
00:09:04,752 --> 00:09:07,588
♪ Learn to zoom, zoom, zoom
Slap that bass ♪
187
00:09:07,672 --> 00:09:09,298
Hey, what are you doing?
188
00:09:10,007 --> 00:09:11,300
I told 'em to do that.
189
00:09:11,551 --> 00:09:14,387
Yeah, nothing says romance like...
190
00:09:14,845 --> 00:09:16,973
fishing rose petals outta your kitty cat.
191
00:09:17,056 --> 00:09:19,058
And why do you still
have all your clothes on?
192
00:09:19,141 --> 00:09:20,226
[Jeanne laughs]
193
00:09:20,351 --> 00:09:22,728
-Well, always such a gentleman.
-Yeah.
194
00:09:23,104 --> 00:09:24,605
-Missed you.
-I missed you.
195
00:09:25,314 --> 00:09:26,274
How's work?
196
00:09:26,816 --> 00:09:30,903
Dick Samuels, he wants me to do
some colored picture.
197
00:09:30,987 --> 00:09:31,862
Sounds interesting.
198
00:09:31,946 --> 00:09:33,656
It doesn't sound interesting at all!
199
00:09:33,739 --> 00:09:35,116
I want you...
200
00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,661
to talk to Len Schlossen.
201
00:09:39,161 --> 00:09:41,455
-Who?
-The director, silly!
202
00:09:41,539 --> 00:09:44,208
-Mr. Cooper's Widow, my picture.
-Oh, yeah.
203
00:09:44,292 --> 00:09:46,669
He keeps smearing
more and more Vaseline on the lens.
204
00:09:46,794 --> 00:09:47,920
Well, babe...
205
00:09:48,170 --> 00:09:50,464
you're not exactly a spring chicken.
206
00:09:50,548 --> 00:09:52,174
[gasps] How dare you!
207
00:09:52,258 --> 00:09:55,177
Does that make you my big cock?
208
00:09:55,886 --> 00:09:57,138
Boy, I hope so.
209
00:09:57,221 --> 00:09:58,389
[giggling]
210
00:09:58,514 --> 00:10:00,349
[Ace] Here we go. Yes.
211
00:10:00,433 --> 00:10:02,351
But the thing is, you know, I...
212
00:10:02,518 --> 00:10:05,813
I am getting to a certain age,
and I don't really like having to,
213
00:10:05,896 --> 00:10:06,856
you know, just--
214
00:10:06,939 --> 00:10:07,982
-just fight it.
-Yeah.
215
00:10:08,065 --> 00:10:09,900
-Yeah, there we go.
-[moans and chuckles]
216
00:10:09,984 --> 00:10:11,193
[both moaning]
217
00:10:12,194 --> 00:10:13,654
[groans]
218
00:10:13,738 --> 00:10:16,407
Ace! Oh, my God! Ace!
219
00:10:16,490 --> 00:10:18,242
[siren wailing]
220
00:10:19,827 --> 00:10:20,745
[Claire] Daddy!
221
00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:23,998
Daddy!
222
00:10:24,081 --> 00:10:25,958
Oh, look, there's a tube down his throat.
223
00:10:26,042 --> 00:10:27,376
What's going on? What happened?
224
00:10:27,877 --> 00:10:28,794
Avis...
225
00:10:29,712 --> 00:10:30,671
I'm so sorry.
226
00:10:32,548 --> 00:10:34,884
He had a heart attack,
but he seems stable now.
227
00:10:35,343 --> 00:10:38,971
Was he eating a pastrami sandwich
that went straight into an artery
228
00:10:39,055 --> 00:10:41,766
like I told him it would
a million fucking times?
229
00:10:45,936 --> 00:10:46,771
What?
230
00:10:47,104 --> 00:10:49,106
Maybe it would be best if Claire...
231
00:10:49,190 --> 00:10:50,858
-uh, stepped--
-No, I want to hear it.
232
00:10:52,818 --> 00:10:54,070
Ace was, um...
233
00:10:55,488 --> 00:10:59,742
He was in Palm Springs for the weekend
engaging in some, um...
234
00:11:00,910 --> 00:11:04,038
-extracurricular activities.
-We're keeping it under wraps.
235
00:11:04,121 --> 00:11:05,456
-Who are you?
-Red Tettemer.
236
00:11:05,539 --> 00:11:06,707
Head of Publicity.
237
00:11:06,791 --> 00:11:08,209
No one can know about this.
238
00:11:08,542 --> 00:11:10,544
My reputation is at stake.
239
00:11:10,670 --> 00:11:12,838
-[Claire crying]
-So is my family's.
240
00:11:16,175 --> 00:11:17,176
[sighs]
241
00:11:19,929 --> 00:11:22,181
[crying quietly]
242
00:11:26,602 --> 00:11:28,229
There, there, darling.
243
00:11:32,441 --> 00:11:33,859
Is Daddy going to die?
244
00:11:41,659 --> 00:11:43,786
My screen test is on Friday.
245
00:11:48,541 --> 00:11:50,251
This is what I was worried about.
246
00:11:51,836 --> 00:11:53,546
Your father's on his death bed...
247
00:11:55,715 --> 00:11:59,260
and the thing that upsets you
is a screen test.
248
00:12:00,845 --> 00:12:03,097
This is what I wanted to spare you from.
249
00:12:06,142 --> 00:12:07,476
[Avis sighs]
250
00:12:20,948 --> 00:12:22,533
So what are we looking at here?
251
00:12:23,159 --> 00:12:24,326
Is he going to wake up?
252
00:12:25,453 --> 00:12:26,537
[Dick] We don't know yet.
253
00:12:26,620 --> 00:12:27,788
[sighs]
254
00:12:28,831 --> 00:12:30,040
Hello, Mrs. Amberg.
255
00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:33,669
Mr. Samuels.
256
00:12:34,003 --> 00:12:35,880
I'm Lon Silver, Ace's attorney.
257
00:12:35,963 --> 00:12:36,922
You're what?
258
00:12:37,423 --> 00:12:38,924
How have I never met you before?
259
00:12:39,008 --> 00:12:40,384
Well, you're meeting me now.
260
00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,345
Ace made for some very specific
arrangements
261
00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:45,055
in case of incapacitation,
262
00:12:45,139 --> 00:12:47,767
to ensure that everything would remain
business as usual.
263
00:12:49,018 --> 00:12:51,979
Mrs. Amberg, Ace has given you
durable power of attorney
264
00:12:52,062 --> 00:12:56,734
over all of his financial assets,
savings, real estate, and the studio.
265
00:12:57,193 --> 00:13:00,780
I, on the other hand, am in charge of all
decisions related to Ace's healthcare.
266
00:13:01,113 --> 00:13:04,074
[chuckles] I'm sorry,
but I think you have that backwards.
267
00:13:04,158 --> 00:13:06,368
Mmm. No, no, no. It's all right here.
268
00:13:06,827 --> 00:13:08,704
So, let me get this straight,
269
00:13:09,455 --> 00:13:11,290
Avis is now running the studio?
270
00:13:11,957 --> 00:13:15,252
Well, you'll still handle the day-to-day,
Dick, as you do now.
271
00:13:15,336 --> 00:13:17,880
Mrs. Amberg will oversee the finances,
272
00:13:17,963 --> 00:13:19,632
uh, payroll, budgets,
273
00:13:19,715 --> 00:13:22,092
giving the green light,
that sort of thing.
274
00:13:22,176 --> 00:13:23,260
Why would he do that?
275
00:13:23,344 --> 00:13:25,429
I don't know anything
about running a studio.
276
00:13:25,513 --> 00:13:29,058
I imagine Mr. Amberg felt that
moving Dick to the top spot
277
00:13:29,141 --> 00:13:31,310
would be seen as a kind of
changing of the guard.
278
00:13:31,393 --> 00:13:34,897
Your taking over as interim caretaker,
Mrs. Amberg,
279
00:13:34,980 --> 00:13:37,399
will better protect Ace's return
to the studio.
280
00:13:37,483 --> 00:13:40,611
So I'm expected to keep
Ace Studios running,
281
00:13:40,694 --> 00:13:44,365
produce a slate of films,
but I can't green-light a picture.
282
00:13:44,782 --> 00:13:45,616
That's right.
283
00:13:45,699 --> 00:13:48,577
Mrs. Amberg
will have sole green-light authority.
284
00:13:54,333 --> 00:13:55,960
Here's to a speedy recovery.
285
00:14:01,632 --> 00:14:03,467
[Dick] You're very talented,
286
00:14:03,551 --> 00:14:05,928
and you've written a wonderful script.
287
00:14:06,011 --> 00:14:07,972
-Thank you.
-But, unfortunately,
288
00:14:08,055 --> 00:14:10,224
Ace Amberg has recently
289
00:14:11,517 --> 00:14:13,143
become incapacitated.
290
00:14:13,227 --> 00:14:14,103
Oh.
291
00:14:14,603 --> 00:14:16,480
-[scoffs] I'm sorry to hear that.
-Well...
292
00:14:17,022 --> 00:14:21,902
before he became ill,
he became aware of your, um...
293
00:14:23,863 --> 00:14:24,780
race,
294
00:14:25,614 --> 00:14:26,699
and...
295
00:14:28,117 --> 00:14:29,618
now we need to replace you.
296
00:14:32,329 --> 00:14:33,998
Peg is still your movie.
297
00:14:34,415 --> 00:14:35,499
It's your...
298
00:14:36,750 --> 00:14:37,585
script.
299
00:14:37,668 --> 00:14:39,044
It's your voice.
300
00:14:40,212 --> 00:14:43,090
You're gonna get all your fees.
You'll be on set.
301
00:14:45,551 --> 00:14:49,430
But another writer's name
will be appearing in the credits.
302
00:14:51,348 --> 00:14:54,226
I'm sorry.
This is simply the way that it has to be.
303
00:14:57,479 --> 00:15:01,567
I appreciate you, Mr. Samuels,
just coming out and telling me all this.
304
00:15:02,318 --> 00:15:06,322
I'm guessing you didn't enjoy
having to do that.
305
00:15:07,114 --> 00:15:08,282
[Dick] Absolutely not.
306
00:15:13,370 --> 00:15:14,204
But...
307
00:15:14,747 --> 00:15:16,624
this is the world that we live in.
308
00:15:17,374 --> 00:15:18,208
Right.
309
00:15:22,379 --> 00:15:25,799
If Ace Amberg wants
to take my name off this picture...
310
00:15:28,844 --> 00:15:30,137
he can do it himself.
311
00:15:31,138 --> 00:15:32,056
Fair enough.
312
00:15:32,389 --> 00:15:34,141
As long as you're prepared
for the inevitable.
313
00:15:39,521 --> 00:15:41,482
Ain't nothing inevitable, Mr. Samuels.
314
00:15:55,913 --> 00:15:59,667
♪ When Madam Pompadour
Was on a ballroom floor ♪
315
00:15:59,750 --> 00:16:02,795
-♪ Said all the gentlemen, "Obviously ♪
-[electricity zapping]
316
00:16:03,796 --> 00:16:05,756
♪ The madam has the cutest ♪
317
00:16:07,675 --> 00:16:09,343
♪ Personality" ♪
318
00:16:09,426 --> 00:16:10,260
[Jack panting]
319
00:16:10,344 --> 00:16:13,847
♪ What did Romeo see in Juliet? ♪
320
00:16:13,931 --> 00:16:17,142
♪ Or Figaro in Figarette? ♪
321
00:16:17,226 --> 00:16:20,479
♪ Or Jupiter in Juno? ♪
322
00:16:21,939 --> 00:16:23,357
♪ You know ♪
323
00:16:24,525 --> 00:16:26,151
♪ And when Salome danced ♪
324
00:16:26,235 --> 00:16:29,321
♪ And had the boys entranced
No doubt, it must have been... ♪
325
00:16:29,405 --> 00:16:30,239
Tighter.
326
00:16:31,323 --> 00:16:32,324
Cinch it tighter.
327
00:16:33,283 --> 00:16:34,201
Tighter.
328
00:16:36,245 --> 00:16:39,456
♪ Personality ♪
329
00:16:39,540 --> 00:16:40,374
Hey, Rock.
330
00:16:41,417 --> 00:16:42,334
Yeah?
331
00:16:42,751 --> 00:16:44,878
I know we both want the part,
but good luck.
332
00:16:45,337 --> 00:16:47,881
Thank you.
Thanks, Jack, you're a class act.
333
00:16:48,465 --> 00:16:50,092
Guess it's out of our hands now, right?
334
00:16:50,175 --> 00:16:54,638
Yeah, all we can do is show up,
do our best, and pray, right?
335
00:16:56,932 --> 00:17:00,477
Now remember, this is the big
climactic scene, all right?
336
00:17:00,561 --> 00:17:04,023
You are the boyfriend
of a woman on the verge.
337
00:17:04,106 --> 00:17:07,359
She's about to end it all,
but you don't want that.
338
00:17:08,652 --> 00:17:09,486
Got it.
339
00:17:09,862 --> 00:17:11,155
Okay. "Sam!
340
00:17:11,655 --> 00:17:13,657
What are you doing here? Leave me alone.
341
00:17:13,741 --> 00:17:16,368
This is my destiny. Mine and mine alone."
342
00:17:16,744 --> 00:17:18,162
"Peg, I won't let you do it.
343
00:17:18,662 --> 00:17:21,582
You-- you know you love you,
and I know you love you."
344
00:17:22,082 --> 00:17:22,916
Sorry.
345
00:17:24,793 --> 00:17:26,211
Oh, "You know I-- I love you."
346
00:17:26,295 --> 00:17:28,672
You know what? Let's just try it again.
But remember...
347
00:17:28,964 --> 00:17:29,798
Urgent.
348
00:17:31,383 --> 00:17:34,011
[shouting]
"Peg! I won't let you know I love you!"
349
00:17:35,345 --> 00:17:37,222
Sorry, that's... Hold on. That's not it.
350
00:17:37,723 --> 00:17:39,099
-I...
-[clears throat]
351
00:17:39,224 --> 00:17:40,893
All right, what is going on here?
352
00:17:40,976 --> 00:17:43,979
Did you go out drinking last night?
Were you out sucking dick?
353
00:17:44,063 --> 00:17:45,189
Because we talked about that.
354
00:17:45,272 --> 00:17:47,983
No, it's just...
There's a lot of you's and I's.
355
00:17:48,067 --> 00:17:49,485
The words are real similar. They--
356
00:17:49,568 --> 00:17:52,029
Well, frankly,
you should have this memorized by now.
357
00:17:52,654 --> 00:17:55,074
I'm sorry, I'm just really scared.
358
00:17:55,657 --> 00:17:57,367
When I think about the director
359
00:17:58,535 --> 00:18:00,037
sitting there watching,
360
00:18:01,663 --> 00:18:03,624
I keep picturing my stepdad
361
00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:06,293
telling me I'm nobody. Saying he's...
362
00:18:07,544 --> 00:18:09,129
gonna beat the shit out of me.
363
00:18:09,838 --> 00:18:12,758
I'm no psychologist
or whatever they call it,
364
00:18:12,841 --> 00:18:14,718
but if you came to this town
365
00:18:15,427 --> 00:18:17,930
so that your stepdad
would finally love you...
366
00:18:19,515 --> 00:18:21,016
The director ain't your daddy.
367
00:18:22,267 --> 00:18:23,310
He ain't your mommy.
368
00:18:24,603 --> 00:18:25,687
He is a friend.
369
00:18:26,814 --> 00:18:28,440
And he's there to guide you.
370
00:18:28,941 --> 00:18:29,775
Okay?
371
00:18:31,235 --> 00:18:32,486
-[Roy] Yeah.
-Okay.
372
00:18:33,946 --> 00:18:35,823
-Let's try it again.
-Yeah.
373
00:18:38,867 --> 00:18:40,953
[Roy breathing heavily]
374
00:18:42,287 --> 00:18:44,289
"Sam, what are you doing here?
375
00:18:44,498 --> 00:18:45,374
Leave me alone.
376
00:18:45,457 --> 00:18:47,876
This is my destiny. Mine and mine alone."
377
00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:51,421
Sorry, it's my line then?
378
00:19:04,810 --> 00:19:05,811
Hello, Jeanne.
379
00:19:06,937 --> 00:19:10,607
Avis, there's something
I need to talk to you about.
380
00:19:17,865 --> 00:19:19,241
I was with Ace...
381
00:19:20,993 --> 00:19:22,411
in Palm Springs.
382
00:19:24,621 --> 00:19:26,165
We've been having an affair.
383
00:19:28,458 --> 00:19:29,334
For how long?
384
00:19:29,835 --> 00:19:30,752
Ten years.
385
00:19:33,422 --> 00:19:37,217
Ace always told me that he loved me
and that he was going to leave you,
386
00:19:37,301 --> 00:19:40,429
and he said that you were
having an affair with some guy
387
00:19:40,512 --> 00:19:43,390
who ran a gas station, so it was all okay.
388
00:19:48,228 --> 00:19:49,271
Do you love him?
389
00:19:50,564 --> 00:19:52,524
In the beginning, I believed I did.
390
00:19:54,735 --> 00:19:57,654
But after a while,
I realized that that was just a fantasy.
391
00:19:58,030 --> 00:20:02,326
If I tried to break it off,
then it would be over for me.
392
00:20:05,162 --> 00:20:06,205
So, I...
393
00:20:06,747 --> 00:20:07,581
I just...
394
00:20:08,290 --> 00:20:09,249
stayed.
395
00:20:11,919 --> 00:20:13,795
Avis, I know how you must feel.
396
00:20:14,338 --> 00:20:15,589
I know you hate me,
397
00:20:16,298 --> 00:20:18,425
but I am truly sorry.
398
00:20:20,385 --> 00:20:22,721
And I will be resigning from my contract.
399
00:20:22,804 --> 00:20:25,432
I'll be cleared out of here
by Monday morning.
400
00:20:26,433 --> 00:20:27,893
[Avis] Where will you go?
401
00:20:28,518 --> 00:20:29,561
I don't know.
402
00:20:30,312 --> 00:20:32,189
Television, probably.
403
00:20:32,814 --> 00:20:36,026
The Kraft Television Theatre
has expressed an interest in me.
404
00:20:37,903 --> 00:20:38,737
No.
405
00:20:44,534 --> 00:20:45,994
You're not going anywhere.
406
00:20:48,497 --> 00:20:50,666
And I can't be angry with you, Jeanne.
407
00:20:51,041 --> 00:20:52,000
If I were,
408
00:20:53,001 --> 00:20:54,127
I'd be a hypocrite.
409
00:20:58,590 --> 00:21:00,342
[voice tightening] Avis, thank you.
410
00:21:05,430 --> 00:21:06,640
[sighs]
411
00:21:07,391 --> 00:21:09,351
[Raymond] In this scene,
she's been drinking, right?
412
00:21:09,434 --> 00:21:10,394
But don't play it drunk,
413
00:21:10,477 --> 00:21:13,563
she has to drink at this point
just to feel normal, remember.
414
00:21:15,816 --> 00:21:18,986
"Oh, Sam, Sam, Thirteen Women,
isn't it wonderful?"
415
00:21:19,069 --> 00:21:21,154
[rapid knocking on door]
416
00:21:22,447 --> 00:21:23,699
Were you expecting somebody?
417
00:21:25,784 --> 00:21:26,618
Archie.
418
00:21:27,703 --> 00:21:29,788
They're taking my name off the script.
419
00:21:31,540 --> 00:21:32,582
-What?
-Yeah.
420
00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:34,793
Dick just told me.
421
00:21:36,128 --> 00:21:38,964
This film won't get made if they find out
a nigger wrote it.
422
00:21:39,047 --> 00:21:40,465
And I just sat there,
423
00:21:42,009 --> 00:21:46,096
taking it nice and civil 'cause
that's how we supposed to act.
424
00:21:47,723 --> 00:21:48,765
Well, you know what?
425
00:21:49,558 --> 00:21:53,270
I am finished with patience and civility!
426
00:21:53,353 --> 00:21:57,065
-Nobody's taking your name off anything.
-Fuck this studio head.
427
00:21:57,482 --> 00:22:00,152
Fuck these white people in charge!
428
00:22:00,235 --> 00:22:02,571
They don't play fair, so why should we?
429
00:22:02,654 --> 00:22:05,490
I felt like an Uncle Tom
even writing this goddamn script
430
00:22:05,574 --> 00:22:08,285
about this dumb-ass white girl.
That ain't my life!
431
00:22:09,453 --> 00:22:12,331
That ain't my story! That's their story!
432
00:22:12,414 --> 00:22:13,415
And then, still...
433
00:22:15,125 --> 00:22:16,293
it ain't good enough.
434
00:22:16,376 --> 00:22:17,669
Archie, listen to me.
435
00:22:17,753 --> 00:22:19,713
I'm not gonna let
any of that happen to you.
436
00:22:19,796 --> 00:22:21,048
You hear me?
437
00:22:21,590 --> 00:22:22,632
Camille...
438
00:22:24,676 --> 00:22:26,261
I want you to get this part.
439
00:22:27,012 --> 00:22:28,013
Go on and get it.
440
00:22:28,805 --> 00:22:31,350
Go on and get it. I'm sorry I fought you.
441
00:22:32,851 --> 00:22:34,227
I was fighting their fight.
442
00:22:35,395 --> 00:22:37,856
But now it's time to fight ours.
443
00:22:40,108 --> 00:22:41,401
-Okay?
-[Camille] Yeah.
444
00:22:45,822 --> 00:22:48,825
-Y'all was in the middle of something.
-[chuckles]
445
00:22:50,369 --> 00:22:51,828
[Archie] "Why, there you are.
446
00:22:51,912 --> 00:22:53,955
We were meant to meet for lunch at RKO."
447
00:22:54,581 --> 00:22:57,793
"Sam, Sam, Thirteen Women,
isn't it wonderful?"
448
00:22:57,876 --> 00:23:00,170
"But you finished filming it months ago."
449
00:23:00,253 --> 00:23:01,713
"Yes, I know, silly.
450
00:23:02,255 --> 00:23:04,716
But, the thought that it'll be
in the cinema soon...
451
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,511
Me up there, on the silver screen.
452
00:23:07,594 --> 00:23:09,388
Well, I just had to read
the script again."
453
00:23:09,471 --> 00:23:12,474
I'm gonna stop you. Remember,
she's been drinking. She's loose.
454
00:23:12,557 --> 00:23:14,559
I thought you told me
not to play it like that.
455
00:23:14,643 --> 00:23:16,686
Yes, but I-- I mean she's...
456
00:23:16,770 --> 00:23:18,563
She's roiling with anxiety.
457
00:23:18,647 --> 00:23:20,982
The next scene, she's going to finish
a bottle of Scotch,
458
00:23:21,066 --> 00:23:23,068
race to the Hollywood sign
and jump off of it,
459
00:23:23,151 --> 00:23:25,445
so she has that inside of her.
Try it again.
460
00:23:25,862 --> 00:23:27,572
"I just had to read the script again,
461
00:23:27,656 --> 00:23:31,660
and this time, Hazel Cousins
simply jumped off the page.
462
00:23:31,743 --> 00:23:35,705
Wait, she's not a supporting role
at all really, she's in...
463
00:23:35,789 --> 00:23:38,917
I-- I counted 'em, 20-- 20 scenes.
464
00:23:39,709 --> 00:23:42,546
This film will really be the start
of something, Sam.
465
00:23:42,629 --> 00:23:46,049
At long last,
I'm going to be a movie star."
466
00:23:46,133 --> 00:23:48,009
-"Peg, have you been drinking?"
-"What?
467
00:23:48,093 --> 00:23:50,762
Well, just a little to take
the edge off because I got so excited."
468
00:23:50,846 --> 00:23:51,930
More emotion.
469
00:23:52,013 --> 00:23:56,810
"What? Well, just a little to take
the edge off because I got so excited."
470
00:23:56,893 --> 00:23:58,437
"Peg, I have some sorry news.
471
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,565
I saw Mr. Selznick today.
He told me you've been cut from the film.
472
00:24:01,648 --> 00:24:05,444
You'll still be in two scenes, sure,
but it's a cameo now, Peg.
473
00:24:05,527 --> 00:24:06,820
You're barely in it at all."
474
00:24:06,903 --> 00:24:07,946
"And suddenly...
475
00:24:09,156 --> 00:24:10,782
everything goes dark again.
476
00:24:10,866 --> 00:24:14,536
All of my hopes and dreams
477
00:24:14,619 --> 00:24:17,289
lay in a heap of cut-up celluloid
478
00:24:17,372 --> 00:24:20,876
on the floor of an editing room
to be tossed into the trash bin.
479
00:24:22,210 --> 00:24:23,128
Lost.
480
00:24:26,381 --> 00:24:27,466
That's me, Sam.
481
00:24:28,842 --> 00:24:30,552
Lost and soon to be forgotten."
482
00:24:34,598 --> 00:24:37,267
I'll cry on the day.
I'm just not going to do it right now.
483
00:24:37,350 --> 00:24:38,477
That's not gonna work.
484
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:40,520
If you can't bring the emotion
to the rehearsal,
485
00:24:40,604 --> 00:24:42,606
you're not gonna be able to
in front of the cameras.
486
00:24:42,689 --> 00:24:44,524
Well, maybe I'm not a crier, Raymond!
487
00:24:44,608 --> 00:24:47,110
Maybe I just can't manufacture
other people's emotions.
488
00:24:47,194 --> 00:24:49,279
This is your shot, Camille!
489
00:24:49,654 --> 00:24:53,408
This scene. You need to bring
every ounce of pain you've ever felt.
490
00:24:53,492 --> 00:24:55,160
Every rock that's been thrown at you,
491
00:24:55,243 --> 00:24:58,538
every word that has been spat in
your face, I need you to take that rage,
492
00:24:58,622 --> 00:25:00,749
that sadness, and put it into the scene!
493
00:25:01,166 --> 00:25:05,295
This is your chance to really act,
to be an actress!
494
00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:09,382
You know all about pain, don't you?
495
00:25:09,883 --> 00:25:12,052
Passing, every day of your life.
496
00:25:14,554 --> 00:25:15,597
Fucking jerk!
497
00:25:17,807 --> 00:25:21,394
How about you and I,
we rehearse the kissing scene?
498
00:25:26,775 --> 00:25:28,902
I'm sorry, I really want to, but, um...
499
00:25:31,446 --> 00:25:32,948
I'm trying to be a good person.
500
00:25:38,912 --> 00:25:39,746
Jack...
501
00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:44,960
You are a good person.
502
00:25:45,752 --> 00:25:47,879
Why do you have so many doubts about that?
503
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,340
I'll see you at the screen test.
504
00:25:56,513 --> 00:25:57,722
[Jeanne] Thank you, dear.
505
00:26:07,315 --> 00:26:10,902
Miss Crandall, thank you so much
for agreeing to read for these tests.
506
00:26:10,986 --> 00:26:11,945
My pleasure.
507
00:26:12,028 --> 00:26:15,323
If I were 10 years younger,
I could be testing for the lead myself.
508
00:26:15,407 --> 00:26:17,993
It could have been
the picture that made me a star.
509
00:26:18,076 --> 00:26:20,620
You're not a star
because you didn't sign with me.
510
00:26:21,288 --> 00:26:25,875
That's right, Henry, because you're awful
and you treat your clients like dog shit.
511
00:26:25,959 --> 00:26:27,794
-[stage bell rings]
-[crewman] On the bell.
512
00:26:27,877 --> 00:26:29,421
Ready when you are, Mr. Ainsley.
513
00:26:29,504 --> 00:26:30,380
Rock.
514
00:26:30,964 --> 00:26:31,965
Right this way.
515
00:26:32,465 --> 00:26:35,552
So, Miss Crandall will be reading
this scene with you.
516
00:26:35,635 --> 00:26:38,930
This is the climactic scene
right before she jumps off.
517
00:26:39,014 --> 00:26:41,766
Should do it to her,
not right into the camera?
518
00:26:42,934 --> 00:26:43,768
That's right.
519
00:26:43,852 --> 00:26:45,312
This is the Hollywood sign.
520
00:26:45,395 --> 00:26:47,897
I'm sort of hanging off of it.
It's very, very high.
521
00:26:47,981 --> 00:26:48,982
Oh, boy.
522
00:26:49,065 --> 00:26:50,066
I see it.
523
00:26:50,525 --> 00:26:53,903
I haven't been this nervous since
Junior Durkin's first screen test.
524
00:26:54,154 --> 00:26:55,238
And you know what?
525
00:26:56,114 --> 00:26:56,990
He got the part.
526
00:26:57,574 --> 00:26:59,868
And so will you, kid. Just breathe.
527
00:27:00,410 --> 00:27:02,579
[both sighing heavily]
528
00:27:02,662 --> 00:27:03,872
[crewman] Roll camera.
529
00:27:04,372 --> 00:27:05,874
And... action.
530
00:27:06,207 --> 00:27:08,668
Sam, what are you doing here?
531
00:27:08,752 --> 00:27:09,669
Leave me alone.
532
00:27:09,753 --> 00:27:12,255
This is my destiny and mine alone.
533
00:27:12,339 --> 00:27:13,882
Peg, I won't let you do it!
534
00:27:14,132 --> 00:27:16,843
You know you love you, and you know
I won't let me throw it all away!
535
00:27:17,427 --> 00:27:18,345
And...
536
00:27:18,637 --> 00:27:20,597
Sorry, I screwed it up,
can I try it again?
537
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,183
Cut. That's very good, Rock. Just relax.
538
00:27:25,602 --> 00:27:27,228
Peg, you won't let me do it!
539
00:27:27,687 --> 00:27:30,690
You know I love you,
and you know I won't let me throw--
540
00:27:31,399 --> 00:27:33,652
That's not right. Damn it, that...
541
00:27:34,361 --> 00:27:35,320
Right?
542
00:27:36,780 --> 00:27:38,782
Peg, I won't let you do it.
543
00:27:38,865 --> 00:27:41,117
You know I know you'll throw you away.
544
00:27:41,368 --> 00:27:43,495
Damn-- That's not right. I, uh--
545
00:27:44,204 --> 00:27:45,747
[Raymond] Rock, it's, um...
546
00:27:45,830 --> 00:27:48,249
[clears throat]
"Peg, I won't let you do it.
547
00:27:48,333 --> 00:27:51,878
You know I love you, and you know
I won't let you throw it all away."
548
00:27:51,961 --> 00:27:53,463
Yeah, I got it.
549
00:27:53,546 --> 00:27:56,257
[feigning distress]
550
00:27:59,427 --> 00:28:02,138
Sorry. I-- My-- my throat...
My throat's a little sore.
551
00:28:02,222 --> 00:28:03,139
I need some water.
552
00:28:03,223 --> 00:28:05,100
We need water. Get him water. Now.
553
00:28:05,934 --> 00:28:07,727
-[man] Water.
-Just a little bit.
554
00:28:08,353 --> 00:28:10,397
A glass of water
for a tall drink of water.
555
00:28:10,897 --> 00:28:12,399
[chuckles] You too.
556
00:28:12,482 --> 00:28:13,316
[Jeanne laughs]
557
00:28:15,485 --> 00:28:17,862
Peg, I won't let you do it! Shit!
558
00:28:17,946 --> 00:28:18,988
Sorry, one more time.
559
00:28:19,072 --> 00:28:20,490
-That was right.
-That was it.
560
00:28:20,573 --> 00:28:22,492
-Oh, are you serious?
-Yeah, you got this.
561
00:28:25,912 --> 00:28:26,996
[feigning distress]
562
00:28:27,622 --> 00:28:29,874
Peg, I won't let you do it.
563
00:28:30,417 --> 00:28:33,378
You know I love you and you know
I won't let you throw it all away.
564
00:28:33,461 --> 00:28:36,339
I can't, Sam.
I can't! I can't do it anymore!
565
00:28:40,593 --> 00:28:42,095
That was my line, darling.
566
00:28:42,846 --> 00:28:44,097
[stage door opens]
567
00:28:45,223 --> 00:28:47,142
-[stage door slams]
-[Raymond groans]
568
00:28:49,394 --> 00:28:51,104
[Raymond] All right, one more, Rock.
569
00:28:52,981 --> 00:28:53,982
I can't, Sam.
570
00:28:54,733 --> 00:28:57,610
[crying] I don't want any part
of this life anymore.
571
00:28:58,611 --> 00:29:00,530
And that includes you, Sam.
572
00:29:00,613 --> 00:29:02,866
Well, what did you tell me about
killing yourself?
573
00:29:03,324 --> 00:29:06,911
When all those Wall Street so-and-so's
lost their fortunes and ended it all,
574
00:29:07,746 --> 00:29:12,000
you told me, "Sam, they picked a long-term
solution to a short-term problem."
575
00:29:13,168 --> 00:29:15,754
-And that's what you're doing now, Peg!
-[screaming]
576
00:29:15,837 --> 00:29:18,840
No!
577
00:29:19,549 --> 00:29:21,009
[groans]
578
00:29:22,761 --> 00:29:24,012
[Raymond] And cut.
579
00:29:24,137 --> 00:29:26,431
-That's uh... That's all we need.
-[stage bell rings]
580
00:29:26,765 --> 00:29:28,808
Well, thank you so much
for the opportunity.
581
00:29:31,352 --> 00:29:32,187
Thank you.
582
00:29:37,108 --> 00:29:39,110
[stuttering]
I'm real sorry, Miss Crandall.
583
00:29:39,194 --> 00:29:41,112
Oh, no. Don't worry about it.
584
00:29:41,529 --> 00:29:43,156
Please, we've all been there.
585
00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:44,616
Come on.
586
00:29:45,950 --> 00:29:49,078
You got it right in the end,
and that's what really matters.
587
00:30:05,178 --> 00:30:06,095
How do you feel?
588
00:30:06,429 --> 00:30:08,723
Like I want to run away
and never come back.
589
00:30:16,314 --> 00:30:19,776
At the end,
he wants us to really cry, and...
590
00:30:21,986 --> 00:30:23,738
I've tried, I just can't.
591
00:30:29,661 --> 00:30:30,620
Here, uh...
592
00:30:32,413 --> 00:30:33,581
rub a little...
593
00:30:35,416 --> 00:30:37,544
VapoRub under your eyes.
594
00:30:37,627 --> 00:30:40,505
It's not a prank. It works.
But just use a tiny bit.
595
00:30:41,089 --> 00:30:42,715
We're ready for you, Miss Wood.
596
00:30:45,718 --> 00:30:48,388
Really, it, uh, gets the waterworks going.
597
00:30:58,398 --> 00:31:00,191
-[slate clacks]
-[Raymond] Action.
598
00:31:00,567 --> 00:31:03,695
This film will really be the start
of something, Sam.
599
00:31:04,529 --> 00:31:07,532
At long last,
I'm going to be a movie star.
600
00:31:07,615 --> 00:31:09,325
"Have you been drinking, Peg?"
601
00:31:09,409 --> 00:31:12,620
[chuckling] Just to take the edge off
because I got so excited.
602
00:31:12,954 --> 00:31:14,664
[reader] "I saw Mr. Selznick.
603
00:31:14,747 --> 00:31:16,833
He told me you've been cut from the film.
604
00:31:16,916 --> 00:31:19,919
You'll appear in two scenes, sure,
but it's a cameo now, Peg.
605
00:31:20,003 --> 00:31:21,713
You're barely in it at all."
606
00:31:30,430 --> 00:31:31,598
And suddenly it's...
607
00:31:32,473 --> 00:31:33,516
dark again.
608
00:31:37,437 --> 00:31:39,314
All my hopes and dreams...
609
00:31:46,112 --> 00:31:49,699
to be tossed into the trash bin. Lost.
610
00:31:52,535 --> 00:31:54,412
That's me, Sam. Lost.
611
00:31:54,495 --> 00:31:56,581
Lost and soon to be forgotten.
612
00:31:59,292 --> 00:32:01,002
Thank you so much, Mr. Ainsley.
613
00:32:03,922 --> 00:32:04,756
[Raymond] Cut.
614
00:32:05,131 --> 00:32:06,674
-[stage bell rings]
-Camille Washington.
615
00:32:06,758 --> 00:32:08,718
[crewman] All right,
you heard him. Set up.
616
00:32:12,472 --> 00:32:13,348
[Raymond] No.
617
00:32:13,431 --> 00:32:15,350
No, Camille. Camille, no.
618
00:32:15,433 --> 00:32:16,851
I'm not gonna let you cheat.
619
00:32:17,685 --> 00:32:18,978
[Camille sighs]
620
00:32:20,647 --> 00:32:22,190
Baby, I know you can do this.
621
00:32:23,399 --> 00:32:26,069
This is your shot
to make this role your own.
622
00:32:26,986 --> 00:32:29,072
But it's you who has to make that happen.
623
00:32:30,990 --> 00:32:32,075
Go get 'em.
624
00:32:32,575 --> 00:32:34,577
Okay, let's slate.
625
00:32:36,496 --> 00:32:39,040
Avis, I am so sorry.
626
00:32:39,123 --> 00:32:41,376
You have my deepest sympathies.
627
00:32:41,834 --> 00:32:44,087
-How did you find out?
-Through the grapevine.
628
00:32:44,545 --> 00:32:46,130
Don't worry, it's still very hush-hush.
629
00:32:46,923 --> 00:32:50,718
But, I am so excited about this Peg movie.
630
00:32:50,802 --> 00:32:54,597
You know, my client, Rock Hudson,
would be perfect for it.
631
00:32:54,681 --> 00:32:56,224
His acting is just...
632
00:32:57,600 --> 00:32:59,978
Honestly, he's like a Barrymore.
633
00:33:01,312 --> 00:33:05,400
Anyway, I cannot imagine the strain
you must be under right now,
634
00:33:05,483 --> 00:33:11,572
which is why I was very glad to be able
to take a little something off your plate.
635
00:33:11,656 --> 00:33:12,865
What, Henry?
636
00:33:14,367 --> 00:33:15,243
You don't know?
637
00:33:17,286 --> 00:33:18,162
Oh, dear.
638
00:33:26,004 --> 00:33:30,174
Tattletale Magazine is in possession
of some photographs
639
00:33:30,258 --> 00:33:33,344
of you leaving that gas station
640
00:33:34,303 --> 00:33:35,680
with various gentlemen.
641
00:33:36,264 --> 00:33:39,517
Now I, of course, bought back the photos.
642
00:33:40,435 --> 00:33:42,353
I would never want that to get out.
643
00:33:42,937 --> 00:33:43,938
What do you want?
644
00:33:44,981 --> 00:33:46,524
My client in the picture.
645
00:33:47,275 --> 00:33:49,777
I want you to cast Rock.
646
00:33:55,950 --> 00:33:57,577
You're a real snake, Henry.
647
00:33:59,454 --> 00:34:01,330
But you already know that.
648
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,382
[Claire]
...to be tossed into the trash bin. Lost.
649
00:34:12,175 --> 00:34:14,469
That's me, Sam. Lost.
650
00:34:14,552 --> 00:34:16,137
Lost and soon to be forgotten.
651
00:34:17,138 --> 00:34:18,848
Thank you so much, Mr. Ainsley.
652
00:34:21,893 --> 00:34:24,645
-That's odd.
-[Dick] Nerves. It happens.
653
00:34:25,646 --> 00:34:26,481
Next.
654
00:34:27,315 --> 00:34:29,692
-[man] Camille Washington, take one.
-[slate clacks]
655
00:34:29,776 --> 00:34:32,195
And suddenly, everything goes dark again.
656
00:34:34,113 --> 00:34:36,199
All of my hopes,
657
00:34:36,866 --> 00:34:37,867
and dreams,
658
00:34:39,118 --> 00:34:43,706
lay in a heap of cut-up celluloid
on the floor of an editing room...
659
00:34:44,707 --> 00:34:46,626
to be tossed into the trash.
660
00:34:47,919 --> 00:34:48,753
Lost.
661
00:34:51,005 --> 00:34:53,591
That's me, Sam. Lost.
662
00:34:55,134 --> 00:34:56,594
Soon to be forgotten.
663
00:35:10,108 --> 00:35:10,983
Next one.
664
00:35:11,901 --> 00:35:13,152
Who are these, the Sams?
665
00:35:14,153 --> 00:35:15,988
-[man] Rock Hudson, take one.
-[slate clacks]
666
00:35:16,114 --> 00:35:17,240
[Raymond] And action.
667
00:35:17,782 --> 00:35:19,784
Peg, I won't let you do it.
668
00:35:20,243 --> 00:35:23,412
You know you love you, and you know
I won't let me throw it all away.
669
00:35:23,538 --> 00:35:24,413
[stutters]
670
00:35:25,081 --> 00:35:27,875
-Sorry, I-- I screwed up, can I--
-[Raymond] Cut!
671
00:35:29,001 --> 00:35:31,921
-[slate clacks]
-[Roy] Peg, you won't let me do it.
672
00:35:32,046 --> 00:35:35,174
You know I love you, and I know
I won't let you throw it all away.
673
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:36,717
[slate clacks]
674
00:35:36,801 --> 00:35:38,302
Peg, I won't let you do it.
675
00:35:38,469 --> 00:35:40,388
You know I know you'll throw you away.
676
00:35:41,973 --> 00:35:45,810
Pig, I won't let you do it."
Sorry, I just called her "Pig."
677
00:35:47,311 --> 00:35:48,146
You're not.
678
00:35:48,229 --> 00:35:50,148
[chuckling] Oh. Good God!
679
00:35:50,231 --> 00:35:53,067
-How many takes did he do?
-[Raymond] Sixty-seven.
680
00:35:53,568 --> 00:35:54,485
I've seen enough.
681
00:35:56,070 --> 00:35:56,946
I like him.
682
00:35:57,780 --> 00:35:58,781
Let's cast him.
683
00:35:58,865 --> 00:36:00,992
Sixty-seven takes, Avis.
684
00:36:01,492 --> 00:36:02,994
I think he's right for the part.
685
00:36:03,536 --> 00:36:06,372
We tested other actors.
Can we at least watch one of them?
686
00:36:07,498 --> 00:36:08,332
Fine.
687
00:36:09,959 --> 00:36:11,752
-[man] Jack Castello, take one.
-[slate clacks]
688
00:36:11,836 --> 00:36:13,963
What did you tell me
about killing yourself?
689
00:36:14,046 --> 00:36:17,884
When all those Wall Street so-and-so's
lost their fortunes and ended it all,
690
00:36:18,551 --> 00:36:22,305
you said, "Sam, they picked a long-term
solution to a short-term problem."
691
00:36:22,805 --> 00:36:24,807
Well, that's what you're doing now, Peg.
692
00:36:25,725 --> 00:36:27,393
No!
693
00:36:28,436 --> 00:36:29,270
He's good.
694
00:36:30,813 --> 00:36:31,647
Yes.
695
00:36:32,023 --> 00:36:33,441
Let's give it to him.
696
00:36:34,150 --> 00:36:35,484
What did I say?
697
00:36:35,943 --> 00:36:39,155
I have to go. I'm late for a luncheon
with Eleanor Roosevelt.
698
00:36:39,238 --> 00:36:41,782
Avis, what about Peg?
Who are we going to cast?
699
00:36:41,866 --> 00:36:43,868
Well, it's obvious,
we have to give it to Claire.
700
00:36:43,951 --> 00:36:45,411
She wasn't as good.
701
00:36:45,494 --> 00:36:47,914
Believe me,
casting her pains me more than anyone.
702
00:36:47,997 --> 00:36:49,498
She's my daughter. I can't stand her.
703
00:36:49,582 --> 00:36:50,416
Uh, Mrs. Amberg.
704
00:36:51,042 --> 00:36:52,585
Please tell your girlfriend...
705
00:36:53,419 --> 00:36:54,629
she was stunning.
706
00:36:55,546 --> 00:36:59,550
She gave an amazing screen test,
but she's not right for the part.
707
00:37:00,134 --> 00:37:03,554
Well, with a slight rewrite, she...
she might be right.
708
00:37:04,013 --> 00:37:05,306
She's a movie star.
709
00:37:05,389 --> 00:37:07,475
Don't make me into the bad guy here.
710
00:37:08,267 --> 00:37:11,604
What do you want me to say?
What's Ace going to say?
711
00:37:11,687 --> 00:37:12,688
Ace isn't here.
712
00:37:13,439 --> 00:37:15,775
This is your decision to make right now,
Avis.
713
00:37:16,108 --> 00:37:16,984
Exactly.
714
00:37:17,526 --> 00:37:21,072
And my decision is to not bankrupt
this studio, Dick.
715
00:37:21,948 --> 00:37:24,951
We will reap the whirlwind
if we cast that girl,
716
00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:27,203
and everyone in this room knows it.
717
00:37:27,703 --> 00:37:31,749
I am not about to take that risk
when we have a perfectly fine alternative,
718
00:37:31,832 --> 00:37:34,001
who's going to become
so goddamn unbearable
719
00:37:34,085 --> 00:37:35,586
-you have no idea.
-Avis...
720
00:37:35,962 --> 00:37:38,297
You don't keep
Eleanor Roosevelt waiting, Dick!
721
00:37:39,006 --> 00:37:40,091
[door slams]
722
00:37:41,259 --> 00:37:43,886
Josephine, call Jack Castello
into my office, please.
723
00:37:43,970 --> 00:37:45,054
[Josephine] Yes, sir.
724
00:37:46,180 --> 00:37:48,140
Well, Jack, you got the part.
725
00:37:48,432 --> 00:37:50,434
-Yes! Yes!
-[Ellen chuckling]
726
00:37:50,601 --> 00:37:51,769
Uh, sorry, thank you.
727
00:37:51,852 --> 00:37:53,980
Congratulations, kid,
you've proven me wrong.
728
00:37:54,063 --> 00:37:57,024
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Samuels.
I will not disappoint you.
729
00:37:57,108 --> 00:37:58,025
Thank you.
730
00:38:04,740 --> 00:38:05,950
I got the part.
731
00:38:07,952 --> 00:38:09,203
I got the part!
732
00:38:12,790 --> 00:38:13,958
So that's it.
733
00:38:15,084 --> 00:38:16,127
No notice?
734
00:38:16,210 --> 00:38:18,129
That's how you thank your old pal Ernie?
735
00:38:18,212 --> 00:38:20,214
Listen, Ern, you've been a big help,
you know that.
736
00:38:20,298 --> 00:38:24,176
But I have been having moral reservations.
737
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:26,887
Oh, you have, have you?
738
00:38:28,764 --> 00:38:30,433
No prude like an old whore.
739
00:38:32,059 --> 00:38:33,811
You're just like the rest of them, Jack.
740
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:37,398
Suddenly, you're all squeaky clean, huh?
741
00:38:38,065 --> 00:38:41,444
You know damn well deep down
you're just as seedy as the rest of us.
742
00:38:41,569 --> 00:38:45,072
So you can shove that halo all the way up
your ass as far as I'm concerned.
743
00:38:45,156 --> 00:38:46,741
[coughing] You're full of shit.
744
00:38:47,325 --> 00:38:49,785
[coughing heavily]
745
00:38:50,786 --> 00:38:52,121
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jack.
746
00:38:53,205 --> 00:38:55,583
I'm happy for you. It's just that...
747
00:38:57,877 --> 00:39:00,671
I thought I found my way out
of the game, too, you know?
748
00:39:02,173 --> 00:39:03,591
It was all bullshit!
749
00:39:04,050 --> 00:39:06,469
-What are you talking about, Ernie?
-Vivien Leigh.
750
00:39:07,053 --> 00:39:09,388
I was reading lines with her all night
at Cukor's.
751
00:39:09,472 --> 00:39:12,183
I try to give that to people.
Don't turn the light on!
752
00:39:12,266 --> 00:39:15,936
I was fool enough
to believe you were straight!
753
00:39:16,771 --> 00:39:19,273
Oh, Ernie. You are fantastic.
754
00:39:19,357 --> 00:39:21,776
So honest and unveneered.
755
00:39:21,859 --> 00:39:22,985
You should be acting.
756
00:39:23,277 --> 00:39:25,696
-What are you talking about?
-No, I'm serious.
757
00:39:25,780 --> 00:39:27,573
You should be in this production.
758
00:39:28,074 --> 00:39:30,076
She said I should be in the play.
759
00:39:31,035 --> 00:39:33,913
She was gonna set a meeting
with Tennessee Williams.
760
00:39:34,663 --> 00:39:36,123
He never called me.
761
00:39:36,999 --> 00:39:38,334
I had dreams too, you know.
762
00:39:39,085 --> 00:39:40,503
[chuckling] What am I talking--
763
00:39:40,878 --> 00:39:42,755
Congratulations, Jack. Here's--
764
00:39:42,838 --> 00:39:44,048
-Ernie...
-No, no, no.
765
00:39:44,131 --> 00:39:47,343
Here's 50 bucks to tide you over
until you start shooting, okay?
766
00:39:47,927 --> 00:39:51,972
Come back when you're a big star
and say hello, okay?
767
00:39:52,390 --> 00:39:54,350
Okay. Thanks, Ern.
768
00:39:56,936 --> 00:39:57,937
[Ernie coughs]
769
00:40:03,025 --> 00:40:06,278
I knew it when I saw you in that bar.
You were going places, kid.
770
00:40:13,828 --> 00:40:15,329
I knew it before they did.
771
00:40:25,047 --> 00:40:26,215
And so...
772
00:40:26,757 --> 00:40:29,760
it has very much lifted my spirits
773
00:40:30,052 --> 00:40:33,597
to see that over $3,000
774
00:40:33,681 --> 00:40:37,309
has been raised in a single afternoon.
775
00:40:38,936 --> 00:40:44,275
Thank you so much for your support,
and please enjoy your lunch.
776
00:40:45,025 --> 00:40:46,986
These fucking shoes.
777
00:40:47,069 --> 00:40:51,490
-Those heels are one inch.
-Well, that one inch is killing me.
778
00:40:51,574 --> 00:40:52,450
[Avis chuckles]
779
00:40:53,242 --> 00:40:54,368
How's Ace?
780
00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:57,037
He's out of commission
for a little while, actually.
781
00:40:57,496 --> 00:40:58,789
Probably just a virus.
782
00:40:59,540 --> 00:41:03,377
-He's at home resting comfortably.
-Who's running the studio?
783
00:41:03,836 --> 00:41:06,297
I am. Very much in name only.
784
00:41:06,380 --> 00:41:07,590
Oh, Avis,
785
00:41:08,132 --> 00:41:11,302
that is positively divine.
786
00:41:11,927 --> 00:41:13,512
What's it like?
787
00:41:14,096 --> 00:41:15,931
What movies are you working on?
788
00:41:16,182 --> 00:41:17,183
Well...
789
00:41:17,266 --> 00:41:20,895
we just did some screen tests
on a film about Peg Entwistle.
790
00:41:22,188 --> 00:41:24,482
Oh, yes, I remember when that happened.
791
00:41:24,565 --> 00:41:27,568
-Oh, that sounds gripping.
-Yes.
792
00:41:28,277 --> 00:41:30,488
But, well, I feel guilty.
793
00:41:31,447 --> 00:41:33,991
The girl we're going to give the lead to
wasn't the best.
794
00:41:34,074 --> 00:41:37,286
There was a girl that was far better,
but she's colored.
795
00:41:43,834 --> 00:41:44,668
What?
796
00:41:47,463 --> 00:41:48,964
[phone ringing]
797
00:41:49,423 --> 00:41:50,799
Office of Dick Samuels.
798
00:41:52,468 --> 00:41:53,844
Wait, who?
799
00:41:55,930 --> 00:41:57,181
She's coming now?
800
00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,642
[crowd chattering]
801
00:42:15,241 --> 00:42:17,910
-Eleanor, this is Dick Samuels.
-How do you do, Mrs. Roosevelt?
802
00:42:17,993 --> 00:42:19,703
-Ellen Kincaid.
-So wonderful to meet you.
803
00:42:19,787 --> 00:42:20,913
It's a pleasure.
804
00:42:20,996 --> 00:42:22,456
-Right this way.
-Thank you.
805
00:42:22,540 --> 00:42:24,542
[applause]
806
00:42:26,043 --> 00:42:29,964
These past few years I have been
traveling all over the country,
807
00:42:30,047 --> 00:42:34,009
and what I have seen going on
in the South
808
00:42:35,803 --> 00:42:39,807
has positively shaken
my faith in this country.
809
00:42:40,432 --> 00:42:43,227
Here I thought we fought a war
810
00:42:44,061 --> 00:42:45,271
for freedom,
811
00:42:46,146 --> 00:42:47,022
for...
812
00:42:47,731 --> 00:42:49,233
basic decency.
813
00:42:50,442 --> 00:42:53,862
Then, to see Jim Crow up close, those...
814
00:42:54,863 --> 00:42:57,157
the beatings and the lynchings.
815
00:42:58,409 --> 00:43:03,956
I have begun to realize that this country
is actually moving backwards.
816
00:43:04,832 --> 00:43:05,666
Now...
817
00:43:06,792 --> 00:43:08,877
I understand that...
818
00:43:10,296 --> 00:43:13,048
you have the opportunity
819
00:43:13,132 --> 00:43:17,761
to cast a girl of color
as the lead in one of your pictures.
820
00:43:17,845 --> 00:43:21,348
I am here to encourage you to do it.
821
00:43:23,058 --> 00:43:24,143
Mrs. Roosevelt...
822
00:43:26,437 --> 00:43:27,980
I couldn't agree more.
823
00:43:29,315 --> 00:43:30,482
Miss Kincaid?
824
00:43:32,318 --> 00:43:36,238
I wholeheartedly agree with Richard,
Mrs. Roosevelt.
825
00:43:36,322 --> 00:43:37,406
Okay, I'm sorry.
826
00:43:37,489 --> 00:43:42,453
While I greatly admire the bleeding hearts
of my dear colleagues here,
827
00:43:42,536 --> 00:43:45,539
if we cast this girl in the lead role,
828
00:43:45,623 --> 00:43:47,875
the picture will not run in the South.
829
00:43:48,834 --> 00:43:51,629
-Run it in the North.
-The picture will face a boycott.
830
00:43:51,712 --> 00:43:54,673
Production on our slate of films
will grind to a halt.
831
00:43:54,757 --> 00:43:58,177
This studio,
as well as everyone who works here,
832
00:43:58,260 --> 00:44:01,639
will become a target of the Ku Klux Klan.
833
00:44:02,473 --> 00:44:04,058
That's the long and short of it.
834
00:44:04,892 --> 00:44:06,060
That's why we just...
835
00:44:06,727 --> 00:44:07,770
We can't do it.
836
00:44:08,437 --> 00:44:10,064
Yes, it will be...
837
00:44:11,231 --> 00:44:12,483
a big to-do.
838
00:44:15,361 --> 00:44:18,906
Think about it, what it might mean to a...
839
00:44:21,367 --> 00:44:23,827
to a dirt poor
840
00:44:24,411 --> 00:44:26,747
little black girl living
841
00:44:27,623 --> 00:44:30,292
in a shanty in some...
842
00:44:31,293 --> 00:44:35,589
cotton town where she's told she's free,
843
00:44:35,673 --> 00:44:38,550
but really her life is no better
844
00:44:38,634 --> 00:44:40,719
than that of her grandparents,
845
00:44:41,387 --> 00:44:46,809
who were the owned property
of another human being.
846
00:44:47,976 --> 00:44:54,650
Think about her, what it would mean to...
to see herself up there on that screen.
847
00:44:55,359 --> 00:44:57,611
Vaunted, dignified...
848
00:44:59,738 --> 00:45:00,739
valued.
849
00:45:01,448 --> 00:45:05,661
My time in Washington taught me...
850
00:45:06,578 --> 00:45:07,705
[scoffs]
851
00:45:08,163 --> 00:45:09,373
...a lot of things.
852
00:45:09,998 --> 00:45:15,629
I used to believe that good government
could change the world.
853
00:45:15,713 --> 00:45:19,299
Well, I don't know that
I believe that anymore.
854
00:45:19,383 --> 00:45:20,843
However, what you do,
855
00:45:22,219 --> 00:45:23,345
the three of you,
856
00:45:24,638 --> 00:45:27,808
can change the world.
857
00:45:31,019 --> 00:45:33,564
[sniffles] Now, if you will excuse me,
858
00:45:35,065 --> 00:45:37,526
I'm meeting Hick for dinner at 5:00.
859
00:45:38,694 --> 00:45:39,945
[door opens]
860
00:45:40,404 --> 00:45:41,989
[Eleanor whispering] Thank you.
861
00:45:46,201 --> 00:45:47,870
So, what are you going to do?
862
00:45:59,506 --> 00:46:02,092
[big band music playing]