"And there's Parliament to consider." "And The Times." "Oh, forget all that." "How are we going to get this past me Ma and Da?" "Why?" "Don't you think they'll approve of me?" "I suppose me Ma will find you charming enough." "But me Da, he doesn't go in for politics." "He socked a county clerk in the nose once just for campaigning too near his pub." "Did he?" "Could we pretend you were a professor or such..." "Always loved that story." "Downing Street." "She owed one scene on it when she died." "We'd shoot it with a double, find a voice double to loop her lines." "Maybe Bess." "She made a fine Minna." "It'd be a fitting tribute to her, Monroe." "God, she was good." "And it'd be found money, help us get out from under Mayer, the prick." "But if you're uncomfortable with it in any way..." "I'm not." "Wouldn't it be something if she ended up saving us again?" "The drudgery tour continues." "Today's my last day in wardrobe." "Starting in props tomorrow." "Fine, as long as being a stuntman isn't next on your list." "Is there some reason you're not writing at the moment?" "There is." "Finished it an hour ago." "Aubrey, congratulations." "Well, you're supposed to say that after you read it." "Which will be when?" "I'm done here at six." "Six?" "You're 19, I'm giving you first-look." "Play hooky." "I can't." "What are they gonna do, fire you?" "Worse." "They'll stop taking me seriously." "I'll read it tonight." "Notes on your desk by 8:00 a.m." "What if you don't have any?" "Thank you." "I'm very excited." "You ought to be." "Now, that's not quite Minna, Bess." "Would it help you to hear another clip from earlier in the picture?" "No, Odelle." "Thank you." "Let's just try it again." "All right." "Me daughter tells me you're in politics." "In a fashion, if you like." "I don't." "That felt better." "Didn't it?" "I wonder if more sessions might help." "I'll-I'll get the hang of it." "I was Minna, wasn't I?" "Yes, you were." "Mr. Stahr?" "There's a saying, in Yiddish." "A tate darft nisht a shpigl ven er hat gehat a zin." ""A man no longer needs a mirror once he has had a son."" "My Irving." "My boychik." "He was the perfect partner, the perfect friend." "An inspiration, a born storyteller, sometimes a taskmaster." "He was a movie man." "But you will never see his name on a single picture of ours." "That bothered me, but I always believed if I hectored him enough about it, he'd eventually give in, he'd put his name on the screen." "I thought I had time to win that one." "I was wrong." "And now my son, my mirror, is dead." "Mayer." "He hated Thalberg." "And now he gets to replace him." "Hmm." ""My son is dead." Oh, Kristus." "And Mayer'd do it, too, just to fuck me." "Well... he can offer control." "And as big a bankroll as Monroe likes." "But Monroe wouldn't." "He'd never do that to me." "Yeah." "Probably." "He wouldn't do that to me." "If you heard anything concrete, you'd tell me, right?" "You have to ask?" "Yeah." "Ah, it's hell, having family." "You know who we should hire?" "Norman Krasna." "Oh, heck of a writer." "But I thought you hated his work." "I was wrong." "He's brilliant." "What turned you around?" "Did a hell of a job on Mayer's eulogy." "Beautiful." "Didn't you think?" "Monroe?" "Is it bad form to discuss a script at a funeral?" "Yes." "Shameful." "Why?" "Just that Aubrey turned in a great draft of An Enemy Among Us." "Thought you might want to start thinking about directors." "Congratulations, Celia." "You're starting to turn into a first-rate producer." "And a second-rate human being." "Thank you." "If you keep this up, one of us is gonna have to switch religions." "We're both salesmen, you and I." "I don't think that's true." "No?" "We both sell myth." "Except mine are myths people can see." "God's not a myth." "No?" "The Bible isn't just stories?" "Noah's not a story?" "A really good story?" "How's a movie any different?" "Try this." "A woman enters her apartment." "It's nighttime." "She's wearing black gloves." "She empties out her purse." "Two dimes and one nickel." "She puts the dimes back in her purse, but places the nickel on a shelf beneath a bottle of rye." "On the stove is a matchbox." "One match left inside it." "She puts the gloves inside the oven, then lights it." "Her phone rings." "She picks it up, then says," ""I've never owned a pair of black gloves in my life."" "Then leaves." "Do you see?" "What was the nickel for?" "I have no idea, I was just making pictures, but you were interested." "What makes you say that?" "Why else would you ask about the nickel?" "See?" "Story." "You seem so insistent upon proving to me that movies matter." "Yes." "Why?" "Because people die for them." "Someday I will, too." "All right." "They matter." "Thank you." "Now tell me the rest of your sins." "Pat, do you want me to get a job?" "Why would you get a job?" "I don't know." "To help out." "Do you want me to cancel our Christmas trip?" "What is with you tonight?" "I don't mind living picture to picture, always thinking that it's all gonna come to an end, and it's certainly not the first mortgage you took out to finance one." "I mean, we could spend less." "I haven't failed us yet, have I?" "No." "I don't know." "Irving dying..." "Perhaps it's time for me to consult my crystal ball." "Sure." "Okay." "Shyness is gonna have a negative cost of $900,000, with another $100,000 for prints and advertising." "It'll bring in $4 million domestic, and, eh, six, $700,000 overseas." "Oh." "Downing Street... that's pure profit, because we wrote it off two years ago." "Mm-hmm." "And... figure the same $100,000 for PA, wide release;" "I think we're looking at maybe three, three-point-two." "And we are back in clover." "And the weather next Thursday?" "Sunny." "Very sunny." "I don't think you're understanding the scene." "She wants to sleep with Agent Willard." "Whatever she does is in place of sleeping with him." "No, but she's stalling here." "She's afraid, simple as that." "People don't have three emotions at once." "I do." "And why doesn't she keep the lunch date with her boyfriend on page 72?" "She's too ashamed of herself." "But what people are ashamed of usually makes a good story." "The picture needs more of her inner world, her pain." "The better we get to know her, the more we'll fear for her at the end." "My God, you sound just like Monroe." "Thank God you got over that crush on him." "Aubrey, what matters is he's got a crush on this movie." "I saw it in his eyes." "Let's not blow it, okay?" "Beautiful home she has here." "Did you know her in Germany?" "Only vaguely." "But we emigres have to take care of one another." "Hmm." "Please." "So, you were saying, uh, your fictional world." "Brinel." "Yes." "Yeah, the script's not done yet, but it's going to be perfect." "And perfect for you to direct." "But word in our little circle is that the German consul here isn't too pleased about it." "Herr Gyssling." "That's a point of pride for me." "But you see, I just escaped the Nazis." "Why would I want to come all the way here just to antagonize them again?" "Because if we don't stop them now, there won't be anywhere to escape to." "Marlene." "Miss Dietrich." "Mr. Stahr." "Here to take a look at the Alps?" "Just a bit of Vienna." "Pity about Irving." "So young." "Were you close?" "I wish we'd been closer." "My, but you are a clever one." "You've been in town three days, and you're already living with an international movie star, Fritz." "You must be pretty clever yours..." "Your wife stayed in Germany, didn't she?" "Traded you for a Nazi pin and married the party." "Now imagine something." "She walks into a theater in Munich, sees this picture, a giant middle finger to Hitler." "You'd really want that to be directed by someone else?" "You wanted to see me, Mr. Brady?" "Miner." "Come on in." "I got an opportunity for you." "Oh." "Yes, sir." "Miner, do you freely accept that I am now your Lord and Savior?" "Bernadette." "How's school?" "How's your class?" "Well enough." "I spend most of my days breaking up fights and cleaning up messes." "Funny, so do I." "I was thinking of you the other day, at Irving's funeral." "It hit me that you're the only family I've got left out here." "Please." "Do you need money?" "No, I'm not here for money." "I'm here for Dex." "Took me weeks to work up the nerve." "It's something he was doing on his own." "And he was always afraid to show it to you." "And he was very proud of it, I think." "Will you read it?" "Of course." "Just because he's gone doesn't mean he's not still under contract." "Hello." "I'm Rose." "I'm the brain tumor in 208." "Is that what you'd like me to call you?" "I'm Kitty." "Where you from?" "From Portland." "But lately, a bridge under Sixth Street." "Couldn't find work?" "Well, I came here to be an artist, and it turns out they had artists here already." "So..." "Who told you you have a brain tumor?" "I passed out in a movie theater." "Marx Brothers picture." "Can I get another blanket?" "Thank you." "Do you need anything else?" "Do you know any jokes?" "I don't, uh..." "I think I'm dying." "No." "So... two guys walk into a bar..." "You don't want to put on too much, okay?" "But you want to make sure it's even." "You sure this isn't stealing, Max?" "It's called publicity, Nathan." "Studios pay people to do this." "She's gonna be like Mitzi Green." "That's what everyone's saying." "Who is?" "Lana." "She was playing the lead." "Now she's gonna be a star." "Maybe I didn't practice enough." "Oh, you practiced great." "You did great." "Nathan, set the table." "You know, I saw a lot of kids make a lot of mistakes, and you didn't make any." "And it's just a school play." "So how come that producer who was there gave his card to Lana and not to me?" "Because you were in the chorus." "Okay?" "Dinner's ready." "I'll get the lead next time." "Then everyone will be watching me." "It's nice to think about anyway." "Nathan." "Bless us, O Lord, for these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive..." "Can you cook?" "What?" "When I tell my mother about you, it'll be the second question she asks." "Can you?" "Reasonably." "What else will you tell her?" "That I'm happy." "I'm happy, too." "Quick, lock the doors and bar the windows, before someone comes and takes it all away." "No one's gonna take it away." "Do you ever think about stopping?" "Stopping what?" "Work." "They just put a 37-year-old boy genius in the ground." "Do you ever think about it?" "Taking time off?" "Shangri-La." "Louis Mayer." "Me daughter tells me you're in politics." "I'm just not feeling her spirit from..." "Any luck?" "Oh." "Hello, L.B." "Pat." "How's Margo?" "How's your house?" "Fine and fine, thanks." "To what do we owe the pleasure?" "Trying to find you a proper Minna." "I brought you half my stable." "Well, gee, Monroe." "Why don't you just ask your girlfriend to do it?" "She's Irish." "I don't think that'd be a good idea." "We all have to suffer for our art, Monroe." "Tell him, Louis." "I also dropped in on a Sally Sweet rehearsal." "And?" "Fine." "Shirley Temple shouldn't lose any sleep over her." "And, would it kill you to jazz up the script a little?" "It's a bit trite, no?" "Which reminds me, what do you two think of color?" "Think it's swell." "Why?" "Well, it's an idea Irving had." "He wanted to steal Wizard of Oz from Goldwyn and make it in color." "Does that sound crazy to you?" "Not at all." "Sounds a little gimmicky to me." "Still haven't found a replacement for him?" "Talent like that doesn't grow on trees, Pat." "Well, see you two around." "What's wrong with the Sally script?" "It is a bit flat." "If you'd let me put a new writer on it..." "See to it then, will you?" "Oh." "Almost forgot why I fucking came in here." "Is it true, I'm hearing you're courting Fritz Lang?" "Yes." "He's perfect for Enemy." "It's an American story." "Why ask a German emigre to tell it?" "Because he's a German emigre." "You don't find him a little brooding?" "No, I think he's a visionary." "What does Louis think?" "Couldn't say." "Haven't asked." "That's refreshing." "It's my movie, Pat." "He's my choice." "You're a velvet fucking jackhammer, aren't you?" "And find me a Minna." "So?" "Which one did you pick?" "I saw 30 would-be Minnas coming through today." "Who got it?" "No one." "They're all wrong." "Well, she'll turn up eventually." "I'm starting to think she's been here all along." "Would you do it?" "Do what?" "Be her voice." "Minna." "Me?" "I need the help." "And no one else can seem to get it right." "I'm not..." "It's just a few lines, Kathleen." "Just a few lines, yeah." "I don't mind doing this." "Really, I-I don't." "It's just, you... you said I wasn't a stand-in for anyone." "And you're not." "You're not." "Do you ever want me to kiss you like she did?" "Touch you like she did?" "What?" "I can if you want." "No." "I'm sorry." "I-I shouldn't have asked." "Do you ever think of her, when we're..." "No." "I do." "Me daughter tells me you're in politics." "You're in poli..." "Kathleen, what are you doing?" "Getting her voice." "I don't want you to feel like you have to..." "No." "Before I ever knew who Monroe Stahr was..." "I was a Minna Davis fan." "I loved her." "We all did." "If you're gonna have someone do this... then it might as well be someone who cares about getting it right." "I love you." "No, you don't." "You're just grateful." "They're not the same thing." "Yes." "They are." "Need some help?" "Must be some trick to it." "There is." "It sticks." "Father hasn't replaced the doors around here since his first Vilma Ba¡nky picture." "I may not be smart enough for this place." "How's traffic?" "Oh, uh, your father, uh, promoted me." "I'm Mr. Stahr's office boy now." "Oh, so you can spy on him." "Daddy, Daddy." "May I give you the lay of the land, Max?" "Yeah, I'd be obliged." "My father is the boss around here, but Monroe is everyone's hero, the only person in this whole phony town who actually behaves like the characters in our pictures." "It drives my father a little crazy, because at any other studio, all the whispering would be about him." "So, he hates Monroe... and he loves Monroe and he needs Monroe." "It's all a dance." "Hello, Celia." "Max." "Hi, Mr. Stahr." "We weren't doing anything." "Father just made Max your new office boy, Monroe." "Welcome aboard, Max." "Any spy of Pat's is a friend of mine." "Just do your job with honor." "You'll be fine." "And Celia will show you the ropes." "Is that Aubrey's script?" "Yes, as advertised." "Brilliant." "Poignant." "Now that he's turned in a producer's draft," "Oscar-iffic." "Well, so much for managing expectations." "No interruptions, Mary." "Even if it's Mr. Brady?" "That's right." "What if it's Mr. Mayer?" "He just messengered this over, says he'd like your thoughts on it." "You know, there's no guarantee he'll read it in one sitting." "Yes, he will." "He gets interrupted all the time." "I mean, sometimes he makes me wait days." "He won't on this one." "He wouldn't do that to me." "God, I envy your certainty." "Even at 19, I didn't have that." "You either believe in people or you don't." "I do, even if it means the occasional pie in the face." "Really?" "It's wonderful." "And terrifying." "I love the bit with the hat." "And that scene where she confesses to her boyfriend over lunch, and takes Winchester's key?" "Well done, Aubrey." "Well done, Aubrey." "By the way, Celia, your below-the-line days are over." "You're a producer now, full-time." "I start at the mill tomorrow." "No." "This is what you're good at." "Aubrey, grab your pencil." "Let's get to work." "But you said that..." "I do." "But that does not mean it's a picture yet." "All right, first, theme." "There's An Enemy AmongUs, right?" "We should see hints of dishonesty everywhere." "Friends who gossip about each other, uh, employees who steal a dollar or two from the till, the lady down the hall who's having an affair and the doorman who looks the other way to let the guy in." "It should feel like no one's worth a damn." "Of course." "Aubrey, we should do that." "And what are we saying about Adelle in scene one?" "We ought to meet her at work, telling her boss or her coworker some wild story about why she was late this morning, which they all know can't be true." "See, it's part of her charm, these-these tales she weaves." "So, when she uncovers the horrible truth about her neighbor and tries to convince them all, no one believes her." "A word of advice, boss?" "Sure." "If you're afraid of losing Stahr to Mayer, it might be wise to let him win a few." "He was a son to you not long ago." "You hate him." "I also hate my dentist, but I recognize his value." "I just can't think of a win I can give him that wouldn't feel like I was losing." "Hmm, can't you?" "Very impressive place you have here." "Golf club on the wall is from Bobby Jones." "It's his mashie, his five-iron." "Gave it to me just after he won the Masters." "Reminds me of Goebbel's office in Berlin." "Well, the inspiration was Mussolini." "They have both banned films of mine." "Ah." "And now you want to work with my little girl." "Very exciting." "Daddy." "An Enemy Among Us." "Please." "You like the title?" "Yeah, I like the whole script." "The characters, scenarios... all very strong." "And it has real thrills in it." "Cliffhangers." "Very American that way." "It does not brood at all." "No." "But it stings, bites." "This character feels to me like a female version of the Nietzschean Ubermensch... the answer to nihilism." "Exactly." "This one matters to us, Fritz." "I feel it has a very important statement to make to the world." "I could not agree with you more, Pat." "Well, then... welcome to Brady-American." "Lovely meeting." "One day, I look forward to introducing you to my actual father." "I don't know who that was." "I've never seen him so... agreeable." "Perhaps I am just that charming." "You know, now it's just the two of us," "I did want to mention a concern of mine about the script." "Oh, I didn't know you had one." "I do." "I didn't want to say anything in front of him, but... it's missing something." "Well, what's that?" "Everything Americans know nothing about." "Passion." "Sexuality." "Terror." "I see." "The landlady that helps your spy, Brigitta." "Her entire motivation should be between her legs." "Sex is her North Star." "Picture Marlene Dietrich." "Brigitta's a supporting role." "Dietrich only plays leads." "She will play it if I ask her to." "You know her?" "I'm staying in her home as her guest." "Would you like to meet her?" "How does it make you feel?" "The idea of it?" "Excited." "A little scared." "You say that as if there's a difference." "Every July, Americans set off skyrockets to celebrate how wonderful it is to be free." "Yet they know nothing of freedom." "Freedom happens on my bed." "And sometimes on my floor." "Too strong?" "No." "It's wonderful." "I live." "I breathe." "I fuck." "And you?" "I live and breathe." "Of course you do." "Come with me." "Marlene." "Fritz Lang?" "What's wrong with him?" "Do you have to ask?" "He's an enemy of the Reich, and he also happens to be Jewish." "I heard he was raised Catholic." "His mother was born Jewish." "Keep this up, there's gonna be nobody left making movies but Mickey Mouse." "I don't know why I bother with you." "I'm told Louis Mayer makes all the decisions for the studio now." "Funny story." "I was a trolley operator when I was 14." "My supervisor was a big tough guy, maybe 30." "Shook me down for a few nickels every day." "Got so bad, he started making me steal from the farebox." "But..." "I put up with it... 'cause I needed the job." "And, well, he was taller than I was." "Then, one summer, I had a growth spurt." "Like that, I was taller than he was." "So one day after work," "I beat his brains in with a lead pipe." "I fear I've missed your point." "My point is, I put up with you for the same reason the world puts up with Hitler." "Because at this moment, it's easier than going to war." "But when that changes, and it will change, you would do well to remember I'm taller than you." "And I'm never far from that lead pipe." "Daddy, I know what's missing from our movie." "What movie?" "The only movie..." "An Enemy Among Us." "It's too prudish, too puritanical." "Nobody's lusting after anybody." "Wait, did you just get in?" "Yes." "Quite a night." "With whom?" "Fritz." "He's such a perfect director for this." "Monroe was so right about him." "Yeah, Monroe doesn't know everything." "Well, what's that supposed to mean?" "It means Fritz is a noted pervert." "Did he..." "He didn't lay a finger on me." "And where am I gonna learn things if not out in the world?" "In here?" "I don't know." "I don't think we did so badly by you, darling." "Thought you were learning plenty at Bennington." "Oh, everyone at Bennington's an idiot." "Mother?" "Help me." "You know I'm right." "You only get one father, Celia." "The Langs of the world will come and go." "And so will Monroe." "You don't understand." "And it's not the only movie!" "Here's what you can expect from him." "Me daughter tells me you're in politics." "To which you would say..." "In a fashion, if you like." "I don't." "Don't trust politicians." "Especially rich ones." "You rich?" "Sadly, yes." "How rich?" "Quite, I'm afraid." "And ya think I'd hand you a daughter of mine?" "I've only got the five of them." "My word, Brigid, is he really going to be this rough?" "If he's sober." "That's the one." "Thank you." "See?" "A born actress." "Oh, God." "I hope not." "Thank you." "For what?" "For being you." "See you tonight?" "Oh, come on." "I'm hardly a model." "Didn't get your eyes right." "They're so beautiful." "There isn't anyone I can contact for you?" "An aunt, an uncle?" "I told you, they all scattered." "It was never a close family, anyway." "Now, could you just please be still?" "I feel silly." "That's better." "See?" "It almost does you justice." "You can draw." "It does help when I'm inspired." "Is it operable?" "They hope so." "Glad you could make it." "So?" "Funny." "I always wondered why the pages he turned in first thing in the morning were so much better than his pages at the end of the day." "Was all of it you?" "No." "Monroe, I..." "He might bounce an idea off me, or talk through a scenario, if he was stuck." "Bernadette, he did show me an early draft of this..." "a year ago." "It wasn't nearly this good." "And he knew it." "He couldn't get the women right." "But you did." "You fixed the subplot, too, which was a real mess." "I'm ashamed I didn't catch on sooner." "You're very talented." "You hear me?" "You can write." "Not many can." "Why don't you try it full-time?" "It's got to be easier than chasing fourth-graders around." "I didn't..." "I wanted..." "I just wanted to see his name on a screen again." "Credits are nice." "Family is better." "And I have a picture that needs some help." "It's Pat's baby." "Please." "He doesn't make any secret phone calls?" "No." "Any private meetings off the lot?" "No." "No, sir." "Do you have anything to report?" "Near as I can tell, Mr. Brady, all he does all day is try and make you money." "Miner, you may be the worst office boy I ever hired." "It's 4:00, Mr. Brady." "The celebration for Mr. Stahr's birthday." "You wanted me to remind you." "Thank you, Birdy." "Uh, stick around for a minute, will you?" "That'll be all, Miner." "Yes, sir." "Birdy." "Do you think the Sally Sweet script is lousy?" "I really couldn't say, Mr. Brady." "Haven't read that one yet." "I did love The Wizard of Oz." "Mr. Mayer sent it to Mr. Stahr." "It has Munchkins, an Emerald City." "You really should read it." "Cut it, cut it." "That was better." "Better." "It's just, uh..." "Still, it's still missing something." "What's that, Monroe?" "Joy." "Joy." "The picture's about kindness." "How it saves one man, then one family, then a whole neighborhood, and maybe the world." "Pretend you're singing to your kid, or your little brother, or the widow next door." "All right, let's try that." "Thank you." "It's going great, Pat." "Dell tells me you're on take 20." "That is art for art's sake." "Still wearing that watch, I see." "I have to know what time it is, don't I?" "Maybe you should give it to my daughter so she'll know not to stay out all night with that German pervert you sold her on." "You are gonna get off my back at some point, aren't you?" "You need to understand something:" "all this is mine." "You... are all mine." "And he who eats my bread sings my song." "What are you talking about?" "I am sick of waiting for Mayer to lure you away already!" "Hi!" "Happy birthday, Monroe!" "Uh, I..." "I appreciate you not singing "Happy Birthday."" "I've always hated that song." "And, uh, I'm grateful." "I'm grateful." "Don't, don't." "Get lost." "You know what "Angels on the Avenue" is about for me, Monroe?" "Loyalty." "Yeah, Carter's down, but Bell sticks with him." "Doesn't jump ship just 'cause things have gotten a little rocky." "He hangs in." "Like a friend." "That's what it's about for me, too, Pat." "Good." "Did you put a new writer on Sally Sweet?" "Or were you too busy pondering TheWizard of Oz?" "I just hired one." "And you're gonna love her." "Then... here." "What is it?" "Open it." "Happy birthday, son." "I always knew it would happen." "My favorite waitress in the pictures." "You shouldn't be here." "It's the funniest thing." "The guard at gate six can be bribed with a ham sandwich." "Say, uh, what do they pay for voice-over work?" "Is it good money?" "Well, it hardly matters; you're in the movies." "Bringing Minna Davis back to life." "My, my." "So I guess this means I won't be seeing you at the restaurant anymore." "Shame." "That place had a really fine turtle soup." "No." "No more restaurant." "Good night, Mr. Szep." "I'm happy for you, Kathleen." "You always did belong on a lot." "Take care, now." "I'll see you real soon."