Beloved Infidel Page #6

Mr. Robinson.

You see, Miss Graham,

we cannot have you English

coming over here

contaminating our beautiful language.

Oh, Scott, please.

Cut it out, Scott.

Be yourself.

John, that's about the worst advice

you can give me right now.

Come on, Mr. Robinson,

does she go on or doesn't she?

I'm sorry, Miss Graham. Excuse me.

I'm sorry, Mr. Wheeler. I can't...

Let's go to your office

and settle the matter.

I'm most terribly, terribly sorry.

- Join us when you can.

- Yes.

Now, now, Warden.

Before you switch on the current,

the prisoner has a statement to make.

Business tactics, my darling.

- Business tactics.

- Oh...

Scott, what am I going to do with you?

But, Ted, what's to be lost

if you give her one more try?

I can't take the responsibility.

Good morning, Miss Arden.

Miss Arden is here.

She has an excellent reading voice.

She's familiar with the material

and I'm sure you'll approve our choice.

Ted, what would the Louella Parsons Show

be without Louella?

I admit it would be preferable

if Miss Graham did it.

Couldn't you possibly give me

one run-through right now?

Then if you're not satisfied,

well, you have Miss Arden, and I'll go

back to Hollywood and no hard feelings.

I'll agree to that. We haven't much time.

Charlie,

have Miss Arden wait in studio A.

- Miss Graham, whenever you're ready.

- Yes.

Miss Arden, would you be kind enough

to wait in studio A, please?

We're going to give

Miss Graham a run-through.

OK, Miss Graham,

let's get a level, please.

Good evening.

This is Sheilah Graham from Hollywood.

Perfect!

Perfect, Sheil-o. Just great!

Oh, Scott, please.

Oh, Sheil-o, don't be afraid of them.

There's nothing to be afraid of, Sheil-o.

I'll get him out of here right away.

Scott, will you please sit down

and be quiet?

Level's fine, Miss Graham.

Now for a complete run-through. Ready?

- Start.

- Now, Sheil-o.

Don't be nervous.

Just be yourself.

Your darling... lovely...

bewitching... self.

That's all you have to do, darling.

Just absolutely... be yourself.

Hello, John. What can I do for you?

- Let's go back to the hotel, Scott.

- Fine. Fine.

As soon as I get Sheil-o

straightened out.

Now, darling, let's try it again.

This time, remember... Just relax.

Come on, darling...

Give us that great big smile.

Be my own Sheil-o.

Good evening...

This is Sheilah Graham from Hollywood.

The newlyweds

Fredric March and Florence Eldridge

got two tickets in the mail

from an unknown benefactor.

It was for the opening night of the stage

play Hamlet, starring Leslie Howard,

and... as tickets were hard to come by...

Now you've got it, Sheil-o.

That was it, that was wonderful.

- Wasn't that just great, John?

- Just great. Come on, Scott.

You've got it, Sheil-o. It's in the bag.

You can't miss.

You see what I mean, John?

It's the secret of all great performers.

You just have to be yourself.

Take anyone you name - Jack Barrymore,

Bernhardt, Duse,

Lunt and Fontanne, Helen Hayes.

One secret. What is it?

Nothing to it. Just themselves.

Now, Miss Graham, everything's all right.

Let's go right on.

Oh, John. Where is he?

He's asleep.

I was just leaving you a note.

Oh... John...

It's just awful

that you had to be dragged into all this.

Hell, don't worry about me.

It's my first experience

with Scott like this, and I...

I am absolutely furious with him.

All things considered, I think

the poor guy hasn't behaved too badly.

I like that.

What am I supposed to do?

Go in there and wake him up

and apologise?

Sheilah, don't you know

that he's lost his job?

Been fired at the studio?

Fired?

But he... but he didn't tell me.

He didn't say a word.

Worst possible time for this to happen.

Zelda, the hospital bills, the daughter,

his self-confidence... Everything gone.

And here I've been worrying about

my stupid little broadcast.

Oh...

John... I've got to help him.

What shall I do?

Well, get a doctor.

He'll probably recommend

a sanitarium until he gets over this.

John, I can't do that.

No, I can't do that to him.

Oh, my poor darling, I...

Oh, John, help me.

I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do.

Hello, darling. How are you feeling?

Oh... Better than I should.

- Doctor Hoffman been here today?

- Yes.

I'm riddled with punctures

and filled with vitamins.

Scott, what are we going to do about us?

Drinking frightens me. I...

Darling, I'll take the bad with the good,

but I feel that perhaps...

first I should know just how

much of it there's going to be.

You've seen the end of it.

I'm going back to work.

I already called my agent

about another picture assignment.

Darling, do you know something? I don't

want you to write any more screenplays.

This place isn't right for you.

You should be where it's quiet,

with no distractions,

so you've got a chance to do what

you do best, and that's write novels.

You've been taking notes on a novel about

Hollywood and you should start writing.

Serious writing takes time.

Time.

There are certain obligations

that I must meet.

You know that Zelda's in a sanitarium.

I can't allow her to be put

into an asylum. I can't.

And Scottie is in... the most crucial

stage of her education right now.

So I must have a certain sum of money

coming in regularly.

Writing a novel...

It takes time... time.

Yes, I know, darling,

and I've been thinking about that too.

I think I have a solution.

I do hope you're going to like it.

Do you know what I've done?

I've rented a house at Malibu Beach -

away from all this.

With six weeks of concentrated effort,

you could write enough to get

a big advance from any publisher.

That would solve your problems,

wouldn't it?

Oh, Scott, it's a lovely little house.

Just the sound of the surf

and the gulls and...

- What do you think?

- Well, it sounds good.

It might work.

I am intrigued by the tycoons of this

industry. There's a good theme in it.

When shall we go?

Well... right now.

All right. Come on, I'll help you pack.

That won't take long.

I'll get the luggage. You know...

I've always felt that Hollywood had

a wonderful kind of foolish grandeur,

like an Italian court in the Renaissance.

It's got its kings, clowns,

wicked princes and clever mistresses,

all in a ferment of ambitious motion.

And its scribes, chroniclers

and gossips like me.

- What are you doing with this?

- Oh. I had that in Baltimore.

We had prowlers around the place once.

I think that the theme

would be the conflict

between one superior man

and all the petty angry forces

that try to tug him down, drag him down,

make him settle for less than the best,

something they can understand.

Probably in the end they'd destroy him.

What is this?

- It's a bull's tail.

- Of course. But what on earth for?

What for? Juan Belmonte

gave me that in Madrid in 1926.

Ugh... You've been

lugging it around ever since?

Yeah. Ever since.

I can't throw a thing like that away.

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