Beyond the Sea Page #2

I would spend most days in bed with

fever

but when I had the strength,

Mama and I would practise,

and practise, and practise,

until we created what she called "The

Plan".

Soon I would be old enough

to head to New York,

but Mama had one more lesson to teach.

From the halfway mark!

To be a star, a big star,

you've got to be talented, obviously.

But you got to be tenacious, have

charisma.

But most importantly, you gotta

have... it!

The great intangible.

And you've got it all, Bobby.

You're gonna be bigger than Sinatra.

I'd settle for a little Jolson. Mama,

Mama, Mama.

So part of Mama's plan...

- Wait a minute.

- What?

You didn't go dancing down the street

like that.

I know. It's a fantasy sequence.

- But it's not real.

- Forget real.

Listen, kid. Memories are like

moonbeams.

We do with them what we want.

Oh. OK, then.

Go on. I'll be around when you need

me.

Mama's plan was to surround myself

with the best.

So I now had a manager

who had never managed -

Steve Boom-Boom Blauner,

a public relations guy who had never

related to the public - David Gershenson,

Behrke, who had only

conducted the high school band,

and my brother-in-law Charlie,

a garbage man, as my valet.

Not in the school band now, huh,

Bobby?

Let me tell you, when you come from

nothing, like us...like him...

then you're destined to make a name

for yourself.

And we will, Richie, we will.

Drive over there.

Drive over to those friggin' girls. Go on.

Go on! Hey, girls,

do you wanna see a real star?

While Sinatra was playing at the Copa,

Walden Robert Cassotto would play

any place they would book him...

barmitzvahs, weddings,

and a few dives on Long Island.

- Hey, kid, you ain't no Sinatra.

- Stop. Stop.

They're lazy. They don't like to

rehearse.

They don't get better. They're wasting

my time.

- It's only the Safari Club.

- I don't care!

We know three songs, they can't

keep pace with two of them.

Bobby, you didn't know what F sharp

was, now you're an expert?

Bobby, you called the Safari Club a

disease.

- You guys sounded great.

- No, we sounded like sh*t.

The audience deserves better.

I had a hot head, a weak heart

and an even worse stage name.

Walden Robert Cassotto isn't a name

you could see on a marquee.

Well, maybe for one night only.

One thing most performers were doing

back then was to find a great stage name.

And then one day, I saw it.

The perfect name.

Just blinking. Darin.

Darin. Bobby Darin.

And no sooner did I change my name

that I got my first gig on television.

Unfortunately, I didn't know the

lyrics to the song,

so I had to devise my own method

to get through it on live television.

Didn't win me many fans.

But it didn't finish me either.

My record company was giving me

one last chance to make a hit.

Bobby, it's all about the image.

Are you starting again? It's my last

session.

- You look like sh*t.

- I know my hair is falling out!

Next time you go on television, wear

one.

- That looks so goddamn fake.

- John Wayne wears one.

Very authentic. Humphrey Bogart wears

one.

- Bogart has an album coming out, does he?

- Sinatra wears one.

All right, Boom-Boom,

you win.

I'll go back to making the vinyl and

the records,

and the putting the wax in the thing

and making it go.

Let's sing the song again, hello.

Does this song make any sense to you?

It takes place in a toilet. It

shouldn't.

Maybe he should be in the shower.

- Guys don't take baths.

- I agree.

I put the tow... Wait, wait.

I wrap the towel around me,

and then I jump back in the bath.

How comes he jumps back in the tub?

- Doesn't he know these people?

- Where else should he go?

- We gotta play with it.

- Play, butjust keep it to an hour.

That's all the time we got, Bobby.

Hey, tell me something.

Who's this guy, Yom Kippur,

they got booked on Friday?

What are they screaming?

I finally topped the charts with a

song I wrote in 20 minutes.

Now, listen carefully to the lyrics.

They're very profound.

He said he'd do it, and he did it.

Charlie, I'm trying to hear him sing!

He's going to be the biggest

star in show business.

Ma, get away, I can't see.

What's that on his head?

- What is it?

- It's a toupee. One of those.

I was a teen idol for about a minute

and a half,

but Mama's plan was to be bigger than

Sinatra.

I wanted to do the great standards,

but my producer thought

I was nuts to turn my back on rock'n'roll.

Teenagers aren't going to buy an album

of you doing standards.

Ahmet, how do you know

what teenagers will buy?

What, you got a crystal ball back

there?

I know you don't change your image

when you're hot like this.

You know what? I don't want teenagers

to be my only audience, so that's perfect.

Why can't you be satisfied?

You just did Bandstand!

Bandstand's mostly for kids.

Ahmet, I want the Copa.

Wth rock'n'roll,

I'm like a thousand other guys out there.

I gotta prove I can sing. I want it

all.

I want the major leagues.

I want nightclubs, Vegas, movies, TV.

This album will make it happen all

fast.

You don't have to prove anything.

You're a star already.

- Is that what you think, Ahmet?

- Of course!

Hang on a second. Hey, kid! Hang on a

second.

- Kid! Kid!

- I don't have time for this, Bobby.

- What's up?

- I've a question. Wll you do me a favour?

- Wll you look at me?

- What?

Just look at me.

Do you know me?

- What?

- Do you recognise me?

- What are you talking about?

- Do I look familiar to you?

No. You don't. I don't know you.

Leave me alone, crazy bastard.

I got things to do.

Thanks, pal.

Ahmet, when the delivery guy

knows me, then I'm a star.

- Give her the real thing.

- Yeah!

Cypress, 2-6-7-2.

Bobby, you're to remember this number.

Any time, if you need me,

no matter where you go, you call.

Cypress 2-6-7-2.

You have to answer it.

You have to tell what happens next.

- Hey, Nina. How's it going?

- Honey, I gotta tell you something.

What?

D Up A Lazy River

Go ahead.

You have to go.

Don't worry about me.

I can't.

You have to.

Mama, I think this is

what we've been looking for.

And here he is,

the greatest - Bobby Darin.

Best New Artist. Best Album. Bobby

Darin.

Bobby Darin, this is your life.

Let's go make movies!

So with success, Hollywood came

knocking.

I flew to Italy with Charlie and Nina

to make a movie with Rock Hudson

and Sandra Dee.

What is wrong with you, you stupid

wop?

There's things in there that break!

- Oh, my God. I'm sorry.

- Nina, just cool it.

No, I'll do it myself.

Look who's on the cover

of Screen magazine, Charlie.

- No, just...

- Nina, we're gonna take a walk.

- This is a movie.

- You bet.

- Can you act?

Charlie, I've been acting my whole life.

One, two, three.

- Ah.

- What did you wish for?

It's not good luck to tell.

I hope you get what you want.

Oh, that sure is sweet of you.

Cut! Great.

OK with that?

That's lunch.

We'll move on after lunch.

- Hey, Sandy?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes