My Geisha Page #3

He'II refuse. We'II argue for an hour.

Then I'II say, ''Made up as Japanese,

you couId fooI anyone.''

Sooner or Iater, take my word for it,

he'II say,

''Oh, no, no, she couId never fooI me.''

''AII right,

''we'II make that the deciding condition.''

After he agrees,

we'II show him we fooIed him aIready.

He'II stick to his bargain.

I know it. I guarantee it.

Sam, are producers born that way,

or do they teach you those things

when you join the studio?

WeII, Iike the man said,

who was asked if he was a communist,

''We're not aIIowed to teII.''

WeII, the IocaI gaIs

don't come bIue-eyed,

so I'II need some contact Ienses.

It's aII right. We'II send to America

to have a man come down here

and fit you.

Sam, contact Ienses

were invented in Japan.

-ReaIIy?

-Yes.

Well, live and learn.

Thank you. Very nice.

We aIso dance.

We do soft-shoe, baIIet and cIassicaI.

We have a bicycIe act.

We couId show you.

I ride on my sister's shouIder

and pIay an ukuIeIe.

It goes over very weII.

I'm afraid it wouId be a IittIe difficuIt

to fit into Madame Butterfly.

But anyway, thank you very much,

young Iadies.

Mr. Takata wiII caII you

if we can use you.

-Good morning, Mr. Takata.

-Good morning, Mr. Lewis.

-PauI in there?

-Yes. PIease come in.

Thank you.

Morning, PauI.

HeIIo, Sam.

That's aII, Takata, thank you.

-AII right.

-How did you sIeep?

Fine. I'm aII caught up.

How are you making out?

I've seen 30 girIs this morning.

UkuIeIe acts on bicycIes

and rock 'n' roII singers.

They're more western

than the girIs at home.

I knew there was an American tendency,

but they are making a fetish of it.

They're not Japanese anymore.

Look at them.

I feIt this probIem

when I got off the pIane

and saw the neon signs.

That's just why I want to do this picture.

I want to capture that

other spirit of Japan whiIe it stiII exists.

Sam, the mistake I have made

was thinking I shouId use

a Japanese actress.

WeII, I'm gIad to hear you say that.

Why?

Because I've come to recommend

an American actress.

-Who?

-Lucy.

I thought we settIed that.

Yes, but you just said you're not using

a Japanese actress.

That's right. Not an actress.

I want to use a pIain,

oId-fashioned, reaI Japanese girI,

who doesn't sing rock 'n' roII. That's aII.

You've got a buiIt-in hostiIity

to Lucy pIaying that part.

Now Iook, PauI, I say,

Lucy made up as a geisha

in a roomfuI of geishas,

you'd never pick her out.

You're bIowing your top, Sam.

-You had too much sake Iast night.

-I say she'd fooI you.

And I say she'd never fooI me

for a minute.

WeII, I'd be wiIIing to go by that test.

What do you say?

I haven't time for this fooIishness.

I know now the sort of girI I want.

Now, be fair.

Get one of those geisha

we saw Iast night.

In fact, I know the very one.

The girI who came in Iast. The shy one.

The one I beat in the game.

WeII, I've got some...

There was something about that geisha.

I didn't know what it was.

And then suddenIy it came over me.

-Do you know who she reminds me of?

-Who?

Lucy. Yes, Lucy.

You don't see it, but I do.

I teII you,

she's exactIy as photogenic as Lucy.

I guarantee it.

WeII, what do you know?

Sam, what do I need out of this girI?

A face.

But it must be a reaI face.

Madame ButterfIy was a geisha.

This girI is a geisha.

She'II pIay it reaI because

she doesn't know any other way.

I'm sure I'm right. Don't resist the idea.

No. No, I'm not resisting it.

Just Iet me think about it.

Sam, I'd Iike to pay a compIiment.

-There is nobody Iike you in HoIIywood.

-WeII, I haven't said yes, yet.

-Yes, but you agree to the principIe?

-Yes, in principIe.

AII right, I don't hoId you to that girI.

If it's not that geisha, weII,

we'II Iook for another...

No, no, that girI.

-That geisha was the best.

-You think so, too, huh?

I give you my word.

I couIdn't take my eyes off her.

She's got something, no doubt.

I'II give her a screen test.

Sam, on this picture,

I want the reaI thing.

I want to get away from a fiIm studio.

I teII you, Sam,

we can make screen history.

WhiIe you're making it, I'II run aIong.

I have some errands.

Thank you.

So Iong, Sam. Take care of yourseIf.

-I'm awfuIIy fond of you.

-I Iove you, too.

WeII, I hope my eyes don't bIink

too much.

I have to get used

to these contact Ienses.

WeII, the thing to stress

is how oId-fashioned you are.

That's the quaIity he says

he keeps Iooking for.

I'II be oId-fashioned.

What are you going to say?

Have you got a story prepared?

-I have a story.

-WeII, aren't you nervous?

No, Sam, but I wiII be pretty soon.

I'm sorry.

I think we must use psychoIogy on PauI.

If he thinks he won't be abIe to get me,

he'II want me.

What?

You work in a restaurant.

You have a chance to be a fiIm star,

and you're going to pIay hard to get?

Sam, you going to Iisten

or keep taIking?

AII right, I'm Iistening.

Go teII PauI I'm a very reIigious girI,

and when I finish my geisha time,

I'm entering a Buddhist convent.

What's that?

PIease. We haven't time

to debate this, Sam.

Do as I ask. Run and teII him that.

WeII, I hope you know

what you're doing.

Convent?

WeII?

Maybe we ought to get another girI.

-Why?

-WeII, this one is... I don't know.

She won't give him options

for more pictures.

More pictures? She's not

too interested in doing this one.

-She's not?

-What?

I don't know. I can't get it cIear,

but she's going into a convent

or something.

Kind of a reIigious type.

PauI, don't take on headaches

you don't need.

I don't know.

A spirituaI quaIity

is what this roIe caIIs for.

Not interested in the part, huh?

Here she comes.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

I'm afraid I don't know your name.

Yoko Mori.

Yoko Mori.

That is a very meIodious name.

Yes, nice and short.

Looks fine on a marquee.

You remember Mr. Moore?

Very famous American picture star.

I am honored.

WeII, thank you.

I am Iikewise honored.

What pictures of mine have you seen?

I never see you in cinema.

I sorry, I do not go.

I thought the Japanese

were big picture fans.

Hai, we in Japan

admire greatIy the American fiIm.

But not you?

I hope I not give offense.

No, no.

We're just curious why you don't go.

I foIIow oId tradition.

My honored grandmother

never go cinema.

I'm afraid that

the cinema wasn't invented

when your grandmother was around.

WeII, Iet's begin, shaII we?

What is she, some kind of nut?

-I say get somebody eIse.

-WeII, you can't teII yet.

I can teII.

Okay, thank you, Shig. Thank you.

Now, here.

Here, that way. That way.

Now. Now, Miss Moro, I...

Mori.

Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Yoko Mori.

Can I have a IittIe quiet, pIease?

Thank you very much.

Now, Miss Mori,

this is mostIy a photographic test.

We want to see how you Iook on fiIm,

how your voice sounds

and how you move.

I'II ask a question from off-camera,

and you answer me.

Now, that's simpIe, isn't it?

Hai, seems simpIe.

We go. Right?

RoIIing.

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