Once Upon a Time

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- Taxi! Taxi!

- Get your morning paper.

I don't mind the show being bad,

but why so long?

Flynn gave me the tickets.

I had to show up.

- Next time, bring your wife.

- We should've believed the critic.

I don't know about you, sugar,

but I loved it.

Six-hour pass,

and three hours wasted.

So what?

Tomorrow, I'm a busboy again.

But where else does a 4-F

get into a uniform?

Curtains!

- Sam Ward.

- Right.

It's a good thing we have Equity

to guarantee our salaries.

Ten performances.

He said it'd run two years.

Three flops in a row,

and what flops!

Hurry up, Moke, before

Flynn comes to alibi this turkey.

I wish Flynn was a heel.

Then I wouldn't feel so bad.

What makes you think he isn't?

Well, he's been very nice to me.

What do you expect from the Moke?

Somebody ought to paste him!

Well, everybody's been paid off,

and that, my friend, is that.

Story of my life, Moke.

A short story.

"Flynn wins public.

Flynn loses public. "

Look at those notices we got in 1934.

Three smash hits!

Five road companies!

And I kept on winning

right through '35 and '36.

That was the year

I built this theater.

The Flynn Theater.

My personal monument.

May I bring you up to date?

How soon are we moving...

out of this personal monument,

before somebody asks us out?

- I accept your resignation.

- Who resigned?

- If you didn't, then you're fired.

- Who needs the money?

Look,Jerry, you're

taking this all too serious.

Where is it a crime for a guy

not to hit the jackpot every time?

So you're only a part-time genius.

So you're resting between miracles.

Okay, comes the dawn,

you're a genius again.

Boy, even a champ

gets knocked out sometimes.

No, not that you're knocked out,

you understand.

You're right, Moke.

The critics were right.

I should've had my head examined.

A rank amateur would have known better

than to put on a show like that.

Hello, Flynn.

I just caught your show.

Pretty bad, wasn't it?

- Since when have bankers been critics?

- I hope you won't mind.

I took the liberty of showing some

people through your theater today.

They were crazy about your office.

Very much impressed with your tastes.

They're thinking of buying it.

I'm not thinking of selling.

Your note for $100,000

comes due at the end of the week.

There's a rumor around town

that you won't meet it.

I didn't spend my life

building this monument...

so that someone like you could come in

and tell me when to get out!

I built it, I'm gonna keep it. You're

gonna give me an extension of time.

No extension.

One week.

What? You mean to

stand there and tell me that...

you're gonna deprive the public

of a chance to seeJerry Flynn shows?

Like the one I just saw?

McKenzie.

I've won more Pulitzer prizes

and critics awards...

than any other man in show business!

Stop living in the past.

You've had three flops in a row.

You asked for an extension after

the first one and the second one...

and now you're asking again.

Come on, now, Flynn. You've been

fooling this town long enough.

There isn't another banker in the city

would lend you a quarter.

You're through, Flynn.

Did you hear that, Moke?

He says I'm through.

Tell him the ideas I have.

Tell him the show I'm putting on.

Tell him how it's going to make

theatrical history. Go on.

- Well, you see, in this production-

- Never mind. I'll tell him myself.

Look, McKenzie...

what does the public need

in times like these?

Escape, and escape through beauty!

Ah, beauty.

And I'm the man

that can give it to them.

When the curtain goes up, where are we?

We're in Egypt.

Pyramids mirrored in the lake!

And off in the distance, the Sphinx-

the riddle of the ages!

- Can't you see it, McKenzie?

- Sphinx?

One great panorama.

The mysticism of the East.

And through it all, the story of man's

soul struggling through the turmoil.

- Yeah, pyramids.

- That's right!

We'll break out

the first four rows of seats.

- That'll cost money.

- It'll give the stage greater depth.

We'll break down part of

the proscenium arch, if necessary.

Make a note of that.

I'll do that tomorrow.

McKenzie, I'll give them beauty

such as they've never seen-

beauty that'll make them escape

from this crazy, upside-down world.

And they'll hear music-

200 voices...

blending in celestial harmony.

- Oh, beautiful.

- Yes! A song of triumph!

Yes, yes, yes!

No!

That's the way you sold me last time.

You're not gonna do that to me again.

McKenzie, wait! You haven't

heard about the transformation-

man regaining

the paradise that was lost.

One week.

One week.

Say, that Sphinx-

that was great.

What Sphinx?

Why, the one with the pyramids.

But,Jerry, man's soul

struggling up through the turmoil-

- When do we go into rehearsal?

- What with? This?

I know,

but the mysticism of the East!

So what did you give McKenzie

all of that for?

You know me. I get lonely

when I can't hear myself talk.

I'll put out the lights

and meet you outside.

- Good night, Pop.

- Good night, Mr. Flynn.

Hey, Pinky, look what I found!

- Maybe it belongs to that man there.

- What man?

We ought to give him a look

for his nickel, if it's his.

Hey, mister, did you lose something?

Just a theater.

Come on, Pinky.

The nickel ain't his.

Wait a minute.

Did you lose a nickel?

I didn't lose it, son.

I threw it over my shoulder for luck.

See? I told you it's his.

So he's got a right to look.

Go on, Fatso.

Hold up the box.

He's the only customer we ever got.

Please, mister,

take a look so we can go home.

All right, go on.

Play.

- What is it?

- We want you to look.

Look at what?

A trained caterpillar.

- A trained caterpillar?

- Sure.

He dances.

Bend down real close and watch.

That's enough.

He got his nickel's worth.

Kid, take it easy.

Now he's stopped dancing.

He stopped when you did.

Sure. That's the way

Pinky trained him.

Beat it, Pinky!

The cops!

Was they bothering you, Mr. Flynn?

Oh, no.

They just had a dancing caterpillar.

Oh. They had a what?

Caterpillar.

Most remarkable thing I've ever seen.

Stood right up and danced.

Mr. Flynn, I've known you for years.

So maybe you've had a few flops,

but you'll get over it.

And before you know it, you'll-

The kid had it... in a box.

A box.

Yeah, I know.

But if you was to go away

to a nice quiet place...

with mountains and trees and streams-

He danced!

Who danced?

- The caterpillar.

- Yeah, I know.

I know a little place upstate.

My brother-in-law went to it.

I'm telling you, he danced.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

But the green trees...

the streams, Mr. Flynn-

A dancing caterpillar.

Doesn't that mean anything to you?

It means you've gotta

go upstate for a rest.

Well, what do you say

let's go and eat?

He danced!

Come on out.

I want to talk to you.

- Cop gone?

- Don't be afraid.

I told him we were friends.

Look, do you mind

if I have another look?

I want to be sure

I've seen what I've seen.

Got another nickel?

Let him have another look

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