Sweet And Lowdown Page #4

Hattie to play that part.

Well, Emmet hated the whole idea.

I can't believe you said yes.

Did you nod that dopey face of yours?

Do they know you can't speak?

I don't get it.

You're gonna embarrass me.

Suddenly you're a movie actress.

Don't make me laugh.

Now, as the story goes...

Hattie was playing this love scene

with William Weston...

this handsome older man

who always kissed his leading ladies...

so they said,

with an open mouth.

And he was kissing her,

and they were doing take after take...

and he was kissing her over and over

with an open mouth.

After 30 takes of getting kissed

by this gorgeous leading man...

Hattie went into a small coma.

And that was the last time...

Emmet ever set foot in Hollywood.

Yeah, I remember Emmet and Hattie

back East at that time.

In fact, he had a good manager,

this cat named Sid Bishop.

Sid was really good to him,

and he got him a lot of gigs.

Emmet was doing really well,

and that really wasn't easy.

Back then, a lot of musicians

were hurting from the Depression...

and there wasn't

a lot of work to go around.

But Emmet even agreed

at that time...

to do a couple of sides

for the Victor label.

He did "Melancholy Baby,"

"Exactly Like You"...

and "I'll See You In My Dreams."

- What do you mean, I'm broke?

- You give it away.

You drink it up.

You pick up checks.

You lose it in poolrooms, and

you're always buyin' Hattie presents.

She's like a kid. She loves

tearin' the paper off the box.

You gotta go on a budget.

I'll go on a budget

if someone will straighten me out.

A budget's not easy

for a guy like you.

- When I set my mind to somethin'...

- You fight every good idea I have.

I'll go on a budget.

I'll be good.

What do you spend on clothes a year?

Do you have any idea?

Want me to look like a bum?

- What about rent?

- I don't know. It's all hotels.

- Any idea what you spend on food?

- The booze gratis?

Help yourself. Do you have any idea

what you spend on food or entertainment?

Do you have any investments,

anything that'll throw off revenue?

I got some savings,

mostly from Hattie takin' in laundry.

Emmet, we gotta look

for places to cut down.

I burned a hundred dollars once.

A guy dared me. He was a four-flusher.

He burned a fifty,

I burned a hundred.

He burned a twenty, I burned

another hundred. I could cut that out.

You wanna end up

in the poorhouse when you're old?

You ever see a poorhouse?

From now on, your salary

and expenses will come to me.

I'm puttin' you on an allowance.

Okay, that's it.

The party's over.

Okay, that's it.

The party's over.

You're spendin' too much,

so now we've gotta go on a budget.

Now, aside from food,

what are your expenses?

What about the doctor bills?

You got a doctor?

I bet you I get you

a veterinarian who's cheaper.

And this is goin' out.

What are we?

The electric company?

We gotta save every penny.

What is that?

You remembered my birthday?

We can't afford presents.

That's gotta go back.

It's gotta go back.

These are the kid gloves

I really wanted.

Exactly the gloves

I wanted, these are.

You know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna cut you a break.

It's my birthday and...

So I'm gonna let you

give 'em to me.

You made this yourself?

Your writin' looks like a chicken.

Let's see.

"It's been almost a year...

since we've been together."

Ayear?

Well, that's scary.

What's this word here?

Is that... Is that "love"?

Oh, no. Don't go gettin'

any big ideas here.

Jesus.

I must've ate somethin' bad.

I'm feelin'...

I'm gonna be sick.

- Got somethin' for me today, Mr. Ray?

- I don't.

- Mr. Ray, it's me, Charlie.

- I'm all tapped out.

- You never let me down.

- Look.

I'd like to help you,

but I'm on a budget.

I haven't had

a bowl of soup all day.

What, you wanna make me feel bad?

- That's all you get.

- All right, thanks.

Thanks, Mr. Ray.

What's the urgency?

I came here as quick as I could.

- Would you look at this thing?

- This is why I came quick to meet you?

- He only wants 4,000 for it.

- Yeah, so?

Does it fit the budget?

Are you kidding?

We just sold one of your cars.

I'm tryin' to unload

the other one, not buy one.

- If I cut down?

- Cut down?

- Where are you gonna get four grand?

- I'll borrow the money and pay it off.

No one will lend you that kind of money,

and you'll be saddled with payments.

- I want the car.

- No, Emmet.

Hattie will give up desserts.

- I want the car.

- It's out of the question.

- I gotta have the car.

- You don't have the money.

- I gotta have the car.

- There's no way!

- We can't afford it.

- Stop sayin' "we."

If I want the car,

I'm gonna get it.

- Maybe someday, if it's in your budget.

- Budget! Budget!

You're suffocating me with the budget.

I can't buy Hattie a birthday present.

You can't buy champagne

if you can only afford beer.

I'm the best guitar player

in the world!

If I want the car,

I should have it.

He said it, but he didn't believe it.

He said it, but he didn't believe it.

I mean, in his soul,

he worshipped Django Reinhardt.

It was more than that.

He was frozen by him.

Django was like a god to him.

I don't know if this is true,

or just another Emmet Ray story...

but Sid Bishop, who was trying

to help him financially at the time...

got him a job in this club,

and one night, just before show time...

one of the guys backstage

decides to play a joke on him...

and tells him this lie.

Hey, Emmet!

Emmet, you're not gonna believe it.

Guess who's sittin' at the front table?

Django Reinhardt.

Are you kiddin' me? We should

get him up on stage with you.

Reinhardt.

He's gonna show him up.

- I'm gonna...

- Come on.

Emmet, we can get him

up on stage with us.

- Django Reinhardt's here.

- Really?

Hey, Django's not in the audience.

The house is half-empty. There's

just some guy that looks like Django.

Let's see if he's got

the nerve to come down.

- Harry, let's go.

- Emmet, we're on!

We should do it anyway.

Emmet, come on down.

I'll wait for you.

I'll take you to the front table myself.

I'll introduce you to Django.

Now, as the story goes...

Emmet, as you know, was pathologically

phobic about Django Reinhardt...

so he tried to escape

through the roof.

He just figured,

to hell with the job that night.

But remember, this was a guy

who had fainted twice...

when he came face-to-face

with Django Reinhardt in Europe.

He's looking for a way out, and decides

to jump to the building next door.

Well, as fate would have it,

he hits a weak spot in the roof...

and crashes through

into somebody's apartment.

As it happened, the apartment was

being used by some counterfeiters...

who thought it was a raid when

he came through the roof, and ran out.

Well, Eddie Durham,

the great jazz pioneer...

met Emmet in Chicago in the 1930's.

Here's what he said

about him in his book.

"I met Emmet in Chicago.

It was the height of the Depression.

Work was scarce. A lot of guys

Rate this script:4.0 / 4 votes