Sweet Bird of Youth Page #5

No. No, no, no. Hold it, hold it.

I told you I want a shadow right here

on her neck. You understand?

Not your fault, sweetie. You're terrific.

Okay, Charlie. We go again.

Right now.

- Camera, number one position.

- Playback.

- Quiet.

- All right, places, everybody.

And then, before you know it,

comes the night of the preview.

The first part of the film, I felt so safe.

- What did you say her name was?

- Alexandra Del Lago, stupe.

I thought she was dead and buried.

Sweetie, wait. Believe me. Please.

Miss Del Lago, one more picture, please.

She fell. Oh, poor thing.

- She's drunk.

- They're all drunks, all of them.

After that, flight.

Running away from that

frightful comeback.

I never stopped running until now.

- Know what you need right now?

- Yes, to forget again.

First we...

We let the hash take effect.

And then...

...we apply the magic formula.

What?

Like we did in Palm Beach, remember?

That soothing, magical formula

called papaya cream.

Yes. Yes.

Papaya-cream rubs.

Were you one of those faceless

young bodies in Palm Beach?

Well, that's where we met.

Don't you remember, in your

private cabana, on the beach?

And you were breathless.

I mean, just like you are right now.

It was painful. Painful to see.

And you were the anesthetic

that eased my pain.

Yeah, and you were smoking.

Just like you are right now.

That feels so...

I don't remember your face,

but your hands are familiar.

There. That hash,

how'd you get hooked?

On my way to Europe,

running away from my comeback.

The ship's doctor gave me injections.

Did he know he was giving narcotics

to the famous Alexandra Del Lago?

He just knew he was helping a woman

suffering from neuritis.

The hashish came later. In Tangier.

How'd you get it into the States,

smuggle it?

Know another way?

You mean you smuggled it right past

customs, princess?

What are you trying to prove?

Nothing. No, I just...

Don't forget, you're the one

that introduced me...

...to this fine old Moroccan hash.

Boy, I doubt very much

if I have any vice...

...old or new,

that I could introduce to you.

- Ma'am, don't call me boy.

- You knew all about this stuff, Carl.

- My name is not Carl, it's Chance.

- You called yourself Carl in Palm Beach.

I always carry an extra name

in my pocket.

Why, are you a criminal?

No, ma'am, not me.

I mean, you're the one that's committed

a federal crime.

What'd you do that for?

I thought you might've

planted someone outside the door.

Don't you trust me?

Who taught you to rub

desperate ladies the right way?

And you say all you did

was manipulate the papaya cream?

- Well, more or less.

- How much more?

Ma'am, if we'd made love,

you'd have remembered it.

Well, what stopped you? Certainly not I.

And certainly not your ethics.

What's the angle?

Why did you hold out?

I held out till you signed a contract.

Well, evidently I signed.

Why did you still hold out?

- I wanted to hold your interest.

- Well, you miscalculated.

My interest always increases

with satisfaction.

You mean you don't intend

to live up to that contract?

I can get out of that contract

any time I want to.

- Do you have any talent?

- For what?

Acting, baby.

Acting. A contract for acting

implies that you are an actor. Are you?

I've been an extra in movies

long enough to know that...

...I can be as big a star as some of them

she-men that have made it. Princess.

Princess?

All I need is just one big break.

- Carl, it takes more than one break.

- Chance. Chance. Chance Wayne.

- You're stoned.

- Baby, there is no easy way to the top.

You can forget about magic formulas

and trick contracts.

Forget about this false dream.

Okay, say it, princess.

What is it you want?

Come here. Let's comfort

each other a little.

That's right.

Princess?

You know something, honey?

That all that talk about narcotics...

...it's been recorded on tape.

- Where did you get that thing?

- You bought it for me in Palm Beach.

To improve my diction.

- Comeback. The ship 's doctor

gave me injections.

Did he know he was giving narcotics

to the famous Alexandra Del Lago?

He just knew he was helping a woman

suffering from neuritis.

The hashish came later. In Tangier.

- Blackmail, is it?

- That's very ugly language.

The language of the gutter is understood

by anyone who ever fell in it. Price?

I just want you

to live up to this contract.

- And that's not all.

- Money?

- And if I refuse?

- Well, you won't.

You wouldn't want the FBI

to get ahold of these recordings.

- Chance.

- Or the newspapers...

...and those bigshot columnists?

And the dirt magazines?

Princess, you got a big name

to protect. You still got a reputation.

I had, baby, I had.

I have been blackmailed by experts.

I hate to think what desperation

has made you think...

...that you can try to intimidate me.

Me, Alexandra Del Lago,

with this ridiculous...

Oh, Chance, it's silly.

It's so silly, it's touching.

It's downright endearing.

Makes me feel close to you.

Now, I gotta see somebody.

I want some cash and I want your car.

Here. Here. Now, you'd better start

signing these traveler's checks, or I'll...

Or what? Oh, put that away,

and that leaky fountain pen.

When monster meets monster,

one monster has to give way...

...and it will never be me.

Now, then, signed checks are payment.

Delivery comes first.

I have only one way to forget the things

that I don't want to remember...

...and that way is through making love.

It's the only dependable distraction,

and I need that distraction right now.

In the morning, we'll talk about

what you want and what you need.

Aren't you ashamed a little?

Yes. Aren't you?

More than a little.

Close the curtains, please.

Then come here to me.

And make me almost believe

that we are a pair of young lovers...

...without any shame.

Two things, Pa.

First, he's bedding in with a broken-down

old movie star, Alexandra Del Lago.

But she's still famous and capable

of causing us trouble...

Second, Mr. Wayne don't show

any inclination to move on.

I told him...

...she's not well enough to travel.

- Bull.

If you roughhouse this woman,

every newspaper's gonna be down here.

But if we separate Mr. Wayne

from his lady...

...we could proceed more directly,

if it was necessary.

Right, sir. You're the doctor,

call an ambulance.

- Haul queenie to the hospital.

- Without her permission?

Say she's contagious.

Bubonic plague, typhoid fever.

- I'm not gonna let you involve me in this.

- Lower your voice.

- He's not gonna involve me in this...

- Doctor, laddie...

...you are already involved right up

to your scrofulous chicken neck.

I've done anything you ever asked me.

Anything.

But one public mistake,

one slip, and we...

Laddie, you've got all the symptoms

of a nervous breakdown.

Now, my prescription for you

is a weekend vacation.

A change of scenery

to build up your backbone.

I'd say you're sickly. Critical.

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