The Artist Page #3

Title card:
Contemporary film! Five girls who can dance!

All the men who had pressed forwards turn on their heels,

leaving the assistant surrounded only by women. The man says

something to one girl, who begins to dance. He motions to her

that it's ok and she heads off towards the wardrobe section.

He does the same with a second girl and she gets hired too.

Then it's Peppy's turn. She puts a lot of energy into a few

top class tap steps, impressing the guy to such an extent

that he smiles admiringly then signals that she's hired.

Full of self-assurance that her lucky day has come, Peppy

heads off towards wardrobe too; swinging, her hips as she

pauses in front of the butler.

8.

Title card:
The name is Miller. Peppy Miller!

She finishes with an exaggerated wink, before walking on,

leaving behind the impassive butler.

16A INT. GEORGE & DORIS’ HOUSE - DAY 16A

In the lobby, George is preparing to leave the house. He

waves at the huge, full-length portrait of himself waving and

smiling whilst wearing a tuxedo. He looks great in the

painting, and George is delighted to see and to wave to

himself.

16 EXT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - DAY 16

Later, George, in a luxurious car driven by his chauffeur,

arrives at the Kinograph studios with his dog. The guard at the

entrance smiles broadly at them and waves.

17 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - DRESSING ROOM CORRIDORS - DAY 17

As he walks towards his dressing room, everyone smiles at him.

He's not always fooled by these signs of respect, and apes a

few smiles himself.

18 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - GEORGE’S DRESSING ROOM - DAY 18

In his dressing room, wearing a tailcoat and top hat, George

is finishing putting his make up on. He has a white face and

dark lips and eyes. His chauffeur is signing autographs for

him on full length photographs of himself (George) with his

dog. George says to him:

Title card:
Go and buy a piece of jewelry for my wife. A nice

piece, to make it up to her.

The chauffeur nods. Having finished his mask up, George,

picks up a photo, looks at it closely and then writes on it.

As he leaves the dressing room, we see the photograph. He's

written Woof Woof on it, and signed it with the paw print of

a dog.

19 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - RESTAURANT DECOR SET - DAY 19

We're on a film set, the crew is setting up a shot. The

director is unhappy with a screen positioned behind a bay

window and he sends it off.

9.

Title card:
Remove that screen and bring me another one! On

the double!

Two hands pick up the screen and carry it away. George

arrives on set, everyone smiles at him. He sits down on the

chair which bears his name. The producer whom we saw the

previous day at the premi.re arrives. His name is Zimmer, and

he's flanked by - and followed around at every moment by -

two secretaries and two assistants. One of them hands him The

Hollywood Reporter, and Zimmer, before he's even come to a

halt, talks to George as he shows him the front page. He is

visibly upset. George looks a lot more relaxed, he says hello

and vaguely tries to reassure him. But Zimmer persists, still

pointing at the newspaper.

Title card:
Because of this childish nonsense, there's

nothing about the film before page 5!

Behind George, the two set hands come back with a new screen

of sky scenery, and wait, standing just next to George. As

they are holding it, there is a three foot gap underneath.

While the producer is talking to him, George's attention is

drawn by a lovely pair of women's legs that have come to

stand behind the screen, the top half of the body being

hidden by it. George acknowledges the sight with a smile and

is about to bring his attention back to the on-going

discussion, when his attention is drawn away again by a

noise, that of the tap steps the female legs are making,

presumably as a warm up. George smiles in recognition and

responds with a few tap steps of his own. The women's legs

instantly stop, seem to think a moment and then answer back,

but with a jump in the complexity of the steps. A tap

dialogue ensues between the two pairs of legs, until the set

hands - the path before them now cleared - pick up their

screen of scenery and walk off with it. The screen moves away

and as it disappears reveals that the upper body belongs to a

young woman. She pulls a face meaning 'Here I am!!' And of

course it's Peppy, except that she immediately realizes who

she is dealing with - visibly she wasn't expecting this at

all - and feels completely ridiculous and uncomfortable.

Her joyful expression gradually becomes one of abject

apology, but George is roaring with laughter.

After a short pause, Zimmer makes the connection. He checks

the front page of the paper, and recognizes her!

Then he begins shouting at her and all she can do is lower

her head, unable to reply. He gestures that she's fired and

for her to get out, and she starts to go, completely

distraught. She's just made a couple of steps when George

stops her and tells her to come back. Everyone is surprised,

most of all him. Zimmer can't believe it, and so doesn't

respond at first.

10.

There's bad feeling between them, as though neither wanted

this sudden conflict, but like it had always been there,

tangible. Everyone on the set seems to be waiting for Zimmer

to react, but to their surprise, after a long moment of

hesitation, he walks away without saying a thing. Peppy looks

at George gratefully, smiling, but seems a little preoccupied

as though she might have made a mistake.

Everyone on set gets back to work.

20 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - RESTAURANT DECOR SET - DAY 20

They're about to start shooting. The director is showing

George what he has to do. The scene is happening in a cabaret

restaurant. George has to cross a dance floor, but each time he

is stopped by a guy ringing a bell to signal it is time to

change dancing partner. George finds himself dancing with

Peppy one moment, and in the arms of a very fat man the next,

the director finds the gag hysterical. The scene is shot

several times from three different angles. Each time, George

dances with Peppy, and, each time, the nature of their rapport

changes. To begin with, they are happy and laughing, but then,

with time, less so. Then they become embarrassed, and then

things get worse. We start the sequence again and again, to the

sound of the clapperboard counting the number of takes, but the

eroticism between them is the only thing that stands out from

the scene, every thing else goes unnoticed. Ultimately, no

flirting or suggestiveness has gone on, just the very obvious

beginning of feelings between them that they find disturbing.

It's probably love.

21 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - DRESSING ROOM CORRIDORS - DAY 21

Later on, in the dressing room corridor, Peppy, holding an

envelope, goes up to George's door. She knocks, waits for a

reply, then enters. There's nobody there. She hesitates, not

sure whether to leave or stay...

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