The Artist Page #6

Title card:
Fresh blood...

The two men exchange a last glance, then George exits.

44 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS, SECRETARY'S OFFICE - DAY 44

Outside he feels a few seconds of discouragement but, as he

meets the gaze of the engineers waiting in the secretary's

antechamber, he puffs up his chest and walks tall out of the

office.

45 INT. KINOGRAPH STUDIOS - STAIRS - DAY 45

Going down the stairs from the offices, he passes a laughing

Peppy who is accompanied by two young and charming men, perfect

specimens of America's golden youth. She is coming up, he is

going down. When she notices him, she stops, already one step

above of him. She has a beaming smile and is truly delighted to

see him. He is delighted too, although his mood is very

different.

Title card (him): How are you?

Title card (her): Fantastic! I’ve been given a lead role!

Isn’t it wonderful?!

He nods, we see in his eyes that he's terribly happy for her.

They look at each other, she laughs.

Then she fumbles in her bag for something with which to note

down her telephone number on a piece of paper. It takes a

while and is a little chaotic, she apologizes, but he visibly

takes a lot of pleasure out of watching her. She finally gets

the number down and hands it to him, telling him to call her -

to really call her. In response he casts a glance over to the

young men waiting for her higher up the stairs, and she

bursts out laughing. She leans towards him to say something.

Title card:
Gadgets!

She looks at him flirtatiously. Then she gestures again for

him to call her, and he nods, even though we think that he

probably will not do so. She leaves and he watches her go

before beginning his decent once more. Once at the top, she

turns back to call out to George, he too has turned to look.

She smiles at him, breaks into a few tap steps for old time's

sake, then blows him a kiss.

18.

He catches the kiss with a smile, pretends to make it

disappear in his other hand like a magician, then shows her

the inside breast pocket of his jacket as proof that he's

keeping it safe and warm. She laughs loudly and goes on her

way. He watches her walk away with admiration in his eyes.

She vanishes and George's smile takes on a note of

melancholy, and then he leaves too.

46 OMITTED 46

47 INT. GEORGE & DORIS’ HOUSE - DAY 47

George comes home. Doris is there scribbling on a magazine but

he takes no notice of her. When the dog jumps into his arms

however, he greets it affectionately. Doris is vexed.

48 INT. GEORGE & DORIS’ HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY 48

A while later he's running Jack through his tricks when Doris

arrives.

Title card:
We have to talk, George.

George smiles.

Title card:
Or not.

She insists but he doesn't listen. He's with his dog. She

gets annoyed, he doesn't answer, she ends up throwing Jack.

George cannot forgive her for doing so, he looks at her in

disgust. She starts to cry.

Title card:
I’m unhappy, George.

He answers without looking at her.

Title card:
So are millions of other people, me for instance.

49 INT. GEORGE’S STUDIO SET - JUNGLE DECOR - DAY 49

Thanks to a montage of shot frames, photos and press cuttings,

we see George begin making his film, the first clap of the

board that shows he's both the film's producer and director.

The film is called Tears of love, and it tells the tale of an

English adventurer - played by himself - accompanied by a young

woman, an old man who looks like a professor and who is

probably the father of the young woman and, lastly, an African

tribe represented as savages and whose humanity remains to be

proven.

19.

We see George in the various stages of preparation: writing, rewriting,

directing, acting, signing a lot of checks, but also

leaving very early in the morning to set up shots with his

collaborators, etc. He looks fulfilled, like he truly believes

in what he's doing, despite the tiredness he's feeling. His dog

has a role in the film too, doing tricks. George looks very

happy, very committed. He takes a supple branch, feeds it

through the sleeves of a woman's blouse and, by holding the two

ends of the branch out in front of him, dances with the

imaginary woman. Everyone around him is happy and laughing.

He's not shooting a comedy, however, it's obviously a drama of

some sort from what we see of the set and the way the actors

play their role.

Then appear on screen the mock ups of posters, they are shown

on the set to George.

He chooses the one in which he is most prominent, it's a poster

depicting a cutesy melodrama and bears the release date

October 25th.

50 OMITTED 50

51 EXT. LOS ANGELES STREET (POSTERS) - DAY 51

In the street, at the entrance to a movie theater, George sees

a large "Beauty Spot" film poster. The poster shows Peppy close

up, wearing a magnificent and jauntily positioned chapka over

one eye. She is incredibly stylish but in no way vampish, more

the image of a young comedy debut… George looks at her, Peppy

seems to be smiling at him. He smiles back. Then his smile

becomes strained. He's noticed something. The two theater

employees are sticking a banner over the poster that reveals

the release date of Beauty Spot - it's also October 25th.

52 INT. ANIMATION STAND - DAY 52

Then we see advertising inserts and full page press articles

appearing one after the other, creating a montage of images

with a very 1920's feel. "Get some Peps with Peppy!" and a

close up on her smiling, mischievous face. "The girl next

door", "The girl you'll love to love" "Young and pretty", etc.

with a photo of Peppy each time, posters of the film and then,

everywhere, the face that it's a talking movie! Talking,

talking, talking!

As for George, his image is a lot more austere, the photographs

show him as very serious. And the captions are like: "I'm not a

muppet anymore, I'm an artist!”

20.

53 OMITTED 53

54 INT. RESTAURANT INTERVIEW - DAY 54

We're in a smart restaurant. George has his back to the room

and is eating with his chauffeur. Peppy comes into the

restaurant and comes to sit just behind George. They are back

to back. She is with several young men, two of whom are

journalists and they are interviewing her.

Title card:
Your first film doesn’t come out until tomorrow

and yet you’re already the new darling of Hollywood! How do

you explain that?

She starts by bursting into laughter, which draws George's

attention. He turns round to listen to the rest of Peppy's

answer.

Title card:
I don’t know, maybe it’s because I talk. And

people hear me.

She continues talking, obviously happy that people are

interested in her. She doesn't see George smiling behind her.

Title card:
People are sick to death of those old actors who

pull faces to make themselves understood.

She continues talking with the casual arrogance of youth.

Behind her, George's smile vanishes.

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