The Artist Page #9

28.

His position and demeanor are exactly like when he was watching

the screening of Tears of Love, from the back of the room with

the verdict of failure in the air...

He's looking a little unsteady on his feet, probably due to the

hip flask he's necking that seems to contain liquor. The

objects go under the hammer one by one. We see the three

monkeys go by, notably, hear no evil, speak no evil, see no

evil. Two buyers especially are raising the prices by bidding

against each other, a distinguished and reserved-looking man,

and a lady of a certain age who looks a bit severe, to the

point of bigotry. They don't seem perfectly comfortable, but

they are the only two buying.

A few crossfades (the display table emptying, faces, hands

being raised, hammer falling, "sold" labels) show us the lots

disappearing - every single item is sold.

82 INT. AUCTION ROOMS - CORRIDOR - DAY 82

George is now with the auctioneer, he's studying the list of

items as auction assistants busy themselves around him,

carrying and packing the sold lots. The auctioneer, who is

putting on his coat, congratulates George.

Title card:
Well done! It all sold, there’s nothing left!

George nods but his smile seems a little ironic. He leaves

the room.

On the stairway, as he's leaving, he is joined by the

distinguished-looking man who puts on his coat and leaves.

83 EXT. AUCTION ROOM’S STREET - DAY 83

They leave at the same time. The man crosses the street, we

follow him.

He gets into a car. Peppy is sitting in the back. She's alone

and watching George walk off with his unsteady gait. She's sad.

The man casts a glance to ask her what he should do next.

Peppy, with a forced smile, motions that they can leave. As the

man starts up the motorcar, George is walking away. The car

sets off and overtakes him. Peppy does not turn round. She's

crying.

84 INT. CLANDESTINE BAR - NIGHT 84

George, dressed differently, is drinking in a clandestine bar

that has made the effort of putting up a few Christmas

decorations. George is visibly smashed.

29.

85 INT. STUDIO JUNGLE ENCRUSTED LITTLE GEORGE - NIGHT 85

A small version of him appears superimposed on the bar, dressed

as an explorer and discovering the life-size version of

himself. The big version watches the little version load his

rifle. Then the little version shoots at the big version, but

the big version just smiles.

Little version runs off shot to get help, and he comes back

with a tribe of African warriors, all bearing spears. They

attack.

Big version tries to defend himself, staggers as he gets to his

feet, tries to gesture to the barman, but he is so drunk that

he falls straight backwards without making the slightest

attempt to stop his fall. The Africans leap about with joy.

FADE TO BLACK.

(84) George's chauffeur comes into the bar. He motions to the

barman who jerks his head in one direction. The chauffeur

follows the indication and finds George lying on the floor,

totally smashed. He slaps him gently around the face a few

times in a vain attempt to wake him, then lifts him over his

shoulder, pays the check and leaves.

86 INT. GEORGE’S HOUSE - NIGHT 86

At George's house, his chauffeur puts him to bed and hangs his

suit carefully before leaving the room. He sees the dog, goes

over to it and strokes it. They look at each other. We can tell

that the chauffeur is worried about George.

87 EXT. “GUARDIAN ANGEL” THEATER - DAY 87

Peppy Miller is "The Guardian Angel". It's a huge poster on the

fa.ade of a movie theater. George goes inside. With Jack.

88 INT. “GUARDIAN ANGEL” THEATER - DAY 88

The auditorium is full. George sits down in the first row. To

watch the film he has to look upwards, and sees a huge and

magnificent Peppy rising above him. She's playing a scene with

a young actor we recognize, it's Humphrey Bogart. He's become a

spectator:
he laughs, is absorbed and cries along with the

others.

30.

89 INT. “GUARDIAN ANGEL” THEATER - CORRIDOR & LOBBY - DAY 89

Coming out of the theater several young people bump into him.

They don't recognize him. There's a lot of people milling

about, so he picks Jack up. A woman exclaims an Oh! of

admiration as though she's recognized George. He smiles

modestly but soon realizes that it's just because she thinks

Jack is cute and has come over to stroke him like she would any

other dog. She is totally under Jack's charm, and says to

George.

Title card:
If only he could talk!

George still has the smile on his lips, but it has become one

of resignation.

He looks away as the woman strokes the dog.

90 EXT. MEXICAN VILLAGE - DAY 90

George is playing Zorro. He performs stunt after stunt and the

close ups show his devastating smile to its best advantage. In

fact, it's an extract from The Mark of Zorro with Douglas

Fairbanks, into which we'll insert close ups of Jean we've shot

ourselves.

91 INT. GEORGE’S HOUSE - DAY 91

The Zorro sequence is being screened on a wall in George's

apartment. George is watching himself, slumped in an easy

chair. His sluggish attitude and listless air are in sharp

contrast with the image of himself projected by the film.

Then the image jumps and goes white. George gets up, still half-

smashed. His shadow is clearly delineated on the white screen.

He sees it, looks it up and down and then starts to look at it

sideways.

Title card:
Look what you’ve become...

He carries on shouting at it, obviously very annoyed with it.

Title card:
You were very nasty! And stupid! And arrogant!

He doesn't even want to look at it anymore. He looks

disgusted. Suddenly his shadow separates itself from him and

moves independently from him. As he shouts at it, it lowers

its head and doesn't reply.

Title card:
You acted very badly! You were thoughtless!

31.

He carries on as though it's normal until his shadow walks

off with its head bowed. He watches it go, trying to

understand what's happening, but it's gone and he's still

there. He begins to holler.

Title card:
COME BACK! COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!!

Totally smashed he starts to violently throw film reels

against the wall as he hollers. The cans split open and the

film bursts out all over. George is becoming more and more

frenzied. The floor is now covered in cans and film. He

stops, dripping with sweat. Worriedly, he looks around for a

moment. Then he strikes a match, takes a second to consider

what he's about to do and throws the match into the middle of

the reels.

There's madness in his eyes as he watches the fire take hold.

We can see his pleasure at seeing the flames spread. But he's

very quickly overrun. The reels burst into flames in an

instant and give off lots of smoke. Jack is panicking and

barks incessantly. Suddenly, George seems to lose it. He

doesn't know what to do anymore and, although the fire is

spreading quite spectacularly around him, he runs to where

the reels and films that he has not opened are, and begins

throwing them frantically over his shoulder as though he's

looking for one in particular. The ever-increasing denseness

of the smoke, however, is making the task almost impossible.

On the floor, below the smoke, Jack flees the room and runs

off while George suffocates but continues to struggle with

the cans of reels.

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