The Bad and the Beautiful Page #2

- B pictures...

- They make money.

You have four producers, why not five?

At $300 a week I could pay you off,

slowly, but surely.

$6,351.

- All right, you got the job.

- I thought so.

So you're a genius boy.

You think you blackmailed me!

Harry, that's a horrid word.

Well, get this.

My unit turns out 18 pictures a year.

I cry for ideas. If you'd sweat out a

story the way you do $6,351...

...I'd have hired you anyway.

Why didn't you come to me? Too proud?

I tried to. I couldn't get in.

- You know who gave me my first job?

- My father.

- You angle things the cute way.

- I'll pay you $100 a week.

I wouldn't take a dime. Just bring me

a picture I can shoot, Genius Boy.

- One day you'll work for me.

- Get me Joe Clareton in publicity.

Meanwhile, I need an office

with a desk for my assistant.

Shields. Amiel.

- That's a big dream, Jonathan.

- If you dream, dream big.

Meanwhile, you'll be drawing

a modest check each Thursday.

It's time you two made it legal.

- Tell him he's crazy, IKKay.

- You're crazy.

- Tell him I'm not.

- He's not.

I just happen to have a ring with me.

Syd Murphy knows a friend

who knows a jeweler.

- Shall we?

- Tell him yes, IKKay.

He said to tell me yes.

She says yes very nicely.

The next few years, Shields produced

I directed the third

and five more after that.

We weren't really picturemakers,

we were second-hand dealers.

But we learnt our trade.

Then, one cloudy day, Harry Pebbel

assigned us a horror...

... called The Doom of the Cat Men.

This the sort of thing you had in mind?

They need freshening up, though.

- I can't get into this.

- Don't worry.

If they don't turn around too much,

some muslin will hide it.

This needs fitting. Our department

will take care of that.

This may be a problem

unless you get a thinner man.

This material is imported.

We can't get it anymore.

But don't let that be an obstacle.

Here, the perfect fit.

This will give the full effect.

Lots of character and detail.

Plenty of fright. Needs puffing, but it'll do.

You gotta visualize it in the lights,

use imagination.

Shoulder pads will straighten it out.

This will give you the effect.

It'll be good.

- What if...?

- Suppose we...

- Five men dressed like cats look like...

- Five men dressed like cats.

When an audience pays to see this,

what do they pay for?

- To get the pants scared off them?

- What scares us more than anything?

- The dark!

- Of course, and why?

The dark has a life of its own,

and all sorts of things come alive.

- Suppose we never show the cat men.

- Exactly.

No cat men.

What do we put on the screen that'll

make the backs of their necks crawl?

Two eyes shining in the dark.

A dog:
Frightened, growling,

showing its fangs.

A bird:
Its neck broken,

feathers torn from its throat.

A little girl:
Screaming,

claw marks down her cheeks.

Cut!

Okay, boys, new deal. Wrap it up!

This is my first star!

The night of the sneak preview,

Harry Pebbel still hadn't seen it.

Jonathan and I

had made sure of that.

Go, go, go!

- Hurry, hurry.

- Now, sir.

"It stinks":
1. "Fair": 8.

"Good":
24. "Very good": 47.

We've never had cards like this.

- Give us more like this one.

- "Excellent":
34. "Outstanding": 17.

I'll put these in the executive dining room.

That'll show 'em.

- What Harry Pebbel can do...

- Be at my office at 10:00 a.m.

I'll give you your next assignment.

You did all right.

I did a great job at producing.

Tell that to the executives.

And remember that "Shields"

is not spelled P-E-B-B-E-L.

I don't wanna give you too much credit.

Just enough to keep you hungry.

By the way, my name

is spelled A-M-I-E-L.

I thought of taking a small bow myself.

A small bow never helped anybody.

Get this straight, Fred.

We're building Shields Productions.

What we'll ram it down their throats.

- It's big enough for both of us.

- I know.

A five-cent story, a ten-cent budget

and a two-cent leading man...

...and we put it over.

We're getting to know our business.

- Yes, Mother.

- Let's go back and get my car.

When I work on a picture,

it's like romancing a girl.

You see her, you want her,

you go after her. The big moment.

Then, the letdown. Every time.

The after-picture blues.

Don't worry. Someday you'll learn

to love 'em and leave 'em.

- Why are you turning off here?

- This you got to see.

Crow's Nest.

George Lorrison built this.

This is where he died.

I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Can we go home now?

So this is how actors used to live.

Cheerful little place, isn't it?

Now, if we can just find out

where he keeps the boiling oil...

The rumpus room.

Jonathan, will you please tell me

what we're doing here?

You scouting a location?

Sure, that's it.

For our next Harry Pebbel production.

It could be

The Bat Men Fly Again...

...or Mama Vampire

and the Three Little Bloodsuckers.

- We don't even have to show...

- Hold this.

Lorrison's idea of my old man.

Lorrison's last three pictures

were for my father.

He gave me my first drink

when I was 13.

My first cigar at 14.

And when I was 15...

...he taught me the facts of life.

He was a great actor...

...and a great man.

- He was a rat and a drunk.

- Who are you?

- His daughter.

- I didn't know he had one.

- Neither did he half the time.

- What are you doing up there?

- Get out.

"A rat and a drunk."

What talk about your father!

He was my father.

Now, shut up and leave me alone?

- Go on, blow.

- Somebody ought to tan your rear!

Wanna try it?

I changed my mind.

Now, will you get out of here?

Go on, get out!

The next morning, Jonathan

received our next assignment.

Did you see Harry?

Well, what's our next picture?

Get a good grip on yourself.

You ready?

Our next picture will be

The Son of the Cat Men.

That settles it.

The time has come.

The Faraway Mountain.

It's a great book.

Three studios tried to lick it and couldn't.

Well, I can!

Here's my outline, scene for scene.

- You know what Harry will say.

- Yeah.

"Look, I've told you

a hundred times, Genius Boy...

...I want pictures that end with

a kiss and ink on the books."

Jonathan, this is my baby.

I found it and I licked it.

I've been nursing it till I was sure

we could handle it. Now I'm sure.

Remember what you said last night?

Enough practice.

It's time we made one for real.

It cries for a million dollar budget

and location in Veracruz...

...but you producing and me directing,

we can do it on a Harry Pebbel budget.

- For a guy who's tongue-tied...

- I could always talk to you.

You really wanna do this one, Fred.

I wanna direct it so much

I can taste it.

All right, let's do it.

Let's do it!

I've said 100 times

I don't wanna win awards.

Give me pictures that end with a kiss

and ink on the books.

I make this picture, or I quit.

This is my baby.

I found it, and I licked it.

I wanna produce it so much I can taste it!

I'm handing it to you,

father of The Son of the Cat Men.

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