The Last Tycoon Page #2

Synopsis: F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel is brought to life in this story of a movie producer slowly working himself to death.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Elia Kazan
Production: Paramount Pictures
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.3
Rotten Tomatoes:
44%
PG
Year:
1976
123 min
296 Views


Oh, no, Cecilia.

l've known you so long.

l've never thought of you that way.

You don't use that line this year.

What?

Nothing.

Yeah?

Mr. Stahr, Mr. Rodriguez...

...is still waiting to see you.

Oh, yeah. Send him in.

l'm sorry.

These actors...

Did you press that buzzer

with your foot?

Yes.

Of course not.

But you will dance with me

at the ball.

Sure l will.

Hello, Monroe.

Hello!

How are you?

Wonderful, really great.

You look just wonderful.

Thank you.

l had to see you in your office.

Sit down.

So... what's the trouble?

l'm through.

You're through?

What do you mean,

you're through?

Have you seen Variety?

Your picture's held over

at the Roxy.

lt did 37,000 in Chicago last week.

l know.

That's a tragedy.

l'm in a tragic mess.

lt's...

Well, what are you talking about?

lt's Esther and me.

Mm-hmm?

l love her.

She's my wife.

Yeah?

But l'm through.

l'm washed up.

lt's gone.

What's gone?

l've gone.

l'm ashamed to go to bed

with my wife.

l know Rainy Day grossed

25,000 in Des Moines...

...and broke all

records in St. Louis...

...and did 27,000 in Kansas City?

Kansas City.

But here l am,

afraid to go to bed

with my own wife,

the woman l love.

So l came to you, Monroe.

l've been to a doctor.

l've been to a cathouse.

Ah.

Yeah... nothing.

Nothing.

So, l... so l came to you.

Yes, you did, l see.

Ah...

...l mean, we both came from

nowhere, from nothing, right?

Right.

What were you,

a messenger boy?

That's right.

l delivered groceries.

Yeah.

This is America.

Look where we are now.

l mean, look at this

office, look at you.

Yeah.

We both came from nothing.

That's why l can talk to you.

l understand.

So, how is Esther?

She's the greatest girl in the world.

She's my wife.

Well, l know that.

l mean, she loves me.

Oh, l know, l know.

500 girls marched

up to my house...

...from the high school.

l stood behind the curtains

and l watched them.

l couldn't go out.

l mean, if they knew...

...lf my family knew...

...l watch myself on the screen...

...and l want to puke!

Mm.

Look at me.

All right, l'm a big star,

but what's really

profound about me...

...is that l'm a big star

with a big fan club...

Yeah, l-l know.

- who actually loves his wife,

so why would anyone want to play

these lousy tricks on me?

You see what l mean?

Sure, sure.

So l came to you.

Yeah.

Oh, yes,

l see.

Just play the part the way l said.

All right then

Thanks, Monroe.

Thanks.

The doctor's here.

Ah.

Hi, Doc.

Come on in.

When are you going

to take that vacation?

Soon.

When?

Oh, sometime in five or six weeks.

Getting any sleep?

About five hours.

Do you need any more pills?

No, l'm fine.

Any... pain?

Some.

They'll never get writers unionized.

You know why?

Hello, Monroe.

Gentlemen.

Monroe.

Gentlemen.

Everything all right?

Fine.

l was just saying...

...they'll never get

the writers unionized.

You know why?

Because they hate

each other's guts.

They'd sell each other out

for a nickel.

This man from New York

seems pretty set on doing it...

...the one who's coming out

to see me.

What's his name?

Brimmer.

Brimmer.

Communist, yeah.

You mean a real Communist?

Yeah, sure, a real one.

l mean,

some of these guys

are just jokers...

...that call

themselves Communists.

And mostly they are fairies,

too.

There are other aspects,

of course.

Well...

...l'll find out next week.

Better find out.

The last thing we need

is a writers' strike.

We got 16 pictures

going into production.

l'll handle him.

Monroe can handle him.

Monroe can handle anybody.

Anyway, mostly they are fairies.

There are other aspects,

of course.

Monroe, tell me, what do

you think of the idea...

...to make Manon with

a happy ending, huh?

lt's been making money

without a happy ending...

...for a century and a half.

What about

the South American picture?

We're going ahead with that.

With the same budget?

lt's out of proportion.

With that budget,

we have no chance.

What do you think, Mr. Marcus?

Monroe is our production genius.

l count upon him...

...and lean heavily upon him.

The balance sheet last year

showed a $27 million profit.

lt's all due to him.

You know who first told him

you were a genius?

Guess.

You.

Right.

Damn good of you, Pat.

No, no.

l admire a man, l say so.

l want the whole world to know.

Perhaps that's because l'm lrish.

The lrish are a very

warm-hearted people.

The Greeks are warm, too.

l mean, try to find me

a Greek Communist.

You couldn't find one.

But there's not a $2 million

gross in the country right now.

Don't forget, we're in

the middle of a depression.

l know that.

l think we can count

on a million and a quarter...

...from the road show,

perhaps a million and a half,

and a quarter of a million abroad.

But you have a budget

of a million, seven-five-o,

and you say you expect

less than that in grosses?

What about prints

and advertising?

Distribution costs.

lnterest on the money...

and some profits.

Yes, he's here.

l'm not even sure

we'll gross a million.

lt's for you, Mr. Stahr.

Thank you.

Yes.

Hello, Robin.

Uh-huh.

Good.

Yes, leave the number

with Miss Doolin.

l'll call later.

You know, l'm fairly new out here.

Do l understand you to say that

you expect to gross...

...a half a million short

of your budget?

lt's a quality picture.

"Quality picture."

What the hell are we...?

We've played safe

for two years now.

lt's time we made a picture

that isn't meant to make money.

Pat Brady is always saying

at Academy dinners...

...that we have a certain duty

to the public.

Okay.

lt's a good thing for the company...

...to slip in a picture

that'll lose money...

...write it off as good will.

Gentlemen.

Thank you.

Boy.

Mr. Stahr!

Hey, that's a good spiral

you got there.

Hello, Monroe.

- Hi, Dan.

Sir.

- Yes, Wylie.

Hello, Mr. Stahr.

You going somewhere?

Stage four.

Listen, have you read my script?

Uh, yes, l have.

Well, what do you think of it?

l think it's an interesting script.

Uh-huh.

How come you have

two other writers on it?

Take it away!

- Who told you that?

They're friends of mine.

They didn't know l was doing it.

l didn't know they were doing it.

We all found out this morning.

l'm sorry.

What can you do?

That's the system.

We're back!

You invented that system.

You've distorted the girl.

By distorting the girl,

you've distorted the story.

We're back.

How?

How have l distorted

the damn girl?

l'm not interested

in your fantasies.

Eddie.

Eddie!

Hello, Monroe.

Hi.

Listen, two people

at the sneak preview...

...complained that Morgan's fly

was open for half the picture.

What?

Oh, it's probably just a couple

of seconds, but l want you...

...to run the picture

until you find the footage.

Have some people with you.

Someone will spot it.

Sure, l'll take care of it.

Okay.

Hi, Cooke.

You've given her a secret life.

She doesn't have a secret life.

You've made her a melancholic.

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Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993), and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of his own and others' works. Pinter was born and raised in Hackney, east London, and educated at Hackney Downs School. He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player, acting in school plays and writing poetry. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but did not complete the course. He was fined for refusing National service as a conscientious objector. Subsequently, he continued training at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in repertory theatre in Ireland and England. In 1956 he married actress Vivien Merchant and had a son, Daniel, born in 1958. He left Merchant in 1975 and married author Lady Antonia Fraser in 1980. Pinter's career as a playwright began with a production of The Room in 1957. His second play, The Birthday Party, closed after eight performances, but was enthusiastically reviewed by critic Harold Hobson. His early works were described by critics as "comedy of menace". Later plays such as No Man's Land (1975) and Betrayal (1978) became known as "memory plays". He appeared as an actor in productions of his own work on radio and film. He also undertook a number of roles in works by other writers. He directed nearly 50 productions for stage, theatre and screen. Pinter received over 50 awards, prizes, and other honours, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 and the French Légion d'honneur in 2007. Despite frail health after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in December 2001, Pinter continued to act on stage and screen, last performing the title role of Samuel Beckett's one-act monologue Krapp's Last Tape, for the 50th anniversary season of the Royal Court Theatre, in October 2006. He died from liver cancer on 24 December 2008. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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