Zelig Page #3

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Only Dr. Fletcher cares

about Zelig as a human being.

She insists he desperately needs

special care...

but it is to no avail.

No one was questioning

her legal right to Zelig.

She was his half sister

and his guardian...

but she had a strange

boyfriend called Geist.

He'd been in jail

for real-estate fraud.

He was selling

the same piece of property...

to a lot of people.

A Delaware Congressman

bought it twice.

The crowds

that line the roads...

to glimpse the human chameleon

tie up traffic for days.

He's a sight to behold

for tourists and children.

People from all over the country

fight for space...

to peek at this new wonderment.

Selling mementos

while her brother...

is allowed

to be on exhibition...

is only the beginning

for Ruth Zelig and Martin Geist.

Admission is charged for

twice-daily demonstrations...

of Leonard's stunning prowess.

He does not disappoint...

changing appearance

over and over upon demand.

Overnight, he has become

an attraction, a novelty...

a freak.

In this 1935 film

based on the life of Zelig...

called "The Changing Man"...

the atmosphere

is best summed up.

We can't give up

custody of Leonard.

I know, if given the chance,

I can cure him.

Even our attorney

says it's hopeless.

Dr. Fletcher--

may I call you Eudora?

Somewhere behind

that vacuous face...

that zombielike stare...

is a real human being,

and I can bring it out.

How?

Some new way, some technique.

Whatever it is,

it will have to be personal.

There's not much

I can do legally.

They don't care.

They'll exploit him.

They see a chance to make money.

Look. They're selling

this Leonard Zelig doll.

The film did not exaggerate.

There weren't only Leonard Zelig

pens and lucky charms...

but clocks and toys,

watches and books...

and a famous Leonard Zelig doll.

There were aprons,

chameleon-shaped earmuffs...

and a popular

Leonard Zelig game.

There were many popular songs...

inspired by Leonard Zelig,

tunes that swept the nation.

In addition to

the products and endorsements...

there are

the endless exhibitions.

In Hollywood,

he's a great favorite...

and is offered a film contract.

Clara Bow invites him

for a private weekend...

and tells him to bring

all his personalities.

In Chicago, he meets heavyweight

champion Jack Dempsey...

who clowns with Zelig

at his training camp.

In Washington, D.C.,

he is introduced...

to both Calvin Coolidge

and Herbert Hoover.

In France, he is hailed

as Le Lezard.

He is the toast

of the Parisian music halls.

His performance endears him to

leading French intellectuals...

who see in him

a symbol for everything.

His transformation

into a rabbi...

is so realistic

that certain Frenchmen...

suggest he be sent

to Devil's lsland.

At the Folies Bergere...

Josephine Baker does her version

of the Chameleon Dance...

and later tells friends...

she finds Zelig amazing,

but a little lost.

Everyone used to be

at my place--

everyone who was someone--

and occasionally

someone would bring Zelig in--

Leonard in.

Cole Porter

was fascinated by Leonard...

and he once

wrote a line in a song...

"You're the tops.

You're Leonard Zelig."

But then he couldn't find

anything to rhyme with Zelig.

I'm flying high

'Cause I've got a feeling

I'm falling

Falling for nobody else but you

You caught my eye

Now I got a feeling I'm falling

Show me that ring,

and I'll jump right through

I used to travel single, oh

We chanced to mingle, oh

Now I'm a-tingle over you

Hey, Mr. Zelig, stand by

'Cause I've got a feeling

I'm falling

Falling for nobody else but you

Wow!

Though the shows and parties...

keep Zelig's sister

and her lover rich and amused...

Zelig's own existence

is a nonexistence.

Devoid of personality...

his human qualities long since

lost in the shuffle of life...

he sits alone,

quietly staring into space...

a cipher, a nonperson,

a performing freak.

He who wanted only to fit in,

to belong...

to go unseen by his enemies

and be loved...

neither fits in nor belongs...

is supervised by enemies,

and remains uncared for.

The board at the hospital

has all but forgotten Zelig.

Only Dr. Fletcher continues

to fight for his custody.

The court turns

her final appeal down.

Throughout her valiant

legal battle...

she is frequently in the company

of her attorney Charles Koslow.

He falls in love with her...

and presses

for her hand in marriage.

She is ambivalent.

Reluctantly,

she is beginning to abandon...

all hope of recovering

Leonard Zelig.

That summer,

Geist has booked them in Spain.

It is the last leg

of a European tour...

that has been wildly successful.

Relations between Martin Geist

and Ruth Zelig...

have grown strained.

They have become bored

with one another...

and quarrel frequently.

The situation grows worse

when she meets Luis Martinez...

a mediocre

and cowardly bullfighter...

with whom she falls in love.

Though he wishes

to impress Ruth Zelig...

Martinez displays

his usual panic in the arena.

Good fortune is

with him, however...

as the bull gives himself

a brain concussion.

Martinez takes credit

for the kill...

and cutting off

the bull's ear...

presents it to his lover

with great bravado.

That evening,

in a jealous rage...

Martin Geist returns

to his hotel room...

and confronts Ruth Zelig.

He demands that she

give him the ear.

She refuses.

Geist insists upon

possession of the ear.

They quarrel furiously,

and Martinez is discovered...

hiding in the closet.

Geist pulls a revolver

and shoots him.

He turns the gun on Zelig's

half sister and kills her.

Then he takes his own life.

In an orgy

of jealous violence...

Leonard Zelig's life

is turned upside down.

At first, the news reverberates

around the world.

Then, just as quickly...

the thrill-hungry public

becomes apathetic.

Fresh scandals appear

and make headlines.

Events in the Jazz Age

move too rapidly...

Iike Red Grange.

A population glutted with

distractions is quick to forget.

The twenties come

to a crashing climax...

and still, Leonard Zelig

is nowhere to be found.

Dr. Eudora Fletcher

searches in vain to locate him.

When several leads

prove disappointing...

she gives up, discouraged.

I felt it was a shame.

Here was this unique case...

that I could make

my reputation on.

Not that I knew

how to cure him...

but if I could

have him alone...

and feel my way and be

innovative and creative...

I felt that I could

change his life...

if I only had the chance.

300,000 of the faithful are

waiting before St. Peter's...

for the appearance

of Pope Pius Xl.

Borne on the shoulders

of twelve attendants...

the seat of the Adjustortoria

carrying the Holy Father...

is drawn out

to the central balcony...

where he bestows his

blessings on all the world.

This is the first time this

ritual has been performed...

in 63 years and brings

to a climax on Easter Sunday...

the religious ceremonies

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