Ask the Dust Page #2

Synopsis: L.A. in the early 1930's: racism, poverty, and disease color the Bunker Hill neighborhood where Arturo Bandini, a lover of men and beasts alike, has arrived from Colorado to write the great Los Angeles novel. After six months and down to his last nickel, he orders a cup of coffee, served by Camilla Lopez, beautiful, self-possessed, and Mexican. Arturo gets advice, encouragement, and an occasional check from H.L. Mencken, so he keeps writing and he keeps seeing Camilla. But, he's mean to her for no apparent reason, so the relationship sputters. A housekeeper from back East suggests a way out of his jealously and fears. "Camilla Bandini": is it in the cards?
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Robert Towne
Production: Paramount Pictures
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
5.8
Metacritic:
58
Rotten Tomatoes:
35%
R
Year:
2006
117 min
$630,802
Website
337 Views


You answered my prayer.

Anyway, I got a fountain pen.

Now please, sweet and lovely Saint,

inspire me. Give me an idea,

so I can write a story,

a great story,

so I can be rich and famous

and not be ashamed of my name.

Door is open.

To you, Mencken. To the future.

I headed down Third Street looking

for a place to spend my last nickel.

And there it was.

Come on.

Learn to dance if you can't walk!

The perfect place to end up flat broke.

- Can I get you something?

- Coffee with cream.

Just five months ago,

I had $150 in my pocket

and big plans in my head.

In those days, I was Arturo Bandini,

lover of man and beast alike.

All I needed was to meet one

of those beautiful golden-haired girls

that seemed to grow like oranges

out here,

and I'd write a story, a love story,

one of the greatest of all time.

Who brought this here?

There you go, Tony.

Thank you.

Are you done with that coffee?

You call this stuff coffee?

Maybe it isn't coffee at all.

Maybe it's just water after they boiled

your filthy shoes in it.

Maybe you don't know any better.

Maybe you're just naturally careless.

But if I were you,

I wouldn't be seen in a Main Street alley

Wearing those haraches.

It's huaraches, not haraches.

I hope you die of heart failure right there

on that chair.

Camilla.

It's not my fault. I didn't do nothing.

I swear to God, I just asked him

if he wanted some coffee!

Take care of it.

If he's sick, get him out of here.

Hey.

Young fellow, are you all right?

You there? Oh, say something, please.

You can dish it out, but you can't take it,

can you?

You want the nickel?

Then mop it up.

Hey, you!

Sand from the Mojave

was blowing across the city.

It was everywhere.

It was even between the sheets,

but I didn't care.

All I could think about

were those huaraches.

"To a Mayan princess

from a worthless gringo."

What's the name of the girl

who works here?

You mean Camilla?

The one who was here yesterday.

The Mexican.

Camilla Lopez.

Will you give this to her?

Take good care of it. It's valuable.

See that Miss Lopez gets it personally.

The truth was, I couldn't afford

to go back and see her that night.

I didn't have a nickel for a cup of coffee.

What do you want?

I'm an honest man, kid.

There, see if he wants a beer

on the house.

Sorry about the coffee.

Rverybody orders beer around here.

We don't get that many calls for coffee.

I can see why.

I'd drink beer, too, if I could afford it.

Anyway, I hope this is better.

You want cream, right?

Not bad. Certainly an improvement

over last night.

Did you read "The Little Dog Laughed"?

"The Little Dog Laughed,"

by me, Arturo Bandini.

Arturo?

Bandini. It's Italian.

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Robert Towne

Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter, producer, director and actor. He was part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. His most notable work was his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), which is widely considered one of the greatest movie screenplays ever written. He also wrote its sequel The Two Jakes in 1990, and wrote the Hal Ashby comedy-dramas The Last Detail (1973), and Shampoo (1975), as well as the first two Mission Impossible films (1996, 2000). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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