The Bad and the Beautiful Page #3

- 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.

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