RKO 281 Page #5

WELLES:

Not for me.

MANK:

Then you better get ready to be the youngest never-

was in Hollywood history.

WELLES:

That's better than being the oldest has-been in

Hollywood history.

MANK:

You're a laugh-riot, kid.

Welles laughs and goes to Mank in the bathroom.

WELLES:

Here, turn around.

Welles ties Mank's bow tie for him as:

WELLES:

So, we've got to come up with our movie. Our

biography.

MANK:

Right-

WELLES:

We find the man and then we dissect him-

MANK:

Like a bug.

WELLES:

But with compassion and insight--

MANK:

(glancing at his watch)

Christ, we gotta go! The old man doesn't cotton to

lateness.

Mank takes a quick swig from a flask of vodka, shoves it into his coat

and scurries into the other room as Welles checks himself in the

mirror.

A beat. Welles smiles, confident and resplendent

WELLES:

(into the mirror)

How do you do, Mr. Hearst? My name is Orson

Welles.

INT. SAN SIMEON. HALLWAY_FOLLOWING

Welles and Mank walk through an impressive upstairs hallway of San

Simeon. Quick glimpses of the astounding grandeur everywhere around

them as:

WELLES:

How about Howard Hughes? We could do Hughes

MANK:

I'm not f***ing with Hughes. That sh*t-kicker would

kill us dead, baby. Just like Jean Harlow

WELLES:

Howard Hughes killed Jean Harlow?

MANK:

Sure. Dropped her out of his Lockheed over Utah

They disappear down a long stairway

INT. SAN SIMEON. DINING HALL_EVENING

An explosion of color and an immediate swirl of sound

We are in the Grand Refectory -- the mammoth dining room -- at San

Simeon. Five long tables are placed end to end. There are about fifty

sumptuously dressed guests.

WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST and MARION DAVIES preside, side by side,

at the

center table.

Hearst is 76 years old. He is a fully commanding figure, towering in

both height (six foot two) and personality. He is shaped rather like a

pear and moves with a delicacy surprising for such a famously merciless

man. Although the word ruthless does not begin to do justice to the

press baron's animus, Hearst is endlessly polite and almost painfully

soft-spoken.

Marion is 43 years old, a shimmering and lively presence. In a word

that might have been coined for her, she has moxie. While the ravages

of alcoholism have left their subtle marks on the edges and attitudes

of her face, she can still charm and captivate with almost effortless

grace.

Around Hearst's feet sit a collection of his beloved dachshunds.

On the other side of the main table, and down a bit, sit Welles and

Mank.

We sweep around the table, hearing bits of overlapping dialogue and

finally settle on Marion and Hearst.

Marion is charming CAROLE LOMBARD and CLARK GABLE, who sit beside

her.

She tenderly rests one hand on Hearst's arm as she speaks. Marion

speaks with an occasionally pronounced stutter.

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