
Zelig
- PG
- Year:
- 1983
- 79 min
- 692 Views
He was the phenomenon
of the twenties.
When you think that he was
as well-known as Lindbergh...
it's really quite astonishing.
His story reflected the nature
of our civilization...
the character of our times.
Yet it was also
one man's story...
and all the themes
of our culture were there--
heroism, will,
things like that--
but when you look back on it,
it was very strange.
Well, it is ironic...
to see how quickly
he has faded from memory...
considering what
an astounding record he made.
He was,
of course, very amusing...
but at the same time
touched a nerve in people...
perhaps in a way in which they
would prefer not to be touched.
It certainly is
a very bizarre story.
The year is 1928.
America, enjoying a decade
of unequaled prosperity...
has gone wild.
The Jazz Age, it is called.
The rhythms are syncopated.
The morals are looser.
The liquor is cheaper,
when you can get it.
It is a time of diverse heroes
and madcap stunts...
of speak-easies
and flamboyant parties.
at the Long lsland estate...
of Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Porter Sutton...
socialites,
patrons of the arts.
Politicians and poets...
rub elbows
with the cream of high society.
Present at the party
is Scott Fitzgerald...
who is to cast perspective
on the twenties...
for all future generations.
He writes in his notebook...
named Leon Selwyn, or Zelman...
who seemed clearly
to be an aristocrat...
and extolled the very rich
as he chatted with socialites.
He spoke adoringly of Coolidge
and the Republican Party...
all in an upper-class
Boston accent.
"An hour later,"
writes Fitzgerald...
"I was stunned
to see the same man...
"speaking with
the kitchen help.
"Now he claimed
to be a Democrat...
"and his accent seemed coarse,
as if he were one of the crowd."
taken of Leonard Zelig.
Florida, one year later.
An odd incident occurs...
at the New York Yankees'
training camp.
Journalists,
anxious as always...
to immortalize the exploits
of the great home-run hitters...
notice a strange new player...
waiting his turn at bat
after Babe Ruth.
He's listed on the roster
as Lou Zelig...
but no one on the team
has heard of him.
Security guards are called...
and he's escorted
from the premises.
in the next day's newspaper.
Chicago, Illinois,
that same year.
There is a private party...
at a speak-easy
on the South Side.
People from the most
respectable walks of life...
Present that evening
was Calvin Turner, a waiter.
A lot of gangsters
come in the place.
They're good tippers
and take care of us.
We take care of our customers.
On this particular night,
here's a strange guy coming in.
I'd never seen him before.
So I asked the one
or the other...
I said, "John,
you know this guy?
"You ever seen him?"
So he looks.
"No. I ain't never
seen him before.
"I don't know who he is...
"but I know one thing--
he's a tough-looking hombre."
So I looked over, and then...
the next thing,
the guy had disappeared.
I don't know where he went to.
But about this time,
the music starts...
and the band
started playing.
I looked. Here's a colored boy
Man, he was playing back,
and I looked at the guy...
and I said, "He looks
just like that gangster...
"but the gangster was white,
and this guy is black."
So I don't know
what's happening.
New York City.
Police are investigating
the disappearance of a clerk...
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Citation
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"Zelig" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 2 Mar. 2021. <https://www.scripts.com/script/zelig_23966>.