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At the American Cinema Institute, Stevie presents her finished thesis documentary to her counselor. She's hoping her unique subject matter will qualify her for a spot in the Masters program, but her counselor is not impressed. All Stevie did was restate what every film scholar already knows: that Chandler Crowne gave up making comedies when he released his watershed film "Damnation", which launched his more highly regarded philosophical dramas. What nobody can figure out is, what prompted the shift in style? If Stevie can't answer that question, then it's unlikely she'll be back at the Institute next year. She's given three days to come up with a new presentation. Her counselor advises her to go home, get some sleep, and find a new approach. |
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That's easier said than done. These days, "home" for Stevie is her old car she drove to L.A. from Ohio, now parked in a noisy crime district, right outside the "Silents are Golden" all-night movie theater (An all-night silent movie theater? I wonder where that is?) The marquee seems to reflect her world: "The Bells", "Salvation's Child", and "Prairie Skies". |
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Sleep yields only one solution: though she has chased down every lead in her research, there's one she didn't bother with--Crowne himself. He still lives, not too far from here, and at the ripe old age of 102, he's as old as Hollywood itself. But there's a reason scholars are in the dark about him. He has not granted an interview in 80 years, and it's unlikely he'll start now. |
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Or is it? Perhaps, if he's still lucid, he may have a change of heart, a desire to pass along a lifetime of secrets before he dies, which could be any day. Stevie knocks on his door, only to be greeted by an angry shout to go away. It seems Crowne is still quite hale, and tough enough to chase away visitors. But Tess shows up, masquerading as his food preparer. She has veto power over his favorite desert--lemon bars--and manages to get Stevie admitted in the house. |
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Crowne already has a visitor: The Angel of Death, who appears to humans in their final moments as a pleasant man with a soothing bedside manner, and goes by the name of Andrew. Face to face now with the "Grim Reaper", Crowne is impatient to die, but Andrew thinks there's unfinished business. Crowne says he's ready now, so "Poop or get off the pot!" he tells him. Yet Andrew thinks an interview with the college girl is the perfect idea for Chandler, who has a lifetime of misdirected anger. |
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Chandler is infuriated by this, and by the very idea of Death as someone who has his best interests in heart. A cheesy soap opera runs incessantly on tv in the background. He's tormented by the banality of it all, arguing with Andrew in a bellowing voice. This must be some kind of torture by a god with a cruel imagination. |
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Of course, Andrew is invisible to Stevie: all she sees is Chandler Crowne railing against the dying of the light, and just in time for her to set up her camera. "Who are you talking to?" she asks. |
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Crowne (sarcastically): "Who do you think? I'm talking to the Angel of Death!" |
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Stevie: "That is so surreal!! Do you two talk all the time? This is just the sort of weird, dark , visionary thing that I was hoping for!!" Crowne doesn't think much of students, fans, or scholars, but Tess withholds any more lemon bars until he cooperates. He munches on the sugary confections until his lips turn powdery white. Noticing Stevie's make-up, he calls her "dirt lips". "Oh, that's just makeup" she replies, dusting off the insult. |
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