欢乐岁月

I said, "Frank, this picture Is a watershed"

Hey, let me tell you about my new...

I said, "Frank, one day You'll run my studio"

I said, "Frank, will you Listen to that response?"

I said, "Frank really knows What the public wants"

I said, "Frank, this picture Is a watershed"

- Know what I'm having? - What?

Not much fun.

- Party! - Oh, my God, look at him.

That Frank

That guy is too much

Hey, the party's outside.

That Frank

Do you like the picture?

The platinum touch

How about more champagne?

- He has taste, he has talent - Is he the best?

Plus, a fine head for business

- The man is blessed - That Frank

I wrote the screenplay for Frank's movie.

Your secret's safe with me.

Frank.

Oh! Tyler, I want you to meet Meg,

the star of my movie.

My old friend Tyler here is the man who invented

the telephone answering machine.

And people are living in fear I'll invent something else.

That Frank

So, what do you do?

He's full of advice

I drink.

That Frank

No, what do you really do?

And, God, is he nice

I really drink.

- What a friend, what a host - And his work is great

- Has a wife who is gorgeous - A son who's straight

He's a type You can easily learn to hate

That Frank

Who says, "Lonely at the top"?

I say, "Let it never stop"

It's our time coming through

All our dreams coming true

Working hard, getting rich

Being happy

- There's a switch - That smile

Don't you miss writing music?

He's hot, but he's cool

That was the old Frank Shepard.

What style

This guy's the American dream.

And what a great pool

If you had no idea What "charisma" meant

And you just can't be jealous He's such a gent

He's the kind of a man

- That you can't resist - That Frank

Franklin.

Meg, this is Mary Flynn.

Mary is my deepest, closest, best friend in all the world.

Congratulations on the movie.

Your performance will stay with me for a long time.

We go way back.

But seldom forward.

Actually, Franklin gave me the novel you wrote,

and I read it over and over.

Well, didn't you get it the first time?

Hey, gang, we've got dancing outside!

Come on!

I said, "Frank, you're coming down to Mexico"

Honestly...

I think Frank is moving Back to Paramount

What?

These are the movers These are the shapers

These are the people

- Who fill the papers - Mexico

These are the friends of Frank

- Moving back to Paramount - Each one a perfect blank

When you see a movie that's successful

What can you say?

Congratulations!

Thank you.

These are the movers These are the shapers

These are the people Who give you vapors

20 years ago, who'd have guessed?

Who'd have guessed We'd be standing here?

God, we would have been so impressed

- Now we're here with the most - Mexico

Brilliant minds on the coast

- Moving back to Paramount - And notice who is their host

- Mexico - Beautiful, Frank

Acapulco, Mexico

Beautiful, Frank

When you've made a movie That's successful

Where do you go?

Paramount!

No!

Here's to us.

Who's like us?

- Damn few. - Damn few.

Thanks, pal, for flying out.

Thanks, pal, for the ticket.

I got a letter from Frankie.

Well, at least my son writes to you.

Yeah, to thank me for coming to his graduation.

- He didn't invite me. - He didn't invite me either.

How is he anyway?

I mean, he asked the same thing about you.

- Frank, look, why don't the two of you... - Frank!

- ...finally get on... - I am beginning my broadcast.

Where Franklin Shepard goes, I go,

because that is where the A-list goes.

I just figured out what the "A" stands for.

Now, I heard a reliable rumor that you're selling the Malibu house.

You don't want it. The place doesn't even have a pool.

No pool?

In my rat's hole in New York, the john is terminally busted,

and the kitchen should be condemned.

But no pool?

Trash it!

Let's have some coffee, Mary.

Poor Frank

I never drink coffee.

He handled that well

Caffeine isn't good for you.

That Frank

Look, I'm aware this was just a formula movie.

He's loyal as hell

But my next picture, you wait.

I gave up waiting.

He's polite and considerate Rain or shine

It began when I tasted Communion wine

That Frank

Who says, "Mustn't go too far"?

I say, "Look at where we are"

It's our time coming through

I say, "Good, me and you"

I say, "Roll," I say, "Ride"

I say, "Hey, there's food outside"

That Frank

Frank's movie was fun.

You'd think he'd relax

Frank knows what the public wants.

Not Frank

And Frank made a star!

He's laying new tracks

I love a movie movie!

If you had no idea What "charisma" meant

And you just can't be jealous He's such a gent

He's the kind of a man Who could be president

That Frank

That Frank

That Frank

Frank.

Tonight I saw a falling star.

I was running across the lawn,

and then right there in front of me, I see...

And what do we see in front of us?

- A rising star. - Oh.

Because no matter what the critics say

about this picture, they are certain to love you.

They're certain to, no matter what they say about the picture.

The plot thins.

Meg, you know my wife Gussie.

Everybody who's been to a Broadway show knows Gussie Carnegie.

The hem of your garment.

I say, by tomorrow,

all of that will be at your feet.

Oh.

Scotty, that's the Valley.

Have you been outside all this time?

It's customary when you give a party to attend it.

Did you sing?

No one asked.

Franklin. Later.

You're ignoring me.

Yes, I am.

I've got feelings.

And I've got a wife.

I love you so much.

And I love you, too.

Anyway, I'm off. Tomorrow I fly to New York.

While you're there,

do not miss the new Charles Kringas play.

That is the only show in years

that actually deserves its Pulitzer Prize.

I say, in every generation, there's one playwright.

Oh, my God, what did I say?

Don't you know that in this joint,

you must never, ever mention the name Charles Kringas?

Mary, for God's sake.

Yeah, see,

Charley, Frank and I were once

these devoted, inseparable friends.

Would anyone care to come outside?

Up until that famous television interview

where Charley, in front of the whole nation...

Mary, enough!

Mary, I've warned you.

Hey, the house numbers are in from the East Coast.

And it went through the roof.

"The surprise of Darkness Before Dawn

"is Meg Kincaid, a starry-eyed find."

To Franklin Shepard,

who I've known ever since we started out together

back in a crummy little Greenwich Village saloon.

To Frank Shepard,

congratulations to the client every lawyer dreams of:

Forty years old, a hit in New York,

now a hit in Hollywood...

...married to this Broadway legend...

Oh, stop.

...surrounded by the people who work for him, by his money...

Are we making speeches?

To Franklin Shepard...

...the producer,

the man who has everything.

And...

fat, drunk and finished...

I would rather be me any day.

Well, look at the time. I've got to go to bed.

He'll wait. Hoo-hoo-hoo, call him.

Get out of here, drunk.

Gussie.

Get that fat sot out of here.

Mary, may I take your glass?

No, you may not take my glass.

Frank.

Oh, my God.

Frank!

Well...

now I won't be invited back.

Well, please don't all feel you have to leave just because I'm leaving.

First, attention.

I said "attention"!

Are you all listening? Because I have something I must say.

You are all junk.

And you...

You deserve them.

Damn sad.

Isn't she somebody? No, she's a critic.

She wrote a bestseller once.

I would never have believed it. She's finally out of Frank's life.

Yeah, and the loss is unbearable.

Ow. What happened?

Ooh, she cut her hand on a piece of glass.

Oh, no, no. It's nothing. Please, no.

No, Meg's cut her hand rather badly.

No, honestly, it's nothing.

Ru, go get something.

Get some iodine.

Oh, see.

When you're young and the star,

how the slightest thing and you're everybody's focus.

Bitch.

It's stopping. I'm just going to let it air out.

You two sure know how to bring down a curtain.

I've got the iodine. Where's the patient?

Down at the foot of the lawn.

Doing her fawn imitation.

Mr. Shepard.

Frank.

Before I go, I just want to know:

How do I get to be you?

The worst vice in the world is advice,

so I don't give any.

Hey.

Don't just write what you know.

Write what you know.

Now get out of here.

"The worst vice is advice"?

Did you get that off a T-shirt, Frank?

I'm sorry. What's wrong?

You and that little punchboard are what's wrong.

Please, please don't do this.

We've got a party going on out there.

You may have betrayed me, but you are not going to humiliate me.

Gussie, when are you gonna let it go?

I never said you were too old for the part.

The studio said you were too old for the part.

To think I divorced a husband who worshipped the ground I walked on

to marry a pitiful excuse for a man like you.

I've made only one mistake in my life,

but I've made it over and over and over.

That was saying yes when I meant no.

Forgive me.

Don't you dare...

All right, you want to know if it's true? It's true.

But what you would never understand is she's sensitive.

She cares. She's an inspiration.

She's the raft that keeps me from drowning.

Pathetic.

After all these years,

I finally have to hand it to Charley Kringas.

That driven little runt was always the one smart enough to read your label.

And I envy Charley Kringas every day of my life.

Hilarious.

This coming from a man whose work isn't remembered

by the time audiences reach the parking lot!

I swear, if I could go back to the beginning,

if I could somehow be starting over with Charley,

writing shows, trying to change the world,

I would give all this up like that.

Oh, you've lied to yourself so long, you probably believe that.

Do you really not see that I'm ashamed of all this?

That I'm as sick of myself as you are?

I'm just acting like it all matters

so people can't see how much I hate my life

and how much I wish the whole goddamn thing was over.

I found her running along the lawn, singing.

Ah, sorry. Here.

Now, stand still

and let me put some iodine on that hand.

Okay.

My significant other and I want to say good night.

Meg!

My husband was just telling me

that you're the starry-eyed slut

that keeps him from drowning.

Gussie, stop it!

Oh, absolutely, Frank. I will stop it.

But maybe she won't be so starry-eyed now.

He was sleeping with her, Dory!

You said we were finished, Frank!

Well, now we're finished!

You and her and me and every goddamn thing