Scott Joplin (1977) - full transcript

That man walkin'
down those stairs.

He's a great American artist.

Brilliant musician and composer

but no one knows it.

Funny where talent comes from.

And I've been dealing with talent all
my life and I still don't understand it,

of course, everybody
in his family played music.

Brothers, sisters,
father on the violin

and his mother on the banjo.

His mother used to wash
clothes to get Scott piano lessons

from a German piano
teacher in their town.



She always encouraged him.

But when she died,

well, there wasn't any
money left for piano lessons.

And his father?
Well, he believed

music was just a home
and church thing.

There'd be no talk about
playing the piano for a living,

if the boy was gonna
get somewhere,

he'd go to work with pick
and shovel on a railroad.

That's what his father did,
that's what his brother did.

That's what he would've done.

But Scott had music in his soul

and the railroad
just wasn't for him.

So, he left home.

The odds were he'd end up some piano
player in a second-rate whorehouse.



We used to call those
piano players "professors."

I guess they got
their degrees in life.

And that's the life Scott wanted.

At least at first.

So, he began his career playing

for the clientele of the world's
oldest libertine institution.

The bordello.

All of them want nothing good.

Light skin ain't gonna make
it no sweeter, don't you think?

Tonight it's a freebie.

Hey, how about a big last night,
Professor?

You passin' out favors, Amy?

I'll stake ya.

Make it a drink.

Pickin' up and movin' on, eh?

The new boy's all right.

Yeah, if he
don't stew up the girls.

$7 for the week you said?

I'll make it 10, if you stay.

I'll be gone by morning.

None of these cats give a damn
about a fellow's business anymore,

Mornin'.

Oh, mornin' already?

There ain't nobody up but me.

Oh, they sure know
how to keep a guy doin' that.

Well, they got to.

Well, I let 'em.

I'm just leavin'.
Where ya goin'?

Sedalia.

Well, anything's better than here.

In fact, where is here?

You, uh, you read that stuff?

I write it.
Write it?

Whatcha wanna do that for?

To be heard.
Well, I heard it.

What are you messin' around
with that note music for?

You're the only one can read it.

My ears tell me everything.

What's in Sedalia?

You can read this, can't ya?

I read numbers. "100."

Hmm.

You just don't walk in off the
street and beat these boys.

These are top professors.

There's a publisher there.
Word's out he's lookin' for music.

You usin' this for an audition?

That's it.

Well, you don't mind if a
fella goes along

and tries to win this thing,
do ya?

Oh, I'd try to win it.

Two got better odds than one.

Fifty-fifty?

Louis Chauvin.

Scott Joplin.

Sounds good.

It's flat.

Flat?

Flat.

What you mean...
It's what I mean.

I don't believe I've
ever seen you before.

No, sir, you have not.

What's your name?
Scott Joplin.

Never heard of Scott Joplin.

Where you from?
Texarkana.

That's a pretty
poor place to learn.

I learned A-flat.

I've been tuning pianos
much of my life, sir.

My ear is trusted as expert by
professors up and down the river.

Many of whom will be
competing tonight on these pianos,

tuned and perfectly so.

Well, I am going to be
playing here tonight

and I don't mind a little
bump every now and then,

but I do mind a flat A-flat.

You're an entertainer?

And a composer.

You're published?

I will be.
Will you be?

Really?

When will that happen?

When I am heard.

The man to be heard by
in Sedalia is John Stark.

Then I will be heard
by John Stark.

Best o' luck,
Mr. Joplin,

One-two.
A-one-two-three-four.

I'm playing a cakewalk, man.

Who in the world is you?

I'm what you call it, man.

That's what I'm known for.

Do you hear me talkin' to you?

Don't you let anybody tell ya that
nobody can play as good as me.

Do you see that fly
crawlin' up the wall?

She's goin' up there
to get her ashes hauled.

I can play this cakewalk, man.
I can play the piano.

Keep on playin' man.

Don't nobody play like me.

Get up! Get up!

Just a left-handed
guy. One-handed guy?

Yeah, he plays better than
most people with two hands.

That encourages me greatly, man.

Keep on playin' 'cause I'm gonna
do somethin' over here myself.

Keep playin', one hand.
I'll play with one hand.

You better watch out,
'cause here comes the other one.

You two fellas are last.

And you, you're first.

Can you play
Poet and Peasant Overture?

Well, what's the man gonna think,
comes in, slaps a twenty on the box

says,
"Play it?" I'm gonna tell him I can't?

You mess it up and in 10 seconds,
I'm cuttin' ya out!

Ya hear that?

I can play the hell out of it.

Play it in A-flat.

How does that tickle ya?

Out! Right there.

Hey, what key you in?

What key you in?

What you doin' on them keys?

You tryin' to beat me?

Get out!
Get out!

Ooh!

Hey, that's
some godly music!

Listen to them.

That's
what I like to hear. Yeah.

Who's heard that music, sir?

Uh, no-one. No-one? No one at all?

No, sir.

I want it in my office
at 9:00 tomorrow morning.

That's 50 cents, you said a dime.

Keep it.
Thank you.

Who's that
ringin' the bell?

Enjoy yourself last night?

That was your music, wasn't it?

It is.

I remember the primary theme.

It's that inner syncopation.

Not a minstrel.

Freer.

Vital but disciplined.

Good thing, discipline.

Necessary for any artist.

Now, your music,

you can play it, you can dance to it,
you can listen to it.

Can you write it? Can
you put it down on paper?

Now, most of you people
can't. You can improvise.

But you can't put it down.

Oh, I can write it.

Where'd you learn to do that?

College.

Got a name for it?

The George Smith College.

No, no, no.
I meant the song.

Oh, Maple Leaf Rag.

Maple leaf?

That's good, maybe.
Local color.

We'll try 500 copies.

Now don't indulge in over-dazzling
visions of ease and splendor.

Musical compositions do not
shed bank notes like feathers.

Come in.
Thank you.

I'll give you $50 for publication
rights, world-wide in perpetuity.

Perpetuity,
that means... I know what it means.

A 10% royalty on each sheet sale.

You demonstrate.

Any vital questions arising?

Demonstrate.

Uh, selling songs is like farming,
Mr. Joplin.

It takes seed, manure,
rain to get a crop.

Lots o' manure. You
gotta spread it around.

And I'm gonna put you at a
piano in front o' that big window.

They're gonna hear that
song every minute o' the day.

Now when do I see that music?

- 3:00 - 4:00 this afternoon.
3:00 - 4:00 that means...

I know what it means.

What's the matter, boy?
Why you standin' so quiet?

What'd he say?

Says he'd buy it.

Money all over the damn piano.

What's the matter with you, boy,

you sure is cold as hell.

What's he payin' ya? Fifty.

Fifty? Stray cats
get better than fifty!

Fifty is free!

Fifty? Just fifty?

Says there's gonna be royalties.

Says... I demonstrate.

What's a royalty?

An investment
in the proceeds, boy.

He proceeds, you invest.

Mick's gonna play you
for a sucker, boy.

Now, wait.

We ain't talkin'
'bout just any boy.

We talkin' 'bout boy here.

Boy on his way,
gonna be a famous black composer

like all o' them other
famous black composers.

Now, who is it?

What, what's their name, uh,

and there was this other shine.

What you know?

Ain't no black composers,
'cept boy here, gonna be da first.

'Cept there ain't no first!

Ain't no black first anythin'.

How much money you got?

I got about 20 cents.

I got me a dime.

Hey, let's hunt up a saloon
where we can find ourself a meal.

Don't let that Mick make no
fool o' you. I know you comin'.

Listen, I got a cousin
in St. Louis,

we'll look him up passin' through.

It's... That's it...
That's better.

Hey, what's the matter?
Whatcha dreaming about?

Come on! We got it! We got the stake,
100 bucks.

We done everything
we wanted to do.

It's movin' time!

Grab a train, head for the river!

We not poor johns anymore,
we top professors!

Next stop, New Orleans!

You're throwin' it away.
You stay, you're crazy!

I know a few things.

I'm buyin' tickets!

You won't get another
chance like it in a lifetime.

I've never been had.

Here I is. Gotta
get a pair o' overalls

I'll work it out.

Ain't gonna run off,
no talk 'bout that,

'cause I's a good workin' nigger.

Oh, to be a black piano player

in a brothel in the
United States of America

who could have a care? Playin'
for pimps, prostitutes and alcoholics.

Man's only in this world once.

If he doesn't die of whiskey
or syphilis before he's 40!

Nothin' but money
comes in these places.

They'd just as soon tip
you a $5 bill as a dollar,

if they're in the mood
and the music was good.

I concluded you wanted
to be a composer.

For $50 and dimes?

I was wrong in my conclusions.

Good professor knock
that down in three nights.

I've never known any pianist to
come from any section of this world

who could leave victorious.

Come with you, and that happens.

Come with me and you will play
for people who will not hear you.

Some, who will smirk
or hold their ears.

Or even worse
ignore you completely.

You've experienced it,
you know what I'm talking about.

It's akin to a kick
in an open wound.

The option? Withdraw from the process,
retreat,

do not compete!

You don't want any of this.

You want a chance to be heard.

But you want guarantees
against failure,

immunity against being ignored.

I can't give you that!

Immunity.

It means stay where you are,
Mr. Joplin.

I got 'em.

Don't stop now. That's,
that's the part I wanna know about.

It's for the snails.

Snails? Beer?

They go for the beer
instead of the flowers.

It kills 'em.

Who taught you that?

He did.
Your father?

My husband.

"Beloved husband
of Belle."

Well, you have to be going.

Uh, well, uh, yes.

Don't you?
Oh, no.

Well, which is it?

Well, this is my day off.

Surely you've plans?

Plans? Entertainment
on your day off.

Well, I usually, partake of
some cultural activity about town.

Uh, not really cultural.

Something you'd rather do alone.

Not really.

Go ahead show these people, boy.

That'd encourage me greatly! Oh?

Professor Joplin.

Checkered vest and
a pearl gray derby!

You really enjoy that life,
don't you'.

When I was a boy I used to
steal my pappy's long pants

and go down to the Tenderloin and listen to
piano players come down from New Orleans,

talk in' about Zulu Balls,
Baby Dolls and King Champagne.

Smokin' cigars and flingin'
money through the air.

That's not my life.

Nor mine, either.

Not anymore.

It's all behind me.

John is moving his publishing
company to St. Louis.

I've decided to go there, too.

Have you, have you ever
been to St. Louis?

Once.
Like it?

Yeah.

Well, maybe you can,
uh, come and visit sometime.

Maybe.

I don't want to go without you,
come with me.

As what?

My wife.

Marry me, Belle.

All right.

Rabin? Where are you? Yes, sir.

Here, clear that space.

Oh, yes, sir.

Rabin, you are seeing
the result of years of effort.

Yes, sir.

We must work for what
we want in this world, Rabin.

If it comes too easy,
we value it less.

Nothing can damage
the soul as much.

Very well expressed.

Good day, sir.
Samuel Bundler.

Art and music critic.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Music critic? What can I do for you,
sir?

Well,
I'd like to interview your Mr. Joplin.

My Mr. Joplin?

Easy, fellas, easy.

Uh, where do I find
Mr. Joplin?

Oh, he's at home.

Happily married,
soon to be a father.

Busy teaching, composing.

Well, uh, you're here.

Well, the,
the thing to write about Mr. Joplin,

I would say,
is that he longs for serious work.

His composition is superb.

By any standard.

It contains the genius of a
Chopin nocturne or Bach fugue.

Uh, that wasn't quite the
approach I had in mind, Mr. Stark.

Uh, not quite the tack.

What did you have
in mind Mr. Bundler?

Well, the commercialization of a
fad. The money to be made off it.

How to pull the wool
over the public's eyes.

You know, that sort of thing.

We're not here for that sort of thing,
Mr. Bundler.

Oh, no? Well, you tell me.

I'll write it down
just the way you say it.

Have you not heard, Mr. Bundler,
that my Mr. Joplin is called

the King of Ragtime?

Have you heard the American
Federation of Musicians

have outlawed his type of music?

Which thousands clamor to learn.

"Exalting noise," they call it.

"Street vulgarity,
obvious, common,"

like a criminal novel.

A passing fad.

The envious and the deaf who refuse
to pull the cotton from their ears,

as for Mr., Joplin, I should say
that his temperament is high,

that he touches the ground
and the highest places.

That his geese are all swans.

That Mississippi water
tastes like honeydew.

Good day, Mr. Bundler.

Good luck in St. Louis, Mr. Stark.

Rabin, if you can't play it right,
don't play it at all!

Yes, sir.

Seriously,
I'm a little baffled by your case.

How do you feel?

Back to normal again?

It's not always what they seem.

You appeared to be over
the disease when you married.

You weren't.

Sometimes the first signs of
syphilis are hard to know.

You're now in what is
called the secondary stage.

There are no outward signs.

Primary attack
of the nervous system.

Occasional loss of control
of your hands for example.

That can pass, it can also return.

The tertiary stage of this disease
attacks the nervous system.

When, I don't know.

It could be in five years,
in twenty-five years,

or maybe never.

Each case is different, you see.

Are you continuing to have
relations with your wife?

No.

Good, I would not.

You've been extremely
lucky not to have infected her.

You're not telling me something.

There's to be a child.

I don't know, Mr. Joplin.

It could affect the child,
and then again it might not.

I just don't know.

Mrs. Joplin?
Is Scott home?

Well, I'm just gonna stand here,
until you say somethin'.

Turn my back six months,
boy grows up.

Professor Chauvin.

How are you?
Good.

Well, I'm lookin' at ya,

and I, I'm tellin' ya the truth,

I've never seen
such a dull-lookin' man!

Well,
how 'bout introducin' your friends.

Oh, ain't they somethin'?

This is Viola and Ruby.

I'm gonna buy 'em
their own corner.

Belle, uh, will you ask the
ladies what they want to drink,

and pour the professor a glass of gin,
please. Thank you.

Ladies.

I've heard a lot about you,
hear you been in Chicago.

Well, sit down.
Thanks.

Them fellas you talkin' to know, I,
um, played Pony Moore's Club,

and down on Dearborn.

Pony Moore was a
big-spending landlady.

Yeah.

She had a lotta them
light-colored women in there.

Best lookin' things you ever saw.

Strictly for whites!

I hear you been playin' my music.

You oughta hear how I play it.

I hear how you play it.

They say "Play a waltz" and
you give them Maple Leaf Rag

in three-quarter time.

I'd play it on a cigar box
if that's what they want.

It wasn't written
in three-quarter time.

Oh, all the fellas are doin' it.

Uh, I do It all over,
Joe Suits' and Charlie Smith's.

Well, the professors I know,
made themselves satisfied in one place,

let well enough alone.

Well, I wasn't as dumb as
some o' those other fellas.

The girls go crazy for me here.

You stay too long in one place,
they will give you a present.

That's the truth. Well,
you ought to know that.

A baby crib! I
gotta see this. Yes.

Seen every other kind o' crib,
a baby crib!

A doll, a doll!

One o' the most beautiful on the street,
went crazy for me.

I didn't pay
no attention to her.

Those devils say,
"Louis," they say,

"Boy, we wish we had somethin'
like that makin' eyes at us!"

I didn't say nothin'.

Then she leave town, this girl.

They tell me, "Louis,
know, a lotta fellas

"pay $20 a night
to go with this girl."

Louis, uh,
what really brings you here?

Tom Turpin's got the
ladies in town.

Greatest collection
of madams ever seen.

Up from New Orleans to
look over the new professors.

There's to be a social
evenin' at the Rosebud Cafe.

Oh, they really gonna
take the door off o' this one.

Turpin's asked me to ask you to be,
uh, the guest of honor.

"Guest of Honor"
for Basin Street prostitutes.

Listen, this gonna be Madam
de Ware of the Ready Money.

Lulu White, Betty Rae.

Wine, 5-to-10 dollars!

Kind of wine I'm talkin'
about flows in those houses.

Buy a new suit, fancy hat,

let the landladies plunk
you down on a stool

with whiskey and a lot of
light-skinned colored women.

That's how you make a
fiddler out of a violinist,

and a strummer out of a pianist.

This ain't down the line.

Maple Leaf Club, Ready Money, I...

The Rosebud is no different.

They're all bordellos.

Just plush red carpets
and French chandeliers.

You playin' it safe?

What are you sayin'?

Well, I don't think much
of this uptown stuff.

Messin' around with piano scores.

Uh, Louis...

Man any good, he plays his music.

You playin' it safe.

I'll tell Belle you're leaving.

They gonna go crazy
you come in that place.

When was the last time
you heard that?

I don't know why that man
doesn't realize you're through.

I mean, that he should
come here and ask...

He ought to know you're
through with that sort of thing.

Is that what you're feeling?

Yes.

That he asked you
to play at Tom Turpin's?

Well, what did you tell him?

I haven't given him an answer.

Do you miss it?
I miss none of it.

Scott...

If you wanna play there,
I don't mind.

I don't mind anything
you wanna do.

Tell me what you're feeling now?

They're playin' my music wrong.

Oh.

Well, that's terrible.

What do they do?

Mess it up, stunt around with it.

Is that
what's wrong?

Madam Lulu White...

Diamond Queen of the Bayou,

jewel of New Orleans!

Countess Willie Piazza
of the Chateau Lobrano.

From the first family of Russia,

from her court in
St. Petersburg.

Miss Emma Johnson
of 333 Basin Street.

House of All Nations,
the Queen of America.

All right now, you all got to stop

feasting your eyes
on these pretty women,

and feast your eyes on
a handsome man, me!

We got some of the fanciest,
beautifullest madams in the world.

And we have tonight,

we got us some of
the best professors

that ever walked this district.

Kinda lucky tonight.

We got a lad come in here.

When this lad walks in,

you really got to get up
off your piano stool,

and let him just
break down your piano.

I mean, they may call me,
the "Father of Ragtime,"

but let me introduce you
to the "King of Ragtime,"

Scott Joplin!

I'm gonna change printers.

Wrong notes,
misprints, misspellings.

Just too damn much errata.

I suppose it's a
foolish thing to ask,

but you've got a distinctive
foggy look these past few days.

No harm, if you think so.

How's Belle?

Oh, the heat's keeping her...

Scott!
Damn!

What is wrong?
What, what do you want?

To put as much distance
between myself and the Tenderloin

as soon as possible.

You know, you have changed,

I feel it.

It's your virility
reasserting itself.

I'll tell you something.

I haven't had the
courage to say it before

but I'll tell it to you now.

You are a genius.

Truly a great American composer.

Your music is born
to this sod and soil.

I'll tell you something else.

I'm taking your music, this week,

before the Exhibits Committee
of the St. Louis Fair.

This fair is gonna be the largest
American exposition ever conceived.

John Philip Sousa's gonna be there,
so are you.

You are the author of
America's truly native music.

I'm gonna make the people know it.

Ragtime is
simply not serious music.

It's crude, it's common,
it's heard everywhere.

A colored show.

No matter how you
state it, Mr. Stark,

isn't that what you're asking for?

A lot of bangs and explosions.

Coon music, we confess,
has not been contemplated.

Ragtime is not coon music.

What is it, if it's not?

In words you'll understand,
a quenchless vitality.

A music never heard before.

Fighting to be born.

The black man's bawdy
response to authority.

Mr. Stark, precisely
what do you want of us?

You have Sousa
represented at your fair,

I ask that Joplin's music
also be represented.

You'd set Joplin
alongside of Sousa?

I would suggest timing
publication of an original rag

written especially for
the opening of your fair,

I also ask a forum
for Joplin's music.

I rest content that it will achieve its
place in American musical history.

You'll just have to come up with a
better argument than that, Mr. Stark.

Tickets.

Tickets?
Tickets.

Over 350,000 people
bought Maple Leaf Rag.

A million more bought
the rest of his music.

1,350,000 people

who knows Scott Joplin's music.

Who'll pay to hear it.

Yes?

This is for him.

I'll give it...
I'll give it to him.

I've been told to give
it to him hand-to-hand.

I'm sorry, he's working.

When'll he be done?

I can't say.

I will give it to him.

Oh, okay.

Another note from Louis Chauvin.

It just came.

Well, I thought you were friends.

I uh, I haven't spoken to
him since he was in this room.

Scott, it's the third time
he's asked to see you.

He's making a nuisance of himself.

It says he's sick.

Yeah.

What time is it?

Well, it's quarter to five.

Uh, I'm sorry, I kept
so much to myself.

It's been the work on...
Cascades and, you'll like it.

Legato cantilena and...
Virtuoso tempo.

It's nearly finished.

But it's that damn committee
that's withholding approval.

I, uh...

Excuse me.

Go on, get out of here.

Do you hear me, woman?

Get out!

Stupid, disobedient...

Legato cantilena
with virtuoso tempo.

I know what it is.

Just can't write it down.

I never learned it.
I ain't got time.

Ain't got time?

What's wrong?

I got a sickness.

It, it comes and goes.

Live life from day-to-day.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Maybe I did it wrong.
I don't know.

Huh. Should've learned
to write stuff down, like you.

I don't know! Maybe
you did the right thing.

Listen, I uh...

I want you to help me.

Help me, put,
put my stuff down on paper.

People knowin' my name,

Louis Chauvin, they gonna say,

"There goes
that man's music."

Yeah.

He wasn't just a...
A baboon!

That's where I run out.

Yeah,
there's just one thing. Yeah?

It's beautiful, but it needs more.

Yeah. Hey...

Kick my tail hard, huh.

Make me work.

Play it again.

Yeah. Right.

It starts with the hands.

You know that, huh?

You gone through that.

Just comes at you
from out of nowhere.

Hey look, I'm gonna work!

A lot of work to do.

You get on up!
Get out! Go on home.

I uh... I need
a bath, that's all.

Uh, I'll send for you
as soon as I got something.

Scott? Scott?

Whoa.

Been looking all
over for you. Get in!

I got double good news
for you. Giddyap!

You heard from the committee?

I heard from the committee.

Well?
They said "Yes."

My music! I mean the
way I wrote it. No changes.

The way you wrote it
with no changes.

Got some more news for you.

Got your own separate booth

just like Sousa and the rest.

I can't believe it!

You said double good news.

I did?
Yes.

Double good news.

Oh, yes,
I wrote it down on a piece of paper.

Wait a minute,
I have to get it out. Hold the reins.

Yeah, here it is.

"Congratulations,
it's a girl."

Giddyap!

Belle?
Fine.

The baby?

Oh, something, I'm not sure.

Please.

I admit it, frankly I don't know.

I'm keeping her
under close observation.

She's not healthy, not strong.

Are you awake?

Yes.

Oh, how beautiful you look.

What's wrong with our baby?

May l...
Sit here beside you?

I've waited so long
for this moment...

To hold my baby.

Now they won't
even let me have her.

Don't talk.

What's wrong? If you
know something, tell me.

You've always been the strong one.

I'm not your equal,
I, I confess to that.

Don't try to get up.

I've give you a terrible
legacy... You and the child.

I confess.

Oh, God...

Oh, no.
I don't want to harm you.

I have to tell you.
No. No.

I've been dishonest.

Deceitful.

Don't say any more.

I've...

Neglected you so.

Belle...

Belle, we'll go away.

We'll go to Europe. We'll board
the house and we'll go to London.

We'll sail the oceans, and rivers.

I'll pamper you disgracefully.

Could you come up,
Mrs. Joplin?

I can't stop her from crying.

Did you see this?
Yes.

We should've been over on the right,
not next to the band.

A single piano?

I was lucky to even get that.
How could you let it happen?

You weren't there
at those meetings.

You don't know
the kind of reception...

"You are now the great
living American composer!"

Look what they said about it.
They didn't say a thing about it.

Only "Joplin played also."
I'm sorry.

You failed me!

Scott, I know how you feel!

You were overpowered by
the extravagance of sound!

The sheer weight of volume!

Your music wasn't meant
to compete on that level.

It was just never heard.
Well, it will be heard.

If volume is what they want,
volume is what they'll get!

What are you talking about?
I'm gonna write an opera.

An opera? An opera in
ragtime. A ragtime opera.

Why?
Because it is right!

Because it is their music!

Con brio, fortissimo and that
they will draw comfort from.

It's suicide for
natural professions to...

It's what I want to do!

Scott, I know what you're goin'
through. I know what you're suffering!

Please, believe me,
I can put myself in your place!

Is that what you want to tell me?

Scott,
I'm goin' to New York. Go with me.

There's a new musical theater!

Vaudeville! Jigtime piano!

You haven't even looked it over!

They may talk of dandy niggers,

but they never see this
coon a-promenading Broadway

on a Sunday afternoon.

Do I genuflect or kneel!

You think that's what
I had in mind for you?

I know the people that'll
help me with the opera.

I'll work out the vocals
and orchestration myself.

All I need is a publisher
to act in my interest.

If it isn't going to be you,
then I want to know about it.

I should've remembered
we see life differently.

I'm sorry if that
makes you uncomfortable,

but I will not nail myself
down to your egotism.

Scott, I'm going to New York...

To do what I know how to do.

Both of us should go.
Please go with me.

That's your answer?

I was remembering the
time we said we'd marry.

Does it embarrass you
so much to talk about it?

Ultimately.

You'll see it was wise
not to talk about it.

You needn't stop talking
altogether, you know.

I've been made love to before.

I know a lot about love.

But it wasn't
the same with them...

As it was with you.

With you...

I felt...

Soft and sorry inside.

No matter how much
you rejected me,

I could stand it.

Not anymore.

Scott and I had
stopped talking to each other.

He wouldn't see me.

In fact, he wouldn't see anybody.

He's become completely
obsessed by his opera.

Nothing else mattered to him.

He wanted that opera to be
the summation of all he knew...

And all he felt.

By this time,
everyone was writing rags.

Everyone except,
the man who made ragtime popular.

The only thing
Scott Joplin was writing

was his opera.

I want
you to help me.

Help me put
my stuff down on paper.

Any particular part you want?

I forget the phrasing.

There was a transition here.

That's it.

That's it.

Say somethin'.

Say all.

Belle?

Gone.

The baby?

Dead.

Don't let it frighten you.

Fright needs you.

It's my close friend.
I shook his hand.

That's what I heard hollerin'
I thought it must be that.

Don't stand any
disobedience from him.

He'll search you out again.

Does he wear a red tie?
He said he would.

Yeah, he wears it.

Got a ol' greasy spot on it.

Here, skin is good.

Where'd you get the mattress?

Stole it.

Steal another.

* Gabe kid,
Get the... *

Gabe kid just wouldn't work.

It just wouldn't work.

Just as fat as a fat pig.

He used to wear a flower.

A small purplish lookin' thing.

Pretty flower.

Never knew what it was.

Knuckle fingers.

We all play it by ear.

Never even thought
to write it down,

or even learn how.

Too much trouble.

Now, it's considered all right.

Huh, it used to be
just low-type music.

Never did quite
get that part of it.

* I got those
Old Monday blues

* Those hangover
Sunday blues

Jelly Roll Morton.

* There's one for my baby

* I go crazy

* From all those
wrong things I choose...

He'd play that stuff.

He'd play that stuff
for the girls.

I sure remember him.

Yeah.

* Did I ever tell you
about that gal o' mine?

* Together we seen
Some very hard times

* But a shot o' that ol' gin,
My friend...

* Would start us
Rollin' again

* That ol' man
Ol' Monday Blues...

* Long as I got the cure

* I can't lose

* Bein' with my heart
Drivin' mama

* Make me forget
all the blues *

How dare they call themselves
the New York Music Company?

Hypocrites!

Some junk company
that's what they are!

Driving us independents
outta business.

Undercutting us in the
five-and-ten cent store

with their so-called sales
at nine cents a copy.

How can I print quality
at nine cents a copy?

Next thing you know they'll be
selling music in the livery stables!

Laugh, you old fool!

I'm laughing, wouldn't you?

I bet you told that
New York Music Company!

I'll bet they thought
a bull hit 'em.

I'd like to shoot them!

I think I will.

You been on the road?

I think I read somewhere...

Vaudeville.
Some jigtime piano.

Well, if there's anything
I can do for you, uh...

The Peacock's
the best show in town.

Hard to get tickets.

I can write a letter for you.

Think I can get you a house
seats if you don't mind mid-week...

What is that?

This?

You always insisted on it.

"Heliotrope"?
Yes.

That's a flower.

It's small and purple.

It's not in bloom at the moment.

It was.

The Missouri boy in Tin Pan Alley.

Tin Pan Alley? That don't fit you,
you country peddler.

Here's one for the
Missouri boy that fights back.

Got missionary zeal
and all that stuff.

You gonna shoot somebody...

You gotta have ammunition.

Rabin, get down
to the Lobster House,

bring back two of
the biggest they got!

And a bottle of champagne. Yes,
sir.

Don't worry, we'll leave it
there and the cat'll get it.

I feel...
What?

I feel a sense of shock.

You know why?

I drink too much.

I should try to give it up.

I gave it up once.

I had a hell of a time.

I'll probably give it up.

You miss the river?

No.

Well, sometimes.

Honestly?

I remember one time,
the goofer dust man came to town

trying to sell his
superstitious dreams

and my mama came
outta the house with a banjo

and chased him down
the street right into the river.

You made that up.

I been makin' up a lot of things.

That you have.

That's not all.

I've finished it.

Finished what?
The opera.

The opera?
Yeah.

The opera?
Yes.

You want me to publish it?

I want you to back it.

Back it?

Back it?

What way?

How? How many
singing parts?

Eleven.
Eleven?

How many musical numbers?

Twenty-seven.

Twenty-seven?

Uh, I have money of my own.

You have the new rags
I've given you.

How much money do you have?

Ten... 10,000.

I can't cover half of it!

Damn the way you set me up.

You want, you want me
to make up the rest?

Yes.

You know you almost
disappointed me!

You almost turned out
not to fit the myth!

The black illusion.

Carnegie Hall. White tie and tails,
pulling up in a carriage.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Joplin."

White man opening up the door.

That's not what I want.

I told it to you!

I'm the one that said
you could have it.

That's not what you said!

You said, my music
was a new art form.

Genuinely American.
Born of this sod and soil.

You said I was a genius.

And I want everybody to know it.

I have no need to
believe in the afterlife.

You apparently do.

Yes.

What the hell are
you trying to tell me?

What are you trying to say?

Are you ill?

What have you got?

It's complex.

Nerves?

Nerves, yes, in a way, nerves.

I won't pay penance for it.

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Marching to that
lovely tune

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Happy as a bird in June

* Sliding onward
Sliding onward

* Listen to that rag...

No, no, no, no!
Stop, stop!

You're off-key!

You're off the meter!

You're, you're flat!
Son-of-a-bitch!

Follow, follow, follow it!

It's on the page! It's
on the page! Follow it!

It's easy to follow!
It's easy to follow!

There's nothing funny about it.

Follow it!

Uh, all right now!

Start again. Again.

One-two-three-four.

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Marching to
that lovely tune

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Happy as a bird in June
Feel it!

* Sliding onward,
Sliding onward

* Listen to that rag

* Hop,
And skip

* And do that slow...

If you wanna order
some sheet music,

I'd be glad to oblige.

If it's Joplin you're looking for,
I'm sorry.

I haven't seen him since summer.

He needs money.

Who doesn't?

He's tryin' to find
a backer for his opera.

Can't find one.

I'm sorry,
I've got an appointment.

He calls it Treemonisha.

He's gonna have a performance
up town in a hall in Harlem.

Uh, without scenery
or musicians, costumes.

He's gonna play all the
parts on the piano himself.

The cast are amateurs.

He spent all his own money.

What in God's name
is the matter with him?

He's dying.

From what?
Rails.

Syphilis?

Syphilis!

My God, what a horror.

I've been everywhere else.

Where is he?
He's livin' uptown.

He's remarried.

How could he be?

Well, it ain't
that kind of marriage.

She takes care of him.

He don't have nothin'.

Not a dime.

How much does he need?

$3,000.

I haven't got $3,000.

I haven't got anything.

This town has me beat,

I'm gonna close my offices,
I'm goin' back to St. Louis.

Where can I find you?
Why?

I don't know. Maybe I can run across
somebody who's got some money!

I don't know!

West on 172nd Street.

The Weepin' Willow?

I play there.

Thank you.

Whenever you're ready,
Mr. Joplin.

Get up from the piano, boy.

You're hurting his feelings.

I haven't practiced that
in a while.

I know what you're saying.

That can give you
a devil of a time.

I've got work to do.

I'll go with you.
No.

No.

In 1974.

Scott Joplin's music won an
Academy Award fo The Sting.

In 1975, his opera Treemonisha

was performed
successfully on Broadway.

In 1976, he was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Scott Joplin died in 1917.