Touched by an Angel (1994–2003): Season 7, Episode 4 - Restoration - full transcript
A young film student has trouble interviewing a 102-year old film director who is ready to die. Andrew tells him he must stay on earth a little longer to help the student.
There's never been
anyone else but you.
Idiots.
Sap-masters.
There was a time, you know,
when you didn't mind good,
old-fashioned happy endings.
Are you still here?
I'm still here.
Is it time?
No, not yet.
Why don't you poop
or get off the pot?
Because you're
not ready to leave.
Oh, for the love
of... Andrew, I'm 102!
I've got nothing but
phlegm and gas in here.
My time has come, so call
the boss, get the green light.
Let's get it over with.
Why are you in
such a hurry to die?
There's no reason
to stick around.
Ah, but there is.
There's a very good reason,
and it's right
down on the street.
Right on Hollywood Boulevard.
Bah!
Chandler Crowne.
Never heard of him.
Oh, he directed
all those depressing
silent movies.
Excuse me!
Uh, excuse me.
We're filming here,
if you don't mind.
And by the way,
Chandler Crowne's
movies are not depressing.
They're prophetic metaphors
for an unforgiving world.
Now, if you please.
That's a pretty bleak
view of things, young lady.
It is a lousy,
meaningless world,
and he knew that.
80 years ago, he knew that.
That's why he's a visionary,
and that's why I'm
making this documentary.
So please move
and allow me to film
the one surviving
tribute to a great man.
Thank you.
I remember Chandler Crowne.
Failure has a longer memory
than success, I'm afraid.
Oh, you didn't fail, baby.
Some assignments just
take longer to finish, that's all.
Tess, 80 years.
Makes you wonder
what God was waiting for.
Oh, I know what
he was waiting for.
He was waiting for her.
♪ When you walk ♪
♪ Down the road ♪
♪ Heavy burden ♪
♪ Heavy load ♪
♪ I will rise ♪
♪ And I will walk with you ♪
♪ I'll walk with you ♪
♪ Till the sun
don't even shine ♪
♪ Walk with you ♪
♪ Every time, I tell you ♪
♪ I'll walk with you ♪
♪ Walk with you ♪
♪ Believe me, I'll
walk with you. ♪
72 films later,
the work of Chandler
"King" Crowne still resonates
with the bleak
themes he established
in his first great
silent film, Damnation.
The mark he made on
Hollywood reminds us that he was,
in his own words,
born under a dark star.
Well, I don't know, Stevie.
There are 43 students
competing for 12 spaces.
If you want one of those
spaces, you're gonna have
to do a lot better than this.
What do you mean?
I mean, I-I've traced
his entire career here.
And what's your conclusion?
What is your thesis?
My thesis is that...
is that Damnation was
Mr. Crowne's watershed work.
I mean, it was the dividing line
between his earlier comedies
and his classic dramas.
Every film student
knows that, Stevie.
What nobody has
ever found out is why.
Why did a director
suddenly change
his entire worldview
and start making dark,
philosophical films?
What changed?
I don't know.
A man like Chandler Crowne
probably had a
vision of some kind,
some manifestation
of a great truth.
Maybe he had a dream,
and it came to him.
Documentaries
aren't about maybes.
You have a theory,
now you have to prove it.
If you can't do that,
well, I can't say that
you'll be back next year.
You have three days, Stevie.
Now go home and get
a good night's sleep.
You'll figure it out.
Yeah.
I'll just, uh, go home.
Bell doesn't work!
Well, I can hear it ring.
You calling me a liar?
Mr. Crowns, I'm Stevie Noonan.
- I...
- Go away!
I'm making a
documentary about you.
Over my dead body.
- Well...
- It Will be
over your dead body, Chandler,
if you don't get
something to eat,
and that's not gonna happen
if you don't open
this door right now.
You got lemon bars today?
Six of them.
You're late!
I'm fine, Mr. Crowns.
And I'm very happy
to see you again.
And lunch will be
ready in a minute.
I don't do interviews.
It's part of my charm.
Well, I-I just thought
maybe you might want
to do just one, at
least, before you...
Before I die, huh?
Do you know
something that I don't?
Have you two been talking?
No, actually, we've never met.
But I do think it would
be a very good idea
for you to talk to her.
Oh, you do, do you?
Who-who are you talking to?
Who do you think?
I'm talking to the
Angel of Death!
That is so surreal.
Do-do you... do you
two talk all the time?
Oh, this doesn't
bother you, hmm?
'Cause it sure bothers
the hell out of me.
No. I mean,
this is just the sort of
weird, dark, visionary thing
that I was hoping for.
Oh, God, a fan.
I feel a heart attack coming on.
Nice try, Chandler.
Not yet.
Hey, food lady, hurry up!
I'm being picked on
by the Angel of Death
and the vampire
film student from hell.
Oh, shame.
All the nice
people in the world,
and they picked you.
Ooh.
Uh-uh, uh-uh.
No interview, no food.
Six lemon bars.
Six.
You've got dirt on your lips.
Oh, oh, uh,
that's, uh, lipstick.
Well, the dishes are done.
And I'll see you tomorrow.
Good. We're
trying to shoot here.
Okay.
Um, Chandler "King" Crowne.
You became known as the
director of the dark realism genre,
uh, but your earlier
films were much lighter.
Shallow.
Naive.
All about nothing.
But all of that changed in 1926
with your breakthrough
film Damnation, didn't it?
Yes.
Everything changed then.
Even the title changed, right?
Yes.
The original title
was Redemption.
Then it became
Damnation after it premiered.
Why?
Don't ask me, ask Sid Lumsky.
He ran the studio,
called the shots.
Miserable skinflint.
I can't ask him.
Sid Lumsky died in 1957.
And good riddance.
I hope it hurt.
Behave.
Why? Why should I?
Just keep talking.
You'll see.
Are you talking to him again?
Oh, and what's
that to you, dirt lips?
Okay, forget about the title.
Just tell me,
when you decided
to make Damnation,
was it one single epiphany,
or did you always
have this visionary grasp
of-of the existential void?
What do you know
about the existential void?
More than you think.
And I have a feeling
that you know more
than you're telling.
Chandler, she needs
to hear the truth.
And you need to tell it.
I'll tell her whatever the
Sam Hill I choose to tell her.
Okay, um, we're still rolling.
Fine.
Now, this was
my first big picture
for Lumsky Studios.
He cranked out
two movies a week.
Rolling!
Mostly shoot-“em-up
cowboys and slapstick cops.
- Ward robe?
- Roll camera.
And action.
You're content,
Ruby, not wistful.
You love your father.
Blessed are they
which are persecuted
for righteousness sake.
Cut!
I said content, not gleeful.
This is home sweet
home here, not the carnival.
If you shot these scenes
in order, Chandler,
maybe a person could keep track
of what they're
supposed to feel!
I just told you how to
feel; I cannot feel it for you.
Oh, boy, here we go again.
And what's that
supposed to mean?
If I'm not good enough for you,
maybe you should
just get someone else.
I didn't say that.
I cannot work like this!
- Ruby!
- We shot the ending yesterday,
and now we're
shooting the beginning!
I just don't know what to do!
All right, that's
lunch, everybody.
Okay, guys, that's lunch.
Chandler!
Uh-oh.
Yes, Sid?
I just saw what you've
already got in the can.
I don't get it. That's bad.
It's a different kind
of love story, Sid.
A young girl
searching for her father,
running into evil at every turn.
Then she meets this
mysterious woman
who helps her to understand
the meaning of life.
Stick to the plane crashes.
Leave the meaning
of life to D.W. Griffith.
Speaking of which,
can't afford a plane crash.
Make it a car crash,
shoot it last 'cause
I only got one car.
I was hoping to shoot
the third act in order
so we could let Ruby and Violet
build up to the climactic scene.
That's another thing: no Violet.
- What?
- Had to give her the broom.
Why?
Found out she was secretly
dating your prop man.
You know I don't allow
romances at my studio.
Well, what am I
gonna do about Violet?
I can't just cut the part, Sid.
The mystery woman is the
secret to the whole picture.
So find another one.
Actresses are a dime a dozen.
Hey, which one of you
gals wants to be a star?
Oh! -Yes, Mr. Lumsky!
There's your Violet.
Any dame that doesn't
want to be a star,
well, that is a mystery woman.
Hey, you, Red!
What's your name?
Monica.
I don't want to talk
about this anymore.
5:00. Time for bed.
Mr. Crowns, this is
so important to me.
If you could just tell me
something about Damnation
that nobody else knows,
then this documentary
would really mean something.
If you've seen my films, then
you should know that the things
we want the most are the
things that we can never have.
You want more information,
I want more lemon bars,
but we're both out of luck.
Good-bye, vampire girl.
Wait. M-Mr. Crowne, please!
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Where is it?!
Where-where is what?
His pocket watch.
He's been looking
for it all morning,
and he thinks you took it.
She did.
Uh-huh, I knew it.
You stole it, you little poop!
Then the food lady lets
her right back into my house!
I ought to...!
Bah!
Mr. Crowne, I-I don't know
what you're talking about.
You stole my pocket
watch. He told me!
Your invisible friend?
Hypocrite!
Yesterday, you said you
believed he was there!
Oh, no. I just said I
thought he was cool.
I mean, I... I don't
believe in angels.
Or in God.
Or "thou shalt not steal."
Hocked it for drug
money, I suppose!
No, actually she pawned it
to get her car out of impound.
Listen, I don't care
what you needed it for.
I want my watch back,
or I am calling the police!
You call the police, and
I will eat this pawn ticket,
and you will never see
your precious watch again.
That is blackmail.
Yes. Deep Fountain, 1932.
Your hero was a blackmailer.
Now, you give me what I want,
and I will give
you what you want.
But until then,
I have got one
day to shoot this.
"Desperation
justifies the action."
Shadow of a Stranger, 1933.
All right, all right.
Now, you just cast
this Monica person
to play the mystery woman.
Yes.
I wonder what ever
happened to her.
And action!
Unhand this woman.
Evil shall not
prevail in this house.
Great, Monica.
Now, Ruby, cower.
And, Monica, grab the Bible.
Ah...!
Perfect.
Have you lost your mind?!
How am I supposed
to get run over by a train
before I eat my lunch?!
This is crazy!
I don't make the
schedules, Ruby.
Sid makes the schedules.
They're-they're really
actually wonderful people.
Individually.
But you put 'em
together, and whew!
Fireworks.
Yeah, it's been like
that for three pictures.
They never stop arguing.
Let's do it.
Cue the train!
Help! Help!
Help!
I'm so hungry!
Help!
I'm so hungry!
I don't feel comfortable
with this, Sid.
We haven't had enough rehearsal.
Get a stunt woman.
Oh, Ruby won't let me.
You know how she is.
She wants to do
the crash herself.
Well, let her. She
knows what she's doing.
It's a simple gag.
Sid, it's one scene. Can't
we just do it tomorrow?
I'm starting a new
picture tomorrow.
Do the stunt, finish the movie,
or kiss your career good-bye.
Hi, Monica.
Aren't you all finished?
Yes, but I thought I'd
stay and see the last shot.
That's dedication for you.
I have a feeling that Redemption
will be remembered forever
as something special.
Do you really think so?
'Cause I was kind
of hoping for that.
I think it'll give hope
to so many people.
Do you know that
is my vision exactly?
Right now, movies are small,
but someday they're gonna big.
And thousands, maybe
millions of people will see them.
When they leave my movie,
I want them to feel better
about the world than
before they went in.
Hold on to that
vision, Chandler,
no matter what happens.
Ah, well, nothing's
gonna happen.
It may seem that way
here in Hollywoodland,
where the sun always shines,
but it rains sometimes
in the real world.
Dreams are fragile,
and visions can dim
if you don't hold them in
a safe place in your heart.
Well, I'm gonna do just
that, so don't you worry.
Right now, I have got
to get off the last shot
before we lose this light.
You take care of
yourself, Monica.
And thanks.
So, we've shot everything
before the crash,
and we've shot the big
finale after the crash.
All we've got left is the
crash itself, thank God.
You finished?
Yep, all done.
Starting a Western tomorrow.
What's the matter?
Uh, nothing.
She's ready. Let's do it.
Okay, Ruby, just
drive down the road,
veer off at the rock,
and bump into the tree.
And just bump it.
Nothing fancy, okay?
Rolling!
And action!
Terrific!
Wonderful! Love the fire.
There wasn't
supposed to be a fire.
Is she all right, Barney?
Help! She's hurt! Come on!
Is she hurt badly?
Somebody do something!
Come on! Come on!
Get in the truck
and get a doctor!
Oh, God.
And that's how Andrew and I met.
I remember.
It's a sad story and all,
but that still doesn't explain
why you made
Damnation in the first place.
Well...
he didn't make
Damnation in the first place.
Shut up.
It wasn't called
Damnation in the first place.
It... it was, it was
called Redemption.
Did you start out
making one kind of movie
and end up making another?
You did have an
epiphany, didn't you?!
Oh, man, this is great!
I mean, this is, this is...
This proves everything!
So what was it?
Was it a-a vision
or-or a revelation, or what?
I'm tired.
Go away.
Food lady, go away.
Andrew, go away.
Wait, M—Mr. Crowns!
Please, I need this!
Mr. Crowne, this is my life!
No, this is my life!
Go get your own.
What are you doing here?
Looking for you.
I thought I'd find you
in a place like this.
It's just as well you
slept through the last one.
It was very inspiring.
Might have upset you.
I love all silent movies.
You cannot appreciate
the genius and the vision
of Chandler Crowne's
movies without those
chirpy one-reelers
to hold 'em up against.
He's really your hero, isn't he?
He was.
He's not gonna tell me anything.
So you're gonna give up?
Yeah.
I mean, what's the point?
It's too late.
It's not too late.
Your little movie is due today.
And as far as I know,
today lasts all day long.
And it could be the day
that made a difference,
if you just had a little faith.
People like me don't have faith.
Well, don't worry about it.
I'll lend you some of mine.
Here. Here's your watch.
Give me that.
I'm so sorry.
Thank you.
Go away.
Well, so much for faith.
I'm gonna clean up,
you're gonna stay
here and keep trying,
and you're gonna play nice.
Well, don't you want to know
how she got the watch
out of hock with no money?
No, I don't!
You don't what?
Wouldn't you like to get this
whole thing off your chest?
You're assuming
that I feel guilty.
"Guilt is a waste of time."
Approaching Darkness, 1937.
God knows you feel pain.
God is dead.
Call of the Vortex, 1936.
No, he's not, Chandler.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.
Then what in blazes
are you doing here?
Are you completely senile?
All I want to know is how
Redemption became Damnation.
That's it!
So poop or get off the pot, pal.
I don't remember.
It was 75 years ago.
I can barely remember breakfast.
Oatmeal.
Chandler... you remember.
Hey, what are you
doing here, genius?
Working.
On what? The picture's finished.
Premiere's on Friday.
No. You can't release it yet.
The ending's not right.
What are you talking about?
It's the best part.
Works like gangbusters.
Inspiring, uplifting...
Everything you said it would be.
They really do find
the meaning of life,
and darned if it
didn't even get to me.
It's a great movie, kid.
No. I won't let
you release it yet.
You won't let me?
Read your contract, kid.
You don't own
this picture, I do!
Jimmy! Lionel!
Come on, Sid, be reasonable.
Boys, escort
Mr. Crowne off the lot.
No! No!
Sid, don't do this!
Come on, Sid!
Sid, please!
No! Sid!
Sid!
So, he took your film away?
He tried to.
Lumsky outdid himself
with the premiere.
Everybody in Hollywood came:
Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin,
Fairbanks, Mary
Pickford, Barrymore.
They were all
there, and so was I.
Hey, Charlie.
Hey, what are you doing here?
Mr. Lumsky says you
wasn't supposed to come.
Oh, it's okay, Charlie.
I don't want to
get you in trouble.
A few minutes
before the premiere,
I broke into the projection room
and cut off the last
five minutes of the film.
The audience never saw
the original happy ending.
I replaced it with a new one,
the last hopeless moments
caught accidentally on film
that last day of shooting.
Redemption was
never supposed to end
with death and the Devil,
but I made sure it did.
And that's how Redemption
became Damnation overnight.
What in blazes?!
I could kill you, you little...!
What happened to the ending?!
Where's the happy ending?!
Wait. Listen.
Didn't I tell you you
were a genius, kid?
So you cut off
the end of the film.
Why?
To get back at
Lumsky, of course.
That's it?
No.
Yes.
There was no vision?
No epiphany?
You weren't a tortured
genius with a dark vision?
You... you were just
a guy who got mad
and cut off the end of the movie
and stuck on some
leftover footage of a devil?
So what?
It made my career.
And I did become
the tortured genius.
I can't believe this.
I based my whole thesis on you.
Hell, I based my
whole life on you.
Well, what's the big deal?
You asked, I told you.
You don't get it, do you?
I've been trying to figure out
why life turned to garbage
for you, because I'm trying
to figure out why it
turned to garbage for me.
But you don't care.
You don't care that I
sleep in movie theatres.
You don't care that I sold
my car this morning for $300
to buy back your lousy watch!
Or that I'm gonna
have to go back to Ohio,
because I have got nothing
to show now, because of you.
And you know what's gonna
happen to me when I get back there?
My dad is gonna beat
me to a pulp again!
And there's nothing
I can do about it.
'Cause I have got
nowhere else to go.
Why don't you ask your friend
Andrew to do me a favor, huh?
Ask him to leave you
here in this stinking hellhole
and take me instead,
because I am ready to go.
I am really, really ready!
So am I.
If you're coming back for
more, I'm through giving!
Stevie?
Hey, kid?
It's not Stevie, Mr. Crowne.
No.
No, can't be.
You do remember me,
don't you, Chandler?
I don't want to.
It reminds me of...
It's not possible.
That was 80 years ago.
Monica must be over
a hundred by now.
I'm even older than that.
Another angel, like Andrew?
Like Andrew and Tess.
The food lady is an angel?
That God of yours must
have some sense of humor.
That God of yours
created humor and love
and forgiveness,
truth and light.
The same light
that you use to shine
through little
pieces of celluloid,
only to create a dark world.
It is a dark world.
And I want out of it.
So get Andrew back
here, and let's finish me off.
And where would
you go, Chandler?
Into oblivion, I hope.
Where no angels or gods
or little girls with
cameras live.
Ah.
The darkest place of all.
You know, you might not care
that you spend eternity
there, but God does.
That's why he sent me
to you all those years ago,
to begin a good work in you
that has yet to be accomplished.
What work?
God put you on this earth,
Chandler, at the same time
that a new art form
was being born.
And when you saw
those first moving pictures
on the big screen, you
understood instantly the power
they would have to change
hearts and create images
that the human mind could
never erase from its memory.
You could've encouraged
and lifted up millions of people,
but instead, you used the talent
and the light that God gave you
to simply perpetuate
your own pain.
The pain that God inflicted.
No, the pain that
God could've healed.
Still can, if only
you'd let him.
It's too late for an
old goat like I am.
No, it's not.
Perhaps it's too late
to encourage millions,
but it's not too late
to encourage one.
Why should I?
I hate God.
Because 72 films
later, so does Stevie.
In fact, she doesn't
even believe in God
or good or love at all.
Then send her an angel.
God wants to send you.
Finish the work that
He began, Chandler.
Tell the truth, find
the joy, then go home.
What are you doing here?
I didn't cut off the ending
because I was mad at Sid Lumsky.
I cut it because I
was mad at God.
Mr. Crowne, I thought
you didn't believe in God.
Oh, I used to.
Until Ruby died.
You see, kid, I
loved that woman.
We just pretended
that we didn't get along
to keep Lumsky from
getting suspicious.
But the truth is,
we were married.
We ran down to Mexico
one night between pictures,
got married under the moon.
And I gave her a ring that
she wore around her neck,
and she gave me this.
You probably didn't notice,
but it opens two ways.
"Forever, Ruby."
Just before the crash,
she told me I was
going to be a father.
And I was so happy,
I just couldn't see
straight or think straight.
God.
I never should
have let her do it.
I should have told Lumsky no.
I should have stopped her.
But I was so
stunned... and happy,
I stopped thinking.
So... I lost my wife...
I lost my baby...
and the beautiful life
that could've been.
It's not your fault, Mr. Crowne.
You can't blame yourself.
It's God's fault, not yours.
No, kid.
No.
God didn't do it.
Bad things happen in this world,
because the world isn't perfect.
But it's a lot easier
to curse God...
than to try to change ourselves.
But I want to try
to change a little
part of the world now.
I want you to see my movie,
the whole movie with
the original ending,
the happy ending.
Not Damnation,
but the Redemption that
it was supposed to be.
And that's the only way I know
how to say I'm sorry.
Showtime!
All set!
Roll 'em!
II
II
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
I loved it.
Now believe it.
You know I'd like to.
But life is not like that.
Oh... you'd be surprised.
There is a good girl in there.
Dirt lips.
Maybe you stole my watch,
but you sacrificed
ev-everything you had
to make good on it.
That's something.
You've got a real fight
going on inside of you,
and I want the good guys to win.
You mean, like the angels?
Yes.
Excuse me.
Now.
- Hello.
- I want you...
to have the movie.
Hold onto it.
It's the only true thing
that I've ever done.
And it ought to shake up
your film school friends.
You don't know what this means.
Oh... I think I do.
Well, Andrew...
I guess I'm ready to go home.
Yes, you are.
It's time to start forever.
Andrew.
♪♪
♪♪
anyone else but you.
Idiots.
Sap-masters.
There was a time, you know,
when you didn't mind good,
old-fashioned happy endings.
Are you still here?
I'm still here.
Is it time?
No, not yet.
Why don't you poop
or get off the pot?
Because you're
not ready to leave.
Oh, for the love
of... Andrew, I'm 102!
I've got nothing but
phlegm and gas in here.
My time has come, so call
the boss, get the green light.
Let's get it over with.
Why are you in
such a hurry to die?
There's no reason
to stick around.
Ah, but there is.
There's a very good reason,
and it's right
down on the street.
Right on Hollywood Boulevard.
Bah!
Chandler Crowne.
Never heard of him.
Oh, he directed
all those depressing
silent movies.
Excuse me!
Uh, excuse me.
We're filming here,
if you don't mind.
And by the way,
Chandler Crowne's
movies are not depressing.
They're prophetic metaphors
for an unforgiving world.
Now, if you please.
That's a pretty bleak
view of things, young lady.
It is a lousy,
meaningless world,
and he knew that.
80 years ago, he knew that.
That's why he's a visionary,
and that's why I'm
making this documentary.
So please move
and allow me to film
the one surviving
tribute to a great man.
Thank you.
I remember Chandler Crowne.
Failure has a longer memory
than success, I'm afraid.
Oh, you didn't fail, baby.
Some assignments just
take longer to finish, that's all.
Tess, 80 years.
Makes you wonder
what God was waiting for.
Oh, I know what
he was waiting for.
He was waiting for her.
♪ When you walk ♪
♪ Down the road ♪
♪ Heavy burden ♪
♪ Heavy load ♪
♪ I will rise ♪
♪ And I will walk with you ♪
♪ I'll walk with you ♪
♪ Till the sun
don't even shine ♪
♪ Walk with you ♪
♪ Every time, I tell you ♪
♪ I'll walk with you ♪
♪ Walk with you ♪
♪ Believe me, I'll
walk with you. ♪
72 films later,
the work of Chandler
"King" Crowne still resonates
with the bleak
themes he established
in his first great
silent film, Damnation.
The mark he made on
Hollywood reminds us that he was,
in his own words,
born under a dark star.
Well, I don't know, Stevie.
There are 43 students
competing for 12 spaces.
If you want one of those
spaces, you're gonna have
to do a lot better than this.
What do you mean?
I mean, I-I've traced
his entire career here.
And what's your conclusion?
What is your thesis?
My thesis is that...
is that Damnation was
Mr. Crowne's watershed work.
I mean, it was the dividing line
between his earlier comedies
and his classic dramas.
Every film student
knows that, Stevie.
What nobody has
ever found out is why.
Why did a director
suddenly change
his entire worldview
and start making dark,
philosophical films?
What changed?
I don't know.
A man like Chandler Crowne
probably had a
vision of some kind,
some manifestation
of a great truth.
Maybe he had a dream,
and it came to him.
Documentaries
aren't about maybes.
You have a theory,
now you have to prove it.
If you can't do that,
well, I can't say that
you'll be back next year.
You have three days, Stevie.
Now go home and get
a good night's sleep.
You'll figure it out.
Yeah.
I'll just, uh, go home.
Bell doesn't work!
Well, I can hear it ring.
You calling me a liar?
Mr. Crowns, I'm Stevie Noonan.
- I...
- Go away!
I'm making a
documentary about you.
Over my dead body.
- Well...
- It Will be
over your dead body, Chandler,
if you don't get
something to eat,
and that's not gonna happen
if you don't open
this door right now.
You got lemon bars today?
Six of them.
You're late!
I'm fine, Mr. Crowns.
And I'm very happy
to see you again.
And lunch will be
ready in a minute.
I don't do interviews.
It's part of my charm.
Well, I-I just thought
maybe you might want
to do just one, at
least, before you...
Before I die, huh?
Do you know
something that I don't?
Have you two been talking?
No, actually, we've never met.
But I do think it would
be a very good idea
for you to talk to her.
Oh, you do, do you?
Who-who are you talking to?
Who do you think?
I'm talking to the
Angel of Death!
That is so surreal.
Do-do you... do you
two talk all the time?
Oh, this doesn't
bother you, hmm?
'Cause it sure bothers
the hell out of me.
No. I mean,
this is just the sort of
weird, dark, visionary thing
that I was hoping for.
Oh, God, a fan.
I feel a heart attack coming on.
Nice try, Chandler.
Not yet.
Hey, food lady, hurry up!
I'm being picked on
by the Angel of Death
and the vampire
film student from hell.
Oh, shame.
All the nice
people in the world,
and they picked you.
Ooh.
Uh-uh, uh-uh.
No interview, no food.
Six lemon bars.
Six.
You've got dirt on your lips.
Oh, oh, uh,
that's, uh, lipstick.
Well, the dishes are done.
And I'll see you tomorrow.
Good. We're
trying to shoot here.
Okay.
Um, Chandler "King" Crowne.
You became known as the
director of the dark realism genre,
uh, but your earlier
films were much lighter.
Shallow.
Naive.
All about nothing.
But all of that changed in 1926
with your breakthrough
film Damnation, didn't it?
Yes.
Everything changed then.
Even the title changed, right?
Yes.
The original title
was Redemption.
Then it became
Damnation after it premiered.
Why?
Don't ask me, ask Sid Lumsky.
He ran the studio,
called the shots.
Miserable skinflint.
I can't ask him.
Sid Lumsky died in 1957.
And good riddance.
I hope it hurt.
Behave.
Why? Why should I?
Just keep talking.
You'll see.
Are you talking to him again?
Oh, and what's
that to you, dirt lips?
Okay, forget about the title.
Just tell me,
when you decided
to make Damnation,
was it one single epiphany,
or did you always
have this visionary grasp
of-of the existential void?
What do you know
about the existential void?
More than you think.
And I have a feeling
that you know more
than you're telling.
Chandler, she needs
to hear the truth.
And you need to tell it.
I'll tell her whatever the
Sam Hill I choose to tell her.
Okay, um, we're still rolling.
Fine.
Now, this was
my first big picture
for Lumsky Studios.
He cranked out
two movies a week.
Rolling!
Mostly shoot-“em-up
cowboys and slapstick cops.
- Ward robe?
- Roll camera.
And action.
You're content,
Ruby, not wistful.
You love your father.
Blessed are they
which are persecuted
for righteousness sake.
Cut!
I said content, not gleeful.
This is home sweet
home here, not the carnival.
If you shot these scenes
in order, Chandler,
maybe a person could keep track
of what they're
supposed to feel!
I just told you how to
feel; I cannot feel it for you.
Oh, boy, here we go again.
And what's that
supposed to mean?
If I'm not good enough for you,
maybe you should
just get someone else.
I didn't say that.
I cannot work like this!
- Ruby!
- We shot the ending yesterday,
and now we're
shooting the beginning!
I just don't know what to do!
All right, that's
lunch, everybody.
Okay, guys, that's lunch.
Chandler!
Uh-oh.
Yes, Sid?
I just saw what you've
already got in the can.
I don't get it. That's bad.
It's a different kind
of love story, Sid.
A young girl
searching for her father,
running into evil at every turn.
Then she meets this
mysterious woman
who helps her to understand
the meaning of life.
Stick to the plane crashes.
Leave the meaning
of life to D.W. Griffith.
Speaking of which,
can't afford a plane crash.
Make it a car crash,
shoot it last 'cause
I only got one car.
I was hoping to shoot
the third act in order
so we could let Ruby and Violet
build up to the climactic scene.
That's another thing: no Violet.
- What?
- Had to give her the broom.
Why?
Found out she was secretly
dating your prop man.
You know I don't allow
romances at my studio.
Well, what am I
gonna do about Violet?
I can't just cut the part, Sid.
The mystery woman is the
secret to the whole picture.
So find another one.
Actresses are a dime a dozen.
Hey, which one of you
gals wants to be a star?
Oh! -Yes, Mr. Lumsky!
There's your Violet.
Any dame that doesn't
want to be a star,
well, that is a mystery woman.
Hey, you, Red!
What's your name?
Monica.
I don't want to talk
about this anymore.
5:00. Time for bed.
Mr. Crowns, this is
so important to me.
If you could just tell me
something about Damnation
that nobody else knows,
then this documentary
would really mean something.
If you've seen my films, then
you should know that the things
we want the most are the
things that we can never have.
You want more information,
I want more lemon bars,
but we're both out of luck.
Good-bye, vampire girl.
Wait. M-Mr. Crowne, please!
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Where is it?!
Where-where is what?
His pocket watch.
He's been looking
for it all morning,
and he thinks you took it.
She did.
Uh-huh, I knew it.
You stole it, you little poop!
Then the food lady lets
her right back into my house!
I ought to...!
Bah!
Mr. Crowne, I-I don't know
what you're talking about.
You stole my pocket
watch. He told me!
Your invisible friend?
Hypocrite!
Yesterday, you said you
believed he was there!
Oh, no. I just said I
thought he was cool.
I mean, I... I don't
believe in angels.
Or in God.
Or "thou shalt not steal."
Hocked it for drug
money, I suppose!
No, actually she pawned it
to get her car out of impound.
Listen, I don't care
what you needed it for.
I want my watch back,
or I am calling the police!
You call the police, and
I will eat this pawn ticket,
and you will never see
your precious watch again.
That is blackmail.
Yes. Deep Fountain, 1932.
Your hero was a blackmailer.
Now, you give me what I want,
and I will give
you what you want.
But until then,
I have got one
day to shoot this.
"Desperation
justifies the action."
Shadow of a Stranger, 1933.
All right, all right.
Now, you just cast
this Monica person
to play the mystery woman.
Yes.
I wonder what ever
happened to her.
And action!
Unhand this woman.
Evil shall not
prevail in this house.
Great, Monica.
Now, Ruby, cower.
And, Monica, grab the Bible.
Ah...!
Perfect.
Have you lost your mind?!
How am I supposed
to get run over by a train
before I eat my lunch?!
This is crazy!
I don't make the
schedules, Ruby.
Sid makes the schedules.
They're-they're really
actually wonderful people.
Individually.
But you put 'em
together, and whew!
Fireworks.
Yeah, it's been like
that for three pictures.
They never stop arguing.
Let's do it.
Cue the train!
Help! Help!
Help!
I'm so hungry!
Help!
I'm so hungry!
I don't feel comfortable
with this, Sid.
We haven't had enough rehearsal.
Get a stunt woman.
Oh, Ruby won't let me.
You know how she is.
She wants to do
the crash herself.
Well, let her. She
knows what she's doing.
It's a simple gag.
Sid, it's one scene. Can't
we just do it tomorrow?
I'm starting a new
picture tomorrow.
Do the stunt, finish the movie,
or kiss your career good-bye.
Hi, Monica.
Aren't you all finished?
Yes, but I thought I'd
stay and see the last shot.
That's dedication for you.
I have a feeling that Redemption
will be remembered forever
as something special.
Do you really think so?
'Cause I was kind
of hoping for that.
I think it'll give hope
to so many people.
Do you know that
is my vision exactly?
Right now, movies are small,
but someday they're gonna big.
And thousands, maybe
millions of people will see them.
When they leave my movie,
I want them to feel better
about the world than
before they went in.
Hold on to that
vision, Chandler,
no matter what happens.
Ah, well, nothing's
gonna happen.
It may seem that way
here in Hollywoodland,
where the sun always shines,
but it rains sometimes
in the real world.
Dreams are fragile,
and visions can dim
if you don't hold them in
a safe place in your heart.
Well, I'm gonna do just
that, so don't you worry.
Right now, I have got
to get off the last shot
before we lose this light.
You take care of
yourself, Monica.
And thanks.
So, we've shot everything
before the crash,
and we've shot the big
finale after the crash.
All we've got left is the
crash itself, thank God.
You finished?
Yep, all done.
Starting a Western tomorrow.
What's the matter?
Uh, nothing.
She's ready. Let's do it.
Okay, Ruby, just
drive down the road,
veer off at the rock,
and bump into the tree.
And just bump it.
Nothing fancy, okay?
Rolling!
And action!
Terrific!
Wonderful! Love the fire.
There wasn't
supposed to be a fire.
Is she all right, Barney?
Help! She's hurt! Come on!
Is she hurt badly?
Somebody do something!
Come on! Come on!
Get in the truck
and get a doctor!
Oh, God.
And that's how Andrew and I met.
I remember.
It's a sad story and all,
but that still doesn't explain
why you made
Damnation in the first place.
Well...
he didn't make
Damnation in the first place.
Shut up.
It wasn't called
Damnation in the first place.
It... it was, it was
called Redemption.
Did you start out
making one kind of movie
and end up making another?
You did have an
epiphany, didn't you?!
Oh, man, this is great!
I mean, this is, this is...
This proves everything!
So what was it?
Was it a-a vision
or-or a revelation, or what?
I'm tired.
Go away.
Food lady, go away.
Andrew, go away.
Wait, M—Mr. Crowns!
Please, I need this!
Mr. Crowne, this is my life!
No, this is my life!
Go get your own.
What are you doing here?
Looking for you.
I thought I'd find you
in a place like this.
It's just as well you
slept through the last one.
It was very inspiring.
Might have upset you.
I love all silent movies.
You cannot appreciate
the genius and the vision
of Chandler Crowne's
movies without those
chirpy one-reelers
to hold 'em up against.
He's really your hero, isn't he?
He was.
He's not gonna tell me anything.
So you're gonna give up?
Yeah.
I mean, what's the point?
It's too late.
It's not too late.
Your little movie is due today.
And as far as I know,
today lasts all day long.
And it could be the day
that made a difference,
if you just had a little faith.
People like me don't have faith.
Well, don't worry about it.
I'll lend you some of mine.
Here. Here's your watch.
Give me that.
I'm so sorry.
Thank you.
Go away.
Well, so much for faith.
I'm gonna clean up,
you're gonna stay
here and keep trying,
and you're gonna play nice.
Well, don't you want to know
how she got the watch
out of hock with no money?
No, I don't!
You don't what?
Wouldn't you like to get this
whole thing off your chest?
You're assuming
that I feel guilty.
"Guilt is a waste of time."
Approaching Darkness, 1937.
God knows you feel pain.
God is dead.
Call of the Vortex, 1936.
No, he's not, Chandler.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.
Then what in blazes
are you doing here?
Are you completely senile?
All I want to know is how
Redemption became Damnation.
That's it!
So poop or get off the pot, pal.
I don't remember.
It was 75 years ago.
I can barely remember breakfast.
Oatmeal.
Chandler... you remember.
Hey, what are you
doing here, genius?
Working.
On what? The picture's finished.
Premiere's on Friday.
No. You can't release it yet.
The ending's not right.
What are you talking about?
It's the best part.
Works like gangbusters.
Inspiring, uplifting...
Everything you said it would be.
They really do find
the meaning of life,
and darned if it
didn't even get to me.
It's a great movie, kid.
No. I won't let
you release it yet.
You won't let me?
Read your contract, kid.
You don't own
this picture, I do!
Jimmy! Lionel!
Come on, Sid, be reasonable.
Boys, escort
Mr. Crowne off the lot.
No! No!
Sid, don't do this!
Come on, Sid!
Sid, please!
No! Sid!
Sid!
So, he took your film away?
He tried to.
Lumsky outdid himself
with the premiere.
Everybody in Hollywood came:
Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin,
Fairbanks, Mary
Pickford, Barrymore.
They were all
there, and so was I.
Hey, Charlie.
Hey, what are you doing here?
Mr. Lumsky says you
wasn't supposed to come.
Oh, it's okay, Charlie.
I don't want to
get you in trouble.
A few minutes
before the premiere,
I broke into the projection room
and cut off the last
five minutes of the film.
The audience never saw
the original happy ending.
I replaced it with a new one,
the last hopeless moments
caught accidentally on film
that last day of shooting.
Redemption was
never supposed to end
with death and the Devil,
but I made sure it did.
And that's how Redemption
became Damnation overnight.
What in blazes?!
I could kill you, you little...!
What happened to the ending?!
Where's the happy ending?!
Wait. Listen.
Didn't I tell you you
were a genius, kid?
So you cut off
the end of the film.
Why?
To get back at
Lumsky, of course.
That's it?
No.
Yes.
There was no vision?
No epiphany?
You weren't a tortured
genius with a dark vision?
You... you were just
a guy who got mad
and cut off the end of the movie
and stuck on some
leftover footage of a devil?
So what?
It made my career.
And I did become
the tortured genius.
I can't believe this.
I based my whole thesis on you.
Hell, I based my
whole life on you.
Well, what's the big deal?
You asked, I told you.
You don't get it, do you?
I've been trying to figure out
why life turned to garbage
for you, because I'm trying
to figure out why it
turned to garbage for me.
But you don't care.
You don't care that I
sleep in movie theatres.
You don't care that I sold
my car this morning for $300
to buy back your lousy watch!
Or that I'm gonna
have to go back to Ohio,
because I have got nothing
to show now, because of you.
And you know what's gonna
happen to me when I get back there?
My dad is gonna beat
me to a pulp again!
And there's nothing
I can do about it.
'Cause I have got
nowhere else to go.
Why don't you ask your friend
Andrew to do me a favor, huh?
Ask him to leave you
here in this stinking hellhole
and take me instead,
because I am ready to go.
I am really, really ready!
So am I.
If you're coming back for
more, I'm through giving!
Stevie?
Hey, kid?
It's not Stevie, Mr. Crowne.
No.
No, can't be.
You do remember me,
don't you, Chandler?
I don't want to.
It reminds me of...
It's not possible.
That was 80 years ago.
Monica must be over
a hundred by now.
I'm even older than that.
Another angel, like Andrew?
Like Andrew and Tess.
The food lady is an angel?
That God of yours must
have some sense of humor.
That God of yours
created humor and love
and forgiveness,
truth and light.
The same light
that you use to shine
through little
pieces of celluloid,
only to create a dark world.
It is a dark world.
And I want out of it.
So get Andrew back
here, and let's finish me off.
And where would
you go, Chandler?
Into oblivion, I hope.
Where no angels or gods
or little girls with
cameras live.
Ah.
The darkest place of all.
You know, you might not care
that you spend eternity
there, but God does.
That's why he sent me
to you all those years ago,
to begin a good work in you
that has yet to be accomplished.
What work?
God put you on this earth,
Chandler, at the same time
that a new art form
was being born.
And when you saw
those first moving pictures
on the big screen, you
understood instantly the power
they would have to change
hearts and create images
that the human mind could
never erase from its memory.
You could've encouraged
and lifted up millions of people,
but instead, you used the talent
and the light that God gave you
to simply perpetuate
your own pain.
The pain that God inflicted.
No, the pain that
God could've healed.
Still can, if only
you'd let him.
It's too late for an
old goat like I am.
No, it's not.
Perhaps it's too late
to encourage millions,
but it's not too late
to encourage one.
Why should I?
I hate God.
Because 72 films
later, so does Stevie.
In fact, she doesn't
even believe in God
or good or love at all.
Then send her an angel.
God wants to send you.
Finish the work that
He began, Chandler.
Tell the truth, find
the joy, then go home.
What are you doing here?
I didn't cut off the ending
because I was mad at Sid Lumsky.
I cut it because I
was mad at God.
Mr. Crowne, I thought
you didn't believe in God.
Oh, I used to.
Until Ruby died.
You see, kid, I
loved that woman.
We just pretended
that we didn't get along
to keep Lumsky from
getting suspicious.
But the truth is,
we were married.
We ran down to Mexico
one night between pictures,
got married under the moon.
And I gave her a ring that
she wore around her neck,
and she gave me this.
You probably didn't notice,
but it opens two ways.
"Forever, Ruby."
Just before the crash,
she told me I was
going to be a father.
And I was so happy,
I just couldn't see
straight or think straight.
God.
I never should
have let her do it.
I should have told Lumsky no.
I should have stopped her.
But I was so
stunned... and happy,
I stopped thinking.
So... I lost my wife...
I lost my baby...
and the beautiful life
that could've been.
It's not your fault, Mr. Crowne.
You can't blame yourself.
It's God's fault, not yours.
No, kid.
No.
God didn't do it.
Bad things happen in this world,
because the world isn't perfect.
But it's a lot easier
to curse God...
than to try to change ourselves.
But I want to try
to change a little
part of the world now.
I want you to see my movie,
the whole movie with
the original ending,
the happy ending.
Not Damnation,
but the Redemption that
it was supposed to be.
And that's the only way I know
how to say I'm sorry.
Showtime!
All set!
Roll 'em!
II
II
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
I loved it.
Now believe it.
You know I'd like to.
But life is not like that.
Oh... you'd be surprised.
There is a good girl in there.
Dirt lips.
Maybe you stole my watch,
but you sacrificed
ev-everything you had
to make good on it.
That's something.
You've got a real fight
going on inside of you,
and I want the good guys to win.
You mean, like the angels?
Yes.
Excuse me.
Now.
- Hello.
- I want you...
to have the movie.
Hold onto it.
It's the only true thing
that I've ever done.
And it ought to shake up
your film school friends.
You don't know what this means.
Oh... I think I do.
Well, Andrew...
I guess I'm ready to go home.
Yes, you are.
It's time to start forever.
Andrew.
♪♪
♪♪