Born to Be Blue

Chet Baker. Come on. Give us a smile.

Are you coming to the show?

Who do you like better, me or Miles Davis?

We're proud to present the man voted number one in the nation

for both trumpet and vocals.

All the way from the sunny shores of California.

The James Dean of jazz, the Prince of Cool.

The man Time magazine credits with inventing West Coast swing.

That's right, folks.

And he's here playing a double bill with our very own

Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie!

Making his Birdland debut, Chet Baker and his quartet!

It's going to be great. It's going to be great.

- How do I look? - Perfect.

Yeah, baby! Yeah!

Thank you.

- Thank you very much. - We love you, Chet!

Shh!

Elaine? Honey?

Yeah!

And then you wait till it melts.

I can't believe you never tried it before.

- You're so square. - I hate needles.

- Will you do it for me? - Yeah.

- Hello, fear. - Hello, fear.

Tight...

- Hello, death. - Hello, death.

- Fuck you. - Fuck you.

Oh, hey, babe.

- Hey... You better... - Get out.

Get out! And take your shit with you!

And you, too! I should have known!

- Stop it! - Just come here...

- Goddamn it! It's, like, a week! - I'm sorry.

- You're such a child. - But you love me, hm?

What is this shit?

What is this shit?

You did this because of Miles?

Chet? Say something!

Shh... See? Once you're here,

it's like you're crawling back inside your momma's womb. Hm?

The clinking and clanging... it all melts away.

And you can hear.

This is the scene where you're meant to do heroin for the first time.

- I know what scene it is. - You made up lines.

Well, he told me to make up lines.

He said he wanted it to be improv.

- But that's way off script, come on. - Well, the whole thing is fake.

If you want it to be real,

- there should be puke everywhere. - Cut!

It wasn't like this at all. I was 22, for fuck's sake.

That was way, way off script, Chet.

- I dunno what the fuck I'm doing. - Know your lines!

Can we just do the make-out part again?

I lost a nail.

Do you want to rehearse the scene or do you want to pick up on Monday?

- We'll pick it up Monday. - Alright, folks, that's a wrap.

- See you next week. - Unprofessional, Chet.

- Jane? Jane, that was great. - I don't think so.

- Keep doing what you're doing. - You sure?

Yeah, just keep improvising, you'll be OK.

Alright. Appreciate it.

Thanks, Ellie.

What I'm doing is trying to make him look like a nice guy.

No, no, what you're doing is making me look like a clown!

- Oh, are you Dick Bock? - Yes. Yeah, I...

- Chettie! - Hey, Dick.

Why didn't you tell me you were back in the US?

- And now you're shooting a movie? - Well, I...

I thought you had another couple of years in jail.

Well, I was supposed to, you know,

but then this director, he's like... He's super talented.

Oh, yeah, and he offered you a lot of money?

Well, he paid somebody, that's for sure.

I could've played myself, Chet.

Dick, you're not... you're not an actor.

- Neither are you. - Well, that's true!

Don't tell anyone!

A lot's, uh...

- A lot's changed since you left. - Yeah. I see.

Jazz is dying.

Dylan went electric.

You sold Pacific, Dick.

No, I built it up. You tore it down. I built it up.

- We built it up. - You tore it down.

And you sold it out.

I sold...? At least I didn't abandon my wife and kid

and become the world's biggest junkie.

I did fuck everything up, didn't I?

I miss you, Dick. I really do.

- Chet! - I just wish you would've called.

Two seconds, OK? I should've called. I'm sorry.

Yeah.

You remember that old pharmacist

that used to give us prescriptions for those morphines?

Yeah. Oh, you liked him!

I have to be high before I get my finger outta my ass!

- Chet! - Yeah, two seconds.

- What happened to him? - He's in jail.

Aren't you on... Aren't you on the straight and narrow?

- Oh, yeah. - Yeah?

- Yeah. Clean as a hound's tooth. - Great.

Alright. Let's get together. Alright?

Let's talk about doing another record.

- I would like that very much, Dick. - We're grown-ups now.

- Let's do another record. - Let's do it. That'd be great.

Alright. Hey, Nick, is everything OK?

It's going great. It's gonna be great.

Look, tomorrow, the studio booked another press conference.

- Another press...? - The afternoon, one o'clock.

- Hi, Chet. - One o'clock? OK.

How's it going with you and Jane? Everything OK?

I don't know. I mean, you tell me.

I think it's great. I can trust what you're doing, like when you play music.

This movie will re-launch your career, Chettie

- Jane! - Hey, Nick.

What's wrong?

I don't know. I mean, do you think it's working?

I think it's great.

What the two of you are doing... The improvisation is fantastic.

I need to know more than just that I'm playing "the women of Chet Baker".

And you're doing it brilliantly. Ask him, it's his story.

All I know is that they have big tits.

- Like... It's not a lot to go on! - Well, it's his story. Ask him.

- Nick, you coming? - They did have big tits.

Hang on a second. We'll talk about this Monday, OK?

- OK. Sounds good. - Alright.

Big scenes. Europe next week. Ciao.

Don't be insecure about your tits. Your tits are great.

OK, so, the script...

Uh... I don't understand why these women would stay with you.

- You don't understand that? - No. Don't get it.

Maybe we should go to dinner, get some real food...

What, you saying that I ain't real, mister?

I'm saying that maybe you need to get deeper into character.

I don't date actors I'm working with, Chet. I already told you that.

- Yeah, but I'm not an actor. - Yeah, that's for sure!

No, we can get together and do those kazoon exercises some time.

It's kaizen, you dummy!

I don't care. We'll just rehearse while we eat, you know.

We could order in if we want.

You know everything about me, and I don't even know your last name.

- It's on the call sheet every day. - It is?

- Hm-hm. - Can I...? I don't like this thing.

- What? I've got food on my face? - Beauty mark.

You're prettier without it. Come on, let's go out. Have some laughs.

- You don't strike me as funny. - I'm funny.

What's heavier, a full moon or a half moon?

A full moon, because it's lighter!

Not so good.

- It's not funny? - No.

- I have better material. Top shelf. - Azuka.

- What's that mean? - That's my last name.

It's African, and it means "past glory."

Now, see... You're not following through.

- Just show me. - Alright, alright, alright...

Just lay it out there.

Well, that's another goose egg for you.

Come on! You are really competitive.

I guess they didn't teach you about bowling back there at acting school?

Very funny!

I was supposed to be an academic, actually, like my parents.

- And my brothers. - But then what happened?

Oh, I fell in love with musicals on Broadway. I studied jazz.

- Did you? What instrument? - Piano. Voice.

I've never been with a woman who knew anything at all about music.

- So, what did Elaine like to do? - Elaine? Mostly she liked to fuck.

She liked to fuck, and I liked fucking her.

What? What?

I don't know. Your songs are so romantic.

But I guess you never wrote them, right?

Uh-uh.

One time we did it seven times in two hours.

What do you think about that?

Sounds like you fuck too fast.

Oh! I do better when I'm high.

So you're really a junkie?

I got some habits.

So, what, your parents didn't love you enough or something?

No.

It's nobody's fault.

So why are you such a fuck-up, then? Huh?

You want to know? Do you want to know the truth?

Yeah, I want to know the truth.

It makes me happy. I love to get high.

Well, at least you're honest.

What about you, huh? Why are you such a fuck-up?

- I'm not a fuck-up. - Oh, yeah, you are.

Yeah, you're an actress, aren't you?

- All actresses are fuck-ups? - Yeah, well...

What is it they say about Hollywood?

They'll pay you two grand for a kiss and two bucks for your soul.

- You know who said that? - No.

Marilyn Monroe.

Closing time, folks.

We sing, you know that song...

You know that, right?

Why don't you come back with me to my place so we can sing?

That's not a good idea.

- Listen, I know all about you. - What do you know?