Z: The Beginning of Everything

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- Can it be better than this? - Of course it does.

Here we are.

Here you go.

- Over here. - Uh-huh.

- Ultra dry. - Come on. Hurry up.

You have a drink. Come on.

- Oh. - Just gorgeous.

Perfect.

We'll be back.

Hey.

Been here one month,

and you're all they write about.

"'Who's Who and Why'.

"Frivolous facts

about the great and the near-great."

Ironic, being that your book isn't out.

Oh, Bunny,

how I've missed you.

There's been no one

to keep me tethered to the earth.

So tell me, what brings you back to New York?

Did all of Europe grow tired of your opinions,

or was it just the French?

Here we go. I need a drink.

Have I really been gone so long

that they're calling you

- the son of the city now? - Mm-hmm.

Don't they realize that you're from

Minnesota?

And they call this journalism.

Well, working for Vanity Fair doesn't mean

you know anything about journalism, my friend.

Mm, please be a dear, darling.

Of course, dear.

Gives me a reason to live.

I don't know why Eugenia puts up with it.

She has to. If it weren't got Tallulah,

no one would know who she is.

I have to say, as unbearable as Tallulah is,

she was really lovely in that play tonight.

Lovely in a ghastly production.

This town has a short mAmory.

She'd better find a new play quickly.

Someone needs to dance with us.

At your service.

You dance with Eugenia.

Thank you, sister.

He must be some kind of a genius or something.

You'll enjoy that.

- Shall we? - Delighted.

I have been noodling

and hieing my capital eyes

on this success of yours, Fitzgerald.

- I'm sure you have. - Yes.

And I have a brilliant idea.

We turn Paradise into a picture show.

Starring you and Zelda.

- You want us to act in it? - Mm-hmm.

- That's absurd. - I've already spoken

to my colleagues at United Artists about it.

You spoke to them about Paradise?

Yes, because I would adapt it, obviously.

Obviously.

Well, who else would you want to write it?

I mean the point is UA loves the idea.

It makes sense to them.

You're both already in the public eye.

- And the two of you... - Are not actors.

Exactly. You're one better.

You are Amory and Rosalind.

You know, let's be honest.

Those characters are basically you.

Pass the gun, darling.

Mm.

Leave it to Townsend

to try and draft off my success.

It will be a good film.

Can you imagine the two of us

up on the screen?

I don't suppose acting's too terribly hard.

- No. - Luddy certainly thinks we can pull it off.

Any more enbalming fluid, old man?

It's under the bed.

Ah. Of course.

Close the door, Bunny!

I think we should do it.

We have to do something in between all these parties.

I've always loved acting.

And a motion picture is something

that we could do together.

Think of how much fun it'll be, goofo.

Well, if it sounds like fun to you,

then it sounds like fun to me.

Ohh! Can't a man take a bath

with his wife?

Mr. Fitzgerald, Mrs. Fitzgerald,

people are complaining about the noise.

There is water seeping into the room below.

This is the Biltmore, sir. We have standards.

Don't make fun.

I'm not. You're captivating.

I mean it.

As a matter of fact,

I have some news.

Shh!

So I spoke to Townsend today.

Mm-hmm.

And he said before anything can happen,

the studio wants to see

what we look like on celluloid.

So he's arranging for a screen test.

A screen test?

- Shh! - Oh, shush yourself.

You beast. Why didn't you tell me straightaway?

Isn't it enough?

The two of us on film?

Oh, it's like a dream.

Always leave your mouth parted. It's more suggestive.

- Her right side's better. - Your right side's better.

It is?

Remember, it's all about the close-up.

Remind her not to smoke, Ed.

No, don't smoke, darling.

Studio rule. It's unladylike.

You just have to hold it.

What's the fun of that?

Well, this has nothing to do with fun, trust me.

You are smart to seek out

a professional. There's nothing worse

than an amateur thespian.

That's not what you do

with your cigarette.

Yes, it is.

You don't see yourself.

I do, and you always...

Bitty, who's the actor here?

For heaven's sake.

There you go. That's better.

There's really nothing to fret over, Zelda.

It's the pictures. You don't have to actually speak.

It's far less challenging than the stage.

Mama was a stage actress.

Mrs. Minnie Sayre?

That explains it.

- Hmm. - She was offered a part

in a traveling theatrical,

but her daddy thought the profession unseemly,

so she married the judge instead.

How tragic, giving up your dreams

to marry a man.

Stories like that make me especially grateful

to be a lesbian.

Perhaps I'm making too big a fuss over this.

I'm photographed for the newspaper all the time.

Yes, but the question is

what are you appearing in those papers for, darling?

It's not like you were really doing anything.

Oh, you're going to be just fine.

Look at you.

You certainly have the eyes for it.

Yes. They're even bigger than yours.

Mm.

Zelda clips them all. She's making a book.

Glad one of you is.

These are from this week alone.

They love us.

I should think that you'd be thrilled at the attention.

It's good for book sales.

"Fitzgerald's Flounder

Falls In a Fountain."

Hard to see the correlation.

Well, there's no such thing

as bad publicity, Max,

except for one's own obituary,

and, well, even then.

Oh, come on, Perkins.

Can't a fellow enjoy his success?

I've earned this.

Do you know a young author

by the name of Sinclair Lewis?

I never heard of him.

Rumor has it his new novel is a masterpiece.

You're a real killjoy, Perkins, you know that?

I'm just trying to protect your mantle.

Well, it feels slightly more ominous than that.

See this?

I was never much good at math.

I can translate. This is what we call a plateau.

Sales of your book have leveled off.

One can't stay on top forever.

Obviously.

Unless one us a superb writer, as you are,

and one generates another book

to follow on the heels of one's first success.

Have you begun writing yours?

I'm always writing, Max.

Mm-hmm.