Well, are you?
Are you a great writer?
That's something you'll never know.
-Why are you so angry? -I'm not. Just disgusted.
With me?
Why?
Take a look in the mirror.
-I don't want to look in the mirror. -I don't blame you.
I'm tired.
We were busy today.
Being busy's not the problem.
It's those shoes and all that paint on your face.
You look like a cheap imitation of an American.
If I were a Mexican, I'd knock your block off.
I'm bored with your Mexican remarks.
We're not that different.
You're dark and your hair is dark and your eyes are black.
-Nobody's eyes are black. -Yours are.
Why don't you go
think about Sammy?
What are you doing here, anyway?
-Would you ever change your name? -What for?
-Would you? -No. What's it to you, anyway?
I don't want to go from Camilla Lopez to Camilla Bandini.
It's not much of an improvement.
Who asked you to go anywhere?
-You'd ask me. -No, I wouldn't.
-Yes, you would. -I wouldn't.
-You would. -I wouldn't.
I know you like the palm of my hand, Arturo, and I'm telling you, you would.
Right after Sammy would.
Would he do that?
Would Sammy ask you to marry him?
Who knows what Sammy's gonna do?
Would Sammy White ask Camilla Lopez to be his wife?
-Who knows and who cares? -You do.
I know you like the back of my hand, Camilla.
I care about his name.
I want a chance in life.
I want my children to have a chance.
You think you're so smart!
You're gonna write a book and have the world on a string, huh?
-Well, what if you don't? -I will.
-Yeah, but what if you don't? -I will!
You're book smart, but you're not smart.
And you're not rich,
and you're not nice!
You are loud, angry
-and poor. -Then why stick around?
Come here.
What for?
Come here and I'll show you.
I'm busy.
-You're afraid. -Of what?
Of me.
You are.
You're afraid of lying down next to me.
I'm terrified.
Take off your pants.
-You want me to do it for you? -Why don't you take off your pants?
They're off.
How does it look?
All right.
Okay. Fine.
"All right"?
"Okay"? "Fine"?
Come on!
A great writer ought to do better than that, don't you think?
Or maybe you're not so great.
Maybe you can't fuck or write!
-I can't, huh? -No! Stop it!
-Stop it! -Think I can't, huh?
Think I can't!
-Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! -Think I can't? Think I can't?
-Stop it! -Think I can't? Think I can't?
Camilla would never forgive me.
She was better off with Sammy.
I really didn't have the right to touch her again.
You look wonderful.
Oh, say, that's quite a sight.
Enjoy the view.
Sit.
Here. Something nice and cool.
It's not buttermilk?
Good.
Oh, darling, you're tired.
-A little. -You're working late, as usual?
I wasn't working last night.
-Bad boy. -I need to tell you something.
Let me guess. Out with your best girl?
She's not my best girl.
Then you don't love her, anymore? Oh, dear.
She doesn't love me, unlikely as that seems.
-She doesn't love you? -She hates my guts.
She couldn't do that. How could she possibly...
Possibly because I insult and humiliate her every chance I get.
You wouldn't.
You couldn't do such things.
Oh, yeah?
I called her spic and greaser and every name in the book.
And that's when I was in a good mood. She's Mexican, by the way.
Oh.
Oh, my God.
-Oh, my God. God in heaven. -What's going on?
-What happened? Vera? -God is punishing me.
-Right now? -What do you do to Jewish girls?
Jewish girls?
-All right, don't hit me. -Are you nuts?
-Okay, call me names, but don't hit me! -I'm not going to hurt you.
I'm not going to hurt you.
Look, if I wanted to hurt you, I didn't have to come all the way to Long Beach.
I could've done it in my room.
Oh, for Pete's sake. Why would I hurt you?
Why would I bother? I don't even love you.
Well, why did you come here?
I wanted to make someone happy.
Oh, look, I'm sorry. If I could just get my coat.
Is that why you insult her?
Is that why you insult her, because you can't make her happy?
All I know is she usually starts it.
How? What does she say?
-It's not so much what she says. -What does she do?
Sometimes she'll walk across the room.
That's pretty insulting.
Serve me a cup of coffee wearing a brand new uniform.
That's about as insulting as anything gets.
She's perfect, like the weather.
Air and fog, eucalyptus,
dusty sunlight.
The perfect place to live.
Then we come along.
Dig for gold, drill for oil, get into the movies,
build these crappy hotels and dirty streets.
We don't even come here to live.
We just dig it up, mess it up and grab whatever we can get.
This is her home.
If God had any sense or decency,
He'd blow us all to hell and leave her home the way it was,
pure and perfect, like her.
-And you tell her these things? -I don't tell her this.
It would sound like an insult.
No matter what I say to Camilla, it sounds like an insult.
-Then tell it to me. -What for?
Pretend I'm her. I'll believe you.
Look, I'd like to, but...
I am
Princess Camilla.
And all this beautiful land belongs to me.
There are no Americans here. No Los Angeles.
Just me and the desert and the mountains and the sea.
And...
And then...
Then I come.
And then you come.
And you are?
I'm myself, Arturo Bandini.
The writer,
the genius of the Earth has come here for me.
But I am proud,
and I resist and resist and resist!
Until finally,
you're irresistible.
Your powers are legion.
You overwhelm me.
You conquer me.
You are like a great conquistador.
-You are like Cortés. -Only I'm Italian.
Only you're Italian.
You're very kind.
As he passes the endless rows of canvas concessions
and customers eagerly wallowing at their troughs of 10-cent pleasures.
Men in sailor suits and girls in bathing suits,
the old, the young, the aged and infirm,
Bandini pitied them their petty aspirations,
yet admired their boundless courage.
He was after all, a lover of man and beast alike,
and he knew in his heart what they knew in their hearts,
that their place in the sun was really no more than a handful of dust.
After all, we're here only for a little while.
And then we're somewhere else.
Gone, like some forgotten dream.
Even you, Mencken.
Apartment 201, Martene Wellesley?
Over here.
202, Vera Rivkin?
Vera Rivkin?
Forget it, Jack. She's over here.
She's gone.
208...
Thank you for tuning in to KFO X 1250.
The time is 4:35 p.m.
Most of the damage in yesterday's 6.4-magnitude quake
was sustained in the Long Beach, Compton and Huntington Park areas,
where early reports indicate over 100 deaths and many more injured.
While 25 miles away, the heart of Los Angeles
seems to be relatively unaffected.
For those without food and shelter tonight...
I decided to give Vera more life than she had had a chance to live.
"The name on the mailbox was Doris Slotkin.
"She lived down on the Long Beach Pike,
"across the street from the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster.
"She had pale skin and dark eyes, brilliant from too much bourbon,
"at once insolent and desperate.
"I was soon to learn the source of her desperation."
Yeah, what is it?
Writing another hot one, huh?
I'm writing.
Just thought you'd wanna know
you got a registered letter at the post office.
I'll just set it down on the dresser, okay? Don't forget.
Thanks.
-How's it going? -It's going.
Well, keep going, okay?
Otherwise, you'll end up dying in Los Angeles like the rest of us.
"Dear Mr. Bandini,
"I would rather not publish this latest effort of yours just now.
"For one thing, I believe it's a yarn that is part of a bigger ball than you,
"in your present financial straits, are able comfortably to contemplate.
"Therefore, please use the enclosed $250
"to follow out the string.
"I suspect you'll find it reaches novel length.
"Very truly yours, H.L. Mencken."
I'd never written more than a 10-page story,
and here Mencken was telling me to write an entire novel.
How was I gonna do it?
-Who is it? -It's me.
I came through the window. I hope you don't mind.
Not at all. Sounds like fun.
I'd like to come through the door. How do you feel about that?
Make yourself at home.
What's the big idea?
I came to see you.
Hard to believe, huh? Don't turn... Don't do that.
-Who hit you? -No one.
It was an automobile accident.
Was Sammy driving the other car?
Turn off the light, please.
I don't know where to go.
You don't have to go anywhere.
I'm tired.
I'm tired. I'm so tired.
Why did he do it?
He said I asked for it.
Did you?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Whenever they wanna hurt you, that's what they say.
Arturo?
-Where you going? -Where are you going?
Laguna.
Loan me a couple of bucks, could you?
I'll mail it when I get my job back.
I thought maybe you'd like to come along.
Oh, yeah?
Well, what for?
You look like you could use a rest. Maybe even a walk on the beach.
-That's it? -Isn't that enough?
It's your funeral.
I'll get the house keys.
That Mexican shit will get you deported.
Jesus Christ!
Don't sneak up on people like that.
I'm not a hophead.
Every once in a while when I'm tired. That's all.
Throw it away.
-It doesn't bother me. -It bothers me. Throw it away.
-In front of all these people? -Now you're worried about it?
Promise you'll quit.
-I cross my heart. -Swear to God.
I swear to God.
Oh, my God!
Look at this place!
I knew you'd like it.
No, you didn't. Nobody's that predictable.
You are. You'll go for anything that's white.
You dago son of a bitch!
Yeah, I knew you'd say something like that.
You're teasing me.
You are.
Get me up.
Here you go, Willie. Here you go. Here you go.
-How much? -I don't know.
Oh, you can come home!
He thinks he's being attacked!
-The ocean's out to get him personally. -Tell him I understand the feeling.
Arturo! Arturo!
-What are you doing? -Hold on a minute, fellas.
-Hurry up. Get dressed. Come on down. -No. What for?
So the sides will be even.
What are you talking about?
Playing in the game. You on one side, me on the other.
Are you crazy? With a bunch of Japs?
Yeah. They didn't want to play with you, either.
Why, 'cause I'm Mexican?
Worse. 'Cause you're a girl.
Camilla.
-What? -You might want to wear some pants.
Give it to me!
Camilla!
Thanks.
What are you writing about now?
-A girl. -Is she Mexican?
-Jewish, at the moment. -She gonna change religions?
No. There might be more than one girl in this, you know.
What am I doing here?
Is it because I make you feel sorry for me?
No.
Then what do I make you feel?
After everything that's happened,
you can't imagine sleeping with me anymore.
Is that it?
I can and have imagined it.
I'm not sure I like you to do that.
Why not? I did.
Because what you imagine might be better than the real thing.
I'm not that good a writer.
Regardless,
I think you should save your imagination for your work.
Why waste it on me when you don't have to?
Come to bed, Arturo.
Would you say please?
Please.
-Are you all right? -Are you all right?
Yeah.
Don't let go.
-Don't ever let go of me. -Okay.
I've never been served breakfast in bed.
I've never been served breakfast anywhere.
-What is it? -Open it.
-Another dog story. -No, you're going to learn to read,
and you're gonna become an American citizen.
"Angus Lost."
It looks like Willie.
"When winter came,
"Angus grew tired of the same yard
"and the same house
"and the same cat
"and all the same things
"he knew all about."
This is a horrible story.
Will you give it a chance?
"Angus was curious about other places and other things..."
See? The cat is sad he's leaving.
-"What." -"What."
"What." Good.
-"...kind of animals cars are" -"Cars."
"...and things like that."
-"What are the colors of our flag?" -Red, white and blue.
"How many stars are there on our flag?"
Forty-eight.
"There he was on the wide road.
"'Ruff!' called the other dog."
In Mexico, the dogs go...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created" what?
-Equal. -Right.
"That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable..."
-Rights. -Right.
"Angus and the
"other dog
"ran together
-"up the weeday..." -"Wide."
"...wide road."
"That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of..."
-Happiness. -Right.
"Around the corner
"ran Angus."
Arturo, what do they really mean by that?
The pursuit of happiness?
That in this country, you have the right to go after whatever it is
that makes you happy.
-What is that? -What's what?
Happiness.
"'Woof! Woof!' called..."
No. There's no "F." "Woo, woo."
"'Woo, woo,' called the eyes, and Angus ran to find his house,
"but snow..."
-You okay? -Yeah.
"Snow came and wind came,
"and into a cave crawled Angus.
"And he waited and waited and waited until..."
What does happiness mean to you, Camilla? Do you even know?
Yeah.
That you can live in a place that is safe,
and fall in love with whoever you want to and not feel ashamed of it.
"From door to door, from door to door,
"until Angus was glad to come back
"to the same yard and the same house
"and the same cat
"and all the same things he knew all about."
That's it.
So how did it go?
Hey,
what do you say we try and bust out of this joint tomorrow?
-What do you mean? -Go into town. See a movie.
-But what about Willie? -What about him?
Well, we've never left him alone. What if he tries to run away?
Like Angus?
We'll lock him in the house. He'll be fine.
I don't want to go.
Why not?
Why should I go anywhere? I'm right where I want to be.
Well, eventually, we gotta go somewhere.
Sooner or later, we're gonna run out of money.
-Probably before I finish the book. -Well, write faster.
You can buy this place, and then we don't have to go anywhere.
Sweetheart, I'm up to 2,000 words a day. I can't type faster than that.
I don't want to be some Mexican out with a white guy.
Everybody would stare at me.
Camilla, no matter where you go, people are gonna stare at you.
And it's not because you're Mexican or you're out with me.
I don't want to go.
I'm just not ready for it right now.
What?
-You're not reading the book. -Of course I'm reading the book.
-No, you're not. -I am.
Then why is it upside down?
-Where did you get this? -I wanted to read it.
Well, it's junk. It's not even part of the book.
What does it say? Come on, what does it say?
"When I was a kid back in Colorado,
"it was Smith and Parker and Jones who hurt me with their hideous names,
"who called me wop and dago and greaser,
"and their children hurt me just as I hurt you."
Junk.
I think it should definitely be a part of the book.
And I'll go with you into town if you want me to.
To the movies.
Okay. That's swell.
-Hey, you really are scared. -Of course I am.
Why?
It's our first date.
Don't want to set the world on fire
I just want to start
Camilla, are you all right in there?
I'm fine.
I'm almost ready. I'm fine.
-After you. -Thank you.
-...people out of work that... -No, no, no, no!
Please don't do anything like that.
Go ahead and rehearse. But promise me that Ezra won't find out about me.
Now don't you worry because...
Come on. Come on. Get into it. Hit the deck. Let's see it now.
Barbara!
-Barbara! -My name is Joan Grey.
-You go put on some clothes! -Why, I have them on.
Why, that's disgraceful!
No, no. Barbara's just here as a visitor. She isn't really in the show.
Oh, is that so?
Well, you asked me to come to rehearsal,
and your dance director hired me.
I got in this show, and I'm going to stay in.
Now, now. Now, honey, maybe your father's right.
Oh, you don't want me around, is that it?
Afraid I'll cramp your style with your darling Mabel?
I've heard enough of this. You get some clothes on!
I don't care what either of you say. I'm free, white and 21.
And if you fire me from this show, I'll get a job in another one.
Oh, wait till Ezra and Matilda hear about this. I'm ruined. Sunk. Lost.
Now, now, listen. You don't...
Camilla?
-Camilla, are you all right in there? -I'm fine.
Then what's
taking so long?
Nothing.
Hey,
let's go.
Or you want to watch the rest of the picture?
-I've seen enough already. -Good.
Come on.
Is something wrong? Beside from the obvious.
-The obvious? What would that be? -Getting upset like I did.
-Well, it was upsetting. -Well, I overreacted.
Well, sometimes you just can't help yourself.
What are you doing? Give me that! Let go!
Goddamn you! You're gonna get us killed!
-You let go! Let go! -Let go!
You've been doing this all along, haven't you?
-What's it matter? -It doesn't. You'll give your word,
swear to God, swear on a stack of Bibles,
none of it matters, not when it comes to marijuana.
But it's not the marijuana. It's me.
-What are you talking about? -What else?
I saw it tonight at the movies. I felt it.
I embarrass you just being by your side.
You call me beautiful at home,
then you're ashamed to be seen with me in public.
You're ashamed of beauty you recognize that no one else does.
-You're ashamed to love me. -Camilla, I swear to God, that's not true.
-Prove it. -How?
Marry me.
You see? That'll never happen.
You know why?
'Cause you're too ashamed of being Italian to marry a Mexican.
If it wasn't the marijuana, it would've been something else.
Go home, Arturo.
Go home and drink to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.
Camilla!
Willie!
I had to get out of there.
I used some of the advance money from the book
and bought the '31 Ford from the bait shop.
Camilla? She just up and quit.
-Where'd she go? -Who knows?
She packed up her place over at the Alameda, too.
Back in L.A., it wasn't any better.
I looked for Camilla everywhere, and everywhere I looked,
all the faces seemed like mine.
Tight. Worried. Lost.
Faces with the blood drained away.
Faces like flowers torn from their roots, the colors fading fast.
Mr. Bandini.
"Dear Mr. Bandini,
"things out here in Pearblossom
"haven't gone so good the last few months.
"I'm not doing real well and that Mexican girl is sick as a dog
"and getting sicker every day.
"You best come get her before she cashes in on me."
Where's Sammy?
I gave him 30 bucks and told him to take a hike.
Why, you miss him?
I'll get over it.
-What are those? -You know what they are.
-I'm taking you back to L.A. -Oh, I am not going anywhere with you.
Why should I? You'll just gloat to me.
Over me. It's gloat over me.
That's exactly what I'm talking about.
You're just here so you can
remind me how inferior I am.
Now I'm not just a dumb spic, but a sick one.
Well, feast your eyes.
I'm here because
I love you.
And I want to marry you.
What did you say?
I said, I want to marry you.
Holy shit.
I remember the first day you walked into the café.
You made me mad.
Arturo, you're always mad at something.
Like what else?
How about the world?
I just keep reminding you of how mad at it you are.
It's the way you look.
The way I look?
Beautiful.
The first time I saw you, I figured
I'd never be good enough for you,
no matter what I do for the rest of my life.
Come here.
Oh, I love you.
From the minute you saw me.
No.
You sort of grew in me.
On me.
Grew on me.
No, you grew in me.
Like a baby.
-Arturo. -Yes, Camilla.
In the future,
make more of an effort to be nicer to people when you meet them.
Okay.
First impressions are very important.
-Try to make a good one. -Okay.
-It makes things easier. -I understand. Okay, okay.
-Okay. -Okay.
Camilla Bandini.
I think I could get used to it.
Don't let go.
Don't ever let go of me. Don't ever...
Camilla, I'll get you to the doctor.
Camilla?
"When I was a kid back in Colorado,
"it was Smith and Parker and Jones who hurt me with their hideous names,
"who called me wop and dago and greaser,
"and their children hurt me just as I hurt you.
"They hurt me so much, I could never become one of them.
"Drove me to books. Drove me within myself.
"Drove me to run away from that Colorado town
"and into your home and your life.
"And sometimes,
"when I see their faces out here,
"the same faces, the same set of hard mouths from my hometown,
"I'm glad they're here fulfilling the emptiness of their lives
"and dying in the sun.
"And they hate me and my father and my father's father,
"but they are old, and I am young and full of hope
"and love for my country and my times."
And Camilla, when I said greaser to you,
it was not my heart that spoke, but the quivering of an old wound.
And I am ashamed of the terrible thing I have done.