1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Too Much Information is a production of iHeartRadio. Hello everyone, 2 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to another episode of Too Much Information, the 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: show that brings you the secret histories and little known 4 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: facts behind your favorite movies, music, TV shows and more. 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: We are your green lights of granularity, your disgruntled gas 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: station attendance of apocrypha. You're all seeing eyes of ephemera. 7 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: You're beautiful bulls of facts. My name is Jordan run 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: Tag and I'm Alex Heigel. And today we are back 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,520 Speaker 1: for the second installment in our exploration of f Scott 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald's fabled commenting on the false promise of the American Dream. 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,840 Speaker 1: In part one, we examined how the book The Great 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: Gatsby was born from Scott's upbringing as a poor interloper 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: in a rich man's world and the insecurities and heartbreaks 14 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: that it caused. Today, we're going to explore Scott's truly 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: tragic end as maybe the ultimate exam apple of a 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: future icon who died broke in obscurity. And then after 17 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: we talk about how this man told his own teenage 18 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: daughter that he was a failure and his wife was 19 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: burned alive in a mental hospital following her psychological collapse. 20 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: We'll pick it up with a little movie magic. We're 21 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: going to the movies, folks. 22 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 2: I love to do movies. Jesus, I forgot about Zelda's 23 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 2: horrible death. 24 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yes, yes, yes, yes. So 25 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: we'll turn things around by discussing the often tortured productions 26 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: of the cinematic adaptations, from Boz Luhrman's Lurd Extravaganza to 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: the seventies classic with Robert Refford, Ama Farrow and one 28 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: in the forties that nobody remembers and they lost silent 29 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: version that Scott and Zelda loathed. Higel, I know you're 30 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: not the Gatsby head that I am the Gat's head, 31 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: as we're known in the community. Did last episode change 32 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: your take on the story at all? 33 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 3: No? 34 00:01:57,640 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 2: I mean yes, I like, I don't, I don't. I 35 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 2: don't hate Great Gatsby. I just I am advancing my 36 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 2: idea that f. Scott fitzgro was a secret idiot or 37 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 2: a savant at least, because I do think it's funny 38 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 2: that he wrote the same story seventeen times and met 39 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 2: with obscurity each and every like failure each and every time, 40 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 2: and yet continued to do it so I game recognize 41 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 2: his game essentially. 42 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: Well, no, the first time it worked, and then it 43 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: worked less and less. Yes, yeah, and that's how they 44 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: get you. That is indeed, the first one is free, yeah, 45 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: et cetera. Yeah, well, Scott, actually he would agree with you, 46 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:39,239 Speaker 1: because I was thinking about how we were kind of 47 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: dunking on him for writing just what was immediately in 48 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: his line of sight, over and over again forever. But 49 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: I actually found a quote about it. Oh go on, 50 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: he said. Mostly we authors must repeat ourselves. That's the truth. 51 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: We have two or three great and moving experiences in 52 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,040 Speaker 1: our lives. Experience is so great and moving that, but 53 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: it doesn't seem at the time anyone else has been 54 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: so caught up and so pounded and dazzled and astonished 55 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: and beaten and broken and rescued and illuminated and rewarded 56 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: and humbled in just that way ever before. Then, we 57 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,679 Speaker 1: learn our trade well or less well, and we tell 58 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: our two or three stories each time in a new disguise, 59 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: maybe ten times, maybe one hundred, as long as people 60 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:25,959 Speaker 1: will listen. 61 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean tell that to Joyce, Carol Oates or 62 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 2: Stephen King or like anybody else. Like Hemingway was right there. 63 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 2: He had more than one idea for many stories. As 64 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 2: I'm told, well, Scott was. 65 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: Less prolific than Papa Hemingway. I think he only finished 66 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: four novels, I want to say, in his lifetime, so 67 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: those I kind of a better handle on Hemingway. I 68 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: feel like, though you could distill it down to kind 69 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: of the same well, three or four stories. Right. Well, 70 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: man is sad and drinks in the rain. 71 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 2: Sometimes it's dry, okay, correct, No, I mean he's for 72 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 2: like most well known ones are this is like the 73 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 2: Old Man in the Sea, which is man against fish. 74 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: Never cared for that one. 75 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 2: And obviously like farewell to Arms and sun also rises. 76 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 2: But then I think the most anthologized ones are hills 77 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 2: like White Elephants, which is yes, held up as like 78 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 2: a sort of er text of like the quiet part. 79 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: Loud writing. 80 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 2: And in a clean, well lighted place, which is actually 81 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 2: one of my favorites. So I'm gonna disagree with you 82 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 2: on that one, as I believe Joyce Carroll Oates would like, 83 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 2: or anybody who's written about more than one thing in 84 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 2: their life. Sorry, f a boy f. 85 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: He did kind of get stuck in the past A 86 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: lot didn't our boy f. 87 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you know those boats they be getting born ceaselessly, 88 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 2: ceaseless baby, big beautiful boats. They're ceaselessly being born, the 89 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 2: greatest boats. It's in the I don't have a trump 90 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 2: reading the past is beautiful, past is beautiful China. 91 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: I don't know, make America the past again. Oh God, 92 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: I mean. 93 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 2: All right, move on quickly, we got to get this 94 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,679 Speaker 2: out of Come ons off, Come on, Jesus Christ. 95 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:19,559 Speaker 1: It's funny. I remember when I was in a writing 96 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: class in high school. We were doing like peer reviews, 97 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: which I mean, I don't think I've ever received an 98 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: ego body slam quite like peer reviews in high school 99 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: writing classes. 100 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 2: I mean, if anybody critiqued my writing in high school, 101 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 2: I would have insulted them so badly they would have, 102 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 2: I don't know, become a racist cop or nurse faster 103 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 2: like the dullards in my high school. Respectfully, I know 104 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 2: some of you do. 105 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: Listen. I had the valedictorian read some deeply emotional thing 106 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: I wrote, and his sole comment upon handing it back 107 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: was you write about feelings as if you're the first 108 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: person to ever feel them. And he did not mean 109 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: that as a comment. But I feel like that seems 110 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: like something that Fitzgerald would have been guilty of. 111 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, but also that guy, as a teenager in high 112 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 2: school gonna tell another teenager of art like sorry, unless 113 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 2: you're like a child prodigy. Legitimately i'd be like you. 114 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:23,239 Speaker 2: The only thing we have in common is in area code. 115 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 2: Don't tell me about my art, you mean. 116 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: I always remember that. And the other comment that always 117 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: stuck with me was again, I had like a fifteen 118 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: page It was supposed to be like a two page thing, 119 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: and I was fifteen pages, of course as per tradition. 120 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: And the only thing he wrote on up at the 121 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: top you scrawled too many commas. 122 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 2: And it's stuck with me. Well, that is a very 123 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 2: real thing. But again not for somebody like Pinsion or 124 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 2: you know, the Russians. So that guy anyway, Well. 125 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: What's enough about literature. Let's talk about the movies. 126 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 3: You know. 127 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: The thing I actually like about the Gasby adaptations, which 128 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: I've met with mixed reviews over the years, is that 129 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: it really offers a chance to show the cool structure 130 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald has in place for building up the suspense before 131 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: you meet Gatsby, because you're introduced first to the world 132 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: of Gatsby before you meet him, this whole spectacle of 133 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: this mysterious man, the house, the parties, the car, and 134 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: I've heard it been described as like a long driveway 135 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: approaching a mansion, you know, in those old Gilded age 136 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: Jarah Holmes. You get the long drive of the house 137 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: far away in the distance, and you expect something great 138 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: at the end. That's kind of the way that Fitzgerald 139 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: teases Gatsby until he's introduced relatively far into the book. Yeah. 140 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: I thought that was cool, and they do that really 141 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: well in the movies, not so much the Baz Luhrman one. 142 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: I think that's one of the big changes that he made, 143 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: where like Leo kind of just appears in the middle 144 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: of the party, like on a pyramid made of champagne 145 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: glasses or something. 146 00:07:55,560 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 2: But in the Redford one, Yeah, I believe we covered 147 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 2: bads on or my thoughts on baths on the pod before. 148 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: So excited for this one. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Have 149 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: you seen any of these adaptations? I forget. 150 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 2: I've seen the seventies one, and I have seen enough 151 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 2: of the Leo one to know. 152 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: I saw it in theaters. I was so excited. I 153 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: bet you were, like, we dressed up too, I know, 154 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: I know, all right, Bud, All right, folks, this is 155 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: like forty pages collectively, so no fact teesus. We're gonna 156 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: dive right in bang. Here is everything you didn't know 157 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: about the Great Gatsby's film adaptations, which plural? Is it? 158 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: The Great Scatsby, the Great Scatsbies, the Greatest s Gatsby, 159 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: only the greatest Scatsby For our listeners, it's actually only 160 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: a Great Gatsby if it's made in West egg. 161 00:08:59,280 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 3: They were. 162 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:06,599 Speaker 1: Otherwise, we're sparkling Gatsby. Ah low hanging fruit. Wow, wow, 163 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: all right. When The Great Gatsby was published on April tenth, 164 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five, fifty five years before the Beatles were 165 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: officially broken up, right, Yes, and f Scott Fitzgerald was 166 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: just shy of thirty years old. That's depressing. Though he 167 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: believed it to be his most passionate and accomplished work, 168 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: the novel was not well received in its time. In fact, 169 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: it was something of a flop compared to the success 170 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:40,959 Speaker 1: of his previous novels. This Side of Paradise and The 171 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: Beautiful and Damned Gatsby was this worst performing book. Fitzgerald 172 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: had hoped it would sell seventy five thousand copies, but 173 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: by October of that year, sales stalled under twenty thousand, 174 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: which was barely enough for his publisher, Charles Scribner and 175 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: Sons to earn their money back. Fitzgerald's sense of disappointment 176 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: was acute. Shortly after publication, he cabled his editor Maxwell Perkins, 177 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,239 Speaker 1: asking for an update any news. The reply from Perkins 178 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: was cautiously optimistic, sales situation doubtful, but excellent reviews, he wrote. 179 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald was disheartened. He replied a few days later, closing 180 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: his letter with the now famous phrase, yours in great depression. 181 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: Stocked financially, the book brought him very little. Scott had 182 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: turned down a ten thousand dollars offer for serial rights 183 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: to ensure that the book could be published quickly, instead 184 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: accepting a four thousand dollars advance in nineteen twenty three 185 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,959 Speaker 1: and collecting about two thousand dollars in royalties. That's about 186 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: thirty six thousand dollars today. So one of the greatest 187 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: works of literature of the twentieth century netted him the 188 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: equivalent of a Honda Civic. Like I don't know that's 189 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: not bad. I don't know. Thirty six grand is you know, No, 190 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:01,440 Speaker 1: that's today, that's today dollars. Despite the public indifference, Fitzgerald 191 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: did receive praise from a few literary contemporaries. Nice letters 192 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: came in from Willa Cather don't know them, Edith Wharton, 193 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,839 Speaker 1: and T. S. Elliott, commending the novel T. S. Eliot 194 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: responsible for Cats my least favorite production. 195 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 2: I was gonna say, he gives it two scuttling claws 196 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 2: along the ocean floor. Up, a pair of dragon claws. 197 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 2: Two ragon claws scuttling across the ocean floor. 198 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: Up. God, I hate it so much. 199 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 2: Oh, I like I like Wasteland. That was one of 200 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 2: the first big pieces of like literature. 201 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:41,959 Speaker 1: I h no, I mean Cats. Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, 202 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: yeah yeah. And now over to a section called reviews 203 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 1: or Variety declines to call it boffo. Boffo was a 204 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: is like a a positive term. I thought I thought 205 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: buffo was their word for ridiculous. 206 00:11:57,960 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 2: And I don't know it's it's a good thing. 207 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: Oh to be is thing? Yeah, okay. I didn't realize that. 208 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: Despite earning the praise of Scott's literary peers, Gatsby failed 209 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: to earn glowing reviews during its initial pressing. Two days 210 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: after its publication, The New York World published this unambiguous headline, 211 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: f Scott Fitzgerald's latest a dud. Critic Ruth Snyder declared 212 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: that the editors of her newspaper were quote quite convinced 213 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: after reading The Great Gatsby that mister Fitzgerald is not 214 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: one of the great American writers of to day. Ouch 215 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: that does heurt? Yes, that's a mean thing to say. Yeah, 216 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: it feels very personal. In the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the 217 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: reviewer claims she could not detect quote one chemical trace 218 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: of magic, life, irony, romance, or mysticism in the entire book, 219 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: and suggested that Fitzgerald, whom she referred to as the boy, 220 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: was quote just puttering around. She continued. Why Fitzgerald should 221 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: be called an author, or why any of us should 222 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:06,199 Speaker 1: behave as if he were, has never been satisfactorily explained 223 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: to me. Damn. So people not only were not all 224 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: that into Gatsby, they seemed to hate it enough that 225 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: it seemed to undo all of his prior success in 226 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: their eyes, which is kind of crazy. That's out. That's 227 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: a uniquely vicious. Yes. The New York Herald Tribune was 228 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: more creative in its dismissal, likening the book to quote 229 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: a literary lemon meringue, airy, ornamental, and unsubstantial, Though it 230 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,720 Speaker 1: acknowledged Fitzgerald's quote nice little touches of contemporary observation. The 231 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,439 Speaker 1: criticism extended beyond New York. Ralph Coughlin of the Saint 232 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 1: Louis Post Dispatch labeled the novel quote an inconsequential performance 233 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: from a once promising author who had, in his view, 234 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: become bored and cynical. John McClure of The Times picka 235 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: Yune called the story quote painfully forced and implausible, while 236 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: The Baltimore Evening Sun deemed it quote no more than 237 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: a glorified anecdote and not too probable at that. Not 238 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: all feedback was negative. The New York Times, in a 239 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: review by Edmond Clark, called the novel Quote a mystical 240 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: and glamorous tale of the jazz age, and praised its 241 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,319 Speaker 1: depiction of wealth and yearning. Lillian c. Ford of the 242 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,320 Speaker 1: Los Angeles Times subscribed it as a revelatory work that 243 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:27,119 Speaker 1: quote leaves the reader in a mood of chastened wonder hmmm, chastened? 244 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 2: Wonder you say? 245 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: Yeah. Your former colleagues at The New York Post praise 246 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald's prose as quote scintillating and genuinely brilliant, but these 247 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: positive takes were far outnumbered by confusion, condescension, or outright hostility. 248 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: Even reviewers who admired aspects of the book often saw 249 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: it as a step down from Fitzgerald's earlier work. Critics 250 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: compared it unfavorably to his prior books This Side of 251 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: Paradise and The Beautiful m Damned, suggesting Fitzgerald had peaked early. 252 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: Harvey Eagleton of the Dallas Morning News predicted that the 253 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: novel marked the end of Fitzgerald's artistic success. As you 254 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: might expect FITSI took. 255 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 2: This personally, Yeah, jesus, I mean, like, did they have 256 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 2: to say it was that he's done improbable? 257 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 3: Yeah? 258 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: Probable. It's like that's the part that really makes me nuts. 259 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: It's like, is it? 260 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 2: Did you know that this is just what he wanted 261 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 2: to happen and much of his life? 262 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: Did you know that the Fitzgerald's in capable of making things up? 263 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: Be nice to him. He's a secret idiot. Yes, these 264 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: reviews were devastating to poor sweet angel Baby Fitsy. He 265 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: felt that his defining artistic statement had been completely misunderstood 266 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: by critics, and to a certain extent, he was right. 267 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: Many interpreted the novel primarily is a crime story melodrama 268 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: about a bootlegger who gets gunned down, and found it 269 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: underwhelming in that genre. They missed its deeper themes of illusion, disillusionment, 270 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: and the myth making of self. As Fitzgerald would later lament, 271 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one 272 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: had the slightest idea what the book was actually about. 273 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: He also deeply resented the criticism that the plot was implausible, 274 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: because he never meant it to be realistic. The Great 275 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: Gatsby was designed as a scenic, symbolic novel, almost dreamlike 276 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: in structure. The surreal romantic quality was the point, not 277 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: the problem, but few critics in nineteen twenty five noticed 278 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: or cared. Scott was especially hurt by reviewers failure to 279 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: notice the biographical parallels between himself and Jay Gatsby, both 280 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: men who had constructed mythic versions of themselves and attempted 281 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: to live up to those self created myths. Scott had 282 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: written a novel about the illusion of greatness, about longing 283 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: for a future that never arrives, and in the cruelest 284 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: twist of all, he found himself caught in that very 285 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: same story. Piece was released, reviewed, reviled, and dismissed. Fitzgerald 286 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,080 Speaker 1: blamed the book's commercial failure on several factors. Chief among 287 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: them was the title, which he'd always felt was lackluster. 288 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: As a recall from our last episode, he struggled with 289 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: the title mightily and had lots of potentials kicking around 290 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: that were somehow worse than the one he landed on. 291 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: More significantly, he believed the novel's character driven plot, which 292 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: was populated by morally bankrupt individuals, especially the women in 293 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: his plot, alienated the largely female readership that drove the 294 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: fiction market of the time. Although Days He Began In 295 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: is the central love interest and is featured on the 296 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: novel's iconic cover, she's not exactly depicted in a flattering 297 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: light or given any kind of a redemptive arc much. 298 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well yeah, there are women out there. Excuse me, 299 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,639 Speaker 2: there are people are out there, people out there. 300 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: This lack of a strong, likable female protagonist Fitzgerald felt 301 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: made the book a hard sell. Others have speculated that 302 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: it's focus on extreme wealth and decadence may have just 303 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: been off putting to anyone who wasn't spectacularly wealthy. 304 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 2: I guess that's fair. It was kind of a read 305 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 2: the room moment, right. Well, this is before the Depression though, 306 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 2: but like the Gilded Age was still marked by massive 307 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:31,879 Speaker 2: income inequality. Sure, oh yeah, it's America. Okay, So gats 308 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,160 Speaker 2: be met with its greatest success on Broadway? 309 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: Though, When you're on Broadway? 310 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 2: Where do you go when different song? 311 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: Oh Broadway? 312 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 2: I don't know why that's making me laugh? So where 313 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 2: do you go when the critics getting you down Broadway? 314 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: Anyway? 315 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 2: Uh? One year after its publication, the book was adapted 316 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 2: as one act play I Pull Zer Prize winner Owen 317 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 2: Davis not related to Miles and Just Now I'm just 318 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 2: now learning or Lewin or Jim the creator of Garfield, 319 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,199 Speaker 2: directed by George Kukor, who later won the Oscar for 320 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 2: My Fair Lady. After opening in nineteen twenty six, it 321 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 2: ran for respectable one hundred and twelve performances at the 322 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 2: Ambassador Theater, where it was well received by critics and 323 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 2: most crucially, helped Scott recoup some badly needed cash. The 324 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 2: success of the show, which gave Gatsby its first true 325 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 2: international recognition, helped pave the way for the first cinematic 326 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 2: adaptation later that same year. 327 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: This is also what happened to Dracula. Did you know that? 328 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 2: No, that, like Bella Legosi, had been doing Dracula on 329 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 2: Broadway or on stage before the universal film ever came out. 330 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 2: It was like a huge hit. 331 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: I had no idea that was a stage show. 332 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 2: Wow, I know, it's really crazy anything with Dracula, just 333 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 2: like him coming out with a guitar like Bruce springs 334 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 2: Steen and be talking about his dad and the children 335 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 2: of the Night. Count Dracula's America stage by David Byrne. 336 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:14,959 Speaker 1: It's like Judy at Cardial. 337 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 2: It's like a sequin the sixty eight Dracula Comeback Special. 338 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 2: Scott got sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty six dollars 339 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 2: sick from Paramount Pictures for the film rights, which is 340 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 2: a decent figure. It's three hundred thousand today, and the 341 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 2: Sixes may have jinxed him. By many accounts, the film 342 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,679 Speaker 2: was terrible. It was silent era, so you know, not 343 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,120 Speaker 2: a talkie starring Warner Baxter, who later won an Academy 344 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 2: Award for his performance in The Cisco Kid as Gatsby, 345 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 2: and Lois Wilson as Daisy. Now, Wilson is not a 346 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 2: big name today, but she was a prolific silent film 347 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 2: actress who worked on one hundred and fifty films during 348 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 2: her career. Most of them are, of course now considered lost, 349 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 2: and this for Scatsby adaptation is among them. About a 350 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 2: minute of footage that served as the trailer survives, but 351 00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 2: people are not generally mourning it's lost. The Fitzgeraldes reportedly 352 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 2: walked out of the screening. Scott's wife Zelda, would later 353 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 2: call it rotten and awful and terrible in a letter 354 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 2: to a friend, capitalizing rotten. 355 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: It's crazy how many films have been lost. I mean 356 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:26,360 Speaker 1: it's like dizzle rot a century early, like people's entire careers. 357 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's awful, and like I'm worried about it because 358 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 2: people are not taking care of their quickly. Oh like 359 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 2: do you know, I mean not that he's like everybody's 360 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 2: cup of tea, but like all of Scherenberg's archives were 361 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 2: like destroyed in the Palisades fires. 362 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:47,360 Speaker 1: I didn't know that. 363 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 2: So that's just like one of the architects of twentieth 364 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 2: century music that like now we just don't have a 365 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 2: massive quantity of his work around if it wasn't digitized, 366 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 2: and I don't know how much of it was. And 367 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 2: like you know, there's obviously stuff inherent to the early 368 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 2: film's medium that made them prone to catching on fire spontaneously. 369 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,640 Speaker 1: Oh the celluloid Yeah, and then it's yeah integrate anyway, Yeah, 370 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: well that was that's the vinegar syndrome that people talk about, 371 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,120 Speaker 1: where it does indeed, they do start to degrade into 372 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: something that smells like straight pissed vinegar. 373 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 2: But you know, this just happens because of corporate negligence, 374 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 2: like the universal backlot fire that like now there's no 375 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 2: master versions of like many albums by people of people 376 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 2: iconic names. 377 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,640 Speaker 1: You know, God did they bury that for the longest time, 378 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: Like we didn't know the extent to which stuff had 379 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: been I believe that is. Yeah, yeah, the fire was 380 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: in like O eight and I want to say it 381 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,399 Speaker 1: was like twenty thirteen or fourteen. It was a big 382 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: New York Times. 383 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct, Yeah, Times Jesus Christ Scott continued to flounder. 384 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 2: I don't know why I find that funny and cod 385 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 2: and scraw od. You got some weird fishes up in 386 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 2: New England, don't you? 387 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, we do. 388 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 2: Following the Great Gatsby's publication, he hoped to write a 389 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 2: weighty social novel. It was to center on a murder, 390 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 2: specifically a mattress side. The plot was believed to be 391 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 2: inspired by the famous Leopold and Loob case, which involved 392 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,359 Speaker 2: the Chicago murder of a little boy by two adolescents. 393 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 2: You're addendum here is again Scott had no good car ideas. 394 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:29,520 Speaker 1: I read this thing today. 395 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, Leopold Lobe was also rope the Hitchcock movie. That 396 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 2: was one of the one of the long take pioneers, 397 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 2: right right, great film, great film. Rear Windows my favorite, 398 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 2: but that one's up there. Who doesn't love seeing Jimmy 399 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 2: Stewart flop sweat around, although in this one he's actually 400 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 2: supposed to be like an erudite boarding school professor, which 401 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 2: is kind of funny because he's, you know, it's Jimmy Stewart. 402 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 2: This whole thing has been like a corn every man, 403 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,679 Speaker 2: you know, lanky cornfred everyman who doesn't want to have 404 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 2: sex with the most beautiful woman in the world in 405 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 2: rear window. I'm still mad about that. The entire plot 406 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,880 Speaker 2: of that hinges on him, like wanting to spy on neighbors. 407 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 2: Princess Grace is sitting there begging to have sex with him. Hilarious, hilarious, 408 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 2: variously called the boy who killed his mother. 409 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:39,720 Speaker 1: He really needed help with his titles. 410 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,680 Speaker 2: The World's Fair and our simply our type two others. 411 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 1: What do you mean by our type? 412 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:49,160 Speaker 2: By what do you mean by type FITZI Fitzgerald only 413 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 2: wrote four chapters of that, so what a tragedy. Persistent 414 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 2: financial needs kept him churning out short stories which provided quick, 415 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,240 Speaker 2: short bursts of cash. Then he had to contend with 416 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 2: the psychological breakdown of his wife, Zelda. As we just 417 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,399 Speaker 2: spoke of last episode, Zelda was displaying signs of what 418 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 2: we now probably call bipolar disorder, although at the time 419 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 2: it was given the catch all diagnosis of schizophrenia. She 420 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 2: became obsessed with becoming a professional ballet dancer at the 421 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 2: age of twenty nine, which is like retirement age for 422 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:29,640 Speaker 2: some dancers, but still practiced eight hours a day, maniacally 423 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 2: training and punishing herself past the point of physical exhaustion 424 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,239 Speaker 2: and injury. She wrote a novel called Save Me the 425 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 2: Waltz around this period, and again, like her husband, the 426 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 2: heroine was a thinly disguised version of herself who was 427 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 2: quote consumed by a longing to succeed as a dancer. 428 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,360 Speaker 2: It seemed to her that reaching her goal, she would 429 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,439 Speaker 2: drive the devils that had driven her, that she would, 430 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,160 Speaker 2: through the medium of dance, be able to summon love 431 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 2: or pity or happiness at will, marking up the wrong tree. There, 432 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 2: Zelda only through. 433 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: My marie. 434 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 2: Mimism, miming, mimetic clowning, only through the art of the 435 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 2: noble art of clownery, certainly not music or writing anything else. 436 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:17,680 Speaker 1: Really. 437 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 2: This obsessive behavior culminated in a collapse. One evening in 438 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 2: April of nineteen thirty, Scott returned home to find an 439 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 2: exhausted Zelda seated on the floor, entranced with a pile 440 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 2: of sand for Brian Wilson moment. When he asked her 441 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 2: what she was doing, she could not speak. He summoned 442 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,400 Speaker 2: a physician who examined Zelda and informed him that your 443 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 2: wife is mad. Do this cocaine about it? She was 444 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,200 Speaker 2: in and out of sanitariums for the next few years. 445 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,679 Speaker 2: Friends would recall that Scott would always light up when 446 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 2: she'd return home. His underlying hope was this time she'll 447 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 2: be different. We can still make her part of the family. 448 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 2: We don't have to give her up. Well he has 449 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 2: one up on the Kennedy's. Oh google Rosemary Kennedy Life 450 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 2: for more. Zelda continued, despite these best intentions to struggle. 451 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 2: She wrote to Scott for one of these homecomings, I'm 452 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:15,679 Speaker 2: sorry there shall be nothing to greet you but an 453 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 2: empty shell. I want you to be happy. If there 454 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 2: were any justice, you would be happy. I love you anyway, 455 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 2: even if there isn't any me, or any love or 456 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 2: even my life. 457 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: I love you. 458 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 2: Oh ah. 459 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 3: Woo. 460 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a real get up and pace around the 461 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 2: room one. 462 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: I'll be right back. Oh it keeps going. 463 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 2: Go buckle down, buckle down. 464 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: Shovel my friend, because we are digging deeper. 465 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 2: Despite this, Zelda had moments of clarity, which is kind. 466 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 1: Of worse that she would sometimes come back, but no, 467 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: it was like Flowers for Algernon moment where she kind 468 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: of knew that she was being sucked back down. 469 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 2: Well, they call that, They literally call that insight. There's 470 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 2: a separate psychological term or psychiatric term for being aware 471 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 2: of your own and they grade it now, especially with 472 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 2: like psychosis, like you're more reality altering disorders. You're ugraded 473 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 2: as to what level of insight you have into how 474 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 2: these are affecting you and your ability to monitor them 475 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 2: or at least be aware of them. Wow, so that's depressing. 476 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,720 Speaker 2: Despite this, she had moments of clarity. Her book included 477 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 2: flashes of literary brilliance, including this description of a man 478 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 2: who is a thinly disguised version of Scott. 479 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: This makes me want to cry, that this woman is 480 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: describing her husband this way, in this state. Please continue. 481 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 2: There seemed to be some heavenly support beneath his shoulder 482 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 2: blades that lifted his feet from the ground in ecstatic suspension, 483 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 2: as if he secretly enjoyed the ability to but was 484 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 2: walking as a compromise to convention. Zelda's psychological disintegration was 485 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 2: a tragedy from which neither would ever recover. Scott's secretary 486 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 2: of Francis kroll Ring, later said Scott was a romantic. 487 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 2: He had illusions about life and the sense of remembering 488 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 2: what it was, and would never be again was pretty 489 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 2: horrendous to somebody like Scott. Scott Stemens were his love life. 490 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 2: Here he had this incredibly romantic woman with whom he 491 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 2: fell deeply in love, not expecting or recognizing that untamed 492 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,000 Speaker 2: wildness in her as an illness until it was too late, really, 493 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 2: and I think he never quite got over that shh. 494 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 2: It was early mid thirties, when America was in the 495 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 2: grip of the Great Depression, and Scott's literary stock had 496 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 2: fallen and Zelda's grasp on reality was slipping. One could 497 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 2: think of this era as the Twilight of the jazz Age. 498 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 2: Hundreds of flagpolesitters were coaxed down and flown at half 499 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 2: mast back to the sad stuff. There's a famous story 500 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 2: around this time where Scott threw a tea dance for 501 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 2: his daughter. He proceeded to drink heavily during it, and 502 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 2: as everyone was heading home, he paid the band to 503 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 2: play another hour just for him. Guests filed out as 504 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 2: Scott sat in a chair in the middle of an 505 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 2: otherwise empty ballroom, bottle of gin at his feet, listening 506 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 2: to the band plays songs from the Height of the 507 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 2: jazz Age, a name he'd popularized a decade before Poignant Image, 508 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 2: he'd become an object of pity among his friends. His 509 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 2: confidante Ernest Hemingway wrote to the Shared editor Maxwell Perkins, 510 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 2: poor old Scott, he should have swapped Zelda when she 511 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 2: was at the craziest but still saleable five or six 512 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 2: years ago. 513 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: Sorry for laughing in the middle back, but. 514 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 2: Oh Arnest had a boy papa before she was diagnosed 515 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,320 Speaker 2: as nutty. He is the great tragedy of talent in 516 00:30:58,360 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 2: our bloody generation. 517 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: Hemingway famously advised his friend Scott in a letter during 518 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: this period, you especially have to hurt like hell before 519 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, 520 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: use it. And that's essentially what Scott did. Though he 521 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: was heartbroken, he recognized that his life was good material. 522 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: He used his experience with Zelda as a catalyst for 523 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: finishing his long gestating novel, Tender as the Night Said 524 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: in the French rivier during the Twilight of the jazz Age. 525 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: The nineteen thirty four novel chronicles the rise and fall 526 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: of Why Did He give him this name? Dick Diver, 527 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: a promising young psychiatrist, and his wife Nicole, who used 528 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: to be one of his patients, which is a definite 529 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: breach of ethics there. 530 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 531 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 1: The story mirrors the events in the Fitzgerald's lives, as 532 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: Dick starts his descent into alcoholism and the Cole struggles 533 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: with mental illness, believed to be the fallout from an 534 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: incestuous relationship with her father as a young woman. It's 535 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: been theorized that Zelda was sexually abused by her father 536 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: as a child. Dot dot dot. Scott spent much of 537 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: his time in this era writing short stories and essays 538 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:22,480 Speaker 1: for magazines. One of these, written for Esquire in nineteen 539 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: thirty six, is called The Crack Up. Are you familiar 540 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: with this? 541 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 3: I'm not. 542 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: It's a stark, unflinching account of his own psychological and 543 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: emotional collapse during a period of personal and professional decline. 544 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: Ninety years later, it's still a harrowing read. Gone is 545 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: the romantic idealist of the jazz Age in his place 546 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: as a man hollled out by disillusionment, regret, and exhaustion. 547 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald recounts a moment of clarity when he realized that 548 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: he had quote cracked, was no longer able to rely 549 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: on the emotional reserves that had once fueled his creativity 550 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 1: and sense of purpose. He admitted to feeling nothing, not joy, 551 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: not pain, not even the desire to continue pretending. The 552 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,959 Speaker 1: essay marks a turning point in his philosophy, as he 553 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 1: rejects the myths he once believed in, emotional nobility, artistic heroism, 554 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: and the idea that one could persevere through sheer force 555 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: of will. Instead, he embraces a colder, more cynical survival 556 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:31,360 Speaker 1: strategy based on emotional detachment. Okay, I'm not reading that one. 557 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: I had only been a mediocre caretaker of most of 558 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: the things left in my hands, even of my talent, 559 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: he writes, in one of many confessions that shocked readers 560 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: for their raw honesty. Unlike other personal essays of the time, 561 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: the Crack Up offers no redemptive arc or uplifting conclusion. 562 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald doesn't pretend he's on the mend. He simply observes 563 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 1: the wreckage. In doing so, he dismantles the myth of 564 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: the ever triumphant American artist and replaces it with something darker, 565 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: more human, but also more enduring, the image of a 566 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: man who has stopped hoping for recovery, but continues on 567 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 1: stripped bare. Another insight into his psyche is from Sleeping 568 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,440 Speaker 1: and Waking, published around the same period, also in Esquire. 569 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 1: I'd like to quote it, not quite in full, but 570 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,359 Speaker 1: near enough. When some years ago I read a piece 571 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,399 Speaker 1: by Ernest Hemingway called Now I Lay Me, I thought 572 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,759 Speaker 1: there wasn't much further to say about insomnia. I see 573 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: now that that is because I'd never had much. It 574 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,360 Speaker 1: appears that every man's insomnia is as different from his 575 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,600 Speaker 1: neighbors as are their daytime hopes and aspirations. Now, if 576 00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,239 Speaker 1: insomnia is going to be one of your naturals, it 577 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: begins to appear. In the late thirties, Those seven precious 578 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:51,359 Speaker 1: hours of sleep suddenly break in two. There is, if 579 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: one's lucky, the first sweet sleep of the night and 580 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: the last deep sleep of the morning. But between the 581 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:04,680 Speaker 1: two appears a sinister, ever widening interval. A typical night 582 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:09,399 Speaker 1: comes after a particularly sedentary work and cigarette day. It ends, say, 583 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: without any relaxing interval. At the time for going to bed, 584 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: all is prepared, the books, the glass of water, the 585 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,080 Speaker 1: extra pajamas lest I awaken, rivulets of sweat, the illuminol 586 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: pills in the little round two sleeping pills, the notebook 587 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,520 Speaker 1: and pencil in case of a night thought worth recording. 588 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: Few have been. I turn in, perhaps with a nightcap, 589 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,719 Speaker 1: and read till drowsy on a last cigarette. At the 590 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 1: yawning point, I snapped the book on a marker, the 591 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: cigarette at the hearth, the button on the lamp. I 592 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: turned first on the left side for that. So I've 593 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:50,280 Speaker 1: heard slows the heart, and then coma So far, so good. 594 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 1: From midnight until two thirty, peace in the room. Then 595 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: suddenly I'm awake, harnessed by one of the ills or 596 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 1: functions of the body, to vivid dream, a change in 597 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: the weather for warm or cold, the real night, the 598 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: darkest hour has begun. Horror and waste, waste and horror. 599 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:18,320 Speaker 1: What I might have been and done that is lost, spent, gone, dissipated, unrecapturable. 600 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: I could have acted thus refrained from this, been bold 601 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:26,239 Speaker 1: where I was timid, cautious, where I was rash. I 602 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: need not have heard her like that, nor said this 603 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: to him, nor broken myself trying to break what was unbreakable. 604 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: The horror has come now like a storm. What if 605 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: this night prefigured the night after death? What if all 606 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: thereafter was an eternal, quivering on the edge of an abyss, 607 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 1: with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward, 608 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,000 Speaker 1: and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead. 609 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:57,920 Speaker 1: No choice, no road, no hope, only the endless repetition 610 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:01,800 Speaker 1: of the sordid and the semi tragic. Or to stand forever, 611 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: perhaps on the threshold of life, unable to pass it 612 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,879 Speaker 1: and return to it. I am a ghost now. As 613 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,120 Speaker 1: the clock strikes four on the side of the bed, 614 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,120 Speaker 1: I put my head in my hands. Then silence, silence, 615 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,400 Speaker 1: and suddenly, or so it seems in retrospect, suddenly I 616 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:26,120 Speaker 1: am asleep. Sleep, real sleep, the dear cherished one, the lullaby, 617 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,960 Speaker 1: so deep and warm, the bed and the pillow enfolding me, 618 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:34,359 Speaker 1: letting me sink into peace nothingness. My dreams now after 619 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,360 Speaker 1: the Catharsis of the dark hours, are of young and 620 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: lovely people doing young, lovely things, the girls I once knew, 621 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:45,640 Speaker 1: with big brown eyes, real yellow hair. Life was like that, 622 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,719 Speaker 1: after all. My spirit soars in the moment of its oblivion. 623 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:56,680 Speaker 1: Then down, down, deep in the pillow, irresistible, iridescent. Here 624 00:37:56,719 --> 00:38:09,480 Speaker 1: is Aurora, Here is another day. Your thoughts fuck. 625 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:18,080 Speaker 2: The man could write yeah, yes, ouch. 626 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: Ouch. He not only wrote that, he published that in 627 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,960 Speaker 1: Esquire magazine. Just say what you will about self obsession, 628 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: self pity, whatever that thanks guts. 629 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:39,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean that's that's Is that as 630 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,720 Speaker 2: grim as this gets? Or are we going further? 631 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: I mean a woman's burned alive in a couple of pages? 632 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,120 Speaker 2: Oh right, yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry. 633 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:50,279 Speaker 1: But I think that that might be around the bottom. Yeah, 634 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:54,359 Speaker 1: we're hovering, We're hovering around the bottom. Yeah yeah. There 635 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:58,840 Speaker 1: were many, including Scott's own friends, who felt that these 636 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: exceedingly raw essays were a little much unseemly display of 637 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:11,320 Speaker 1: the soul, so to speak. Even Hemingway took a shot 638 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,600 Speaker 1: at his friend Scott in a short story also an 639 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:18,000 Speaker 1: Esquire called The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Papa h wrote he 640 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:22,520 Speaker 1: remembered poor Scott Fitzgerald in his romantic awe and how 641 00:39:22,560 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: he had started a story once that began the richard 642 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 1: different from you and me, And how someone had said 643 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: to Scott, yes, they have more money, but that was 644 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:35,080 Speaker 1: not humorous to Scott. He thought they were a special, 645 00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:39,040 Speaker 1: glamorous race, and when he found out they weren't, it 646 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,719 Speaker 1: wrecked him as much as any other thing that wrecked him. 647 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald was not amused, and he wrote Hemingway an aggrieved 648 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,440 Speaker 1: letter upon reading this, filled with humorous slash sad parentheticals, 649 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,200 Speaker 1: Dear Ernest, please lay off me in print if I 650 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:59,200 Speaker 1: choose to write diprofundis sometimes it doesn't mean I want friends, 651 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:04,000 Speaker 1: still friends? Then praying aloud over my corpse, No doubt 652 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,040 Speaker 1: you meant it kindly. How could that have been? But 653 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 1: it cost me a night's sleep, only one night. I'm 654 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,000 Speaker 1: tougher than you think. And when you incorporate it the 655 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 1: story in a book, would you mind gently gently cutting 656 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: my name? It's a fine story, one of your best, 657 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,879 Speaker 1: absolutely true and under the circumstances, insightful and generous, even 658 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,520 Speaker 1: though the poor Scott Fitzgerald et cetera, rather putting it mildly, 659 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: spoiled it for me. Ever, your friend parentheses despite all Scott, 660 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:42,879 Speaker 1: where are you right now? In a good place? Yeah? 661 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:47,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, well not many people respond well to having your 662 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:55,320 Speaker 2: whole deal unpacked in one sentence. A short story in Esquire, 663 00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:59,840 Speaker 2: like I'm sure that one just hit him dead between 664 00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:01,880 Speaker 2: the and we had to sit down and. 665 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,080 Speaker 1: Have a bottle of gin about it. Just KNEECAPPEDIM. 666 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, come on, man, that's tough. 667 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 1: I mean, I will say, you know, I quoted Alan 668 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:16,480 Speaker 1: Bennet's The History Boys last week in the opening of 669 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:19,520 Speaker 1: the last week's episode. I'm gonna paraphrase. It was something like, 670 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:23,520 Speaker 1: there's something very special about when you read something that 671 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 1: you had previously thought was something that was unique to you, 672 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:30,520 Speaker 1: a unique thought, a unique circumstance, a unique anything. And 673 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:34,480 Speaker 1: then you have somebody up from a century earlier writing 674 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 1: basically taking the thoughts from your head. And I think 675 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:40,920 Speaker 1: the quote from Alan Bennett was it's like a hand 676 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,000 Speaker 1: reaching out through time. And I find I find a 677 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 1: certain sense of comfort in that. Yeah, it's part of 678 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 1: the shared it's part of what makes us human, that 679 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,440 Speaker 1: it's something that's been around for a long long time. 680 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:55,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think it's I just think it's probably 681 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,600 Speaker 2: weird if it's true, more than he let on. Like 682 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:02,759 Speaker 2: when you unpack someone's in like again, I mean, that's 683 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:06,520 Speaker 2: like a surgical strike. That's not like a flowery like 684 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,839 Speaker 2: love or sadness. That is just being like, yeah, dude, 685 00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:13,960 Speaker 2: your life is a sham. And your artistic works and 686 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:17,120 Speaker 2: like your core belief that motivated all of your art 687 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 2: and essentially your life is. 688 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:26,600 Speaker 1: Astake. I'm misunderstanding of the human experience. 689 00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:34,200 Speaker 2: You should have spent more time boxing. Yeah, no one, Yeah, 690 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:37,200 Speaker 2: no one wants to hear that. Yeah, I get it, 691 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,800 Speaker 2: I get it. Yeah, but you know, not nice of 692 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:43,040 Speaker 2: him to write a letter, regardless of. 693 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:44,840 Speaker 1: A Fitzgerald writing a letter to him. Yeah. 694 00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:48,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, probably it's only friends, gotcha. 695 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: Jesus Christ? Yeah. 696 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:52,040 Speaker 2: Can you imagine the benders those two head. 697 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,719 Speaker 1: I cannot No, No, I haven't read a movable feast 698 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,040 Speaker 1: in a while, but I'm sure at least some are 699 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:04,759 Speaker 1: recounted in there. Jesus yes. Anyway, Well, by the late 700 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, Scott did what a lot of lost generation 701 00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:10,840 Speaker 1: writers did who were down on their luck. He followed 702 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:12,680 Speaker 1: the money out to Hollywood to try to make it 703 00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: as a screenwriter. When talkies had come into vogue at 704 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,920 Speaker 1: the end of the nineteen twenties, studio heads panicked because 705 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:22,080 Speaker 1: none of their staff writers had ever written dialogue before. 706 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:25,480 Speaker 1: So as a result, every studio in town started throwing 707 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:29,320 Speaker 1: money at every novelist and playwright they could find. Suddenly 708 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:34,160 Speaker 1: Hollywood was filled with famous writers, essentially squandering their talent. 709 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: Scott arrived in the Writer's Building at MGM in nineteen 710 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,480 Speaker 1: thirty seven, and he stayed there about eighteen months, though 711 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:44,120 Speaker 1: he only received one screen credit for his work on 712 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:48,239 Speaker 1: three Comrades. He also contributed to Infidelity, a film that 713 00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:50,759 Speaker 1: was intended for Joan Crawford but was canceled due to 714 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:55,080 Speaker 1: its racy subject matter and the women, which was ultimately rewritten. 715 00:43:55,800 --> 00:44:00,760 Speaker 1: Bud Schulberg, Academy Award winning screenwriter on the Waterfront, recalled 716 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:04,640 Speaker 1: his initial impression of Scott. Unlike all the famous Eastern 717 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,520 Speaker 1: writers who came to Hollywood to replenish lost fortunes and 718 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,200 Speaker 1: take the money and run, Fitzgerald regarded the motion pictures 719 00:44:11,239 --> 00:44:14,359 Speaker 1: as a unique twentieth century art form that demanded as 720 00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:18,560 Speaker 1: serious attention as their novels and plays. Fitzgerald became friendly 721 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,840 Speaker 1: with Clark Gable, who kept trying to get him to 722 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,880 Speaker 1: write a talkie version of Gatsby with himself in the 723 00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:28,200 Speaker 1: starring role, but unfortunately it never came together. That would 724 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:29,759 Speaker 1: have been awesome. Clark Gable as. 725 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:33,520 Speaker 2: Gatsby, Yeah, yeah, this is Gable's good. 726 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:34,680 Speaker 1: Era, right, yeah. 727 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:37,520 Speaker 2: He also a culm to alcoholism. 728 00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:41,759 Speaker 1: Yes, this was right before Gone with the Winds, So yeah, 729 00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:45,440 Speaker 1: this was like prime Gable era. Well, was Zelda more 730 00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:47,760 Speaker 1: or less living the life of an invalid in the hospital. 731 00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:51,960 Speaker 1: Scott more or less acted like a single man. He 732 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,520 Speaker 1: settled in the relationship with the famous gossip columnist Sheila Graham, 733 00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:59,440 Speaker 1: but he very nearly patched things up with his lost 734 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:04,799 Speaker 1: teenage love, Geneva King, you know, the socialite who was 735 00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:07,680 Speaker 1: deemed unsuitable for a lower class boy like Scott, so 736 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:10,879 Speaker 1: her parents married her off to a polo playing heir 737 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:14,160 Speaker 1: to a local bank fortune, thus inspiring the entire plot 738 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:19,560 Speaker 1: of The Great Gatsby. That one, Geneva's relationship with her 739 00:45:19,560 --> 00:45:23,359 Speaker 1: philandering petroleum executive husband had finally foundered, and she paid 740 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:26,560 Speaker 1: Scott a visit at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on October 741 00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:30,360 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight. She was the first girl I ever loved, 742 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:33,320 Speaker 1: and I have faithfully avoided seeing her up to this moment. 743 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,080 Speaker 1: To keep the illusion perfect, Scott informed his teenage daughter 744 00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:41,800 Speaker 1: for in the world of the meeting. Yeah, your mom's 745 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,120 Speaker 1: in the hospital, so I'm meeting my teenage fling. I 746 00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:47,440 Speaker 1: hope that's uh, I hope that's cool with you. She 747 00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,799 Speaker 1: was the first girl I ever loved. You know that's 748 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:56,400 Speaker 1: a choice. Yeah. Ultimately, this long awaited reunion with his 749 00:45:56,520 --> 00:46:00,080 Speaker 1: lost love was a disaster. If you're gonna have a 750 00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:03,560 Speaker 1: reunion with a partner who rejected you, it's kind of 751 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:07,239 Speaker 1: advised to show up as your best self. Otherwise, the 752 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:11,200 Speaker 1: whole revenge fantasy thing, it doesn't really play out. And 753 00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:14,160 Speaker 1: Scott was not at his best. His body had been 754 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:17,200 Speaker 1: ravaged by alcoholism at this point, and then we'd been 755 00:46:17,239 --> 00:46:21,319 Speaker 1: on the wagon for months. The site of Geneva destabilized him, 756 00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:25,000 Speaker 1: and sensing that this rendezvous wasn't going well, he started 757 00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:29,200 Speaker 1: ordering double shots of gin. Things went south as Scott 758 00:46:29,239 --> 00:46:33,280 Speaker 1: got drunker and angrier. When Geneva asked if she'd inspired 759 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:38,040 Speaker 1: any characters in Fitzgerald's novels, drunken Scott quipped, what bitch, 760 00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:46,359 Speaker 1: do you think you are not uncalled for? It could 761 00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:51,680 Speaker 1: have been better? Like if it had been funnier. 762 00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:59,000 Speaker 2: If it had been funnier, I mean, poor good a 763 00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:04,560 Speaker 2: secret idiot do you think was gonna happen? I? 764 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:09,280 Speaker 4: Well, I mean he was last time they had met, 765 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:14,160 Speaker 4: he was a poor student at Princeton with no prospects, 766 00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:18,040 Speaker 4: and now he was a I guess a pasted it 767 00:47:18,360 --> 00:47:19,000 Speaker 4: literary it. 768 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:22,160 Speaker 1: Boy. Yeah, but it was still it was better than 769 00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:24,479 Speaker 1: he was, but not as good as he had been. 770 00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:27,399 Speaker 1: By the Christ of God, go all of us. 771 00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:34,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, Jesus Christ, boy, this is just yeah. 772 00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:37,720 Speaker 1: And it was on this note that the pair parted forever. 773 00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:42,319 Speaker 1: Geneva returned back to her home in Chicago, bitterly disappointed 774 00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:46,280 Speaker 1: by the man Scott had become. Scott used this final 775 00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:49,200 Speaker 1: meeting as the basis for his nineteen forty one short story, 776 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:54,440 Speaker 1: posthumously published, I might add three hours between planes. I 777 00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:55,880 Speaker 1: will not be quoting that one. 778 00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,439 Speaker 2: Please don't know, Please stop quoting him. Actually, stop telling 779 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:02,080 Speaker 2: me details about his life. This is this is painful 780 00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:02,400 Speaker 2: to me. 781 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:07,040 Speaker 1: Well, how about his death? Okay? Okay. In nineteen forty, 782 00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:10,320 Speaker 1: the final year of Scott's life, only fifteen copies of 783 00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:18,719 Speaker 1: The Great Gatsby were sold fifteen fifteen thousand, fifteen. In Hollywood, 784 00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,320 Speaker 1: where Fitzgerald had been eking out a living as a screenwriter, 785 00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:25,040 Speaker 1: he couldn't even find his own books and stores. They 786 00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:28,680 Speaker 1: were out of print. When he received a royalty check 787 00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,960 Speaker 1: that August, it was for thirteen dollars and thirteen cents 788 00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:38,719 Speaker 1: and a mount both paltry and symbolically menacing mm HM. 789 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,239 Speaker 1: He died four months later of a heart attack at 790 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:46,280 Speaker 1: age forty four, just four days before Christmas, day before 791 00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:50,319 Speaker 1: my birthday. It's not believe that Fitzgerald suffered some form 792 00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:54,080 Speaker 1: of tuberculosis during his lifetime, though some suspected that diagnosis 793 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:58,160 Speaker 1: served as a cover for his heavy drinking in the twenties. Regardless, 794 00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:00,799 Speaker 1: it was a third and final heart attack and not 795 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,040 Speaker 1: tb that killed him. He went to the grave believing 796 00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:06,880 Speaker 1: himself a failure and that his work had been forgotten. 797 00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:10,279 Speaker 1: Within a decade, however, a revival in the interest of 798 00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,239 Speaker 1: his work would begin again. When The New York Times 799 00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:17,560 Speaker 1: publishes obituary, it referenced the Great Gatsby only as evidence 800 00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:22,320 Speaker 1: that Scott had never fulfilled his early promise. His funeral 801 00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:25,880 Speaker 1: was sparsely attended, with a few mourners, including his sister 802 00:49:26,200 --> 00:49:29,840 Speaker 1: or husband, their daughter, a gardener, and the people who'd 803 00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:32,360 Speaker 1: rented him a house where he'd written one of his books, 804 00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:36,880 Speaker 1: Tender as the Night. Fellow writer Nathaniel West died in 805 00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:40,080 Speaker 1: a car crash en route to the funeral, and that 806 00:49:40,160 --> 00:49:44,760 Speaker 1: was unfortunate because he needed the numbers writer and noted 807 00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:48,279 Speaker 1: whit Dorothy Partner also attended the funeral, and she was 808 00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:52,440 Speaker 1: heard to murmur, A poor son of a bitch, quoting 809 00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:54,960 Speaker 1: a line from the funeral scene in The Great Gatsby, 810 00:49:55,160 --> 00:50:00,960 Speaker 1: which you recall was also sparsely attended. The final indignity, 811 00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:05,680 Speaker 1: Scott was denied burial in his family's Catholic plot in Rockville, Maryland, 812 00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:10,800 Speaker 1: due to the perceived risque nature of his novels. Instead, 813 00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:14,520 Speaker 1: he was laid to rest alone in a Protestant cemetery 814 00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:23,200 Speaker 1: or I guess anything goes. Zelda paid for the plot, 815 00:50:24,080 --> 00:50:26,960 Speaker 1: and she joined him there eight years later when she 816 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,520 Speaker 1: died in a fire at Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, 817 00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:33,240 Speaker 1: where she was being treated for her mental health issues. 818 00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:37,200 Speaker 1: She had been sedated and locked in her room awaiting 819 00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:40,040 Speaker 1: shock therapy when a fire broke out in the kitchen, 820 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:44,880 Speaker 1: possibly set by a mentally deserved patient. It soon spread 821 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:47,400 Speaker 1: to every floor of the facility, ripping through even the 822 00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:52,520 Speaker 1: fire escapes, which bizarrely were wooden. Nine women, including Zelda, 823 00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:56,560 Speaker 1: were killed. She was identified by her dental records in 824 00:50:56,600 --> 00:51:00,799 Speaker 1: one of her slippers. She was buried with Scott, but 825 00:51:00,840 --> 00:51:04,640 Speaker 1: because she'd only purchased one burial plot, she was buried 826 00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:08,799 Speaker 1: literally on top of him. There there remained for more 827 00:51:08,840 --> 00:51:13,160 Speaker 1: than twenty five years. Then, in nineteen seventy five, members 828 00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:16,040 Speaker 1: of the Rockville Women's Club petitioned to have the Fitzgerald 829 00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:19,719 Speaker 1: reinterred in their family plot at the Catholic Cemetery. The 830 00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:21,600 Speaker 1: case was taken all the way up to the Archbishop 831 00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:25,240 Speaker 1: of Washington, who immediately gave his blessing. In a statement, 832 00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,800 Speaker 1: he said that Fitzgerald was quote an artist who was able, 833 00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:33,120 Speaker 1: with lucidity and poetic imagination to portray the struggle between 834 00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:37,360 Speaker 1: grace and death. His characters are involved in this great drama, 835 00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:42,959 Speaker 1: seeking God and seeking grace. Today, Zeldo and f Scott 836 00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:47,880 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald lay together at Saint Mary's Church Historic Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland. 837 00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:51,200 Speaker 1: Written on their gravestonies the last line from the Great 838 00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:56,800 Speaker 1: Gatsby altogether Now so we beat on boats against the current, 839 00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:01,880 Speaker 1: born back ceaselessly into the past. 840 00:52:04,239 --> 00:52:07,279 Speaker 2: I was holding my breath that entire time. Jesus Christ, 841 00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:22,799 Speaker 2: I thought this was a novel about eggs and beautiful shirts. Ah, 842 00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:25,200 Speaker 2: that hurt on many levels. 843 00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:30,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, what was the prior record for sad It was 844 00:52:30,760 --> 00:52:32,000 Speaker 1: Dick York. It was Dick York. 845 00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:32,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was Dick York. 846 00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:35,240 Speaker 1: Dick York breaking into a cemetery to bury the baby 847 00:52:35,239 --> 00:52:37,040 Speaker 1: in the in the shoe box. Yeah, I think we 848 00:52:37,040 --> 00:52:42,640 Speaker 1: we might have surpassed that. Mmmm. Good question. Is that sadder? 849 00:52:42,920 --> 00:52:45,160 Speaker 1: That is sadder as an incident, but this is sadder 850 00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:47,920 Speaker 1: as a although his death too is also Okay, we tied, 851 00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:57,319 Speaker 1: We've we've we've hit the Dick York marker. Yeah, I 852 00:52:57,360 --> 00:53:00,520 Speaker 1: hope this. Make make sure this is running. I can't 853 00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:01,799 Speaker 1: take this again, Yes it is. 854 00:53:02,200 --> 00:53:07,200 Speaker 2: Yet, how did you write this soaked in your own tears? 855 00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:14,319 Speaker 1: It was cathartic. Holy sh We're going to take a 856 00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:16,759 Speaker 1: quick break, but we'll be right back with more. Too 857 00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:18,480 Speaker 1: much information in just a moment. 858 00:53:28,560 --> 00:53:33,799 Speaker 3: Wow. 859 00:53:34,040 --> 00:53:37,560 Speaker 2: Well, As we touched on earlier, the book was also 860 00:53:37,800 --> 00:53:42,920 Speaker 2: considered a failure in his lifetime. Only twenty five thousand 861 00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:45,640 Speaker 2: were sold in the fifteen years before Scott's death, with 862 00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:49,360 Speaker 2: the rest languishing on shows. Critics had dismissed it as 863 00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,880 Speaker 2: a nostalgic period piece, a sentimental relic of the jazz age, 864 00:53:52,920 --> 00:53:55,439 Speaker 2: but within a year of Scott's death, his close friend 865 00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:59,800 Speaker 2: Edmund Wilson republished The Great Gatsby alongside Fitzgerald's unfinished novel 866 00:54:00,080 --> 00:54:02,080 Speaker 2: last Tycoon Rollercoaster Tycoon? 867 00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:04,360 Speaker 1: Is that about? 868 00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,520 Speaker 2: It's not about or a thinly fictionalized version of someone, 869 00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:08,879 Speaker 2: is it? 870 00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:12,640 Speaker 1: You know? I don't know, like Andrew Carnegie. I you know, 871 00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:16,320 Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised or a Morgan. No, it's actually 872 00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:20,440 Speaker 1: an LA story. That's right. It's partially based on the 873 00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:27,400 Speaker 1: Hurst Louis B. Mayor and me and the Pod Louis B. Mayor. Yes, 874 00:54:28,280 --> 00:54:29,959 Speaker 1: oh my god, I didn't. 875 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:33,480 Speaker 2: How did he worm his sickening little way in here? 876 00:54:33,880 --> 00:54:36,120 Speaker 1: Well? I think it's like it's like a takedown of. 877 00:54:36,239 --> 00:54:42,440 Speaker 2: Oh it's scathing. Yeah, okay, oh thank god? Oh man um. Anyway, 878 00:54:42,520 --> 00:54:46,480 Speaker 2: this sparked a slow but significant revival of interest. You 879 00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:49,319 Speaker 2: might also be interested to know that Capitol Records did 880 00:54:49,320 --> 00:54:52,200 Speaker 2: this with the Beach Boys Pet Sounds in the nineteen seventies. 881 00:54:52,280 --> 00:54:56,040 Speaker 2: So now we have forced both of Jordan's beloved be 882 00:54:56,160 --> 00:55:00,360 Speaker 2: Ea bands into an episode about a jazz age author. 883 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:03,560 Speaker 1: I just think that's an interesting like two works of 884 00:55:03,600 --> 00:55:08,120 Speaker 1: genius that were unappreciated upon release were then paired with 885 00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:11,640 Speaker 1: another artistic offering from the same artist as a way 886 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:13,520 Speaker 1: to try to juice sales, and it worked. 887 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:17,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's that. In the spring of nineteen forty two, 888 00:55:17,800 --> 00:55:21,680 Speaker 2: just months after the US entered WWII the Big One, 889 00:55:22,080 --> 00:55:25,920 Speaker 2: the newly formed Council on Books in Wartime selected The 890 00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:29,680 Speaker 2: Great Gatsby as one of its Armed Services editions, compact 891 00:55:29,719 --> 00:55:33,840 Speaker 2: paperbacks designed to fit in soldiers pockets. Jesus, remember this 892 00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:36,280 Speaker 2: is what you're fighting for at home, boys, the illusion 893 00:55:36,400 --> 00:55:41,960 Speaker 2: of wealth in America and beautiful shirts. I'm picturing it 894 00:55:42,080 --> 00:55:45,000 Speaker 2: like a guy in a foxhole just taking out a 895 00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:50,320 Speaker 2: photo of a shirt. I'm generally kissing it, generally kissing 896 00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:51,799 Speaker 2: it and being like, I'm coming back to you. 897 00:55:51,840 --> 00:55:57,960 Speaker 1: Baby, a picture like those, but those like weird boats 898 00:55:57,960 --> 00:56:00,759 Speaker 1: storming Normandy and help the mast, or just all these 899 00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:05,560 Speaker 1: shirts instead of flax. Oh man, here's bad We're bad people. 900 00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:09,839 Speaker 2: By nineteen forty four, over one hundred and fifty five 901 00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:13,560 Speaker 2: thousand copies of Gatsby had been distributed to American troops overseas, 902 00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:17,560 Speaker 2: even reaching prisoners of war in Germany and Japan through 903 00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:22,000 Speaker 2: the Red Cross. The greatest distribution point coincided with D Day, 904 00:56:22,440 --> 00:56:25,800 Speaker 2: the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was Scott's 905 00:56:25,920 --> 00:56:29,480 Speaker 2: much loathed military professor from his days as an enlisted 906 00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:33,600 Speaker 2: officer ensured that troops storming Normandy had these books in 907 00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:37,600 Speaker 2: their pockets, with some soldiers reportedly reading Gatsby as they 908 00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:38,760 Speaker 2: crossed the channel. 909 00:56:38,880 --> 00:56:40,080 Speaker 1: That's somehow even darker. 910 00:56:40,719 --> 00:56:46,359 Speaker 2: That was las book any young men read before being 911 00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:52,399 Speaker 2: riddled with machine gun fire. And nope, that's fine. I'm 912 00:56:52,400 --> 00:56:55,480 Speaker 2: not even riffing on that one. The exposure created a 913 00:56:55,520 --> 00:57:01,279 Speaker 2: new generation of readers. Just a guy coming back and 914 00:57:01,320 --> 00:57:04,560 Speaker 2: going to you know, the Iowa Writer's Workshop or whatever. 915 00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:06,600 Speaker 2: I don't think that was around. And let's just say, 916 00:57:06,600 --> 00:57:09,279 Speaker 2: Harvard on the GI Bill, what INSPI did you get 917 00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:12,320 Speaker 2: into reading? Watch a lot of my buddies die face 918 00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:16,720 Speaker 2: down in the Atlantic ocean moments after reading about beautiful shirts. 919 00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:23,320 Speaker 2: Watched this guy drown on his own intestines, and I thought, 920 00:57:24,120 --> 00:57:26,760 Speaker 2: and I thought, I really want to chronicle the lives 921 00:57:26,800 --> 00:57:27,920 Speaker 2: of the people who. 922 00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:30,480 Speaker 1: Are not doing this. Wow. 923 00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:32,360 Speaker 2: Uh wow wow wow wow wow. 924 00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:33,840 Speaker 1: Yeah. I know here we are. 925 00:57:34,520 --> 00:57:39,440 Speaker 2: Uh anyway. Literary schudriar Roger L. Pearson defined the American 926 00:57:39,600 --> 00:57:43,520 Speaker 2: dream in nineteen seventy as the belief that every individual, 927 00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:47,720 Speaker 2: regardless of their origins, may seek and achieve their desired goals, quote, 928 00:57:47,760 --> 00:57:52,000 Speaker 2: be they political, monetary or social. It is the literary 929 00:57:52,040 --> 00:57:57,680 Speaker 2: expression of the concept of America the land of opportunity, 930 00:57:57,760 --> 00:58:03,760 Speaker 2: and it was in its crib shortly after the Carter presidency. 931 00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:09,240 Speaker 2: By nineteen forty five, full length scholarly articles on Fitzgerald 932 00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,120 Speaker 2: are being published, and Gatsby was recognized in literary circles 933 00:58:12,120 --> 00:58:15,280 Speaker 2: as a towering work of fiction. Writers like Bud Schulberg, 934 00:58:15,480 --> 00:58:18,760 Speaker 2: Edward Neuhouse, John O'Hara, and other Losers cited it as 935 00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:21,240 Speaker 2: a profound influence. Now I'm just kidding. I just don't 936 00:58:21,280 --> 00:58:23,680 Speaker 2: know those guys. Hunter As Thompson was so inspired by 937 00:58:23,720 --> 00:58:26,120 Speaker 2: the Great Gatsby he used to type it up on 938 00:58:26,200 --> 00:58:29,400 Speaker 2: a typewriter to experience what it was like to write 939 00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:32,960 Speaker 2: that way. He also did this with Hemingway novels, and 940 00:58:33,040 --> 00:58:35,000 Speaker 2: Thompson said that Gatsby was on his mind when he 941 00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:36,680 Speaker 2: wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. 942 00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:39,280 Speaker 1: How do you feel about that? It's a weird thing 943 00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:42,680 Speaker 1: to do. I had a friend in my screenwriting department 944 00:58:42,800 --> 00:58:45,600 Speaker 1: who used to watch his favorite movies over and over 945 00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:48,640 Speaker 1: again with a pad of paper and write the story 946 00:58:48,680 --> 00:58:50,800 Speaker 1: beats out as he watched. And he just did that 947 00:58:50,840 --> 00:58:53,600 Speaker 1: as like an exercise. To try to like figure out 948 00:58:53,640 --> 00:58:56,760 Speaker 1: the rhythm of good movie writing, and I used to. 949 00:58:57,120 --> 00:58:58,640 Speaker 1: Part of me mocked him for that, and part of 950 00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:00,840 Speaker 1: me was like, oh, I get that, and that's that's 951 00:59:01,600 --> 00:59:03,640 Speaker 1: makes sense, even though I find it soul crushing. 952 00:59:04,320 --> 00:59:07,920 Speaker 2: Well, there's something too the idea. But it's not like writing. 953 00:59:08,240 --> 00:59:13,160 Speaker 2: You don't get writing chops by typing something that someone 954 00:59:13,160 --> 00:59:15,920 Speaker 2: else has, right. I think he did a little. He 955 00:59:16,040 --> 00:59:19,200 Speaker 2: was in a not especially productive acid trip when he 956 00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:21,200 Speaker 2: came up with that concept. 957 00:59:21,240 --> 00:59:22,000 Speaker 1: I want to assume. 958 00:59:22,680 --> 00:59:24,600 Speaker 2: I mean, it's not like like in music, like you're 959 00:59:24,600 --> 00:59:26,880 Speaker 2: supposed to play like licks that you like and like 960 00:59:26,920 --> 00:59:30,240 Speaker 2: that's how you learn, right, And it's like but merely 961 00:59:30,280 --> 00:59:33,240 Speaker 2: typing someone's words, I guess. I mean, look, he probably 962 00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:41,160 Speaker 2: typed pretty fast, and he was famously you know, fast 963 00:59:41,200 --> 00:59:43,200 Speaker 2: and prolific, so I guess he got you know, one 964 00:59:43,200 --> 00:59:43,400 Speaker 2: am I? 965 00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:43,960 Speaker 1: Who am I to? 966 00:59:44,160 --> 00:59:47,240 Speaker 2: Who am I to talk? We should do fear and loathing, 967 00:59:47,280 --> 00:59:48,040 Speaker 2: don't you think? 968 00:59:48,280 --> 00:59:50,520 Speaker 1: Yeah? I know, I keep it. That's another great Well, 969 00:59:50,560 --> 00:59:55,040 Speaker 1: that's another two for that's book movie you know. Oh man, Yeah, 970 00:59:55,040 --> 00:59:56,520 Speaker 1: I need a little bit of a recover from the 971 00:59:56,560 --> 01:00:00,400 Speaker 1: speaking of being prolific and writing a lot. It's this 972 01:00:00,520 --> 01:00:04,800 Speaker 1: was a forty two page outline. Yeah. 973 01:00:04,800 --> 01:00:07,479 Speaker 2: Throughout the nineteen fifties and sixties, the Great Gatsby became 974 01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:10,920 Speaker 2: a staple of high school English curricula and reached steady 975 01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:14,160 Speaker 2: annual sales of fifty to one hundred thousand copies. By 976 01:00:14,280 --> 01:00:16,880 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty, it had sold more copies in a single 977 01:00:16,960 --> 01:00:20,840 Speaker 2: year than it had during Fitzgerald's entire life, Which wasn't 978 01:00:20,880 --> 01:00:24,360 Speaker 2: that fifteen twenty five rus so not a hard thing 979 01:00:24,440 --> 01:00:30,440 Speaker 2: to do, no, okay, but still telling. And he was 980 01:00:30,480 --> 01:00:33,440 Speaker 2: dead in the ground with his wife's bones on top 981 01:00:33,520 --> 01:00:35,600 Speaker 2: of him, and did not see any of this. 982 01:00:35,640 --> 01:00:38,280 Speaker 1: From any afterlife coffin flopping. 983 01:00:40,960 --> 01:00:44,920 Speaker 2: No, I'm sure he was somewhere in writers heaven. This 984 01:00:45,040 --> 01:00:45,720 Speaker 2: is different. 985 01:00:45,800 --> 01:00:48,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no such thing as a writer's evan my friends. 986 01:00:48,960 --> 01:00:52,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just it's yeah, what is writers heaven? A 987 01:00:52,520 --> 01:01:01,200 Speaker 2: room full of people giving you compliments you don't really believe, like, yeah, Jesus. 988 01:01:01,640 --> 01:01:04,600 Speaker 2: The novel's popularity only grew from there. As of twenty twenty, 989 01:01:04,640 --> 01:01:07,720 Speaker 2: the Great Gatsby sold nearly thirty million copies worldwide, with 990 01:01:07,760 --> 01:01:11,200 Speaker 2: over five hundred thousand new copies purchased each year, and 991 01:01:11,320 --> 01:01:15,800 Speaker 2: translations in forty two languages. According to its publisher, Scribner's, 992 01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:18,200 Speaker 2: The Great Gatsby is now their most popular and best 993 01:01:18,200 --> 01:01:21,920 Speaker 2: selling title of all time. Truly a remarkable transformation for 994 01:01:21,960 --> 01:01:26,200 Speaker 2: a book that was nearly forgotten its author died. Naturally, 995 01:01:26,320 --> 01:01:29,000 Speaker 2: with the success of the book on such a grand scale, 996 01:01:29,120 --> 01:01:32,640 Speaker 2: Hollywood smelled blood in the water. Gatsby proved to be 997 01:01:32,640 --> 01:01:34,200 Speaker 2: a hard novel to put on the screen, though, because 998 01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:36,680 Speaker 2: so much of it occurs in the narrator Nick Carraway's head, 999 01:01:37,280 --> 01:01:40,560 Speaker 2: hence why adaptations across the years have met with middling success. 1000 01:01:40,920 --> 01:01:43,560 Speaker 2: The nineteen twenties film was hated, but three versions released 1001 01:01:43,560 --> 01:01:47,400 Speaker 2: over the next ninety years got successively better, so you say, 1002 01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:50,560 Speaker 2: starting with the nineteen forty nine release. 1003 01:01:51,480 --> 01:01:55,200 Speaker 1: Which you didn't hear this. You didn't know until yeah. 1004 01:01:56,040 --> 01:01:58,320 Speaker 2: So throughout the forties there were tentative plans afoot to 1005 01:01:58,400 --> 01:02:01,400 Speaker 2: remake Gatsby at Paramount. The studio still owned the rights 1006 01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:03,800 Speaker 2: from when they made the silent version in nineteen twenty six, 1007 01:02:03,960 --> 01:02:08,439 Speaker 2: and producer Robert Maybaum petitioned executives throughout the first half 1008 01:02:08,480 --> 01:02:12,200 Speaker 2: of the forties before the novel's popular resurgence, and he 1009 01:02:12,240 --> 01:02:14,560 Speaker 2: got a bunch of doors slammed in his face. But 1010 01:02:14,680 --> 01:02:18,040 Speaker 2: he kept on. He kept a knocking, much like the 1011 01:02:18,120 --> 01:02:18,960 Speaker 2: rolling Stones. 1012 01:02:20,680 --> 01:02:22,320 Speaker 1: He kept on keeping on, like. 1013 01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:28,000 Speaker 2: He kept r crumb. He was he was. He was 1014 01:02:28,040 --> 01:02:30,040 Speaker 2: back in the high life again, like Aerosmith. 1015 01:02:30,080 --> 01:02:33,520 Speaker 1: He was high on the hog, like the band. 1016 01:02:32,560 --> 01:02:36,240 Speaker 2: Jesus Christ oh Man. Sometimes they google that album cover 1017 01:02:36,400 --> 01:02:40,400 Speaker 2: just to laugh and laugh and laugh. If you're a band, 1018 01:02:40,440 --> 01:02:42,120 Speaker 2: if there any if any of you were fans of 1019 01:02:42,160 --> 01:02:44,919 Speaker 2: the band, do yourselves a favor and check that one out. 1020 01:02:45,320 --> 01:02:46,680 Speaker 1: Uh for really a. 1021 01:02:46,680 --> 01:02:53,200 Speaker 2: Truly illustrative, a defining illustration of boomers failing to find 1022 01:02:53,280 --> 01:02:53,880 Speaker 2: their way. 1023 01:02:54,400 --> 01:02:57,200 Speaker 1: Yes, ititched. It's up there with the Crosby Stills A 1024 01:02:57,280 --> 01:03:00,320 Speaker 1: Nash one of just like hot dogs being ro stood 1025 01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:05,400 Speaker 1: over planet Earth. Have you seen this one? No? Wait, 1026 01:03:05,960 --> 01:03:08,440 Speaker 1: I insist that you watch. What's it called? That's what 1027 01:03:08,440 --> 01:03:10,320 Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember. It's like it has like a 1028 01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:13,520 Speaker 1: hilarious name to like, live it up, Live it up, 1029 01:03:14,200 --> 01:03:18,560 Speaker 1: he stills a Nash Live it Up nineteen ninety Oh yeah, 1030 01:03:18,680 --> 01:03:21,280 Speaker 1: oh boy, that's ugly. Oh my god. 1031 01:03:21,360 --> 01:03:24,360 Speaker 2: Okay, as maybe I'm gonna recall this was late nineteen 1032 01:03:24,440 --> 01:03:27,240 Speaker 2: forty six. Scott Fitzgerald had been dead since nineteen forty 1033 01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:30,000 Speaker 2: his reputation was at its lowest EBB. The jazz age 1034 01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:32,800 Speaker 2: he celebrated was regarded as an aberration. But I saw 1035 01:03:32,840 --> 01:03:35,480 Speaker 2: similarity between what was happening in nineteen forty six to 1036 01:03:35,520 --> 01:03:37,400 Speaker 2: what had happened to the country in nineteen twenty, and 1037 01:03:37,440 --> 01:03:39,680 Speaker 2: I kept badgering the studio until it agreed to let 1038 01:03:39,760 --> 01:03:46,040 Speaker 2: us prepare a script two post war eras sure a 1039 01:03:46,120 --> 01:03:51,240 Speaker 2: chronologically correct assessment. This is when things went not not well. 1040 01:03:52,240 --> 01:03:55,120 Speaker 2: The country was still under the draconian and puritanical Production 1041 01:03:55,240 --> 01:03:59,080 Speaker 2: Code administration, so scripts that bore any resemblance to Scott's 1042 01:03:59,080 --> 01:04:02,680 Speaker 2: books repeatedly rejected due to having a quote low moral tone. 1043 01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:07,720 Speaker 2: Among the offenses were depictions of adultery, excessive drinking, unpublished manslaughter, 1044 01:04:07,920 --> 01:04:13,200 Speaker 2: unpunished manslaughter, unpublished manslaughter is a grin. 1045 01:04:13,080 --> 01:04:16,720 Speaker 1: Need to write that down. That's a good EP title. 1046 01:04:16,720 --> 01:04:21,920 Speaker 2: Unpunished manslaughter, and bootlegging. The screenplay underwent multiple rounds of rewrites, 1047 01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:24,640 Speaker 2: which moved the movie further and further from Scott's original 1048 01:04:24,760 --> 01:04:27,640 Speaker 2: vision and, most offensively to those who knew him. At least, 1049 01:04:28,000 --> 01:04:30,880 Speaker 2: the script added a voice of morality and a lengthy 1050 01:04:30,960 --> 01:04:35,040 Speaker 2: preamble that outright condemned Gatspi's behavior as immoral and leading 1051 01:04:35,080 --> 01:04:39,160 Speaker 2: to damnation. The scene featured a moment when narrator Nick Carraray, 1052 01:04:39,520 --> 01:04:42,520 Speaker 2: now married to flapper Jordan Baker, which not a plot 1053 01:04:42,520 --> 01:04:44,880 Speaker 2: point from the book. He literally quotes from the Bible 1054 01:04:45,400 --> 01:04:48,840 Speaker 2: Proverbs fourteen twelve that there is a way which seemeth 1055 01:04:48,920 --> 01:04:51,520 Speaker 2: right unto a man, but the end thereof are the 1056 01:04:51,560 --> 01:04:54,720 Speaker 2: ways of death. Maybem reluctantly made these changes in a 1057 01:04:54,760 --> 01:04:57,200 Speaker 2: desperate bid to see his beloved film produced, but he 1058 01:04:57,200 --> 01:05:01,240 Speaker 2: would regret the additions as all wrong and very unfitzgerald like. 1059 01:05:01,880 --> 01:05:04,120 Speaker 2: To moralize like that was something he never did. He 1060 01:05:04,200 --> 01:05:06,560 Speaker 2: was always indirect. It was the price I paid to 1061 01:05:06,560 --> 01:05:09,640 Speaker 2: get the film done. Critics would complain that the film 1062 01:05:09,720 --> 01:05:13,880 Speaker 2: lacked sufficient jazz age flavor. That's not jazz baby. They 1063 01:05:13,920 --> 01:05:18,320 Speaker 2: should know. The Bible isn't jazz baby. Only Halloween is 1064 01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:23,800 Speaker 2: m I was just thinking about that meme, the Miles 1065 01:05:23,920 --> 01:05:29,200 Speaker 2: Davis a fake Halloween bit. I'm going to read now unabridged. 1066 01:05:29,880 --> 01:05:32,720 Speaker 2: When I think about Halloween, my soul swells with music, 1067 01:05:32,880 --> 01:05:35,400 Speaker 2: and that's where the jazz comes from. People call me 1068 01:05:35,440 --> 01:05:38,120 Speaker 2: a genius, but baby, I'm just a servant of Halloween. 1069 01:05:39,680 --> 01:05:42,200 Speaker 1: And that's not not really. I believe it was ClickHole 1070 01:05:42,400 --> 01:05:42,800 Speaker 1: damn it. 1071 01:05:43,520 --> 01:05:49,920 Speaker 2: But someone googled or someone posted on chat is this true? 1072 01:05:52,360 --> 01:05:56,840 Speaker 2: Uh so I'm it's print the legend anyway for his lead, 1073 01:05:57,280 --> 01:05:59,680 Speaker 2: maybe I'm had his sight set on Alan Ladd for 1074 01:05:59,720 --> 01:06:02,080 Speaker 2: the role Gatsby. Lad would go on to play the 1075 01:06:02,120 --> 01:06:05,080 Speaker 2: title character of Shane in George stevens nineteen fifty three 1076 01:06:05,120 --> 01:06:09,080 Speaker 2: adaptation of the beloved Western novel. Maybaum felt that the 1077 01:06:09,080 --> 01:06:13,560 Speaker 2: Oklahoma born actor perfectly embodied the nouveau riche Gatsby. I 1078 01:06:13,640 --> 01:06:15,120 Speaker 2: was in Lad's house and he took me up to 1079 01:06:15,160 --> 01:06:17,200 Speaker 2: the second floor, where he had a wardrobe about as 1080 01:06:17,200 --> 01:06:19,560 Speaker 2: long as this room. Apparently the room that he was 1081 01:06:19,600 --> 01:06:22,280 Speaker 2: in giving this quote was quite long. He opened it 1082 01:06:22,360 --> 01:06:25,360 Speaker 2: up and there must have been hundreds of suits, jackets, 1083 01:06:25,400 --> 01:06:28,439 Speaker 2: sports jackets, slacks and suits. He looked at me and said, 1084 01:06:28,480 --> 01:06:31,680 Speaker 2: not bad Vernoki kid eh, I got goose pimples, because 1085 01:06:31,680 --> 01:06:34,320 Speaker 2: I remembered when Gatsby took Daisy to show her his mansion, 1086 01:06:34,600 --> 01:06:37,720 Speaker 2: he also showed her his wardrobe and said, I've got 1087 01:06:37,720 --> 01:06:39,480 Speaker 2: a man in England who buys me clothes. 1088 01:06:39,600 --> 01:06:41,400 Speaker 1: He sends over a selection of things. At the beginning 1089 01:06:41,440 --> 01:06:42,960 Speaker 1: of each season Spring and. 1090 01:06:42,960 --> 01:06:45,600 Speaker 2: Fall, I said to myself, my God, he is the 1091 01:06:45,640 --> 01:06:50,160 Speaker 2: great Gatsby. There's also Betty Field as Daisy, McDonald Carey 1092 01:06:50,360 --> 01:06:53,360 Speaker 2: as Nick, and it co stars the patron saint of Shrill, 1093 01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:57,880 Speaker 2: Shelley Winters as Myrtle, the gas station attendant's wife who's 1094 01:06:57,920 --> 01:07:01,160 Speaker 2: having an affair with Tom Buchanan. But Alan Ladd was 1095 01:07:01,160 --> 01:07:03,360 Speaker 2: the most instrumental in getting the film made. The studio 1096 01:07:03,400 --> 01:07:06,440 Speaker 2: executives were wary about actually green lighting it and essentially 1097 01:07:06,520 --> 01:07:08,800 Speaker 2: used the Gatsby script as a carrot to get him 1098 01:07:08,840 --> 01:07:11,880 Speaker 2: to do other projects, each time promising that his next 1099 01:07:11,880 --> 01:07:15,000 Speaker 2: movie would be Gatsby. After two years of this, Ladd 1100 01:07:15,080 --> 01:07:17,760 Speaker 2: finally got wise and threatened to go on strike, and 1101 01:07:17,880 --> 01:07:21,960 Speaker 2: ultimately the studio relented and production began in nineteen forty eight. 1102 01:07:22,200 --> 01:07:25,160 Speaker 1: For as Daisy. Producer Maybaum had a sight set on 1103 01:07:25,240 --> 01:07:29,040 Speaker 1: Betty Field. As we mentioned earlier, this caused a clash 1104 01:07:29,080 --> 01:07:33,280 Speaker 1: with the film's proposed director, John Father of Mia Farah, 1105 01:07:33,720 --> 01:07:37,600 Speaker 1: who preferred Gene Tierney. The producer went out and John 1106 01:07:37,680 --> 01:07:41,040 Speaker 1: Farrell walked off the production. In his place, they hired 1107 01:07:41,080 --> 01:07:48,680 Speaker 1: Elliot Nugent. Elliot Nugent anyone. This would prove to be 1108 01:07:48,760 --> 01:07:52,360 Speaker 1: something of a mistake because, per his Wikipedia, director Elliott 1109 01:07:52,440 --> 01:07:56,520 Speaker 1: Nugent suffered from mental illness during the shoot, and that's 1110 01:07:56,680 --> 01:08:00,560 Speaker 1: putting it mildly. The long suffering producer had to go 1111 01:08:00,640 --> 01:08:03,600 Speaker 1: up to the roof of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and 1112 01:08:03,640 --> 01:08:07,439 Speaker 1: convinced the director not to jump off. In a June 1113 01:08:07,520 --> 01:08:11,000 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight interview, Nugent is quoted as saying, I 1114 01:08:11,120 --> 01:08:14,760 Speaker 1: felt very unhappy when I was making cats Bey. I 1115 01:08:14,800 --> 01:08:17,320 Speaker 1: thought I shouldn't be doing it and Alan Ladd shouldn't 1116 01:08:17,320 --> 01:08:19,639 Speaker 1: be playing in it. Lad wasn't quite up to it, 1117 01:08:19,880 --> 01:08:23,280 Speaker 1: but he got away with it. It was feared that Ladd, 1118 01:08:23,479 --> 01:08:27,320 Speaker 1: who apparently was a star of beadle proportions, couldn't be 1119 01:08:27,320 --> 01:08:30,559 Speaker 1: brought on location shoots without being mobbed. As a result, 1120 01:08:31,080 --> 01:08:35,440 Speaker 1: all filming was limited to sound stages, compromising visual authenticity 1121 01:08:35,479 --> 01:08:39,960 Speaker 1: and realism. It was there that more problems developed, mostly 1122 01:08:40,080 --> 01:08:44,519 Speaker 1: due to the film star Alan Ladd, was a short guy, 1123 01:08:44,880 --> 01:08:49,040 Speaker 1: which made him less than great when posed alongside his 1124 01:08:49,120 --> 01:08:52,920 Speaker 1: taller male co stars. Because of this high disparity, the 1125 01:08:52,960 --> 01:08:56,599 Speaker 1: studio built a raised platform which was covered with carpet 1126 01:08:56,800 --> 01:09:00,160 Speaker 1: that sloped down to the regular floor of the sound stage. 1127 01:09:00,760 --> 01:09:04,120 Speaker 1: Poor Alan Ladd was humiliated by this and would complain 1128 01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:07,439 Speaker 1: to the makeup designer, no more, no more. From now on, 1129 01:09:07,520 --> 01:09:09,960 Speaker 1: I'm going to demand approval of all the other male 1130 01:09:10,000 --> 01:09:14,800 Speaker 1: actors I work with. Ladd also refused to remove his 1131 01:09:14,880 --> 01:09:18,519 Speaker 1: wedding ring, and he also refused to kiss his Daisy coastar. 1132 01:09:19,360 --> 01:09:22,200 Speaker 1: His rationale was that children would be watching this film 1133 01:09:22,320 --> 01:09:24,040 Speaker 1: and he didn't want to set a bad example by 1134 01:09:24,120 --> 01:09:28,200 Speaker 1: kissing a married woman. Ultimately, he was persuaded to do it. 1135 01:09:29,320 --> 01:09:31,760 Speaker 1: Considering how worried Allan Ladd was about setting a bad 1136 01:09:31,760 --> 01:09:35,080 Speaker 1: example for children, it makes this next anecdote all the 1137 01:09:35,120 --> 01:09:39,120 Speaker 1: more surprising. He brought his five year old daughter Alana 1138 01:09:39,120 --> 01:09:42,960 Speaker 1: to the set, which was already questionable given the subject matter, 1139 01:09:44,160 --> 01:09:46,680 Speaker 1: but more than that, he chose the day that they 1140 01:09:46,720 --> 01:09:48,960 Speaker 1: were filming the scene where he gets shot to death 1141 01:09:48,960 --> 01:09:51,799 Speaker 1: in a swimming pool. When the gun was fired at Ladd, 1142 01:09:51,880 --> 01:09:54,840 Speaker 1: a capsule underneath his skin oozed blood into the pool, 1143 01:09:55,800 --> 01:09:59,000 Speaker 1: thus traumatizing poor five year old Alana, who began to 1144 01:09:59,120 --> 01:10:02,599 Speaker 1: sob the actor he fired the gun. Howard da Silva 1145 01:10:02,800 --> 01:10:05,920 Speaker 1: attempted the comforter. Look, he's coming out of the water. 1146 01:10:05,960 --> 01:10:09,240 Speaker 1: It's just pretend. But a child that age doesn't know 1147 01:10:09,360 --> 01:10:13,160 Speaker 1: pretend from not pretend. He recalled, I remember feeling quite 1148 01:10:13,200 --> 01:10:18,360 Speaker 1: strange about that. Thirty years later, Alana recalled the traumatic incident. 1149 01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:22,240 Speaker 1: I remember that day vividly, vividly. The blood hit the 1150 01:10:22,280 --> 01:10:24,800 Speaker 1: water and I started to cry. It had taken them 1151 01:10:24,800 --> 01:10:26,960 Speaker 1: the whole day to set up in two hours to 1152 01:10:27,000 --> 01:10:29,800 Speaker 1: form the capsule on his back, and I ruined the take. 1153 01:10:30,360 --> 01:10:33,400 Speaker 1: The aforementioned literary critic, Edmund Wilson, who was a close 1154 01:10:33,439 --> 01:10:36,120 Speaker 1: friend of Scott since their Princeton days, was seen as 1155 01:10:36,160 --> 01:10:39,519 Speaker 1: the custodian of the Fitzgerald literary legacy. He was the 1156 01:10:39,520 --> 01:10:43,120 Speaker 1: man behind paring Gatsby with Scott's unfinished work, the Last Tycoon. 1157 01:10:44,160 --> 01:10:46,240 Speaker 1: All this to say, his sign off on this movie 1158 01:10:46,280 --> 01:10:50,000 Speaker 1: was huge. Paramount Pictures arranged a private screening of the 1159 01:10:50,000 --> 01:10:52,759 Speaker 1: film for Wilson in hopes of earning his public endorsement. 1160 01:10:53,160 --> 01:10:55,600 Speaker 1: According to a witness, after Wilson viewed the film and 1161 01:10:55,640 --> 01:10:59,799 Speaker 1: exited the screening room, a smiling Paramount publicity man approached 1162 01:10:59,840 --> 01:11:03,120 Speaker 1: him and asked how he'd like the picture. Not very much. 1163 01:11:03,120 --> 01:11:06,400 Speaker 1: I'm afraid, replied Wilson, and he kept walking to the elevator. 1164 01:11:07,240 --> 01:11:11,080 Speaker 1: The paramount publicity man felt apparently betrayed by Wilson's reply, 1165 01:11:11,680 --> 01:11:14,519 Speaker 1: and started chasing after him. We've gone to the trouble 1166 01:11:14,600 --> 01:11:16,680 Speaker 1: making a whole movie out of your friend's book, and 1167 01:11:16,720 --> 01:11:20,439 Speaker 1: you don't even appreciate it. He was not the last 1168 01:11:20,439 --> 01:11:23,360 Speaker 1: person to give the film a lukewarm at best response. 1169 01:11:24,160 --> 01:11:27,880 Speaker 1: The New York Times review by Bossley Crowther dismissed the 1170 01:11:27,920 --> 01:11:31,080 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine version of Gatsby as quote a limp 1171 01:11:31,240 --> 01:11:35,320 Speaker 1: sentimental romance involving a bootlegger and an old sweetheart based 1172 01:11:35,320 --> 01:11:39,280 Speaker 1: on Scott Fitzgerald's classic story, but lacking the novel's bite. 1173 01:11:40,320 --> 01:11:43,240 Speaker 1: Brother lamented that quote. The period of the nineteen twenties 1174 01:11:43,320 --> 01:11:46,559 Speaker 1: is briefly and inadequately sketched as a jumble of gay 1175 01:11:46,640 --> 01:11:51,040 Speaker 1: Long Island parties, old clothes, old songs, and old cars. 1176 01:11:51,240 --> 01:11:54,400 Speaker 2: Gay Long Island parties means something quite different these days. 1177 01:11:54,479 --> 01:11:59,120 Speaker 1: Yes, the baneful existence of prohibition and the disillusionment of 1178 01:11:59,160 --> 01:12:02,840 Speaker 1: post World War One were conspicuously absent despite the jazz 1179 01:12:02,880 --> 01:12:05,400 Speaker 1: age setting. So this would be like somebody making a 1180 01:12:05,439 --> 01:12:08,160 Speaker 1: two thousand and one era period piece without the looming 1181 01:12:08,240 --> 01:12:13,320 Speaker 1: specter of nine eleven. Essentially, Brother felt that lad was 1182 01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:16,479 Speaker 1: too solemn as Gatsby and gave the impression of quote 1183 01:12:16,520 --> 01:12:21,240 Speaker 1: a patient and saddern No, I've never read that one. 1184 01:12:21,320 --> 01:12:26,439 Speaker 2: Saturnine means it goes back to the ancient like one 1185 01:12:26,439 --> 01:12:30,200 Speaker 2: of the ideas that the planets governed your, oh, like 1186 01:12:30,280 --> 01:12:34,200 Speaker 2: your emotions, And it means like balefull and depressed. 1187 01:12:35,640 --> 01:12:39,559 Speaker 1: A patient and saturnine fellow was plagued by a desperate 1188 01:12:39,640 --> 01:12:45,960 Speaker 1: love who among us, et cetera. Part of the reason 1189 01:12:46,000 --> 01:12:48,120 Speaker 1: that I and probably a lot of you have never 1190 01:12:48,120 --> 01:12:50,479 Speaker 1: heard of the nineteen forty nine version of Gatsby is that, 1191 01:12:50,520 --> 01:12:54,320 Speaker 1: immediately prior to the nineteen seventy four edition with Robert Redford, 1192 01:12:54,320 --> 01:12:59,040 Speaker 1: Ema Farrow Paramount suppressed the distribution of this older version 1193 01:12:59,080 --> 01:13:02,080 Speaker 1: to deter a theaters from playing them and competing with 1194 01:13:02,120 --> 01:13:05,960 Speaker 1: their new release. This decision led to prints of both films, 1195 01:13:06,000 --> 01:13:08,679 Speaker 1: the nineteen forty nine version and the silent nineteen twenty 1196 01:13:08,720 --> 01:13:12,639 Speaker 1: six version, to being lost. The nineteen forty nine version 1197 01:13:12,680 --> 01:13:16,160 Speaker 1: was eventually rediscovered in twenty twelve, but the nineteen twenty 1198 01:13:16,200 --> 01:13:21,080 Speaker 1: six version, as we mentioned earlier, remains lost. Let's skip 1199 01:13:21,120 --> 01:13:23,680 Speaker 1: over my beloved fifties and sixties until we get to 1200 01:13:23,720 --> 01:13:27,960 Speaker 1: the early seventies, a time so coked out, they tapped 1201 01:13:28,000 --> 01:13:31,479 Speaker 1: a past at Truman Capoti to write the screenplay with 1202 01:13:31,600 --> 01:13:36,080 Speaker 1: a Great Gatsby good for them, would you say? Yeah? 1203 01:13:36,160 --> 01:13:39,559 Speaker 1: It's believed that the idea was that studio executives saw 1204 01:13:39,600 --> 01:13:43,479 Speaker 1: similarities between the narrator and Truman's Breakfast at Tiffany's novella 1205 01:13:43,720 --> 01:13:46,840 Speaker 1: I See That and Gatsby narrator Nick Kay. Yeah. The 1206 01:13:46,960 --> 01:13:49,280 Speaker 1: idea to remake The Great Gatsby in the seventies came 1207 01:13:49,320 --> 01:13:54,240 Speaker 1: from legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans, he of Rosemary's Baby 1208 01:13:54,400 --> 01:13:57,760 Speaker 1: and Love Story and The Godfather in Chinatown. It's a 1209 01:13:57,760 --> 01:14:00,479 Speaker 1: great documentary about him called The Kid Stays in the Picture, 1210 01:14:00,479 --> 01:14:04,000 Speaker 1: which is highly recommended. Robert Evans wanted to make a 1211 01:14:04,040 --> 01:14:08,200 Speaker 1: movie of Gatsby for his wife Ali McGraw. He just 1212 01:14:08,280 --> 01:14:10,240 Speaker 1: made her a star by casting her in the hit 1213 01:14:10,360 --> 01:14:13,720 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy adaptation of the book Love Story. You know 1214 01:14:13,880 --> 01:14:17,200 Speaker 1: love means never having to say you're sorry, etc. And 1215 01:14:17,240 --> 01:14:19,280 Speaker 1: for a follow up, he wanted to cast her in 1216 01:14:19,320 --> 01:14:24,120 Speaker 1: Gatsby because it was her favorite book, Adorable hold On 1217 01:14:24,160 --> 01:14:27,280 Speaker 1: to that memory for a moment. Robert Evans made a 1218 01:14:27,280 --> 01:14:30,920 Speaker 1: deal with Broadway producer David Merrick as producer, and it 1219 01:14:30,960 --> 01:14:33,719 Speaker 1: was Marrek who bought the rights for Gatsby for between 1220 01:14:33,920 --> 01:14:36,639 Speaker 1: three hundred and fifty thousand and five hundred thousand from 1221 01:14:36,720 --> 01:14:42,920 Speaker 1: f Scott Fitzgerald's daughter Francis Scottie Fitzgerald. At some point 1222 01:14:43,160 --> 01:14:46,799 Speaker 1: they approached the legendary screenwriter Robert Town to write the script, 1223 01:14:47,240 --> 01:14:49,960 Speaker 1: but he passed up the gig despite the prestige and 1224 01:14:50,040 --> 01:14:52,800 Speaker 1: the one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars salary, which 1225 01:14:52,840 --> 01:14:56,360 Speaker 1: is like a million dollars today, because quote, I didn't 1226 01:14:56,400 --> 01:14:59,160 Speaker 1: want to be the unknown Hollywood screenwriter who up a 1227 01:14:59,200 --> 01:15:04,840 Speaker 1: literary class. That's fair. Yeah. Instead, he wrote Chinatown, which 1228 01:15:04,880 --> 01:15:07,439 Speaker 1: earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1229 01:15:07,479 --> 01:15:11,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four. The studio ultimately landed on Capodi, who 1230 01:15:11,280 --> 01:15:15,080 Speaker 1: took a unique spin on the Gatsby story. He reportedly 1231 01:15:15,120 --> 01:15:19,599 Speaker 1: planned on exploring narrator Nick Carraway's repressed homosexuality by bringing 1232 01:15:19,680 --> 01:15:21,760 Speaker 1: him out of the closet, and he wanted to make 1233 01:15:21,840 --> 01:15:24,760 Speaker 1: Jordan Baker, who was Nick's casual girlfriend in the book, 1234 01:15:24,800 --> 01:15:29,679 Speaker 1: a quote vindictive lesbian. When Truman turned down a draft, 1235 01:15:29,800 --> 01:15:32,760 Speaker 1: the executives were horrified by what he had done and 1236 01:15:32,800 --> 01:15:36,160 Speaker 1: also what he didn't do. In an interview with Deadline, 1237 01:15:36,280 --> 01:15:40,240 Speaker 1: former Paramount VP Peter Bart claimed that Truman Capote merely 1238 01:15:40,280 --> 01:15:45,320 Speaker 1: transcribed chapters of the book word for words. Bart recalled 1239 01:15:45,320 --> 01:15:48,000 Speaker 1: an intense meeting with Capote in nineteen seventy three at 1240 01:15:48,000 --> 01:15:51,800 Speaker 1: a Beverly Hills restaurant where Campodi complained to strangers at 1241 01:15:51,840 --> 01:15:54,479 Speaker 1: the next table, Oh can I do a Capote voice? 1242 01:15:55,000 --> 01:15:58,759 Speaker 2: I ra un, it's gonna come across a little. 1243 01:15:59,720 --> 01:16:00,840 Speaker 1: Yeah. 1244 01:16:00,920 --> 01:16:01,400 Speaker 4: I wrote a. 1245 01:16:01,400 --> 01:16:04,120 Speaker 1: Brilliant screenplay, and this man from Paramount is telling me 1246 01:16:04,160 --> 01:16:07,000 Speaker 1: that I didn't write it. I simply typed it. What 1247 01:16:07,080 --> 01:16:12,400 Speaker 1: should I do to him? Truman was fired, though he 1248 01:16:12,479 --> 01:16:17,640 Speaker 1: reportedly kept his three hundred thousand dollars fee. That's so 1249 01:16:17,840 --> 01:16:20,479 Speaker 1: much money for like nineteen seventy two bucks. 1250 01:16:20,880 --> 01:16:22,720 Speaker 2: That is an insane kill fee too. 1251 01:16:22,840 --> 01:16:27,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's insane. Now, that's an insane yeah wow. I mean, yes, 1252 01:16:27,040 --> 01:16:31,240 Speaker 1: he was Truman Capotti, but then again he was Tan Cope. 1253 01:16:31,280 --> 01:16:34,400 Speaker 1: He never never really wrote anything of consequence. 1254 01:16:34,439 --> 01:16:37,160 Speaker 2: Again, it's true, movie magic, movie magic. 1255 01:16:38,479 --> 01:16:38,719 Speaker 4: Now. 1256 01:16:38,760 --> 01:16:42,200 Speaker 1: Desperate Studio had Robert Evans punted the script to Francis 1257 01:16:42,240 --> 01:16:45,440 Speaker 1: Ford Coppola, who had just wrapped production on The Godfather. 1258 01:16:45,600 --> 01:16:48,360 Speaker 1: For Evans, the film was in the can but hadn't 1259 01:16:48,400 --> 01:16:51,240 Speaker 1: yet been released, and Francis was so unsure about how 1260 01:16:51,240 --> 01:16:54,400 Speaker 1: it would be received that he took on this gig 1261 01:16:54,840 --> 01:16:57,640 Speaker 1: because he really needed the money. He really thought The 1262 01:16:57,680 --> 01:17:01,000 Speaker 1: Godfather was gonna tank his career. It's easy to forget. 1263 01:17:01,040 --> 01:17:03,320 Speaker 1: I forgot this until we were working on the Oscars 1264 01:17:03,360 --> 01:17:07,080 Speaker 1: episode that pre Godfather. Francis had already won an Oscar 1265 01:17:07,160 --> 01:17:10,160 Speaker 1: for writing the script for Patent with George C. Scott. 1266 01:17:10,560 --> 01:17:12,040 Speaker 2: I also. 1267 01:17:13,160 --> 01:17:16,960 Speaker 1: That he actually got the gig for Gatsby when he 1268 01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:20,640 Speaker 1: did a punch up on the way we were and 1269 01:17:20,720 --> 01:17:23,639 Speaker 1: Robert Redford was like, hey, you should look at Francis. 1270 01:17:23,720 --> 01:17:24,760 Speaker 1: He would do a good job on this. 1271 01:17:25,479 --> 01:17:28,000 Speaker 2: Good for the most handsome man in the world, for 1272 01:17:28,280 --> 01:17:32,720 Speaker 2: upping an ugly Italian guy with who was probably shirtless. 1273 01:17:34,320 --> 01:17:36,280 Speaker 2: All those pictures of it. I was something from Heart 1274 01:17:36,280 --> 01:17:40,120 Speaker 2: of Darkness was circulating the other day. It's just like him, 1275 01:17:40,200 --> 01:17:42,760 Speaker 2: like in the middle, I guess in periods between heart 1276 01:17:42,760 --> 01:17:46,679 Speaker 2: attacks while filming that, but just like just in an armchair, 1277 01:17:46,760 --> 01:17:49,200 Speaker 2: just being like ranting about film how many. 1278 01:17:49,080 --> 01:17:51,280 Speaker 1: People hat a heart attack on the Apocalypse now set? 1279 01:17:51,280 --> 01:17:56,519 Speaker 1: Because I know that Martin Sheen did too, right, Yeah? 1280 01:17:56,560 --> 01:17:59,920 Speaker 2: And I thought Copla had two? 1281 01:18:00,200 --> 01:18:02,760 Speaker 1: Did he have? Jesus, I didn't know that Martin Sheen 1282 01:18:02,840 --> 01:18:10,120 Speaker 1: had a heart attack that was drug related? Uh, I'm like, 1283 01:18:10,160 --> 01:18:11,760 Speaker 1: what kind of drugs Sheen on? 1284 01:18:13,439 --> 01:18:15,280 Speaker 2: That era had to be head to be coke? 1285 01:18:15,400 --> 01:18:16,000 Speaker 1: Yeah? 1286 01:18:16,280 --> 01:18:17,200 Speaker 2: What did Copla have? 1287 01:18:17,960 --> 01:18:18,240 Speaker 1: Oh? 1288 01:18:18,400 --> 01:18:21,960 Speaker 2: He had an epileptic seizure. Oh, we regret the error, 1289 01:18:22,200 --> 01:18:25,800 Speaker 2: We regret the air and threatened to uh threatened to 1290 01:18:25,880 --> 01:18:30,000 Speaker 2: kill himself at least three times, which honestly making a movie, 1291 01:18:30,760 --> 01:18:34,200 Speaker 2: Italian making a movie. Yeah, that's that's We're still bar 1292 01:18:34,280 --> 01:18:36,200 Speaker 2: for the chorus on that. It's right down the middle. 1293 01:18:36,360 --> 01:18:38,679 Speaker 2: You know, you don't really start to take Italian seriously 1294 01:18:38,720 --> 01:18:41,920 Speaker 2: with death threats until they're actually holding the gun. 1295 01:18:42,760 --> 01:18:44,439 Speaker 1: It really does. See and I can say this as 1296 01:18:44,439 --> 01:18:47,559 Speaker 1: a as a half Italian Italian's putting to kill themselves 1297 01:18:47,600 --> 01:18:47,880 Speaker 1: a lot. 1298 01:18:48,000 --> 01:18:51,360 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean it's moon struck. Christy bag made 1299 01:18:51,360 --> 01:18:52,280 Speaker 2: a big knife. 1300 01:18:52,560 --> 01:18:55,320 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that is correct. 1301 01:18:56,920 --> 01:18:59,840 Speaker 2: Anyway, God, we've talked a lot about the Italians. I 1302 01:19:00,200 --> 01:19:02,879 Speaker 2: can say it. I'm taking it back. 1303 01:19:06,160 --> 01:19:08,000 Speaker 1: You know, it's sort of amazing the couple. I didn't 1304 01:19:08,000 --> 01:19:11,479 Speaker 1: try to end it during this production too. He admitted 1305 01:19:11,520 --> 01:19:14,240 Speaker 1: that he had read Gatsby, but wasn't familiar with it 1306 01:19:14,280 --> 01:19:17,840 Speaker 1: at the time. So, in a fitting tribute to F's 1307 01:19:17,960 --> 01:19:22,040 Speaker 1: lost generation social circle of expats, Francis checked himself into 1308 01:19:22,040 --> 01:19:26,160 Speaker 1: a hotel in Paris, apparently Oscar Wilde's old room, and 1309 01:19:26,240 --> 01:19:29,439 Speaker 1: started work. I also read these spent time in Great 1310 01:19:29,479 --> 01:19:32,240 Speaker 1: Neck Long Island, which served as the model for Gatsby's 1311 01:19:32,280 --> 01:19:36,519 Speaker 1: hometown of West Egg. Francis later recalled, I was shocked 1312 01:19:36,520 --> 01:19:39,120 Speaker 1: to find that there was almost no dialogue between Daisy 1313 01:19:39,120 --> 01:19:41,600 Speaker 1: and Gatsby and the book, and I was terrified that 1314 01:19:41,640 --> 01:19:44,000 Speaker 1: I have to make it all up, you know, do 1315 01:19:44,120 --> 01:19:47,439 Speaker 1: the writer thing. So I did a quick review of 1316 01:19:47,479 --> 01:19:50,799 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald's short stories, and as many of them were similar 1317 01:19:51,479 --> 01:19:53,160 Speaker 1: in that they were about a poor boy and a 1318 01:19:53,280 --> 01:19:56,040 Speaker 1: rich girl, I helped myself to much of the authentic 1319 01:19:56,040 --> 01:20:00,040 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald dialogue from them. I decided that perhaps an interesting 1320 01:20:00,120 --> 01:20:02,080 Speaker 1: idea would be to do one of those scenes that 1321 01:20:02,120 --> 01:20:05,360 Speaker 1: lovers typically have where they finally get together after much 1322 01:20:05,400 --> 01:20:08,639 Speaker 1: longing and have a talk all night scene, which I'd 1323 01:20:08,640 --> 01:20:11,320 Speaker 1: never seen in a film, So I did that. I 1324 01:20:11,320 --> 01:20:13,919 Speaker 1: think a six page scene in which Daisy and Gatsby 1325 01:20:14,000 --> 01:20:15,160 Speaker 1: stay up all night and talk. 1326 01:20:15,520 --> 01:20:17,280 Speaker 2: Did coble I invent that cliche? 1327 01:20:17,560 --> 01:20:19,320 Speaker 1: I if he's. 1328 01:20:19,280 --> 01:20:23,679 Speaker 2: Believed, then we have like a key story point across 1329 01:20:23,720 --> 01:20:30,040 Speaker 2: like dozens of the American ron coms to think that's wild. 1330 01:20:30,200 --> 01:20:30,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. 1331 01:20:31,000 --> 01:20:32,720 Speaker 2: He'd be probably talking all that of his ass. There's 1332 01:20:32,720 --> 01:20:35,000 Speaker 2: a way I can google it right now. But that's crazy. 1333 01:20:35,080 --> 01:20:40,880 Speaker 2: If actually Francis Ford Coppola invented the like rom com 1334 01:20:41,000 --> 01:20:43,160 Speaker 2: trope of just staying up and talking all night. 1335 01:20:44,040 --> 01:20:48,400 Speaker 1: Ah, but before sunrise. He would go on to say, 1336 01:20:48,439 --> 01:20:50,360 Speaker 1: I remember my wife telling me that she and the 1337 01:20:50,400 --> 01:20:52,840 Speaker 1: kids were in New York when The Godfather opened as 1338 01:20:52,840 --> 01:20:55,080 Speaker 1: I was writing Gatsby, and it was a big hit, 1339 01:20:55,240 --> 01:20:57,439 Speaker 1: and there were lines around the block at five thieves 1340 01:20:57,479 --> 01:20:59,400 Speaker 1: in the city, which was unheard of at the time. 1341 01:21:00,080 --> 01:21:01,640 Speaker 1: I said, yeah, yeah, But I got to finish the 1342 01:21:01,680 --> 01:21:04,880 Speaker 1: Gatsby script, and I sent the script in just in time. 1343 01:21:05,439 --> 01:21:07,880 Speaker 1: It had taken me two or three weeks to complete. 1344 01:21:09,479 --> 01:21:12,559 Speaker 1: Frances was reasonably happy with a script, but like many 1345 01:21:12,600 --> 01:21:15,120 Speaker 1: associated with the production, he was not happy with the 1346 01:21:15,120 --> 01:21:18,599 Speaker 1: final product. On his commentary track for the DVD release 1347 01:21:18,640 --> 01:21:21,839 Speaker 1: of The Godfather, couple refers to writing the Gatsby script, 1348 01:21:22,120 --> 01:21:25,360 Speaker 1: adding not that the director paid any attention to it. 1349 01:21:25,800 --> 01:21:30,040 Speaker 1: The script that I wrote did not get made. Bitch, Bitch, bitch. 1350 01:21:35,640 --> 01:21:40,840 Speaker 2: Nineteen seventies version. Casting is the subject header here. You 1351 01:21:40,880 --> 01:21:43,439 Speaker 2: know Jordan doesn't have as much fun with them as 1352 01:21:43,439 --> 01:21:46,880 Speaker 2: I do anymore? Well, some mean after all the stuff 1353 01:21:46,920 --> 01:21:49,639 Speaker 2: I read, Yeah, about forty pages of Gatsby. 1354 01:21:50,800 --> 01:21:53,640 Speaker 1: Well no, no, no, I mean more thless like this 1355 01:21:53,680 --> 01:21:56,320 Speaker 1: is coming off of writing the Fitzgerald's Dark Knight of 1356 01:21:56,360 --> 01:21:56,840 Speaker 1: the Soul. 1357 01:21:57,120 --> 01:22:00,760 Speaker 2: That's true, that's true. Nothing witty and funny about this. 1358 01:22:02,240 --> 01:22:05,320 Speaker 2: The production seemed somewhat cursed from the start. The search 1359 01:22:05,400 --> 01:22:08,280 Speaker 2: for a Gatsby was long and drawn out. Marlon Brando 1360 01:22:08,360 --> 01:22:10,680 Speaker 2: was initially in the running to play Gatsby, but he 1361 01:22:10,760 --> 01:22:14,519 Speaker 2: wanted too much money four million dollars or about twenty 1362 01:22:14,640 --> 01:22:18,639 Speaker 2: seven million dollars today. Brando was pissed with Paramount because 1363 01:22:18,640 --> 01:22:22,880 Speaker 2: he'd surrendered his profit participation points to The Godfather for 1364 01:22:23,000 --> 01:22:27,519 Speaker 2: one hundred grand immediately prior to its release, and as 1365 01:22:27,960 --> 01:22:31,320 Speaker 2: people do when they make that decision, he immediately regretted 1366 01:22:31,360 --> 01:22:33,519 Speaker 2: it because his points of the back end would have 1367 01:22:33,600 --> 01:22:37,680 Speaker 2: far exceeded one hundred thousand dollars the most. I think 1368 01:22:37,720 --> 01:22:41,640 Speaker 2: the most famous example of that positively is Alec Ginness, right, 1369 01:22:42,120 --> 01:22:45,439 Speaker 2: was like, not at all convinced Star Wars would do anything, 1370 01:22:45,520 --> 01:22:48,559 Speaker 2: and then it just paid for the rest of his life. Well, 1371 01:22:48,560 --> 01:22:52,600 Speaker 2: didn't he also get a percentage of like merchandise merch Yeah? Yeah, 1372 01:22:52,640 --> 01:22:54,760 Speaker 2: So Brando was trying to gouge the studio with his 1373 01:22:54,800 --> 01:22:58,080 Speaker 2: next salary negotiation to recoup his difference, and admitted as 1374 01:22:58,120 --> 01:23:02,160 Speaker 2: much to studio heads. This approach failed when the studio 1375 01:23:02,200 --> 01:23:05,720 Speaker 2: execs argued quite rationally that it wasn't their fault. He'd 1376 01:23:05,760 --> 01:23:08,639 Speaker 2: made a stupid business decision and these were two different 1377 01:23:08,680 --> 01:23:12,320 Speaker 2: movies and two different business entities. In the end, they 1378 01:23:12,520 --> 01:23:15,920 Speaker 2: declined to cast Brando, which pissed him off so much 1379 01:23:15,960 --> 01:23:18,160 Speaker 2: that he refused to be in the Godfather sequel around 1380 01:23:18,200 --> 01:23:21,599 Speaker 2: the same period, and Brando was also fifty and Gatsby's 1381 01:23:21,600 --> 01:23:25,360 Speaker 2: supposed to be in his thirties. Robert Redford, who ultimately 1382 01:23:25,360 --> 01:23:28,479 Speaker 2: got the role, later commented, didn't anyone at Paramount bother 1383 01:23:28,600 --> 01:23:31,160 Speaker 2: to read the novel, to which I would reply, haven't 1384 01:23:31,160 --> 01:23:33,280 Speaker 2: you been in Hollywood long? Enough to know the answer 1385 01:23:33,360 --> 01:23:37,880 Speaker 2: to that. Rob Bob Redford. Man, his whole aur changes 1386 01:23:37,920 --> 01:23:39,280 Speaker 2: if you called Bob Redford. 1387 01:23:39,680 --> 01:23:45,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that doesn't that sucks that do Bob is tough, 1388 01:23:45,800 --> 01:23:48,760 Speaker 1: Bob Bob out there. But Bob it's hard to pull off. 1389 01:23:49,400 --> 01:23:53,200 Speaker 1: A's Dylan. It's Dylan, right, the only I think he 1390 01:23:53,280 --> 01:23:58,759 Speaker 1: succeeds despite the Bob personally. It's true. It's true. Bobby Darren, 1391 01:23:59,400 --> 01:24:01,240 Speaker 1: Bobby's Bobby's a different thing. 1392 01:24:01,400 --> 01:24:08,479 Speaker 2: Yeah, Bob is tough. Bob's tough. He puts like a 1393 01:24:08,520 --> 01:24:11,439 Speaker 2: comically long amount of time in there. 1394 01:24:12,400 --> 01:24:14,000 Speaker 1: Bob's tough. It's tough. 1395 01:24:14,080 --> 01:24:14,360 Speaker 3: Ro to ho. 1396 01:24:15,960 --> 01:24:19,479 Speaker 2: Also, that move was stupid of him, but it resulted 1397 01:24:19,479 --> 01:24:20,639 Speaker 2: in a much better movie. 1398 01:24:21,320 --> 01:24:23,599 Speaker 1: Yeah, like the one of the greatest sequels of whole. 1399 01:24:23,439 --> 01:24:29,519 Speaker 2: Time anyway, So Brando, Yeah, man, I can't get over 1400 01:24:29,640 --> 01:24:32,800 Speaker 2: that Island of Doctor Moreau documentary. It is just so 1401 01:24:33,640 --> 01:24:36,559 Speaker 2: hilarious how much of a prick he was on that, Like. 1402 01:24:37,080 --> 01:24:38,320 Speaker 1: Are you in any way surprise? 1403 01:24:38,560 --> 01:24:42,840 Speaker 2: Like no, but it is like it's so like the 1404 01:24:43,120 --> 01:24:45,680 Speaker 2: that he and Kilmer got up to is like there 1405 01:24:45,720 --> 01:24:47,479 Speaker 2: was this one guy in that doc The documentary I'm 1406 01:24:47,520 --> 01:24:51,600 Speaker 2: talking about is called Lost Soul, which is Richard Stanley's 1407 01:24:51,640 --> 01:24:54,120 Speaker 2: Island of Doctor Moreau, which is he was the guy 1408 01:24:54,120 --> 01:24:57,800 Speaker 2: who initially got the nineteen ninety seven movie greenlit. He 1409 01:24:57,960 --> 01:25:00,519 Speaker 2: was a talented director and he just a lot of 1410 01:25:01,000 --> 01:25:04,320 Speaker 2: luck and got kicked off of it. But man, one 1411 01:25:04,360 --> 01:25:07,040 Speaker 2: of the film crew was talking about Val Kilmer, who 1412 01:25:07,120 --> 01:25:11,439 Speaker 2: was I guess charitably method acting because his character in 1413 01:25:11,479 --> 01:25:15,519 Speaker 2: the movie is like a drug addult all. And he 1414 01:25:15,640 --> 01:25:18,479 Speaker 2: was talking about like seeing Val Kilmer like reach out 1415 01:25:18,479 --> 01:25:22,639 Speaker 2: with the ember of a cigarette and just like burn 1416 01:25:22,840 --> 01:25:26,760 Speaker 2: a guy's side burns while the focus puller while he 1417 01:25:26,960 --> 01:25:31,320 Speaker 2: was filming. And Brando's famous thing was there's two things. 1418 01:25:31,360 --> 01:25:35,080 Speaker 2: One was the famous ice bucket hat because he was 1419 01:25:35,120 --> 01:25:38,400 Speaker 2: hot all the time. So he was like, well, I 1420 01:25:38,439 --> 01:25:42,400 Speaker 2: think I think Moreau would actually have an ice bucket hat, 1421 01:25:42,640 --> 01:25:45,200 Speaker 2: and they like and refused to do it, like refused 1422 01:25:45,200 --> 01:25:47,360 Speaker 2: to come out until they made him one because he 1423 01:25:47,439 --> 01:25:49,760 Speaker 2: was like hot and sweaty. So they literally made him 1424 01:25:49,760 --> 01:25:52,960 Speaker 2: a hat that you could put ice into that would 1425 01:25:53,040 --> 01:25:58,120 Speaker 2: keep his disgusting old bald Marlon Brando head. Uh yeah, 1426 01:25:58,160 --> 01:25:59,639 Speaker 2: just look at the way he looks in that movie's 1427 01:25:59,680 --> 01:26:00,799 Speaker 2: coden pancake makeup. 1428 01:26:00,840 --> 01:26:03,360 Speaker 1: It's ridiculous. He looks like a corpse. Like he looks 1429 01:26:03,400 --> 01:26:04,240 Speaker 1: like not well. 1430 01:26:04,760 --> 01:26:07,800 Speaker 2: And the funniest thing about that movie, aside from this, 1431 01:26:08,439 --> 01:26:12,040 Speaker 2: is that the little man that that who is like 1432 01:26:12,120 --> 01:26:14,759 Speaker 2: at the time like the World's Shortest Man, who mini 1433 01:26:14,840 --> 01:26:18,599 Speaker 2: me is famously based off of his prominence in the film, 1434 01:26:19,160 --> 01:26:23,439 Speaker 2: was entirely Brando's decision. There's another actor in that movie 1435 01:26:23,479 --> 01:26:26,160 Speaker 2: who's quoted in this documentary who was originally going to 1436 01:26:26,200 --> 01:26:31,600 Speaker 2: have this like quite rich part as as like Moreau's 1437 01:26:31,640 --> 01:26:35,160 Speaker 2: like most proud creation, because there's a whole opening scene 1438 01:26:35,200 --> 01:26:38,000 Speaker 2: where he's like reciting The Tempest and is this like 1439 01:26:38,080 --> 01:26:41,280 Speaker 2: German actor and he talks about like being excited about 1440 01:26:41,280 --> 01:26:43,200 Speaker 2: this role and all this stuff, and Branda gets on 1441 01:26:43,200 --> 01:26:45,600 Speaker 2: his side and he's like the little guy, I like, 1442 01:26:45,640 --> 01:26:48,760 Speaker 2: the little guy cut the Tempest shit and like just 1443 01:26:48,960 --> 01:26:54,080 Speaker 2: cut this guy's part unilatterally so that he could like 1444 01:26:54,320 --> 01:26:59,360 Speaker 2: elevate this tiny man and literally make him a mini me. 1445 01:26:59,520 --> 01:27:02,160 Speaker 2: And they like the whole scene where he's playing piano 1446 01:27:02,280 --> 01:27:04,920 Speaker 2: and the World's Smallest Man has an equally tiny piano. 1447 01:27:05,200 --> 01:27:08,000 Speaker 2: That was all Brando just being like, I'm not coming 1448 01:27:08,040 --> 01:27:09,519 Speaker 2: out of my trailer until you do this. 1449 01:27:10,680 --> 01:27:15,000 Speaker 1: What a guy? What an aphole man, I. 1450 01:27:15,000 --> 01:27:20,400 Speaker 2: Don't I mean like well, I don't know. I mean 1451 01:27:20,439 --> 01:27:23,080 Speaker 2: it's I don't know, you know, it was wild one 1452 01:27:23,160 --> 01:27:26,240 Speaker 2: and on the waterfront, like really worth the next fifty 1453 01:27:26,320 --> 01:27:29,759 Speaker 2: years of putting up with this guys. 1454 01:27:28,960 --> 01:27:33,679 Speaker 1: I don't know. Hollywood apparently thought, so, okay, so you've 1455 01:27:33,680 --> 01:27:36,559 Speaker 1: got a street car named Desire on the waterfront, Yeah, 1456 01:27:36,600 --> 01:27:41,240 Speaker 1: wild One, Yeah, Godfather, Apocalypse. 1457 01:27:42,600 --> 01:27:45,280 Speaker 2: If you he's good in Apocalypse now, but he's I mean, 1458 01:27:45,840 --> 01:27:48,720 Speaker 2: he's kind of phoning it in already. And Godfather, I mean 1459 01:27:48,760 --> 01:27:54,000 Speaker 2: he's literally talking, he's literally talking through tissues. Well yeah, 1460 01:27:54,040 --> 01:27:56,720 Speaker 2: he's literally talking through tissues and he's barely mobile in 1461 01:27:56,760 --> 01:28:01,720 Speaker 2: that it takes all scenes like when he moves for 1462 01:28:01,760 --> 01:28:05,400 Speaker 2: the first time in the film, it kills him. 1463 01:28:05,600 --> 01:28:10,160 Speaker 1: Am I missing any other oh? Sorry, last thing going Paris? Yeah, 1464 01:28:10,200 --> 01:28:12,080 Speaker 1: despite that, thought. 1465 01:28:12,880 --> 01:28:16,000 Speaker 2: Well, he was great as cal l or jorde l 1466 01:28:16,280 --> 01:28:20,240 Speaker 2: or al con Alcannon whatever Superman's dad's name is in 1467 01:28:20,360 --> 01:28:27,040 Speaker 2: the Christopher Reef movie. I'm joking, of course. Anyway. Brando 1468 01:28:27,160 --> 01:28:34,040 Speaker 2: sidebar over with execs also initially rejected Redford during casting 1469 01:28:34,080 --> 01:28:36,599 Speaker 2: because they were under the assumption that Fitzgerald had described 1470 01:28:36,640 --> 01:28:40,000 Speaker 2: Gatsby as having black hair something that is not true. 1471 01:28:40,479 --> 01:28:43,439 Speaker 2: Warren Beatty was also considered for Gatsby, but he reportedly 1472 01:28:43,479 --> 01:28:46,800 Speaker 2: wanted to direct. This was during his Shampoof era. Wasn't 1473 01:28:47,000 --> 01:28:50,720 Speaker 2: but he thought he could direct. Also refused to act 1474 01:28:50,760 --> 01:28:54,639 Speaker 2: opposite Alan McGraw aka the producer's wife. 1475 01:28:55,200 --> 01:28:56,840 Speaker 1: So the studio head's wife. Yeah. 1476 01:28:56,920 --> 01:29:00,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, the same thing happened with Jack Nicholson, which makes me. 1477 01:29:00,720 --> 01:29:04,360 Speaker 1: Want to rewatch Love Story and reevaluate Elli McGraw's acting 1478 01:29:04,439 --> 01:29:06,840 Speaker 1: chops because nobody wanted to actor in this. 1479 01:29:07,520 --> 01:29:10,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess maybe it was more the idea of 1480 01:29:10,160 --> 01:29:14,160 Speaker 2: like knowing that you would get blamed because the y. 1481 01:29:15,200 --> 01:29:18,519 Speaker 1: Oh, that's a good point. That's a very good point. Yeah, 1482 01:29:18,680 --> 01:29:19,960 Speaker 1: but it ultimately was a good point. 1483 01:29:19,960 --> 01:29:22,120 Speaker 2: Even though Robert Evans began producing the film so he 1484 01:29:22,120 --> 01:29:24,559 Speaker 2: could hand his wife the lead role in her favorite book. 1485 01:29:24,800 --> 01:29:27,240 Speaker 2: McGraw did not appear in the nineteen seventy four edition 1486 01:29:27,360 --> 01:29:31,000 Speaker 2: of Great Gatsby and the Reasons read like a French farce. 1487 01:29:31,880 --> 01:29:34,400 Speaker 2: Due to the delays and finalizing the script, mcgral had 1488 01:29:34,400 --> 01:29:36,760 Speaker 2: a gap in her schedule, so eager to strike while 1489 01:29:36,760 --> 01:29:39,559 Speaker 2: the proverbial iron was hot following her success and Love Story, 1490 01:29:39,720 --> 01:29:42,839 Speaker 2: she agreed to star in The Getaway alongside Steve McQueen. 1491 01:29:43,760 --> 01:29:46,599 Speaker 2: During the nineteen seventy two production, Steve McQueen did what 1492 01:29:46,600 --> 01:29:49,240 Speaker 2: Steve McQueen does and made Ally McGraw fall in love 1493 01:29:49,280 --> 01:29:52,000 Speaker 2: with him. The pair had an affair on set, and 1494 01:29:52,080 --> 01:29:56,200 Speaker 2: McGraw left Evans for him, which wouldn't you Yeah, oh yeah. 1495 01:29:56,240 --> 01:29:58,800 Speaker 2: She then had the goal to approach Gatsby producer David 1496 01:29:58,880 --> 01:30:02,479 Speaker 2: Merrick through her agent, at least to offer herself and 1497 01:30:02,600 --> 01:30:05,799 Speaker 2: McQueen as a package deal for the movie. 1498 01:30:06,439 --> 01:30:13,879 Speaker 1: The studio turned her down. Robert Evans, Yeah, Steve McQueen 1499 01:30:13,920 --> 01:30:16,200 Speaker 1: has Gatsby, though, I. 1500 01:30:16,160 --> 01:30:18,760 Speaker 2: Mean they should have had Steve McQueen show up and 1501 01:30:18,800 --> 01:30:22,960 Speaker 2: just beat up Robert Evans in an office like until 1502 01:30:23,040 --> 01:30:26,240 Speaker 2: he acquiesced. That would have been I think the correct approach. 1503 01:30:26,960 --> 01:30:32,439 Speaker 2: Or just drive really well around him Lamon's yeah, I 1504 01:30:32,479 --> 01:30:34,960 Speaker 2: was just thinking a bullet. Oh well that's a how 1505 01:30:34,960 --> 01:30:37,760 Speaker 2: many movies does he just like drive really drive in? 1506 01:30:37,840 --> 01:30:40,480 Speaker 1: Yeah. 1507 01:30:40,560 --> 01:30:45,879 Speaker 2: Steve McQueen just a great driver, known for it. Reports 1508 01:30:45,960 --> 01:30:48,320 Speaker 2: very as to whether she walked or was fired by Evans, 1509 01:30:48,360 --> 01:30:51,240 Speaker 2: who still had tremendous way over the production and after 1510 01:30:51,280 --> 01:30:56,120 Speaker 2: Alan McGraw's departure, producers considered Candice Bergen, Catherine Ross, Tuesday Weld, 1511 01:30:56,320 --> 01:31:00,160 Speaker 2: Julie Christi, and Sybil Shepherd. Natalie Wood was approached, but 1512 01:31:00,200 --> 01:31:03,200 Speaker 2: she reportedly refused to submit to a screen test and 1513 01:31:03,240 --> 01:31:07,160 Speaker 2: then was murdered. Faye Dunaway thed I messing up the 1514 01:31:07,160 --> 01:31:09,160 Speaker 2: timelines there, of course, but just want to bring up 1515 01:31:09,200 --> 01:31:13,000 Speaker 2: the fact that old boy drowned her and Christopher Walkin 1516 01:31:13,120 --> 01:31:15,160 Speaker 2: was there anyway? 1517 01:31:15,200 --> 01:31:17,160 Speaker 1: Where was I talking about? They landed on Mia Farah. 1518 01:31:17,680 --> 01:31:20,360 Speaker 2: Mia Farah had made it personal plea to Evans, whom 1519 01:31:20,360 --> 01:31:22,960 Speaker 2: she worked with on nineteen sixty eight's Rosemary Baby six 1520 01:31:23,000 --> 01:31:27,240 Speaker 2: years earlier, a film most famous for its haircut, kidding, 1521 01:31:28,800 --> 01:31:31,200 Speaker 2: oh and being directed by a rapist. That was the 1522 01:31:31,240 --> 01:31:35,960 Speaker 2: other thing her casting seemed somewhat faded. Her father, John Farrow, 1523 01:31:36,040 --> 01:31:38,679 Speaker 2: had originally been tapped to direct the nineteen forty nine adaptation, 1524 01:31:38,760 --> 01:31:40,840 Speaker 2: before he dropped out of her disagreements over the casting 1525 01:31:40,880 --> 01:31:44,160 Speaker 2: of Daisy. What's more, her godfather was the legendary film 1526 01:31:44,200 --> 01:31:47,960 Speaker 2: director George kuk Or, who directed the original Broadway production 1527 01:31:48,040 --> 01:31:50,639 Speaker 2: of Gatsby at the start of his career in nineteen 1528 01:31:50,680 --> 01:31:53,280 Speaker 2: twenty six, and then, as previously mentioned, went on to 1529 01:31:53,320 --> 01:31:56,880 Speaker 2: win an Oscar for directing My Fair Lady. Also weird. 1530 01:31:56,960 --> 01:31:59,080 Speaker 2: The little girl cast as Mia Farah's young daughter in 1531 01:31:59,120 --> 01:32:02,479 Speaker 2: the movie Pat's ken Zitt grew up to play Mea 1532 01:32:02,600 --> 01:32:05,640 Speaker 2: in the nineteen ninety five biopic Love and Betrayal the 1533 01:32:05,720 --> 01:32:09,200 Speaker 2: Mia Farro Story, which included a reenactment of the shooting 1534 01:32:09,320 --> 01:32:10,040 Speaker 2: of this film. 1535 01:32:10,280 --> 01:32:10,840 Speaker 1: Isn't that weird? 1536 01:32:11,360 --> 01:32:14,000 Speaker 2: Fun bonus fact She was married to Liam Galliger for 1537 01:32:14,080 --> 01:32:15,679 Speaker 2: a time, which must have sucked. 1538 01:32:15,880 --> 01:32:20,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, they had a kid together, Lenin Gallagher, and Wikipedia 1539 01:32:20,680 --> 01:32:23,360 Speaker 1: feels the need to point out that Lenin is named after. 1540 01:32:25,600 --> 01:32:28,600 Speaker 2: Thanks Wikipedia, man, you steal all the guys songs, and 1541 01:32:28,600 --> 01:32:32,000 Speaker 2: you're gonna steal his name too. Yep, speaking of me 1542 01:32:32,040 --> 01:32:37,840 Speaker 2: as daughtera data talking about the Southern No, I thought 1543 01:32:37,840 --> 01:32:39,840 Speaker 2: the Zelda thing they'd rubbed off of me. I'm speaking 1544 01:32:39,840 --> 01:32:41,439 Speaker 2: like a Southern bell speaking of. 1545 01:32:41,360 --> 01:32:43,960 Speaker 1: Me as daughta. Yeah. 1546 01:32:44,120 --> 01:32:47,080 Speaker 2: No, she was pregnant wow film in the movie, a 1547 01:32:47,120 --> 01:32:50,799 Speaker 2: fact disguised by the time Monald tradition of loose fitting 1548 01:32:50,840 --> 01:32:54,000 Speaker 2: garments and camera angles. Because I'll just add attack on 1549 01:32:54,040 --> 01:32:57,120 Speaker 2: another hour while I just slower my speaking voice down 1550 01:32:57,120 --> 01:33:00,519 Speaker 2: to a drawl. That baby was Fletcher previt baby. 1551 01:33:01,120 --> 01:33:02,799 Speaker 1: They grew up to be Hitler. 1552 01:33:03,800 --> 01:33:07,679 Speaker 2: That's the third biological song of Pharaoh and Andre Previn, 1553 01:33:08,080 --> 01:33:12,200 Speaker 2: her second husband, Fletcher, today is the chief Digital Officer 1554 01:33:12,240 --> 01:33:18,679 Speaker 2: at Cisco Systems, the networking guys. How about that Pharaoh 1555 01:33:18,680 --> 01:33:22,360 Speaker 2: went on to pair in fourteen children in total. Jesus 1556 01:33:22,680 --> 01:33:25,720 Speaker 2: was she irish well, Oh, yes, four of whom were 1557 01:33:25,720 --> 01:33:28,600 Speaker 2: biological and nothing ever happened again. 1558 01:33:28,400 --> 01:33:33,840 Speaker 1: Nothing dramatic ever happened with her children ever. Don't google it. Yeah. 1559 01:33:33,960 --> 01:33:36,759 Speaker 2: Several houses stood in for Jay Gatsby's West Egg mansion, 1560 01:33:36,800 --> 01:33:40,040 Speaker 2: including Rosecliffe, a nineteen oh two estate designed by architects 1561 01:33:40,080 --> 01:33:43,280 Speaker 2: Stanford White and modeled after the Grand Chiennon at Vise. 1562 01:33:44,640 --> 01:33:46,960 Speaker 2: The ballroom, or Gatsby wears his army uniform to dance 1563 01:33:47,000 --> 01:33:50,679 Speaker 2: with Daisy, was filmed at Marble House, another Newport mansion 1564 01:33:50,680 --> 01:33:53,439 Speaker 2: built for the Vanderbilt family. Many of the well dressed 1565 01:33:53,479 --> 01:33:56,560 Speaker 2: male party guests were recruited from the nearby Naval War College, 1566 01:33:56,920 --> 01:34:00,360 Speaker 2: where their short cropped military hairstyles made them look era upropriate. 1567 01:34:00,960 --> 01:34:03,519 Speaker 2: In addition to Rosecliffe and Marble House, the exterior of 1568 01:34:03,560 --> 01:34:07,240 Speaker 2: Linden Place mansion in Bristol, Rhode Island was used for 1569 01:34:07,280 --> 01:34:10,240 Speaker 2: Gatsby's estate. Scenes at the Buchanan's home were shot at 1570 01:34:10,280 --> 01:34:13,000 Speaker 2: Pinewood Studios in England, while other scenes were filmed in 1571 01:34:13,000 --> 01:34:15,720 Speaker 2: New York City and Uxbridge, Massachusetts. 1572 01:34:16,680 --> 01:34:19,080 Speaker 1: I don't know what was film at Uxbridge. I know Uxbridge, 1573 01:34:19,160 --> 01:34:22,799 Speaker 1: that's like not far from where corp. That's very strange 1574 01:34:22,840 --> 01:34:23,400 Speaker 1: that that was fa. 1575 01:34:25,360 --> 01:34:27,519 Speaker 2: Miya Pharaoh would later say that she struggled to connect 1576 01:34:27,520 --> 01:34:30,280 Speaker 2: with co star Robert Redford and create onstream chemistry due 1577 01:34:30,280 --> 01:34:32,879 Speaker 2: to the fact that she was he was completely absorbed 1578 01:34:32,880 --> 01:34:36,080 Speaker 2: in following the Watergate scandal that was eroding the presidency 1579 01:34:36,160 --> 01:34:39,439 Speaker 2: of Richard Nixon. He ultimately, he reportedly spent much of 1580 01:34:39,479 --> 01:34:42,400 Speaker 2: the shoot at his trailer watching news coverage or reading 1581 01:34:42,840 --> 01:34:44,439 Speaker 2: Woodward and Bernstein articles. 1582 01:34:44,960 --> 01:34:45,880 Speaker 1: That's hilarious. 1583 01:34:45,960 --> 01:34:51,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's kind of like the Jimmy thing I was 1584 01:34:51,120 --> 01:34:57,160 Speaker 2: talking about earlier. Beautiful Doe eyed woman struggle please establish 1585 01:34:57,280 --> 01:35:00,920 Speaker 2: romantic chemistry with me on this film. Per famed for 1586 01:35:00,960 --> 01:35:04,320 Speaker 2: your handsomeness. He's a no babe. Sorry, staying in the trailer. 1587 01:35:04,439 --> 01:35:05,200 Speaker 1: The hearings are on. 1588 01:35:05,720 --> 01:35:07,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, gotta catch up Woodband burn sty of a new 1589 01:35:07,760 --> 01:35:09,439 Speaker 2: article out leave me alone. 1590 01:35:09,520 --> 01:35:11,360 Speaker 1: John Deane's testifying today. 1591 01:35:14,040 --> 01:35:16,880 Speaker 2: The John dee Ba Jesus christ. 1592 01:35:19,200 --> 01:35:19,360 Speaker 1: Oh. 1593 01:35:19,520 --> 01:35:21,599 Speaker 2: This does make sense considering that he would play Bob 1594 01:35:21,600 --> 01:35:23,439 Speaker 2: Werbird and all the Presidents men two years later. 1595 01:35:23,439 --> 01:35:25,000 Speaker 1: But no, I don't think he was researching. I think 1596 01:35:25,000 --> 01:35:27,160 Speaker 1: he was just like so into it that he willed 1597 01:35:27,160 --> 01:35:30,720 Speaker 1: a movie to happen that would allow him to continue. 1598 01:35:31,120 --> 01:35:34,839 Speaker 2: And ultimately, Bob Redford didn't even attend the film's premiere 1599 01:35:34,880 --> 01:35:36,280 Speaker 2: in the spring of nineteen seventy four. 1600 01:35:36,360 --> 01:35:37,120 Speaker 1: That's a Bob move. 1601 01:35:37,200 --> 01:35:41,000 Speaker 2: That's a classic Bob move, Classic Bob. The movie received 1602 01:35:41,000 --> 01:35:43,200 Speaker 2: a promotional blitz when it was released. A photo of 1603 01:35:43,280 --> 01:35:46,679 Speaker 2: Mia as Daisy was famously featured as the first cover 1604 01:35:46,840 --> 01:35:50,439 Speaker 2: of our former employee People magazine. Mad Magazine spoofed the 1605 01:35:50,439 --> 01:35:54,160 Speaker 2: Gatsby film in its January nineteen seventy five issue with 1606 01:35:54,160 --> 01:35:57,040 Speaker 2: a subtle bit of satire called the Great gas Bag, 1607 01:35:57,840 --> 01:36:02,160 Speaker 2: which is what Mad Magazine would make a joke out 1608 01:36:02,160 --> 01:36:05,759 Speaker 2: of Great Gatsby, the Bad Gatsby, the Great Batsby. 1609 01:36:05,920 --> 01:36:06,639 Speaker 1: It was right there. 1610 01:36:07,520 --> 01:36:09,760 Speaker 2: The film grows over twenty six million against a seven 1611 01:36:09,760 --> 01:36:13,160 Speaker 2: million dollar budget, but reviews were mixed. Vincent Canby's nineteen 1612 01:36:13,160 --> 01:36:15,160 Speaker 2: seventy four review in The New York Times is indicative 1613 01:36:15,280 --> 01:36:20,320 Speaker 2: of the critical response, where he cattily said, no, the 1614 01:36:20,320 --> 01:36:23,000 Speaker 2: sets and costumes, most of the performances are exceptionally good, 1615 01:36:23,160 --> 01:36:25,479 Speaker 2: but the movie itself is as lifeless as a body 1616 01:36:25,479 --> 01:36:27,960 Speaker 2: that's been too long at the bottom of a swimming pool. 1617 01:36:28,400 --> 01:36:31,320 Speaker 2: Bodies float, Vincent, that's the first thing you learn. You 1618 01:36:31,320 --> 01:36:35,320 Speaker 2: have to puncture the lungs or weigh it down. Idiot, 1619 01:36:35,479 --> 01:36:37,479 Speaker 2: Why don't I have to explain this to you? As 1620 01:36:37,479 --> 01:36:40,120 Speaker 2: Fitzgerald wrote it, the Great Gatsby is a good deal 1621 01:36:40,120 --> 01:36:42,280 Speaker 2: more than an ill fated love story about the cruelties 1622 01:36:42,320 --> 01:36:44,559 Speaker 2: of the idol rich. The movie can't see this. They're 1623 01:36:44,560 --> 01:36:48,639 Speaker 2: all its giant close ups of pretty knees and dancing feet. 1624 01:36:49,360 --> 01:36:50,719 Speaker 2: I don't like people's knees. 1625 01:36:51,720 --> 01:36:54,680 Speaker 1: It's a word joint, it is. I could see that 1626 01:36:54,720 --> 01:36:56,000 Speaker 1: being out a thing for some people. 1627 01:36:55,760 --> 01:36:57,559 Speaker 2: Though I think Charlie has a bit about it, and 1628 01:36:57,920 --> 01:37:00,840 Speaker 2: it's always sunny, but I share that. I don't think 1629 01:37:00,840 --> 01:37:02,640 Speaker 2: they're like when you look at all the parts in 1630 01:37:02,680 --> 01:37:03,639 Speaker 2: there under the skin. 1631 01:37:04,320 --> 01:37:06,800 Speaker 1: I don't like that. It's an impressive engineering feed but 1632 01:37:07,439 --> 01:37:08,240 Speaker 1: it is. But I don't want to. 1633 01:37:08,280 --> 01:37:12,640 Speaker 2: I don't get away from me. No, those joints so 1634 01:37:12,720 --> 01:37:16,560 Speaker 2: much meat tendons. What were we talking about? 1635 01:37:16,760 --> 01:37:16,920 Speaker 1: Uh? 1636 01:37:16,920 --> 01:37:20,479 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, sorry, Uh, it's frivolous without being much fun. 1637 01:37:22,000 --> 01:37:25,080 Speaker 2: Sentence that I cut out of that to talk about 1638 01:37:25,080 --> 01:37:27,200 Speaker 2: my thing about knees. Roger Ebert gave a movie two 1639 01:37:27,200 --> 01:37:29,799 Speaker 2: and a half stars out of four. Quote the soundtrack 1640 01:37:29,800 --> 01:37:32,240 Speaker 2: contains narration by Nick that is based pretty closely on 1641 01:37:32,280 --> 01:37:35,560 Speaker 2: his narration in the novel. But we don't feel italics 1642 01:37:35,960 --> 01:37:40,360 Speaker 2: his mine. Ah, we've been distanced by the movie's overproduction. 1643 01:37:40,640 --> 01:37:43,200 Speaker 2: Even the actors seem somewhat cowed by the occasion. 1644 01:37:43,760 --> 01:37:47,559 Speaker 1: Jack Cox, Oh sorry, Jay Cox, we regret the era. 1645 01:37:48,000 --> 01:37:52,040 Speaker 1: We regret the era, Jay Cox. J Cox Cox is 1646 01:37:52,040 --> 01:37:54,680 Speaker 1: that a uh? 1647 01:37:55,920 --> 01:37:58,680 Speaker 2: Jay Cox of Time Magazine summed it up even more succinctly, 1648 01:37:59,080 --> 01:38:01,240 Speaker 2: the film is faithful to the letter of f Scott 1649 01:38:01,280 --> 01:38:05,519 Speaker 2: fitzgerald novel, but entirely misses its spirit. Some blamed the actors. 1650 01:38:05,760 --> 01:38:07,760 Speaker 2: Mia Farrow wasn't the only one who felt like Robert 1651 01:38:07,800 --> 01:38:12,879 Speaker 2: Radford was too subsumed, too consumed by the Watergate scandal 1652 01:38:13,520 --> 01:38:16,040 Speaker 2: to uh really give it his all. Many critics felt 1653 01:38:16,040 --> 01:38:18,200 Speaker 2: his performance fell flat. What did you just look up 1654 01:38:18,200 --> 01:38:20,360 Speaker 2: that you're making Jim face at? 1655 01:38:21,760 --> 01:38:25,360 Speaker 1: Jay Cox has three Academy Award nominations for screenplay, so 1656 01:38:25,360 --> 01:38:27,639 Speaker 1: he knows what he's talking about. The most recent one 1657 01:38:28,040 --> 01:38:30,920 Speaker 1: is for a complete unknown. He co wrote the complete 1658 01:38:30,920 --> 01:38:33,560 Speaker 1: of the Bob Dumb Wow. 1659 01:38:34,080 --> 01:38:36,200 Speaker 2: Good for him, nice for him. 1660 01:38:36,840 --> 01:38:40,760 Speaker 1: He did an uncredited rewrite of James Cameron's screenplay for Titanic. 1661 01:38:41,840 --> 01:38:49,080 Speaker 2: Oh Wow, Jay Cox, Jay Cox J. J. Cox of 1662 01:38:49,240 --> 01:38:50,160 Speaker 2: Time Magazine. 1663 01:38:51,080 --> 01:38:51,800 Speaker 4: Uh. 1664 01:38:52,080 --> 01:38:53,439 Speaker 1: Some reviews were even more personal. 1665 01:38:53,880 --> 01:38:56,320 Speaker 2: Vincent Canby the New York Times claimed that Bob's got 1666 01:38:56,400 --> 01:38:59,040 Speaker 2: looks and persona were too ivy league for a man 1667 01:38:59,080 --> 01:39:02,679 Speaker 2: who came from poverty. God, he is handsome MEA. Pharaoh 1668 01:39:02,720 --> 01:39:05,200 Speaker 2: also got flag for her portrayal of Daisy, which many 1669 01:39:05,240 --> 01:39:09,840 Speaker 2: contemporary refused dismissed as shrill and hysterical. That was kind 1670 01:39:09,840 --> 01:39:14,720 Speaker 2: of her setting, though, yeah, respectfully. 1671 01:39:14,280 --> 01:39:18,800 Speaker 1: What did you do to her eyes? Look? 1672 01:39:18,880 --> 01:39:21,559 Speaker 2: Some people are cast for one thing and a thing 1673 01:39:21,600 --> 01:39:24,439 Speaker 2: that they do well. And she has big eyes and 1674 01:39:24,520 --> 01:39:30,519 Speaker 2: she's distressed. Even Fitzgerald's daughter, Scottie came from me. Although 1675 01:39:30,560 --> 01:39:33,439 Speaker 2: she praised Pharaoh as a fine actress, Scotty noted that 1676 01:39:33,479 --> 01:39:37,360 Speaker 2: Pharaoh seemed unable to convey the quote intensely southern nature. 1677 01:39:37,080 --> 01:39:38,080 Speaker 1: Of Daisy's character. 1678 01:39:38,960 --> 01:39:45,320 Speaker 2: Not Southern enough, not enough slurs, My god, can you 1679 01:39:45,400 --> 01:39:51,080 Speaker 2: imagine that she flew out of that woman's mouth. No, No, 1680 01:39:51,240 --> 01:39:55,320 Speaker 2: I cannot. Pharaoh wouldn't act in a movie again until 1681 01:39:55,360 --> 01:39:58,680 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy seven. Others faulted director Jack Clayton for the 1682 01:39:58,720 --> 01:40:02,320 Speaker 2: Subpower film adaptation. When screenwriter Fancis Forward Coppola first saw 1683 01:40:02,360 --> 01:40:04,840 Speaker 2: screening of the studio, he was furious for some reason. 1684 01:40:04,920 --> 01:40:06,920 Speaker 2: He was particularly aggrieved by a scene that had been 1685 01:40:06,960 --> 01:40:09,160 Speaker 2: added where Jay and Daisy lounged near the edge of 1686 01:40:09,200 --> 01:40:12,280 Speaker 2: a lake. This led him to shout at Robert Evans 1687 01:40:12,360 --> 01:40:15,519 Speaker 2: during the screenplay, why are the swans floating over their 1688 01:40:15,760 --> 01:40:20,240 Speaker 2: damn faces? You'd be forgiven for thinking that perhaps Coppola 1689 01:40:20,439 --> 01:40:23,240 Speaker 2: was being defensive of his screenwriting prowess, But his original 1690 01:40:23,320 --> 01:40:26,200 Speaker 2: script was praised by no less an authority than William Goldman, 1691 01:40:26,600 --> 01:40:30,960 Speaker 2: the guy who literally wrote the book on screenwriting. Goldman 1692 01:40:31,040 --> 01:40:33,840 Speaker 2: had petitioned to write the screenplay himself, so he would 1693 01:40:33,840 --> 01:40:36,080 Speaker 2: have been a tough judge, and he later said, I 1694 01:40:36,120 --> 01:40:38,200 Speaker 2: still believe it to be one of the great adaptations. 1695 01:40:38,320 --> 01:40:40,320 Speaker 2: I called Coppola told him what a wonderful thing he 1696 01:40:40,320 --> 01:40:42,840 Speaker 2: had done. If you see the movie, you will find 1697 01:40:42,840 --> 01:40:45,519 Speaker 2: all this hard to believe. The director who is hired. 1698 01:40:45,720 --> 01:40:48,960 Speaker 2: Jack Clayton is a brit He had that one thing 1699 01:40:49,040 --> 01:40:51,559 Speaker 2: all of them have in their blood, a murderous sense 1700 01:40:51,600 --> 01:40:52,840 Speaker 2: of class. 1701 01:40:52,880 --> 01:40:53,920 Speaker 1: Devastatingly accurate. 1702 01:40:54,360 --> 01:40:57,839 Speaker 2: Well, Clayton decided that Gatsby's parties were shabby and tacky, 1703 01:40:58,000 --> 01:41:00,360 Speaker 2: given by a man of no elevation and tape. 1704 01:41:00,760 --> 01:41:01,360 Speaker 1: There went the. 1705 01:41:01,280 --> 01:41:04,600 Speaker 2: Ballgame as shot. They were foul and stupid, and the 1706 01:41:04,600 --> 01:41:07,280 Speaker 2: people who attended them were foul and silly. And Robert 1707 01:41:07,320 --> 01:41:09,360 Speaker 2: Redford and Mia Farrow, who would have been so perfect 1708 01:41:09,400 --> 01:41:11,599 Speaker 2: as Gatsby and Daisy, were left hung out to dry 1709 01:41:12,040 --> 01:41:14,880 Speaker 2: because Gatsby was a tasteless fool. Why should we care 1710 01:41:14,880 --> 01:41:17,240 Speaker 2: about their love? It was not as if Coppola's Glory 1711 01:41:17,240 --> 01:41:20,000 Speaker 2: had been jettisoned entirely. Though it was tampered with plenty, 1712 01:41:20,360 --> 01:41:22,839 Speaker 2: it was more than the reality and passions it depicted 1713 01:41:22,880 --> 01:41:26,679 Speaker 2: were gone. Also for what it's worth, Tennessee Williams praised 1714 01:41:26,680 --> 01:41:29,960 Speaker 2: the film adaptation and one of his memoir It seemed 1715 01:41:29,960 --> 01:41:32,040 Speaker 2: to me that quite a few of my stories, he said, 1716 01:41:32,080 --> 01:41:34,200 Speaker 2: as well as one of my one acts, would provide 1717 01:41:34,240 --> 01:41:38,599 Speaker 2: interesting and profitable material for contemporary cinema. Cough cough, that's 1718 01:41:38,640 --> 01:41:43,799 Speaker 2: the hilarious thing to put in your memoir whilst living, Guys, 1719 01:41:44,160 --> 01:41:47,280 Speaker 2: I've got other stuff. Enough with the cat this could 1720 01:41:47,360 --> 01:41:53,680 Speaker 2: work enough, yes, if committed to such cinematic masters of 1721 01:41:53,680 --> 01:41:56,639 Speaker 2: direction as Jack Clayton, who made of the Great Gatsby 1722 01:41:56,720 --> 01:42:00,599 Speaker 2: a film that even surpassed Tennessee. Williams thought the novel 1723 01:42:00,800 --> 01:42:04,400 Speaker 2: by Scott Fitzgerald weird take, but what else would you 1724 01:42:04,439 --> 01:42:07,120 Speaker 2: expect from the guy who choked on a medicine cat bottle? 1725 01:42:07,720 --> 01:42:13,479 Speaker 2: Most of this Jack Clayton film, Oh, room at the top. 1726 01:42:14,520 --> 01:42:18,960 Speaker 2: Something wicked this way comes our mother's nothing, Absolutely nothing 1727 01:42:19,200 --> 01:42:20,320 Speaker 2: that I remember. 1728 01:42:22,960 --> 01:42:25,599 Speaker 1: As you meditate on that. We'll be right back with more, 1729 01:42:25,640 --> 01:42:46,400 Speaker 1: too much information after these messages. I can't believe you're 1730 01:42:46,439 --> 01:42:49,200 Speaker 1: sticking me with this entire section that I like to 1731 01:42:49,200 --> 01:42:50,879 Speaker 1: call your a moment of Baz. 1732 01:42:52,320 --> 01:42:54,640 Speaker 2: I'm not going to talk about it, but before we 1733 01:42:54,680 --> 01:42:55,280 Speaker 2: get the we. 1734 01:42:55,240 --> 01:42:57,880 Speaker 1: Should probably nod to the two thousand made for TV 1735 01:42:58,000 --> 01:43:01,080 Speaker 1: version of The Great Gatsby that was made for Annie, 1736 01:43:01,240 --> 01:43:04,360 Speaker 1: which stars Paul Rudd as Nick Carraway, my beloved Mira 1737 01:43:04,439 --> 01:43:09,559 Speaker 1: Servino as Daisy, and future Bond villain Toby Stevens as Gatsby. 1738 01:43:09,840 --> 01:43:11,840 Speaker 1: For some reason, my English teacher in high school made 1739 01:43:11,920 --> 01:43:14,839 Speaker 1: us watch it, this version and not the seventies classic. 1740 01:43:14,880 --> 01:43:18,320 Speaker 1: I don't know why. And while we're here to satisfy 1741 01:43:18,400 --> 01:43:20,600 Speaker 1: our complete at streak, we should probably shout out a 1742 01:43:20,600 --> 01:43:24,000 Speaker 1: few other notable adaptations. There was a radio play of 1743 01:43:24,000 --> 01:43:26,719 Speaker 1: The Great Gatsby in nineteen thirty four, a half hour 1744 01:43:26,800 --> 01:43:30,879 Speaker 1: long adaptation for CBS's Family Hour, which starred Kirk Douglas 1745 01:43:30,920 --> 01:43:34,479 Speaker 1: as Gatsby. In nineteen fifty the novel was read aloud 1746 01:43:34,479 --> 01:43:36,840 Speaker 1: by Trevor White for the BBC World Service in a 1747 01:43:36,880 --> 01:43:39,720 Speaker 1: ten part series in two thousand and eight, and in 1748 01:43:39,760 --> 01:43:44,040 Speaker 1: twenty twelve, BBC Radio Four broadcast a classic serial dramatization 1749 01:43:44,600 --> 01:43:49,040 Speaker 1: created by dramatist Robert Forrest. But all this pales in 1750 01:43:49,120 --> 01:43:54,320 Speaker 1: comparison to the buzz surrounding boz Lherman's twenty thirteen version. 1751 01:43:55,960 --> 01:43:58,599 Speaker 1: When boz Lerman was a child growing up down Under, 1752 01:43:58,840 --> 01:44:02,320 Speaker 1: his father ran the low gas station, just like the 1753 01:44:02,439 --> 01:44:07,640 Speaker 1: murderous Wilson in The Great Gatsby. Bozz first conceived of 1754 01:44:07,680 --> 01:44:11,080 Speaker 1: his own adaptation in two thousand and four when he listened. 1755 01:44:10,800 --> 01:44:14,479 Speaker 2: Can't take the guy seriously? What the is baz baz? 1756 01:44:14,640 --> 01:44:18,639 Speaker 1: What is it short for bait? Basil? Oh? Is it? 1757 01:44:19,240 --> 01:44:19,720 Speaker 1: I don't know. 1758 01:44:20,360 --> 01:44:25,320 Speaker 2: No, his full name is Mark Anthony. Why is it 1759 01:44:25,360 --> 01:44:28,799 Speaker 2: called baz Mark Anthony baz Lerman? 1760 01:44:29,240 --> 01:44:30,679 Speaker 1: Is there any reason listed? 1761 01:44:30,960 --> 01:44:33,120 Speaker 2: He received the nickname bas at school, given to him 1762 01:44:33,120 --> 01:44:37,000 Speaker 2: because of his hairstyle, the name coming from the puppet 1763 01:44:37,120 --> 01:44:41,680 Speaker 2: character Basil Brush, a fictional fox best known for his 1764 01:44:41,760 --> 01:44:46,160 Speaker 2: appearances on daytime British television, primarily portrayed as a glove 1765 01:44:46,240 --> 01:44:48,679 Speaker 2: puppet that was so much better than I. While still 1766 01:44:48,720 --> 01:44:52,680 Speaker 2: in high school, Lherman changed his name by something called 1767 01:44:52,720 --> 01:44:58,880 Speaker 2: a deed poll to Basmark to Basmark, joining his nickname 1768 01:44:59,120 --> 01:45:02,880 Speaker 2: and legal name together. So his actual legal name is 1769 01:45:03,000 --> 01:45:09,280 Speaker 2: bas Mark Anthony Lherman. What a what a he sucks? 1770 01:45:10,320 --> 01:45:15,320 Speaker 2: What a sucky guy? Who sucks? Mark Anthony? 1771 01:45:17,960 --> 01:45:19,320 Speaker 1: I can't, I can't say his name? 1772 01:45:19,439 --> 01:45:19,960 Speaker 3: Is he gay? 1773 01:45:20,080 --> 01:45:20,599 Speaker 2: Can I say? 1774 01:45:20,640 --> 01:45:22,479 Speaker 1: Is he? Is? He? Is he gay? You know? I 1775 01:45:22,520 --> 01:45:24,599 Speaker 1: always assume so, but I don't. I don't know. 1776 01:45:24,920 --> 01:45:28,400 Speaker 2: It's often speculated. Oh, but he has been married since 1777 01:45:28,479 --> 01:45:31,280 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety seven. His daughter has even mentioned being mocked 1778 01:45:31,400 --> 01:45:35,080 Speaker 2: at school about the rumors. According to Yahoo News New Zealand, 1779 01:45:35,520 --> 01:45:39,000 Speaker 2: that sucks. I'm sorry, I'm very sorry. Speaking on the 1780 01:45:39,120 --> 01:45:43,840 Speaker 2: Under the Gloss podcast in twenty twenty three, she said, 1781 01:45:44,040 --> 01:45:46,559 Speaker 2: I specifically remember I was driving in the car on 1782 01:45:46,640 --> 01:45:48,760 Speaker 2: the radio. This guy was like, today we're going to 1783 01:45:48,760 --> 01:45:52,920 Speaker 2: be discussing is bas Lerman Gay? And I went to 1784 01:45:52,960 --> 01:45:54,880 Speaker 2: school and the kids were like, is your dad gay? 1785 01:45:55,360 --> 01:45:57,320 Speaker 2: She did say, I'm not traumatized by it. I've gotten 1786 01:45:57,360 --> 01:45:57,720 Speaker 2: over it. 1787 01:45:58,720 --> 01:46:01,320 Speaker 1: Buzz first conceive of his own adaptation of The Great 1788 01:46:01,360 --> 01:46:03,960 Speaker 1: Gatsby in two thousand and four, when he listened to 1789 01:46:03,960 --> 01:46:07,479 Speaker 1: the book on tape during a lengthy train ride through 1790 01:46:07,560 --> 01:46:13,320 Speaker 1: Siberia to Mongolia. As one does okay Man, He said, 1791 01:46:13,360 --> 01:46:15,439 Speaker 1: I had two bottles of red wine and the new 1792 01:46:15,479 --> 01:46:19,880 Speaker 1: iPod with two recorded books. When The Great Gatsby ended, 1793 01:46:20,880 --> 01:46:25,280 Speaker 1: I had inconsolable melancholia. I was like, can we do 1794 01:46:25,360 --> 01:46:29,400 Speaker 1: that again? Not long after leaving the train, Baz put 1795 01:46:29,439 --> 01:46:31,479 Speaker 1: in a call to Sony, who owned the rights to 1796 01:46:31,520 --> 01:46:35,519 Speaker 1: the novel, and then a scant. Two years later, he 1797 01:46:35,560 --> 01:46:38,680 Speaker 1: finally secured those rights and set about co writing a screenplay. 1798 01:46:39,760 --> 01:46:42,240 Speaker 1: The script he co wrote with Craig Pierce made five 1799 01:46:42,320 --> 01:46:46,559 Speaker 1: notable changes to the novel's plot. Nick Carrara writes from 1800 01:46:46,560 --> 01:46:50,280 Speaker 1: a sanitarium, having checked himself in sometime after that summer 1801 01:46:50,280 --> 01:46:54,080 Speaker 1: with Gatsby. He flirts with Jordan Baker, but unlike what 1802 01:46:54,120 --> 01:46:57,080 Speaker 1: happens to the novel, he's quote too smitten with Gatsby 1803 01:46:57,200 --> 01:47:02,479 Speaker 1: to notice her interesting Gaspy himself makes a grand entrance, 1804 01:47:02,560 --> 01:47:05,800 Speaker 1: whereas in the novel some time passes before they do. 1805 01:47:05,800 --> 01:47:08,760 Speaker 2: You remember most about this movie was that was that 1806 01:47:08,920 --> 01:47:10,919 Speaker 2: no Church in the Wild song that was everywhere? 1807 01:47:11,160 --> 01:47:13,400 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and that was before this movie came out. 1808 01:47:13,439 --> 01:47:15,320 Speaker 1: That was from wats the Throne, Yeah exactly. 1809 01:47:15,560 --> 01:47:20,400 Speaker 2: And yeah, God remember there was a time when he 1810 01:47:20,520 --> 01:47:23,639 Speaker 2: wasn't who he was and he was merely annoying Kanye. 1811 01:47:23,960 --> 01:47:29,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean when it came out, I loved 1812 01:47:29,120 --> 01:47:31,200 Speaker 1: My Beautiful, Dark Twisted Fantasy. I thought that was an 1813 01:47:31,200 --> 01:47:32,160 Speaker 1: incredible album. 1814 01:47:32,200 --> 01:47:34,920 Speaker 2: I've just never gotten it. I'm sorry. He's like, he's 1815 01:47:35,160 --> 01:47:36,360 Speaker 2: such a one trick pony to me. 1816 01:47:36,400 --> 01:47:39,519 Speaker 1: Why I like maxwellism and he also, I mean, that's 1817 01:47:39,560 --> 01:47:42,000 Speaker 1: the thing about Kanye at least then, was that he 1818 01:47:42,120 --> 01:47:46,040 Speaker 1: sampled good stuff, Like I loved all of what Curtis 1819 01:47:46,040 --> 01:47:49,120 Speaker 1: Mayfield stuff he sampled from Moving Up and Daft Punky 1820 01:47:49,200 --> 01:47:51,240 Speaker 1: sampled like it was like listening to like girl talk. 1821 01:47:51,280 --> 01:47:53,719 Speaker 1: It was like all stuff I knew. So that was fun. 1822 01:47:53,760 --> 01:47:58,439 Speaker 1: For me, and that was fun for me. Yeah. 1823 01:47:58,439 --> 01:48:02,599 Speaker 2: I just remember being like, was the harder, faster song 1824 01:48:03,400 --> 01:48:05,799 Speaker 2: or that he sampled stronger? 1825 01:48:06,560 --> 01:48:10,519 Speaker 1: Oh, King Crimson was power Yeah, yeah, twenty first century 1826 01:48:10,560 --> 01:48:11,719 Speaker 1: schizoid part. Yeah. 1827 01:48:12,160 --> 01:48:14,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I just never I don't know, man, 1828 01:48:14,760 --> 01:48:17,880 Speaker 2: I'd like the last song of his that I had 1829 01:48:17,920 --> 01:48:22,320 Speaker 2: on any device was gold Digger No Jesus Walks sorry. 1830 01:48:24,520 --> 01:48:27,439 Speaker 1: I liked when he got into like maximalism, that was kind. 1831 01:48:27,280 --> 01:48:30,000 Speaker 2: Of yeah, the sped up soul thing was a little 1832 01:48:30,160 --> 01:48:32,400 Speaker 2: like that got to be a little one trick pony 1833 01:48:32,479 --> 01:48:34,599 Speaker 2: at some point, and that was why I honestly tuned out. 1834 01:48:34,640 --> 01:48:37,080 Speaker 2: And then that then my beautiful dog Twisted Fantasy came 1835 01:48:37,080 --> 01:48:38,880 Speaker 2: out and all of a sudden he was just way 1836 01:48:38,920 --> 01:48:40,639 Speaker 2: more in the public eye, and I was like, oh, 1837 01:48:40,680 --> 01:48:43,519 Speaker 2: I just don't like you as a person. And then 1838 01:48:43,560 --> 01:48:45,240 Speaker 2: I went and listened to it. I was like, I'm 1839 01:48:45,280 --> 01:48:49,439 Speaker 2: just still not impressed. I'm sorry, And then we all 1840 01:48:49,479 --> 01:48:50,160 Speaker 2: know how that went. 1841 01:48:51,240 --> 01:48:53,000 Speaker 1: I think we can agree that you're a better judge 1842 01:48:53,000 --> 01:48:55,240 Speaker 1: of character than I am. Heigel, I don't think so. 1843 01:48:56,160 --> 01:49:01,960 Speaker 2: I actually don't. I'm incredibly credulous. I believe what people 1844 01:49:02,040 --> 01:49:06,520 Speaker 2: tell me generally, and and it has it continues to backfire. 1845 01:49:08,160 --> 01:49:10,320 Speaker 1: There's that line when people tell you who they are, 1846 01:49:10,400 --> 01:49:12,280 Speaker 1: believe them. I don't. 1847 01:49:13,200 --> 01:49:17,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe we should have believed. I have really not 1848 01:49:17,920 --> 01:49:21,880 Speaker 2: been served well by evaluating people. 1849 01:49:23,200 --> 01:49:25,240 Speaker 1: It's not as cynical as you are. That surprises me. 1850 01:49:25,400 --> 01:49:28,040 Speaker 2: It is it is it's because I do have a 1851 01:49:28,080 --> 01:49:29,240 Speaker 2: core of niceness. 1852 01:49:29,960 --> 01:49:33,639 Speaker 1: Way, that's that's why you get so angry, is that 1853 01:49:33,720 --> 01:49:36,519 Speaker 1: you actually believe deep down that things should be good. 1854 01:49:36,560 --> 01:49:39,160 Speaker 1: There's a sense of justice, and people are good or 1855 01:49:39,200 --> 01:49:41,599 Speaker 1: should be good. And I think for me, I don't 1856 01:49:41,600 --> 01:49:45,639 Speaker 1: have that, and I'm just appreciating and grateful for things 1857 01:49:45,640 --> 01:49:48,080 Speaker 1: that do happen to turn out well. And that's the 1858 01:49:48,120 --> 01:49:50,000 Speaker 1: weird twist between the two of us. 1859 01:49:50,120 --> 01:49:52,160 Speaker 2: So that's your fun fact about me, is that I'm 1860 01:49:52,240 --> 01:49:56,719 Speaker 2: credulous and believe in you and things. So go ahead 1861 01:49:56,720 --> 01:49:57,600 Speaker 2: and take advantage of me. 1862 01:49:57,720 --> 01:50:04,879 Speaker 1: People. Some of the other differences between Buzz Luhrmann's script 1863 01:50:04,960 --> 01:50:10,920 Speaker 1: and and that Scott fits Child's Gatsby novel includes Gatsby 1864 01:50:11,040 --> 01:50:15,400 Speaker 1: dying thinking that his pursuit of Daisy was successful, and 1865 01:50:15,479 --> 01:50:18,200 Speaker 1: some of the racism and anti semitism was toned down. 1866 01:50:18,360 --> 01:50:22,040 Speaker 2: Well that's lovely. Well, how do you feel about this. 1867 01:50:22,479 --> 01:50:24,960 Speaker 2: You know my thing about directors coming in and being like, 1868 01:50:25,680 --> 01:50:31,520 Speaker 2: I know better than this novelist, I Baz Baz my memoirs, 1869 01:50:32,800 --> 01:50:37,960 Speaker 2: I Baz Luhmann, famous for taking and just making it gay. 1870 01:50:39,120 --> 01:50:44,800 Speaker 2: No better than the great American novel I just that 1871 01:50:44,920 --> 01:50:46,000 Speaker 2: drives me up a ball. 1872 01:50:46,160 --> 01:50:48,000 Speaker 1: I'm sorry why I explained when't hear more of a 1873 01:50:48,000 --> 01:50:49,160 Speaker 1: while you don't like about buzz. 1874 01:50:49,479 --> 01:50:54,080 Speaker 2: That was a reductive thing that I said, and I apologize. 1875 01:50:55,680 --> 01:50:57,880 Speaker 2: I do think that's his shtick. I'm sorry. He's not 1876 01:50:57,920 --> 01:51:00,400 Speaker 2: a great script writer. Okay, this is a whole thing 1877 01:51:00,439 --> 01:51:05,679 Speaker 2: about like what is he written man Rouge Australia, Australia. Yeah, 1878 01:51:05,720 --> 01:51:11,559 Speaker 2: he wrote Stray Astra Austraia and got Vinnie my Winnies 1879 01:51:11,600 --> 01:51:16,400 Speaker 2: my bbuh No, why do you Why should I have 1880 01:51:16,479 --> 01:51:18,360 Speaker 2: to be in the position of you should explain to 1881 01:51:18,400 --> 01:51:19,920 Speaker 2: me why you think he's good. 1882 01:51:21,240 --> 01:51:22,639 Speaker 1: I mean I never said that. 1883 01:51:22,880 --> 01:51:26,200 Speaker 2: Like I get I get Robert, I get the Romeo 1884 01:51:26,200 --> 01:51:28,920 Speaker 2: and Juliet and almost said Robert and Juliet, which is 1885 01:51:28,920 --> 01:51:32,960 Speaker 2: a very different film. I get that, right, you get 1886 01:51:32,960 --> 01:51:35,639 Speaker 2: the young hot people, you do it. There's guns, there's 1887 01:51:35,720 --> 01:51:40,519 Speaker 2: hip hop, there's whatever. Fine, I get it nothing else 1888 01:51:40,800 --> 01:51:44,000 Speaker 2: that he's done. What was mulon Rouge based on making 1889 01:51:44,080 --> 01:51:46,360 Speaker 2: songs worse? I think was the pitch of that. He 1890 01:51:46,439 --> 01:51:48,000 Speaker 2: was like, what if I take a bunch of songs 1891 01:51:48,240 --> 01:51:49,560 Speaker 2: and make them suck. 1892 01:51:49,680 --> 01:51:51,400 Speaker 1: By putting them alongside one another? 1893 01:51:51,560 --> 01:51:54,719 Speaker 2: No, that was actually an adaptation. Oh it's m duh. 1894 01:51:55,280 --> 01:51:56,840 Speaker 1: Oh Jesus, yeah, of course. 1895 01:51:57,520 --> 01:52:00,880 Speaker 2: Courtney Love auditioned for the role of Setine gave approval 1896 01:52:01,880 --> 01:52:05,080 Speaker 2: for smells like teen Spirit to be used in the film. 1897 01:52:05,479 --> 01:52:10,519 Speaker 2: It was yeah, because she wrote it, you know, Uh no, no, no, 1898 01:52:10,560 --> 01:52:13,600 Speaker 2: I mean, like I know, I was being I was 1899 01:52:13,640 --> 01:52:19,080 Speaker 2: being facetious. I hate her custodianship of Cobade's legacy. It's disgusting, 1900 01:52:19,120 --> 01:52:20,040 Speaker 2: I mean legacy whatever. 1901 01:52:20,040 --> 01:52:20,360 Speaker 1: I don't know. 1902 01:52:20,400 --> 01:52:22,320 Speaker 2: He probably wouldn't have cared, but because he was in 1903 01:52:22,320 --> 01:52:26,720 Speaker 2: love with her for some reason. But God that she 1904 01:52:26,800 --> 01:52:29,800 Speaker 2: kisses me off man literally writing in your journals, please 1905 01:52:29,840 --> 01:52:32,400 Speaker 2: don't publish my journals when I'm dead, and then doing 1906 01:52:32,439 --> 01:52:35,960 Speaker 2: that and being like, sure, you I want a role 1907 01:52:36,000 --> 01:52:39,680 Speaker 2: in this film. You can use my husband's song, you 1908 01:52:39,920 --> 01:52:42,040 Speaker 2: flamboyant Australian idiot. 1909 01:52:42,280 --> 01:52:45,080 Speaker 1: Did they cast her in anything Inverge? I don't think so. 1910 01:52:45,360 --> 01:52:49,360 Speaker 1: I certainly hope not. Did we do? I know we did. 1911 01:52:50,040 --> 01:52:52,120 Speaker 1: We didn't do the whole song the movie. 1912 01:52:52,240 --> 01:52:54,599 Speaker 2: This is just me mandering. I just don't. I don't 1913 01:52:54,600 --> 01:52:57,120 Speaker 2: think he's good. In fact, the New York Times the 1914 01:52:57,120 --> 01:52:59,960 Speaker 2: film is undeniably rousing, but there's not a single moment 1915 01:53:00,120 --> 01:53:03,719 Speaker 2: of organic excitement because Luerman is so busy splicing bits 1916 01:53:03,760 --> 01:53:08,679 Speaker 2: from other films. Yeah, and what did you think of Elvis? 1917 01:53:09,960 --> 01:53:11,840 Speaker 1: You know, I didn't see it there it is, which 1918 01:53:11,880 --> 01:53:15,439 Speaker 1: I mean, I know, yeah, I know that. Actually, I 1919 01:53:15,439 --> 01:53:17,400 Speaker 1: mean a lot of times when I see biopics, I 1920 01:53:17,560 --> 01:53:20,080 Speaker 1: just find myself thinking, I just wish I'd seen a 1921 01:53:20,120 --> 01:53:24,000 Speaker 1: really good documentary on this person rather than like whatever 1922 01:53:24,040 --> 01:53:27,160 Speaker 1: I just sat through. And that seemed doubly so for 1923 01:53:27,200 --> 01:53:30,880 Speaker 1: a movie that went out of its way to seem ridiculous. Yeah, 1924 01:53:31,520 --> 01:53:34,320 Speaker 1: I did, like at the very end, like Elvis's when 1925 01:53:34,320 --> 01:53:37,960 Speaker 1: he recreated Elvis's one of his last performance doing how 1926 01:53:38,000 --> 01:53:42,160 Speaker 1: great that no unchained melody, unchained melody when he's like 1927 01:53:42,800 --> 01:53:48,040 Speaker 1: in the big jumpsuit with like disposable fast food pepsi 1928 01:53:48,400 --> 01:53:51,920 Speaker 1: styrofoam cups on the grand piano and he's just like 1929 01:53:52,439 --> 01:53:55,799 Speaker 1: him and a piano body completely looks like a melted 1930 01:53:55,840 --> 01:53:59,280 Speaker 1: candle of Elvis, but like he can just built it 1931 01:53:59,400 --> 01:54:03,080 Speaker 1: and he like hits those crazy notes one last time. 1932 01:54:03,520 --> 01:54:06,000 Speaker 1: That was cool and that I haven't even seen the movie, 1933 01:54:06,120 --> 01:54:08,200 Speaker 1: but I'm pretty sure that's how they decided to end it. 1934 01:54:08,200 --> 01:54:10,640 Speaker 1: It's in there anyway, it deserves to be how they 1935 01:54:10,760 --> 01:54:13,439 Speaker 1: ended it. Anyway. That was cool. I'm glad they chose that. 1936 01:54:13,439 --> 01:54:17,120 Speaker 1: That was a nice bit. I'll be coming home. 1937 01:54:18,800 --> 01:54:38,960 Speaker 3: Holy my my doll, Hi hungry for Okius hoe it. 1938 01:54:49,840 --> 01:55:00,600 Speaker 1: So slowly and time counted so much. Ho s. 1939 01:55:17,000 --> 01:55:25,840 Speaker 4: Honey, God speak. 1940 01:55:30,560 --> 01:55:30,680 Speaker 3: Too. 1941 01:55:49,600 --> 01:55:53,120 Speaker 1: What did you think I didn't see it? I hate Basler. 1942 01:55:53,560 --> 01:55:57,040 Speaker 1: Yeah that makes sense. Oh man, we should I gotta 1943 01:55:57,400 --> 01:56:01,400 Speaker 1: do Gracelands. Yeah, I have all the notes. It's just like, 1944 01:56:01,800 --> 01:56:03,840 Speaker 1: so long. Do you guys want to sit hear us? 1945 01:56:03,880 --> 01:56:07,880 Speaker 1: Do an episode on Elvis's house Graceland, tweet at us 1946 01:56:08,360 --> 01:56:11,680 Speaker 1: or send us a note in KOFE or dm us 1947 01:56:11,800 --> 01:56:15,640 Speaker 1: or hell a lot. He just text me at this point, Yeah, yeah, 1948 01:56:15,800 --> 01:56:20,760 Speaker 1: text Jordan. It'll be a fun one. Well. After Baz's 1949 01:56:20,880 --> 01:56:24,680 Speaker 1: box office bomb, Australia stunk up theaters in two thousand 1950 01:56:24,680 --> 01:56:27,440 Speaker 1: and eight, but has decided it was time to pull 1951 01:56:27,440 --> 01:56:32,280 Speaker 1: out the Big Guns enter Gatsby. From the start, he 1952 01:56:32,320 --> 01:56:35,280 Speaker 1: had Leonardo DiCaprio in mind as the lead. The pair 1953 01:56:35,320 --> 01:56:39,280 Speaker 1: had last worked together for nineteen ninety six's Romeo plus Juliette, 1954 01:56:39,720 --> 01:56:42,920 Speaker 1: which does rule. That's actually very good. I really like that. 1955 01:56:44,480 --> 01:56:47,360 Speaker 1: According to him, Leo was the only one he approached 1956 01:56:47,360 --> 01:56:49,960 Speaker 1: to play Gatsby, and Leo jumped at the chance because, 1957 01:56:50,000 --> 01:56:52,640 Speaker 1: in his own words, he was drawn to quote the 1958 01:56:52,680 --> 01:56:55,960 Speaker 1: idea of a man who came from absolutely nothing, who 1959 01:56:56,000 --> 01:56:59,800 Speaker 1: created himself solely from his own imagination. Gatsby's one of 1960 01:56:59,840 --> 01:57:03,040 Speaker 1: the iconic characters because he could be interpreted in so 1961 01:57:03,160 --> 01:57:07,880 Speaker 1: many ways, hopeless, romantic, a completely obsessed wacko, or a 1962 01:57:08,000 --> 01:57:12,480 Speaker 1: dangerous gangster clinging to well. Toby Maguire seemed like the 1963 01:57:12,480 --> 01:57:16,240 Speaker 1: logical choice for Nick Carraway, Gatsby's confidant. He and Leo 1964 01:57:16,320 --> 01:57:20,120 Speaker 1: were childhood friends. This marked the third collaboration between the pair, 1965 01:57:20,240 --> 01:57:24,200 Speaker 1: following This Boy's Life in nineteen ninety three in Don's Plumb, 1966 01:57:24,320 --> 01:57:28,000 Speaker 1: which as a movie I Do Nothing about Daisy, however, 1967 01:57:28,120 --> 01:57:29,840 Speaker 1: was a little harder to come by. 1968 01:57:30,000 --> 01:57:32,040 Speaker 2: How did you not put in the posse in there? 1969 01:57:32,120 --> 01:57:34,160 Speaker 1: I thought about it, and I took it out. Would 1970 01:57:34,160 --> 01:57:37,240 Speaker 1: you like to elaborate on that? No, I just find 1971 01:57:37,240 --> 01:57:40,800 Speaker 1: it hilarious that who were all of them? 1972 01:57:41,040 --> 01:57:43,560 Speaker 2: I just think it's Hilario's. Toby maguire's in there because he's, 1973 01:57:43,760 --> 01:57:46,360 Speaker 2: you know, looks the way that Toby McGuire does. But 1974 01:57:46,400 --> 01:57:48,080 Speaker 2: he was apparently running around. 1975 01:57:48,480 --> 01:57:49,400 Speaker 1: Second hand Leo. 1976 01:57:50,040 --> 01:57:53,680 Speaker 2: I was gonna say, get get in Leo's no list, 1977 01:57:56,160 --> 01:58:00,440 Speaker 2: just running rampant with Leo's discard pile, his slush pile, 1978 01:58:00,480 --> 01:58:01,000 Speaker 2: if you will. 1979 01:58:01,680 --> 01:58:05,120 Speaker 1: In twenty ten, Lerman did he workshop of his Gatsby screenplay, 1980 01:58:05,240 --> 01:58:08,120 Speaker 1: in which Rebecca Hall read for the part. 1981 01:58:08,000 --> 01:58:10,280 Speaker 2: Of Daisy an Angel. 1982 01:58:10,440 --> 01:58:10,640 Speaker 3: Yeah. 1983 01:58:10,680 --> 01:58:13,480 Speaker 1: I love rebccah Hall. She was offered Golden Globe nomination 1984 01:58:13,920 --> 01:58:19,040 Speaker 1: for Vicki Christina Barcelona. Baz apparently didn't think she was talented. 1985 01:58:20,000 --> 01:58:22,240 Speaker 1: He was not impressed with her performance in the reading, 1986 01:58:22,640 --> 01:58:25,240 Speaker 1: and he immediately started going through his rollodecks of a 1987 01:58:25,360 --> 01:58:28,680 Speaker 1: list Hollywood actresses for the part of Daisy. Well, what 1988 01:58:28,720 --> 01:58:32,080 Speaker 1: does he find now? He considered Kiera Knightley, Rachel McAdams, 1989 01:58:32,080 --> 01:58:36,200 Speaker 1: Abby Cornish, Ava Green, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Wilde, Blake, Lively, 1990 01:58:36,240 --> 01:58:39,000 Speaker 1: who I remember hearing a lot about possibly getting this role. 1991 01:58:39,280 --> 01:58:44,040 Speaker 1: Natalie Bartman, Jessica Alba, Michelle Williams, and Amanda Seyfried, who 1992 01:58:44,160 --> 01:58:46,840 Speaker 1: was actually announced as the official casting at some point 1993 01:58:46,880 --> 01:58:50,360 Speaker 1: in twenty ten before they walked it back. Scarlett Johansson 1994 01:58:50,560 --> 01:58:53,120 Speaker 1: was also close to being finalized before she was forced 1995 01:58:53,160 --> 01:58:55,600 Speaker 1: to back out due to her commitment to Cameron Crowe 1996 01:58:55,760 --> 01:59:01,440 Speaker 1: for Check's Notes twenty eleven's We Bought a Zoo. 1997 01:59:01,800 --> 01:59:05,680 Speaker 2: Yes, I knew it would be We Bought a Zoo. 1998 01:59:06,280 --> 01:59:08,680 Speaker 2: It could be nothing other than we. It's always trying 1999 01:59:08,680 --> 01:59:11,200 Speaker 2: to make the case that like, I love her. I 2000 01:59:11,200 --> 01:59:14,440 Speaker 2: think she's a wonderful, she seems she seems lovely. But 2001 01:59:14,520 --> 01:59:16,200 Speaker 2: someone was like trying to make the case for her 2002 01:59:16,240 --> 01:59:20,320 Speaker 2: as like a very serious actress. I was like, I 2003 01:59:20,320 --> 01:59:24,960 Speaker 2: beg your pardon. I mean, well, it's like the Halloween series. Man, 2004 01:59:25,000 --> 01:59:27,520 Speaker 2: It's like Halloween and The Exorcist. You get like when 2005 01:59:27,560 --> 01:59:31,640 Speaker 2: your first thing out gets you critical cachet, people just 2006 01:59:31,680 --> 01:59:34,360 Speaker 2: forget about the other dogs you do for in top 2007 01:59:34,480 --> 01:59:37,240 Speaker 2: for and they'll just keep coming back. I know there 2008 01:59:37,240 --> 01:59:39,040 Speaker 2: were people who think, like Black Widow is like the 2009 01:59:39,120 --> 01:59:42,240 Speaker 2: role of a lifetime, but get over anyway. 2010 01:59:42,320 --> 01:59:44,720 Speaker 1: I'm looking at Cameron Crow's who I love by the way. 2011 01:59:44,800 --> 01:59:46,240 Speaker 1: I mean, he's a music well that was the music 2012 01:59:46,320 --> 01:59:49,200 Speaker 1: journalist turned screenwriter, so obviously I worship the guy. 2013 01:59:49,240 --> 01:59:51,760 Speaker 2: Oh you love it. You're a big fan of Elizabethtown. 2014 01:59:51,720 --> 01:59:55,840 Speaker 1: Vanilla Sky, like the Vanilla Sky. But wait, he did 2015 01:59:55,840 --> 01:59:59,080 Speaker 1: We Bought a Zoo, which bombed because it's ridiculous. And 2016 01:59:59,120 --> 02:00:02,320 Speaker 1: then he did that a Oha movie where he cast 2017 02:00:02,440 --> 02:00:05,840 Speaker 1: him a stone as a Hawaiian woman and all the 2018 02:00:06,000 --> 02:00:09,280 Speaker 1: fallout from that. And he has not directed a non 2019 02:00:09,360 --> 02:00:13,560 Speaker 1: documentary and even then was only one since and that 2020 02:00:13,680 --> 02:00:18,800 Speaker 1: was ten years Bomber. Oh, he has not done. He 2021 02:00:18,840 --> 02:00:22,600 Speaker 1: did a Stevie Nick's music video. He did Roady Oh yeah, 2022 02:00:22,800 --> 02:00:25,760 Speaker 1: he did that TV show Roadi's on Showtime Okay, and 2023 02:00:25,840 --> 02:00:28,720 Speaker 1: he did David Crosby documentary in twenty nineteen, and that's 2024 02:00:28,880 --> 02:00:32,680 Speaker 1: kind of it. Wow, good for him. Yeah. One of 2025 02:00:32,720 --> 02:00:35,480 Speaker 1: the few names who wasn't bandied around by Baz in 2026 02:00:35,520 --> 02:00:38,960 Speaker 1: this period was Kerrie Mulligan. Her audition seemed like something 2027 02:00:39,000 --> 02:00:41,200 Speaker 1: of an afterthought in the wake of her success in 2028 02:00:41,280 --> 02:00:44,760 Speaker 1: An Education. I only found out about the audition three 2029 02:00:44,840 --> 02:00:47,080 Speaker 1: days before, so I read the book for the first 2030 02:00:47,120 --> 02:00:49,440 Speaker 1: time and went to see Baz. She'd later say in 2031 02:00:49,440 --> 02:00:52,720 Speaker 1: an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that was on November two, 2032 02:00:53,200 --> 02:00:55,920 Speaker 1: and on November fifteenth, Baz called her to tell her 2033 02:00:55,960 --> 02:00:58,680 Speaker 1: she got the role. She was literally on the red 2034 02:00:58,720 --> 02:01:01,400 Speaker 1: carpet at the time, a fashion event in New York, 2035 02:01:01,840 --> 02:01:05,560 Speaker 1: and upon receiving the news, she started to sob. I 2036 02:01:05,640 --> 02:01:07,520 Speaker 1: burst into tears in the middle of this room with 2037 02:01:07,600 --> 02:01:10,440 Speaker 1: Carl Lagerfeld and all these people standing next to me. 2038 02:01:10,840 --> 02:01:14,880 Speaker 1: They thought I was mental. Lerman would say, I was 2039 02:01:14,960 --> 02:01:17,560 Speaker 1: privileged to explore the character of some of the world's 2040 02:01:17,560 --> 02:01:21,680 Speaker 1: most talented actresses, each one bringing their own particular interpretation, 2041 02:01:22,280 --> 02:01:26,320 Speaker 1: all of which were legitimate and exciting. However, specific to 2042 02:01:26,360 --> 02:01:29,400 Speaker 1: this particular production of The Great Gatsby, I was thrilled 2043 02:01:29,400 --> 02:01:31,200 Speaker 1: to pick up the phone an hour ago to the 2044 02:01:31,200 --> 02:01:35,280 Speaker 1: young Oscar nominated British actress Carrie Mulligan and say to her, 2045 02:01:36,160 --> 02:01:40,240 Speaker 1: there's so many ways this could be read. Hello Daisy Buchanan, 2046 02:01:40,520 --> 02:01:42,640 Speaker 1: Hello Daisy Buchanan. 2047 02:01:43,440 --> 02:01:46,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's offensive. 2048 02:01:46,960 --> 02:01:50,520 Speaker 1: I avoluargize good day. 2049 02:01:51,240 --> 02:01:59,520 Speaker 2: He didn't say good day, Good day, Daisy Struth, Carrie, 2050 02:01:59,640 --> 02:02:00,880 Speaker 2: give me bloody Daisy. 2051 02:02:01,440 --> 02:02:01,600 Speaker 1: Oh. 2052 02:02:01,640 --> 02:02:05,960 Speaker 2: I heard a great new Australian expression the other day. Yeah, 2053 02:02:06,280 --> 02:02:09,840 Speaker 2: Fad Dinger is a right fad dinger. He is, well, 2054 02:02:09,840 --> 02:02:14,640 Speaker 2: that's caught the sorry, no, no fair dinkum, I apologize 2055 02:02:14,840 --> 02:02:17,800 Speaker 2: dinkham dinkham fad inkom. 2056 02:02:17,400 --> 02:02:18,080 Speaker 1: Can you spell it? 2057 02:02:18,960 --> 02:02:21,400 Speaker 2: D I n k u M. 2058 02:02:21,840 --> 02:02:22,440 Speaker 1: What's that? Man? 2059 02:02:22,680 --> 02:02:24,240 Speaker 2: Just like a funny little scamp. 2060 02:02:24,640 --> 02:02:27,160 Speaker 1: Oh all right, where'd you hear that? 2061 02:02:29,440 --> 02:02:30,040 Speaker 2: In a video? 2062 02:02:30,640 --> 02:02:31,680 Speaker 1: Oh? This is gonna be good. 2063 02:02:32,280 --> 02:02:35,640 Speaker 2: In a prank video where a gentleman is disguised as 2064 02:02:35,640 --> 02:02:40,320 Speaker 2: a home depot employee and selling this old Australian man 2065 02:02:41,080 --> 02:02:44,040 Speaker 2: measuring tapes and saying, don't mind about the black bits there. 2066 02:02:44,120 --> 02:02:48,960 Speaker 2: That's when me and my buds measure each other. Australian 2067 02:02:49,000 --> 02:02:51,480 Speaker 2: guys like here. He's like, yo, yeah, just back in 2068 02:02:51,520 --> 02:02:54,880 Speaker 2: the break room, fad dikum, aren't you. 2069 02:02:57,040 --> 02:02:59,360 Speaker 1: Wow? That was so much better than I could have 2070 02:02:59,360 --> 02:02:59,960 Speaker 1: ever imagined. 2071 02:03:01,240 --> 02:03:06,680 Speaker 2: Well, I'm here to help while oh man, anyway, buzzlerman sucks. 2072 02:03:06,920 --> 02:03:09,160 Speaker 1: Well, you know who kind of sucks more, Kerry Mulligan. 2073 02:03:09,440 --> 02:03:12,760 Speaker 1: Bradley Cooper. Oh yeah, we got to hear from Hollywood's 2074 02:03:12,760 --> 02:03:15,640 Speaker 1: favorite try hard Bradley Cooper. 2075 02:03:16,320 --> 02:03:20,360 Speaker 2: It's so funny to me that he in in like wet, 2076 02:03:20,360 --> 02:03:23,720 Speaker 2: hot American summer. He was like, it's true as self yeah, 2077 02:03:23,760 --> 02:03:27,000 Speaker 2: and then and recoiled at the reception. He was like, 2078 02:03:27,040 --> 02:03:29,360 Speaker 2: he was like, I'll never let anyone in that way again. 2079 02:03:30,440 --> 02:03:32,240 Speaker 2: To be being a tryard theater. 2080 02:03:32,160 --> 02:03:35,880 Speaker 1: Boy, Bradley made a very public appeal for the role 2081 02:03:35,960 --> 02:03:39,040 Speaker 1: of Tom Buchanan, the Battie. 2082 02:03:39,480 --> 02:03:42,400 Speaker 2: He dressed up like catwoman and went to bad Lehman's office. 2083 02:03:43,880 --> 02:03:46,400 Speaker 1: He basically used an interview in The New York Times 2084 02:03:46,400 --> 02:03:48,960 Speaker 1: the campaign for the role. He said, to me, he's 2085 02:03:49,000 --> 02:03:52,960 Speaker 1: the best character in the book. He's so complicated, he's xenophobic, 2086 02:03:53,160 --> 02:03:56,320 Speaker 1: he's an alcoholic, but he also understands the profound stuff 2087 02:03:56,360 --> 02:03:59,840 Speaker 1: about class. Whoever plays it has to take a gentle 2088 02:04:00,120 --> 02:04:03,200 Speaker 1: and because it could so easily be stock where he's 2089 02:04:03,240 --> 02:04:06,240 Speaker 1: a rich jerk you don't identify with at all. I 2090 02:04:06,280 --> 02:04:09,120 Speaker 1: don't even know if I'm on Luhrman's radar. Maybe he'll 2091 02:04:09,120 --> 02:04:12,680 Speaker 1: read this article after the Rolls cast and say, oh hah, yeah, 2092 02:04:12,720 --> 02:04:15,160 Speaker 1: that guy was never gonna get it. But they do 2093 02:04:15,160 --> 02:04:18,840 Speaker 1: not seem wildly out of character now post maestro. But 2094 02:04:19,000 --> 02:04:21,320 Speaker 1: this was out a time when Bradley Cooper was chiefly 2095 02:04:21,360 --> 02:04:24,360 Speaker 1: known as the guy from the Hangover comedies, so it's 2096 02:04:24,360 --> 02:04:26,160 Speaker 1: doubtful that he was seriously considered. 2097 02:04:26,640 --> 02:04:29,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's it's so funny to me how unbearably earnest 2098 02:04:29,560 --> 02:04:32,440 Speaker 2: he's always been. He's just a theater kid man. It 2099 02:04:32,600 --> 02:04:34,640 Speaker 2: never scanned it. He was just hiding all of it 2100 02:04:34,720 --> 02:04:36,120 Speaker 2: under that bro facade. 2101 02:04:36,560 --> 02:04:40,080 Speaker 1: You know. Who gets away to me with being unbearably 2102 02:04:40,120 --> 02:04:46,640 Speaker 1: earnest and also a freak? Noel Coward more contemporary. No, 2103 02:04:46,800 --> 02:04:48,560 Speaker 1: I don't know Tom Cruise. 2104 02:04:48,320 --> 02:04:51,240 Speaker 2: But just because didn't he do in importance of being earnest? No, 2105 02:04:51,320 --> 02:04:54,720 Speaker 2: that was Oliver oscar Rod. Tom Cruise just loves movies. 2106 02:04:55,480 --> 02:04:58,840 Speaker 2: He does love the movies, and I love it and 2107 02:04:58,880 --> 02:05:02,120 Speaker 2: that is the yes. I just yeah, I mean it 2108 02:05:02,240 --> 02:05:04,720 Speaker 2: is so funny, and he's like he really does have. 2109 02:05:04,880 --> 02:05:05,760 Speaker 1: It's like him and Brad. 2110 02:05:05,680 --> 02:05:08,280 Speaker 2: Pitt where it's just like, like, we know there's like 2111 02:05:08,320 --> 02:05:13,480 Speaker 2: an FBI investigation into Brad Pitt's child and wife abuse, 2112 02:05:13,560 --> 02:05:17,520 Speaker 2: but we're just kind of like, God, he's handsome. Just 2113 02:05:17,600 --> 02:05:20,680 Speaker 2: let the man live. Just those two guys, you know, 2114 02:05:20,760 --> 02:05:25,040 Speaker 2: if they just get this bass anyway, God, this one 2115 02:05:25,040 --> 02:05:25,800 Speaker 2: has been funny. 2116 02:05:25,880 --> 02:05:29,560 Speaker 1: Nuts, I apologize. Where the hell are we from? O? 2117 02:05:29,760 --> 02:05:31,920 Speaker 1: So okay, he didn't get the role in the Great Gaspee, 2118 02:05:32,000 --> 02:05:34,959 Speaker 1: but instead he accepted a role in Silver Linings Playbook, 2119 02:05:35,080 --> 02:05:37,640 Speaker 1: which earned him an Academy Award nomination. So it worked 2120 02:05:37,640 --> 02:05:42,160 Speaker 1: out for Bradley True. Instead, Baz wanted to cast Ben 2121 02:05:42,160 --> 02:05:47,560 Speaker 1: Affleck in the role of Daisy's British husband. Good, good 2122 02:05:47,640 --> 02:05:48,160 Speaker 1: work there. 2123 02:05:48,600 --> 02:05:51,040 Speaker 2: I feel like bet I would make Ben Affleck sad, 2124 02:05:51,560 --> 02:05:55,800 Speaker 2: and the man is already very sad. So I'm glad 2125 02:05:55,840 --> 02:05:56,920 Speaker 2: this didn't befall him. 2126 02:05:57,000 --> 02:06:00,160 Speaker 1: Yes, no, he backed out to star and direct Our Go, 2127 02:06:00,320 --> 02:06:05,680 Speaker 1: which won Best Picture. So yeah that worked out. Yeah, 2128 02:06:06,360 --> 02:06:08,600 Speaker 1: a movie about the Iranian hostage crisis. 2129 02:06:08,960 --> 02:06:11,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, and that was like his big one where he 2130 02:06:11,880 --> 02:06:15,040 Speaker 2: was like, I'm I'm everyone, I have things to offer. 2131 02:06:15,240 --> 02:06:16,680 Speaker 1: Yeah. 2132 02:06:16,760 --> 02:06:19,800 Speaker 2: I think that family guy joke just really wrecked him. 2133 02:06:20,200 --> 02:06:21,880 Speaker 1: Yeah. 2134 02:06:22,200 --> 02:06:27,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, man, huh they're finished Good Will Hunting by Matt Damon. 2135 02:06:28,040 --> 02:06:30,000 Speaker 1: Hey uh, you think we could put both our names 2136 02:06:30,000 --> 02:06:30,240 Speaker 1: on that? 2137 02:06:30,480 --> 02:06:33,320 Speaker 2: What you've done nothing but eat briars and smoke pot 2138 02:06:33,320 --> 02:06:34,440 Speaker 2: for the last six months. 2139 02:06:34,560 --> 02:06:37,280 Speaker 1: Oh that's ridiculous. Come on, I helped. 2140 02:06:37,360 --> 02:06:40,600 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, okay, right, Aline, just just right now, just 2141 02:06:40,600 --> 02:06:41,640 Speaker 2: pitch me a line right now? 2142 02:06:41,920 --> 02:06:45,800 Speaker 1: Okay, how about that. That wasn't a line. You just 2143 02:06:45,920 --> 02:06:47,560 Speaker 1: farted there any more? Pot? 2144 02:06:47,960 --> 02:06:50,760 Speaker 2: I like I just like Ben Affleck, as we've covered 2145 02:06:50,840 --> 02:06:52,879 Speaker 2: on this as we've covered on this pod. 2146 02:06:52,760 --> 02:06:55,560 Speaker 1: I do too, But I worry about him. I worry 2147 02:06:55,560 --> 02:06:58,320 Speaker 1: he's gonna snap and do something bad. 2148 02:06:59,040 --> 02:07:01,560 Speaker 2: I don't oh, I mean to himself or well, I 2149 02:07:01,560 --> 02:07:02,680 Speaker 2: don't see him either way. 2150 02:07:03,280 --> 02:07:05,000 Speaker 1: I mean that video of him like on the red 2151 02:07:05,000 --> 02:07:08,080 Speaker 1: carpet with her and being like talking to somebody smoothing. 2152 02:07:08,360 --> 02:07:10,919 Speaker 1: Then the person walks away and his face just falls 2153 02:07:10,920 --> 02:07:14,360 Speaker 1: like somebody flicked a Yes, that haunting that is haunting? 2154 02:07:14,400 --> 02:07:17,360 Speaker 2: It is yeah, yeah, yeah, But I'm saying, like, yeah, 2155 02:07:17,400 --> 02:07:19,640 Speaker 2: I think he's more of a candidate for like killing 2156 02:07:19,720 --> 02:07:23,520 Speaker 2: himself than like because then than having some kind of 2157 02:07:24,040 --> 02:07:25,880 Speaker 2: you know, domestic situation or whatever. 2158 02:07:26,040 --> 02:07:27,640 Speaker 1: Sure, like again, if. 2159 02:07:27,520 --> 02:07:32,320 Speaker 2: You've like held off j lo oh. 2160 02:07:32,160 --> 02:07:36,240 Speaker 1: I think he loves her still. I think that's his Daisy. 2161 02:07:37,640 --> 02:07:39,000 Speaker 1: I don't know why it didn't work out. I think 2162 02:07:39,000 --> 02:07:40,280 Speaker 1: about that affair amount. 2163 02:07:41,000 --> 02:07:43,320 Speaker 2: Really, yeah, say more about that. 2164 02:07:44,080 --> 02:07:46,560 Speaker 1: I don't know. It just makes me sad that like 2165 02:07:46,720 --> 02:07:50,240 Speaker 1: they had that reunion twenty years later and then it 2166 02:07:50,320 --> 02:07:51,400 Speaker 1: disintegrated again. 2167 02:07:52,120 --> 02:07:55,160 Speaker 2: And yeah, because she's an awful person. 2168 02:07:55,720 --> 02:07:58,880 Speaker 1: I've never heard that she's awful. I know that that's documenting. 2169 02:07:59,000 --> 02:08:01,200 Speaker 1: I never heard that document mentioned that they did. He 2170 02:08:01,240 --> 02:08:03,600 Speaker 1: was uncomfortable with how much it put them out there, 2171 02:08:04,160 --> 02:08:05,400 Speaker 1: and that was she published. 2172 02:08:05,400 --> 02:08:08,280 Speaker 2: I mean, first of all, she was legendarily hind maintenance 2173 02:08:08,320 --> 02:08:10,480 Speaker 2: and insane. There were stories when she and Mark Anthony 2174 02:08:10,520 --> 02:08:14,640 Speaker 2: were married about him just doling out hundreds to anyone 2175 02:08:14,720 --> 02:08:18,440 Speaker 2: she interacted with in the restaurant as like an apology, 2176 02:08:18,520 --> 02:08:21,000 Speaker 2: a blank apologia. 2177 02:08:21,040 --> 02:08:22,200 Speaker 1: I didn't know. Oh yeah, dude. 2178 02:08:22,200 --> 02:08:24,520 Speaker 2: The fact that she made this fuck you render about 2179 02:08:24,520 --> 02:08:27,680 Speaker 2: herself and included like his love letters to her man 2180 02:08:27,720 --> 02:08:29,640 Speaker 2: you don't awful woman? 2181 02:08:30,000 --> 02:08:30,720 Speaker 1: You ever an interviewer. 2182 02:08:31,000 --> 02:08:33,920 Speaker 2: Fuck No, they wouldn't let me within ten miles of her. Yeah, 2183 02:08:34,000 --> 02:08:36,640 Speaker 2: your mind. They learned that lesson. 2184 02:08:38,800 --> 02:08:39,200 Speaker 1: Fairly. 2185 02:08:39,440 --> 02:08:41,120 Speaker 2: It took them longer to catch on to me than 2186 02:08:41,120 --> 02:08:45,400 Speaker 2: I thought they would, But no, they didn't continue. 2187 02:08:46,200 --> 02:08:48,520 Speaker 1: Let's see. So yeah, Ben Affleck did not get the 2188 02:08:48,600 --> 02:08:51,440 Speaker 1: role of Tom Buchanan. It went to Joel Edgerton, an 2189 02:08:51,480 --> 02:08:54,920 Speaker 1: Australian actor who came to prominence in David Michaud's twenty 2190 02:08:54,960 --> 02:09:00,160 Speaker 1: ten crime film Animal Kingdom. Another Australian newcomer, Elizabeth to 2191 02:09:00,280 --> 02:09:04,240 Speaker 1: Becky on the part of Jordan Baker. She's better known 2192 02:09:04,280 --> 02:09:07,040 Speaker 1: to me as being a dead ringer for Princess Diana 2193 02:09:07,200 --> 02:09:10,040 Speaker 1: in the later seasons of The Crown. She's excellent in that. 2194 02:09:10,520 --> 02:09:12,920 Speaker 2: Also, just you're an Australian and you're doing the great 2195 02:09:12,920 --> 02:09:15,360 Speaker 2: American novel and you're gonna change it and cast all 2196 02:09:15,400 --> 02:09:20,680 Speaker 2: of your countrymen in it and women. Fuck you want 2197 02:09:20,720 --> 02:09:23,440 Speaker 2: to go over? If there were a great Australian work 2198 02:09:23,440 --> 02:09:26,840 Speaker 2: of literature, which I believe we're still waiting on it, uh, 2199 02:09:27,640 --> 02:09:30,560 Speaker 2: I would go over and direct it and cast Americans 2200 02:09:30,920 --> 02:09:34,280 Speaker 2: or even better cast the British, because that would really 2201 02:09:34,280 --> 02:09:35,040 Speaker 2: get under their skin. 2202 02:09:35,120 --> 02:09:37,560 Speaker 1: What a fun showed. Well, this is impressive. I think 2203 02:09:37,640 --> 02:09:40,120 Speaker 1: Leo and Toby are the only two Americans. You've got 2204 02:09:40,160 --> 02:09:43,760 Speaker 1: Daisy is Carrie Mulligan, New's English. You've got Ilsa Fisher 2205 02:09:43,760 --> 02:09:47,000 Speaker 1: who's Myrtle and she's English. You've got Elizabeth de Becky 2206 02:09:47,120 --> 02:09:51,320 Speaker 1: who's Jordan Baker and she's Australian. You've got Jason Clark 2207 02:09:51,720 --> 02:09:54,680 Speaker 1: who is George the gas station owner. I think he's English. 2208 02:09:54,880 --> 02:09:58,200 Speaker 1: And you've got Joel Edgertoon as Australian as Tom Buchanan 2209 02:09:58,680 --> 02:10:04,839 Speaker 1: as Daisy's husband. So yeah. Indian actor Amita Bachan appears 2210 02:10:04,880 --> 02:10:10,080 Speaker 1: as Meyer Wolfsheim the UH. The the Jewish gangster. Thank you, 2211 02:10:10,320 --> 02:10:11,800 Speaker 1: that's his first Hollywood role. 2212 02:10:12,120 --> 02:10:12,600 Speaker 2: Wonderful. 2213 02:10:12,720 --> 02:10:16,360 Speaker 1: He worked for free as a favorite to lherman favor 2214 02:10:17,760 --> 02:10:19,040 Speaker 1: his first Hollywood role. 2215 02:10:19,640 --> 02:10:25,640 Speaker 2: Then, guys, he's a millionaire, buzz Jesus Christ. Everything about 2216 02:10:25,640 --> 02:10:31,920 Speaker 2: this buzz Lehman himself. So also, where's uh, where's the outcry? 2217 02:10:32,200 --> 02:10:34,960 Speaker 1: You know? Man? Hey man? 2218 02:10:35,000 --> 02:10:38,000 Speaker 2: They find it a right man, hey man, Like couldn't 2219 02:10:38,040 --> 02:10:42,080 Speaker 2: they find it authentically Jewish gangster? To portray a Jewish gangster. 2220 02:10:43,120 --> 02:10:46,720 Speaker 1: Buzz Luhrman gave himself a five second cameo in his 2221 02:10:46,800 --> 02:10:51,240 Speaker 1: Great Gatsby adaptation as a waiter fine. On the first 2222 02:10:51,320 --> 02:10:54,320 Speaker 1: day of filming, he staged the t scene between Gatsby, 2223 02:10:54,560 --> 02:10:58,240 Speaker 1: Nick and Daisy during a fake rainstorm that required one 2224 02:10:58,280 --> 02:11:02,240 Speaker 1: hundred thousand liters of water pull off, and then it 2225 02:11:02,360 --> 02:11:07,000 Speaker 1: rained for three days straight afterwards during production. Here here 2226 02:11:07,080 --> 02:11:09,640 Speaker 1: this will interest you. During production, Bows was injured when 2227 02:11:09,640 --> 02:11:13,480 Speaker 1: he moving camera cranes struck his head, resulted in three stitches, 2228 02:11:14,320 --> 02:11:17,480 Speaker 1: not enough the Grand Party House to pick it as 2229 02:11:17,560 --> 02:11:21,080 Speaker 1: Jay Gatsby's mansion was primarily filmed that Saint Patrick's Seminary 2230 02:11:21,320 --> 02:11:25,440 Speaker 1: in New South Wales, Australia, which is bos Luhman's former 2231 02:11:25,600 --> 02:11:32,440 Speaker 1: high school. You think about that, sound, prompting me, oh yeah, 2232 02:11:32,520 --> 02:11:33,480 Speaker 1: do you think about that one? 2233 02:11:33,680 --> 02:11:36,520 Speaker 2: So he literally went back to his old high school 2234 02:11:36,520 --> 02:11:37,160 Speaker 2: as a flex. 2235 02:11:37,280 --> 02:11:41,080 Speaker 1: Yeah. Nothing to unpack there, man. I mean, as I 2236 02:11:41,120 --> 02:11:44,480 Speaker 1: think we spoke about briefly on our last episode. I 2237 02:11:44,800 --> 02:11:47,320 Speaker 1: actually I did enjoy my high school experience, and I 2238 02:11:47,360 --> 02:11:49,320 Speaker 1: was very sad to learn that they're actually tearing my 2239 02:11:49,320 --> 02:11:51,360 Speaker 1: old high school down to build a new one next 2240 02:11:51,360 --> 02:11:53,760 Speaker 1: to it, which i'm parking lot, which I'm very sad. Actually, yes, 2241 02:11:53,800 --> 02:11:56,320 Speaker 1: they're building one next door and then they'll tear it 2242 02:11:56,360 --> 02:11:59,040 Speaker 1: down and put the new parking lot, which I'm sad about. 2243 02:11:59,080 --> 02:12:04,440 Speaker 1: But my my friend Chris Fleming is taping a special soon, 2244 02:12:04,840 --> 02:12:06,760 Speaker 1: and I was trying to convince him to do it 2245 02:12:06,880 --> 02:12:09,400 Speaker 1: like at the high school exactly, but like do it 2246 02:12:09,440 --> 02:12:11,560 Speaker 1: in three parts. Like the first part is at the 2247 02:12:11,600 --> 02:12:14,400 Speaker 1: high school auditorium that we all like started our drama 2248 02:12:14,440 --> 02:12:17,320 Speaker 1: club experience in, and then midway through it's like partially 2249 02:12:17,360 --> 02:12:19,400 Speaker 1: demolished and there's no roof, and then at the very 2250 02:12:19,560 --> 02:12:21,080 Speaker 1: end there's just the stage in the middle of like 2251 02:12:21,080 --> 02:12:22,520 Speaker 1: an empty construction site. 2252 02:12:22,960 --> 02:12:23,520 Speaker 2: That's pretty good. 2253 02:12:23,560 --> 02:12:25,200 Speaker 1: It's pretty good, he was. He was not doing it. 2254 02:12:25,360 --> 02:12:27,960 Speaker 1: I mean probably, I'm sure the unions won't like that, 2255 02:12:28,080 --> 02:12:32,600 Speaker 1: but yeah, The Magic's interiors were styled in a richly 2256 02:12:32,640 --> 02:12:35,960 Speaker 1: gilded blend of Art Deco and traditional establishment taste. 2257 02:12:36,320 --> 02:12:41,880 Speaker 2: That's the other thing. Man, he's just he's he's trump like. 2258 02:12:43,240 --> 02:12:44,800 Speaker 2: It's just it's guilded. 2259 02:12:44,840 --> 02:12:45,600 Speaker 1: It's tacky. 2260 02:12:45,680 --> 02:12:46,879 Speaker 2: He's tacky. 2261 02:12:48,880 --> 02:12:52,440 Speaker 1: I've never seen a straight man so angrily hissed the 2262 02:12:52,440 --> 02:12:57,800 Speaker 1: word dacky at me. And trust me, I've had I've 2263 02:12:57,840 --> 02:12:59,200 Speaker 1: had it a lot. 2264 02:13:00,880 --> 02:13:03,800 Speaker 2: Ah Marion, that's my favorite. 2265 02:13:03,920 --> 02:13:08,000 Speaker 1: Did you ever see the Studio fifty four movie where 2266 02:13:08,040 --> 02:13:11,040 Speaker 1: Mike Myers is the is like the founder of fifty 2267 02:13:11,040 --> 02:13:16,280 Speaker 1: four four. Oh, it's great. He's like this flamboyant man 2268 02:13:16,320 --> 02:13:18,920 Speaker 1: who co founded Studio fifty four and he's finally getting 2269 02:13:19,000 --> 02:13:22,800 Speaker 1: busted for tax evasion and a whole laundry list of 2270 02:13:22,840 --> 02:13:25,960 Speaker 1: other things. And he's let out of the club in handcuffs, 2271 02:13:26,360 --> 02:13:30,000 Speaker 1: coming off of some serious downers and suicides. Are all 2272 02:13:30,120 --> 02:13:32,680 Speaker 1: droopy and all the photographers are there taking his pictures. 2273 02:13:32,760 --> 02:13:34,480 Speaker 1: Is being let out in the handcuffs and shoved bend 2274 02:13:34,480 --> 02:13:36,440 Speaker 1: in the back of the paddy wagon, and he just 2275 02:13:36,480 --> 02:13:38,520 Speaker 1: goes right before they shove him down inside. He goes, 2276 02:13:39,120 --> 02:13:44,840 Speaker 1: this is so tacky. They slammed the door and try 2277 02:13:44,960 --> 02:13:48,480 Speaker 1: fop and it's so good for him. Mike Myers is 2278 02:13:48,480 --> 02:13:50,480 Speaker 1: great in that movie. It's not a great movie, but 2279 02:13:50,520 --> 02:13:54,600 Speaker 1: a great performance. Uh. On the gate of Gatsby's house 2280 02:13:54,840 --> 02:13:58,880 Speaker 1: is the Latin phrase at finem fidelus, which is Latin 2281 02:13:58,920 --> 02:14:05,760 Speaker 1: for to the end, which symbolizes Gatsby's undying devotion to Daisy. 2282 02:14:06,720 --> 02:14:12,200 Speaker 2: It's also the in slogo of the US Marine Corps. 2283 02:14:12,240 --> 02:14:17,040 Speaker 1: I thought, that's always prepared. Fine. I just wanted another 2284 02:14:17,080 --> 02:14:18,840 Speaker 1: reason to get mad at Helio and you took that. 2285 02:14:19,080 --> 02:14:21,360 Speaker 1: You took. You're about to give you one right now. 2286 02:14:21,560 --> 02:14:24,080 Speaker 1: Many of the lavish cars seen in this great Gasby 2287 02:14:24,120 --> 02:14:28,200 Speaker 1: adaptation came from Jay Leno's personal collection. Ah, there it is. 2288 02:14:28,280 --> 02:14:32,680 Speaker 1: It is due to the rarity and value of authentic 2289 02:14:32,960 --> 02:14:37,120 Speaker 1: Duzenberg automobiles. For example, one sold for four point five 2290 02:14:37,200 --> 02:14:39,520 Speaker 1: million the same year that this Gasby movie came out, 2291 02:14:39,520 --> 02:14:43,320 Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen. They used replica Dusenberg's, which were painted 2292 02:14:43,400 --> 02:14:46,320 Speaker 1: yellow and modified for filming action scenes. 2293 02:14:46,440 --> 02:14:49,000 Speaker 2: It's so funny that they they now make a they 2294 02:14:49,000 --> 02:14:53,760 Speaker 2: now make guitars Dusenberg. Yeah, they're really good guitars. They're 2295 02:14:53,800 --> 02:14:56,720 Speaker 2: super cool looking. They're like they're expensive too. It's not 2296 02:14:56,720 --> 02:14:59,680 Speaker 2: a cheap guitar. I think I'll set you back. Oh my, 2297 02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:05,200 Speaker 2: it's good good German craftsmanship, beautiful rebuilding a rebuilding an 2298 02:15:05,320 --> 02:15:07,680 Speaker 2: vehicle or making it a custom What were you talking about? 2299 02:15:07,760 --> 02:15:10,040 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's interesting to me. I don't really understand. 2300 02:15:10,240 --> 02:15:11,520 Speaker 1: I mean, I'm the kind of guy that would like 2301 02:15:11,520 --> 02:15:14,280 Speaker 1: buy out like a knockoff, like fake roles, because I 2302 02:15:14,360 --> 02:15:15,840 Speaker 1: like the way it looked. I don't really care that. 2303 02:15:15,880 --> 02:15:18,560 Speaker 1: It's if it looks the part and it works, Okay, 2304 02:15:19,120 --> 02:15:21,520 Speaker 1: I don't Yeah, yeah, like so that's cool. I'd like 2305 02:15:21,720 --> 02:15:22,320 Speaker 1: I think it's. 2306 02:15:22,120 --> 02:15:24,600 Speaker 2: Just all done with like fiberglass. Yeah, right, Like that's 2307 02:15:24,680 --> 02:15:27,440 Speaker 2: that's the joke about Like, I mean, they're like monster 2308 02:15:27,520 --> 02:15:30,320 Speaker 2: truck shells. They're just like designed to like look good, 2309 02:15:30,520 --> 02:15:36,840 Speaker 2: yeah briefly, and not actually be a functioning vehicle or whatever. 2310 02:15:36,960 --> 02:15:41,280 Speaker 2: Who cares? Who cares? It's like, my body, bring this 2311 02:15:41,320 --> 02:15:42,480 Speaker 2: one home, baby. 2312 02:15:43,040 --> 02:15:46,360 Speaker 1: The film's wardrobe, led by costume designer Katherine Martin, was 2313 02:15:46,400 --> 02:15:49,360 Speaker 1: almost entirely custom made, which is crazy. 2314 02:15:49,800 --> 02:15:52,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why his that's why his buddy had to 2315 02:15:52,080 --> 02:15:52,680 Speaker 2: work for free. 2316 02:15:52,800 --> 02:15:56,839 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Despite her initial hopes of using authentic vintage clothing, 2317 02:15:57,000 --> 02:16:00,839 Speaker 1: Martin realized that original nineteen twenties garments were far too fragile, 2318 02:16:01,440 --> 02:16:05,560 Speaker 1: so she worked with designers like Muccia Prada, who created 2319 02:16:06,080 --> 02:16:10,040 Speaker 1: only forty custom dresses like okay, forty custom dresses apparently 2320 02:16:10,040 --> 02:16:12,800 Speaker 1: from my notes, and Brooks Brothers, who outfitted the mail 2321 02:16:12,920 --> 02:16:17,040 Speaker 1: cast and extras. Tiffany and Co. Supplied the jewelry, but 2322 02:16:17,080 --> 02:16:20,600 Speaker 1: they had a dedicated on set security guard there at 2323 02:16:20,640 --> 02:16:23,839 Speaker 1: all times to make sure that they got it all back. Yeah. 2324 02:16:24,000 --> 02:16:27,000 Speaker 1: The most expensive and time consuming costume was a satin 2325 02:16:27,040 --> 02:16:31,000 Speaker 1: pajama set worn by Elizabeth Becky, the Bickie. I don't 2326 02:16:31,000 --> 02:16:32,600 Speaker 1: know how you say her name. I'm sorry, sorry to 2327 02:16:32,640 --> 02:16:36,520 Speaker 1: that woman who played Jordan Baker. It was cut from 2328 02:16:36,560 --> 02:16:39,959 Speaker 1: a single piece of satin fabric, and they had to 2329 02:16:39,959 --> 02:16:44,160 Speaker 1: make two sets just in case she spilled something on 2330 02:16:44,160 --> 02:16:48,720 Speaker 1: one of them, just in case. Leonardo DiCaprio's wardrobe included 2331 02:16:48,760 --> 02:16:53,039 Speaker 1: a standout midnight blue tuxedo, chosen specifically to contrast against 2332 02:16:53,040 --> 02:16:56,600 Speaker 1: a seat of black suits, and although the film's fashion 2333 02:16:56,600 --> 02:17:01,000 Speaker 1: evoked a glamorous nineteen twenties look, many costumes orients criticized 2334 02:17:01,040 --> 02:17:05,880 Speaker 1: it for its inaccuracy. Yeah, Catherine Martin, custom designer and 2335 02:17:05,920 --> 02:17:09,760 Speaker 1: Prada modernized the clothing to appeal the contemporary audiences with 2336 02:17:09,840 --> 02:17:13,039 Speaker 1: adjustments like push up bras that were not true to 2337 02:17:13,080 --> 02:17:17,600 Speaker 1: the silhouettes of the jazz age era. Just stupid, man, 2338 02:17:17,640 --> 02:17:22,640 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, is this what? Martin defended the decision, arguing that. 2339 02:17:22,920 --> 02:17:26,240 Speaker 2: Just even it from the trailer when he's like the 2340 02:17:26,280 --> 02:17:29,200 Speaker 2: classic shot of him doing the like champagne glass towards 2341 02:17:29,240 --> 02:17:33,880 Speaker 2: the camera, Like, how did they not fundamentally just telegraph 2342 02:17:33,959 --> 02:17:36,879 Speaker 2: to everyone that this man did not understand this material, 2343 02:17:38,520 --> 02:17:41,320 Speaker 2: like from the get go. But I guess people don't care. 2344 02:17:41,800 --> 02:17:43,640 Speaker 2: They just wanted it to be loud and flashy. 2345 02:17:44,040 --> 02:17:47,000 Speaker 1: Well. The costume designer defended her decision by arguing that 2346 02:17:47,040 --> 02:17:50,759 Speaker 1: the fashion of the nineteen twenties, especially as portrayed in illustrations, 2347 02:17:51,240 --> 02:17:54,440 Speaker 1: was inherently about sex and bodily freedom, so it was 2348 02:17:54,440 --> 02:17:57,120 Speaker 1: true to the spirit of the fashions. She said, it 2349 02:17:57,160 --> 02:17:59,920 Speaker 1: was the first time that women basically wore no undergarment, 2350 02:18:01,440 --> 02:18:05,160 Speaker 1: not even a garter belt. I don't know if that's 2351 02:18:05,160 --> 02:18:09,359 Speaker 1: true citation needed. Alice Jurou of the Art Deco Society 2352 02:18:09,520 --> 02:18:12,440 Speaker 1: noted that the film leaned into the nineteen twenty stereotypes 2353 02:18:12,480 --> 02:18:16,360 Speaker 1: that aligned more with mid decades styles, short skirts and 2354 02:18:16,400 --> 02:18:20,200 Speaker 1: clamorous flapper outfits rather than the actual fashions that were 2355 02:18:20,240 --> 02:18:22,720 Speaker 1: in vogue in nineteen twenty two, and the movie took place, 2356 02:18:23,200 --> 02:18:27,360 Speaker 1: which featured longer flowing garments. People would be startled and 2357 02:18:27,440 --> 02:18:30,800 Speaker 1: disturbed if anybody did real nineteen twenty two fashion in 2358 02:18:30,840 --> 02:18:35,440 Speaker 1: the production. Juro said, oh, you do the soundtrack stuff. 2359 02:18:35,440 --> 02:18:37,160 Speaker 1: Here's music, you like music. 2360 02:18:37,959 --> 02:18:43,760 Speaker 2: I hate his whatever, although even better. Uh. The soundtrack 2361 02:18:43,800 --> 02:18:47,000 Speaker 2: drew criticism as well from purists or people who were 2362 02:18:47,040 --> 02:18:50,480 Speaker 2: not familiar with his stick, for its bold and anachronistic choices, 2363 02:18:50,760 --> 02:18:53,200 Speaker 2: such as a Beyonce and Andre three thousand cover of 2364 02:18:53,240 --> 02:18:57,240 Speaker 2: Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and Jack White's reinterpretation of 2365 02:18:57,280 --> 02:18:59,000 Speaker 2: You Two's Love His Blindness. 2366 02:18:59,200 --> 02:19:02,560 Speaker 1: I don't remember that, okay, but I just. 2367 02:19:02,879 --> 02:19:05,840 Speaker 2: Man, this is just like, like I can't articulate how 2368 02:19:05,879 --> 02:19:07,760 Speaker 2: stupid and basic those choices. 2369 02:19:07,480 --> 02:19:11,920 Speaker 1: Are, you know, like, oh, who's all right now? Oh yeah? 2370 02:19:11,959 --> 02:19:16,400 Speaker 2: Beyonce have her cover Amy Winehouse, who died within her 2371 02:19:16,440 --> 02:19:22,880 Speaker 2: lifetime and her most personal song make it Joyful? Also, 2372 02:19:23,000 --> 02:19:26,039 Speaker 2: Jack White like that. I usually give him credit for 2373 02:19:26,120 --> 02:19:30,000 Speaker 2: having like a rigid moral compass, but like, how big 2374 02:19:30,040 --> 02:19:31,800 Speaker 2: of a check did they dangle in front of? Can 2375 02:19:31,879 --> 02:19:37,400 Speaker 2: you cover a YouTube song like Jack White? Mister analog purist? Mister, 2376 02:19:37,640 --> 02:19:41,800 Speaker 2: my favorite recording of all time is Sunhouse is grinnin 2377 02:19:41,879 --> 02:19:46,480 Speaker 2: in your face on like a shalack thing. Covering a 2378 02:19:46,520 --> 02:19:51,920 Speaker 2: band whose entire existence owes itself to digital delay technology 2379 02:19:53,760 --> 02:19:55,480 Speaker 2: must have been That's why his buddy had to work 2380 02:19:55,520 --> 02:19:57,320 Speaker 2: for free, because they had to pay Jack White to 2381 02:19:58,080 --> 02:20:02,480 Speaker 2: cover a You two song. Despite the backlash, Lureman defended 2382 02:20:02,520 --> 02:20:05,280 Speaker 2: the off beat selections, explaining a Rolling Stone that his 2383 02:20:05,400 --> 02:20:08,480 Speaker 2: goal was to evoke the same sense of cultural immediacy 2384 02:20:08,560 --> 02:20:11,440 Speaker 2: from modern audiences that f. Scott Fitzgerald had for readers 2385 02:20:11,480 --> 02:20:14,720 Speaker 2: in the nineteen twenties. In IgE, the energy of jazz 2386 02:20:14,800 --> 02:20:18,039 Speaker 2: is culting the energy of hip hop, he said racistly, 2387 02:20:19,480 --> 02:20:21,600 Speaker 2: jay Z, what that fu shit with? 2388 02:20:21,720 --> 02:20:23,320 Speaker 1: Like? Hip hop is the new jazz. 2389 02:20:23,560 --> 02:20:28,240 Speaker 2: That's the most lazy shit in the entire world. Jay 2390 02:20:28,320 --> 02:20:30,720 Speaker 2: Z served as executive producer on both the film and 2391 02:20:30,760 --> 02:20:34,000 Speaker 2: its companying album, which prominently features a small circular jay 2392 02:20:34,080 --> 02:20:37,480 Speaker 2: z icon beneath its title. For the course of two years, 2393 02:20:37,480 --> 02:20:39,680 Speaker 2: he worked closely with Lehman to create a soundscape that 2394 02:20:39,760 --> 02:20:43,680 Speaker 2: merged hip hop, traditional jazz, and contemporary pop musical equivalents 2395 02:20:43,680 --> 02:20:47,480 Speaker 2: of the jazz age's decadence and intensity. As I alluded 2396 02:20:47,480 --> 02:20:49,879 Speaker 2: to early, the most controversial title was Beyonce's version of 2397 02:20:50,280 --> 02:20:52,840 Speaker 2: Back to Black, and this is largely because Amy Winehouse's 2398 02:20:52,879 --> 02:20:56,160 Speaker 2: scumbag father inserted himself into it and made a big stink. 2399 02:20:55,920 --> 02:20:58,080 Speaker 1: Which is his thing, right, Yeah, he's awful. 2400 02:21:00,000 --> 02:21:02,720 Speaker 2: Wichwinehouse vented his frustration on Twitter, saying he had not 2401 02:21:02,760 --> 02:21:05,840 Speaker 2: been informed of the cover and suggesting that Beyonce donate 2402 02:21:05,879 --> 02:21:09,400 Speaker 2: one hundred thousand pounds to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which. 2403 02:21:09,200 --> 02:21:10,840 Speaker 1: Is a weird move because like, if you're going to 2404 02:21:10,920 --> 02:21:12,560 Speaker 1: go for anybody come for the production. 2405 02:21:13,000 --> 02:21:18,119 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, well, I mean I doesn't who manages those rights? 2406 02:21:18,160 --> 02:21:18,680 Speaker 1: Would that not? 2407 02:21:19,000 --> 02:21:20,879 Speaker 2: I'd ostensibly have gone through him. 2408 02:21:21,600 --> 02:21:22,760 Speaker 1: I don't know that. I don't know. 2409 02:21:23,800 --> 02:21:25,760 Speaker 2: He noted the potential impact such a gift could have, 2410 02:21:25,840 --> 02:21:27,760 Speaker 2: writing do you know how many kids that would help? 2411 02:21:27,959 --> 02:21:30,320 Speaker 2: Just putting it out there, But he also tweeted that 2412 02:21:30,320 --> 02:21:32,720 Speaker 2: he had no issue with Beyonce's performance, and he did 2413 02:21:32,760 --> 02:21:35,840 Speaker 2: with Andre three thousand. I just heard the Andre part 2414 02:21:35,879 --> 02:21:38,120 Speaker 2: of Back to Black. He wrote terrible. He should have 2415 02:21:38,200 --> 02:21:41,080 Speaker 2: let Beyonce do it all. That's so funny. His Andre's 2416 02:21:41,120 --> 02:21:45,400 Speaker 2: back in the discourse today for his jazz explorations. 2417 02:21:45,520 --> 02:21:48,440 Speaker 1: What do you think of his jazz explorations? Terrible? 2418 02:21:48,959 --> 02:21:52,840 Speaker 2: He's not a good artist. I mean he's sorry, let 2419 02:21:52,920 --> 02:21:55,800 Speaker 2: me take that back. He is an incredible artist. He 2420 02:21:55,920 --> 02:21:57,959 Speaker 2: is not good at playing jazz for someone who has 2421 02:21:58,280 --> 02:22:02,840 Speaker 2: been doing fall l apparently, you know, Woody Allen is 2422 02:22:02,879 --> 02:22:03,760 Speaker 2: a better clarinetist. 2423 02:22:04,040 --> 02:22:05,199 Speaker 1: I saw him at the Carlisle. 2424 02:22:05,360 --> 02:22:09,800 Speaker 2: Yeah no, I mean, uh, look, so the thing that 2425 02:22:09,879 --> 02:22:12,920 Speaker 2: this week is Matthew Shipp, who is a virtuoso pianist, 2426 02:22:13,120 --> 02:22:15,360 Speaker 2: is a jazz pianist, was like, what the. 2427 02:22:15,280 --> 02:22:19,200 Speaker 1: Fuck is this shird? Like really and like super slammed it. 2428 02:22:19,320 --> 02:22:21,039 Speaker 2: So now all the people are coming out on both 2429 02:22:21,080 --> 02:22:24,320 Speaker 2: sides of it, which is like Andred three thousand freely 2430 02:22:24,360 --> 02:22:28,320 Speaker 2: admitted that he just sat down with his iPhone or 2431 02:22:28,360 --> 02:22:30,840 Speaker 2: MacBook on a piano and just noodled. 2432 02:22:31,480 --> 02:22:31,959 Speaker 1: That's it. 2433 02:22:32,440 --> 02:22:35,440 Speaker 2: So people were like, well, you know, he's exposing the 2434 02:22:35,480 --> 02:22:39,039 Speaker 2: audience to a lot of to the idea of improvisitory 2435 02:22:39,080 --> 02:22:43,800 Speaker 2: piano and all that people said when he made New 2436 02:22:43,800 --> 02:22:47,959 Speaker 2: Blue Son. But you know, he's a dilettante man. I'm 2437 02:22:48,040 --> 02:22:50,039 Speaker 2: so sorry to call it like it is. He's a 2438 02:22:50,160 --> 02:22:54,760 Speaker 2: virtuoso rapper and a terribly earnest musician who, at least 2439 02:22:54,800 --> 02:22:58,040 Speaker 2: on The New Blue Sun, had the wherewithal to surround 2440 02:22:58,120 --> 02:23:01,520 Speaker 2: himself with much more talented people just dropping hot takes 2441 02:23:01,560 --> 02:23:04,199 Speaker 2: all over here. At least he doesn't have Swifty level fans. 2442 02:23:05,640 --> 02:23:08,200 Speaker 1: Buzz Luhrman's adaptation of The Great Cats He was supposed 2443 02:23:08,200 --> 02:23:11,400 Speaker 1: to be ready in time for Christmas twenty twelve. After 2444 02:23:11,480 --> 02:23:14,280 Speaker 1: meeting with Warner Brothers president Jeff Robinov, the date was 2445 02:23:14,320 --> 02:23:17,640 Speaker 1: pushed back. Rubanov asked Baz Luhrman if the movie will 2446 02:23:17,680 --> 02:23:21,440 Speaker 1: be ready for Christmas, and Luhrman said yes. Then Robinov asked, 2447 02:23:21,520 --> 02:23:23,840 Speaker 1: will the movie you want to make be ready for Christmas? 2448 02:23:24,360 --> 02:23:27,119 Speaker 1: Lehrman replied no, and so they gave him a few 2449 02:23:27,160 --> 02:23:29,760 Speaker 1: more months to work in the film. It ultimately got 2450 02:23:29,760 --> 02:23:32,360 Speaker 1: a wide release in the United States on May tenth, 2451 02:23:32,440 --> 02:23:35,400 Speaker 1: twenty thirteen. When all was said and done, it raked 2452 02:23:35,400 --> 02:23:39,800 Speaker 1: in three hundred and fifty three million dollars worldwide on 2453 02:23:39,840 --> 02:23:42,080 Speaker 1: a budget that I've seen ranging from one hundred and 2454 02:23:42,160 --> 02:23:44,320 Speaker 1: five to one hundred and ninety million that is so 2455 02:23:44,480 --> 02:23:45,080 Speaker 1: much money. 2456 02:23:46,280 --> 02:23:48,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you factor in what like fifty percent 2457 02:23:48,480 --> 02:23:53,400 Speaker 2: of that again for marketing spends. So that movie was 2458 02:23:53,760 --> 02:23:56,920 Speaker 2: a success, but wasn't a world conquering success, as we 2459 02:23:57,040 --> 02:23:57,440 Speaker 2: like to say. 2460 02:23:57,560 --> 02:24:02,360 Speaker 1: Could have been a bigger success good like the seventies adaptation, 2461 02:24:02,520 --> 02:24:05,400 Speaker 1: reviews were mixed. Joel Morgan Stern of The Wall Street 2462 02:24:05,440 --> 02:24:09,200 Speaker 1: Journals slammed the film as quote a tale told idiotically, 2463 02:24:09,320 --> 02:24:13,920 Speaker 1: full of noise and fury signifying next to nothing. Hell yeah, brother. 2464 02:24:14,040 --> 02:24:17,440 Speaker 1: He criticized its lavish production design as a misfire and 2465 02:24:17,520 --> 02:24:20,080 Speaker 1: drew a parallel between the film's flaws and the very 2466 02:24:20,120 --> 02:24:24,879 Speaker 1: decadence Fitzgerald condemned, writing that quote, what is intractably wrong 2467 02:24:25,000 --> 02:24:27,680 Speaker 1: with the film is that there's no reality to heighten. 2468 02:24:28,160 --> 02:24:30,600 Speaker 1: It's a spectacle in search of a soul. 2469 02:24:33,120 --> 02:24:34,480 Speaker 2: God is assa like. 2470 02:24:36,440 --> 02:24:39,360 Speaker 1: Lerman's entire career as far as I'm concerned. The Chicago 2471 02:24:39,400 --> 02:24:42,760 Speaker 1: Reader echoed the sentiment, declaring Lherman is exactly the wrong 2472 02:24:42,920 --> 02:24:46,240 Speaker 1: person to adapt such a delicately rendered story, and his 2473 02:24:46,320 --> 02:24:50,040 Speaker 1: three D feature plays like a ghastly roaring twenties blowout 2474 02:24:50,040 --> 02:24:54,000 Speaker 1: at a sorority house. However, not all reviews were negative. 2475 02:24:54,280 --> 02:24:56,600 Speaker 1: Ao Scott of The New York Times praised the film 2476 02:24:56,640 --> 02:24:59,520 Speaker 1: as quote a lot of fun, describing it as less 2477 02:24:59,560 --> 02:25:04,200 Speaker 1: a convention movie adaptation than a splashy, trashy opera, a wayward, 2478 02:25:04,360 --> 02:25:09,120 Speaker 1: lavishly theatrical celebration of the emotional and material extravagance that 2479 02:25:09,200 --> 02:25:14,320 Speaker 1: Fitzgerald surveyed with fascinated ambivalence. Scott advised, quote, the best 2480 02:25:14,360 --> 02:25:16,800 Speaker 1: way to enjoy the film is to put aside whatever 2481 02:25:16,840 --> 02:25:20,760 Speaker 1: literary agenda you're attempted to bring with you. Ty Burr 2482 02:25:20,840 --> 02:25:24,039 Speaker 1: of The Boston Globe single Nott Leonardo DiCaprio's performance for 2483 02:25:24,080 --> 02:25:27,600 Speaker 1: a claim saying magnificent is the only word to describe 2484 02:25:27,600 --> 02:25:31,640 Speaker 1: this performance the best movie Gatsby by far, superhuman in 2485 02:25:31,680 --> 02:25:35,439 Speaker 1: his charm and connections, the host of revels beyond imagining, 2486 02:25:35,800 --> 02:25:39,480 Speaker 1: and at his heart, an insecure fraud whose hopes are 2487 02:25:39,560 --> 02:25:44,039 Speaker 1: pinned to a woman. Hilariously, critics really came for Toby McGuire. 2488 02:25:45,360 --> 02:25:49,679 Speaker 1: Philip French of The Guardian called him miscast or misdirected, 2489 02:25:50,680 --> 02:25:54,840 Speaker 1: and Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote, this is amazing. 2490 02:25:55,280 --> 02:25:59,280 Speaker 1: Toby maguire is his usual recessive presence, barely registering as 2491 02:25:59,280 --> 02:26:02,280 Speaker 1: either a dynamic part of the events he describes, or 2492 02:26:02,360 --> 02:26:06,520 Speaker 1: their watchful witness. Elizabeth Whiteman of The New York Daily News, 2493 02:26:06,520 --> 02:26:10,480 Speaker 1: opining that quote. Despite the wry observational skills needed for 2494 02:26:10,560 --> 02:26:14,640 Speaker 1: Nick's Midwestern decency, the characters directed toward a wide eyed, 2495 02:26:14,680 --> 02:26:18,119 Speaker 1: one note performance. This is all fine. 2496 02:26:18,240 --> 02:26:20,080 Speaker 2: I mean, at least at least we're still allowed to 2497 02:26:20,120 --> 02:26:23,160 Speaker 2: say mean things about these people who have careers and 2498 02:26:23,800 --> 02:26:25,120 Speaker 2: wealth we will never amass. 2499 02:26:25,320 --> 02:26:28,360 Speaker 1: Like thank god that was twelve years ago. Though. No, 2500 02:26:28,480 --> 02:26:29,000 Speaker 1: he's back on. 2501 02:26:29,000 --> 02:26:30,960 Speaker 2: I guarantee you his next piece of sh will cost 2502 02:26:31,120 --> 02:26:33,039 Speaker 2: seven hundred million dollars and it'll be. 2503 02:26:33,040 --> 02:26:35,400 Speaker 1: Like, well, he wants to do Hamlet. His dream is 2504 02:26:35,400 --> 02:26:38,080 Speaker 1: to do Hamlet with Leonardo DiCaprio's Hamlet. 2505 02:26:40,240 --> 02:26:42,480 Speaker 2: And he'll get it, and he'll get it, and he'll 2506 02:26:42,480 --> 02:26:44,800 Speaker 2: get it, Jordan, He'll get it. Do you understand that 2507 02:26:45,440 --> 02:26:49,199 Speaker 2: he will get to do that because of this world, 2508 02:26:49,520 --> 02:26:55,960 Speaker 2: bas Luhman, no new car ideas Mark Anthony Luhmann will 2509 02:26:56,000 --> 02:27:01,760 Speaker 2: get to direct Hamlet and make it so shitty, and 2510 02:27:01,800 --> 02:27:06,119 Speaker 2: he'll just get to do that in the world with 2511 02:27:06,400 --> 02:27:07,800 Speaker 2: probably no repercussions. 2512 02:27:08,440 --> 02:27:09,240 Speaker 1: Just think about that. 2513 02:27:09,560 --> 02:27:10,039 Speaker 2: Yeah. 2514 02:27:10,480 --> 02:27:13,920 Speaker 1: One person who liked the film was f Scott Fitzgerald's granddaughter. 2515 02:27:14,200 --> 02:27:17,320 Speaker 1: She's quoted as saying that Scott would have been proud. 2516 02:27:18,920 --> 02:27:24,200 Speaker 2: Sure man, No, he wouldn't have, and that pisses me 2517 02:27:24,280 --> 02:27:27,599 Speaker 2: off more than anything. I speak freely for the dead. 2518 02:27:28,800 --> 02:27:30,640 Speaker 1: And this brings us to the end of our two 2519 02:27:30,680 --> 02:27:33,240 Speaker 1: part look at the Great Gatsby. It's a story about 2520 02:27:33,240 --> 02:27:38,520 Speaker 1: love and longing, yes, but also about illusion, reinvention, and 2521 02:27:38,640 --> 02:27:42,920 Speaker 1: the quietly devastating truth that the American dream was always 2522 02:27:43,080 --> 02:27:46,520 Speaker 1: just a little out of reach for most. Gatsby's pursuit 2523 02:27:46,560 --> 02:27:49,360 Speaker 1: of Daisy, like America's pursuit of wealth and grandeur in 2524 02:27:49,360 --> 02:27:53,359 Speaker 1: the Roaring twenties, end's not in triumph but in tragedy. 2525 02:27:54,560 --> 02:27:57,200 Speaker 1: Just a few years after Fitzgerald published his master work, 2526 02:27:57,440 --> 02:28:00,720 Speaker 1: stock market crashed, the economy collapsed, and the so called 2527 02:28:00,800 --> 02:28:03,760 Speaker 1: jazz Age turned into one of the darkest chapters in 2528 02:28:03,840 --> 02:28:08,240 Speaker 1: modern American history. By nineteen thirty three, fifteen million Americans 2529 02:28:08,240 --> 02:28:12,400 Speaker 1: were out of work, and yet a decade earlier, Fitzgerald 2530 02:28:12,400 --> 02:28:15,520 Speaker 1: had already sensed it. He'd seen through the glittering surface 2531 02:28:15,560 --> 02:28:19,000 Speaker 1: to the emptiness beneath. He would later call the decade 2532 02:28:19,080 --> 02:28:24,640 Speaker 1: the twenties the most expensive orgy in history. Great gaspy 2533 02:28:24,800 --> 02:28:29,080 Speaker 1: was his warning that the party couldn't last forever. But 2534 02:28:29,160 --> 02:28:31,920 Speaker 1: if the novel ends in death and disappointment, it offers 2535 02:28:31,959 --> 02:28:37,360 Speaker 1: something beautiful, something enduring. As literary critic Marine Corrigan puts it, 2536 02:28:38,080 --> 02:28:42,680 Speaker 1: Gatsby is about the doomed beauty of trying. You can't 2537 02:28:42,760 --> 02:28:46,920 Speaker 1: escape the past, she writes, but isn't it noble to try? 2538 02:28:47,160 --> 02:28:50,560 Speaker 1: That's the message here, to be the boat against the current, 2539 02:28:51,200 --> 02:28:55,800 Speaker 1: even though failure and death inevitably await you. Hell yeah, brother. 2540 02:28:56,120 --> 02:28:58,800 Speaker 1: Maybe that's why we keep coming back to Gasby again 2541 02:28:58,920 --> 02:29:02,800 Speaker 1: and again in high school classrooms, in movie theaters, and 2542 02:29:02,959 --> 02:29:07,600 Speaker 1: in quiet, reflective late night readings, because even if the 2543 02:29:07,680 --> 02:29:10,920 Speaker 1: dream is a lie, there's something noble in the pursuit. 2544 02:29:11,879 --> 02:29:17,119 Speaker 1: And in that way, Gatsby, foolish, hopeful, extraordinary Gatsby lives 2545 02:29:17,120 --> 02:29:20,199 Speaker 1: on in anyone who strives to be better and get 2546 02:29:20,280 --> 02:29:22,240 Speaker 1: more out of their life. 2547 02:29:22,520 --> 02:29:27,039 Speaker 2: It's a hell of a kicker, Mark, Anthony Lehman, how 2548 02:29:27,040 --> 02:29:27,480 Speaker 2: about that? 2549 02:29:29,959 --> 02:29:31,760 Speaker 1: Take us home? Oh sorry, I thought you. 2550 02:29:32,400 --> 02:29:35,000 Speaker 2: I don't want to put anything after your kicker. That 2551 02:29:35,080 --> 02:29:38,880 Speaker 2: was so good man. Oh thank you, Yeah, this has 2552 02:29:38,879 --> 02:29:43,280 Speaker 2: been wonderful. Thank you for letting me into your well researched, 2553 02:29:44,840 --> 02:29:48,879 Speaker 2: well written thing to just spewbile. You get to phone 2554 02:29:48,879 --> 02:29:50,000 Speaker 2: it in for the next couple ones. 2555 02:29:50,040 --> 02:29:52,760 Speaker 1: Buddy, read it. Read this. I actually think you'd really 2556 02:29:52,840 --> 02:29:55,760 Speaker 1: enjoy this book. I'm sure I would. It's on my kindle. 2557 02:29:56,560 --> 02:30:00,680 Speaker 2: It was free, and I'll get around to it. You 2558 02:30:00,800 --> 02:30:02,840 Speaker 2: just have so much jazz fusion to listen to. Man 2559 02:30:04,040 --> 02:30:05,560 Speaker 2: really a lifestyle. 2560 02:30:06,160 --> 02:30:07,760 Speaker 1: I mean you can. I mean I feel like that 2561 02:30:07,800 --> 02:30:09,880 Speaker 1: would be a really good soundtrack to reading The Great Gatsby. 2562 02:30:09,920 --> 02:30:12,520 Speaker 1: It's listening to jazz fusion during the next couple of 2563 02:30:12,560 --> 02:30:14,360 Speaker 1: weeks when you got to rest your finger and can't 2564 02:30:14,360 --> 02:30:18,480 Speaker 1: play bass, listen to jazz fusion and read The Great Gatsby, 2565 02:30:19,080 --> 02:30:20,240 Speaker 1: and then I'll come out in a few weeks and 2566 02:30:20,240 --> 02:30:21,000 Speaker 1: we'll talk about it. 2567 02:30:21,240 --> 02:30:25,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, I'll do that. Thank you, Japanese jazz fusion. 2568 02:30:25,760 --> 02:30:27,880 Speaker 1: Oh anyway, I'm Alex Heigl. 2569 02:30:28,640 --> 02:30:29,280 Speaker 2: I did nothing. 2570 02:30:29,360 --> 02:30:32,240 Speaker 1: This has been too much information. That's true. And your 2571 02:30:32,560 --> 02:30:36,600 Speaker 1: and I'm Jordan bront dog your air Jeordes, Oh you're 2572 02:30:36,680 --> 02:30:37,480 Speaker 1: gonna make that happen. 2573 02:30:38,000 --> 02:30:42,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, you're Jeorde Big Jeorgs tweeted me. 2574 02:30:42,800 --> 02:30:46,520 Speaker 1: Tweetedhigol with the ideas for a nickname for me. I 2575 02:30:46,520 --> 02:30:49,520 Speaker 1: got Jordi for a while, got Jordo. I don't like Jordo, 2576 02:30:49,640 --> 02:30:51,400 Speaker 1: but but I've got that a lot over my years. 2577 02:30:51,400 --> 02:30:55,840 Speaker 1: I got Jordi from Algiro, the jazz vocalist. Oh, I 2578 02:30:55,879 --> 02:30:57,080 Speaker 1: wish I would love that. 2579 02:30:58,120 --> 02:31:00,360 Speaker 2: Jorda sounds like a Star Wars character. 2580 02:31:00,800 --> 02:31:03,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, j is a part Trek character. 2581 02:31:04,680 --> 02:31:07,640 Speaker 2: Yeah that's but I see with Geordy like I see 2582 02:31:07,640 --> 02:31:12,160 Speaker 2: it that way, and I don't like that. All right, 2583 02:31:12,280 --> 02:31:13,600 Speaker 2: I'm gonna stop recording now. 2584 02:31:13,560 --> 02:31:14,680 Speaker 1: And I'm Jordan run Talk. 2585 02:31:15,080 --> 02:31:16,320 Speaker 2: We'll get you next time. 2586 02:31:21,520 --> 02:31:24,320 Speaker 1: Too Much Information was a production of iHeart Radio. The 2587 02:31:24,360 --> 02:31:27,760 Speaker 1: show's executive producers are Noel Brown and Jordan Runtalk. The 2588 02:31:27,800 --> 02:31:31,320 Speaker 1: show's supervising producer is Michael Alder June. The show was 2589 02:31:31,400 --> 02:31:34,039 Speaker 1: researched and written and hosted by Jordan run Talk and 2590 02:31:34,080 --> 02:31:37,040 Speaker 1: Alex Heigel, with original music by Seth Applebaum and the 2591 02:31:37,080 --> 02:31:39,720 Speaker 1: Ghost Funk Orchestra. If you like what you heard, please 2592 02:31:39,720 --> 02:31:43,080 Speaker 1: subscribe and leave us a review. For more podcasts and iHeartRadio, 2593 02:31:43,200 --> 02:31:46,600 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 2594 02:31:46,640 --> 02:31:47,560 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.