Original subtitles

Showtime, gentle people.

Something I have said or done has given you the impression that this is a

democracy. It is not. It is a kingdom.

It is my kingdom.

Hold it!

Come back to my place with me.

Come to mine.

Tell Houston we have liftoff.

You want fame?

Well, fame comes.

And right here is where you start pain and sweat.

I want to live forever.

Baby, remember my name.

Remember, remember, remember, remember.

Wind up and go, turkey.

Your man Stan ain't about to let you throw this day out the window. You know

what I'm saying?

I can't get you off your stuff enough.

Then I got sounds that are guaranteed to get you on the move, like heavy duty.

I had the whole weekend planned out, and now this moves up everywhere.

By the time I get this thing fixed, we'll be late getting started, and that

means we'll be late getting finished, and I'll be late getting back to my

and then I'll be late for dance class. Skip something.

What? Skip dance class.

Bite your tongue.

Well, then scratch the bike ride. My feelings won't be hurt.

Yeah, but then I'll still be wasting my money getting this bike fixed.

But if I don't get it fixed, that means I'm going to have to walk it all the way

back to my apartment, and I'll still be late for my dance play. Good night,

Gracie. Good night, Gracie. Oh, do whatever you want to do.

Elizabeth. What?

Look.

The license plate. Look at it. What about it?

Showtime, gentle people.

I want you to relax, sit back.

I'm going to dance a little for you.

Ain't I a class act?

Ben Pettit?

Do you think so?

Well, who else would have that license plate?

And who else would be in the limo at 7 .15 in the morning?

Where are they going?

Or coming from?

Well, I can guarantee one thing.

Ben Pettit is in the back of that machine. Wherever it was, it was not

Have you ever seen him on stage?

No. Ooh, Ben.

I'm talking.

Morning.

Yes, it's been Teddy's car.

People see the likeness plate, they all ask.

Well, I don't mean to be pushy. In fact, it's really not like me to say anything

at all. You want an autograph, but it's not for you. You've got a friend who's a

big fan.

No, that wasn't it.

Well, I... I mean, I'm just curious.

But where are you going this hour of the morning dressed like that?

We're not going anywhere. We're heading back to the hotel.

Ben had a telephone in Connecticut.

And you're just now getting back to town? Some kids got him after the show.

He's a sucker for kids. The man just doesn't know how to say no.

Well, is the great man in the car?

Uh -huh, he's in there.

And he doesn't know how to say no to kids.

Watch my line.

Lydia, what are you... Last week, number 13, and this week in the number four

position. Just like you.

You come calling And I'm falling

You're like fire, and I feel like a flame.

So come to me.

What you're doing?

The lover makes me whole.

No. Well, you see, actually, I'm a teacher at the School of the Arts, and

friend was telling me how you like to talk to students and so forth, and I

read where you're going to be appearing here in a one -man show in about a month

or so.

Well, I don't know if you know where the School of the Arts is located, but it's

only a couple of blocks away from where your theater is, and I thought maybe you

might consider coming by and talking to kids or something.

Martelli, what are you doing? I'm turning this off.

I hate to be hard to get along with. Thank heaven for that.

If this is how you are when you don't want to be hard to get along with,

spare me the moments when you want to be hard to get along with.

After a certain age, there are some adventures I choose to avoid.

You know, I'm never going to be a conductor.

I know that.

Then why put the two of us through this nonsense?

Because it is not nonsense.

To get a sense of the whole is vital for a musician, especially a composer.

And guiding an ensemble, symphonic, rock, jazz, is crucial for the final

results. The groups I play in, they never use a conductor.

That explains a lot.

Suppose the group you're playing with starts to lose its tempo.

Well, I guess we'd head straight to the hospital because the drummer's gone

deaf. My colleague, this is all my fault, and I apologize for misleading

About what?

There's something that I've said or done that seems to give you the impression

that this is a democracy.

It is not.

It is a kingdom.

It is my kingdom.

I am now raising the drawbridge and retreating to the faculty lounge for a

of morning tea.

Long live the king!

Okay, guys, you've been working hard.

Take five.

I'm going to save somebody a little bit of work and answer one of those.

questions myself.

How'd I get started?

Right?

Well,

the answer to that is I don't remember.

No, seriously.

I really don't remember.

You, your blue eyes.

What's the first thing you remember?

The very first thing? The very first thing.

Well, I remember when I was really little, I fell down some stairs and hit

head on the radiator.

How old were you?

About three, something like that. Where'd you hit your head?

Do you still remember?

You puddin'.

Sitting on the sink with my father cutting my bangs.

And you were how old?

I don't know, three or four, same age as Julie.

Uh -huh, uh -huh.

And you?

Me? Yeah, you.

Uh, first thing I remember, a hot summer, the firemen would

open up the hydrant, put the sprinkler on so the water could spray out.

A bunch of us kids playing in it. The next day we'd have pneumonia, but that

we had a lot of fun.

I remember that myself.

But you want to know the very first thing that I remember?

The very first thing that I remember.

Sangin'. Sangin'. Oh,

sangin' is different than singin'. So you sang on the street corner.

Yeah.

Sangin', not dancin'.

People, people pitching pennies, nickels into my old man's hat.

Yeah,

that street corner, that was my kindergarten.

That's where I started learning all the stuff that has made me such an

irresistible human being.

Yes. Do you ever resent it?

Do I resent what?

Well, it sounds... to me like you were performing from day one and do you ever

miss not having a childhood

i'm doing what i want to

do uh i get paid a pretty penny for it

lots of uh pretty pennies as a matter of fact

but every morning every day

There's a new problem to solve.

A new song.

A new number to work out.

How could anybody find anything to resent about that?

What are the problems that need to be solved?

Who are you? Who is this guy?

I don't think I'm going to tell you.

I think I'm going to figure out a way for you to answer that for yourself. I'm

going to give you an assignment.

Can you handle it? Yeah.

Oh, but, well, if I give you an assignment, then I'm... Oh, what is

me?

If I give you an assignment, then I'm going to have to come back to check on

and I just have not been invited back as yet.

Well, please, Mr. Pettit, consider yourself invited back.

Bless your heart.

And consider your invitation accepted, Miss Grant.

Now, the assignment.

Every one of you.

You are the star, you are the director, and you are the choreographer.

A new show headed for Broadway, right? But you got second act problems.

Your composer has come up with a new ending, and he calls you at your room

in the middle of the night. He calls you. He tells you he's going to name it

High Flying.

He wants you to meet him in the morning at the theater to discuss the new

concept.

Yes? Does it have to be an up -tempo or a ballad or what?

It's your number.

You can make it anything you want, but...

The theme has to be high -flying. How much time do we get?

You got about a week.

It doesn't have to have original music.

It doesn't have to have its own original music.

Hey, man, it's your number.

You can make it anything you want.

Okay?

High -flying. Thank you.

Lisa, bring the car around.

I hope I wasn't out of line for handing out an assignment like that.

Not judging by the reaction you made.

What about your reaction?

I'm still thinking about it.

Well, I'm no expert when it comes to grading kids.

I was hoping that maybe you could give me a helping hand with that.

Sure, if I can.

Maybe we could talk about it over dinner sometime.

Mr. Pettit.

Ben.

Ben.

You...

You know, you really have a tendency to come on in high gear a lot.

Am I moving too fast for you?

In some ways.

Oh, shoot.

I guess you think that I'm likely to hit on you or something like that.

The thought has crossed my mind.

Well, you're probably right.

And if I were to come on to you and you were to say, say no, you think that I

might bop you upside your head?

No. Of course not.

You think I'm likely to put something in your drink or drug you?

Mysterious thing.

Well, sweet Lydia.

If you don't think that I'm likely to do any of those things, then it's not me

that you don't trust.

It's you that you don't trust.

So when are we having dinner?

Tomorrow night.

There's one condition.

No limo, no fancy restaurant, none of your gopher assistants hanging around.

Just you and me.

In someplace quiet where we can talk.

You drive a hard bargain, girl.

And I'm waiting for your answer.

You got it.

Okay Hey Ben If it was

easy, it wouldn't be as interesting Ain't that the truth?

Sharofsky says to do it, then you do it.

That's the end of the discussion.

And you talking and me listening, that's your idea of a discussion?

If it was good enough for me and my old man, it ought to be good enough for you

and me.

I'm giving you good advice.

So you say, do whatever Sharofsky says.

That's your advice?

That's it. That's very deep.

And what do we do when Sharofsky tells me to ignore the advice you've been

giving me? Well, that's how I'll know that Sharofsky's too old to teach

effectively. Look, Pop, you know I'm not going to be a conductor.

Sharofsky knows I'm not going to be a conductor.

I know I'm not going to be a conductor. Why should I study conducting?

It's like Latin.

And what you said is like Greek, but how did Latin get into this? I took Latin

in high school. It's the same kind of thing.

Do you use Latin a lot driving a cab? Sure.

When I get into a cab, it says, take me to Gaul.

Now, I can tell Mr. Biden it's in three parts. You want to go to East Gaul,

South Gaul.

Discipline, Bruno.

That's what Chirowski's looking for.

He's looking for you to have discipline so you'll knuckle down and learn

something, even though you aren't going to use it right away.

Forever.

Why are we going to Iran Beach for this afternoon?

See the baby.

The one thing in the world you want to do this afternoon?

Why are we going? Because we know that Beach is going to be disappointed if we

don't show.

I guess it's something we ought to do. That's why we're doing it.

Same as what Swarovski's asking you to do. So you ought to do it.

Look, I doubt Swarovski's feelings are hurt as easily as Aunt Beatrice's.

not the point.

The point is you're given the job to do and you do it.

That's my final word on this subject.

Okay.

See, the thing with you and Shirovsky... What was this about a final word?

Did you bring the cassette recorder?

Yeah. It's in the back seat.

There's still a couple of good points I gotta make, so I want you to listen to

it in the morning.

The thing with you and Shirovsky, it's like what I was reading in Dear Abby.

So, have you folks decided what you want yet?

Yes, I'd like a glass of white wine, please.

Oh.

Yes, sir. Yeah, that sounds great. I think I'll have the same, a glass of

wine. Okay, right away.

Is something wrong?

No.

I thought of, thought of.

Nobody recognizes you.

Yes, they do.

No. Sure they do.

Well, not very much of a fuss.

A little bit of fuss. Not too much to ask. Ben, this isn't a cornball crowd.

I know, I know.

They just figure you don't want to be hassled, that's all.

I understand. It's just that I'm not used to this kind of place.

It's a nice place.

That's so people can talk to each other.

Yeah.

How about some sounds? I'm livening this place up a little.

Not much heat in that.

Yeah, but it's nice for two people who just want to dance with each other.

Come on.

You ever see The Wizard of Oz?

You know the part I like the best?

Well, it's when they finally get to the castle and they come up on this big

statue and it's got all this smoke and all this noise and fire coming out.

And the dog, Toto, runs over and pulls the curtain back.

And he reveals this man, just this guy, regular guy back there working all this

machinery and all these gimmicks, trying to be something bigger than life.

I'm trying to get behind your curtain, Mr. Penn.

You're not making it very easy.

What is it you want from me?

I'm afraid of heights.

What are you afraid of?

What does it matter?

because if you can't ever admit to being scared sometimes or not knowing what to

say or what to do sometimes, then you're always going to be on.

And that isn't going to work.

Not for me.

Afraid of being alone

Come

back to my place with me

Come

to mine But you have to walk up three flights of steps

and there isn't anything to drink except distilled water and fruit juice and

maybe a little salad.

But there's a big living room where you can kick your shoes off and we can sit

in the floor and we can talk.

We can talk till dawn if you want to.

Any other rules besides that living room?

Well, that's one thing we can talk about.

Morning.

Good morning, Elizabeth girl. How are you this morning?

I'm fine. How about yourself?

On a scale of one to ten, I'm about a twenty -five.

The evening went well then? Is that a safe assumption?

Tell Houston we have liftoff.

Right where we left off yesterday, page 353.

I'll be with you in a minute. Hang in there.

Hey, can I ever tell you the joke about the three Eskimos who decide to go

skydiving? Danny.

These three Eskimos decide to go skydiving, see? And they're having

fitting the parachute over their fur pockets, so they decide to go skydiving

the nude, no matter how cold it is.

So the first one gets up to the front of the plane, and he's about to jump...

Hey, it might be a rotten joke, but you can at least listen to it before you

decide.

I don't know which is more bizarre, listening to an Italian kid from the

Bronx tell me a joke about three naked Eskimos, or what I am looking at right

now. All right, we're talking about the use of color and description as it

applies to the setting of a move. If you'll open your book to the... Ah,

gentle people, the giver of this gift to the gorgeous Lydia brings sweets to the

sweet. Now, wait a minute.

friend you are about to see -

He's obviously quite taken with you.

Yeah, but why here? Couldn't you have brought them to my apartment?

There's nobody to sign for them.

And some of these things are too valuable to leave with a super or

that. Then there's the matter of sizes.

I did my best to estimate your sizes, but if anything has to be exchanged...

sure all the sizes are just fine.

Don't you children have something to rehearse?

I'll phrase you, Houston, we have a problem here.

working on that high -flying bit?

Yeah.

Well, I was wondering.

I know Bruno's into other things right now, and, um, he's not the only composer

in the school.

I'd like to take a shot at composing something for your number.

You?

Yeah.

On your cello?

Yeah, my cello.

Okay, all right, let me show you what I was thinking about.

I was thinking about something like, like this.

Well?

Do you think you can put something together on the cello for that kind of

Well, maybe, but... No problem!

This is how getting presents affects you. You must really hate Christmas.

I thought you were going to pick me up in my apartment.

I kind of figured you might need a little help with some packages.

But, I mean, you did receive some presents today, didn't you? Some

I surely did.

Ben, that wasn't necessary.

That's why they call them presents, darling.

You know the present I like the best?

Must have been the coat.

Probably the necklace.

Dinner.

Just you and me talking quietly.

I was hoping that was the real Ben Pettit.

You know, I certainly would like to see you wear some of that stuff I got for

you. I made 9 o 'clock dinner reservations for us at LaRusso's. 9 o

Isn't that kind of late?

Nothing gets started at LaRusso's until at least 10 or 11 at least.

Well, you know, I have school in the morning.

LaRusso's. It's awfully noisy there.

I invited a few of my friends over to have dinner with us. A few?

How many is a few?

Fifteen, twenty.

Told you I was afraid of being alone.

Yeah, you told me.

I can't deny that.

No, you can't deny that.

Now, why don't you go get a few of those things that I got for you, and

I'll have the car brought around front, okay?

Let's show them how Ben Pennant's new lady can dazzle them.

Lydia Grant starring as Ben Pettit's new lady.

A limited engagement.

How's it going, Amaretto?

Amatulo. Amatulo. Right. Sorry.

Dennis.

Danny.

Danny, Danny, of course.

I'll get it eventually.

I don't swear to it. I mean, if you bought me a towel or something, at least

initials would be right.

The music was so resistible you couldn't stay out. Is that correct, Mr. Johnson?

Yeah, it was terrific for that kind of music.

Thank you very much.

That's what's called a mixed review.

Thing is, if you're done, I'm going to need Julie Miller. She's playing backup

in the number that I'm doing.

Mr. Shirovsky?

Dismissed. Go.

Goodbye, all of you.

Waiting for a grade?

If one's available.

I give you a grade in exchange for an answer.

Why didn't you try harder to get out of this assignment?

You don't have any interest in it. You have plenty of motive to want to compose

music for your friends.

Why did you... give in?

I don't honestly know.

I mean, I talked to my pop about it, and we decided that you probably wouldn't

let up on me, and, um...

I'd better just buckle down and get it over with, like it or not.

Martelli, are you growing up on me?

No, you just got me on a bad day.

Out.

Grade?

B.

Plus.

Coco, that was terrific, girl.

Oh,

I'm sorry.

Mr. Pettit will tell you how it was.

Yeah, that... No one would fall asleep on that number, that's for sure.

That's half the battle right there.

I think it would have been a little better if you found some lyrics to go

that melody, don't you? I mean, that would have added...

Yeah, well, we tried to get a composer, but there were a lot of problems.

Mm -hmm. Well, not to worry, not to worry. It was good.

It was good, princess.

Nothing great, but it was good. Nothing to be ashamed of.

Okay?

Hmm? Yeah, okay.

Ben. I think you might want to change the order of the next number. It's Leroy

Johnson, and I don't know if you want two up -tempo numbers in a row. The

number's not up -tempo.

Oh.

All right, darling. Excuse me.

High

-flying.

It happens in dreams and they give it a meaning.

They tell us we're trying to flee.

They say those wings are feathered terror and our souls are grimed with

Surviving's the best we can do.

We flee and defend, they keep saying.

We attack and retreat and cause dying.

Surviving's the best we can do, so they say.

It's what they've told us.

Surviving's the best we can do.

Well, I've seen miracles in the sky.

And if that sky's a dream, then that dream will outlive the ashes.

And if embracing my brother's a dream, then I'll dream it.

And I'll hold babies and old people, too.

And so be it.

They haven't built a chisel that can tear down a dream.

It's way out there now.

Can you see it?

High -flying.

Way out there.

Keep looking.

High -flying.

In sunlight belief.

High -flying.

I see it.

Keep hoping.

It'll come down to Earth very soon.

It's something we used to call peace.

What in the hell do you call that?

You were supposed to do a routine.

Not some pity pet greeting card.

We were trying to do something different.

Well, doing a boring routine isn't all that different,

but it sure is one quick way out of this business.

Okay? Well, look, at the school, they told us. You are not in school now,

man. You are dealing with me. Now, I haven't read a book in, what, ten years.

But there's no audience that cares about that.

I don't know geology from gee whiz.

But when time for curtain call, I am there to receive my share of the glory.

Now, if you are going to make it in this racket, well, then you better start

building. up some callous.

And if that school of yours does not teach you how to do that, well, then,

frankly, I don't think it's worth very much. Do you understand that? Do you?

All right, people, that's it.

You're dismissed.

Why?

Don't you want them to hear the truth?

Not your version, I don't.

Would you get them out of here, please?

And why not?

Because we're teaching them to be full people.

Not people who just come alive when they have to perform.

Not people who are so caught up fighting stage fright that when it comes to pure

living, they don't have anything left to give.

And if we can get them into being full people, maybe, just maybe we have a

chance of making one or two of them into an artist.

If performing was all it was about, there's monkeys out there on top of

grinders who do that stuff real well.

We got too close.

You got scared.

Sometimes we dance so carelessly.

But darling, when you're dancing close to me, I'm dancing endlessly.

Sometimes it seems so inconsistent.

You're so resistant.

But darling, let's see how close we can come to be.

How close we can be if you just dance.

the time or place to feel this free we'll save this dance until

our time is meant to be truly dancing endlessly

dance with me come on darling dance

Sure no gypsy, girl.