Original subtitles

[lively instrumental music]

- When last we left me...

Cue music.

[light orchestral music]

As 1966 began, I was determined

to bring my studio, Pinnacle Pictures,

an Academy Awards

First, I needed the material.

"She Cried for Justice" was the novel of 1966.

It told the story of a Jewrsh girl

who escapes Hungary during the Holocaust

and comes to America

Years later, she sees her lormer Nazi guard

living under an assumed name in New York City.

I knew from the moment I read the ?rst page

this story had Oscar written all over it.

I called the author, Edna Bach,

and convinced her to meet.

She was a recluse who was not interested

in dealing with Hollywood.

So I wined and dined her. [cork pops]

We sat at my lavorite table in the candlelit gardens

of the Chateau Marmont

and I laid on the Wallach charm.

"Edna, I simply must have the rights to your memoir."

She was tough, "This is a sacred story

"of my life, Mr. Wallach.

"Why would I ever trust a Hollywood producer

to do itjustice?"

"Because I promise to treat your story

with the utmost respect.

You will be involved every step at the way.

Your novel is beautiful. Just like you."

"Oh, Jerry, I haven�t had a warm embrace

since the Taft Administration."

By the next morning, she had agreed.

Then I got to work.

For the lead role of the Jewish refugee,

Hannah Novak,

I wanted to ?nd an actress

who was vulnerable, yet resilient.

Someone who, when the audience looked into her eyes,

they saw the horrors of the Holocaust.

But she had to be hot.

[upbeat music]

Bridget Bailey was the "It Girl" of 1967.

She drove men wa�wa�wa�wild.

She was like whipped cream and whiskey.

Fluffy, and God damn dangerous.

She had just the right va�va�voom

to play a Holocaust survivor.

And for the male lead,

the Gestapo of?cer,

l was blessed with the best method actor

of his generation.

You better believe I went with my main wop,

Enzo Entolini.

At ?rst, Enzo wasn�t up for it

sol called him up.

Enzo, wipe that spaghetti sauce off your mouth,

because I got another project for you."

- But Jerry, I too common,

I don't know nothing about no Nazi.

- Enzo, I own the property.

We can have our way with this book

the way we did with those girls lrom Reseda.

- I had the cast of my dreams,

and we were ready to bring the novel to lite.

Sometimes you throw in the right ingredients,

and out of the oven comes a perfect movie.

[stirring orchestral music]

[militaristic music]

- Hannah Novak escaped Nazi Poland

only to ?nd her tormenter here.

- This young, Jewish refugee

comes to this court seeking justice.

- You say my client was a war criminal?

- That man. That man was Gestapo.

And I know because

I am a Jewish refugee.

- Can�t you see...

that I love you?

Come here, ma.

[romantic music]

- Their chemistry was undeniable.

There was just one problem.

Our corporate owners had no interest in owning

an art house studio.

Pinnacle Pictures was independent for 40 years.

But in 1951, it was bought as a tax shelter

by the CIA to funnel South American money.

Like how Kevin Costner is three different people.

Of?cially, United Papaya of Uruguay

controlled the studio.

They didn't want me futzing with

their slush funds and assassinations

just to win an Oscar.

They wanted to dump Pinnacle Pictures all together.

And sell off everything I had built.

But I knew how to appeal to them.

Through the magic of movies.

I called down to the sound stage

and told them to get the cameras ready.

[beeping] [?lm reel ?ickering]

Hello, agents of the CIA.

Se?ores.

I�d like to tell you a little bit about

Pinnacle Pictures,

and what we have going on here,

and why we think this movie studio isn�t a front,

but something with a front and a back and sides.

[chuckles]

We have a lot of ?lms coming up on ourslate

at Pinnacle Pictures.

One of which is "Swashbuckler�s Island,"

a children�s movie.

Oh, and here�s one of the stars, now.

Puf?n, the bird. - [squawking]

- [laughs] Puf?n says he hopes you like the ?lm.

And that it comes out in June of this year.

We're very proud of it. - [squawking]

- Puffin�s proud of it, too.

Another picture we�re very, uh, proud of

is "She Cried for Justice,"

and Oscar contender starring Bridget Bailey

and Enzo Entolini.

Now I want to show you one clip from it.

Just one. And you�ll see

why Pinnacle Pictures is the bet to make.

- [gasps] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

- It speaks for itself. We need your money.

But I promise you, your name will be

on an Academy Award.

Or if you don�t want your name on any documents,

that�s ?ne, too.

Maybe that�s how you guys work.

[exhales sharply]

The next morning, we had the money

in a black duffel bag, all cash.

Had some blood on it.

Very upsetting for the woman at reception.

[sweeping orchestral music]

- The movie opened just in time for nominations.

And sure enough, we were in the running

for Best Picture of 1967

Two years of work, assembling the finest cast,

changing most of the plot ofthe novel,

banning Edna Bach from the set

and completely changing the title

but we were here.

I knew we had the most revolutionary film of the year.

- We�ve seen excerpts from the ?ve ?lms nominated

for Best Picture.

For the record, they are:

"Bonnie and Clyde,"

"Doctor Dolittle,"

"The Graduate,"

"In the Heat of the Night,"

and "Blondes, Blondes, Blondes, and a Millionaire!"

Based on the novel, "She Cried for Justice."

[applause]

And now for the Best Picture.

May I have the envelope, please?

Thank you.

The winner is...

"In the Heat of the Night," Walter Mirisch.

[applause]

[sweeping orchestral music]

- Mary Poppins screwed me.

l was so distraught at the after party,

I could barely speak.

The only highlight of the evening

was that I discovered ?an.

"Blondes, Blondes, Blondes, and a Millionaire!"

was a victim of its time.

I�ll be honest, I had no idea

there was all this, "young people are angry

and Black people are this and that" going on.

I hung out with Enzo and Playboy Bunnies

and wealthy crooners.

We talked about boats most of the time.

But I vowed never again to be behind the times.

I would dive into the changing America.

At age 41, l embraced the revolution.

I started smoking pot and wearing leather vests.

And that was it.

- So l--l think it was late �67.

It was just after Jerry had done "She Cried for Justice."

At any rate, l~l came up and I said to Jerry,

"A writer writes, a director directs, an actor acts.

Tell me, just what is it that you do?"

And hejust laughed and said,

"Snakes--" [chuckles]

He called me Snakes for no reason.

I don�t get it.

"Snakes, I�m the guy who keeps the money men hard

while making sure you don�t get [bleep]."

I always liked that answer.

[laughs] Far out.

[upbeat funky music]

- As a new decade began, I was more determined than ever

to bring home an Oscar by any means necessary.

The 1970s saw the greatest cinema boom in history.

"The Godfather,"

"Annie Hall,"

"Jaws," and 700 other movies

that don�t hold up at all.

And the Oscars were changing, too.

- Oh, my God. The winners is

George C. Scott in Patton. [cheers and applause]

- Accepting the coveted award for Mr. George C. Scott

is the ?lm�s producer, Mr. Frank McCarthy.

- George C. Scott boycotted the Oscars

and the son of a bitch still won!

Meanwhile, Pinnacle Pictures continued

to turn out cutting edge ?lms.

l was determined to keep up with the times

by telling the grit�liest, most progressive stories...

about a year after they were told in different movies.

"French Connection" too intense?

How about the heavily focus-grouped,

"Plan to Sell Dope"? [gun cocks, ?res]

"Love Story" too sad?

Try "Going Steady," where no one dies at the end.

"The Exorcist" too scary?

How about "Detective Rabbi"?

He'll chase the Dybbuk right out of your room.

The Academy loved a political film.

But more importantly, it loved a political protest

on Oscar night.

When Marlon Brando sent the Land-O-Lakes Butler mascot

to refuse his Oscar,

I knew the bar had been set.

If he was gonna bring one Native American,

l was gonna show up with a whole tribe.

When a Pinnacle ?lm was nominated in 1975,

I arrived with seven Brazilian men

from the indigenous Yanomami Tribe.

If we won, I promised the fellas

they could rush the stage, grab the award,

and say whatever the hell about the rain forest.

- Um, the nominees for the Best Picture of the year are...

"Chinatown," a Robert Evans production,

Robert Evans producmg.

"The Conversation," a Directors Company production,

Fred Roos, co-producer.

"The Godfather: Part II," A Coppola Company production,

Francis Ford Coppola, producer.

"Lenny," a Marvin Worth production,

Marvin Worth, producer.

And "Kenny," a Pinnacle Production

Jerry Wallach, producer. [applause]

And the winner is...

"Godfather: Part II." - God damn it!

- Francis Ford Coppola, Gray Frederickson and Fred Roos.

["Main Title (The Godfather Waltz) playing"]

- I�d been making ?lms for almost ten years.

And not a single statue graced my mantle.

It was at that low moment that my indigenous friends

introduced me to the cocaine leaf.

Ten times more potent than the stepped-on powder

sold in LA.

For the rest of the 70s,

I lived like a jacked-up koala.

[funky music] - J� Ha ha, get some I

[bell dings] - I felt great.

And a little violent all day.

I worked harder than I ever had,

turning out more and more Oscar contenders.

-J�Hahahahaha hahahaJ�

I Get down I

- In 1977, Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Walters

told me about a new psycho-sexual drama

he was writing.

Walters was a mad genius,

writing only at night

and only typing with the front ends of handguns.

I bought the script sight-unseen.

And then I called the one guy I knew

who could direct it.

The Roman Polanski...

of Italy.

My best friend, Enzo Entolini,

who had never directed anything before.

Entolini needed money.

He�d invested every dime he had

in the sparking water business.

The Caps weren�t shut tight enough,

and the whole supply went llat.

They worked night and night

in a special mirrored office I had made for them.

We were determined to make the coke-lest movie ever.

In an effort to add to the whole,

"What the [bleep]?" of this production,

we decided to cast no�name actors

who can improvise dialogue.

And on top ofthat, Enzo and Walters

insisted on shooting on real locations

with no permits

and with no green lights at crosswalks.

I put every dollar we had behind the project.

The press was gunning for me.

We were now in the era when averages and release dates

were the stuff of the nightly news.

Still, I knew we had the goods.

A bondage-themed, improvised movie

with borderline-unattractive no-name actors.

The anticipation for our masterpiece

kept growing and growing.

[chatter]

On May 25th, 1977,

"Fisting" opened worldwide...

the same day as "Star Wars."

Was "Fisting" a better movie?

You bet it was.

Can you rent it anywhere?

Not really.

One store has it.

The point is, we lost a ton of dough

and once again, I had to go beg for money

to keep Pinnacle running.

Hello, agents of the CIA.

Se?ores.

Uh, me and the fellas would just like to apologize

for, uh, not getting you the Oscar.

Oh, look, if it isn't Puf?n.

- [squawking] - From our newest ?lm,

"Swashbuckler Island," from 12 years ago.

Puf?n-- - [squawking]

- You�re the only one I trust, Puf?n.

- [squawking]

Rosie, Dale. [claps]

This is the the team that�s gonna put

Pinnacle Pictures back on the map.

This time, the ?lm didn�t work.

And I got the shock of my life.

- After 13 years working to rig

an Oscar for Pinnacle Pictures,

I was ?red.

Some men would see this as a bottom.

I saw it as the top ofa new and weirder mountain.

I was going solo.

[upbeat pop music]

I ran my production company

out of my beautiful home,

Villa Casalati.

The future looked as good as a blonde

With long, flat buttocks.

Little did I know,

what lay ahead of me

was 10 more years of losing.

- The winner is...

"Chariots of Fire." [cheers and applause]

- In '82, I lost to "Chariots of Fire,"

which is, at best, a soundtrack

that your mother has in her car.

In 1988, I made $200 million with "Robot Bachelor."

-And the winner is...

"Rain Man," Mark Johnson, producer.

- And lost to "Tootsie Counts Cards in Vegas."

Throughout the 19805 and �90s, I made millions

as | pivoted to win the gold.

Here's a period piece.

No dice?

All right, a biopic.

Not this year, huh?

How about an underdog sports movie

with Meat Loaf as the coach?

Get out of your of?ce?

Whatever you say, lady.

The breaking point was in the mid-19905,

when my Wyatt Earp movie, "Mr. Old West"

went head to head with "Tombstone"

and "Wyatt Earp."

None of us were nominated

and "Forrest Gump" won Best Picture.

"Forrest Gump."

I�m sorry, but what the [bleep]

is the message of that movie?

If you're dumb enough, you can meet three presidents?

It was all too much.

My heart couldn�t take it.

My doctor told me I could be happy

with the millions of dollars I had,

or I could chase Oscars and die.

My life was a mess.

I needed to get smart,

wisen up, kick the stupid

out of my brain and rev the Corvette.

Clean and sober, I dedicated my life

to doing good.

Here we go, everybody.

We're doing charity work.

With some donations from AFI

and every major studio,

I started Lights, Camera, Hopel,

the ?rst charity to give state of the art

cameras and boom mics to L.A.�s most dangerous gangs.

Something magical is happening down here

in God knows where, South LosAngeles.

Hardened youths are putting down their guns

and picking up a different kinda weapon:

a movie camera.

It�s Lights, Camera, Hope!

Lights, Camera, Hope! helped me

get over my Oscar obsession.

All I wanted to do was charity work.

So much so, that I simultaneously

lobbied the Academy to make a special award

for showbiz people who do charity work.

The proudest moment of my life

was when the Jerry Wallach Humanitarian Oscar

was presented for the ?rst time.

-And now, presenting the Jerry Wallach

Humanitarian Award,

please welcome, Anne Hathaway.

Hello.

It is my honor to present the ?rst ever

Jerry Wallach Humanitarian Award.

We at the Academy-- - I was about to

receive an Oscar.

The bald boy from Brooklyn who only wanted

to make people smile.

It was ?nally Jerry Wallach�s night.

- To read the nominees

for the Jerry Wallach Humanitarian Award.

Sidney Poitier,

for the Poitier Center for Racial Harmony.

[applause]

Paul Newman, for the Newman�s Own Foundation.

Hey, Paul. [chuckles] [applause]

Jerry Wallach, producer of "Fisting."

[very light applause]

And Enzo Entolini for his Italian Don't Litter campaign.

[applause]

And the Jerry Wallach Oscar goes to,

of course, Enzo Entolini.

[Italian music] [applause]

- Leave it to Julie Andrews� little minion

to [bleep] me over.

- [laughs]

Whoa!

[laughter]

- Grazie mille. Grazie.

- Was I mad at Enzo?

[chuckles]

Not on your life.

Enzo saved my ass many times.

Enzo was the longest relationship of my life.

Forget my money.

Forget my wives.

Forget my four sons.

Enzo was truly my best friend.

And I miss him every God damn day.

[somber music]

Now I spend my days awash in a cologne cold memory.

lt stinks of regret like a diaper in a hot car.

Each spray a jolt to the past.

So many missed opportunities.

So many awards given to my Iessers.

My career is in the past.

The door is closing.

The curtain is falling.

The waiter is bringing the check.

The masseuse has stepped out of the room

and reminded me where my robe is.

I will never make another movie again.

It�s over.

Fin.

Next stop...

death.

Or...

Hold on. Hold on everybody,

I got an idea for a movie.

Racism.

We do a movie about different people

of different races not getting along.

Put a lot of movie stars in it.

Right? That�s a thing.

Right? Am I right?

[sweeping orchestral music]

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