:05:06
I had an original story
kicking around Paramount.
:05:09
My agent told me it was
dead as a doornail.
:05:12
But I knew a big shot over there
who 'd always liked me.
:05:15
The time had come to take
a little advantage of it.
:05:18
His name was Sheldrake.
:05:20
He was a smart producer
with a set of ulcers to prove it.
:05:27
All right, Gillis, you've got five
minutes. What's your story about?
:05:30
It's about a baseball player,
a rookie shortstop batting 347.
:05:33
- Uh-huh.
- Poor kid was mixed up in a holdup.
:05:36
But he's trying to go straight.
Except some gamblers won't let him.
:05:39
So they tell the kid he's got to
throw the World Series or else, huh?
:05:43
More or less, except for the end.
I've got a gimmick that's real good.
:05:45
Uh-huh. You got a title?
:05:47
Bases Loaded.
There's a 40-page outline.
:05:49
Call Readers Department. Find out
what they have on Bases Loaded.
:05:54
They're pretty hot about it over at
Twentieth, except Zanuck's all wet.
:05:58
Can you see Ty Power as a shortstop?
:06:00
You've got the best man for it
right here on this lot. Alan Ladd.
:06:03
Be a good change of pace for Ladd.
Another thing, it's simple to shoot.
:06:07
Lots of outdoor stuff. You could
make it all for under a million.
:06:12
- Excuse me.
- A great part for Bill Demarest--
:06:14
a trainer, an old-time player who
got beamed, goes out of his head.
:06:18
Hello, Mr. Sheldrake.
:06:20
On that Bases Loaded, I covered it
with a two-page synopsis.
:06:23
- Thank you.
- But I wouldn't bother.
:06:25
- What's wrong with it?
- It's from hunger.
:06:27
Nothing for Ladd?
:06:29
It's just a rehash of something
that wasn't very good to begin with.
:06:32
I'm sure you'll be glad to meet
Mr. Gillis. He wrote it.
:06:35
This is Miss Kramer.
:06:38
The name is Schaefer.
Betty Schaefer.
:06:42
Right now I wish I could crawl
in a hole and pull it in after me.
:06:45
If I could be of any help--
:06:47
Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Gillis, but I
just didn't think it was any good.
:06:51
I found it flat and trite.
:06:53
Exactly what kind of material do you
recommend? James Joyce? Dostoyevsky?
:06:57
I just think that pictures
should say a little something.