:02:01
It is a time of diverse heroes
and madcap stunts...
:02:06
of speak-easies
and flamboyant parties.
:02:10
One typical party occurs
at the Long lsland estate...
:02:13
of Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Porter Sutton...
:02:16
socialites,
patrons of the arts.
:02:19
Politicians and poets...
:02:21
rub elbows
with the cream of high society.
:02:24
Present at the party
is Scott Fitzgerald...
:02:27
who is to cast perspective
on the twenties...
:02:29
for all future generations.
:02:32
He writes in his notebook...
:02:33
about a curious little man
named Leon Selwyn, or Zelman...
:02:36
who seemed clearly
to be an aristocrat...
:02:39
and extolled the very rich
as he chatted with socialites.
:02:44
He spoke adoringly of Coolidge
and the Republican Party...
:02:47
all in an upper-class
Boston accent.
:02:49
"An hour later,"
writes Fitzgerald...
:02:51
"I was stunned
to see the same man...
:02:54
"speaking with
the kitchen help.
:02:56
"Now he claimed
to be a Democrat...
:02:59
"and his accent seemed coarse,
as if he were one of the crowd."
:03:04
It's the first small notice
taken of Leonard Zelig.
:03:08
Florida, one year later.
:03:10
An odd incident occurs...
:03:12
at the New York Yankees'
training camp.
:03:15
Journalists,
anxious as always...
:03:17
to immortalize the exploits
of the great home-run hitters...
:03:21
notice a strange new player...
:03:23
waiting his turn at bat
after Babe Ruth.
:03:26
He's listed on the roster
as Lou Zelig...
:03:29
but no one on the team
has heard of him.
:03:32
Security guards are called...
:03:33
and he's escorted
from the premises.
:03:35
It appears as a small item
in the next day's newspaper.
:03:47
Chicago, Illinois,
that same year.
:03:50
There is a private party...
:03:52
at a speak-easy
on the South Side.
:03:55
People from the most
respectable walks of life...
:03:57
dance and drink bathtub gin.