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Sunset Boulevard · 1950 — 第 2 / 19 章 · 3'31" · B2

Joe Pitches Bases Loaded at Paramount, Explained：over a barrel

Joe Gillis pitches a baseball story to a producer who has heard it all before. The reader, Betty Schaefer, calls the script 'flat and trite,' and Joe shoots back about pictures with a message. Beneath the sparring is a man who needs a paycheck and cannot afford to be choosy.

あらすじ

Joe Gillis goes to Paramount to pitch his original baseball story, 'Bases Loaded,' to the producer Sheldrake, who has heard every angle before. A young reader, Betty Schaefer, is brought in and says the script is flat and trite, sparking an argument about what pictures should say. In the end Sheldrake has no work for Joe.

Job interviewMeetingsAskingPersuadingBoss & employeeB2fastamericanClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

dead as a doornailbig shotgo straightall wet

00:00 / 03:31
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このシーンの表現

over a barrel

powerless and trapped

Begging for any assignment, Joe admits he is over a barrel, with no leverage left.

The delay put us over a barrel with the client.

このシーンの他の表現

  • dead as a doornail

    completely finished

  • big shot

    an important person

  • go straight

    reform and live honestly

  • all wet

    completely mistaken

  • from hunger

    terribly poor quality

このシーンのメモ一覧

64 行のセリフに 21 件のメモ

表現 · B1something kicking around (somewhere)

lying unused somewhere

I had an original story kicking around Paramount.
表現 · B2be dead as a doornail

completely finished

Recalling the script, Joe says his agent declared it dead as a doornail, resigned and dry.

My agent told me it was dead as a doornail.
発音dead as a

Link dead, as and a so they run together as one stretch.

My agent told me it was dead as a doornail.
表現 · B2a big shot

an important person

But I knew a big shot over there who'd always liked me.
スラング · B2big shot

an important person — Mildly mocking; do not use it to someone's face.

But I knew a big shot over there who'd always liked me.
表現 · B1the time had come to do something

the moment had arrived

And the time had come to take a little advantage of it.
文法 · B2ulcers to prove it

infinitive as modifier: The infinitive to prove it modifies ulcers, framing the illness as evidence of his cleverness.

He was a smart producer, with a set of ulcers to prove it.
発音What's your

What's your is reduced in fast speech, almost like wats-yer.

All right, Gillis, you've got five minutes. What's your story about?
スラング · B2all wet

completely mistaken — Old-fashioned slang for being wrong; too casual for formal talk.

They're pretty hot about it over at Twentieth, except I think Zanuck's all wet.
表現 · B2a change of pace

a refreshing switch

Be a good change of pace for Ladd.
表現 · B2go out of one's head

loses his senses

And there's a great little part for Bill Demarest, one of the trainers, an old-time player who got beaned, goes out of his head sometimes.
文法 · B2who got beaned

relative clause: The relative clause who got beaned tells us why this old player sometimes loses his senses.

And there's a great little part for Bill Demarest, one of the trainers, an old-time player who got beaned, goes out of his head sometimes.
スラング · B2from hunger

terribly poor — Show-business slang; most people outside the trade will not follow it.

- What's wrong with it? - It's from hunger.
表現 · C1a rehash of something

a stale repeat

It's just a rehash of something that wasn't very good to begin with.
表現 · B1crawl in a hole

want to hide in shame

Having just trashed the script, Betty realizes the writer is right there and wishes she could vanish.

Right now I wish I could crawl in a hole and pull it in after me.
発音didn't think

The t in didn't often drops, so didn't think runs together.

Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Gillis, but I just didn't think it was any good.
表現 · C1flat and trite

dull and clichéd

I found it flat and trite.
表現 · B1earn a living

make a living

That was last year. This year I'm trying to earn a living.
表現 · C1be over a barrel

powerless and trapped

Begging for any assignment, Joe admits he is over a barrel, with no leverage left.

- I'm over a barrel. I need a job. - I haven't got a thing.
表現 · B1talk someone into (doing) something

persuaded me to do

Last year somebody talked me into buying a ranch in the Valley.
文法 · B1so I could keep up

purpose clause: Each so I could clause states a purpose, showing a chain of borrowing that keeps looping back.

This year I had to mortgage the ranch so I could keep up my life insurance, so I could borrow on my insurance...

「Joe Pitches Bases Loaded at Paramount」を読み解く

What's really going on

The scene is a job interview disguised as a story meeting. Sheldrake gives Joe five minutes and then dismantles him with two words — 'It's from hunger' — the casual cruelty of a man who has heard a thousand pitches. What makes it sting is Betty: she is young, honest, and the only one who bothers to say why, calling the script 'flat and trite.' Joe's defence is bitterness dressed as principle. He sneers at 'one of the message kids' while admitting, 'That was last year. This year I'm trying to earn a living.' By the end the roles have flipped: the screenwriter is begging for 'any kind of an assignment,' any dialogue, anything, and Sheldrake is the one groaning about a mortgaged ranch. Both men are over a barrel.

Theme

MoneyJoe needs a paycheck and Sheldrake hides behind his own debts, so the pitch becomes a struggle over who is more broke.
AmbitionJoe trades his pride for any assignment, while Betty insists pictures should say something, not just sell.

このチャプターで学べること

  • A pitch can die in the first five minutes.
  • Betty's honesty is crueler than any insult.
  • Studio slang shows exactly who holds power.
  • Joe keeps joking even while losing face.

発音のポイント

  • dead as a — Link dead, as and a so they run together as one stretch.
  • What's your — What's your is reduced in fast speech, almost like wats-yer.
  • didn't think — The t in didn't often drops, so didn't think runs together.
My agent told me it was dead as a doornail.

Joe's own agent already declared his story hopeless, yet he brings it to Paramount anyway — the first sign of how thin his options are.

He was a smart producer, with a set of ulcers to prove it.

A one-line portrait of the producer: sharp, successful, and paying for it with his stomach.

It's just a rehash of something that wasn't very good to begin with.

Betty's verdict on the script: not just bad, but recycled from bad material.

Right now I wish I could crawl in a hole and pull it in after me.

Betty's embarrassment at having trashed a writer to his face, put in one vivid image.

That was last year. This year I'm trying to earn a living.

Joe's answer when someone brings up his talent: he has stopped chasing art and is now chasing rent.

- I'm over a barrel. I need a job. - I haven't got a thing.

The exchange that ends the pitch: Joe is trapped and desperate, and Sheldrake has nothing to give.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Joe pitch 'Bases Loaded' at Paramount?

He has an original story sitting there and a contact, the producer Sheldrake, who has liked his work before. He needs money and decides to use the connection.

What does Betty Schaefer think of the script?

She finds it 'flat and trite,' and tells Joe to his face. It is her honesty, more than Sheldrake's dismissal, that wounds him.

Why does Joe react so bitterly to Betty?

She is young and still idealistic, while Joe has given up on writing anything meaningful in order to make a living, and her judgement reminds him of that.

What does Sheldrake mean by 'It's from hunger'?

It is old Hollywood slang for something that is hopelessly bad — a script so weak it would not be worth anyone's time.

Does Sheldrake give Joe a job?

No. He insists there is nothing, and when Joe presses, Sheldrake turns the talk to his own money troubles, leaving Joe with nothing.

サンセット大通り · 全 19 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 3 章a white elephantJoe Is Mistaken for the Undertaker
第 1 章there's gonna be fireworksThe Repo Men Come for the Car再生中 · 第 2 章over a barrelJoe Pitches Bases Loaded at Paramount第 3 章a white elephantJoe Is Mistaken for the Undertaker第 4 章It's the pictures that got smallNorma Desmond: The Pictures Got Small第 5 章a pressing engagementNorma Makes Joe Read Salome第 6 章make it worth your whileNorma Hires Joe to Fix Her Script第 7 章not by a long shotNorma Moves Joe Into Her Mansion第 8 章a matter of life and deathNorma Buys Joe New Clothes第 9 章take me for grantedNorma's New Year's Eve Confession第 10 章close, but no cigarJoe Meets Betty at Artie's Party第 11 章sell on somethingNorma Sends Her Script to DeMille第 12 章write on specBetty Asks Joe to Write With Her第 13 章give someone the brushNorma Desmond Returns to Paramount第 14 章nothing would please me moreNorma Desmond's Comeback Falls Apart第 15 章sell like hotcakesJoe and Betty Write the Script Together第 16 章come cleanBetty Tells Joe the Nose Story第 17 章wipe outBetty Confesses She Loves Joe第 18 章a good dealJoe Shows Betty Norma's Mansion第 19 章have the heart toJoe Tells Norma He's Leaving
第 2 / 19 章 · 残り約 56 分