Let's bump down the depression, shall we? I just had a conversation about the studio system in the '20s and '30s and was reminded of a beloved scene from a movie I've never seen based on a book I've never read. Is it on the Youtubes, I wondered?
Yes. A bit of background: Donald Pleasance (the seated bald man) is a staff writer for DeNiro's studio. He's been called on the carpet by DeNiro because of a crappy first draft of a screenplay that's far too literary and not imagistic enough. As this clip begins, DeNiro describes a scene that "works" as contrast to the dead scene Pleasance wrote. Enjoy.
