Fame (1982) s01e03 Episode Script

It's like they came from Mars or someplace.
- They have no idea of what we're doing.
- Wrong.
- Is teacher being too hard on you, baby? - I can take it! I hate anything that stifles freedom and anyone that stifles creativity.
The first thing they teach you at that survival course? That's not to let the person that you're trying to save pull you under.
You pullin' me under, man.
Man, throw him out.
The man is out of prison less than a week, and he has a gun! You got big dreams.
You want fame.
Well, fame costs and right here is where you start paying in sweat.
- Hey, how ya doin'? - All right.
I had a pain, a little pain.
Hey, Bruno! There he is! Hey, Bruno! Check it out.
Hey, you know that Darin chick in biology? Hi there.
I thought you were somebody else.
Obviously.
- Would you excuse us? - Alex! Beverly! Up here! - Hector! - Come on in! - Who the heck are they? - I don't know no names, but I know who.
- Who? - Man, those people are The Man.
You'll note for the upcoming weeks there'll be some visitors- observers here in the school.
They're representing the State Board of Education and I guess you could say they're here to check us out.
Now, as far as you people are concerned, it's business as usual.
We don't need any additional mouthing off or clowning or showboating from anybody.
If they ask you a question, tell them the answer-without embellishment or comment.
"In addition, certain students will be picked for private question-and-answer sessions with Mr.
Tipton.
Mr.
Tipton is well-grounded in conducting studies of this nature in order to establish a profile of the student-body attitude toward the school and its curriculum.
" Mr.
Shorofsky, what does all that mean? It means we got three snoops, Mr.
Martelli.
That's what it means.
And one and two and three and four! And one and two and three and four! Come on! Get up! Come on! You're out of time! Two and three and- Come on! Come on.
Get up off the ground! You're hopeless! You're hope- Please, stop, stop.
Come on.
Thank you.
You're all dancing like you're wearing hiking boots.
We ain't wearin' no hiking boots, but you should consider the fact we ain't got wings sprouting out our backs either.
- Meaning? - Meaning that it's legal for a dancer to have their feet on the ground once in a while.
Poor child.
Is teacher being too hard on you, Coco baby? - I can take it.
- No, you can't! None of you can.
You can't take it and you can't fake it, not from what I've seen.
And until you can do one or the other or both you're gonna be a day late and a dime short! May I ask why? I'm just wondering if it's wise, that's all.
Why is studying Gregorian chant in a class dealing with musical history unwise? Because the music is religious in nature.
- It might be misunderstood.
- By whom? By the parents of some of the Jewish students, for example.
Let me get this straight.
You, Mr.
Melendez, are explaining to me, Mr.
Shorofsky theJewish parental position.
That's right.
Genius.
Two minutes, people.
- Doesn't this music distract them? - They're used to it.
I can't imagine how they could get used to that racket all the time.
Maybe so, but there isn't much that can be done about it.
What about earplugs? It's hard to teach English to a class of students wearing earplugs.
Point well taken.
Okay, class.
That's very good.
You all are dismissed.
Now, I want you all to get in here a little bit early tomorrow so you can warm up and stretch before we get started on this new repertory.
You're gonna work on Scheherazade.
I don't want any pulled and stretched- over-stretched muscles.
All right.
That was good today.
Yeah.
Bye-bye.
And where do they go now? Is there some sort of shower facility? - Yeah, second floor.
- That's unusual, isn't it? To shower after dance class? To have a gymnasium located on the second floor.
The showers are on the second floor.
There isn't any gymnasium.
No gymnasium? No.
- That's yours? - No, it belongs to Moscowitz.
He asked me to check it out for him.
It's really something.
You can program it.
You can play it wherever you want.
How old do I look? You look- I'd say you look about and black lines on your face.
Very funny.
Aren't you a little old to go trick-or-treating? And aren't you eating lunch in a weird place? It's either here or the cafeteria and those three inspectors, or whatever they're called, they're in there now.
I don't want to be around them any more than I have to.
I'm supposed to have an interview with one of those guys after lunch.
Mr.
Nylon Hair? Yeah! His hair looks like a flying squirrel trying to mate with a bowling ball.
Quiet.
Listen.
There's someone out in the house.
You people didn't pay your electric bill or somethin'.
Dark as the inside of a peach pit out here.
You're not supposed to be there.
Security guard finds ya, he'll call the cops.
Why don't you crash someplace else? Ain't no place else, man.
This got to be it.
I just- I just got all turned around in the- in the halls out there.
I'm just sort of lost, that's all.
- But I'm in the right place.
- You sure about that? Ain't this the School for the Arts? - Is there a LeroyJohnson goes here? - Why you wanna talk to Leroy? Hey, man, that little dude is my brother.
Yo, wish me luck.
I have my interview today.
Wish yourself luck, girl.
I got problems of my own.
He's in there.
Well, well, well.
Look who went and grew up on me.
So, what're you studying here? You gonna be Gene Kelly or somebody like that? - What do you want, Willard? - That's no kind of tone to use for family.
We ain't much of a family.
What you want? Boy, last time I saw you, you weren't big enough to understand what happened to me.
You could understand that I robbed a place and had to go to jail.
But you couldn't understand the-the why the "how come.
" Three years in the army.
A lot of pain.
A lot of dope.
A lot of booze.
Takes a big toll on a man.
Makes him get desperate.
You couldn't understand that then.
I'm banking on you bein' able to understand that now.
You and me, we're just about the only people each other's got in this whole blessed world, Leroy.
I got a place you can bunk at till you get it together, I guess.
Mr.
Tipton? Yes, miss.
This is my first time in this office.
We never get to be in here that much.
Well, that's a good sign.
You're- Relax.
You know what we're going do here? Well, I heard that it was an evaluation interview, but I don't, you know- What are you gonna talk to me about? I have a few questions that I must ask you, and we'll put them here on tape.
If you would just answer me as simply and straightforwardly as possible we'll have you out of here in no time.
- Is that all right? - Yeah.
Do you enjoy the school? Yeah, I really do.
I enjoy the school.
You know, I like coming to school.
That says a lot, you know.
Is it the academic part of the school that you enjoy, or is it the fun part- the dancing and the singing and being with a lot of people who share your interests? Well, dancing ain't all fun.
I hope you know that.
There's a lotta work that goes along with it.
Are you bilingual? Well, I'm not bilingual according to the school.
They say I speak Spanglish, which is English and Spanish.
- Spanglish? - They say it's street Spanish.
I'm taking Spanish here, so they say I'm a gonna improve.
- I'm gonna improve, yeah.
- Another question I'd like to ask you is if you could change something about the school what is the one thing, or two things, that you might change? Well, I think I wanna change the showers.
You know, because, I'm telling you, man, those showers- Sometimes after dance we go upstairs, and we take a shower.
Sometimes they don't work.
I'm all hot and everything, and then we can't take a shower.
We all complain, 'cause we don't want to walk around sticky and everything.
Yes, you have to live the moment.
But you're actors.
You act for an audience.
Now, Langston Hughes is not talking about a girl named Joy.
He's talking about happiness.
He's saying you can find happiness- Because there's no xy here.
But don't be fooled.
As soon as we multiply x plus y times- Let's go again.
By yourself, honey.
Come on.
Five, six, seven, eight.
And one and two and three and four.
That's it.
Come on.
Get up.
You don't weigh but two pounds.
It's like they came from Mars or someplace.
- They have no idea of what we're doing.
- Wrong.
We're the ones who come from Mars, as far as they're concerned.
All their questions, all their suggestions make perfect sense in a normal school.
- They make me ashamed.
- Of what? - Of me.
- You? Why, for heaven's sake? Because they are nebbishes and fools and I should be a bigger person than to hate such people.
You don't hate them, Mr.
Shorofsky.
I hate anything that stifles freedom and anyone that stifles creativity.
These people are pencil pushers and adder-uppers and they have no place in our school.
Don't you just want to take him home and put him on your mantel? But we must be careful about how we conduct ourselves.
We should appear to go along.
We should try to appear friendly and cooperative.
That's the only way we can- Mr.
Melendez, how are you? Let me get you a cup of coffee.
Never mind.
I'll make a fresh pot.
Won't take a minute.
Sit down.
Take your shoes off.
Enjoy.
Well I think maybe I have some good news for you all.
What good news is that? We're gonna recommend that the budget include monies for a gymnasium.
- A gymnasium? - That's right.
You've looked around, and of all the things you could have picked you decided we need a gymnasium? It was Miss Polsdorfer that pointed it out actually.
Bless her.
- How do you like your coffee? - Black.
Mr.
Melendez, I'm no expert on budgets and things but is this money you're recommending us to get- is that in addition to our regular budget or will it come out of programs already established? Probably a little bit of both.
Mr.
Melendez, we don't need a gymnasium.
State regulations call for an hour of PE every day.
Mr.
Melendez, I can assure you, my dance classes are a workout and a half.
- And the other students? - All the students are required to take some kind of movement class.
Movement, stretching, whatever.
It's not the same as an hour of PE.
- No, it's more.
- Miss Grant- Mr.
Melendez, there isn't a football or basketball player in this city who could make it through one of my classes.
- You think so? - I know so.
Thank you.
This has a ton of cream and sugar in it.
Silly me.
I must have forgot.
I gotta get going.
I'll meet you out front.
In Grand Rapids, all my friends were preparing for college.
That's what they were doing.
Here, everyone's preparing for life for what they want to be for the rest of their life.
- I think that's the difference.
- You play the cello.
Is that correct? - Yeah.
- Why did you choose that instrument? It's not what we would call a "now" instrument.
Do you take a good deal of teasing about that? The cello is a now, is a yesterday, is a tomorrow instrument.
It's here forever.
May I ask you a personal question about your parents? Sure.
I understand that they're divorced.
Would you like to talk about that for a moment? Well it's kind of rough because we were a family, and now I feel like it's just my mom and me.
And it's not the same.
But they just kind of grew apart.
Was that a big adjustment for you? Yeah.
It was really big, because my mom has a friend here.
Her name's Arla, and she helped my mom find an apartment and stuff.
But it was really lonely, and even now she doesn't even have a job yet.
She's trying, she's looking for one, but it's really rough.
If you could not be the wonderful cellist that you want to be what would you do with your life? Well, I think I really want to be a performer.
Well, suppose life throws you a curve and for some unknown reason you find you are unable to perform to become a performer.
What would you do with your life? In any way I can't perform? I can't dance, I can't act? - I can't do that? - Correct.
That'd be some curve.
Okay.
Hi.
- Hi.
- I just wanted to check up.
That young man who was here this afternoon- - That was your brother, wasn't it? - How come you gotta check up? Well, two reasons.
"A, " there is this phrase in black slang about so-and-so being a "brother.
" I wasn't sure whether he was that kind of brother to you or if he was a brother-brother.
- What's the second? - The second reason is he was drunk.
- That concerns me.
- Why's that concern you? Because as maddening and as arrogant as you can be sometimes, I care about you.
I don't want to see you getting into trouble.
The man is my brother.
He's not trouble.
Look, with that evaluation team around here, we have to be especially careful.
I thought you were so worried about poor, little me? Look, the man was drunk! He was celebratin' seeing me.
That's all he was doin'.
If your tight, little ears can't take that, that's just too bad! - You're so pleased about seein' him? - Yes! Then how come you're hanging out here, doing everything you can not to go home? Woman, can't you ever stop fussin' at me? Who elected you to run my life? Look, just leave me alone.
It's a whole world full of space out here.
Just let me have my little piece of it.
Damn.
Hey, man.
Your place ain't the Waldorf but compared to where I've been the past six years, I'll take it, hands down.
I'm headin'downtown to get myself reestablished with the people that count to see if I can get me some kind of gig that'll put a littlejingle in myjeans.
I emptied out one of the dresser drawers, and I put my stuff in it.
I hope that's okay.
If I ain't back tonight, don't sweat it.
I got me some howlin'to do yet, and I just might get lucky.
Take care, little brother.
I'll pick up on you tomorrow.
Later.
Welcome home, brother.
Doris Schwartz.
- Do you have a middle name? - Yeah.
Would you like to tell me what it is? Rene.
- Doris Rene Schwartz? - Yes.
- What is your major? - Drama.
Drama.
I see.
Is there a theatrical background in your family? Well, my mother was an actress before she married my father.
She was in the original company on Broadway of Music Man.
She was in the chorus.
That's where she met my father.
- Are your parents together? - Yeah, they're back together now.
- They're back together now? - They've been separated for a little while.
And what is the general tenor of your home now? It's good.
- Are you happy with what's happening now? - Yeah.
Do you have any doubt that you will eventually achieve your goal? - A little every day.
- A little doubt every day? Yeah.
Do you have from time to time a feeling that you will succeed? - Yeah.
- When do you have the feeling you will succeed, and when do you have the doubts? Well, I know I'll succeed when I do a good scene or when I get a part or when everything just clicks, when it feels right.
Then I know it's all gonna be okay.
In your acting, do you feel that you must live the part? Yeah.
And at your age, which is quite young now do you feel you must go through what the characters you portray go through? I think I should try and do as much of it as I can so I can learn what it's all about.
Hypothetical question, young lady- If you were playing a woman who was pregnant how would you go about preparing for that? I'd get pregnant.
That's ridiculous.
- You want some advice? - No.
- Man, throw him out.
- I said I didn't want any advice.
You don't always get what you want outta life.
Would you lay off, all right? You're gonna look the other way.
Is that it? Yes, that is it! It's on-the-money it! The man is out of prison less than a week, and he has a gun! Man, that's trouble.
Don't buy into that.
- Could be a lot of reasons he got a gun.
- Name me one reason.
Just one.
- Isn't he on parole? - Uh-huh.
And if they find out that he has a gun, he's gonna go right back to prison.
- Girl, will you let it be? - Not if you can't tell me why you're acting so flat-out dumb! 'Cause Willard is the only family I have on this earth, damn it! I'm not gonna give him a big hassle and see him head on down the road.
- That's all there is to it! - I understand that.
- But he's a lot older than you, isn't he? - Ten years.
How old were you when he was sent off to jail? Nine or 1 0.
I don't know.
Sounds like to me he's your brother, but that you hardly don't even know him.
- He's more like a stranger.
- He is my blood.
That's all I know.
From what you told me, he ain't treatin' you like blood.
He's treatin' you like dirt.
He ain't moving in with you, he's moving in on you.
- Do you ever run out of advice? - Make him get rid of the gun.
- How am I supposed to make him? - I don't know that! You might not admit it, but it's trouble.
And I know it's so, and so do you.
Coco, the jocks from Buchanan High are here.
Go get the dancers we talked about yesterday.
Mr.
Melendez needs to see how physically fit we are.
Let's start off with some simple jumping jacks at first.
We'll get to it.
All right, everybody.
Calisthenics.
Ready, begin.
And one, two, three, bend.
One, two, three, stretch.
One, two, three, bend.
One, two, three, stretch.
Come on! Let's move it! All right, boys.
You can do it! Put your body into it! Now let's really move it! Well maybe you don't need a gym after all.
Do you think there's any art in making people laugh? I think there's a lot of art in making people laugh.
You can have 1 0 people say the same joke, and only one will make you laugh.
That's true, but I don't understand what difference that would make.
Well, making people laugh, I mean, it's something you have to be born with.
It's not just an everyday thing.
- You think you have this gift? - Yes, I do.
- Where do you live, Danny? - In the South Bronx.
Do you find a lot of things in the South Bronx to laugh about? Everybody thinks the South Bronx, there's just killings and murders.
There's a lotta love there and a lotta funny things that happen there just like probably where you live.
Do you have a favorite comedian? Yes, I do.
Richard Pryor.
- What is it about him you like? - I think he's a natural at what he does.
I think he's the best.
He's an original.
- You get along with your family well? - Okay.
- Are they helping you in this endeavor? - They have mixed feelings.
I mean, they think it's, you know, a school for the-You know? But otherwise, they think this is the best way for me to follow-up my career.
I've been told that you can't go to school to be a comedian or an actor.
You're a natural.
You do it or you don't do it.
- Yeah.
- Dream of dreams, now, for you- You could have any kind of success imaginable.
Tell me what you would like for yourself.
I would like to win the lottery for a million dollars so I could just retire and never work in my whole life.
That would have nothing to do with the school.
My question is, then, why are you here? Because I don't think I'm gonna win the lottery for a million dollars so I have to follow-up my career.
It might be real interesting to know how you found the piece too.
It was at the bottom of a drawer- a closed drawer.
Well, it wasn't closed all the way.
That's how I found it, when I tried to close the drawer.
A man in my kind of fix can't afford to pass up opportunity.
What kind of opportunities? A guy told me when I got out of Stony Lonesome where to find the piece.
All I was gonna do was sell it to get some bread.
If I'm gonna get anything goin', I gotta get me a stake.
But you can't sell it legal.
The only place you can sell it is in the street.
And that don't meet with your approval, is that right? All of a sudden you're the commissioner of police or some such.
I was just tryin' to look out for ya.
I don't need nobody lookin' out for me, 'specially not no tippy-toe dancer.
You better not follow up on that 'cause you cannot handle what you're gonna find at the end of that street.
All I'm gonna find is a baby brother who doesn't know what it takes to get things done in this world.
You gotta scratch and grab at what you can.
- I don't go along with that.
- You got so much goin' for you? I don't know about so much, but I got a place I can afford I got a job swabbin' out here, and I got the school.
- Your school gives me a pain.
- Me too, sometimes.
But if I can be somethin', if I can do somethin' it's likely to come out of that school.
I'm not gonna blow it on drugs, guns and nothin' else.
Just get rid of that piece.
Boy, you feel so strong about it, you get rid of it.
Man, you carryin' this thing around on you? I know you must miss that prison, man.
I don't miss prison at all, 'cause I'm right back in it.
It looks like you've just appointed yourself my warden.
Police! Hold it right there! There's a kid comin' out the other end.
Collar him! Freeze! Look, I hear what you're telling me, but he hasn't been charged with anything.
- Not yet, no, ma'am.
- Not yet? What does that mean? I seen him throw something into that trash bin but I couldn't testify it was the gun I fished out of that junk.
- Well, what were you doin' in the alley? - Somebody's been rollin' winos.
I don't think I want to know why I got picked for this assignment.
Whatever.
Now, if his prints turn out to be on the gun and we find the weapon was used in any prior crime I think the DA's office might try to clear a few things off the books.
Did he say the gun was his? No.
He said his name, his address, and that his mother was out of town.
When we asked for the name of a responsible adult, he gave us your name.
Well, I am his faculty adviser, so I guess I qualify.
He's not charged with anything, so what is the purpose of all of this? I need an adult to make sure he'll show up for questioning if we need him that he'll show up for trial if we press charges.
- I'm hopin' that'll be you.
- Listen guaranteeing anything when it comes to Leroy- - Can we go off the record a second? - I'm not sure what that means.
Well, it means if you tell anyone what I'm about to say, I call you a liar.
Okay.
I can manufacture enough stuff to put the kid in jail long enough to make sure he'll show up for a trial.
I don't really wanna do that.
He can get one kind of education here.
The kind he's likely to get in the can's a whole different ball game.
I don't wanna put him through that.
Neither do you.
- I'll make sure Leroy stays available.
- Thanks much.
- This school.
- Yes? It's nice.
It's weird, but nice.
Most schools would give the kid a three-day suspension.
He hasn't been charged with anything.
That's because he was arrested by an overworked officer who doesn't want to spend his days off on a meaningless case.
Most schools would give the kid a three-day suspension.
Look we are not most schools.
You have little sub-prejudices here in this school.
I mean, it's not great but it's funny, because dance majors have a reputation of being a little snooty- you know, helium in the nose.
Whereas acting/drama majors- The dance majors don't go near the drama majors because drama majors are loud and obnoxious.
They have this reputation of eating food, then spitting it out on the lunch table.
Anyway-And then you have the music majors and nobody understands them because for all anyone else knows they could be writing hieroglyphics- Pluto- Cucamonga.
Well, young man, what is your kind of music? I can't pigeonhole it.
I like- I like soul music I like jazz, I like classical music, I like Stravinsky, I like Bill Evans.
- Do you have an idol, Bruno? - I have a few.
Might I know them? All right.
I like Bartók.
I like Miles Davis.
I could go on and on.
How does your family feel about you pursuing a musical career? Well, my father feels that it is something that I'm very passionate about, something that I really want to do.
He's- It may not be the most stable of all professions but he's perfectly willing to- to give me all the support he can.
Tell me something-What do you think happens when people hear your music? Or better yet, what do you, Bruno Martelli want to happen? I think that if I could walk into a room with a tape, or sit down at a piano- There's maybe two or three people in the room and one of them is feeling lousy and another's feeling out of place.
I could change their feelings.
I could make the one that feels lousy feel glad that they woke up.
Okay to come in? Free country.
Just thought you might like to be alone because of what happened.
What do you mean, what happened? How do you know what happened? Everybody knows, Leroy.
The whole school knows.
Hey, it's a school full of flakes.
It's not the CIA.
- So what's everybody sayin' about me? - Everybody is not talkin' about you.
You're not that big a deal.
However, those that are talking about you- A third think that it's cool that you had a gun.
Another third think it's a very heavy and courageous thing covering for your brother.
Another third think that anyone who goes to jail for something he didn't do to protect someone he barely knows is a stone jerk.
You asked.
Which third you votin' with? I asked.
Hey, I won me a hundred bucks playing poker with Fat Rollie.
I thought you was out lookin' for a job.
Name me a job that pays a hundred bucks for three hours work, and I'll take it.
You want a drink? I got $1 83 in a savin' account, Willard.
- You can have 1 50 of it.
- What for? To find yourself a place.
You're movin' outta here.
I thought you was sendin' out my cleaning.
I'm serious, Willard.
You're more than serious, boy.
You're one of the coldest people I ever seen in my life.
- Anybody who'd turn out his own brother- - Didja ever learn how to swim? - What? - Did you ever learn how to swim? No.
Before Mama went away, she took me down to that YMCA for some swimmin' lessons.
I didn't really want to go.
She said I oughta learn.
I took the lessons.
Got to be pretty good too.
Thought I'd get me a summer job lifeguardin' or somethin'.
What is this all about, Leroy? Well, you know the first thing they teach you at that survival course? That's not to let the person that you're tryin' to save pull you under.
You pullin' me under, man, and I'm swimmin' away.
Leroy, I'm your brother.
You're my mother's other son.
That ain't the same as my brother.
I'm dead to you, boy.
You ain't got no family no more.
- You're alone in this world.
- You're wrong, Willard.
I got family.
We all just got different last names.
I thought these things was run by the dude with the plastic hair and the glasses.
Mr.
Tipton had an accident.
Asked me to fill in for him.
Sit down.
Suits me.
That Detective Kessler called.
Said they're dropping the gun investigation.
Thought you'd like to know.
I got my brother to move out.
- Just thought you'd like to know.
- That must have been hard.
- It was.
- And sad? That too, I guess.
Well, let's get these questions out of the way.
See, the thing that hurts me most about Willard- 'Cause Willard, he ain't such a bad guy, not really.
He ain't all that bad a guy.
He just ain't got no reason to get up in the mornin'.
I mean, all he know how to do is hustle and game folks 'cause that's all he ever got taught.
That's all Willard ever learned how to do.
See, him and me, we're a lot alike- not a lot, but we're alike in a way.
'Cept when I get up in the mornin', I'm comin' in here not just to dance.
I'm not just comin' in here.
'Cause the dancin' and the workin' is- it's not just somethin' that I do.
It's somethin' that I am.
See, and Willard don't have nothin' like that.
Get outta here, LeroyJohnson.
You just answered all the questions anyone could ask.
What kind of accident happened to that Mr.
Tipton? Take a look at the trophy case out in the lobby.
'Cause the workin'and the dancin' is something that I am.