The Last Tycoon
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Language: English
Pages: 128
ISBN: 0020199503
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A mysterious woman stands and smiles at Monroe Stahr, the last of the great Hollywood princes. Enchanted by one another, they begin a passionate but hopeless love affair.
trying to get the best performance –’ ‘Come along with me,’ said Stahr abruptly. ‘With you? Shall I tell them to rest?’ ‘Leave it as it is,’ said Stahr, pushing the padded outer door. His car and chauffeur waited outside. Minutes were precious most days. ‘Get in,’ said Stahr. Red knew now it was serious. He even knew all at once what was the matter. The girl had got the whip hand on him the first day with her cold lashing tongue. He was a peace-loving man and he had let her walk through her
looking for a job. Will drop by tomorrow.’ Martha read it twice but it didn’t seem to be for Stahr, and we waited five minutes. People’s houses are very still when they are gone. Not that I expect them to be jumping around, but I leave the observation for what it’s worth. Very still. Prim almost, with just a fly holding down the place and paying no attention to you, and the corner of a curtain blowing. ‘I wonder what kind of a job,’ said Martha. ‘Last Sunday she went somewhere with Stahr.’ But
Americans.’ ‘Don’t start trusting Americans too implicitly,’ he said smiling. ‘They may be out in the open, but they change very fast.’ She looked concerned. ‘Do they?’ ‘Very fast and all at once,’ he said, ‘and nothing ever changes them back.’ ‘You frighten me. I always had a great sense of security with Americans.’ She seemed suddenly so alone that he took her hand. ‘Where will we go tomorrow?’ he said. ‘Maybe up in the mountains. I’ve got everything to do tomorrow, but I won’t do any of
film.’ ‘Typical organizational trouble,’ agreed Brimmer. ‘Typical,’ said Stahr. ‘It’s an endless battle. So now this director tells me it’s all right because he’s got a Directors’ Guild and I can’t oppress the poor. That’s how you add to my troubles.’ ‘It’s a little remote from us,’ said Brimmer smiling. ‘I don’t think we’d make much headway with the directors.’ ‘The directors used to be my pals,’ said Stahr proudly. It was like Edward the Seventh’s boast that he had moved in the best
budging. A woman across the room looked around and turned out to be Carole Lombard – I was glad that Brimmer was at least getting an eyeful. Stahr ordered a whiskey and soda and, almost immediately, another. He ate nothing but a few spoonfuls of soup and he said all the awful things about everybody being lazy so-and-so’s and none of it mattered to him because he had lots of money – it was the kind of talk you heard whenever Father and his friends were together. I think Stahr realized that it