Howard.
I don't know
what else to tell you.
- What do you got for me?
- The thing is, TWA needs a new plane.
- A modern plane.
- Oh, yeah? What kind of plane?
Okay. The DC-3 has 21 daytime seats...
...and 14 overnight berths.
- Something bigger?
Try 50 seats with
a ceiling of 12,000 feet.
No. No, 20,000.
Think about it.
What does 20,000 feet give you?
- Less turbulence.
- Because it's above the weather.
Jack, we wanna fly
above the weather.
Only 1 percent of the American population
has set foot on an airliner.
Why? Because they're scared to death.
They should be.
I mean, 7000 feet is bumpy as shit.
You know that.
We build a plane
that flies above the weather...
...we could get every man, woman
and child in this country to feel safe.
An airplane with the ability to fly into
the substratosphere across the country.
Across the world.
Now that is the future.
- You with me?
- Yeah.
I don't wanna get into this
if your board doesn't have the balls for it.
- Would they support us?
- I don't know.
- What's your financial picture?
- Not great.
- Last year's deficit?
- 770,000.
- What's it selling at?
- About 8 dollars a share.
That's the lowest it's been, huh?
I could do that.
- Do what?
- Buy it.
- You wanna buy the airline?
- For crying out loud...
...we don't want pencil pushers getting
in the way of us making our plane.
Give me brass tacks, now. What does
controlling interest in TWA cost me?
Call it 15 million.
That is a chunk of change, huh?
You call Noah Dietrich.
You have him start buying.
Howard, hold on.
Are you sure?
You wanna think about it for five minutes?
Hell, Jack, I got a tiger by the tail here.
I ain't gonna let it go.
Good evening, Mr. Hughes.
Welcome. Your table is ready.
How goes the aviation?
- Oh, just fine, Pete.
- I'm so glad.
Good evening, Mr. Hughes.
- Madame.
- It's "miss."
Miss. The usual, Mr. Hughes?
- Please.
- May I recommend for the lady...
...our clementine soup followed
by roast duck with currant glaze...
...and poached pears in rose sauce.
It's truly divine.
Yeah. That sounds fine.
Your kind of joint, is it?
Wouldn't have thought.
They're open late.
I go to a hot-dog stand on La Cienega too.
- They're open till about 4.
- Are they?
How marvelous.
Howard! Howard!
Hi! Son of a gun.
Kate, this is Johnny Meyer.
I suppose you could call him my press agent.
- Pleased to meet you. Loved Alice Adams.
- You're too kind.
- I'm sure you know Errol, right?
- Mr. Flynn. Yes.
Kate. Kate. Kate of the clenched-jawed
Hepburns. Enchanting as always.
You should use Lux on your hands,
by the way. I do.
You and Howard
ought to cook up a picture.
Costar with Errol.
I could sell that in spades.
That would be marvelous. Howard?
I think not.
Don't you read Variety, Mr. Meyer?
Well, I'm box-office poison.
I'm on the outs, the skids, the doldrums.
Washed-up, day-old fish
not worth the eating, so they tell me.
Hell with them. Hell with them, my dear.
Soulless pricks to a man, right?
Johnny tells me you're thinking about
doing a Western, of all goddamn things.
Are you making a Western, Howard?
Yeah. Making a Western.
I'm gonna call it The Outlaw.
Yeah. And you know
what it's about? S-E-X.
- It's all about S-E-X.
- It's a Western.
You can't have fornication in a Western.
It isn't done.
It's not real sex, it's movie sex.
What Scarface did for the gangster picture,
The Outlaw will do for the Western.
Put the sex and guts and blood
up there on the screen.
- Have you seen my cigarettes?
- Don't mind us.
New York cut steak, 12 peas,
bottle of milk with the cap on.
- You can't afford your own cigarettes?
- Jack has all my money.
I hope your food isn't getting cold
at your table somewhere or something.
No, no. We're here all night.
Don't worry.
Now, Howard. Now, Howard. If you're
seriously talking about putting carnality...
...back on the silver screen, you must swear