EPISODE 60 - ALFRED HITCHCOCK
PIP
This episode is dedicated to Aislinn Brand who will plummet to death whilst attempting to scale Mount Rushmore and will be resurfaced as a taxidermist in Camden.
(CRACKLING FIRE)
MIA
You still haven't told us why we're in this goddamn field.
KOZLOWSKI
It is very atmospheric, is it not?
JACKIE
It's getting chilly. I'll throw another log on the fire.
(SHE THROWS A LOG IN THE FIRE)
MIA
You didn't take us all the way to Scotland for "atmosphere." You said this place has something to do with The Amelia Project.
KOZLOWSKI
I took you here to go on a journey. Literal and metaphoric.
MIA
Yes, but a journey has a destination.
(PAUSE)
(UNCERTAIN) Doesn't it?
(PAUSE)
Please tell me this is going somewhere!
KOZLOWSKI
You do not like my story? So far I have told you about the Roswell Alien, Amelia Earhart's granddaughter and Elvis Presley. I think that is a very good story.
JACKIE
He's right, Mia. Let's keep listening. We'd got back to, what, 1979?
MIA
Ok, but why this field? What happened here? At least tell us that.
KOZLOWSKI
In time.
MIA
Now!
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES)
MIA
Why are you dragging it out like this?
KOZLOWSKI
Maybe this journey is simply... a MacGuffin!
JACKIE
A MacGuffin?
KOZLOWSKI
You are not fans of Alfred Hitchcock?
MIA
Hitchcock?
KOZLOWSKI
A MacGuffin is an event that holds your attention and guides you through the story, but in itself, it has no significance.
MIA
I'm... not sure I follow.
KOZLOWSKI
Hitchcock made it his trademark, but it has been present from time immemorial. Take the Holy Grail. It is the desired object that sends Arthur and his knights on their quest... but the grail itself is of no importance. (UNDER HIS BREATH) And believe me, I should know.
MIA
So this is a long winded way of saying none of this goes anywhere?
KOZLOWSKI
No. I am saying the journey is more important than the destination. I am saying, what is the rush? I am saying - there is always time for a story.
JACKIE
And what's the next story?
KOZLOWSKI
Hmm.
MIA
Well?
KOZLOWSKI
Let me take you to a small motel on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The year is 1951.
THEME TUNE, BERNHARD HERMAN VERSION.
INTRO
The Amelia Project created by Philip Thorne and Oystein Ulsberg Brager, with sound direction by Fredrik Baden, and sound design by Adam Raymonda. Episode 60 - Alfred Hitchcock, 1951.
(SOUND OF A SHOWER FADES IN)
(KOZLOWSKI IS SINGING UNDER THE SHOWER)
(A DOOR QUIETLY CLOSES)
(KOZLOWSKI STOPS SINGING)
KOZLOWSKI
Who is there?
(KOZLOWSKI TURNS OFF THE SHOWER)
(TO HIMSELF) Who is this?!
(SUDDENLY THE LOUD SCREECH OF METAL)
(KOZLOWSKI SCREAMS)
(A THUD AS SOMETHING CRASHES TO THE GROUND. IT'S THE SHOWER CURTAIN AND ITS RAILING)
(A KNOCK)
(KOZLOWSKI GASPS)
ALFRED
(FROM BEHIND THE DOOR) Hello? Are you alright in there?
KOZLOWSKI
Oh. Yes. I-
ALFRED
(FROM BEHIND THE DOOR) Did I frighten you?
KOZLOWSKI
(LYING) No... the... shower curtain came loose. Who... who are you?
ALFRED
(FROM BEHIND THE DOOR) I would like to talk to you.
KOZLOWSKI
About what?
ALFRED
(FROM BEHIND THE DOOR) I think this would be easier face to face. I find there is nothing more scary than a closed door.
KOZLOWSKI
(CONSIDERS) One moment.
(KOZLOWSKI STEPS OUT OF THE SHOWER, SLIPS ON A BATHROBE, PADS ACROSS THE ROOM AND UNLOCKS THE DOOR)
Mr Hitchcock?!
ALFRED
Please. Call me Alfred.
KOZLOWSKI
(LAUGHING) Alfred Hitchcock. The Master of Suspense! You live up to your moniker. Has there been a murder?
ALFRED
Ah, I'm a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.
KOZLOWSKI
What is Alfred Hitchcock doing in my motel room at seven in the morning?
ALFRED
I apologise for the unexpected visit, but I need to be on the Warner Brothers lot at eight thirty. And this conversation must be conducted in utmost secrecy.
KOZLOWSKI
Ah. You came just in time.
ALFRED
How so?
KOZLOWSKI
I go home this afternoon.
ALFRED
Home?
KOZLOWSKI
England.
ALFRED
Really?
KOZLOWSKI
I hear the rationing of chocolate and soap has ended, which makes the return bearable. (ALFRED CHUCKLES) And I miss the earthy smell of the air after the rain.
ALFRED
I thought you worked for Republic Pictures?
KOZLOWSKI
Hm, my stint in Hollywood has come to an end.
ALFRED
I must say, I am surprised. I hear you're the best in the business!
KOZLOWSKI
(INNOCENTLY) And what business would that be?
ALFRED
Monster makeup and prosthetics.
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES) Did you see "Invasion of the Flying Disc Men"?
ALFRED
I did not.
KOZLOWSKI
"The Terror From Beyond the Grave"? "Killer Rabbits Revenge"?
ALFRED
No.
KOZLOWSKI
(SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTED) So you are not familiar with my work?
ALFRED
I am familiar with your reputation.
KOZLOWSKI
Well, as amusing as covering faces in fur, creating a fully rotating head and a six faced sorcerer have been, it is time I got back to my real job.
ALFRED
It's not your real job?
KOZLOWSKI
Hm. Let us call it a sabbatical. A pleasant distraction. An opportunity to exchange the austerity of Britain with the abundance of America.
ALFRED
I understand. This country has been very kind to me too. But before you go home, I need your help.
KOZLOWSKI
(SURPRISED) Alfred Hitchcock is making a monster movie?
ALFRED
No.
KOZLOWSKI
I only accept challenges. You should contact my agent, Martha Plum, you can reach her at-
ALFRED
This is not a traditional job. And I don't want to talk about it to more people than necessary.
KOZLOWSKI
Interesting...
ALFRED
Do you have time for a story?
KOZLOWSKI
(PICTURE OF EXCITEMENT) Do I have time for a story?! Always!
ALFRED
Hm… But I warn you… It is a horrifying story.
KOZLOWSKI
From you I expect nothing less.
ALFRED
Oh, far stranger than anything from one of my pictures. Should I begin?
KOZLOWSKI
Hold on! Hold on one moment! Stories should never be consumed on an empty stomach, and I have not eaten breakfast. Would you join me for an omelette, Alfred?
ALFRED
(SHUDDERS)
KOZLOWSKI
You do not like omelettes?
ALFRED
No. I am frightened of eggs.
KOZLOWSKI
Huh? Frightened?
ALFRED
That white round thing without any holes (SHUDDERS). Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting. No, I've never tasted it.
KOZLOWSKI
Just coffee then?
ALFRED
Black.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, the way I like it too.
(TAPS OVER TO A COFFEE MACHINE)
And I will make myself toast. Unless you find toast frightening too?
ALFRED
Toast is fine.
(KOZLOWSKI POURS TWO COFFEES)
Though with timing, montage and surprise, I could shoot the popping up of toast from a toaster in a way that would make the audience jump out of their skins.
KOZLOWSKI
I am sure you could. You play the audience like a piano!
ALFRED
Well. Looked at in the right way, anything can be terrifying, even that sparrow sat outside your window.
(KOZLOWSKI MOVES INTO THE KITCHENETTE)
KOZLOWSKI
I doubt that even the great Alfred Hitchcock can make sparrows frightening.
ALFRED
I am tempted to make a picture to prove you wrong...
(KOZLOWSKI PUTS TWO SLICES OF TOAST INTO A TOASTER)
A glimpse into the world proves that horror is nothing other than reality. But today, I have a story for you that is not about the horror of the mundane, but rather, the horror of the supernatural.
(KOZLOWSKI SITS DOWN AGAIN)
KOZLOWSKI
Hm. I am all ears.
ALFRED
(TAKES A SIP OF COFFEE) It started back in 1927, on my third picture. A silent film, "The Lodger, the Story of the London Fog." Do you know it?
KOZLOWSKI
I do not. What is it about?
ALFRED
A boarding house where the landlady wonders if her new lodger is Jack the Ripper.
KOZLOWSKI
And is he?
ALFRED
Ah. You must watch the picture.
KOZLOWSKI
Of course. I will. I enjoy a good crime movie.
ALFRED
Everybody enjoys a good crime. Well, except the victim.
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES) True. Well. Tell me about "The Lodger."
ALFRED
It opens with the head of a blond girl screaming. I remember the way I photographed it. I took a sheet of glass, placed the girl's head on the glass and spread her hair around until it filled the frame. I lit the glass from behind so that one would be struck by her light hair.
KOZLOWSKI
That sounds terrifying. And beautiful.
ALFRED
I have always filmed my murders like love scenes. And my love scenes like murders.
KOZLOWSKI
And you always murder blondes...
ALFRED
Well. Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.
KOZLOWSKI
Hm. And what happens after the girl is murdered?
ALFRED
We cut to an electric sign advertising a musical play, Tonight Golden Curls, with the reflection flickering in the water. The body of the girl is hauled out of the water. The police arrive and the press. There is a montage of the news spreading.
A busy newsroom, reporters dashing to their desks to meet their deadlines. But… In the centre of the kerfuffle, a stout man working the telephone. And this is where things get odd.
KOZLOWSKI
Odd? How so?
ALFRED
I have no recollection of the man on the telephone being there when we shot that scene. No, worse, I am convinced he was not there.
KOZLOWSKI
Strange.
ALFRED
It gets stranger. I stare at this interloper who has imposed himself onto the celluloid, and despite the fact that I can see only the back of his head, I recognise him almost immediately.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh? Who is it?
ALFRED
Me.
(THE TOAST POPS UP AND GIVES KOZLOWSKI A A JOLT)
I believe your toast is ready.
KOZLOWSKI
So let me make sure I have understood this. When you shot the scene, the man was not present, yet when the film was screened, he appeared?
ALFRED
Precisely.
KOZLOWSKI
And this man... was you?
ALFRED
Or someone with my exact physique.
KOZLOWSKI
But you did not see his face you say?
ALFRED
My silhouette is very recognizable.
KOZLOWSKI
But how can you be-
ALFRED
(WISTFULLY) I still had a full head of black hair back then.
KOZLOWSKI (CON’T)
- how can you be so sure it was you?
ALFRED
I couldn't at first. It was more... a feeling. A chill that ran down my spine when I set eyes on the fellow. But then, towards the end of the film, an angry mob comes to attack the lodger... and I spot him again! There he is, yelling in the crowd. It's brief and blurry, but this time the camera catches his face. And it’s my face.
KOZLOWSKI
Hmm.
ALFRED
I tried to dismiss it. Told myself it must be an extra I did not recall. It was a big production, you know, hundreds of extras.
But the fleeting image of this stranger with my face continued to haunt me.
Could I have some more coffee, please?
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, certainly.
(KOZLOWSKI POURS MORE COFFEE)
ALFRED
Later that year I'm doing post-production on "Easy Virtue", my film adaptation of the Noel Coward play. I'm at Islington Studios watching the rough cut. And we get to the scene at the tennis court, and my heart skips a beat. A passerby with a cane, who I'm convinced wasn't part of the original scene, walks right past leading lady Isabel Jeans. He is wearing a hat and his head is tilted to the side, but I recognise the gait as my own.
KOZLOWSKI
Alfred… What did you do?
ALFRED
I told the projectionist to stop the film and sent everyone out of the room. When I was all alone, I turned back the reel and watched those six seconds again and again and again and again. At least a dozen times. And with each viewing I became more certain. The flickering black and white presence on the screen was me.
I left the screening room, went to The Adam & Eve and ordered a whiskey double.
And at five whiskey doubles later I stumble home and tell my wife I will never make another picture.
KOZLOWSKI
Did you tell her why?
ALFRED
What could I say without sounding like I'd lost my mind? Alma put me to bed, and the next morning she talked sense into me. I went back to work and tried to blame the last night's occurrences on an overworked imagination. After all, dealing with murder, kidnapping and extortion every single day, even fictional, is bound to take a real-life toll.
(ALFRED DRINKS COFFEE)
And sure enough, the next three films passed without incident.
(KOZLOWSKI SIGHS IN RELIEF)
I put "The Lodger" and "Easy Virtue" out of mind and never watched them again.
But then, just as I'd convinced myself that these strange happenings had been nothing but a trick of mind and memory, he appears again! And this time there can be no mistake. He is not blurry or in the background or hiding behind a hat. He appears on a subway train, right in the centre of the frame. Visible for at least ten seconds.
KOZLOWSKI
Which film was that?
ALFRED
"Blackmail". 1929.
KOZLOWSKI
This one I have seen!
ALFRED
Yes. My first talking picture.
KOZLOWSKI
Ah yes, I remember seeing you in the train. Being annoyed by a little boy if memory serves!
ALFRED
(GRIMLY) Indeed.
KOZLOWSKI
But Alfred, you are talking about your cameos! You appear in every one of your films, you are famous for it!
ALFRED
(A RUEFUL SIGH) No…
KOZLOWSKI
Oh come now, I have even heard you talk about it in interviews!
ALFRED
It is the story I tell to cover up the truth.
KOZLOWSKI
So, you have a doppelgänger who inserts himself into your pictures?
ALFRED
I told you it was a strange story.
KOZLOWSKI
Oh, very strange indeed! What happened after the subway appearance in "Blackmail"?
ALFRED
My next picture was "Murder!" A whodunnit. I don't really approve of whodunnits...
KOZLOWSKI
Why not?
ALFRED
Well, they are rather like a crossword puzzle. No emotion. You simply want to find out what happens at the end. I prefer the MacGuffin to the murder mystery...
KOZLOWSKI
MacGuffin. MacGuffin MacGuffin MacGuffin! I like that word. What does it mean?
ALFRED
Two men sit in a railway compartment. One says to the other "What's the package up there in the baggage rack?" The other answers "Oh, that's a MacGuffin." The first one asks "What's a MacGuffin?" "Well," the other man says, "it's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands." The first man says, "But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands", and the other answers "Then that's no MacGuffin!
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES)
ALFRED
But I digress. I was telling you about "Murder!"
KOZLOWSKI
Yes, yes you were!
ALFRED
For this picture I insisted on auditioning every extra myself, which earned me the reputation of being the most controlling director in the business, even stricter than Erich von Stroheim!
KOZLOWSKI
In reality you were just trying to keep out the trickster with your face...
ALFRED
Precisely. I didn't let anyone on to that set who came close to my height or build. And yet...
KOZLOWSKI
He reappeared...
ALFRED
Yes. And he knew I was watching.
KOZLOWSKI
How so?
ALFRED
In "Murder!" he crosses the road in a hurry. Before he walks out of the frame he looks up, directly into the camera, and his gaze met mine in the Islington screening room. As if to challenge me.
I screamed and threw my chair at the screen. Once again I sent everyone out. I was now not only London's most controlling director, but also its craziest.
From this moment on, each one of my doppelgänger's appearances seemed designed to torment me. In "The 39 Steps" I spot him in the background dropping litter, a habit I deplore. In "Young and Innocent" he peeps up from behind a movie camera, as if to say that he can do my job better than me, that he can replace me. Each of his appearances was like the stab of a dagger to the heart.
So when Hollywood called, I thought it was an opportunity to put an ocean between myself and the imposter. I was still clutching to the belief that there was a rational explanation to all this, that it was a prankster wangling himself onto my sets time and time again.
But his appearance in "Rebecca", my first American picture, put an end to that delusion.
KOZLOWSKI
He could just have followed you across the Atlantic?
ALFRED
But how could he find his way from the cutting room floor back into my picture?
KOZLOWSKI
You mean you actually...?
ALFRED
Once I discovered him in "Rebecca" - passing in the background while Jack Favell talks to a police officer - I decided enough was enough and cut the scene from the film. But at the premiere, he was back.
KOZLOWSKI
No!
ALFRED
Yes.
KOZLOWSKI
A ghost of the celluloid!
ALFRED
And you are the first person I have ever told this story.
PAUSE.
KOZLOWSKI
Why?
ALFRED
What?
KOZLOWSKI
Why are you entrusting me with this story?
ALFRED
Because I can no longer bear the knowledge that there is a being out that shares my face.
KOZLOWSKI
I see. So you want me to...
ALFRED
Give me a new one.
(PAUSE)
KOZLOWSKI
I am not sure that is wise.
ALFRED
You are the master of prosthetics, are you not?
KOZLOWSKI
Correct. But I am not sure that changing your face will solve your dilemma.
ALFRED
Changing appearance is the only way to escape my double.
KOZLOWSKI
Unless he is not so much a double, but rather a mirror. If I changed your appearance, there is a chance he may change too. (ALFRED SHUDDERS) Then there is also a practical problem.
ALFRED
And what's that?
KOZLOWSKI
You said it yourself, your silhouette is very recognisable, iconic even. You with a new face... it would just not be you.
ALFRED
Yes but that's the objective!
KOZLOWSKI
I think you would be putting your career in jeopardy.
ALFRED
I will abandon my career along with the face.
KOZLOWSKI
You will abandon your career?!
ALFRED
I will stop making pictures.
KOZLOWSKI
Alfred you cannot do that!
ALFRED
I will let him take my place.
KOZLOWSKI
You think that is what he wants?
ALFRED
What else could he want? I've felt it ever since he appeared from behind that movie camera in "Young and Innocent". He thinks he can do a better job than me. And know what? Maybe he's right.
KOZLOWSKI
You do not really think that?
ALFRED
I am tired of fighting it. I give up. Just let me retire in peace and anonymity, please. With a new face.
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES)
ALFRED
What? Did I say something funny?
KOZLOWSKI
No, it is just... You have come knocking on the right door.
ALFRED
You mean you'll do it?
KOZLOWSKI
I have not decided yet. But it is time that I told you my story. You remember I said that my career in B movies was really just a sabbatical?
ALFRED
Yes.
KOZLOWSKI
Well let me tell you about my proper profession. I work for an agency that specialises in dismantling old identities and crafting new ones. We can wipe your slate clean and bring you back as whoever you wish.
ALFRED
That's perfect!
KOZLOWSKI
But it is a one way street. There is no returning to your old identity afterwards. We only take on clients who are absolutely sure.
ALFRED
Oh, I am absolutley sure.
KOZLOWSKI
But I am not...
ALFRED
What do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
I think you still have many stories in you Alfred. Your greatest works may still be ahead of you. You promised to make a movie that proves that birds can be frightening, remember?
ALFRED
I do, but I-
KOZLOWSKI (CON’T)
Your desire to disappear is driven by fear, and this is not a good motivation. I like to help people who have a strong and positive vision for their future, not people who simply wish to run away from their current existence.
ALFRED
Yes! Yes, I admit it! I am afraid! But you would be too if you were being taunted by your doppelgänger!
KOZLOWSKI
Most certainly.
ALFRED
Then take pity on me! I can no longer live with this constant terror!
KOZLOWSKI
Think of it... as the source of your genius!
ALFRED
What on earth do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
Maybe this is precisely what makes you Alfred Hitchcock.
ALFRED
How do you mean?
KOZLOWSKI
You see fear in everything. In the yellow of an egg yolk, in the drip of a shower, in a closed door, in the chirp of a sparrow. You imbue your movies with this dread and create masterpieces of suspense. Maybe underlying it all, is your own terror of being pursued by your double. Without access to this horror, your pictures might not be so good. The fear torments you, but it also makes you a great artist.
ALFRED
I am no artist, I am an entertainer.
KOZLOWSKI
Even better. We need entertainers. I do not want to deprive the world of your movies and the thrills that only they can deliver. You provide us with nail-biting suspense and the pleasure of waking up from a nightmare.
ALFRED
But for me it is a nightmare from which there is no waking!
(PAUSE)
KOZLOWSKI
Do you still love making movies?
ALFRED
Well of course When you look forward and the the road is clear ahead and you are going to create something… I… I think that is as happy as I ever want to be.
KOZLOWSKI
Those are not the words of a man ready to quit, Alfred.
ALFRED
But then I see the finished film, and am overcome with fear!
KOZLOWSKI
Here is what I suggest. Think about what I have said. Give it another year. Then, if you still feel the same way, come and find me here, at this address.
(KOZLOWSKI HANDS HITCHCOCK A CARD)
ALFRED
(READS) Miss Plum's Plumbing, Plum Manor, Lincolnshire. (CONFUSED) Plumbing?
KOZLOWSKI
A cover.
ALFRED
Hm.
KOZLOWSKI
Come find us at the manor and bring a clear idea for your new existence. If you do that, I promise we will help you. What do you say?
ALFRED
One more year?
KOZLOWSKI
One more year.
ALFRED
Very well.
(ALFRED POCKETS THE CARD. A CLOCK STRIKES EIGHT)
Goodness, eight already. I'm expected on set in half an hour.
KOZLOWSKI
And what picture are you shooting?
ALFRED
"Strangers on a Train." It is about two two strangers, each with a desire to kill someone. They decide to swap murders. Each will murder a total stranger, with no apparent motive, so neither will be suspected.
KOZLOWSKI
A fascinating premise, I look forward to watching it in the cinema.
ALFRED
Thank you. I did not get what I came here for, but I must say... You have been very helpful.
KOZLOWSKI
I enjoyed our conversation. Thank you for telling me your story. I collect stories, and I have never heard a tale quite like yours.
(HITCHCOCK GETS UP AND WALKS TO THE DOOR)
And remember. Embrace the fear. It is what makes you Alfred Hitchcock.
(HITCHCOCK OPENS THE DOOR. SCREECH OF MORNING BIRDS OUTSIDE)
ALFRED
Hear that?
KOZLOWSKI
Hmm. You are right. Maybe birds are scary.
ALFRED
Imagine if birds from all different species flocked together. If that happened, we wouldn't stand a chance! How could we possibly hope to fight them?
KOZLOWSKI
(LAUGHS) I look forward to that movie!
(HITCHCOCK STEPS OUTSIDE)
ALFRED
Until we meet again.
KOZLOWSKI
If we meet again.
ALFRED
I will find you at Plum Manor.
KOZLOWSKI
My colleagues and I will welcome you with a hot mug of cocoa.
ALFRED
Cocoa?
KOZLOWSKI (CON’T)
Until then, to chills and thrills!
ALFRED
Yes. To chills and thrills!
(EPIC MUSIC AND CREDITS)
PIP
Stay tuned for the epilogue, but first the credits.
This episode was written and edited by Philip Thorne, directed by Philip Thorne and Oystein Brager, with story editing by Oystein Brager. Music and sound design by Adam Raymonda.
It featured Dino Kelly as Alfred Hitchcock, Hemi Yeroham as Kozlowski, Jordan Cobb as Jackie Williams and Erin King as Mia Fox.
Production assistance by Maty Parzival and graphic design by Anders Pedersen.
We wouldn’t be making this show if it weren’t for our Patreon supporters, so if you’re making a per episode pledge on Patreon, thank you so much for allowing us to keep telling stories.
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And now, the epilogue.
(THE FIELD, CRACKLING FIRE)
JACKIE
(SHUDDERS)
Did- Did you see him again? Did he come to Plum Manor?
KOZLOWSKI
He did … not.
MIA
Well of course not. You met him in the fifties, and we know he kept making movies until well into the seventies right?
JACKIE
But maybe that wasn't him...
MIA
What do you mean?
JACKIE
(INVESTED) Maybe his double killed, replaced him and kept making movies.
MIA
Yup, or maybe he just made the whole thing up. (TO KOZLOWSKI) That hasn't occurred to you?
KOZLOWSKI
It has. He did enjoy pranks and telling stories.
MIA
Well that makes two of you.
KOZLOWSKI
Or maybe the story was fake but the fear was real.
MIA
Huh?
KOZLOWSKI
Maybe it was just a way for him to talk about feeling inadequate, fearing irrelevance or being replaced. After all, he went from being a grocer's son in Essex to becoming the most celebrated director in Hollywood. I would not be surprised if he suffered from... imposter syndrome.
JACKIE
You mean the story about the double was just a... MacGuffin?
KOZLOWSKI
(CHUCKLES)
MIA
I still don't understand what that word means.
(THEY LISTEN TO THE CRACKLING FIRE)
MIA
"Blondes make the best victims." What a creep!
BEAT.
JACKIE
Did you see the movie?
KOZLOWSKI
Which one?
JACKIE
The one he was making when you met him.
KOZLOWSKI
Ah, "Strangers on a Train." Yes, I did. A magnificent film. There are two sets of detectives in two cities, and two strangers embroiled in a double murder. In fact the whole film is obsessed with doubles...
JACKIE
And does he appear in it?
KOZLOWSKI
He does. He gets on a train. Carrying a double bass.
(THE CRACKLING FIRE FADES OUT)
END.