Cassie McCullagh

And so it's free, indirect style, I guess, but we're following the life of Pabst, although he's not speaking to us directly.

But when he's in Hollywood, that is a fabulous evocation of the poolside scene with the flamingos.

And we open at a party where I think it's at an MGM boss's house and there's drinks and there's stars.

Billy Wilder's over near the lounges.

And Pabst is trying to get this story up that he thinks will be brilliant.

And it's called War Has Been Declared.

And it's set on a boat that's going across the Atlantic.

And news comes in.

It's very fancy.

News comes in that war's broken out.

And suddenly this very genteel set of passengers turn on each other.

And everyone on the boat's out to get each other.

And then the news comes in.

Oh, no, that's false.

It was false news.

And so that's the film.

And no one's interested at all.

Yes, and Daniel Kaleman has said that he became fascinated with the story of Pabst because it's the flight story in reverse.

As many, many people were trying to leave Germany, Austria, that part of Europe, he found himself going back.

He'd been called back by his mother.