All language subtitles for Scott.Joplin.1977.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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STARK: That man
walkin' down
those stairs.

He's a great
American artist.

Brilliant musician
and composer

but no one knows it.

Funny where
talent comes from.

And I've been dealing with
talent all my life and I
still don't understand it,

of course, everybody
in his family played music.

Brothers, sisters,
father on the violin

and his mother
on the banjo.

His mother used to
wash clothes to get
Scott piano lessons

from a German
piano teacher
in their town.

She always encouraged him.

But when she died,

well, there wasn't
any money left for
piano lessons.

And his father?
Well, he believed

music was just a home
and church thing.

There'd be no talk about
playing the piano
for a living,

if the boy was gonna
get somewhere,

he'd go to work with
pick and shovel
on a railroad.

That's what his father did,
that's what his brother did.

That's what
he would've done.

But Scott had music
in his soul

and the railroad
just wasn't for him.

So, he left home.

The odds were he'd end up
some piano player in a
second-rate whorehouse.

We used to call those
piano players "professors."

I guess they got
their degrees in life.

And that's the life
Scott wanted.

At least at first.

So, he began
his career playing

for the clientele of
the world's oldest
libertine institution.

The bordello.

(PLAYING ELEGANT PIANO MUSIC)

(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

All of them want nothing good.

Light skin ain't gonna
make it no sweeter,
don't you think?

(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

(FINISHES SONG)

(UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

Tonight it's
a freebie.

Hey, how about a
big last night,
Professor?

You passin' out
favors, Amy?

I'll stake ya.

Make it a drink.

Pickin' up and
movin' on, eh?

The new boy's
all right.

AMY: Yeah, if he
don't stew up the girls.

$7 for the week
you said?

I'll make it 10,
if you stay.

I'll be gone
by morning.

None of these cats
give a damn about a
fellow's business anymore,

(UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

(STOPS PLAYING)

(CONTINUES PLAYING)

(STOPS PLAYING)

(CONTINUES PLAYING)

Mornin'.

Oh, mornin' already?

There ain't
nobody up but me.

Oh, they sure know
how to keep a guy doin' that.

Well, they got to.

Well, I let 'em.
(CHUCKLING)

I'm just leavin'.
Where ya goin'?

Sedalia.

Well, anything's
better than here.

In fact,
where is here?

You, uh,
you read that stuff?

I write it.
Write it?

Whatcha wanna
do that for?

To be heard.
Well, I heard it.

(PLAYING UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC)

What are you messin' around
with that note music for?

You're the only one
can read it.

My ears tell me
everything.

What's in Sedalia?

You can read this,
can't ya?

CHAUVIN:
I read numbers. "100."

Hmm.

(MUMBLING)

(CHUCKLES)

You just don't walk
in off the street and
beat these boys.

These are
top professors.

There's a publisher there.
Word's out he's
lookin' for music.

You usin' this
for an audition?

That's it.

Well, you don't mind if a
fella goes along

and tries to
win this thing,
do ya?

Oh, I'd try
to win it.

Two got better odds than one.

Fifty-fifty?

Louis Chauvin.

Scott Joplin.

(TUNING FORK HUMMING)

WOMAN: Sounds good.

(PLAYS A NOTE)

It's flat.

Flat?

Flat.

What you mean...
It's what I mean.

I don't believe I've
ever seen you before.

No, sir,
you have not.

What's your name?
Scott Joplin.

Never heard of
Scott Joplin.

Where you from?
Texarkana.

That's a pretty
poor place to learn.

I learned A-flat.

I've been tuning pianos
much of my life, sir.

My ear is trusted
as expert by professors
up and down the river.

Many of whom will be
competing tonight
on these pianos,

tuned and perfectly so.

Well, I am going to be
playing here tonight

and I don't mind
a little bump every
now and then,

but I do mind
a flat A-flat.

You're an entertainer?

And a composer.

You're published?

I will be.
Will you be?

Really?

When will that happen?

When I am heard.

The man to be heard by
in Sedalia is John Stark.

Then I will be heard
by John Stark.

Best o' luck,
Mr. Joplin,

(PLAYING PIANO)

JOPLIN: One-two.
A-one-two-three-four.

(UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

I'm playing a cakewalk, man.

Who in the world is you?

I'm what you call
it, man.

That's what
I'm known for.

Do you hear me
talkin' to you?

Don't you let anybody
tell ya that nobody
can play as good as me.

Do you see that fly
crawlin' up the wall?

She's goin' up there
to get her ashes hauled.

(CROWD TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

I can play this cakewalk, man.
I can play the piano.

POOR ALFRED:
Keep on playin' man.

Don't nobody play
like me.

Get up! Get up!

MAN 1: Just a
left-handed guy.
WOMAN: One-handed guy?

MAN 2: Yeah, he plays
better than most people
with two hands.

That encourages me
greatly, man.

Keep on playin' 'cause
I'm gonna do somethin'
over here myself.

Keep playin', one hand.
I'll play with one hand.

You better watch out,
'cause here comes
the other one.

You two fellas
are last.

And you, you're first.

Can you play
Poet and Peasant Overture?

Well, what's the man
gonna think, comes in,
slaps a twenty on the box

says, "Play it?"
I'm gonna tell him
I can't?

You mess it up
and in 10 seconds,
I'm cuttin' ya out!

Ya hear that?

I can play the hell
out of it.

Play it in A-flat.

How does that
tickle ya?

(CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS)

Out! Right there.

POOR ALFRED:
Hey, what key you in?

What key you in?

What you doin' on
them keys?

You tryin'
to beat me?

Get out!
Get out!

ALL: Ooh!

MAN: Hey, that's
some godly music!

Listen to them.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

POOR ALFRED: That's
what I like to hear. Yeah.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(PIANO STOPS PLAYING)

Who's heard
that music, sir?

Uh, no-one.
No-one?
No one at all?

No, sir.

I want it in my office
at 9:00 tomorrow morning.

(UPBEAT PIANO PLAYING
CONTINUES)

That's 50 cents,
you said a dime.

Keep it.
Thank you.

(BELL DINGS)

STARK: Who's that
ringin' the bell?

Enjoy yourself
last night?

That was your music,
wasn't it?

It is.

I remember
the primary theme.

(PLAYING UPBEAT TUNE)

It's that
inner syncopation.

Not a minstrel.

Freer.

Vital but disciplined.

Good thing, discipline.

Necessary for
any artist.

Now, your music,

you can play it,
you can dance to it,
you can listen to it.

Can you write it?
Can you put it down
on paper?

Now, most of you
people can't.
You can improvise.

But you can't
put it down.

Oh, I can write it.

Where'd you learn
to do that?

College.

Got a name for it?

The George Smith College.

No, no, no.
I meant the song.

Oh, Maple Leaf Rag.

Maple leaf?

That's good, maybe.
Local color.

We'll try 500 copies.

Now don't indulge in
over-dazzling visions
of ease and splendor.

Musical compositions
do not shed bank notes
like feathers.

Come in.
Thank you.

I'll give you $50
for publication rights,
world-wide in perpetuity.

Perpetuity,
that means...
I know what it means.

A 10% royalty on
each sheet sale.

You demonstrate.

Any vital
questions arising?

Demonstrate.

Uh, selling songs
is like farming,
Mr. Joplin.

It takes seed, manure,
rain to get a crop.

Lots o' manure.
You gotta
spread it around.

And I'm gonna put you
at a piano in front o'
that big window.

They're gonna hear
that song every minute
o' the day.

Now when do I
see that music?

3:00 - 4:00 this afternoon.
3:00 - 4:00 that means...

I know
what it means.

(SLOW PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

What's the matter, boy?
Why you standin' so quiet?

CHAUVIN:
What'd he say?

Says he'd buy it.

Money all over
the damn piano.

What's the matter
with you, boy,

you sure is
cold as hell.

What's he
payin' ya?
Fifty.

Fifty?
Stray cats get
better than fifty!

Fifty is free!

Fifty? Just fifty?

Says there's
gonna be royalties.

Says... I demonstrate.

What's a royalty?

An investment
in the proceeds, boy.

He proceeds,
you invest.

Mick's gonna play you
for a sucker, boy.

Now, wait.

We ain't talkin'
'bout just any boy.

We talkin' 'bout
boy here.

Boy on his way,
gonna be a famous
black composer

like all o' them other
famous black composers.

(SNAPS FINGERS)
Now, who is it?

What, what's
their name, uh,

and there
was this
other shine.

What you know?
(PLAYING QUIETLY)

Ain't no black composers,
'cept boy here,
gonna be da first.

'Cept there
ain't no first!

Ain't no black
first anythin'.

How much money
you got?

I got about
20 cents.

I got me a dime.

Hey, let's hunt up
a saloon where we can
find ourself a meal.

Don't let that Mick
make no fool o' you.
I know you comin'.

Listen, I got a cousin
in St. Louis,

we'll look him up
passin' through.

It's... That's it...
That's better.

Hey, what's the matter?
Whatcha dreaming about?

Come on! We got it!
We got the stake,
100 bucks.

We done everything
we wanted to do.

It's movin' time!

Grab a train,
head for the river!

We not poor johns anymore,
we top professors!

Next stop,
New Orleans!

You're throwin' it away.
You stay, you're crazy!

I know a few things.

I'm buyin' tickets!

(CLOCK CHIMING)

(PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC)

(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

WOMAN: You won't get
another chance
like it in a lifetime.

I've never been had.

(UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

Here I is.
Gotta get a pair
o' overalls

I'll work it out.

Ain't gonna run off,
no talk 'bout that,

'cause I's a
good workin' nigger.

Oh, to be a
black piano player

in a brothel in the
United States of America

who could have a care?
Playin' for pimps,
prostitutes and alcoholics.

Man's only
in this world once.

If he doesn't die of
whiskey or syphilis
before he's 40!

Nothin' but money
comes in these places.

They'd just as soon
tip you a $5 bill
as a dollar,

if they're in the mood
and the music was good.

I concluded you wanted
to be a composer.

For $50 and dimes?

I was wrong
in my conclusions.

Good professor
knock that down
in three nights.

I've never known
any pianist to come from
any section of this world

who could
leave victorious.

Come with you,
and that happens.

Come with me and
you will play for people
who will not hear you.

Some, who will smirk
or hold their ears.

Or even worse
ignore you completely.

You've experienced it,
you know what
I'm talking about.

It's akin to a kick
in an open wound.

The option?
Withdraw from
the process, retreat,

do not compete!

You don't want
any of this.

You want a chance
to be heard.

But you want guarantees
against failure,

immunity against
being ignored.

I can't give you that!

Immunity.

It means stay
where you are,
Mr. Joplin.

I got 'em.

(PLAYING UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC)

(SCOTT PLAYING
UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC)

(CASH REGISTER CHIMING)

(MUSIC SLOWS DOWN)

(MOUTHING)

(SPEAKING INAUDIBLY)

Don't stop now.
That's, that's the part
I wanna know about.

It's for
the snails.

Snails? Beer?

They go for the beer
instead of the flowers.

It kills 'em.

Who taught you that?

He did.
Your father?

My husband.

"Beloved husband
of Belle."

Well, you have
to be going.

(CLEARING THROAT)
Uh, well, uh, yes.

Don't you?
Oh, no.

Well, which is it?

Well, this is my day off.

Surely you've plans?

Plans?
Entertainment
on your day off.

(STAMMERING) Well,
I usually, partake of some
cultural activity about town.

Uh, not really cultural.

Something you'd
rather do alone.

Not really.

(UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

(LAUGHS)

Go ahead show
these people, boy.

That'd encourage me
greatly!
Oh?

Professor Joplin.

Checkered vest and
a pearl gray derby!

You really
enjoy that life,
don't you'.

When I was a boy
I used to steal
my pappy's long pants

and go down to the Tenderloin
and listen to piano players
come down from New Orleans,

talk in' about Zulu Balls,
Baby Dolls and King Champagne.

Smokin' cigars and
flingin' money
through the air.

That's not my life.

Nor mine, either.

Not anymore.

It's all behind me.

John is moving
his publishing company
to St. Louis.

I've decided
to go there, too.

Have you, have you ever
been to St. Louis?

Once.
Like it?

Yeah.

Well, maybe you can,
uh, come and visit sometime.

Maybe.

I don't want to go
without you,
come with me.

As what?

My wife.

Marry me, Belle.

(BAND PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC)

(BELLE PLAYING
OUT OF TUNE)

All right.

(CHUCKLES)

STARK: Rabin?
Where are you?
Yes, sir.

Here, clear that space.

Oh, yes, sir.

Rabin, you are seeing
the result of
years of effort.

Yes, sir.

We must work
for what we want
in this world, Rabin.

If it comes too easy,
we value it less.

Nothing can damage
the soul as much.

(MAN APPLAUDING)

Very well expressed.

Good day, sir.
Samuel Bundler.

Art and music critic.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Music critic?
What can I do for
you, sir?

Well, I'd like
to interview
your Mr. Joplin.

My Mr. Joplin?

Easy, fellas, easy.

Uh, where do I find
Mr. Joplin?

Oh, he's at home.

Happily married,
soon to be a father.

Busy teaching,
composing.

Well, uh,
you're here.

Well, the,
the thing to write
about Mr. Joplin,

I would say,
is that he longs
for serious work.

His composition
is superb.

By any standard.

It contains the genius
of a Chopin nocturne
or Bach fugue.

Uh, that wasn't quite
the approach
I had in mind, Mr. Stark.

Uh, not quite
the tack.

What did you
have in mind
Mr. Bundler?

Well, the commercialization
of a fad. The money
to be made off it.

How to pull the wool
over the public's eyes.

You know,
that sort of thing.

We're not here
for that sort of thing,
Mr. Bundler.

Oh, no? Well, you tell me.

I'll write it down
just the way you say it.

Have you not heard,
Mr. Bundler, that my
Mr. Joplin is called

the King of Ragtime?

Have you heard the
American Federation
of Musicians

have outlawed
his type of music?

Which thousands
clamor to learn.

"Exalting noise,"
they call it.

"Street vulgarity,
obvious, common,"

like a
criminal novel.

A passing fad.

The envious and the deaf
who refuse to pull the
cotton from their ears,

as for Mr., Joplin,
I should say that his
temperament is high,

that he touches the ground
and the highest places.

That his geese are all swans.

That Mississippi water
tastes like honeydew.

Good day, Mr. Bundler.

Good luck
in St. Louis,
Mr. Stark.

(RABIN PLAYING PIANO POORLY)

Rabin, if you can't
play it right,
don't play it at all!

Yes, sir.

DOCTOR: Seriously,
I'm a little baffled
by your case.

How do you feel?

Back to normal again?

It's not always
what they seem.

You appeared to be
over the disease
when you married.

You weren't.

Sometimes the first signs of
syphilis are hard to know.

You're now in
what is called
the secondary stage.

There are no
outward signs.

Primary attack
of the nervous system.

Occasional loss of control
of your hands for example.

That can pass,
it can also return.

The tertiary stage
of this disease attacks
the nervous system.

When, I don't know.

It could be in five years,
in twenty-five years,

or maybe never.

Each case
is different,
you see.

Are you continuing to have
relations with your wife?

No.

Good, I would not.

You've been
extremely lucky not
to have infected her.

You're not
telling me something.

There's to be a child.

I don't know, Mr. Joplin.

It could affect the child,
and then again it might not.

I just don't know.

(VIOLIN PLAYING OFF KEY)

(BELL RINGING)

(BELL RINGING)

(DOOR OPENING)
MAN: Mrs. Joplin?
Is Scott home?

(CHUCKLES)

Well, I'm just gonna
stand here, until you
say somethin'.

Turn my back six months,
boy grows up.

Professor Chauvin.

(CHUCKLING)

How are you?
Good.

Well, I'm lookin' at ya,

and I, I'm tellin'
ya the truth,

I've never seen
such a dull-lookin' man!

(CHUCKLES)

Well, how 'bout
introducin'
your friends.

Oh, ain't they
somethin'?

This is Viola
and Ruby.

I'm gonna buy 'em
their own corner.

(LAUGHING)

Belle, uh, will you ask
the ladies what
they want to drink,

and pour the professor
a glass of gin, please.
Thank you.

Ladies.

I've heard a lot about you,
hear you been in Chicago.

Well, sit down.
Thanks.

Them fellas you talkin' to
know, I, um, played
Pony Moore's Club,

and down
on Dearborn.

Pony Moore was a
big-spending landlady.

Yeah.

She had a lotta them
light-colored
women in there.

Best lookin'
things you ever saw.

Strictly for whites!

I hear you been playin'
my music.

You oughta hear
how I play it.

I hear how you play it.

They say "Play a waltz"
and you give them
Maple Leaf Rag

in three-quarter time.

I'd play it on a cigar box
if that's what they want.

It wasn't written
in three-quarter time.

Oh, all the fellas
are doin' it.

Uh, I do It all over,
Joe Suits' and
Charlie Smith's.

Well, the professors
I know, made themselves
satisfied in one place,

let well enough alone.

Well, I wasn't
as dumb as some o'
those other fellas.

The girls go crazy
for me here.

You stay too long
in one place, they will
give you a present.

That's the truth.
Well, you ought to
know that. (CHUCKLING)

A baby crib!
I gotta see this.
BELLE: Yes.

Seen every
other kind o' crib,
a baby crib!

A doll, a doll!

One o' the most beautiful
on the street,
went crazy for me.

(LAUGHING)
I didn't pay
no attention to her.

Those devils say,
"Louis," they say,

"Boy, we wish we had
somethin' like that
makin' eyes at us!"

(CHUCKLING)

I didn't say nothin'.

Then she leave town,
this girl.

They tell me,
"Louis, know,
a lotta fellas

"pay $20
a night to go
with this girl."

Louis, uh,
what really
brings you here?

Tom Turpin's got the
ladies in town.

Greatest collection
of madams ever seen.

Up from New Orleans
to look over
the new professors.

There's to be a
social evenin'
at the Rosebud Cafe.

Oh, they really
gonna take the door
off o' this one.

Turpin's asked me to
ask you to be, uh,
the guest of honor.

(SIGHS) "Guest of Honor"
for Basin Street prostitutes.

Listen, this gonna be
Madam de Ware
of the Ready Money.

Lulu White, Betty Rae.

Wine, 5-to-10 dollars!

Kind of wine
I'm talkin' about
flows in those houses.

Buy a new suit, fancy hat,

let the landladies plunk
you down on a stool

with whiskey and
a lot of light-skinned
colored women.

That's how you
make a fiddler
out of a violinist,

and a strummer
out of a pianist.

This ain't down the line.

Maple Leaf Club,
Ready Money, I...

The Rosebud is no different.

They're all bordellos.

Just plush red carpets
and French chandeliers.

You playin' it safe?

What are you sayin'?

Well, I don't think much
of this uptown stuff.

Messin' around
with piano scores.

Uh, Louis...

Man any good,
he plays his music.

You playin' it safe.

I'll tell Belle
you're leaving.

They gonna go crazy
you come in that place.

When was the last time
you heard that?

I don't know why
that man doesn't
realize you're through.

I mean, that he should
come here and ask...

He ought to know
you're through with
that sort of thing.

Is that what you're feeling?

Yes.

That he asked you
to play at Tom Turpin's?

Well, what
did you tell him?

I haven't
given him an answer.

Do you miss it?
I miss none of it.

Scott...

If you wanna play there,
I don't mind.

I don't mind anything
you wanna do.

Tell me what
you're feeling now?

They're playin'
my music wrong.

Oh.

Well, that's terrible.

What do they do?

Mess it up,
stunt around with it.

BELLE: Is that
what's wrong?

(PLAYING UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC)

Madam Lulu White...

Diamond Queen
of the Bayou,

jewel of New Orleans!

TURPIN: Countess Willie Piazza
of the Chateau Lobrano.

From the first
family of Russia,

from her court in
St. Petersburg.

Miss Emma Johnson
of 333 Basin Street.

House of All Nations,
the Queen of America.

All right now,
you all got to stop

feasting your eyes
on these pretty women,

and feast your eyes on
a handsome man, me!

(CROWD LAUGHING)

We got some of the
fanciest, beautifullest
madams in the world.

(APPLAUDING)

And we have tonight,

we got us some of
the best professors

that ever
walked this district.

Kinda lucky tonight.

We got a lad
come in here.

When this lad walks in,

you really got to get up
off your piano stool,

and let him just
break down your piano.

I mean, they may call me,
the "Father of Ragtime,"

but let me introduce you
to the "King of Ragtime,"

Scott Joplin!

(CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS)

(PLAYING ELEGANT MUSIC)

(STOPS PLAYING)

(CROWD MURMURING)

(PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC)

(CROWD SNAPPING FINGERS)

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

I'm gonna change printers.

Wrong notes,
misprints,
misspellings.

Just too damn much errata.

I suppose it's a
foolish thing to ask,

but you've got a
distinctive foggy look
these past few days.

No harm, if you think so.

How's Belle?

Oh, the heat's
keeping her...

Scott!
Damn!

What is wrong?
What, what do you want?

To put as much
distance between myself
and the Tenderloin

as soon as possible.

You know, you have changed,

I feel it.

It's your virility
reasserting itself.

I'll tell you something.

I haven't
had the courage
to say it before

but I'll tell it
to you now.

You are a genius.

Truly a great
American composer.

Your music is born
to this sod and soil.

I'll tell you something else.

I'm taking your
music, this week,

before the Exhibits Committee
of the St. Louis Fair.

This fair is gonna be the
largest American exposition
ever conceived.

John Philip Sousa's
gonna be there,
so are you.

You are the
author of America's
truly native music.

I'm gonna make
the people know it.

LIEBLING: Ragtime is
simply not serious music.

It's crude, it's common,
it's heard everywhere.

A colored show.

No matter how you
state it, Mr. Stark,

isn't that what
you're asking for?

A lot of bangs
and explosions.

Coon music, we confess,
has not been contemplated.

Ragtime is not coon music.

What is it,
if it's not?

In words you'll understand,
a quenchless vitality.

A music
never heard before.

Fighting to be born.

The black man's bawdy
response to authority.

Mr. Stark, precisely
what do you want of us?

You have Sousa
represented at your fair,

I ask that Joplin's music
also be represented.

You'd set Joplin
alongside of Sousa?

I would suggest
timing publication
of an original rag

written especially for
the opening of your fair,

I also ask a forum
for Joplin's music.

I rest content that
it will achieve its place
in American musical history.

You'll just have to
come up with a better
argument than that, Mr. Stark.

Tickets.

Tickets?
Tickets.

Over 350,000 people
bought Maple Leaf Rag.

A million more bought
the rest of his music.

1,350,000 people

who knows
Scott Joplin's music.

Who'll pay to hear it.

(LAUGHING)

(DOORBELL RINGING)

Yes?

(PIANO PLAYING)

This is for him.

I'll give it...
I'll give it to him.

I've been told
to give it to him
hand-to-hand.

I'm sorry, he's working.

When'll he be done?

I can't say.

I will give it to him.

Oh, okay.

(STOPS PLAYING PIANO)

Another note from
Louis Chauvin.

It just came.

Well, I thought
you were friends.

I uh, I haven't
spoken to him since
he was in this room.

Scott, it's the third time
he's asked to see you.

He's making a
nuisance of himself.

It says he's sick.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

(WEAKLY) Yeah.

What time is it?

Well, it's quarter to five.

Uh, I'm sorry, I kept
so much to myself.

It's been the work on...
Cascades and, you'll like it.

Legato cantilena and...
Virtuoso tempo.

It's nearly finished.

But it's that damn committee
that's withholding approval.

I, uh...

Excuse me.

(SIGHS)

Go on, get out of here.

Do you hear me, woman?

Get out!

Stupid, disobedient...

Legato cantilena
with virtuoso tempo.

(PLAYING PIANO)

I know what it is.

Just can't write it down.

I never learned it.
I ain't got time.

Ain't got time?

What's wrong?

I got a sickness.

It, it comes and goes.

Live life from day-to-day.

Maybe.

Maybe.

(PLAYING PIANO)

Maybe I did it wrong.
I don't know.

Huh. Should've
learned to write
stuff down, like you.

I don't know!
Maybe you did
the right thing.

Listen, I uh...

I want you to help me.

Help me, put,
put my stuff
down on paper.

People knowin' my name,

Louis Chauvin,
they gonna say,

"There goes
that man's music."

Yeah.

He wasn't just a...
A baboon!

(PLAYING PIANO)

That's where I run out.

Yeah, there's
just one thing.
Yeah?

It's beautiful,
but it needs more.

Yeah. Hey...

Kick my tail hard, huh.

Make me work.

Play it again.

Yeah. Right.

(PLAYING PIANO)

(FUMBLING NOTES)

It starts with the hands.

You know that, huh?

You gone through that.

Just comes at you
from out of nowhere.

Hey look,
I'm gonna work!

A lot of work to do.

You get on up!
Get out! Go on home.

I uh... I need
a bath, that's all.

Uh, I'll send for you
as soon as I got something.

(DOOR CLOSES)

Scott? Scott?

Whoa.

Been looking
all over for you.
Get in!

I got double good news
for you. Giddyap!

You heard from
the committee?

I heard from
the committee.

Well?
They said "Yes."

My music! I mean
the way I wrote it.
No changes.

The way you wrote it
with no changes.

Got some more
news for you.

Got your own
separate booth

just like Sousa
and the rest.

I can't believe it!

You said double good news.

I did?
Yes.

Double good news.

Oh, yes,
I wrote it down
on a piece of paper.

Wait a minute,
I have to get it out.
Hold the reins.

Yeah, here it is.

"Congratulations,
it's a girl."

(LAUGHS)

Giddyap!

Belle?
Fine.

The baby?

Oh, something,
I'm not sure.

Please.

I admit it,
frankly I don't know.

I'm keeping her
under close observation.

She's not healthy,
not strong.

Are you awake?

Yes.

Oh, how beautiful you look.

What's wrong
with our baby?

May l...
Sit here beside you?

I've waited so long
for this moment...

To hold my baby.

(SOBBING) Now they won't
even let me have her.

Don't talk.

What's wrong? If you
know something, tell me.

You've always been
the strong one.

I'm not your equal,
I, I confess to that.

Don't try to get up.

I've give you
a terrible legacy...
You and the child.

I confess.

Oh, God...

(SIGHS) Oh, no.
I don't want to harm you.

I have to tell you.
(SOBBING) No. No.

I've been dishonest.

Deceitful.

Don't say any more.

I've...

Neglected you so.

(SOBBING)

Belle...

Belle, we'll go away.

We'll go to Europe.
We'll board the house
and we'll go to London.

We'll sail the oceans,
and rivers.

I'll pamper you
disgracefully.

(SOBBING)

(BAND PLAYING MARCHING MUSIC)

(BABY CRYING)

Could you come up,
Mrs. Joplin?

I can't stop her
from crying.

Did you see this?
Yes.

We should've been
over on the right,
not next to the band.

A single piano?

I was lucky
to even get that.
How could you let it happen?

You weren't there
at those meetings.

You don't know
the kind of reception...

"You are now the great
living American composer!"

Look what they said
about it. They didn't
say a thing about it.

Only "Joplin played also."
I'm sorry.

You failed me!

Scott, I know
how you feel!

You were overpowered
by the extravagance
of sound!

The sheer weight of volume!

Your music wasn't
meant to compete
on that level.

It was just never heard.
Well, it will be heard.

If volume is what they want,
volume is what they'll get!

What are you talking about?
I'm gonna write an opera.

An opera?
An opera in ragtime.
A ragtime opera.

Why?
Because it is right!

Because it is their music!

Con brio, fortissimo
and that they will
draw comfort from.

It's suicide for
natural professions to...

It's what I want to do!

Scott, I know what
you're goin' through.
I know what you're suffering!

Please, believe me,
I can put myself
in your place!

Is that what
you want to tell me?

Scott, I'm goin'
to New York.
Go with me.

There's a new
musical theater!

Vaudeville! Jigtime piano!

You haven't even
looked it over!

They may talk of
dandy niggers,

but they never see this
coon a-promenading Broadway

on a Sunday afternoon.

Do I genuflect or kneel!

You think that's what
I had in mind for you?

I know the people
that'll help me
with the opera.

I'll work out the vocals
and orchestration myself.

All I need is
a publisher to
act in my interest.

If it isn't going to be you,
then I want to know about it.

I should've remembered
we see life differently.

I'm sorry if that
makes you uncomfortable,

but I will not
nail myself down
to your egotism.

Scott, I'm going
to New York...

To do what
I know how to do.

Both of us should go.
Please go with me.

That's your answer?

I was
remembering the time
we said we'd marry.

Does it embarrass you
so much to talk about it?

Ultimately.

You'll see it was wise
not to talk about it.

You needn't stop talking
altogether, you know.

I've been made
love to before.

I know a lot about love.

But it wasn't
the same with them...

As it was with you.

With you...

I felt...

Soft and sorry inside.

No matter how much
you rejected me,

I could stand it.

Not anymore.

(PLAYING ELEGANT PIANO MUSIC)

(STOPS PLAYING PIANO)

(PIANO PLAYING CONTINUES)

STARK: Scott and I had
stopped talking to each other.

He wouldn't see me.

In fact,
he wouldn't see anybody.

He's become completely
obsessed by his opera.

Nothing else
mattered to him.

He wanted that opera
to be the summation
of all he knew...

And all he felt.

By this time,
everyone was writing rags.

Everyone except,
the man who made
ragtime popular.

The only thing
Scott Joplin was writing

was his opera.

CHAUVIN: I want
you to help me.

Help me put
my stuff down on paper.

(PIANO PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC)

Any particular
part you want?

I forget the phrasing.

There was
a transition here.

That's it.

That's it.

Say somethin'.

Say all.

Belle?

Gone.

The baby?

Dead.

Don't let it frighten you.

Fright needs you.

It's my close friend.
I shook his hand.

That's what I heard hollerin'
I thought it must be that.

Don't stand any
disobedience from him.

He'll search you
out again.

Does he wear a red tie?
He said he would.

Yeah, he wears it.

Got a ol' greasy
spot on it.

(LAUGHING)

Here, skin is good.

Where'd you
get the mattress?

Stole it.

Steal another.

(SOBBING)

* Gabe kid,
Get the... *

Gabe kid
just wouldn't work.

It just wouldn't work.

Just as fat as a fat pig.

He used to wear a flower.

A small purplish
lookin' thing.

Pretty flower.

Never knew what it was.

Knuckle fingers.

We all play it by ear.

Never even thought
to write it down,

or even learn how.

Too much trouble.

Now, it's considered
all right.

Huh, it used to be
just low-type music.

Never did quite
get that part of it.

* I got those
Old Monday blues

* Those hangover
Sunday blues

Jelly Roll Morton.

* There's one for my baby

* I go crazy

* From all those
wrong things I choose...

He'd play that stuff.

He'd play that stuff
for the girls.

I sure remember him.

Yeah.

* Did I ever
tell you about
that gal o' mine?

* Together we seen
Some very hard times

* But a shot o' that ol' gin,
My friend...

* Would start us
Rollin' again

* That ol' man
Ol' Monday Blues...

* Long as I got the cure

* I can't lose

* Bein' with my heart
Drivin' mama

* Make me forget
all the blues *

STARK: How dare they
call themselves the
New York Music Company?

Hypocrites!

Some junk company
that's what they are!

Driving us independents
outta business.

Undercutting us in the
five-and-ten cent store

with their so-called sales
at nine cents a copy.

How can I print quality
at nine cents a copy?

Next thing you know
they'll be selling music
in the livery stables!

Laugh, you old fool!

I'm laughing, wouldn't you?

I bet you told that
New York Music Company!

I'll bet they thought
a bull hit 'em.

I'd like to shoot them!

I think I will.

(PANTING)

You been on the road?

I think I read somewhere...

Vaudeville.
Some jigtime piano.

Well, if there's anything
I can do for you, uh...

The Peacock's
the best show in town.

Hard to get tickets.

I can write
a letter for you.

Think I can get you
a house seats if you
don't mind mid-week...

What is that?

This?

You always insisted on it.

"Heliotrope"?
Yes.

That's a flower.

It's small and purple.

It's not in bloom
at the moment.

It was.

The Missouri boy
in Tin Pan Alley.

Tin Pan Alley?
That don't fit you,
you country peddler.

Here's one for
the Missouri boy
that fights back.

Got missionary zeal
and all that stuff.

You gonna shoot somebody...

You gotta have ammunition.

Rabin, get down
to the Lobster House,

bring back two of
the biggest they got!

And a bottle
of champagne.
Yes, sir.

(POPPING)

Don't worry,
we'll leave it there
and the cat'll get it.

(LAUGHS)

I feel...
What?

I feel a sense of shock.

You know why?

I drink too much.

(LAUGHING)

I should try
to give it up.

I gave it up once.

I had a hell of a time.

I'll probably give it up.

You miss the river?

No.

Well, sometimes.

Honestly?

I remember one time,
the goofer dust man
came to town

trying to sell his
superstitious dreams

and my mama came
outta the house
with a banjo

and chased him
down the street
right into the river.

You made that up.

I been makin' up
a lot of things.

That you have.

That's not all.

I've finished it.

Finished what?
The opera.

The opera?
Yeah.

The opera?
Yes.

You want me
to publish it?

I want you to back it.

Back it?

Back it?

What way?

How? How many
singing parts?

Eleven.
Eleven?

How many musical numbers?

Twenty-seven.

Twenty-seven?

Uh, I have
money of my own.

You have the new rags
I've given you.

How much money
do you have?

Ten... 10,000.

I can't cover half of it!

Damn the way
you set me up.

You want, you want me
to make up the rest?

Yes.

You know you almost
disappointed me!

You almost turned out
not to fit the myth!

The black illusion.

Carnegie Hall.
White tie and tails,
pulling up in a carriage.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Joplin."

White man opening
up the door.

That's not what I want.

I told it to you!

I'm the one that said
you could have it.

That's not what you said!

You said, my music
was a new art form.

Genuinely American.
Born of this sod and soil.

You said I was a genius.

And I want
everybody to know it.

(SOBBING)

I have no need to
believe in the afterlife.

You apparently do.

Yes.

What the hell
are you trying
to tell me?

What are you
trying to say?

Are you ill?

What have you got?

It's complex.

Nerves?

Nerves, yes,
in a way, nerves.

I won't pay
penance for it.

SINGERS: * Marching onward
Marching onward

* Marching to that
lovely tune

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Happy as a bird in June

* Sliding onward
Sliding onward

* Listen to that rag...

No, no, no, no!
Stop, stop!

You're off-key!

You're off the meter!

You're, you're flat!
Son-of-a-bitch!

Follow, follow, follow it!

It's on the page!
It's on the page!
Follow it!

It's easy to follow!
It's easy to follow!

There's nothing
funny about it.

Follow it!

Uh, all right now!

Start again. Again.

One-two-three-four.

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Marching to
that lovely tune

* Marching onward
Marching onward

* Happy as a bird in June
Feel it!

* Sliding onward,
Sliding onward

* Listen to that rag

* Hop,
And skip

* And do that slow...

(DOOR CLOSES)

If you wanna order
some sheet music,

I'd be glad to oblige.

If it's Joplin
you're looking for,
I'm sorry.

I haven't seen him
since summer.

He needs money.

Who doesn't?

He's tryin' to find
a backer for his opera.

Can't find one.

I'm sorry,
I've got an appointment.

He calls it Treemonisha.

He's gonna have
a performance up town
in a hall in Harlem.

Uh, without scenery
or musicians, costumes.

He's gonna play
all the parts on
the piano himself.

The cast are amateurs.

He spent
all his own money.

What in God's name
is the matter with him?

He's dying.

From what?
Rails.

Syphilis?

Syphilis!

My God, what a horror.

I've been everywhere else.

Where is he?
He's livin' uptown.

He's remarried.

How could he be?

Well, it ain't
that kind of marriage.

She takes care of him.

He don't have nothin'.

Not a dime.

How much does he need?

$3,000.

I haven't got $3,000.

I haven't got anything.

This town has me beat,

I'm gonna close my offices,
I'm goin' back to St. Louis.

Where can I find you?
Why?

I don't know.
Maybe I can run across
somebody who's got some money!

I don't know!

West on 172nd Street.

The Weepin' Willow?

I play there.

Thank you.

Whenever you're ready,
Mr. Joplin.

(PLAYING UPBEAT PIANO MUSIC)

(FUMBLING NOTES)

(FUMBLES AGAIN)

(FUMBLES REPEATEDLY)

(CONTINUES FUMBLING)

Get up from
the piano, boy.

You're hurting
his feelings.

I haven't practiced that
in a while.

I know what you're saying.

That can give you
a devil of a time.

I've got work to do.

I'll go with you.
No.

No.

NARRATOR: In 1974.

Scott Joplin's music
won an Academy Award
fo The Sting.

In 1975, his opera
Treemonisha

was performed
successfully on Broadway.

In 1976, he was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Scott Joplin died in 1917.