Regret and Resolve
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Why!
Why did I write that letter!
All those promises are in writing now! There’s a physical record- in my handwriting- of some very lofty promises! I didn’t write anything I don’t believe, but can I make the film that lives up to all my own expectations? I could make something acceptable to Mr. Chesnutt, but would I see the cracks throughout the final product, invisible to his eye but impossible for mine to ignore?
Impossible, that’s what it’ll be to not only pare this book down to a filmable length, but to do something simultaneously convincing and rewarding. The keystone is money, like it always has been, like it always will be. I hear tell from Hollywood about the new Buster Keaton movie; he’s going to drop a steam engine into a river off a burning bridge! For a comedy! If I had a large enough budget to decimate a steam engine, I scarcely know what I’d do with it, other than make three more films!
I hate to do it, to take advantage of the forgiving and forgetful nature of the old, but that may be the only way to buy myself enough time to crack this puzzle. I can forgive myself, in fact, for some of this; are Mr. Chesnutt and I not telling stories in the same language? I made a film specifically to combat that dragon of propaganda, Birth of a Nation, and he similarly has used his words to open minds. He’ll understand why I need the money now and the time to make it back. If I’m expected to find a way to make a drunken mule a main character, without using Lon Chaney, I’ll need time.
In truth, this film has to be a success. The very construct, the framing device of John and Annie, this could be the way to break into the white market. I can’t overplay my hand, can’t make it look inelegant, but if I manage to make a movie with white actors, will I finally break free of these three-theater runs? The “uncensored” screenings two states over that I have to convene simply to show my work in its intended form? I’m putting the cart ahead of the horse again, making too much of what could be nothing more than a good film. I should start ironing out the big problems before I nominate myself for any awards.