Betty’s Office at Paramount

[BETTY, spoken]
T-H-E E-N-D! I can't believe it, I've finished my first script!

[JOE, spoken]
Stop it, you're making me feel old

[BETTY, spoken]
It's exciting, though, isn't it?

[JOE, spoken]
How old are you, anyway?

[BETTY, spoken]
Twenty-two

[JOE, spoken]
Smart girl

[BETTY, spoken]
Shouldn't we open some champagne?

[JOE, spoken]
Best I can offer is a stroll to the water cooler at the end of the lot

[BETTY, spoken]
Sounds good to me. I love the back lot here. All cardboard, all hollow, all phony, all done with mirrors; I think I love it better than any street in the world. I spent my childhood here

[JOE, spoken]
What were you, a child actress?

[BETTY, spoken]
No, but my family always expected me to become a great star
I had ten years of dramatic lessons, diction, dancing, everything you can think of; then the studio made a test

[JOE, spoken]
That's the saddest story I ever heard

[BETTY, spoken]
Not at all. Come on. I was born two blocks from here. My father was head electrician at the studio until he died, and Mother still works in wardrobe

[JOE, spoken]
Second generation, huh?

[BETTY, spoken]
Third. Grandma did stunt work for Pearl White

(As THEY walk down the Manhattan street, the stage begins to revolve slowly, so that THEY end up walking Downstage;
And the flimsy struts holding up the substantial sets are gradually revealed. JOE and BETTY walk in silence for a while; BETTY's expression is deeply preoccupied. They come to a halt in front of the water cooler.)

[JOE, spoken]
I guess it is kind of exciting, at that, finishing a script

(HE fixes a couple of paper cups of water, and hands one to BETTY, who's miles away and comes to with a start when he touches her arm.)

[BETTY, spoken]
What?

[JOE, spoken]
Are you all right?

[BETTY, spoken]
Sure

[JOE, spoken]
Something's the matter, isn't it?