Desert Dreams
Genre: Drama
Director: David Mackenzie
Writers: Jimmy Ellis & John Malone
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Billy Magnussen, Jessica Biel, Dylan O'Brien, William H. Macy, David Dastmalchian, Danny McBride, Brett Cullen, Steve Zahn, Kate Walsh, Elizabeth McGovern
Plot: A 1949 Oldsmobile 88 speeds down an Arizona highway toward Tucson as big band music plays over the AM radio. Famed Hollywood director, Jimmy DeLeon (Steve Zahn), bobs his head and drums along on the steering wheel. His wife Virginia (Kate Walsh) sits next to him. Jimmy raves about the script he’s set to direct, stating it has the potential to be a western Casablanca and the potential to give him the kind of offers Michael Curitz is getting. Virginia smiles, reminding her husband that she read the script, so she knows just how good it is. Jimmy goes on about how excited he is to direct Evelyn Martin and Robert Lindholm in the film. Virginia asks Jimmy if he’s heard the rumors about Robert - that he’s still suffering from war fatigue after fighting in the Second World War. Jimmy assures Virginia that Robert will be fine as long he still can flash that same thousand dollar smile. Jimmy looks back to the road just as a jackrabbit jumps up in front of the moving vehicle. The jackrabbit smashes through the windshield. Jimmy slams on the brakes with blood streaming from his eye. The car is fine, other than the windshield. Virginia looks over at her husband, and sees a large piece of glass sticking out from his eyeball. Virginia screams in horror.
Michael Mayhew (Brett Cullen), chief executive at Hollows Film Studio, throws his phone across the room in anger. Junior executive Dennis Hoppington (David Dastmalchian) enters the offers to see what’s wrong. Mayhew tells Dennis that Jimmy DeLeon lost an eyeball on his way to the set in Arizona and now he can’t direct “In Old Arizona”. Mayhew begins to brainstorm possible new directors for the film, but Dennis informs him that each of the names are either working for other studios or have vowed to work on another HFS production. Michael asks Dennis to look over the calendar and find the name of any director that the studio has under contract that has an opening in their schedule. Dennis finds one name: Jack Hughes. The name makes Mayhew even angrier, as he yells about Hughes being an alcoholic has-been. Dennis jokes that he’s an alcoholic has-been with a wide open schedule though. Mayhew sighs and says that at least it will beat shutting down the production - but Mayhew wants Dennis to head to Arizona along with Hughes and be his eyes and ears on the set. Dennis nods.
Dorothy Hayes (Daisy Edgar-Jones) stands in a long line of local girls trying to earn a part in the Hollywood production “In Old Arizona”. Her number is finally called and she enters a back room to read for director Jack Hughes (William H. Macy) and screenwriter Thomas Berry (Dylan O’Brien). Dorothy performs the page they give her to audition with a lot of emotion, even if she fumbles some of the lines a bit. At the end of the day, a list of names are posted outside the production offices of the locals that have been cast in the film. Dorothy pushes her way to the front of the crowd of eager aspiring actors and actresses. She finds her name next to the role of “Ranch Girl #3”. Dorothy tries to remain positive, even if she is disappointed at only being an extra.
That night, Dorothy goes to work as a waitress at a local diner when she sees Thomas sitting in a booth, rewriting scenes for the first day of shooting in the morning. She brings over a fresh pot of coffee and sits in the booth across from him. Thomas stares at her until Dorothy explains that she was cast in his movie. It takes a moment for him to recognize her. He tells Dorothy that her audition was good. Dorothy says it was only good enough to be Ranch Girl #3. Thomas says that he isn’t in charge of casting, jokingly adding that if he was she would be Ranch Girl #1 at least. Dorothy refills Thomas’ coffee before getting up and going back to work. Thomas watches her as she walks away.
Everyone is on set awaiting the arrival of the two mega stars. Jack talks with the extras in the scene and explains their roles in this particular moment. Robert Lindholm (Billy Magnussen) arrives with a few people shaking his hand. Robert seems to be upset or on-edge, Jack looks to an assistant and asks him why. The assistant shrugs his shoulders. Jack walks over with a huge smile and shakes Robert’s hand, Robert shows a little smile to Jack before walking to a corner to be by himself. The film’s leading lady, Evelyn Martin (Jessica Biel) storms on to set and begins acting like a diva with immediate complaints about her accommodations. She demands to know where Jack is. Jack, trying to please his star, tells her he will have some conversations with the higher ups and see what he can do about upgrading her hotel room and trailer. Evelyn fakes a smile before walking away. She yells at an assistant leading to Robert flashing his world-famous smile through a laugh, while shaking his head.
During a break on set, Jack walks to Thomas and gives him a bunch of script notes. He wants Thomas to add more scenes set on the ranch. Thomas nods his head, before heading off to write. As he leaves, he bumps into Dorothy, dressed in her Ranch Girl #3 attire. She asks what’s his hurry, Thomas tells her he needs to write some more ranch scenes. A lightbulb moment occurs for Dorothy. She subtly begins to flirt with Thomas a bit before joking that he should write her a few more lines. She winks at him before walking off. Thomas stands for a moment longer, thinking as he watches her mosey away.
“Action!” Evelyn and Ranch Girl #3 (Dorothy) share a one-on-one scene. Dorothy’s line delivery is better than Evelyn’s - much to Evelyn’s annoyance. “Cut!” Jack steps in and tells them that was great, Dorothy smiles at Evelyn before the latter walks off, pissed. She stands in the corner of the room with Jack telling Dorothy that they will film her scene now. Evelyn steps in asking what scene Dorothy could have by herself. Jack tells Evelyn that there have been some rewrites. Dennis slowly gets closer to the conversation to listen in. Evelyn isn’t happy that she wasn’t told about the rewrites and is obviously jealous that Dorothy had been given more lines.
Evelyn and Robert are shooting a romantic scene in the desert. As the two get closer and more intimate Robert freezes up and cannot remember his lines. Thomas reminds him of his lines. They restart, going through the scene again, and again Robert forgets his lines. Evelyn stands up and yells at him asking how he is one of the highest paid actors when he is so unprepared. Robert looks defeated, clearly these words are upsetting him. Evelyn walks off, insisting that they will be hearing from her agent. Jack says that they will try and shoot this scene tomorrow.
Robert is drinking by himself at a local saloon after the day. He has the script in front of him, practicing his lines. Jack Hughes is also at the saloon, drinking himself into oblivion. Dorothy approaches Robert. She says that he wouldn’t know her but she is in the film. Robert nods saying he watched her solo scene today, she shows promise. Dorothy holds in a smile and sits opposite Robert. She says she heard about his line troubles and asks if he would like some help. Robert plays it down but Dorothy insists. She reads Evelyn’s lines with such elegance that allows Robert to proceed and remember his lines. Dorothy and Robert then lean in and kiss (as it says in the script). Dorothy stands and goes to walk away looking back at a smiling Robert. Jack then begins to make a scene at the bar. Dorothy runs over and holds him up. Robert helps her. The two of them then suggest Jack sleep it off in his car and take him to it, placing him in the passenger seat. Dorothy and Robert stand in silence for a moment before Dorothy says they best be going, she has a big day of scenes tomorrow. Robert offers to walk her home but she says she is just staying at the tavern. She begins walking back inside as Robert walks to his car. When Robert has left she gets in Jack’s car and drives off to her house. She drags him inside and puts him on her bed. She then undresses herself and lays next to Jack.
The next morning Dorothy is awake well before Jack. She fake cries in the mirror and as she hears Jack stir lies back on the bed. Jack wakes up next to her and lets out a confused yell. She then proceeds to ‘fall’ out of the bed and acts in fear. Jack has no idea what is going on and asks her what happened. She says that he took advantage of her after she had one too many drinks. Jack says that can’t be right, he loves his wife. He asks her what he can do to make this right, to silence her as he starts looking at how much money he has in his wallet. She tells him that she doesn’t want his money, but she wouldn’t object to having more screen time in the film. Jack quickly nods his head saying that’s easy done.
Jack arrives on set and looks to be searching for someone. He bumps into Thomas who was looking for him. They both say simultaneously that they need to give Dorothy more lines. Jack questions why Thomas wants to give her more lines, Thomas does the same to Jack. They both simply agree that it would be best for the film if she had more dialogue, especially after Evelyn’s diva behavior. Jack approaches Dorothy on the ranch set and tells her that she now has more lines. He quietly asks her if everything is good with them and their little secret. She nods.
Robert and Dorothy are shooting a scene together with Dorothy tending to horses. Lock Chippum (Danny McBride) storms onto set and ruins the take by yelling at the production staff. Dennis is in the corner taking notes. He demands to know why his client, Evelyn, is being treated so poorly. He gets in the face of Jack and asks why some no-talent drunk has been placed in charge of a talent like Evelyn. He then walks to Dorothy and scoffs at her. He continues going on and on, frankly making a fool of himself. He waves around the original script as he yells about the scene they are shooting not being in there. He questions whether Dorothy slept her way to it. He then gets in the face of Robert and begins berating him about how he is unprofessional and should never have made it as an actor. Robert’s heard enough and punches Lock in the face. Lock holding his nose walks out yelling that Robert has not heard the last of him.
Robert is filming a scene on his lonesome, he is to take a gun and fire it. He picks the gun up and begins to cock it but his hand begins to shake uncontrollably. He tells Jack that he simply can’t do it. Jack questions what he means. Jack says that since the war he hasn’t been sleeping right and every single time it’s a gun in his dreams. He can’t compose himself enough to hold one. Evelyn waves her hands in the air off set, throwing paper everywhere. She storms on and grabs the gun and fires the blank in the air, she screams at Robert, insisting it's not that hard. Dorothy walks slowly toward Robert and tells him everything will be okay. She quickly begins to tell him about her brother who died in the war. She explains that she eagerly waited for the day he would return, but it never came. She tells him that if he ever wants to talk she can be an ear.
Later that day Dorothy is talking with Thomas on set and she begins to read her brand new lines. As she reads the lines Thomas looks on smiling. Evelyn walks by and stops around a corner, she begins to eavesdrop and quickly realizes that they are lines her character is supposed to have. We follow Evelyn all the way to her trailer where her agent Lock is sitting. She screams as she enters before telling Lock that she wants everything on Dorothy. She wants Lock to research her until she finds some dirt, anything, as she needs to go.
Dorothy and Thomas meet up at the diner where they first met. The two of them begin getting close with Dorothy thanking him for being here for her. To have someone to talk to, it’s not been easy in this profession. She gives him a hug. Thomas has to go to the bathroom so walks away. Dorothy sees Robert outside the window smoking in his car. She decides to go and talk with him. The two chat for a bit before Robert asks her if she wants to go for a drive. She looks back to the diner seeing Thomas out of the bathroom looking around for her, she turns back to Robert saying she would love to. Robert and Dorothy drive down a road at top speeds with Dorothy, holding her hand out the window doing a motion of a wave. Robert looks over to her with a smile as they drive.
Lock is in Tucson, investigating Dorothy. He arrives at an address that he has written on a piece of paper. He knocks on the door to the house, answered by Valerie Hayes (Elizabeth McGovern). At first she wants to know who he is. Lock pretends to be a private detective and tells her he has some questions about Dorothy. Valerie welcomes him inside and offers some tea. She gets herself a cup and is visibly upset that a detective is here about her daughter. Lock asks her the last time she saw her daughter. Valerie tells him that she saw her 12 months ago, when she drove her to Tucson Psychiatric Hospital. Lock looks on with a sly smile as Valerie asks what happened to her daughter. Lock tells her that her daughter was released from the hospital and asks Valerie if she is okay with this. Valerie tells him that she was never a threat to her, but she will do anything to get what she wants. Lock thanks her for her time before seeing his way out.
On set Evelyn stands on a soap box and calls for everyone to gather around. She smiles as she sees Dorothy enter the frame. She announces to everyone that the little girl from Tucson is a liar. She goes on to say that through a little bit of research she found out that Dorothy has been in a loony bin for the past 8 months. Murmurs begin around the place as Dennis takes down some notes. Dorothy begins to go red-faced as she claims that Evelyn is lying about it all. Thomas looks on believing Dorothy. Evelyn simply states that she has the records to prove it. She explains that her agent Lock went to the psychiatric hospital and it turns out Dorothy released herself from the hospital, against the wishes of a few of the doctors. Evelyn passes the documents around to everyone. Jack is confused and yells out asking if they ever even had sex. He immediately quiets up realizing he yelled that. Dennis continues writing in his notepad. The papers get to Thomas who finally sees the real Dorothy, she will do anything to get to the top. Robert walks in seeing all the commotion and asks what’s going on. The papers get to Robert as Dorothy pleads with the rest of the crew to hear her out as they walk away. Robert stands there and asks Dorothy what this is. Evelyn walks up to them both telling Robert that Dorothy is crazy, she then leans over and tells him she never even had a brother in the war. Robert is disappointed and upset, he throws the papers at Dorothy and walks away. Thomas stands where he was the whole time, Dorothy smiles seeing him still standing there, she approaches but Thomas walks away, as does Evelyn. Leaving Dorothy standing by herself on an empty set.
Dorothy has instant stigma on set after the reveal of her past. The shot list has changed, with her character no longer listed. She confronts Jack who tries to get away from her. But her constant questions leads him to turning around and saying that the studio demanded some re-writes and they simply don’t involve her character. Before walking away, Jack adds that they will let her know if she is needed.
Dorothy is in her room, talking to herself, she hasn’t been called to set for the past three days and feels like she is going crazy - again. She looks at the time, 8pm, Robert’s bar time. She finds Robert sitting at the bar alone. She sits next to him, and asks to explain things to him. Robert pretends he doesn’t know her and walks away to sit somewhere else. She continues pestering him until the bartender asks Robert if she is bothering him. He nods. The bartender asks her to leave. Before she leaves she grabs the glass Robert was drinking out of and throws it on the floor, smashing it. Robert covers his face, clearly shell shocked by the sudden loud noise. Dorothy leaves the bar and walks down the desert road. She arrives at the film set, but everything is packed up, it looks like production has wrapped.
Months have passed, with Dorothy’s mental health rapidly deteriorating. She still travels and arrives to what would have been the set every morning, in costume. One morning she arrives and notices a man standing where the set would have been. Jimmy DeLeon, eyepatch and all. She approaches him and asks what he is doing here. He tells her this was where he was supposed to film his masterpiece, but he never made it there so he just wanted to see the landscape for himself in-person before it hits the big screen. They both look onto the empty plain and stand in silence.
Dorothy receives a letter in the mail – an invitation to the premiere of the film. She excitedly prepares her finest gown and hops on the first bus to California. Dorothy arrives at the premiere and is escorted to her seat toward the back of the theater by the usher. Before the film starts, she tries to get the attention of Jack, Thomas and Robert, but they don't want anything to do with her. She tries to introduce herself to Mayhew as well, but he has no clue who she is. Dennis whispers in his ear that she is the loony tune. Mayhew tells her it was lovely meeting her before quickly scurrying away. As the movie starts, Dorothy is beyond excited. However, as the movie plays on, Dorothy finds that her role has been cut back down to the one line role of Ranch Girl #3. Dorothy leaves the theater and cries on the red carpet outside as the marquee lights are shut off, leaving her in the darkness.
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