Pages 532-536

This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.

Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.

Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.

Page 534

Cuddles Sakall

The actor played the headwaiter, not (as Weisenburger states) a desk clerk, in Casablanca. Rick’s place in the film is a café, not a hotel.

Cleopatra in Freaks

In the film’s unnerving conclusion, the freaks do not merely beat up Cleopatra, as described by Weisenburger, but chant "One of us!" as they transform her into a human chicken! The final image is one that is still omitted from some prints even after the film was re-released following decades of censorship.

Page 535

535.17 the element of Greed must be worked into the plot
A reference to the mutilated film masterpiece directed by Eric von Stroheim in 1924. An adaptation of Frank Norris’ McTeague, the film originally ran for 10 hours. At the insistence of MGM producer Irving Thalberg, von Stroheim cut it back to four hours but that too was finally cut by the studio again. The remaining footage was destroyed.