 Well, well, well, here's Mama Bloom's brood. Today, we find Papa in his office at the Excello Pictures Corporation in Hollywood. As he is waiting, he's fidgeting. Listen. Hello? Hello? Are you there? Do you go to lunch again? Hello? Yeah, yeah, not listen. I want to know something. Ten minutes ago, Mr. Fink and Mr. Schiffbain said they were coming in to see me. Ten minutes ago, it wasn't aimed here yet. Find out if they went by way of the North Pole. Because if they did, I'm going to eat first. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Will I wait? Sure, I'll wait. Sure. Mr. Schlammiel. Ten minutes ago, those two dope said they was coming here in... Hello? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What? Oh, they're on their way. What are they doing? Crawling here? Never mind, never mind. They got here at last. Yeah, yeah. Hello, boys. Hello, Papa. Hi, Papa. Well, well, well, sit down, boys. Sit down. Yeah, we've got some great news for you, Pa. How much? How much what? How much will it cost me to find that out? Oh, stop thinking about money, Pa. Yeah, yeah. If I stop thinking about it, then nobody in the family will be thinking about it at all. Well, well, well, don't sit there. Tell me. What's the good news? Tell them, Harold. No, no, you tell them, Sid. Sidney. Harold, please, wait a minute. Good news you're having to tell me. All right. Why doesn't one of you tell me? If it was bad news, both of you would be breaking your necks to tell me first. But when it's good news, you can't open your mouth, huh? Besides, I don't believe there is any more good news. Okay, then, Pa, listen to this. The big picture's all finished. It's been shot, cut, edited, and it's ready for a preview. Tomorrow night, we're sneaking it into a theater in Pasadena. Is it so bad you got to sneak it in? Well, you don't get it, Pa. We're running a sneak preview on it. You know, just to get the reactions of the people who see it. And those reactions better be plenty good, or our name is... Take it easy, Harold. He should take it easy. I should take it under one. Now, look, boys. I ain't bothered you eating my little bit out about the picture, have I? No, you've been swell. And we appreciate it. All right, all right, all right. So now, listen to me closely, because I'm asking a favor from both of you. Go ahead. What is it, Pa? Now, look, boys, please. In a very soft voice. You shouldn't say it too loud. Tell me something. How much did the picture cost? No, no, no, no. Did the cat get your tonsils? Well, Pa... It's a big picture. It's coming. I feel it in my bones. It's coming. No, so how much did the picture cost? $5,000. $10,000? Or maybe... I'm afraid you didn't think of that. Maybe it even cost $20,000? Well, the... The costs aren't all in yet, Pa, but we'll have them for you. Shouldn't you? Shouldn't you be telling a fib? That I can tell by your face you know what the picture cost? Now, listen, Pa, there are a lot of things you have to take into account. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. See, this is a big picture. Uh-huh. We had to use a lot of extras. We took more time with the sequences, and we had a few location shots that took time and props and extras. We had costumes to get in. Something is going to happen in a minute that I wouldn't want should happen even to my sons-in-laws. Boys, for the first and last time I'm asking you again how much did the picture cost? Go ahead, Harold. Tell them. Uh-uh. You're close to the door. You tell them. Somebody better tell me. Well, Pa, it's just as Harold says. You see, we had a lot of extra stuff in this picture that ran expenses up, and then... then we borrowed an actor. We borrowed an actor. We borrowed an actor. What's the matter? Sit near your machine gun? You're crazy. We should be borrowing actors when we got actors around here on the country. Oh, we needed this one, Pa, to play opposite Marsha Velier. Oh, you needed that one. You needed it, huh? But how much did you pay him? $3,000 a week. $3,000? $3,000? You... Oh, you're very Smith. Boys, for $3,000 a week, I would play opposite her myself. I'll be reasonable, Pa. You're sure. Please, tell me, how much did the picture cost? Well, it cost... My... Oh, hello, Ma. She...she was glad to see you. Hello, boys. You did me 10 minutes ago. You saw me outside. Now you're acting like you ain't seen me in a month of Saturdays. Sundays. To be a gentile. It's Sunday. To me, it's Saturdays. Uh, hello, Pa. Hello, Mama. Well, I... I guess we better be going, Harold. We got a few things to check out. No, no, no, no, no, Harold. Sit near. Not...not...not one foot are you putting out of this office until you're telling me about the picture cost. Is there a argument? There ain't no argument, Mama. I'm only trying to find out something, and these two shlamils are trying to keep me from finding out. Boys, you should be ashamed from yourself. Tell Papa what he wants to know. You shouldn't be keeping secrets from Papa. That's good, Mama. That's good. Uh, Pa, we'll be back in a little while, and then we'll tell you. Come on, Harold. Sure, so long. So long, Pa. Hey, you're sitting here. You're... Hello, Papa. I said hello before, Mama. Sit down, Papa, before you're chucking to Dad. Now, Papa, tell me what's wrong again. Mama, sometimes I think we should have stayed in New York in the knee-pants business. Papa, ain't you having a good time out here? It's such a wonderful climate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I can't pay my bills with climb. I can't walk up to the man who's making the customs for us and tell him to take his payout in sunshine. Who said you should? Maybe Sydney and Harold did. Mama, they're afraid to tell me what the new picture cost. They're beating around the bush because they don't want me to know. Ah, the new picture finished. Was they keeping it for a surprise? They could surprise me anytime without the picture. Mama, tomorrow night they're sneaking it into Pasadena. Oh, you're sneaking it in? Smudgeless we got the sun and lungs. No, no, no, no, you don't understand, Mama. I don't, do you? You've got... Huh? No, no, Mama, I don't. Only Sydney and Harold could tell what Sydney and Harold are talking about. Didn't you ask them? Ten times I asked them what the picture cost. And ten times they found something else to talk about. You should have put your foot up. Down, Mama, down. Up, down, you should have put it someplace. You're telling me. Papa, not that way. It would have been a pleasure. Papa, stop talking like a tough-neck. Maybe you didn't ask the boys real nice. Uh-huh. Should I get down on my knees and beg them to tell me? I would like to know just once who is the president of this company, who? Papa, look, it's like this. Yeah? Maybe the boys are afraid to tell you. Huh? Maybe they think that when they're telling you about a cost you would be flying off the battle. Handle. So you should talk very nice to them when you're being mad even before they tell you. What do you think they would think you would think after you tell them? What? Mama, I'll bet you $10. You couldn't say that again. For $10, I shouldn't try. But I know what I meant. That's good, Mom. That's good. At least one person did. Maybe you should sit here and ask the boys what the picture cost. I'll bet the $100, Mama. It cost at least $20,000. $20,000? Oh, that ain't peanuts. Peanut? Mama, please don't talk like that. I can't help it. I hear everybody talking like that when I come here. So I'm trying to talk like that to understand other people. Mama, then we're alone. You should talk the way we've talked for 25 years. Papa, you shouldn't worry yourself about my conversion, huh? You got enough to worry you right now. You're telling me. Papa, why don't you call the boys back in here and pretend you ain't mad? We'll just talk a little bit, and then very easy we'll bring the subject around to the van to the cost of the picture. Mama, sometimes you got ideas, but they're very bad ones. Papa, I was just giving it to you for whatever's worth. I am making a digestion and right away you'll be touched. I don't even know whether I'm wanting to hear what the picture cost. If it costs $20,000, I'll stay awake one night for each dollar. And if I'm staying awake for 20,000 nights... Then you could write a book like The Lady in the Stars. What are you talking about? Her name was Cherizade, and she had a husband who was an insult. He wanted to cut off her head, but she kept talking, so he couldn't cut off her head while her mouth was open. Then it was a slum meal. That was the time to do it. Papa, you're getting away from the subject. To get away from the subject is spending $20,000. I'd talk about anything else. Papa, remember the old ad-void. Never put up tomorrow, but you're going to do the next day. Mama, I... I don't know why I'm doing this, but to please you, I'll call the boys back in here and pretend I'm not mad. That's good, Papa. That's good. And, uh, loosen your collar so that when you do get mad, your face won't get so red, yeah? I'll get undressed if it'll save me money. Call the boys, Papa. All right, all right. If I can only find the right button, I'll call the boys. This morning I pressed the button, got somebody I didn't even know worked here. What was he doing here? As soon as I can find out who he was, I will ask him. Let me see the... Let's put this one there. There, there. No. Again. There. Here it is. Mr. Schiffbein and Mr. Fink. Mama, I'll bet ten dollars they're going to lunch. Hello. Tell Mr. Schiffbein and Mr. Fink that I want this to come to my office right away. I... Who am I? Don't play ask me again, Papa. Mama, be quiet. I am Mr. Bloom. Yeah. Oh. Now you know. All right. Now that you know, tell him to come here right away. And tell him I want him quick. You see, Papa? It's all very simple. Now, if you will let me do the tucking. And who could stop you? Don't make vice cracks, Jay. If the picture costs one penny, over twenty thousand dollars, I'm going to die. You won't die, Jay. That's very dangerous to your health. That's right. Yeah. All right, look at Mama. Isn't there a good reason that I'm so aggravated? Look, Mama, right around the corner, they have to come to get here. Just around the corner, a little way. And it takes them all this time to get here. You wanted to see us, Papa? Yeah, yeah. We're pretty busy, Papa. Hello. Hello, boys. Hello. Come on in. Sit down. Sit down, boys. Sit down. Smoking cigar. No, no, no. Not those. Not those. The good ones over here. Yeah. Well, what do you want, Papa? Uh, Sidney, Papa and me were tucking. And you know that Papa likes to get his bills paid. Now, you should be telling him about the picture cost, yes? The new picture? Sidney, I... Papa? Ha, ha, ha. I'll close my mouth. Well, we, we haven't quite got it itemized yet. You, um, you don't know what it cost, but you're going to sneak it away? Well, that means we're going to preview it tomorrow night, Ma. So you should know what it cost. Uh, maybe $5,000. Oh, gee, Ma, give us a break. $5,000 is pin money for a picture like this one. Well, for $5,000, you could be buying pins with diamonds in them. Ma, you got to realize that we did a big thing there. I could think of something to say to that, but I'm supposed to be keeping fire. Yeah, Jack. And you aren't doing it. I am. Sidney. And Harold. Don't be bashful. How much did the picture cost? Uh, maybe $10,000, huh? We had a lot of extras. A location shots. Good actors and extras. Costumes. And props. Parking. They can't. Be quiet, Papa. All right. Well, Ma, we, uh, and Harold and I, so we wouldn't have spent all the money on it. It's coming. Harold and Sidney, how much, huh? Look, Papa ain't mad at all. No, no. He's a businessman and he's knowing that to make money, you got to spend it. But not too much. Papa, one more void from you and I'm going home. All right. Go ahead and ask him. Sidney and Harold, I'm waiting. Well, the cost of the picture won't run over $250,000. Ha, ha, ha. There you see, Papa. They've got, well, ouch, baby, I didn't hear it right. How much? $250,000. I, uh, Papa, don't say anything. I, uh, $250,000. I, Papa, I'm proud of you. You never said a void. I, Papa, oh, no wonder he didn't say a void.