He and Babe make Going Bye-Bye!
They make Them Thar Hills.
They make The Live Ghost.
They make Tit for Tat.
They make The Fixer Uppers.
They make Thicker Than Water.
These are the last of them. No more short pictures. Hal Roach will have his way. The industry will have its way.
He feels the heart going out of him. He can tolerate Hal Roach’s manipulation of contracts, Hal Roach’s refusal to pay him what he believes to be his due, Hal Roach’s coolness toward him—he can tolerate all these as long as he can make the pictures he wishes to make, as long as he can be proud of what he creates, and as long as he can be with Babe. Babe is alone in understanding the effort he puts into the construction of these pictures, and the cost of that effort to him. Babe is alone in understanding how much he cares about what appears on the screen after their names.
And meanwhile Hal Roach hunts.
Hal Roach flies his plane.
Hal Roach blusters.
Hal Roach licenses Henry Ginsberg to engage in guile and perfidy.
Because Hal Roach does not care.