University of Virginia Library

True Flavor

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!"
he said in greeting me with great
fervor. "I understand you're here to
talk about 'Little Fauss and Big
Halsy.' Great movie isn't it? Yeah,
I'm really proud to be connected
with it. I said when we started
making it that all I wanted was to
wind up with a piece of filmic art
which tells it like it is, that catches
the true flavor of motorcycle racing
and the people involved in it, that
tells the story of two small-time
bike riders—one a hot-shot stud and
the other a homely, soft-spoken
loser—with originality and insight.
Yeah, sure makes me feel good to
think we achieved out artistic goals.
Hey, how about some coffee?"

"Sounds good."

"There you go. Ooh, it's hot.
Excuse me for a second, will you?
I'll be right back."

Plink. Plink.

"Now, where were we? Oh yeah,
I was telling you about 'Fauss and
Halsy.' Ah, this coffee is good.
Suppose you tell me what you
thought of the movie."

"Well, it's not really bad, but I
did get the impression that I had
seen it before."

"Of course you have,
ding-a-ling! You saw "Easy Rider"
last year, didn't you? And "Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?"
Boy, those two really cleaned up at
the b.o. We figured a combination
of the two would make millions for
us. We set out to please everyone.
The bikes assured us the cycle set
audience."