- It's raining, George's wife has left him, he's bankrupt, and to top it all off, the stock market has crashed. Everything is awful.
- To make matters worse, Tears of Love is a flop.
- George watches himself on screen from the back of the sparsely populated theater. His character is sinking in quicksand. Seems like a metaphor for his sinking career. ...
- Peppy is also watching the film, from an upper balcony. She has tears in her eyes, and not because the movie's so "terrible."
- Beauty Spot, on the other hand, has people lined up around the block. George's wife twists the dagger in his heart and tells him that Peppy's film is "incredible."