
            At the Venus de Milo nightclub in Nice on the French Riviera, gigolo Christopher Tracy (Prince) raises a glass for a toast and plays piano for the patrons. A voiceover says he lived for money, entertaining rich women of all types, but died for just one woman after learning the true meaning of love. As he plays, a mysterious woman in white appears and sits at a specially placed chair to listen to him play. At a nearby table sits his partner Tricky (Jerome Benton), who has a server pass Christopher napkins with notes on how to win her over, and reminders that they need money. With suggestive eye contact and body language they silently size each other up until she sends over a drink for him and leaves a sizeable wad of money on the table as she leaves, confirming their assignation for the evening.The following morning Christopher has discreetly left a note on the pillow of the woman in white and gone to a private hillside grotto where he keeps a piano and writes poetry and music. Back in Nice, he doles out money to some passing kids and helps a woman select flowers in the market before returning to his apartment. Tricky is making out with the landlady, Katy (Emmanuelle Sallet), who is demanding payment on two months of back rent under threat of turning them out on the streets. After joking and stalling, Christopher gives up a wallet full of money as he heads to their room for a bath. He tells Tricky that Mrs. Wellington (Francesca Annis), the woman in white, is divorced and worth three million dollars. The goal of getting rich through marriage is part of their profession of fleecing people, but Christopher wants a bigger payload. Tricky points out a newspaper headline that Mary Sharon (Kristin Scott Thomas), daughter of a billionaire shipping magnate, has just turned 21 and will receive a trust fund worth $50 million dollars. Christopher says he would consider marrying her for that amount of money. Mrs. Wellington calls and asks Christopher for some seductive poetry on the phone, so he slips into the bathtub and woos her, then laughs with Tricky after they hang up.At the party for Mary Sharon, her father Isaac (Steven Berkoff) has pulled out all the stops, with circus animals and fire breathers, and a guest list of the richest folks on the Gold Coast, but he is absent from the event. A band of observers known as the Jaded Three (Victor Spinetti, Myriam Tadesse, Moune De Vivier) follow the circus parade through the grounds as they gossip about Isaac. Muriel Sharon (Alexandra Stewart) is waiting with the others for Mary, who suddenly shows up in nothing but a sheet, opens it for the assembled guests and asks if they like her birthday suit. She then takes over the drum kit, and the band joins her in an impromptu performance. She sees Christopher, who turns on the charm, but she is not impressed and goes to change into a gown for her party, asking her three friends (Pamela Ludwig, Barbara Stall, Karen Geerlings) to watch over the two party crashers.When she returns her friends fill her in on Christopher, saying he made the rounds twice to check out all the women, and Tricky is also at work. Mrs. Wellington gives Mary a present. Tricky introduces himself and she blows him off as she heads to the fountain away from the crowd. She tosses the present behind her shoulder and Christopher catches it. She tries to put him off with rude retorts as he opens the box for her and finds a deck of tarot cards. When Mary realizes the appearance of Mrs. Wellington has set him on edge, she takes him over to introduce him to Muriel, who is talking with her. Muriel asks if he reads cards professionally, and he replies that he only does things for fun.Tricky gets Mary to join his conga line with the other partygoers, but her friends pull her away to take a phone call from her fiancée Jonathan, who is in New York. After she puts his off-key birthday song on the speaker phone, she sees Christopher is in the room. They exchange insulting banter, and Jonathan overhears it, thinking she is talking to him. Annoyed, she ultimately hangs up on him. Christopher gives her a free pass to the Venus de Milo, but as he rejoins Tricky she orders the bouncers to throw them out. Mrs. Wellington is leaving the party so Christopher joins her. At her home the answering machine picks up a live call from Isaac, who says he will be back home in the morning, giving her and Christopher another night of fun. He plays piano during the message and misses that Isaac said he plans to visit at 7:00 the next night.In the morning Mary has come up with a retort for a remark Christopher aimed at her before being ejected from the party, finally heads to the club and interrupts his playing to deliver it. He asks if she had worked all night to come up with the line. Chastened, she tells him Mrs. Wellington passed her word that she wants Christopher at her house at 7:00 that evening.Tricky dances with Mary and treats her with politeness and respect, making her feel more comfortable. He says he wants a special woman to add new perspective in his life. She invites them to another venue called Le Pavilion to see if they blend into the finer side of life. Christopher cuts in and takes her onto the terrace. They dance and continue to exchange insults until it wears thin and they ask what each wants from the other. Christopher tries to entice her, but has to leave or he will be late to his date with Mrs. Wellington. Pulling up at her home with champagne and glasses, he sees an impressive car parked there. Sitting in the driver seat, he finds the license and sees the car belongs to Isaac. Realizing Mary is using him to get at her father and his own affair with Mrs. Wellington, he yells taunts at the house and pulls away, leaving the champagne behind as the two rush out in disheveled clothes.As the pair dress for the evening, Christopher says Mary knows who she is but not what she wants, and Tricky thinks she will want to marry him instead. She is not accustomed to their way of life, however, and they mull over how to show it to her. At home Mary says she wants to joyride in the boat, and her father objects. She is testing her independence and they argue over the trust, which Isaac has modified to include the condition that Mary wed Jonathan. Christopher teases Tricky, saying Isaac and Muriel would not approve of their union and the police would arrest him, while he would sit by and deny he knows him. They stare each other down and Tricky breaks eye contact first, making Christopher laugh.At the venue Tricky insists Mary likes him better and will dance to his tune, and Christopher gets an idea to bring her down to their world. Inside the restaurant Christopher taunts Mary that she is not familiar with the kind of life in their native Miami. He writes down the words "wrecka stow" on a napkin. They prod her to repeat the words loudly, but she cannot fathom the phrase. He and Tricky laugh raucously, and their behavior disturbs the patrons. Christopher finally asks Mary where one would go to buy a Sam Cooke album, and she realizes she is looking at a phonetic urban pronunciation for a record store.The staff clear a space on the floor for dancing, and Tricky hauls a huge boom box to the stage to play their own music, which the patrons gamely dance to. The maître d' has phoned Isaac, who shows up with his bodyguard Lou (Guy Cuevas) and his retinue. They break the boom box and put an end to the evening. Mary says she wanted to do something special for once, but when he says they are going home, she obediently follows him out. Isaac asks Lou to get information about Christopher and Tricky.At the apartment, Tricky confesses that he likes Mary, but Christopher tells him to just keep handling the money in the partnership. Mary calls Christopher, unable to get to sleep, and vaguely suggests that she wants him, so he and Tricky proceed to the house and set up a ladder to a second floor balcony so Christopher can seduce her. He tells Tricky to whistle four times if they need to abort the mission, then enters the bedroom pretending to be a pizza delivery man. He whispers that he will take care of everything, and she replies in a strange voice that she takes medication to sleep. Outside, Tricky spots Mary, whose bedroom is actually on the third floor. He smiles and is about to leave his partner in the predicament when he spots men patrolling the grounds. Unable to whistle through a dry mouth, Tricky climbs the ladder and pitches stones at Christopher to distract him and tell him he is actually with Muriel, and they manage to escape. Isaac comes to bed, and a now seductive Muriel, warmed up by Christopher, takes control of her own satisfaction.The next day Mary visits the two at their apartment and shows them a consolation gift of money from her father for missing her birthday party. They go on a shopping spree. Christopher buys a car from the Jaded Three to give to Mary, while she and Tricky buy pricey clothes and watches. Christopher whispers to her to meet him at the hippodrome after sunset before she goes off for more shopping with Tricky.Later Christopher tells Tricky he wants to leave the business and become an honest man. At a small café they discuss the power of love, and Christopher feels that two people who truly loved each other could never be separated. Tricky tries to stress that they are engaged in business and need to get enough money to return to Miami before Isaac gets them. They do not see Lou watching them, and the place clears out quickly when Tricky sees bats on the ceiling. Later they dress for the evening, and Christopher says he will meet Tricky at the club in two hours, as he must do something before picking up Mary. He waits at the hippodrome for Mary, who drives up in her new car. They race, finally kiss and spend the evening together, and a furious Tricky leaves the club when he realizes he has been stood up.In the car after they share a laugh, Christopher asks Mary why Isaac is so cruel. Still programmed by the class structure she has been raised on, she says he is considered a peasant. He makes remarks about their relationship compared to how she would act with Jonathan, she gets angry and tells him to shut up. He pretends to be indignant and says he is calling her father. He calls Mrs. Wellington from a nearby phone booth, knowing Isaac is there, and pretends to be Lou to speak with him. When he answers the phone, Christopher taunts Isaac by saying that he loves Mary and she will come around to loving him, threatening to tell Muriel if Isaac attempts to separate them. Mary cuts the call short and tells Christopher that her father has the chief of police in his pocket, but he says he can destroy Isaac, and they make out in the booth while Lou, in a concealed car nearby, keeps a watch on them.The next morning Isaac yells at Mary when she finally arrives at home after being out all night. She ignores him until he grabs her arm and rants about how her marriage to Jonathan will increase the net worth for both families, and she realizes he is pawning her off to Jonathan in his greed for more money. At the apartment, Christopher comes home to a drunken Tricky, who yells at him for breaking all the rules they made in their partnership. Tricky says Christopher is jealous because he can steal Mary, and insults him. Christopher leaves to find Mary waiting at the front door for him, hoping they can get away for a while. He takes her in a small motorboat to the grotto, where they make love. Isaac calls Sam (Sam Karmann) to help him deal with the problem.As they drive back to the club, Mary points out to Christopher that a limo sent by her father is following them. Tricky comes out of the bar, where Katy has been trying to smooth things over and curb his drinking, but Tricky brings up the first conversation Christopher had with him, in which he said he would consider marrying Mary for $50 million dollars. Feeling she has been used all along, Mary leaves in the limo. At home Mary confronts Muriel, saying she is hurt by the hypocrisy on which they raised her. Muriel tells her daughter she feels hurt as well. Mary wants to leave for New York immediately.Christopher has entered the club and downed several drinks. An older woman, a former client, accosts him, saying she misses him. Realizing his lifestyle has gotten him nowhere, he runs off and winds up at Mrs. Wellingtons home. She hands him a check from Isaac for $100 thousand dollars to keep him away from Mary, but he writes a classic obscenity on it, hands it back and is ready to leave when she tells him Mary is leaving at midnight on the family plane for New York. As he pulls off, she wishes him good luck.At the airport, Christopher pleads with Mary for five minutes so he can talk to her, determined to seal their love for each other. He drives away with her and parks the car so they can talk in private, while Isaac arrives at the airport and insists that Mary was abducted against her will. Mary says she does not know him anymore, so Christopher gets into the back seat and puts on dark sunglasses, saying nothing while she unloads her frustrations on him, at one point calling him a whore, which visibly affects him. When she says she hates him, he replies he loves her, and after some give and take, she realizes she does love him, and as they kiss he offers a chance to go away together forever.Tricky returns to the apartment, rehearsing his speech to Christopher so they can mend their partnership, but finds Lou and the others there. They rough him up when he refuses to reveal where Christopher is, and knock him out. Isaac receives a call that investigators found the car Christopher drives parked at the harbor. Mary awakens in the grotto to find a poem Christopher has written about being an honest man, noting that, even in death, they would always be together. At the apartment Isaac calls Lou to send the men to the harbor, and Tricky comes to in time to escape with Katy.Christopher meets up with Tricky at the harbor, and Tricky promises to be the best man if the wedding comes off. He and Katy deal with Lou and the men as they close in. Isaac arrives with the harbor patrol on the water, and Christopher heads out in the motorboat to get Mary. She races down from the grotto when she hears the commotion, and a marksman on the boat is told to shoot Christopher. Mary pleads with him to run away, but he gets off the boat onto the dock, saying he will not go without her, and a shot is fired. As a distraught Tricky falls to his knees in prayer, Mary goes to the dock and cradles Christopher, who smiles and dies in her arms. When Isaac arrives to take Mary home, she says she is going with Christopher and accompanies the patrol boat, leaving Isaac alone on the dock.Time passes, and Tricky has returned to Miami in style, driving a Rolls Royce. He has become an apartment manager. Katy brings a letter that has arrived from Mary, who is now his investor. She has stayed single, and notes Christopher was right. She will come to Miami soon to visit, and says for Tricky to give Katy a hug for her. She is ready for her hug, but the tables have turned and a smiling Tricky reminds his tenant that her rent is late and he will throw her out onto the Miami streets. Though Christopher is gone, life will go on for his friends.
    

Under the Cherry Moon


            The nightclub scene in Minneapolis since the events in Purple Rain has centered on an area called Seven Corners, which houses four venues: the Clinton House, owned by George (George Clinton); an eponymous club belonging to Melody Cool (Mavis Staples) who is raising a son, Tevin (Tevin Campbell); the Glam Slam, which the Kid (Prince) oversees, and Pandemonium, run by Morris (Morris Day). At a meeting with his sidekick Jerome (Jerome Benton) and members of the Time who serve as enforcers, Morris announces a game he wants to play called See How They Run, in an attempt to bogart (monopolize) control of all the clubs. The owner of the club First Avenue died and left an even split of interest in the Glam Slam between the power-hungry Morris and the Kid, so Morris tends to focus on ousting his rival. Terry (Terry Lewis) speaks on behalf of the other enforcers, saying if Morris is going to make more money, they also want a larger cut of the profit. Morris responds by challenging Terry to eat a whole, extremely hot chili pepper. Morris starts by easily biting off a pepper nearly to its stem, then passes the jar to Terry, who eats a pepper but cant tolerate its heat and makes a hasty exit, losing the bet for his friends.Meanwhile the Kid is in his living space below the stage at the club, and his obsession with writing music is keeping him awake, so he gets out of bed, leaving Jill (Jill Jones) alone so he can sit and compose on his computer. She has had enough of living with a musician, and his particularly quirky lifestyle, and announces she is leaving him, saying Morris has offered her a job at his club which will pay better.A feather floats from the sky, and a woman named Aura (Ingrid Chavez) appears seemingly from nowhere. In her thoughts she asks Heaven why she has been sent there. The enforcers have planted a mild explosive at the Glam Slam, and the blast brings the Kid upstairs to see the damage, which is minor and doesnt seem to deter him.Morris arrives at Seven Corners angry because the Glam Slam is still standing, but makes a grand entrance while his girlfriend and lead dancer Robin (Robin Power) stands with the crowd. A puddle separates Morris from the curb, so Jerome approaches Robin, pulls off her dyed fur cape and sets it on the water for Morris to deliberately step on as he passes. He enters the Glam Slam and the Kid plays a synthesized fanfare to announce his arrival to the audience. Morris reads him off because he is not happy with the more spiritual musical themes the Kid prefers to perform. Everybody in the audience laughs at the intruders until Morris and the Time turn a recorded piece of their banter into a complete song and commandeer the stage from the Kid and his band. The band members are embarrassed by being upstaged in their own club, and watch helplessly as the club patrons head to Pandemonium. Morris touches a plant on the floor and says it feels thirsty, so he and Jerome tease the Kid by singing the alphabet song and, when they reach the letter P, urinate on the plant and then set it on fire. The Kid rides to a popular spot called Graffiti Bridge and sees Aura, but they do not talk to each other. Instead, he returns to the club thinking about her and a message haunting him that something is "just around the corner." he starts to paint the lyrics on a brick wall near the back entrance to the club, but stops.Morris is angry that the Kid is usurping power he wants, and Robin is angry at him for ruining her cape and reminds him that she helped fund Pandemonium. The enforcers arrive with money collected from the other clubs, noting that George might be holding out and the Kid should have a light evening with little income. He is performing a spiritual pop number and few patrons stay to enjoy it, but those who do are completely absorbed by the message of peace and love. Aura leaves the club to write poetry at the bridge, while the Kid mentally writes a letter to his now deceased father, noting he is curious about Aura and has visited his mother, who is institutionalized.Tevin draws the Kid out to watch him and his crew perform, and an appreciative audience throws money, which Melody encourages him to collect after he tells her there are twenty dollar bills among the tips. Jill walks by, and the band members tell the Kid she is now working at Pandemonium. When he asks about her relationship with Morris, she silently reaches up her skirt and removes her panties, leaving them on the ground as she walks away with contempt.Aura is still sitting at Graffiti Bridge writing poetry when Morris and Jerome drive in. Morris asks Jerome to set up a meeting with her while he leans against the vehicle with his hand deliberately poised at his fly. Once Jerome has introduced himself, Aura asks him if Morris needs a restroom, and he replies that Morris is posing by the Porsche, but she is not impressed. Morris behaves rudely, but she rides back to Pandemonium with him, certain he has redeeming qualities. He plies her with alcohol at the club, while Jill is given her shot at performing. The band members drag the Kid to the club, telling him Morris has a new girl who might be better suited for him. Meanwhile Aura is acting as if she is inebriated while trying to win over Morris, thinking over what to say and do to sway him. Robin, feeling she is being replaced, storms out.Morris and Jerome lure Aura into the car and take her home, and the Kid follows on his cycle. Morris sets a sleepy Aura onto the couch and tells Jerome she will awaken and fall in love with the first face she sees. The Kid slips into the room and blows out the single lit candle, carrying her away as the room goes dark. Morris decides he wants to touch Aura and then tells Jerome that she seems to have a hairy chest as they fumble for the lights. Only Jerome and Morris are in the room when the lights come on, sitting on the same couch, and they realize to their disgust that they were touching each other.The Kid carries Aura back to the Glam Slam and, while he puts her to bed, imagines a love scenario with her, but he does not touch her. In the morning she awakens and the Kid draws a simple game of hangman on a pad, but she simply runs the alphabet until she loses. When he fills out the answer (mine), which is really a question about their relationship, she says no and points skyward, saying she is His. She looks over the songs on his sheet music and warns not to get too close to her as she will not be staying long.Morris becomes short tempered with everybody after the mayor calls about a payoff, and he grumbles to Jerome that he grew up in a family that had nothing and he intends to keep what he has. Jerome challenges his authority, and they launch into a contest in which they dole out their paper money bill for bill to determine who has the most. It appears to be a draw until Morris pulls a bill from a hidden compartment in his shoe.The Kid tells Aura he hopes for a sign that everything will be okay. As they embrace, he says nothing matters anymore. They spend the day together. When he says he feels nobody likes his music, Aura tells him he loses nothing by believing. Encouraged by her support and wanting to end the rivalry, the Kid goes to Pandemonium and challenges Morris to a battle of the bands for control of the Glam Slam. After hurling a few insults, Morris agrees. Back at the Glam Slam, the Kid rests and questions how much more he can take from Morris in another imagined letter to his father. The enforcers enter the club and wreck the instruments and sound boards to cripple the band.The night of the battle, Aura tells Jerome she will do whatever it takes to make Morris stop, while the Time take the stage for a rousing number. The Kid and the band arrive outside and set up with their few intact instruments and pyrotechnics, drawing the patrons from Pandemonium to hear his song, which is filled with sexual innuendo. Ultimately it is not considered a match for the style of Morris and his band. Aura worries the Kid will sink into despair as he smashes a guitar through a window in front of his club and rides off, heading to the bridge. Aura catches up with him and sees he is depressed. She shows him her poetry and tells him not to give up.Morris begins to compose his takeover letter to the other club owners but is interrupted by Robin, who asserts herself as his number one woman, strips down to a thong and leather wear revealing a strong dancing body, turns on strobe lights and appears to be about to work him over like a dominatrix for selecting Aura over her, and he seems to break the cinematic fourth wall to announce a commercial break as the screen goes black.The enforcers start to work out their plan to take full control of all the clubs for Morris by having the owners sign over their deeds, but Melody Cool stands her ground with the help of Aura and a mass of friends, including the Kid. The enforcers proceed to work over George, but the Kid warns him not to sign. In the chaos the feather, which has always floated freely if Aura was not holding it in her hand, suddenly rises on the wind, and Aura heeds its call as if in a trance. She reminds the Kid not to give up, then as the bouncer for George (Scott Parham) makes off with the deed for the club before the enforcers can take it and speeds out in a jeep, Aura walks into its path and is killed instantly. The vehicle crashes into the front of the Glam Slam. An ambulance takes Aura away, and as the two sides face each other in a silent standoff, Morris asks the Kid how he wants to die.Feeling he has lost everything and everyone who mattered to him, the Kid goes to Graffiti Bridge with a handgun, prepared to commit suicide as his father had, but he envisions Aura from their time together, reminding him that he would win if he would not give up. He drops the gun and returns to Seven Corners.The Time put together a celebratory concert on a float outside Pandemonium, but nobody attends, as they are joining the Kid in singing and dancing to a religious ballad he is performing using the words he had been hearing when Aura arrived ("It's just around the corner"). A choir joins him in song. Robin pleads with Morris to give the Kid his club, and finally he enters the Glam Slam to concede, and they embrace. As he leaves and the group starts to restore the club, Morris notices his skillet has been painted over, but Robin will not let him take action on it. She takes him home to Pandemonium to give him her own brand of consolation. On the wall outside the club, the Kid has painted the title lyrics about finding Graffiti Bridge.
    

Graffiti Bridge


            
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Jerome Benton

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