Mercury Pictures Presents

The narrator describes the miniature model of the film studio, Mercury Pictures, that stands in the lobby of the studio’s executive office. The figure of Maria Lagana is briefly described before she appears and stands in the same position as the figurine.

Maria and her boss, Artie Feldman, discuss his upcoming hearing before the Senate Investigation Into Motion Picture War Propaganda. Their latest film, Devil’s Bargain, is a retelling of the legend of Faust in which a Berlin filmmaker agrees to make propaganda films in exchange for funding for his magnum opus. Joseph Breen, the production code censor, cuts the script so heavily that the project is irretrievable.

Artie calls the trial a sham. He promises to give Maria producer’s credit on Devil’s Bargain if she gets it past the censors.

Maria then meets with her boyfriend, Eddie Lu. Eddie is a budding Shakespearean actor who is never cast because of his Chinese ethnicity. The two spot the German miniaturist Anna Weber, who worked on Lang’s Metropolis before fleeing to Los Angeles. Anna considers the growing numbers of exiled Europeans who arrive at Mercury. She recalls the miniature model of Mercury Pictures and imagines pulling back further, looking beyond the studio to see Anna home alone, Artie