Problem: Build a movie plot around this: Where did Andrew Woolridge want David to accompany him to? New York

A: Happy-go-lucky advertising executive David Basner (Tom Hanks), who recently got a promotion at his Chicago ad agency, returns to work from a vacation. He is carefree until his parents split up after 36 years of marriage. Out of the blue, he must care for his aging, bitter father Max (Jackie Gleason), as well as support his emotionally fragile mother Lorraine (Eva Marie Saint). Max has also just been fired from his 35-year career in the garment industry. At work, David is developing a commercial for Colonial Airlines, owned by the rich and bullish Andrew Woolridge (Barry Corbin). A successful ad campaign would likely gain David a promotion to partner in his company. David develops a relationship with Woolridge's daughter, no-nonsense Cheryl Ann Wayne (Sela Ward). His father is well aware of David's playboy nature. Asking at one point if his son is in bed with a woman, Max adds: "Anybody you know?"The parents separately each begin to rely more on David, frequently calling him on the phone. His mother needs help moving to a new apartment. His father needs to be driven to an eye doctor. Late one night, David's mother calls to be rescued from a bar after going out on a date, having become frightened when the man tried to kiss her goodnight. At the bar, David's mother confides that his father Max had cheated on her and humiliated her in their marriage. An enraged David goes to confront Max. Their argument ends with David saying: "Tomorrow I'm shooting a commercial about a family who loves each other, who cares about each other. I'm fakin' it." The next day, David is distracted by his problems with his father, affecting his work. As a peace offering, David offers to take Max to a nightclub to hear some of his favored jazz music. While there, David accidentally discovers that his father has been dealing with diabetes and his foot has gangrene.Max must have surgery. Beforehand, he and Lorraine share thoughts about their life together, and she condemns him for his treatment of her. Alone, Max sobs in regret. At the...

Problem: Build a movie plot around this: How old was Martin "Marty" Maher, Jr. when he died? 84

A: The Long Gray Line is based on the life of Martin "Marty" Maher, Jr. (25 June 1876 17 January 1961). Maher was an Irish immigrant from Ballycrine, County Tipperary, Ireland, who joined the United States Army in 1898 and rose to the rank of Master Sergeant. He served as a revered and beloved swimming instructor at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, from 1899 to 1928.Maher retired from the Army in 1928 and stayed at West Point as a civil service (civilian) employee in the athletic department and retired from that in 1946, completing 50 years of service at "The Point" (including two years as a waiter prior to his enlistment). Maher was named an honorary member of the classes of 1912, 1926 and 1928.His autobiography, Bringing Up The Brass: My 55 Years at West Point, cowritten by Nardi Reeder Campion, was published in 1951 by David McKay Company Inc. and was the source of the film.Maher died on 17 January 1961, at the age of 84 and is buried in the West Point Cemetery.

Problem: Build a movie plot around this: Who is after Allen and Madison? United States troops.

A: As an eight-year-old boy, Allen Bauer (David Kreps) is vacationing with his family near Cape Cod. While taking a sight-seeing tour on a small boat, he gazes into the ocean and sees something below the surface that fascinates him, while his older brother Freddie Bauer is walking around the boat fascinated by the women. Allen jumps into the water, even though he cannot swim. He grasps the hands of a girl who is inexplicably under the water with him and an instant connection forms between the two. Allen can now breathe under water as he is in the hands of a mermaid. However, Allen is pulled to the surface by the deck hands and the two are separated, though apparently no one else sees the girl. After the ferry moves off, Allen looks back at the girl, who dives underwater showing her mermaid's tail. Allen comes to believe the encounter was a near-death hallucination, but his bond with the mermaid proves so strong that his subsequent relationships with women fail as he seeks the connection he felt with the mermaid.Years later, Allen (Tom Hanks) is a co-owner of a wholesale fruit and vegetable business in New York City with his womanizing older brother Freddie (John Candy). Depressed after his latest breakup, Allen returns to Cape Cod, where he encounters eccentric scientist Dr. Walter Kornbluth (Eugene Levy). After Allen is left alone when his motorboat conks out, he again falls into the sea, and is knocked out when the boat hits his head. He wakes up with a headache on a beach, where he encounters a beautiful naked woman with long blonde hair, a necklace with a lion medal, and the inability to talk (Daryl Hannah) who, unknown to him, is the mermaid he met as a boy (her tail transforms into legs when it becomes dry). After kissing him, she dives into the sea and leaves Allen to return home. Kornbluth, while diving in order to seek proof of strange sea creatures, also encounters the mermaid in her sea form, causing him to become obsessed with finding her again.The mermaid finds Allen's wallet in the water and goes...

Problem: Build a movie plot around this: What happens when Julien is trapped in the elevator A pair of teenage lovers steal his car and commit crimes in the process

A:
This is an excellent example of "theatre of the absurd", filmed as a "film noir" suspense thriller. "Theatre of the absurd" posits that the universe is a random entity where nothing is likely to happen as expected. I believe Camus and other French writers of his era were the principle exponents of this view of life. Well, here we have certainly an example.A businessman (Julien Tavernier, played by Maurice Ronet), in love with his boss's wife (Florence Carala, played by Jeanne Moreau), plans a murder to look like suicide. This involves using a grappling hook and rope to enable him to climb up a floor without using the elevator. So far, so good. The boss is duly murdered, our "hero" climbs back down, takes the elevator down, and then realises he has left the rope dangling. Well, back up in the elevator, but alas, the building custodian shuts off the power, stopping the elevator between floors. Frantic (also an alternate title along with "Elevator to the Gallows"), our man tries to escape, but he is truly trapped.Meanwhile, at street level, things are not going well for the man's inamorata. She is wandering around wondering what happened to her man, and is "vagged" by the gendarmes for not having her ID papers. There's more. A pair of wandering teenage lovers (Louis and Veronique, played by Georges Poujouly and Yori Bertin), decide to steal the man's car. They know who he is, and freely use his name while committing a few other crimes of their own. Such as stealing a Mercedes 300SL, and murdering the owner and his wife in the process. When the man finally does get out of the elevator after the power is restored in the morning, he discovers that.... But that would be telling, and you will want to find out for yourself. In any case, I have told enough to show that for the protagonist of this tale, the universe is truly a place not to be trusted at all!