Mercury Pictures Presents

Four months have passed. Artie and Mildred arrive at the premiere of Devil's Bargain. A huge crowd of isolationist protestors and left-wing counterdemonstrators cover the sidewalks and spill into the streets in front of the theatre. Artie usually pays crowds to turn up and attract media attention at his premieres, so there is initially some confusion as to whether or not this turnout is his doing.

Mildred plays on words, stating that David Selznick only works with bigwigs, whereas Artie is a big wig. Years later, after Artie has died, her children show her a press photograph of the event, and Mildred, who has developed dementia, confuses them with her comment, “My big wig” (180). Back in the present, someone in the crowd throws a tomato at the Republican gubernatorial candidate. The crowd erupts into a riot and spills into the cinema. They trample Artie and knock him unconscious.

The narrative shifts back to the Capitol Hill hearing. The committee summons Artie to testify, and he reads out a letter from the Republican Senator Gerald Nye, written after Ned made a $25 campaign donation. By the time Artie returns to Los Angeles, he is a political celebrity, whom the left admires and the right despises.