With his wife in a mental hospital, a dwindling novelist career, and terrified by his tuberculosis, F. Scott Fitzgerald struggles to rekindle his passion and genius for writing, while fighting off the irresistible charms of a new love and the grip of the gin bottle, which both threaten to derail his comeback.

SYNOPSIS:

This is the untold story of the summer of 1935, when the Scott Fitzgerald we think we know, plunges to the lowest ebb of his life. In order to understand that depth, we first must experience the contrast of his peak.

So… Summer of Scott opens in the Summer of 1923, when he’s the toast of society, living among the wealthy on Long Island’s North Shore. His writing made him rich, won him the hand of Zelda, and anointed him the handsome scribe of the Roaring 20’s, which he named “The Jazz Age.” Money! Booze! Dancing! Fun!

But then, we jump ahead 12 years, and observe Scott’s world during Summer, 1935. Whiplash! Carefree Zelda is now a permanent asylum patient in Baltimore. Scott is broke, from paying for her care. He’s ignored his own health to the point where he has active tuberculosis. His recent work hasn’t sold, and he’s afraid his talent has abandoned him. But actually… he is sober. Scott’s goal is simple… to be alone without distractions, recover his health, and get back to writing something which proves his skill is still intact.

For his TB, Scott is sent to a doctor in Asheville, and he moves into The Grove Park Inn, an elegant hotel for the wealthy. Scott’s first distraction is divorcée Laura Guthrie, who also moved there to treat her TB. At the Inn, Laura reads palms for guests, reading Scott’s, and soon becomes his secretary and confidante. This script is based on a 60,000-word diary Laura wrote about that summer. They kept it professional, so she’s not a love interest… she’s our trustworthy narrator.

Beatrice Dance checks in… a beautiful blonde from San Antonio money, traveling companion for her sister Eleanor, who has come to “take the cure.” Beatrice is married… to an Army colonel, but when she meets Scott… that romantic schoolgirl still inside her decides to pursue him. On Fourth of July, Beatrice and Scott make their own fireworks.

Scott feels a bit guilty, but mostly, he just gets swept away by what he later swore was his “first true love since meeting Zelda,” who isn’t around anymore, either physically… or mentally. So, in Summer of Scott, he must choose whether to just leave his wife in an asylum and take off with an eager trophy who is wealthy enough to pay all his debts, support his daughter… and his wife, leaving him free to write without a care, the rest of his life. Or just say “no”.

The scariest potential conflict isn’t moral… it’s physical: the husband of Beatrice, who flies from Texas to play golf. Beatrice inserts her sister Eleanor into the middle of lying to him about the affair, making Eleanor more mentally ill, and almost killing her. The husband gets wind of the shenanigans, and Scott truly fears being killed by him in a jealous rage.

Scott does make the noble choice and breaks it off with Beatrice. But, to console himself, he starts drinking gin like its water, plunging him to the lowest depth of his life. Earlier that summer, Scott had met a bookstore owner named Tony, who introduced him to a quirky call-girl named Lottie, at first just to interview. But Scott eventually turns to her for comfort, after Beatrice has left. Lottie learns unknown things about Scott and Zelda’s sexuality, and ends up caring for him deeply. Lottie, Tony and Laura team up to save Scott from killing himself, with booze or fevers… or any other way.

Fitzgerald almost dies of pneumonia, but when he finally reaches the very bottom… he understands his “crack-up,” and finally writes the truth about it. Scott pulls himself up again, to fight for his life and art, rather than just waiting to die. He gains a new audience, and regains the trust of MGM, which takes him to Hollywood, starting his successful climb out of his pit of debt and despair. He triumphs over adversity, and writes The Last Tycoon… left unfinished by his sudden death.