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This is the way I heard.

Little Jimmy drove a hard bargain, a fact that no one in Hollywood would ever deny, for instance, when he saw the dog tied to a post outside the liquor store underneath a sign that read 100 dollars, his first thought wasn't, gee, I really want that dog. His first thought was, hmm, how little can I pay for it? Sitting next to the big dog was a skinny kid in his mid 20s who looked like he'd been crying.

Nice dog, said little Jimmy. What kind is it? He's a bull mastiff, said the skinny kid. And he's the best dog in the whole world. Then why are you selling him? Because I can't afford to feed him, said the skinny kid. Hell, I can't afford to feed myself. Little Jimmy had heard many hard luck stories from naive kids who thought they could show up in Hollywood and get famous overnight. He'd been one of those kids himself and learned the hard way.

The dreams didn't pay the rent. You had to drive a hard bargain, especially if you were only four feet tall trying to scratch out a living in an oversized world. You, an actor? Asked Little Jimmy. Sort of, said the skinny kid. Mostly I'm a writer. At least I'm trying to be little. Jimmy turned his attention to the enormous dog at one hundred and forty pounds. It was bigger than he was. Is he friendly?

Of course he's friendly, said the skinny kid. I told you, he's the best dog in the world. The dog offered little Jimmy a massive Paul, which Jimmy shook. Well, look at that, said little Jimmy. I think he likes me. He likes everybody, said the skinny kid. Little Jimmy looked up at the kid. Five, ten, dark hair, baggy pants, dirty tank, top tennis shoes falling apart around his feet.

It was his expression, though, that told little Jimmy all he needed to know the droopy hangdog face of a man so far down on his luck, he had to sell his best friend the face of a man who would take a lot less than one hundred dollars. I'll give you twenty five bucks, said little Jimmy. The kid's face drooped even further, the very picture of despair. My wife and I are hungry. Mister, please. We need every penny we can get.

The big dog leaned over and licked little Jimmy with a tongue the size of a rolled up newspaper. I'll give you forty, said little Jimmy, but not a penny more. The skinny kid sighed and took two twenties, just as little Jimmy knew he would, and stuffed them into the front pocket of his baggy pants. Then he knelt down and kissed his dog on the muzzle. I'm sorry, boy, I got no choice. Then he looked at little Jimmy.

Treat him good, mister. He really is the best dog in the world. With that, the skinny kid with a hangdog face brushed away tears and watched little Jimmy walk off with his best friend, hoping the little man would take care of the big dog. But of course he didn't. Two weeks later, little Jimmy sold the dog to a buyer who made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

The buyer had started at two hundred dollars, but little Jimmy suspected the man making this unsolicited offer would pay more. I love this dog, said little Jimmy. My kids love him.

They'd be heartbroken if I sold him to illustrate the point.

Little Jimmy summoned his kids from the house, who did indeed weep at the prospect of losing their new pet. The offer went from 200 to 400, then 600, then a thousand. But little Jimmy held firm. When the haggling finally stopped, the buyer agreed to pay little Jimmy fifteen thousand dollars for the dog, a staggering amount back in 1976.

But money wasn't the only thing little Jimmy demanded.

Along with the cash, he wanted a speaking role in the movie, the movie that was written in less than four days and sold to the studio for thirty five thousand dollars.

More than enough money for the skinny kid with the hangdog face to repurchase his best friend.

And so he did.

The aspiring writer who sold his dog for forty bucks had vowed on that sad day to buy him back whatever it took. So we wrote a screenplay as fast as he could, a screenplay that turned into a movie in which little Jimmy was given a cameo. Maybe you remember the scene at the conclusion of the main event. Little Jimmy turns to the main character and says. Did you win the main character replies, What are you deaf? At which point little Jimmy, barely visible in a crowd of full grown adults, says, No, I'm just short.

Maybe you don't recall that completely forgettable exchange between an anonymous dwarf named Little Jimmy and the star of the movie. Maybe you don't recall the 140 lb bullmastiff named Butkus, who also appeared in that very same movie. But I bet you remember the movie itself, the movie that was written in less than four days by a skinny kid desperate to repurchase the dog. He couldn't afford to feed the same skinny kid who put on a few pounds in order to play the lead character.

In the first movie, he wrote and starred in The Best Picture of 1976, a film about an underdog called Rocky, written by another underdog who missed his best friend, Sylvester Stallone. Anyway, that's the way I heard it.