All language subtitles for The Group (1966) 720p web x264-regret

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(LADY TAPPING ON TABLE)

LADY: All right, girls,
attention, please.

(PITCH PIPE SOUNDING)

Here we go.
One, two...

CHORUS: ♪ The landlord
fill the flowing bowl

♪ Until it doth run over

♪ The landlord fill
the flowing bowl

♪ Until it doth run over

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

(BELL DINGING)

♪ Tomorrow we'll be sober

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ Someday we'll be sober

♪ The little girl
who gets us a kiss

♪ And runs to
tell her mother

♪ The little girl
who gets us a kiss

♪ And runs to
tell her mother

♪ Does a very foolish thing

♪ Does a very foolish thing

♪ Does a very foolish thing

♪ And never get another

♪ The little boy
who gets us a kiss

♪ And runs to
tell his brother

♪ The little boy
who gets us a kiss

♪ And runs to
tell his brother

♪ Does a very,
very good thing

♪ Does a very,
very good thing

♪ Does a very,
very good thing

♪ And brother gets another

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ For tonight
we'll merry, merry be

♪ Tomorrow we'll be sober

♪ We'll build a bungalow

♪ Big enough for two

♪ It'll be big enough
for two, my honey

♪ Big enough for two

♪ For when we marry,
happy will we be

♪ Sit down under
the bamboo tree

♪ If you'll be M-I-N-E, mine

♪ I'll be T-H-I-N-E, thine

♪ And I'll L-O-V-E, love

♪ You all the T-I-M-E, time

♪ You are the B-E-S-T, best

♪ Of all the R-E-S-T, rest

♪ I'll L-O-V-E, love

♪ You all the time

♪ Just like a W-A-L-K, walk

♪ Up in the P-A-R-K, park

♪ I will kiss, kiss, kiss

♪ You in the D-A-R-K, dark

♪ It takes a K-I-S-S, kiss

♪ To make an M-I-S-S, miss

♪ And I'll love, love, love
you all the T-I-M-E, time ♪

(VOCALIZING)

(CHORUS SINGING IN GERMAN)

And we the class
of '33 go forth.

In time of
economic crisis.

A time that asks
the women of America

to play a role
in every sphere
of the nation's life.

This we have prepared
ourselves to do.

In the arts,
in the sciences,

in industry,
and in the making
of our laws.

In politics,

we believe that all
shades of opinion are
entitled to a hearing.

(CLAPPING)

And we believe,

as we take up
our separate roles,

that it is only in
achieving the highest
personal fulfillment,

the goal of
our education,

that each will make
the greatest contribution
to our emergent America.

(ALL CLAPPING)

CHORUS: ♪ Tune all
your voices

♪ And instruments play

♪ To celebrate,
to celebrate

♪ Our triumphant way

(ALL CHATTERING)

Everybody,
everybody,
listen to me.

♪ We'll build
a bungalow big
enough for two... ♪

(WILD CHEERING)

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)
Listen, Mother.

Hail, '33,
your class
correspondent,

Helena Davison
signing in.

Send all tidbits,
gossip welcome.

Hot off the griddle.
Kay Strong, the first
to be married to Harald,

with an "A," Peterson,
a budding genius
of the theater.

The day, June 10th,
the place,
St. Mark's Church,

St. Mark's Place,
New York.

Really, Helena.

Invitations orally by
the bride, no parents
present.

Most unconventional.

Harald Peterson.

Who'd a thunk it?

A church
wedding, hah?

Kay, the scoffer
and atheist.

She would.

She'll introduce him
as a Yale man.

He only did a little
graduate work in drama.

(SCOFFS) Typical of Kay,
used to drive us wild.

But Kay's a darling.

Mother, Kay has
been living with
Harald for a year.

Weekends in New York,
even flaunting it.

Libby, we've got
to get organized.

Wedding presents first.

Individual or one
from all of us?

No, one from all of us.
So much cheaper that way.

What about a reception?
Has Kay decided anything?

She's been angling
like mad for
Pokey's townhouse.

(GIGGLING)

Very posh,
she'll love that.

Or next best,
Long Island,
the Prisses.

Much as I'd love
to do it for Kay,
Priss,

your own wedding
so soon now is all a poor
widow woman can manage.

Oh, Mother!

What's the problem?
Have them come up here.
How many? Twenty?

I've cooked for
50 in my time.

With a staff
of ten, Henry.

That's sweet of
you, Father, but

it's too far, Harald
has to be back at
the theater that evening.

No honeymoon?

Who thinks of
honeymoons these
days, Mother?

Especially if
you've already had it.

Since there's only two
days left and Kay hasn't
decided anything yet.

And we know that
she can't afford it,
then Mother and I...

Hold it, dear,
she has.

She just called,
a wedding breakfast.

She and Harald
are throwing it.

It's so much
nicer that way.

Really, Dottie,
so much nicer.

(WOMEN GIGGLING)

Who are they?

The groom's team.

Hmm.

Who's the
good-looker?

Harald's
painter friend.

Oh, the neighbor?

And Kay's, dear,
on weekends.

(WOMEN GIGGLING)
Shh!

Where is
the breakfast?

Brevoort.
Mmm.

Charming old hotel.

So much more
appropriate, don't
you think, Libby?

What?

Kay giving
the breakfast.

City Hall would have
been more appropriate
too, I think.

Instead of trying to
carry off a wedding in
Peter Stuyvesant's church.

Harald not to the manor
born, exactly.

(WOMAN GIGGLING)

Doesn't she know
a black hat is bad
luck for weddings?

PRIEST: Dearly beloved,
we are gathered together
here in the sight of God...

My God! Harald in
brown suede shoes.

Shut up.

Into this holy estate,

these two persons
present come now
to be joined.

If any man can
show just cause

why they may not be
lawfully joined together,

let him now speak
or else hereafter
forever hold his peace.

Katherine Leslie, wilt
thou have this man
for thy wedded husband,

to live together
after God's ordinance

in the holy estate
of matrimony,

so long as
you both shall live?

I will.

Hey, Kay, we're
going with you.

KAY: Goodbye,
everybody!

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

I still think that we
should have done something
about the reception.

No, I don't agree.

There's certainly
no need to encourage
Kay's pretensions, hmm.

How hard
you can
be, Lakey.

Yet Kay
adores you.

And you used to like
her best in your
heart of hearts.

(CLEARS THROAT) You might
spare me a cliche like
"heart of hearts," Dottie.

Let me off
here, please.

DOTTIE: Lakey,
aren't you coming?

Go ahead.

A toast to the
bride and groom.

Down the hatch.
ALL: Down the hatch.

(LAUGHING)

Where's Lakey?

Oh, she was
feeling awful.

Terrible cramps. She
had to go to the hotel
and lie down.

Oh, is that
true, Libby?
True?

(LAUGHING)

Why, Kay.

Uh, there's a little
drugstore on the
corner of 59th Street.

(CHUCKLES) All the
prescription whiskey
you want.

Oh, say, this Italian
showed me how
to make anisette.

Uh, you take water,
straight alcohol

and oil of anise.
That gives it the milky
color like in Pernod.

(MEN CHUCKLING)
Oh, boy!

Kay, where did
you get this man?

I know Harald
way back when,

high school
in Boise.

Isn't Kay
a honey?

How come
her parents
didn't show?

Well, I believe they sent
a check rather than make
the trip, you know.

You're a friend
of Harald's,
aren't you?

Hmm, yes...

Since the fall
of the dollar,
we occupied some

furnished rooms together.

Or perhaps
you knew that.

An inelegant arrangement.
The john, as you girls
call it, is down the hall.

And in the closet
is an electric grill.

And hence you must
excuse me if I smell like
a ham and egg sandwich.

And all of a sudden
she flies out of the cab.

Well, heaven knows
why she sounded
terribly off Kay.

Well, Lakey is
her own law.

Mmm, I must get
the recipe for this.

Pity a brilliant fellow
like Harald is
stage managing

instead of
writing his plays.

But in a depression,
anybody is lucky
to have a job.

I'm with
Russeks myself.

Stylist.

You girls won't have
to scramble to jobs,
I imagine.

Still, we'll all
be pitching in.
Yes.

You for instance?
Teaching nursery school.

Nice.

Oh, this stuff is
very treacherous. Yeah.

Makes you quarrelsome,
they say.

I doubt that.

Applejack's the
purest thing you
can drink, you know.

It's a natural product.

Chemistry major.

Huh?

You paint,
I believe.

Uh, I try.
And you?

I'll be in Settlement
House work in Boston.

Dottie, can I
get you anything?

Oh, no.
All right.

(SIGHING)

Kay is a very
vital person,
don't you think?

Uh, not my type however.
I don't like girls with
a low center of gravity.

I prefer the
boyish figure myself.

A narrow waist
and tapering legs.

Thin women are
more sensuous.

Scientific fact, the
nerve ends are closer
to the surface.

Lakey! Oh Lakey,
I'm so glad you're here.
You all right?

Just fine.
Why? Why?

You were at death's
door in the taxi.

Well, I was
never better.

So, she is Lakey.

Well, there's the little
charmer herself. Come on,
you're three drinks behind.

Ah, Kay...

Ah, not the
Settlement House type.

Oh, dear no.

Art history.

She sails tomorrow
for France, to study.

WOMAN: Food, everybody.

(ALL CHATTERING)

(ALL SINGING
UNDER THE BAMBOO TREE)

(GIGGLING)

LIBBY: Baked Alaska!

Oh, girls,
look at it.

Childhood dreams
come true, Kay.

It's every children's party
in the whole blessed
United States.

(SOBBING) It's Mount
Whitney. It's Fujiyama.

Libby writes,
I imagine.

She's practically set
with the publisher.

(CHUCKLES)

MAN: Hold it, hold it.
To Harald's first play.

(TOASTING HARALD)

Consider it as
good as written.
(CHUCKLES) Ah!

To Kay.

Directing Harald's
first play.

(ALL CHEERING)

There'll be
a slight delay, girls.

I'm starting at
Macy's in the fall.

Merchandising
techniques.

Harald and I both
decided that I...

No, no, no, no,
the little woman
decided first.

She wants to get
Harald on his way.

WOMAN: Great idea.

(MAN CHUCKLING)

They freeze the
ice cream hard
as a rock

and then whoosh
into the oven.

Between you and me,
it's not like mama
used to make.

(LAUGHING)

Well, working conditions
in some of our hotels are
way sub-standard, you know.

Come again,
dear.

Economics major, Emma,
it runs in her blood.

Grandpa was reform
mayor of New York.

What in God's name
does one do with
economics, honey?

Consumer Division.
NRA.

Hang on, Roosevelt,
here comes Priss.

(ALL CHEERING)

To Priss, our only
little Phi Beta Kappa.

That's how I got through.

(ALL LAUGHING)

To Priss's marriage.
She's next.

(ALL CHEERING)

The lucky fellow.
A left-winger,
no doubt.

Wrong, Emma.
A Rhode Island
Crockett.

Why not a left-winger
if it comes to that?

Nobody here is
afraid of being
a little radical.

I mean who wants to
marry a broker or banker...
Marry a broker or banker

or coldfish
corporation
lawyer, right?

(ALL LAUGHING)

Helping Roosevelt
too, honey.

KAY: A Prothero?

Poke's gonna be a vet.
She has her own
stable you know.

LIBBY: Commuting to
Cornell's is gonna be
a frightful bore.

My daddy gave her
a plane for that.

(GIGGLING)

A little ol'
two-seater.

(TAPPING THE GLASS)

To the class
of '33.

Although as a privileged
class, the upper middle,

it's finished politically
and economically.
What?

(PEOPLE EXCLAIMING)

Well, one day, one day
after a brief struggle,

capital will blend
with government.

Individual ownership
will be obsolete.

Not so obsolete,
Karl Marx.

All shades
of opinion

are entitled to
a hearing. Right?

(CHEERING)

Hmm. Hey, Harald,
don't you have
to go to work?

No, no matinee
today, Dave. We
have all afternoon.

You two are
supposed to
go away.

Yeah.
Where should
we go?

Yeah, where should
we go, Poke?

Coney Island.

(ALL LAUGHING)
Coney Island?

Coney Island!

ALL: Coney Island!

(ALL SINGING)

♪ We love you
all the T-I-M-E, time

♪ You are the B-E-S-T, best,
of all the R-E-S-T, rest ♪

(ALL CLAMORING)

(WOMEN SCREAMING)

(ALL CHEERING)

LIBBY: Lakey, you
stopped to buy rice.

Come on.

WOMEN: Goodbye.

(CHUCKLES) Oh!
Who'd a thunk it?

Thunk what?

Well, I mean,
we never thought
she'd get him.

Oh, for
heaven's sakes.

Forget it.

Oh, come, Poke,
Harald's terribly
in love with her.

In his histrionic
way. But you know,
girls, it is true.

When she hinted about
marriage, we all thought it
as pretty much of a myth.

And suddenly
a wedding. In
a God awful rush.

(GIGGLING)

There could be one
reason, of course.

Oh, well,
maybe she is.

Oh, that's ridiculous.
Kay knew all about
what to do.

To hear
her tell it.

All right, girls.

Let's get our minds
off our plumbing.

Plumbing?

(GIGGLING)

Helena.

(ALL LAUGHING)

You staying
to see Lakey off,
Polly?

I'm in town
for good.

I start at the
hospital, Monday.

Oh, that's wonderful.
Monday, no vacation?

It may surprise you, Poke,
but not everybody is lolling
at Newport this summer.

(WOMEN GIGGLING)
Lolling?

Flying lessons
all summer.

(EXCLAIMING)
How tragic.

Mmm.

You found
a place yet, Polly?

A nice room and
bath in the Village.

Village. Ooh! That's
so Bohemian, dear.

That's so cheap, dear.

(CHUCKLING)
Right.

Hey, how about
a farewell party
for Lakey tonight.

Hmm.
I'll treat.

Swell!

Where did she
and Dottie go,
I wonder.

Off in a cab
with Mr. Brown,
last I saw.

Our art historian
is not impressed.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

Hello.

Kay, how was it?

Coney Island?
Or when we got back?

(CHUCKLING)

Is everybody there?

Poke and Priss
had to go home.

And as for Polly,
Phil came into
town unexpectedly.

Phil? I thought
that was supposed
to be finished.

How about Lakey
and Dottie?

Oh, they haven't
come back yet.
From where?

From wherever
they went from
the Brevoort.

Well, let's just
say, Mr. Brown,

that I have a blind
spot where modern
painting is concerned.

We used to play
a game at school.

When in history
would you like
most to have lived?

In the Renaissance
was always Lakey's
choice.

Yes?

And what did
you choose?

I never
could decide.

And our friend, Kay?

(CHUCKLES)
The year 2000 A.D.,
of course.

Looking ahead.
Another way to
say ambitious.

There was another
game that Kay
insisted on playing.

The truth game.

Everyone was to make
a list of their friends in
order of preference and then

compare the lists.

What Kay never
stopped to
think about,

was that somebody
always had to be at the
bottom of every list.

When that somebody
cried, Kay was
honestly surprised.

She must have
landed at the bottom
more often than not.

No, that's where
you're wrong,
Mr. Brown.

The others were
too tactful ever
to put her there.

Because the truth is,
she was a bit of an
outsider, really.

And no one
ever wanted her
to feel that.

We have to go, really,
I have to pack.

Girls, to all of you.

(SHIP'S HORN BLOWING)

ANNOUNCER: All ashore
that's going ashore.

ANNOUNCER: All ashore
that's going ashore.

Phil, let's go on
a boat someday.

We'll see what
we can do.

Polly with Phil,
would you
believe it?

Hey, what's the matter?

Hey, Harald.
Hey, Dick!

How are you?
Bit late,
old boy.

Too bad, I had some
names for her. Painters
she wanted to meet in Paris.

You could send
them to her.
Bye, bye.

Be sure to
send shoes.

They... Yes,
they are size 38.

(SHIP'S HORN BLOWING)

I could be consoled.

Let's you and I
have dinner tonight,
for old time's sake.

Same place.
By 8:00.

Helena, you've
just got to stay
till tomorrow.

Shh!

(LAUGHING)
Look, Harald got
passes for tonight.

They're papering
the house till the
show catches on.

Heaven help the
Petersons if it doesn't
last the summer.

Look, when does
nursery school open?
Next week.

Then what's
the rush?
Shh!

(WOMEN MURMURING)
Uh, Wednesday...

Yes, that'll be fine.
Thank you very
much. Goodbye.

It's set.
Mr. Wharton
himself.

Oh, that's
wonderful.
I'm mad to get started.

KAY: Now, look
for one thing.

Harald says whatever
job they think
of starting you at

make sure you
tell them you
need the work.

This New Weston
address isn't exactly
a help you know.

Well, it just so
happens I am on
the trail of something,

a snazzy little place.

With a snazzy little
address I bet.

You all right,
Dottie?

Missing Lakey,
no doubt.

LIBBY: Oh, that was
a laugh, Brown coming
to the boat.

Fascinating man.
That restless
chiseled face.

KAY: Under that virile
mask, as Harald calls it,

Dick's a warped
personality, really.

I've gotta dash.
I'm due at typing.

LIBBY: Typing?
That's right.

Harald says it's important
in a technological society

to have a tool
the other trainees
haven't got.

Oh, Dottie, you'll
be with us later?

Oh, I may not, Kay.

May not?

I was thinking of
going home today.

I was always being
shipped off to Arizona
for a nasty little cough.

It kept me out of
school quite a lot.

(POOL BALLS CLACKING)

That's why I'm
the oldest of us,
actually. I'm 23.

(CHUCKLES) I'm the
old maid of the group.

Are you sure?

No, thank you,
really.

(SIGHS)

I'm afraid
I'm boring you.

Not at all, I
am very grateful

for female
companionship
tonight.

Even me?

If it can't be
Lakey, that is.

She is very striking.

Despite what she said
it was Lakey who brought
Kay into the group.

And now a
tinge of sex envy.

In all of you perhaps. All
of you vicariously thrilled
by Kay's little weekends.

But secretly violated
in your nice little souls.

I wouldn't
say that.

Well, certainly
speaking for myself.

In fact,
Mother and I,

she's awfully youthful
and modern in her point
of view.

We agree...

(CLEARS THROAT)

...that...

...if you're in
love or engaged,

(STUTTERING)

perhaps
you ought to...

Well, uh...
That is, uh...

Like Harald and
Kay, for example,

to make sure of
a happy adjustment.

(SIGHS) I see.

Well, I am religious.
Mmm-hmm.

But more pantheistic
than anything else.

I love the church
for its ritual,

but I believe that
God is everywhere.

Even in my
poor little room?

Pardon?

Do you want to come
home with me tonight?

Ah, the smell of
cooking fat is
permanent.

Tenanted once by
a friend of yours.

(KEY TURNING IN LOCK)

DOTTIE: You don't
see them anymore.

Skylights.

And a north window.
It's perfect for
your work.

Modern design, the
skyscraper concept.

It has destroyed so
many wonderful things.

Shall we discuss
modern architecture?

It's like talking
about current events.

Or anything
at the dentist.

To delay the drill.

That turned out rather
funny, didn't it?

(SIGHS)

(MOANING)

(GRUNTS)

Oh, hello, Boston.

Congratulations.

(SNORING)

Dick.
Mmm-hmm?

You know the
books Krafft-Ebing
and the others.

They're not very
explicit, really.

Kay was.

Though she wasn't very
happy at first.

I think... I think
it's like dancing.

It's a matter
of following.

Kay was a
terrible dancer.

Do you think
that could be it?

(BREATHING DEEPLY)

Could very well be.

Dick.
Uh-huh?

Am I?

There's nothing to be
concerned about, Boston.

But for general
reference,

it's the second
door on your right.

(TAP SPURTING)

(WATER RUNNING)

(WHISTLING)

Who'd a thunk it?

Could you send
someone up for
the bags, please?

No. Miss Renfrew
will be staying.

Oh, I'd like to
leave a message
for her.

Could you tell her that
her mother called twice.
Tell her it's urgent.

Thank you.

(CHILDREN SHOUTING)

You sure you
don't want the
news section?

Rather rude.

Evidently.

I mustn't keep you
from your work.

Boston.

My poor little room
is always yours.

But, the right lady
doctor could make us
a lot happier.

You might ask
your friend Kay.

I liked you
last night,
Boston.

But don't harbor
the idea that I'm
going to like it more.

All right.

I want a
man's life.

A bar.

Men's talk that's never
driving to get anywhere
but just circles.

Give me a call
after you've been
to the doctor.

All right.

Boston.

Aren't you going
to take the
phone number?

CH2

2-3-6-8.

It's the landlady's
phone. I'll get
the message.

Okay.

Boston.
Goodbye.

And remember.

Hello, Dottie.
DOTTIE: Hello, Mother.

I'm awfully sorry.
Helena left a message
saying that you called.

I would have called you
but I was at Kay's.

Last night we just
talked and talked
and talked.

I was just wondering
when you might be
coming back.

Ah, well, I'd like
to stay this trip.

And New York is
so exciting and I...

I've been exploring.

Um...

The, uh...

Brooklyn Bridge
and Murray Hill
and, uh,

um, I'd like to see
Kay and Polly,

for another thing.
You don't mind,
Mother?

Oh, no.
Of course not,
darling.

Have a good time.

(SIGHS)
Yes, I'll try.

I'll call you again
tomorrow, all right?

Goodbye, dear.
Goodbye.

(PHONE CLICKING)

Dottie! I thought
you were in Boston.

Well, I guess not.

Oh, or did you
just come back?

No.

I had so many things
to do the last minute.

Come in, Dottie.
I'll be right
with you.

Kay. For you.

Oh, how nice,
Dottie. Thank you.

Boy, can this
place use them!

We just have to get out
of this horrible sublet.
Please sit down.

You just missed Harald
by five minutes.
Kay...

Kay. Please.

I have come
to tell you
something.

(LAUGHING NERVOUSLY)

Well, I...

Uh, uh...

(SIGHING)

I've taken Dick Brown

as my lover.

Oh, you haven't!

Yes, I have.
Last night.

(CLEARING THROAT)

Oh, Dottie.
It's not true.

"And please leave
this room as you
would expect to find it.

"Thank you for
your cooperation."

Dottie, you knew
about Dick Brown.

What Harald
said about him.
Oh.

And you knew it was
Lakey he was after!

(GIGGLING NERVOUSLY)

I faced that.

You faced that?

Dottie, you let
him use you.

Well, perhaps
I used him.

It is about time,
don't you think?

The point is,
I have come to
ask your advice.

It's a bit late
for that, isn't it?

No, I meant
about these.

There are so
many possibilities.

And Dick was
sure that
you'd know.

Dottie, where did
you get those?

From the Margaret
Sanger Clinic,
for one.

They gave me
the name of
a lady doctor.

Her clinic was raided
for just this sort of
thing about a year ago.

Imagine. I have
an appointment
tomorrow.

Sit down, Kay.

I don't know
anything about those.

You don't?

Well...

You must come
with me.

I should have gone last year
but I wouldn't have the nerve
until I was married.

Dottie, what name
did you give?

What?

I mean, in whose
name did you make
the appointment?

Well, you didn't...

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

You couldn't.

Dorothy Renfrew,
please.
Oh.

Hello, Dorothy.

How do you
do, Doctor?

A few questions, Dorothy.
Simple, natural ones that
needn't embarrass you.

(CHUCKLES)
All right, Dorothy.

Have you ever had...
Once.

And may I ask
was everything...

Perfect.

End of questions.
Everything's quite simple.

Go into the bathroom
and take off your things.

Thank you
very much.

(GARGLING)

Dottie,
you aren't
leaving?

I really must,
dear. Ta-ta.

NURSE: Mrs. Peterson,
please.

LANDLADY:
He's not in.

Oh.

Well, would you tell him that
Miss Renfrew called, please.
That's Miss Renfrew.

And I'll call back.
Oh, and,

if he should come in,
would you tell him,
um, that

I'm, I'm in
Washington Square

in the park,
on a bench.

Would you
tell him that, please?

I'll tell him.
Thank you.

(CHILDREN YELLING)

And went out again?
Well, when was that?

WOMAN: About ten
minutes ago.

Oh.

You did tell him?
Yeah.

Renfrew,
Washington Square.

(CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)

Mr. Leroy, how nice.

Miss MacAusland.
Well, sit down.

Ah, sorry,
Mr. Wharton
is unavailable.

Well, another time,
I hope.

Yes, well, meanwhile,
he's asked me,
one of his

not un-respected editors
to see what I can do.

Ah, let's see, uh,
copy editing,
proof reading,

uh, editor of the
literary magazine,

short story courses,
very impressive.

Where to try you out
is the problem.

(LAUGHS NERVOUSLY)

Well, I did spy an empty
cubbyhole in the editorial
department on my way through.

You did?
Well, actually,

as means of
getting acquainted,

I had in mind
giving you some
manuscripts to read.

Now,

uh, we pay five dollars
a piece for reading
the manuscript,

and writing a summary
and an opinion.

I wonder, you
need the work,
Miss MacAusland?

Oh, yes, I do.

Well, you should
be able to do three
or four a week.

You see, you needn't
read them all through.

Most publishers'
readers just
smell them.

Oh, my dear Mr. Leroy.
I don't mind.

And I'd like to scotch
the legend that manuscripts
aren't read by publishers.

You'll be able to
swear on the book
that these were.

And you can't object
if I do it on my own
time. Can you?

I knew there'd be
plants. The green
thumb of the Andrews.

Why, it's
cute, Polly.

Oh, the kitchen's
a dream.

I'm making us
some tea.

Oh, I can't, Polly.
I haven't got time.

Oh, ah,
some cake?

Oh, please.
It's a recipe
of Father's.

Oh, all right. I've
got time for that.
All right.

Polly, what have
you done with
your hair?

Oh, it's neater
for the hospital
this way.

Oh. Makes you look
much older.

Oh, well...

Wasn't it awfully
sudden Dottie going
off to Arizona?

Oh, Libby told you.

Well, I told her,
of course.

Uh, what Libby
doesn't know,

it wasn't exactly for
her health this time.

You remember Brown?
Hmm.

Well, poor Dottie,
of all people.

It was something pretty
shattering, I gathered.

No.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Excuse me.

Hello, Mr. Schneider.
Won't you come in?

No, thank you.

A little present.
Oh!

Marzipan.
Oh, how nice!

Uh, Kay, this is
Mr. Schneider.

Hello.

(CHUCKLES) Delighted.

Are you sure
you won't join us?

This evening.
This evening,
maybe.

Yeah?
Oh, all right.
Thank you.

Thank you so much.
You're welcome.

It's in the
shape of fruit.

Look, strawberry.

KAY: Who was that?

Oh, it's my neighbor.

He's a lovely man.
I help him with
his English.

In return, he's helping
me find a husband.

Why not tell him
about Phil? That
should end that.

Oh, Polly. You can't
let this engagement
go on forever.

You, you can't make
up your mind.
That's the trouble.

Because you know
it isn't right.

Your father,
wonderful as
he is,

in and out of
clinics with
melancholia.

He's enough liability
in a marriage

without adding insanity
in Phil's background too.

All right,
if you love Phil,
live with him.

Marry someone else
when you want to
have children.

I couldn't do that.

Well, then, for
heaven's sakes,
break it off!

Polly, you
all right?

Mmm-hmm.

I have to go.
I'll, uh, call you
tomorrow, okay.

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)

Miles of cubbyholes,
an absolute factory.

Hi, ready?
One second, Libby.

Mmm, our leader,
big as life.

What did Sloan say
to all this?

Running battle.

At home, I'm surrounded
by Republicans.

Oh, come on, Priss.
Leave those dreary
statistics.

I've only got
time for a
sandwich actually.

Suits me.

Masses of new work
I'm dying to light into.

Well, what do
you think of it?
Black calf.

Mark Cross.
Snazzy, huh?
Very.

How's it going?
Oh, I'm a
house on fire.

Mr. Leroy is
quite impressed.

And I'm impressed
with Mr. Leroy.

If he's not single,
I'll kill myself.

(GIGGLES)

Oh, you've heard about
Polly, I suppose.
Heard what?

Kay let her have
it about Phil.

Amazing how Kay can
take a love affair

and return it
shrunk and labeled
like the laundry.

Oh, I got a card
from Dottie. Desert
sunset. Did you?

Yes. She sounds
fine. Let's go.

Oh, what do you
hear from Pokey?

Flying.
Oh, I wonder who's
picking up after her,

if you're
not around.

I've noticed, Mother,
since school ended,

Helena looks
definitely peaked.

Not from hard
work, Daddy.

She needs a change.

We might have all
gone to England,
if I didn't need to

keep an eye on
the steel market.

But, Helena
should go,

perhaps join up with
Lakey for the summer.

Oh, you're not
serious, Daddy.

You know I'm
all signed up for
the nursery school.

(CHUCKLES) Oh,
that can wait.

All dang-fool
nonsense, anyway.

With all your
education, why
you want to

play piano and teach
finger painting to a

bunch of Yid's kids.

From what I've heard...
Now, Daddy.

Helena agrees,
I'm sure.

(LOUD HORN BLOWING)

It's here.

Polly.

You have a nice
summer, you hear?

Okay.
Goodbye,
Helena.

(LAUGHING)

Write to me.
I will.

Good luck
on the job.

(LAUGHS) Thank you.

LIBBY: Goodbye, Helena.

Listen now, you keep
the class notes for me.
You know everything.

I will.

(GIGGLING)

Priss.
Oh!

(BOTH GIGGLING)

Have a wonderful time.

Happy wedding to
you and Sloan if
I'm not back.

Happy everything.
Thank you.

(SHIP'S HORN BLOWING)

Off to Europe
meekly with her tail
between her legs.

The steel tycoon doesn't
fancy nursery school
for his only child.

The trip is
a bribe.

Driver, let me out
near Macy's, please.

I got a call.
They may start me
earlier than I thought.

Oh, well, Libby,
you pay the fare.

You're the only
one with money
in the crowd.

(BELL DINGING)

Your best quality
in beige, please.

Size seven
and a quarter.

Oh, Libby,
you snoop.

(GIGGLING) It took me
hours to find you.

I thought it
was glassware.

Oh, we're shifted around,
Libby, to learn every
aspect of selling.

How exciting!

Come on, please,
Libby, go away,

they watch trainees
like hawks.

Oh, size seven
and a quarter in
beige. Please.

Now, cut it out!

Seriously, I haven't
got a thing to wear
to Priss's wedding.

Oh, who has?

(TAPPING ON TABLE)

Let's not be
all day, miss.

Oh, shut up, madam.

CHOIR: ♪ Joyously
open your hearts

♪ We greet this day

♪ Joyously open your hearts

♪ We greet this day

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)

What a splash!

Lovely house.
I wouldn't mind
something like this.

Polly, I saw a
marvelous apartment.

Of course, it's not
cheap exactly, I'll have to
break it to Harald gently.

Polly, what's
the matter?

Oh, nothing.
I'm just very
happy for Priss.

Look, I know it's
none of my business...

It's all over
with Phil, Kay.

I wrote him.

(EXCLAIMS) Very upper
crusty in there.

Doctor Sloan Crockett's
nobody's fool.

What social connections
for a practice.

You might like
Priss a little,
Libby.

Oh, naturally.
I didn't mean
to imply that...

(CHUCKLES)

Hi! What a shindig.

How's Cornell,
Pokey?

Cute boys.
The vet course, silly.

Without Priss to
pull you through,
Oh, that!

Poke, what are
you gonna do?
Flunk.

(LAUGHING)

Girls! Girls,
listen to this.

(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)

This is
from Vienna.

"Best wishes,
dear Priss,
with all our love.

"Lakey and Helena."

(WOMEN EXCLAIMING)
Isn't that nice?

But there's another one.
There's another one.

"Dearest thoughts
on this day.

"My prayers for
your happiness.
Love, Dottie."

Oh, Dottie, prayers.
She means it.

Where's my girl?

Oh, little Priss.

Who'd a thunk it?

Hmm! Imagine
little Priss,
tonight.

(GIGGLING)

(TRAIN CLATTERING)

There's so little
of you, Priss.

(TRAIN BELL RINGING)

Too little for both
Roosevelt and me.

Now, look, all the
walls should be white

with really bright
colors against them.

And we'll have a folding
table in the dinette

and separated
from the kitchen

with one of those
slatted folding doors.

Look, the latest
model stove
and icebox.

(LIGHT SWITCH CLICKING)

Say something.

How much?

$102 and 50
cents a month.

Including gas
and electricity.

Harald, look, between us,
we make $400 a month.

This is one-fourth
of our income for rent.

With my discount
at the store,

we can furnish it
for nothing a month.

And we've got years
to pay, Harald, we're not
even gonna miss it.

Oh, Harald!

Wait till you
see the bedroom.

We got the hugest
walk-in closet

with room to make
the darlingest little
dressing room.

Look.

Hold your hat, Libby.
We signed the lease today.

Oh, swell!

We could be in,
in November

but that depends
on upholstery.

But the furniture's
all picked.

It's blond Swedish.

And oh, a terrific
material for the couch,

a sort of a strawberry
red, you've got to see.

I can't wait.

Libby, there's no
drapery problem,

we've got
Venetian blinds.

It's a tremendous
saving, really.

Phone, Mrs. Peterson.

(BELL DINGING)

Yes?

Take your time
about dinner
tonight, love.

KAY: Harald,
what do you mean?

Harald's joined
the unemployed.

The show's closing.

No, Harald was fired.

Fired?

Yeah, so don't
rush, love.

Kay, the contracts.
Upholstery and furniture.

If you sign now,
we'll be able to
start work immediately.

I'm just going to look
them over again,
Helen, thank you.

(BELL DINGING)

Good evening,
my dear.

Oh, I'm aware of
the bitter irony
behind all this.

(ICE CLINKING)

It seems you've
picked a lemon.

What happened, Harald?

(GRUNTS)

Before a drink?

Please!

I was axed by
a flibberty gibbet.

(LAUGHS)

The director.

Or has it escaped
your attention?
But why?

(SIGHS)

I...

I changed his
scenes, he alleges.

His lousy direction
is more apt.
Did you?

Yes.

But I mean, when actors
start to slip, somebody's
got to pull them up,

and the genius was
never wrong, so...

So, I changed,
meaning "improved,"
his direction.

Oh, also he smelled
liquor on my breath.

Oh, Harald.

"Oh, Harald" what?

(EXHALING)

A silver fizz?

I don't think I'll
have anything,
thank you.

(CHUCKLING)

You know,
you really are
the most

tactless blundering
fool that ever lived.

What have I said?

"Oh, I don't think
I'll have anything,
thank you."

Implying in your usual
clumsy manner that if

I had not been drinking
none of this would
have ever happened.

I swear, Harald,
but there was that
second and third...

And what an egotist...
Darling.

Observe how you
shift the center of
the drama to yourself.

You see, it was I who
was fired. Honestly, you
had nothing to do with it.

Harald, all right,
please, I have to
look at this recipe.

Well, it won't help.

Cooking is
a lively art.

You make it rather
academic and lifeless.

Well, at least it's
not out of a can.

I am sick of cans.

I won't live that way,
week in and week out.

Like an animal,
just to keep alive.

Fine.

But that's pretty skimpy
for four. You'd better
open a can of beans.

Oh, my God,
the Blakes!

Mmm-hmm.

Oh, Harald, please,
uh, call them.

Call her off,
say I'm sick.

Oh why? I'd love
to see old Put
and Norine.

No budget advice
tonight from good
old Put.

A miser with
a private income.

Or the butter versus
margarine debate
with Norine.

The same left-wing snob
she was at school.

And how she uses
the top of the bottle
instead of real cream.

At $40 a month,
if possible

and paying rent instead
of 102, that's a real...

Forty, yes for
a basement. Well, I won't
live in a basement.

It's unhealthy.

(SINGING)

Anyway, Harald,
what's the point,
we've got to go ahead.

The furniture,
the materials.

Well, cancel them.

I signed
the contracts.

When?

Two days ago.

It's all started,
everything's cut.

Harald, what about
my job? I have to
pay for it anyway.

(SIGHS)

Oh, Harald,

what's all the
panic about?

You'll be at work
in no time.

Look, this is
a Godsend.

Well, you shouldn't
even take another job.

Why not go back
to work on the play?

You've got one act
of it already.

And, with my
salary and

the wedding money
Dad sent, we're all
right for months.

(DOORBELL BUZZING)

Hi, Norine.
How are you?

(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Harald's got the sack.

Harald, wait till
they've got their
things off.

Now, start from the
beginning and don't
leave anything out.

And, tell it just
the way you told me.

It's beans,
Norine, beans.

(PEOPLE SHOUTING)

Isn't Lakey ever
coming home?

Listen, tell me.

Well. I'm still at the grind,
doing brilliantly,
of course.

How's Kay?
Oh, that's a story.

Well, she sends her
love, by the way,

she'll come to
the hotel, right
after work.

Oh, I'm afraid not,
Libby, I have to go
straight home

to Cleveland,
Mother's in bed
with the flu.

Oh, Helena.

What did you mean,
a story about Kay?

Well, Harald
was fired.

Hasn't worked in months,
now he's writing a play.

I mean, how they're
managing is a complete
mystery.

Kay had to have
her modern apartment.

(EXCLAIMS) She looks
a wreck. Dottie's
still out West.

(CHUCKLES) Something's
cooking out there,
I know it.

Poke flunked
the first quarter
at Cornell.

Of course, but very
gay, it's perfectly
normal, she says.

How's Polly?
Oh, Polly's fine.

The Phil thing's
definitely off.

And nobody else? Yeah.

You know,
the trouble
with Polly,

she's marvelous
company when you're
alone with her,

but, she just doesn't
shine at gatherings.

(GASPS)

Priss is pregnant.
No!

Sloan sure had
to work fast.

One way to get
her out of
Roosevelt's hands.

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

To Harald's play,

and you better
do right by it,
Mr. Bergler.

The option money saved
them. Kay was about to
have her phone yanked.

PUT: Read the Communist
Manifesto for its style.

It's just an inner
spring box with
a mattress on top.

Really, look, Harald
put pegs on the bottom
to keep it off the floor.

(GASPS) Pokey's flying
outfit. Her plane must
be double-parked.

Who's the Navy man?

A bar friend
of Harald's.

Say, is that actor's
hair natural?

I told Harald
when he read
it to me.

The line of the
play is sheer
toboggan.

Four mink coats
in the bedroom.
Four!

One hell of a party.
A hell of a party.

He's on the bottle
worse than ever.

Listen, what can
Dottie be thinking of?

A widower and 39.

I was just thinking,

everyone's here
except Lakey.

How marvelous.

Oh, come on,
let's join
the party.

Why do rich people
give money to labor?
Guilt.

Crops out in the
second generation
in such families.

How do we
get out of
here?

Behave yourself,
Poke.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(DOORBELL BUZZING)

Oh now, who could
that be? As if I
didn't know.

Hey, Sam to
the rescue. Hi.

Put it on
the bill, Sam.

Shot in the arm
for a slightly
lagging party.

Harald, how can
you say that?

Mr. Bergler, have
you got everything
you need?

Living in Arizona, won't
you miss the concerts
and theater, Dottie?

Oh, no, there are

many things out there,
many interesting people,
artists.

MRS. BERGLER:
All right.
PUT: Your ideal contributor.

Heir to a fortune.

Well, take you,
daughter of
steel tycoon.

Your family, Kay
tells, lives on
the income of...

Now, here is a girl
who might have had

a real career
in the theater.

Well, too many talents
is her trouble.

You know, she writes,
sings, paints, dances,
plays,

I don't know how
many instruments?

Forgot bird calls.

(IMITATING ROOSTER CROWING)

Rooster bird.

Sorry, Kay, but we're
overdue at a family
gathering.

Oh, no, no, please,
Harald fixed up
all the chili.

NAVY MAN: I'll push
off too, Kay.

HARALD: Oh,
wait a minute.

The chili?

Well, that'll keep
for months.

I have to
go too, Kay.

MRS. BERGLER: Shall
we get our coats, dear.

It's not that so much,
Harald was going to read
one act of his play.

That'll keep
for years.

This is terrible.

Picture of a party
laying an egg.

Goodnight, Harald,
thank you so much
for having us over.

We had a
lovely time.

Should have
been a course,

on how to project
at public gatherings,
girls.

See you tomorrow, Harald.
See you another
time very soon.

Oh, Paul.

A lovely party, Kay.

I do wish you wouldn't
leave so soon?

The party's just beginning.
Sorry, dear, but I must go.

I'll see you on
Monday, thank you.
Yes, goodnight.

Goodnight.

Two mink coats down

and two to go.
Harald!

All right, all right,
I'll heat up the mess.
All right!

Please, sit down,
everybody.

I just won't hear
of anyone else going.

If you want drinks,
just help yourselves.

Oh, Helena, I'm
so glad you came.

You can't be serious
about courses in etching
and acrobatic dancing.

You know, you've got
to make an effort to
get a job.

Harald, should
I make the coffee?

HARALD: No,
entertain your guests.

Let me do it.
I'll do it,

I know where
everything is.

She'll make the coffee
too weak, then she'll
use paper napkins.

HELENA: Forget
it, Kay.

Loved your rooster.
Give me a light,
would you?

(LIGHTER CLICKING)

Oh, I'll get
the kitchen
light.

No, Kay, Kay.
I'll get them,
I'll get them.

KAY: Did you
find them?
Gangway.

Harald, give her
the kitchen matches?

You can't leave now.

Now, please, please,
everybody, we've got to make
Harald read his play.

I insist on
it, Dave.

You too, Bill.
I must.

(HARALD SINGING)

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

Paper napkins.

Chili.

Dottie, Priss,
come on, help me.

Ask him, Bill.

How about it,
Harald?

A bit of that great
play, sheepskin,

for a
clamoring public.

(CHUCKLES) Uh...

Or, maybe, a better
title would be,

"The Fall of a Just Man."

Call it what you
like. Is it a play?

KAY: Bill!

Is it a second-rate
actor's idea of a play?

Is that it?

Give an actor a man,
not a phony symbol.

What are you talking
about, Bill?

If you want to write
about your father,

why not the poor Norwegian
immigrant who taught
manual training

at Boise
High School,

who got kicked around
by a lousy Vice Principal
because he was what he was.

What's this
college president?

Politicians put the skids
under him and he shoots
to the bottom.

(CHUCKLES)
Why glorify your
old man?

Or is the point
to glorify yourself.

KAY: That's
absurd, Bill.

No, I don't
think so.

That was very
interesting, Bill.

That was very
interesting.

(EXHALING)

Is it a play, hmm?

Is it a play?
That's the
question.

No, it's not a play.

Just a little work,
but it's not a play

till I say down the
incinerator with it.

Now, Harald,
cut it out.

(ALL EXCLAIMING)

(LAUGHING)
Oh, no, no, no.

I was.
I was kidding.

(LAUGHING)

Come on.

Harald!

His producer has
a copy and his
agent has about 20.

Anyone for chili?

You needn't have
bothered to phone,
Norine.

No?

It's not likely
I'd tell Kay.

I wouldn't want
to wreck her
marriage.

(CHUCKLES)
Neither would I.

Then don't.

Well, it's not quite
that simple.

You see, Harald and
I have been lovers
for quite some time.

It may surprise you to know
that I'm not the first,
since he was married.

But when this began,
we both agreed we wouldn't
let it affect our marriages...

Easier said than
done, isn't it?

Well, no, not
for me, exactly.

You see, my husband
isn't quite the man
he looks.

A lot my mother
ever told me.

She hates sex
like most of
her generation.

Oh, I was completely
innocent when we were
married.

So, there we were
in this crummy
hotel room,

necking away until
we both got pretty
excited...

Why Harald?

Envy.

The tower group.

Kay, in particular.

You never liked me
at school, Helena.

None of your crowd did.

We eyed each other
across the barricade,

you were the aesthetes,
and we were the politicals.

The whole class voted
for Roosevelt in the
college poll.

Except Pokey,
who forgot to vote.

Anyway, how I used
to envy you.

The ivory tower,
we called it.

(CHUCKLES) Poise,
social savvy.

Social savvy? In Kay's
background, for instance?

Mmm-mmm.

It was something
else about Kay.

Being "Tower," she could
stay at Harald's place
on weekends,

without becoming
declasse.

She could get
away with it.

But, anyone in
my crowd try it...

Look, Norine, I may
not be political,
as you say.

Whatever I believed,
I try first, to be
an honest person.

(LAUGHS) Well, go
on, Helena, tell
me some more.

I'd stop seeing Harald.

Oh!

In your case, I'd

get a divorce
or an annulment.

If you want to stay
with your husband,
then I...

I think you should
decide to do
without sex.

You say it
very casually,
Helena.

Do without sex.

Lots of women do
and thrive on it.

Our teachers at college,
for instance, they weren't
dried up or sour.

Or you, Helena.

Do you know what
your friend Kay
used to say about you?

That you are
a neuter.

Like a mule.

(CHUCKLES)

(CHOIR MUSIC PLAYING)

I've heard that.

Thanks.

Oh, Helena.

You won't repeat
what I've told you?

No. But you will.

Clean bill of
health, Mother.

Did Dr. Perry say
anything about
birth control?

I'm afraid
I stopped him,
Mother.

Dr. Perry can be
pretty brusque.

Would you rather
see a woman doctor
in New York?

It isn't legal
in Massachusetts.

I'll go along if you
need moral support or
you could ask

one of the married
girls, Priss or Kay?

I love him, Mother.

I don't mean Brook.

Then, what happened?

I...

I sat for five hours
on a bench in the park
waiting for him.

With that thing
in my lap. And...

And then, I...

I realized that
he didn't care
for me at all.

(LAUGHING)

So, I left the whole
caboodle under the bench.

(LAUGHING) Imagine the
junkman's surprise.

Dottie, perhaps we should
postpone the wedding.

Why, no.

But it's cruel,
isn't it?

To marry Brook,
an older man.

What's more,
if you only
half love him...

Oh, Mother, please.

In my day, if a woman
loved a man, she would
live with him

and try and
reform him.
Well...

You sit on
a park bench
with a

whatnot
in your lap.

Sacrifice is
dated, Mother.

You don't reform a man.
He just drags you down.

I was only going by
what you said, Dottie.

That you loved him.
I don't believe you do.

I think you only
like to say so.

(DOOR CLOSING)

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)

Everything arranged
for Boston, and suddenly
it's Arizona.

Now girls, there's
more here than
meets the eye.

What have you heard?
Not a thing.

What about the
play case, is
the date set yet?

Oh, any minute.
There are casting
talks, script changes.

Now, Harald gets
home at all hours.

Oh. No real
trouble, I hope.

No. Just
theater trouble.

Oh, how about you, Libby,
getting anywhere with your
attractive boss?

Oh, Gus Leroy?
Well, I'm biding
my time there.

He still pictures me
living in a garret.

Confidentially, a Yale
music grad just walked
into my life.

A Jazz fiend.
And I think I'm
losing my head.

Oh, he's a beauteous
young man.

Frankly, it's all
I can do to keep
my hands off him.

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)

All is not lost, Priss.
As Helena says,
"On to bigger things."

Yes. Much
bigger, Polly.

I'm pregnant again.

Poor Priss. I do hope
she hangs on to this one.

Sloan's so busy with
his practice, I wonder
where he finds the time.

Hey, Libby, listen, I'm a
grass widow these days.
How about a movie tonight?

Impossible, Kay. I'll be
hours getting a picnic
basket ready for the morning.

KAY: A what?

A romantic Sunday
outing, dear, in
Pelham Bay Park.

Oh, the Jazz fiend.

Jazz? My God, haven't
we talked since that...

No, this one's
the darlingest boy.

I met him at the
Berkshire skiing trip.

English prof at a
snazzy private school.

We have poetry in common,
no less. Soul mates.

Yeah, but don't misunderstand,
he's all man, my dear.

(CHOIR MUSIC PLAYING)

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)

(GASPS)

Guess who Pokey's
Princeton flame is?
A poet.

A distant cousin,
I hear.

Well, the poor branch
I suppose, struggling along on
a million-dollar trust fund.

Oh, I got a card from
Lakey, taking a doctorate
at the Sorbonne.

The girl's never
coming home.

WOMAN ON PA:
Dr. Lee.

Good day,
Miss Andrews.

Hello, Doctor.

(GIGGLING)

Very nice. I think.

No.

Nothing cooking?

No.

Polly, what's gonna
become of you?

Not even an
innocent date
now and then?

Innocent necking party
you mean, Libby?

Well, anything. You use
men to meet other men.
Polly, I have to hurry.

Very important appointment
with Leroy at 2:00. And I'm
miles from the office.

(EXCLAIMS)

That was a blow.

Gus Leroy married.
A two-year-old boy,
no less.

Wife's a Party
member I hear.
And he's plenty pink.

New masses on his desk,
and with the Spain ruckus
in the air,

more proletary
literature.

But like or lump it,
some of our best authors
are Communists this year.

Hmm. The first night
I'm free, we'll see
a movie, Polly.

Ah!
You know my nights
are a terrible problem.

You have real
writing talent.
And plenty of drive.

But you just don't have
the knack for picking out
a publishable manuscript.

Have you ever thought
of a job with a
literary agency?

I mean, you tell me
that you like to work
with writers.

Well, that's what
the agents do.

It just comes down to this,
we have no work you're
uniquely qualified to do.

You're one of the thousands
of English majors to come
pouring out of the colleges

every June stage-struck
to go into publishing.

You're more
persevering,
of course,

and you do have
some eerie relation
to literature,

but, I wish
you luck...

Miss MacAusland.
For heaven's sakes,
Miss MacAusland.

Hey. Listen,
are you...
What?

Hey! Miss Brooks,
some water. What...

What is it, huh?
What happened?
How are you?

Now listen, I bet
you didn't have
any lunch, did you?

Look, I want you to...
I want you to get something
to eat, you understand?

And you take a taxi
home. And listen,
Miss MacAusland,

don't you worry about
that job, I think I know
just the spot for you.

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)
Working close to
Mr. Jones himself,

with the snazzy
salary of 25 a week.

Reading the stuff of
established authors no less.
And lunching with him, Kay.

Well, the Algonquin,
on expense account.

(LAUGHING)

It'll be Faulkner any
day. I'm at powwows
with editors,

with Gus Leroy,
who knows.

Oh, he and I are
the best of friends,
by the way,

even though
I did walk out
on the job.

(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)

Well, we can't
have this again,
Priss.

Worst possible
advertisement for
a pediatrician.

(CLANGING)

(CLATTERING)

(SIGHS)

What kept you
so late, Harald?

Kept me?

I was collecting
notes for the...

For the alumni rag.

I gotta do
it for Helena.

The play is off.
Bergler's dropped
the option.

Oh, boy.

You said he liked
the last rewrite.

Yeah. So he said.

Then why?

Well, what's the
difference? What's
the use of postmortem?

Harald, if something
goes wrong even at
the store,

we sit down and try to
trace the cause of this.

For God's sakes, keep
your petty
bourgeois
standards out of my affairs.

What are you doing?

Well, Bergler's
a decent man,
he's got a

show on the road.
He said, I can join,

as second or third
assistant. Something or
the other, I don't know.

You're not serious?

Well, what do you suggest?
I retire on your promotion
at Macy's?

For how long?

Four months,
six months.

The longer,
the better.

Oh, come on.

Don't worry.

I'll send home money
every week to pay for this
blonde Swedish showroom.

(CHUCKLES)

CHOIR: ♪ Come, come,
ye daughters of the arts

♪ Come, come this day

♪ Come, come,
ye daughters of the arts

♪ Come, come this day

♪ Tune all your voices
and instruments play

♪ To celebrate,
to celebrate

♪ Our triumphant way

♪ To celebrate,
to celebrate ♪

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Oh, Polly, leave those.
Ida will do all that
in the morning.

You go right
back inside.

Oh, Mrs. Peterson will
get those, Ida. You fill
the punch bowl please.

Polly, please
go back in.

I've about had
it, Libby.

With all those brilliant
people in there, oh,
don't tell me?

I did see you talking
to Gus Leroy. I never
thought he'd come.

Or rather he was
talking to you.

What did he say?
Anything about me?

No. Just seemed
to want to talk.

Oh, he's lonely,
poor man.

Separated from that
monster of a wife,
you know.

NILS: Ah, there you
are, Elizabeth.
Nils!

Back to the guests please.
Out of the kitchen,
Herr
Baron.

Mmm. Now, that's
a dear boy.

(EXCLAIMS)

What a man!
That figure, those
heavenly manners.

Are you sure
you're not
exposed, dear?

The dress shrunk,
I think.

Oh! Or you
developed.

Kate, dear, get the
hors d'oeuvres
out of
the oven like an angel.

Now, go on, Polly. There's
a lovely man from the
Metropolitan Museum.

Authority on Tintoretto.

Lakey knows him.
Perfect opening.
Now, do as I tell you.

(SIGHS)

That Polly. She always leaves
early unless you give her
something useful to do.

Like talking to
the worst bore
in the room.

She'll be in any minute
saying "I'm afraid I must
make my excuses, Libby."

What do you think
of the gathering?

A bit of publishing,
a bit of theater,
a bit of Wall Street,

and my Norwegian Baron.
Isn't he divine?

Oh, Kay, when I look at that
man, I feel my knees knocking.
You saved my life today.

I thought Priss
was coming.

Oh, I didn't want to
say in front of Polly,
she'll worry.

But Priss took to
her bed yesterday.

Mmm-hmm. That way again.
That Sloan is ruthless,
he'll kill the poor girl.

Well, let's pray. Helena
is taking a studio in
New York, she wrote Priss.

Anything to postpone
a job.

Speaking of jobs,
what news from Harald?

Oh, they're in
Detroit this week.

Being near the theater
again has been a shot
in the arm.

In fact, he has
a new idea for
a play.

Oh, how marvelous.

I'm afraid I must
make my excuses,
Libby.

Polly, not really.

Uh, could I have
a little of the punch
for Mr. Schneider?

Mr. Schneider?

An empty cream
bottle will do.

(LAUGHS)

You're mad.
On that jiggly bus,
it'll spill all over.

I'm taking her
home in a taxi,
Miss MacAusland.

And so, help me.

When she fainted,
Miss Andrews, I thought
the girl was starving.

It seems the MacAuslands
are among the powers
that be in Pittsfield.

They own one of
the principal mills.

My family live
very near.

Oh! They mill owners, too?

No, my father
was an architect.

But he never built anything
except for relations.

He lived on
his investments
till the crash.

And now?

We have a farm
that we work.

(CHUCKLES) They work.

And you, a lab technician,
that what you always
wanted to do?

No, I set out
to be a doctor.

That crash again.

I did my last year
on a scholarship.

Too late now?

Not if I had Libby's drive,
I suppose, or Kay's.

You think
you haven't, huh?

It's worse. I never
particularly cared

for people with
drive in college.

Or those most
likely to succeed.

The truth is,
the only way

I could like assured,
aggressive girls is
to feel sorry for them.

(SIGHS)

A wild success it was,
my dear.

Oh, it's so late.
You must be starving,
poor man.

I'll get my wrap, Nils.
Not yet, Elizabeth.

Come. Sit down.

You must be tired.

Let us relax a moment.

(LAUGHS) Nils.

Why do you
let them call you
that horrible nickname?

Oh, you don't
like Libby?

I like Elizabeth.

I like her very much.

Too much.

(LAUGHS)
Shall we go, Nils?

Lovely rippling muscles.

You're a strong girl,
aren't you?

Well, I was varsity
basketball center.

Yes?

Nils, you irresistible man.

But really, Nils,
we really must go.

Oh, one more kiss,
Elizabeth.

(SIGHS)

No, Nils.

Ice maiden, kiss me.

Not that way. A kiss.

Oh, no, Nils, please.
Oh, no!

No!

(GROANS)
Nils, that's enough!

(SCREAMS)
Bad girl!

(PANTING)

Your lady teacher
taught you that, yes?

(SHOUTING)

(SCREAMS)

(CRYING)

Are you a virgin?

Yes.

(CHUCKLES)

What a bore.

What a bore you are,
Elizabeth.

Libby, I should say.

It would not
even be amusing.

Thank you, Mrs. Green.

Hello?
What happened?

Uh, what do you mean
what happened?

Well, he just dropped
you off, that's all?

Yes, that's all.

But he did take
your telephone number?

Yes, he did do that.

I wouldn't count
on it, Polly.

You're the type
older people
find attractive.

Older people and girls.

Oh, I'm afraid
I rather neglected Gus,
did he mention that?

I had eyes only for Nils.

You know, the Baron.

And let me tell you
what happened with him
last night.

I left my iron on, Libby.

Oh, but, Polly,
wait a minute.

I've got to run. Bye.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

I'll get it.

Hello?
GUS: Miss Andrews?

Yes, it is.
Gus Leroy.

Hello, Mr. Leroy.

Among other things,
I've commissioned
an anthology of war poems

and I'm hoping for a fine
novel to come out of the
Abraham Lincoln battalion.

Say, stop me if you
don't care that much
about Loyalist Spain.

Oh, I do.

I'm a born champion
of causes.

Well, my sympathies
run a little stronger
than that

as Libby might
have told you.

She did suggest it.

Also, no doubt, that
my wife and I have
separated?

(CHUCKLES)

Well, Sundays are nice.

Little Gus and I get
to the Bronx Zoo, or
the Statue of Liberty,

or feed the pigeons
in the park.

As a Communist,
by the way,

I'm nothing the Party
can boast of,

I'm not a Party member
actually.

I don't march
in the May Day parade.

And the only part of
the
Daily Worker
I read
are the sports pages.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Come in, Mr. Schneider.

Oh, excuse me.

Mr. Schneider,
this is Mr. Leroy.

How do you do?

Would you join us?

No. Some other time.

Very pleased, Mr. Leroy.
Very pleased indeed.

Goodnight.

(CHUCKLES) Goodnight.

It's just as well.

In no time at all,
you'd have been at
each other's throats

about the Moscow Trials.

Anti-Communist?

Anti-Stalinist.

Oh, a Trotskyite.

Rabid.

Can I get you anything?

You know,

for some reason
he was unusually
pleased to see me.

Well, he's waited
an awfully long time
to find a man in my room.

Libby, I've shopped
the whole store

and the bottle
sterilizer is it.

Now, Dottie
will love it.

It's only 27.50.

Well, you get a discount,
don't you?

Oh, Libby, that's
with the discount.

We're splitting it
five ways,
for heaven's sake.

You, myself, Priss,
Polly, and...

Well, Helena phoned,
she's in.

Oh, Polly.
The last time I talked
to her she had a date.

(LAUGHS)

What's so funny?

Polly with a date.

Oh.

It's bliss with you, Gus.

How would you know
without a point
of comparison?

(CHUCKLES)

What is it?

Does it make sense, Polly,
my wanting to join up
and go to Spain,

us notwithstanding?

You mean you have
joined already?

No. Some problems.

Little Gus?

For one.

What else?

Polly, there's a thing
I have to confess to you.

I'm being psychoanalyzed.

(LAUGHS)

Well, why?

It was Esther's idea,
not mine.

You see
I walked out because

I found out that she'd been
running around with someone,
a Party organizer.

She wanted both of us
to be free in sexual matters.

Well, I couldn't take that.

And then one day
she came to the office
in a calm frame of mind

and suggested that
we both go to analysts.

If we both decided
to be divorced when
we finished,

well, then we would have
gained certain insights.

Esther's favorite word.

Gus, if someone has
come into your life since

and then you've no doubt
about wanting a divorce,

then what's the point
of going on?

Your promise?

Mainly.

And this doctor...

Bijur. With a "J."

(CHUCKLES)

(EXHALES)

Does he know about us?

Yeah.

He was a little upset,
to put it mildly.

Why?

Oh, a principle
of analysis.

Rule 1, a patient is
not supposed to change
his life situation

while undergoing
analysis.

And that's the real
problem about Spain?

Well, that's what
I'm trying to work out
in treatment.

Treatment?

(CHUCKLES)

Do you mean he's found
something wrong with you?

Listen,
there's another rule.

A patient does not
discuss his illness
with friends and family.

Oh, Gus,

you're the most normal man
that ever lived.

Twins? That big fat sow.

For some reason, Kay,
twins are positively
indecent.

Not to mention having
to buy two gifts.

Libby, please.
I can't make a career
out of this gift buying.

Now, let's settle
for the pair of robes.

It's $32 with the discount.

Now, you're not going
to quibble about a measly
one-fifth of that.

(SIGHING) No, but, my God,
there's no end in sight.

Priss in her seventh month
positively inspired

and Dottie pregnant again.

Look, it's the robes, Libby.
I'll talk to you later.
Goodbye.

Imagine him
walking in like that.
Well, scared her to death.

He looks awfully
dragged, Kay says.

Well, if he was half
as active on the road
as he was around town...

Oh, Kay says he must
sit down to his next play.

(CHUCKLES)
Here we go again.

And what'll they do
for Bridge, with the
Blakes breaking up?

Norine's in Reno, I hear.

How are you, Priss?
Are you going to make it?

I'm trying.

Ah, good girl.
When's Helena coming?

Well, in time for
the baby, she says.

Oh, how nice.
What's up with Polly?

Up?

Now, come on, Priss,
she's got somebody
on the string.

The sly little thing.

Well, it's got to be
somebody at the hospital,
some pimply pathologist.

Well, I reached
a decision finally, Polly.

Took long enough.

Spain is out.
I'm not going.

I'm glad in a way.

Why not? Or is that
against the rules?

Well, Esther says
that my enlisting
is irresponsible.

I don't want to
finish my analysis,

and instead I'm running
away from my problems
and responsibilities.

Her support and the child's
for one thing.

Well, Dr. Bijur
agrees more or less.
I could be running away.

He agrees? You mean,
he and Esther
discussed it?

Good heavens, Polly,

are you suggesting
Bijur and Esther are
in cahoots or something?

(SIGHING) Forgive me, Gus.
It's just my ignorance.

But he did say
you ought not to go.

Well, to that effect.

I thought analysts weren't
supposed to give advice.

That's true.
The analyst is
completely neutral.

He listens and
asks questions.

He did more in this case
it seems.

Well, that's the theory.

But sometimes being human,
he steps in as a human being.

I should think he'd
step in as a doctor.

No, no, he doesn't
step in at all.

You see, the patient
is always trying
to involve him.

Patients are cunning.

Maybe my wanting
to enlist was a trap
to get him interested

in my personal decision.

A play for attention.

Maybe I was just
playing soldier.

Were you?

I believed you.
Weren't you sincere?

But how do I know?

Good Lord, Gus.

You act as if
you're not you but
some opaque object

whose motives you can
only guess at.

What I can't decide is,
is it something basic
in you that's indecisive

or is it the effect
of the treatment?

Well, if you could decide,
dear, that might solve
everything.

Oh, I'm sorry, Gus.
I'm breaking all the rules.

Well, even that
might help.

The treatment's
bogged down, Polly.

I'm blocked.

Blocked? What does
that mean exactly?

I don't dream.

It's funny. I've stopped
dreaming completely.

Is that so serious?

It's a hell of a note.

If I don't dream,
I've got nothing
to say to Bijur.

Nothing at all?
Not a damn word.

Every day
it's the same thing.

I go in,
"Good afternoon, Doctor."

I lie down on the couch.

"Any dreams?" says Bijur,
picking up his notebook.

"No," I says.
He lays down his notebook.

Silence.

At the end of 50 minutes,
he tells me the hour is over,

I hand him my five bucks,
"So long, Doctor."

If you only knew
what I've been imagining.

What about?
My analysis?

I was afraid
you talked about me.

Why should I talk
about you?

Well, um, I mean sex.

Oh, you goop.

Patient doesn't talk
about real sex,

he talks about
sexual fantasy,
if he has any.

At $5 an hour?

And Esther's five.

Before long the savings
will be shot.

Then that'll be
the end of that.

Unless analysts
extend credit.

Analysts.

They're worse than
the telephone company

and Consolidated Edison
put together.

Gus, let's go to
the movies tonight.

Find one with sex.

Real sex, no fantasy.

The nativity has been
accomplished

and the feast
of St. Stephen.

Stephen Crockett, that's
a lovely name, Priss.

Right out of Dickens.

And breastfed.

I never expected
a breastfed grandson.

You never expected
a grandson.

Little Mrs. Crockett,
the chest is wonderful.

She's so flat down there,
she's never had to wear
a brassiere.

It's not the size
that counts, girls.

Mother, show them
the christening robe
Lakey sent.

Ah, beautiful.
Fit for a dauphin.

Dottie sent a pram,
and Pokey, baby scales.

Pokey? Why, I hear
the twins are as plump
and as rosy as she is.

And bottle-fed, Sloan.
What do you make of that?

By nursing.

Priss can give Stephen
her immunities for
at least the first year

against measles,
chicken pox,
whooping cough.

Do you realize that
all the babies on this floor
are on bottles except Stephen,

and I can tell you
the nurses prefer it
that way.

Let's get this
eggnog down, dear.

Oh, Sloan, I've drunk
quarts of it.

Oh, come now,
we're not still
bedpan shy, are we?

(BABY CRYING)

Oh, that's him.
I'd know that
voice anywhere.

That's your boy, Priss.

He yells louder
than the rest
of them together.

And at night Priss says,
steady like a buzz saw.

Develops his lungs,
like a bellows.

Excuse us, please.
Feeding time.

Everybody out,
including me.

I'll go on home now, dear.
See you first thing
in the morning.

Goodbye, Priss.

All right, girls.

Goodbye. Thank you.

Thank you, Kay.
Call me.

I'll wait for you
down in the lounge.

Which one is it
tonight, dear?

The right.

Ooh!

(GROANS)

Does it hurt?

Just a bit.
At first.

You sensitive there?

Yes, I could never
bear to be...

(BABY CRYING)

Relax, dear. Baby knows
when you're tense.

Catherine, he keeps
pushing it away.

Did you hear him
last night?

Exactly two hours
without stopping.

And eleven minutes.

It's a vicious circle,
isn't it?

He wears himself out
because he's famished,

and then he is
too exhausted to nurse.

There,
he seems fine now.

Three minutes,
12 more to go.

Look on the bright side.
They used to say
it developed the bust.

(BABY CRYING)

I dozed off.

He was asleep when
I woke up, I don't know
when he stopped nursing.

I'm sure
he hasn't finished.

He's had something.

Weigh him, Catherine.

He's such a little thing
and he terrifies me.

My own flesh and blood.

Well, how did we do?

Fine, Doctor.

We dozed off
for a few seconds,

but Stephen got
his two ounces,
I think.

Good. Good.

Great supervisor,
if she weren't
in the bottle rot.

Did she tell you
how long he cried
last night?

She didn't have to, Sloan.

Well, what I care about
is the weight curve.

And that is satisfactory.

If he didn't get enough
there'll be vocalizing
tonight.

If it bothers you so much,
have them get you
some plugs for your ears.

Turning a deaf ear
to a hungry baby?

(CHUCKLES)

That's like people who
don't see bread lines.

Oh, great heavens,
the liberal!

Now, do as
I tell you, Priss.

Get some plugs
for your ears.

Be a nice, sensible girl.

I have to run.
I've a call to make.

Okay.

(BABY CRYING)

God, please.

(ALL CRYING)

Oh.

I was just going to ring.

He's breaking
all records tonight.

There we go.

(SIGHS)

Mrs. Crockett, I just
talked to Dr. Turner.

I recommended
a supplementary bottle
for Stephen and he agreed.

Bottle? No!

Your milk is adequate
from a nutritional
point of view,

but it doesn't give him
enough volume.

Did you talk to...
Dr. Crockett?

No.

Till Stephen leaves
this hospital,

your obstetrician
is in charge.

But the weight curve.
He said that it was...

(BABY STOPS CRYING)

He's got it.

(MOANS)

I know how you feel,
my dear.

Most mothers cry
when I have to tell them.

They want to
keep on trying.

Oddly enough, there are
fewer of them these days.

The poor patients
feel that the bottle
is socially superior.

And the rich ones,
even if they have the milk,

they feel nursing
is peasant.

Let's get some sleep.

Mmm.

Silence.

(CHUCKLES)

Beautiful, isn't it?

Miss Swenson.

Yes?

Are you a Democrat?

Yes, dear. I am.

Goodnight.

Mmm.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

Good morning, Sloan.

Good morning, dear.

Well, I see by the chart
that you were high-pressured
into accepting the bottle.

Sloan, does it really make
that much difference?

I think we have both been
a little silly about this
nursing.

We just wanted
to give Stephen the best
possible start, that's all.

No one has the guts to go
through with an experiment
these days.

A baby yells,
they hand him a bottle.

That's like your
friend Roosevelt

and his softheaded
social workers

listening to the whimpers
of the down and out.

The economy would have
recovered by itself.

As it is now,
it's just sick,
pumped full of formula.

I think that's
rather funny.

I don't admit
the comparison.

Good old Priss,
never give an inch.

Sloan, what do you mean
by experiment?

Simply to prove that
any woman can nurse.

That's not fair.

Stephen has been crying
for 10 hours a day.

The nurses pick him up
when he cries.

So naturally,
he's already learned
to cry to get attention.

Now when you get him home,
you're not to pick him up
except to change him.

And once you've established
that he's not cold or wet,
back he goes into the basket.

What about the bottle?

Well, one for
the time being.

But when we get him home,

there's a little idea
I want to try.

The breast every three hours
instead of every four.

Oh, but, Sloan...
Oh, I know.

Would you have enough milk?
That's just the point.

Your milk would be
more stimulated by
more frequent nursing.

Anyway, that's what
I want to try.

I've got to run,
my whole schedule is off.

I'll look in on you later.

Have a good day.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(INTERCOM BUZZING)

Yes?

Julie Bentkamp just called,
a big shot on
Woman's World.

She's mad to have
an article on how
it feels to be nursing.

You can write it
under a pseudonym,
if you like.

The thing is
you must be sure to put
in your bust dimensions.

Well, not in so many words,
of course,

but you must get over that
you're not a perfect 36.

Otherwise, the reader
would miss the point.

And things like you were
Phi Beta Kappa at college,

and worked
for the government.

I won't do it, Libby.

Oh, don't be silly.

Your style would be
too dry, of course, but
I'll rewrite it for you.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Yes? Come in, Polly.

Oh, is that Polly?
Say hello.

Now, I'll write
all the descriptive parts

and emotions if you
just honestly tell me
what it's like.

No, Libby.
Not under any circumstances.

Why not?

It's in poor taste,
that's why not.

Why, I don't
see that at all.

Is it in poor taste
to talk about it?

Why, it's the most
natural thing
in the world.

In Italy, the women do it
in public, and nobody
thinks a thing about it.

I'm not going to
do it in public.

If it's so natural,

then why are you
so excited about
putting it in a magazine?

It's because you think
it's unnatural, that's why.

Priss, don't.

That's just Libby,

with a big red scar
in her face called
a mouth,

as Lakey used to say.

It's not that.

Who'd a thunk it, Polly,

that one day
I'd just be
an experiment.

(LAUGHS)

And that my son
would be raised
by a Republican.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

And now,
to unveil the mystery,

a distinguished
early work entitled,

Time Is Fleeting,
Never to Return.

(LAUGHING)

Naked, Polly, at our age,
in front of all those
gawking men!

Oh, I mean,
how undergraduate
can you get?

Oh, but that's
little Helena for you,
the sexless wonder.

You sneaked away early,
didn't you, dear?

The big Saturday night date.
What gives with that?

Let's not pry, dear.

Come on over and gab.
And a movie later.

I can't. I'm going
to bed early.

Tired? Or just boasting?

Polly? Polly.

Goodbye, Libby.

It's Sunday.
You lost?

Got off early.

Come in.

Take your coat off.

Sit down.

Where'd you go today?

Aquarium.

Did he like it?

Ah, he was fascinated.

And you,
the washing ritual?

With the usual fantasies.

I mentally slew Esther,

you and I lived
happily ever after.

Then, the usual
pangs of conscience.

When I got back,
Esther and I had
a long talk.

Oh?

About my analysis.

Oh.

Hers is going great.

She dreamt she went
to her analyst's funeral,

she's having her
last hour next week.

Well, that's progress.

My own news wasn't so good.
I had to tell her I was
still blocked.

Tell me, Gus,
what are you
being treated for?

What's its name?

Compulsion neurosis?
Anxiety neurosis?

My father's disease
is called melancholia.

Get the hospital
out of your mind, Polly.

I went, I told you,

because Esther wanted
a free relationship
and I couldn't take it.

That's natural, surely.

In our culture, yes.

Don't you see?

I do have a conflict
between everything
in our culture

and what I profess
to believe politically.

Hasn't almost everyone?

I mean, of our generation,
maybe not exactly Communism.

What did Esther say?

She thinks I'd unblock
if I stopped seeing you
for a time.

She's...

She says the part of me
that's weak clings to you
for support.

The fact that you work
in a hospital makes me
see you as a nurse.

If I got well,
I'd have to leave my nurse.

What do you think
of that?

Well, I think Esther ought
not to practice medicine
without a license.

You're going to do
what Esther says,
aren't you?

That's why you
came here today.

Hell, Polly, I don't
suggest that I'd believe
what Esther says,

but if we did stop
seeing each other
for a little while

and I unblock,
that might
prove something.

If I didn't unblock
that would prove
that she was wrong.

She knows you
very well.

You sound catty
like other women.

I'm like other women.

No, you're not.

You're like a girl
in a fairy story.

Unreal, you mean?

That's why you're
going to let me go?

I'm not going
to let you go.

It's just that...

Well, you know
the agreement.

If I don't finish my
analysis, no divorce.

You understand,
don't you?

And I understand
that you're going
back to Esther.

You don't think you are,
but you are.

Why do you say that?

Little Gus, the Party,

psychoanalysis.
Polly...

It's all built into you.

It's been awfully tough.

You don't know,
these Sundays...
Mine, too.

Conscience pangs, I've
never approved of divorce
where there were children.

I'll call you toward
the end of the week.

See if you're
all right, okay?

If you need anything,
you just call.

Is there something
I should have done
differently?

Tell me the truth, Polly.

A silly thing.

That you left
your overcoat on like
it was a business call.

I said it was silly.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Please, Mr. Schneider,
please...

Please excuse me tonight.

MR. ANDREWS: (CHUCKLING)
Schneider? Who the hell is he?

Remember me?
Henry Andrews?

Oh! Father!

Be careful of these
fresh farm eggs.

I'm so happy
to see you.

Well, that's perfect.

'Cause I thought I'll come
and live with you, that is,

if you're not
otherwise encumbered.

Quite nice, quite nice.

And a place to let
upstairs, I see.

Oh, it couldn't be better.

Father, what's
the meaning of...

Oh, your mother
and I have decided
to get a divorce.

A divorce?

By the way,
my mental health
is excellent.

Well, Polly, it all started
when they changed the name
of his illness.

They don't call it
melancholia anymore,

they call it manic
something or other,
I don't know.

Anyway, when he
found out about it,

he just cheered up
tremendously.

He started all kinds
of new projects,

beginning with this
notion that, you know,
we ought to have a divorce.

Can't you just
live apart?

Your father says
that living apart
without divorce

is like living
together without marriage.
It just isn't respectable.

Is he giving you
any trouble?

No. No, everything is fine.

He has room upstairs.
I'm glad to have him.

Well, now, if there're
any problems, Polly,
I want you to call me.

I'll stay in touch,
Mother.

You do, darling.
And give my regards
to your father.

Bye.

WOMAN ON PA:
Dr. Townsend.
Dr. Townsend.

Come in.

Hello.

Excuse me, Doctor.

I was wondering,
if you have
a free moment,

could I ask your advice
on a personal matter?

Well, I was just thinking
of taking a coffee break.

I'll buy you some,
if you're free.

You see, at Riggs,
he was just depressed.

He used to cry a lot,
but very quietly.

And now this manic thing.

Now this sudden
divorce idea

does suggest
a manic elation,
but in a mild form.

Depression might follow,
but not necessarily severe.

How old is he?

About 60.

Oh, at that age,
some depressive patients
spontaneously recover.

Aside from this divorce,
any other recent symptoms?

Very free with money
for instance?

No.

Sudden interest
in politics?

I mean, with a sense of
mission, some pet formula
to save the world.

No. Nothing like that.

My father was never
interested in politics.

Would you like me
to see him?

I'd be very grateful
if you would.

Perhaps for drinks
some afternoon,
if you're off duty.

Or dinner.
My father loves to cook.

But not until
he's settled.

Whenever you say.

Thank you very much.

If you'll excuse me,

I have a metabolism test
I have to make before lunch.

Thank you very much
for the coffee.

Divorcing at their age.
Helena, that's a dreadful
shock to Polly.

And on top of it,
her father moving in.

If there is someone
in Polly's life

what chance is she going to
have with him now saddled
with a mental case.

Simple meal. Duck a l'orange.
Not bad Roquefort. Soupe
a la Grand Marnier.

Limited kitchen
facilities, you see.

Would you oblige me
by opening the
champagne, Doctor?

I picked up
that wine cooler for
a song the other day.

A little tucked away place.
Couldn't resist a serving
platter, either.

You'll find silver
is half the enjoyment
of good food.

Divorce is a splendid
institution.

Everyone should
get a divorce.

You haven't got
yours yet, Father.

Can't fail, my dear,

after all, I gave your mother
the best grounds there are.

Insanity.

Are you a psychiatrist
by any chance, Doctor?

(CLEARING THROAT)
No. General medicine.

Well, I'm not
one of your bourgeois
neurotics, you know.

No, indeed,
I go the whole hog.

Quite mad.

We, madmen,
are the aristocrats
of mental illness.

Would you pour
the wine, Doctor?

What I'd give
for a kitchen
large enough

for a man
to turn around.

Have you ever been up on
the third floor, Polly?

No.

Well, knock out
a few walls,

we'd have a splendid
place to live up there.

With Mrs. Green's
consent, that is.

She has no objections
at all.

If it's done
at our own expense.

Once done,
we'd pay less rent.

Big savings
over the years.

It's a rule
of capitalism,

spend money
to save money.

That's what Mr. Schneider
was explaining to me
just the other day.

Quite an interesting
chap, Schneider.

What do you know
about Trotsky, Doctor?

Early Bolshevik,
I believe.

The great revolutionary
of our time.

If he was in
the Russian saddle,

there'd be no
Hitler-Stalin pact
laying open all of Europe

to Hitler's bloody,
fascist armies.

Permanent revolution
is the only road
to socialism.

This top-floor conversion
would be pretty expensive,
wouldn't it?

Oh, not at all,
I'm an architect
by profession.

You needn't worry about
your privacy, my dear.

You can entertain up there
just as much as you like.

In fact, I shall
insist upon it for
my own selfish reasons.

Oh, it's time you had
a husband, my dear.

I need a son-in-law
to take care of me
in my old age.

And you can keep
a spare room for me.

And you can take me
as a tax deduction.

Fall to, Doctor.

It's hard for him
to grasp what being
poor means.

Polly, stop fooling yourself.
He's way up on the manic
curve.

The next stage could be
an outbreak of violence.

There never was any
question of violence.

Otherwise, they wouldn't
have let him out of Riggs.

Nonsense. He was let out
of Riggs, no doubt,

because you didn't
have enough money
to keep him there.

I don't mean physical
violence, necessarily,

there are other kinds.

These manic sprees,
for instance,

can ruin your life
if you don't control
them, starting right now.

If you give him
a household allowance,

see that
he keeps within it.

Warn trades people
against giving him
credit.

And as far as things
like this top floor job
are concerned,

you simply got to put
your foot down.

Naturally.

Okay. Take your jacket off,
you're just in time.

You could have knocked Kay
down with a feather.

A veritable penthouse,
my dear.

What'll Polly do
for money?

He hasn't a
sou
and
on her pathetic salary...

Libby, listen.

Attention, Department
of Census,

born to Dottie Renfrew,
Latham, a boy, her second.

Give me something cute
to tack on.

(EXCLAIMS)

I'm appalled by all this
vulgar breeding.

And Pokey about
to pop again?

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

Well, it's ideal
for that lazy sow.

All she has to do
is lie down.

Pokey.

Well, just a sec...

No! When?

Twin girls again.
Last night.

That's wonderful, Pokey!

Whatever they cost, Libby,
silver baby spoons to all
of them,

I can't be bothered.
Don't you read the papers?

German army
attacks Poland.

England and France
will be in it.

Frightful.
Why doesn't Lakey come home?

She's gonna be trapped
over there. Haven't her
parents any sense?

So it's silver spoons?

And, Libby, I am not
asking Polly to contribute.
She can't afford it.

Well, that's it, Libby.
Goodbye.

Hello. Where've you been?

Oh.

Very busy for one thing.
Everything is just fine,
you know.

My father's still puttering
around in the top floor.

It's wonderful therapy
for him.

He asked for you,
by the way.

He might be having
another simple dinner
almost any day now.

How's that?

Awfully big, isn't it?

The only way a roast
cooks properly.

It will be delicious cold.
Enough for days.

I wonder you had the money
so near the end of the week.

I didn't.

But with my honest face,
no trouble,
got a little credit.

I had a brainstorm today.

What would you say
to a little greenhouse
up here?

Simplest thing
in the world.

Just knock a door through
here and move right out
on to the road.

Costs nothing to build.
A few pennies for glass.

Don't you think
we ought to get
settled first?

Quite agree.

There's no harm in drawing up
a few plans, is there?

Helena called.

Great excitement.

It seems Lakey's
coming home.

Really?
She's sailing in a few weeks.

I have to talk to her,
Father, I'll just be
a minute.

And Dottie's in Bermuda.

And she's coming up.
And all sorts of
excitement.

(SCREAMING)
There she is.

Lakey!
ALL: Lakey!

Lakey!

(ALL EXCLAIMING)

So good to see you.

(ALL CHATTERING)

How did you remember!

(LAUGHING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

This is Mommy's friend
from Europe.

Girls, the Baroness d'Etienne.
Maria, my South Tower family.

(SPEAKING FRENCH)

How do you do? Hello.

How do you do?
How do you do?

Lakey, I've reserved
a room at the Plaza
for you.

In case you haven't
reserved one.

Yeah, and two cars,
mine and Dottie's.

Oh, that's very sweet,
but Maria's taken care
of all that.

The car is arranged.
Thank you.

We are driving
to Connecticut
immediately.

I have taken a house there.
Something very quiet.

Come, darling.
The luggage.

Twenty-two pieces of luggage,
time for a nice long visit.

Can I have her, please?

Don't cry.
This is Mommy's friend.

Well, more beautiful
if anything.

Otherwise,
the same old Lakey.

She's much more
assured in a way.

Why not?
Six years of palazzi
and important people.

Baronesses, no less.

That dame must tote
a pair of brass knuckles.

Uh, Priss.

How is Stephen?
I was hoping that you would
bring him to the ship.

Oh, well, I couldn't
risk it, frankly.

We're having a toilet
training problem.

Which number?

(STUTTERING) What?

Well, a pediatrician
around the house
doesn't help, I imagine.

One as opinionated
as Sloan, anyway.

How long are you
staying, Dottie?

I'm going right back
to Bermuda.

Brook is there. But
we're coming east this
summer with the children.

Isn't it odd?
Lakey's parents
not meeting her.

And no mention
of Chicago.

Just straight off
to Connecticut.

Well, they've been abroad
to see her several times.

And got a whiff
of the Baroness.

Has it ever occurred to you,
girls, that we used to parade
around like that?

That's disgusting, Libby.

What's disgusting
about the truth?

I tell you
what's disgusting.

She and the Baroness
couldn't care less
about the war.

Anti-fascist, of course,
but only because it'd disturb
their little nest in Venice.

You're no better,
all of you.

Chit-chatting.
Approving lend-lease
to England,

and just dusting
your hands off.

As if you have
no moral stake
in this war.

As if it wasn't
coming right at you.

Well, I spoke
my piece, anyway.

I've gotta get back.
Is anyone coming my way?

LIBBY: Sorry, I'm going
across town.

I'm taking the subway.

So long, Poke.

Listen, I'll take you up
on that weekend

just as soon as Harald
ties up this new play.

Dottie, I feel dreadful
about tonight.

Really, I'm so sorry
you can't stay over,

but Harald and I have
had this date for weeks.

DOTTIE: Well, that's
all right, Kay. Perhaps
during the summer.

Yes. Goodbye.

What's hit her?

Oh, an early
nervous breakdown.

Nothing serious.

She's a bit feverish
on the war, isn't she?

Overworked, I think.

Yes, trying to keep up
with that master of
unproduced plays.

And either she doesn't know
he's playing around,

or doesn't want to know.
She's so dominated by him.

Oh, and that big date,
by the way,

is a poker game.

That's the set they're
traveling in these days.

Coming, Polly?

Bye, I'll see
you all at dinner.

Bye.

(PUTTING ON ACCENT)
Come along, darling, I'll
drop you "somewhere quiet"

like the subway.

(CHUCKLES)

Well, Libby
stayed the same.

Maybe a little
bitchier.

(LAUGHS)

Is Polly's life as tragic
as Libby says?

Miss Andrews?

When you're through here,
can I see you in my office?

What do you think
you're doing?

Giving blood.
Doesn't everybody?

You'll pardon my research
into the matter.

You didn't give.
You asked to be paid,

and this is the fourth time
in four weeks.

It's Christmas.

You see, I wanted
some extra money.

What's he building
now, Polly?

A little greenhouse.

Don't you think you
ought to commit him?

No, I don't.

Polly, you're playing
a dangerous game.

My father is not dangerous.
You leave him alone.

You said yourself he may
spontaneously recover.

I also said
he might get worse.

What do you call this,
giving your lifeblood
for him?

You're a little
melodramatic,
aren't you?

You're obsessed, Polly.

All right, I'm obsessed.
I have a...

Father complex.

You have
nothing of the kind,
and I'm not a Freudian.

You feel protective
toward him. He's your
child in a sense.

And that comes, perhaps,
of your not having
any children of your own.

I'm sorry.

Nothing turns out right.
I just...

I just don't face facts
in the beginning.
That's my problem.

That's what happened...

Oh!

I had a love affair.

And I knew.

I knew in the beginning
he'd never marry me.

When my father came,
I thought I had
a purpose in life.

(SNIFFLING)

Oh.

For heaven's sake.

This love affair.
He still on your mind?

No.

The way it ended,
I realized he was
just ordinary.

Well, suppose somebody
comes along who isn't,
and you both wanna marry.

What will you do
with your father then?

I can't marry.

There has been
a lot of inbreeding
in the family.

The blood of the Andrews
is running thin.

Blood of the Andrews?

Thick enough to sell.

I have confidence in it.
Will you marry me?

Very funny.

Would you like a day
to think it over, or shall
we go straight to a hotel?

(LAUGHS)

Let's have dinner first.

Call your father
and tell him you'll
be home very late.

In case you think
I'm a fast worker,

I have never told
a woman I loved her

or signed love to a letter
except to my folks.

And I'm over
30 years old.

Naturally, now that
something has hit me,
I can't waste any time.

Just when were
you hit, exactly.

About two hours ago.

And five or six years.
I picked you out when you
first came to the hospital.

Well, I'm very
sorry, James,

but if I were to marry,
I would never marry
a psychiatrist.

Good, I'm getting out.
I'm leaving the hospital
the first of June.

What are you
going to do?
Research.

There are discovers
to be made in treating
mental illness,

but they won't come from
putting people on couches.

They'll come from
the laboratory.
Brain chemistry.

I have a job lined up
with a research team.

You can work with us
as a technician.

Well, there's no future
in metabolism tests.
How about it?

You're fast tonight.

(SIGHS)

What attracted you
about mental illness?

The waste of
human resources.

And I have a bit
of a do-gooder in me

I think that
I come by naturally.

My father is a minister.
Presbyterian.

He can marry us,
if you like.
It won't cost a cent.

After we commit
my father?

No.

No, he can live with us
and keep house.

I'll use him as a guinea pig
to test out new discoveries.

He'll be my dowry.

Oh, the fact is,
most of our patients
would be better off at home.

Then why did you say
we should commit him?

To see what you'd say.
It's a doctor's habit.

I knew you'd say no.
You couldn't possibly
distrust your father.

You're not
a distrustful girl.

You're not even worried
about that hotel.

'Cause you know very well
we're gonna take a nice,
long walk instead.

It was your eyes
I noticed first.

And to think that your
father, a tax deduction,
comes with them.

I'm the luckiest man
in the world.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

Hello.

(STUTTERING) Polly,
I've been calling you
for hours. We had a party.

Harald took someone
home hours ago.

Polly, I have to
talk to you about Lakey
asking us all up again.

Frankly,
after the last visit,
I loathe the idea.

That Baroness gives me
the willies.

I just can't get used
to Lakey being that way.

Well, she got me
into the group, remember?

"I had possibility,"
she said. Oh, my God.

I really called
to talk to you about...

They're organizing
civil defense groups
for plane-spotting,

and I'm joining up.

Look, long-range
bombers are a fact.

You really ought
to join, Polly.

It's terribly important.
You better think about it,
okay?

I will, Kay.

Now, let's get some sleep,
all right?

Goodnight, Polly.

(DOOR SLIDING)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

Hi.

Why aren't you asleep?

How could I sleep?

It's 10 minutes to Norine's.
You've been gone two hours.

If it's any of your business,
I stopped by Eddie's
for a drink.

That's not true, Harald.
I just called Eddie's.

Yeah, I know.

I said to say
I wasn't there.
Teach you not to snoop.

(BREATH QUAVERING)

(SOBBING) Don't lie to me.
You've been with Norine.

I am sick and tired
of your prying,
dirty, little mind.

You sunk so low,
you can suspect
your best friend?

Well, fine. Fine.

Where are you going?

I'm going to Norine's.
Have a few hours of peace.

Harald, please,
please don't.

(CRYING) She'll talk.
It's more disloyal
than adultery.

Yeah, about that.

(SHATTERING)

Oh, no.

Well, there you are.
Look there.

Look there.

Harald! No, Harald!

Oh, you bastard!

(GROANS)

All right.

No! No!

Okay.

No! Please, help!

(CRYING LOUDLY)

Well, there you are!

Oh, Harald, please!

Harald!

Harald, let me out!

(CRYING)
Harald, please! Harald!

NURSE: ...refractory.
She may not cooperate.

POLLY: I know.
It's all right.

Polly, I didn't want
you to know.

(PANTING)

What is this place?

Don't you know?

Yeah, a mental ward.

It's the admissions wing,
Kay.

That's what I said.

The nurses kept saying,
"Oh, no dear. No, just a place
for nervous people to rest."

They took away
the belt of my robe.

They wanted to
take my wedding ring,
but I wouldn't let them.

The whole night
they kept peering at me
through that peephole.

Judases, they call them.

Yeah, Harald brought me
here and said it was
just a regular hospital.

Harald brought you here?

What do they want
my wedding ring for? What
do they think I'd do with it?

Swallow it, Kay.

It's just routine.

Oh, God.

Until a psychiatrist
sees a patient.

I saw one last night.

All he was interested in
was my black eye.

Is it awful?

Of course,
Harald signed me in while
I waited in the lobby.

I thought it was odd
that he'd leave without...

Kay, before that,
what happened?

It was after
I talked to you.

Harald came back.

We had a terrible fight,
and he locked me in a closet.

When he let me out,
Norine was there.

He got scared
and phoned her.

After I calmed down,

Norine suggested that maybe
I should go to the hospital
for a rest.

Did you tell
the psychiatrist all that,
how you got your eye?

Why should he know
about Harald and me?

Don't you see,
he could have assumed
it was self-inflicted?

Look, when you see him
this morning, you...

Look, I don't wanna
see a psychiatrist.
I wanna get out of here!

Kay, that may not be
so easy without Harald.

He did commit me, then.

Oh, no. No. But he did
give them reasons
to hold you for observation.

Oh, what reasons?
He wouldn't dare do that.

No, there's a mistake,
Polly. Now, you've
gotta get him here.

They won't let me
use a phone!

All right! All right, Kay.

Hold still.

Still, Harald never
signs anything without

knowing exactly what it is.

He prides himself on that.
Well, he...

You just get him here,
Polly.

Kay, it's 6:30.
I can't do anything
for hours.

I promise
I'll get him here.

Now, lie down.
I have to do
a metabolism test.

I haven't had
any breakfast.

It's done
before breakfast.

Now, do as I say.
Lie down.

(EXHALES)

He'll be here.

Oh, I know what it is.

It's one of Harald's
sardonic jokes.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

You've been hours.

Where's Harald?

He's not home, Kay.

Not home?

I sent a telegram.

Well, where is he?

What does he want?
I won't be questioned.

This is Dr. Ridgeley, Kay.
He's a friend of mine.

Kay, I've seen the form
your husband signed.
It's quite a story.

You took a knife to him
without provocation

and gave yourself
that black eye while you
were locked in the closet.

God!

So, we're gonna
need his cooperation.

Well, what if
he's run away?

Look, I'm gonna try
to pass you out.

When most of them
are at lunch...
Jim.

...you simply walk
with me down
the hall to the elevator.

If we run into a nurse,
I'll have to turn you over.

If we don't...
You could be disqualified.

I'll simply say
I forgot to lock her in.

(GASPS)

No. No, I'm not
gonna run away.

I wanna leave here
with flying colors.

I want Harald to face up.

I want the hospital
to acknowledge
their mistake.

You don't know hospitals.

Pal, I won't do it.

All right.
Then you're gonna have
to sit here quietly

while I send out
a police call for
the wandering boy.

That's the first way to deal
with him, because I think
he's a skulking coward.

Come on, Polly.

You order a nice
lunch for yourself.

(KNOCKING)

Too confused to
be sure of anything.
What gall!

Yeah, too ashamed
to face me.

Kay, it was at
the police station.

Harald made
his statement there.

He'll be home.

Very abject with flowers
from Goldfarb's.

But it won't
work this time.
Not this time.

I always knew
he'd disappear one day.

(CHORAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(SIGHING)

Not even take
his typewriter.

Just submerged
like a submarine.

Kay, why don't you
stay with me tonight?

Oh, no.

I've got to get
this place cleaned up.

It can look so pretty.

You were wonderful,
both of you.

Oh, I hope Norine
phoned the store.

She promised to,
to say I was ill.

Oh, please, don't wait.

Kay, why not take
a few weeks off?
Clear out of the city?

Why not go home
for a visit?

Oh, I couldn't do that.

If Dad were to find out,
that would kill him.
He worships Harald.

Harald is a genius.
Oh, if you knew
the theater!

Okay, there's one point
at which I do question
your sanity.

Harald.

Isn't your marriage
a sort of fish story?

Oh, how did you guess?

Well, I couldn't admit
it was a failure.

You know, I'm sort of
a legend in Salt Lake.

The girl who went East,

exclusive girls' college,
and made good.

Married a man
in the theater.

(SIGHS) It's all so
glamorous to them.

So what?

Failure at marriage,
I still have my own
life to live!

That's more than you can
say about the others.

Yeah, what's
happened to them?

I hate this place.

I'm getting out of here.

Wait for me, Polly.

I know where I want to be.

I know where
I want to be.

I know where
I want to be.
Kay...

(SNIFFLING)
I know where
I want to be.

(SOBBING)
I know where
I want to be.

And where do you think
she went, Priss?

Back to the scene
of college days,
when she belonged.

(CHUCKLES) The New
Weston hotel, dear.

Present address
of Kay Strong,
class of '33.

Got wise to the
genius at last,

who's disappeared,
so Norine says.

As for Kay, she was never
happier in her life,
to hear her tell it.

Very devil-may-care,
don't you know?

Uh, I'll call you
back, Libby.

Oh, Stephen.

Well, here's to us.

A little different
from the last time
we were together.

Seems ages ago.

I love the view here.

Perfect for
plane-spotting.

They're having the warmest
spring for years in Europe,
you know.

Perfect for Hitler's tanks,
so he could move earlier
than anyone thinks.

Sit down, please.

Jim, I'm so pleased
you could stop by.

Well, any friend of
Polly's, et cetera.

That's good, Kay,

because Jim and l
have decided to
become engaged.

That's...
That's wonderful, Polly.

Polly, you little sneak!

But you weren't fooling
Mother Libby.

Mmm-mmm. I always said
it was somebody
in the hospital.

And Papa goes back
to the farm?

No. He's going
to live with us.

You mustn't, Polly.
Sloan is terribly opposed.

If you have children,
he says...

Well, what if your
father were to...

Go mad again?

He did when I was
a child, Priss.

It's a dreadful mistake,
Helena. We've got
to talk to Polly.

It's hard enough to make
a go of a marriage without
family living with you.

Wild horses couldn't have
persuaded Harald to share
me with anyone.

And as for your father
living with you,

if you'd like
a minority opinion,

I think it's marvelous.

I was thinking, Jim,
if I can manage
to stay insane,

you'll have in me
your own personal
guinea pig.

Or has that
occurred to you?

(PHONE RINGING)

Excuse me.

Hello? Hello?

Hello? Hello, Polly.

Dottie!

Congratulations!
It's wonderful news.

Brook and I will
be in New York
in two weeks,

and our party will
be the first one.

Well, folks,
gather 'round.

Folks, a word of welcome.

Seems Dottie
held out on me.

Looks like when I married
her, I married seven other
girls at the same time.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Not bad picking, huh, son?

(ALL EXCLAIMING)

Seriously, this is
a happy occasion,

with something special
to celebrate.

I'm referring, of course,
to the engagement
of Polly and Jim.

All the happiness
in the world to them.

Uh, thank you very much,
but there's been
a slight mistake here.

Polly and I are
no longer engaged.

We were married this
morning at City Hall.

(ALL SQUEALING)

To Dr. and
Mrs. James Ridgeley!

(APPLAUSE)

And the third member
of the household,
Mr. Andrews!

Speech, Father.
Thank you.

Well, all I want to say is
that contrary to what some
of you may be thinking,

I am not going along
on the honeymoon.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Get a radio in here,
right away. One moment,
folks, hold it.

It just came over the radio.

Hitler's moved into
Holland and Belgium,

and they're bombing France.

Where would you
like the radio?
Put it right over there.

France?
And next, England.
Now, now, dear.

England will
never capitulate,
believe you me.

Where's Kay?
This will drive her mad.

She must be on her way.

Dottie... Dottie,
do you have a phone
I could use, please?

(MAN CHATTERING ON RADIO)

Yes. Right
in this room.

May I have the...
Hello, may I have the
New Weston hotel, please?

ANNOUNCER: The Netherlands
resisted and announced she
was at war with Germany.

Mrs. Peterson, please,
room 2005.

(PHONE RINGING)
...Germany aircraft when

over a score of
Netherlands cities.

Kay, it's Polly.
Why aren't you here?

Wait a minute,
I can't hear.

(CHATTERING ON RADIO)

Polly, you heard?

Yes, we just heard.

There's a broadcast from
London in half an hour.
Churchill.

I know. I know, yes.
Can you come here
and listen to it?

Look, it's a matter of days
before we're all in it.

Hitler's not going to
wait for us to arm and
declare war on them.

And the Luftwaffe,
in one night, can
wipe out New York.

Kay, just get a taxi
and come over here.

(AIRPLANE DRONING)

A plane!

Wait a minute, Polly.
A plane?

Kay...

Kay, listen to me.

(SCREAMING)

ANNOUNCER: German troops
landed by parachute...

Kay's here.

Well, I had no idea.
I went to the mortuary
first and they told me.

(DOOR CLOSES)

Who's up there?

Polly, Mother
and Mrs. Davison
are dressing her.

Dressing her?
Well, why not
the undertaker?

We couldn't leave her
with that clammy man

to make her look natural,
with his rouge pots.

(SIGHS) If the ledge
and awning hadn't
broken her fall,

it would have been
a basket case.

We were waiting for you,
Libby. There are things
to decide.

Well, sorry.
It's cremation, of course.

No.

Burial.

But I thought
her father said...

Helena spoke
to him again.

Kay was always for burial
and a church service.
Remember?

And Libby for cremation.

Her ashes scattered
over New York City.

PRISS: Mother settled
one thing, Libby.

It's St. Mark's Chapel
this afternoon at 3:00.

St. Mark's?

Where she was married.
She would have liked that.

This afternoon?

Kay is not embalmed, Libby.

Well, how can her
parents be here?

They're not coming.

Dr. Strong was quite bitter,
I'm sorry to say.

He said Kay belonged
to us more than to them.

Lakey, may I have
the dress, please?

Bendel.

It has to be
perfect for Kay.

Don't worry, Libby.
We're not chipping in.
Lakey bought it.

Oh.

Girls, the casket.

I... I have to call them.
It could be something simple
I saw, but if you don't

buy something expensive,
they look at you as if
you were terribly cheap.

Oh, a simple one,
by all means.

In better taste, certainly.

Libby's right, as it happens.

That's that.

Well, what do we do
about a plot?

Pokey has donated one.

It's the family plot.
It's okay, Libby.

Fine.

I hope there'll
be no problem.

I mean, it's church
ground, isn't it?

And with the question
of suicide or not...
Libby!

Well, it is a fact.

No matter what you tell
people, you can't
convince them that...

I was at the telephone.

Well, we know that,
dear, we know that.

But even the police,
when they found out she
had been in a mental ward...

It's something
I didn't know,
by the way.

Did any of you?

Anyway, Libby,
there's no problem.

Why, I couldn't be
happier, I'm sure.

Girls.

People will start
coming by 10:00.

The casket opened
or closed?

Closed.

And the refreshments?

Sherry and biscuits?

Just some sandwiches.

Open or closed?

As many as are led
by the spirit of God,

they are the sons of God.

For ye have not received
the spirit of bondage
again to fear,

but ye have received
the spirit of adoption,

whereby we cry,
"Abba! Father!"

The spirit himself beareth
witness with our spirit

that we are the
children of God,

and if children,
then heirs.

Heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ.

If so be that
we suffer with him,

that we may be also
glorified together.

For I reckon that
the sufferings of
this present time...

I love you, Kay.
...are not worthy
to be compared

with the glory which
shall be revealed...

HELENA: Priss! Priss!

You and Sloan and your
mother and Dr. Garland
in the first car.

Dottie, you and...

Brook.
Brook. Sorry.

You go along with Pokey
and her husband
in the second car.

Polly, you and Jim and your
father, you go along with
Lakey in the third car.

Helena, I have my
own car, thank you.

Libby...
Uh, Helena, dear,
I can't go.

I have a terribly
important appointment.

Well, the fact really is that
I just can't take any more.

It's too shattering.

Mother.

Are you going to the cemetery?

Yes.

You mind if I come along?

Get in.

(STARTS ENGINE)

Who arranged that comedy?

The funeral?

Well, what would
you have done?

You can't put a body
down the incinerator.

It's not like a manuscript.

I heard about that.

She killed herself,
of course.

Why?

Sheer competitiveness.

I used to talk
about suicide

and she decided she could
show me how to do it.

She could do it better,
on the first try.

Do you think you'll ever
succeed, even in that?

(SIGHS)

I never picked you
for a Sapphic.

Or to put it crudely,
a lesbo.

Were you always that way?

Always.

You had a regular
seraglio up in that tower.

Were you in love with Kay?

She was lovely when
I first asked her to join us.

She was like a wild flower.

She had a fine, strong back.
Tapering waist.

You're not answering
my question.

You're impertinent.

Just how close were
you and Kay?

Well, you ought to
have asked Kay that.

Oh, you're rotten.

That's a filthy
lesbian trick.

Spreading slime
on that dead girl.

Let me out of this thing.

You're not going
to the cemetery?

You bury her.

You and the group.

HELENA: As we the
class of '33 go forth,

in time of economic
crisis, a time that asks
the women of America

to play a role in every sphere
of the nation's life.

In the arts, in the
sciences and industry,

and in the making of our laws.

And we believe as we
take up our separate roles,

that it is only in
achieving the highest
personal fulfillment,

the goal of our education,

that each will make the
greatest contribution

to our emergent America.

(APPLAUSE)

CHORUS: ♪ Tune all
your voices

♪ And instruments play

♪ To dedicate,
to dedicate

♪ Our triumphant way

♪ To dedicate, to dedicate

♪ Our triumphant way

(CHORUS SINGING IN GERMAN)