Original subtitles

The speaker.

Schedule the teacher.

My, my.

This week has gone so quickly, I can hardly believe it's time to go home

I'm afraid, Mom. I want to go home. I know, dear.

But I'll be back before you know it.

And your father is working himself ragged, so he can leave the farm for a

days and come with me the next time I visit you. What if I don't get better

quickly?

You just do exactly what the doctors and nurses tell you.

I do want to let you know just before you go, we're so fond of your boy. He

a dear child.

Are you warm enough?

Please, Mother, I'm hot as it is.

Excuse me.

That poor couple over there. What happened?

Their son, 15 years old.

Terrible shame.

I believe we're ready to take you to the train station, Mrs. King.

No, an orderly will be down with your bags directly.

So soon? I was just going to help Cecily with her lunch. Oh, I'm sure she's

quite capable of eating her lunch by herself.

Oh, those boys.

Will you make sure they all have baths and kerosene their heads?

I'm sure they brought all the dirt and grime from the Lower East Side of New

York with them.

Right away, Miss Marsden. Excuse me. Mother, don't go, please.

No, Mrs. King.

These prolonged goodbyes are not in the best interest of the children.

Of course.

Take care of my daughter.

Goodbye, Cicely.

I love you, dear.

I love you, too. I miss you terribly.

It was awful.

That place.

All those people are so miserable and so sick.

I just felt like gathering her up in my arms and taking her home with me.

If only I knew she were going to get better.

Now, Janet Thornhill, the better sanitarium there is.

We were lucky they took her in.

Alec, you haven't been there.

It's a death house. Don't say that.

Dr. Jones said it's the best place that will take children.

I know, but... As long as she's not going downhill, we have no

choice.

We must have faith in them.

We have to believe that Cecily's going to recover.

That's all right. I'll take over from him.

What

are

you going to do? Why am I in here?

Now calm down.

There's nothing to fret about.

We just need to fit you for a little corset to protect your lungs from the

effects of coughing.

No, no, please. I promise I won't cough anymore.

Natalie, you must calm yourself.

But I don't want to wear that thing.

I won't be able to breathe.

Natalie, this is for your own good.

Just slip your arms in this way. Right.

But when do you think I can go home?

Does that thing hurt?

Do you want me to get a nurse? No, don't bother.

Doesn't matter.

Sorry, I was only asking.

What's that?

Belonged to Janie McCauley.

She went home, left it here as a good luck charm.

Emily? Yes?

Do you think we'll ever get better?

I don't know.

I'd like to think so.

I have to get up and eat breakfast.

I'm not very hungry.

Oh, you must eat, even if you're not hungry.

Good food and fresh air will make you better. It's the only way.

Now, we've spoken of that before.

How can I eat with this thing on?

It's choking me.

Cecily, please, I insist.

You have to try.

Don't force me.

I'm afraid if you do, I'll just spit it back up.

Miss Marston?

I'm sorry to intrude, but we have a problem on our hands.

It's Cecily King. She just can't bring herself to eat.

Temperature? Normal.

No symptoms?

None. She's been in bed since her mother left, correct?

Yes, but the truss is bothering her.

Now,

what

seems to be the problem, Cecily? I'm just not hungry.

Please, don't force me to write to your parents.

You want me to tell them that you're being difficult?

I'm sure they'd be very worried and upset.

Is that what you want? No, Miss Marston.

Don't tell them.

Don't tell them anything.

Excuse me?

Get out of my way.

You want a knuckle sandwich?

Yeah? You in what army? This army.

I'm so sorry, miss. Let me clean that up for you. I'm terribly sorry. Let me do

it. I can clean everything up. I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry.

Clean this up immediately.

Cephaly. The whole plate. Spick and span.

You need food to restore your health.

Now breathe slowly.

Your appetite will return eventually. I can't. Of course you can now. Come on,

dear. I'll eat it. Get away.

Get your dirty hands away from my plate.

Cecily, stop that.

No.

I'm afraid that Cecily cannot leave this table until that plate is clean.

Yes, Miss Martin.

Hey, Miss Perfect, what's that?

It's her good luck charm.

Is that thing real silver?

None of your business.

I saw what you did. You took that man's watch.

Are you crazy? What are you talking about? You know very well what I'm

about.

And if you don't return it, I'll just... Your what?

Give that back.

Make me.

Don't you dare!

Children!

Stop this fighting at once!

Louie! Hey, what do I do?

Louie, I mean business.

She wanted... Do I have to get Miss Marsden? He took my...

You started the fight.

I think you should put some elbow grease in to help cleaning up.

It's a woman's work.

I'm not going to get into trouble again because of you.

What did I do?

Stop your bickering.

I'm extremely frustrated by your behavior. Both of you.

You have one hour.

I expect you to be completely finished by the time I get back.

And no monkey business, Lewis.

The name's Louis, Toot.

My mother don't even call me Lewis.

And I'm sick. I ain't supposed to work. I'm supposed to sit here and do nothing,

okay? You're wrong, Lewis.

Exercise is part of the regime here at Thornhill.

And you'll be doing quite a lot of it.

Willingly, nicely, and pleasantly.

There are plenty of other children who would be grateful for a place here.

Hey, Miss Perfect, you're doing that all wrong. Let me show you. For your

information, I know how to scrub a floor.

And my name isn't Miss Perfect. It's Cecily.

And I want my medallion back.

Medallion? I ain't got no medallion. You took it. I saw you, remember?

Oh, yeah?

Prove it.

That was my good luck charm, and I want it back. Well, then call the cops,

because I ain't got no medallion. And there ain't such thing as good luck in a

dump like this.

This place is a pit.

I'm springing out of here the first chance I get.

Good. I hope it's soon.

If my folks could see me now, they'd stick up for me.

Here I am, scrubbing floors while them charity cases get to sit on their butts.

My father's a tycoon. He's into real estate.

In New York, he's practically a household name.

What, you think I'm a liar?

Well, frankly, Louis, or Louie, whoever you are, I think you're full of hot air,

and a thief, and a pest, and I would appreciate it if you never spoke to me

again.

Nerf Yes, Louie, what is it?

I Found it.

Thank you.

I'll make sure to return it to its owner It's not as good as the one my father

gave me that's an old family heirloom, you know

The London Bridge is falling down.

You ain't putting no corset on me, lady.

Louie, they're only trying to help. Hey, look, the only way they could try and

help is if they leave me alone.

If I'm gonna die, I should be able to do whatever I want.

Don't talk like that.

Face it, Miss P.

Ain't none of us getting out of here.

Why do you think they shipped us in the middle of nowhere?

I don't believe that.

Look, all I gotta say is make the best of it.

You may not be around for tomorrow.

Hey, what are you looking at?

You.

Where'd you come from, the garbage dump?

Here, charity case.

You can shine my shoes.

Are you coming to exercise class, Leslie?

No.

Did you hear about Louie?

He's in big trouble.

He has to peel potatoes for the whole week. Isn't that awful?

No, that's not awful. He probably deserves it.

Well, still, I wouldn't want to be stopped peeling potatoes in the middle

fun. Would you?

Emily, what did he do wrong?

He beat up another boy for calling him a charity case.

Well, is he?

A charity case?

They all are. Those boys who were just sent here?

The newspaper union's sponsoring them.

Those boys are really poor.

Emily, Cecily, we're waiting.

Good morning.

Cecily, I'm glad you decided to join us. I found this on the lunchroom floor.

Thank you.

Go on.

Louie.

Louie, I'm sorry.

The nurse found this.

My mother says that if you come from the island... Your potato peel always has

to come off in one piece.

Just like this.

See?

I come from Prince Edward Island, a small place called Avonlea.

How about you?

Brooklyn.

It's in New York.

I've never been farther than Halifax.

And here, of course. So you Boston are complaining.

Look, I'm trying to be pleasant. You're making it very difficult.

Want to hear a joke?

Where does the king keep his armies?

Who cares?

Up its sleevies.

Is that supposed to be funny?

I'll tell you something funny.

Sticking me in his joint is funny.

You know where I'm supposed to be right now?

Paris.

France? Yeah, where else?

My parents take me on two swell vacations every year.

Sometimes we go to India, sometimes we just sail around the world, whatever we

feel like.

Except when I'm in private school. That's over in England.

Doesn't that cost a lot of money?

Yeah, well, easy come, easy go.

What's the door when your family's loaded, huh?

Besides, my motto is you only live once.

And once is enough to do everything right.

Aim is perfect.

I did it.

So, big news, Miss C.

I finished the last bushel.

Maybe I'll never have to look at another potato as long as I live.

Which ain't saying much, considering.

Louie. Hey, the way I see it, your belly aches. Nobody listens to you anyhow.

Gotta have a sense of humor, you know.

I thought you didn't like jokes.

Not the stupid ones you tell.

Oh, I know another one.

My brother sends me jokes in his letters.

What's black and white and red all over? A newspaper.

We're all newsies, remember?

Hey, shut your yap.

You sell newspapers?

I thought your family was rich.

Well, I did it for fun one winter just to see how poor people live.

But my father made me quit on account that we had to go to Florida, you know,

over Christmas.

Now, if my father knew that old hag Marzen had me peeling potatoes, boy,

have me out of here so fast I'd make your head spin.

Well, why don't you call him then and ask him to come and get you?

You kidding?

That old bagger never let me do it.

She won't even let me get near a telephone.

She just wants me to be miserable.

She'll get hers, though.

Good. Get hers how?

Oh, you'll see.

Don't listen to him, Seth.

He's not going to do anything. Hey, shut your gob.

You're full of baloney.

Listen, you little pipsqueak.

When I say I'm going to do something, I do it.

You won't know when and you won't know where.

But you're going to know when it happened.

Oh, what are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?

No wonder you're coughing.

Sneaking out in the middle of the night like this.

You're just lucky Miss Marsden didn't catch you cutting across the lawn.

So what are you up to anyway?

Get off my back already. I'm just taking a walk. What'd you think?

Are you all right?

Sure did.

Just great.

Are you sure you're all right?

What'd you call me out here for in the first place?

I wanted to ask you something.

What?

You ever been to a morgue?

I'm not scared.

I've seen dead bodies before.

You mean they really keep them down here?

Uh -huh.

Louie, let go. I changed my mind. I thought you had guts.

Well, I do, but... Are you too scared to look?

So, go ahead, have a look.

You mean take off the sheets?

Well, how else are you going to see?

It ain't scary.

They don't turn into skeletons overnight.

What's going on here?

This is a... Absolutely the final time that I'm going to reprimand you. But I

don't interrupt me when I'm speaking.

You know the rules, Lewis.

Yet you deliberately flout them.

Cecily, this institute is a privilege.

One more misdemeanor and it's home you go. But I didn't... Not another word.

Straight to bed.

All of you, go.

You know, everybody's talking about last night.

And Miss Marston's blaming you.

You really shouldn't go around with that boy, Louie. I know.

But he's different from everybody else.

I'll say.

He's a thief and a liar and a big troublemaker. But he's fun.

And really quite nice.

I rather like his story. And I have to admit, that was a pretty good joke.

My brother Felix would have liked it.

With Louie here, I forget that I'm sick.

Well, I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Miss Marsden.

Not for him or for anybody else.

My parents, they'd be really mad if they knew I was misbehaving.

Mine too.

Lewis, contrary to what you may believe, we are trying to help you here.

You don't fool me, Tooth.

I know why I'm here. You're just waiting for us to croak.

That's hardly true.

We selected all you newsboys to give you a fighting chance against this disease.

If you won't be more cooperative, we'll have to send you back to the city.

Great. When do I leave?

The other children look up to you.

They follow your example.

But your actions are putting them all at risk. Can't you see that?

They ain't got to do nothing.

I don't force them, you know. And just because we're sick don't mean we can't

have fun.

I suppose not.

I know it's very difficult for you children here.

But we have to be careful.

We want to send you home well.

Home?

That's a good one, Toad.

Sorry, Louis.

Life shouldn't be so hard for someone so young.

But we're not your enemies.

Can I go now?

Yes, Louis.

You may leave.

That's all for today, Louis.

Rest here for ten minutes.

Miracle come get you.

Louis?

Oh, ain't it perfect?

You gonna beat me up now?

I should.

Don't blame you.

That was a terrible thing to do.

I didn't mean for you to get in the hot water.

Miss Nasty punish you?

She's writing to my parents.

She says if I do one more thing wrong, she's shipping me home.

Yeah, but they can't send you home.

We was having so much fun together.

We're not supposed to have fun here.

It's a sanitarium, remember?

Yeah, well, how else are you gonna get better if they ship you home?

They can't do that, Cecily.

Yes, they can.

Miss Marston says it's a privilege to stay here.

Look, I better get back.

Help me feel better.

Sure thing.

Don't worry about me.

I'll lick this.

Hey, I'll make it up to you, I swear. No, don't.

Don't do anything.

If I know you, it'll just make things worse.

Ace, that's the only color.

Louie, you shouldn't be here.

I couldn't sleep.

I can't take no more of this dump.

Louie, go away. I don't want any more trouble.

Look, just come for a walk with me, please.

Do I look stupid or something?

Oh, I swear, I swear, no more tricks.

I just gotta show you this place I found.

What place?

Oh, it's really something.

I ain't never seen nothing like it before.

Shh!

The last time I'm telling you, I'm not saying it again.

I thought you was different.

Forget it, Stephanie.

I'll have all the fun by myself.

How much further, Louie?

Just a little bit longer.

You can do it.

Smoke.

Oh, fire!

Fire! Fire! Fire!

Fire!

Up, quickly, out of bed.

Come along.

Quickly, quickly, quickly, Emily.

Yes, Emily.

I want them answered, and I want them now.

Cecily, where is she?

Well, here it is.

Louie, you're crazy. Get down.

Louie, come on. This is dangerous.

Louie, please stop it.

Dangerous? That's a laugh.

I'm going to kick the bucket anyway.

Louie, please.

Come on.

Are you all right?

Come on, Louis. They're going to find us here. We've got to run.

No. You go by yourself.

I ain't going nowhere.

I'm not leaving you here.

Louis.

What on earth are you doing here?

Which one of you was in this office and started this fire?

We don't know anything about a fire. We just went out for some fresh air.

At two in the morning?

If you're going to cover up for one another, I'm going to have to punish

you.

Good heavens, child.

You're burning up.

Get out of those wet clothes. Now, get him to bed immediately.

Ask Dr. Sparrow to see him.

Yes, Miss Martin.

As for you, young lady, I meant what I said.

Now, start packing your bags.

I'm cabling your parents to come for you right away.

Come on.

This boy is gravely ill. Why didn't you inform me?

If his condition worsens...

No, immediately.

Nurse, may I be excused to go inside, please?

Cecily, you know what Miss Marsden said. You're to stick strictly to the

schedule today.

But I have to go to the bathroom.

Very badly.

All right, go ahead, then. But come back directly.

Yes, ma 'am.

I miss you.

Yeah, do we?

What do you feel?

I don't like a million bucks.

There's something I gotta tell you about my family. I know.

My mother was a cleaning lady for the newspaper building.

She died at TB a year ago.

I got the car from her.

That's the way it goes.

Lucky for me, my union paid for me to be in here.

I'm a charity case.

I'm so sorry.

I want to hear some sob story about a street rat orphan.

You got it, man.

Paris and a fancy private school are way more exciting.

And all the other stuff about India and Christmas in Florida.

I never even had a decent Christmas.

I lied.

Oh, Louie.

Promise me you'll get better and get out of this dump.

Yes, but you've got to promise you're going to get better, too.

I thought I'd find you in here, Cecily.

I'm very disappointed in you, young lady.

She's trying to cheer me up.

Well, that may be, but you need your rest more than you need visitors.

Run along, Seth Lee.

Go on.

And don't let Miss Morrison find you running in the halls or we'll both be in

hot water all over again.

Seth Lee.

I'm afraid you've got problems of your own.

Your parents are coming on the next train.

Ooh, you're in for it now.

Extensive damage?

I don't understand. How old is this boy?

I'm sure he's only a child.

Lewis is 14 years old. He's a charity case. From the newspaper guild,

unfortunately, we were sent quite a group of them.

But Lewis has turned out to be the worst in every possible way.

Cecily, however...

It's been quite a handful herself.

We believe that one or both of them were playing with matches and started a

fire. Oh.

Now, I refuse to have a child of mine accused of arson. She's a quiet, gentle

child. I simply don't believe she's capable of being a ringleader.

Miss Marston, I... I don't know what to say.

We had placed such high hopes for her recovery at Thornhill.

We have other children like Cecily here.

And each and every one of them is important to us.

We simply cannot have one child disrupting things for the others.

To make matters worse, Louis is gravely ill.

Oh, dear.

Louis isn't as bad as Miss Marsden thinks, and neither am I.

We didn't behave.

I know we didn't.

But you don't know what it's like to be here.

But Cecily... Please, I want you to meet Louis and see for yourself.

You really like him, Mother.

He's different from anybody I've ever known in Avonlea.

He's fun.

He makes me feel better.

Like I could get out of here in no time.

And he's going to get better.

He just had a setback falling in the river.

Well, he hasn't got anybody.

No mother, no father.

So I was thinking that we could invite him home to Avonlea for Christmas.

It's all right with you, isn't it?

Louie, my parents are here.

Hello, Louie.

I've heard so much about you.

Perhaps we'd better let him sleep.

Louie, I spoke to my parents.

They want you to come to Avonlea for Christmas.

Here.

You keep that for luck.

Hey.

Don't cut the turkey without me.

We're so lucky compared to him.

We are.

Our family, living in Avonlea.

Our friends and relatives and all the good times we have together.

Louie's never had any of that.

That's why I want him to come home with us for Christmas.

I want him to know what it's like.

I hope it's a white Christmas.

I love that. Don't you think so, Father?

Yes, sweetheart.

He'll love it.

Wait, I... I have a better idea.

What?

I don't know.

Miss Morrison says that we have to go outside.

All of us.

She says my parents are waiting down there.

Merry

Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Merry Christmas, Louis.

Now then, Louis, my boy, you come right down here.

I have something for you.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Louis.

Oh, Mother, Father, thank you.

You're so wonderful.

Thank you.

I don't know what to say.

I don't know what to say.

Oh, Cecily, your parents are waiting outside. Hey, I want to speak to Louie.

Cecily, wait.

Where is he?

I'm sorry, Cecily.

We were both feeling so much better.

Oh, sweetheart.

They're supposed to cure us here.

Louis said he'd get out of here.

Sometimes, Cecily.

Sometimes they just can't do anything.

But he was so happy last night.

He made me promise that I'd get better, too.

I'm going to come home, Mother.

Tell the family and all my friends that I'm going to be home within the year.

I made a promise.