All language subtitles for Clash.by.Night.1952.Bluray.Original

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music continues]

[soothing music playing]

[squawking]

[barking]

[horn blowing]

[work horn blowing]

Okay, boys, let's get her unloaded.

Sooner the quicker.

[barking]

[accordion music playing]

[man] Go to cannery, go to farm,
go to picking grape.

Everywhere I go, bosses says no.

Jerry is gonna be mad when
he come off his boat and find you here.

So he's mad.

Old man ought to sleep
late in the morning.

Is old, 68?

Is old, 68? No good for work no more?

Chop them up, old men,
chop them up like bait.

Coffee. And a brandy.

Better make it whiskey, lady.

I thought when I heard music it was you.
Now, come on home, Papa. Let's go home.

- Oh, home.
- No, no, no.

What's home? Sit thinking.

No wife, no music. It's nothing, home.

- Why don't you take up golf, pop?
- Why don't you shut up?

Now, come on home, Papa,
and don't make no trouble.

Come on, now.

[frustrated mumbling]

Now look what you did.

Excuse, it's a mistake.

You're always making mistakes.
I'm sorry, miss.

If you'd stay home like I told you,
nothing would happen.

Hey, ain't you Mae Doyle?

Yes.

Papa, you remember Mae.
Mae Doyle, Joe's sister.

I guess you don't remember me, huh, Mae?

I don't remember a lot of things.

Guess I took on a little beef.

Jerry D'Amato.

Joe works on my boat.

- In the morning?
- Only when I have a cold.

- How much?
- A dollar even.

You coming home to stay?

For a while.

There ain't nothing like home, is there?

That's what they say.

Nephew, so help me, I didn't have
me eyes closed a second when

he's out of the house like that.

All right, Uncle Vince.

Sneaked off when I'm trying
to get a few winks

- I'm so worn out.
- I know.

- Come on, Papa.
- I'm worn out taking care of him

while you're on the boat.

I said to myself, my nephew
would be hopping mad.

Blaming me as usual.
The old gent gets tanked and...

[engine bell clanging]

[dog barking]

[doorbell ringing]

[work horn blowing]

- Hi, Peggy.
- Hey.

I thought you...

I thought you weren't gonna eat
any more chocolate.

- You'll spread.
- So I'll spread.

- Don't, Joe.
- Why not?

I feel icky.

[car horn honks]

Mr. Homan went in the warehouse today.

Found two of the girls
curled up asleep in the sacks.

- Did he holler?
- Murder.

Well, when a man pays your day's wages,
you owe him a day's work.

Irene came into work with a...

Irene came into work with a black eye.

That fellow she married when she was
working the fruit canneries

came down last night.

Wanted her to go back upstate
and live with him again.

And when she wouldn't,
he just beat her up awful.

- You should see her eye.
- Well, he's her husband.

So what?

I suppose you'd beat me up, too,
if I was your wife.

Sure, regular.

Let me see you try.

Just let me see any man try.

What would you do? Scratch my eyes out?

Just try it. You'll find out.

- Tough, ain't you?
- Yeah.

We should've had you
in the 3rd Division.

- Let go of me.
- Sure.

Ouch!

When I want you to kiss me,
I'll let you know.

By special messenger.

[Mae] Aren't you going to
welcome me home, Joe?

Welcome home.

It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Ten years.

Can ten years go that fast?

House looks nice.

She looks nice, too.

Peggy, my sister, Mae.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Funny, coming home
and finding the door locked

and not having a key to it anymore.

I remember the house as bigger.

It isn't very big, is it?

It's big enough.

Is there any coffee? Mae must be tired.

On the stove.

Why didn't you come home before?

Why didn't I go to China?

Some things you do,
some things you don't.

The way you wrote,
I thought you'd come back rich.

- Where's it parked?
- What?

The big car with the chauffeur
and the rich husband.

There isn't any car.
There isn't any husband,

rich, poor, indifferent.

Ain't that what you left town for?

[Mae] I left town because I...

left town.

What do you want, Joe,
my life's history?

Here it is in four words:
big ideas, small results.

The guy you wrote Ma
you were gonna marry.

I neglected to write
that he was already married.

Does it sound sordid?

All right, it sounds sordid.

He died, left me some money.

But... they took it to court.

His wife, his brothers.

I almost drowned in outraged relatives.

Mae Doyle, ten years later.

It's your life.

Yes, that's what's so funny.

It's really mine.

Well, do I go or stay?

It's your house, too.

You can use Ma's old room.

Mae, I'll help you unpack.

You watch the coffee. Come on.

Joe said you lived in New York.

For a while.

- I don't think I'd like New York.
- Why?

I don't know. I'd be scared.

Mmm. Nice. Did you get this in New York?

No, a drug store in Kansas City.

How old are you, Peg?

Twenty.

Twenty, the age of miracles.

- Here's your coffee, Mae.
- Oh, thanks, Joe.

- Do you want anything?
- A Cadillac.

Know what I'd really like?

A trailer.

Just go over the whole country
seeing places.

Where would you bring up the kids,
in the back seat?

Who said I'd have kids?

- You'd have kids.
- Yeah?

- Joe wants me to marry him.
- I gathered that.

But I hate people bossing me.

You marry a fella,
the first thing he does is boss you.

He can be real sweet sometimes.

But I don't wanna have to keep working
in a cannery if I got married.

Does Joe want you to work?

You know fellas.
They say a lot of things.

But wait till there's a bad catch
and money's short.

I'd go right back in the cannery.

I'd be stuck good.

You're very pretty, Peggy.

The boys whistle a lot.

I'm real glad you came back home, Mae.

Are you?

- Am I what?
- Glad you're home.

Home is where you come
when you run out of places.

I sure was surprised
when I walked into Angelo's

and there your sister was,
sitting at the bar.

- What's she gonna do now she's home?
- I don't know.

You got some twine?

[shouting in Italian]

- I bet she goes out a lot.
- Out?

You know, nightclubs,
theaters, stuff like that.

- She does all right.
- Sure.

Why shouldn't she,
swell-looking girl like Mae?

Hey, why don't you ask her out?

- Me?
- Well, why not you?

I wouldn't be any fun
for a swell-looking girl like Mae.

She's used to nightclubs.

- Nightclubs?
- Yeah.

[scoffs] She ain't been out of the house
in two weeks.

[children shouting playfully]

[boy mimicking horn]

Look out.

Watch out. Why, you dirty brat.

- What do you want, the whole sidewalk?
- [bottle shattering]

[boy] Wee!

Get off the street, you little hoodlums!

[dog barking]

[accordion music playing]

I lost two bottles.

Rotten kids.
I hope they all get run over.

Dirty little rats.

What are you sitting in the house
with your hat on for?

Crazy old gent sitting
in the house with a hat on.

Not important, hat.

It's what under the hat
that makes you worry.

What you got to worry about?
Son supports you, don't he?

Didn't move any of them checkers

while I was out getting the beer,
did you?

Last night, under the bridge...

they found a little baby,
four days, five days old.

Nobody wants kids.
They clutter up the house.

I told you to close the icebox.
You'll burn the bulb out.

- Where'd all the beer come from?
- Schneider's.

I thought I told you
to stop charging stuff.

Well, you're rich. You'll never miss it.

I ain't rich.

[sighing] A little baby,
four days, five days old.

What's the matter with Papa?

They found a dead baby
under the bridge. He's worried about it.

People believe in nothing, nothing.

I know, Papa.

It's a sad story.

- My nephew's going out?
- To a movie.

- With who, may I ask?
- Mae Doyle, that's who.

Women. [scoffs]

I never married. You know why?
We spoil women in this country.

Too much education,
too much free speech.

Suppose I gotta sit in with the old gent

while you're out spending money
with this Mae Doyle?

It's my money, ain't it, Uncle Vince?

Right, throw it in my face.
I live off you.

I didn't mean that, Uncle Vince.

Just say the word.
I'll sleep in the gutter.

Nobody said anything
about you sleeping in the gutter.

All I said was...

Was close the icebox door!

Your move, old-timer.

And I told you a hundred times,
clean up your room. It's filthy.

And take down them dirty pictures
you got hanging up.

- Pictures?
- Them women with no clothes.

Is your son, by any chance,
referring to my art collection?

Art. You better take them down,
that's all.

- Night, Papa.
- Good night.

- [dismissively] Ah...
- And you, too.

Fine brother-in-law, ignorant man
don't know English, can't read or write.

It's my own fault, letting my sister
marry beneath her.

At least she's better off
where she is now.

[door bell ringing]

[Mae] Come in, the door is open.

- Mae?
- Be ready in a minute.

I bet Joe's glad you're home.
The place looks swell.

[Mae] I fixed it up a little.

So you're a skipper.

- You own your own boat?
- She's a pretty good boat.

Do you like being a fisherman?

Like it? I don't know. It's what I do.

- What Papa did, even in the old country.
- Sicily?

Yeah, he's from around Augusta.
It's on the sea.

Papa's family,
they all went out in boats.

Fishing up here used to be a lot easier
in the old days, Papa says.

Seas was full of fish, you could go out
of the harbor two, three miles,

make a set,
haul in 150, 200 ton of sardines.

I guess everything was a lot easier
in the old days, huh, Mae?

- Well, we like to think so.
- Mae, you look swell.

Well, I'm not sure
what looking swell means.

Well, you know, Mae. You look...

- kind of beautiful.
- Thanks.

- I wish I felt kind of beautiful.
- Well, why shouldn't you?

Oh, moods.
They come and go. Ignore them.

[Jerry] Earl's like that, too.

Earl's like what, too?

[Jerry] That way.
The blues all of a sudden.

Aren't you ever blue?

[Jerry] I get mad.

No, that's not the same thing.

Maybe it's because you're so big.

I knew another big man once.
He didn't suffer from moods either.

I'm glad you asked me
to go to the movies.

- Really, Mae?
- Really.

I got cold feet. Joe had to ask for me.

Well, the next time,
you get warm feet and ask me yourself.

Earl will be glad to meet you, I bet.
We'll go up and see him after the show.

Earl. Who is this magical gent
you keep talking about?

Earl? He's one of
the smartest men I know.

- He's in the movie business.
- An actor?

No, but I bet Earl could be
if he wanted to.

He works at the Bijou Theater,
in the projection booth.

That's your idea of
being in the movie business?

Running movies?
What other business would you call it?

[woman singing onscreen]

This is where we came in.

- You can't smoke here, lady.
- We're looking for Earl Pfeiffer.

Oh, he's in the booth.

- I'll take it, lady.
- Thank you.

Wait a minute.

Oh, hi, Earl. Okay to come in?

Sure, Jerry, sure.

[Jerry] It's all right, Mae. Come on in.

[music playing onscreen]

Mae, this is Earl Pfeiffer,
and this is Mae Doyle.

- My pleasure, Miss Doyle.
- Jerry's talked of you.

I'm sure he didn't find anything
good to say about me, did he?

You never can tell.

Sit down, relax.

I'll be out of this submarine
in two shakes.

Like the show?

She's beautiful.

Who, that celluloid angel you just saw?

Gotta cut her up a little bit.
She'd look more interesting.

Cut her up?

Didn't you ever wanna
cut up a beautiful dame?

No.

Jeremiah, you're a simple man.

Don't mind me, Miss Doyle.
I'm a chatter bug.

Earl knows some of
the movie stars in person.

Handle them all day.

Oh.

- Art.
- Yeah.

- It's your night to wrap up.
- Yeah, I know.

Let's get out of this sweat box.

I need a drink.
What do you need, Miss Doyle?

Well, let's say a drink.

You think beer has
a food value, Miss Doyle?

I couldn't say.

- You don't talk much, do you?
- It depends.

I could drink beer all night.

Is your wife very pretty?

Who says I have a wife?
And who says she's pretty?

Oh, I imagine you're the kind of a man

who likes the woman
he marries to be pretty.

- Were you ever a showgirl?
- God, no.

You look like you could be.

My wife's in show business, burlesque.
She eats money.

Yesterday from St. Louis,
a fast telegram: "Send some spot cash."

But you must love her to stay married.

I'm a glutton for punishment.

You never know what kind of a dame
a guy will wind up with.

When Jerry said he was bringing
somebody to the show tonight,

I thought he'd walk in
with a fright wig.

Needless to say, I was mistaken.

Thanks.

[Earl] Well, a guy like Jerry
deserves the best.

- Man without a woman is nothing.
- Now you're being soft.

Was I being tough before?
I was trying to make an impression.

You don't like women, do you?

Take any six of them,
my wife included...

Throw them up in the air.

The one who sticks to the ceiling,
I like.

Here's to Jeremiah,
whose heart's in the right place.

I can't drink to myself, Earl.

Well, then let's drink to me.
My heart's in the wrong place.

Well, I'm off to my trundle bed.

Earl Pfeiffer's not the man
he used to be.

Take good care of Miss Doyle.

- Have another beer before you go.
- Nope.

Don't force him. Mr. Pfeiffer's tired.

- We'll take you home.
- Jeremiah, you stay right where you are.

I'm sorry I got the jumps tonight.

I'm talking to you,
but what I'm thinking is:

"What's my wife doing in St. Louis?
Who's she with?"

Someday I'm gonna stick her full of pins
just to see if blood runs out.

Miss Doyle, it was my pleasure.

- Good night, Jeremiah. See you.
- [Jerry] So long, Earl.

That wife, she sure leads him
a merry chase.

He'd be the same with any woman.

- Don't you like him, Mae?
- I don't like his attitude.

- About what?
- Calling you Jeremiah.

It's a way of
walking over you, patronizing.

He isn't that good.

I don't feel that way about it.

You don't have a mean thought
in your head, do you, Jerry?

That's nice, it's comfortable.

A man who isn't mean
and doesn't hate women.

- Will you get me a fresh one, please?
- Sure.

[train whistle blows]

[Peggy] Mae.

- Your dress is gonna fit me perfectly.
- Good.

Do you like dancing?

- [Mae] When I'm in the mood.
- I love dancing.

When I'm dancing,
I just kind of forget myself.

Does Jerry ever get jealous
when you dance close with a fella?

I haven't asked him.

All Jerry would need is somebody
to look after him.

I'm tired of looking after men.
I wanna be looked after.

Weren't you ever in love, Mae?

- Once.
- Where?

Saint Paul.

He was big, too, like Jerry.

I'll say one thing.
He knew how to handle women.

Is that what you want from a man?

Confidence. I want a man
to give me confidence.

Somebody to fight off
the blizzards and floods.

Somebody to beat off the world
when it tries to swallow you up.

[chuckles foolishly]

Me and my ideas.

Last year we brought in
almost 2,500 tons.

We split it up 12 ways.

It's about $4,000 a share.

We caught rock twice,
ripped up two nets,

otherwise we'd have made more.

- Honolulu's out there.
- Huh?

Honolulu.

Far away.

I'd like to go down on deck.

Earl invited us out Sunday,
to the Pavilion.

Would you like to go?

We've been going out a lot, Jerry.

I know, Mae. I've been taking up
a lot of your time.

My time is not so precious.

How is your father?

Huh, I wish he'd quit drinking.

I guess it must be terrible
to get old and lonely.

[Mae] Yes.

I suppose that's what
everyone's afraid of,

getting old and lonely.

I suppose.

It's funny, though,
how they used to fight,

him and my mother.

Then when she died,
he just sat and cried.

- He's a stubborn old man.
- [Mae] Are you stubborn?

[Jerry] Me?
No, I ain't much of anything.

You shouldn't run yourself down
like that, Jerry.

I'm not running myself down.
It's just that...

Well, I wish I was a little like Earl.

Did you ever hear Earl imitate Chinese?
All I can imitate is a duck.

- [Jerry quacking]
- Oh, Jerry,

leave the imitations to Earl.

He's just kind of an imitation himself.

I'm real glad you came back home, Mae.

Why?

I like you, you know that.

You don't know anything about me.

What kind of an animal am I?
Do I have fangs, do I purr?

What jungle am I from?

- You don't know a thing about me.
- That ain't important.

People have funny things
swimming around inside of them.

Don't you ever wonder what they are?

Well, maybe. Once in a while.

I don't like to think about
things like that.

Look at me, Jerry.

Are you in love with me?

I guess so.

I guess I am.

I wouldn't make a good wife for you.

That ain't true.
You'd make a wonderful wife.

Don't be so sure.

I'm one of those women
who are never satisfied.

But it would be nice,
married to someone like you.

I'd be safe, wouldn't I?
A place to rest.

And that would be nice.

- A place to rest.
- Mae, I...

I know, your arm up to here
in a hot fire.

- It wouldn't work.
- It ain't true.

Find yourself someone who likes

pushing a baby carriage
and shopping in the market

and changing the curtains
on the bathroom window.

I'd be bad for you, Jerry.
Believe me, somehow I'd hurt you.

- I don't care.
- Oh, care, care.

Don't be so eager to make a mistake.

Don't you see what I mean?

I'm tired. I'd be tempted
to marry someone like you,

but it would be all wrong.

No, it wouldn't. Mae, listen...

I ain't smart, I ain't rich...

but I'd do anything for you.

The blizzards and the floods.

Would you?

No.

I'm crazy to even think such a thing.

It's wrong.

Good night, Jerry.

[upbeat big band music playing]

[waves crashing]

[Peggy laughing]

- I got water in my ear.
- Huh?

I got water in my ear.

I'll shake it out.

[Peggy laughing] Oh, God.

[laughing] Ow, you're hurting me.

Joe, let go.

[Peggy laughing]

Come on, I'll race you back.

The water was cold, but it was fun.

[music continues]

I didn't know Jerry could dance.

You call that dancing?

Waiter.

Waiter!

Excuse me while I shake
this dump upside down.

- Where's he get all that energy?
- I don't like him.

He's kind of exciting and attractive.

- Who's attractive? Who's exciting?
- Earl.

- Who?
- Joe, you're strangling me.

- Who's attractive? Who's exciting?
- You.

That's better.

[Peggy laughing]

Here you are, son,
because you're a good boy.

Thanks, mister.

Who drinks beside me?

It's too early in the day.

That's where you're wrong.
Never too early.

Joe, will you get my sweater?

Yeah.

The fruit in the fruit tree.

What?

When it's ripe, it's juicy.

Don't it bother you,
working at a cannery?

What should I work at?

What does the bee do in the clover?

He's busy making honey.

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.

[Peggy laughing]

Mae's some dancer.
Me, I'm a hippo on two feet.

Yeah, my two feet.

- The sardine fleet's back.
- I feel like a walk.

Come on, Joe.

[Earl] Buzz, buzz, buzz.

The little bee is making honey.

Earl, show Mae your Chinese imitation.

[mimicking Chinese man]

[Jerry laughing hysterically]

[Jerry] You kill me.

[Earl continues mimicking]

Well, well, there's
my own nephew, I said,

sitting with his friends.
I must step up and say hello.

Hello, Uncle Vince.

This is Mae Doyle, Earl Pfeiffer.
This is my Uncle Vince.

Always glad to meet my nephew's friends.

Sit down, Uncle, have a beer,
if you got nothing else to do.

Nothing to do? I beg your pardon.

I've got so much to do,

I don't know where to start,
as a matter...

But I can stand a beer
on an afternoon like this.

[slow music playing]

Miss Doyle, may I have this dance?

- Go on, Mae, enjoy yourself.
- All right.

- Maybe I won't bring her back, Jerry.
- You will, you will.

Keep that periscope up, uncle.

Think he's funny? He ain't funny.

- The old gent's here.
- What? Papa?

- Tucked in the bar.
- In the bar?

[burps]

- Can I ask you a foolish question?
- You'll get a foolish answer.

You've got Jerry spinning.
I can see it a mile off.

Can you?

Jerry's the salt of the earth,

but he's not
the right seasoning for you.

What kind of seasoning do I need?

You're like me.

A dash of Tabasco
or the meat tastes flat.

- Can't see you doing it.
- Doing what?

Hanging out the family wash.

What did you do back East?

- Existed.
- Okay.

I'm offside.

I'll ask you one more foolish question.

Where did you get those blue, blue eyes?

From my mother.

- And the perfume?
- From a bottle.

Remind me to refill that bottle.

For another nickel, we can have a rumba.

No, thanks. Save your money.
Hard times are coming.

I wonder where Jerry went.

The sun is going down.

Waiter, how about something potent,
like a couple shots of bourbon.

Okay, mister.

You know, they used to call me
the king fish of Buckman County.

I had zip, class, pep, a future.

But that was far away and long ago.

Why talk like that? You're still young.

No, I'm just a barge
floating down the river.

Who cares where I go or what I do?

Is your wife back?

- Why bring up an unpleasant subject?
- Just curious.

She's in Pittsburgh on tour.
Were you ever in Pittsburgh?

- No.
- Well, she's in Pittsburgh.

Make me slightly super-happy
if she stayed in Pittsburgh.

- I thought I told you four.
- You said a couple.

- Well, how much is a couple?
- To me, three.

Drowning my sorrow.

[exhales]

Do you drink?

[Earl whistles]

- Where did you learn that?
- In Pittsburgh.

I want to look at the ocean.

["I Hear a Rhapsody" playing]

[man singing] And when I hear you call

So softly to me

I don't hear a call at all

I hear a rhapsody

And when your sparkling eyes...

What are you thinking about?

That music.

I used to sell sheet music
in a dime store,

and they played that.

[man singing]
Then soft through the starlit skies

I hear a rhapsody

Papa's here and he don't wanna go home.

He's got some fella at the bar
loading him up with booze.

When he falls, we'll pick him up. Relax.

I don't want no whiskey.

- You drinking, Mae?
- What if I am?

Well, all I...

If I wanna drink whiskey, I'll drink it.

[chuckles] That'll teach you, Jeremiah.
Never ask a lady personal questions.

Shut up.

He drives me cuckoo sometimes.

What does he think I am,
Red Riding Hood?

Get mad, get hot.
It's good for what ails you.

Aren't there any more
comfortable men in the world?

Now they're all little and nervous
like sparrows,

or big and worried like sick bears.

Men.

Women.

If I ever loved a man again,
I'd bear anything.

He could have my teeth for watch fobs.

That's the liquor talking.

Two tiny slugs.

Who was he?

Santa Claus.

- Does Jerry know?
- I'm not married to Jerry.

He was a politician I knew. He died.

I felt as if my own life had stopped.

I didn't think
I'd ever feel anything again.

Where could I go?

Home.

But you forget.
You even begin to hope again.

One thing I know...

he was a man who didn't
tear a woman down.

- He made her feel confident.
- Confident?

Sure of herself.
More than she was, not less.

The only man I ever knew
who gave me that feeling.

Which makes me what?

A sparrow in a treetop.

I never had any complaints.

- You're crude, Earl.
- I never claimed to polish.

How confident could I make you feel?

Last time I looked, you had a wife.

Next time you look, maybe I won't.

- Mmm-hmm. That's what they all say.
- Mae...

what do you really think of me?

You impress me as a man
who needs a new suit of clothes

or a new love affair.

But he doesn't know which.

You can't make me any smaller.

I happen to be preshrunk.

Do you want another drink?

- No.
- You're tough to please.

- I pick and I choose. My privilege.
- That politician.

- That was a smart pick.
- Meaning what?

Don't kid me, baby.

I know a bottle by the label.

Peace on Earth.

[slow big band music playing]

Well, I'm exhausted.
We had a wonderful time.

- Did you commune with nature?
- That ain't funny. Come on...

I seem to be the only one around here
capable of taking a joke.

- Let's call it a day.
- Are you bored?

I can't get Papa out of the bar,
and he's really getting loaded.

- I'd like to leave, if you don't mind.
- The day's young. Let's enjoy ourselves.

A few drinks, a dance, a hug.
What's wrong with that?

Or am I in the wrong pew?

Waiter, bring three more stinkies.

Could you let me have
a couple dollars, Earl? I ran out.

Here.

- Don't take it.
- Why not, Mae?

What's the matter, my money got germs?

Take it, Jeremiah.

- Don't touch that money.
- I gotta pay Papa's bar bill.

Big mouth, fast dollar.

What are you trying to buy,
the world's approval?

On your way, dust.

- Tired?
- A headache.

Earl, I don't understand him
talking to you like that.

I'm fed up with Earl, his wife,
his moods, his money, his everything.

He's fine for
a ride on a roller coaster,

but I'm tired of roller coasters.

- Earl just needs...
- Earl needs, Earl needs.

- Good night, Jerry.
- Good night.

- Get something for that headache.
- Yeah, a new head.

Jerry, I don't want you
to say anything now, but...

if you still want to marry me,

I'd try being
the kind of a wife you need.

I'd try to make you happy,
if you still want me.

- But you said on the boat...
- I've changed my mind.

- [playing upbeat music]
- [people clapping in sync]

[chattering indistinctly]

- Want a cigar?
- Yeah, thanks.

- Cigar? Don't cost nothing.
- No, thanks.

Have a cigar.

Jerry, our glasses are empty.

- Come fill them up.
- Okay, I'll be right there.

Mae. Mae.

Here, I want you to meet...
Just a second, I'll be right... Mae.

What do you want to drink?

...from San Diego and his wife.

I hope you'll be very happy.

Thank you.

Let's toast to
the happy bride and groom.

Hey, somebody ought to give a toast.

Come on, somebody give a toast.

I'm gonna give a toast.

Hey, somebody ought to make a toast.

Come on, everybody.

- Little Bee, you're cockeyed.
- Who says I'm cockeyed? I ain't...

[shrieks]

Joe, am I cockeyed?

Get off that table
before you break your neck.

A toast to the bride and groom!

A toast to the bride and groom.

- I am a-gonna make a speech.
- Bravo, bravo.

[music stops]

Papa.

[Papa] Quiet, everybody.

God, he made enough a-fish
for everybody.

- [speaks Italian]
- [crowd agreeing]

And he made enough wine for everybody.

Yeah.

And he made enough love for everybody.
Huh?

[all laughing]

So fish, wine, love for everybody.

[all toasting]

[music resumes]

Jerry, we hope you'll be very happy.

[all congratulating]

- Thank you, thank you.
- And a happy forever after.

- Congratulations, Jerry.
- Thank you. Earl, ain't she wonderful?

She's the one who sticks to the ceiling.

I can see you, Jeremiah.

Three kids and an oven full of bread.

- Congratulations.
- Thanks.

I wish you both all the happiness plus.

By the way,
I ain't kissed the lovely bride yet.

Do you mind, Mrs. D?

- How about a dance, Mrs. D'Amato?
- Go ahead, Mae.

- I'd love to.
- Earl, come on, have a good time.

Everybody, have a good time.

Have a cigar? Compliments of the house.

Smoke them yourself, uncle.

[upbeat music playing]

[music ends]

[guests cheering]

[dramatic music playing]

[lightning crashing]

I must've lost ten pounds
before it was over.

Joe here goes to the hospital with me.

"Take it easy, Jerry," he says.
"Take it easy.

You ain't the first guy to have a kid.
There've been other fathers before."

I give him a cigar, he can't smoke it.

I give him a drink, he gets sick.

- Sympathetic.
- That's right, sympathetic.

Mae can't eat, I can't eat.
She gets a pain, I get a pain.

And all the time I keep wishing
she had some of this beef of mine.

If it had gone on one more day,
I'd have had the baby myself.

Morning, nephew.

Well, hello, Uncle Vince. How you been?

Ask a certain nephew of mine's wife.

- And how's the little baby?
- Wonderful.

- Feed her, keep her warm?
- Why, sure.

Don't worry about who keeps
your uncle warm, do you, nephew?

Don't worry about who feeds him, huh?

- My own sister's son.
- Why don't you go to work.

Sure, why don't I get married?
Live in the lap of luxury, why not?

Who came into the house
and kicked me out?

Who was the heartless woman

who drove your closest relative
out into the night?

All Mae said was take down
them dirty pictures, and you wouldn't.

[men laughing]

All Mae said.
Never thought I'd see the day

a woman could lead my own
sister's son around by the nose.

- Cut it out, Uncle Vince.
- Around by the nose, yes, sir.

No self-respect.

Always said, women and horses,
use the whip on them.

[swooshes]

Can't spare a few dollars,
can you, nephew?

Well...

Couldn't call it a fortune,
could you, nephew?

All right, Uncle Vince.
I gotta go. I'll see you later, fellas.

Goodbye, Jerry.

There he goes, paterfamilias,
no manhood left.

[accordion playing softly]

- Why don't you turn on the lights?
- Too much for her eyes.

Gloria, darling. [clicks tongue]

I think I'll take Gloria.
That's it, sweetie.

Oh, you're such a doll.

Oh, yeah.

[softly] You little darling,
you little darling.

You're sweet...

[sighing]

Look. There it is, darling.

The moon's coming up.

Isn't it beautiful?

Couldn't pay no admission price
nowhere for a sight like that.

[Mae] Don't smother her with kisses.

What are you doing?

Nothing. I was just showing
Gloria the moon.

I'll put her back in the crib.

Ain't she too hot, Mae?
Look at her sweating. Maybe she's sick.

She isn't sick.
She's a normal baby, and babies sweat.

[Jerry] Earl says Chinese people
have babies right in the field.

Well, I might try that the next time.

- You want a beer?
- No, thanks.

[Gloria cooing]

- He's coming up tonight.
- Who?

Earl.

- Keep cool, Papa.
- It's hot.

What I hear, he's been on a real tear.

It's funny how a divorce
will affect a guy,

even when he wants
to get rid of his wife.

Mr. Earl will recover,
if I know Mr. Earl.

- Mae, you know what?
- Hmm?

- You make me real happy.
- I'm glad, Jerry.

- Oh, I'm so hot.
- Don't you feel good, honey?

Darn if I don't wish
I could've had the kid for you.

I feel fine, but it's just so hot.

I'm sorry.

Papers say we're due for
some cool weather.

Well, the papers ought to know.

[accordion playing softly]

[both sighing]

- You sure you don't want a beer?
- Uh-uh.

I don't see why you had to invite
anybody here tonight.

The house isn't made up,
and I feel like...

But it's only Earl, honey.

Feel kind of sorry for him.

Well, I got you, I got Gloria,
you know what I mean?

Don't bother about it.

It's just that I'm so irritated
with the heat.

I'll go put something on.

[indistinct clattering]

[Jerry] Hi, Earl.

Excuse me while I rest my weary dogs.

Sit down, Jeremiah. Relax.

Mae'll be out in a minute.
She's dressing.

She don't have to doll up
for Earl Pfeiffer.

And how's the wonderful baby?

Fourteen pounds, six ounces.

I weigh her every Tuesday and Friday.
She's a lulu.

Hey, are you sick?

No.

Dead and in my grave.

Ghosts.

Don't get up, it's too hot to move.

My pleasure, Mrs. D.

You're drunk.

On two tiny quarts?

Brought you a present. I almost forgot.

What is it?

- Vitamins.
- Vitamins?

Said to myself,
I gotta get Mrs. D a present.

What does she need? Vitamins.

Run down? Your clock losing time?

Feel morbid? Wanna throw yourself
in the oven with the rest of the cakes?

Take a vitamin.

I'll make a pot of coffee. You need it.

My ex...

I wish she was run down.

All the way down.

Divorce is like the other person died.

I keep saying she's dead.

She's dead.

Jeremiah, guard your castle...

your beautiful wife...

your wonderful baby.

[Earl sighing]

I'm tired.

Hey, Mae.

He's passed out.

What are you going to do,
stand there and admire him?

Pick him up and put him to bed.

The king fish of Buckman County.

[accordion continues playing]

[ominous music playing]

[birds squawking]

A little girl drowned yesterday.
Here's a picture.

Not this morning, Jerry.

This heat. I sprinkled Gloria
all over with talcum powder.

I wish somebody would sprinkle me
all over with talcum powder.

- He still asleep?
- Who, Earl? Yeah.

Got you.

He sure had a skinful last night,
didn't he?

I better be getting down to the boat.

Aren't you going to kiss me
before you go?

You don't like me to kiss you
in the morning.

I'd like it this morning.

[sobbing]

How did I get here?

[Mae] You passed out.
Jerry put you to bed.

Why didn't you let me sleep it off
in the gutter?

Yeah, that's right, why didn't I?

- You got some black coffee?
- On the table. Get a cup.

[cabinet door bangs]

- What time is it?
- Eight o'clock.

Eight o'clock?

- I thought it was deep in the afternoon.
- Jerry just left.

Aren't they ever going to finish
hammering up that post office?

You'll be in great shape
for work tonight.

Work? What's that?

Morning, pop.

What are you doing up
so bright and early?

Ride to Seaview.

- Maybe I find work.
- Carfare, Papa?

Would you like coffee?

What do you wanna work for, pop?
Plant some rosebushes.

These are the years of rest.

You no like a-work, huh?

That's right, I no like a-work.

I like a-work.

He'll walk to save the carfare.
How people can get.

The old man's all played out.
He's living in a dream.

- How about you?
- What about me?

- Are you happy?
- I'm happy.

No, you're not. You're just like me.

You're born
and you'd like to get unborn.

That's why I drink
that shellac, to get unborn.

- You need some sleep.
- Sleep? I can't sleep.

Somebody has to need me, love me.

How do people go on this way? Tell me.

- The heat's got you.
- And Jerry.

What about Jerry?

You wanted a man you could lean on.
Confidence. Well?

I don't blame Jerry for what he is.
That's my cross.

Are your shoulders strong enough?

Mine are.

Mine aren't.

Help me, Mae.

Help me.

How can I help you?

You wait all your life for the woman
you think is right.

You give up.

You think you'll never find her,
that it's a dream up inside your head.

And then one night...

out of nowhere...

she walks into your life,
and everything flaps over inside.

- No, Earl.
- Don't you know I love you?

Can't you tell it? Tell me what you
want me to be, I'll be it.

- Mae, I'm dying of loneliness.
- Earl, you'll wake the baby.

Oh, yes, the baby.

Is anybody home?

A mice.

Got any cheese?

Where's Mae?

Inside with the kid.

I got slightly tanked last night.

My friend Jerry stowed me away
to sleep it off.

Any more questions, Little Bee?

Peg? I thought I heard you.

Mae, look.

- Isn't it beautiful?
- A diamond.

We had dinner last night, Joe and me.

We had a fight and were never
gonna see each other again.

At eleven o'clock,
Joe came to the house

and was gonna kick the door down.

I never thought I'd like a guy
who pushed me around.

It's kind of an engagement ring.

Congratulations. I'm glad
you put the guy out of his misery.

Since when did you start
recommending marriage?

- Since I got my divorce.
- Joe will make you happy.

He knows who he is and what he is.

Some of us don't.

Always take the man
who'll kick the door down.

Advice from mama.

When I was 14,
I couldn't wait to get married.

I was in a hurry to see the world.

Don't see it too fast, Little Bee.

I gotta go.

I just had to show you the ring.

Peg, wait a second.

I'll get Gloria dressed
and come with you.

I can't, honey. Joe's waiting.
Diamonds make me punctual.

Peg...

[door closes]

- Well.
- Well.

The end of our
brief but violent friendship.

Yes, it's the end.

I suppose apologies are in order.
Which kind do you prefer?

You're so proud.

A moment ago you needed me
more than life.

Now you're cruel and sarcastic

because you think
I've seen you naked for a second.

And you, you're not proud?

What do you wanna do, to put
your teeth into me, to hurt me?

- Mae, get me right...
- Don't touch me.

- Mae, I'll do anything you want.
- Get out of here.

Go to Madagascar,
go anyplace, but get out of here.

[utensils clattering]

[Mae grunts passionately]

[birds squawking]

Al...

- Look at her, Joe. Ain't she a beauty?
- Yeah.

Gonna be the best-looking
boat in the bay

when they bless the fleet Sunday.

I wish Mae was here
to see how the old tub looks.

Where'd Mae go?

The amusement park. Earl took her.

Earl's got a lot of time
on his hands lately, ain't he?

Day off.

Why shouldn't Mae get out
of the house now and then?

- [man] Hey, skipper!
- Huh?

Better get down to Angelo's fast.
Your old man's in a fight.

Papa in a fight?

Yeah, and the whole joint's
in an uproar.

[men laughing and clamoring]

Can't I let you alone for a minute
without you doing something crazy?

- What's he fighting about?
- He's a-mad.

I'm having a quiet snifter here,

when all of a sudden, wang,
the old gent starts swinging at me.

Yeah? My Uncle Vince been in?

- In and out.
- Okay, I'll take him home.

[Papa grumbling in Italian]

[men laughing]

Papa, will you please go to sleep?

The old gent home?

- Why'd you let Papa get into a fight?
- Me? I know nothing about...

What's the matter with you?
I don't understand you.

- Mae out?
- Yes.

A man his age.

Ain't you got sense?

My word of honor,
I didn't even see him start it.

I guess I need glasses.

Couldn't spare a few dollars,
could you, nephew?

- These ain't the old days, Uncle Vince.
- No.

Old days was over
the minute she moved in this house

- and threw me out.
- Don't blame Mae.

That Earl Pfeiffer, he knows how
to spend a dollar on a friend, don't he?

Just spends and spends and don't ask
nothing in return, they say.

Earl Pfeiffer's a good friend,

- and we happen to appreciate it.
- True, true.

Yet a little thing like that
makes for gossip, don't it?

- Gossip? On what?
- I don't care to repeat no gossip.

I'm just an old uncle who
minds his own business and...

- But ask your father.
- Ask him what?

People talk, don't they?
They got long tongues.

Talk. What do they talk about?

Ask your father.
He got in the fight, not me.

But ask him what?
Now, that's a good one.

I go to Papa and say,
"What about it, Papa?"

Then Papa says, "What about what?"

And then I say, "What about anything?"

Uncle Vince, you're crazy. [laughing]

You got no cause to laugh on me.

Well, sometimes you don't make sense.

[Jerry laughing]

When your drunken father sobers up,
ask him about your wife...

and Mr. Pfeiffer.

[Jerry grunts]

Uncle Vince, you're a big boob.

Are you trying to say there's some
funny things going on between them?

Ain't you ashamed,
bringing up a thing like that?

Mae never liked you,
and she's right not to like you,

and I'm sick and tired
of listening to you.

Use your brains!

- I was just trying...
- Don't bring up stuff like that.

I don't like to hit no one.

I get all sick inside
if I have to hit anybody.

- Yeah, but, Jerry, I was only...
- Uncle Vince, go away, please.

Please go away.

Ask him, you bully. Ask your own father.
See if you sleep tonight.

Get out of here!

Darn old goat.

[accordion playing softly]

Papa, stop, will you?

Papa, please stop.

Papa, why were you fighting?

- What did you say to Uncle Vince?
- Vince.

Yes. What did you tell him, Papa?

Papa, what did you say to Uncle Vince?

[sobbing]

Papa. Tell me, why were you fighting?

Papa, talk to me.
What did you say to Uncle Vince?

All right, Papa.

[clock ticking]

[ticking continues]

[indistinct squeak]

This looks like you, Jeremiah.
We won it.

Stop clowning.

I was gonna sleep, but it's too hot.

You didn't miss a thing.

What's that I smell? Is that perfume?

Millions of Flowers.

That's my perfume.

I was looking for some socks
for the morning.

I seen the bottle.
I didn't know what it was.

- Did Gloria wake up?
- No.

- Did you give her the bottle?
- Yes.

- She take it all?
- Yes.

What else did you find in that drawer?

In the drawer? Nothing.

[alarm ringing]

[ringing stops]

I see you opened this, too.

Why not? It's my wife's.

- Only you're acting so peculiar.
- Where'd you get them?

Where do you get things like this?
You buy them.

What is it?

They must've cost
20 bucks apiece. That's silk.

You never could tell the difference
between silk and rayon.

And hiding them like that
in the bottom of a drawer.

- Now, Jeremiah.
- Don't call me Jeremiah.

- Look like silk to me.
- And if they are?

Where'd you get them?

The man in the moon,
he dropped them down for me.

What's so funny, Earl?

Maybe It's funny to you I'm supposed
to look like a teddy bear?

Maybe you think
I bought them nightgowns.

How'd you know they were nightgowns?

Well...

you said nightgowns.

No. I didn't.

Silks, rayons, I figured
you meant nightgowns.

And that perfume. What about that?

You think I'm blind,
I don't see anything.

Well, I see everything.

Ease it off, Jerry. You'll blow a valve.

Don't talk to me like that.

All right, nightgowns
and a bottle of fancy water.

What's all the uproar?

Sure, I bought them for Mae. A gift.

You wanna twist my head off
just because I bought Mae a little gift?

- If it's a gift, why'd she hide them?
- Hide them?

You found them, didn't you?
Easy, she just put them away.

Stop it, I'm sick of lying.
Tell him the truth.

- Mae.
- "Mae, Mae, Mae, Mae, Mae, Mae."

"Wash my face, Mae. Comb my hair, Mae.

Be my cook, nurse,
accountant, bottle washer."

I didn't go to the amusement park.

I was with Earl all afternoon.

- Jerry.
- Get out.

I could hurt you real bad
if I put my hands on you.

Why, Mae?

Tell me why. I love you,
the ground you walk on.

I tried, Jerry. God forgive me, I tried.

Was I a bad husband?

Did I say, "Mae, don't do this,
don't do that?"

No.

Did I go out and gamble?
Did I get drunk?

- Did I ever eat, and you went hungry?
- No.

Well, why, Mae? My head's busting.
What don't I understand?

I've got nothing to blame you for.
It's me, me, something in me.

A year.

Was a year that long?

You say to yourself, wait, be patient,

things will change,
you'll feel different.

No good. Nothing changes.

The days go by.

Down to the grocery store,
back to the house.

Hang out the wash,
take the dishes out of the closet.

Go to bed, wake up. Wait, wait.

Shut your mouth, close your eyes.
This is the man you married.

This is the life you've made.
Expect nothing, hope for nothing.

And every day a little older,
a little duller, a little stupider.

Love? It's superstition.
Hope? Forget it.

Forget how to laugh, forget how to cry.

Tell yourself
that's how everybody else lives,

why should you be any different?

Without love, there's...

There's nothing.

And tears. What good are tears?

And I said come visit us.

I asked you here. I...

- You...
- Jerry.

[alarm ringing]

[ringing continues]

What are you, animals?

In a zoo, they keep them in a cage.

They keep them apart, they keep them
from hurting people, they...

Animals.

Animals!

Animals.

[dramatic music playing]

[squawking]

What are we gonna do, Mae?

We're getting nowhere fast.

I won't leave until I hear from Jerry.

You expect me to throw him
away like a stone?

- Yes.
- How hard-boiled we are.

There isn't any other way.

- Listen to me.
- Listen to me.

Don't make me sorry for him.

If I'm sorry for him,
I can't be sorry for us.

And we'll both be sorry
love was ever invented.

He didn't come back last night.

Regrets?

For us?

No.

[Earl] This is my last shot
at happiness.

And mine.

And the baby?

Take Gloria with you.

It's his child, too.

All right, leave her there. Can you?

What would Jerry do with a kid?
He can't take care of himself.

Earl, we're taking everything
away from him.

Show me another way to do it.

- I can't.
- Love him or love me.

You can't save us both.

Somebody's throat has to be cut.

If you can do it, cut mine. Leave me.

Call it quits, here and now.

That, neither.

You want to hide? Sneak away?

Leave messages with bellboys?

Baby, we have to.

Love is rotten when it happens
like this, the hard way.

But if we want each other,
this is the fire we walk through.

Because this is forever, Mae.

Forever?

Or until he sticks a knife in me,
or you walk out.

How could I walk out?

[Earl] Then do the next thing,
get away from here.

If you have a dream, live it.
If you have a hope, chase it.

Not until I hear from Jerry.
That's the least I can do.

You win.

Where did you get those blue, blue eyes?

- Mae.
- Jerry.

I wanna talk to you.

Come here, please.

You look exhausted.

Sit down.

Please.

What I want to say is...

There's the past.

There's the past and the future.

The past don't interest me
if we could have a future.

You see what I mean?

We could forget about the past.

A child don't grow up right
without a family, ain't that so?

- Yeah.
- You see what I mean, Mae?

Gloria deserves a happy childhood,
don't she?

- Yes, she does.
- Well, Mae, you won't be sorry.

Believe me, I'll bury the past.

Jerry, don't go on talking like that.
It won't help.

Why won't it help?

I know how you feel, Jerry.
Everybody is lonely, lost.

Don't think I'm heartless.

I'd give an arm to take back
the grief I've caused you.

But I can't help you now.

I'm leaving tomorrow.

With him?

Yes.

You love him?

I have to get dressed.

Mae.

Yes, Jerry.

I was thinking I might sell the boat.

She's a pretty good boat.
I could get good money for her.

Yes, you could.

Sure, why not?

Sell her, go away.

Mae, Mae, I love you.
Don't you understand I love you?

Jerry, let go of me. You're hurting me.

Hey, you're my wife.

I don't want to make you any unhappier.

- Please give me that much credit.
- I want my wife in my arms.

I don't love you anymore, I can't.
Will you try to understand?

I don't want to understand!

I got as much right
to make love to my wife

as any man alive.

Jerry, let go of me
or I'll smash your face

with the first thing
I can lay my hands on.

You're no good.

You're rotten.

I know, Jerry.

I know.

I'm leaving tomorrow.

And the baby, where does the baby go?

- With me.
- You think Gloria belongs to Earl, too?

She's my baby, Mae. Don't forget that.

- Don't forget it, she's my baby.
- Certainly she's your...

My baby, mine!
Now, go to your lover! Get out!

He's waiting for you, go on.
Get out, get out!

Get out. Get out.

Well, the house smells all steamed up.

- Did you have a fight with her?
- She don't love me.

Jerry, that's a lot of liverwurst,
that love business.

Make her see the light of day.

Use the whip.

Had a bad toothache all day.

She'll go away.

With Earl.

The whip. Have one, nephew.

Oh, if I only had your strength,
your arms, your muscles, your hands.

Don't the world belong to the strong,
to them what can protect themselves?

I ain't half his size,
and I wouldn't take it.

With my own hands, like that.

He'd struggle, but no mercy. No, no.

Toss him away,
let the rats nibble on him.

You only say that.

Jerry, your uncle's not a man
who only says it.

That heartless man connives,
that blowhard Pfeiffer.

And the innocent pays the good of heart.

Run yourself down with remorse,
can't sleep, can't bite your food.

What's this?

Why don't God stop them? Why don't he?

That's my point.
That's just my point, Jerry boy.

He wants you to stop them.

How?

Two bawdy thieves
stealing your happiness.

Toss you away like the skin of a banana.

Leave you here all alone
with a disagreeable, squalling infant.

No, they wanna take her away from me.

That's what I say.

No respect for a father's feelings.

Take your beautiful, lovely child away.

Like that?

And laughing at you.
All the time, laughing at you.

Yeah, laughing.

Shove the vinegar sponge
in your mouth and laughing.

Coming in the house, sipping coffee
out of the cup you give him.

Coming in the house
like a true friend and laughing.

- Laughing.
- Yeah, yeah, laughing.

- At me.
- Yeah, yeah, at you.

- At me.
- Yeah, that's right.

- I can't stand it.
- Batter his brains out.

- I can't stand it!
- Batter his brains out.

Batter his brains out.
Batter his brains out.

You went away. Why didn't you stay away?

- Why'd you marry Jerry?
- Don't you ever make a mistake?

Jerry wasn't smart enough.

He wasn't enough of a man.

How much of a woman
do you think you are?

What's the point of discussing that now?
It's too late.

- You don't have the right to judge her.
- Don't I?

Now she's got you thinking like her.

That little head's
starting to buzz, too.

- Don't talk to me like that.
- The world, it ain't big enough.

Your life, it ain't interesting enough.
That's the way she thinks.

- We're two different people.
- Different is right.

Thanks for everything, Peggy.

[Peggy crying]

Mae, where are you going?

To Earl. I'll write you where to send
the rest of my things.

[door closes]

Maybe you'd like to go with her?

- Maybe.
- That ring on your finger.

What did you put it there for,
a decoration?

She has the right to do
what she wants to if she's in love.

In love.

Listen to me, blondie.

The woman I marry, she don't
take me on a wait-and-see basis.

I ain't a dress she's bringing
home from the store

to see if it fits,
and if don't, back it goes.

In my book, marriage
is a two-way proposition.

You're just as much responsible as I am.

So if that little eye is gonna roam...

If what you think is,

"Joe's all right until
something better comes along..."

Honey, you'd better take
another streetcar.

Now, what's it gonna be?

[music playing onscreen]

Mae?

What are you doing here?

I wanna talk to you.

This is no place to talk to me.

All night, I've been thinking...

you'll go away...

live in another town.

You, Mae, Gloria.

I won't have nothing.

- Stay where you are.
- I won't have nothing left, nothing.

- That ain't right, is it, Earl?
- Now, you listen to me.

You always thought I was dumb.

You could tell me anything,
and I'd believe it.

- I'm not listening no more, Earl.
- I love Mae, Mae loves me,

and you can't change it,
no law can change it!

- Get out of here!
- You used to imitate Chinese, Earl.

Let me see your Chinese imitation.

[both grunting]

[clangs]

[groaning]

Imitate Chinese, Earl.

- Imitate Chinese.
- Jerry!

Jerry, stop it!

Jerry. Stop, you're killing him!

Jerry, stop it!

Ah!

[music continues to play onscreen]

You wait in the car.

Jerry.

Jerry?

Jerry!

Where's Jerry? Where's Gloria?

Jerry, he come home.

Is his baby, Gloria. He take her.

What are you talking about?
Where did he take her?

He take her away.

He come home, a-Jerry.

Never I see him look like a-that.

What did he say?

"I almost kill somebody," he says.

Never in his life
he hurt somebody, my Jerry.

Is not your house anymore.
ls not your baby.

Earl. Earl!

- What's the matter, Mae?
- Earl, he took her.

- What?
- He took Gloria.

- Where did he take her?
- I don't know.

It's all your fault. You are no good.

[speaking Italian]

Okay, pop, cut the Latin.
Where'd he take the kid?

Someplace, who knows? Maybe on the boat.

- Where are you going?
- The boat.

Come here.

What good will going to the boat do?
There's nothing to worry about.

He's not gonna knock himself off
or hurt Gloria.

What am I going to do, Earl?

Don't you see, Mae? It's a club.

First he tries strangling me,
and then he takes the kid.

That's just to scare you.

You know he thinks more of that kid
than his own right arm.

That kid? She's my child, too.

Honey, I know what Gloria means to you.

The world wrapped up
in a cotton blanket.

I can't leave her.

You won't leave her.

Just give Jerry time to cool off.

He'll let you have her.

What's he gonna do with a baby?

And if he doesn't, we'll go to court.

You're the mother.

Am I?

What is it, do you feel guilty?

That's the way they want you to feel.

- They?
- The world.

All the people who haven't got guts
enough to do what they wanna do.

Listen, Mae...

you walk out of this house now,
and we're free.

Just the two of us?

Just the two of us.

All my life
I've walked away from things.

Then what's stopping you now?

Responsibility?

I'll spell it for you.

T-R-A-P.

You don't want the baby with us,
do you, Earl?

Not really.

I didn't say that.

The baby would be a burden, wouldn't it?

A drag.

All I said was,
go away for a while without her.

Listen, Mae...

don't make no mistake about kids.

They grow up.

They have their own lives to lead.
They'll walk out on you.

Don't we owe a child some happiness?

It isn't a question
of the kid's happiness.

It's a question of yours.

And Jerry's.

I told you,
somebody's throat has to be cut.

But it's never ours, is it, Earl?
It's always someone else's. Why?

Because they're soft.

And we're tough, we're hard.

If someone suffers because of us,
that's just too bad.

That's the way life is.

How many times have I told myself that?

Nothing counted but me,
my disappointments, my unhappiness.

I married Jerry, moved into his house,

used his money
and had his child, and yet...

Yet I was never his wife.

You're someone's wife
when you belong to them.

I never belonged to anybody.

Never?

I thought I was being honest.
I thought I wasn't lying, but I was.

I said to the world, this is what I am,
take me or leave me,

so that it was always on my terms
they had to accept me.

It was a trick.

Don't you see, Earl?
It was a trick to avoid

the responsibility
of belonging to someone.

What are you giving me?
An hour ago you were in love.

[sighs]

I don't know what
the word means anymore.

Not the way we use it.

You knew yesterday...

on the beach.

Love because we're lonely,
love because we're frightened?

Love because we're bored.

What was it with me, boredom?

The lady of the house
needed a little entertainment?

Go ahead, say it. I can take it.

You went off on a toot.

Mae, you've got the shakes.

You're trying to back out,

and there isn't any place
to back out to.

Crawl back to Jerry.
How long will it last?

One month, two months...

and the old music in the jukebox
will start all over again.

Oh, sure it will.

Duties, obligations, responsibilities,
out the window they'll go.

And you'll be wanting me again,
or somebody like me.

No, Earl. I won't.

A chump, that's what you played me for.

Wasn't it?

Wasn't it?

Believe what you want.

I sure can pick them, can't I?

I'm real lucky with women.

Mrs. D. with the blue, blue eyes.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Jerry's got the kid.

That's the combination you want,
ain't it?

But what if
Jeremiah don't feel forgiving?

What if he says, "Beat it, dust"?

That's the chance I'll have to take.

Oh, sure.

But you figure, "Earl, he'll wait."

I got news, honey.

The minute I'm out of this house,
I'm gone.

I know.

You may lose both of us.

Are you willing to gamble
for stakes like that?

I have to.

What do you want?

You ain't gonna get Gloria,
if that's what you came here for.

You ain't, and Earl ain't.

That isn't what I came for.

Then what do you want?
To rip me up again?

I almost killed Earl, ain't that enough?

Don't stand there. There ain't nothing
to wait for and nothing to say.

Jerry, I...

I know I can't change what I did, but...

- Won't you let me try to tell you...
- I don't want to listen to nothing, Mae.

I got a boat to worry about,
a living to make and a kid to raise.

Is she...

- Is she all right?
- She's asleep.

What I couldn't get through
my thick head

is that you never loved me.

Being safe, being taken care of,
that's all you wanted.

My mistake was saying, "All right, yeah.

That's the way she loves me,
that's the way I'll take it."

People change.

You find out what's important
and what isn't.

What you really want.

Earl's what you really want.
You said so.

No. No, he isn't.

Maybe I thought so, but he isn't.

I trusted you,
that's what sticks in my craw.

You made nothing out of me.
I wasn't your husband, I was nothing.

Am I supposed to forget that?

Can't you?

No matter what I did,
how I tried to make up for it...

you'd never forget?

Forget what? Living in my house,
loving another man?

Well...

Maybe you're right.

Maybe certain things are unforgivable.

You ain't fooling me again, Mae,
are you?

You ain't trying to come back
because there ain't no place else to go?

- Jerry, I...
- Don't say anything.

Don't make no promises.

I'd have to trust you.

That's what the terrible thing is.

You gotta trust somebody.
There ain't no other way.

Go get Gloria. She's inside.

A boat ain't no place for a baby.

Go take your child home.

[dramatic music playing]