Original subtitles

You'll be able to hear noises, but you have no speech or word discrimination.

Is it going to get better or what?

Maybe never.

Donut!

Donut, what the hell's the matter with you? Were you daydreaming?

Mr. Morlock.

He can't hear you.

The only thing to say is

goodbye, Mr. Donut.

has to start.

But you know, this is not Emerald City, and I know I don't look like the Wizard

of Oz, and if you all want to dance and feed, you're going to have to do more

than click your heels three times.

All right, let's get these bars out of the way, and let's talk about this

with Shiraz. Miss Grant, I don't think it's fair to make us dance with a bunch

of people who move like tired water buffaloes. Well, it's a lot better than

trying to sing with people who would know harmony if they tripped over it.

Really? Well, you two would be experts on tripping over things, wouldn't you?

I mean, you.

You dance like a meatball with feet.

Chell, you know, we've been taking a betting pool.

We've been betting on whether or not you're going to sing a song as written.

So far, nobody has collected.

Hey, all right.

Come on, cannoli. You know, you people should say what's on your mind. And you

know, don't hold back.

All right, people, calm down now. Let's strike. these bars out of the way and

i'll put on a little music i think we need a little jam session come on relax

people let's open this up come on move these bars let's go let's get back

together jam

Thank you.

and don't move.

You really did it to yourself this time, didn't you?

How many?

Two.

Four. You see my hand here?

Yeah.

Here?

Yeah. Here?

Yeah. Here? Yeah, I see it.

Okay.

You just keep still. The ambulance will get her pretty soon.

I'll go see what's keeping her.

Ambulance? Wait a minute. I don't need no ambulance.

Donlon, you were out for over two minutes. Now, you're going to the

you're going to be x -rayed, and that's the end of that.

You must have some headache, huh?

Buzzing in my ears, too.

You must have had a buzzing in your head to try to pull off a dumb stunt like

that. What got into you, anyway?

You know Kim, the dance major?

Say no more.

Come on, there must have been some girl sometime that had you doing a stupid

stunt like that.

Well, there was Deirdre Zelich, a pagan

in the choir loft.

Oh, go on.

What about Deirdre Zelich?

Well, darling, let's just say that I went up to that choir loft the first

and I came back singing Old Man River.

We got another phone

call yesterday. I think it was about the same thing.

Are you talking about Mr. Marlowe? I think he's being offered a job somewhere

else.

Fine. Though I can't imagine who'd want him.

Well, they're locked to prison.

They must need wardens, I suppose.

We've already got that job. Why go to all the trouble of relocating?

I don't know, Benjamin. This whole idea of putting singers with dancers and vice

versa has got most of the kids ready to revolt already.

Where there are monarchies, there will always be revolts.

No one is asking them to be perfect.

It's just getting them to stretch as much.

Yeah, it's going to be a stretch all right, honey. Because my best dancers

like elephants in heat.

And your singers are never going to be Baryshnikovs.

It's only an exercise, not a performance.

Hopefully in the end it will make them more capable artists.

Possibly even better people.

Long shot.

I've always been a dreamer.

Welcome back. How are you feeling?

How am I feeling?

How are you feeling?

Fine, thanks.

I've got a bob, a couple of stitches, but I'm fine.

Good. I'm pleased to hear that.

Now that the social amenities are over, I want to talk about your grades, or

lack of grades.

I'm trying.

Really, I'm trying.

David Christopher isn't going to fly.

You're just doing enough work to creep by with a C average, and the only reason

you're doing that is so you won't get a thousand reductions.

Until I'm blue in the face about it.

I get a little tired after I talk to you.

I've been through this all before with Leroy.

And I've finally gotten him to the point where he realizes that he's got it.

Stiffer?

I've been as patient with him...

bell, darling? You deaf or something?

All right.

If you're going to tell me I'm deaf, I already know that.

What I want to know is why you guys didn't do anything when I was in the

hospital. Maybe then you could have saved it.

The x -rays.

They took them to the hospital.

Didn't disclose it.

But I think you had a hairline fracture at the base of your skull.

You have a 90 % hearing loss in your left ear, 70 % in your right.

So what happens now?

You'll be able to hear noises, but have no speech or word discrimination.

Is it going to get better or what?

I think the chances are reasonably good, but don't take that as anything but an

educated guess.

But there is reason to be hopeful.

How long is it going to take until we know?

That I really can't tell you.

Maybe never.

Never?

That's what you have to prepare yourself for, Christopher.

The possibility that it may be never.

Now, I'm going to want to talk to your mother and father so we can start to

the proper arrangements.

What arrangements?

Christopher.

We have to have you transferred to a school for the deaf.

I mean, this whole thing is kind of a kick, you know.

The doc said it's going to last three or four days.

A week is the latest.

But if my grades get much lower, I'll be in a bind.

So I need you guys to cover for me.

How?

Huh?

How?

Like if a teacher asks me a direct question, I won't know what they're

so you gotta keep them distracted.

Maybe slip me notes or something.

Maybe we could work out a system of signals.

This whole thing sounds crazy.

Come on, you guys owe me.

Hey, yo.

Don't lay no guilt trip on us, man. We had nothing to do with your accident.

I couldn't hear what you just said.

I worked at summer camp for deaf kids, and I never heard of

something that could make it.

A deaf person, deaf for that short period of time.

Sure, one of them's the worst.

Are you sure you're leveling with this?

Of course I'm leveling with you.

I don't know about when you were in camp, but maybe they come up with new

treatments and stuff now.

All I know is the doc told me a week at the latest. Ten days tops.

Hey, what is this? You gonna give me a hand or not?

Bull. Bell.

Bell. Bell.

You still haven't told me if you're going to cover for me or not.

Everybody on the count of three, nod.

One, two, three.

You look like bobbling head dolls.

Edgar Allan Poe.

Specifically, his poetry.

Now, Poe has declared that... Poetry was to him not a purpose, but a passion.

And under happier circumstances, it would have been his field of choice.

Yet he's also stated that none of his poems were very credible to himself or

much value to the public.

The man had a low opinion of himself.

Yes. He's what we like to call a tragic figure who died much too soon.

How old was he when he died, Chris? Forty. He drank himself to death.

That's right.

He did, but why did he destroy himself, Chris?

He was distraught over the death of his wife two years earlier.

Oh, this is getting depressing.

No wonder he wrote all those scary movies.

He wrote the stories on which the movies were based. Hollywood came along a bit

later. I knew that.

I did.

So, here we have an unhappy man.

An alcoholic.

Devastated by the death of his wife.

Who demeans his ability to create and yet whose words have lived long after

Unsurpassed in their musical rhythms and their marvelous combination of sounds.

Listen.

Listen to the sounds.

Hear the bells.

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night.

While the stars that oversprinkle all the heavens seem to twinkle in a

crystalline delight.

Keeping time, time, time in a sort of runic rhyme to the

tintinabulation that so musically swells from the bells, bells, bells, bells,

bells, bells, bells.

From the jingling and the tingling of the bells.

I repeat, this is a work session, not a bull session, not a jam session, but a

work session. Let's move it.

Have a tool, just get your buns back there and start pounding that scenery.

Let's go.

Playing cards.

Come on, Riverboat, move that platform.

Oliver, give us a hand here, will you?

What? Did you hear what I said?

Mr. Morlock.

He can't hear you.

You're just going to kick him out just like that?

It seems to me that the rest of us might have something to say about that.

The only thing to say is goodbye, Mr. Donovan.

Is there room for an opposing opinion?

Miss Sherwood, Donlon cannot function properly within this school. We can't

teach him properly.

Now, the law is very clear on this point. He has to transfer to a school

equipped to handle his problem.

But just when he needs his friends the most, you're just going to separate

Miss Grant, I appreciate that fact.

But legally, we don't have a choice.

Mr. Morlock.

Can't we find some room for some flexibility in this?

No.

I realize I'm not going to win any popularity contests around here,

with you, Miss Sherwood.

But I have a job to do, and I do it the very best that I can.

But take heart.

In a very short time, you won't have Quentin Morlock to pick around anymore.

I thought you'd sneak out without saying goodbye.

Hey, he's just going to another school. We're still going to see him.

Yeah, well, we'll still have Fridays at Caruso's.

Caruso's. Oh, not tonight. I got other stuff to do.

Besides, I don't think I'll hang out there no more.

Not much call for a deaf singer, right?

Chris, you're not going to forget how to sing.

I mean, you're still going to be able to feel vibrations.

Doris, I only got about half of what you just said. So why don't you save it?

What are you doing?

It's sign language. I'll show you. Come on. Don't do that.

Yo, man, we're just trying to help you.

Chris.

Why are you pushing us away?

Because when I look at you, all I see is what I'm leaving.

What I can't be anymore.

What I can't do anymore.

It's nice to meet you, Chris.

I'm happy you picked Calloway. It's a good school.

I was a student here myself.

Well, we'll start you on a program of lip reading and basic signing.

And the faster you master these skills,

the faster you'll be able to mainstream back into your old school.

So you see, everything depends on you.

But we'll give you all the help you need.

Who could ask for more than that, right?

Tough guy, huh?

Good.

You'll need that.

Let's get you to class.

Let's go.

Now.

Go.

Failing health also made it more difficult to have his policies carried

enough vigor to get the public... Excuse me, I'm interrupting your class, but I

want to introduce a new student.

This is Chris Donlon, and he will be joining your class.

And I'm sure he could use any help that you can give him in getting used to a

new school.

Okay. Chris is a dancer, so I think to dance using the letter D for

Donlan would be a good name sign.

Okay.

Hang in there, Donlan.

If you need anything, come see me, okay?

I want some spaghetti.

Give me some spaghetti.

Give me some spaghetti.

There's a page in the front of your book with all the signs.

Spell it.

Tell her what you want.

Go on.

Think. I can read your lips.

I want spaghetti.

Please.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Hey, why'd you just help me?

Because you're a hunk.

Bye.

What are you doing here?

Well, people haven't heard from you in weeks. People miss you. Doris, I've been

busy. I have a lot of stuff to learn.

Chris. Doris, I'm fine.

The school's fine. Everything is fine. I'll see you sometime.

Maybe.

Are you a friend of Chris's?

Not at this moment.

I'm, uh, Doris.

I'm Christina.

You sign?

I worked at a camp for deaf kids a couple of summers.

You don't have to sign.

I read lips.

No, that's okay.

It's good practice for me.

You and Chris are in some of the same classes?

How's he doing?

He's trying, but it's really hard for him.

What was he like before he lost his hearing?

Talented. Arrogant.

Proud. Well, that much hasn't changed.

You've been helping him make the adjustment, haven't you?

A little.

More than a little, maybe.

Do you think he owes you?

Well, when you're dealing with what we all have to deal with, we help each

other. That's all.

It's not like somebody owes somebody else.

I understand that, but... Do you think he feels a little

obligated to you?

Maybe. But he really shouldn't.

I'm trying to get you to pressure Chris.

Using guilt or obligation or anything that your conscience will allow you to.

To get him to do something really good for him.

How he's been feeling lately.

I can't hear, but I'm listening.

Poppin' to the soul Hoppin' with your toes

able to heal.

Three days.

It comes in and out.

Go to the doctor tomorrow, have him check it out. See if it's back for good.

Why didn't you tell me?

I was afraid.

You had to look at me.

I was afraid if you knew I could hear, we wouldn't be friends anymore.

Great.

What's wrong?

Is that why you think I started hanging around you?

Because you couldn't hear?

Maybe.

The reason you couldn't accept help when you came here is because you couldn't

stand the idea of being less than perfect.

You're handsome, bright, talented, and I thought that you might have to go

through the rest of your life having to lean on other people sometimes and

needing to make adjustments.

That didn't go with being perfect.

And now that you're getting back into that world,

You're not going to come running back here?

Well, Chris, it's been a barrel of laughs.

Have a nice life.

What a day.

All I needed was a whipped cake.

And a jug of wine and thou beside me in the wilderness.

Oh, I just love that poem.

Farewell, Mrs. Berg.

I'm off for a cool drink and a hot tub.

Would you settle for a hot topic and a cool reaction?

Sounds serious.

It is.

The question came up as to who would take over Mr. Morlock's duties if and

he leaves the school.

Well, whoever it is, it's got to be an improvement.

Miss Sherwood.

You are whoever.

That isn't a funny joke.

It's not even a funny reality, but there you have it.

There I have what?

The seniority to take over as vice principal.

I don't want to be an administrator.

I'm a teacher.

Will I still get to make the morning announcements?

Mr. Swierowski, I'm not taking that job. Period.

Out. To quote our soon -to -be -departed leader, this is not a democracy.

I'm not sure you have a choice.

He moves out.

You move up.

I think my quote of the day really sets a nice tone for the students, don't you?

Don't worry, Mrs. Berg.

You'll continue to make your quote of the day.

Oh, why, you made that decision very quickly and firmly.

I think you'll be a wonderful vice principal.

Okay, one more tone.

Christopher, that's it. Why don't you come on in here?

Well, what do you think?

Well, it seems you are recovering your hearing.

For good, or is it going to disappear?

There may be a residual loss, but it won't be significant.

Your case is one in a million, Christopher.

And you're the one.

You're going to be able to return to your old school now.

I hope you know how lucky you are.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

I thought you'd be happy about this. What's the problem?

I'm happy.

It's just I made a lot of friends back there.

People who helped me.

And it just doesn't feel right leaving them behind.

But yeah, I'm happy.

Needs tuning.

Welcome back, Mr. Donner, and I hear there's good news about you.

Yeah, I guess so.

I assume that's what brought you in here at this ungodly hour.

Well, uh, Miss Grant's classroom's locked up, and I haven't been doing much

dancing lately, so I figure I better hit her pretty hard to catch up.

Well, you might want to take a look at the number before you decide whether or

not you want to be in it.

Why, not good?

It's worse than not good. It's very average, very safe.

Miss Grant snaps at me, I snap back. The singers hate the dancers, the dancers

hate the singers.

It's a marriage made in Akron.

But you handle it.

I do?

Sure, you always got a handle on things.

You make a joke or something.

Nothing ever gets to you, does it?

Wrong. Many things get to me.

Injustice gets to me.

Talent gets to me.

And courage.

You had courage to deal with your recent affliction. You didn't give up.

No, I gave up.

I just had some people around me who wouldn't let me give up.

And I hope you're wise enough to keep these people in your life, Mr.

They're rare and very valuable.

Damn straight they are.

Skip in school.

If you just like backhand, don't blame me. It's your idea.

Okay, Swarovski.

Make a joke and handle it.

Your hand's too dainty to stand the pain of knocking on the door.

Mr. Morlock, I'm here as a self -appointed committee of one to ask you

reconsider your move away from the school.

Yeah, we'll make it quick. I've got a lot of unpacking to do here.

I've had an opportunity to think about what it would be like if you weren't

here. And?

And I realize you do your job quite competently.

So, you want me to stay?

I want you to stay.

You say it, but you don't mean it.

Oh, it's from the heart.

I think you're wonderful at your job.

I've never seen anybody do it better.

I mean, before you came here, we were adrift on a sea of inefficiency.

And since you've been here, it's a whole different world.

The kids are really toeing the mark, and attendance is better.

And the budget meetings end on time, and...

You said you had a lot of unpacking to do. That's what I said.

The job fell through.

Well, they just couldn't come up with the numbers to make it work.

As flattering as their interest was, I couldn't get all that excited about

teaching science full time. But your words were so kind and warm.

They're deeply appreciated.

And I'm sure you won't care if I remind you of them from time to time.

Hey, I came here to tell you I think you're full of it.

And I don't mean love or joy.

What?

You said I wouldn't come back here.

Well, I'm back.

You said I was too hung up on being perfect.

Well, I think you're too hung up on using that death thing as a reason to

in here like a little cocoon.

Are you finished?

No!

You were right about one thing.

I'm very bad at asking for help.

That's only because I always thought asking for help, man, I couldn't do it

my own.

But you wouldn't let me get away with that.

You made me feel like I was strong enough to handle whatever happened.

And now I need you at my school.

What for?

Because we need your help.

Yours and a lot of your friends.

We need your help because we're not perfect.

And I'm asking.

Because I finally heard what you were trying to say.

We all can be dancers, each in our own way.

Movement is expression for feelings in our hearts that words could

never say.

And if you need a hand, there's always one here.

No reason to ask and no need to fear.

We all can be singers in our own way.

We reach out in the darkness.

We touch with just a song that turns the night into day.

Won't you come join our chorus? We'll fill up the air with true

celebration for all.

music.