Original subtitles

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Alfred Hitchcock Hour. I

suppose you are wondering what kind of dog this is.

It's an invisible one.

And this, as you can see, is an invisible cat.

None of this is very remarkable until you realize they are not fighting.

Peaceful coexistence seems to be a natural side effect of invisibility.

We are now thinking of trying it on human beings and television commercials.

After all, if my sponsors' messages were invisible, I suspect I might not be as

critical as I am. I might even grow to love them.

Death and the Joyful Woman is the name of tonight's hour of charm.

But do not be deceived.

The story is very American, very contemporary, and just a little bit

homicidal. And now, in a highly visible state, the sponsor's message.

Let's see your ID, buddy.

Kitty Norris.

You're not old enough to be drinking, Dominic Fells.

What'll you pay me not to tell?

Aguilar, private stock.

Hardly enough.

A comparable Norris champagne is infinitely better.

I agree.

Has Mr. Aguilar made his entrance yet?

He's still upstairs with his secretary or whatever she is. Oh, boy, those two

are really a pair.

Hey, what are you doing coming in the back door?

I hardly think that's proper.

Well, I thought I'd case the joint first.

Anybody good here?

Everybody Aguilar hates. You know, the usual guests.

Except, uh, Al's here.

Al Aguilar is here?

Brought his wife, too.

Poor kids, they must be desperate.

Where are they?

You see, sitting on the couch behind the piano.

I've been sitting there for almost an hour, haven't moved.

Nobody's even talked to him except me, and all I said was, hi, how will you

hand me that glass, please?

Hey, Dominic.

Hey, Kitty.

Now listen, buddy, watch yourself at all times. Oh, yes, ma'am. And do exactly as

I say. Yes, ma'am.

Run out and ask Al and Jean if they'll join me in the kitchen. Tell them I'm

hiding out here and I want to talk to them.

Say please.

Please, please, please, please.

Gene, take him home.

Can't do anything with him, Kitty. I got an invitation, Kitty.

My big A invitation.

Of course you got an invitation.

You got one last year, too, but you had sense enough not to come.

Yeah.

Last year I didn't have to come. I could still pay the rent.

This year I can't.

I have come to beg.

Who knows? He may have changed. I haven't seen him since he kicked me out.

That heart may have a soft center. It may have melted just a bit in the last

two years.

I wouldn't count on it.

That's what I told him, Kitty.

But in some ways, he's like his father.

She means stubborn.

Hey, Dominique.

What are you doing working here?

Oh, just trying to make enough money to be able to propose to Kitty Norris.

Will you marry me, Kitty?

Ask me again in a couple of years.

Dominique's my buddy.

Oh, yeah, buddy.

And tennis partner and attorney.

That's true.

You talked his mean old policeman father out of giving me a traffic ticket last

week, didn't you?

And I'm in love with her. You tell him, Tiger.

How is that mean old policeman father of yours? He got promoted up to the

homicide squad.

It's dead, though. No business.

You'll have to tell Louise.

Hello, Al.

Hello, Ruth.

Thanks for the invitation.

Oh, it wasn't from me. I wouldn't have sent it. Your father put your name at

the head of the list.

How are you, Kitty?

Hello, Ruth.

Hi, Gene.

Your father watched you drive up while he was tying his tie.

He's in a mean mood, Al.

Well, take a bottle of wine up to Mr. Aguilar's bedroom immediately. He's

waiting for it.

Red or white, please?

The white wine.

It's called a joyful woman, Dominique. Oh, he's always in a mean mood right

before harvest.

But tonight, something nice is going to happen.

Which is Mr. Aguilar's room? Second floor, first door on the right.

Don't be afraid, he's not going to bite you.

Mr. Aguilar is waiting.

Come on, I'll give you a push.

Straight up?

You know what Jack found at the top of the beanstalk, don't you?

Go on, you big coward.

Go on, go on.

Who is it?

The line, sir.

Come in.

Put it down on the desk.

Open it, boy.

Show me the label.

Excuse me, sir.

Have my guests arrived?

Well, there's a lot of people downstairs, sir.

They are downstairs.

Wolves, jackals, snakes, and dogs.

Thank you.

For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good

fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow.

I'm doing the raise.

How do you do, Mr. Epplewhite? How do you do?

How are you?

Oh, thank you. It's a British party, Louise. Great, great.

Thank you. Very nice.

Hello,

how are you?

How beautiful you always are, Kitty.

Thank you, Mr. Arnott.

Hello, Father.

I want to talk to you.

I want to talk to you, too.

Alone. Good.

It's been a long time since we chatted together.

Come on, I want you to see my new tasting room.

Luis, your guest.

You play hostess, Ruth.

Follow us

Bring

two magnums of the joyful woman and follow us. Yes, sir I'm going up to the

tasting house.

I don't want to be disturbed.

Yes. Come on out

Come on, silly. Everything's all right.

A little, uh, bitter.

Understandable. Bottled the year you disobeyed me.

You know I don't drink?

Oh, yes.

I forgot.

I forgot.

So?

You said you wanted to talk to me.

Well?

I have to have some money.

You do, huh?

This has been a very bad year, Al. I've had a lot of expenses.

I bought myself five new suits at $300 apiece. A car, $8,000.

$10,000 for a trip to Europe and... Don't interrupt me.

Beautiful pair of cufflinks, $1,000.

Four or five new paintings and... Oh, yes, I...

I bought Ruth a necklace and a fur coat.

A secretary must have a fur coat.

$14,000.

Al, I won't give you a cent.

And if you care...

You are no longer in my will.

My only son.

I only asked him to do one thing. One thing was all I ever asked.

It was all set up.

I could have doubled this empire.

I didn't love Kitty.

I didn't ask you to love.

I asked only one thing. She didn't love me either.

Stop talking about love.

It was a business arrangement.

A merger.

The merger of the Norris Aguilar wines.

But the only son of Luis Aguilar, the only one who could have carried it off,

the thing I've been working on for years, that only son to spite his

father, he loped with a harvester that worked in the fields.

have to have some money.

I am no longer your father, Mr.

X.

You are no longer an Aguilar.

You're going to be a grandfather.

Gene's going to have a baby.

The thought of it makes me sick.

Al, come on.

Please, please.

You'd like to kill me, wouldn't you?

Oh, stop it. I saw it in your eyes.

I saw you wanted to murder me.

You want to kill me, don't you? Yes.

Yes!

Are you men enough?

Are

you

men enough, Mr. X?

Mr. X, you're not leaving, are you?

Did you call me father?

How much money do you need for this blessed event?

A thousand dollars.

I tried to borrow it at the bank, but they're all friends of yours.

I knew about that, but I didn't know what it was for.

How would you like to leave here tonight with, say, $5,000?

I'm not up to this.

Al, how old are you now, boy?

Twenty-six.

Twenty-six.

My, my.

Time certainly flies fast, doesn't it?

When I was 26, my father and I had a little contest, and I won $5

,000.

I know about that.

You see, it's a tradition in the Aguilar family that when a son can outdrink his

father, he becomes a man.

I was 26 before I could do it.

The mother of Al didn't approve of such contests.

She didn't approve of her son drinking, so he didn't drink.

But now that she's no longer here, now that you can no longer hide behind her,

I offer you the same terms my father offered me.

$5,000 against what money you have in your pocket.

Drink for drink.

And the first one who passes out loses.

We even have a witness here.

who is both referee and poorer.

I'm already a few drinks ahead of you boys, so you have a running start.

I, Luis Aguilar, agree to pay Alfred...

Aguilar, hereafter known as Mr.

X, the sum of $5,000, if he can drink

me under the table.

Come on, Mr. X.

Five thousand dollars will buy a lovely bassinet lots of baby food pay doctor

bills and And I offer you the best of all the wines The

joyful woman Prove something to me boy prove

something How much money do you have in your pocket

two dollars and forty cents Two dollars and forty cents against five thousand.

Bring me a glass from over there.

Bring two glasses exactly alike.

Sit down, Mr. X.

Put your money on the table.

So much like your mother.

So much.

Is it empty?

Yes, sir.

The end of a magnum of the joyful woman is a very sad thing.

Come on, drink.

Drink.

This is no contest.

This is no aguilar tradition.

Are you finished?

Let's try some nice red wine.

No need to waste another magnum. We only have a couple of more glasses to go.

Before it's finished.

A rather special wine, this.

Bottled the year you were born.

However, it was not a vintage year.

Come on, drink.

Red wine

Drink

Drink You are

losing mr. X You are losing

Drink. I can't drink anymore.

Wake up!

Wake up!

I want you to see that I won.

Are they still out there?

Yes.

Mr. Aguilar's guests are getting impatient.

I'll go see what's happening.

Luis?

Are you the little thing you found to spite me with?

So you are.

Take Mr.

X home.

Someone help me. Help her.

Don't you cry.

Don't you cry.

Get him out of here.

Don't you cry.

Luis.

You have a house full of guests.

Kitty. I'll get some coffee. I don't want any coffee.

Do you like my tasting room, Kitty?

Yes, it's very nice.

Have you ever seen the Aguilar cellars and caves?

Al and I used to play there when we were kids.

Mr. Aguilar.

Al loves his wife very much.

I wanted him to marry you.

I know.

But you can't... You can't force that on someone.

He should have listened to me.

Look what he ended up with.

A mouse.

Would you have married him, Kitty?

Mr. Aguilar... Don't call me Mr.

Aguilar.

My name is Luis.

What a lovely vision I had, Kitty.

The two greatest vineyards.

One vineyard. It would take days to see it in a car.

Oh, Kitty.

You are very beautiful.

A girl who has everything. What could I possibly offer?

I don't understand.

You know, Kitty, that vision can still be realized.

I am going to make you fall in love with me.

Mr. Axe.

Kitty. Leave us alone.

Ruth.

Ruth. Let her go.

Let her go.

I offer you the consideration of an empire.

Will you marry me, Kitty?

I think your father, if he were alive, would approve.

Don't you, Kitty?

Kitty,

would you?

Would you, Kitty?

Would you?

Get out of here.

Get out.

It's almost 12, Luis.

Go away.

But at 12, you were going to make the announcement.

I am not making any announcement at 12 or 3

or 4.

I heard what you said to Kitty about marrying her.

Good.

Now go away.

You didn't mean it.

Yes, I did.

I meant every word I said.

Every word.

All Al's gonna have quite a... Kitty?

Dominic.

Mr. Aguilar.

I think he's dead.

What?

I pushed him away from me and he fell down the stairs.

And I went down to him and he didn't move. He's lying on the tasting room

floor. I think he's dead.

Are you sure?

Oh, what am I going to do, Dominic? What am I going to do?

Where are you going?

I'll go take a look.

I better call your father.

All right, but don't tell anyone else.

Now relax.

I'll be back in a minute.

Mr. Aguilar?

Mr. Aguilar?

Mr. Aguilar.

For the next moment, ladies and gentlemen, we cut your wire to the world

and abandon you to the tender mercies of your local station.

Good evening and welcome to the second half of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

As you know, our sponsor is not exactly the type of person who has streets named

for him.

He has never even had an hour named in his honor.

All he gets is one minute.

We give it to him now.

He's dead?

Yes.

The king is dead.

It was an accident. He fell down the stairs.

That didn't happen falling down the stairs?

No.

You're too bright a boy to waste time on...

Such simple arithmetic.

Two and two are still the same.

Do you have the answer, young man?

Yes.

Too bad, too bad, too bad.

But why?

Why?

Because I was the only one who loved him.

After 20 years of being patient, waiting for his wife to die,

and then still waiting after she was dead, I'm going to

marry you, Ruth.

Just be patient.

Then last week, he said he would marry me this fall.

After 20 years of being a secretary, a letter opener, a letter typer,

he said to make all the arrangements and he

would make the announcement tonight.

Tonight at the stroke of 12.

Right now, this moment.

Someone who loved him to hate him enough to finally do it.

But he's just as guilty as I am.

He wasn't planning on marrying me.

And there's an end of patience.

No.

You can't go just yet.

Not just yet.

Open the door.

Dominic!

Dominic!

Keep going.

Up the stairs.

Stop right here

You're

sure the door is locked I'm positive it's one of these I think I'm never

really sure I rarely go into the tasting house myself

Thank you.

no sign of Dominic.

I should have called you sooner, but Dominic wanted to go down there, and I

was so upset that I didn't know what I was doing, and then I saw Mr. Aguilar

like that.

Mr. Fels, what do you think happened to Dominic?

Get the addresses and phone numbers of everyone at the party.

You go back, then.

I'm going down to the pastry room.

Kitty.

Is it true?

Yes.

He's dead.

Dead?

He... is dead.

Just a couple more questions, Miss Hamilton.

You interviewed and hired the help that came here just for the party tonight,

didn't you?

Yes. Do you remember hiring a boy named Dominic Fels?

Yes, my son.

Yes.

I remember hiring him, but... What has he to do with... I don't know. He's

disappeared.

Disappeared?

Well, his car's still here, but nobody's seen him.

I'm a little worried.

Both father and policeman are... Pretty hard to play.

I'm sorry.

I've had a terrible, terrible experience.

You try and get some rest.

Yes.

Yes.

But I don't think I can.

I don't think I can.

I don't think I can.

You can let them all go, except the maiden, the butler. All right.

You examine the body?

How many blows?

Several, George. I can't be sure yet, but six or seven at least.

Hello, Susan.

He's not home?

Now, Susan, don't get hysterical. Just keep your head. We'll find him.

Now, please.

Look, you have the number here. If you hear from Dominic or need me, you just

call me.

Now, calm down, Susan. You hear me?

Yeah, I'll call you the minute I know anything.

I wish there was something I could do to help.

He would get mixed up in something like this.

He's one of these I'll play detective kind of kids.

Well, the three of you can go on home. You'll hear from me tomorrow.

If you don't mind, I'd like to stay.

Dominic is a friend of mine.

I know.

He's a friend of mine, too.

How's Ruth?

Not too good.

She's suffering, pretty much.

We'll excuse him.

She really loved him.

She put up with a lot, but she really loved him.

They were going to be married.

What?

She told me during the party.

They were going to be married this fall.

He was supposed to announce it at midnight.

The dress she had on was part of the trousseau.

She was so sure that once she became your stepmother, she could patch

everything up between you and your father.

They were going to be married?

Did you tell Mr. Fells?

Should I?

Kitty?

What time was that?

Well, I would say about 12.30 or so. I don't wear a watch, so I can't say

exactly. Excuse me.

I never heard about any marriage plans between Ruth and Mr. Aguilar.

Jean just told me about it a few moments ago.

Ruth must have been terribly upset when she heard the way Mr. Aguilar was

talking to me.

She left without saying a word. And I don't remember seeing her at the party

after Dominic went down there.

Have you seen my son, Miss Hamilton?

Where is my son? Oh, don't worry.

I'll take good care of him.

Luis and I will take...

Good care of him. Everything happens in threes.

Threes.

Ruth. Ruth!

Go get some coffee.

Come on now, Miss Hamilton. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake

up. Come on now. Walk.

Walk. Walk.

Where's Dominic? Where's the boy? Where is the boy? Where is my son?

Luis. Luis.

No.

No, I want to die.

Where is my son?

Where is my son?

In the caves.

Go get the doctor, send for a respirator. All right. All right. Come

on, Dominic.

Breathe.

Come on, son.

Come here.

Breathe.

Come on, now, breathe.

Come on.

Come on, son.

Come on.

Breathe.

Breathe, son.

That's my boy.

That's my boy.

Watch it, you understand?

Yes, ma'am.

And do everything I say.

Oh, yes, ma'am.

If you do, I'll give you a great big gold star.

Yes, ma'am.

Sorry to be late, but I've been arguing with my sponsor.

And he has now been convinced that invisibility will help my attitude

toward the commercial.

After all, if I can't see it, how can... My sponsor seems to have missed the

point. Needless to say, next on view is a commercial.