Original subtitles

THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK

The waterfront of New York - the end of many journeys, the beginning of many adventures.

Miles of docks wait day and night for strange cargo - and stranger men.

Ships come in from the sea - tarrying a day or two in the endless journey from port to port.

These were the days before oil fuel made stoking a lady's job -

when stokers earned their pay in sweat and coal-dust.

"Well, Bill! We brought the ol' barge in right on time!"

"Pick up that waste! Nobody goes ashore till this hole is cleaned up!"

"This packet sails tomorrow morning."

"You've got one night ashore. If any o' you muckers come back drunk, you'll do double shift!"

"He's the most even- tempered guy I ever knew - always sore!"

"He thinks we're goin' ashore to play marbles!"

The Sandbar, a cable's length from the wharf, has vanished now - wiped out by commerce and reform.

But that night it was wide awake and roaring.

Save his soul and money comes to Hymn-Book Harry

"Meet my husband!"

"Well, Andy! I guess you never expected to run across me here!"

Night and fog met the stokers coming ashore.

"Hey, Bill! That's no place to take a lady!"

"Come on, Bill. They'll take care of her!"

"Okay, Bill! Be a hero an' leave your pal!"

"But just remember Singapore - - an' recollect Shanghai!"

"Well, you gave me the air. It's been three years - what did you expect me to do?"

"Take that out o' here - before you draw the police!"

"Get her a hot drink!"

"One hot toddy!"

"You're not goin' in there! That's the only rag she had to her back!"

"So you're the guy that saved my life?"

"You could have saved yourself the trouble, an' let me die."

"All right! Make believe you died - make believe you're startin' all over again!"

"You left all that slush in the river, Baby. All you need is a good time!"

"I've had too many good times."

"You ain't never been out with Bill Roberts."

"Dry up before you catch cold!"

"Would you care?"

"Well, I might..."

"After a month in the stoke-hole, I got no sympathy for anybody that wants to quit a swell world like this!"

"Throw yourself into them new rags an' give me a chance!"

"All right, Bill Roberts, I'll give you a chance."

"Anyway, I can always make a hole in the water."

"Are you goin' to let me have a good time in my own quiet way - or must I take this place apart?"

"Thought you might want your tie - Bill."

"Pretty, ain't she?"

"You better take my tip - an' stay away from that dame!"

"Shove off, my lad! I want to talk with your lady friend."

"You may be big game aboard ship, but you're only an animal-cracker here."

"Gee, but you're strong!"

"I guess you've known a lot o' girls."

"I ain't braggin' about my love-affairs."

"I'm not braggin', either."

"Ever been married, Bill?"

"Say, who'd marry a guy like me?"

"Oh, I don't know. A lot o' girls might."

"You ever been married, Baby?"

"Say, who'd marry a girl like me?"

"I've sailed the seven seas, but I never saw a craft as trim as you."

"I don't think it's fair of you to kid me."

"Say! What makes you think I'm kiddin'?"

"What did you ever do that makes you worse than me? I'd marry you in a minute!"

"An' come to think of it, I'll marry you right now!"

"You don't know Bill Roberts! I'll try anything once!"

"Get me a parson - I'm goin' to get spliced to my girl friend!"

"Come back here, Bill - don't make a fool o' yourself!"

"Meet the bride!"

"I better get Hymn-Book Harry - before he wrecks the place!"

"I'm goin' to do right by our Nell! I'm goin' to marry her - here an' now!"

"Do you think he can make you decent by marryin' you?"

"I don't know what to think, any more."

"Until I got married, I was decent!"

"We'll give you a marriage you'll never forget!"

"Where's your license?"

"Are you goin' to queer our fun just because you got to have a little piece o' paper?"

"If you got to have a license, Bill will get one first thing in the morning."

"Won't you, Bill?"

"Word of honor, Parson. First thing in the morning!"

"Let the old fusser go! I'll marry you."

"If any of you eggs know why these heels shouldn't get hitched, speak now or forever after hold your trap!"

"Does it mean that much to you?"

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in the sight of God and in the face of this company -"

"- to join this Man, and this Woman, in Holy Matrimony."

"Matrimony is an honorable estate .... and is not to be entered into lightly -"

"Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife?"

"Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others -- as long as you both shall live?"

"Sure, I will!"

"I will."

"Give me the ring."

"Here's mine - I hope it does you more good than it did me!"

"Here's your wages, Parson. Easy come, easy go!"

"I expect you to bring me the license in the morning. Pay me then."

"What's the meanin' of this jamboree?"

"Oh, I thought I'd get married, and settle down."

"But how are you goin' to get rid of her?"

"Who says I want to get rid of her?"

"I know you, Bill Roberts! You might fool her, but you can't fool me!"

"What lady threw that shoe?"

"You don't know what this means to me, Bill!"

"I'll be a good wife, Bill."

Morning.

"Got a match, Chief?"

"I s'pose you've forgot all about last night?"

"Wasn't you never young, Chief? I was just havin' a good time!"

"I s'pose you've forgot about gettin' married, too."

"Chief, last night's over. Today's another day!"

"Mebbe for you, but not for me. That sock in the jaw will cost you your job!"

"One ship's as good as another, Chief. Any port in a storm!"

"Get out o' here - or my husband will kill you!"

"Don't kid me!"

"Don't let Bill Roberts stand between you an' me - you know he ain't comin' back!"

"You're a dirty liar! He is comin' back!"

"Rustle that stretcher - this guy's in bad shape!"

"You won't get nowhere keepin' your mouth shut!"

"I warned you! Now beat it - while you got time!"

"I'm her husband."

"She didn't shoot him. The kid wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"I shot him, an' nobody else is goin' to get the credit for it."

"I'm his wife. He gave me the air once too often!"

"Why didn't you say so before?"

"I didn't care - before."

"I hope you have better luck than me - - but I doubt it."

"I didn't figure on your comin' back to help me."

"You didn't need my help, Baby."

"Goin' away - Bill?"

"Sorry, Baby. Sailin' in an hour - - I never missed a ship in my life."

"Could you give me a minute to - to get used to it, Bill?"

"I never even thanked you for pullin' me out o' the water."

"That's all right!"

"An' I never thanked you for them swell clothes you bought me."

"That's all right, too."

"An' I guess you expect me to thank you for bein' decent enough to make me your wife."

"Now listen, kid - you can't get me sore! I never did a decent thing in my life."

"I've always been like this. There ain't no power on earth that could ever keep me ashore!"

"Why get serious about it, anyway? You knew all I had was one night ashore - you knew I was just a dirty stoker!"

"You ain't so bad, Bill Roberts!"

"But it would have been kind o' funny if this had been on the level - even for a couple o' months."

"Maybe if I ever stayed ashore for as long as a couple o' months I'd get to like it."

"Get a move on, Bill. Time's up!"

"So long, Baby."

"Well - goodbye - Bill."

"Come on out o' this - before you get into another mess!"

"I'll fix it for you, Bill. You can't go to sea like this."

"What are you tryin' to do - bring me more bad luck?"

"Superstitious, are you?"

"The nerve of that dame - bawling me out after all I done for her!"

"I could of told you before that she was no good - like all females!"

"Lucky for you I happened along! If I hadn't pried you loose, she'd of stuck like a barnacle!"

"Buck into it, you two! I want steam, not talk!"

"I'll have you put in irons for this!"

"Where's my wife?"

"In jail, where she belongs."

"What's she in jail for?"

"Why don't you go to the Night Court an' find out?"

"Thirty days. Next case!"

"You are charged with having in your possession clothes stolen from the Harbor Pawn Shop."

"How did you get them?"

"My husband gave them to me."

"Where is your husband?"

"He left me this morning."

"How long have you been married?"

"I was married last night."

"Thirty days. Next case!"

"Just a minute, Captain! I'm her husband. I pinched them duds myself!"

"Break in anywhere - take anything you want - - that's your idea, I suppose?"

"No, sir, I rung the bell! But there wasn't no answer, so I helped myself."

"I see - man of importance - no time to waste. Just what was your hurry?"

"Well sir, I'm a stoker. I only had one night ashore, an' I wanted to have a good time."

"Sixty days will slow you down. Release the woman. Next case!"

"Sixty days ain't a long cruise, Baby - an' it'll be my last one, if you'll wait.

"I guess I'd wait forever, Bill."