"Here's the coffee, Bernie." "Coffee, Mr. Cook?" "If we're going to discuss this, let's discuss it." "But don't sit there and pout as if I'd just taken away your tricycle." "I'm not pouting." "I just happen to disagree with you." "But Frank Elgin!" "Why not let the doorman read for the part?" "Phil, look at some facts." "We've been in rehearsal for five days." "Our leading man, to put it mildly, was dreadful." "Now, maybe that was my fault." "Maybe I was the wrong director for him." "At any rate, we let him go yesterday." "As of this morning, we do not have a replacement." "We open in Boston on the 28th." "We are in trouble." "And I can do without the sarcasm too." "Cookie, look, all I'm saying is, let me audition him for you." "Phil, after all, there's no harm done in giving the man a reading." "No, I agree with you, but when I wanted to read Ray Watson that was just a big waste of time, and he's a much better actor than Elgin." "I know a lot of guys who can act better than Elgin." "And I know a lot of guys who can sing better, but I can't think of anybody who can do both as well." " What about Billy Hertz?" " Oh, he's stiff, pompous." "Look, Cookie, this isn't Student Prince or Blossom Time." "The guy who plays this part has to act while he's singing and sing while he's acting." "You never saw Lonesome Town." "Elgin played a part exactly like this, and he was just magnificent in it." "All right, don't take my word for it." "Ask Henry." "He played the piano in the pit for that show." " When was that?" " Seven or eight years ago." "He wasn't falling off bar stools then." "I hear he hasn't had a drink in a long time." "To a drunk, ten minutes is a long time." "I'm not asking you to live with him!" "I just want you to listen to him!" "All right!" "Go ahead." "Go ahead, go ahead." "Larry." "Larry." " As soon as Elgin comes in, I want..." " He's here waiting." "I didn't wanna interrupt you while you were..." "Send him in." "Now, Cookie, no cracks, please." "What are you fellows auditioning out there, owls?" "Hello, Frank." " Bernie Dodd." " Oh, how do you do?" " This is our producer, Mr. Cook." " How do you do, Mr. Cook?" "Hello, how are you?" "Paul Unger, and you know Henry Johnson." " Hey, Henry." " Hello, Frank." "Been a long time." "See, I told this guy years ago to stop playing other people's music and write some of his own." "So you took my advice, huh?" "How's the family?" " Fine." " Guess that big boy of yours" " is in high school?" " He's in the Air Force." " No!" " Yes, he is." "Now, let's get started." "I've got a luncheon date." "Frank, this is an offbeat kind of show." "It's a dramatization of The Land Around Us." "You remember the book?" "Oh, yeah, sure." "Well, the boys have done what I consider a kind of an exciting musical adaptation." "No..." "No numbers exactly, the music is part of the fabric, woven in and out." "Oh, that's the way to keep the seats from getting dusty, give them something different." "Yeah." "Would you mind reading a couple of scenes for Mr. Cook?" " There's one in the first act." " Excuse me, Bernie, for interrupting, but you were speaking of Lonesome Town a minute ago." "Maybe Frank could do the pitchman number." "That'd show Phil everything you want him to see." " Well, it's all right with me if..." " Gee, I don't know if I remember it." " You sure you do?" " I certainly should." "Eight performances a week for a year and a half." "Maybe you ought to describe the number to Mr. Cook." " Give him kind of a lead-in." " OK." "Well, it wasn't much, really, it was just a thing where I played one of those pitchmen." "Sort of a fanciful character, only instead of selling a patent medicine or something like that, I was selling a philosophy." "You know, sort of a sunshine salesman." "And the scene was a New York street corner, and I worked under a lamppost like this, and I had a..." " Is it OK if I use this for a minute?" " Use anything you like." "Thanks." "Now, when I made my entrance I was carrying..." "OK, OK, I get it." "Now, let's get on with it." "I..." "I just want to say" "I was carrying an imaginary valise." "You know, one of those pitchman's outfits." "OK, Henry." "And then a crowd of sourpusses begin to gather around, you see." "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry And..." "Oh, that's a little high for me, Henry Can you get it down a tone?" "Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry" "And do away with Worry, worry, worry, worry" "Some time or other, brother" "Everybody gets his back to the wall" "History discloses Life's no bed of roses" "And that's for darn sure" "Kings topple and nations fall" "Rich man, poor man, Indian chief How, chief." "He's a left-handed Indian, this kid." "I include you all" "Simpletons, noodle heads You're all" "If you don't take advantage Of my cure-all" "Now, friends, I'll tell you what I'll do." "I have here in this little valise here nostrums, cure-alls, panaceas, unguents, oils and the healing waters." "What'd you say, son?" "You say the valise is empty?" "Son, this valise is loaded." "You're just looking at it with your eyes, and your windows are foggy." "What'd you say, friend?" "You say you can't see nothing either?" "Well, friend, let me tell you something." "There's no trick in believing in just what you see." "The trick is in believing in what you can't see." "You've got to visualize the indiscernible." "For instance:" "Here's a moonbeam that wants To go peeping in" "Here's the lilt that the bluebird shares" "Here's a tropical night To go sleeping in" "Step up and sample my wares" "Every item in this valise, ladies and gentlemen, belongs to you, as well as it does to me." "Now here's the silver moon From the sky up there" "And the emerald meadow outdoors Oh, yes" "What a wealth of treasure There is to share" "It's mine It's yours" "Now, if you live a dream Oh, how precious is" "An imagination that soars" "It can make this world we're in Hers and his and mine and yours" "Now if you want blue skies about Year in, year out" "All you ever need in the last analysis" "Is this" "Try a cheerful song and a valentine" "And a sense of humor that scores" "You're no longer in a spin It's a great world we're in" "And it's mine" "It's yours" "What's that you say, officer?" "Have I got a license?" "Just the greatest license in the world, poetic license." "What'd you say?" "Oh, you been listening to my pitch, huh?" "We're going to the station house?" "Oh, you got a desk sergeant down there that's a little on the proud, a little on the muscle, a little on the cantankerous side, huh?" "Here's how we'll handle his case." "Oh, with a cheerful song And a valentine" "And a sense of humor that scores" "You're no longer in a spin It's a great world you're in" "And it's mine" "It's yours" "And it's hers" "And it's his" "Share it among you, friends." "If you got some of it on you, tell them where you got it, huh?" "Thanks, Henry." "Boy, you always did have a good beat" " for a writer, you know that?" " Fine, Frank, fine." "Oh, you ought to hear it with an orchestra." "It's much..." "Oh, it's good and lousy." "Would you wait outside for a second?" "Say, I'm a little in the dark about this." "What's it for?" "A musical spot, a small part or what?" "It's the lead, Frank." "The whole show's built around this character." "Oh." "Well, what do you think?" "Didn't it speak for itself?" "Bernie, he's probably been doing that material at dinner parties for the last ten years." "Did it prove he's worth risking over $200,000 on?" "Did it prove he can carry a whole show?" "Oh, Bernie, be sensible." "That guy's been laying in the pickle ever since you were a kid." "Someone once took a chance with an actress named Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie, and look what she did." "Bernie, tell me something." "What are you trying to prove?" "You've got a good book, good music." "Why can't you be satisfied with a good, reliable, adequate, normal, sober actor?" "Because he'll give you a good, reliable, adequate, normal, sober performance, and that's not what people pay 6.60 to see." "On the last show, you fought me every step with Danelli." "And I still think you were wrong." "Instead of taking an actor and teaching him how to box, you have to go to Stillman's Gym and get a punch-drunk fighter" " and teach him how to act." " He gave you a great performance." "Yes, he gave us a lot of trouble too." "He was cracked." "If there was a good fight at the Garden, he just wouldn't show up for the performance." "Cookie, I promise you, with Elgin you're apt to get something that happens once in 20 years." "I know it'll be a lot of hard work, but I'll get it out of him." "You're good, Bernie, but you're not that good." "That's what people have been saying to me since I was this high." "So now you're going to show them." "Every one of them." "Just directing doesn't satisfy you any longer." "Now, you want to take a corpse and breathe life into it." "Maybe I'm crazy, but doesn't this worry you guys?" "Not if it doesn't worry Bernie." "He's too old for the part." "We'll get a couple of hairpieces." "It'll make him look ten years younger." "All right." "All right, Bernie." "But could we at least look around for someone else while he's rehearsing?" "No, no." "Once we start with him, we don't let him go without real cause." "A binge is a real cause, or if he can't retain lines." "And I wanna give him a run-of-the-play contract." " No two-week deal." " Now, wait a minute." "Because I need his complete confidence." "With a two-weeks clause he knows he's out any time." "No, sir." "I'm in for a $40,000 bite already." "But I'll take that loss before I'll give him that contract." "OK, Phil, two weeks." "Agreed with you, Paul?" " Henry?" " OK with me." "Frank." "Frank Elgin." "Elgin?" "He's gone." "He left." "What do you mean, "he left"?" " He left." " Where?" "Coffee?" "What?" "He just walked out, Bernie." "Didn't say." "Try the nearest bar." " Mr. Elgin in?" " No, he's not." "You Mrs. Elgin?" "I'd like to talk to Frank." "I'm Bernie Dodd." "Oh, how do you do?" "I don't know when Frank'll be back." " Mind if I wait?" " Well..." "I was just gonna have some coffee." "Would you like some?" "No, thanks." "Frank say when he'd be back?" "He didn't even say where he was going." "Didn't he tell you he had an audition with me this morning?" "No." "I looked around after it was over, but he'd gone." "Will he do?" "That all depends." "If you're wondering if you can get Frank for very little money, you can." "It doesn't depend on that." "Does he still drink?" "Now just what did you think I would answer to that, Mr. Dodd?" " Touché." " What?" "Touché." "In French, that means..." "Oh, come on, everybody knows what "touché" means." "You're even younger than I thought." "And you try to look like an old lady, and you're not." "You shouldn't wear your hair like that." "Two kinds of women:" "Those who pay too much attention to themselves and those who don't pay enough." "Say, that's quite a pearl of wisdom." "May I quote you?" "How long you and Frank been married?" " Ten years." " Where'd you meet, in a show?" "Mr. Dodd, don't you think that's just..." "I'm trying to find out if you were an actress." "Oh, no, not me, thank you." "I'm just a girl from the country." "The theater and the people in it have always been a complete mystery to me." "They still are." ""Dreiser, Balzac, Montaigne."" " Who reads these books?" " I do." "I'm afraid to ask you if you enjoy them, you'd bite my head off." "Montaigne's too polite for me." "That doesn't surprise me." "Frank's old recordings?" "Some new." "The one on the machine he did last week." "Try Jamaica Chewing Gum" "It's a gum, flavorsome" "And it gives you freedom from Indigestion" "A man with his talent, that's degrading." "So is not eating." "Why didn't you wait?" "I figured the boat had sailed." "I had a feeling the producer didn't like me." "Since when does it have to be in an actor's contract the producer has to love him?" "Well, I can't go to bat unless I feel everybody's rooting for me." " Cook thinks you're a drinker." " Oh, no, I don't booze it up on a show." "Not according to Maxwell." "I checked." "You worked for him in '46." "After a couple of months he had to replace you." "While I was playing in that show our son died." "All right, that takes care of that show." "What about this one?" "I need an actor who can stay sober and learn lines." " You that actor or not?" " I don't..." "Make up your mind." "Give me a little time." "Cook wasn't the only reason I left the theater just now." "I..." "I want to talk it over with my wife." "I wouldn't think of taking a part like this without talking it over with Georgie." "Talk it over." "I'll be back in ten minutes." "Oh, Mr. Dodd, don't you see?" "He's afraid of the responsibility." "But I'm the one that's taking the chance." "The gamble's all on my side." "It's not a question of being afraid of the responsibility." "It's..." "It's just that..." "Well, the part's the whole show, you said so yourself." "Gee, you've been rehearsing five days, and you're opening in Boston the 28th." "I don't think I could learn the lines in that time." "You need a Walter Huston or somebody like that." "It's bad enough to go to Hollywood to cast, now you suggest I go to heaven." "You can do it, Frank." "I know you can." "Why are you so sure?" "Because when I first saw him I was a hatcheck boy at the Shubert Theater." "You, Lunt and Jolson, you were my heroes." "I know everything you've done." "Naturally, Mr. Dodd, you exaggerate the sentiment to make your point." "Are you for him or against him?" "I'm his wife." "All I want is complete honesty from both of you." "Flattery is cheap, Mr. Dodd." "How about a little costly truth?" "All right." "I'm not blind to Frank's condition." "One look at this room tells me what he is." "And I'm not one of those nice, friendly people who slaps you on the back, buys you a drink and that's as far as it goes." "If you take this job, Frank, I won't leave you on a limb." "We'll work together and worry together." "But if you do me dirt, just once, no pity." "Not a drop of pity." ""No pity." I like that." "Now at least he knows what to expect." "What kind of a contract do you offer?" " Honey..." " Standard two-week." " Not run-of-the-play?" " No." "Doesn't that mean you could let Frank out with two weeks' notice?" " That's exactly what it means." " You just said he needed confidence." "He won't have it with a two-week clause over his head." "Would you?" "I have nothing in my mind except for Frank to play this part." " Oh, that sentiment again!" " Oh, here now..." "What is this?" "I come up here with the best intentions in the world, and suddenly I find I'm victimizing you." " Can I get a word in?" " What'd I bring, a basket of snakes?" "It's not the two-weeks clause, it's..." "It's just that I don't wanna bite off more than I can chew, that's all." "You got the offer." "Make up your mind." "We're booked into Boston for two weeks." "The season's young." "We could stay out till you're letter-perfect." " Would you do that?" " Do it?" "I'd insist on it." "Talk it over with your agent here and call the office by 3:00." "And that means not later." "Need a $20 bill?" "You need it." "What'd you have to make that crack about responsibility for?" "Why didn't you tell me about that audition this morning, Frank?" "Because I wasn't sure whether I could make it or not." "I must have walked up and down 47th Street a dozen times before I could make myself go through with it." "Don't keep things from me." " I can't do it, can I?" " Of course you can." "You've got to try again, and this seems a perfect opportunity." "If I do take it, Georgie, I'll need you every second, every step of the way." "I don't have any appointments, Frank, all winter." "I wish it were a run-of-the-play contract." "Well, then why didn't you tell him that when I brought it up?" "I didn't wanna antagonize him." "If I take the part," "I'm the one working with him, not you." "Well, you'll never get a better deal." "They won't give you perfect terms." "So take it and do your level best." "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute here." "That two-weeks clause." "They can give me notice any time, but I can give them notice too." "I can walk out any time I want." " If I feel it isn't working out, I..." " You mean you can quit, Frank." "No, not the way you mean it." "But if the show doesn't pan out," "I certainly don't wanna come into New York in a turkey." "But maybe this time it will work out, though." "Bernie likes me, and Henry Johnson's pulling for me." "That guy Cook I gotta worry about." "Ever since we've settled here we've been having trouble, Joe, and now instead of fields of wheat, we've got nothing but stubble, rotting in the brown dust." "I've talked it over with Stella." "We've had enough." "We're leaving." " And that's why I have..." " What are we waiting for?" " Let's push on." " Nothing to stay around here for." " How about you, Joe?" " I'm staying." "You know, they say sometimes, when a man falls from a great height, before he hits bottom, his whole life flashes by." "In one split second he sees himself for what he was and what he is." "You don't always have to plummet like a hailstone to face that split second." "Mean it, Frank, mean it." "Plummet like a hailstone to face that split second." "It can come to you as it did to me today, as you stand..." "It can..." " What is it, Larry?" " "In the middle of a smoldering field."" "As you stand in the middle of a smoldering field and you see your prayers and hopes go up in wisps of smoke." "It's nothing, Frank, just nothing." "This is the most important decision in the man's life." "You're playing him like he's trying to decide what kind of eggs to have for breakfast." "That goes for the rest of you too." "I'm sorry, Bernie." "It's just that I'm still fighting these words." "You should have them licked by now." "We've been in rehearsal ten days." " All right, let's take it from..." " Bernie." "Oh, it can't be that late." "Where does it go?" "All right, knock off." "Same time tomorrow." "We'll start with this scene." " Good night." "See you tomorrow." " Good night." " Good night." " Need me for anything, Bernie?" "No." " Want me to turn off the border?" " Yeah." "Good night." "Good night." "I'm sorry, Bernie, about the words." "It's just that..." "Well, I've had a lot of other things on my mind." "I know you have." "Every time I give you a direction," "I have the feeling you're off in space somewhere." "You can be great in this part, but it demands your undivided concentration and every ounce of energy you've got." "I know, I know." "I keep telling myself that, Bernie, and then after rehearsal I go home to study, and there's..." "Oh, well, you've got headaches enough of your own." "Good night." "Frank." "Having trouble at home?" "No, nothing like that." "What's the matter?" "Don't you believe me?" "Everyone has trouble at home." "The only ones who deny it are those that have too much of it." "I denied it for five years with the former Mrs. Dodd." "Funny, I never had the impression that you were married." "Neither did my wife." "That was my trouble." "What's yours?" "Oh, it's nothing important." "It'll work out." "I'll see you in the morning." "Does your wife really want you to play this part?" "Yeah, she's all for it." "I was just wondering." "Day I met her she seemed a little difficult about terms rather domineering, I thought." " She wasn't always like that." " Oh, I know, I know." "They all start out as Juliets and wind up as Lady Macbeths." "When I first met her she was as fine a person as you've ever seen." "She had background and breeding." "She had kind of a nobility about her that just made me feel proud to be with her." "Of course, I was a good deal older than she was but it didn't seem to make any difference because she wasn't a flighty kid or anything like that." "She had a poise and a dignity that was ageless." "Those first few years I..." "I just never knew a better life." "A wife who was everything I'd always been looking for and a son who was smart and healthy." "Then our son died." "I came home from the theater one night a couple of months later and there's this kid who..." "Well, I don't think she ever had a real drink in her life before." "There she is, stretched out across the bed, dead drunk with her wrists cut and bleeding like a..." "She was jealous of the fact that I had my work and something to live for." "She felt she had nothing, you see." "Inside of a year she was a hopeless drunkard." "So in an effort to give her some purpose in life I made her feel that I needed her in my work." "I let her pick all the songs I should record and the shows I ought to do." "She started taking over everything then." "She..." "She became very possessive and wanted to make all the decisions and had to be with me all the time." "Whenever I was away, why, she acted as if I'd run off with another woman or something." "She had fits of depression." "One time she set fire to a hotel suite." "That's when I began hitting the bottle pretty hard." "Does she still drink?" "No." "She stopped when I began." "That figures." "You were the weak one now." "That's what she wanted." "I suppose you have to bring her up to Boston, huh?" "Oh, I couldn't leave her alone, Bernie." "I guess you thought it was funny I didn't hang around the theater after the audition the other day." "But, gee, if I'd have taken this part without talking to her first I don't know what would have happened." "I had to make believe that I didn't want it, that I was afraid of it, you see." "And then that left it open for her to convince me, like it was her idea and not mine." "They can get awful bent out of shape sometimes, can't they?" "You know, my wife was so twisted she once said to me," ""I hope your next play's a flop so the whole world can see" ""how much I love you, even though you're a failure."" "Georgie?" "Just coming from a movie." "Passing by, thought you might be through." "Your timing was perfect, Mrs. Elgin." "I have a knack that way." "Good evening, Mr. Dodd." "How is my husband doing?" "Well, in my less than humble opinion, he's what you call a natural." "Don't let him kid you, honey." "I was floundering all over the place." "We're gonna have to rehearse those cues a lot." "You can thank her, you know, for the six or seven words that I did know." "Thanks." "Did I intrude?" "Oh, no, no." "We're just breaking up." "I don't like to make myself obtrusive when Frank's working." "Unless, of course, he needs my help." "You're sure I'm not in the way?" "No, no, we were just closing up shop and giving it back to the theater ghosts." "There's nothing quite so mysterious and silent as a dark theater a night without a star." "Why don't we go and get some coffee?" "Georgie?" "She's the one that makes all the decisions in our family." "Is that true, Mrs. Elgin?" "To the extent that Frank's brought out the mother in me, yes." "I'd like some coffee." "And I'd like to get to know Mr. Dodd better." "I'd like to get to know you better." "Shall we go along?" "Yes the theater's mysterious." "Sure is." "This way, please." "Hi, Charlie." "Excuse me a minute, will you, honey?" "No thanks, never use them." "Are you really satisfied with Frank's work, Mr. Dodd?" "I'll be happy when he gets the part out of his hands." "He has his worries with those lines." "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't add to those worries, Mrs. Elgin." "He seems to be more concerned about how you're going to take his performance than the audience." "You mean he's too focused on my reaction?" "That's one way of putting it." "You could help a lot by being careful of what you do and say." "I try to be careful, Mr. Dodd, but being an actor's wife is not the easiest of jobs." "If I tell him he's magnificent, he says I'm not being honest." "If I tell him he's not magnificent, he says I don't love him." "Why not tell him he's good but can be better?" " Is that what the critics will tell him?" " Are you a critic or a wife?" "Let's say I try, in my small way, to help." "That's what my ex-wife used to keep reminding me of, tearfully." "She had a theory that behind every great man there was a great woman." "She also was thoroughly convinced that she was great and that all I needed to qualify was guidance on her part." "She worked hard at it too hard." "It still doesn't prove her theory was completely wrong." "I imagine one could go through history and find a few good examples." "It's a pity that Leonardo da Vinci never had a wife to guide him." "He might have really gotten somewhere." "I'm sorry, dear, but you know who that was?" "Old Charlie Blair." "You remember him." "He..." "He was..." "Here's another oldie coming up." "It's climbing right back up onto the Hit Parade again." "But let's turn back the calendar and listen to the original recording made by Frank Elgin." "It's on a Vogue label, and he's backed up by Jimmie Bolton's Orchestra." "Here it is." "See if you remember it." "The flaxen hair" "The tender voice" "The laughing eyes" "Gave me no choice" "No more the doubt" "I used to face" "No more the doubt" "No more the chase" "The search is through" "You've got what it takes" "There was no passing you by" "In my who's who" "You've got what it takes" "The who, the where, the when, the why" "One look and oh" "No painting I know" "Can equal your loveliness" "Head to toe" "At last the breaks" "You've got what it takes" "So easy to see" "For all time to be" "You've got what it takes" "To take me" " Was that OK for you, Jimmy?" " Good here." "How about you, Harry?" "Wanna buy that one?" "Sure will." "This one was it for my money." "Give you the playback in just a second." "Take five, boys." "That's my man." "You pretty near broke me up there you with your bad beat." "How'd it sound, honey?" " Oh, it's a lovely tune." " Well, what about the singer?" " Oh, he has a pleasant voice." " Pleasant voice?" "Good thing you're not my press agent, or we'd all starve to death." "Come on, Johnny, I've got a hair appointment." "Well, you're not gonna take him to the beauty parlor?" " Well, it's Sally's day off..." " Oh, no, you don't!" "He'll grow up to be a hairdresser or something." "I'm not doing anything." "I'll take him." "Where to?" "The Lamb's Club?" "And watch you play pool all afternoon?" "Well, that's better than teaching him how to set a wave." "All right, all right, I'll take him to the zoo." "And bring him home full of peanuts and ice cream and chocolate bars." " No, thanks." " Hey, Johnny." " Tell this lady to run along, will you?" " OK." " Tell her this is strictly stag." " Strictly stag." "All right." "He's your responsibility." "And if he gets a stomachache in the middle of the night, that's going to be "strictly stag" too." "Goodbye." "Isn't Mommy a doll?" "Goodbye, hon." " Peanuts?" " Yeah, well, you're a cinch." "First we gotta hear this playback, then Charlie wants a couple of pictures." "Here it comes." "Take two of the chorus, Frank." "The search is through" "You've got what it takes" "There was no passing you by" "Oh, Mr. Elgin!" "Mr. Elgin!" " Huh?" " Can I get just one more shot?" "Dave wants one of you looking at the trademark." " It's for the album cover." " Make it fast." " I've got a date with my friend here." " Right." "I think it would be better without the hat, Mr. Elgin." "Right." "Now, put your hands up on the record." "Put the right one down at the bottom too." "That's perfect." "Just be a second." "Just hold it." "Hold it." "Johnny!" "Johnny!" "That's the breaks" "You've got what it takes" "So easy to see" "The men for the trunk are downstairs, Frank." "For all..." "When did you get these, Frank?" "Last night, after you fell asleep." "I went out and got a paper and..." "What's the difference?" "I got a good night's sleep." "No more, Frank." "When we get to Boston, I'll get you some sleeping pills." "One a night can't hurt." "I'm not sure I'm going to Boston." "What's the use of me trying to kid myself?" "I'll never be able to go through with this show." "I'll mess it up just like I've messed up everything else in my life." " That day was an accident." " That's what the papers said." "It wasn't any accident, and I know it." "He was my responsibility that day." " All I had to do was hold his hand." " Stop it!" " But no, I'm a big man..." " Stop!" " Have you told Dodd about this?" " Of course I haven't, and don't you tell him, either." "I won't." "I think maybe you should." "It might help." "Nobody's gonna have any respect for a guy who..." "He'd tell Cook, he'd fire me in five minutes." "Who's gonna risk $200,000 on a guy who's that irresponsible?" "All right, let's say you were responsible." "That's why you've got to go through with it." " You've gotta prove to yourself..." " You don't know what..." "You don't know what it's like to stand on that stage all alone with the whole show on your shoulders!" "If I'm no good, the show's no good!" "I got the future of a hundred people in my hand." "This hand!" "This hand!" " Elgin?" "Trunk for Boston?" " Come in." " Theater or the hotel?" " Theater." " No, no, wait a..." " Everything's packed." "It's ready." "Maggie, I tell you, Joe's nothing but a dreamer." "Then the least you can do is go out to the valley and let him show you what he's been dreaming about." "That's fair enough, Maggie." "Come on, Phil." "The land around us Will be in bloom" "With song and laughter And elbow room" "A town will blossom here With all serene" "With houses white And with gardens green" "The lanes are shady The streets are wide" "You and your lady Are full of pride" "I can hear children's voices" "I can hear Sunday chimes" "All across the valley Better times" "On land we found us One thing I know" "The land around us" "Will grow and grow" "We'll put the post office here" "And the high school there" "And if we fail to put up a jail" "We hope you don't mind" "Around here we'll have no galoot" "Who totes a sixer to shoot" "For in our plan each citizen" "Will be the respectable kind" "Railroad station here" "Opry house will be there" "We'll do our best The uncivilized West" "To conquer and tame" "We'll settle for not less" "Than a town that's pure and spotless" "Or Mud" "Will be our name" "How do they expect me to make these fast changes like this?" "What's the matter?" "Haven't I been doing it right?" "You're doing all right, but I want you out front watching my performance." "Give me the dickie, come on." "But I can tell from here, Frank, you're doing just wonderfully." "I am not, and you know it." "Oh, why don't they get me a dresser?" "With the money they're paying me they could afford a dozen." "Do you want me to talk to Cook about it?" "Yes." "And tell him to stop that understudy from snooping around." "I come off and he's hovering like a vulture, waiting for me to cave in." "If you talked to Mr. Dodd about it he'd..." "You talk to him." "Tell him to keep that guy out front!" "And get me some new tissue." "That stuff is murder." "I will right after rehearsal." "Frank, I'm sorry I stepped on that line of yours in the depot scene." "That's all right." "Think nothing of it." " It was just that I was so nervous." " What's to be nervous about?" "It's just another show." "Where would you ever find another star as sweet as that?" "What a wonderful guy!" "I'd like to hold the orchestra for about a half-hour longer, Bernie." "I want to go over that new arrangement on "Land Around Us"." "Wait a minute, they've been on overtime three and a half hours." " Can't you do it in the morning?" " Is it OK if I take the doohickeys off?" "Yeah, yeah." "Go ahead." "There we are." "Be here tomorrow." "Paul mentioned something to me during the second act." "I think Eleanor is way overboard in that town-hall scene." " I know she is, I know she is." " I wasn't thinking Eleanor." " I was thinking about..." " Don't you think I know?" " Look, Bernie, I have some notes..." " So have I." "I've got nine zillion of them, but we'll go over them tomorrow." "Dismiss the company, give them a 1:00 call." "I'm going out for a breath of fresh air." "Then we'll sit down quietly and discuss that spot." " Right." " Oh, Larry, hold Frank and Helen, and run that scene in front of the church." "Find out what caused the mix-up." "Yeah." "Yeah." "You talked about the costumes, the scenery, the lighting, but not one word about our real problem." "I thought Elgin was terrible." "That's why you take shows out of town, Cookie." "Actors can improve." "The scenery can't." "If he spoke one word of the author's script tonight, I never heard it." "He tripped on a rug he'd never seen!" "He goes to sit and there's no chair!" "In the big scene the door wouldn't open!" "What do you expect of him?" "Besides that, Larry tells me his wife was backstage all during the performance tonight." "She's enough to upset anyone." "What are you going to do?" "Lower the boom on her." "Well, you asked for him." "He's your problem, Bernie." "I got plenty of my own." "The union insists I take on three more stagehands." " Mr. Cook." " Huh?" "Excuse me." "May I ask you something?" "Do you think Frank needs a dresser?" "No, I don't." "But I suppose you do." "Well, those..." "Those two fast changes, I..." "I..." "Well it's a very large part, after all, I..." "Bernie, every time you nod your head like that it costs us a couple of hundred dollars." "You're going to nod us right out of business." "Don't worry." "We'll get him a dresser." "Mr. Cook seems to be almost what the bad fairy promised Frank in his cradle." "Oh, he's not too bad." "Gruff, but with a heart of stone." "You smoke too much." "That's obvious." "A whole pack since 10:30." "Careful you don't catch cold." "After every first dress rehearsal," "I always sit in a draft, hoping to catch pneumonia." "It never works." "Oh, for the peaceful quiet of an oxygen tent." "Mr. Dodd, who is that tall, sort of gloomy man that hangs around backstage?" "Lucas, is that the name?" "Yes." "General understudy." "Not much personality, but competent." "Well, excuse me for saying this, but must he stay backstage?" " It seems to bother Frank, and I..." " I'll watch it." "Frank that insecure?" "He's working well, good humor most of the time." "Don't you know what hides behind that good humor?" "Certain men are very strange." "Business couldn't be better, wife and kiddies are fine, jokes with the boys at the club." "And the next day you read he's hung himself from the chandelier." "Is that supposed to be a picture of Frank?" "Yes and no." "I..." "Oh, Frank doesn't like to make the slightest remark that might lose him people's regard or affection." "If anything has to be said that might cause antagonism..." "Well, that's my job." "I hate to say this, Mrs. Elgin, but I hired a performer, a good performer." "I may want him without his sisters, cousins and aunts." "I..." "I never meant to interfere." "I was just sort of offering myself as sort of" " liaison officer." " I have no problems with Frank." "Don't make any where they don't exist." "Before this is over, Mr. Dodd, you may face a couple of beauties." "Is that a threat?" "No." "It's just a simple statement, based on experience." "Whether you like it or not, Frank's weak." "He's a leaner." "And I happen to be the one he leans on." "The good, strong helpmate." "Did it ever occur to you that you and your strength might be the very reason he is weak?" "I don't like strong women, Mrs. Elgin." "I'm not here to audition for you, Mr. Dodd!" "I'm here for the same reason you are, to do everything in my power to make him a success in this." "I want to see Frank stand on his own two feet again for very personal reasons." "Then don't overplay your hand." "Frank can go anywhere from here." "Other shows, right to the top again." "Or he may go back to that smelly room over that cheap restaurant, and you right along with him!" "Say, I got that line mix-up all straightened out." "It wasn't my fault at all." "It was Helen's." " She was throwing me the wrong cue." " I'm glad you got it fixed." "Say, Frank, I noticed the understudy hanging around backstage tonight." " Does that bother you?" " Me?" "Oh, no." "Never even noticed him." "Besides, how else is he gonna learn his business?" "Is that you, Georgie?" " Yes." " Are you coming in?" "In a minute." "I..." "I just wanna get a breath of fresh air." "Well, I can't come out." "I'm still a little soggy." "Well, come on, give!" "What'd they say about the dresser?" "You'll get him." "Well, looks like they got a little respect for the old man after all." "Huh?" "Yes, they have respect for you, Frank." "I'll be out in a second." " It's a different kind of show, isn't it?" " Yes." "It confused me in the beginning," " but I'm enjoying it now." " It's a beautiful production." "Must have cost a fortune." "I'll bet the costumes alone cost $50,000." "I think it's the most exciting thing I've seen in years." "Where did you get it?" "George gave it to me for my birthday." "Oh, Henry, I'm positive you've seen him before." "Years ago in that show that all took place in Central Park." "Oh, is he the same one?" " So easygoing and likeable, isn't he?" " Yes." "Are you catching cold?" "That's all I need." "You're probably smoking too much." "Try and go to sleep, Frank." "I wanna see the review in the morning paper first!" "You can see it at breakfast." "You need sleep." "I can't sleep until I know what they thought of me." "What time do they deliver the morning paper around here?" "In the afternoon?" "I don't know why they picked this place to open in." "Playing to that audience is like getting locked in a deep freeze!" " Just came in, Mr. Elgin." " Thank you." "I'll get you another sleeping pill." " Hello." " The bellboy said he just took you a paper, so I didn't think I'd be waking you." "Just remember, the only important ones are the New York notices." "Yeah, I..." "I don't worry none about these out-of-town critics." "They don't bother me any." "Georgie was a little upset, but I reminded her of Lonesome Town." "Yeah, the Philadelphia critics murdered us, but we got up to New York, we were a smash." "Well, we've got five weeks to rewrite, change and polish." "And believe me, opening night in New York, it'll be great." "But, Frank, let's not kid ourselves." "It's gonna take an awful lot of work on everybody's part." "Now get some sleep." "You got a big day tomorrow." "Rehearsal in the afternoon, performance tomorrow night and then production stills after that." "So get all the rest you can, will you?" " OK." " OK." "Good night." "The dame in this paper puts her finger on it." "Right on it." "She says, "Elgin lacks authority in the role that cries for it."" "No authority, that's it." "You know why he lacks authority?" "Because his wife has too much of it." "She's gotta go back to New York, Cookie." "I think we ought to make it transportation for two." "If you don't like what I'm doing or the way I'm doing it, you can make it transportation for three." "Now, we were discussing that scene in front of the town hall." "I think we go past the climax." "Let's try cutting the scene here tomorrow night." "Over a little more!" " That's it." " Everybody up front." "Keep quiet!" "Now, sit down and keep quiet!" "Otherwise, you're gonna be here all night." "Now, settle down." "Johnny!" "All right, here we go!" "Steady!" " Hold it!" "Hold it!" " Pardon me." "OK." "Go ahead." " Thank you!" " Wait a minute." "Wait a minute!" "Hold those positions for a second." "I wanna change one thing here." "While Frank is speaking, instead of you people looking at each other," "I want you to look directly at him." "And no movement." "I don't want anything that will distract the audience from keeping their focus on him." "He's got to be the dead center of attention." "You..." "You really think it would be better that way, huh?" "I thought it'd be kind of nice..." "It'd be natural if I was just sort of in the crowd here." "No, no, it's all wrong, Frank." "I saw it tonight." "The words lose importance." "After all, this character's asking these people to put their faith in him, to trust him." "He's promising to make their dreams a reality." "He's accepting the responsibility for their future, and it's got to be a lot more important." "Believe me, it'll be a lot better." "All right, we'll rehearse it tomorrow." "I just wanted to tell you about it." "Frank." "Frank, we've got one more shot." "Where you're here looking at the poster." "OK, yell when you're ready." "Now this is color." "Turn your head towards the poster." " What?" " Would you look at the poster, Frank?" "Oh, yeah." "Sure." "Hold it, steady." "Hold it." "Put your hands up on the record." "Hold it." "Hold it!" "Hold it!" "Frank, what's the matter?" "I gotta cough." "I've got some stuff in the room." "I'll be right back." " All finished?" " No." "Frank, I don't like that cough syrup you bought." "Why not?" "It's a buck a bottle." "Yeah, "a buck a bottle" is a jim-dandy slogan, but you can read labels as well as the next one." "That's got 22% alcohol in it." "I'll get you some lemon and honey in the morning." "Cook didn't come back after the show, did he?" "No, he didn't." "Well, I'm glad I got that two-weeks clause in there." "I can quit any time I want." "Why should I care?" "They don't seem to." "The producer doesn't come back the second night after the show." "Frank, leave the bottle here." " I need it for my cough." " Leave it here." "But I need it!" "Georgie I need it." " Frank's on-stage." " I know." "I wanna talk to you." "The last time we talked, Mr. Dodd, you reduced me to tears." "I promise you it won't happen again." "As a matter of fact, I'm glad you're here." "At the risk of being considered a saboteur," "I think you ought to know he's getting a cold and he shouldn't be up this late." "We need production stills." " How's his spirit?" " Low." " Why?" " Ask the Boston critics." "For the last month, I've spent between ten and 15 hours a day with Frank." "Nothing ever bothers him except through your mouth." "Why?" "Oh, we've been through all of that before." "Either he laughs and makes bad jokes, or he sits in silence and rots away inside." "But either way, for your edification, he's heading for a bender." "Why is it that women always think they understand men better than men do?" "Maybe because they live with them." "If you're not careful, you're going to have him full of whiskey before morning." "He's getting a cold, and that's a respectable surface reason for any drinker to jump down the well." "Why work so hard at this marriage?" "You make him tense and uneasy." "You never stop handling him, and now you're trying to handle me." "Don't you think I couldn't, after handling a cunning drunkard for ten years!" "If you had any compassion or love whatsoever for this man, you could never call him a cunning drunkard." "Maybe I have a greater love for the truth." "That's what he is." "I'm a drunkard's wife." "That's the truth too." "And I think it's high time you stopped looking at everything as if it were a musical comedy and faced a little bit of it yourself!" "To be frank, I find you slightly grotesque, Mrs. Elgin!" "You came here to tell me something." "What is it?" "I've been fighting with Cook." "He's got a first-class replacement for Frank and a lot of money to protect." "I think Frank will improve, Cook thinks he won't." "Well, he won't unless you get out of town." " You might be sorry." " That's a risk I can't wait to take." " He'll be helpless." " I'll help him." "You!" "You wouldn't know where to begin." "I'll begin by not calling him a "cunning drunkard"." "I'll give him pride and confidence by occasionally rejoicing in his God-given talents instead of constantly reminding him of his weaknesses." "I'll let him face a decision without first filling him full of doubts and fears, and I won't stifle him with my own inadequacy and bitterness." "I might have to bend the truth here and there, but I'll get a performance out of him." "And that's the difference between us, Mr. Dodd." "You want him to become the actor he once was." "I'm his wife." "I want him just once more as the man he once was." "Able to stand on his own two feet and face responsibility." "And you don't do that by bending the truth!" "And you certainly don't do it by stripping him of every vestige of self-respect." "I'm warning you, I'm gonna fight you as hard as I can for this man." "Not too hard." "I may let you have him." "Oh, no." "No, you want him wholly and utterly dependent." "You realized long ago, with all your fine background and breeding, you were a failure." "But it gave you a reason for being, a feeling of power to control and manipulate someone else's life." "Worst of all, you do it in the name of love." "You're as phony to me as an opera soprano!" "Did I forget to tell you I'm proud?" "Make up your mind." "Either you go to New York alone, or you both go." "I'll go." "On one condition." "Let me tell Frank in my own way, in my own time." "As long as you're on that train by tomorrow night." "Hey, traffic's a little heavy." "They ought to put a light out there, huh?" " Finished?" " Got her all wrapped up." " Frank." " Yeah?" "I'd like to run through that new scene after the matinee tomorrow." " You tired?" " Tired?" "Me?" "How can you be tired when you're back in the harness playing a part you've waited for all your life?" "Your energy was low again tonight." "Yeah, I know, it's this cold, but I'll get rid of it in a day or two." " You sure it's not nerves?" " Nerves?" "Oh, are you kidding?" "Why don't you tell him what's bothering you?" " Well, what's bothering me?" " Cook and the notices, for instance." "Oh, that." "Well, I just wondered why he didn't come around backstage after the show." "I mean, is he mad or something?" "Might as well be honest about it." "Those weren't exactly money notices." "Frank Mr. Dodd believes in you." "I can't help you if you're worried, he can." "But I'm not worried." "Did you or did you not tell me ten minutes ago, right in this room, that you wanted to hand in your notice?" "Well, I was just ribbing you, honey." "A guy's gotta be careful around here." "You can't open your mouth." "Gotta watch your step, I guess." "Your wife says she's thinking of returning to New York." "I told you nothing of the sort!" "What do you mean, New York?" "We can talk about it later." "Would you leave us alone for a few minutes, Mrs. Elgin?" "Now, Frank, let's get one thing straight." "What is that?" "It's cough syrup." "Got pine, tar and cherries." "A whole bush in a bottle, you know?" "This stuff is laced with 22% alcohol." "Alcohol?" "I told Georgie to just get me a little something to loosen up my cough." "Don't you know what these little appetizers can do?" "I suppose she didn't even bother to look at the label, Bernie." "Or maybe she did." "She's jealous of the show and jealous of me." "This is how far she'd go." "Far enough to kick you off the wagon." "Oh, now, Bernie, I know she's high-strung and difficult..." "I want her back in New York." "We've got a lot of hard work ahead of us, and I haven't time to outmaneuver frustrated females." "Go on back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep." "I want you fresh and clear tomorrow." "Mrs. Elgin." "Frank knows exactly how I feel, and I think he appreciates what has to be done." "See you tomorrow, Frank." "Good night." "He can be pretty arrogant and insulting, can't he?" "Well, he had no right to treat you like that." "Did you tell him that?" "I poured it in the sink." "If you don't believe me, why don't you go smell it?" " Where's the other bottle, Frank?" " What other bottle?" "Frank, I'm tired." "Don't play peekaboo." "Where's the other bottle of that syrup?" "I didn't buy another bottle." "I wish you'd take my word for something for a change." "Never mind." "Never mind." "I give up." "I'm not going to look." "Georgie, I wanna apologize." " He had no right to take that attitude." " Oh, stop putting on a front." " Who's putting on a front?" " You're putting on a front." "And you lie, you lie, you lie." " Are you going back to New York?" " I don't know why not." "You want to leave me, don't you?" "At the moment, all I want is for you to get dressed so we can get out of here." "Who's in New York?" "Who's the guy you wanna get back to?" "Frank, I'm warning you." "I'm going to hit you with the first thing I pick up." "Now get dressed!" "Why don't you go if you're in such a hurry?" "Go on, go ahead." "I'll take a walk, get something to eat." "It's not gonna do your cold any good." "Well, let them worry about it." "And I told you what you could do too." "Do you want me to go?" "Is that what you want?" "Yes." "Yes, if you're in such a great big hurry, go on." "Have you got the key to the room?" "Well, keep it." "I'll get another one from the hotel." "And don't wake me up when you come in." "Who knows, I may be having a happy dream." " Sixty-five, 75." " And that's for you." "Thanks, doc." "Do you like me?" "Doc, I think you're one of the most likeable guys I ever seen." " Come on, Jackie, sing something." " How about "Love and Learn"?" "OK, I'll sing if you'll be quiet." "Yeah, come on." ""Love and Learn", Jackie." "All right, all right, simmer down." "It's my turn to holler." "Love and learn" "Love and learn" "It's a breeze" "Then a burn" "You retreat" "Then return" "You may have climbed The tree of knowledge" "But when you love You really learn" "Love and learn" "Learn a lot" "It's the be and end all" "Then it's not" "It's a dream" "It's a plot" "It's something out of seventh heaven" "Or something misbegot" "Each morning When I count my blessings" "They tally up to none" "I've arrived at this" "Oh, well, the state of bliss Is somewhat overdone" "Well, go, Dad, go!" "Love and learn" "Weep and sing" "Till the final day of reckoning" "What about this guy?" "But when arms" "Start to cling" "With the thrills" "Kisses bring" "What you have learned is" "Is you haven't learned a thing" "Take me home, Dad!" "It's a dream, and it's a plot" "What you thought it was Was not" "But when arms begin to cling" "And angels start to sing" "What you have learned is" " Is you haven't learned a thing" " Is you haven't learned a thing" "Hey, aren't you Frank Elgin?" "Yeah, I used to be." "Not a word, or I'll tell them you're Harpo Marx." "Jackie, "The Pump Song"." "Do "The Pump Song"." "Look, I'm tired." "Dance a while." "Order up." "Buy something already." " I'm sorry." " It's all right." " Have another?" " Yeah." "Give me a double, huh?" "Pour, pour." "Go ahead, fill it up." " Sorry about that drink." " That's all right." "Could have happened to anybody." "Just an accident." "Yeah, just an accident." "That's what the papers said." "You're right, it could have happened to anybody." "Just an accident." "The search is through" "You've got what it takes" "There was no passing you by" "In my who's who" "You've got what it takes" "The who" "The when..." "Come in." " Morning." " Morning." "How's it going?" " We cut out 23 minutes." " That's fine." "Now, if we cut that chorus in half in front of the courthouse, what will that give us?" "We'll save another seven and a half minutes." "Good, good." "That's the first act, where we need it." "Hello." "Yeah." "What?" "When?" "Oh, no." "So I think you'd better come right down." "Yes, I'll wait for you." "Here's his keys, his belt..." "I know, I know." "Seventy-five, 85, 90..." "Here." "Here's your fine, officer." "You promised me the other night" "I'd have a couple of big problems with Frank before this was over." " I see you've made good your threat." " I didn't threaten you, I warned you." "When he hadn't come in by 3 or 4 this morning, why didn't you call me?" "Suppose he had been with another woman." "You're being deliberately evasive." "You must have known..." "Sit down, Frank." "Get me some water, Georgie." "What happened, Frank?" "Sit up!" "Don't act as though I'm beating you." "Sit up." "I'm sorry." " What happened?" " I don't know." "I just..." "I don't know." "What happened after I left you last night?" "Georgie and I had a fight." " I don't know." "I don't know." " I thought so." "She picked a fine time to start yelling and screaming." "Wasn't her fault at all." "It was mine." "Of course it was your fault, but stop protecting her!" "She's weak, Bernie." "She's so weak." "She's driven you to drink for ten years, and you call her weak." "You could be magnificent in this part, but not when she's around." " She goes back to New York." " Oh, Bernie, I can't do that." " I don't know what she'd do." " She goes back this morning." " She's weak." "She's awfully weak." " I'll talk to her." "If we go on together, you move in with me." " Cook doesn't want me." " I'm not so sure I want you!" "Whatever you say, Bernie." "You decide." "I..." "Frank." "Frank stays, you go." "The management will take care of your expenses." "Frank may follow you in a couple of days, I'm not sure." "Right now, he's moving in with me." "Crisp as lettuce, aren't you?" "Do you want me to go, Frank?" "All right, I'll go and pack." "Before you go, tell Frank he has nothing to worry about." "He thinks you may go drastic." "It's happened before, I understand." " Bernie, I..." " What's happened before?" " Phony suicide attempts." " Bernie, she..." "Mr. Dodd, when I was a child, we had a town idiot." "He kept insisting that elephant tusks came from piano keys, but he had nothing on you." "Suicide attempts are Frank's department." "Show me your wrists, Frank." "Show me your wrists!" "Did you once set fire to a hotel suite?" "He told you that?" "Was I a hopeless drunk?" "Did I have fits of depression?" "Was I possessive?" "Did I have to have a nurse watch me when he was on-stage?" "Didn't you recognize any of it?" "That was his big speech in one of the plays you admired him in when you were a hatcheck boy." "Larry." "Do you think the understudy can play the matinee?" "Yeah, I think so." "Pay the fine and the damages." "This is a receipt for his coat, wallet and the rest." "Take him back to the hotel." "No, wait a minute." "If they see him in the lobby, it'll be all over the papers." "Take him back to the theater and let him sleep it off there." "Come on, Frank." " Georgie, I..." " Go on, Frank." "I won't leave without seeing you." "Tell Cook I'll be along in a few minutes." "May I smoke?" "May you smoke?" "What is that supposed to be, homage to a lady?" "That'll never make me forgive you, Mr. Dodd, for what you've said and done." "I'm not asking for forgiveness." "I want information." "What about Frank?" "What made him go to pieces?" "The responsibility became too much for him." "But in the beginning, why the lying, why the cunning?" "He hates himself." "Consequently, he'll do or say anything to be liked by others." "People like Frank ought to have two votes." "Then they could mark their ballot Democrat and Republican." "That way, everybody would love them." " Was he always like that?" " No." "No." "He drank a little, wasn't too dependable but that was only a pathetic hint of frailty in a wonderful, glowing man." "That appeals to a lot of us." "It did to me." "I was so young." "His weaknesses, they seemed touching and sweet." "They made me love him more." "And then one day he was walking with our son." "He let go of his hand, there was traffic, looked the other way." "The boy was killed." "Ever since then, Frank has acted like a murderer." "Guilt and repentance and all that goes with it." "But worse than that, he's shunned any responsibility like the plague." "It covered a pretty wide range." "Everything from..." "From not wanting any more children to..." "I know it must sound ludicrous to anyone who hasn't actually lived through it, but it got to the point that he wouldn't even pick out a coat or suit by himself." "I..." "I don't know where to begin to apologize, Mrs. Elgin." "You can begin by not calling me Mrs. Elgin." "And you never left him?" "Twice left, twice returned." "He's a helpless child." "Anyone taking a cab to New York?" "But if he's as helpless as you say..." "Oh, he's not helpless now." "He has you, Mr. Dodd." "He has to be watched and handled." "You're the only one that can do that." "I didn't know it before now." "Well, then maybe you've learned something." "The man needs you." "He has to be watched." "You take on the job with waving banners and ten hours later hand it back." "You're telling me he has to be watched?" "He has to be nursed and guarded and coddled, but not by me!" "I'm going back to New York, to the peace and comfort of a quiet room." "For the first time in years, I won't have to wonder where he is." " Georgie..." " He'll be in the strong, sober hands" " of Bernie Dodd!" " Georgie..." "Can you stand him up on his feet again?" "Because that's where all my prayers have gone." "To see that one holy hour when he can stand alone again." " Listen..." " I might forgive even you, Mr. Dodd, if you can keep him up long enough for me to get out from under." "All I want is my own name and a modest job to buy sugar for my coffee." " Will you listen to me?" " You can't believe that, can you?" "You can't believe that a woman is crazy-out-of-her-mind to live alone, in one room by herself!" "Listen to me!" "Listen to me!" "Why are you holding me?" "I said, you're holding me!" "How could you be so angry at someone you didn't even know?" "Maybe I really wasn't." "Maybe I screamed at you to keep myself at an angry distance." "No one has looked at me as a woman for years and years." "I never knew there was such a woman." "Loyal, steadfast..." "And when I found her..." "Now I need your answer." "Do you think Frank can make it?" "I don't know." "But I do know that if he doesn't go through with this show, he'll never work again." "I'm sure of that." "You'll be taking a big chance." "They're the only ones worth taking." "But I can't unless you stay." "Will you?" "Yes." "You kissed me." "Don't let it give you any ideas, Mr. Dodd." "No, Mrs. Elgin." "It's more thoughtful." "You see, he's trying to figure out an approach..." " Did you see Cook?" " No." "He's in the box office talking long-distance to Watson." "I haven't got time now." "I've been going over the part with the understudy." "I think we can get by." "You wanna listen to him?" "Not now." " How do you feel?" " OK." "Larry got me some coffee." " I'll be out of here in a minute." " You don't have to get out." "All you have to do is get some sleep." "But the understudy, he's gonna wanna get in here." "I just listened to him read, Frank." "He's no good." " You'll have to play the matinee." " Oh, no, no, no, Bernie." "Don't stick your neck out." "Listen, Frank." "I'm in no mood to cut my throat in public." "The understudy stinks, and you're the only thing I've got around." "It's not just the matinee, Bernie." "I've been thinking, you gotta replace me." "When you took this job, I promised you no pity," " and no pity it's going to be." " I don't expect any!" "I'm only warning you, get rid of me." "Let me go back to New York." "So you can tell the boys at the Lamb's Club that you quit because the part wasn't big enough?" "Oh, no." "If you leave this show, it'll only be for one reason." "Because I fire you!" "Because I fire you for being an unreliable, slobbering drunk." "I know a lot of people who hire actors, that's what I'll tell every one of them." "And those I don't talk to, Cook does!" "But you don't understand, it's not just this performance." "I can do a show for you." "I can keep on doing shows." "I've gone on when I could hardly stand up." "It's not when I'm out there that it's bad." "It's..." "This is just a matinee in Boston, suppose I do this in New York." "Suppose I don't show up for a week, then where are you?" " Where are you?" " You keep talking as if I do this on purpose." "I can't help it, Bernie." "In between shows and at night sometimes when I start thinking about it, I..." " I..." " You mean the accident?" "Georgie told me about it." "Then you know it hasn't been easy..." "Why didn't you tell me about the accident before we started?" "I don't know." "I..." "You knew I wouldn't buy it, and I don't buy it now." "A crazy wife, yes, because you knew I had one." " It was an accident..." " It was just a crutch, and you know it!" "You were getting older, beginning to slip." "You didn't wanna admit it, so you started looking for excuses." " No, it wasn't that." " The accident was a perfect excuse." "Everybody expects a guy to take a thing like that pretty hard, so you used it." "You played it to the hilt." " No, no, Bernie." "I..." " I'm right, and you know it!" "You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" "You don't know what it means to be afraid, do you?" "You're right up there on top of the heap now." "Everything's rolling good for you, but wait till you get a little older." "Wait till you've had a couple of flops and people stop writing about you and they stop talking about you, then you'll get afraid." "Then you'll start looking around for excuses too." "I'm not blaming you, I just want you to stop lying to yourself." "Sure, everybody thought it was because of the accident." "Because that's what I wanted them to think." "Because I was afraid." "Even when I was the biggest, I was afraid." "I've always been afraid." "I don't know why." "It was good to find a respectable excuse for failure." "Sure." "I could drink a little more." "Nobody blamed me." "No, they blamed it on the accident." "And after I'd milked every tear out of it I cut my wrists." "Not deep enough to die, but just enough to bleed myself back into the center of attention." "So everybody felt sorry for me again." "They understood." "Everybody was talking about me and my tragedy." "That's the way I wanted it." "To keep it that way, I lied." "Oh, God, how I lied." "I even lied about Georgie." "You were so right, Bernie." "I'll keep thinking about it." "Not about the accident but how I used it." " Get some rest, Frank." " I'll keep on thinking about it, Bernie." "You better not take a chance on me, Bernie." "You better get rid of me." "Get rid of me, Bernie." "Bernie, I..." "He's gotta get some sleep." " If you wanna talk..." " I don't care if he does hear me." "I just talked to Ray Watson in California." "He's available." "He can catch the sleeper plane and be here in the morning." " I said I'd call him right back." " Don't bother." "Frank's gonna play it." "Oh, now wait a minute, Bernie." "I'm not gonna let you protect this guy any longer." "I'm calling Ray Watson." "If you do, tell him to bring a director along with him." "Maybe not now, Maggie, but all that valley needs is a few friends to treat it kindly for a while." "To loan it the sharp edge of a plow, some seeds and plenty of care." " It'll pay us back." " I know it, Joe, but it's the others that are gonna take a lot of convincing." " Western Union." " Yes, come in..." "How's it going on the other side of the stage, Ralph?" "Oh, fine, Mr. Dodd." "That Mr. Frank's a big man." "Big man." "Positive honor to work for him." "Where have you been, Bernie, out front?" "Yeah." "Opening night in New York, the world's most useless man." "How's Frank?" "How's Frank?" "OK." "How's it been back here?" "Oh, he was a little uneasy with the curtain going up so late." "If only the first few rows had the balcony's manners what a wonderful world this would be." "It was sweet of you to send all these wires." " Who told you?" " I guessed." "How many did you send?" "Nine or ten." " You?" " Oh, five or six." " Where did you get all the names?" " Lamb's Club." "Good." "Good." " Why don't you go out front?" " Oh, not me." "I don't sit out there with those nabobs and critics." "I hear very well right from here." "That's the advantage of an on-stage dressing room." "Bernie, keep quiet!" "That's the disadvantage." "Larry's right, you know." "From now on, it's his show." "I'm just a visitor." "Depressed, aren't you?" "Depressed and mean." "It's been a long nine weeks." "A job is home to a homeless man." "Now the job is finished." "Where do I go from here?" "Georgie five weeks ago, I kissed a woman, a married woman." "And now I know I love her." "And I don't know where to turn." " Oh, lady, close to you like this..." " Bernie..." "I waited." "Are you going to leave him?" " Oh, Bernie..." " In Boston, you told me all you prayed for was to see him on his feet again so that you could get out from under." "Let me show you something." "The land around us" "Is now in bloom" "With song and laughter" "And elbow room" "A town has blossomed here" "With all serene" "With houses white" "And with gardens green" " The lanes are shady" " The lanes are shady" " The streets are wide" " The streets are wide" "You and your lady" "Are full of pride" "I can hear children's voices" "I can hear Sunday chimes" "All across the valley" "Better times" "Looks to me like he's made it." "What about you, are you leaving him?" " Don't you think that can wait?" " No, it happens to be on my mind." "It has been ever since that morning in Boston." "Georgie, if I could only make you understand." "Not now, Bernie." "Not now." "First-act curtain." "I've gotta make the dressing-room tour and give out with the rah-rah stuff." " Thought you were out front, Bernie." " Just came back." "You really hit it tonight, Frank." "Keep the drive, it's good." "OK, Ralph, I can handle this." "Go have yourself a smoke, huh?" "You know something?" "That's work." "Sounded wonderful back here." "Were you pleased?" "Well, I messed it up in a couple of spots, but I don't think anybody noticed." "I think you'd better touch up the gray a little bit." "Oh, yeah?" "Make me look at least two weeks younger, huh?" " How do you feel?" " Good, good." "How are they liking it out front?" "I only know what I read in the papers." "They came in late on you." "As long as they don't leave early, huh?" "Frank." "Frank, a lot of things are said in the heat and the toil of the day." " Sure." " I hope you'll accept my apologies." "Well, yeah, I know how those things can happen." "Naturally, you include my wife in your apologies too." "Of course, Mrs. Elgin." "I include you too, of course." "Then you can start by taking your hat off." "You're not at a smoker, Mr. Cook." "You know something, this is the first kind word you've had for either one of us." "I think I know why." "You'd like me to sign a run-of-the-play contract before the morning papers come out so you can get me for about half of what I'm worth." "Is that right?" "Now, Frank, Frank." "Sorry, but you'll just have to take my word on a thing like that." "It's true." "True, I have been thinking of different contractual arrangements, but that's not why I came back." "No." "I'm having some people over for supper after the show, while we're waiting for the notices, and I just wanted to invite you." "And you, Mrs. Elgin." "Well, thanks." "I'II..." "I'll drop by if I'm not too tired, huh?" "Good." "Hope to see you." "Yeah." "Excuse me, Mrs. Elgin." " We'll be looking for you." " Thank you." " Congratulations, Frank." " You're very kind." "Oh, they've got you trapped, huh?" "Don't ever learn to play a piano, Frank." "Congratulations." "Great performance." " You were wonderful." " Thank you." "Say, have you seen Georgie anywhere?" "She was here a minute ago, Frank." "There you are, dear." "Only lost about half of it en route." "Well, now that it's all over, I guess this is as good a time as any to say thanks to both of you." " For what?" " Well, if it hadn't been for you two," "Ray Watson would be here right now looking for a spoon for his coffee." " Pardon me." " Frank there are as many reasons for drinking as there are drinkers." "But there are only two reasons why a drinker stops." "He dies or he decides to quit all by himself." "I'm not sure I have." "I faced a crisis up there in Boston, and I got away with it but just about anybody can face a crisis." "It's that everyday living that's rough." "I'm not sure I can lick it but I think I got a chance." "The point is, Georgie, what about us?" "No, no, don't go, Bernie." "You're..." "You're involved in this." "You know, there's only one thing more obvious than two people looking longingly at each other and that's two people avoiding it." "Frank, I..." "I certainly didn't want to bring up any of this tonight but you did, so let's have the whole truth." "I married you for happiness, yours and mine." "If necessary, I'll leave you for the same reason." "And I can't guarantee you that happiness." "And the rest of the whole truth is that it was as much my fault as it was yours." "In Boston, Bernie accused me of wanting you completely dependent, that I wanted to control and manipulate your life." "I denied it, of course, but I think there's an element of truth there." "I don't want to run that risk again, Frank." "No, you're right." "This is something I've got to work out for myself with you or without you." "Whether the show is a hit or a flop is beside the point." "I've got to find myself whether it's in one room or in five." "Well, I don't think there's any point in us torturing each other any longer by delaying this." "You two talk it over, and I'II..." "I'll go along home." "But, Georgie, don't dismiss what we had together." "I gave you ten of the roughest years anybody ever spent outside of a concentration camp." "It could be more of the same." "That was quite a little speech, wasn't it?" "I guess I'm still giving a performance." "This time there's a slight difference." "At least I know it's a performance." "I know it's gratifying for a woman to be wanted and needed, but not for every minute of every day." "Just remember that for years he's been a leaner, you said so yourself." "Pretty tune, isn't it, Frank?" "Remember it?" "Yes." "Yes, I do." "I made a record of it once." "Bernie, I..." "I'm always running out of cigarettes." " You smoke too much." " And you're impertinent." "And you're loyal and steadfast and devoted." "I like that in a woman." "Larry, have you seen Frank anywhere?" "He just left, Mrs. Elgin." " Here he is." " Here you are, Mr. Cook." " About time!" " How are they?" " I didn't get a chance to read them." " Let me have one, Eddie." " Here you go." " May I have one, please?" "Thank you." "Here's the Times and Tribune, Bernie." "Thanks, Larry."