"What's the time, dearie?" "Half past nine." "─ Oh." "We've only eleven hours more to wait." "Have a piece of cake." "─ Thanks." "Oh, what's the good of staying here all day?" "Let's be off and see the Changing of the Guard." "I can see that any day of the week." "Shame on you and your unpatriotic sentiments." "I'm patriotic, I am." "Well, you can't call it patriotism." "To sit here all day waiting to see an American actress." "Well, she may be American born." "But it's in London, she's made her success." "And in our hearts, she's London's own." "She's the first lady of the English theatre." "The pig and the cow and the dog and cat." "They had a spat." "They chewed the fat." "Until old farmer Brown came a running down." "To find out what was wrong." "It seemed that the cow." "Had an awful row." "She called the pig a hog." "And then the cat." "Got mad at that." "And called the dog .. a dog." "Said the sheep:" "Baa baa." "Said the pig: oink oink." "Said the cow: moo moo." "Said the cat: meow meow." "And the dog went: bow wow wow wow." "The pig and the cow and the dog and cat." "They had a spat." "They chewed the fat." "Until old Farmer Brown came a running down." "To find out what was wrong." "He said to them all:" ""Can't you end this war?"" ""Why can't you get along?"" "They stopped their fight." "And said goodnight." "That is my song." "Come here." "You did like that, Mummy?" "─ Yes, darling." "I thought it was very nice." "Am I a wonderful actress like you?" ""Wonderful" is a pretty big word for a little girl like you." "But I think you'll do." "When I grow up, will I be a wonderful actress?" "If you work hard .. perhaps." "Do you want to be?" "Rather." "I'd like that better than anything." "Don't you, Mommy?" "Do you know what I like better than anything?" "Better than the best parts every written." "Better than all the theatres and all the people in them." "Better than anything in this wide, wide world." "Don't you?" "─ Yes, Mummy." "I do." "It's Nana." "No." "Maybe little Elisabeth." "Yes, I guess maybe that's who it is." "No, Mommy." "It isn't." "It's me." "─ Of course it's you, my sweet." "Oh, you don't know what a load is off my mind, Stella to see you happy like this." "Who'd ever thought in the old days that ..?" "Mummy, how can days get old?" "What's the question you've got to ask next?" "Run along and ask Nana." "You go and ask James." "He knows everything." "That's the ticket, child." "Come out in the garden along with me." "And I will tell you a story about a day that was so old .." "It had a long, grey beard." "In fact the day was so old it was almost as ancient as Nana." "We have to be careful, Nana." "She's getting old enough to understand." "It slipped out." "─ James knew things mustn't slip out." "But James can be trusted." "No, Nana." "─ No?" "Not James." "Not anyone." "Not a living soul." "You'll have to learn that as I've had to." "I'm scared." "Scared to death for that baby." "That's why we have to go on living our own peculiar private lives." "Holding our tongues and keeping our own counsel and being watchful." "And never, never trusting." "Not even ourselves." "But you mustn't be worrying like this, my dear." "You've got a show to do tonight." "You should be thinking about that." "Uhuh." "Who is it?" "The big bad wolf." "Oh come in, Stephan." "I've brought you a little flower." "A pity you didn't bring me a big one." "Lovely." "─ Indeed you are." "Stella, will you marry me?" "─ Stephan ─ Now, don't say it." "Think first." "Count to ten." "This is very special." "A fine, helpful director I have." "He comes into my dressing-room just before curtain time .." "On the most important opening of my life." "To see me prickly with nervousness." "And then proposes to me." "Sweet, I've proposed to you many times without interrupting your calm at all." "I was sure it wouldn't make you any more nervous than you are." "How are you coming with your counting?" "I'm way past ten." "And will you marry me?" "No, Stephan." "Well." "We've gotten that over with again." "Until tomorrow." "If you won't marry me, will you come to the party after the theatre tonight?" "You know I never go out." "I'm doing well tonight." "Stella, don't you think you are carrying this to ridiculous lengths?" "What?" "This .. phobia for involvement" "You never go out in public." "You never give interviews." "You are never even photographed except for lobby stills." "And then only in make-up and costume." "You are making a lady hermit of yourself." "Why?" "You know we decided at the beginning to .." "To build up an air of mystery about me." "Don't tell me you .. you've been taken in by all the publicity." "I wonder." "You know .. in the past three years." "We've worked as close as two people can." "I've watched you on that stage." "I've studied you so intently." "I've all but had you under a microscope." "I feel after all that, I don't know you." "It seems you have a deep distrust of every living soul." "Even of me." "For some reason I can't guess." "You lead a secret life in a private world of your own." "Into which you disappear, after you leave the theatre." "Stephan." "Would it please you very much if I come to your party tonight?" "My dear." "I am so proud of you, Stella." "I want to show you off to my friends." "And besides, it would make me look such a fool .." "To give an after-theatre reception without my own star present." "Then of course I'll come." "Will you really?" "─ This once." "If you do, as a special treat, I'll propose to you all over again." "Almost curtain time, Miss Parish." "─ I shan't be a moment." "Oh, I'll see you in the wings before you go on." "Yes, dear." "He says that she's become a Goddess." "Does she know it?" "─ No." "Then someone should tell her in case she hasn't noticed it." "Yes, you do it." "You look lovely, my dear." "Feel alright?" "─ Yes." "This is your night, Stella." "Thanks to you." "Oh, very well." "[ Stage actors: ] "But the dear woman has suffered enough at Caligula's hands."" ""I hate to bring her the news that's bound to make her so much more unhappy."" ""I don't even know how to begin." ─ "You better decide." "For here she is."" "Come on .. clap for Mummy." "Come on." "─ Ah .." "Clap for Mummy." "What's going on here?" "Do you think Mummy's on the stage yet, Nana?" "Never mind where she is." "You are supposed to be asleep." "I'd much rather be at the theatre." "Why can't I ever go?" "─ Because you're such a little girl." "Now .. down we go." "Can I go someday to watch Mummy act?" "─ Someday." "If you go to sleep now." "I bet the audience clapped her a lot when she came out on the stage." "Nana's little lamb." "I bet I'll pat your little bunny bum if you don't go to sleep." "I'll bet you won't." "Lockridge." "Hello, Lockridge." "─ Stephan, old boy." "When did you pop back?" "The last time I heard you were stuck in Ethiopia." "I've only just arrived, so here I am." "And very lucky, too." "I'm playing wife to my editor tonight." "Mrs Reeves having obligingly taken to her bed with a bad cold." "Hello Norman." "A magnificent play." "─ Thank you very much." "I suppose you gentlemen know Mr Andrews?" "─ How do you do?" "How do you do?" "─ Hello, Lockridge." "I say .. you ought to be ashamed of yourself." "Being the only correspondent who can trace the news stories you get hold of." "Now don't flatter him." "He'll probably want a raise." "And get it." "Who's the girl you've got hold of?" "She's new since I was in London, isn't she?" "Well, I'm giving a party for her her after the theatre tonight." "Would you like to come and meet her?" "─ Right." "That'll give us the chance for a talk." "─ My word." "What's the matter?" "I said something?" "When a man's asked to meet Miss Parish, he doesn't go in a corner with his host." "You see Lockridge, she's very rarely seen in private life." "Oh, I'm sorry, Stephan." "I wasn't sufficiently impressed." "It's beginning to intrigue me." "─ Don't let it intrigue you too much." "She is my actress, you know." "Hold your impertinent tongue!" "Answer the charges." "You charge me with the crime of loving this captive of yours?" "Guilty." "And thanks to the Gods for cursing me with this evil." "When they might have left me with your gift for hatred." "And my humble thanks to Eric." "Under the northern woods that were his home." "He brings me the fragrance of sweetness that drown out the stench of Rome." "Beauty for ugliness." "Tenderness for cruelty." "The blessed gifted of his love." "Let us have more in this vein, my love." "But be brief." "The wild beasts grow impatient for the taste of your soft flesh." "Tomorrow you die in public shame with this man." "In the amphitheatre." "And that you call a punishment?" "Then, thanks for this punishment." "You are a kinder man than I thought." "To die in public shame." "When one dies in love, one dies in glory." "In life, finds me dead." "And in death you give me life!" "Well, hello." "How did you get in here?" "I told that bit of Old England out there on the door I was your brother." "I thought he'd split his breeches he jumped up to open the door so quick." "You sure are the tops around here." "When I picked up a load of gravy in Chicago a couple of weeks ago." "I saw your picture over a caption as the toast of London footlights." "I looked up the top of the page to make sure I wasn't reading the comic section." "You've climbed high since I saw you last." "Yes, I have." "─ Yeah, you've climbed too high." "That's where you made your mistake." "You might have known they'd put your picture in the papers." "But i got to hand it to you, though." "You sure had those monkeys out front goggle-eyed tonight." "I'd like to see their faces if I told them what you and I know." "I'd bet they'd swallow their monocles." "By the way." "How's your kid?" "─ She's .." "She's dead." "That reminds me of one that I heard." "It seems there were three old liars gathered together and the first liar .." "Ah kid, you might just as well look at things the way they are." "You can't scare me." "No." "Of course not." "Stephan." "Look, you've got a lot of people hanging around and drinking flat champagne." "And getting bored with each other and all under false pretences." "Where is the promised guest of honour?" "If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be, you know." "If you weren't worried, I would be." "Keep ringing!" "The watchman must be around somewhere." "The delayed entrance." "The breathless pause before the arrival of the star." "Good stuff." "Slightly overdone." "But two hours is too long to hold your breath." "Even for Stella Parish." "Hello?" "Hello, Perkins?" "By any chance, is Miss Parish still in her dressing-room?" "Are you sure?" "What time?" "Why, that's queer." "No, no." "Nothing." "She left the theatre immediately after I did." "A tall dark stranger with a bottle of champagne tucked under each arm." "No." "No, Keith." "Frankly, I am worried." "I hope there hasn't been an accident." "I think you should prefer it if it were accidental." "But this isn't like her." "Nothing is like anyone until after they've done it." "It's rather thick of her, standing you up like this." "She wouldn't." "Not after she promised." "[ Buzzer ]" "There she is now, my foul friend." "Does Mr Stephan Norman live here?" "─ I am he." "Will you sign here, please." "So, now it comes out." ""My darling Stephan."" ""Please forgive me, but I am too, too exhausted to come to your lovely party."" ""Please tell all the people that I am so, so sorry."" ""Your loving Stella."" "Any answer, sir?" "No." "No answer." "Thank you, sir." "Robert." "─ Yes, sir?" "If by any chance I am not back right away." "Make some excuse to my guests." "─ Yes, sir." "Can I help you with ..?" "Hold on!" "Can't I get these for you, sir?" "─ No, thanks." "Don't worry." "I'm coming with you!" "What kind of a party is this?" "First, the star guest stays away and then the host leaves." "If you think I'm going to stay and hurl the bag, you're fuzzy in the crumpet." "Come along, if you like." "What's up?" "Heaven only knows." "─ Nothing serious I hope?" "Very serious, I'm afraid." "─ What?" "Accident?" "─ No." "She's gone." "Parish gone?" "─ Cleared out completely." "Cab." "─ Yes, sir." "Taxi!" "On the night of her greatest triumph, she's disappeared." "Why man, this is sensational." "Oh, the light breaks." "Forgive me, Stephan for maligning your sense of the dramatic." "I'm afraid that I don't follow you." "─ You mean you're afraid I do follow you." "Oh, what a blaze for the papers." "Almost as great as next week's sensation when your star mysteriously reappears." "To the merry tinkling of your cash register." "You've grown up to be quite a little gentleman of the press, haven't you?" "Right." "Which means that I'm an ink-stained newshound first, and a gent second." "Well, if you could see past your cynical newspaper nose." "You would realize that I don't have to resort to a cheap publicity stunt." "To attract attention to a play that is already a success." "That's right." "You don't." "─ Well, read this." ""My dearest Stephan."" ""Tonight I am leaving the theatre and England for ever."" ""I cannot tell you why."" ""I would only ask you to try to forgive me."" ""To try to balance our precious years of friendship against this final wrong."" ""Goodbye, Stephan." "And thank you for your sweetness."" ""I am too miserable to write more."" "So that's how it is." "She packed up and left." "She told me to straighten up the apartment." "And she paid me off." "Now that's all I know." "Thank you." "The end of the trail, I'm afraid." "─ Looks like it." "You know painful little about your own actress, I must say." "Don't I though." "I'd be grateful if you kept this to yourself, Lockridge." "When you gentlemen leave, will you be sure that the door is locked, please." "Of course." "What am I going to do?" "First of all, go back to your apartment to say goodnight to your guests." "Beyond that I don't know." "For myself, I'll get some sleep if you don't mind." "Of course not." "I am sorry to have disappointed you." "That's alright." "Who knows, I may get that introduction someday." "Goodnight." "I say, just a minute." "─ Yes, sir?" "And that's all you know?" "You lived in her flat in London part of the time and the rest in the country?" "That's right, dearie." "You sure you don't know where?" "No, dearie." "But this Eddie Jenkins rives her back and forth?" "Look here." "Do you mind if we change our plans and I leave you here?" "Well." "I like that." "You'll probably like this, too." "Thanks, dearie." "Thanks, dearie." "Eddie Jenkins?" "─ Yes, sir." "You know Miss Parish's maid, don't you?" "Oh, lummy, do I .." "What's that to you?" "─ Oh, she's a mutual friend." "She was just telling me that you drive Miss Parish down to her country home." "I've got an important message to get to her." "Now, just where is this place?" "─ Nah .." "I promised her I'd never tell." "I know that a bribe can't make a man of honour break his word." "But I was wondering if this ten pounds .." "Could make you drive me there, even if you don't tell me." "I'll drive you there, but I won't tell you where it is." "Right." "─ Jump in." "Well .. here we are." "But remember." "I didn't tell you where it is." "You don't have to bounce them to pieces." "Right, my old mate." "Cheerio." "I hope so." "Blimey!" "Pardon the intrusion, but my cab went off without me." "I'll never get another out here." "I wonder if you'd give me a lift." "─ Oh, I don't mind." "Thanks." "Cigarette?" "No thanks, governor." "I smokes me pipe." "Have you got any notion of where you'd like to be dropped?" "Because you know I ain't going out of my way." "Well, what is your way?" "─ The American Steamship Docks." "Now that's funny." "That's just where I'm going." "Right-o." "Here they are .. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6." "Send them up right away." "─ Yes, ma'am." "Steward!" "Take these up right away." "[ Tannoy ] "All ashore who are going ashore."" "[ Tannoy ] "All ashore who are going ashore."" "[ Tannoy ] "All ashore who are going ashore."" "[ Tannoy ] " All ashore who are going ashore."" "330?" "That and the 331 are occupied by Miss Evans, Miss Sharp and Miss Clark." "Perhaps I made a mistake." "I'm looking for Miss Parish." "What's her state room?" "Miss Parish?" "Not booked on this voyage, sir." "Thanks." "What a frightfully large boat this is." "Isn't it a large boat, auntie?" "Yes, darling." "When a boat is as big as this, you call it a ship, not a boat." "Why, auntie?" "─ I don't know." "But a Captain once almost threw me overboard for calling his ship a boat." "Here we are." "[ Tannoy ] " All ashore who are going ashore."" "Aren't I doing well, Mummy?" "Did you hear how loud I called you "auntie"?" "Yes, I did." "I thought you overdid that just a little bit for such a good actress as you are." "I'm a good actress now, aren't I?" "Yes, you are." "Do you think you can play the game all the way to New York?" "Oh yes." "It's such fun." "─ Hmm." "Take your coat and hat off." "Well .." "I've attended to everything." "Stella .. do you really think it is safe to go back to the States?" "Where better could an American hide than in America?" "There is bound to be some search." "On the continent the Police track of everyone." "Oh, they'd find me in an hour." "No." "In New York I'll .. just be a needle in a stack of six million straws." "That devil!" "If I'd seen him, I'd have choked the living breath out of him." "And bless the rope that hanged me for it." "He can't harm me." "It's only that baby." "The first time I ever held her in my arms I made myself a promise." "That she'd never, never know the things that .." "If she did know, they would spoil her whole life." "And nobody is going to stop me from keeping that promise." "I'm so sorry." "That's quite alright young man." "─ Any serious damage?" "Only a toe, I think." "At my age, I have the consolation to know that I shan't need it much longer." "Stupid of me." "─ Wasn't it." "Oh." "Hmm .. thank you." "You may be clumsy, but you're quite polite for a young man." "I shall treasure that." "Good morning." "─ Good morning." "I should like see to some children's toys, please." "We have a very good selection." "Here are some of our most popular ones." "These are quite new." "─ Thank you." "I'll look them over while you wait on .. the gentleman." "Anything in men's apparel?" "What would you like?" "─ Oh, just odds and ends." "Suits, shirts, hats, overcoats." "Anything you happen to have on hand." "Where would you like to begin?" "Well, I think it'll be an idea to begin on the outside and gradually work in." "Don't you think?" "Unless of course, you prefer it the other way round." "I've really no preference." "Oh .. well, shall we start at the ties first?" "Perhaps afterwards we can have a suit or so to match." "You see last night a bunch of my friends gave me a bon-voyage party." "Everything went off beautifully except that they poured me on the wrong boat." "I'm afraid I've got some rather peculiar friends." "It takes all kind of people to make a world, I always say." "Yes, doesn't it." "Do you think this becomes the "complete traveller"?" "Ohh." "I'm horrified." "The same one?" "─ No." "At least you're impartial." "We seem destined to run into each other." "─ An extremely painful fate." "I'll take this one please." "I want to get out of here before this Tarzan starts climbing up my shins." "[ Radio ] "News items by the London Bulletin."" ""The theatrical world is in a turmoil today over the startling disappearance of Miss Stella Parish."" ""Shortly after scoring a success in the opening performance of For This Brief Hour, last evening."" ""She is reported to have sent a message to Stephan Norman."" ""Her Producer and Director."" ""In which she announced her intention of quitting the stage."" ""She is reported to have given no reason for this astounding decision."" ""And Mr Norman was at a loss to supply one."" ""The Police are beginning a thorough investigation."" ""Read the London Bulletin for further particulars."" ""Rome .." "Italy .."" "Geniuses .. that's what you are." "The sort of men who've made the British Empire what it is today." "I send you out after information about Stella Parish." "And with what do you return?" "That she is "a woman of mystery"." "And where is Lockridge?" "Where is the one man on whom I could depend?" ""I'm en-route to America."" ""Looking for Stella Parish." "Stop."" ""Who knows." "She may be on this ship." "Stop."" ""Have no passport." "Please contact British Ambassador."" ""Arrange my entry into the U.S. on a special permit." "Stop."" ""Kindly wire expense money and .. "" ""A fresh pair of socks."" "What shall I answer?" "─ Tell that .." "Never mind." "The cable company won't accept that sort of language." "We'll send him some money, of course." "A one!" "Beat that if you can, Mr Keith." "─ I can and I will." "Who are you travelling with, darling?" "You know." "Go on, push it." "Alright, I'll push it." "Only a three." "I'm travelling with Nana." "No, no." "I mean the other lady." "The one who stays in her room all the time." "Oh, she doesn't at all." "Doesn't she?" "I've never seen her." "Would you like to?" "─ I certainly would." "Right after I beat you at this game, we'll all go together and have tea." "Oh, that will be fine." "Go on." "Puppets!" "Let's stay for a while." "Oh, we'll see them tomorrow." "I'm famished for that tea." "Aren't you?" "Well, alright." ""First Black Beauty, I want you to stand on your hind legs."" ""And put your front legs up in the air."" ""One .. two .. three!"" "Good gracious." "You must be hungry." "You don't know how long I've been angling for this invitation." "Auntie, auntie!" "Yes, dear." "Tea is ready." "I've got a guest." "Do you mind?" "Who is it?" "Oh." "How do you do young man?" "─ How do you do?" "This is Mr Keith." "May I have a cookie?" "Delighted, Mr Keith." "I am .. my name is Lockridge." "Keith Lockridge." "Uhuh." "I'm Mrs Evans." "Gloria's aunt." "I expected, that is .." "Well come on in." "You said you could hardly wait." "Yes." "Thanks." "You had better have some tea." "You look positively ill." "Because of the sea?" "Yes." "I suppose so." "Strange." "We've had a very quiet crossing so far." "Yes." "So far, hasn't it been." "Thanks." "Cookie?" "─ No, thanks." "Good morning, sir." "─ Mr Keith Lockridge." "Here is your special entry permit, Mr Lockridge." "Thanks very much." "Goodbye." "─ Goodbye, now." "I've got my fingers crossed for you." "A false passport and disguise got me out of the country." "I see no reason why it can't get me back in." "You've been most kind." "─ It's been my pleasure." "You know." "People talk a lot of nonsense at the end of a sea voyage." "Perfect strangers of a few days previous .." "Are now pals who vow to see each other every day for the rest of their lives." "Of course, they never do." "That's why I always say, when a journey is over, it's over." "I never say "look us up"." "I always say "goodbye"." "At least you are frank." "Well, an amount of lying is necessary." "I try to do as little as possible." "This is goodbye for all of us, I take it?" "Yes." "Goodbye." "Thank you for letting us know you." "At least I look forward to the chance of meeting you someday on another crossing." "Perhaps." "Thank you, boys." "Thank you." "Just a second." "We want to find where you got these cubs, Major." "In Africa." "You bring anything else back?" "─ From Africa?" "─ Yeah." "How long you been over there, Major?" "─ Africa?" "─ Yeah." "Come on, they're lowering the gangplank." "Goodbye, Nana." "─ Goodbye." "Goodbye, darling." "─ Goodbye, Mr Keith." "Goodbye Mr Lockridge, and thank you." "─ Thank you." "Goodbye, sweetheart." "─ Goodbye, Mr Keith." "Good luck." "Lockridge!" "Well, if it isn't the robber boys of Park Row." "Hiya, Dennis." "Don't tell me you boys are still meeting ships." "I meet them in my sleep." "─ Don't you always?" "Same old Locky, huh." "─ Let us in on it, pal." "What's that?" "The big yarn." "The story." "You know, the reason you're here." "There isn't any story." "─ Come on Locky, give us a break." "I haven't had a break since I fell out of the old apple tree." "No, I'm on a vacation." "You believe him?" "─ No." "Do you?" "─ No." "You can always follow this bird by the trail of headlines he leaves." "Word of honour, boys." "The boss didn't even know I was leaving." "Hey, wait a minute!" "We'd better go along to make sure you get through customs." "Follow that cab." "─ Yes, sir." "Shall I stop?" "─ No." "Go around." "Well, goodbye boys." "─ It's okay." "We're riding with you, pal." "Cabling a story, maybe?" "─ No, no." "Nothing like that." "Send this cable." "─ Yes, sir." "Four dollars and seventy-two cents." "Seventy-five and five." "─ Thank you." "Ready, boys?" "Right with you." "Mummy, may I go to the zoo?" "I don't know why not." "I'm going to buy some peanuts and feed them to the Giraffe." "Why don't Giraffes like peanuts?" "─ It's because they like leaves better." "Leaves?" "They must be funny animals." "Elephants like peanuts." "─ There is Mr Lockridge." "Mister Keith!" "Think he'll know me?" "Shall I run?" "─ Too late now." "Well, look who's here!" "Hello, darling." "There is Nana." "─ Hello, Nana." "This is a surprise." "─ How do you do?" "This is Gloria's mother, Mr Lockridge." "How do you do?" "─ Oh." "How do you do?" "You know, there must be something in the power of mental telepathy after all." "How's that?" "Well, by chance I'm in this particular spot at this particular moment." "And I'm thinking of Gloria." "And who should I run in to?" "Just by accident." "That is amazing." "─ I was wishing I would meet you." "Really, why?" "─ Oh .." "Well, I'm on my way to lunch and I've no-one to lunch with." "I've had my lunch." "─ Mummy hasn't." "Will you be in New York long, do you think?" "It's rather indefinite." "Business for my firm." "I'm in Tea." "How startling, for an Englishman." "─ Isn't it." "You are a native daughter, I suppose?" "No." "No, I haven't been here long." "In business, or just a home girl?" "One of the most flourishing of American industries." "I'm living on my alimony." "─ Oh .." "Disgusting, isn't it." "But I've been thinking of reforming." "Perhaps in a hat shop." "After I've learned the business, maybe I'll have one of my own someday." "Sorry to be so clumsy." "I didn't mean to .. step on your toes." "I thought that was one of the best things you do." "Auntie told me." "She would." "Auntie talked a lot about you." "You made quite a hit with her." "A very clever woman, your aunt." "─ What makes you thinks so?" "The general impression one gets of people .. she is fascinating." "To begin with, she's that rare combination of real beauty with brains." "Waiter." "Definitely a woman who knows how to take care of herself." "She's had to." "Yes, Monsieur?" "─ Do you want a dessert?" "No, never." "─ Coffee?" "No thanks." "Tea?" "─ No thanks." "The check." "─ Right away, Monsieur." "She must have been very lovely when she was a girl." "It is too bad you can't say all these nice things to her yourself." "I only wish I could." "A pity you and auntie weren't born of the same generation." "You could fall in love with each other." "─ A great tragedy." "There's a silver lining to the cloud, however." "She did have the amazing foresight to have a niece." "You know, it was too bad your aunt had to return to England so soon." "She'd rather have liked you to take care of me in her absence, don't you think?" "How do you mean?" "You should take pity on a lone foreigner and do things with him when I'm here." "What do you want to do?" "─ Everything." "That will take a lot of doing." "That's what I'm looking forward to." "Oh." "And that is the way a first-class newspaper man works." "Or am I expecting too much, to assume you problem-children understand that?" "You know, there is one thing I can't understand." "If he's such a good reporter." "Why hasn't he sent over a story?" "It's been six weeks." "My dear, sweet case of arrested development." "I'll answer you with a parable from nature." "Oh, is he going to begin on the birds and the butterflies?" "There were two setters went out hunting a bird." "When the first one saw her, he set up an awful clatter" "And went dashing in, barking at the top of his lungs." "When the second setter spotted the bird." "He first, stood stock still." "Then he crept forward an inch at a time." "Carefully." "Noiselessly." "Which one got the bird?" "─ Oh I know, teacher." "We did." "That's it, lads." "You get the bird." "And Lockridge gets the story." "I can see him working on Parish now." "Dining her .. taking her dancing." "Gaining her confidence." "That's the way to gain a story from a woman." "There is just one catch." "Suppose he falls in love with the woman?" "Falls in ..?" "A reporter never falls in love." "Except with his typewriter." "That may be alright with Lockridge." "Personally, they left all the sex appeal out of my typewriter." "I wonder if that dirty dog would double-cross me like that?" "Thank you." "Come in." "Hello!" "Hello." "Well, well, well." "Mummy is sorry, but she'll be late." "Nana's gone too." "You are supposed to take care of me until they get back." "Well, you look as though you can do with a little taking care of." "You are pretty small to be left alone, aren't you?" "Oh no, I like being alone." "I'm playing "Stage"." "Do you like to play a "Stage"?" "I don't know much about it." "We can play the story about Red Riding Hood." "And you can be the wolf." "Now, is that the way to treat a friend?" "I'm awfully glad you came." "It's really difficult to play two parts at once." "Listen, darling." "How do you know so much about the stage?" "I'm an actress." "I'm the only actress in the family now that Mummy has stopped." "Was mother an actress?" "Come on, uncle Keith." "The audience is waiting." "You can't keep an audience waiting." "Oh, I'd rather just sit and talk." "I'd like you to tell me about mother." "Please, uncle Keith." "─ Oh, alright." "Do you know the story of Red Riding Hood?" "Well, vaguely." "I guess I'll just have to rehearse you." "I'm entering the woods." "The first thing you are supposed to do .. is growl." "Grrr .." "You can't growl standing up." "Get down on your knees and growl." "I see." "A realist, huh?" "Well, how's this?" "Grrr .." "Louder!" "─ Grrr .." "Why did your mother leave the stage?" "─ I don't know." "I guess she was tired of staying up so late at night." "Then you say:" ""Where are you going this fine day, little Red Riding Hood?"" "Is that the only reason your mother left the stage?" "Uncle Keith, if we're ever going to give a show." "You've got to pay more attention." "Then I say: "I am going to my grandmother's"." "Then you say: "can I go with you?"" "Can you remember that much?" "─ How far back can you remember?" "Oh, way back." "Let's try it." "Ready?" "─ Right." "Grrr .." "Hello little Red Riding Hood." "Hello, Mr Wolf." "Little Red Riding Hood." "Did you always live in England?" "That isn't part of the play." "─ No." "But did you, Gloria?" "I'd like to know." "─ I think I did." "Did mother?" "I don't know." "I know why you don't want to play." "It's because you don't look anything like a wolf." "Let me find a costume for you in the bedroom." "I found this one there." "Come on, uncle Keith." "Did your father every play "Stage" with you?" "No, he didn't." "Sure your mother won't be angry with us for this?" "She didn't tell me I couldn't open them." "I hope there is something for a wolf in here." "Where is your father now, darling?" "I don't know." "He doesn't live with us." "Here it is, uncle Keith." "A wolf!" "─ So it is." "Come on." "─ I'll be right there." "Hurry up." "Here I come." "He certainly sounds like a good politician to me." "It's a fine hat-shop." "And if you buy it, you should have an income for the rest of your life." "Just the same, I won't go ahead with it until I've talked it over with Keith." "Grrr .." "Grrr .." "We're playing "Stage", Mummy." "You're in time to save the wolf from being eaten by little Red Riding Hood." "Gloria .. where did you get that dress?" "Out of one of the trunks." "Take it off immediately." "Mummy didn't say I couldn't open them." "We seem to be two naughty children messing about in your theatrical trunk." "You never told me you were an actress." "─ Oh, I never was much of an actress." "But every girl at one time or another thinks she's a Bernhardt." "I gave it up long ago when I got married." "Gloria seems to think you're Bernhardt, Döuzet and Maude Adams rolled into one." "You know how little girls are about their mothers." "I'll just go and help her straighten out that mess we made." "Hello, Nana." "I told you we ought to burn those things immediately." "I want to look them over first." "No harm has been done." "He has eyes!" "What do a few old costumes mean to him?" "He doesn't know who I am." "If he did, he'd have recognized me the first time he saw me here in New York." "If he had recognized me, he certainly would have told me about it." "No reason for him not to tell me." "You used to tell me not to trust anyone." "Oh, don't be an old scaredy-cat." "─ That's the trouble." "A woman trusts just once too often." "Some people you don't like to lie to." "Oh .." "So, that's the way the wind is blowing, is it?" "Oh here it is." "Number 80397." "That dress was made for Elsa Jeffords in The Lady Misbehaves." "Number 3 Roadshow Company, in 1930." "Elsa Jeffords." "Do you know what became of her?" "─ Well, I wouldn't know that, but .." "Joe Burns had the show." "─ Joe Burns?" "Thanks." "Yeah, Joe is pushing up the daisies now, and it was before my time." "He had a dozen of them turkey shows out that year." "This was The Lady Misbehaves, Company number 3." "Well, we can take a gander at the files." "1930, eh?" "The Lady Misbehaves." "Oh here it is, number 3." "Poughkeepsie." "Looks like that company laid an egg." "They never finished the tour past Pulaski." "Pulaski?" "─ It's the last entry here." "Yes, this used to be a legit house." "But who wants to see Suzy Doltz at a buck and a half a throw .." "When they can have Garbo and a set of dishes for 2 bits?" "Do you happen to remember if a company played The Lady Misbehaves here in 1930?" "Well, I might remember if they did." "But I remember it a darn sight better because they didn't." "Good evening, Mrs Brown." "Is this a good picture or like last week's?" "This is a fine picture." "Real down to earth stuff." "None of that high-class junk." "I hope so." "What happened that it didn't play?" "Well, nothing except the darnedest rumpus that you ever heard tell of." "The company is wound up with no leading lady." "No leading man." "No villain." "In other words, no show." "The leading lady was a girl called Elsa Jeffords, wasn't she?" "Darned if I .." "Yeah, now that I think of it, I believe that was her name." "Was she in this rumpus?" "─ Was she in it?" "She was it." "─ Why?" "What happened?" "Well now .. son." "I might get mixed up on this." "But if you trot down to the jailhouse." "Ed Briggs there can tell you all about it." "Thanks very much." "Goodbye." "Do you want to go in and see the show?" "─ No thanks." "Some other time." "Hi, Mr Smith." "[ Telephone ]" "Hello?" "Oh .. send her up." "Hello there." "Where have you been?" "─ Out of town." "Unexpected business." "Without a word!" "─ I should have wired." "I'm sorry." "─ Keith." "I want to talk to you." "May I?" "─ Of course." "Let me get you something." "A Highball?" "─ Nothing, thanks." "Something about the hat shop?" "─ No." "Keith .." "I can't lie any longer." "Lie?" "Yes .. yes, you see." "My dear, we've all got secrets." "We've a right to keep them." "I can't any longer." "You don't know what you've done to me." "What I've done?" "─ With your .." "Your friendship." "My friendship." "─ Your blessed friendship." "Oh, I was so alone before." "Shut up within myself and distrusting everyone." "You don't know what it means to .." "To find someone .." "─ Someone like me?" "That you can trust." "More than can trust." "Someone you are compelled to trust." "While you've been away these last few days I .." "I've found how much I've come to depend on you." "It was then I .." "I realized I had to tell you all about myself." "Don't." "What I have to tell you isn't very easy, Keith." "Surely, if I can stand to tell it." "You can stand to listen." "You see .." "I love you." "I didn't know that." "That was unfair, wasn't it?" "To begin like that." "It asks for your pity." "It was weak of me to ask you to be on my side like that, but .." "About six weeks ago in London." "A certain well-known actress disappeared." "I don't know if you remember." "─ Her name was Stella Parish." "I'm that woman." "What difference ..?" "─ Oh, please." "Don't stop me now." "I shan't bother you about my early life other than to say I .." "I was pretty much alone, and I shouldn't have been." "I think you can understand that." "─ Yes." "I can." "I'll begin with the time after I was married." "His name was Clifton Jeffords." "We'd been in Vaudeville together." "And then I got us a chance in a road show." "I was on my way up and he was just a hanger-on." "He began to drink a lot." "Though I don't say that to condemn him." "Only to explain all the trouble that followed." "He grew insanely jealous of me." "The liquor built up a mania in his mind." "He hated anyone who was even nice to me." "Especially, Alan." "The leading man in our company." "One afternoon, he .." "He found us together in Alan's room." "I'd gone there because I thought I was going to have a baby." "I was frantic." "I couldn't bear to think of a baby being born into the hell that I was living in." "Yet, I .." "I was afraid to leave." "Clifford made such threats." "Anyway." "He was crazy with drink, but I didn't know he had a gun." "He .. shot your friend." "Killed him." "I was struggling with him for the gun, when the hotel people found us." "He was sent to prison." "So, that's how .." "But you were innocent?" "It was easy enough for him to implicate me." "He didn't seem to mind going to prison as long as I went, too." "That's terrible." "Not the worst." "My baby was born in prison." "Born in prison!" "Do you know what that means?" "The place of birth:" "Auburn Penitentiary, New York." "Daughter of a convicted murderess." "A swell start to give a kid." "The first eye of the world - prison bars." "The nursery's stone wall." "Destined to grow up with that mark of shame on her life forever." "Oh, my dear." "I swore she would never know." "That no-one would." "Well." "That's the secret I've been guarding, Keith." "Tell me the rest quickly." "No, I didn't stay in prison very long." "After all, the Parole Board is made up of men." "And by this time I knew all there was to know about men." "After I got my pardon, I changed my name and went to England." "I was working on a cheap roadshow there when Stephan Norman found me." "He was fine .. generous." "He made me into the success that I became." "Maybe into too great a success." "─ Until that someone found you." "Yes." "The night we opened." "He made threats and .." "─ Blackmail." "Of course .." "I knew he'd bleed me white and then turn on Gloria." "There was only one thing I could do .." "I ran away." "Oh." "I feel so much better already." "As though the weight of the world was off my shoulders." "You've had a pretty rough time." "I'm alright now." "Now that I've told you." "Now that you know." "Do .. do you wish I hadn't told you?" "I only wish to heaven you had told me sooner." "Oh, Keith." "The world is so beautiful again." "I want to dance and I want to sing." "I want .." "─ Stella." "It's so nice to hear you call me that name." "You must go home now." "─ Go home?" "I know that sounds strange but .." "─ But I don't want to go home." "I want you to take me to dinner." "─ I'll pick you up in an hour." "We'll dress and make a night of it." "Now I've got something important to do." "It must be important." "─ It is." "I can't tell you now." "─ Well .." "I've kept secrets from you all this time." "I shouldn't object to you keeping one for an hour." "Come along." "You seem awfully anxious to get rid of me." "Got to be something I should be jealous of." "No." "Glad of." "I'll have so much to tell you." "─ Quickly, then." "I'll listen so attentively." "This is Lockridge." "Get me London." ""Reeves" at the London Bulletin." "Yes, Reeves: "R E E V E S"." "London Bulletin." "Hurry will you." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Lockridge, old boy." "I should say I did get it." "We've got to kill it, sir." "The facts I sent were true, but I didn't get all the facts." "The story is terribly unfair to her." "Kill it?" "Sorry, lad." "I've had that story on the street for hours." "It's been on the wires, too." "They ought to have it over there by now." "The greatest work you've ever done." "Wait until you see your bonus check." "Hello." "Hello, old boy." "Lockridge?" "Operator, I've been cut off." "How did you keep this under cover so long?" "Did you knock off the guy, and why?" "What shows you do in London?" "Would you like to give a word of warning to young girls who aspire to the stage?" "This time a full-face now, Miss Parish." "Looking pensive, please." "How old is your daughter and where was she born?" "Slow down, boys and girls." "One at a time and I'll answer all your questions." "Stella." "Take it easy, Nana." "The story is out." "And I'll make the best of it." "What was it you wanted to know?" "─ Did you really knock off the guy?" "Do I look like a girl who would need someone to do it for her?" "Be careful what you are saying." "Hey there." "You with the Brownie." "Watch that door, Nana." "Take all the pictures of me that you want to, but my baby stays out of this." "Is that clear to all of you?" "If you want another word out of me, you've got to promise that." "Alright, Miss." "Would you give a warning to young girls who want a career on the stage?" "Don't say a word to these monkeys, Miss Parish." "My people will pay you $5,000 for an exclusive story." "Well, now .. that's very interesting." "If you can hold out until I get to my editor, we'll double that." "That's twice as interesting." "Looks as if I won't have to make the best of a situation boys." "It seems I can make the most of it." "How did you keep this story in the shade so long?" "That's a long, shady story." "Well, boys." "We have with us another inquiring reporter." "And you said you were here on a vacation." "I want to talk to you." "Pull up a chair and join the inquisition." "Alone." "There is nothing I have to say to one reporter the others can't hear." "Give me a chance." "─ A chance?" "I've given you enough, I should think." "I gave you the story, didn't I?" "You had an exclusive before all the others." "You ought to be satisfied," "I've got to explain." "Go ahead .. explain to the boys how you got the story." "How you came into my home and became a friend of the family." "After weeks, you got my confidence until I told you all that you wanted to know." "Oh, that's alright." "I was fair game, I guess." "But to my poor, little trusting kid he became "uncle Keith"." "You see before you boys a true "gentleman of the press"." "I'm sure you will excuse me for tonight." "Come back tomorrow morning and bring your best offers with you." "You've got to listen to me." "Before you came to see me tonight I'd already cabled the story to my paper." "After you left, I did everything in my power to stop it." "I was too late." "You've got to believe that." "Don't take me for a bigger fool that I've been." "Has there been a moment since I've known you that you haven't been lying to me?" "It's different now." "A while ago you told me you loved me." "And now you want me to go on to a big love scene .. why?" "Is there something else you want to know?" "Or is there some little messy detail I forgot to tell you?" "Well, there is my side, too." "I didn't know how you felt." "Until tonight, you were only a headline to me." "You were playing a clever game and I was trying to outwit you." "I was after a story." "I'm a reporter." "I think that about sums it up." "And you'd better run along with the other reporters." "Boys, you've left something behind." "Come on, Lockridge." "You've chiselled enough breaks on this story." "How about a little quote from you on how you got ..?" "Well, thanks." "I'll make a note of it." "[ Telephone ]" "I'll take it." "[ Telephone ]" "Hello?" "No, she isn't in." "Who is it?" "Some man from a booking agency." "Of course you don't want to talk to him." "─ Of course I do." "Stella." "This is Miss Parish speaking." "This is Jed Duffy." "And in case you've never heard of me, why I handle people like .." "Well, I want you to know I didn't handle anything that isn't strictly high class." "No, don't hang up on me before I finish." "Miss Parish, you're going to be a sensation." "I just read the extras." "I tell you that before people get through their morning coffee and papers." "There is going to be millions in a lather of curiosity over you." "Now you can be smart and let me line up a string of personal appearances." "Don't hang up on me." "I'm not hanging up." "I'm listening with a great deal of interest." "Of course I'm reasonable." "What have you got in mind?" "Well, how about a sketch showing the highlights of my career?" "Real sob stuff." "My early innocent life." "The big scene of the shooting." "Prison." "You get the idea." "My dear Mr Duffy." "I don't give a hoot what I do or where I do it." "As long as I get paid in the spot where the greenbacks grow the thickest." "Better come and see me in the morning." "─ Stella, you must be mad." "Think of your position to the theatre." "I know what I'm doing." "─ So do I." "You're letting this drive you completely crazy." "Some of the things you've said to the reporters .." "If I hadn't been there, I wouldn't believe it was you." "You can believe from now on." "─ Oh, I know the shock this has been." "But get hold of yourself, child." "There is nothing you can do." "Oh yes there is." "There is something I'm going to do and something you're going to do." "You won't like it, Nana." "But if you love me, you'll do it." "What is it, Stella?" "You .." "Why, you frighten me." "Tomorrow morning, my dirty linen will be showing on every front page in America." "There is still one person who is never going to know that story." "Gloria?" "You're going to take her away, Nana." "You're going to take her away and bring her up as your own." "It will be hard on her at first." "She'll probably cry a lot." "But she's very little." "Children forget things easily." "It's inhuman." "I can't do it." "You've got to do it, Nana." "After I've failed her so much, you can't deny me this last thing I can do her." "You will .." "You'll set up a bank account." "In her name and let me know what bank it is." "I'll send money." "All I have and all I can earn." "It should be a lot." "We Americans area a fun-loving people." "They'd pay almost anything, just to look at a freak." "That's what I am now: a freak!" "The headline." "I'm hot stuff." "The public will eat me up and I'll make them pay for it." "Don't make me do it, Stella." "Don't make me do it." "But there is one thing you've got to promise me, Nana." "Promise me on everything you hold sacred." "Never let me know where my baby is or what she's doing." "I'll imagine that in my own thoughts." "I'll think of her at school in Switzerland." "Happy with the other children." "And I'll be happy too because .." "I'll know that I made it possible." "I'll think of her travelling in interesting countries." "But I'll be with her." "But I must never, never know where she is." "You see." "They'll come times in the future that .." "That I'll be so lonely and heartsick for her." "Just for the sight of her." "That nothing could stop me coming to her, and spoiling everything." "I've tried to build a wall of love around her." "To protect her." "Well, they pushed that over." "Now, I'll build a wall of gold and silver." "It's you I want out." "I've got a yen for some sunshine and fresh air." "The stench of so much repentance in here is too much for my nostrils." "The court convicted you." "─ So what?" "You're on the Parole Board." "You run it." "You can get me out of here just by making up your mind to do it." "I'm still young." "I'm not hard to look at." "What's that?" "I said:" "I'm not hard to look at." "Excuse me." "Well .. where next?" "You tell me." "We've played them down the line from the tops to the 2-bit grinds." "I've got to have more money." "Ain't you ever satisfied?" "You got yours and in big bundles." "But the gold-rush is over." "You're yesterday's news, baby." "And the suckers ain't going to ladle out their dough to read old headlines." "I got to have more money." "I've got my reasons." "Come back when you've shot yourself under the man." "There must be something." "Sister, I like you and I'd like to help you." "If I didn't think you'd haul off with a right cross, I'd suggest that .." "I'm not hitting back these days." "Well then .. there's always .." "Burlesque." "[ Door knocks ]" "Come in." "Stephan." "Hello, darling." "Stella .. don't cry." "I've come to take you home." "I knew you'd come." "Are you glad?" "Well .." "I'm glad and I'm not glad at the same time." "I did see you thinking to yourself: poor old Stella." "She's in a bad way." "Someone's got to put their shoulder to the wheel." "It looks like it's my duty." "Nothing of the sort." "I don't mind." "It was a lovely gesture." "And no-one but you would have made it." "My dear, when you think it was pity, you are mistaken." "You are a first-rate actress who is hiding her talent in cheap burlesque." "I came to fetch you before someone smarter than me beats me to it." "Your play is waiting for you." "My play?" "─ I closed it after the first night." "No-one else could play it." "And no-one else will." "Until you do it." "It's a beautiful dream." "But it's impossible." "─ Now, Stella." "I didn't come all this way to hear you tell me "no" once more." "You came, Stephan." "Let it go at that." "All my life I'll be grateful." "But Stella, you can't go on like this." "Oh yes I can." "And your future." "You know what that will be." "Of course I know." "I chose it of my own free will." "You can't mean that you like it?" "I like the money my friend." "I'm quite an attraction you know." "Stella, your pride?" "─ I haven't any." "And your place in the theatre?" "─ Gone." "All gone." "And all that's left is desire for money?" "─ That's all." "Then we'll keep this strictly business." "I am a producer, and you are a star who is out for all she can get." "Whatever you are making here, I'll double it." "Well?" "Stephan." "Why are you doing this?" "─ I told you." "Cold business." "You mustn't be making much here and this won't last long for you, either." "You would be a fool to refuse my offer." "I mustn't go back to England." "─ You mustn't refuse." "Not for my sake and not for yours." "But for somebody else." "The same somebody for whom you've been doing all this." "What does he mean?" "You had better be right." "─ I sent him to America." "He thinks it's hopeless to try and put her on the stage again." "It was hard persuading him to go." "He had to go." "It was something I couldn't do myself." "She would never even let me see her." "─ What should she do?" "Welcome you with aching arms?" "I wish you wouldn't hate me so, Nana." "I'm trying hard to put things back the way they were." "All the King's horses and all the King's men.." "Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again." "That's an old one .. but a true one." "I pulled her down with words." "Just words printed on pieces of paper." "There's lots of words and lots of paper, and they can do good as well as harm." "You can do no more harm." "That's true enough." "You've done all the harm there is." "All of it." "Don't think I haven't suffered for it." "─ You suffered?" "Ha!" "There is a hot one." "You ought to write a piece about it in the paper." "A reporter dying of remorse." "Go ahead, Nana." "Not long ago, I'd have found this spectacle of myself amusing too." "Those were fine, freewheeling days, when there was only me and my paper." "And to the devil with people's hearts and lives as long as I got a story." "I'm glad you suffered." "How is she?" "Do you ever hear from her?" "No." "She doesn't even know we're in France." "She doesn't know where we are." "I only hear through the checks she sends to Gloria's bank account in London." "They tell enough." "They used to be big ones." "And they came often." "Now they are fewer and smaller." "Oh, I can see her." "Scrimping, saving the pennies, denying herself." "Going hungry for all I know." "Oh, I could kill you." "I don't know why I don't." "I loved her, Nana." "─ Oh, love her .." "I found it out too late." "─ Yes." "Uncle Keith." "Uncle Keith." "Oh, my darling." "Where is my Mummy, uncle Keith?" "Do you know where she is?" "I'm not exactly sure." "Nana says she isn't ever coming back." "She is coming, back isn't she?" "I'm sure she will if she can." "Where is she?" "Is she lost?" "In a way." "Can't you find her for me?" "I'll try." "Why did she send me away?" "I .." "I .." "Doesn't she love me anymore?" "I'm sure no-one could love anyone any more than she loves you." "More Parish stuff." "Yes." "Statements from prominent people on her behalf." "You get the copy I sent this morning?" "─ The story of her life?" "─ Yes." "A magnificent flight of imaginative writing, Lockridge." "It paints her as pitiful victim tracked down by a scheming, blaggard reporter." "And crucified by the press." "You'll find it in my scrap basket." "We don't publish this paper for the benefit of Stella Parish." "But that story is only the truth." "─ One side of the truth, I suppose." "The other side has been at bat long enough." "And after the show has been banned?" "And we've made complete fools of ourselves." "What then?" "I don't think that censors are like bugs that you see when you overturn rocks." "White-bellied creatures that grew in the dark." "And are afraid of the light of truth as it is." "Thank you." "I came here because I think you're a broad-minded man." "I'm not broad-minded enough to stomach bad taste." "Or the deliberate exploitation of sensationalism." "This isn't that." "This is my attempt to right a frightful wrong I did to a decent woman." "May I tell you what I know about Stella Parish?" "Yes." "I wish you would." "Oh, Stephan." "I'm doing so badly in these rehearsals." "No, I wouldn't say that." "─ You would if you said what you think." "If only you'd forget yourself in the part." "How can I forget myself, if I'm the centre of a storm that's agitating all London?" "Have you read the newspapers?" "─ Yes, I've seen them." "It's strange that one woman's life would be the concern of so many people." "But darling, you are an actress." "Your life belongs to your public" "Then I should do as they wish and quit before they ban me." "For your sake, I should." "You have made this gamble." "What would you have if you quit now?" "Nothing." "I know all that." "The fight is on our side, too." "For every article you show me against you, I can show you one in your favour." "All in one paper." "─ A very powerful paper." "You must have an awfully good friend on that paper." "Yes I have." "And so have you." "Oh, Keith." "─ Hello." "I'm glad you are here old boy." "It's "no go"." "It's ghastly." "You've done a magnificent job in the papers." "Too bad it's all wasted now." "Stella is ready to call it quits and so am I." "Quits?" "But we're winning." "The authorities agreed not to interfere with the performance." "I'm sorry to hear that." "It would have given us a good excuse." "She is unbelievably bad." "No confidence." "She is defeating herself." "Well, you're a director." "Give her confidence." "I can't give her what I haven't got myself." "We've got to get her on the stage." "She's an actress." "She'll do the rest." "─ She'll be pitiful." "Only the audience won't pity her." "We've got to get her on that stage." "Curtain, Miss Parish." "Well, Johnathan." "We have a nervous cast, and a leading lady who is falling to pieces." "And an audience which I am afraid, is hoping for the worst." "But aside from that, we have a show." "So, get ready with the curtain and keep your fingers crossed." "My toes, too, Mr Norman." "[ Stage actors: ] "What is it, Claudius?" ─ "Now, he's a God."" ""Who?" ─ "The Emperor, Caligula"." ""You mean he's dead?" ─ "No such luck."" "You look lovely, my dear." "You are going to be a great success." "You know that don't you." "Yes .." "Stephan, what is my first line?" "Oh, come on now." "I've been trying so hard." "I can't think." "You can expect to be nervous on an opening night." "This isn't the same." "It is cold dread." "Come darling." "You will be alright once you're on the stage." "Stephan, don't send me out there." "─ Stella." "Bring down the curtain, please." "─ Impossible." "It's better than if I go on." "But it is only an audience out there." "The same people you've faced a hundred times." "No." "No, it isn't the same." "They used to be my friends." "─ They are." "No." "No friends." "Come." "You say you have no friends out there." "Look in the first upper box." "[ Stage actors: ] "I would have fallen into a faint." ─ "Then you would never have awakened."" ""It was bad enough for me, merely because I looked astonished."" "Gloria." "There is my baby." "You say you have no friends here." "She mustn't be here." "How did she get here?" "I brought her, Stella." "You?" "─ Yes, I brought her." "How could you?" "Haven't you done enough to me?" "Did you have to do this?" "You're wicked." "Vicious." "─ I love you, Stella." "Love me?" "─ He does love you." "His love is stronger than mine." "He sent me to America after you." "This is all his." "The newspapers that fight, I have quit." "He wouldn't let me." "And now he has done this, so that you can't quit." "You had no right to do this." "Now Gloria faces me as I go off the stage." "You dare not do that." "Your daughter's here." "How dare you bring her here." "─ I did because I knew I was right." "She needs her mother, Stella." "Whatever she suffers in the future on your account." "Is nothing compared with her misery at being apart from you." "I know." "I've seen her." "I've heard her cry for you." "I promised I'd bring her here to find you." "She worships you." "You can't give her the spectacle of her mother running away in cowardly defeat." "I think your head should be held high and proud." "I've fought to tell the world that." "I can't do any more." "Now it's your fight." "You claim you are an actress." "Go out there and prove it." "To that audience." "To me." "To Stephan." "To Gloria." "There is Mummy." "─ Shush." "Wait for your cue, Stella." "Thank you." "I'm not afraid anymore." "I'm not afraid anymore." "Mummy." "Mummy." "Mummy." "Mummy." "Mummy." "T-G"