"Darling, I've got Lord and Lady Ferncliffe." "They'll come to dinner next Friday." "I just had a radio from them on the boat." "Wasn't that brilliant of me, getting the Ferncliffes?" "Yes, that was very brilliant of you, if you want the Ferncliffes." "But I do." "You remember them, darling." "They entertained us in London." "I remember them well, and very dull it was, too." "Australian mutton... and a lot of people who'd been buried for years... and got up just to eat that mutton." "You don't realize how important it is, Oliver." "Everybody will be after them." "I thought you and Ferncliffe had lots in common." "Isn't he interested in shipping, too?" "Mr. Oliver Jordan accepts." "Of course, it's terribly short notice." "Thank you, Gustave." "Let's see." "Lord and Lady Ferncliffe... the Talbots: the Doctor and Lucy." "I saw that your precious Carlotta Vance arrived on the Europa yesterday." "Carlotta?" "Fine, let's have her." "Of course, she goes with a different crowd than the Ferncliffes over there." "All those impossible fast people." "At her age, too." "Nonsense." "Carlotta has no age." "Oliver, just because she was once your favorite actress." "Dad, I thought you'd gone." "Well, if it isn't her ladyship." "Don't look at me, I'm a sight." "Didn't sleep a wink." "I thought I heard you moving around in your room." "Couldn't you sleep, either?" " Nerves?" " l don't know. I suppose so." "Say, pips, there isn't anything really wrong, is there?" "Now, how can the shipping business go on if the owner's tie isn't straight?" "Paula, I'll want you and Ernest for dinner next Friday." "When does his boat land?" "I don't know, Mother." "You don't know?" "Aren't you being awfully vague about your fiancé?" "I certainly hope Ernest is more excited about this wedding than you seem to be." "And don't forget, we're going shopping this afternoon." "I can't this afternoon, Mother. I'm sorry." "But you've got to." "You've simply got to." "Do you realize you're being married in a month... and you haven't got a stitch of trousseau?" "Why can't you go shopping with me this afternoon?" " l've an engagement." " What engagement?" "I'm going to a concert." "A concert." "That reminds me." "When Cousin Hattie comes in this morning... I want to give her our Philharmonic seats for Thursday." "Whom are you going to the concert with?" "Hello." "Dr. Talbot's residence?" "Mrs. Talbot, please." "Mrs. Oliver Jordan calling." "Paula, what concert...." "Lucy?" "How are you, my dear?" "Listen, Lucy." "Lord and Lady Ferncliffe arrive from London tomorrow... and I want you and Wayne a week from tonight." "Yes, dinner at 8:00." " Mr. Jordan's late." " He probably stopped at the dock." " Where'd you put those invoices?" " What invoices?" "For the Castilian." "What's the hurry?" "She's not sailing till tomorrow." "Good morning, Mr. Jordan." "Good morning. lt's cold outside." " Why, I thought it was real pleasant." " Not down on the dock." " Cold down there, all right." " Yes." "Just a minute." "The Castilian isn't going to sail tomorrow." " What?" " Not sailing?" "No use sending a boat out without enough cargo in her... to keep her down in the water." "My, my." "No Jordan boat has missed a trip in 60 years." "I know that." "Will the Santa Clara sail next week?" "Cheer up, Fosdick." "It's just as good a line as it ever was." "The best in the world." "Right you are." "Some other people think so, too." "Wish I knew who it was that's trying to buy up our stock." "You're not going to lose control of the line, Mr. Jordan." "Mr. Jordan, your father, your grandfather" "No." "Of course not." "And we're going to put up a fight they wouldn't be ashamed of, either." "And the first step in that." "Did you get ahold of Mr. Packard?" " He's coming in this morning." " Good." "Mr. Jordan, Miss Carlotta Vance is here to see you." "Carlotta?" "Here?" "Outside?" "Oliver!" "Ducky!" "I never was so glad to see anyone in all my life." "Carlotta, this is a surprise." "Why, you look marvellous." "Do I?" "I do, don't I?" "Divine." "Oliver, actually, you're looking handsomer than ever." " A little gray." " Gray?" "Nonsense!" "Distinguished." "Come on over and sit down." " Oliver...." " Let me look at you." "What are you doing over here?" "Trying to mend my shattered fortune." "You picked a nice day for it." "In the right part of town, too." "There are our financiers sitting on those benches out there." "Now, come along, Carlotta." "Who did you come down to the Battery to see?" "Not me." "No, sir. I'll not deceive you." "I came down here to see the United States Customs Inspector." "Isador J. Greenbaum, the son of a...." "Say, why shouldn't I own six fur coats?" "Why not, indeed?" "It's perfectly reasonable." "And when I was standing in the Customs office, what did I sight?" ""Jordan Line."" "Says I to myself, says I, "Maybe the old gentleman is in."" "And here you are." "I'm very grateful to Mr. Greenbaum." "Oliver, I'm as flat as a millpond." "I haven't got a sou." "Carlotta, go along with you." "What about all those gilt-edged securities and your theater?" "That alone ought to bring you enough to live on." "My chief reason for coming to this country is to get rid of that rattrap." "What's the matter with it?" "For six months, they haven't taken the lock off the door." "It's now known as the "spiders' rendezvous."" "Can't collect rent from them." "When old Starfield gave me that theater... I thought it was very magnificent of the old boy." "Now I wish I'd taken a sandwich." "Lotta, you always exaggerated." "I bet you're rolling in wealth." "What have I got?" "Railroads, oil, cotton." "That's what they gave you in my day." "I only could take what they had." "And you know what's happened to those things." "You are down to cases." ""International star returns to stage."" "Never. I'll have my double chins in privacy." "I've seen too many hardened arteries dragged out to make a first-night holiday." "Oh, no." "Now, Carlotta, your stock must bring you in a little something." "It can't cost you an awful lot to live over there." "No?" "You saw how it was like at Antibes." "You and Millicent." "10 and 20 for luncheon, cocktails." "Most of them staying on for dinner." "Very same thing at my house in London." "Everybody popping in." "Noel, Winston, and once in a while, Wales." "I didn't do so badly for a little girl from Quincy, Illinois, eh, ducky?" "But it all takes money." "Why don't you get rid of all that, live over here for a while?" "I've been in New York four days, the first time I've been back in 10 years... and I'm lost already." "No, everything's changed." "I couldn't stand it here. I'd die." "I belong to the Delmonico period." "Table at the window looking out on Fifth Avenue." "Boxes with flowers, and pink lampshades... string orchestra and I don't know...." "Yes." "Willow plumes, Inverness capes... dry champagne and snow on the ground." "They don't even have snow anymore." " Pardon me, Mr. Jordan." " Miss Copeland?" " Mr. Eton is outside." "He wants to see you." " l'll go and see him." "Will you pardon me a minute, Lotta?" "Let me get that for you." "Thank you, my dear." "Miss Vance, I...." "l just want to...." "I hope you won't mind... but I can't help telling you how exciting it is seeing you right here." "How sweet." "I shall never forget it." "I saw you when you played in Trelawney." "You were wonderful." "Yes." "That was the last thing I did." "Yes. I remember it as plainly as if it was yesterday... though I was only a little girl at the time." "How extraordinary." " lt's wonderful seeing you like this." " Yes, it is." "You know, we must have a nice talk about the Civil War sometime... just you and I." "I got rid of him." "What do you think about me selling my Jordan stock?" "I'd rather you didn't, just at this time." "We've been hit, just as everyone has, of course." "I'm afraid you wouldn't get what it was worth if you sold it now." "I'd expect to lose something on it." "But you know, ladies must live." "You see, Carlotta, it's like this." "The Jordan stock has never really been on the market." "As a matter of fact, it's very closely held." "Only six or seven people in all." "Of course, you've got a very small block of it." "Let's see, what did you pay for it anyway, do you remember?" "$61,240." "Why, Carlotta, you're marvellous." "No. I remember because it's the only stock I ever paid for myself." "But then you said it was good." "And yes, it was for nearly 20 years." "The last two or three or...." "Oliver, you wouldn't want to buy it back yourself, would you?" "Yes, I would, Carlotta." "But I'd find it rather difficult just now." "Why, Oliver... I always thought of you having all the money in the world." "I thought so, too, for a time." "When I think of Oliver Jordan lll...." "l dropped that years ago." "Dear Oliver, you were sweet." "So serious." "So respectful." "I was very fond of you, Oliver." "I was very much in love with you, Carlotta." "You were the most entrancing creature in the world, and I was at your feet." "So was all New York." "If you went to a restaurant, it was made." "If you wore a certain hat, it became the rage." "I was rather gorgeous, wasn't I?" "Remember?" "They named everything after me." "Cigars, race horses... perfumes, battleships." "They were a little previous on that." "But one thing I shall always remember." "The day you were 21 ... you asked me to marry you, Oliver." "What a young fool you must have thought me." "No, I thought it very sweet of you." "You see, I was 30-ish." "I remember I went home and wept a little." "They didn't often ask me to marry them." "You broke my heart when you refused me, Carlotta." "So I buried my grief in the shipping business." "Dear Oliver." "Mr. Packard is here now." "Tell him to come right in." "Do you mind, Carlotta?" "He's quite a fellow, Dan Packard." "Used to be a miner." "Big Western stuff, you know." "How interesting. I'd like to meet him." "All right, Mr. Packard." "That's no elevator, that's a birdcage." "Jordan, what kind of a dump is this, anyway?" "I beg your pardon." "Dan Packard." "This is Miss Carlotta Vance." " Miss Vance." " How do you do?" "Wait a minute." "Not Carlotta Vance?" "Yes." "Why, I know you." "Jordan, you old son of a gun, you." "Yes." "Saw me when he was a boy." "Nursie held him up so he'd get a good look." "Your picture was on the wall of every mining shack up there in Montana... right alongside of John L. Sullivan." "Sutton's Opera House." "What was the name of that piece you were in?" "You wore pants." "Still do." "That's my exit cue." "When will I see you, Lotta?" "Soon?" "Millicent called me up this morning." "I'm dining with you next week, Friday." "Fine, of course." "I'm just dying to see Paula again." "I'm sure she's crazy to see you." "You were so sweet to her when she was in London last year." "But where are you staying?" "I'm stopping at the Hotel Versailles." "The old Versailles." "O-O-O-O'Brien." "That's it." "Goodbye." "Toodly-oo, Lochinvar." "What did she call me?" "Sit down, Dan." " How've you been?" " Just fine." "I can only stay a minute." "Running down to Washington." "Seems like the President wants to get down at the bottom of things." "The reason I asked you to come over, Dan, was I wanted to put something up to you." "Sure." "Go ahead." "It's about the Jordan Line." "Say, who put up this building, Peter Stuyvesant?" "Looks more like a museum than an office." "It was the last word when the old gentleman built it." "It's been like this for 75 years." "I hope those old tubs of yours don't date to this office." "What do you got on your mind?" "You know all about our business." "I don't need to go into that." "Of course, this Depression isn't going to last forever." "But if it takes a little longer than we figure... I want to know if you and your associates... would be in a position to sort of tide us over." "I appreciate that I'd have to turn over some of my holdings to you." "I'd rather not disturb the other stockholders." "I don't know anything about your business, Jordan." "But it looks to me like it's gone to seed." "All I have to do is look around this office." "To tell you the truth, I don't think you have much to offer." "Now, look here, Packard." "Our ships have traveled the ocean for a century." "We started from clipper ships." "We're not going to stop." "We're not through." "I'm sorry, Jordan. I didn't mean anything." "You know, I'm a businessman, and everybody's bothering you." " l apologize, Jordan." " That's all right." "Now, I may be wrong." "Tell you what you do." "You get me some figures on this thing:" "the assets, the stockholders, a list of them, and the holdings...." "You submit it to me, I'll give you an answer within 24 hours." "That's very kind of you." " What's the matter?" "Got a pain?" " Oh, no." " lt's a little indigestion." " lndigestion?" "Half a lemon." "I get it all the time." "Half a lemon in hot water." "I got to travel, I'm in a hurry." "You send me all the dope." "I'll do whatever I can." "So long." "Mr. Jordan, I wouldn't trust that man as far as I could throw a bull by the tail." "I hope you're wrong." "I hope we're both wrong." "Why, what's the matter, sir?" "I'm all right." "Hello." "Mrs. Jordan, sir." "Hello, dear." "Oliver?" "Darling, I'm simply out of my mind." "I'm still shy one couple, and I just can't find an extra man." "What am I going to do, dear?" "You can do something for me, dear." "You can invite Dan Packard and his wife." "You're joking." "Ask that common little woman to my house?" "And that noisy, vulgar man?" "He smells Oklahoma." "Oh, no, they're not as bad as that." "Anyway, it would be an enormous favor to me if you did." "Of course, if it will help you, dear." "Hattie, you can't imagine." "Hattie just came in, dear." "Maybe she can help." "But do try to think of an extra man, won't you, dear?" "I will, dear." "Goodbye." "Those Packards." "Really." "Another dinner party?" "Only a small one, darling." "Otherwise, I'd love to have you and Ed, you understand?" "No need to apologize." "A cousin is a cousin." "And Ed hates functions." "Ed hates anything that keeps him from going to the movies every night." "I guess I'm what's called "a Garbo widow."" "Hello?" "Who is it?" "Mrs. who?" "Jordan?" "Mrs. Oliver Jordan." "Just a minute." "Who's that on the telephone?" "A Mrs. Oliver Jordan wants to speak to you on the phone." " Who?" " Mrs. Jordan." " Mrs. Oliver Jordan?" " Yes." "Holy cat!" "Hand me that telephone, you nitwit." "Hello, Mrs. Jordan." "Of course I remember you." "I've seen you at the races." "Mr. Jordan and I are giving a small dinner for Lord and Lady Ferncliffe... two very dear friends of mine from England." "Gee, that sounds swell to me." "It's awful nice of you to ask us, Mrs. Jordan." "We'll be glad to accept." "Goodbye." "Don't you want to know the date?" "Sure, honey." "Friday, a week from tonight." "Dinner at 8:00." "Thanks." "Goodbye for real this time, Mrs. Jordan." "Tina, get my engagement book." "It's around here somewhere." "Take this down." "Next Friday evening... at the Oliver Jordans', dinner at 8:00." "Me eating with Lord and Lady Ferncliffe." "You don't have to write that down, stupid." "Listen, Tina." "Don't crack about this to Mr. Packard." "I want to spring it on him at the right time." "That slug never wants to meet any refined people." "Clear that away, Tina." "Wait a minute!" "What did Dr. Talbot say?" "What time's he coming?" "He didn't say exactly." "He asked, "Was there any symptoms?" And I said, "No, I didn't think so."" "He said, all right then, he'd be over sometime today." "I got a cold, and my legs ache all over." " You didn't tell me to say that." " You should have known it." " Here's your new hat." " Goody." "Higher, you fool." " Don't it look cute?" " Swell." "Tell Oscar to pack." "Just overnight stuff, that's all." "You in bed again?" "What's the matter?" "I don't feel good." "What's the idea of the hat?" "Going out?" "What do you eat all that sweet stuff for?" "Why don't you get up and do something?" "You don't care what I do or how I feel." "Look at me." "I was never sick a day in my life, and why?" "It's because I do things and get out and get to moving." "Oscar, I don't want any dinner clothes." "That's the reason." "Dr. Talbot says that you're an extrovert and I'm an introvert." "A what?" "An introvert, you dummy!" "That's why I've got to be quiet a good deal and have time to reflect in." "Reflect in?" "What have you got to reflect about?" "I have to think and act at the same time." "You know why I'm going to Washington tonight?" "Because the President wants to consult me about the affairs of the nation." " That's why." " What's the matter with them?" "Everything's the matter with them." "That's why he's sending for me." "You know, I wouldn't be a bit surprised but what he offered me a Cabinet job." "What do you know about that?" "Where'd that buffer get to?" "You ought to be married to some of the guys I see." "They'd give you something to reflect about." "I called on a fellow this morning who can't handle one little business... and I juggle 50 things at once, and he doesn't handle one." "Here's the blowoff." "He's got the layout I've been looking for, for two years... and the sap lays it right in my lap." "Dan Packard owns the best shipping line between here and the tropics... and Mr. Oliver Jordan is out on his ear." "We're invited there for dinner next Friday night... and I'm going to wear my new silver with the white fox." " We're not going." "That's out." " How do you get that way?" " Why not?" " l can't go and eat his dinner." "If he's a sucker, that's his funeral." "No." "Presidents in Washington and all those rummies... but you can't go anywheres with me." "Once in our life, we get asked to a classy house." "I got a new dress to knock their eye out and we're going!" " We're not going!" " We are so, you big crook!" "You pull a dirty deal and it ruins my social chances!" " You can't get away with it!" " Go lay an egg." "Danny...." "Kitty wants to go see all the great big lords and ladies... in their big, beautiful house." "It's for Lord and Lady Ferncliffe." " Who said so?" " She did." "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" "Because you were mean to poor little Kitty." "Ferncliffe, you know who he is?" "He's the richest man in England." " Goody, you'll go?" " Certainly I'll go." "I've been trying to meet him for two years." "That ties up with the Jordan stuff." " See, and I did it for you." " You know what I'll do?" "I'll buy up that Jordan stock through dummies." "I'll use Baldridge and Whitestone, fellows like that." " Keep my name out of it." " Out of what?" "Dr. Talbot's come." "Good." "He'll take care of you all right." "Ferncliffe." "What a break." " Goodbye, kitten." "See you tomorrow." " That's fine, goodbye." "Come on, Oscar, let's go." "Tina, quick, get me that other jacket, the one with the fur." "Hurry up, you nitwit!" "Clear the things off the bed and fix it up a bit." "Tina, leave me my book." "You know, the fat one that Dr. Talbot gave me." "It says Aspects of the Adult Mind." " Here it is." " Leave it here." "Now, show the doctor in." "Well, what's this?" "Hello, Doctor." "I just ran into your husband downstairs." "He tells me he's going to see the President." "Yes, he's going to help him fix things." "What's wrong with the little lady?" "Doctor, I don't know." "I kind of ached all over and felt funny and...." "You got to be careful of the flu, and I thought maybe if I stayed in bed...." "You never come and see me anymore unless I send for you." "Now listen, Kitty, I've been very busy." "But I'm so lonely for you, Wayne." "You know how I need you." "I don't do anything all day except just long for you." "Why don't you try and read?" "I know." "You're tired of me." " No, I'm not, honey, but you know" " Wayne, darling!" "Look at you, quivering with pride." "Just 'cause you're going to be ate tonight by Lord and Lady what's his name." "The aspic." " lt's too divine, Mrs. Wendel." " Thank you, ma'am." "It was the only thing I was worried about." "No, I think that's better, Mrs. Wendel." "What is it, The Wreck of the Hesperus?" "It's the British lion in honor of Lord Ferncliffe." "It will just make the dinner." "Isn't that Aunt Emma's vegetable dish?" "Yes, isn't it lovely?" " This just came, Mrs. Jordan." " Thank you, Dora." "I can still remember when a telegram always meant bad news." " Good heavens!" " You see?" "Freddy Hope, my extra man, he's got pneumonia." "Of all the thoughtless, selfish...." "On the day of my dinner, too." "What am I going to do?" "Why do anything?" "I never could understand why it has to be just even, male and female." "They're invited for dinner, not for mating." "I don't know where to find someone who'll fit in with the Ferncliffes." "Nothing but a rubber plant would fit in with the Ferncliffes." "Why don't you get an actor for Carlotta?" " An actor?" " A movie star." "Aren't there any movie stars around?" "I've got it." "Larry Renault." "He'd be too marvelous." " l wonder if he's still in town." " He was in town yesterday." "Ed, the movie hound, read me an interview with him in last night's Telegram." "He's leaving pictures and going into a play." "And he knows Carlotta." "We met him at her place in Antibes three years ago." "He was a sensation." "The girls fighting to get into his car." "And on the beach... well, my dear, he wore even less than the girls." "Ed says he isn't so hot since the talkies." "You can't fool Ed about the pictures." "He remembers John Bunny and Francis X. Bushman, Henry B. Walthall." "I don't suppose he'd even remember me." "I wonder where he's stopping." " The Versailles, that's where he is." " That's where Carlotta's staying." " Are you sure?" " Yes. I remember the whole interview." "He was wearing a two-piece dark-blue flannel lounging suit... with a cunning white monogram on his upper pocket." "Let's see, I'll put him between Carlotta and the Packard woman." "See if you can get him first, and let nature take its course." "I do hope he's free for tonight." ""Free, white, and 45," Ed says." "I'll say this for him." "In his photographs, he has the most heavenly profile." " Hello." "Mr. Renault, please." " Good luck, dear." "Hello, Mr. Renault?" "This is Millicent Jordan." "I don't suppose you'd remember me." "Antibes?" "Yes, of course I do." "How do you do, Mrs. Jordan?" "Dinner, tonight?" "Let me see." "I'm afraid that possibly I can't." "You see...." "l have another engagement, of course... but I might be able to break it." "And Paula, my daughter, you know, she'll be so glad to see you again." "I don't suppose you'd remember her at Antibes?" "Of course, dear lady." "It sounds like a very amusing evening." "I shall certainly try to come." "At 8:00?" "Thanks very much." " What do you know about that?" " Darling, please, you must come." "I don't know. I'd feel kind of like a heel." "Larry, please. lt will be such fun." "To be at dinner with you in my own house." "Darling, they aren't so stuffy, really." " They'd be crazy about you." " Sure. I mean...." " You know" " And, darling... while I was dressing for dinner, I could be thinking "Larry will be here."" "Darling, it's so awful not to be with you every minute." "What?" "I'm awfully jealous of the play." "Are you really going to act in it?" "My agent's bringing Baumann up here this afternoon." "I might as well sign the contract." "Baumann's as good a producer as there is, I suppose." "I'll have to sit in the audience... and watch you make love to another woman." "I hope it flops." "That's what I hope." "The play is not much." "But I think I can put it over." "I play the only male character." "Not another man?" "There's a small male part for a bit actor." " He's a beachcomber." " A beachcomber?" "Yeah." "He has one small scene, but I dominate that." "I love you so." "May I use your comb?" " Where have you been all this time?" " Came as quick as I could." "Wait a minute." "Where is my change?" "Had to go to a new place." "Cost half a dollar more." "Who told you to go to a new...." " A little drink." " Any reason why I shouldn't?" "No, of course not." "Except, at Mother's tonight... I want them to see you at your best." "Larry, don't." "Paula, mind your own business, will you?" " Don't talk to me like that." " l'll do as I please." " Darling, let's not quarrel." " l'm sorry." "I'm kind of on edge today, deciding about this play... and everything." "It's my fault. I'm a little jumpy myself." "Ernest gets back from abroad this evening." "Ernest?" "Will he be there at your mother's?" "Poor Ernest." "I'm awfully sorry for him." "He's so sweet." "I can't understand yet what's happened." "Less than a month ago, I thought I was in love with him." "You were one of those million-dollar movie stars." " Paula, I want to tell you something - l know." "Ernest is just the sort of young man I should marry." "And you're the sort that girls are always warned against." "I don't give a hoot what people say." "I know all the things you've done." "I know how many times you've been married." " l'm still married." " l don't care." "I'm sick of hiding my love for you." "I'm sick of scheming and pretending." "Do you think I can go on with Ernest?" "After all we've been to each other?" "You don't know anything about me." " You've known me a month." " Larry, how can you?" "A month." "As though time were important." "It is important." "There are other things important." "You're a kid of 19." "You're 19 and I'm 47...." "l'm almost 40." "You'll be telling me next I'm not old enough to know the facts of life." "You don't." "Not the real facts." "You can't." "Everything has been too easy for you." "You don't know what it means to be up against it." "Keep fighting them every second." "To pull yourself up, hand over hand... while they're waiting with a knife to cut the rope." "I'm not through yet. I'll show them." "If they think I'm finished...." "Larry, make sense." "What's that got to do with our love?" "Love." "You want to know the truth, Paula?" "I love you." "As much as I can love any woman." "But it isn't real love anymore." "There have been too many." "I've been in love a hundred times." "I've had three wives." " You want to know about them?" " No." "There was Violet." "She was a vaudeville hoofer." "Rooming houses, dirty kimonos, fried-egg sandwiches." "We fought like wildcats." "Then I broke into pictures and I left her." "Then I married Edith." "She was crazy about my profile." "Always kept talking about it." "She was society." "We were happy for about six months." "Then Hollywood dazzled her." "You know what happened." "Out in her car one night, drunk as the devil... over the cliff." "Were you in love with her?" "As for Marcelle, you know about her." "She's the top of the heap now." "Biggest draw of any woman in pictures." "Ambitious. I've never known any woman like her." "She'd do anything to get along, and knife me to get there." "Always telling me someday she'd be bigger than I was... and now I'm...." "There they are, the three of them." "I won't tell you about the others." "They swarmed on me." "Every age, kind, and description." "What do you want with me?" "I love you." "You're young and fresh, and I'm burned out." "This is the first decent thing I ever did in my life." "You listen to what I'm telling you." "I won't listen. I love you." "It's no use, Larry." "Nothing you can say will make any difference." "I'm going to tell Mother and Dad and Ernest..." " and I'm going to tell them tonight." " l tell you you're not!" "That's Mac, my agent." " Paula, I want you to promise me." " No!" "For the love of heaven, Paula." "It's no use, Larry." "My mind's made up." "Don't you ever get up?" "You know my agent, Mr. Kane?" "Miss Jordan." " Sure." "How is the little lady?" " Splendid, thank you." "You?" "Top of the bottle." "Am I butting in?" "Not at all. I was just going." "Goodbye." "Pearls in your oysters." "Paula, please think of what I've said." "Oh, dear." " Goodbye, Larry." " Goodbye." " Paula." " l must, Larry." "Now, aren't you ashamed?" "For 15 minutes, I walk you around the block so you...." "And then you come right in here...." "Momsy's sorry." "She doesn't give a darn for the old man's carpet." "No, I'm awfully sorry." "How is the great profile today?" "You been out or sticking around here?" "No. I didn't feel very well." "I slept rather late. I'm going out to dinner." "Why don't you go up to McDermott's and get a workout every day?" "Get yourself in shape." "What is this, cinnamon toast?" "I'll be all right." "As soon as I get into rehearsal, I'll get into shape." "Sure, just keep on with that." "That'll fix you up." "Did you see Baumann?" "I thought perhaps he'd come up here with you." "Baumann?" "No." "He didn't come up." "Did he give you the contract?" "Look, Larry... I got some disappointing news for you, kind of." "What's the matter?" "You know how these managers are." "This way, that way." "You never know when you got them." "Well...." "For the love of...." "Come out with it." "I'm telling you." "I go in to see Baumann this afternoon." "He's sitting there, a face down to here." "I start talking about the play." "What does he do?" "He tells me he's got to go south for a month." "He's sick." "What does that mean?" "There you are." "He's got to go south." "You can't do a play when you're south." "But he's got to do it. lt was all settled." "It was talked over, but it wasn't really...." "You know." "Unless you get it down in that old black and white...." "Even then sometimes it's no good." "We'll take it away from him." "There are other producers." "The cheap crook." "Sure." "Baumann's no good." "That's how he got where he is." "But that's not the point." "What does he do?" "He goes and he turns the play over to this Joe Stengel." "I rather like the idea of going with Stengel." "They tell me he does those highbrow plays. Ibsen." " "l want the moon, Mother."" " Yeah." "Now, look Larry." "He understands I'm to be starred, of course." " That's just it." " What?" "Now, look, Larry." "Don't blame me." "I've been plugging for you for months." "What are you trying to tell me?" "Don't go up in the air about it." "There's sure to be something else." "You mean I'm out?" "You dirty double-crosser." "Do you mean I'm out?" "Larry, I'm telling you, nobody knew about this." "Nobody." "Who's going to play the part?" "This Cecil Bellamy." "That piffling little...." "He's English in the first place." "The part says "English Explorer."" "I can be English." "English as anybody." "I've been waiting six weeks for this play." "I could've had a million things." "Personal appearances, radio, vaudeville" "Sure you could." "You can get them yet." "But the thing for you is a part in a play." "You know, get back in that old public eye." "Yes, but where's the vehicle?" "I was thinking about this play again... and you know, Larry, I never said anything... but I never thought that part was so hot for you." "You know the part that I'd be crazy to play if I was an actor?" " What?" " That beachcomber." "Beachcomber?" "You're asking me to go on... and play a part that isn't...." "Get out of here." "Go on." "Get out." "Larry, don't make a mistake." "Get out before I kick you out." "Have it your own way." "Wait a minute." "Close the door." "What makes you think this part isn't right for me?" "It's no good." "They're going to get tired of him." "Now, this beachcomber." "He comes on once." "Swell scene." "He goes off." "They keep waiting for him to come back, and he never does." "What a part." " Yes, his one scene is very nice." " lt's a pushover." "You know what's gonna happen?" "When that final curtain hits the floor... and what's his name, this Bellamy, when he comes out to take his bows... they're all gonna be yelling, "Renault!" "Renault! "" " You think so?" " lt's a pushover." "I tell you what. I'm going to see Stengel." "He's a friend of mine." "Wait a minute." "Don't let on you talked to me about this." "Just tell him maybe you can get me to play it." "Leave it to me." "I might be able to get Stengel to drop up here as a favor to me." "I used to be Joe's office boy." "How long you going to be here?" "A long while. I'm not dining till 8:00." "If I can get him to come up, I'm good." " Goodbye." " Mac." "Here's a funny thing." "I wonder if you could let me have $5." "Taxi fare. I didn't get down to the bank." "I'm going to this dinner tonight and what do you suppose I got?" "Seven cents." "Imagine that." "Look, I just got enough to go down to the office myself... but I'll bring it to you when I come back." "Come in." "Can I take the table now?" "Waiter." "It just occurred to me, I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast." "I'm not dining until 8:00." "Bring me up a cup of coffee." "Good and strong." "And I think I'll take a caviar sandwich." "Yes, sir." "That's all." "I'm very sorry, Mr. Renault, but were you going to sign for it?" "Why?" "Excuse me, but my orders are... if you sign for it, I cannot serve any more food here." "Not serve?" "Get that order up here at once." "I'll speak to the manager." "Get it up." "Hello?" "No, I didn't call." "Hello." "Wait a minute." "Yes, I did." "Send up a bellboy to go on an errand." "Send up Eddie." "The one who always goes out for me." "There's six in the waiting room." "Mr. Jordan wants to know if you'll see him." "I suppose so." "Did you see Mrs. Talbot?" "She wanted to talk to you." "No, I didn't." "Dr. Talbot's office." "Who is it, please?" "Who is it?" "I'm sorry, but I'll have to have a name." "Yes, Mrs. Packard." "He's in." "Just a minute." "Doctor, Mrs. Packard's on your private wire." "All right." "Hello." "Yes." "Now, Kitty." "Kitty, listen...." "Kitty, would you listen a minute?" "No, I can't come over." "These are my office hours, you know that." "There's nothing the matter with you." "I've been busy." "I'll see you tonight at the Jordans'." "Of course you can go." "Of course I do. I think you're very sweet." "No." "Of course there's no other woman." "Now, Kitty, you're driving me...." "Yes, I think you better sleep for an hour and rest... and then take a mild bromide." "My office is full of patients now." "You must excuse me." "No." "There's no cause for alarm." "Goodbye." "Hello, Lucy." "Hello, Wayne." "How are you, dear?" "I'm fine." "And you?" "I'm all right." " Anything new?" " No." "Just the same old thing." "What?" "I mean, unreasonable women patients." "Yes." "She's not really sick." "Women with a lot of time on their hands." "I prescribed a sedative, but she doesn't really need anything." "How about an apple a day?" "What's that?" "Don't bother." "What?" "Don't bother because I know all about it." "What are you talking about?" "Wayne, dear, I'm not going to make a scene." "You know I never do, do I?" "Remember how nicely I behaved about the others?" "Mrs. Whiting and that Dalrimple girl... and the Ferguson woman, Dolly, and...." "Where are your files?" "You're quite wrong." "Now, dear, I knew just when it started." "Now she's at the insistent stage." "It's all just a great bore, isn't it, darling?" "Don't think I don't mind." "But I can't let it tear me to pieces the way it did the first time." "It was just before Wayne was born, remember?" "I thought the world had come to an end." "The noble young physician... was just a masher." "Surely a little more than that." "A great deal more." "That's why it's so pathetic." "You're two people, really." "One's magnificent... and the other's so shoddy." "You're right, Lucy." "I don't know why you've stayed with me all these years." "Because I'm still in love with you." "Isn't that funny?" "You'd think I'd have more pride." "I love you, Lucy. lt's never been otherwise." "You know what I think?" "I think you're still a little boy living over on Tenth Avenue... a little bit in awe of the girl from Murray Hill." "And that's why, forgive me... these glamorous women in your life... have all been a little common, a little bit Tenth Avenue, too." "These other women, why.... lt's like gambling, drinking, or drugs." "You just keep on." "A habit can be cured if the patient wants to." "The patient wants to." "Of course, you mustn't stop too suddenly." "Lucy, darling, it's you and I." "It's always been you and I, and always will be." "Now, you must believe that." "Doctor...." "l'm sorry." "Mr. Oliver Jordan's here, and he seems very ill." "Have him come right in." " l'll see you later, dear." " All right, dear." " You're all right now, Mr. Jordan." " Why, what's this, Oliver?" "Here, come right over here and sit down." " Take it easy now." " Come on." "Come quietly." "That's right." "There you are now." "That's it." " lt's right here." " Nitrate of Ammo, quick." "Here." "Sniff this." "There." "That's better." "I'm all right now." "How long has this been going on?" "Have you ever had it before?" "No." "Not exactly like this." "It's probably indigestion." "What did you have for lunch?" "I didn't have much of anything." "I'd like you to come in tomorrow for a more thorough examination." "All right. 2:15?" "I'll be at the hospital till 4:00 so you better make it 4:15." "All right." "I feel great." "I may fool you and not come at all tomorrow." "You show up here." "Broken appointments are charged double." "I never pay them anyhow." "What are you doing tonight, Oliver?" "You're dining with us." "That's right." "Couldn't you arrange to sneak away and go to bed early?" "We're going to the theater." "Now, you avoid any excitement... and stop worrying about business." " Old pump out of order?" " No. lt's a bit weary." " Just a little tired, that's all." " l see." " See you later." "Dinner at 8:00?" " l believe so." " Goodbye, Oliver." " Goodbye, Doctor." " Thank you very much." " lt's all right." "You're not fooling me." "How bad is it?" "Coronary artery." "Thrombosis." "How long will he live?" "A few years, months... days, even." "Are you sure?" "Positive." "You can tell it like that." "Poor fellow." "Yeah." " Ready?" " All right." "All right, Mrs. Bedwick." " Excuse me, ma'am." " Yes, Mrs. Wendel?" "Why, what's the matter with your face?" "It's that old tooth again." "What seems to be wrong?" "It's the aspic for the dinner tonight." "The aspic?" "I had to drop it on the floor." " You had to drop the aspic on the floor?" " Yes, ma'am." "You see, the butler and the chauffeur were fighting... and I had to get between them." "Ricky and Gustave fighting?" " What about?" " Dora." "Dora?" "What do they mean by fighting in the kitchen?" "I don't know, ma'am." "But we can't use the aspic for dinner tonight." "Of course not, if you dropped it on the floor." "5:00." "This is terrible." "I particularly wanted the aspic." "It's so dressy." "Send for some crabmeat." "You can cook it Newburg." " Yes, ma'am." " Send Ricky for it at once." "But I can't send Ricky, ma'am." "Why not?" "You see, he's been arrested." "He's in jail." " Excuse me, madam." " ln jail?" "For what?" "For stabbing Gustave." "Excuse me, madam." "Miss Carlotta Vance is calling." "Tell her I'm not here." "Where is Gustave?" "You see, they took him to the hospital." "The doctor's sewing up his eye." "Millicent." " Oh, dear." " Where are you?" " ln here, Carlotta." " Will that be about all, ma'am?" " l hope so." "Thank you, ma'am." "Millicent." "Ducky." "I never was so glad to see anyone in all my life, my dear." " Dear Carlotta." " You don't mind me rushing in on you?" " l just popped in to see Oliver." " Really?" "How nice." " l'm afraid" " No, I'll wait." "Anything to get out of those streets." "May I have a whiskey and soda?" "You don't mind, do you?" "Millicent, really, I'm just dying." " Why, of course." " Oh, my. I'm absolutely cracked up." "Yeah." "Simply depleted." "I've been in every office building from the Battery to the Bronx." "Millicent, you don't mind if I take my shoes off, do you?" "What a relief." "Oh, me." "Oh, my." "No." "Please do." "Thank you. lt's that big toe." "What a city." "I left the hotel at 11:00 this morning... a young and lovely girl." "Now look at me." "I took on 10 years trying to get from the Versailles to Times Square." "And then I had a restful, nice luncheon with four lawyers." "On the 88th floor of the what's-it building, the Sky Club." "A cloud floated right into my soup plate." "Yes, it's terrible, but we get used to it." "The minute I see Oliver, I'm going back to my hotel... and pop myself into bed, and I'm not going to get up until tomorrow at noon." "Thank goodness I don't have to go to one of those dreadful dinners tonight." "But you're dining here." "How enchanting." "Of course!" "The Ferncliffes." "That means a nice little cozy game of bridge." "I can always keep awake for that." "But we're going to the theater." "Now, won't that be delightful?" "Yes. I always like to see a new play." "What are we going to see?" "We're going to see Say lt With Music." "Yeah." "That will be enchanting." "Yes. I thought it was so amusing." "What?" "You've seen it?" "Yes." "Two or three times." "That's nothing." "No. I'm used to that." "Funny man." "With a cigar." "Should I mix it for you, madam?" "Thank you very much, my dear." "That'd be very nice of you." "Oh, dear, let me see." "Now, that's enough." "How complicated life is." "If ever...." "No, my dear." "Wait a minute." "Don't spoil it." " Oliver." " Oliver, ducky." "Hello, Carlotta." " Carlotta." " Carlotta wants to talk to you." " l'll not keep you a minute." " l've got to get a new butler for tonight." "I do hope the agency will send me one who doesn't drop things." "Optimist." "If it's not asking too much." "I tried to get you...." "Oliver, sweet." "You won't be cross with Carlotta, will you?" "I told the man... that I wanted to ask you first, but he said, "No, it must done today."" "A meeting or something." "Then I couldn't reach you at your office and I went ahead." "Then I sort of got worried about it." "Carlotta, what are you trying to tell me?" "You see, Oliver, sweet, you know, Carlotta's so broke." "It was such a chance, and I sold my Jordan stock." "I hope you won't mind." "That's what I came here to tell you." "Who did you sell it to?" "A most charming man." "He had such nice manners." "Let's see." "His name is "James K. Baldridge."" " l hope you don't mind." " No. lt's all right." "Oliver, I did try to reach you." "You know, you said you didn't want to buy it back yourself." "Along came that nice Mr. Beanbridge with all that beautiful money." " See, it's certified." " Hello." "Mr. Kingsbury." "Oliver Jordan speaking." "You are cross. I'm just devastated." "I wouldn't have done it for anything in the world." " l'd rather go barefoot and hungry" " Kingsbury?" "Sorry to disturb you at home." "Have the Scatterlee sisters sold their Jordan stock?" "You sold it this afternoon." "Would you mind telling me who bought it?" "Baldridge." "Thank you very much." "I guess I'll be trotting along." "I'll see you at dinner." "Say goodbye to Millicent for me, won't you?" "No. I'll see you to the door, Carlotta." "Hello." "Yes." "This is Mrs. Jordan." "Lord Ferncliffe's secretary." "Yes?" "What's that?" "But you must be mistaken." "But they can't." "They can't go to Florida." "They are coming here to dinner." "I'm giving the dinner for them." "They've gone." "When?" "But people don't do such things." "I don't care how sudden it was." "You should have let me...." "All I can say is, I never heard of such a thing in all my life before." " Mother, I want to talk to you." " What?" "It's about Ernest and me." "I want to talk to you" "Paula, don't bother me now, for pity's sake." " l can't listen to your" " But, Mother, you don't understand." " This is terribly important." " Paula, shut up, I tell you." "Let me think." "Millicent, would you mind awfully if I didn't go to the theater tonight?" "I'm feeling pretty rotten." " lf l could just go to bed" " What's that you're saying?" "I'm feeling pretty rotten." "I'm up against a business thing." "A business thing." "At a time like this, you talk to me about a business thing... and feeling rotten." "This is a nice time to say you're feeling rotten." "You come to me with your...." "And you whimpering about Ernest." "Some little lovers' quarrel." "I'm expected to listen to Ernest, business, and headaches... when I'm half out of my mind." "Do you know what's happened to me?" "I've had the most ghastly day anybody ever had." "No aspic for dinner... and Ricky in jail and Gustave dying, for all I know... and a new butler tonight, and that Vance woman coming in." "And having to send for crabmeat." "Crabmeat!" "And now, on top of everything else... the Ferncliffes aren't coming to dinner." "They call up at this hour, the miserable cockneys." "They call up to say they've gone to Florida." "Who can I get at this hour?" "Nobody." "I've got eight people for dinner." "Eight people isn't a dinner." "Who can I get?" "You come to me with your idiotic little...." "I am the one who ought to be in bed." "I'm the one who's in trouble." "You don't know what trouble is, either of you!" "How you coming, kitten?" "How you coming, kitten?" "I've told you a million times... not to talk to me when I'm doing my lashes." "And don't you talk to me when I'm shaving." "I think these are the handsomest ones you ever bought." "Will you take those back?" "I'll tell you when I want them." "Put them in the icebox, nitwit." "Tomorrow, Oliver Jordan can go and buy himself a little rowboat... and start all over again." "He'll never know who done it." "You're so smart, you're going to land in jail some day." "Tina, where are my slippers?" "I'm just beginning, tootsie." "Whose wife's got any bigger bracelets than you've got?" "Remember what I told you last week?" "I don't remember what you told me a minute ago." "About Washington." "Don't you remember that?" "How'd you like to be a cabinet member's wife?" "Mingle with all the other Cabinet members' wives and ambassadors'?" "Nerts." "You're not going to drag me down to that graveyard." "I've seen their pictures in the papers, those girlies." "A lot of sour-faced frumps with last year's clothes on." "Pinning medals on Girl Scouts and pouring tea for the DARs... and rolling Easter eggs on the White House lawn." "A swell lot of fun I'd have." "You go live in Washington." "I can have a good time right here." "Listen, stupid." "If I get that appointment to Washington, I'm going." "And if I go, you go." "That's that." " You mean you're really going to get it?" " Certainly I am." " l won't go." " You will go!" "No, I won't!" "You can't boss me." "I can yell just as loud as you can." "You've been acting very strangely lately, my fine lady... and I'm not going to stand for it." "Yeah." "And so what?" "So what?" "I'm the works around here and I'll give you orders what to do." "Who do you think you're talking to, your first wife out in Montana?" "Now, you leave her out of this." "That poor thing with a flat chest that didn't have nerve enough... to talk up to you, washing your greasy overalls, cooking... and slaving in some lousy mining shack?" "No wonder she died." " l'll sock you in a minute." " You can't get me that way." "You're not going to step on my face to get where you want to go, you big windbag!" "Listen, you little piece of scum, you...." "l've got a good notion to drop you right back where l picked you up:" "in the checkroom of the Hottentot Club..." " or whatever the dirty joint was." " No, you won't!" "And then you can go back to that sweet-smelling family of yours... back of the railroad tracks in Passaic." "And get this." "If that sniveling, money-grubbing, whining old mother of yours... comes fooling around my offices anymore, I'm going to give orders... to have her thrown down those 60 flights of stairs, so help me!" "Give me that!" " You pick that up." " Pick it up yourself." "You pick that up!" "Bracelets, eh?" "After I pick you out of the gutter, this is the thanks that I get." "Thank you." "Thanks for what?" "Listening to you about what a big guy you just been or you gonna be?" "Listen." "You never sent me a flower in your life." "When I want flowers, I gotta go buy them." "What woman wants to buy theirselves flowers?" "You never talk to me, or ask me what I've been doing, or how I am, or anything." "Why don't you get something to do?" "I ain't stopping you." "You bet you ain't." "You think I sit home all day, looking at bracelets." "Of all the dumb bunnies." "What do you think I'm doing while you're out pulling your dirty deals?" "Waiting for Daddy to come home?" "What are you driving at" "You think you're the only man I know, you great, big noise?" "You aren't, see?" "There's somebody that just knowing him... has made me realize what a stuffed shirt you are." "You don't like that, do you, Mr. Cabinet Member?" "Somebody else put over a deal." "You've been putting it over on me with some other man?" "Yes, and what are you going to do about it, you big gasbag?" "You tell me who it is, or I'll break every bone in your body." "You can kill me, and I won't." "I'll find out who it is." " Tini!" " She don't know." "Who's been coming to this house?" " You don't know, do you?" " You shut your trap!" " Who's been coming to this house?" " l ain't seen nobody." "Yes, you have!" "You tell me, who came here while I was in Washington?" "Nobody." "Only the doctor." "No, I don't mean him." "Who's been coming here behind my back?" "I ain't seen a soul." "Get out, you dummy." "What did I tell you?" "I'll divorce you." "That's what I'll do." "You won't get one cent." " There's a law for what you've done." " Yeah, you got to prove it first." "Yeah?" "I'll track him down." "I'll find him, and I'll kill him." "That's what I'll do." "Then I'll throw you out just like you were an alley cat." "Yeah?" "So you want to go to Washington." "You want to tell the President where to get off." "You want to go into politics." "I know about politics, and I know all about the crooked deals you bragged about." "Stealing from Brown, the Thompson business, and gypping old man Clarke... and now this Jordan thing." "When I tell about those, it will raise a pretty stink." "Politics?" "You couldn't get into politics." "You couldn't get in anywhere." "You couldn't even get in the men's room at the Astor." "Why, you poisonous little rattlesnake, you...." "Listen. I've got to go to this Ferncliffe dinner tonight." "Ferncliffe means more to me than you do." "I'm clearing out of here after tonight." "You can sit here and get flowers from your soul mate." "We're through." "No, you ain't!" "Now you're going to listen to me while I run off at the mouth." "You're going to let that Jordan stock stay right where it is... because if you don't, I'll broadcast the whole rotten deal." "And if I open my trap, they can hear me clean back in Montana." "It's the first chance I ever got with decent society people... to see my name in the paper with somebody that ain't mixed... in your dirty politics, and if I miss it, you'll pay for it with everything you got." " So you'd make a sucker out of me?" " l certainly ain't trying to make... a gentleman out of you, but I'm gonna be a lady if it kills me." " Why, you dirty little" " Don't say it." "So-and-so." " Tina." " Yes, ma'am?" "Pick that bracelet up. lt fell." " My, it's pretty, ain't it?" " Give it to me." "Look, it just fits me." "Give it here, will you?" "You got so many bracelets." "I don't see how you can use them all." "What are you driving at?" "Nothing." "Only, I thought with you having so many... maybe you might want to give me one." "Come in." "Where have you been?" "You know I was waiting here, you silly" "Larry, I brought up Mr. Stengel." "This is Larry Renault, Mr. Stengel." "Larry, this is Joe Stengel." " How do you do, Mr. Stengel?" " Mr. Renault." "This is quite an occasion." "The meeting of two celebrities." " We should have the newsreel men here." " Yes." "Of course I didn't realize it was a full-dress affair." "I just came as I was." "Mr. Renault has got a dinner date with some of his Park Avenue friends." "You know, these big picture boys, they're pretty social." "Yes. I've heard." "Look, Mr. Renault." "I haven't got an awful lot of time." "Larry, suppose we get down to brass tacks." "All right, my dear fellow." "Stengel, you're going to produce this play... and you want me to act in it?" " Well, I" " Larry, this is just getting acquainted." "He's just crazy to play the part." "Just a minute." "Let's get this thing straight." "I understand from Mr. Kane here that you wanted to know if I'd be willing... to portray the beachcomber in this thing." " Wait a minute." "Not so fast there." " Now, Larry." "In the first place, if I consent to play this part, and I don't say I will... it will have to be built up." "Built up?" "The fellow's got one scene... and they find him dead on the beach." "This isn't a play about spiritualism." "Don't forget, I'm Larry Renault." " Larry, for heaven's sake!" " Shut up!" "Now, listen, Stengel." "I'm a name, and I know it, and so do you." "And I'm not going on to play second fiddle to any cheap English ham." "$8,000 a week." "That's what I got, and I was going to get $10,000... till the talkies came in." "So don't think you're doing me a favor by asking me to play in your ratty show... because I'm doing you one." "I think maybe we're keeping you from your dinner, Mr. Renault." " Joe, he doesn't mean" " Yes, I do!" "And just because it's Mr. Joe Stengel, it don't mean a thing to me." "I'm still good, better than I ever was." "Good night, Mr. Renault." "Listen to me, old-timer." "I'm drunk, and I know I'm drunk... but I know what I'm talking about." "For heaven's sake, Mr. Stengel." "It's all right. I'll see you tomorrow." "I wouldn't be in your rotten show." "Not Larry Renault." "You know why?" "Because I'm an important artist, and you're a cheap pushcart producer." "Pushcart!" "You cockeyed, drunken fool." "I bring him up here." "I go down on my hands and knees to do it." "And you!" "You...." "Well, that's that." "Wait a minute." "I got something to say to you, too." "Telling him I was crazy to play the part." "You got this play away from Baumann and you gave it to Stengel... you double-dealing chiseler." "I've been suspicious of you all along." "You're in with the managers." "You've been taking my money and working for them." "You don't say." "I'm working for the managers, huh?" "Taking your money." "Me?" "Me that you're into for $500 in touches." "You think I've been lying to you all the time?" "All right." "You're going to get the truth now." "Renault, you're through." "Get out." "I'll get out and I'll stay out... but get this first." "I never worked so hard in my life to put anybody over as I did you." "You think I told you all the things that I tried?" "No!" "Because I couldn't come to you and tell you what they said." "I felt too sorry for you." "You were sorry for me?" "Vaudeville." "Every time I walked into a booking office, they leaned back and they roared." "They called me "Mac, the Grave Snatcher."" "Last night, I sent another telegram to the Coast." "I knew it was no use, but I sent it anyway." "You want to see the answer?" "No." ""Thank you." "When we're in the market for bit players, we will let you know."" "You're trying to throw a scare into me." "Oh, no." "I'm just telling you the truth." "You know, you never were an actor." "You did have looks, but they're gone now." "You don't have to take my word for it." "Just look in any mirror." "They don't lie." "Take a good look." "Look at those pouches under your eyes." "Look at those creases." "You sag like an old woman." "Get a load of yourself." "Wait till you start tramping around the offices, looking for a job... because no agent's going to handle you." "Sitting in those anterooms hour after hour, giving your name to office boys... that never even heard of you." "You're through, Renault." "You're through in pictures and plays and vaudeville... and radio and everything." "You're a corpse, and you don't know it." "Go get yourself buried." "They don't want that junk." "They wouldn't give me nothing on it." "Why, it's a silver frame." "The buckle's solid gold." "You take them. I lugged them to every pawnshop on Sixth Avenue." "You little liar." "You never took them anyplace." "Say, who you calling a liar, you down-and-out ham?" "You filthy little rat, how dare you talk to me like that?" " Okay." " Wait a minute." "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." "Listen. I got to have some liquor. I'm sick." "Lay it out for me like a good kid." "I'll pay you back." "What kind of a sucker do you think I am?" "I got to have it. I got to." "I'll pay you back tomorrow." "Baloney." "How do you do, Mr. Renault?" "I've not met you before, though you've been with us for some time." "I'm Mr. Fitch, the manager." "Mr. Renault, we find ourselves in a very awkward predicament." "We've just had a communication from some very old clients of ours..." "Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Montgomery." "They've always occupied this particular suite." "You know how people are." "They say it's just like home to them." "They're coming in tomorrow." "is that right, Mr. Hatfield?" " Yes." "Tomorrow afternoon." " There you are." "Under the circumstances, I'm afraid that we shall have to ask you for these rooms." "What other rooms can you give me?" "That's just the trouble, you see, we're so terribly full up." "The horse show and...." "Mr. Hatfield, is there any place that we can put Mr. Renault?" " l'm afraid not, Mr. Fitch." " lt's quite all right." "As a matter of fact... I was just about to notify your office I was leaving." "Some friends of mine, private car..." "Palm Beach." " When would you want me to" " There's no hurry." "Shall we say noon tomorrow, Mr. Renault?" "Sure." "Good night." "Thank you very much." "So sorry to have inconvenienced you in this way." "Ed." "Ed, where are you?" "I'm coming." " She's got music." " l hear it." " Now, Ed, it isn't going to be so terrible." " Not so terrible?" "Get into this uniform to meet a bunch of fatheads I don't want to know... and miss that Greta Garbo picture I've been waiting for, for two months." "What's your idea of terrible?" "Don't you want to meet Larry Renault?" "That's better than going to a movie." " That has-been." " And Carlotta Vance." "And Jenny Lind. is she coming?" "Now, Ed, Millie's done a lot of things for us." "Helps me with my clothes." "Besides, who can you get at 6:45 but relatives?" "All right. I'm a relative and I'm here." "Come on." "Let's get it over with." " Be careful of the steps." " l know." "That's very nice, but do you mind?" "Not quite so loud." "There will be people in there talking, you know." "Thank you." "Hello, Ed, hello, Hattie." "Where's Oliver?" "Upstairs." "He's got a headache or something." "Me, too." " How nice." "So lovely to see you." " How are you, Mrs. Jordan?" " You know Mrs. Packard, I believe." " Of course." "How lovely of you to come." " So nice of you to ask us, I'm sure." " Mrs. Packard, may I present my cousins..." "Mr. and Mrs. Loomis." "Mr. Packard." " l'm pleased to meet you, I'm sure." " How do you do, Mr. and Mrs. Loomis?" "You know, for a minute there I had you wrong." "I figured that maybe you were Ferncliffe." "You're close. I'm pinch-hitting for him." "What's the matter?" "I'm so sorry to disappoint you... but Lord Ferncliffe was taken frightfully ill with neuritis this afternoon." "I am so sorry." "Do you mean to say that Ferncliffe won't be here?" "Yes. lsn't it terrible?" "They had to rush him off to Florida." "I don't care for Florida." "Do you?" "Have you ever been to Florida?" "I love it." "We're not going down this winter." " Are you?" " l don't know." "Are we going to Florida this winter, sweetheart?" "I wouldn't count on it if I were you." "I'll miss it so." "It's so wonderful to have nothing to do, just to lie all day in the sun." "Yes, but you've got to be awful careful that you don't get blistered." "You know, my skin's terribly delicate, and I don't dare expose it." "Pardon me." " Hello, Lucy." " Hello, Millicent." " My, you look charming." " Lucy, you know everyone, don't you?" " Hello." " Glad to see you." "Haven't seen you around the house lately." "What's the matter?" "Did the patient get well on you?" "She's getting along very well without me, aren't you, Mrs. Packard?" "I get along better when you're looking after me." "Millicent, darling." "Do forgive me. I had to bring him." "He wouldn't stay at home." "He cried and he cried." "Didn't you, Tarzan?" "Isn't he sweet?" "Carlotta, you know Mrs. Talbot, don't you?" "And my cousin, Mrs. Loomis." "What do you think of Bunny Ferncliffe?" "Dashing off to Florida and ruining your whole dinner party." "You know, I went to the hotel and found his telegram." ""Off on a fishing trip." "Love your America." ""Never felt better in my life."" ""Caroline and I want you to join us." "Wire Palm Beach." "Bunny."" "Isn't Bunny a swine?" "I'd rather go away in the winter than in the summer." "I love New York in the summer." "Where's Paula?" "I'm just dying to see her again." "Ernest came back tonight." "They're in the library talking." "They're going to be married, you know?" "Ernest DeGraff." "DeGraff?" "I think I knew his father. I did." "I think I'll barge along... and talk to Paula alone in the library." "My dear." "You poor little man." "You look so lonely." "Here." "Tarzan will keep you company." "And then I had a little time, so I went to Budapest." "Say, there's a place we've got to go on our honeymoon." "Ernest, while you've been away, there's something...." "There you are, you two turtledoves!" "Paula." "Carlotta." "And this is Ernest!" "I'm Carlotta Vance." "And don't tell me that your grandfather saw me when he was a boy." "How did you know that I was Ernest?" "I can tell an Ernest 20 feet off." "Do you suppose you two could stop billing and cooing just long enough... for me to have a little word with Paula?" "All right." "The next billing and cooing will take place at 8:45." "Dear." "He's charming, isn't he?" "So like his father." "I hope he'll be as generous." "Why haven't you been to see me, Paula?" " l'm at the Versailles." " The Versailles." "Yes, of course. I must come." "That's on East 48th Street, isn't it?" "Not quite." "East 53rd Street, I believe." "Yes, I was thinking of something else." "Yes, I suppose you were." "You know, I'm on the eighth floor." "Curiously enough, just down the hall from...." "You've seen me, then." "What of it?" "I'm not ashamed." " No, dear." " Go ahead." "Tell Mother." "I'm going to tell her myself." "It's funny. I should think at least you would understand." "I haven't said I don't understand." "Do you?" "Then for heaven's sake, help me." "Talk to Father for me, will you?" "You can help me." "I'm sorry. I can't." "Not now." "All right." "You want me to give him up." "I won't." "You're just like all the rest of the old people." "I'm sure I am, but" "You think you know what's best because you're old." "You think you can tell me what to do with my life." "You can't, because it's my life." "I'm young. I've got a right to go to the man I love." "I'm sure you have, dear, but...." "But what?" "What could you possibly say that could keep me from going to him?" "Simply that he's killed himself." "That's not so." "It can't be." "They found him just as I was starting to come here." "Poor Paula. I'm so sorry." " Where are you going?" " To him." "No." "Listen, Paula." "I realize that I'm an old woman... and young people have a right to do what they want... but at this time I think you should consider someone else." "Your father." "My poor Larry." "He's dead, Carlotta." "And nothing can be done." "That's the unfortunate thing about death." "It's so terribly final." "Even the young can't do anything about it." "Really." "Listen, darling." "Don't." "Paula, listen." "I wonder what's keeping Oliver." "What would you say he's missed... by not being in this room the last 10 minutes?" "I don't know." "I guess German pictures are all right if you like German pictures." "Say, Mrs. Talbot, I've just been talking with your husband... and I find that we have a lot in common." " Yes?" " Yeah." "We're members of the same golf club." "How nice." "I wonder when we eat." " Pardon, madam." " Yes, Dora?" "Will you please come upstairs?" "Mr. Jordan isn't feeling well." "Very well, Dora. I don't know how I..." "I've got to" "Maybe I'd better go up and see him with you." " Perhaps you'd better." " Yes, surely." "Oliver." "I'm all right, Millicent." "Don't worry, please." "It's something I had for lunch." " Talbot?" " Certainly." "Have you any spirits of ammonia?" "I think there's some in the medicine chest." "I'll get it." "I'll be right back, Oliver." " l'm all right." " There, there, now." "Take it easy, old man." "That's right." "Here you are, dear." "You do this." "You can do it much better than I can... and remember, we must not spoil Millicent's dinner." "They probably won't know anything about this news until tomorrow." "I'm all right now." "Thank you." "Of course you are, my dear." "Now Ernest won't notice a thing." "I don't want to see Ernest." "I don't want to see anybody." "Yes, you do, dear." "But I want to tell you one thing." "Don't ever let him know anything about this... 'cause if there's one thing I know, it's men." "I ought to. lt's been my life work." "I can't ever love another man." "No, of course you can't, dear." "But if you should, you know, someone like Ernest... he won't want to know anything about your past... as long as you keep it in the past." "Come on, dear." "Why, Millicent, what is it?" "I had to tell her, Oliver." "Oliver, my poor" "No, don't, dear." "Please." "Sit down, Oliver." "That's it." "Here." "Drink this." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Dear, it isn't as bad as all that. ls it, now?" "No." "Not at all." "Dear heart, I would have told you all about it." "No, you wouldn't." "And I've been too busy to notice... while you've been suffering." "Oliver, I do love you, and I've always loved you... even though I have turned into a silly... stupid, useless wife." "Now, but you haven't, Millie." "As a matter of fact, you've turned out a much better wife... than I have a husband." " No." " Yes." "You see, the thing that's troubling me most, Millie... is that... I'm afraid the Jordan Line is gone." " Gone?" " We're broke." "But everybody's broke, darling." "Don't let that worry you." "We'll economize." "That's what we'll do." "We'll economize." "Now, let me see." "I don't have to take a box for that charity thing Saturday night now... you know, for backward orphans or something." "And I'll cancel my hairdresser's tomorrow." "You leave everything to me." "And with Paula married to Ernest, we'll take a smaller place somewhere." "Hello, Embassy Club." "This is Mrs. Oliver Jordan." "I want to cancel my table for after the theater tonight." "Thank you." "And you go to bed right after dinner, darling." "Darling, we're going to be happier than ever." "You'll see." "I like it in New York in the summer." "I've had some swell times on penthouse parties." "All my life, I've wanted to be a penthouse girl." "Yeah." "You'd be good at that." "I'll be seeing you." " Joseph." " Yes, madam." "You can announce dinner in a few moments." "Yes, madam." " Hello, Hattie." " Hello, Oliver." " How are you, Ed?" " l'm fine." " You all right?" " Fine, thanks." "Oliver, I've missed you." "I'm sorry. I had to telephone." "Some business." "You're not cross with Carlotta, are you?" "You know I love you." " Go on." "Tell Jordan." " Shut up." " Go on and tell him." " Shut up." "If you don't, you'll be sorry as long as you live." "Shut up." " How do you do, Mrs. Packard?" " Glad to see you, I'm sure." " Oliver, how are you?" " Glad to see you." "I'm delighted, I assure you." "We'll go in to dinner." "Seems rather rude not to wait for Mr. Renault." "But after all, it's nearly 9:00." "You're not going to tell him?" " Mr. Jordan, I've got - l'll tell him." "Dan never will let me talk to anyone that's attractive." "Oliver, I've got something very important to tell you." "I've got some news for you." "News?" "When a man bites a dog, that's news." "I hope you'll like that stuff I brought from Paris for you." "One of them is a knockout." "You came near losing the Jordan Lines this afternoon." "A dirty crook by the name of Baldridge tried to pull a fast one." " You don't mean" " Yes, but I saved it for you." "We headed him off." "Say, old man, I've been awfully unfair to you." "Oh, no." "I was reading a book the other day." "Reading a book?" "Yes. lt's all about civilization or something." "A nutty kind of a book." "You know, the guy says that machinery... is going to take the place of every profession." "My dear, that's something you need never worry about." "Say, I want to sit next to Oliver!" "Oliver, where are you?" "English"