"That means you can't do anything for me, doesn't it." "I'm sorry." "No hope at all?" "Oh, of course there is hope." "There is always hope." "You had an attack of meningitis in June of 1935." "Two years ago," "The result of that was a marked deterioration of nerves." "At the moment, I know of no cure for it." "Miss Blair, remember, I am only one man." "All over the world, men are working on this very problem at this very moment." "Von Stein in Vienna, Ritter in London." "James at Johns Hopkins, Meredith in Rochester." "Perot in Montreal." "I've seen them all." "Except Perot." "Then you certainly should see Perot." "But first I'm going home for a while." "I've been examined and tested and sent away by so many doctors, I .." "Couldn't face another one right now." "Meanwhile, I'm glad you haven't let your deafness be a handicap." "You real lips remarkably well." "I should." "I've had excellent teachers and a great deal of practice." "Miss Blair, all I can say to you .." "Doctor, if you tell me your fee, I'll leave a check with your secretary." "There won't be any fee, Miss Blair." "I don't charge even rich young ladies when I know I can't help them." "Thank you for coming to me, and for the present, goodbye." "Goodbye." "Coffee." "Hot, strong and made this year." "You won't like ours." "Got a match?" "Thank you." "Thank you, Miss." "Gangway." "Gangway, please." "Gangway." "Gangway!" "Want to get yourself killed?" "I'm awfully sorry, but I didn't hear it coming." "You see, I .." "I'm deaf." "I know." "Oh." "Right." "Thank you." ""Darling, I'm terribly sorry to hear Dr Graham couldn't do anything for you."" ""You had hoped so much from him, but don't let it get you down."" ""There's Dr Sloan in Chicago."" ""He's one of the best in the country and we're all keeping our fingers crossed."" ""I'm very busy at the Mill."" ""But I have plenty of time to count the empty hours without you."" ""It seems so long that this thing has been between us."" ""Every time I go to Blair House, stand at the foot of the stairs and look up."" ""I see you descend in the dress you wore on the night of our engagement party."" "Stand right there a minute, darling." "This is one of those moments you remember in your old age and smile." "And nobody knows why." "I'd like to keep it forever." "I hate to let it pass." "Jeff, you are so sweet." "No wonder I fell in love with you." "I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world." "Break it up, children." "Uncle Wallace." "Uncle Wallace hasn't kissed a pretty girl in weeks." "Now what has brought you up here from New York in June?" "It couldn't be a thing as dull as my niece's engagement party, could it?" "I hope so." "This must be Jeff." "Hello." "─ How do you do." "Congratulations." "You really intend to marry her, I see?" "You can't guess how hard I tried to get out of it, uncle Wallace." "I'm not the only wanderer in the family who'll make an appearance here tonight." "Oh, who else?" "You wait and see." "I'm sworn not to tell." "How are you, Wallace?" "─ Hi, Em." "You look wonderful, for a man who lives in nightclubs." "You look alright too, Em." "For a girl who runs a textile mill." "You've met Jeff Stoddard of course?" "─ Just looking him over." "A good background, I hope." "Pennsylvania College, Wallace" "Oh, there is Doctor Will." "Hello." "I've been looking for you." "Well, are you going to dance with me tonight?" "When you can't get anybody else you can just whistle for me, eh?" "Well?" "─ Well, you can." "Good evening, Doctor Weeks." "Come along, dear." "The guests are here." "Happy?" "Happier than I've ever been in my entire life." "It it's the last thing I do, I mean to keep you that way." "Darling." "Why for goodness sake." "It's Janice!" "Your sister?" "Isn't she in Europe?" "Yes darling, I know." "So did I. Come on." "Oh, that's what uncle Wallace was hinting at." "Sorry." "─ Excuse me, please." "Darling!" "Sweet thing!" "Why didn't someone tell me?" "─ I came back just for this, of course." "Em cabled me, and I hopped on The Normandy as it pulled out of the dock." "How wonderful to have you here." "So this is the shockingly handsome young man you've decided to chase and marry?" "This is he." "─ I'm not surprised." "No, really." "I'm not surprised." "Hi, Jeff." "Hello Janice." "Do you think I'll do?" "─ For Emily?" "Let's see." "A good family?" "Darling, she's teasing you." "He is a working man." "He's helping Em manage the mill." "Didn't you know?" "Works for a living, huh?" "That's bad." "Well you see, Janet .." "─ Why, he's going to apologize." "Right club?" "─ Oh yes." "Right school?" "─ Hmm." "Right clothes and a modest capacity for gaiety." "Yes, I'd say you had all those." "Do I pass, then?" "Oh Monsieur, who am I to judge?" "Jeff, I'm awfully sorry." "Is it warm?" "I'm dizzy." "You're tired, darling." "Let's go out on the terrace and sit for a while." "No." "No, it's alright." "I feel alright, now." "─ You sure?" "Yes, honestly." "Get Doctor Weeks!" "Doctor Weeks, where are you?" "Somebody get Doctor Weeks." "You'll be up and about in no time at all, darling." "The Parker twins are giving a party next week." "I'll help you choose a new dress." "Talk louder." "I can't hear you." "It's raining." "It's raining hard." "I .." "I can't hear it rain." "Doctor Will, why can't I hear it rain?" "Just a moment, Emily." "I can't hear you!" "I can't hear any of you." "I can't hear the rain or .." "I'm deaf." "I can't hear one, single sound." "I'm stone deaf." "It's enough to drive Jeff away from me, isn't." "Isn't it?" ""You've been very ill."" ""Your hearing is affected temporarily."" ""There is nothing to worry about."" ""I'm calling in a specialist."" "Darling." "I feel alright, Jeff." "I feel fine, really I do." "You're looking wonderful, Emily." "A little pale, but .." "Darling." "You're looking wonderful, Emily." "You're talking loud." "It doesn't do any good you know." "Oh, I'm so sorry darling." "I forgot." "Before I forget." ""All you need is some sunshine and fresh air."" ""A trip to .."" ""To Bermuda or someplace."" ""You are .."" ""You are looking more .."" ""Beautiful than ever."" "Thank you, darling." "Jeff." "Jeff, I .." "Come and sit down over here." "I want to talk to you." "Darling." "Darling, you know I love you, don't you." "But I must be fair about this." "If I'm going to get my hearing back." "I must go where the best doctors are." "Now." "That may take a long time, Jeff." "No-one knows just how long." "So." "So I think I ought to give your ring back to you." "Until we know, one way or the other." "Emily, please." "Oh I know darling." "It matters too much." "That's why I don't want to risk it." "Now please, dear." "Let me finish." "I can't marry you, darling." "Why, Emily .." "No." "I can't marry you until I get my hearing back." "I can't see you go through life watching me stare at other people's lips." "Watching me look around carefully before I dare take a step, even." "Watching me live without music." "Without the sound of your voice." "Without too many things, Jeff." "I know you'll go on loving me." "But I don't want even the least bit of pity in that love." "I couldn't stand it." "We Blairs are too much stuck-up for that, you know." "But I mean it Jeff, really." "I mean every word of it." "Honestly .." "Blairs Town next stop." "Thank you." "Why hello there, Miss Emily." "─ Hello, Mr Mead." "Glad to see you back." "─ Thank you." "Nice to be back." "I don't guess they sent anybody to meet you?" "Didn't they know you was coming?" "Well, I'm surprising them." "Charlie is here with his cab, isn't he?" "─ Sure thing, Miss Emily." "Let me take that bag for you." "─ Alright." "Doctors do you any good this time, Miss Emily?" "[ Loud ] Doctors do you any good?" "Oh, heck." "Excuse me, sir." "This cab is engaged." "I know it is." "I just engaged it." "Well, that ain't what I mean." "This is Miss Emily Blair of Blair House." "No-one to meet her." "Mr Mead, I think I would rather walk." "You can send my bag up later." "I'm sorry, Miss Blair." "I didn't know you didn't have a car." "If there is any walking going to be done I'd like to be the first to try it." "Apparently, you know know my name." "I don't know yours." "Doctor Merek Vance." "Dr Vance, unless you wish to embarrass me, you will share the cab with me." "Well, I wouldn't want to do that, would I." "I'm sorry." "For what?" "I was staring." "Well, you told me you were a doctor." "A clinical interest?" "You read lips remarkably well." "So would you if you looked at peoples lips .." "As closely as I have for the past two years." "I don't mind looking at yours." "I'm sorry I shoved in on you like this." "Well, it was your cab, Dr Vance." "But you are Miss Blair of Blair House." "One just doesn't do that to the Blairs." "You know, I thought that guy at the station was going to murder me." "Mr Mead is old-fashioned." "Blairs Town is old-fashioned." "Here's where I get off." "Thank you." "Doctor Vance." "Please let me pay Charlie." "Sorry, but even a Blair can't buy this ride." "I enjoyed it too much." "Comfortable, honey?" "A lovely day, isn't it." "─ Wonderful, darling." "Oh Jeff, why do we always have to sneak out to the country to be alone together?" "Not too nice, is it." "All our days could be as lovely as this .. if only .." "I hate myself for it, honey." "Sneaking around back roads, making love in cars." "It's not our fault." "We didn't want to fall in love." "We tried our best not to." "Maybe we didn't try hard enough." "Did we really want to try hard enough?" "No." "Kiss me some more." "I've got to get back to the mill, honey." "Aunt Em is probably buzzing for me right now." "Hello?" "Yes, this is Stoddard." "Oh hello, Hester." "She did?" "Just came in, eh?" "Ah." "Is .. is she any better, Hester?" "Oh, I see." "Yes, well thanks very much Hester." "I'll come over as soon as I can." "Emily has just got home." "She didn't tell anybody she was coming." "That's too bad." "No red carpet unrolled for her." "Don't be that way, Janice." "She." "She's no better." "The Chicago man didn't help her." "She's probably feeling pretty low." "I Know .." "I'm sorry, Jeff." "Poor Emily." "We're going to have to tell her, Jeff." "About us." "─ Oh, no." "Not now." "I can't do it." "I can't hurt her that much." "Then we have to stop seeing each other." "Sip casually over the teacups and stuff." "Is that what you want?" "It will have to be that way for a while." "How long a while?" "I don't know." "If only she could hear, I'd tell her in a flash." "She could take it then." "She can take it now!" "We didn't fall in love because she's deaf." "Don't be silly." "Janice, look, I .." "Alright, alright." "Forget it." "Oh, go on being decent if that's your idea of being decent." "I guess I can stand it a little while longer." "I'm afraid I'd an ulterior motive asking you to come down here this weekend." "Worse than that, it's .." "It's about the Blairs." "I know what you're driving at." "Sure I had some success curing deafness." "I'm not for the Blairs." "I'm just a guy working in a free clinic." "Merek." "We've known each other a long time." "And if I ask something of you, it isn't because you owe me anything." "You don't." "You are very close to me, my boy, but so are the Blairs." "What is it you want me to do, doctor?" "I want you to come here and pretend to be my assistant for a while." "And treat Emily Blair." "You will have to be here." "It's time that girl had something in her life." "Besides doctor's consulting rooms and hotels." "She should be safe at home with her own people." "You know, doctor." "I'd .." "I'd do anything in the world for you." "But this I can't see." "If my work is good, people need it who can't afford to go to London and Vienna." "I'm needed far more in Pittsburgh than I am in Blairs Town" "Yes." "I see your point." "I oughtn't to have asked you." "Let's just forget it." "By the way." "I'm going to Blair House for dinner tonight." "Aunt Em's birthday." "You'll come along, won't you, Merek?" "Me dining at the Blair House?" "I'll be glad to." "If you're sure they won't throw me out." "I didn't catch the name of the young man who came with Dr Weeks." "Doctor Merek Vance." "He's from Pittsburgh, I believe." "He didn't seem very happy to be with us." "Really?" "We'll have coffee at the card table, shall we?" "Doctor Will." "Emily." "Take care of Dr Vance for me, will you?" "Aunt Em's given me the high sign to come and play bridge." "Doesn't Dr Vance play bridge?" "As far as I know, he doesn't play anything." "He just works." "I'm afraid that Jeff and Janice leave for the Hodge's dance in a little while." "Would you care to join us, Dr Vance?" "Don't worry about me, Miss Blair." "I'll see you children before you go?" "─ Yes, aunt Em." "Thank you." "I hope you're not too scientific to waltz, Dr Vance." "I never had time to learn." "Come on, Jeff." "Thank you." "Cigarette, doctor?" "─ No thank you." "We have to dance this one, Emily." "This is our tune." "The one we danced to at our engagement party." "Remember?" "Yes I'll try, Jeff." "Will you excuse us please, doctor?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "─ That's alright, darling." "They're playing it faster than before." "What?" "─ The tempo is faster." "You can do it." "Try it again." "Oh, I'm sorry." "It's no use, Jeff." "It's really no fun dancing this way." "But Emily, what about the Hodge's party?" "If you don't, dear, I don't think I'll go." "Oh, Emily." "─ But darling, we promised." "That's alright." "You go ahead without me." "Well, I can't very well go without an escort." "Of course you can." "Go along with Jeff." "That's alright, isn't it, dear?" "Come along too." "There will be lots of people not dancing." "I know, dear." "But those people don't want to dance." "Besides, I really am tired." "I'd rather not go." "Honestly I wouldn't." "Darling, as long as we said we'd be there early, I think we'd better leave." "Alright." "─ Goodnight." "Goodnight, doctor." "Come on, Jeff." "Emily, you sure you don't mind not going?" "Of course not." "Go ahead and have a good time." "Goodnight." "Goodnight, Dr Vance." "Goodnight, Mr Stoddard." "You don't like to make compromises, do you, Miss Blair." "You think that's why I didn't go to the Hodge's party?" "Wasn't it?" "You are very observant, aren't you." "That's part of my business." "Besides, I know much more about you than you realize." "Really?" "We've met before." "─ We have?" "I don't recall having met you before this afternoon, Dr Vance." "It was at a Christmas party." "You were about seven and I was .." "I was twelve." "You were standing on a platform near a Christmas tree at the mill." "For your family every year handed out baskets of food to the employees." "Merry Christmas, everyone." "Line up and get your present." "Plenty of presents for everyone." "So, it's no use pushing, please." "Strike up, boys." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas." "I would rather have my job back!" "We thank you today." "And last week you put us out to starve." "Merry Christmas." "Ha ha!" "Sure, I got fired!" "Merry Christmas." "Only our name wasn't Vance then." "It was Vankovicz." "My father changed it when he became an American citizen." "I seem to remember that name." "The first time I ever saw hatred staring at me." "My father was laid off the week before Christmas." "He never got over it." "Do you blame him for hating you and the mill and everybody connected with it?" "Well I'm sorry it happened, of course." "It wasn't my fault." "Forget it." "Are your parents still living in Blairs Town, Dr Vance?" "No." "They've been dead quite some time." "Doctor Weeks almost brought me up." "He helped me through medical school." "Oh,I see." "That's why I'm here tonight." "I don't think I understand." "He wants me to try to cure you." "You?" "I know." "You've never heard of me." "But I've cured a lot of deaf people, Miss Blair." "People who have been deaf far longer than you have." "Doctor Vance." "I have been to some of the best specialists all over the world." "I know." "But they don't know anything about my treatment." "You see, it's something I stumbled at in a free clinic in Pittsburgh." "When I was treating steel workers for gland deficiency." "No, on second thoughts, Miss Blair." "I don't think the setting of the clinic would suit you at all." "I'm quite sure it wouldn't." "But thank you for the suggestion just the same." "And besides." "I don't think I would make a very good guinea pig." "I'm not so sure of that." "Deafness isn't the only thing I would like to cure you of, Miss Blair." "I'll not wait for Doctor Weeks." "Goodnight." "You ran out on me last night." "How did you get along with Emily Blair?" "Not so good." "She still thinks of me as an immigrant kid from the wrong side of the river." "Oh no, no." "Wait a minute, Merek." "I've known Emily Blair ever since the day she was born." "I knew her father and mother." "Oh .." "I admit the Blairs are a trifle difficult at times." "But Emily is a wonderful girl once you get to know her." "Yes .. she's a tearing beauty alright." "And at least she doesn't feel sorry for herself." "But I'm a little afraid she's sore at God about the whole thing." "You really think you could do something for her?" "I mean, if you had time?" "And she wanted me to?" "I might." "I never had a meningitis case." "I'd kind of like to try." "It will be under the heading of "research"." "I'm delighted my boy." "Simply delighted." "Oh, now wait a minute." "I must be in Pittsburgh at least once a week." "I'd have to fly both ways and that costs money." "I'm a poor man, remember." "Oh just you leave that to me." "I'll have my own office fixed into a nice little laboratory for you." "We'll wire Pittsburgh for everything you need." "And I'll guarantee you'll have Emily Blair here on Monday." "Alright." "This one is for you, remember." "Don't forget it." "I understand my boy." "Perfectly." "And try bringing her in conscious." "I might want to talk to her." "As much as she'll hate listening to me." "Emily didn't understand the other night how far you've gone in your field." "I ought to have told her more about you." "As a press agent, I was a flop." "You certainly made up for it today, though." "She's here because I believe if anyone can help her, you can." "So I'll just leave you two together and get to work on my patients." "Oh, Merek." "If you decide there's a chance of a cure and Emily decides to take the treatment." "We think we'd like to keep it a secret just among the three of us." "Do you mind?" "─ But, why?" "Well, Emily ought to remain at home for a while anyway." "If the cure works, it will be a happy surprise for all of us." "If it doesn't, well .." "It will save another disappointment." "But it will work, my boy." "I know it will." "I've been looking at your case history, Miss Blair." "I see a lot of work has been done." "Yes, but unfortunately without any results." "Oh, I'm no discouraged." "But there is one thing before we start the treatments." "I want to be sure you'll see it through." "Just what does see-it-through mean?" "Treatments twice a week." "Injections of the special serum that I've developed." "The dose will be increased every week." "How long will it last?" "You know I can't tell you that." "─ Well, I mean about how long?" "Naturally, I don't expect a definite date for a cure but .." "Well, how long did it take with your other patients?" "Two to four months." "But none of them had had meningitis." "Not all of them were cured." "You haven't too much faith yourself, have you." "No." "You're not going to like the treatments." "You are going to feel pretty sick after some of the injections." "That's why I want you to promise to stay with it until something is proved." "It calls for a lot of endurance." "Once I do make up my mind, I usually stick to what I've decided." "Would you tell it was if you knew it was .. useless?" "Of course." "My time has a certain value too, Miss Blair." "Very well then .." "I promise." "Doctor Will seems to have enough faith for both of us anyway." "It seems as though we're both doing his for Doctor Weeks." "You know, it's .." "It's a lucky break for us that deafness isn't one of those ailments where you .." "Have to like the doctor to be cured." "Or the doctor, his patient." "Okay, let's go." "Roll up you left sleeve, please." "What do you want, Hester?" "Can I clear away the tea, Miss Janice?" "Can't you see we aren't finished yet?" "─ I am sorry, Miss Janice." "Will Miss Emily be in for tea?" "I'm sure I haven't the slightest idea." "I will ring if I need you." "─ Yes, Miss Janice." "And you oughtn't to talk to Hester like that." "Let's go in here." "─ Oh, I like it here." "It's cozy." "Just the two of us." "If Emily comes she wouldn't see us or know what we're talking about." "Oh Janice, Emily isn't thinking about us." "Not that way." "No .. that's because she's so sure of herself." "Oh Jeff, I can't stand much ore of this." "It's getting me down." "Okay, darling." "Not in here." "Now Janice, please don't make it any tougher than it already is." "I can't walk up to her and say:" ""Emily, our engagement was a mistake"." ""As you were away, I fell in love with your sister."" "Can't you?" "─ No. ─ I can." "As you once thought you were in love with her is no reason to go on lying about it." "You must tell her." "─ I can't tell her, Janice." "Then I will." "─ Now listen." "I'm going to tell her the whole thing." "I'm sick and tired of feeling like a thief." "Just because I want something that belongs to me." "You're not her property any more." "Look, you've got to let me handle this my own way." "If you tell Emily one single word now, you and I are through." "Jeff .. don't ever say anything like that to me." "I just had to make you understand." "Darling, put your arms around me." "I'm so miserable." "This arm okay?" "Not too sore?" "Hurt?" "Yes, a little." "More than a little?" "Alright." "More than a little." "But you're not afraid of pain are you?" "No." "I told you I wasn't." "Maybe you even like it." "I don't know what gives you the right to say that." "Why don't you marry the guy?" "It seems to me you know more about my affairs than there is any need for." "I get around." "It's easy to get around Blairs Town." "So it's none of my business, huh?" "Well, anything that affects your state of mind affects your health." "And anything that affects your health .. is my business." "I'm your doctor, remember." "Very well, doctor." "Since you insist upon my saying it." "You know what kind of man Jeff Stoddard is." "Therefore you ought to know how unfair it would be for me to marry him." "The way things are." "─ Unfair to whom?" "To him of course." "Who else is there?" "You." "Really, doctor." "I just don't want to talk about it." "Unless you consider talking about it a necessary part of my treatment." "I'm sorry, Miss Blair." "Same time Friday, please." "I suppose you think I'm snapping again." "That's alright." "If snapping makes you feel any better, you go right ahead." "Goodbye, doctor." "Well good afternoon, Miss Blair." "Am I late?" "─ Only half an hour." "Last time it was 40 minutes." "You're improving." "Sorry." "I must have walked too slowly." "That's alright." "I'll be back .. in half an hour." "Sit down and read a magazine." "That is, if you care to wait." "And can spare the time." "You're not very polite this afternoon, are you?" "About average for me, Miss Blair." "About average." "Hello, doctor." "Hello." "I thought you'd wait." "You mean ..?" "You mean .. you knew I'd wait?" "It's kind of you to give me lessons in manners, Dr Vance." "In addition to all your other kindnesses to me." "No-one can teach you manners, Miss Blair." "You know them all." "Of course, if you forget to use them once in a while, that's your business." "Now, look." "It's over ten weeks since I've been coming here." "Do we always have to fight?" "It isn't fair, is it." "Especially when I have all the sharp weapons." "I .." "I've an appointment with my manicurist, else I wouldn't have bothered to wait." "You know, it's funny." "The first time you came here was because of Dr Weeks." "Today you're here because you have an appointment with your manicurist." "But I'm not discouraged." "No, I'm not discouraged at all." "Someday, you'll come here just because you want to get your hearing back." "You're going to be fine in a couple of days." "Would you like stay in bed?" "Thanks, doctor." "You're wanted on the phone, Dr Vance." "Oh thanks, Hester." "Hello?" "Who?" "Oh Peter Gallo." "How are you?" "Yeah." "What's the matter?" "Tommy?" "Yeah sure." "I'll be right over." "I'll get there as quick as I can." "Alright." "Goodbye." "Good evening, Dr Vance." "─ Good evening." "How's Carrie?" "─ Fine." "She's just got a little cold." "Dr Vance." "Would you like a cup of coffee?" "Thanks." "I can't wait." "I got a hurry-up call." "I've got to get there right away." "Thanks a lot, anyway." "Let me go with you." "What for?" "Just for the ride." "I won't be a bother." "I'll sit in the car and wait for you." "I'm bored stiff this evening." "You won't find it amusing where I'm going." "Over to the other side of the river." "Shanty town." "Peter Gallo's kid is sick." "─ Oh, I'm sorry." "I'd still like to go, though." "It's no party." "Oh hell, doctor." "What kind a person do you think I am?" "Maybe I'd like to tell you some day." "Alright." "Go and get your hat and coat." "─ I'll only be a minute." "[ Engine not starting ]" "Dead battery." "That's what I get for buying a jalopy in this town." "I beg your pardon?" "The battery is dead." "─ Oh." "You got a crank in your garage?" "─ I don't know." "I guessed you wouldn't." "Would you like to use one of our shows, Doctor Vance?" "Janice's convertible is in the garage." "I'm sure she wouldn't mind" "You sure she wouldn't?" "─ Of course not." "Even the Blairs occasionally like to help out." "In their superior way." "We're coming to the part of Blairs Town I was born in." "Well even you had to be born somewhere, Doctor Vance." "Right .. you win that round." "I'm going in with you." "─ I'd rather you wait here." "Oh, but I want to." "I know these people." "I used to got school with Angeletta." "Why, its Miss Blair." "It's pretty bad, doc." "We're glad you got here." "I tried to get here as quick as I could, Peter." "I had to borrow a car." "He's in here, Doctor." "Gary is sick." "Just like Tommy." "What did you say?" "─ Gary is sick." "Oh." "Let me have a look." "That's pretty." "Now ask your doll if she doesn't feel better." "Do you feel better?" "I'll need all the hot water I can get." "Be sure it's boiling hot." "─ Alright, doctor." "Joe .." "Is there anything I can do?" "The kid's got a mastoid." "Angeletta, you remember me, don't you?" "I'm Emily Blair." "Do you think I don't remember you?" "I remember you alright." "Mama." "I need a pan of hot water, Peter." "The light is no good." "Thelight?" "More light." "Is there a flashlight in the house, Peter?" "I think there is one out in the car." "Would you get it for me, please?" "What are you going to do?" "─ I'm going to operate." "It's an infection of the middle ear." "It's reached the mastoid bone." "The child's running a temperature of 106 and I can't risk taking him to hospital." "Doctor Weeks was in Boston." "Will you get that flashlight for me?" "─ Dr Vance, you can't operate here." "I can't?" "You stick around and watch me." "That table will have to be cleared off and scrubbed with soap and water, Peter." "Sure." "Angeletta." "I'll need a clean sheet for the table." "And some kind of apron for myself." "I said "clean"." "─ Yes, doctor." "And I want everybody out of here." "Where is the flashlight?" "─ I have it here, doctor." "I want you to hold it for me." "Keep it pointed in the right place." "You won't be able to hold it with two hands." "You'll have to use one for that." "This?" "─ Yes." "Please stand at the child's head, Miss Blair." "A small drop at a time." "Angeletta, you'll have to hold Tommy's wrist with your fingers." "Tell me if his pulse starts getting faint." "You understand?" "I understand." "You don't have to look." "If you start feeling faint, tell me." "Don't wait too long." "No, I won't." "Alright." "You can take him back to bed now, and I'll clear up." "Alright, doctor." "Doctor." "Will he be alright?" "I think so, Angeletta." "I'll be through in a minute." "I want to thank you for what you did." "I won't forget it, ever." "I am glad I was able to." "He's going to be alright." "I know he is." "He's wonderful, isn't he." "Doctor Vance." "Oh." "Is he?" "Is he going to stay here in Blairs Town?" "I don't know." "It seems a long time since High School days, doesn't it." "I'm sorry we haven't seen more of each other, Angeletta." "Why would we?" "I don't live in your world." "You've always had the best of everything." "I think I hated you for that." "Yes, I always had the best of everything." "I was a spoiled brat." "I think you're wonderful." "Thanks." "He'll sleep for hours now, Angie." "I'll be here in the morning." "Here, I'm going to leave you a thermometer." "I want you to take his temperature every half-hour." "It should go down steadily." "If it doesn't, call me will you." "Thank you, doctor." "How did you like shanty town?" "I didn't like it." "That poor crowded family." "That lovely girl just worn out." "I hated it." "You were pretty good in there." "Why?" "What do you mean?" "Not fainting." "I had no idea of fainting." "Okay Princess, maybe you didn't have the idea, but you were in the mood for it." "Did you say something?" "─ I said .." "I said how about stopping some place for a coffee." "I'm worn down to the ankles." "I'd like it very much, Doctor Vance." "I .." "I have a first name if you feel like using it." "Oh, that's very kind of you." "But I doubt it would be professional, now that I'm your anesthetist." "Okay baby." "That's another round for you." "What would have happened to the little boy if you hadn't operated?" "Like this." "Out." "So quickly?" "Yep." "Maybe even before morning." "Kids die like that, Miss Blaine." "I don't think I'll ever forget tonight." "Up to now, all my experiences with doctors have been in spotless offices." "In hospital rooms with modern equipment." "And lots of assistants." "It must take great skill." "And courage to be in an emergency in a place like that." "Tired?" "No." "I suppose I should be, but I'm not." "Didn't you have any sensation of hearing, just then?" "No." "But it's funny your asking me that." "Because it just occurred to me that you're so easy to talk with, I .." "I almost forgot I was deaf." "You know it's a shame you weren't born poor." "Poor?" "I don't mean just the money part." "It's that easy rut of prosperity you were born into." "That you'll be stuck in if you marry that guy you're engaged to." "I happen to love Jeff Stoddard." "And the only kind of life I want is the kind we'll have together." "Whether you approve or not." "Okay." "It that's what you want, I hope you get it." "Come on." "Let's go." "We can't come at this hour of the night when there could be other cars around," "We were fools to come up here at all." "Doctor Vance." "That window is open." "I wonder why." "Does somebody live above the garage?" "No, not now." "The gardener used to, but that was a long time ago." "How do you get up there?" "That door at the end of the building." "I'd better go up and look around." "It might be a prowler." "Oh Jeff, I'm scared." "What is it?" "─ For Pete's sake, shut up." "There's nobody up there." "Everything's alright." "That operation must have upset me more than I realized." "He looked straight at us and never said a word." "I wonder why he came up here." "─ He must have heard something." "He'll tell Emily." "He's probably told her already." "─ He won't tell Emily anything." "Of course he will." "I hope so." "I want him to tell her." "Doctors don't tell other people's secrets." "Take it easy." "It's just one of those things." "What have you got there, Merek?" "It is a section of the auditory nerve of an albino rabbit." "Want to take a look?" "Yes." "That looks like regenerating tissue to me." "It is." "Three weeks ago, I started injection of serum." "The rabbit had been stone deaf since birth." "The same serum you've been using?" "I must have increased the dosage too fast." "The rabbit died." "I see." "You cured the disease but killed the patient." "Serums are dangerous things." "Hmm .. very dangerous." "Any news, Merek?" "I mean .." "About Emily." "Up and up every days, isn't it." "Do I really have to go to the Blairs for dinner, Dr Will?" "Well .. they invited you." "They'll be expecting you." "You know it's only on account of you." "Alright, alright." "I'll go." "I know you'll be uncomfortable if I don't." "You haven't answered my question about Emily yet, Merek." "You know if there was anything to tell I'd tell you." "And then you are still not discouraged?" "Dinner is at four o'clock isn't it." "This is a letter from Doctor Perot in Montreal." "He's interested in my serum treatments." "He wants to know more about them." "─ That's a big compliment, Merek." "Perot is very famous." "Aunt Em is set on having Emily got and see him." "I'm afraid we can't postpone it much longer." "I see." "I ought never to have asked for you to come to Blairs Town." "In Pittsburgh you had proper facilities for your work." "Modern equipment and .." "Keen minds to discuss your problems with." "Here." "All you have here my boy is a rusty old country doctor." "An amateur laboratory and .." "Emily Blair." "Why don't you say what you mean, doctor?" "Do I have to?" "No .." "I guess you don't." "Oh." "Good afternoon, doctor." "We're glad you were able to come." "Am I too early?" "No." "No, they're having cocktails in the house." "Shall we go in?" "There is something I would like to say to you." "You know .. there is no place in the world as .." "As beautiful as New England in November." "Nothing suits this background more perfectly than you do." "You're just the right color." "Just the right touch of frost." "Is that what you wanted to say to me?" "No." "It's been almost five months since we started this treatment." "I told you then it might take a long time." "And well, that you might lose faith." "And you made a promise to stay with it until something was proved." "It wasn't so difficult." "I made you a promise too, remember." "Yes." "You promised to tell me if you knew that .." "The treatment could not cure me." "Five months isn't so long." "─ They've been long to me, doctor." "I've counted every day of them and waited and hoped." "You know at first, I didn't .." "I didn't have any faith in you." "I didn't even like you." "Then, after that night you operated on the Gallo child, I .." "Another failure, is it doctor?" "I like to keep trying." "─ Do you think ..?" "I beg your pardon?" "─ I like to keep trying." "You have a perfect right to know that the prospects aren't too bright." "Thank you for telling me." "I guess I should have suspected it anyway." "There is always Doctor Perot of Montreal." "I should have gone to him a long time ago anyway, if just to please aunt Em." "He can't do anything for you." "How do you know?" "He is world famous." "You can't possibly know what he can do." "I wrote and asked him." "I have his answer in my pocket." "He has never cured a meningitis deafness." "He regards it as incurable." "Do you want to read the letter?" "I don't suppose you'd lie to me about it." "You know I wouldn't." "But I could have told you a month ago that I wasn't getting anywhere." "That wasn't any too honest, was it." "Not if you were sure." "There is no such word as "sure"." "I didn't tell you because .." "Well, I just didn't want to go back to Pittsburgh." "I thought you liked Pittsburgh." "There is no Emily Blair in Pittsburgh." "What did you say?" "I said there is no Emily Blair in Pittsburgh." "I think I understand." "You can't cure me, so as compensation you're willing to make love to me." "That's very kind of you, doctor." "Who are you that a man can't make love to you?" "A Princess in her ivory tower .." "─ You might have keep it to yourself." "It happens I never learnt any good taste so I can finish what I was going to say." "There's a man by the name of Jeff Stoddard." "You're wearing his ring but you won't marry him." "Why?" "Because you're deaf?" "It would make no difference to me." "─ You think it does to him?" "Or whether it does or not, he won't go on waiting for you forever." "Even if he's a Stoddard." "No-one in my entire life has dared to talk to me like this." "Never!" "Maybe that's what's the matter with you." "Why don't you try coming down off that high pedestal of yours .." "And act like a human being for a change?" "Pride isn't enough for even you to live on." "Have you quite finished, doctor?" "Yes." "Maybe I said it all wrong." "But .." "At least I said it." "Then perhaps we should go in the house." "─ I'd rather not." "And why?" "Are you too proud?" "Or are you just too rude?" "The man was crossing the shallow stream." "And his horse sat down in the middle of the stream." "On a flat stone and wouldn't move." "Just sat there." "Nothing the man could do had any effect." "And then he remembered that the man who sold him the horse." "Lived just at the top of the hill, so he started up there .." "Oh, here are Emily and Dr Vance." "Good afternoon, Dr Vance." "I'll finish the story some other time." "We've all heard it before anyway, Horace." "Not now I've figured out a new end for it, Em." "Cocktail, Emily?" "─ No thanks, Jeff." "Doctor Vance?" "─ Thank you." "Thank you, Jeff." "Jeff" "Jeff, there is something I want to say." "─ Yes?" "And I'm glad you're all here too, because .." "Well, I've a confession to make." "Two confessions in fact." "A confession?" "No, no." "I'm serious, Jeff." "I'm quite serious." "I want you all to hear what I'm going to say." "Although Doctor Will and Doctor Vance know already." "For the past five months." "Doctor Vance has been trying to cure me with a special serum he discovered." "That's why I stayed home so long." "That's why I didn't go to Montreal." "Emily, you at least might have told me." "I just didn't want to tell anyone." "And anyway, it doesn't make any difference because .." "Doctor Vance's treatment didn't work." "Please Emily, it's all my fault." "Merek didn't want to do it." "He had important work to do in Pittsburgh." "Emily didn't want to do it, either." "I'm to blame for the whole thing." "The funniest thing I ever heard." "Isn't it, Jeff?" "Fancy Emily going to this handsome young doctor on the sly." "Janice, behave." "You said Dr Vance's treatment didn't work?" "That's right, Jeff." "I'm just as deaf as I ever was." "And for all I know, I'll always be." "Jeff, Dr Perot can't cure me either." "Dr Vance had a letter from him." "Apparently, no-one can cure me." "I'm going to be deaf all the rest of my life." "For the past 2 years I've been indulging myself in a very .. selfish attitude." "I asked you to wait for me and not given you an idea how long you'd have to wait." "Dr Vance .. made this very clear to me this afternoon." "I guess I was just too proud or something .. to see it for myself." "I have a life to live, Jeff." "And so have you." "And if you still want it that way, I'll marry you just as soon as you like." "Alright .." "I've always wanted it just that way." "Oh, Jeff." "I just wanted to hear you say it." "We'll have our Christmas wedding after all." "Even if I can't hear very much." "Any luck, Merek?" "Yeah .. this baby can hear." "But he doesn't like it." "It scares him." "He got five shots." "Very small ones." "He's cured." "Why that's wonderful, Merek." "Yeah." "But I really don't know too much about it." "I'll have to go back to Pittsburgh and test it out gradually." "It will have to be on human beings this time." "Volunteers." "You'll find plenty of deaf people willing to take the chance, Merek." "When will you go?" "The sooner the better." "Tomorrow." "I'll pack tonight." "And I'll see you after I get back from the wedding rehearsal at Blair House." "I wish you'd rehearse this yourself." "Janice, you know it's bad luck for a bride to rehearse her own wedding." "Now the bride's hands will change to the maid of honor." "In order to leave her left hand free for the ring." "Of course we shall not rehearse the service itself." "But after the vows are spoken .." "The best man hands me the ring." "Jeff, you didn't give it to me." "That's alright." "But be sure you have it for the wedding." "I'll take care of it." "After the ring is placed on the bride's finger." "You both kneel." "That's quite alright." "After the benediction." "The bride and groom rise." "Then the groom kisses the bride." "That concludes the service." "Darling, you'll make a beautiful bride yourself one of these days." "Emily, Doctor Radford, come with me a moment, please." "I think I'm beginning to hate you." "Goodnight, darling." "─ Come on, Jeff." "I'll deliver him in good shape at the wedding." "You'd better." "Goodnight, Mary Ann." "─ Goodnight." "Goodnight, Emily." "Here, let me help you with this." "Thanks." "Doctor Will." "─ Huh?" "I saw Dr Vance downtown yesterday." "I thought he went back to Pittsburgh." "─ He's leaving tomorrow." "Oh." "I was under the impression that he was going right after Thanksgiving." "He planned to." "But he found himself in the midst of experiments on a new serum." "He got his first positive results today." "Goodnight, Will." "─ Goodnight, Em." "Goodnight, aunt Em." "I don't want to raise your hopes again, Emily." "But the work he's doing now may one day mean something to you." "What do you mean?" "Merek has been treating a rabbit." "Deaf from birth." "─ Yes?" "Today it could hear." "He's going back to the clinic for more tests." "And then experiments with human patients." "Oh, I see." "That will take a long time, won't it." "A long time." "You can't fool around with serums, you know." "No." "No, of course not." "Now you run along to bed." "I'll let myself out." "Goodnight, Mr Will." "─ Goodnight, Emily." "Doctor Vance." "─ Why, Miss Blair." "I've got to speak to you." "Sure." "Come on in." "─ Thank you." "Won't you sit down, Miss Blair." "Dr Will told me tonight about your new cure." "Cure?" "Yes." "For deafness." "I have no cure." "But he said you'd cured a rabbit that had been deaf since birth." "That doesn't prove very much." "Why doesn't it?" "Because a rabbit isn't a human being." "No." "Of course not." "It might mean that a human being can be cured, too." "I don't know." "Nobody does." "But that's what you're working for, isn't it?" "To cure humans?" "Well, of course." "But I haven't even started." "There's still lots of work to be done." "What kind of work?" "Finding out whether what will work on the rabbit, will work on people." "What people?" "Volunteers." "Charity patients at the clinic in Pittsburgh." "You don't have to go to Pittsburgh." "I don't think I get you." "I want to volunteer." "I still have a lot of packing to do, Miss Blair." "Doctor Vance, I don't see why .." "─ The answer is no." "I don't see why." "Are they any better than I am?" "─ Who?" "Those people at the clinic." "Are they any better for your purpose?" "Are they more deaf?" "Or do they want their hearing back more than I do?" "Look, Miss Blair, I've tried to tell .." "─ I know." "You have to test the serum." "Well then, test it on me." "Look, Dr Vance." "You remember that first night you came to our house?" "Yeah." "Sure I remember." "I told you I didn't think I'd make a very good guinea pig." "Well, I was wrong." "I'd make a fine guinea pig." "Is this Emily Blair talking?" "You'd make a good guinea pig?" "─ Yes." "No better than a charity patient?" "You have changed, haven't you." "I don't know." "What does it matter?" "Well, it matters to me." "I've changed too." "I can't experiment on you any longer." "You ought to know." "I tried to tell you on Thanksgiving Day, but you shut me up." "You did something else that day, Dr Vance." "You took my hope away from me." "With no hope of hearing again, I've committed myself to marry Jeff as I am." "Incomplete." "Shut off from the world that we want to share." "You'll have more with him than without him, won't you?" "You love him, don't you?" "Isn't that enough?" "It needn't be." "When Dr Will told me what you'd been doing, that hope was born again." "I know now that I can't live without it." "Well you can, and you will." "If I gave you hope before, I was wrong." "My failure proved that." "I'm not going to let you hope again." "But you can't stop that!" "You are going on working, aren't you?" "Well, as long as you're working, I'll be hopeful." "As long as you're alive and I'm alive, I'll hope." "You won't give up, huh?" "Will you?" "No, well .." "I guess not." "AS long as you're deaf, I'll go on working." "Until the day I can come to you and give you the only thing you want from me." "Don't make me wait until then." "Start now." "─ It's pretty dangerous." "You mean, I might die?" "No." "I don't think that." "But you might be very sick." "We might fail again." "─ I'm not afraid." "You are going to be married in a couple of days." "You might not be able to." "Jeff has waited for me now for more than two years." "I know he won't mind waiting a little longer." "And if you can give me my hearing back .." "You'll be giving." "Both of us the greatest gift that anyone could ever give us." "Both of you." "A wedding present, huh." "It will take a couple of minutes to prepare the shot." "Sit down, will you." "Thank you." "I heard voices so I came down." "Oh hello, Doctor Will." "It seems the treatments are continuing." "─ That's right." "I had a hard time persuading him, though." "A doctor is never persuaded to do a thing he believes to be wrong for his patient." "Is he, Merek?" "Was this the new serum?" "And you chose to experiment on Emily with it?" "He didn't choose to." "I insisted that he give it to me." "I understand that, Emily." "What I'm concerned with is the fact that this serum is dangerous." "Your consent makes no difference." "You can't judge the danger." "Merek can." "I see I am talking a language that neither of you want to understand." "If you will put your coat on, I will take you home." "Quick, Merek!" "Get my car." "Oh Miss Blair." "You're still here, Dr Vance?" "Don't ask me to go until .." "Until Emily dies, Dr Vance?" "She won't die, Miss Blair." "She can't." "No, she can't." "She can't die." "Her pulse is regular." "She is still comatose." "But she's going to live." "Yes, she'll live." "No thanks to you." "Well, I guess I'd better be leaving." "I had to know." "─ Yes, of course." "What time is it?" "Ten past seven." "I just have time enough to make the eight o'clock." "Just." "You're home in bed, Emily." "You're alright." "Everything is alright." "Dr Vance?" "─ He's not here." "He'll come soon?" "He went back to Pittsburgh, my dear." "What happened to me?" "You are alright." "The injection Dr Vance gave you produced a sort of .." "Of shock." "You had us worried." "He went away?" "Not until he knew you were alright." "We'll talk about it later." "Try to rest." "[ Falling sleet sounds on windows ]" "Nurse." "Yes, Miss Blair?" "Where is Dr Weeks?" "Are you alright, Miss Blair?" "─ Dr Weeks!" "Please." "I'll call him, Miss Blair." "Doctor Will." "Ask the nurse to leave us alone." "Now .. now say something to me." "But you'll have to look at me, Emily." "But you'll have to look at me, Emily." "I can hardly believe it." "Go on!" "Say something else to me now." "Emily." "Tomorrow would be your wedding day." "If you were well enough." "Emily, tomorrow will be your wedding day." "If you were well enough." "It's a miracle." "I know." "I know." "Oh, to be able to hear again." "To hear voices." "And sleet." "And the fire!" "I can hear the fire in the fireplace." "Janice." "Emily, darling." "You look wonderful, Emily." "Do you feel alright?" "Wonderful." "I've never felt better in my whole life." "You can't feel that well, darling." "You were almost dead last night." "Shall I tell her?" "─ No, no." "Janice." "Janice." "Turn away from me." "What in the world ..?" "─ Go on, go on." "Turn away from me." "This is silly." "No .. it isn't silly." "You heard me!" "Yes, I heard you." "I heard you!" "I've got and call aunt Em." "She's .." "─ Oh, wait a minute." "How soon can I get up, doctor?" "You may get up for a little while later this afternoon." "Then I want to tell her myself." "I want to go downstairs and tell her." "Jeff will be here too?" "Yes of course, darling." "Jeff will be here." "I want to tell both of them." "I want us all to be together." "I want to see her face." "And I want to see Jeff's face." "Oh Dr Will, I wish Dr Vance had waited." "So do I, my dear." "He should be the first to know." "Oh no, darling." "Jeff should have been the first." "You don't know what this will mean to him." "Almost as much as it means to you." "And to me, darling." "To me." "Hello Janice." "Emily is waiting for you." "In her room?" "─ Yes." "How is she, Janice?" "─ She's fine." "Never better." "Really?" "That's hardly believable." "She's better than she's been for years." "If so, we won't have to postpone the wedding, will we." "Are you really going through with it, Jeff?" "Of course I am, Janice." "What else can I do?" "A man of honor, aren't you." "You keep your promises." "Darling, we've been over this a hundred times." "This is the way things are." "You'll have to accept it, just as I have." "I see." "She's deaf." "You can't let her down." "That's the way I feel." "In that case, we might as well go on up." "Jeff." "Before you go in, I want to be sure of one thing." "Yes, Janice?" "─ You still love me, don't you?" "Oh, Janice." "It will be the last time you'll have to tell me." "Do you?" "I wish I didn't." "Do you?" "Do you?" "You know I do, Janice." "Thanks, Jeff." "You'd better go in now." "Emily has something to say to you." "Aren't you coming in?" "I think she'd rather see you alone." "Janice." "Please come in." "Emily, you're looking wonderful." "─ Well, Jeff." "So you love Janice?" "What do you mean?" "I think it is simple enough." "I heard you." "You heard me?" "Yes." "You can hear?" "─ She can hear, Jeff." "Now there is no reason why you shouldn't tell her." "This is what you said you'd been waiting for." "So, I think you'd better tell me, Jeff." "This is terrible, Emily." "I'd rather do anything than hurt you." "Even marry me?" "Emily." "─ Now, look Jeff." "Would it help any if I told you I'll not ask you to choose between Janice and me?" "I have no apologies, Emily." "You were away a great deal and we fell in love with each other." "Oh." "Janice, what about you?" "Do you love Jeff?" "Yes, I love him." "I see." "Janice, sit down." "Jeff, you sit down too." "Both of you." "Poor Jeff." "You haven't been happy, have you?" "You and Janice." "No, we haven't been." "Meeting out in country roads and in cars." "Even in the gardener's place above the garage." "The gardener's place over the garage?" "Yes." "That's strange." "One night I came home very late with Dr Vance after an emergency call." "I saw the window was open and he went upstairs to see if anyone was there." "We were up there." "Janice and I." "he saw us." "He looked right at us." "He saw you?" "Yes." "That's funny." "He didn't mention it to anyone." "And then on the terrace on Thanksgiving Day." "He practically challenged me to marry you, Jeff." "I wonder why he thought that was a good idea." "I think I'll have to ask him the next time I see him." "[ Telephone ]" "Doctor Vance speaking." "Who?" "Oh .. put her on." "Hello." "Hello, Miss Blair." "How are you?" "Well, I'm glad to hear that." "I .. suppose today is the day for congratulations and good wishes." "No more so than any other day." "Well, you .. are being married aren't you?" "Not that I know of." "By the way, Dr Vance." "You have a lovely voice." "You see, this is the first time I've heard it." "Hey." "Hey, you can hear!" "You're telephoning." "Hey .." "The serum worked." "Hello .. operator." "I was calling long distance." "But I had a call from Massachusetts." "Excuse me, Miss." "Miss Foster, you cut me off." "Good morning, Dr Vance." "You .. you phoned from here?" "─ That's right." "Come here." "You can hear?" "─ Yes." "─ It worked?" "It worked." "Come here." "─ What?" "Did I hear you say you weren't getting married?" "No, I'm not." "Thanks to you." "Thanks to me?" "Well, in the first place, thanks to you, I .." "I have my hearing back." "But more than that, my eyes were opened, too." "Why, you mean about .." "About Stoddard and your sister?" "Well yes." "Yes, that." "But more than that." "That's why I came." "To thank you and to start repaying you." "Repaying me for what?" "─ Oh, I don't mean in money." "No." "Once you said, that you wished I had been born poor." "Well, I find myself wishing that, too." "Because I know now what you meant." "I would have been useful." "I would have learned how to work." "Perhaps I began being useful when I started being a guinea pig." "And perhaps now I can continue by being an exhibit for you." "Until you help me to learn other useful things." "Remember there was something else I said to you." "What?" "Well, I .." "I said there was no Emily Blair in Pittsburgh." "Well, there is now." "To stay?" "Yes." "What about Blairs Town and all you left there?" "That was yesterday." "And ..?" "And now, tomorrow." "T-G" "T-G"