"Now Fleury." "Hold the head erect." "Remember, the book is there to give you posture and poise." "An excellent picture of a King descending his throne to greet a visiting Princess." "Very good, Fleury." "─ Thank you, Madame." "Isn't he divine?" "Simone." "─ Yes, Madame?" "Simone." "─ Yes, Madame?" "What are you doing?" "Well, it says here .." "I am a woman of the slums deserted by the man I love." "Creeping up to his room to kill him." "Creep then, don't dance." "Think, Simone." "It's pretty hard with a book on your head." "You're a murderess." "Try to get the idea of murder into your whole body." "Your walk." "Yes, Madame." "I can't." "I can't do it." "─ Take your seat." "I'm sorry." "Louise." "Louise!" "No, no." "Louise." "Don't you understand your problem?" "You are ascending the scaffold." "You are supposed to be Marie Antoinette." "But I am Marie Antoinette." "Really?" "Then let your legs in on that secret." "You are weak." "So tired you can hardly move." "You've come from prison." "But Marie Antoinette was a Queen, and she walked like a Queen." "Do as I tell you to do." "Yes, Madame." "Oh, our Queen has lost her head." "Well, another day." "─ Yes, it's serious work." "By the way, how did Louise Mauban do this afternoon?" "She has talent that girl." "I gave her the Marie Antoinette problem." "And when I criticized her she showed me exactly where I was wrong." "Of course, I didn't think it wise to admit it before the class." "Oh, nonsense." "The girl will always be an amateur." "Oh, I'm sorry you feel that way." "She idolizes you." "Of course, I can't let that influence my professional opinion." "Therese, my dear." "You and I are still actresses, but now we are teachers, too." "We can't be jealous of talent because it's young and on the way up, can we?" "I don't know what you are talking about." "To be .. or not to be!" "That is the question!" "To be .. or not to be!" "That is .." "Make way." "Make way for Venus." "Rising from the waves." "Venus, get it?" "That's just the cue so she can talk about her legs again." "Why not?" "There's only one other leg like this in all Paris." "And that's it!" "If mine weren't any better, I'd sell them for sausages." "Well, well." "A grove of toothpicks." "─ Let's see whose are there." "Alright, I'll be the judge." "Can't you girls think of anything but your silly bodies?" "The noble traditions of the theatre were not founded on legs." "A shapely limb never hurt the box-office." "I shall judge." "My pulse is normal and I shall not be swayed biologically." "Come, Yvonne." "Darling, let's go to the amusement park tonight." "Amusement park?" "I have two tickets for Macbeth." "Oh, Macbeth?" "Oh, that's fine, darling." "Now let me see." "Make a link between the knees." "Both calves are in the running." "I hope you're not doing anything tonight, Fleury." "Oh Nana, I'm awfully sorry, but I won't be able to see you." "The show." "I've got to rehearse." "─ Well, I'm sorry too." "The rehearsal?" "Did you get the part?" "Yeah." "I'll tell you how it works out tomorrow." "Oh wonderful." "I'm as proud as anything." "─ Goodnight." "Goodnight." "No." "I can decide nothing." "I must wait for absolute perfection." "Well here is absolute perfection." "Marie Antoinette herself." "What happened?" "Didn't the guillotine work or did you get a refund ticket?" "Come on out with us tonight, Louise." "I'll introduce you to a hangman." "I'm sorry." "I have an engagement." "─ Oh, naturally." "And where were you going tonight, Madame?" "Oh, the Parisian public is giving me a boring little supper." "My uncle's in town." "He's just returned from the court of Siam." "Honestly, Mauban, where do you really go every night?" "Where do ..?" "Wouldn't you like to know." "Stay awake there, Louise." "─ Yes, ma'am." "Listen up, do actresses make as much money as they say?" "Of course." "But that's not important." "You know, you're not the best liar in this room but you certainly are the biggest." "You don't understand anything." "I don't lie." "I only say what is true, or what will be true." "It's all the same in the end." "─ Yeah." "Bernhardt was poor too." "Bernhardt." "The greatest actress who ever lived." "She had to sleep on a park-bench." "─ Well, that's where we'll go if .." "Look." "Do you see what I see?" "Just imagine this on the stage." "I seated at that .." "That thingamajig there." "Of course, we can't use gas-meters." "Listen, it's an ammunition plant." "Girls moving like robots." "A titanic conveyor." "Giant shells passing on the belts." "─ The shells open." "Don't steal my idea." "I'm the Producer and after all, the Producer can have one idea." "Gina, darling, the shells open, a girl steps out of each shell wearing a uniform." "With a gun, aiming at the audience." "─ Wait a minute." "Where do I come in?" "Oh, In the centre, my dear." "Wearing very little and waving a flag." "Yes, I like that." "Oh Mr Dumont, you must show me the rest." "We'll have modern music, no strings, brasses and a steam whistle." "Will make a good duet." "Gina's voice and a steam whistle." "How long have you worked in the factory?" "Two years, Monsieur." "But my father has been with the plant ten years." "Really?" "How nice." "And you?" "How long have you been with the plant, my dear?" "Ten years, my dear, and so has my husband." "Oh, you are married, Madame." "How long?" "─ Ten years." "Any children?" "─ Eleven." "Last year I had twins." "How nice." "I realise that our visit may seem a bit out of place." "You see, Mlle Bertier wants a factory background for a number in her new revue." "I'm sorry if I've been rude." "I didn't mean to be." "Darling, see!" "That's what I meant." "Gina, don't you think we've seen enough?" "─ Don't be silly, sweet." "It's fascinating." "Monsieur .. has been telling me such interesting things." "You, my dear." "How many hours do you work?" "From ten at night, until six in the morning." "Oh how awful." "But then, we're all night workers aren't we?" "How often I study my part, way into the wee small hours." "Oh yes." "Just keep on with your work." "I want to see how you do it." "I always study my part in every detail." "Yes, exactly like that." "─ Gina, we really must go." "Alright, darling." "Oh, I'll never forget any of you." "Nor you, Monsieur." "Oh thank you!" "Thank you so much Monsieur." "It's nice we put out all these meters." "There is plenty of gas in the world." "Goodnight, Madame." "─ Goodnight, girls." "Goodnight." "Lunch!" "Ask Gina to stay for lunch." "I'll bake her a cake." "Come on, let's eat." "What did you think of that?" "Say, what's that funny smell?" "Poor people, darling." "What are you kicking about?" "You had a free look at the one and only Bertier." "I'm glad there is only one." "─ Yeah." "One is enough." "Annette?" "─ Yep?" "Who was he?" "─ He who?" "The gentleman who spoke to you." "─ Don't you read the papers?" "He's the Marquis D'Abbencourt." "─ Who's he?" "What do they teach you in that school?" "He's handsome and rich, and he has a car with a special body." "For his special body he has 38 suits of clothes." "Well, he puts up the money for the shows for his lady friend, Gina Bertier." "Is that all in the paper?" "No." "Françoise's valet has a girlfriend called Suzanne." "And Suzanne's brother Pierre is a boyfriend of Marianne." "Who is my cousin." "─ Is he in love with Gina Bertier?" "Temporarily." "─ Tempor ..?" "Well, in the last two years he's had five lady friends." "I don't believe he's that kind of a man." "You got him all figured out, huh?" "A minute ago, you didn't even know who he was." "You can know someone without knowing his name." "Where did you meet him?" "I was on my way here." "Hurrying across the street." "Suddenly a limousine came around the corner." "I was blinded." "I didn't know what to do." "I closed my eyes and .." "I heard the screaming of the brakes." "And the next thing I knew, he was carrying me to his car." "He was so sweet, gentle and wise." "He asked me where I worked, but I refused to tell him." "Just like you!" "Where your real chance comes along .." "When did all this happen?" "─ Last night." "Last night, huh?" "Last night, we came to work together." "A cat got hit by a taxi, and nothing else." "Some day you're going to tell such a big one it will choke you." "Well .. go on .. tonight." "Just one glance at you and his whole life was changed, I suppose?" "Now, he's walking up and down the factory counting the diamond buttons on his shirt." "She loves me, she loves me not." "He can't stand it any longer." "He must come back." "He must see you just once .." "Gina, let's not have a scene .." "Let me handle this, please." "Girls, anybody find a bracelet here?" "Emeralds and diamonds and it was lost in this room." "Come on, girls." "Anyone seen it?" "I seen her looking for something under the bench. ─ Me?" "Oh, that is exactly where I was standing." "I was watching her work." "What of it?" "─ Did you see the bracelet?" "I did not." "─ Listen, my girl." "If you picked up the bracelet to give it back to Mlle Bertier, do it now." "And there will be no questions asked." "I did not pick up the bracelet." "She'll have to be searched." "─ I'll do it." "Just try and do it." "Oh!" "Oh here it is." "Caught in the hem of my cape." "There, now you see." "Oh but darling, how could I know?" "And I was right, I did lose it." "Please Mademoiselle, accept our sincere apologies." "We're very sorry." "I'm terribly sorry." "I didn't accuse you." "I didn't think for a second that you .." "Please don't be angry." "─ I'm not." "I'm glad you didn't lose it." "Oh, I hate it now." "Here." "Here, you take it." "I want you to have it." "Here, it's for you." "─ Thank you." "I never wear jewellery." "Let's go, darling." "Goodnight, girls." "Goodnight." "Give it to the strange little thing that refuses jewellery." "Thank you Monsieur, thank you." "[ Bell rings ]" "Attention!" "Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" "Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye, than twenty of their swords." "I hear some noise within." "Dear love, adieu!" "Romeo, doff thy name." "And for that name which is no part of thee, take all myself." "And then he does." "Oh, that's beautiful." "Yes, but it only happens in books." "Look dears, fascinated as I am by your views on love, we've a class in 5 minutes." "I'm sorry, Nana." "I won't say another word." "Mado, if you think love only blooms in books .." "You should get to the chorus of my show and watch Fleury with Gina." "Fleury and Gina Bertier?" "Are they in love?" "Are they?" "Listen." "In the second act, Gina has to kiss a man in the chorus." "Doesn't matter which, one as it's just a piece of business during the number." "Romeo, doff thy name." "And for thy name which is no part of thee, take all myself." "He took all of hers." "─ Shut up." "Go on, Simone." "Well, for the kiss, Gina used to pick any one of the boys." "But then, Fleury got a job in the chorus." "And ever since then, she only picked one man." "The third from the left in the row." "That's Fleury?" "─ That's Fleury." "And every night the kiss gets longer and longer." "It's a better show than we give the audience." "We wait for it, we time it, and then we even bet how long they dare hold it." "They're making an exhibition of themselves, the fools." "Of course, what would you expect?" "Gina Bertier and Fleury .." "Oh but it's so grand to see them." "─ They're really in love." "Love." "Real love." "Nice and sweet and sticky." "Right off a valentine." "But Nana, love is so good." "You can have it." "─ Well, I'll take it any time." "But I can't seem to find it." "Real love .. with a millionaire." "It just never seems to come my way." "The more I give, the less I get." "Reverse it." "The less you give, the more you get." "I know." "Is that your technique, Nana?" "I give nothing, I say nothing." "I let them rave and I don't even listen." "That makes me a glamorous mystery." "Try it sometime." "It's very practical." "Well, where's the fun in that?" "─ I wasn't talking about fun." "I haven't had any fun since .." "Since as long as I can remember." "Never mix business and .." "Look, will you two go somewhere else?" "I want to study." "Why don't you?" "There is only one of you." "Oh go away!" "You talk too much." "Nana, would you be an angel and go over the scene with me?" "I'm not ambitious to be an angel." "Wings aren't becoming to me." "Let's start right in there." "We started and we're finished." "─ Nana, what's the matter?" "Get Gina Bertier to rehearse with you!" "Or can't she read?" "Gina Bertier?" "─ Yes, Gina." "Gina, Gina." "You remember her?" "The star that kisses the chorus boy." "You're jealous of her." "Jealous?" "I'm jealous of you and Gina?" "Yes, you're jealous of her because she's beautiful and successful." "What's the use?" "A girl like you couldn't understand anyone as fine as Gina Bertier." "No, but she and the Marquis understand each other, don't they Fleury?" "Nana .." "I know you love him and it makes you unhappy." "But why must you be so hateful to him?" "What do you mean, "hate"?" "─ You love him." "Why, I love him?" "Fleury the chorister?" "Oh of course, everyone knows that." "Haven't you noticed how nice I am to him, how I .." "I know acting when I see it, Nana." "The balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet." "Is more than just a love scene." "It is for the world, the love scene." "Audiences ask you to take the memories of their first loves." "And ennoble them and lend them poetry." "Juliet was fourteen years old when she and Romeo met." "Fourteen?" "She certainly was precocious." "─ Hmm." "Physically, Romeo and Juliet should be young." "But the playing of the scene." "Requires experience, knowledge and a rich maturity." "I played Juliet first when I was sixteen years old." "A child." "Oh no, I take that back." "I did not play Juliet at sixteen." "I spoke the lines." "But I know now that I had no real grasp of the role's demand." "Two years ago." "When I played Juliet last." "I feel that I did truly play the part." "Let us begin rehearsal." "Romeo?" "Fleury." "And Juliet?" "Who wants to play Juliet?" "That's nice." "But one at a time." "Suppose you try it, Louise?" "─ Yes." "Morning." "Be seated." "Good morning, Madame Charlot." "─ Good morning, Mr Pasquel." "Oh, don't let me disturb you." "Proceed, please." "The President will watch the rehearsal." "Fleury, Louise." "Begin." "Oh, Romeo, Romeo." "Wherefore, art thou, Romeo?" "Deny thy father." "And refuse thy name." "Of if thou wilt not." "Be but sworn, my love." "And I'll no longer be a Capulet." "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" "T'is but thy name that is my enemy." "You are too serious." "There is no real fire behind your words." "But remember what I told you." "There must be a flame that burns in you." "It's irresistible." "It carries you away." "Don't you understand?" "─ Yes, Madame." "Oh, no you don't." "I didn't either when I was eighteen." "And now, when I finally understand." "I don't play Juliet anymore." "I bet she's only played it for the last 100 years." "You're not playing the scene properly." "─ May I make a suggestion." "Yes, do please." "─ Let's ask the class." "Boys and girls." "I'd like to know what you think about the scene." "I want your frank opinion." "Well .. who has anything to say?" "Your son has a good critical sense." "It is my opinion, sir, that the scene is being played in two contrasting styles." "Louise's reading lacks the excitement it should have." "It is keyed too low." "She seems weary." "Fleury goes to the other extreme." "He overdoes it." "He declaims instead of speaking." "And he doesn't make love to Juliet, he makes love to the audience." "That's enough my son." "To criticise is easy." "To be better, or not to be." "That's the question for actors." "So suppose you show the class." "Go on." "Up." "Begin with the line: "he jests at scars that never felt a wound."" "He jests at scars that never felt a wound." "But soft!" "What light from yonder window breaks?" "It is the east." "And Juliet is the sun." "Arise fair sun, and kill the envious moon." "Who is already sick and pale with grief." "That thou her maid, are far more fair than she." "It is my lady, O, it is my love!" "Oh, that she knew she were .." "Alright, my son." "Was I very bad, sir?" "─ Come down, my boy." "You gave a very good criticism of your fellow student." "Now try to give me an opinion of your own acting." "Just as unbiased." "Well, what do you think?" "I think I was quite good, sir." "Quiet!" "Don't you think there is room for improvement?" "Certainly sir, and I'm doing my best." "I study day and night." "That's fine." "But remember that work and study can only develop the talent you must have." "I hope I have that talent, sir." "It runs in the family." "Let's hope so, my son." "Well, I must leave." "Thank you, Madame Charlot." "Your visits are always a pleasure." "Let us resume our work." "Start all over again, from "Romeo, Romeo"." "Oh, Romeo, Romeo." "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" "Deny thy father." "And refuse .." "─ Come down!" "It's no use." "You just don't understand." "Sit over there." "Let me show you." "Oh, Romeo." "Romeo." "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" "Deny thy father." "And refuse thy name." "Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn, my love." "And I'll no longer be a Capulet." "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" "T'is but thy name which is my enemy." "What's in a name?" "Do you see the difference, Louise?" "Do you know now ..?" "Yes, Madame?" "Do I actually bore you so much?" "─ Oh no, Madame." "Please forgive me, it is just that I .." "─ It is just that you are tired out." "Yes, Madame." "─ Yes." "You've been burning the candle at both ends." "Spending your nights in dissipation." "And then dragging yourself here to study for the theatre. ─ No, Madame." "It isn't hard to guess the sort of life you are leading." "I need only look at you." "─ But Madame Charlot .." "Your work here is unimportant to you." "Because you are sure that you know all there is about acting already, don't you?" "Answer me!" "Don't you?" "─ No, I don't." "I don't." "I want to learn." "I must." "─ Learn in your sleep?" "It is time someone put you in your place, Louise Mauban." "When you took your entrance examinations, only the President voted for you." "I thought then what he took for talent and "personality" was nothing but conceit" "A stubborn, sullen arrogance." "And now I know it." "Class is dismissed." "Go back to your beauty sleep." "Don't take it to heart, Louise." "She's always unfair to you." "She had a right to be angry." "A student asleep while Charlot is acting?" "Why .." "I came to this school on account of her." "Well, she'll have forgotten the whole thing by tomorrow." "I'm afraid not." "Methought I heard a voice cry: "sleep no more"." "Poor Louise." "She needn't have been so mean." "It was my own fault." "I tried hard to keep awake." "But I got only two hours sleep." "What were you doing?" "─ She went to the ball with the Prince." "So, while the Champagne flowed and the violins played, they danced." "But the glass slippers pinched her feet." "Come on, Louise." "Tell us about your secret life." "For instance, where were you last night?" "Well, what do you do?" "─ Tell us." "What about it?" "Last night?" "─ Yes." "I was in a factory." "What kind of a factory?" "A gas-meter factory." "A gas-meter factory?" "Oh, it was such a strange night." "After the theatre we were sitting around at the Catalan." "So, we were at the Catalan?" "Who's we?" "Some friends and .." "Andre." "─ Andre who?" "The Marquis D'Abbencourt." "The Marquis?" "You mean to say .." "─ I think I said enough." "Wait a minute." "You've just started." "So the Marquis takes you to theatres, nightclubs and factories?" "Yes, he does." "And not a soul knows about it?" "Not even Gina Bertier?" "Yes, but .." "Andre is too courteous to talk about him and Gina." "Why?" "─ To keep our secret." "Well, why keep it a secret?" "The Marquis D'Abbencourt?" "I have my family to think of." "I live with my aunt, Annette." "She is very old-fashioned." "Poor, but terribly proud." "I wish you could see the lace that she wears with high bone collars." "Oh, I couldn't let her see my evening gown." "But she must see you when you go out." "You see .." "I always change at the apartment." "─ What apartment?" "A little place off the Champs Elysée, I keep my clothes there." "You don't wear any of them to school, do you." "No, I only dress for Andre when we are together." "But I have everything." "Dinner clothes, evening clothes, an ermine coat, a sable cape." "Everything." "Except jewels." "I hate jewellery." "I never accept them." "─ How noble." "Go on." "─ Yes .." "We were discussing plays." "Andre wanted to find a production for me." "I told him I'd like to do something modern and realistic." "Maybe the story of a factory girl." "The next thing I knew, Andre ordered his car and we were on our way to a factory." "At two o'clock in the morning." "Ha ha." "Just like Andre." "─ Well, what happened?" "We saw the factory." "It was very depressing." "We went back to the club." "Andre tried to cheer me up." "We stayed there until seven o'clock in the morning." "Now, I think you know everything." "Yes." "Everything except the date of the wedding." "I .. haven't made up my mind about that yet." "You mean, he's asked you to marry him?" "Do you really expect us to believe that?" "I don't care what you believe." "You needn't even believe this." "Andre bought a bracelet, emeralds and diamonds." "It cost 75,000 francs." "Last night, I refused to accept this bracelet." "Oh, who would refuse it?" "─ I did!" "I refused it." "I swear that I refused it." "May, I .." "May I never become a great actress." "If I am not telling the truth." "Did you see that kiss?" "Kiss?" "That's not a kiss." "That's a honeymoon." "Happy, Fleury?" "─ Oh hello, Simone." "Oh, I think it is wonderful, Fleury." "─ What's wonderful?" "Well, you know what I mean." "You and Gina." "I see the kiss, you know." "Every night." "I can't talk about it, Simone." "Oh, but you can tell me." "I'll never say a word." "Did you join the show because of her?" "No." "I took the job in the chorus just to make some money." "And then I saw her." "One night she chose me for the kiss." "I told myself a million times it was only a stage kiss, but .." "The next night she kissed me again, and I kissed her." "Why doesn't she break with the Marquis?" "─ She can't do that. ─ Oh." "Because he's financing the show." "─ It wouldn't make any difference to her." "She's too idealistic for that." "What holds her to the Marquis, then?" "─ You don't understand." "The Marquis is desperately in love with Gina." "He would never survive the break." "He wants to marry her." "─ Who told you that?" "She did." "She's fooling you or else he's fooling her." "Simone .. do you know something?" "─ Well, I don't think I ought to .." "Please, Simone." "Please." "─ Do you love her as much as that?" "Simone?" "Why, he's not in love with Gina Bertier." "He's in love with .." "I can't mention her name but it's a girl from our school." "He wants to marry her." "Impossible!" "I've it on the best authority." "─ The girl told you?" "They visited a nightclub and danced until morning." "He gives her orchids, gowns, furs, a beautiful apartment, jewels." "And Gina believes?" "I must see Gina." "Fleury, for heaven's sake don't do anything foolish." "Gina." "Gina." "─ Fleury, what is this?" "Something I must tell you." "With this gentleman here, the better." "What's happened?" "We're afraid of hurting him, and all the time he's deceiving you!" "Fleury, are you mad?" "─ He'd die without you." "Would I really?" "Gina, who is your melodramatic friend?" "─ Never mind who I am." "Gina, I tell you there's another girl." "He wants to marry her." "What?" "They go to nightclubs and dance until the morning." "He gives her gowns, furs, jewels." "Sounds an active program." "─ He gave her an apartment." "What's the address?" "─ Andre, is it true?" "Answer me?" "Answer the question." "Is there another girl?" "There are some questions you should answer first." "Ask me." "─ Shut up." "Fleury?" "Why, I can explain him." "─ I'm sure you can, but .." "Explanations are dull." "And really, I'm not at all curious." "You see, it's true." "─ Fleury, you're driving me mad." "Oh Andre, wait a minute." "Andre!" "The name is "Fleury" my dear, from now on." "Goodnight." "Andre, I was just looking for you." "It seems to me that the new number is going to cost more than I figured." "I think fifty thousand francs will about cover it, though." "No, Boulin." "I find I have lost interest in the theatre." "You .. what?" "You mean that you and she ..?" "Boulin, I'm afraid you'll have to have to find yourself another angel." "But you can't leave me high and dry like this." "I shall have to close down." "Cheer up." "There is a new angel in there." "He's still wet behind the wings and I hear he has millions." "Really?" "─ Millions." "Go get him." "Never mind." "It's only Boulin." "Oh, Boulin, I must tell you .." "Boulin sees, Boulin knows." "And doesn't the whole world love a lover?" "I'm glad to see you again, mister .." "─ Fleury." "Fleury, yes that's the name." "I'm sure we've met before." "Don't you understand?" "─ Oh, my mistake." "Now listen to me Boulin." "─ You look beautiful, my angel." "Doesn't she look beautiful tonight?" "─ Mr Boulin, I want to explain." "I understand." "But you don't." "Now listen to me." "─ But I am all ears." "How about a chat after the show?" "I hope you're interested in shows, Mr Fleury." "Oh no, you are making a great mistake." "The Finalé!" "─ Oh, the Finalé!" "Are you going with her?" "Mr Boulin, I'm in the Finalé." "─ What has that to do with you?" "He's in the chorus." "What?" "You mean you're only .." "─ Yes, Mr Boulin." "I'm only a chorus boy." "You're not!" "You are fired." "─ Boulin. ─ Finalé is on." "Finalé is on?" "This is the Finalé!" "The show is over." "A new show in four weeks." "Thanks to you, my dear." "─ Sure it was alright for me to tell you?" "You know, I don't like to talk about people, but you did ask me." "Of course I did, my dear." "And you did the right thing and I'm very grateful to you." "I'll see there is a place for you in the new show." "Thank you, Mr Boulin." "─ Thank you, my dear." "Bye, ─ Goodbye." "Rose .. get me the Dramatic School at the National Theatre." "There's a girl there named Louise Mauban." "Louise Mauban, Mr Boulin." "Come in, my dear." "Sit down." "So you're the little girl I've been hearing about?" "Stand up, Louise." "Turn around slowly." "Show your legs." "Marvellous." "Your friends were right." "My friends?" "Oh yes, you have friends my dear." "And they talk about you." "I've heard great things." "Great things." "You have?" "─ Indeed I have." "Now tell me my dear." "Do you sing?" "─ No." "Can you dance?" "─ No." "Oh well, it doesn't matter." "You are just what we want." "You mean, for the chorus?" "─ The chorus?" "Certainly not." "You may be the star of my next show." "How does it feel to hear that?" "I don't know what to say." "Oh, no wonder." "A star overnight." "You enter in a golden gown, wrapped in ermine." "You don't do a thing, but pose there, smiling." "Oh." "Thank you Mr Boulin for even thinking of giving me a leading part." "Oh, don't mention it." "─ But I can't accept it." "What?" "Please don't think that I'm ungrateful." "But I didn't work so hard just to get a chance to be a revue star." "On with a golden gown and just posing." "That's not for me." "I want something else." "Something that comes from the heart." "I'm a dramatic actress." "My dear, you don't know how glad I am to hear you say that." "You are?" "I was .. only testing you, my child." "Don't believe that I planned to cast you in a revue." "Now tell me." "What do you want to play?" "You mean, you would let me play one of the great parts?" "The greatest!" "What shall it be, Louise?" "Your first starring part." "I may choose?" "─ Anything." "Electra." "Elec ..?" "Electra?" "Well, let me see." "I don't seem to be able to recall .." "The great Greek tragedy, Mr Boulin." "Electra's mother killed her father, so Electra had to kill her mother." "Oh, I see .. of course." "It all comes back to me now." "Well, if that's your choice my dear, that's what we do." "Oh." "Mr Boulin, are you making fun of me?" "If you are, please tell me and I'll go." "My dear child, we open in four weeks' time." "Edouard Boulin presents Louise Mauban as .. "Electra"." "Monsieur Boulin." "I can't believe it." "Why, this is the happiest day of my life." "How can I ever repay you?" "A great performance is all I ask, my dear." "Oh, there is just one little favour you can do for me." "What can I do?" "You are acquainted with the Marquis D'Abbencourt, aren't you my dear?" "The Marquis?" "Oh, yes." "Yes .." "─ A charming fellow, Andre." "Yes." "─ Yes." "A great patron of the arts, and art needs patrons these days." "Do this for me, for us, Louise." "Tell me about our plans, just as we discussed it this morning." "Ask him to drop in and have a little chat with me, will you?" "I understand that .." "I will try." "Splendid." "I expect you in the morning." "In the meantime, you speak to Andre." "I'll have your contract drawn up." "Or better still, telephone me tonight, eh?" "Yes, I'll telephone you tonight." "What's the matter, my dear?" "Don't you feel well?" "I'm alright .. only .." "It's the surprise." "The excitement." "I know." "The happiest girl in Paris right now." "Yes." "Best regards to Andre." "What's wrong with you?" "You haven't opened your mouth all evening." "I must make a telephone call." "It won't take a minute." "At this time of night?" "[ Car horn ]" "Why don't you play that in the Opera House?" "No, Mr Boulin, it is impossible." "The Marquis refuses to have anything to do with any shows." "Goodbye." "Who did you call?" "─ Mr Boulin, the Producer." "He offered to star me in his next show." "I just refused." "There, didn't I tell you?" "Someday you'd tell such a big one, you'd choke." "Did anyone ever tell you were glamorous?" "No, Mounier?" "You just thought of it for the first time." "Did I?" "But you know Nana, sometimes I think you don't like me at all." "Would I go out with you if I didn't like you?" "Well, that's what I mean." "I don't know." "You, you're a mystery." "I don't know what to think." "Don't think, Mounier." "It's a bad habit." "It will spoil your fun." "Oh, there is a friend of mine." "Andre D'Abbencourt." "Ask him to join us." "─ Alright." "Hello Andre." "─ Hello George." "Are you alone?" "I mean, would you join us?" "Thank you." "Nana, this is the Marquis D'Abbencourt." "Mademoiselle Dublonc." "I'm delighted to meet you, Monsieur." "─ How do you do?" "A Pernod, Jacques." "─ Yes, Mr Le Marquis." "I think we have a mutual friend, Monsieur." "─ Oh, really?" "Louise Mauban." "─ No." "I don't think I know her." "She's a student at the Dramatic School." "No, I'm sorry." "Well, what's the joke?" "─ Nothing." "Look at her, George." "She has seven devils in her eyes." "Make her tell us." "─ Oh, I can't make her do anything." "So .. you never heard of Louise Mauban." "In other words, she made it up." "Every word of it." "He doesn't even know her." "Say that again." "What was that?" "The Marquis has never even heard of Louise." "But that's impossible." "Did you ask him about the apartment and the bracelets?" "You don't question the Marquis D'Abbencourt." "I asked him if he knew Louise Mauban and then the whole thing came out." "I don't believe it." "Louise isn't a liar." "─ She is a liar." "And what a liar!" "Oh, it wasn't true." "─ What's the matter with you?" "Oh nothing." "Think of her daring to tell us a lie like that." "Wait until she gets here." "We'll make her confess." "No." "You are not to say anything." "─ Oh, Nana." "I have something better for her." "It's all arranged." "We're going to have a party" "George Mounier has invited us to dinner at Armenonville tomorrow night." "George Mounier, the jeweller?" "Is he your new one, Nana?" "This week it is Mounier." "─ What about next week?" "I'm no prophet." "The important thing is George has invited us to a dinner party tomorrow night." "And the Marquis will be there to welcome his darling Louise." "Oh, they've never met." "I can just see the look on her face when she .." "I don't like it." "I think it's mean." "Who is being sentimental?" "─ Louise won't come." "She'll come." "Leave that to me." "Look out." "Here she is." "Go on dressing, girls." "And no wise looks from any of you, you understand?" "Let's show her for once that we can act, too." "Then I'll expect you all tomorrow night." "─ Alright." "I hope that you'll be able to come too, Louise." "Where?" "I'm having a party at Armenonville tomorrow night." "It's my birthday." "Will you come?" "I would like to come very much." "But I have an engagement tomorrow night." "With the Marquis?" "─ Of course." "Well, bring him along." "Please do." "Well, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that." "Oh, come on, Louise." "We all want to meet him." "Don't beg her." "She doesn't want to come because it's my birthday." "Oh Nana, please don't think that." "Will you come then, please?" "Alright I'll come." "Thank you very much, Nana." "Good!" "Now the party is bound to be a success." "Is everything alright, Mademoiselle?" "─ Perfect, Alphonse." "Thank you." "It's some party and we owe it all to Louise." "Moral:" "lie and you'll get somewhere." "Wait until she gets here and sees where she gets." "We shouldn't have come." "It will be terrible to see Louise so humiliated." "Don't you think so?" "─ Yes." "It will be instructive to see her react." "Life is a great teacher for the stage." "You are so clever, darling." "Hypocrisy everywhere." "They expurgate even Shakespeare." "Take an expression like "not so hot"." "That's in Shakespeare." "You'd be amazed with Shakespeare." "At the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, the clown says .." "Good evening, Mr Andre." "─ Hello, Alphonse." "Everything ready?" "─ Yes, Monsieur." "Good." "All the guests here?" "Not all, Monsieur." "May I .." "─ No, Alphonse, I must stay here." "Monsieur, this is your party." "Yes, I know." "But it is a surprise party, and I am the surprise." "I understand." "─ Oh, you do?" "Young ladies will talk, sir." "And I know the reason for this surprise party." "Uhuh." "And you don't approve?" "It is not for me to say, sir." "What should I do?" "Let this girl keep on telling wild stories about herself and me?" "Monsieur has already been the hero of many colourful stories." "But I don't even know this girl." "I can see the injustice to your reputation, Monsieur, but .." "You might have seen the young lady alone?" "No." "She told her lies about me before an audience." "Tonight, before that same crowd, she will take the consequences." "And you still disapprove?" "I was merely thinking, sir." "It would be a sad day for every one of us." "If we had to face the consequences of everything we have done." "Alphonse." "I've known you for years, and I'm sure your life has been as blameless as a baby." "Monsieur knows me only officially." "After hours, I too am a Parisian." "Alphonse .. you amaze me." "I'll be back for the climax." "This is not Paris any more." "Your little friend is late." "Don't you know the star never makes her entrance until the stage is set." "Let's have a drink in the meantime." "Come on everyone, make your wishes." "Wishes?" "What wishes?" "─ Yes." "It's an old custom." "On your first visit to Armenonville's famous Dining Room Three." "You make a wish." "Then drink to it." "And it comes true." "Alright, I wish caviar tasted as good as herring." "And I wish .." "I wish I had the courage to wish what I wish." "I don't wish for anything." "I have my legs." "I wish for a sweetheart as beautiful as Helen of Troy, as rich as Croesus." "And as blind as a bat." "You are next Monsieur Mounier." "I ..?" "Well, that's very simple." "I wish that .." "─ The answer is still .. no." "Oh, marvellous .." "Well, what do you wish, Nana?" "─ I wish that Louise would get here." "Here comes Louise." "You see, your wish has come true." "Careful now." "Watch me and follow my lead." "This way, Mademoiselle." "Hello Louise." "I'm so glad you could come." "Good evening, Nana." "Congratulations." "What a beautiful party." "Good evening, everybody." "You look splendid, Louise." "─ Thank you, Nana." "Hello Louise, darling." "─ Hello Mado." "Here's to you." "No, you haven't had a drop yet." "Here, you take this!" "You pushed me!" "─ I did not." "You bumped into me." "And you, you!" "─ But, Nana." "You filthy little rat, you." "─ What say you?" "Shut up." "That's something I'm glad I didn't do." "Never mind." "It will dry." "I'm so sorry, Louise." "Perhaps it won't show." "I hope not." "Well .. after all, it is only a gown." "Of course, you have plenty of others, anyway." "Oh, yes." "What made you so late, Louise?" "I'm lucky I could come at all." "─ What happened?" "Something frightful and ridiculous." "My shoes were not there." "But you have them on." "─ Yes, but I ordered this pair specially." "But they delivered the wrong pair." "Marie, my maid, telephoned the shop and there I was, waiting and waiting." "Until Monsieur Antoine arrived." "─ Antoine?" "The famous young shoemaker." "You must have heard of him." "Oh of course." "And he came to you himself?" "I'm a very good customer." "He delivered the right pair." "He apologized." "He knelt before me to put on the shoes." "And just then, the door opened, and who do you think came in?" "Not the Marquis?" "─ Yes, it was frightful." "There I was and a handsome young man was kneeling at my feet." "And Andre misunderstood the situation." "Did he make a scene?" "Andre never makes a scene." "He never raises his voice." "He doesn't look angry." "And he doesn't show what he feels, but I always know." "Of course." "What did he do?" "Well, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room." "I rushed after him." "But he had already gone." "I only hope that tomorrow I can explain everything to him." "Well, let's drink to that." "George, Champagne for Louise." "Mademoiselle." "─ Thank you very much." "I just never get tired of Champagne." "─ Wait." "First you must make a wish." "A wish?" "─ Yes, we all did." "Wish first, then drink." "That's the rule here." "Very well .." "I wish to become a great actress." "To show people the beauty of emotions." "To stir the hearts and awaken the minds." "So that because of me .." "Their lives might be happier ever after." "And Andre, don't you wish he were here, too?" "Oh yes, I do." "I wish he were with me now." "May we be together always." "Happy in our love." "Did I frighten you, Louise darling?" "You look at me as if I were a ghost." "It is I dear, your Andre." "Well, you did want me to come with you, didn't you?" "Oh .." "I hope you are not angry with me, Louise." "May I have a sip of Champagne?" "To Louise." "And to everything she wished." "Thank you, Alphonse." "─ Thank you, Monsieur." "Well, Nana." "Did our little game amuse you?" "It amused me very much." "I'm afraid we turned the tables on you, but I knew you had the humour to enjoy it." "You see, you asked me if I knew Louise." "Well, obviously I was expected to say no." "So I played along with you, hoping for a delightful evening with talented actors." "Thank you." "Thank you for that charming smile of forgiveness." "And now Louise must dance with me." "To show that she's forgiven me, too." "You look beautiful tonight, Louise." "Oh, Monsieur." "You had .. better call me "Andre"." "Why did you save me?" "I came here to stop a girl I never met from telling everyone we were in love." "And then I saw you." "Please let me explain to you why." "─ Well .. not here." "Now tell me." "Why did you lie about it?" "It wasn't a lie." "I never meant to lie." "Well, what was it, then?" "A wish?" "A part." "─ A part?" "Yes." "A part I played." "I make plays out of everything." "There are scenes, and .." "I play the part." "Are you angry?" "Do I seem angry?" "I know you, Louise." "I know that strange, haunting little face of yours." "Where have I seen you before?" "On the stage?" "In the factory." "─ In the factory?" "You were there with the lady who had too many bracelets." "Of course." "You are the girl who ..?" "Why were you there?" "I work there." "But aren't you a student in the dramatic school?" "In the day time." "At night I work." "Are you very poor, Louise?" "Yes." "And yet you wouldn't take that bracelet." "─ Oh, no." "I couldn't." "But you dress is so .." "Oh look what I did." "They spilled Champagne on it." "Well, that is not very serious." "─ Yes, yes it is." "This is not mine." "Marianne, my cousin is a model, and she took the dress from the shop." "She has to have it back when the shop opens at eight or she will be discharged." "She shall have it back." "She shall have it back spotless." "But it is at night." "The cleaners are closed." "We'll waken my valet." "─ François?" "How much you know." "He'll get the cleaner out of bed at the point of a sword, or offer a bank-note." "And you will have your dress and Marianne her job." "But if I ..?" "─ Come, darling." "Alphonse." "─ Yes, Monsieur?" "If anybody should ask .." "I have the excuses always at hand for you, Andre." "This is still Paris." "It shall be back in an hour, Mademoiselle." "Oh, on further consideration, you have a bad spot here, Mademoiselle." "It will probably take two hours." "─ Oh dear." "Alright, then." "I guess it can't be helped." "Two hours is a long time, Louise." "Aren't you coming out?" "─ I'd like to." "There is nothing to wear." "Look in the closet." "If you're not too shocked, you might find something that will fit you." "I did look in the closet." "Oh .." "I found something." "Well, what in the world are you doing in that?" "No, please." "You stay over there." "Are you shy, Louise?" "I guess I am." "Well, how are going to manage this?" "You certainly can't sit down in that box kite of yours." "I don't want to sit down." "I want to look around." "I knew your room would look like this." "It hasn't changed at all." "It hasn't changed?" "Have you ever been in this room before?" "Oh, yes." "Lots of times." "─ When I was here?" "Yes." "─ In heaven's name, when?" "In the play about you and me." "Oh, that play again." "I was about to phone and have them come and get me." "When did you start writing this play about you and me, Louise?" "I started when I first saw you at the factory." "You see, I can tell you this." "Because you understand me." "Just like Annette understands me." "The girls always think that I am lying." "Just like they did tonight." "They don't realize that it all comes true in the end." "Has it always ended like this for you?" "─ No." "Sometimes you are a soldier or a great General." "But you fight so well that very few people get killed." "And then you come back in a parade through the streets." "Riding your horse at the head of your men." "And you look over the cheering crowds." "And you see me." "Waiting for you." "─ Oh, I like that." "Once, I made you a great scientist." "You fight disease in the tropics." "You conquer the disease." "But for you, it is too late." "─ Why?" "You die." "But I am right there at your side." "You always die smiling at me." "Oh, I don't like that at all." "That's not the ending now, anyway." "Tell me how it ends, now?" "I don't know exactly." "I guess in two hours Françoise will bring back my gown and .. we say goodbye." "And I thank you very much for all you've done." "And how sweet and kind you were." "And then I go." "─ To the factory?" "Yes." "I started writing the end of this play tonight." "I want to finish it." "In your part of the play .." "Did I ever kiss you?" "Can you have a play without that?" "I never saw one." "Without that." "Louise, my darling." "You are not going back to the factory." "You're not going to be poor and lonely any more." "I'm not very much." "But once in my life I can do something for somebody and .." "Wonder how on earth I was ever lucky enough to have the chance." "That means you love me, too?" "─ How could I do anything else?" "In the play you were my husband." "─ I want that too, Louise." "Let me make the play real." "─ It always has been." "No, no, no." "If anything, you are more stupid than usual." "Ow!" "Hello." "Let's dance, shall we darling?" "I'd rather sit and talk to you." "─ Come on now, it's our tune." "We have danced it for weeks and weeks of wonderful nights." "Alright." "Well, maybe it's the place." "It's not half as amusing as it used to be." "Shall we go somewhere else?" "No." "I want you to take me home very soon, darling." "And we have such an interesting problem at school" "It's a scene between a man and his wife." "He always wanted a son, and their little boy just died." "There can't be any more children." "And in the scene, his wife faces him and tells him she'll free him." "Oh yes, that's very good." "That's very clear." "Come on darling, we'll dance." "─ Well, I'm afraid we can't now." "George." "Nana." "Sit with us." "─ Thanks very much." "It is our pride and privilege to present for the first time in Paris." "The incomparable .. the one and only .." "Braziliana!" "She's wonderful, isn't she?" "Very fascinating." "Very." "I'm giving a party for her later at my place." "Won't you join us?" "Thanks." "We will do that." "You would like to go, wouldn't you, Louise?" "It will be so late." "I hate to say no, but we have been out every night this week." "And tomorrow is a school day." "Sorry, George." "Would you like to meet her?" "─ Oh, very much." "You will excuse us, won't you?" "─ Yes." "Run along." "So, hearts are being worn on the sleeve this evening." "What do you mean?" "You should have seen your face when Andre walked off." "Oh .. why shouldn't Andre congratulate the dancer?" "Mounier suggested it." "Yes, but Mounier will be back." "He does as I please." "I am not playing a game with Andre." "─ Maybe you should." "It would be too bad to lose him." "Well, I don't remember you dressing this way two months ago." "I was very poor." "Andre has helped me." "Generously, freely." "Without asking anything in return." "We are in love with each other and we are going to be married." "How charming." "But excuse me if I don't order my dress for the wedding just yet." "Styles change completely every five years." "Because you don't know what it is to love someone who loves you." "Don't try to make a cheap joke of love." "You won't let yourself believe that anyone has true love, because you are miserable." "When you take the fall you are heading for." "I just hope that I'm there to see it." "Standing there in that spotlight." "Only a black dancer moves like that." "Don't you think we might join our guests sometime before morning?" "Louise." "I'm sorry, but I simply have to go that party." "George is an old friend, and I can't disappoint him." "Of course, I will take you home first." "Don't bother." "I can go home alone." "─ Now, Louise .." "Goodnight." "I hope you have a delightful time." "Louise." "Why are you crying, Annette?" "Oh hello." "I'm not crying." "But this is so beautiful." "Listen." "Hamlet says to Ophelia." ""I did love you once."" "And then Ophelia says:" "─ "Indeed my love."" ""You made me believe so." ─ Yes." "And then Hamlet:" ""But you should not have believed me."" "Louise." "What on earth ..?" "Louise .." "Louise .." "How dare they do this to me." "If the directors wanted my resignation from the National." "It would have been more honest of them to ask for it." "Therese, Therese." "No-one wants your resignation." "To lose your great talent would be a calamity." "You say that, and then they offer me this part." "A good part in a fine play." "I am told that the National Theatre plans to produce Joan Of Arc." "Yes, and we've chosen you for the important, interesting .." "Minor role of Queen Catherine." "Was I considered for Joan?" "─ Yes." "You were." "You've played it many times and played it magnificently." "You were considered for this production." "─ And discarded .. why?" "Therese, you are begging me to hurt you." "─ Tell me." "We want "youth" for Joan." "I am too old to play her?" "Too, too mature." "─ Too old!" "That's what you mean." "Why?" "Do I not know more about life now than when I was twenty?" "Am I not a better actress?" "I've got an equal amount of talent to any other profession." "If I had been a doctor, a chemist, an author." "I would be acclaimed today as the youngest member of the Academy." "But I chose the theatre." "And in the theatre I am too old." "─ For certain roles, Therese." "But you have thirty years of great parts ahead of you." "Lady Macbeth, Hedda Gabler." "But not Juliet." "Not Ophelia." "─ And not Joan of Arc ..?" "I had to tell you the truth." "If you must tell the truth .." "Tell it to your son!" "No, no, no, no!" "What is wrong with all of you today?" "Can't you concentrate?" "I have to repeat everything 200 times .." "Madame Charlot, I am terribly sorry about being so late." "I apologise, but last night I didn't feel very well." "Mauban, a dramatic school is no place for you." "You belong somewhere else." "I've warned you several times before." "Tomorrow at the faculty meeting I shall demand that you be expelled at once." "I .." "That is all for today." "I have a headache." "Come in." "What do you want?" "It's no use to start begging." "I didn't come to beg." "I knew it would be useless." "You've always hated me." "─ How dare you." "You hated me from the very beginning." "I don't know why." "They say the older generation resents talent in the younger." "If that's the reason for your hatred it makes my cry." "Why you conceited little .. if you came here to make a scene .." "I came here to thank you." "Thank me?" "You have made my life in school very miserable." "I shall forget that." "There is only one thing I shall never forget." "The inspiration you once gave me." "I was very young." "And from the highest balcony I first saw you on the stage." "That evening, I knew I must become an actress." "A great one .." "like you." "To me, you were the greatest actress in the whole world." "I read the story of your life." "I read that in the beginning you were poor and pushed aside." "That you had to suffer and struggle and fight to succeed." "And I knew I'd have the same struggle." "But the story of your life gave me strength and hope." "And it always will do so." "No doubt." "You will expel me from the school." "And a student once expelled from the Academy, has very little chance." "But I will not give up." "I will fight harder, until I succeed." "But then I will not be like you." "I will not hate others just because they are young." "I will to give them all the help .." "I never had." "When I was young myself." "Come in." "All of you." "Beautiful." "It's so nice of you to let us come here, Louise." "It is nice of you that you wanted to come." "─ We want to let you know how we feel." "And get a chance to see the apartment." "Not true!" "Don't believe them, Louise." "We wanted to tell you what we all think of Madame Charlot." "She a cruel, unjust, jealous old beast and .." "It's safer to say that here than school." "Do you think she will have you expelled tomorrow?" "You heard what she said." "You don't need the school, Louise." "You have the Marquis." "Say, where is Nana?" "I want to see her face when she sees all of this." "She'll be here later." "She had an errand to do first." "Fittings, I bet." "This is my aunt, Annette." "Will you excuse me, girls?" "Make yourselves at home." "What is it, Annette?" "A letter." "Françoise brought it." "Françoise?" "─ I guess it's something important." "What's the matter?" ""So I am forced to tell you in writing what I cannot tell you personally."" ""Believe me, it is for the best." "My heart aches."" "I'll give him something for his aching heart!" "Don't." "Françoise will only say he is not at home." "I never saw so many zeros in all my life." "And you tear this up?" "What happened?" "─ What's wrong?" "Bad news?" "Bad news?" "Oh no." "Good news." "The very best, only I didn't expect it so soon." "Sorry." "I can't tell you." "Not yet." "─ Oh, please." "You'll have your own theatre?" "The Marquis will rent one for you." "Perhaps." "I tell you tomorrow." "Please don't be offended, but you see I have to dress very quickly." "Do you want us to go?" "─ Yes, I do." "I'm sorry." "Wait." "You've all been so very sweet to me and I want you to remember this day." "I'd like to give you some souvenirs." "Here!" "I think I'm going away for a little while." "I wouldn't notice." "I'll get new things." "Entirely new." "So take what you want." "Anything you like." "Take everything!" "Here .. dear Mado, I want you to have this." "Because you sprayed Champagne on my gown." "But it wasn't my fault." "─ No, no." "Not to worry." "Take it, take it." "Hello." "A nice tidy little place you have here." "Where are the girls?" "The girls have gone." "─ It must have been quite a party." "No." "I gave each one a farewell gift before they left." "I have something for you, too." "─ For me?" "I don't need anything from you." "Nana." "Do you really hate me that much?" "Hate you?" "I don't even dislike you." "Of course, I must admit it does annoy me slightly." "to see you breeze through life with those cooked-up dreams of yours." "Putting your head under the guillotine and never having the knife drop." "Suppose the knife should drop?" "Would it make you glad, Nana?" "Maybe." "I tried to do the same thing and it dropped on me didn't it?" "Then this will make you very happy." "Take it." "It is my gift for you." "Now, I know how it feels." "To love someone who .." "You shouldn't have come today, Louise." "You'll only be humiliated." "I won't run away." "I am still a student of the school." "I will stay until I am expelled." "Good morning." "─ Good morning." "Good morning, Pasquel." "And why the silence?" "Has anything happened?" "May I ask you the same question?" "Oh, what has happened, you mean?" "Oh, nothing extraordinary." "The theatre has offered me an older, rather more mature part." "And I accepted it." "I think it is about time I started playing those roles." "Congratulations Therese." "To the theatre." "It's their gain." "You are a great actress." "And a great woman." "Compliments from the President." "I feel as though I've been decorated." "Thank you, Pasquel." "Is Louise here?" "Come here, Louise." "Last night, the board of directors asked my advice on who to cast as Joan of Arc." "They want a new, young and talented actress." "Putting aside all personal feelings." "And considering merit alone." "Louise Mauban .." "I recommended you." "This doesn't mean of course, that the decision if final." "A student playing a leading role in the National Theatre is an exceptional thing." "All will depend on you now, Louise." "And what you show us at rehearsals." "I trust you will justify my confidence." "Say thanks." "─ No, don't." "Don't." "You'd all better go back to your work." "I'll see you in class." "Good morning, Pasquel." "And don't look at me as though you'd never seen me before." "Pasquel." "Come along with me." "I want to have a talk with you." "Is it something serious, sir?" "Yes, my son." "And I can't postpone it any longer." "You have to know it." "─ What, father?" "My son." "It is my duty to advise you to leave the school." "And forget that you ever wanted to be an actor." "But that is impossible, sir." "I am an actor." "I am your son." "I am a "Pasquel"." "The 16th in our family." "No, my son." "There will no "Pasquel the 16th" in our family." "Father, please." "I'll learn." "I'll improve." "No my boy." "You cannot improve." "It breaks my heart, but you've no talent." "And you never will have." "You are not to blame." "I accuse myself." "Your mother was a saint." "But she was the daughter of a critic." "You were doomed from your birth." "What's wrong with me, father?" "Why can't I learn?" "Too much brain, perhaps." "That never was good for an actor." "What will become of me?" "Oh, there are many things besides acting." "One of these days you will be a good director, perhaps." "Start as a stage manager." "─ A stage manager?" "Yes, it is a beautiful profession." "You'll command the curtain." "You will be the thunder, the rain, the horse galloping .." "The lions roaring, swords clattering." "All those beautiful noises from the wings." "Does it hurt so much, my son?" "No." "But I am thinking of Louise." "On her way perhaps, to fame and success." "So it goes, son." "Glory for one." "Oblivion for the other." "Theatre." "What is it, Pasquel?" "I'm leaving the school." "I have no talent and never will have." "Father just told me." "Well, I'll give up acting." "It's the end for me." "I'll be a stage manager." "Darling, do you really mean it?" "We don't have to be actors?" "We?" "I." "You'll go on." "─ Not I. ─ But Yvonne?" "I loathe all this acting business." "You can never be yourself." "But Yvonne, you can't .." "─ I never really wanted to be an actress." "Except always to be with you." "Oh, bless your father!" "We won't be actors." "Is this possible?" "Can there be any girl who doesn't want to be an actress?" "That's me." "All I want is to love you." "But think, Yvonne." "Think what it means to be an actress." "Actors." "The poorest things." "Darling, we'll start our love scenes where the actors have to stop theirs .. see?" "And since you have refused to retract your heretical utterances." "We declare you, Joan, excommunicated." "And we surrender you to the secular powers." "That they may mete justice to you." "We ask of them only, that you may be spared torture." "And that your punishment shall be limited to death." "Death?" "I am nineteen." "Recant, Joan." "Admit your heresy!" "These voices were the voices of demons." "No!" "My saints." "St Margaret, St Catherine." "And the blessed St Michael." "You will be burned at the stake, Joan." "Not the fire!" "─ Yes." "Burned." "I'm afraid." "─ Repent." "Confess your sins." "Oh, help me . help me." "I'm afraid of the fire." "Dear Saints, forgive me, but I am afraid of the fire." "What must I say?" "─ You are willing to recant?" "Yes!" "What must I say so they will not burn me?" "I must write?" "You know I cannot write." "A cross." "He died on the cross." "Now they will not burn me." "Now I may go home to my village." "No." "But I made the cross." "They cannot burn me now!" "Your life is spared you." "You will live out your life in prison." "─ Prison?" "I'm a farm girl." "I've sat among my sheep and felt the sun and the rain upon me." "And as a soldier of France, I've slept under the stars." "Now I must live in prison?" "─ You confessed your heresy." "But you do penance for your sins." "─ No!" "No!" "Dear Saints, forgive me." "See." "I have destroyed the lie." "Tomorrow I will be with you in Heaven." "Tomorrow my soul will leave my bowed body." "And rise to you in Heaven." "Swear for me .. smile for me." "I did not betray you." "Hear me now." "When I speak the truth." "Riders on the side of France." "And my voices .. came from .." "God!" "One more .. alone." "Fourteen curtain calls." "Fourteen!" "Was it alright?" "─ Alright?" "Was I ..?" "Did they like me, do you think?" "Are you crazy?" "Didn't you hear them?" "Make way for "La Mauban"." "La Mauban?" "Did you hear what he said?" ""La Mauban."" "Sure, I heard him." "What's the matter with her?" "What's so good about a stage-hand's opinion?" "They don't know about theatre." "La Bernhardt, La Douza." "La Mauban." "La Douza." "La Bernhardt, La Douza?" "Oh .." "─ Where are you going?" "Out in front." "I want to hear what they're calling you there." "Nice fresh carnations." "Eight francs a bunch." "Roses, twelve francs a bunch." "─ I'll take them all. ─ All?" "Yes, all, all .. you pay." "Hello." "Good evening, Nana." "Louise." "─ Oh, Nana." "Was I alright?" "Tell me the truth?" "Here." "For you." "─ Thank you, but please tell me." "I had to see you before the others got here." "I had to tell you." "Did they like me?" "Really?" "─ Oh, Louise .." "Well, look at Nana." "She's been crying." "Crying?" "Yes, I've been crying." "Did you dare watch her in that last scene and not cry?" "We wept buckets, but .." "You didn't know I could cry, is that it?" "Well, neither did I." "Well, goodnight my darlings." "The nightclubs are lonely for me." "Who is it?" "It's us!" "Come in." "Oh, it was all so sweet of you all." "Oh, Louise, we loved you." "Go ahead, Simone." "Louise, the cast wants me to ask you: "our most distinguished .."" "I can't do it." "I can't make a speech." "Louise, will you come to supper with us?" "Why I'm sorry, I can't." "I have an engagement." "Who is he?" "─ Who is he?" "[ Door knocks ]" "Who is it?" "Louise, may I come in?" "Just a moment, Andre." "Goodnight, Louise." "─ Goodnight, Louise." "And I didn't believe a word she said but she had an engagement." "How can you be that way, Mado?" "Louise never lies." "I'm glad she's happy." "Great people ought to be happy." "So it all came true?" "─ Yes, Andre." "I was out there tonight." "You are the finest young actress I've ever seen." "Oh .. thank you, Andre." "Louise, of all the places we went together, which was your favourite?" "Why do you ask that?" "─ Because that's where we go tonight." "Where shall it be, darling?" "─ I'm not going out with you, tonight." "And you promised to tell me the truth, always." "Louise, I know .. you were sure I'd be here tonight, weren't you, dear?" "I haven't thought of anything or anyone since the day of the first rehearsal." "But you just told the girls you had an engagement?" "I have." "With someone else?" "Yes." "Never again with me?" "No." "You see, Andre." "I am really in love now." "Really in love?" "─ Uhuh." "Ours .. wasn't real?" "Oh, this is quite different." "This will last forever." "When did it happen?" "Tonight." "─ Oh .." "And I could have been part of all this." "I could have felt myself a little responsible for it all." "You were responsible." "─ Yes, of course." "By hurting you at a time when you most needed me." "But Andre, that is exactly it." "I will always be grateful to you for that hurt." "If I am to be a better actress." "If I am to grow and give people more joy." "To make them forget their mixed-up everyday lives." "If I am to do that." "Then I shall have to be hurt even more." "With all that in your heart." "There is not much room left for me, is there." "Well." "I've got to celebrate this somehow." "I think I'll go and drag the nightclubs for Nana." "Oh, she'd like that." "Like two jaded old penguins, we'll cry into each other's Champagne." "Goodnight, Louise." "I hope there is more happiness than hurt." "Goodnight, Andre." "Annette, am I too late?" "No." "They don't turn it off until midnight." "Annette." "─ Yes?" "That's me." "Yes .. that's you." "And this time, you're not lying .." "T-G"