Original subtitles

What was that?

Albertine, what are you doing with a baseball in school?

Yes, Jody.

It's my ball, Miss Cummings.

I was passing it to Peter while you weren't looking.

Albertine just got caught in between.

I see.

All right, Judy, I'll take it, please.

All right, Claire.

Dismissed.

Is it coming?

Yes, Jody.

Can I please have my ball?

Jody, you know better than to play with a baseball in class, don't you?

Yes, ma 'am.

My Uncle Bill took me to see the Giants play the Mets.

And Willie Mays hit a foul fly into the stand.

And my Uncle Bill caught it.

I see.

Oh, Jody.

Yes? How is the new girl getting along with the other children?

Albertine? Albertine.

Okay, I guess. I don't play with girls very much, except Buffy.

She sits by herself a lot.

Bye.

Bye.

that Uncle Bill caught the ball. She wasn't mad at me anymore.

Good. Look who's here. Hi, Albertine. Hi, Albertine. Hi.

She's in our class.

Oh, how do you do, Albertine?

You can say hi to him. He's Mr. French.

Want to come upstairs and play with us?

I can't.

I'm waiting for my mother.

She's upstairs, visiting.

Why didn't you visit with her?

She's at a party for grown -ups.

Oh, I see. Then come on, children.

Good day, Albertine.

Bye, Albertine. See you at school.

Hey, there's Albertine.

Hi, Albertine. Hi, Albertine. Hi.

Michael doesn't know how to play chess.

He says it's too hard for us to learn yet. Please play checkers.

If it's so hard for us, how come you know how?

My father showed me.

He's the best in the whole world.

What kind of sandwich do you got?

Jelly bread.

Your mother sure gets invited to a lot of parties.

Do you have to wait for her all the time?

Only when my father's out of town.

Her father's the chess champion of the whole world.

He taught our team.

Mr. French plays chess.

You want to play me?

Go ahead, Mr. French. Maybe she can help you so you could beat Uncle Bill.

Well, in that case, perhaps there would be time for one game.

Can you come upstairs and play chess with Mr. French?

Chess while I'm back here by five.

Oh, wee.

Oh, wee what?

Nothing. It's nice.

Mr. French, can we offer Albertine some cookies and milk?

Oh, of course. We'll have a round of refreshments prior to the match.

He means we get to eat before you are to play chess.

with my big sister, Sissy. I have room all by myself.

Mrs. Beevy is my best friend outside of relatives.

Who's your best friend?

My father.

Oh.

Come on, I'll show you my stuff.

This is a model I made of a bridge Uncle Bill built overseas.

In South America.

Well, that's overseas.

My father goes overseas all the time.

Does he build bridges?

He flies airplanes.

How come the world's greatest chess champion flies airplanes?

He learned when he was a hero in the war.

Which war?

You know, the war.

Now he's a baseball player.

Really? Yes.

That's why he's away so much.

A real big league ball player.

Could you ask him to sign my autographed baseball?

I'll ask him when he comes home.

Thanks. Let's go get our cookies and milk, and you can play Mr.

French.

You're trying to muse the queen and the bishop combination.

That's the first one I learned.

Ah, it's old -fashioned, but effective, if I may say so.

Mr. French is a real good player.

Sometimes he beats Uncle Bill.

Anyways, he's older than Albertine. Yeah.

Albertine, if I knew how to play, I'd help you.

Are you sure you want to make that move?

I think so.

Well, I realize you're...

Exposing your queen, you're very likely to lose it within the next two moves.

I guess so.

Very well, then.

Hi. Oh, excuse me, sir.

Uncle Bill, this is Albertine. She plays chess.

Oh, Albertine.

And this is Sissy. Hi.

Yes, sir.

The children suggested that I give their little friends some chess instructions,

sir. But perhaps we shouldn't... No, no, go on right ahead. Don't let us

interrupt you.

Very well then, sir.

Just a few more moves, eh?

Right.

Well,

like we predicted, you lose your queen.

Mate?

It's not possible.

Checkmate.

Where did I go wrong, sir?

Who showed you how to play chess like that, honey?

My father.

He's the world's champion.

And he flies airplanes on account of he was a hero in the war. And he's a big

league ball player.

Gee.

What's your father's name, Albertine?

You've probably never heard of him. Well, I... have to go.

You want to have dinner with us?

Albertine, I'm not allowed.

Thank you for the cookies and milk. I have to go now.

Our chauffeur, he's Japanese.

He's picking us up in the big car.

Okay, you come see us now.

Oh, to be sure, Miss Albertine, I demand a rematch, eh?

Okay.

Go tomorrow, Albertine.

Remember, when your father comes back, tell him I need his autograph.

Don't worry. He loves kids just like your uncle.

Bye. Bye.

I think that little girl has delusions.

Oh.

Delusions indeed. Why, she's a chess master.

Oh, it's most humiliating, sir.

Oh, good afternoon, Albertine.

Hi, you waiting for Buffy and Jody?

Correct. I have to go stay home. My mother isn't going to a party today.

Oh, really?

Hi, Albertine. Hi. Hi, Mr. French.

Hello. See, Albertine, Mr. French isn't mad because you beat him.

Of course not. One learns sportsmanship on the playing field of Eaton's. You

want to come over and play, Albertine?

I can't. My father's coming home. Your father's home? Oh, boy.

They're blocking out the street and he'll be on TV and on radio and in all

newspapers.

I'll tell you all about him tomorrow.

Wait! Oh, gosh.

I forgot to give her the baseball.

Mr. French, could we please go buy Albertines on our way home so I can get

father's autograph?

It's kind of on our way home.

Very well. Come on, let's go.

Well, I'm glad I brought my baseball with me today.

This is a chance of a lifetime.

A real big league autograph.

Yeah, but are you certain this is the street? I mean, Albertine Street?

There's some place around here.

Maybe he knows where she lives.

Hi. Hi.

Do you know a little girl named Albertine?

Albertine Smith?

Albertine's father.

Albertine doesn't have no father.

She does so.

She's going to be on television with him tonight.

Maybe not so fast.

Falsehood.

I think it's time we went home, children.

Hey! I want to ride with your Chinese chauffeur, Albertine!

I'm bothering you?

I guess I'm just not very hungry.

Jolie? Me neither.

Sir. What's going on?

Well, sir, we made a rather unusual stop on our way home this afternoon.

Jody wished to obtain the autograph of Albertine's father.

She had, in fact, informed us that he'd returned for celebration.

But there wasn't any celebration.

There wasn't even any father.

Uncle Bill, why did Albertine tell all those big fibs?

She just wanted a father very badly, so she made one up.

So don't be too hard on her now. When you see her in school tomorrow, I think

it'd be nice if you just... just play with her and don't say anything about it

at all, okay?

Okay.

You know what, Uncle Bill?

If I had to make up a father, I'd make up you and Mr. French.

on account of you sitting in the front row and she has to look at an empty

Want to come up and beat Mr. French again?

I think she'd rather be alone.

Nobody would rather be alone.

We don't care if her father ran away.

No, Albertine isn't mad at you. She just... She just got hurt and she feels

embarrassed. But we didn't hurt her or embarrass her. I know, I know, sonny,

but... See, she just wanted a father.

She wanted somebody while you have me.

And, Mr. French?

Now that you know that she hasn't got anybody except her mother, every time

sees you, she gets reminded that she knows the truth.

We'll be willing to pretend that she has a father if she wants us to.

Well, she wasn't exactly pretending, honey.

She really was believing it with all her heart.

But I don't understand.

Can't she adopt you like we did?

No, I don't think so.

Isn't there anything we could do?

She's our friend.

No, I don't think there's anything we could do.

Come on, Jordan.

Good night.

Good night.

Uncle Bill?

Mm -hmm?

Well, let me feel real bad.

You come and talk to us. And then we feel better.

Yeah.

You want me to talk to Albertine?

If somebody doesn't, she'll never come back to school.

I didn't have to tell Fibs. I told everybody that you caught a foul fly.

And you got Willie Mays to autograph it for me.

And you really did.

Yeah, but what could I say to Albertine?

It doesn't matter, just as long as you say something.

Okay.

Good night.

Good night. Good night, Jody.

Good night, Buffy.

Mrs. Smith?

Yes?

My name's Davis.

My kids go to school with Albertine, and we wanted to... Is something wrong?

Could we talk to you for just a minute?

Yes, come in.

Thank you. Come on, kids.

Is Albertine in some kind of trouble?

No, not really. I don't think so.

Why would you come here?

Well, I don't know exactly how to tell you because in the first place it's none

of my business.

But the kids thought it would be a good idea because Albertine's their friend.

And they've been worried because she hasn't been to school lately.

She goes to school every day.

That's one thing I'm going to see to. She goes to school as long as I can lift

steam iron.

I'm sorry she hasn't been to school for over a week.

But we leave together every morning.

She meets me at night.

I thought... I mean...

Well, you see what happened.

The kids found out that she doesn't have a father and she's been telling them...

She had a father.

He just couldn't take Mike going off to do laundry every day and him not being

able to hold a job.

Did he teach you how to play chess?

No, no. A doorman at a place I work, a foreigner, he taught her.

Would you mind if I talked to her?

No.

She's in the kitchen.

I am.

It's not a garden. It's a kitchen. An old, dirty kitchen.

Your mother's very nice, Albertine.

She's real proud of you, too. I can tell.

I know it's real rough not having a father around.

And the reason I know is that Buffy and Jody don't have any father either, see?

Because they lost him in an accident a couple of years ago.

And they don't have any mother either.

So when they first came to live with me, we were almost like strangers to each

other because I hadn't even seen them since they were little babies and I was

real dumb about little kids.

I never had any of my own and I didn't know what to do for them.

I'd hear him crying at night and I really wouldn't know what to do

because I didn't have anything to give him except love, you know.

And that's the way it is with your mother, Albertine.

She loves you very much.

And I know it's not the same as having a daddy too.

just you and I.

What? Albertine came back to school today.

I said hi to her.

So did I.

And she said hi back.

Isn't that wonderful?

That's wonderful.

Well,

Albertine said hi.

Is that a great moment, sir?

Well, it's a start.