Original subtitles

Good evening, fellow fans.

I suspect this is a side of me you never expected to see. But I feel there is

nothing undignified about following a sport and rooting for one side.

Excuse me, my team is now entering the arena.

By the way, for the information of those of you who are unfamiliar with sports,

That was not the mascot you heard.

He is one of the participants.

Now I see they're about to throw a correction.

The other team is about to come onto the field.

I also see by your chalky faces that some of you prefer more intellectual

entertainment.

That is why we offer the following.

And now, if you will excuse me, I must cheer my team on.

This will be fine, Julia. Now, if we just don't have any late enrollments,

Oh, excuse me.

Yes?

Oh, ask her to come in, please.

Laura Siddons is here.

Oh, good morning, Laura.

Well, I hope you feel a little more rested today.

This is Miss Conrad, our vice principal.

We're so pleased you're going to be with us at Briarstone, Miss Siddons. I was

just telling Miss Conrad that yesterday was the first time we'd met in 25 years.

A quarter of a century.

Oh, it sounds far more dreadful you're saying it like that.

You know, Laura, your letter arrived at the most opportune moment.

Yes. We'd been looking everywhere for a replacement in European literature.

And we were beginning to think that we'd have to start the term without anyone.

I'm glad I wrote.

Oh, you'll get on famously.

And if there are any questions or problems, well, that's why Miss Conrad

are here.

Thank you.

When one has been out of this country for so long, things seem very different

from the way one remembered them, even a little strange.

Well, it's nearly time for my first class.

Thank you.

for giving me this opportunity.

Is she going to be any good?

Well, there's no doubt about her intellectual capabilities or her

European literature.

Yes, but what about her knowledge of the American college girl?

Oh, I'm sorry, Dorothy. I know she was your classmate, but she seems so

foreign. Well, what else could... Could I do?

With Miss Martin leaving so suddenly, we had to find a replacement.

And you saw Miss Siddons' letter to me?

Yes, it was rather desperate.

We'd be just as desperate if we'd led her life.

Blocked her father when she was young.

Her mother, just before we graduated.

Right after, she went off to Germany to visit an only living relative, her

uncle.

Then the war.

She was there all through it, Julia.

The bombings, the internment.

Then the years right after, teaching English where and when she could,

on with her uncle until he passed on and she came back to the States.

You can imagine what these past few months have been like for her.

No money, no family, no friends, looking for work.

Until she remembered me and wrote that letter.

I'll tell you something else, Julia.

If I had turned her down, I don't know what would have happened to her.

Good

morning, young lady.

Good morning.

I am your new homeroom

counselor, Miss Sittons.

S -I -D -D -O -N -S.

I shall also teach you European literature.

You will find that I insist on punctuality and on attention.

You will also find at the end of the semester you will have learned European

literature.

Now.

Gloria Barnes.

Present.

Vera Carson.

Present.

Constance Cowell?

Hi.

Would you care for a lift?

Oh, yes. Thank you.

It's under the impression that you girls were not allowed to drive your cars to

school. We're not.

Gloria's a PC.

Vera, you want Miss Siddons to get the wrong impression? A PC?

Privileged character.

But she's not.

Lollipop family... Lollipop?

Gloria, her family are still at her summer place. She has to commute for a

days, so... Train takes forever. So I get to use my own car.

Where are you staying?

The Clifton Arms Apartments, but there's no need for you to... We go right past

it. It's just a block from our soda saloon.

Maybe you'd like to split a calorie with us. Would you, Miss Sidney? There's

chalk shakes at the Living Inn. Thank you, not today. Perhaps some other time.

Well, sir, you're the little lady just moved into apartment six. I'm number

five. Makes us neighbors.

Prouty's my name. Ben Prouty. You know, in a big city, nobody ever gets to know

his neighbors.

People go for years, never so much as saying good morning to somebody who

across the hall or on the other side of the wall.

Well, you can hear them talking, but all the same, you're not supposed to talk

to them.

Well, Ben Prouty doesn't hold with that. No, sir.

Tear the walls down. That's what I say, Miss... Miss Siddons.

Why should a little plaster come between people? Tell me that, Miss Siddons,

hmm?

I really haven't thought, Mr. Proudy.

Well, we'll have to change all that. There's a fine little bar down the

Just neighborhood people, real neighborly folks. There's some time when

you're... I don't drink.

Oh.

Well, maybe a movie some night, hmm?

Thank you for the invitation. I expect to be very busy for some weeks to come.

Good day, Mr. Proudy.

It is not generally known that the author of the classic European horror

Frankenstein, was the wife of the English poet, Shelley.

To be precise, the full title of Mrs.

Shelley's famous novel is Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus.

Now, do you all know who Prometheus was?

Vera. Yes, ma 'am. Which she was back on.

This is the third time this month that you have been late.

I'm sorry, Miss Hiddens.

Being sorry doesn't help, Vera.

Unless you also do something about it.

Perhaps you will tell me what Prometheus means to you.

Isn't it one of those funny little things we studied in zoology?

I presume you mean a paramecium.

Yes, that's it.

Vera, the ancient Greeks regarded Prometheus as the creator of the human

and... I don't see why we have to waste our time on a lot of people who've been

dead for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Your presence in this class indicates your need for an education.

Does it not?

Yes, but isn't education to make one think?

I mean, the brain isn't just a place to dump a lot of unimportant facts and

figures.

The brain requires discipline.

Discipline and diligence.

And as long as I am your teacher, I shall make sure that you do not forget

Miss Dittman?

It's about Mary Shelley.

Well, you mentioned her novel, The Last Man, about the destruction of the human

race. It sounded so timely, even though you said she wrote it in 1826.

That was the year it was published.

I'd love to read it, but I've called the public library and they just don't have

a copy. Perhaps I could find it for you.

Would you, Miss Siddons?

Thank you.

Gloria, I should like to say something.

I've been so pleased with your work in class.

If only the...

The other girls had the same interest.

Well, I'll see what I can do about the book. Goodbye, Gloria.

Goodbye, Miss Siddons.

Miss Siddons?

Would you care to come home with me and have tea?

We can talk about Mary Shelley.

Anyway, I'd like you to meet my mother.

I should like that very much, Gloria.

problem, isn't it, then?

Time for your pill, Mother. Oh, the child's relentless. Well, Mother simply

to stop charging around like she used to. She should settle down to a good

Much rather play cribbage with your father when he comes home.

Such an unsheek game.

But he loves it.

He daren't admit it, though.

Daddy's in the State Department.

Most of his colleagues prefer bridge to cribbage.

And where is he now?

In Iraq.

Thank goodness he'll be coming back soon.

Perhaps I should go.

No. No, no, stay and have your tea.

I'm quite all right, really.

Well, it's been so pleasant to meet you. I hope you'll be up and about very

soon. I could drop you home. No, dear, stay with your mother.

I'm getting so handy with the buses.

Mother.

Good evening, Miss Siddons. Good evening, Mr. Prouty.

Well, school must be going great guns, huh? You're all smiles this evening.

I had a lovely afternoon.

Well, then let's not break the spell.

There's a nice little place down the street. Nothing fancy, but the food's

Why not come and have a bite?

Thank you. I've already had my supper.

But another night, if you still feel like asking me.

Oh, you sure don't know old Ben Prouty.

You bet I'll ask.

Well, good night.

Good night.

Good evening.

May I help you? Good evening. I was looking for an edition of Mary Shelley's

Last Man, or a collection of her works that might contain it.

I'm not quite sure. Let me go see.

How about that? I do have one.

It's a rare one, though. Ten dollars.

Well, uh, do you want it?

Oh.

Ten and a dollar. Yeah.

Thank you.

Sorry.

No ladies allowed without escorts.

You wouldn't want the club to get a bad name now, would you, lady?

Now, who would care to describe what we mean when we say the Gothic

novel?

May I speak to you a minute, please?

Where did

you

find it so fast?

In the secondhand bookshop last night.

You must let me pay you for it.

It is a gift.

Miss Siddons, I'm sorry about just now in class.

I guess I dozed off, didn't I?

Were you up late? All night.

You see, Mother wasn't feeling well, and I didn't want to leave her alone.

I don't know what's been wrong with me lately.

It must be the strain of Mother's illness and Daddy's being away.

I know you're disappointed in me, Miss Siddons, but I'm really cracking my

tonight. When finals come, you'll see.

That's all I wanted to hear.

Forgive me for being so rude as to fall asleep. It won't happen again.

And thanks so much for the book.

Thank you, Ben.

I enjoyed both the pictures.

They do help you to escape a little, don't they? There's nothing wrong with

that, Laura.

No, I suppose not.

You've been very kind.

Now, now, now, Laura, it's my pleasure. I mean, most men would have stopped

inviting me after so many excuses.

What are neighbors for?

To be neighborly, of course.

All the same, I do appreciate it.

I'm afraid I haven't been very good company, but I've had so much on my mind

lately. Nonsense, Laura.

Say, how about having a...

You look as if you'd seen a ghost.

Something wrong?

Ben, it's that girl.

She's one of my pupils.

She oughtn't to be in a place like that. I'm sure her parents wouldn't approve.

Please, please get me a taxi.

I must find out where she's going. Well, the car's right here. I'll drive you.

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

The name on the

mailbox is Paul Dunlap, apartment 2K.

How long have they been up there now?

Now, look, Laura, there's nothing you can do about it. How long?

Let me take you home.

No.

Laura, young people have different ideas about things today.

What was wrong when we were young? Until wrong.

Laura.

Don't worry.

I'm not going to disturb them. I'm just going to leave a note under the door.

My appearance, but Saturday morning is... How dare you trail me?

I had to. Had to?

Had to pry into my life?

What business is it of yours?

Claudia, to someone your age, teaching,

for that matter, teachers, must appear terribly dull.

And for the most part, you're quite right.

Year after year, the same facts, the same words, the same unimportant dates

repeated year after year to hundreds and hundreds of girls' faces.

Just faces.

Rows and rows of smiling, scowling faces.

And then one day, if you're lucky, you may discover a rare and wonderful thing

sitting there before you. One child who was born understanding.

One child who seeks more, who demands more from education.

And in that instant, it all becomes worthwhile.

And you find justification for all the earth.

Nothing.

And that is why I couldn't let you be harmed.

It's not what you thought, Miss Siddons. I'm not harmed. I'm just married.

Wonderfully, blissfully married.

You see, I don't dare tell Mother while she's so sick.

And so I'm waiting for Daddy to come home so I can tell him.

She's so excitable, and she'd be convinced I wouldn't finish school.

Paul is such a wonderful person, Miss Siddons.

I'm so much in love with him.

Connie knows about it, but she's the only one.

And now you.

And all the time I thought he was some terrible gangster taking

you to that dreadful nightclub.

Seventh Heaven?

His father owns it, Miss Siddons, and several other clubs.

Paul's learning the business.

I'll keep your secret, Gloria.

Good morning.

Well, what do you have to say for yourself?

It's a secret.

Oh, you never know about a woman. Last night you were really steamed up, and

this morning... Well, what did you decide to do about it?

Nothing. Oh?

Her father will be home next week. He'll know what to do, and her mother isn't

up to any kind of crisis just now.

Ah, like I told you last night, Laura.

There's nothing you can do about a thing like that. It's up to the parents.

Sometimes the children seem to manage very well for themselves, Ben.

Good morning, girl.

From Gloria.

Miss Siddons, this is really an open letter because my friend Connie

read it to the class before you came in.

I honestly liked you.

I thought it was lucky it was you who found out about Paul rather than

else. Now I know better.

I know the reason you spied on us, you and your loathsome friend Ben Prouty.

You were in partnership, weren't you?

He did the dirty work. You were too ladylike to do it yourself.

Well, he did it all right.

He tried to blackmail Mother.

He demanded $20 ,000.

Otherwise, he was going to the principal and tell her about what he called my

affair.

Please have him now, and he's confessed.

He says you planned the whole thing.

Mother is in a coma.

Perhaps won't even regain consciousness.

If she dies, it will be more than blackmail.

The police are coming for you.

They know what to do with people like you.

First defeat.

We shall protest, of course.

I think the policy of allowing the other team to carry weapons is definitely

unsportsmanlike.

I have already reported the matter to the Society for the Prevention of

to Animals.

We seem to be late this evening, so I must rush through the remainder of our

show.

That concludes our entertainment for this evening. Next time we shall be back

with another story. Until then, good night.