Original subtitles

I got a flash for you. That one I'm not going to follow.

Tilt, foul.

Hey, Pop.

Dad.

That's Jen.

Oh, I hate you.

Mom, you still want to turn those steaks? No, but I will.

34.

One dollar, please.

The way not to treat a mother -in -law.

Say, why couldn't we just play for fun?

Oh, I'm having fun.

My day will come.

Come on, Doc, back in the water. Don't call me Doc.

Everybody's so touchy about names today.

You know, your father told me once that whenever a patient called him Doc, he

automatically added five dollars to his bill. I don't know if it's true.

I don't know. I had a pretty flush childhood.

By the way, when's he going to take that two -week vacation he's always talking

about? You tell me.

It's always something. Mrs. Monaghan has her baby, or little Georgie swallows

the threshing machine.

I don't think he'd know what to do with a vacation anyway.

Well, there's always one in every family.

Brother Fred called long distance last night. He wants to go directly from

Formosa to Indonesia.

Oh? What's the job down there?

Another bridge.

Rainy Brothers must be rolling in it, huh? Steaks are ready!

Well, we aren't missing any meal.

Okay, Emma, I want a rare one.

Bottomless Pip wants a rare one.

Here's openers.

Oh, darling, go get your robe on. You're going to burn.

Go ahead.

I really need it. I have skin like a baby.

Up, two, three, four.

Up, two, three, four.

Up, two, ten. Burn!

Ben!

Ben, you okay?

That was quite a performance. Ben!

Then?

Yes, operator.

Yes, that's right.

Mr. Fred Rainey.

Taipei Formosa.

Yes, I'll wait.

Hello?

Hello, Fred?

Johnny, how goes?

What?

He what?

It... It happened this afternoon.

Jim Kildare was over at the house.

Yeah?

No, no, no. I'm sure he wanted to finish the job.

Hold the wire a moment, Fred. The doctors have just come in.

Pamela, Ben has suffered a very serious injury.

But I believe he will live.

I'm sorry we couldn't bring news to you before.

Fred!

It's all right.

He's going to be all right.

Yes.

They say he's going to be fine.

Oh, I got...

Held up in pediatrics.

Before you go up to your dad's room, Dr. Gillespie would like to see you. Is

there any change?

No. When will Pamela be coming home?

Well, we keep telling her she can't do any good here.

How is she?

How would you be after four nights without sleep?

Can't you give her some pills?

She won't take them.

Follow me.

Susan, can we... Oh, hi, Dr. Keltner. You can go right in. It's expected.

I've asked you both to come here because I need your help.

I've tried to talk to Pamela about this, but she finds it difficult to accept

the situation.

Tommy, the chances of your father ever regaining consciousness are getting

slimmer by the hour.

It isn't easy to be blunt and realistic with the relatives of any patient, least

of all those of a personal friend.

But it must be faced.

Ben's in a deep coma He's likely to remain that way indefinitely

I wish you could hear a little earlier. I think I saw his eyelids move.

I say think because I'm not sure. I wasn't looking, but some slight movement

caught my eye.

Are you sure he can't hear?

Quite sure.

I don't know.

Well, sometimes when I say his name or... I dropped a glass on the floor

night and it broke and...

I could swear that he heard it.

I'm just praying for the small things now, the little things.

That he did hear the glass break or that his eyelids did

flutter.

I would just pray for anything.

I was talking to a...

A nurse last night, Miss Brown, she was telling me about a case that she had

three or four years ago.

A woman had been in a coma for over two weeks, and suddenly she just came right

out of it.

Just like that.

Dad's only been in it for five days, so you just have to be patient.

Wait.

Mom, it may be longer than two weeks.

Yes, darling, I know that. I know that's just why we have to wait.

Honey, Dr.

Gillespie thinks that since it is now just a question of waiting, maybe Ben

would be more comfortable in a sanitarium.

Oh, no.

No.

No, if he's ready to be released, I would like to take him home.

It may be a very long time before there's any improvement at all.

Yes, I realize that, of course, but I want to be there when he comes, too. I

ought to be.

Dear Fred, I think bringing Ben home is what's made all the difference.

It's been almost a month, and every day he seems to be getting stronger.

We're all delighted that you'll be coming home for a while when it's

We'll do our best to give you a rousing welcome.

Love from everybody.

Who's this?

Hi, Uncle Fred.

How much do you weigh?

Forty -three.

Try to get tough with me, huh?

Freddy! Oh, Grandpa Moses.

Oh, you shut up.

Well, how's your dinner on the game, ma 'am? Oh, terrible.

Gosh, I'm glad to see you. Where's Pam?

Up in Ben's room.

Has he started to get his sea legs back yet?

Started to what?

He was getting along fine.

He hasn't had a relapse.

Look, Uncle Fred, I don't know what Mom wrote you, but... Pamela!

Welcome home, Fred.

You look wonderful.

Pam, what's going on?

Ben's all right, isn't he?

Well, he wouldn't have wanted you to worry.

He is improving.

He looks much stronger.

Oh, baby.

He does.

Pam, what's wrong with him?

Miss Watson, do you want to go down and have a cup of coffee? Sure.

Wait. He looks so pale.

Ben.

Ben, it's Fred.

I don't think he can hear you.

He's in a coma.

Well, he does hear me every once in a while.

How long has he been like this?

Since the accident.

Three months and he hasn't come out of it?

Not completely, but... Well, his eyes have opened and he knows that

I'm here.

And he will come out of it eventually.

Is that what the doctors say?

The doctors don't know everything.

Why did you lie to me? Fred, please.

It wasn't a lie.

It wasn't the truth.

The truth is that I believe that he's going to get better.

I believe this with my whole heart and soul.

All right, but he's my brother. I had a right to know about this. Why didn't you

tell me?

Because I didn't want to be the only one.

I needed to know that somewhere there was someone who believed as I did.

That was all there was to it. There was nothing else.

Uncle Fred, what are you doing here?

We could bat that back and forth all night.

I thought I'd have some milk. You want some?

Milk's a little strong for me. You wouldn't have a beer, would you?

You're weaker than that. We've got some scotch.

Beer will do.

You shouldn't know where they keep that scotch.

It's kind of a canned speech, isn't it?

Coming from me.

Uncle Fred.

Oh, come on. You're tall enough to drop that uncle.

I'd like to keep the uncle. Things have changed enough around here.

Oh?

You studied for the priesthood. Oh, come on. Let's not... Please don't dig that

up again.

Well, it's important.

All right.

Why didn't you finish?

Tommy, it took me two years to make up my mind. It'd take me two weeks to

explain it to you.

Was it because you stopped believing in God?

No.

Well, what then?

Among things, I started believing in girls.

Well, how come you're not married then? I believe in too many. Does that break

your heart?

Fred, I'm in college.

I noticed you dropped the uncle.

Mom keeps praying for Dad to get well.

Don't knock it.

Do you think it'll make any difference?

You sent that message to the wrong address. I'm not God.

You know what kind of a stinker I am?

Know what king size the biggest because I wish when pop slipped and fell He

died How do you like them apples

He doesn't even know he's alive he's not

alive so what's that got to do with me studying for the priesthood Is

it a sin to wish he had died

Tommy, not even the Pope could tell you the answer to that one.

Well, somebody better, because I need a little help here.

Buddy, I haven't made my Easter duty for three years. You're asking the wrong

guy. Thanks.

All right.

I'll give you ten cents worth of theology one.

To wish a man dead is not necessarily to wish him evil, depending upon whose axe

you're grinding.

To wish a man dead to make you feel better.

That's bad.

But to wish a man dead to make him feel better, that's charity.

In the Roman arena, when they turned the lions loose, that's the way some

martyrs felt about other martyrs.

And they went to heaven.

Stop kicking yourself around, Tommy.

Don't be afraid of the human.

And don't blame yourself.

I say, you got any pretzels to go with that beer?

I

didn't

mean to stay downstairs so late tonight, but Fred got talking about how his

muscles sometimes sound particularly wonderful.

The government says the bridge is great.

Incidentally, Fred was fine.

He's going to put Bowman in his Indonesian job.

He's going to be with us for some time.

I've put him in our bedroom.

It's time for your shot.

Does that hurt?

I'm glad.

You've been hurt enough.

I'm right here.

Good morning, ladies.

Oh, good morning, Fred. You know Miss Foster. Oh, sure.

How do you want your eggs?

Oh, just have a cup of coffee, ma 'am.

Where's the student prince?

Oh, long gone.

Tuesdays and Thursdays he has an eight o 'clock class.

How's he doing?

Not so hard.

More coffee, dear? No, thank you.

Miss Foster, who's the night nurse around here?

I am, until 2 a .m.

Then Mrs. Rainey comes on for five hours, then Miss Fielding.

Pam's on every night?

Well, as long as I've been here for three months.

Well, I thought she was pinch -hitting for someone.

Did you see her in his room last night?

Yeah, I got up to have a cigarette.

Was she talking to him?

It's no secret, Fred.

Yeah, she was.

Has that been going on for three months, too?

Why does he always need someone?

Well, for one thing, there's always a possibility of convulsions because of

brain damage.

Is that what those shots are for?

No. He had a pulmonary embolus several days ago.

The shots are to keep the blood pressure up.

It must be maintained at a certain level.

Or what?

Or he'd die.

Well, Dr. Gillespie, this is Mr. Fred Rainey.

How do you do? Pleasure.

And Dr. Henry Mason, the surgeon who operated on Ben.

Mr. Rainey? How do you do? I understand you just got back from Formosa. That's

right. I took a trip over there a few years ago, right after the war.

Well, you wouldn't know it now.

Well, let's sit down, gentlemen. Thanks.

Jim, if I could see you, doctor, to get straightened out on a few things.

Yes, of course.

No matter how I say this, it's going to sound hard -hearted.

Ben was my partner and very close friend, as well as being my brother.

Oh, I'm speaking of him in the past tense.

Is he ever going to come out of that coma?

I don't believe so.

Dr. Mason?

Well, you see, Mr. Rennie, even before your brother left the hospital, on the

basis of the damage...

I saw myself, plus the pictures and tests.

I'd say his chances of regaining consciousness are minimal.

And now, after all of this time, with the amount of necrotic tissue...

to one shot.

Those odds are generous.

And even if some kind of awareness did return, and that's the most you could

hope for, he'd be physically helpless for the rest of his life, barring a

miracle.

Do you bar miracles?

No.

What about you, Doctor?

I don't dare to. I've seen a couple.

Really?

That's the only word to describe them.

I envy you.

As things stand now, how long will he last?

If he gets the proper care, he could outlive you.

You're kidding.

Not at all.

You mean that he could lie there like that for the next 20 years?

It's possible.

That's why we tried to persuade Mrs. Rainey to put him in the sanitarium.

She wouldn't go for it. I think she... May I?

Go ahead.

I think she will, Fred, if we keep after her.

Jim, do you know that she talks to him?

Tommy told me.

And she believes that he hears her?

Oh, no.

No, she doesn't.

When was the last time you were out there, Jim?

A week ago Sunday.

I saw a performance last night that would curl your hair.

Believe me, she thinks that he hears her.

Where does she go from there? To a mental institution?

When you stop worrying about Pam, then you can start on Tommy.

I know.

Doctor, my brother may be no better than a vegetable right now, but I know that

he wouldn't want his wife and son to spend the rest of their lives taking

of him.

Technically, you're still his doctor, aren't you?

Yeah.

Well, couldn't you get a court order to put him in a sanitarium?

Without Mrs. Rainey's consent, I'm afraid it's impossible.

How much do I owe you now?

$341 ,000.

Will you take a check?

No, Her. It's the shank of the evening.

It's nearly 2 o 'clock.

You've got a chance to get even, don't you?

That'll take a million years.

The only person I could ever beat at this game was Harry.

Harry? My first husband.

I didn't know you had another.

I didn't.

But I always used to tell Harry that's who he was.

Sort of kept him on his toes.

Best trader on the cotton exchange, and he couldn't play rummy.

I don't think his mind was on it.

You miss him?

Not anymore.

Oh, I know I used to love him.

But I don't remember how it felt.

How long did it take?

What? Stop remembering how it felt.

See, what are you trying to do? Give me the guilt?

No. Well, it didn't take as long as I thought it would.

Man, I'd been married to 27 years.

Eight months after we buried him, I could close my eyes and his face was

Count your blessings.

They weren't blessings.

I did it all myself.

I moved to another place, put his pictures away, got rid of his clothes.

Oh, that's very important.

The clothes.

They have a special smell.

You'd be surprised how much loving a person has to do with the way it smells.

I used to go into Harry's closet and cry my eyes out.

Nine.

Three. You cheat, don't you? Oh, I've never been caught at it.

It'll happen.

Well, I'm for Betty, but... Maybe tomorrow we ought to switch the chats,

Don't be nasty.

Night, Mom.

Night, Mom.

What's so interesting?

Nothing.

Wine for two o 'clock.

Shot.

Let it be.

It's only a syringe.

I break lots of syringes. I break syringes.

Tommy chews his nails and mother takes eating pills.

You'd be surprised how it helps pass the time.

Would you... Would you have a drink with me?

Sure.

to have much success in starting a conversation with you.

I've been wary of conversations lately.

They have a habit of turning into lectures.

I don't give lectures.

That's encouraging.

But I do have a question.

Yes?

Don't you think it's better all around if Ben were in the sanitarium?

I know the atmosphere in this house is depressing, and I'm sorry about it. I

truly am, but... This is Ben's house.

And he's going to stay here until... Until he gets better.

I must give him his shot.

Finish your drink.

I'll do it.

The last of the nice guys. Oh, yeah.

Don't worry, I've given shots before.

Which arm?

Left arm. And don't forget to mark the chart.

You bet.

Thank you.

Mom you got the aspirin in here?

I gave

her

a sedative. She'll be all right.

I'm sorry, Tommy.

We just got here too late.

Even if Gillespie had been here... I know, Jim.

Well, I think the autopsy will bear me out.

Autopsy? Do you have to do that?

Well, there's always a chance we might learn something from it. I was thinking

of Pam.

She's been through enough already as it is.

Now, unless it's absolutely necessary, I... No, no, no, I guess not.

You can pretty much tell what happened. I checked his chart.

He got his last injection at 2 o 'clock.

The presser agent simply couldn't hold up his blood pressure.

Do you sign the death certificate?

Not for now.

Dr. Gillespie will countersign.

Just dropped off.

Where's Jim?

He's downstairs.

I don't know how busy you both are, but I wonder if you could come in for just a

little while. I think it would help.

Yes, of course, Mr. Black.

Coffee, Doctor?

Thank you, Pamela.

Cream and sugar?

No, just black, thank you.

Tommy?

No, thanks, Mom.

I better get started on my homework. I've got a couple of quizzes in the

morning. Keep on plugging. It's the only way.

Don't you want something to eat?

I'm not hungry. Maybe later.

Yeah?

It's me, Fred.

Sure, come in.

Here's some food for the inner man.

Thanks.

What's the pressing assignment?

Math. I've got an 8 o 'clock quiz.

I'll go to it.

Fred? Yeah?

What would you think about taking me into the business?

Well, I've always planned to. You and I are going to be partners someday.

I don't mean someday. I mean right now.

What about school?

I want to quit.

Oh?

Well, Fred, this stuff leaves me as cold as a mackerel.

I just can't get with it.

Well, you won't be much of an engineer if you can't get with engineering.

I'm talking about the classroom jazz and the theories.

Oh, I'd like it out in the field. I know I would.

Well, it's no good how much you like it if you don't know what to do when you

get there.

Well, I've heard you say a dozen times that if you need the answer to a

technical question, you can always look it up in a book.

Yeah, but you gotta know which book to look in.

You could teach me.

Tommy, I've never heard a worse idea.

I know it's been tough these past few months keeping your mind on your work,

it's gonna be better now.

No, it's not, Fred. Believe me, Tommy, I... Believe me, Fred, it's not.

I know what I'm talking about.

What's the matter?

I just want to get away, that's all.

And moving to a fraternity house isn't going to help.

I just want to get away, but good.

Have you talked to your mom about this?

No.

You want me to?

Not unless you're going to be on my side.

Hey, what's with Tommy?

He told me he wants to quit college and go to work for the company.

How come?

Said he's having trouble with his books.

Tommy?

Well, it happens.

Well, not with Tommy, it doesn't.

What?

You've been away too long. When he graduated from high school this spring,

was fourth in his class.

What's going on?

Is that for him? Yeah.

Maybe I can find out

Hi

Roger

drink up

Listen, what's all this quit college bit?

Fred doesn't waste a minute, does he?

Don't give me that song about how tough the courses are.

I just want to cut out for a while, that's all.

Well, have you flipped?

Look, Fred has already given me the don't waste your opportunities speech.

You in some kind of personal jam?

No.

Look, Jim, can we just forget it?

Oh, sure, sure. I can forget it in ten seconds.

But you're the guy with the problem.

And if I can help, I'd like to.

I've got to get out of here.

Otherwise I'm going to go right off my stick.

What do you mean by here?

This house.

Why?

Was it that serious?

I think Mom killed him.

Your father?

I mean, let him die.

She didn't give him his two o 'clock injection.

She poured it into a paper napkin.

I found it on the floor.

No, she couldn't.

She couldn't do it.

I know what Dad's medicine smelled like, and it was... The napkin was full of

it.

Show me the napkin.

I can't.

I got rid of it.

That's why I want to get away.

Because you can't stand to look at her.

I can't stand to look at her.

Because I can't stand to have her looking at me.

I'm the reason she did it.

She wanted Dad any way he was.

But I kept moping around, feeling sorry for myself.

Singing the blues.

But she couldn't take it.

So she let him go.

She killed him, Jim. She killed him.

Finish those CBCs yet, Doctor?

I'll be back in a minute.

But Dr. Cook said he wanted those. He'll get them. There's no rush.

Send him in.

Yes, Kildare.

I've got a problem.

A big one.

Personal? Personal, medical, everything.

Sit down.

It's about Ben Rainey.

There's a good chance his death wasn't natural.

Someone in his family thinks that he didn't get his 2 o 'clock injection that

last night.

Do they think it was withheld purposely?

Who was supposed to give the injection?

Pam.

Who was it told you this?

Tommy.

He thinks she did it for him.

Does he have any evidence?

No, not anymore. He says he found a napkin that the medicine had been

into, but he burned it.

He told me the day of the funeral. I've been carrying it around for almost a

week now, haven't I?

I don't know.

Things like that can become pretty heavy.

Well, I just can't see her doing it.

Neither can I, but we're going to have to find out.

Fred? Dr.

Gillespie to see you.

Be right down.

Good to see you.

Fred?

Won't you come into the study?

Shall we?

Sit down.

What can we do for you?

Are Pamela or Tommy at home?

He's up in his room. Well, Pam's shopping in the village.

I don't think there's any diplomatic way of going into this.

So I'll simply ask a question.

Do either of you think there's any chance that Pamela forgot to give Ben

.m. injection the night he died?

That's the last thing in the world she'd have forgotten.

Why?

Because he didn't get it.

And that's probably the reason he died.

But it was marked on the chart.

I know.

You think she deliberately forgot it?

I'm only telling you what Tommy thinks.

That's a lie! That's a lousy lie! I never said that!

I never said that! I never said that! What did you say to Dr.

Kildare? I never even thought such a thing. Wait, wait a minute. You shut up!

Is that what's been eating you?

I said shut up!

I don't know what you're thinking, but you're out of your mind. I was with your

mother the night she gave Ben the injection.

After you went to bed, we had a nightcap and then went upstairs.

I saw her give it to him.

Really, Fred?

You think I'd lie about it?

I thought... I thought... I don't know what I thought.

Satisfied, Doctor?

Not quite.

What about the napkin?

What napkin?

The one that was soaked with Ben's medication.

Tommy found it on the floor.

I never found anything. There wasn't any napkin!

You can't ask her about this.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to. If she finds out about Tommy, she'll crack in

pieces. I won't mention Tommy.

I'll simply ask her if she's sure Ben got his injection.

Then she'll know why you're asking.

Not if she gave it.

Either way, you're going to... All of a sudden, there's an either way. I thought

you were there.

All right. All right, it wasn't Pam. It was me.

Dr. Gillespie, I'm so glad.

Wait a minute, honey.

What's the matter?

I was supposed to have given Ben his injection.

I was the one who squeezed it into the napkin, the one that Tommy found.

That's right.

I let him go.

I don't know what name you're going to hang on this, but I'd like to know why I

was the one who had to do it. And not me.

He was your patient.

You're a doctor. Aren't you supposed to relieve human suffering?

Ben wasn't suffering.

What about Pam and Tommy?

Don't their feelings count?

Not that much.

You'd be willing to wreck two lives for some hopeless, poor thing that couldn't

feel or think could breathe for the next 20 years?

How do you know it would be 20 years?

You were there when Dr. Mason said it. I was there when Dr. Mason said it was

possible.

It's equally possible that Ben couldn't have lasted six months.

Either way, it was a hopeless case.

Hopeless is not a medical term.

Are you saying that there's anything in the world that could have helped him?

No. All I'm trying to say is that the doctor has one obligation, to save human

life. He's taken an oath to do that and nothing else.

Not read the future, not wet -nurse anxious relatives.

just try and cure his patient.

In some cases, he may think that patient has no chance, and maybe he's right.

But one thing he can be sure of, no one ever cured anything by killing it.

I didn't kill him.

I let him die.

You're using words.

I'm using the right words.

Are you telling me that it's moral and good to let an incurably sick person

on and on?

No matter how much misery or heartache he brings to the living, just because

can do it?

I wish the answer to that were on the tip of my tongue, but it's not.

All I know is that a doctor who allows any consideration to count for more than

the life of his patient is no longer practicing medicine.

As a doctor, I know how I stand.

As a human being, it's not so easy.

Is it absolutely certain that Ben would have died without that injection?

No, not absolutely certain.

Well, then why can't it stop here?

I'm sorry, Pam.

But there's no evidence.

Pam listened.

Fred,

I don't blame you.

That's just the point. I did it, and I meant to do it, and I'd do it over

You know why this thing went wrong? For just one reason. I got caught, but it

worked for a while.

For a while, a little happiness came into this house. But you'll just wait.

may take a few years, but you'll get some happiness back here again.

No.

No, I have no regrets.

Fred, have you ever seen a baby born with a hydrocephalic condition?

No.

The parents of such children can look forward to years of heartache,

hopelessness.

A long time ago, I delivered such a baby, its head swollen far beyond its

size.

I knew the parents.

I knew what it would do to them.

There was a moment in the delivery room when the infant stopped breathing.

And I thought, a minute, just do... Nothing for a minute, and it'll be all

over.

And then it moved in my hand.

A tiny human being fighting to stay alive.

And I yelled for the respirator.

A short time later, a new surgical technique was developed that could deal

some hydrocephalic cases.

This child was operated on.

Today, he's a normal human being.

Yes, but that couldn't have happened to Ben.

Not now. But suppose in a few years medical science discovered a cure for

like Ben's.

How much happiness would there be in this house then?

driving near the district attorney's office.

Bye.