Original subtitles

Woo! Woo!

Ha ha ha ha!

What'll we do now, Johnny?

Let's go over to the cemetery.

No. That's too scary.

Let's tip over Mr. Roberts' outhouse.

Can't no more. He's got it nailed down.

Oh, hello, Alma.

Let's go to Mrs. Schmidt's.

She always gives apples on Halloween.

Can we ask Alma?

That priss? She's no fun.

You go on. I'll see you later.

She's got a crush on you, Johnny.

Woo!

Hello, preacher's daughter.

I've been looking for you.

You have?

Why'd you put them handkerchiefs on my desk?

You have a bad cold.

Your nose has been running.

Then don't look at me.

I like to look at you.

I don't want them.

Do you know the name of the angel?

What name?

Eternity. It's carved there under the water.

Doesn't it give you the cold shivers?

Nah.

Well, it did me.

Because you're the preacher's daughter.

Eternity? What does it mean?

It's something that goes on and on

when life and death and everything else

is all through with.

Aw, there's no such thing.

Oh, but there is.

It's what people's souls live in

when they leave their bodies.

My name is Alma. Alma is Spanish for soul.

Did you know that?

My dad's got a chart of the human body

in his office.

It shows everything, all your insides.

He wants me to become a doctor like him.

I think that's wonderful.

Give me one of them handkerchiefs.

Is my face clean enough now?

Yes. Beautiful.

What?

I said beautiful.

Well, let's kiss each other.

Come on. Let's just try it.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

Mother, are you ready?

Oh, Mother. It's evening.

You know you won't be needing your parasol.

I'm terribly nervous. Please be good tonight.

If I can't have my parasol, I won't go.

That's that, and final.

Alma, will you hurry?

All right, you can bring your parasol,

only don't do anything tonight, please.

We'll have to go without her.

I could do nothing with her all day.

I wish I didn't have to go.

It's a civic duty you've performed many times.

Singing in public terrifies me.

We should have left 10 minutes ago.

? Da da da da

? Da da da da da da da ?

Mother, please.

Punctuality is the politeness of princes.

We're missing the skyrockets.

Tardiness is a discourtesy.

Did you answer the missionary's letter?

I answered the missionary's letter.

Father, please don't. I am really terribly nervous.

I heard you practice today...

And now, ladies and gentlemen,

Miss Alma Winemiller, the Nightingale of the Delta,

singing "La Golondrina".

? Where now so swiftly flies

? The timid swallow

? What distant region

? Seeks her tireless wing

? To reach it safe

? What guidance does she follow? ?

? When darkness hides...

Look who's back.

Bright as a silver dollar.

Hi, Dusty, Pearl.

How'd you do in the floating crap game?

Floated with it to Vicksburg, then sank.

You should have been home

from medical school weeks ago, Johnny.

I took the long, sweet route,

Baltimore to Memphis, Vicksburg to New Orleans.

You ain't changed.

Why, neither has anything else.

Miss Alma still singing "La Golondrina".

You home for good, Johnny?

For good? If I know Johnny,

he's back here for bad.

I'll stay a while before I make up my mind.

See you.

? ...And well I know

? 'Tis sad

? Afar

? From home ?

My heart is beating so,

it seemed to be in my throat

while I was singing.

Was it noticeable, Father?

You sang extremely well, Alma.

The words flew out of my mind, blind panic.

Where's the ice cream man?

There isn't any ice cream man.

On the way home, Mr. Doremus and I

will stop by the drugstore.

I promised to meet Roger by the angel fountain.

Yes, well, we'll just run along now.

Come on, Mother. Come on.

- Evening, Mrs. Winemiller. - Mother.

Strawberry, Alma.

Chocolate and strawberry mixed.

Oh, yes, yes.

Chocolate and vanilla.

Not vanilla! Chocolate and strawberry!

Mother, you're attracting attention.

Come on. Come on.

Miss Alma.

I do declare. I thought you were dead, sir.

Now, Miss Alma, I know you saw me.

Why are you running away?

I'm most definitely not running away.

I have a rendezvous to keep.

Sounds intriguing. Who with?

Roger Doremus.

Uh-huh. I, uh, liked your solo.

I'm so glad that you approve.

I'd really begun to think you'd forgotten me.

Oh, I could never do that.

I promised to write

and keep you abreast of events here at home.

I did. You never answered.

I was busy.

Are you home for the summer?

Mm-hmm.

Summer isn't the pleasantest time

to renew an acquaintance with Glorious Hill.

The gulf wind has failed us this year,

disappointed us dreadfully this summer.

Are you planning to stay here and take over

some of your father's medical practice?

I haven't made up my mind.

Well, your father tells me

you've finished your studies in bacteriology.

Bacteriology.

Isn't that something you do with a microscope?

Well, partly.

To be a doctor.

Oh, my.

And deal with those mysteries.

I think it's almost religious.

I didn't know you were awed

by the medical profession.

I'm your father's greatest admirer,

as well as his patient.

It's comforting to know he's right next door.

Why? Do you have fits?

Fits? Oh, no.

But sometimes I do feel...

Anxious?

Yes. And he reassures you.

Always. Ah, but only temporarily.

I suspect you need more than temporary reassurance.

Shall I tell you frankly?

Oh, please.

You have a doppelganger, Miss Alma,

and that doppelganger is badly irritated.

I have an irritated doppelganger?

Oh, my goodness.

How awful that sounds. What is it?

It's none of my business. You're not my patient.

That's downright wicked of you

to say I have something so awful-sounding

and then not tell me what it is.

It means there's another person

trapped inside you, Miss Alma,

Another self,

and that self is crying out to be freed.

Oh, but of course,

you're... you're teasing me, aren't you?

Who is that?

I'm surprised that you don't know.

Her name is Rosa Zacharias.

Her father's the new owner

of the gambling Casino on Moon Lake.

She smiled at you.

I hope that you have a strong character.

Solid rock.

They say the pyrotechnical display

Is going to be brilliant.

Hmm? The fireworks.

There goes the first skyrocket.

Oh, look at it burst into a million stars!

Are you cold?

Why, no. No. Why?

You're trembling.

Oh, am I? Ha ha ha! Well. Hmm.

Why do you laugh that way?

What way?

Ha ha ha! That way.

I do declare. You haven't changed in the slightest.

It used to delight you to embarrass me,

and it still does.

Maybe I shouldn't tell you,

but I heard an imitation of you at a party.

Imitation? Of what?

You singing at a wedding.

Oh, now you're upset.

No, no, I'm not upset. I'm just mystified.

Don't you know

you have the reputation for putting on airs?

I have no idea to what you are referring.

Well, for instance, uh, that accent

and this fancy way of talking.

What way?

Uh, pyrotechnical display

instead of fireworks...

That sort of thing.

I do wish Roger would get here.

Who gave this imitation

at this party you speak of?

She wouldn't want that told.

It was a she, then.

A man wouldn't do it.

A lady wouldn't, either.

Oh... I didn't think

it would make you so angry.

I wouldn't have mentioned it.

I'm not angry, just mystified and amazed

as I always am by unprovoked malice.

These people who call me affected

and give unkind imitations of me...

I wonder if they ever stop to think

that my circumstances

have been somewhat different from theirs.

My father and I have a certain cross to bear.

What cross?

Living next door to us,

you should know what cross.

Oh, you mean your mother?

She had her breakdown

When I was still in high school.

And since that time,

I've had to manage the rectory

and take over the social and household duties

that would ordinarily belong to a minister's wife,

not his daughter.

All you need

is to go out with young people.

I'm afraid that you and I move in different circles

and have different tastes.

If I was as outspoken as you are,

which is sometimes an excuse for being rude,

I might ask you this...

What do you think everyone says about you?

When your father is patiently waiting

for you to come home,

you have been seen in certain neighboring cities,

carrying on drunk, drunk and disorderly like some stupid child!

Miss Alma.

Most of us have no choice but to lead useless lives,

but you have a gift for scientific research,

A chance to serve humanity and relieve suffering.

And what do you do?

Conducting yourself like some overgrown schoolboy

who wants to be the wildest fellow in town.

You, a gifted young doctor, magna cum laude.

I call it a desecration.

Miss Alma. Miss Alma.

You do talk up a storm, don't you?

You followed me here uninvited

to tease me like when I was a child.

You wanted to embarrass me and hurt me.

You've succeeded. I was hurt.

I made a fool of myself. So let me go!

Miss Alma. Miss Alma.

Miss Alma, you're attracting attention.

Don't you know I like you?

I don't believe that.

I wouldn't go to the trouble

Of teasing you if I didn't.

There goes a nice one.

Two, three, four, five, six.

That's all. No, seven.

Oh. Oh, dear.

How about going for a ride?

In your automobile?

I don't mean in a buggy.

Would you observe the speed limit?

Strictly, with you, Miss Alma.

When? Tonight?

Sometime.

I'd be happy to, John.

Wear a hat with a plume!

I haven't got a hat with a plume!

Well, get one!

Here, Thomas, let me give you a hand.

Mighty nice to have you back, Dr. John.

This house gets lonely, just him and me.

Nice to see you, too.

John! Come here!

Hello, Dad.

You were due home 10 days ago.

I'm sorry, Dad.

News of your actions preceded you.

I don't know what people said...

Stop smiling!

There isn't any room in the medical profession

or in my house

for wastrels, drunkards, and lechers.

I married late in life.

I brought over 500 children into this world

before I had my own.

It looks like I've given myself

the rottenest one of them all.

Anything else?

Thomas, you can stop unpacking that car.

You can stay at the Alhambra hotel.

I've phoned about a room.

If that's the way you want it.

Thomas!

Yes, sir?

You can take his bags up to his room.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Father.

Better let me fix your bed, Dr. John.

That long trip... you could use some sleep.

Now, don't you go prescribing, Thomas.

I'm the doctor, and I think the patient

Could use a little excitement.

Rosa?

John Buchanan.

Sure I didn't wake you, did I?

Fact is, uh, I'd like to see more of you.

Tonight.

I thought maybe we could stir up a little excitement.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Is it a legitimate game?

You got yourself a customer.

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

It's one hell of a world, Johnny. That's a fact.

A lady can't have some fun

without starting tongues wagging.

Well, let them wag.

I shouldn't have left Memphis,

but I wanted my kid to grow up in a nice little town.

The ante, gentlemen, is two bits.

It's a pleasure getting to know you, Sally.

I've heard a lot about you.

Heard what?

That you've brought good cheer

and relaxed pastimes into our fair city.

You're known as the Merry Widow of Glorious Hill.

All in all, it looks like

it's going to be a very pleasant summer.

Pleasant? You watch yourself, Rosa.

Seems you got a tiger by the tail.

Mm. He's a tiger, all right.

You're the one who can tame him. Ha ha!

Rosa, honey, fetch me another beer.

You want another drink, Johnny?

I'm doing fine. What I do want is...

Top of the stairs, handsome.

Second door down.

Johnny.

Let's go now. Let's go to Moon Lake Casino.

Cash me in.

Oh, I'm sorry. I, uh...

Why, Dr. Johnny, don't look so shocked.

You in search of the little boys' room?

Uh, well, yes.

This isn't it. It's down the hall.

Thank you. You don't remember me, do you?

I'm Nellie Ewell.

I met you at your father's office one day.

Oh, yes. I remember.

You, uh, live here?

Mrs. Ewell's my mother.

Sweet 16.

I'm 17, Dr. Johnny.

Mother keeps me very well sheltered.

Why... I really shouldn't tell you.

Oh, it's all right. I'm past 16, too.

Well, she wouldn't answer certain questions I'd asked,

so I had to go to your father.

What kind of questions were they?

About the facts. What facts?

The facts of life, naturally.

Oh, and, uh, did he answer them?

Well, he gave me this,

but it's too full of long words.

Have you looked them up?

You know how dictionaries are.

You look up one word. It gives you another.

You look up that word.

It gives you the word you looked up first.

- I'd much prefer it if... - If what?

If you'd explain it to me.

Uh... what is it that's troubling you, Nellie?

I don't know. I get these funny feelings.

Where and when?

Here. When I'm with boys sometimes.

Oh? Not really boys.

Men. Especially if they're handsome.

And?

I don't know. It's a feeling.

Tell me everything, Dr. Johnny.

I, uh, think you'd better drop by the office.

Tomorrow? Anytime you like, Nellie.

Well, I wondered what had happened.

What are you doing here?

Nellie, get to sleep now.

It's not what you think.

He was looking for the little boys' room.

And found the little girl's instead.

Okay, okay, Mrs. Ewell.

Go on to sleep now.

All right, Mama.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

What are you so proud about? That's a very nice girl.

And she'll stay that way.

Not here, she won't,

with bums and drunks hanging around.

You should talk.

And I will.

Why don't you send her to a boarding school?

Boarding school?

Different environment. Give the kid a break.

Oh, Miss Alma, it's ever too hot

to sing today.

Patience, Betty Lou. Patience and perseverance.

Now, let's try again.

That's fine, Betty Lou.

Now let's try a scale.

Hello.

Mr. Gillam? Yes?

Yes. You're sure?

Betty Lou, that's all for today.

I'll see you on Monday.

All right. Good-bye, Miss Alma.

Mr. Gillam, I believe the hat is here.

Yes, I think so.

Oh, would you do that, please?

I'll... I'll stop by tomorrow.

Yes, thank you.

Father!

Yes, Alma, what is it?

That was Mr. Gillam on the telephone.

She took a hat this time.

He pretended not to notice

in order to save us the embarrassment,

so we'll have to pay for it... $14.

Mother, I have a thousand things to do,

so would you go out and sit quietly in the garden?

All right.

Bring out the picture puzzle for me...

Now.

Very well, Mother.

Come along.

Look who's there.

The boy you spy on.

Mother, hush.

Hello, cavalier!

Afternoon, Mrs. Winemiller, Miss Alma.

Why did you call him that?

Because he's dashing.

Because he looks as though he should carry a sword,

fight duels,

sweep ladies off their feet,

rescue.

The pieces don't fit.

The pieces don't fit!

Here, Mother.

Now be good.

Please be good.

How are you, stranger?

I'm pretty well, Miss Alma.

How are you doing?

Surviving. Just surviving.

Isn't it fearful?

Well, you seem unusually laconic.

Or perhaps I should say

more than usually laconic.

I had a big night last night, Miss Alma.

I'm just recovering from it.

Give me a hand, will you please? Thank you.

I should drench you.

Why, Miss Alma?

On the 4th of July,

you said that you would take me riding

In this magnificent automobile.

All these afternoons

I have been patiently waiting

and hoping that you would remember that promise.

What are you trying to say?

Just reprimanding you, sir.

Castigating you verbally, as it were.

Well, what about, Miss Alma?

It is customary for neighbors

to call on each other from time to time.

That's mighty sweet of you, Miss Alma,

but the preacher don't like me, and that's a fact.

But I am inviting you.

Uh-huh.

I told you in one of my letters

about our little cultural group.

We are the last spark of civilization in Glorious Hill.

Yeah.

I... we would like very much

if you could come.

Sure. I'll do that sometime.

Tonight?

We're having readings and refreshments.

Lemonade?

Well, for the others,

but for you, sir, I would even produce

A bottle of apricot brandy.

Apricot brandy?

Please come.

- What time? - 8:00.

I'll be there.

Miss Alma!

Well, I will see you then... John.

It's a date, Miss Alma.

Hello, Nellie.

Oh, Miss Alma.

Your lesson isn't this afternoon.

I'm so excited. I have to tell somebody.

Tell what?

I'm going away to school...

to a private school.

Why, Nellie.

Isn't it the wonderfullest thing?

And all because of him.

Him?

Well, you know how it is about my mother.

She brings home traveling salesmen

to drink and play poker...

All of them looking like pigs.

Well, the other night he was there.

Somehow, the first thing you know,

he was in my room,

and I was asking him about the facts of life,

and then he told mother I should be in boarding school

and now it's all arranged.

The facts of life?

Well, if a doctor doesn't know, who would?

John Buchanan?

Dr. Johnny.

Was with your mother?

He wasn't her beau.

He had a girl with him.

Mother had somebody else.

Who did he have?

Some loud thing with a "Z" in her name.

Zacharias?

Rosa Zacharias?

That was it. They didn't stay.

She dragged him off to the Moon Lake Casino.

Her papa owns it.

Nellie, dear, I appreciate your dropping by

to tell me your news,

but if you don't mind, I...

I'm afraid I have things to do now.

Johnny!

Johnny!

Nellie, please don't have him catch us spying.

Ha ha ha!

Show Nellie how you spy on him.

Mother!

She stands behind the curtain

and peeks round it.

Be still!

Alma's in love! Alma's in love!

Nellie.

Nellie, please go.

Yes, Miss Alma.

Bye.

If ever I hear you say such a thing again,

it will be the last straw.

Do you understand?

Spy! Spy!

Yes, you understand.

You act childish, but you have a devil in you.

God will punish you!

I will punish you, too.

I will take your cigarettes away from you.

No more ice cream, either.

I am tired of your malice.

I am tired of your malice

and your self-indulgence.

Won't listen!

Won't listen!

Will listen!

People wonder why I am tied down here.

They pity me.

They think of me as an old maid already,

in spite of the fact that I'm young,

Still young.

And it's you.

It's you.

You have taken my youth away from me.

Oh, I wouldn't say that...

I'd try not to even think it...

if you were just kind.

I am kind. I am kind.

I could spread out my life like a rug

for you to step on, and you'd step on it,

which is what you have always done.

Now you dare lie about me

In front of that girl.

You do spy on him.

You do spy on him.

Back it goes!

It goes now!

Fight! Fight! Stop it!

Go upstairs!

Spy!

I said go upstairs.

What happened, Alma?

I'm sorry, Father.

I behaved badly

over a hat...

With a plume.

Yes?

Good night, Father.

Going out again?

Yes, sir.

I don't suppose I could persuade you

to stay home this evening.

I have an engagement.

Indeed. Engagement.

With the tramps of Moon Lake?

Not exactly.

Well, I'm relieved you have the courtesy

to spare me the exact details.

Well, the, uh, details

might surprise you, Father.

I'm too old for surprises, John.

I'm meeting a few friends in town.

At 8:00 I'm paying a call at the rectory

on Miss Alma.

Well, well.

All right?

John, son.

Yes, sir?

I'm going to Lyon tomorrow.

We've had a fresh outbreak of the epidemic.

They need me.

There are other doctors.

They need me, son,

and they could use a good bacteriologist.

At the moment, I'm a doctor on leave...

On leave from ice packs, quinine, and bedpans.

Well, I wish I could persuade you...

but you can't force-grow a man.

No, sir, that's something you can't do.

If it'll help,

I'll handle your practice while you're gone.

I don't think they'd trust you.

I've already invited Dr. Hodges.

Then good night, sir.

Roll the dice, Johnny!

Here we go.

Last one, fellows.

You can't leave!

All right. All right.

Shoot those dice.

Roll them. Come on.

Nine!

Nine!

Pass me the bottle.

I'll take two.

I move that the minutes be adopted.

All in favor?

- Aye. - Aye.

Opposed?

So be it.

Well, inasmuch as our specially invited guest

has failed to render himself visible,

I suggest we begin.

Hear, hear.

This is the moment

We have all so breathlessly been awaiting...

Cynthia Thornton's historical romance.

It's entitled "A Most Sacred Trust".

"Chapter one. Pale blue spring hung gossamery

"over the fair, flowering, dappled fields of Tuscany.

"Were one to patiently close the eyes,

"one might imagine satyrs

"dancing through the spring green woods

"and blowing the pipes of Pan..."

Come on!

Shoot those dice!

Eight!

Honest, fellows, I'm going. I've got a date.

You can't go home now!

Come on, give us a chance to win.

We're moving the game

to the Moon Lake Casino.

"Never, cried the weaver to the landlord.

"I will leave this place where I was born...

"Ere I'll submit to your scheme."

Hello?

Yes.

Oh, yes, I see.

You are visiting a patient.

I understand.

Oh, no, it really doesn't matter.

It really doesn't matter at all.

Me debes cien, Pepe.

That's 100 you owe me.

�Cien? Est�s loco? Cincuenta.

You're lying. The bet was $100.

Daselo a mi, Johnny!

Quitate de aqui!

- Ohh! - Shh!

No!

Johnny!

Johnny!

Yay! Yay!

Johnny!

Hey! Get him out of there!

He cut you bad, Johnny?

I get a doctor.

No, I can take care of it myself.

Come on, Rosa.

Why is it, Rosa,

Whenever we're together,

I wind up with a belt or a bruise?

You gamble too much.

Is that why?

Why is it that whenever we make love,

you never make love without biting or scratching

Or leaving a little blood on me?

Because I know I can't hold you,

and maybe I'm angry.

You're doing a better job of holding me

than anyone else has.

For how long, Johnny?

One summer?

Unless maybe I trap you.

I better answer that

before they wake up my old man.

You're hurt!

Shh. It's nothing.

What do you want?

I want to see your father.

He's...

Come into the office.

One minute.

Go home, Rosa. I have a patient.

I will wait.

I'll see you tomorrow.

The patient that you had to call on?

I want to see your father.

It's late. He's asleep.

I'm afraid that I will have to see him.

What's the trouble?

I can't...

That you, John?

What's going on down there?

Nothing much, Dad.

Somebody got cut in a fight.

I better come down.

Don't bother, dad. I patched him up.

Just seeing him out.

Oh.

All right, please, what is it?

Do you think that I would come here

at 2:00 in the morning

if I were not seriously ill?

There's no telling what you'd do

in a state of hysteria.

Here. Take this, Miss Alma.

What is it?

Just a couple of little white tablets

dissolved in water.

What kind of tablets?

You don't trust me?

I trusted you earlier this evening.

Oh, I...

Well, there was a mix-up, and...

I seem to be all to pieces.

I don't know why.

Drink this down, Miss Alma.

It will make you sleep.

Bitter?

I... I wasn't able to sleep.

And you felt panicky?

Yes, I... I felt walled in.

You started hearing your heart?

Yes, like a drum.

And it scared you?

Yes, it always does.

I don't think I'm going to be able

to get through the summer.

You'll get through it, Miss Alma.

How?

One day will come after another

and one night will come after another

Until sooner or later,

the summer will be all over with.

Then it will be fall,

and you'll be saying,

"I don't see how I'm going to get through the fall."

A deep breath.

Another.

Better?

A little.

Soon you'll be much better.

Miss Alma...

Did you know that time

Is one side of the four-dimensional continuum we're caught in?

What?

Did you know that the Magellanic clouds

are 100,000 light years away from the earth?

No?

Well, that's something to think about

when you start worrying

about your heart, Miss Alma...

That little red fist that keeps knocking

Against that big black door.

Stop worrying about your heart, Miss Alma.

But sometimes I...

I don't know.

All right, let's check it.

Unbutton your blouse.

Unbutton?

Your blouse.

Here. Let me.

Little pearl buttons.

Breathe.

Out.

Breathe.

Out.

Hold your breath.

Mm-hmm.

What did you hear?

Just a little voice saying,

"Miss Alma's lonesome."

Insult upon insult.

If your idea of helping a patient

is to ridicule and insult them...

It's the last time.

Miss Alma.

What?

I humiliated you tonight.

It really didn't matter.

No, I did.

And it was stupid and cruel.

And you know,

so many times over the years

I've looked across through that window

and wondered if it would be worth trying...

you and me.

And you... You decided it wasn't?

I didn't decide anything, Miss Alma.

Tablets working now?

Yes, I feel drowsy.

I'm beginning to feel like...

like a water lily...

on a Chinese lagoon.

I'll walk you out.

This way, Miss Alma.

Oh, they do work.

I must go now.

I'll call for you,

Saturday night at 8:00.

What?

Keep this box of tablets, Miss Alma,

but watch how you take them.

Never more than one or two at a time.

Didn't you say something else a moment ago?

I said I'd call for you

at the rectory Saturday night.

Oh.

This time I'll be there.

She's punishing me, Miss Alma.

She's jealous of you.

Well, she has no reason to be.

Johnny.

How's the arm, Johnny?

Just fine, Papa.

Miss Alma,

I'd like you to meet Papa Zacharias.

How do you do?

Okay, hello.

Very nice.

Rosa, she's...

Whew! Boy, is she mad with you.

You watch the fights, eh, Johnny?

Miss Alma, come. Watch the birdie.

Aah!

Take me out of here!

Take me out!

What have you got there?

Nothing.

Those sleeping tablets I gave you?

Yes. I need one.

Why?

I nearly died back there.

I...

I wish you'd let me.

You want to turn into a dope fiend taking this stuff?

They're only for emergencies.

I didn't think such exhibitions were legal.

This is Moon Lake, Miss Alma,

where anything goes.

And you are a frequent patron?

I'd say constant.

I'm hunting an elusive bird, Miss Alma.

The bluebird of satisfaction.

Self-satisfaction?

Well, what other kind is there?

Well, I will answer that question by asking you one.

Have you ever seen a Gothic cathedral?

What about it?

How everything reaches up.

How everything seems to be straining

for something out of the reach

of stone or human fingers.

Have you ever thought to look up, John?

Look up.

Who was it who said that beautiful thing,

all of us are in the gutter,

but some of us are looking at the stars?

Mr. Oscar Wilde.

Well, regardless of who said it, it's still true.

It's no fun

holding hands with gloves on, Miss Alma.

Are you in tune with the stars tonight?

I feel in contact with them.

What about people? You know... man.

Are you ever in contact with man?

I've made an effort with some.

Roger Doremus, one or two others.

What went wrong?

My heart wasn't in it.

A silence would fall between us.

We'd try to talk. Neither of us made a go of it.

Silence would fall?

Yes. He'd look at his watch.

We'd know the undertaking had come to a close.

You'd call it quits?

Quits is what we would call it, yes.

One or two times I was rather sorry about it.

You do have serious feelings of that kind?

Doesn't everybody... sometimes?

Some women are cold.

Some women are what is called frigid.

Do I give that impression?

Yes.

But under the surface,

you have a lot of excitement,

more than any other woman I've ever met,

so much that you have to carry

those sleeping tablets with you.

The question is why?

Miss Alma...

Miss Alma.

Miss Alma.

Not "Miss" anymore.

Just Alma.

"Miss" suits you better, Miss Alma.

I really shouldn't be here.

Is it so difficult to forget that...

you're a preacher's daughter?

A minister's daughter

is no different from any other young lady

who wishes to remember that she is a lady.

There are other things

between a man and a woman besides respect.

Did you know that, Miss Alma?

Yes.

There's such a thing as conjugal relations.

Thank you for telling me that so frankly.

Some women surrender to the desires of their husbands

out of a sense of duty,

sheer duty.

Go through life never knowing what a...

what a beautiful, wonderful,

exciting thing it can be.

But love is what you bring to it.

There are some people

who just bring their bodies,

but there are some people...

There are some women, John,

who can bring their hearts to it, also,

who can bring their souls to it.

Souls again?

Your name is Alma.

Alma is Spanish for soul.

Sometime, I'd like to show you

a chart of the human anatomy...

And maybe you can show me

where that beautiful soul is located.

You're trembling.

I can't help it.

Oh, no.

No.

Oh, no!

Miss Alma, please.

Miss Alma.

Miss Alma!

Miss Alma!

Is that what you brought me here for?

Is it?

Did you in your wildest imagination

think that... think that I would...

Let me go...

you... you animal!

Why are you so afraid of your own emotions?

I want to go home.

I want to go home.

All right, go!

Charming, Miss Winemiller.

Oh, thank you.

Well, I must say they did enjoy your song.

Oh, they just tolerated it,

but they did enjoy your family slides of the Orient.

I enjoyed seeing them again myself.

Your mother looked different then.

It seemed strange seeing her in her hunting costume.

What was she hunting?

Heaven knows, but she found Father.

She met your father on an Oriental tour?

On the boat coming back from India.

He had dysentery, and she had the mumps.

They were introduced in the infirmary.

Oh. Oh, how wildly romantic.

Hey, for me, huh?

No. For Johnny.

Nothing too good for Johnny, huh?

Yeah!

No creas nada!

Baila!

Ol�!

Vida!

Vida!

Vida!

Baila!

Vida!

Miss Alma, Mr. Hutcheson tells me

I'm highly thought of at the Delta Planters Bank

and that I am in line for promotion.

You're the sort of young man

who should do splendidly

In the banking profession.

We're not getting any younger.

Do we have to be left high and dry?

Do we?

Miss Alma, do you know what I'm trying to say?

Oh, I think so, Roger,

but if you don't mind, I'm terribly tired.

Might we continue our conversation another day?

Of course. Of course.

Good night, Roger.

Good night.

Uh... how long is that to continue?

I'm sure it's no affair of mine.

Dr. Buchanan would never permit such goings-on.

Good night, Roger.

Good night.

Golly Moses!

I hope you're not waiting up on my account.

Who could sleep with that Roman orgy next door?

Let me give you some news to take to bed.

He had the nerve to ask me to perform the ceremony.

Ceremony?

Young Buchanan.

John?

Came in here drunk, waving a marriage license.

"Very valuable," he says.

"In payment of 3,000 lost at poker.

"How about it, Preacher?" he says.

"Got a job for you in the morning."

He's going to marry the Zacharias girl.

"You'll vacate these premises," I said.

"I'd sooner drink brimstone than sanctify such a union."

He laughed and said

any justice of the peace could do as good a job

and that he'd come to me out of sentiment!

Sentiment!

Hello.

I would like to speak to Dr. John Buchanan.

At the fever clinic in Lyon.

Hmm.

Hello.

Hello.

Yes.

Has anyone ever slipped downhill

as fast as I have this summer?

Like a greased pig.

Yet every evening...

I put on a clean white suit.

I have a dozen...

Six in the closet and six in the wash.

And when I shave in the morning,

there isn't a sign of depravity in my face.

Yet all summer I've sat around here like this,

remembering the last night,

anticipating the next one.

Why does your father

want me for a son-in-law?

I want you. I.

I want you!

Why do you?

Because I was born in the palmetto country

and grew up in a one-room house with a dirt floor.

We all slept in that room...

Five of us and three geese.

Sometimes in the night I would hear sounds

that passed for love.

I would think how dirty it was, those sounds,

and having to sleep on a dirt floor

and smelling bad because there wasn't any bathtub.

What has that got to do...

With me wanting you?

You're tall... but you smell good.

You're quiet... so quiet...

But when you hold me in your arms

and make love to me...

Love?

Ah, y Que.

Something might go wrong tonight,

and I'll wind up

with some dark little friend of Papa's.

Nothing's going to happen.

I'm on that greased slide, and you're part of it,

part of the whole plan, don't you see?

Rosa, Rosa! �donde est�s?

Si. �Que quieres, papa?

Ah, here they are! Here they are.

I throw a fiesta for my baby,

She disappear, huh?

Ven, ven.

�Juanito, Tu, tambien, eh?

Here they are!

I find them! I find them!

The little lovebirds!

Hey, hey, hey!

You're a lucky man, Johnny!

You see? Sky the limit!

Here is for my little baby girl.

Here, take it! Come on, take it!

Anything papa got, she can have.

She want a husband... Marido.

All right, papa get her that, too!

Hey, hey, hey! Shh.

You see these gold bead?

When my Rosa was little girl,

she see these in the store window.

She want them.

Well, I got no money.

I feel bad.

The next morning, I go to the store,

and I say, "Please, mister",

I want gold beads for my little girl."

He look at me. He say, "You want gold bead?

Show me your money."

"All right.

"My money? Here is my money.

"Here is my money.

Now give me the gold beads!"

Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha!

I learned my lesson!

Now I have money,

but I still have my gun.

Anything Johnny wants or Rosita wants or I want,

I'm going to get with this or with this.

Vamos a tomar un trago.

Come on, we drink, huh?

John?

Johnny?

Oh.

Uh, I... I thought it was Johnny.

You're Johnny's father, huh?

I'm Rosa Zacharias.

I know. What's going on in my house?

Johnny's giving a party

because we're both leaving today.

I hope you like the idea,

but if you don't, it doesn't matter

Because we like the idea.

Uh!

Sky's the limit!

Ay!

Get your swine out of my house.

Get...

Aah!

No, no, no!

Get your swine out of my house!

Aah!

Aah!

"The wind bloweth where it listeth,

"And thou hearest the sound thereof

"But canst not tell whence it cometh

"And whither it goeth.

"So is every one that is born of the spirit.

"O God, to whom all hearts are open,

"To whom no secrets are..."

Tell your father to quit it.

I don't want that worn-out magic he's spouting.

That mumbo jumbo won't cure peritonitis.

You'll have to go up and see him.

He doesn't want me.

This happened because of his devotion to you.

It happened because some meddlesome fool

called him back here last night.

Who was it did that?

I did.

You?

I called him when I learned

what you were planning to do.

I told him to come.

You brought him back here to be shot?

Put the blame on your weakness.

My weakness?

Sometimes a tragedy

will make a weak person strong.

More platitudes.

You white-blooded spinster.

You so-right people.

Pious, pompous mumblers,

preachers and preachers' daughters

all muffled up in worn-out magic.

Call me anything, but don't let your father

hear your drunken shouting.

Come here.

Look at something.

I've seen that.

You talk about weakness.

You think you're stuffed with rose leaves?

Look at it! It may help you!

How can you behave this way

with your father dying?

Be quiet!

You could feel some shame.

Quiet!

Now, listen to the anatomy lecture.

This is the brain...

which is hungry for truth

and doesn't get much

but keeps on feeling hungry.

This middle is the belly,

which is hungry for food.

And here, hungry for love

Because it is sometimes lonesome.

I've fed all three,

as much of all three as I wanted or could.

You've fed none! Nothing!

Well, maybe your belly a little,

but love or truth...

Nothing but hand-me-down notions,

attitudes, poses!

You can go now.

The anatomy lecture's over.

So that is your high conception of human desires?

What you have here is not the anatomy of a beast,

but a man,

and I reject your opinion of what love is

and the truth you believe the brain to be seeking.

There's something not on that chart.

The part that Alma's Spanish for?

Yes... the soul.

It's not on the anatomy chart,

but it's there just the same.

It's somewhere not seen, but there,

and it is that that I loved you with, John.

Yes. Did love you with, John.

Did nearly die of when you hurt me.

I'm glad you ran away from me

that night at the casino.

What?

If I'd have made love to you,

I'd have felt guilty...

Guilty of desecration.

Yes. Isn't that funny?

I'm more afraid of your soul

than you're afraid of my body.

Alma.

Dr. John is asking for you.

He'd like you to sing for him.

Go and sing to him, Miss Alma.

? Every time

? I feel the spirit

? Moving in my heart

? I will pray

? Every time

? I feel the spirit

? Moving in my heart

? I will pray

? All around me

? Looked so fine

? Asked the Lord

? If all was mine

? Every time

? I feel the spirit

? Moving in my heart

? I will pray

? Every time

? I feel the spirit

? Moving in my heart

? I will p-pray

Dad?

Dad?

You are my seed...

My posterity...

All that I leave on this earth.

Damn you.

Dad, don't.

Let no man curse his posterity.

Yes.

Son... uh...

Dad?

He's dead.

Dead of good works.

Dead of a meddling telephone call.

Dead by the hand of a hysterical old maid

terrified of the animal in herself.

Unable to bear the animal in others.

He's dead.

Hello, Miss Alma.

Mama says I can start singing lessons again.

Oh, I've... I've discontinued teaching, dear.

Oh.

You see, I haven't been very well.

Suppose I return next week?

Oh, I don't think so.

All right, Miss Alma,

but get well soon, hear?

Alma, why don't you get dressed?

It hurts me to see you sitting around like this,

day in, day out like an invalid.

There's nothing wrong with you.

You may have had a disappointment,

but don't act as if the world had come to an end.

Well, I made the beds, washed the breakfast dishes.

I phoned the market, sent the laundry out,

peeled the potatoes, shelled the peas...

and set the table for lunch.

What more do you want?

Either get dressed or stay in your room.

At night you get dressed, yes.

Last night, I heard you slipping out

at 2:00 in the morning.

That wasn't the first time.

I don't sleep well.

I have to walk before I'm able to sleep.

What will I tell people who ask about you?

Tell them that I have changed

and you're waiting to see in what way.

Are you going to stay like this indefinitely?

No, not indefinitely,

but you may wish that I had.

Frank, you'll be leaving us soon.

That's right, doctor.

Hello.

Hello, Mrs. Anderson. How do you feel?

Fine.

I'm still here.

I'm glad.

You're over the crisis.

You're going to be well.

Ahh.

Mother, I thought it was agreed

that you weren't going to leave this house

without letting us know where you were going.

They met him with a band.

The mayor made a long speech.

Everybody cheered.

He's on his way home now.

Who? Whom do you mean?

The boy next door.

The one you always used to spy on.

Is that true, Father?

Haven't you looked at the paper?

Oh, no. No. Not lately.

These people are like grasshoppers.

Just as liable to jump one way as another.

He finished the work his father started,

stamped out the fever, gotten all the glory.

That's how it is in this world.

Years of devotion overlooked, forgotten.

Alma's in love.

Alma's in love.

Hello, Dr. Johnny.

Well, Nellie Ewell.

High heels, feathers, and paint.

Paint? That's excitement.

Over what?

Everything. You. Didn't you see me in the square?

I waved my arm off.

I'm home from school now.

I finished it, you know.

Well, well.

Here's that nasty book you gave me

when I was pretending ignorance of such things.

Pretending?

A girl past 17 can be just so sheltered,

even with a mother like mine.

I am sorry we never had that talk, though.

I'm sorry, too.

I might have learned something.

Want a peppermint?

Hmm?

They make your mouth sweet.

Oh.

I always take one when I hope to be kissed.

Why, I might take you up on that.

Scared?

Did they teach you such tricks at school?

No. Elegant education frowns on love.

Love?

You're using a long word.

It's not a long word. Only four letters.

I don't even have to look it up.

Yes. Well, run along now, Nellie,

before we both get into trouble.

I'm not afraid.

Well, I am. Run along now, Nellie.

Oh, all right.

I'm going... but I'll be back.

Hello, Reverend.

What do you want?

I've come to pay my respects to Miss Alma.

My daughter's indisposed.

Uh, perhaps I can come back later.

Alma's not at home to you, Buchanan.

Not now and at no future date.

We had harsh words before I left.

I've come back to tell her

that something important she said is true,

that she's right.

I'll convey that to her.

I'd like to tell her myself.

Good day, sir.

Father.

Was that John's voice?

That was John's voice.

What did he want?

He wanted to tell me he was back

and was setting up practice if we need a doctor.

Did he ask about me?

No.

We're certainly having a cold Christmas season.

Cold, but wonderful.

Here you are.

Well, this takes care

of almost all my Christmas shopping.

Probably think of something I forgot when I get home.

We'll be open till 9:00.

Thank you.

Hello, Twyla.

Oh, Nellie, merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Bye.

Oh, Miss Alma!

Miss Alma, it's good to see you.

Why, Nellie. Nellie Ewell.

I tried to see you, but they said you were sick.

Not sick. Just not well.

My, you are grown up, Nellie.

It's just my clothes.

I pick my own clothes now.

Your voice is grown up, too.

They taught me diction.

I'm learning to talk like you.

Long A's and everything... Can't, bath, laugh.

Yesterday I slipped.

I said I laughed and laughed

until I nearly died laughing.

Johnny was so amused at me.

Johnny?

Your next-door neighbor Dr. Johnny,

somebody whose feelings you've hurt very badly,

somebody who says you've refused to see him.

Did he say that?

Yes, he did.

Oh, but I thought he didn't want to see me.

Of course, I've seen nobody

for the last several months.

The wind is penetrating this afternoon.

Gosh. I almost forgot your present for Christmas.

- Open it. - Now?

- Please. - So prettily wrapped.

Since it was for you, I did a dainty job of it.

I'll save this sprig of holly.

I'll pin it on you.

Yes. Do.

What an exquisite handkerchief.

It's from Maison Blanche.

Smell it.

Sachet of roses.

Well... I can't tell you how...

how touched and pleased I am.

Read the card.

"Joyous Noel to Alma..."

From John"?

I was helping him wrap presents last night.

When we came to yours,

we started talking about you.

You mean, he spoke well of me?

Well of?

We raved, simply raved.

He told me the influence you had on him.

He told me about you last summer

when he was so mixed up

and how you were responsible

for his pulling himself together

after his father was killed.

He regards you as an angel, Miss Alma.

This is the only angel in Glorious Hill,

and her body is stone,

and her blood is mineral water.

Run along now, Nellie,

and deliver your Christmas presents.

Wait till I've told you the wonderfullest thing.

Nellie, good-bye.

Good-bye, Miss Alma.

No greeting?

No greeting at all?

Hello, Miss Alma.

It's rather late to tell you how happy I am

and how proud of you, John.

I feel almost as your father might have if...

And are you happy now, John?

I've settled with life

on fairly acceptable terms.

Isn't that all a reasonable person can ask?

No.

I think he can ask for much more.

I think he can ask for the coming true

of his most improbable dreams.

It's best not to ask for too much.

Oh, I disagree.

I say ask for all

and, of course, be prepared to get nothing.

You know, I haven't been well.

Your father told me.

For a while, I felt as though I were going to die.

When did you have that feeling?

August, September.

Soon after you left.

But now the gulf wind

has blown that feeling away

Like a cloud of smoke.

I know now that I am not dying.

It isn't going to turn out to be...

Quite that simple.

Have you been anxious about your heart again?

And now the stethoscope.

Why don't you say anything?

What can I say, Miss Alma?

Oh, you've gone back

to calling me Miss Alma again.

We never really got past that point.

Yes, we did.

We were so close we almost breathed together.

Did you think that?

I knew it.

Is it impossible now?

I don't think I know what you mean.

Please, be honest with me.

I once said no.

You may remember the time,

with all that demented howling from the cockfight,

but the girl who said no,

She doesn't exist anymore.

She died last summer,

suffocated from the smoke,

something on fire inside of her,

and she doesn't live now,

but she left me her ring, you see?

And she said to me,

when she slipped this ring on my finger,

"Remember. I died empty-handed,

So make sure that your hands have something in them."

And I said, "What about pride?"

And she said, "Forget about pride

"Whenever it stands

Between you and what you must have."

And I said...

"But what if he doesn't want me?"

I don't know what she said then.

I don't know whether she said anything at all.

Her lips stopped moving.

I think... she stopped breathing.

You've won the argument.

What argument?

About the chart.

Chart.

Yes.

It shows we're not a package of rose leaves.

I've come around to your way of thinking.

Something else is there,

an immaterial something,

thin as smoke.

It can't be seen,

it can't be shown,

but it's there, just the same.

Are you speaking of a spiritual relationship?

I don't want to be talked to

as though I were some incurably sick patient

That you have to comfort.

I wasn't trying...

I'm glad you've come around

to my way of thinking,

but don't try to deceive me.

I've come here to speak on equal terms.

It's no longer a secret that I love you.

It never was.

I have loved you

as long ago as our childhood,

when I used to hear your friends calling your name.

"Johnny, Johnny." Oh, how it went through me

just to hear your name called.

Yes...

It had begun that early, this affliction of love,

and it's never let go of me since

but kept on growing until at last

it's overwhelmed and possessed me.

Tell me, how did I fail?

Why didn't it happen between us?

How can two people come so close and no closer?

Whenever we've gotten together,

those three or four times...

As few as that?

We seem to be trying to find something

in each other.

Something...

It wasn't body hunger,

although I acted as if I thought

it might be that one night.

I know.

It wasn't the physical you

that I really wanted.

You've told me.

You didn't have that to give.

Not at that time!

You had something else to give.

You couldn't name it,

and I couldn't recognize it.

I thought it was a puritanical ice

that glittered like flame.

Now I believe it was flame,

mistaken for ice.

I still don't understand it...

But I know it was there,

just as I know that your eyes and your voice

are the two most beautiful things

I've ever known,

and also the warmest,

although they don't seem to be set

in your body at all.

You talk as though my... my body

had ceased to exist for you, John,

in spite of the fact

That you just counted my pulse.

Oh...

The tables have turned.

Yes.

The tables have turned with a vengeance.

Ha ha ha!

I've come around to your old way of thinking,

you, to mine,

like two people who call on each other

on the same day.

Each finds the other gone out,

and the door locked,

and no one to answer the bell.

I came here this afternoon

to tell you that your being a gentleman

isn't important to me anymore.

You're telling me that I must remain a lady.

Yes...

The tables have turned with a vengeance.

The air in here smells of ether.

It's making me dizzy.

Do you remember

Those little white tablets you once gave me?

I've used them all up,

and I would like some more.

I'll write the prescription for you.

I've been all over town,

just shouting, shouting!

Hello, Miss Alma!

Shouting what?

Glad tidings.

We weren't going to tell anyone yet.

I couldn't stop myself.

Oh, Miss Alma,

Has he told you?

Oh, how stupid of me, Nellie.

I should have guessed.

This was the present I couldn't tell you about.

What a lovely, lovely solitaire.

But that's such a wrong name for it.

Solitaire means single.

This means two.

It's just... Just blinding, Nellie.

It hurts my eyes.

We're having a Christmas party

to announce the engagement.

We'll talk later.

Miss Alma has an appointment.

I must go.

Don't forget your prescription.

It's on the desk.

Johnny. Let go of me, Johnny.

You're hugging me so tight I can't breathe.

Miss Alma?

You know you've got to sing at the wedding.

The very first Sunday in spring.

Pardon me.

The water is cool.

Did you say something to me?

Yes.

I said the water was cool.

Yes, ma'am, it sure is.

It's nice and cool.

Glorious Hill is known for its artesian springs.

I declare.

Are you a stranger in town?

I'm a traveling salesman.

You're younger than most of them are,

and not so fat.

Well, I'm just starting out.

And the Delta is your territory?

Yes, ma'am.

From Peabody Lobby to Catfish Row in Vicksburg.

The life of a traveling salesman is interesting,

but lonely.

You're sure right about that.

Hotel bedrooms are lonely.

All rooms are lonely when there's only one person.

You tired?

No. No, I just took a pill to calm my nerves.

What are you nervous about?

I won an argument this afternoon.

That's nothing to get nervous about.

You ought to get nervous if you lost one.

It wasn't an argument I wanted to win.

I'm nervous, too.

Oh, really? Why?

Well, this is my first selling job...

Well, I'm kind of scared

of not making good, I guess.

Well, you must take one of my tablets.

Sh-shall I?

Please take one.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am, I shall.

You'd be surprised how infinitely merciful they are.

Thanks, angel.

Won't you sit down?

Thank you.

My name is Alma.

That is Spanish for soul.

What's yours?

Well, mine's Archie Kramer.

Mucho gusto, as they say in Spain.

�Usted habla Espa�ol, se�or?

Un poquito. Usted habla Espa�ol, se�orita?

Uh, me tambien, un poquito.

Sometimes un poquito's just about a-plenty.

Ha ha ha!

What is there to do in this town

After dark?

This town? Not much.

But there are resorts on the lake

that offer all kinds of after-dark entertainment.

Oh, yeah?

There's one called Moon Lake Casino.

It's under new management now,

but I don't suppose

its character has changed much.

Just what was its character?

Gay. Very gay, Mr. Kramer.

Dancing and gambling,

and lots of vino rosso.

Well...

What in hell are we sitting here for?

Vamonos!

�Como no, se�or?

Just tell me where we can get a taxi.

Down by the corner.

Well, let's go.