1 00:00:43,510 --> 00:00:44,270 Good evening. 2 00:00:45,970 --> 00:00:48,140 I was just putting weights in this box 3 00:00:48,180 --> 00:00:50,510 of trash so it will sink quickly. 4 00:00:50,550 --> 00:00:52,710 I'm about to throw it into the river. 5 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,990 Perhaps I should explain why I'm here. 6 00:00:57,020 --> 00:00:59,920 Mr. Hitchcock is indisposed this evening. 7 00:00:59,950 --> 00:01:03,790 As a matter of fact we can't find him anywhere. I'm quite worried. 8 00:01:03,830 --> 00:01:06,390 I wouldn't want anything to happen to him. 9 00:01:06,430 --> 00:01:08,960 You see, I'm his brother and sole heir. 10 00:01:09,060 --> 00:01:11,230 Of course, we mustn't let brother Alfred's absence 11 00:01:11,270 --> 00:01:13,470 interfere with the evening's entertainment. 12 00:01:13,500 --> 00:01:15,770 I'm sure he would want it that way. 13 00:01:17,140 --> 00:01:18,710 I have his notes. 14 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:26,480 The second item on the agenda is a drama entitled "Little White Frock." 15 00:01:26,510 --> 00:01:28,520 As for the first item, he says... 16 00:01:30,850 --> 00:01:34,720 I know my brother thinks I'm a rather dull and somewhat of a prude, 17 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,590 but this language is much too frank for television. 18 00:01:38,630 --> 00:01:40,560 I don't know about you but I'm very curious 19 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,700 about anything that would provoke such language. 20 00:01:43,730 --> 00:01:45,330 Shall we have a go at it? 21 00:02:01,580 --> 00:02:04,090 "We've been so very wrong, Ella. 22 00:02:05,550 --> 00:02:09,690 "Remember that old song, the Rocking Chair Blues? 23 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,190 "Well, that's been us, I'm afraid, 24 00:02:13,230 --> 00:02:16,600 "rocking away these last years of our lives. 25 00:02:16,630 --> 00:02:19,070 "Expecting the children to pay us 26 00:02:19,070 --> 00:02:21,540 "the most exacting of all tributes. 27 00:02:21,570 --> 00:02:24,710 "Gratitude and more gratitude. 28 00:02:25,210 --> 00:02:26,510 "For what? 29 00:02:27,380 --> 00:02:30,080 "Because we gave them life? 30 00:02:30,110 --> 00:02:33,480 "Because when they were young we fed and sheltered them? 31 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:35,580 "No, Ella..." 32 00:02:37,790 --> 00:02:40,090 That'll be all for today. Thank you, Mr. Andrews. 33 00:02:40,090 --> 00:02:41,260 Thank you. 34 00:02:41,290 --> 00:02:42,760 We'll let you know. 35 00:02:44,630 --> 00:02:46,590 Well, we still have a week to cast the part. 36 00:02:46,630 --> 00:02:47,660 Oh, sure. 37 00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:51,870 After all, it's only the second lead. 38 00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:54,500 It's the best play you've written, Adam, but it isn't actor-proof. 39 00:02:54,540 --> 00:02:57,840 We may have to postpone the start of rehearsal. 40 00:02:57,870 --> 00:03:00,510 Well, we still have a week, don't we? 41 00:03:00,540 --> 00:03:01,910 Look, I'm meeting Koslow at the club. 42 00:03:01,940 --> 00:03:04,250 You better come along. He might have an idea. 43 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,280 You ask who is Strokirch? 44 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,050 I tell you, he is only number one 45 00:03:12,050 --> 00:03:14,590 dramatic actor on the continent today. 46 00:03:14,620 --> 00:03:16,760 But, Koslow, Strokirch sounds like he ought 47 00:03:16,790 --> 00:03:19,060 to be playing for Notre Dame, not on a stage. 48 00:03:19,060 --> 00:03:20,600 Left guard, I'd say. 49 00:03:20,630 --> 00:03:22,760 You ask for ideas. I give you ideas. 50 00:03:23,630 --> 00:03:24,730 Left guard. 51 00:03:26,270 --> 00:03:28,140 What do you think of Gordon Daniels? 52 00:03:28,170 --> 00:03:29,770 As little as possible. 53 00:03:30,340 --> 00:03:31,710 Mr. Longsworth. 54 00:03:33,910 --> 00:03:35,310 Colin Bragner. 55 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,080 You remember me? 56 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,480 I saw you play Othello when I was a kid. I'll never forget it. 57 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,150 I'm honored. 58 00:03:43,180 --> 00:03:45,720 And may I say, sir, I regard you 59 00:03:45,750 --> 00:03:48,460 as the most brilliant young playwright of this new generation. 60 00:03:48,490 --> 00:03:50,530 Oh, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Koslow. 61 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,190 Yes, I do know both gentlemen. 62 00:03:53,230 --> 00:03:56,100 This is a stroke of good fortune. I've been trying to reach you. 63 00:03:56,130 --> 00:04:00,100 I was hoping perhaps you would dine with me. I'd like to ask you... 64 00:04:00,140 --> 00:04:02,700 Your last play moved me so deeply 65 00:04:02,740 --> 00:04:05,340 that I wanted you know what I felt about it. 66 00:04:05,370 --> 00:04:07,440 Shall we say, tomorrow evening? 67 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,910 Well, I doubt it. You see, we're right in the middle of casting, and... 68 00:04:09,940 --> 00:04:11,650 Oh, yeah, I see. 69 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,450 Well then, what other night this week? 70 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,250 Well, actually, my wife handles our social affairs. 71 00:04:17,290 --> 00:04:18,520 I'd have to check with her. 72 00:04:18,550 --> 00:04:19,820 Of course, yes. 73 00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:24,260 Well, I bid you good afternoon, gentlemen. 74 00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:30,630 How about that for pure unadulterated gall? 75 00:04:32,570 --> 00:04:35,740 He's just lonely, that's all. 76 00:04:35,770 --> 00:04:38,540 You can almost see the ghosts trailing behind him. 77 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,510 Once a big Broadway star, 78 00:04:42,910 --> 00:04:45,610 now an old man who has to beg for a dinner guest. 79 00:04:45,650 --> 00:04:47,650 It's obvious why he invited you. 80 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,490 He knows we're casting. He wants in. How about that? 81 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:54,520 He hasn't done anything since the Stanley Steamer. 82 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,860 What happens to men like Bragner? 83 00:04:56,890 --> 00:04:58,930 The worst thing that can happen to any of us. 84 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:00,860 Live longer than your talents. 85 00:05:03,260 --> 00:05:05,770 Well, see you tomorrow at 11:00. 86 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,540 Don't worry Adam. We'll have a new batch to read by then. 87 00:05:36,530 --> 00:05:38,500 Greatest martini recipe in the world. 88 00:05:38,530 --> 00:05:42,140 Pour vodka lavishly until Carol stops kissing you. 89 00:05:42,170 --> 00:05:43,740 Better keep it a secret though. 90 00:05:43,770 --> 00:05:45,570 I wouldn't want strangers using my formula. 91 00:05:45,610 --> 00:05:48,080 Why do you think your vodka bills are so high? 92 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:49,280 Strangers? 93 00:05:50,310 --> 00:05:51,810 Ready for vermouth? 94 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:55,980 I think we'll confine the vermouth to the strangers, 95 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,350 I'll handle the vodka. 96 00:05:58,390 --> 00:06:02,090 Oh, speaking of strangers, we have a dinner invitation tomorrow. 97 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,290 Oh. 98 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,060 A man named Colin Bragner. 99 00:06:06,090 --> 00:06:08,030 You know, he had such a beautiful voice on the phone. 100 00:06:08,060 --> 00:06:09,630 You didn't accept, I hope. 101 00:06:09,660 --> 00:06:11,730 Why, yes. He said that you told him 102 00:06:11,770 --> 00:06:13,670 just to confirm it with me. So I thought... 103 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:15,340 Oh, no! 104 00:06:15,370 --> 00:06:16,840 This is going too far. 105 00:06:16,870 --> 00:06:18,510 Who is he, dear? I don't understand. 106 00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:20,740 He's an actor. He once was a great star. 107 00:06:20,780 --> 00:06:22,340 But he hasn't done anything recently. 108 00:06:22,380 --> 00:06:25,250 I don't know how he can buy his own dinner, let alone invite anyone. 109 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:26,780 Well, he seemed quite insistent. 110 00:06:26,820 --> 00:06:28,780 He needs a job. He probably figured 111 00:06:28,820 --> 00:06:31,120 he could talk me into giving him one. 112 00:06:31,150 --> 00:06:33,560 Well, if he's such a good actor, I should think you'd want him. 113 00:06:33,590 --> 00:06:37,560 Darling, the man is dated. His style is passé. 114 00:06:37,590 --> 00:06:39,590 You just can't believe him anymore. 115 00:06:39,630 --> 00:06:41,630 I mean, audiences won't accept him. 116 00:06:41,660 --> 00:06:43,230 Well then, we won't go to his place 117 00:06:43,260 --> 00:06:44,530 for dinner. That's all there is to it. 118 00:06:44,570 --> 00:06:45,830 His place? 119 00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:49,300 Is that what he said? 120 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:50,610 Mmm-hmm. In the Village. 121 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:52,570 Oh, that'll be grim, I'll bet. 122 00:06:52,610 --> 00:06:56,810 Scrapbooks, faded reviews, brass spittoons. 123 00:06:56,850 --> 00:06:59,180 I'll call him and tell him we can't make it. 124 00:06:59,210 --> 00:07:03,620 If you could have heard his voice, Adam. He begged. 125 00:07:03,650 --> 00:07:07,090 Oh, not really, you know. His voice was actually quite reserved, 126 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,490 but I could hear the begging in between. 127 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:11,930 It isn't our problem. 128 00:07:12,030 --> 00:07:14,700 Darling, don't be that kind of person. 129 00:07:14,730 --> 00:07:16,830 Just three years ago, don't you remember 130 00:07:16,870 --> 00:07:18,800 how hungry we were and how broke? 131 00:07:19,930 --> 00:07:22,340 Don't let's ever forget how a door looks 132 00:07:22,370 --> 00:07:24,410 when somebody slams it in your face. 133 00:07:26,710 --> 00:07:29,640 You know, it isn't true that it's better to be a have than a have-not. 134 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:31,180 If you've got any tender spots left 135 00:07:31,210 --> 00:07:32,710 by the time you finally make it, 136 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:36,120 being a have can be rugged too, can't it? 137 00:07:36,150 --> 00:07:40,420 Now that's the man I love. The man who just said that. 138 00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:43,530 Well, I warn you it could be an extremely dull evening. 139 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:46,660 Or extremely interesting. 140 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:52,330 You were not born, my dear, nor you, Mr. Longsworth, 141 00:07:52,370 --> 00:07:54,640 when I embarked upon a stage career. 142 00:07:54,670 --> 00:07:57,670 Then, even I was young 143 00:07:57,710 --> 00:08:01,010 and the names that were so awesome to me, Maude Adams, 144 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,380 James K. Hackett, Richard Mansfield, 145 00:08:03,410 --> 00:08:05,650 William Gillette... Oh, so many more, 146 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:07,780 must be totally unknown to you now. 147 00:08:09,350 --> 00:08:11,020 May I suggest a toast? 148 00:08:12,490 --> 00:08:16,660 To all the forgotten actors and actresses of the past. 149 00:08:16,690 --> 00:08:19,690 To all those whose only permanence lies in the memories of those 150 00:08:19,730 --> 00:08:21,630 who saw and loved them. 151 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:26,330 To their days and nights in stuffy lodgings, 152 00:08:26,370 --> 00:08:27,870 to their struggles, 153 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:30,070 their adversities, 154 00:08:31,610 --> 00:08:33,410 and their successes. 155 00:08:40,180 --> 00:08:41,620 Mmm, that's excellent. 156 00:08:41,650 --> 00:08:44,620 It's quite a rare vintage, but I have another bottle. It's yours. 157 00:08:44,650 --> 00:08:47,960 Thank you, Mr. Bragner. My husband knows very little about wine. 158 00:08:48,060 --> 00:08:49,820 Oh, I don't know. 159 00:08:49,860 --> 00:08:51,430 I used to have a chart. You know, 160 00:08:51,460 --> 00:08:52,760 showing the good years and the bad, 161 00:08:52,790 --> 00:08:55,060 all the fine vintages? 162 00:08:55,060 --> 00:08:56,830 But Carol's quite right. 163 00:08:56,870 --> 00:08:58,770 I could never remember which year was which. 164 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,040 Anyway, I know I like this. 165 00:09:01,070 --> 00:09:04,640 People are much like wine, don't you think? Good vintages and bad? 166 00:09:04,670 --> 00:09:06,410 It isn't really quite that simple, is it? 167 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,240 Now don't get my husband started on people, Mr. Bragner. 168 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:11,810 He has some rather startling theories about them. 169 00:09:11,850 --> 00:09:14,520 I know. It's evident in everything he writes. 170 00:09:15,620 --> 00:09:18,120 He knows things not here, but here. 171 00:09:19,550 --> 00:09:22,160 He writes for the actor. 172 00:09:22,190 --> 00:09:25,030 He even writes parts for old and derelict actors. 173 00:09:26,060 --> 00:09:28,130 Shall we take our drinks inside? 174 00:09:31,330 --> 00:09:33,900 Oh... No, I have a woman who comes and cleans now and again. 175 00:09:33,940 --> 00:09:35,540 She'll be here shortly to do these. 176 00:09:35,570 --> 00:09:37,210 Please. 177 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,670 That shows how recent our success is. 178 00:09:39,710 --> 00:09:41,540 I still can't get up from a table without 179 00:09:41,580 --> 00:09:43,310 reaching for a handful of dirty dishes. 180 00:09:43,350 --> 00:09:44,750 Sit down. 181 00:09:50,190 --> 00:09:54,060 Well, I suppose you're wondering why I imposed on you, 182 00:09:54,090 --> 00:09:56,690 asking you to dine here this evening. 183 00:09:56,730 --> 00:09:59,730 My husband had a sort of a theory, yes. 184 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:01,500 Carol! Don't worry, dear. 185 00:10:01,530 --> 00:10:04,030 I see. 186 00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:06,740 You think, then, Mr. Longsworth, it had to do with your play? 187 00:10:06,770 --> 00:10:09,940 I mean, my getting a part in it? 188 00:10:09,970 --> 00:10:12,770 Since we seem to be getting terribly candid, 189 00:10:12,810 --> 00:10:15,210 something in that general area, yes. 190 00:10:19,310 --> 00:10:23,320 That chair, I had from Nazimova herself. 191 00:10:23,350 --> 00:10:26,090 It was in her production of A Doll's Housein 1907. 192 00:10:27,690 --> 00:10:28,890 This fan 193 00:10:30,190 --> 00:10:32,730 belonged to Ada Rehan. 194 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,700 And I've saved the original script 195 00:10:34,730 --> 00:10:37,600 from my first lead on Broadway. 196 00:10:37,630 --> 00:10:41,000 Not much, you think. Not much to have left after so many years. 197 00:10:43,370 --> 00:10:44,940 Well, enough sentiment. 198 00:10:46,140 --> 00:10:48,710 The reason why I asked you here tonight... 199 00:10:49,910 --> 00:10:52,780 I'm leaving the theater. 200 00:10:52,810 --> 00:10:54,520 You're saying to yourself, "The old boy's 201 00:10:54,550 --> 00:10:56,380 been out of it for so many years now, 202 00:10:56,420 --> 00:11:00,590 "what difference does it make whether he leaves or stays?" 203 00:11:00,620 --> 00:11:02,620 But when you've been a little longer 204 00:11:02,660 --> 00:11:05,060 in the theater, Mr. Longsworth, 205 00:11:05,060 --> 00:11:07,060 you will discover that being in it 206 00:11:07,100 --> 00:11:08,960 does not only mean working in it. 207 00:11:10,330 --> 00:11:12,830 Being in it is to live for nothing else, 208 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:15,070 as I have done. 209 00:11:16,810 --> 00:11:18,970 Well, 210 00:11:19,070 --> 00:11:21,410 I wanted to leave you my little museum. 211 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,850 The chair, the fan, the script. 212 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:25,750 But why me? 213 00:11:25,780 --> 00:11:30,390 Because I thought you might be the one person who would appreciate them. 214 00:11:30,420 --> 00:11:32,690 We would be honored to accept them, Mr. Bragner. 215 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:33,790 Thank you, my dear. 216 00:11:33,820 --> 00:11:35,390 ADAM: Yes, of course. 217 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,090 BRAGNER: I see you've noticed this. 218 00:11:39,090 --> 00:11:41,360 Yes. Is it from one of your plays? 219 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:46,100 No, no, no. 220 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:48,740 No, it's 221 00:11:50,010 --> 00:11:51,610 something far more precious. 222 00:11:52,670 --> 00:11:54,780 Every stitch was put there by one of 223 00:11:54,810 --> 00:11:56,710 the most beautiful women I've ever known, 224 00:11:56,750 --> 00:11:58,110 Lila Gordon. 225 00:11:59,380 --> 00:12:02,180 But then that name means nothing to you, I know. 226 00:12:02,220 --> 00:12:04,620 Mr. Bragner, simply because we haven't 227 00:12:04,650 --> 00:12:07,460 lived quite as many years as you have 228 00:12:07,490 --> 00:12:10,290 doesn't mean that we don't know anything about the theater. 229 00:12:10,330 --> 00:12:12,790 I happen to have heard a lot about Lila Gordon. 230 00:12:12,830 --> 00:12:14,630 I'm sure my wife has, too. 231 00:12:14,660 --> 00:12:18,770 I'm sorry. I suppose I forget how famous a star she became. 232 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,070 But you would not remember the famous Charles Carside Company 233 00:12:21,100 --> 00:12:24,510 which toured the country in 19l8. 234 00:12:24,540 --> 00:12:28,280 We changed our bill every night and sometimes twice a day. 235 00:12:28,310 --> 00:12:31,080 Yes, and sometimes we changed our parts, too. 236 00:12:33,110 --> 00:12:35,080 I remember my friend Terry O'Bane and 237 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,090 I reversed the parts of Othello and Iago 238 00:12:37,090 --> 00:12:39,090 on alternate nights for two weeks at a stretch. 239 00:12:40,790 --> 00:12:43,090 I remember particularly 240 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,090 this one night in Buffalo when I was Othello. 241 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,900 The night Lila Gordon joined the company and was my Desdemona. 242 00:12:53,100 --> 00:12:57,640 She was beautiful, fragile, adorable. 243 00:12:57,670 --> 00:13:00,680 I think I loved her from the first moment I saw her. 244 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,150 But Terry loved her, too. 245 00:13:04,180 --> 00:13:06,750 I looked at him across the stage, 246 00:13:06,780 --> 00:13:09,080 and instantly we understood that 247 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,050 our friendship was at last to find its test. 248 00:13:15,790 --> 00:13:18,790 For two months Terry and I never spoke of our feelings. 249 00:13:20,060 --> 00:13:23,060 From city to city, bad hotel to worse hotel, 250 00:13:23,100 --> 00:13:26,170 drafty dressing room to draftier stage, 251 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:29,640 we traveled, both of us madly in love with Lila. 252 00:13:29,670 --> 00:13:32,170 At last, to resolve the matter, we did 253 00:13:32,210 --> 00:13:34,840 what now seems a frightfully romantic thing. 254 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,780 We drew the petals from a rose. 255 00:13:37,810 --> 00:13:39,780 If there were an odd number of petals, 256 00:13:39,810 --> 00:13:42,080 then I was to ask Lila to marry me. 257 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,350 If an even number, then it was to be Terry's privilege. 258 00:13:48,790 --> 00:13:50,330 There were 35 petals. 259 00:13:52,090 --> 00:13:54,600 That night after the performance 260 00:13:54,630 --> 00:13:56,630 I poured out my pent-up feelings to Lila. 261 00:13:57,900 --> 00:13:59,370 She refused me. 262 00:14:00,670 --> 00:14:03,770 Oh, she was sympathetic, tender even. 263 00:14:03,810 --> 00:14:06,140 But she confessed it was Terry she loved. 264 00:14:09,510 --> 00:14:12,310 I was still in my costume, I remember, as I left Lila's dressing room 265 00:14:12,350 --> 00:14:15,380 and returned to the one Terry and I shared. 266 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,230 Oh, Mr. Bragner? 267 00:14:26,260 --> 00:14:28,830 Got a telegram here for Mr. O'Bane. 268 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:29,930 Is he in his dressing room? 269 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:31,400 BRAGNER: Yes, he should be. 270 00:14:31,430 --> 00:14:32,370 Thank you, sir. 271 00:14:36,740 --> 00:14:38,070 Telegram, Mr. O'Bane. 272 00:14:38,070 --> 00:14:39,140 Thank you, Bill. 273 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,390 Colin, you'll never believe it. 274 00:14:59,690 --> 00:15:01,030 She said no. 275 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:03,770 I'm sorry, Colin. 276 00:15:05,470 --> 00:15:08,870 Anyway, there's one bright side to it. A surprise. 277 00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:11,670 A wonderful surprise for you. 278 00:15:11,710 --> 00:15:13,880 Forgive me for bursting out like this, 279 00:15:13,910 --> 00:15:15,740 particularly as I know how you feel, but look! 280 00:15:21,750 --> 00:15:23,920 How many million is several million? 281 00:15:23,950 --> 00:15:26,550 Two, three, four. Who knows? Who cares? 282 00:15:26,590 --> 00:15:30,190 Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. Nineteen dollars, and I'm flush this week. 283 00:15:30,230 --> 00:15:32,630 Can you imagine even having one million dollars? 284 00:15:32,660 --> 00:15:34,330 No, I can't imagine it. 285 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,970 But who has said it better than our good friend Iago? 286 00:15:37,070 --> 00:15:39,570 "Faith, he tonight hath boarded a land carack. 287 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,500 "If it prove lawful prize, he's made forever." 288 00:15:43,970 --> 00:15:46,410 Well, first I shall have to leave the show, 289 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:49,140 then go to New York and see those lawyers. 290 00:15:49,180 --> 00:15:51,380 Dear old Aunt Alice. 291 00:15:51,410 --> 00:15:54,280 Though I'm sorry she had to pass away to make all this come true. 292 00:15:55,980 --> 00:15:58,150 Colin. 293 00:15:58,190 --> 00:16:01,460 My dear Colin, I'll come back and rejoin the show, 294 00:16:01,490 --> 00:16:04,230 just as soon as I have signed the necessary papers. 295 00:16:04,260 --> 00:16:06,930 Lila's in love with you, Terry. She just told me. 296 00:16:10,070 --> 00:16:12,370 This is too much. 297 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,740 Well, too much all in one evening. 298 00:16:17,410 --> 00:16:20,040 Would you... Would you tell me what she said? 299 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:23,750 Before I go to her. 300 00:16:23,780 --> 00:16:27,350 Please don't expect me to repeat more than I have already. 301 00:16:27,380 --> 00:16:30,120 She's loved you from the start, Terry. 302 00:16:30,150 --> 00:16:32,120 And imagine the first night she joined the company 303 00:16:32,150 --> 00:16:34,490 you were playing Iago, who betrayed her. 304 00:16:35,890 --> 00:16:38,930 And next night Othello, who strangled her. 305 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:41,630 (SIGHS) 306 00:16:41,660 --> 00:16:44,330 How can one expect to learn the reason for love? 307 00:16:45,430 --> 00:16:46,430 Accept it, 308 00:16:47,070 --> 00:16:48,270 be grateful, 309 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:51,110 but don't question it. 310 00:16:54,210 --> 00:16:56,510 Thank you, Colin. Thank you. 311 00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:06,920 May I offer you some more wine, Mrs. Longsworth? 312 00:17:07,020 --> 00:17:08,020 Mr. Longsworth? 313 00:17:08,060 --> 00:17:09,790 No. No, thank you. 314 00:17:12,930 --> 00:17:16,130 That moment, when Terry left me to ask Lila to marry him, 315 00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:20,540 that was the heaviest moment of my life. 316 00:17:20,570 --> 00:17:22,040 Or so I thought. 317 00:17:23,910 --> 00:17:27,140 But I learned there is no limit to sorrow. 318 00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:30,750 Of course, Lila accepted his proposal at once. 319 00:17:30,780 --> 00:17:34,520 Then he went off to New York to claim his inheritance. 320 00:17:34,550 --> 00:17:37,550 Lila was to finish out the tour, and he was to send for her. 321 00:17:39,690 --> 00:17:42,090 I can say with perfect truth 322 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:44,590 that the fortune that had been left to him 323 00:17:44,630 --> 00:17:46,230 killed Terry O'Bane. 324 00:17:47,630 --> 00:17:49,660 He took a penthouse apartment in New York. 325 00:17:49,700 --> 00:17:52,830 It became a hangout for all sorts of loose characters. 326 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,140 One was a pretty creature named Annabel Lane. 327 00:17:59,340 --> 00:18:03,110 I was with Lila backstage when she got Terry's brief note, 328 00:18:03,140 --> 00:18:05,510 telling her he was going to marry Annabel. 329 00:18:08,380 --> 00:18:11,350 Well, they were married all right. 330 00:18:14,620 --> 00:18:17,460 The following year they had a child, a little girl. 331 00:18:18,030 --> 00:18:19,160 Jeannie. 332 00:18:21,860 --> 00:18:25,370 Almost immediately after that Terry was killed in a street accident. 333 00:18:26,770 --> 00:18:28,440 He was drunk at the time. 334 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:31,870 It was then I experienced an entirely 335 00:18:31,910 --> 00:18:34,840 novel aspect of woman's character. 336 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:39,210 Lila, who previously had refused to mention Annabel's name, 337 00:18:39,250 --> 00:18:41,120 developed an affection for the child. 338 00:18:42,180 --> 00:18:43,950 And as the years went by, she became 339 00:18:44,050 --> 00:18:45,920 more and more absorbed by the little girl 340 00:18:45,950 --> 00:18:49,260 more and more distressed by the way she was being brought up. 341 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:53,930 I'd left the company myself, I'd gone to Broadway, 342 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,160 and achieved some little reputation. 343 00:18:58,130 --> 00:19:01,470 Meanwhile, Jeannie grew up the image of her mother, 344 00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:03,370 vain, fickle and spoiled. 345 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,810 By the time she was 10, she thought of 346 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,410 nothing but her looks and her clothes. 347 00:19:09,510 --> 00:19:11,150 Between performances, 348 00:19:12,410 --> 00:19:15,250 Lila would make her little dresses. 349 00:19:16,790 --> 00:19:18,420 She was very clever at it. 350 00:19:21,290 --> 00:19:25,360 It was on the eve of the child's 10th birthday the tragedy came full circle. 351 00:19:26,730 --> 00:19:29,330 I had just opened on Broadway in The Slap. 352 00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:35,670 You get a magic feeling when an opening has gone well. 353 00:19:35,700 --> 00:19:37,570 There's an electricity in the air, 354 00:19:37,610 --> 00:19:41,740 a sense of triumph in your dressing room after the curtain's rung down. 355 00:19:41,780 --> 00:19:44,880 But it seemed utterly unimportant when I read the message. 356 00:19:44,910 --> 00:19:46,750 It was from Lila. 357 00:19:46,780 --> 00:19:49,850 I'd lost track of her for more than a year. 358 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,250 She'd left the stage and no one knew where she'd gone. 359 00:19:53,290 --> 00:19:56,690 But now, she urged me to come to see her. 360 00:19:56,730 --> 00:19:59,290 It was urgent, terribly urgent, she wrote. 361 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,430 I left at once. 362 00:20:07,170 --> 00:20:08,340 LILA: Come in. 363 00:20:10,870 --> 00:20:12,070 Colin. 364 00:20:14,940 --> 00:20:16,640 (COUGHING) 365 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,720 Lila, you're ill, you ought to have somebody looking after you. 366 00:20:20,750 --> 00:20:24,350 You sound like my doctors. Always viewing with alarm. 367 00:20:24,390 --> 00:20:27,890 Tell me, where have you been hiding? What's been happening to you? 368 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,690 The Arkwrights are having a dance tomorrow. It's Jeannie's 10th birthday. 369 00:20:30,730 --> 00:20:33,360 I didn't come here to talk about Jeannie. 370 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,700 I'm trying to finish this dress for her. 371 00:20:35,730 --> 00:20:37,830 Your note said something urgent. What... Tell me what it is? 372 00:20:37,870 --> 00:20:39,500 You haven't changed, have you? 373 00:20:39,530 --> 00:20:42,300 Always the direct approach. 374 00:20:42,340 --> 00:20:44,940 Remember when you asked me to marry you? 375 00:20:44,970 --> 00:20:46,170 I remember. 376 00:20:48,740 --> 00:20:51,780 I want you to take this dress to Jeannie for me. 377 00:20:51,810 --> 00:20:52,850 Me? 378 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:53,720 Yes. 379 00:20:54,580 --> 00:20:56,280 I'm so tired. 380 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,790 And it's such an important event, 381 00:20:58,820 --> 00:21:01,060 I didn't want to trust it to a delivery service. 382 00:21:02,620 --> 00:21:04,460 What do you think? 383 00:21:04,490 --> 00:21:05,560 It's lovely. 384 00:21:06,660 --> 00:21:07,900 (COUGHING) 385 00:21:07,930 --> 00:21:09,300 Lila. 386 00:21:09,330 --> 00:21:11,570 Please, hurry. 387 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:13,940 Then come back and tell me what she thought of it. 388 00:21:13,970 --> 00:21:14,900 Then we'll talk. 389 00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:16,570 Very well. 390 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,210 But now that I've found you again, I can 391 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,280 tell you I'll never let you go a second time. 392 00:21:30,090 --> 00:21:32,620 I took Jeannie the frock. 393 00:21:32,650 --> 00:21:35,660 She was a pretty child. But when she saw the dress, 394 00:21:35,690 --> 00:21:40,100 her face lost all its prettiness and she became hard and ugly. 395 00:21:40,100 --> 00:21:43,200 "It looks like a nightdress," she said. "I don't want it." 396 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,670 Then she threw it on the floor. 397 00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:51,740 I believe at that moment I could have struck her. 398 00:21:51,770 --> 00:21:54,110 "Your Aunt Lila worked all night to finish this," I cried. 399 00:21:54,140 --> 00:21:57,180 "You don't know what you're doing!" 400 00:21:57,210 --> 00:22:00,350 She tossed her little head and actually 401 00:22:00,380 --> 00:22:03,650 pressed the bell for the butler to see me out! 402 00:22:03,690 --> 00:22:07,390 Dazed and baffled, I left, still holding this. 403 00:22:15,930 --> 00:22:19,830 When I went back to Lila wondering what lie I could tell her, 404 00:22:19,870 --> 00:22:22,240 I found there was no need for lies, 405 00:22:23,070 --> 00:22:24,710 no need for anything. 406 00:22:26,140 --> 00:22:28,710 Lila was dead, 407 00:22:28,740 --> 00:22:31,480 sitting there in her chair where I'd left her. 408 00:22:33,450 --> 00:22:37,450 Mr. Bragner? Mr. Bragner, I finished the dishes and tidied up. 409 00:22:37,490 --> 00:22:39,750 Thank you, Marie. You may go then. 410 00:22:39,790 --> 00:22:41,820 Excuse me, sir, but I've looked everywhere 411 00:22:41,860 --> 00:22:43,860 for my niece's little dress, and I can't find it. 412 00:22:43,890 --> 00:22:45,990 I wondered if I left it in here some place. 413 00:22:46,090 --> 00:22:47,430 Oh, there it is. 414 00:22:48,830 --> 00:22:51,100 I'm sorry to have disturbed you, ma'am, 415 00:22:51,130 --> 00:22:52,870 but she asked me to have it ready for school. 416 00:22:52,900 --> 00:22:54,200 Good night. 417 00:23:06,310 --> 00:23:08,750 You were acting. 418 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:11,590 The whole thing. 419 00:23:11,620 --> 00:23:14,390 I mean, Terry O'Bane, Lila Gordon, 420 00:23:14,420 --> 00:23:17,390 Annabel, Jeannie... All an act? 421 00:23:17,430 --> 00:23:19,790 Yes, except for the fact that Terry and Lila 422 00:23:19,830 --> 00:23:22,330 and I were in Othello together one season. 423 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:25,370 But why? Why all this... 424 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,840 Your husband, Mrs. Longsworth, 425 00:23:26,870 --> 00:23:29,070 together with many contemporary playwrights and producers, 426 00:23:29,100 --> 00:23:32,410 seems to believe we old-timers aren't very convincing. 427 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:34,540 Frankly, I want work. 428 00:23:34,580 --> 00:23:37,310 I want it very badly. 429 00:23:37,350 --> 00:23:40,720 So I thought I'd audition for your husband the only way I could. 430 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,590 Mr. Bragner, 431 00:23:43,620 --> 00:23:46,420 I've always said that it's almost impossible 432 00:23:46,450 --> 00:23:48,820 to judge an actor's ability from an audition. 433 00:23:50,660 --> 00:23:53,860 I am now ready to eat those words. 434 00:23:53,900 --> 00:23:56,800 Can you be at the theater at 11:00 tomorrow morning? 435 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,950 Now I believe it is time for another of those 436 00:24:20,060 --> 00:24:22,690 splendid little commercial messages 437 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:27,930 which my uncouth brother detests so, but which I like very much. 438 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,230 I shall be back following, as I was saying... 439 00:24:31,270 --> 00:24:33,340 I shall be back in a moment. 440 00:24:45,850 --> 00:24:47,350 Oh, good evening. 441 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:53,190 I don't believe my brother will be bothering you anymore. 442 00:24:53,220 --> 00:24:58,090 Oh, he was a nice enough fellow if he just hadn't been 443 00:24:58,130 --> 00:25:00,660 He was that way to the end. 444 00:25:00,700 --> 00:25:05,370 The last thing I heard him say was, "Really, Alfred. With an ax?" 445 00:25:06,430 --> 00:25:08,700 Next week we shall have another story 446 00:25:08,740 --> 00:25:10,810 and I promise to be here on time. 447 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,040 Until then, good night.