Original subtitles

Hey.

Hey, you, whoever you are.

Are you awake now, Princess?

I want a drink.

Uh, soon, Princess.

I want it now!

Now, please, please get me a drink.

For god's sake, baby, don't hold out on me.

It's coming up, Princess.

Jj

Princess?

Those two flags just ought to about do it, boys.

Well, don't tell me that man with the middle-age spread

is Dan hatcher.

Chance. Chance Wayne.

Never expected to see you again,

not in these hereabouts, anyway.

Well, just because a man is successful

is no reason for him to forget his old hometown.

Anything I can do for you, Mr. Wayne?

Yeah. I want a suite, facing outside to the Gulf.

Bedroom, living room, the best.

And uh, also service that car out there...

The Cadillac convertible out front.

"Princess kosmos..."

Princess kosmos... what?

Kosmonopolis. The Princess kosmonopolis.

Hollywood, California?

She is traveling incognito.

Can I let you in on a little secret?

She is also Alexandra del lago,

the movie star.

She's not feeling very well. Carsickness.

I'll take her up by the veranda.

Honey, get me Dr. scudder at the Finley hospital.

Hey.

Oh, it's chance Wayne, all right, sir. Big as life.

No, doc. He's not exactly alone.

Princess kosmo... Something-or-another.

Says she's a moving-picture star.

Jj

Oh, you'll be right over? How soon?

Honey, uh, try to get me boss Finley

on the phone, will you, please?

Did you ever hear of Princess kosto... whatzit?

Hey!

What are you doing?

Don't you want these unpacked, sir?

Oh.

Well, the Princess is kind of finicky about her things.

I'll take care of that later.

Yes, sir.

And, uh, about that bottle...

I didn't see any bottle, Mr. Wayne.

How'd you know my name?

I used to wait tables at the country club

when you'd come dancing with the same young lady...

That pretty young lady, Mr. boss Finley's daughter.

Yeah.

What are you called?

Fly. Just like the fly, sir.

Fly...

When you haul up the rest of the things,

would you bring up a bottle of vodka and some ice?

Yes, sir.

And, um, write yourself a $5.00 tip on the check.

Yes, sir.

Now shoo, fly.

It's okay, Princess. It's okay.

Evening, doctor.

Who's that?

George scudder.

Well, hello, doc. How'd you know I was back?

Bad news travels fast.

That's very nice of you

to make my homecoming so warm and so friendly.

Your lady friend sounds like she's coming out of ether.

The Princess had a rough night, traveling.

You hooked a Princess. Gee.

She's not using her real name because she's...

Golly, I should think not,

checking into hotels with you.

Oh, George, George, you are the only grown man I know

that still says "gee" and "golly" and "gosh."

I'm not as sophisticated as you.

Get me the Thomas j. Finley hospital, please.

How's heavenly?

Don't tell me she's why you came back.

Hello. This is Dr. scudder. Any calls?

Uh-huh.

Well, you tell her the cesarean scar

won't be visible to anyone except her husband.

At least, I hope not.

All right. I'll take care of that.

I'll be there in 20 minutes. All right.

You sure got the bedside manner, George.

Well, I don't get much practice

since I was made chief of staff.

Oh, man. You got it made.

Why did you come back here?

Well, I still got a mother and a girl here, that's why.

Ah.

My mother's been waiting a long time for the surprise that I got for her.

But you asked, "how's heavenly?"

Not "how's my mother?"

I'll take that.

Put the luggage in the bedroom, please.

Yes, sir.

Does a chief of staff take a snort, George?

Your, uh, your mother died a few weeks ago.

This is the death certificate.

Why wasn't I notified?

Well, you were.

A few days before she died,

I sent you a telegram

to the last address she had for you.

General delivery, Hollywood.

I got no telegram.

After she died, I sent you a letter,

but we never heard from you.

Church took up a nice collection,

and she was nicely buried in the family plot.

Don't you even care that your mother died?

What is that you just took?

A pill.

What kind of pill?

Oh, Benny. Benzedrine.

On prescription?

Yeah. Sort of.

A goofball makes the world keep its balance.

I don't understand you. I just don't und...

I don't expect you to, George.

I mean, your coming back here after what I wrote.

You'll be late, chief.

I wrote you not to come back ever.

I wrote you how boss Finley and Tom Jr. feel about

your recent behavior toward a certain young lady.

I also wrote you how...

Look, I told you. I got no letter. I got no telegram.

You got something to tell me, tell me.

I got no letter about any certain young...

Did something happen to heavenly, George?

Is that it? Something about heavenly?

What else did you write in that letter?!

I see we can't possibly discuss this

in a civilized manner.

All right.

George, if something happened to heavenly, you got to tell me, please.

Give me that bag.

- First tell me. - First the bag.

Now chance, I'm going to give you the best advice you ever had.

Take that advice. Get out of town.

You know what the name boss Finley means in this state,

so don't try to see heavenly or talk to her or anything.

Now, I'll tell the clerk you're checking out.

You go wake sleeping beauty out of her drunken jag

and get moving

and keep moving till you're across the state line.

I ain't moving nowhere till I see my girl.

You don't have a girl in St. cloud.

That's what else I wrote in that letter.

Heavenly and I are getting married next month.

Excuse me.

You drive carefully now.

Operator, um, give me St. cloud 5...

5...

What... what is the number of the Finley residence?

Oh, no!

Thank you. I'h call back later.

Easy, Princess.

Who are you?

Help!

Hush, now.

I had a terrible dream.

Well, it's all right, honey. Chance is with you.

Who? Me.

I don't know who you are.

Well, it'll come back to you, honey, as soon as...

What are you looking for?

Oxygen... mask.

You don't want to overdo that oxygen.

I need air. I can't breathe.

Will you hurry? I'm dying.

Hurry right now!

Are you coming?

You leave me, please. Just leave me.

Operator, get me St. cloud 525.

Cool drinks and some cookies.

Thank you, ma'am.

Finley residence.

Miss heavenly? Who's calling her, please?

Mr. chance?

I... I'm sorry, Mr. chance,

but uh, miss heavenly ain't...

I don't know where she went, Mr. chance.

All I know is she ain't available.

I'll take it, Charles.

Chance?

Oh, honey...

This is aunt nonnie.

Wait. Wait, where are you?

That phone call for me, Charles?

Uh, no, Mr. Tom.

Hang up. I'll try to call you back.

No, chance. No. Don't.

Aunt nonnie, I got to see heavenly.

Now, George scudder was just here. Has something happened to her?

I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Bancroft.

It is Mr. Bancroft, isn't it?

Can't you talk now?

Aunt nonnie, have heavenly call me, please.

She can't. I'll call you back.

Downstairs in the cocktail lounge. I'll wait.

You shouldn't have done that, Tom Jr.

Aunt nonnie, you're a silly old maid.

Now, if he calls back, you just hang up.

I mean it, aunt nonnie. Just hang up.

Finley residence.

No, Mr. chance.

She still ain't available.

We present this controversial newsreel

as a public service.

In 1930, Tom Finley ran for his first state office.

You all know me.

I'm just a plain old dirt farmer,

like you folks.

And Tom Finley was elected.

Tom Finley ran for governor.

I'm against loose government,

loose money, and loose women!

And Tom Finley was elected.

Tom Finley built a political machine

and became boss Finley.

He also built a plain old dirt farmer's shack

worth $300,000.

He sails from his private beach in his private speedboat.

Boss Finley gave away the offshore oil of his state.

The oil man made Finley a partner,

and boss Finley made his oil partner the governor

and kept him in office all these years.

4 months ago, professor burtus haven Smith

ran against Finley's hand-picked man.

The only thing you have to fear

is Finley himself.

The next day, professor Smith... fired.

His home was invaded by hoodlums,

books and paintings burned on the lawn.

Did you recognize any of them, sir?

No. They wore masks like this.

But I found this... this button.

Uh, yes, sir.

I'm uh, I'm president of the Finley youth club,

and I'm proud of it, but I don't know nothing

about no book burnings or this thing.

It could be dropped accidentally on purpose,

you know what I mean?

But, to date, there has been no probe,

no police action,

no arrests. Why?

Shut that contraption off.

These are the fruits

of boss Finley's rise to pow...

How can a Christian TV network

tolerate those filthy black lies?

Right here in the very heart of America.

Why, they ought to be...

Thank you, honey... Horsewhipped and shot.

And if I wasn't mayor and against violence,

I'd do it myself.

If that TV report lied, why not sue them for libel?

If they lied?

You surprise me, Ben.

For a man that's smart enough to run a big daily newspaper,

you sure surprise me.

Can't you recognize New York red propaganda

when you see it?

Do you call that TV newsreel fair?

Now, maribelle, we're all on the same side.

Are we, Ben?

Fair, you mean?

Well, your father's going on the same network.

Same time, same freedom of expression.

I'd say that was pretty fair.

A lot fairer than burning books and...

You accusing me, Ben?

Why, Tom Jr. hasn't got a mean bone in his body.

He might be a hot-blooded buck like his daddy,

- now, miss Norris. - But he'd never, never resort to violence.

Never, and you have my personal guarantee

that whoever did do it,

justice will prevail. Right, sheriff?

Certainly.

What in tarnation are you laughing at?

Nothing, pa. Nothing at all.

Then shut up!

Yes, sir.

Only idiots laugh at nothing.

Yes, sir.

I was called down from the red Clay hills

where I was born, barefoot and hungry,

called by the voice of god, which I was...

Will somebody pick up that damn phone?!

I ain't never forgot what I was called for.

I didn't build the land of milk and honey

only to see some egghead... Where you going?

To get something for that cough, honey.

Sit down! I've hawked and spit all my life,

I'll go on Hawking and spitting till the end of my days.

You can bet on that. When I answer those scurrilous charges

on the TV tomorrow night, I expect you to be there.

Why, you know me, Tom.

And I expect you and your daughters of Dixie to be there.

God bless you, honey.

And I expect you to be there, too.

I'll be there, Mr. Finley, at the press table.

You'll be on the platform at my side in my support.

No, sir. Not so long as you support

a gang of juvenile delinquents called youth clubs

- hold it. - With a free hand to commit mayhem.

Hold it!

Now, maybe you're right,

and maybe... just maybe...

The Finley youth club was mixed up in that shindig.

And that's why I'm going to publicly disavow,

disown, and remove my hame from the Finley youth club.

And if my own flesh and blood was one of them hoodlums,

he's going to pay for it,

even though it brings shame on the memory

of his dead mother.

God rest her soul.

They say I stole the oil rights.

Well, if I did, I stole it for my state and my people.

I also fought the fertilizer trust.

I lowered taxes. I saved our hog-raisers

from the Chicago meat packer.

Lot of folks say they like what I did, but don't like the way I did it.

But if a bunch of hogs won't come out when you holler, "suey!"

Then you've got to use language and methods

that hogs and pigs understand!

Do you understand, Ben?

Hi. Martini on the rocks.

Say uh, did you get any phone calls here for chance Wayne?

No, sir.

Operator, I'd like to place a long-distance phone call

to miss louella Parsons.

That's right. Person-to-person from me, chance Wayne.

Yes. Miss louella Parsons, the famous movie columnist.

In Hollywood. The number is crestview 14222.

Fine. Thank you.

Oh, man. Don't you know

only squares drink gin Martinis with olives?

May we have a couple of gin Martinis, please?

Didn't you hear the man? Only squares drink gin.

Oh, wait a minute, Leroy. Wait a minute. Could you make that

a couple of gin Martinis with square olives?

Scotty!

How are you? Bud!

Is that the hand that made love to jayne Mansfield?

Gee, I hope you didn't wash that hand.

Oh, gee, I was just about ready to phone you guys.

Leroy, do you know this is chance Wayne,

the famous Hollywood and Broadway celebrity?

Really?

Sure. All bartenders become movie stars.

Right, chance?

Oh, well, uh, what he's trying to say

is that I had your job for too long.

See, I designed that uniform you've got on. I copied it from

an outfit that Cary Grant wore in this foreign legion picture.

Looks great on you, kid.

Really?

But kidding aside, fellas,

it is great to be back.

Louella Parsons don't answer.

Does she know it's chance Wayne calling?

Uh, operator? Yeah. Well, then try, uh...

Try Mr. Walter winchell.

Uh, little black book.

Hmm? Oh!

Uh, in New York at pl...

Oh, no. He's, um, he's in Hollywood.

Oh, uh, try romanov's.

Yeah. Or, uh, au petit Jean...

Thank you, ma'am.

Another round for everybody on me.

Hey, man, I'll bet you got

some shappy numbers

in that little black book.

Oh, the best,

but they're not always in when you call.

Say listen, I'm throwing a little party tomorrow night,

just the old crowd for Princess kosmonopolis.

Royalty?

In every way.

Yeah?

No. It's mostly a surprise party for heavenly, too.

Well, I bet her old man will be plenty surprised.

- What time? - Oh, we can't.

Hmm? Oh, the TV rally...

For boss Finley.

Hey, Jackie!

How about a fanfare for a very important...

Jackie! Hey!

Thanks...

Uh, for remembering our song.

Anytime.

Was it written just for you, Mr. Wayne?

Don't be square, man.

Don't you know

that all lovers got a theme song?

Excuse me.

Sing it, chance.

Here's to the star of our crowd.

Here's to the man who made good.

Mmt's ald

j big, wide j

I wonderful world j

js you live in j

when you're in love j

js you're a master j

j of all you survey j

j you're a gay Santa claus j

j there's a brave, new j

j star-spangled sky j

j above you j

j when you're in love j

j you're a hero j

j a nero, Apollo, a wizard of oz... j

chance Wayne

will do a front-dive layout swan dive.

Jj

Thank you, laddie. Sit down.

Not a drinking man yourself?

- Oh, no, sir. - Well, happy days.

Ahh!

Takes talent to whip up something

soothing like that.

Yep. You sure got all kinds of talent, laddie.

You like heavenly, don't you?

I love her.

Sure you do, we both love her.

- Oh, yes, sir. - Want to marry her?

Yes, sir!

That's the way. You're my kind of man, laddie.

You got ambition, ideas, youth,

and the good looks to go with them, too. But

working in a cocktail bar.

Course, I don't blame you.

It's not your fault.

Town like this got no elbow room for a go-getter,

no opportunity for a man who's going places.

Yeah, but Mr. barnaby... You know, sporting goods...

He's promised me this job as a salesman and promotional...

Small potatoes.

Let me tell you something, laddie.

This here is America.

Today you're nobody.

Tomorrow you're somebody.

But you got to think big, act big,

and you'll be big.

Now, I could set you up myself, but...

Oh, no, sir. I wouldn't want that.

That's the way.

You're my kind of man, laddie.

In this world, there's only one payoff window...

Number one,

the winner,

success.

That can be you, but a man who's going places,

he needs a place where he can go climb, bust out,

a place like New York.

Now, there she is... The ticket that'll get you there.

Train leaves at 9:40 tonight, this night.

I'm betting this $100 on you, laddie,

that you come back to St. cloud number one,

riding high on the hog.

Well, laddie?

Oh, but hea... heavenly... Does she... does she know?

She told me to wish you luck and godspeed.

Well, I know, but I want to talk to her. We made a lot of plans.

Sure. I plumb forgot.

Heavenly and aunt nonnie left

for New Orleans this morning,

taking a boat for Europe.

Don't you go forgetting her, now.

You keep in touch, laddie, you hear?

Mr. Wayne?

Mr. Wayne?

Mr. Wayne!

Long distance, Mr. Wayne.

They can't find Mr. Walter winchell.

It's some secretary named Friday.

Hello.

Yeah. Well, this is...

Oh, well um, when will Mr. winchell be in?

Boy.

Uh, no. Well, I'm calling for Alexandra del lago, who...

Disappeared? Oh, no, ma'am.

She, uh... she has been searching America for new faces,

and she has found them, and she has signed them to a personal contract.

Yeah, well, see, she's, uh...

She's producing this film called youth.

Yeah.

Starring chance Wayne...

And heavenly Finley.

Yeah. They're leaving for Hollywood tomorrow.

Boy, pencil... please.

Well, um, the Princess is unable to come to the phone right now.

She's out.

Uh-huh.

No. Out for a walk.

Oh, sure. Call anytime tomorrow.

Thank you.

Operator, say, would you try the Finley residence again?

Good night, mayor, good night miss Norris!

Bye, Ben.

I'll get it, Charles!

Hello.

Who's calling?

Listen to me, you lousy son of a bitch...

Boy, you just got a natural talent for being plain mean and ornery.

Too much strain. I'd be grateful if you'd think once in a while.

What's there to think about? George scudder told me lover boy came back...

You already told me what George said.

But suppose Mr. Wayne

didn't just happen to come back?

Supposing he was sent for...

To smear his stink over heavenly and, through her, over me.

Well, isn't that all the more reason...

But supposing he is just passing through.

Well, which is it?

That's what you're going to go find out.

- Charles. - Yes, sir?

Where's heavenly?

She's down at the beach, sir.

Lay out a suit and shirt. I'm going into town tonight.

- Yes, sir. - Pg=-

get the lead out, boy.

Pa, you didn't mean it, what you said

about disowning the Finley youth clubs, did you?

After what you did to the professor, I've got to.

Burning books, Halloween masks.

You're just plain stupid, boy.

The least you could have done

is wear white hoods and burn a cross on his lawn.

The klu klux klan would be blamed for it.

- Oh, my... - You better stop laughing at nothing.

You'll end up in the nuthouse, committed there by me.

Sir, without me and my organization, you wouldn't have won

the last election, you're not going to win this one either.

- Bull. - I got you more headlines in the last...

You sure did!

Once for drunk driving, once for a stag party.

Cost me $5,000 to hush it up.

Nonnie!

Hey, you!

Yeah, you.

What's heavenly doing out on the beach alone?

Just trying to be alone, I guess.

Sure you ain't arranged a meeting

between her and Mr. Wayne?

No, Tom.

But you did tell her he was back.

Yes, Tom.

Sister-in-law, you got a powerful lot to answer for.

You favored chance Wayne,

encouraged, aided, and abetted in his corruption of my baby.

That boy never could...

Could never knowingly harm her.

You're like your dead sister...

Gullible!

Hello, honey.

I don't like you out here all alone.

Why, papa? Afraid he might come along?

Who might come along?

Oh, papa.

I'm concerned, that's all, for you.

That is very touching, papa.

I'm only trying to save my baby from being hurt again.

How? By insisting I marry Dr. George scudder?

And before him, a 50-year-old moneybags

you needed for your business?

Me sell my own flesh and blood?

More than once.

Remember the Texas oil tycoon

and the Washington wheel?

All of them rich, all of them important.

Every one of them had a powerful feeling for you.

There was a time when you could have saved me, papa,

by letting me marry chance

when we were both young and clean.

If he loved you so, why'd he run off and leave you in the first place?

You told him he wasn't good enough.

You drove him away to compete with all those big shots.

The point is, he went.

Yes, and he tried!

Oh, how he tried.

When the right doors wouldn't open, he...

He went in the wrong ones.

Don't let's fight, sugar.

Not you and me, not when I need you.

For what, papa?

What are you planning to use me for now?

Why honey, ever since your angel mama was took away from me,

you and your brother are all I got in the world

to give my love to.

That doesn't speak well for miss Lucy.

Who is miss Lucy?

That certainly doesn't speak well for miss Lucy.

I never heard of no miss Lucy.

You never heard of the woman you keep

in a $50-a-day suite of rooms at the regal palms hotel

that charges her clothes and beauty treatments

to your account?

And you say, "who is miss Lucy?"

Well, keep your love, papa.

Just give me 10% of the fortune

you spent on this woman you never heard of!

Keep your mouth shut.

You better tell that to miss Lucy.

You keep your mouth shut!

She doesn't speak very well of you, papa.

She says you're not much of a lover.

Who says miss Lucy says that?

She wrote it with lipstick on the mirror of the ladies room

at the hotel bar.

Wrote what?

She wrote, "boss Finley can't cut the mustard.”

That is a ridiculous lie.

Oh, papa...

I know and everyone knows

that miss Lucy was your mistress

long before mama died.

I never harmed your mother, as god is my judge.

Careful, papa. Judgment day might be any day.

You listen to me,

you ungrateful, hypocritical slut.

Last week in the state capital,

when I was speaking on the menace

to the chastity of womanhood, a heckler almost caused a riot.

You know what he hollered?

"Hey, boss Finley, how about your daughter?

How about her chastity?"

An honest question, papa.

What was your honest answer?

That was my answer!

You have got an illusion of power, boss.

I have power, and that is no illusion.

You just won't realize that I am fighting for my life.

I won't embarrass you anymore, papa.

I'll go away, tonight, if you like.

You're going nowhere.

You're marrying George scudder, as arranged.

No, papa, I'm not.

All right, we'll discuss it tomorrow.

- No. - All right.

Not tomorrow, not ever.

All right!

Tomorrow night you're coming to the TV rally with me, missy.

You're going to wear the stainless white of a virgin,

you're gonna wear a happy smile on your face,

you're gonna face that crowd and the TV audience

with pride and defiance. That's going to stop all those ugly rumors.

I won't do it.

Then you won't.

Then I'm going to have to remove chance Wayne

from your life finally and for the last time.

Now, sugar,

how do you want him to leave St. cloud?

In that fishtail Cadillac he come in

or in a garbage scow that dumps its filth in the Gulf?

The choice is yours.

Sergeant, get my car out!

You have another attack, Princess?

What's that strange noise?

Oh, you mean the radio?

Yes. It frightened me.

Uh, some more oxygen?

No, no. I must look hideous in it.

No, honey. You just, uh... You just look exotic.

- Oh? - Yeah, like a Princess from Mars

or a big magnified insect.

Oh, thank you very much.

Maybe I ought to call a doctor.

No. No, no doctors. Get me my robe.

When something disturbs me,

I just get a little short-winded, that's all.

Oh.

What is this place... A private hospital?

And you... what are you?

Are you one of those male nurses?

I take care of you, but I'm not your nurse.

But you are employed by me. Is that it?

For some purpose or other?

Yep. You're footing the bills.

I see.

Do you, Princess?

Yes, I see.

I am used to footing the bill.

Hey.

Is your money all there and the jewels accounted for?

I'm looking for a pill.

May I have something to wash it down with?

You're not going to give me water.

Hello.

Oh, yes, Mr. hatcher.

I'm afraid I made a mistake, Mr. Wayne.

Those rooms you're in...

They're reserved for the TV rally.

Well, I am sorry, Mr. hatcher, but, uh,

you see, miss Alexandra del lago...

Don't use my name.

Well... But miss del lago is in no...

Don't use my name.

Ask him how long he intends to stay.

Well, that depends.

Hang up.

Yeah, well, but I am sure, Mr. hatcher,

that you wouldn't want to bear the responsibility

for what might happen to miss del lago if she...

I said, hang up.

I want to forget who I am.

I only used your name to stop them from evicting us.

Will you please shut up? I'm trying to forget.

Forgetting...

Oh, forgetting.

What are you trying to forget, Princess?

What are you trying to hide?

You're all out of focus.

Don't I have any glasses?

Where are my glasses?

You had a little accident with your glasses.

Oh, what was that?

You fell flat on your face with them on.

Where'd you put 'em?

If I was in that condition,

I wouldn't know where anything I had with me was...

Or anything I did.

By the way, did we do anything?

Mostly you've been knocking yourself out...

With one thing or another.

Did we spend the night together?

Oh, yes, ma'am.

But I did not molest you.

Well, should I thank you for that or accuse you of cheating?

I like you.

You are a nice monster.

Well, I was born a monster.

And you?

One lens, cracked.

I don't mind waking up

in an intimate situation with someone,

but I do like to see who it is...

So I can make whatever adjustment seems called for.

Well...

I may have done better...

But god knows I have done worse.

Do you remember where we met?

This much I do remember...

That I like bodies to be silky smooth hard gold.

Do you remember where we met...

No. And the circumstances?

No. All I remember is us...

Driving to a town called Tallahassee.

And before that?

That water... is that the pacific ocean?

No, ma'am. That's the Gulf.

What Gulf?

The Gulf of misunderstanding between you and me.

It's not that funny.

Oh, yes, it is.

That's exactly what Benny taubman said to me.

"Sweetie, sweetie,” he says...

Sweetie, no more gulfs between you and I, huh?

Benny.

This comeback of yours will be the greatest success

in the history of pictures.

- Ready, miss del lago. - I'm worried, Benny.

Sweet baby, you leave the worrying to me. Excuse me.

You've been a top star for 15 years.

You've got millions of fans... loyal, devoted.

Devoted to the way I used to be, the way I used to look.

Benny, I am scared.

You? Never.

Miss del lago!

You're a professional, an artist,

a personality.

Alexandra del lago

is the sex symbol of America.

Hey, Charlie, how about it?

- She's coming. - Thank you.

Playback!

Get me a little something, will you?

Oh...

God.

No.

What's the matter?

I remembered the thing I wanted to forget...

The stupid, senseless end of my life, that's all.

No wonder I didn't want to remember.

I was an old fool.

You want some oxygen?

No!

Where is it?

Where is the stuff? Did you leave it in the car?

I want it now... those pills!

It's right here.

Oh, that is a brilliant place to put it.

Hotel maids sometimes do...

Clean under mattresses, you know.

Ah, wouldn't that be pretty?

A year in one of those model prisons

for distinguished addicts.

This is pretty high-class pot. Where'd you get it?

You beautiful, stupid young man, that is not pot.

It's hashish, Moroccan, and the finest.

Pop star! It's insanity!

The legend of Alexandra del lago

was... was youth.

Ah, I was right.

I told him I was right.

Why... why didn't I trust my instincts?

They've stood me in good stead

for many, many a year.

Where does one retire to?

There is no place to retire to

when you retire from the movies.

No place, except oblivion.

Well, one thing that'll help you forget oblivion is...

Yes. It's this.

Ohh...

If I had just been old, but, you see, I wasn't old.

I just wasn't young.

Not young. I just wasn't young anymore.

Nobody's young anymore.

Stars in retirement sometimes give acting lessons.

They give beauty hints. They write gossip columns.

Oh, shh, Princess. Just smoke.

Oh, yes.

Smoke.

And after this...

The mercenary young lovers.

Like me?

Yes, like you.

Your comeback... I mean, what happened?

You just didn't have it anymore?

Oh, I had it.

I had the will, and I had the talent to go with it, but...

But the camera.

The camera doesn't know how to lie.

The screen is a very clear mirror.

There is a thing, god help us,

called a closeup.

All right. Camera number one in position.

Finish your candles there, boys.

Playback!

The camera dollies in...

And you... your head...

Your face...

Are caught in the frame with the lights blazing,

and all your terrible history screams while you smile.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Hold it. Hold it. I told you I want a shadow

right here on her neck. You understand?

Not your fault, sweetie. You're terrific.

Ok, Charlie. We go again right now.

All right, camera number one in position.

- Playback. - Quiet!

All right. Places, everybody.

And then, before you know it,

comes the night of the preview.

The first part of the film, I...

Oh, I felt so safe.

What'd you say her name was?

Alexandra del lago, stupe.

I thought she was dead and buried.

Sweetie, wait. Believe me...

Please!

Miss del lago, one more picture, please.

She fell! Oh, poor thing.

She's drunk.

After that... flight.

Running away from that frightful comeback.

And I've never stopped running... until now.

Ahh...

You know what you need right now, Princess?

Yes. To forget again.

First we, uh, we let the hash take effect.

And then...

We apply the magic formula.

What?

Come on. Like we did in palm beach, remember?

That soothing, magical formula called papaya cream.

Ahh, yes.

Yes.

Papaya cream rubs.

Were you one of those

faceless young bodies in palm beach?

That's where we met. Don't you remember?

In your private cabana on the beach?

And you were breathless.

I mean, just like you are right now.

It was painful, painful to see.

And you were the anesthetic

that eased my pain, hmm?

Yeah, and you were smoking...

Just like you are right now.

Ahh...

Ohh!

Ohh, that feels so...

I don't remember your face,

but your hands are familiar.

Say, uh, that hash... How'd you get hooked?

On my way to Europe,

running away from my comeback.

The ship's doctor gave me injections.

Well, did he know he was giving narcotics

to the famous Alexandra del lago?

He just knew he was helping a woman

suffering from neuritis.

The hashish came later, in tangier.

Well, how'd you get it into the states?

You smuggle it in?

Know another way?

You mean, you smuggled it right past customs. Is that right, Princess?

What are you trying to prove?

Oh, nothing. No. I just, uh...

Well, don't forget that you're the one

that introduced me to this fine old Moroccan hash.

Boy, I doubt very much

if I have any vice, old or new,

that I could introduce to you.

Don't call me boy.

You knew all about this stuff, Carl.

My name is not Carl. It's chance.

You called yourself Carl in palm beach.

I always carry an extra name in my pocket.

Why? Are you a criminal?

No, ma'am. Not me.

I mean, you're the one that's committed a federal crime.

What'd you do that for?

I thought you might have planted someone

outside the door.

Don't you trust me?

Who taught you to rub desperate ladies the right way?

And you say all you did was manipulate the papaya cream?

Well, more or less.

How much more?

Ma'am, if we'd made love, you'd have remembered it.

Well, what stopped you? Certainly not I,

and certainly not your ethics.

What's the angle?

Why did you hold out?

I held out till you signed me to a contract.

Evidently, I sighed.

Why did you still hold out?

I wanted to hold your interest.

Well, you miscalculated.

My interest always increases with satisfaction.

You mean, you don't intend to live up to that contract?

I can get out of that contract anytime I want to.

Do you have any talent?

For what?

Acting, baby. Acting.

A contract for acting implies that you are an actor. Are you?

I've been an extra in movies long enough to know

that I can be as big a star

as some of them she-men that have made it. Princess...

Princess?

All I need is just one big break.

Oh, Carl, it takes more than one break. Chance!

- Carl... - Chance! Chance Wayne! You're stoned.

Baby, there is no easy way to the top.

Now, you forget about magic formulas

and trick contracts.

Forget about this false dream.

Okay. Come on. Say it, Princess. What is it you want?

Oh, come here. Let's comfort each other a little.

That's right.

- Princess? - Mm-hmm?

You know something, honey?

That all that talk about narcotics...

Has been recorded on tape?

Where did you get that thing?

You bought it for me in palm beach...

To improve my diction!

Comeback.

The ship's doctor gave me injections.

To the famous Alexandra del lago?

He just knew he was helping a woman =0lé.

Suffering from neuritis.

The hashish came later, in tangier.

Blackmail!

That's very ugly language.

Language of the gutter is understood

by anyone who ever fell in it. What's your price?

I just want you to live up to this contract,

and that's not all.

Money?

And if I refuse?

Well, you won't.

Now, uh, you wouldn't want the FBI to get ahold

of these tape recordings, would you? Huh?

Or the newspapers

and those big-shot, uh, columnists?

And, uh, the dirt magazines?

Princess, you got a big name to protect.

You still got a reputation.

I had, baby. I had.

I have been blackmailed by experts.

Oh, I hate to think what kind of desperation

has made you think that you can intimidate me.

Me... Alexandra del lago... With this ridiculous-=

oh, chance, it's silly.

It's so silly, it's touching.

It's downright endearing.

Makes me feel close to you.

I got to see somebody. I want some cash, and I want your car.

Here.

Here. You better start signing

these traveler's checks, or I...

Or what? Oh, put that away

and that leaky fountain pen.

When monster meets monster,

one monster has to give way, and it will never be me.

Now then, signed checks are payment.

Delivery comes first.

I have only one way to forget the things

that I don't want to remember,

and that way is through making love.

It's the only dependable distraction,

and I need that distraction right now.

In the morning, we'll talk about what you want and what you need.

Aren't you ashamed a little?

Yes. Aren't you?

More than a little.

Close the curtains, please.

Then come here to me...

And make me almost believe

that we are a pair of young lovers

without any shame.

Two things, pa.

First, he's bedding in with a broken-down old movie star...

Alexandra del lago.

But she's still famous

and still capable of causing us trouble.

Second, Mr. Wayne don't show any inclination to move on.

I told him she's not well enough to travel.

Bull!

If you roughhouse this woman,

every newspaper in this country's gonna be down here.

But if we separate Mr. Wayne from this lady, we could proceed more directly.

- Exactly. - Help me, will you?

Right, sir.

You're the doctor. Call an ambulance.

Haul drunken queenie to the hospital.

Without her permission?

Say she's contagious... Bubonic plague, typhoid.

I'm not gonna let you involve me in this.

Lower your voice.

He's not gonna involve me in this crazy...

Doctor, laddie, you are already involved

right up to your scrofulous chicken neck.

I've done anything you ever asked me...

Anything...

But one public mistake... One slip, and...

Laddie, you got all the symptoms

of a nervous breakdown.

Now, my prescription for you

is a weekend vacation...

A change of scenery to build up your backbone.

I'd say you're sickly... Critical.

Might be even terminal,

so you better leave quick... tonight.

See the doctor don't miss his train.

Yes, sir.

Happy easter, fly.

Thank you, sir.

Happy easter, Mr. hatcher.

Thanks governor. Shall I ring and say you're coming up, sir?

No.

Lucy?

Lucy?

Hiya, honey.

I'll be with you in a second.

How can you watch two tvs, chop your toenails, stuff yourself

with chocolates, and read a magazine all at the same time?

I already seen the movie.

Shut that damn thing off!

I said shut it...

My, my, my.

Ain't we in a mood?

Guess what I got...

For you...

For an easter present.

I went all the way to New Orleans for it.

Close your eyes, lover.

This is a mighty exciting surprise.

Don't look!

Ta-da!

Like?

Is that for me?

I surely don't intend to give it to anybody else.

Oh, feast your tired old eyes, daddy doll.

Oh, I sure do hope

that this brings out the beast in you.

Happy easter, sugar.

For me?

You'll spoil me yet, honey.

Why, it's lovely.

It's a lovely easter egg.

Am I supposed to eat it?

Open the top.

Sure takes a powerful kind of rooster

to lay this kind of egg.

Oh! Darling, you shouldn't have.

Why not? You deserve everything you get.

Oh, I'm so nervous.

Like it, sugar baby?

Absolutely divine.

It's heavenly.

Urgh!

That's better.

Now, you go downstairs

to the ladies room of the cocktail lounge,

and you write on the toilet mirror

with this same lipstick,

"miss Lucy's available to any punk's got $5.00

and can cut the mustard."

You know, I don't very much like my easter surprise.

Aah!

Hello. Operator, did you get the Finley residence yet?

Oh.

Aunt nonnie?

Oh, well, can you talk now?

Well, can I see you then?

Oh, I'd...

Where?

Well, how soon?

All right. I'll meet you there.

Aunt nonnie, look,

whatever it is that happened, I can explain,

and listen.

I got it made.

No, I really got it made.

All right.

Princess?

Princess?

Hmm?

Mmm...

Pure hard gold, all right.

Yeah, well, I'm glad you're appreciative,

but you know, I'm going out pretty soon,

and my credit is kind of shaky.

I would like to smoke, please.

No, no, just one of the ordinary cigarettes

that only give you cancer.

What are those lovely bells?

Why, madam, it is easter Sunday.

How fitting. I feel absolutely reborn.

Yes, the world and I

are on very good terms this morning.

Yeah, well, um,

we made a little bargain last night, remember?

Oh, yes.

Well, I will live up to my end of the bargain

after I have put on my face...

The face I face the world with, baby.

Will you open the curtains, please?

There something out there you're afraid of?

Oh, no, ma'am.

The thing I want most in the world is out there.

This town belonged to me once...

And it will again.

Were you born here?

On the wrong side of the tracks, but...

Most of us were, baby.

Oh, the set that I ran with was a snob set...

You know, they had family,

big names, big money.

All 1 had was, uh...

Beauty. Say it!

What you had was beauty.

I had it, and I say it with pride.

Yeah.

Well, the others were born satisfied,

but I had to get something better, and I did.

I got it.

While my friends were doing the conventional things like

flunking out of state university,

I appeared in the biggest stage hit on Broadway.

I had my picture on the cover of life magazine.

Woo-ha!

And at the same time,

I was employing my other talent...

Lovemaking.

That may be the only talent

you were ever truly meant for.

Oh, I wallowed in the social register of New York.

Discreet wives in the millionaire set,

and uh... debutante daughters in the horsy set.

Did they foot the bills, too?

Yeah...

But I always gave them much more than I took.

To older women,

I gave back a feeling of excitement and youth.

To sad, lost women...

A merciful display of affection

and temporary hope.

Eccentrics...

Understanding and tolerance.

You must have been quite a successful enterprise.

Oh, I was going places.

Where?

Successville.

My name was appearing in columns.

I was promised this part in this big Broadway play.

Hollywood was nibbling.

I was getting to be somebody.

So then it was time to come home for my girl,

take her away with me like I promised.

But when I came home... Oh, man...

Well, this town just buzzed with excitement.

Chance.

She never asked about the others.

Well, she didn't have to...

Because she knew that nothing I did

or was done to me could ever cancel out our love

or the pleasure we gave each other.

You know, the big difference between people...

It's not between the rich and the poor

or the good and evil, because the biggest

of all differences between people

is between those that have had pleasure and love

and those that haven't.

We interrupt this program

to bring you a bulletin from Washington.

It was officially announced

that United States ground forces

entered the Korean war today.

President Truman termed the intervention

"a police action.”

And I am positive there's no finer, no braver,

no more patriotic man to lead our Dixie regiment...

Than our own hometown boy

chance Wayne!

Congratulations.

All I could think was...

This stops everything.

Just when things were going great,

the end... period.

Even if I was lucky,

I'd have to start all over again.

You and a few million others.

Their jobs would be waiting for them.

My trade was youth,

and war either makes you age fast or die fast.

Imagine...

A whole lifetime

full of hopes and dreams and ambitions...

Being wiped out

by a 2-ounce accident like a bullet...

A bullet shot off into space by anybody...

My head and that bullet, in the same place and same time.

Only it wasn't a bullet that got me. It was my nerves.

A month in the hospital, a medical discharge...

And when I came home that time,

there was no parties, no banners,

no picture in the newspaper.

So you ran away again.

Yeah, and I finally made it to Hollywood.

And failed again.

That time.

But not this time.

Princess, I got a few things to iron out right now,

but, uh, tonight,

you give this big press conference, see?

You know, to tell the whole world

about this new discovery you signed up.

Ha! The last thing I want is publicity.

I know, but see, this will prove

that uh, that young talent is your real interest in life.

Which it certainly is not.

My real... my only interest in life is me...

Alexandra del lago.

Besides...

A movie starring your special talent

would be banned in all 50 states...

Censored worldwide.

Princess, I am taking your car.

Well, when will I see you?

Wait here.

I don't like waiting for anybody.

Baby.

Morning, miss Finley.

What is it, sergeant?

Nothing, miss.

Just sort of spying?

No, ma'am. Just sort of watching over you.

Easter must be a very dangerous time.

Guess so, miss.

Ladies ready for church?

Miss nonnie's already gone, sir. She took a taxi.

I see.

She get any calls this morning?

Well, her phone rang. She talked to somebody.

No, sir, Mr. Finley, I don't know who to.

Get my Bible.

Good morning.

Nice morning, Mr. Finley.

Thank you, laddie.

You look mighty sweet, sugar.

I would like you to call off your bloodhound, papa.

I would like you to behave like a daughter should.

Well, did you meditate on Mr. Wayne's future?

At the present, he is enjoying life

in the loving arms of a famous Hollywood... ahem... siren.

Hey, pa, if chance is living with a real Princess,

does that make him royalty, too?

It makes him what he always was...

A criminal degenerate and parasite.

Oh, I see.

Chance.

She never blamed you for anything.

She always had...

Nothing.

I gave her nothing, aunt nonnie.

She... she lived lonely, and she died lonely.

Gee, I'm glad to see you.

I came here to tell you one thing.

Well, I was sort of hoping that you'd bring heavenly.

Go away before it's too late... Before her father...

Why won't they let me see her, aunt nonnie?

Because she and George...

- I can't talk of that. - Why?

Why? Now, why, aunt nonnie?

I just can't talk about it.

Please.

Please, help me, aunt nonnie.

You were always able to...

See, you were like a mother to me.

You always called me son.

Why? Why did you stop calling me son?

Oh, chance,

go away before it's too late.

Aunt nonnie, I am not leaving here

till I talk to heavenly or see her. You tell her that.

Aunt nonnie, I got a right.

Bye, son.

Aunt nonnie...

Aunt nonnie, I'm taking you to church.

No, chance.

I'm afraid...

Afraid for you.

Take your sister on in.

Y appy easter!

Happy easter, mayor!

Well, lookee here.

- Glad to see you, laddie. - Hold it, Mr. Finley.

Thank you, sir.

It's no use, Mr. Finley. I...

Laddie, I hear you're consorting with a genuine Princess.

Guess that sort of makes you

a prince, don't it? Happy easter, miss Cavanaugh!

Oh, god bless you, Mr. Finley.

I once had a dog called prince.

I had to butcher him

to keep all the bitches in town from being violated.

Deacon, I'm counting on your support at the rally tonight!

Up with the rebels!

Let's see now. When did you last visit?

Why won't you let me see her, sir?

I remember.

You hit town last time in a freight car.

You saw my daughter then,

and you left her carrying your bastard then, too.

Let you see her?

Sure, prince,

when I've had you taken care of like my dog.

I abide with me j

j fast falls the eventide j

j the darkness deepens j

j lord, with me abide j

j when other helpers j

I fail and comforts flee j

j help of the helpless, j

j oh, abide with me j

I remember.

You hit town last time in a freight car.

Oh, I'll get you dirty.

Hold me. Just hold me.

Hold me.

What are you thinking?

Oh...

I just...

I just feel kind of peaceful and easy

listening to those freewheeling birds coming home.

If we could just be like one of them out there...

Just free as a bird!

No one in love is free

or even wants to be.

And I was thinking...

About those five days and nights

on those freight cars.

Thinking that heavenly will make me feel clean again.

She'll wash away all of the...

What's it like...

In movieland?

Oh, it is like no place in this world, baby.

Oh, in fact, it's not even a place.

It's a state of mind

with a stone wall around it a mile high.

Strange birds, keep out.

No. It's the strange ones that get in. I know.

I been clawing away at that...

That wall for over a year now trying to get on the inside.

This last year's been... oh...

Wasted?

No, no, just a run of bad breaks back to back.

I mean, nothing's wasted

that teaches you how to operate, how to beat the game.

Last year's the best investment I ever made.

Oh, next time I'm going to get lucky,

and then...

Then I'm going to take you with me

right through that stone wall first-class straight to the top.

Again, chance?

Ah, I got the key now, baby.

I got the know-how.

That Hollywood merry-go-round is a pushover.

Today they're stepping on your feet.

Tomorrow they're kissing your feet. I know, I have seen it.

Well, that merry-go-round

is going to carry me.

It's going to carry me

all the way...

And then before you know it...

Before you know it,

I'm going to have that brass ring...

That lucky brass ring... right here.

Which gets you what?

It gets you the prize, honey...

Money, success, happiness!

No. All the brass ring gets you is a free ride

on a wooden horse that's going nowhere

except up and down and round and round.

My papa sold you that phony dream,

and you're still buying it. How does he say it?

"All you need is one lucky break.

"Something for nothing.

Beat the game. Hit the jackpot."

Anyone can be a millionaire,

so everybody's got to try it!

That's right, and why not?

Look, there are a lot of ways that you can make it, baby,

and for me, there is one quick way. Now just stick with me, baby,

and when I come back next time...

Another next time.

No. This time I got a job.

I got a big job in palm beach

mixing with all kinds of important people.

Take me with you.

Please?

No, I can't, baby. Not yet. You know, in this job, I uh,

I got to travel fast, and I got to travel alone.

This is the job, baby. This is the job

that's going to get me inside that magic door.

All my life I've been on the outside,

and time is running out.

Look around you. Boy, they got places

for the old and the sick and the homeless,

but there is no place at all for the failures,

and failure is a highly contagious disease.

What kind of job is it, chance?

Oh, baby, it is golden... Just golden.

Chance.

Beach boy.

A boy to a bunch of fat-bottomed broads

at this swank hotel, but it's a beginning.

Stay here. We'll find something here.

Baby, I can't, I can't. Have you forgotten what's expected of me?

I want you as you are.

Then look at me as I am! I'm a nothing!

Nobody.

I couldn't write a check for $2.00 without getting arrested.

I'm busted... flat broke.

I'm ashamed to go home and let my mother look at me.

I always dreamed of coming back here like a...

Oh, like...

Don't ask me to give up my dream.

Excuse me.

Suppose he comes over, pa.

Well, sugar, it's up to you.

Let him alone.

I'll be there with you tonight.

Just let him alone.

I want him gone before the rally starts tonight.

Yes, sir.

Not here, stupid.

See him alone. He's to go quietly...

No fuss, no violence. You hear?

Yes, sir. You're the boss, pa.

And don't you ever forget it.

No, sir.

Does this lovely hotel have a hairdresser?

Oh, yes, ma'am.

And a drugstore, cocktail bar, tennis courts...

Everything to make folks happy.

Thank you.

Chance?

Long who?

Long distance.

There is no Alexandra del lago here, operator.

Who is it?

Am not...

Operator, I ought to know who I am.

Just a minute! Just a minute!

Cha...

Excuse me, Princess.

Whatever you are selling, no.

Excuse me, please.

I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't hold these rooms any longer.

What did you say?

Ahem. Uh...

Will you repeat what you said?

Ma'am, he says your checkout time is long past.

My checkout time

at any hotel in the world

is when I...

Is when I want to check out.

Who told you you could come into my bedroom?

Now, where is chance... Mr. Wayne?

I beg your pardon?

Your companion... Now, where is he?

Who wants to know?

This is the assistant manager, and I am Tom Finley, Jr.

Well, I hardly imagined that you were a senior.

Out... both of you.

Hatcher, better wait for me downstairs, please.

Now, miss del lago...

I am the Princess kosmonopolis.

Shut up.

Miss del lago, you ought to be more careful

of the company you keep.

Operator.

Op...

Just a moment, please.

Do you want me to call the police?

All right, you go ahead. Do that, miss del lago.

You tell them you spent the night

in an orgy with a criminal degenerate.

No, huh? Never mind.

Now, knowing him, I'd figure you were victimized.

You're a rich, famous, respected person, Princess.

You don't want any trouble.

Thank you,

and now if you are through trying to frighten me

or shake me down or whatever,

I would like to finish my breakfast.

Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. May I ask you what Mr. Wayne is to you?

You may not!

He's, uh...

He drives my car. He's in my employ.

He's my driver.

Uh-huh. What are you doing here in St. cloud?

Okay, he brought you here. Why?

We're just passing through. That's all.

Well, fine. Just pass right on through,

but you tell that scum

to drive you out of here quick.

On whose authority?

Mine.

Even in this impossible place,

you couldn't represent the law. Shh!

There isn't any law that covers that chance Wayne...

Not after what he did to me and my family.

- What? - Well, you just never mind.

- What did he do? - Just never you mind.

You just tell him that I said that if he don't pass through,

his life ain't worth spit in the wind.

Listen, sometime you come on back and see us, hear?

We'll lay out the red carpet for you.

Okay?

So long, miss del lago.

Nightfall.

Now, you and him be gone by nightfall, you hear me?

Oh, where?

Where did he put it?

Where?

Oh, chance.

Chance!

Operator.

Operator, I want a bottle of vodka

sent up here at once.

Yes. Well... then send me a bottle of anything,

and, operator...

Operator, I want you to find

Mr. chance Wayne for me.

Well, page him...

And try that happy cocktail bar of yours.

Change for the quarter.

Thank you.

Did you arrange to have that prescription filled yet?

I'll check, Mr. Wayne.

Hello?

Professor Smith?

You can't beat boss Finley by making speeches about god

or by heckling him about chastity,

because the boss has a patent on that jazz.

He's a low-down hillbilly,

and it takes a hillbilly to cut down a hillbilly,

and that's me.

Ha. Uh-uh. Don't bother about my name.

You just appear at that rally tonight

and ask him one question.

Why did boss Finley

make Dr. scudder chief of staff at the hospital?

Operator, are there any calls for chance Wayne?

Uh, no. I mean outside calls.

Oh, well, page me if there are, will you? Thank you.

Chance?

Chance high-stepping Wayne!

Hey, hey, miss Lucy!

Oh, honey, you used to be so attractive

I couldn't stand it.

Now I can... almost stand it.

Well, uh, boy,

you still look like a million dollars there, miss Lucy.

Uh-huh. Confederate money.

Hey. A year ago, you would have laughed at that.

Well, I must be faint with thirst.

Thirsty? Here? Don't you know this is the land of bourbon?

Sodom and gomorrah Finley.

Can I help you, miss Lucy?

Yeah. Drop dead.

What happened to your finger?

It got caught in your big, fat blabbermouth.

Hey, honey, you want a laugh?

Listen. Last night,

Finley gave me this for an easter gift.

Well, he has always been generous.

Well, that's not all he gave me.

He gave me the treatment... The full Finley treatment,

ending up canceling my rooms, my credit, and my welcome,

and this morning, I was handed a ticket to New Orleans...

One way.

Well, that man has an irresistible passion

to see other people traveling.

Does he know you're back in town?

I would say he's aware of my presence.

What's in the pill, honey?

Well, when you are having fun,

this makes you have even more.

Are you... having fun?

Baby, I am having a ball.

Honey, I'm an expert at pretending to have fun.

You are having a wake,

not a ball.

Mr. Wayne.

Phone, Mr. Wayne.

Isn't that Alexandra del lago?

Who?

Oh, aunt nonnie. Yeah, it's me, chance.

Miss del lago, will you autograph this for me, please?

I'm sorry.

Not for me, for my little girl.

Uh...

Just write "to my dearest Josephine.”

My glasses.

Miss del lago, please. Some other time.

Tell heavenly that I will be there.

You shouldn't be seen here in this condition.

Chance!

Chance?

Get this drunken bum out of here!

Hey, hey, relax!

Relax, buster.

Chance!

- You all right, Princess? - Oh, chance...

I'm so sorry.

If you'd stayed upstairs, that wouldn't have happened.

Oh, I did. I stayed.

- I told you to wait. - I waited, I waited forever,

but then a young man...

Princess, please, not now. I've got to do something.

Will you just wait upstairs?

Chance!

Chance, listen to me, we've got to go away from here at once!

Princess, please. I haven't got time.

We'll just pretend that we're going for a drive.

We'll forget about the trunk and the bags.

I had a visitor looking for you.

He was a horrible, vicious young man with evil in his heart,

and he said that if we weren't out of town by nightfall, he'd...

Oh, chance, I didn't know where to find you,

and at first, I felt panicky,

I got a little high again. I'm sorry.

Well, I know, Princess, but I've got to go now.

Chance!

Oh, chance, chance, let me tell you

let me tell you the strange and wonderful thing

that happened to me.

I realized that your coming back here

and those things that you hoped for...

Poor baby.

I knew... I knew that your comeback

had been a failure like my own,

and at that moment,

I felt something in my heart for you.

It was a miracle!

It's a wonderful thing that has happened to me.

I felt something for somebody besides myself.

You know what that means?

It means that my heart is still alive.

It's still alive, chance.

Well, you've got a wise heart, Princess.

Oh, I need you, and we need each other.

We'll help each other.

You won't find me ungrateful.

Chance, I am truly ashamed of last night.

I will never... degrade you...

Nor myself.

I understand. Now, please, Princess.

Do you want a screen test?

You'll have your test.

I'll honor that contract.

I'll make it good. I'll make it even better!

Princess, you are a...

A glorious, beautiful, lovely...

Monster!

Drive, baby, drive.

Break every speed law from here...

No... no, baby.

Princess, I've got unfinished business.

Don't leave me again... not now.

I've got to!

Chance!

Chance.

Chance, chance, you'll never come back.

They'll cut the life out of you.

Princess, go up to the room and wait.

No. Please, please, baby.

I can't be alone now.

Don't ask me to stay.

Please, just give me this one last break.

Oh, chance. Chance!

Chance!

Don't send me back to that room alone.

We could both do with some comfort, honey...

Southern comfort, 100 proof?

Thank you, miss.

Give the Hicks a show, miss.

You show them you're a real Princess.

It's good public relations.

Public?

Why, the public and I

have always enjoyed the very best relations.

Honey!

Would you like to have a nice cool dip

before lunch?

Don't you go away now.

Oh, no, ma'am!

No!

Oh, dear. She shouldn't have gone anywhere

without you, should she?

No, ma'am, she shouldn't have!

Go away, chance!

Go away! Leave here! Leave St. cloud!

Yeah. We'll leave here together.

It's too late for that.

Baby, it's just the beginning for us!

So no more next time.

This time it's for keeps.

We got it made, baby!

It's my passport out of here!

Right to the top, non-stop.

Let go, chance. Let go of my life.

But, baby, the door is open!

This is a contract!

Now, it's withessed and notarized

and signed by Alexandra del lago.

She's my patroness!

She's my agent, my producer.

This contract is on the level, honey. You've got to believe me!

I believe you!

All right, then. We'll leave here together...

You and me and Princess del lago...

Tonight... whenever you say.

Take your Princess and go away!

Now! Before tonight!

You mean you want me to leave here without you?

Don't come back. Don't call anymore.

Run!

But, baby, what about you?

What about you and me?

Forget about me!

You want me to forget that you're carrying my baby?!

Yes! The way I had to forget!

Go back to your dream!

Jj

You got the loudspeaker tested?

Yeah.

How about the TV setup... okay?

Yeah, okay.

I want you to stand by for a surprise.

What kind of surprise?

Don't know. I got an anonymous phone call,

so just stand by.

Yes, ma'am, Princess!

Honey, get the bill ready for suite 212.

That's what you think.

Jj

Hold on.

Tom Jr., they're checking out.

The Princess lady just asked for the bill.

Come here.

Just had to see him, didn't you?

Just naturally had to lay in chance Wayne's arms like a trollop, didn't you?

Who says purity and politics don't go together?

Well...

I had thought from the happy celebration

that you were being served on a platter

with an apple stuck in your mouth!

What do you think you're doing?

I'm getting out of here, Princess, fast as your car will take us.

Oh! Well, I have another driver...

A certain miss uh, miss Lucy,

a kindly soul who will drive me

out of this hellish nightmare

as far as New Orleans.

I'm your driver, I'm still your driver, Princess.

We're leaving here together!

Oh, what happened to your unfinished business? Flopola?

Well, I'm back. Isn't that enough?

In a word... no!

Oh, Princess, baby.

No!

Don't answer that.

Chance!

- Hello? - I told you not to!

Who's calling the Princess?

Oh, will you please, please hang up?

It's Walter winchell in Hollywood.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Yeah, put him on.

No! No!

Yeah. She's... she"s right here.

How did he find me? How?

It was you.

Hello? Hello, Mr. winchell?

Oh, yes, well, this is chance Wayne speaking.

Well, I called for the Princess kosmonopolis.

Alexandra...

I mean Alexandra del lago...

Last night?

Oh, yeah, yeah, she's fine, fine.

She... she just wanted to tell you about this new star

that she's discovered. Oh, sure. She can talk for herself.

I can't.

Princess, come on. He's waiting.

Well, you tell him that I am dying!

And I just might!

You got to meet it halfway.

Princess?

Walter?

Walter!

Walter!

Well, is that really you, Waldo?

Yes, yes, it's me... Alexandra!

That's what's left of me.

Walter.

Oh, yes, yes, yes,

I did go to the preview, but I only stayed a few minutes.

As soon as I saw that first big closeup of myself

on that monstrous cinemascope,

I tell you, I ran right out of there!

I screamed for a taxi, and I haven't stopped running since.

What?

Oh, no, no. No, no. I heard nothing, read nothing.

I just wanted oblivion.

What?

Oh... Walter...

Princess, tell him about my screen test.

One moment, Walter. I'm breathless.

Come on. Tell him to break it in his column-=-

oh, go in the bathroom and stick your head under cold water.

Walter, now, tell me. Do you really think so?

You're not just being kind, are you, because of old times?

Grown, did she say?

My talent?

Well, in what way, Walter?

More depth?

- What about me? - Well, what? What did you say?

More power?

Well, god bless you. God bless you!

Come on now, cut the chatter.

Tell... tell him you found a new leading man with a bright new future!

Walter, that is very, very sweet of you.

I don't even care

if you're not altogether Sincere in that statement

Walter, because I think you know

what the past 15 years have been like.

What?

What's that, Walter?

They want me?

They really want me?

Well, for what part?

Who? Who wants me?

Oh...

Oh, dear lord.

Walter! Walter, please excuse me.

No, no! Excuse me.

I'm crying, dear, and I haven't any kleenex.

Come on, talk to him about me.

Oh, Walter!

Me! Me! Me!

Oh!

Walter. What?

No, no, I didn't read the reviews.

Newspapers... who cares what the newspapers say?

What did they say?

Tell me. Tell me word for word.

Before the festivities,

let us all bow our heads in silent prayer.

Mrs. maribelle Norris will sing while we pray.

J rock of ages, cleft for me j

j let me hide... j

good night, professor.

Can't we do this without hurting the Finley girl?

Do you wanna get rid of boss Finley or not?

Yes.

Oh, no!

Oh, Walter!

The new yorker magazine praised it!

Walter, I'll have to call you back later.

I can't believe it.

Hello? =I can't believe it.

- My picture... - Hello, Mr. winchell?

Has broken box-office records

in New York and la!

Get him back on this phone.

Variety says

I am the biggest boff in release today!

Princess, now, look, I took care of you.

Oh, I've gotta go to a clinic for a week...

- I delivered my end of the bargain. - Ten days...

- Pull myself together. - Will you shut up and listen?

Oh, Benny, Benny... I'll have to get him to cover up my tracks

these past few weeks in hell.

Oh, now, get winchell back on this phone!

Do what? Tell him about me!

What? Tell him about a beach boy

that I picked up for pleasure...

A distraction from panic?

Now? Now, when the nightmare is over?

And involve my name with the name of a...

A blackmailer?

Ugh. You've just been using me... using me!

When you ran out on me downstairs,

you ran out on this contract, too.

Just a short while ago, I needed you.

Oh, how I needed you.

Well... now I need nobody!

I climbed up alone,

and I will climb back alone!

Back to where I belong.

I will live alone, and I will work alone!

I know exactly the kind of gold-plated hell

I'm going to,

but you...

You have gone past something

you couldn't afford to go past.

Your time, your youth... You passed it.

It's all you've had, and you've had it!

Look who's talking!

Just look at yourself!

Well...

What do you see in there?

I see me... Alexandra del lago...

Artist and star!

Now you look at yourself!

What do you see?

What?

A nameless face, that's what you see.

Oh, I remember faces like yours.

I remember young men with dreams like yours.

I remember their eyes, I remember their voices,

I remember their smiles, I remember their bodies,

but their names... Their names are gone.

They're just nameless bodies.

Well, you remind me of one in particular.

What was his name?

Franz something... Franz, Franz...

Albertzart!

Yes, Franz albertzart.

Are you through? Have you finished?

I saw Franz a few years later in monte Carlo.

He was with a woman of 70,

and his eyes were older than hers.

But she held him.

She led him by an invisible chain

through a string of hotels

and casinos and bars...

Like a blind, obedient lap dog!

Chance Wayne is Franz albertzart.

Oh, no. Look, I'm not Franz anybody.

Princess, I'm your next leading man.

Princess, look, you've got to open the right doors for me.

I know you're going to do this for me, Princess,

because I have been knocking on those doors of success

till my insides are bloody.

'Cause that's the way I've been knocking on those doors, see?

With my bare insides!

You will open only one door...

The door to my car as my chauffeur!

You will wake me in the morning

as my Butler or my lover,

depending on what I want!

In a few years, you will be through with your good looks,

and I will be through with you,

and that is the truth.

Can you face the truth?

Are you ready to be my chauffeur,

my next Franz albertzart?

Oh, don't you know I would die first?

=I would.

I would rather die first.

And here he is. May the good lord protect him.

Our Tom!

I am here to answer charges

against my good name and character!

30 years ago, the voice of god told me

to save this sweet land from pollution.

Well, I am here on the same sacred mission tonight!

To save us from outsiders

who want to corrupt our way of life.

Boss Finley!

Hey, boss Finley!

What way of life you talking about?

You mean the way your daughter...

The way your virtuous miss heavenly

had a secret operation at the bloody hands

- of Dr. George scudder?! - What are you waiting for?

An illegal operation performed in your hospital,

aided and abetted by you!

That is a dirty flat lie!

Listen to me, folks!

Folks, listen to me!

- Listen to me! - Come on, get him out of here!

Get him out of here!

Listen to me, folks! Folks, listen to me!

Chance, we're leaving right now, together!

Murderer! Baby killer!

I'm going to send a boy up for my luggage.

You had better come down with my luggage.

I am not part of your luggage!

Chance... whatever I am,

I am not part of your luggage.

All right.

You know what's going to happen to you if you stay.

Good-bye.

Oh...

Chance.

Chance, dear, I, uh...

Well, this, uh...

You forget something, Princess?

Well, yes, yes, I did.

These, maybe?

Oh, yes.

Uh... of course,

last night, they were worthless,

but now after my... My comeback, you know,

they're worth a small jackpot in cash.

On the house.

Oh, chance.

Please, let me help you.

Good-bye, lover.

At least let me take you away...

And good luck.

I'll wait for you in the car.

Princess, each of us has his own private hell to go to.

Find your sister.

Take it easy, pa.

She'll run off with that punk.

Nah, he's gone. Checked out.

That won't stop her.

Will you let me handle this?

Mr. Finley!

Mr. Finley, how would you answer the charges made out there?

I am shocked... shocked to find our state overrun

by back-stabbing bolsheviki and red rabble-rousers!

Mayor, get the governor on the phone.

Are you aware, Mr. Finley,

it was the Finley youth club hoodlums that started that riot?

What riot?

I'm only aware that decent, loyal Americans

were defending freedom of speech...

Which I have yet to receive the benefit of.

Oh, miss Finley,

would you care to make a statement?

Miss Finley?

Hasn't enough been said already?

Sure aunt nonnie.

Folks will think we got something to hide.

Sugar... have we, baby?

Precious, your papa's talking to you.

You came here tonight of your own free will,

and I hereby give you just as much freedom

to speak your piece right now.

Take me home, papa.

Good night, folks. Good night, y'all.

Good night!

Heavenly!

Heavenly!

Mr. chance, it's me... Charles.

Don't stay here, Mr. chance. Don't!

Don't stay here!

Please, Mr. chance, don't stay here now.

Heavenly!

Well, lookee here.

Thought you'd be halfway to California by now

with that tramp actress of yours.

Heavenly!

Don't you ever speak the name of my sister again.

Heavenly!

Heavenly!

Come on, Tom. Tom.

Don't you know...

Kill him!

No... just going to take away

lover boy's meal ticket.

Put him down there.

Chance.

Chance.

Bring him over here.

Look at yourself.

No woman will ever again pay to love that.

Chance?

Go in the house!

Hello? Yes, ma'am. Just a moment.

Pa, phone. Governor calling.

Chance?

Hello, governor. How's the family?

My, my!

Night, aunt nonnie.

Oh, baby...

What did we do to you?

Don't cry.

Don't cry, baby. It's all right.

It's all right.

What you heard was a lie... just a lie.

Press will be here in the morning.

I want you here with me to answer questions.

They sure busted up that dream of mine.

We're leaving.

We're leaving right now.

My daughter will be here to answer any and all questions.

Heavenly, get in the house!

Go.

Papa...

I'm never coming into that house again.

Wait. Hold it, governor.

I'll call you back!

Come back here!

Come back!

Nonnie, she can't leave here... not now!

Why?

Me! What about me?!

You... you can go straight to hell!