Original subtitles

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

Subtitles by Seglora

I never liked the stand watch not at any hour

But the watch I hate most is the one called the dog watch

I'd rather scrub the deck, I'd rather polish brass

and scrape of rot than have to stand that watch

It begins at 4 in the morning and last until daybreak

Those are the hours when a man

plays solitaire with a deck of old cards,card

Yes,that's right,you remember, you remember the place,certain people in it

I remember this city,a large mid western city,the washed out midland

I remember so well the early morning sun tingling its way through the streets

in eerie ways

I remember certain alleys,where life began reluctantly in the morning

The back of a building covered with a network of iron railings

stairs called the fire escape

And a dusty brick of walls concealing furious

and desperate living in shabby rooms

Mother had hung a pair of white laced curtains as if this to hide us

from the unattractive reality of the world

and city and neighbourhood that we lived in

Inside those curtains was our place of residence,apartment at second floor south

It was the light on my sister collection of glass

that first caught my eyes when I woke up in the morning

Little glass animals that was as fragile as Laura

Oh,yes,there was also the ever presence smile of my father

He was a telephone man who fell in love with long distance

The last we heard from him was a postcard containing two words

Hello,Good-bye

And no address

This is how I remember our living and welding together

Rise and Shine,Laura

Laura ,honey

So let that brother of yours to get up

Tom

Tom,it's after seven

Rise and Shine

All right but I won't rise

Tom,apologize to mother

For what?

You made her very angry last night when you slammed the door into her face

She squalled

Somebody slammed it,and if you apologize let you start beaten

Why not speaking, is that such a tragedy

-Please Tom -All right,all right.I tell her I'm sorry

I'll tell her I'm sorry for living

Laura

Didn't I ask you to go to delicatessen to get some butter?

Yes mother

Do I have to conjecture to go out for it myself

No mother

Butter and what else?

Corn and butter and tell him to charge it

Mr Schulz makes such a terrible face when I say that

Sticks and stones can break my bones

A look on Mr Schulz's face is not going to hurt me

Honey,try to look like a lady on the street

we don't want to imitate our common neighbors

Common can be contagious,honey! Unless you have a resistance

Someone is going to break a leg on these fire escape,.

that landlord ought to be be sued for every pence he persists

I forgot I'm not talking to you

Good Morning

Mother,mother I apologize,I'm sorry we quarreled last night

I make myself hateful to my children

No,you don't

I've had to put up with a solitary battle all these years

but you're my right- hand bower

-Don't fall down,Tom,don't fail -I'll try

In time you will succeed

-Promise me one thing,Tom -What mother?

Promise me you'll never be a drunkard

I'll promise I'll never be a drunkard,give me this toast

In these trying times we live in, all we have to cling to is each other

Yes mother

That's why it is so important to..

Tom,Tom I sent your sister out so I could discuss with you

If you haven't spoken to me, I would have spoken to you

What do you want to discuss?

Laura

I'm late,ma

You got a minute

You know how Laura is so quiet,but still water run deep and she notices things

I think she broods about it

The other day I came in and she was crying

What about?

-By you. -Me?

She has an idea that you are not happy here

What gave her that idea?

Don't give her any ideas

But you do act strange,Tom,I'm not criticizing you,but life hasn't been easy

Yes mother

So many things in my heart I can't describe to you,Tom

But all this foresight,I love your father

I know that

When I see you taken on his way

But what has that got to do with Laura?

She says you hate the apartment,and you go out nights to get away from it

Is that true Tom?

No,look mother,you say that there are so many things in your heart

that you can't describe to me

That's true of me too

There are so many things in my heart that I can't describe to you

Tom

Let just respect each others feelings

Sit down you hadn't had your porridge.

I don't want any porridge,do you want me to punch late at the warehouse?

That warehouse won't collapse if you are five minutes late,I must talk about Laura

What about her?

-You are shouting -I'm not shouting

Yes you were shouting

Tom,we got to make amends and provision,that's what it is about

You've made provisions,you badgering me take all my savings

and investing them in this business course for her which is an absolute waste

Why is it a waste to prepare her?

Because she is not cut out for it,mother

I tried everything else.Will you name me one stone your mother left unturned?

I've even talked at the Young People League at The Church,of Theatrical

She spoke to nobody,nobody spoke to her

All she does right now is fool with those pieces of glass,

and play those worn-out records

I don't know if that's any kind of life for a pretty girl to believe in

I guess she is the type of people call home girl

There is no such type

And if there is,it's a pity, this is her own home,

with her own husband sitting in it

I can see the hand writing on this wall

And terrifying.I mean,in the way you remind me of your father

You got the wandering bug, the same as he has

I saw that letter from the Merchant Marine,I saw it

What where?

They accepted your application

You had no..Give me that letter

Give it to me

I know what you are out to

When did this arrive?

Yesterday,and I haven't had a minute of peace since I opened it

All right.All right you go. You go which ever way

the wind drifts you north south east or west

Not until somebody here to take your place young man

What are you talking about?

You know what I'm talking about

I mean that you are going to be free of responsibilities

when your sister is married and got a home of her own

Then,and not until then

You're a man,you will able to think of someway to help your sister

You don't think of anything, anything but self,self,self

Tom,put your shirt in

Tom,don't you know some nice young man who can come and call on your sister?

-What? -A nice gentleman calling..

Mother what are you thinking..

There you are Laura,honey

Mother,you should have heard Mr Schulz said when I asked him to charge him

Don't you quote that mercenary man to me

I don't want to know what he said now or ever

I was so embarrassed mother

You don't get you embarrassed in this world,honey

Don't you get embarrassed by anybody over anything at all ever

You just remember that the Wingfields

the first white people settle on the soil of Mississippi

You said it

Laura,Laura,you'll be late for your typing class

Yes,mother

Oh,honey,look you haven't had breakfast

I don't want anything,I'm going to have an exam today

You can't type on an empty stomach

Now sit down

Please don't make me eat anything I'll get something later

Honey,let me see your purse

Give me your purse

Just as I thought,empty

How you going to eat,how are we going to get to your typing class

You were going to walk,weren't you?

Now look,that is the car fare, lunch and car fare

-Bye Tom -Good-bye

Bye,honey

Use the streetcar,honey,

You use it,public transportation system should be used liberally

After all we all pay for it out of our taxes

-Bye honey -Bye mother

Tom why are you making all that racket?

Mother,I'm looking for a book

that is always yours the public library and I bet you took it

If it was a decent book you wouldn't be ashamed of it

If you weren’t ashamed of it you would not try hide it

I'm going to waste my time

Here.If you didn't hide that book, young man, it wouldn't get lost

Have you got anything else you'd like to tell me this morning?

-Another day -All right then,do you mind if I go to work

Tom,while you are there,

will you try to find a nice clean wholesome boy for your sister

Every morning after Laura and I had left the apartment

mother would begin her vigorous campaign on the telephone

roping in subscribers to one of those magazines

matrons call The Housekeeper's Companion

-Hello -Hello,Ida Scott?

-Who is it? -It's Amanda Wingfield

Oh,

Honey,how is that kidney condition of yours?

Terrible

Honey,you are a martyr, that it is what you are

You're just a martyr,Ida,I was just looking into my little book

and I discovered that your subscription to the Companion is running out

just when our new serial by Bessie Mae Hopper is starting

It's the first thing since she has written since Honey Moon for Three

I believe this one is even lovelier,

it's all about the horse in Long Island setting,

a debutante get thrown from her horse and her spine is injured

That's just what the horse did he just stepped right on her

I don't care what happened to the horse

Why do you sound so cross,honey?

What's the matter?

You woke me up it's only eight o'clock

Eight o'clock? So it is,I didn't realize it was so early and I phoned

All right,Amanda,stop be a redo blank and stop bothering me

-You will renew? -I'll renew it

You will? Bless you honey,bless you, you just go right back to sleep

Bless you honey

Ida Scott

What is the matter with you? Why are you not in the class room?

My locker stuck,it won't open

Than put your things down underneath it and come right into the class room,

the speakers start immediately,time waits for no one,not even for you Miss Wingfield

Punctuality is the courteous of the Kings

but it is also indefensible to clerks and stenographers

and anyone else who hopes to establish herself in the business world..

I'm sorry I'm late

You have better hurry,Miss Wingfield

Now then time has been sacrificed this morning

to the failure of a single individual to adjust itself

to the regulations necessary to this class as a whole

Now then at exactly 930 the speed drill will commence

Take your proper positions and do not flout your seat

Get ready

Do not stop to make corrections

Five,four,three,two ,one,begin

Stop it Miss Wingfield,come back

You can't leave during a speed test

Continue with typing.Miss Wingfield?

There is a rush on that Hartland order from Miami,get to go air express

-Air express tonight -Yes we heard you

What do you think of that?

Every order is a rush

Don't ask for the shoes when they get to Miami,

they sit on a department store window and they get sunburned

That's what I like to get,sunburned

My employment at the warehouse was like a long lingering sickness

with each day maybe the last depending on the boss's patience and mine

Both running out fast

Honey,don't push your food with your fingers

If you must push for something you need to push with this crust of bread

And chew your food,animals have secretions in their stomach

which enable them to digest food without mastication

Human beings must chew their food before they swallow it down

True,true

I prefer to gulp my food

Don't you want to give your salivary glands a chance to function?

Go on,true true

Mother,when I come home I like to eat in peace,

which is impossible with you giving me instructions with every bite that I take

It's disgusting all this talk about animal secretions,salivary glands,mastication

Temperament like a Metropolitan star!

You are not excused from the table

I'm going to get a cigarette

You smoke too much

I'll bring in the coffee,mother

No honey,you'll be there, you be the lady this time

But I am off

You resume your seat,little sister

we got to keep you fresh and pretty for your gentlemen callers

I'm not expecting any gentlemen callers,mother

Sometimes they arrive when we least expect them,

we have to be prepared to entertain them

Fortunately when I was at your age I understood that of conversation

I bet she did

I remember on Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain

I know what is coming

Let her tell it Tom

Again?

She likes to tell us,I'm listening mother

All right,mother,I'm listening

I remeber one Sunday afternoon I received seventeen gentlemen callers

Now I had to entertain them all

and escort all them to the Governor's Costume Ball

I tell you it was not enough in those days

for a girl to have a pretty face and a graceful figure

You have to have a nimble wit and a tongue to meet all occasions

You had to have charm and audacity

After the first dance

everyone of my gentlemen callers rushed up to sign my programme

During that course of that one evening

I've must have used up over a dozen dance programmes to accommodate them all

Never sat down for a moment, wearing a gran new pair of shoes

and received twenty three serious proposals

of marrying

There was young Champ Laughlin, he was drowned in Moon Lake

My Goodness he certainly left his widow well provided for

a hundred and fifty thousands dollars in Government bonds

And the Cutrere cousins,Wesley and Bates, Wesley was my own bright particular beaux

Bates was jealous and while he was hot tempered,

he knew I favored Wesley, that night he started a quarrel

A quarrel that went on for months

and finally they fought it out and poor Wesley

was shot right through the stomach

He certainly left his widow well provided for too

He never loved that woman,it was my picture

which was found on him the night he died

And that brilliant young Fitzhugh boy from Greene County

He never married.He went north to Wall Street and made a fortune

I could have been Mrs J Duncan Fitzhugh

But what did I do?

Honey,how many visitors are you going to entertain this evening?

I don't think there will be any,mother

Not one? Not one?You must be joking. Not one gentleman caller,it can't be true

Where there must have been a flood, there must have been a tornado

There is no flood,mother, there is no tornado

I am not as popular as you were in Blue Mountains

That is the fate I'm going to be an old maid

Now what are you scribbling

Poems

What are you faffing about?

I'm trying to save your eyesight

You have only one pair of eyes and you got to take care of them

I know John Milton was blind but that not what made him a genius

Tom,why don't you sit up straight

I fill in medical charts and I know what that position does to your internal organs

Your stomach pressure against your lungs,

your lungs pressure against your heart

and that poor little heart just get discouraged

because it has not got room to go on beating for you

I give you my word,mother, my poor little heart can take it

-They are really poems? - I hope so

Think you can sell it?

Why are you always hide things for me?

You wouldn't let me see that book you were reading but I saw it just the same

Did you take that book I was looking for this morning?

I took that horrible book back to the library,yes

That hideous book by that insane horrible writer

I haven't got a thing,not a single thing in this house that I can call my own

Tom,won't you just lower your voice I've got something to say to you

-I've had enough I'm going -Where are you going?

I'm going to the movies

Why are you going to the movies all the time

I go to the movies,mother, because I like adventure

Most young men find adventure in their career

An adventure is something you don't get much of at a warehouse

You come back here ,Tom,until I am not through talking to you

You are going to listen,I am at the end of my patience

Where do you think I am at?

Don't you think I have patience to reach the end of,mother?

I know that it seems unimportant to you, what I'm doing,what I am trying to do

You don't care about us

All you think of is self I saw you were a peacock

I'm only your mother,

you should care about your sister a little better,you should

You get three hour sleep and then you go to work,you are in no condition

That's true I am in no condition

No right.No right to jeopardize your job,jeopardize our security

Listen.You think I am crazy about that warehouse

You think I'm in love with Mid-Continental Shoemakers

You think I'll spend 55 years of my life

down there in that icebox interior with those fluorescent tubes

But I go,every morning you come in yelling Rise and Shine,Rise and Shine

I think how lucky dead people are,but I get up,I go

How dare you rise your voice to your mother

For one hundred and fifty lousy bucks a month I go

I gave up all I ever dreamt of doing and being ever

And you say that self,self is the only thing I ever think of

Now listen,if self was the only thing I ever thought of,mother

I would be where he is,gone,as far as the system of transportation reaches

Don't grab at me

I'm not grabbing.Where are you going?

I told you I'm going to the movies

I don't believe that lie

You're right.You're absolutely right

I'm going to the opium dens,yes,opium dens, dens of vice, and criminal hang outs

I joined the Hogan gang,mother, I'm a hired assassin

I carry a commie gun and a violin case, they call me killer,killer Wingfield

I'm living a double life, a simple honest double life

by day I'm a poor warehouse worker

but by night I'm a dynamic czar of the underworld,mother

my enemies are trying to dynamite this place

-No -Oh,yes

They are going to blow us all up, sky high,some night

Then I'll be glad

Very glad,and so will you,because then you go up,up,up,over Blue Mountains

You go up with a broom stick,you go up with your seventeen gentlemen crawlers

I'll never speak to you again as long as you live

Until you apologize

One crack-and it falls through!

Tom! What are you doing?

I'm looking for the door-key

Where have you been all this time?

To the movies

All this time to the movies?

There was a very long programme. There was two westerns,and a Bugs Bunny

and a travelogue and a news reel, and a preview coming attractions

and a fat lady had a fight with an usher

Did you have to stay through everything?

Of course.Twice.Oh I almost forgot, there was a big stage show

and the headliner's name was Malvolio,the Magician

He was wonderful. He did the most amazing tricks

and one of them was,he poured water back and forth between pitchers

and first it turned to wine and then it turned to beer and then it turned to whisky

How did you know?

I know.I know because he invited people to come up out of the audience to help him

So I came up

Both shows

It was Kentucky Straight Bourbon. He was a very generous fellow

He give souvenirs

He gave me this

This is his magic scarf

Lovely

Watch

You wave it over a cage of canaries, and they become a bowl of gold-fish

Then

You put it over a bowl of gold-fish, and they fly away,canaries

Isn't that a pretty scarf?

That's beautiful

I wish it was big enough to cover this whole ugly world

The whole world isn't ugly.

While I was waiting for you tonight I listened to the music from the Paradise Club

It was beautiful.The whole world was beautiful

Because one little part was flooded with rainbows

What about the rest?

You know that magician,he has a wonderful trick of all

What was it?

We nailed him in a packing box,

and he got out of it,without removing a single nail

There is a trick come in handy for me, get me out of that warehouse

-"Someone to watch over me" -Shhhh!

Why are you shushing me for?

You'll wake up mother

Goody,goody! Pay her back for all those "Rise an' Shines"

You know it doesn't take much intelligence to get yourself into a nailed-up box

But who in the world ever got out of one without removing one single nail?

Good Night Tom

But you did? You got out

Rise and Shine,Rise and..

Tom's breakfast is ready mother

Go tell that brother of yours

Mother went out and bought strawberries and pretzel for you Tom

Strawberries won't help me

Please be pleasant she is upset

Rise and Shine

Rise and Shine

Mother,I apologize

Don't do it on account of the strawberries

Mother,I'm sorry of all those things I said,really I am

My devotion to my children has made me a witch

I didn't say that!

Dare you! You said you wanted me to go off on a broom stick,that's what you said

-I didn't mean it -Well,you said it

This time you hadn't been drinking, that what's worry me

You haven't even been drinking

-Mother,I'm sorry -Sit down

Sit down and eat strawberries

and eat you'll feel better

Just coffee

-Cereals -No,no,mother,just coffee

You can't do a day's work on an empty stomach

Don't gulp,don't gulp

Often too hot liquids gives you stomach trouble

It perforates the line

Put some cream in it

No thanks,mother,I don't want any cream,I just want it black

Well put some cream and cool it off

Mother,do you mind if I just please have it black?

There is no nourishment in black coffee

We have to do all we can to build ourselves up

I'm sorry mother,I have to rush now

Tom,I know your ambitions does not lie in that warehouse

It cause for spark and endurance

It sure does

-Tom -Yes mother

Tom,are you ashamed of bringing anybody up here?

Are you ashamed of the apartment?

I love it mother,believe me, I'll never want to move

Will you please find some nice young man

at that warehouse to get acquainted with your sister

What is wrong with that I'd like to know?

Tom,will you bring some nice young man

Good Morning

Tom,honey,please don't forget to bring someone home

Yes mother

Laura didn't tell us about her failure at Powe's business school

Every morning weeks after she would pick up her books and leave

But instead of going to school, she walked to all the places

where the lonely spend their time

Hello mother

Mother I was turned directly to the thing you are typing

Yes,deception.Deception

Did you sell any subscriptions,mother?

No,I didn't sell any subscriptions.I didn't have the heart,I didn't have the courage

I just wanted to find out a hole in the ground and bury myself forever

Why did you do that?

Why are you staring at me,mother?

Aren't you going to tell me what's wrong?

I went to Powes Business College to find out how you are progressing

-Oh,oh,oh -I am sorry,mother

Good Lord,it is not the money I care about so much

It's all my hopes and my ambitions for you gone up with puffs

Just gone up with puffs like that

Laura where were you?

Where did you go when you were supposed to be at business college?

I just went walking

Walk.Deliberately trying to wear yourself out

I didn’t walk all the time,mother,sometimes I went inside places to rest

Inside? Inside where?

The library,the park.Lately I've been spending my afternoons in the Jewel-box,

the big glass-house where they grow the tropical flowers

Tropical flowers?

Laura what are we going to do for the rest of our lives?

Just sit in this room and watch the Parade go by?

Amuse ourselves with the glass menagerie?

Eternally play those phonograph records

that your father left as a constant reminder of him?

I can't go back to Powse.I got sick

You got sick

We won't have a business career-we've given that up because we got sick?

Laura what is there left for us but dependency for the rest of our lives

I won't be dependent mother, I'll go out and find work

Work? What work?

I know so well what becomes of unmarried women

who aren't prepared to occupy positions in life

I've seen such pitiful cases in the South

barely tolerated spinsters living upon some brother's wife or sister's husband

stuck away in some little mousetrap of a room,

encouraged by one-in-law to visit another

little birdlike women without any nest

eating the crust of humility all their life!

Is that the future that we've mapped ourselves?

No.No

I declare that it is the only alternative I can think of

Not a very pleasant alternative,is it?

Of course some girls get married

Well,it is that we going to do,we are going to get you married!

But mother,I'm crippled

Don't use that word!How many times have I told you never never to use that word?

You are not crippled.You have a slight defect that's all

Hardly noticeable

Laura you don't need to have to wear a brace anymore

People have a slight defect,they cultivate other things to make up for it

They develop charm,vivacity and charm!

That's all you have to do

One thing your father had plenty of-was charm!

Girls who aren't cut out for a business career

usually end up marrying some nice young man

But mother,who would marry you

You're not crippled

Walk Laura

Walk?

Yes.Walk

I want to see you walk

Walk around this room

Go on.Walk!

Walk around this room!

You're not crippled

You are not crippled

Mother would often say,I feel like just giving up,but this was a lie

Giving up was the last idea that would enter her mind

After Laura's failure with the business school

mother was obsessed with the idea of somehow finding Laura a gentleman caller

But this took money,patiently,grimly

and sometimes even little desperately she went out looking for it

It was hard on her shoes,it must been equally hard on her pride

But what is pride when love for someone,

and ambition for someone you love is concerned

The image of a gentleman caller haunted our small apartment

Rarely an evening would pass

without a frantic appeal to bring home a nice young man to call on Laura

Sure Northend got a good football team

but you know when I was quarterback in Furlonmight

we had a play that nobody could figure out

Man what are you talking about?

Wait a minute,I'm not kidding,look,coach Togan and me worked this whole play out

It's kind of a shipping..

-O’Connor? -Oh,yes,Sir

What is this all this football talk?

I was just telling the boys that team work is required in every walk of life

No man makes a shoe by himself,is that right?

Yes.That's right

I think Mr Mendoza,you're like the coach of the football team

You supply the line power, we supply the man power,

work together like a well trained team

-That's makes lot of sense,O'Connor -Thank you

Makes a lot of sense

-How am I doing? -Fine

I think I'm improving

You certainly can handle Mendoza

-Here,have you got a cigarette? -Yes

You know,it's all in the line,

if you think like a president of Mid-Continental Shoe Company

you'll be the president

I don't want to be President

Right now I am committing myself to a future

that does not include this warehouse

Where are you gaffing about?

Look

What's that?

-You are joining the Merchant Marine? -Yeah

-What for? -Don't you ever feel like going place?

Sure I'll go places but not on the ocean

I never pick up a shoe in this warehouse

that I don't shudder thinking how short life is and what I'm doing

Forget it all that stuff how short life is

Get you no place

I bet you are still writing poems?

Just what I figured.What a crazy guy

You know what's the trouble with you? You are running away from things

You want to face facts

Shakespeare, I'm going to tell you for your own good

What good?

Public speaking

Public speaking?

You and me.We are not the warehouse guys.

Thanks.What has that to do with public speaking?

Fit you for an executive position

Look.Ask yourself one question.

What is the difference between you and me and the guys in the front office?

Brain? No.Ability? No.Just one little thing

What's that one little thing?

Primarily it amounts to social poise

Being able to square up to people and hold your own on any social level

Wingfield!

What kind of cigarettes do you smoke?

They must be very long and very slow burning

I've just getting a bit of fresh air,Mr Mendoza,

your ventilating system went out of order

Open ventilating system.You don't like

If the management had the alternative of scrapping you

or a 50000 dollar ventilating system, which do you think they scrap?

-By the good might have to.. -But Mr Mendoza..

-Excuse me Mr Mendoza -Yes

-Are you going to be busy Tuesday night? -Why?

I was wondering whether you could spare an evening

to talk to a public speaking class on factory management

What?

You know how it is,night school,all theory nothing backed up by practical experiences

With your background

My factory,well,I'll have to think about it

Thank you Mr Mendoza

Thanks

Another minute I would have blow my top

When you first meet Mendoza,you don't like him,only get to know him, you hate him

Mother,dinner ready?

As soon as Laura gets back,I send her after some things

Where are you?

Out here mother

Get cool

A fire-escape landing's a poor excuse for the veranda I used to have back home

When I was a girl we used to do all our entertainment on the veranda in summer

You smoke too much

A pack a day,21 cents a pack how much would that be in a month?

Let me see 30 times 21 that will be, anyway not to give you night full course

in accounting in Washington U

Wouldn't that be lovely?

I'd rather smoke

I know,I know,that's the tragedy of it

-Excuse me -Mr Raines

That is your name I believe

Certainly,Madam

That was Mr Gammer told me

So you just moved in?

-Tom,this is Mr Raines -Yes.I know

Pardon me , I think neighbours

vertical as well as horizontal neighbours are to get acquainted don't you?

Yes Ma'am

-Mississippi? -No Ma'am.Nashville,Tennessee

Nashville.Do you know the Powder fields of Nashville?

The Powder fields? No,Ma'am, I don't recall them

Ah,pity

Won't you come in and have a full cup

I'm terribly sorry,Ma'am,I can't go right now,I going out on a date

We will give you a rain check then

Thank you Mam,I 'll take it upon me then,Good-bye

-Good-bye -Good-bye

Young bachelor.Seems bashful

Gun-shy

The world is just full of lonesome young men

just longing for someone to get them a friendly smile

What are you looking at?

The moon

Is there a moon?

It's rising over Schulz’s Delicatessen

So it is! A little silver slipper of a moon.

Did you make a wish?

What did you wish?

I wished for success and happiness for my two precious children

I get so weary wishing that all the time

I wish when there is a moon and when there isn't a moon

I thought perhaps you might have wished for a gentleman caller

Whatever gave you that idea?

Don't you remember asking me to fetch one?

I never asked but suggested it

You did it repeatedly

I'm going to bring one

What?

A gentleman caller

You mean you've actually asked some nice young man to come and visit your sister?

I've asked him to come to dinner

Son,how perfectly lovely

Did he accept?

He did

It's definite ?

Very definite

How soon?

Pretty soon

How soon?

Quite soon

How soon?

Very,very soon,Friday

Friday?

Friday night

But Tom,but it gives me no time,no time at all

Time for what?

Preparations.You should have phone me the moment he accepted

The whole place has to be thrown together

Mother,I tell you,you don't have to make any fuss

Now let me see

Look at that tired old day bed and awful length

Bad looking carpet look like it was peeled off back of a maimed Arkansas mule

I tell you he is a very simple

We can't have a gentleman caller in a pigsty

I wish I had time to paper the walls

Mother

Tom,Tom,we don't have a thing to wear, we don't have a blessed thing to wear

Mother,stop talking about my wearing anything

if you don't stop this fussing I'm going to tell him not to come

Tom,you can't do that,people hate broken engagements,they got no place to go

Where did you meet him?

At the warehouse.Where else could I meet him?

What's his name?

O'Connor.Jim O'Connor

O'Connor.Irish.Coming Friday.Fish

Does he drink?

Well,your father did.

Don't get started on that!

Then he does drink

Not that I know of,mother

Nothing I want less for my daughter than a man who drinks

Aren't you being a just a bit premature?

What does he make?

-Make? -Yes,his salary at the warehouse,how much?

Well I would judge it approximately 165 dollars a month

-That's not princely -It's 15 more than I make

Don't I know that but for a family man

Mr O'Connor is not a family man

He might be some time in the future

You're sure he doesn't drink

Give me a nickel I'll call him on the phone and ask him

Don't you be supercilious with your mother

These things have to be investigated discreetly

to save a girl making a tragic mistake

How did you happen to make such a tragic mistake?

That innocent look of your father's had everybody fooled

I declared that man could charm a burial trees

-Tom -Yes Mother

Come here

My wedding silver

Mum,O’Connor is nobody to impress

I hope he is not too good looking

No,he is not too good looking

He's not downright homely?

He is not downright homely, he is just medium homely

Character's what to look for in a man

Put that things away,we will polish them tomorrow

Yes,mother

Tom,Tom,did you tell him you had a sister?

No,mother,he doesn't know about Laura

He will now,he'll know about Laura

I didn't tell him anything about her.

I didn't let on that we had dark ulterior motives

When he sees how pretty and lovely she is,

he'll thank his lucky stars he was invited to dinner

Mother,you mustn't expect too much of Laura

What do you mean by that?

She seems all those things to you and me

because she's ours and we love her.

We don't even notice she's crippled any more

Don't use that word

Well,she is.And that's not all.

What do you mean that's 'not all'?

Laura is very different from other girls

I know that.And I think that difference is all to her credit

No.Not quite all.In the eyes of other-strangers-she's terribly shy

she lives in a world of her own and

that makes her seem peculiar to people outside the house

Don't use that word peculiar

You have to face the facts,mother

I don't know in what way she is peculiar

Laura lives in a world of little glass animals

She plays old phonograph records -that's about all

What are you going to now?

Rest after dinner you worn me out mother

That must be Laura

Laura,Laura,I have good news, I've got the best news ever

Friday we're going to have a gentleman caller

Come on up,honey,come on and make a wish on the moon

What?

A little silver slipper of the moon

Turn this way my honey and look over your left shoulder

Now wish!

What shall I wish for?

Happiness! Good fortune!

That's a little happiness, a little bit of good fortune

Mother,I've only 50 cents

Don't you worry,we've friends,

friends are more important than all the riches in the world

We want the credit desk,please

-Yes,Mam,right over there -Thank you

I want to talk to the gentleman in charge of the charge account,please

What can I do for you,Madam?

I received a very strange letter the other day from the credit department

Informing me that my charge account had been discontinued

And I just want to say I've been doing business with this store

since I first arrived in St Louis 22 years ago

By and large my whole residence is furnished

with things from Bowman's department

All my linen ,practically all my silver will definitely come with my trousseau

and every stick of furniture in my house came directly from Bowman's department

I think it was extremely surprise, not to say discourtesy of uncouth

to send me a letter like this

So cold and so formal

I declare just that it struck me like a tornado

It seems,Madam,that your account was cut off

because of an item of 8 $ and 75 cents due from that quarter

Last what?

What is last quarter?

Honey,I don't understand these business technicalities,do you?

If there is something owing on my account,I assure you

that nothing would give me greater pleasure

than to settle it here right here and now

I'll get you a new credit card,Mrs Wingfield,excuse me

Where did you get the money?

As long as you got cents you can always afford a little more you can without them

That's where this lovely,lovely word credit comes in

If you can't have friends without credit

but you have credit as long as you've got friends

-Here you are,Madam -Thank you

-It has all been straightened out -Thank you,Madam

You see Laura,how easy it is to lose friends

If it hadn't been for that nice young lady

we would have lost the friendship of Mr Bowman's Department Store

Now you come along,honey, the unsettling expedition is over

we are going upstairs now, and just charge and charge

Finished

Laura,why are you trembling?

Mother,you make me so nervous

How do I make you nervous?

By all this fuss, you make it so important

But it is important

I declare I don't understand you at all

Turn around honey

Every time I try do anything the least bit different for you,

you always seem to set yourself

I guess..

Now go and take a look at yourself in the mirror,young lady

Go on

I almost forgot

Turn around,honey

Mother,what are you doing?

Improvement.They call them 'Gay Deceivers'

I won't wear them

You will

Why should I?

Because,to be painfully honest, honey,your chest is flat

Mother,you make it seem like we are setting a trap

We are,all pretty girls are a trap, a pretty trap and men expect them to be

Now look at yourself,young lady. You look as pretty as an angel on a picture postcard

Go and sit down over here. I'm going to fix myself up

I'm going to show you something, you will get a big surprise

Your mother is going to make a spectacular appearance

What are you going to do?

Possess your soul in patience,honey, -you will see !

Are you ready Laura?

Here I come

Will I do?

That's lovely

It used to be,honey,it used to have a lot of flowers all over

but they got such a sad looking, so I took them off

It's still beautiful.I led the cotillon in this dress

I won the cakewalk twice at Sunset Hill

I wore it one spring at the governor's ball in Jackson

See how I sashayed around the ballroom,Laura?

I hope they get here before the rain starts

I told that brother of yours to bring Mr O'Connor right home

so we wouldn't lose our gentleman caller

What is his name?

O'Connor

What is his first name?

Honey I don't recall,oh yes I do it.It was Jim

Jim O'Connor?

Yes.That's right.I've never knew a Jim that wasn't nice

We both know a Jim O'Connor in High School

If it's the same one,you have to excuse me,I won't come to the table

Laura what nonsense is this?

Whether it is him or not,you won't be excused from this particular table

I have to

I am not going to humour your silliness,Laura

Sit down

I've had about enough from you and your brother,both!

So just sit there and compose yourself and let them in when they arrive

Please don't make me open the door

I will be in the kitchen busy making the dressing for the salmon

Fuss,fuss-silliness over one gentleman caller,just one that's all

What would you do if you were seventeen?

You like Hawaiian notes?

Sure,sure I like Hawaiian notes

They remind me of the islands

You've been to the islands?

I was born there,a little glass hut

Typhoon blows it out

What are you doing here?

Just passing through visiting relatives

I work for a cargo line in the South Pacific

Right now I am recuperating from a run in with Chinese pirates

-On the Yangtze river -You're kidding

No,held for ransom,torture

they took matches and they burnt them under my fingernails

but I didn't tell them a thing

About what?

In the national secret,I had them tattooed on my.In code of course

My first mate squealed the yellow rats

When we came to Shanghai,captured more torture,they put my foot in a vice

And they squeezed it and squeezed it until..

-I'm sorry -That's all right

What are you doing?

Cruising down the Yangtze

-Have a drink? -No thanks,nothing for me

Have a drink on me.Two straight bourbons.

-Fresh you up -For what?

The evening

Do you think I want to meet your mother with whisky on my breath?

My mother is a lady to whom the odor of whisky

brings back the fondest and the tenderest recollections of my father

Oh,Shakespeare I have the most wonderful surprise today

I got an invitation to the Progress Club Dinner

You know what that means,don't you?

What?

That means that the boys on the front office got their eyes on me

For a junior executive position,eventually

That's great

Yes Sir,oh I might as well tell you they have got your eyes on you too

You mean I am going to be invited to the Progress Club Dinner,eventually?

I mean you are going to be out of a job,eventually unless you watch out

That's all right with me

To the Merchant Marine

You feel strong now?

Me? As a bull

We'll go across the alley and meet my folks

You know, Shakespeare,I never thought of you having folks

If we come through the back of the Paradise,we find a broad avenue

Across which is the stately residence of the Wingfields

Forlorn and spacious,brooded over by ancient oak trees

Hung with Spanish moths

Under one of these venerable patriarch in the forest

Admiral Thomas Wingfield signed his now famous declaration of irresponsibility

What a crazy guy

Here we are

Taking me in the back-way

No,the front

Let's go for it across that leak!

Laura honey,Laura that's ours, Tom must have forgotten his keys

Shakespeare,you're sure this is the night

Mother you go to the door

You toiled for that moment and lose your line

Please,mother,please,I can't

I'm sick

Just a second

Look I've been through it too much,go to that door and let them in

Hurry,pluck up courage and use it

Laura,did you hear me

Laura,do as I tell you

Yes mother

Hello,Laura ,this is Jim.Jim this is my sister Laura

I didn't know you had a sister

Pleased to meet you

How do you do

I'm OK

Your hands are cold Laura

Yes I've been playing the victrola

You've must have been playing classical music

You ought to play a little hot swing music to warm you up

Excuse me

What's the matter?

Laura is very shy

Shy,huh? It's unusual meet a shy girl nowadays.

I don't think you ever mentioned you had a sister

-I thought you knew -No

You want a part of it?

Yes.Comics?

Thanks

Those cartoons

-Tom -Yes mother

-Is that you and Mr O'Connor? -Yes mother

You just make yourself comfortable there

Yes mother

Ask Mr O'Connor if he would like to wash his hands

No thanks I took care of that at the warehouse

Who's that?

That's my father

Yeah

First world war,ah?

He got through all right

He went to work for a telephone company

Fell in love with long distance

-You see how he grins? -Yes

He's been after him going on since sixteen years

Jim,you won't mention anything about my plans for mother will you?

What plans?

You know about joining the Merchant Marine

I made my dues this month, instead of the light bill

You will be sorry when they turn the lights off

I won't be here

Good Evening

Mother? You look so pretty

That's the first compliment you ever paid me

I wish you look as if

when you going to say something pleasant so as I could expect

-Mother this is.. -Mr O'Connor

-Mr O'Connor -How do you do,Mrs Wingfield

Introductions are entirely unnecessary I've heard so much about you from my boy

I finally said,Tom I said,good gracious

why don't you invite this paragon to supper

Mother

I don't know why my boy is so stand-offish, that's not Southern hospitality

-Won't you sit down? -Thank you,Ma'am

It's very warm

Yes.Warm already

Our blood gets to thicken

it takes a while for us to adjust ourselves when the season changes

Mother..

When it comes to Whitsun this year, I declare,I just wasn't prepared for it

Then all of a sudden,heavens, it's just like summer weather

I ran to the trunk and pulled out this light dress

It's almost historical.I had to wear something cool.And you said it was very..

-Mother -Yes,honey

How about supper?

You go and ask your sister if supper is ready

You know sister is in full charge of supper

You just tell her you two big hungry men are working for it

Mr O'Connor.Did you meet Laura?

-Oh,yes she.. -Let you in

Yes,mam

-She is very pretty -Yes ,Ma'am

She is domesticated too

It's very rare to find a girl

as sweet and pretty and lovely as Laura,and so domesticated

-I never was at all -Oh..

I never could make a thing but angel-food cake

But then,of course, in the South we had so many servants

Gone,gone,gone.All vestige of gracious living just gone completely

It's..

I just wasn't prepared for what the future brought me

But man proposes and woman accept the proposal

Mr O'Connor I married a man who worked for a telephone company

-But he fell in love with long distance -Yes I know Tom..

He started to travel and kept on traveling

and I tell you,I've not the slightest idea where that man traveled to

Excuse me.It must be the blue dress.

I didn't mean to get started on my tribulations

Tell me about yours,Mr O'Connor. I hope you haven't got any

-Well I.. -Tom?

-Yes mother -Is supper ready?

It looks to me that it is on the table

Please,please,let me

Quite so it is.How pretty. Where is sister?

Laura isn't feeling well

she says that she thinks she'd better not come to the table

What nonsense

Laura

Laura,honey,please come to the table.

We can't be seated until you come to the table

Yes,mother

-Dinner is served -Oh fine

I'm hungry

Allow,Mrs Wingfield

Thank you for that

Mr O'Connor, Thomas

Laura!

Laura!

-Please -Thank you

Laura,honey,you're keeping us all waiting

Laura,honey

We can't say grace until you come to the table

Laura

-Mother I.. -Laura

-I'm so sorry -You are sick

Tom,take your sister to the living room

Laura,you go and rest yourself on the sofa

Standing over the hot stove just made her sick

Sure

She is normally very healthy,I told you it was too warm this evening

There's rain,a nice fresh rain has come up

Yeah

Then everything will be fresh and colder

She'd be all right mother

Helas,I think we may have grace now

Tom,honey,you say grace

What?

Honey,what we'll usually do before we give a meal

We say grace,don't we?

'For that which we are about to receive,we thank you,Our Lord

and for all manifold mercies to us this day

God's Holy Name be praised

I declare Mr O'Connor

I haven't had such a pleasant evening since I don't know when

Thank you,Mrs Wingfield. I'd like to propose a toast

To your South

Oh,South

Shakespeare,what do you think happens?

Maybe it's the storm

Where was Moses when the lights went out?

Do you know the answer to that one,Mr O'Connor?

I don't think I do

I heard one answer but it wasn't very nice

Guess they must just have blown a fuse or something

Do you know anything about burnt out fuses,Mr O'Connor

I know a little about it,Mrs Wingfield, but where is the fuse box?

Must be in there about the stove

It helps

It's in the kitchen,near the ice box

Thank you

Watch out

Don't stumble over anything

I've got eyes like an owl

What happens?

Wouldn't be awful if we lost him

Are you all right,Mr O'Connor?

Yes, I'm all right Mrs Wingfield

I'd better help him

Tom.That light bill I gave you a few days ago

the one I told you we got the notices about?

Yes

You didn't neglect to pay it,by any chance?

-Yeah.. -You didn't.I might have known it

-I think I broke a plate -Don't fret about it

Fuses are all right

We'd better have some illuminations from the candle

I only intended them for ornamentation

Spend the rest of the evening in 19th Century

Before Mr Edison found that electric lamp

Candle light is my favorite kind of light

That is because you are a romantic

Tom,as a penalty for your carelessness you can help me with the dishes

Let me give you a hand,Mrs Wingfield

Oh,no.Laura is all by herself in the parlor

why don't you go and keep her company

Sure

Perhaps you coax her to drink the glass of wine,might do her good

All right

It's elderberry in the main

You can keep them carrying both at once?

Sure,I'm superman

-Tom,you get into the apron -Yes,mother

Tom you get inside there after you have the table

-Hello Laura -Hello

-How are you feeling now, better? -Yes,thank you

This is for you

Drink it

Elderberry wine

But don't get drunk

Where will I put the candle?

Anywhere

How about here on the floor? All right?

I'd better put a newspaper under to catch the drippings

Sure,the Chronicle wouldn't mind

I like sitting on the floor,do you have any objections?

No

I'd better use this pillow

How about you?

Don't you like sitting on the floor?

Yes I do

Why don't you then?

-I will -Better take a pillow

I can't see you sitting way over there

I can see you

Well,I know,but that's not fair. I'm in the limelight

Now I can see you

-Comfortable? -Yes

So am I

Comfortable as an old cow

-Will you have some gum? -No thanks

Are you sure?

I think I will indulge it. With your permission?

Your brother tells me that you are shy.Is that right Laura?

I don't know

I judge you to be an old-fashioned type of girl

Well,I think that's a pretty good type to be

I hope you don't think I am being too personal,do you?

No

I think I will have a bit of the chewing gum,if you don't mind

Sure

Thank you

-Well? -Well,this?

How are they getting along?

How should I know

All I know that it is a chivalrous young man,we've introduced to your sister

I do want it to be a success

I do so much want it to be a success

I know,mother

Tom,how many times have I told you

-What have I done wrong? -Wait

You know,I've an idea seeing you before

I had the idea as soon as you opened the door

It seems almost like I was about to remember your name

but the name I started to call you wasn't a name,

so I stopped myself before I said it

Was it Blue Roses?

Blue Roses,my gosh,yes,Blue Roses

I didn't even connect you with High School,somehow or other

But that where it was,High School

I didn't know even you were Shakespeare's sister

How did I ever get to call you Blue Roses?

I was absent from school for a while with pleurosis

When I came back

you asked me what was the matter, and I told you that I had pleurosis

You thought I said Blue Roses

You know this sure is funny

Yes,it is

Yes sure,I remember now

Say,you was the one who always came in late

That was very high for me get up the stairs I had a brace on my leg then

It clumped so loud

I never heard any clumping

To me it sounded like thunder

I never even noticed it

I used to have to go clumping up the aisle while everyone was watching because

my seat was in the back row

You shouldn't have been so self-conscious

I know,but I was

That's why you sort of stuck by yourself

I never had much luck at making friends

Laura,people are not so dreadful when you get to know them

That's what you have to remember

Everybody has problems.

You think of yourself of being the only one who is disappointed

but just look around you will see lots of people as disappointed as you are

Take me for instance. I hoped when I was going to school

that I would be further along at this time,six years later than I'm now

Remember that wonderful write-up I had in the school year book?

Yes

Said I was bound to succeed in anything I went into

The Torch!

Here you are in The Pirates of Penzance

Oh,the pirate

"When the foreman bears the steel, to rent oorah,to rent orrah

we are comfortable field to rent oorah"

I sang the baritone lead in that operetta

I remember.It was beautiful

You heard me?

All three times

-No? -Yes

All three performances?

All three?

I wanted to ask you to autograph my programme

Why didn’t you ask me to?

You were always surrounded by your friends I didn't have a chance

I was beleaguered by females in those days

You were very popular

I was spoiled in high school

Everybody liked you

Including you?

Yes I did too

Laura,give me that programme

Better late than never

Thank you

My signature may not be very much worth just right now

But some day,maybe,it will increase in value

You know,being disappointed is one thing, being discouraged is something else

I am disappointed but I am not discouraged

How is Emily Meisenbach getting along?

That kraut-head

Why do you call her that?

Well,that what she was

You mean that you are not going with her anymore?

I never even see her

It said in the Personal Section that you were engaged

I know,but I wasn't impressed by that propaganda

It wasn't truth?

Only in Emily's optimistic opinion

Oh

-Mother -Schhh

Mother

What?

If you want to hear what they are saying

why don't you go into the dining room and sit down,comfortably

It's a nice young man

So full of charm and vivacity and..

And charm

I do hope he appreciate Laura

It's a pity she had to collapse at the table

Did you see how beautifully he acted?

He took no notice the tar as it stopped raining

I think so

Tom.I'm so excited

Calm down yourself mother possess your soul in patience

Oh,mother

You finished high school?

You know what I think is the trouble with you?

Inferiority complex

You know what that is?

That's what they call it when someone low-rates himself

I understand it because I had it too

I had it until I took up public speaking,developed my voice

Do you know that until then

I never thought of myself being outstanding in anyway whatsoever

-You did so? -No,Sir

I have a friend,who says I can analyze people better

than doctors that make a profession of it

That's wonderful

I don't claim that being necessary true

but I can sure guess a person's psychology

Excuse me Laura,I always takes it out when the flavour is gone

I'll use this scrap of paper to wrap it up in.

I know how it is when it get stuck on your shoe

Yes,that's what I judge to be your principal trouble

a lack of confidence in yourself as a person

I'm basing that fact on a number of your remarks

and on certain observations I've made

For instance that clumping you thought was so awful in high school

You see what you did? You dropped out of school you gave up an education

All because of a little clump

which is as far as I can see is practically non-existent

But that's not true,you've seen me walk

All you have is a little physical defect

magnified a thousands of times by your imagination

You know what my strong advice to you is?

Think of yourself as superior in some way

Just look around you,what do you see?

A world full of ordinary people,all of them born and all of them going to die

Which of them has one-tenth of your good points

Or mine,or anyone else's,as far for that matters,gosh

You mean everybody is superior in some way

Some in many

All you've got to do is discover in what!

Take me for instance,my interest happen to lie in electro-dynamics

And I want to be ready to go right along with it

I'm trying to get in on the ground floor

and also to be made for the industry itself to get under way,full steam

Knowledge-Zzzzzp!-Money-Zzzzzp!-Power!

That's the cycle in which democracy is built

I guess you think I think a lot of myself,don't you?

Oh,no

No,I don't

We are going to get right to the top

What?

Because the night school

Oh,Jim,he really goes in for self improvement

Tom,you should have told me

Why?

Any young man who is study public speaking

is aiming to have an executive position some day

You smoke too much

Engineering,that is the thing for the future

That's the sort of thing every mother should be told

concerning any young man who comes to visit her daughter

Seriously or-not

Is this something you're more interested in anything else?

I do have my glass collection

Glass?

What kind is it?

Ornaments,animals mostly

Here's an example of one if you'd like to see it

Sure

Be careful,if you breathe,it breaks

Then I'd better not touch it, I'm awfully clumsy with things

I trust you with it

Now you're holding it gently

Take him over by the light, he loves the light

All right

Do you see how the light shines through him?

Yes.It sure does shine

I shouldn't be partial,but he is my favourite one

Unicorn? Aren't they extinct in the modern world?

After all,my little fellow,he must feel sort of lonesome

If he does,he doesn't complain about it

He stays with the other horses

that don't have horns and they seem to get along very nicely together

How do you know?

I haven't heard any arguments among them

No arguments,huh? Well,that's a pretty good sign!

Where shall I set him down?

Just put him over on by the table

They all like a change of scenery every once in a while

Hey!Look how big my shadow is when I stretch

It stretches all across the ceiling

Let us see if it stopped raining

Oh,yes it has

There is a wonderful band over at The Paradise

How about cutting a rug a little,Miss Wingfield?

Oh,no

A waltz

Let the rest of the world go by

I can't dance

There you go again,that inferiority stuff

But I never danced in my whole life

I'd only step on you

I'm not made out of glass

Oh,come on,try it

Just hold your arms out a little

A little bit higher

That's right

Don't tighten up,that's the main thing about it,just relax

Let yourself go now Laura

Yes,let yourself go

I'm trying

Easy does it

Don't be stiff

Loosen the backbone.There now you're getting it

Am I?

That that's lot better

It's broken

Now it'll be like all the other horses

Failure,you favourite piece of glass too

It doesn't matter.Maybe it is a blessing in disguise

I'm awfully sorry,I was the cause of it

I'll imagine that he had an operation. It will make him less freakish

Now he will be more at home with the other horses

Nice that you have a sense of humour about it

Say,how about going dancing at the Paradise

-Oh,no -Why not?

I have never been there

All the more reason why you should go

No I couldn't

There you go again.You said you couldn't dance.But you found out different

Now you say you can't go to the Paradise

That means only one thing. That you're still afraid

Of what?

You don't have to be afraid of anything

That's psychology

Come on Laura,we're going out.

You're going to have confidence in yourself, and I'm going to give it to you

What about mother and Tom?

I'll take care of that.Oh,Mrs Wingfield

Mr O'Connor

Mrs Wingfield.

Laura and I have decided to go out dancing at the Paradise.Do you mind?

Do I mind? Why Mr O'Connor?

I've always said that dancing was the most civilized form of social intercourse

-You go right ahead -Thank you

When you come back I'll have refreshments waiting for you

Thank you,again,Ma'am

Wingfield,may I have the first dance?

Doesn't everything look wonderful after a rain

Yes

Tom,come here

-You've done it -What have I done now,my lady

Taken to dancing

How well she walks

Either ways holding their arm

Next time he'll bring her a corsage, I just know he will

Then there will be regular visits, then he will ask her to picnic

And picknic lead her to her first kiss

The first kiss will lead to a ring

And a ring will lead strict to the altar

Oh Mother

Tom,I dreamt ,worried and prayed for this day

You have too,son?

You never wanted to admit it, admit it you have?

I know you have

You wanted to make Laura happy and now you've done it

Tom,it all come true,hasn't it?

Come on,we show them how

Easy does it

That's good

Having fun?

Sure you have

What's the matter?

I have got smoke in my eyes

What are you doing?

Blowing the smoke away

I like the way you smile

With your eyes

Doesn't everybody?

No,most people smile with their lips

Doesn't mean a thing

Doing great

You need a rest for a little while

-Let's sit this one out -All right

You've changed,Laura

Since high school?

Since an hour ago

You've stopped being bashful

Wouldn't be funny if you never remembered to be bashful again?

If tonight was the end of all that,

and from now on you only remembered that you were a very attractive person

Honestly

I wish you could sing

and face that dance floor

with those coloured Dance Band

They were looking at you

wanted to know who you were

and I was proud of the fact that I was your partner

You keep saying that

Haven't anyone ever told you that you are pretty?

Well you are

In a different way than anyone else

I wish that you were my sister,I'd teach you to have confidence in yourself

You know,different people are not like other people

but being different is nothing to be ashamed of

Because other people are not so wonderful

Look at them.They're one hundred times a thousand.

But you,you're one times one

They wander all over the earth,you just stay here.

They're common as weeds,but you're Blue Roses

Blue is wrong for roses

It's right for you.You're pretty

In what way am I pretty?

In every way,believe me,your eyes, your hair is pretty,your hands are pretty

You think I'm making this up because I'm invited to dinner and have to be nice

I could do that Laura, I could put on act for you

and say lots of things without being very sincere

But I am.I'm talking to you sincerely

Somebody needs to build up your confidence

and make you proud

instead of shy and turning away and blushing

Somebody ought to kiss you

I shouldn't have done that.

Would you care for a cigarette?

You don't smoke,do you?

How about a mint?

My pocket's a regular drug store

No thank you

Shall we go?

Yes

You know Laura,if I had a sister like you,I'd do the same thing as Tom

I'd bring fellows home to meet you

The right type

The type that appreciate you

Tom made a mistake about me

Maybe I got no call to be saying this

That might not been the idea in having me over

But what if it was? There is nothing wrong in that

The only trouble is in my case

I'm not in the position to do the right things

I can't take down your phone number and I can't call you

Next week and ask you for a date

I just thought I had better explain the situation

In case you misunderstood and I hurt your feelings

Laura is that you?

Yes mother

Did you have a good time ,honey?

Fine.I'll bring in something cold to drink in a minute

You won't call again?

No,Laura,I can't

As I was trying to explain I've got strings on me

I've been going steady

I go out all the time with a girl named Betty

She is a nice quiet home girl like you in great many ways

We get along fine

I met her last summer on a moonlight boat trip

up the river to Alton on the steamer Majestic

Right away from the start it was love

You know,being in love made a new man of me

The power of love is really pretty tremendous

Love is something that changes the whole world

It happened that Betty's aunt took sick, she got a wire and had to go to Centralia

When Tom asked me for dinner, I naturally accepted the invitation

not knowing that

I wish you would say something

I've made you children some liquid refreshments

Jim,do you know that song about lemonade?

'Lemonade,lemonade Made in the shade

and stirred with a spade- Good enough for any old maid'

No,I never heard it

Why are you so serious ,Laura?

We were having a serious conversation

Fine.Now you're better acquainted

You,young people,are much more serious-minded than my generation

I was so gay as a girl

You haven't changed a bit,Mrs Wingfield

Tonight I'm rejuvenated.The gaiety of the occasion,Mr O'Connor

I'm baptizing myself

Let me help you

I'll skip right back ,I know where my place is

when young people are having a serious conversation

Don't forget Mr O'Connor,

now that you have found your way here,we want you to come all the time

Not just once in a while but all the time

Don't go Mrs Wingfield,as a matter of fact I've got to be going

You must be joking? It's only the shank of the evening

Well,you know how it is

You mean you're a young working man and have to keep working men's hour

We'll let you out early this time

but only on conditions that you stay later next time much later

What will be the best night for you?

I guess Saturday night the best night for working men?

As a matter of fact I've got a couple of time-clocks to punch.Mrs Wingfield

One in the morning and another one at night

Now you are ambitious,you work at night in the warehouse?

Well not work but Betty

Betty? Who's Betty?

Just a girl.The girl I go steady with

Is it serious?

We're going to be married the second Sunday in June

Ohhhh-How nice

Tom didn't tell me that you were engaged to be married,Mr O'Connor

The cat's not out of the bag at the warehouse yet

You know how they are.They call you Romeo and stuff like that

It's been a wonderful evening,Mrs Wingfield.

I guess this is what they mean by Southern hospitality

It was nothing at all

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm rushing off

But I promised Betty I'd pick her up at the Wabash depot

and by the time I get there, her train will be in

Some women are pretty upset if you keep'em waiting

I know all about the tyranny of women

Good-bye,Mr O'Connor.I wish you happiness and good fortune

Thank you

You wish him that too,don't you Laura?

Yes I do

Thanks again Mrs Wingfield

So long,Shakespeare

Good-bye Laura

Don't you forget the good advice I gave you

What are you doing that for?

I want you have him as a souvenir

Laura.I'm going to treasure this

Jim!

Some time if you and Betty have a free evening,we'd like to have you visit us

Thank you Laura

Why are you smiling as if something good had happened?

I've had a lovely evening ,mother

Had a lovely evening?

You had a lovely evening?

It makes you happy

when I entertain a man who is already engaged to another girl?

But mother I danced tonight. I danced for the first time

I'm so glad that I saw Jim

Well,Jim now,go to pick up Betty at the Wabash depot

You won't see him again

But mother I have invited Betty and Jim to visit us

What? Laura this is no time to be gracious about it

What do we care about Betty? What do we care about Jim?

Tom

Yes mother

The gentleman caller gone already?

The gentleman caller has made an early departure

That was a fine joke you played on us!

How do you mean?

You forgot to mention that Mr O'Connor was engaged to be married

Jim's engaged?

So he just informed us

I didn't know

That's very strange

What's strange about it?

Didn't you tell me that he was your best friend at the warehouse?

He is,but how did I know?

It's very strange to me

that you didn't know that your best friend was engaged to be married

The warehouse is were I work,not where I know things about people

You don't know things anywhere.You live in a dream,you manufacture illusions

Laura,believe me I didn't realize

I believe you Tom

You had us make fool of ourselves

The effort,the preparations,the expense

New shade to the lamp,new coat for Laura. All for what?

I'm sick of being blamed for everything that goes wrong in this house

Tom should have known

Mother.It isn't Tom's fault

Laura

I don't understand you

I don't understand you at all

I've never understood my children

You young man you're going to make up for what you have done to your sister

Where are you going?

I'm going out

That's right.Don't let me interfere with your selfish pleasures

Go,go,go,Go to the movies

Go on then Go on

All right I will!

The more you shout about my selfishness

the quicker I'll go,and I won't go to the movies

Away you go,walk out the way your father did,we'll manage without you

I'm strong enough to take care of Laura, you can go to the moon you selfish dreamer

Mother

Tom,Tom

Forgive me Laura

Forgive you for what?

For running away and leaving you behind

I understand Tom

Do what you always wanted to,travel,right

Thank you Laura

Where will you go Tom?

Far away.To the moon.Maybe

I didn't go to the moon.I went much further

I followed my father's footsteps

attempted to find in motion what was really lost in space

I traveled around a great deal.

I would have stopped,but I was pursued by something

It always came upon me unawares, taking me altogether by surprise

Perhaps it was a familiar bit of music

Perhaps it was only a piece of transparent glass

But all at once my sister touches my shoulder

I turned around and looked into her eyes

Laura,I tried to leave you behind me but I am more faithful than I intended to be

Laura

Yes mother

Don't soil your dress,honey,

you got to stay fresh and pretty for your gentleman caller

What did you tell me the young man's name is?

Richard

Richard,I've never known a Richard that wasn't nice

I made a pitcher of lemonade for you both,

I hope he doesn't care for anything stronger

What time do you expect him?

Right now mother,there he is, coming down the street

The long delayed but always expected something that we live for

-Hello -Hello

And that is how I remember them,my mother and my sister

and so good-bye

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