All language subtitles for E A.Love

(ambient tense music)

(chiming)

(lively Klezmer music)

(dogs barking)
(soldiers yelling)

(woman screaming)

(dogs barking)
(soldiers yelling)

(soldier speaking in
foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

(dogs barking)

(slaps)

- No!

No!

(woman speaking in
foreign language)

No!

(woman screaming)

(panting)

- Yadwiga?

(lively Klezmer music)

Yadwiga?

Yadwiga?

- [Yadwiga] Good morning.

- What time is it?

- 10 o'clock.

I do shopping, I iron
your shirt and underwear.

I clean kitchen floor
and bathroom.

I had my breakfast but I'm
ready to eat again with you.

Would you like, perhaps, tea?

Oh, no, no. Herman, you
cannot go with barefoot.

I get your slippers.

I polish them.

- Polish them?

Who polishes slippers?

- They were all dried up.

Ay-ya-ya-ya, Yadzia, this
is America, huh?

You're not the family
servant anymore.

- I fill your bathtub now.

(Yadwiga humming)

I buy you a soap.

Perfume soap, smell.

Three for a dime.

Come.

I wash you.

♪ Oh, if we were to have a boy ♪

♪ Praise the Lord on high ♪

♪ In what would we
cradle our joy ♪

♪ Praise the Lord on high ♪

♪ In the street below ♪

♪ In the street below ♪

♪ There is a tub of snow ♪

What time does the train leave?

- What?

At two o'clock.

- Where's the city?

- Philadelphia?

In America, where should it be?

- Why don't you sell books here?

There are so many people.

- People come to Coney Island
for popcorn, not books.

- What kind of books are they?

- Books on how to build bridges,

how to lose weight, how
to run the government.

Books of songs, stories,
plays, the life of Hitler.

- They write books
about such swine?

- They write about all
kinds of swine.

Tonight, I'll be having
supper in Philadelphia.

- Who you eat with?

Alone?

(Herman speaking in
foreign language)

Talk so I can understand you.

- Matzi, Pitzele, Pitzele!
(laughing)

Hey, Pitzele!

- The neighbor with
the white hair

said I could earn $25 a
week in a factory.

- You want to go to work?

- You have to know how to
read and write.

- So you take the course.

I will enroll you.

- Herman!

(children laughing)
(people chattering)

Herman, the old woman says you
must know the alphabet first.

- I will teach you.

- When?

You are never at home.

(people chattering)

- She's such a sweet girl,
that Yadwiga.

- [Newstand Vendor] Vito
Marcantonio to run for mayor!

Read all about it!

Marcantonio to run
for mayor here!

Yes, sir?

- Forverts.

- [Newstand Vendor] Five cents.

(whirring)
(rattling)

(people screaming)
(dogs barking)

(people shouting in
foreign language)

(mellow music)

(lively Klezmer music)

- You're supposed to report
first thing in the morning.

Where's my speech for
Atlantic City?

If I had to depend on you,
I'd be an unemployed rabbi.

I got six convalescent
homes to worry about,

not to mention apartments in
Borough Park, Williamsburg.

And I tell you, I'm sick
and tired of you

living in a house
without a telephone!

Oi, such a greenhorn.

I know, I know.

You live with an old tailor
who saved your life in Poland

and he desperately needs
your rent money to live.

A sob story.

Let me see this.

Now, you're starting to write.

This is great, great!

What's with the scribbling here?

Where's the rest of it?

If you can't finish it, tell
me, I'll get somebody else.

I'll talk into a
Dictaphone myself.

I'll have Mrs. Regal type it.

- Everything will be
ready today.

I promise that.

- I hope so.

Meanwhile, I'll hold on to this.

Now, once and for all,
your address.

Where do you live?

Under Yankee Stadium?

(laughing)

I'm beginning to believe
that you got a wife

and you're hiding her from me.

- I wish I had the wife.

- If you want one, you
could have one.

I picked out a fine
woman for you.

You wouldn't even meet her.

What are you afraid of?

You wait long enough,
you'll marry a shiksa.

The subject for my next speech,

mixed marriages, the
plague of the Jews.

Now, are you going
to finish this

and are you gonna give
me your address?

Because if you don't, I'm
gonna have to fire you.

This town is lousy
with bookworms.

Everyone wants to be
a ghostwriter.

- 3918 Pelham Drive
in The Bronx.

- [Lembeck] What's the
name of the old tailor?

- [Herman] Pracz.

- Tell him to put in a
phone and send the bill--

- No, no, no, you can't do that.

- [Lembeck] Why?

- You can't install one
without his consent.

- Why should he care?

- The ringing frightens him.

It reminds him of Auschwitz.

- There are other refugees
and they have telephones.

- Well, I--

- It'll be good for him.

Put it in your room.

In case he gets sick,
he could call a doctor,

maybe get help.

Lunatics, crazy people.

That's why Hitlers rise up.

Look, I wanted us to be friends

but there's something about you

that makes it very difficult.

I could help you a great deal
but you close up like a clam.

- Maybe.

Maybe I am no longer a
part of this world.

- Cliches, empty words.

I know hundreds of
concentration camp survivors.

Some of them practically
on the way to the oven

but they're doing fine.

They drive cars, they do
business
and they have telephones.

- Maybe that's my problem.

I was hiding in a barn.

- Look, I don't wanna
force my friendship on you.

But I'm calling today and
having them install a telephone.

- Snow cones, get
your snow cones!

Five-cent snow cones!

Snow cones, get your snow cones!

Five-cent snow cones!

Snow cones!

(people chattering)

(woman coughing)

- My mother.

- Oh, Herman, Herman.

You know,

I've got in the habit
of sitting down

and falling right off to sleep.

Did I sleep long?

- She walks around the
house as quiet as a mouse.

There are real mice here.

I can't tell the
difference anymore.

- You're starting again.

What is burning?

Masha, I smell
something is burning.

- [Masha] Nothing is burning,
Mama.

She blames me for
everything that happens.

- Right, the whole world is sane

and it's only your
mother that's crazy.

- [Masha] Don't put
words in my mouth, Mama.

- You listen to how
she's carrying on?

She always has to say
something contrary.

She's just like her father.

May he rest in peace
in the Garden of Eden.

(coughing)

- Masha.

Masha!

- Water.

It's her fault, you
know, it's all her fault.

She wouldn't let me die.

I thought she was dead too,
and then one day, she finds me.

The next day, she's
already talking back to me.

Then she marries this
man, this Leon Tortshiner.

Is that a charlatan!

You know, my daughter,

she can read the most
difficult books.

When it comes to people,

she doesn't know her
hands from her feet.

Now look, she's left sitting
here, a deserted wife.

- If I want to get married,
I won't wait for a divorce.

- Oh, what is happening
with that stove?

Masha, I smell there's
something burning here!

Look at this, oh, my god!

There isn't a drop of
water left in this pot!

- If God could allow the
Jews of Europe to be killed,

what reason is there to believe

he would prevent the
extermination of Jews in
America?

God doesn't care.

Right, Herman?

- Who knows?

- Will you leave Herman alone?

First, you burn the meat

and now, you're bothering
and pestering him

with these questions.

- Maybe suffering is an
attribute of God.

- Mama baked some cookies.

I'll bring you some.

- No, first, he has to
eat the compote.

- What's the
difference what he--

- Stop it, stop fighting, what--

- It all gets mixed up
in the stomach anyway.

- Will you two stop quarreling?

If you two can't live
together peacefully,

how can there ever be
peace on the Earth?

The last two people on Earth,
they would kill each other.

- How can you understand God?

- You shouldn't argue
with her so much.

- She infuriates me.

She's more devoted to material
things than any atheist.

First, she tells me to
marry Leon Tortshiner,

because he brings her
little cakes.

Later, she finds fault with him.

God knows why.

What difference was it to
me who I marry?

After all I'd been through,
why would it matter?

Speaking of marriage, how
is your little peasant?

Did you tell her you were on
a book-selling trip again?

- Tonight, I'm in Philadelphia.

- [Masha] And what happens
if she finds out about us?

- She'll never find
out about us.

- There's always the
possibility.

- She will never separate us.

- If you can spend so much
time with an illiterate goose,

perhaps, you don't need
anything better.

And what sense is there
in doing the dirty work

for that swindler of a rabbi?

At least become a rabbi.

Swindle in your own name.

- I can't do that.

- Here's the compote,
it's delicious.

- Thanks.

The truth is you're still
hiding in that hayloft.

- Yep.

That's the truth.

This is very good.

This is very good.

(train rumbling)

(moaning)

(panting)

- [Masha] I don't
believe your peasant

is really as cold as
you say she is.

- Well, don't believe it.

- What about your first wife?

Did you love her?

- Tamara is dead.

- Suppose I were to die

or commit suicide,

how long would you remember me?

How long would you wait
before finding another?

Just this once,

be honest.

- How long would you wait?

- I would never have
anyone again.

- Is that the truth?

- Yes, you devil.

The whole truth.

(mellow music)

(laughing)

Suppose that there were
no men left on the Earth,

would you do it with a woman?

- Sure, why not?

Would you do it with a man?

- No, absolutely not.

- Why?

- Out of the question.

Out of the question.

- Why?
- You know why?

- No.
- You know why?

- [Masha] No.

- Because then, I wouldn't
find my other half.

(laughing)

But an animal.

(laughing)

You get me a nice
sheep or a goat.

That's another story, you know.

(Masha laughing)

You ever do it with a guard?

- Never.

Not that they
weren't interested.

Of course, there was this
lieutenant at Dachau.

No, never.

Never, never.

It's time to go to work, Herman.

- Before work comes pleasure.

- I have to go.

I have to go.

(laughing)

(Yadwiga humming)

- Yadzia.

Let's take a holiday.

(lively music)

(crowd applauding)

(people chattering)

(speaking in foreign language)

One pink one.

- [Man] All right, we
got a balloon going up.

- Hit the hole, hit the hole!

- Who's gonna get it faster?

Gonna pop it to have a winner,
the winner.

- [Herman] Hit the hole,
hit the hole!

(pops)

(yelling)

- I won, I won!

- We have a winner!

We have a winner!

- I won!
- Mister, you have a winner!

- All right, we got a winner!

(screaming)

(lively music)

(laughing)
(yelling)

(people chattering)

- [Man] Step right up,
it's only dime.

And let her.

- I'm so happy.

So lucky.

God himself has sent you to me.

(siren blaring)

(people screaming)

Herman, please.

I want to become a Jew.

I want to have your child.

(seal grunting)

(laughing)

- They drag animals here
from all over the world

and put them in cages.

- My cage was not
this comfortable.

- Yeah.

I have to call Yadwiga.

- Call her.

- Don't be angry.

- Call her, but if you love me,

you'll take me to the
Catskills for my vacation,

just like you promised.

- I promise.

I must stay here in
Baltimore another day.

(animal roaring)

In a bookstore.

I'm in a bookstore.

(animals grunting)

What?

It's a jungle book store.

That's right, no.

Oh, sure, there are
jungles in Baltimore.

(roaring)

I know that, sweetheart, I know.

I miss you too.

(roaring)

Listen, I will call
you tomorrow.

I promise you.

That's right, bye-bye, muah.

Say hello to the birds for me.

Yeah, bye-bye.

- Yadzia.

Come home with me and
I'll show you something

your Yadzia would blush at.

(roaring)

(roaring)

Would you still want me
if we both died young?

- Oh, Masha.

- And were buried in the
same plot and I came to you,

in your grave?

Would you still want me?

Always.

Always, Masha.

(groaning)

- Herman?

Herman?

Herman, wake up.

Herman, Masha says she's
gonna meet you

in the cafeteria at 12 o'clock.

And they're looking for
you in the newspaper.

See?

Nowadays, when someone is
looked for in the newspaper,

it's no small matter.

(lively music)

(people chattering)

(people chattering)

(people chattering)

(baby crying)

(knocking on door)

- Come in, Mr. Broder.

- A miracle from heaven,
Broder, a miracle.

Call her in.

(melancholic music)

Your wife has returned.

- Hello, Herman.

- I didn't know that
you were alive.

- That's something
you never knew.

- Our children?

- Dead.

- Sit down.

They told me that you
were killed by a,

a firing squad.
- They shot

two bullets into me.

One is still here in my body.

- It's as if you've risen
from the dead.

- We were dumped in an
open pit, hundreds of us.

They thought we were all dead.

But I crawled over some
corpses and escaped at night.

It was raining or the
Nazis would have seen me.

Then I fled to Russia.

I lived in the woods, for years.

How was it my uncle didn't
know where you were?

We had to put an
advertisement in the paper.

- I don't have my own apartment.

I live with someone else.

- What do you do?

Where do you live?

- I didn't know that
you were alive.

I think--

- Who's the lucky woman who
has taken my place, Herman?

- She isn't Jewish.

She's the daughter of the Pole

in whose house I lived
during the war.

- A peasant?

Who is she?

- She was our servant.

You knew her.

Yadwiga.

- Yadwiga?

You married her?

(chuckling)

Forgive me.

Wasn't she a little
simple-minded?

I remember she didn't know
how to put on a pair of shoes.

Your brother used to tell me

how she used to put the
left shoe on the right foot.

- Tamara.

She saved my life.

- Was there no better
way to repay her?

Sorry, I shouldn't ask.

Do you have any children by her?

- Children?

No.

- Well, it wouldn't shock
me if you did.

I assumed you crawled
into bed with her

even when you were with me.

- That's nonsense.

I never crawled into bed
with her with anyone.

- Oh, really?
- No.

- Well, we never really
did have a marriage.

All we did was argue.

- What was I supposed to do?

One minute, you were
a Trotskyite,

the next minute, you were--

- You never had any respect
for me, for my ideas!

- That's not true, that's
not true, you know that.

- Why don't you have any
children by her?

Why are you looking at
me like that?

You married her.

- Maybe 'cause for one
minute there, I thought,

I said, well, maybe you
have changed.

But I see you haven't changed,
you're still the same.

- No.

- Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
- No, I'm not the same.

No, I'm not the same.

I'm dead.

They put nylon stockings on me,

they dyed my hair, they
polished my fingernails.

God help me.

But I'm dead.

So I bear no grudges
against anyone,

nor am I dependent on anyone.

- No, but with--

- I just hope you're not
playing the same tricks

on your wife--
- I am not--

- That you played on me.

- I don't know where
you're living, Broder,

but you may stay with us.

- Uncle, he has another wife.

- There was an eyewitness
who said that,

they testified that she--

- You don't have to run away,
Herman.

I'm not going to trap you
into anything.

- That's what we read in
the newspapers.

- Yeah.

- Why didn't you tell us?

- Well, I didn't want to
trouble you, that's all.

- All right, so it's
not so terrible.

You didn't know she was alive

so you weren't living
illegally with a woman.

And I'm sure that you
will, as soon as possible--

- I'll do whatever--

- What do you want to do,
Herman?

You want to divorce me?

- No, no, no.

- Oh, what should I do?

Move in with your new wife?

- No.

Look.

I don't know.

Look, I have to run.

I'm sorry, I would like to stay

but I have a pressing
business engagement down.

I'm late.

I'm writing a book for a rabbi.

I think you would be
interested in it.

It's very
complicated and it's...

But I have to go now.

You'll have to excuse me.

I'm sure, what I'll do is
I will call you.

I will be in touch with you.

- Why did he get into
the bathroom?

- You were with a relative, huh?

- [Herman] I didn't
even know he was alive.

- [Masha] What's his name?

- Feivl, Feivl Lemberger.

A Talmudic scholar in
his sixties.

- You think I'm an idiot?

I know who it is.

It's that old girlfriend
of yours, Eva Krakover.

She's been after you

since Warsaw.
- Masha, Masha, Masha.

- Masha, great game.

- Thanks, Benny.

Two teas, Bernie.

It is Eva, she missed
you so badly,

she put a notice in
the personals.

You were so afraid I'd
see the name and number,

you tore it out of my
mother's paper.

- How do you know that?

- My mother called me,
that's how I know.

But I got another one.

I'm going to call right now

to find out the truth.
- You want the truth?

You want the truth?
- Yes!

- You go ahead, call.

I will give you the nickel,
you call.

I'm bored to death with
your ugly accusations.

All the time, it's
the same thing.

- Don't let her push you around.

- I'll call when I feel like it.

- If you have no faith in me,

then the whole
relationship is senseless.

- It's senseless, all right.

- [Man] That's right.

Go on, you tell him.

- You have your shiksa
and you have me

but some bitch from
Europe shows up

and you leave to run
off to meet her.

A whore like that
probably has syphilis too.

- That is not true!

I haven't seen Eva in years!

- I don't know why--
- You know that!

- I stayed with you.

You're a pathological liar
and a bastard besides!

- Russians, they're hot-blooded.

- [Man] Mia, Mia, we go,
we go home.

(people chattering)

- Masha, Masha.

Tamara, my dead wife,
risen from the grave.

Polished her nails,
come to New York.

That's the truth.

- You know, Herman,
compared to you,

Leon Tortshiner was
an honest man.

And after all this, I was
gonna tell you,

I can take my vacation now.

- Starting when?

- We can leave Sunday morning.

Oh, boy, listen.

I don't know, I don't know,
Masha.

This is not a good time for me.

It's a very bad time.
- You did it deliberately.

- I have a couple of
dollars, few pennies--

- All year you promised to
take me to the country--

- It's still a promise.

I will--
- And at the last minute,

you change your mind!

- What are you hitting me for?

What did I do?
- I'll go myself.

I don't need you.

I'll pack a suitcase and go
wherever my eyes lead me.

- Don't threaten me.

I will take you to the country,
Masha.

- [Man] All right, now.

(train wheels screeching)

(melancholic music)

(lively swing music)

♪ A certain maid I know
is so afraid her beau ♪

♪ Will never ask her,
will she name the day ♪

♪ He calls on her each night ♪

♪ And when she dims the light ♪

♪ It's 10 to one that
you will hear her say ♪

♪ Oh, Joseph, Joseph ♪

♪ Won't you make your mind up ♪

(lively trumpet music)

♪ Oh, Joseph ♪

♪ Make your mind up ♪

♪ It's time I knew just
how I stand with you ♪

- [Tamara] My uncle keeps
nagging me to come to a
decision.

He says you should
divorce the other one.

If not, you should divorce me.

- I can't get a Jewish
divorce from Yadwiga.

We weren't married
under Jewish law.

- Are you at least
faithful to her

or do you have six others?

(mumbling)

- Tamara, you know.

- You might as well tell
me everything.

It's pointless to hide now.

- Yeah, yeah, I have a mistress.

- I thought so.

What can you talk about
with Yadwiga?

Who is she?

- She's from over there,
from the camps.

- 20 cents grapes, please.

Well, I see nothing has
changed with you.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Thank you.

- This sweetheart of yours,

does she accept this
arrangement?

- She has no choice.

Her husband won't divorce
her, she's in love with me.

- Are you in love with her?

- I can't live without her.

- Well, well, well.

To hear such words from you.

Is she beautiful?

Intelligent?

Charming?

- All three.

- How do you manage it?

Do you rush from one
to the other?

- I do the the best I can.

It's not so easy.

- What sort of person is
your mistress?

- [Herman] A little crazy,
but tremendously interesting.

- Children?

- [Herman] No, and she
doesn't want any.

- You're lying, Herman.

If a woman loves a man, she
wants to have his child.

She wants to be his wife too,

and not have him run
off with another woman.

Does she know about me?

- She read the notice
in the paper.

She could call here at any time.

- What shall I say if she calls?

That I'm your sister?

- I told her that
you were alive.

She didn't believe me.

Then I told her a cousin
of mine showed up.

A man called Feivl Lemberger.

- Shall I tell her that
I am Feivl Lemberger?

(moaning)

Go, go have Sabbath
with your wife.

(laughing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

- Good shabbes.

- Good shabbes.

- Was good?

- It was good.

- Herman!

You're breaking God's
commandment.

- There is no God, do you hear?

And if there were, I
would defy him.

(speaking in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

(speaking in foreign language)

Besides, if there were a God,

he wouldn't care about lighting
the lights on the Sabbath.

(mellow music)

Yadzia, tomorrow, I must
go to Pittsburgh.

It's a long trip.

(lively music)

- Have you slept with her yet?

- Who?

- Feivl Lemberger.

(sighs)

- Not yet.

- Who is she?

You might as well tell
me the truth.

- I told you, I told you,
I told you the truth.

Tamara's alive, she's here.

- Tamara is dead and
rotting in the earth.

Feivl is one of your
sweethearts.

- I swear on the bones
of my parents.

It isn't my sweetheart.

- Then tell me who she is.

- I told you.

- Who is she?

- It's a relative of mine, huh?

A broken woman who has
lost her children.

- Then why did you say
Feivl Lemberger?

- Why?

Why did I say Feivl?

Because I know you, that's why.

I know how suspicious you are.

If I mention, if I just
mentioned a woman,

let me ask you a question.

Do you really think that Reb
Abraham Nissen Yaroslaver,

I would put a notice in the
paper for a sweetheart of mine?

They're pious people.

Masha, I've had it up to here.

You don't believe me,
you call them yourself.

You find out for yourself
when we get there.

- Well, maybe this time,
you're innocent.

- Ah, maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, no, no, no, not so
easy to make up.

- You'll never believe
what I've been through

these last few days.

- You little idiot, you.

I love you, you know.

(mellow jazz music)

(birds chirping)

- Where are the Nazis?

What kind of world is
this without Nazis?

A backward country,
this America.

♪ It's very clear ♪

♪ Our love is here to stay ♪

♪ Not for a year ♪

♪ Forever and a day ♪

♪ And the radio ♪
♪ And the radio ♪

♪ And the telephone ♪

♪ And the telephone ♪

♪ And the movies that we know ♪
♪ And the movies that we know ♪

♪ May just be passing fancies ♪
♪ May just be passing fancies ♪

♪ And in ♪

That lady can sing, huh?
♪ And in time may go ♪

♪ Time may go ♪

♪ But, oh, my dear ♪
♪ Oh, my dear ♪

♪ Our love is here to stay ♪

♪ Together we're ♪

- Come on, Yeshiva boy,
let's see what you can do.

♪ Going a long long ♪

♪ Together we're ♪

♪ Going a long, long way ♪
♪ The Rockies may tumble ♪

♪ Gibraltar may tumble ♪

♪ In time, the Rockies
may crumble ♪

♪ Gibraltar may tumble ♪

♪ But our love is here to stay ♪

♪ But our love is here ♪

♪ To stay ♪

(Masha humming)

- Yadzia, I'm in Pittsburgh.

No, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

That's right, that's right.

No, no, I'm working as
fast as I can.

No, I promise not to stay
away too long.

- You miss her.

You can hardly wait to
go back with her again.

- She's all alone.

She's helpless.

- What about me?

This is my vacation.

- [Herman] Of course, of course.

- We're here one night

and you go running to the
phone to call your peasant.

You lied to her, and you
will lie to me.

I don't ever want to see
you again, ever!

(thuds)

(man on P.A. speaking faintly)

(crickets chirping)

(soldiers speaking in
foreign language)

(dogs barking)

- No, no!

No!

(woman speaking in
foreign language)

(sobbing)
(somber music)

This is not the way.

(laughing)

- What is the way?

Where was I five years
ago this time?

Still among the dead.

(lively music)

- Okay, what we're
doing here is the rumba.

We're doing the box step.

Everybody follow me.

And left and back.

It's left, front and side.

And back and one and
two and back and three.

- [Woman] Come on.

(yells)

- [Rumba Instructor]
Everybody dance,

everybody do the rumba.

That's it, left and
right and left.

Some energy up there.
- Down slow, now back up.

- [Rumba Instructor] Yes,
that's great.

That's terrific.
- Up, down one more time.

Down, good.

Come, make sure that
you're sweaty on the floor.

Pick it up and down.

(children yelling)

- Oh, yeah, tell me.

Did you see "A Double Life"?

- Yes.

- Oh, what an actor that
Ronald Colman is.

Such a voice, such a fine nose.

- Give me John Garfield.

Now there's an actor.

Not to mention he's Jewish.

- I heard that Ronald
Colman's also Jewish.

- Oh.

- I had a relative named Broder.

A third cousin from Lemberg.

- Go to the bungalow.
- Or was it Tarnow?

- [Man On P.A.] Lunch is served

in five minutes.
- I think it was Drohobych.

- [Man On P.A.] Today,
we have the blanca--

- Lunch, excuse me.
- Oh, lunch, lunch.

- [Man On P.A.] Please, no
bathing suits in the dining
room.

I repeat, please, no bathing
suits in the dining room.

- Herman, what are
you doing here?

- What am I doing here?

What are you doing here?

I'm coming here always.

I always come here.

- Ah.
- To write, I'm writing here.

- Ah, must be a good
place for that.

This is our second visit here.

- Excellent kosher food.

- Why don't you join
us for lunch?

- [Herman] Oh, no, I--

- It's the boiled beef today.

- No, that wouldn't be
possible, I'm sorry.

- Is your wife here?

- Oh, that?

That.

Oh, of course not.

What would she be doing here?

I'm coming here, I come
here to work.

Work, work, work.

You know, deadlines.

I don't have to tell you.

You know about...

Dinner, maybe we'll have
dinner together.

If you'll be here,
we'll have dinner.

- I'm sure it was Drohobych.

- It could be.

- He will never come for dinner.

- [Man On P.A.]
Philip Bronstein,

your mother wants you in
the bungalow now.

Anybody who lost a set
of keys on the beach,

they're in the office.

The keys are in the office.

- [Woman] You're just
telling me now?

- [Man On P.A.] Sadie Reuben
is looking for a canasta party.

Anybody interested, contact
her at bungalow number 17.

Whoever took the
paddles for ping-pong

and didn't return them,

please do so to the
office immediately.

Remember, folks, tonight
at 8:30 in the casino--

- Excuse me.
- We'll have dancing

to the Mitch Felson Trio.

- It's a good day today.
- Such an honor to see you.

- Masha.

- [Masha] Herman, what
are you doing?

I'm so hungry.

- Let's go for a ride.

- [Masha] They're having
the boiled beef today.

- Yeah, I heard.

I'm not hungry, come on.

- [Masha] I'm starving.

- It should be cooler
on the lake.

- Come in, come in.

Get in, get in.

Come, come.

Get in, get in, get
into the boat, come on.

Row, row, row, Masha, row.

Masha, row, row, row.

Row the boat, row!

- [Man On P.A.] You got
a long-distance call

from your husband.

Make it to the office, please.

(mellow music)

- It's been seven weeks
since I've had my visitor.

I'm never late.

- You'll go, you'll
see a doctor.

- They can't tell so soon.

I'll wait another week.

An abortion in
America costs $500.

And it's dangerous too.

A woman in the cafeteria

got blood poisoning and
that was the end of her.

What an ugly way to die.

And what would my mother do
if anything happened to me?

I'm sure you would
let her starve.

- Masha, Masha.

Don't get melodramatic.

You don't even know if
you're pregnant yet.

- Herman?

- [Herman] Hm?

- I'm afraid of an operation.

Herman?

- [Herman] Don't worry,
it'll be all right.

- Perhaps Leon will divorce me.

I'll speak frankly to him.

If he won't divorce me, the
child will bear his name.

- [Herman] I can't
divorce Yadwiga.

- You can't?

When the king of England wanted
to marry the woman he loved,

he gave up his throne,

and you can't get rid of a
stupid peasant?

- You know a divorce
would kill Yadwiga.

- I know nothing of the sort.

You married her in a
civil ceremony.

- Oh, Masha.

- Marry me in a Jewish ceremony.

- Oh, I can't.

- I don't need their
gentile papers.

- Oh, Masha.

I can't, I can't do that.

- Why?

- Why?

Why?

It would be bigamy, that's why.

It would be worse, it
would be polygamy.

- [Masha] No one will ever know.

- Ah!

- [Masha] As long as there's
no marriage certificate,

no one can prove that
we're man and wife.

- [Herman] That is
not the point.

- Let me finish.

If you won't agree, you
can leave this minute.

I'll find a doctor who
will perform the operation.

But don't you ever show
your face to me again.

- [Herman] Oy, Masha, Masha.

- I'll give you one
minute to answer.

- You're asking me--
- One minute.

- You're asking me to
break the law.

I would be afraid of every
policeman in this city.

- You're afraid anyhow.
- That's right, that's right.

- Answer me!
- I told you, yes!

Yes!

Yes!

But our baby would be a
bastard anyway

according to the Jewish law.

It was conceived
before the divorce.

- Jewish law and all
the other laws

mean as much to me as
last year's frost.

I'm only doing it for my mother.

I've wanted your child
since the day we met.

(humming)

(knocking on door)

(humming)

- [Tamara] Herman.

- I'm marrying again.

- A third wife?

Who?

- Masha.

- [Tamara] I thought she
already had a husband.

- She's divorcing him.

She's pregnant.

- Well, congratulations.

You're going to be a
father again.

- I'm going crazy,
that's the truth.

- Were you always like
this or did the war do it?

I can't remember what kind
of person you used to be.

(lively music)

I can't believe you've come to
me under these circumstances.

- Tamara, please.

My head is exploding.

- Come in, I'll get you
something to eat.

You remember my cousin Isaac?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, well, he
married Helen Edela.

They met again in the camp.

- Helen--

- Helen Edela.

- The one that I'm--

- You remember?

- This was this big.

This was big.

Oh, my god.

Where are they now?

- In Tel Aviv.

They hate it.

(laughing)

- Yeah, Tamara.

I don't want to go home, Tamara.

- What do you want to do?

Stay here among the dead?

- I can't face Yadwiga yet.

(mellow music)

- [Tamara] I have a sleeping
pill if you want one.

- If I were lying with
you, then I would sleep.

- Come into my bed.

You won't believe me,

but sometimes, our little
David and Sarah

come to me at night.

They talk till morning.

But when I wake up, I
don't remember anything.

- I believe you.

Tamara, I want to,

I want to ask you something.

Don't be mad at me.

- What?

- During all those,

all those years,

you never had a single man?

- Suppose I did.

- I'm just curious.

You can be perfectly
honest with me.

- Then why are you shaking?

- I'm not shaking.

- Yes.

There was someone.

- Yeah?

- In Russia, everything
happened there.

- So, who was it?

- A man, not a woman.

- One, several of them?

Look, you told me this much.

You might as well tell
me everything.

- Three.

- [Herman] Three?

Three men?

- I didn't know you were alive.

I assumed if you were, you'd
be doing the same thing as me.

- Well, then you're a whore.

- Didn't I tell you?

(breathing heavily)

(Tamara sobbing)

Herman?

- [Herman] What?

- [Tamara] Herman, wake up.

Herman?

- [Herman] Mm.

- There was no one.

Not one man.

Not three men.

Not even half a man.

- You're lying.

- No.

Over there, women gave
themselves
to men they hardly knew.

But whenever someone
tried to get close to me,

I always saw the faces of
our children before me!

Oh, God.

Oh, God!

Oh, God, Herman!

Oh, God!

(sobbing)

- I bake special New
Year challah.

I make carp's head like
I'm supposed to.

Then he calls and says he
cannot be there,

he must sell,
"Encyclopedia Britannica".

What is "Encyclopedia
Britannica"?

And now, he says he must
go to Indiana.

What is Indiana?

- What is Indiana?

What is alimony is what
you should be asking.

- [Woman] You need a lawyer.

- Yadwiga.

(cantor singing in
foreign language)

- I have tickets for us.

I paid $10 for these tickets.

Please, Herman.

It's important for me.

Our neighbors will be there.

Everyone will see us, please.

- I will not go to
synagogue once a year

like these assimilated
hypocrites
who call themselves Jews!

- The neighbors say you
have mistress!

(slaps)

Herman, you've hit me
on Yom Kippur?

The holiest day of the year?

I saved your life.

I took the last bite
of food out of my mouth

and gave it to you in
the hayloft.

I carry out your shit.

(sobbing)

- I'm sorry, Yadzia,
Yadzia, Yadzia, Yadzia.

Forgive me.

You go.

You go to the synagogue.

You go.

You pray for me, ja?

Go.

(Yadwiga sobbing)

(somber music)

(cantor singing in
foreign language)

Hello, children.

(sobbing)

(people chattering)

Tortshiner?

- Broder?

Come in, please.

I have every reason to
be your enemy, Broder.

But I tell you right off,
I'm here for your sake.

Have some cheesecake.

- No, thank you.

- You can afford it.

I have to watch my weight.

So I take the compote.

Huh, some tea?

- Yeah, I take tea.

- Two teas, please.

- [Man] Okay, right away.

- Masha tells me that you
are something of a writer.

But I am a scientist

and I believe, before one acts,
one must have all the facts.

- Oh, yeah?

So what are the facts, Mr.
Tortshiner?

- The facts are that your Masha
bought her divorce from me

at a price no honest
woman would pay

even if her life depended on it.

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

This is on me.

Normally, I would have no reason
to take an interest in you.

But I happened to strike
up an acquaintance

with your employer.

Thank you.

Rabbi Lembeck.

He told me you suffered a
great deal during the war, huh?

- What price did she pay, Mr.
Tortshiner?

- Drink your tea.

It's getting cold.

Did you know your Masha
was the lover

of a Red Army deserter who
smuggled gold from Bessarabia?

I won't deny it.

I am still in love with her.

She drives men crazy.

Anyway, things went bad for us

and we had been apart
for almost two years.

When she calls and says
she wants to see me,

so she comes over
all dressed up.

Fit to kill, as they say.

I had already heard
all about you

but she told me the whole story

as if it happened
only yesterday.

How she had fallen in love,
she had gotten pregnant,

she wants a divorce,
blah blah blah.

She sat down in front of
me and crossed her legs

like an actress posing
for a photograph.

"Huh?" I said to her,

"You behaved like a prostitute
when you were with me,

"now, pay the price."

She hardly protested.

"We are still man and
wife," she said. (scoffs)

I guess it's permitted.

To this day, I don't
know why I did it.

Vanity, perhaps.

Anyway, I met Rabbi Lembeck,
he told me all about you,

and I realized she had caught
you in her net as she had me.

Perhaps she's attracted
to intellectuals.

(glass slams)

- I won't marry her.

- I can't say I blame you.

You can't tell with Masha.
(scoffs)

She's just the type to
have a bastard

and then where would you be?

- Thank you very much, Mr.
Tortshiner.

- Broder!

Broder!

Broder, one last thing.

Every female sits in her own net

like a spider waiting for a fly.

If you don't run away,

they'll suck the last
drop of life out of you.

- Thank you, again.

- And these are the duties

that the wife performs
for the husband.

(phone ringing)

She grinds, bakes, washes,
cooks,

nurses the child, makes
the bed and spins wool.

Rabbi Eliezer says,
"Even if she brought him

"a house full of servants,

"he should force her to
spin wool because idleness,

"it leads to insanity."

- Why don't you answer
the telephone?

- I will never answer the
phone again on a holiday.

And if you want to
become Jewish,

you don't iron on
Shemini Atzeret!

This is a holiday!

- You write on the Shabbat,
not I.

- Well, I won't be writing
on the Sabbath anymore.

If you don't want to
become like the Nazis,

then we must be Jews.

- When will I become Jewish?

- I'll talk to the rabbi.

We're gonna teach you
the prayers.

- Will we have a child?

- If God wills it,
we'll have one.

(mumbling in foreign language)

(phone ringing)

Hello?

- Are you still alive?

What's happened to you?

- What happened to me is
that I found out

you are a despicable creature.

That's what happened to me,
you slut.

I curse the day that I met you.

- My God, what have I done?

- What, you've paid for your
divorce with prostitution.

- Who told you this?

Leon?

- Yeah, he spoke the truth.

- The truth is he asked me.

I spat in his face.

If I'm lying, may I not live
to wake up in the morning.

May I never have rest
in my grave.

Bring us face to face!

- You had a lover
here in America?

- If I had a lover here in
America, may I get cancer.

If Leon made it up, may
the curse fall on him.

If he's telling the truth,

may the child in my womb die.

- Stop it, stop that, stop it.

Stop it, you're swearing
like a fishwife.

- I don't want to live anymore.

(Masha sobbing)

(cantor singing in
foreign language)

(people chattering)

- Herman!

I'm pregnant!

- That's wonderful.

(women cheering)

(woman speaking in
foreign language)

- [Woman] I'm so happy for you,
mazel tov.

- Mazel tov!

- [Herman] Thank you,
I'm a very lucky man.

♪ Talk about the moon ♪

♪ Floating in the sky ♪

♪ Looking like a
lily on a lake ♪

♪ Talk about the bird ♪
♪ Talk about the bird ♪

♪ Learning how to fly ♪

♪ Learning how to fly ♪

♪ Making ♪

What's the matter with you?

Either you're with your
peasant or you're working.

We're married now, remember?

- Ooh, ooh!

- And soon we'll have a child.

Mm-mm.

Come on, Yeshiva boy.

Let's show your
mother-in-law how we dance.

- I am not his mother-in-law!

He's not my son-in-law!

This is all craziness!

- Why do you do this to me?

Why do I have to live with you?

It's your fault we have
to legalize our love

with this bourgeois institution.

- Shut up, shut up
the both of you.

The Talmud is such a great book.

How come it doesn't explain

what a man should do
with two wives?

(somber music)

(phone ringing)

- Yeah, hello?

- Herman, come quick, please,
come!

- What, what?

Talk to me.

- [Masha's Mother] Herman,
Masha's sick.

Come quick.

- Who just phoned?

Your mistress?

- [Herman] Leave me alone.

- Your breakfast is ready.

Your breakfast is getting cold!

- I can't have breakfast,
I have to go.

- Where, to your mistress?

- Yes, to my mistress!

To my mistress, yes!

- You made me pregnant, and
you go running to a whore?

You're not selling books liar!

- You go back into the kitchen

or I'll throw you out of here.

- You have a lover, you
have a mistress!

You spend nights with her!

- Yeah, yeah.

- You dog, you liar!

There is no jungle in Baltimore!

You hear it?

There is no jungle in
the stupid Baltimore!

(speaking in foreign language)

(train rumbling)

(knocking on door)

- [Masha's Mother] Herman.

- [Herman] She's okay?

- Her husband?

- Yes.

- Mr. Broder, who told you
your wife was pregnant?

Did the doctor examine her?

- I don't know.

- In this country when
a woman is pregnant,

she's under the continual
care of a doctor.

Your wife had a hemorrhage,
but there was no baby.

The whole pregnancy was up here.

- I thought she was in
her sixth month!

And then suddenly,
suddenly she's screaming.

She's having cramps

and then there's blood
gushing everywhere.

- She's okay?

- Oh, my life.

- She'll sleep, at least
until tonight,

and I'll drop by
tomorrow morning.

On my way to the hospital.

She's perfectly normal inside.

You'll be a grandmother a
year from now.

I won't live that long.

I wanted so much to
have a grandchild.

If only somebody to name
for the murdered Jews.

Go in.

Go in a moment, go in.

- Yeah, you okay?
- I am all right.

- [Herman] I go see Masha.

- Yeah, go see Masha.

(melancholic music)

- How do you feel?

- I have no feelings left.

- Masha, Masha.

(vocalizing)

- The stew is finished.

- So am I.

Financially, physically,
spiritually.

- I made your favorite,
barley stew.

Come and eat.

(knocking on door)

(howling)

- [Herman] What happened?

- [Yadwiga] Oh, God!

- [Herman] What?

- God!
- What's that?

Yadwiga, what is--
- Don't go, it's a ghost!

A ghost!

- What is, what's that?

(Yadwiga screaming)

- I didn't think she
would recognize me.

(screaming)

- Yadzia, Yadzia!

Stop shaking, stop shaking!

Foolish peasant, she's alive,
she's alive!

- Calm down, Yadwiga,
I'm not dead.

I haven't come to haunt you.

- What's wrong with you?

What's wrong with you?

You could frighten her to death!

- I thought I was so changed,
my own mother wouldn't know.

- Then you could phone, yeah?

You could phone!

Okay, here it is.

Sit down.
- Oh, God!

- Sit, sit, sit.
- What will happen now?

(screaming)

- What do you do this for?

What do you do with her?

- And I am pregnant! (sobbing)

- Don't think I'm here to
disturb the happy couple.

I learned how to
drink in Russia.

When I have a glassful, I
become a little curious.

After all, we still have
something in common.

Both of you knew me
when I was alive.

(screaming)

- Why do you do this?

Why do you do this to her?

You know she's pregnant.
- I'm not dead, I'm not dead.

- [Herman] Not dead,
she's not dead.

- I'm not alive and
I'm not dead.

The truth is I have no
claim on him.

He probably always loved you.

I'm sure he slept with
you before me.

- Oh, no, I was an
innocent girl.

I came to him a virgin.

- Oh, congratulations.

Men love virgins.

If every man had his way,

every woman would lie down a
prostitute and get up a virgin.

(Yadwiga sobbing)

Well, I see I'm an
uninvited guest.

I better go.

- No, Mistress Tamara.

Forgive me.

God is my witness, if I
had known you were alive,

I would have kept away from him.

Sit down, Mistress Tamara.

I get you tea.

- Don't worry, she
won't divorce you.

If she does, you can
always go to the other one.

If she throws you out
too, you can come to me.

- Yadzia, don't worry.

Nothing's going to happen.

- Calm down, Yadwiga, I
won't come again.

- No, Mistress Tamara.

You stay here.

This is your husband
and your home.

You suffered long enough.

- But I don't want him.

I wouldn't live with him
even if you were to go away.

- Where will you go?

Here, there is a home for you.

I'd be the servant again.

That's God's will.

- No, Yadwiga, you
have a good heart

but I can't accept
such a sacrifice.

A slit throat cannot
be sewn together again.

- Wait, wait, wait.

Don't, don't, don't go.

Look, since Yadwiga knows,
we can all be friends, ja?

No, it's good.

This way, I'll have fewer
lies to tell, that's all.

(knocking at door)

- Oh, oh, no, no, no, no!

No!

(knocking at door)

- Mr. Broder, is your
wife at home?

- She's in the toilet.

- A dear soul.

This is Mr. Pesheles,
from Sea Gate.

I told him you sell books
and you write.

He's very interested in books.

- Look, Mrs. Schreier, I'm
terribly sorry.

This is a very bad time for me.

- It will only take a
few minutes.

Mr. Pesheles is a rich man.

- Oh!

- President of the biggest
home for the aged in New York.

He's on the board of
three hospital--

- Mrs. Schreier, please.

I don't need publicity.

If I need a publicity agent,
I'll hire one. (chuckles)

- Well, come in.

This is a friend of mine.

She's from Europe.

She's just here a few weeks.

- But you're not like a
greenhorn at all.

You look like an American.

And gorgeous!

You know what?

Let's all go down to your place.

I'll send out for some
bagels and lox

and maybe even some cognac.

And then we'll all
have a nice chat.

Now, what kind of books
did you say you wrote?

(phone ringing)

- Would you excuse me, please,
for one second, please.

Hello?

- [Lembeck] Broder?

This is Rabbi Lembeck.

So you do have a phone, huh?
(chuckles)

But not The Bronx, Brooklyn.

Esplanade 2 is somewhere
near Coney Island.

- Yeah, well, my friend moved.

- I'm not as big a fool
as you think I am, Broder.

I know everything,
absolutely everything.

You married some
woman named Masha

and you wouldn't even tell
me so I can congratulate you.

Listen, I'm calling you because
I gotta see you right away.

You made several serious
errors in the Kabbalah article.

It does neither of
us any credit.

If we can make the
corrections immediately,

they'll hold the presses
until tomorrow.

So, give me your address.

- I don't live here, I
live in The Bronx.

- Again with The Bronx.

Where in The Bronx?

Honestly, I can't
figure you out.

Look I will explain
everything to you.

I live here temporarily,
that's all.

- Temporarily?

What's the matter with you?

Maybe you have two wives.

- Two, maybe three.

- Well, whatever the case,
give me your address.

I'll be there in an hour.

And don't be nervous, I
won't steal your wife,

no matter how many you have.

(chuckles)

4470 Jerome Avenue.

- [Man On TV] I'll buy
you another one,

you should live so--

- [Lembeck] Fix it, fix it!

- I'm afraid that I must go now.

- I must go too.

- Oh, hey.

- Yeah.

- Well, it looks as though

you're not going to
accept my invitation.

- No. (chuckles)

- Some other time, perhaps.

- Yeah.

- Come, Mrs. Schreier.

- By the way, I didn't
get your name.

- Tamara.

- Miss or missus?

- Whatever you like.

- Well, Tamara what?

Surely, you have a last name.

- Tamara Broder.

- Broder?

- Also Broder?

- Cousins.

- Small world.

Extraordinary times, huh?

My regards to your wife.

These days, a Polish peasant
who converts to Judaism

is quite a phenomenon.

Good night.

- Good night.

- Don't leave me,
Mistress Tamara.

- I have to go, Yadwiga.

- You are not going!

- The rabbi is waiting.

If I don't go now, if I
don't meet him,

he will fire me, we would
starve to death.

- I'll be back, Yadwiga.

(baby crying)

- It's a lie!

A whore is waiting for him,
not a rabbi!

(somber piano music)

- I'm going to have an
operation tomorrow.

They're going to remove
that bullet from my hip.

- You know, sometimes, in
the middle of the night,

I hear my father talking to me.

"What have you accomplished?"
he asks.

"You make yourself,
everyone else miserable.

"They're ashamed of you
here in heaven."

- Think of me once in a while,
Herman.

- Forgive me.

(car horn honking)

(lively swing music)

(Masha laughing)

(knocking at door)

- [Lembeck] Mazel tov,
bridegroom!

- Don't stand at the door!

It's your home, I'm your wife.

Everything here is yours.

- What a catch, Broder!

Next week, you're
coming to my house.

(laughing)

- [Masha] You sure I
picked the right dress?

- [Herman] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Masha] Maybe I should
have taken the red one.

(Herman groaning)

Do you know, Herman?

The red one looked
very nice too.

- [Herman] It looks fine.

- [Masha] Well, maybe I
made the right choice.

(whistle blowing)

(mellow violin music)
(people chattering)

- Eileen, they've arrived!

Oh.

Is that a beauty?

He nabbed the prettiest
woman in America.

- [Masha] Hello.

- Look at that face.

- My husband's told me so
much about you.

- [Masha] He has?

- I'm really glad that
you came to our party.

Won't you come in?

Come and have some
drinks and hors d'oeuvre

and make yourself at home?

Good, good.

Excuse me, I'll be back soon.

(guests chattering)

- True.

- Oh, could I offer you
an hors d'oeuvre, sir?

Take a napkin.

Excuse me.

- [Woman] Lovely.

- [Man] So I told him.

(guests chattering)

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Man] That's so exciting.

(man speaking in
foreign language)

- Pesheles, Nathan Pesheles.

I came to your
apartment a week ago.

- Oh!

I'm sorry, it's so confusing,
that I--

- I didn't know that
you knew Rabbi Lembeck.

- Oh, yeah.
- But who doesn't?

Where's your wife?

- I've lost her.

She's here somewhere.

- Come, let's find her together.

Mrs. Schreier's told me so
much about her.

A Polish girl that
converts, I'm dying to meet.

- Herman!

This is Yasha Kotik.

You remember, the actor I
told you about

who was with me in the camps.

This is Herman.

- So, you're Masha's husband.

Congratulations.

Tell me, how do you do that?

I was searching for her
through half the world

and you marry her
just like that.

(Masha laughing)

And who is this
debonair gentleman?

- What?

This is Mr. Pesheles.

- I met Mr. Broder in
Coney Island.

- Coney Island?

I played there once.

A whole audience full of
old woman, and all deaf.

I played every spot in the
Yiddish theater

from Miami to the Warsaw Ghetto.

And even a hungry audience
is better than a deaf one.

(laughing)

- And where do you live?

Also Coney Island?

- What's all this talk
about Coney Island?

- Well, I went to visit Mr.
Broder there.

I thought the woman who
converted was his wife.

Turns out, he has a pretty
little one right here.

You refugees certainly
know how to live.

- We Americans are only
allowed one at a time.

And then, guess what.

- It's not what you think.
- Guess what.

I go to the hospital last
week to visit a friend

with a prostate problem and I
meet that other pretty woman

who is also at your house.

She was having a bullet
removed from her hip.

She was probably delirious

but she said she was
also your wife.

What was that name?

Tamara!

That's right, Tamara Broder.

- Tamara?

I thought she was dead.

- I tell you, my dead
wife is living in America.

- You told me she was
old and ugly.

- No, I--

- But that's what all
men tell their wives!

- Well, here we are.

You all know each other.

My friend Mr. Pesheles
knows everyone

and everyone knows him.

Masha, you're the most
beautiful woman at the party.

And my friend Herman here,
hid her.

- [Pesheles] He's hiding
more than one.

- You think so?

With me, he always
played the innocent lamb.

I was beginning to
believe he was a eunuch.

- I wish I was such a eunuch.

- Excuse me, rabbi.

I'll be right back.

- [Lembeck] Where are
you running?

- Herman, once and for all,
how many wives do you have?

- Let go of me.

- How many, three?

- 10, 10, I have to go, I
have to vomit.

Bathroom,

where's the bathroom?
- Down the hall.

Down the hall.

- [Herman] Thank you.

(guests murmuring)

- Whoops, ooh!

- Herman!

This is the last time
I'm going to talk to you.

And I want to tell you,

you're the worst fraud
I've known in my life!

(mellow violin music)

If you hear that I'm dead,
don't come to my funeral.

(guests murmuring)

(wind howling)

(soldiers yelling)

- [Soldier] Down the hall!

(dogs barking)
(woman screaming)

(soldier yelling)

(woman screaming)

(woman screaming in
foreign language)

(people chattering)

- Where are your wives?

- [Herman] They're both
not speaking to me.

- [Waiter] Coffee or tea?

- I am such a mess.

Masha, she knows everything.

Yadwiga's suspicious.

Everything is hopeless.

- Coffee or tea?

We close in a half-hour.

- Get him a glass of tea and
a nice piece of cheesecake.

- No cake, no cake.

I have a stomach ache,
I thought--

- I want to say
something to you,

and don't be angry with me.

You're a lost man, Herman.

One of those people who can't
make decisions for themselves.

Here in America, they have

something what is
called a manager.

- [Herman] Thank you.

- Let me be your manager.

You put yourself
entirely in my hands.

I'll take care of all
of your needs

but you must do exactly
what I ask you to do.

- Why should you do this,
Tamara?

Really, Tamara, this is
just your way

of giving me a few dollars?

- No, I can see things have
become too much for you.

- What do you look like now?

What are you, an angel?

- Who knows what angels are?

(somber music)

But first, you must go
back to Yadwiga.

Then I'll find you a new job.

You can work for my uncle.

(somber music)

That's nice.

- It's good, I mean--

- It's very nice.

- Hello, Matzi.

Hello, Pitzi.

(mellow music)

Sit, sit, sit.

- Happy Passover.

- Here we are, one big,
happy family.

(phone ringing)

Hello?

If you don't speak to
me, I'm going to hang up.

- [Masha] Wait, I'm in
Coney Island.

Beach Hotel.

Room five.

(mellow jazz music)

- Thanks, Kevin.

- Room five, please.

- Down the hall to your right.

- That way?

(knocking on door)

I have missed you so much.

- Rabbi Lembeck has a
convalescent home in Florida.

He offered me a job for a
hundred a week.

- What about your mother?

- The rabbi will take
care of her too.

He'll put her in one of
his homes in New Jersey.

He's crazy about me.

He would have left his wife
for me if I wanted him to

but I couldn't touch him.

If you don't like Florida, he
also has a home in California.

You can work for him too.

He's as good as an
angel from heaven.

- I can't leave Yadwiga.

She's pregnant, she could
go into labor any day.

- And after she gives birth,
you'll have other excuses.

- Oh, Masha.

- I've made up my mind.

Tomorrow, I'm flying
to California

and you will never hear
from me again.

- Please, Masha, no.

- Or have you come
back to Tamara?

- No.

But she's also an angel.

- Introduce her to the rabbi.

Maybe the two angels will
make a new god.

We're both devils.

(mellow music)
(breathing heavily)

(crowd chattering)

- If you go with her, you're
digging your own grave.

- Maybe I would be
better off dead

but I don't have the guts
to kill myself.

- What about Yadwiga?

What about the baby?

God blesses you with a
child, you spit in its face.

- This kind of talk is useless.

I can't live without Masha.

- You want three women

but you always go to the one
who calls you the loudest

and who is sickest!

She's not your lover,
she's your enemy!

- Look, I will send money
for the baby, I promise.

Every month, I send
money for the baby.

I must go.

It's the end for me, Tamara.

- Go on, Herman, go.

I'll take care of things
with the rabbi.

Can I help you?

- Yes, I'm looking for
a nice menorah.

I think I prefer this
one but gimme a second.

(train rumbling)

- They even took the
light bulbs.

- When did it happen?

- This morning, last night,
who knows?

Why wasn't I cremated
like all the other Jews?

- Did you call the police?

(chuckling)

- What can the police do?

They're thieves themselves.

(screaming)

Look at this!

Look at this!

(screaming hysterically)

Well, it's a sign.

It's time to leave.

I told my mother.

I told my mother.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

What did she say?

- The same old words.

I'll be sorry, you would
leave me and all the rest.

Now, we must decide where
we want to go.

California or Florida?

We can go by train or bus.

The bus is cheaper but it
takes you a week

to get to California

and you will get there
more dead than alive.

I think we should--

(woman coughing)

- [Man] Your steps.

- Mother, come.

What happened?

- Call a doctor!

- What happened?

- Passed out in my cab.
- What?

- She passed out in my cab.

- Come, come, come. Come, come.

Okay, she's okay.

Get water.

- [Masha's Mother] Masha,
where's Masha?

- [Herman] Masha!

- She's killed herself,
the bitch!

Just for spite!

- Oh, Masha.
- Mama.

Here, Mama.

- [Herman] Here, here.

Get the doctor, get the doctor!

- Mama, you'll be fine.

I'm here, Mama, okay.

I'm here, Mama.

- [Woman] Oh, my god,
what happened?

- [Man] Okay, let's go.

- All right, let's step
back here, all right?

(engine revving)
(siren wailing)

- [Masha] Stop here, please.

- I bought a bulb.

How's your mother?

- I have no mother.

And I have no money
for a funeral.

Her last words were,
"Where is Herman?"

- Maybe your
mother's better off.

She doesn't have to
make any more decisions.

That's the one advantage
to being dead.

- Herman.

You once promised me
we would die together.

Remember?

Don't you remember?

In September, Labor Day.

When we were in the Catskills.

- Oh, I remember.

- Why don't we do it?

I have enough sleeping
pills for both of us.

- It's a big step.

- I have them in my bag.

All we need

is a glass of water.

- Well, that we have.

That's the one thing
they didn't steal.

- Well?

- Oh, Masha.

Oh, Masha, Masha.

You know, Tamara's right,
I'm a lost man.

I can't decide, I can't
decide between women,

I can't decide on anything, I...

Masha.

Masha.

I feel like...

Yeah, yeah, why not?

Yeah.

Masha?

- Yes, Herman?

- Before we die, I would.

First, I would like to
know the truth.

- About what?

- Have you been faithful to
me since we've been together?

- Have you been faithful to me?

If you tell the truth,
I will too.

Wait.

- I'll tell the truth.

- Wait.
- I will tell the truth.

- I need a cigarette.

Just wait.

Let's hear.

- Once, with Tamara, that's all.

- When?

- After we got back from
the Catskills.

I told you I was going with
the rabbi to Atlantic City.

(laughing)

What, you know?

What?

Masha?

What's so funny?

What?

- What you did with your
wife, I did with my husband.

- Tortshiner?

That cockroach, he
told the truth?

- Mm-hmm, I went to ask for
the divorce and he insisted.

He told me it was the
only way I could get it.

- You swore to me.

You swore to me on a holy oath.

- I swore falsely.

- There isn't any point
in dying now.

Let's go, Masha.

- What are you talking about?

- You promised we'd
kill ourselves.

- You promised you would
tell me the truth, ja?

- Please wait till
after the funeral.

- I'm leaving, Masha.

I'm leaving now, are you coming?

We'll find a hotel somewhere.

- Yes, I'm coming.

I'm coming.

Herman, I can't leave my mother.

I want a grave next to hers.

I don't wanna die
among strangers.

- You'll lie next to me.

- You are a stranger.

Herman, you're afraid.

- Yeah, I'm afraid, yeah.

I'm afraid of God.

Masha, I must go.

I must leave everybody.

- As long as you're
going to leave me,

at least go back to
your peasant.

Don't leave your child.

- [Herman] I have to
leave everyone.

- Good bye, Herman.

- [Herman] I have to go.

- Mm-hmm.

(lips puckering)

- I have.

- Bye, Herman.

Now you go!

- Good bye, Masha.

(somber music)

- Oy!

- Did you get the
diaper service?

- What do you mean, did
I get the diaper service?

Of course I got the
diaper service.

I got the baby carriage.

I got the crib with
red balls on it.

I got the layette,
whatever that is.

Who do you think you're
talking to, a piker?

This is Rabbi Lembeck here.

- [Yadwiga] Mistress Tamara!

- You're gonna be fine,
sweetheart.

- Ow, ow.

Ow, ow.

- I'll be here, Yadwiga,
I'll be here.

- Mistress Tamara!

- Have you heard from Herman?

- No.

- I hope he doesn't do
away with himself

like our poor Masha.

Come.

(people chattering)

(baby cooing)

(baby crying)

(hushing)

- Don't cry, don't cry.

That's my baby, don't cry.

Oh, you're wet.

You're wet.

You're wet.

(baby crying)

- Just a minute!

I know what she wants.

She wants her apricots.

She loves her apricots.

I'm coming!

- She was so wet,
Mistress Tamara!

Ja, we need more diapers.

- I'll order some.

- [Yadwiga] Whoops.

- Yeah.

There, she wants her apricots.

She wants her nice,
delicious apricots.

(lively Klezmer music)

- Yes, oops.

Whoops.

- Masha.

Mashele.

Masha, Masha, Masha.

Mashele.

Masha, Masha.

(lively Klezmer music)