Audrey Rose (1977) Movie Script
(tyres screech)
(musical interlude)
(school bell)
- Ivy!
- Hi, Mom.
Hi, sweetheart. (she laughs)
Oh...
Hey, Mom, two tests again, both in math.
They popped one on us.
Can you believe it?
You're kidding?
No warning at all?
No, they didn't.
Come on, sweetie.
Hello, George.
No, Paris. Well, at least
that's what Jennifer told Peter.
By the way, dear Jill O'Connor
says she's started to... you know what.
- No, what?
- Menstruate.
- She's only nine. Do you believe it?
- No, I think she's a fibber.
- She's a liar.
- I didn't say that.
Girls like Jill just like to fantasise.
Hey.
- How about a Coke?
- I'll have it later.
OK.
Oh, lvy, don't forget
to hang your coat on a chair.
Oh, all right.
(lock turns)
- Open up.
- Bill...
Oh!
- Hey, what is it? You're shaking.
- It's just the weather.
You're home early. Well,
I'll get a glass chilling for your martini.
- Oh, don't mention that word, please.
- Another one of those days?
- Yeah, another one of those lunches.
- Oh...
- I gotta lie down, Janice.
- You've got an hour.
Carole and Russ are coming for dinner.
With their aunt.
- Oh, shit.
- I'm sorry.
No, no.
- Hiya, princess.
- Hi, Daddy.
- I found out.
- What?
Mom...
- Mom likes cameras, right?
- Right.
I was walking with her
past a camera store
and I saw her looking
at this real long lens.
It's so neat.
It's got all these little dinkies on it.
- Little dinkies like that.
- Yeah?
When can we buy it?
- Well, it's an awful long way to Christmas.
- Yeah.
But your birthday's next week.
Have you made up your mind yet?
Yeah, but I'm not gonna tell you.
- All right...
- Surprise me.
(she giggles)
The Hotel des Artistes,
built by artistes for artistes.
What the hell are we doing here?
I don't know about you,
but I have hidden depths.
Mezzo, mezzo.
(she moans)
(she cries out)
Excuse me.
We've got to go, Bill. Come along, Aunt.
Ivy. Ivy.
Ivy. Sweetie.
It's Mommy.
- Oh, Mom, it was awful.
- What was awful?
I don't know.
I can't remember.
Well, it was just a dream.
- Yeah, a dream.
- Mm-hm.
Mom, I don't feel well.
- You don't seem to have a fever.
- Darn.
But I think we'll keep you home
from school tomorrow anyway.
I love you.
Oh, I love you too.
Bill...
Something strange happened today.
There was a man outside school.
Bill?
(Bill) He has reddish-brown hair,
pale blue eyes, he's about 5'8, 5'9.
A beard, rather a full beard. Kind of
a weird, spaced-out look about him.
(man) Well, when did you first notice him?
A couple of weeks ago. I spotted him
on the bus. I was going home.
He looked rather familiar,
like I'd seen him somewhere before.
The next day,
he was in the elevator where I work.
Where's that?
386 Madison Avenue. I'm a partner
in Simmons Templeton Advertising.
- Well, maybe he works there too.
- No.
Now I see him every morning
when I take my daughter to school.
- Has this person ever battered you?
- Battered me?
Has he come into
purposeful bodily contact with you?
Has he hit you? Has he pushed you?
No, nothing like that.
Unless there's evidence of assault and
battery, there's very little we can do here.
What do I do? What? Do I shove him,
push him, provoke him?
Get the son of a bitch to hit me? What
does it take to get you to do something?
Look, Mr Templeton, I'm sorry,
but there's no law that says
that people can't be on the city streets
wherever and whenever they'd like to be.
- I got one.
- OK.
Look, Mom, "slaughter".
- Oh! That's good.
- 13.
(phone rings)
Be right back.
No peeking at my pieces.
Hello?
- Hello?
- (man) Is she all right?
- Bill?
- I didn't see lvy at school this morning.
- Is she all right?
- (phone clicks)
(dead line)
- 89, 90. Ten. Thank you.
- Thank you.
- You've gotta give me another ten.
- What do you mean?
- You gave me a $10 bill.
- I gave you $20.
- You just gave me a ten. Look.
- Mister, I only had a $20 bill in my wallet.
You probably misread the bill.
Can you see the register?
Hey. What's the matter with you?
(goods knocked over)
It's so beautiful.
It's fantastic. I love it.
- Thank you.
- Hey. What?
What's so fantastic? Well, now.
- Where did you find this?
- On top of the worktops, where you put it.
- What's going on?
- Daddy bought me a purse.
I found the package in the groceries
with my name on it.
- Oh, it's gorgeous, Bill.
- Yeah.
It's the first grown-up present
I've ever gotten.
And the colours are just like
the paintings in the ceiling. I love it.
- You didn't buy the purse.
- No.
He did. That man.
- How long have you known about him?
- Oh, my God, Bill. It's lvy he's after.
- Why do you say that?
- Well, the way he looks at her.
And this morning he called just to see
how she was. And now the purse.
Oh, Bill, please, let's call the police.
I went to them already.
Honey, there's nothing they can do
unless he draws blood.
(door buzzer)
- Morning.
- Morning, Mrs Templeton.
It's a clipping from Who's Who.
Hoover, Elliot Suggens. PhD. Metallurgist.
Born London, England. Educated
King's College, University of London,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Wife, Sylvia Flora. Daughter, Audrey Rose.
Vice president, Unified Steel Corporation,
Pittsburgh. Writer. Lecturer.
- Published numerous articles.
- Take it to the police.
It's not enough.
All it is is a couple of facts about his life.
We can't even that prove he sent it.
- Then what are we going to do?
- I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.
Next time I see him, I'll grab him
and find out what it's all about.
- Be very careful.
- Honey, you be careful.
If he bothers you at school today,
just call a cop.
OK.
- Right, take it easy or I'll run you both in.
- (shouting)
The ambulance will be here soon, ma'am.
You'll be all right. I've got your bag.
Come on, keep moving.
Give her some air. Come on.
Oh, my God, lvy! What time is it?
- 3.20.
- I have to go.
- Take it easy.
- I have to go. I have to get my daughter.
(thunderclap)
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy is at home, Mrs Templeton.
I helped her across the street.
She's waiting in the lobby for you.
Here, you dropped your purse
on the sidewalk.
We must talk. I'm certain now. Please.
Who are you? What do you want?
Tell your husband
I'll phone him this evening. Please.
You wait right there, young lady.
You are never, never, to leave school
without me. Do you understand me?
Under no circumstances
are you to go away with strangers.
You sit in that school office, and if you
have to, you just wait and wait and wait.
- Do you understand me, lvy?
- (crying) Mommy, you're hurting me.
- (lvy weeps)
- I'm sorry.
(rings)
- Mr Templeton?
- What is it you want?
- Why are you bothering us?
- My name is Elliot Hoover.
Now, look, I must see you and your wife.
It's very important.
Um... We could meet around the corner
at Severino's Restaurant. It's quiet there.
That's impossible.
We can't leave our child alone.
Well, Carole Rothman might be willing
to sit with lvy for an hour or so, surely?
- Mr Templeton?
- I'll see.
Let's say 9.30.
If that's convenient, of course.
I'll see.
Call the police.
Not until I find out
what the hell this is all about, babe.
(chatter)
Mr Templeton!
Mrs Templeton.
It's very quiet in here.
I... I've reserved a table.
Look, I want to thank you both
very much for seeing me.
Good evening.
Would you like something,
Mrs Templeton?
- Well, not for me, thank you.
- Scotch, Maria.
Ah, yes, I'll have tea.
Do you have any Chinese gunpowder?
I'll see if we have some.
For two weeks a man with a beard has
been bugging my family. Is that man you?
Yes.
I apologise for that.
But all the subterfuge, the disguise,
were absolutely necessary
before this meeting could take place.
- I had to be sure.
- Of what?
Well, things had to be right
before we met.
Let me explain.
It's taken me a very long time,
seven years, in fact,
seven years of travel,
investigation and study,
calling for a total reconditioning
of all my spiritual...
What the hell are you talking about?
I'll try and make things
as clear as I'm able to, Mr Templeton.
But first there are some things that you
must know. Some very complex things.
So I'll begin at the beginning.
11 years ago, I was a very happy man.
I had a family.
A wonderful wife
and a lovely daughter.
My daughter's name was Audrey Rose.
She was five when she died.
Everything that was good seemed
to shine from her eyes, you know?
Anyway, there was
an automobile accident and...
It happened just outside Pittsburgh.
There was a storm
and their car just went off the road.
It was very quick, very sudden.
Thank you.
Naturally, the loss of my wife and
my daughter was quite unbearable.
I don't know how I existed. One day I had
a feeling that Audrey Rose was near me.
We didn't have any Chinese gunpowder,
sir, so I brought you Formosa oolong.
Thank you, Maria.
I still don't understand what you're saying
and why you're saying it to us.
All right.
About a year after the accident,
a friend took me to a dinner party.
One of the guests was a psychic.
A clairvoyant.
She told me everything I had done
since I was a boy,
and then she began
to talk about my daughter, Audrey Rose,
describing her as if she were alive.
I asked her to stop, but she wouldn't.
I remember I began to cry,
because I couldn't help it,
and she leaned over
and she asked me why I was crying.
So I told her that my wife
and my daughter were dead.
But she said no.
No, my wife was at peace,
but my daughter was alive.
I thought it was a poor joke. I couldn't
believe that anybody could be that cruel.
Then a few months later I happened to be
here in New York City on a business trip.
One night I was passing the Town Hall
and I saw advertised on the marquee
outside, "Eric Lloyd, clairvoyant."
Anyway, after the lecture,
or the demonstration, whatever,
I went back and saw Mr Lloyd
in his dressing room
and, like the woman at the party,
he told me very accurate things.
Very accurate things indeed.
Things about my daughter, Audrey Rose.
Again, describing her
as if she were alive,
but this time giving me details
of the home she lived in.
It was an apartment
here in New York City
that had a lovely ceiling
with classic paintings set into it.
And even the room in which she slept,
with the yellow and white curtains.
The matching canopy bed.
The...
The giant panda
and the aquarium in the corner.
She had come back, he said.
Audrey Rose had come back...
(cup clatters, Janice gasps)
I'm terribly sorry.
I'm sorry, Mrs Templeton,
this must be a shock to you.
I can understand what a blow
your daughter's death must've been,
how hard it was for you to accept.
But what you're saying now...
Reincarnation, is that what you're saying?
There's no mistake, Mr Templeton.
The very moment I saw lvy,
I could recognise
all the subtle qualities
that once belonged to Audrey Rose.
Mr Hoover, you can believe what you
want, but please don't involve my family.
- You're wanted on the phone.
- Excuse me.
- Mrs Templeton, can we talk?
- No, excuse me. I have to go see...
All right, we'll be right up.
- What is it?
- Ivy.
- Ivy? What's the matter?
- I don't know.
- Mr Templeton, we haven't finished.
- Yes, Mr Hoover, we have finished.
We have listened to your story.
We're very sorry for you.
But leave us alone.
Don't follow us. Don't phone us.
Your problem is not our problem.
(whimpers)
Sweetie. Ivy.
(lvy moans and cries)
- Sweetie.
- Daddy... Daddy...
Daddy... Daddy... Daddy...
Shh. Wake up, honey.
Shh. Hi.
Hi, sweetheart.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Hi, Daddy. What are you doing here?
I just came
to kiss my princess good night.
- I'm glad you're here.
- I'll always be here, darling.
It's all right. Do call.
I'll be home all morning.
OK. Good night.
Oh, Bill,
those nightmares twice in one week.
Honey, come on. Don't panic, babe.
You know the pattern.
They come and they go.
Take her to see Dr Kaplan tomorrow, huh?
OK.
- What about Elliot Hoover?
- Oh, honey, he's a fanatic, a weirdo.
The city's full of 'em.
- What if he isn't?
- You believe his story?
Well, he believes it. He sincerely believes
everything he's saying.
I know it's crazy, but there's something
about the way he looked.
(phone rings)
- Heavens.
- Don't worry.
- Hello?
- Mr Templeton? It's Elliot Hoover.
Hoover, I've had enough of you.
Leave us alone or I'll take steps
to see that you do. Understand?
(slams down phone)
I don't know if he's an extortionist,
or a nut, as you say,
or a man who believes this to be so.
We're talking about an area that a lot
of people don't know anything about.
When I was a boy,
every Shabbos we used to sit around
and listen to my grandfather
tell stories about the dybbuk,
an evil spirit
who could come and invade bodies.
- What's that got to do with this?
- That every religion has its mysteries.
- Come on, Russ.
- OK, scoff.
But on Friday nights, when the candles
were lit and he spoke of the dybbuk,
he scared the hell out of us.
Question. Did this Hoover
make any demands upon you?
No, but there's no saying he won't.
Russ, we are being primed
for some kind of a shakedown.
- Is it possible to contact him?
- It's impossible to avoid him!
- He's been calling the office all morning.
- Good. Invite him to your home.
Are you crazy?
I won't let that lunatic into my house.
I'm your lawyer.
I need to know what he's after.
Extortion. Blackmail. Ivy.
You sit him down and drag this out
very specifically from him.
I'll write out the questions,
you memorise them and ask them.
Bill, I'll be there. I'll be your witness.
It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible.
You know, it's exactly
as Eric Lloyd described it.
Ceiling paintings.
Oh, my...
The huge windows.
And the carved fireplace.
It's unbelievable.
- Would you have a seat, Mr Hoover?
- Certainly.
A couple of psychics told you
your daughter had come back to life.
- Is that right?
- Yes, that is correct.
Do you know the whereabouts
of these psychics?
No. You see,
I never did know the woman's name,
and Eric Lloyd died three years ago.
Too bad. So there's nobody around who
could remember having said this to you?
No.
Well,
why didn't you contact us back then?
Well, at the time, Mr Templeton,
to be quite honest,
I was a scoffer and a disbeliever.
As you are now.
I must admit, it took me many years
of seeking and searching
in order to be convinced of the truth.
You see, Mrs Templeton, I went to India,
where I learned of a way of life
that was totally alien to mine.
But in time, with the help
and the wisdom of simple people,
I came to know the reality
of their religious convictions
and to know the truth of reincarnation.
There are over 12 million people
in this city.
How did we become
the beneficiaries of your search?
Well, now,
that was a process of elimination.
According to Eric Lloyd, she lived
somewhere in New York City
in a lovely apartment exactly like this one.
Her age would now be 11.
Let me put it this way,
Mr and Mrs Templeton.
Audrey Rose died October 3rd, 1965.
- That's lvy's birthday.
- Yeah...
Audrey Rose died
at approximately 8.20 in the morning.
Ivy was born at 8.22.
So... just like that, huh?
Dead one minute, back to life the next.
Don't you think that's a little unusual?
No, not really.
You see,
there are many of schools of thought
as to the precise moment that the soul
unites with the body, Mr Templeton.
In Tibet, for example,
it is generally believed
that the Dalai Lama is reincarnated
at the very instant of his death.
What is it you want?
Nothing more nor less than you and
your good wife are prepared to give me.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Well, I'd just like the chance
to see lvy occasionally,
to watch her grow, to be of help if needed.
She would never have to know
about Audrey Rose.
(screams)
(screaming)
(screams)
Oh, my God.
Don't shock her.
Remember what the doctor said.
- Ivy!
- (Janice) Oh, my God!
Bill, she can't seem to hear us.
(Bill) lvy, baby, it's Mommy and Daddy.
Honey, wake up.
(screams)
(wails)
Lvy... Sweetheart. Ivy! Lvy!
(Janice) lvy... Oh, Bill, be careful.
Ivy... Oh, my God.
- (lvy screams)
- Baby. Bill, be careful with her.
- Oh, my God.
- (screaming)
- Be careful, Bill.
- Ivy!
Lvy, it's Daddy. Wake up.
Audrey Rose!
(screaming intensifies)
Audrey... Audrey Rose...
Audrey...
(shrieks)
(screaming)
Audrey... Audrey Rose...
Audrey! Audrey! Audrey Rose!
Audrey Rose...
Audrey, Audrey...
Audrey, it's me, it's Daddy.
Audrey... Audrey Rose... Audrey,
it's me, it's Daddy. It's Daddy, it's me.
It's Daddy here. It's Daddy, Audrey.
Audrey, it's Daddy, it's me.
It's Dada. Dada. Come on, darling.
Come on, it's me.
- Daddy?
- It's Daddy.
It's Daddy. Yes, it's Daddy.
Come on.
Yes, come on, come on, it's all right.
It's Dada. Daddy.
Come on, it's Daddy.
It's all right. It's Daddy. Come on.
Come on, come on, it's Daddy, it's Dada.
- Yes, come on. Come on, darling.
- Daddy?
It's gonna be all right. Yeah, it's me.
It's Daddy. It's Dada. It's all right.
(she weeps)
(Hoover sobs) Audrey...
Audrey Rose...
Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Templeton,
Mrs Templeton...
You see...
Sorry. You see, it was the accident.
There was a fire.
The car windows were closed.
The car windows were closed
and she couldn't get out.
She couldn't get out of the car
and I'm told it lasted for several minutes.
Forgive me.
The windows were closed. She couldn't...
Sorry.
My God.
I had no idea this was happening.
- I think she'll be all right now.
- You bastard!
- (Russ) Bill, enough!
- Damn you, Hoover! Damn you!
You better get out of here.
Damn you, Hoover!
- (Russ) Get going.
- I'm sorry. Please. I'll go.
I'll go. I'll go.
My God.
Bill.
- Bill.
- Honey.
Oh, honey.
It was the radiator. She burned them
on the radiator, honey. Call Dr Kaplan.
Right.
- Dad... Daddy?
- Yes, princess, Daddy's here.
Daddy's here.
- Get some sleep.
- He's crazy. He's crazy, isn't he?
Just relax. I'll go to court tomorrow and
get an injunction. We'll put a stop to this.
Russ, thanks.
What is going on?
What's happening to lvy?
She had a nightmare, honey.
She's had them before.
Yes, and always around her birthday.
Two years ago they happened in October.
When she was six,
they happened at exactly the same time.
Janice, please.
- How did she burn her hands?
- On the radiator.
The radiator was
nowhere near the window.
What are you building? The room
was dark. It was confusing and chaotic.
I saw her burn her hands
on a cold window.
You think you saw that.
You only think you saw that.
Russ saw it too.
I could tell by the look on his face.
Honey, it didn't happen.
Bill, she burned her hands
on a cold window.
Janice.
Honey, please listen to me.
What you're building here is not for me.
I can't accept it. I don't believe it.
When I die, it's gonna be the end of me.
- No.
- No wings, no harps, no pitchforks.
Nothing.
It's done, it's the end, it's finished.
No floating around some maternity ward
waiting to sneak into the body
of some unsuspecting infant.
He'd resent it and I'd feel very horrified.
Don't laugh, Janice. I'm not kidding.
(phone rings)
- Janice?
- Oh, Bill.
Look, darling, I'm gonna be delayed here.
I'm locked up with a client.
Will you be home for dinner?
No, it's the full treatment.
It could be late.
- How's lvy?
- OK.
Dr Kaplan just left.
He redressed her hands.
Did he say anything?
He thinks we should
take her to a psychiatrist.
OK. Any calls?
No.
Good. Look, I'll be home as soon as I can
break away from this thing, all right?
- OK.
- OK, bye.
Bye.
(lifts phone off hook)
What's that for?
There's a draught coming through
the panes. Ow! Damn screen.
Watch your language, Mother.
There are children present.
- (lvy giggles)
- (phone rings)
- That's the house phone.
- Thank you very much!
Hello?
There's a Mr Hoover on the line,
Mrs Templeton.
- Tell him I'm not at home.
- Yes, ma'am.
(heavy rain)
(lvy screams)
- Dr Kaplan's service.
- Yes, Dr Kaplan, please.
- Name?
- This is Mrs Templeton. Where is he?
(faint screaming)
(screams)
Oh... Oh...
(phone rings)
- Dr Kaplan?
- Mrs Templeton.
There's a Mr Hoover
down here in the lobby.
- Send him up.
- (lvy) Daddy! Daddy!
(screaming)
(shrieking) Daddy! Daddy!
(screaming)
- Hurry, please.
- (lvy) Daddy!
Daddy! Daddy!
Daddy... Daddy!
Audrey Rose. Audrey Rose.
Audrey Rose.
Audrey... Audrey... Audrey Rose.
- Daddy...
- Audrey... Audrey...
It's Daddy. It's Daddy.
It's Daddy.
Audrey, it's Daddy. It's Daddy.
It's Daddy. Come on, it's Daddy.
It's Daddy. Dada. Yeah.
It's Daddy. It's your daddy.
It's Dada. Dada.
- Daddy?
- Yes, come on.
Audrey, yeah, it's Daddy.
Come on. Come on.
All right. All right.
Shh. It's OK, it's all right. Yes.
It's all right.
It's all right. It's Daddy.
Yes, it's all right.
Daddy...
Shh.
Shh.
Oh, my God, I am heartily sorry
for having offended thee
and I detest all my sins because I dread
the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all
because they offend thee, my God,
who art all good
and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve now,
with the help of thy grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance,
and to amend my life. Amen.
Mea culpa. Mea culpa.
Mea maxima culpa.
Mrs Templeton.
It's all right.
Why don't you sit down?
Sit down. Try and relax.
This might sting a little.
Mrs Templeton.
Please try and understand,
and believe me, I know you don't take
the responsibilities of your child lightly,
but we are dealing here
with something else,
something greater than your daughter's
physical being or physical welfare.
We're dealing with a soul
that is indestructible
and yet it is struggling to get free
because it is in terrible pain and torment,
a pain and torment as real and tangible
as the actual physical terror
experienced by Audrey Rose
at the moment her body was consumed
by that terrible fire of 11 years ago.
It's... just... a... nightmare.
Come on, Mrs Templeton, please.
Listen, your daughter is in mortal danger.
Do you know that?
She could possibly die
if you don't listen to what I'm telling you.
Now, try to understand.
As long as a soul is unprepared to accept
the laws and responsibilities of its karma,
it cannot exist in this earth life, it cannot
exist on this earth plane. It has to go back.
I don't understand a word you are saying.
It's quite simple, Mrs Templeton.
My daughter's soul returned too soon.
Wait a minute.
What do you mean, your daughter?
Her soul? This is my daughter
we're talking about, my child.
- It's all right, you don't understand.
- I don't want to understand.
Why, you... You are crazy. You're nuts.
My husband said so
and I want you out of here.
- It's just your fear talking.
- No, it is me talking.
I am telling you that my daughter
is not possessed.
I'm not talking about possession,
but reincarnation.
- Please listen to me. Come here.
- No! No!
I'm not gonna hurt you. Look at me.
What is it you really fear, eh?
Listen to me. Two people, two strangers,
came into my life and changed it.
Eric Lloyd was one of them.
He told me a story that was so incredible
it took complete hold of me
and made my heart search
for the very truth of existence itself.
All right, I know, it sounds bizarre.
But I went to India, where I found
a way of life that was indescribable.
I found brutalising poverty,
starvation, death, pestilence.
But I also found something else.
With all the misery
that those people had to face,
there was still a great spiritual peace
and joy in their lives
because they believe...
they believe that this life is not the end.
Life and death are not the end.
And I believe that now
without a shadow of doubt.
This life, the end? No.
This is one act
in a vast cosmic drama, that's all.
Oh, yes, our bodies die,
our aged vessels crack,
releasing the ensnared soul yet again
on its vast journey homewards,
through many lifetimes, many lifetimes,
improving with each new life.
Not only do I believe this beyond
a shadow of doubt, Mrs Templeton,
but 700 million other people
also believe it.
Please.
Please, won't you open your heart and try
to understand what I'm telling you?
Please. Please say you will try.
Please.
What is it you want from me?
I want your trust and your help.
That's all I want.
The soul of a child
is crying out for help
and we must form a bond, a bond so tight,
so filled with all the love that you have,
all the love that I have,
that we can mend her.
Mend her soul?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Together we can try.
I... I just want to be close to her, to pray
for her, to do good for her, that's all I want.
You see, Audrey Rose
was only five when she died.
In her brief time on earth,
she was just coming to an awareness
of the spiritual beauties of life.
I believe if God is willing -
only if God is willing -
that we can bring her soul
back to that awareness.
But I need your help in this.
Look.
We are both a part of this child,
Mrs Templeton.
We both had to do with the making of her.
You and I.
Now, don't turn your back on me now.
Because if you do,
you turn your back on lvy.
(phone rings)
Hello?
This is Dr Kaplan, Janice. You called me?
Oh, yes, Dr Kaplan, I did.
- What seems to be the matter?
- No, no, nothing is the matter.
I'll call you in the morning.
- I'll be at home if you should need me.
- Yes.
- OK?
- Fine.
- Good night.
- Goodbye.
Try and get some sleep.
We'll talk again tomorrow.
Good night.
(door closes)
Thank you.
You let him in, Janice.
You let him in. Why?
- Ivy went crazy, Bill. I needed help.
- Help?
Why didn't you call the office
and find out where I'd taken the client?
Or call the elevator man or Russ. Why
did you let somebody like that in here?
Bill, lvy went crazy. She was
hurting herself and he was there.
What are you talking about? He's a nut.
He was in the building,
and he helped her before.
A nut, that's what he is. He's some kind
of a magician. He's got you hypnotised.
He's taken you in. You let him.
Sure I let him. You saw the living room -
the furniture overturned, the curtain torn.
What do you think did that, a cyclone?
Our daughter did that. Ivy.
She was out of control, she was crazy,
hurting herself, and I couldn't stop her.
You're crazy.
He's gotten you crazy, Janice.
That's right, yes.
He also scares me and he panics me.
But he comes in here and he calls her
that name and she hears him.
She listens and goes to him,
and just falls asleep in his arms.
- Bullshit!
- Don't you ever say that to me.
Don't ever speak to me that way again.
Where were you when I needed you?
Out drinking with some goddamn client.
- Stop it, Janice.
- Don't you... Don't you touch me.
Stay away from me. You saw her hands.
Why did that happen, Bill?
Why does she scream and cry and yell?
Do you think what's happening
to her is normal, for God's sake?
No, it's not normal. Honey, she is sick.
- Baby, we're gonna get help for her.
- He was here. He took care of her.
We'll take her to see the psychiatrist.
- We'll find out what's wrong with her.
- He was here and you weren't.
Oh, baby, honey, I'll be here,
from now on I'll be here.
Look, I'll take time off,
whatever time is necessary.
Baby, I'll be with you and lvy. Honey,
I'll be with both of you. I love you.
I love my family very much, honey.
(bell tolls)
- Here, let's try one more.
- OK.
Mom.
Look, no hands.
If I burned them on the radiator
going to the bathroom,
how come I didn't wake up?
Because we put ointment on them
very quickly and burns only hurt later on.
Oh, yeah, like the time I got sunburnt
on the beach last summer.
It took hours to hurt.
My birthday's tomorrow.
Did you pick something nice for me?
Yep, it's all picked, wrapped,
ribboned and waiting to be opened.
- How about a pizza and going home?
- With cream soda?
- The works.
- Mom, let's go home.
Come on, Mom, I'm hungry.
Let's go home. We're gonna buy a pizza.
- (lvy screams)
- Ivy!
Damn it. Ivy! Lvy!
Janice, help me. Ivy!
- (screaming)
- (buzzer)
It's Kaplan, honey.
Stay with her. Stay with her.
Ivy. Ivy.
- Ah, Mr Templeton.
- How the hell did you get up here?
Please let me explain.
Please, Mr Templeton!
Come on. Please. I'm sorry.
- I'll kill you, you son of a...
- Please. Please.
Please, Mr... (chokes)
Hurry, call the police.
(lvy screams)
Stop it! Stop it!
Audrey Rose! Audrey, I'm coming.
- Bill!
- (door slams/lock clicks)
Oh, my God. Bill, the door. The door.
Get a cop.
The son of a bitch has got my kid.
They're on the way.
- Open the door, you son of a bitch.
- Bill!
Will somebody ring for the elevator
and get a pass key?
The guy's a kook, he's a psycho.
Will you hurry?
Bill. Bill, it's all right. He won't hurt her.
Will you keep out of this?
I've had enough of this bullshit. Hoover!
Dominick,
bring me the pass key, come on.
Open up. Hurry.
Hoover!
Hoover!
- Hoover!
- What's the trouble?
A man is in my house with my child.
He assaulted me and he's locked us out.
- Do you know this man?
- His name is Elliot Hoover.
Wait, wait, wait,
the service entrance. Of course.
My God, he's taken her. Hoover!
- Stand back here.
- Hoover!
Lvy!
Hoover!
Lvy!
They're gone.
He's kidnapped lvy.
Just today, Mr Hoover sublet a suite
on the eighth floor. Number 802.
This way. Come on.
Hoover!
We'll handle this, sir.
Mr Hoover, I'm a police officer.
Open the door.
Mr Hoover, I will ask you
once again to open the door.
- No.
- Open the door, you bastard.
That will do, sir.
Mr Hoover, please open the door.
No. There has been
enough insanity for one night.
Is there a child on your premises?
Yes. She's sleeping peacefully.
Does this child belong to this person?
- No, she's mine.
- He has no child.
He's a nut. Now break it down.
Mr Hoover, I will give you
30 seconds to open the door.
Daddy...
My name is Michael Noonan. Police
officer first class, badge number 1433.
You're under arrest on suspicion
of the felony of kidnapping.
You have the right to remain silent,
the right to legal counsel.
If you give up these rights,
anything you say
will be used against you in a court of law.
Do you understand these rights?
There is nothing more I can do than to
ask you to listen to your own heartbeat.
Just feel what you're feeling right now.
Think what you're thinking right now.
You're watching me
trying to convince you of things
that you don't care about,
you don't believe.
But I'm telling you
there are lives at stake right now
and I tell you from the bottom
of my heart this child lives.
She lives!
Audrey Rose lives!
Her soul has crossed over that veil
of darkness into a new earth life
and now resides in the body of the child
who is called lvy Templeton.
And so, four months after his arrest,
and after five hard weeks of jury selection
and the presentation
of the prosecution's case,
the defence of Elliot Hoover
finally gets underway.
Among the first witnesses
will be Gupta Pradesh,
the holy man from Benares, India,
the maharishi,
whose task it will be
to convince 12 American jurors
of the truth of reincarnation,
which will form the basis
of the defence's case -
a case unique in the annals
of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence,
a case that has riveted
the attention of the entire world.
Many of you look upon death
as the ending to life,
a leap into an eternal nothingness
from which there is no return.
Because of this, you are filled
with dread and despair,
even rage, at the injustice of death.
We in India are not afraid of death.
Our bodies,
because they are material, can die,
but the soul, which is spirit, can never die.
That is the difference
between matter and spirit.
In India, our belief in reincarnation
inspires us to love all people.
For in the course
of our numerous rebirths,
we have been parents,
children and friends to one another.
For us, death is not the end to life,
but a momentary separation,
a fragile respite in the astral cosmos,
where the soul must wait
and through meditation seek to clothe
itself in the higher spiritual garments
before attempting rebirth
in the next earth life.
Now, please understand me.
When a person dies in my country
and we set flame to the body
and watch as it is consumed,
we do not grieve for the body that is lost,
for the Bhagavad-Gita assures us
that as a man casts off worn-out garments
and takes new ones,
so the soul casts off old bodies
and enters into others that are new,
and so our minds are freed
from the fear of death
and we are able to live each earth life
in a spiritually productive manner,
for we are certain that the end is good
and all are blessed,
even to the final atom
in the scale of being.
(he hears Hindu devotional singing)
(they sing a Latin hymn)
# Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
# Alleluia!
Freak!
We found it on one of the girls
and now it's all over the school.
In spite of everything
we tried to do to shield lvy, we failed.
I'm sorry, Mrs Templeton.
Ivy seems to love it here so.
Her nightmares have lessened
and she's been so happy.
Until this.
Will you speak with lvy
and explain to her the truth of the matter?
She doesn't understand and is frightened.
Yes, of course I will. May I keep her
with me overnight at the motel?
Certainly.
- Then I am a freak. The girls are right.
- No.
No, no, lvy,
it does not mean that you are a freak.
Now, let me see.
Well, you see, this man,
he's a very lonely man.
And he sees something in you
that reminds him of his daughter,
who he loved very much,
but he lost her.
But you can't believe that.
There's no way.
It's just not possible.
Is it possible or not?
Lvy.
Mr Hoover seems to think so.
But...
It can't be true. I'm my own self
and I'm not somebody else.
- No wonder the girls are being so mean.
- Oh, lvy.
I'm so sorry about all of this.
Listen, I'm taking you home with me.
But Sylvester will be crowned day after
tomorrow. Can't I stay for that at least?
We've all worked so hard on him.
Well...
You want to?
OK.
I love you.
And yet it'd be really wonderful,
wouldn't it, Mom?
Lt'd be fantastic.
What would be fantastic, babe?
To live for ever and ever and never die.
Wouldn't it be wonderful, Mom?
Yeah.
Yep, it would be wonderful.
It'd be really terrific.
- I love you.
- I love you too, baby.
(lvy whispers) Audrey...
Hey, Audrey.
(whispering) Audrey Rose. Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey Rose.
Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey Rose.
Audrey.
Audrey Rose.
Audrey. Audrey Rose.
Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey.
Audrey.
Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey.
Audrey.
Audrey.
Call Janice Templeton.
She knows the truth.
She knows in her heart that I'm
her only hope, if her child is to live.
So, please, do as I say
and put her on the stand.
Her aim is to put you in jail, Mr Hoover.
Quiet in the courtroom. Rise, please.
Be seated.
Mr Mack, call your next witness.
The defence calls Mary Lou Sides.
Do you solemnly swear
that the testimony you may give
in the case now appearing
before this court
shall be the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, so help you God?
I do.
11 years ago, Miss Sides,
1965, October 3rd,
you were driving
on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, correct?
Yes.
You were involved in an accident
with another car.
Yes.
An accident that left you paralysed.
Yes.
Who was in the other car?
A woman named Sylvia Flora Hoover.
And her daughter...
Audrey Rose.
Now, Miss Sides, I want you to tell the
jury exactly what happened that morning,
as you saw it.
I was on my way to work, travelling east.
It was stormy.
Sheets of rain and hail.
I couldn't see.
I tried to slow the car down,
but it began to skid.
I tried to control the car, but I couldn't,
the wheel just twisted around in my hand.
And then there was
this car coming toward me.
And we hit each other.
We crashed.
We crashed.
The other car went over the guard rail
and down this steep embankment
and landed in a gully.
And then I saw...
I saw the face of a girl.
A little girl.
She was looking
out of the window of the car.
She was screaming.
Screaming and crying.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
"Daddy! Daddy!"
And all at once the car went up in flames.
It was horrible.
And I can see the girl, screaming and
beating her hands against the window,
and screaming,
"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!"
(girls) # Old Man Winter, disappear
# Stay away for one more year
# Old Man Winter, cold and done
# Leave us be, we matter none
# Old Man Winter, go away
(singing continues)
(faintly) Stop her! Stop her!
Sister!
Stop her! Stop her!
(singing continues)
The child! Stop her!
Stop her!
The child! Stop her!
Stop her! Stop her!
Stop her! The child!
The child! Stop her!
(she screams)
(girls scream)
Lucky she was so well bundled
and there was all that snow around.
Her body was completely untouched.
Her face took some heat. However, there's
no indication of respiratory-tract damage.
Nothing like this
has ever happened at St Luke's.
And it needn't have happened this time.
What I'm saying is it was no accident.
Your daughter literally walked
then crawled into that fire.
I'd like a muffin.
- Baby.
- Hi, Daddy.
- Please don't touch her.
- Hello, angel.
They said
I walked into the fire on purpose.
- I don't remember anything about it.
- Who said you did that, honey?
- Mother did.
- She's wrong.
What do you build fires for?
What business has that in a convent?
We send our children to you for peace
and protection, and you build fires.
- What's happening to me, Daddy?
- It was an accident, honey.
But what made me do it?
Why? Why did I do it, Daddy? Why?
It's all right now, princess.
It's all over, honey.
Janice?
- And you had a visitor that night?
- Yes.
Er... Mr Hoover arrived at the apartment
house... er... some time around eleven.
- Did you ask him up?
- Yes.
- Why did you ask him up?
- Well, I needed help.
- But wasn't the doctor coming?
- I needed Mr Hoover's help.
Now, Your Honour, if it please the court.
It has come to my attention that Mrs
Templeton suffered a trauma yesterday,
brought about by the injury
of her daughter in an accident.
Mrs Templeton
is in a highly emotional state.
She should be spared
the burden of testifying.
This is a device by the prosecution
to prevent the witness from testifying.
He knows that this witness's testimony
will destroy the prosecution's case.
Mrs Templeton,
do you feel able to continue?
- Yes, I do. I want to continue.
- Proceed, Mr Mack.
Thank you, Your Honour.
And did Mr Hoover help you?
Yes, almost at once.
Ivy seemed to recognise him
and rushed into his arms
and, as he was comforting her,
she fell asleep.
Mrs Templeton...
do you believe in reincarnation?
I do now.
Mrs Templeton,
do you believe that your daughter lvy
is the reincarnation
of Mr Hoover's daughter Audrey Rose?
Yes.
(murmuring)
Order!
Mrs Templeton,
do you believe that Mr Hoover
kidnapped your daughter?
No, I do not.
I believe that the only help my daughter
will ever receive on this earth
is through Mr Hoover.
The only chance she has of living
is if this man is released from jail.
- (commotion)
- Order!
Order! Order!
(sparse applause)
Order!
Your Honour, that's our case.
Mr Velie, you may cross-examine.
Your Honour.
In view of Mrs Templeton's testimony,
and because
of her overwrought condition,
I request a recess
until tomorrow morning.
Very well. Court will reconvene
tomorrow morning at 9.00am.
Ruth, place a call to Doctors' Hospital
in Porchester.
I'd like to speak to the physician
in charge of lvy Templeton's case.
This whole thing is outlandish.
A test like that could not
possibly be conclusive
and it could prove dangerous to the child.
How about that, Mr Velie?
There is an element of danger here.
Well,
the father has granted his permission.
I've been assured by the doctor that she
is physically able to withstand the test.
He foresees no problems
from such an experiment.
He's even willing to provide
the facilities to conduct it.
- Any precedents for such an experiment?
- Yes.
In Wyler vs Fairchild,
the court permitted a witness to testify
after undergoing hypnosis and did not
consider it an abuse of discretion.
He is trying to stampede the jury,
a circus show for the sole purpose
of ridiculing my client and his beliefs.
All right, let's drop the formalities, boys.
Now, I've given you a hell of a wide
latitude in presenting your case.
And now you want me
to restrict the prosecution's right
to pursue its own path
to the truth on rebuttal?
Scott, I don't know
about this test of yours.
If I'm gonna permit it,
I want to know the specifications -
who's going to conduct it,
what his qualifications are,
and if there is any possibility
of it being harmful to the child.
I think I can satisfy your doubts,
Your Honour.
I'll reserve my decision until you do.
(phone rings)
Hello?
Judge Langley's office. Court will convene
this morning at Doctors' Hospital.
- The hospital? When?
- 9.00.
It's a hypnotic test on your daughter.
- Has my husband given permission?
- Mr Templeton has agreed to the test...
Dr Dorman, you are wanted in emergency.
Judge Langley!
Judge Langley, I object to this test.
I won't have my child submit to it.
Mrs Templeton, I have been personally
assured by the psychiatrist
that no possible harm can come
to your child as a result of the test.
Please, try to understand.
Your husband, who has equal rights of
consent in this matter, agrees to the test.
Now, I realise this
is a very unusual matter.
- When it's ajar.
- (they laugh)
Hi, Mom.
Hi, sweetheart. Could I have
a few moments alone with my daughter?
Why, certainly.
They're going to hypnotise me
to find out why I do these things.
You're not going through with it.
I'm not gonna let them do it.
But I want to. I want to know what's wrong
with me. I want to know who I am.
Who you are?
You are lvy Templeton, my daughter.
- But Mr Hoover says I'm his daughter.
- Ivy, you are my child.
I'm not sure any more who I am, Mom.
And I want to know. I've gotta know.
- I am taking you home with me.
- No, I wanna stay.
Janice.
I wanna talk to you outside.
You mustn't let them do this to her.
I know what you want.
To turn my child over to Elliot Hoover.
No, I want what's best for her.
I am doing what's best for her.
Now, if you don't mind, they're ready.
No, please, Bill.
For God's sake, please don't do this.
Don't do what? Destroy the man
who's robbing me of my family?
Don't destroy our child.
What we're attempting
is unique in the annals of psychiatry.
To regress a subject hypnotically
into a former lifetime has never,
to my knowledge, fallen with the purview
of serious psychiatric inquiry.
True, there are hypnotists who have had
subjects claim, under hypnosis,
that they've lived before,
and that while in the hypnotic state
had spoken languages that they
did not know in the awakened state.
While I have never participated in
nor witnessed such an event,
I am here at the behest of the court
to perform a function
for which I have been trained
and am licensed to perform.
I will be hypnotising the subject who
will be brought to me while you watch.
But as observers it is important
you stay totally alert and awake,
completely alert and awake.
Before I bring in the subject,
let me warn you that regression
will frequently arouse memories
of a traumatic nature.
The subject may even cry out
or display bizarre personality changes.
This is normal and to be expected,
but will not prove harmful to the child
in any permanent way.
We'll now bring her in.
Hello, lvy. Come over here.
Sit right here, hm?
Thank you.
Now, relax, lvy.
Relax and allow every muscle
in your body to become loose and limp.
Now, as we discussed this morning,
you will not be harmed in any way,
but would simply
begin to feel very relaxed.
Very relaxed.
Very comfortable.
So that you will wish
to go to sleep for a while.
You will not mind
going to sleep for a while?
- No, I won't mind.
- Good.
Soon you will begin to feel relaxed.
And more comfortable.
More and more comfortable.
Watch the light, lvy. Keep watching it.
Now, as you're watching it, you're
beginning to feel your eyes grow heavy.
Your eyelids are getting heavier,
so heavy that you want to close them.
Your eyelids are getting heavier.
And you're finding it harder and harder
to keep them open.
Your eyelids are getting so heavy...
so heavy...
so heavy...
that you cannot keep them open.
So heavy... that you must close them.
Must close them...
close them...
close them.
There.
You cannot open your eyes.
They're so heavy
that they simply must stay closed.
You're safe and snug
and fully asleep now.
Fully asleep.
When I wish to awaken you,
I will count to five.
I will say "Awaken, lvy" and you will
awaken promptly. Do you understand?
- Yes.
- Good.
Now that you're deeply asleep
and completely relaxed,
you're gradually moving back in time.
Back, back, lvy.
Back in time.
You're moving back
to your eighth birthday.
When I count to three, you will be
back at your eighth birthday party.
You will open your eyes,
but will remain deeply relaxed.
Ready?
One.
Two.
Three.
You're now at your party
amongst your friends.
Do you see your friends, lvy?
Tell me about them. Who's at the party?
There's Bettina.
And Carrie.
Mary-Ellen.
The twins.
Peter.
Do you love your presents, lvy?
Oh, yes, especially my Terry Doll
with travel wardrobe.
And my flute game Bettina bought me.
Let's leave this party now
and go back to an earlier birthday.
I want you to go back in time
to your fourth birthday party.
I will count to three, then you will be
at your fourth birthday party.
Just relax, now.
Ready?
One.
Two.
Three.
Did your parents buy you this nice
birthday cake with four lovely candles?
No, they didn't buy it.
Too expensive.
Mommy made it from a magazine.
Well, what are you feeling? Let it go.
He broke it.
This little boy broke my monkey.
(sobs incoherently)
It's all right, lvy.
It's all right. We'll leave this party now
and we'll move farther back in time.
Farther back. Way back.
I want you to go back to a time when
you can see and hear and feel and think...
but you cannot say any words.
You're just a little baby
in Mummy's arms now.
And maybe she's putting you
into your carriage.
(gurgles)
Ah, very good, lvy.
Very good.
Now we're going to go
even farther back in time.
Way back.
Way back.
To a time before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Very good, lvy.
Back. Back, lvy, back in time.
At a time before you existed as yourself.
The time before you were lvy.
When you were not lvy...
but you were another person.
To the time just before you were lvy.
Not lvy, but somebody else.
Somebody else.
To the last moment
you can remember in your previous life.
When you were not lvy...
but somebody else.
Somebody else.
Who are you?
I'm...
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
M...
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy?
Mommy?
(rising panic) Mommy? Mommy?
Mommy? Mommy?
Mommy? Mommy?
Mommy!
Mommy! Mommy!
Mommy! Mommy!
Mommy!
- Mommy! Mommy!
- It's all right.
It's all right, lvy.
You will leave this memory now.
It's all right. You can go back in time
even farther, away from this memory.
- Mommy!
- Ivy!
When I count to three,
you will be even farther back in time.
One, two, three.
(lvy continues screaming)
- Mommy!
- One, two, three.
Can you hear me, lvy? Can you hear me?
Lvy, can you hear me?
One, two...
Ivy!
Lvy.
Can you hear me, lvy?
Lvy? Lvy?
Can you hear me?
Lvy?
Can you hear me, lvy?
She's not lvy.
Ivy?
She'll be all right, Your Honour.
She'll come out of it.
You will now awaken, lvy.
When I count to five, you will awaken
promptly and feel rested and well.
Rested and well.
One. Two. Three.
Four. Five.
Awaken, lvy.
(she screams)
Lvy! You will awaken.
Four. Five. Awaken, lvy.
- She's not lvy.
- Awaken, lvy.
- (screaming)
- Ivy. Awaken, lvy.
- Daddy, help.
- Four, five.
Awaken, lvy.
Ivy, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, lvy?
- Audrey Rose!
- One. Two.
Three. Four. Five.
- Two... Ivy!
- I want this test stopped immediately.
When I count to five,
I order you to awaken. One. Two.
Damn it, I want it stopped.
Can you hear me, lvy?
- Audrey Rose!
- Can you hear me?
- Audrey Rose!
- Ivy!
- Judge Langley, stop the test!
- Audrey Rose!
- Audrey Rose, it's Daddy! It's Daddy!
- Oh, my God!
- One. Two.
- Audrey Rose, it's Daddy. It's Daddy.
- Ivy.
- (Bill) Do something.
Stop it.
(screaming)
Look, this is the child's mother.
It's all right now.
It's all right. Her soul is set free.
Her soul is set free.
It's all right now. Her soul is set free.
- No.
- Yes, her soul is set free.
Her soul is free.
Her soul is free.
It is free.
It is free.
Dear Mr Hoover,
it is good to know that you are in India
doing all the things you must
for the peace of our daughter's soul.
I include Bill in my thanks,
even though he still cannot accept
the idea that while lvy's body is gone,
her soul continues to exist.
Yet I know in my heart it is true
and that you are right.
And that is what sustains me.
In permitting you
to take lvy's ashes to India,
I believe that Bill has taken the first step
toward understanding
that we are all immortal.
Know that I add my prayers to yours
for our daughter's soul to mend itself
and find the peace and fulfilment
in heaven
that it was denied in its earth life,
and that the day will come
when her soul will feel free
and able to seek a new rebirth,
and that when it does she will find parents
who are, oh, generous, understanding,
and who will love her as we all loved her.
"There is no end. For the soul there is
never birth nor death. Nor, having once
been, does it ever cease to be. It is
unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying
and primeval..."
THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
(musical interlude)
(school bell)
- Ivy!
- Hi, Mom.
Hi, sweetheart. (she laughs)
Oh...
Hey, Mom, two tests again, both in math.
They popped one on us.
Can you believe it?
You're kidding?
No warning at all?
No, they didn't.
Come on, sweetie.
Hello, George.
No, Paris. Well, at least
that's what Jennifer told Peter.
By the way, dear Jill O'Connor
says she's started to... you know what.
- No, what?
- Menstruate.
- She's only nine. Do you believe it?
- No, I think she's a fibber.
- She's a liar.
- I didn't say that.
Girls like Jill just like to fantasise.
Hey.
- How about a Coke?
- I'll have it later.
OK.
Oh, lvy, don't forget
to hang your coat on a chair.
Oh, all right.
(lock turns)
- Open up.
- Bill...
Oh!
- Hey, what is it? You're shaking.
- It's just the weather.
You're home early. Well,
I'll get a glass chilling for your martini.
- Oh, don't mention that word, please.
- Another one of those days?
- Yeah, another one of those lunches.
- Oh...
- I gotta lie down, Janice.
- You've got an hour.
Carole and Russ are coming for dinner.
With their aunt.
- Oh, shit.
- I'm sorry.
No, no.
- Hiya, princess.
- Hi, Daddy.
- I found out.
- What?
Mom...
- Mom likes cameras, right?
- Right.
I was walking with her
past a camera store
and I saw her looking
at this real long lens.
It's so neat.
It's got all these little dinkies on it.
- Little dinkies like that.
- Yeah?
When can we buy it?
- Well, it's an awful long way to Christmas.
- Yeah.
But your birthday's next week.
Have you made up your mind yet?
Yeah, but I'm not gonna tell you.
- All right...
- Surprise me.
(she giggles)
The Hotel des Artistes,
built by artistes for artistes.
What the hell are we doing here?
I don't know about you,
but I have hidden depths.
Mezzo, mezzo.
(she moans)
(she cries out)
Excuse me.
We've got to go, Bill. Come along, Aunt.
Ivy. Ivy.
Ivy. Sweetie.
It's Mommy.
- Oh, Mom, it was awful.
- What was awful?
I don't know.
I can't remember.
Well, it was just a dream.
- Yeah, a dream.
- Mm-hm.
Mom, I don't feel well.
- You don't seem to have a fever.
- Darn.
But I think we'll keep you home
from school tomorrow anyway.
I love you.
Oh, I love you too.
Bill...
Something strange happened today.
There was a man outside school.
Bill?
(Bill) He has reddish-brown hair,
pale blue eyes, he's about 5'8, 5'9.
A beard, rather a full beard. Kind of
a weird, spaced-out look about him.
(man) Well, when did you first notice him?
A couple of weeks ago. I spotted him
on the bus. I was going home.
He looked rather familiar,
like I'd seen him somewhere before.
The next day,
he was in the elevator where I work.
Where's that?
386 Madison Avenue. I'm a partner
in Simmons Templeton Advertising.
- Well, maybe he works there too.
- No.
Now I see him every morning
when I take my daughter to school.
- Has this person ever battered you?
- Battered me?
Has he come into
purposeful bodily contact with you?
Has he hit you? Has he pushed you?
No, nothing like that.
Unless there's evidence of assault and
battery, there's very little we can do here.
What do I do? What? Do I shove him,
push him, provoke him?
Get the son of a bitch to hit me? What
does it take to get you to do something?
Look, Mr Templeton, I'm sorry,
but there's no law that says
that people can't be on the city streets
wherever and whenever they'd like to be.
- I got one.
- OK.
Look, Mom, "slaughter".
- Oh! That's good.
- 13.
(phone rings)
Be right back.
No peeking at my pieces.
Hello?
- Hello?
- (man) Is she all right?
- Bill?
- I didn't see lvy at school this morning.
- Is she all right?
- (phone clicks)
(dead line)
- 89, 90. Ten. Thank you.
- Thank you.
- You've gotta give me another ten.
- What do you mean?
- You gave me a $10 bill.
- I gave you $20.
- You just gave me a ten. Look.
- Mister, I only had a $20 bill in my wallet.
You probably misread the bill.
Can you see the register?
Hey. What's the matter with you?
(goods knocked over)
It's so beautiful.
It's fantastic. I love it.
- Thank you.
- Hey. What?
What's so fantastic? Well, now.
- Where did you find this?
- On top of the worktops, where you put it.
- What's going on?
- Daddy bought me a purse.
I found the package in the groceries
with my name on it.
- Oh, it's gorgeous, Bill.
- Yeah.
It's the first grown-up present
I've ever gotten.
And the colours are just like
the paintings in the ceiling. I love it.
- You didn't buy the purse.
- No.
He did. That man.
- How long have you known about him?
- Oh, my God, Bill. It's lvy he's after.
- Why do you say that?
- Well, the way he looks at her.
And this morning he called just to see
how she was. And now the purse.
Oh, Bill, please, let's call the police.
I went to them already.
Honey, there's nothing they can do
unless he draws blood.
(door buzzer)
- Morning.
- Morning, Mrs Templeton.
It's a clipping from Who's Who.
Hoover, Elliot Suggens. PhD. Metallurgist.
Born London, England. Educated
King's College, University of London,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Wife, Sylvia Flora. Daughter, Audrey Rose.
Vice president, Unified Steel Corporation,
Pittsburgh. Writer. Lecturer.
- Published numerous articles.
- Take it to the police.
It's not enough.
All it is is a couple of facts about his life.
We can't even that prove he sent it.
- Then what are we going to do?
- I'll tell you what I'm gonna do.
Next time I see him, I'll grab him
and find out what it's all about.
- Be very careful.
- Honey, you be careful.
If he bothers you at school today,
just call a cop.
OK.
- Right, take it easy or I'll run you both in.
- (shouting)
The ambulance will be here soon, ma'am.
You'll be all right. I've got your bag.
Come on, keep moving.
Give her some air. Come on.
Oh, my God, lvy! What time is it?
- 3.20.
- I have to go.
- Take it easy.
- I have to go. I have to get my daughter.
(thunderclap)
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy!
Lvy is at home, Mrs Templeton.
I helped her across the street.
She's waiting in the lobby for you.
Here, you dropped your purse
on the sidewalk.
We must talk. I'm certain now. Please.
Who are you? What do you want?
Tell your husband
I'll phone him this evening. Please.
You wait right there, young lady.
You are never, never, to leave school
without me. Do you understand me?
Under no circumstances
are you to go away with strangers.
You sit in that school office, and if you
have to, you just wait and wait and wait.
- Do you understand me, lvy?
- (crying) Mommy, you're hurting me.
- (lvy weeps)
- I'm sorry.
(rings)
- Mr Templeton?
- What is it you want?
- Why are you bothering us?
- My name is Elliot Hoover.
Now, look, I must see you and your wife.
It's very important.
Um... We could meet around the corner
at Severino's Restaurant. It's quiet there.
That's impossible.
We can't leave our child alone.
Well, Carole Rothman might be willing
to sit with lvy for an hour or so, surely?
- Mr Templeton?
- I'll see.
Let's say 9.30.
If that's convenient, of course.
I'll see.
Call the police.
Not until I find out
what the hell this is all about, babe.
(chatter)
Mr Templeton!
Mrs Templeton.
It's very quiet in here.
I... I've reserved a table.
Look, I want to thank you both
very much for seeing me.
Good evening.
Would you like something,
Mrs Templeton?
- Well, not for me, thank you.
- Scotch, Maria.
Ah, yes, I'll have tea.
Do you have any Chinese gunpowder?
I'll see if we have some.
For two weeks a man with a beard has
been bugging my family. Is that man you?
Yes.
I apologise for that.
But all the subterfuge, the disguise,
were absolutely necessary
before this meeting could take place.
- I had to be sure.
- Of what?
Well, things had to be right
before we met.
Let me explain.
It's taken me a very long time,
seven years, in fact,
seven years of travel,
investigation and study,
calling for a total reconditioning
of all my spiritual...
What the hell are you talking about?
I'll try and make things
as clear as I'm able to, Mr Templeton.
But first there are some things that you
must know. Some very complex things.
So I'll begin at the beginning.
11 years ago, I was a very happy man.
I had a family.
A wonderful wife
and a lovely daughter.
My daughter's name was Audrey Rose.
She was five when she died.
Everything that was good seemed
to shine from her eyes, you know?
Anyway, there was
an automobile accident and...
It happened just outside Pittsburgh.
There was a storm
and their car just went off the road.
It was very quick, very sudden.
Thank you.
Naturally, the loss of my wife and
my daughter was quite unbearable.
I don't know how I existed. One day I had
a feeling that Audrey Rose was near me.
We didn't have any Chinese gunpowder,
sir, so I brought you Formosa oolong.
Thank you, Maria.
I still don't understand what you're saying
and why you're saying it to us.
All right.
About a year after the accident,
a friend took me to a dinner party.
One of the guests was a psychic.
A clairvoyant.
She told me everything I had done
since I was a boy,
and then she began
to talk about my daughter, Audrey Rose,
describing her as if she were alive.
I asked her to stop, but she wouldn't.
I remember I began to cry,
because I couldn't help it,
and she leaned over
and she asked me why I was crying.
So I told her that my wife
and my daughter were dead.
But she said no.
No, my wife was at peace,
but my daughter was alive.
I thought it was a poor joke. I couldn't
believe that anybody could be that cruel.
Then a few months later I happened to be
here in New York City on a business trip.
One night I was passing the Town Hall
and I saw advertised on the marquee
outside, "Eric Lloyd, clairvoyant."
Anyway, after the lecture,
or the demonstration, whatever,
I went back and saw Mr Lloyd
in his dressing room
and, like the woman at the party,
he told me very accurate things.
Very accurate things indeed.
Things about my daughter, Audrey Rose.
Again, describing her
as if she were alive,
but this time giving me details
of the home she lived in.
It was an apartment
here in New York City
that had a lovely ceiling
with classic paintings set into it.
And even the room in which she slept,
with the yellow and white curtains.
The matching canopy bed.
The...
The giant panda
and the aquarium in the corner.
She had come back, he said.
Audrey Rose had come back...
(cup clatters, Janice gasps)
I'm terribly sorry.
I'm sorry, Mrs Templeton,
this must be a shock to you.
I can understand what a blow
your daughter's death must've been,
how hard it was for you to accept.
But what you're saying now...
Reincarnation, is that what you're saying?
There's no mistake, Mr Templeton.
The very moment I saw lvy,
I could recognise
all the subtle qualities
that once belonged to Audrey Rose.
Mr Hoover, you can believe what you
want, but please don't involve my family.
- You're wanted on the phone.
- Excuse me.
- Mrs Templeton, can we talk?
- No, excuse me. I have to go see...
All right, we'll be right up.
- What is it?
- Ivy.
- Ivy? What's the matter?
- I don't know.
- Mr Templeton, we haven't finished.
- Yes, Mr Hoover, we have finished.
We have listened to your story.
We're very sorry for you.
But leave us alone.
Don't follow us. Don't phone us.
Your problem is not our problem.
(whimpers)
Sweetie. Ivy.
(lvy moans and cries)
- Sweetie.
- Daddy... Daddy...
Daddy... Daddy... Daddy...
Shh. Wake up, honey.
Shh. Hi.
Hi, sweetheart.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Hi, Daddy. What are you doing here?
I just came
to kiss my princess good night.
- I'm glad you're here.
- I'll always be here, darling.
It's all right. Do call.
I'll be home all morning.
OK. Good night.
Oh, Bill,
those nightmares twice in one week.
Honey, come on. Don't panic, babe.
You know the pattern.
They come and they go.
Take her to see Dr Kaplan tomorrow, huh?
OK.
- What about Elliot Hoover?
- Oh, honey, he's a fanatic, a weirdo.
The city's full of 'em.
- What if he isn't?
- You believe his story?
Well, he believes it. He sincerely believes
everything he's saying.
I know it's crazy, but there's something
about the way he looked.
(phone rings)
- Heavens.
- Don't worry.
- Hello?
- Mr Templeton? It's Elliot Hoover.
Hoover, I've had enough of you.
Leave us alone or I'll take steps
to see that you do. Understand?
(slams down phone)
I don't know if he's an extortionist,
or a nut, as you say,
or a man who believes this to be so.
We're talking about an area that a lot
of people don't know anything about.
When I was a boy,
every Shabbos we used to sit around
and listen to my grandfather
tell stories about the dybbuk,
an evil spirit
who could come and invade bodies.
- What's that got to do with this?
- That every religion has its mysteries.
- Come on, Russ.
- OK, scoff.
But on Friday nights, when the candles
were lit and he spoke of the dybbuk,
he scared the hell out of us.
Question. Did this Hoover
make any demands upon you?
No, but there's no saying he won't.
Russ, we are being primed
for some kind of a shakedown.
- Is it possible to contact him?
- It's impossible to avoid him!
- He's been calling the office all morning.
- Good. Invite him to your home.
Are you crazy?
I won't let that lunatic into my house.
I'm your lawyer.
I need to know what he's after.
Extortion. Blackmail. Ivy.
You sit him down and drag this out
very specifically from him.
I'll write out the questions,
you memorise them and ask them.
Bill, I'll be there. I'll be your witness.
It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible.
You know, it's exactly
as Eric Lloyd described it.
Ceiling paintings.
Oh, my...
The huge windows.
And the carved fireplace.
It's unbelievable.
- Would you have a seat, Mr Hoover?
- Certainly.
A couple of psychics told you
your daughter had come back to life.
- Is that right?
- Yes, that is correct.
Do you know the whereabouts
of these psychics?
No. You see,
I never did know the woman's name,
and Eric Lloyd died three years ago.
Too bad. So there's nobody around who
could remember having said this to you?
No.
Well,
why didn't you contact us back then?
Well, at the time, Mr Templeton,
to be quite honest,
I was a scoffer and a disbeliever.
As you are now.
I must admit, it took me many years
of seeking and searching
in order to be convinced of the truth.
You see, Mrs Templeton, I went to India,
where I learned of a way of life
that was totally alien to mine.
But in time, with the help
and the wisdom of simple people,
I came to know the reality
of their religious convictions
and to know the truth of reincarnation.
There are over 12 million people
in this city.
How did we become
the beneficiaries of your search?
Well, now,
that was a process of elimination.
According to Eric Lloyd, she lived
somewhere in New York City
in a lovely apartment exactly like this one.
Her age would now be 11.
Let me put it this way,
Mr and Mrs Templeton.
Audrey Rose died October 3rd, 1965.
- That's lvy's birthday.
- Yeah...
Audrey Rose died
at approximately 8.20 in the morning.
Ivy was born at 8.22.
So... just like that, huh?
Dead one minute, back to life the next.
Don't you think that's a little unusual?
No, not really.
You see,
there are many of schools of thought
as to the precise moment that the soul
unites with the body, Mr Templeton.
In Tibet, for example,
it is generally believed
that the Dalai Lama is reincarnated
at the very instant of his death.
What is it you want?
Nothing more nor less than you and
your good wife are prepared to give me.
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Well, I'd just like the chance
to see lvy occasionally,
to watch her grow, to be of help if needed.
She would never have to know
about Audrey Rose.
(screams)
(screaming)
(screams)
Oh, my God.
Don't shock her.
Remember what the doctor said.
- Ivy!
- (Janice) Oh, my God!
Bill, she can't seem to hear us.
(Bill) lvy, baby, it's Mommy and Daddy.
Honey, wake up.
(screams)
(wails)
Lvy... Sweetheart. Ivy! Lvy!
(Janice) lvy... Oh, Bill, be careful.
Ivy... Oh, my God.
- (lvy screams)
- Baby. Bill, be careful with her.
- Oh, my God.
- (screaming)
- Be careful, Bill.
- Ivy!
Lvy, it's Daddy. Wake up.
Audrey Rose!
(screaming intensifies)
Audrey... Audrey Rose...
Audrey...
(shrieks)
(screaming)
Audrey... Audrey Rose...
Audrey! Audrey! Audrey Rose!
Audrey Rose...
Audrey, Audrey...
Audrey, it's me, it's Daddy.
Audrey... Audrey Rose... Audrey,
it's me, it's Daddy. It's Daddy, it's me.
It's Daddy here. It's Daddy, Audrey.
Audrey, it's Daddy, it's me.
It's Dada. Dada. Come on, darling.
Come on, it's me.
- Daddy?
- It's Daddy.
It's Daddy. Yes, it's Daddy.
Come on.
Yes, come on, come on, it's all right.
It's Dada. Daddy.
Come on, it's Daddy.
It's all right. It's Daddy. Come on.
Come on, come on, it's Daddy, it's Dada.
- Yes, come on. Come on, darling.
- Daddy?
It's gonna be all right. Yeah, it's me.
It's Daddy. It's Dada. It's all right.
(she weeps)
(Hoover sobs) Audrey...
Audrey Rose...
Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Templeton,
Mrs Templeton...
You see...
Sorry. You see, it was the accident.
There was a fire.
The car windows were closed.
The car windows were closed
and she couldn't get out.
She couldn't get out of the car
and I'm told it lasted for several minutes.
Forgive me.
The windows were closed. She couldn't...
Sorry.
My God.
I had no idea this was happening.
- I think she'll be all right now.
- You bastard!
- (Russ) Bill, enough!
- Damn you, Hoover! Damn you!
You better get out of here.
Damn you, Hoover!
- (Russ) Get going.
- I'm sorry. Please. I'll go.
I'll go. I'll go.
My God.
Bill.
- Bill.
- Honey.
Oh, honey.
It was the radiator. She burned them
on the radiator, honey. Call Dr Kaplan.
Right.
- Dad... Daddy?
- Yes, princess, Daddy's here.
Daddy's here.
- Get some sleep.
- He's crazy. He's crazy, isn't he?
Just relax. I'll go to court tomorrow and
get an injunction. We'll put a stop to this.
Russ, thanks.
What is going on?
What's happening to lvy?
She had a nightmare, honey.
She's had them before.
Yes, and always around her birthday.
Two years ago they happened in October.
When she was six,
they happened at exactly the same time.
Janice, please.
- How did she burn her hands?
- On the radiator.
The radiator was
nowhere near the window.
What are you building? The room
was dark. It was confusing and chaotic.
I saw her burn her hands
on a cold window.
You think you saw that.
You only think you saw that.
Russ saw it too.
I could tell by the look on his face.
Honey, it didn't happen.
Bill, she burned her hands
on a cold window.
Janice.
Honey, please listen to me.
What you're building here is not for me.
I can't accept it. I don't believe it.
When I die, it's gonna be the end of me.
- No.
- No wings, no harps, no pitchforks.
Nothing.
It's done, it's the end, it's finished.
No floating around some maternity ward
waiting to sneak into the body
of some unsuspecting infant.
He'd resent it and I'd feel very horrified.
Don't laugh, Janice. I'm not kidding.
(phone rings)
- Janice?
- Oh, Bill.
Look, darling, I'm gonna be delayed here.
I'm locked up with a client.
Will you be home for dinner?
No, it's the full treatment.
It could be late.
- How's lvy?
- OK.
Dr Kaplan just left.
He redressed her hands.
Did he say anything?
He thinks we should
take her to a psychiatrist.
OK. Any calls?
No.
Good. Look, I'll be home as soon as I can
break away from this thing, all right?
- OK.
- OK, bye.
Bye.
(lifts phone off hook)
What's that for?
There's a draught coming through
the panes. Ow! Damn screen.
Watch your language, Mother.
There are children present.
- (lvy giggles)
- (phone rings)
- That's the house phone.
- Thank you very much!
Hello?
There's a Mr Hoover on the line,
Mrs Templeton.
- Tell him I'm not at home.
- Yes, ma'am.
(heavy rain)
(lvy screams)
- Dr Kaplan's service.
- Yes, Dr Kaplan, please.
- Name?
- This is Mrs Templeton. Where is he?
(faint screaming)
(screams)
Oh... Oh...
(phone rings)
- Dr Kaplan?
- Mrs Templeton.
There's a Mr Hoover
down here in the lobby.
- Send him up.
- (lvy) Daddy! Daddy!
(screaming)
(shrieking) Daddy! Daddy!
(screaming)
- Hurry, please.
- (lvy) Daddy!
Daddy! Daddy!
Daddy... Daddy!
Audrey Rose. Audrey Rose.
Audrey Rose.
Audrey... Audrey... Audrey Rose.
- Daddy...
- Audrey... Audrey...
It's Daddy. It's Daddy.
It's Daddy.
Audrey, it's Daddy. It's Daddy.
It's Daddy. Come on, it's Daddy.
It's Daddy. Dada. Yeah.
It's Daddy. It's your daddy.
It's Dada. Dada.
- Daddy?
- Yes, come on.
Audrey, yeah, it's Daddy.
Come on. Come on.
All right. All right.
Shh. It's OK, it's all right. Yes.
It's all right.
It's all right. It's Daddy.
Yes, it's all right.
Daddy...
Shh.
Shh.
Oh, my God, I am heartily sorry
for having offended thee
and I detest all my sins because I dread
the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all
because they offend thee, my God,
who art all good
and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve now,
with the help of thy grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance,
and to amend my life. Amen.
Mea culpa. Mea culpa.
Mea maxima culpa.
Mrs Templeton.
It's all right.
Why don't you sit down?
Sit down. Try and relax.
This might sting a little.
Mrs Templeton.
Please try and understand,
and believe me, I know you don't take
the responsibilities of your child lightly,
but we are dealing here
with something else,
something greater than your daughter's
physical being or physical welfare.
We're dealing with a soul
that is indestructible
and yet it is struggling to get free
because it is in terrible pain and torment,
a pain and torment as real and tangible
as the actual physical terror
experienced by Audrey Rose
at the moment her body was consumed
by that terrible fire of 11 years ago.
It's... just... a... nightmare.
Come on, Mrs Templeton, please.
Listen, your daughter is in mortal danger.
Do you know that?
She could possibly die
if you don't listen to what I'm telling you.
Now, try to understand.
As long as a soul is unprepared to accept
the laws and responsibilities of its karma,
it cannot exist in this earth life, it cannot
exist on this earth plane. It has to go back.
I don't understand a word you are saying.
It's quite simple, Mrs Templeton.
My daughter's soul returned too soon.
Wait a minute.
What do you mean, your daughter?
Her soul? This is my daughter
we're talking about, my child.
- It's all right, you don't understand.
- I don't want to understand.
Why, you... You are crazy. You're nuts.
My husband said so
and I want you out of here.
- It's just your fear talking.
- No, it is me talking.
I am telling you that my daughter
is not possessed.
I'm not talking about possession,
but reincarnation.
- Please listen to me. Come here.
- No! No!
I'm not gonna hurt you. Look at me.
What is it you really fear, eh?
Listen to me. Two people, two strangers,
came into my life and changed it.
Eric Lloyd was one of them.
He told me a story that was so incredible
it took complete hold of me
and made my heart search
for the very truth of existence itself.
All right, I know, it sounds bizarre.
But I went to India, where I found
a way of life that was indescribable.
I found brutalising poverty,
starvation, death, pestilence.
But I also found something else.
With all the misery
that those people had to face,
there was still a great spiritual peace
and joy in their lives
because they believe...
they believe that this life is not the end.
Life and death are not the end.
And I believe that now
without a shadow of doubt.
This life, the end? No.
This is one act
in a vast cosmic drama, that's all.
Oh, yes, our bodies die,
our aged vessels crack,
releasing the ensnared soul yet again
on its vast journey homewards,
through many lifetimes, many lifetimes,
improving with each new life.
Not only do I believe this beyond
a shadow of doubt, Mrs Templeton,
but 700 million other people
also believe it.
Please.
Please, won't you open your heart and try
to understand what I'm telling you?
Please. Please say you will try.
Please.
What is it you want from me?
I want your trust and your help.
That's all I want.
The soul of a child
is crying out for help
and we must form a bond, a bond so tight,
so filled with all the love that you have,
all the love that I have,
that we can mend her.
Mend her soul?
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Together we can try.
I... I just want to be close to her, to pray
for her, to do good for her, that's all I want.
You see, Audrey Rose
was only five when she died.
In her brief time on earth,
she was just coming to an awareness
of the spiritual beauties of life.
I believe if God is willing -
only if God is willing -
that we can bring her soul
back to that awareness.
But I need your help in this.
Look.
We are both a part of this child,
Mrs Templeton.
We both had to do with the making of her.
You and I.
Now, don't turn your back on me now.
Because if you do,
you turn your back on lvy.
(phone rings)
Hello?
This is Dr Kaplan, Janice. You called me?
Oh, yes, Dr Kaplan, I did.
- What seems to be the matter?
- No, no, nothing is the matter.
I'll call you in the morning.
- I'll be at home if you should need me.
- Yes.
- OK?
- Fine.
- Good night.
- Goodbye.
Try and get some sleep.
We'll talk again tomorrow.
Good night.
(door closes)
Thank you.
You let him in, Janice.
You let him in. Why?
- Ivy went crazy, Bill. I needed help.
- Help?
Why didn't you call the office
and find out where I'd taken the client?
Or call the elevator man or Russ. Why
did you let somebody like that in here?
Bill, lvy went crazy. She was
hurting herself and he was there.
What are you talking about? He's a nut.
He was in the building,
and he helped her before.
A nut, that's what he is. He's some kind
of a magician. He's got you hypnotised.
He's taken you in. You let him.
Sure I let him. You saw the living room -
the furniture overturned, the curtain torn.
What do you think did that, a cyclone?
Our daughter did that. Ivy.
She was out of control, she was crazy,
hurting herself, and I couldn't stop her.
You're crazy.
He's gotten you crazy, Janice.
That's right, yes.
He also scares me and he panics me.
But he comes in here and he calls her
that name and she hears him.
She listens and goes to him,
and just falls asleep in his arms.
- Bullshit!
- Don't you ever say that to me.
Don't ever speak to me that way again.
Where were you when I needed you?
Out drinking with some goddamn client.
- Stop it, Janice.
- Don't you... Don't you touch me.
Stay away from me. You saw her hands.
Why did that happen, Bill?
Why does she scream and cry and yell?
Do you think what's happening
to her is normal, for God's sake?
No, it's not normal. Honey, she is sick.
- Baby, we're gonna get help for her.
- He was here. He took care of her.
We'll take her to see the psychiatrist.
- We'll find out what's wrong with her.
- He was here and you weren't.
Oh, baby, honey, I'll be here,
from now on I'll be here.
Look, I'll take time off,
whatever time is necessary.
Baby, I'll be with you and lvy. Honey,
I'll be with both of you. I love you.
I love my family very much, honey.
(bell tolls)
- Here, let's try one more.
- OK.
Mom.
Look, no hands.
If I burned them on the radiator
going to the bathroom,
how come I didn't wake up?
Because we put ointment on them
very quickly and burns only hurt later on.
Oh, yeah, like the time I got sunburnt
on the beach last summer.
It took hours to hurt.
My birthday's tomorrow.
Did you pick something nice for me?
Yep, it's all picked, wrapped,
ribboned and waiting to be opened.
- How about a pizza and going home?
- With cream soda?
- The works.
- Mom, let's go home.
Come on, Mom, I'm hungry.
Let's go home. We're gonna buy a pizza.
- (lvy screams)
- Ivy!
Damn it. Ivy! Lvy!
Janice, help me. Ivy!
- (screaming)
- (buzzer)
It's Kaplan, honey.
Stay with her. Stay with her.
Ivy. Ivy.
- Ah, Mr Templeton.
- How the hell did you get up here?
Please let me explain.
Please, Mr Templeton!
Come on. Please. I'm sorry.
- I'll kill you, you son of a...
- Please. Please.
Please, Mr... (chokes)
Hurry, call the police.
(lvy screams)
Stop it! Stop it!
Audrey Rose! Audrey, I'm coming.
- Bill!
- (door slams/lock clicks)
Oh, my God. Bill, the door. The door.
Get a cop.
The son of a bitch has got my kid.
They're on the way.
- Open the door, you son of a bitch.
- Bill!
Will somebody ring for the elevator
and get a pass key?
The guy's a kook, he's a psycho.
Will you hurry?
Bill. Bill, it's all right. He won't hurt her.
Will you keep out of this?
I've had enough of this bullshit. Hoover!
Dominick,
bring me the pass key, come on.
Open up. Hurry.
Hoover!
Hoover!
- Hoover!
- What's the trouble?
A man is in my house with my child.
He assaulted me and he's locked us out.
- Do you know this man?
- His name is Elliot Hoover.
Wait, wait, wait,
the service entrance. Of course.
My God, he's taken her. Hoover!
- Stand back here.
- Hoover!
Lvy!
Hoover!
Lvy!
They're gone.
He's kidnapped lvy.
Just today, Mr Hoover sublet a suite
on the eighth floor. Number 802.
This way. Come on.
Hoover!
We'll handle this, sir.
Mr Hoover, I'm a police officer.
Open the door.
Mr Hoover, I will ask you
once again to open the door.
- No.
- Open the door, you bastard.
That will do, sir.
Mr Hoover, please open the door.
No. There has been
enough insanity for one night.
Is there a child on your premises?
Yes. She's sleeping peacefully.
Does this child belong to this person?
- No, she's mine.
- He has no child.
He's a nut. Now break it down.
Mr Hoover, I will give you
30 seconds to open the door.
Daddy...
My name is Michael Noonan. Police
officer first class, badge number 1433.
You're under arrest on suspicion
of the felony of kidnapping.
You have the right to remain silent,
the right to legal counsel.
If you give up these rights,
anything you say
will be used against you in a court of law.
Do you understand these rights?
There is nothing more I can do than to
ask you to listen to your own heartbeat.
Just feel what you're feeling right now.
Think what you're thinking right now.
You're watching me
trying to convince you of things
that you don't care about,
you don't believe.
But I'm telling you
there are lives at stake right now
and I tell you from the bottom
of my heart this child lives.
She lives!
Audrey Rose lives!
Her soul has crossed over that veil
of darkness into a new earth life
and now resides in the body of the child
who is called lvy Templeton.
And so, four months after his arrest,
and after five hard weeks of jury selection
and the presentation
of the prosecution's case,
the defence of Elliot Hoover
finally gets underway.
Among the first witnesses
will be Gupta Pradesh,
the holy man from Benares, India,
the maharishi,
whose task it will be
to convince 12 American jurors
of the truth of reincarnation,
which will form the basis
of the defence's case -
a case unique in the annals
of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence,
a case that has riveted
the attention of the entire world.
Many of you look upon death
as the ending to life,
a leap into an eternal nothingness
from which there is no return.
Because of this, you are filled
with dread and despair,
even rage, at the injustice of death.
We in India are not afraid of death.
Our bodies,
because they are material, can die,
but the soul, which is spirit, can never die.
That is the difference
between matter and spirit.
In India, our belief in reincarnation
inspires us to love all people.
For in the course
of our numerous rebirths,
we have been parents,
children and friends to one another.
For us, death is not the end to life,
but a momentary separation,
a fragile respite in the astral cosmos,
where the soul must wait
and through meditation seek to clothe
itself in the higher spiritual garments
before attempting rebirth
in the next earth life.
Now, please understand me.
When a person dies in my country
and we set flame to the body
and watch as it is consumed,
we do not grieve for the body that is lost,
for the Bhagavad-Gita assures us
that as a man casts off worn-out garments
and takes new ones,
so the soul casts off old bodies
and enters into others that are new,
and so our minds are freed
from the fear of death
and we are able to live each earth life
in a spiritually productive manner,
for we are certain that the end is good
and all are blessed,
even to the final atom
in the scale of being.
(he hears Hindu devotional singing)
(they sing a Latin hymn)
# Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
# Alleluia!
Freak!
We found it on one of the girls
and now it's all over the school.
In spite of everything
we tried to do to shield lvy, we failed.
I'm sorry, Mrs Templeton.
Ivy seems to love it here so.
Her nightmares have lessened
and she's been so happy.
Until this.
Will you speak with lvy
and explain to her the truth of the matter?
She doesn't understand and is frightened.
Yes, of course I will. May I keep her
with me overnight at the motel?
Certainly.
- Then I am a freak. The girls are right.
- No.
No, no, lvy,
it does not mean that you are a freak.
Now, let me see.
Well, you see, this man,
he's a very lonely man.
And he sees something in you
that reminds him of his daughter,
who he loved very much,
but he lost her.
But you can't believe that.
There's no way.
It's just not possible.
Is it possible or not?
Lvy.
Mr Hoover seems to think so.
But...
It can't be true. I'm my own self
and I'm not somebody else.
- No wonder the girls are being so mean.
- Oh, lvy.
I'm so sorry about all of this.
Listen, I'm taking you home with me.
But Sylvester will be crowned day after
tomorrow. Can't I stay for that at least?
We've all worked so hard on him.
Well...
You want to?
OK.
I love you.
And yet it'd be really wonderful,
wouldn't it, Mom?
Lt'd be fantastic.
What would be fantastic, babe?
To live for ever and ever and never die.
Wouldn't it be wonderful, Mom?
Yeah.
Yep, it would be wonderful.
It'd be really terrific.
- I love you.
- I love you too, baby.
(lvy whispers) Audrey...
Hey, Audrey.
(whispering) Audrey Rose. Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey Rose.
Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey Rose.
Audrey.
Audrey Rose.
Audrey. Audrey Rose.
Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey.
Audrey.
Audrey Rose.
Hey, Audrey.
Audrey.
Audrey.
Call Janice Templeton.
She knows the truth.
She knows in her heart that I'm
her only hope, if her child is to live.
So, please, do as I say
and put her on the stand.
Her aim is to put you in jail, Mr Hoover.
Quiet in the courtroom. Rise, please.
Be seated.
Mr Mack, call your next witness.
The defence calls Mary Lou Sides.
Do you solemnly swear
that the testimony you may give
in the case now appearing
before this court
shall be the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, so help you God?
I do.
11 years ago, Miss Sides,
1965, October 3rd,
you were driving
on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, correct?
Yes.
You were involved in an accident
with another car.
Yes.
An accident that left you paralysed.
Yes.
Who was in the other car?
A woman named Sylvia Flora Hoover.
And her daughter...
Audrey Rose.
Now, Miss Sides, I want you to tell the
jury exactly what happened that morning,
as you saw it.
I was on my way to work, travelling east.
It was stormy.
Sheets of rain and hail.
I couldn't see.
I tried to slow the car down,
but it began to skid.
I tried to control the car, but I couldn't,
the wheel just twisted around in my hand.
And then there was
this car coming toward me.
And we hit each other.
We crashed.
We crashed.
The other car went over the guard rail
and down this steep embankment
and landed in a gully.
And then I saw...
I saw the face of a girl.
A little girl.
She was looking
out of the window of the car.
She was screaming.
Screaming and crying.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
"Daddy! Daddy!"
And all at once the car went up in flames.
It was horrible.
And I can see the girl, screaming and
beating her hands against the window,
and screaming,
"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!"
(girls) # Old Man Winter, disappear
# Stay away for one more year
# Old Man Winter, cold and done
# Leave us be, we matter none
# Old Man Winter, go away
(singing continues)
(faintly) Stop her! Stop her!
Sister!
Stop her! Stop her!
(singing continues)
The child! Stop her!
Stop her!
The child! Stop her!
Stop her! Stop her!
Stop her! The child!
The child! Stop her!
(she screams)
(girls scream)
Lucky she was so well bundled
and there was all that snow around.
Her body was completely untouched.
Her face took some heat. However, there's
no indication of respiratory-tract damage.
Nothing like this
has ever happened at St Luke's.
And it needn't have happened this time.
What I'm saying is it was no accident.
Your daughter literally walked
then crawled into that fire.
I'd like a muffin.
- Baby.
- Hi, Daddy.
- Please don't touch her.
- Hello, angel.
They said
I walked into the fire on purpose.
- I don't remember anything about it.
- Who said you did that, honey?
- Mother did.
- She's wrong.
What do you build fires for?
What business has that in a convent?
We send our children to you for peace
and protection, and you build fires.
- What's happening to me, Daddy?
- It was an accident, honey.
But what made me do it?
Why? Why did I do it, Daddy? Why?
It's all right now, princess.
It's all over, honey.
Janice?
- And you had a visitor that night?
- Yes.
Er... Mr Hoover arrived at the apartment
house... er... some time around eleven.
- Did you ask him up?
- Yes.
- Why did you ask him up?
- Well, I needed help.
- But wasn't the doctor coming?
- I needed Mr Hoover's help.
Now, Your Honour, if it please the court.
It has come to my attention that Mrs
Templeton suffered a trauma yesterday,
brought about by the injury
of her daughter in an accident.
Mrs Templeton
is in a highly emotional state.
She should be spared
the burden of testifying.
This is a device by the prosecution
to prevent the witness from testifying.
He knows that this witness's testimony
will destroy the prosecution's case.
Mrs Templeton,
do you feel able to continue?
- Yes, I do. I want to continue.
- Proceed, Mr Mack.
Thank you, Your Honour.
And did Mr Hoover help you?
Yes, almost at once.
Ivy seemed to recognise him
and rushed into his arms
and, as he was comforting her,
she fell asleep.
Mrs Templeton...
do you believe in reincarnation?
I do now.
Mrs Templeton,
do you believe that your daughter lvy
is the reincarnation
of Mr Hoover's daughter Audrey Rose?
Yes.
(murmuring)
Order!
Mrs Templeton,
do you believe that Mr Hoover
kidnapped your daughter?
No, I do not.
I believe that the only help my daughter
will ever receive on this earth
is through Mr Hoover.
The only chance she has of living
is if this man is released from jail.
- (commotion)
- Order!
Order! Order!
(sparse applause)
Order!
Your Honour, that's our case.
Mr Velie, you may cross-examine.
Your Honour.
In view of Mrs Templeton's testimony,
and because
of her overwrought condition,
I request a recess
until tomorrow morning.
Very well. Court will reconvene
tomorrow morning at 9.00am.
Ruth, place a call to Doctors' Hospital
in Porchester.
I'd like to speak to the physician
in charge of lvy Templeton's case.
This whole thing is outlandish.
A test like that could not
possibly be conclusive
and it could prove dangerous to the child.
How about that, Mr Velie?
There is an element of danger here.
Well,
the father has granted his permission.
I've been assured by the doctor that she
is physically able to withstand the test.
He foresees no problems
from such an experiment.
He's even willing to provide
the facilities to conduct it.
- Any precedents for such an experiment?
- Yes.
In Wyler vs Fairchild,
the court permitted a witness to testify
after undergoing hypnosis and did not
consider it an abuse of discretion.
He is trying to stampede the jury,
a circus show for the sole purpose
of ridiculing my client and his beliefs.
All right, let's drop the formalities, boys.
Now, I've given you a hell of a wide
latitude in presenting your case.
And now you want me
to restrict the prosecution's right
to pursue its own path
to the truth on rebuttal?
Scott, I don't know
about this test of yours.
If I'm gonna permit it,
I want to know the specifications -
who's going to conduct it,
what his qualifications are,
and if there is any possibility
of it being harmful to the child.
I think I can satisfy your doubts,
Your Honour.
I'll reserve my decision until you do.
(phone rings)
Hello?
Judge Langley's office. Court will convene
this morning at Doctors' Hospital.
- The hospital? When?
- 9.00.
It's a hypnotic test on your daughter.
- Has my husband given permission?
- Mr Templeton has agreed to the test...
Dr Dorman, you are wanted in emergency.
Judge Langley!
Judge Langley, I object to this test.
I won't have my child submit to it.
Mrs Templeton, I have been personally
assured by the psychiatrist
that no possible harm can come
to your child as a result of the test.
Please, try to understand.
Your husband, who has equal rights of
consent in this matter, agrees to the test.
Now, I realise this
is a very unusual matter.
- When it's ajar.
- (they laugh)
Hi, Mom.
Hi, sweetheart. Could I have
a few moments alone with my daughter?
Why, certainly.
They're going to hypnotise me
to find out why I do these things.
You're not going through with it.
I'm not gonna let them do it.
But I want to. I want to know what's wrong
with me. I want to know who I am.
Who you are?
You are lvy Templeton, my daughter.
- But Mr Hoover says I'm his daughter.
- Ivy, you are my child.
I'm not sure any more who I am, Mom.
And I want to know. I've gotta know.
- I am taking you home with me.
- No, I wanna stay.
Janice.
I wanna talk to you outside.
You mustn't let them do this to her.
I know what you want.
To turn my child over to Elliot Hoover.
No, I want what's best for her.
I am doing what's best for her.
Now, if you don't mind, they're ready.
No, please, Bill.
For God's sake, please don't do this.
Don't do what? Destroy the man
who's robbing me of my family?
Don't destroy our child.
What we're attempting
is unique in the annals of psychiatry.
To regress a subject hypnotically
into a former lifetime has never,
to my knowledge, fallen with the purview
of serious psychiatric inquiry.
True, there are hypnotists who have had
subjects claim, under hypnosis,
that they've lived before,
and that while in the hypnotic state
had spoken languages that they
did not know in the awakened state.
While I have never participated in
nor witnessed such an event,
I am here at the behest of the court
to perform a function
for which I have been trained
and am licensed to perform.
I will be hypnotising the subject who
will be brought to me while you watch.
But as observers it is important
you stay totally alert and awake,
completely alert and awake.
Before I bring in the subject,
let me warn you that regression
will frequently arouse memories
of a traumatic nature.
The subject may even cry out
or display bizarre personality changes.
This is normal and to be expected,
but will not prove harmful to the child
in any permanent way.
We'll now bring her in.
Hello, lvy. Come over here.
Sit right here, hm?
Thank you.
Now, relax, lvy.
Relax and allow every muscle
in your body to become loose and limp.
Now, as we discussed this morning,
you will not be harmed in any way,
but would simply
begin to feel very relaxed.
Very relaxed.
Very comfortable.
So that you will wish
to go to sleep for a while.
You will not mind
going to sleep for a while?
- No, I won't mind.
- Good.
Soon you will begin to feel relaxed.
And more comfortable.
More and more comfortable.
Watch the light, lvy. Keep watching it.
Now, as you're watching it, you're
beginning to feel your eyes grow heavy.
Your eyelids are getting heavier,
so heavy that you want to close them.
Your eyelids are getting heavier.
And you're finding it harder and harder
to keep them open.
Your eyelids are getting so heavy...
so heavy...
so heavy...
that you cannot keep them open.
So heavy... that you must close them.
Must close them...
close them...
close them.
There.
You cannot open your eyes.
They're so heavy
that they simply must stay closed.
You're safe and snug
and fully asleep now.
Fully asleep.
When I wish to awaken you,
I will count to five.
I will say "Awaken, lvy" and you will
awaken promptly. Do you understand?
- Yes.
- Good.
Now that you're deeply asleep
and completely relaxed,
you're gradually moving back in time.
Back, back, lvy.
Back in time.
You're moving back
to your eighth birthday.
When I count to three, you will be
back at your eighth birthday party.
You will open your eyes,
but will remain deeply relaxed.
Ready?
One.
Two.
Three.
You're now at your party
amongst your friends.
Do you see your friends, lvy?
Tell me about them. Who's at the party?
There's Bettina.
And Carrie.
Mary-Ellen.
The twins.
Peter.
Do you love your presents, lvy?
Oh, yes, especially my Terry Doll
with travel wardrobe.
And my flute game Bettina bought me.
Let's leave this party now
and go back to an earlier birthday.
I want you to go back in time
to your fourth birthday party.
I will count to three, then you will be
at your fourth birthday party.
Just relax, now.
Ready?
One.
Two.
Three.
Did your parents buy you this nice
birthday cake with four lovely candles?
No, they didn't buy it.
Too expensive.
Mommy made it from a magazine.
Well, what are you feeling? Let it go.
He broke it.
This little boy broke my monkey.
(sobs incoherently)
It's all right, lvy.
It's all right. We'll leave this party now
and we'll move farther back in time.
Farther back. Way back.
I want you to go back to a time when
you can see and hear and feel and think...
but you cannot say any words.
You're just a little baby
in Mummy's arms now.
And maybe she's putting you
into your carriage.
(gurgles)
Ah, very good, lvy.
Very good.
Now we're going to go
even farther back in time.
Way back.
Way back.
To a time before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Before you were born.
Very good, lvy.
Back. Back, lvy, back in time.
At a time before you existed as yourself.
The time before you were lvy.
When you were not lvy...
but you were another person.
To the time just before you were lvy.
Not lvy, but somebody else.
Somebody else.
To the last moment
you can remember in your previous life.
When you were not lvy...
but somebody else.
Somebody else.
Who are you?
I'm...
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
Who are you?
M...
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy?
Mommy?
(rising panic) Mommy? Mommy?
Mommy? Mommy?
Mommy? Mommy?
Mommy!
Mommy! Mommy!
Mommy! Mommy!
Mommy!
- Mommy! Mommy!
- It's all right.
It's all right, lvy.
You will leave this memory now.
It's all right. You can go back in time
even farther, away from this memory.
- Mommy!
- Ivy!
When I count to three,
you will be even farther back in time.
One, two, three.
(lvy continues screaming)
- Mommy!
- One, two, three.
Can you hear me, lvy? Can you hear me?
Lvy, can you hear me?
One, two...
Ivy!
Lvy.
Can you hear me, lvy?
Lvy? Lvy?
Can you hear me?
Lvy?
Can you hear me, lvy?
She's not lvy.
Ivy?
She'll be all right, Your Honour.
She'll come out of it.
You will now awaken, lvy.
When I count to five, you will awaken
promptly and feel rested and well.
Rested and well.
One. Two. Three.
Four. Five.
Awaken, lvy.
(she screams)
Lvy! You will awaken.
Four. Five. Awaken, lvy.
- She's not lvy.
- Awaken, lvy.
- (screaming)
- Ivy. Awaken, lvy.
- Daddy, help.
- Four, five.
Awaken, lvy.
Ivy, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, lvy?
- Audrey Rose!
- One. Two.
Three. Four. Five.
- Two... Ivy!
- I want this test stopped immediately.
When I count to five,
I order you to awaken. One. Two.
Damn it, I want it stopped.
Can you hear me, lvy?
- Audrey Rose!
- Can you hear me?
- Audrey Rose!
- Ivy!
- Judge Langley, stop the test!
- Audrey Rose!
- Audrey Rose, it's Daddy! It's Daddy!
- Oh, my God!
- One. Two.
- Audrey Rose, it's Daddy. It's Daddy.
- Ivy.
- (Bill) Do something.
Stop it.
(screaming)
Look, this is the child's mother.
It's all right now.
It's all right. Her soul is set free.
Her soul is set free.
It's all right now. Her soul is set free.
- No.
- Yes, her soul is set free.
Her soul is free.
Her soul is free.
It is free.
It is free.
Dear Mr Hoover,
it is good to know that you are in India
doing all the things you must
for the peace of our daughter's soul.
I include Bill in my thanks,
even though he still cannot accept
the idea that while lvy's body is gone,
her soul continues to exist.
Yet I know in my heart it is true
and that you are right.
And that is what sustains me.
In permitting you
to take lvy's ashes to India,
I believe that Bill has taken the first step
toward understanding
that we are all immortal.
Know that I add my prayers to yours
for our daughter's soul to mend itself
and find the peace and fulfilment
in heaven
that it was denied in its earth life,
and that the day will come
when her soul will feel free
and able to seek a new rebirth,
and that when it does she will find parents
who are, oh, generous, understanding,
and who will love her as we all loved her.
"There is no end. For the soul there is
never birth nor death. Nor, having once
been, does it ever cease to be. It is
unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying
and primeval..."
THE BHAGAVAD-GITA