The Black Orchid (1958) Movie Script
(suspenseful theme playing)
(car engine starts)
Murderers.
For in his mercy,
he gave Tony one last chance.
Thanks be to God,
Tony did not miss that chance.
He died repentant.
So we have helped Tony.
But we can help him even more
by praying for the two
he left to us,
his wife and his son.
Whatever Tony did,
whatever Tony was to cause
another man to murder him,
we cannot judge him.
I remember one day,
Tony stood right here
in front of me,
with Rose...
May God's blessings
go with you.
PRIEST:
...the remission
of all his sins...
( wedding dance music plays )
( guests hum along with music )
PRIEST:
...of thy divine justice
and punishments
in the world to come...
You're not sorry
you came over?
A dream comes true,
you don't feel sorry.
I'm in that dream?
You are the one who has
to make it come true...
more.
Um, Tony, we won't live
in that one room too long, huh?
Pretty soon, we will have
a whole house.
Oh, I can't wait.
How I am going to furnish it,
top to bottom,
everything new and beautiful.
And it's got to have
lots of closets
and a private garage and--
Rose.
Yes?
Well, we may have to wait
a while for that.
PRIEST: Nobody made Tony become
the kind of man he became.
Every man chooses his own road.
The worst tragedy here is,
he took two innocents with him
when he went down that road.
For Rose Bianco
and her son
and for Tony,
let us pray.
O God,
the creator and redeemer
of all the faithful,
hear our supplications,
and through thy infinite love...
( upbeat piano music plays )
( children chatter
indistinctly )
Rose. You worked
overtime again, huh?
I took work home as well.
At least with overtime,
you make a little extra money.
God knows you could use it.
That insurance company
should have gave you the money.
You know, natural
or unnatural, dying is dying.
Those companies, they don't care
how you pay the policy,
but to collect,
you gotta die their way.
You gotta sit here and work
all night by yourself?
Rose, take this stuff.
Come over to my house.
We'll sit and talk, instead
of each of us being alone.
You got two grown daughters
and a son-in-law and a husband.
That's being alone?
Friday night, they play cards.
Frank Valente
comes over.
You know Frank Valente?
The widower?
Poor Frank.
He's got this one child, Mary.
She's going to get
married next month.
She's going to leave
Frank all alone.
Her husband-to-be has
a business in Atlantic City.
That's how come
she's moving there.
Poor Frank,
all alone.
Just like you.
You know what I think?
I think he likes you.
Who?
Frank, the widower.
Last week, he said,
"Don't nobody take out
that beautiful widow
lives next door?"
You forgot to tell him
I'm in mourning?
He knows. He sees you
all the time in black.
You know what
he said?
You remind him
of black orchids.
Giulia.
He's coming to play cards
tonight.
Rose, come over.
Be there when he comes.
Stop making romance. Tell him,
"Go find somebody who ain't got
a murdered husband in the grave
and a son in a work farm."
Tell him, "Go find somebody
who's still got a piece
of heart left," huh?
He'll be there
from 8:00 on.
Okay, Papa.
Five of hearts to you.
Here's my four.
Eight.
( guests laugh )
Come on, Frank.
Stop joking and play.
Come on, Paul,
let's play serious.
Henry's getting mad.
You should have married
a poker face like your father.
HENRY: Frank, please.
Three of diamonds.
Looks pretty safe.
I can get under that.
And to you, Papa,
the six of spades.
I give up. Any better?
Ace of spades.
PAUL: Hey, look.
I'm sorry, Henry.
Queen of spades.
( hysterical laughing )
Come on.
Yeah, queen of spades.
The only card you got.
We're playing Hearts.
Only one card he gets.
Look, that's the only
spade I had.
HENRY:
Only spade you had.
Rose.
Come on over.
This time I laugh,
my friend.
All right,
now we're even.
You see, Pa.
Laughing makes you lucky.
Especially when you got
the cards that this guy...
She'd rather work out there
in the dark than be with me.
Who, the widow?
GIULIA:
You try to help somebody.
The whole neighborhood
tries to be nice to her.
She won't even
return a smile.
She acts like she murdered
her husband.
Giulia,
shut up.
Everybody saw how
she made her husband
get mixed up
with those...
Everybody feels sorry
for her anyway.
But, no.
She's gotta hide like...
HENRY: Giulia, go sit
in the parlor there.
You know, I got a funny taste
in my mouth.
It must have been
the fish tonight.
I think I'll go out
in the yard
and get a piece of mint
to chew on.
Now, wait a minute.
I'll go...
No, that's all right.
I know where it is.
Right out in the yard.
I know, but...
What he wants out there,
he's got to get for himself.
Papa,
don't think about it.
( soft accordion music plays )
You're going to kill your eyes
in that light.
Oh, I'm Frank.
I'm the Gallos' friend.
I'm eating some mint.
Do you want some?
I'm working.
In that light?
By now, I could do this in
the cellar with the light out.
You know, I'm glad you don't
mind company while you work.
When my cousin was in mourning
for her husband,
she wouldn't talk to nobody
for over a year.
I think she was afraid they'd
see the relief in her face.
That's what you see in my face?
What's the matter?
I don't hear insults inside.
Who's insulting?
I'm just getting some mint.
Then get it and go in.
Go back and laugh some more.
Oh, you heard me laughing,
huh?
All right, I'll go.
Don't bother.
I'll go.
Gee,
those flowers look real.
I thought
you were going.
Well, you said
you didn't mind company.
That's what you said.
Well,
just so it got said.
What are you mad at?
Hey, what's the matter?
Hey, you afraid to laugh?
Look at that. I got 35, 40...
I won 72 cents tonight.
I'm a very big winner.
All right, all right.
But tomorrow we play
a game of bocce, huh?
Yeah, if it's not too hot.
Frank, can you do me a favor?
What?
I'm still mad she didn't
come over tonight,
but I think she didn't
have any dinner.
You give her this,
huh?
All right.
What are you going to do,
stand there and watch? Go on in.
See you tomorrow.
( buzzer rings )
You. I nearly had
a heart attack.
I'm sorry.
I only rang the bell.
All the bad news
of my life
came when the bell
rang at night.
What do you want?
Nothing.
Just Giulia sent some dinner.
Hey,
this is a nice place.
What are you doing in here?
I hardly know you.
Sure you hardly know me.
You no sooner start
getting warm, you start yelling.
Why are you bothering me
like this?
Because I like you.
Hey.
Hey, you still
making flowers, huh?
Yes, now go home.
You know, it strikes me funny.
What's so funny?
You making flowers
at night.
You know, even God don't
make flowers at night.
To make money, people do
a lot of things God don't do.
Hey, look at that.
Orange blossoms.
Hey, these are nice.
You know, Mary...
That's my only child.
She's getting married.
Yeah, Giulia told me.
Oh, yeah? Yeah.
I'm having a tuxedo made
to walk her up the aisle.
Of course, I'll probably
never wear it again,
but I figure a man should have
a tuxedo hanging in the closet.
That way, the moths
have more respect for him.
You know,
in my town in Italy,
men who laughed like you
were always the ones
with a dozen kids.
Yeah? Well, after Mary was born,
my wife, she got sick.
You're right. I should have had
a lot more, at least a boy.
By now, the house would
be a noise factory
with him running in and out.
I got a boy.
Oh, you have?
Yeah, he's in a work farm.
Oh, a work farm, huh?
You visit him a lot?
Every Sunday.
It's a long bus ride.
Well, that doesn't sound
too bad.
Four times so far,
he ran away.
They said once more,
and they'll have to put him
in a real prison.
Now please go away.
You know, uh...
You know, Sundays are nice
for a long bus ride.
Maybe this Sunday, maybe I could
come along with you?
You want to go with me
to that place?
I'd like to very much.
Why?
Well, I'd just like to.
You want to see how crying
makes me look ugly?
Aw, come on, now.
Tears for somebody else
don't make you look ugly.
I'd like to come with you,
if you'd let me.
I can't make you out.
What do you want with me?
Look.
Now, what time is the bus?
It's supposed to leave
at 11:00.
It's never on time.
All right, I'll meet you
at the station.
Is that the one
on 13th Street?
All right, I'll be there
at 10:30, huh?
Look, I didn't say yes.
Look, I'm going
to be there at 10:30.
I didn't say yes!
You know, one of these days,
you're going to break your
throat with all that yelling.
Thanks for the flower.
I-- I'm going to leave now.
Oh, no, no,
please don't bother.
I'll see myself
to the door.
( melancholy theme plays )
( door closes )
( humming )
Papa, I polished those
before we went to church.
Yeah? Well, those pews
are too narrow.
You know,
I got stepped all over. Look.
It's a sin
to criticize a church.
What do you mean,
the church?
It's the builders
who skimp on the pews.
Come on in
and have breakfast.
Come on.
All right, all right.
( continues humming )
Hey, that helps
your digestion?
What?
That hat.
Oh, Papa. You know, you looked
so hungry when we came home,
I started rushing,
and I forgot all about it.
That hat.
Stop.
( humming )
Papa, come on and eat.
Oh, honey, I'm not hungry.
Besides, I gotta go out.
What do you mean, go...?
But Noble's coming.
We're all going for a ride
in his new car. You forgot.
Some other time, baby.
It's imported from Italy.
Your future husband,
he's supposed to be so modern,
he buys a car
from the old country.
Where are you going?
Out.
What do you mean, "out"?
Well, just-- Just out.
Papa.
Hey, uh...
Hey, Mary, you know the widow
lives next door to the Gallos?
Rose Bianco?
Well, her son's in a...
Well, it's like a farm.
Well, anyway, she invited me
to ride with her
on the bus and go visit him.
The truth of the matter is,
I kind of invited myself.
Why, Papa?
Why? Well, because she's
a nice-looking woman,
and I like her.
A gangster's wife?
Now, if you don't mind, Mary.
Come on, now. Come on, will you
take that look off your face?
Well,
how am I supposed to look
when I hear my father's going
out with a woman like that?
What's the matter?
You don't want me to have
a nice time with a nice woman?
Gee, honey, ain't it better,
now you're getting married,
I find company for myself?
Gee, all these years
we been like, like two hermits
living in a cave.
Come on, honey. Ain't it--
Ain't it better?
All right.
But I didn't know that
when a girl gets married
she's supposed to stop
caring about her father.
Oh, baby. What do you mean,
"stop caring," honey?
I love you to care
about me, Mary.
Oh, look. Come on, now.
Don't spoil the day
for you and Noble, and for me.
Come on, huh?
Come on. Come...
( car horn honks )
Hey, Noble.
Hey, Pa. How are you?
How are you?
Hey, what do you think, huh?
Hey, what is it,
a lady's pocketbook?
What do you mean?
That's what you call
an Italian sports car.
Hey,
that's pretty fancy.
( honks horn )
Don't forget.
Hey, we're all going to
go for a drive later.
Look, on a day like today,
you don't want "three's a crowd."
Besides, um,
I got a date.
Yeah?
Yeah.
See you, huh?
Yeah, see you.
Mary!
Hey, baby?
( bells toll in distance )
Mary?
MARY: I'm in here, Noble.
Hi.
Hi.
Shall I kiss you first,
or can't you wait
to see the car?
Well, now,
I think I can wait.
Mm.
Ooh.
Hey. Come on, help me
put some things away, huh?
Go in there
and clear the table?
I think your father's got
a touch of spring in his head today.
You know what he said?
You and me should be alone today.
"No, three's a crowd."
Hey, Noble, did you find
a house in Atlantic City yet?
Not yet.
I looked at eight houses.
You know what I saw?
Doghouses.
I told this agent,
"When you come up
with something good enough
for me and my future wife,
then call me."
Well, honey, maybe we
shouldn't rush into buying.
If you ever lived in a furnished
room, you wouldn't say that.
But I mean, till we find
something we really want,
we could stay here.
Where?
With my father.
Now, that's crazy.
There's a hundred
houses in Atlantic City.
I'm going to look at more this week.
I'll find one that'll
just be perfect for us.
So you'll find.
Hey.
What's bothering you?
Noble, you're looking at this
only from our point of view,
but, well, I'm thinking
of my father too.
Thinking what? What about him?
Well, just how's his life going to be
when he's here in this house
all by himself?
Noble, for him,
can't we live here?
I don't mean that
we have to stay--
Now, wait.
How are we going
to live here,
when my store's on the boardwalk
in Atlantic City?
Now, Mary, you don't make sense.
All right. Excuse me
for mentioning it.
He'll be all right.
You worry too much.
If he knew how much you worry,
he'd have a fit.
I'm sorry, Noble.
But I just can't help it.
Hey, come on, smile.
( suspenseful theme plays )
You know, lately I can't stand
being away from you. Honest.
I wish I could find a house
right on top of my store.
Every ten minutes,
I'd come in,
and I'd look at you.
It never used to bother me,
seeing you only on weekends.
Now the closer the wedding gets,
what ideas come into my head.
VOICE OVER P.A.:
Attention, please.
Upstate special
for Poughkeepsie, Albany...
Hey.
Hey, Rose. You know what?
Hey, watch out. Watch out.
I went to the wrong station.
Boy, of all the times
to make a mistake.
Hey, Rose. Come on,
you wanna yell at me?
I thought you came to your
right senses and stayed home.
Yeah, but you were saving
my seat for me though, huh?
It's fruit
for Ralphie.
Oh, gee, and I thought
you were saving my seat.
What are they waiting for?
I don't know.
Hey, Rose.
Hm?
Come on, you were saving
this seat for me, huh?
Have you got to make a song
and dance out of it?
Yes.
Yes, I saved it.
( engine starts )
( phone rings )
GUARD: I have the keys,
card here. Yes, sir.
That's correct.
Yes, sir.
You don't smoke, do you?
I'm kind of anxious
to see your boy.
Does he look like you?
GUARD: Mrs. Bianco.
Mrs. Bianco, please.
Yes?
Mr. Harmon wants
to talk with you.
Hey, Rose. Hey, Rose.
I'll wait for you here, huh?
He ran away?
Come and sit down,
Mrs. Bianco.
He ran away or not?
Tell me.
Ralphie didn't run away.
Oh, thank God.
Thank the boy who warned me
in time to stop him.
Warned you what?
Ralphie was all set
to run away last night.
And you take the word
of one of these boys?
One of these boys saved him
from being transferred
to the reform school.
I'm sorry.
It's just that I get so scared.
I understand.
He promised he wouldn't
do it again.
But he can't help himself.
Listen, why don't you
let him come home.
You think he's going to steal
again from those parking meters?
He got the key from his father.
Now the cops have got the key,
and his father's
dead and buried.
And the crowd that Ralphie was
mixed up in, they buried too?
Mrs. Bianco, we're not
protecting society from Ralphie.
We're trying to protect
Ralphie from society.
Where is he now?
Confined to his room.
I can see him?
It isn't permitted, so...
don't get caught.
Oh, Rose,
is something wrong?
You look worried.
I've got to talk
with Ralphie.
Oh, Rose, will you ask Ralphie
if I could meet him some Sunday?
I'd like to very much.
All right.
(children playing
outside)
Yell and get it
over with.
I didn't come to yell.
What did Harmon say?
He covered up for you.
Ralphie, why do you keep
running away?
Where does it get you?
Out.
You got to stop running.
Don't give me advice.
Just get me out of here.
( sobs )
Don't cry. I'm sick
of seeing you cry.
Ma, I'm sorry I said that.
Please, Ma.
All right.
See, I'm not crying.
Ma...
I try and stand it here.
But at nights,
I lie in bed
and I sweat.
And I think about Papa.
Don't think of him.
Forget him.
Maybe I don't want to.
Put him out of your head.
He did you enough harm
while he was alive.
He did me harm?
( children chatter
indistinctly outside )
You know, Mr. Harmon
is really a good man.
I'm beginning to see there are
a few good men in this life.
Just the other night, for instance,
I'm sitting in the
yard making flowers,
and this man starts laughing and--
What man?
Oh, Frank Valente.
The Gallos' friend.
Ralphie, honest,
if there was a law against
making people like you,
this man would be
in the electric chair.
Do you like him?
He's the first person
made me laugh in years.
Coming here on the bus today,
he was--
You took him here?
But, Ralphie,
he's dying to meet you.
And besides, I need you to decide
if I should see him again.
I want you to okay him.
She brings a guy to the state farm
to be okay'd by a juvenile delinquent.
Next Sunday's all right?
It's your funeral.
Take care.
Bye.
Goodbye.
You like the country,
Rose?
It reminds me of home.
Yeah.
Italy.
You don't wanna go back, huh?
To what?
They're all dead over there.
If I liked visiting graves,
I could do it right here.
Yeah.
You know,
I've got a cousin
who just lives
for visiting graves.
Every Sunday,
he's in some cemetery.
One week, a tombstone
fell on him
and broke his collarbone.
That's very funny.
Hey, Rose, when we get home,
why don't you come have supper
with Mary and me, huh?
At my house?
Frank, don't be so quick.
I feel quick.
All right.
Next Sunday,
I'll meet Ralphie,
and you meet Mary.
You sure Ralphie said
it was all right, huh?
Oh, yes, I'm sure.
But do you think Mary--?
Ah, don't worry about Mary.
She's all up in the clouds,
with the wedding and all.
A girl about
to get married,
the world's like
a diamond for her.
Mary, will you listen
to me, please?
But Noble,
why do we have to eat here?
Why can't we all
go down to my place,
and I'll fix
some sandwiches and coffee?
I want egg rolls.
Well, you don't have
to yell.
You know, you're ruining
the whole date for Alma and Joe,
not just us.
Who's ruining?
Noble, don't you want me
to cook for you?
Now, what do you mean, me?
It's not me
you're thinking about.
You're worried
about your father.
So we'll come home starving.
Mary, do me a favor, will you?
Just once today, consider me.
What do you mean,
"just once"?
Mary, I want you to stay here
and have egg rolls with me.
Okay?
Alma? Hey, listen,
I'm going.
I'll call you tomorrow,
okay? So long, Joe.
They're not even
married yet.
And they fight better than
my mother and the old man.
Noble, go after her.
Eh, I'm going home.
Good night, Alma.
I'll see you, Joe.
Friday night, I'm giving her
the wedding shower.
Try to come, huh?
Yeah, sure.
And you want me to get married.
What do you want from me?
(chattering)
Try this side.
This side?
( buzzer rings )
Is that Mary?
No, no. It's okay.
It's only Joanne.
Oh, good.
Oh, hi, Joanne.
She's not here yet.
( chattering indistinctly )
We're both in pink.
Oh, it looks lovely.
Mom, did you remember
to invite Rose?
No, but I do it right now.
Good.
Girls,
coffee's ready.
Rose?
Hey, Rose!
Hey, what?
Come on over here.
I gotta talk to you.
I have to go out.
I can't stop here.
See, I invite you to a party,
and you have to go out.
You didn't invite me to a party.
I'm doing it now.
Alma's giving Mary
the wedding shower tonight.
She told me to invite you.
Who, Mary?
No, Alma.
How could Mary invite you?
It's gotta be a surprise
for the bride.
Well, I can't come.
I've got an appointment.
Tomorrow, go confess
to the priest how you tell lies.
I'm not lying.
Then you'll come?
I told you, I've got a date.
After the date,
you come and have coffee.
You and Frank.
Why didn't you wear a jacket?
I'm not cold.
(rings buzzer)
All right, baby,
have a nice time, huh?
But aren't you
coming in?
No, you tell everybody
hello for me.
You're not playing cards
tonight.
I got something else to do.
Mary, come in.
GIRLS: Surprise!
(excited chattering)
Hi.
Hey.
Hey.
Gee, you look beautiful.
It's not bad enough I have dates,
it has to be in front of a church.
You know, you're really beautiful.
Hey, Rose.
Yeah?
Let's go to a movie, huh?
But I am in mourning.
Well,
we'll see a sad movie.
And thanks again.
Good night, Ruthie.
Well, did you enjoy the shower?
Oh, it was lovely,
Alm.
And I really was surprised.
Kid, what's the matter?
Nothing.
Oh, look, I know you
since grammar school.
Honey, everything will
be all right with Noble.
I guess it's just nerves,
Alm.
You know, over the wedding
and getting the gown made.
You know, most girls act
like it's going on a picnic
when they get married.
You? You get a nervous breakdown.
Well, wait till you're the bride.
Wait is right.
Especially if it's Joe
I'm waiting for.
I guess Papa
will come and help me
pick up the gifts later, so...
Oh.
Good night, Alma.
Thank you.
Night.
(suspenseful theme plays)
(cat meows)
(upbeat dance music plays)
All right. We'll have cherry
vanilla for both of us, huh?
You want something on it?
Maybe hot fudge or something?
No, no, just plain.
Yeah?
Just plain for the lady.
Hey, put a lot
of jimmies on mine, though.
I mean, whipped cream,
marshmallows, the works.
Oh, what was I saying?
Your wife.
(music stops)
Oh, yeah.
Well, after the baby was born,
my wife, she, um...
She got sick.
Sick of what?
You know, sick.
Gee, for ten years,
she was like that.
Always locking herself
up in the room.
Never talking to me or even
looking at the baby.
You know, sometimes I...
You know, it's a long time
since I talked to anybody
about inside things.
I don't know. I'm always afraid
who has to listen
will get sick of hearing.
I won't get sick.
Thank you.
Gee, you see,
when you don't yell,
you can be so... so nice.
What's the matter?
Oh, nothing.
The marble is cold.
Oh, well, here.
Here, use this.
Thank you.
I'll do it.
All right.
So between the wife and...
No, go on. Go on, like this.
Between the wife and...
Hey.
You know, you always remember
where I dropped off.
Well, anyway, between her
and the depression
and trying to raise a baby by myself,
one day at work, I just keeled over.
What, your heart?
Oh, no, no. Just a strain.
So I ask the boss for a few days
off, and he says--
He says, "Take the rest of your life off."
"In a few days," he says,
"I'll be in the street
selling apples
if those spring orders
don't come in."
So, you know,
when I hear that,
I says to him-- I says "How
would you like to go in partners
with a man who has $1,000?"
And he says, "Okay."
So that very morning,
we signed the papers,
and I became half-owner.
And that afternoon,
the spring orders came in.
And the strain?
The boss, he got it.
Well, now.
Now we've got a store here
and a factory in Summerville.
Rose, have you ever been
around Summerville?
No.
Oh, it's very nice, very nice.
You know...
right near the factory,
there's this, uh...
Well, this wonderful house,
and it's...
Well, it's empty now,
and it's for sale.
You know, if I were
starting all over again,
I'd sell my house here,
and I'd buy that one near Summerville.
It would be nice starting again.
You could maybe not make
the same... mistakes.
Hey. You know, I bet
if those people at the farm
knew that Ralphie had
a nice house to come home to,
you know,
in the country, like...
Well, like Summerville...
You know, Rose, that...
That one little house could make
the three of us, kind of...
I don't know...
get ahold of life again.
You mean this, Frank?
I'm saying it.
You know, Rose,
you would do me a great honor.
Hey, I'll tell you what.
Sunday, we'll go to the farm,
and I'll ask Ralphie
for your hand.
Maybe... you'd like to wait.
You know, after all, we...
we hardly know each other.
Gee, the way I'm rushing you,
you'd think somebody
was chasing me.
I'm sorry, Rose.
I mean, if you're not sure...
I'm sure, Frank.
I'm sure.
You-- You are?
What...
Well. Well.
Hey, well.
Well, uh, Sunday
we'll tell Ralphie.
Monday morning, uh,
City Hall License Bureau.
Rose.
( upbeat dance music plays )
Hey.
Did I order that?
Yeah, you did.
You'd better eat it.
Oh, no, no.
I can't eat it.
Rose.
It doesn't fit.
Honest, Mary.
My feelings are hurt, the way
you criticize the gown.
Oh, it's not the gown.
It's the fit.
Well, just look how
it bunches in the waist.
You want it to fit like
the skin of a sausage?
Go. Go take it off.
I will fix the waist.
I should have stayed in Rome.
I was going to join the Church.
By now I would be
Mother Superior.
( rings buzzer )
I'm too busy, but come in.
Yes?
I wanted to ask.
You make wedding dresses?
What do you mean,
do I make?
Twenty years
in this country alone.
But I mean plain dresses,
you know? Not gowns.
You are going to get
married in church, no?
Why?
I don't make no dresses
for City Hall.
It makes a difference
to you?
Hey, what are you
so angry about?
Here, do me a favor.
Write your name.
I am busy getting a nervous
breakdown from criticizers.
MARY: Will you have this fixed
by Monday morning?
Dear God, spare me.
All right!
And Monday night, you come
and view me in my coffin.
I ask you, who can read your
writing? What is your name?
There.
Rose Bianco.
Well, I'm too busy now
to take your measurements
and decide on style.
All right.
But if you want the job,
I've got to come
for fittings at night.
No nights. If you work,
you come in the morning
before you go.
Oh, another thing.
The man I'm marrying,
he insisted he wants
to pay for the dress.
He said to send the bill
to him.
How do I know he will pay?
He's a friend of yours,
Frank Valente.
CONSUELO: How the world
is changing.
No more white gowns,
no more veils.
Hey, Mary. Look,
I ain't got all day, eh?
Give the dress to...
Oh...
I did not connect.
It is your father.
Mary, is it going
to be a double wedding?
Oh, watch...
Oh, Dio mio, che peccato!
Mary, what a shame.
( whistling )
( door slams )
Mary?
Mary, is that you?
Mary.
Mary.
Hey!
( door slams )
Mary!
( knock at door )
FRANK: Mary.
( sobs )
Mary...
Hey.
Hey, baby...
What's the matter,
honey?
Papa,
what are you doing?
What do you mean?
I heard her,
brazen as sin.
"Send the bill
to Frank Valente."
Oh.
Oh, honey, you're just upset
because it wasn't me
that broke the news
to you.
You see, I was waiting
till you...
Papa, you mean you're really
going to marry that woman?
If you ever say "that woman"
like that again,
I'm going to smack you
right across the mouth.
Papa--
How can you talk
about her like that?
Mary, you-- Mary, you--
You don't even know her.
Look.
Mary.
Mary, Rose has had a lot
of trouble in her life.
She's...
Look, if God is good to me,
he'll let me make her
happy for a change.
Mary.
You were going to Atlantic City
tomorrow to see
the house Noble found,
right?
Baby, why don't you
go today, huh?
You can stay
at my cousin's hotel.
You'll rest,
and you'll feel better.
Come on, huh?
I'll take you to the bus.
I can go myself.
I'm not a child.
Mary.
Look, Mary,
listen to me.
Mary, it doesn't have to change
anything between us. Honest.
Honey, uh...
Do you need some money?
No.
ALMA: Mary.
Hey, Alma.
Where's Mary?
She's upstairs.
Mary!
Mary, come and hear!
Alma, what's the matter?
Oh, listen, I could die!
Well,
what happened?
Alma?
Me and Joe,
we're getting married!
Oh,
that's wonderful.
Hey, Mary,
isn't that great?
Hey Alma, what can I
buy you for a present?
Look, never mind presents.
Just come. It's next Saturday.
Oh, kid, almost overnight.
Really?
I can't show up empty-handed,
you know.
Look, I love you.
Get what you want.
Oh, Mary, let me tell
you what happened.
Okay, come on.
Tell me.
Come on, tell me.
Last night after your shower,
Joe came over,
and I put it to him plain.
I said, "Joe, listen.
You're working, I'm working.
"Either we set it
definitely now,
or it's ended
altogether."
He said, "Now."
And then he
started to cry.
Honest,
he started to cry.
And then he said...
He said, "Alm, baby,
I'm scared."
Well...
Then I started to cry
along with him.
Well, then we both sat down,
and we talked it out.
And then he smiled.
Oh, Mary, I could work
100 years on that one smile.
Well, look, I gotta run.
The families are getting
together for dinner tonight,
and Mom started...
She started cooking and crying
at 5:00 this morning.
Where you going?
Atlantic City.
You made up with Noble?
Well, he called.
He found a house, and he wants
me to come and see it.
Oh, kid,
that's wonderful.
Well, look, call me
when you get back, huh?
Okay.
I hope the house is a dream.
Bye-bye, Alm.
( chattering in Italian )
Shut up!
( speaks Italian )
( responds in Italian )
( arguing in Italian )
I played
the right ball.
MAN 1: You don't know
how to play.
MAN 2: Oh, shut up.
Oh. Frank.
Oh, fa troppo caldo.
Come on, one game.
Just one game with me.
No, I don't wanna play.
It's too hot.
It's not that hot.
Come on.
Anyway, I wanna ask you
something very important.
Look, Henry.
Um, I like Rose.
( grunts )
Yeah, but, you see,
Mary doesn't understand.
And, uh, well, what I wanted
to ask you, Henry, is...
When you want
something so bad
that you don't care
what happens,
I mean, that's because God wants
you to have it, am I right?
It's hard to tell.
The devil works the same way.
Oh, Henry.
( speaks Italian )
I know, but I'm asking
you something very important,
and you're giving me jokes.
I don't give you jokes.
I don't want a philosophy.
I want some advice
from you as a friend.
( speaks Italian )
VOICE OVER P.A.:
Ralph Bianco. Ralph Bianco.
Your mother's here to see you.
You know what?
I'm... I'm scared.
I'm... I'm nervous.
Gee, you act like a boy.
Well, I've never been
interviewed by a boy before.
Oh, come on.
Hey, Ralphie. How are you,
darling? How are you?
You know, we talked
to Mr. Harmon.
What about?
Frank wants to tell you.
This is Frank.
Yeah, I'm Frank.
I guess you're Ralph, huh?
Hey, Ralph, suppose
you and me walk outside, huh?
I don't want any women around
while I'm answering questions,
you know.
Who's going to ask them?
Well, her father's in a cemetery
somewhere in Italy.
He can't do it.
How about it, huh?
( mouths ):
Go on.
You know, Ralphie,
when I was a kid,
I used to work summers
picking on a farm.
Your mother tells me
you like farming, huh?
She must've broken your eardrums
talking about me.
No, she breaks them
with yelling.
Me, I yell right back.
That way, nobody gets heartburn,
you know?
You know, the radio said rain today.
I'm glad they made a mistake, huh?
We could use some rain.
You can't make things grow
by spitting on them.
Yeah, that's good, huh?
Spitting on them. Pretty good.
( light, upbeat theme playing )
Hey, Ralphie, you know, about
this house in Summerville--
What house?
Oh, that's right.
I didn't tell you yet.
Well, anyway...
See, there's this house
in Summerville.
Boy, it's got a lot of acres
in the back.
It could be a farm
if you want.
And, uh, well,
I'm going to buy it.
Ralphie, um...
I'd like to marry your mother.
I mean, if you don't mind.
You know, gee,
between that house
and all the acres in back,
boy, it could be like paradise
for the three of us.
The three of us?
You're talking to me like
I'm sitting in someone's parlor.
Do you think I can just
pack my bags and leave?
What's the matter with you?
Don't you listen to your mother?
She told you we talked
to Mr. Harmon.
He said as soon as we show
him the marriage license,
he'll let you come with us.
What?
Well...
It'll take, oh, about
a week at the most.
I, uh...
I guess it all depends on...
Well, uh, if you...
If you like me.
If I like you?
What's the matter?
Look, if you wanna marry
my mother, that's okay.
But you don't have
to get me in the bargain.
Come on, Ralphie.
Gee, how do you think
I'd feel, huh?
Seeing she has a son,
and he ain't half mine.
Come on, now. Come on, eh?
You going to say yes or no?
You know, I...
Boy, I got a lot of signing to do.
You know, I gotta sign for the house.
I gotta sign for the license.
You know, you're holding up
all that signing.
Come on.
Is it a deal?
Like two men, huh?
I'm getting out?
Sure.
It's not all the way
in my head yet.
I'm getting out!
Ma! Ma,
I'm getting out!
I'm getting out of here,
Ma.
(upbeat theme swells)
NOBLE: Mary, come and see
the master bedroom.
Huh?
Well, what do you
think of this?
Did you ever see
such a big bedroom, huh?
I could have
a harem in here.
And the view
is beautiful too.
Oh, Noble, I knew you'd pick
a house like this.
You like it, huh?
I love it.
Oh, Noble, I'm sorry
about that fight we had.
We wasted so much time
just because I was so silly.
Come on, now, sad eyes.
Let's forget it.
But I'm always making
you mad and miserable.
I don't know how
you still wanna marry me.
Now, what kind of talk is that?
We had a fight.
So what?
You cried. I cried.
Tears don't call off
a wedding.
Mary, what's the matter
with you?
Papa's going to get married.
No kidding.
Mary, that's wonderful.
To that Rose Bianco,
and you say "wonderful"?
Noble, until I told him I had to
move to this godforsaken place,
he never even looked
at another woman.
Mary, my business is here.
So keep it here
and come home on weekends.
That's how a married man
should live, huh?
All week long
in a furnished room
while his wife is playing house
with her father.
Playing house?
Yeah, that's right, playing house!
Oh, Noble, you make me mad.
All right, Mary,
I'm sorry.
But your father wants
his own home, huh?
Don't I have a right to want mine?
Well, I think you'd better find
yourself another girl, Noble.
And give her this house.
You're my girl.
And you're going to be my wife.
You think I could live
without you now?
Then live with me
in my father's house.
Go home, Mary.
(door slams)
There, you see how special you are?
I serve you coffee in the parlor.
Oh, excuse me.
Hey, Rose. You know,
when I used to see you--
I mean, when I used to go
to the Gallos',
and I used to see you,
you know what I used to call you?
Yes.
How do you know?
Giulia.
No.
You know, still you shouldn't
dress in mourning all the time.
You know, you could be a yellow
orchid, maybe a pink. Hey.
A red one.
But I got a lot of pretty colors.
Oh, yes. Every week, I used
to buy a new dress to go dancing
and, oh, you know.
Hey, you like to dance?
Oh, yes, I do.
Yeah? I used to be one
of the best dancers
in the neighborhood.
Oh, you're joking.
No, honest. Honest.
I'll show you.
Here, you think
I'm kidding, huh?
(swinging jazz music plays)
Ah, it feels good, huh?
Yeah.
( laughs loudly )
What's the matter?
This is the first thing I see
about you that's old-fashioned.
What do you mean,
"old-fashioned"?
You want me to get fancy?
But you don't know how
to move. Oh, really.
What's the matter with that?
Ay, ay, ay. No, no.
I'll show you how to dance right.
Oh, you're going to show me?
Yes.
All right.
Whoa, wait. I lead.
No, no, no.
Just till you learn.
All right, all right.
( Frank speaks indistinctly )
Go on, turn around!
Now grab my hand!
What are you doing?
Now spin me!
Now, turn around.
Turn around.
You're getting kind of fancy.
I'm getting dizzy.
Me too.
Whoa, what's that?
Hey. Oh, Mary.
Hey, Mary. Mary.
Hey, I didn't hear you come in.
Oh, Mary, this is Rose.
Frank, turn that noise off.
Oh, sure, yeah.
Oh, I met her son today.
Hey, you should see that boy.
Oh, Mary, how about fixing
us something to eat, huh?
I'm tired.
Hey, since when are you too tired
to fix me something to eat, huh?
Are you hungry?
Show her where the icebox is.
Mary. Mary.
Don't you realize
you're insulting Rose?
Gee, honey,
you come in here,
you don't smile,
you don't say anything.
Now you use that rotten tone
in your voice.
Frank. Frank, I'll go home.
No, no, wait. Wait.
Mary's going to apologize.
Mary, take Rose's hand
and apologize.
Papa.
Now, come on. Put your hand out
where she can reach it.
Mary, come on, now--
Papa, I can't.
I don't know why--
Frank, don't--
Will you shut up, both of you?
Just put your hand where--
Come on.
Give her your hand.
Come on, Mary.
Just take her hand and say--
Don't you touch me!
You're bad!
He thinks you're good!
He thought my mother
was good too,
but she was a crazy lady!
Mary!
( discordant music swells
dramatically )
Go to her, Frank...
before you have to hate this
night the rest of your life.
Rose!
Rose, don't go!
(bell rings)
(chattering)
Hey, Rose, I--
I came to take you to lunch.
Rose...
Look, I don't blame you.
You're upset about last night,
but you know...
Listen, last night,
I walked out of your house.
Let's say
I walked out of your life.
Out of my life?
Rose, what are you saying?
I should have kept
my heart in mourning.
Rose, don't even say that.
What do you come here for?
Why do you have to make me see
what can't be?
Rose...
What's between us,
you think all of a sudden
you can just act like it's not there?
Frank, please don't say that.
Can you?
Huh?
See, that's what I came for.
That smile.
Come on.
Come on.
Rose.
ALMA: Frank, wait up!
Hey, Alma.
Where's Mary been all day?
Well, she's inside, I guess.
Well, I kept calling.
In five days, she has to be
my maid of honor,
and we haven't even
discussed the gowns yet.
Come on in.
Mary!
Mary!
(suspenseful theme plays)
Dinner's on the stove.
Where can she be?
Where could
she be?
Alma...
Mary!
Mary.
Mary.
Mary.
( tries to turn knob )
Mary.
Mary, don't lock the door!
MARY: Don't try to come in.
Just leave me alone.
( softly ):
Oh, dear God, please.
Please, please, God, not again.
Hey, Joe!
Frank!
Hiya, Joe.
Frank.
You're just in time. I was going
out to get some sandwiches.
The poker game just started.
Who's up there?
Who do you think?
Same bunch, huh?
The same old bunch.
Frank, how's everything?
Oh, fine, fine, fine.
No, I don't think
I'll come up tonight, Joe.
I'm going next door.
Listen, I'll see you tomorrow
night at the wedding, right?
Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure.
You, uh-- You nervous?
Man, you know it.
Don't be. See you, Joe.
Yeah.
Rose.
Frank.
Come and sit down.
Is Mary still locked in her room?
Well...
when I'm at work, she, um...
She cooks and irons and cleans.
When I'm there she--
She stays in her room.
Like your wife.
God, Rose,
it can't happen again.
Frank, tell Mary it's all off between us.
Rose, don't.
Go out of this house
and make a finish of it.
Don't ask me to do that, Rose.
Frank, tell me this.
Can you get married
and go to Summerville
and leave your daughter
locked in that room?
Rose, Rose...
Can you do that for anybody?
Tell me.
Can you?
(melancholy theme plays)
Yes, sir.
Ralph Bianco!
Your mother's waiting
in the visiting room.
What happened, Ma?
Things went wrong.
It's all off?
What'd you do to ruin it?
Me?
Well, who should I blame? Pop?
What'd you do?
Tell Frank the house
wasn't big enough?
Or wouldn't he rob
a bank for you?
Ralphie...
you hate me?
Ralphie.
Ralphie.
( upbeat accordion theme plays )
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Say, doesn't she look pretty?
I have to change, Mom.
It's time to go.
Oh, Joe, God bless you.
Sweetheart, lots of luck.
What's the matter?
What are you crying for?
She's my daughter, no?
No, you gained a son.
But, Papa,
I'm so happy!
She'll be back.
It's all right, Pop.
I'll take care of her.
You better...
Alma, throw your bouquet!
All single girls over
to the foot of the stairs.
All single girls. No, not you.
You've got one already.
(chattering)
(cheers)
(police siren blares)
(tires screech)
(buzzer rings)
(ringing continues)
Is your boy home, Mrs. Bianco?
What's the matter?
Well, he ran away again.
He isn't here.
(sobs):
He won't come to me no more.
Well, I have to take a look anyway.
(sighs)
You satisfied?
Now get out.
(bells toll in distance)
Pop.
Pop?
Oh, Noble.
Oh, it's morning, huh?
Yeah.
(grunts)
You heard?
Yeah, I heard.
Joe and Alma came to the shore
last night for their honeymoon.
They came over,
and they told me.
The whole thing.
Pa,
why didn't you call me?
What could you do?
We had a fight last Sunday.
Yeah?
I chased her out of the house.
I didn't call her
once all week.
Oh, don't worry about her.
It wasn't your fault.
Pa, what are we going to do?
Nothing.
What do you mean, nothing?
Just that, Noble, nothing.
If she's going to come out,
she's gotta turn the key herself.
Pa, we just can't stand around.
Well, we can pray.
God will do the rest.
Yeah.
But can't we help a little bit?
You think God's in business?
He puts "help wanted" ads
in the paper?
Hey.
You know I didn't mean it that way.
Pa?
Hm?
Now, listen.
Can't I at least go upstairs...
and try?
Go ahead.
Mary.
Mary, please come out.
Mary, not--
Not for me.
For Pa's sake.
Mary, baby.
Please?
Come on, Pa,
let's go to church.
We'll pray.
(tires screech)
I'll wait for you in church, Frank.
(knocks on glass)
Yeah?
Rose, I... I was on my way
to church, and I...
I wondered if--
Any news about Ralphie?
The other times when he
ran away, he called me.
This time...
Rose, after Mass,
I'm going to go to the farm.
I'm going to explain
to Mr. Harmon
how it was my fault
that Ralphie ran away.
How I made the kid go crazy
from disappointment.
Rose, I won't let them punish him
for something that's my fault.
And you think they'll listen?
Well, I hope.
The sky falls down on your head,
and you just keep right on hoping.
I don't expect no miracles, Rose.
But if nothing happens, I...
Rose, if it turns out that...
That you and me
can't get together, I...
Frank.
(sad violin theme plays)
Is Mary still in her room?
Yeah.
And you won't tell her about us?
Rose, I can't.
I just can't, Rose.
Rose.
Let's go to church and pray
together, huh? Come on.
We need more than prayers right now.
Look, they're going
to find Ralphie.
He's going to be fine.
Come on.
No, I want to stay here.
(dramatic theme building)
Ralphie.
I'm in trouble.
I know, son.
If Ma makes this Mass,
I want to look at her once more,
before I go away.
You're going straight back
to the farm.
I can't. They'll put me
in reform school.
And you're putting
your mother through hell.
Ralphie, why do you make her suffer
for something that's my fault?
Your fault?
You think I'm going to lie in church?
Huh?
Noble, drive us, will you?
Come on, let's go.
Let's go.
( dramatic theme crescendoes )
Mary.
Get out of here!
We are alone. We can say
what has to be said,
and nobody will ever
know one word.
We don't have anything
to say to each other.
Now, just get out.
But we should understand
each other, Mary.
We are two of a kind, you and me.
Is that how the bad
live with themselves?
By thinking everyone else
is no good?
Yeah. It takes somebody bad
to tell you what it is like
in the bottom of hell.
Get out of here!
What you're doing is wrong, Mary.
You are trying to twist
and bend your father
to make him do what you want.
But it's wrong, Mary.
I did it to my husband, and I know.
Poor Tony.
He was so happy when I came
to this country to marry him.
And I took his happiness,
and I choked it.
I was like a kid
in a toy store when I got here.
Everything I saw, I wanted.
And in a country like this,
there is so much to want.
He didn't have one dollar,
so he had to go stealing like a dog.
That's what killed him.
I don't want to hear any more.
Now, just get out of here!
Stop twisting
your father.
You don't know how doing that
is like murdering.
In the end, they tied Tony's hands
and feet and sunk him in the river.
But I was the murderer.
Now you're doing the same thing
to your father.
Mary.
Go out of this room.
Be downstairs when he comes.
Hurry up, Mary.
Before you break him in half...
forever.
He made a mistake over me.
Don't punish him.
Make him happy again.
I made him happy.
After my mother died,
I was the one
that made him laugh again.
Now you want to take him--
All right, Mary.
I'm very much in love
with your father.
For the rest of my life,
all I would ever want
is to see him smile at me.
But I won't let you kill him
just because of what I want.
Mary...
I'm going to walk out of this room...
out of this house now.
And that's the end of it.
That's what you want.
That's what I'm going to do.
You can go downstairs now.
You can be there.
I won't.
Rose.
Rose...
would you like a cup of coffee?
You know, every Sunday,
I make sausages
for my father's breakfast.
And every Sunday, he makes
another excuse not to eat them.
I guess that's one thing
I never learned
how to make to please him.
I know the way.
I'll get some sausages?
Mm-hm.
Oh, where's the pan?
Over there.
What's the water for?
A little water kills the grease.
They don't come out too fried.
You can get the eggs meanwhile.
You know, Noble eats six.
Boy, you drive like a wild man.
Come on, let's go in.
Go ahead in, and I'll...
I'll, uh...
I'll be in in a minute.
All right.
Papa.
Hi.
Hey.
Boy, hey, something smells awful good.
Mary, tell him to sit down.
Well, I'll go get Noble.
No, I'll get him.
He's right outside.
What happened?
She made me cook the sausages.
Oh, thank God.
Thank God.
Oh, Rose.
Oh, Rose, I found Ralphie.
You found Ralphie?
He was at the church waiting for you.
Where is he now?
Well, I took him back to the farm.
Is he all right?
I spoke to Mr. Harmon.
He said everything was going to be fine.
Frank.
Rose.
Frank.
Rose.
Frank.
Noble.
Mary.
Hey! Hey, Mary!
Oh, sit down here, huh?
Now, let's...
Let's see.
Oh, yeah, butter and bread.
NOBLE: Mary! Hey, Mary!
Hey, Noble.
Oh, Noble, this is Rose.
Rose, this is, uh... Noble.
Hello, Rose.
Hello, Noble.
Now, come on, sit down
before the stuff gets cold.
Yeah.
Aren't you hungry?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm hungry.
Frank, give me your plate.
I'll fill it.
No, no, you sit down.
I'll do it myself.
In some families,
that's how they do it.
Well, if that's how you do it,
then... do it.
Oh, thank you.
Oh, pardon me.
Hey, boy!
Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
This is sausage!
Gee, Ma, I'm happy.
Hey, Rose, come on.
We're going to miss the bus.
Come on, let's go.
You wanna walk to Summerville?
Goodbye, Mrs. Valente, Ralphie.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, Mr. Harmon.
Mr. Valente.
Oh, Mr. Harmon, I'm very bad
at saying thank you, but...
Oh, here's some apples
for the boys, huh?
Thanks.
(uplifting piano theme plays)
(car engine starts)
Murderers.
For in his mercy,
he gave Tony one last chance.
Thanks be to God,
Tony did not miss that chance.
He died repentant.
So we have helped Tony.
But we can help him even more
by praying for the two
he left to us,
his wife and his son.
Whatever Tony did,
whatever Tony was to cause
another man to murder him,
we cannot judge him.
I remember one day,
Tony stood right here
in front of me,
with Rose...
May God's blessings
go with you.
PRIEST:
...the remission
of all his sins...
( wedding dance music plays )
( guests hum along with music )
PRIEST:
...of thy divine justice
and punishments
in the world to come...
You're not sorry
you came over?
A dream comes true,
you don't feel sorry.
I'm in that dream?
You are the one who has
to make it come true...
more.
Um, Tony, we won't live
in that one room too long, huh?
Pretty soon, we will have
a whole house.
Oh, I can't wait.
How I am going to furnish it,
top to bottom,
everything new and beautiful.
And it's got to have
lots of closets
and a private garage and--
Rose.
Yes?
Well, we may have to wait
a while for that.
PRIEST: Nobody made Tony become
the kind of man he became.
Every man chooses his own road.
The worst tragedy here is,
he took two innocents with him
when he went down that road.
For Rose Bianco
and her son
and for Tony,
let us pray.
O God,
the creator and redeemer
of all the faithful,
hear our supplications,
and through thy infinite love...
( upbeat piano music plays )
( children chatter
indistinctly )
Rose. You worked
overtime again, huh?
I took work home as well.
At least with overtime,
you make a little extra money.
God knows you could use it.
That insurance company
should have gave you the money.
You know, natural
or unnatural, dying is dying.
Those companies, they don't care
how you pay the policy,
but to collect,
you gotta die their way.
You gotta sit here and work
all night by yourself?
Rose, take this stuff.
Come over to my house.
We'll sit and talk, instead
of each of us being alone.
You got two grown daughters
and a son-in-law and a husband.
That's being alone?
Friday night, they play cards.
Frank Valente
comes over.
You know Frank Valente?
The widower?
Poor Frank.
He's got this one child, Mary.
She's going to get
married next month.
She's going to leave
Frank all alone.
Her husband-to-be has
a business in Atlantic City.
That's how come
she's moving there.
Poor Frank,
all alone.
Just like you.
You know what I think?
I think he likes you.
Who?
Frank, the widower.
Last week, he said,
"Don't nobody take out
that beautiful widow
lives next door?"
You forgot to tell him
I'm in mourning?
He knows. He sees you
all the time in black.
You know what
he said?
You remind him
of black orchids.
Giulia.
He's coming to play cards
tonight.
Rose, come over.
Be there when he comes.
Stop making romance. Tell him,
"Go find somebody who ain't got
a murdered husband in the grave
and a son in a work farm."
Tell him, "Go find somebody
who's still got a piece
of heart left," huh?
He'll be there
from 8:00 on.
Okay, Papa.
Five of hearts to you.
Here's my four.
Eight.
( guests laugh )
Come on, Frank.
Stop joking and play.
Come on, Paul,
let's play serious.
Henry's getting mad.
You should have married
a poker face like your father.
HENRY: Frank, please.
Three of diamonds.
Looks pretty safe.
I can get under that.
And to you, Papa,
the six of spades.
I give up. Any better?
Ace of spades.
PAUL: Hey, look.
I'm sorry, Henry.
Queen of spades.
( hysterical laughing )
Come on.
Yeah, queen of spades.
The only card you got.
We're playing Hearts.
Only one card he gets.
Look, that's the only
spade I had.
HENRY:
Only spade you had.
Rose.
Come on over.
This time I laugh,
my friend.
All right,
now we're even.
You see, Pa.
Laughing makes you lucky.
Especially when you got
the cards that this guy...
She'd rather work out there
in the dark than be with me.
Who, the widow?
GIULIA:
You try to help somebody.
The whole neighborhood
tries to be nice to her.
She won't even
return a smile.
She acts like she murdered
her husband.
Giulia,
shut up.
Everybody saw how
she made her husband
get mixed up
with those...
Everybody feels sorry
for her anyway.
But, no.
She's gotta hide like...
HENRY: Giulia, go sit
in the parlor there.
You know, I got a funny taste
in my mouth.
It must have been
the fish tonight.
I think I'll go out
in the yard
and get a piece of mint
to chew on.
Now, wait a minute.
I'll go...
No, that's all right.
I know where it is.
Right out in the yard.
I know, but...
What he wants out there,
he's got to get for himself.
Papa,
don't think about it.
( soft accordion music plays )
You're going to kill your eyes
in that light.
Oh, I'm Frank.
I'm the Gallos' friend.
I'm eating some mint.
Do you want some?
I'm working.
In that light?
By now, I could do this in
the cellar with the light out.
You know, I'm glad you don't
mind company while you work.
When my cousin was in mourning
for her husband,
she wouldn't talk to nobody
for over a year.
I think she was afraid they'd
see the relief in her face.
That's what you see in my face?
What's the matter?
I don't hear insults inside.
Who's insulting?
I'm just getting some mint.
Then get it and go in.
Go back and laugh some more.
Oh, you heard me laughing,
huh?
All right, I'll go.
Don't bother.
I'll go.
Gee,
those flowers look real.
I thought
you were going.
Well, you said
you didn't mind company.
That's what you said.
Well,
just so it got said.
What are you mad at?
Hey, what's the matter?
Hey, you afraid to laugh?
Look at that. I got 35, 40...
I won 72 cents tonight.
I'm a very big winner.
All right, all right.
But tomorrow we play
a game of bocce, huh?
Yeah, if it's not too hot.
Frank, can you do me a favor?
What?
I'm still mad she didn't
come over tonight,
but I think she didn't
have any dinner.
You give her this,
huh?
All right.
What are you going to do,
stand there and watch? Go on in.
See you tomorrow.
( buzzer rings )
You. I nearly had
a heart attack.
I'm sorry.
I only rang the bell.
All the bad news
of my life
came when the bell
rang at night.
What do you want?
Nothing.
Just Giulia sent some dinner.
Hey,
this is a nice place.
What are you doing in here?
I hardly know you.
Sure you hardly know me.
You no sooner start
getting warm, you start yelling.
Why are you bothering me
like this?
Because I like you.
Hey.
Hey, you still
making flowers, huh?
Yes, now go home.
You know, it strikes me funny.
What's so funny?
You making flowers
at night.
You know, even God don't
make flowers at night.
To make money, people do
a lot of things God don't do.
Hey, look at that.
Orange blossoms.
Hey, these are nice.
You know, Mary...
That's my only child.
She's getting married.
Yeah, Giulia told me.
Oh, yeah? Yeah.
I'm having a tuxedo made
to walk her up the aisle.
Of course, I'll probably
never wear it again,
but I figure a man should have
a tuxedo hanging in the closet.
That way, the moths
have more respect for him.
You know,
in my town in Italy,
men who laughed like you
were always the ones
with a dozen kids.
Yeah? Well, after Mary was born,
my wife, she got sick.
You're right. I should have had
a lot more, at least a boy.
By now, the house would
be a noise factory
with him running in and out.
I got a boy.
Oh, you have?
Yeah, he's in a work farm.
Oh, a work farm, huh?
You visit him a lot?
Every Sunday.
It's a long bus ride.
Well, that doesn't sound
too bad.
Four times so far,
he ran away.
They said once more,
and they'll have to put him
in a real prison.
Now please go away.
You know, uh...
You know, Sundays are nice
for a long bus ride.
Maybe this Sunday, maybe I could
come along with you?
You want to go with me
to that place?
I'd like to very much.
Why?
Well, I'd just like to.
You want to see how crying
makes me look ugly?
Aw, come on, now.
Tears for somebody else
don't make you look ugly.
I'd like to come with you,
if you'd let me.
I can't make you out.
What do you want with me?
Look.
Now, what time is the bus?
It's supposed to leave
at 11:00.
It's never on time.
All right, I'll meet you
at the station.
Is that the one
on 13th Street?
All right, I'll be there
at 10:30, huh?
Look, I didn't say yes.
Look, I'm going
to be there at 10:30.
I didn't say yes!
You know, one of these days,
you're going to break your
throat with all that yelling.
Thanks for the flower.
I-- I'm going to leave now.
Oh, no, no,
please don't bother.
I'll see myself
to the door.
( melancholy theme plays )
( door closes )
( humming )
Papa, I polished those
before we went to church.
Yeah? Well, those pews
are too narrow.
You know,
I got stepped all over. Look.
It's a sin
to criticize a church.
What do you mean,
the church?
It's the builders
who skimp on the pews.
Come on in
and have breakfast.
Come on.
All right, all right.
( continues humming )
Hey, that helps
your digestion?
What?
That hat.
Oh, Papa. You know, you looked
so hungry when we came home,
I started rushing,
and I forgot all about it.
That hat.
Stop.
( humming )
Papa, come on and eat.
Oh, honey, I'm not hungry.
Besides, I gotta go out.
What do you mean, go...?
But Noble's coming.
We're all going for a ride
in his new car. You forgot.
Some other time, baby.
It's imported from Italy.
Your future husband,
he's supposed to be so modern,
he buys a car
from the old country.
Where are you going?
Out.
What do you mean, "out"?
Well, just-- Just out.
Papa.
Hey, uh...
Hey, Mary, you know the widow
lives next door to the Gallos?
Rose Bianco?
Well, her son's in a...
Well, it's like a farm.
Well, anyway, she invited me
to ride with her
on the bus and go visit him.
The truth of the matter is,
I kind of invited myself.
Why, Papa?
Why? Well, because she's
a nice-looking woman,
and I like her.
A gangster's wife?
Now, if you don't mind, Mary.
Come on, now. Come on, will you
take that look off your face?
Well,
how am I supposed to look
when I hear my father's going
out with a woman like that?
What's the matter?
You don't want me to have
a nice time with a nice woman?
Gee, honey, ain't it better,
now you're getting married,
I find company for myself?
Gee, all these years
we been like, like two hermits
living in a cave.
Come on, honey. Ain't it--
Ain't it better?
All right.
But I didn't know that
when a girl gets married
she's supposed to stop
caring about her father.
Oh, baby. What do you mean,
"stop caring," honey?
I love you to care
about me, Mary.
Oh, look. Come on, now.
Don't spoil the day
for you and Noble, and for me.
Come on, huh?
Come on. Come...
( car horn honks )
Hey, Noble.
Hey, Pa. How are you?
How are you?
Hey, what do you think, huh?
Hey, what is it,
a lady's pocketbook?
What do you mean?
That's what you call
an Italian sports car.
Hey,
that's pretty fancy.
( honks horn )
Don't forget.
Hey, we're all going to
go for a drive later.
Look, on a day like today,
you don't want "three's a crowd."
Besides, um,
I got a date.
Yeah?
Yeah.
See you, huh?
Yeah, see you.
Mary!
Hey, baby?
( bells toll in distance )
Mary?
MARY: I'm in here, Noble.
Hi.
Hi.
Shall I kiss you first,
or can't you wait
to see the car?
Well, now,
I think I can wait.
Mm.
Ooh.
Hey. Come on, help me
put some things away, huh?
Go in there
and clear the table?
I think your father's got
a touch of spring in his head today.
You know what he said?
You and me should be alone today.
"No, three's a crowd."
Hey, Noble, did you find
a house in Atlantic City yet?
Not yet.
I looked at eight houses.
You know what I saw?
Doghouses.
I told this agent,
"When you come up
with something good enough
for me and my future wife,
then call me."
Well, honey, maybe we
shouldn't rush into buying.
If you ever lived in a furnished
room, you wouldn't say that.
But I mean, till we find
something we really want,
we could stay here.
Where?
With my father.
Now, that's crazy.
There's a hundred
houses in Atlantic City.
I'm going to look at more this week.
I'll find one that'll
just be perfect for us.
So you'll find.
Hey.
What's bothering you?
Noble, you're looking at this
only from our point of view,
but, well, I'm thinking
of my father too.
Thinking what? What about him?
Well, just how's his life going to be
when he's here in this house
all by himself?
Noble, for him,
can't we live here?
I don't mean that
we have to stay--
Now, wait.
How are we going
to live here,
when my store's on the boardwalk
in Atlantic City?
Now, Mary, you don't make sense.
All right. Excuse me
for mentioning it.
He'll be all right.
You worry too much.
If he knew how much you worry,
he'd have a fit.
I'm sorry, Noble.
But I just can't help it.
Hey, come on, smile.
( suspenseful theme plays )
You know, lately I can't stand
being away from you. Honest.
I wish I could find a house
right on top of my store.
Every ten minutes,
I'd come in,
and I'd look at you.
It never used to bother me,
seeing you only on weekends.
Now the closer the wedding gets,
what ideas come into my head.
VOICE OVER P.A.:
Attention, please.
Upstate special
for Poughkeepsie, Albany...
Hey.
Hey, Rose. You know what?
Hey, watch out. Watch out.
I went to the wrong station.
Boy, of all the times
to make a mistake.
Hey, Rose. Come on,
you wanna yell at me?
I thought you came to your
right senses and stayed home.
Yeah, but you were saving
my seat for me though, huh?
It's fruit
for Ralphie.
Oh, gee, and I thought
you were saving my seat.
What are they waiting for?
I don't know.
Hey, Rose.
Hm?
Come on, you were saving
this seat for me, huh?
Have you got to make a song
and dance out of it?
Yes.
Yes, I saved it.
( engine starts )
( phone rings )
GUARD: I have the keys,
card here. Yes, sir.
That's correct.
Yes, sir.
You don't smoke, do you?
I'm kind of anxious
to see your boy.
Does he look like you?
GUARD: Mrs. Bianco.
Mrs. Bianco, please.
Yes?
Mr. Harmon wants
to talk with you.
Hey, Rose. Hey, Rose.
I'll wait for you here, huh?
He ran away?
Come and sit down,
Mrs. Bianco.
He ran away or not?
Tell me.
Ralphie didn't run away.
Oh, thank God.
Thank the boy who warned me
in time to stop him.
Warned you what?
Ralphie was all set
to run away last night.
And you take the word
of one of these boys?
One of these boys saved him
from being transferred
to the reform school.
I'm sorry.
It's just that I get so scared.
I understand.
He promised he wouldn't
do it again.
But he can't help himself.
Listen, why don't you
let him come home.
You think he's going to steal
again from those parking meters?
He got the key from his father.
Now the cops have got the key,
and his father's
dead and buried.
And the crowd that Ralphie was
mixed up in, they buried too?
Mrs. Bianco, we're not
protecting society from Ralphie.
We're trying to protect
Ralphie from society.
Where is he now?
Confined to his room.
I can see him?
It isn't permitted, so...
don't get caught.
Oh, Rose,
is something wrong?
You look worried.
I've got to talk
with Ralphie.
Oh, Rose, will you ask Ralphie
if I could meet him some Sunday?
I'd like to very much.
All right.
(children playing
outside)
Yell and get it
over with.
I didn't come to yell.
What did Harmon say?
He covered up for you.
Ralphie, why do you keep
running away?
Where does it get you?
Out.
You got to stop running.
Don't give me advice.
Just get me out of here.
( sobs )
Don't cry. I'm sick
of seeing you cry.
Ma, I'm sorry I said that.
Please, Ma.
All right.
See, I'm not crying.
Ma...
I try and stand it here.
But at nights,
I lie in bed
and I sweat.
And I think about Papa.
Don't think of him.
Forget him.
Maybe I don't want to.
Put him out of your head.
He did you enough harm
while he was alive.
He did me harm?
( children chatter
indistinctly outside )
You know, Mr. Harmon
is really a good man.
I'm beginning to see there are
a few good men in this life.
Just the other night, for instance,
I'm sitting in the
yard making flowers,
and this man starts laughing and--
What man?
Oh, Frank Valente.
The Gallos' friend.
Ralphie, honest,
if there was a law against
making people like you,
this man would be
in the electric chair.
Do you like him?
He's the first person
made me laugh in years.
Coming here on the bus today,
he was--
You took him here?
But, Ralphie,
he's dying to meet you.
And besides, I need you to decide
if I should see him again.
I want you to okay him.
She brings a guy to the state farm
to be okay'd by a juvenile delinquent.
Next Sunday's all right?
It's your funeral.
Take care.
Bye.
Goodbye.
You like the country,
Rose?
It reminds me of home.
Yeah.
Italy.
You don't wanna go back, huh?
To what?
They're all dead over there.
If I liked visiting graves,
I could do it right here.
Yeah.
You know,
I've got a cousin
who just lives
for visiting graves.
Every Sunday,
he's in some cemetery.
One week, a tombstone
fell on him
and broke his collarbone.
That's very funny.
Hey, Rose, when we get home,
why don't you come have supper
with Mary and me, huh?
At my house?
Frank, don't be so quick.
I feel quick.
All right.
Next Sunday,
I'll meet Ralphie,
and you meet Mary.
You sure Ralphie said
it was all right, huh?
Oh, yes, I'm sure.
But do you think Mary--?
Ah, don't worry about Mary.
She's all up in the clouds,
with the wedding and all.
A girl about
to get married,
the world's like
a diamond for her.
Mary, will you listen
to me, please?
But Noble,
why do we have to eat here?
Why can't we all
go down to my place,
and I'll fix
some sandwiches and coffee?
I want egg rolls.
Well, you don't have
to yell.
You know, you're ruining
the whole date for Alma and Joe,
not just us.
Who's ruining?
Noble, don't you want me
to cook for you?
Now, what do you mean, me?
It's not me
you're thinking about.
You're worried
about your father.
So we'll come home starving.
Mary, do me a favor, will you?
Just once today, consider me.
What do you mean,
"just once"?
Mary, I want you to stay here
and have egg rolls with me.
Okay?
Alma? Hey, listen,
I'm going.
I'll call you tomorrow,
okay? So long, Joe.
They're not even
married yet.
And they fight better than
my mother and the old man.
Noble, go after her.
Eh, I'm going home.
Good night, Alma.
I'll see you, Joe.
Friday night, I'm giving her
the wedding shower.
Try to come, huh?
Yeah, sure.
And you want me to get married.
What do you want from me?
(chattering)
Try this side.
This side?
( buzzer rings )
Is that Mary?
No, no. It's okay.
It's only Joanne.
Oh, good.
Oh, hi, Joanne.
She's not here yet.
( chattering indistinctly )
We're both in pink.
Oh, it looks lovely.
Mom, did you remember
to invite Rose?
No, but I do it right now.
Good.
Girls,
coffee's ready.
Rose?
Hey, Rose!
Hey, what?
Come on over here.
I gotta talk to you.
I have to go out.
I can't stop here.
See, I invite you to a party,
and you have to go out.
You didn't invite me to a party.
I'm doing it now.
Alma's giving Mary
the wedding shower tonight.
She told me to invite you.
Who, Mary?
No, Alma.
How could Mary invite you?
It's gotta be a surprise
for the bride.
Well, I can't come.
I've got an appointment.
Tomorrow, go confess
to the priest how you tell lies.
I'm not lying.
Then you'll come?
I told you, I've got a date.
After the date,
you come and have coffee.
You and Frank.
Why didn't you wear a jacket?
I'm not cold.
(rings buzzer)
All right, baby,
have a nice time, huh?
But aren't you
coming in?
No, you tell everybody
hello for me.
You're not playing cards
tonight.
I got something else to do.
Mary, come in.
GIRLS: Surprise!
(excited chattering)
Hi.
Hey.
Hey.
Gee, you look beautiful.
It's not bad enough I have dates,
it has to be in front of a church.
You know, you're really beautiful.
Hey, Rose.
Yeah?
Let's go to a movie, huh?
But I am in mourning.
Well,
we'll see a sad movie.
And thanks again.
Good night, Ruthie.
Well, did you enjoy the shower?
Oh, it was lovely,
Alm.
And I really was surprised.
Kid, what's the matter?
Nothing.
Oh, look, I know you
since grammar school.
Honey, everything will
be all right with Noble.
I guess it's just nerves,
Alm.
You know, over the wedding
and getting the gown made.
You know, most girls act
like it's going on a picnic
when they get married.
You? You get a nervous breakdown.
Well, wait till you're the bride.
Wait is right.
Especially if it's Joe
I'm waiting for.
I guess Papa
will come and help me
pick up the gifts later, so...
Oh.
Good night, Alma.
Thank you.
Night.
(suspenseful theme plays)
(cat meows)
(upbeat dance music plays)
All right. We'll have cherry
vanilla for both of us, huh?
You want something on it?
Maybe hot fudge or something?
No, no, just plain.
Yeah?
Just plain for the lady.
Hey, put a lot
of jimmies on mine, though.
I mean, whipped cream,
marshmallows, the works.
Oh, what was I saying?
Your wife.
(music stops)
Oh, yeah.
Well, after the baby was born,
my wife, she, um...
She got sick.
Sick of what?
You know, sick.
Gee, for ten years,
she was like that.
Always locking herself
up in the room.
Never talking to me or even
looking at the baby.
You know, sometimes I...
You know, it's a long time
since I talked to anybody
about inside things.
I don't know. I'm always afraid
who has to listen
will get sick of hearing.
I won't get sick.
Thank you.
Gee, you see,
when you don't yell,
you can be so... so nice.
What's the matter?
Oh, nothing.
The marble is cold.
Oh, well, here.
Here, use this.
Thank you.
I'll do it.
All right.
So between the wife and...
No, go on. Go on, like this.
Between the wife and...
Hey.
You know, you always remember
where I dropped off.
Well, anyway, between her
and the depression
and trying to raise a baby by myself,
one day at work, I just keeled over.
What, your heart?
Oh, no, no. Just a strain.
So I ask the boss for a few days
off, and he says--
He says, "Take the rest of your life off."
"In a few days," he says,
"I'll be in the street
selling apples
if those spring orders
don't come in."
So, you know,
when I hear that,
I says to him-- I says "How
would you like to go in partners
with a man who has $1,000?"
And he says, "Okay."
So that very morning,
we signed the papers,
and I became half-owner.
And that afternoon,
the spring orders came in.
And the strain?
The boss, he got it.
Well, now.
Now we've got a store here
and a factory in Summerville.
Rose, have you ever been
around Summerville?
No.
Oh, it's very nice, very nice.
You know...
right near the factory,
there's this, uh...
Well, this wonderful house,
and it's...
Well, it's empty now,
and it's for sale.
You know, if I were
starting all over again,
I'd sell my house here,
and I'd buy that one near Summerville.
It would be nice starting again.
You could maybe not make
the same... mistakes.
Hey. You know, I bet
if those people at the farm
knew that Ralphie had
a nice house to come home to,
you know,
in the country, like...
Well, like Summerville...
You know, Rose, that...
That one little house could make
the three of us, kind of...
I don't know...
get ahold of life again.
You mean this, Frank?
I'm saying it.
You know, Rose,
you would do me a great honor.
Hey, I'll tell you what.
Sunday, we'll go to the farm,
and I'll ask Ralphie
for your hand.
Maybe... you'd like to wait.
You know, after all, we...
we hardly know each other.
Gee, the way I'm rushing you,
you'd think somebody
was chasing me.
I'm sorry, Rose.
I mean, if you're not sure...
I'm sure, Frank.
I'm sure.
You-- You are?
What...
Well. Well.
Hey, well.
Well, uh, Sunday
we'll tell Ralphie.
Monday morning, uh,
City Hall License Bureau.
Rose.
( upbeat dance music plays )
Hey.
Did I order that?
Yeah, you did.
You'd better eat it.
Oh, no, no.
I can't eat it.
Rose.
It doesn't fit.
Honest, Mary.
My feelings are hurt, the way
you criticize the gown.
Oh, it's not the gown.
It's the fit.
Well, just look how
it bunches in the waist.
You want it to fit like
the skin of a sausage?
Go. Go take it off.
I will fix the waist.
I should have stayed in Rome.
I was going to join the Church.
By now I would be
Mother Superior.
( rings buzzer )
I'm too busy, but come in.
Yes?
I wanted to ask.
You make wedding dresses?
What do you mean,
do I make?
Twenty years
in this country alone.
But I mean plain dresses,
you know? Not gowns.
You are going to get
married in church, no?
Why?
I don't make no dresses
for City Hall.
It makes a difference
to you?
Hey, what are you
so angry about?
Here, do me a favor.
Write your name.
I am busy getting a nervous
breakdown from criticizers.
MARY: Will you have this fixed
by Monday morning?
Dear God, spare me.
All right!
And Monday night, you come
and view me in my coffin.
I ask you, who can read your
writing? What is your name?
There.
Rose Bianco.
Well, I'm too busy now
to take your measurements
and decide on style.
All right.
But if you want the job,
I've got to come
for fittings at night.
No nights. If you work,
you come in the morning
before you go.
Oh, another thing.
The man I'm marrying,
he insisted he wants
to pay for the dress.
He said to send the bill
to him.
How do I know he will pay?
He's a friend of yours,
Frank Valente.
CONSUELO: How the world
is changing.
No more white gowns,
no more veils.
Hey, Mary. Look,
I ain't got all day, eh?
Give the dress to...
Oh...
I did not connect.
It is your father.
Mary, is it going
to be a double wedding?
Oh, watch...
Oh, Dio mio, che peccato!
Mary, what a shame.
( whistling )
( door slams )
Mary?
Mary, is that you?
Mary.
Mary.
Hey!
( door slams )
Mary!
( knock at door )
FRANK: Mary.
( sobs )
Mary...
Hey.
Hey, baby...
What's the matter,
honey?
Papa,
what are you doing?
What do you mean?
I heard her,
brazen as sin.
"Send the bill
to Frank Valente."
Oh.
Oh, honey, you're just upset
because it wasn't me
that broke the news
to you.
You see, I was waiting
till you...
Papa, you mean you're really
going to marry that woman?
If you ever say "that woman"
like that again,
I'm going to smack you
right across the mouth.
Papa--
How can you talk
about her like that?
Mary, you-- Mary, you--
You don't even know her.
Look.
Mary.
Mary, Rose has had a lot
of trouble in her life.
She's...
Look, if God is good to me,
he'll let me make her
happy for a change.
Mary.
You were going to Atlantic City
tomorrow to see
the house Noble found,
right?
Baby, why don't you
go today, huh?
You can stay
at my cousin's hotel.
You'll rest,
and you'll feel better.
Come on, huh?
I'll take you to the bus.
I can go myself.
I'm not a child.
Mary.
Look, Mary,
listen to me.
Mary, it doesn't have to change
anything between us. Honest.
Honey, uh...
Do you need some money?
No.
ALMA: Mary.
Hey, Alma.
Where's Mary?
She's upstairs.
Mary!
Mary, come and hear!
Alma, what's the matter?
Oh, listen, I could die!
Well,
what happened?
Alma?
Me and Joe,
we're getting married!
Oh,
that's wonderful.
Hey, Mary,
isn't that great?
Hey Alma, what can I
buy you for a present?
Look, never mind presents.
Just come. It's next Saturday.
Oh, kid, almost overnight.
Really?
I can't show up empty-handed,
you know.
Look, I love you.
Get what you want.
Oh, Mary, let me tell
you what happened.
Okay, come on.
Tell me.
Come on, tell me.
Last night after your shower,
Joe came over,
and I put it to him plain.
I said, "Joe, listen.
You're working, I'm working.
"Either we set it
definitely now,
or it's ended
altogether."
He said, "Now."
And then he
started to cry.
Honest,
he started to cry.
And then he said...
He said, "Alm, baby,
I'm scared."
Well...
Then I started to cry
along with him.
Well, then we both sat down,
and we talked it out.
And then he smiled.
Oh, Mary, I could work
100 years on that one smile.
Well, look, I gotta run.
The families are getting
together for dinner tonight,
and Mom started...
She started cooking and crying
at 5:00 this morning.
Where you going?
Atlantic City.
You made up with Noble?
Well, he called.
He found a house, and he wants
me to come and see it.
Oh, kid,
that's wonderful.
Well, look, call me
when you get back, huh?
Okay.
I hope the house is a dream.
Bye-bye, Alm.
( chattering in Italian )
Shut up!
( speaks Italian )
( responds in Italian )
( arguing in Italian )
I played
the right ball.
MAN 1: You don't know
how to play.
MAN 2: Oh, shut up.
Oh. Frank.
Oh, fa troppo caldo.
Come on, one game.
Just one game with me.
No, I don't wanna play.
It's too hot.
It's not that hot.
Come on.
Anyway, I wanna ask you
something very important.
Look, Henry.
Um, I like Rose.
( grunts )
Yeah, but, you see,
Mary doesn't understand.
And, uh, well, what I wanted
to ask you, Henry, is...
When you want
something so bad
that you don't care
what happens,
I mean, that's because God wants
you to have it, am I right?
It's hard to tell.
The devil works the same way.
Oh, Henry.
( speaks Italian )
I know, but I'm asking
you something very important,
and you're giving me jokes.
I don't give you jokes.
I don't want a philosophy.
I want some advice
from you as a friend.
( speaks Italian )
VOICE OVER P.A.:
Ralph Bianco. Ralph Bianco.
Your mother's here to see you.
You know what?
I'm... I'm scared.
I'm... I'm nervous.
Gee, you act like a boy.
Well, I've never been
interviewed by a boy before.
Oh, come on.
Hey, Ralphie. How are you,
darling? How are you?
You know, we talked
to Mr. Harmon.
What about?
Frank wants to tell you.
This is Frank.
Yeah, I'm Frank.
I guess you're Ralph, huh?
Hey, Ralph, suppose
you and me walk outside, huh?
I don't want any women around
while I'm answering questions,
you know.
Who's going to ask them?
Well, her father's in a cemetery
somewhere in Italy.
He can't do it.
How about it, huh?
( mouths ):
Go on.
You know, Ralphie,
when I was a kid,
I used to work summers
picking on a farm.
Your mother tells me
you like farming, huh?
She must've broken your eardrums
talking about me.
No, she breaks them
with yelling.
Me, I yell right back.
That way, nobody gets heartburn,
you know?
You know, the radio said rain today.
I'm glad they made a mistake, huh?
We could use some rain.
You can't make things grow
by spitting on them.
Yeah, that's good, huh?
Spitting on them. Pretty good.
( light, upbeat theme playing )
Hey, Ralphie, you know, about
this house in Summerville--
What house?
Oh, that's right.
I didn't tell you yet.
Well, anyway...
See, there's this house
in Summerville.
Boy, it's got a lot of acres
in the back.
It could be a farm
if you want.
And, uh, well,
I'm going to buy it.
Ralphie, um...
I'd like to marry your mother.
I mean, if you don't mind.
You know, gee,
between that house
and all the acres in back,
boy, it could be like paradise
for the three of us.
The three of us?
You're talking to me like
I'm sitting in someone's parlor.
Do you think I can just
pack my bags and leave?
What's the matter with you?
Don't you listen to your mother?
She told you we talked
to Mr. Harmon.
He said as soon as we show
him the marriage license,
he'll let you come with us.
What?
Well...
It'll take, oh, about
a week at the most.
I, uh...
I guess it all depends on...
Well, uh, if you...
If you like me.
If I like you?
What's the matter?
Look, if you wanna marry
my mother, that's okay.
But you don't have
to get me in the bargain.
Come on, Ralphie.
Gee, how do you think
I'd feel, huh?
Seeing she has a son,
and he ain't half mine.
Come on, now. Come on, eh?
You going to say yes or no?
You know, I...
Boy, I got a lot of signing to do.
You know, I gotta sign for the house.
I gotta sign for the license.
You know, you're holding up
all that signing.
Come on.
Is it a deal?
Like two men, huh?
I'm getting out?
Sure.
It's not all the way
in my head yet.
I'm getting out!
Ma! Ma,
I'm getting out!
I'm getting out of here,
Ma.
(upbeat theme swells)
NOBLE: Mary, come and see
the master bedroom.
Huh?
Well, what do you
think of this?
Did you ever see
such a big bedroom, huh?
I could have
a harem in here.
And the view
is beautiful too.
Oh, Noble, I knew you'd pick
a house like this.
You like it, huh?
I love it.
Oh, Noble, I'm sorry
about that fight we had.
We wasted so much time
just because I was so silly.
Come on, now, sad eyes.
Let's forget it.
But I'm always making
you mad and miserable.
I don't know how
you still wanna marry me.
Now, what kind of talk is that?
We had a fight.
So what?
You cried. I cried.
Tears don't call off
a wedding.
Mary, what's the matter
with you?
Papa's going to get married.
No kidding.
Mary, that's wonderful.
To that Rose Bianco,
and you say "wonderful"?
Noble, until I told him I had to
move to this godforsaken place,
he never even looked
at another woman.
Mary, my business is here.
So keep it here
and come home on weekends.
That's how a married man
should live, huh?
All week long
in a furnished room
while his wife is playing house
with her father.
Playing house?
Yeah, that's right, playing house!
Oh, Noble, you make me mad.
All right, Mary,
I'm sorry.
But your father wants
his own home, huh?
Don't I have a right to want mine?
Well, I think you'd better find
yourself another girl, Noble.
And give her this house.
You're my girl.
And you're going to be my wife.
You think I could live
without you now?
Then live with me
in my father's house.
Go home, Mary.
(door slams)
There, you see how special you are?
I serve you coffee in the parlor.
Oh, excuse me.
Hey, Rose. You know,
when I used to see you--
I mean, when I used to go
to the Gallos',
and I used to see you,
you know what I used to call you?
Yes.
How do you know?
Giulia.
No.
You know, still you shouldn't
dress in mourning all the time.
You know, you could be a yellow
orchid, maybe a pink. Hey.
A red one.
But I got a lot of pretty colors.
Oh, yes. Every week, I used
to buy a new dress to go dancing
and, oh, you know.
Hey, you like to dance?
Oh, yes, I do.
Yeah? I used to be one
of the best dancers
in the neighborhood.
Oh, you're joking.
No, honest. Honest.
I'll show you.
Here, you think
I'm kidding, huh?
(swinging jazz music plays)
Ah, it feels good, huh?
Yeah.
( laughs loudly )
What's the matter?
This is the first thing I see
about you that's old-fashioned.
What do you mean,
"old-fashioned"?
You want me to get fancy?
But you don't know how
to move. Oh, really.
What's the matter with that?
Ay, ay, ay. No, no.
I'll show you how to dance right.
Oh, you're going to show me?
Yes.
All right.
Whoa, wait. I lead.
No, no, no.
Just till you learn.
All right, all right.
( Frank speaks indistinctly )
Go on, turn around!
Now grab my hand!
What are you doing?
Now spin me!
Now, turn around.
Turn around.
You're getting kind of fancy.
I'm getting dizzy.
Me too.
Whoa, what's that?
Hey. Oh, Mary.
Hey, Mary. Mary.
Hey, I didn't hear you come in.
Oh, Mary, this is Rose.
Frank, turn that noise off.
Oh, sure, yeah.
Oh, I met her son today.
Hey, you should see that boy.
Oh, Mary, how about fixing
us something to eat, huh?
I'm tired.
Hey, since when are you too tired
to fix me something to eat, huh?
Are you hungry?
Show her where the icebox is.
Mary. Mary.
Don't you realize
you're insulting Rose?
Gee, honey,
you come in here,
you don't smile,
you don't say anything.
Now you use that rotten tone
in your voice.
Frank. Frank, I'll go home.
No, no, wait. Wait.
Mary's going to apologize.
Mary, take Rose's hand
and apologize.
Papa.
Now, come on. Put your hand out
where she can reach it.
Mary, come on, now--
Papa, I can't.
I don't know why--
Frank, don't--
Will you shut up, both of you?
Just put your hand where--
Come on.
Give her your hand.
Come on, Mary.
Just take her hand and say--
Don't you touch me!
You're bad!
He thinks you're good!
He thought my mother
was good too,
but she was a crazy lady!
Mary!
( discordant music swells
dramatically )
Go to her, Frank...
before you have to hate this
night the rest of your life.
Rose!
Rose, don't go!
(bell rings)
(chattering)
Hey, Rose, I--
I came to take you to lunch.
Rose...
Look, I don't blame you.
You're upset about last night,
but you know...
Listen, last night,
I walked out of your house.
Let's say
I walked out of your life.
Out of my life?
Rose, what are you saying?
I should have kept
my heart in mourning.
Rose, don't even say that.
What do you come here for?
Why do you have to make me see
what can't be?
Rose...
What's between us,
you think all of a sudden
you can just act like it's not there?
Frank, please don't say that.
Can you?
Huh?
See, that's what I came for.
That smile.
Come on.
Come on.
Rose.
ALMA: Frank, wait up!
Hey, Alma.
Where's Mary been all day?
Well, she's inside, I guess.
Well, I kept calling.
In five days, she has to be
my maid of honor,
and we haven't even
discussed the gowns yet.
Come on in.
Mary!
Mary!
(suspenseful theme plays)
Dinner's on the stove.
Where can she be?
Where could
she be?
Alma...
Mary!
Mary.
Mary.
Mary.
( tries to turn knob )
Mary.
Mary, don't lock the door!
MARY: Don't try to come in.
Just leave me alone.
( softly ):
Oh, dear God, please.
Please, please, God, not again.
Hey, Joe!
Frank!
Hiya, Joe.
Frank.
You're just in time. I was going
out to get some sandwiches.
The poker game just started.
Who's up there?
Who do you think?
Same bunch, huh?
The same old bunch.
Frank, how's everything?
Oh, fine, fine, fine.
No, I don't think
I'll come up tonight, Joe.
I'm going next door.
Listen, I'll see you tomorrow
night at the wedding, right?
Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure.
You, uh-- You nervous?
Man, you know it.
Don't be. See you, Joe.
Yeah.
Rose.
Frank.
Come and sit down.
Is Mary still locked in her room?
Well...
when I'm at work, she, um...
She cooks and irons and cleans.
When I'm there she--
She stays in her room.
Like your wife.
God, Rose,
it can't happen again.
Frank, tell Mary it's all off between us.
Rose, don't.
Go out of this house
and make a finish of it.
Don't ask me to do that, Rose.
Frank, tell me this.
Can you get married
and go to Summerville
and leave your daughter
locked in that room?
Rose, Rose...
Can you do that for anybody?
Tell me.
Can you?
(melancholy theme plays)
Yes, sir.
Ralph Bianco!
Your mother's waiting
in the visiting room.
What happened, Ma?
Things went wrong.
It's all off?
What'd you do to ruin it?
Me?
Well, who should I blame? Pop?
What'd you do?
Tell Frank the house
wasn't big enough?
Or wouldn't he rob
a bank for you?
Ralphie...
you hate me?
Ralphie.
Ralphie.
( upbeat accordion theme plays )
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Say, doesn't she look pretty?
I have to change, Mom.
It's time to go.
Oh, Joe, God bless you.
Sweetheart, lots of luck.
What's the matter?
What are you crying for?
She's my daughter, no?
No, you gained a son.
But, Papa,
I'm so happy!
She'll be back.
It's all right, Pop.
I'll take care of her.
You better...
Alma, throw your bouquet!
All single girls over
to the foot of the stairs.
All single girls. No, not you.
You've got one already.
(chattering)
(cheers)
(police siren blares)
(tires screech)
(buzzer rings)
(ringing continues)
Is your boy home, Mrs. Bianco?
What's the matter?
Well, he ran away again.
He isn't here.
(sobs):
He won't come to me no more.
Well, I have to take a look anyway.
(sighs)
You satisfied?
Now get out.
(bells toll in distance)
Pop.
Pop?
Oh, Noble.
Oh, it's morning, huh?
Yeah.
(grunts)
You heard?
Yeah, I heard.
Joe and Alma came to the shore
last night for their honeymoon.
They came over,
and they told me.
The whole thing.
Pa,
why didn't you call me?
What could you do?
We had a fight last Sunday.
Yeah?
I chased her out of the house.
I didn't call her
once all week.
Oh, don't worry about her.
It wasn't your fault.
Pa, what are we going to do?
Nothing.
What do you mean, nothing?
Just that, Noble, nothing.
If she's going to come out,
she's gotta turn the key herself.
Pa, we just can't stand around.
Well, we can pray.
God will do the rest.
Yeah.
But can't we help a little bit?
You think God's in business?
He puts "help wanted" ads
in the paper?
Hey.
You know I didn't mean it that way.
Pa?
Hm?
Now, listen.
Can't I at least go upstairs...
and try?
Go ahead.
Mary.
Mary, please come out.
Mary, not--
Not for me.
For Pa's sake.
Mary, baby.
Please?
Come on, Pa,
let's go to church.
We'll pray.
(tires screech)
I'll wait for you in church, Frank.
(knocks on glass)
Yeah?
Rose, I... I was on my way
to church, and I...
I wondered if--
Any news about Ralphie?
The other times when he
ran away, he called me.
This time...
Rose, after Mass,
I'm going to go to the farm.
I'm going to explain
to Mr. Harmon
how it was my fault
that Ralphie ran away.
How I made the kid go crazy
from disappointment.
Rose, I won't let them punish him
for something that's my fault.
And you think they'll listen?
Well, I hope.
The sky falls down on your head,
and you just keep right on hoping.
I don't expect no miracles, Rose.
But if nothing happens, I...
Rose, if it turns out that...
That you and me
can't get together, I...
Frank.
(sad violin theme plays)
Is Mary still in her room?
Yeah.
And you won't tell her about us?
Rose, I can't.
I just can't, Rose.
Rose.
Let's go to church and pray
together, huh? Come on.
We need more than prayers right now.
Look, they're going
to find Ralphie.
He's going to be fine.
Come on.
No, I want to stay here.
(dramatic theme building)
Ralphie.
I'm in trouble.
I know, son.
If Ma makes this Mass,
I want to look at her once more,
before I go away.
You're going straight back
to the farm.
I can't. They'll put me
in reform school.
And you're putting
your mother through hell.
Ralphie, why do you make her suffer
for something that's my fault?
Your fault?
You think I'm going to lie in church?
Huh?
Noble, drive us, will you?
Come on, let's go.
Let's go.
( dramatic theme crescendoes )
Mary.
Get out of here!
We are alone. We can say
what has to be said,
and nobody will ever
know one word.
We don't have anything
to say to each other.
Now, just get out.
But we should understand
each other, Mary.
We are two of a kind, you and me.
Is that how the bad
live with themselves?
By thinking everyone else
is no good?
Yeah. It takes somebody bad
to tell you what it is like
in the bottom of hell.
Get out of here!
What you're doing is wrong, Mary.
You are trying to twist
and bend your father
to make him do what you want.
But it's wrong, Mary.
I did it to my husband, and I know.
Poor Tony.
He was so happy when I came
to this country to marry him.
And I took his happiness,
and I choked it.
I was like a kid
in a toy store when I got here.
Everything I saw, I wanted.
And in a country like this,
there is so much to want.
He didn't have one dollar,
so he had to go stealing like a dog.
That's what killed him.
I don't want to hear any more.
Now, just get out of here!
Stop twisting
your father.
You don't know how doing that
is like murdering.
In the end, they tied Tony's hands
and feet and sunk him in the river.
But I was the murderer.
Now you're doing the same thing
to your father.
Mary.
Go out of this room.
Be downstairs when he comes.
Hurry up, Mary.
Before you break him in half...
forever.
He made a mistake over me.
Don't punish him.
Make him happy again.
I made him happy.
After my mother died,
I was the one
that made him laugh again.
Now you want to take him--
All right, Mary.
I'm very much in love
with your father.
For the rest of my life,
all I would ever want
is to see him smile at me.
But I won't let you kill him
just because of what I want.
Mary...
I'm going to walk out of this room...
out of this house now.
And that's the end of it.
That's what you want.
That's what I'm going to do.
You can go downstairs now.
You can be there.
I won't.
Rose.
Rose...
would you like a cup of coffee?
You know, every Sunday,
I make sausages
for my father's breakfast.
And every Sunday, he makes
another excuse not to eat them.
I guess that's one thing
I never learned
how to make to please him.
I know the way.
I'll get some sausages?
Mm-hm.
Oh, where's the pan?
Over there.
What's the water for?
A little water kills the grease.
They don't come out too fried.
You can get the eggs meanwhile.
You know, Noble eats six.
Boy, you drive like a wild man.
Come on, let's go in.
Go ahead in, and I'll...
I'll, uh...
I'll be in in a minute.
All right.
Papa.
Hi.
Hey.
Boy, hey, something smells awful good.
Mary, tell him to sit down.
Well, I'll go get Noble.
No, I'll get him.
He's right outside.
What happened?
She made me cook the sausages.
Oh, thank God.
Thank God.
Oh, Rose.
Oh, Rose, I found Ralphie.
You found Ralphie?
He was at the church waiting for you.
Where is he now?
Well, I took him back to the farm.
Is he all right?
I spoke to Mr. Harmon.
He said everything was going to be fine.
Frank.
Rose.
Frank.
Rose.
Frank.
Noble.
Mary.
Hey! Hey, Mary!
Oh, sit down here, huh?
Now, let's...
Let's see.
Oh, yeah, butter and bread.
NOBLE: Mary! Hey, Mary!
Hey, Noble.
Oh, Noble, this is Rose.
Rose, this is, uh... Noble.
Hello, Rose.
Hello, Noble.
Now, come on, sit down
before the stuff gets cold.
Yeah.
Aren't you hungry?
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm hungry.
Frank, give me your plate.
I'll fill it.
No, no, you sit down.
I'll do it myself.
In some families,
that's how they do it.
Well, if that's how you do it,
then... do it.
Oh, thank you.
Oh, pardon me.
Hey, boy!
Oh, boy! Oh, boy!
This is sausage!
Gee, Ma, I'm happy.
Hey, Rose, come on.
We're going to miss the bus.
Come on, let's go.
You wanna walk to Summerville?
Goodbye, Mrs. Valente, Ralphie.
Goodbye.
Goodbye, Mr. Harmon.
Mr. Valente.
Oh, Mr. Harmon, I'm very bad
at saying thank you, but...
Oh, here's some apples
for the boys, huh?
Thanks.
(uplifting piano theme plays)