Arrangement, The (1969) Movie Script

Seven forty-five a. m.
Our Los Angeles temperature
will reach the high 80s.
The sky's clearing
after the usual morning smog.
At Cape Kennedy this morning,
a perfect blue sky.
And all systems are go.
The countdown is now at 56 minutes
and 34 seconds and counting.
Good morning, darling.
The Big Board opened higher
in active trading.
For the fourth straight day,
the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
...was over the 930 mark.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Ford has a better idea.
A better idea for you and your family.
Lee Miles. Lee Miles.
- Your commercial, darling.
- Zephyr. Clean as a breeze.
The cigarette you trust most
is the cigarette you'll enjoy most.
The astronauts are now
in the command module.
All systems are A-okay
and the countdown continues.
This edition of The Early Bird News...
...has been brought to you
as a public service by Zephyr:
The clean cigarette.
The cigarette you trust most
is the cigarette you enjoy most.
Live your good life through
with Zephyr cigarettes.
And the countdown continues.
Fourteen minutes, 10 seconds.
Brought to you by Community Finance.
So we say, "Trade with the company
that encourages you to borrow wisely. "
They're giving it away.
They're giving it away.
- This is Gregory Forrest-
- Five hundred dollars.
Mr. Colin Warner.
A clean Zephyr is clean as a breeze.
The cigarette you trust most
is the cigarette you'll enjoy most.
And the countdown continues.
Five minutes and 12 seconds.
Eleven seconds.
Ten seconds.
Nine seconds.
Brought to you by Zephyr,
the clean cigarette.
The cigarette you trust most,
is the cigarette you enjoy most.
Our best day of the month.
We bagged 314 of the enemy dead.
Senator Allen,
at his morning press conference...
...said we'd soon hit pay dirt.
Four minutes and 28 seconds.
Twenty-seven seconds.
Twenty-six seconds.
- People you trust most smoke Zephyr.
- The cigarette you enjoy most.
Our Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday
had their best day of the month.
They swept both ends
of their double-header by identical scores.
Two minutes, seven seconds.
Six seconds.
Yes, all your life long...
...the cigarette you trust most
is the cigarette you enjoy most.
Seven seconds.
Six seconds.
Five seconds.
Four seconds.
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
Ignition.
Blastoff.
The giant rocket is slowly lifting.
Lifting. Lifting.
Dr. Morris, please report
to Surgery immediately.
Mr. Anderson's room, please.
Over here.
Calling Dr. Stevens.
Dr. Stevens, will you please check
with the nurse on duty in Ward B?
Did he say how it happened?
He hasn't said. He hasn't said a word.
Has there been any brain damage?
Mrs. Anderson,
there's someone here to see you.
His brother, I think he said.
Oh, Eddie, it's Michael.
- What the hell happened?
- Michael.
I had to go through his wallet.
He had a whole...
Did you know he'd begun
making payments on an airplane?
He hasn't said a word since?
Not a word.
I asked Dr. Leibman, my psychoanalyst,
to come and have a look at him.
Michael. Michael, can you-?
Can you stay for a few days?
- Can you, please?
- Y es.
He had a good night last night.
You had a good night, Eddie.
Pop sends his usual.
Same old stuff we were brought up on.
He hasn't changed a word
since we were kids.
From the strictly medical point of view...
...there's no reason why he can't
continue his convalescence at home.
When it came right down to it,
you put your head down, didn't you?
Ellen's going back to school
on the plane with Michael.
Isn't that nice, Eddie?
So take care of yourself, Eddie.
I'm going back East.
I'll give your best to Pop. Okay?
Eddie.
Daddy, you can hear what I'm saying.
You could talk if you wanted to.
And you will when you want to,
right, Daddy?
Hey, Florence.
I meant to ask you:
Has this got anything to do
with that business of a year or so-?
No.
No. Really.
Remember, when we were married,
how he refused to wear a wedding ring?
Well, right before the accident...
...he took me down to Lawson's
and bought us both wedding bands.
I never felt so married.
Oh, here's his boss.
- Florence, darling.
- Hello, I'll be right with you.
How's our boy?
Among all the animals of the plains,
the giraffe has no voice.
Even when its neck is in the lion's mouth,
it cannot protest its own murder.
These friendly looking citizens
are members of the wild dog family.
They always work as a team.
And you can always spot their leader.
Their manner, as you see,
is casual and very relaxed.
But don't let those little wagging tails
deceive you.
Notice the respect Mrs. Lion shows them
as she strolls by.
Eddie, look who's here.
Here we see them running down
a Tommy. A Thomson's gazelle.
- Eddie.
- Notice how lackadaisical their manner is.
Hello, Eddie.
How you feeling?
Hi, Eddie.
Looking great, Eddie.
They don't seem
to be hunting at all, do they?
The gazelle seems to have slowed down
just a step or two.
That's all it takes.
But their rather ordinary appearance
and casual-seeming behavior...
...in no way suggests the ferocity
with which they pull down their prey...
...and proceed to devour it.
Now, don't worry
about the accounts at the office...
...because things are going great.
Usually tearing the flesh off the animal
while it's still living.
Will somebody turn this damn thing off?
I was trying to say, Eddie,
that I want you to take it easy...
...because Ben and Charlie
are doing a great job filling in for you.
Yes, Eddie, take your time.
- Right, Charlie?
- That's right, Eddie.
Don't worry, Ben, I'm not coming back.
- Eddie.
- What'd he say?
He says he's not coming back.
Eddie, are you nuts or something?
Now snap out of it and get your ass
back to the office. I need you.
You're my indispensable man.
You remember, Ella- I mean, Florence.
You remember a couple of years ago...
...we were having trouble with Zephyr?
Take a look at this.
I think we got phase one licked.
What do you think? Not too subtle.
Now, we use black letters
on a yellow background that will-
What's the matter?
Eddie, I want you to drop everything
and concentrate on Zephyr.
Zephyr.
You disappeared for a couple of days.
And I didn't know where you were.
But I knew
that you were somewhere...
...working on Zephyr.
What did you do today, dear?
Got the angle for Zephyr.
Knew you would.
I'm sorry.
I can't get rid of this cough.
I tell you, Florence, when he starts
to sell, he's like a different person.
Like, inspired.
Now, let's face it.
The smokers of the world are scared.
Without mentioning the dirty word,
we know what they're scared of.
Frankly, it's gonna take more than
good advertising to change their mind.
It's gonna take a product.
And you gentlemen have that product.
The Zephyr cigarette.
Eddie. Eddie, you were great that day.
Just great.
How could anybody be afraid
of a cigarette made with glycerin?
It takes the hardness out.
Softens tobacco, makes it taste
smoother, but more important...
...it makes the cigarette
burn more evenly.
Now. What's another way
of saying "burn more evenly"?
The word is "clean. "
The clean one.
Gentlemen, may I present A Time to Live.
There's a time to live...
...when everything is clean,
fresh, young and good.
Every man has that time.
He only needs to take it.
Just great.
Eddie.
And when you do,
take along Zephyr, the clean one.
Made to burn clean with-
She's beautiful, isn't she?
Zephyr. The clean one.
Part of your time to live.
That's it, gentlemen, that's all.
"The clean one. "
Do you realize
the significance of that claim?
I'm sure you do.
Thank you. Thank you. That's it.
Eddie, marvelous presentation.
- Bye-bye.
- Thank you.
- Just doing a great job.
- Really an excellent presentation.
What the hell
are you always laughing at?
- Do you mind?
- Yeah.
- When it's at me.
- Oh, Eddie. Will you cut it out?
Been around here three months.
Every time I look at her, she's sneering.
I'm just wondering.
- Wondering what?
- Same thing you're wondering.
Why do you always have her,
I mean, around the office?
I don't always. Just when
I wanna get a reaction to something.
You know, she's on my personal payroll
because she's got a built-in crap detector.
Very useful. So you watch it.
You're great.
Delicious. May I have another one?
- Yes, of course.
- Beautiful grapes.
What are they, Thompson Seedless?
What- What amuses you?
All right.
We'll talk some other day perhaps, huh?
We'll have another little talk,
just a little chat.
And he's been this way all along?
He's said exactly one sentence
since the accident.
And that was?
"I'm not going back. "
To work, he meant.
Mrs. Anderson, as your analyst...
...I must warn you.
Something serious is going on here.
Yes, but what? Tell me what.
For one thing, I think we should
stop calling it "the accident. "
- That's an inaccurate-
- That's what it was.
There's a Chinese proverb:
The peasant always hangs himself
in the landlord's doorway.
Oh, bosh. I'm not his landlord,
I'm his wife.
But is he your husband?
I'm sorry.
I can discuss that.
Remember how he used to be?
Well, ever since
he broke up with her, he...
Well, I told you.
He's lost all interest in it.
Not only with me,
but as far as I can tell, with anyone.
Well, "It's better than if he were
off with some tramp," I tell myself.
"More to marriage than sex,"
I tell myself.
By the way, I have your check.
You're really convinced there
was nothing more to that relationship?
A sex thing. Pure and simple.
She was the office tramp.
That happens. I understand that.
Now, I must admit, there are nights
when I feel ready to go through the roof.
I'll fire that girl.
If he can get along without it, I can.
And it's highly unlikely
that he'll ever leave you, is that it?
Because he'll never find anyone
who'll put up with what you had to-
That's the way I am. I waited that
bitch out and I'm going to wait this out.
I'm raising the question,
is this what's best for you?
That's the way I am!
Well...
...we can never be too sure of that.
Let me just say this.
In every suicide,
there's an element of revenge.
He's very angry with somebody.
Probably himself, but-
- I hate...
- Who is it you hate, Eddie?
Is it me?
Eddie, tell me.
- Oh, I wish, just for once...
- Don't!
T rust me enough to tell me
what she meant to you.
I can take it.
Eddie, just once, say it all.
Then we can both forget it.
Eddie.
Please.
Little over- Over a year ago.
Christmas.
The office party.
What're you opening that now for?
It says, "Open immediately.
Organic matter, perishable. "
From your friends at the office.
- Look at this.
- Oh, isn't that nice?
Thank you. Appreciate it.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.
- I love my present.
- What did you expect?
Anything said in your hearing
is piped straight to that throne.
- Every room you' re in is bugged.
- Not true.
They call you Finnegan's fink.
- I'm hired by Mr. Finnegan-
- I know why you're hired by Mr. Finnegan.
He doesn't pay me for that.
Get your feet off of my desk.
Drop you off, Gwen?
Mr. Anderson and I
have unfinished business.
Merry Christmas.
- Bye, boss.
- Bye, boss. Merry Christmas.
Do men take that crap from you?
Why do you wear those?
They make things happen.
Then it was just a sex thing.
Yeah, that's all it was. Just a sex thing.
What do you mean
you're wondering the same-?
- How much longer?
- "How much longer" what?
- You can take it. I don't believe that-
- Excuse me.
- people who smoke Zephyr cigarettes
are safer from cancer.
Locking up.
You don't know what's false and true.
You know what will sell.
- Are you patronizing me?
- You don't know what you think.
- Are you being moral with me? You?
- Yes, I know, I'm nothing.
I never was, but you,
you could have been-
What? What?
What you could have been.
What happened to you, Eddie?
It must kill you to think
what you might have been.
Wash him out of your mouth...
...before you get superior with me, you-
What happened, Eddie?
By the way...
...where did you do your carrying on?
I'm just curious. Her place?
Oh, I forgot. Yeah, I- I guess her place.
What I don't understand...
...is how come it went on for so long?
Because it did, didn't it?
Oh, on and off.
Eddie, remember the time
you took a leave from the office...
...went east to research
your profile on Chet Collier?
That son of a bitch.
- I always suspected that you-
- You suspected right.
I took her east with me.
My research girl.
Oh, God.
I wish just once, just once,
you'd said to me:
"Let's go. Come with me
and be my research girl. "
How did she talk you into that?
I don't want to know.
Good night.
That bitch.
"Just a sex thing"? Tell her the truth.
Tell her about the months
you told me you were gonna leave her.
Truth is, I need you both.
Then tell her that for a start.
That word, "succulent"...
...lends itself
to some unfortunate humor.
Did you tell her?
Couldn't this morning. Don't rush me.
It's clean as a breeze
- Oh, Eddie.
- Smoke refreshed
My girlfriend quit this morning.
She's going back to New Y ork.
She said to me, "The screwing I'm getting
is not worth the screwing I'm getting. "
So when it gets up to here,
instead of a vacation, I take a leave.
Pick up a job writing a profile,
an interview, something.
T o keep something going in me.
This magazine's asking me to write a
profile of a politician named Chet Collier.
Most of the work
will be in Connecticut-
- Don't con me, Eddie.
- You could be working for me.
A secretary, researcher or-
Gwen, do this one last thing for me
and then-
I don't expect anything from you.
Please come.
I used to think it was just in the office...
...but you're the same way everywhere.
And you'll never change.
You're a liar, Ed.
Like most people.
But you lie to yourself.
- That's killing you.
- "That's killing you. "
- And that's killing you.
- "That's killing you. "
Who the hell were you talking to?
I- I can't sleep. I think I'll get a drink.
Oh, Eddie, you don't have to pretend
you need a drink.
Eddie.
I'm gonna tell you the truth.
The- The physical part,
that wasn't it really.
Somehow, by insulting me...
...got me mad...
...she made me look at myself
in a way I hadn't done for years.
That's why I held onto her the way I did.
Finally, when I wouldn't leave you,
she got fed up.
What do I have to do to convince you
I'm not your girl anymore?
It was at Collier's house in Connecticut.
That night,
we were both out of our heads.
Why don't you put that thing away,
let me interview you for a change?
- What are you, Syrian?
- No.
Well, you' re some kind of wog.
I'm a Greek.
And what's your name?
It certainly isn't Evans Arness.
That's my pen name.
I started out as a writer and then...
- In the office, I'm called Eddie Anderson.
- What the hell's your real name?
- Depends on how far back you wanna go.
- T o when your name meant something.
Me, for instance. Collier. Coal miner.
Topouzoglou.
- How's that again?
- That's my name, Evangelos Topouzoglou.
Now, that is one hell of a name.
We've been together almost a year.
"Give you time"?
She said, "We were together a year.
'Give you time'? "
Now, you listen to me.
Go back to your original name.
You never really meant it.
The truth is, you thought
you were too good for me.
I knew like you did Finnegan quick,
you'd do me quick.
Then what the hell were you
stringing me along all those months for?
- Lying to me all those months.
- Gwen. Gwen.
Okay. Okay.
Okay, you're too good for me, right.
Mr. Collier, I'll be going to bed now.
- Is there anything else?
- Let's go, Gwen.
No, thank you, Sheila. Good night.
- Good night.
- Gwen.
I think I'll stay here.
Do you mind?
Welcome.
Gwen, we're leaving.
That is for the lady to say.
Mr. Collier...
...she came with me
and she's leaving with me.
Sit down, Gwen.
I walked away
and left her with him, like that.
Why?
I've often wondered.
Was I glad to be out of it?
I don't know.
The strangest thing happened.
All I could think of...
My mother, the way she used to-
I don't know what one thing has to do
with the other, but I left her there...
...and went back to the city.
About 2:00 in the morning,
I was in a bar, dead drunk.
And for no reason in the world...
...I picked a fight
with an absolute stranger.
And you don't wanna make a complaint?
No, officer. I had it coming.
Since that night, Florence,
I don't like my life.
I don't like the way we live, this house.
I don't like-
Then change it!
If you don't like the way we live,
then change it!
I'm not here because I like it here,
I'm here because of you.
Goddamn it, Eddie, goddamn it.
I mean, Eddie, be just.
Be fair.
I guess what I don't like
is the person I am.
Can't do anything about that, can I?
But, darling, you can.
With help, you can change who you are.
Can a 44-year-old man who doesn't
like himself go back and start again?
That's the plot of our true romance,
my faithful reader.
And you don't have to wait
till next month's issue for the answer.
She spoke the truth, Gwen.
I'll never change.
This is me, let's face it.
Our hero hasn't got
the courage to leave his wife...
...even though- Even though
he knows it would save her life.
Florence.
Thanks.
Darling, if I didn't see you through this,
what would I be for?
Well, I'll go back to work
tomorrow morning.
Touch up my sideburns,
grow my mustache back.
I don't know
if I can take that scene anymore...
...but I'm going to try.
Eddie, I'm so glad.
I think a lot of you, Florence,
you know that.
I know you do, baby.
We'll do the best we can.
Oh, we'll do better than that.
Why are you all that glad I'm going back?
Oh, I don't know.
I guess because I get the bills...
- ... and I write the checks.
- I wish I had more.
We have enough money.
No, no. I meant something else.
More stomach.
Courage.
I'm awfully tired.
Yes, yes.
Yes, of course you are.
I'll just hold you.
Oh, Eddie...
...I know it's going to be good again.
Like it was in the beginning.
I have faith in that.
Yes.
You sleep.
Sleep, baby.
Sleep.
Sleep.
What happened to you, Eddie?
- What?
- What you could have been.
- What?
- A wonderful man.
Eddie.
- Here, have one of mine.
- Okay. What is it?
It's a Zephyr.
I'm sorry, Florence.
I'm awfully sorry.
So this is a Zephyr?
- Isn't bad.
- I like them.
Tastes clean.
And when are you gonna
change to Zephyr?
I'm going to work now.
We now bring you the local news...
...followed by sports
and the latest weather report.
In Greendale yesterday,
a local man, Frederick Beck...
...went berserk, killing his wife
and three children.
No comment.
Glad to see you, Eddie.
Glad to be back.
Glenn, get him a drink.
Here's the computerized for you.
We've gotta do something about it.
It's up to you.
Bullshit.
You know what we're gonna put
on the tip of everybody's tongue.
Mustn't say the dirty word here, but
it's not the "clean" one, it's the big C.
That's it, huh?
Thanks.
Now listen, Anderson, $5 million.
You better get a hold of yourself.
You're about to cost this company
$5 million in billings.
Hello, Frank? Finnegan. Yes.
First, I wanna say that Eddie Anderson...
...does not represent
the thinking of this company.
I'm taking over
the Zephyr account myself.
Damned if I know.
He ought to see a psychiatrist.
Baron, zero, zero, Romeo.
Baron, zero, zero, Romeo.
Leave area immediately.
You 're in violation
of federal and city regulations.
Here he comes.
- You all right?
- Of course.
Hey, mister, we' re here.
Eddie?
Eddie, dear?
I don't know what's the matter with him.
What's the matter with you, mister?
- Hello, all. Arthur, how are you?
- Eddie.
Hey, cabbie, this is my lawyer,
Mr. Arthur Houghton.
Take care of the gentleman, Arthur, huh?
Eddie. Eddie, your brother
called from Connecticut.
It's about your father.
And Mr. Finnegan called.
He owes me 62.70.
Sixty-two seventy?
Gentlemen, Mr. Anderson has been under
severe emotional stress recently.
I'm the consulting doctor here.
I can attest to the fact
he's not been himself recently.
He told me to wait
while he went up in the plane.
Have you got a pilot's license?
They want to see
your pilot's license and ownership.
They're waiting, Eddie.
- In the bottom drawer.
- Thank you.
Mike?
What's that, Mike?
I was just coming east.
Pop?
When? When did that happen?
Sure.
Did he ask for me?
When did it-? Yeah.
Okay.
United Airlines flight 16
nonstop to New York...
...now departing Gate 75.
All aboard, please.
I'm out of breath. I called your brother.
He told me about your father.
Pneumonia?
- Seems to be under control.
- Good.
Now, if I could persuade you
to take a later plane.
- Mr. Sawyer.
- Arthur.
- See if you can get Mr. Anderson-
- No.
- Edward.
- Arthur.
- This may be the most difficult-
- Just say it.
We all know, you, I'm sure,
as well as anyone...
...you've been behaving
in a highly eccentric-
Just say it, Arthur.
None of us knows what you might or-
Take a chance. Say what's on your mind.
Have you got your checkbook with you?
- Yes.
- Good.
Well, Florence, in her absolute panic...
...thinks that until
you become yourself again...
...that you should put whatever
you have that's liquid, your cash-
Mr. Sawyer, the power of attorney.
- and your negotiable bonds
into a joint safe deposit box.
What in the world amuses you?
It occurred to me
that this was your idea.
Edward, I only put into words and action
what is on her mind.
It's been my experience
that when women, particularly women...
- ... feel this way-
- I kept 200.
- that money...
...its transfer, has a soothing effect.
- What's this?
- Power of attorney.
- All right?
- Y es. Y es.
- Sure you want to?
- It's what I want, thanks.
Edward, may I remind you that while you
live high, you also live close to the line.
Have you ever considered
what would happen...
...if that weekly
Finnegan check stopped?
Because the rest of it wouldn't.
Your mortgage payments,
insurance, your taxes. Oh, my God.
You do know that Mr. Finnegan
is rather upset with you, Edward.
I got a call from him himself.
I'm off salary until I'm myself again.
- You find that amusing?
- I seem to.
You know, he's convinced that I'm...
Arthur.
- Give Florence a message for me.
- Of course.
Tell her to look out for herself,
because I'm...
What?
Edward, I must tell you, as your
family lawyer and as your friend...
...that there's one thing which
Florence will not and cannot tolerate.
I don't recall the young lady's name,
you can supply that.
- Fire hydrant in the hall.
- Hi, Gwen.
How you doing, Gwen?
Well, what did you expect?
Gloria. Glad to see you.
Glad to see me?
- Is Mom here?
- You finally got here.
- Michael?
- Mike?
Hey, Mommy. Doctor.
Eddie. This is Dr. Weeks.
He's been taking care of Pop.
- Hello, doctor.
- How do you do?
This is Father Draddy. Thought it'd be
a good idea if he met your father.
Is the old man that bad? Oh, I'm sorry.
It just makes it a heck of a lot easier
later on. May it never happen.
- Six-twelve, right?
- Right.
This gentleman is with our party?
I'm the dead man's brother.
Joe. Eddie.
Doctor, just how bad is he?
Well, fluid in his left lung,
which will clear up in a couple of days.
However, your father
is well advanced in arteriosclerosis.
His brain is deteriorating
at a speed you will find shocking.
At times, he makes complete sense.
At other times,
he's given to extreme paranoia.
Unfortunately, the target
at the moment is your mother.
- I'm going to surprise you.
- How's that, sir?
I'm not going die.
Oh, well, I firmly believe that.
Then why are you here?
- Well, I just-
- Who sent you?
- Well, no one in particular.
- One time in your life, tell the truth.
My wife sent you.
You tell my wife...
...when I want priest...
...I send for pope!
I'm not ready to die yet.
I want my son, here.
Evangelos!
Evangelos!
Bigshot.
Now, Miss Costello, here is famous man.
You're the one?
You're the only thing he talks about.
He listened to me, take my ideas
and make bigshot success.
Right, boy? You listened to me.
I sure did, Pop. Everything I am today,
he made me. Right, Pop?
Enjoy your lunch.
Door. Door.
- Here, Pop, you eat this now.
- Poison.
I eat nothing they cook.
Only white bread from package.
Hey, Papa, how you feel really?
I have no money. That's how I feel.
- But you have enough for both, right?
- Right, Pop.
I'm here now,
everything's going to be copacetic.
"Copacetic. "
Oh, my boy.
Why your hair's getting gray?
No reason. I'm getting old, Pop.
Beginning, just beginning.
You'll be many times a millionaire,
guarantee.
How much money you made this year?
Oh, I paid taxes on about 80 thou.
Eighty thou.
"Oh, I pay taxes on 80 thou. "
But how much you make? Right?
Smart. Smart.
Don't tell me.
Your money, your business.
I know you got plenty.
- You saw him out there?
- Who?
Her boyfriend?
- Her boyfriend? Mom's?
- Sure. That Irish.
When you come, he hides.
Now, quick. See who's at door.
See who is at the door, quick.
- No one.
- There was someone.
There was someone.
I sit in the living room.
He sits over there, that Irish.
Waiting.
I close my eyes one second-
He get up. She get up.
They go at each other like dogs.
Dogs, I guarantee.
At her age, 71, like dogs.
- Five hearts.
- I pass.
All right, Pop?
- Evangelos, lock the door.
- Come on, Pop.
Lock the door!
He's 76. No, for permanent.
Now, how much, including everything?
Nurses, medicine, how much?
You love your father, boy?
Get me out of here.
When?
I want to go Empire State Building.
Is there my bank.
We sit down Mr. Meyer.
Jewish, but very fine man.
Knows me 35 years. We make loan.
- Father, son, right?
- Right, Pop.
I bring carpets from Persia,
beautiful goods.
Tabriz...
...Teheran...
...Kashan, Sarouk.
Make fortune. Do I know this business?
Better than anybody, Pop.
What?
Is this a nursing home
or the Waldorf-Astoria?
T omorrow you come with taxi.
We go home.
I make nice bath, put blue suit,
beautiful shirt, banker-style tie.
Haircut, shave, shoeshine, manicure.
You'll see. You'll see. I'm not finished.
You see. You see.
Evangelos.
Don't turn against me.
Why, I won't ever, Pop.
Mr. Arness, your alcohol rub.
Alcohol rub.
- He loves his alcohol rub.
- Evangelos, bring here some grapes.
Little white seedless kind I like.
And, Evangelos, I want melon.
I like nice melon.
Everything ready.
How much money you make today,
my boy?
- Money?
- Y es, money.
Money. You heard of it?
Evangelos. Evangelos.
Go down delicatessen.
Bring half-pound ham, half-pound tongue,
half-pound Swiss cheese.
He's gone to sleep, Sam.
- Well, Eddie, what do you say?
- I'll think about it.
There are plenty of perfectly nice
nursing homes...
...where if your father does doo-doo,
your mother doesn't have to clean.
- Shut up, Gloria.
- Oh, all right.
She's right, Eddie.
You think so too, huh?
- Don't just sit there.
- Take it.
- Say something.
- Gloria, I'll think about it.
- What is there to think about?
- Gloria.
I'm going to bed now.
Michael, I would like to go to the house
to get some clothes in the morning.
All right, Mom.
I'm going too.
I- I gotta see somebody.
I'll bet.
I don't know how your wife stands you.
Actually, I'm glad to meet you.
Gwen would never talk about you,
but I like things in the open.
Now, I knew you'd been close.
Yeah. We'd been close.
This program is presented to you...
...by your friends
at the Golden Bear Insurance Company.
This is your music station,
WMUS New York.
Your music as you want it.
Zephyr, Zephyr, Zephyr, Zephyr.
Zephyr, Zephyr, Zephyr, clean.
You know that's really awfully good.
I wish you'd both
get the hell out of here.
- Is that a baby?
- Yeah.
What about it?
I wanna finish my drink.
Charles, will you get him out of here?
I'm gonna drive you home.
Oh, Charles, I'd like to be by
myself tonight. Don't come back.
You know, that last crack of hers.
Once upon a time, that'd be a way of
telling me to come back after I'd lost you.
I don't think she meant that tonight.
Whose kid is that?
If she'd wanted me to know,
she would've told me.
Good luck.
Mr. Anderson.
I don't believe in luck.
I believe in patience.
When I first met Gwen, I had
to watch the knives and the windows.
I mean, she was on the edge.
Do you have any idea
what you did to her?
Please don't see her again.
I can't promise that.
Okay.
Fix yourself a drink.
You don't look so good.
- Whose kid is it?
- Mine.
What does that mean?
It means I don't want anything
from his father.
He sure looks like me.
Oval chin...
...noble brow.
Didn't have when he was born.
He looked like one of those greeting-card
jokes, awful pointy above the ears.
I used to be pointy above the ears.
Honestly.
You haven't lost your figure.
You begin to lose it after the second one.
- What's he glaring about?
- He's very arrogant.
He doesn't like it when
he can't have his way on everything.
He knows that turns me on.
But in a little while, you'll see,
he'll get tired...
...lay his head over and go to sleep.
- Look. See?
- Oh, Gwen. Gwen.
Eddie, don't do that.
Gwen.
Gwen?
Don't say anything.
Anything you say will be wrong.
You don't have to say a word.
But they think I'm crazy.
I mean, literally nuts.
- What time is it?
- Five-thirty.
Hey, "Let me out of here. "
Eddie, shut up.
Hello.
Yes, Charles. Yes.
Yes, thank you, Charles.
He calls me up sometimes to remind me
that it's time to feed His Majesty.
You know, Ellen was adopted.
He saved my life, Eddie.
I met Charles.
And one night I called him over
just to pass the time.
Then it got late and he stayed.
- But he didn't come on with me.
- I can't figure him out.
Three or four times a week
he'd stay here, sleep on that sofa.
- He never-?
- Not once.
Then one day, I said to myself-
Big discovery.
- "Gwen, you've got half
of something that works. "
- He knew you were seeing other men?
- I used to tell him who, when.
What happens when you have a date?
He stays here, minds the kid.
He's crazy about the kid.
- If you stay out all night?
- He knows what to do.
- What if you wanna bring someone here?
- You saw.
- What's the matter with him?
- Nothing.
What's he figure?
That he'll end up with me and he's right.
I need someone like him,
someone who's there.
And I need someone else
from time to time.
The way a man does.
A girl isn't supposed
to think that way, I know.
And I'd like to find it all in one person.
There's no such animal.
The fact is, there's something
about a bastard.
Like they say,
it's always the trombone player.
The one who turns you on
is the one who does you in.
But I'll never risk everything again...
...on somebody like you.
Charles?
I'm in here, Charles.
But, Charles...
...I'm with someone and I wish
you wouldn't come in here now.
All right, Gwen.
I'm going.
I'll call you later.
Calling Dr. Shapiro. Calling Dr. Shapiro.
Pick up, please.
- What are you whispering about?
- Looks like you've been up all night.
You hit it right on the head.
Aren't you a long ways from home?
If you insist on putting a match
to all I've built for 20 years...
...I'm damn well gonna be here too.
- Brought him some cigars.
- Cigars?
What he needs
is a good swift kick in the ass.
When I came in this morning,
he was all dressed and ready to go.
Little bag all packed.
Said you were coming in a taxi.
When I told him he couldn't go, he took
exception. I had to give him a shot.
- I'll show it to him.
- No, we'll tell him.
- You get him.
- Okay.
My mother and father,
after all these years...
Well, that's the way life ends sometimes.
All the hostilities and suspicions
we feel every day, we hold them down.
But they always come out.
Forgot my keys.
Here. That's all right, Mom.
I'll get in through the cellar.
Eddie, look, you can see that they can't
ever live together in this house again.
You don't agree?
Appreciate your check by return mail.
Yours truly, Sam Arness.
Oh, is that all you got? That's all?
Evangelos!
Evangelos!
Go down delicatessen.
Bring half-pound ham, half-pound tongue,
half-pound Swiss cheese.
He's gone to sleep, Sam.
For the last two years while he's been
hitting and cursing her, where were you?
Every time I look at this house,
I could kill him. I could kill Michael.
Four spades, double.
Do you realize your mother spent 40 years
in that house slaving for that monster?
- Shut up! I tell you-
- Hey. Hey.
She's your wife, now keep her mouth-
I just have to get a few things.
Come here.
Why do you make me do that?
Why did you do that?
I was about to hit her with my fist.
Look, darling, Gloria realizes that you're
not exactly rational at the moment.
Eddie, darling.
Let's go in there where it's quiet.
Remember, Eddie? In there?
It was the first time, wasn't it?
Remember?
There's only one thing
I ever wanted, Florence.
I wanna be a writer.
Oh, baby, you can be anything.
Anything you choose to be.
Well, when I told Dr. Leibman that you
didn't like the person you were...
...he said that was the cause
of most of the unhappiness in the world.
And that you were right, it was time for
you to accept that you are what you are.
Eddie, look.
- What are you thinking?
- Don't you think my father...
...has a right to live the rest of his life
as irrational as he wants?
- On his own terms.
- Yes, but, Eddie...
...you cannot put your father
and your mother in the same house again.
- So, what are your plans?
- I want you to come home...
...with me on the next plane
and I want you to work with Dr. Leibman.
You know what you can do
with Dr. Leibman.
Thanks a lot, but no, thanks.
Baby, you need help
and I need your help.
- I haven't said anything yet about Ellen.
- Changing the subject.
She's in New York.
She hasn't gone back to school.
She needs a father, Eddie.
And Dr. Leibman, he's pretty smart.
He says you can adopt a child but there's
a time when the child has to adopt you.
What are you and Gloria
planning about my father?
We have no plans. Have you?
Yes.
Florence, I'm gonna have him
live with me.
- Eddie, it- It just wouldn't work.
- Why not?
- If you were yourself, you'd see that.
- Obviously, I'm not myself.
- He needs constant care.
- I'll give it to him.
Oh, Eddie, let's face it. He's a different
kind of person than we are.
Florence.
He's my father.
What the hell is all this sudden pretense
that you care about him?
- You'd like to kill him.
- Dr. Leibman speaking.
- Sooner or later you will.
- Why are you so violent?
Because you and I have got
a huge reconstruction job to do...
...and because...
Why?
Because where were you last night?
Where were you, all night, last night?
All night.
I was with Gwen last night.
All night, last night.
You-
What are you whispering about?
Eddie, come with us.
Gloria has a list of homes,
we're going to drive and look at some.
- We've decided that-
- In this case, I decide.
In this case, your mother
has the last word and she agrees with us.
Well, ask her.
Oh, by the way,
I just spoke to Gloria on the phone...
...and she said that they've found
a very nice home for Mr. Arness.
No, Father. Old folks' homes
are for people who have nobody.
He has me.
I remember day I arrived this country.
I was 19. Beautiful boy.
Can you believe it?
First time I saw shore.
- Dr. Weeks.
- Long Island.
T ell me, isn't there anything
that can be done for him, really?
Make him as happy as you can
for as long as you can.
First time I saw shore, then-
- I was thinking-
- Actually, Gloria said-
- I was thinking of taking him to Florida.
- Oh, Mr. Arness.
There's a town of Greek sponge fishermen
down there.
You mean kidnap him?
I'm sorry.
You'd have to give permission,
wouldn't you?
- Yes. And, of course, I couldn't do that.
- Father Draddy?
Mr. Willis is looking for you.
What if I were to?
Kidnap him?
I couldn't give permission.
But despite that...
...if you were to,
the best time would be around midnight.
I'll be giving the nurses on the floor
some special instructions.
Going down.
Thanks, Charles.
Come on, Pop. Upstairs to bed for you.
- I sleep here.
- Pop, you can't stay here.
- I sleep here.
- Pop, you-
She give my keys certain persons.
You understand?
All my business papers.
Don't repeat that.
Who knows what kind, God knows,
monkey business going on?
My feet cold.
Yeah, I'll get something for you.
There, feel that?
You're gonna be warm
in a couple of minutes.
- Tomorrow, first thing, we go to bank.
- Right, Pop.
Tomorrow I'm gonna buy you
those little white grapes you like, huh?
I hear that before too.
Are you really gonna take him
to the bank tomorrow?
What else can I do?
His feet were like ice.
- What's his name?
- Sam Arness.
Sam, it's good to see you. Come in.
But after I'm married,
we could see each other.
Get a place, fix it up
and I'd take care of you there.
That's all you want of me anyway,
the night stuff, everything perfect.
And that's all I want of you.
You say you want the truth. That'd be it.
Isn't that what you've always wanted?
Money is a little tight right now.
Gwen.
- T omorrow.
- Right.
What time is it?
Morning. I don't know.
Gwen, I'm gonna marry you.
I don't hear a sound out of you...
...for a year and a half.
Now you come on
with that marriage salami.
- What the hell do you think I am?
- Gwen, I'm going to marry you.
Did you expect to find me waiting here,
my tail on ice, with your-
- I expected what I got.
- Let me tell you what you got.
After you dropped me at Chet's, I made
up my mind to clean you out of me.
The next night I went to Downey's.
A guy said, "Have a drink. "
- I said, "You're in luck. "
- And?
To finish you off,
I called up Jack Schnee.
- The poster man?
- That's right.
- What was his attraction?
- You didn't like him.
That was his attraction,
that's the way I went.
And I'll tell you the best of all.
An Italian.
A movie producer: fat, pig rich, arrogant.
An old man with a nothing body.
But he'd look at me
and he'd smile that soft Italian smile...
...and he'd hold me
with those soft Italian hands.
Like the hands of one of those old saints.
No poetry about love...
...but such affection.
The purest, the most honest,
the most believable thing-
- I don't care. You're gonna marry me.
- People aren't that way.
They pretend, lie, like you do, because
they can't take it the way they really are:
Faithless.
You can't take it the way
you really are, faithless.
And the way I really am.
And love? For songs.
"Love" is the word they say
before they pull your guts out.
What are you doing here?
- You can lie to me but I'm not gonna-
- You're here because you love me.
- I don't love you, you son of a bitch!
- Don't lie to me!
Stop it, son of a bitch! Stop it! Stop it!
Taxi here? I'm ready.
Get out of here!
Did you see that? He was raping her!
I mean he's insane, literally.
Literally insane.
All right, go. Fix breakfast.
- I talk to boy alone.
- Don't talk to her that way.
It's okay.
How about some scrambled eggs?
- I don't want make trouble.
- He wants eggs.
Evangelos, don't get fresh with me.
Pop, how'd you sleep
on that couch last night?
- Your grandfather was here last night.
- What'd he say?
He was angry with me.
He said, "Seraphim.
Seraphim, you are not finished. "
What'd he mean by that?
Everybody trying to bury me.
- Come on, now.
- You too.
- Pop, I don't wanna bury you.
- We soon find out.
- You keep doubting me.
- Because I want you to give me money.
I'm going into business again.
Now then.
How much you got?
I don't know.
You ever hear anything like this?
Grown man doesn't know
how much he has in bank.
Amen, amen.
Now, how much you got?
- You and Frances?
- Florence, Pop.
I- I really don't know.
Miss, I find my life, all conversation
change when subject money.
You find same thing?
Evening before, everything
"Sweetheart, honey, lollipop"...
...plenty chop-chop monkey business.
Next morning, cold behind, right?
- That's life.
- But from your son, you should expect-
Yeah, you boy.
All my life, I ask favor nobody.
- For chrissakes, Pop.
- Forget it.
Gold isn't everything, right?
Pennies from heaven, falling down.
Guarantee, falling down,
guarantee. Right?
Pop.
Please, Pop, why don't you sit down?
The truth is, I do have some property,
but I don't think I have any cash.
Miss, you ever hear anything like that?
Grown boy lying to his father?
I'm not lying, Pop. That's the truth.
Evangelos, why you make me beg
like this in front of stranger?
This is my last chance.
Everybody laughing at me.
Everybody says, "He's finished.
- Sam's finished. No brains. "
- You've got plenty of brains.
- If you don't get this, no brains.
- That's not the point, Pop.
I know, the point is gelt, gelt, gelt
is more important than your own family!
I'm just like my father.
Evangelos, my last hope is on you.
You owe me.
Look at me.
You see those Irish, those Armenians,
send their sons college?
I worked my way through college.
You did everything you could to stop me.
If it wasn't for Mother-
Where do you think she got money?
From my pockets!
Send good-for-nothing, hopeless-case son
Shakespeare-and-so-forth college.
But then you found out what life is
and you make bigshot success...
...because you got merchant blood
here, here, here.
Don't give me that merchant-blood shit!
- You're selfish, mean-
- You have my blood, my brains.
- I have my blood, my brains!
- Look your face!
- I am not like you!
- You same goods like me.
- I was never like you!
- Now, why you don't give me money?
"Money, money, money. "
- I'm a bad business risk.
- I'm ashamed to be your son!
In your place, I do exactly that!
- You said-?
- I said, "I'm ashamed to be your son. "
All right.
Sam finished. Sam Arness finished.
All right.
All right.
First time in 45 years, I wasn't able
to control what I felt about that old man.
Eddie, look, what's that?
Evangelos!
Evangelos!
Evangelos!
Mr. Anderson?
Mr. Anderson.
Don't worry, Charles, I'm going away.
Where?
Into myself.
You're what?
You better see a doctor.
A priest. See a priest.
One last thing.
I don't know exactly who Andy's father is
and I don't care...
...but I did my arithmetic...
...and he's not yours.
So it's better this way, right?
Right.
Thomna! Thomna!
Thomna!
What's this bill? Tuition?
What's that? Tuition.
Thomna.
You put Shakespeare college
in this damn-fool boy's head?
All my life I work,
make business for this boy future.
And now when I need him,
you teach him leave his father.
Evangelos!
Taxi, I'm ready.
Sam, it's the boy's life.
He doesn't want rug business.
He wants something different.
Oh, Mom.
What the hell kind of lesson
was that to give a boy?
I can't blame Pop. You should've-
You should've taught me
to stick up for myself.
Not that, Mom.
Not that.
Are you out of your goddamn mind?
- clean. And when are you
going to change to Zephyr?
Now, what is it, your mother's fault,
your father's fault?
What's that, Freud? You are you, kid.
Eddie Anderson, the indispensable man.
All right.
Let's get down to nuts and bolts.
Congratulations.
- Congratulations.
- I've always said, time-
You had power, then.
Remember what it felt like? Power.
Ram it in.
Power.
The fact is, without your job and without
the money in your pocket, you're nothing.
Well, look at you.
The most impressive
part of you right now?
That cigar.
Hey, don't look at me like that, baby.
If you think you're gonna get rid of me,
you're out of your mind.
You had the perfect arrangement.
Fat job, beautiful house,
understanding wife.
All the side nooky you could handle.
You had it all.
You did.
What is that, Edward?
A little composition of your own?
They're coming to get you, Eddie.
- Edward.
- The Marines.
Edward, since I've come 3000 miles
solely for the purpose of talking to you...
...I don't think I should be required
to do so through a screen.
Edward.
Edward, I've come all the way
from California to chat with you.
And I'm going to chat with you.
Edward, you look terrible.
What are you doing to yourself?
This is not you. Something
has taken possession of you, Edward.
Come on now, snap out of it.
What? I can't hear you.
- This is me.
- Applesauce.
- Damn fool.
- Had it all.
You did.
Edward.
I'm gonna have to protect you and yours,
Florence in particular...
...from whatever demon
is at work inside of you.
And if extreme measures are necessary-
And at this point I think they may be.
- I will most certainly take them.
You are causing havoc on all sides.
You start by kidnapping a man
who doesn't know which end's up.
- Evangelos.
- Where is he? My father.
For reasons that are obvious,
I'm not prepared to tell you.
- He's my goddamn father.
- He's in excellent care.
- Where?
- Where he ought to be.
In a home for the aged and incompetent.
Evangelos.
- "Incompetent. "
- Yes, Edward.
I'm sorry, but you've got to be made
to face the facts.
Goddamn it, Edward,
pay attention to me.
If you don't like the way we live,
change it.
Be fair, be just, Eddie.
Time is short, Edward, but this marriage
can still be made to work.
That is what I consider to be my duty
as your family lawyer.
Darling, if I didn't see you through this,
what would I be for?
What would I be for?
Will you stop wandering and listen?
Forget the property involved,
although it's considerable.
But Florence, Edward, Florence.
You' re married, you damn fool,
to the perfect woman.
There isn't a man I know
who doesn't envy you.
How many women, I ask you, would
have endured what Florence has endured?
Maybe Florence shouldn't have.
Some instinct tells her that this marriage
can still be made to work...
...even though she's in a state of shock
and- Oh, hell.
Oh, Eddie, I know it's going to be
good again like it was in the beginning.
- I have faith in that.
- Faithless!
Incidentally, is the young lady
still upstairs?
And the way I really am.
Are you preparing a divorce action?
That will not be necessary,
providing you do precisely as I say.
You never meant it
when you said you'd leave your wife.
And that is...?
First, I want you,
for your own deepest good...
...to go away somewhere
for a long, long rest.
In a home for the incompetent?
Somewhere. I'll overlook the sarcasm.
Somewhere so that
you can regain your balance...
...reconstitute your sense of values.
- And so that Florence, well, can recover.
- Are you in love with my wife?
I beg your pardon?
I hit on something, didn't I?
I must try to remember
that you are in a paranoid state.
But I will say this:
Florence is an extraordinary woman...
...who is being slaughtered
by an ego run wild.
Since you won't believe me,
I suggest you ask Ellen...
- ... who drove out here with me-
- He's right, Daddy.
Mommy.
Hello, darling-
Look.
Hello, Florence.
Excuse me.
Dr. Leibman, Eddie's here.
Should I stay out a little longer?
No, no, of course not, come in. Come in.
Well, if it isn't my old playmate.
Well, if it isn't my old playmate.
I smell money. I smell money.
Whenever I see a psychoanalyst
and a lawyer, I smell money...
...but this time, I smell it all around me.
Florence, may I ask you
to explain that remark?
Dr. Leibman, please.
I have an appointment.
- Well, I'm going back on the 6:00 plane.
- I got a date with a manicurist downstairs.
I can fix it up for you too.
She's a little hairy here and there but-
- Edward, Edward.
- I need a quick consultation.
Can we have a quick consultation,
doctor?
Are you in love with my wife too?
Well, she is attractive.
You're so cute. I love his mustache.
I'd spend the whole week
playing with you, hold my hand.
- Edward, do you mind?
- You're damn right I mind.
I came here to talk to my wife, I didn't-
Arthur. Arthur, stop wandering.
Pay attention, please.
- Arthur, do something.
- All right.
- Thank you.
- Just- Let's settle back.
I smell money.
Oh, I can still smell money.
Am I getting warmer?
Is this what it's all about?
"Community property: both houses,
all land, art objects...
...automobiles, furniture, effects-" You
forgot the contents of the Deepfreeze.
"- to my wife Florence until I am, in her
judgment, again a responsible person. "
"Her judgment"?
Oh, well, give me a pen.
Who are you? What's the difference?
Eddie, don't.
Don't sign it.
I have no objections.
There you are.
I always knew your heart would-
Your heart's in the right place.
Now, you can all get the hell out of here,
I'm gonna talk to my wife.
You're right.
Now, we'll all sit down.
Afraid I'm getting a headache.
Well, how are you, Florence?
I have trouble sleeping in this awful city.
Yeah, it's been tough on you.
But how are you really?
Well, I-
I've been feeling ashamed.
Because...
Because...
I don't know. Suddenly,
it's like I was persecuting you.
You're doing what you have to do.
Eddie, can I ask you again?
Is all this...
...about her?
Not really, no.
I'm prettier than she is.
Yes. You are.
Then what-? What is it about?
My self-respect.
That's all?
That's all.
I mean-
You know, I mean,
I thought perhaps it was something-
- Serious?
- I didn't say that.
I ought to slap you
right across the face for that.
You mean,
that what you've been doing-
That.
- increases your self-respect?
I was- I was going to say...
...that perhaps it- It was something
I couldn't help you with.
The night after you left...
...I was at a party.
And I went home with another man.
And when he touched me...
...I went dry.
Eddie, you're all I've ever wanted.
I'm waiting for you.
I know you finally kicked her out.
She left me.
I don't believe any woman
would leave you, Eddie.
She's marrying Charles.
Any minute.
Oh, Eddie.
Eddie, I can make you happier
than any woman, if you'll only let me.
And I- I know that all this, somehow,
somewhere, is my fault too.
Don't think I don't.
You know, you look very well.
You've absolutely no business
looking so well, you bastard, but you do.
Come.
Come with me.
Lie with me.
Side by side, just like we used to.
There.
Oh, I'd stick with you through anything.
You already have.
Yes, I have, haven't I?
That's all.
That's all.
And now, you tell me, Eddie...
...how you want it to be.
How it should be,
so that you'll be happy.
And that's the way,
so help me God, it's going to be.
Oh, Florence.
- All I want is-
- Yes. Go on.
- to do absolutely... nothing.
Fine.
What are you going to do?
Just be.
Well, what will you be?
Nothing.
Be.
But be what?
- Be nothing?
- Yes.
- Eddie, you're a talented man, you can-
- Yes. Nothing.
Just be myself.
Sounds silly.
- No, no, not at all.
- You know, walk places.
You know.
Sit down, think.
- Maybe.
- Like Tolstoy?
No, like me.
But, Eddie, Tolstoy could afford it.
He was a very rich man.
- He had lots of slaves-
- We have property. Sell it.
- I wish you could see the new bills-
- I want you to sell that house.
And sell our place in the desert.
Sell the cars, the paintings...
...that Bulgarian statue in the garden.
Sell the books, the records,
Deepfreeze, everything.
I'm head of the house.
That's an order. Sell it.
Yes, but, Eddie, be sensible.
Where would we go?
What do we really need? We'll get
a small apartment and start from scratch.
Eddie, you've worked hard all your life,
you deserve a comfortable living.
But I wasn't comfortable.
I kept trying to kill myself.
Florence, look, I know I've-
I've done bad things to you,
Ellen, other people...
...but nothing like
what I've done to myself.
I didn't say that you were perfect.
But, Eddie, dear, you once
had consideration for other people.
Eddie, darling, be a decent man again.
Eddie.
Think of someone besides yourself.
All I ever did was think
of everyone except myself.
I've got to learn to be selfish.
That was never your trouble, Eddie.
Not that.
- Not being- Not being selfish.
- Y es, yes, yes, that's it.
I've got to learn to be selfish.
Our whole life
was built around you, Eddie.
Oh, the minutes. The minutes.
- The minutes.
- What minutes?
The minutes of my life.
Do you want me to sell them again?
- Eddie, calm down.
- I don't feel calm.
Why should I calm?
I swear to God!
I'll never again...
I'm never again gonna work
at a job I despise.
Never.
- Never.
- Yes, yes, yes.
But what are you going to do?
I wanna do...
...one...
...small, good thing...
...before I die.
One thing I really respect.
Yes, of course.
That's what I want.
That's all. One small, decent-
Such as wallowing in that tramp.
It has nothing to do with her.
And don't call her a tramp.
I'll call her what she is.
He signed my signature to this.
Call her whatever you like.
She's less of a tramp
than most of our friends.
When you tell me about your great
new life, I know what that means.
- What do you know about Gwen?
- Everything, Arthur's had her investigated.
- Investigated?
- Yes.
We know who she's been with.
Do you want the report?
- Investigated, huh?
- How many times and where.
I'm in better shape than you are.
I can teach-
- Bought, paid for.
- So what?
She wouldn't prepare commitment papers
behind her husband's back.
I didn't do that.
She wouldn't plot to jail her husband
in a mental institution.
- I didn't agree to that.
- There's a paper in her lawyer's pocket...
...that would put me in a mental
institution on a writ signed by you!
- I refused to sign that!
- But you are!
At this very instant...
...you are considering whether
you should sign it, aren't you?
- Aren't you? Aren't you?
- Daddy!
- Admit it! Now, admit it!
- Daddy, don't!
- Admit it! Aren't you? Admit it!
- Help! Help! Arthur, help me!
- Admit it!
- Arthur!
- Arthur!
- You admit it!
- Arthur! Help!
- Daddy!
Arthur!
- Liar! Liar!
- Help!
Arthur, he's insane.
Perhaps Your Honor's
judgment might be...
...that this man should be allowed
to benefit from psychopatholo-
The reason she thinks
that perhaps Your Honor's judgment...
...might be that this man should benefit
from psychopathological treatment-
The best available.
- has to do with the damage that he's
done, not to others, but to himself.
I have been able to piece together what
Mr. Arness did the rest of that day...
...that brought him to this mental hospital
in the condition that he's now in.
It took considerable investigation.
Excuse me.
I thought I might put the results
before Your Honor.
Hold on.
Do you have any objections, Mr. Arness?
Do you?
As a way of starting.
Mr. Arness, do you object?
Mr. Arness, would you remember,
I'm here to protect you...
...not to prosecute you.
You may proceed.
Our first information
came from some children...
...who were playing in front
of the old family home...
...on Long Island Sound.
They saw Mr. Arness drive up in a cab...
...walk into the old place
and pull down the shades.
We must bear in mind, Your Honor,
as we consider the events...
...that this man has twice tried
to destroy himself.
In fact, missed doing so
only by a miracle.
You'll regret it.
You'll regret it.
Go ahead.
None of us will ever know, of course...
...what went on in the private hell
that is the soul of this man.
All we know is
what his nearest neighbor told us.
That at about 9:00 that night
he heard an explosion.
And when he went to the window,
he saw the old place in flames.
He called the fire department,
rushed over...
...and found Mr. Arness
inside the burning house...
...throwing the furniture, curtains,
anything he could find...
...into the blaze, feeding it.
How Mr. Arness got out,
or where he went, no one could imagine.
I might add, however,
that stored in the cellar of the old place...
...were the commercial records,
files, ledgers, correspondence...
...in fact, the entire history
of his father's business life.
When that old gentleman heard about it,
he broke down and wept.
His whole life.
What?
That was his whole life.
And this? This was where he...?
Dr. Weeks, perhaps you would take over.
We were expecting him to come
to the hospital to visit his father...
...so when I was told that he was
downstairs in a cab, I wasn't surprised.
But I didn't expect to find him
unconscious in a pool of blood, his own.
- Take me to Room 612.
- Take him to Emergency.
- And who did he say shot him?
- Wouldn't say then or later.
Whoever shot him
escaped without a clue.
Mr. Arness lodged no complaint.
Mr. Arness.
It'd help me no end to make this decision
I've got to make about your future...
...if you would tell me
exactly what you're thinking this instant.
I sat there, I watched those flames...
...and I felt better
than I've felt in a long time.
You know. You lit them.
And that's why I came here.
I wanted to thank you for that.
No one else to thank.
Fortunately, both shots,
though aimed at vital spots...
...lodged in extremely fleshy areas.
And though painful, the wounds-
Charles.
I only came here to say thanks.
Don't, Charles. I like you, Charles.
I like you too.
I wanna stay here.
He was railroaded.
You've got him in prison here.
There are days I wish I could get
as mad as you, but it's not allowed here.
I suggest you go see-
- Judge Morris?
- Yes?
Well, Dr. Lloyd tells me you gave him
a great going over this morning.
It's a case of revenge, pure and simple.
His wife and her lawyer-
May I ask just who you are?
- Are you his-?
- I'm- How do they say it?
Just a good friend.
I'm sure that's just what he needs.
I'm sure she didn't mean that
the way it sounded.
Our problem isn't how to keep them in,
it's how to get them to leave.
That place is chock full
of middle-aged dropouts.
They even have a turned-off rabbi
out there.
Yeah, it's a place where-
Well, somebody called it
"a human dumping ground. "
But I kind of resent that.
It's more of an escape hatch,
you might say, from what's outside.
It's a hiding place for the unwanted.
The last stop.
That's why so many of them
do their level damnedest to stay in.
Take our Mr. Arness, for instance.
Apparently, or so they tell me,
he's so happy...
...he hasn't felt the need to address
himself to anyone for two weeks.
You know he can walk out
of that place...
...the minute he has a job
and a roof over his head.
He's not so inclined.
Not in the least.
Nice baby.
Nice baby.
Come on, get up. We' re going.
Don't give me that silent treatment,
Eddie. Come on, get up.
They said that if you had a job
over your head, that you-
Well, that you could leave this place.
I have a job for you, Eddie.
What kind of employment, may I ask?
Gwen, these are my friends.
Well, that's up to him.
Madam, that's hardly
worth leaving here for.
Well, when these old people break a hip
so they can't walk, they can't stand...
...the chance of pneumonia is-
Well, like your father.
Before you know it-
Hi, Pop.
- Don't. Don't.
- Oh, but I'm going to.
- Time to go to bed.
- I mean, don't stop. Don't ever stop.
Okay, girls, come on, come on.
So give your family Hollingshead Gravies:
Better than the kind
Mother used to make and quicker.
The sense of touch-
Evangelos. Evangelos...
I'm here, Pop.
T axi here?
I'm ready.
You know, he looked-
Not my father, just a frightened man...
...who wants the same things I want,
another chance.
Another chance.
I love you, Gwen.
Thank you.
mohamed aly