Pretty Baby (1978) Movie Script
Damn it! Oh!
Jeez...
I can't stand it! Help me! Help me!
God damn!
God damn!
It's wanting out, honey.
Push so we can see
what's coming out of the pouch.
Head's out, almost.
God damn!
Oh, God.
Come on. Oh, come on.
- Don't worry, baby. I'll get somebody.
- Mama had the baby!
Come on, Josephine.
He wants two of us.
I can't. I'm busy. Get Agnes.
- Mama had the baby. It's a boy!
- A boy?
God damn! I lost my bet.
Listen, I've already paid for two.
I'm ready now.
Sure you are, sweetie,
and we're gonna get someone nice.
Violet! 'Cause we're gonna
have ourselves a time.
Go and fetch Agnes yonder,
will you, baby?
Tell her to haul it up to the blue room.
We're gonna have ourselves a time.
It's a boy.
It's a boy.
Well, Violet, old girl,
is it all over upstairs?
- A boy
- A boy?
Does it really hull to have a baby?
Violet, you asking the wrongest person,
the very wrongest person in the world.
Come on and play that thing, Professor.
Well, I certainly will do that.
I'll play something for that pretty baby
your mama just had,
brung into this cruel, cruel world
on a night like this against his will.
And today I have attained
my 75th birthday,
and I intend to celebrate.
I haven't had a woman
in longer than I care to say.
You know,
she doesn't have to be beautiful,
just patient.
Well, how about Frieda?
- Well, how are you, Admiral?
- Well, hello, Nell.
You've been to the North Sea.
I sure have, and now
I'm on an extended leave of absence.
- Well, I'm...
- Gonna be here a long time.
Oh, you're my kind of man.
I like the way you move.
All I want to hear from you
is that I'm handsome,
virile, generous and kind.
What's the matter, Will?
Come on. Hush up.
You don't wanna wake everybody up.
Be quiet now.
Violet, what if you had woke him up?
He paid for all night,
and you know what he's like.
- Well, Will woke me up.
- You're not supposed to wake me up.
I don't get to sleep late any more.
Where'd you get those earrings?
They're awful pretty.
Never mind where I got them.
He gave them to me.
Won them in a card game or something.
Then I won them from him. Don't!
He just pierced them for me last night.
That's how I won them.
It's a lucky thing I was drunk.
Will you give them to me
when I grow up?
Are you out of your mind?
These are real emeralds.
Otherwise I never would have let him
punch those ugly holes in my ears.
Get my coffee. I feel awful.
Ooka dooka soda cracker,
does your father chew tobacco?
- Ooka...
- Violet!
Get me my cane.
Oh, God.
Oh, and get me my absinthe.
Where the hell is that black bitch
with my coffee?
Best you handle that with care, Joe.
And you ought to leave off
suckling that boy.
You're gonna turn him spoiled,
just like you did with Violet.
Oh, I think she likes it, having big tits.
Antonia, Violet, get off that pony.
I got something to tell you.
I went to see Mama Mosebery last night.
I paid her $2 and she gave me
some uncooked tu?le head
to bring me luck for the lottery,
and I saw it move!
- Where you going?
- I ain't here, you know, to entertain you.
I gots deliveries upstairs.
- Well, how'd it taste like?
- What taste like?
- The raw turtle's head.
- What do you think it tasted like?
Come on, please. Tell me.
Well, I am the child of a snapping turtle,
raised by alligators on panther's milk.
I'm a poisoned wolf from Bitter Creek,
and tonight's my night to howl.
Pedlars use the back door.
- Four, five, six...
- A pedlar.
Violet, go sit down and finish your okra.
I'm not raising you
so as your teeth will rot, you know.
What is this sheet doing here?
It doesn't belong to the house.
Six, seven, eight, nine...
Look what's coming.
...eleven, twelve...
Oh, hush up now. Come on, baby.
Hi. I'm Bellocq.
I'm looking for Madam Livingston.
Is she receiving callers?
Harry, get down here!
You may come in, Monsieur Bellocq.
Well, come in, then.
Good God,
you're in the wrong place, monsieur.
We're not in the business of buying.
Madam, perhaps you know my name.
I have photographed in the district
many times.
Am I addressing Madam Livingston?
Yes, you are, monsieur,
and you are too early.
My girls are all asleep.
They work late, you know.
It's 10:00 in the morning, monsieur.
I require the light from the sun.
Now is the best time for me.
This young lady there,
she would be fine.
I run a good,
old-fashioned whorehouse, monsieur,
and you seem a little rabbity to me.
Photographs?
What the hell kind of thing is that?
I don't cater to no inve?s.
If you're looking for something different,
I can assure you, you can find it
right down here in New Orleans.
Madam, please don't tell me
about New Orleans.
I have lived here all my life.
I apologise, monsieur.
You realise
I'm willing to pay for her time?
Violet, child, go get me
that package that Red brought.
Would you care for an absinthe?
Madam, the light. I beg your pardon.
Oh, the light. I had quite forgotten.
Well, go and take our Hattie.
She's very good, you know.
She will do whatever you want.
Thank you, ma'am.
And go take care of that child for her.
Want me to take my clothes off now?
- No. No. I'm liking you just as you are.
- You want me like this?
- Uncombed? I'm not even washed.
- Yes, yes.
I don't like that face.
It ain't a pleasant face.
- Now, this is a pleasant face.
- Quiet!
- I must have quiet now.
- Go away, Violet.
No. It's only she mustn't talk to you.
She's very beautiful.
She looks very like you.
Yes. Everybody notices it.
She's my sister.
Mother, I ain't.
My face is very like my mother's,
but I got a fat stomach,
just like all my fathers.
Where the hell
is that goddamn whore's ass?
Hattie!
Hattie!
Maybe he's a voodoo man,
'cause he gots them bottles and stuff.
No. He's just another dumb john.
Jesus God, woman,
get up and get me something.
My head is killing me.
I need something.
Laudanum, something. Jesus Christ!
My mama's having her likeness made,
and it's all paid for, so there!
Why, hell, man,
she's only good for one thing.
Why would anybody
want to take a picture of a piece of ass?
Excuse me.
I will have to ask you to move away.
She must remain absolutely still.
Come on, honey pie, now.
Go along now.
You're still just a little bit drunk.
Where the hell
did you get those earrings?
What?
Give me those emeralds,
you skull-cracking,
cotton-brained whore!
You gave them to me last night!
Well, why would I give real emeralds
to a whore?
God damn you!
You bet me I wouldn't let you
put those holes in my ears
and I did, so those are mine!
I won them!
- They're mine!
- Oh, my sweet little piece of ass.
I remember now, Hattie. I remember.
Go to the bed
and take off your stocking, child.
Mama Mosebery, I've got this hair
growing around my nipples,
and I'm tired of plucking it.
You must pluck them on Good Friday.
Bury them that same day
and they'll never grow back.
Another new frock from Paris?
It's too early for a piece of tail.
It must be the bill collector.
Violet, you gonna be a lucky little one.
You gonna have so many men,
you won't know what to do with them.
No, no, please.
If she's busy, I'll come back later.
No, no, please.
I'd rather wait downstairs.
Come on. Come on. Look who I found
skulking in the hallway.
He say he's a photographist.
Hey, voodoo man,
I just got my fortune told. See?
NO. no, no, no, no.
He says he have got something
for Hattie, but he won't show it to me.
Hattie, you've got a gentleman friend.
Oh, excuse me.
I didn't mean to disturb you, ladies. I...
I have something for Miss Hattie.
She's in the bathtub.
She's always in the bathtub.
Oh, she is indisposed.
I would rather come...
- What's that?
- No, no, no.
I'd rather leave this off for Miss Hattie.
Don't give me that. You is a sport.
Hey! Let me see your camera!
Please stop! Stop!
Please don't do that. Stop! Please.
- Be careful.
- Oh, she's so pretty!
- Christ be, she looks like an angel.
- And everybody knows that ain't so.
Sure wish I had a picture like that
of myself.
Yeah, I could send one home
to my folks.
- How'd you do that?
- This is nice.
Magic, and I only need one second.
Well, my pretty baby
Won't you come on over here?
Let your sweet papa whisper in your ear
Well, I'm wild about the jelly roll
Sweet jelly roll of mine
Cheat is right. You cheated me!
Well, there's my cards,
queens and aces. Let's see yours.
- Right here.
- What I got to do?
I got my hand right here!
What the hell is it?
- He is cheating.
- Let me go!
I got three aces.
I don't know what you've got there.
You're drunk, man. Get out of my place!
Your place?
To hell with you and your kind!
And don't you know, madame,
that you are as common as whale piss?
That you are as common as whale piss?
Highpockets!
Oh, what have you done to... Oh, God!
Where the hell is that bum Harry?
- My God, you've killed him.
- Well, I hope so.
Hattie, you must take the bitters
with the sweets.
Claude, go back to your piano.
Violet, go make me a pipe.
I can't take all this emotionalizing.
Harry, get in here and throw him out.
You can't throw him out.
He'll come back and kill me!
Well, look what that goddamn
son of a bitch did to my place.
- Well, you just can't leave him to die.
- Well, you just watch me.
Harry, go through his pockets
and take everything he's got.
- He only has about $100.
- Take it all.
Drop him on Emma Johnson's doorstep.
No!
Go on, then.
Pack up your bags and go with him.
And get rid of that hammer
that accidentally dropped on him.
We don't do no carpentry work in here,
so we don't need no hammers.
Hattie, you know Nell didn't mean that.
Something must have went wrong when
your ma was carrying you in her pouch.
Yeah, something went wrong.
My mama was a whore.
She had me in a house just like this,
and now I'm a whore.
I don't know anything
except a man lying on top of me,
scared to death
I'm gonna get the little casino.
Oh, here we go again.
You think you're the only whore
in New Orleans scared of getting sick?
Oh, you just go ahead and laugh.
You're gonna end up peddling gas
for a thumbnail of cocaine.
I'll send for my trunk.
Everybody has a right
to do what they want.
- I wanna be a respectable person.
- With a gambler?
It's those respectable people who are
lying on top of you every night, Hattie.
You'll be back.
No, I won't!
I'm here for one purpose,
and that's to live my life to the hilt
and enjoy it the same way.
Come on, Violet.
Why aren't you packed?
I don't wanna go.
Violet, I am your mother.
No, you're not.
You even say so all the time.
Violet, why are you acting this way?
What ails you?
Violet?
Violet, I'm talking to you!
Oh, God, I have a splitting headache.
I'm gonna stay here.
I hate you.
If it weren't for you, I would've been
out of here a long time ago.
Oh, you're so selfish. It just isn't fair!
Why does everybody else get to do
everyihing they wanna do
around here except me?
Just when I get a chance
to do something for myself!
Sometimes I wish I'd never been born.
This is Josephine, who just loves
young boys. Don't you, girl?
Hi.
Actually, my real name's Hildegarde.
My friends all call me Hildegarde.
- You from Tulane?
- Oh, yeah.
That's very brave.
You two ladies
are gonna change my luck.
Do you think I'm pretty?
Yes, I certainly do.
And the other girls? Do you like them?
Well, yes.
Then why do you sit here
night after night?
Why don't you go upstairs
with any of us?
That is for me to know
and for you to find out.
You're very old, aren't you?
Yes, very old.
- Very, very old?
- Yes. Very, very old.
Do you think you'll be dead soon?
- No, I don't think so.
- Well, why don't you think so?
Well, I don't feel like being dead yet.
I'm too young.
You said you're old,
so how can you be too young?
Gotta wet my whistle.
- Well, I think you'll be dead soon.
- Oh? Why?
Because Madam Nell said so.
She said you'd be better off dead.
Oh. Better off dead?
Madam says
there's something wrong with you,
that you're some kind of cream puff
or something.
She thinks that you're pathetic,
missing all the fun in life.
Perhaps Madam Nell is imagining
she knows more than she does.
- You think she's having fun?
- She's as happy as anybody.
Are you afraid you'll get little casino?
- The clap?
- Oh. No.
- Well, why, then?
- Do I ask you questions?
- I don't have to explain myself to a child.
- I'm not a child.
Excuse me, that is your opinion.
Leave me alone.
You hate me.
I have no time for hate or love.
Dear child, you're so full of life.
You don't have to take mine, do you?
Well, what have we here?
Are you selling little girls now,
Madam Nell?
White slavery, huh?
- Hey, do you know how to kiss?
- Of course I do. Everybody does.
Well, you watch out for him, Violet.
He's got a heart like an artichoke,
a leaf for every girl,
and a prick
on the end of each one of them.
Now, tell me, where did you get
those pretty, pearly teeth
and that beautiful brown hair?
My mama puts my teeth in
every morning with a crochet hook,
and I chose brown hair
'cause it don't show the did.
No. No, no. No, no.
That's not my style, you know.
I was just kidding around.
What'll you give me for a message?
I'll give you the back of my hand,
is what I'll give you.
Is there someone down there for me?
It's that horrible old coot again.
Do not be so snotty about him.
That old fool's idea that he likes me
is my ticket out of this place.
And besides, he is rich.
I know because I looked him up
in the phone book,
and he lives on St Charles.
And he could have
whatever he wants in the world,
and he wants me,
who doesn't give a damn for him.
"Me, who doesn't give a damn for him. "
This is my little girl, Violet.
- How old are you, Violet?
- I don't know.
- Do you like her?
- She is very pretty.
Like Nell said, she's only for French.
She's still a virgin.
Well, I have it now. You may relax.
I feel like I'm gonna croak.
Violet, honey, go get us a drink.
Before the war, we used to close down
in the summertime,
but since the naval base came,
we're busy all year round now.
- Can I buy you a drink?
- No, thank you.
Perhaps we could make
another one now. Would you like to?
Yeah. Why not?
My breasts are very nice.
They're nicer
than any of the other girls'.
Do you think maybe I should
just show them a little bit?
Yes, that would be better. Let me see.
Well?
You have fine skin.
- Do you have any white powder?
- Sure, chri. Right over there.
Put it on your shoulders here.
Yes, and on your breast.
I love the one you made of Fanny naked.
She sure is fat.
Fanny's beautiful,
but I wasn't pleased with the light.
So you all ready for me now?
Are you content?
- Child, I'm afraid you'll have to go now.
- Me?
Lie back against... Put your head here.
Yes. Can you lay on your side?
That's it.
And put your hand behind your head.
That's it. That's perfect.
Don't move. Don't move at all.
You look very beautiful.
Just beautiful.
I'm very happy just now.
Just a few seconds,
and it will all be there perfectly.
Now, don't move.
That one should be very nice.
Now, don't move.
Never, never do that!
You have no idea
what you might have done!
I only wanted to see the picture.
I didn't do anything!
Violet.
You have to wait.
This is only a negative.
It has to be developed and printed and...
And then...
You love her!
Don't tell me how I feel.
Now, Violet,
I'm very sorry.
But you might have ruined
a whole day's work for me,
so you should be sorry, too.
Don't tell me how I feel.
I know about you. You love her.
Leave her be. She's just showing off.
Come on. Let's go down and eat.
I like that one better.
Two? You're trying to rob
a poor working girl.
I'll give you 25 cents, no more.
Three each. I'll sell it to you for a dollar.
A dollar? I got the same blouse
on Canal Street for 50 cents.
'Course, I likes my women
with a little more on the top and bottom.
Stop being so cheeky with me,
or I'll get my voodoo woman
to put grigri all over your piano.
Violet, come on down here
and let me see the front of that dress.
Oh, Violet, that ain't much of a dress.
When you're going to bust your cherry,
you best wear red satin.
That's why you a dumb nigger,
'cause you think like that.
She's a virgin. Do you want her
to be dressed like a picayune whore?
My God, Frieda,
you're as green as a goose turd.
- What's this?
- Open it and see.
It's the ninth bone
from the tail of a black cat,
guaranteed to bring you luck tonight.
Red Top!
Do not forget
that this guy is buying a virgin,
so she's got to act it right.
You've got to give him the idea
that you don't know nothing.
It should be like a rape.
You don't know.
Could be a different kind of guy,
someone that wants you
to act like she wants it.
The main thing is to whimper and cry
at first when he starts,
but then you've got to act
like it feels good.
I know what to do. Leave me alone.
Well, don't act like you know it all.
You won't even get a tip that way.
Violet, you should touch him there,
you know, like it's accidental.
I know. I know all that.
Violet, you is a beautiful girl.
Now, all you need
is that handsome dress
and plenty diamonds
to elaborate the condition.
That was good.
You'd better enjoy it.
It's the last fine dinner you'll get on me.
- Oh, hell, no!
- Oh, no, no, no!
Isn't that so, Senator?
The navy's gonna
close the district down.
Well, I can't fight
the United States Navy.
We tried that already, and we lost.
Sit down, Violet. It's easier.
Honey, you want me to help you
put your powder on or anyihing?
- No, I can do it myself.
- All right.
God, I could remember
when she was born,
and now she's busting her cherry.
Jesus, Fanny, you were only
six years old when she was born.
Well, my, my, aren't you handsome?
Why haven't you been here before?
You're just my kind of man.
Oh, look at that.
Where you been hiding that thing?
How long has it been for you, chri?
Lie down right here. Give it to me, baby.
A virgin, bona fide.
- How old is she?
- Do you wanna put me in jail?
She's just old enough.
The finest delicacy
New Orleans has to offer,
and it's her wish
that one of you gentlemen be the first.
If you'll all join me in the parlour,
you'll get your opportunity.
Come on. Quick.
Come on.
Give me the ribbon, child.
Come on.
What am I bid, gentlemen?
Don't we get a look before we buy?
Kid, you can look all you want.
Just don't break the merchandise.
Hey, how do we know she is a virgin?
Have I ever lied to you before?
Satisfaction guaranteed.
Well, gentlemen, I'm getting impatient.
- I'll bid $100.
- Yeah!
I'm bidding $120.
- $150.
- Oh!
$50.
It's too late, Senator.
That's beautiful, Senator. Just beautiful.
Remember, gentlemen,
she's as fresh as a baby's lips.
- $160.
- $165.
- $175.
- $180.
Oh, they're getting out of my range.
$200!
- $200?
- This is gonna be too much.
Gentlemen, gentlemen, $210.
I'll top that with $225.
Well, I'll bid $230.
- All right, $240.
- $250!
$275, madam.
- $280.
- Where did he come from?
I don't know.
I haven't seen him around here before.
- I don't know, but he's got money.
- $300!
Will you take a cheque?
What would I do with a cheque?
Cash. I got cash. $400.
Jesus Christ. Who is he, Rockefeller?
Hey, this is kind of out of our league.
We don't have that kind of money.
Look, this is our night.
You weren't invited here.
- Who do you think you are?
- Why don't you go someplace else?
- Hey! Watch what you're doing!
- Hang on, fellas. Wait up, wait.
Sold to the man with $400 cash.
Do not give him any argument.
You want some whisky?
Well, Jesus,
I didn't mean the whole damn thing.
I'm glad it's you.
Why are you glad it's me?
Well, you look nice,
and you have a nice chest.
I can feel the steam inside me
right through my dress.
Let him have his young peach.
I like my fruit ripe.
Gives me queasy innards
to see a thing like that.
- Isn't there a lock?
- Madam Nell don't allow no locks.
God damn.
For $400,
I'd like to have that door locked.
I hope you're gonna be
real gentle on me, being my first time.
Want a whisky?
Please...
You wanna go for a little roll in the kip?
Are you sure you don't wanna go
for a little roll in the kip?
Smells bad in here.
- You're feeling badly?
- Oh, I feel fine.
I feel all right. I'm happy. I feel fine.
And I could probably
accommodate personally
every man at the house if I decided to.
Violet?
Jesus.
Madam!
Violet?
Get a doctor! She's been murdered!
Violet! Oh, my baby!
Violet?
Baby?
Well, I'd like to know
where the hell you all been.
I've been lying here forever.
You don't care about me at all.
Oh, Violet, that really wasn't funny.
I know it's not funny. Am I laughing?
So you had a live one, huh?
Come on. That's what it's all about.
Maybe now you'll let us sleep
in the mornings when we feel bad.
Yeah.
The war. Her father got killed,
her mother forced to go to work.
You know, she's a virgin.
Well, I ain't too particular
about the virgin pad,
but I hear tell there's disease.
I got no sick girls here, monsieur.
Who told you about my place? A friend?
Yes'm.
Well, if you can't trust a friend...
Now, how about it?
Pure as the driven snow.
Can I have a little bit more of that wine?
Yes, sweet face.
- Thank you. You spoil me.
- Oh, I know.
Oh, my gosh. That took my breath away.
There are only two things to do
on rainy days,
and I don't like to play cards.
I propose a toast.
To a quick end to the war.
- Hear, hear.
- Ja. To the end of the war.
Catch it.
Get it.
Oh, wow.
- It's bad luck. It means death.
- Open the damn windows. It'll fly out.
No. It has to go out
the same way it came in.
Oh, I'm gonna get that little bird.
Come down here. Come... You...
Ain't it pretty? It's so tiny.
Come on, honey. Don't be shy.
Now. Tell them for me now, please.
Well, I've asked Hattie to be my wife,
and she has personally agreed,
so we're gonna be married.
- Great. We're gonna have a wedding.
- When? 'Cause we are ready.
Well, actually, we're gonna
get married in his hometown.
Yeah, you see, I got me this little house
in St. Louis, Missouri,
so I kind of thought
we'd be married there.
Well, Hattie,
you finally nailed one, huh?
Aren't you gonna answer me, Violet?
I had to do it this way.
I wasn't even sure he really meant it
until he come today.
But he's got the ring and everything.
It's gonna be really big things for us.
I told him that you was my sister.
He don't know any different.
As soon as the right time comes,
I'm gonna tell him.
It's lucky he doesn't even mind
about little Will.
Want some?
Hattie, our train leaves in a half an hour.
All right, honey. I'm coming.
Honey, I'll send for you.
I promise you that.
Do I look all right?
- One card.
- One card.
Don't you fellas wanna do something?
It's our day off.
Well, we are doing something.
I tell you, you put men in a room
with a bunch of whores
and all they wanna do is play poker.
- I'll never understand men. Never.
- Really.
Well, we still have Papa.
Shall I take you all to the burlesque?
Or we could go to the picture show.
- I know. Let's play sardines.
- Yeah.
And Papa... Papa can be it.
I don't know this game, sardines.
- I never heard of it.
- You'll learn.
We made it up. It's really a lot of fun.
- It's kind of like hide-and-seek.
- Yeah.
One,
two,
three,
four,
five.
SIX!
Seven, eight,
nine, ten!
- Look under the bed.
- Oh, I see.
He's not in Agnes' room.
God damn it.
Did you find him?
Papa? I know you're in here.
I didn't look in Gussie's room.
Damn it.
You were easy. I heard you breathing.
Did you like that?
Hey.
He's been real bad. It's been hard
to keep him quiet. Get in. Get in.
- Sardine.
- Caught you. Sardine.
Is he in there?
Papa ain't no cream puff.
All right.
It's just a trick.
She hates to be losing a game.
God, that sure was a fall.
It's not funny. I think I broke something.
You broke something, all right.
I love you once. I love you twice.
I love you more than beans and rice.
How about a little something
for the Professor?
- What will become of her now?
- What's going on with you?
You don't have to worry about her.
She's made a lot of money.
She can do as she likes.
She's only 12. She's completely alone.
Bellocq, you're in love with her.
- Don't be absurd.
- I've seen it a hundred times.
I am old and life is so long.
Stop that goo-gooing.
Nine. Thank you. I have a nine.
You're quite welcome.
I knew you needed it.
Five. What did I roll?
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
I got an eight. I'm winning. Very good.
Five.
Nine.
I'm standing here thinking I'm ready
to get my picture took.
- Violet, please go away.
- Go away, Violet.
I got a five.
I've won.
You're stupid and old.
Red TOP.
When you grow up
and you have a beard and a moustache,
I'm gonna think you're very handsome,
and I'm gonna love you up
hard and long.
Well, especially me,
'cause I am the lover boy.
I bet neither of you never done nothing.
Huh? I had me a piece of tail yesterday.
All the girls in the district
give me free loving.
Yeah.
- Nonny, you never did it, did you?
- 'Course I have. Lots of times.
Then tell me what it feels like.
Well, it feels good.
For God's sakes, what else?
Tell me exactly how it feels.
I knows how it feels,
but I just don't know how to describe it.
It's like you get this tingling feeling
along your back,
and this funny feeling
starts creeping up your toes.
- Do it, Nonny.
- What? You must be crazy.
- Do it to me right now. Prove you can.
- Who? Big you and little I?
Get over there.
I'm gonna make you
my lover man, Nonny.
I'm gonna love you up
real hard and long.
Let me up! Let me up!
- What you gonna say, boy?
- Nothing.
He ain't gonna say nothing.
Violet, baby, you is very bold,
and the way you been raised,
you don't know nothing
about the real world.
White and coloured,
they can't be together,
as far as that's concerned.
I can do what I want.
Everybody does that with everybody.
And coloured?
Do you see coloured men
upstairs for that?
No, you don't, Violet.
I'm a church-going woman
that was married by a preacher,
and what I can say is
you have gots to leave my Nonny alone.
You pushing far, Violet.
She certainly is.
Harry!
Let me go!
Let me go!
No! Harry!
Let me go!
No!
You can't beat a child.
It only teaches her to beat others.
I'll run my business
and you tend to yours, Papa.
It didn't hurt.
Hard-headed and hard-assed.
Hey, Papa,
you sure you won't stay for dinner?
No. No, thank you.
- And how did you find me?
- I looked you up in the telephone book.
- Anybody can think of that.
- I don't have a telephone, Violet.
Well, I followed you here. Lots of times.
Have you had your supper?
- What's all this?
- I've been working.
You mean this is your work?
Photographing?
Yes. This is how I earn my living.
God, that's so easy.
Well, easier than working in a house.
You've decided to run away?
- Where do you sleep?
- Upstairs.
I wanna see it.
- Why do you lock it?
- I don't know. Habit.
Sometimes children
break into my house.
Why?
I imagine they're curious
about me and my camera.
- The neighbourhood has turned bad.
- Why?
"Why? Why? Why?" I don't know why.
'Cause of the whorehouses.
How come you got no electricity?
Well, I like this room.
Ooka dooka soda...
Well, you certainly did it, didn't you?
Violet?
Can I stay here?
Yes, you may, if you want to.
I do. Will you sleep with me
and take care of me?
No.
And why not?
Because...
'Cause I'm not sure why exactly.
You're afraid of me.
Perhaps.
I want you to be my lover
and buy me stockings and clothes and...
You don't know what you're saying,
Violet.
I won't even charge anyihing at all,
and you can visit me at my house
and be my fancy man.
I thought you were running away
from the house.
Oh, yes. They can't beat me like that.
No, not me.
- I agree, absolutely.
- You do?
Otherwise, I should already
have beaten you for breaking my bed.
- You hit me once.
- Yes, and I'm sorry.
You love my mother more than me.
I know about those things
better than you.
You always know those things
about men when you're a woman.
Some men are different.
I'm different.
Well,
maybe not after all,
because I'm all yours, Violet.
All mine?
Yes.
I love you once. I love you twice.
I love you more than beans and rice.
I'm gonna make you so happy.
You're just my kind of man.
You really are.
I'm really good, you know, chri.
Don't talk to me like that, please.
Don't talk like a whore.
Then what do you want me to say?
I feel something inside me, so I say it,
and when you go away,
it hu?s me right here.
You're only hungry, perhaps.
And what's wrong with whores, anyhow?
I thought you liked us.
Everybody says I'm pretty
and getting to be filled out soon,
and all the other men like me.
Don't you like me?
You left me all alone.
I left you a note.
Well, I can't read yet.
- I brought you a present.
- A present? Where?
Where is it?
She's beautiful.
Why did you buy me a doll?
- Every child should have a doll.
- I'm a child to you?
Violet.
Violet!
Violet!
Violet, what ails you?
What's the matter, Violet?
Violet, I'm talking to you!
I've got such a splitting headache.
You're so selfish, Violet.
It's just not fair.
Everybody gets to do what they want,
except me.
Violet, did you take those bottles
that I left on the table in the front room?
- The ones with the glass stoppers?
- Yes.
Yes. I was playing with them.
Well, what did you do
with what was inside of them?
Well, I poured it out.
My God, Violet, that's silver nitrate.
I use it for my photographs.
- Whatever made you do such a thing?
- It smelled so bad.
Because of your thoughtlessness,
I have to go all the way uptown
to replace those chemicals,
and they're very expensive.
Why are you crying?
For joy and to amuse myself.
You wanna come with me?
No.
What are those?
- What are what?
- Those clothes.
Oh, these? These are pyjamas.
You aren't going to tell me
you've never in your life seen pyjamas?
No john I ever saw
wore anyihing like that.
I'm tired of lying here.
If you would have stayed quiet
for one second more,
I would have had it.
It's always one second more with you.
And why do you wanna take my picture
again and again?
I'm tired of having to deal with a child.
I don't have to stay here
and listen to you yell at me.
Well, I'm leaving,
and you won't have anyone
to photograph any more.
So this is how you would repay me.
Repay you for what? For what?
I don't owe you anything at all.
Get out. Get out, Violet, before I kill you.
If you destroy any more of my pictures...
Who cares about your pictures?
Who buys them? No one.
Sinners.
Sinners!
These reeking pest holes
are inhabited by 1,500 angels
of death and damnation.
Four hags, in palatial palaces of guilt,
imperil the virtue of every innocent girl.
And what, dearly beloved,
can we do about the weakness
of lusting men and soft women?
Violet, where you been?
We better get out of here.
If they catch us, we'll go
to the Home for Good Shepherds.
Brothers and sisters, unite.
Stupid puritans.
Nell says they're just horny men
who come around to snoop.
Well, this time they're really gonna do it.
Mama Mosebery says
everything will be closed down.
- So what if they do?
- I don't know.
- What'll become of me?
- You can be my fancy man.
She's gone mad.
I told you. Even Madam Nell.
The evil eye is on us all.
Look, circles of salt.
Somebody put a spell on you.
Ola Mae, take this holy water
and wash the kitchen
and Miss Nell's room.
In Rome,
times like these,
barbarians came. Oh, did they.
It goes on and on.
I heard the doorbell.
Where is everybody?
Death is keeping them away.
There are reasons for death,
good reasons.
Oh, stop talking, would you? Stop it.
Excuse me.
Dirty roughnecks
with their rotten manners.
Dirty roughnecks
with their rotten manners.
We'll be at the station for an hour
if you change your mind.
- Bye.
- Come on, children. Let's go.
Terrible piano anyhow.
Oh, you look so fine.
Violet, old gal, we'll go to Chicago.
Chicago is the money town.
We'll have ourselves a time there.
Take the northbound
New Orleans Central.
Hey.
Careful, now. It has a delicate frame.
Where are you going, Violet?
Where's that no-good mother of yours?
- I gots a postcard from her and a letter.
- With no return address, huh?
- Don't talk about her.
- Oh, you're breaking my head.
Papa, what are you doing here?
I'm going to marry you.
Can I ask all the girls?
But Antonia and Justine is gone,
and Odette and Josephine.
- Can we go get them?
- Of course.
Well, what'll I wear?
You can wear
whatever your head desires,
just as long as you do it with me.
Her father unknown,
and the mother deserted the child.
My mama's name was Hildegarde.
Hildegarde Marr. M-A-R-R.
- And she was Caucasian or other?
- She was a whore, Father.
Those whom God has united
let no man put asunder.
You may kiss the bride.
Papa, there's a good spot over there.
No, no!
Turn around, Papa.
The other place was better.
Sit down.
Oh, God!
Well.
We'll just have to get out and push.
But I am wearing my new dress
for Chicago.
We're all wearing our new dresses,
you damn fool.
Well, let's get our damn clothes off
and celebrate this thing.
I'm not getting out, and that's that.
Come on, Frieda!
- Pass me some more oysters.
- Anyone want some of the sauce?
Oh, yeah.
Try this, Odette.
- Papa, come eat.
- Yes, I'm coming.
Now, Papa,
you didn't eat anything before.
Now eat.
Y'all gonna enjoy yourselves today.
How come one man
got so many women?
He just got married today.
And guess who he married. Guess.
Well, it doesn't matter,
'cause he's the luckiest son of a bitch
I ever seen on a wedding day.
Why are you ringing?
You have everyihing you need.
I want some hot chocolate
with brandy in it.
I feel poorly today.
Oh, I'm sorry. What is it this time?
You know.
Oh, yes. Of course. I forgot.
I'm gonna sleep all day today.
Well, how is that any different
from the last two weeks?
Get me some cocoa.
And the bottle of brandy.
Do you...
I mean, did the girls teach you
how to prevent yourself
from becoming with child?
I mean, did you know you...
Don't tell me about that.
Don't tell me about the things I know.
Hard-headed berry
don't make good soup.
That's what Ola Mae
used to say about me.
I know.
- Violet.
- Mama?
Yes, it's Mama.
Oh, Violet. My baby. My darling.
Look at the way you've grown.
We have been looking everywhere
for you.
Here we go.
It's okay.
I told him all about you, Violet,
and he insisted
that we come and get you.
You smell good, Mama.
We've got a big, beautiful house
in St. Louis.
Mr Fuller, he's a pavement contractor.
You know, he's paved
almost every street in St. Louis,
and he wants you
to come home with us.
But I live here.
I and Papa. Papa and I are married now.
Mrs Fuller,
I'm so glad to see you are doing so well,
and little Will.
Mr Fuller and I want nothing to do
with you, Mr Bellocq.
We had to go to some awful places
to find out about you and my daughter.
Hattie, we're married now, so stop this.
It is not legal without my consent.
Mr Fuller's already seen to that.
You deserted the child.
I don't mean to be cruel...
How dare you say that?
I did no such thing!
Now, Mr Bellocq, be sensible.
Now, I wanna send Violet to school,
and she has to be raised right.
Now, I know that in a lot of ways,
we've got no right
to get up on a high horse,
but now Mrs Fuller
has overcome her past,
and she wants the same for Violet.
Well, you cannot take her!
I can't live without her.
That's all.
Papa, you can come with us.
Come on, Violet.
You don't need to pack.
We'll get you whatever you need
on Canal Street
while we're waiting for the train.
Can't we all go?
Are you ready?
Just a minute.
- There. Now, that's better.
- Now we're ready.
Move in closer.
Good. Now, let's get one more.
Ok...
Ok...
- What's the matter, honey?
- Is he okay?
Oh, he's fine.
Y'all want him to stand by?
Make sure you get Violet.
Jeez...
I can't stand it! Help me! Help me!
God damn!
God damn!
It's wanting out, honey.
Push so we can see
what's coming out of the pouch.
Head's out, almost.
God damn!
Oh, God.
Come on. Oh, come on.
- Don't worry, baby. I'll get somebody.
- Mama had the baby!
Come on, Josephine.
He wants two of us.
I can't. I'm busy. Get Agnes.
- Mama had the baby. It's a boy!
- A boy?
God damn! I lost my bet.
Listen, I've already paid for two.
I'm ready now.
Sure you are, sweetie,
and we're gonna get someone nice.
Violet! 'Cause we're gonna
have ourselves a time.
Go and fetch Agnes yonder,
will you, baby?
Tell her to haul it up to the blue room.
We're gonna have ourselves a time.
It's a boy.
It's a boy.
Well, Violet, old girl,
is it all over upstairs?
- A boy
- A boy?
Does it really hull to have a baby?
Violet, you asking the wrongest person,
the very wrongest person in the world.
Come on and play that thing, Professor.
Well, I certainly will do that.
I'll play something for that pretty baby
your mama just had,
brung into this cruel, cruel world
on a night like this against his will.
And today I have attained
my 75th birthday,
and I intend to celebrate.
I haven't had a woman
in longer than I care to say.
You know,
she doesn't have to be beautiful,
just patient.
Well, how about Frieda?
- Well, how are you, Admiral?
- Well, hello, Nell.
You've been to the North Sea.
I sure have, and now
I'm on an extended leave of absence.
- Well, I'm...
- Gonna be here a long time.
Oh, you're my kind of man.
I like the way you move.
All I want to hear from you
is that I'm handsome,
virile, generous and kind.
What's the matter, Will?
Come on. Hush up.
You don't wanna wake everybody up.
Be quiet now.
Violet, what if you had woke him up?
He paid for all night,
and you know what he's like.
- Well, Will woke me up.
- You're not supposed to wake me up.
I don't get to sleep late any more.
Where'd you get those earrings?
They're awful pretty.
Never mind where I got them.
He gave them to me.
Won them in a card game or something.
Then I won them from him. Don't!
He just pierced them for me last night.
That's how I won them.
It's a lucky thing I was drunk.
Will you give them to me
when I grow up?
Are you out of your mind?
These are real emeralds.
Otherwise I never would have let him
punch those ugly holes in my ears.
Get my coffee. I feel awful.
Ooka dooka soda cracker,
does your father chew tobacco?
- Ooka...
- Violet!
Get me my cane.
Oh, God.
Oh, and get me my absinthe.
Where the hell is that black bitch
with my coffee?
Best you handle that with care, Joe.
And you ought to leave off
suckling that boy.
You're gonna turn him spoiled,
just like you did with Violet.
Oh, I think she likes it, having big tits.
Antonia, Violet, get off that pony.
I got something to tell you.
I went to see Mama Mosebery last night.
I paid her $2 and she gave me
some uncooked tu?le head
to bring me luck for the lottery,
and I saw it move!
- Where you going?
- I ain't here, you know, to entertain you.
I gots deliveries upstairs.
- Well, how'd it taste like?
- What taste like?
- The raw turtle's head.
- What do you think it tasted like?
Come on, please. Tell me.
Well, I am the child of a snapping turtle,
raised by alligators on panther's milk.
I'm a poisoned wolf from Bitter Creek,
and tonight's my night to howl.
Pedlars use the back door.
- Four, five, six...
- A pedlar.
Violet, go sit down and finish your okra.
I'm not raising you
so as your teeth will rot, you know.
What is this sheet doing here?
It doesn't belong to the house.
Six, seven, eight, nine...
Look what's coming.
...eleven, twelve...
Oh, hush up now. Come on, baby.
Hi. I'm Bellocq.
I'm looking for Madam Livingston.
Is she receiving callers?
Harry, get down here!
You may come in, Monsieur Bellocq.
Well, come in, then.
Good God,
you're in the wrong place, monsieur.
We're not in the business of buying.
Madam, perhaps you know my name.
I have photographed in the district
many times.
Am I addressing Madam Livingston?
Yes, you are, monsieur,
and you are too early.
My girls are all asleep.
They work late, you know.
It's 10:00 in the morning, monsieur.
I require the light from the sun.
Now is the best time for me.
This young lady there,
she would be fine.
I run a good,
old-fashioned whorehouse, monsieur,
and you seem a little rabbity to me.
Photographs?
What the hell kind of thing is that?
I don't cater to no inve?s.
If you're looking for something different,
I can assure you, you can find it
right down here in New Orleans.
Madam, please don't tell me
about New Orleans.
I have lived here all my life.
I apologise, monsieur.
You realise
I'm willing to pay for her time?
Violet, child, go get me
that package that Red brought.
Would you care for an absinthe?
Madam, the light. I beg your pardon.
Oh, the light. I had quite forgotten.
Well, go and take our Hattie.
She's very good, you know.
She will do whatever you want.
Thank you, ma'am.
And go take care of that child for her.
Want me to take my clothes off now?
- No. No. I'm liking you just as you are.
- You want me like this?
- Uncombed? I'm not even washed.
- Yes, yes.
I don't like that face.
It ain't a pleasant face.
- Now, this is a pleasant face.
- Quiet!
- I must have quiet now.
- Go away, Violet.
No. It's only she mustn't talk to you.
She's very beautiful.
She looks very like you.
Yes. Everybody notices it.
She's my sister.
Mother, I ain't.
My face is very like my mother's,
but I got a fat stomach,
just like all my fathers.
Where the hell
is that goddamn whore's ass?
Hattie!
Hattie!
Maybe he's a voodoo man,
'cause he gots them bottles and stuff.
No. He's just another dumb john.
Jesus God, woman,
get up and get me something.
My head is killing me.
I need something.
Laudanum, something. Jesus Christ!
My mama's having her likeness made,
and it's all paid for, so there!
Why, hell, man,
she's only good for one thing.
Why would anybody
want to take a picture of a piece of ass?
Excuse me.
I will have to ask you to move away.
She must remain absolutely still.
Come on, honey pie, now.
Go along now.
You're still just a little bit drunk.
Where the hell
did you get those earrings?
What?
Give me those emeralds,
you skull-cracking,
cotton-brained whore!
You gave them to me last night!
Well, why would I give real emeralds
to a whore?
God damn you!
You bet me I wouldn't let you
put those holes in my ears
and I did, so those are mine!
I won them!
- They're mine!
- Oh, my sweet little piece of ass.
I remember now, Hattie. I remember.
Go to the bed
and take off your stocking, child.
Mama Mosebery, I've got this hair
growing around my nipples,
and I'm tired of plucking it.
You must pluck them on Good Friday.
Bury them that same day
and they'll never grow back.
Another new frock from Paris?
It's too early for a piece of tail.
It must be the bill collector.
Violet, you gonna be a lucky little one.
You gonna have so many men,
you won't know what to do with them.
No, no, please.
If she's busy, I'll come back later.
No, no, please.
I'd rather wait downstairs.
Come on. Come on. Look who I found
skulking in the hallway.
He say he's a photographist.
Hey, voodoo man,
I just got my fortune told. See?
NO. no, no, no, no.
He says he have got something
for Hattie, but he won't show it to me.
Hattie, you've got a gentleman friend.
Oh, excuse me.
I didn't mean to disturb you, ladies. I...
I have something for Miss Hattie.
She's in the bathtub.
She's always in the bathtub.
Oh, she is indisposed.
I would rather come...
- What's that?
- No, no, no.
I'd rather leave this off for Miss Hattie.
Don't give me that. You is a sport.
Hey! Let me see your camera!
Please stop! Stop!
Please don't do that. Stop! Please.
- Be careful.
- Oh, she's so pretty!
- Christ be, she looks like an angel.
- And everybody knows that ain't so.
Sure wish I had a picture like that
of myself.
Yeah, I could send one home
to my folks.
- How'd you do that?
- This is nice.
Magic, and I only need one second.
Well, my pretty baby
Won't you come on over here?
Let your sweet papa whisper in your ear
Well, I'm wild about the jelly roll
Sweet jelly roll of mine
Cheat is right. You cheated me!
Well, there's my cards,
queens and aces. Let's see yours.
- Right here.
- What I got to do?
I got my hand right here!
What the hell is it?
- He is cheating.
- Let me go!
I got three aces.
I don't know what you've got there.
You're drunk, man. Get out of my place!
Your place?
To hell with you and your kind!
And don't you know, madame,
that you are as common as whale piss?
That you are as common as whale piss?
Highpockets!
Oh, what have you done to... Oh, God!
Where the hell is that bum Harry?
- My God, you've killed him.
- Well, I hope so.
Hattie, you must take the bitters
with the sweets.
Claude, go back to your piano.
Violet, go make me a pipe.
I can't take all this emotionalizing.
Harry, get in here and throw him out.
You can't throw him out.
He'll come back and kill me!
Well, look what that goddamn
son of a bitch did to my place.
- Well, you just can't leave him to die.
- Well, you just watch me.
Harry, go through his pockets
and take everything he's got.
- He only has about $100.
- Take it all.
Drop him on Emma Johnson's doorstep.
No!
Go on, then.
Pack up your bags and go with him.
And get rid of that hammer
that accidentally dropped on him.
We don't do no carpentry work in here,
so we don't need no hammers.
Hattie, you know Nell didn't mean that.
Something must have went wrong when
your ma was carrying you in her pouch.
Yeah, something went wrong.
My mama was a whore.
She had me in a house just like this,
and now I'm a whore.
I don't know anything
except a man lying on top of me,
scared to death
I'm gonna get the little casino.
Oh, here we go again.
You think you're the only whore
in New Orleans scared of getting sick?
Oh, you just go ahead and laugh.
You're gonna end up peddling gas
for a thumbnail of cocaine.
I'll send for my trunk.
Everybody has a right
to do what they want.
- I wanna be a respectable person.
- With a gambler?
It's those respectable people who are
lying on top of you every night, Hattie.
You'll be back.
No, I won't!
I'm here for one purpose,
and that's to live my life to the hilt
and enjoy it the same way.
Come on, Violet.
Why aren't you packed?
I don't wanna go.
Violet, I am your mother.
No, you're not.
You even say so all the time.
Violet, why are you acting this way?
What ails you?
Violet?
Violet, I'm talking to you!
Oh, God, I have a splitting headache.
I'm gonna stay here.
I hate you.
If it weren't for you, I would've been
out of here a long time ago.
Oh, you're so selfish. It just isn't fair!
Why does everybody else get to do
everyihing they wanna do
around here except me?
Just when I get a chance
to do something for myself!
Sometimes I wish I'd never been born.
This is Josephine, who just loves
young boys. Don't you, girl?
Hi.
Actually, my real name's Hildegarde.
My friends all call me Hildegarde.
- You from Tulane?
- Oh, yeah.
That's very brave.
You two ladies
are gonna change my luck.
Do you think I'm pretty?
Yes, I certainly do.
And the other girls? Do you like them?
Well, yes.
Then why do you sit here
night after night?
Why don't you go upstairs
with any of us?
That is for me to know
and for you to find out.
You're very old, aren't you?
Yes, very old.
- Very, very old?
- Yes. Very, very old.
Do you think you'll be dead soon?
- No, I don't think so.
- Well, why don't you think so?
Well, I don't feel like being dead yet.
I'm too young.
You said you're old,
so how can you be too young?
Gotta wet my whistle.
- Well, I think you'll be dead soon.
- Oh? Why?
Because Madam Nell said so.
She said you'd be better off dead.
Oh. Better off dead?
Madam says
there's something wrong with you,
that you're some kind of cream puff
or something.
She thinks that you're pathetic,
missing all the fun in life.
Perhaps Madam Nell is imagining
she knows more than she does.
- You think she's having fun?
- She's as happy as anybody.
Are you afraid you'll get little casino?
- The clap?
- Oh. No.
- Well, why, then?
- Do I ask you questions?
- I don't have to explain myself to a child.
- I'm not a child.
Excuse me, that is your opinion.
Leave me alone.
You hate me.
I have no time for hate or love.
Dear child, you're so full of life.
You don't have to take mine, do you?
Well, what have we here?
Are you selling little girls now,
Madam Nell?
White slavery, huh?
- Hey, do you know how to kiss?
- Of course I do. Everybody does.
Well, you watch out for him, Violet.
He's got a heart like an artichoke,
a leaf for every girl,
and a prick
on the end of each one of them.
Now, tell me, where did you get
those pretty, pearly teeth
and that beautiful brown hair?
My mama puts my teeth in
every morning with a crochet hook,
and I chose brown hair
'cause it don't show the did.
No. No, no. No, no.
That's not my style, you know.
I was just kidding around.
What'll you give me for a message?
I'll give you the back of my hand,
is what I'll give you.
Is there someone down there for me?
It's that horrible old coot again.
Do not be so snotty about him.
That old fool's idea that he likes me
is my ticket out of this place.
And besides, he is rich.
I know because I looked him up
in the phone book,
and he lives on St Charles.
And he could have
whatever he wants in the world,
and he wants me,
who doesn't give a damn for him.
"Me, who doesn't give a damn for him. "
This is my little girl, Violet.
- How old are you, Violet?
- I don't know.
- Do you like her?
- She is very pretty.
Like Nell said, she's only for French.
She's still a virgin.
Well, I have it now. You may relax.
I feel like I'm gonna croak.
Violet, honey, go get us a drink.
Before the war, we used to close down
in the summertime,
but since the naval base came,
we're busy all year round now.
- Can I buy you a drink?
- No, thank you.
Perhaps we could make
another one now. Would you like to?
Yeah. Why not?
My breasts are very nice.
They're nicer
than any of the other girls'.
Do you think maybe I should
just show them a little bit?
Yes, that would be better. Let me see.
Well?
You have fine skin.
- Do you have any white powder?
- Sure, chri. Right over there.
Put it on your shoulders here.
Yes, and on your breast.
I love the one you made of Fanny naked.
She sure is fat.
Fanny's beautiful,
but I wasn't pleased with the light.
So you all ready for me now?
Are you content?
- Child, I'm afraid you'll have to go now.
- Me?
Lie back against... Put your head here.
Yes. Can you lay on your side?
That's it.
And put your hand behind your head.
That's it. That's perfect.
Don't move. Don't move at all.
You look very beautiful.
Just beautiful.
I'm very happy just now.
Just a few seconds,
and it will all be there perfectly.
Now, don't move.
That one should be very nice.
Now, don't move.
Never, never do that!
You have no idea
what you might have done!
I only wanted to see the picture.
I didn't do anything!
Violet.
You have to wait.
This is only a negative.
It has to be developed and printed and...
And then...
You love her!
Don't tell me how I feel.
Now, Violet,
I'm very sorry.
But you might have ruined
a whole day's work for me,
so you should be sorry, too.
Don't tell me how I feel.
I know about you. You love her.
Leave her be. She's just showing off.
Come on. Let's go down and eat.
I like that one better.
Two? You're trying to rob
a poor working girl.
I'll give you 25 cents, no more.
Three each. I'll sell it to you for a dollar.
A dollar? I got the same blouse
on Canal Street for 50 cents.
'Course, I likes my women
with a little more on the top and bottom.
Stop being so cheeky with me,
or I'll get my voodoo woman
to put grigri all over your piano.
Violet, come on down here
and let me see the front of that dress.
Oh, Violet, that ain't much of a dress.
When you're going to bust your cherry,
you best wear red satin.
That's why you a dumb nigger,
'cause you think like that.
She's a virgin. Do you want her
to be dressed like a picayune whore?
My God, Frieda,
you're as green as a goose turd.
- What's this?
- Open it and see.
It's the ninth bone
from the tail of a black cat,
guaranteed to bring you luck tonight.
Red Top!
Do not forget
that this guy is buying a virgin,
so she's got to act it right.
You've got to give him the idea
that you don't know nothing.
It should be like a rape.
You don't know.
Could be a different kind of guy,
someone that wants you
to act like she wants it.
The main thing is to whimper and cry
at first when he starts,
but then you've got to act
like it feels good.
I know what to do. Leave me alone.
Well, don't act like you know it all.
You won't even get a tip that way.
Violet, you should touch him there,
you know, like it's accidental.
I know. I know all that.
Violet, you is a beautiful girl.
Now, all you need
is that handsome dress
and plenty diamonds
to elaborate the condition.
That was good.
You'd better enjoy it.
It's the last fine dinner you'll get on me.
- Oh, hell, no!
- Oh, no, no, no!
Isn't that so, Senator?
The navy's gonna
close the district down.
Well, I can't fight
the United States Navy.
We tried that already, and we lost.
Sit down, Violet. It's easier.
Honey, you want me to help you
put your powder on or anyihing?
- No, I can do it myself.
- All right.
God, I could remember
when she was born,
and now she's busting her cherry.
Jesus, Fanny, you were only
six years old when she was born.
Well, my, my, aren't you handsome?
Why haven't you been here before?
You're just my kind of man.
Oh, look at that.
Where you been hiding that thing?
How long has it been for you, chri?
Lie down right here. Give it to me, baby.
A virgin, bona fide.
- How old is she?
- Do you wanna put me in jail?
She's just old enough.
The finest delicacy
New Orleans has to offer,
and it's her wish
that one of you gentlemen be the first.
If you'll all join me in the parlour,
you'll get your opportunity.
Come on. Quick.
Come on.
Give me the ribbon, child.
Come on.
What am I bid, gentlemen?
Don't we get a look before we buy?
Kid, you can look all you want.
Just don't break the merchandise.
Hey, how do we know she is a virgin?
Have I ever lied to you before?
Satisfaction guaranteed.
Well, gentlemen, I'm getting impatient.
- I'll bid $100.
- Yeah!
I'm bidding $120.
- $150.
- Oh!
$50.
It's too late, Senator.
That's beautiful, Senator. Just beautiful.
Remember, gentlemen,
she's as fresh as a baby's lips.
- $160.
- $165.
- $175.
- $180.
Oh, they're getting out of my range.
$200!
- $200?
- This is gonna be too much.
Gentlemen, gentlemen, $210.
I'll top that with $225.
Well, I'll bid $230.
- All right, $240.
- $250!
$275, madam.
- $280.
- Where did he come from?
I don't know.
I haven't seen him around here before.
- I don't know, but he's got money.
- $300!
Will you take a cheque?
What would I do with a cheque?
Cash. I got cash. $400.
Jesus Christ. Who is he, Rockefeller?
Hey, this is kind of out of our league.
We don't have that kind of money.
Look, this is our night.
You weren't invited here.
- Who do you think you are?
- Why don't you go someplace else?
- Hey! Watch what you're doing!
- Hang on, fellas. Wait up, wait.
Sold to the man with $400 cash.
Do not give him any argument.
You want some whisky?
Well, Jesus,
I didn't mean the whole damn thing.
I'm glad it's you.
Why are you glad it's me?
Well, you look nice,
and you have a nice chest.
I can feel the steam inside me
right through my dress.
Let him have his young peach.
I like my fruit ripe.
Gives me queasy innards
to see a thing like that.
- Isn't there a lock?
- Madam Nell don't allow no locks.
God damn.
For $400,
I'd like to have that door locked.
I hope you're gonna be
real gentle on me, being my first time.
Want a whisky?
Please...
You wanna go for a little roll in the kip?
Are you sure you don't wanna go
for a little roll in the kip?
Smells bad in here.
- You're feeling badly?
- Oh, I feel fine.
I feel all right. I'm happy. I feel fine.
And I could probably
accommodate personally
every man at the house if I decided to.
Violet?
Jesus.
Madam!
Violet?
Get a doctor! She's been murdered!
Violet! Oh, my baby!
Violet?
Baby?
Well, I'd like to know
where the hell you all been.
I've been lying here forever.
You don't care about me at all.
Oh, Violet, that really wasn't funny.
I know it's not funny. Am I laughing?
So you had a live one, huh?
Come on. That's what it's all about.
Maybe now you'll let us sleep
in the mornings when we feel bad.
Yeah.
The war. Her father got killed,
her mother forced to go to work.
You know, she's a virgin.
Well, I ain't too particular
about the virgin pad,
but I hear tell there's disease.
I got no sick girls here, monsieur.
Who told you about my place? A friend?
Yes'm.
Well, if you can't trust a friend...
Now, how about it?
Pure as the driven snow.
Can I have a little bit more of that wine?
Yes, sweet face.
- Thank you. You spoil me.
- Oh, I know.
Oh, my gosh. That took my breath away.
There are only two things to do
on rainy days,
and I don't like to play cards.
I propose a toast.
To a quick end to the war.
- Hear, hear.
- Ja. To the end of the war.
Catch it.
Get it.
Oh, wow.
- It's bad luck. It means death.
- Open the damn windows. It'll fly out.
No. It has to go out
the same way it came in.
Oh, I'm gonna get that little bird.
Come down here. Come... You...
Ain't it pretty? It's so tiny.
Come on, honey. Don't be shy.
Now. Tell them for me now, please.
Well, I've asked Hattie to be my wife,
and she has personally agreed,
so we're gonna be married.
- Great. We're gonna have a wedding.
- When? 'Cause we are ready.
Well, actually, we're gonna
get married in his hometown.
Yeah, you see, I got me this little house
in St. Louis, Missouri,
so I kind of thought
we'd be married there.
Well, Hattie,
you finally nailed one, huh?
Aren't you gonna answer me, Violet?
I had to do it this way.
I wasn't even sure he really meant it
until he come today.
But he's got the ring and everything.
It's gonna be really big things for us.
I told him that you was my sister.
He don't know any different.
As soon as the right time comes,
I'm gonna tell him.
It's lucky he doesn't even mind
about little Will.
Want some?
Hattie, our train leaves in a half an hour.
All right, honey. I'm coming.
Honey, I'll send for you.
I promise you that.
Do I look all right?
- One card.
- One card.
Don't you fellas wanna do something?
It's our day off.
Well, we are doing something.
I tell you, you put men in a room
with a bunch of whores
and all they wanna do is play poker.
- I'll never understand men. Never.
- Really.
Well, we still have Papa.
Shall I take you all to the burlesque?
Or we could go to the picture show.
- I know. Let's play sardines.
- Yeah.
And Papa... Papa can be it.
I don't know this game, sardines.
- I never heard of it.
- You'll learn.
We made it up. It's really a lot of fun.
- It's kind of like hide-and-seek.
- Yeah.
One,
two,
three,
four,
five.
SIX!
Seven, eight,
nine, ten!
- Look under the bed.
- Oh, I see.
He's not in Agnes' room.
God damn it.
Did you find him?
Papa? I know you're in here.
I didn't look in Gussie's room.
Damn it.
You were easy. I heard you breathing.
Did you like that?
Hey.
He's been real bad. It's been hard
to keep him quiet. Get in. Get in.
- Sardine.
- Caught you. Sardine.
Is he in there?
Papa ain't no cream puff.
All right.
It's just a trick.
She hates to be losing a game.
God, that sure was a fall.
It's not funny. I think I broke something.
You broke something, all right.
I love you once. I love you twice.
I love you more than beans and rice.
How about a little something
for the Professor?
- What will become of her now?
- What's going on with you?
You don't have to worry about her.
She's made a lot of money.
She can do as she likes.
She's only 12. She's completely alone.
Bellocq, you're in love with her.
- Don't be absurd.
- I've seen it a hundred times.
I am old and life is so long.
Stop that goo-gooing.
Nine. Thank you. I have a nine.
You're quite welcome.
I knew you needed it.
Five. What did I roll?
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
I got an eight. I'm winning. Very good.
Five.
Nine.
I'm standing here thinking I'm ready
to get my picture took.
- Violet, please go away.
- Go away, Violet.
I got a five.
I've won.
You're stupid and old.
Red TOP.
When you grow up
and you have a beard and a moustache,
I'm gonna think you're very handsome,
and I'm gonna love you up
hard and long.
Well, especially me,
'cause I am the lover boy.
I bet neither of you never done nothing.
Huh? I had me a piece of tail yesterday.
All the girls in the district
give me free loving.
Yeah.
- Nonny, you never did it, did you?
- 'Course I have. Lots of times.
Then tell me what it feels like.
Well, it feels good.
For God's sakes, what else?
Tell me exactly how it feels.
I knows how it feels,
but I just don't know how to describe it.
It's like you get this tingling feeling
along your back,
and this funny feeling
starts creeping up your toes.
- Do it, Nonny.
- What? You must be crazy.
- Do it to me right now. Prove you can.
- Who? Big you and little I?
Get over there.
I'm gonna make you
my lover man, Nonny.
I'm gonna love you up
real hard and long.
Let me up! Let me up!
- What you gonna say, boy?
- Nothing.
He ain't gonna say nothing.
Violet, baby, you is very bold,
and the way you been raised,
you don't know nothing
about the real world.
White and coloured,
they can't be together,
as far as that's concerned.
I can do what I want.
Everybody does that with everybody.
And coloured?
Do you see coloured men
upstairs for that?
No, you don't, Violet.
I'm a church-going woman
that was married by a preacher,
and what I can say is
you have gots to leave my Nonny alone.
You pushing far, Violet.
She certainly is.
Harry!
Let me go!
Let me go!
No! Harry!
Let me go!
No!
You can't beat a child.
It only teaches her to beat others.
I'll run my business
and you tend to yours, Papa.
It didn't hurt.
Hard-headed and hard-assed.
Hey, Papa,
you sure you won't stay for dinner?
No. No, thank you.
- And how did you find me?
- I looked you up in the telephone book.
- Anybody can think of that.
- I don't have a telephone, Violet.
Well, I followed you here. Lots of times.
Have you had your supper?
- What's all this?
- I've been working.
You mean this is your work?
Photographing?
Yes. This is how I earn my living.
God, that's so easy.
Well, easier than working in a house.
You've decided to run away?
- Where do you sleep?
- Upstairs.
I wanna see it.
- Why do you lock it?
- I don't know. Habit.
Sometimes children
break into my house.
Why?
I imagine they're curious
about me and my camera.
- The neighbourhood has turned bad.
- Why?
"Why? Why? Why?" I don't know why.
'Cause of the whorehouses.
How come you got no electricity?
Well, I like this room.
Ooka dooka soda...
Well, you certainly did it, didn't you?
Violet?
Can I stay here?
Yes, you may, if you want to.
I do. Will you sleep with me
and take care of me?
No.
And why not?
Because...
'Cause I'm not sure why exactly.
You're afraid of me.
Perhaps.
I want you to be my lover
and buy me stockings and clothes and...
You don't know what you're saying,
Violet.
I won't even charge anyihing at all,
and you can visit me at my house
and be my fancy man.
I thought you were running away
from the house.
Oh, yes. They can't beat me like that.
No, not me.
- I agree, absolutely.
- You do?
Otherwise, I should already
have beaten you for breaking my bed.
- You hit me once.
- Yes, and I'm sorry.
You love my mother more than me.
I know about those things
better than you.
You always know those things
about men when you're a woman.
Some men are different.
I'm different.
Well,
maybe not after all,
because I'm all yours, Violet.
All mine?
Yes.
I love you once. I love you twice.
I love you more than beans and rice.
I'm gonna make you so happy.
You're just my kind of man.
You really are.
I'm really good, you know, chri.
Don't talk to me like that, please.
Don't talk like a whore.
Then what do you want me to say?
I feel something inside me, so I say it,
and when you go away,
it hu?s me right here.
You're only hungry, perhaps.
And what's wrong with whores, anyhow?
I thought you liked us.
Everybody says I'm pretty
and getting to be filled out soon,
and all the other men like me.
Don't you like me?
You left me all alone.
I left you a note.
Well, I can't read yet.
- I brought you a present.
- A present? Where?
Where is it?
She's beautiful.
Why did you buy me a doll?
- Every child should have a doll.
- I'm a child to you?
Violet.
Violet!
Violet!
Violet, what ails you?
What's the matter, Violet?
Violet, I'm talking to you!
I've got such a splitting headache.
You're so selfish, Violet.
It's just not fair.
Everybody gets to do what they want,
except me.
Violet, did you take those bottles
that I left on the table in the front room?
- The ones with the glass stoppers?
- Yes.
Yes. I was playing with them.
Well, what did you do
with what was inside of them?
Well, I poured it out.
My God, Violet, that's silver nitrate.
I use it for my photographs.
- Whatever made you do such a thing?
- It smelled so bad.
Because of your thoughtlessness,
I have to go all the way uptown
to replace those chemicals,
and they're very expensive.
Why are you crying?
For joy and to amuse myself.
You wanna come with me?
No.
What are those?
- What are what?
- Those clothes.
Oh, these? These are pyjamas.
You aren't going to tell me
you've never in your life seen pyjamas?
No john I ever saw
wore anyihing like that.
I'm tired of lying here.
If you would have stayed quiet
for one second more,
I would have had it.
It's always one second more with you.
And why do you wanna take my picture
again and again?
I'm tired of having to deal with a child.
I don't have to stay here
and listen to you yell at me.
Well, I'm leaving,
and you won't have anyone
to photograph any more.
So this is how you would repay me.
Repay you for what? For what?
I don't owe you anything at all.
Get out. Get out, Violet, before I kill you.
If you destroy any more of my pictures...
Who cares about your pictures?
Who buys them? No one.
Sinners.
Sinners!
These reeking pest holes
are inhabited by 1,500 angels
of death and damnation.
Four hags, in palatial palaces of guilt,
imperil the virtue of every innocent girl.
And what, dearly beloved,
can we do about the weakness
of lusting men and soft women?
Violet, where you been?
We better get out of here.
If they catch us, we'll go
to the Home for Good Shepherds.
Brothers and sisters, unite.
Stupid puritans.
Nell says they're just horny men
who come around to snoop.
Well, this time they're really gonna do it.
Mama Mosebery says
everything will be closed down.
- So what if they do?
- I don't know.
- What'll become of me?
- You can be my fancy man.
She's gone mad.
I told you. Even Madam Nell.
The evil eye is on us all.
Look, circles of salt.
Somebody put a spell on you.
Ola Mae, take this holy water
and wash the kitchen
and Miss Nell's room.
In Rome,
times like these,
barbarians came. Oh, did they.
It goes on and on.
I heard the doorbell.
Where is everybody?
Death is keeping them away.
There are reasons for death,
good reasons.
Oh, stop talking, would you? Stop it.
Excuse me.
Dirty roughnecks
with their rotten manners.
Dirty roughnecks
with their rotten manners.
We'll be at the station for an hour
if you change your mind.
- Bye.
- Come on, children. Let's go.
Terrible piano anyhow.
Oh, you look so fine.
Violet, old gal, we'll go to Chicago.
Chicago is the money town.
We'll have ourselves a time there.
Take the northbound
New Orleans Central.
Hey.
Careful, now. It has a delicate frame.
Where are you going, Violet?
Where's that no-good mother of yours?
- I gots a postcard from her and a letter.
- With no return address, huh?
- Don't talk about her.
- Oh, you're breaking my head.
Papa, what are you doing here?
I'm going to marry you.
Can I ask all the girls?
But Antonia and Justine is gone,
and Odette and Josephine.
- Can we go get them?
- Of course.
Well, what'll I wear?
You can wear
whatever your head desires,
just as long as you do it with me.
Her father unknown,
and the mother deserted the child.
My mama's name was Hildegarde.
Hildegarde Marr. M-A-R-R.
- And she was Caucasian or other?
- She was a whore, Father.
Those whom God has united
let no man put asunder.
You may kiss the bride.
Papa, there's a good spot over there.
No, no!
Turn around, Papa.
The other place was better.
Sit down.
Oh, God!
Well.
We'll just have to get out and push.
But I am wearing my new dress
for Chicago.
We're all wearing our new dresses,
you damn fool.
Well, let's get our damn clothes off
and celebrate this thing.
I'm not getting out, and that's that.
Come on, Frieda!
- Pass me some more oysters.
- Anyone want some of the sauce?
Oh, yeah.
Try this, Odette.
- Papa, come eat.
- Yes, I'm coming.
Now, Papa,
you didn't eat anything before.
Now eat.
Y'all gonna enjoy yourselves today.
How come one man
got so many women?
He just got married today.
And guess who he married. Guess.
Well, it doesn't matter,
'cause he's the luckiest son of a bitch
I ever seen on a wedding day.
Why are you ringing?
You have everyihing you need.
I want some hot chocolate
with brandy in it.
I feel poorly today.
Oh, I'm sorry. What is it this time?
You know.
Oh, yes. Of course. I forgot.
I'm gonna sleep all day today.
Well, how is that any different
from the last two weeks?
Get me some cocoa.
And the bottle of brandy.
Do you...
I mean, did the girls teach you
how to prevent yourself
from becoming with child?
I mean, did you know you...
Don't tell me about that.
Don't tell me about the things I know.
Hard-headed berry
don't make good soup.
That's what Ola Mae
used to say about me.
I know.
- Violet.
- Mama?
Yes, it's Mama.
Oh, Violet. My baby. My darling.
Look at the way you've grown.
We have been looking everywhere
for you.
Here we go.
It's okay.
I told him all about you, Violet,
and he insisted
that we come and get you.
You smell good, Mama.
We've got a big, beautiful house
in St. Louis.
Mr Fuller, he's a pavement contractor.
You know, he's paved
almost every street in St. Louis,
and he wants you
to come home with us.
But I live here.
I and Papa. Papa and I are married now.
Mrs Fuller,
I'm so glad to see you are doing so well,
and little Will.
Mr Fuller and I want nothing to do
with you, Mr Bellocq.
We had to go to some awful places
to find out about you and my daughter.
Hattie, we're married now, so stop this.
It is not legal without my consent.
Mr Fuller's already seen to that.
You deserted the child.
I don't mean to be cruel...
How dare you say that?
I did no such thing!
Now, Mr Bellocq, be sensible.
Now, I wanna send Violet to school,
and she has to be raised right.
Now, I know that in a lot of ways,
we've got no right
to get up on a high horse,
but now Mrs Fuller
has overcome her past,
and she wants the same for Violet.
Well, you cannot take her!
I can't live without her.
That's all.
Papa, you can come with us.
Come on, Violet.
You don't need to pack.
We'll get you whatever you need
on Canal Street
while we're waiting for the train.
Can't we all go?
Are you ready?
Just a minute.
- There. Now, that's better.
- Now we're ready.
Move in closer.
Good. Now, let's get one more.
Ok...
Ok...
- What's the matter, honey?
- Is he okay?
Oh, he's fine.
Y'all want him to stand by?
Make sure you get Violet.