Night Song

Here we are, children - Chez Mamie.

Doesn't look to me like Mamie's at home!

Is this what Donnie's been raving about, this alley?

I thought little girls were warned

by their mothers to stay away from alleys.

Wait till you see the inside. It could be priceless.

In that case, it's a good thing I brought my chequebook.

What band did you say was here?

You've never heard of them, dear. Chick and his Swing Six.

-Isn't he cute?

-I'm more interested in Mamie.

-Is she cute?

-You'll find out.

SWING MUSIC PLAYS

Bon soiree and welcome. We're a little crowded.

Rain always brings in the amateurs.

Cute is hardly the right word.

Here we are.

Mike!

When do you have to return the clothes?

Isn't this priceless? Already I feel like a new woman.

At the symphony, I'm just another ermine coat,

but here I begin to live.

I guess I'm just a patron of the lower arts.

-How do you like the band?

-Very solid.

Where did this Mamie play football?

Isn't she priceless? Is that music solid or not?

The symphony's over, dear.

You can take your hair down and be human again.

Shall I put a ring through my nose?

-See what I mean?

-So she's a square.

Hey, how did you ever find this dive?

I got a traffic ticket one night looking for a really riff band,

and the cops sent me here.

APPLAUSE

How long's the intermission?

Oh, maybe 15 minutes. Maybe not.

So, you wanted to hear some riff music and got a traffic ticket?

-PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

-I went out to get a pack of

cigarettes and came to in a cabana in Acapulco.

It's what I get for telling the truth.

Once when I was seven, I told the truth

and they locked me in my bedroom all one Saturday afternoon.

Since then, I only tell the truth

when I want to get locked in my bedroom!

I wonder whatever happened to Cathy?

Did I say something?

Light me a torch, will you, chum?

You're probably half-drunk

and want me to play a song that reminds you of some guy.

Well, you're out of luck till this gets finished.

I call it A Concerto For Sweeney and I'm never going to end it.

-How does it sound?

-Hey, Miss M,

don't you think you better come back to the table?

Why should she, buddy? I'm exhibit A around here.

I'm the blind piano player.

She wants to know how I can find the keys with only my fingers.

You tell her it's a Braille piano.

That's what I like about you - you're such a friendly guy.

But you still have something, brother,

that not even a mink coat can keep out.

I've got something that'll keep out a mink coat.

She certainly went for that music,

so she has brains to go with the diamonds.

Fall in love on your own time.

You seem pretty unhappy so I think I ought to say something.

Now, this is a very hospitable clip joint and Mamie doesn't like

for anyone to be unhappy unless it makes them to want to drink more,

so I thought I ought to apologise for my friend at the piano.

I didn't know he was blind.

Oh, a lot of very nice people are blind.

He's nice himself.

Except when he gets around music, something happens to him.

Do you see what I mean?

No.

Well, that's the way the world goes.

Oh, Connie, this is Mr...

Hello and very solid.

Perhaps we'd better go.

That's not Tchaikovsky.

-No.

-I'm an old woman, my left foot in the grave.

I forget what happens in the world after midnight,

but something's happened to you.

-I didn't wake you, did I?

-I haven't missed hearing you come in

since you first got kissed by the football captain.

Where did you get that music?

-Someone played it tonight.

-He did?

It's lovely music.

It's not that lovely.

Oh, don't be such a wise old ogre!

I just can't make it sound as beautiful as it really is.

I'm your aunt, which is a blood relationship.

I also run this house.

I don't want to be a nagging old crow,

so tell me and get it over with.

What, Auntie darling?

I'm not completely immunised to love's young dream.

What does he look like?

Who?

So, you went somewhere after the symphony.

Someone played this nice music for you. Describe him.

Well, I think he was tall.

He had dark hair.

His face was strong and very sad.

He had marvellous fingers.

What did he think of you?

He was blind.

HE SINGS

When are you going to finish that thing?

HE PLAYS A CHEERFUL TUNE

-Come on, the beer.

-I know, you hear it foam.

I may not be the poor man's Stokowski,

but I've been around music ever

-since I was knee-high to a clarinet and I think it's good.

-So it's good.

You play sweet piano, but so do a lot of other guys.

Maybe not as good as Jose Iturbi, but a lot better than Jose Doakes.

That's not the point.

And so?

You are a hard guy to talk to.

Go ahead, I'm listening.

I'm hanging on every word.

The point is you write music.

You dream it up. I think you're a genius.

Coming from a schmo, that won't impress you.

You're wrong twice.

First, you're not a schmo and I am impressed.

Oh, when you get in this artistic mood, you can be a bore,

but never a schmo.

I can understand that when a guy goes blind,

it's a bit tougher than tripping over his own shoelace.

-It depends.

-No, it don't!

You can trip and kill yourself and

that leaves you practically no problem,

or you can break a wrist and eat with one hand for a while,

but when a guy goes blind...

Yeah.

-Thanks.

-But you shouldn't let it get to your music.

So you're blind! But Schubert's dead.

It isn't the guy, it's the music.

Can you see what I mean?

No.

I can't see.

You should've gammed that mink coat.

Just pure white gown, blue eyes and red nails.

Sounds like a flag.

Character.

You know,

that's what you miss.

I can feel rain or snow, can touch a diamond or a fog,

smell a rose or a river,

but colour...

Hey, let's hit the kip.

How did it go?

-Is that it?

-Mm-hm.

I don't like to bring a crass note into your daydreaming,

but I have some cheques here for you to sign.

Put them on the desk, darling.

Membership renewal for the Symphony Society,

box for the ballet

and that benefit concert.

-Am I boring you?

-Yes.

There's also a letter from your mother.

Florida's beginning to bore her.

She's thinking of going to London. In London, she thinks

she'll be able to find out if Paris is habitable again.

She wonders if the idea might intrigue you.

Would you like to go to Paris and buy a new dress?

-Would you?

-No.

Paris reminds me of my youth - a horrible thought!

-Willey?

-Yes, I'm still here.

Sun Valley, Palm Beach, Paris, Capri -

walking through the Louvre

as though it was the Saks Fifth Avenue of culture.

That was all right before the war. I didn't know any better.

This is worse than I thought.

Everything I can do doesn't mean anything.

It has to mean something now.

I wish your father were around to hear all this.

He always wanted to do something,

but all he ever did was make a million dollars.

There are easier things to do,

but not as hard as what he wanted to do.

He wanted to create something.

He wanted to write music.

You don't create a million dollars -

you make it or steal it or earn it or trap it.

Music you've got to create.

Then you've done something. However good or bad it is, it's yours.

It means something and it's beautiful.

Like a 20 bill never is.

Nobody despises money like rich people.

-That isn't it.

-Well...

If it's economics, I don't understand it, but if it's love,

which I suspect, you have my permission.

You don't even believe me.

I'm a cynical old girl, but I believe you.

We can't do anything about it today.

This afternoon, you're going to the Coles' Musicale.

-Remember?

-No.

That's what I'm here for - I keep files, ledgers, books.

You could always burn 'em.

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

There's something obscene about music in the afternoon.

People should be selling stocks or bonds or playing golf.

Tonight, I'm going to take a long hot bath and read a detective story.

You can't think of the profound pleasure there is

in such a prospect, especially after...

-Where are you going?

-What?

-Think nothing of it.

-Oh, I'm sorry.

-You mean tonight?

-Mm.

-I'm going dancing.

-Very good idea.

-With George.

-Very nice young man.

-Doesn't he want to marry you?

-Usually.

The sort of young man women should be happy to marry.

-Yes.

-Ssh!

They seldom are. They like rascals and vagabonds.

They only marry a George.

It's one of the tragedies of life.

You can't put salt and pepper in the same shaker.

George is all right.

That's what I mean.

SSH!

MUSIC STOPS

APPLAUSE

It can't be that late.

Where's George?

I came home in a cab.

Have some coffee.

No, thanks.

What happened with George?

Oh, he's an absolute 24-carat idiot.

About 18-carat, I think.

-Willey?

-Yes?

-I'm going back there.

-To George?

No.

Well, I wouldn't go if I were you.

If I were you, you might wind up like me.

-I hope I do.

-I'll go with you.

They say it's never too late.

Plato didn't learn Greek till he was 80.

-I'm going alone.

-I begin to see what happened to George.

You don't approve, do you?

I'll let you know when you get back.

# Who killed her?

# Who killed the black wid-er?

# Who took a broom and a frying pan

# Hit her on the head and took it on the lam?

# Who killed her?

# Who killed the black wid-er?

# Who beat her up till she was dead

# And left poor me in a jam now?

# I'm the district attorney

# A very intelligent mouse

# How could that villain escape me

# When I was right here in her house

# Who killed her?

# Who killed the black wid-er?

# Who threw her out in the garbage can

# And left without a clue?

# Well, I'm beginning to believe it was you

# Who killed her?

# Who killed the black wid-er?

# Who took a broom to her spider web

# Pulled her by the hair right out of her bed?

# Who killed her?

# Who killed the black wid-er?

# Who beat her up with a kitchen chair

# And hid her body in bed?

# Now I just got a confession

# The butler told me the deal

# I caught him in the pantry

# With a bloodstain on his heel

# He killed her

# He killed the black wid-er

# He told me she'd poisoned him

# But he got her instead

# So case is dismissed It's self-defence

# And I'm mighty glad she's dead. #

APPLAUSE

-Table for two?

-For one.

We've got a rule here, sister.

-Really?

-Against dames sitting alone.

Er, but I think, er...

-Well, don't think any more.

-No chance!

No, it ain't him. He quit last night.

He quits about once a month.

Very unpredictable character, Miss Mallory.

What'll you have?

Do you mind if I have a cup of coffee?

-Two coffees, please.

-How did you know my name?

I saw your picture in the paper when you joined the army,

and I was in that London hospital

when you brought Kleister to play for us.

Small world.

Was he blinded in the war?

No, afterward. He had his own band before the war.

I started with him. Now he's with me.

-What happened?

-When he went blind, he went sour.

That music he was playing the other night, was it something of his own?

The piano concerto he started two, three years ago.

He won't finish it.

Won't finish it?

He's Mr Blind Man and nobody with eyes can tell him anything.

How about somebody without eyes?

You know somebody?

I was just thinking.

I don't get you.

You've got a jillion dollars and a pretty boyfriend.

What do you keep slumming after him for?

The music. I can't get it out of my head.

I think it's fine and I want to help

a man who can write like that any way I can, that's all.

-You couldn't help him.

-I could try, couldn't I?

I live with him, I know the guy.

I pour his beer, I make his bed, I read books to him.

I spell out the big words and I take him walking on the beach.

I know the guy and the only thing he wants from somebody like you

is to be left alone.

I think you're on the level, but that won't get it.

We forgot the marinated herring for the seagulls.

Come on, let's take a walk.

One of these times, we'll fish in the surf.

The only fish I ever caught

was a silverfish in the pocket of an old tuxedo.

You might charm a halibut with that clarinet.

-Ouch!

-Just don't let the fresh air go to your head.

You forget how old and soft you are.

Many people on the beach?

No, just a girl.

-Chick.

-Yeah?

I thought I recognised your voice.

-Hello there.

-My companion left me for a while.

-He did?

-No, she.

-You really do remember me, don't you?

-Oh, sure.

Maybe you don't know my friend Dan Evans.

-Dan, this is Miss...

-Mary Willey, in case you've forgotten.

-Mary Willey.

-How do you do?

You may be holding out your hand, Mr Evans, but if you are, I can't see.

I'm blind.

Blind?

Er, yes, I told you about him, didn't I?

Of course, Dan Evans, the pianist.

Look, why don't you two sit down and I'll go back and get the beer?

Sure.

I... I hear you're a fine musician.

So, you're blind?

Do you like music?

I love it.

-What do you like?

-Oh, Bach, Debussy, Stravinsky...

-Classics.

-I like Gershwin, the Duke, Bix.

Beiderbecke?

-You know his stuff?

-People think he was just a man with a horn,

but he played a good piano.

He died too soon.

Yeah.

I'd like to hear you play sometime.

No, I don't play any more.

-I just trade boogie-woogie for beer and hamburger.

-Why?

Because I like to eat.

I wish you'd teach me to play.

You must like to be around blind people.

I don't.

I didn't think of it that way.

It's just that music is about all I have to live for.

I asked him to teach me to play the piano and now I think he's angry.

He's an angry man.

Now, if you want to take up clarinet,

maybe we could talk business.

-Have some suds?

-No, thank you.

Do you, er, do you play at all?

-A little.

-What do you care?

She's busted. She couldn't pay you anything.

He's a very mercenary character.

That's why he's a second-rate musician.

Come on, Chick, let's walk.

-I'll see you around, Miss...?

-Mary.

Mary.

Well, what do you think?

I don't know. With him, you never know.

Are you with me or against me?

I'm right where you put me - dead in the middle.

You don't think I can get away with it?

You can try. One thing.

-Yes?

-You can't pull anything in that Nob Hill palace -

no mink coats, no limousines.

-No.

-Nobody loves a millionaire except politicians, models and me.

Be poor. Get some job with a piano and a hot plate.

You know, clean but crummy.

It's a high one. And duck.

Like the man said, clean but crummy.

They should be here any minute.

How do you really feel about this?

Scared to death. Oh, you remember who you are, don't you?

This is my badge of office.

You're still my aunt and companion, but now you paint.

I paint. I can't even bear the smell of turpentine.

DOORBELL

I'm Chick Morgan, this is Dan Evans.

-I'm Miss Willey.

-How do you do?

-How do you do? Would you come in?

-Thank you.

Hello. I brought the maestro.

I'm so glad you came.

Who's been painting something?

That's Aunt Willey. She's an artist.

Here.

I just dashed off a magazine cover.

She's very clever.

One of the reasons I like to live with her - she can respect my work cos she can't see it.

I'd like to see some of your stuff.

-You would?

-Mm-hmm.

-Come with me.

You ever painted, Mr Morgan?

I once painted things with iodine.

I had my piano tuned.

Oh?

-What is it?

-A Steinway.

-Baby grand?

-No, concert.

-Concert!

-It belonged to my father.

It's all I have left.

He was very good when he was young.

-What happened to him?

-He got married.

-So did Mozart.

-This was different.

-He's dead now.

-Let's hear how you play.

How about Schumann's Carnaval?

How about it?

SHE PLAYS

MUSIC DRIFTS THROUGH

What did you put in this brew?

It's a secret formula - took me years of research.

So, you're Miss Willey?

You sound as if you're looking at the Washington Monument for the first time.

What do you think of this blind man's bluff?

I haven't thought for 20 years,

but I tell you this -

I wouldn't be surprised if she played better than he did.

SHE CONTINUES TO PLAY

That's a nice thing.

Of course, it says rubato and you play it straight,

but, anyway, I recognised it.

Was it as bad as that?

I wish you'd show me how.

HE PLAYS

She seems to be improving already.

You see, you should play it with more feeling,

not so much like a metronome.

I shouldn't play after that.

Hi, Chick.

Why don't we all have dinner together and go to the concert?

I'm giving one at the Chez Mamie.

They're playing Mussorgsky and Delius.

-Delius, huh?

-Yeah, why don't you?

What do we do about tickets?

Oh, Aunt Willey can always get some.

The first violinist proposed to me in 1917.

We could go to Petropolis up the street and have spaghetti.

-Spaghetti...

-Yeah, how can you go against that?

Delius and spaghetti!

I'm afraid I can't.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS

Come in.

Just put your things over on the settee.

-How does it look in here?

-Very clean and neat.

A tribute to a nice friend.

Chick? Not a chance.

A gal comes up here afternoons and teases the place with a dust rag.

She cheats. Look.

I'll fix the drinks.

-What'll it be?

-Could we have coffee?

-If you've got to.

-I'd like some coffee too.

-OK, I'll fix it.

-No, I'll do it.

No man ever made coffee for me and no man ever will.

-Where's the kitchen?

-There.

That's where I belong. You show Cathy around.

-Cathy?

-Oh, that's me, Mary Catherine.

-You see, Aunt Willey hates the name of Mary. It's her name.

-Oh.

Maybe you'd like to try a good piano?

Of course, it's not a concert grand like yours,

but it does have all the keys.

-SHE BEGINS TO PLAY

-Sounds like the keys are yellow.

They are. Kind of old and loose.

Oh, please like Aunt Willey's coffee.

It's horrible. She pours a handful into boiling water cowboy-style.

You worry about hurting people's feelings.

That's real nice. You want a torch?

No, thanks.

SHE PLAYS

Very pretty.

What?

You play real pretty, real sweet.

How long have you been blind?

Since I was a child.

Yeah, sure, that's what I figured.

-Why?

-Because you play like you've had a nice, sheltered kind of life.

We sit over here.

Why don't you ask me how long I've been blind?

-I...

-You've been wanting to ask me ever since we met.

If you want to ask something, ask it.

If you want to do something, do it.

If you live like that... Oh, forget it.

-How long have you been blind?

-A year and a half.

Too long or not long enough, I don't know yet which.

What do you see when you play?

I mean, what pictures do you get in your mind?

I don't know. Sometimes I remember

the sun on the lattice,

the rain on the windowpane...

..or flowers, a whole field.

That's real pretty.

Rain on the windowpane and you nice and safe and warm behind the window.

That's not what rain means to me.

It's trying to find a job in the rain,

keeping a newspaper under your shirt - best way to keep you warm.

Only pretty soon the paper gets soggy and the water drips down

into your shoes. Rotten, cold rain.

It never stops, you hate it.

Did you ever in your life really hate anything?

Field of flowers, she says.

No.

It's a kid finding out somebody on the block just died -

old Mrs Halloran, maybe.

It's running like crazy to Mr Kilp the undertaker.

If it was a funeral that paid well,

Kilp would turn his back and let you take some of the flowers.

You could sell them, maybe make enough to see a movie.

Oh, it was a happy day

when you found there was a funeral on the block.

Not very pretty, is it?

No, not very pretty. But you do make me see what you mean.

Sure.

The pictures in my mind...

..put them all together and they make music.

Music for Sweeney - half-down on paper and it'll never get finished.

-Why not?

-Because the picture stopped a year and a half ago.

-How did you...?

-How did I get blind?

I told you, if you want to ask something, ask it.

Yes. I was going to ask you that.

OK, I'll tell you.

HE PLAYS

I spent four years in the war, two years overseas.

Never got a scratch.

And then I came home and became a nice, safe civilian again.

I was sitting in a drug store at the fountain.

A drunken driver crashed into the plate glass window.

The glass flew all over the place.

DISSONANT CHORD

Hearts and Flowers, that's one you ought to know.

The thing I like about coffee, it keeps me awake.

Nothing more ridiculous than lying unconscious on a bed.

Besides, I have insomnia.

I like to blame it on the coffee instead of my conscience.

-How do you take it?

-Straight.

Don't you believe her? She's one of those awful heart of gold villains.

My heart's an old wastepaper basket,

filled with unpaid bills and paperback novels.

How's the coffee?

A work of art.

What's this music manuscript?

-It's nothing.

-I heard you play this afternoon.

I know music when I hear it, I know music when I see it.

-Do you mind if I try it?

-No.

SHE PLAYS

I'll play it.

HE PLAYS

Hello, Mother! I'm home.

You shouldn't stay out so late, Son.

Cigarettes and loss of sleep is bad for your wind.

-You won't be able to blow your horn when you're a big boy.

-Huh!

You know, Chick, you're not a bad musician.

You're too good for that dump.

Well, that's what I keep telling myself, but nobody answers.

Come on in and listen to something.

You know that piece of music?

-For Sweeney?

-Yeah. Light me up.

I've got something new for it.

Shoot.

HE PLAYS

I can do it like that or like this.

HE PLAYS STACCATO

Keep them both!

This is singing, all right. It's different.

Yeah, it's like rain. Rain on the windowpane,

simple as that.

It's beautiful, baby - very, very pure.

Good to see you back in the groove again after a year in the mothballs.

Thanks.

I've got news for you.

We're being evicted again.

I'm going back to the Chez Mamie.

-How did it go tonight?

-Delius was a little ragged,

but the spaghetti was perfect.

-That girl, what's her name?

-You know her name.

Mary.

-What's she look like?

-Oh, not too big, not too small,

not too bad to look at, not too bad to be around.

But not red, white and blue, huh?

Listen, she's the kind that,

no matter how crowded the streetcar was, or how tired you were,

you'd get up and give her your seat.

-Is that clear enough?

-It'll have to do.

Too bad she's blind.

Yeah, ain't it(?)

ORCHESTRA PLAYS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

-Am I late?

-You're a woman.

-Let's sit in a booth, shall we?

-Uh-huh.

-This way, please.

William?

A lemonade, please.

A glass of beer and a saucer of milk.

-I beg your pardon, sir?

-A glass of beer and a saucer of milk.

Thank you, sir.

-I bought the guy a cat. It's his birthday.

-Oh, Dan's?

Yes, he likes cats.

-He thinks they can sing.

-Oh, he's singing now.

Huh? Oh, here. Hurry, quick.

CAT MEOWS

I want to talk to you about Dan.

-Why, sure.

-How is he?

Oh, I guess you performed a miracle - he's back at the Mamie and I think he's writing on that music.

Oh, that's wonderful! Chick...

You know, the good thing about this animal

is it gives him something to roustabout instead of me.

-Or me!

-You ain't seen nothing.

Oh?

Maybe it's because he pities me, huh?

Well, wasn't that the idea?

I suppose so. Only now I feel funny.

Well, think nothing of it

because it's just as dangerous to go back now as it is to go ahead.

-Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about - going ahead.

-Where?

About Dan's eyes - what did the doctors say?

Is there anything that can be done?

Sure, a trick operation - it works sometimes, sometimes no.

But the only guy he'll let touch him is a big shot surgeon in New York.

Well?

You know that stuff they keep in banks?

-Why can't I...?

-Because he's a very independent guy.

I'm sorry, baby, you were rather late.

-I've got a rehearsal.

-I'll drop you, shall I?

Thank you.

Why couldn't I give you the money and you give it to him?

Same thing.

I know what - he could win a prize in a musical competition.

A big cash prize.

Very good, if there was a big cash prize and if you could get him to

write the music and his music won it.

You forget - I'm Catherine Mallory.

I give it. I become a foundation.

I give an award.

-Well, I've got it.

-What is it?

We all get even, it's right here in the paper.

It ain't no good reading those newspapers, they just make you unhappy.

Listen, I'm skipping the build-up,

but a dame named Mallory is giving a big prize.

-Now, let's see.

-Oh, fine, who's Mallory?

Somebody with a jillion dollars. You want to hear it or not?

I do. Go ahead.

All right, so Mallory is a dame,

so if they can give five grand for a golf tournament or a puzzle contest

or the cutest man at Yale, this dame is going to do the same thing

for the best piece of music lying around.

-Why not?

-Well, here it is.

"Submitted compositions may be in any major musical form for a piano and orchestra." Hmm!

"Compositions must be submitted within three months of above date.

"First prize will be 5,000."

5,000!

Yes, can you pick that up at Telegraph Hill on a rainy night?

That's wonderful!

Now you can go to work and get us all fat.

Sure, I'll just whip up a boogie-woogie of Old Black Joe(!)

My mistake.

Is there anything in the ice box?

I think so.

You could win it, Dan. The piece you played for me -

all you'd have to do is finish it.

-Oh, just like that, huh?

-I know my opinion doesn't count for much,

but Chick knows something about it, doesn't he?

-And he thinks it's great.

-He's slightly prejudiced.

-But...

-If I could have finished it, I'd have finished it.

My luck's gone, flown out the window.

The plate glass window of a drug store, remember?

When your luck's gone, it's gone.

That's that.

All I wanted to say was that your music had meant so much to me

and I thought perhaps...

-Are you ready?

-Let's go.

DOOR SHUTS

SHE PLAYS

HE PLAYS WITH GUSTO

MUSIC DRIFTS THROUGH

-Chick?

-Yeah?

-Not bad, is it?

-How many times do I have to say it?

That second theme needs development.

It ought to be scored for full orchestra.

That's right.

If I have to tear this piano apart, I'm going to do it.

Now you're talking, baby. Tear it apart!

-Well, what are you waiting for? Go out and get some manuscript paper.

-I just left!

DAN RESUMES PLAYING

Cathy? Well, the man just went to work.

He had more trouble making up his mind than I do a bed, but he did it.

Yeah. 88 to the bar, too.

# Oh, the sheriff he came too He came too

# Oh, the sheriff he came too with his little boys in blue... #

So, we're stumped. Let's go to sleep on it.

What a rotten occupation - a blind man grabbing music out of the air!

I should have got a pencil concession.

You may yet.

Why don't you get out of here and live a normal life?

I'm too happy with you.

I'd miss your friendly smile(!)

You and that girl, you pushed me into this.

Nothing you can't push yourself out of.

PIANO MUSIC DRIFTS THROUGH

Get this.

You got it! Is the left hand chromatic all the way?

No, it doubles back, like this.

All right, go ahead.

Horns and strings in unison.

HE RESUMES PLAYING

HE HUMS

Strings start moving after first quarter, right?

Right. Piano again, starting with D flat and left hand's the same,

only this time with seventh chords.

HE RESUMES PLAYING

That puts the finale in F minor.

Swell for orchestra.

HE RESUMES PLAYING

-What happens now?

-It goes to the committee of critics

and if they agree with Catherine Mallory, it wins the first prize.

And if they don't?

Then it will lose.

You're a strange girl.

Even if it does lose, it so happens that Arthur Rubinstein is on

the committee. He's also a very good friend of Miss Mallory's.

If he likes it, maybe she can get him to play it.

I don't want to sound corrupt, but if Miss Mallory's a friend of

Mr Rubinstein, perhaps she could do some business with him.

Not a chance in the world!

It seems we might arrange

this whole thing a little more on the frame-up side.

Aunt Willey, I'm ashamed of you.

No, this doesn't need it.

It's first-rate.

And you better get ready.

-Where am I going?

-Where the man said - fishing!

My father always said a fishing rod had a hook at one end

-and an idiot at the other.

-That's only when your old man went fishing.

Don't splash the oars so much.

-What will we catch?

-Rainbow, cutthroat.

I've never caught a fish in my life.

Maybe the fish are asleep.

I never thought of that. Do fish sleep?

-Sure, they sleep.

-How do you know?

I've seen them.

Together?

I've got a bite, I've got a bite.

Snub him. Snub him!

What's that poor little fish ever done to her

-that she should snub him?

-She has to get the fish on the hook.

Jerk, then, if you're so fussy about words.

Reel in - easy.

-Take your time.

-Take the pole! Take the pole!

I can't, I've got one myself.

Just reel in easy and watch it,

don't let any slack get in your line.

Now, keep it taut. Hey, look at him break water!

I never knew a fish could dance.

He's doing a first class hula.

Keep reeling in.

Bring him over towards the boat. Ah, looks like a rainbow.

That's it, bring him in.

It's a good thing you don't have twin hooks on your lines,

I'd need a couple more hands!

-What did I get, Chick?

-Well, you got...

Let me feel mine.

Here, Dan.

Oh, this is a beauty!

Oh, I think I caught a guppy. I better put him back.

If the poor little thing had had any strength, I'd never have landed him.

At 60 cents a pound, we're doing all right.

Well, how's the aroma?

-Wonderful!

-The French say a fish must swim three times -

in water, sauce and wine.

Here's to Mary's promise.

And to yours, sir.

I think I'll fix some hamburger.

-Hamburger?

-You don't like fish?

She loves fish.

Not this particular fish.

-I can't eat it.

-What's the matter with this fish? It's good fish.

-I caught it.

-And I cooked it.

But I met this fish this afternoon.

I saw him swimming. He was alive and happy.

I was an accessory before the fact of his death.

She's kidding, of course.

This morning, he had his life before him.

Now, he's lying on my plate, coated with cracker crumbs.

I'm sorry, but I can't eat him.

How can you eat that potato?

It was torn out of the ground,

peeled and boiled before your very eyes.

What about a hamburger?

Yes, you eat beef, don't you? They slaughter beef.

I don't witness the execution.

I don't spend the afternoon with a cow.

Let's see - four, five, six...

Don't tell me, I'm your opponent.

Oh.

Remember now - three or more cards

in sequence in the same suit, or three or more of a kind

make a spread and when your whole hand's that way,

you discard and say "gin rummy".

I discard? You do.

Gin rummy.

40,

50, 60,

67 and 20. For gin, 87.

Deal, deal, deal.

# I'll be in Scotland before you

SHE HUMS LOCH LOMOND

# Will never meet again

# On the bonnie, bonnie banks

# Of Loch Lomond. #

-Nice.

-The song?

No, about the fish.

What about the fish?

You saw to it that I got the big one.

Chick told me.

I've been fishing before, I can tell an anchovy from a whale.

-SHE LAUGHS

-I suppose it was silly of me.

Well, now I owe you for two things.

I owe you for a fish.

And I owe you something else.

I know about the fish, but...

A long time ago, I had the band up in Buffalo.

I was playing a one-night date.

The manager had a sign above his desk that said...

"I don't want to be a millionaire.

"I just want to live like one."

Well, with me, it's always been kind of the opposite.

I didn't want to live like a composer.

I wanted to BE one.

I wanted to be one bad.

Now I've written a piece of music,

it's on its way and I'm what I wanted to be.

You'd have been that anyway, without me.

No, you added it all up.

I don't know what's going to happen about the contest, who will win it,

but that's not important.

The point is I've written something and, win or lose, I'm a composer.

Yes, Dan.

So...

that's why I'm saying thanks.

Thanks for the fish.

And...

..thanks for...

-Dan?

-Yeah?

Your music's going to win that prize.

I know it. You're going to get your sight back and be famous.

I can feel it.

I'll be anything you predict.

You have beautiful hands.

FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

-Chick?

-Yeah?

How do you stand?

I think about 50 years ago, she was a 21 dealer in Reno.

LAUGHTER

What on Earth are you trying to do?

Painting. I thought I might have a small whirl at it.

After all, I'm supposed to be an artist.

What is it supposed to represent?

You wouldn't dare say that in front of a Picasso.

As a matter of fact, I started to paint Dan sitting at the piano

and it turned out to be the piano sitting on Dan.

No talent at all, no flair.

Have you heard from Chick or anybody?

There's a telegram over there.

-A telegram?

-On the piano.

Oh.

I want to built out a Christmas tree.

I've beginning to feel at home here. I'm really a Bohemian at heart.

-Why don't you open it?

-I'm afraid to.

-What if they reject it?

-Fire them and get another bunch of critics.

I'll open it. I've been rejected before.

ORGAN PLAYS

I'll get the car and come back for you.

Dan, I've got something for you.

It's a telegram. Chick read it to me.

-We've got the news, huh?

-I memorised it.

Go ahead, I'm ready.

It said...

"Delighted to inform you, your concerto awarded Mallory Prize.

"Proud to give it first performance this spring at Carnegie Hall.

"Artur Rubinstein."

You've won!

Now you go to your doctor in New York.

You'll see again.

No.

You did this.

If it hadn't been for you, it never would have happened.

You're going.

It wouldn't be any use.

I can't do anything without my eyes.

If you did it for me...

You said you did.

That's what I said.

Then go on for me.

I'll be back.

ORGAN PLAYS

What's this?

It's the Christmas music, I suppose.

Holy smoke, I won it!

I won it!

Here's your daily vitamin.

Thank you.

I had wicked old aunt who used to quote,

"Man's love is of his life a thing apart.

"Tis woman's whole existence."

Cut me in.

"As usual, Chick is here, pushing the pen.

"I want to say again, even in his cynical presence..."

Never mind that.

"The big news is that the main event goes on tomorrow."

That means they operated yesterday.

Why hasn't Chick called me?

No news is good news.

I suppose.

"My doctor assures me that success is an absolute cinch.

"You'd go for him - he's a young fat man with a happy face, Chick says,

"and he has fingers like a card shark,

"so things look pretty optimistic.

"Of course, it will be several weeks until the bandages are removed

"and then I can put away my cane until I break an ankle.

"So cross your fingers for me."

Weeks! We've got to wait weeks!

So does he.

PHONE RINGS

Yeah? Oh, fine. California coming through.

Thank you, lady.

Give me a torch, will you? SHIP HORN BLOWS

Mary, how are you?

Oh, he's getting good food, a nice bed and he has a pretty nurse.

What's the matter with that?

Well, they took the bandages off yesterday for a while.

He'll be all right.

Just as soon as the croaker says he can travel.

And don't worry, we'll be there.

Yes, I sure will. Goodbye.

What did she say?

She sent you her love.

He's all right! They'll be back as soon as he can travel.

-He's going to be all right!

-Good. SHE LAUGHS

Oh, this is the happiest day of my life.

What can I do to show my gratitude?

Give something to your favourite charity.

-Which one?

-Me.

That's an idea. What have you always wanted and never had?

Peace.

Let's grab a cab.

-Let's walk a while.

-OK.

-Ah!

-LAUGHTER

Wonderful!

Look at that!

Look at that!

Now I know what they mean by... HE WOLF WHISTLES

Yeah, you'll have to grow some wolves wool,

but on that part, take it easy.

DAN LAUGHS

Light me a torch, will ya?

Boy, I need a shave.

Hey, light it yourself!

I'll have to get used to that.

What do you think of yourself?

Well, I didn't know I was so ugly or that you were so handsome.

I was afraid of that.

Boy, you have no idea how much better a cigarette tastes

when you can see the smoke.

Come on! Let's see something!

Two weeks of this. Tougher than a six-day bike race.

But after a while, I'll be like I was -

looking without seeing, like you.

I see.

There's one thing I don't see, though.

What's that?

Why all this stall?

Every letter she sends you,

she wants to know when you're coming back.

I need some time.

Yeah. The longer you stall, the tougher it'll be.

PHONE RINGS

Hello.

OK, it's Mary.

-It's her. I'm out.

-What will I tell her?

Hello, Mary. Yeah, I'm fine, and you?

Oh, swell.

No, we haven't been able to get reservations yet.

On the level, it's tough!

No, he isn't here right now.

He'll be very sorry he missed your call.

I'll wire you just as soon as we're able to get reservations.

So long, Mary.

I'm a heel. I know it.

Well...

Just so's you know it.

Well?

I have a feeling something's wrong.

Why should Chick say he's all right?

I don't know.

I think perhaps they're trying to spare me the shock. Perhaps....

You're thinking too much, that's the trouble with you.

You're lonely and you're bored.

No. No, something's the matter.

Aunt Willey, what do you think I ought to do?

Just what you want to do.

Oh!

I wish you wouldn't be so smug and full of worldly wisdom.

You're in love, I'm trying to humour you. It's a form of insanity.

Well, I happen to think he's still blind.

Because you haven't talked to him?

Hasn't it occurred to you he hasn't talked to you,

because he isn't blind any more?

Oh.

Now that you've had that bee added to your bonnetful,

you want me to do it?

-Do what?

-Telephone the airport.

Reservations for New York.

Isn't that what you've been thinking of?

-I think he needs me.

-Pack something.

-Where are the house phones, please?

-Right over there, miss.

Thank you.

Mr Chick Morgan, please.

PHONE RINGS

Hello.

Oh, hello, Fran, how's the weather out there today?

In the lobby, huh? What lobby?

OK, you stay there. I'll be right down.

-HE SINGS QUIETLY:

-# Saw Mary in the crowd, in the crowd

# I saw Mary in the crowd

-LOUDER:

-# And I shouted right out loud... #

-Small world!

-It began to get too big for me.

It never gets any bigger than a man's head.

Come on, let's get out of this traffic.

Well, you certainly surprised me.

How do you like the big city and how's my old friend Willey?

Yes, I get around sometimes and Willey as well.

You're not writing me a letter now, you know. You can tell me the truth.

All right, let's get it where it belongs.

You should have told me the operation was a failure.

-Failure?!

-Well?

Oh, no, baby, it worked.

He can see. He can see as well as I can.

All he does is go around seeing.

-Oh, gee!

-He can see people on Mars.

-Here.

-Thanks!

-And you didn't believe me?

-I didn't know what to believe.

I got kind of frantic when he didn't come back.

That's what I was stalling about.

-Why didn't he come back?

-How's the cat?

The cat is fine. Why didn't he?

You see, the guy was blind.

He was in a big black grave as big as this world

and he suddenly came to life and things fell in place again,

like trees and streets and beautiful dames...

Oh, I'm a clarinet player, I can't explain it very good.

But, anyway, it's a big thing and you can't expect a guy to...

-Go back to a blind girl?

-Give him time.

-Hello, Evans, how are you?

-Oh, fine.

There he is! Same guy!

-Hey!

-No...

I heard that new piece of yours the other night. It sounded wonderful.

-Well, thank you very much. I'm glad you liked it.

-I'll be seeing you.

Dan, this is...

I've been so anxious to meet you.

I'm Catherine Mallory.

How do you do?

Catherine Mallory, the Mallory Award - your benefactor.

Be very nice to her.

She took us off the streets, remember?

We're all so happy you won the award.

Thank you.

I thought people who gave art prizes were either

conscience-stricken millionaires or old spinsters

who cheated Wall Street.

Have you told her she's having dinner with us tonight?

PIANO PLAYS

This is all new stuff he's written.

The guy writes all the time. He writes in his sleep and mine.

Are you going to tell him who you are tonight?

-Shall I?

-Do you want to play a game?

Never.

MUSIC ENDS, APPLAUSE

-Wonderful! Wonderful!

-Thank you. Thank you.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Thank you very much, glad you liked it.

It's a little rough, but it's better than playing in that joint

in San Francisco for 75 fish a week.

Yeah, now you play for millionaires

and get a martini and a cracker with some anchovy paste.

He's homesick for the slums.

-Aren't you?

-Not me.

I'm a bright lights boy from here on in.

I lived with a sack over my head for a long time.

A sack?

Yeah. I was blind.

-Oh, yes, I know.

-Chick told me.

-I think it's a marvellous story.

It's like a bad novel you can't put down.

You're like a character from a Greek fable.

So are you.

Oh, I can't stand this!

-You mind if I blow?

-LAUGHTER

I can catch the last grind at a movie.

That guy knows everything.

He knows that all evening I've been thinking about you and...

looking at you, wanting to talk to you, get alone with you.

How could he guess all those things?

I don't know. The same way you have.

Well, I tried to disguise it a little, so...

I suppose it isn't quite as obvious as the Empire State building.

There must be some way to get out of here.

How about the door?

MUSIC PLAYS

You're a pretty impulsive young man.

I'm happy.

I liked your Park Avenue cakewalk.

Thank you. Could be better.

Much better.

Somehow, maybe I don't get the pictures clear,

like I used to when I was blind, back in San Francisco.

Maybe there are more distractions here.

Tell me about you in San Francisco.

I worked in a joint called the Chez Mamie, with Chick.

Lived with a cat called Sam Hall. Chick gave me this cat.

-Let's talk about somebody else.

-No, no, go on.

That's the old trick.

The woman lets the guy unwind.

No. No tricks. I'm curious.

What about?

About the part where a girl comes in.

One does, doesn't she?

Yeah. One did.

This is where the man in that bad book you mentioned

always says something very effective.

Well...say something.

HE CHUCKLES

All I can think of is, "Ain't it pretty".

You were telling me about that girl in San Francisco.

No, I wasn't. You were telling me.

-You don't want to tell?

-Oh, I'll tell.

What was she like?

She was blind, like me.

And she isn't the girl in your life?

She's in part of it.

A part you want to...

..forget?

No-one forgets anything.

Are you going back to her?

I think you came from a long line of lawyers.

I suppose I'm interested.

We were two blind people in a city full of eyes.

I wasn't anything until she came along.

I wouldn't even know what she looked like.

I might know her hand, or her voice...

Her voice was like yours.

A little lower, but like yours.

Like mine?

Like yours is now, out here.

So that's how it is.

I remind you of someone.

No. Not of anybody in the world.

And...

you're not going back?

From you?

I don't like looking down on people from a high place.

They look too insignificant.

Well, let's go down and be significant.

I thought this would be a nice place for some conversation.

And the older I get, the more at home I feel with squirrels.

All right. What's the matter?

Last night he checks in about 3am,

and he sits down to write a song about June and the moon.

He's walking on air because he's met a dame named Mallory.

I thought you were going to tip him off.

I was afraid of how he'd take it.

How long do you think you can keep it up?

I don't know. Until he goes back to Mary Willey.

If he ever goes back.

But that was a gag. Mary Willey was a gag.

She was at first, but now she's very real to me.

She's the girl he said he'd never forget.

You once wrote me a letter for him, when you first came here.

In it, he said he'd never been really lonesome

in his life before, remember?

That he'd been lonely but never lonesome.

And that there was a big difference.

And that he would remember very hard sometimes,

just to be sure it wasn't another blind man's dream.

That I, Mary, really did exist

and was waiting for him.

So I want him to go back.

I want him to be great and famous and happy.

I want him to be a lot of wonderful things.

And, still, I want him to remain the man he used to be.

Can you understand that?

The last time I tried to understand a woman...

Skip it.

HE PLAYS

That's better.

I thought you were sleeping.

No. Just practising.

How did it sound to you?

Good.

But not as good as you think I can do, huh?

It's good.

I know. It just doesn't add up.

You shouldn't work it so hard.

It might be you work the life out of it.

HE SIGHS

HE PLAYS A LIVELY TUNE

Miss Mallory, please.

Hi.

Yeah, I wore out another set of keys this afternoon.

Say, they tell me there's a little restaurant up on Staten Island,

where the food is unbelievably bad.

Shall we see for ourselves?

OK. I'll give you a minute-and-a-half.

Right.

Wake me up when you get in.

Otherwise I'll never get to bed.

HE GRUNTS

FERRY RUMBLES

SLOW ACCORDION TUNE

How does it feel to be rich?

Don't know. Never been poor.

I've been so poor the mice have walked out of the place.

You're not any more.

Where all have you lived?

Here, France, Italy.

-I was in Italy.

-I studied the piano there.

I was at Salerno. We didn't have a piano.

You know, I keep thinking I've known you,

that I've met you.

Must be a travelling salesman from Chicago.

Chick remembered me from a hospital during the war.

No, it's not like that.

It's like when you think something has happened

exactly the same way once before.

And you're sure it has. LIVELY ACCORDION TUNE

Oh, that's an exploded theory.

All theories are exploded.