A Streetcar Named Desire Page #10

What's straight?

A line can be straight, or a street...

...but the heart of a human being?

- You lied to me, Blanche.

- Don't say I lied to you.

- Lies! Lies! Inside and out, all lies!

- Never inside.

I never lied in my heart!

What?

From outside.

Flowers.

Flowers for the dead.

No.

Not now.

I lived in a house where dying

old women remembered their dead men.

Crumble, then fade.

Regrets, recriminations.

"If you'd done this,

it wouldn't have cost me that."

Legacies...

...and other things...

...such as bloodstained pillowslips.

I used to sit here...

...and she used to sit there.

And death was as close as you are.

Death.

The opposite is desire.

So how could you wonder?

How could you possibly wonder?

Not far from Belle Reve,

before we lost Belle Reve...

...was a camp

where they trained young soldiers.

On Saturday nights,

they would go in town to get drunk.

And on the way back, they would

stagger onto my lawn and call:

"Blanche."

What do you want?

Marry me, Mitch.

No, I don't think

I want to marry you anymore.

No?

No. You're not clean enough

to bring in the house with my mom...

Go, then!

Get out of here.

Quick, before I start screaming.

Get out of here quick,

before I start screaming!

Screaming! Screaming!

Are you all right, lady?

What's the matter, lady?

- She must be drunk.

- Somebody better get a policeman.

There's a cop now.

- What happened?

- I don't know.

It's a police officer. Open up.

Open up in there.

It's a police officer, open up.

What's the matter? Are you hurt, lady?

Are you all right, lady?

Yes. Go away.

- Go on.

- Are you hurt?

- Are you all right?

- I'll be good.

It's all right. Let's break it up.

I'll be good.

I'll be good. I'll be good.

Oh, no, my gracious. What a thing.

How about taking a swim,

a moonlight swim at the old rock quarry?

That's if anyone's sober enough

to drive a car.

The best way in the world

to stop your head from buzzing.

Only you have to be careful to dive

where the deep pool is.

If you hit a rock, you won't come up

till tomorrow. Heh, heh.

My goodness. They're playing

"Goodnight, Ladies."

May I rest my weary head

on your shoulder?

It's so...

...comforting.

Hi, Blanche.

- How's my sister?

- She's doing okay.

How's the baby?

The baby won't come till tomorrow,

so they told me to get a little shuteye.

Does that mean...

...we are to be alone in here?

Yeah, it's just you and me, Blanche.

Hey, what do you got

them fine feathers on for?

Oh. That's right.

You left before my wire came.

What, you got a wire?

I received a telegram

from an old admirer of mine.

- Anything good?

- I think so. An invitation.

What to?

A cruise of the Caribbean on a yacht.

Well, what do you know?

I was never so surprised in my life.

It came like a bolt from the blue.

Who'd you say it was from?

An old beau of mine.

Oh, the one that give you

the white fox fur pieces.

Shep Huntleigh.

I wore his ATO pin

my last year in college.

I hadn't seen him for a while,

then just now this wire...

...inviting me on a cruise of the

Caribbean. The problem is clothes.

I tore into my trunk to see what I had

that was suitable for the tropics.

And you come up

with a gorgeous diamond tiara.

This old relic? It's only rhinestones.

Oh, I thought it was

Tiffany's diamonds.

Well, anyhow,

I shall be entertained in style.

Well, it just goes to show you,

Blanche, you never know what's coming.

When I thought my luck

was beginning to fail me.

Into the picture

pops this Miami millionaire.

This man is not from Miami.

This man is from Dallas.

Just so he's from somewhere.

Close the curtains

before you undress any further.

No, this is all

I'm gonna undress right now.

Hey, Blanche,

you seen the bottle opener?

I used to have a cousin who could open

a bottle of beer with his teeth.

And that was all he could do.

He was just a human bottle-opener.

Then one time at a wedding party,

he broke his front teeth right off.

And then after that,

he was so ashamed of himself...

...that he used to sneak out of the house

when company came.

Rain from heaven.

What do you say, Blanche? You want to

bury the hatchet and make a loving cup?

No. No, thank you.

- Why don't you get with it?

- What are you doing in here?

Hey, wait a second.

I want to show you something.

Here's something I always break out

on special occasions:

Silk pajamas I wore

on my wedding night.

When they call on that phone

and say, "You got a son"...

...I'm gonna rip them off

and wave them like a flag!

I guess we're both entitled

to put on a dog.

You're having an oil millionaire

and I'm having the baby.

When I think of how divine it'll be to

have such a thing as privacy once more...

...I could weep with joy.

This millionaire isn't gonna interfere

with your privacy none?

It won't be the sort of thing

you have in mind.

This man is a gentleman.

He respects me.

What he wants is my companionship.

Having great wealth

sometimes makes people lonely.

A cultivated woman,

a woman of breeding and intelligence...

...can enrich a man's life immeasurably.

I have those things to offer.

And time doesn't take them away.

Physical beauty is passing,

a transitory possession.

But beauty of the mind, richness

of the spirit, tenderness of the heart...

I have all those things... . Aren't taken

away, but grow, increase with the years.

Oh.

Strange that I should be called

a destitute woman...

...when I have all these treasures

locked in my heart.

I think of myself as a very,

very rich woman.

But I have been foolish,

casting my pearls before...

Swine, huh?

Yes. Swine.

And I'm thinking not only of you but

of Mr. Mitchell. He came here tonight.

He dared to come in his work clothes to

repeat slander, vicious stories from you.

I gave him his walking papers.

But then he returned. He returned with

a box of roses to beg my forgiveness.

He implored my forgiveness.

But some things are not forgivable.

Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable!

It is one unforgivable thing,

in my opinion...

...and the one thing

of which I have never...

...never been guilty.

So I said to him, "Thank you.

It was foolish of me to think that

we could adapt ourselves to each other.

Our ways of life are too different,

our backgrounds are incompatible.

So farewell, my friend,

and let there be no hard feelings."

Was this before or after

you got the telegram?

Telegram? What telegram?

- Heh. As a matter of fact, my wire...

- As a matter of fact...

...there wasn't no wire at all.

And there isn't no millionaire.

And Mitch didn't come in here with

roses, because I know where he is.

And there isn't a thing but imagination

and lies and deceit and tricks.

And look at yourself.

Take a look at yourself here,

in a worn-out Mardi Gras outfit.

Rented for 50 cents from some

rag picker with a crazy crown on.

What kind of a queen

do you think you are?

You know that I've been on to you

from the start...

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