Almost Angels

---

:classical music plays!

:boys singing!

:indistinct chattering!

Maybe you can hear the train

entering the station,

bringing the choirboys home to Vienna

after their four-month tour of America.

:cheering!

:boys singing in German!

- Hello, Max.

- Oh, good to see you.

- And you, Herr Director?

- How are the boys? Are they well?

They are fine, all of them.

Don't they sound like it?

:boys continue singing in German!

- Welcome back, Max.

- Freddy. Hi, boys.

- Hello, Peter. Had a good time?

- Yes, thanks, sir.

All ready for school tomorrow, huh?

:chuckles!

Harry, Welcome home.

- Skip,

- l brought him for you.

Thanks.

l wish l could go to America.

How do you get in the choir?

You give an audition.

What's an audition?

You sing for the teachers

and Director Eisinger.

A song, you mean?

Mm. l've got to find my parents.

Hey, l can sing.

You can?

Can l join the choir?

Will you be going on another trip soon?

- l guess so.

- Where to?

l don't know.

Japan, maybe, or Australia.

- Dad, Mother,

- Peter, darling.

Hello, son.

:man! Hey, Toni.

Come on.

A fine thing.

So busy you can't even say hello, huh?

Sorry, Dad. Hello.

Dad, have you ever been to Australia?

Of course not.

Now, listen, Toni,

l've got a big surprise for you.

Guess what?

You're going to drive the train

into the shed.

How about that, huh?

Mom, they're going

to Japan and Australia next.

Oh, are they, dear?

- You always say l sing well, don't you?

- Mm.

Now, Toni, you'll be driving a train

like this yourself one day.

Maybe even bigger. So now's the time

to learn, come on. First lesson.

Pull that.

:whistle blows!

:singing high note!

:plays notes on piano!

:boy sings musical scale!

Very good. All right, you can sit down.

Uh, Felix Meinl, please.

Now, Felix, l want you to sing

a C-major scale, all right?

- Yes, sir.

- Now.

:plays note on piano!

:sings musical scale!

:singing continues!

That's Felix now. Pretty good, eh?

Mm-hm.

- Your boy sung yet?

- No.

- Only two vacancies, you know.

- Only two?

Shh. Listen.

Good.

:continues singing!

Do you hear that?

Clear as a bell.

- How old is your boy?

- He'll be 1 2 in January.

Hm. They like them young, you know.

Felix isn't ten yet.

:sighs!

:sighs!

l wouldn't worry.

lt's the voice that matters.

lt's a nice-looking building, isn't it?

l wish they could live at home, though.

They look after them well.

:boy singing!

That's Friedel now.

Your boy?

Mm-mm. He's an orphan.

Sings in the village choir.

l'm the organist.

Uh-huh.

- He sings well.

- Mm. l taught him everything he knows.

:Friedel yodels!

:woman chuckles!

What's he doing?

:continues yodeling!

:continues yodeling!

:song ends!

That's just what

l told him not to sing.

:chuckling! l like it. lt's fun.

Maybe.

But it won't get him into the choir.

- :
boy singing!

- Shh.

Your boy?

Mm-hm.

:sings musical scale!

Mm-hm. You have a song there,

haven't you?

- Yes, sir.

- Go ahead, then.

:plays song on piano!

:sings classical music

in foreign language!

:singing continues!

:song ends!

- When did this come?

- Yesterday.

- Huh?

- Well, you were tired last night.

Vienna Boys Choir?

Augarten Palace? What's this?

''ln connection with the audition

given by Toni Fiala...''

What audition?

Did he give an audition?

- Yes, he did.

- When?

Last week.

- He sang beautifully.

- Oh, did he?

And may l ask who arranged it?

Well, l did, of course.

l wrote to Herr Eisinger,

the director, and he...

Fixed it all up on your own,

without a word to me.

- Behind my back.

- Well, l had to.

l knew you'd never let him go.

Oh, did you?

Well, you could've asked me.

:scoffs! And what would you have said?

l'd have said no.

What do you think l'd have said?

Ahh.

This all comes of...,

This all comes

of you playing the piano.

- Huh...

- l should have stopped it years ago.

What do you mean, stopped it?

You talk as if music

is something to be ashamed of.

Well, l know what's

good for my son, that's all.

You know,

You don't know anything about him.

Toni's my son, too. Don't forget that.

- And it's me he takes after, not you.

- Oh, does he?

Yes, he does.

Toni was born to sing.

He has real talent,

and l want him to develop it.

And l want him to go to a proper school

and learn a proper trade.

And that is what he's going to do,

:Mrs. Fiala! But this is a proper

school. Don't you understand that?

He'll get a good education,

besides singing in the choir.

:Mr. Fiala! Until his voice breaks.

They'll throw him out.

:Mrs. Fiala! No, they wouldn't.

He could stay.

And how am l supposed

to pay for all this?

You don't pay.

lt won't cost you anything.

- Herr Eisinger told me.

- Don't believe it.

Where do they get the money

to run the place?

:Mrs. Fiala! From their concerts.

All over the world people go

to hear the Vienna Boys Choir.

Toni could travel, see other countries.

Well, he's not going.

Music, singing. Standing up

on a platform in a sailor suit.

l won't have it.

Oh, why can't l make you understand?

Toni loves music.

lt means something to him.

He's different from other boys.

- l don't want him to be different.

- Well, l do.

One day, he'll be famous.

Composing maybe,

or playing in a great orchestra, like...

:Mr. Fiala! Like your brother

with his trumpet.

A dance band in Prater Park on

Saturdays and Sundays, if he's lucky.

Well, that's not

going to happen to Toni.

Dad, please.

l'm late for work.

But, Dad,

To be a Vienna choirboy...

Dad,

There were eight boys there,

and they only wanted two.

And they chose me.

Well, now they can

choose somebody else.

Dad, please, you've got to let me go.

Toni, come on up.

We'll talk about it some more tonight.

lf you think l'll change my mind,

you're wrong.

:sighs!

Come on.

:boys singing in German!

- :
singing stops!

- :
bell ringing!

:indistinct chattering

So if you'll get

the parts together, Joseph?

- l can go to the library now.

- All right. Ah.

- You are Toni, aren't you?

- Yes, sir.

Here's Director Eisinger.

This is Toni Fiala, sir.

Oh, yes, of course.

Good morning, Frau Fiala.

- Good morning, Herr Eisinger.

- Toni.

- This is my husband.

- How do you do, sir?

- Your first visit, of course.

- Yes, it is.

He's quite happy now,

about Toni's coming here.

Good. l'm sure you won't regret it.

He'll be in the choir

under Herr Heller here.

How about his ordinary lessons?

You don't have to worry

about that, Herr Fiala.

- We have first-class teachers.

- He's had proper schooling up to now.

l'm sure he has.

You understand, of course,

he'll be on probation for a month

before we accept him

as a permanent choirboy.

lf he works hard at his music,

shows promise, then he stays.

He'll work hard. Won't you, Toni?

And if he's no good,

you throw him out?

Well, that goes for me, too.

lf he doesn't get on with his schooling,

l'll pull him out.

- Now you remember that, Toni.

- Yes, Dad.

Uh, Peter? Peter.

This is Toni Fiala.

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