BUtterfield 8 Page #6

---

So two days, or should I say,

two nights later...

...she was in, butt solid.

Yeah, with the director,

with his cousin...

She was so busy being in solid with

every Tom, Dick, Harry and George...

...she wouldn't recognize a producer

if one was under her pillow.

Do you take sugar?

So now time passes,

and our heroine is very big.

Yeah, but not in the theater.

No, in all the wrong places.

In 500 little black books...

...28 divorce cases...

...two police blotters and one

restraining sheet in Bellevue's ward.

Are you sure?

Yeah, she hit it big.

From a size 12 dress to a size 44.

She went from looking

like an orchid...

...to a face like a pan of worms.

And all because...

...she said, "With only a rag,

a bone, a hank of hair...

...I will move the world my way!"

What's the matter? I'm boring you?

You live it up.

You kick up your heels.

You grab everything you can get.

"You light the candle from one end

to the other," like they say.

And then one day, you too can be...

...the proud proprietor...

...of a very heavily mortgaged,

roadside brothel...

...and wish you were dead.

Good morning, darling.

- What time did you get in last night?

- Late.

Did the private detective have any...?

Detective?

- The man you'll see about the coat.

- Oh, him.

He was on a job.

I'm gonna see him again today.

I've seen you drink...

...many times, but never

in the morning like this.

Don't worry, Emily.

It's not alcoholism.

It's just a kind of medicine.

Why don't you go back to bed?

I can't.

I have to go and look

for your fur coat.

Why do you feel so responsible?

- It disappeared while I was here.

- No one's blaming you.

- That's not the point.

- What is?

I could tell you things about

people, but never mind.

You have enough problems of your own.

- Is there anything I can do?

- Yes.

When I come back with that coat, which

I will, I want you to throw me out.

- Hi, Mama.

- Hello, darling.

That looks pretty.

- You might like it for your bathroom.

- I would.

I'm sorry I didn't

come home last night.

That's all right.

I spent the night in a motel.

Alone.

I had some thinking to do.

I saw a woman.

Utterly proper,

utterly conventional...

...utterly beautiful.

You're beautiful too, dear.

I have a face.

- That's not the kind of beauty I mean.

- What kind of beauty?

The kind that comes

from self-respect, I guess.

It shines.

I've seen that kind.

It takes a lifetime to find.

I'm going to find it.

I think you will.

Butterfield 8 called.

Any messages?

Mr. Liggett says he has to see you.

It's a matter of life and death.

Did he say when or where?

I've written it down.

So you did take it.

Yes. And I'm sorry, Liggett.

May I sit down?

That's up to you, honey.

- Would you care to order something?

- No, the lady's not going to order.

Why did you bother to bring it back?

Because it isn't mine.

Because you're scared, you mean.

Because you know I'm not an ordinary

Joe on your sleigh ride.

Because you know, while I might

have given you the world...

...I'd tear your head off if you

stole as much as a nickel from me.

Isn't that it?

No.

So you pick up the man

when you want...

...and drop him like a bomb...

...when you want.

Get lost! We're talking!

People don't mean anything to you,

do they?

The way they feel in here.

Not down where you live.

I care about some people.

For an hour...

...or a day or a week.

Till you've had your kicks.

Then you slither off to the next one.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

There isn't gonna be any tomorrow.

And for once,

somebody's going to drop you.

Go ahead, try that heel trick again.

The one that gets the boys hot.

And I'll rip this arm right out!

- May I say something?

- Sure...

...honey, babe, dollface, kid.

Say something sexy!

Something that always got the boys

headed for the motel.

You can't have everything in life.

Be grateful for the few things you do

get, no matter where they come from.

The pornographic...

...philosopher!

Now, you just sit there

like a good tramp should...

...until I get out of your sight.

I can't stomach being seen

in public with you.

Liggett.

And don't you dare

mention my name again!

You're a dirty joke, from one

end of this town to the other!

- That will be enough of that.

- Mind your own business!

- Now, look.

- Take it easy.

There's other women in this place,

including my wife.

Hey! Take it easy, pal! Come on!

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I just must have

gone berserk, I guess.

He's gonna be all right.

I'm awfully sorry, miss.

Can I help you?

Mr. Liggett!

- Good heavens, what happened?

- Get away.

Liggett?

For a lousy fur coat, you'd do this?

You want me to give this back

to my wife after you touched it?

Leave me alone.

Do you want a doctor?

Yes, and tell him to make me

unconscious before I can think.

Who is it?

Who is it?

It's me.

Can I get you anything?

Ask me about the coat, Steve.

Ask me.

I see you still have it.

Because it's mine.

Every skin.

Every thread.

Every hair...

...is mine.

And do you know why?

Why?

Because I earned it.

Pretty good pay for one week.

$ 1000 in fur a day.

You and Liggett couldn't make it?

That isn't the important thing now.

The important thing is, Steve...

...I took money.

- Do you know what that makes me?

- Baby, don't.

Let me cry.

Let me cry!

Like all the times I should have...

...and never could.

I have to tell you something.

- I know all about you, Gloria.

- You don't know this.

Nobody knows this...

...except a certain man somewhere...

...who I'd like to think of as standing

in a lake filled with burning gasoline.

Please, listen.

I was 13.

My father was dead.

All older men seemed

like fathers to me.

But I wanted one of my own...

...to sit in his lap...

...to hug him...

...and have him say I was beautiful.

Do you remember Major Hartley?

I remember him.

Major Hartley.

My mother's friend.

He came down to Grand Central Station

one day to pick me up from camp.

Mother was away visiting.

He took me home.

He let me sit on his lap.

He let me hug him.

He told me I was beautiful.

He stayed in that house

for one week...

...and taught me more about evil than

any 13-year-old girl in the world knew.

Don't.

You haven't heard the worst of it yet!

I loved it!

Every awful moment of it, I loved!

That's your Gloria, Steve!

That's your darling Gloria!

I made a way of life out of it.

The deep shame of it didn't

hit me until it was too late.

I couldn't go back to 13 again.

I had one chance to stop it.

One last chance.

And I...

...I threw it...

...all away for 32 animals...

...sewn together in a coat.

It's not all over.

Give it another chance.

Where you going?

- It doesn't matter.

- Wait!

It matters a great deal,

what you do.

You've got to decide

what you're gonna do next.

I do too.

Stay here tonight.

Thank you, Steve.

Anything you need?

There is. A divorce.

There's no call for such remorse

over last night.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes