Deception

[RAIN PATTERING]...

...[BELL TOLLING]...

...[ORCHESTRA PLAYING]...

...[CELLO PLAYING]...

...[ORCHESTRA PLAYING]...

...[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]...

Congratulations, Mr. Novak.

- Would you autograph my program?

Surely.

- Are there any recordings of your playing?

I made in Europe years ago but I'm

afraid they weren't sold over here.

Have you ever been in America before?

- No, never.

When did you arrive?

- Four weeks ago.

only four weeks?

- Were you in Europe?

Yes.

- May I ask...

...what were your impressions of the war?

Well, it's over, isn't it?

Yes, but...

- Just a moment, please.

I'm Terry Spencer, music

editor of our Bugle.

I've been studying four years and

I'd like to ask you a question.

Were the cadenzas in the

Haydn 'Concerto' your own?

Partly, yes.

- oh.

very effective. And most interesting.

You're most kind.

Mr. Novak, which of the living

composers do you think I ought to admire?

Yes.

- Well, there is no greatest...

...among the really great.

Whom do you like best?

- Hollenius?

Shostakovich?

- Well, let me see.

Stravinsky, when I think of the present.

Richard Strauss, when I think of the past.

And of course, Hollenius...

...who combines the rhythm of

today with the melody of yesterday.

oh, thank you, sir. The Bugle will

be very impressed with your opinion.

[BUZZER SOUNDS]...

We'll miss the symphony.

- I'm glad to have seen you.

Goodbye, Mr. Novak.

- Thank you, sir.

From now on, you're my cellist.

[ORCHESTRA PLAYING]

MAN 1:
Quiet, please. MAN 2:

Mr. Novak, I hope you play again.

oh, I know. It's so good.

Shh. Quiet, please.

I thought you were dead.

[CRYING] oh.

I thought they'd killed you.

I saw you being killed, lying there.

Darling.

Karel...

...can it be true you're here?

We're together.

Make myself...

...look decent.

You're the same, Schatzi.

Schatzi.

oh, it's been so long since I've heard that.

What?

Something I was afraid to see.

Ah.

No rings.

You still play, still compose?

Don't let's talk here. Where do you live?

I've a room on West 94th Street but it's...

Come to my place.

[BAND PLAYING]...

...[WHISTLE BLOWS]

MAN:
Extra.

Extra. Extra.

Extra.

Extra.

Extra. Extra.

People don't do this in New York.

What don't they do?

This.

But we do.

Did you get my letters I

wrote and wrote and wrote?

Just two in 1940.

Then none.

Well, here we are.

Do people live here?

- on top. Artists. People like us.

This light is never on.

Has it been very hard for you?

oh, it was at first.

Music students just back from Europe

were hardly in overwhelming demand.

I was afraid of that when you left.

oh, I had jobs. You know,

things that get you by.

I didn't mind except the

being away from my music.

But you got back to it.

Yes.

- And you're succeeding?

Musically I am but financially...

Not so good?

- Mm.

I'd do better cooking, if I

could cook as well as I play.

But, darling...

...come in.

I can't carry you over.

[CHUCKLES]

Give me your hat.

No, no, hang it up yourself.

You're home now.

This is where we put our things.

Now, which side?

This side or that side?

This side.

And not one inch over.

I want you to say how you like everything.

Tomorrow I'll get you a tremendous,

great cup for your coffee.

Now, let's see.

Which chair for your special chair?

This one, it's the biggest. Sit down.

Let me get you some slippers.

You look tired, dearest.

You've had a long day.

oh, darling, a long, long day.

And I could have missed seeing it so easily.

So easily.

- Seeing what?

The advertisement.

I was eating tonight and they

gave me a copy of the Town Crier.

There was a column of

those college programs...

...and I was glancing down it, not reading,

you know, and I turned the page over.

I sat there, I realized something shattering

had happened, I couldn't think what it was.

I kept seeing the letters

of your name in print.

I realized it might have been on the

page I turned over, it couldn't have been.

It must have been some other name like it...

...and I sat there afraid to turn

the page back, just looking at it...

...well, and then l...

Good heavens, I never paid my check.

I walked right out of that

place and never paid for it.

[BOTH LAUGH]...

...oh, if only one know in advance

that a miracle was going to happen.

I tried everything to find

you as soon as I landed.

I looked in the phone book, the directory...

...oh, but, darling, I

took a professional name.

I'm Christine Radcliffe now.

- Radcliffe?

Mm-hm.

You know, sometimes it was

nice to not feel like myself.

We might never have found each other.

And all the time you've been here,

playing in those little colleges.

Well, and lucky to get the chance.

After all, I'm not known here.

But what does it matter? To

play, that's the great thing.

Sooner or later the

right people will hear me.

[PIANO PLAYING]

Even if I don't earn much at

first, we can be happy, you and I.

Darling, there is something I must tell you.

Yes?

- And I hope you won't misunderstand.

Music's different in America, Karel.

They care about it here deeply.

But like everything else it

must be done in a big way.

over there you can play in some hole

or corner and people will find you.

But here, if you start in some

school or suburban concert hall...

...oh, it's much too difficult.

It takes too long.

I know.

And you have had such a bad time.

But no more. After all, I know people.

I shall make them hear you and when they

do, you shall be where you should be.

You'll have everything.

oh, Karel, it's so painful to be so happy.

[CLOCK CHIMING]

Tell me, what do you want

when we are very rich?

I don't know.

A place in the mountains, perhaps.

oh, you want a mountain. How big?

You know, you said I always

made them out of molehills.

[CHUCKLES]

To go out on skis for days and days.

With nothing to shut you in.

If I could do that.

What else?

That and you.

I go without saying.

Except I like to say it.

This way.

I'm yours, aren't I?

If it isn't too good to be true.

oh.

of course, if you... If

you need to be convinced...

...if you want everything

signed and sealed, we could...

Don't you think we could be married?

At once.

The first day we can.

Is there any objection?

Well, don't you think we really ought

to get to know each other all over again?

How do you do, Mr. Novak?

Darling, how stupid of me.

You must be famished. I should

have thought of it sooner.

I'll get some coffee and sandwiches.

The bread's none too fresh, shall I toast it?

I had some smoked turkey.

Well, I guess the cleaning

woman had it for her lunch.

oh, here's some pt.

Chock-full of vitamins. Just what you need.

[DISHES CLINKING]

Schatzi.

CHRISTINE:
Yes?

This place? Is it...?

Is it lent to you?

Lent? oh, no, it's mine.

I mean, it's ours now, darling.

But...

...it must cost a great deal.

Not so much.

I got it on a long lease

when things were still cheap.

Schatzi.

Come here.

Yes, Karel.

This isn't a place of an artist...

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