Escape Me Never

And here we are,

ladies and gentlemen,

in 1900,

standing on the very spot

where Desdemona first met

Othello many centuries ago.

Venice-

Queen of the Adriatic.

Venice- the city of silence.

That cannon,

ladies and gentlemen,

is fired off every day to

indicate the noon hour.

Every day in Venice at noon,

you hear, boom.

In Venice,

there are 177 canals

measuring 28 miles,

and there are 156 bridges

connecting 114 islands.

And there is the great

Church of St. Mark.

The Church of St. Mark

was begun in 830,

but was not finished

until the 15th century.

There are

more than 500 marble columns

in the Church of St. Mark.

The mosaic work covers an

area of 45,970 square feet,

and the interior is completely

produced and decorated...

Are you finished,

Caryl?

Yes. Until 7:
00.

You're a darling

to have waited so long.

I didn't mind.

You know, you must be

made of strawberry ices.

Oh... did you ask Ilanti for

an increase in salary?

Yes. And he said no.

Then you shouldn't

be working here.

Darling, you're a genius.

Oh, please don't say that,

Fenella. I'm not a genius.

If you persist

in thinking I am,

you're going to be

terribly disappointed.

Photographs of the big fair

and party, friends,

celebrating the opening

of the 20th century.

Photograph?

No, thank you.

I've got an idea.

Why don't you give a concert

of your own in a hall?

That's what I want to do,

but that takes money.

Don't you know some rich

person who'd sponsor you?

Even if I did, he mightn't

consider me a good investment.

Oh, silly, you'd be a wonderful investment.

Caryl Dubrok-

The son of the great composer

- Alfred Dubrok.

Why, any sensible sponsor

would jump at the chance.

Grazie mille.

I know.

Professor Heinrich.

Professor Heinrich?

Of course. Why didn't

we think of him before?

Professor Heinrich is

not only your friend.

he was your

father's as well.

I'll ask him to arrange

a concert for you.

He's at home now.

No, I'm sure he wouldn't

consider me talented enough to bother with.

He'd be embarrassed,

and so would I.

Very well. If you

want to be stubborn.

I'm not stubborn.

It's simply a case of-

Then there's only one

thing left for us to do,

and that is

to get married.

Married?

Of course. Papa and

Mama know we're in love.

And our marriage would solve everything.

How?

Don't be silly.

The Maclean money

And the Dubrok genius.

No. No, Fenella.

Caryl...

What, darling?

Don't you want us

to be married?

You know I do, Fenella. More

than anything in the world.

That's why I'm saving my money.

In a year's time, I'll have saved

enough to give a concert in Milan.

Then if I'm a success, we-

Look here, though, I shan't be able to save

anything if we always ride in gondolas.

I mean, wouldn't we get to your

house sooner if we walked?

The canal is so roundabout.

I don't want to get home

sooner, as you put it.

This is Wednesday, you know.

Wednesday?

Yes. That's why I don't

want to go home early.

I don't understand.

Well, I, Fenella Maclean,

am at present residing

in the Neroni Palace

in Venice,

which is a famous

city of Italy.

All of Venice is famous,

and the Neroni Palace

is especially famous.

It's very old and smelly.

It contains on the lower floor

priceless paintings

and frescoes.

The Macleans occupy

quarters on the second floor.

And on Wednesdays,

The public is admitted to the

art treasures of the palace.

Little barbarians.

Giggling females.

Good afternoon,

Herr Heinrich.

Good afternoon.

My dear.

This schoolgirl visitation

gets worse every week.

The place is fairly swarming

with the little wretches.

But it does give the

palace a certain atmosphere.

You must admit that, Ivor.

I don't want atmosphere. I want peace.

Here, darling.

Drink your tea.

And your rehearsals,

Herr Heinrich,

are they going well?

Rather well, yes.

But I miss my own orchestra.

It will be a relief

to get back to London.

Let me go. Let go.

Let me go.

Let me go, or I'll crack

your shins for you.

Let me go.

Giuseppe, who is that young person?

It's a thief, Signor Maclean.

We found her in the

Signorina's bedroom.

A thief, huh?

Bring her in.

Let me alone.

Let me alone.

Giuseppe, you may wait outside.

Oh, stop her. She'll

jump in the canal.

Yes, I will if you don't

let me alone, you ninnies.

Why all the fuss?

I'm no thief.

Then what were you

doing in my daughter's room?

Oh. Was it your daughter's?

She has a lot of

clothes, hasn't she?

Well?

I was hiding.

Hiding? From whom?

The schoolgirls.

Then the teachers began to call roll,

and I had to skip.

You see, I'm not a schoolgirl.

But why did you

join them at all?

To get something to eat.

To eat?

Yes. You see, it's this way.

These school groups visit

the museums and stuffy

old places like this.

Then afterward, they

go to a shop for tea,

and I go along

and eat with them

if they

don't find me out first.

It's a good arrangement.

It works out

very well, generally.

But you mean you've done

this sort of thing before?

I do it all the time.

But that's stealing.

Aha. Someone has been

cheating at solitaire.

There's a red 8 on a red 9.

Cheating a bit

at solitaire is

quite different from stealing, my girl.

Yes, it is. You have

no need to cheat at cards.

But sometimes,

I do have to steal food.

Oh, hello.

So your present costume

was merely put on

for the occasion, right?

You are a clever old

verwandte,aren't you?

What does she mean

- verwandte?

It's difficult to translate,

fortunately.

Young woman, I shall call the police

unless you confine yourself to English

and sensible English at that.

If you call the police,

I shall tell them

you cheat at solitaire.

Now, then, what is your name?

Gemma.

Gemma what?

Gemma Smith.

You don't like Smith? Then

my name is Gemma Porloniovsky.

However, it's really Smith.

But you're English.

I was born of an English

father and a Hungarian mother

on a Dutch ship on the high seas.

But as soon as

we made port, they put my father in prison.

For fathering you?

No. For killing a man.

What?

Yes.

And later on, my mother

committed suicide.

And- and then?

Oh... nothing much. Grew up with

relatives of my mother.

Decided I didn't care

for them and ran away.

But how did you get to Venice?

On a wine cart from Padua.

But the driver wasn't a nice man.

And as soon as we came

to the edge of the city,

he kicked me off.

And in Venice, what did you do?

I went to a hospital,

a free one.

Oh, were you ill?

No. No, I felt fine.

But I was having a baby.

Perhaps you would like

me to tell you about it.

Thank you. We shan't go into that.

Oh, but the baby is wonderful.

I call him Piccolo

because he is so little.

This, uh, child, did it

have a father?

What do you think?

Certainly, it did.

The father was my husband...

for a while.

He is dead now.

Oh, dear.

Yes.

Well, that's about all.

Venice... my baby,

me discharged from the hospital

with no strength in my bones

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes