High Anxiety

The captain has turned on

the No Smoking sign.

Please extinguish all smoking materials.

Make sure your seats are

in the upright position...

...and your seatbelts fastened

in preparation for our arrival in LA.

Okay. Bye-bye, now.

Thank you.

Take care. Watch your step, there.

Goodbye.

No!

Harry! I'm so glad to see you!

Sir?

Just a moment, please.

Yes?

Just come with me, please.

- What is this about?

- I'll explain in due time. Just follow me.

- You've obviously made a mistake.

- We can clear this up if you'll follow me.

I hope there's an explanation for all this.

I'm in the dark.

There's no reason why you should...

This way, sir, please.

In the toilet?

I demand an explanation.

How about this?

- Oh, my God!

- Do you find me attractive?

- You're not a cop!

- They wouldn't take me!

Excuse me. I have to run now.

Why? Don't run away

from your feelings! Wait!

Where are you going?

Don't be so gauche. We're all doing it!

What a dramatic airport!

Dr. Thorndyke?

Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke? Hold it!

Who are you?

I'm Brophy. I work at the Institute.

I came to pick you up.

- I'm going to be your driver and sidekick.

- How do you do?

Why the picture-taking?

I love to take pictures.

I'm very photogenic.

I even develop them myself.

I have my own darkroom.

Please hold the camera, Doc.

I'll get the trunk.

Fabulous.

I got it. I got it...

I ain't got it!

I'll get it.

I got it...

I ain't got it.

I got it...

I ain't got it.

- Where's the car?

- Over there.

- Would you mind opening the trunk?

- I'll open the trunk.

I'll save us a little time.

You got it. You got it...

There we go.

Doc, I sure am glad you're

taking over as the new head of the asylum.

We haven't had a real chief

since Dr. Ashley died.

I just hope I do as good a job

as Ashley did.

- He was a brilliant psychiatric innovator.

- Yeah, innovator.

When it was announced that you would

take over, Dr. Montague blew his top.

Between me, you and the steering wheel...

...I guess Montague figured he had the job

tucked away in his back pocket.

If you get my drift.

Is that so?

And then, from out of the blue...

...they go and get you, a professor

from Harvard University. No offense.

None taken.

Boy, I tell you, it was a real shock

to everybody when Ashley died.

The guy was in tiptop shape!

One can never predict a heart attack.

Heart attack? Don't make me laugh.

Brophy, what are you saying?

If you ask me,

I think Dr. Ashley was the victim of...

...foul play.

Foul play? Brophy, your imagination

is getting the best of you.

Let's not forget that you are working

in a psychiatric institution...

...which is conducive to fantasy.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm wrong.

I know I'm right.

Brophy here with the new head shrink.

Well, Doc, here's your new home.

Dr. Thorndyke, I am simply

delighted to meet you in person.

I've read everything you've ever written

on psychiatry.

Your lectures, your monographs,

your books.

I'm absolutely thrilled

that you're taking over the Institute.

Thank you...

- Wentworth, Dr. Philip Wentworth.

- A pleasure.

I've been with the Institute for two years.

I just know that things are going to change

for the better now that you're here.

You see, ever since Dr. Ashley died...

...strange things have been happening here.

Wentworth!

The eminent Dr. Thorndyke.

It's a great day here at the Institute

for the Very, Very Nervous.

May I say that we have been looking

forward with anticipation to your arrival.

Allow me to introduce myself.

I am Dr. Charles Montague.

I was in charge till now.

Allow me to introduce Nurse Diesel,

my right-hand man. Woman.

Dr. Thorndyke. How do you do?

Charlotte Diesel.

I left a complete medical file of everyone

in the Institute in your room.

I'm sure you'll want to rest

before you meet the rest of the staff.

Dinner is served at 8:00

in the private dining room.

Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup.

Excuse me.

Dr. Thorndyke, may I say...

Charles.

Bye.

Do you see what I mean?

I'm trying to tell you...

Wentworth!

Goodbye.

I got it. I got it...

I ain't got it.

Come in.

Thorndyke. My Richard!

Professor Little-old-man!

Lilloman. Lilloman. Nobody gets it right.

Little-old-man, Little-old-man...

Richard!

My best pupil.

My best student which I ever had.

A patient comes to you.

He is suffering from Belden's Hysteria.

He has a seizure right in your office.

What do you give him?

Two cc's of aqueous Thorazine

coupled with one cc of Somadiazine.

Good. And the most important thing?

Never take a personal check.

That's my boy. That's my good pupil.

Professor, it's so good to see you.

Please, sit down. Let's talk.

To sit? Ja.

Richard, I am so proud of you.

So proud, my boy.

Head of your class at Johns Hopkins.

Associate professor at Dartmouth.

Full professor at Harvard.

Winner of the Nobel Prize. And now...

...the head of the most prestigious

psychiatric institute on the West Coast.

I'm sorry, excuse me.

When you get old, you get very emotional.

Oops. I blew too fast.

- Here, Professor, some tissues.

- Danke schn to you.

- Professor?

- Ja?

- I had no idea you were working here.

- Working?

Working is a big word. I'm a consultant.

It's a fancy title for a part-time job.

I come in two hours a day.

I don't bother them. They don't bother me.

Your predecessor, Dr. Ashley, hired me.

It is a shame he died so all of a sudden.

He was going to make

some very big changes around here...

...and then...

Did you see your view outside?

Oh, it is spectacular.

I've been meaning to, but I've been

so busy unpacking I haven't had a chance.

Unpack another time.

Come, Richard, I insist.

You come and see right now!

If you insist.

Come, Richard, this will be

a treat for you. Come, Ja.

Is this not the perfect time

of the day? Look!

- Very nice.

- Come over here. Here you can see better.

- Come.

- lt's beautiful.

Come here to the edge

and you can look down. Look down!

Richard!

My boy, are you all right?

Come back inside, my goodness!

Come over here, sitzen Sie. Goodness me.

Thank you, Professor. I'm sorry.

I don't know what came over me.

I know what came over you.

High Anxiety, you've still got it.

It's probably the excitement and tension

of taking over this new post. I'm...

...sure it will pass.

Bullshit!

These things do not let go.

High Anxiety can be a dangerous enemy.

If left unchecked,

it could cost you your life.

Tomorrow...

First thing tomorrow, we have

our first session of psychoanalysis.

My boy, I have not had you on the couch

for a long time.

My boy, I promise, we will beat this thing.

Goodbye.

But, Professor, it is really nece...

It is "nece." I know what is "nece."

Don't tell me what is "nece."

I tell you what is "nece."

Yes, as I was saying,

it came to my attention that...

...just before Dr. Ashley's untimely death...

...he was planning to make some

very big changes here at the Institute.

Do any of you know specifically

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