Imitation of Life Page #6

No.

Peola, won't you be

a good child

like you can be, darling,

and do something

for your mammy?

Don't say "mammy"!

Look here, baby,

you go down South...

to one of them

high-toned colleges where

only the high-toned goes.

Wouldn't you do that for me,

honey?

A Negro school?

Ain't nothing to be

ashamed of, daughter dear.

Meet your cross

halfway.

It won't be

near so heavy.

Go amongst your own.

Quit battlin'!

Your little head's sore

now from buttin'

against stone walls.

Open up and say,

"Lord, I bows my head."

He made you black,

honey.

Don't be tellin' him

his business.

Accept it, honey.

Do that for your mammy,

your mother, dear.

[Crying]

Oh, my baby.

## [Humming A Hymn]

## [Whistling]

You back again?

Hello, Elmer.

Not staying for dinner?

No. Do you realize

what you're doing?

Don't you know you're spoiling

one of the best

businesswomen in New York?

Me?

And ruining

a great business?

Oh, Elmer,

you overrate my powers.

Ever since the night

I introduced you here,

what's it been?

Paradise.

Yeah.

Not for the stockholders.

You're overly sensitive

about them.

Stockholders don't expect

anything anymore.

They've been trained not to.

In the name of

the National Recovery Act,

will you let her have

a day free...

so we can get some

office work done

at the office?

Is that the only reason

you want me

to leave her alone?

You'd make

a great undertaker.

[Chuckling]

My, Miss Bea,

you sure do look beautiful!

Thank you, Delilah.

Do you like my dress?

Mmm!

It ain't your dress.

It's more than that.

It's in your eyes

and your cheeks.

It's come to you, Miss Bea.

What's come?

Has he gotten

very far yet?

Delilah, you're

a matchmaker at heart.

There's Mr. Archer now.

Miss Bea, when you sits

on the sofa,

sit to this end, thisaway,

not to that end, thataway.

What are you

talking about?

I's done put

my bestest rabbit foot

underneath the pillow.

[Bea Laughing]

Hello, Stephen.

What are you laughing at?

Tell me so I can laugh too.

I wouldn't dare now.

Perhaps later.

It's a century

since I saw you last.

Four hours.

Look at your lovely flowers.

It's so nice of you to send

them to me every day.

[Boat Whistle Blows]

Bea, down the river there,

you can't see it

because it's beyond the bend,

my boat is waiting.

In 10 days, you can

be drifting in a tropic sea...

under a night sky

of the most unbelievable blue.

All full of stars

that burn warmly.

And so close, you can almost

take them in your hands.

I know it sounds too poetic,

but so help me it's true!

[Boat Whistle Blows]

You'd glide past

mysterious little islands,

black and silent.

And in the water

under your feet,

you'd see sudden shining streaks

of phosphorescence

like shooting stars.

Flying fish.

And on the shore breeze,

there'd come to you...

the perfume of warm lands:

Hyacinth, jasmine.

And there isn't a sound.

It's all silent.

All my life,

I've never known silence.

There are seven telephones

on my desk.

I hear them ringing

even in my sleep.

Down there

we don't have telephones...

or conferences

or stockholders' meetings.

The only businessmen

are the sharks.

They're the collectors.

Only they don't collect,

they just glide by.

It sounds

like paradise.

It is paradise.

It could be if...

Bea, I haven't made a mistake

about you, have I?

You do like me?

Like you?

Uh-uh.

I love you, Stephen.

Oh, Bea!

I've loved you

from the first minute when

I looked out the window...

and you were having

such an awful time

with the doorbell.

Darling!

Let's not wait very long.

Let's be married soon.

Whenever you like.

Oh, my dear!

Before you know it,

we'll be on the bridge

of my boat sailing down the bay.

Destination?

Wherever we feel like going.

With you, anywhere!

Um.

Oh, I forgot.

What?

There's Jessie.

What aboutJessie?

She'll be home in a few days

for her vacation.

Well?

Stephen, will you

do something for me?

Of course! Anything.

Let's keep it a secret

for a while.

Let's not tellJessie

anything about you and me,

not at first.

Whatever you say.

I want her to know you

and like you before

she finds out about us.

You see, Jessie and I,

we've always been together,

just the two of us.

Don't you worry.

Just leaveJessie to me.

I'll be so nice to her

that by the time we're ready

to break the news,

she'll be begging you

to marry me.

I'm sure she will.

Hello, Jarvis.

How do you do, sir?

Miss Pullman

is in the drawing room.

Yeah?

Hello!

Hello.

Oh, I beg your pardon.

I thought Mrs. Pullman was here.

I'm Jessie Pullman.

Won't you come in?

But... But it...

What?

But you're supposed to be

just a little girl.

But I'm not! I'm grown up.

Look.

Oh, that's an old picture.

Mother will keep it out.

I'm going to have

some new ones made.

I am Stephen Archer.

I'm a friend

of your mother's.

Do sit down.

Mother should be here any minute.

She wasn't expecting me

until tomorrow.

So I understood.

How long's your vacation

to be?

Oh, you know

it's a vacation?

I know a lot about you,

except how big you are.

There you fooled me.

I love vacations.

This one's

only two weeks.

But I expect to squeeze

every minute out of it.

I couldn't get home fast enough

to be with Mother.

There's your mother now.

Mother.!

Darling!

Darling!

Mother!

Mmm! When did

you get here?

About 3:
00.

Why didn't you

let me know?

[Jessie] I wanted to surprise you.

I had a chance to motor down

with Janie Prentice.

I thought you wouldn't

be through with your exams

until today.

I was supposed to take one

in algebra this morning, but

I would have flunked anyway,

so I didn't see any reason

for staying.

If it's algebra, I don't care.

But don't tell me

you failed in anything else?

Oh, no, I was

a very bright child.

Passed in everything else.

Mother, could I change

from English composition

to dramatics next term?

Yes, darling.

Let me look at you!

Good heavens!

How you've grown!

[Jessie] I'll say.

None of my clothes

fit me anymore.

Going to have

to have some new ones.

Oh, I can't bear it.

My little girl's

grown up.

It's too dreadful.

Mother, may I go

to your dressmaker this time?

I feel so silly

in these simple things.

We'll see.

And I need a new riding habit

for the horse show. You're

coming up for it, aren't you?

I don't know.

I'll try. You...

Oh, Stephen,

I'm so sorry.

This is my daughter.

We're old friends.

Mr. Archer and I

have been talking.

Oh!

He's an ichthyologist.

Do you know

what that is?

Why, Mother,

what do you think

I go to school for?

Oh, I beg

your pardon!

I'm dying for my tea.

Will you tellJarvis?

Of course.

- Did you see Delilah?

- Yes, I've seen everyone.

Isn't she sweet?

Her mother

all over again.

Oh.

It seems I can't do

without you even

for a little while.

Even for the few minutes

I do go to the office.

Mmm, sweet.

Oh, Stephen,

isn't she big?

[Laughing]

She's tall,

but she's just a baby.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes