People Will Talk Page #7

Don't you see? If I do love you,

then how could I have been in love with him?

And if I didn't love him,

then why...

And anyway, even if I did,

why did I have to go and tell you about it?

- Are you crying again?

- No, but I wanna run away again.

No. No more

running away.

You were right about your father.

I couldn't have told him.

He'd have understood,

but I couldn't have told him.

Certainly you couldn't have.

Now you tell me something.

Why did you come here?

What do you mean?

It couldn't have been

to talk to my father.

Well, as a matter of fact...

Because if it was,

what about?

There wasn't anything

to tell him really, was there?

- Well, no, not really...

- A superficial flesh wound like mine...

you weren't worried

about my condition, were you?

- Of course not. I...

- Going to all the trouble of finding me...

searching the registrar's

records and whatnot.

- Why did you come all the way out here?

- I don't know, really.

I think you do know.

What's your first name?

I can't go on calling you

Dr. Praetorius.

- Uh, Noah.

- Why did you come after me, Noah?

What you said before about cream being

lighter than milk, that wasn't quite accurate.

- Noah's a cute name.

- My real name is Ludwig.

You see, cream is the oily part of the milk.

It's not actually a separate product.

- I prefer Noah.

- In homogenizing milk, for instance...

the particles of fat

become emulsified.

I do not want to appear unladylike about this,

but I feel silly acting coy...

- So the cream becomes part of

the general body of the milk...

- with you, of all men.

You couldn't have come out here

because you wanted to talk to my father.

And you couldn't have come out

because you were worried about my health.

And there comes a time

when a patient asks a doctor questions.

Why did you come all this way

just to see me, Noah?

- I did have a reason, you know.

- I know.

No, you don't.

But it doesn't seem to matter at the moment.

You're being pompous

again at the moment.

You'd be surprised

how un-pompous.

Then what are you being?

Well, things do have a way of happening,

don't they?

Old Mother Nature.

Old Mother Nature knows best.

- What's UncleJohn up to?

- He's got the radio on full blast.

Something about rustlers. It seems

somebody rustled 15,000 television sets.

Here, use this.

Dropping my things out of the window.

You'd think I was escaping from a reformatory.

There is no reason why we can't just

walk out the front door.

It's more fun this way. When you gonna

break the news to the gentleman farmer?

John? During his favorite

quiz program.

I intend to let him have it

as a personal jackpot.

- He'll be mad.

- I hope so.

I am scared.

Deborah, I thought I was going to have to die

without seeing you safely out of here...

and without telling him off.

- Remember your promise

to come and live with us.

- Of course he will.

Much against everybody's better judgment,

including my own...

I intend to live

very happily with you.

- I'm still scared.

- There's nothing thatJohn

can do to either of us.

- She's not scared ofJohn. She's scared of me.

- Pompous know-it-all!

It just so happens that what I'm afraid of

is you don't really wanna marry me...

and that I won't make you

a good enough wife.

In the first place, I'm not in the habit of

marrying women I don't really want to marry.

- His first name isn't Noah. It's Ludwig.

- And in the second place...

the woman has yet to be born

who doesn't in her heart believe...

she'll make her husband a much better wife

than he has any possible right to expect.

I just don't want to

get married tonight.

I don't want a long engagement,

but can't I even have one day?

We'll be married in New York.

That takes three days, all right?

It's just so I can feel

more feminine about it.

I must say, you're the only man

I ever heard of...

who acts exactly like some poor girl

that has to get married.

I imagine that as a man I've come

as close to it as any other man who ever lived.

Come in.

- I got it, Professor.

- Sergeant Coonan.

I got your man.

- Excellent.

- Is that the same Shunderson?

- Very probably.

- Could you identify him from this?

- Almost positively.

- You gotta do better than "very" and "almost".

My dear man, this newspaper

appeared in 1917.

The photograph is

34 years old, at least.

The identification may not be entirely positive,

but it satisfies me.

We gotta be sure.

Get me a new picture of this character.

There are none

that I know of.

Mr. Shunderson has always manifested

a violent aversion to being photographed...

even to snapshots by students.

- Want me to handle it?

- Please.

Okay. Comes tomorrow,

we slap a tail on this monkey.

Mr. Coonan, I have spoken

to you about this before.

I must be able

to understand you.

Oh. What I mean is starting tomorrow

we'll have him followed.

Unhappily, it'll have

to wait until Monday.

Dr. Praetorius is undermining

a medical convention in New York

and will not return until then.

- Monday it is.

- Good luck to you.

- May I be of service to you, madam?

- Yes, you may.

I want to buy an electric train outfit...

very fancy and very elaborate.

- It's for a birthday.

- I'm sure we can find something nice.

- May I ask how old is the boy?

- He'll be 42 tomorrow.

Mr. Shunderson.

- Is anything the matter?

- No. I... I thought I saw a friend.

- Well, if you'd like...

- No, it doesn't matter.

Then would you help me

with the trains?

- We've got more equipment

than the Union Pacific.

- Sure.

- Good night, Dr. Praetorius.

- Good night.

- Good night, Doctor.

- Good night.

I think you should know,

someone took my picture today.

- Give me one to wear

in a locket around my neck.

- It wasn't that kind.

- He ran away after he took it.

- I see.

- Perhaps it would be better if I went away too.

- No.

You've made a great career.

You have a home now, a wife, responsibilities.

No!

Want me to answer, Mrs. Praetorius?

Don't bother, Anna. Mr. Shunderson's

somewhere out front. He'll get it.

- Professor Elwell from the university.

- At this time of day? What about?

He's come to see Dr. Praetorius

on very urgent business. Shall I call him?

Certainly not.

Dr. Praetorius is not to be disturbed.

I'll talk to Professor Elwell.

Good evening, Professor Elwell.

Mrs. Praetorius?

This is indeed an honor.

I'd heard, of course,

of Dr. Praetorius's marriage...

but until now I had

no knowledge of the extent...

to which he was to be complimented

upon his exquisite taste.

Thank you. How sweet of you to come

all this way just to say those nice things.

- Won't you sit down?

- Thank you, no. My business

is with Dr. Praetorius...

a most urgent

and confidential matter.

And I have no wish to intrude for long

upon what seems to be a festive occasion.

- His birthday.

- So, these must be happy days

indeed for your husband.

Unfortunately, they're busy days too.

And at the moment,

he's in a very important conference.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes