Pride of the Marines Page #10

Dear heavenly father,

he's got to come home

where he belongs.

He's got to know

he's wanted.

Lee:
It was gonna be

the biggest production we ever had,

and...

don't you gentlemen want to get some sleep?

How about it, al?

I'm not sleepy.

Well, call me

when you want me.

Thanks anyway.

So, like i was

saying...

everything was going

along all right

until our

high school teacher hands me the girdle,

and she says,

"put this on. "

I took one look

at that belly choker and i hit the roof.

I says,

"look, miss tuttle,

"i am willin'

to be the dame in this play,

"i am willing to wear

the blonde wig.

"I'm willing

to wear the dress with the phony fronts.

But a girdle

stops me cold. "

Nobody was gonna

get me to crawl into that booby trap.

So she gives me

a pep talk

about how

if i don't wear the girdle,

i'll have nothing

to hold up my stockings.

You know how

them girdles are.

They got

long tentacles

hanging down

all around them.

And by this time

i'm burnin', i'm really steamed up.

And i says,

"look, miss tuttle, i won't do it. "

She says,

"you will. "

And i says,

"i won't!"

So i put on

the girdle.

Well, it was

about this big...

junior miss size.

I wrestled

with that thing for a solid hour.

I was on a chair.

I was on a table.

I was on a floor.

You've gotta get leverage.

I pulled it,

i yanked it, i jerked it,

then, by some

supernatural miracle, i got it on.

It was like sitting

in a tight foxhole.

Why do women insist

on wearin' them things?

Believe me, al,

if i was a dame,

i'd settle

for the spread.

You don't have

to entertain me, lee.

Where are we?

Still crossing

ohio, i guess.

What time is it?

Uh, 5 to 3:
00.

Wanna go to bed? I'll call a porter.

Aw, i feel kinda jumpy.

You don't have to sit up with me, lee.

Oh, i'm not sleepy.

How about

some dominoes?

Ruth:
I'm

the sticking kind, al.

Al:
Don't change

that sweet face of yours,

ruth:

Suppose the japs shoot you?

Me? What have

they got against me?

I'm the best little ducker

in the world.

Ruth:
I'm the

sticking kind, al.

I wanna see

that sweet face when i come back.

Why'd you

join up, al?

I wanna see...

why'd you join?

I wanna see.

Why'd you join?

I wanna see!

I wanna see!

What's the sense

of seeing ruth just to break up with her?

It was a crazy idea

i had.

Won't do her any good,

won't do me any good.

We're finished.

There's no point in having

a wake over the corpse.

I don't want her

to come to the station.

I don't want

to see her at all.

You send

a telegram for me. Tell her not to come.

That's not fair,

schmiddy.

She's probably

planned a christmas celebration.

You're going

to see her.

Lee, don't make me

fight you.

You and me, we don't

have to be polite with each other.

What have i got

to celebrate?

What does "welcome home"

mean to a blind man?

Maybe more

than to anyone else

if he doesn't hide it

from himself.

Cut the guff.

You're not talking me

into anything.

Al, i want to tell

you something.

You gonna

write that wire?

I'll write

the wire,

but first i want

to get something off my chest,

from me to you

without etiquette, too.

Al, back there

on the 'canal,

i thought something

about you i never told you before.

It was after

you got the grenade in your face.

Towards morning,

it was,

when we thought

the japs were coming in on us.

You remember

what you did?

You pulled your. 45,

and i thought you meant

to kill yourself.

But you kept

yelling out,

"tell me when

they come in, lee, i can't see 'em,

but tell me

where they are, and i'll shoot 'em. "

Well, i was

scared to death

and layin' on

the ground waitin' for a jap bayonet.

But i kept

thinking something.

I thought,

"that boy schmiddy

has more guts

than any man alive. "

I was wrong, al.

I think

you were hopped up by excitement,

like you'd taken

a shot or something.

I don't think

you got any guts, al.

I think you're

kind of yellow.

You haven't got

guts to see ruth.

Shut up, shut up!

You haven't got guts

to pay off on a bet!

You didn't enlist

in the marine corps

because you had any

sense in your head.

You didn't care about

this was the u. s. a. And you lived in it.

You didn't know

what the war was about, and you didn't care.

You're a hopped-up kid

lookin' for excitement...

that's a lie,

and you're a stinkin' liar.

You're saying

those things

'cause you know

i can't crack you in your lyin' face.

Ok...

then ask yourself a question.

Would you do it

over again?

If you knew you was

gonna be blind,

would you do it

over again?

Or would you ask

for shore duty, maybe?

Al, look.

In a war,

somebody gets it, and you're it.

Don't you think

i'd crawl

on my hands and

knees to a doctor

if he could take an

eye out of my head

and put it

into yours?

But he can't, al,

he can't.

Believe me,

you ain't been a sucker.

There ain't a guy

who's been killed or disabled

in this war

who's been a sucker.

I know it's

a stinkin' war, but it has to be won.

And you're

one of the guys

who lost some chips

in the winning.

Everybody's

got problems.

I know you're

in a tough spot,

but it ain't

peaches and cream for everybody else.

What problems

have you got? You're in one piece, ain't you?

Your wife don't have

to turn over in her insides when she sees you.

When you go for a job,

there ain't nobody gonna say,

"we got no use

for ex-heroes like you. "

That's what

you think.

Sure, there'll be

guys who won't hire you,

even when

they know you can handle a job.

But there's guys

that won't hire me

because

my name is diamond instead of jones,

'cause

i celebrate passover instead of easter.

Do you see

what i mean?

You and me,

we need the same kind of a world.

We need a country

to live in

where nobody

gets booted around for any reason.

Aw, i'm all mixed up...

mixed up and scared.

Draggin' at the heels

and yellow.

Oh, no, no,

I... i wasn't telling the truth before.

You're not yellow.

Aw, you're

a swell guy.

You're a pure sort

of a guy if i ever saw one, but...

don't leave

all your guts back on the 'canal.

You need 'em

now, too.

That girl

loves you, al.

You two

can make out.

She's the real goods.

Ok, lee.

But now

we send that wire.

Didn't what i said

mean anything to you?

Yeah.

It means

send that wire.

It's good we're late.

Ruth got that wire, then.

Yeah.

It's too bad we can't

get those navy crosses together.

We won 'em together;

we oughta collect 'em together.

Say, al...

you hold any hard

feelings about what i said last night?

Nah, forget it.

Say, you don't have

to come to the hospital with me.

Your wife's sittin'

in new york, bitin' her fingernails.

We're late enough

already.

It's all right.

The trains run pretty often.

Well, maybe

there's a navy car waitin' for me.

Or you can just

stick me in a cab.

Well, i'd like

to get you settled.

Come in.

Your bags are

in the vestibule, gentlemen.

Mr. Schmid, i heard

that march of time broadcast

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes