San Francisco Page #7

Thanks, Tim.

Now I know you folks

would like me to stay...

but I really have to go.

Really. I'm sorry.

- Of course if you insist, I could stay.

- Will you get out?

- I'm sorry.

- Sorry, Father.

Mary, you haven't changed yet.

Well, Norton.

I just thought I'd come back

and congratulate my fiance.

Your...

I'm sorry, Jack.

Gee, you better get out of that rig, baby.

The gang are waiting

to celebrate your homecoming.

- Where?

- Down home in The Paradise.

They're waiting

to hear you sing San Francisco.

- At The Paradise?

- Yeah.

Wait a minute.

You don't mean to say that you're going

to send her back there now?

Well, sure.

What kind of a chump do you think I am?

I'm going to marry her, ain't I?

Well, what do you want, kid?

Me or this?

- Evening, Father.

- Good evening.

- Great business tonight.

- Tell Mr. Norton I'd like to see him.

Thank you.

- Blackie back here?

- Yeah.

- Where is he?

- Where do you think? In there.

Come in.

Gee, she looks pretty sharp, huh?

She's all right.

Say, Blackie, Father Tim's out there.

He wants to see you.

Well, all right. Bring him back.

Okay.

- You know, you're a funny kid.

- Why?

Why, the way you act, anyone would think

that it wasn't becoming.

- Are you happy?

- Yes. Yes, yes, I'm happy.

That's good.

Blackie, Blackie,

let's set the date for our wedding now...

so we can tell Father Tim

when he comes in.

Yeah, sure. Any time.

Oh, but, look, it's got to be after election.

Really?

Sure, sure, the mob down here know

how I've always kidded that sort of thing.

I can't back down now...

and make a fool of myself

just before election.

It would lose me too many votes.

It means a lot to me

to win this fight, honey.

Not just for putting it over on Burley,

but for the Coast.

You understand?

Yes. Yes, I do. I do understand.

But the first chance I get...

we'll sneak off to Sacramento...

and I'll let you slip the halter on me.

Say, I never thought

I'd be so goofy about anyone.

Come in.

- Hello, Tim.

- Good evening, Father.

What's wrong?

Are you out of your mind?

Why?

Showing Mary like this

to that mob out there.

Like this? What's wrong with her?

What's wrong with her?

Yeah, sure.

What's wrong with my being proud

to show her off?

Blackie, don't you understand

what I'm trying to tell you?

Wait a minute, Tim.

I'm making her queen of the Coast.

You see those posters there?

Five thousand of them will be plastered...

all over San Francisco

by tomorrow morning.

And 10,000 other ones for ashcans

and the front of trolley cars.

I'm not going to let you do this, Blackie.

I don't get you, Tim.

You never butted in on me before.

Well, I am now.

You're not going to exploit this girl.

Come here, Mary.

Will you tell his holiness...

that you made up your own mind

to come back?

I love him, Father.

That isn't love, Mary.

Is that so? Well, it happens to suit me.

It isn't love to let him

drag you down to his level.

Say, wait a minute, Tim.

I'm going to marry her.

Not if I can stop you,

you're not going to marry her.

You can't take a woman in marriage

and then sell her immortal soul.

Immortal soul?

Now, look, I don't go for

that kind of talk, Tim.

Don't believe in that nonsense

and never have.

You better get back to the half-wits

that do.

Blake's on next.

Come on, Mary. Come with me.

Just one minute. I'm running this joint.

You take care of your suckers.

I'll take care of mine.

She's not going out there.

I've listened to this psalm-singing blather

of yours for years and never squawked.

You can't bring it in here. This is my joint!

Miss Blake. Miss Mary Blake.

She's not going out there.

The place is crazy without you.

Get out there, kid.

Wait a minute.

You leave now,

and you're never coming back.

Hey, Blackie. Hey, Blackie, it's Burley.

He's giving the joint the works.

- I told you, you can't buck a guy like...

- Shut up.

Blackie, come on. Take a gander at this

thing, will you? Look at it. Come on.

Hey, Blackie, break it up!

Look what they're doing to our joint.

You see what they're doing, Blackie?

- Good afternoon, Mr. Burley.

- Good afternoon, Allen.

- Mrs. Burley in?

- Yes, sir. She's in the small salon.

- What do you think of our little shack?

- But it's magnificent.

We really only have one real treasure.

She's waiting to meet you.

You needn't sneak up on me.

I know you're there.

Mary.

This is my mother.

- How do you do, my dear?

- How do you do, Mrs. Burley?

Well, Maisie,

have you been in the house all day?

Oh, sure, I just got back from the races.

Why, you're even prettier close to

than you were from me box at the Tivoli.

- So are you, Mrs. Burley.

- Go on with you. Get out.

- Get out? Me?

- Certainly you.

If I have to sell this amazing,

beautiful creature...

the idea of joining the Burley family...

sure I got to tell her lies about us that,

heaven help me...

no son should hear his mother speak.

Will you call me

as soon as you've made the sale?

Get out! Get out!

- Sit down, my dear. Take off your coat.

- Thank you.

Now tell me,

why won't you marry my boy?

Mrs. Burley, you belong to the aristocracy

of San Francisco.

I'm just the daughter of a country parson.

I haven't had the advantage

Jack deserves in a wife.

Wait a minute, darling.

I didn't mean what I said just now

about telling lies.

You and I are gonna speak the truth

to each other.

I think I know what it's all about.

It's that rapscallion, Blackie Norton,

you were working for...

down on Pacific Street.

Now listen, Mary.

I'm an old lady,

and I've been through a lot in my life.

I came to San Francisco

in the winter of '51...

in a sailing vessel around the Horn.

When I got here,

there were 150 males to one female.

And if I do say it, I shouldn't,

I wasn't so hard to look at.

I started business in a shack

near Portsmouth Square doing washing.

Do you know

how long me business lasted?

No.

About 45 minutes.

They busted me tub to smithereens,

and there was a free-for-all fight...

between five of the big swells of the town

to see which one would take me to lunch.

So, you see, I got to know men.

I knew all kinds in them early days...

and among them was a man

like Blackie Norton.

He was a selfish and sinful...

and adorable scoundrel.

So, you see,

I've had my Blackie Norton, too.

And you gave him up?

Yes, yes, I gave him up.

Because he was killing me soul.

Killing your soul?

And I pulled myself together,

and one day I married Burley.

Burley was a good, solid man.

He never got used to wearing his coat

till the day he died.

But he built me this mansion...

and every cuspidor of the place

was 18-carat gold.

And there came a time

when I was glad I married him...

because he loved me.

After a while, Jack was born,

and I had me peace.

Look, Mary, you say

we're the aristocracy of San Francisco.

We are.

Listen.

Come here, Mary.

Listen to that.

That's the McDonough mansion.

Aristocrats.

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