South Sea Woman Page #2

- Sergeant o'Hearn.

This is a court of law...

...and we will not tolerate

any more of these outbursts.

Raise your right hand.

Swear that the evidence

you shall give before the court...

...shall be the truth, the whole truth and

nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do.

Please be seated.

Proceed with the witness.

State your name,

address and present occupation.

Ginger Martin.

I live in a motel near oceanside.

The last time I worked...

...I modeled bathing suits

for a wholesale house.

If you recognize the accused,

state as whom.

Jim o'Hearn,

sergeant in the Marine Corps.

Miss Martin,

tell the court the circumstances...

...under which you first met the accused.

I first met him in Shanghai

at a nightspot called the Pink Lotus.

- I was employed there.

- Doing what?

I was a camera girl.

I'd go around asking everybody

if they wanted their picture taken.

- That was all?

- What do you mean?

You had no other means of income?

I was only working

in that waterfront dive...

...so I could earn enough

to get back to the United States.

It was the only job I could get.

And how did you happen

to land in Shanghai to begin with?

I was a showgirl

with an act that got stranded.

- Is there anything wrong with that?

- Not at all.

Go on with your story, please.

Well, it all started

on the day President Roosevelt...

...ordered the last 700 Marines

left in China to evacuate.

That was about two weeks

before Pearl Harbor.

Believe me, when we Americans in Shanghai

found out that he Marines were leaving...

...we knew we were marooned.

I was going through my usual

nightly routine...

... wondering if I was ever

gonna get out of that sinkhole.

It wasn't a very pleasant feeling

knowing I was all alone now.

Everyone was talking

about the possibility of war...

... so goodness knows

how long I'd be stuck in Shanghai.

Well, you can just imagine how surprised

I was to see Davey White come back.

He was a private in the Marine Corps

and a friend of mine.

I'm telling you, I almost swooned...

... me thinking he'd pulled out

with the rest of the Marines.

- Surprise, Ginger.

- Davey, what are you doing here?

The other Marines were

shore-patrolled an hour ago.

- Take it easy, baby. I know.

- But your outfit's breaking barracks.

Plenty of time, baby.

One sake, straight, Benny.

You know that o'Hearn I've been

telling you about, that buddy of mine?

He was taking me to the barracks

and did I duck out.

Slipped his rickshaw boy 2 bucks...

...to tip him over backwards

into a cartload of ducks.

- But you'll miss connections, Davey.

- Not a chance.

I'll hitch on to that crowd of deck heads

when they board the ship later tonight.

Come on over here, baby.

Gingersnap.

Careful, Davey.

What am I gonna do?

Now I'll never get back to the States.

Why, you can't even book passage home

anymore for less than 2000.

Look, I told you not to worry, baby.

Davey's got a chaplain

lined up on Bubbling Well Road.

We get married right away,

and when Davey hits Pearl Harbor...

...he'll fill out application 602B

to have his wife evacuated...

...from a danger zone

at Marine Corps expense.

Simple, huh?

Married?

Oh, Davey, you proposed!

The comforts of life.

That's what Davey's looking forward to.

A martini waiting for him

when he gets home...

...the bedroom slippers,

a gorgeous gal running around in her p.j.'s.

Married. I can't believe it.

Get your coat, baby.

We're breezing out of here.

Where you going?

Oh, well, you see, Mr. Krastow,

I've decided to quit.

- It is not so easy to quit.

- You don't have to pay me.

It is not a question of money.

I told you we would one day

become good friends.

- I'm sorry, Mr. Krastow, but I have...

- Don't be in such a hurry.

Get your hands off her, Fatso.

She hasn't been vaccinated.

Come on, honey. Let's go.

- What are you?

- Take him to the Marine barracks.

- They'll evacuate him.

- No. No, you can't.

Let go of him.

- Sergeant o'Hearn! You remember olga?

- Beat it. I'm looking for a screw-loose.

- Don't you remember me?

- Beat it, I said.

For long time, no come see.

- Cool it, knucklehead. Out the back way.

- Wait. Through the darkroom.

- Quick, down there. Fatso's boat.

- Get moving, jerk head.

When I get through with you, latrine duty

will look like a 10-day shore leave.

- Get in there. Untie that line.

- Jump, baby.

What gives? Get that dame off here.

We're rejoining our outfit.

I'm gonna marry her.

- What?

- Marry her.

Get her off! Off! We got no room

in the Marine Corps for Pink Lotuses.

Hey, that's my boat.

Wait! There's a knot!

Hey, you're stealing my boat.

I guess that's how Sergeant o'Hearn

ended up...

...sinking a saloon.

I presume all hands went down

with the saloon.

Well, no, sir. The last I saw of them,

they were bobbing up and down like corks.

Then, Miss Martin, Sergeant o'Hearn

did not deliberately sink that saloon, did he?

He didn't know it was sunk...

...until we got out

in the middle of the Huangpu river.

Now, Miss Martin, please tell us

what happened aboard the motor boat.

Oh, that.

Getting married, huh?

You see that wharf over there, rock head?

That's where we'll drop off

the little bundle of fluff.

Right around the bend, we board

the good ship President Madison.

Just you and me.

- Sure, sarge, except for one thing.

- What's that, buddy?

You drop me and Ginger off over there.

Near Bubbling Well Road.

Don't tell me you're serious

about marrying her.

You catch on quick, buddy.

How can you dream of hitching onto a frail

you picked up in a honky-tonk?

Please, Ginger and me,

we've been going steady for six weeks.

Seven, if it's any of his business.

Hey, who are you kidding?

How come I didn't know about her?

Because Davey boy has learned

to hide his candy from his big bad brother.

So that's where you've been sneaking off

to all these weeks, huh?

Little private stock stashed away.

Well, we gotta see what's so special

about this? Stand up.

- What for?

- I wanna get an eyeful.

And I wanna get an eyeful of you.

So you're the great Sergeant o'Hearn

Davey's always talking about.

- Well, I must say I'm rudely disappointed.

- I'm not.

Hey, that's nice candy.

Don't let him bother you.

He just wishes he had met you first.

You're so right.

I could go for her on a rainy afternoon.

It couldn't rain hard enough

for me to go for him.

Oh, she talks back too. It's a shame

we don't have time to get acquainted.

In about two minutes,

we're gonna be waving bye-bye to you.

- Oh, Davey, don't let him.

- Relax, Ginger.

I wouldn't stand that chaplain up

for the world.

I hate to break your heart, but the facts

of life have gotta be explained.

All about the birds and the bees.

No, I guess you might call it

the bulls and the cows.

What I'm trying to explain is the kind

of Marine this guy you wanna marry is.

When I first run into him, he was nothing

but a green kid with a crazy look in his eye.

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