The Great Man's Lady
- PASSED
- Year:
- 1942
- 90 min
- 28 Views
Every day for 35 years
she's been
sitting down there
in that
infernal rocking chair
right under my nose.
Hannah Hoyt, Hannah Sempler,
whatever her right name is.
Rocking and smiling
Ethan Hoyt all to herself.
And now,
today of all days,
Ethan Hoyt Day.
The day they are
dedicating his statue
in the city square.
She has to hide inside
the house somewhere
and pretend she doesn't know
it's any different
from 10,000 other days.
What is it?
Eastern reporters, huh?
On the square, huh?
Call off
my bloodhounds.
Who's watching
the back of the house?
Burns.
Tell him to hop over
to the square.
Eastern reporters, hmm?
They're up to something.
Hello?
Yes.
No.
No. Not a sign of life.
You bet.
Yeah, right away.
Who's watching
the front of the house?
Pierce.
Tell him not to let
those Eastern reporters
out of his sight.
I bet the old lady's
going to talk.
Hello?
Depth bomb.
Yeah, this is Pierce.
Yeah, I've been
watching all morning.
No, just a few
glasses of beer.
I'm practically there.
All clear.
And so, my friends,
it is only fitting and proper
that we celebrate
the anniversary
of the birth
of a great American.
A man who founded
this great city of ours.
Who served unselfishly
in our country's
halls of Congress.
A man who died here
with the shining armor
of his ideals untarnished.
That's Froman of the AP
over there near Forbes.
That's Paula Wales
from Washington.
The other guy's Quentin
of The New York Times.
united in peace...
You know, they're
not here for buttons.
The chief was right.
I'll bet she's gonna talk.
to a man
who devoted the last 30 years
of his colorful life
to an unselfish fight
for the weak
against the powerful.
Even at the expense
of his own personal fortune.
My friends,
I give you a great man,
a great American,
Senator Ethan Hoyt.
Hannah Sempler's.
Miss Sempler's, please.
The Sempler woman's home.
Miss Hannah Sempler's house.
Follow them.
Hey, wait for me.
This is my cab.
Be a sport,
share it.
Where are you going?
Miss Hannah Sempler's.
Shake. The whole world's
going there.
All right, Forbes.
Bring up the artillery.
Well, that's one way.
I say, old boy,
that's a little unsporting.
If you want a story,
you get it.
She's not just news
anymore, she's history.
Tell the old lady
she's got guests.
Impatient guests.
Oh, the old boy himself.
To what do I owe
this peculiar honor
may I ask?
That's fine.
Hold it, Mrs. Hoyt.
My name is
Hannah Sempler.
May I ask
why you intrude here?
Well?
Miss Sempler,
I'd like to apologize
for all of us
for our rudeness
in breaking in
like this.
Very well, you may go.
The fact is, Miss Sempler,
forget our rudeness.
It's the public
who's broken in.
The public who has
the right to know.
The public, in who's eyes
Ethan Hoyt has grown
to the size
of a national hero.
The public, sir?
You are the public?
Miss Sempler,
you misunderstand.
We come here
humbly as it were,
seeking the answer
to a great human enigma.
A matter of history.
Were you married
to Ethan Hoyt?
Why did he die
in your home?
Was his real wife there?
You and he had any children?
Where are they?
Your claims, if true,
would make him a bigamist.
We ask you
to prove these claims
in the public interest.
The public, sir?
You aren't the public.
The public is made up of
millions of private homes
like mine.
In our homes,
we draw inspiration
from the memory
of our great men.
Like Senator Hoyt.
You seek to destroy
that memory.
You break in here
with cameras
and threats...
If that thing
goes off again...
You seek nothing
but scandal.
You'll find none here.
I bid you good day.
She can't prove a thing.
Because her story is nothing
but a pack of lies.
She's just an old windbag
trying to crash the limelight.
Stop it! Stop it.
Leave her alone.
You should be ashamed
of yourselves.
Whether her story
is true or not,
what right have you got
to persecute her like this?
Can't you see
she's helpless
and all alone?
She's a very old lady.
Yes, it's true.
I am old. Very old.
But I've made no claims,
I've told no lies.
Whatever I know is a matter
of my own private history.
I am content to remain silent
the rest of
my few days on Earth.
That is all.
Well, you came
with the rest of them.
What are you
waiting for?
Because...
Because I...
Yes, I know.
Got a public, too?
Not yet.
Of course not.
You're just a child.
But I will have.
I'm a biographer.
A what?
I'm writing on the life
of Senator Ethan Hoyt.
Ah!
Nice job.
You like your work?
I think
he was one of the most...
Well, the most wonderful...
So do I.
Guess I ought to
know about that.
Then you have to help me.
Please, Miss Sempler.
I've spent three years
writing my book.
All the money I could raise.
I've got to know
what part you played,
were you married to him...
All sorts of things.
My book is worthless
without your help.
That's why
I had to see you.
Look away, girl.
Look all you like.
There's nothing much to see.
Just a hundred years
of memories.
Some good, some bad.
I ought to have been
buried years ago.
But you know, I...
I can't really say that.
I'd like to live
to be 200 years old.
Then you and I'd
both be old ladies
and we could
compare notes.
That is, if you had
any to compare.
Now, you run along
and leave me alone.
You come back
in a hundred years
and I'll talk to you.
You go along now.
Hmm.
One of the meanest things
about growing old.
You forget how important
everything seems
to young people.
Hey, girl.
Scat. Go on.
I'm all right.
I'll go now.
Nothing of the sort.
Listen, I have something
very special upstairs.
Twenty-year-old stuff.
Now, come on.
We'll have our own drink
to Senator Hoyt.
Over here.
Now you give me a hand.
That's a girl.
I'm as wiry
as the devil,
mind you,
but a climb
gets me down.
That's a girl.
You know, girl,
you need more gumption
and spirit.
Yes, that's what
you need.
Oh!
Where'd you say
you learned about
Ethan Hoyt?
Books.
You'll never learn
a man out of books.
Or a woman either.
Books.
Psst.
Ah, yes, girl.
Men were different
in those days.
Men like Ethan.
A drink in one hand,
and luck in the other.
Open the door, girl.
There was a band
playing in his heart
and the devil
in his eyes.
And I...
I was a very young lady
in a stuffy
Philadelphia house.
In the year 1848.
Well, I must say.
What's the matter?
Making a public spectacle
of yourself.
Mama says...
Oh, don't be stuffy.
Did you see
how he smiled?
A gentleman
would never
have dared.
You mean, like
my Mr. Cadwallader?
Mama says...
Because I dare say
he's never smiled
in his whole life.
But I almost died laughing
when he proposed to me.
"Miss Sempler, I...
"I have the great honor
to address myself
to your favor.
"I am quite willing
to overlook the fact
"that you have grown up
without a mother
"to instruct you
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"The Great Man's Lady" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_great_man's_lady_20360>.
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