Tom and Viv Page #3

---

- I mean this whole way of going on is ridiculous!

- Viv, stop it!

- Stop it, you're play-acting!

- It'll be over by the end of the war.

- And good riddance!

- If you're over-awed by their company

then you shouldn't have come!

It isn't good for your nerves.

They were showing off!

And you were showing off

- you wanted to win, I know you did!

- Not by cheating.

No, I know.

You wanted to be honestly,

truly, genuinely superior

as only an American who knows nothing

about anything can be.

Vivienne...

I don't think you're very well.

I've known this sort all my life

and not one of them is fit

to tie your shoelaces.

Daddy should never have done it.

You're not a money-lender.

It's a disgusting idea.

Hardly that. A banker.

I'll be working at Lloyd's.

Of course, you won't even consider it.

My poetry has sold about 200 copies.

- What kind of income do you imagine that gives us?

- You're an artist!

We could always borrow

some more money from Bertie

he doesn't mind a bit.

I've already accepted the position.

Your father has been immensely kind.

Can't you see what they're doing to you?

- They want to bury you, they want to drag you down.

- I have no idea who you are talking about.

How can you work when you are locked

in some dungeon of a bank all day?

I shall work at the bank in the day

and write at night

- nothing could be more straightforward.

- But what can I do?

What use can I be if you're away all day,

how can I help?

You do help. All the time.

With everything.

Well...

Bertie has offered to

take me to the seaside.

What do you think about that?

Well you know I can't come.

Of course not. What could I expect?

Important affairs at the bank, I suppose.

Well Vivvie, you must go, if you want to.

It'll be good for you.

Telegram, Mr Eliot.

Please come Tom, she's very low.

An influenza's settled on her chest.

I am sorry.

Viv and I, I want you to know

that I have absolutely nothing

to reproach myself with.

Of course you haven't, Bertie.

You're our closest friend.

Tom?

I'm here.

I'm sorry to be a nuisance.

- It's an awful bore, dying.

- Nobody's dying

I did so want to help you with your poetry.

You will.

You do. You're in every line.

I can't do it without you.

I know.

Can I help you with anything?

Perhaps.

Perhaps you can.

Woo!

Woo!

Viv?

Have you seen my shoes?

Uh, there's no tea left.

- Shall we make out a shopping list?

- And my trousers, I seem to have mislaid them.

I need a cheque.

You should still be convalescing.

3 pounds should just about do it.

- I'll buy you some chocolate as a treat.

- Viv, it's time I went.

- Well goodbye, then!

- Well...

I can't very well go to work

without my trousers now, can I?

Viv, where have you put my clothes?

And my briefcase, where is it?

I'm afraid they've gone.

Vivienne...

A great poet shouldn't have to work

in a squalid little bank

he should be here, writing poems,

where I can help him.

You know we can't afford to live that way.

Now Viv, please, I must go.

KNOCK AT DOOR:

Is Mr Eliot going to work today?

Tom?

What if it reads...

"What'd you get married for,

if you don't want children?"

I think it's better.

Yes. Yes it is.

KNOCK AT DOOR:

- Good morning, Bishop.

- Good to see you.

- So good of you to come.

- Not at all.

Please, right this way.

Viv? - I suppose you just

happened to be in the area?

I've asked the Bishop to call, Viv.

Vivvie, I'm sure you have

a million things to do.

Oh I see, you want to be alone.

Well if you like, I could go up to the roof

and see how long I could dangle in the air.

- If I'm intruding in any way...

- Not at all.

I believe the sale is

still on at Selfridges.

I thought we were working on

your poems today, Tom.

It's very good of you to devote

so much time to an unbeliever, Bishop.

I hope you don't think

my husband's looking for religion.

No, what Tom wants is boredom.

A boring and conventional life.

He mistakenly thinks he

needs it for his work.

Oh and if you can arrange it

the egotistical little sh*t

would like to be a saint.

And I don't normally use words like that.

Here, at the base of the brain,

there is the pituitary gland.

Now we know it is linked to

instances of dementia.

Here, in the lower stomach

there is unceasing colic.

We're certain that there is a link

between the gland and the colic.

She feels heights of enthusiasm

- and then sudden great falls of emotion.

- Indeed.

Well unfortunately...

...she has what I call...

...intestinal catarrh.

She cannot control her menstrual life.

Apart from the drugs

that I am already prescribing her

there's little we can do

to control the symptoms.

May I ask about the marriage?

We love each other.

I see.

And there are no problems?

Beyond what I imagine must...

No.

None.

Do you intend to have children?

Well...

Uh...

We have never discussed it.

I think I should tell you that your wife's

condition will not improve, it may worsen.

- What do I tell Vivienne?

- As little as possible.

With a patient like this

it's important not to...

...burden her with details.

KNOCK AT DOOR:

Yes?

- Maurice, home at last!

- And not dead, either!

Oh my dear fellow,

how did you survive all that shooting?

Oh, simple really, just ducked

when I saw the bullets coming!

Well you look, you...

you sound different, you look...

- How do I look Maurice?

- The spitting image of a banker.

A true blue, English banker!

Well, my dear fellow, we must celebrate!

Please.

Shall I send out for some champagne?

Oh gosh no,

the old firewater's just the ticket!

So, how are you both?

We couldn't be happier.

Viv goes dancing, twice a week.

Me too, sometimes.

Saturdays at the theatre.

That's us.

And how are you, Maurice?

Oh, pretty fair.

Looking all over for a job.

No-one wants to employ me.

Don't you think that's a bit off?

After all, I have just won the bloody war.

It's called

"He do the Police in Different Voices"

One thing you need, it's a catchy title.

Oh of course, it's a work in progress.

It might help if you try to imagine

Tom's poetry as a smashed vase.

Ah, naturally.

You have to understand that Tom quotes

from many different sources.

The main character, the prophet Tiresias

has just seen Athena's body quite naked

and it's such a frightful shock to him that

he can think of nothing but rats in a sewer.

Vivvie, I really don't think it needs...

Is there anything more I need to know

before I hear the poem?

Other voices emerge...

The Duchess from Webster's Malfi.

She'd made a reckless marriage to Antonio.

Her family go to every length to stop it

there's a moment where she brushes her hair

and he cannot bring himself to touch her,

the horror engulfs...

That's not what I meant at all.

It is. Of course it is!

He, he quotes from Dante.

A soldier makes a hasty marriage.

Soon after the wedding he discovers

he's made a hideous mistake...

Vivvie please, this is really unnecessary.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes