Twentieth Century Page #3

Sadie, my chinchilla coat,

the one with the silver lining.

And her shephers crook, Sadie.

Say, what' s the meaning of this,

skulking behind barricades?

- Did he tell you what the fight was about?

- Well, I...

I gathered that in some obscure way...

you destroyed his career.

Get off that bed. It' s real lace.

How do you sleep in this contrivance?

Be all right with a pair of oars.

Sadie, get me a bottle of gin.

I've only got an hour to live.

I wish that were true.

Owen, I'll tell you exactly what happened.

That Mr. Whatsit of the Mayfair Club

called me up...

and told me they were having

a Lily Garland night and would I come?

Oscar was right there beside me.

Rowing?

Never mind.

He heard the whole conversation,

heard me accept it and never said a word.

I didn't think anything had happened

until I got to rehearsal...

and it was "Miss Garland" this

and "Miss Garland" that all over the place.

Then he started making those awful faces...

simply because he doesn't want me

to mingle with what he calls riffraff...

and that' s everybody in the world

except us two.

We just sit here and discuss his genius.

I'm going out tonight and have a look

at some plain human beings for once...

and act like one.

I've got a new dress.

The first in three years

that doesn't make me look like a Quaker.

- Lily.

- You, too? Is he calling out the militia?

Can I speak to you confidentially?

Go easy, warden, she's got a case.

Get out, Owen.

This is a question of life or death.

I'll go to my cabin.

- Lily, it' s up to you.

- What is?

I'm afraid for him, Lily.

He's got that look in his eyes.

I don't care what he's got in his eyes.

- You don't understand him, Lily.

- I don't?

When he's wounded,

he's capable of anything.

He's not capable of keeping me

from going to the Mayfair Club.

Sadie, don't wait up for me. I'll be late.

It' s none of my business, but after all

he's done for you, I'd go a little easy.

He made a million dollars off me,

if that' s what you mean.

And I'm not catering

to his senseless, neurotic...

egomaniac jealousies any longer.

I'm no Trilby.

Get out, boys.

- O.J., can I speak to you alone?

- No.

What time shall I call rehearsal tomorrow?

Tomorrow.

Goodbye, boys.

All right, D'Artagnan.

We'll be lurking on the drawbridge

if you need us. Come on, Oliver.

Oscar, I don't want a scene.

I'm all dressed up and I'm going.

Stop making those awful faces.

I'm not doing anything

you could possibly object to, Oscar.

I won't have a scene.

You can't bully me.

For three years, I've never done anything,

read anything, eaten anything...

without asking your permission twice.

Never met anybody.

I can't even see my own mother.

That' s not love, it' s pure tyranny.

Goodbye, Lily.

Oscar.

Our little comedy is ending,

just as I always knew it would.

You remember that night

you won your spurs...

and we tacked a golden star

on your dressing room door...

and I told you, you were not for one man

to have and to hold?

Go on, Lily.

Go and dance in that lovely dress

at that awful place.

Let them paw the beauty and glamour

that is mine...

for a moment.

- What are you talking about? I'm just...

- Please.

They're waiting for you. You'll be late.

What are you going to do?

Nothing, while you're here.

New York.

It received me once when I came here,

a little farm boy.

It' ll receive me again.

I remember on many a winter's eve...

Lily Garland, I haven't finished yet.

Some night when the curtain comes down...

and that little world of yours sits there

applauding you, you'll remember me.

You'll know I helped a little.

Goodbye.

Oscar!

You horrible fake. Be a man.

You're not going to jump out

of any window.

Trying to make me believe, you cheap ham.

You can't talk to me like that.

You forget who I am.

I'll tell you what you are. A fake.

Go on, jump. Kill yourself.

You washwoman's daughter.

What did you call me?

Soaking yourself in perfume like a hired girl.

Half undressed for other men.

You don't fool me.

Go on, hit me.

I'm not stopping you.

Lily, I wouldn't hurt you

for anything in the world.

Do what you want. Go anywhere you want...

only just love me.

Say you forgive me.

It' s all right. Just don't talk.

Put your arms around me. Just hold me.

What a glorious morning. I'm so happy.

Do you want me to wait for you, sweet?

I don't think so, darling.

You run along and rehearse without me

for a couple of hours.

I'm going over the manuscript again,

polishing.

Oscar, do you mean to say you're going

to trust me to go to the theater alone?

Lily, that' s all changed.

I meant every word I said. You'll see.

From now on,

I'm not going to be jealous anymore.

When you're like this,

I don't want anybody but you.

You know, I've had my lesson, Lily.

Something happened to me last night.

That moment at the window.

A sort of change of soul.

From now on

you can go and come as you please...

and no questions asked whatsoever.

I trust you implicitly.

- Goodbye, sweet.

- Goodbye, my lovely Lily.

Sadie, did you call the car?

- Yes, ma'am.

- Well, hurry up.

Hello.

Bleeker 82711.

Hello, is this

the McGonigle Detective Agency?

Mr. McGonigle speaking. Who?

How do you do, Mr. Jaffe?

Glad to hear from you.

What can I do for you this time?

I have an actress in my employ

named Lily Garland.

Yeah. That' s right.

I want her watched, every move,

day and night. Her mail...

and can you tap the telephone wires

in her apartment?

Yes, Mr. Jaffe.

Tapping telephone wires is our specialty.

These are the telephone reports of all calls.

Forty minutes conversation

with the dressmaker...

and never told me anything about it.

The bill is for $1,200.

Send him a check.

Yes, sir.

Good morning.

Why aren't you at rehearsal?

- You don't need me every minute.

- O.J., just between us, is Lily all right?

I mean, has there been any trouble

in the last week or two?

Certainly not. Whas the matter?

You've gotten her upset again.

I told you not to upset her.

I was just wondering

if there was any special reason...

why she didn't show up at rehearsal today.

She was all right when I left.

She sounded all right to me this morning.

- Get her on the phone.

- I did talk to her.

There seems to be some interference

on her telephone.

I've arranged to have someone

go over it from stem to stern.

You've done what?

You see, O. J...

the Vice President of

the telephone company is a friend of mine...

- and he promised immediate action.

- You gray rat.

Mr. Jaffe, Mr. McGonigle is outside.

I think something's happened.

Have him come in.

Mr. McGonigle.

Mr. Jaffe, I'm resigning.

I undertook this job in good faith,

under the seal of secrecy.

What happened?

She was laying for me in the vestibule.

She jumped out with a stick in her hand

just as I was collecting the mail.

Who told her that phone was tapped?

Stay where you are, Judas Iscariot.

McGonigle, did you deny it?

Did you throw the lie in her face?

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