By Love Possessed (1961) - full transcript

[**]

Good morning, Mr. Winner.
Good morning, Betty Anne.

Go all right
in court?

So-so.

How's
Mrs. Winner?

So sick
of the hospital,

she's making a recovery
in record time.

Should be home in a day or two.
Oh, that's fine.

That, uh, New York lawyer,
Mr. Woolf, called. He's in town.

The hearing's set
for tonight, isn't it?

Yes, in your office.



He'll be here, all right,
with that client of his.

Oh, Betty Anne...

Is Mr. Tuttle in?

He's having lunch
in his office.

Hello,
Arthur.

Hello, Noah.

The McCarthy estate file?

The hearing
is tonight.

That New York lawyer
and that painted client of his.

Noah, how about letting me
handle the hearing?

Indeed.

You know,
we're not dealing

with any of our local
brothers at the bar.

This isn't friend against
friend, with a drink afterwards.



This New York lawyer
is gonna be out for your blood.

I'll handle it, Arthur,
my own way.

Well, promise me
one thing, anyway.

Mm-hm, what?

Well, that you won't
blow up in a rage

and call his client, uh,
an ex-prostitute,

even she is one.

She is trying to break
Mike McCarthy's will.

Now, I'll protect
poor dead Mike the best I can.

[CHUCKLES]

What are you
laughing at?

I was just
remembering,

years ago you asked my blessing
to marry my daughter.

Can't remember my exact words,
but I paraphrase rather neatly:

That old saw,

"I know I am
not losing a daughter,

I know
I am gaining a son."

Well, I didn't know
I was gaining a shepherd.

[CHUCKLES]

All right, Noah,
do it your own way.

Arthur Winner,

trying to run my life
by pure reason.

The Winners always were
possessed by reason,

but they possessed
other emotions too.

Don't you have
any other emotion, Arthur?

I certainly do:
Terror.

I'm afraid you're gonna get your
head blown off at the hearing.

Now, I'm gonna take
the afternoon off.

[INTERCOM BUZZES]

[FLIPS SWITCH]
Yes?

BETTY ANNE:
Mr. Penrose
for Mr. Winner on 3.

All right,
Betty Anne.

Hello,
Julius.

Say, Arthur,
I'm still tied up here.

We'll be taking
depositions all afternoon.

All right,
but don't forget the meeting

with that fella Woolf
tonight at 7:00.

Clarissa's fine.
If she keeps up at this rate,

she'll be out of the hospital
in a day or two. How's Marjorie?

Well, if she keeps up
with this rate,

she'll be in the hospital
in a day or two.

My wife has bought herself
a new hunter.

Chestnut gelding, 16 hands high,
the meanest in the state.

I just hope he's mean enough
to burn up

some of Marjorie's
excess energy.

All right.

I'll see you
tonight.

Goodbye.

[**]

How'd it go today,
Mrs. Penrose?

Better today.

Charlie?

MAN:
Yeah, Mrs. Penrose?

Scotch on the rocks.
Alrighty.

Oh, your husband
called.

You can reach him
at this number.

Thank you.

[**]

[**]

Hi, Mary.
Is Dad home?

Yes,
he's up in his study.

[SIGHS]

Taking the day off?
Oh, hello, Warren.

No, just the afternoon.
I've got a hearing tonight.

That thing
work yet?

Heh-heh. I don't think
it ever will.

Oh,
Conflict of Laws, 91.

Government Regulation
of Business, 93.4.

Taxation,
Current Issues, 95.

All A's.

I'm impressed,
Warren.

You know, they used to try
for a C average at Harvard,

"A gentleman's C,"
it was called.

You worked at your studies
just long enough

to have plenty of time
to work at being a gentleman.

Well, a gentleman's C
went out of style

when gentlemen
went out of style.

Must've been tough
for you.

To get C's
when A's come so naturally.

Must have taken,
uh, real control.

Oh, it wasn't
entirely wasted.

The ability to appear stupid
at the right time

is a useful tool
in a lawyer's kit.

The right tool
in the right time, huh?

The Winner family
good-lawyer tradition.

Well, we have had a fairly
unbroken line of good lawyers.

I can't see
that there's anything

particularly sinister
about that.

And from these
ungentlemanly A's of yours,

you show every sign of becoming
a good lawyer yourself

one of these days.

And it's such a snug
little future, isn't it?

Or do I mean smug?

Living in your town, uh,
working in your law firm.

Married to the girl
of your choice.

Town is here.
The firm is here.

Helen is here.

I can't recall
exerting pressure on you

to become involved
with any one of them.

Helen's a wonderful girl,
but I don't see myself

marrying a pillar
of this community.

When was the last time
you looked at Helen?

She's not a pillar.

Don't tell me I have
to point that out to you.

I doubt
if you would.

To the Winners
sex is unmentionable.

But, uh,
not to me.

Is that what they've been
teaching you at Harvard?

Oh, no, I, uh,
picked that up for myself

with the help of a friend
from Smith

who, uh, I'm happy to say,
was no gentleman.

Now, you Mr. Tuttle,
drew up the will

of my client's
late husband.

I drew up Mike McCarthy's
will, yes.

And you are,
are you not,

executor of his will
and trustee of his estate?

I am.

Now,
Mr. Tuttle.

I have learned,
as I'm sure you have,

to stay out of court
if at all possible.

Indeed.
Well, we can sue

to break
the late Mr. McCarthy's will,

and in my opinion,
we'd win.

But isn't there
some compromise, sir,

whereby we avoid
a messy lawsuit

and still increase
my client's share?

Your client has a record

of 17 arrests for prostitution.
That's irrelevant.

TUTTLE:
Now, obviously,
she didn't mean much to Mike,

so we left her
as little of his estate

al the law would permit,

and she'll receive
not one penny more.

Mr. Tuttle,

right now,
I want a clear picture

of the assets
of this estate.

I have in hand a copy
of your inventory of the assets.

It's sloppy,
vague.

I see listed here
as an asset

a second mortgage
for $2000.

Now, how much
is the first mortgage?

What's the market value
of the property?

Second mortgage?

I'll have to consult
the records.

I have them
right here.

I see listed a note

payable to Mr. McCarthy
in the amount of $700.

Now, who's the maker?

At what rate
of interest?

When is it due?

Mr. Tuttle handles most
of the estates of this county.

How do you expect him
to remember every little detail?

All right, Mr. Winner,

I'll skip over
the little details.

Let's get
to the big ones.

"A matter of bonds,
$20,000."

Now, Mr. Tuttle,

what type bonds?

Twenty thousand dollars
is a considerable sum.

Or has your memory failed
to the point

where you're incompetent
and should be removed

as trustee of this
or any of estate?

Look, Mr. Woolf.
This is a hearing.

But I'll
not tolerate--

[**]

[GASPS]

Hello, Junie.

When did they
let you back in town?

Well, I wasn't exactly sent
an invitation, Mrs. Penrose.

I'm here to get
my rights.

Oh,
that's good.

That's very,
very good.

Oh.

And where do you stand
on women's rights, J.P.?

[LAUGHS]

And you, Noah,
huh?

Oh,
Arthur.

I--

Oh, boy.

Marjorie?

Oh, Arthur.

Listen,
I'm so sorry.

I didn't know
those other people.

That's perfectly all right.
But I wanted to see you.

I wanna talk to you.

I have to talk.

Of course, Marjorie.
Anytime at all.

'Cause you
have to help me.

Somebody
has to help me.

Talk to me.

I'll help you.

To get free of you?

Will you do that?

Oh, Arthur,
talk to me.

He listens to you.

You're the only one
he listens to.

Make him
give me a divorce.

He hates me.

Make him let me go.
Just please make him let me go.

I love you.

You know that
when you're not drunk.

I'll give her a divorce anytime
she asks for it, Arthur.

Sober.

I don't wanna talk
to you.

I wanna talk
to him.

'Cause you're not all messed up
like we are with...

hating and loving
and feeling.

You can think.

'Cause you're--
You're untouched.

You're untouched
by human hands.

Oh, hell.

Happens quite often.

No mystery about it.

She's miserably unhappy,
so she gets drunk.

I'm sorry, Julius.

Any questions you're
too embarrassed to ask?

Such as, why is Marjorie
so miserably unhappy?

No.
No.

The answer
is too obvious.

There are two Marjories,
you know.

Marjorie A
and Marjorie B.

Marjorie A made a remarkable
adjustment to my accident.

She's quite a girl.

Runs the house
like a duchess.

Can beat your pants off
at tennis...

though doesn't,
out of tact.

She reads books,
not just reviews of books.

Works hard
for the community,

but thinks it's too dull
to talk about.

Yes, she's just
the kind of a girl

you'd like
your best friend to marry.

[SIGHS]

But I wouldn't
have married her.

I wouldn't have given
a nickel for her.

I married Marjorie B,

wild and restless,
all body and feeling,

full of impulses
and urges and needs.

Not the kind of needs
that can be met by a cripple.

[CHUCKLES]

Well, I wish you would let
her talk to you, Arthur.

Help her get a little
of this out of her system.

All right, Julius.

You don't need me
in there.

No.

[**]

Hello,
Clarissa.

Hi.

How are you feeling?

Fine.

Except I can't
face dinner.

Last night the meat
tasted like fish,

and today the fish
tasted like meat.

That's strange.

When I was here, they both
tasted like stewed prunes.

Oh, you didn't.

Oh, yes, I did.

Drumsticks,
French bread and cheese...

Apples.
And wine.

How was the hearing?

Fireworks,
with an abrupt end.

Why?

Because of Marjorie?

Now, how'd
you know that?

Well, she was here
this afternoon

drinking with both hands,

looking like a beautiful
little percolator

all ready to boil over.

And she did.

I got a bit spattered
in the process.

She said I was,
let's see...

untouched by love, hate,
feelings or human hands.

If I weren't
so fond of Marjorie,

I'd slap her
for that.

Well, darling,
if you look untouched,

it's scarcely
a compliment to me.

[CHUCKLES]

Dreadfully unhappy,
poor dear.

How could she not be?

Seemed to have worked things out
so well, she and Julius.

Well, things are seldom
what they seem.

Is that an idiom,
or did I make it up?

I don't know what it is,
but I don't believe it.

It's been a day
of surprises, though.

Warren, for example.

Why?
What about Warren?

Well, I made the mistake
of complimenting him

on getting all A's.

He countered by expressing
his general contempt

for tradition,
his future and me,

all of which
he finds unbearably dull.

Well, did you
talk to him,

try to find out
what was really troubling him?

Oh, his decisions
are his own to make.

Restlessness,
rebelliousness

at who you are
and what you are,

they're natural
at his age.

I wonder
if Marjorie could be right,

and you really are untouched
by hate, love

and other assorted emotions.

That's a fine thing
to say.

Do you think I'd have married
you if I didn't love you?

Of course.

Winners always marry Tuttles,
and vice versa.

It never occurred to you
not to marry me.

It was more of a merger
than a marriage.

Anyway, I'm--
I'm not talking about then, my--

My mind is on now.

Marriage, merger,

whatever
you wanna call it,

I am very content.

I don't know
any two people

who get along as-- As pleasantly
and smoothly as we do.

Yes, that's true enough,
but "pleasantly," "smoothly."

I wonder if those are
the right words for marriage.

I mean, well,
Still Pond in Tucker's Woods

is smooth,
but it's stagnant.

That's why
I never liked it.

I always have.

Yes, but--
But wouldn't it be better if--?

If there were
occasional storm?

Waves that--? That knocked
you down and lifted you up?

Even if it meant a--?
A little less contentment?

Clarissa, I'd love to contribute
a few storms to your discontent,

but, well,
what can I do?

We just don't have anything
to fight about.

We used to have.

But you wouldn't fight.

You always withdrew
before the battle started,

so we both lost.

Hello, Arthur.

ARTHUR:
Hello, Reggie.

[SIGHS]

Well...

How do you feel?

A little tired,
Reggie.

Yes, that's inconsiderate
of me, but, unfortunately,

I just had to sign a death
certificate for one patient.

Had to stop
a hemorrhage in another,

and, uh, I had to give
a third an aspirin tablet.

[SNIFFS]

You, uh--

You can take Clarissa home
day after tomorrow.

Then you can prance out
on the tennis court again,

trip again,
fall down again

and come back here
to the hospital

for another week.

[**]

Shh!

NOAH [WHISPERING]:
Helen, I'm your legal guardian.

I paid for the braces
on your teeth.

I fixed the rap when you
were expelled from school.

And the state of your morals
weighs heavily on my shoulders.

[**]

When I get upstairs,

wake him up.

Flaming youth.

Darling.

You know, they say when
two people can be together

and not-- Not feel
they have to keep talking,

they say it's a sure sign
of compatibility.

"They say."

Hon, you're always saying,
"They say."

For once, will you tell me
who "they" are?

[LAUGHS]

I don't know.

Well, "they" are
the good women who say,

"Come give just an hour a week
at the Children's Aid,"

or, "You're such
good reader.

There's no one to read aloud
at the home for the aged,"

or "TV for shut-ins,"

or, heh, you name it,
I'm working for it.

You know, if you let 'em,

they will make you
just another tax racket

in a filing cabinet.

You know, I don't
understand you, Helen.

Your family left you the richest
orphan in Winner County.

Left you enough loot
to visit Europe, Asia, Africa...

the moon,
if you really wanted to.

What do you get
out of this town, Helen?

Is that your answer?

Isn't that enough?

Or do I make you
feel short-changed?

Well, could be.

Who's the girl been,
Warren?

Girls, Helen.

Girls, I suppose, it--
It never took you

more than once
to succeed with.

With some girls, if you don't
succeed the first time,

believe me, the prize
isn't worth crackerjacks.

You've never even once
tried with me.

Well, I wouldn't succeed,
now, would I?

No.
Oh, well, there you are.

You might have had
the decency to try.

Wrong side
of the street, Helen.

On the other side
of High Street, they forbid sex,

on our side,
they forget it.

Did you just made that up?

No,
they made it up.

Hm.

They also say
that men have to go

through seven
stages of life.

I believe I know
the "they" who said that.

Shakespeare, and I believe
it was the "Seven Ages of Man."

Ages.

Warren...

Is this a stage?

Will you
get over it?

[**]

Time to go.

Your legal guardian
is gonna like this.

You're a good kid,
Helen.

[**]

Hello, Arthur.

Marjorie?

The vestry meeting?

Yes.

I hoped
you'd be here.

I wanted to see you
to apologize.

That, uh, exhibition
last night, I--

I-- I--
I felt lost and--

Well, it was that kind
of a night.

Somebody switched all
the signposts along the road.

I understand,
Marjorie.

I know
you'll forgive me.

But I wish you would forget
everything that I said.

When you look at your world
through a bottle,

everything
takes a different shape.

But it's
all right today.

I am a toucher.

It's a dreadful habit,
isn't it?

Julius hates it.

Thank you,
Arthur.

Good morning,
Arthur.

Uh, if I could
just take a moment

before
the vestry meeting.

Was I clear
on the phone, Arthur?

Yes, I--

Well,
it's just that, uh...

if Noah,
Sam Orchid'strustee,

could-- Could let
the Church invest the funds,

I-- I think
it would make--

I understand.
I'll talk to Noah about it.

Good, good.

The Church could handle
the money and the accounts.

Well, it'll get
the bishop off my back.

I'll see
what I can do.

Thank you.

Good morning,
gentlemen.

[**]

Good morning, Mr. Winner.
Hello, Charles.

Mr. Woolf
is waiting for you.

Oh,
thank you.

"Twenty-three men of this town,
massacred, lie buried here.

Heroes. 1778."

Massacred by whom?

By a troop
of raiding Tories.

It's been a little
embarrassing, actually.

Some old papers
recently turned up,

indicate that what was really
buried there were pigs.

Pigs?
Mm-hm.

Slaughtered
in 1790

to prevent
the spread of swine fever.

Oh.

So far the town's turned down
all proposals

to dig up
and examine the bones.

Which, perhaps, is why they
built this club on top of them.

Sit down,
Mr. Woolf.

Mr. Winner,

you remember
that $20,000 in bonds

I brought up last night?

U.S.
government bonds.

You remember
I kept pressing

the old gentleman,
Mr. Tuttle,

"Where are those bonds?

They belong to McCarthy estate.
Where are they right now?"

Well, I shouldn't
have pressed him.

I shouldn't have shouted
at him either.

I should have seen
that at that minute,

he just
couldn't remember.

Mr. Woolf, you didn't ask me
to meet you here

just to say
you're sorry.

What did you do?
Locate the bonds yourself?

If you give them
the serial numbers,

the Bureau of Public Debt

will check government bonds
for you.

So you wired them,

and the Bureau wired
you back what?

That Mr. Tuttle cashed in
those $20,000 in bonds

two months ago.

That's why I asked
to meet you here.

Why meet at your office
and embarrass the old gentleman

with my telegram?

I'll go on record now.

I won't ask him
to account any further

for the bonds
or anything else.

That is, pending
your report to the court.

If my client gets the increase

to which she's
legally entitled, fine.

If not, I'll be forced to sue
to break the will.

Of course, a compromise
would be better.

That's very considerate.

But the old gentleman
wouldn't agree, would he?

You're worried about him,
aren't you, Mr. Winner?

How he didn't remember,
doesn't remember.

The point is,
the old gentleman's crumbling.

That's been hard for you
to face, Mr. Winner?

I'd rather not discuss it,
Mr. Woolf.

But I'll tell you one thing.

This man you refer to
as an "old gentleman"

is precisely that.

Even though according to some
people, my own son included,

the breed has
gone out of style.

I'm afraid your son
may be right.

Well, I suppose we'll meet next
in a real court.

Friendly enemies?

Friendly enemies.

[**]

Hi, Helen,
what are you doing here?

Hi.

Looking at my file.

As neat as
the proverbial pin.

Birth certificate,

Mother's will,
Father's will.

Papers making Noah
my guardian.

Four-page
power of attorney

authorizing bank
to sign all my report cards

up to the sixth grade.

[GIGGLES]

Well, it isn't every kid

who gets her report card
signed by a bank.

A receipt for a bill
for my first lipstick.

[GIGGLES]

A bill for 39 cents.

Lipstick sure was lousy,
but it was called Seduction.

Warren.

The heavy filing hand
of all the Winners,

back to the Winner
who started this law library

with a fifthhand copy
of Coke on Common Law.

Warren, do you have to study law
all day, every day?

Yes.

I'm going to be
a good enough lawyer

to make sure I get out
of this weary, predigested town.

Warren.

Let's get in the car and drive.

Just drive.

Drive to anyplace
o-or no place.

Or would that be me
pinning you down again?

If so, I-I apologize.

Oh, Warren,
your father's free now.

Thank you.

Helen, don't be so touchy,
so easily hurt.

What are these?

Just about every ruling
on insanity in this state

since they burned Mrs. Crow.

Yeah, what about it?

Carolyn Dummer.

You're going in to court today
to defend that idiot girl

who gave birth
to an illegitimate

and smothered it right away.

Yes.

Carolyn's 20 years old, huh?

According to
her birth certificate.

Have you spoken to that
expert witness of yours,

Dr. Arsevich?

Yes, of course.
Why?

What does Dr. Arsevich say
Carolyn's mental age is?

Eight years old.

Entirely harmless, huh?

According to Dr. Arsevich.

Do you think that Carolyn's
confinement in an institution

is necessary for
the protection of society

or for her own
well-being?

Well, there's no reason she
shouldn't be all right at home.

Especially if they show her
love and kindness.

According to
Dr. Arsevich, huh?

That's right,
according to Dr. Arsevich.

Have you spoken to
Carolyn's parents?

Briefly.

Have you spoken to Mrs. Morton?

Mrs. Morton?

The matron who's taking care
of Carolyn in jail now.

Oh. Uh, no.

Dad, they treat Carolyn
like an animal at home.

Now, that's what Mrs. Morton
the jail matron says,

not Dr. Arsevich.

Do you know that Carolyn never
had ice cream

till she went to jail?

She never even had her hair done
till the matron did it.

And I ask her father
one question and his answer was,

"Nobody can do nothing for her."

Dad, you don't want her
acquitted and sent home, do you?

Well, I certainly don't want her
convicted and sent to jail,

even if she'd be
better off there.

Plead insanity.

I can't do that.

Why not?
Why not?

Because she's not guilty,
because she's not insane.

Carolyn thought her baby
was born dead,

that's why she buried it.

But the baby was born alive.

Wasn't she insane
not to know that?

Warren, that's not the test
for insanity in this state.

The test is whether the accused
knows right from wrong.

That much Carolyn does know.

As an attorney,
as an officer of the court,

I have no right
to plead insanity

and try and have her
committed to an institution.

But a person can know
right from wrong

and be insane in
every other way.

That's a stupid test
and a stupid law.

In your eyes, perhaps.

Not in the eyes

of the high court
of this state.

Dad, you've got everything
neatly arranged in little boxes

with a label on each box

so you can pull out
the right excuse

every time you're wrong.

You may know legal right
from legal wrong,

but you don't know the real
right from the real wrong.

For once, you've gotta do
what's best for someone,

not what's legal.

You've gotta do
what's best for Carolyn.

I've got to conform to the law.

That will be best for Carolyn.

And if not best for Carolyn,
in the long run,

conforming to the law is best
for the people of this state.

But we're not living in the long
run, damn it! We're living now.

You're wrong, Warren.
We're living in the long run.

That's why I'm gonna
have Carolyn acquitted.

Arthur!

You keep that Dr. Trowbridge
from pestering me.

He called five times
this morning.

And look at that letter.

Look at it!

NOAH:
Let him account for
God and Christ Church.

I'll account for the money
Sam Orchid left the church.

Trowbridge wasn't
pestering, Noah.

He was--
He was just inquiring.

Sam Orchid said to me--
Know what he said?

"I built Christ Church
and I want it to last.

"Nowadays," he said,
"you can't be sure the parson

"isn't going
to be an idiot.

"Noah," he said, "protect
my church from parsons,

so I won't
be turning in my grave."

All right, Noah.

I guess what Sam tried to
buy with all that money

was quiet in his grave.

While I live,
I've got Sam's money.

When I die.

you guard Sam's estate
any way you want.

I won't know it.

I've had a long, long life,
Arthur.

I sit in there
blinking out on a world

that's only waiting
for me to leave it.

A world of Dr. Trowbridges
and Mr. Woolfs,

all waiting to change
what I have done. Yes.

All the work that I've done,
a new age is itching to undo.

Noah, if you keep this up,
you know,

you're gonna get tearstains
all over my carpet.

[CHUCKLES]

Arthur, you're the only one
who really...

[SNAPS FINGERS]

...digs me.
Is that the word?

Heh-heh. That's the word.

You're in court today?

It's the charity case.

Oh, the girl who
murdered her baby.
Yes.

Well, you'll learn.

All the cases you do for free,

you pay for dearly.

Oh, Betty Anne, I'll be in
the library with Warren.

Warren's gone.

Oh.

I checked the
Mike McCarthy estate file.

Mr. Tuttle sold $20,000
in bonds on May 4th.

And deposited the money
in the McCarthy estate account?

No, but on May 7th,
Mr. Tuttle deposited $20,000

in his own general account.
Would that be the one?

Huh?
Thanks, Betty Anne.

[DOOR CLOSES]

JULIUS:
Now, consider the tax savings.

You're trading 90 percent
bracket income

for 26 percent
capital gains.

Right.

All right, I'll catch
the night plane

and see you in Washington
in the morning.

[CHUCKLES]
Fine.

Goodbye.

Arthur,
this conception of mine

of incorporating Finn
never occurred to him.

Those bonds in
the McCarthy estate.

Yes?

Noah sold them
two months ago.

So that's Noah's right.
He's trustee.

Was it his right to deposit
the $20,000 in his own account?

Noah mingled estate money
with his own money?

In his personal account?

That's right.

Julius, you and I have to face
a very unpleasant fact.

Noah's powers are no longer
what they used to be.

And there's something else
we have to face.

From now on, you and I are gonna
have to do all the work.

As long as he lives,
Noah will--

Yes, he'll still be

the senior partner
of Tuttle, Winner and Penrose.

Still the grand old man,
is that it?

Now, wait a minute, Julius.

Woolf said it last night,
you heard him.

Incompetent.

That's right.

We just can't let him
continue to work

in any responsible capacity.

But, Arthur, work.

Responsible work,
that's Noah's life.

Don't you think I know that?

Look, no matter how
politely you put it,

pensioning Noah off
is what you're proposing.

Pension him off,
and you'll destroy him.

It's gotta be done.
Well, we won't do it!

We won't destroy Noah.

Julius, we can't be ruled
just by our emotions.

We've got to be ruled
by what we know is right.

Three-quarters of the people
out there are our clients.

We have a duty to them.

Duty?

[SNICKERS]

That's the cruelest word
in the English language.

I mean, you're using it
as a polite way

of giving the man
a death sentence.

Julius, putting estate funds
in a personal account

is a statutory offense.

Now, we can cover
this bumbling of Noah's.

See that the money's credited,
proper entries are made.

But how many more bumblings
will there be?

If we'd gone into court
with Woolf this time,

he'd have
discovered it like that.

All right.

We'll do it.

Or rather, you'll do it.

I couldn't.

I'll do it, Julius.

Well?
What happened?

She's acquitted.

Let the DA send Carolyn
to an institution,

just because she'd
be happier there?

No, indeed.

That would have been
showing mercy.

That would have been one
of your rare moments

of weakness, Arthur.

This town is comfortable
with justice, but mercy?

Mercy died on the cross.

You're parading your cynicism

a little heavily tonight,
Reggie.

Oh.

Not for this town.

Gin.

Clarissa, I, uh--

I want to talk to you
about your father.

Well, what about him?

Julius and I are gonna
have to take over

his responsibilities
at the firm.

Why?

Noah will continue, of course,
as senior partner, but...

we'll simply be
doing the work.

Why?

Well, his accounts
are messed up,

his memory's not what
it used to be, he's--

Well, he's too old.

[SIGHS]

It would kill Noah.

That's what Julius said.

Well, Julius is right.

I'm not at all
sure about that.

Clarissa, I'm gonna
have to do it.

I love Noah,
because Noah's my father

and because he's Noah.

Well, what do you
expect me to say?

"Go ahead, darling,
cut his throat

gently as you can"?

I expect you to understand.
You're a lawyer's daughter.

I'm a man's daughter.

I'm Noah's daughter
and I love Noah.

I love him too.

But I can't let that keep me
from doing what I know is right.

You know, Arthur,
I've just begun to realize

for the first time that you
expect too much of yourself

and you expect too much
of everyone else.

What else have you just
suddenly begun to realize?

That love has two hands.

You've got to be able
to give love,

you've got to be able
to accept love.

I love you.

Oh, the hell you do!

All right, forget it.
Forget about Noah.

It's not just Noah.
It's us.

We don't have the happiness
I thought we had.

Do we?

All right, we don't.

What am I gonna do about it?

I'm gonna work it out
by myself.

I'll never be able
to do it with you.

All right, Clarissa.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

[**]

Julius?

Mr. Penrose?

Yes.
It'll just be a moment.

[**]

Washington again?

Yes. And you?

Oh. The Halloween dance
at the club.

You'll get a laugh out of this.
I'm to be a chaperone.

Will you be gone long?

I don't know.

Long enough to save a client
some tax money.

Well, I'll have my first drink
to you and to your success.

Marjorie, do you know
what electric lights

were named after?

No.

Mazda.

"Mazda" is the ancient
Persian word for fire,

which they worshipped.

The high Persians spent their
lives tending their holy fire.

And you want me
to spend my life

tending the holy fire
of the ancient Penrose.

Get to it, J.P.,
I know the introduction.

This community loves
to label people.

Noah is the grand old man,

I am the egghead,

Arthur is the pillar
of the community.

And you,

if you keep on
the way you're going,

they're going to
label you the lovely lush.

I gather you don't care
if I'm a lush,

so long as I'm not labeled.

I care...

and I try to understand.

Well, it shouldn't
be too difficult.

You know how I live my life.

Running your house,

blasting golf balls,
jumping horses.

Going to luncheons,
giving luncheons.

But "understand," Julius?

No, you don't understand that
I'm a human being,

with human wants and needs.

Is that all there ever was
between us?

Well, it must have been.
Look at us now.

Then go and get
what you need.

Just don't
let me know.

You said that to me once before,
remember?

The night you came home
from the hospital.

I went to your room

full of love and anxiety,

wanting to comfort you...

and to be comforted.

And you said, "You'll have to
get what you need elsewhere."

And then you pushed me away.

You made me feel
like an animal.

Before I knew,
I was one.

I-- I didn't want you
to touch me out of...

I was afraid of...

pity.

But it wasn't pity.

And if it were,
is pity a dirty word?

It always has been to me.

Well, I feel no pity now.

Nothing.

Give me a divorce.

No.

You told Arthur last night

that you'd let me go anytime
I ask you.

Sober.

Well, I'm sober, Julius.

No.

[PLAYING UP-TEMPO JAZZ MUSIC]

Another one.

Are you bored, Warren?

No, not particularly,
Sydney girl.

I am.

Sober, you're bearable,
Sydney,

but drunk, you're dull.

I know.

I think I'll take off all
my clothes and jump in the pool.

Again, huh?

Am I too young
to buy a chaperone a drink?

Well, if you're old enough
to ask, Warren,

you're old enough to buy.

Thank you.

Good evening,
Mrs. Penrose. Scotch?

A double.

Hi, Helen.

Hi, Sydney.

Helen...

I've been meaning
to ask you.

Who's your psychiatrist?

I have no psychiatrist.
Why?

I don't know.

I get a feeling now and then
I might need one,

and I thought somebody
said you had one.

Oh, well.

See you.

Hi, Marjorie.

Good evening,
Helen.

Is she going
to jump in the pool?

Oh, yes, her mother always
stripped and jumped in the pool.

'Course, it's true
her grandmother didn't.

No pool.
Her grandmother just stripped.

[GIGGLES]

Sydney's only doing what
the town expects of her.

Aren't we all?

Except you and me.

Thank you.

Well, the party
seems good,

but there's something
missing with you two.

Or is it bad form
to notice?

Well, it's unusual,
anyway.

What's missing is one word.

What the town expects
of Helen and me.

I'll say the magic word, Helen:
Marriage.

The town expects us
to get married.

It expects bluebloods
to marry bluebloods

till the redbloods
safely disappear.

It's not as bad
as that, Warren.

I'm afraid it's worse.

'Cause the town expects
our marriage to be dull?

Yes.
Just as it expects Sydney

to get drunk and strip
and be dull doing it.

Excuse me, Marjorie.

I'll be back
in a minute.

Warren.

Forget Sydney
and the town and all that.

What do you want?

I'm afraid I only know
what I don't want.

Me too.

You know, I think
you and I are a lot alike.

I wish you better luck
than that.

Warren, chaperones
are supposed to see

that none of you
duck out.

But tell me.

How does a chaperone
duck out on you?

I'll get you out of here
and you'll never be missed.

Well, ex--
Well, except by me.

The only interesting
woman around

and I bored her into flight.

But you haven't
bored me.

I like you.

And thanks for talking to me
and not telling me consolingly

that all people my age
are sometimes unhappy.

All I tell you is that it
gets worse as you get older.

If that consoles you,
enjoy it.

Happy Halloween.

Thank you.

[UP-TEMPO JAZZ MUSIC
CONTINUES PLAYING]

[**]

Are you as lost
as you look?

Oh, I went for a walk.
I wanted to think.

I deserted my post
at the country club.

I don't feel
like a chaperone tonight.

Or a censor.

Or an inhibitor,
if you know what I mean.

Of anyone's pleasures...

including my own.

I know what you mean.

It's been
that kind of a day.

Someone switched all
my signposts along the road.

Well, somebody
painted arrows on mine.

"This way to nothing."

That's all they say now.

[BULLFROG CROAKING
IN DISTANCE]

Remembering?

Yes.

And here we are again.

It's funny, isn't it?

Same people, same place,

same kind of boring party.

Same bullfrog.

No doubt about it.
I remember him well.

I remember everything
about that night.

Ducking out
of the party with you.

Walking through the woods.

Wondering if something
was happening.

Was going to happen.

But didn't happen.

It couldn't, Marjorie.
Not then.

And now?

[**]

I...

I suppose a groom
lived here

when this was a stable.

I don't always grab for a drink
when things are rough.

I guess you could call this
my hideaway.

Anyhow, it's mine.

No one has ever
been here before but me.

[**]

Drive you home,
Veronica?

Now, if you wanted to drive
Veronica home, Warren,

you wouldn't
have stopped.

[MID-TEMPO SWING MUSIC PLAYING]

The woods at Still Pond.

Where else?

Don't you want anything
to drink?

Scotch or vodka?

Veronica isn't
the kind of girl

who's all the time
gotta get loaded.

Uh-uh.

If, uh, I get drunk
and pass out,

it's no fun for me.

And if you get drunk
and pass out,

it's no fun for me.

[**]

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

Uh-uh.

You remember Smokey Bear?

Smokey Bear hates forest fires.

Veronica's got long legs.

Long, lovely legs.

[SEAT CLICKING]

Kiss Veronica.

Now, that's a good idea.

Veronica's
full of good ideas.

[**]

Tomorrow night?

Only, uh, Veronica likes
the Bide-A-Wee better.

Would you take Veronica there
tomorrow night? Please?

Look, I told you

I wouldn't know about tomorrow
night until tomorrow.

Veronica likes the cabins
at the Bide-A-Wee.

They're all built of pine.

Couldn't we hide
at the Bide-A-Wee?

Uh, Veronica's house.

[DISTANT HORNS HONKING]

Tomorrow night.
Please, please?

Veronica, tonight was tonight,
and I like being with you,

but I don't know
how I'm gonna feel tomorrow,

or the next day,
or next Founders' Day.

Veronica is now getting--

And stop saying
"Veronica is"

and "Veronica does"
and that "please, please."

It's stupid and it's common.

Nobody calls
Veronica stupid. Nobody.

And nobody treats Veronica
like a tramp but Veronica.

I'll make that clear to you.

[DOOR SLAMS]

[**]

I don't want
this night to end.

Or this spell
to be broken.

I hate the mornings.

People think the day
begins with the mornings.

People, as usual, are wrong.

[**]

The day ends
with the morning.

He doesn't
have to flatter me

and he didn't have wear
his nails to the quick

climbing into the district
attorney's office.

Oh, Jerry has merit.

He manages to get himself
and others elected.

Mr. Winter?
A gentleman to see you.

Excuse me.

Of course.

NOAH:
He's a politician.

A pox
on the whole breed.

Where'd you
pick him up, Bernie?

At his house.

Hello, Bernie,
what can I do for you?

Uh, we took Warren down
to Joe Harverson's J.P. court.

Joe is holding him
on a complaint.

Speeding again?

Not this time.

Well, what is it, then?

It's a--
Well, it's an alleged offense

against this girl,
Veronica Kovacs.

Veronica had a laugh.

Who's Veronica Kovacs?

BERNIE:
Ah, she's a tramp.

How she could claim
that she was--

I mean, with her, a guy's lucky
he don't get raped.

Where is he?
Joe Harverson's?

Yeah.

Hello,
Mrs. Winner.

You can use the parlor
if you like.

Where does the crumb
think he's going?

Shut up. Where does
that crumb think he's goin'?

Just a minute. I'll run
this thing, Mrs. Kovacs,

if you don't mind.

You go right ahead,
Mrs. Winner.

I don't want
to talk about it, Mom.

That's all right,
Warren.

Your father will be here
in a minute.

May I see
the complaint, Joe?

Mm-hm.

You'll no doubt want
to consult with the accused,

Mr. Winner.
He's in the parlor.

Now, don't tell me
he's goin' in there.

Mrs. Kovacs,
the accused is entitled

to the right
of counsel.

We'll hear you
and your daughter,

the prosecutrix,

when the proper time
arrives.

You go right ahead,
Mr. Winner.

They called me
at the hospital.

Are you gonna
defend me?

Of course
I'm gonna defend you.

I'd rather have
Julius handle it.

You're not Julius' son,
you're mine.

Dad, we sort of talk
at each other,

but we don't
communicate.

Warren, Joe Harverson
has to hold you for trial

if he finds
even the slightest possibility

of a case against you
at the preliminary hearing.

We'd better communicate.

Warren, for God's sake,
let him help you.

I don't want
his kind of help.

Clarissa, there
are a lot of questions--

Go ahead
and ask them.

You don't have to go.
I didn't do anything.

What did happen,
Warren?

Okay.

Last night, after
I dropped Helen off,

I picked her up,
drove to Still Pond,

where I did not rape her.

Boy, if they picked up
every guy in this town--

Every guy won't be
on trial. You will.

And the law assumes
that the lowest tramp

may still be raped.

Now, the elements of rape
are carnal knowledge,

force and the absence
of consent.

Did you have carnal knowledge
of Veronica?

Yes.

Did you use force
on her?

No.
The least bit of force
is enough to convict.

If you--
If you put her in fear.

Fear for her life,
should she resist.

That would be force,
even if you didn't strike her.

Or if she was too drunk
to know what she was doing.

She was as sober
as a judge.

That's a pretty good phrase,
considering.

Were you in the back seat?

The back seat of cars
went out of style

when they put in
the automatic shift.

Don't be flip,
Warren.

Juries don't like it.

And they're gonna
be hearing this.

All of it?

All of it.

Were you drunk?

No.

Did you pay her?

No.

You drove her home?

Yes.

Any talk
on the way back?

Well, she--

She kept asking me,
you know,

when we'd date again.

Next time, she wanted
to go to the Bide-A-Wee.

She kept trying to pin me down,
I wouldn't be pinned down.

I got mad, she got mad.

ARTHUR:
I suggest you're lying.

I suggest Veronica
was drunk.

So drunk
that she couldn't consent.

So there was
presumptive force.

I suggest you lost
your head.

You made all the advances,
not Veronica.

And all the elements of rape
necessary to convict

were committed by you.

Is that what you think?

It doesn't matter
what I think, Warren.

It's what
the district attorney thinks

and what the jury thinks.

You don't understand
why I'm being rough on you.

Well, you've never seen
Jerry Brophy in a courtroom.

This is no joke, Warren.
This is gonna be tough.

And you don't think I understand

what happened last night,
do you?

I sure don't.

Well, I do.
I understand very well.

Lust isn't like love,
Warren.

Lust doesn't
pick the man it grabs.

It just grabs.

Lust, love.
You didn't get that

out of your infallible
law books.

Where did ya get it?

Your generation doesn't have
a monopoly on sex,

legal or illegal.

You just talk about it more.

Okay, what's gonna happen?

That depends.

There are two things
that worry me.

Veronica's lies--

And me.
That's right.

You have a man's confidence,

but the panic and fright
of a boy.

When will it hit the papers?

Not yet.

But if it goes to trial--

It'll be news.
And they'll print it.

I'm going in there,
arrange your bail

and a date for your hearing.

I want you to go home
with your mother.

I'm going to the office
and work out your defense.

Jerry, you are here to act
on behalf of prosecutrix?

JERRY:
No, not until
after Joe's hearing.

JOE:
We can have the hearing

practically any time,
Mr. Winner.

ARTHUR:
All right. Monday?

Monday...

Yes, Monday at 3 p.m.

Fine. Now, about bail.

Just a minute.
I come here--

Ma.
Shut up.

I stay here till I see
that stinkin'--

JERRY:
That's enough of that talk,
Mrs. Kovacs.

That's all right.

I want a court reporter
at the hearing.

Court reporter
at a JP hearing?

Yes. When I cross-examine
the prosecutrix,

I want every word
she utters taken down.

I'll utter 'em
good and loud.

Shut up. I got rights.
I want 'em.

Then I suggest you be here
Monday at 3 p.m.

The defendant is released
in the amount of $750 bail.

I be here. I see you put
that stinkin' louse in jail.

Shut up.

The defendant is released
in the amount of $750 bail,

and not to leave
this jurisdiction

pending appearance
at a hearing before me,

justice of the peace,

in and for the county of Winner
on Monday next at 3 p.m.

Why do young people today
take too much license?

Because opportunity
comes on wheels.

The automobile.

It's the
devil's playground.

What would you call a buggy
and a hayloft of your day?

The devil's playground.

Any word from Dr. Shaw,
Betty Anne?

He's on his way here
between house calls.

Has Helen
heard about it yet?

I don't know.

Well, she's not Clarissa.

Clarissa knows
how to face facts.

Stare the world down.

But Helen...

She's my ward
and I cherish her.

But she's a Detweiler.

The Detweilers always know

the world is too much for them

from the moment they're born.

Not Helen.

Oh.

There you are, Miss Lucy.

Your income
for another quarter.

And here you are,
Dr. Truebridge.

God's presented you
with Christ's Church

for another three months.

Despite your idiocy.

Why don't you write
one more check, Noah.

To Mr. Woolf,
for his client, Junie.

Why?

Well, you don't want to rake up
poor Mike McCarthy's follies,

or buy Junie
the limelight she loves.

Even if it is the limelight
of a witness chair.

Don't you get
tired of it all, Noah?

The-- The trust
you have to guard,

the accounts you have to keep.

The work that
never stops growing.

Never a day's vacation.

Arthur, when I talked
your grandfather

into retiring from the firm,

I used polite, considerate,
sugar-coated words.

Just like those.

But you did get him to leave

the running of the firm
in your hands.

When I become the bumbling
old fogy he became,

you won't have to do to me
what I had to do to him.

Noah...

sit back
in your chair.

Look at that town
out there.

Three-quarters of those people
are our clients.

Trustful of our firm.

We have an obligation
to those people.

A duty to them.
[INTERCOM BUZZES]

BETTY ANNE:
Dr. Reggie's here.

Have him wait
in Mr. Winner's office.

Arthur...

you can make me look out
that window till kingdom come.

But I'll not retire
from this firm

till I'm ready to retire.

Under my own steam.

[SIGHS]

Reggie.

Noah.

Well, Arthur?

Well, come on.
Make it quick.

I've got to see
old Josiah Adams.

Give him hell,
and an aspirin.

Reggie, suppose I make
a formal demand

that Veronica Kovacs submit
to a physical examination.

Why?

Well, she may think
if you examine her,

it'd prove she'd been lying.
That she hadn't been raped.

An examination of Veronica
wouldn't prove a damn thing.

I know it and you know it.
But she may not.

And if she refused,
I'd have a case.

Then you don't have a case.
She won't refuse to be examined.

Reggie, I know that
there's a very small chance,

but it's Warren's
only chance.

Veronica's too sharp
for that.

She's been around more
in her 20 years

than the moon
in its millions.

Oh, go deliver your hell
and your aspirin.

You still taking those pills
I prescribed for you?

No.

Good.

Having people in?

The sewing club.
Bridge.

The date was made
weeks ago.

I didn't think
I should cancel it.

Is Warren here?

No, he went over to Helen's
a little while ago.

I told him
you'd call him there

if you had anything
to tell him.

Well, I'll get a bite out.

I was going back to the office
later anyway.

Fascinating subject, rape.

Crowds the law books.

How is he?

All bottled up. He--
He can't let it out.

He spent the afternoon
rehearsing

how he was gonna
tell Helen about it.

He can't talk to me.
Not really.

Arthur,
it's you he needs.

He doesn't feel close to me.

I never realized it before,

but I don't think he believes
I-I care anything about him.

Why didn't you make him
believe it?

At Joe Harverson's,

why didn't you
put your arms around him?

Why didn't you say
"I'm your father, I love you.

There isn't anything
I wouldn't do for you"?

How can he come close to you
if you won't move close to him?

I tried to
by working for him,

defending him,
believing in him.

It's the only way I know,
Clarissa.

[**]

[**]

I'm sorry I couldn't
get here sooner.

It's all right.

I saw Jerry Brophy.
He told me about Warren.

How is he?

He's confused, hostile,

guilt-ridden,
he won't talk to anyone.

Arthur,
it's you he needs.

He doesn't feel
that way.

I never realized it before,

but he doesn't think I care
anything at all about him.

Neither does Clarissa.

Have you been home?

Just to change.

I came back here
to work and...

The answer isn't
in those books, is it?

Part of it is.

I'm not gonna let Warren down.

I believe in him
and I'm gonna defend him.

And if I can't keep this thing
from going to trial,

I'll tear Veronica Kovac's story
to pieces in court.

But...

that's...

That's not the only thing
that has to be straightened out.

It's not just
Warren or Clarissa

or you or Julius.

It's me.

You've been looking at your life
through the bottle.

Yes. Sometimes, Marjorie,

things aren't distorted
that way.

Did you ever see a more peaceful
and ordered life than mine?

Good husband.

Good father. Good friend.

As you said, "pillar
of the community." True?

Of course it's true.

It's false.
A good husband?

My wife tells me
there's no happiness at all

in our marriage.

A good father?
My son is a stranger

who thinks
I don't love him.

Seems there are some cracks
in the pillar.

In my family,
we've always believed

you kept your house in order
by character.

A way of life
that gave you pride

and respect for yourself.

I've lost all of it.

[**]

[SIGHS]

I came to you for help...

because I needed you.

Because I wanted you.

But I seem to have a special
talent for destruction.

I say things
that can't be taken back.

And I do things
that can't be taken back.

Marjorie.

Marjorie...

Oh, Arthur, hold me.

Just hold me.

Helen, I--

Well, you succeeded,
all right.

You proved it didn't take
more than once with Veronica.

Helen, don't say that.

I suppose you're innocent?

Of course, it's all right
with everyone

if you slept with Veronica,

just so long
as you didn't rape her.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to say that.

What about your father?
What--?

I don't think he can stand
the sight of me now either.

Not that I ever
measured up, really.

Not since the first grade
and I hit you in the nose.

I didn't mind.

You know, if he'd hit me,
I'd have howled,

and that would've been that.

But not him. He said, uh,
"We don't hit girls, Warren,

"because we're stronger.

"I don't expect you
to ever do that again."

Only I know he did expect
that I'd do it again, or worse.

And he was right, as always.

Well, that's just ridiculous.

I-I've heard him praise you
a hundred times for--

For a hundred things,
from--

From doing well
in school, to--

And always as though as he was
just a little surprised

I hadn't disgraced him.

Well, this time I made it.
This time he's not surprised.

[**]

I don't know.
I-I-I just don't know.

I'm so scared and so lost.

Let me help you.

I'll go and see Veronica.

I'll beg her.

I-I-I'll buy her.

I'll do anything, I'll--

I-I-I'll tell her we're in love
with each other,

that we're going
to be married.

That-- That she'll be
ruining both our lives.

That's not true, Helen!

But it could be true.

We could make it true.

Warren, I love you.

I love you so much.

And I believe
you do love me, you do.

If we were married,
everything will be different--

Helen, stop it!
I don't love you.

I wish I did, but I don't.

Why do you make me say
terrible things to you?

That sounds pretty final.

Why don't you go on and make
the rest of the speech.

"You're a good kid, Helen.

And someday,
you'll find the right guy."

Helen, I'm in a cold sweat
about what's gonna happen

to my mother, to my father,
to me, the rest of my life.

I can't think about anything--

Then what did you
come here for?

I don't know!
And I'm sorry I did!

And I never will again.

Helen, it's just--

I know.

I'm a good kid.

[**]

[TYPEWRITER CLICKING]

Morning, Diane.

Oh, good morning, Mr. Winner.
I didn't know you were here.

Yes, I, uh...

She has a 10:00 appointment.

Oh.

Morning, Helen.

Good morning, Uncle Arthur.

I'm sorry, I didn't know
you were here.

That's all right.
I-- I kept busy.

That your file again?
Mm-hm.

I often wondered what you found
so fascinating about that.

I once had a notion
that vital statistics,

everything down
in black and white...

Well, it seemed sort of
a proof that I was real.

They're just...

numbers and figures
about a name.

I'm not really
in that file at all.

I-I came to say goodbye,
Uncle Arthur.

You're going away?

For how long?

Well, as long as possible.

But, where to?

Well, I'm going from, not to.

It's the bill
for my first lipstick.

Seduction.

Isn't this rather
a sudden decision?

I saw Noah yesterday,
he didn't mention it.

Oh, I don't think
he'll be surprised.

He's known how long
I've thought about it.

Helen, don't you think if you
go now, it'll look as though

you condemned Warren

before he even
went on trial.

Oh, but I-I'll make it
very clear

that I haven't gone
because of Warren.

For a while, I thought I could
stay because of him.

But I really couldn't.

Well, not for long,
even if he loved me.

What makes you think he doesn't?

Well, he told me.

It seemed cruel of him,
but it wasn't, you know.

It was brave and hard to do.

It's so much easier going on
with something,

even if you know it's wrong.

That's why I'm going now.

Though it's hard to do.

[PHONE RINGS]

Excuse me.

Yes.

Oh, I'll take it
in my office, Betty Anne.

Don't go yet, please.

Oh, don't worry about me,
Uncle Arthur.

I'm really very happy
and excited about going away.

Sometimes on a trip...

[CHUCKLES]

...they say you find yourself.

I'll be right back.

Hello, Julius.

Good, that's fine.

You are?

What time does your plane
get in, Julius?

All right, see you then.

Goodbye.

Helen?

[**]

Jerry, what's the matter?

Warren.

He took off.

What do you mean,
"took off"?

Just that.

We spotted his car
on the Albany road,

near the state line.

Well--

Jerry, are you sure
it was his car?

I had to put it
on the Teletype.

Special bulletin to the
state police to pick him up.

Arthur, if they can get him
before he hits the state line,

I'm gonna have to add the charge
of breaching bail on a felony.

Thanks, Jerry.

You'll be here
if there's any news?

No, I'd, uh-- I'd like to go
with you, if you don't mind.

Fine.

I'll be out
in the car.

[DOOR OPENS,
CLOSES]

Arthur, don't feel
that he's letting you down.

He's not acting they way
a Winner should,

or the way you would.

Oh, it isn't that,
it's--

He panicked.

There's nothing
for me to do but wait.

Well...

I'll, uh-- I'll be...

[RINGING]

Hello?

Oh, hello, Arthur.

What?!

Oh, no.

[**]

Look, Duncan, you've been
a coroner long enough

to know that nobody swallows
cleaning fluid by accident.

Phenol compound.

I don't know how Helen
got it down.

Yes.

Oh, uh. I've, uh...

I've got the suicide note here.
I'll see that you get it.

NOAH:
Uh, Reggie.

Uh, I'll have that, please.

Uh, Duncan, this is Noah Tuttle.

I want you to hear
Helen's letter.

"Dear Noah, I guess
we Detweilers have always been

"the town suicide family.

"Even my mother and father's
drowning was no accident,

"though I know how hard
you tried to make me think so.

"And you know how hard
I've tried to hide

"my spells of depression,

"but they've grown deeper
every year.

"And suddenly, it's too hard.

"Do one last favor
for me, darling.

"You've done so many.

"Give my love to Warren,

"who's been my closest friend.

"Tell him I know his troubles
will soon be over,

"just as I knew he was innocent
before he even told me so.

"My will is in
your office vault.

"Now, with a kiss for goodbye,

Helen."

All right, Duncan?

Good.

Now, m-may I suggest
that you hold a closed inquest,

reach a quick decision

and issue a--

A short statement
to the press?

Yes, I knew you would.

That's all.

Uh, here's Reggie.

Hello.

Anything else,
Duncan?

No, it isn't.

I moved the body.

Yes, Bernie Breck
is here.

All right.

Certainly.

She was in our library
just this morning.

Taking a last look at all
she had left in the world.

A bunch of legal papers.

She practically drew
a suicide map for me,

only I was too blind
to read it.

Clarissa...

as you get older,
you realize there are things

once put into motion...

Life has once put into motion,

and they can't be changed.

They must follow a course
to an inevitable end.

Sometimes inevitability...
is bitter beyond belief.

[CAR APPROACHING OUTSIDE]

Come in.

Marjorie.

Would you like some coffee?

Or a drink?

No, thank you.

Why did she do it, Arthur?

I guess Helen wanted something
she couldn't have.

And she couldn't live
without having it.

Julius called this morning
from Washington.

He'll be here in an hour.

I know, he wired me.

I'm gonna pick him up
at the airport

and drive him to the office.

Something about, uh...

Helen's suicide?

I found some things in her file
that led to other things,

and those other things
couldn't wait.

How's Warren taking it?

Warren's gone. He ran away.

He ran away.

Helen ran away.

You and I have been
running away too.

Together.

Marjorie.

That's what I wanna
talk to you about.

I've been
thinking about it.

I knew Julius
would be coming home,

whether it's tonight
or tomorrow.

So I've made a decision.

I'm leaving Julius.

But because of Julius and me,
nothing else.

I've tried.

Marjorie.

If he had just once

taken a step towards me,

I'd have run a mile toward him.

But there's no hope for us now.

And I'm through asking
for a divorce.

I'm just leaving.

And after that?

I don't know.

You, uh...

You realize how much
you'll be hurting Julius?

Not as much
as he hurts himself.

Marjorie, it was wrong.
We both know that.

But you did
bring something to me.

Something I--

I treasure.

[**]

We aren't saying goodbye,

not to each other.

Only to a memory.
Something that happened.

We were both unhappy
and angry,

and things had piled up
on us.

We needed something.

An escape.

An act of defiance.

Yes.

But you've made me
feel alive again,

and I love you for it.

[**]

[PHONE RINGS]

Hello.

Yes.

Oh, fine.

Uh, did you get the hotel
reservation in New York?

Good.

12:45.

Well, I'll pick the ticket up
at the airport.

Thank you.

[**]

Mrs. Penrose.

Uh...

Warren.

Oh, I'm so very sorry.

I know what you
must be feeling.

Well, that's why
I came to you, Marjorie.

We kind of understand
each other.

Will you lend me some money?

Money?

Yes, of course, but...

I, uh--

I got as far
as the state line,

and, uh, I stopped
for a hamburger

and I found I had
a fast $1.60.

Well, I've made up my mind.

I'm gonna get out of here,
Marjorie.

Town can stop worrying,
did I or didn't I?

I'll leave the town to Veronica.
They can have it her way.

You haven't heard about Helen.

Heard what about Helen?

She's dead, Warren.

She committed suicide.

You know,

I lied to Helen.

I did love her, in a way.

I could talk to her and she'd
understand almost always.

But, you know, you can't play
with someone's love

and expect forgiveness.

This is my fault too,
isn't it, Marjorie?

You didn't kill her.

She killed herself.

The things in her life
she had to face were...

She was right
not to understand.

And I know my father
never will.

Oh, now wait a minute, Warren.

You're passing judgment
on somebody

I don't think
you even know:

Your father.

He probably doesn't understand
you completely.

But he does believe in you.

And he would do anything
in the world for you.

Have you ever tried
to understand him?

At all?

[SIGHS]

You didn't come here
for a lecture.

You came to borrow money.

I'll give it to you.

Then you decide what to do.

When I read Helen's will--

She left everything to Noah,
of course.

--there were some things
in her accounts

that made me
take a look at Noah's.

Noah's not incompetent,

he just made himself seem so
to cover what he was doing.

He paid Helen the income
from her father's estate

every three months,
right to the day.

And with all his other
accounts, same story.

Income paid on time.

Assets missing
and unaccounted for.

How much is missing?

Three hundred
and eight thousand dollars,

263 and 8 cents.

Why, Arthur?

Why?

Thirty years ago,

Noah dreamed a dream.

He persuaded the people
of this town to invest

in a company he owned.

A trolley line.

Four years later, the dream
turned into a nightmare.

The company went broke.

It should have gone
into bankruptcy.

But it didn't.

But the people got
all their money back.

Oh, yeah.

They were so delighted
to get it, they never asked how.

Well, that's the money
he embezzled.

And that's why.

[SIGHS]

Well,

we better call Jerry Brophy.

To do what?

To put Noah in prison.
This is a felony, Arthur.

Julius,

who did Noah harm?

Look at the accounts.

Everybody's getting
their income.

To the penny, to the day.

Noah juggling the money
from one account to the other.

Sooner or later,
it'll be discovered.

Wouldn't that be inevitable,
Arthur?

He's thought of that.

All right, he did wrong.

But can you imagine
what hell it was, Julius?

Every minute of every day,

26 years,
waiting for this.

I might,

but I'm a little surprised
that you do.

No, Arthur.

You've always been a devout
letter-of-the-law man.

Black was always black,
white was always white.

Nothing in between.

I've discovered gray.

What exactly
are you proposing?

That we keep quiet
about this?

Become accessories
after the fact?

Compound a felony?

Noah's repaid all
but a quarter of the money.

If he lives long enough,
he'll pay off the rest.

And if he dies?

Well, if he dies,

we'll go on with it.

If we have to,
we'll pay it off for him.

You and I.

No one will know,
but no one will be hurt.

Well, why don't we
pay it back now?

Then there'd be nothing
to worry about.

Except Noah.
We'd have to tell him.

He might be delighted.

[SCOFFS]

No, Julius. If he knew
we'd found him out...

You said it.
It would destroy him.

Last Tuesday,

you wanted to tell Noah
he was incompetent.

Too old, too feeble
to run the firm.

It was your duty
to tell the truth!

Never mind
if it destroyed him.

That was Tuesday.
This is Friday.

What happened in between?

Wednesday and Thursday.

Would you go along with this?

Sure I will.

Drink?

Thanks.

You know, Arthur,
I like you better this way.

But there was
a certain security in having

a devout letter-of-the-law man
for a partner.

No surprises, maybe.

But no shocks.

I found a certain security
in it too.

[THUNDER CRASHES]

[**]

By the time you hear
the thunder,

the lightning's
already struck.

I've been told that
since I was 2.

It never helps.

Any word about Warren?

Not yet.

Would you, uh--?

Would you like to go downstairs
and light a fire?

Yes.

Clarissa, some of the things
you said at the hospital--

With your lawyer's mind,

you remember them all,
don't you?

I'll tell you
what I remember.

I remember that from the time
I was a small boy,

I always said,

"When I grow up, I'm going
to marry Clarissa Tuttle."

I remember when I looked down

at that damned bouquet
in my hands, I thought,

"I'll never let him go."

Because ever since I was
a little girl I thought,

"If Arthur Winner doesn't
marry me, I'll die."

Do you think he'll come back
on his own?

I don't know, I--

I hope so.

So I didn't let you go.

And later, when I--

I began to wonder
if you did love me,

my pride was working.

I-I didn't want any favors.

It isn't that
I didn't love you.

It's...

Ah, it's so hard to say.

Try.

Well...

If--

If I come home
and you're not here, I--

I can't stay
in this house.

I-I hate it!

I never pass a shop window
without thinking,

"She'd like that."

Or, "She wouldn't like this."

I love the way you look.

I'm proud of you.

And if you catch cold

or get hurt,
or something happens to you,

I get angry, as though you've
been careless with a part of me.

You're so woven into my life

nothing could get you
loose from it. Nothing!

[DOOR CLOSES]

They didn't catch me, Dad.
I came back on my own.

I can't explain,
I'm so sorry.

Warren...

There's nothing
you have to explain.

You're accused,
you're not guilty.

It's what we have courts
and juries for.

You may have to stand trial.

But you're gonna win.

I can promise you that.

And you're not alone.

We love you
and we're with you.

I need you so much, Dad.

[**]

You're leaving?

Yes.

Tonight.

On a plane to New York.

You can take your freedom.

It's long overdue.

Why, Julius?

Why do you say that now?

What else is there to say?

The end of anything
that once was good is sad.

The memory of love
is a heartbreaking thing.

But it's not enough to build on,
is it?

You're still a human being

with human wants
and human needs.

And I'm still a cripple.

You are what you are.

A strong, moody,
complicated man.

And you are a cripple.

But that needn't keep you
from affection,

warmth, fun and friendship

and love.

All of those are human needs.

Do you still have the hope
you used to have

that someday, somehow,

we can get back all those things
we had before?

That hope.

Have you ever felt it?

Constantly.

Secretly.

And senselessly.

Because every time you tried
to rebuild our life...

I tore it down.

I couldn't.

I...

[**]