Family Secrets (1984) - full transcript

[traffic noises]

RADIO ANNOUNCER: No other tie-ups reported with traffic

is starting to build on this Friday afternoon.

The beginning of the weekend also brings Chicago

its first sign of spring with temperatures

rising to 68 at 3 o'clock.

Skies are clear with no sign of precipitation,

and we look forward to--

[sirens]

BARRY: They're scoring the music at 4:00 today,

so I'll have a tape to play along with the storyboard.



JESSIE: Mm-hm.

Linda, make a note.

I want a mnemonic effect.

What?

Every time they spray the product, something that clicks,

sticks in the mind.

Spray, click.

I'll get on it right away.

Get it down pat.

Yeah, we'll have a final rehearsal tomorrow

and do the full presentation.

Good.

Then do it again Sunday morning.

It's got to be smooth.



What kind of clients meet on a Sunday anyway?

Nervous ones.

Well, they can't be more nervous than me.

I wish you were staying for this meeting, Jessie.

You'll be fine, Barry, I promise.

Besides, the clients already bought the campaign.

This is just the follow-up.

Now I know this is the worst of all possible times

to leave you both, but there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm sorry.

It never is a good time, and you put in enough hours.

We'll be fine, won't we, Barry?

How can you leave?

Aren't you afraid I'll take your job?

[laughs] Sure.

Give 'em hell, Barry.

LINDA: Have a terrific weekend.

Thanks, you, too. And don't forget.

[snaps]

[revving]

[gasps]

You're pretty jumpy.

Well, I thought you were a cop.

Oh, yeah. Well, you're lucky I'm not.

It's a no parking zone, you know.

I'm not parking. I'm waiting for somebody.

Yeah, well, why don't I, uh, just wait with you?

I've got a better idea.

Yeah?

What?

Why don't you take that bike and go park it in a lake?

[laughs] You're pretty cute.

Come on.

Why don't you give me your number?

Come on.

Sure.

Four.

[revving]

Sorry I'm late.

SARA: Can I drive?

On the way home, maybe.

Who was your friend?

What friend?

The creep on the motorcycle.

That creep was not my friend.

Oh?

In fact, he asked me for my number.

And?

I told him, "four."

Cute.

I thought so, too.

I think you should be more careful who you talk to.

SARA: I didn't talk to him, Mother.

He talked to me.

He's not exactly someone I'm dating.

[music playing]

JESSIE: Let's hope we can beat the traffic.

I'd love to get there before dark.

SARA: Mags called just before I left the house.

JESSIE: Again?

SARA: I guess she's real anxious to see us.

JESSIE: Terrific.

We only have this weekend to get her all packed up.

The movers are coming first thing Monday,

and we have to have everything done.

How can you eat that garbage?

Want some?

Now don't expect to watch television or go

running off with your friends.

Packing up a house is an enormous job.

We have to orchestrate this move very carefully.

If we plan everything out, we can eliminate

a lot of wasted effort.

You make it sound like an ad campaign.

New, easy-- Pack Mom Off Cream--

non-greasy.

That's not a bad idea for an ad.

Give me a bite of that.

Mm.

Mm.

SARA: It's so beautiful here, isn't it?

JESSIE: "Boring" is the word I had in mind.

Mom, let's cut through the campus.

We don't have time, Sara.

Please?

[sighs] All right.

[music playing]

SARA: Can we drive past the stadium?

Maybe they're having practice.

And then we can go by the mall.

JESSIE: Sara, we don't have time for a tour.

[honking]

All right, just what I need.

Come on!

[honking]

I knew we shouldn't have come this way.

This traffic is horrendous.

It's not the traffic.

You always get uptight before we get to the house.

JESSIE: I'm taking the dorm road.

I want to get out of this place.

I hope you and Maggie can get along this weekend.

What a novel idea.

Mom, will you please try?

Sara, I always try.

Let's just get through the weekend, OK?

CROWD: One!

What's going on?

CROWD: Two!

I don't know.

CROWD: Three!

[screaming]

Oh, wait a minute.

It's finals week.

Everybody takes 10 minutes to open their windows and scream.

It's sort of like a primal scream.

Well, come on. Let's scream back.

Come on.

[screams] God, I love it.

I love this school.

It's not for you, Sara.

It was for you.

I had no choice.

My dad was the dean.

You're going to a college that's going

to be good for your career.

By the way, that reminds me--

what is my career?

[music playing]

[honking]

Mrs. Calloway, I presume?

Get over here.

Oh.

How was your trip?

SARA: It was long and boring, but it's

worth it to see you, Mags.

MAGGIE: Oh.

Well, Mother, we're here.

Well, here you are.

Did you have something to eat? SARA: Mm-hm.

Lots of junk food.

MAGGIE: [laughs]

JESSIE: Sara, come and give me a hand with this.

Get all this stuff out, and we can get started.

Now, Mother, I know this whole thing seems

overwhelming to you, but if we work out a plan,

we can get it all done.

I thought we'd start with Dad's books and papers.

Then we can move up to--

Mother?

You didn't sell your stuff.

Well, I thought I'd better get started.

You should've waited for us.

Oh, don't worry.

It's 40 years of living in this house.

Plenty of cartons to fill, my dear.

Home.

Jessie, you're in the guest room, all right?

Sure.

Where else?

God, I'm going to miss this room.

I always forget I have all these neat books here.

What are you going to do with them?

Well, that's up to you.

They're yours.

I thought you'd like to take them back to Chicago with you.

Yeah.

Why don't you take them to your new condo?

That way, I have something to read when I come visit.

[laughs] "Little Women."

Do you remember when we'd sit together and read this book,

and we'd be crying?

Grandpa would come in, and he thought somebody had died.

Weren't they great-- the times we had here?

You and me and Grandpa.

And mom.

All settled?

Yeah.

How would you like some of my special hot chocolate?

Terrific.

I'll unpack.

Jessie?

Fine with me.

[music playing]

I had to do this room first.

I knew it would be the toughest, and it was.

Emotional?

No, it was just such a mess.

That's what I liked about it.

I could always be as messy as I wanted to in here,

and he'd never complain.

Well, your father was a brilliant scholar,

but he wasn't famous for neatness.

It seems so sterile.

None of his pipes, his papers that

were always falling off the desk, that old gray sweater

on the couch.

It's almost as if he never lived.

I didn't know what to do with that sweater.

It had to be 20 years old at least.

I didn't know whether to keep it or give it to someone.

I even thought of burying it with him.

That would have been a kick.

What did you do with it?

Well, I put it with his other things

and gave them all to the fire department.

Fire department?

They were collecting clothes.

They keep them on hand for people who get burned out.

I thought it was a worthy cause.

Sure.

I guess Dad wouldn't have cared where his clothes

went after he was dead.

Lord knows he didn't care about them when he was alive.

Sometimes I think you spent as much time in here as he did.

Well, it was an easy room to be in.

Did you know there was a time when your father decided

to be neat and efficient?

He read an article somewhere that said the trick was to keep

the top of your desk clean at the end of the day,

so he did it, and the next morning,

came in and sat down at this perfectly

clean, organized desk, and it paralyzed him.

He couldn't for the life of him figure out how to get started.

I just have--

I think he just swept everything into the top drawer.

- I'd like to keep his desk. - His desk?

JESSIE: Yeah.

You know, it's actually in pretty good shape.

All those papers protected it all those years.

Jessie, I sold the desk.

What?

But--

It was too big for my new apartment.

I didn't need it.

What about me?

Well, I didn't think you'd want it.

Well, who did you sell it to?

I'll buy it back.

Well, I don't know.

A used furniture dealer.

I don't believe this.

You sold my father's desk to a stranger.

You didn't even ask me if I wanted it.

Jessie, be reasonable.

Now how could I know?

You never said I--

your apartment is that--

what is it? Tech?

High tech.

But anyway, what difference does that make?

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I did something to upset you,

because I knew that I would.

I just wasn't sure what it would be.

I never dreamed it would be selling the desk.

Mother!

Mother, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, too.

Friday's never a very good night for me,

and I'm exhausted.

I promise that I will wake up tomorrow with a smile.

It's just that I've been working my tail off

on this new campaign, and I haven't

had a weekend off in months.

So if I seem a little testy, that's the reason.

Is that the reason?

You're overworked?

And what about the other times you come home?

You don't see anyone.

You don't go anywhere.

And you can't wait to leave.

OK.

I guess I don't like coming home very much.

I get sad now that Dad's gone.

I don't feel very comfortable.

Not comfortable in this house?

It's not this house, Mother.

It's here, this place.

I never think about it until I come here.

Oh, that's nonsense.

You shouldn't feel that way.

Well, maybe I shouldn't feel that way, Mother, but I do.

It's like coming back to the scene of my crime.

Your crime?

SARA: Mom?

OK, everybody.

Don't say anything important.

Sara's here.

We weren't saying anything important.

Is that right, Mom?

Mother said it.

Mother's always right.

[music playing]

Morning!

Good morning, darling.

- I love your robe. - Well, you should.

You gave it to me for Christmas.

Mags, what are you doing with these kinky cereals?

How can cereals be kinky?

Captain Energy and Space Wheels?

Oh, I don't know.

I got them with coupons.

Would you like orange juice grapefruit juice?

Do you have tomato?

No, and I don't have orange either.

You'll have grapefruit.

I wish you didn't have to leave.

Why can't you just stay here?

Because I don't want to stay here.

It's too big.

It's too expensive, too much work.

And it's lonesome without Grandpa.

OK, now give me a good reason.

Oh, I like where I'm going.

Everything's brand new.

If anything breaks, I just call the manager.

He comes up and fixes it.

It's efficient.

And there's an extra bedroom for you when you come and visit.

Whenever that'll be.

I'm going to be thousands of miles

away stuck up in Bryn Mawr.

Well, I'd hardly call that stuck.

I wish I'd gone Bryn Mawr.

It's a good, good school.

I'm not going, because it's a good school.

I'm going because it'll be good for my career.

And what is your career?

How should I know?

Does your mother always sleep this late?

[music playing]

It's almost 9 o'clock.

I don't call that getting a head start on the weekend.

Mom's really dragging lately.

All she does is work on this new campaign

and then meet with the lawyer about the divorce.

Oh, good morning.

[music stops]

SARA: Morning.

Good morning.

Here you go.

Don't drink it.

Mags, you have any sweetener?

I have some brown sugar.

Sugar?

Oops, you said the magic word.

Mother, you're not eating sugar.

Well, sometimes I have honey in my tea.

Well, that's just as bad.

You're leaving yourself wide open for diabetes.

You shouldn't be drinking coffee.

Sugar is the worst.

And salt. I hope you're not using salt.

Only when I eat.

[laughs]

OK, go ahead.

Joke all you want.

I'm only trying to prolong your life.

Oh, Jessie, we've heard this song before,

and I'm way ahead of you.

I brought both my children up on good wholesome food,

and I'm happy to say they are both strong and healthy.

Both your children?

You mean Sara and me?

[phone rings]

I'll get it.

It's probably for her.

Hello?

Hi!

It's for me.

How could it be for her?

She just got here.

It's probably one of those boys in Chicago.

She's on the phone incessantly, and the apartment's

always filled with boys.

How's your divorce going?

As well as any divorce.

MAGGIE: Oh, Jessie, please, not before breakfast.

You know, Mother, I think I'm gonna throw in the towel

after this one.

I like Burt.

Hm, everybody likes Burt.

That's the problem.

Another woman?

Several.

Different sizes, different shapes,

a very interesting assortment.

MAGGIE: Are you sure?

Mother, you made it very easy.

Lipstick on the collar, hotel keys,

hang-ups on the telephone, really boring clues.

Well, did you talk about it?

What was there to talk about?

It's as if he wanted to be caught.

Well, that's what I mean.

He was probably trying to get your attention.

You were probably preoccupied with your office.

That's right, Mother.

It was probably my fault.

I am only suggesting that if you want to save a marriage,

there are steps you can take.

There are things you can do.

Things I could do?

I wasn't the one that was fooling around, Mother.

SARA: OK, talk to you soon.

Bye.

That was Boog.

Imagine him calling me long distance.

It's Saturday.

Rates are lower.

Thanks, Mom.

What's a Boog?

Exactly what it sounds like, only shorter.

Mom doesn't approve of Boog.

She thinks we're sleeping together.

Would you like some eggs for breakfast, Sara?

I think you've just shocked your grandmother.

No, I just can't handle salacious conversation

before breakfast. [phone rings]

- I'll get it. - No.

I'll get it. It just might be for me.

Hello?

I did not say I thought you were sleeping with Boog.

I said I hoped you weren't.

Well, do you want to know?

Oh.

I'll tell you if you want to know.

Please.

All right, you go around the back, get some cartons,

and I'll get started inside.

Ugh, Mom, I hate doing that.

Why? They don't want them.

They just throw them out.

Oh.

Thanks.

[music playing]

Hi.

Did you get the boxes? Mm-hm.

They're in the car.

Good.

Now get one head of lettuce.

Hi, Lowell.

Hey, how you doing?

You don't remember me, do you?

Yeah.

Maybe.

I do-- what's your name?

Sara Calloway.

Right, right.

You still don't remember me, do you?

I hate these guessing games.

I hate guessing games. No, I don't.

You look familiar, but I don't know you, no.

We met at a party last Christmas.

Party?

You were the one I took home.

No.

I'm the one you spilled potato salad on.

What's your name again?

Sara Calloway.

From Chicago.

Yes, you remember.

You're looking great, you know?

Thanks. So you you doing?

You still working at Smitty's?

No, no.

I quit that.

I'm looking for something else.

How long are you in town for?

Just a weekend.

I'm visiting my grandma.

Just a weekend, huh?

Well, maybe we can get together.

What do you think?

Sure.

I am kind of busy, though.

I'm helping her pack at the house.

So is my mom. In fact, she's here.

She's right over there.

That's your mom.

You're kidding me?

Nope.

Come on.

Mom, I'd like you to introduce you to a friend

of mine, Lowell Judson.

Hello, how are you?

Um, I'm fine, thank you.

You will excuse us, won't you?

We have shopping to do.

Yeah, I got to go.

Listen, I'll give you a call, Sara, right?

We're the only Calloways in the book.

Calloway, Calloway, Calloway, Calloway.

Who was that creep?

He's not a creep, Mom.

He's my friend.

Oh?

Since when?

Since I met him at a party last Christmas break.

Some kind of party.

Are those the kind of friends you hang out

with when you're here?

Mom, why do you have to find something

wrong with every boy I know?

Do you want fish or chicken?

Why do you always ask me that?

I hate fish, and I'm getting to hate chicken too.

Why can't we have something daring like roast beef?

Oh.

Do you really think I find fault with all your boyfriends?

Mm-hm.

Well, if that's the case, then I

will do my best to find the more positive

qualities in your friends.

Great.

You taking that magazine?

This garbage?

Certainly not.

Don't look now, Mom, but one of your mother-in-laws

is over there.

Where?

SARA: [laughing]

Oh, no.

Did she see us?

Yep, and you've seen her.

Who's going to start the act first?

Jessie, how are you?

Mother Fenwick, hello.

Oh.

Mom, there she is.

Oh, boy.

OK, let's see the charm.

Stop it.

How nice to see you.

How nice to see you.

Jessie, you look marvelous.

Well, thank you.

So do you.

We're just here for the weekend.

Mother sold the house.

She's moving into the Bunker Hill Condos.

Ooh, Bunker Hill?

Isn't that the one for senior citizens?

No.

That's the one for all citizens.

Oh.

How is Marshall?

Couldn't be better.

His boys are in prep school.

No, they were just born.

Sara's going to college in the fall.

MRS. FENWICK: Really?

Bryn Mawr.

How nice.

Well, Jessie, you must bring us up next time you come to town.

Marshall and his wife would love to see you.

Oh, I'm sure they would.

Give them my best regards, won't you?

Bye bye.

Oh, that pompous cow.

Well, it's a surprise.

It's just so irritating.

She is such a snob.

That's news to you?

She's always hated me.

Don't be so melodramatic, Sara.

She doesn't hate you.

She resents me for marrying her son.

Clearly, he was meant for better things.

Well, she doesn't approve of me.

You may have married her son, but we

all know he wasn't my father.

So what's that got to do with the price of eggs?

Well, after all, I am a bastard.

I would hardly call you that.

But what would you call it?

An accident?

A love child?

Or how about good old illegitimate?

I call it a child.

I had you.

I loved you, and I raised you.

You raised me?

That's news.

OK, I guess it's time for another one of our talks.

We've had this all out before, Sara, but I'll say it again.

I won't have you going through life

believing I didn't raise you.

I was nine years old when I finally got to live with you.

Count them-- nine years.

You were a baby when I married Marshall.

He wanted to go up to the Peace Corps.

Four years in the jungle was no place for a child.

I would have managed.

I took you with me when I got home.

Not quite.

You came home, you divorced Marshall,

and then you split for Chicago.

Where I went to find a job.

I had to try and start some sort of a career,

so I could afford to have you come and live with me.

I worked my butt off to give you what you wanted.

I wanted you, and you weren't there.

I was stuck in an apartment with a nanny

while you were at your damn office.

Don't lay that guilt trip on me, Sara.

My mother was home all day, and it didn't keep

me from growing up neurotic.

Anyway, I'm here for you now.

OK?

Hm?

OK.

Come on.

There is something I want to talk to you about.

Anything.

I want you to take me to your gynecologist.

My gynecologist?

Is something wrong?

No.

Then what?

I want to get birth control pills.

[sighs]

Well, Mom, I am 18 years old.

Oh, sure.

MAGGIE: Hi, there.

Did you have any adventures?

JESSIE: Ugh.

It's like a cold wind blew in from the north.

What happened?

It, uh, turns out my daughter resents me for working.

Never mind I worked around the clock

in order to give her everything she wants,

including an Ivy League education.

Don't make a total horror story out of it.

After all, you enjoy working.

I do have to work, Mother.

You will give me that, won't you?

I had to figure out some way to support myself and Sara,

and why do you think I married Burt?

In order to give Sara a father.

You can't blame Sara, because your marriage to Burt

didn't work.

I'm not blaming Sara.

Well, it doesn't matter.

I just realized how much alike the two of you are.

I spent the first part of my life

worrying about your approval.

Now I'm going to spend the rest of my life worrying about hers.

Now, Jessie, hold on.

If Sara's taking you on for working, it's normal.

The girl's got to pick on her mother for something.

That's not the only thing we talked about.

She asked me to take her to my gynecologist

for birth control pills.

Well, aren't you shocked?

I'm not sure, really.

I suppose it's better than getting pregnant.

Like I did.

I didn't say that.

I need some air.

[music playing]

Jessie, we weren't going to have this kind of weekend.

You're never going to let me forget it, are you?

It's forgotten, over, and done with.

We've discussed all this before.

Oh, yes, we've discussed it.

That's all we ever did was discuss it.

When I came to you, five months pregnant and scared to death,

all I wanted you to do was put your arms around me

and say, there, there.

But you wanted to discuss it.

You're right, Mother.

I don't like coming home, and I can't wait to leave.

[music playing]

Not "The Merry Widow," please.

[old showtunes playing]

[BOX CRASHING AND ITEMS BREAKING]

I thought we'd just take everything downstairs

and sort it out down there.

I don't think there's much furniture.

Of course, I haven't been up here in years.

Get some light in here.

Mother, does this bulb have some sentimental value?

Well, I never did my heavy reading up here.

Open the curtains, and we'll see what we've got.

Well, it could be worse.

Now, Jessie, whatever you do, promise

you won't throw anything out without showing it to me first.

I might need it.

Do you think you need these check stubs from 1963?

Let me look.

I may have written something on the back of them.

All right.

I'll tell you what we'll do.

We will take all of this downstairs.

Just don't throw anything out.

We won't.

Fetching.

Open the window here.

Get some air.

If she plays another operette, I'm going to jump.

Mom?

What?

Look at this.

What is that?

Nitroglycerin.

Where did you get this?

I found it in Mag's medicine cabinet.

I didn't know about this.

Did you?

No.

Is it serious?

Well, it doesn't have to be.

Let's go ask her about this.

No, I don't think we should both ask her, Mom.

Maybe she'll get embarrassed.

All right, you ask her about this, but get an answer.

Don't let her off the hook.

OK.

Here, let's pull this out.

OK.

[groaning]

See what hidden treasures we have here.

Wow.

What is it?

I don't know.

I've never seen these before.

Hm?

Look.

He kept them.

Who?

They belonged to my father.

Well, they're not bad.

They're not great, but they're not bad.

I'll go show Mags. - No, no.

Don't. - Why not?

Just put them back where you found them.

I'll get rid of them.

Oh, wait a minute.

If they belong to Gramps, they belong to Mags, too, right?

Sara.

Well, then who do they belong to?

Can't you just once do what I ask instead of making

a federal case out of it?

I just want to know why I can't show these to Mags?

Because you can't, OK?

Well, come on.

Get busy.

Not bad for 40 years.

16 garbage bags and half a ton of newspapers.

Now, Mother, this is all throw out.

Oh, and look.

Let me look.

It's garbage, I promise you.

You're not throwing out my Ken doll.

What in the world are you going to do with a Ken doll?

Well, I don't know what I'm do with it,

but I am going to keep it.

Will you look at this?

I haven't seen this-- it must be 30 years.

What is it?

A Ouija board.

Don't you remember Ouija boards?

Does it work?

It didn't then.

I don't suppose it does now.

Well, Mother, I would never expect

you to throw out a 30-year-old Ouija board that never worked.

I'd like to give some of this stuff

to the retired teachers home.

I figure when I wind up there, I'll be with my own things.

Sara, let's get some of this stuff up front.

I'll get it later, Mom.

Never mind.

I'll do it.

You go help your grandmother.

[music playing]

Oh, my old girl scout belt.

Oh, I'm sorry, dear.

Did I hurt you?

No, you didn't really hurt me, just got me a little.

What were you standing there for?

- Let me help you with that. - It's all right, honey.

No, no. I've got it.

I've got it, baby.

I--

[glass breaks]

Sorry.

It's all right.

Would you mind telling me why you've

attached yourself to my hip?

I don't want you to leave.

That's all.

I can't stand packing up this house,

and I don't want you to go.

Well, I've had enough of this house.

Well, I haven't, not nearly enough.

I'm not going very far.

It's less than 20 minutes from here.

And I told you there's an extra bed

for when you come and visit.

Well, what is it?

Out with it.

I cleaned out your medicine cabinet today.

It's full of little bottles of pills.

Is that what's bothering you-- my pills?

It's nothing.

And these?

Also nothing.

Oh, come on, Mags.

Whenever I'm tired, I have a little pain in my chest.

I put one onto my tongue.

People need medicine when they get older.

That's all.

It's nothing.

I'll be around a little while longer, dear.

I couldn't stand it if you weren't.

Well, there will be a day I won't be here.

No!

I don't want to hear that.

And life will go on, Sara.

And you will go on, and we'll both be the better

for everything we're doing now, for every minute

we're spending together.

This is what counts, not what happened yesterday

or what's going to happen tomorrow.

This, here, now.

I have something very important to ask you.

What?

Do you think you could possibly pull yourself together

and whip us up a fancy dessert for dinner, something

fattening and bad for us?

[music playing]

[honking]

Be nice.

Find a positive.

Hey, how you doing?

I'm doing fine, Lowell.

How are you doing?

I'm doing great.

Sara around?

Yes, she's in the house.

Would you like to go in?

No, I just came to ask her something.

Could you give her a yell for me?

Give her a yell?

Yeah, sure.

I'll give her a yell.

Sara, there's someone out here who wants to see you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

SARA: Hi, Lowell.

What's going on?

How you doing?

Fine art of conversation.

A bunch of us are going out on the lake.

You want to go along? - When?

Today? - Yeah, today.

Now.

They're there already.

I just came by to see if you wanted to go.

Come on.

Hop in.

I've got a lot to do.

LOWELL: It'll be fun.

It's a picnic.

We've got sandwiches and beer.

It's fun at the lake.

Sara, would you give me a hand here, when you're finished?

Look, I've got a lot to do still,

but maybe I'll come by later.

Well, I can hang around and wait for you.

No, if I can get away, I'll drive myself.

OK.

I'll see you later.

See you later.

[car revving]

Well, what do you want me to do?

Sara, I know you said I'm critical of your friends,

and I don't want to be.

But I don't like that boy.

Mom, he's not a boy.

He's in his 20s.

Oh, so he's a man.

So why do you think he wants to take you to the lake?

I don't know.

Maybe he wants to go swimming.

Oh, that's cute.

That's very cute.

Mom, get off my case.

Sara, wait a minute.

I'm talking to you, young lady.

You know, for a modern career woman, you're pretty uptight.

I'm uptight, because I don't want you to go running

off with some redneck Casanova?

Mom, every time I walk out of this house,

you make me feel like I'm running off to the backseat

of a car to some sleazy motel.

I like to date, and if I like a guy,

maybe I want from him what he wants from me.

What's wrong with that?

Everything's wrong with that.

I know what kind of a boy he is.

He is not a boy.

Whatever the hell he is.

Let me tell you something, Mother.

If you keep looking hard enough, one of these days

you're going to find something.

Oh.

What's the matter?

I can't talk to her, Mother.

I cannot communicate with her.

And I've got to stop her.

Stop her from what?

That boy, that man she calls her friend, Lowell.

It's Hal Listings, Mother.

Jessie, what are you talking about?

It's Hal all over again.

I recognized him the first time I saw him.

He's a carbon copy, and he can't wait

to throw her into the sack.

Jessie, stop this.

Sara can take care of herself.

No, she cannot, Mother, no more than I could at that age.

Jessie!

Every time I come back here, I remember all those students

going to their proms and their parties, loving their college,

while I sat at home having morning sickness.

That was your experience, not Sara's.

Well, it's not going to happen to her, Mother.

I won't let it.

Mother?

I cannot talk to you when you're like this.

[music playing]

Oh, very elegant.

The old china, the silver, and the crystal.

Very impressive, Mother.

[phone rings]

I'll get it.

OK.

You look very nice, Jessie.

SARA: Hello?

Thank you, Mother.

So do you.

I'm just going to freshen my drink.

Can I make you one?

We're having wine with dinner.

Jessie, I said we're having wine with dinner.

Well, you don't mind if I have a drink, do you, Mother?

If you must.

Is there anything I can to help you with?

MAGGIE: No.

Everything's under control, but you might

help Sara with the serving.

Me help Sara? All right, Mother.

Bye bye.

Who was that?

Lowell.

Lowell?

He wanted me to go out to Jojo's with him tonight.

You're not going?

Of course, I'm not going, Mother.

I told him I couldn't make it.

It's my last dinner in this house.

So let's eat.

It's a lot of products we've had for years and years.

I was just struggling to find a campaign that

would make it new and fresh.

That's what we pitched last week.

What was the product?

Floor wax.

Floor wax.

It's hard to work any of your weekends for floor wax.

Oh, Jessie, you haven't touched your meat.

I just don't eat red meat anymore.

I read an article about meat.

Mom, please don't tell us.

More potatoes, Sara?

Mm.

Have you ever noticed how sleepy

you get after a beef dinner?

Would you pass me the salt, dear?

Sure.

You're not going to have salt and meat.

I know it's terribly reckless of me, but I like salt.

Well, it's your liver.

I like liver, too.

Mm, sauteed with shallots and butter.

Salt, Sara?

Yes, thank you.

I'm just trying to point out that you are what you eat.

Well, I would rather be a roast

beef than a tuna fish sandwich.

Very funny.

Well, you should talk.

Go and smoke another cigarette.

JESSIE: I want to remind Sara of the importance

of proper nutrition.

But it is tedious at the dinner table.

She is my daughter, Mother.

I would like to propose a toast to us,

three generations of Calloway women, to the Calloway house,

and our last dinner in it.

I'll drink to that.

Jessie.

All right, it's time for my surprise.

A surprise?

It's a surprise for you, Mother.

A very carefully concealed family secret.

Secret?

Oh, Jessie, you're making something up.

I have no secrets.

My life is one long, boring open book.

Not quite.

Well, what is it?

It's a little something I found in the attic.

Great, the watercolors!

No.

What watercolors?

Never mind.

You explain this, if you can.

[gasps]

Oh, my lord.

Where did you find that?

Careful, Mom, I think it's alive.

Whose is it, where did you get it,

and, most of all, what is it?

Well, I think it needs a good bath.

What is it?

I'll never tell.

SARA: Oh, come on, Mags.

We won't let you away from the table until you spill it.

Well, I got it in college.

It's so silly.

We're waiting.

Well, every year, the senior class

put on a musical extravaganza, and our class

put out our version of "The Florodora Girls,"

only we called ourselves "The Gladiola Girls."

And we were carrying gladiolas and our feather boas,

and we lined up and did the high kicks.

[laughing]

I don't believe that.

My mother a high kicker?

Sara, your grandmother was a chorus girl.

Only in college.

I always said you had great legs, Mags.

Come on, Mother.

Give us a demonstration.

Let's put this away now.

It's full of dust.

Oh, Mother, come on.

Sara's never heard of the Gladiola Girls.

It would be educational.

It's time for our dessert.

Is it music you want?

I'll get the music.

I'll handle everything.

I hope you have something better than "Naughty Marietta."

Let's see what's in here.

Shall we have our dessert in the living room?

SARA: I'll go get it.

Hey, hey.

Wait a minute, you two.

Where are you going?

What about our musical interlude?

I've got it.

Mother, you take the boa.

I will get the camera, and we will immortalize

this moment on film.

Jessie.

What?

No.

No?

Does that mean you're not going to dance for us?

Shall we go back to the table?

I just thought it would be fun.

Well, we don't have the right music anyway.

If Dad were here, it would have been fun.

Will you bring in your dessert?

If Dad were here, we would have had a wild time with it.

Oh, I miss him.

We all miss him.

The other day, I was made vice-president.

They took me to a restaurant to tell me.

I got so excited, I ran to the telephone to call Dad.

I put the money in the telephone.

I dialed his office.

Then I realized he wasn't there.

I didn't know you were made vice-president.

Why didn't you call me?

Oh, Mother, I really didn't think you'd care.

I'll bring in the coffee.

You promised me.

You promised me that you wouldn't argue,

and that's all you've done from the minute you got here.

Sara, I hardly think that's fair.

Fair?

Do you realize what she's going through?

Her husband is not dead six months,

and she's got to pack up and leave a house that she's

lived in for 40 years.

My god, Mother, don't you have any feelings at all?

I'll bring in the damn souffle.

Can I help? MAGGIE: It's all right.

I can manage.

JESSIE: Well, Mother, I guess this weekend proves we're not

going to make it as roommates.

It's because you don't try, Jessie.

I don't try?

I've been trying all my life.

I'm still trying.

I have to be the best at everything--

the best student, the best mother,

and the very best executive-- and all for your approval.

At least when Dad was here, I had someone on my side.

I had a buffer.

A buffer?

He was so easy to be with, so warm.

You know something?

He once told me that he thought he

was too emotional to be dean.

He was a great dean.

He was perfect.

Your father was a man, not a god.

He'd be the last person on Earth that would want

you to think he was perfect.

You were lucky, Mother.

You had a wonderful husband.

You think it just happens?

Do you think you get married, and everything

falls neatly into place?

There's nothing neat about it.

It's a struggle, and you struggle and adjust, until you

find 30 years have passed.

And you look at each other, and you say, what do you know?

We made it.

Not everybody makes it.

Not everybody tries.

So I made a mistake with my marriages.

People make mistakes.

I don't want to hear about your mistake.

Will you please stop it?

People do make mistakes, Mother.

Even Dad made one, but that wasn't what nearly killed him.

It was you.

You and your impossible standards.

Killed who?

Are you talking about my husband?

Never mind.

It doesn't matter.

No, go on.

Don't stop now.

You're determined to tell me something.

Go ahead.

Or are you having second thoughts?

Did you bite off more than you can chew?

All right, Mother.

It's time you knew.

You recognize these?

No, you tell me.

You're running this little show.

The name of the artist is Claire Loomis.

That's also the name of dad's mistress.

I don't know when they met or how long they were lovers.

I learned about it when he was trying to break it off,

but she wouldn't let him go.

She said she would destroy him.

It wouldn't look very good for the eminent dean

to be embroiled in a love affair.

It would have killed his career and his marriage,

and it very nearly killed him.

I was cramming for finals.

I came downstairs to get a glass of milk,

and he was sitting there in the dark.

I turned on the light, and he yelled at me,

so I turned it off again.

But in that one moment, I saw the gun on the table.

He told me to go away, but I wouldn't go.

I waited.

And finally, he broke down and told me how desperate he was.

He couldn't dare tell you.

I was the only one he could share his secret with,

and so I went to see her.

I'll never forget her, sitting there

in that green winged chair, overstuffed French provincial,

and she stuck out her pointed chin,

and she said to me that she'd never let him go.

But in the end, my visit did have an effect,

because soon after that, she was gone,

and Dad was his old self again.

The winged chair wasn't green.

It was blue.

It was overstuffed English, not French provincial.

But I agree with you about the chin.

It was very pointy.

I told her if she didn't let him go,

I would make her life unlivable in this town.

She was strong.

I was stronger.

Are you satisfied?

Are you satisfied?

[screeching tires]

Sara?

[screeching tires and honking]

[music playing]

Sara!

Nikki.

Hi!

God, I never expected to see you.

Lowell said you were here, but you

were stuck at home with your family and couldn't get out.

Yeah, well, I got out.

What did you do to your hair?

I had it cut.

Do you like it?

It's wild.

I know, but do you like it?

Yeah, I love it.

So is Lowell here? - Oh, yeah.

He's in the back.

Come on.

My mom-- she goes, people pay money to keep their hair

from looking like this.

She goes, only my daughter would pay someone to uncomb her hair.

Oh, so how's Chicago?

Do you love it?

It's OK.

I'm leaving it, though.

I'm going to go to Bryn Mawr.

Oh, pardon me.

There he is.

So you got out.

I was looking for you.

Well, you found me.

Want a drink?

I'd like a ginger ale.

Well, go get one.

Come on. Let's dance.

No, thanks.

What's wrong?

Could we go some place?

Yeah, I got a table, or we can go in here.

No, not here.

Let's go to the lake.

Yeah, sure.

You like beer?

No.

It's funny, isn't it?

What?

You didn't even remember me from the Christmas party.

Well, you're a little different than you used to be.

How?

Taller.

[laughs] You always carry a blanket in your pickup truck?

That's right.

You never know when a cold snap will hit.

I'm real glad you decided to come out.

Wait.

Ugh.

What did you do that for?

I like it.

Don't you?

I don't know.

I guess I'm just not in the mood I thought I was in.

Well, have a beer.

Maybe it'll relax you.

I don't want it.

Lowell, don't rush me.

What is the matter with you?

Do you know that I'm illegitimate?

Yeah, so?

Well, this is where it happened.

I've heard the story hundreds of times.

Well, forget the story.

I don't want to forget it.

It doesn't really bother me, though.

I was born.

There's not much I can do about it now.

I may not have had a father, but I had two mothers.

Do you hear that?

Two mothers, both at the same time.

What are you doing?

And it's driving me crazy!

What-- are you ripped or what?

Me?

Ripped?

[laughs] Good little Sara--

ripped?

Please.

What the hell is up with you?

I mean you dragged me out of Jojo's.

You tell me to take you to the lake.

You come on to me.

Now you tell me the story of your life.

Well, what's the big deal?

I didn't have a father either.

You didn't?

No.

My old man split when I was a kid.

My mother and I never saw him again.

But I'm not going to yell at the lake.

I'm not going to cry about it either.

Are you?

I don't know.

I don't believe this.

I mean I chase after you all day.

I call you five times.

I come by your house, and this is what I get for my trouble.

Well, I don't give up easily.

Lowell!

I just-- I can't.

Yeah, OK.

Yeah, that's great.

Well, listen, what do you want to do?

I want to talk.

Talk to me?

Yeah, why not?

You do talk, don't you?

Well, I'll tell you this much, Sara.

This is the first time that a girl's ever

asked me to the lake to talk.

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to lead you on.

Let's just go back.

LOWELL: No.

Let's talk.

[music playing]

Jessie? What is it?

What are you doing?

It's 2 o'clock in the morning, Mother.

Sara's not home yet.

Where are you going?

I'm going out to get her.

This is just how it happened, Mother.

Don't you remember?

This is exactly how it happened.

You and I had an argument at dinner.

I got upset, and I ran out and found Hal Listing.

Jessie, she knows this town better than both of us.

She's probably with some of her friends.

She's upset, Mother.

It's happening.

Everything I ever dreaded is happening.

[car passing]

Jessie, please, leave her alone.

Thanks.

I'll see you.

Where have you been?

I was at the lake with Lowell.

Oh, Sara.

Mom, we were talking.

I needed someone to talk to.

And Lowell was a perfect person to go for advice.

I didn't want advice.

I wanted somebody to listen to me.

OK, I went to the lake.

I asked him to go with me.

I don't know why.

I've been playing the part everybody wants me to play.

I haven't had a chance to decide what it is I want to be.

And you figured it all out at the lake with Lowell.

Well, maybe I didn't figure out what I am,

but I figured out what I'm not.

Oh, Sara.

I'm not the peacekeeper of this family.

All right, Sara. I can appreciate that.

SARA: Listen to me, Mother.

We're not going to make it.

You don't need me.

I'm just in your way.

What are you talking about?

And I have to be honest with you.

I don't need you either.

Oh.

Mom, I can't live your life, and I

can't fulfill your dreams.

And if I make mistakes, they're going to be my mistakes,

not yours.

I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions,

and I made some.

I'm not going back to Chicago with you,

and I'm not going to go to Bryn Mawr.

That's your dream, not mine.

I'm not sure what my dream is or my career.

So I'm going to take a little time,

and I'm going to think about it.

And I'm going to do my thinking here with Mags.

I think we'll both be better off.

[music playing]

SARA: She's been out there all morning.

What's she doing?

Can't you guess?

I told her I wanted to stay with her.

She said it's up to you.

We planted that tree at the end of the war.

We had a party out here for the men who'd come home.

Your father was one of them.

We planted this tree for our students,

the boys that didn't come home.

We watched the world change from this house.

It's a whole lot different, this new world.

I'm not sure I'm too crazy about it.

We planted those azaleas when you were born

and the roses for Sara.

I found out about the affair when

he was trying to get out of it.

I'm glad I didn't know about it when he was happy with it.

And his solution was to kill himself.

How sad.

I came out here the night you told me about the baby.

I was so unprepared.

I had tried to figure out how much you knew about sex.

It wasn't something I could bring up at the dinner

table the way people do now.

That night, I knew that I had failed you.

I felt so guilty.

I didn't know how to comfort you.

All I could do was tell you that it was all right.

[phone ringing]

It was all right, Jessie.

How could we have loved you any less?

SARA: Mom, you got a phone call.

I'll call them back.

SARA: It's your office.

He says it's important.

Go on.

It's important.

Hello?

Oh, hi, Barry.

How'd it go?

Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

What?

That's impossible.

They can't do that to me.

Well, didn't you show them the research, the figures?

The damn product's been selling right off the shelves.

Don't tell me to take it easy.

Do you know how hard I've been working?

I haven't had a weekend off to myself in months.

How dare they do this without me?

I didn't have a chance to fight.

What do you mean, what can we do now?

I don't know what we can do now.

We can't do anything.

I can't talk about it anymore, Barry.

I'll call you later.

They didn't buy the campaign?

No.

What?

We, uh, lost the account.

They took it away from me, from us, the agency.

They made the decision months ago.

They were waiting for their board of directors meeting.

Oh, Mom, and after all the work you did.

Sit down, Jessie.

I'll fix you some tea.

Tea?

We've blown breakfast, Mother.

It's past lunch.

Let's have a drink.

Sara, you go get the ice out.

Margarita mix and tequila.

Put the ice in the blender.

I'll make them.

Oh, that's good.

It's a little early for a drink, isn't it, Mom?

It's never too early for margaritas, Sara.

That's a little lesson you can learn.

There.

That's good.

Now.

Don't look so gloomy.

It's only another failure.

I'm good at them.

You have to be able to bounce back in this business.

Resilience-- that is the name of the game.

I think you're absolutely right, Jessie.

I'll have one with you.

Good, Mother.

We'll make it a little party.

How about some music?

Music it is.

All right, Sara, here. Here's yours.

I really don't want any, Mom.

Fake it.

It's a celebration.

What are we celebrating?

Your decision.

Let's drink to it.

Mom, let me make you an omelet or something.

You haven't eaten.

I-- I really do think you've made the right decision, Sara.

You should stay here with Mags.

I don't know where I packed my records.

SARA: They're by the front door.

JESSIE: You like this town.

You like the college.

You have friends here.

Besides, it's probably better for me as well.

I obviously cannot be a mother and manage

a big account at the same time.

One or the other suffers for it, probably both.

Here's your drink, Mother.

Let's drink to my failure.

Another day, another failure.

Cheers.

You were right, Mother, again.

I've lost my perspective.

I've given up my days and nights, my life

to make some big company bigger and some rich people even

richer.

That was an achievement for you, Jessie.

They made you vice-president.

Baloney.

That's just some strokes they give

you to keep you working harder.

And work harder I did.

Oh, boy.

Through sickness and in health, but nobody

could be sick-- no, no.

Not even you, Sara, because that wouldn't be convenient.

I had meetings.

[music playing]

Very important meetings.

Mom, look.

I can't believe it.

She's doing it.

She's doing it.

You think you know dancing?

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Mags, you're terrific.

JESSIE: Of course she is.

She's a Gladiola Girl.

Come on, Jessie, you can do this.

OK, here we go.

What are we doing?

Charleston.

Oh.

[laughing]

Come on, Sara. Join us.

Oh, no.

Not me.

I'm not doing that.

JESSIE AND MAGGIE: Aww.

That's because she doesn't know how.

Oh, sure she does. Wait a minute.

I'll get her.

Come on.

Ready, ready, ready.

Left kick.

Right kick.

Left kick.

Right kick.

[interposing voices]

Oh. Oh, what's the matter?

You're quitting already?

Can't we play it again?

No, that's hard work.

Oh, you have to be in condition

to be a Gladiola Girl.

[crying]

It's not that I've lost the account.

It's that I've lost everything.

Don't cry, Mom.

Please don't cry.

There, there.

There, there, there, baby.

[music playing]

What's that, Mother?

I forgot to cancel it.

Oh, didn't you make a list?

Well, certainly, but I forgot to look at it.

Where's Sara?

Oh, she's probably still in the room.

Didn't you see her?

No.

Well, let me call her.

No, no, no, Mother, don't.

MAGGIE: But she'll want to say goodbye.

I-- I don't think so.

I'll call you both when I get to town.

Jessie.

It's all right, Mother.

Sara's a woman.

I have to let go.

Will you go straight to the office?

No.

I don't really think I can handle that right now.

Well, what then?

I don't know.

I guess I'll just finish the divorce and maybe take a trip.

Maybe you and Burt could work it out.

I don't think so, Mother.

I don't either.

Well, you did a grand job here.

We all did.

What-- what time are the movers coming?

Half hour ago.

Are you going to be all right?

Well, of course.

I'm not out to pasture yet. I have some money.

I have friends.

I have my books, my records.

I'm looking forward to this new phase of my life.

I'm not the least bit despondent.

You know what people always say?

I know I'm old, but I don't feel any different.

I missed it, didn't I?

I always miss the family I didn't have.

Now I know I missed the family I had.

I do love you, Jessie.

I love you too.

[music playing]

Mags?

I'm leaving, too.

MAGGIE: Oh, I'm not a bit surprised.

I think we should stick together.

But I thought you--

Oh, I'm not going back on what I said.

I am old enough to make up my own mind,

but I'm also old enough to change my mind.

And I don't want you to leave without me.

Why?

Well, I have to be perfectly honest with you.

I do need you.

Besides, who's going to get you back to the office

this afternoon?

I don't think I want to go back to my office.

Oh, yes, you do.

Resilience, remember?

The name of the game.

We got to pick up the pieces and start all over again.

All right. Come on, you two.

Get going.

Get going.

I have a lot to do.

Get out of here.

[music playing]

Thanks.

One for the road.