[instrumental music]
[music continues]
[dramatic music]
[neighs]
[heartbeat]
[Man] Private Williams
report to Major Penderton's house for a work detail.
[grunts]
[Woman] Weldon!
[grunts]
Yeah?
[Woman] I'm goin' for a ride, Weldon.
Okay.
[grunts]
[car revving]
[panting]
What do you mean just a little scratch?
Look at that. He's been kicked.
It's just a nick, ma'am. He ain't hurt.
Where's my boy? Where's the boy that takes care of Firebird?
- Private Williams? - I guess so.
Why, ma'am, he's up at your house.
What do you mean my house? What's he doin' up there?
He's doing some work for the major.
Well...
[Leonora] I asked Weldon to have the garden tilled out in the back.
I've invited so many people to my party
they're just gonna spill out of the house.
[chuckles] Come on, you sweet old thing.
[dramatic music]
[door unlocks]
Alright now, private. This, uh
this section of woods is to be cleared here.
Take away all the undergrowth and the briar and the bushes.
Any of the limbs of the large trees
growing at a level of less than 6 feet are to be cut away.
- You understand? - Yes, sir.
That's a level of less than 6 feet.
- Yes, sir. - Fine.
Now your boundary will be this large oak tree here.
You won't have to clear beyond it.
Uh, just from the edge of the grass here
to the oak tree there.
I'll expect you to complete this work today.
All, all tools we've got will be found in the garage.
I'll be back sometime late this afternoon.
Listen, I think that
the thing we all overlook, everybody forgets
is that who really knows
what happened to her in her mind?
Nobody knows that.
- Also-- - Also? Also what?
Well, hell, Leonora, it's been three months.
Now she hasn't tried to do anything like that since
and, uh, she, she seems to be okay.
Oh, what does that prove, Morris?
That Alison really is alright?
Well, yes, I guess so. She hasn't tried to do it again.
[laughs] How could she?
What she did is something a lady can only do once now, isn't it?
Hey, give me your cap. I wanna pick some blackberries.
[birds chirping]
[Leonora laughing]
There.
Now let's take two things Clausewitz says.
First, the theory of warfare tries to discover
how we make any preponderance of physical forces
and material advantages at a decisive point.
And two, one of the strongest, uh
weapons of offensive warfare is the surprise attack.
Now I, uh, I would not like to improve on Clausewitz
but I would say that the, uh, that the night attack
is, uh, one of the strongest weapons of offensive warfare.
Uh, we can look to Major General Terry Allen
when he, uh, commanded his forces in North Africa.
He employed the, uh, the night attack to the maximum.
Economy of force, uh...
Uh, economy of force.
Concentration, surprise, security
uh, offensive action, movement, cooperation,
all these have their application in the night operation.
[car door slams]
Susie!
Susie, I'm home!
Hi there, soldier.
- Hi. - Hi.
Oh, wait a minute.
[laughing]
Pull!
[laughing]
[sighs]
I think I'll have my drink out here.
I might as well do those invitations while I'm at it too.
Soldier, I heard you were here this morning
down at the stables.
My Firebird has been kicked.
- How? - [Leonora] That I would like to know.
Probably by some damn mule
or maybe they put him in with the mares.
I was pretty mad about it. I asked for you.
- Thanks, Susie. - Yes, ma'am.
Soldier, do you want a drink?
Want a drink, soldier?
No, ma'am.
- Don't you ever drink? - No, ma'am.
- Not ever? - No, ma'am.
Ah.
[exhales]
[whispering] Are...
c-cord--
[whispering] Oh, damn.
[car door shuts]
[sighs]
- Good evening, Leonora. - Huh.
Well, there they are, all 64 of them.
I hope I haven't left anybody out.
How do you spell cordially?
Cordially. C-O-R-D-I-A-double-L-Y.
Oh, no!
Don't tell me I have to do 'em all over again.
- Oh. - Well, I expect you better.
Oh, God.
What's the matter with you?
Private, the whole idea was in the big oak tree.
The instructions were to clear the ground just to the oak tree.
I mean, the way the branches swept down and made a background
shuttin' off the rest of the wood was the whole point.
Now it's all ruined.
What would the major like me to do?
Well, the major would like you to pick up the branches
and nail them back on again.
No, no, just, uh, get some leaves here
and cover the bare spots where the bush has been removed.
Then you can go.
Here.
[Leonora] That's the boy from the stables
the one that takes care of Firebird.
[ropes creaking]
Yes, well...
he's also the soldier that ruined
a brand-new silk suit for me.
[Leonora] Oh?
Spilled the better part of a coffee pot all over my knees.
That was two years ago, wasn't it?
It'd be hell of a lot longer than that before you forget it.
I dislike clumsiness, willful or otherwise.
Well, there's nothing clumsy about the way
he handles Firebird.
Morris says he's never seen an enlisted man
to handle a horse to equal him.
Morris would find something to like in any enlisted man.
Alright then. Firebird likes him.
Firebird's a horse.
Firebird is a stallion.
[indistinct chatter]
So these two little queers went into this bar
and this great big bald barman
was looking at them for a long time.
Finally he said, "Are you two sisters?"
And they said, "Hell, no. We're not even Catholic."
[laughing]
[chattering continues]
Oh, you're so funny.
[laughing]
[indistinct chatter]
For God's sakes, Leonora, why don't you go upstairs
and put your shoes on?
[suppressed laughing]
[Leonora] Oh, my.
Oh, my mm...
You look like a slattern goin' around the house this way.
The Langdons are coming to dinner, I suppose you're gonna sit down
at the table like that.
Sure. Why not, prissy?
You disgust me.
[wind blowing, birds chirping]
[dramatic music]
Oh, I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you.
I'll do it! I will kill you!
Son, have you ever been collared
and dragged out into the street
and thrashed by a naked woman?
Huh?
[dramatic music]
Would anyone, uh, like a drink?
- I would, thanks. - Uh-huh.
- Alison? - Very, very light, please.
- ♪ Well whiskey ♪ - Soda?
[Leonora sings to herself]
Do you want another card?
[humming]
Mm-hmm.
- Big one? - Not too big, not too small.
Make mine straight on the rocks. Not too big, not too small.
I'll have the same, Weldon
with a little of that branch water.
Weldon, your wife's cheating.
She just tried to look at this card to see if she--
I did not.
You caught me before I had a chance to.
- What have you got there? - I'm surprised at you, Morris.
Sittin' down playing cards with a woman
expecting her not to cheat you.
[Weldon] What's this? A new sweater for your husband?
It's for Captain Weincheck.
[gasps] Captain Weincheck.
I forgot to invite him.
[Morris] Well, that's kind of the story of his life, isn't it?
Everybody forgets about Weincheck
includin' the promotion board.
And he's about the oldest captain in the army.
[Alison] Will somebody, please, tell me
why Captain Weincheck is unpopular?
Is it because he plays the violin, reads Proust?
[Leonora] Oh, do you remember that tea he gave?
Classical records and cat hairs.
And before God, tea.
Only tea.
Captain Weincheck is a gentleman.
And he's not a thief.
Well, who said he was?
[Alison] Oh, that afternoon you were speaking of, at his apartment?
Somebody stole a little silver Georgian teaspoon.
One of a set of eight belonging to his great-grandmother.
It was gone when we went to tidy up.
[scoffs] He asked me never to tell about it.
[Alison] But somebody stole that spoon.
Well, I didn't. Wasn't me.
Well, I'm gonna put everything I have on this one hand.
And if I win, I'll have every chip on the table.
Hit me.
- Are aces ones? - Mm-hm.
Blackjack!
[Leonora laughs]
I must be getting along.
But you stay, Morris. Don't break up the party.
Goodnight, everybody.
Alison, I'll see you to your doorstep.
Goodnight, Alison.
[sighs]
She is crazy.
No, she's not.
[Morris] You know, I had the best doctors for her.
They all say she's fine.
Well, now, look here, you know we're scared for her
just to go from our front door to yours alone.
Well...
Cutting off her nipples with a pair of garden shears.
You call that normal?
My God! Garden shears!
No, but she's not, you know...
Doctor says she's neurotic.
[Morris] It'll take time, that's all.
Time?
[Leonora] It's been three years since she had that baby.
So it died.
But that was three years ago.
She's not getting any better. She's just getting worse.
Do you think she has any idea about us?
No, no.
Well, I hope not.
I like Alison.
[dramatic music]
[door shuts]
[footsteps]
Look, uh, now that Alison's gone home, uh,
you two don't mind if I do a little work, do you?
Play a couple of hands with us.
Well, I got my lecture to prepare and...
You work too hard, Weldon.
Why don't you come ridin' with us tomorrow?
Well, we'll see.
Do you good. Shake up your liver.
[Weldon] Well, I might. I might.
[dramatic music]
[Leonora] Blackjack!
[Leonora laughs]
[Morris] Goodnight, Weldon.
But I don't need a suit, Anacleto.
But you do.
You haven't bought a garment in more than a year.
And the green frock is bien use at the elbow
and ready for the Salvation Army.
[speaking in French]
Oh!
[speaking in French]
My God, you're a rare bird, you are.
How much is it?
[Morris] What I wouldn't give to get you in my battalion
for just a day.
It is tres cher.
[Alison] Oh.
But one could not expect to get such quality for anything else.
And think of the years of service.
We'll see about it.
Oh, go on and buy the dress, for God's sake.
And while we are about it
we might order an extra yard or so.
- Then I can have a jacket. - Alright.
If I decide to get it.
[dramatic music]
[whispers] What do you mean, Leonora?
[indistinct whispering]
[no audio]
[indistinct whispering]
[music continues]
[humming]
What is that
you and Captain Weincheck were playing it
last Thursday afternoon?
[humming]
Oh, the opening bar
of the Franck A Major Sonata.
Look.
Just this minute made me compose a ballet.
Black velvet curtains...
and a glow like winter twilight.
Very slowly with the whole cast.
Then a spotlight follows solo like a flame.
Very dashing.
And with the waltz...
Mr. Sergei Rachmaninoff play.
[chuckles]
Bravo, bravo, Anacleto.
[Alison chuckles]
[humming]
[Anacleto gasps]
[clanking]
- Did he hurt himself? - I'm alright, Madam Alison.
I wish you'd broken your damn neck.
[sighs]
[dramatic music]
[indistinct chatter]
Williams, bring out Firebird.
The lady's here. Mason?
Now I believe if a horse really wants to throw you
well, he will, but I think most of the time
they're just feeling good and they're just having fun.
Well, now, you take Firebird.
The minute he starts to feel me slip
he stops messing around.
Of course, he's a gentleman.
There's my sweet old baby.
[Leonora] Come on now. Oh, come on now.
Come on, quit that.
If the major could see himself from behind
he would never get on a horse.
[Leonora] You see, this uncle of mine
had this, uh, cabin up in the mountains
and my brothers and I used to go up there
all the time to hunt.
About six of us would go out in the afternoon with our dogs.
Oh, really more the evening. My God, it would be cold.
A little colored boy, you know, would be coming running behind
with a big jug of liquor on his back.
Sometimes we'd be out in the mountains
all night long huntin' raccoon.
Oh, I just can't tell you what it was like.
- What do you want, Williams? - May I take out the black mare?
- Did you do all your stalls? - Yeah.
Okay.
- You alright, Weldon? - Incompetent brute.
It's not the horse's fault. It's yours.
I mean, you, you can't expect a horse to take a jump
if you don't ride him at it.
[grunts]
[dramatic music]
Weldon, that's Private Williams, isn't it?
It certainly is.
[laughs] Bareback to bare-ass.
It's outrageous.
You go on ahead, I'll attend to him.
Oh, what, spoil his fun?
[Morris] I thought all that old mare could do
is stumble and shamble.
But look at her move now. Would you look at that?
That boy can horseback. He's got a great pair of hands.
A disgrace.
Oh, come off it, Weldon.
[leaves rustling]
[door rattling]
[locks door]
[dramatic music]
[Weldon] Leonora.
Leonora, come on. Get up.
Get up.
- Come on. Get up. - Mm.
Go on to bed.
Come on.
Go on up to bed now.
[dramatic music]
[music continues]
[music fades]
[latch clicks]
Sure you're not sleepy?
Oh, no, Madam Alison.
I had a nap this afternoon.
And I dreamt about Catherine.
What was it you dreamed?
Rather like...
holding a butterfly in my hands.
And I was nursing her in my lap.
[Anacleto] Then the dream changed.
Instead of Catherine
I had on my knees one of the colonel's riding boots.
The boot...
was full of squirming newly born mice.
And I was trying to keep them in.
Keep them from crawling up all over me.
[sobbing]
Shh, Anacleto, please.
Dreams.
They are strange things to think about.
In the afternoons in the Philippines
when the pillow is damp
and the sun shines in the room
the dream is of another sort.
Uh, then in the north at night
when it is snowing
then it is...
Look.
[dramatic music]
A peacock.
A sort of ghastly green...
with one immense golden eye.
And in it...
these reflections of something tiny and...
tiny and...
Grotesque.
Exactly.
[dramatic music]
[wind rustling]
[shades rattling]
[dramatic music]
[instrumental music on record player]
- Oh, it's charming. - Oh.
[laughing]
Fantastique.
Oh, aren't they pretty?
I haven't seen any since I was a girl.
I remember these and a crystal paperweight
that made a snowstorm when you shook it.
Anacleto, are you happy?
- [music stops] - Why, certainly, when you are well.
[music restarts]
Madam Alison, do you yourself really believe
that Mr. Sergei Rachmaninoff knows
that a chair is something to be sat on
and that a clock shows one the time?
[Anacleto] And if I should take off my shoe
and hold it up to his face and say,
"What is this, Mr. Sergei Rachmaninoff?"
then he would answer like anyone else,
"Why, Anacleto, that is a shoe."
I myself find it hard to realize.
Hmm.
[knocking on door]
I could have knocked on that door downstairs
until doomsday before either one of you
would have heard me over all that music.
- [music stops] - Oh, thank you.
Alison, how are you?
Oh, I didn't sleep at all last night.
Oh, I am sorry.
Well, now you just take a good nap this afternoon
'cause you just gotta make it for tonight.
Make what?
For God's sakes, Alison, my party.
I've been working like a fool
for three days gettin' everything ready.
Why, I don't give a party like this but twice a year.
Of course. I-it just slipped my mind for the moment.
Listen, here's the way it's gonna go.
I'm gonna put all the leaves in the dining room table
so everybody can just kind of mill around and help themselves.
I have two baked Virginia hams
one huge turkey,
fried chicken, cold sliced pork,
and plenty of barbecued spareribs,
and all kinds of little knick-knacks, like...
oh, pickled onions
and olives and radishes.
Oh, and we're gonna start off by serving hot rolls
and hot little cheese biscuits and stuff like that.
Oh, and I'm gonna have the punchbowl over in the corner.
And for those that like their liquor straight
I'm gonna have on the sideboard
eight bottles of Kentucky bourbon,
five of rye,
five of Scotch...
Oh, and listen, I'm bringing in an entertainer from out of town
who's gonna play the accordion, and later on--
But who on earth is going to eat all that food?
Well, the whole shebang. I've invited everybody
from old Sugar and his wife on down.
Leonora, how can you call the commanding general old Sugar?
Oh, Alison, I've known Julius practically all my life.
Why, he was my daddy's chief of staff.
Oh, Alison, I wanna ask you a favor.
Do you think Anacleto could, please, serve the punch for me?
Well, I'm sure Anacleto would be delighted.
[Leonora] Oh, thank you, honey.
[door slams]
Oh, and Susie's two brothers,
they're helpin' out in the kitchen.
I've never seen anything to equal it.
By the way, is Susie married?
Susie? Oh, good heavens, no.
She won't have anything to do with men.
She was caught when she was about 14 years old
and she's never forgotten. But why?
Ah, I was almost sure I saw someone
come out of your house by the backdoor.
Just before dawn.
You just imagined it, honey.
Oh. Perhaps so.
- Alison? - Yes.
I hope you'll forgive my saying this,
but I really don't see how you're gonna get any better
staying in this dark room all day long.
Now whenever I'm sick or tired or nervous,
I get on the back of a horse and I ride myself better.
Now, I know you could do the same thing. I know you can ride.
Why, you told me you used to foxhunt, didn't you?
Yes.
Oh, did I ever tell you about the time I was out foxhuntin'
with a 13-year-old girl, the whipper-in,
and she broke her neck?
Yes, you have told me
every terrible detail five times.
Oh.
[Anacleto] Your lunch, Madam Alison.
[gasps] Oh, oh, lunchtime? I've gotta go.
Listen, I'll see you later on tonight
and you be there at 4:30, okay?
Now don't you see me out to the door.
I'll see you later, honey, okay? Bye-bye.
Oh.
[breathes deeply]
Anacleto, I am going to divorce the colonel.
Madam Alison, where shall we go after that?
That I have not yet decided.
Do you think we might live in a hotel?
[Alison] It's a possibility.
Or we could run a prawn boat somewhere.
We could live on the boat.
How much money do you have in the bank?
Four hundred and twenty five dollars and six cents.
- Do you want me to draw it out? - No, not now.
But we might need it later.
[dramatic music]
[Firebird snorts]
[kisses]
Whoa.
[birds chirping]
[stirrups rattling]
[stirrups rattle, boot thuds]
[Firebird snorts]
[neighs]
[intense music]
[panting]
- [whipping] - [neighing]
I'll kill you, you bastard. You...
Son of a bitch!
I'll kill you, you dirty bastard!
[panting]
[sobbing]
[softly] Please.
[sobbing]
Oh, oh, God!
[sobbing]
[muffled crying]
[leaves rustling]
[dramatic music]
My daddy was an eight-goal man.
I got up to four goals once myself.
[Woman] Leonora, they let a lady play polo?
Why, sure, sometimes. And I was pretty good.
Of course, my daddy was Old Leather Breeches.
We were stationed at Fort Myer at the time.
And all the men thought they'd have to accommodate me.
You know, a girl playing.
Well, I taught them a thing or two.
Before the first chukka was over, they had to carry
two of them off the field.
I just had to go and ride them off...
- Good evening, colonel. - How are you, captain?
Fine. Fine, thank you.
Uh, Anacleto tells me that, uh,
Mrs. Langdon will not be here this evening.
No, she's not feeling well.
Uh, I wonder, would it be alright
if I ran over for a few minutes?
Sure. You go on over there.
Listen, there's nothing wrong with her, you know...
- [Man] Where's Weldon? - [Man 2] Yeah, where is Weldon?
Now go on over and talk to her. She'll be real glad to see you.
- Run along. - Thank you.
Can't you see him, trudging down the highway
the stick over his shoulder and his precious Clausewitz
wrapped in a red bandana?
- [laughing] - [Morris] Who? Who?
- My husband. - Oh.
My horse, uh, threw me and then ran away.
Yes, sir, I know.
Private Williams found him and brought him in.
- He here? - Yes, sir.
He's in the stall with Firebird.
[Firebird groaning]
[instrumental music]
[indistinct chatter]
Oh, sounds like a good party.
It's probably the last party I'll attend on this post.
- Or any other. - Why, Murray.
Penderton called me in this afternoon.
He said, "I want you to know what I'm doing, Weincheck.
"I can't, in all conscience, give you
better than satisfactory on your efficiency report."
It was quite a blow.
He went on. He said, uh
"It's not that you're remiss in your duties.
It's just that you lack certain, uh, qualities of leadership."
Oh, dear.
So I said, "In that case
I'm leaving the service."
And Penderton said, "I hoped that that would be
"your reaction, Weincheck, because frankly
I don't see much of a future for you in the Army."
He said he was really doing me a favor.
[scoffs] Well, maybe he was.
Hey, what's the joke?
The little Filipino there put perfume
in a specimen of Alison Langdon's urine
before taking it to the hospital for analysis.
[laughing]
- Who says? - You know something else?
The same boy got through one day to the general
and he asked the general to please stop that soldier
from blowing his bugle at 6 o'clock in the morning
because it disturbed Mrs. Langdon's rest.
[laughing]
And when the general said, "Do you know who you're talking to?"
He said, "Of course, le garçon de maison to Mrs. Langdon."
[laughing]
He was trying to say houseboy in Fren--
- [splashing] - [instrumental music]
[indistinct chatter]
- [doorknob rattling] - [knocking on door]
[Leonora] Weldon?
[knocking on door]
What in the world happened to you?
Well, the horse, uh...
the horse stumbled and I fell into a blackberry bush.
He ran off and...
Oh, my.
You are a mess.
What horse were you riding?
What horse were you ridin'?
Ooh, Firebird.
Firebird?
What in the world were you doing on him?
[Leonora] You know you can't horseback well enough to ride him.
You say he ran away?
Is he loose?
[Weldon] Well...
well, he found his...
he found his way back to the stable.
How is he?
He's alright.
Are you sure he's alright?
Yeah.
Any cuts on him?
No, he's alright.
[Firebird groaning]
Who beat him?
Nobody here, ma'am.
That son of a bitch.
- [car door slams] - [car revving]
Well, certainly, a horse cavalry is a thing of the past
but that's not the point.
The point is that polo playin'
is great trainership, training
for the leadership of an officer.
That's what I say.
And, and the polo grounds have produced
more great leaders than, than the playing fields
of Eton anytime.
Uh, Pershing played polo, didn't he, general?
- Patton played polo. - Summerall.
- MacArthur. - Right.
- Devers. - Terry Allen.
Right. It's just a damn shame
that a country as rich and powerful as ours
can't spend a few dollars
to buy some oats for some horses.
So Firebird's alright, is he?
[whipping]
[Leonora] You lousy bastard!
Beating my horse! My Firebird!
[whipping]
What did Major Penderton do?
He stood like a statue.
He did not defend himself.
She struck him time and again
as hard as she could right across the face.
His face was already torn from the riding accident
which made it all the more horrible. [groans]
Was she drunk?
Everybody thought so, but she wasn't.
I should know. I was the barman.
I dispensed the drinks.
- Are you sleepy, Madam Alison? - Not at all.
Shall I get our watercolors so we paint for a while?
- If you like. - I shall be back suddenly.
- Soon. - Oh, yes. Soon.
[Anacleto] Excuse me, colonel.
[clears throat]
Are, are you asleep, my dear?
[Alison] Yes. Dead asleep.
Well, my God.
What a, what a debacle.
I've heard all I want to hear from Anacleto.
Oh...
Well, my dear...
[clears throat] you should have been there.
[Alison] Mercifully, I wasn't.
Mm.
Well...
just a little kiss.
Ah, kiss you night-night.
- Mwah. - [Alison] Goodnight, Morris.
Well.
[clears throat]
[dramatic music]
[indistinct mumbling]
...56, 63, 17.
[door opens]
[Alison breathing hard]
[canvas clatters]
I...couldn't get my breath.
I couldn't breathe.
It's alright. I am here.
Ah.
[dramatic music]
[typewriter keys clacking]
[bugle call]
Thank you, sergeant.
[Man] Parade, hut!
Code ten-hut!
Parade, present, ho!
Order, ho!
Hut, ho!
Order, ho!
She keeps imagining all these things, you know.
Yesterday she thought the house was on fire.
Said she could smell smoke.
Then this morning when I was home...
she swore up and down she could hear some kid screaming.
There had been an accident with a car and...
Oh, and she said Anacleto and I have to go around
and ask all the neighbors and...
so we did. I felt like a damn fool.
How's it going with you and Weldon?
Mm, better.
A lot better. A hell of a lot better.
Why, he's a changed boy.
He's even polite to me when we're alone.
Hmm.
I guess I shouldn't have done it
but what the hell.
He had it coming.
- Beating my horse. - Hmm.
I guess everybody thinks I was drunk, don't they?
I guess so.
You know, it's a damn good thing for Weldon.
A damn lucky thing the general used to
bounce you on his knee 'cause...
Oh.
Oh, if Alison pulled a stunt like that
I'd get transferred so fast, it'd make your hair grow.
Well, now, Alison wouldn't do a thing
like that now, would she?
No. [chuckles]
Hey, the fights are tonight. You wanna go to the fights?
Yeah, sure, I'd love to.
[laughing]
What's so damn funny?
Well, Weldon said he fell in a blackberry patch.
Can you imagine, of all things?
[laughs] A blackberry patch.
[audience cheering]
[bell dings]
[cheering and applauding]
[indistinct announcement]
[male announcer] ...between Corporal Jose Fernandez
- [cheering] - in black trunks,
and Private First Class Harry Higby
- [cheering] - in the white trunks.
[bell dings]
[crowd cheering]
Oh, hit him back!
Come on!
[indistinct shouting]
Get him!
[indistinct shouting]
Come on!
[indistinct shouting]
Oh, no!
Get up!
Oh, no!
I don't believe it.
Well, I think I'll be going along now.
- Oh! - I'm going back to the office.
To the office? This time of night? You crazy?
Well, I've got a lot of work to do.
Finish up. I'll see y'all later.
Have someone drive you over there and wait for you.
No, uh, thank you, Morris.
Uh, I think the walk will do me good.
- I'll see you all later. Bye. - All right.
- He's still down. - Oh, he's alright.
[indistinct chatter]
[dramatic music]
[chattering continues]
[music continues]
[intense music]
[gasps] Morris.
[dramatic music]
[sobbing]
[door slams]
I think you better go up to your wife's room.
She's not alone.
My husband is with her.
Alison, you shouldn't be wandering around like this.
Uh, I'll take you home.
You don't mean to sit there and tell me you know this
and do nothing about it?
[intense music]
[dramatic music]
Alison.
I went to see where you were, and you weren't there.
[Morris] Where have you been?
There's something you should know.
Leonora isn't only deceiving her husband
she is deceiving you, too
with an enlisted man.
Furthermore, I'm going to get a divorce.
And as I have no money
I would appreciate your lending me the sum of $500.
I will pay you back at five percent interest
with Anacleto and Captain Weincheck as guarantors.
You need not feel any further responsibility toward me.
Anacleto and I will go into some business together
or buy a prawn boat, maybe.
And now will you, please, help him
bring my trunk up from the cellar?
We have to pack and be out of here early tomorrow morning.
[gasps]
I just remembered, Anacleto.
Moultrie Ville, South Carolina.
It's beautiful and small.
I went there once when I was seven to visit a great-aunt.
My Great-Aunt Evelyn.
[Alison] It's near Charleston.
It is on the sea.
And the people are most civilized.
Oh, uh, uh, bring the timetables.
Where are they?
[sighs] Ah, good.
Ah, Columbia.
[Alison] Columbia. 10:20.
We shall leave this house forever at 8:00 in the morning.
[Alison] That will give us plenty of time
to buy the tickets and get the Pullman seats.
Oh, Anacleto.
We will want a picnic basket.
I do not care for Pullman fare. Oh, what shall we do?
[Anacleto] Oh, but, Madam Alison, today I bought a poussin.
- I shall go and prepare it now. - And hard-boiled eggs.
- And sweet pickles. - Yeah.
[Morris] Colonel Kelly, please.
Hey, where were you last night?
Got something goin' for you, huh?
Him? You kiddin'?
His daddy told him
women carry a terrible disease...
and you mustn't ever touch 'em.
L.G.'s a virgin. Ain't you, L.G.?
[bugle call]
Our doctor's from Walter Reed. You know, Colonel Kelly.
But after he looked at her, he said
he had to bring in another doctor.
Some psychiatrist.
And it was...
plain awful.
I just felt so damn ashamed for her.
They were lighting matches
and holding 'em up in front of her face
and asking her all kinds of questions
and, and Anacleto kept interfering.
We had to lock him up in his room.
Hm. She wouldn't cooperate with them, anyway.
So...
finally they said...
said we have to send her away to a...
to a sanitarium.
And I said, "Now, listen, uh, I--I don't want her in someplace
"where they're gonna have straitjackets.
"None of that stuff.
"Just, uh...
"someplace where she can be quiet and comfortable and, uh...
"listen to her records if she wants to
and have a room for Anacleto."
So they said they know, uh,
an institution that's in Virginia
that's just like a luxury hotel.
How soon?
[sighs]
As soon as they, uh, make the arrangements, whatever they do.
[train chugging]
[train horn blaring]
[Morris clearing throat]
Good afternoon. No, don't get up.
I'm Dr. Burgess. Welcome to our small community.
Will you be staying with us overnight, Colonel Langdon?
No. [clears throat] No, I have to get right back.
Well, you may be sure we'll take good care of Mrs. Langdon.
You won't be getting up tomorrow.
[Dr. Burgess] You'll stay in bed, and we'll start making you well again.
[sighs]
Well...
it's a nice place, isn't it?
Alcoholics.
Senility.
Paresis.
Oh, my God.
What a choice crew.
[groans]
[Weldon] Soldier, pick up that cigarette butt.
Fieldstrip it.
A soldier is a soldier 24 hours a day.
- Do you understand? - Yes, sir.
Soldier, who checked you out of barracks?
Why is that pocket unbuttoned? Button it.
When did you blitz that buckle?
Don't you have any shoe polish?
Yes, sir.
Soldier, you'll report to the orderly room right away.
Yes, sir.
[Murray] Major! Major Penderton!
Major Penderton, have you heard?
- Heard what? - Alison.
Mrs. Langdon, she's dead.
No, no. No, no. I haven't heard.
What? What?
Alison. Mrs. Langdon. She's dead.
Well, but the c-c-colonel isn't back yet.
No, he's on the noon train. It was a coronary.
It happened just after he left, it seems.
We received a telegram at division headquarters.
We opened it. We didn't know what was in it, naturally.
Alison?
[dramatic music]
[church bell tolling]
[bugle call]
[Leonora] I'm almost finished, Morris.
Why don't you give them to Weincheck, all these records?
He'd be happy to have 'em.
Oh, I think I'll keep 'em over in my room.
I might wanna play 'em sometime.
Oh, now, Morris, you know you hate classical records.
Don't talk like that. It's...
Well, it's morbid.
Well, she gave that little thing to Anacleto
and he kept it up here.
Damn, I wish he'd come back.
Strange he didn't show up at the funeral, isn't it?
Yeah, he just packed up all her things
and got out of that hospital the morning after she died.
Just, just disappeared.
[whispering] Funny, isn't it?
You know, I never told you this, but...
when Catherine was born...
Alison had a hell of a time of it.
- Thirty three hours in labor. - Mm.
Thirty three solid hours.
And when it got so, I couldn't stand
to listen to her anymore, screamin', you know.
You know who she hung on to? Anacleto.
- Oh. - Yep.
The little Filipino was there...
sweat pourin' down his face.
Doctor told her she wasn't bearing down hard enough
so he'd, he'd bear down right along with her.
Bendin' his knees, screamin' when she'd scream.
[sniffs]
Hell.
Leonora, I didn't know there was anything wrong with her.
I mean, I didn't know she was...
really sick. I just thought she was...
I didn't realize, that's all.
Of course, you didn't realize.
Nobody did.
Oh.
Well...
I guess there's just two things left for me now.
Keep myself fit and do my job. Serve my country.
- Only two things? - Hm?
Only two things?
[Morris] Oh.
Not here now.
I'd tell you what let's do?
Let's go riding.
May be some blackberries left.
[dramatic music]
Now a man does not flee because, um...
he's fighting in an unjust cause.
He does not attack because his cause is just.
He flees 'cause he's the weaker.
And he conquers 'cause he's the stronger.
Uh, more to the point 'cause, uh,
his leaders made him feel stronger.
Uh, Rommel...
Patton, Marshall, MacArthur,
they, they had it.
How did they, uh...
how did they make their troops believe that they were stronger?
Leadership is, uh, intangible...
and it's hard to measure,
difficult to describe.
Leadership must include a measure
of inherent ability to control
uh, and direct self-confidence
based on initiative,
loyalty to superiors,
and a sense of pride.
Pride.
It's far easier to recognize a leader...
than to define leadership in clear
and in universally understood terms.
Uh...
Now...
is leadership, uh, learned?
Is it taught?
Is man born with it?
How'd it come to Patton?
Uh, class dismissed.
[dramatic music]
Sergeant.
Ser--
Afternoon, Major Penderton.
I'll have the black mare.
Sorry, sir. Williams has her out.
Well, saddle any horse then. It doesn't matter.
Yes, sir.
[dramatic music]
- Blackjack. - Oh, damn.
You know, I used to tease Anacleto all the time
about what I'd do to him
if I ever got him in a battalion.
Of course, I was kiddin' him mostly
but I really do think if he'd joined the Army
that'd been the best thing in the world for him.
Well, he certainly would be flattered if he could hear
the way you carry on about him now.
Well, he wouldn't have been happy in the Army
but it might have made a man out of him.
Knocked some of that nonsense out of him, anyway.
I mean, it is a pretty awful thing to see a grownup man
dancin' around on his toes to some kind of silly music
and paintin' all kind of funny-lookin' pictures
with watercolors and...
Oh, we'd have run him ragged in the Army, alright.
And he sure would have been miserable, but...
I think anything would be better than all that...
all that other mess.
Any fulfillment obtained
at the expense of normality is wrong...
and should not be allowed to bring happiness.
In short, it's, uh...
it's better because it's, uh, morally honorable
for the square peg to keep scrapin' about in a round hole...
rather than to discover
and use the unorthodox one that would fit it.
Well, yeah, that's, that's right, Weldon.
Don't you agree with me?
[softly] No.
No, I don't.
Excuse me.
- Oh. - [crashes]
[Leonora] Oh, Weldon.
[Leonora] Poor Rufus.
I've had him ever since I was in boarding school.
Now you've broken him...
after all these years.
I am sorry, Leonora. It's just all this clutter's--
What's the matter with clutter? I like it.
Well...
I'd rather live without it.
Bare floors. Plain white walls.
No window curtains. Nothin' but essentials.
Well, if that's the way you feel about it
why don't you resign your commission
and start all over again as an enlisted man?
Of course, you're laughin' at it, but there's much
to be said for the life of men among men...
with no luxuries,
no ornamentation, utter simplicity.
It's rough and it's coarse, perhaps
but it's also clean.
It's clean as a rifle.
[Weldon] There's no speck of dust inside or out.
And it's immaculate in its hard, young fitness...
its, uh, chivalry.
They're seldom out of one another's sight.
They eat, and they train,
and they shower, and they play jokes,
and go to the brothel together.
They sleep side by side.
The barracks room offers many a lesson in courtesy
and how not to give offense.
And they guard the next man's privacy
as though it was their own.
And the friendships, my Lord.
There are friendships formed that are stronger than...
stronger than the fear of death.
A-and they're never lonely.
They're never lonely.
And sometimes I envy them.
Well, goodnight.
Well, I guess Alison's death has kind of...
kind of hit him hard too.
Would you want a card?
[sighs] No.
I wish Anacleto would come back.
Well, I wish Alison would come back.
I wish everything would be the way it was before.
[dramatic music]
[tires screeching]
[glass shatters]
- What was that? - What's that?
[Man] Come on, you guys.
[indistinct chatter]
[thunder rumbling]
[rain pattering]
[thunder rumbling]
- [Man] Get out of here. - [Man 2] Ow!
[men laughing]
[Man] Oh, oh, please.
[indistinct chatter]
Hey, what is this? Hey.
Hey, come on. What's wrong, huh?
- [thuds] - Oh!
- [thuds] - [grunts]
You son of a...
[groaning]
[grunting]
Come, come on.
What's the matter?
You started it. Come on.
Come on.
Bastard.
- [thunder rumbling] - [indistinct chatter]
[thunder rumbling]
- [rain pattering] - [thunder rumbling]
[dramatic music]
[thunder rumbling]
[intense music]
[thunder rumbling]
[knife clicks]
[thunder rumbling]
[dramatic music]
[thunder rumbling]
[intense music]
[thunder rumbling]
[gunshots]
[screaming]
[dramatic music]
[continues screaming]
[dramatic music]