Mr Barrie. Don't you agree this is a little bit tight?
- No. No, in fact I think it's quite... baggy. - Baggy?
Quite frumpy. I'd bring it right in just there.
That's very tight.
And put maybe a plank of wood there to straighten him up.
- Oh, aye. Yes, Mr Barrie. - Plank of wood?
Some wood there on the shoulders as well.
- Otherwise, it's marvelous. - Right, sir.
- You'll be sick tomorrow. - I'll be sick tonight.
James.
We're just having some tea. You remember my mother, of course.
Yes. Of course. How do you do?
- May I take your hat? - That's enough, boys.
Boys, please don't run in the house. You'll break something.
Come away from that door. Come on, come on.
I'd like a word with you, Mr Barrie, before you go.
We'll only be a few minutes.
Boys, why don't you go and play in the garden? Go on.
- Is he in trouble? - Sh.
Because I've been alone with Grandmother and I know what it's like.
- Should we retire into the study? - Why don't you join them, dear?
Very well.
- I do apologize for interrupting. - Would you close the door, please?
Certainly.
Sylvia has told me you have offered her the services of your household staff.
- Well, not exactly. - That won't be necessary.
I'll leave that to Sylvia, of course.
You'll leave that to me, Mr Barrie.
You see, I'm moving in here from now on.
- You're moving in? - I'm going where I'm most needed.
And I can certainly see to it that this house is managed
without resorting to your charity.
It isn't charity, Mrs du Maurier. I was only trying to help, as a friend.
Have you no idea how much your friendship has already cost my daughter?
Or are you really that selfish?
I beg your pardon?
Don't you see what a visit to the summer cottage of a married man
does for a widow's future prospects?
Sylvia needs to find someone. The boys need a father.
And you are destroying any hope this family has of pulling itself together again.
I have only wanted good things for this family, Mrs du Maurier.
I'll look after them.
You have your own family to concern yourself with.
What are you suggesting?
I'm suggesting that you protect what you have, Mr Barrie.
That is precisely what I am doing.
I was so certain what I would find in this.
Some little confessión would leak out onto the page.
I don't write love notes in my journal.
No.
Still, you knew who I meant, didn't you?
That's some comfort, actually.
It means I know you just a little after all.
You needn't steal my journal to get to know me, Mary.
No. I suppose I could just go see the plays.
I was hopelessly naive when I married you.
I imagined that brilliant people disappeared to some secret place
where good ideas floated around like leaves in autumn.
And I hoped, at least once...
you would take me there with you.
There is no such place.
Yes, there is.
Neverland.
It's the best you've written, James.
And I'm sure the Davies will adore the worid you've created for them.
I only wish I were part of it.
I've wanted you to be. I've tried.
Mary.
I always imagined us going off on great adventures once we were together.
But we moved into this house and you started, I don't know,
- you started rearranging the furniture. - What was I supposed to do, James?
You were always gone.
I was right here.
Sitting in your parlor, staring off into other worids as though I didn't exist.
Look. Just give me bit more time to finish up the play.
To spend with your muse?
No, I'm tired of waiting, James. I'm tired of looking like a fool.
Well, I can't very well give up the play.
Of course not.
Just come home to me at the end of the day. Rehearse and be home for dinner.
No more trips to the country, no more long afternoons in the park.
If you can't give us that much of a chance,
then we must end this.
And I will.
Pitiful display.
Nanny. Nanny.
What?
First you get the pajamas, then you make the bed.
With my paws?
You make the bed with your paws. The pajamas you get with your teeth.
Because in fact, being a dog, you haven't any proper digits, have you?
Well, I don't have any teeth, either.
I mean, I can't see. I can't breathe.
All I've got is this rubbery snout.
- Can we get him some teeth? - He can have mine.
We'll get you teeth.
- Let's have a wee break, shall we? - Right.
- I thought you were wonderful. - You were marvelous.
I think you're better on four legs than you are on two.
- Oh, give it a rest. - I do.
- Just say it, Charles, go on. - Well, you picture it, James.
Opening night, doctors, lawyers, businessmen and their wives,
all dressed to the nines.
They've paid good money, they're expecting theater, what we call theater.
The curtain opens and it's crocodiles and fairies and pirates and Indians.
I don't even know what it is.
But you did know, Charles. You're an absolute genius, Charles. That's it.
Oh, don't patronize me, James.
You know how much money I put into this show that I haven't even found yet?
Listen, listen. Opening night, I want 25 seats set aside.
- Set aside? 25? - 25 seats.
Scattered throughout the theater. Two here, two there, three up there.
- Are they paying for it? - They're filled.
- No, no, no. I'm asking... - The seats are filled.
- Uncle Jim? - Hello, boys.
Could I speak to you for a moment, please?
Certainly.
25 seats, Charles. It'll be great. It'll be fantastic.
25 scattered seats? Who's paying for them?
Throughout the theater.
- Who's paying for these 25 seats? - They're filled-up seats, Charles.
Whoa. Look.
This is great. I'm flying.
We don't need to use much pull at all, see? As long as we've got the balance down.
Mother asked me to take the boys out for the afternoon.
She said she only wanted a bit of quiet,
but she was trembling so badly she couldn't even finish her tea.
I'm not a fool, Uncle James. I deserve to know the truth.
I don't know the truth. She won't talk about it.
But you think it's serious?
It could be. The doctor felt she should go and have some tests.
Then you'll have to convince her to go then.
I've tried. She won't listen to me.
And lately, to be quite honest,
it seems that all my best intentions for your family have come to nothing but harm.
Apparently I've made quite a mess of things.
It's Grandmother, isn't it? She's run you off, hasn't she?
Oh, she's absolutely tried with great effort. And perhaps with good reason.
It isn't you, Uncle Jim. She just...
She just doesn't want to see Mother hurt anymore.
Look at that.
How magnificent.
The boy's gone.
Somewhere during the last 30 seconds, you've become a grown-up.
Right then. I think you should be the one to talk to her, George.
- But I wouldn't know what to say. - You'll do fine. You'll do just fine.
Mr Barrie, sir. Sorry to interrupt.
- It's Nana, he's expired backstage. - What's happened?
I think his costume is too tight.
It's not possible, too tight. George, give me a minute, I'll be back.
Pull that one tight. Here, last one.
OK. Flap those wings.
- There you go. - Whoa!
- Can I have a go? - Yeah, you can have a little go if you want.
Give that a tug. Go on.
- Just give it a little pull. - Can I have a go?
- In a minute. In a minute. - Can I have a go?
- Jack. Pull me higher. - I have to concentrate.
- Stop it now, boys. - No, Michael.
Stop mucking about, boys. Come on now.
- I want to do it now. - No, don't go down there.
What are you...?
Ow!
Oh, no. Oh, no, I'm sorry.
- I'm so sorry. - George?
Mr Barrie?
Mrs Davies would like a word with you.
No, just Mr Barrie.
- Did you encourage this? - Encourage what?
Oh, James, please. You know perfectly well what.
George won't allow them to set his arm unless I submit to an examination.
I see. Well, I suppose you'll have to then,
because he's quite a stubborn young man when he sets his mind to it.
This is absurd. They won't tell me anything different.
Different?
So you've already spoken to a doctor then?
That is not your concern.
My understanding is that my condition may be quite serious.
However... my wish is that life should go on as normal.
So,
I'll have the examination,
and I'll take whatever medications they advise.
But I don't want to know what they're for.
And I don't want you inquiring into it any further.
Wouldn't dream of it.
Mary?
Peter, could you help George to fold a pocket handkerchief, please?
- They're in the linen cupboard. Darling? - Yes, Mother.
Jack, how do you manage to always come untucked?
Would you check your shirt-tails in the intermissión, please?
Yes, Mother.
You're not planning on attending any after-theater events, are you?
Only for a short time if we do. The tickets!
- With the children? - George!
Um, possibly. Would you see if George has the tickets, please?
- I'll just check the dressing table. - Sylvia, there's a...
Mother, please see if George has the tickets. Michael, where are your socks?
Wait here, don't move.
Take her feet, George.
We'll need some more blankets.
Oh, take Michael with you, would you?
She looks much worse than when we were at the cottage.
Sh, Michael.
- Those 25 seats, has anyone shown up? - No, sir. Not yet.
Precisely. Have there been many people asking for seats?
- Yes, sir. - Charles.
I suggest you start selling them. Yes, James?
Have you seen any of the Davies family yet this evening?
The 25 seats, are they filled?
- It's taken care of. - Yes. Yes.
Who did you invite? Because obviously whoever you invited decided not to come.
- The seats will be filled, I promise. - Yes. You've been promising me all...
- Charles? - Hello, Mr Stanley.
Have you seen the Davies family this evening?
No, sir.
- Jack has gone to get Dr Brighton. - Oh, no, Mother. I don't need a doctor.
Yes, you do, dear.
I think I'll get some camomile to help you relax.
Peter will be here if you need anything.
Peter.
Can I do anything, Mother?
No, darling.
You must go to the play.
- I can't do that. - Yes, you can.
I need you to.
I need you to come back tonight and tell me every bit of it.
Please.
It's only a play, Mother.
It doesn't matter.
What do you want?
Take it out.
Open it.
I've never been so proud of you.
Last call, please, ladies and gentlemen. Last call.
Yes, yes, yes. It's all right. They know.
We had time to sell those 25 seats. The play's starting.
- Charles. - What?
- They're here. - Who's here?
Do forgive them being a bit late - short legs, long walk from the orphanage.
I'm not clear what they're doing here.
- They've come to see the play. - Mm-hm.
- That's the 25 seats. - Mm.
25 seats given to orphans. Right. Now my nightmare is complete.
You can start your play now.
Your play.
Get them in the scattered seats.
Just there, boys.
Excuse me, sir. This way.
Thank you.
Looks like we got one of the better-dressed ones.
I just want you to know, I think you're a wonderful dog.
Thanks.
I won't go to bed. I won't. I won't.
Nana, it isn't six o'clock yet.
Two minutes more.
Please. One minute more.
Nana, I will not be bathed. I tell you, I will not be bathed.
Who are you?
No one there. Yet I feel sure I saw a face.
My children.
- How is she? - She's resting.
- May I see her? - No, Mr Barrie.
I don't think we need to include you in everything that goes on in this household.
- But she'd want to see him. - Be quiet, George.
And since, as I've discovered,
you've seen fit to conceal certain facts about my daughter's condition from me,
I feel no remorse at excluding you from my home.
But you can't...
- Go upstairs, George, now. - Stop ordering me about.
This isn't your home. It's our home.
Just cos Mother's needed your help recently
doesn't give you the right to rule over her existence.
She's not a child anymore, and neither am I.
If she wants to see Uncle Jim, she can see Uncle Jim.
There's nothing you can do about it.
- Mother? - Yes, darling?
James.
No. Your play.
Look at all this.
I'd have come tonight, it's just...
- Mother, you need to rest. ...I still have things to do here.
See? This needs mending.
Four boys, no end of patches.
Can't seem to keep up.
I haven't the time for all this.
Don't look at me like that, James. You make me feel so utterly exposed.
Boys, would you give me a moment with your mother, please? Thank you.
They can see it, you know.
You can't go on just pretending.
"Just pretending"?
You brought pretending into this family, James.
You showed us we can change things by simply believing them to be different.
A lot of things, Sylvia, not everything.
But the things that matter.
We've pretended for some time now that you're a part of this family, haven't we?
You've come to mean so much to us all that now it doesn't matter if it's true.
And even if it isn't true,
even if that can never be...
I need to go on pretending.
Until the end.
With you.
- Oh, I am sweet. - How do you do it?
You just think lovely, wonderful thoughts and they lift you up in the air.
You are so nippy at it. Couldn't you do it very slowly once?
Yes, I've got it now, Wendy.
I must blow fairy dust on you first.
Now try. Try it from the beds.
Just wriggle your shoulders like this and then let go.
- I flew! - How ripping!
Now join hands.
- Look at me! - I do like it!
- Bravo! - Let's go out.
Second on the right and straight on till morning.
Genius.
- Sylvia, don't move. - I feel a little better.
It's been a bad day, that's all.
Now I want you to go back to the theater.
Find Peter.
- Of course. - Thank you.
Are you sure there's nothing else I can do for you?
No.
Well,
I have always wanted to go to Neverland.
You did promise to tell me about it, you know.
Aye. That I did.
It's a bit late for it tonight though, I'm afraid.
Perhaps some time soon though?
Most definitely.
- D'you mean we shall both be drowned? - Look how the water is rising.
It must be the tail of the kite we made for Michael.
You remember. It tore itself out of his hands and floated away.
- The kite. Why shouldn't it carry you? - Both of us.
It can't lift two. Michael and Curly tried.
I won't go without you, Peter.
Let us draw lots which is to stay behind.
And you a lady? Never.
Ready, Wendy?
Peter!
Don't let go, Wendy.
Peter, I'm frightened.
Hang on, Wendy!
Peter!
To die will be an awfully big adventure.
- I'm glad you came. - Well...
I've never missed an opening.
So I...
assume you heard about Gilbert and I.
Yes.
Quite the scandal, so I'm told.
How are you?
I'm all right.
How are you?
I'm sorry.
Don't be.
Without that family, you could never have written anything like this.
You need them.
Goodbye.
- Mr Barrie. - Mrs Snow.
Thank you. That was quite the nicest evening I've ever spent in the theater.
Very kind of you to say. Thank you. Where's Mr Snow this evening?
Oh.
I'm afraid he's left us.
And he would so have loved this evening.
The pirates and the Indians.
He was really just a boy himself, you know.
To the very end.
I'm terribly sorry. How are you doing?
I'm doing well enough now, thank you.
I suppose it's all the work of the ticking crocodile, isn't it?
Time is chasing after all of us. Isn't that right?
- That's right, Mrs Snow. - Aunt Rose, your drink.
Thank you. I mustn't keep you. You've a lot of friends here.
Well, it's lovely to see you. I'm terribly sorry, once again.
- Was that Mr Barrie? - That was Mr Barrie.
Well done, Mr Barrie.
- Good show. - Well done.
Psst.
What did you think?
- It's about our summer together, isn't it? - It is.
- About all of us. - That's right.
Did you like it?
It's magical. Thank you.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you, Peter.
- This is Peter Pan! How wonderful. - Really?
You're Peter Pan? Why, you must be quite the little adventurer.
Look, it's true. He has no shadow.
But I'm not Peter Pan.
He is.
And there's been no improvement since my last visit?
No.
Has James been by at all today, Mother?
Dr Brighton. May I have a word?
Excuse me a moment.
You haven't been keeping him from me, have you?
As a matter of fact, I actually hoped he might come.
Would have proved me wrong about him.
Of course, with the success of his play,
the whole of London must be knocking at his door.
I'm sorry, dear.
- What is it? - It's a secret.
- Quiet, Michael. - I didn't say anything.
Mother, could you come downstairs for a moment?
Oh, she can't come downstairs. What are you thinking of, George?
Actually, I think a trip downstairs might do her good, ma'am.
- What have you been up to? - Just wait and see.
It's a play.
It's not just a play, Michael. It's the play.
Of course, we'll have to make do with a few compromises.
Much of it will have to be imagined.
- As it should be. - As it should be, that's right.
Michael, come and sit here, next to Mum.
When you're ready.
I won't go to bed. I won't. I won't.
Nana, it isn't six o'clock yet. Two minutes more. Please.
- You know fairies, Peter? - Yes.
But they're nearly all dead now.
You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the first time,
the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about
and that was the beginning of fairies.
And now when every new baby is born, its first laugh becomes a fairy.
So there ought to be one fairy for every boy and girl.
- Ought to be? Isn't there? - Oh, no.
Children know such a lot now. Soon, they don't believe in fairies.
And every time a child says, "I don't believe in fairies,"
there's a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.
Who is that?
The redskins were defeated?
Wendy and the boys captured by the pirates?
I'll rescue her. I'll rescue her!
- Oh, that's just my medicine. -
Poisoned? Who could have poisoned it?
Why, Tink. You've drunk my medicine.
It was poisoned.
And you drank it to save my life?
Tink.
Are you dying?
Her light is growing faint.
If it goes out, that means she's dead.
Her voice is so low I can scarcely hear what she's saying.
She says she thinks she could get well again
if children believed in fairies.
Do you believe in fairies?
Say quick that you believe.
If you believe, clap your hands.
Clap louder.
Thank you. Thank you.
That is Neverland.
So many perfect days.
I really began to believe we'd go on like that forever.
Oh, stop it.
She wasn't going to stay with you forever.
She had a husband. My father.
She never cared for you the way she did for him.
I'm not trying to replace your father, Peter.
I could never do that.
You'd best let him go.
George, would you take the boys back to the house? I'll be with you in a moment.
Go on, dear.
I'm terribly sorry.
I've ruined everything I've touched in this family.
Stop giving yourself so much credit.
Peter's grieving. It has nothing to do with you.
Perhaps if I just had a bit more time with him.
No, Mr Barrie. That won't be good enough.
If "a bit more time" is all you can provide, you'd better leave him alone.
I know you don't much care for me, Mrs du Maurier, and I respect that,
but I loved your daughter very much.
And I love those boys.
And I think they need me right now.
Is that so?
And for how long after?
Meaning what?
Sylvia has requested a co-guardianship for the boys in her will.
You, Mr Barrie, and myself.
- And what do you have to say about that? - I shall respect my daughter's wishes.
Something I should have done more of while she was alive.
But if you feel you're not ready for such a commitment,
I assure you I can certainly look after the boys by myself.
Do you think I could abandon those boys?
Sit down, Peter.
Mother pasted it back together
after I ruined it.
And then I saw the play.
I just started writing and I haven't been able to stop.
She would be very pleased to know that.
Listen. I've just spoken with your grandmother
and I'm staying.
For good.
I'm sorry I was so horrible.
Don't worry.
It's just...
I thought she'd always be here.
So did I.
But, in fact...
she is.
Because she's on every page of your imagination.
You'll always have her there. Always.
But why did she have to die?
I don't know, boy.
When I think of your mother...
I will always remember how happy she looked
sitting there in the parlor,
watching a play about her family.
About her boys that never grew up.
She went to Neverland.
And you can visit her any time you like
if you just go there yourself.
How?
By believing, Peter.
Just believe.
I can see her.