[Man Narrating] This story consists of my recollections...
of a very unusual young man with whom I was thrown into contact at long intervals.
In the summer of 1919, while passing through Chicago on my way to the Far East...
a friend of mine, Elliott Templeton...
whom I had known in London and Paris...
invited me to dine with him and his sister, Mrs. Bradley.
They were giving a dinner party at one of those sprawling country clubs...
which were so much a part of the American scene...
in the early days of the postwar boom.
##[Orchestral]
- Good evening, sir. - Good evening. Mr. Templeton's table?
- Yes, sir. - Are they here?
They're having refreshments, sir.
##[Continues]
- Uh, here you are. - For the dry martini, sir.
- Prohibition. Of all the bloody nonsense. - Elliott.
- Yes, dear? - Who is this man that you asked to dinner tonight?
I had to get Sophie at the last minute, or we would have been 13.
He's an English author. He's quite all right. In fact he's quite famous.
So pretend that you've heard of him, even if you haven't.
That's too much. Get the other glasses.
Elliott, you must be slipping if you frequent authors.
Not at all, my dear. Authors go everywhere nowadays.
Why, in London, I even met actors and actresses in society.
Ah, here he is now.
My dear fellow, how very nice to see you.
- [Chuckling] Hello, Elliott. - Let me present you to my sister, Mrs. Bradley.
- Louisa... - [Laughing]
- Louisa, dear. - Hmm?
This is Mr. Somerset Maugham.
How do you do, Mr. Maugham? It's an honor to have you with us.
Thank you. It's very nice to be here.
What on earth are you doing in this benighted city?
I'm-I'm just passing through. But you, Elliott, I thought you never left Paris.
Why should I? In point of fact I came to see my sister and my niece, Isabel.
- I haven't been back since before the war. - [Woman Giggling]
I hope you don't mind. A few young things are joining us for dinner.
But, uh, we can leave early.
Why should I mind? I like young things if they're good to look at.
Incidentally, you'll meet the young man my niece has got herself engaged to.
His name is Larry Darrell. I might as well tell you that Elliott doesn't approve of him.
I have nothing against him, but he hasn't any money.
My sister's not a rich woman by any means. She needs all she's got.
- I said only this morning... - Is it necessary for you to tell Mr. Maugham...
- all our private affairs? - We can't all be millionaires, Elliott.
- He hasn't even got a job. - He can get one, can't he?
- He doesn't want a job. - Why not?
Because he's bone idle.
That must shock a man like you who's never earned a penny in his life.
[Laughing]
It may have escaped your notice, my dear fellow, but I am not an ordinary man.
- Cocktail? - Oh, yes, please.
For the run of mankind, industry is essential.
I see no reason why this young man, who my niece has got herself engaged to...
should not conform to the customs of his country.
Ah, here's my niece now.
Oh, Mother.
- Hello, Isabel. - Hello.
- Mr. Maugham, this is my daughter, Isabel. - How do you do?
- Where's Larry? - Late.
Oh, poor sweet. I suppose he forgot to wind his watch last night as usual.
You wouldn't know about Larry.
- Say, Mother, you've mixed up the cards. - Oh, Sophie, dear.
- Hello, Sophie. - This is Sophie Nelson. Mr. Somerset Maugham.
- Sophie's a neighbor of ours in the country. - How do you do?
- You look charming, Sophie. - Yes, doesn't she?
Excuse us. Come here. I want to have a look at you.
Sophie... Sophie, you look lovely.
It's the dress. You're sure you don't mind my wearing it?
Of course not. If you like it, take it as a present.
Oh, Isabel, that's awfully sweet of you.
Oh, it'd be such a surprise for Bob to see me decently dressed for once.
Oh, you know Bob's much too much in love with you to notice what you wear.
He's no more crazy about me than I am about him.
[Sighs] I don't think anyone ever loved anyone as I love him.
- Isn't it heavenly to be alive? - Yes.
- Hi. - Hello, Gray.
- May I break this up? - Sure.
Hello.
- You look lovely. Uh-huh. - Think so?
- Hello, Sophie. - Hello.
May I get you one, Miss, um... Miss Nelson, isn't it?
- Yes, Sophie Nelson. I'd love it. - Oh, uh...
No. I guess I'd better not.
- Why, what's wrong with cocktails? - Oh, nothing.
Only I promised Bob I wouldn't.
- Who's Bob? - My boyfriend. He doesn't like me to drink.
He thinks I'm too fond of them.
- Which is Bob? - Oh, he isn't here. He's working.
He's putting himself through law school.
He's going to drop in later and take me home.
Will you have one of these? If my man Joseph could see me now...
- I give you my word, he'd faint dead away. - [Chuckles]
You're a great friend of Mr. Templeton's, aren't you?
I wouldn't say that. Elliott has no friends, only acquaintances.
- He's an awful snob, isn't he? - Oh, awful.
But he's kind and generous. People laugh at him behind his back...
but they eat his food and drink his wine.
Oh, Mr. Maugham. Mr. Maugham, you're next to Mother.
Sophie, you're next to Gray at the end of the table.
- That's us, toots. - Mr. Maugham, Mr. Maturin.
- Uh, Isabel... Dinner, my dear fellow. - Yes?
Oh, yes.
And, uh, who's Mr. Maturin?
Oh, Gray. He's our millionaire.
His father's a big broker, and we're proud of him.
- He gives us class, but he's nice. - [Chuckles]
I know several girls who'd stop at nothing short of murder to get him.
- They haven't a chance. - Why not?
He's so much in love with Isabel he can't see straight.
- I see. And she's in love with Larry Darrell. - [Chuckles]
I suppose that does complicate matters.
It does if you're as high-principled as Gray is.
And Larry isn't here?
Oh, yes. He's just coming in now. Way over there. Look.
Come on. Dinner.
[Maugham Narrating] This is the young man of whom I write.
He is not famous.
It may be that when his life at last comes to an end...
he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on this earth...
than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water.
Yet it may be that the way of life he has chosen for himself...
may have an ever-growing influence over his fellow men...
so that long after his death, perhaps...
it may be realized that there lived in this age...
a very remarkable creature.
You're very late, Larry.
- [Chuckling] I'm sorry. - Sophie, where's Mr. Maugham?
Evidently, Larry hasn't learned that punctuality is the politeness of kings.
- Elliott. Mr. Maugham, this is Larry Darrell. - How do you do?
- When can we start dinner and get this over with? - Mr. Maugham's a novelist.
- Oh? - [Chuckles] I may as well tell you...
- that Larry's very stupid and uneducated. - Hmm.
He knows nothing about anything except flying.
But when he came back, he looked so lovely in his uniform...
I camped on his doorstep until he consented to marry me.
- The competition was awful. - Don't believe a word she says, Mr. Maugham.
- Isabel's not a bad girl, but she's a terrible liar. - Dinner.
- Oh, yes. - I've seen you before.
Oh? When?
I happened to have a job of work to do, and I went into the library.
I saw you when I went in there early this morning.
When I came back from lunch, you were still there.
- To tell you the truth, I forgot about lunch. - I couldn't help admiring...
- your power of concentration. - It was that kind of a book.
My dear fellow, you're at the end of the table with my sister.
- Hello, Gray. - Hi, there.
Say, Dad tells me you turned down that job in the office.
Oh, Larry. Why have you done that?
I thought it over, and I figured I'd be a disappointment to Gray's father.
- So I decided I'd better refuse. - Sorry, old man.
It would have been swell, us working together.
##[Waltz]
Hi, brown eyes. Looks as if tall, dark and legal is standing you up.
I'd like to catch him trying it.
- You're old friends? - We grew up together.
I used to play shortstop on his baseball team.
We used to think we could lick any 10 kids our size.
- Could you? - We tried.
Oh, here comes my young man now.
- Oh, here you are. - Hello.
This is Mr. Maugham. Bob MacDonald.
- How do you do, sir? - How are you?
He's the one who seems to think he wants to marry me.
I can't see why, but there it is.
I just happen to be crazy about the girl.
I wouldn't like him to know, but just between you and me...
I rather like him myself.
Let's dance.
[No Audible Dialogue]
- Hello, Isabel. - Hello.
Larry, why didn't you tell me that Mr. Maturin had offered you a job?
What?
[Gasps] Larry, why didn't you tell me...
that Mr. Maturin had offered you a job?
Answer me. Answer me.
I thought I'd better not till I made up my mind one way or another.
- You mad? - Darling, that's the horrible part about you.
However aggravating you are, one can't really be angry with you.
Oh, can't they?
Did you see those looks Uncle Elliott was giving me at dinner?
After all, Larry, a man must work.
The longer you put it off, the harder it'll be.
I've got a foolish notion I want to do more with my life than just sell bonds.
All right, then.
- Go into a law office. - I don't want to do that either.
What do you want to do then?
I don't know.
Loaf maybe.
Oh, Larry, don't be funny.
This is serious.
I'm not being funny. I think it's very serious.
I wouldn't make you miserable for anything.
But you are making me miserable.
You see, I love you.
And I love you, Isabel.
[Women Laughing]
[Chattering]
##[Continues]
Look, Larry, let's be sensible.
A man must work. It's a matter of self-respect.
This is a young country, and it's a man's duty to take part in its activities.
Why, Gray's father was saying only the other day...
that we're beginning an era that will make the past look like 30 cents.
He said that he could see no limit to our progress...
and that by 1930, we'll be the greatest and richest country in the whole world.
- Don't you think that's terribly exciting? - Terribly.
Why, there never was such a chance for young men.
I... I'd have thought you'd be proud to be a part of it.
It's such a wonderful adventure.
I'm sure you're right, Isabel.
The Armours and the Swifts will pack more and better meat...
McCormicks will turn out more and better harvesters...
Henry Ford will make more and better cars...
- and everybody will get richer and richer. - What's wrong with that?
Nothing.
Nothing at all. It-It just happens that sitting in an office...
and making a lot of money doesn't interest me as much as it should.
Oh, Larry, don't talk like a fool. You can't live without money.
But I have a little. That's what gives me the chance to do what I want.
You're making it very difficult for me.
Sorry, darling. I wouldn't if I could help it.
You can help it.
Yes?
The dead look so terribly dead when they're dead.
- What does that mean exactly? - Just that.
Are you terribly unhappy, darling?
No. The only thing that makes me unhappy is making you unhappy.
I don't think I'll ever find peace until I make up my mind about things.
It's so difficult to put into words. The minute you try, you feel embarrassed.
You say to yourself, "Who am I to bother my head about this, that or the other?
"Wouldn't it be better just to follow the beaten path...
and let what's coming to you come?"
And then I think...
of a guy I knew.
A minute before, he was full of life and fun...
and then...
he was dead.
I've seen many men die, but this one was different.
It was the last day of the war, almost the last moment.
He could have saved himself, but he didn't.
He saved me and... died.
So, he's gone, and I'm here, alive.
Why? It's all so meaningless!
You can't help but ask yourself what life is all about...
whether there's any sense to it or whether it's just a stupid blunder!
I hardly know what to say. It's-It's so unexpected.
Larry, do you think it would help if you went away for a while?
- I think perhaps it would. - Then why don't you go?
Because of you.
Larry, let's be frank with each other.
There's no place in your life for me just now.
Does that mean you don't want to be engaged to me anymore?
No, foolish. It means that I'm prepared to wait.
It might be a year or even longer.
That doesn't matter.
It might be less.
Where have you thought of going?
Where?
I thought I'd start by going to Paris.
I went there several times on leave.
I don't know why, but I've got it into my head that there...
everything that's muddled in my mind...
will grow clear.
It's a funny place.
It gives you the feeling that you can think out your thoughts to the very end.
I think over there I may be able to see my way before me.
And if you don't?
I'll give it up as a bad job, come back to Chicago...
and take the first work I can get.
- Oh, my darling. - Oh, Larry...
I love you.
I love you so much.
[Elliott] I cannot for the life of me understand...
how Isabel could possibly prefer that young man to a fine chap like Gray.
Oh, I grant you he's good-looking and his clothes fit...
But imagine, an opportunity to go in...
with Gray and his father on the ground floor.
Isabel.
Home so early?
Yes.
- What's the matter? - Nothing.
- Where's Larry? - Gone. Hello, Mother.
- Did you have a talk with him? - Yes.
- May I venture to inquire the result? - He's going to Europe.
- I promised to wait for him. - What in the world is he going to do in Europe?
- Loaf. - Loaf? Don't be ridiculous, Isabel.
- That's what he told me! - Really, I have no patience with you.
If you had any spirit, you'd have broken off your engagement then and there!
What can I do? I love him.
Come along.
It's all right.
Well, things might be a great deal worse.
Oh, thank heavens. Merci, Joseph.
I was just saying, Louisa, things might be a great deal worse.
- Oh... - Don't get up. I don't see how.
My poor Louisa, you have no imagination.
When you're young, your emotions are violent, but they're not durable.
It's a delusion that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
With Larry out of the way and Gray on the spot...
I don't see why Isabel shouldn't marry him before the year's out.
You've been away from America too long, Elliott.
You've forgotten that in this country a girl doesn't marry a man because her mother...
or even her uncle, wants her to.
That's nothing to be proud of.
As a result of 30 years' experience, I may tell you that a marriage arranged...
with a proper regard for position and fortune has every advantage over a love match.
In France, which after all...
is the only civilized country in the world...
Isabel would marry Gray without thinking about it twice.
Then, after a few months, if she was still in love with Larry...
That will do. I know what you're going to say, and the idea doesn't appeal to me.
That's one of the things I've never understood about you, Louisa.
Though you've lived half your life in diplomatic society...
in half the capitals of the world...
you've remained hopelessly American.
It isn't often that you pay me a compliment, dear.
- It wasn't meant to be one. - I know.
- I think I'll go to bed. Elliott, will you lock up? - Yes, dear.
- Good night, Mr. Maugham. - Good night.
You're very full of worldly wisdom this evening, Elliott.
Have you ever known me not to be?
I don't mind telling you I have a sneaking sympathy for the boy.
He's young, and he wants to sow his wild oats...
before he settles down to married life.
Very natural and very proper.
I'll keep my eye on him in Paris.
Of course, he must cross on the Aquitania.
[Elliott Continuing] I know the captain.
He'll see that Larry sits at his table and meets the right people.
I'll look for an apartment for him in a really smart quarter.
- I'll do him proud. - [No Audible Dialogue]
I'll give some parties for him.
So many Americans, when they go to Paris...
get in with the wrong people.
Then they find it no end of a job to shake them off.
I'll have my chauffeur, Marcel, drive him about in the Rolls.
I detest the countryside...
but, alas, all Americans are born tourists...
and no doubt he'll want to see the sights.
It would be perfect if I could arrange...
for some older woman to take him under her wing.
- Princess Novemali, for instance. - [No Audible Dialogue]
He is young, and he has a good figure.
I think she'd fall for him like a ton of bricks.
[Chuckles]
In any event, the busier I keep him...
the less time he'll have to think about Isabel.
[Chattering]
[Speaking French]
Anything for Laurence Darrell?
- This wireless came day before yesterday. - Thank you.
[Man] They went through here about a year ago.
Excuse me. Pardon me. When does the boat train from the Aquitania arrive?
- 11:30, monsieur. - Thank you.
- [Woman] Vous parlez anglais? - Why, of course.
[Chattering]
[Isabel] Larry! Larry!
[Man Shouting In French]
Oh, Larry!
Oh, Larry, I've missed you.
I've missed you so much.
May I ask how he knew you were coming?
Isabel cabled him from the ship.
- Are they still engaged? - [Chuckles] As far as I know.
- What about Gray Maturin? - Still faithful.
I don't believe you played your cards very well, Louisa.
I never had much card sense.
- Mother, here he is. - Oh, how good of you to come.
- So nice to see you. Hello, Mr. Templeton. - How do you do?
Uncle Elliott, may Larry come along to dinner with us?
- Larry's given me to understand he doesn't dine out. - He will tonight, won't you?
- I will. - That's very good of you. I shall be delighted.
We'll meet you at the house. Taxi! Taxi!
Come along, darling. I've got a million things to tell you.
I'm afraid I haven't a very good account to give you of that young man, Louisa.
- Oh? - When he first came over to Paris...
for Isabel's sake, I asked him to lunch...
to meet the sort of people he ought to know.
- He told me he didn't eat lunch. - Perhaps he doesn't.
And then, when I asked him to dinner, he said he couldn't come...
because he had no evening clothes.
If I live to be a hundred, I shall never understand...
how any young man could come to Paris without evening clothes.
Maybe he just didn't want to.
That's the most incredible reason...
for refusing an invitation I've ever heard in my life.
- And where does he live? - I haven't a notion.
Isabel writes to him in care of the American Express.
Like a traveling salesman, or a schoolteacher on vacation.
My own belief is that he's living in the Latin Quarter with some bint...
who's no better than she ought to be.
I'm afraid you'll have to write him off as one of your failures, Elliott.
It might surprise you to know it, my dear...
but I've already done so.
[Speaking French]
[Continues]
- Bonjour, Madame. - [Speaking French]
She speaks so quickly, I can't understand her.
She's telling you that it's an old French custom.
Everyone has to wear a sprig of lilies of the valley on May Day.
- They're a symbol of happiness. - [Chuckles] Merci, Madame.
- Merci. - May Day. Imagine this being May.
That means I've been here nearly a month now.
Oh, impossible. It was only yesterday.
I still don't know a thing about what you've been doing.
Tell me, Larry. You must know I've been dying to know.
Nothing very exciting. I've traveled around, read a lot...
gone to lectures at the Sorbonne and so forth.
Have you found that peace of mind you were looking for?
No, but for the first time I'm beginning to see things in a clear light.
What does that mean?
It's rather difficult to explain.
Even if I try, you'll only be angry with me.
How much longer do you think all this is going to take you?
I don't know. I don't know. It's hard to say.
And after that, what are you going to do with all this wisdom?
If I ever acquire wisdom, I suppose I'll be wise enough to know what to do with it.
- You know what Uncle Elliott says? - Nothing to my credit, I imagine.
He says you have a cozy little hideout somewhere.
Come and see for yourself. The cozy little hideout's only a step from here.
- Bonjour, Monsieur Darrell. - [Baby Crying]
Oh, bonjour, Etienne.
- Monsieur Darrell. - Madame Duval, Mademoiselle Bradley.
- Bonjour. - Monsieur Jacques Duval.
- You see the looks they gave me? - Ruined my character, that's what you've done.
- Ça va? - Mm-hmm.
This is where you live?
- You don't like it? - No.
It's all right. It's convenient.
How about a cup of coffee?
Larry, how can you bear to sit here in a backwash...
when America's living through the most glorious adventure the world has ever known?
You've been away a year now, a whole year out of your life.
You just can't go on loafing forever, or can you?
- It's possible. - And what about me?
Am I of no importance to you at all?
You're of great importance to me, Isabel.
- I love you, and I want you to marry me. - When, in 10 years?
- No, now. As soon as possible. - On what?
- I've got $3,000 a year. - Oh, Larry.
Lots of people live on a great deal less.
But I don't want to live on $3,000 a year.
I never have, and I don't see why I should.
We could go down to Capri for our honeymoon.
In the fall, we could go to Greece.
Remember how we used to talk about traveling all over the world together?
Of course I want to travel.
But not like that: Cheap restaurants, third-rate hotels...
Besides, I want to have babies, Larry.
[Chuckling] All right, darling. We'll take them along with us.
Larry, you're so impractical. You don't know what you're asking me to do.
I'm young. I want to have fun, do all the things people do.
We wouldn't have a friend in the world.
Isabel, stop exaggerating.
We'll do everything that you want to do, and we'll do it together.
Oh, listen, darling. If you hadn't a cent to your name...
and got a job that brought you 3,000 a year, I'd marry you without a minute's hesitation.
I'd cook for you. I'd make beds.
I wouldn't care what I wore. I... I'd think it was fun...
because I'd know it was only a question of time until you'd make good.
But this means living like this all our lives, with nothing to look forward to.
It's asking too much.
Oh, Larry, you've had your fling now.
For your own sake, I beg of you to come home with us.
I wouldn't make you happy if I did.
You see, what you forget is that I want to learn as passionately as...
well, as Gray, for example, wants to make a lot of money.
I came over here because I was restless...
and because my mind was muddled.
I came looking for the answers to a lot of questions.
Some of them I've found.
Others I may never find. But I can't stop now.
Oh, I know it sounds vague and trivial compared with...
well, compared with everything that's happening at home today.
And I know I'm being very difficult.
But I can't stop now, Isabel. I just can't!
But what would happen to America if everyone did as you're doing?
The answer to that is that everyone doesn't feel as I do.
Fortunately for themselves, most people are just content...
to follow the normal course and take things as they are.
Oh, I wish I could too.
But I know if I tried, I'd just make a mess of your life, and of mine too.
But...
what's this all going to lead to?
I don't know.
It may be that when I'm through...
I will have found something to give that people will be glad to take.
It's just a chance. Even if I fail...
I shan't be any worse off than a fellow's who's gone into business...
and hasn't made a go of it.
Then there's nothing more to be said.
Here you are.
Isabel.
Wear this on another finger, please.
- We're still friends? - Of course.
Shall we go?
Well, go on. Go on.
- [Laughs] - I don't believe it.
Louisa, do you realize that in the two months you've been here I haven't won a game?
[Laughing]
- Who's winning? - I am.
- Good. - [Chuckling]
I must say Isabel's taking it very well.
Has she told you exactly what happened?
Only that she and Larry talked and came to the conclusion they'd made a mistake.
- Has she written to Gray? - I wouldn't know. I'm not in the habit of opening her mail.
If you ask me, she's very well out of it.
There's no doubt there was a strong physical attraction...
- but that's all... - Here she is.
- Good night, Mother. - Good night, darling. Don't be too late.
- Remember, we have to catch the boat train in the morning. - Well...
you're very dressed up.
- You seem to be going somewhere. - Yes.
- Where? - Oh, nowhere in particular.
- Larry and I are going out on the town. - Larry?
We thought we'd like to spend our last night together.
"Evening," I trust you mean.
I'm profoundly shocked. If he had any sense of decency, he'd never have asked you.
But he didn't ask me. I asked him.
- You should forbid her to go. - Will you pay any attention if I do, Isabel?
No, darling. None.
In that case, I don't think there's any point in my forbidding it.
Pretty dress she had on.
I hadn't realized it was cut quite so low.
I've never seen you so beautiful.
[No Audible Dialogue]
- [Speaking French] - ##[Orchestral, Up Tempo]
[Speaking Spanish]
[Woman Speaking French]
- ##[Ends] - [Chattering]
##[Resumes]
[No Audible Dialogue]
## [Singing In Russian]
##[Singing Continues]
##[Ends]
- ## [Drumming] - [Chattering]
## [Jazz]
##[Continues]
[Woman Screams]
Well, I guess this is good-bye.
Will you come in and have one last drink?
Yes.
It's late. You'd better go.
Oh, Larry. For heaven sakes, go!
Please, Larry.
Larry.
Uncle Elliott!
That was a brilliant performance, my dear.
I left the door just a little open.
Shall I get you a drink?
I expect you want it.
You think you're very clever, don't you?
I don't think it. I know it.
Come, come, child. Be reasonable.
I guessed you were up to something.
Even your poor mother noticed the pains you went to...
to make yourself alluring tonight.
You're hateful.
But no fool, my angel.
Am I right in surmising that you thought if you could get him to come back here...
it was almost inevitable that the inevitable should happen?
No one could put it more delicately.
We know what the consequences may be...
- when a poor girl strays from the narrow path of virtue. - Do we?
My guess is that if your unscrupulous plan had come off...
it wouldn't have been long after your return to Chicago...
before the wretched Larry got a letter from you...
telling him to come back at once and make an honest woman of you.
You can be wonderfully disagreeable when you like, Uncle Elliott.
I know. It's one of my most cherished gifts.
When I looked into his eyes and saw...
he hadn't the slightest idea I'd set a trap for him...
I couldn't bring myself to play such a dirty trick.
I couldn't help myself.
I suppose it was my better nature.
Nonsense. It was your sound, Middle-Western horse sense.
You'd have been mad to have married him.
Believe me. When you've put the Atlantic between you and that young man...
you won't care two straws for him.
Trust your Uncle Elliott.
He's a very wise old party.
[Chattering]
Mr. Maturin, the cake.
[Man Speaking, Indistinct]
[Woman] Here's a knife, Miss Isabel... I mean Mrs. Maturin.
- What do I do with it? - Hey, Gray, get in there. You're in on this.
I told you what, Isabel. Take her hand, Gray.
Nothing would please me more. You know, this is the nicest wedding I've ever been to.
- We should have thought of this sooner. - [Laughing] Oh, Uncle Elliott...
how do brides cut their cakes in France?
- With a knife, dear. - [Laughing]
- Now, make a wish, Gray. - I don't have to. I've got my wish.
[Laughing]
You know, I've never been able to understand why...
when there's so much space in the world, people should deliberately choose...
- to live in the Middle West. - Hmm.
What in heaven's name is this?
Is it alone? Doesn't it come with something?
- What is it? - It could be a pickle fork.
A pickle fork? Huh. 2.98, no doubt, at "Ye Gifte Shoppe."
4.50, Mr. Templeton, at Obendorfer's.
- We know, because we sent it. - Charming.
- Is it for use or ornament? - [Chuckles]
- Both. - Do you remember me? We met in Chicago.
- Oh, I most certainly do, Mr. Maugham. - Hello, sir.
Sophie. Oh, darling.
How sweet of you and Bob to come.
Let me see you. Oh, you look beautiful, Isabel.
- Think so? - Like a million dollars...
Or should I say 20 million?
- We never see you and Bob anymore. - Congratulations.
- Where do you hide yourselves? - I never thought I'd get her, but I did.
For reasons best known to ourselves, we don't mix with the rich.
- We find it too expensive. - How's the kid, Bob?
- Fine. W-Would you like... - Oh, please, darling. Not now.
I'd love to come in to see you. Where do you live now?
In a walk-up apartment on the North Side.
I'd ask you and Gray to dinner, only I'm afraid you wouldn't care for my cooking.
Don't you believe her. She's the best darn cook in Chicago.
All's well that ends well.
I must say, they make a very attractive couple.
- [Laughing] Oh, no! - Go halves?
- I hope they'll be happy. - Why shouldn't they be happy?
They have everything in the world to make them happy...
money, position, a nice house...
Gray's father can't live forever.
- What about Larry? Have you heard anything about him lately? - Good heavens, no.
As soon as Isabel and Louisa went away...
I dropped him like a hot potato.
A most undesirable young man.
I tried to find him the last time I was in Paris, but I couldn't.
I wonder what's happened to him.
Shall I tell you something, my dear fellow?
I don't care a row of beans.
[Train Whistle Blows]
## [Men Singing In French]
[Whistle Blows]
## [Singing Continues]
[Thunderclap]
[Whistle Blows]
- [Speaking French] - ##[Accordion]
[Chattering]
- Hey, Kosti. - How about a beer?
- Well, I would like to wash up first. - Oh, come on.
It's good, clean dirt. You can wash later.
A couple of beers, sweetheart...
and a deck of cards.
I looked for you last night. You were out.
Was she pretty?
No. You're wrong. I went to a lecture at the university.
Missed the last bus. Had to walk back in the rain.
- It serves you right. - Why?
Enlightenment is the curse of civilization.
A man who wastes his energy on knowledge is a fool.
The more he learns, the more he wants and the more unhappy he becomes.
Tear down the schoolhouses! Burn the books!
Strangle the teachers. Then the world will get somewhere.
Ah, the beers.
And the cards. [Kisses]
We'll play for the drinks.
Why should a man who wants to develop his brain work in a coal mine?
Answer me that. You could have gotten a soft job on the surface.
I wanted to work below.
Hiding out, are you? Police after you?
- No. - A woman?
No, I just thought it would do me good to work up a sweat.
What have the other Poles told you about me?
Not much. They advised me not to play cards with you because you cheat.
- Do you think it's true? - Yes. I know it is.
- Then why do you play with me? - For the fun of it.
- Hah! - I've been watching you for days, and I can't see how it's done.
You never will, my boy.
But I shouldn't have thought it worth your while just for the price of a few drinks?
I like to keep my hand in. What are you going to do when you get enough of this?
Go back to America?
I will, I suppose, one of these days.
- And do what? - Sell bonds.
[Scoffs]
You're a rum one, Larry.
But what about the answers to all those profound questions...
you have been asking yourself?
Don't you know, people have been asking those same questions...
for thousands of years?
Yes, but doesn't the fact that people have been asking those same questions...
for thousands of years only go to prove that they can't help asking?
Very good. Very good.
You're not altogether stupid.
As a matter of fact, you sound like a very religious man...
who doesn't believe in God.
I'm not sure that I believe in anything.
- Have you ever thought of going to the East? - No.
India, for instance?
I went there. I met a strange man...
a man I never thought to meet in this world...
a saint.
People go from all parts of India to see him...
tell him their troubles, ask his advice and listen to his teaching.
And they go away strengthened in soul, and at peace.
But it's not his teaching that's so remarkable.
The man himself.
- Did he help you? - No. [Laughs]
But that wasn't his fault. It was mine.
How did you ever come to go to India?
To escape my pursuer. He followed me there.
I've wallowed in the gutters of half the seaports of Europe to put him off my track.
He was waiting for me. [Chuckles]
I know however far I flee...
one day he will come up with me, and I shall feel...
that terrible hand...
on my shoulder.
Wouldn't it be better to face the issue and take your punishment?
But you don't know what the punishment is.
It's not prison or the hangman's rope. I could face that.
It's mercy...
forgiveness, love.
Didn't anybody ever tell you...
that I'm a... unfrocked priest?
[Thunderclap]
It's not the police I'm running away from.
I'd kill anyone who tried to arrest me.
It's God.
[No Audible Dialogue]
- [Thunderclap] - Get out, you fool. I'm going to get drunk.
[Speaking Foreign Language]
[Both In Foreign Language]
Sorry we were interrupted. They're pilgrims.
They come from many places... some from quite far distances.
What has brought you here, my son?
I've come to learn.
Ever since the war, I've been searching for something...
something that I've... I've not been able to put into words.
I've been told that from you I might find... guidance.
God is the only guide.
But perhaps if we talk, he may show me a way to help you.
To my friends, I'm a loafer afraid of responsibilities.
I can't even make those I love understand what I'm after.
The fact that you've taken the time to come this great distance in search of knowledge...
proves that you're not afraid of responsibilities.
Even to admit that you want to learn is in itself courageous.
I've studied. I've traveled. I've read everything I could get my hands on...
and nothing seems to satisfy me.
Oh, like everyone else, I want to succeed, I want to improve, but...
not necessarily in the terms of what the world calls success.
Somehow I've lost confidence in the accepted values.
I try to get excited at the prospect of settling down...
minding my own business and making good...
but it only increases my urge to move on.
I know that if I do find what I'm looking for...
it will be something that I can share with others.
But how to find it, and where?
All your restlessness and confusion are not unique, my son.
The whole world is restless and confused.
It will always be so...
as long as men set their ideals on the wrong objects.
There can be no real happiness...
until men learn that it comes from within themselves.
I know.
It is written that the wise man lives from within himself...
which is from God... from within his own heart.
This is the way of calmness, forbearance...
compassion, selflessness...
and everlasting peace.
- But that's not easy. - No.
The road to salvation is difficult to pass over...
as difficult as the... sharp edge of a razor.
But this much we know, and all religions teach it:
There is, in every one of us, a spark of the infinite goodness which created us.
And when we leave this earth, we are reunited with it, as a raindrop falling from heaven...
is at last reunited with the sea which gave it birth.
- May I stay here with you? - Of course you may.
Our life's very simple. There are books. We will talk together.
You can even work in the fields, if you wish.
We Indians believe there are three roads that lead to God.
One is the path of faith and worship.
One is the path of good works performed for the love of God.
And then there is a third path which leads through knowledge to wisdom.
You have chosen the way of knowledge.
But you'll find in the end, my son, that the three paths are but one path.
One of my students will show you where to sleep.
Thank you.
[Siren Wailing]
- Excuse me, please. - Yes, sir.
Operator, Michigan-7182.
I want to get Mr. Gray Maturin.
- Is Dr. Thompson in there? - Yes, he is.
- We'll hold the hypo for now. She's doing all right. - You're wanted, Doctor.
I'm Gray Maturin, Doctor. They sent for me.
- How is she? - She's conscious now.
- She asked about her husband. Would you tell her? - Tell her? Doesn't she know?
No. She should be told before a possible shock reaction. You're an old friend.
Hello, Gray. It was nice of you to come.
I got here as quickly as I could.
[Chuckles] It's such a silly thing to happen.
A bunch of drunks... they ran into us at an intersection.
We might all have been killed. It was lucky I was holding Baby in my arms.
Is the car badly damaged? Where's Bob?
- [Moans] - Careful of her arm.
Where's Bob? I want Bob.
- Bob! - You have to stay in bed, Mrs. MacDonald.
- Take it easy, Sophie. - No. I've got to see Bob and... and Baby.
- Baby! - Don't let her get up. I'll get the doctor.
- Sophie, be a good girl and lie down. - No. Leave me alone, you swine.
Please, Sophie.
Is Bob dead, Gray? Is he dead?
You can tell me, Gray!
Yes.
[Sobs]
And... Baby too?
Linda. Linda!
Baby.
[Crying]
Hypo.
- [No Audible Dialogue] - [Crying Continues]
[Sophie] Linda. Wake up, Baby.
Wake up, Baby. Wake up.
- Well, are you ready to start on your pilgrimage? - Yes.
- But I'll miss it here. I've been very happy. - We'll miss you too.
But you've got all you can get from books.
It's time for you now to put the world behind you for a while...
to isolate yourself completely... from everything.
Sometimes very strange things happen when you're in the mountains...
not a living soul within miles of you...
nothing above you but the sky... and God.
What sort of things?
That, my son, depends on you.
You'll find a little shelter up there at the very top. Go in. Make yourself at home.
After you've been there some time, perhaps I shall pay you a visit.
- You've come. - Let me look at you.
Yes. I see.
You were right.
- Something very strange did happen to me. - I know.
Tell me.
It was just at that moment before night ends and day begins...
when the whole world seems to tremble in the balance.
Gradually the light began to filter through the darkness...
like some mysterious figure stealing through the trees.
And then the first rays of the sun came up.
The mountains, the mist caught in the treetops...
I'd never before felt or seen anything like it.
I know. I come here often.
I felt that I'd been released from my body... that I was suspended in midair.
And all the things that had been confused before...
suddenly became clear to me.
I had a sense of knowledge more than human.
I felt that I'd broken away and was free.
I felt that if it lasted another minute, I...
I'd die.
And yet, I was willing to die if I could just hold on to it, because...
for that one moment I had the feeling that...
That you and God were one.
[Quietly] Yes.
- I'm sure I could stay here forever and never tire of it. - No.
You must go back.
You are now ready to go back.
It's not necessary to leave the world, my son...
but rather to live in the world and to love the objects of the world...
not for themselves alone, but for what there is in them of God.
Your place is with your own people.
You, my son, are one of the fortunate ones.
By the grace of God, it's been given you to see the infinite beauty of the world...
which is only the reflection seen through a glass darkly of the beauty of God.
That sense of joy, that vision of his beauty...
will remain with you fresh and vivid till the day of your death.
[Men And Woman Speaking In French]
- Au revoir, mon cher. - Bien, monsieur. Au revoir.
- Ah. Monsieur Ducat. - Oui, monsieur?
[French]
This crest is not in the proper place at all.
The crest belongs up here. Up here.
I'm not running in the Olympic Games, you know.
It'll all have to be done over immediately.