(Gasping)
(Gunshot)
(Policeman) Give me your hand!
Give me your hand!
(Screams)
(Gentle classical)
Ouch! Ouch!
- I thought you said no more pains. - It's this corset, it binds.
No three-way stretch? How very un-chic.
Well, you know those police department doctors, no sense of style.
- Anyway, tomorrow will be the day. - Why, what's tomorrow?
Tomorrow? The corset comes off tomorrow.
I'll be able to scratch myself, I'll throw this miserable thing out the window.
Be a free... free man.
Midge, do you suppose many men wear corsets?
- Mm, more than you think. - Really?
You know that from personal experience?
Please. What happens after tomorrow?
- What do you mean? - Well, what are you going to do?
- Once you quit the police force. - You sound so disapproving.
No, it's your life. But you were the bright young lawyer
that decided he was going to be chief of police someday.
- I had to quit. - Why?
Because of this fear of heights I have, this acrophobia.
I wake up at nights seeing that man fall from the roof and I try to reach out and...
- It wasn't your fault. - That's what everybody tells me.
- Johnnie, the doctors explained... - I know, I know.
I have acrophobia which gives me vertigo, and I get dizzy.
Boy... what a moment to find out I had it.
Well, there's no losing it. There's no one to blame, so why quit?
You mean sit behind a desk? Chairborne.
- Where you belong. - What about my acrophobia? What...?
Suppose I'm sitting in this chair behind the desk
and a pencil falls to the floor, I reach down to pick it up,
- bingo, my acrophobia's back. - Oh, Johnnie-o.
Well, what'll you do?
I'm not going to do anything for a while.
I'm a man of independent means, as the saying goes.
- Fairly independent. - Mm.
- Why don't you go away for a while? - You mean to forget?
Oh, Midge, don't be so motherly. I'm not going to crack up.
Have you had any dizzy spells this week?
I'm having one right now.
The music, don't you think it's sort of...
Oh.
What's this doohickey?
It's a brassiere.
You know about those things, you're a big boy now.
I've never run across one like that.
It's brand-new. Revolutionary uplift. No shoulder straps, no back straps
but it does everything a brassiere should do.
It works like a cantilever bridge.
It does?
Aircraft engineer down the peninsula designed it,
worked it out in his spare time.
Kind of a hobby.
Oh. A do-it-yourself type thing.
How's your love life, Midge?
That's following a train of thought.
Well...
Normal.
Aren't you ever gonna get married?
You know there's only one man for me.
You mean me.
We were engaged once, weren't we?
- Three whole weeks. - Good old college days.
You were the one that called off the engagement.
I'm still available. Available Ferguson.
Do you remember a fellow in college called Gavin Elster?
- Gavin Elster? - Yes, funny name.
You'd think I would. No.
I had a call from Gavin today. Funny, we lost touch during the war.
Somebody said he went east. I guess he's back.
It's a Mission number.
- That's skid row, isn't it? - Could be.
He's probably on the bum and wants the price of a drink.
I'll buy him a couple of drinks and tell him my troubles.
But not tonight, how about we go out for a beer?
- Sorry, old man, work. - I think I'll go home.
Midge, what did you mean, ''there's no losing it''?
- What? - The, er, the acrophobia.
I asked my doctor, he said only another emotional shock could do it,
and probably wouldn't.
Don't dive off another rooftop to find out.
I think I can lick it.
- How? - I have a theory.
I think if I can get used to heights, just a little bit at a time.
Just a little like that. Progressively. I'll show you what I mean.
Here. I'll show you what I mean.
- We'll start with this. - That?
You want me to start with the Golden Gate Bridge?
Watch this. Here we go.
There. There.
Now, I look up, I look down.
I look up...
- You're kidding. Wait a minute. - There's nothing to it!
- Here. - Oh, that's a girl.
We'll use that. Put it right there.
All right. Here's the first step. There.
OK, now step number two.
All right, step number two coming up.
There we are. See, I look up, I look down. I look up...
I'm going to buy myself a tall stepladder.
- Take it easy. - All right, here we go.
No problem.
This is a cinch. I look up, I look down.
I look up, I look down.
Oh, Johnnie, Johnnie.
How did you get in the shipbuilding business, Gavin?
I married into it.
- Very interesting business. - To be honest, I find it dull.
You don't have to do it for a living.
No, but one assumes responsibilities.
My wife's family has all gone, someone has to look after her interests.
Her father's partner runs the company yard in the east - Baltimore.
So I decided, as long as I had to work at it, I'd come back here.
- I've always liked it here. - How long have you been back?
- Almost a year. - You like it, huh?
Well, San Francisco's changed.
The things that spell San Francisco to me are disappearing fast.
- Like all these? - I should like to have lived here then.
Colour, excitement, power, freedom.
- Er, shouldn't you be sitting down? - No, I'm all right.
I was sorry to read about that thing in the paper.
And you've quit the force, is it a permanent physical disability?
No. No, it just means I can't climb steep stairs or go to high places,
like the bar at the Top of the Mark.
But there are street-level bars in this town.
Would you like a drink now?
No, I don't think so, it's a little early in the day for me.
Well, I guess that just about covers everything.
I never married, I don't see much of the old college gang,
I'm a retired detective and you're in the shipbuilding business.
What's on your mind, Gavin?
I asked you here, Scottie, knowing you'd quit detective work,
but I wondered whether you'd go back on the job as a special favour to me.
I want you to follow my wife. No, it's not that.
- We're very happily married. - Well, then...
- I'm afraid some harm may come to her. - From whom?
Someone dead.
Scottie, do you believe that someone out of the past, someone dead,
can enter and take possession of a living being?
No.
If I told you I believed this has happened to my wife, what would you say?
I'd say take her to the nearest psychiatrist or psychologist
or neurologist or maybe just the plain family doctor.
I'd have him check on you too.
Then you're of no use to me, I'm sorry I wasted your time.
Thanks for coming in, Scottie.
OK.
I, er... I didn't mean to be that rough.
It sounds idiotic, I know.
You're still the hard-headed Scot, aren't you?
Always were.
- You think I'm making it up? - No.
I'm not making it up, I wouldn't know how.
She'll be talking to me about something
and suddenly the words fade into silence,
a cloud comes into her eyes and they go blank.
She's somewhere else, away from me, someone I don't know.
I call to her, she doesn't even hear me.
Then, with a long sigh, she's back.
Looks at me brightly.
Doesn't even know she's been away, can't tell me where or when.
Well... how often does this happen?
More and more in the past few weeks.
And she wanders. God knows where she wanders.
I followed her one day, watched her coming out of the apartment.
Someone I didn't know, she even walked a different way.
Got into her car and drove out to Golden Gate Park,
five miles.
Sat by the lake, staring across the water at the pillars on the far shore,
you know, the Portals of the Past.
Sat there a long time without moving.
I had to leave, get back to the office.
When I got home, I asked her what she'd done all day.
She said she'd driven to Golden Gate Park and sat by the lake, that's all.
Well?
The speedometer on her car showed she'd driven 94 miles.
Where did she go?
I've got to know where she goes and what she does, before I involve doctors.
- Have you talked to doctors? - Yes, but carefully.
I want to know more before committing her to that kind of care.
OK, I'll get a firm of private eyes to follow her for you.
- They're dependable. - I want you.
Look, this isn't my line.
Scottie, I need a friend, someone I can trust. I'm in a panic.
I'm supposed to be retired, I don't want to get mixed up in this.
We're going to an opening at the opera tonight,
we're dining at Ernie's first.
You can see her there.
Ernie's.
(lndistinct chatter)
(lnaudible)
(Church organ)
(Bell tolls)
(Mouths)
Will you tell me something?
That lady, who's the woman in the painting she's looking at?
That's Carlotta. You'll find it in the catalogue. Portrait Of Carlotta.
- May I have this? - Yes.
Thank you.
(Starts engine)
(Woman) Yes?
Is there something I can do for you?
- You run this hotel? - Oh, yes.
Who has the room on the second floor in the corner?
That corner.
Oh, we couldn't give out information of that sort.
Our clients are entitled their privacy.
And I do believe it's against the law.
Of course, I don't think any of them would mind really but still, I...
Oh, dear. Has she done something wrong?
Please answer my question.
- I can't imagine that sweet girl... - What's her name?
Valdes. Miss Valdes. Spanish, you know.
- Carlotta Valdes? - That's it.
Sweet name, isn't it? Foreign but sweet.
- How long has she had the room? - It must be two weeks.
Her rent's due tomorrow.
- Does she sleep here ever? - No. She just comes to sit,
two or three times a week.
I don't ask questions, as long as they're well behaved.
- I must say... - Don't tell her I've been here.
But she hasn't been here today.
I saw her come in five minutes ago.
No, she hasn't been here at all.
I would've seen her - I've been here all the time,
putting olive oil on my rubber plant leaves.
There. There, you see. Her key is on the rack.
Would you please go up and look?
- To her room? - That's right.
Of course, if you ask.
- But it does seem silly. - Thank you.
Oh, Mr Detective?
Would you like to come and look?
- Her car's gone. - What car?
Midge... who do you know that's an authority on San Francisco history?
That's the kind of greeting a girl likes.
Not, ''Hello, you look wonderful,'' just, ''Who do you know that's an authority... ''
- Want a drink? - No, thanks.
Well, who do you? You know everybody.
- Professor Saunders, over in Berkeley. - I don't mean that kind of history.
I mean the small stuff, people you never heard of.
Oh. You mean the Gay Old Bohemian Days of Gay Old San Francisco.
Juicy stories like who shot who in the Embarcadero in August 1879?
- That's right. - Pop Leibel.
- Who? - Pop Leibel.
He owns the Argosy Book Shop. What do you want to know?
Who shot who in the Embarcadero in August 1879.
Wait a minute, you're not a detective any more, what's going on?
- You know him well? - Who?
- Pop Leibel. - Oh, sure.
Let's go. I want you to introduce me. Get your hat.
I don't need a hat.
Hey, Johnnie, what's it all about?
Hey! Wait a minute!
Oh, yes. I remember. Carlotta.
The beautiful Carlotta.
The sad Carlotta.
What does an old house on Eddy and Gough Street have to do with her?
It was hers. It was built for her many years ago.
- By whom? - By, er...
By, er... Hm.
No. The name I do not remember.
A rich man, a powerful man. Cigarette?
- No, thank you. - Cigarette, miss?
No, thank you.
It is not an unusual story.
She came from somewhere small to the south of the city.
Some say from a mission settlement. Young, yes. Very young.
She was found dancing and singing in cabaret by that man.
And he took her and built for her the great house
in the Western Addition.
And, er...
There was a... There was a child.
Yes, that's it, a child. A child.
I cannot tell you exactly how much time passed
or how much happiness there was.
But, then - he threw her away.
He had no other children, his wife had no children.
So, he kept the child and threw her away.
You know, a man could do that in those days.
They had the power and the freedom.
And she became the sad Carlotta,
alone in the great house,
walking the streets alone,
her clothes becoming old and patched and dirty.
And the mad Carlotta,
stopping people in the streets to ask,
''Where is my child?
''Have you seen my child? ''
- Poor thing. - And she died?
- She died. - How?
By her own hand. Hm!
There are many such stories.
- Thank you, Mr Leibel. - You are welcome.
- I appreciate it. - You're welcome. Bye.
Wait a minute. Goodbye, Pop, thanks a lot.
- Now then, pay me. - For what?
- For bringing you here. Come on, tell. - There's nothing to tell.
Tell or you'll be back in that corset.
Come on, I'll take you home.
- Here you are. - You haven't told me everything.
- I've told you enough. - Who's the guy, who's the wife?
- Out! I've got things to do. - I know...
- the one that phoned, Elster. - Out, please?
The idea is that the beautiful Carlotta has come back from the dead
and taken possession of Elster's wife.
Johnnie, really, come on!
I'm not telling you what I think but what he thinks.
- What do you think? - Well, I...
- Is she pretty? - Carlotta?
No, not Carlotta. Elster's wife.
Yes, I guess you'd consider that she would... You could...
I think I'll go take a look at that portrait. Goodbye.
- Midge... - Goodbye!
Midge! You...
You've done well. You're good at your job.
That's Carlotta Valdes. There were things you didn't tell me.
- I didn't know where she'd lead you. - You knew about this.
You notice the way she does her hair?
There's something else - my wife Madeleine
has several pieces of jewellery that belonged to Carlotta.
She inherited them.
Never wore them, they were too old-fashioned.
Until now.
Now, when she's alone, she takes them out and looks at them.
Handles them, gently, curiously.
Puts them on and stares at herself in the mirror.
Then goes into that other world, is someone else again.
Carlotta Valdes was what, your wife's... grandmother?
Great-grandmother.
The child who was taken from her,
whose loss drove Carlotta mad and to her death,
was Madeleine's grandmother.
And the McKittrick Hotel is the old Valdes home.
I think that explains it. Anyone could become obsessed with the past
with a background like that.
She never heard of Carlotta Valdes.
She knows nothing of a grave at the Mission Dolores,
or that old house on Eddy Street,
the portrait at the Palace of the Legion of...?
- Nothing. - When she goes to these places...
She's no longer my wife.
How do you know all these things she doesn't?
Her mother told me most of them before she died.
I dug out the rest here.
- Why wouldn't she tell her daughter? - Natural fear.
Her grandmother went insane and took her own life.
Her blood is in Madeleine.
Boy, I need this.
(Ship's horn blows in distance)
Madeleine.
Madeleine?
(Muttering) Where is my child...
(Phone)
Yes?
No, it's all right. I'll call you back.
Yes.
Are you all right?
Oh. Oh, you'll, er...
You'll want this.
You better come over here by the fire where it's warm.
What am I doing here?
What happened?
Well, you... fell into San Francisco Bay.
I had to dry your hair as best I could.
Your things are in the kitchen, they'll be dry in a few minutes.
Come on over by the fire.
Here, I'll give you some cushions.
There you are.
Would you like to have some coffee?
You'd better have some. Or perhaps you'd like a drink?
I fell into the Bay and you fished me out?
That's right.
- Thank you. - You don't remember?
No, I...
Do you remember where you were?
Yes. Yes, of course I remember that.
Then I must have had a dizzy spell and fainted.
Where were you?
At Old Fort Point, out at the Presidio.
Of course I remember. I often go there.
Why? Why do you go there?
Because I love it so. It's beautiful there, especially at sunset.
- Thank you for the fire. - Where were you before?
- When? - This afternoon, I mean.
- Wandering about. - I know, but where were you just before?
Downtown, shopping.
Here, you better have some coffee.
I think it's still warm.
You're terribly direct in your questions.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude.
You're not. You're merely direct.
What were you doing at Old Fort Point?
Oh, just wandering about.
- You like it too? - Yes.
Where had you been just before?
I'd been to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the art gallery.
Oh, yes. That's a lovely spot, isn't it?
I've never been inside but it looks so lovely driving past.
It's lucky for me you were wandering about. Thank you.
- I've been a terrible bother to you. - No, you haven't.
Oh... When you, um...
There were some pins in my hair?
Oh, the pins? Yeah, right in here, I'll get 'em for you.
And my purse, please.
- Here you are. - Thank you.
- You shouldn't have brought me here. - I didn't know where you lived.
You could've looked in my car. But then you didn't know my car, did you?
I knew which one it was - it's outside now -
but I didn't think you wanted to be taken home in that way.
You're right. I'm glad you didn't take me home,
I wouldn't have known you. Thank you.
But we don't know each other. My name is Madeleine Elster.
- My name is John Ferguson. - Good strong name.
- Your friends call you John or Jack? - John, mostly.
Old friends call me John, acquaintances call me Scottie.
- I shall call you Mr Ferguson. - Oh, gee whizz, I wouldn't like that.
After this afternoon, I should think you'd call me Scottie,
maybe even John.
Well, I prefer John.
There, that's done. And what do you do, John?
- Wander about. - That's a good occupation.
And you live here, alone?
- One shouldn't live alone. - Some people prefer it.
No, it's wrong.
I'm married, you know.
Will you tell me something? Has this ever happened to you before?
- What? - Falling into San Francisco Bay?
Oh.
No, it's never happened before.
I've fallen into lakes out of rowboats as a little girl.
I fell into the river once, trying to leap from one stone to another.
But I've never fallen into San Francisco Bay.
- Have you ever before? - No, it's the first time for me too.
- Here, I'll get you some more coffee. - (Phone)
- Hello? - (Gavin) 'Scottie, she's not home yet.'
No, she's all right. She's here, I'll bring her home soon.
- 'What happened? ' - She went into the Bay.
Hello?
- 'Did she hurt herself? ' - No, she'll be in fine shape.
But she doesn't know - do you understand that? -
she doesn't know what happened.
- 'Scottie, Madeleine is 26.' - (Door opens)
'Carlotta Valdes committed suicide when she was 26.'
- (Door closes) - Just hold on a minute, Gavin.
Well now, Johnnie-o, was it a ghost?
Was it fun?
Is that for me?
- Yes, hello. - Hello.
I worried about you last night, you shouldn't have run off that way.
I suddenly felt such a fool.
I wanted to drive you home.
- Are you all right? - Yes, I'm fine. No aftereffects.
- The water was cold, wasn't it? - It sure was.
What a terrible thing for me to do. You were so kind.
It's a formal thank you note, and a big apology.
- You've nothing to apologise for. - Yes, I do.
It must've been so embarrassing for you.
Not at all, I enjoyed...
talking to you.
Well, I enjoyed talking to you.
Well, I'll get my mail.
- Would you like a cup of coffee? - No, thank you.
I couldn't mail it, I didn't know your address.
But I had a landmark - Coit Tower. It led me straight to you.
First time I've been grateful for Coit Tower.
- I hope we will too. - What?
- Meet again sometime. - We have.
Goodbye.
- Where are you going? - Oh, I don't know.
- Shopping? - No.
Well, anywhere in particular?
No, I just thought I'd wander.
Oh... That's what I was going to do.
Oh, yes, that's right. It's your occupation, isn't it?
Don't you think it's a waste for us...
- To wander separately? - Uh-huh.
Only one is a wanderer, two together are always going somewhere.
No, I don't think that's necessarily true.
You've left your door open.
Be right back.
(Madeleine) How old? (Scottie) Oh, some 2,000 years or more.
- The oldest living things. - Yes.
- You've never been here before? - No.
What are you thinking?
Of all the people who've been born and have died when the trees went on living.
Their true name is Sequoia sempervirens,
always green, ever-living.
- I don't like them. - Why?
Knowing I have to die...
Here's a cross section of one of the old trees that's been cut down.
Somewhere in here I was born,
and there I died.
It was only a moment for you, you took no notice.
Madeleine.
Madeleine, where are you now?
- Here with you. - Where?
- Tall trees... - Have you been here before?
- Yes. - When?
When were you born?
- Long ago. - Where? When?
- Tell me. Madeleine, tell me. - No.
Where do you go, what takes you away?
You didn't know where you were when you jumped in the Bay.
I didn't jump, I fell - you told me.
- Why did you jump? - I can't tell you.
- What told you to jump? - No, please...
What? What?
Please don't ask me. Please don't ask me!
Take me away from here.
Shall I take you home?
Somewhere in the light.
Promise me something, promise you won't ask me again. Please.
Why did you run?
I'm responsible for you now.
The Chinese say that once you've saved a person's life
you're responsible for it forever, so I'm committed.
I have to know.
There's so little that I know.
It's as though I were walking down a long corridor that...
that once was mirrored.
Fragments of that mirror still hang there
and when I come to the end of the corridor,
there's nothing but darkness.
And I know that when I walk into the darkness...
that I'll die.
But I've never come to the end, I've always come back before then.
- Except once. - Yesterday?
And you didn't know what happened until you found yourself with me.
You didn't know where you were.
But the fragments of the mirror, you remember those?
- Vaguely. - What do you remember?
There's a room...
and I sit there alone, always alone.
- What else? - A grave.
- Where? - I don't know.
It's an open grave and I...