NANA: 999, indeed.
I haven't heard of such a number for a house.
[Latch turning]
Yes?
NANA: Forgive my boldness, sir, but wooden leg or no wooden leg,
you are this child's last surviving relative.
Her father named you as guardian in his will.
MATTHEW: Yeah. I don't dispute that.
I merely point out
that this house is a shrine to paleontology.
There's no corner in it for a small girl... or her nurse.
We require two rooms. That is all.
Some of these stones could go to a museum.
My fossils? In a public museum?
This has got nothing to do with fossils.
If you don't want the child, you should say it straight out.
But she'd be miserable here.
SYLVIA: My parents are dead.
I'd be miserable anywhere.
Smilodon Popularis.
Why don't you just stick a knife in my heart?
They're all magnets for dust,
and that big cat was plain unpleasant.
It's a saber-toothed tiger, Nana.
It's lovely.
An armadillo skeleton!
Goodbye!
I keep a pack of women in this house!
There isn't one of them about anywhere when they're wanted!
Oh! Darling Gum!
[Laughs]
We weren't expecting you.
Oh, ship sank... iceberg.
If you don't mind me asking, what have you got in the bag?
Ah. A surprise.
Let's hope it's not another fossil.
The world is full of entrancements, woman.
Not all of them are made of stone.
NANA: A baby?
Found it... floating on a lifeboat.
Both parents drowned. Awful bloody shame.
A baby? A baby just like that? What will people say?
Have you no regard for your great-niece's reputation?
[Sighs] Well, I-I'll put a notice in The Times...
"Professor Matthew Brown adopts entirely unrelated child."
- But, Gum... - I thought women liked babies.
They like babies that are in good order... babies with names.
Ah. Well, I thought perhaps Pauline.
And surnames.
[Sighs]
Fossil.
It's not as though we've got an empty room to put her in.
MATTHEW: You don't mind, do you?
Gum, I came here with nothing once.
That's the spirit.
Where are you actually going?
Siberia. I'll bring you back a souvenir.
No. Not another one.
Mm.
Red Cross hospital outside Vladivostok.
Mother died when it was born.
What about the father?
Salt mines... worked to death.
Awful bloody end.
Yeah, they called it Petrova. Needs feeding up a bit.
NANA: It is to be hoped this one has brains.
It's easy to see who's going to be misplaying in my nursery.
MATTHEW: "Dearest niece,
another small Fossil from your Great-Uncle Matthew.
Daughter of a dancer.
Mother has no money and no time for her offspring.
She sends a pair of ballet shoes enclosed."
He says, " I regret not delivering the child myself,
but I ran into a friend about to leave for the Galápagos.
There's enough money in the bank to last you for five years.
P. S... Child's name Posy.
Unfortunate but true."
Ballet shoes, indeed.
Change of clothes would be more useful.
Or a feeding bottle.
"To the little Fossils."
"Turquoise for Pauline.
Pearls for Petrova.
Coral for Posy."
Make the most of it.
That'll be the last we hear from him for quite some time.
I bet Gum had a car.
Only a man with a car would've bought a house
at the far end of the longest road in London.
Garnie said he used to come and go in taxis.
I wish we could.
I'd be happy if they let us get the bus.
The professor may have had his faults, Petrova.
Might I remind you, he had but the single leg.
You three have got a full pair each.
So you can save the penny and walk and be thankful.
The Rockefeller family we are not.
At least you get to go to school.
I still have to do lessons with Garnie
and take an extra walk at lunchtime every day.
If I have to look at the dolls' houses
in the museum one more time, I shall be sick.
That's enough, Miss Madam.
- All over my outdoor shoes. - [Laughter]
Then I shan't be able to go anywhere.
[Knock on door]
[Sighs]
We've had more fuss from Miss Posy about her education.
Cromwell House is out of the question, isn't it?
It's not just that I can't send Posy to Cromwell House.
POSY: Give it here! [Screams] Get off!
I'm having to take the other two away.
I have to give notice to Clara.
There's no money left.
Nothing in the bank at all.
I'm so sorry.
Why are you apologizing?
It's not news.
Isn't it?
Been looking through situations vacant in the papers.
I didn't think you'd notice.
I brought you up. I notice everything.
The trouble is, Nana,
unless somebody advertises for a paleontologist's assistant,
I'm not qualified for anything.
There's a way 'round everything if you stop and think.
[Sighs] I finished my fractions.
Already?
They were the hardest in the book.
She'll have to sit there quietly with her magazine.
You can't be setting any more sums.
You've got to go to Selfridges and get those eiderdowns.
- [Doorbell ringing] - Petrova, darling, would you go?
You're only reading.
- Good afternoon. - I like your car.
How are you finding the acceleration?
Terrific. Naught to 40 in about three minutes.
Is your mother at home?
Oh, we haven't got a mother. And it's all right.
You don't have to say you're sorry.
How do you do? I've just come about the room.
Oh, do come in.
Forgive me. I was trying to clean a fireplace.
I don't know how long I'd stay.
I've only just got back from Kuala Lumpur.
PAULINE: Petrova! Have you been...
Well, um... there's no minimum agreement.
PAULINE: Nana, Petrova's been wearing my...
This is nice.
Put photographs on here.
[Doorbell rings]
Good afternoon.
Have you come about the rooms?
With particular regard to shelves.
And smoking.
I'm Dr. Smith.
This is Dr. Jakes.
Do come in.
Rather smart.
DR. JAKES: Very nice aesthetic.
- [Knock on door] - Come in.
Nana said you might need this.
Oh! How kind. [Chuckles]
Thank you, my dear.
Well, we... we both had lengthy careers in academia.
It all adds up to quite a lot of books.
Most of them hers.
I specialized in Shakespeare.
Dr. Smith is a mathematician.
Where do you go to school, child?
We don't.
Garnie, our guardian, teaches us from home.
Good God, that must be dull.
Oh, that is quite an adventure, having relatives by accident.
Such a unique name.
Fossil.
I suppose it is.
I always thought Smith was such a beast of a moniker.
Try doing anything remarkable with that.
DR. JAKES: And heredity is such a burden.
If I made the name Jakes worthwhile,
people would think it was because of my grandfather.
Who knows what you three might achieve?
You ought to try to do something for your country.
Fossil would look splendid in the history books.
PETROVA: What do you think she meant by "history books"?
PAULINE: I'm not sure.
I suppose they meant giving some sort of service to our country.
We ought to make a vow.
A vow?
To our country?
A promise... to ourselves.
Like this.
Put your hands on mine.
We three Fossils vow to put our name in the history books
because it is uniquely ours and ours alone,
and no one can say it's because of our grandfathers.
We vow.
Posy!
Ow! [Laughs]
- [Big-band music playing] - What's that?
I shall be out every day from 8:00 till 7:30.
I bathe three times a week, and I never eat breakfast.
Oh. Strong floor.
Was this a ballroom?
Not while I've been living here.
[Music continues]
Do you like to dance, too, dear?
[Laughs]
Perfect.
Come on. The more, the merrier.
Tango!
[Laughter]
Come here, little one.
Come on. It's going to be fine.
Whee!
[Laughter]
Well, Miss Brown, I will take this room on one condition.
Oh, please. Just let them audition.
I've been on the staff of the academy for years,
and I cannot recommend the place enough.
I can't afford the fees, Miss Dane.
Madam Fidolia is a refugee from Russia.
The Revolution completely did it for her.
She'd been such a favorite of the czar.
She has a history of taking on girls from impoverished homes.
She trains them for nothing
and then takes 10% of their earnings when they work.
They'd be sent out to work?
As soon as they're old enough to have a license.
But I don't want the children going on the stage.
And I'm quite sure that Nana doesn't either.
Whilst I don't care for Miss Dane
casting aspersions on this home,
you might say that Posy's bound to dance anyway
given that she came with her own little ballet slippers.
Pauline does nothing but look in mirrors and recite.
And as for Petrova,
all she thinks about is aeroplanes and engine parts.
Been trying to turn her into a lady for the past 10 years
and got nowhere.
- So if this Madam Folderoll... - Fidolia.
...proves willing to try, I would let her.
Miss Brown, we request a consultation.
Now?
Um, the fact of the matter is, my dear, we very much doubt
whether you're qualified to teach those children.
But I'm very well grounded in natural science,
and I've got my school certificate.
I did consider the school at the top of the road, but...
You can't send them there. They'll get lice.
My opinion entirely.
Frightful accents.
Which wouldn't help their chances in the theater at all.
My dear, life can be a surprising affair,
as Dr. Smith and I found out.
We both felt that we should retire
but find that we are unsuited to a life of idleness.
And more to the point, we miss our teaching.
We should very much like to coach the girls.
All-'round education,
specializing in mathematics and literature.
The children will be prepared to take their school certificate
and matriculation.
No charge. Ours to suit. What do you think?
I don't know what to think.
Do you want your charges educated?
And do you want them trained to earn a living?
I want both.
The world isn't kind to girls who can't support themselves.
- [Horn honks] - Careful!
Come on!
Tsk. Bare legs in the street.
[Indistinct conversations]
Do they look smart, Nana?
No, but they look neat.
Petrova, will you at least try and smile?
I swear the face on that child would stop a clock.
[Girl singing scales]
WOMAN: And shuffle, shuffle, hop, step, tap...
There it is.
WOMAN: And up, Muriel!
Should we knock, do you suppose?
Posy.
It's so gloomy.
[Door opens]
[Russian accent] Ah.
The Fossil sisters.
How do you do? I'm Pauline.
No.
All my pupils, morning and night,
before or after class, whenever we meet,
they say "Madame" and curtsy.
So...
Madame.
Which is Petrova?
- Me. - You are Russian.
Yes.
You speak Russian?
But you feel Russian?
Actually, she's always said she couldn't feel more British.
You are the first compatriot of mine to come to my academy.
I will make wonderful artist of you.
You must be Posy.
Madame.
[Up-tempo piano music plays]
5, 6, 7, 8!
And smile! Smile!
You don't see Shirley Temple with a gloomy face!
[Rhythmic tapping]
Moment.
- Madame. - Madame.
To center, if you please.
I think polka, Mrs. Davis.
[Mid-tempo instrumental music plays]
"Stockinette vests, buff. Two each.
Royal blue cotton rompers. Two each.
White tarlatan ballet dresses. Two each.
White knickers, all frills. Two each.
Two black sateen elocution overalls per child."
How are we going to make it all by Monday?
I don't care if we have to sew all night.
This is the biggest chance these girls have ever had.
[Chuckles]
MAN: # Life is just a bowl of cherries #
# So live and laugh at it all #
All the way up to her darling derriere.
# Laugh at it all #
There's no point making me into a wonderful artiste.
I already know what I really want to be.
Racing driver?
I want to fly planes, like Amy Johnson.
Very laudable ambition.
It's not because she's fashionable
and in all the magazines.
It's not even because I love engines.
It's... the idea that there are roads in the sky,
ways 'round the world that no one has discovered.
Roads in the sky.
And until I can do that, I'd like to work with cars.
Well, that's good.
'Cause I've just bought a garage.
A garage?
It's gonna be tough going for the first few months.
I might need some help from time to time.
- All right. - [Chuckles]
[Both laugh]
[Big-band music playing]
SYLVIA: When you said you were going to make a drink,
I thought you meant a cup of cocoa.
Oh, be a sport.
Look, I've even got a jar of maraschino cherries.
I absolutely promise not to get you tight.
This is the way they used to mix them at the Ritz
when I was in "Miss Rosebud's Bouncing Babes."
You drank cocktails when you were a bouncing babe?
Oh, I was practically 19.
Miss Rosebud had to bind my bosoms flat.
Otherwise they bounced rather more than was approved of.
[Music continues]
Chin-chin.
The girls will be happy, won't they?
Oh, my darling. You don't even need to ask.
[Alarm clock ringing]
MAN: # It's just the time for dancing #
# Tomorrow is your day #
# Go where the music's calling #
# And dance the blues away #
# And all you need to ask for is just one dance more #
[Music continues]
POSY: Hurry up, Pauline!
PAULINE: You'll have to hang on!
[Girls talking indistinctly]
Need a hand?
Oh, you are kind.
But they won't take long.
You know, when I was at school, shoe-cleaning was a punishment.
Matron would say, "Clean them till they shine like mirrors.
Give you time to reflect on your misdeeds."
There was a fire in that room. I always quite enjoyed it.
Well, Mr. Simpson. You are a gentleman.
Let's leave that to me.
There's a bit of a knack with tap shoes.
I'll, uh, I-I'll... I'll let you get on, then.
Thank you.
[Door closes]
Do you know sometimes I think
heaven sent those lodgers to this house?
Not a moment too soon, if you ask me.
We really need to get that wiring mended.
And you're looking very thin.
I've always been thin.
And you're going gray.
[Chuckling] I am not.
[Coughs]
I just got the odd silver hair.
[Coughing]
I'm starting to rehearse my m'audition in a week.
What is a m'audition, anyway?
It's what you have to have to show your managers.
It means "my audition."
But over the years, it's run into one out of habit.
Typical academy.
Always got to be a special word for everything.
Anyone who goes out for any audition anywhere
has to sing, dance, and recite.
Doesn't matter which school you train at.
It's what you have to do.
I'm dreading my next birthday.
I'll have to get a license and tap-dance on the stage.
I don't want to tap-dance either.
But I think I'd like to act.
How long will it be till these fit?
[Sighs]
[Vacuum cleaner stops]
Another hole in my elocution drawers.
It's massive.
Right.
Today's French acting class is canceled.
Anyone involved in the choral speaking championships,
please go and wait in studio one.
Posy Fossil?
Madame would like a word.
Winifred Bagnall and Pauline Fossil,
stay here and speak to me.
You better not be in bother.
Petrova?
Haven't you got anywhere to go?
No, not now.
Well, dear, wait outside while I have a word with these two.
Yes, Miss Jay.
There's an audition tomorrow.
The Princess Theatre.
You are both to be there punctually at noon, and...
...I want you to style your hair like this.
Is it for "Alice in Wonderland"?
Mm.
Girls going for Alice always wear a ribbon.
Wish it wasn't the Princess, though.
It's such a mean management.
One ought to get six, but it's more likely four.
They might squeeze five.
Five what... shillings?
Pounds... per week.
Don't you need any money at home?
MADAME FIDOLIA: You will attend no further classes
with your sisters and Miss Dane.
You will no longer study tap dancing.
You will no longer study character dancing.
You will no longer study singing, musical comedy,
or mime.
In future,
you will receive instruction only in classical ballet.
And all that instruction will come from me.
You are the first child in the history of the academy
to come entirely under my personal supervision.
You have the potential to be a truly remarkable dancer.
As remarkable as you?
Oh, my child.
Much, much more remarkable than me.
But, Sylvia.
She needs an attractive frock with a full-flared skirt
in order to show off her dancing to advantage.
Can't she just wear a practice dress
or go in a jersey and skirt?
Oh, darling, are you mad?
She has to look quite perfectly turned up.
Otherwise, she simply will not stand a chance.
Pauline, performance comes from within.
When I watch you reciting Puck,
I don't see Pauline Fossil, schoolgirl.
I see a queer, mercurial woodland creature.
In a jersey and skirt.
- [Sobs] - Irena, that is unhelpful.
I still don't see what's wrong with cotton.
From the summer before last!
She's outgrowing them all.
'Round the bust.
- Shut up, Posy! - Be quiet, Posy.
Less of the bust chat, thank you.
Oh, I'll be quiet.
But not until I've said that I think it's very unfair
that in the middle of all this fuss about Pauline's frock
and Pauline's audition, not one person has said
they're pleased about Madame's plans for me!
[Sighs]
I can't go looking like this.
Posy, that's an absolutely...
[Indistinct conversations]
They have a flap on?
It's a flap about money.
And Garnie says we shouldn't discuss that sort of thing.
Easily done...
...when there's plenty about.
Have you ever been poor?
[Sighs]
Dreadfully poor.
Have you ever been in... in a pawnshop?
More than once by the time I was your age.
There's one just off Earl's Court Road.
Nana says people borrow money there
in exchange for items of value.
She said it's a facility for the desperate.
Are you desperate?
Are things really so bad?
We do have items of value.
MR. SIMPSON: What I propose is this.
I will personally advance you the sum of £ 4 and 10 shillings
in exchange for custody of the necklaces.
And Garnie will not be told of this arrangement.
And if she asks any questions, I shall say I've had a windfall.
I'll sign.
Pauline will then use the advance
to purchase an appropriate audition frock
and will then buy the necklaces back in small installments,
always provided she gets the part.
No matter how long the process takes,
no interest will be charged.
[Engine idling]
WINIFRED: # You can't escape #
# It's in your memory #
# By morning, night, and noon #
# She will leave you #
# And then come back again #
# A pretty girl is just like a pretty tune #
[Mid-tempo piano music plays]
She's very good.
She's the best all-'round student the academy's ever had.
[Music ends]
I have a hole underneath the right arm on my frock.
I had to change my position for the attitude at the end.
Little fair girl in black. What's your name?
[Indistinct whispering]
- Pauline Fossil. - [Light laughter]
Come down to center stage.
[Switch clicks, echoes]
Would you like to sing first, or would you like to recite?
I'll recite.
Puck, "A Midsummer's Night Dream."
I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smile.
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
neighing in likeness of a filly foal.
Sometimes lurk I in a gossip's bowl,
in very likeness of a roasted crab.
And when she drinks, against her lips I bob,
and on her withered dewlaps pours the ale.
Will all playing cards, dormice, and dancing frog footmen
make your way directly to the stage?
Any mock turtles, wait in the wings till called.
Well done. Well done, both of you.
Now, Pauline is to play Alice.
[Gasping]
And Winifred will be engaged as understudy.
When I finished my dance, people clapped.
Nobody clapped her! There was just silence!
Dance is important, but Pauline looks right for Alice.
She looks right for everything!
She always will.
Pretty face.
Blond hair.
It's got nothing whatsoever to do with talent,
and it's so unfair!
Winifred! Winifred!
I will not take housekeeping money from you, Pauline.
What would the authorities think of me, making a...
Thank you.
[Whispering] Making a profit from an orphan?
Besides, the law states that a working child must save.
[Whispering] Only one-third of her earnings.
PETROVA: [Whispering] One-third of £ 4
is 26 shillings and 8 pence.
Even after 8 shillings has gone to the academy,
that would leave £2, 5 shillings, and 4 pence
for the house.
[Coughs] There's no need to blind me with accountancy.
Garnie, we know we're poor.
I don't know how they found out.
Listening at doors, I don't doubt... naughty, sneaky habit.
I'm assuming this is Mr. Simpson's.
And if you'll excuse my saying,
I think you ought to take what Pauline's offered.
I wanted Pauline to save for the future.
All kinds of things might happen in the future.
The professor might come back... in the future.
[Coughs]
Your health might come back on its own... in the future.
You inherited that chest from your father.
Think of what happened to him.
She'll accept 30 shillings a week.
Now, off upstairs, the lot of you!
Or you'll be feeling the back of my hairbrush!
[Girls laughing]
[Sighs]
Sylvia, what matters most is the life the girls have now.
And it wouldn't amount to much if it didn't have you in it.
Now there's money coming in, there's things you can see to.
You can go see a specialist, for a start.
Petrova.
Do you think I can do it?
[Sighs]
Do what? [Sighs]
Play Alice.
Winifred was better than me at the audition.
And it's a massive part.
You can't lose your nerve.
We need the money.
[Mid-tempo instrumental music plays]
[Shoes clacking]
[Tempo increases]
Stop!
[Music slows]
You're nothing but a pack of playing cards!
- [Cheers and applause] - MAN: Well done!
Bravo!
[Indistinct conversations]
We'll see you back at home.
[Gasps] You're wearing the necklaces.
Mr. Simpson brought them down.
He didn't want Garnie to be suspicious.
Well done. Very good.
What did you really think?
- You were marvelous. - Did you see us?
- [Knock on door] - Get that on your way out,
would you, Winifred?
I'll see to it.
Let's button up that gabardine.
[Sighs]
I see Pauline left her wrap in the wings again.
Could you remind her to wear it over her costume at all times
unless she's actually on the stage?
Most certainly. She knows the rules.
Ahem.
Miss Brown?
She's worn out with all the excitement.
Should we, uh, let her sleep?
Shh.
Well done.
I'm not a complete novice.
What happened to your wife and child?
There was a...
a typhoid epidemic.
Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to pry.
No.
I sometimes feel that I'd like to talk about it.
Then I find it's better if I don't.
- Good night. - Good night.
They've announced a month of extra matinees.
And next week, Princess Elizabeth
and Princess Margaret Rose are coming.
And will they be calling for tea
in your dressing room afterwards?
Oh, I hope not. I'm always so tired after shows.
[Sighs]
Posy, would you run downstairs and fetch my handkerchief?
No, I will not.
Is something the matter with your arms and legs?
No. I just need to save my strength.
POSY: It's going to be awfully difficult
when we're all working, isn't it, Petrova?
Yes.
POSY: All of us giving out orders at once.
PETROVA: Mm-hmm.
I think you're both being absolutely vile.
- [Door slams] - Ooh, door-slamming.
- That's a new one. - [Laughter]
NANA: And where do you think you're going?
[Sighs] Wretched bills.
- Harley Street, please. - MAN: Okay.
[Applause]
WOMAN: Bravo!
Jolly well done! Bravo!
MAN: Thanks for the good show!
Three curtain calls again.
Compliments of Mr. French,
but would Miss Fossil go back for her wrap?
You will keep leaving it in the wings.
Let Winifred get it!
It's the least she can do,
sitting in my dressing room night after night!
If everybody had their right, it would be you sitting
in Winifred's dressing room night after night!
- How can you even say that?! - I can say that because...
What is this appalling commotion?
As you know, sir, Pauline left her wrap in the wings again.
I have reprimanded her, but she will not fetch it.
Fetch it yourselves if you want it fetched!
- Pauline! - That is enough.
Rules are not made for little girls to break.
What's your name again... um, Winifred...
Winifred Bagnall, sir.
- I'm Pauline's understudy. - Yes.
Well, I think it's high time your positions were reversed.
From tomorrow, Winifred will pay the part of Alice.
PETROVA: Pauline, will you please tell me what's happened?
Can't you just mind your own business?
Garnie's been to see a specialist.
He asked to see her again.
I found a letter all about it.
I know we shouldn't snoop.
But they never tell us anything!
I-It said... she's got...
inflammation of the lungs,
t-that she should move to a milder climate.
[Sniffles]
But you're working now,
and the extra matinees are just about to start.
We could send her to Bournemouth or Brighton.
[Sobbing]
Can't we?
I was so selfish.
All I could think about was proving myself,
making everyone see that I was talented.
But you are talented.
I have to be.
You have to be. Posy has to be.
[Sighs]
Posy is.
Don't you ever worry
that all the three of has is each other...
what we are, what we can do...
our talents?
No.
Don't you think it's true?
I daren't think it's true.
[Down-tempo piano music playing]
Epaulement, child.
When the right leg is extended behind,
the left shoulder must move back.
1, 2, 3, 4.
Pas de bourrée.
Reach, child.
Reach.
Petrova!
Coming.
We three Fossils vow to put our names in the history books
because it is uniquely ours and ours alone,
and no one can say it's because of our grandfathers.
We also vow to earn some money to help Garnie
and support ourselves until Gum comes home.
Amen.
Amen?
We aren't in church.
We do the vow every birthday and every Christmas,
and we've never said "amen" ever.
I haven't had any work since "Alice."
We need help, and I don't care where it comes from.
Well, it looks like amen, then.
Amen.
Yes, amen.
Come on, Petrova!
[Laughs]
[Laughter]
Give me your worst!
Oh, well done!
Come on, girls.
Mind yourself with that bat. We don't want any broken teeth.
DR. SMITH: I was cricket captain.
DR. JAKES: My sport was lacrosse.
DR. SMITH: Oh, come on. Give us another shot.
She'll be thrilled!
DR. SMITH: Oh, for heaven's sake!
But you've already given her a sovereign.
And I could have made a cake myself.
You do more than enough already.
DR. SMITH: Oh, dear, oh, dear.
[Laughs]
How old would he be now... your son?
He'd be getting on for, uh... 11.
Come on, birthday girl.
[Laughter]
Oh, Sylvia!
Thank the Lord I found you!
There's an audition. " Midsummer Night's Dream, " West End.
Directed by Sir Donald Houghton.
They want to see Pauline and Petrova
tomorrow morning at 10:00!
- [Laughing] Oh! - [Squealing]
Shakespeare?
DR. JAKES: Oh, dear.
Petrova and the iambic pentameter are not soul mates.
It's no good.
Won't fit either of you.
You've gone the same way as your sister.
'Round the you-know-what.
That's enough from you. Your turn will come.
We need a new dress each.
It'll look good if we're dressed the same.
And Nana can make them both.
Oh, out of what, might I ask... Scotch mist?
There's no money, Pauline.
How much does a piece of material cost?
More than we've got. That's how much.
Then we just can't go.
We have to go.
We have to get these jobs.
[Sighs]
I suppose there's always my birthday sovereign.
We needn't have bothered. I look awful anyway.
It's only a sty.
When we take the patch off, the borax will have worked.
There won't even be a suggestion of a swelling.
HOUGHTON: Little dark girl with the red eye.
What's your name?
Petrova Fossil.
What part have you come to try for?
Mustardseed.
[Sighs] Oh.
Come down to the front of the stage, please.
[Light laughter]
Whenever you're ready.
Do you want me to sing or recite?
[Chuckles] There's no need to sing.
This isn't a musical.
"Henry V," Act 3, Scene 2. The Boy.
Oh. Isn't that prose?
Yes.
Very well. [Sighs]
Go on.
"As young as I am."
As young as I am,
I-I have observed these three swashers.
I am but boy to them all three...
HOUGHTON: Thank you. That's enough.
No.
Please. You must let her finish.
I said that's enough because I had heard enough.
She has got the part.
[Gasps]
She has a decent accent, and we must cast these parts today.
And, um, there are no other candidates for Mustardseed.
No, sir.
Pauline?
Mr. French.
I take it she's your sister.
Yes.
We won't bother hearing you. You can both go.
You're hired.
Run along and fetch your coats before I change my mind.
Thank you.
[Both laughing]
We got them!
We got them, we got them!
Are we too late?!
We've been to Eastbourne to Father's sanatorium.
I didn't get the message till today.
I was being seen for Mustardseed.
They cast me.
T-They thought nobody else was coming.
You could try for the ballet of the fairies
after lunch.
Couldn't get into a ballet of goblins
looking the way I do today.
My dress has gone underneath the other arm.
You can borrow my frock or Pauline's.
Can't she?
Mm.
The trouble with you, Petrova,
is that you're a martyr to your conscience.
The trouble with you is that you haven't got one.
Look. This is Winifred in the ballet of the fairies.
I'm the best all-'round student this academy's ever had.
Even though I've got a, frankly, enormous bottom,
I'm going to spend most of Act 2 behind a tree.
[Chuckling] Posy Fossil, you are a heartless monster.
You noticed.
I brought you up. I notice everything.
Right, we'll start with Cue 19-A,
which is Oberon's line,
"I am invisible, and I will overhear their conference."
[Gasping]
[Laughs]
PETROVA: [Laughing] Pauline!
[Gasps]
Bravo!
Do you still hate the idea of working?
Well, I always wanted to fly.
[Both laugh]
[Both gasping]
And I will purge thy mortal grossness
so that thou shalt like an airy spirit go.
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed.
Ready.
And I.
[Wires creaking]
And I.
Give me the line again.
And I.
- [Girl chuckles] - Again.
And I?
Oh, please. Am I asking for the moon?
All I want you to give me
are two sharp, clearly differentiated notes.
As soon as you would care to do so.
A-And I.
[Laughter]
This is not the moment to be funny.
I'm afraid I have no further time to waste on you.
If your work does not improve, I shall take the part away.
Petrova?
What ever's happened?
I'm going to get the sack.
I'll practice with you. The doctors will help.
I'll still get the sack.
Darling, there is nothing in this world
worth getting so upset about.
Yes, there is! You're ill.
You need a rest and a holiday and...
You need a rest and a holiday,
and you can't have one if I get the sack.
I don't know where on earth you got such a silly idea.
I can assure you, Petrova Fossil,
that there is nothing whatever the matter with my health.
Do you hear me?
I'm not having you upset like this.
I'm going to see Donald and giving him your notice.
- No! - Don't.
[Sighs]
I just feel so stupid when I'm on the stage.
PAULINE: What do you mean, you feel stupid?
I mean I feel like myself. [Sighs]
We have to help her.
So now I actually have to be in character all the time...
meals and lessons... and everything.
There's a hole in the exhaust.
[Sighs]
The wardrobe mistress would kill me if I get oil on this.
Has it helped, though?
Well, I don't feel human anymore.
I don't know how you stand it.
I stand it because we're saving up.
Garnie isn't well.
She's got trouble with her lungs.
Pauline and I want her to have a holiday.
She likes hotels with tea and orchestras
but will doubtless have to settle for two weeks in a tent.
You're a very generous girl, Petrova.
Mustardseed.
You're supposed to call me Mustardseed.
So, when do you open... Mustardseed?
Tuesday.
Still, at least it will all be over by Christmas.
[Up-tempo instrumental music playing]
[Cheers and applause]
Thank God that's over.
Sir Donald's doing "Richard III" next.
He hasn't cast the Princess in the Tower yet.
Do you think I should write to him and ask him to audition us?
[Inhales sharply]
Don't even think of doing that to me.
I wouldn't be doing anything to you.
We'd both be doing something for poor Garnie.
This has nothing to do with Garnie.
We've got enough money for a holiday.
This is all about you... you and your acting.
Do you think you're the only one that knows their heart's desire?
You're going to have to forget your heart's desire.
There aren't any 14-year-old aviators.
Pauline, you can make me sing, and you can make me dance.
You can shove me out onto a stage
and not care that I'm useless and I'm hating it inside.
I put up with it because we have to earn our living.
But if you keep pushing me, then I will break.
[Sighs, sniffles]
Theo, is everything all right?
THEO: Just a minute!
Nana can smell something strange.
Oh. Must be my new perfume, Coty Chypre.
Isn't it divine?
No, it's another stench entirely...
something more like scorching dog.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's me.
I've been giving myself a permanent wave.
Nana, fetch soft soap and the brandy from the medicine chest.
It's stopped breaking off now.
It's just a bit... short.
Oh, Lord.
[Snickering]
[Both laughing]
Serves me right for trying to turn the clock back.
Why do you want to turn the clock back?
I've got to the point where chaps have just stopped looking.
You know what it's like.
One enters the room and makes no more impression than a draft.
I suppose so.
It was all so different when I was young.
I mean, there weren't many men because of the beastly war.
Some of them actually had bits missing.
Those that were intact were often rather mad.
But they would wait for one at the stage door
or ask one out for drinks.
And when one appeared,
there'd be such a lightening of their faces,
as though they had this surge of possibility and...
I used to feel it, too.
Don't you anymore?
I had to start telling myself
that there was no shame in being an old maid.
Well, anyway.
The other day I had the first tiny flicker of hope in an age.
And next thing I knew, I was in the chemist's
with my hand around a bottle of Empress Waving Compound.
- Where did it come from? - It's imported from New York.
No, no. I meant the hope.
Oh.
It's a chap.
I've known him for ages.
He's awfully quiet, but he has the most speaking eyes.
And he just looked at me, and I had this sense
that maybe he was going to ask me something.
Good luck!
[Dramatic music plays]
MAN: The record-breaking aviatrix Amy Johnson
finally touched down on British soil this week
after her triumphant flight from Cape Town in South Africa.
With clouds and wind adding to the danger of the journey,
Amy has proven once again
that by sheer skill and determination,
there's no difficulty that can't be overcome.
Petrova.
What do you think of Theo?
- Theo Dane? - Yes.
Would you say she's a nice sort of person?
Is she kind?
Well, she wears a lot of perfume.
Coty Chypre. It rubs off on everything.
I could probably bear that.
Well, goodbye, Amy. The very best of luck.
JOHNSON: Thanks very much. I sincerely hope I shall, too.
[Girls laughing]
Come on! You're being really slow.
Come on.
No! No, no, no!
What are you doing?
We're going to tie Posy to a tree and scalp her!
POSY: [Squeals] No!
MR. SIMPSON: Hello?
I, uh, parked in the lane.
Awfully sorry to surprise you, but there's news from London.
It's all right. It's good news.
[Posy squeals]
Don't kick!
Help me!
I can't believe I'm going for a screen test.
I don't know anything about Charles II's sister Henrietta.
I don't even know what she looks like.
Well, let's just hope she had a pimple on her nose.
- [Laughs] - Rat.
Come on, now.
Take the dishes down to the water and get them swilled.
[Girls laughing]
POSY: Bags I dry.
PETROVA: You always dry. That's the easy bit.
May I smoke?
Of course.
Mr. Simpson, would you mind awfully if I had one?
Sorry. Didn't know you indulged.
Oh, I don't.
At least I never have before.
I suppose, with the girls and everything,
I don't really get to go to places where I would.
Thank you.
Nana did wonder if I ought to have the odd one.
She thinks that it helps to break up chest congestion.
But honestly,
the thought of sitting alone in the kitchen in the dark,
dragging away on my solitary fag...
It's such a tragic picture, I simply couldn't bear to.
[Coughing]
Oh, Lord. I do feel a fool.
Quick, take it away before the girls get back.
What time do we need to leave tomorrow?
9:00 should do it.
We'll be at Shepperton by noon.
We could perhaps have tea out afterwards
on the way back to London.
I'm afraid I must be home by 4:00.
I have an appointment with Theo.
Oh.
Well, we can't let you be late.
PETROVA: [Laughs] This will get you wet.
PAULINE: That's cold!
MAN: Pauline Fossil. Screen test.
Mr. Sholsky.
So, Pauline Fossil. How old are you?
I'm nearly 16.
Do you want to be in movies?
I don't know. I don't know much about them.
But you want to be an actress.
No, I need to be an actress.
Hold it.
[Mid-tempo instrumental music playing]
Theo just asked for tea in her room for her and Mr. Simpson.
THEO: Just leave it outside!
- [Telephone ringing] - There you are.
You've earned this. [Laughs]
MR. SIMPSON: Yes.
Earl's Court, 4-2-8.
That's simply wonderful.
Oh, I'm sorry. I said, "That's wonderful news."
MAN: Don't move, Pauline. Stick to your marks.
[Indistinct conversations]
MR. SHOLSKY: Okay, people. We are going again.
Clear the set, please.
Clear the set.
Shh, shh, shh.
And...
MAN: Scene 84. Take 1.
MR. SHOLSKY: Action.
Write to me while I am gone.
I will try.
Not "I will try," but "I will."
I will.
Cut. Cut.
You will what, Pauline?
Bake him a cake?
Knit him a sweater?
Look, your brother here
is... is asking for an emotional lifeline, okay?
That's great. Fantastic, Leo.
Can we take it again?
MAN: Scene 84. Take 2.
Not "I will try," but "I will."
I will.
MR. SHOLSKY: Cut, cut, cut.
MAN: Take 3.
I will.
MR. SHOLSKY: Cut!
[Bell rings]
Can we... Can we talk?
Excuse me.
You've got 10 days on this picture.
This is your seventh,
and you've yet to show me that you're not made of wood.
We do too many takes. I can't concentrate.
I can build myself up to it in the theater.
I can be a character.
Honey... Honey, this is motion pictures now, okay?
Look, you've got everything to learn,
and that's... that's fine.
But you've got to give me something real.
What's real to you, Pauline?
What matters most to you in the world?
Acting.
[Sighs] If that is a truthful answer, there's no hope for you.
MAN: Scene 84. Take 4.
MR. SHOLSKY: Action.
Write to me while I'm gone.
I will try.
Not "I will try," but "I will."
I will.
MR. SHOLSKY: And cut.
Print.
Fantastic. You did it.
I just thought about my sisters.
How awful it must be to live your life alone.
That was wonderful.
Okay. Let's move on.
[Knock on door]
[Mid-tempo instrumental music plays]
[Theo laughing]
[Laughter continues]
- NANA: Coty Chypre? - [Gasps]
Come on.
Have you never wanted anything?
Well, when the war broke out,
I thought I'd like to drive an ambulance.
But of course, I didn't do anything about it.
I had you.
[Theo laughs]
Madame, please, may I change my shoes
before we start my enchaînement?
These were my mother's.
They fit me now.
Small bones.
High arches.
Like you.
She was just like me.
She loved ballet more than anything.
I know that because it was the thing she chose.
[Mid-tempo piano music plays]
MADAME FIDOLIA: Excellent.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
And second. 1, 2, 3...
Energy, Petrova, energy! Bored dancers are boring!
Arabesque! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...
[Rain falling]
Number 3 for you, Pauline.
You're in with Dandini.
Can't I share with Petrova?
She's on the fourth floor with the others in the chorus.
Off you pop.
The 3 was going back that way, wasn't it?
MAN: Please report to the stage for trampoline practice
as soon as possible.
Hello, Petrova.
Hello, Winifred.
Soon a gown of shimmering tulle
and cape of silk we will unspool.
[Whispering] Hollywood never called for Pauline, then?
[Whispering] The film isn't out yet, Winifred.
A pumpkin coach we will create.
- Has Hollywood called for you? - [Baby crying]
It's not all gloom.
I've got an audition for the Ovaltineys... on the radio.
But first, to show what magic means,
I call upon the jumping beans!
[Up-tempo jazz plays]
"A King in Exile," world premiere.
Cue for gigantic panic over frocks.
[Laughter]
- What do you think of that? - Beautiful.
What can you see Pauline in, John?
Uh, that shiny stuff that rustles?
Uh, taffeta?
I'm too old for a party dress.
DR. JAKES: I see her in powder-blue velvet.
[Gasps] With a lace bolero!
Lace bolero? She'll catch her death.
Beautiful.
I'll get my rifle and shoot you a mink.
[Laughter]
I shall be needing a new dress very soon.
What for?
The Marmara Ballet's coming to London
for the first time ever from Prague,
and Madame Fidolia is taking me to see them.
You don't need something new for that.
She's booked us a box and a smoked-salmon supper.
[Coughing]
# All is calm #
# All is bright #
I couldn't sleep.
I thought it would be a nice surprise in the morning.
We've had such lovely Christmases in this house.
It was even Christmas when you came to us.
[Chuckles]
I think about it every time it snows.
Why can't you sleep?
Is it your cough?
Not really.
Can you keep a secret?
I wanted to get you all together,
but I'll tear open if I don't tell someone.
We can't afford to live here anymore.
But what about Pauline's wages from the film
and... and the money we're getting from "Cinderella"?
This house eats money.
Even with the boarders?
Yes.
And so I'm selling it.
No.
We'll soon be living in a nice flat with Nana.
There'll be no need for Clara, and the boarders will disperse.
You can't do that! You can't!
The house belongs to Gum.
He's been gone for 12 years, Petrova.
I spoke to the solicitors, and they've declared him dead.
Remember, Posy,
when Valentin Manoff got his dancers out of Russia,
he rescued not just a company,
but a system of training 200 years old.
I've brought you here to show you what you might achieve...
if you are strong enough.
If you have the courage and the will.
[Orchestral music playing]
[Music intensifies]
Stand still.
Oh, darling.
You look... grown up.
That's the first and last time I copy anything from Vogue.
No one made you do it!
Pauline.
Why don't you make me go in a jersey and skirt?
I feel a complete fraud, Petrova.
I'm terrible in that film.
Tomorrow night my face is going to be blown up
as big as a house.
Everyone's gonna find me out.
[Orchestral music playing]
POSY: I will dance like that, Madame.
I don't care how long the training takes.
Madame?
Help.
Someone help!
[Sobbing]
[Door opens]
Posy?
Posy, is that you?
What's happened?
[Sobbing] Madame's had a stroke.
A stroke?
They took her to the hospital,
and she can't move her arm or leg!
[Gasps] Oh, no. Poor Madame.
- Poor lady. - I'm not crying about Madame!
I'm crying about me!
My training can't be broken off now!
NANA: You are a selfish and coldhearted little madam.
We did not bring you up to conduct yourself like this.
SYLVIA: Nana is right. Your behavior is disgraceful.
She's ambitious, that's all.
Once upon a time, I thought ambition was a good thing.
I thought it would help you to apply yourselves
and help you make the most of your small chances.
But if it kills off everything that's nice in you,
then I am not going to have ambition in this house.
Meaning what?
Meaning that I will no longer sanction
any of you working on the stage.
You can't do that!
Oh, yes, I can. I'm your legal guardian.
We will never be rich.
But now the house is sold,
there's no more need for you to work or train.
You can't stop me.
You can't stop me from doing anything.
We can stop you from going to Pauline's premiere.
You can stay at home tonight... alone.
[Up-tempo jazz playing]
[Indistinct conversations]
Good luck.
Your name is really small, Pauline.
Almost as small as the author's.
Maybe no one will realize you're in it.
[Fanfare plays]
[Camera shutter clicks]
You were fantastic!
[Indistinct shouting]
Let's get you through the back.
Come on, Pauline.
I wish I was you!
She was good, Nana. She was wonderful.
- Is she with you? - Who?
Miss Posy.
I went to check on her, and she's not there.
NANA: Little maniac. She's hiding somewhere.
It's the thought of her alone out there.
How cold she must be.
How afraid.
Posy's not afraid of anything.
That's what frightens me.
MANOFF: [Speaking Russian]
[Up-tempo piano music plays]
[Foot stomps, music stops]
[Speaks Russian]
[Doorbell rings]
- Miss Brown? - No.
This is Miss Brown.
Good morning. David Montague.
I'm the London representative of United Artists Studios.
So, you don't speak Russian.
- I dance Russian. - Hmph.
[Speaking Russian]
[Light laughter]
And who did you learn that from?
Michel Fokine?
Agrippina Vaganova?
No. Evgenia Fidolia.
I see.
Do you?
You won't see anything at all until you've watched me dance.
Mm.
No sign of her?
[Sighs]
I've been offered a contract by United Artists.
In Hollywood?
You ought to be smiling.
I'd have to go for five years.
That's five years without theater
and not learning all the things I wanted to know.
- Hello? - Posy!
- Where have you been? - With Valentin Manoff.
He's offered to train me at his ballet school.
PETROVA: What?
POSY: I made him watch me dance, and then he said,
"Come to my academy in Prague,
and I shall make you into a ballerina."
So I said my guardian would make the arrangements,
and I came straight home.
You can't go to Czechoslovakia, Posy.
There's no money.
My mother gave me away because there was no money!
At least your parents drowned
and had the kindness to put you in a life belt.
I didn't get a life belt, only a pair of ballet shoes.
Garnie, is Mr. Montague still upstairs?
He's packing up his bag.
I said you needed time to think.
I don't. Not anymore.
I'll sign.
Sign what?
Something that means you can study with Manoff.
And Garnie can go to California, where the climate's mild,
and get her health back.
Pauline...
I can't live in Hollywood on my own,
and Nana must go to Prague with Posy.
Otherwise, she's going to get completely out of hand.
[Knock on door]
Where will I go?
MATTHEW: Excuse me!
Who sold my house?!
- [Gasps] - Huh?
Are you... Gum?
Of course, I'm bloody Gum. Who else would I be?
What I want to know is this.
Who are all these women?
Pauline.
Petrova.
Posy.
I-I brought entrancements home.
I-I brought babies.
Babies grow up, Gum.
Yes, I can see that.
So, a film star and a ballet dancer.
Well, that's you and your chaperones sorted.
I never thought I'd be going to live abroad.
Abroad will get used to it.
So that just leaves you and me to organize.
Now, what would you like to do?
She wants to be like Amy Johnson.
MATTHEW: Oh, Amy Johnson.
- I know her. - How?
Well, I ran into her in the Argentine.
She taught me how to fly. She's quite good, actually.
Well, we'd better get you some lessons, then, hadn't we?
[Laughs]
Mixed feelings?
I'm not telling.
Theo?
Theo.
I, uh, I need to ask you something.
Can I borrow your gramophone?
Theo's been giving me lessons.
I wanted to take you out...
...to a hotel.
I wanted to dance with you, to tell you things.
And I didn't know how.
I thought this...
...this song, it...
[Mid-tempo introduction plays]
...might tell you things.
# The very thought of you #
# And I forget to do #
# The little ordinary things #
# That everyone ought to do #
# I'm living in a kind of a daydream #
# I'm happy as a king #
# And foolish though it may seem #
# To me, that's everything #
This was the first room I ever walked into in this house.
It was full of stone feathers and the ghosts of things.
# You'll never know how slow #
Not anymore.
No.
It's full of things we made.
# I see your face in every flower #
# Your eyes in stars above #
# It's just the thought of you #
# The very thought of you #
# My love #
Hello.
Miss Brown is otherwise engaged.
I haven't come to see Miss Brown.
I've, uh, I've come to see you.
[Chuckles] You don't remember me, do you?
Little Theodora, star of "Miss Rosebud's Bouncing Babes"?
We used to meet at the stage door every night for weeks.
During the war?
I knew you at once, even without your bandages.
Do you know who I am without mine?
[Sobbing] Yes.
We two Fossils vow, since as an actress and a dancer,
it is unlikely we will ever get our names
in the history books, to do everything we can
to get our sister's name, Petrova, there instead.
Because she is ours and ours alone.
And when she finds the roads in the sky,
no one can ever say it's because of her grandfathers.
We vow.
[Laughter]
- Amen. - Amen.
[Cheering]
PAULINE: There she is!
[Gasps]
Petrova!
[Laughs]
Hi!
MATTHEW: Full throttle, Petrova!
PETROVA: [Screams, laughs]
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