And what are you doing in a car like that?
- It's a beauty. - It's ostentatious, is what it is.
- I won't have it sitting in front of my house. - All right. All right.
So how long did you say you were staying?
- They just got here, Hope. - Well, we're not going to be a burden.
The first thing I'm doing is going out and getting a job.
You? A job?
Is this the kind of job that entails working?
Order number three up!
- Where's my ketchup? - Check, please!
Sorry about that.
Excuse me. Um, I asked for toast.
Oh. Oh, yes. I'm sorry.
Order number four up!
Yes, yes.
- Ann! - Here we go. Coming!
Excuse me. Okay, here we go.
Where's my coffee, sweet thing?
- Right here. - What the hell? Are you crazy?
Hey! Where the hell are you goin'? Hey! Come on back here!
Oh!
You all right, honey?
Oh, I'm fine.
You're so pretty.
I'm supposed to tell you you're fired.
Is that man all right?
Raymond? Hell, it's the only time he didn't complain his coffee wasn't hot enough.
Oh, there you go. Good as new.
- Thank you. - Rosie!
All right.
I'm comin'.
Even God don't make green in any other shades, Mrs. Donahue.
Well, I can see the color in my head.
Oh. Uh, we'll be in touch, Mrs. Devereaux.
I've got to find something to go with my new sofa and curtains, Joe.
What color are they?
l-I got the swatches right here.
Hmm. Well, have you considered a peach?
It would bring out this color in the fabric.
Ooh. That's a nice color. Peach Melba.
Oh. Who makes up these names?
Mr. Massey names all his paints himself.
Well, it's a beautiful color just the same.
Oh, and doesn't it bring out the pearl in her skin? Joe?
Right. It brings out the pearl in your skin, Mrs. Donahue.
Jesus, Joe. Can't I go back to Chicago for two days...
without you hiring a woman to work here?
That's what I'm trying to tell you, Mr. Massey.
She's been here three weeks, and sales are up 20%.
Are you sure that's gonna be enough, Ted?
Uh... Better give me four gallons, I guess.
- Yeah. - Heavenly Gold.
I beg your pardon?
Your hair. I'm gonna mix a color just like it...
and call it Heavenly Gold.
Bill Massey.
Gentleman's Blue.
- I beg your pardon? - Your eyes.
They're Gentleman's Blue.
Well, are we finished here?
- Yeah. - Don't want anyone to miss out on this...
vision.
Pass it! Pass it!
To me! To me!
Boys, you know the rules. Outside.
- Sorry. - Yeah. George, just a minute.
You enjoying it here in St. Louis, George?
- It's okay. - You're a good writer.
- I am? - Of course, what you wrote about...
uh, your mom and your brother and all that...
Uh, it's a little exaggerated.
- Isn't it? - I wish.
Well, keep it up.
You're not ready for a Pulitzer Prize yet...
but you certainly got yourself a voice.
George?
So I got the lead in the school play.
I'm playing Oedipus, king of Thebes.
In the original Greek play, Oedipus kills his father and marries his mother...
but Mrs. Kirkland made us change it so that now I just hit my father...
over the head with a shovel and take my mother to Howard Johnson's for dinner.
Boys! Boys!
Come and help us celebrate.
Mr. Massey asked your mother to marry him.
- Congratulations. - See? My knight in shining armor...
is a salesman in high-gloss enamel.
But he's here, and I'll take him.
- Oh. Here. - Oh...
Oh, Hope. Have a little too much of something once in your life.
All right. Maybe a little.
- When's the ceremony? - In two weeks, and I'm gonna need you...
- to help me with my outfit. - Of course.
- What should I wear? - Certainly nothing white.
Oh, no more. I can't.
All right, what the hell.
Darling, would you get my lighter, please?
- It's on the table in the kitchen. - Sure.
Are we going back to New York?
Well, Mr. Massey has this idea to expand west to California.
What if I want to stay here?
In St. Louis? Oh, don't be ridiculous.
Nobody wants to stay in St. Louis.
Do you even love this guy?
It's so damned unfair. You are like a cat...
always landing on your goddamn feet.
Rest of us play by the rules, get nowhere. But where do you end up?
You're right up there on top of the heap.
- Well, that's because I have faith in the world. - Oh, horseshit!
It's because the world makes exceptions for a beautiful woman.
The world is a whole nother place for a homely woman like me.
And how many years have I been trying to have children?
How many? Twenty.
And do I have them? No, I don't. I am dry as a damn bone!
But you can.
You have two normal...
Well, you have... you have two healthy boys.
Look at him.
I ask you, is that fair? No, it's not fair at all.
- Oh, Hope. - There is no God!
Calm down. Here. Have a cigarette.
- Here we go. - Front row?
Robbie will be over the moon.
There's nothing I wouldn't do for the boys, Ann.
You know Robbie's been the lead in every school play?
This is the first one that he's actually going to perform in.
Salesmen are like actors too, George...
wearing the masks of both comedy and tragedy on the stage of commerce.
Right.
Oh, I'm so excited.
The sands of ignorance blow in our faces...
and we are lost without our king.
Hark! Here he comes. Oedipus...
the king.
Citizens of Thebes...
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid we must stop the show.
- What? - The weather service...
- has spotted a tornado 10 miles east of Danson. - So? So what?
- Everyone should exit the auditorium. - No, they shouldn't.
- The show must go on. - Please head to the basement in a calm and orderly fashion.
- Sir... Sir... - Let's go. Please. Hurry. Let's...
Let's hurry it up.
He's gonna be so disappointed.
Well, he can always say he brought the audience to its feet.
Bravo!
- Bravo! - Bravo!
Thanks. Oh, my God.
Okay. First batch is almost ready, guys.
- Good. - Robbie, get that off of me, please.
- Then the camera... - Oh! Robbie, no!
Hey, Ann, could I get a Bud?
- Uh, yeah. - Thank you.
- Uh-huh. Oh! - He's so shy, your son.
What are you doing out here by yourself, George?
Thinkin'.
I like thinking too.
Clears the mind. Cigar?
No, thank you.
Your mother's a fine woman.
I know.
Now that I'm to be your stepfather...
your mother asked that I might...
talk to you about some things...
man to man.
As a man, there's only one thing you need to know about a woman.
What's that?
They're never the right temperature.
No?
Something to do with their plumbing.
Reproduction.
Whatever reason, most of the time...
they're either too hot or too cold.
Mostly too cold.
So what you have to do...
is carry a sweater or a jacket or something with you at all times.
Something you can keep in the trunk of your car...
or in your closet at work...
for when their thermostat gets messed up.
What else?
That's it. Once you've got that covered...
there's nothing else you need to know about a woman.
What do you say we go get something to eat?
Well, one of you gentlemen needs to make a toast.
- Tom? - No, I don't want to make a toast.
l... l... All right. Okay. I'll make a toast.
Um... Congratulations.
- That's a good toast! - For God's sake, Tom!
George, you say something.
I'm happy my mother finally found someone to marry her.
That sounds like a eulogy, sweetheart.
- Cheers. - Thank you, George.
- Cheers. - I'll make a toast myself.
To Ann...
the most beautiful and charming woman I have ever known.
We're gonna have the perfect life together, you, me and the boys.
And I've decided to name a whole new line of paints after you.
Starting with Matrimony White.
- William? - Oh, hell.
- Hello, William. - Hi, Marla.
Well, who's this, darling?
- I'm Marla Massey. - Oh.
- Is this your sister, darling? - I'm his wife.
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
You need more of a flick of the wrist, like...
Like that. Hold it there and just...
Ah.
Mr. Massey is mentally ill, Mrs. Devereaux.
But he runs a business. He-He... He's heir to a fortune.
William is one of the heirs of the family fortune, yes...
but he has nothing to do with the running of the business.
His family lets him oversee the shop here in St. Louis as a distraction.
He's like a child who doesn't know the difference between right and wrong...
and, sadly, his weakness is women.
Over the past two years, he's become engaged or married to seven of them...
seven that we know of, anyway.
The Massey family profoundly apologizes and hopes that this sum...
will alleviate any inconvenience...
that this unfortunate affair may have caused you.
Payoff green.
I'm so sorry, Ann. May I call you Ann?
You really love him, don't you?
What?
I said you really love William.
No. No, l-I don't.
Of course you do. You don't have to lie to me. Massey is a charmer.
All the women love him. I do. I always have.
Why?
- Why what, dear? - Why do you love him?
Because he's my husband.
But beyond that, why do you love him?
You look a little chilly, darling.
I've got a sweater here you can put on.
Hurry up, George!
You should put the top up on the car, Mom. It looks like rain tonight.
We should get going. George!
- All right. - I'm not going with you.
Oh, don't start with that again. Get your things.
- I'm not going. - Well, who's gonna drive the car?
- Robbie can drive. I'm staying here. - In St. Louis?
Yeah. I have a normal life here. I do well in school. I have friends.
Mr. Dillon, he likes my writing. He says I have a voice.
Well, I'd like to be hearing a little less of that voice right now.
Get your things.
Where are you going this time?
We are going to California.
- Why California? - 'Cause that's where Hollywood is.
I know where Hollywood is. Just what do you think's gonna happen there?
- Your brother will be discovered. - I will.
Things will work out, George. They always do.
Will you stop saying that?
You sound like a lunatic. You're gonna be sitting in the electric chair one day...
as they flip the switch, and smoke will be coming out of your ears...
while you're still sitting there saying, "It'll all work out, you'll see. It always does."
All right? I'm staying here in St. Louis.
Your Aunt Hope doesn't want you.
She said I can stay.
You asked her without asking me first?
That smile, girl.
Who are you to tell my son that he can live with you?
- He asked me. - Oh, well, then.
Do you even want him, or do you just not want me to have him?
- You just don't want me to have him. - That is not true.
It is true. Isn't it true?
Well, I don't care whether she wants me or not. I'm staying here.
Do you know how insulting that is to me?
Will you stop thinking about yourself for once in your life and start...
- thinking about what I want? - I'm always thinking about you, George.
- That's bullshit. - Well, why do you think I've just spent...
the last four months driving halfway around the world?
I forgot. Tell me why again.
Get in the car.
You don't even know me.
Oh, George, stop being silly.
- Now get in the car. - All right then.
I'll get in the car. But here's the deal.
First you have to tell me what my shoe size is.
What are you talking about?
Then tell me what I want to be when I grow up.
- Does anybody know what he's talking about? - What's my favorite color?
Blue.
Red.
Yellow?
Green?
Hell, I don't even know what my favorite color is.
All right then.
Here's an easy one. What's my favorite book? Huh?
Tell me what my favorite book is, and I'll go with you.
I've been talking about it for the last two years. What is it?
I don't know what your favorite book is.
It's Catcher in the Rye.
We have a winner.
Not that I approve of a book like that.
I've done the best I could.
Well, it's not good enough.
Well, aren't you an ungrateful brat.
And you're a lousy mother.
George...
We're going.
You wanna wait for the storm to pass, or are you gonna...
- We'll be fine, Tom. - You know, she doesn't mean anything by it, you know.
She's just, uh...
I know, Tom. She can't help herself.
You'll look after George?
I will.
- Bye, Uncle Tom. - Bye, Robbie.
Don't look in the mirror. Remember?
Yeah. It's a good thing they got that top up, though.
If not, they'd be swimming for sure.
It could turn into a tornado in no time.
No, it's not gonna be a tornado. It's just heavy rains.
Hey, did Bob ever call you about your truck?
Even though I told her I wanted to stay in St. Louis...
I was surprised when my mother left without me.
I guess I didn't give her much of a choice, did I?
I sat there waiting for her to barge back in and drag me into the car.
Once again, I underestimated her.
Eat your food, George. It's getting cold.
Robbie called collect almost every day.
He said to make money, they were taking on day riders.
Yeah, yeah, good face.
- Yeah. That's great. What is this made of? - That's horse hair.
I'm a salesman by trade, ma'am...
on my way to Amarillo to start a new job...
to sell the product of the future.
Oh! Well, what's that?
- Asbestos. - Asbestos?
Asbestos. Yes, son, asbestos.
It's a fireproof building material.
You heard about that school fire in Kentucky where all those poor kids died?
Yeah. Never again. Ever. No, sirree.
Asbestos is gonna save thousands, maybe millions of lives.
You mark my words, son.
I took a correspondence course in acting...
and my teacher, Mr. Brinkston of London, England...
He said I have the talent to go to Hollywood and become a star.
- Oh. - So that's why Becker and me are going to Hollywood.
- Maybe. - Not maybe at all, sweetheart.
That's where we're going... same place they are.
You know, you kind of have a Judy Garland type look to you.
You're not the first person who's said that. Is he, Becker?
You're gonna do real good there too.
- You're really handsome. - Well, thank you.
He looks like a girl.
No!
He's got that "andro-gynous" quality that Marlon Brando has.
Don't worry. That's a good thing.
You can leave us off here. S-Stop.
- Here? What do you mean? - Shut up. Pull over.
Are you sure you want to get out here?
Yeah, I'm sure. Just pull over.
All right.
Okay.
Thank you.
Well, that'll be, uh, $10, you two.
Nobody move!
- Oh, my God! - Oh, not again, Becker!
- Jesus! - Shut up!
- Please don't hurt my mother. - He's not going to hurt me, Robbie.
You get me all the cash you got, or I'm gonna slice her wide open.
- There's money in my bag. - Go get it, pansy.
Okay. Okay.
Come here. Take her ring.
- I don't want her ring! - Take it!
- What else you got, lady? Huh? - I don't know.
Put down the knife!
Oh, my God, Becker! See?
- Hell, he ain't gonna shoot nobody. - I'm not?
No, you're not. Do what he says and put the gun down, Robbie.
I can handle this, Mom. Put down the shiv, soldier boy.
Make me, fairy.
Get back! Pick up the knife and get in the car now! Get back.
- Are you okay? - I'm fine.
Why are you asking him, huh? I'm the one he shot at.
- Let's get out of here now. - Okay. Wendy...
- come with us. - No, you leave her alone!
You can't stay with him. Look at him. He's a bully. He'll bring you nothing but trouble.
- But he wants to marry me. - Oh, for God's sake, child.
If you marry him, you're gonna regret it for the rest of your life.
- I'm sure you know that already. - Sometimes I do think that.
Of course you do, darling.
Sorry, Becker.
Yeah, right.
Okay.
Bye, sweetie.
- You're a no-good bitch. - You watch your mouth.
So I figure we can stop in Flagstaff on Monday...
and make it to Los Angeles by Tuesday night.
What's Wendy doing?
Oh, no. It's the soldier.
We only have $67 left.
Well, at least she didn't take my shirt.
I'll get it.
- Give it time. - Hello?
It's a collect call from Robert Mitchum.
I'll take it.
- Don't you dare accept. - I'll accept the call.
- George, it's me... Robbie. - I figured. Where are you?
Someplace with the unfortunate name of Albuquerque.
One of the riders we picked up stole all of our money.
Are you and mom all right?
We're fine. Mom's coming. I'll call you later.
Someone stole their money.
As long as she doesn't expect me to give her...
Why don't we just wire 'em some of the money she left us?
- Tom! - What money?
- Sorry. - My mother gave you money?
The money that she got from Massey... she gave you that? - Some of it.
- Most of it, actually. - Tom, would you keep out of this?
- Fine. - We're not a charity, George, and taking care...
- of a growing boy is not exactly cheap or easy. - Give it to me.
- I will not. - It's not your money.
- Give it to me. - Over my dead body.
- I'll give it to you, George. - No, you won't!
Stay out of this, Hope. The boy's right. It's his money.
We never should have took it from the mother in the first place, all right?
I didn't take anything. She gave it to me.
- Well, then give it to the boy. - And what do I get?
You get to do the right thing, Hope.
Thank you.
And we both watched you drive away.
Oh.
Truth be told, I'm glad to be rid of it.
- I didn't like having all that money around. - No. Of course you didn't.
Come on. We're missing our show. Let's go.
Why are we stopping here?
Well, I figured we could just stop here and pick somebody up.
Well, I don't see anyone.
Oh, look. There's someone now.
- Get in the back. - Okay.
It's all she had left.
Here's the thing. I'm only going as far as California.
After that, you're on your own. Deal?
Deal.
Just drive.
George?
George, wake up.
There it was. Los Angeles. The city of dreams.
- We'd finally made it. - There's a pool!
It wasn't exactly the glamorous Hollywood entrance...
my mother had imagined us making, but we were in no position to complain...
- even though I did. - At least we won't drown.
Here we are.
Perfect.
Well, you don't get sunlight like this in New York.
Oh!
If you stand right here, you can see the ocean.
Oh, wow.
George, come look.
How long is that money gonna last us?
That's not your concern.
Why don't you boys go to the beach and have some fun?
- I don't like the beach. - Oh, go get yourself some color, George.
You're paler than a nun's behind.
Door was open.
Nothing to steal.
You been here long?
Couple weeks.
Nice.
Always were a terrible liar.
Well, at least you're not gonna drown in the pool.
So I've been told.
How did you find us?
I got a postcard from George.
- He get mine? - I don't think so.
Where are you playing?
Coconut Grove. Opening up for Basie.
How is old Basie these days?
Same as ever.
How are you?
I'm good.
You look good.
You look tired.
You're not eating right.
Well, the road wears you out.
Yeah. Tell me something I don't know.
So, you done with this?
Done with what?
This little experiment of yours.
Oh.
It's not an experiment, Dan.
Whatever you say.
Hey, how about you and the boys...
come back to New York with me tomorrow?
What do you say?
I can't do that.
Don't you love me anymore?
I don't know if I love you anymore.
But I do know that I don't need you anymore.
Oh!
Well, I never thought I'd hear you say something like that.
Neither did I.
Hey, you want me to get down on one knee like I did 16 years ago tomorrow?
First time you've ever remembered.
Carl remembers stuff for me.
- Oh. - Maybe you should have married him.
You're a hell of a woman, Ann.
You don't know the half of it.
I could learn.
No.
I wish things were different.
God, I really do, Danny.
Okay. Okay.
Are we still friends?
I hope so.
Look, um...
you know, if...
you change your mind...
Oh, I'll know where to find you.
Come on!
Move!
Cut! Cut! All right, people, let's take five.
And that's a reset, ladies and gentlemen. That's a reset!
Back to first positions. Come on, guys! - I'm just such a mess.
Maybe if I put this side up like that.
Darling, you're a slave. You're building a pyramid.
Well, that's no reason to not be presentable.
What the hell is it this time?
One of the slaves got her foot run over by the chariot, Mr. Kamen.
Christ. Is the chariot okay?
Just kidding.
- Let me help you. - Oh. Thank you very much, Mr., um...
- Martin Kamen, producer. - Ann Devereaux, pyramid builder.
You're much too beautiful to be a slave.
Words every woman dreams of hearing.
- Are you an actress, Miss Devereaux? - No, I'm not.
- But my son is. - Is that right?
Robbie.
This is Mr. Kamen. He's the producer.
Oh. How do you do, sir?
- So you want to be an actor? - Oh, yes.
- Nice-looking boy, isn't he? - Yeah.
If he still wants to be an actor in the morning, bring him by my office.
- All right. - Come on, boys. Let's get a move on.
We're losing the light.
Yes! Oh, my God!
So my mother was about to deliver on her promise to Robbie.
And for a moment, I thought maybe she'd been right after all.
Maybe things did work out for the best.
Hello?
Hello.
All right. I'll get her.
It's for you.
- Hello? - Miss Devereaux?
Yes, this is she. Yes, please.
I'm so sorry.
No.
Thank you for calling.
Who was that?
Mom?
Your father has died.
He had a heart attack...
after a show in New York.
Mom... Mom...
Yeah.
It's all right, baby. Cry.
You cry.
You just...
cry as much as you want.
It's cold.
Thanks.
Do you want my blanket?
Mm-mmm. I'm fine.
I just got off the phone with the airline.
They'll give one of us the bereavement fare to go back for the funeral.
I think that should be you.
Okay.
I called Mr. Dixon today...
The headmaster at Radford. That was my school.
I know.
Well, they offered me a full scholarship...
if I wanted to go back next semester.
I could never afford a school like that out here.
Is that what you want to do, George? You want to go back to New York?
I think so.
Well...
Where will you live?
Billy's parents said I can stay with them there.
I like them.
New York's my home.
I know it is.
And everybody knows if you want to be a writer, you have to live in New York.
There's too much sun here in L.A.
It's not depressing enough.
You sound like your father.
We will find a way to make that work.
You will?
That was our deal.
So, I was finally on my way back to New York.
I'd won the battle with my mother...
but it sure wasn't the way I wanted to win it.
Not like this.
So my father went down to the kitchen...
and cooked breakfast for us and a bunch of other guests.
It was the wildest thing my family ever did.
And that's what I did on my summer vacation.
Very good, Judy.
Now, George, why don't you tell us about your summer?
My summer really started last year...
when my mother left my father for sleeping with his band singer...
and she gave me $6,000 cash to go buy a car.
My mother was arrested for solicitation...
but of course it was all just a big mistake.
Massey was a serial matrimonialist...
who had proposed to or married at least 11...
- different women... - Then the girl steals all their money...
and runs off with the psycho soldier again, so...
I had to go back and get all the money my Aunt Hope stole from my mother...
and meet up with them again...
We finally made it to L.A.
But right after we got there, my...
my father died, and I came back here for his funeral.
I miss him.
I always thought that after this...
we were all gonna end up together again.
But we're not.
They sat there looking at me like I was an alien...
from some faraway planet speaking in a language they'd never heard before.
I'm not running anymore, Mary Beth.
But it's too dangerous here for you, Frankie.
I'm not afraid of danger, Mary Beth. Not anymore.
Frankie, they already killed Ma and Pa.
He just needs to relax. He'll be fine.
l-I don't care, Mary Beth.
- I don't think so. - I'm finished running...
even if it means I have to die here.
- I'm sorry. - Cut!
Take 10, everyone.
Yeah, right.
- Let me talk to him. - Here. I'm sorry. The plants just...
Is there any way we can just try one m... one more? I'm really sorry.
- Kill those lights then, will you? - Oh, no.
- That's pretty. - Yeah. And what do you think...
- Yeah. And you have a bonnet too. - It's perfect.
- Good. - Yeah. Thanks.
- This should do it. - I'll be right back, okay?
Roll camera. And... action.
I'm not running anymore, Mary Beth.
I don't care what anybody says.
It's too dangerous here for you, Frankie.
I'm not afraid of danger, Mary Beth. Not anymore, I'm not.
Frankie, they already killed Ma and Pa.
I don't care, Mary Beth. I'm-I'm finished running.
I'm staying here even it means I have to die from it... for it!
Cut!
- Jesus, it's killing me too, kid. - I'm sorry!
George! This is going terrible.
Where's Mom?
Probably hanging herself somewhere.
Did you see me? Who was I kidding? I can't do this.
Sure, you can. Right? This is what you came all the way out here for.
- What, humiliation? I'm awful. - No, you're not. All right?
Look, you did all those plays.
I never actually acted in any of them.
All right, it's easy. Just-Just think the scene through.
They killed your parents. They killed your brothers.
It's only you and your sister left, and you have to make a stand.
Look. Just listen to how I do it, okay?
Let 'em come for me. I'm not moving.
I'm staying right here on this land.
If I have to die for it, then so be it.
This is our family's land, Mary Beth... soaked with our parents' blood.
We earned it, and I'm staying right here.
So what are you gonna do if they come?
Let 'em come for me. I'm not moving.
I'm staying right here on this land.
This is our family's land, Mary Beth... soaked with our parents' blood.
We earned it. I'm staying right here.
They'll kill you, Frankie.
I don't care.
Mary Beth, I'm not afraid anymore.
I've run all my life, and I'm finished running.
This is where I belong...
with you, with whatever's left of my family.
I didn't know it before, but I know it now.
I made the mistake of leaving once, but I'm home now...
and I ain't goin' anywhere.
I don't care what anybody says.
And that's how I got my studio contract.
They're coming! They're coming! Call the sheriff!
Cut! Print! Moving on!
- Moving on! - What's happening now?
It took Robbie all of a minute to forget about acting...
and decide to change his career.
- Here. Let me just... - His first love was costumes anyway.
I decided to change my name to Hamilton, my father's real name.
My mother decided to change her priorities.
She discovered that she didn't need a husband...
although she had plenty of offers.
I often think about those months we spent on the road together...
trying to find someone to take care of us.
What we found instead was that we didn't need anyone else...
that we could take care of ourselves just fine...
thanks all the same.
English - US - SDH