...and I’ll telic you what, the storm system's still moving west.
What are you looking at, Caroline?
The wind, Mom.
They say the hurricane is coming.
I’m on a boat.
I’m drifting.
Can I do anything for you, Mom?
Make anything easier?
Oh, sugar...
There's nothing left to do.
Is what it is.
Finding it harder to keep my eyes open.
My mouth's full of cotton.
There, there, Miss Daisy.
You gonna scratch yourself to ribbons.
Do you want any more medication, Mother?
Doctor said you could have as much as you want.
No need for anybody to suffer.
A friend told me that she never had the chance
to say goodbye to her mother.
- I wanted to... - It’s okay.
I wanted to telic you how much I’m gonna miss you so...
Mom.
Oh, Caroline.
Are you afraid?
I’m curious.
What comes next?
They built the train station in 1918.
My father was there the day it opened.
He said they had
a tuba band playing.
They had the finest clockmaker in all of the South
to build that glorious clock.
His name was...
Mr. Gateau.
Mr. Cake.
He was married to a Creole of Evangeline Parish
and they had a son.
Mr. Gateau was, from birth, absolutely blind.
When their son was old enough, he joined the army.
And they prayed God would keep him out of harm's way.
For months, he did nothing but work on that clock.
One day,
a letter came.
And Mr. Gateau, done for the night,
went up, alone, to bed.
And their son came home.
They buried him in the family plot,
where he would be with them when their time came.
Mr. Cake worked on his clock,
laboring to finish.
It was a morning to remember.
Papa said there were people everywhere.
Even Teddy Roosevelt came.
It’s running backwards!
I made it that way
so that perhaps the boys that we lost in the war
might stand and come home again.
Home to farm,
work,
have children.
To live long, full lives.
Perhaps my own son might come home again.
I’m sorry if I’ve offended anybody.
I hope you enjoy my clock.
Mr. Cake was never seen again.
Some say he died of a broken heart.
Some say he went to sea.
Excuse me.
Do you mind if I make a call? Somebody's watching my little boy.
Sure.
I hope I haven't disappointed you.
You couldn't disappoint me.
Well, I know I don't have much to show for myself.
Find my dark suitcase.
There's a diary.
This?
Could you read it to me?
Is this what you want to do?
I tried to read it a hundred different times.
Mom, it's not exactly...
It’s just the sound of your voice, darling.
Okay.
It’s dated April 4th, 1985.
And it says New Orleans.
"This is my last will and testament.
"I don't have much to leave, few possessions, no money, really.
"I will go out of this world the same way I came in, alone and with nothing.
"All I have is my story,
"and I’m writing it now while I still remember it.
"My name is Benjamin. Benjamin Button. "
And I was born under unusual circumstances.
The First World War had ended,
and I’ve been told it was an especially good night to be born.
Thank God it's over!
We won the war!
The Great War is over!
What are you doing here?
Thomas,
I’m afraid she's going to die.
What?
That's enough. All of you, get away from her.
I came as quickly as I could. The streets are filled with people.
Thomas.
Promise me he has a place.
Yeah.
She gave her life for me.
And for that, I am forever grateful.
Mr. Button.
Thomas!
Thomas.
Thomas? Where are you going?
Hey! What are you doing there?
What do you have there?
- Come on, Queenie. - Now, Mr. Weathers!
Come on, now, you know I ain't got nothing but work to do around here.
- Come on. Just take some time. - Stop all this foolishness.
The air is sweet.
You look very handsome tonight, Miss Queenie.
Handsome as I’ve ever seen.
The brown matches your eyes.
Oh, hush!
Let's see here. You ain't no slouch yourself.
Hambert's back in town.
He came home legless, but he's home.
I know you were sweet on him one time.
Sweeter than I should've been.
Miss Simone messed herself.
Oh, sweet Jesus.
She got to stop doing that or it's diapers for her.
- I’ll be right there, Miss Jameson! - Now, Queenie, now come on.
Okay, Queenie'll be right there.
It’s awful nice out here.
Come on out back for a moment. Take your mind off things.
You're so bad.
- What in God's name? - What's this?
Oh, the Lord done something here.
Hope I didn't hurt it none stepping on it like that.
We best leave that for the police.
Poor baby.
I’ll go.
It’s for sure nobody wanted to keep it. Come on, baby.
Queenie? Where are you, Queenie?
Hold your water! You go deal with it.
Okay. No, go, I’ll be back.
Queenie, Apple, she went and messed herself all over again!
Jane Childress, start her a bath!
And mind your own business, Mrs. Duprey.
You’ll be messing yourself soon enough.
Somebody stole my necklace.
Okay. All right, Mrs. Hollister, I’ll be right with you, okay?
Go on back upstairs, hear?
You are as ugly as an old pot
but you're still a child of God.
Queenie, Apple, she won't take a bath without you!
Mercy.
I’ll be right there!
Okay. You just wait right here for me now, okay?
My sister gave me those pearls. I can't find them anywhere.
- Somebody's been stealing my jewelry. - They're right here, Mrs. Hollister. See?
Right around your pretty white neck. Now, come on. Hush all that noise.
- Is Dr. Rose still here? - I don't know.
Your heart is strong.
You just want to avoid any undue stimulation.
I trust you ladies will help me out with that?
I have something. Could you come downstairs?
Never seen anything like it. Nearly blind from cataracts.
I’m not sure if he can hear. His bones indicate severe arthritis.
His skin has lost all elasticity, and his hands and feet are ossified.
He shows all the deterioration, the infirmities, not of a newborn,
but of a man well in his 80s on his way to the grave.
He's dying?
His body is failing him before his life's begun.
Where'd he come from?
My sister's child. From Lafayette. She had an unfortunate adventure.
The poor child, he got the worst of it. Come out white.
There are places for unwanted babies like these, Queenie.
No room for another mouth to feed here.
The Nolan Foundation, despite their good intentions,
thinks this place is a large nuisance as it is.
- A baby... - You said he don't have long.
Queenie, some creatures aren't meant to survive.
No, this baby, he is a miracle. That's for certain.
Just not the kind of miracle one hopes to see.
Y’all listen. Y’all listen up here.
We're gonna have us a visitor
that's gonna be staying with us for a little while.
My sister had a child and she couldn't see right by it, so...
He's known as...
Benjamin.
He's not a well child, so we're gonna have to take good care of him.
I had 10 children.
There's not a baby I can't care for. Let me see him.
God in Heaven. He looks just like my ex-husband.
Look, he's prematurely old.
Dr. Rose said he ain't got much more time on this earth.
Join the club.
He's smiling!
Hambert sends his remembrances to you.
Are you right out of your mind?
I know you ain't got all the parts it takes to make one of your own,
but this ain't yours to keep.
It may not even be humankind.
Mr. Weathers, come back here.
Please.
You never know what's coming for you.
It seemed I had found a home.
Is any of this true?
You have such a lovely voice.
Mom, it's an ancient streetcar token.
That clock just kept going,
year after year after year.
But I didn't know I was a child.
Same old crap every day.
I thought I was like everyone else there.
An old man in the twilight of his life.
Could you make him stop that?
Stop banging that fork. It’s used for eating, not for playing with.
And use your napkin, please, Mr. Benjamin.
Queenie!
Hey, boy.
Always had a healthy curiosity.
What was up the street? Or around the next corner?
Go get him!
Benjamin! That is dangerous. Come back over here.
Stay put, child.
I loved her very much.
She was my mother.
Mama.
Some days I feel different than the day before.
Everybody feels different about themselves, one way or another.
But we're all going the same way.
Just taking different roads to get there, that's all.
You're on your own road, Benjamin.
Mama? How much longer I got?
Just be thankful for what you're given, hear?
You're already here longer than you're supposed to.
Some nights, I’d have to sleep alone.
I didn't mind.
I would listen to the house breathing.
All those people sleeping.
I felt safe.
It was a place of great routine.
Every morning at 5:30, no matter the weather,
General Winslow, U. S. Army, Retired, would raise the flag.
Mrs. Sybil Wagner, once an opera singer of some note,
well, she sang Wagner.
All right, baby, come on.
We got to put some life into these old sticks for you.
Get you walking so you can help me out around here. Come on now, hear?
No matter the season, supper was served promptly at 5:30.
Molasses.
I learned to read when I was five.
My grandfather was a dresser for a famous actor.
He brung home every play for me to read.
"Kind keepers of my weak decaying age,
"Let dying Mortimer here rest himself.
"Even like a man new haled from the rack,
"So fare my limbs with long imprisonment.
"And these gray locks, the pursuivants of death,
"Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer. "
You thought I was plain ignorant, didn't you?
The actor my grandfather worked for was John Wilkes Booth.
He killed Abraham Lincoln.
You never know what's coming for you.
On Saturday nights, Mama would make me go to church.
Benjamin!
- Amen! Amen! - Amen! Amen!
What can I do for you, sister?
Her parts are all twisted up inside and she can't have little children.
Lord, if you could see clear to forgive this woman her sins
so she can bear the fruit of the womb.
Out, damnable affliction!
- Praise God! - Praise God!
Hallelujah!
- Hallelujah! - Hallelujah!
And what's this old man's irrediction?
He's got the Devil on his back,
trying to ride him into the grave before his time.
- Out, Zebuchar! - Yes!
- Out, Beelzebub! - Yes!
How old are you?
Seven. But I look a lot older.
God bless you.
He's seven.
Now, this is a man with optimism in his heart.
- All right. - Belief in his soul!
- Yes! - Yes!
We are all children in the eyes of God!
- Yes! - Hallelujah!
We are gonna get you out of that chair.
- And we're gonna have you walk. - Amen.
It’s all right.
In the name of God's glory...
Rise up!
Come on.
Come on. Walk.
Come on, son. Come on.
- Come on with it, son. Come on. - Come on.
Now God is gonna see you the rest of the way.
He's gonna see this little old man walk without the use of a crutch or a cane.
He's gonna see that you walk from faith...
- Hallelujah! - ... and divine inspiration alone!
- Yes. - Hey, Ben!
- Go, son! - Now walk.
- Yes. - Come on.
Don't touch him.
Rise up, old man.
Rise up like Lazarus.
I said, rise up!
Hallelujah!
Yes.
Come on.
Say hallelujah.
- Hallelujah! - Hallelujah!
Walk.
Walk on. Yes.
That's right, Benjamin.
Now when I look back on it, it was miraculous.
But you know the saying, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
Glory in the highest!
Sweet Jesus!
- No! - No!
There were so many birthdays.
For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow...
So we wouldn't run out, we would spare the candles.
Queenie, you know I don't like birthdays and I don't like cake.
And death was a common visitor. People came and went.
You always knew when someone left us.
There was a silence in the house.
It was a wonderful place to grow up.
I was with people who had shed ail the inconsequences of earlier life.
Left wondering about the weather, the temperature of a bath,
the light at the end of a day.
For everyone that died, someone would come to take their place.
I’ve been married five times.
My fifth wife and I are captured by a neighbor tribe of cannibals.
Oh, goodness gracious.
We escaped across the river.
My wife, she can't swim, so, sadly, she eaten.
Oh, my God.
My second wife steps on cobra and dies.
It was very bad luck to be married to me.
That's Mr. Oti. He's an acquaintance of an acquaintance of mine.
- The next summer I’m captured... - He's a Pygmy.
...with three others by the Baschiele tribe.
They trade us for pigs, shoes, and beer to a very strange American man.
I hear you're not so old as you're looking.
You just fooling everybody.
What's the matter? Did you get Madjembe?
What's Madjembe?
Worms.
I don't think I have worms.
This is just how I am.
- Did you take your pills today? - No, ma'am.
Come. Let's get a cold root beer.
I found the medication under your pillow.
I’m not supposed to. It’s dangerous.
Who said that? Come on, little man.
Hello, children.
Hold, please.
Then I’m in the monkey house at Philadelphia Zoological Park.
Three thousand people show up my first day.
Look.
What's it like living in a cage?
It stinks.
But the monkeys.
They do some tricks there.
I throw a spear, wrestle with Kowali.
She is orangutan.
When I’m not playing with the monkeys, they want me to run to the bars
in my cage, with my teeth.
So then what'd you do?
Then I leave zoo, go here, go there. Wandered most of the time.
You were all alone?
Plenty of time you’ll be alone.
When you're different like us, it's gonna be that way.
But I’ll tell you a little secret.
Fat people, skinny people, tall people,
white people, they're just as alone as we are.
But they're scared shitless.
I think about the river I grew up on.
It would be nice to sit by my river again.
Come, I have an appointment.
There's my little man. You ready, sugar?
Always ready. Always ready.
Filamena, Mr. Benjamin.
- It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. - My pleasure, ma'am.
You can find your own way home, can't you?
Take the St. Charles line to Napoleon.
Hey! Hey!
Where in God's name have you been? Get in here.
I mean, you take my breath away, you know that?
Oh, Lord, I was so worried about you.
It had been the best day of my life.
- How's her breathing? - It’s shallow.
They say it’ll reach us in a few hours,
so I gotta get my baby and take him to my sister's.
They say there's nothing to worry about here in the hospital.
Nurses'll be right here if you need them. Are you okay?
- Yeah, I’m okay reading. - I shouldn't be more than an hour.
Was there just company?
It was just Dorothy leaving.
Go on, Caroline.
"On Sundays, the families would come and visit. "
It was Thanksgiving, 1930.
I met the person who changed my life forever.
Well, Benjamin.
Might I say you are looking strikingly youthful.
Good day, Mrs. Fuller.
A single cane, back straight as an arrow.
What elixir have you been drinking?
- Thank you, ma'am. - Grandma! Look at me!
That was really something.
Come on over here, you.
Now, this is my granddaughter, Daisy.
This is Mr...
I’m afraid, Benjamin, I don't rightly know your last name.
Benjamin's fine.
I never forgot her blue eyes.
Good people, supper is served.
Health and food, for love and friends. For everything thy goodness sends.
Amen.
- Amen! - Amen!
Did you know turkeys aren't really birds?
Why do you say that?
They're in the pheasant family, can't hardly fly.
It’s sad, don't you think? Birds that can't fly?
I love birds that can't fly.
They are so delicious.
- That's terrible. - I have something to telic y'all
while we're giving thanks for God's blessings.
I had a miracle happen.
The Lord saw fit to answer my prayers.
What does she mean, answered her prayers?
Thanks. Thank you.
She's gonna have a baby, silly.
That's what my mama said when I was gonna have a baby brother,
but he didn't live long,
'cause he didn't breathe right.
"In the afternoon, when he had got his beautiful hind legs
"just as Big God Nqong had promised.
"You can see that it is 5:00,
"because Big God Nqong's clock says so. "
Isn't that something?
Again, read it again.
Oh, read it again, please.
All right. But afterwards, you must go to bed.
I promise.
"Old Man Kangaroo. "
Are you sleeping?
Who's that?
It’s me, Daisy.
Oh, hi!
'Kay, come on.
Where are we going?
Come on. Under here.
Here, you light it.
I’m not supposed to play with matches.
Don't be a chicken. Light it.
I’ll telic you a secret if you’ll telic me one.
Okay.
I saw my mama kissing another man.
Her face was red from it.
Your turn.
I’m not as old as I look.
I thought so.
You don't seem like an old person.
- Like my grandma. - I’m not.
Are you sick?
Well, I heard Mama and Tizzy whispering.
They said I was gonna die soon, but maybe not.
You're odd.
You're different than anybody I’ve ever met.
- May I? - Okay.
What are you doing under there?
You come right out here and get back up to bed!
It’s after midnight!
You are not to be playing together.
Yes, ma'am.
Now you get back to bed, little lady.
You're too young to be wandering around in the night on your own.
And you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
You are a different child.
A man-child.
And, baby, people aren't gonna understand just how different you are.
What's wrong with me, Mama?
Come here.
God hasn't said yet, baby.
Now go on to bed, hear? And behave yourself.
Go on. Say your prayers, hear?
Did I ever telic you I’ve been struck by lightning seven times?
Once when I was repairing a leak on the roof.
Once I was just crossing the road to get the mail.
I never forgot her...
"... blue eyes. "
Mom?
Did you get that this Benjamin loved you from the first time that he saw you?
Not many people experience that.
Want me to go on?
He crosses something out.
When that baby came, things were different.
Your mama gone away And your daddy gonna stay
Didn't leave nobody but the baby
Babies were born, people died.
A lot of folks been through that old house.
I’ve come to say goodbye. I’m going away.
Going?
Where?
I haven't figured that out yet,
but I’ll send you a postcard when I get there.
What about your friend, the tall lady?
We are not friends anymore.
That's what happens with tall people sometimes.
Well, goodbye.
Spent a lot of time by myself that year.
Hello?
- Hi. - I’m moving in today.
Welcome. We've been expecting you.
Can you please show her up to Mrs. Rousseau's old room?
I’m sorry, but we usually don't allow dogs in the house.
Well, she's old as the hills. She's almost blind.
She won't be a bother much longer.
Well, all right, long as she stays from up underfoot.
Right this way, ma'am.
As hard as I try, I can't remember her name.
Mrs. Lawson, or Mrs. Hartford.
Maybe it was Maple.
It’s funny how sometimes the people we remember the least
make the greatest impression on us.
I do remember she wore diamonds.
And she always dressed in fine clothing, as if she was going out.
Although she never did and nobody ever came to visit her.
She taught me to play the piano.
It’s not about how well you play.
It’s how you feel about what you're playing.
Try this.
You can't help putting yourself in the music.
There were many changes.
Some you could see, some you couldn't.
Hair had started growing in all sorts of places,
along with other things.
I felt pretty good, considering.
Darling, the pain.
All right, Mom, I’ll get the nurse.
Look at this eye. This is a major hurricane,
a slow hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of...
Not doing too good?
Nobody seems to know whether to stay or leave.
I’m gonna ride it out.
There. That should make things much easier.
Have you had a chance to say your goodbyes?
My father waited four hours for my brother to get here from Boger City.
Couldn't go without him.
- She seems like a sweet woman. - Yeah.
I haven't had as much time with her as I would've...
- You busy? I could use your help. - Excuse me.
Sure.
"Queenie would let me go with Mr. Daws... "
...to Poverty Point to watch the boats go up and down the river.
These were hard times.
Did I ever telic you I was struck by lightning seven times?
Once when I was in the field, just tending to my cows.
My fourth hand didn't show up.
Anybody want to make $2 for a day's work 'round here?
What's the matter?
Nobody wants to do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay?
He never pays.
- Nobody wants a job? - I do.
You got your sea legs about you, old man?
I think.
Well, that's good enough for me.
Get your ass on board. We’ll sure as hell find out.
I was as happy as I could be.
I need a volunteer!
I would do anything.
Yes, Captain!
Scrape off all this bird shit!
Right away, sir.
And I was actually gonna be paid for something I would've done for free.
His name was Captain Mike Clark.
He'd been on a tugboat since he was seven.
Get moving, then.
Come here.
Can you still get it up?
I do every morning.
The old pole, huh? The high, hard one?
I guess.
When was the last time you had a woman?
- Never. - Never?
Not that I know of, sir.
Wait a minute, now.
You mean to say you've been on this earth however many years
and you've never had a woman?
Damn, that's the saddest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
Never?
No.
Well, then, by Jesus, you are coming with me.
What did your father do?
I never met my father.
You lucky bastard.
All fathers want to do is hold you down.
Out on my father's boat, workin' the two-a-day,
this little, fat bastard.
"Tug Irish," they called him.
Anyway, I finally work up the nerve and telic him,
"I don't want to spend the rest of my life on a goddamn tugboat. "
You know what I’m saying?
You don't want to spend the rest of your life on a tugboat.
Absolutely! Damn right!
So you know what my father says to me?
He says, "Who the hell do you think you are?
"What the hell do you think you can do?"
So I telic him.
"Well, if you're asking,
"I want to be an artist. "
He laughs.
"An artist? God meant for you to work a tugboat, just like me.
"And that's exactly what you're gonna do. "
Well, I turned myself into an artist.
A tattoo artist!
I put on every one of these myself.
You have to skin me alive to take my art away from me now.
When I’m dead, I’m gonna send him my arm.
That one.
Don't let anyone telic you different.
You gotta do what you're meant to do.
And I happen to be a goddamned artist.
But you're a tugboat captain.
Captain Mike?
We're ready for you and your friend.
Let's go, old timer, eh? Break your cherry.
- Hello, my lovelies! - Hey, Captain.
- Hi, Captain. - Hi.
- Hi.
He gives me the willies. That is not for me.
How are you tonight, grandpa?
It was a night to remember.
What are you, Dick Tracy or something? I’ve got to rest.
Again.
- Thank you. - No, thank you. You have a nice night.
- Will you be here tomorrow? - Every night but Sunday.
It sure made me understand the value of earning a living.
Good night, sweetie. Come back now.
Things money can buy you.
It’s nasty out.
Can I offer you a ride somewhere?
Well, that's awfully kind of you, sir.
My name is Thomas, Thomas Button.
- I’m Benjamin. - Benjamin.
It’s a pleasure to know you.
Would you like to stop somewhere and have a drink?
All right.
Evening, Mr. Button.
What’ll it be, sir?
- I’ll have whatever he's having. - Sazerac for the both of us.
With whiskey, not brandy.
You don't drink, do you?
- It’s a night for firsts. - How's that?
I’ve never been to a brothel, either.
Well, it's an experience.
It certainly is. There's a time for everything.
- True enough. - Your drinks.
I don't mean to be rude, but your hands. Is that painful?
Well, I was born with some form of disease.
What kind of disease?
I was born old.
- I’m sorry. - No need to be.
There's nothing wrong with old age.
My wife passed away many years ago.
I’m so, so sorry.
She died in childbirth.
- To children. - To mothers.
What line of work you in, Mr. Button?
Buttons. Button's Buttons. There isn't a button that we don't make.
Our biggest competition is B. F. Goodrich
and his infernal zippers.
Would you gentlemen like anything else?
One for the road, Benjamin?
Only if you let me pay for it, Mr. Button.
So, what line of work do you do?
I’m a tugboat man.
I enjoyed talking to you.
I enjoyed drinking with you.
Benjamin?
Would you mind if, time to time, I stopped by and said hello?
Anytime. Good night, Mr. Button.
Good night, Benjamin.
Drive on.
Where have you been?
Nothing. I met some people and listened to some music.
Oh, sweet Jesus, boy!
Growing up's a funny thing. Sneaks up on you.
One person is there, then suddenly somebody else has taken her place.
She wasn't all elbows and knees anymore.
Benjamin! Come on!
Okay.
I loved those weekends when she'd come
and spend the night with her grandmother.
Daisy. Daisy.
You want to see something?
You gotta keep it a secret, so get dressed. I’ll meet you out back.
Come on.
- Can you swim? - I can do anything you can do.
Here, put this on. We gotta hurry.
Is he okay?
Captain?
Captain Mike?
Morning, Captain. Can you take us out?
Do you know what day it is?
Sunday?
Do you know what that means?
Means I was very drunk last night.
Well, you're drunk every night.
- Is that a girl? - Close friend.
I want to show her the river.
You're not supposed to go joyriding with civilians.
I could lose my license.
What are you waiting for?
Pulled in for repair a wounded duck.
She's flying now, huh?
Ahoy, sailor!
I wish we could go with them.
Did you say something, Mom?
It’s getting really bad.
Can you hear me, Mom?
Time just seeped out of me.
"Things were changing quickly. "
I don't know how it's possible, but you seem to have more hair.
What if I told you that I wasn't getting older,
but I was getting younger than everybody else?
Well, I'd feel sorry for you,
to have to see everybody you love die before you do.
It’s an awful responsibility.
I’d never thought about life or death that way before.
Benjamin, we're meant to lose the people we love.
How else would we know how important they are to us?
And one fall day, a familiar visitor came knocking on our door.
You want to go with me to the drugstore?
She taught me how to play the piano.
- Amen. - Amen.
And she taught me what it meant to miss somebody.
Let's go.
I had gone to a brothel.
I’d had my first drink.
Said goodbye to one friend and buried another.
In 1936, when I was coming to the end of the 17th year of my life,
I packed my bag, said goodbye.
- Bye, Benjamin. - Goodbye.
I knew, life being what it was, I’d probably never see them again.
Bye, Mr. Benjamin.
- Good luck to you, son. - Thank you.
- I love you, Mama. - I love you, too, baby.
I want you to say your prayers every night, hear?
Be safe, hear?
Benjamin!
- Where you going? - To sea.
I’ll send you a postcard.
From everywhere.
Write me a postcard from everywhere.
Can you imagine?
He sent me a postcard from everywhere he went.
Every place he worked.
Newfoundland. Baffin Bay.
Glasgow. Liverpool. Narvik.
He had gone with that Captain Mike.
Captain Mike had contracted for three years
with Moran Brothers Tug and Salvage.
The old ship had been refitted with a diesel engine and a new sea winch.
We went around Florida and up the Atlantic seaboard.
We were a crew of seven now. Captain Mike and me.
Cookie, Prentiss Mayes from Wilmington, Delaware.
The Brody twins, Rick and Vic,
who got along fine at sea but, for some reason,
once they were on dry land couldn't stand the sight of each other.
You know, one in every eight boats never returns.
There was John Grimm, who sure fit his name.
All hands lost at sea.
From Belvedere, South Dakota.
And Pleasant Curtis from Asheville, Notch.
Never said a word to anyone, except himself.
I wrote him constantly.
I told him I had been invited to audition in New York City
for the School of American Ballet.
Please stay.
Thank you. Thank you.
You can stay.
But I was relegated to the corps.
Another dancing gypsy.
Benjamin!
How is it when you showed up
you were no bigger than a bollard with one foot in the grave,
but now, either I drink a hell of a lot more than I think I do,
or you sprouted?
What's your secret?
Well, Captain,
you do drink a lot.
We stayed in a small hotel with a grand name, The Winter Palace.
You have no idea what you're talking about.
The hummingbird is not just another bird.
Its heart rate's 1,200 beats per minute.
Its wings beat 80 times a second.
If you was to stop their wings from beating,
...it would be dead in less than 10 seconds.
This is no ordinary bird.
This is a frickin' miracle.
They slowed down their wings with moving pictures,
and you know what they saw?
Their wingtips are doing that.
You know what the figure eight is the mathematical symbol for?
Infinity.
Infinity!
Everybody, no matter what differences they had,
the languages, the color of their skin, had one thing in common.
They were drunk every single night.
Three, please.
Could you hold, dear, for us, please?
Thank you very much. Good evening.
Her name was Elizabeth Abbott.
She was not beautiful. She was plain as paper.
But she was pretty as any picture to me.
What are you looking at?
If you must know, we have a longstanding agreement
never to go to bed sober.
- Isn't that right, darling? - Whatever you say, darling.
Her husband was Walter Abbott.
He was Chief Minister of the British Trade Mission in Murmansk,
and he was a spy.
- Darling. - Oh, thank you, my darling.
- Key, darling. - Oh, yes.
I broke my heel off one of my shoes.
I’m not in the habit of walking about in my stocking feet.
They were long days there.
And even longer nights.
One particular night, I was having trouble sleeping.
I’m sorry.
I couldn't sleep.
I was gonna make some tea. Would you like some?
Oh, no. Thank you.
Milk? Honey?
A bit of honey, please.
I hope you like flies in your honey.
Oh, perhaps not.
Oh, maybe better to let it steep a little.
Steep?
Soak.
I don't know, I mean, there's a proper way of making tea.
Well, where I’m from, people just want it to be hot.
Well, quite right.
- Now, you're a seaman. - A sailor.
I hope you won't think me impolite, but I have to ask,
aren't you a little old to be working on a boat?
There's no age limit, as long as you can do the work.
And you have trouble sleeping? Thank you.
I didn't think I did. I usually sleep like a baby.
Something's been keeping me up.
My father, in his 80s,
he was so convinced he was gonna die in his sleep,
he limited himself to having afternoon naps.
He was so determined he was gonna cheat death.
- Did he? - Did he what?
Die in his sleep?
He died sitting in his favorite chair
listening to his favorite program on the wireless.
He must have known something.
My husband's the British Trade Minister, and we've been here for 14 months.
- Good God. - We were supposed to go to Peking...
...but it never seemed to work out.
Have you been in the Far East?
No. I’ve never been anywhere, really.
I mean, outside of harbors.
And where is it that you're from?
New Orleans. Louisiana.
I didn't know there was another.
And she told me about all the places she had been, and what she had seen.
And we talked till just before the dawn.
I’m just a lush, myself.
And we went back to our rooms, to our separate lives.
But every night, we'd meet again in that lobby.
A hotel in the middle of the night can be a magical place.
A mouse running, and stopping.
A radiator hissing.
A curtain blowing.
There's something peaceful, even comforting
knowing that the people you love are asleep in their beds
where nothing can harm them.
Elizabeth and I would lose track of the night
until just before daybreak.
I think I may have given you the wrong impression.
Beg pardon?
Well, married women don't customarily sit around
in the middle of the night with strange men in hotels.
I wouldn't know what a married woman does or doesn't do.
Good night.
Murmansk.
"I’ve met somebody, and I’ve fallen in love. "
Mom?
That was over 60 years ago.
Did you love him, Mother?
What does a girl know about love?
Well...
- I’m not dressed. - Oh, you look splendid, just as you are.
Don't waste any time bothering about the wine or the cheese in Murmansk,
'cause they're really completely ordinary,
but the caviar and the vodka
are sublime and plentiful.
So.
Savor it.
And don't eat it all at once,
because that way, there's nothing left to enjoy.
And now, take a little swallow of vodka while it's still in your mouth.
You haven't been with many women, have you?
Not on Sundays.
And you've never had caviar before, have you?
No, ma'am.
When I was 19,
I attempted to become the first woman ever to swim the English Channel.
Really?
But the current that day was so strong that,
for every stroke I took, I was pushed back two.
I was in the water for 32 hours.
And when I was two miles from Calais,
it started to rain.
That's it! Steady on!
When I couldn't go any further,
I stopped.
I just stopped.
And everybody asked me, would I try again?
For why wouldn't I?
But I never did.
As a matter of fact, I’ve never done anything with my life after that.
Your hands are so coarse.
I can feel the wind in your cheek.
I’m afraid it's the witching hour.
It was the first time a woman had ever kissed me.
It’s something you never forget.
I think you make me feel younger.
You make me feel years younger, too.
I wish I was.
So many things I’d change.
I’d undo all my mistakes.
What mistakes?
I kept waiting, you know?
Thinking that I’d do something to change my circumstances.
Do something.
Such an awful waste. You never get it back.
Wasted time.
If we're going to have an affair,
you're never to look at me during the day.
And we're always to part before sunrise.
And we will never say "I love you. "
Those are the rules.
- Are you cold? - I’m freezing.
Oh, you! You're frozen.
What an idiot, I’m standing here in this fur. How thoughtless of me.
She was the first woman that ever loved me.
You want me to skip some?
No, I’m glad he had somebody to keep him warm.
"I couldn't wait to see her again. "
We saw each other every night.
We always used the same room.
But each time seemed new and different.
Come here.
Elizabeth.
Good night.
Until one night.
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941,
a date which will live in infamy...
It’s a meeting, a policy meeting regarding your future,
possibly beyond.
There's been a change of plan, lads.
As you may or may not know,
the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor yesterday.
Frank D. Roosevelt’s asked each of us to do our part.
The Chelsea's been commissioned to serve in the United States Navy.
To repair, to salvage, and to rescue.
Anybody doesn't want to go to war, now is the time to say so.
Once you set foot on that boat, you're in the Navy, friend.
Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk with you, Mike.
My wife's doing poorly.
I’d like to maybe see her one more time.
You're free to make your way home any way you can, Mr. Mayes.
Well, if he's leaving, who's gonna cook?
Food poisoning's one of the leading causes of death at sea.
Right after inadequate safety equipment.
I can cook, Captain. Been doing it all my life.
I don't know. You're a little moody for war, Benjamin.
What the hell?
I’ll take any man wants to kick the shite out of the Japs and the Huns.
That's it, pack your gear. We're going to war, gentlemen!
She had left a note.
She wrote, "It was nice to have met you. "
And that was it.
It wasn't the war any of us expected.
We would just tow crippled ships, scraps of metal, really.
If there was a war, we didn't see it.
There was a man assigned to us. The Chief Gunner loved the Navy.
But most of all, he loved America.
There is no other country in the world.
When you spell America...
His name was Dennis Smith, and he was a full-blooded Cherokee.
His family had been Americans for over 500 years.
These pacifists. They say they won't fight on conscience.
Now, where would be if everybody decided to act...
- ... according to their conscience? - Keep it down, would you, Chief?
Hey. I’ve been watching you.
You seem trustworthy.
If something happens to me,
could you see that this gets to my wife?
He'd given me all of his pay. Hadn't spent a dime of it.
I want my family to know I was thinking about them.
All hands on deck!
Get your asses up here, you lazy bastards!
The war had finally found us.
All stop!
Pleasant, man that light.
A transport carrying 1,300 men had been split by a torpedo.
We were first to arrive at the scene.
- Cut the engines! - All stop!
We were the only sound.
Fellas!
Sub!
We sure as hell can't outrun them fuckers.
Battle stations!
Thank you, Chief.
What?
Is that the last one?
Captain!
They shot the hell out of my painting!
Give me your other hand.
You’ll be all right, Captain.
They got a nice spot in Heaven waiting for you. Nice spot.
You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went.
You could swear, curse the Fates.
But when it comes to the end,
you have to let go.
Captain?
Thirteen hundred and twenty eight men died that day.
I said my goodbyes to the Cherokee, Dennis Smith.
John Grimm, who was right, he was gonna die there.
I sent Pleasant Curtis' wife his money.
I said goodbye to the twin, Vic Brody,
and to Mike Clark, captain of the tugboat Chelsea.
I said goodbye to all the other men who had dreams of their own,
...ail the men who wanted to be insurance salesmen...
...or doctors or lawyers or Indian chiefs.
This don't get fixed.
Out here, death didn't seem natural.
I’d never seen a hummingbird that far out to sea.
Before or since.
And in May of 1945, when I was 26 years old,
I came home.
I’m ready! I’m ready!
I’m coming!
- I’m ready! - All right, I’m coming, Miss Alfalina.
- Queenie? - Yes?
Sweet Jesus! Oh, you're home! Oh, Lord, you came back!
- Let me look at you. - Who's that, Mama?
- Child, it's your brother, Benjamin. - I didn't know he was my brother.
There's a shitload of things you don't know, child.
Get on out there and finish sweeping.
Come here, wash your hands, help me with the table. Go on, now.
Turn around. You look like you've been born again.
Younger than the springtime.
I think that preacher laid hands on you gave you a second life.
I knew it that moment I saw you, you were special.
I telic you what, my knees are sore,
'cause I’ve been on them every night asking the Lord,
I said, "God, just bring him home safely. "
Remember what I told you?
"You never know what's coming for you?"
That's right. Sit down.
Well, you learn anything worth repeating?
- I sure saw some things. - Oh, you seen some pain.