[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
[CRICKETS CHIRPING]
[FATHER SIGHS]
[EXCLAIMING IN ANNOYANCE]
[UTENSILS CLATTERING]
Honey, it's family hour,
there must be something on.
DAUGHTER: Oh, wow, Candied Critters!
[FATHER EXCLAIMS]
Oh, Great. It's Monsters, our favorite show!
[MONSTROUS LAUGH] [SHUSHING]
It's starting.
[MONSTROUS LAUGH]
[FATHER CHUCKLES]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
[RAIN PATTERING]
[GENTLE COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING]
[SCRAPING NOISES]
[CRASHING]
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
Had yourself a little accident, eh?
Mind if I...
Are you gonna keep him on the doorstep, Pa?
Bring him on in.
I hate to impose this hour of the night, you see, but, my car...
Cloud burst. They're not uncommon this time of the year.
Takes the tourist by surprise, specially that hairpin curve.
I couldn't see two feet in front of me.
Take his coat, Pa. Take his hat.
Don't look like no tourist to me.
Well, the car's totaled. That's for sure.
I dread to think what Mr. Snodgrass will say. It belongs to the company.
Company?
Why yes, you folks are looking at Howard Filby,
regional retail rep for Peabody and Snodgrass.
Salesman...
Pa don't much cotton to salesmen.
Well, of course Howard Filby is not your average bull in the china shop blow hard.
See, the secret of my success is the soft sell.
Never hit 'em over the head with your bill of goods.
Cajole 'em, start 'em off with a gag.
You know, a knee-slapper, did you hear the one about...
Pa says a drummer's a drummer.
Showing off their white teeth, flashy suits.
Cracking them stale jokes.
Muddy jokes, musky breath.
Well, pull up a chair, Pa, before his legs give out.
There you go.
Cup of coffee.
Steady your nerves.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
MA: Now, this here is cousin Dennil, and his family, of course.
And over here is my nephew, Telly, before he went bald headed.
Oh, it's aunt Eula from St. Louis.
Guess who this is.
HOWARD: I haven't a clue.
That's Ma's brother, Elmo, the merchant marine.
You mean you don't spot the family resemblance?
Anybody comes through that door says to Ma,
"Why, that's Elmo, isn't it?"
Well, it's getting kinda late. [YAWNING]
Time I pushed on. I'd be grateful for a lift to town.
Town?
Yes, Aurora. I was due in two hours ago.
Only thing we got with wheels, son, is a threshing machine.
Well, maybe I could use your telephone.
Got no phone, neither. Pa's dead set agains't them.
Pesky nuisances.
Oh, your poor wife will be fit to be tied.
Well, I haven't had the pleasure of holy matrimony just as yet.
Oh, well, show him Lucy.
PA: Lucy is our little girl.
MA: Oh, Lucy ain't so little no more, Pa.
She ain't little in any direction.
Not that this picture does her justice, mind you.
PA: Even a beauty contest winner, some said.
To us, she's just our Lucy.
More or less.
Well, how are we gonna get you to Aurora, young fellow?
Well, under the circumstances,
what can I do but bow to the fates?
It looks like I'm stuck here.
Well, now, let's conjugate on that.
Over here is where Ma and me sleep,
and that's a tight squeeze for the two of us.
You see, there's not much room here.
This was an old barn before Dad rebuilt it.
He did a nice job, too.
Yes. There's upstairs. That's a fact.
Except that's where...
Where we keep Lucy.
Well, I'll be quiet as a mouse.
Quiet's not the question.
Uh...
There's only one bed up there.
Well, I'll sleep on the edge. She won't even know I'm there.
I'm one for hospitality, but...
Pa, maybe, just maybe,
we could rig up a modesty sheet between them.
That is if this gentleman can be trusted.
I don't know, Ma. Look at them beady little eyes.
Well, Howard Filby is nothing if he's not trustworthy.
Look how he's just shivering with the damp.
Well, I guess any man's worth the benefit of the doubt.
Them accommodations upstairs ain't exactly deluxe, but it may suit you.
[SNEEZING]
LUCY: * Black is the color of my true love's hair *
[VOCALIZING]
Now, you get out of them wet clothes. Every stitch!
Good night.
Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
LUCY: I'm up, you know.
It's all right if you introduce yourself.
Your Pa will kill me if he hears us.
You undressed? Almost.
Well, quick, get into bed.
[SPRAYING]
Nice scent.
Gardenia. Freshens the air.
[SNEEZING]
You ain't allergic?
I caught a chill in the rain.
I hope I don't keep you awake all night.
Most of them like gardenia.
Most of who?
That is to say, most people do.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Was that you, under the sheet?
Cold feet, sorry.
Cold feet, warm heart.
That's what Charlie said.
Who's Charlie?
Long gone, but not forgotten.
You must have been on your way to Aurora.
No one ever comes to this old haul on purpose.
Well, as a matter of fact, I...
I know. I know, that darned hairpin curve.
You're one of them traveling salesmen, ain't you?
The firm of Peabody and Snodgrass.
First in our field.
This fiscal year we had the best fourth quarter in the history of the company,
thanks to no small part to the talents of yours truly, Howard Filby.
I'm Lucy.
You have an awful sweet voice, Lucy.
I think you're just trying to flatter me, Mr. Filby...
and it just may work.
Well, you know, a man gets awful lonely on the road, Lucy,
you know, Aurora one day, Livonia the next,
nobody to talk to, nobody to...
I know what you're thinking.
Man needs that, Howard.
[ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING]
Man can't live all by himself in his car,
selling his heart out with nobody to...
You sound real lovely, Lucy.
I wish you'd let me look at you.
I mean, what's the harm in one little look?
You're very lovely looking, Lucy.
Am I everything you expected?
More, much more.
Of course, the pleasures of the flesh are mere transitory pleasures.
It's the things of the spirit that are truly important.
I couldn't say it better myself, Lucy.
Lower the sheet, please, lower the sheet.
It's the beauty inside that matters, don't you think?
I do. Lower the sheet.
Do you like my hair, Howard? It's awful long.
HOWARD: Like an angel's.
LUCY: Don't touch now.
Ma says my shoulders are the softest.
HOWARD: Very soft.
LUCY: And I always have been
quite slim waisted, as you can see.
HOWARD: You're perfection, more than I ever dreamed.
How's a girl to know if a man's talking with his heart,
or with his baser instincts?
How's a girl to know, Howard? How?
Lucy, I love you.
Don't say it if you don't mean it.
I love you more than...
You'll break my heart.
You'll have your way with me,
and then you'll leave your poor Lucy
in the cold light of day.
Just like...
I would love you forever.
Yes, but would you honor me? I would.
Would you cherish me? I would.
Would you obey me? I would.
Then you must kiss me, Howard,
and make an honest woman out of me.
I must.
And then, we'll go downstairs, Howard...
Uh-huh... And we'll tell Ma and Pa the wonderful news.
Uh-huh. I do so love June weddings!
But I don't know if I could wait that long. How about you, Howard?
Anything you say, Lucy.
Then you may kiss me, Howard.
But you may not touch me.
One kiss.
One gentle, loving kiss.
Please... Patience, Howard.
One little kiss, and no touching.
Uh-huh.
Say it, Howard.
I love you, Lucy.
No, say the "no touching" part.
Lucy, I won't touch you, I swear.
You may kiss me.
[ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING]
No, Howard, no!
Please!
[SCREAMING]
Oh, Howard, now look what you've gone and done.
Maybe he ain't so bad, this one.
Don't get your hopes up. I say they're all no damn good.
Pushy, fast-talking con men.
This one's right retiring.
He's shown his big white smile.
He's got nice teeth.
I wouldn't trust him no further than I could toss him.
I don't wanna hear no more. Damn salesmen!
Glad-handing you while they fob off their useless gadgets and gizmos.
We never even asked him what he had in that sample case.
Knick-knacks, do that's, gizmos, junk.
We ought to give him a chance, Pa, for Lucy's sake.
Ah! That girl ain't gonna find nobody to make an honest woman out of her.
I don't care how much of that gardenia junk she sprays around her face.
[LOUD THUD]
Now, where were we?
Oh, yes, I remember.
You don't think, I mean, you actually don't think... You can't expect me...
A promise is a promise.
And we in these parts,
we don't take lightly to gentlemen who break those types of commitments.
I had another beau.
His name was Charlie. Talked real nice.
Traveling salesman, just like you.
Five years, this month.
There was a storm that night, too.
And that Charlie had his accident.
You listening to me, honey? I'm listening.
Oh, Charlie was so handsome!
Brown eyes, jet black hair, the color of crow's feathers.
If only he'd have been true in his affections,
none of this would have happened.
I'm sorry, Lucy.
But, no sooner than he got what he wanted, then, he betrayed me.
Just like you.
Don't you know Charlie tried the same fool thing
when I told him what was expected of him?
That in this neck of the woods,
when a fellow and a girl spend the night together,
they're bound to each other for life.
PA: Any weddings tonight, Lucy?
Should we get out the shoes and the rice?
[BOTH LAUGHING]
You asked for her. You got her.
Looks to me like she got him.
Oh, hush, you two. Come back to bed, Charlie.
Is that any way to behave?
Everybody would think you didn't care for me no more.
I care for you, Lucy. I care for you.
Didn't work no better for Charlie.
One of these days, Pa is just gonna have to get off his rocker
and fix that sash.
I got to get out of here.
That's just what Charlie said. See how alike you are?
Peas in a pod.
It's just that I got a lot of territory to cover, that's all.
You're just running out on me,
soon as you found out I'm not as girlish as you thought I was.
You're twisting my words.
[THUNDER CRASHING]
Hey, where you going? You can't hide from me.
[CHAINS RATTLING]
Come out of there.
No use running.
You're acting dumb.
It's crazy to fret and fuss. Charlie learned that.
[GROANING]
Every one of them salesmen had a bill of goods to pedal.
Charlie's line was cutlery.
How many were there?
In all?
Oh, honey, I lost count.
Main thing is they failed me.
One after another.
Beginning with the first one.
What's that?
When Pa made sure there was no way out for Charlie.
He went outside,
and he backed up the threshing machine right under the batting chute.
That's how mad Pa was that night.
PA: Waiting for you, Mister.
Come and get it.
[LUCY HUMMING BRIDAL MARCH]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Lucy, it's not too late, we can still get married.
See, your ma and pa are down there waiting for us.
And you can go first.
That's just what Charlie did.
Sacrificed me to save himself.
Like every last treacherous one that came after him.
Year after year,
each one betraying me in turn so I that can't rest in peace.
Well, never, until one, just one who's true.
Lucy, I'm that one. The man you've been searching for.
It's not too late. I'll marry you.
I'll give up my wandering. I'll settle down here, in the city, you name it.
Will you? You wouldn't be afraid?
Even if I'm not the girl I was?
Sweetheart, you have an inner beauty.
I do?
Yes, I mean... and that's far more beautiful
than those more transitory beauties.
All I ask for is a chance.
What can I do to prove myself to you?
[ECHOING] Kiss me.
No...
[ECHOING] Kiss me.
No! [ECHOING]
[SCREAMING]
PA: Well, I'll be God darned.
He was a Bible salesman.
He might have made a good son-in-law, too.
Oh, well.
Who knows... maybe next time.
Oh...
God darned shame about that last one, Pa.
He might have turned out to be the right one, after all.
Don't go dwelling on the past, Ma.
Oh, he sure was cute, though.
[VEHICLE PASSING]
[BRAKES SQUEALING] [THUD]
LUCY: * Black is the color of my true love's hair *
[LUCY VOCALIZING]
[KNOCK AT DOOR]
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]