The days
Of wine and roses
Laugh and run away
Like a child at play
Through the meadowland
Toward a closing door
A door marked "nevermore"
That wasn't there before
The lonely night discloses
Just a passing breeze
Filled with memories
Of the golden smile
That introduced me to
The days of wine and roses
And you
Wait a minute.
I got another idea.
Here. This one.
She's one of these
big dames, but in proportion.
Has she got class?
Oh, in every way.
I said that,
I would do it. I'll try it.
Do it.
Louie, hit me again.
Uh, hello. Is this Betty?
Um, Betty.. Is this Betty?
Oh, well, I'll tell you.
Uh, my name is-is Joe Clay.
My name is Joe Clay.
I'm a friend of Abe Quine's
and we're here
in the executive suite.
Yeah, Abe Quine.
It's kind of noisy here
but I tell ya he told me that
you are a lovely girl, Betty
and you, uh..
and, uh, he suggested that,
well, you know
you, uh, like to
have a good time.
And, anyway, my agency
is throwing a party
or rather we're inviting
the people for our party
on prince Harun Badul's yacht,
and Abe suggested that
you might be
a very welcome addition.
What, honey?
No, not Abe Badul.
It's Prince Harun Badul.
It's his party on his yacht.
Yes, he's a real prince, dear.
Yeah. Uh-huh.
I thought you would.
Fine. Well, it's berth 23
St. Francis yacht club,
6:30. Right?
Okay and we'll have
a launch there.
All right, bye-bye now.
Magic time.
Here comes number seven.
Let's cast off.
You're late.
You're dressed wrong.
You're supposed to be
a cocktail dress.
You know,
something peekaboo.
You know, sparkle a little.
You call that peekaboo?
Let's go.
Hey, you, wait a minute.
Hey, you! Wait..
Come on, girls.
Come on. Come on.
Hey, you.
Listen, who..
Oh, you must be the new man
from the agency.
Yes, sir. Joe Clay.
You're Mr..
Mr. Trayner.
I see you've already
met my secretary.
Oh, well, not officially.
He was much too busy.
Say, these are fine.
Uh, thank you.
Just fine and dandy.
Well... hello there.
Can I buy you a drink?
Oh, no, thank you.
I don't drink.
Look, uh, I'm sorry
about mistaking you
for one of the other
uh, girls.
So you're the new
public relations man.
- Yeah.
- What happened to Eddie?
Eddie quit.
We liked him.
Why'd he quit?
Well, a little matter of...
personal integrity.
Eddie didn't feel
that getting dates
for potentates was part
of public relations.
But isn't it?
Well, there's a name for it,
but it's not public relations.
Well, whatever it is,
you seem to do it very well.
Oh, boy, wait a minute!
Now, you counted twice
over here.
Wait a minute!
No, there's only four girls!
We had seven!
Wait a minute!
Hey, don't move out!
We got two girls missing!
Wait a minute!
There's two...
Two of my girls
are missing up there!
Two of the young ladies
aren't quite ready to leave.
Aren't quite ready.
I guess I can be congratulated
on a job well done.
Well done. Well done.
Everybody here?
Hi.
Mr. Trayner isn't here.
That's a bit of luck.
You're the one I came to see.
Look, I felt
we should be friends.
So... hello there.
Excuse me. I have to meet
Mr. Trayner at a board meeting.
Look, we sort of got started
on the wrong foot.
It was sort of my fau...
Anyway, I brought
a peace offering.
- Why?
- Why?
Well, because it..
Now, look, we're going to be
working together sort of, huh?
I mean, from...
I'll be up to see the boss
from time to time.
Mr. Clay, that is
your name, isn't it?
Mr. Trayner is the one
you have to please
and he seems very happy
with what you've done so far.
Well, supposing
I wanted to please you.
There's no reason
for you to please me.
Peanut brittle.
Look, you're forcing me to
be rude. I hate peanut brittle.
Excuse me.
Goodnight, Gladys.
Goodnight, Miss Arnesen.
Do you like peanut brittle?
Down?
Getting back to what
people do for a living,
can I ask you a question
that might embarrass you
just a little, hmm?
What spec... what special
qualifications do you feel
that you have for a job
that allows you
to sit around all day
and chat with the boss?
I've heard about your job.
Maybe answer a few
personal letters for him
and accompany him
to parties, hmm?
Spend half your working day
reading a book
while two typists who
get less money than you
do all the work, hmm?
That reminds me,
I forgot my book.
She always carries that book.
I'll tell you what special
qualifications you have.
You're pretty. That's what
special qualifications you have.
That old lech loves
to have you around
to look at and lean on
when he gets drunk
like he did last night,
and who knows what else?
That's what special
qualifications you have.
Oh, uh..
Uh, listen..
I am sorry, and I
shouldn't have said that.
I, uh, I came up here
to try and be friends.
I was going to ask you
to have dinner with me.
Peanut brittle?
I think you must be
the silliest man I've ever met.
Peanut brittle?
Well, I guess you're right.
Let's forget it, huh?
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
Mr. Clay?
I-I thought you were
going to ask me to dinner.
Well, I was. I...
Well, why don't you?
Uh, I mean, my board meeting
won't be over till 7:30.
So I-I wouldn't have time
to change or anything.
It would have to be
some place kind of casual.
Hmm. Mm-hmm.
I know just the spot.
Place Pigalle.
I'll meet you there at 7:30.
You'll love it.
Okay.
7:30.
At a board meeting,
can you imagine?
With all those big old jowly men
staring at me, Mr. Trayner says
"No, I couldn't
get along without her.
"She's always right there
when I need her.
"Especially when I've had
a couple too many.
Takes care of me
like a little mother."
Then he gives me one of those
special proprietary hugs of his
and I suddenly realized
I owe you an apology.
Oh, I'm just as
bad as you are.
I mean, I-I guess
everybody swallows his pride
once in a while
on account of his job.
I had no business saying that
to you in the first place.
Um... hit me again. Not you.
Anything for the lady?
No, nothing.
What do you got
against booze, anyway?
Oh, I just don't much
see the point in it.
Point? Well,
it makes you feel good.
I already feel good.
Anyway, I don't like the taste.
What do you like?
- Chocolate.
- Chocolate?
Chocolate.
I'm practically nutty about it.
Oh, wait a minute.
Hold everything.
Uh...
What did you do?
You'll see.
I think we should order,
don't you?
In a few minutes.
Kirsten Arnesen.
No wonder you're so tough
to get along with.
You're not even American.
Did you ever drive down the
Peninsula toward San Mateo?
Arnesen nursery, that's us.
That was us.
I-I just couldn't take it.
Oh, my father's
a wonderful man, a good man.
but I kept thinking
to myself, "you're pretty."
"You're pretty,
and here you are."
oh, girls know
when they're pretty.
And there I was, blushing unseen
wasting my sweetness
on the desert air.
Gray's "Elegy."
Did you get that
out of this book?
Oh, no, not this one.
That's volume je-la.
Gray's out of volume go-ja.
"World library
of great literature,
Volume five, je to la.
Je-la."
My father gave me those
for my high school graduation.
And he said if I read
all the way from a-bu to ya-zu
it would be the equivalent
of a college education.
Je-la, that puts you about the
middle of your sophomore year.
Ah.
Oh, no, thank you.
No, no, that's all right.
That's fine.
They're special for you.
It's chocolate. Go on, try it.
Oh, it's good.
It is.
Ooh, very.
Yeah, see what I mean?
Brandy Alexander,
they call that.
Say now.
All right, would you
wait a minute?
Joe, it's more beautiful
than ever tonight.
You know something?
You were absolutely right
about that brandy thing.
Alexander.
About it making me feel good,
What are you, chicken?
and I feel wonderful.
You don't feel like asking me
up for a cup of coffee?
Some other time, Joe.
Do you mind?
Anyway, I'm not
quite ready to go up yet.
You want to walk down
to the bay?
Well, why not, Huh?
Let, um...
you do very good work.
Well, there goes
another boatload
out to the prince's yacht.
Another load of anxious...
Ew. I don't see how you can
drink that stuff like that
right out of the bottle,
it must taste awful.
Well, anything
worth having is worth
suffering for, isn't it?
I guess so.
Oh, I like to watch the water.
If you look close, it's filthy
but I like to look further out
where it's clean.
You know what I think?
Hmm?
I think I watch
the water because..
...I expect a sea monster to
come up out of there someday
and carry me down
to the ocean caves.
Mm-hmm. Mom and dad
are a club act.
You know, I mean songs
and dances and snappy patter.
Old-time Vaudeville.
And they're in some loud joint
in Vegas right this minute.
Are they good?
You know, they were on "Ed
Sullivan" a couple years ago.
But you didn't like
that kind of life, huh?
No. I wanted something steady,
something with a little class
like the Trayner
drilling account class.
Joe, don't hate yourself.
It's something you've got to do.
It's part of your job.
No, I want to be a public
relations man, not a pimp!
My-My job is supposed
to be to advise people
how to relate
to the public, you know?
How-How to... make the good
that my client does known
and-and how to help him
find ways to do good
and-and benefit others
as well as himself.
I could be
a garbage man, you know?
A eunuch in a harem.
I'm going to tell
the agency, I tell you.
So I burden you with it.
Well, that's great.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
I don't mind.
Short story...
Man meets girl, hmm?
Beautiful...
Sweet...
Nice.
Much too nice for him,
I'll tell you, no, this..
Only kind of girl you really
should bother about, hmm?
Finally, after...
numerous strategical blunders.
He manages to get a date
and he walks her down
to the bay under the stars
and he gets himself loaded
and he cries on her shoulder
like a baby.
Some lover, huh?
Joe, I'm enjoying
being here with you.
After all, you've helped me
avoid my apartment
for the longest possible time
and that's an accomplishment
itself, you know.
The roach kingdom, the whole
building, the whole block.
Do you know that if you don't
leave food out for those roaches
you can't get in the building?
They just pick you up,
carry you into the street
and change the lock on the door.
Roach kingdom.
You know, sometimes I come
down here at night alone
and look at the water,
just to keep from going home.
Yeah.
Well, you don't-you can't
come down here alone at night.
This place is crawling
with all kinds of oddballs.
Oh, they walk by me real slow
sometimes and stare
but they don't do anything.
I don't know why.
Oh, these-you're..
You know something?
I-I dreamt one time
they murdered me...
Over there behind those pilings
and my father came
all the way in
from the Peninsula
in his pickup truck
to take my body home.
And all the way home, he talked-
talked a blue streak
all the way home.
But I was dead and I couldn't
hear him, couldn't answer him.
And the strange thing is
my father doesn't talk.
Oh, he used to talk
to my mother.
When I was a little girl,
he'd-he'd talk to her
in a low, low voice after
I'd gone to bed at night.
But in the daytime,
they hardly talked at all.
They had a very..
...private love affair.
Their favorite toast to each
other was tilsammen I himmelen.
Huh?
In Norwegian, that means
"together in heaven."
To-somonon himlen?
Tilsammen I himmelen.
To-somony himlen.
Get the lilt.
Tilsammen I himmelen.
Tilsammen I himmelen.
Together in heaven.
They meant it, too.
After mama died, he was
more silent than ever...
Almost as though
he'd gone with her.
Oh, well, well..
...gather ye rosebuds
while ye may.
Oh.
Ooh... a little coup-
coup de grace.
Would you believe
it's 2 o'clock?
Ooh... time does not exist
in the ocean.
Well, it will
in the office tomorrow.
I commend thee to the deep.
They are not long,
the days of wine and roses.
Out of a misty dream,
our path emerges for a while
then closes within a dream.
I-I guess... we should be
getting back, huh?
- He come in?
- Yes, sir.
Brad, come in.
Trayner's been trying
to get you all morning.
Well, this is one of those
mornings I couldn't make it.
Oh, those things happen.
He's praising you
to the skies, Joe.
Oh, thanks.
That prince what's-his-name was
so pleased with the whole thing
that Trayner wants to throw
another party tomorrow night.
Wai-wha-
Tomorrow night?
Better call him about it and
congrats on a very happy client.
Look, Brad, could I talk
to you for a minute?
Shoot.
Uh, well, I don't know
how to start it.
I know the Trayner thing
has to be done, you know
arrangements like this have to
be made from time to time but..
But you'd rather not.
Well, I realize
it's part of my job.
It makes you feel dirty.
Well, I don't blame you
for a minute, Joe.
But I don't know what
I can do about it.
Unless we put
another man on there.
Could do that.
Some of the boys don't
mind that sort of thing.
Hey, look, I don't mean
I can't do it. I can do it.
That isn't what I meant.
It isn't that. I just-it-I...
You'd rather not.
Well, let's see now.
Look, not that I won't do it.
It's just the first
account of any size
that you guys have given me.
I think I've got a flash.
Nell, get me
Roger Acton, will you?
That's right.
If Roger goes along with this,
we've got your problem solved
to everyone's advantage.
I don't want this to look
like I'm, uh, complaining.
I just started on the account.
Now, Roger may take
a dim view of this.
Oh, no, no. He'll admire
your integrity, if anything.
Believe me.
Yes?
Thanks, Nell.
Rog, got a little
prob here with Joe.
We put him on that
Trayner drilling account.
Yeah.
Says he heard Trayner
was delighted with you.
Well, here's the prob, Rog.
Oh, that's it exactly.
Says same deal as Eddie, huh?
Oh, he knows
someone's got to, Rog
but let me pull something
out of a hat and we'll see
if it hops for us.
Joe?
- Yeah?
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Come on up.
What in the world
are you carrying?
Oh, just a few things
to go with dinner.
Here. I'll help you.
I was afraid you'd forgotten.
I'm sorry I'm late,
but I was very, very busy
having a couple
with my new client.
Your new.. You didn't.
You mean, you're off
the Trayner drilling account?
Yeah, I am.
Oh, you're a man of principle.
Yeah. Of course, I.. Oh.
I may wish I was back
getting girls for Trayner.
This new guy Ballefoy-murder.
He drinks with both hands.
You can't keep up with him.
You can't communicate.
Thank you.
Hey, this is it, huh?
This is the roach kingdom?
You're feeling pretty good
tonight, aren't you?
Oh, you'll catch up in no time.
Brandy Alexanders.
I got all the makings of the
brandy and the crme de cacao.
We got all the
natural accoutrements
to a home-cooked meal.
You know what's in there?
No.
A chocolate cake
with chocolate icing.
And, oh, here's champagne
to go with the meal
and for me, plain,
unassuming, solid-citizen-type
man of... principle that I am..
the holy comforts of soda and..
Where is it? Ah, scotch.
Now, oh.
This is the roach kingdom, huh?
This is the place where
the roaches reign supreme?
Yes.
Uh-huh. Well, we'll
just see about that.
This is war.
You really are too much.
I just don't believe
in letting
these subversive little
elements take over.
Man of principle,
I salute you.
Salute me with some of that
stuff and go easy on the soda.
Come on, cockroaches.
You come out, wherever you are.
You're going to go
to cockroach heaven
You little dirty
la da dee
You-You know something funny?
What?
I didn't really quit
the Trayner account.
- But I...
- Oh, I'm off it, all right.
I just hinted that it was
a little distasteful
and they took me
right off, but..
Well?
What bothers me
is that I didn't..
...demand to be taken off
or even ask to be taken off.
I just hinted, you know.
I mean, I practically
apologized for even hinting.
What do you think of that?
Well, well, Joe,
at least you hinted.
Most people in your position
wouldn't even hint.
They'd be too insecure.
Here.
Oh, to men of principle,
wherever they may be.
Oh, hi, Dottie.
What, are you
spraying in there?
Spray..
Oh, yes, we are.
Well, now, you ought
not to do that.
You get them all stirred up.
What's the good?
Now you made a mess.
You got to think about
other people, you know?
Well, I mean, look,
I don't like to complain
but, I mean,
this is ridiculous.
They don't bother anybody.
They don't destroy anything.
You know they're there.
You leave them alone.
They leave you alone.
You lock up what you
don't want crawled over.
And that's that.
But, all of a sudden,
you start spraying that stuff in
the walls and look at the mess.
What are you trying to do
up there? Run everybody out?
Hey, somebody
spraying up there?
I'm nearly choking
to death down here.
You just come in
off the prairie or something?
People living
in apartment buildings
got to learn to leave
roaches alone.
Now, look, you should see
what they're doing to us.
What's the matter
with you people?
Who's the clown
with the spray can?
What am I supposed to do?
I mean, you've
got them all mad.
They're all-
all crazy, you know.
Well, I-I..
I'm sorry. Well, I..
- Didn't I tell you?
- Hmm?
You've undermined
the whole basic metabolism
of the building.
I'm warning you, Joe.
You better..
What?
You better, you..
What?
You better grow a beard
and move out of town
because-because
those roaches saw you
and the word will..
The word, the word will spread.
And if they ever
track you down..
What?
You'll be a goner.
Oh, darling.
How do I look?
Gorgeous.
And guilty?
Kirstie.
Daddy, I've brought
somebody by to meet you.
I know it's late
and I'm sorry to wake you up.
It was just so important,
it couldn't wait.
Come in.
Uh, Daddy,
this is Joe Clay.
Sir.
Sorry we woke you up,
Mr. Arnesen.
Let's go sit
in the kitchen, Kirstie.
Kitchen is Daddy's
favorite room.
I know this is kind of
a funny time of night
to be introducing
people, Daddy,
but Joe and I... I was
anxious for him to meet you
and we were out driving.
Well, you know how I do things
on the spur of the moment.
I hope you don't mind
us waking you up.
Have a seat.
Oh, thank you.
How have you been, Kirstie?
Oh, that's Daddy's way
of letting me know
I haven't called him
this week.
I've been very busy, Daddy.
What kind of work you do?
Uh, public relations, sir.
Public relations?
Uh, you know, Daddy, it's-
it's hard to explain.
Well, I suppose you might
say my job is, uh...
to sort of help my client, uh...
create a public image.
Well, for an example, uh, let's
say my client, corporation "X"
does some good or something
of benefit to the public
or something that could
conceivably be conceived
as of, uh... benefit to the pu..
Well, my job is to see
that the public knows it.
And what if this "X" corporation
does something bad?
Well..
Well, theoretically,
they don't.
Theoretically.
Uh, well, part of my job
always is... uh
to, um, help my, uh, client
to think of ways to operate
in a way that the public
would, you know, approve.
But if your "X" corporation
makes a mistake
and the thing turns out bad?
Well, uh... I guess then
I try to make it look
not quite so bad.
Well, there's more to it
than that, sir.
It's terrifically
complicated, Daddy.
I don't understand
that kind of work.
You love my girl?
Yes, sir, very much.
Your mama and daddy
live in San Francisco?
- No, sir. They...
- Uh, no.
Joe's mother and father are
in show business, daddy.
They have a-a wonderful act,
I mean, I've never seen it
but from what Joe tells me
they were on "Ed Sullivan."
You might have seen them.
This girl had a fine mama.
Her mama taught her how to
be good, come home early.
I know she remembers
those things.
These days girls think
they have to live in town
but still she
remembers those things.
Well, she's the finest girl
I ever met, Mr. Arnesen.
Look, Mr. Arnesen...
Uh, Daddy,
Joe and I have to go.
We both have to work tomorrow.
Oh. Sure.
Uh, we, uh, hated
to wake you up.
I'm glad you
came by, Kirstie.
Daddy... I hope you like him.
Don't put him on the spot.
Takes time
to find that out, Kirstie.
Nice to have met you, sir.
Same here, Joe.
Daddy, maybe I could
take Joe out this way
and show him the greenhouse.
I'll put on the big light.
Gee, I never knew
there were so many flowers.
Goodnight, Daddy.
- Goodnight, Kirstie.
- Goodnight, sir.
Goodnight, Joe.
Oh, brother,
did I goof that one.
He made me so nervous, I..
Uh, Mr. Arnesen..
...Kirsten and I were married
about two hours ago.
You know what
I'd like to do?
I'd like to go some nice place
and have a drink.
Where is my little gal,
huh? Where is she?
In here.
Okay.
There she is.
I got all the groceries.
Oh, thanks.
You saved me a trip.
And how are you today?
I got you crazy lotion.
She says, "I'm nice
and dry, temporarily."
With the skin
you love to bite.
You're something.
You are really something.
I got to get to work.
Ballefoy is having a bash
for some of the new guys.
You wouldn't want
to go, would you?
I'd love to, honey, but I got to
get up so early with her.
I just thought maybe
you'd want to go.
Well, I would, but..
It doesn't matter. I have to be
there. I'll be late. Goodbye.
- Bye-bye. Call me, huh?
- Yep.
Hi.
Well, I see you got that dame
from Harper's Bazaar to show up.
Mm-hmm. I thought maybe
I could get her to...
Hi, Joe.
Hi, Mr. Ballefoy.
Hi, honey, I thought
we could get them to use
Covington Farms as a background
for a fashion layout.
You know, that country living
we were talking about and..
Tell them we'll furnish anything
they need. Co-operate fully.
Get in there
as solid as you can, Joe.
If we get as much as a mention
of Covington Farms
in the whole layout
I know, I know.
It'll be an accident.
Still, I might as well
confess to you.
I had an ulterior motive
for making the suggestion.
Frankly...
Where was I?
Frankly.
Oh, yes, frankly.
You know how Mr. Covington
loves personal publicity.
Oh, no, come on, not again.
There's one thing that
Covington has got to face.
A man does not automatically
become a public figure
because he happens to build
an empire out of chicken fat!
Joe...
I got this guy
into the Poultry Annual
with a full head close-up
and I got him
into the Dairyland News.
Now, there they care, I even
finagled a feature story
on this man in
Western Feed And Grain
but Harper's Bazaar?
Now come on!
Are you through?
It's Mrs. Covington.
That old hayraker?
- Our leader is rich, Joe.
- His wife is a rich hayraker.
And she wants her home
and garden and her picassos...
I suppose I should get her
elected best-dressed cow
while I'm at it, huh?
- In full color.
- Uh-huh.
- Joe?
- Huh?
Why aren't you dancing with me?
Honey, I am dancing with you.
Hey, uh, doll,
hit me again, huh?
Da doo doo doo
cha cha cha
Doo doo doo
doo doo doo
Magic time.
Shh.
Bye oh baby Bunting
Daddy's gone a-hunting
To get a little rabbit skin
To wrap his baby Bunting in
To wrap his baby Bunting in
Shh. She's almost asleep.
You'll wake her up.
What's she doing up
at this time of night?
She was hungry.
Well, she's got to
learn sooner or later
some of mommy's
time belongs to daddy.
I think it's daddy's
time of night. Wow!
Whoa, whoa!
Honey, just try to
keep your voice down.
What's the matter?
It's two o'clock in the morning.
And I've been working
since 10.00 a.m.
I come home and I get shushed?
What is that?
You've been working
your elbow more than
anything else, haven't you?
I gotta drink
with these people.
I told you that's
part of the job.
I thought your job was to advise
them. See they have confidence.
If Ballefoy wants me
to drink with him,
what am I gonna
do about it?
Well, if he has
confidence in you...
- Confidence?
- Shh! Please.
He has confidence that I'll do
what I'm told regardless.
"Confidence."
He even has confidence,
I think, that to keep my job
I'd ask the mayor
of San Francisco
to give a ticker tape parade
for his chicken-fat king.
What happened with..
Well, now, look..
Um..
I come home after
a couple of drinks
and you're cold sober.
Well, maybe you're
a little tired.
So, I know I seem
loud and ob...
All right, I am.
You didn't used to think so.
I feel your disapproval.
I feel it.
Now, look, if you
want to sit up
if you wanna...
wait for me
well, is there any law
that says you can't have
a couple of blasts
while you're waiting?
Huh, is there?
So that maybe we can have
some laughs around here?
Is there, huh?
Joe, I'm not supposed to,
on account of my milk.
I know, your milk.
Yeah, what day is that bit?
Anyhow, it's the 20th century.
They invented milk bottles.
They got, they got milk in cans.
It's as good as that milk.
You're gonna
ruin your shape.
Uh, see, it's just,
I, for crying out loud
you think you're the only
woman that ever had a baby.
There, well, I was dragged
around by the scruff of my neck
on midnight trains
and in freezing weather.
And I was, I was eating
crackers and peanut...
Don't do that,
I was eating peanut butter!
Now kids have got to
learn to be people? Don't...
Look, please, just get her
a bottle and some formula.
Because I wanna have a ball,
just you and me.
- Shh, please.
- Look, all right, don't shush me!
And if I'm too loud, then
I'll just close the damn door.
No, Joe, please,
it's too stuffy.
- At that age...
- No!
How could I do
a thing like that?
To a child?
What's the matter with me?
You're right.
It's kind of
stuffy in there.
"Po-Ra", huh?
You'll make it yet.
Tilsammen I himmelen.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Mr. Clay's office.
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
He...
Yes, I know it's important.
I'll give him the message
as soon as he gets in.
Oh, well, I, I'm sure
he'll be here any minute.
Yes, I will.
- Coffee.
- Oh, Mr. Clay,
- Coffee, Nell, coffee!
- Mr. Ballefoy says please call.
- Yeah, okay, okay.
- It's...
- Coffee, coffee.
- It's heating.
I just wanna be sure
about the Ballefoy thing.
- Now, he said...
- Okay, okay, okay.
You did your duty.
You told me.
Just get the coffee.
It isn't hot.
Did I say hot coffee?
I just said coffee.
Look, just bring it.
You got a sec, Joe?
For you, all day, Rad.
Oh, the head.
It was Debbie's
first birthday
and Kirsten and I, uh,
celebrated last night.
Really hung one on?
Yeah, a capital hung.
Well, if you'd rather
not talk just now...
Oh, no, no!
Business as usual.
- Hey, want some coffee?
- No, thanks.
Oh, well,
what-what's on your mind?
I'd like to, uh,
chat with you
about the Covington
Farms account.
Oh, shoot.
Well, it's a long story
but the point is
I think it would be best
if we took you
off the account.
You took..
What?
What is, uh..
Ballefoy and I get along.
Well, the truth is
they're letting Ballefoy out.
Frankly, for..
...drinking too much.
And the new man...
Well, I can adjust
to a new man.
Well, actually, Joe,
we sort of had other
plans for you, anyhow.
We were talking
of putting you on
the Campbell Cherokee
Tool account.
- I'm sure you...
- Campbell Cherokee Tool..
I'd be in Houston
half the time.
- Houston's a refreshing town.
- I've got a wife and a kid!
- Well, Joe, we feel...
- It's a demotion, isn't it?
- I wouldn't call it that.
- You wouldn't?
Smaller, less sensitive account
a million miles
away from home.
Now, what would
you call it, Rad?
- Well, uh...
- Well, never mind.
I think I understand.
I hope you do, Joe.
Don't feel bad, honey.
I wouldn't be surprised if...
if Rad Leland
wanted you out of town
for fear you'd get his job.
Not his decision.
Well, somebody's
making the decisions.
It's politics down there.
You want the rest of this?
I'll get some more, honey.
Mm-hmm.
I don't know. I've... tried
to be honest with myself.
I asked myself
if it was my fault.
You know it's not.
Well, that's funny.
There's two bottles down there.
I thought I had three.
Funny.
You do your job, honey.
Yeah, I do.
I know I do.
The main point
is you do your job.
Yeah, I swore I had
three bottles in there.
You do your job fine.
You know,
you've gotta remember
not everybody's honest.
Things are going
on down there.
Bums.
Howdy, Landry.
Charlie, shake hands
with Joe Clay.
Joe is the new PR man
from DDJA. Charlie Dean.
- Good to see you, Joe.
- Pleasure.
Charlie's one of
our vice-presidents.
Oh, I look forward
to working with you.
Say, Joe, you know
we're having a little
barbecue out at
my place Sunday.
Why don't you come
on out and join us?
I guarantee, you'll get all
the barbecue you can eat.
Yeah, and all the bourbon
you can drink, too.
Thank you.
How's she doing, Landry?
Oh, she's doing great.
Mama Bear..
...and Baby Bear.
Duh! Oh, goody-goody.
Toast and honey.
Mommy?
Mommy?
Mommy?
Mommy?
What's wrong, honey? Huh?
Oh, it's too noisy, huh?
You just lie down here.
It's all those people
coming home from work.
You go to sleep.
I'll close the window.
Some more honey.
What else?
But, Henry, I..
They're...
- Shut up!
- But, Henry...
Come on, snuggle bug, huh?
Snuggle down, huh?
Sleep. Sleep.
Are they all right, Pop?
You're sure?
Well, I..
I knew she was having
a couple now and then,
but nothing like this.
Huh? Yeah.
Okay, Pop.
But... you know..
Take good care of them, Pop.
Uh, you tell, tell them I'll
get there as quick as I can.
Waiter?
Waiter?
Could you hit me
again, please?
I, uh..
I've got to get the 11..
I've got go home
on the 11:30 plane.
My, uh..
Uh... my wife..
...got drunk and set
the apartment on fire.
Couldn't this...
be rebuilt?
Frame's burned through.
Well, if you didn't spend
most of your time in Houston
it wouldn't have happened.
Well, don't worry.
I won't be going
to Houston anymore.
They fired me.
Uh, Debbie, uh..
You run outside
and play for a while.
I want to speak
to your mother.
Come on, honey.
What's the matter, honey?
Honey, we've got
to talk about something.
- Something serious.
- Have a beer.
No! I'm sorry.
- What's the matter, you drunk?
- Oh, I haven't had a drop.
Well, then what's
the matter with you?
I walked by the Union Square
bar. I was gonna go in.
And I saw myself,
my reflection, in the window.
And I thought,
"I wonder who that bum is."
And then I saw it was me.
- Now, look at me. I'm a bum.
- No...
Look at me. Look at you!
You're a bum!
Look at you
and look at us.
Look at us.
Come on.
Look at us.
See?
- A couple of bums.
- Hurts.
Now look, listen to me.
You've got to listen to me.
It came to me all of a sudden.
I saw the whole thing.
You know why I've been fired
from five jobs in four years?
And it's not politics,
like we always say.
It's not office
politics or... jealousy
or any of that stuff.
It's booze!
- It's booze!
- Ah! A couple of drinks...
We have more than a couple
of drinks! We get drunk.
Then we stay drunk
most of the time.
Look at the...
dump that we live in.
And the... clothes
that we wear.
We send that child
off to school like she's..
Look at that, I,
uh, I, I'm a drunk
and I don't do my job
and that's it!
I'm a drunk and
I don't do my job
and I got fired and
I can't get a job now
and I..
We should've done
this a long time ago.
Taken a look at ourselves
and realize we just turned
into a couple of bums!
- Honey, honey, I love you.
- What? I love you, too.
And I don't mean that
I didn't, but we've got to
face this, huh?
Please?
All right. We, we just
won't drink so much.
No, not so much..
Look, I've got a plan and
we've got to do it, honey.
We've got to make it work.
We're gonna get sober,
but we're gonna stay sober.
We don't take a drop!
Nothing!
And then, I thought
this out all the way home.
We're gonna go to your
father and we're gonna
convince him that we mean it,
and, and he'll give us
enough money to
get off the ground.
And, and then I'll go
around to the old place.
They'll see that I'm sober,
and they'll take me back.
Are you with me?
Because we've gotta do it.
If we don't do it now,
it's gonna be too late.
We're gonna make it work.
Are you with me?
- I'm always with you.
- We've gotta do it, honey.
We've got to make it work.
Hey, Pop.
Are you sure that
Vic Tanny started this way?
Who?
Bernarr Macfadden.
- One more, Joe.
- Yeah, yeah, one more, Joe.
Anything you say, warden.
Hey, warden..
...gotta ask you
one question.
Are you..
You sure that..
...out there,
there is a highway
and down that highway..
...there is a town,
a town with people
with people
just like us?
- One more tree, Joe.
- One more tree, Joe. I know.
Oh!
One more tree, Joe.
One more tree, Joe.
Oh!
Are you in for life?
It's beginning
to look like it.
- How long have you been here?
- Almost a month.
Uh-huh. Oh, I feel like
I've been here ten years.
- Oh, yeah.
- It seems to agree with you.
Do you like boys?
- I love 'em.
- Yeah?
Come with me.
There's something I wanna try.
Yeah-ah!
Oh!
All my life I've
wanted to do that.
- Oh, poor little city boy.
- Yeah.
- Hey, you know something?
- Huh?
I never really understood..
...the reason for
haystacks before.
It's that crazy
smell that gives us
all those problems
we hear about.
- And the softness.
- Yeah.
You know, I, uh..
...can't remember us ever
feeling like this before.
Mm-mm. Except after
a couple of drinks.
Yeah.
Was the other better?
Huh?
Can't see how it would be.
Yeah, uh-huh!
Uh-huh.
Caught you drinking, huh?
No harm in
one beer, Joe.
Or two or three.
A matter of how much,
huh, pop?
Oh!
Saunders says
he'll pay you Monday.
With Saunders
it's always Monday.
- And then Friday.
- Yeah.
Hey, do you
remember Mrs. Michelle
where you delivered those
roses about a month ago?
Oh, yeah.
Two months ago, exactly.
My second day
as a trustee.
She phoned in a big
order this afternoon.
Said she remembered us
because of the nice man
who delivered the roses.
It's all part of
public relations, pop.
Uh, Kirsten upstairs?
Joe.
You want a beer?
You're starting
to trust me again.
Well, thanks... anyway, pop.
Hi, ho!
Ooh, what a tasty
little neck.
I'm glad you like it.
Have some more.
No, not right now.
My, we have been good the last
couple of months, haven't we?
- It's perfect, huh?
- Yeah, we sure have.
Much too good because
you are much too beautiful
to be so good
and I was thinking..
...being good is better
than being bad, yes?
But being too good, jeez,
is worse than death, huh?
Yeah, well, there are
times when I agree with you.
Yeah, well...
how would you like
to spice up
your exemplary life
by just slipping..
...a teeny-weeny bit?
- A teeny-weeny bit?
- Teeny-weeny, yes.
Just a modicum,
just a minim..
...a drop.
- Where is it?
- Da-da-da, no!
It all starts
with a striptease.
Oh, well, I thought
you were talking
about something more...
tangible.
Please, you're
interrupting a performance.
Tada!
- Joe!
- Shh!
- Tada!
- Oh, you're a genius.
Shh!
Nothing at all, my dear.
Of course,
getting this tape off
is gonna be a...
major operation.
- Ow!
- Okay, now here we go.
Fast, all right?
Aah!
Oh!
Next time I do this,
I'm gonna shave my legs.
No, Joe, we-we-we can't.
- What do you mean?
- We'll ruin everything.
- I mean, we can't do it.
- Just a goldarn minute, lady.
I'm not...
suggesting an orgy.
I think we've...
learned better than that.
I hope and trust.
We've... been
working hard, huh?
Behaving ourselves?
Just a wee, little
drop in the privacy
of our own little room.
It ain't going to hurt us.
Who's to know?
We just lie back in bed
like civilized people.
We'll sip it
through a straw.
May I expect your
cooperation... huh?
Well, now, how could
I not vote for someone
who dances so divinely?
Tada!
And, oh!
Hold on.
- Oh!
- Huh? Twinsies.
And there is another..
...in the greenhouse.
It is in the fourth pot..
...on the fifth table.
Wait a minute.
Fourth pot, third table,
fifth row.
Yeah, that's it.
Fourth pot, third table,
fifth row.
Four, five, three.
Now, you remember
the combination,
because if I die
before I wake,
that's your legacy.
- Ahh!
- Oh!
You are depraved.
Yeah, flattery
will get you everywhere.
Magic time.
Oh! Shh!
Here.
- Step on it.
- What?
Wha-at?
Oh, gee.
- Wait a minute.
- Give me that one over there.
Here.
Whoo!
Oh!
Kirstie?
Kirstie?
Must have had a nightmare.
You all right?
I'm fine, Daddy.
Just go back to bed.
Come up now.
We're fighting.
Oh, oh!
Oops!
It's all gone.
Oh, it's all gone.
4-3-5.
I'll get the other one.
- Get the other one.
- Shh, shh, shh!
You'll wake up Daddy.
- He'll hear you.
- What?
What?
I'm gonna go
out the window.
And down the tree
as silent as a squirrel.
- Down the tree.
- Careful, but hurry up.
I said it was four,
three, five.
No, now,
wait a second, Joe.
- What?
- You said...
Shh! Got to be
quiet as a squirrel.
Three, five, four.
- Nev...
- Oh, yes.
It was four, three, five.
Hold that.
Whoa!
Hurry back!
Four, five, three.
Here we go!
What was it?
Fourth?
Let me see.
One..
...two..
...three.
Fourth row.
Third table.
Two...
...fifth pot.
One, two, three, four, five.
And come to papa.
What happened?
Ha. I got the right,
wrong combina..
Five, four, three.
Five, four.
Fifth row.
Third table,
fourth pot.
One, two, three.
Wait a minute.
What?
Well..
Wait a minute.
What did he say?
Start it all over.
Wait a minute.
One..
One..
Five, four, three.
Well.
It's the fifth pot.
Wait a minute.
Third. Wait.
One, two, three.
Where is it?
What? What?
Who's stolen it?
Why? Why?
Why? Why?
Flowers..
Where is it?
Red flower!
It's a red flower!
Light.
Turn on the light.
Rain!
Who took it?
Who took it?
Who took it?
Who took it? Where?
Where? Where is it?
Who took it?
Who took it?
Somebody stole it!
Aah!
They stole it!
Aah!
They took it!
Took it!
They took it!
Daddy?
Daddy?
I'm drunk as a skunk.
Kirsten!
I'm plastered
and I'm lonely.
I want you to
kiss me goodnight.
Ah!
Dirty Joe brought whiskey.
Come on,
kiss me goodnight, Daddy.
You get back
to your room.
Granddaddy?
- It's Debbie.
- Go to bed, Debbie.
You get out of here.
Get out of here!
- Just leave my Daddy alone.
- Debbie, Debbie!
You come along
with me now.
A little kiss
or something?
- Get in the tub.
- What? No, I don't want to.
- Get in the tub.
- Daddy.
Get in there!
What are you doing?
168 in.
Don't, don't do..
Aah!
Ed, give me a hand!
How are you
feeling, fella?
Rotten.
Who..
Who are you?
I'm Jim Hungerford.
Nurse says you want help.
I'm from
Alcoholics Anonymous.
- Honey, please read the book.
- No.
This fella, Hungerford, says
the AA meetings are terrific.
They're just a bunch
of alcoholics
trying to keep
each other sober.
And it works.
Now, please read the book.
- It make sense
- No!
I don't even know why you
let them give it to you.
They must... think you're
a... bum or something.
I asked for it.
I must have needed help.
I was in the hospital.
Well, you didn't
belong there.
I was there.
Nobody belongs there.
I passed out in the middle
of Mission Street.
I didn't belong
there maybe but..
All right!
You had too much to drink.
It doesn't mean
you're an alcoholic.
Oh, look, dear, what's wrong
with just going to a meeting?
Now, what could
we lose, huh?
You can go if you want to.
I don't care.
But, I'm,
I'm not gonna go.
I am not an alcoholic
and I refuse to say I am.
I refuse to-to ask
for help in something
that is, is just a matter of, of
self-respect and willpower.
I refuse to get up in
front of a bunch of people
and degrade myself.
I know I can't drink because
it gets the best of me.
So, I-I..
I will just use my
willpower and not drink
and, and that's
the end of it.
Uh, we got time
for a cigarette, huh?
You nervous?
No, I..
Button came off my jacket.
- Well, leave it open.
- Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Here.
I used to be
a pretty... fancy dresser.
I wouldn't have been caught
dead with a button off then.
You're scared, huh?
No, this is
natural complexion..
...pale green.
Nobody will notice.
Come on.
Well, wait a minute.
We, uh..
Just, you know.
Hey, you know, you are
turning pale green.
Now, will you come on?
It's facing all the people.
- Are you sure?
- What do you mean?
Well, it's facing yourself,
isn't it?
Look, I don't mind
talking about my life,
even the most
embarrassing parts of it.
That's not what bothers me.
It's... the idea
of standing up there
in front of all
of those people
and saying
"I am an alcoholic."
Are you?
- Yes, I...
- So are we.
Now, you've heard us night
after night after night say it
"I am an alcoholic."
It's a big step forward.
I know, but it's
funny, isn't it?
That four months ago
you came to see me
in the violent ward
and you told me about AA.
Now, I went to the meetings
and I started listening
and I've been sober
ever since.
Kirstie has been
sober too
just as sober as I am.
And she has never said,
"I am an alcoholic."
She even hasn't
been near a meeting.
She claims she can do
it on willpower alone.
Can you?
My name is Jim Hungerford.
And I'm an alcoholic.
I'm your chairman
for tonight.
Now, all I have to do
to qualify myself
is to say that
I drank too much too often
over too long
a period of time.
Welcome to the
regular weekly meeting
of the Mason Street Group
of Alcoholics Anonymous.
"Alcoholics Anonymous is
a fellowship of men and women
"who share their experience
"strength and hope
with each other.
"That they may solve
their common problem
"and help others to
recover from alcoholism.
"The only requirement
for membership
"is a desire to stop drinking.
"There are no dues or
fees for AA membership.
"We are self-supporting
through our own contributions.
"AA is not allied
with any sect, denomination
"politics, organization
or institution.
"It does not wish to
engage in any controversy
"neither endorses
nor opposes any causes.
"Our primary purpose
is to stay sober
and help other alcoholics
to achieve sobriety."
Now, we got a couple
of speakers tonight.
I know you're
gonna enjoy hearing.
To start things off,
we're going to hear from a man
who came to us
just four months ago.
Now, this will be his
first talk at an AA meeting.
Joe.
My name..
My name is Joe... Clay.
I'm an alcoholic.
Honey?
Debbie?
Come in.
Oh, hi, Jim.
I'm sorry to
act like such a...
Oh, don't be silly.
You should have called sooner.
Any word?
Two days and two nights
and I...
I had to call you.
I was afraid
that I might...
Yeah, I know.
Did you tell the police?
Yeah.
I-I just..
I can't see how this
could be happening to us.
Me too.
Too many drinks?
Well, a hell of lot of
people drink as much as Kirstie
and I ever did and
they're not alcoholics.
Yet.
A lot of 'em never are.
It's a lottery, Joe.
- And you lost.
- Yeah, well, how?
No way to find out
before it's too late, huh?
- Joe.
- Hmm?
You remember how you told
us about Kirsten's obsession
with chocolate candy
when you first met?
Yeah.
Well, a very
perceptive psychologist
might've told you
then that she was
a potential alcoholic,
but neither of you
would have believed
him and besides
he might have been wrong.
Joe, how many
strawberries does it
take to start an allergy
and which is the one
that gives you the hives?
Alcoholism is an illness.
It's pretty hard to
diagnose an illness
until you've got it.
Come on, Joe.
She'll turn up, honest.
Why did she do it?
Why did she leave?
- That's...
- She wanted to drink.
Oh, if she had to drink,
she could drink right here.
And she ought to know it.
You're sober.
It's no fun to drink around you.
Don't you under... it's worse!
Your sobriety would be
an accusation to her.
She'd be miserable.
She's lost her playmate.
And, Joe..
...listen, uh..
Don't be too surprised
if she finds another one.
Look, she loves me
and you just
don't understand.
There's no trouble
between us.
There wasn't any trouble.
Joe, don't forget.
For a long time,
long, long time
booze has been an integral
part of your relationship.
Now, if she keeps on
drinking and you don't,
well, you've got to find
a new meeting ground,
a different basis
for a relationship.
That takes a whale
of an adjustment.
Well, I find it
hard to believe this.
There was one thing
about us, we always knew
that we were in love.
Now, we knew that.
And there was no doubt about it.
We just knew it.
Now, do you understand
what I'm trying to tell you
that we,
that we had something?
Well, things like that
don't just evaporate.
Joe, the night you tore up
your father-in-law's flowers.
- You're looking for the bottle?
- Yes.
What did you do
when you found it?
What? I drank it.
Oh, you didn't take it back
and drink it with Kirsten?
No.
There comes a time
in the life
of every alcoholic
when the bottle is God.
Nobody matters,
nothing matters
but the next drink.
You know that!
I know I know it.
I just, I can't believe
that this is happening to me.
That's all!
Two people,
seven years.
Booze, no booze,
drunk, sober.
Isn't love..
...love?
I don't know.
I was drunk for 12 years.
I've been sober the last 14.
All I know is the drunk
world is one world
and the sober world
is another world.
Such a lonely person.
Oh, God, keep her safe.
Is your little girl all right?
Yeah, she's..
...on the peninsula
with her grandfather.
Hello?
Yes, this is Mr. Clay.
Yes, Kirsten Clay.
That's right. Yes.
- Where?
- Police?
Where is, Shore Motel?
Where is that?
I see.
Who, who..
Mr. Turning,
is she all right?
Is she alone?
I'll be there
as fast as possible.
Thank you for calling.
She's in a motel.
Mr. Turning owns the motel.
He said that she..
...came in a cab
and checked in drunk.
- She's been drunk ever since.
- Do you want me to go with you?
- No, I'd better go alone, Jim.
- Oh, well, here, take my car.
- Oh, thanks.
- Oh, Joe, listen, listen.
At the risk of
sounding preachy...
No, look, I know now, easy
does it. First thing first...
No, no,
it's something else.
Now, she may resent you
intruding on her drinking
and she may resent
your being sober.
- It separates you...
- I know that.
But, Joe... on the other hand,
if you're not sober
you're not worth a damn to her
or anybody else, are you?
No.
- Yes, sir.
- Hello, I'm Mr. Clay.
Oh, she's in the last bungalow
over there, Mr. Clay.
Thank you.
One sliced turnip,
some stalks of celery,
add pepper and salt
and a dash
of Worcestershire sauce.
My, my.
What nobility
has to put up with
just to have dinner.
I'm glad I'm a rabbit.
Now, place rabbit
into oven
and heat oven
to 350 degrees.
350 degrees?
Too hot for me.
I just remembered
I have another commitment.
Please extend my regrets
to His Majesty.
I bid you farewell,
arrivederci,
sayonara, and
all that sort of jazz.
Oh, no, you're not.
You're stayin'.
I insist.
Okay, okay,
if it's that important.
Cook! Cook!
Where's my hasenpfeffer?
Comin' right up,
Royal Highness.
Bon appetit,
O gracious Majesty.
You bonehead.
That..
- Have a drink, honey.
- Not just now.
- Oh, come on. Have a drink.
- No, I don't want one.
Oh, I do.
You think..
Honey, do you think
you're about ready to come home?
Hmm?
Oh, it's you.
What do you want?
I want my wife.
Sober Joe..
Milkman's friend.
Now you got me.
What do you want to..
...do?
I was hoping
to take you home.
I like it here.
My friends are here.
You have your friends,
I have mine.
Have a drink.
Oh.
Excuse me, I forgot.
Shame we're out of, uh..
...milk..
...coffee and tea,
orange juice..
...non-alcoholic beverages.
Honey, if you'd
just come home..
No!
You laid in
a good supply.
- We could take it home.
- No!
You have your friends.
You don't need me.
Oh, honey..
Joe..
Kiss me, Joe.
I taste like gin.
You never did like gin
so I didn't
drink it, but..
Now I'm alone,
so I drank it
'cause I like gin.
Tilsammen I himmelen.
Together in heaven,
like the story.
Now he doesn't even like..
...the taste of me anymore.
Honey..
Let me get you some food.
- No.
- Or you're going to get sick.
- You know it.
- I don't care.
I don't care. Just... go away
and leave me alone.
I don't care
about anything.
I'll be back.
Don't bother.
Joe.
I'm lonely, Joe.
Have a drink
with me, please.
- I can't.
- I'm lonely.
I'll stay with you,
but I-I can't.
Don't do me any favors.
Can't have a drink.
Too good to have
a drink with me.
What did they do to you
down at that AA place, anyway?
Aren't you a man anymore?
Can't you hear a woman
calling you?
I'm a woman.
Can't you hear me!
- I hear you.
- What're you gonna do about it?
I heard you, but we've got
our own little apartment...
No, we haven't.
I'm not going
back there.
Never, never.
I want to be
where people live.
I don't want
any of your..
...mealy-mouthed...
holier-than-thou, do-gooder
boy scouts with their..
...with their
hot coffee and..
...and their cold feet.
I don't want anybody who doesn't
have the guts to take a drink.
Now go away. Go away.
I want a cigarette.
Keep the pack.
You're not
giving me anything.
Community property.
So's the gin.
50-50.
Here.
I'm not coming back there.
You're too good.
And there's no bore
in the world
like a goody-good.
Have some of mine, honey.
Hello!
We're closed, buddy.
- I said we're closed.
- No, come on, please.
We close at 11:00.
Go on home.
Oh, please.
Now look, you, get out of here
before I call the cops.
Now beat it.
No, please. Please.
Please.
Oh..
Oh, please.
What is it?
What's happening?
Go on inside.
I'll take care of this.
Go on!
So you like booze,
hey, buddy?
I didn't know
you wanted it that bad.
Why didn't you ask?
I'll give you
all the booze you want.
Why?
Joe, who am I?
- Joe..
- What?
Who am I?
Who am I?
Say it.
Come on.
Jim.
What happened?
What happened?
You took a drink.
You're drying out now.
Listen, your first
two days here
there was a little
green man chasing you
around the violent ward
with pruning shears.
No, no, no.
Don't.
Got to get up.
I've got to get my wife.
No, they went to stay
with her dad for a while.
I..
I want her with me.
Joe..
Joe, you've got
to stay sober
even if it means
keeping away from her.
Hmm?
I can't hear you, Joe.
I love her!
Joe, if you
really love her..
I mean, if you
really love her..
...then you help her.
How?
You set an example.
Show her that-that
an alky can beat the rap.
Give her something
to aim at!
Come on.
Will you do that?
Huh?
Oh, boy.
I should have never
told you about that guy
with the pruning shears.
Hello, pop.
I told you before, Joe.
Don't come here.
I've got something
important, pop.
Something I have
to talk to you about.
Really, this means
a lot to me.
Kirs gone out someplace?
She's gone to
the movies.
She okay?
You come here to talk
about Kirstie?
No, I didn't.
Tell you what
I came to talk about, pop.
I've come to square
accounts with you.
First of all..
...the $500 that you
lent us that time to..
...try and get
started again?
We spent it,
most of it,
on a couple of benders.
Really didn't make much effort
to get straightened out.
I just stayed drunk as long
as the money lasted.
We lied to you about that.
And I know you worked hard
for the money, and...
You started
my daughter drinking.
Pop, please listen.
You started
my daughter drinking!
When she lived here
with her mama and me
she never drank.
We never gave her
even one beer.
You started her!
Pop, what are you..
Pop! Don't!
Are you nuts?
Now, what're you trying to do?
Pop.
Sure, we drank together.
And we did right
from the start, but..
Where is she?
She's been gone
three days.
My girl.
My girl.
Pop..
She went off
with another bum.
Not the same one,
another one.
It's always another bum.
It's always,
"Goodnight, Dad.
I'll be home early."
"Goodnight, Kirstie.
I'll leave the light on
in the kitchen."
I always turn it off
in the morning, Joe.
I thought she told me
she was getting better.
Two weeks ago she was
in the hospital three days
sick to death
from drinking.
Can't you tell her
that-that..
Tell her how well
I'm doing.
Tell her all about
the new apartment.
Tell her I'll take her back
any time that she wants.
She wouldn't listen.
Well, tell her..
...Debbie cries for her.
Then she'd get drunk
for sure.
I don't know what to..
I don't know what
to tell Debbie.
Well, pop..
...there's some things
we can be thankful for.
Now, I'm working steady
and I'm sober.
And I'm starting
to pay you back, pop.
The $500.
There's the first installment.
And I'm gonna pay
for her hospital bill, too.
- No.
- Yes, I am.
And I'm gonna pay you board
as long as she stays here
with you
and-and I'm gonna make good
for all of
the potted plants
that I ruined that time.
I don't need for you
to do that, Joe.
Pop, you don't understand.
I need for me to do it.
Kirs.
Debbie asleep?
Yes.
It's after 11:00.
I didn't want her
to see me.
- Well, you look so...
- So bad?
Not as bad as you
imagined I would.
Thanks for trying,
but I know how I look.
This is the way I look
when I'm sober.
That's enough to make
a person drink
wouldn't you say?
Joe..
...I haven't had a drink
in two days.
Well, that's wonderful.
It wasn't easy
but I wanted to talk
to you, so I..
I thought I'd try
and deserve it
at least a little.
Sort of a penance,
you might say.
You'd be surprised how much
fun you can have sober,
when you get
the hang of it.
And you've got
the hang of it?
I think so.
Believe me,
it's the greatest.
Joe, wouldn't it
be wonderful if we could
go back to the beginning?
Just erase everything
in between.
Start all over
at getting excited
over a chocolate bar?
I want to come home.
I-I know what
you're thinking about.
A lot's happened,
lots of... detours.
There were plenty of them,
but they were nothing.
I never looked at them.
They had no identity.
I never gave anything
out of myself to them.
I thought they'd help me
from being so lonely
but I was just as lonely
because love is the only thing
that keeps you
from being lonely
and I didn't have that.
Kirs..
...there's a little girl
asleep in there
that would just love
to wake up and see you here
and all you've got to do
is say the right words.
I don't know if I have
the right word.
That's why it took me
so long to get here.
You see, the world looks
so dirty to me
when I'm not drinking.
Joe, remember
Fisherman's Wharf,
the water when
you look too close?
That's the way
the world looks to me
when I'm not drinking.
I don't think I could ever
stop drinking completely,
not like you.
- I couldn't.
- You could.
If I wanted to,
really wanted to?
Well, I don't.
I know that now.
I want things to look
prettier than they are.
But I know... I know I-I could
be all right if you'd help me.
I know I could, I'd be all right
if we were together and..
...and things were like
they used to be
and I wasn't so nervous.
I need to be loved. I get so
lonely from not being loved.
I can't stand it.
I love you.
I'm afraid of you.
I'm an alcoholic.
I can't take a drink.
And I'm afraid of what
we'd do to each other.
If you just say
that you'd try..
I know this sounds crazy
but I can't face the idea
of never having another drink.
Honey, one day at a time.
Just one day at a time...
I can't.
I can't.
Doesn't it impress you
that I have been sober
for almost a year
and I'm delighted
to be this way?
I'm working steady
and I feel great.
Debbie and I are living
in a decent place once again
and it's all because
I'm sober.
Yes.
- Well, there's plenty of room.
- Joe, you're strong.
That's why I know
you can help me now.
If we only had it
back like it was.
Back like it..
Do you remember
how it really was?
You and me and booze.
A threesome. Do you remember?
Not that it wasn't
great while it lasted.
We can have it back
that way again if...
If I'll drink with you, but
I'm not gonna drink with you.
It's finished.
I wouldn't ask you
to drink with me.
I'd-I'd control myself.
You can't control yourself.
You're an alcoholic,
just the same as I am.
No. No.
You and I were
a couple of drunks
on a sea of booze,
and the boat sank.
I got a hold of something
that kept me from going under
and I'm not gonna let go of it.
And not for you,
not for anyone.
If you want
to grab on, grab on.
But there's just room
for you and me.
No threesome.
I can't get over
how dirty everything looks.
Try it one more day.
- Why?
- For her.
Come and look at her.
I can't.
I can't.
You better give up on me.
Not yet.
Thanks.
Goodnight.
Kirs..
...take care of yourself.
Kirs!
Daddy?
I thought I heard you
call Mommy.
You must have been
dreaming, honey.
Let's go back to bed.
When is Mommy coming home?
Honey, mommy's sick.
She has to get well
before she can come home.
Is she going to get well?
I did, didn't I?
Go to sleep.
Okay.
Good night, Daddy.
Good night, honey.