1
- Jim.
- Hi, Captain.
How long you been
on the mainland?
Too long. Honolulu's
gonna look good to me.
- Where you been?
- Hollywood.
I sold them my book.
Oh. Did you
write them a movie?
No, I didn't want to stay.
You're punchy.
Going home to the islands when
you could have stayed in Hollywood
with all them
actresses around?
I gave it some thought.
Play some casino?
I'm your pigeon.
How many passengers
this trip?
There's just one
besides you.
Hey.
Did you ever meet this
Marlene Dietrich up close?
About from here to there.
- Is she sexy?
- Very.
You know, I saw
that picture of hers three times,
where she sang that song
and had those long black stockings
and that black garter belt.
That gal hasn't got a thing
out of place.
Say, your other passenger isn't so bad.
Oh.
Company's got strict rules.
Business and pleasure
don't mix.
Building tens.
Why'd the police
bring her aboard?
Taking this
with the big casino.
Cops just wanted to make sure
she got out of town.
Why?
What are you gonna do,
put her in a book or something?
Maybe.
Stay away from that one, son.
It will cost you.
She takes guys
like you to the cleaners.
Might be worthwhile.
Too expensive.
You know, when a lady's down
to her last five bucks,
a landlubber like you
is made to order for her.
And this lady
knows her business.
Except she ain't no lady.
You mind if I have some coffee?
Help yourself.
Miss Stover, Mr. Blair.
- Hello.
- How do you do?
Captain, you ever been
in Leesburg, Mississippi?
No.
Must've been
your brother then.
You mean there's somebody there
looks like me?
Your twin.
Well, what's he do,
run the town?
Nope, he stands in front
of the courthouse
and scratches himself
and gawks at the girls,
makes dirty jokes,
and think he's quite a guy.
You know, Captain, when a sailor
runs off at the mouth,
he ought to have a napkin handy
to wipe his chin.
Yeah?
Jim Blair.
I'd like to apologize for that gabbing
in the wardroom.
Go drown yourself, will you?
I'd like to try that apology again,
Miss Stover.
It's not important.
I've heard gutter talk before.
Well, I'm really sorry
it happened.
Well, maybe
you'd like to do me a favor.
Drowning myself is out.
No, you can go living,
but stop pounding
that typewriter all night
so I can get some sleep.
Chalk up one more apology.
The rest of the trip home,
I'll do my writing in the daytime.
What kind of things do you write?
Fiction, magazines mostly.
Do you ever buy any ideas,
like, say, part of somebody's life story?
Yours?
Maybe.
Your story's been done.
Who, me? Mamie Stover?
Don't be silly.
I've never talked to a writer
in my life.
Only the names
and geography change,
the people don't.
Let's see, you're, uh, twenty...
Six.
Any family?
My father, still lives in Leesburg.
Well, that makes it simple.
Back in 1930, in 1933,
Mamie Stover was going to graduate
from Leesburg High,
the best-looking girl in her class,
but not the happiest.
Cinderella,
but no gown, no coach.
She never had any pretty clothes
because her father, Tom Stover
drank up the few bucks he made.
Pop's name was Gus,
and he didn't drink.
He didn't do much of anything.
But Gus Stover's daughter
had one thing, her looks.
The men said she was
"hot as a smokestack."
And all this attention
worried Mother Stover.
Mom died
a week before graduation.
Who sponsored the beauty contest, Mamie,
the Legion or the Elks?
You make it sound like
it happens every day.
Well, it does.
I worked newspapers
that sponsored beauty contests.
I know all about these shapely Cinderellas
and their yearning hearts,
and what happens to most of them.
The only thing I can't understand
is why they don't go home.
And marry some have-not
like my old man?
I went home once,
about a year later.
I'd saved up a couple hundred dollars,
made a big splash.
I wanted them all think I was rich
and I'd made good.
I sure got a boot out of my old man.
He told them all down at the courthouse
that I was gonna buy him
a big house and servants
one of these days.
And now the door is closed?
I closed it.
There's only two kinds of people
that go home
the failures that crawl in the back way
and the successful ones
that ride down Main Street
in a big car while a band
plays "Welcome Home."
I'll wait for that car.
"Leaning against
the ship's railing,
she looked out
toward the horizon
as if to penetrate
what lay beyond.
'I like to stand here,'
she told him.
'It does me good,
makes me realize
I have to look ahead.
Only ahead, never back.'"
I thought you said
my life's been written before.
Basically, it has,
but you make it different.
You're an interesting
character study, Mamie.
- Like a fish in a bowl?
- Oh, of course not.
Look, if you object,
I'll get rid of it.
No, don't tear me up!
No, don't.
Having a story written about you
is almost as good as being a cover girl.
You'll pardon me
while I read about myself.
Oh, ha!
What?
Are you able to sleep?
Never can the last night out.
Do you feel like answering 20 questions?
I'll try.
- Okay, I will meet you up on deck.
- Right.
Is that your Honolulu moon?
Yep, do you like it?
I don't trust it.
I used to wait for the moon
to come out when I was a kid,
so as I could wish.
- Never worked.
- It will.
The island's a good place for wishing,
for building a new life.
Yeah? Like how?
I'll stake you to room rent
and help you get a job
in the sugar business
or a pineapple cannery.
How much would I make?
Thirty dollars or so.
Be another have-not.
No, Jimmy.
I'm gonna get my chance
at the big money.
Once, for a couple of days,
it was so close I could almost taste it.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure
I've got a job when we dock.
A girlfriend of mine
has it practically set.
Doing what?
It's a place called the Bungalow.
They got 20 or 30 girls.
Well, that's great.
Mamie Stover, the Anglo-Saxon bombshell
among the hula-hulas.
It's okay with me,
as long as the money rolls in
and as long as I get to go home
someday
and look down on all those people
that looked down on my folks and me.
- Is that too much to ask?
- No, just tough to get.
Getting the honky-tonk off your back
might be a big job
when it comes time to go home.
What am I supposed to do?
I told you,
I'll do whatever I can to help.
Whatever you can?
Jimmy, will you take me with you
to your house on the hill?
I could handle it, honest, if you'd just
give me a little time.
You could dress me up
and teach me how to behave.
Life's not that simple.
You can't be transported
to a hilltop by magic
or on the back of somebody else.
In other words, the answer's no.
The answer is no.
That's what I thought.
- Is that a friend of yours?
- Yes.
- She somebody special?
- Annalee?
Yeah, kind of special.
Hilltop.
Yes.
- All set, Miss.
- Thank you.
Look, Mamie, I know
I don't owe you a thing,
but I'd feel better
if you take this as a loan,
something for you to lean on
until you get set.
I shouldn't take it, Jimmy,
but I will.
Some people can afford
to be respectable, but I can't.
Well, so long.
Thanks for the money
and the boat ride.
Thanks for everything,
Herbert.
- Thank you, Miss.
- Good-bye.
Good-bye.
Jimmy!
I almost pulled your ship in
with my hands.
- I'm so happy you're home.
- Me, too.
Maybe I didn't realize it until now,
but this is where I belong.
When you come out of the ether, Mr. Jim,
please say hello to me.
Hello, Aki.
Hey, honey.
Me and my friend
think you're cute.
Go mend your rifle, soldier.
- Is Miss Davis here?
- Miss who?
Davis, Jackie Davis.
Jackie? Oh, yeah, sure.
She will be right down.
Where you from, Seattle?
No, why?
They all come from there.
Best dancers.
Mame!
Jackie!
Hi!
What a relief to find you.
How are you, honey?
How are you, Mame?
Nothing wrong that a healthy job
won't cure.
Good.
Well, the face and figure's
still the same.
You oughta be a cinch.
Come on in and let the boss
just look you over.
Hey, don't you think
I oughta freshen up a bit?
Huh-uh. Let's get to her
before we open for business.
No sense in you losing a night.
Well, is there any kind
of special story I give her?
Act like you're back in grammar school
and she's the teacher.
Come in.
Mrs. Parchman, this is the friend
I told you about, Mamie Stover.
Where are your manners, Jackie?
Sorry.
Miss Stover, this is
our manager, Mr. Adkins.
- How do you do, Miss Stover?
- How do you do?
Put your suitcase down.
Hold still, please.
Get used to being inspected.
If you work for me, people will be paying
good hard cash to look you over.
Harry?
I believe so.
Turn around.
Yeah. That'll do.
Physically, you appear satisfactory.
You will have to dress a little more...
Flamboyantly.
Yes, flamboyantly.
Have to to attract attention,
sell more dances,
more whiskey and champagne.
You ever been in trouble
with the police?
No.
Harry?
I don't believe her.
Well?
Well, I mean, no convictions.
One more thing, the Bungalow
is a respectable place.
We sell drinks and dances
and social entertainment.
Is that understood?
Yes.
Well, Jackie,
I guess your friend's hired.
Dress her up properly
and have her in the chicken patch
15 minutes before we open.
- Yes, Mrs. Parchman.
- There'll be two more new hostesses.
I want them to hear
our rules at the same time.
Come on, honey.
Close the door.
Your attention, ladies.
If you please, Harry.
There are four don'ts.
Break any one of them
and you'll be running into me.
Shiver, shiver, shiver.
If any of you objects
to obeying Mrs. Parchman's rules,
we want to know it now.
What's he gonna do,
slap my wrist or something?
Did you say something?
You, Miss Stover?
Who, me? No. No, sir.
If any of you are the kind that has
to have a boyfriend on the outside
or if you're the kind that wants to chisel
with some two-bit taxi driver
or you think that you're good enough
to mix with the island's blue bloods,
then the sooner you get
out of here, the better.
My rules are not unfair,
just good business.
I can't operate profitably
unless I get strict obedience.
Rule number one, you will live here
on these premises.
It's the only way I can be certain
you're staying out of trouble,
not giving my place a bad name.
No outside boyfriends.
Those kind of tie-ups
bring nothing but trouble
and they take your mind
away from your job.
Three, no swimming
at the beach at Waikiki
or going into any of the hotels.
Once you begin hobnobbing
with those across-the-tracks people,
the complaints will start.
This is a legal business,
but I can't afford complaints.
Four, no bank accounts.
Bank accounts attract attention,
the attention of the income tax people.
Now, these are my rules.
Live up to them, work hard at your jobs,
and you can earn big money.
Thirty percent on everything you sell.
Break any of these rules
and you can expect
to explain to Mr. Adkins.
All right. Charlie, Henry, open up.
Well, get set, honey.
They come swarming in here like locusts.
Remember, sell, sell, sell.
Whiskey and champagne.
Smile it up, you new ladies.
Smile it up.
Remember, smiles means money.
Smiles means money.
- Hi.
- Good morning, Miss Annalee.
- Aki.
- Hi.
- I met the mailman.
- Oh, thanks.
Coffee? Eggs? Bacon?
Well, just coffee.
My bulges won't allow two breakfasts.
That's the wrong point of view.
You bulge nice.
Thank you.
Open your mail. I'm not company.
- Just a bunch a bills.
- No, I peeked.
The second one feels crinkly inside.
It's from Mamie Stover,
the girl on the boat.
Well, there's $100
I never expected to get back.
Attractive way to send an invitation.
You going?
Of course not.
Why not?
Now, stop trying to unload me.
That'll be the day.
Remember to watch your dough
and don't let 'em clip you.
Quit it, I've been around.
When they start pressing
for champagne,
tell 'em it makes you belch,
then order beer.
Excuse me, buddy.
More tickets, Gladys.
Gimme a whole strip.
- Come on, come on, hurry it up.
- Take it easy, Tarzan.
You mean to say you used up
all those tickets already?
Sure, sure.
Tear it off. Give me another strip.
- Thanks.
- You must be kidding.
Bet he ain't 100 pounds
soaking wet.
Those little guys
make the best dancers.
Uh... yeah. How many?
Three dollars' worth.
- Well, that won't last you long.
- Long enough.
Where will I find Mamie Stover?
You won't, not with three bucks'
worth of tickets.
Would ten be an improvement?
Twenty would be insurance.
Sold.
Ask the boss for Mamie.
Mrs. Parchman, the one on the stool,
she keeps track of the girls.
Thanks.
I, uh... I beg your pardon.
What can we do for you?
Well, I'd like to see Mamie Stover.
We don't permit social calls.
Well, this isn't social.
My mistake.
Mamie's tied up at present,
a private party
in one of the champagne rooms.
All right if I wait?
We have many other hostesses,
you know.
I'd rather wait.
Mamie isn't beer or whiskey,
champagne only.
I like champagne.
All right.
Take a seat in the cocktail lounge.
Scotch and soda.
Protect your tickets, partner.
They steal you blind in these joints.
Thanks.
Mister, you gonna quit
making with the hands?
Stop beefing. You got six bucks' worth
of my tickets, haven't you?
Quit it, jerk.
You will have to behave, Mister.
Are you gonna make me, four-eyes?
If I have to.
Stand back, honey,
while I eat him alive.
Go on, make it louder. Louder!
Don't go away.
I'll get some more tickets!
Time for you.
Ten tickets.
Hello, honey.
You waiting for Mamie?
- Jimmy.
- Yep.
You sure surprised me.
When did you turn brick-top?
A couple of months ago.
It sells lots more tickets.
They've been calling me
Flaming Mamie.
You don't like it, do you?
Sure. It's one of my favorite colors.
Say, what about this hundred?
Why did you return it?
Some guys you just don't clip,
that's all.
Thanks. I like that.
I hear this lonely hearts music
a dozen times a night.
We can do without that.
Sit down.
How have you been?
Fine.
You?
I'm doing pretty good.
Your time's up, Mister.
And so is my money.
Look, Mamie.
Suppose I got a ticket back to
the mainland with this hundred.
No, thanks, Jimmy.
Well, you don't like working here, do you?
Liking your job isn't what counts,
not with me.
You know that.
If you say so.
Drink?
Oh, that's just watered stuff.
They cut one bottle in half,
send up both,
and charge you double.
Well, at least they keep the labels.
Look, Jimmy, I...
I get 30 percent back in commissions,
so I'd like to pick up this tab.
Nothing doing.
I'm here 'cause I want to see you.
Why?
'Cause you need more material
for your story or you feel sorry for me?
Neither one, Cinderella.
The story didn't gel, so I called it off.
And about feeling sorry for you, why?
Anyone as sure of herself as you are,
sure of what she wants and how to get it
doesn't need sympathy.
Well, that doesn't mean
you'd be willing
to see me once in a while,
you know, outside this place?
Why not?
That's wonderful, Jimmy.
Wonderful.
I haven't had anybody I could talk
to or ask for advice or anything.
I'm a good listener
but a lousy adviser.
Not in my book.
We're not supposed to have outside dates,
but I think I've got a way to work it out.
I'll bet on it.
No bet, you'd win.
- How about tomorrow?
- Fine.
Why don't I pick you up?
Honey, no hunk of man
is worth the risk.
This isn't a risk,
it's an investment.
I need somebody on the outside
to help handle things for me.
Always an angle.
Well, why not? They pay off.
If Adkins gets wise,
he'll beat those angles black and blue.
The way I feel these days,
I could take Adkins and his goon squad
in the same ring.
Your date
can't be that expensive.
Comic.
Now don't forget to alibi for me
if anything comes up.
I can't talk you out of going?
- Nope.
- Okay.
Anybody asks, I say you went
to the dentist.
Bertha goes for things hygienic.
Okay.
Rise and shine, lady.
Not a stool pigeon in sight.
This is a rough way to keep a date.
Climb over
and keep me company.
I need the elbow room.
I got something I want to show you.
Twenty-two hundred dollars!
That's more money than my old man made
in several years.
It's more than I've ever seen
in one bundle.
You mean to tell me you made all that
selling phony champagne?
Mm-hmm. That, plus the dances
and my sitting-out time.
Leesburg, get out your loudest band.
Here comes Mamie Stover.
Yes, ma'am. The Cotton Queen
comes home in style.
Beat those drums for your
Mississippi Cinderella.
I'm glad you're going home, Mamie.
No, not yet, Jimmy.
This is only the beginning.
Why, I'm averaging $40 and $50
a night for my cut.
That kind of arithmetic
may never get you home.
Sure it will, but there's no rush.
Besides, you stop trying
to chase me out of town.
Remember, you're talking
to Bertha Parchman's number one girl.
Rich, too.
Bertha's even having
a song written about me.
What, an up-to-date version
of "Ten Cents a Dance"?
No. I'm gonna be famous.
Well, if I'm coaxed,
I might buy a copy.
If I'm coaxed,
I might autograph it.
Here we are.
Here's one of the reasons
my island's different, Mamie.
Just you and me
and the ocean, huh?
And a picnic lunch.
I didn't know you played golf.
Oh, not too often.
Just mornings and afternoons.
Where do you play?
The country club.
She play too?
Who?
The girl on the dock.
Oh, Annalee.
Sure, she plays a good game.
Very hard to play?
Just aggravating.
Here, you unroll these mats
while I lock up.
Jimmy, will you do me a favor?
I don't know.
I need a check for $200 made out
to my father, Gus Stover.
Well, that's pretty thoughtful.
Hmm-mm. Strictly selfish.
Pop will show that money down
at the courthouse and the barber shop
and all over town, brag me up
as the biggest success story of the year.
It's worth a lot more
than $200 to me.
Okay, Cinderella, sold.
One check to Gus Stover for 200.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Gee, that will leave me with
2,000 even, won't it?
On the nose.
Trouble is, I hate to keep that
much money around.
Bank it.
Hmm-mm. It's against
the house rules.
Bertha says the income tax people
watch us pretty close.
She should know.
Jimmy, why don't you keep
my money in your bank account?
No, ma'am, nothing doing.
You know,
you're a pretty strange guy.
You said you thought
you understood me, but you don't.
I'm only trying to make you my friend.
I want to trust you with my money.
There isn't anything closer between
friends than that, is there?
Is there?
You could rent a safety deposit box
and keep it there for me, couldn't you?
You and your money.
Am I holding up progress
on the year's best-seller?
I haven't written anything decent
in a week.
Then let's chase the cobwebs
and shoot some golf.
Well, I... I can't right now.
What's wrong, Jimmy?
Not a thing.
My being here embarrasses you.
Where'd you get that idea?
Knowing you.
Are you expecting somebody?
Why would that embarrass me?
Is it Mamie Stover?
Yes. I sent Aki to pick her up.
She phoned
that she had to see me.
Business or pleasure?
That's not funny.
No, no, it isn't.
We haven't had a real laugh
in a long time, have we?
Oh, Annalee, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to snap.
Lately I've been putting
all the wrong words down on the paper
and saying the wrong ones, too.
It'll come out all right, I guess.
When you wind up your meeting,
I will be at the club.
Well, you don't have to leave.
I can't risk having you
hate me for staying.
Hey, you. Close the door.
Mr. Blair is waiting.
I'm back, Mr. Jim.
Yeah, and the door's still open.
Hi.
Huh! What a welcome.
Your servant treats me
like I'm his servant
and you light up
like a burned-out bulb.
What does this mean?
From Leesburg, Mississippi
to Mrs. James Blair.
I didn't think you'd mind.
"My dear daughter,
tell your husband
how much I appreciated
his check for $200."
Please, Jimmy, let me explain.
That's what I'm waiting for
and it better be good.
When I sent the check,
I had to write something.
I had to give my old man some explanation
about why I left San Francisco.
Well, I've been leaving
too many cities lately.
I wanted to keep him hoping,
Jimmy,
so I told him that I was
married to some guy
with a lot of money, and that he could
keep bragging me up downtown
about how I was gonna buy him a house,
and, you know, servants and mint juleps.
You had no right to do it.
I know.
At least you could have
mentioned it first.
Well, I was afraid you'd say no.
Jimmy, he doesn't write very often,
maybe four or five times a year.
Only when I send the money.
You know. Wouldn't it be all right?
Here's your letter.
Maybe I could keep the writing down
to two or three times, okay?
Okay.
Gee, this is sure
a nice house you got here.
You know, it's the first home
I've been in in several years.
Boy, this is the way to live
high up, looking down.
What did you want to see me about?
I am due at the country club.
Miss Hilltop?
I don't like that name.
I didn't mean it that way.
I wish I could trade places with her.
You know, there's different rights
for different people.
There's all kinds of don'ts for me
and not a single don't up here
on the hilltop.
There's lots of them on every hilltop
in the world.
Not the kind
that keep you from breathing.
You could breathe
back in Leesburg.
I'm holding
a lot of money for you, Mamie.
Take it and go home in style.
Make the biggest splash
in the town's history.
Settle down there with the same rights
as everyone else.
If you stay here, even if you make
a million dollars,
you will still have to live
with those don'ts.
Not me.
I'm gonna break every single one
of them wide open.
I'm gonna live in a house just like this,
maybe even bigger.
You just wait and see.
Jimmy, with enough money,
you can buy anything.
With a million dollars,
you can build a hilltop
higher than anybody else's.
Okay, it's your million and your life.
What is it you wanted?
I think I know how
to make that million.
Did you ever stop and think
what's gonna happen when the war comes?
Yes, people will die,
thousands and thousands of them.
Yeah, but some will get rich.
Look, there are dirty names
for people like that.
I'm used to dirty names.
- Let me tell you my idea.
- Oh, quit it.
I'm sick of listening to your ideas.
And I'm fed up with playing caretaker
to your bank account.
Every time you open your mouth,
you talk about money--
big money, small money,
money, money.
"I'm averaging 40 and $50
a night for my cut."
"There isn't anything closer
between friends than money."
What kind of a yardstick is that?
Don't you ever get sick
of measuring everything,
every human emotion
in terms of money?
No, Jimmy, I don't get sick of it.
But that's something only
another have-not would understand.
The difference is I was born with nothing
and raised on lots more of the same.
When you talk about money,
you're slumming.
When I talk about it, it's because
I'm just plain scared.
Mamie.
Mamie, wait, don't go.
I'm sorry.
I'm a stupid, bigoted,
opinionated jackass.
Oh, no, Jimmy.
No, you're nice. Always nice.
It's me who isn't.
The girl with the angles.
I like 'em.
Jimmy, your date, you gotta go.
You're gonna be late.
Oh, what a catch he is.
Now get downstairs.
- Don't, honey, don't!
- He'll kill you, too.
Let go of me!
Kill you!
Better than to kill you, too.
P-47s!
Boy, you're wacky.
They're P-36s.
- Bet you four trading cards.
- Bet you.
Don't you realize it's Sunday?
One minute, will you, Ma?
Give me a hot one, Lou.
You're off pretty soon, ain't ya?
A few more minutes.
Fine time for target practice.
We interrupt
to bring you an emergency warning.
Listen carefully.
The island of Oahu is being
attacked by enemyplanes.
The center of the attack
is Pearl Harbor.
We are under attack.
Do notgo out on the streets.
- Shut that door.
- And keep calm.
I want the Bungalow.
I mean 7-3-3-4-9.
I'm sorry, sir, all the circuits are...
This is the real McCoy...
It will only take
a few seconds.
The Party of the Rising Sun
has been seen
on the wings of these planes.
They are attacking Pearl Harbor.
Keep your radio on
and tell your neighbors to do the same.
Go on, get down
to the storeroom, everybody!
- They'll land...
- Get down there.
Mame!
Are you crazy?
You waiting here to get
your head blown off?
This is the break
we've been waiting for.
Come on, screwball.
No, wait, Jackie, wait. Come here.
Look down there, see?
They're all running, scared.
Getting out, well, not me.
I'm going to buy real estate
with every dollar I can raise.
I will get it
for ten cents on the dollar.
Keep stalling, you'll wind up buying
real estate in a cemetery.
- Ah, come on, kid!
- Okay.
Jim! Jim!
Where is he? Where's Mr. Jim?
What's the matter with you?
Where's Mr. Jim?
Gone. He's gone.
Stand by,
all militarypersonnel and police reserve.
Report for duty at once.
I repeat, stand by,
all militarypersonnel.
Where, Aki?
Where did he go?
I don't know.
Aki, you do know.
Tell me.
Mamie Stover.
Jimmy!
Oh, darling.
I couldn't get through
on the phone.
I didn't know
if you were all right.
You came after me.
Nobody else but me, just me.
I guess
I don't have it anymore.
I meet
a couple of thousand guys a year.
Half of 'em swear
they've got me in their blood,
not one of them crumbs
shows up to prove it.
- This is Jimmy.
- Who else?
Come on, kid, before Bertha
starts asking for us.
You're coming with me,
the hilltop is safer.
No, the store room's
the safest place.
- It's bomb-proof.
- Then get going.
Amen to that. Come on.
When the all-clear sounds,
I will try and phone you.
I won't be home.
I will be in the Army.
Why? Can't you wait
till they call your number?
They've been calling it all morning.
Now go on. Get down in the basement.
If you hear of any more bargains
like this, let me know.
Strictly cash.
This is no bargain.
This is stealing.
That's what I mean.
Well, all-all I have to do
is wait a couple of months
and I get 10,000 for the place.
Well, you do that, Mister.
Good-bye.
I tell you what,
make it 4,500 and it's a deal.
Quit it.
I will laugh myself to death.
Twenty-eight hundred cash,
now take it or leave it.
I haven't got time to haggle.
Four thousand.
Say, wait a minute.
- It's cash?
- Strictly.
Okay, I want to get over to the mainland.
I don't want any part of this war.
You know, I was intending to put
another building up here someday.
Well, don't worry about it, Mister.
I'll do it for you.
- You sleep good nights?
- Like a baby.
Come on,
let's sign those papers.
Sorry I'm late, Aki.
I was afraid no pass for you,
Mr. Jim.
My last one. Scuttlebutt says
we ship out tomorrow.
Did you bring Miss Stover
to the house?
Yes.
Why don't you like her?
You don't, do you?
It is rude for a servant to discuss
the acquaintances of his employer.
We've been together too many years
for you to suddenly start
spouting etiquette
or call yourself a servant.
I thought
we usually like the same people.
Yes, sir, usually.
You're a snob.
Yes, sir.
Dreaming?
Hmm-mm. Scheming.
Guess what?
No hints?
Okay, one.
Stomam Company, Incorporated.
What's that?
That's me.
Me, Jimmy.
S-T-O for Stover
and M-A-M for Mamie.
Sto-Mam Company, Incorporated.
I'm a corporation,
since yesterday.
Now you can buy and sell
all the real estate in Honolulu.
No, no, buying and renting.
And guess who
my biggest tenant is?
- Who?
- Uncle Sam.
Come here, landlord.
They're renting
everything in sight.
Including me.
Oh, I'm gonna miss you a lot
when you're gone, Jimmy.
I think I'm gonna miss you
more than that, Cinderella.
It will make coming home
that much nicer.
You know, all morning while I was waiting
for my CO to okay my pass,
I kept wondering and worrying
whether Aki was able to reach you.
I guess I like being with you.
In private places, just you and me
and the scenery.
No people.
Hey, the private places was your idea,
your Bungalow rules and regulations.
Yeah, I know, seems like today
oughta be different.
Wanna go somewhere and dance?
You mean some place
they don't sell tickets?
- Yes.
- Okay.
Aki? Aki?
Call the Halekulani Hotel.
A table for two
on Diamond Head Terrace.
Yes, sir.
Vince.
Two Rum Collins.
I don't think we should
have come here, Jimmy.
I don't think your friends
approve of me.
You mean my ex-friends.
Wouldn't it be better if we left?
You stay right where you are.
I just don't like them
staring at you.
Well, if they do,
I will dump the table in their laps.
Oh, no, Jimmy, please.
Let them stare if they want to,
but don't do anything embarrassing,
not in a place like this.
You're the lady in this crowd,
Cinderella.
You just give me time
and I will be.
You will be so darn proud of me,
you'll bust.
I'm busting already.
- How about a dance?
- Okay.
It sure feels good
not to have to collect tickets.
Is it good manners to kiss?
The best.
That someone you know?
Jimmy, I've got to go.
What for? I've got two more hours.
I'm not supposed to be
on this side of town.
- It's against the rules.
- Hey, relax.
There are no rules tonight,
remember?
Harry Adkins
doesn't take any excuses.
He's Bertha's muscle man.
Muscle man?
You mean he'd hurt you?
- Jimmy, please. Let's go.
- Sit down. I want to know.
He ever hit you?
Please don't argue with him.
Barroom fighting
is his business.
I beg your pardon, Soldier.
Miss Stover and I have
some business to discuss.
Sit down with us first, Mr. Adkins.
I have something funny to tell you.
Thank you, some other time, maybe.
Our business can't wait.
Now, don't be rude.
This won't take long.
You know, when I saw you coming in,
I said to Miss Stover,
"Look who's here, Harry Adkins.
Who will they let in next?"
A cockroach like Adkins
shouldn't be allowed
in the same room
with human beings.
I'm not looking for trouble
with you, soldier.
I know, I know, only with women.
You're a tough guy who can
lick any girl his weight.
Sometime, when you're out of uniform,
look me up and I'll tell you about it.
You just take off the glasses
and I will take care of the uniform.
Please, Jimmy.
Hit him again for me, Jimmy!
Lock him up.
Wait a minute, what for?
What for? Take your hands off him.
- Take it easy, Miss.
- Don't tell me what to do.
- Stay out of this, Mamie.
- Why don't you arrest the right guy?
He came barging in here
and threatened to beat me up.
- Beat you up?
- Yes, me.
That's his specialty,
beating up girls.
He works at the Bungalow.
Take your hands off him!
Okay, Sergeant,
release him.
What about this, Mister?
She's a liar.
Mister, where I come from,
we don't call ladies names.
She's no lady, she's a tramp,
and she's on the wrong side of town.
At ease, soldier, at ease.
I'll take over.
- Sergeant?
- Yes, sir?
I think he beats up women,
what do you think?
Yes, sir.
I think he does, too.
What kind of a gag
is this?
Shut up, Mister.
Sergeant, I'm gonna take
another look around at things.
Meanwhile,
why don't you and your partner
take this gentleman outside
and discuss things?
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Let's go talk, Mister.
Well, good night, soldier.
Have a pleasant evening.
- Good night, Miss.
- Thanks, Captain.
My apologies, Mr. Blair,
I must ask that you and this lady leave.
- Well, you can take your apologies--
- Don't, Jimmy.
We don't like it here anyway.
Go on, soldier.
One fight a night
is all I can allow you.
There's not gonna be any fight, Captain.
We're leaving.
Thank you, sir.
You run a real sloppy joint here,
don't you, boy?
You can't lick the whole island,
Jimmy.
I got a number on my back
and they all know it.
There aren't gonna be
any more numbers on your back.
You're quitting Bertha's tonight.
I love you, Mamie.
Not just in private,
but anywhere and everywhere.
No, Jimmy, not me.
I can't let you do that.
You mustn't ruin your life for me.
Now, don't argue.
After the war's over,
we can get married.
The world's a big place
with lots of room for us,
but no more Berthas.
Wherever I'm being sent,
I want to know that you're mine,
exclusively mine.
Jimmy, I am.
I am.
And good-bye, Bungalow.
Oh, yes, tonight, right now.
Jimmy, I'm so crazy,
dopey, happy.
This can't be happening to me,
not to me.
I love you, Cinderella.
Let's have a letter
from you once in a while, Aki.
Yes, sir.
- Keep safe, Mr. Jim.
- I will.
Mamie, I can arrange
to have money sent to you.
I won't need any, Jimmy, I will be fine.
I just want you to be all right.
I will be.
I'll write as often as I can.
I will, too, every day.
Every single day.
Would you rather leave Honolulu
and wait somewhere else?
Right here,
as long as it takes.
That's a contract, Cinderella.
This makes it legal.
Around this way,
it almost looks like the real thing.
You know how it's always
been with me, Harry.
The business comes first.
And Mamie Stover
is business?
Especially Mamie.
She brings them in,
you know that.
She's that special that she can break
the rules and get me beaten up?
I can't afford to have trouble with
the Military Police.
Once I'm placed off limits,
it's good-bye Bungalow.
Suppose I take a trip to one of
the other islands for a few days,
maybe a week, until it's forgotten.
That won't help.
I'm sorry, Harry,
but we have to part company.
Here's two months' pay.
After five years, it's,
"Here's your severance pay
and good-bye," just like that?
I've had your things packed.
Okay with me, Bertha.
I've been fed up anyway.
Gets monotonous spending all your time
with an ugly old--
Don't you say it, Harry.
Don't say it.
Mamie! You did it, kid!
- You did it.
- Tell us how you worked it.
- You were wonderful.
- Mamie, you sweetie pie.
Hey, do you know
he's got a broken lip?
- With a chair, busted his head.
- What's all this about?
Listen to
Abe Lincoln Stover.
You free us slaves and want to know
what it's all about.
Bertha gave old Four-Eyes
the gate.
- Out, finished, scrammed.
- You're kidding!
Ladies, please, please!
Not so flamboyant.
This is not a house of bedlam.
Mamie,
I'd like a moment of your time.
Finish dressing, ladies.
Never mind the lecture, Bertha.
You can't fire me, I quit.
Fire you?
What for?
Have a snort. Help yourself.
- No, thanks.
- This isn't the watered stuff.
No, I'm not drinking.
Well, I am.
With Harry gone, I don't have to mind
my Ps and Qs anymore.
Wonder why we're always
trying to be something we're not.
What's the matter with trying?
If you pitch hard enough,
you can make it.
That's what I used to think.
Harry told me I was different
so many times,
I began to believe the liar.
Well, all that's past now.
I'm going to show Mr. Adkins
I needed him around here like a hangover.
Mamie, I'm gonna build you
into the biggest thing
this business ever saw.
And I'm boosting your cut
to 35 percent.
The pardon came too late,
Bertha, because I'm leaving.
I only came in tonight
to pack my things.
Seriously?
Absolutely.
I'm going to prove you can be something
you're not supposed to be.
- Who's the salesman?
- What do you mean?
I mean, who's the guy
who talked you into
walking out on a gold mine?
His name doesn't matter.
No, I guess it doesn't.
They all give you the same pitch.
"I love you." Ugh!
"Be mine, exclusively mine."
"I can't stand sharing you
with anyone else."
- What's wrong with that?
- Nothing. Not a thing.
How many guys who prance
in here every night
have some broad
sitting around back home,
hanging on a promise
that will never be kept?
Well, this one will.
'Cause we're getting married
right after the war,
maybe even sooner.
Or maybe never.
Oh, tie it off, Bertha.
What would you know
about anything like this?
You never met anybody
like Jimmy.
Jimmy?
My salesman's name
was Phillip.
Phillie boy. 1918, the last war.
Good old Phillie boy.
He could promise you the whole world
in six-syllable words.
What would I know about
anything like this?
You're looking at a broad
who waited all through a war...
and then got brushed off.
Jimmy's not like that.
Neither was good old Phillie boy.
What am I complaining about?
The girl he married
has got old Phillie boy
and a one-way ticket to
a crummy four-room apartment.
But I've got a half-a-dozen annuities
and another fortune coming up.
The boom's started, Mamie,
and it'll grow through this war.
A million spenders coming through
the island every few months.
Well, I'd better get packed.
I tell you what.
I'll, uh...
I'll make it 40 percent.
I can't figure anyone walking away
from money like this.
I wish I didn't have to, Bertha...
but it was Jimmy's last leave
and he wanted me to promise,
and I promised.
Naturally. Look, I'll get you
a mailing address
in a good part of town
in case he writes to you.
What he doesn't know
won't hurt him, will it?
No, I guess not.
Look at it this way, Mamie.
Suppose your Jimmy is on the level,
like you say he is.
Suppose when he gets back home,
you can show him a bank book
with another 50 or 100,000 in it.
You think he'll object?
Show me a guy
whoever objected to a dowry.
Forty percent, Mamie,
the biggest cut in the place.
Make it 50.
Okay, 50...
but that's confidential,
just between us.
Yes.
Want a drink?
Yeah.
Hey, Captain, tell 'em to hurry up
and get them doors open.
There's a war on!
Too much jewelry on,
Peaches.
Take some of it off.
- Nina...
- Are you the proprietor, Madam?
I have that privilege.
I'm Captain Sumac,
in command of
the Military Police detail for this area.
It's a great pleasure
to make your acquaintance, sir.
What can I do for you?
We've received complaints
from servicemen about overcharging.
The Bungalow?
That's preposterous.
I'm not here to debate it,
Madam.
I'm here to tell you that if
these complaints continue,
your establishment
will be placed off-limits.
Well, you have my word,
my most solemn word,
there'll be no further complaints.
Ladies, I want you to hear Colonel...
What was the name? Summer?
- Sumac.
- Sumac.
Eldon Sumac,
and it's Captain.
Thank you very much, sir.
I'm delighted that Captain Sumac is here
to see the high type of our personnel.
Would you like to stay with us
and judge for yourself?
Yes. Yes, I think I will.
Wonderful.
Miss Stover, show Captain Sumac
into the cocktail lounge.
Glad I'm getting a chance
to thank you for the other day.
Huh. I just did that
to make my sergeant happy.
He enjoyed talking things
over with Mr. Adkins.
You tell your sergeant
that he talks good.
Oh, can I buy you a drink?
Yeah, thanks. Soda pop only.
- I'm on duty.
- Two soda pops.
- Soda pop?
- Mm-hmm.
You don't have to go
the soda pop way.
Oh, I can take it if you can.
Charlie, Henry,
open up the door.
Smile, ladies, smile.
Make our heroes welcome.
Smile, smile, smiles
will make 'em welcome.
Come on. Smile, everybody.
The usual, Gladys,
the usual.
Don't your ship ever sail,
Tarzan?
I got no ship. I'm on special duty.
Where, here?
Quit making me nervous
and give me some tickets.
I'll tell you what, Tarzan,
I'll throw in some extras
if you tell me what you do
with all these tickets.
Come on, come on,
you're not old enough.
Do you know how long
you'll be stationed in Honolulu?
Well, quite a while, I hope.
Well, if you mean me, I don't think
it'll do you much good.
You know, we don't
do business with officers.
Oh...
What do you do with yourself
in the daytime?
Rest up for the nighttime.
Four tickets, Mister.
Pay now.
Oh, honey,
this is on the house.
All right.
Well, Okole maluna,
and thanks again for the other day.
To you.
Captain, do you play golf?
Middle 80s.
What's that?
My average score.
I shoot 84, 85, thereabouts.
They let you play
at the country club?
Congress says I'm an officer
and a gentleman.
Would they let you bring a friend,
you know, somebody
that wanted to learn the game?
When and what time, pupil?
Tomorrow morning
would be just swell, teacher.
Whenever you're watching
A hula girl dance
You gotta be careful
You're tempting romance
Don't keep your eyes
On her hips
Her naughty hula hips
Just keep your eyes
On the hands
Remember
She's telling a story to you
Her opu is swaying
But don't watch the view
Don't concentrate on the swing
It doesn't mean a thing
Keep your eyes on the hands
And when she goes
Around the island
Swinging hips so tantalizing
Just keep your eyes
Where they belong
Because the hula has a feeling
That'll send your senses reeling
It makes a weak man strong
Your eyes are revealing
I'm fooling no one
No use in concealing
We're having some fun
But ifyou're too young to date
Or over 98
Keep your eyes on the hands
They tell the story
Keep your eyes
On the hands
Now, lesson number one
is the grip.
The left hand,
shake hands with it like that.
Overlap the little finger
of the right hand like that.
Try it.
No, no, no, that's not it.
What do you say we try it
the way they do it in the movies?
Like this?
Just relax
and get comfortable, pupil.
Not too comfortable, huh?
You won't learn anything
that way.
Neither will you.
I don't know
any other way to teach.
Oh, sure you do.
Just pretend I'm one of the fellas.
Sound, very sound advice.
Now, sir, pay very close attention
to lesson number one.
Darling, first ofall,
you've got to stop sending me money
and worrying about how I'm making out.
All those buildings I bought and rented
are paying offlike slot machines.
You were right, I should have
quit the Bungalowlong ago.
And now for the big, big news.
Your Mississippi Cinderella
knows how to playgolf.
I've already had two lessons,
and where do you think I play,
Mr. Corporal Blair?
Why, naturally, the country club.
Do your reading in the library,
Corporal.
We're moving out.
On your feet!
Get going!
More of a lonely hearts expression,
Mamie.
Madam, if you please.
Now, Miss Stover,
not lonely hearts.
Give me that
come-hither look.
That's it. Yes, yes, provocative,
definitely provocative.
Steady, steady. Excellent.
- Excellent.
- You finished?
Yes.
I'm going to have this photograph blown up
so it will be six or seven feet high.
You know, I wonder how I'd do
if I opened a place of my own.
Oh, don't bluff me, Mamie.
You don't have the kind of money
a place like this takes.
That, plus.
My rentals are bringing in
4,000 a month.
As it happens,
I was going to raise you
to 60 percent.
You did say 70, didn't you?
Yes, 70.
Ah, Bertha, you're a doll.
See you in the chicken patch.
Might as well get my own pin-up.
Can't tell the girls
without a photograph, men.
Wow, is that Mamie flaming
or is she flaming?
Say, where's
this line go, Mac?
What difference does it make,
dog-face? Just fall in.
Any line this long has to be for
whiskey, watermelon, or women.
- Hey!
- 99!
Come on, champ,
it's drinking time.
If I'd judged the roll better on
the seventh, I'd have had another par.
How do you like that?
She finally breaks
the hundred and bellyaches.
That's me.
Wait will I write Jimmy.
Let's skip the corporal today.
He's a sergeant now.
Quiet, lady, I still outrank him.
Not with me.
Hello, George.
Two of the usual, please.
You know, Mamie,
the trouble with you is
you're passing up
a real good thing,
me, for a very small maybe.
How are your wife
and children, Eldon?
Why remind me?
They're way back East, 6,000 miles away.
So's your sergeant,
only he's west of here.
The poet who said,
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder,"
he was running off at the mouth.
That's like asking a hungry man
to just look at a sirloin steak
but keep thinking about the one
he's got home in the icebox.
I'm against starvation, Mamie.
Yeah, my instincts told me that
the first golf lesson.
Sure, I'm run-of-the-mill,
common clay.
But so are you.
We can both spot a penny
rolling the wrong way.
It'd be a lot easier
doing the spotting together.
Let's talk about something else,
shall we?
Don't let this blue blood atmosphere
go to your head, Mamie.
I'm just doing
some simple arithmetic.
Listen, this war might last
another few years, you know.
We're both here for the duration,
a long, long way from my family
and your Jimmy.
Quit it, Eldon.
You're way off base.
That's kind of sudden
and unbecoming, isn't it?
I mean,
this injured innocence routine.
You're not the type
to have stars in your eyes
or kid yourself
into believing that some guy
is coming back here to marry you.
It just doesn't go
with selling tickets.
Hey, get a load
of my new pin-up.
Get your own, man,
get your own.
Flaming Mamie
belongs to me.
Just let me look, boy.
Looking ain't touching.
That ain't for real, it can't be.
Man, that's the realest real
you ever seen.
- Where'd you get it, Mike?
- That's a Honolulu broad.
A C Company replacement
had a lot of prints made
when he was in Honolulu
last month.
He's selling them
for two bucks a copy.
Boy must be making
a million.
I gotta buy me one of those
for my lonesome nights.
How do you like it, Sarge?
Boy, if I ever get to Honolulu,
I'm heading straight for Flaming Mamie's
and see if she is real.
That pain?
No, sir.
Here?
No, sir.
Fine.
We can check you out today.
- Any chance of a furlough, Major?
- Of course.
For a shoulder wound,
I always recommend a week.
Sergeants ten days.
Okay, let's go!
It's your deal.
Ah-ah-ah. Shuffle the cards.
Gin.
Ifyou dance with Mamie
Take a chance with Mamie
The chances are you'll find
Romance with Mamie
There are no stars in the sky
For the stars are all in Mamie's eyes
Anylad for Mamie
Would go mad for Mamie
And give up all he ever had for Mamie
Fellas who try to resist
Ought to hire a psychiatris...
Hello, honey, you waiting for Mamie?
Jimmy!
Oh, darling! Oh, my darling!
I'm not your darling.
I'm just another GI
off that line outside.
Oh, no, Jimmy.
How many?
Please. Listen, please listen.
Here, collect your tickets.
Jimmy, I know I'm wrong.
I didn't realize how wrong,
but I'll spend the rest of my life
making it up to you.
Not with me, you won't.
Jimmy, don't say that.
I-I didn't mean to hurt you.
I thought you'd understand.
I just wanted to make
all the money I could so we--
Anything for a dollar, Mamie.
The Flaming Cinderella.
No more, never again.
I swear, never again.
We will go away, anyplace you say.
We'll start all over again,
make the kind of life
you said we could build.
That's long past for us.
You don't need me.
I do, Jimmy, I do.
Oh, please, Jimmy, please.
Mamie. Mamie, please.
Please sit down.
I know when I came here,
I was filled with bitterness and hate,
but now that's all gone.
Suddenly I realized you don't understand.
All your life, you've dreamed
and prayed for money
and now you've got it,
and you will always want
more and more.
I don't rate sitting in judgment of you
or the privilege
of being bitter and hating.
Anyway...
I couldn't hate you.
Not you.
Or love me either.
We're different, Mamie.
We don't think the same
about how life should be lived.
But she does.
Annalee thinks the same.
It is Annalee, isn't it?
I don't know.
I don't know if Annalee
would even see me.
Is that why
you came by here first?
To brush me off
and tell me that once a tramp
always a tramp?
Oh, no, Mamie.
That was the idea, but no more.
One of these days,
if we ever run into each other,
the words would be different.
Easier and friendlier.
Your time's up, Mister.
Yeah, I guess it is.
I don't need to get to the hilltop
on anybody else's back.
I'm there now,
on the highest hill on the island.
And the biggest house.
Jimmy...
Anylad for Mamie
Would go mad for Mamie
And give up all he ever had for Mamie
Fellas who try to resist
Ought to hire a psychiatrist
Oh, the glow that lights the skies up
The lines of traffic that she ties up
When she rolls those big brown eyes up
Oh, happy, happy, happy day
Willows weep for Mamie
Lovers leap for Mamie
Van Winkle woke up
From his sleep for Mamie
Line starts to form on the right
Ifyou want to see Mamie tonight
Ifyou want to see Mamie tonight
Ifyou want to see Mamie tonight
Mamie.
Nothing's changed, Mamie.
You're still not welcome
in San Francisco.
I'm just passing through.
I'm on my way home.
- Mississippi?
- Leesburg.
Looks like you didn't do too good
in Honolulu.
If I told you I made a fortune
and given it all away,
would you believe me?
No.
I didn't think you would.
Is it all right if I head out
for the airport?
Hop in, we'll give you a lift.
Thank you.