Not Rated | 30min | Comedy, Crime, Drama, TV Series | Episode aired 14 October 1954
A girl at a boarding school is neglected by her family and grows depressed, until she becomes infatuated with a vacationing newspaper correspondent who befriends her.
Director: Roy Kellino
Writers: Frederick J. Lipp
Stars: Dick Powell, Joanne Woodward, Nana Bryant
A girl at a boarding school is neglected by her family and grows depressed, until she becomes infatuated with a vacationing newspaper correspondent who befriends her.
Director: Roy Kellino
Writers: Frederick J. Lipp
Stars: Dick Powell, Joanne Woodward, Nana Bryant
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Bristol-Myers Four Star Playhouse presents Dick Powell, Charles Boyer, David Nibbin,
00:18Joan Fontaine.
00:22Tonight on Four Star Playhouse, we present Dick Powell in Interlude.
00:49I suppose we could take Vicki, Miss Dearing, if you wanted us to.
00:52I don't insist if you don't want to.
00:53Well, it isn't that we haven't tried, Miss Dearing.
00:56We have, really.
00:57But...
00:58But what?
00:59We've all roomed with Vicki at one time or another.
01:00We've all tried to draw her out.
01:02She's an awfully nice girl and everything, but she just won't make herself fit in.
01:07Honestly, Miss Dearing, I hate to talk about her this way, but...
01:11Well, honestly, on a date, she doesn't know how to act or what to say or even how to have
01:15fun.
01:17Whatever the answer is, it's too late now.
01:19Graduation is Tuesday.
01:20And if you don't want to invite Victoria tonight, I won't ask you to.
01:24Run along now.
01:25Oh, and don't forget to sign out when you leave.
01:27Yes, Miss Dearing.
01:28What's she going to wear tonight?
01:29The red dress.
01:30Hey, wait a minute.
01:31Come on, Joanne.
01:32Okay.
01:33What are you wearing?
01:34Wait a minute, Miss Dearing.
01:35Can I have this one?
01:36I haven't seen it.
01:37It's here.
01:38Victoria.
01:39Come in, dear.
01:40Come in.
01:41I want to talk to you.
01:42Sit down.
01:43I didn't keep you waiting, did I?
01:44Tell me, dear.
01:45Had you planned terribly on your parents being here for graduation?
01:46Well, they...
01:47They wrote me last week.
01:48They probably didn't want me to be here.
01:49Oh, dear.
01:50Oh, dear.
01:51Oh, dear.
01:52Oh, dear.
01:53Oh, dear.
01:54Oh, dear.
01:55Oh, dear.
01:56Oh, dear.
01:57Oh, dear.
01:58Oh, dear.
01:59Oh, dear.
02:00Oh, dear.
02:01Oh, dear.
02:02Oh, dear.
02:03Oh, dear.
02:04Oh, dear.
02:05Oh, dear.
02:06Oh, dear.
02:07I gave them work in my shop last week.
02:09They promised that...
02:10I'm afraid, dear, they won't be able to make it.
02:11They...
02:12Oh, here, you may read it.
02:13It doesn't matter.
02:14Don't you want to read it?
02:19I've seen them before.
02:20It doesn't matter.
02:21I know it does, called me.
02:22These past four years here haven't been very happy ones for you, dear, have they?
02:28It's been all right.
02:30I guess maybe I just didn't fit in.
02:32That's all.
02:33But you have, dear, you fitted in splendidly.
02:35You don't have to say that, Miss Dearing. I heard what they said about me.
02:40Are they right, Miss Dearing? Is there something wrong with me?
02:43No, dear, there's nothing wrong. Tell me, what are you planning to do tonight?
02:49I don't know. Go for a walk, maybe. Down by the wharf.
02:54Why do you always go there?
02:56Just like it. I can go down there and read and watch the fishing boats come in.
03:03Well, I suppose if you like it so much. Don't stay late.
03:08I won't.
03:27Oh, I hope I didn't frighten you.
03:29That's all right.
03:31Say, as long as you're there, would you mind giving me a hand?
03:34Snub that spring line.
03:38You got it?
03:39Yes.
03:40That's a good thing you came along. I don't think I could have made it alone.
03:49Looks like a pretty good hitch. Looks like you've been around boats before.
03:53My father sails.
03:56What kind of a boat?
03:58His latest one is a 12 meter.
04:00Oh, that's a way out of my class, as you can see.
04:04I think you have a very nice boat.
04:06It's all right. Old and slow and ugly, but she's good in a blow.
04:16Oh, I forgot. You were carrying a book that fell, didn't you?
04:20Oh, that doesn't matter.
04:22Maybe I can replace it for you.
04:24No, you don't have to do that.
04:26Oh, yes, I do. Now, what was it?
04:29It was a book of poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
04:33Oh, Elizabeth Browning.
04:36Well, they certainly can't let you do without her.
04:39I think I've got a copy in the cabin. Belonged to my wife. I'll get it.
04:46Say, tell me, what's a little girl doing alone on a deserted wharf reading Elizabeth Browning?
04:52Well, I'm just from the school up there, Lowell Hall.
04:57I just come down here to read.
05:00Well, I can see why you would, but it's getting dark. Do they leave you out like this?
05:05No, not usually, but tonight's a date night, and they let us stay out longer.
05:11Well, why aren't you dating?
05:15I'd just like to come down here.
05:18You know, you're smart. Why waste a whole evening when you can spend it better here with our friend, Mrs. Browning?
05:23As long as you haven't got anything to do, would you like to have a bite with me?
05:27No, I couldn't do that. Thank you very much, though.
05:30I've got a raft of sandwiches in the cabin. Thermos jug full of hot coffee. Drink coffee.
05:35Fine. I'll go below and get everything.
05:38And while I'm there, I'll find Mrs. Browning. She can join us, too.
05:44That's my name on the front page there. They call me either Chris or Bill.
05:49What's your name?
05:51Victoria. Victoria Lee Hallock.
05:54Vicky, for short?
05:57Why don't you try another one of those chicken sandwiches?
06:00I couldn't. I'm stuffed.
06:02How about pouring some more coffee?
06:04You do it. I might spill it or something.
06:08Oh, nonsense. You're the hostess. You pour. I'm tired.
06:11Besides, I want to be waited on.
06:13I came up from Marblehead this morning. No wind. Heavy swell.
06:17Where are you going?
06:19This is the end of the line. I'm selling the boat.
06:22Oh. And then?
06:25I don't know. I don't seem to think very far ahead these days.
06:29How about it?
06:31I'll see you later.
06:34You're having fun?
06:37So am I.
06:40That's what I need. Lots of fun.
06:43Why?
06:45Oh, no. That's a good question. I wish I knew the answer.
06:49I just need a little bit of fun.
06:52I don't know. I just need a little bit of fun.
06:55I don't know. I just need a little bit of fun.
06:58I don't know. I just need a little bit of fun.
07:01I don't know the answer.
07:04I just need fun. That's all.
07:07I suppose you might say it's about the only thing that keeps my business from being intolerable.
07:12I'm a correspondent.
07:14You mean you don't live in this country?
07:17I was in China right after the war and then Japan. Just got back.
07:21Well, how long are you going to be here?
07:24Not long. I just pried two weeks of vacation away from my editors.
07:28Just to pile up.
07:30That's why I say you've got to have fun in my business. You're always on the move.
07:34Everywhere you go, there's hunger and pain and dying.
07:38And you get tired. Dead tired.
07:41I know.
07:43Hmm?
07:46Well, I can imagine how you must feel.
07:50You know, you just might.
07:54In an odd sort of way, you might at that.
08:00Well, where are you going after...
08:03After this?
08:05I don't know. They haven't told me yet. Tokyo, maybe.
08:09Is your wife going with you?
08:11No.
08:13No, we're... we're divorced.
08:17Oh, I'm sorry.
08:19So am I. She got tired of the marriage and wanted a divorce.
08:22We called the whole thing off and she remarried.
08:26And you didn't?
08:28No.
08:30How was our boat? We used to sail a lot on her.
08:33We used to live right here, practically.
08:36Oh, I guess that's why I kept the boat.
08:39And now you're selling it.
08:41Uh-huh.
08:43But would it mean so much?
08:45I suppose that's why I'm selling it. It means too much.
08:52Well, I... I guess I'd better be going.
08:55Oh, I forgot. What time's curfew for you?
08:58Nine o'clock.
08:59Oh, it's nearly 9.30. Come on.
09:02I'll walk you back to school.
09:03Oh, you don't have to do that.
09:05Are you sure you won't get in trouble with the headmistress?
09:07No, it'll be all right.
09:09Okay, then, as long as you won't get in trouble.
09:16Will you be here tomorrow?
09:18Sure. You never get finished working on a boat.
09:22If you're not doing anything, drop down tomorrow and give me a hand.
09:26I think you had better go, though, now, before it gets too late.
09:30Yes, I guess I better.
09:32But I'll be down tomorrow.
09:34Good.
09:36You won't go away, will you?
09:38No, no, no. I promise.
09:41Bye.
09:42Bye-bye.
09:53Pardon me. Is there a Mr. Christopher stopping here?
09:56Yes, he's sitting right over there.
10:02Pardon me. Are you Mr. Christopher?
10:04Yes.
10:05I'm Grace Dearing, headmistress at Lowell Hall.
10:08Won't you sit down, please?
10:10Weather?
10:11I don't care for anything, thank you.
10:13Never mind.
10:15Now, what can I do for you, Miss Dearing, is it?
10:21You know, you seem to have made quite an impression on the Halleck girl.
10:25Like what?
10:26The girl who was with you on the wharf this evening, Mr. Christopher.
10:30I've known Victoria for four years.
10:32She's not the kind who makes friends easily.
10:35When she told me about you and I saw the excitement you seemed to have created in her,
10:39I felt I had to find out the kind of person you were.
10:43Pretty ordinary kind, I guess.
10:46Not from the girl's description.
10:48Now, look, Miss Dearing.
10:51The girl was on the dock when I pulled in with my boat.
10:54She lost a book of poems. I gave her another.
10:56We talked a while, had some sandwiches.
10:58She went back to school and that was all.
11:02Oh, I'm quite sure that was all.
11:04Well, I asked her to come down to the dock again tomorrow and give me a hand with my boat.
11:09I know, she told me.
11:11Is it all right?
11:12Why did you ask her?
11:15Well, she seemed lonely.
11:17Seemed to like boats. I thought she might enjoy something like that.
11:20It's not so much a question of enjoy as it is of need.
11:24Victoria is a lonely child. Much too lonely.
11:27How do you mean?
11:28Her parents.
11:30I don't think the family is together more than a month and a year.
11:34Victoria's been in private schools ever since she was a child.
11:37Farmed out to girls' camps in the summer.
11:40They're not even coming to see her graduate Tuesday.
11:43No explanation. Just, sorry darling, love.
11:48And what happens to her on graduation day?
11:50Well, in such cases, I give the girl a big bouquet of flowers and her diploma.
11:55Then after the others have gone, I stand by while she cries herself out.
12:00Maybe I did the right thing by asking her to come down tomorrow.
12:04Oh yes, it was the very right thing.
12:07Are you planning on being here long?
12:09No. No, I've sold my boat.
12:11The new owner's picking it up tomorrow.
12:13I'll leave as soon as possible.
12:15Well, I must get back to the school.
12:17May I walk you home?
12:18It's not necessary, thank you.
12:20Then you will see Vicki tomorrow?
12:22Yes, yes, I promise.
12:23Good. Good night.
12:24Good night.
12:30We're getting a late start.
12:31We'll have to hurry to make around Suffolk head by dark.
12:33She'll make it easy. All right, Joe, move her away.
12:36Thanks a lot for closing the deal today.
12:38Forget it. Have a nice trip.
12:47Well, that's that.
12:50You were a big help today, Vicki.
12:52I'd have never gotten her ready without you.
12:55Fritz.
12:58Do you feel awfully bad about it?
13:02No. I've been trying to get rid of her for a long time.
13:05Bergman made me a good offer.
13:07You can't hang on to things.
13:10I guess not.
13:13It's all right, Vicki. Really.
13:22Any plans tonight?
13:24No.
13:26Oh. Would you like to have dinner and give the boat a send-off?
13:30I'd love to.
13:31Okay, it's a date.
13:33She was a good boat.
13:35We'll give her a good send-off.
13:39So, Mac said, Mr. Christopher...
13:41Of course, he never called me that unless he was deadly serious.
13:43He says, Mr. Christopher, the first thing you've got to learn
13:45is that writing a really humorous story is no laughing matter.
13:49I think that's because I laughed at all my own jokes.
13:51Anyway, that's why I decided to become a correspondent instead of a magazine writer.
13:55Oh, Chris.
13:56All I do is laugh tonight.
13:58I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my whole life.
14:00That's what we came here for, wasn't it?
14:02We're giving her a good send-off, aren't we? The boat, I mean.
14:04Oh, yes. Maybe I should be conventional and propose a toast.
14:07Shall we?
14:08Make it very brave and beautiful and high-sounding.
14:11Oh, no, no. She wasn't that kind of a boat.
14:14Maybe you could toast a 12-meter that way, but certainly not this one.
14:17No, she was old and...
14:19And slow and ugly.
14:22All those things, yeah.
14:24But she was mine.
14:26Here's to a very great lady.
14:28Good luck to her, always.
14:32That wasn't just for the boat, was it?
14:35No, I suppose not entirely.
14:38She was the last thing we had together.
14:40It was funny about things and things.
14:44Furniture.
14:45The house.
14:46The boat.
14:48The book.
14:50So many things.
14:52A boat.
14:54A book.
14:56Sometimes they become living things.
15:00Well, that's all in the past anyway, right?
15:02Now everything's very comfortable, very pleasant.
15:04That's what really counts.
15:06Chris,
15:08Tuesday's our graduation at school,
15:10and my family isn't going to be here,
15:12and I wondered if you're going to be here,
15:14and you're not doing anything, maybe you could come and...
15:17I'm sorry, Vicki. I'm not going to be here.
15:20But I thought...
15:21If I hadn't closed the deal on the boat today,
15:23I would have stayed around a few days.
15:25But as it is, I'm going up to Bangor tomorrow
15:27to meet an old friend of mine, Doc Earnsley.
15:29We're going to do a little trout fishing.
15:33Oh.
15:34I'm really sorry.
15:38Well, it doesn't matter.
15:40Really, it doesn't. It's just that...
15:43Vicki.
15:46Don't be afraid. I'm not going to cry.
15:49It's just that...
15:50You've been so good to me,
15:52and I thought you were going to be here.
15:55Now you're going, and...
15:58I liked you so much.
16:02Excuse me.
16:03I think I'd better make a phone call.
16:05Long distance.
16:10Doc Earnsley.
16:20I'm sorry.
16:41You know, I bet I can get a chord around 4.30,
16:43and then I could borrow a racket from one of the girls for you.
16:46No, no. This is one thing I'm passing up.
16:48The promise tonight, I'm supposed to keep you busy practically every dance.
16:51Not practically every. Every!
16:53That's what I mean. All that stamina.
16:56I'm about 20 years slower, older, and less dashing than you.
17:0020 years? You make it sound so old.
17:02And it is old.
17:04If I hadn't married at 20, you could be my daughter.
17:07You may think of it that way, but I don't.
17:09How do you think of it?
17:15As if you were my...
17:17Your grandfather.
17:19Now, dear, if I'm going to the prom tonight,
17:21there are a lot of other things I've got to tend to first,
17:23like maybe taking a nap.
17:26So you be good, run along, and I'll pick you up at 8.30 sharp.
17:29Be on time.
17:30Bye-bye.
17:31Bye.
17:39Hello?
17:40Yeah, hold on a moment.
17:42Miss Christopher?
17:44New York calling.
17:47Hello?
17:50Hello?
17:51Hello?
17:52Oh, Ed, no.
17:54What's the matter, Ed?
17:56What?
17:58No. No, I can't come, Ed.
18:01No, I...
18:03Oh, come on, can't you stall him a few days?
18:05Give me a break.
18:07Well, I...
18:08No, I...
18:11All right, all right.
18:12What do you want me...
18:13Well, there's a train out of here in a little over half an hour.
18:15I suppose I could get that one.
18:18All right.
18:19Yeah.
18:20Yeah, thanks.
18:21Thanks for nothing.
18:23Clerk.
18:24Yes, sir?
18:25Would you see if you can get me a seat on that 9 o'clock train from New York?
18:28Yes, sir.
18:37Reservation, please.
18:40The line's busy.
18:41Do you mind trying it for me while I go upstairs and pack 334?
18:43Yes, sir.
18:48I'm sorry, sir, that number's been busy right along.
18:52I'll try it once more.
19:01Hello?
19:02Who?
19:03Victoria Howick?
19:04Well, I don't think so.
19:05She isn't around.
19:06Well, is Miss Dearing anywhere around?
19:08No.
19:09She's taking care of the prom arrangement.
19:10Would you like to leave a message?
19:12Yes.
19:13Now, look, will you be sure that Vicki gets this message?
19:15Tell her that Chris called.
19:16Chris.
19:17You got that?
19:18Tell her I just received a very important call from my home office,
19:21and I've only got a few minutes to catch a train.
19:23And I can't come to the prom.
19:25Tell her how sorry I am, and then I'll explain later.
19:28Now, will you be sure that Vicki gets the message?
19:31Oh, sure.
19:32I'd be glad to give it to her.
19:34Goodbye, and thank you.
19:36Message for you, Vicki.
19:38That's a fabulous gown.
19:42Message?
19:43Oh, Chris says to tell you he can't come.
19:47Chris said he couldn't come?
19:49Business or some stuff like that.
19:52He didn't say he couldn't come.
19:54He said he couldn't come.
19:56He said he couldn't come.
19:58He said he couldn't come.
20:00He said he couldn't come.
20:02He said he couldn't come.
20:04Didn't he say anything else?
20:06Uh-uh.
20:07Oh, just that he was sorry.
20:08Well, tough break, kid.
20:10Bye now.
20:22Oh.
20:23Hello, Miss Derry.
20:25That was a pretty disappointed child you didn't take to the prom last night.
20:29I'm very sorry.
20:30There was something wrong with my papers,
20:31and I had to go back to New York to get them straightened out.
20:33I couldn't get her on the phone, so I dropped in here.
20:35Of course.
20:36It wasn't your fault.
20:37You're here now.
20:38That's the important thing.
20:39Well, at least for 24 hours.
20:41I promised Vicki I'd be here for her graduation.
20:45Was she disappointed with my message last night?
20:48She understood.
20:50First love, Mr. Christopher.
20:52A strange thing.
20:54A big one, too.
20:55She didn't blame you at all.
20:57Well, please.
21:00Yes.
21:04And now, as I call the name of each graduate,
21:08she will come to the center of the platform
21:10and receive her diploma in the presence of her parents and friends.
21:15Elizabeth Ann Ainslie.
21:23Carol Frances Adams.
21:26Joanne Garson.
21:32Victoria Lee Hallock.
21:39Victoria Lee Hallock.
21:56Mary Jane Hunter.
22:03Hello, Vicki.
22:04Congratulations.
22:15Well, I knew you had a reason, a good one.
22:17And you came back anyway.
22:19That's all that matters.
22:20Well, I had to.
22:22We don't have very much time, do we?
22:24No, not much.
22:26It goes so fast.
22:27It always does.
22:29Well, I've been through this a thousand times.
22:31Goodbyes at home, at the station,
22:33docks and embarkation points.
22:34It's always the same.
22:35You never really get used to it.
22:37Tonight, it's as though it were happening for the first time.
22:42Hey, your hands are cold.
22:44So are yours.
22:47Oh, Chris, there's so many things I want to tell you,
22:49and I don't know how to say them.
22:51Maybe I know without you telling me.
22:54No, you couldn't.
22:56Last night, when I thought you'd gone,
23:00I just wanted to die.
23:02I didn't think anything could hurt like that ever again.
23:06And now it's even worse.
23:09Because I know you're going, and I won't ever see you again.
23:13How do you know?
23:15I just know.
23:17We'll keep in touch.
23:18We'll write.
23:21This is all I know.
23:24Oh, Chris, I want to tell you.
23:26You don't have to tell me.
23:27I think I understand.
23:29Do you?
23:30Your eyes, your face, they talk for you.
23:34Chris, I owe you so much.
23:38Do you mind my loving you?
23:40Mind?
23:43Victoria, let's, uh, let's not be humble about this.
23:47You don't owe me anything.
23:49I don't owe anyone who owes you.
23:52You've done so much for me, I just can't say or explain.
23:57Ever since the divorce, it's been like,
24:00like I was dead.
24:01I never felt anything, not even pain.
24:04But these past few days, just knowing you and being with you,
24:08it's like something inside me has started to live again.
24:13And I'm grateful.
24:15Somehow, the past is going out of me.
24:18I owe you so much, Vicky.
24:27This is it.
24:30Now, the cab's waiting, dear.
24:32Go to it right now.
24:33But, Chris.
24:34We've said everything.
24:36I know.
24:37And you do, too.
24:42Goodbye, Victoria.
25:07Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of Four Star Playhouse
25:10and all the members of the Bristol Myers Organization,
25:13thank you for being with us this evening.
25:15I hope you enjoyed our play and that you'll be with us again next week.
25:18Good night.
25:40© BF-WATCH TV 2021