why should you think i wouldn't be?
i hope you don't mind my speaking to you.
i've seen you so often - it took every bit of courage i could raise-
you're margo channing's best friend. you and your husband are always with her - and mr. sampson.  what's he like?
he's the best.
oh, no. i see the play.
standing room doesn't cost much. i manage.
oh, no.
no, i'd be imposing on her, i'd be just another tongue-tied gushing fan.
but if i'd known.  maybe some other time.  i mean, looking like this.
eve. eve harrington.
you can breathe it - can't you? like some magic perfume.
i thought you'd forgotten about me.
hello, miss channing.
how do you do, mr. richards.
thank you.
no, thank you. yes. i've seen every performance.
i'd like anything miss channing played.
please, don't misunderstand me, mr. richards. i think that part of miss channing's greatness lies in her ability to choose the best plays.  your new play is for miss channing, isn't it, mr. richards?
there was an item in the times. i like the title. 'footsteps on the ceiling'.
well. if i didn't come to see the play, i wouldn't have anywhere else to go.
not with you in them. not by mr. richards.
if i only knew how.
well.
well.  it started with the play before this one.
san francisco. it was the last week. i went one night.  the most important night in my life - until this one. anyway.  i found myself going the next night - and the next and the next. every performance. then, when the show went east - i went east.
it couldn't possibly interest you.
i guess it started back home. wisconsin, that is. there was just mum, and dad - and me. i was the only child, and i made believe a lot when i was a kid - i acted out all sorts of things.  what they were isn't important. but somehow acting and make-believe began to fill up my life more and more, it got so that i couldn't tell the real from the unreal except that the unreal seemed more real to me.  i'm talking a lot of gibberish, aren't i?
farmers were poor in those days, that's what dad was - a farmer. i had to help out. so i quit school and i went to milwaukee. i became a secretary. in a brewery. when you're a secretary in a brewery - it's pretty hard to make believe you're anything else. everything is beer. it wasn't much fun, but it helped at home - and there was a little theater group.  like a drop of rain in the desert. that's where i met eddie. he was a radio technician. we played 'liliom' for three performances, i was awful - then the war came, and we got married. eddie was in the air force - and they sent him to the south pacific. you were with the o.w.i., weren't you mr. richards? that's what 'who's who' says.  well, with eddie gone, my life went back to beer. except for a letter a week. one week eddie wrote he had a leave coming up. i'd saved my money and vacation time. i went to san francisco to meet him. eddie wasn't there. they forwarded the telegram from milwaukee - the one that came from washington to say that eddie wasn't coming at all. that eddie was dead.  .  so i figured i'd stay in san francisco. i was alone, but couldn't go back without eddie. i found a job. and his insurance helped.  and there were theaters in san francisco. and one night margo channing came to play in 'remembrance'.  and i went to see it. and - well - here i am.
you didn't hurt my feelings, miss coonan.
eve. eve harrington.
i think i'd better. it's been - well, i can hardly find the words to say how it's been.
the four of you must have so much to say to each other - with mr. sampson leaving.
well - if i'm not in the way.
i'll be at the old stand, tomorrow matinee-
i'd like that.
i hope so, mr. richards. good night.
mrs. richards. .  i'll never forget this night as long as i live. and i'll never forget you for making it possible.
you said forty-seven minutes. you'll never make it.
so you're going to hollywood.
i just wondered.
why.
why you have to go out there.
is it the money?
then why? why, if you're the best and most successful young director in the theater-
i just asked a simple question.
but hollywood. you mustn't stay there.
so few come back.
i read george jean nathan every week.
every day.
where do you suppose it could be?
i have a suggestion. there's really not much time left - i mean, you haven't had a minute alone yet, and - well, i could take care of everything here and meet you at the gate with the ticket.  if you'd like.
of course not.
all ready.
goodbye, mr. sampson.
don't worry.
i could watch you play that last scene a thousand times and cry every time-
i must say you can certainly tell mr. sampson's been gone a month.
i mean the performance. except for you, you'd think he'd never even directed it - it's disgraceful the way they change everything around.
during your second act scene with your father, roger ferraday's supposed to stay way upstage at the arch. he's been coming closer down every night.
you haven't noticed my latest bit of interior decorating.
the curtains. i made them myself.
while you're cleaning up, i'll take this to the wardrobe mistress-
no trouble at all.
good morning!
well - what do you think of my elegant new suit?
i can imagine.  you know, all it needed was some taking in here and letting out there - are you sure you won't want it yourself?
oh, come now, as though you were an old lady.  i'm on my way. is there anything more you've thought of-?
i've got it.
right here.
that's my job. see you at tea time.
oh, golly. and i forgot to tell you-
well, i was sure you'd want to, of course, being his birthday, and you've been so busy these past few days, and last night i meant to tell you before you went out with the richards - and i guess i was asleep when you got home.
mr. sampson's birthday. i certainly wouldn't forget that. you'd never forgive me. as a matter of fact, i sent him a telegram myself.
some hollywood movie star, her plane got in late.
hollywood.
there should be a new word for happiness. being here with miss channing has been - i just can't say, she's been so wonderful, done so much for me-
mrs. richards.
karen.  .  isn't it awful, i'm about to ask you for another favor - after all you've already done.
well.  miss channing's affairs are in such good shape.  there isn't enough to keep me as busy as i should be, really - not that i've ever considered anything that would take me away from her.  but the other day - when i heard mr. fabian tell miss channing that her understudy was going to have a baby, and they'd have to replace her.
i don't let myself think about it, even- - but i do know the part so well, and every bit of the staging, there'd be no need to break in a new girl- - but suppose i had to go on one night? to an audience that came to see margo channing. no, i couldn't possibly.
the show must go on.
do you think miss channing would approve?
but mr. richards and mr. sampson-
then - would you talk to mr. fabian about it?
you won't forget it?
i seem to be forever thanking you for something, don't i?
yes. yes, it does.
so little. so little, did you say? why, if there's nothing else - there's applause. it's like - like waves of love coming over the footlights and wrapping you up. imagine.  to know, every night, that different hundreds of people love you.  they smile, their eyes shine - you've pleased them, they want you, you belong. just that alone is worth anything.
i'm sorry, i didn't mean to-
if you'd like.
but there must be some reason, something i've done without knowing.
if i thought i'd offended her, of all people-
well - if she's got to pick on someone, i'd just as soon it was me.
karen.  .  you won't forget, will you? what we talked about before?
i'd like to hear it.
of course.
the hors d'oeuvres are here. is there anything else i can do?
a martini. very dry, please.
may i have your coat?
please.
good evening, mr. dewitt.
i'm afraid mr. dewitt would find me boring before too long.
imagine.  to know, every night, that different hundreds of people love you.  they smile, their eyes shine - you've pleased them, they want you, you belong. anything's worth that.
hello, miss channing.
miss channing, i can't tell you how glad i am that you arrived so late.
well, if you'd been here to begin with, i wouldn't have dared to read at all.
 and if you'd come in the middle, i'd have stopped, i couldn't have gone on-
i was dreadful, miss channing, believe me - i have no right to be anyone's understudy, much less yours.
are you proud of me, bill?
you shouldn't have had any doubts.
is that what you want me to be?
so am i.
everything.
don't run away, bill.
you're always after truth - on the stage. what about off?
then face it. i have. since that first night - here - in the dressing room.
when you told me that whatever i became, it would be because of you-
- and for you.
you think?
you hear all kinds of things.
find out.
certainly, mr. dewitt.
i consider myself lucky they didn't throw things.
you're more than kind. but it's still miss channing's performance. i'm just a carbon copy you read when you can't find the original.
it's not modesty. i just don't try to kid myself.
please do.
i don't think i've done anything to sound off about.
even so. one isolated pretty good performance by an understudy. it'll be forgotten tomorrow.
even if i wanted to - as you say - be less humble, blow my own horn.  how would i do it? i'm less than nobody.
you certainly are.
i'd love to! or should i pretend i'm busy?
i'm not enough for a paragraph.
that's right.
yes. i do.
yes. the shubert.
eddie.
i'm about to go into the shower, i won't be able to hear you.
you take charge.
mostly relief that i managed to stagger through it at all.
we're having lunch with a movie talent scout.
nothing definite yet - it's just to have lunch.
i was wondering whether you'd come at all.
i don't expect you to be pleasant.
can't we sit down? just for a minute.
i've got a lot to say. and none of it is easy.
oh, but there is-
why shouldn't you? please sit down.
you know, i've always considered myself a very clever girl. smart. good head on my shoulders, that sort of thing, never the wrong word at the wrong time.  but then, i'd never met addison dewitt. i remember once i had a tooth pulled. they gave me some anaesthetic - i don't remember the name - and it affected me in a strange way. i heard myself saying things i wasn't even thinking.  as if my mind were someplace outside of my body, and couldn't control what i did or said-
in a way. you find yourself trying to say what you mean, but somehow the words change - and they become his words - and suddenly you're not saying what you mean, but what he means-
no! i don't expect you to believe anything. except that the responsibility is mine. and the disgrace.
you've really got a low opinion of me, haven't you? we'll i'll give you some pleasant news. i've been told off in no uncertain terms all over town. miss channing should be happy to hear that. to know how loyal her friends are - how much more loyal they are than she had a right to expect me to be.
i'm not crying.
some vague promises of a test, that's all - if a particular part should come along, one of those things-
- an understudy's performance.
he's not my friend. you were my friends.
i wish i'd never met him, i'd like him to be dead.  i want my friends back.
i'll never get over it.
i wish i could believe that.
there is something.
something most important you can do.
if you told him so, he'd give me the part. he said he would.
it could have been - fifteen years ago. it's my part now.
"cora" is my part. you've got to tell lloyd it's for me.
addison wants me to play it.
that won't be necessary. addison knows how margo happen to miss that performance - how i happened to know she'd miss it in time to call him and notify every paper in town.  .  it's quite a story. addison could make quite a thing of it - imagine how snide and vicious he could get and still write nothing but the truth. i had a time persuading him.  .  you'd better sit down. you look a bit wobbly. if i play "cora," addison will never tell what happened - in or out of print. a simple exchange of favors. and i'm so happy i can do something for you - at long last.  your friendship with margo - your deep, close friendship - what would happen to it, do you think, if she knew the chap trick you'd played on her - for my benefit? and you and lloyd - how long, even in the theater, before people forgot what happened - and trusted you again? no.  it would be so much easier on everyone concerned, if i were to play "cora." and so much better theater, too.
i'd do much more - for a part that good.
just some coffee.
nothing of the kind. karen and i had a nice talk.
i discussed it very openly. i told her that i had spoken to lloyd - and that he was interested.
oddly enough - she didn't say a word about margo. just that she'll be happy to do what she can to see that i play the part.
just like that.
i don't think that's funny.
i confide in you and rely on you more than anyone i've ever known! to say a thing like that now - without any reason - when i need you more than ever.
what a day - what a heavenly day.
just like it.
stop rehearsing your column.  isn't it strange, addison? i thought i'd be panic-stricken, want to run away or something. instead, i can't wait for tonight to come. to come and go.
aren't you?
it'll be a night to remember. it'll bring to me everything i've ever wanted. the end of an old road - and the beginning of a new one.
you know me better than that.
stars.
what time?
plenty of time for a nice long nap - we rehearsed most of last night.
why not?
why'd call me a killer?
addison- - come on in for just a minute, won't you? there's.  i've got something to tell you.
max is paying for it. he and lloyd had a terrific row but lloyd insisted.  well. can i fix you a drink?
lloyd. i never have any, and he likes a couple of drinks after we finish - so he sent it up.
that's for tonight. you're invited. we're having everyone up after the performance.
lloyd and i.
addison.
addison, just a few minutes ago. when i told you this would be a night to remember - that it would bring me everything i wanted-
i didn't mean just the theater.
lloyd richards. he's going to leave karen. we're going to be married.
it's nothing of the kind! lloyd loves me, i love him!
i'm in love with lloyd!
you have no right to say such things!
addison, won't it be just perfect? lloyd and i - there's no telling how far we can go.  he'll write great plays for me, i'll make them be great! you're the only one i've told, the only one that knows except lloyd and me.
she doesn't know.
but not all of it - not that lloyd and i are going to be married.
we decided the night before last, before we came up here.
the setting wasn't romantic, but lloyd was. he woke me up at three in the morning, banging on my door - he couldn't sleep, he told me - he's left karen, he couldn't go on with the play or anything else until i promised to marry him.  we sat and talked until it was light. he never went home.
we sat and talked, addison. i want a run of the play contract.
well, say something - anything! congratulations, skol - good work, eve!
i don't know what i take you for anything.
i'm sure you mean something by that, addison, but i don't know what.
i never intended you to be.
i still don't know what you're getting at. right now i want to take my nap. it's important that i-
champion to champion.
addison, will you please say what you have to say plainly and distinctly - and then get out so i can take my nap!
what do you mean by that?
what have you got to do with it?
i can't believe my ears.
belong - to you? that sound medieval - something out of an old melodrama.
 taken it for granted? that you and i.
get out!
then if you won't get out, i'll have you thrown out.
what of it?
what of it?
she never proved anything, not a thing!
she was a liar, she was a liar!
i had to get in, to meet margo! i had to say something, be somebody, make her like me!
that's not true!
no-no-no.
please.  please.
yes, addison.
yes, addison.
i won't play tonight. i couldn't. not possibly. i couldn't go on.
honored members of sarah siddons society, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: what is there for me to say? everything wise and witty has long since been said - by minds more mature and talents far greater than mine. for me to thank you as equals would be presumptuous - i am an apprentice in the theater and have much to learn from you all. i can say only that i am proud and happy and that i regard this great honor not so much as an award for what i have achieved, but as a standard to hold against what i have yet to accomplish. and further, i regard it as bestowed upon me only in part. the larger share belongs to my friends in the theater - and to the theater itself, which has given me all i have. in good conscience, i must give credit where credit is due. to max fabian-
and to my first friend in the theater - whose kindness and graciousness i shall never forget.  karen - mrs. lloyd richards.
my director - who demanded always a little more than my talent could provide-
- but who taught me patiently and well.  bill sampson.
hoe can i repay the many others? so many, that i couldn't possibly name them all.
although i am going to hollywood next week to make a film - do not think for a moment that i am leaving you. how could i? for my heart is here in the theater - and three thousand miles are too far to be away from one's heart. i'll be back to claim it - and soon. that is, if you want me back.
thank you, karen.
i don't suppose there's a drink left.
i don't think i'm going.
because i don't want to.
no, it's not. it's for this.
exactly. here. take it to the party instead of me.
i'm tired. i want to go home.
who are you?
what are you doing here?
how did you get in here?
you were just looking around.
what for?
probably not.
what report? to whom?
i've heard of them.
erasmus hall. that's in brooklyn, isn't it?
i might.
the maid'll fix it in the morning.
don't bother.
how'd you get all the way up here from brooklyn?
how long does it take?
it's after one now. you won't get home till all hours.
that's the door.