Ragtime

My friends--

- Ready for dessert? - Yeah!

Specialty of the house is served chilled...

but it melts very quickly.

So I suggest that we gobble it up.

- Yes? - I'd like to see Stanford White.

Who, may I ask, is calling?

Here's my card.

Sir--

Are you in there, White?

Open the door!

White!

Who is it?

You know who it is. You know damn well who it is!

Harry K. Thaw of Pittsburgh!

Don't you think this is a bit irregular, Mr. Thaw?

Look, I want to talk to you!

Hardly a way to go about it, Mr. Thaw.

Don't play with me, White! Look, open the door...

or some friends of mine will open it for me.

I'm serious!

What do you want?

White, I'm here for the statue.

I'm takin' it down!

I'm getting tired of this ridiculous business.

Why don't you go away now...

and save me the trouble of calling the police?

Goddamn it, Thaw, that door is priceless!

When are you going to stop this ridiculous charade?

- You're creating the scandal! - I can see what's goin' on here.

Mr. Thaw--

I know what you do with your chorus girls.

Mr. Thaw--

I know what all you people are up to!

I'm sure the police'd like to know too.

Let me introduce Commissioner of Police Rheinlander Waldo.

I'm sure he'll be fascinated by all the stories you have to tell.

Look, I'm not a fool.

You hear me? I'm not a fool.

I know exactly what I'm doing.

'Cause I'm smart. I'm smarter than you are.

My apologies.

- Are we ready? - Yes, I think so.

Let me see your hands.

Other side.

So, did anything interesting happen to anybody this week?

- So I'm the only one, am I? - What, dear?

I was going over our accounts the other day...

and it seems our factory had its best quarter ever.

And I was rather intrigued to discover...

that the items which were moving most rapidly...

were the new firework designs by your brother.

That's right.

You know, not too long ago I had some doubts...

that you had the stuff to be my partner one day.

But I'm very encouraged.

Very encouraged.

And by way of thanks...

I'd like you to say the family grace today.

Could we all bow our heads?

Jesus! Jesus!

What is it, Brigit?

What's wrong?

Oh, my God.

Brigit, what did you do? Answer me!

- I didn't do nothin'. - Then what is that child--

I was pouring out the water from the vegetables...

then there was a horrible screamin' on the ground...

and I looks, and there was a baby!

- Call Dr. Mueller. - I'll do it.

Where are you taking it?

Not in the house?

Well, he's breathing fine. Heartbeat's strong.

Seems like a healthy child.

Is there anything we should do?

Well, keep him warm and dry, and don't worry yourself.

If he needs anything, he'll be the first to let you know.

He'll be fine. Don't worry.

We found this one hiding in a cellar a few blocks away.

She won't talk.

You go on to your room.

Miss, is this your baby?

Lady, is this your baby or isn't it?

You wanna make life easy for yourself and tell us yes or no...

or do you want me to ask the doctor here to examine you?

Doctor, do you mind?

Could I have some privacy?

-Jim, would you care for some tea? - No, no. That's all right.

Quite a situation.

Incredible.

There you are.

These niggers drop babies like rabbits.

Fellow runs off, and, of course, the woman tries to get rid of it.

What's going to happen to her?

She'll get six to eight months-- child abuse, abandonment...

attempted murder.

And then she'll get pregnant again.

- What'll happen to the baby? - They've got places for them.

Pickaninny farms, I call them.

Well, she's given birth recently. That's about all I can tell you.

I'll give you a report tomorrow.

Sorry to see your Sunday dinner disrupted like this, folks...

and I guess I'd better be getting back to mine.

- Good day. - Good day, Doctor.

- Thank you, Doctor. - We'll need your signature on this.

Just a formality, and then we'll take them off your hands.

Excuse me, dear. Would you mind if I asked the inspector a question?

Oh, no. No, you go ahead.

She's going to be put into prison, isn't she?

- Oh, yes. - Without her child?

Well, a woman who abandons her baby like this--

I think it's better for the baby if they were separated, don't you?

We're not dealing with Christians, ma'am.

Exactly.

These people don't have the same sense of family as what we do.

Exactly.

Would it make any difference in her case if we were to take her in?

Temporarily, of course.

Dear, you don't mean--

Nobody's even talked to her.

Nobody knows what made her do it. If we knew, maybe we could help her.

If, if, if, if.

- I'm just asking. - It's out of the question.

My wife is a very generous woman, which I appreciate.

Excuse us for just a moment, would you?

My wife wants the statue down.

Right, Evie?

Yes, dear, yes.

Yes, what? Tell them.

Tell them! What do you want?

Yes, I want the statue down, please.

- See? - Yes, Mr. Thaw.

We quite understand your feelings in the matter.

No. Look, he put that statue up there to make me look like a fool.

I'm Harry K. Thaw of Pittsburgh!

I've got my reputation to think about.

I'm not havin' my wife on public display!

Of course not, Mr. Thaw.

Now, regarding the possible grounds for legal action--

Exactly! Legal grounds. Now you're talkin'.

There aren't any, Mr. Thaw.

What the hell are you talking about?

You're lawyers. Find some.

For God's sake, she's my wife!

She's not a chorus girl anymore. She's not a model.

She's not his mistress. She's my wife!

You do whatever the hell you have to do to get my wife off that building.

Yes, Mr. Thaw. We'll do everything we can within the realm of the law.

Because if you don't--

I've heard men say so often they could love their wives alone

But I think that such foolish men must have hearts made of stone

Now, my heart is made of softer stuff, it melts at each warm glance

A pretty girl can't look my way without a new romance

I could love a million girls with every girl, a twin

I could love a Chinese girl an Eskimo, a Finn

I could love a German girl a girl with golden curls

In fact I think that I could love about a million girls

He could love a million girls a million girls, could he

I could love a native girl from far across the sea

He could love a redhead girl a girl with raven curls

In fact I think that I could love about a million girls

Are you a little warm?

- Do you want to take off your coat? - I'm fine.

I'm cool as a cucumber.

- I'll be back in a minute. - Harry.

I loved a girl whose eyes shone forth just like a crystal mass

I loved her till I found out that her eye was made of glass

I loved a girl whose form it was a gorgeous thing to see

I loved her till I found out that part of it was a tree

White!

Help him! Help! Help him!

- Help him! - Hey! Hey, you!

All right. Now, don't do anything stupid.

Just give me the gun.

Get a doctor! Get a doctor!

Oh, well, do you want to know everything?

Please.

Well, all right.

He had these whips.

This was in this castle in Austria that he took me for vacation.

Well, he put me in a room, and he locked the door.

Then he told me that if I made any noise that he'd do something to me--

- something terrible. - Wait just a minute.

Whom are you talking about?

You're talking about Stanford White!

No. No-- Stanny? Stanny would never do anything like this.

He was lovely. Lovely man.

He admired me--

No, I'm talking about Harry, my husband.

Nonsense! My Harry would never do anything like that.

Just a minute, Mrs. Thaw.

- You say your husband did all this. - Yes.

He had a whip, a kind of a...

dog whip, and he started to beat me with it.

I fail to see what this has to do with the defense of my son.

Mrs. Thaw, you don't understand. We have to prove your son was insane!

My son is not insane!

Insane at the time of the murder, Mrs. Thaw--

I'm sorry. But there is a world of difference.

There's nothing wrong with Harry.