Metropolitan

You mustn't listen to what your younger brother says.

I can't think of anyone less an authority on female anatomy.

He can see. It's enormous.

- No, it isn't. - It's hideous.

Why don't you show me that dress again?

It is a bit full here. Let me have it.

Thanks, Mom.

Tsk.

- Taxi.! - Taxi. Taxi.!

- Is this your cab? - It's not my cab.

- Is this your cab? - Really, it's not my cab.

- We'll share it. - But I don't want it.

No, we'll share it. I insist. That way there'll be no ill feelings.

- Are you going to Sally's too? - No.

Well, that settles it. Come with us. That way we'll all be going the same direction.

You should come, otherwise we're all gonna freeze out here.

Come on.!

- Hi. I'm Nick. - Hi, Nick. I'm Tom.

- Nice to meet you. - I'm Jane. This is Audrey.

- Hi,Jane. - You are going to Sally's, aren't you?

Of course there's a God. We all basically know there is.

- I know no such thing. - Of course you do.

When you think to yourself-And most of our waking life is taken up thinking to ourself-

you must have that feeling that your thoughts aren't entirely wasted...

that, in some sense, they are being heard.

Hey, I think it's this sensation of silently being listened to...

with total comprehension...

- Hi, Sally. - You got here so fast.

- Hello! - that represents our innate belief in a supreme being.

- Nice to meet you. - We stole his cab.

- What's his name again? - Tom Townsend.

No, I think it was something else.

No, it's Tom Townsend, I'm sure.

He looks familiar.

He's the guy that was sitting at the table behind ours without talking to anyone all evening.

Then, outside, he got the cab that we were trying to flag down.

But he insisted that we take it, so Nick insisted that he come along too...

so that there should be no ill feeling.

What it shows is that a kind of belief is innate in all of us.

At some point most of us lose that...

after which it can only be regained by a conscious act of faith.

You've experienced that?

Uh, no, I haven't.

I- I hope to someday.

Actually, it wasn't my cab. I was just there waiting for the light to change when it pulled up.

- I never take cabs. - You never take cabs?

No, I either walk or take public transportation.

- Why? - A lot of reasons.

So you're one of those public transportation snobs.

- You look down on people who take taxis. - No, not at all.

That's how New York's seen, at least in the popular imagination.

I don't think that there is a popular imagination.

- What do you mean? - Just that.

I don't think that there is a popular imagination.

- Pomfret. Where did you go? - Farmington.

Both of us did.

Did you know Serena Slocum there?

- The inevitable question. - What?

All the guys ask that. Serena had an incredible number of boyfriends. At least 20.

She could manage it because they were all at different schools...

and she wrote letters incredibly quickly.

Three in a single study hall. She became really famous.

It's incredible how naive some guys are. How do you know Serena?

Actually, that might give someone the wrong impression.

She wrote a lot of guys, but I'm sure she liked some a lot more than others.

Oh, you think so? I never noticed that. How do you know Serena?

I was one of her boyfriends.

Oh. You must be Pomfret.

- Your letters were really good. - Yes.

- What do you mean? - They were interesting.

Serena let you read my letters?

No. She read them aloud.

I can't believe it.

She only read us the ones that she thought were really good.

Or really bad. But yours were really good.

There was no suggestion of ridicule, if that's what's worrying you. At least not that I can recall.

I remember a long letter you wrote Serena about agrarian socialism.

I think it was one of the first things to set Alice Dreyer off about Marxism.

Since then she's joined the Red Underground Army.

If she blows herself up, it'll be your fault.

It's actually surprising to see you at something like this.

In your letters, you expressed a vehement opposition to deb parties...

and to conventional society in general.

- I take it you've changed your mind. - No.

- I'm just as much opposed to them as ever. - Then what made you decide to come tonight?

He got an invitation.

He's right. I got an invitation and didn't particularly have anything else to do.

I think that's the case with almost everybody.

No. Nick goes whether he's invited or not.

Unlike Tom, I'm in favor of these kind of parties, and I wanna show that support however I can.

It's a bit ridiculous for someone to say they're morally opposed to deb parties...

and then attend them anyways.

It's - It's untenable.

- Everyone does. - But that's no contradiction.

I wasn't trying to.

I think it's justifiable to go once, to know firsthand what it is you oppose.

I'd read Veblen, but it was amazing to see that these things still go on.

- You're a Marxist? - No, I'm a committed socialist, not a Marxist.

I favor the socialist model developed by the 19th-century French social critic Fourier.

You're a Fourierist?

Yes.

Fourierism was tried in the 19th century and failed.

I mean, wasn't Brook Farm Fourierist?

- It failed. - That's debatable.

- Whether Brook Farm failed? - That it ceased to exist, I'll grant you.

But whether it was really a failure I don't think can be definitively said.

Well -Well, for me, ceasing to exist is failure.

I mean, that's - that's pretty definitive.

Well, everyone ceases to exist. That doesn't mean everyone's a failure.

- You really feel that way? - I really do.

- Really? - Really!

Tom Townsend.

Tom Townsend.

It's a fine name.

What about Tommy? Tommy Townsend?

It's sounds more U.C.

Really? What's that?

Well, we come here all the time, thus the S.F.R.P. -

- Sally Fowler Rat Pack. - Oh.

Mine and Charlie's are too.

But that's the ex - exception though.

I mean, divorce is actually comparatively rare among standard New York social types...

contrary to what people might think.

Well, usually there's something wrong though.

Dead fathers are a common problem.

Jane's father's dead. Very suddenly, last year.

- Must have been awful for her. - Yes.

It was tough on him too.

That's different though. That doesn't mean a broken home.

Well, it still means having your mother go out on dates.

My point was that the common image of divorce and decadent behavior...

being prevalent among New York social types...

is not really accurate.

That's more Southampton.

Okay, Cynthia, let's cha-cha-cha.

It's completely ridiculous.

Oh, now, the cha-cha is no more ridiculous than life itself.

- I don't know how to do it. - You must have learned it in dancing school.

- Cynthia was a dancing school dropout. - I've got it.

? Cha-cha-cha?

Ah, the cha-cha.

I don't think it's possible to forget the cha-cha. I think you're blocking it out.

I love this.

- Hi. - Hi.

- What are you doing here in the dark? - I was just getting a glass of water.

Oh.

- It's gone awfully late. - Yes.

What time do after-parties end?

There's no set time.

They usually end whenever people go...

or whenever the parents get up.

Although the last time I was here, over Thanksgiving...

Sally's parents asked us to stay for breakfast.

That's amazing.

- No one stayed except Nick. - Really?

He likes everyone's parents.

I don't think I've ever met anyone's parents, except Serena's.

I once had quite a long talk with her father.

What's the situation between you and Serena now?

There is none.

- When did you stop seeing each other? - Yale game weekend.

Dawn in the big city.

There are eight million stories out there.

- Give our apologies to them. - Oh, it's not necessary.

No, I think it is. Good night.

- Good night. - Good night, darling.

- Good night. - Thank you.

- Oh, you're welcome. - Thanks a lot.

- You're welcome. We'll see you tonight? - No.

- You should come. Hope's a friend of ours. - You won't be coming to any more dances?

- No. - Oh, well, that's a shame.

- It was nice meeting you. - Thank you. It was nice to meet you.

- Ciao, Sally. Ciao! - Ciao!

- Good luck with your Fourierism. - Thank you.

Unless we get a Checker, we're gonna have to take two cabs.

- Don't worry about me. I'm gonna walk. - Really? But it's terribly cold.

- I prefer to walk. - You'll freeze dressed like that.

This is actually very warm. It has a lining.

- Good-bye. Ciao, Tom. - Bye-bye, Tom.

- Good night. - Bye.

Where are we headed?

He's gonna freeze dressed like that in weather like this.

Driver, follow that pedestrian.

- Hey, fella! - We have a Checker. Can we give you a lift?

- No, thanks. - You sure?

Yep. Thanks anyway.

He's getting a crosstown bus.

That explains it.

A Westsider is amongst us.

There is a real escort shortage.

It's no joke.

- What was your impression of him? - He seemed nice. I didn't talk to him much.

Mom, I don't want to seem rude. I know I got up very late.

But I'm having what, for me, is breakfast...

and I really don't want to think about returning my tuxedo right now.

- It's just that I think it's getting too late - - Mom, get off my back!

It's nearly 6:00. They're going to close.

Jesus!

If I have to pay for another day-

Was it already closed?