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Bookish Season 1 Episode 4
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Transcript
00:00you mean everything to me what the hell was that love lawn in London scene 28 take 3 I hope we did
00:17the right thing letting those people into the lane film struck girl inspector dead I've shut
00:24down filming for the time being what do we know about this film mill Stuart Howard he and Sandra
00:29bound their careers together the nation's sweethearts then there's the Honorable Jesse
00:34McKendrick you're the director and the writer what about Billy someone is trying to kill me
00:40strictly drop it it's poison can you think of anyone who might want to kill you take your
00:50ruddy pick when are we going to tell him not yet it's one of the extras
00:59it's Norena Bean
01:01still rolling Sandra yeah and action
01:15oh no god I'm so sorry Jesse um can I beg 10 minutes uh Siggy will sort me out
01:27cut that scene 49 take 9
01:34action it was dead I knew we had fallen in love kill the sound please
01:44can we stop the film and take a proper look no we'd burn in the projector
01:49I think the difference is pretty obvious you'll see in just a moment
01:53here comes the post
01:57oh guys I see what you mean he's lost six inches just while Sandra Day went off for a gasper
02:05so between takes eight and nine Norena Bean gets her screen break an hour later is that right
02:13well certainly no more than two she's on the cutting room floor well the bottom of the basement steps
02:19I don't know who he is the postman you do
02:25he was down the lane yesterday
02:28I see him in the yard just now
02:31would you be so kind
02:33yep
02:37of course she hit that step with tremendous force
02:43to half an accident
02:45did you fall
02:47or she pushed
02:50you
02:55oh
02:57you
03:05oh
04:40Signed, Basilisk.
04:43If only we could step through the screen.
04:52Oh, romance of the pictures is really getting to, isn't it?
04:55It's not that.
04:57Beyond the door, behind that set, there's a flight of stairs when I think Norena Bean is already dead.
05:03Do you think this is linked to the poison girl?
05:10Oh, special delivery.
05:15Your postman.
05:17Bart Masterson.
05:19Kurt Masterson.
05:22Normally I do landlords.
05:24I've seen a glass pushed in a bloke's face and I've laughed.
05:32See?
05:34Very good.
05:35Robert Newton should watch his back.
05:37But you're not auditioning now, Mr. Masterson.
05:41We're investigating the unfortunate death that took place here last night.
05:45Second one on this production, in fact, after Miss Barbara Markham.
05:49And two looks like carelessness.
05:52Whose, though?
05:54Are you the police?
05:55Inspector Bliss is the police.
05:57Hello.
05:57I'm just helping them.
05:58With their inquiries?
06:00With the fiddly bits.
06:02Now, Kurt Masterson, not your real man?
06:05How did you know?
06:07You went home early last night, Mr. Masterson.
06:10Why?
06:11Well, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, wasn't I?
06:13I knew the lady, Norena Bean.
06:15I read a column.
06:16I always do.
06:17She gave me a fiver, just to borrow the uniform mine.
06:19Said she would go on for me and no one would clock it.
06:21Now, why would she want to pose as you?
06:25She said she was writing a story.
06:28The poisonous secret at the heart of Loveless in London.
06:31Love-lorn.
06:33Something like that.
06:34She wasn't specific.
06:36But she said she needed one last bit of proof.
06:38I didn't think nothing of it.
06:39I was barely in the shot.
06:41You sell a lot of stories to the press, do you, Mr. Masterson, about actors here?
06:46No.
06:48Well, nothing nasty.
06:50Just whether they like mink or feathers or where they drink.
06:53Or how much?
06:54All right, thank you.
06:55We'll come and get a statement from you.
06:57But that's it?
06:57That's it.
07:00I was a red herring before.
07:02Once.
07:03Arthur Wander tapped his pipe and looked all beady at me.
07:05But I'd never done it.
07:06I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
07:08All right, thank you.
07:09Why was she here, though, Norena?
07:14Why got her the trouble of bribing him and putting on his costume?
07:16The extra security.
07:18She can just hang around in the lane, could she?
07:20So I suppose she needed a disguise.
07:23Title of that article, though, eh?
07:25Maybe she was on to the poisoner.
07:27Maybe she was on to the poisoner.
07:27So she had to go.
07:30What's that?
07:32Something I noticed.
07:34Backwards impression on Norena Bean's hand in ink.
07:37Something she was holding.
07:39Evidently, she was sweating.
07:41Whether from the exertion of going up the stairs or the heavy costume.
07:44And reversed, it reads...
07:50Ty wins.
07:52Ty, Ty win.
07:53Ty, Ty wins.
07:55Twins.
07:56Hardly.
07:57More likely the fragment of two words, wouldn't you say?
08:01I, uh, better go back to work.
08:03Work?
08:05I'm standing in for Stuart.
08:07It's not a profit trade, you know.
08:10Yeah.
08:11Like being a part-time detective.
08:14What's up with him?
08:25Hmm?
08:26Me.
08:29She's dead.
08:30You saw her.
08:33She was at the bottom of the stairs.
08:35Like a broken dog.
08:37Oh God, how awful.
08:38I mean, she was awful.
08:40But still, how awful.
08:44If it was murder, there'd be a lot of suspects.
08:54Half the British film business.
08:55All of it.
08:56It's true.
08:58Everybody hated her.
09:00You hated her.
09:03What did you do last night?
09:05I had a drink with that boy.
09:09Nice kid.
09:10Went to bed early.
09:12Did some film star duties.
09:13No.
09:14Yes, you know.
09:16Signing photos.
09:17Answering questions from fans.
09:20What's your ideal night out?
09:21What'd you like for breakfast?
09:22Hmm.
09:24You were just shooting here?
09:26Yes.
09:27Do take after take.
09:29Simple stuff, really.
09:37How many stars have sat here like me?
09:42What's in the creases grow?
09:44The hair thin.
09:46The flesh.
09:47The rope.
09:48The chins.
09:49I met a man once.
09:55He was an astronomer.
09:56Now he knew about the stars.
09:59The real ones, I mean.
10:01Did you know that the stars that we see in the sky aren't really there?
10:07Most of them.
10:08Anyway.
10:08It takes so long for the light to reach us.
10:13But there's just echoes.
10:16Ghosts.
10:17Just a memory of what was once there.
10:22Christ, darling.
10:23But some of those stars don't go quietly.
10:26We're now towards the end.
10:28Later in life, shall we say.
10:30They get bigger.
10:32Bigger stew.
10:33They give out more and more light and heat until nothing can eclipse them.
10:39Nothing.
10:41I don't want to go quietly.
10:43I want to burn.
10:46Light up the town like I used to explode.
10:50Boom!
10:54The chocolates were injected with one of these.
10:57So why have you got one?
10:58Well, it's hardly a secret, is it?
11:01Diabetic, aren't I?
11:02Yeah, everyone knows that.
11:04Interesting.
11:05So anyone could have gained access to this, for instance.
11:09Hmm?
11:10Well, you might have done it yourself.
11:13Why the hell would I have wanted to poison Miss Dare?
11:15Well, that's just a thing, Sonny Jim.
11:17Miss Dare wasn't the target.
11:18Then who was?
11:19Her fiancé.
11:22Yes, puts a rather different complexion on things, doesn't it?
11:25Mr. Howard fired you, didn't he?
11:26Yeah, yeah, but not till after the chocolates.
11:28Yeah, but he treated you badly.
11:30You were his whipping boy.
11:31You need to develop a fixed skin in this business, Inspector.
11:34I've dealt with bigger egos than Stuart Howard, believe me.
11:37If I'd wanted to get my own back, I'd have pissed in his tea, not poisoned his chocolates.
11:42And then there's the late Miss Noreen Bean.
11:44Yeah, well, she was a right old.
11:49Mustn't speak ill of the dead.
11:51Does she have anything on you?
11:52Like what?
11:54You can account for your movements last night, can't you?
11:56Shot right through.
11:57Right.
11:58No coffee breaks?
11:59Yes, of course coffee breaks.
12:00So theoretically, you could have pushed Noreen Bean down the stairwell, couldn't you?
12:04Yeah, well, theoretically, I could have won the pools and rung up Veronica Lake for a date.
12:08But I didn't.
12:10What's this?
12:11Tomorrow's pink page.
12:15Rewrite?
12:16Mr. McKendrick's rewrite of Seen 34.
12:19Just a little one, but in this business, the details matter, Inspector.
12:23You don't want actors bumping into the furniture.
12:25Have a details made myself?
12:27Oh, yeah, I'm terrible at the pictures, me.
12:33I always know we've done it straight off.
12:36Irritates the marrow out of Mrs. Bliss, but as I always say to her, the why is the thing.
12:41So why not take her to a western?
12:44Watch all those cowboys getting shot in the chest and falling forwards.
12:48Don't think so.
12:50Never get home, Billy.
12:52If I try hard, Mr. Book, I can remember the daylight.
12:57Can I go now?
12:58Well, we'll need to get this testy.
13:01For insulin.
13:03For strychnine.
13:23Basilisk.
13:24Eh?
13:25Ring any bells?
13:29Basilisk.
13:30Nora and I have spent most of the morning dredging through your back issues.
13:33My head's swimming.
13:35And we finally found what we were looking for.
13:37A Sandra Dare fan who wrote to picture-goer a lot.
13:41This one is from two years ago.
13:43For looks, talent, and sheer screen charisma, no one can compete with the divine Miss Dare.
13:49There's loads like that.
13:50In her latest picture, the 43-year-old star elevates the art of acting to great heights.
13:56But why she's wasting her time sharing the screen with Stuart Howard, I will never know.
14:02A mumbling, soppy-eyed fop.
14:05And here's another, a year later, the public's infatuation with Dare and Howard is beyond me.
14:11Miss Dare should be striking out alone, not saddling herself with this talentless whippersnapper.
14:17Of course, there is always difficulty when one reaches for the stars, but the difficulty as I see it is Stuart Howard.
14:25And there's a lot more like that in the same vein.
14:28An all-signed basilisk.
14:32I see.
14:34Well, they obviously didn't like Stu.
14:38You think they might be the one who sent the chocolates?
14:41I don't know.
14:42Is it too much of a stretch to go from disliking a film star to sending them strictly?
14:47I don't know what to do with me.
14:53Sometimes the discussions can get very heated at the meet-ups.
14:59Meet-ups?
15:00Oh, yeah.
15:01We meet up and have chats and that.
15:03Sometimes the studio will send a star down to open a fate or something.
15:07That's how I first met Barbara.
15:09And you've never come across this basilisk.
15:13Well, how would I know?
15:15If they never used their real name?
15:17Anything?
15:35Mr. Howard's room's as bare as George Zucco's pate.
15:39Oh, what about Miss Dez?
15:43Same.
15:43Same.
15:47Probably.
15:51Who's next?
15:55Soundproofed?
15:56Naturally.
15:58Now, we know your movements last night, Mr. McKendrick.
16:01I should think so.
16:02The director never has a moment to themselves.
16:04In the tea break, I went to my office.
16:06Just a minor change for tomorrow.
16:08A pink page, yes.
16:10You can check with my secretary.
16:12These stairs, where do they lead?
16:15Prop store, offices.
16:17It's a warren, this place.
16:18Film vault down there.
16:19Nice place, if you like asbestos.
16:21The treasures are pretty similar.
16:23Not really.
16:24No.
16:25What then?
16:27Well, our film opens in Leicester Square.
16:30Then it goes out across the country.
16:31Then to the second-run houses in the flea pits.
16:33And when it's so scratched that every scene looks like it's happening in Antarctica, it comes here.
16:37Back home.
16:39It's taken to the tank.
16:41The tank?
16:42What happens there?
16:50It's put out of its misery.
16:53It's dissolved in sodium hypochlorite.
16:55Why back here?
16:56The fumes, Mr. Book.
16:58The fumes.
16:58It goes some old tat starring a terrible provincial comic.
17:03And out comes something useful.
17:05Waterproof paint.
17:06And silver halide.
17:08What an odd little cottage industry.
17:10It's valuable.
17:11More valuable than what's on the films themselves.
17:13That seems a lot of effort to go to.
17:15No, it's a simple process.
17:16A chemical solution does the work.
17:18No, I mean, making a motion picture.
17:19You know, the stars and the lights.
17:22You know, and shooting all those scenes.
17:24And then just to melt it all down for scrap.
17:26British cinema is mainly stupid, Inspector.
17:29It's never been about anything.
17:30That needs to change.
17:32When it does, I'll make movies that won't end up here.
17:34All in for one standby.
17:48Mr. Howard.
17:50White straightly Élite.
17:51Howard.
17:53Whatever.
17:54Go down inside.
17:56Bye, darling.
17:57Bye.
17:58Mr. Howard.
18:05Mr. Book.
18:05A moment.
18:06Of course.
18:07A hoary old query.
18:09Who is?
18:10What were you doing last night?
18:14Well, after drinks with your Jack, I went to bed early.
18:18But I couldn't get off.
18:19I spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling, contemplating mortality, as you can imagine.
18:24Any witnesses?
18:25Sorry to sound so official.
18:26Of course not.
18:27Sandra and I are engaged, don't you know?
18:29I had heard something of the kind.
18:32And Lorena Bean?
18:34Was she blackmailing you?
18:36About prison?
18:39I've been very careful.
18:42Incredibly, I don't think she ever got a sniff of it.
18:45Mustache.
18:46TTFM.
18:48Right, there's been a smash and grab in Crystal Palace.
18:51A tray of missing wedding rings and a cracked skull.
18:54Ooh, very much a B-movie crime.
18:57Might you, uh, stick around here?
19:00Keep in mind the beautiful people.
19:03They are beautiful.
19:04What can I get for you?
19:05What else are they?
19:08Of course.
19:09Come on, Sergeant.
19:13Let's go.
19:13Here's a cock.
19:25Here's a cock.
19:39Clippings.
19:40We found your trail book.
20:01Oh, excellent work.
20:02Oh, Mrs. Book.
20:05Didn't expect to see you here.
20:06Mr. Howard said we should visit, and I've bought something for my husband.
20:10Lunch.
20:11Clues.
20:12Eh?
20:13Very interesting trail here.
20:15And I thought I saw something earlier, too, in the note.
20:19A repeated phrase.
20:22And these are all signed Basilisk.
20:26What?
20:27It's a mythological creature.
20:28It could kill you just by looking at you, rather the way Miss Dare is looking at me now.
20:34Would you excuse me?
20:35Well done, darling.
20:36Would you like a little look around, Mrs. Book?
20:42Oh, I'd be delighted.
20:47So, er, wallpaper didn't suit your story, then?
20:51Well, no.
20:52Because the hero, Tony, he desires pleasure, but he's afraid of it.
20:56He's repressed.
20:58That's Freud, you know.
21:00Oh, so I understand.
21:01Wallpaper simply doesn't give us that.
21:03Wallpaper is about covering things up.
21:05I thought cakes.
21:08Cakes are the opposite of books, really.
21:10I must have missed that bit in Freud.
21:13Ah, yes.
21:14Very good.
21:15Please.
21:18Skirts gathered ready for the pursuit of art?
21:21Ha, ha.
21:22Er, yes.
21:23I suppose so.
21:24Well, before you rush off, perhaps I can check some details.
21:27Hmm.
21:28How do you help the police exactly, Mr. Book?
21:31I check details.
21:32You must be relieved to know the chocolates weren't intended for you.
21:36Naturally.
21:37But also terribly worried for Stu.
21:39Of course.
21:40Now, I know where you were last night, Miss Dare, because I've seen the rushes.
21:44You were doing that scene where you look through the window and think about the resilience of your love.
21:49Yes.
21:49With Marina Bean amongst the background artists.
21:53Marina?
21:54Was she on the set?
21:57In the shot?
21:58Yes.
22:00Moments later, she was on the stairs.
22:03Yes, yes.
22:04And then at the bottom of the stairs.
22:06Yes, well, I know about that.
22:08Perhaps she was killed because she knew who'd sent the poison chocolates.
22:15Is that what you think?
22:18It's a working hypothesis.
22:20Wait a minute.
22:22You don't think that I...
22:25No.
22:27I love Stuart.
22:29We're everything to each other.
22:31Everything to the box office at any rate.
22:34Oh.
22:35And someone's been telling tales.
22:38Well, if that were the case, I'd have even less motive for killing Stuart, wouldn't I?
22:43We're joined at the hip.
22:46When you finished filming, you went back to your dressing room, eh, much?
22:50Yes.
22:51Oh, Billy, darling, you wouldn't get me a coffee, would you, please?
22:55Of course, mister.
22:56A dash of milk.
22:57Me too, Billy.
22:58Good, strong one.
22:59Sure thing, sir.
23:02You all work such long hours.
23:04We like to turn the sign at 5.30.
23:07Oh, my dear, well, in the quota-quickie days, there was one picture shooting here during the day and one at night.
23:13When that door opened with a 10 o'clock turnaround, oh, no idea.
23:17Stale beer, orange peel, gas.
23:20Thank you, darling.
23:21Oh, the 1930s.
23:23Those were the days.
23:27Sugar, sir?
23:30What?
23:31Tastes horrible.
23:32It's bitter.
23:33Would you like some milk, sir?
23:37No.
23:39Billy, get me some water.
23:42Oh, my lord.
23:44Jesse?
23:45Same sentence.
23:46Oh!
23:51Jesse, you really...
23:52Oh, my God.
23:55Oh, my God.
23:56Eat it.
23:56Oh, my God.
23:56I can't shake it.
23:57I can't swallow it.
23:58I can't swallow it.
23:58I can't do this again.
23:59What are you doing, Tim?
24:00Trying to save his life, I think.
24:02But perhaps someone should call an ambulance in case I've got it wrong.
24:05Ambulance, quickly.
24:06What's up, Mr. McKinley?
24:07Take it with us.
24:08No.
24:09Oh, no.
24:11Look at me.
24:12Look at me.
24:13We didn't even get to the top of the hill.
24:29See her?
24:30It's largely cosmetic.
24:31Well, someone's stuffed around his mouth.
24:33It's largely cosmetic.
24:35Mascara.
24:36Oh, charcoal.
24:38I believe that's what mascara is.
24:40Oh, and petroleum jelly.
24:41A bit of a risk, though, Mrs. Book.
24:43Charcoal's good for strychnine.
24:44But I'm still waiting for the report on what was in Barbara Malcolm's chocolate.
24:48It could have been anything.
24:49Mr. McKendrick twitched, though.
24:51Strychnine gives you the twitches.
24:52That's right.
24:53Great presence of mind is my wife.
24:56All my thoughts, dear Jesse.
24:59Oh, wait.
25:00My bag.
25:01I need my things.
25:02Oh, allow me.
25:04Oh, silly me.
25:18Thank you, Mrs. Book.
25:20Thanks.
25:34Oh, it's in the coffee.
25:45Everyone else has drunk it.
25:46They seem to be fine.
25:47Not entirely awful.
25:56Oh, so it's in my cup.
25:58I did afterwards.
26:00You'd think so, wouldn't you?
26:02It's so indiscriminate.
26:03I just heard.
26:07Jesse?
26:09Poisoned.
26:09Oh, God.
26:11Was it meant for me?
26:13I don't know.
26:14The new schedule.
26:15Mr. Howard?
26:17Mr.
26:17You can go, Jack.
26:20That'll be the end of shooting for the day.
26:24Okay.
26:27Oh, God.
26:28Quiet.
26:30It's cold today.
26:31Shall we, Trotty?
26:31What's the matter with him?
26:42I don't know.
26:44He's been rather off with me all day.
26:46Nora, are we diversifying?
27:04Just catching up on my reading.
27:09He is mud in your eye.
27:11Ah, ah.
27:12Boy.
27:13I'm still a child.
27:15Your uncle had my guts for garters.
27:17I'm going to bed.
27:19Are you all right?
27:21Long day.
27:22What's wrong with your usual diet of blood and guts?
27:26Got a bit bored.
27:28They're starving a woman to death in pinge.
27:32Nora, a favour.
27:34Where are those film almanacs?
27:37You mean the magazines that girl bought?
27:39No, no.
27:39We have a stack of almanacs.
27:41Early films.
27:42From when they still called them Flickers.
27:44If memory serves,
27:45between William Friesgreen and how green was my valley.
27:49Right.
27:49I...
27:49There she is.
28:04Christiana Edmonds.
28:06And Astra Aspera.
28:16What?
28:19Night.
28:20And the stack case doesn't go anywhere.
28:36Oh, it's all right.
28:38These people never go upstairs.
28:39Sounds like home.
28:41No ceiling, though.
28:42The rooms in films never have ceilings.
28:45Why is that, eh?
28:46It stopped the light getting in.
28:48Continuity.
28:49Missed the book.
28:49Oh.
28:51Sorry.
28:53How is the life of a standard?
28:56Static.
28:57Jack, a word in your shell, Mike.
28:58Jack.
29:00Let's get it again.
29:01Let's go.
29:03Jack.
29:03Jack.
29:04Back into the light.
29:05Yes.
29:06Ah.
29:08Mr. McKendrick.
29:09Glad to see you looking hale and hearty.
29:11Fully recovered, I hope.
29:12Yes.
29:12Thanks to Mrs. Book.
29:14When I went into the picture business,
29:15I never thought it would be so bad for my nerves.
29:17It's exhausting.
29:18More exhausting than running.
29:19So much more.
29:20Near the end, though, now, aren't we?
29:21Yes.
29:22I'm so sorry, Mr. Book.
29:23Would you excuse me?
29:24I'm rather busy.
29:24Of course.
29:25Oh, what is the story so far, Mr. Howard?
29:29We've been having a passionate affair of the intellect,
29:32Madeline and I.
29:33But then this telegram comes.
29:34Telegram of doom.
29:36And what do you know?
29:37Her husband's been found in a Japanese POW camp.
29:40Oh, bad luck.
29:41Yes, and he's on his way back to Blighty
29:42with his ribs sticking out,
29:43but still very much a going concern, love-wise.
29:45And so she tells me she has to leave me.
29:47What do you say?
29:48Nothing.
29:49Of course.
29:49Writers never want to write those bits.
29:52They're like a nice, clean reaction shot.
29:54Something's swelling in the soundtrack.
29:56Positions, please.
29:58But credit due.
29:59Jesse listened.
30:00So instead of standing there catching flies,
30:02I gird my loins and go stoically back to work.
30:05Like Uncle Vanya.
30:07I'm sure that's what Jesse had in mind.
30:10Ask him.
30:12I might have that.
30:14What did you do today, today?
30:17What did you do to clap?
30:18What did you do to clap?
30:19A minute or two to do.
30:21What did you do to die today?
30:22What did you do to do?
30:24What did you do to die?
30:25Scene 34, take one.
30:28Anne.
30:30Action.
30:31Now the telegram is here.
30:33The one I think we knew would always come.
30:36Is this the end of the affair?
30:38Oh, don't say that word, Stuart.
30:40You know that it lads me.
30:42I shall think of us hiding together.
30:44You said Stuart.
30:45What?
30:45You said Stuart.
30:46Cut.
30:46Let's go again.
30:47Close positions, please.
30:48Close positions!
30:50Billy.
30:50Yes, Mr. McKendree.
30:52Run this one.
30:53Would you call of nature?
30:58Got it.
31:00Quiet, please!
31:01There's still time, you know.
31:17Time for what?
31:19To do the right thing.
31:20Stop the filming.
31:20I've been aware for a while about a certain secret relationship in your life.
31:27Oh, we are not.
31:28She isn't.
31:29Not with Sandra.
31:31With strychnine.
31:33I've read those grave little paragraphs in the Farsity Sporting Review.
31:38How you took it as a stimulant to get you through those last agonizing yards of the race.
31:43Rather reckless, really.
31:45Her father wasn't very pleased, was he?
31:47No.
31:48So I got into trouble.
31:49So what?
31:50And then there's Christiana Edmonds.
31:53The heroine of your new film script.
31:56Household name, once.
31:58Fell in love with a doctor.
31:59And believed that he was in love with her.
32:02Pure fantasy.
32:04And she thought she could help him escape from his wife by bringing her a box of poisoned chocolate creams.
32:09Which the wife spat out just in time.
32:12And her poison of choice?
32:15Strychnine, of course.
32:17Bit of a leitmotif, isn't it?
32:20I've had a lot of time to think.
32:22Too much, I dare say.
32:24And I think we've been living in a kind of a dream.
32:28It's time for that dream to end.
32:31You, you must stay here with your books.
32:35And I...
32:36I must go back to my husband.
32:39I certainly must.
32:42You didn't mean to kill poor Barbara Markham.
33:02And that might save you from the gallows.
33:04But you couldn't make the same argument about what's happening here, could you?
33:10This is your very last chance, Jesse.
33:17Oh.
33:19Oh, damn, damn, damn you.
33:22Book.
33:23Ow!
33:24How was that with bloody pain?
33:25Thanks, fuck.
33:27No, well.
33:27Too late now.
33:32You all right, Stu?
33:34I was on the cash register.
33:35It went right into me when I...
33:37When I pressed the button.
33:38Oh, my God.
33:44Oh, my God.
33:46You.
33:46I have a name, Mr. Howard.
33:51This is what happened to that girl.
33:53No.
33:54Barbara Markham swallowed strychnine.
33:56This time, the poison was on a pin in the cash register.
33:59So it would go straight into the bloodstream.
34:01If Jack and Billy hadn't followed my instructions perfectly
34:06and swapped it with a clean one.
34:09The pink page told me where to look.
34:11But it was Billy who found it.
34:13You should be grateful he's so diligent, Mr. Howard,
34:16considering how bloody rude you are to him.
34:19You should thank him, too, Jesse.
34:22One less name on the chance sheet
34:24next to little Barbara Markham.
34:29It was for you, my love.
34:31All for you.
34:33What?
34:34So we could be together.
34:35And I could make you a bigger star than ever.
34:38Not in cheap trash like this,
34:39but in a real film or masterpiece.
34:42What the hell are you talking about?
34:44He's been obsessed with you for years, Mr.
34:47Used to write letters to picture-goer.
34:50Under a pseudonym, of course.
34:52Basilisk.
34:53His family crest.
34:55And all those books he read in the shop last year.
34:59That's how he came up with his magnum opus.
35:01Unfortunately, he left a little trace behind.
35:07He saw that we were getting a little too close to the truth,
35:10and that's why he suddenly tasted something strange in his coffee.
35:14Faked the poisoning.
35:16You could have said bitter almonds, like people do in the films.
35:21But you chose to twitch because you knew that Barbara Markham had been killed by strychnine.
35:28You were familiar with the effects.
35:30They're pretty ugly, aren't they, Trotty?
35:32Yes, spasms.
35:32Spasms, a sort of breathless agitation.
35:34I'll never forget it.
35:37You put in a good performance, Jesse.
35:40But let me give you a note, Mr. Director.
35:43It takes a few minutes for the spasms to start.
35:46Your timing was out.
35:48Ad Astra per Aspera.
35:53Through hardship to the stars.
35:55Your family motto.
35:57You got to the stars, didn't you, Jesse?
36:00Or to the only star that mattered to you.
36:03Sandra Dare.
36:04My family has money.
36:06So much money.
36:07That's how I bought my way into this filthy industry.
36:11I could have financed our picture, Sandra.
36:13But he was spoiling it.
36:16Him.
36:18What better publicity?
36:20A tragic widow overcoming her grief.
36:23Tackling the part of a lifetime alongside the brilliant young writer.
36:27Writer-director.
36:29Writer-director who consoled her.
36:32It's a scene.
36:33Deranged.
36:35Oh, you poor fool.
36:37It would be a whole new Sandra Dare, my darling.
36:39Playing your own age.
36:41No makeup, a true character part to show your real range.
36:44No makeup?
36:45Are you mad?
36:46I'm Sandra Dare.
36:49So it was him.
36:50He killed that poor girl.
36:52Yes.
36:53And Norena Bean.
36:55No, not Norena Bean.
36:57What?
36:58Not Norena Bean, the girl with the poison pen.
37:01Jesse has a cast iron alibi.
37:03He was in his office.
37:05His secretary by his side, passing him the carbon paper, typing out a way to murder you, Mr. Howard.
37:10Then who did do it?
37:11Where did we find her?
37:14Bottom of the stairs.
37:15Which lead where?
37:18Prop store.
37:19Offices.
37:20The vault.
37:22The vault.
37:23Yes.
37:25Wherein lie some of the forgotten remnants of British cinema.
37:29And one film in particular.
37:30I found the reference in an old movie almanac back in Archangel Lane.
37:34What film?
37:36Kitty Wins the Calcutta Sweep.
37:39The hell is that?
37:41It's the film I found in your room.
37:46Sandra.
37:57Billy, call Bow Street.
37:59Get Bliss here.
38:00Yes, Mr. Burke.
38:01You never loved her, Stuart.
38:15Not like I did.
38:16It's a long time since I've done this for real.
38:19Oh, my God.
38:49Sandra, it's all over.
39:07Why don't you come out and explain?
39:09I wasn't Sandra Dare back then.
39:26I was Deirdre Pettock.
39:30It was so long ago.
39:41The film was lost.
39:43And then Norena discovered it.
39:48And then I discovered her.
40:01It was pure chance.
40:08I was going back to my dressing room, and I saw this person an extra.
40:19And then I recognized her.
40:24And I saw what she had in her sweaty hands.
40:29I had never been so angry, not in all my life.
40:37No!
40:38Give it!
40:39No!
40:41No!
40:41No!
40:43Give it!
40:44No!
40:44No!
40:45No!
40:45No!
40:46She hit that step like a fairground coconut.
40:57She died instantly.
41:01But it was an accident.
41:03I swear, it was an accident.
41:11But there it was.
41:15The monster print.
41:16This business will forgive you a lot of things, but not getting old.
41:38Are you smoking, Sandra?
41:39When nitrate film burns, Sandra, it makes its own oxygen.
41:51You think I don't know that, Mr. Borg?
41:55I'm a veteran of the silver screen.
42:00That's why they keep it in an asbestos bolt.
42:04If you drop that cigarette, Sandra, it'll go up like a torch.
42:09And Trotty and I won't escape unscathed.
42:15And neither will Stuart.
42:18Stuart.
42:21Darling.
42:24It doesn't have to be like this.
42:28But she would have told him all my secret.
42:35That I was making films when Lennon was in office.
42:39They would have made me box office poison.
42:45And I've told you.
42:48I want to go on and on and light up the town, explode.
42:53Sandra.
42:54That script that Jesse wrote.
42:54I read it.
43:03Sandra.
43:04That script that Jesse wrote.
43:06I read it.
43:06It's about a woman who makes a terrible moral mistake.
43:13but she faces her fate with dignity
43:17Inspector Bliss will be here soon
43:22and you'll be under arrest
43:25but before he arrives
43:27it could save you a little bit of humiliation
43:31what do you say?
43:37let's go out to the tank
43:39bring that film
43:41the one with you as a 17 year old
43:44with your whole life ahead of you
43:46if all this business made you what you've become
43:50oh no Mr. Book
43:55ah
43:58I've always had it in me
44:01I've always been a star
44:05I think that's what the camera saw
44:08and why they've always loved me
44:12just give me a moment will you
44:17not bad
44:30that's long enough
44:48keep the bloody door in
44:50I think that's what the camera saw
45:05and why they do not look like
45:11I'm a little tired
45:13I'm a little tired
45:15Come on.
45:45Come on.
46:15Come on.
46:45But I'm sure the jury will be kind to Miss Dare.
46:49It was an accident, after all.
46:54Now you're a free man, Mr. Howard.
46:58Just what I wanted.
47:00What a cost.
47:03Mind you.
47:04Tragic ex-fiancé.
47:06Broken-hearted leading man.
47:08Suddenly single?
47:16What is it?
47:20It was an accident, wasn't it?
47:23Marina Beanstaff.
47:25Well, you shall never know, Inspector.
47:29After all, Sandra Dare is a terribly good actress.
47:33What is it?
47:43I'm sorry.
47:46I'm sorry.
47:47I'm sorry.
47:52Hello, Jack.
48:14What's up?
48:16Jack, we need to tell you something.
48:18I'm sorry we didn't say it before,
48:20but we wanted to let you settle in, and it's a delicate matter.
48:23It's about our relationship.
48:29Oh.
48:32I think I guessed it.
48:35Is it that obvious?
48:37Well, it wasn't at first, but...
48:40Yeah.
48:43I found a photograph.
48:46A photograph?
48:48My dad.
48:50You have a photo of my dad.
48:56It's just like the one that I have.
49:02And this.
49:04I know I shouldn't have taken it.
49:06I'm sorry, but with the picture, I...
49:09Eric Percival Banks, your first husband...
49:13Is this him?
49:19Is this him?
49:19I know why.
49:20I know I'm sorry.
49:21I know I can't believe it.
49:22I know I can't believe it.
49:24It's true.
49:25I know.
49:26I know.
49:26You know I know.
49:27I know...
49:28I know.
49:30I know.
49:31You know, I know.
49:31I know.
51:02Oh, my dear. Not at all. I'm so sorry.
51:07What's all this about?
51:21Jack.
51:22We have rather a lot to tell you.
51:52What's all this about?

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