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00:00you mean everything to me what the hell was that love lord in london scene 28 take three
00:14i hope we did the right thing letting those people into the lane
00:19film struck girl inspector dead i've shut down filming for the time being what do we know about
00:26this film no stuart howard he and sandra bound their careers together the nation's sweethearts
00:32then there's the honorable jesse mckendrick you're the director and the writer what about billy
00:38someone 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
00:56it's one of the extras
00:58it's norena bean
01:01still rolling sandra
01:11and action
01:15oh no god i'm so sorry jesse um can i beg ten minutes uh ciggie he'll sort me out
01:27cut that
01:30scene 49 take nine
01:34kill the sound please
01:44can we stop the film and take a proper look
01:47no 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 my gosh i see what you mean he's lost six inches
02:03just while sandra dare went off for a gasper
02:05so
02:07between takes eight and nine
02:09norena bean gets her screen break
02:12an hour later is that right
02:13well certainly no more than two
02:15she's on the cutting room floor
02:16well
02:17the bottom of the basement steps
02:19i know who he is
02:21the postman
02:23you 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
02:43too hard for an accident you
02:45did you fall
02:47or was she pushed
02:50or was she pushed
02:54or was she pushed
02:55or was she pushed
02:56or was she pushed
02:57or was she pushed
02:58or was she pushed
02:59or was she pushed
03:00or was she pushed
03:01or was she pushed
03:02or was she pushed
03:03or was she pushed
03:04or was she pushed
03:05or was she pushed
03:06or was she pushed
03:07or was she pushed
03:08or was she pushed
03:09or was she pushed
03:10or was she pushed
03:11or was she pushed
03:12or was she pushed
03:13or was she pushed
03:14or was she pushed
03:15or was she pushed
03:16or was she pushed
03:17or was she pushed
03:18or was she pushed
03:19or was she pushed
03:50I think John Mills has lovely hair, and his nails always look so neat.
04:04Riveting stuff, this, Mrs B.
04:07Well, Book thinks there's something here.
04:09A clue. We like those.
04:12Many names coming up a lot. Regular correspondence.
04:16Name and address supplied is a very reliable contributor.
04:21I try to give myself a mole like Margaret Lockwood, and now Mum says I look like a tart.
04:34Hang on.
04:35I've seen a letter from this one before, signed Basilisk.
04:43If only we could step through the screen.
04:52Oh, the 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 where I think Norena Bean is already dead.
05:03Do you think this is linked to the poison girl?
05:10Kurt 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.
05:38But 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.
05:59With 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.
06:32Lovelorn.
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.
06:58I was a red herring before.
07:02Once.
07:03Half a wand that 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.
07:09All right, thank you.
07:09Why was she here, though, Norena?
07:14Why got the trouble of bribing him and putting on his costume?
07:16The extra security?
07:17The extra security.
07:18She can just hang around in a lane, couldn't she?
07:20So I suppose she needed a disguise.
07:22The title of that article, O.A.
07:25Maybe she was onto the poisoner.
07:27So she had to go.
07:28So she had to go.
07:30What's that?
07:31It was something I noticed.
07:34Backwards impression on Norena Bean's hand in ink.
07:37It was something 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...
07:52Ty wins.
07:53Ty wins.
07:55Two twins.
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?
08:26Bean.
08:29She's dead.
08:31You 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.
08:41But 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?
09:07Had a drink with that boy.
09:09Nice kid.
09:10Went to bed early.
09:12Did some film star duties.
09:13Oh?
09:14Yes, you know.
09:16Signing photos.
09:17Answering questions from fans.
09:19What's your ideal night out?
09:21What'd you like for breakfast?
09:22Hmm.
09:24You were just shooting here?
09:25Oh, yes.
09:27Do you take off to take?
09:29Sinful stuff, really.
09:31Oh.
09:31How many stars have sat here like me?
09:42We've seen the creases grow.
09:44The hair thin.
09:46The flesh group.
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, anyway.
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.
10:36Don't want nothing, can I clip some?
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!
10:55The 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?
11:02Everyone knows that.
11:04Interesting.
11:05So anyone could have gained access to this, for instance.
11:11Well, 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 thick 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.
11:41And then there's the late Miss Noreena Bean.
11:44Yeah, well, she was a right-o.
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 Noreena 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 scene 34.
12:19Just a little one, but in this business, the details matter, Inspector.
12:23You don't want actors bumping into the furniture.
12:25I'm a details man myself.
12:27Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm terrible at the pictures, me.
12:33I always know it, done it, straight off.
12:36It ever takes 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.
12:50You never get home, Billy.
12:51If 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.
13:04Basilisk.
13:10Eh?
13:26Ring any bells?
13:29Basilisk.
13:29Nora and I have spent most of the morning dredging through your back issues.
13:33My head's swimming.
13:34And 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 showing the screen with Stuart Howard, I will never know.
14:02A mumbling, soppy-eyed fop.
14:05Oh.
14:06And here's another, a year later, the public's infatuation with Dare and Howard is beyond me.
14:12Miss 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.
14:21But the difficulty as I see it is Stuart Howard.
14:25And there's a lot more like that in the same vein.
14:27An 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?
14:53Sometimes the discussions can get very heated.
14:56At 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.
15:39What about Miss Dez?
15:43Same.
15:43Probably.
15:51Who's next?
15:55Soundproofed?
15:56Naturally.
15:58Now, we know your movements last night, Mr. McKenna.
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.
16:24I don't know.
16:25What then?
16:27Well, our film opens in Leicester Square, then it goes out across the country, then to the
16:32second-run houses in the flea pits, and when it's so scratched that every scene looks
16:35like 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?
16:43It's put out of its misery.
16:53It's dissolved in sodium hypochlorite.
16:55Why back here?
16:57The fumes, Mr. Book.
16:58The fumes.
17:00In goes some old tat starring a terrible provincial comic, and out comes something useful.
17:05Waterproof paint and 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.
17:16The chemical solution does the work.
17:18No, I mean, making a motion picture, you know, the stars and the lights, you know,
17:23and shooting all those scenes, and 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.
17:43Mr. Howard.
17:52Good afternoon.
17:56Bye, darling.
17:57Bye.
18:03Mr. 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?
18:28I 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.
18:44Mustache.
18:46TTFN.
18:48There'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 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?
19:12Come on, Sergeant.
19:13Let's go.
19:13Come on.
19:27She's gone.
19:39Clippings.
19:59We found your trail book.
20:01Oh, excellent work.
20:03Oh.
20:04Mrs. 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.
20:16And I thought I saw something earlier, too, in the note.
20:19A repeated phrase.
20:22And these are all signed...
20:24Basilisk.
20:25What?
20:26It'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.
20:39Would you like a little look around, Mrs. Book?
20:42Oh, I'd be delighted.
20:47So, er...
20:48Wallpaper didn't suit your story, then?
20:51Well, no.
20:52Because the hero, Tony, he desires pleasure.
20:55But 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.
21:15Please.
21:18Skirts gathered ready for the pursuit of art?
21:21Ha, ha, ha.
21:22Er, yes.
21:23I suppose so.
21:24Well, before you rush off, perhaps I could check some details.
21:27Hmm.
21:28How do you help the police exactly, Mr. Book?
21:31I check details.
21:33You must be relieved to know the chocolates weren't intended for you.
21:36Hmm, naturally.
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.
21:50With Lorena Bean amongst the background artists.
21:53Lorena?
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.
22:09Perhaps she was killed because she knew who'd sent the poison chocolates.
22:12Is that what you think?
22:17It's a working hypothesis.
22:20Wait a minute.
22:21Um, you don't think that I...
22:26No.
22:27I love Stuart.
22:29We're everything to each other.
22:31Everything to the box office, at any rate.
22:34Oh, and 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, I imagine.
22:50Yes.
22:50Oh, 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 quote of quickie days, there was one picture shooting here during the day and one at night.
23:13When that door opened with a ten o'clock turnaround.
23:16Oh, no idea.
23:17Stale beer, orange peel, gas.
23:20Thank you, darling.
23:21Oh, the 1930s.
23:23Those were the days.
23:28Sugar, sir.
23:30What?
23:31Tastes horrible.
23:32It's so bitter.
23:35Would you like some milk, sir?
23:37No.
23:39Billy, get me some water.
23:42Oh, my lord.
23:44Jesse?
23:45Same symptoms.
23:51Jesse, you creeped me.
23:52Oh, my God.
23:52You creeped me.
23:55He did.
23:57Perhaps one of us took it again.
23:59What are you doing, Tim?
24:00Trying to save his life, I think, but perhaps someone should call an ambulance in case I've got it wrong.
24:05Ambulance, quickly.
24:06What's up, Mr. McKendrick?
24:07Stay with us.
24:08Oh, you love me.
24:09Oh, no.
24:11Look at me.
24:12Look at me.
24:13We didn't even get to the top of the hill.
24:28Is he hurt?
24:29It's largely cosmetic.
24:31Well, some of that stuff 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.
24:41Bit of a risk, though, Mrs. Book.
24:43Charcoal's good for strickening.
24:44But I'm still waiting for the report on what was in Barbara Malcolm's chocolate.
24:48Could've been anything.
24:49Mr. McKendrick twitched, though.
24:51Strickling 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.
25:03Oh, silly me.
25:19Thank you, Mrs. Book.
25:20Thank you, Mrs. Book.
25:20Thanks, sir.
25:33Oh, it's in the coffee.
25:45Everyone else has drunk it.
25:46They seem to be fine.
25:50What do you...
25:51Not entirely awful.
25:56Oh, so...
25:57It's in the cup.
25:58Added afterwards.
26:00You'd think so, wouldn't you?
26:01It's so indiscriminate.
26:06I just heard.
26:07Jesse?
26:09Poisoned!
26:09Oh, God!
26:11Is it meant for me?
26:13I don't know.
26:14The new schedule.
26:15Mr. Howard?
26:17Mr.
26:18You can go, Jack.
26:20That'll be the end of shooting for the day.
26:24Okay.
26:28Quiet.
26:30It's cold today.
26:31Shall we, Trotty?
26:40What's the matter with him?
26:42I don't know.
26:44He's been rather off with me all day.
26:46Laura, are we diversifying?
27:04Just catching up on my reading.
27:09He is mud in your eye.
27:11Ah-ah!
27:12Boy!
27:12I...
27:13I'm still a child.
27:15Your uncle will have my guts for garters.
27:17I'll go to bed.
27:19Are you all right?
27:21Long day.
27:22What's wrong with your usual diet of blood and guts?
27:25I've got 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...
27:50There she is.
28:04Christiana Edmonds.
28:12And Astra Asper.
28:16What?
28:17What?
28:20Nothing.
28:34And the staircase doesn't go anywhere.
28:36Oh, it's all right.
28:38These people never go upstairs.
28:39Sounds like home.
28:41No ceiling, though.
28:43The 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.
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.
29:16It'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, uh, 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.
29:35Telegram 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.
29:41And he's on his way back to Blighty with 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 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.
30:13What did he do to die today?
30:17What did he do to die?
30:18All it, Billy.
30:19A minute or two.
30:21What did he do to die today?
30:22What did he do to die?
30:25Scene 34, take one.
30:28Now.
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 allows me.
30:41I shall think of us fighting together.
30:44You said Stuart.
30:45What?
30:45You said Stuart.
30:46Cut.
30:47Let's go again.
30:47Close positions, please.
30:49Close positions.
30:50Billy.
30:51Yes, Mr McKendree.
30:52Wrong this one.
30:53Would you call up an inch?
30:58Got it.
31:00Quiet, please.
31:07And...
31:08Action.
31:10Don't say that word.
31:11Tony, you know I did it.
31:13That was me.
31:14There's still time, you know.
31:15Time for what?
31:19To do the right thing.
31:20Stop the filming.
31:22I've been aware for a while about a certain secret relationship in your life.
31:26Oh, we are not.
31:28She isn't.
31:29I'm not 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.
31:44Your 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, the heroine of your new film script.
31:56Household name, once.
31:57Fell in love with a doctor and believed that he was in love with her.
32:02A pure 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?
32:19I've had a lot of time to think.
32:22Too much, I dare say.
32:25And 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.
32:41I simply must.
32:49You didn't mean to kill poor Barbara Markham.
33:02And that might save you from the gallows.
33:05But you couldn't make the same argument about what's happening here, could you?
33:10This is your very last chance, Jesse.
33:12Oh, damn, damn, damn you, book.
33:23Ow!
33:24How was that bloody painful?
33:26Oh, well.
33:30Too late now.
33:33You 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 the pin in the cash register.
33:59So it would go straight into the bloodstream.
34:02If Jack and Billy hadn't followed my instructions perfectly
34:06and swapped it with a clean one,
34:08the pink page told me where to look.
34:11But it was Billy who found it.
34:14You 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.
34:26It 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, but in a real film or masterpiece.
34:42What the hell are you talking about?
34:44He's been obsessed with you for years, Mr.
34:47He used to write letters to picture-goer.
34:50Under a pseudonym, of course.
34:52Basilisk.
34:53His family crest.
34:56All 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.
35:17He could have said,
35:18bitter almonds, like people do in the films.
35:23But you chose to twitch,
35:24because you knew that Barbara Markham had been killed by strychnine.
35:28You were familiar with the effects.
35:31They're pretty ugly, aren't they, Trotty?
35:32Yes, spasms.
35:33A sort of breathless agitation.
35:35I'll never forget it.
35:37You put in a good performance, Jessie.
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.
35:50Ad Astra per Aspera.
35:53Through hardship to the stars.
35:55Your family motto.
35:56You got to the stars, didn't you, Jessie?
36:00Well, to the only star that mattered to you.
36:04Sandra 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 a picture, Sandra.
36:13But he was spoiling it.
36:16Him.
36:16And what better publicity?
36:20A tragic widow overcoming her grief.
36:24Tackling the part of a lifetime alongside the brilliant young writer.
36:27Writer-director.
36:29Writer-director.
36:30Who consoled her.
36:32It's a scene.
36:34Deranged.
36:35Oh, you poor fool.
36:37It would be a whole new Sandra Dare, my darling.
36:39Playing your own age.
36:41No makeup or true character part to show your real range.
36:44No makeup?
36:44Are you mad?
36:46I'm Sandra Dare.
36:49So it was him.
36:50He killed that poor girl.
36:53Yes.
36:53And Noreena Bean.
36:55No, not Noreena Bean.
36:57What?
36:58Not Noreena Bean, the girl with the poison pen.
37:01Jessie has a cast iron alibi.
37:03He was in his office.
37:05His secretary by his side.
37:06Passing him the carbon paper.
37:08Typing out a way to murder you, Mr. Howard.
37:10Then who did do it?
37:12Where did we find her?
37:13Bottom 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.
37:46Billy, call Bowstreet.
37:59Get Bliss here.
38:00Yeah, Mr. Book.
38:01Wait.
38:01You never loved her, Stuart.
38:15Not like I did.
38:17It's a long time since I've done this for real.
38:19Oh.
38:30Oh.
38:31Oh.
38:33Oh.
38:35Oh.
38:35Oh.
38:40Oh.
38:43Sandra?
39:00Sandra, it's all over.
39:07Why don't you come out and explain?
39:13I wasn't Sandra Dare back then.
39:25I was Deidre Pitchock.
39:36It was so long ago.
39:39The film was lost, and then Norena discovered it.
39:52And then I discovered her.
39:55It 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.
40:36Oh, no!
40:38Give it!
40:39No!
40:41Deidre!
40:43No!
40:43Give it!
40:44No!
40:45No!
40:45No!
40:45No!
40:46No!
40:46No!
40:46No!
40:53She hit that step like a fairground coconut.
40:57Perhaps she died instantly.
41:02But it was an accident.
41:05I swear.
41:07It was an accident.
41:12But there it was.
41:15The monster print.
41:27This business will forgive you a lot of things, but I'm not getting old.
41:38Are you smoking, Sandra?
41:44When nitrate film burns, Sandra, it makes its own oxygen.
41:48Do you think I don't know that, Mr. Book?
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, you'll go up like a torch.
42:08And 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.
42:25She would have told them all my secret.
42:35That I was making films when Lennon was in office.
42:41They 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.
42:55I want to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
43:03Sandra, that script that Jesse wrote, I've read it.
43:08It's about a woman who makes a terrible moral mistake.
43:15But she faces her fate with dignity.
43:20Inspector Bliss will be here soon.
43:22And you'll be under arrest.
43:26But before he arrives,
43:29I could save you a little bit of humiliation.
43:33What do you say?
43:37Let's go out to the tank.
43:40Bring that film.
43:42I'm on with you as a 17 year old with your whole life ahead of you.
43:45Before this business made you what you've become.
43:54Oh no, Mr. Book.
43:57Ah.
44:00I've always had it in me.
44:03I've always been a star.
44:05I think that's what the camera saw.
44:10And why they've always loved me.
44:16Just give me a moment, will you?
44:17I've always loved you.
44:29Not bad.
44:48That's long enough.
44:49All right, keep the bloody door in.
45:17Don't move.
45:18No.
45:19й
45:34Bye-bye.
45:35All right.
45:37Who?
46:07It's a tragedy.
46:37Did he really?
46:38Well, they...
46:40Well, they hang.
46:42Jesse McKendrick, undoubtedly.
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.
47:02Mind you.
47:04Tragic ex-seance.
47:06Broken-hearted leading man.
47:08Suddenly single.
47:13What is it?
47:19Of course.
47:20It was an accident, wasn't it?
47:23Marina Beanster.
47:25Well, you shall never know, Inspector.
47:29After all, Sandra Dare is a terribly good actress.
47:34Right?
47:36It's time to be so hard, right?
47:41But, I don't think so.
47:49Assmartes are dead.
47:51I'll never kill you.
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,
48:22and it's a delicate matter.
48:24It's about our relationship.
48:29Oh.
48:32I think I guessed it.
48:35Is 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...
49:07With the picture, I...
49:10Eric Percival Banks, your first husband...
49:12Is this him?
49:18Is this him?
49:19I'm sorry, but...
49:20I know.
49:24I know.
49:27I know.
49:29I know.
49:30I know.
49:33I know.
51:04Not at all.
51:06I'm so sorry.
51:08But what's all this about?
51:22Jack.
51:22We have rather a lot to tell you.
51:28We have rather a lot to tell you.
51:58We have rather a lot to tell you.