I'll Be Seeing You (1944)

Ginger Rogers: Mary Marshall

Photos 

Quotes 

• Mary Marshall : [coming out of a theater showing a war movie]  Is the war really like that?

  Zachary Morgan : I guess so.

  Mary Marshall : That's funny.

  Zachary Morgan : Why?

  Mary Marshall : I mean that you should only guess so.

  Zachary Morgan : Well, they have experts making those pictures. I guess that's the way they see the war. A beach a mile long, and thousands of soldiers, and tanks, and machine guns and everything. I guess that's the way it is.

  Mary Marshall : But it wasn't that way for you, huh?

  Zachary Morgan : It's just a difference in size. To a guy that's in it, the war's about ten feet wide, and kind of empty. It's you and a couple of fellows in your company, maybe, and maybe a couple of Japs. It's all kind of mixed up. Sometimes it's all full of noise, and sometimes it's quiet. It all depends on what you're thinking about, I guess. It depends on how scared you are, how cold you are, and how wet you are. I guess if you asked a hundred guys what the war's like, they'd all give you a different answer. Mary. You know what?

  Mary Marshall : What?

  Zachary Morgan : I mean, usually you don't like to talk about it. I never said anything about it before, not to anybody.

  Mary Marshall : I'm sorry, I ...

  Zachary Morgan : No. No, I feel kind of good.

• Zachary Morgan : Mary, I want to tell you why I got mad at that guy in the coffee shop last night, and why I walked away from you after I threw that rock at the lamppost and missed it.

  Mary Marshall : I knew there must be some reason, but you don't have to tell me.

  Zachary Morgan : Look, I was brought up in a home, an orphan's home.

  Mary Marshall : That's nothing to be ashamed of.

  Zachary Morgan : I'm not. It's not like being in prison, or anything like that.

  Mary Marshall : No.

  Zachary Morgan : Well, in the home there was a janitor. This fellow had been in the last war. A young guy. He was a shell shock case. Whenever we could get our hands on any firecrackers, we'd bang them off and laugh at him when he jumped. Well, that fellow in the coffee shop reminded me of the janitor, and they both made me think of myself and what I'd be like in a few years. Only difference is, that now in the hospital, they have a fancy name for it: neuropsychiatric.

  Mary Marshall : The doctors must know a lot more about it now than they did during the last war.

  Zachary Morgan : Maybe. They don't know something about me that I know. You see, before I became an engineer, I was an athlete, a pretty good one. I know what my timing used to be, they don't, and it's gone, Mary. Before this happened to me, I could have hit that lamppost all day. I don't know why I'm bothering you with all this. Yes, I do. I know why I'm bothering you. Because I feel so much better when I talk to you. I like to be with you.

• Mary Marshall : You know something?

  Zachary Morgan : What?

  Mary Marshall : The doctors are gonna be very surprised when they see you. They'll probably send you back to active duty.

  Zachary Morgan : That lemonade must have been spiked.

  Mary Marshall : No, I really mean it. Do you realize what you did tonight? I bet you couldn't have done that a week ago.

  Zachary Morgan : What?

  Mary Marshall : Well, I watched you all evening. When you were dancing, you never hesitated for words, and your eyes didn't blink. And then when that dog attacked us, I've never seen anyone quite so fast on their feet.

  Zachary Morgan : I didn't even think about what I was doing.

  Mary Marshall : That's just it, you were so alert and keen, and your timing was perfect.

  Zachary Morgan : I hope you're right. I believe you are. Mary, you told me that in eight days you can do a lot of believing.

  Mary Marshall : You see, I'm the fellow that's on the radio that says: Life can be wonderful.

  Zachary Morgan : You're wonderful.

  Mary Marshall : You're just saying that because you know I've got lots of money.

  Zachary Morgan : You're wonderful.

  Mary Marshall : Because you know I've got very influential friends.

  Zachary Morgan : You're wonderful.

  Mary Marshall : Because of my social position.

  [he kisses her] 

  Zachary Morgan : Mary, I know I'm going to get well. I've got plans, too, lots of them. I know I'm going to stay well, too, because you figure in all my plans. You've got to figure in them because, without you, I'm back where I started. I'm sunk.

  Mary Marshall : Let's don't talk about it tonight. I'm kind of sleepy.

• Zachary Morgan : [meeting her at the women's prison gate]  Mary, I didn't want to make you cry.

  Mary Marshall : There's nothing wrong with crying at a time like this.

  Zachary Morgan : The minute I got on the train, I knew why you didn't tell me.

  Mary Marshall : Nothing matters, except that you're here.

  Zachary Morgan : I'm terribly ashamed of walking out like that. I need you, Mary. I want to feel that you need me.

  Mary Marshall : Oh, I do. I do.

  Zachary Morgan : I'll be right here. I'll be right here waiting. I'll be all well by then. Ready to make a new start, too.

• Mary Marshall : [meeting for the first time on the train]  Are you going home on furlough?

  Zachary Morgan : Yeah. Yeah, I'm on furlough. They gave me a furlough.

  Mary Marshall : Is this your first time home since...

  Zachary Morgan : Well, I haven't got any regular home or family. I'm just going to visit. You traveling on business, or...

  Mary Marshall : No, I'm on vacation. Christmas vacation.

  Zachary Morgan : What kind of business are you in? I mean, what sort of work do you do?

  Mary Marshall : Well, I, uh... I travel. I'm a traveling saleswom - uh, saleslady.

  Zachary Morgan : I never heard any jokes about traveling salesladies. I guess there aren't many. I never would have guessed that's what you did.

  Mary Marshall : Well, what - what would you have guessed?

  Zachary Morgan : Oh, that you were, uh, I don't know... a secretary or a model maybe, a schoolteacher.

  Mary Marshall : Well, I once was a secretary, and I wanted to be a model. So that would have been pretty good guessing.

  Zachary Morgan : You going all the way to L.A.?

  Mary Marshall : No. No, I haven't much farther to go, as a matter of fact. I'm getting off at Pinehill.

  Zachary Morgan : Oh. Oh, well... Is Pinehill your home?

  Mary Marshall : No. I'm just visting my uncle.

  Zachary Morgan : That's funny. I'm going to Pinehill, too.

  Mary Marshall : Oh, really?

  Zachary Morgan : Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm visiting there. My sister lives in Pinehill.

  Mary Marshall : I bet she'll be very glad to see you.

  Zachary Morgan : I hope so. Maybe we'll run into each other there.

  Mary Marshall : Yes.

• Mary Marshall : [getting into a cab]  Bye.

  Zachary Morgan : Bye.

  Mary Marshall : [to cab driver]  617 North Elm Street.

  Zachary Morgan : Oh, wait. If, uh, if anybody tried to telephone you, how could they get you?

  Mary Marshall : Well, uh, my uncle's name is in the telephone book. Henry Marshall.

  Zachary Morgan : Henry Marshall? Good. Oh! What's your name?

  Mary Marshall : Mary. Mary - Mary Marshall.

  Zachary Morgan : Mary Marshall. Good-bye.

  Mary Marshall : Good-bye.

  Zachary Morgan : Wait a minute. Um, if somebody calls and says it's Zachary Morgan, that's me.

  Mary Marshall : [laughing]  Oh. Glad to meet you.

  Zachary Morgan : Merry Christmas.

  Mary Marshall : Merry Christmas.

• Mrs. Marshall : You haven't changed, Mary. Not at all.

  Mary Marshall : Thank you, Aunt Sarah. Oh, it's so good to be here.

  Mrs. Marshall : I'm so glad to have you with us, dear. Awfully glad. Barbara, come on down! You can share Barbara's room.

  Mary Marshall : Oh, dear, I don't want to disturb anybody. I, don't ...

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, nonsense. Barbara will love to have you. Here, for heaven's sake, give me your coat. Anyway, it's the guest room, or it was before Barbara was born. Besides, I think it would be a very good thing for Barbara. She's seventeen.

  Mary Marshall : Seventeen?

  Mrs. Marshall : And she's pretty, spoiled, and at an age, oh, you know. I think an older girl will be a very good thing for her right now. Like you. Yes, like you. Now, there's a million things to talk about, but first you want to wash up.

  Barbara Marshall : [coming downstairs]  Hello, Mary. I'm awfully glad to see you.

  Mary Marshall : Hello, Barbara. Why, I never would have known you. She's grown into a beauty.

  Barbara Marshall : Welcome home.

  Mrs. Marshall : Take Mary up to your room, dear.

  Barbara Marshall : Follow me, lady, to my boudoir. Although it's small, not much bigger than a cell. Oh, I'm sorry, Mary.

  Mary Marshall : Look, there's just one thing. We all know that I've been in prison, and I'm going back in eight days. And there's no use pretending it isn't so. It just won't be any good unless everybody says what he thinks, and doesn't try to cover up.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, you're a fine girl, Mary. Now go up and see your room.

• Mrs. Marshall : You must have been looking forward to it, Mary.

  Mary Marshall : I was looking forward to seeing you, Aunt Sarah.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, that's sweet of you, dear.

  Mary Marshall : As a matter of fact, selfish. I've been doing a lot of thinking in the past three years, Aunt Sarah, and...

  Mrs. Marshall : What sort of things were you thinking, Mary?

  Mary Marshall : Coming out into the world and... Even coming here, I had a feeling that ...

  Mrs. Marshall : Honey, you've got to stop being afraid. You've got to stop feeling that you're branded like people were in the old days. You've done something. You're paying your debt to society. Most people are willing to let it go at that.

  Mary Marshall : I know, Aunt Sarah, but coming out into the world and seeing everybody in uniform, everybody doing something... I just don't belong. I don't fit in. And dreams that I've had for the future are just impossible.

  Mrs. Marshall : Well, most dreams are, Mary. It's just the dreaming that counts. Nobody gets exactly what he wants out of life. One of the first things you learn is to make compromises with your dreams.

  Mary Marshall : But I'm not talking about palaces and rainbows, Aunt Sarah. I'm talking about a home. A home like this with a kitchen and a stove and an icebox, and a husband, and a child.

  Mrs. Marshall : Yes, I have all that. Yet I used to dream about palaces and rainbows.

  Mary Marshall : But you're happy.

  Mrs. Marshall : Of course. Because I didn't hold out for too much. I accepted what I thought was second best and made that do. Oh, it's something that everybody learns sooner or later. You have to get used to accepting what you think is second best, and then you find out it's first best after all.

• Mary Marshall : [after Barbara had partitioned all their stuff]  Barbara, what I'm in prison for isn't catching.

  Barbara Marshall : I'm sorry, Mary, I... I keep hurting you, and... I really don't want to.

  Mary Marshall : I guess it is uncomfortable for you to meet somebody who's been in prison. Maybe when you get to know me, you'll feel differently.

  Barbara Marshall : I want to know you, Mary. Really, I do.

  Mary Marshall : How much do you know about me?

  Barbara Marshall : Not much. Mother and Dad still treat me like a child. Everything's a big secret.

  Mary Marshall : I don't think it would hurt for you to know. As a matter of fact, I think it might help. When I was your age, my mother died.

  Barbara Marshall : Oh, I remember her. Way back when I was young. She used to make clothes for my favorite doll.

  Mary Marshall : Yes, she was wonderful with her hands. And some time after that, my father went north on business. And then, when he died, I was on my own. I got a very good job as a secretary, and my job brought me in contact with a lot of very nice men, one of whom, might have turned out, I thought, to be the one who would give me all the things that you dream about when you're twenty and lonely. One day, when I was called into my boss's office, he invited me to a party in his apartment. He was single, and I started dreaming. Bosses do marry their secretaries. I took what money I'd saved and I bought an evening dress. I thought it was very fancy. I wanted to look good in front of his high class friends. He had sent me an orchid, a white orchid, the first one I'd ever had. I was wearing it. When the door opened, I walked into the biggest apartment I'd ever seen. I thought it was rich and elegant. I'd wanted to impress him, so I got there a little late. I'd wanted to make an entrance all by myself, but nobody else was there. I should have had sense enough then to get out, but I didn't. He'd been drinking a long time before I got there, I guess, and he kept right on. He told me that he hadn't invited anyone else, and that the white orchid, and all that was just his way of getting me up there. I - I tried to talk my way out, and then when that didn't work, I made a break for it. I didn't scream. I was too frightened, I guess. I tried to get away from him, but I couldn't. He seemed to be everywhere. Oh, it was all mixed up like some terrible kind of a dream. Once, I almost got away, when he fell over a chair. But he caught me again, and dragged me back. Then I pushed him as hard as I could, and he fell back through the window. His apartment was on the fourteenth floor.

  Barbara Marshall : Oh, Mary... how awful.

  Mary Marshall : Maybe I shouldn't have told you.

  Barbara Marshall : No, I'm glad you did. But it's wrong. They shouldn't have sent you to prison.

  Mary Marshall : If I'd been lucky enough to get away before he was killed, then there wouldn't have been any crime. But after all, a man was dead. The jury said manslaughter. Guilty. Well, that meant six years.

• Zachary Morgan : [Mrs. Marshall comes in with a flaming plum pudding]  I never could figure out why the pudding never gets burned.

  Mary Marshall : I've never been able to figure that out either. Must be the alcohol in the brandy.

  Zachary Morgan : I think.

  Mr. Marshall : Personally, I think it's a shame to burn good brandy. That quart I brought home last week was imported cognac.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, don't worry, Henry, I didn't burn up the whole quart.

  Barbara Marshall : Oh, I wouldn't trust Mom with it, Dad.

  Mr. Marshall : Maybe you're right. Remember last year, how Mom got going on just a glass of sherry?

  Mrs. Marshall : Now I'm not going to listen to that again!

  Barbara Marshall : You may not believe this about your dear Aunt Sarah, but last year she got high as a kite.

  Zachary Morgan : If they're trying to drag out a family skeleton, Mrs. Marshall, I won't listen to them.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, it's just one of those little things that happen, people start exaggerating.

  Mr. Marshall : Exaggerate, my eye! It's as true as I sit here. Last year, Mother and I had a glass of sherry to bring in the new year. And then we went to a little gathering, all the way across town, it was. Mother had her skirt on backwards!

  Mrs. Marshall : See here, Henry, if you're in such good voice, how about a Christmas carol?

• Barbara Marshall : [caught staring at Mary]  I was just thinking, that's an awfully nice suit you have on, Mary.

  Mary Marshall : Oh, thank you, Barbara. You were thinking of something else, too.

  Barbara Marshall : As a matter of fact, I was.

  Mary Marshall : [taking of her jacket]  Where can I put this?

  Barbara Marshall : I'll take it.

  Mary Marshall : You may as well tell me, so we can both get it off our minds.

  Barbara Marshall : Well, I... I just... Well, you see, I hadn't known that they gave these vacations or furloughs to people that...

  Mary Marshall : You don't have to be shy about it, Barbara. I didn't know about it either. Till the warden told me that in this state, and a few other states, they give special furloughs to people for good behavior.

  Barbara Marshall : Well, I think it's wonderful that they have that confidence in you.

  Mary Marshall : Yes. I think so, too.

• Mrs. Marshall : Oh, I understood, Mary. When Zach said he was a stranger, you felt as if the words were coming from your own lips.

  Mr. Marshall : Might have happened to any girl. Could have been just Christmas sentiment. Good night, Mary.

  Mary Marshall : Good night, Uncle Henry.

  Mr. Marshall : Good night. Don't forget to turn out the lights, Sarah.

  Mrs. Marshall : All right, dear. So don't worry about making a scene.

  Mary Marshall : Well, I'm not worrying about that, Aunt Sarah. I was just wondering if I shouldn't tell him about me.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, not for the world.

  Mary Marshall : You don't think so?

  Mrs. Marshall : Well, why?

  Mary Marshall : Well, he trusts me, and it doesn't seem fair.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, there's no reason for it, Mary. He'll only be here for a few days. He's lonely, and you're making things pleasant for him.

  Mary Marshall : That's not the reason I'm seeing him, Aunt Sarah. Because I like him. I like him a lot.

  Mrs. Marshall : Of course you do, dear, but it isn't as if you were going to marry him.

  Mary Marshall : No. It's not as if I was going to marry him.

  Mrs. Marshall : I didn't mean it like that, dear.

  Mary Marshall : I know.

  Mrs. Marshall : Have fun, Mary. See Zach everyday, if you like. Act like any other girl.

  Mary Marshall : I try, Aunt Sarah, but I can't seem to make myself feel like any other girl. I just feel like me.

  Mrs. Marshall : And that's pretty darn good. Now you have fun.

• Mrs. Marshall : [Mary picks up an evening dress in a dress shop]  You like this one, don't you, Mary?

  Mary Marshall : It's lovely.

  Mrs. Marshall : Then you're going to have it.

  Mary Marshall : Oh, no. Uh-uh.

  Mrs. Marshall : Now, you listen to me, Mary. You can't wear the same clothes day after day, your soldier boy's going to get tired of them.

  Mary Marshall : Well, I've been fooling him well enough so far. I've been wearing one blouse after another. I don't need a dress, dear.

  Mrs. Marshall : Now, Zach's made a big thing of inviting us all to this New Year's Eve party. You can't wear a suit.

  Mary Marshall : Uh-uh. I'll manage.

  Mrs. Marshall : Henry and I have talked it over. We want you to have a dress.

  [Mary shakes her head] 

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, Henry will be so disappointed if you don't accept it.

  Mary Marshall : Darling, I'll only be able to wear it once. It'll be out of style in three years.

  Mrs. Marshall : Then we'll burn it. Miss?

  Saleslady : Yes?

  Mrs. Marshall : My niece would like to try on this dress.

  Saleslady : Oh, it'll be fine on you.

  Mrs. Marshall : Go on, dear. Try it on.

  Mary Marshall : Well, all right. I'll try it on.

• Mary Marshall : [Trying on the dress in the dressing room]  How much is this dress?

  Saleslady : Sixty-nine dollars.

  Mary Marshall : Oh? Would you take the tag off, please?

  [Handing her some money] 

  Mary Marshall : Look, here's thirty dollars. And when my aunt asks you the price, will you tell her that it's thirty-nine instead of sixty-nine dollars?

  Saleslady : It's a bargain.

  Mary Marshall : Thank you.

  Mrs. Marshall : [Saleslady leaves the dressing room, and joins Mrs. Marshall outside]  Miss, how much was that dress?

  Saleslady : Thirty-nine dollars.

  Mrs. Marshall : Look, I'll give you twenty dollars. When I ask you again, how much it was, you tell me it's nineteen dollars.

  Mary Marshall : [coming out of the dressing room]  Do you like it?

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, it's darling on you.

  Mary Marshall : Isn't it sweet?

  Mrs. Marshall : It was made for you. Um, Miss, how much is this dress?

  Saleslady : Nineteen dollars.

  Mrs. Marshall : Oh, that's a wonderful buy.

  [Mary realizes what happened and laughs] 

• Charlie Hartman : I didn't think you were trying to give me the brush. What happened? You know, I thought you were still ...

  Mary Marshall : Well, I am. They gave me a ten day Christmas vacation.

  Charlie Hartman : Oh, good. You gonna be around?

  Mary Marshall : Yes, but Charlie, the fellow I'm with he doesn't know about me, and I'd appreciate it very much if, you know, if you wouldn't ...

  Charlie Hartman : Sure, Mary. Forget it.

• Barbara Marshall : Mary, I - I - I told him. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't know. I told him.

  Mrs. Marshall : We're so sorry.

  Barbara Marshall : [in tears]  Mary, I... Mary, I... I'm so ashamed. Please forgive me. I love you, Mary, and I wouldn't want to hurt you, not for anything. I understand something... I understand something now that I never knew before, that you can make a mistake, do something dreadful, without meaning to... Oh, Mary!

  Mary Marshall : [choking on tears]  It's all right, Barbara.