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00:01You?
00:06You mean everything to me.
00:10What the hell was that?
00:12Love Lorne in London, scene 28, take three.
00:16I hope we did the right thing letting those people into the lane.
00:20Film struck girl, Inspector. Dead.
00:23I've shut down filming for the time being.
00:25What do we know about this film?
00:27Stuart Howard. He and Sandra have bound their careers together.
00:31The nation's sweethearts.
00:32Then there's the Honourable Jesse McKendrick.
00:35You're the director?
00:36And the writer.
00:37What about Billy?
00:38Someone is trying to kill me.
00:43Strictly.
00:44Drop it! It's poison!
00:46Can you think of anyone who might want to kill you?
00:49Take your ruddy pick.
00:50When are we going to tell him?
00:52Not yet.
00:56It's one of the extras.
01:00It's Norena Bean.
01:09Still rolling, Sandra?
01:11Yeah.
01:13And... action!
01:21Oh, no, God. I'm so sorry, Jesse.
01:24Um...
01:25Can I beg ten minutes?
01:26Siggy will sort me out.
01:29Cut there.
01:32Scene 49, take nine.
01:36Action.
01:39It was dead.
01:40I knew...
01:43Kill the sound, please.
01:45Can we stop the film and take a proper look?
01:48No, we'd burn in the projector.
01:50I think the difference is pretty obvious.
01:52You'll see in just a moment.
01:55Here comes the post.
02:00Oh, I see what you mean.
02:02He's lost six inches.
02:03Just while Sandra Day went off for a gasper.
02:06So, between takes eight and nine, Norena 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, the bottom of the basement steps.
02:20I know who he is.
02:22The postman.
02:24You do?
02:27He was down the lane yesterday.
02:29I see him in the yard just now.
02:32Would you be so kind?
02:36Yep.
02:40Of course, she hit that step with tremendous force.
02:44Too hard for an accident, do you think?
02:46Did she fall?
02:49Or was she pushed?
03:14Or was she went across the street?
03:18I didn't do it.
03:18How are you doing this?
03:19Or is she gonna have to go outside?
03:21He wants you.
03:22A third, I can't wait.
03:29How are you going outside?
03:58I think John Mills' lovely hair
04:00and his nails always look so neat
04:04riveting stuff this Mrs. B
04:06Well, who thinks there's something here?
04:09A clue, we like those
04:11Many names coming up a lot, regular correspondence
04:16Name and address supplied is a very reliable contributor
04:22I try to give myself a mole like Margaret Lockwood
04:25and now mum says I look like a tart
04:34Hang on
04:37I've seen a letter from this one before
04:40Signed
04:43Basilisk
04:48If only we could step through the screen
04:53Romance 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
05:00when I think Norena Bean is already dead
05:08Do you think this is linked to the poison girl?
05:12Special delivery
05:14Your postman
05:16Bart Masterson
05:18Kurt Masterson
05:20Normally I do landlords
05:27I've seen a glass pushed in a bloke's face and I've laughed
05:31See?
05:34Very good
05:34Robert 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
05:44Second one on this production, in fact, after Miss Barbara Markham
05:48And two looks like carelessness
05:52Who's, though?
05:54Are you the police?
05:55Inspector Bliss is the police
05:56Hello
05:57I'm just helping them
05:58With their inquiries?
06:00With the fiddly bits
06:01Now, Kurt Masterson, not your real man?
06:05How did you know?
06:07You went home early last night, Mr. Masterson
06:10Why?
06:10Well, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, wasn't I?
06:13I knew the lady, Norena Bean
06:15I read a column, I always do
06:16She gave me a fiver
06:17Just 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?
06:44About actors here?
06:46No
06:48Well, nothing nasty
06:50Just whether they like mink
06:51Or feathers
06:51Or where they drink
06:52Or how much
06:54All right, thank you
06:55We'll come and get a statement from you
06:57That's it?
06:57That's it
07:00I was a red herring before
07:02Once
07:03Half a wantonet tapped his pipe
07:04And looked all beady at me
07:05But I'd never done it
07:06I was just in the wrong place
07:08At the wrong time
07:08All right, thank you
07:12Why was she here, though, Norena?
07:14Why don't you have 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 onto the poisoner
07:27So she had to go
07:30What's that?
07:31It was something I noticed
07:33Backwards impression on Norena Bean's hand in ink
07:36It was something she was holding
07:39Evidently she was sweating
07:40Whether from the exertion of going up the stairs or the heavy costume
07:45And reversed, it reads
07:50Tie winds
07:51Tie, tie winds
07:53Tie, tie winds
07:54Twins
07:56Hardly
07:57More likely the fragment of two words, wouldn't you say?
08:01I, uh, better get back to work
08:02Work?
08:05I'm standing in for Stuart
08:07It's not a proper trade, you know
08:09Yeah
08:11Like being a part-time detective
08:17What's up with him?
08:24Hmm?
08:25Me?
08:29She's dead
08:30You saw her
08:32She was at the bottom of the stairs
08:34Like a broken dog
08:36Oh god, how awful
08:37I mean, she was awful
08:40But still
08:41Oh, how awful
08:48If it was murder
08:50There'd be a lot of suspense
08:53Half the British film business
08:55All of it
08:56It's true
08:57Everybody hated her
09:00You hated her
09:03What did you do last night?
09:07Had a drink with that boy
09:08Nice kid
09:10Went to bed early
09:11Did 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
09:23You were just shooting here?
09:24Yes, you'd take off to take
09:28Simple stuff
09:30Really
09:36How many stars have sat here like me?
09:40What have you seen?
09:42What have you seen the creases grow?
09:44The hair thin
09:45The fleshed rope
09:47The chins
09:49I met a man once
09:54He was an astronomer
09:56Now he knew about the stars
09:58The real ones, I mean
10:00Did you know
10:02That the stars that we see in the sky
10:05Aren't really there?
10:06Most of them
10:07Anyway
10:08It takes so long
10:10For the light to reach us
10:12But they're just echoes
10:16Ghosts
10:17Just a memory
10:19Of what was once there
10:21Christ, darling
10:23But some of those stars
10:24Don't go quietly
10:26Or no
10:27Towards the end
10:28Later in life
10:29Shall we say
10:29They get bigger
10:31Bigger stew
10:33They give out more
10:34More light
10:35And heat
10:36Till nothing can eclipse them
10:38Nothing
10:40I don't want to go quietly
10:43I want to burn
10:45Light up the town
10:47Like I used to
10:48Explode
10:49Boom
10:54The chocolates were injected
10:56With one of these
10:57So why have you got one?
10:58Well
10:59It's hardly a secret, is it?
11:01Diabetic, aren't I?
11:02Everyone knows that
11:04Interesting
11:05So anyone could have gained access
11:07To this, for instance
11:08Hmm?
11:11Well, you might have done it yourself
11:12Why the hell would I have wanted
11:14To poison Miss Dare?
11:15Well, that's just a thing, Sonny Jim
11:16Miss Dare wasn't the target
11:18Then who was?
11:19Her fiancé
11:22Yes
11:22Puts a rather different complexion
11:24On things, doesn't it?
11:25Mr. Howard fired you, didn't he?
11:26Yeah, yeah
11:27But 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
11:33In this business, Inspector
11:34I've dealt with bigger egos
11:35Than Stuart Howard
11:36Believe me
11:37If I'd wanted to get my own back
11:38I'd have pissed in his tea
11:39Not poisoned his chocolates
11:42And then there's the late
11:43Miss Noreena Bean
11:44Yeah, well
11:45She was a right-on
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
11:55Last night, can you?
11:56Shot right through
11:57Right
11:57No coffee breaks?
11:59Yes, of course coffee breaks
12:00So theoretically
12:01You could have pushed Noreena Bean
12:02Down the stairwell, couldn't you?
12:04Yeah, well theoretically
12:05I could have won the pools
12:06And rung up Veronica Lake
12:07For a date
12:08But I didn't
12:09What's this?
12:11Tomorrow's pink page
12:15Rewrite
12:16Mr. McKendrick's rewrite
12:17I've seen 34
12:19Just a little one
12:20But in this business
12:21The details matter
12:22Inspector
12:22You don't want actors
12:24Bumping into the furniture
12:25I'm a details man myself
12:31I'm terrible at the pictures, me
12:32I always know
12:34I've done it straight off
12:36It ever takes the marrow
12:37Out of Mrs. Bliss
12:38But as I always say to her
12:39The why is the thing
12:40So why not
12:41Take her to a western
12:44Watch all those cowboys
12:45Getting shot in the chest
12:46And falling forwards
12:48Don't think so
12:50Never get home, Billy
12:52If I try hard, Mr. Book
12:54I can remember the daylight
12:57Can I go now?
12:58Well
12:59We'll need to get this testy
13:00For insulin
13:03For strychnine
13:22Basilisk
13:24Eh?
13:25Ring any bells?
13:29Basilisk
13:29Nora and I have spent most of the morning
13:31Dredging through your back issues
13:33My head's swimming
13:34And we finally found what we were looking for
13:36A Sandra Dare fan
13:38Who wrote to Picture Goer a lot
13:41This one is from two years ago
13:42For looks, talent and sheer screen charisma
13:45No one can compete with the divine Miss Dare
13:48There's loads like that
13:50In her latest picture
13:51The 43-year-old star
13:53Elevates the art of acting
13:54To great heights
13:56But why she's wasting her time
13:58Showing the screen
13:59With Stuart Howard
14:00I will never know
14:01A mumbling, soppy-eyed fop
14:04Oh
14:06And here's another
14:07A year later
14:07The public's infatuation
14:09With Dare and Howard
14:10Is beyond me
14:11Miss Dare should be striking out alone
14:13Not saddling herself
14:15With this talentless whippersnapper
14:17Of course
14:17There is always difficulty
14:19When one reaches for the stars
14:21But the difficulty as I see it
14:23Is Stuart Howard
14:24And there's a lot more like that
14:26In the same vein
14:27An all-signed
14:30Basilisk
14:32I see
14:34Well, they obviously
14:35Didn't like Stu
14:38You think they might be
14:39The one who sent the chocolates
14:41I don't know
14:42Is it too much of a stretch
14:43To go from disliking
14:45A film star
14:45To sending them
14:47Strictly
14:53Sometimes the discussions
14:54Can get very
14:56Heated
14:56At the meet-ups
14:58Meet-ups?
15:00Oh, yeah
15:00We meet up
15:02And have chats and that
15:03Sometimes the studio
15:04Will send a star down
15:05To open a fate or something
15:07That's when I first met Barbara
15:09And you've never come across
15:10This basilisk
15:13Well, how would I know
15:15If they never used
15:16Their real name?
15:34Anything?
15:35Mr. Howard's room's as bare as George Zucco's pate
15:39Oh, what about Miss Daird?
15:43Same
15:47Probably
15:50Who'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
16:09You can check with my secretary
16:11These stairs, where do they lead?
16:14Uh, prop store
16:16Offices
16:16It's a warren, this place
16:17Film vault down there
16:19Nice place, if you like asbestos
16:21The treasures of British cinema
16:23Not really
16:24Oh
16:25What then?
16:27Well
16:27Our film
16:28Opens in Leicester Square
16:29Then it goes out across the country
16:31Then to the second-run houses in the flea pits
16:33And when it's so scratched
16:34That every scene looks like it's happening in Antarctica
16:36It comes here
16:37Back home
16:39It's taken to the tank
16:40The tank?
16:42What happens there?
16:50It's put out of its misery
16:52It's dissolved
16:53In sodium hypochlorite
16:55Why back here?
16:56The fumes, Mr. Book
16:57The fumes
16:59In goes some old tat starring a terrible provincial comic
17:02And out comes something useful
17:04Waterproof paint
17:05And silver halide
17:07What an odd little cottage industry
17:09It's valuable
17:10More valuable than what's on the films themselves
17:12That seems a lot of effort to go to
17:14No, it's a simple process
17:16A chemical solution does the work
17:17No, I mean, make an emotional picture
17:19You know
17:20The stars
17:21And the lights
17:22You know, shooting all those scenes
17:24And then just to melt it all down for scrap
17:25British cinema is mainly stupid
17:27Inspector
17:29It's never been about anything
17:30That needs to change
17:32When it does
17:32I'll make movies that won't end up here
17:45All the people who want to stand by
17:48Mr. Howard
17:49White straight, late in the lighting
17:51Howard
17:52Good afternoon
17:56Bye, darling
17:57Bye
18:00Mr. Howard
18:04Mr. Book
18:05A moment
18:05Of course
18:06A hoary old query
18:08Who is?
18:10What were you doing last night?
18:13Well
18:14After drinks with your Jack
18:16I went to bed early
18:17But I couldn't get off
18:18I spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling
18:21Contemplating mortality
18:22As you can imagine
18:23Any 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
18:47Right, there's been a smash and grab in Crystal Palace
18:50A tray of missing wedding rings
18:52And a cracked skull
18:54Ooh
18:54Very 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
19:39Cheers, Cock
19:57Clippings
19:59We found your trail book
20:01Oh, excellent work
20:03Mrs. Book
20:04Didn't expect to see you here
20:06Mr. Howard said we should visit
20:08And I've bought something for my husband
20:09Lunch
20:11Clues
20:11Eh?
20:12Very interesting trail here
20:15And I thought I saw something earlier too
20:18In the note
20:19Repeated phrase
20:22And these are all signed
20:24Basilisk
20:26What?
20:27It's a mythological creature
20:28Could kill you
20:29Just by looking at you
20:30Rather the way Miss Dare is looking at me now
20:33Would 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, wallpaper didn't suit your story then?
20:51Well, no
20:51Because the hero, Tony
20:53He desires pleasure
20:54But he's afraid of it
20:56He's repressed
20:58That's Freud, you know
21:00Oh, so I understand
21:01Wallpaper
21:01It simply doesn't give us that
21:03Wallpaper is about covering things up
21:05So I thought cakes
21:07Cakes are the opposite of books, really
21:10I must have missed that bit in Freud
21:13Ah, yes, very good
21:15Please
21:18Skirts gathered ready for the pursuit of art?
21:21Ha ha
21:21Er, yes
21:23I suppose so
21:24Well, before you rush off
21:25Perhaps I can check some details
21:26Hmm
21:27How 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
21:35Hmm, naturally
21:37But also terribly worried for Stu
21:39Of course
21:40Now, I know where you were last night, Miss Dare
21:42Because I've seen the rushes
21:44You were doing that scene
21:45Where you look through the window
21:46And think about the resilience of your love
21:48Yes
21:50With Marina Bean amongst the background artists
21:53Marina
21:54Was she on the set?
21:56In the shot?
21:58Yes
21:59Moments later
22:00She was on the stairs
22:02Yes, yes
22:04And then at the bottom of the stairs
22:06Yes, well, I know about that
22:08Perhaps she was killed
22:10Because she knew who'd sent the poison chocolates
22:15Is that what you think?
22:17It's a working hypothesis
22:19Well, wait a minute
22:20Um
22:21No
22:22You don't think that I
22:26No
22:26I love Stuart
22:28We're everything to each other
22:31Everything to the box office, at any rate
22:34Oh
22:34And someone's been telling tales
22:37Well, if that were the case
22:39I guess I'd have even less motive for killing Stuart, wouldn't I?
22:43If I joined at the hip
22:46When you finished filming, you went back to your dressing room, how much?
22:49Yes
22:51Oh, Billy darling, you wouldn't get me a coffee, would you please?
22:55Of course, mister
22:55A dash of milk
22:56Me too, Billy
22:58Good strong one
22:59Sure thing, sir
23:01You all work such long hours
23:03We like to turn the sign at 5.30
23:06Oh, my dear
23:08Well, in the quota-quickie days
23:09There was one picture shooting here during the day
23:11And one at night
23:13When that door opened with a 10 o'clock turnaround
23:15Oh, no idea
23:17Stale beer, orange peel gas
23:19Thank you, darling
23:20Oh, the 1930s
23:23Those were the days
23:27Sugar, sir
23:30What?
23:31Tastes horrible
23:32It's so bitter
23:35Would you like some milk, sir?
23:37No
23:38Billy, get me some water
23:41Oh, my lord
23:44Jesse
23:45Same sentence
23:50Jesse, you're breathing
23:51Oh, come on
23:52You're breathing
23:53Oh, come on
23:55Oh, you're breathing
23:57I can't swallow that quickly again
23:59What are you doing, Tim?
24:00Trying to save his life, I think
24:01But perhaps someone should call an ambulance
24:03In case I've got it wrong
24:05Ambulance, quickly
24:06What's up, Mr. McKendree
24:07Stay with us
24:08Oh, you love
24:09Oh, no
24:11Look at me
24:12Look at me
24:26We didn't even get to the top of the hill
24:28Is he hurt
24:29It's largely cosmetic
24:31Well, some of the stuff around his mouth
24:32It's largely cosmetic
24:35Mascara
24:37Oh, charcoal
24:37I believe that's what mascara is
24:40Oh, and petroleum jelly
24:41Bit of a risk, though, Mrs. Book
24:42Charcoal's good for strickening
24:44But I'm still waiting for the report
24:46On what was in Barbara Malcolm's chocolate
24:47It could have been anything
24:49Mr. McKendree twitched, though
24:50Strickening gives you the twitches
24:52That's right
24:52Great presence of mind
24:54Is my wife
24:56All my thoughts
24:57Dear Jesse
24:58Oh, wait
24:59My bag
25:01I need my things
25:01Oh, allow me
25:09Oh, silly me
25:18Thank you, Mrs. Book
25:19Thank you
25:42oh it's in the coffee everyone else has drunk it they seem to be fine
25:53not entirely awful oh so it's in the cup that i did afterwards you think so wouldn't you
26:02it's so indiscriminate
26:06i just heard jesse
26:08oh god is it meant for me i don't know the new schedule mr howard
26:18mr you can go jack that'll be the end of shooting for the day
26:24okay
26:29quiet let's call it a day shall we trotty
26:39what's the matter with him
26:41i don't know he's been rather off with me all day
27:01nora are we diversifying just catching up on my reading
27:09he is mud in your eye
27:11ah ah boy i'm still a child your uncle had my guts for garters i'll go to bed
27:18are you all right long day what's wrong with your usual diet of blood and guts
27:25got a bit bored they're starving a woman to death in pinge
27:32nora a favor where are those film almanacs you mean the magazines that girl bought
27:39no no we have a stack of almanacs early films from when they still called them flickers if memory
27:44serves between william freeze green and how green was my valley right
27:54oh
28:01there she is christiana edmunds
28:10and astra asper what
28:19No.
28:34And the staircase doesn't go anywhere.
28:36Oh, it's all right. These people never go upstairs.
28:39Sounds like home.
28:41No ceiling, though. The rooms in films never have ceilings. Why is that, eh?
28:46Didn't stop the light getting in.
28:48Continuity, Mr. Book.
28:49Oh. Sorry.
28:53How's the life ever standing?
28:56Static, Jack. A word in your shell, Mike.
29:02Jack? Jack? Back into your light?
29:05Yes.
29:07Ah. Mr. McKendrick. Glad to see you looking hale and hearty. Fully recovered, I hope.
29:12Yes. Thanks to Mrs. Book.
29:13But I went into the picture business, I 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. I'm so sorry, Mr. Book. Would you excuse me? I'm rather busy.
29:24Of course.
29:25Oh, what is the, er, story so far, Mr. Howard?
29:29We've been having a passionate affair of the intellect, Madeline and I. But then this telegram comes. Telegram of doom.
29:36And what do you know? A husband's been found in a Japanese POW camp.
29:40Oh, bad lover.
29:41Yes. And he's on his way back to Blighty with his ribs sticking out, but still very much a going
29:44concern, love-wise. And so she tells me she has to leave me.
29:47What do you say?
29:48Nothing. Of course. Writers never want to write those bits. They're like a nice, clean reaction shot. Something swelling in
29:55the soundtrack.
29:56Positions, please.
29:58But, credit due, Jesse listened. So instead of standing there catching flies, I gird my loins and go stoically back
30:04to work.
30:05Like Uncle Vanya.
30:07I'm sure that's what Jesse had in mind. Ask him.
30:12How am I to do that?
30:14What did I do to die today? What did I do to cut?
30:18Hold it, Billy.
30:19A minute or two to do. What did I do to die today? What did I do to die?
30:25Scene 34, take one.
30:28Hang on.
30:30Action.
30:31Now the telegram is here. The one I think we knew would always come.
30:36Is this the end of the affair?
30:37Oh, don't say that word, Stuart. You know that it lads me. I shall think of us hiding together.
30:44She said Stuart.
30:44You said Stuart.
30:44What?
30:45You said Stuart.
30:46Cut. Let'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?
30:57Got it.
31:00Quiet, please.
31:08And action.
31:09Don't say that word, Tony. You know that it hurts me.
31:13There's still time, you know.
31:17Time for what?
31:18To do the right thing. Stop the filming.
31:22I've been aware for a while about a certain secret relationship in your life.
31:26Oh, we are not. She isn't.
31:29Not with Sandra.
31:31With strychnine.
31:33I've read those grave little paragraphs in the Farsity Sporting Review.
31:37How you took it as a stimulant to get you through those last agonizing yards of the race.
31:43Rather reckless, really.
31:45Your father wasn't very pleased, was he?
31:46No.
31:47So 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.
31:57Fell in love with a doctor.
31:59And believed that he was in love with her.
32:02A pure fantasy.
32:03And she thought she could help him escape from his wife
32:06by bringing her a box of poisoned chocolate creams,
32:08which 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...
32:37I must go home to my husband.
32:41I certainly must.
32:58You 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
33:07about what's happening here, could you?
33:10This is your very last chance, Jesse.
33:19Oh, damn, damn, damn you. Book.
33:22Ow!
33:24How was that?
33:24It was bloody painful.
33:25Hey, fuck.
33:27Oh, well.
33:30Too 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.
33:42Oh, my God.
33:44Oh, my God.
33:45You.
33:46I have a name, Mr. Howard.
33:50This is what happened to that girl.
33:53No.
33:53Barbara 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.
34:02If Jack and Billy hadn't followed my instructions perfectly
34:05and swapped it with a clean one.
34:08The ping 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, but in a real film or masterpiece.
34:41What 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.
34:55All those books he read in the shop last year.
34:58That's how he came up with his magnum opus.
35:02Unfortunately, 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.
35:16He could have said,
35:18bitter almonds.
35:20Like people do in the films.
35:22But you chose to twitch.
35:24Because 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.
35:33A sort of breathless agitation.
35:34I'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.
35:57You got to the stars, didn't you, Jessie?
36:00I was 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.
36:10I could have financed our picture, Sandra.
36:12But he was spoiling it.
36:16Him.
36:17And what better publicity?
36:20A tragic widow overcoming her grief.
36:23Tackling the part of a lifetime alongside the brilliant young writer.
36:27Writer-director.
36:28Writer-director.
36:30Who consoled her.
36:32It's a scene deranged.
36:35Oh, you poor fool.
36:36It would be a whole new Sandra Dare, my darling.
36:39Playing your own age.
36:40No makeup, a true character part to show your real range.
36:44No makeup?
36:45Are you mad?
36:46I'm Sandra Dare.
36:48So it was him.
36:50He killed that poor girl.
36:52Yes.
36:53And Noreena Bean.
36:54No, not Noreena Bean.
36:56What?
36:58Not Noreena Bean, the girl with the poison pen.
37:01Jesse has a cast iron alibi.
37:03He was in his office.
37:04His 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?
37:14Bottom of the stairs.
37:15Which lead where?
37:18Prop store.
37:19Offices.
37:20The vault.
37:22The vault, yes.
37:25Wherein lies some of the forgotten remnants of British cinema.
37:28And one film in particular.
37:30I found the reference in an old movie almanac back in Archangel Lane.
37:35What film?
37:36Kitty Wins the Calcutta Sweep.
37:39The hell is that?
37:41It's the film I found in your room.
37:45Sandra.
37:57Billy, call Bow Street.
37:59Get Bliss here.
38:00Yes, Mr. Buck.
38:06You never loved her, Stuart.
38:07Oh!
38:12You never loved her, Stuart.
38:14Not like I did.
38:16It's a long time since I've done this for real.
38:44No!
38:47No!
38:48No!
38:59Sandra?
39:04Sandra, it's all over.
39:07Why don't you come out and explain?
39:18I wasn't Sandra Dare back then.
39:26I was...
39:28Theidre Pitock.
39:37It was so long ago.
39:41The film was lost, and then Norena discovered it.
39:53And then I discovered her.
40:06It was pure chance.
40:11I 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.
40:36No!
40:37You give it!
40:39No!
40:40No!
40:42No!
40:43No!
40:43Give it!
40:44No!
40:45No!
40:47No!
40:48No!
40:49No!
40:50No!
40:51No!
40:53No!
40:53She hit that step like a fairground coconut.
40:56She died instantly.
41:01But it was an accident.
41:04I swear.
41:06It was an accident.
41:11But there it was.
41:14The monster print.
41:29This business will forgive you a lot of things, but...
41:34I'm not getting old.
41:37Are you smoking, Sandra?
41:43When nitrate film burns, Sandra, it makes its own oxygen.
41:51You 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.
42:09And Trotty and I won't escape unscathed.
42:14And neither will Stuart.
42:18Stuart?
42:21Darling.
42:24It doesn't have to be like this.
42:28But...
42:29She would have told him 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!
43:03Sandra, that script that Jesse wrote, I read it.
43:08It's about a woman who makes a terrible moral mistake.
43:14But she faces her fate with dignity.
43:20Inspector Bliss will be here soon.
43:23And 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.
43:42The one with you as a 17-year-old with your whole life ahead of you.
43:47If all this business made you what you've become.
43:53Oh no, Mr. Book.
43:57Ah.
44:00I've always had it in me.
44:03I've always been a star.
44:06I think that's what the camera saw.
44:10And why they've always loved me.
44:15Just give me a moment, will you?
44:29Not bad.
44:47That's long enough.
44:49Keep the bloody door in.
44:51That's long enough.
45:15You see, hold on.
45:33Oh my God.
45:34Oh my God.
45:36Oh my God.
45:37Oh my God.
45:38Oh my God.
45:39Yeah.
45:41Oh my God.
45:42All right.
45:58Who?
46:36It's a tragedy, really.
46:37Well, 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.
46:57Just what I wanted.
47:00What a cost.
47:02Mind you, tragic ex-fiancé,
47:05broken-hearted leading man, suddenly single.
47:16What is it?
47:19It was an accident, wasn't it?
47:23Marina Beanstaff?
47:24Well, you shall never know, Inspector.
47:28After all, Sandra Dare is a terribly good actress.
47:33No!
47:56Do you need a car over your wife?
48:03Jeff!
48:10Hello, Jack.
48:14What's up?
48:16Jack, we need to tell you something.
48:18I'm sorry we didn't say it before, but we wanted to let you settle in, and it's a delicate matter.
48:23It's about our relationship.
48:28Oh.
48:31I think I guessed it.
48:34Is it that obvious?
48:36Well, it wasn't at first, but...
48:39Yeah.
48:43I found a photograph.
48:46A photograph?
48:47My dad.
48:53You have a photo of my dad.
48:55It's just like the one that I have.
49:02And this.
49:03I know I shouldn't have taken it.
49:06I'm sorry, but with the picture, I...
49:10Eric Percival Banks, your first husband...
49:18Is this him?
50:50Trotty.
50:54Are you my mother?
51:01Oh, my dear.
51:03Not at all.
51:06I'm so sorry.
51:18What's all this about?
51:21Jack.
51:26We have rather a lot to tell you.
51:28I'm so sorry.
51:58I'm so sorry.
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