East Side, West Side

Yes, this is my town.

It's not new to you.

You've read books about it,

you've seen movies.

People are always talking

about New York.

It's the most exciting city in the world,

they say,

the most glamorous, the most frightening,

and above all, the fastest.

You hear a great deal

about the tempo of this city,

its speed, its pace, its driving heartbeat.

Perhaps it's true, for visitors.

But I was born here, I live here,

and the only pace I know

is the pace of my own life.

The only beat I hear

is the beat of my own heart.

For me, and for millions of others,

New York is home.

The days follow each other quietly,

as they do in most places.

Only rarely does any one time stand out

so that we remember it and say,

"That's when everything changed.

"After that, nothing was the same."

There was a time like that in my life,

three days.

I remember a summer evening

in Gramercy Park.

- Evening, Mr. Bourne.

- Good evening.

- Mrs. Bourne.

- Good evening.

Must be Thursday night.

Bran, every Thursday we have

this mad dash against time. Why?

So we won't have to rush.

I'm never late for dinner with your mother.

It's a matter of principle.

- Jessie, darling.

- Hello, dear.

- On the dot.

- As always.

- Horace, good evening.

- Hello, Brandon.

The first of the season.

- The flower I love best.

- Hello, Hannah.

- Thank you, Brandon.

- Good evening, Mrs. Bourne.

Horace, you're looking

very handsome tonight.

And so are you.

- My, that's a beautiful gown.

- Brandon chose it.

They're always much gayer

when Brandon chooses them, Jessie.

Nora Kernan, Horace and I

don't come here every Thursday night

just to talk women talk.

Suppose we discuss dinner for awhile?

Oh, Brandon, before I forget,

Frank Belney called a few minutes ago.

He wants you to meet him

at your club at 10:00.

- Oh, no.

- I'm sorry, Jess.

Frank's meeting his stockholders

tomorrow. He must be getting nervous.

Could you answer one simple question

just to cheer me up?

Yes. We are having

corned beef and cabbage.

- Dinner is served.

- On the dot.

Check.

Dear, I don't know if it's possible,

but I feel that you're cheating.

When you can prove it,

I'll be glad to discuss it with you.

Jessie looks wonderful tonight.

She has you to thank

for her looks, darling.

And you.

When a woman gets more beautiful

after she's married,

it means her man is either making her

very happy, or very unhappy.

- Oscar Wilde?

- No, Belasco.

Horace, you're really very good

with that one step of yours.

You do so much with it.

Well, I've been polishing it for 40 years.

Nora, remember

when you taught me to dance,

backstage at the New Amsterdam?

You had just been admitted

to the Bar Association,

and I was playing in

What Every Woman Knows.

- Your first season on Broadway, wasn't it?

- Yes, it was.

- The town went wild about her.

- Thanks to you.

Horace was my sponsor.

There was no caf society in those days,

only Society with a capital "S",

and its doors weren't open

to a young actress.

But Horace pushed them open.

It wasn't too difficult, my dear.

Horace, I'll never understand

why you let her get away from you.

She ran too fast, right into Matt Kernan.

Why did you choose father, darling?

Because we came

from the same neighborhood.

Because we were comfortable together,

right from the very beginning.

It's taken me 20 years

to get comfortable with Horace.

By that time,

we were much too good friends

to consider being anything else.

Well, Jess, I'm just as handsome,

and blue-blooded,

and glamorous as Horace.

- Aren't you comfortable with me?

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