Suddenly, Last Summer

Gentlemen, I wanna welcome

you medical schoolmen...

...to our new operating theater.

Although, as you can see,

it isn't exactly what you'd call new.

Used to be a library

when this was a school...

...and maybe before that

some kind of a sugar warehouse.

But makeshift or not, the important

thing is that we got it.

The first to be devoted

to psychosurgery in this state.

And that is a great step forward.

Now you're going

to witness an operation...

...never performed before

in this state.

A lobotomy on the brain of a woman...

...suffering from acute

schizophrenic withdrawal.

Our new staff member,

Dr. John Cukrowicz from Chicago...

...will perform this operation.

Swab.

Sew up, will you?

You have just witnessed a delicate

operation on the human brain...

...performed under the most

primitive surgical conditions...

...that I hope any of you

will ever encounter.

Excuse us, please.

-Son, I know just how you feel.

-For six months...

...I have listened to you

promise me this and that.

-But I am not...

-I know, I know, I know.

You are not the state board of health.

Well, I am not a witch doctor.

I need properly trained assistants.

I need an operating room

that doesn't fall apart.

At least lights that stay lit.

I know, but this is

a state hospital...

...and there isn't

enough money for us.

I can't promise you

that there ever will be enough.

I'll go back to Chicago

or someplace where there is.

John.

Before you do that...

...read this.

Who is Violet Venable?

You reveal your ignorance

of our fair city...

...of which Mrs. Venable

is the richest lady.

At one time,

her husband owned most of it.

Now she's a widow and she owns it.

"...and was very interested

in the work of your Dr. Cukrowicz."

She must have read your write-up

in the Herald.

"And I wonder if the foundation

I am establishing...

...might be of some assistance."

Son, with one signature

on one check...

...she can solve

all the problems we got.

"Also there is a matter

of some urgency...

...I should like to discuss with him.

Would 4:
30 on Tuesday be convenient?"

That's today.

What is her urgency, do you know?

No, but I know what ours is.

Lack of money. Her money.

She is serious?

I can tell you this much.

I've been trying for years

just to see the Venable lawyers.

You've been invited by her.

That's a command performance.

That's how serious I think it is.

And this is serious too.

More than 1 200 mental cases

Lions View can't afford to handle.

Good afternoon.

-Dr. Cukrowicz.

-Yes, sir.

Take a seat, please.

Thank you.

Mrs. Venable?

I am Miss Foxhill,

Mrs. Venable's secretary.

And you are Dr. Cukrowicz?

Your appointment was for...?

Four-thirty.

You are 23 seconds early.

Sit down, please.

Thank you.

Sebastian always said,

"Mother, when you descend...

...it's like the goddess

from the machine."

-Mrs. Venable's on her way down.

-I feel just like an angel...

...coming to earth

as I float, float into view.

Sebastian...

...my son, Sebastian, was

very interested in the Byzantine.

Are you interested

in the Byzantine, Dr...?

Cukrowicz.

I don't know very much

about the Byzantine.

The emperor of Byzantium,

when he received people in audience...

...had a throne which,

during the conversation...

...would rise mysteriously

in the air...

...to the consternation

of the visitors.

But as we are living in a democracy,

I reverse the procedure.

I don't rise. I come down.

How do you do, Dr....?

Oh, I'm sorry, your name?

Cukrowicz.

It's a Polish word meaning "sugar."

Am I only wearing one earring?

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