thanks, Henry.
Really.
- Take it.
- No, Henry.
As long as I work here,
I can eat here, right?
Right. Son of a bitch
eats like six fishermen.
Thanks anyway, Henry.
You sure, Cully?
Yes, Henry, really.
Tomorrow I'm due to get paid
from a couple of places.
The rich don't
necessarily pay prompt.
I know, Henry,
but I'll be all right.
Do you mind if I tell you
a thing or two about Newport?
Here, sit down.
Mino don't mind.
All right.
Now look, I just paid
Rosa there ten cents...
for a bowl of the best
fish chowder I ever had.
Up there on Bellevue Avenue,
they call it bouillabaisse...
and get five bucks for it.
It's like that here.
Dress things up a bit,
that crowd don't mind the cost.
Roast beef and mash, right?
Simplest stuff in the world,
but fancy it up a bit...
and you got something special.
Learn to play the game.
You'll be the toast of the town.
Can you keep a secret, Cully?
Promise not to tell a soul?
Cross your heart?
I was born in Chicago,
not London.
I was a bootblack all right,
but I was shining shoes...
on Michigan Avenue
when I was 12.
Not Piccadilly.
Picked up the limey talk
as a colonel's aide...
with the Rainbow Division
over fighting the Kaiser.
Had a plan. Went to France...
learned a little
Francais in Paris...
studied all the menus
on the Champs-Elysees...
wines...
"Chateau Lafitte, monsieur?"
Uppin' my ante in the job market
is what I was doin'.
They eat it up out there
on Bellevue Avenue...
just like
they eat up escargots.
Nobody can sell snails,
but call it escargots...
and you got
the hottest treat in town.
Same with butlers.
They pay three times the price
for me if I'm English.
An English butler has more
"je ne sais quoi"...
than an American.
You want to eat today, kid?
Sure do, Mino.
- Wash.
- Yes, sir.
Use your assets.
Yes. Thank you, Henry.
You made my day.
Let me make your evening, too.
Come up to Amelia Cranston's
tonight when you finish.
There's a few up there
who'd like to meet you.
All right. Thanks.
So you're the one...
that gave those wretched
Denby children what for.
Bravo, Mr. North, bravo.
The applause is well deserved.
Thank you, madame...
but I don't know
how everybody knows.
Bush telegraph, Cully.
There isn't much
we servants miss, Mr. North.
- Here we are.
- Thank you.
Carefully, Cully.
It's not weak.
And it isn't peppermint.
It certainly isn't tea.
Tell me, Mr. North.
Are you enjoying Newport?
Damnable place.
No lady here's ever heard
the beginning of a concert...
nor read the end of a book.
Mr. Danforth.
Have you met Mr. Danforth,
Mr. North?
No, I haven't.
He served as butler
to the Oelrich family...
both here and in Baltimore.
He came to us when he retired.
His memory's failing a bit...
but he's still called upon
from time to time...
to grace a sideboard
or an entrance hall.
There do seem to be
quite a few members...
of his generation
here in Newport.
Oh, my, yes, Cully.
A great many old gents.
A great many.
May I speak further, ma'am?
You will interrupt me
if I get to sliding on the ice?
You may be certain of it,
Mr. Simmons.
We got something here
we call the death watch...
and it's going on
in a dozen houses.
Twenty houses, Mr. Simmons.
At least twenty.
Thank you, ma'am.
In at least 20 houses...
there's an aged party,
male or female...
that's sitting
on a pile of money...
but this aged party
refuses to die.
You see, Cully?
So, supposing
you're a son or a daughter...
even a nevvie or niece...
what do you do?
Particularly if the aged party
shows signs of folly.
Like playing favorites,
one child over the other.
Or falling in love
with his nurse.
Or her chauffeur.
Or the gay divorcee
who pulls his beard...
and strokes his hand
right at the dinner table.
We've seen it happen
scores of times...
and the death watch
goes frantic.
So they call in
old Dr. Fred and Needles...
and convince the aged party
he's got a terrible problem...