April ,
Never can get enough girls
for all the shifts.
And heaven knows, we have to
work hours a day for victory.
Sure.
They're a real nice bunch.
You'll see.
Well, this here's Martha.
Martha, meet Alice Miller.
Hi there, joining the line?
I suppose.
Husband overseas?
Watch it, girls.
Goodness.
Better get that girl a pair of slacks.
That's Fannie.
Dottie, this the new girl?
Yes, sir. My neighbor Alice.
Know how to work a vertical lathe.
I've never worked a day in my life.
Oh, it's no tougher than
a sewing machine, you'll see.
- What is it?
- Air raid siren.
It's just practice.
If it was the real thing, you would
a heard the bombs already.
Lil.
Hey, Dana.
Are these the Rosie the Riveters?
Give them the parts, a few weeks,
they can build you a w*r plane.
How's your story going?
Well, this was the assignment
nobody wanted,
but my great aunt was
one of the workers and
it turns out, there is a bigger story here.
Martha, come meet Lilly Rush.
You're the lady detective.
Nice to meet you.
Martha worked with my aunt Alice.
A real nice gal.
Quiet as a mouse at first,
but couldn't have been sweeter.
Terrible, what happened.
The official story was
she d*ed in a fall.
But here's the thing.
The night they say she fell was
my last night on the job.
Before I left,
I asked the owner where Alice was,
wanting to say goodbye.
And?
He told me she quit,
wasn't working there anymore.
But they found the body the next day
at the factory in her work clothes.
Could your memory be mistaken?
You get old, you start forgetting things,
you don't start making them up.
What was the owner's name?
Henry Walker.
Mean as a snake.
And a drinker.
I could smell liquor
on his breath that night.
The guy was hiding something.
Like, maybe Alice didn't fall.
Maybe she was pushed.
-year-old case?
Talk about your ancients.
Who brought it to you, Lil?
Dana Hunter. Her great aunt d*ed
in a factory accident, .
Is that that pushy reporter?
Yeah, the pretty one,
covers court.
She's doing a story
on women of World w*r II,
met some of the factory girls
who knew her aunt.
I don't like that Dana.
Yeah, that's 'cause
she covered the chimayo job,
kept writing you had no new leads.
Truth hurts, man.
Anyway, now she's thinking this
accident, looks more like homicide.
Let's say it was.
Doer's probably dead.
Whole thing's a formality.
You just don't want to drive
out to records and storage.
years, huh?
.
Skip it.
No one cares.
What's with you?
He's just happy.
It's his anniversary.
You wanna KO this one, boss?
Too old to matter?
No, take a drive.
See what's there.
Great, boss. Thanks.
Do we really need this police telegraph?
Everything we can get.
There's probably like one page.
We can blow it up.
-year-old case,
we're not gonna need much help.
What does the factory report say?
Accidental death.
Impact from the fall, broke her neck,
but..hmm, this is interesting.
Guess who found her body.
Uh, I give up.
Henry Walker.
The mean drunk.
The mean drunk who told Martha
Alice didn't work there anymore.
September, ' .
Telegraph from the th district.
Three pages.
Alice Miller, age ,
reported missing by husband,
Nelson, : in the evening.
He found two whiskey glasses
on the kitchen table
when he came home,
but no Alice.
She was partying with someone?
Henry Walker had liqour
on his breath that night.
Drinking buddies.
Or more.
Problem is, Walker's dead, .
Is anyone alive?
Alice's husband.
In East Falls.
I never understood
those whiskey glasses.
Alice and I were teatotallers.
You were out that evening?
Seeing about getting my old job back.
Got home and don't I found those
two glasses on the table.
What time was that?
Oh, eight or so.
I got worried enough by
to notify the police.
You didn't know
she had gone to the factory?
She quit that place the day
I got back from the w*r.
So you must have been
surprised they found her there.
I've only been back a few days,
I figured cross wires.
Maybe they got her to
come back for one last shift.
She didn't like the job?
Oh, she did.
But she was a curtains girl.
What's that?
Saying was when it's curtains
for the axis, it's lace curtains for her.
So when the w*r was done,
back to the kitchen?
I know it's out of fashion now
but that's what Alice wanted.
I blame myself for sending her to work.
It was my idea.
Tomatoes do real well.
So do radishes.
It's so difficult preparing
Nelson's meals.
We won't eat that variety meat.
Our boys need the fresh
cuts more than we do.
Take a look, Nelson.
I planted our own victory garden.
Swell.
Alice.
Oh, no.
We knew this was coming.
What do I do?
Write me every day,
pray for victory.
It's his duty, Alice.
I know. I know.
Look here, kitten.
Women wanted.
Important w*r work. / No.
No, I couldn't possibly.
A lot of girls are working for victory.
I'm too shy.
I'm not cut out for that kind of thing.
It'll help pass time,
bring me home faster.
I'll take you to the factory Monday,
introduce you to my boss.
Kitten, give it a try.
You might surprise yourself.
I shoulda listened to her.
She was too delicate for
that kind of thing.
Ever meet Alice's boss,
Henry Walker?
No, never did.
Know any of her factory friends?
Just our neighbor Dottie
who got her the job.
Lives right over there.
I was Mr. Walker's secretary.
Good man?
He was a Christian man,
but he was in a lot of pain.
He lost two sons to the w*r.
Is that why he drank?
He wasn't a saint.
Think he and Alice coulda had
a drink together before work that night?
Heavens, no.
He was the boss, she was...
She was just a factory girl.
It's probably be done before.
More likely,
it was one of her new friends.
What new friends?
Alice has started to run
with the fast crowd at Brill,
and they were known to hit the sauce.
So was her boss.
Once again, Mr. Walker
and Alice were not friendly.
What was the problem?
A secretary doesn't tell secrets.
Mr. Walker's dead, Dottie.
You can't hurt him.
Well,
Alice did come to me one day.
I say it's rotten we girls getting
the lowest wages.
Why don't you write to
Mrs. Roosevelt about it?
She likes to meddle
into unpopular causes.
Excuse me, Dottie.
You should be on a poster
with that perfect wave.
Am I intruding?
I'll leave you girls.
Stay away from that one.
She's got a past.
So, how are you doing out
on the floor?
I've doubled my pace on the drill press.
Well, that's fine.
I've noticed something,
Dottie, the last few weeks.
What's that?
We're missing boxes of rivets.
Every third day,
we're short one.
You must be counting wrong.
No, I'm sure of it.
I thought I'd tell Mr. Walker.
I wouldn't.
Someone's stealing materials like
that, it's awfully unpatriotic.
Alice, listen to me, now.
Don't mention it to Mr. Walker.
It sounds like something
the boss would want to know.
Unless he was the one
lifting the boxes?
Mr. Walker wasn't a saint.
What can you remember from
the night Alice d*ed, Dottie?
Big even tlike that probably stayed
in your mind pretty good.
I do recall that Mr.Walker disappeared
for quite a while that night. And...
that was unusual.
Were you there
when he found Alice, the next day?
No.
We worked the night shift
that evening.
He shouldn't have been there
in the morning.
My dad worked his tail off for Brill.
If he was there that morning,
it's cuz he stayed
all night doing the books.
He do that a lot?
Pull all nighters?
Whatever it took.
What about drinking on the job?
Was that a regular thing?
He was a drunk his whole life.
d*ed of liver failure.
How about Alice Miller?
Heard she and your dad
were getting along.
Look, fellars.
I was . I was thinking
about other things.
You remember accusing him
of skimming supplies?
You know about that?
Yeah.
My older brothers d*ed in the w*r.
Dad felt he was owed some payback.
That justified the pilfering?
Alice shouldn't have
brought that up to him.
So she did confront him with it.
Want to go to the show today?
There's something new on.
Yeah, what?
Think it's called Casablanca.
Take a girl your own age,
someone from school.
Oh, they're all bunch of dumb klutz.
Inventory.
propellars, assembled,
geared, and inspected.
for me, dad.
Keep 'em coming.
Um, Mr.Walker,
can I have a moment?
It's about the blind rivets.
Yes?
They disappear with regularity,
both the Cherry and Dupont.
I..I know what you're doing.
What?
That you're involved
with side businesses.
You wanna be fired on the spot,
Ms. Miller? / No,
I want something else.
I need help.
There's someone named Ivan.
Who's Ivan?
Alice had secrets.
No guesses on what that all meant?
All's I know is she thanked him
for his help.
And said she hoped to heaven
her husband didn't find out.
So, who's Ivan?
Her boyfriend?
What kind of help did Alice need?
Whatever it was, she didn't
want the husband knowing.
Sounds naughty.
Why would she go to the factory
owner for help?
He had access to something
on the side.
Underground.
He still a suspect?
Yeah, but his motive ain't clear.
Bank records
always come through.
What have you got?
Alice opened up her own
account in May, ,
made weekly deposits of dollars.
Her factory salary.
Makes sense.
And it keeps making sense
until July, ' ,
when bucks shows up.
How's a woman in get
that kind of money?
Like I said, naughty.
Your mind goes right to the gutter.
Who wants to bet me?
I do.
Twenty bucks.
Going to court, boss.
Dana dug through her attic last night,
got something for me.
Send her my regards.
Never heard of Ivan.
Me neither.
Where'd you hear the name?
Just came up in the investigation.
Maybe part of her new crowd
from the factory.
Nelson tells me Alice was a writer.
Yeah?
Poems, short stories.
She was too shy to let anyone
read them.
She always said everyone had
at least one story
that could stop your heart.
So you take after her.
I'll let you gals talk.
You know, if you pack your lunch,
you wouldn't have to pay dollars to eat.
Child of the Depression.
You're a frugal man.
Alice lived with the crash, too.
She understood.
A lesser woman might have
minded it, not her.
Bye.
For years, people tried to
set him up after Alice d*ed,
and he'd just say,
I've had my wife.
So, what'd you find in the attic?
Oh, her diaries.
These cover the early forties.
Maybe she wrote about Ivan.
Badminton with the g*ng.
That was a big sport
with .
Took the Pennsy Railroad
to visit her mother.
Amtrak hadn't made the scene yet.
Anyone find Henry Walker or Ivan?
Looking.
Rations on beef means eggs
or horsemeat for supper.
Horsemeat?
Now that's a deal breaker.
Oh, pay dirt.
Ivan?
Henry.
June, , ,
Henry sent me to Smokies dance hall.
I'm looking for the owner, Richard.
Not here. / Oh.
Maybe I can help you.
I doubt it.
What do you want from Richard?
Nylons?
Liquor?
Certainly not.
Black market's his specialty.
That's not what I'm after.
Old stag with soda, Bruno.
You drinking?
I have to get home.
For what?
Not the husband or kids.
Dr. IQ on the radio?
Maybe I will have a drink.
Two on the house.
Lonesome, ain't it?
All the men overseas.
Can be.
They tell you at work to
steer clear of me?
Account of my checkered past?
No details.
Just to keep your distance.
What did you do?
They say I sh*t my husband.
And I did, too.
But I had a reason.
Did you k*ll him?
Just blew up his shoulder.
He ran off after that.
So why did you come to Smokies,
huh?
I came because I believed
what you said.
End of entry.
She believed what Fannie
said when?
Who's Fannie?
One of the factory girls.
D'you think she really
sh*t her husband?
Better find out.
I'll go with ya.
I'd like to meet an -year-old
who sh*t a guy.
Me and Alice,
we started out kinda shaky,
but then we got along.
We pulled an arrest record
from , Fannie.
Not my best year.
Seems you've sh*t your husband
in a late night dispute?
Not until he took a screwdriver
to my head.
Yeah, that's in there, too.
You didn't have any reason
to hurt Alice, did you?
No, sir.
I loved that girl.
You two must have been
an odd pair.
w*r time made for
unusual companions.
All the men were away
and you made friends
where you could find them.
So you and Alice were friends
with each other?
Making B- 's together,
it kinda bonds you.
Did you ever hear her
talk about Ivan?
Sure.
Who was he?
Her cousin in Europe.
You see, her family was Jewish.
She hadn't heard from Ivan in months
which worried her
and I told her she had good
reason to worry.
I met this seaman last night
at Smokies.
You meet a seaman every night
at Smokies.
Anyone bring stockings to donate?
I did.
Penciling in your own seams looks
just as nice as your nylons.
Matter of opinion.
Smoking now, are we?
Just on breaks.
So this here sailor just came back
from Europe.
He says there's real bad things
happening over there.
Like what?
Like there's these camps.
For Jews.
We're doing the same to the Japs.
Except these aren't just
internment camps.
Then what are they?
They're k*lling people there.
We'd be hearing it on Ed Murrow
if that were true.
You sure they're doing that to Jews?
Herding them up,
taking them off to die.
I don't believe it.
Neither do I.
It seems crazy now,
but most people didn't know the truth
until the Liberation.
So Alice was trying to help Ivan.
Smokies' owner was
a Portuguese fellar,
Richard.
Had a contact in the consulate
that could be helpful to her.
For a fee.
Said for dollars, he would
smuggle Ivan into Lisbon.
The amount in the bank acount.
Oh so, she got the money?
Any idea how?
Well, no thanks to her husband.
So, Nelson did know Ivan?
Oh sure,
and Alice begged him to help,
but he wouldn't budge.
Thought you didn't know
who Ivan was, Nelson.
You forget he was
your wife's cousin?
No.
Then what?
I wanna cooperate.
It's a funny way of showing it.
I brought these letters.
All the correspondents from the w*r.
Let's not lose focus.
Why did you lie about Ivan?
Because I didn't believe her,
I didn't think he was in danger.
This one's from Alice, June, ' ,
asking me for the money.
Telling you what she heard
about the camps?
I was in Europe.
I never heard such a thing.
I thought it was just gossip that
she'd picked up at the factory.
And you're a frugal man.
So I wrote back, said no.
Few months later,
Ivan was dead.
So how did you figure
Alice came by that two K?
I don't know how,
but with these letters,
you can tell when.
What do you mean?
She wrote about him in every letter
until July, th.
But she doesn't mention him again.
So the problem was solved by then?
- Could we hang on to these?
- Please.
I'm sorry I lied.
I just..
I've been so ashamed of this
for years.
Between the diaries and letters,
we know Alice got that money
July, th.
A month after she started
trying to raise it.
Could be the month Ivan d*ed.
So what happened that day,
July, th.
She worked the day shift
and then there was a
swing for victory dance at Smokies.
Smokies again.
Figure something happened
that night.
Someone she met there gave
her the two K.
In exchange for what?
Let's recreate that night,
go back to Smokies
and take Fannie and Martha with us.
Well, the place is still around.
An Italian restaurant now.
There you go.
Scotty found the old owner, Richard.
Retired in Merriam.
Well, between the three of them,
maybe they can piece
together Alice's night.
Let's take a field trip.
Oh.
Lordy, I spent a lot of hours in here.
Makes me feel twenty again.
You swing?
- Excuse me?
- She means dance.
Right, no.
I'm a two left feet guy.
For good time, girls.
Richard.
Francesca.
Martha.
I'm John Stillman.
And this is Lilly Rush.
How do you do?
You remember our friend Alice Miller?
A real swell girl palled around
with us the summer of ' .
Sure.
There was one night in particular.
The swing for victory dance?
Big business that night.
I worked the bar with Bruno.
Oh, and I met a real nice marine.
And Alice and I were dancing,
collecting a quarter a song.
That makes three dollars even.
Martha.
Was that serviceman getting
fresh with you?
Yes, lucky thing you came by.
Oil us up, Richard.
What you drinking?
Rum and coca-cola.
Saw you out there breaking hearts,
Alice.
With that neckline
who could overlook her?
Is it too low?
It's just not the Alice
we met a few months ago.
I suppose it's just nice having
some men our age around again.
They'll all be shipped off again soon.
Then it's back to us girls and
gimps with bad teeth.
We are not all -F.
dollars for every dance
the rest of the night.
Why, Buddy.
Starting right now.
You gotta stop this.
You're selling your dances,
I'm buying it.
You can't keep following me.
Behave yourself, Buddy.
Don't treat me like a kid.
You are a kid.
I'm old enough to go k*ll people,
I'm old enough to be with you.
Lays it right out, don't he.
Let's go for a walk.
So, Henry's son was there?
I've forgotten that.
And Alice left with him?
Don't think I saw her
the rest of the night.
The boy was pretty determined
to get her alone.
Oh, Buddy had it bad for Alice.
And I've forgotten about
that marine, too.
Oh look him up,
maybe he'll get fresh
with you again.
This Richard who owned
the dance hall had a colorful career.
He was a horse bookie, graftman, and
proprietor of house of assignation.
A house of what?
That's polite for whore house.
I'm calling it a night, guys.
Crap, I gotta get home.
You wanna hit the Black Sheep,
have a pint?
Nah, I'm good.
You talking to Elisa at all?
She's back in the hospital.
Oh, I didn't know, Scotty.
It's a circle game.
She's sick and better,
and for a while you're hoping
and then
it starts again.
Yeah.
I just can't go round and round
with her any more.
So I was sweet on Alice.
So what?
Sweet can turn to sour on a dime.
And if it's so what, why not tell us
that in our first conversation.
It's just a kid's crush.
bucks in was
a lot of money to throw down.
Where does a -year-old get
a cash like that? / My dad.
Tell us what happened when you
and Alice went walking after the dance.
What's it matter?
That wasn't the night she d*ed.
Then you don't mind telling us
about it.
Oh, jiminy
We didn't go walking.
We went driving.
How do you come by gasoline for
this big old car in times like these?
My dad has his ways.
Sorry, Alice. Honest.
I lost my cool.
Okay.
So, why are you trying to make money?
To help someone.
Who?
It's complicated.
Never mind about it.
You and your secrets.
Well, I got a secret, too.
What's that?
My dad has an account for me.
For when I go to college.
Yeah?
Wants me to take it and run away.
Wait out the w*r.
He doesn't wanna lose a third son.
Yeah, but no amount of money's
gonna make me run.
I want to serve. Soon as I turn ,
do like my brothers did.
I want you to have the money.
I couldn't.
I know I'm just a kid to you.
Buddy, you're a swell kind of guy
and you're gonna find a girl
who's just right for you.
Will you wait for me?
I can't.
I ain't scared of dying.
Don't say that.
But I am scared of going
never having kissed you.
Well, here's the dirty shame.
You're at that window day and night,
aren't you, Dottie.
I was simply walking Lady.
Weren't spying at all.
You should be ashamed
of yourself, Buddy.
I'm not.
But you're a red-blooded youth,
it's almost understandable.
Please, Dottie.
You have a good man overseas
and he deserves better.
- Someone like you, you mean?
- Maybe so.
I know you'd love that.
- Well, listen to the five cent tramp.
- Says the fussy old maid.
So you gave her the money.
bucks, no questions asked.
That old maid comment must
have hit below the belt.
Especially back then.
A girl who wasn't married was
considered a real flop.
And I guess Dottie was pretty
in love with Alice's husband.
That could make you wanna
take a girl out.
Arrange for an accident.
We've been your letters, Dottie.
I don't know what you mean.
w*r time correspondence.
Dear Nelson,
how empty the neighborhood feels
with you gone.
He gave you that?
I hear the radio reports
every night
and think of my brave soldier
fight in the axis.
Now, why are you calling someone
else's husband my soldier?
Are you accusing me of having
an affair with Nelson?
No. We ain't.
Boy, that Alice had all the luck.
Popular at work, more popular
than you ever were.
I wasn't interested in that.
Painting town nights
with the new girlfriends,
going to the show, dancing.
Teenage boys falling for her right
there on the street for all to see.
Why couldn't some stuff like
that happen to you?
Why were you an old maid and
she was the girl of the hour?
So you know about that night with Buddy?
She had sweethearts to spare
and you had none.
All you wanted was Nelson.
And factory accidents did happen.
Alice was changing, straying.
I felt Nelson should know.
So you wrote to him.
Real faithful.
Maybe he'd get the drift,
you'd make the better wife?
How did it go when he got back?
You make a move?
He came home wounded
and it was plain as day
that Alice didn't know how to be
a good wife anymore.
Real nice you'd bring pie, Dottie.
Blueberry, too.
Nelson's favorite.
Kind of a welcome home.
Got any vanilla ice cream,
Alice? Make it a la mode.
No, I don't.
I noticed the victory garden's dead.
I didn't keep it up.
House could use a dusting, too.
No pie for me, Dottie.
I'm off to the night shift.
I would think that now that Nelson's
home, you'd be done at the factory.
Easy.
Oh heavens, I'm sorry.
Try this, dear.
Since when is there a whiskey
in the house?
I bought it for your pain.
Do you mean to say Alice that
you are going to keep on at Brill
even with Nelson home?
Turns out I like it there.
Do you now.
It's nice feeling useful.
Do you know, Nelson,
I helped build B- Mitchells.
My.
Plus having my own paycheck.
I give you your allowance.
It just feels different
when you earned it yourself.
Well, I work because I'm a single gal.
If I were married, I'd be more than
content to just keep house,
do the washing, bake pies.
I made some nice friends
at the factory, too.
Yeah, I heard about your friends,
in particular a young teenage friend.
I'll take this to Martha,
it's her last shift tonight.
More pie?
But he didn't go for it, huh?
No.
I'm sure it's amusing to you
young people, but to this day,
I would jump for Nelson
if he wanted me.
But he wanted Alice.
Even after she changed so.
Now, did he go the factory that night
to set his wife flying
straight again?
You were real helpful giving us
Mr. Walker, Dottie.
Is that because you were
protecting someone else?
- Nelson is a good man.
- Come on now, Dot.
He ain't gonna choose you.
I saw him with Mr. Walker that night.
Where?
They went in to his office late,
stayed about an hour.
You were pretty surprised
to see Nelson there?
Yes.
But?
A secretary doesn't tell secrets.
Plus, all those feelings
you had for him.
Nelson just wanted the wife that
he had before he went away.
That w*r changed everybody.
So, news on Alice?
I talked to Dottie.
Is that right?
You knew Alice put those whiskey
glasses out that night.
And that she went to the factory,
cuz you went there, too.
Dottie said that?
Was it the boy?
Or that she didn't need
allowance any more.
Didn't make you nice
home-made pies?
You learned a lot.
It's my job.
Well, you're good at it.
I've been reading Alice's diaries.
Told you she could write.
Did you know she was
so terrified her
first morning of work she got sick
in the girls' room?
No.
Almost left at lunch time but
she felt her skills were so poor.
I didn't know that.
And she was so filthy
at the end of that day
that she got looks
from the men on the bus
who surely take a dim view of
working girls in grubby slacks.
It wasn't easy for her making
that change. / No.
But she was brave,
and cleared the way for the people
coming behind her.
I loved her.
Then honor her,
tell the rest of her story.
I just went there to ask her
to come home.
What's so terrible about that?
Nothing.
The factory owner saw
something, didn't he?
How'd you keep him quiet?
I gave him my w*r bonds.
I was only away six months,
but it was like I didn't know the girl
I came home to.
What are you doing here?
We need to talk, kid.
You should be home,
you're injured.
I'm sorry, kitten.
Okay.
Stop all this foolishness and
get on to home.
I'm not off till six.
Forget this place.
I don't think I can.
I don't care about the boy,
what Dottie told me.
I still wanna have a life with you,
Nelson. I do love you.
I love you, kitten.
It has to be a different kind
of life now. I changed.
We'll give it six months.
- You'll change back.
- No.
I couldn't bare to sit home,
not making anything of the day,
having no company.
Not now, knowing what I can do.
There's a whole rich life I can
have besides being a wife.
It's enough now.
- It's that or it's nothing.
- Alice, you cut it out.
Nelson, let me go.
I'll let you go.
Bing CrosbyÀÇ 'Don't Fence Me In'
Oh, give me land, lots of land
under starry skies above,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide
open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself
in the evenin' breeze,
And listen to the murmur
of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever
but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.
Oh, give me land, lots of land
under starry skies,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide
open country that I love,
¢Ü Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself
in the evenin' breeze,
And listen to the murmur
of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever
but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.
I want to ride to the ridge
where the west commences
And gaze at the moon
till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hovels
and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in.
No.
Poppa, don't you fence me in