These Shining Lives - Mr Reed

That fella’s so tight, if you put a piece of coal up his- 

If Mae West lived in Illinois and painted watches, she’d be Charlotte

I heard that, Mr Reed

You know I mean it as a compliment

You know I take it as one

Morning, girls

Whatcha got there, Mr Reed?

Girls, I’d like you to meet Catherine Donohue

Hi. I’m Pearl

Pearl’s your girl if you want to hear a joke

Oh no, not really, no, well, yes. Did you hear that one about-

Then there’s Frances.

Welcome

She’s the moral backbone of this gang

Got my work cut out for me, with this one here

The one she’s referring to is Charlotte, of course. Charlotte’s been known to eat our young. The last new girl begged for mercy after three days at this table

Tom. Nice name, Tom. Tom sounds like-

Charlotte?

Yes, Mr Reed?

You want to translate your talking into explaining how it’s done?

How what’s done, Mr Reed?

Painting the dials, Charlotte. You know, that thing you do by accident between words

I don’t know, Mr Reed…

Mrs. Donohue isn’t here to take your job, Charlotte. I gave her one of her own

Is it okay?

Is what okay, Mrs Donohue?

Getting this stuff in our mouths

It’s more than okay. It’s medicinal

Sciatica, neuralgia

Lumbago…

Bronchitis

Pneumonia

Arteriosclerosis

Gout

And chronic constipation

Nothing short of miraculous

But it’s faster if you do

And since you get paid by the watch…

How many watches do you paint a day?

Tell her, girls

An average day, about one-fifty. A good day, two hundred

Believe it or not, Charlotte’s one of the stars of Radium Dial. She’s got fast hands

Just a natural, I guess, Mr Reed. Born with the gift of-

(slams watches on desk) Here’s the routine. You start with these Big Ben alarm clocks. Big Ben, big faces, see? Think of them as your large canvas. Get good at those, we move you to these… (pulls out pocket watches)… Pocket watches. Think of these as your medium canvas. After those, you’re onto these… (pulls out wristwatches) The fine art. The wristwatches. You get one month. End of the month, if you’re good, you got a job. If you’re not, you don’t. That’s the way it works. Think you can do it?

Oh, I can do it.

You sure?

She’ll be great, Mr Reed

You read palms, Charlotte?

And I was. My twos swooped and dipped. My fives were flawless. My eights could’ve been in a museum. And my twelves? (Shows Mr Reed)

Aces is right. Welcome Mrs Donohue. You’re gonna love it here

Even I have my limits. Besides, I told him the pain was in my arm, not in my-

Ladies?

Good morning, Mr Reed

Good morning. (silence) You’re awfully quiet today. (silence) Cat got your tongues?

Not really, Mr Reed

Knew I could count on you to pipe up, Charlotte. Thought maybe you didn’t feel so good. Thought maybe that’s it. 

Fine. See?

That’s good. Because the doctor stepped in this morning. He’s worried about you. Should he be? Should I be?

No, Mr Reed

You’re looking thin, Catherine

I’m fine, Mr Reed. The kids, you know, they run me ragged

You’d tell me, wouldn’t you? If there was something, anything?

Of course.

Because you could, you know, tell me

I’m aces

You were out one day last week. And once, a few weeks earlier

Just a little flu I caught from my girl. You know kids, they catch everything and give it to their parents

And the rest of you?

Great. Fine. Swell. (ad-lib)

That’s good, I’m glad to hear it. It’d break my heart if there were anything wrong. Break my heart. (looks at Catherine’s work) Your nines, Catherine. Watch your nines. They’re not so good.

It’s in my arm. What you have. It’s in my arm.

(walks in with letters) Good morning ladies. (lackluster good mornings) You know- and I know- that you ladies have had a few concerns lately. There’s been some gossip. Harmless, but gossip has a way of getting around. And the company wants to let you know- they want to say- well. Here you go (hands out letters)

What’s this?

Clatification. From the company. In response to said gossip, misguided chatter, et cetera, et cetera. An official promise you can hang your hats on, girls. Listen up and put your minds at ease. They want you to know they’re careful. That we use nothing that could cause you harm. (reading from letter) 

“In the best interest of our employees’ safety, Radium Dial does not compromise its product or the health of our workers by using materials of low quality. Radium Dial uses material that contains pure radium only. If we at any time had reason to believe that any condition of the work endangered the well-being of our employees, we would have suspended operations. The health of the employees of the Radium Dial Company is always foremost in the mind of its officials. Most sincerely, Joseph A. Kelly, president.”

There it is. The truth in black and white. So you can rest easy. This company, it’s a good company. I know you girls know that. Take a few extra minutes at lunch. Relax. It’s a beautiful day out there. Enjoy. Have a good day, girls (leaves)

Mr Reed?

Ah, Mrs Donohue, come in, come in

Pearl said you wanted to see me

Sit. You wanna sit down? Have a seat

I’m fine, thank you

I don’t want- this isn’t-

What, Mr Reed?

I’m sorry. I have to do this

Do what? (silence) Do what, Mr Reed?

I’m sorry

For…?

I have to let you go

What?

I’m letting you-

Please. You… can’t

I have to

But you can’t. You can’t do this to me. There’s no reason

I’m so sorry

Why?

You’re missing too much work, Mrs Donohue

No! Only a few days. Not that many

More than a few

No more, I promise, no more. Just let me-

We run a certain kind of business, Mrs Donohue. We work a certain way. This is a good place for girls. For healthy girls. I’m sorry. I didn’t have to explain this much

You didn’t explain-

But I thought you deserve it

I deserve it?!

You’ve been a good worker. You’ve been-

You’re really firing me?

You’ve been a great asset to-

For being sick?

A truly wonderful worker until these past few months-

It’s this job! There’s something that’s making us all-

I’m asking you-

Mr Reed, please-

You have to leave now

What about Pearl? Charlotte? Frances? What about them? What about all the other girls?

Whoever can’t do their job will be asked to leave

Mr Reed- 

I’m sorry

You can’t

They said I could offer you a week’s pay. You should take it. If I hear of any other jobs somewhere else, I’ll let you know

There aren’t any more jobs! Haven’t you heard, Mr Reed. There haven’t been any jobs for two years! There’s nowhere for me to go!

(holding out envelope) Here, take it

No

It’s yours. You should have it

There’s more than a week’s pay in here

There’s some from me. Just a few bucks. I remember the day you started, Katie. I liked you. You fit right in. And you didn’t rock the boat. I suggest you don’t start now. I’m sorry you got sick. I’m sorry I have to let you go. It’s my job. It’s business, you know

Mr Reed. Mr Reed?

Yes?

What’dya think? I was gonna hit you? Huh? (Laughs) You look… good, Mr Reed

Um, thank you, Mr Donohhue

Nice shoes. Nice suit

Thank you

You look- you look like a successful man. Like a real success

Well, I-

How many watches did it take to buy all that, huh?

Mr Donohue-

I’m just wondering. Because, I’m trying to make it all add up. Katie made eight cents a watch. We thought that was a lot. We thought we wewre living like kings. But one look at you, and I know who the king really is

I just worked there too. I just did my job. I didn’t know

I’m so tired, I don’t even care that you’re lying to me right now

They lied to me too, Mr Donohue

Yeah. But at a certain point, you knew. You knew

(trying to walk away) Excuse me, please. (Tom blocks)

You serve?

What?

In the war. Did you serve, fight?

Uh, no. No I didn’t

Didn’t get drafted, didn’t enlist?

No