The Time of Your Life

The Time of Your Life Summary | Act 1 Summary

The scene is Nick's Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace at the foot of Embarcadero in San Francisco. We enter the swing double doors to the street down right with steps leading down to the barroom. The bar itself is at right. A center door leads to kitchen. A piano on a platform rests up left center and steps lead up to a stage in the upper left corner of the bar.

A marble game sits down right of the bar near some tables and chairs. At center and left center we see a wall telephone. There's a phonograph at the left, and a chair sits right of the center door. In the back room above the left end of the bar, there are a table and chairs. Sitting at a table, we find Joe in his expensive, casual and youthfully worn clothes that lend a boyish demeanor to his appearance. With his calm and quiet rubberneck superiority, he's always eager, yet always seems bored. He's sitting alone in a Debussy reverie.

Behind the bar, there's Nick, the owner of the place, a big redheaded Italian who has a large red tattoo of a naked woman on the inside of his right arm. He's engrossed in the racing form that's in his hand. An Arab sits in his usual spot at the end of the bar. He's not a very large man, but he wears an extremely intense, black, old country moustache twisted up on the ends. On his left hand between his thumb and forefinger, there's a Mohammedan tattoo, proof that he has been to Mecca. He sips his glass of beer.

Suddenly in a strong and explosive outburst, a young man named Willie enters through the swinging doors of the bar. Comically, he holds up the forefinger of his right hand, requesting a beer. He's a marble game fanatic who's barely more than twenty years old, wearing a pair of corduroys that are probably not as old as they are dirty to the observer. He's sporting heavy shoes, a light green turtle neck jersey with a large letter "F" printed on the front of it, a tweed coat obviously too large and a green hat with the brim flipped up. The young man quickly gulps down the glass of beer Nick has set out for him. He straightens up and salutes Nick using one finger. Now invigorated, he appears to be leaving the bar. As he walks past the marble machine, the lure of his desire to play the game won't let him go. He stands there hovering over the machine, looking at it, tuning into the machine as if it were speaking to him. He makes another attempt to walk out but...the lure is too strong. He reaches into his pants pocket, searches through the change, picks out one nickel and seemingly gestures to the machine or whoever may be watching, "Only one game." He puts the nickel into the slot.

The noise that comes from the machine seems to be its way of confirming that it's ready for him. The marbles fall and the game begins, Willie versus the iron robot. Man versus machine. The last American man standing has nothing in his way except this glass and alloy sculpted machine. The reward is no more than a few blinking lights and six nickels for the one he put into the slot. He is the last of the Mohicans, with nothing else in the world to do with his time except to try and outwit the marble machine. "The Missouri Waltz," which has been coming from the phonograph, comes to its end.

A newsboy enters the bar. He very cheerfully says good morning to everyone, but no one speaks back to him. He goes on to ask Nick if he would like a newspaper. Nick says no. He moves onto Joe, who also says no, but just as the newsboy is about leave, Joe takes note of him and asks how many papers he has left. Joe gives him a bill and takes all five papers the boy has, and the boy leaves.

The Arab picks up one of the newspapers. After looking it over he gives his stock reply, "No foundation, all the way down the line." A drunk enters and walks over to the telephone. Nick escorts the drunken man out to the street. The drunk returns as if a spokesperson for the bill of rights. This is a free country isn't it?

Willie, the marble game fanatic, tries to make his getaway from the marble monster, but it seems as if there is an invisible magnet attached to him. The pull from the machine is too strong. Nick yells out, "You can't beat the machine!!!" to the befuddled Willie, who takes this as a dare.

Joe begins to call out for someone named Tom. He gets no answer. He looks over by the phonograph machine, the public telephone, the stage, the marble game and the bar. He whistles for attention and then waits a moment. He whistles again very loudly. Nick, who has become very irritated with Joe, asks him what he wants. He wants Tom to get him a watermelon, and he goes on to suggest to Nick that if there is anything he wants for himself, he won't find it inside that racing form. Nick says he's keeping up with the news.

Suddenly, a very large man enters. He's about thirty years old but seems to be much younger because of his childish face. He is handsome, with a rudimentary, stoic air of confusion and intimidation. He is obviously not a boy, nor does he appear to be a man yet. His name is Tom, and he is wearing a cheap outdated Woolworth suit with a chain across the vest. On the little finger of his right hand there's a dice ring with the number six on it. On the middle finger of his left hand, there's a skull and crossbones ring. Joe, who now sees Tom, begins to look him over in an unconcerned superior manner, which causes Tom to become slack and tense as his pace becomes slower. Tom stands in front of Joe, cowering and waiting to be chastised.

Joe is actually gentle and firm in his approach when he asks Tom about who saved his life. Tom, with heartfelt intentions, responds that Joe did, and he thanks him. Joe requests that he go into detail, and Tom reveals that Joe made him eat chicken soup when he was sick and hungry three years ago and that Joe paid all his bills while he got better. Joe finally asks Tom where he has been all this time. Tom goes on to tell him about the trouble that went on down the street and that he was listening to the boys talk about it. Joe tells Tom of the errands he wants him to run and begins to give precise instructions as to what he needs Tom to do, where to go and how to get there. Tom is to take the money and buy Joe a couple of dollars worth of toys. Tom points out to Joe that he's always doing his dirty work, while Joe sits around the bar. As Tom is walking away, Joe stops him and hands him a nickel to put in the phonograph to play number seven, the waltz, again. Tom begins to protest about always having to listen to number seven. Joe implores him to put the money in the slot, to sit down until it's over and then to go get his toys.

Tom puts the money in the slot clumsily but exactly and in a hurry. Joe seems to listen without interest and appears only to be interested in the effect this music is having on Tom. Entering the scene now is Kitty Duval. She's a tenant at the New York Hotel around the corner. She enters through the swinging doors almost unheard. She's in no hurry; she moves with a stoic rhythm that seems to match the strange, sad waltz that is her very own, just as it is Tom's. She appears small, yet strong, with a kind of feminine raw-edged beauty that no form of sorrow or distress could destroy. There is a sure pride accompanying her anger. There is elegance and vanity in her walk.

Kitty heads for the bar, requesting a beer that is set before her by Nick. She finishes half the beer in one swallow and returns her attention to the music. Tom becomes oblivious to everything around him as he is enthralled and beguiled by her. Joe, using a mild tone, tries to intercept Tom from his trance-like movement towards Kitty at the bar. He calls out once again, loudly this time, and gets Tom to come over to his table. Tom lets Joe know that he needs money to bet on a horse, "Precious Time," who's sure to win by ten lengths. Joe very deliberately points past the swing doors to the outside. Tom leaves.

Nick speaks up and asks Joe about the watermelon he wanted before. Joe forgot about it, and he turns his attention to the dazed and daydreaming Kitty. He asks, "What's the thought?" Joe tells Nick to bring them a bottle of champagne. Kitty, who's surprised, wants to know what the big deal is for Joe to buy champagne to drink with her. Joe tells Kitty how much he likes champagne, and he thinks that she might like it too. Kitty is quick to let him know that she's no pushover. Joe tells her that it's not in him, or his nature, to be unkind to others even in his dimwitted state. Kitty warns Joe to shelter his thoughts concerning her. Joe assures her that he only has sublime ideas concerning her person. Now Nick, who is confused, wants to know what Joe means. Kitty tells Nick to hush! Joe reminds her that this is Nick's place. She does not care and lets them both know that he won't insult her.

Nick tells her of his knowledge of and dealings with cheap whores, but Kitty simply informs him of her days in burlesque, how she played the burlesque circuit on the coast and was admired by European royalty. Young men of wealth and social position courted her. There are even life-size photos of her in costume in front of theaters all over the country. She dares Nick to call her names. Nick tells her that he's Charlie Chaplin. Joe assures Kitty of his belief in her and then offers her some champagne. She sits at his table.

Miss Duval was her stage name, and Joe insists on using it. Nick demands to know if she's drinking champagne or not. Joe tells him to pour the lady some wine. Nick turns on Joe, wanting to know why he spends all his time and money down here at his low class establishment, instead of one of the classy joints. Why doesn't he drink his champagne at the St. Francis with a real lady? Kitty admonishes Nick once again for calling her names. She calls him a "dentist." Joe repeats it. Nick's amazement and confusion shows in his face, as he looks at Joe and Kitty. Nick lets Kitty know that she is not the only one he drinks with.

Joe puts his energy into Kitty only, lifting his glass to her. As she does the same, he makes a toast to Kitty Duval's spirit. Kitty, looking at Joe with gratitude, now understands and thanks him. Joe calls to Nick and asks him to play the phonograph, "number seven," of course. Nick doesn't seem to mind at all, though he's not a lover of music. Tchaikovsky was a dope and a sucker because he let a woman drive him crazy. Nick continues on about how he cried like a baby in front of his patrons at the bar. Joe asks Nick what made him cry, a question that Nick cannot answer. He puts the nickel into the machine and listens to the music while studying the racing form.

Kitty, who has slipped into a deep reverie of her own, begins to hazily speak of her love for champagne and all that goes with it: houses, big porches, large rooms and windows, big lawns, trees and shepherd dogs sleeping in the shade. Nick prepares to go next door to Frankie's to place a bet. Joe intercepts him to ask if he will put ten dollars on the nose on a horse, Precious Time. Nick takes the money and leaves.

Dudley R. Bostwick comes through the swinging doors of the bar and throws himself onto the open telephone. He's a young man of twenty-four or so, plain, but different, not very big, nicely dressed in budget-priced clothing, worn from working long hours, aggravated and bored with the tediousness of life. He appears to be no one special but a good person just the same. He's educated without any real understanding, an eager, naive soul fighting with a bromidic mind that has only been more agitated by what it has learned. His simple and basic need alone makes him great in personality, that need being a woman. His face is silly. His body language is stiff and erratic. The pitch of his voice is too high and stoic. His expressions are out of context. Dudley reaches the phone and begins to dial feverishly. He hangs up loudly and then begins an errant style of flipping through the phone book trying relentlessly to find the right number.

Harry enters as if intimidated by his own uncertainty. He seems out of place, self-conscious and disconcerted because of his appearance. He also seems lowly at heart, yet determined to fit in somehow. His arrival calls for a dance. All of his clothes are loose fitting and out of place. He is an inarticulate guy who has ideas. His philosophy is simple, that the world is a sorrowful place, a place that is devoid of laughter, and Harry himself is here to bring laughter to the world. He didn't finish high school but received bits and pieces of information from the boys at the pool hall. Now he's looking for Nick in hopes of securing a position as a comedian at the barroom. He asks the Arab if he is Nick. The Arab tells him no. When Nick returns, Harry, in a moment of pretense, asks him if he needs a comedian. Nick asks him whom he has in mind. Harry, now agitated, discloses his intentions. Nick wants to know what's so funny about him.

At this point, Dudley is at the phone again, dialing, and the noise coming from this is very loud. He gets through, says hello and then asks to speak with Miss Elsie Mandelspiegel. There's a pause. Harry, being very lively, starts dancing and talking about the other attributes of his trade. Nick wants to know if he's working with or without a costume. Then like a "gun shot" at a starting gate, he tells Harry to "get funny." Harry begins to give his rendition of being funny, talking about standing on corners, not knowing who he is, and old men bumping into fat ladies. He then asks no one in particular whether or not this constitutes war. He shouts out a call to arms, salutes, about faces, aims and fires a make believe gun BOOOMMM!! Nick gets tired of this and tells the young man to take a break.

Next to enter the scene is Wesley. Nick offers him a beer and then asks what he wants. Wesley, who seems a bit befuddled, tells Nick that he needs to speak to him. Nick asks him if he's hungry, at which time the young black man swears that he's not and tells Nick that he wants to work. He's not asking for charity. Nick wants to know if he is good at anything. Wesley then gives a verbal resume of his abilities.

At this point Dudley is on the phone again, frantically requesting and pursuing Elsie and threatening to kill himself if she won't marry him and he loses another day of sleep. He declares his undying love for her and then stops cold...what? He's dialed the wrong number and has been pursuing the wrong woman. After causing a small racket, he picks up the name Lorene from the woman on the phone. They make each other's acquaintance and exchange pleasantries. Dudley starts telling the strange woman that he's at Nick's barroom and goes on about having the day off work from the S.P.I. He asks Nick what the address is at the bar and then tells the woman on the phone that he'd like to meet her too. Nick scoffs at Dudley and calls him a cad. Dudley scoffs back at Nick and then tells of the misery he's suffered over Elsie and how it must be causing indifference in him. He speaks back into the phone questioningly, calling Lorene Elenore. He tells her that the address is 3 Pacific, that he'll wait for her and that she will know him by his recognition of her.

Harry, who's still in his script, is carrying on with his audition, jumping around erratically, making way with his caricature of a soldier. It is obvious that "he's nuts," while sounding off loudly with another BOOOOOMMM!! Nick shouts for him to lay off. Very sadly, Harry tells Willie of the tragic fact that no one has a sense of humor any more.

Nick wants to know from Wesley if he is part of a union, but Wesley doesn't understand and tells Nick again that he doesn't want charity, he wants to work. Nick then responds, "for the love of Mike," and wants to know where Wesley has been. Nick tells him that he has to be part of a union to get a job. Wesley tells him again that he doesn't want favors, that he just needs a job. Finally Nick tells Wesley to go to the kitchen and have Sam make him some lunch. Wesley swears that he's not hungry.

Dudley, out of nowhere, very loudly declares what he's gone through for Elsie. Nick, now exasperated, brings Dudley a beer. Harry spouts off the fact that he has lots of ideas to make the world happy, while Wesley nearly faints from hunger. Nick catches him in time and then he and the Arab lead Wesley to the kitchen.

Harry starts up again, wanting to know if Willie thinks his monologue is funny. Then he begins dancing. Willie, after watching a moment, goes back to his game and tells Harry that it's stupid. Harry carries on woefully, with much enthusiasm. Dudley argues with Elsie, telling her that he has no need to see anyone except her and that he doesn't know anyone named Lorene. Joe and Kitty are still quietly drinking, and nothing else can be heard except the soft shoe shuffling of Harry the comedian. The Arab returns to his chair.

Joe still wants to know what Kitty Duval's dream is. Kitty very hazily starts talking about how she dreams of home again, and the fact that she doesn't have one, and of her life with her family in Ohio. She continues to go on and on about her mother, father, sister, brother, Louie and their move to Chicago. Louie was killed in Chicago. Her brother Stephen ran away at seventeen, and then her mother died. She pauses momentarily and then continues.

Nick returns with Wesley from the kitchen. Wesley sits at the piano. Nick tells Wesley that the food he ate should hold him and then asks him why he lied about being hungry. Wesley thanks Nick, stating that he didn't know he was so hungry. Nick walks over to Harry and wants to know what the hell it is that he's doing. Harry points out to him that he is a natural born dancer, while Wesley begins playing the piano very slowly. Nick, speaking to Harry again, tells him that he's no good at this craft and that he should try being a salesman. Harry looks to the upper bar and announces that the world hasn't got sense enough to take what he is offering it.

Dudley is still thinking of Elsie and carrying on over having a date with a dame (Lorene Smith), who he has never met. Then, he asks for a beer. Harry starts up again as Nick brings Dudley a beer. He tells Nick that he's going to miss out on the greatest act known to America. He tells Nick that he'll work without pay at first. Just give him a chance, and he'll bring the house down tonight. If he doesn't, Nick can kick him out. Nick again tells him that he's not funny. He's poor, and he's a bum. Why does he want to be funny anyway? He'll just break everybody's heart. Harry states to Nick that he may be poor, but that doesn't count for everything. His talent, ideas and his style, even though it all has to be rounded out, counts for more than money.

By now Wesley is playing something on the piano that is out of this world, and a half a minute later Harry is dancing. Nick stands there and watches. Then, he declares that he runs the worst dump in Frisco that attract champagne buyers, whores claiming to be ladies and talent that doesn't show itself. Even society people show up sometimes. He can't figure it out. Could it be the location? The liquor? Himself? The mixed up personality of the barroom? He pauses...maybe they just feel at home here.

Wesley is working the keyboard, and Harry's grooving. Dudley is more depressed now. Kitty asks Joe to dance with her. He declines because he doesn't know how, and she tries to convince him otherwise. Joe likes Kitty and apologizes for not being able to dance with her. Kitty begins dancing alone. Tom enters with a package and becomes stupefied when he sees her. He comes out of his trance and puts the package on the table where Joe is sitting. Nick clears their bottles and glasses and goes back to the bar. Joe takes the package and asks Tom, 'what'd he get?' Tom replies that he's gotten two dollars worth of toys like Joe told him. Tom turns to look at Kitty. He then tells Joe that there is nothing in the world he wouldn't do for him but that Joe has to give him money sometimes. Joe then wants to know what he needs money for. Tom turns to stare at Kitty again, who is still dancing. Joe, whose attention is on the two of them, hands Tom five dollars and then asks if he can dance. Tom, now replying with pride, tells how he won second prize at the Palomar in Sacramento five years ago.

Joe tells Tom to go on and dance with her and then shouts to him to dance with Kitty, the burlesque queen of the world. She wants to dance. Tom (in a powerless tone) wants to tell Joe of his love for Kitty, but Joe stops him, letting him know that he's aware of Tom's love for her. Joe tells him to take better care of himself. Nick, who is now watching Wesley in disbelief, states how this guy actually came to him for a job as a dishwasher, fainted from hunger and now plays better than Heifetz. Joe points out to Nick that Heifetz plays the violin. "Well, he's still good ain't he?"

Tom begins to speak to Kitty, and Joe (while playing with his new toys) tells him to dance, not talk. Tom and Kitty dance while Nick carries on as usual at the bar. Dudley cries over his beer, and in walks a strange looking, pushy, thirty-sevenish Lorene Smith. Nick asks the woman what she's having, but Lorene, who's looking around and frightening all the young men in the joint, wants to know where Dudley R. Bostwick, the guy she talked to on the phone earlier, is.

Suddenly, Dudley breaks into a running frenzy towards her and then becomes horror stricken. He launches into lying overdrive and tells the young woman that she has just missed Dudley. He's just left on crutches. Lorene looks at him and then asks if he is sure he isn't Dudley R. Bostwick. He tells her that his name is Tenefrancia (Roger), a French Canadian. Lorene goes on spooking Dudley with the fact that he sounds just like the guy she spoke to on the phone, and she tells him that she only wants to help him so that he won't commit suicide. As she turns to leave, Dudley tells her that it is a coincidence if he sounds like him, because that cripple left ten minutes ago.

After she leaves, Dudley wipes the sweat from his brow, acknowledging his narrow escape. He runs over to the phone, swearing his undying devotion to Elsie and that he'll never leave her again. Then, everything goes back to normal. Dudley can't remember the phone number again and goes on talking about how one obstacle after the other seems to get in the way of him talking to Elsie. He can't sleep because of it. Then, without doubt in his voice, he tells himself that she'll come to the phone one day. He calls out 'Sunset-7349' as he tries to dial the right number again.

Joe is oblivious to all that has occurred around him as he is being pulled into a study of all the toys, becoming better acquainted with each of them. He blows a whistle that causes Tom and Kitty to stop dancing and Tom to stare at her. Then, Dudley is again on the phone, sympathetically and harshly trying to get through to Elsie and changing his name, his whole life, in hopes of getting her on the phone. He speaks into the phone and then tells whoever is on the line that he'll wait.

Tom declares his love to Kitty again, and she asks him if he'd like to come up to her room. Again Tom's confusion leads him down the prim road, and Kitty takes the opportunity to find out if he has two dollars. In a pathetic and pitiful voice, he tells her no... but that he does have five dollars. He again tells Kitty that he loves her and then hugs her. They leave the bar together as Joe watches.

Joe moves on to his next conquest. He asks Nick about a longshoreman named McCarthy. He wants to know what he will have to say today. Nick says, "Plenty." Then as Nick leaves to check on the third race, Joe informs Nick that Precious Time won, but Nick doesn't think so. Joe (speaking to himself) talks about a horse named McCarthy who is running in the sixth race today. Dudley's on the phone again, frantically weakening, tiring and then praising God when Elsie finally comes to the phone. Speaking in a desperate tone, he tells her where he is and that she has to come and talk to him. After calling out her name and getting no response, he believes she's hung up on him, so he hangs up and goes back to the bar. In the meantime, Wesley and Harry are still performing, and Joe is still consumed by his toys.

Nick returns and walks over to Joe. Joe asks how much money he's won, and Nick can't believe that he already knows. Joe, alluding to the fact that Tom informed them that the horse Precious Time would win by ten lengths, points out that Tom's in love, so of course, he'll pick a winner. Nick, who is now very puzzled, hands Joe the eighty dollars he's won. Joe yells to him that "faith" is the reason he's won. Nick quotes the statistics and wonders why his luck is so bad. When Joe finds out that all Nick lost was fifty cents, he tells him that he should never gamble because he isn't willing too take the risk. Nick reminds him that he never bets more than fifty cents and has no more faith than a fly.

Harry begins shouting for Nick to catch his new act, and Nick quickly tells him to hang around. Then, Nick asks Wesley if he can play that song again tonight. Wesley tells Mr. Nick the he's sure he can play something. Nick tells him to hang around too and goes behind the bar.

Everyone now appears to be at ease in each other's company, which gives the place a kind of naivety that seems to flow throughout. Wesley is playing better, and Harry is dancing better. Nick is behind the bar cleaning, and Joe's playing with his toys and seems happy. Dudley, with all of his problems and in his current state of dejection, seems at ease. Willie is happily playing the marble game, and the Arab is deep in thought, where he seems happy to be.

Then...Blick comes in and invades their peaceful existence. Blick is obviously a person no one likes, with his tough guy demeanor. It is easily understood why people usually dislike him on sight. He enters the bar as if he were a regularly welcomed customer. Harry immediately begins to lose steam. Blick speaks to Nick with his false friendliness. Nick wants to know why he's there, being such a big man of means. Blick, now feeling special, acknowledges Nick's condescension.

Nick speaks as if in he is in awe at the fact that someone so important as Blick would bother to come to a place like this, when there are so many other more classy joints. He sets Blick up with a drink, but Blick declines. Nick swallows the drink himself, as Blick begins talking about being on duty, at which Nick scoffs. Blick then insists that there are hookers working out of Nick's place, and it's going to stop. At this point, time itself seems to stand still, and heads begin to raise one by one. Then, the music stops. Even the fanatical Willie stops playing the marble game. A moment of silent tension builds as if Blick were expecting applause from everyone there.

Nick then lashes out. He tells Blick not to expect his help and that he should know the difference between a whore and a lady, since he's a married man. Blick says that he's asking the questions, but Nick points out to him that he should act like a man his age who knows better than to accuse people, without being sure. In a loud voice Nick warns Blick. He tells him that he can find out for himself who the hookers are by going out on the street, or even sleeping with one, which he feels sure this man would not hesitate to do. Blick threatens to close down the place. Nick tells him that changing the world is hard for the "pot" who's calling the kettle "black." Blick says he'll be back tonight. Nick, who is angry but cool, tells him to send a more likeable person next time. Blick returns the insult and before leaving, takes one more intimidating moment to look the joint over.

There's a moment of silence again, and then everybody goes back to what they were previously doing, none as enthusiastic as they were before Blick entered. Nick and Joe come to the conclusion that Blick has only brutal intentions towards them all, and they say that in all the anger and misunderstanding, Blick is a bully, who'll be in big trouble messing around this barroom.

Joe, in his witless way, starts talking foolishly and seems to set everyone on edge. He sends Nick into a foul mood that brings everyone and everything they were doing to a violent climax, as Wesley plays the piano, Joe shakes the toys, Willie juggles the marbles and Harry dances. Nick forgets what he was so angry about. He just enjoys everyone and begins making amiable gestures to them all. He knows that he has a nice place that allows people to just be. He then yells to Harry to keep up the dancing tonight and for Wesley to go on and liven up the joint. Harry thanks Nick for the chance he has given him and goes over to the telephone. He calls his mother to tell her that he's gotten the job.

Nick is suddenly full of life and shows interest in Joe's childish yet interesting collection of toys. A woman by the name Mary L. comes in and takes a seat at the center table. Willie begins playing to the tune of the toy music box, while Harry dances to it. Nick wants Joe to let Kitty know that he means no harm towards her and would never touch her teeth. All seems well in the barroom.