Torrent

1
Spain -- --

   Springtime under the blue
   skies of Valencia -- --
   cobbled streets and hanging
   balconies -- hot sunlight and
   orange-blossoms -- -- the
   soft air drenched with 
   sweetness -- -- 

2
Through the fragrant 
valley about Alcira winds
the J�car; unruffled,
placid now, but a raging
torrent of death when the
   rains come down.

3
For a hundred years the
Moreno farmhouse had
defied storm and flood --

4
The farmer Moreno -- --
and Cupido, the town
barber and singing
master.

     ... Edward Connelly
     ... Lucien Littlefield

5
Do�a Pepa Moreno --

     ... Lucy Beaumont

6
Leonora's prayers were 
simple: That Don Rafael
Brull would that day
pass her way -- --

7
-- That the voice which
God had given her
might bring wealth and
ease to her parents.

     ... Greta Garbo

8
"My Leonora has a 
nightingale in her
    throat!"

9
"Bah! She has a frog 
  in her throat!"

10
"I tell you to sing from 
the diaphragm and 
you -- you sing from 
  the tonsils!"

11
"Dios mio! Are you a 
barber or a prima
     donna?"

12
"I am an artist! When
art calls me, whiskers
     can wait!"

13
      For generations the
      family of Brull had
           dominated that
smiling countryside -- --

14
Do�a Bernarda Brull rode
like a queen through
her wide-spread acres,
taking advice when it pleased 
her from the family lawyer,
Don Andr�s.

     ... Martha Mattox
     ... Tully Marshall

15
"Tell the Morenos that 
old story about the
banker wanting his
money. They can't 
blame you then -- --"

16
Don Rafael Brull followed
his mother like a young
crown prince learning
to rule.

     ... Ricardo Cortez

17
"Wine of Spain! It would
  make a bullfrog sing
        tenor!"

18
"Do�a Bernarda has called 
   about the mortgage
        money."

19
"That old buzzard!"

20
"It breaks my heart to 
bring you sad news --"

21
"-- -- But the heartless
banker who advanced
the money demands
that you be put out of
     your home."

22
"Se�ora, give us time!
Leonora and I can
sleep under the hedges,
but my wife -- --"

23
"I will try to arrange
for her to remain. She
can scrub for her keep."

24
"Hush, Pedro! I am sure
Do�a Bernarda has done
all she can for us."

25
"Trust me, Leonora!
When I can win my
mother's consent, we
will go to the priest."

26
"Thank God for tragedy!
It forces us to go forward."

27
"We shall somehow get 
to Paris and Leonora's 
voice will make our 
    fortunes!"

28
"A cattle-boat leaves 
Valencia tonight! You
can catch it if you 
      hurry!"

29
"Will you carry a note 
   to Don Rafael?"

30
"No answer -- -- you
   needn't wait."

31
"You were hanging 
around that Moreno 
girl again today."

32
"Is that why you are 
sending them away?"

33
"He got that letter 
    from her!"

34
"So! She writes to you!"

35
"Is honorable love
    a crime?"

36
"Are you sure it is
honorable love?"

37
"Have you no respect 
for your mother -- when
I starve and slave --"

38
"-- To make you a great 
man -- a deputy -- like
your sainted father!"

39
"I don't want to be a 
saint! I want to be 
     myself!"

40
"Rafael! For your own
good -- listen! --"

41
"-- -- She would drag
you down! -- Ruin your
   career! -- --"

42
"-- -- The disgrace would
     kill me! -- --"

43
"It will keep you from 
        harm."

44
"The devil loves a
beautiful woman --
who is poor. My last
peseta to keep him
    from you!"

45
"Rafael did not come, 
      Cupido."

46
Then a curtain of gray
years. Behind it Leonora
Moreno vanished; from
it emerged a new star --
La Brunna, the idol of Paris.

47
"Not before the stage-
  hands, Salvatti!"

48
"They say that after 
her father died, Salvatti 
trained her voice for 
      nothing."

49
"Tenors never do any-
thing for nothing."

50
La Brunna's fame reached
Alcira, but none dreamed
she was the lost
Leonora; least of all Rafael
Brull -- who went the way
   his mother wished.

51
His mother's choice -- --
the gentle Remedios,
heiress to the pork king.

     ... Gertrude Olmstead

52
"I said a prayer for 
   your election."

53
Don Math�as loved his
daughter but the real 
passion of his life 
was hogs.

     ... Mack Swain

54
"When will your father 
give his consent to our 
     betrothal?"

55
"Wait and see if he's 
      elected."

56
"Next week -- surely."

57
"Don't give in to a man 
before you marry him --"

58
"-- -- Or afterward,
      either."

59
The Caf� Am�ricain
in Paris -- --

60
 "They say she was 
deserted by a young 
Spaniard -- and since
then she has had many 
     affairs."

61
I'm a-goin' home!
I'm a-goin' home!

62
"Why not? You are an 
artist. This may help 
you to be a greater one."

63
"Leonora! You are making
yourself conspicuous!"

64
"He sang of home!
Home! The old white
house -- and orange-
blossoms. I am going
 home, Salvatti!"

65
And so a great prima 
donna came home.
Like the tail of a
comet, her retinue
streamed out behind --

66
"I knew it would keep 
   you from harm!"

67
  Election night -- and
    the returns had
   swept a new deputy
into office: the Honorable
   Don Rafael Brull.

68
"It is your voice! My
Leonora -- you are the 
  great La Brunna!"

69
"That old vulture, Do�a
Bernarda, has succeeded
in electing her squab
   to Congress!"

70
"--Your honor shall be 
mine. I will be in 
deed and in fact the
Honorable Don Rafael
      Brull!"

71
"Rafael Brull -- -- the
      honorable!"

72
"You ask too much -- an
extra hundred head of
hogs in my daughter's
      dowry!"

73
"But -- consider my son!"

74
"But -- -- consider my
       hogs!"

75
"Look at the twist in 
     that tail!"

76
"Tell me, Cupido, what
did Leonora say when 
she heard I was
    deputy?"

77
"She just laughed."

78
"Poor girl -- -- she did
not look prosperous.
What has she done, 
     Cupido?"

79
"A La Brunna record!"

80
"You are -- La Brunna!"

81
"La Brunna is my stage 
        name."

82
"So -- you have come in  
search of me, Rafael?"

83
"Still carrying my orange
    blossoms -- --"

84
"-- But they are dead."

85
Next day the old
garden was filled
 with melody --

86
"I will get some orange- 
blossoms for Remedios."

87
If you love me not,
   I'll love you!

If I love you, then
   beware!

88
"Ah! The Honorable
  Deputy again!"

89
"I came -- to pick some
   orange-blossoms."

90
"Think of it, Jocko! He
came to pick orange-
    blossoms!"

91
"Well -- -- go pick your
   orange-blossoms!"

92
"Remedios -- will you 
   marry me soon?"

93
Then a torrent -- as furious
and relentless as the
passion that surged in
the hearts of the lovers.

94
"Let's go to the Brull 
house -- It's safer there!"

95
"The river is as mad as 
a wounded bull! Every-
   thing is going!"

96
"Leonora! Is she safe?"

97
"The dam is leaking!
Her house will be in
the path of the torrent!"

98
"I thought you were in 
danger -- the torrent!"

99
"Why, Rafael, this old
house has stood for a 
  hundred years!"

100
"I'll find you some dry 
       clothes."

101
"-- -- You are not the 
  same Leonora who 
    went away."

102
"But you -- you are the
same careless boy who
loved and forgot to 
   keep faith!"

103
"Still, you tried to save 
   my life and I am 
      grateful."

104
"Does your mother know
    you are here?"

105
"My mother has nothing 
to do with it. I came --
     because -- --"

106
"You came -- because --"

107
"-- -- You love me!"

108
"I do love you, Leonora!"

109
"I believed in love once --
  and love failed me --"

110
"You are more beautiful 
  than ever, Leonora!"

111
"-- You like beautiful
       things?"

112
"-- -- A Russian Grand 
 Duke gave me this."

113
"Why not? A great
sculptor modeled it.
He admired my figure."

114
"Everything they say 
about you is true."

115
"Perhaps -- and whose 
   fault is it?"

116
     The torrent became a 
      memory -- and cloudless
          skies smiled on the
betrothal feast of Rafael and
     Remedios.

117
"See, Rafael, this is the
mantilla I shall wear
on our wedding night."

118
"It is very lovely,
   Remedios."

119
"It should be -- it cost
my father many pesetas."

120
"Will you excuse me,
Remedios? I have a
 headache -- --"

121
Twilight and memories --
the overpowering scent
of orange-blossoms. An
irresistible force drew him
   to the old garden.

122
"Rafael, I love you!"

123
If time lets slip a little,
   perfect hour,
Oh, take it -- for it will
  not come again.

124
But Do�a Bernarda
was always to be
reckoned with.

125
"Do�a Pepa, disgrace has
 fallen on your house!"

126
"Your daughter! My
son was with her here
last night -- -- until
       dawn!"

127
"How did she get her 
fine clothes -- her
jewels -- the things 
  she gives you?"

128
"You are a good woman,
Do�a Bernarda -- you
would not lie to me."

129
"You must go away --
and never come back."

130
"Don't touch me!"

131
The life of the great world
again. Artists, bankers,
noblemen -- even royalty
paid homage to La Brunna.

132
"They tell me you are 
  leaving Madrid."

133
"Yes, Your Highness.
I am going to America."

134
"Spain will miss you!"

135
"Don Rafael is here!"

136
"Leonora, I can't give
  you up! We must 
    find a way!"

137
"The Paris Express
leaves at six. Then
Cherbourg -- -- and
     America!"

138
"Bring me a spray of
orange-blossoms. I
want to be -- -- like a 
      bride."

139
"You will need those 
for your mother's 
grave if you persist 
 in this madness."

140
"You cannot stop me
now, Don Andr�s! I am
going on my own way!"

141
"A fortunate man, this
     Don Rafael!"

142
"It will kill your mother
as surely as if you
drove a dagger into
    her heart!"

143
"He is worthy, Your 
Highness. Help me to
  make him a great
       man."

144
"Dear lady, you have 
but to ask. His career
shall be my personal
     concern."

145
"What can this woman 
do for you -- but drag 
     you down?"

146
"What of the people
who made you deputy?
They trusted you! And
Remedios -- you won
     her love!"

147
"You would blast your
honor for a woman
whose amours are the
talk of all Europe?"

148
"It is not too late, 
Rafael -- be a man!"

149
"Oh, God! Why can't
   I hate him?"

150
Life went on -- year after
year. For Rafael the
treadmill of monotony --
for Leonora the golden heights
of song. Again Madrid -- --

151
"You are not -- Rafael?"

152
"You are more beautiful 
than ever, Leonora!
The years have passed 
      you by."

153
"It is the business of 
  a prima donna to 
   remain young."

154
"And you -- -- my poor
Rafael! What have the 
years done to you?"

155
"You married her! The
girl your mother chose."

156
"My wife is a good
   woman -- --"

157
"Children -- I suppose?"

158
"Home -- a good wife --
money -- a career -- you
  have everything to
   make you happy."

159
"Everything -- but love!"

160
"Don't be absurd! Would
you have me rob a
trusting wife of her 
husband -- children of
  their father?"

161
"Love comes but once 
in a lifetime -- and it
  has passed us by."

162
"Last act!"

163
"You see, Rafael -- --
the last act! It is
     all over."

164
And so it goes. For those
who miss the best, life
deals a second best, in
    consolation.

165
"She must be very 
happy -- -- she has
everything she wants."

THE END