"Madame Curie" (1943)

What if Marie had returned to Poland?

Pierre's mother is very persuasive
(while Marie is visiting)

PIERRE'S MOTHER
Oh, Pierre, she is such a lovely girl.
PIERRE
Now mother, please don't start.
MOTHER
I just don't understand why she's returning to Poland when you're still here in Paris.
PIERRE
Well, she's quite a stubborn young lady, mother.
MOTHER
How long have you been seeing her?
PIERRE
Mother, please. She's a student of Dr. Perot's and nothing more.
MOTHER
But Pierre, this is the very first time you've invited a student to meet us.
PIERRE
Well mother, she's leaving Paris soon and I just thought she'd like to see some of the French countryside.
MOTHER
And she has no reason to remain in Paris?
PIERRE
Her father is waiting for her in Poland.
MOTHER
You know, Pierre, any young lady would be flattered by the attentions of a man that she admires.
PIERRE
She's only interested in physics, mother. And mathematics.
MOTHER
Will we ever see her again, Pierre?
PIERRE
There's nothing I can do, mother.
MOTHER
Then go see her off at the train station tomorrow.
PIERRE
It's out of my hands.
MOTHER
And just see how you feel when she steps onto the train.

Seeing Marie off at the railway station
(on the train platform)

MARIE
It's very kind of you to see me off, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Oh, not at all, madamoiselle. I wanted you to have my copy of Maxwell's Treatise.
MARIE
Oh, Dr. Curie, I couldn't possibly accept this. It's your personal copy.
PIERRE
I insist, Madamoiselle, um... Marie. And please call me "Pierre".
MARIE
But Dr. ...um, Pierre --
PIERRE
I'm hoping the book will help you remember your days in my laboratory... and in Paris, of course.
MARIE
Oh, I'll miss Paris so much, Dr. Curie. And everyone.
PIERRE
My mother can't stop talking about you.
MARIE
She reminds me of my aunt, the one who raised me after my mother died.
PIERRE
She wonders if she'll ever have the pleasure of seeing you again.
MARIE
I'd like to see her again very much.
PIERRE
Can she write to you, Marie?
MARIE
Oh of course. I'd love to hear from her.
PIERRE
My father might like to write to you as well.
MARIE
Yes, yes, certainly.
PIERRE
They'd like to know how you're doing, of course.
MARIE
I hope you'll write to me as well, Pierre.
PIERRE
Well, I'd like to, of course, but --
MARIE
Oh, the train is leaving. Goodbye, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Good-bye, Marie.
[the train leaves]

PIERRE
Oh, dear. What have I done?

With David Le Gros
(back at the lab)

DAVID
Dr. Curie, have you seen the spectrometer?
PIERRE
No, David. Ask Marie.
DAVID
Who?
PIERRE
Oh.
DAVID
Would you like more coffee? There's a bit left here.
PIERRE
Certainly not. This is the worst coffee I've ever tasted. Where did it come from?
DAVID
Um, I made it, Dr. Curie. Sorry.
PIERRE
I thought that Marie -- I mean Madamoiselle Sklodowska -- had shown you how to use that new percolating machine.
DAVID
Well, yes, she did, but you know what they say about scientists and kitchen appliances.
PIERRE
Perhaps we need another female student in here.
DAVID
Well, as a matter of fact, Dr. Curie, Freddy Samuelson told me the other day that Dr. Perot has another student who was hoping to work here in the laboratory. And she's a girl.
PIERRE
I see.
DAVID
She's not as smart as Madamoiselle Sklodowska, though.
PIERRE
Oh.
DAVID
Or as attractive.
PIERRE
Does she whistle?
DAVID
I don't know.
PIERRE
What's her name?
DAVID
Olga Svensoborda.
PIERRE
Oh dear.
DAVID
And she'd require a special chair because of her... well, I'm sure you understand, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Well, what should we do, David?
DAVID
And I don't even know if she can make good coffee.
PIERRE
It would be uncharitable of me to deny a promising young student an opportunity to --
DAVID
She's not actually all that promising, Dr. Curie. This is her third attempt to pass Dr. Perot's class.
PIERRE
Heavens.
DAVID
I wouldn't have mentioned her except for the coffee.
PIERRE
You know, David, I never even liked coffee until Marie began making it.
DAVID
Yes, she certainly had a knack with that machine.
PIERRE
What am I to do, David? What am I to do?
DAVID
Perhaps Dr. Becquerel's wife knows how to use that percolating machine.

Pierre's father is even more persuasive
than his mother
(at home for Christmas)

PIERRE'S FATHER
So Pierre, have you heard from that nice young lady?
PIERRE
Which one?
FATHER
Which one, he says. How many young ladies have your mother and I ever seen you with?
PIERRE
Students come and go all the time, father.
FATHER
Come now, Pierre. You know whom I'm talking about.
PIERRE
Oh, I presume she's teaching in Warsaw by now.
FATHER
You presume? You haven't written to her?
PIERRE
No, no. Too busy. She was rather hoping that you and mother would write to her.
FATHER
Your mother and me? What's the good of that? It's you she needs to hear from.
PIERRE
Well, you know what my letters are like, father. Full of symbols and equations and --
FATHER
She could be married by now.
PIERRE
Married?
FATHER
You should've written to her by now and found out.
PIERRE
I don't think she'd be married already.
FATHER
Your mother and I had high hopes for her, you know.
PIERRE
I can't just write and ask her if she's married.
FATHER
Look, Pierre. Christmas is in ten days, plenty of time to go to Warsaw and bring her back here as our guest.
PIERRE
Oh, don't be silly, father. I'll write her a letter once I've settled in for the holidays.
FATHER
Here, Pierre, take this envelope. It's your Christmas gift.
PIERRE
Why thank you, father.
FATHER
It contains a round-trip ticket to Warsaw, in your name.
PIERRE
To Warsaw?
FATHER
And a one-way ticket from Warsaw back to Paris.
PIERRE
Father, you can't be serious.
FATHER
Merry Christmas, son.
PIERRE
Don't be ridiculous, father. Look, this train leaves in just three hours.
FATHER
Your mother has already packed your things.

Marie's father is very possessive
(in Warsaw)

DR. SKLODOWSKA
And why exactly did you come all the way to Poland, Dr. Curie?
PIERRE
Well, you know, Dr. Sklodowska, it's a funny thing, but I gave your daughter my personal copy of Maxwell's Treatise, my personal copy you understand -- you're familiar with James Clerk Maxwell, I'm sure -- and it turns out -- and this is rather funny, Dr. Sklodowska -- but it turns out that I left an important letter inside it, as a bookmark so to speak, and so I needed to come to Poland to retrieve it.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
A letter, you say.
PIERRE
Yes, a funny story, don't you think?
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Marie could easily have returned it to you by post, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Well, I didn't want to be too much trouble, I'm sure you understand.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
But Dr. Curie, surely a scientist of your great renown could have solved this problem in a more efficacious manner.
PIERRE
Well, I also wanted to make sure that your daughter's situation here is adequate.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Adequate? Her home is here, Dr. Curie. What could be more adequate than that?
PIERRE
I feel somewhat responsible for her, you know.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
She's a big girl, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Yes, but she was one of my most promising pupils.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
She has a great future here in Warsaw, sir.
PIERRE
I do believe she rather enjoyed the atmosphere of pure research, Dr. Sklodowska, and the Sorbonne is --
DR. SKLODOWSKA
And what does Paris have to offer, Dr. Curie, besides pure research?
PIERRE
Well, life in Paris can be quite stimulating, you know. The opera, the cafés, the Eiffel Tower --
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Warsaw has much to offer as well. In fact, Marie happens to be at a party this very evening with the son of my oldest and dearest friend.
PIERRE
Oh.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
She's known this young man since childhood.
PIERRE
I wonder why she never mentioned him before.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
I have high hopes for her, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Your oldest and dearest friend, you say.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Perhaps you could come back in the spring to check on her status. By then she might be a bit more settled, so to speak.
PIERRE
Settled?
DR. SKLODOWSKA
I have high hopes for her, Dr. Curie. Very high hopes.
PIERRE
May I ask where this party is being held, Dr, Sklodowska?
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Do you really expect her to return to a lonely life in Paris when everyone she loves is in Warsaw?
PIERRE
I need to see your daughter as soon as possible.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
I ask you again, Dr. Curie, what does Paris have to offer her?
PIERRE
Paris has much to offer her, I assure you, sir. Now where is she?

Pierre crashes the party
(somewhere in Warsaw)

MARIE
What are you doing here, Dr. Curie?
PIERRE
Please call me Pierre, Marie.
MARIE
Are you here for the international conference next month?
PIERRE
No. I'm returning to Paris tomorrow. With you.
MARIE
But Dr. Curie --
PIERRE
Paris has much to offer, Marie, as I tried to explain to your father. The opera, the cafés, the Eiffel Tower...
MARIE
But I'm established here now, Dr. Curie, at the Politechnika.
PIERRE
How can you compare that to the Sorbonne, Marie?
MARIE
I can't give up my position without a good reason.
PIERRE
You can give them a very good reason.
MARIE
What reason?
PIERRE
Well... you have much unfinished business in Paris.
MARIE
I do?
PIERRE
I still need your help with those Thallium isotopes.
MARIE
Thallium?
PIERRE
And Dr. Becquerel never did finish his invisible photography experiments.
MARIE
I see.
PIERRE
And David still doesn't know how to make coffee.
MARIE
You need me for coffee?
PIERRE
Unless you're already engaged to that young man, of course.
MARIE
Oh. Father told you about Philip, I suppose.
PIERRE
You've never mentioned him.
MARIE
We're not engaged, if that's what you're wondering. But I have a feeling he might ask me tonight.
PIERRE
But doesn't Paris mean anything at all to you? You left Paris without so much as a... as a...
MARIE
Yes, Paris meant a great deal to me.
PIERRE
My parents want you to be their guest for the Christmas holidays.
MARIE
But I need to spend Christmas with my father and my aunt.
PIERRE
Do you love this Philip?
MARIE
No, Philip means nothing to me, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
Well in that case you must return to Paris.
MARIE
But he can offer me a comfortable life in Warsaw near my father and aunt.
PIERRE
Comfortable? As the wife of an accountant?
MARIE
Would I have as comfortable a life in Paris?
PIERRE
Yes you would... as my wife.
MARIE
Oh, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
I came to Poland to bring you back, Marie.
MARIE
Are you asking me to give up a pleasant life in Poland to marry a scientist who works long hours and thinks only of his work?
PIERRE
But I thought you were interested in scientific work.
MARIE
But I'm not sure if I want to marry another scientist.
PIERRE
Even a scientist who loves you?
MARIE
Oh, Dr. Curie.
PIERRE
And who wants you to work alongside him in his laboratory?
MARIE
Oh, Pierre.
PIERRE
And make his coffee for him?
[elsewhere at the party]

PHILIP
Dr. Sklodowska, who is that tall gentleman that you brought with you?
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Oh, just a colleague of my daughter's.
PHILIP
He seems to be monopolizing Marie somewhat.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Oh, don't worry about Marie, Philip. She'll be fine, just fine.
PHILIP
You know, doctor, I was rather thinking of asking your daughter a question tonight, a very personal question. With your permission, of course.
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Well, Philip, I really don't think there's any point in pursuing that subject.
PHILIP
What? Why not?
DR. SKLODOWSKA
Look, Philip, have you met Miss Sonya Proska over here? She's the daughter of one of my oldest and dearest friends. Come, I'll introduce you.
© 2007 Ed's Jaff