Lulu looks at him in frank astonishment:
TITLE: Where else should I come, if not home?
Alwa stares, amazed.
Lulu's sweet, smiling face is raised to his.
He is just about to lift up his hands to grasp the enticing Lulu, when he feels the widow's bonnet in his hand. And abruptly it drags him back into the terrible present. In helpless reproach, he holds out to her this token of horrible events.
But Lulu's untameable will to live is indignant at this link with the past. To her, it has become remote and indifferent; it no longer exists. With an angry gesture, she snatches the bonnet from Alwa's hand and flings it away.
The bonnet flies in a wide arc, [rolling across the bed, falling to the floor,] and crashes against the baroque figure in the very spot where Alwa's father died in his arms.
Seeing this, Lulu looks up defiantly.
Alwa's eyes are still fixed, in horror, at the bonnet and the spot where it has fallen.
He stares at the baroque figure, such a grim reminder of his father's death.
Alwa's hands clutch senselessly in the air. He snatches himself away from this woman and tears out of the room.
Lulu's glance follows the young man's flight; her expression is almost one of pity. Then she laughs, spins gaily round and runs back to the wardrobe.
She goes quickly to look at herself in the looking-glass. With a few fleeting tugs, she arranges her hair, adjusts the bathrobe in coquettish folds, spins round once more to admire herself, and then goes to find Alwa.
Alwa is standing in his room by the table where his passport and other articles of travel are lying. Hastily he puts them into his pockets. He looks up, startled, and camera pans quickly across to show Lulu standing in the doorway. She runs over to him.
[Alwa seizes his cap and gloves and runs towards the front door.]
Lulu cuts off his escape. She reaches him at the door and holds fast his hand, which is already holding onto the handle. He wants to drag himself away from the spell of this hand and these wondering, questioning eyes, and he pushes towards her with the words:
TITLE: If you feel at home where my father bled to death then I must be the one to go away!
She looks at him. Her head sinks sideways onto her shoulder, her hand slides from his arm. It seems almost as if she might totter and fall. Alwa is just about to catch hold of her to give her support, when she warns him off with a nod; looks at him long and sadly, and quietly turns, going calmly to the other corner of the room. Alwa watches her from the door.
She goes across to the place where the telephone is. [She opens the book and begins to look for a number and, while she marks the place with the finger of her right hand,] her left hand raises the receiver to her ear and she dials a number.
Alwa has not left the room. He stares over at Lulu, not understanding her action.
Lulu speaks into the mouthpiece:
TITLE: Is that the District Court?
Alwa gives a start.
Lulu stares back at him deliberately, as he
Still staring in horror at these words, starts to let go of the door handle.
Lulu continues speaking:
TITLE: Please connect me with the State Prosecutor von Bodungen!
She stands calmly waiting, the receiver to her ear. Then Alwa pushes into the picture. He is in a state of wild excitement. As Lulu vigorously resists, he snatches the receiver out of her hand. They struggle violently for it.
The State Prosecutor we have already come to know, is standing excitedly at his desk in his office. Three or four gentlemen with notebooks in their hands are standing before him. No doubt they are journalists. The State Prosecutor conceals his anguish behind a fulsome expression. Still continuing his lecture, he picks up the receiver.
Alwa and Lulu are struggling fiercely for possession of the telephone receiver. Alarmed by Lulu's loud protests, Alwa frantically covers her mouth with his hand. But Lulu will not give in; she fights back stubbornly.
The State Prosecutor has the receiver to his ear, and as he can get no reply, he presses the holder down several times.
Alwa is using all his strength in the desperate attempt to pull the receiver from Lulu's grasp.
The State Prosecutor presses the holder down again, impatiently, still continuing his statement to the journalists gathered round him.
Alwa holds Lulu away from the telephone with his right arm. He has at last succeeded. He himself speaks, breathlessly, but forcing down his excitement:
TITLE: This is Alwa Schoen speaking. Have you any news, yet, of that woman who escaped from the court?
He listens, breathless with excitement, the receiver to his ear, then shakes his head and nods weakly, as if saying 'Thank you.' He drops the receiver down onto the table top, and stares with expressionless eyes into the void, until his head falls heavily onto his right arm against the table. Lulu smiles as Alwa collapses into a chair.
She stares at him for a moment, then reaches for the receiver and takes it out of his unresisting hand. She lays it with a gentle, cautious movement on the stand. Now she feels safe. [She stands upright, a triumphant smile about her mouth. With an almost motherly, soothing gesture, she strokes Alwa's hair. A convulsive start goes through his body. Then she digs her fingers in his hair, lets it run playfully through them, and, as he still does not look up, she kneels down beside him. She lays her right arm about his shoulder and presses her face close to his, which is still hidden by his arm. So the two breathe cheek to cheek. Alwa's shame and resistance give way. He takes refuge in this forbidden embrace, squeezes himself up to Lulu in desperate anguish, trying to forget his misery and his conscience in long, burning kisses Lulu frees herself from this outburst. While still in his embrace, she leans back her head and asks, with roguish certainty:]
TITLE: Let's run away together. The Countess will lend me her passport
Quick fade to: the Corridor of a Sleeping Car, in motion. A hand opens a passport. The passport is made out in Geschwitz's name and bears her photograph. The hand turns over the pages until it finds the visa. A stamp is pressed under it and the passport is closed.
[Now we see that we are in the Sleeping Car Attendant's compartment. The Attendant is standing before a boiling pot. He is preparing coffee.] A French Frontier Police Officer is stamping passports, leaning them against the wall, in a mechanical, indifferent fashion. He chats, meanwhile, to the Attendant [who has poured out a mug of coffee and offers it in a familiar way to the Officer.
He takes it with a friendly smile and begins to drink.]* {*In the film, the French Frontier Policeman is in the corridor, leaning on the outside wall of the Sleeping Car Attendant's compartment. The Attendant is half in, half out of the compartment, chatting to the Policeman and, no doubt, making coffee within, though this is not actually seen.}
The doors of compartments 6, 7 and 8 are shut. Alwa is leaning against the door of number 7. He is wearing a travelling suit and cap. He has, for the most part, mastered his anxiety, but his hands are clenched in his pockets.
A gentleman is standing in the narrow corridor outside the door of compartment 6. At this moment, the Customs Officials appear. The gentleman outside compartment 6 opens his door wide. [We see the open pieces of luggage lying on the unmade bed.] Then he steps back to let the Customs Officials go in. One of them does so, after asking the gentleman a question, to which he shakes his head in answer.
Alwa looks round nervously, casting his eyes furtively, a little desperately, in the other direction.
A Customs Official is approaching along the narrow corridor from that direction.
Alwa keeps his eyes on the Official, who comes up and salutes. And before the Official can knock on Lulu's door, [Alwa says:
TITLE: The Lady's luggage is in my compartment]** {*" This title did not appear in the film viewed, although the two men speak at some length.}
The Official politely shrugs his shoulders, evidently excusing himself from having to do his duty.
So Alwa, after thinking for a moment, knocks on the door of number 7 himself. The door opens. The Official throws a fleeting glance into the compartment, doffs his cap politely and withdraws, shutting the door. He turns with a knowing but thoroughly discreet smile to Alwa, whom he invites with a slight, courteous gesture to open compartment number 8. Alwa does so, and when the Official enters, also follows him in.
The first Official has by now completed his examination of compartment number 6. The gentleman comes out of his compartment and stands in the corridor once again.
Meanwhile, the first Official comes past the open door of number 8 and moves on to number 9. Alwa's gaze follows him.
The Official goes on down the corridor.
At this moment the door of number 7 opens. Lulu's head appears, an unlit cigarette between her upraised fingers. So far as we can see, she is not yet dressed, but is wearing over her pyjamas a Chinese jacket. She calls to Alwa.
He does not notice her, since his eyes are still fixed on the retreating figure of the Customs Official.* {* End of reel 3.}
Lulu is about to withdraw when she notices the gentleman from number 9 standing in the corridor, smoking.
Pertly, she asks him for a light and he reaches out his arm and offers her one from his cigarette. Lulu accepts with a thankful smile. She gives a quick look at the gentleman and shuts her door. The gentleman remains standing before the door. He becomes very thoughtful. Then, with a quick movement, he pulls a newspaper out of his pocket and, visibly excited, starts leafing through it. He finds the page he has been searching for and his excitement increases. It is something like the excitement that the holder of a lottery ticket might feel when assuring himself for the second and third time that his number is that of the first prize. His glance wanders to and fro between newspaper and door. Then he nods, satisfied, tears half a page out of the newspaper and sticks it back in his pocket. He pulls out a fountain pen and, using the door of number 7 as a backing, writes something diagonally across the torn-out scrap of newspaper.
At this moment, Alwa appears at the compartment door. Uneasily he watches the gentleman's activity.
The gentleman has finished writing and returns his fountain pen to his pocket. He is now fanning the piece of paper so as to dry the ink more quickly.
Alwa stares in horror.
With an impertinent smile, the gentleman now takes notice of Alwa's presence only to hand him the piece of paper. Alwa, after a short, surprised glance at the gentleman, looks at it. The shock is so sudden that he cannot even begin to conceal it. The piece of paper in his hand shows Lulu's photograph taken at the moment in the courtroom when Lulu was vainly trying to say a last word the headline informs the public that the authorities have offered a reward of 5,000 marks for Lulu's capture. Diagonally across the paper is written, in an energetic hand: 'Received with thanks. Marquis Casti-Piani.'
Alwa's dismay and perplexity are unconcealed. So Casti-Piani looks pointedly down the corridor. Alwa turns his head to follow his gaze.
There, farther down the corridor, the Customs Officials are still a visible threat.
Alwa looks at them. Then he gives a helpless look at Casti-Piani, who makes a slight warning movement of his head in the other direction, where Alwa now looks.
The Frontier Policeman is approaching, walking behind the Attendant who is carrying a tray with two or three cups of coffee on it. The Police Officer stops for a moment and makes a remark to the Attendant, who turns to look behind him. They exchange remarks. In feverish haste, Alwa pulls his wallet from his pocket, rummaging in it with shaking hands before passing some banknotes over to Casti-Piani, who accepts them elegantly. With a malicious smile, he smooths them out and goes back to his former position, leaning against the door of his own compartment. He quickly puts the banknotes into his own wallet [for the Policeman is just excusing himself for having to squeeze past the gentlemen. Alwa mutely lets him pass].
Now the Attendant also appears and stops in front of Alwa with his tray.
Alwa looks at him, unable to recover from the shock.
Casti-Piani handles the situation by taking the tray from the Attendant. Eagerly he knocks on the door of compartment number 7, which opens, revealing Lulu. Before Alwa can recover his self command, Casti-Piani hands the coffee to Lulu with a winning smile. She withdraws to place the tray down inside the compartment. Lulu pops her head round the door and looks questioningly at Alwa
He cannot avoid introducing the Marquis Casti-Piani to her:
TITLE: Marquis Casti-Piani.
Coquettishly, Lulu offers Casti-Piani her hand and he kisses it, respectfully it is true, but undoubtedly a moment too long. At that instant, a start goes through the group; the train has stopped. Lulu withdraws into her compartment, but leaves the door ajar. The Marquis smiles with pleasure.
Then he turns to look out of the window.
Outside, passengers, officials and vendors are all walking and running about on the platform. Alwa and Casti-Piani are leaning out of two neighbouring windows. While Alwa seems to be looking around for someone, Casti-Piani buys a big box of chocolates from a trolley. Alwa nods vigorously to two people who soon appear. They are Schigolch and Rodrigo, both carrying small hand cases. They are wearing travelling clothes which, despite their evident newness, have already taken on the characteristic marks of their owners. They nod up to Alwa and hurry past, while Casti-Piani turns away. [In the corridor of the sleeping car, Casti-Piani turns to Lulu's compartment. He pulls out the carnation which he is wearing in his button-hole and pushes it under the gold ribbon with which the box of chocolates is bound. Then he coolly pushes the door of number 7 open and, leaning right inside, hands Lulu the chocolates. Now Schigolch and Rodrigo appear in the corridor and loudly greet Alwa, who has trouble in concealing his distaste. The two of them also nod to Lulu, whom they can see over Casti-Piani's back. Lulu answers with enthusiasm. Casti-Piani turns, to find Rodrigo already offering him a great paw, which with some surprise he takes. Schigolch has pulled a small booklet from his pocket, in which he takes a quick look, then he bows to Casti-Piani and says:
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