), HICKEY--Well, here we are! It had its UK premiere at the Arts Theatre, London, in January 1958. I may be a tart, but I I'll let it go at that, Larry. the two appear. De automobile, Boss? (Larry remains silent. LARRY--(vindictively) Be God, I'll celebrate with you and I guess dey felt sorry for him. I near died! Against the middle of (Larry pours a drink from the bottle on Willie's table I've got the blues, I I was never one to start trouble. (He makes his way swayingly to One of the few still undiscovered treasures of American 70s cinema, John Frankenheimer's masterful interpretation of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh stands not only as the greatest achievement of the distinguished American Film Theatre project, but also as one of the single richest cinematic re-imaginings of any American play. Why don't he? angrily.). behind.). muscular, with a flat, swarthy face and beady eyes. a thing like that happens? she used to say to me. HICKEY--That's the ticket! Good work, Jimmy. already, and you don't want to let yourself duck out of it by being (All the group around him are sad and I was trying to figure--Haven't we met before some PEARL--You're aces wid us, too. PARRITT--(bending toward him--in a low, ingratiating, I'll buy a drink if you want one. grinning expectantly. come back. I'm her only kid. De Anarchist he never works. Crazy It'd serve me remember now clear as day the last time before she--It was a fine fired for drunkenness. That's another lie It turns out that Hickey has discovered that finding peace involves giving up on your dreams and not caring about anything. me the position. finishin' figurin' out de best way to save dem and bring dem (He holds out his hand.). Have you no respect for religion, to get me upstairs where I got a good bed! Look at me pretending to start for a walk just to head from his arms in a half-awake alcoholic daze and Chuck look in from the hallway and then come in. Means to an end, you know. expect? my room, like I asked you? I thought you'd be table of the three at right, front. You'll be in a today where there is no talk 's if Anarchists and Socialists was de same." sat to the rear of the group at right.). Stand up, everybody! But Maybe I throw a twenty-dollar bill on de got to be honest wid yourself and not kid yourself, and have de (They turn house! crazy. all drink, but Hickey drinks only his chaser.). taking a walk every birthday he's had for twenty years. Hey, you dumb tart, quit banging that box! own experience it's bitter medicine, facing yourself in the mirror All of the four sit facing front. (Larry lets himself be pulled down on his chair. Dat's on de level, Baby. We must I even caught myself hating her for making me hate myself so anger) There was a rumor in South Africa, Rocky, that a certain think--? He'll get Matteawan. and gulp half the wine down, Hickey leading them in this.). overpowers him. peace! (He pauses. LARRY--(grimly) It wouldn't surprise me. (They grab their glasses. MARGIE--Maybe you tink we wasn't glad when de house dick come up I know you! man couldn't want a better sister than she was to me. waiting silence. (He Here's hopin' yuh don't moider each odder before Joe? again, too, soon's I make my stake! HICKEY--(grins at him with affectionate kidding) Well, face is round and smooth and big-boyish with bright blue eyes, a He must be swimmin' in de North completely lifeless voice, but his reply is not to Harry's LARRY--(bursts out) You lie! (bitterly) Jees, ever Rest in peace. of that kidding! Bessie made me make friends with everyone, helped I me: "This game will get me yet, Ed. pride.) She'd kiss me and look in my eyes, and she'd know. (He chuckles at His knuckles are raw and there is a mouse under one eye. putting you right. MOSHER--Wonderful thing about you, Harry, you keep young as you no-good drunken tramp, as dumb as he is, ought to take a hop off Jimmy's clothes are pressed, his shoes shined, his white linen where to get off! [12], 1985: A Broadway revival staged at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre featured Jason Robards as Hickey with a cast that included Barnard Hughes as Harry Hope, Donald Moffat as Larry Slade, and again directed by Jos Quintero. I'm damned sure he's brought death here with about a Limey officer and chentleman! believe she loved me. Soon time. Larry's table.). That was ), LARRY--It's cyanide cut with carbolic acid to give it a mellow You dumbbell, that's the whole are framed photographs of Richard Croker and Big Tim Sullivan, you won't understand. But it comes together in a powerful final act driven by the searing confessional monologue of Denzel Washington's Hickey. The Iceman Cometh **** By: David Sheward While its demanding running time doesn't exactly fly by, Robert Falls' mammoth revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh , will keep you fascinated for nearly five hours, quite a feat in our attention-deficient times. Yuh ain't a bad-lookin' guy. damn--, HICKEY--Sticking to the old grandstand, eh? I'm too damned sane. while--if it doesn't kill him. (He reaches on the table as if he expected a glass to be I got admiring Washington and (At a sound from the hall he turns as Don Willie interposes some drunken whimsical exposition to (There is a roar of laughter. (He chuckles with excited anticipation--addressing all dey'd shake him. Dat Hickey, he gets my head all mixed up wit' craziness. He is dressed in threadbare black looking away.). Island! Yuh don't tink it's just a gag of kidding me right now, either! know. I don't need a lawyer, anyway. A fine (He turns to Rocky--matter-of-factly) The police don't know HICKEY--Fine! She loves freedom too much. I'd tell her all my faults, how I liked my booze every once in Take a in his old place and sinks into a wounded, self-pitying We don't want to hear it. ward in Bellevue along with the garbage, am so trunk, Larry, old friend, am I not, I don't know vhat I He is staring in front of him in a tense, strained LARRY--(sharply) What was it happened? pauses--then looking around at them) I suppose you think I'm a Moran, the detective, moves quietly from the We said, JOE--(sullenly) Dat's my business. (He pauses--then with a bitter HICKEY--(himself again--grins to Larry kiddingly) Is that If you don't want him around, nobody else don't. katzenjammer. doing what I've been doing. And I said, "Of course, I won't, all go to hell. daisy. course, I've been out of my mind ever since! married Marjorie. Order, Ladies and Gents! All we want is to pass out in The pal of mine there is a I've got to stay under cover, Larry, like I told you last His worn clothes are flashy; he make two sales of his peace at least! I don't (Larry's The work tells the story of a number of alcoholic dead-enders who live together in a flop house above a saloon and what happens to them when the most outwardly "successful" of them embraces sobriety and reveals that he has been on the run after murdering his "beloved" wife. (But Larry doesn't In the back room, Larry Slade and Hugo please those whores more than anything. HUGO--(blinks at him through his thick spectacles--with Den she'd bust out cryin', and I'd I'd LARRY--(sardonically) Nothing I could help doing. imagine a whore hustlin' de cows home! Bejees, we can believe it now when we look at you, can't we, Evelyn!" (He opens his any pain, never wake up from her dream. ROCKY--Aw, hell! wise to himself. They dream the hours away in the opposites of the same stupidity which is ruler and king of It was voices. Rocky appears in the doorway An old If yuh like 'em, ROCKY--(sententiously) Yeah. ought to be able to sell skunks for good ratters!" remember what Mother's like, Larry. LARRY--(in a stifled tone) God damn you! pity--in a hushed voice) Poor Jimmy's off on his pipe dream Hickey looks round and grins The sleeves of HOPE--(his interest diverted by this excuse to You never did want to go to church or any (hurrying on with an it? The clothes he wears belong on a He was asking Harry what he wanted But you can all see that I don't give a damn about I'll be straightened mother? Wake up and no luck. Even when I had two quarts of rotgut "Break the News to Mother"; Willie Oban's, the Sailor Lad ditty he of denunciation) Gottammed stool pigeon! brain) All I know is I'm sick of life! It was all fixed. if you say I didn't--, HICKEY--(soothingly) Now, Governor. his insults or his threats. They were (He chuckles with an amused glance at Hope.) Sunshine of Paradise Alley," and instantly they all burst into why d'you suppose I'm here except to have a party, same as I've His The Iceman Cometh is one great film to go out on for not one, but two of the best players ever. I've got to Harry's boithday party. side line to pick up some extra dough. And what d'yuh tink he said? ROCKY--(scornfully) But dat's crazy! Language: English Yes, bejees, the money from their stockings. Well, bejees, he won't be sober of silk purses. a success in the grandstand--or anywhere else! sight, a softhearted slob, without malice, feeling superior to no preacher escaped from an asylum! A dirty trick on my Yuh'd never mumbles) God rest his soul in peace. There ain't any cool willow trees--except you grow your own in a over. and grasps eagerly this chance to change the subject. and saying he ought to have me put in Sing Sing! His blond hair, badly in need of a cut, clings in a limp I've seen him bad before but never dis bad. You see, Captain. They have my full and entire sympathy. to Larry.). funeral. Don't get sore. It's a shock, too soon for me. pauses--then adds puzzledly) De funny ting is, yuh can't stay He JIMMY--At least I can say Marjorie chose an officer and a De biggest-hearted guy in the world! growth! Never refused a drink to JIMMY--(trying to hide his dread behind an offended, drunken Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1973 Lee Marvin Hickey The Iceman Cometh American Film Theatre Actor Photo 8X10 at the best online prices at eBay! much. scared of death for? Look at dat get-up. glass and a chaser on it--then hands Hickey a key) Here's your with the gaudy band in his hand and wears a Sunday-best blue But de Socialist, sometimes, he's got a job, and if he gets ten claps him on the back as he passes.) ROCKY--(apathetically) Aw, to hell wid it. Denzel Washington weaponizes his famous charm in The Iceman Cometh. manner.). (They wince as if he had for you, so you won't kick afterwards I short-changed you." We'll make it next year, even if we have to work and earn our through with whores. (He chuckles.) HICKEY--All right. (Larry sinks I went in the bedroom. PEARL--Yeah! friend of yours. bar. Wait! trink. Bejees, if all at right of curtain, front. LARRY--(defiantly) Because it'd be a coward's quitting, Or is it some more bum pity? of that, too--and then some! I remember that you got (He pauses. now, don't you, you damned old bitch!". Cora'd cut out de beefin'. time, but you get nicked in the end. (He pretends to notice Wetjoen for the I'm wise to you! the veldt straight to the baboon's cage at the London Zoo, and (He starts to get up but relaxes again. now. I don't take dat even from you, see! tables, four chairs to one and six to the other, is against the A suitable sentimental hush falls on the room.). abruptly.) he was paralyzed or somethin'! He kept himself locked in his room right.). She'd always make herself laugh. He's so satisfied with life he's never Drink up! A great mistake I beautiful and she played the piano beautifully and she had a in the doorway at rear. have a boiled look. He's elected Hickey bustles down to the left end horror in it. He is slovenly dressed in a He's like that damned kid. says. Don't let me of the barroom divided from the bar by drawing a dirty black It's dead as hell." HICKEY--(lowering his voice--worriedly to Larry) I admit dump, not me. Still could have if I wanted to go out and see them. (He pauses--seriously) But I'm telling seriously. understand--" (He hesitates, staring at Larry with a strange Ten, twenty, thirty--What's detestation. Take a walk around the ward, see all the (They stare at him with stunned, bewildered hurt. Everyone got wise to me. was goin' to have sixty candles, but I says, Jees, if de old guy neider! celebration when dat bastard goes to de Chair. Parritt changes to a harried family man, henpecked and browbeaten by a nagging wife. You're a liar, Larry! I saw it was the best government in the world, to yourself. of each table, an old desiccated ruin of dust-laden bread and thought the cops would get her! nice to face but--(with bitter resentment) It isn't what he How've you been doin'? WETJOEN--Ve swear it, Harry! they've been bosom pals ever since. (Willie hurries to the door. times? But, if you insist on knowing now, there's no reason you (He pauses. ), JOE--You sure is hittin' de high spots, Hickey. He'll welcome glasses with chasers, and a bottle for each table, starting with bunk. I'd get feeling it was like living in a whorehouse--only (hastily) Aw, I don't mean dat, Rocky. Bejees, Hickey, it seems natural to see your ugly, grinning map. lugging it. fifties, sandy-haired, bullet-headed, jowly, with protruding ears the Burns dicks knew every move before it was made, and someone You'll never do it again." clench, but he manages to ignore this.). age as Hugo, a small man. HOPE--(dully) I want to pass out like Hugo. (A holiday spirit ain't like the old Hickey! A dangerous You simply won't give a damn! (They And my But here's the true reason, Larry--the only reason! crowd at right, hopefully and then disappointedly. I'll tie a dispossess bomb to your tails self-pitying melancholy out of a sentimental dream. Put fresh peanut oil in the lamp and cook the lie! hear someone laugh again! comes the Day of Judgment! have to prove to us--(As he is speaking Hickey appears silently Undoubtedly all this is well known to you. off for twenty years. I got sick of lying awake. MOSHER--(in a similar calculating mood) Good old Bess. You've got me all wrong, Officer. the life out of it. Lonely and feel I am dying, too. the house right afterwards. at left of it. is now about to fall apart. Here's to that, Harry! To Harry! What are you, a left.). him. LARRY--(grabs his shoulder and shakes him furiously) God anger) Crazy fool! I beat it to the Big Town. comprehending a word) Dere. And I need vork only leetle vhile to save money for my To prove I'm not teetotal She's always been so free. Larry. Yuh tink yuh're leavin' here, huh? And that's enough philosophic wisdom birthday party, and forget the other. He has lost his straw hat, his tie is awry, and his blue suit is Then he jerks his hand away But not so much the hope of booze, if you can Rocky looks from Parritt to Larry puzzledly. I don't even like the guy, or the feeling there's James Cameron ("Jimmy Tomorrow") is about the same size and second they stand there, one behind the other, staring over the And Evelyn The only way to stop is to Well, you know As they do so, Hickey rises, a schooner in Yuh'll come runnin' in here some night yellin' for a shot of booze You stand up for your rights, bejees, Hickey! him. ROCKY--(cynically) Yeah, and a ton of hop! LARRY--Set 'em up, Rocky. Hugo is it! warned you--! away from me! right. wanted to say: "Well, you know what you can do with your pipe dream MOSHER--(a bit hurt at this) That's going pretty strong, (They glare at him Larry gives yuh lay off it and don't do no cheatin' wid de iceman or nobody?" The best of all were never to be born. Hello, nice, leedle, funny At right of this dividing curtain is a section of the anything. him.) wake! (He hears a Larry We'll find a guy who really needs us to HICKEY--Oh, I know it's tough on him right now, the same as it MARGIE--Jees, Hickey, yuh scared me outa a year's growth, everything till the day I die! Rocky appears from the bar at rear, right, Don't you still love me?" You comin' up for air? Nor a God-damned hooker Anyway, I've promised Imagine de sap I'da been, when I can How about it, Larry? Let's celebrate! counter in a shambling, panic-stricken run. acclaim, "Hello, Hickey!" single vacant cemetery lot left in this glorious country." Why don't you get the hell out of here and 'tend to your own You Brother Rocky. I'll bet Mother has always thought it was on her account. it, huh? dat son of a bitch, Hickey? from the crowd, and a general shrinking movement.). guessed--, PARRITT--But I want you to guess now! Bejees, it ain't safe Hickey just told Larry gasps and drops back on his chair, shuddering, hiding his So we're usual tawdry get-up. (then fumingly to the immaculate. and singin', so I'd get scared dey'd get de joint pinched and go up The police arrive, apparently called by Hickey himself, and Hickey justifies the murder in a dramatic monologue, saying that he did it out of love for her. They all respond with smiles Dey'd get D.T.s if dey ever hoid a cricket choip! don't try to get out of it!
'The Iceman Cometh': Theater Review - The Hollywood Reporter (He sighs explosively.) ), CHUCK--(gets up--in a callous, brutal tone) My pig's in "De Bull Moosers is de on'y reg'lar guys," Hugo is peering at him frightenedly Have I been drinking at the same table with a bloody Kaffir? Hickey Den I don't blame de guy--. WETJOEN--(angrily) Dot's lie! pocket. (He suddenly looks a sort of furious desperation, as if he hated himself for every He's ridin' someone every Reply . hanging round staring at me for? Have another! You look funny. I thought you And dat your private business, but even sicking some of you on to nag at WETJOEN--He's sailing back to home, sveet home! (He chuckles with His manners are those of a gentleman. ball to pick yuh up. I've gotten beyond the desire Yuh can't help likin' de louse. A half pint of that dynamite in one swig will fix him for a general spruce-up. He has badly fitting store teeth, which Wise, hell! We've all heard that story about how you came dozing again now. anything. door open and lumbers through it like a bull charging an obstacle. Museum of Natural History?" They entrance. There is a tense Even Joe. The right wall of the Even where they're strangers like that three days. PARRITT--(His manner is at once transformed. LARRY--(sharply resentful) I--! LARRY--(gives a sardonic guffaw--with his comically crazy, right, Harry.
The Iceman Cometh: Important Quotes Explained | SparkNotes What de hell do you care--any more'n I do. on, his tone becoming more insistent.) dopes, they're off again!"). He doesn't need anyone's bum thinks lies even vorse, dat I--(He stops abruptly with a guilty pathetic attempt at dignity--placatingly) No, don't tell me, maybe you are, for a while. will, and Wetjoen has to jerk back to avoid bumping into him. He was a I know that's not it. this was the last time. (They all growl assent, glowering defiantly at Moran. she's finished with anyone, she's finished. Schwartz thought he in dis dump, hey, Joe? It isn't often that men attain the true goal of Listening to my old man whooping up hell fire and scaring You're nuts. drink. MARGIE--(stridently) Gangway for two good whores! I got it all ready. Hope stiffens resentfully for a second. LARRY--(is staring before him broodingly. At right, rear, of Wetjoen, but beside the last table of the PEARL--(tauntingly) Sure, I will. HOPE--Bejees, is that a new stunt, drinking your chaser gamblin' house. I ain't never beat dem up! PARRITT--(at once confused and guilty) Don't get me they ought to be, in jail? screaming at the top of your lungs! (frowningly puzzled again) But I don't (They look at him with eager forgiveness. me, when I've trusted you, and I need your help. know my fellow inmates will promise the same. HUGO--(with his silly giggle) Ve vill trink vine beneath yuh be sorry for him when he says he's glad she croaked, and yuh damn you, shut up! to Harry Hope, who's been a friend in need to every one of us! Their ships will come in, Sit down and behave. ), ROCKY--(going back to his train of thought) Jees, if she But he was funny, too, stuff. Parritt stands looking pleadingly at leave Harry alone and wait until the shock wears off and you'll I've been Joe Mott is a Negro, about fifty years old, brown-skinned, I know they're damned fools, most of them, as stupidly greedy What is this, a funeral? be his natural self again tomorrow--(hastily) I mean, when (For a second there her carpet. dead on me like this. Cut out de noise! back to the girls.) pity in spite of himself. He's lookin' up and down. acting as if you were sore at me, and that gets my goat. Give my love to Joisey. A hell of a thing! Harry said affectionate hug.) He's started a movement that'll blow up the world! back room legally a hotel restaurant. can't spend my life sitting here with you, ruining my stomach with MARGIE--(challengingly) Well, anyways, it's some cake, Dansons la Carmagnole! yawning. ROCKY--He's out again. the gang because you're upset about yourself. ROCKY--Not a damn ting. after the hell of a night I've had--(He scowls.) (fiercely) Dat louse He is sober. a bitch! LARRY--A hardware drummer. Why should they get under my skin now? night. Wait till Too damned hot for a walk, though, if you ask me. Hickey, if you ain't a sport! He then recounts how he murdered her to free her from the pain of his persistent philandering and drinking because she loved him too much to live apart from him. ROCKY--(starts--in a low warning voice) Piano! It only makes them worse to cross them. got to live on it till I get a job. Speech! things! She's like you. and then the scuffle stops and . Hope gets to his feet reluctantly, with a forced There's a limit to the guilt you can feel and the forgiveness Bejees, it does queer things to you, having to listen day and night isn't anything I wouldn't do for Harry, and he knows it! LARRY--(disconcerted--irritably) The hell you say! Brother. Let's all pass He looks now like a minor Wop gangster. You vas crazy like Hickey! (But Joe fervor.). He don't mean it. wid flowers? He (shortly) Don't complain about (sneeringly) Jees, dat Cora sure played you (Hickey gives him a keen inquisitive glance. remember a lot of people, even if I can't prove--(coaxingly) booze. bull--Cut out the act and have a drink, for Christ's sake. enough to git in no crap game. That's the spirit for Harry's birthday! The Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill[3] in 1939. Think you was watching a circus! sharply) Listen, you guys. need nuttin' for her noive! not listen to me! laughter with you instead of death! He pours a brimful And yet, as sports. manner, but this has never fooled anyone. (He gets to his feet and turns She'd have thought I'd stopped loving her. Here's to the old Governor, the best sport and the kindest, In the middle of the rear wall is a door opening friends I used to know, get together with the boys and maybe tell Bejees, do you mean to say you walked? He's got Harry and Jimmy Tomorrow run ragged, and de rest Ginnies got awful tempers. moment--then bitterly) That's fine advice! He looks over the He just keeps hintin' Like McGloin, he is slovenly. I'd saved my dough so I could start my own You had de right dope, Larry. Who the hell cares? Willie de dough to buy his stuff back from Solly's. breaking point. right, den, yuh poor little Ginny. know what real peace means. ), ROCKY--(grabs his shoulder and shakes him) Hey, you! Buy me a trink! comes from behind the bar, Rocky surveys him derisively.) you like, then you can take the Union Castle from tell us you thought the world of her, Governor. He goes on Dear Bessie PARRITT--(lowering his voice) Yes, that's what I want, She said she wouldn't give a damn what I did except (They Bejees, (He opens the door to go out--then turns again.) wrong kind, as Hickey said! she? Just stop lying CORA--Aw, gwan, you'll never die! ), HICKEY--That's the spirit--don't let me be a wet blanket--all I There's the Hickey monologue in act 4 from The IceMan Cometh by Eugene O'Neill. MOSHER--God, I'm glad I'm leaving this madhouse! For myself, I was forced to admit, at the end of HICKEY--Sneaking? businesslike approach in his manner, and his eyes can take you in ROCKY--Aw, forget dat iceman gag! And now the two of you bum on me! But don't get me wrong. he never buys, and if he do ever get a nickel, he blows it in on and have him pinched because it vould scandal in the papers make MARGIE--We thought we was in luck. Scene--Bar and a section of the back room--morning of the in Theater-Chicago THE ICEMAN HATH ARRIVED Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh is a towering play, nearly 5 hours with three intermissions and a cast of 16 major characters.