[first lines]
Senf:
[talking on the phone in a phonebooth at the Grand Hotel after a brief scene of operators at the switchboard]
Hello? Hello? Hello, is that the clinic? Uh this is Senf; the head porter, Grand Hotel. How's my wife? Is she in pain? Isn't the child coming soon?... Patience? Would you have patience?
Otto Kringelein:
[in the next phonebooth]
Uh this is Otto Kringelein. I-i-is that you Heinrich? Oh Heinrich listen, I've got to talk very quickly - with every minute costs two Marks ninety. Y-ya know that will I made before I had my operation? Well I want you to tear it up... Huh? W-e-I came to Berlin to see a great specialist about that old trouble of mine; y-you know Heinrich, i-it's pretty bad. Uh he says I haven't long to live... I say he says I won't live much longer!... No, it isn't nice to be told things like that. You plague and bother and save and all of the sudden you're dead. I want to get something out of life! Listen Heinrich, I'm *never* going back to Frieveshof, *never*. I-I'm staying here at the Grand Hotel; it's the most expensive hotel in Berlin. Y-eh all the best people stay here, even our big boss Preysing is staying here. I'm going to tell him someday just exactly what I think of him.
Preysing:
[in the next phonebooth]
Hello? Hello, miss? This is General Director Preysing. I want my home in Frieveshof, please. Hurry, yeah... Hello! Hello. Is that you mama? How are da children? What news have you found at da factory dear?... Ya. Is your papa there?... Good. Hello papa, is that you?... Ya. The conference with the Saxonia company's set for tomorrow morning papa... Ya, ya. If the merger does not go through, ve are in very bad shape papa... Ya, ya. Everything depends upon news from Manchester! If the deal with the Manchester Cotton Company does not go through, we are facing a very bad situation papa.
Suzette:
[in the next phonebooth]
I'm Suzette - Suzette: Madam Grusinskaya's maid. Madam will not dance today. No she will not go to the rehearsal; she did not sleep all night. There is something preying on her mind... No, I give her a tablet of degranol. She is sleeping now.
Baron Felix von Geigern:
[in the next phonebooth]
This is Baron von Geigern. Look here, I need money or I can't stay at this hotel much longer. Well I've layed the groundwork, know the exact position of her room, and I've made friends with her ballet master Pimenov.
Otto Kringelein:
[back in his phonebooth, sincerely]
Listen Heinrich, I've taken all my savings - everything; and I'm going to enjoy spending it, *all* of it. I-it's terribly expensive here Heinrich, oooohh but it's wonderful!
Senf:
[back in his phonebooth, nervously]
I can't, I'll lose my job! It's like being in jail.
Preysing:
[back in his phonebooth, adamantly]
Rely on me papa. I will make this merger go through, I never fail.
Suzette:
[back in her phonebooth, frantically]
Oh poor Madam, her mind is tortured. I'm afraid she will...
Baron Felix von Geigern:
[back in his phonebooth, slyly]
I don't need advice, thanks very much; I need money.
Otto Kringelein:
[back in his phonebooth, excitedly]
... music all the time - oh it's wonderful.
Dr. Otternschlag:
[sitting in a chair in the lobby smoking a cigar]
Grand Hotel: people coming, going... nothing ever happens.
[the scene fades out]
