Great Performances; No. 1820; The Real McTeague

<v Narrator>Next on Great Performances, a classic American novel by Frank Norris, <v Narrator>a legendary silent film by Eric von Stroheim and a new lyric opera of Chicago <v Narrator>production composed by William Bolcom. <v Narrator>Each tells the story of the dentist, McTeague, his wife Trina, and the greed <v Narrator>that destroyed their lives. <v Marcus Schouler>Stop swirling that cheap booze in my face. <v Narrator>Celebrated filmmaker Robert Altman combines the book, the movie and the opera to create <v Narrator>the real McTeague. <v Narrator>Starring Catherine Malfitano, Ben Heppner, Timothy Nolan and narrators Studs <v Narrator>Terkel. Next, <v Narrator>Great Performances is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. <v Narrator>The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the annual financial support from <v Narrator>viewers like you and by Duracell, which proudly supports Great Performances,

<v Narrator>television's longest running performance series. Duracell, the <v Narrator>copper top battery. <v Studs Terkel>Their undoing had already begun. <v Studs Terkel>Yet neither of them was to blame from the first, they had not sought each other. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] He's my husband would I see him starve? <v Trina Sieppe>What have I become? <v Studs Terkel> <v Studs Terkel>Trina was very small and prettily made.

<v Studs Terkel>Her face was round and rather pale. <v Studs Terkel>[Voices talking over each other] Marcus Schouler was the Denis's one intimate friend on <v Studs Terkel>different occasions. ?McTeague? <v Studs Terkel>McTeague was a young giant carrying a huge shock of blonde hair. <v Studs Terkel>6 feet, 3 inches from the ground. <v Studs Terkel>Those eyes, I remember those eyes. <v Studs Terkel>Crazy eyes do despairing. <v Studs Terkel>The man is stranded in the great American desert, hauling this bag of gold. <v Studs Terkel>The money he thirsted for all his life. <v Studs Terkel>And yet he's about to die of thirst. <v Studs Terkel>Crazy. It was nineteen twenty six. <v Studs Terkel>I was about 14 years old when I saw that movie at a neighborhood theater <v Studs Terkel>in Chicago. There were about 25 other people in the house. <v Studs Terkel>And I know lady up friend at the piano was pounding away trying to find the proper <v Studs Terkel>portentous chord. <v Studs Terkel>The movie was called Greed, directed by Erik von Stroheim based upon this

<v Studs Terkel>novel McTeague, written by a young writer out of Chicago, Frank <v Studs Terkel>Norris. He'd read an item on a San Francisco newspaper about a drunken <v Studs Terkel>laborer who bludgeoned his wife to death because she refused to give him <v Studs Terkel>dough to buy booze. <v Studs Terkel>And so the hero of the book was not a knight falling from grace <v Studs Terkel>or a king or a noble spirit, but a brute. <v Studs Terkel>Most of the respected literary critics hated the book. <v Studs Terkel>One called it the most unpleasant American story ever put to print. <v Studs Terkel>But Erich von Stroheim saw something else, something powerful. <v Studs Terkel>He was so possessed by that book that he filmed every page. <v Studs Terkel>The movie ran for 10 hours. <v Studs Terkel>Studio bosses cut it down to 2 hours. <v Studs Terkel>So that 8 hours, we have no idea where it's gone or what it was like <v Studs Terkel>forever disappeared. <v Studs Terkel>In our time just a few years ago, the Lyric Opera Company of Chicago <v Studs Terkel>commissioned William Balkam, American composer and an eclectic one,

<v Studs Terkel>interest in all forms of American music, to come up with an American theme. <v Studs Terkel>And he saw McTeague as ideal for it, just as von Stroheim <v Studs Terkel>saw the novel as cinematic, Bolcom saw the <v Studs Terkel>novel as operatic, big elemental. <v Studs Terkel>The director, the stager of the opera was the filmmaker <v Studs Terkel>Robert Altman, who was celebrated for his risk taking, and <v Studs Terkel>is challenging the established way of doing things. <v Studs Terkel>He also conceived the idea for this television hour. <v Studs Terkel>He saw all three forms the novel, the film <v Studs Terkel>and the opera as flowing one stream called <v Studs Terkel>it the real McTeague which we're about to see here. <v Studs Terkel>The year is 1899 San Francisco. <v Studs Terkel>McTeague was a young giant carrying his huge shock of <v Studs Terkel>blond hair 6 feet 3 inches from the ground.

<v Studs Terkel>His hands were enormous, red and strong as vices. <v Studs Terkel>Often he dispensed with forceps and extracted a refractory tooth <v Studs Terkel>with his thumb and finger. <v Studs Terkel>When he opened his dental parlors, he thought that his life was a success, <v Studs Terkel>that he can hope for nothing better. <v McTeague>[Men singing] Watch it ?inaudible?, watch it will ya? I don't want to see a scratch on that [inaudible singing] <v Studs Terkel>He had slowly collected a clientele, a butcher boy, shop girls, drug clerks <v Studs Terkel>and car conductors, Polk Street called him the doctor and spoke of his enormous <v Studs Terkel>strength.

<v McTeague>Ever see anything so beautiful? <v Marcus Schouler>Show's you got style. <v McTeague>Cost me a pile. <v Marcus Schouler>You'll make it back. <v McTeague>Take me a while. <v Marcus Schouler>Don't talk like a hick. Spend money, to make money. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing with McTeague] Golden tooth <v Marcus Schouler>swinging in the air, up there. Golden tooth. <v McTeague>[Singing with Schouler] Swinging in the light. <v McTeague>Golden tooth. <v McTeague>Telling every person who passes by that winda' you ought to try McTeague, the dentist. <v Studs Terkel>Marcus Schouler was the Dennis one intimate friend. <v Studs Terkel>On different occasions, McTeague had treated Marcus for an ulcerated tooth and then <v Studs Terkel>refused to accept payment. Soon it came to be an understood thing between them. <v Studs Terkel>They were pals. <v Marcus Schouler>Anyway, that's the favor I'm asking. <v Marcus Schouler>Sure, I told Trina you'd fix her tooth for me. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing with McTeague] Golden tooth. Dancing in the air, up there. Golden tooth. Swinging in the light. <v Marcus Schouler>I'll get Trina.

<v Studs Terkel>Trina was very small and prettily made. <v Studs Terkel>Her face was round and rather pale. <v Studs Terkel>Her eyes long and narrow and blue, like the half open eyes of a little baby. <v Studs Terkel>Doubtless the woman in her was not yet awakened. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] I brooke my tooth. Lost my looks. What's to become of me? I will ive my life alone, a girl without a smile. A terrible disfigurement, hurt on top of hurt. A curse has <v Trina Sieppe>fallen on my face. A shadow on my heart forever. Hello, Doctor McTeague. <v Marcus Schouler> <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] This is my cousin Trina.

<v McTeague>Hello, Miss Trina. <v McTeague>How are you? <v Marcus Schouler>He'll take care of ya, won't ya? <v Marcus Schouler>Won't hurt you too much, will ya? <v McTeague>I can see from here you've got good teeth. <v McTeague>White and even, as a brand new ear of corn. <v McTeague>Maybe a gold crown for that quadrant. <v Maria Macapa>[Singing] Had a flying squirrel once and let him go. <v Marcus Schouler>Well, Senorita Maria. <v McTeague>I ?inaudible? Maria. <v Studs Terkel>About Maria, the flat knew absolutely nothing. <v Studs Terkel>It's the girl that takes care of the rooms, Marcus explained. <v Studs Terkel>She ain't regularly crazy, but I don't know, she's queer. <v Studs Terkel>You oughta hear her go on about a gold dinner service. <v Studs Terkel>She says her folks used to own. <v Maria Macapa>[Singing] Gold is magic, if you've got it.

<v Maria Macapa>No matter who you are, it turns you into someone else. <v Chorus>If it's gold you've got you can be ?a greed? and you're not. <v Chorus>You can be stupid and you're not. <v Chorus>You can be ?inaudible? and you're not <v Chorus>If it's gold you've got. <v Maria Macapa>[Singing] Buying tickets for the lottery? Only a buck, brother.

<v Maria Macapa>Try your luck, brother. Man on the block, he won a ton, brother. Mucho dinero, brought a <v Maria Macapa>ranchero. Buting tickets for the lottery. <v Studs Terkel>McTeague and Trina were left alone. <v Studs Terkel>He was embarrassed, troubled. The young girl disturbed and perplexed him. <v McTeague>[Singing] Let's talk to Miss Trina. Take off your hat please. <v Studs Terkel>With her, the feminine element suddenly entered his little world. <v Studs Terkel>How had he ignored it so long?

<v Studs Terkel>It was dazzling, delicious, charming, beyond all words. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Oh Doctor, I'm so frieghtened. Please don't hurt me. <v McTeague>Would you like ether? <v Trina Sieppe>Oh, yes. <v McTeague>[Singing] The tooth might remain if I bridge it or crown it. <v Trina Sieppe>This feels like, like, I don't know. <v Maria Macapa>[singing] Buy a ticket for the lottery. Just a buck. Try your luck. <v Trina Sieppe>There's a dollar in my purse. <v Maria Macapa>[Singing] Man on the next block, he won a ton. <v McTeague>[Singing] God, god such beauty in her. And such a frightening feeling in me. No, my god. So gentle, so innocent.

<v McTeague>No. <v McTeague>I don't. You won't will you, leave? No. My god. <v McTeague>No. By god. God no, god no. <v Studs Terkel>Their undoing had already begun. <v Studs Terkel>Yet neither them was to blame. <v Studs Terkel>From the first, they had not sought each other. <v Studs Terkel>Chance had brought them face to face and mysterious instincts as ungovernable <v Studs Terkel>as the winds of heaven. Or at work knitting their lives together.

<v Studs Terkel>Neither of them had asked that this thing should be that their Destiny's <v Studs Terkel>very souls, should be the sport of chance. <v Studs Terkel>If they could have known, they would have shunned the fearful risk, but they were allowed <v Studs Terkel>no voice in the matter. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] So what's wrong Mac? <v McTeague>[Singing] Nothing's wrong. <v Marcus Schouler>Come on, You get to tell your best friend. <v McTeague>It's nothing. <v Marcus Schouler>You sound like a fella with a special feeling. <v Marcus Schouler>You know-. <v McTeague>I just don't get it. <v McTeague>A month ago. I was happy. <v McTeague>Everything was fine. <v McTeague>Had I wanted, did what I wanted, working on teeth, <v McTeague>drinking my beer. <v Marcus Schouler>Playing the concertina. <v McTeague>Smoking my pipe. Taking a nap. <v McTeague>It happened so slow.

<v Marcus Schouler>It's a woman. ?you bum, you? <v McTeague>Don't she like drinking. Hopefully in a concerts. <v Marcus Schouler>McTeague you're in love, I'm overcome. <v McTeague>If I could've stopped, I woulda and shoulda. <v McTeague>But I didn't know. She's the first girl I ever knew. <v Marcus Schouler>Who is it? <v McTeague>[Singing] She was there in the chair. <v McTeague>And when I leaned her back, her beautiful black hair. <v McTeague>?I found the face? <v Marcus Schouler>You mean? [Men singing over each other inaudibly]. <v McTeague>Smelled the sweetness of her breath [Men singing over each other] I couldn't help it. <v McTeague>It ain't <v McTeague>my fault, is it? <v Marcus Schouler>I was going to marry her. In a month or two. I was going to ask I was. <v Marcus Schouler>I- I- Ah, <v Marcus Schouler>Go ahead.

<v Marcus Schouler>You can have her. You want her so bad, <v Marcus Schouler>she's yours. <v Marcus Schouler>She's yours. I won't stand between <v Marcus Schouler>ya. <v Studs Terkel>The sense of his own magnanimity all at once overcame Marcus. <v Studs Terkel>He saw himself as another man, very noble or self sacrificing. <v Studs Terkel>He stood apart and watched the second self with boundless admiration. <v McTeague>[Singing] Much obliged. Much obliged. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] Tell her for me. Tell her. <v Marcus Schouler>She's yours. <v McTeague>[Singing] He <v McTeague>I don't know.

<v McTeague>He told me to tell you. He told me to tell you, how did he say it? <v McTeague>He said, I don't know. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] What are you saying? <v McTeague>[Singing] Ah, come on, Miss Trina. <v McTeague>Come on. <v McTeague>Ya gotta help me out, Miss Trinna. <v McTeague>I need you so bad, I'm half dead. <v McTeague>I can't eat, I can't sleep. And as for thinking, Miss Trina. Come on. <v Trina Sieppe>You're hurting me, you're so strong. <v McTeague>[Singing] Trina, please. I want to marry you. <v McTeague>Miss Trina please, I want to marry you. <v Trina Sieppe>Marry you? Marry you? <v McTeague>Miss Trina please, I want to marry you.

<v Trina Sieppe>Marry me? Marry me? <v Studs Terkel>McTeague had all at once caught her in his huge arms, something at leap to life <v Studs Terkel>on her, something that had hitherto lain dormant, something strong <v Studs Terkel>and overpowering. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Oh, dear god, I'm frightened. Lord, I'm frghtened feverish and freezing. What is this torment for? Where did come from? Is this desire or despair? I feel a hurricane <v Trina Sieppe>blowing. <v Studs Terkel>Why did she feel the desire, the necessity of being conquered by a superior strength? <v Studs Terkel>Why did it please her? Why had it suddenly filled her from head to foot with <v Studs Terkel>a quick, terrifying gust of passion, the like of which she'd never known?

<v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Doctor doctor. <v McTeague>Oh Lord, did I hurt ya? <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Oh doctor, doctor. Love me. Oh Doctor. <v McTeague>Oh Trina. <v Trina Sieppe>Oh Mac. Oh Mac. <v McTeague>Trina [singing together] <v Studs Terkel>McTeague had awakened the woman and whether she would or no, she was his and now <v Studs Terkel>irrevocably. Struggle against this she would, she belonged to him <v Studs Terkel>body and soul for life or for death. <v Trina Sieppe>Trina? <v Mother>Yes, mom. <v Trina Sieppe>It's beginning to rain. <v Studs Terkel>She had not sought it, she had not desired it. <v Studs Terkel>The spell was laid upon her, was it a blessing? <v Studs Terkel>Was it a curse? <v Studs Terkel>It was all one. She was his indissolubly for good or for evil. <v McTeague>[Singing] I got her, I got her.

<v McTeague>She's mine. <v McTeague>Hi, ho. <v McTeague>She's mine. <v Studs Terkel>Trina and McTeague were married on the first day of June in the photographer's rooms <v Studs Terkel>that the dentist had rented. <v Chorus>[Singing] Here's to the bride and here's too the bridegroom and here's to you and you. Here's to the mama. Here's the papa. Here's to the whole damn crew. <v Marcus Schouler>Who can it be?

<v Trina Sieppe>Everyone's here. <v Public Official>[Singing] Is your name Miss Trina Sieppe? <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Missus Trina Sieppe McTeague. <v Trina Sieppe>I just got married. <v Trina Sieppe>Oh god, what is it? <v McTeague>What? What? What? <v Public Official>Have you a lottery ticket? <v Public Official>Number 400-0-12. <v Trina Sieppe>Lottery ticket? <v Trina Sieppe>I don't remember any lottery ticket. <v Maria Macapa>Look in your purse.

<v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] 400-0-12. <v Public Official>[Singing] Let me be the first the congratulate you. You have won <v Public Official>five thousand dollars in gold. <v Public Official>[Chorus singing in background] <v Public Official>[Man speaking inaudibly] <v Public Official>[Chorus chanting and singing]. <v Studs Terkel>You fool. Marcus Schouler, if you'd kept Trina, you'd have had that

<v Studs Terkel>money to stuff into the pockets of someone else when it might've been yours. <v Studs Terkel>And all for what? Because we're pals. <v Studs Terkel>Five thousand dollars to have played it right into his hands. <v Studs Terkel>God damn the luck. <v Marcus Schouler>My money. <v Marcus Schouler>He's marrying my money. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Oh mama, oh papa. Don't leave me. I'm afraid. <v Marcus Schouler>My money. <v Maria Macapa>[Singing] Had a squirrel once and let it go. <v Chorus>[Singing] We must go. <v Marcus Schouler>Look at him, look at that grin. The grease on his chin eating spuds with skin. and marrying <v Marcus Schouler>my money. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] You're drunk, go home. <v Marcus Schouler>One last minute, alone with my pal. <v Marcus Schouler>The lucky groom, the very very <v Marcus Schouler>lucky Doctor McTeague. <v McTeague>What's wrong Schouler?

<v Marcus Schouler>You owe me. You owe me. <v McTeague>All right. Here's the four bits. <v Marcus Schouler>You owe me. And for the time, you spent over night at the <v Marcus Schouler>hospital with the dogs, the dogs, remember? <v Marcus Schouler>You owe me. <v McTeague>I? <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] You suckered me out of my money. <v Marcus Schouler>You solderied me out of my girl. <v Marcus Schouler>I gave her to you. And you owe me. <v Marcus Schouler>You owe me. I want her. <v McTeague>It ain't. It aint' mine to give. [Men singing over each other]. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] Ain't you got manners, you know? [McTeague singing over him] Ain't you got any <v Marcus Schouler>decency? ?plugging? teeth at 2 bit an hour. <v Marcus Schouler>You have never been nothing. So buddy you owe me. <v Marcus Schouler>I want half of that money. <v Marcus Schouler>Stop swirling that cheap booze in my face. <v Trina Sieppe>No. <v McTeague>[Singing] No. He made small of me. He made small of me. ?inaudible? made small of me. <v Trina Sieppe>[Screams]. <v McTeague>No money.

<v Studs Terkel>Suddenly seized with the fear of him, her whole being quailed before him. <v Studs Terkel>Who was this man that had come into her life, who had taken her from her home and <v Studs Terkel>from her parents, with whom she was now left alone here in this strange, <v Studs Terkel>vast flat? <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Love me big, love, crush my bones. Love me till you hear my moan. Love me great and grand and tall. Live me big or not at all. Set me on your giant knee. Let me climb <v Trina Sieppe>you like a tree. Love me strong and long and tall. Love me love, give me all. <v Studs Terkel>Then her great love of McTeague suddenly flashed up and treeless breath.

<v Studs Terkel>She gave up to him, as she had done before. <v Studs Terkel>He only all at once, to that strange desire of being conquered and subdued. <v Studs Terkel>She clung to him. Her hands clasped behind his neck, whispering in his ear, <v Studs Terkel>"Well, you must be very good to me. <v Studs Terkel>Very, very good to me, dear. <v Studs Terkel>You're all I have on this world now." [Trina singing inaudibly] <v Studs Terkel>Trina loved her husband. She loved him because she had given herself to him freely, <v Studs Terkel>unreservedly, had merged her individuality into his. <v Studs Terkel>She was his she belonged to him forever and forever. <v Studs Terkel>It soon became apparent that Trina would be an extraordinarily good housekeeper.

<v Studs Terkel>Economy was her strong point. Saving for the sake of saving, hoarding without <v Studs Terkel>knowing why. Even McTeague did not know how closely Trena held to our newfound <v Studs Terkel>wealth. <v McTeague>[Singing] I must ask you about this telegram. From your parents. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] What do they want? <v McTeague>Money. <v McTeague>Your mother needs 100 dollars. <v Trina Sieppe>A 100 dollars? I'll give them 10. That's all we can afford. <v McTeague>But what about the lottery money? <v Trina Sieppe>I told you before, <v Trina Sieppe>we're never gonna touch that gold. <v Trina Sieppe>I'll send ten dollars. <v Trina Sieppe>Now go home, finish up. It's time. <v McTeague>Schouler.

<v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] Hi, folks came to say good bye. <v Trina Sieppe>Ah, McTeague you will not ?inaudblible? <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] Going ranchin and looking for gold in Nevada. <v Marcus Schouler>It's my dream. A cowboy's life. <v Marcus Schouler>Silver spurs and buckaroo. <v Marcus Schouler>I got my hat and gear and stuff like that. <v Marcus Schouler>And a little ?inaudible? <v Marcus Schouler>booze. <v Marcus Schouler>No hard feelings. <v Chorus>No hard feelings. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] In fact, I brought you a patient. <v Marcus Schouler>So long, folks. <v Public Official>[Singing] Mr. McTeague I am the Public Health inspector.

<v Public Official>Always a pleasure to serve a public servant. <v McTeague>It'll be on the house. <v Public Official>I need to see Mr. McTeague's dental degree. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Where is it McTeague? Go find McTeague. <v McTeague>Listen, sir. <v Public Official>Any diploma will do. <v McTeague>Sir, I won't waste your time. <v McTeague>I ain't got no degree. <v Trina Sieppe>No. <v Public Official>How did you get this far? <v McTeague>I worked in the coal mines, since I was 10 years <v McTeague>old, I pushed the cart there, didn't know <v McTeague>there was more to live for. <v McTeague>But my ma did. [Trina singing] This fella came by, a <v McTeague>travelling dentist.

<v Public Official>A travelling ?inaudible?. <v McTeague>My ma told him we'd pay him gold if he taught me teeth. <v McTeague>And he did and we did. <v McTeague>We went from camp to camp together. <v McTeague>I worked with him a while, been on my own a while. <v Trina Sieppe>But you surely went to school? <v McTeague>No, I learned from the fella. <v McTeague>He showed me how to yank the tooth. <v Trina Sieppe>But, don't yo see Mac? <v Public Official>Your story touches my heart. But without a diploma, it's the law, that you can't call yourself a doctor. You may no longer practice dentistry. [Continues singing]

<v Trina Sieppe>Can't practice any longer. Is prohibited and enjoined from continuing. Mac, we're ruined. <v McTeague>What do you mean Trina? Ain't I a doctor? Ain't I a dentist? Look at my sign. <v Studs Terkel>Trina dared not think of what would be their fate if the income derived from McTeague's <v Studs Terkel>practice was suddenly taken from them. <v Studs Terkel>Then they would have to fall back on the interest of the lottery money. <v Studs Terkel>No, no, it was not to be thought of. <v Trina Sieppe>Mac, you can't. Don't you understand you'll go to prison? <v McTeague>I ain't gonna quit for just a piece of paper. Sure not. <v Trina Sieppe>All at once, Trina snapped her fingers with a quick flash of intelligence. <v Trina Sieppe>It's Marcus that's done it. <v McTeague>You should have killed Schouler. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] No one is ever gonna come anymore. Oh Trina, Trina. All is lost, all is lost. That's it. You've got to find

<v Trina Sieppe>a job now. Get a job [sings] <v Studs Terkel>It would have been easier for the McTeagues to face their misfortunes had they befallen <v Studs Terkel>them immediately after their marriage, when their love for each other was fresh and fine. <v Studs Terkel>But McTeagues affection for his wife was dwindling a little every day. <v Studs Terkel>He did not dislike her. He did not love her. <v Studs Terkel>She was his wife, that was all. <v McTeague>If I ever meet Schouler. ?inaudible? <v Studs Terkel>A week passed, then a fortnight, then a month McTeague

<v Studs Terkel>out of a job couldn't find nothing to do. <v McTeague>[Singing] Hello, Ms ?inaudible?. How are you? <v McTeague>She don't recognize me. <v McTeague>Mr. Gordon, how do you do? <v McTeague>How's that right molar? <v McTeague>Doesn't recognize me either. <v McTeague>No wonder. Look at me, no worse than when I left <v McTeague>to Trina wouldn't even know me. <v McTeague>I'd show up looking for a job. <v McTeague>Straight out of the wind and the rain <v McTeague>looking like a bum. <v McTeague>No one would hire me. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Mac, you're here. What are you doing Mac?

<v Trina Sieppe>You didn't write? I didn't know. <v Trina Sieppe>Ah, Mac it's been months. <v Trina Sieppe>I missed you so. <v Trina Sieppe>What were you doing Mac? <v Trina Sieppe>I hope you brought some money. We need money, I need money. <v Studs Terkel>Trina's stinginess had increased to such an extent that I'd gone beyond the mere <v Studs Terkel>hoarding of money. It was a panic terror. <v Studs Terkel>Just a fraction of a cent of our little savings should be touched. <v Studs Terkel>All at once, a sudden rage against Trina took possession of him. <v Studs Terkel>It was her fault. She let him walk the streets in the cold and in the rain. <v Studs Terkel>She had 5,000 dollars. <v McTeague>[Singing] Who's the boss, who's the boss? I'd like to know. Who's got the money? Who's got the money? I'd like to know. You miser. When I was practicing we lumped everything <v McTeague>together. He was practicing being lumped in everything. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] Exactly and now you're not lumping in anything. <v McTeague>Give me the money, you made when you sold my concertina.

<v Trina Sieppe>I paid the grocer's bill with it the other day. <v McTeague>All you do is lie to <v McTeague>me, lie to me. <v Trina Sieppe>Go out and beg onthe steet that's all your good for. <v McTeague>I should've given you back to Schouler. For the last time, we gotta spend that lottery money. <v Trina Sieppe>And for the last time, <v Trina Sieppe>over my dead body. <v Trina Sieppe>[Dramatic music and laughing]. <v Studs Terkel>Trina lost her pretty ways and her good looks.

<v Studs Terkel>The combined effects of hard work, avarice, poor food and her <v Studs Terkel>husband's brutalities told on her swiftly. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] What has become of my husband? Trina doesn't know where her husband is.No way to know even if I wanted to. And Trina doesn't want to know. <v Studs Terkel>She saw no one. Nobody knew her.

<v Studs Terkel>She found herself alone in the world alone with her 5,000 dollars. <v Trina Sieppe>[Singing] My golden babies. I need no candleight to soothe my fears. Put sunset in my room and all gloom goes. My babies. My own bright golden babies. <v McTeague>[Singing] Trina. I haven't slept in a Christian

<v McTeague>bed for weeks. <v Trina Sieppe>Look at him now, out on the sidewalk standing, staring, in the damp air. <v Trina Sieppe>Look at him now, out on the sidewalk, shivering and shaking. And I don't care. <v McTeague>Trina let me in, I'm falling. <v Trina Sieppe>No I will not let you in. <v McTeague>Trina, won't you give me a dollar? <v Trina Sieppe>No. <v McTeague>Trina. Would you give me a half <v McTeague>of a dollar? A dime? Or a cup of coffee? <v Trina Sieppe>No. <v McTeague>Say you must be crazy Trina. I wouldn't let a dog go hungry. <v McTeague>[Trina singing inaudibly] You treat your husband worse than a dog. <v Trina Sieppe>Spend the money you stole. [Couple singing over each other]. <v McTeague>For the last time will you help me? <v Trina Sieppe>No. No. No. No. No. He looked pinched maybe he was hungry. I should've given him something. What have

<v Trina Sieppe>I become? He's my husband would <v Trina Sieppe>I see him starve? <v Trina Sieppe>What have I become? <v McTeague>I want that 5. <v Trina Sieppe>No. <v McTeague>I need to get that money. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] ?inaudible? McTeague's wanted.

<v Marcus Schouler>It's a wanted man, he's become. <v Marcus Schouler>A dangerous. <v Marcus Schouler>Don't make me laugh. <v Marcus Schouler>The man's too ?tought? and yet, he got it all. <v Marcus Schouler>Got my girl. <v Marcus Schouler>Got my gold. <v Marcus Schouler>He got the girl, he got the gold. <v Marcus Schouler>And now I get him. <v Marcus Schouler>Should I lose her? <v Marcus Schouler>I'm smart enough to know a loser when I see one. <v Marcus Schouler>But I know about a loser.

<v Marcus Schouler>A loser ain't got nothing, nothing to lose. <v Studs Terkel>McTeague went straight on chasing the receding horizon, flagellated with <v Studs Terkel>heat, tortured with thirst, looking furtively behind. <v Studs Terkel>For now, at last he was afraid. <v McTeague>[Singing] Hand devil hand. You damn, devil hand. <v McTeague>Still at it. <v McTeague>Doing what you want to do.Damn devil hand. <v McTeague>I'm <v McTeague>the boss around here. You don't own me. <v McTeague>Well, I don't care. <v McTeague>I don't care what you do.

<v McTeague>What you made me do. <v McTeague>You got damn devil of a hand. <v McTeague>This is a mine and it's gonna day stay mine, <v McTeague>I got all I need. <v McTeague>Beside me. <v Studs Terkel>Two days out in the desert, Marcus's horse gave out. <v Studs Terkel>It grew hotter. The big, dry sand crackled into innumerable tiny <v Studs Terkel>flakes. The twigs of the sage brush snapped like brittle pipe stems. <v Studs Terkel>The earth was like the surface of a furnace. <v Studs Terkel>The sun was a disc of molten brass swimming in the burnt out blue of the sky. <v McTeague>[Singing] Got to get to water and with this hand. <v McTeague>I'm going to find some water, I'm gonna dig my way outta here, claw my up. <v McTeague>Kill my way up. Sure as the lord made apples. <v McTeague>Someone's there

<v McTeague>can't see him in this bright light. <v Marcus Schouler>[Singing] That's right, mac. <v Marcus Schouler>It's me. <v Marcus Schouler>Where's the gold Mac? <v McTeague>In there. <v Marcus Schouler>Stay There. <v Marcus Schouler>[Laughs] Got it at last. <v Marcus Schouler>Where's the water? <v McTeague>[Singing] You look like a man who needs some water. <v McTeague>I figured you'd have some water. <v McTeague>Let me have half the gold and I'll give you half of my water. <v McTeague>No, I'm taking you and the gold and the water.

<v McTeague>Over my dead body. <v McTeague>[Gunshot] [Singing together] We're dead men. Not a drop of water. <v McTeague>We're dead men, where's the nearest water? <v McTeague>We're dead men. <v Marcus Schouler>We'd be dead before we reach 10. <v McTeague>And it's 100 miles away. <v McTeague>[singing together] We're dead men, What do we do

<v McTeague>now? <v Marcus Schouler>Let's be movin somewhere. <v McTeague>[Singing together] Where do we go now? <v McTeague>I can't tell north from south We're done for. <v Marcus Schouler>I can hear my tongue a-rubbin' <v McTeague>On the roof of my mouth. <v McTeague>We're dead men. <v Studs Terkel>In an instant, the eyes of the two doomed men met as the same thought <v Studs Terkel>simultaneously rose in their minds. <v Studs Terkel>The canvas sack with its five thousand dollars. <v McTeague>[Singing] We may be done for we may be dead men <v McTeague>but just the same. <v McTeague>I'm taking my gold along. <v Marcus Schouler>Not so fast. I ain't so sure whose gold it is. <v Marcus Schouler>You suckered me out of it once you soldiered me out of it once is enough.

<v McTeague>Don't you try and get out if it. <v Marcus Schouler>You're coming with me. <v McTeague>Don't you lay a hand on me. [Men singing over each other]. <v Studs Terkel>All at once, Marcus grew still beneath his blows. <v Studs Terkel>As McTeague rose to his feet, he felt a pull at his right wrist, something <v Studs Terkel>held fast. Looking down, he saw that Marcus in that last <v Studs Terkel>struggle had found strength to handcuff their wrists together. <v Studs Terkel>Marcus was dead now.

<v Studs Terkel>McTeague was locked to the body. <v Studs Terkel>All about him, vast, interminable, stretched the measureless <v Studs Terkel>leagues of Death Valley. <v Studs Terkel>McTeague is stuck. <v Studs Terkel>A bag of gold in one hand, death in the other. <v Studs Terkel>Crazy. <v Studs Terkel>The Frank Norris novel was published in 1899, the time of the <v Studs Terkel>robber barons and muckraking journalists who exposed corruption in <v Studs Terkel>high places, who spoke truth to power. <v Studs Terkel>Yet the novel, the film, the opera could be today. <v Studs Terkel>Because the obsession that possessed <v Studs Terkel>McTeague and Trina may possess us all. <v Studs Terkel>In short, it's about us. <v Studs Terkel>[Chorus singing].

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