Tallulah Bankhead: Mrs. Trefoile

Fanatic

Mrs. Trefoile

[Patricia takes a sip of water; Mrs. Trefoile notices the glass]
Mrs. Trefoile: Anna! Come here at once!
Anna: Yes, Mrs. Trefoile?
Mrs. Trefoile: You have not washed up properly! There is a mark on Ms. Carroll's glass.
Pat Carroll: Oh, it's just, it's just my lipstick, Mrs. Trefoile. It will come off, even though they guarantee.
Mrs. Trefoile: Go upstairs and wash it off immediately!
Pat Carroll: Mrs. Trefoile, I'm, I'm sorry, I...
Mrs. Trefoile: Go and remove that FILTH at once!

Pat Carroll: Yes, I wondered if you might have a mirror I could ...
Mrs. Trefoile: A mirror? Is it to adorn yourself, to observe yourself? Mirrors are not but tools of vanity, Patricia - I know! Vanity - sensuality, Patricia! The Bible speaks of our vile bodies.
Pat Carroll: Oh.
Mrs. Trefoile: I knew you would understand.

[Anna serves a disgusting looking plate of food]
Mrs. Trefoile: Aren't you hungry, my child?
Pat Carroll: [takes a bite and tries to hide her repulsion] Mrs. Trefoile, do you have any salt?
Mrs. Trefoile: We use not condiments of any kind in this house, Patricia! God's food should be eaten unadorned. We are vegetarian. For instance, this meat loaf is synthetic, compounded of bread, oatmeal, and wheat germ.
Pat Carroll: How nice.

Mrs. Trefoile: Do you attend church regularly?
Pat Carroll: Well, not too regularly.
[Mrs. Trefoile looks shocked]
Pat Carroll: Not as often as I'd like.
Mrs. Trefoile: Not as often as you'd like? What a strange thing to say! If you like going to church, why do you not attend regularly?
Pat Carroll: Well, I mean, often there isn't time.
Mrs. Trefoile: Not time for prayer? Not time to sing the praises of the Lord? One's duty to the Lord must take precedence, must it not? Patricia, I'm surprised at you!

[Mrs. Trefoile and Pat are having tea]
Mrs. Trefoile: It was very kind of you to pay this visit to me. Yes, I am pleased with Stephen's choice. I see that you are obviously the type of young woman he would properly choose. We have so much to discuss, my dear. So much. My poor Stephen. I... I can only rejoice that he died unblemished. A virgin soul. So much more beloved by the Almighty.
Pat Carroll: Oh... yes.
Mrs. Trefoile: I have prayed for him, and I know that you've done so too. And I have no doubt that he was at once transported to Glory at his passing, being the unstained soul that he was. We shall go to church together tomorrow and offer up a token prayer.
Pat Carroll: I'm afraid I -
Mrs. Trefoile: [interrupting] MILK?
Pat Carroll: [pause] Please.
Mrs. Trefoile: We will not pray at the regular service however. I do not approve of the new rector!

Mrs. Trefoile: Stephen? Stephen? She's here in this house, my darling... but of course you know... you know...!

Mrs. Trefoile: Come, my dear. I must confess I'm disappointed in your church attendance. My late husband, he was a truly religious man. More so than some who wear the cloth!

Pat Carroll: [Patricia sees an open book on Mrs. Trefoile's bed, opened to a glamorous shot of Mrs. Trefoile as a young woman] Oh, how lovely. What is that, a costume? Mrs. Trefoile, were you an actress?
Mrs. Trefoile: [quickly grabs the book] God was good. He led me from that evil.
Pat Carroll: Evil?
Mrs. Trefoile: Yes. A pit of evil! A place for the lost and the damned! The devil's entertainment... God's anathema! It is a painful memory to me, but by the grace of our Lord and the inspired inspiration of my late husband, no more than a memory. I keep it as a harsh reminder of what I was, of what I escaped!