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00:00:00You
00:00:30You
00:01:00You
00:01:30You
00:01:32You
00:01:34You
00:01:57Good morning, mr. Nair this early. You'll have to take the local. All right
00:02:04I
00:02:14Want to explore executive mr. Nair, thank you
00:02:21Good morning, miss Lanier. Good morning Martha. I couldn't find a cab anywhere such a lovely day, though
00:02:28For your floor executive Ramsey and company miss Stephens
00:02:32I'm sorry, sir. Our switchboard doesn't open till 9 you should be able to reach him shortly thereafter and
00:02:39That's correct, sir, mr. Staples begins with the company today. I'll leave your message on his desk
00:02:46And would you put this on mr. Staples desk, please? Yes, ma'am. Mr. Staples will be a mr. Quinn's old office executive Corridor
00:02:53I said deliver it not read it. Yes, ma'am
00:03:00Executive 40th floor miss Stevens
00:03:10Morning good morning, madam. Wonder if Marge is gonna go to work next door
00:03:14Morning good morning, madam. Wonder if Marge is gonna go to work next door
00:03:25Really fixed up a new exec's office for him didn't say very nice a new man
00:03:31Right next door to your boss and awfully close to mr. Ramsey
00:03:36So happens it's a new man
00:03:38What's his name?
00:03:40Staples mm-hmm. We'll be working with mr. Briggs. That's why they have adjoining offices
00:03:46Baby, you're awfully defensive. I
00:03:50Guess that's cause you're worried about your mr. Briggs run along. Will you?
00:03:58May I have some more cream, please
00:04:10Oh
00:04:21Thanks car, please next car next car, please. Okay next card
00:04:29Harry Charlie Joe express down no stops for Jim
00:04:40Next car next car next car, please. Next car. Next car. Good morning. Mr. Ramsey next car, please
00:04:57Thank You Lenny, yes
00:05:04Thank You Martha
00:05:10Operator, please
00:05:12Miss Phillips, you can put this morning's three long-distance calls through to mr. Ramsey Portland Dallas st. Louis officers
00:05:23Good morning, mr. Ramsey morning, mr. May have
00:05:29Any messages you have calls placed for our Portland Dallas and st. Louis officers nothing else important sir Martin tool and die
00:05:36You said you'd wire him. Yes, you'll find a copy in my briefcase
00:05:40You're right as usual. Nothing important. I
00:05:43Have the Portland report in my briefcase. I want it teletype this morning to Seattle
00:05:48Have someone there drive over to Portland and get it to Johnson before lunch
00:05:52Then run off 20 copies confidential mimeographing and have them ready in time for the board meeting. I want it on the agenda as
00:05:59Mr. Staples arrived yet. Not yet, sir
00:06:03Delay that meeting until 10 this morning to give you time to get the report mimeoed and distributed. I want it read and carefully
00:06:10Get word underground to their secretaries that no one is to count on making any early luncheon appointments and make a note
00:06:17Staples is to sit one down from Van Deventer on my left. Yes, sir
00:06:21Let me know as soon as mr. Staples arrives. Yes, mr. Ramsey
00:06:40I
00:06:58Well
00:06:59Fred here we are
00:07:01Yeah, here we are a little different than Mansfield in it
00:07:05Now I know what a mother feels like when a child goes to school for the first time
00:07:11I'll give me a chance. Honey. Maybe I can cut it down to my size
00:07:15I'm a little late. Shall I call you when I no, no, no, you
00:07:20Going home after you finish shopping and find a garage somewhere a midtown
00:07:25I'll phone you on what train I'll be on
00:07:32Goodbye darling
00:07:40Oh
00:07:56Ramsey and company the board said yes, sir executive or administrative. Oh the executive. Mr. Ramsey 40th floor, sir
00:08:03Ming
00:08:05morning, oh
00:08:06You want the tower, sir?
00:08:10Tower elevator, sir
00:08:12I'll be down in a minute. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. My pleasure, sir
00:08:21Good morning. Good morning. Morning, Jamie. Good morning, Bill
00:08:28Morning Marge, how was the weekend?
00:08:30Your letters are on your desk and the coffee cart will be here in a minute
00:08:32I can use some coffee didn't you get any rest at all couldn't even take my kid to the doubleheader
00:08:37What a shame that planning reports going to be a real job Marge
00:08:41This will be a big week for you too with that thing. I believe we'll try a rough first draft long
00:08:46No longer than the telephone directory
00:08:50Marge
00:08:53As mr. Staples come in yet Marge
00:08:57No, sir
00:09:00Yes, I'm Margaret Lanier. Mr. Ramsey secretary. Oh, how do you do? Mr. Ramsey would of course be here to welcome you himself
00:09:06But you caught him on a long-distance call. May I take you back to your office? Well, thank you very much
00:09:12And on our way, I might show you some of our other department
00:09:15Have you met miss Stevens? I introduced myself. Miss Lanier fine
00:09:20And may I bid you my own personal welcome? We're very glad to see you. Well, that's very nice of you. Thank you
00:09:26Now if you'll just come with me
00:09:29Miss Stevens marketing and sales are below here. We have our own research department on the 40th floor
00:09:34Perhaps you'd like to see that later. This is the executive corridor
00:09:39Mr. Ramsey's office is that one down at the end then. Mr. Jamieson head of purchasing. Mr. Briggs will be working closely with mr.
00:09:47Briggs mr. Vandermeer
00:09:49And this is your office
00:09:59Isn't it nice I
00:10:02Hope you like it
00:10:04Mr. Ramsey was told by someone in your old office that you were especially fond of this period
00:10:09Wasn't your office in Mansfield furnished in early American?
00:10:13My furniture consisted of two filing cabinets in a surplus metal desk off of a destroyer escort
00:10:21No, it's a
00:10:23It's really very attractive very I appreciate it very much indeed
00:10:29Excuse me, miss Lanier and said you wanted to see me. Oh, yes much. Mr. Staples. This is miss Fleming. How do you do?
00:10:35How do you do Marge? Will you see that? Mr. Staples has everything he needs in the way of office equipment
00:10:40He's arranged for this morning at mr. Briggs suggestion. Oh fine. I was rushed now. Mr. Staples again a most cordial. Well, thank you very much
00:10:48I'll see you in a minute. Thank you
00:10:50And Marge will you step by at my desk when you finish here, please? Yes, mr. Nance
00:10:59I
00:11:01Think I better explain the phone system. Mrs. Staples. There are four lines
00:11:05One is your private line direct to outside two is for conference calls three is for inter-office and four
00:11:12This button is for your secretary. Oh
00:11:15I'm sorry, ma'am
00:11:18Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am, oh, yes, thank you
00:11:23Yes, I think I have that see
00:11:27outside inter-office
00:11:29Conference it
00:11:31Yes, that's
00:11:37Thank heavens this isn't early American
00:11:44Busy no
00:11:47You must be Bill Briggs your next-door neighbor. Yes, of course. Well, I'm certainly glad to meet you, sir. I think
00:11:54Mr. Ramsey told me you'd been sick, didn't he? Oh, did he?
00:11:58Actually, it's just a just a pesky stomach that's been acting up on me. You just in from Mansfield. Yes. They took a house
00:12:07Settled already
00:12:08Good
00:12:10I'm not trying to set myself up as a real New Yorker Altoona, Pennsylvania. That's where I came from
00:12:15My first trip home I was wearing spats. I remember my father not being able to get over it. He says Bill Bailey says
00:12:23You went to New York to see the sights and instead you become one of them
00:12:29Well, we just got here Friday afternoon so this morning Nancy insisted my wife she insisted on driving me to work first morning
00:12:38You know the way women are
00:12:40You know you you come out of a small-town plant you
00:12:46Feel a little lost in the place like this
00:12:49Well, as I was saying, you know, we walked into our house Friday afternoon
00:12:52We'd never laid eyes on the place before, you know
00:12:55and there was furnished like a magazine milk in the icebox bourbon on the shelf and I
00:13:01Don't know you got a hand it to him the way they do things around here. Yes, miss. Lemire handles all that does a fine job
00:13:07That feeling that I got driving into town this morning
00:13:11I got to admit it's just
00:13:14It's just a little overwhelming
00:13:17Yes, and it's a pretty wonderful thing to be as young as you are and see it all spread out in front of you like
00:13:25a Christmas tree
00:13:28you know you think of
00:13:31You think of big business. You always think of it as being
00:13:34Very impersonal, you know
00:13:37but
00:13:39It's certainly not true with your mr. Ramsey. I
00:13:43Know what you mean
00:13:47How much time did you put in in Mansfield
00:13:49Almost six years. You must have blown a bugle and Ramsey's here out in Ohio. He brought you here in a hurry
00:13:56Well, actually, I wasn't at all. Sure. I wanted to come to New York, but
00:14:00This Ramsey is a pretty dynamic man. Yes, I know
00:14:06You see you've been with a firm some time now haven't you oh
00:14:10Maybe 40 years or so. I
00:14:14Seem to recall. Mr. Ramsey's talking about you as a production man. You're an engineer, aren't you?
00:14:20Yes, but
00:14:22From what he told me I guess I'll be a little of everything around here mostly in industrial or commercial
00:14:27Everything around here mostly in industrial relations
00:14:32Industrial relations
00:14:35Matter of fact, it's been one of my specialties
00:14:39we
00:14:41We ought to get along pretty well together. I'm sure we will
00:14:47Excuse me. Mr. Ramsey's called a meeting in the conference room. Mr. Briggs. Oh
00:14:53Well Fred it's been a real pleasure meeting you. Thank you
00:14:56Ramsey's expecting. Mr. Staples, too
00:15:01Well, then I'll uh, I'll go in with you if you don't mind not at all
00:15:08I just hope mr. Ramsey remembers hiring me. Mr. Ramsey rarely forgets anything after you
00:15:17Staples yes. Hello Fred. This is Harvey Jameson head of purchasing. Oh, how are you? So they finally finished it?
00:15:24What Oh Fred your office on Friday the painters and all it was a madhouse. Say bill. Are you taking along Ramsey's breakdown?
00:15:31No, I forgot that a couple of other things. I forgot to Jamie. Would you and Fred go along together?
00:15:36I'll be in a few minutes fine. I suppose the near is giving you the cook's tour. What? Oh, yeah, you hear you the conference room
00:15:45Mr. Briggs, what is it Marge? I
00:15:51Don't know
00:15:54Mr. Briggs, I think I ought to resign
00:15:57Resign. What are you talking about? What happened? What is it March?
00:16:01Mr. Briggs, I've just been ordered to go over to mr. Staples as his new secretary
00:16:05Temporarily. No, I don't think so. Who gave this order? It's linear when about five minutes ago
00:16:13I'm supposed to break in your new secretary
00:16:16They've picked a new secretary for me. Yes, I think so
00:16:20It's out of the question for you to resign March to even think of resigning
00:16:24You're a fine wonderful woman and a great secretary. That's the reason they want you over with Staples
00:16:30He'll need someone like you because he's new here and they want him to get into harness fast
00:16:34Who can tell March one of these days?
00:16:37That stomach of mine pretty perverse organ and I'm tired
00:16:43Do you know is it must to all men?
00:16:45Have you any idea who your successor is?
00:16:49Yes, they've chosen Sylvia Trammell
00:16:52Miss Trammell, it is so ordained so be it
00:16:56She's new but she's supposed to be very good at dictation
00:17:00Well, we'll give her a chance to prove it
00:17:03Mr. Briggs
00:17:06I could only tell you what this job has meant to me
00:17:09What working with you has meant to me
00:17:11All right, kid
00:17:13Wash up, get your money and get out of here
00:17:18And give Mr. Staples all the best you've got in you
00:17:21I know you will that's the only way you operate
00:17:24I like the guy
00:17:26I have a feeling he's going to carve out a career around here
00:17:30Yes, sir
00:17:32Everybody seems to think so
00:17:36I'm sorry to keep you waiting, dear
00:17:37I'm sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen
00:17:40Mr. Ramsey will be with us in a moment
00:18:07Been away, have you?
00:18:09Good to see you
00:18:11Sorry, Fred, I was held up for a few minutes
00:18:13See you later, Fred
00:18:15Now, where are we going to sit you?
00:18:17Here's an empty chair, I guess you can sit right here
00:18:19Mr. Staples, will you sit over there, please?
00:18:21Right next to Mr. Van Deventer
00:18:23One down for Mr. Ramsey, please
00:18:27Welcome back, Bill
00:18:29Feeling better?
00:18:31Much, thank you, a little stomach
00:18:33Good, I'm glad it's cleared up
00:18:34John, don't forget that contract
00:18:36Can you get it through tomorrow?
00:18:38I think so, I have it
00:18:40First, gentlemen, I'd like you to look over the mimeo sheet on top
00:18:44Haverford Mutual had some doctors look into the matter of executive diets
00:18:49Their findings showed incredible deficiencies
00:18:52They've gotten up some food tables
00:18:54I've had them mimeo'd
00:18:56I'd like you to look them over
00:18:58As you know, it's in my feeling
00:19:00That a healthy executive is an important part of life
00:19:02And that a healthy executive is an efficient one
00:19:07I think it not amiss now
00:19:09To introduce the newest member of our team
00:19:11Mr. Fred Staples
00:19:13He's from Mansfield, Ohio
00:19:15As you all know, he was general manager
00:19:17Of Queen's City Tool & Dye until we took it over
00:19:19His record there was a brilliant one
00:19:21He's a production engineer by training
00:19:23An industrial relations man by instinct
00:19:25I expect good things from him
00:19:32You've probably met everyone
00:19:34But just for the record
00:19:36Reading from left to right
00:19:38Mr. Jameson, head of purchasing
00:19:40Mr. Granigan, controller
00:19:42Mr. Gordon, head of sales
00:19:44Mr. Latham, head of service
00:19:46Mr. Portier, chief of operations
00:19:48Nice knowing him
00:19:50And Mr. Van Deventer, chief engineer
00:19:52How are you? Nice to see you
00:19:54Oh, and of course, you've met Mr. Briggs
00:19:57Oh, yes
00:19:59Who is our vice president, assistant general manager
00:20:00In charge of everything
00:20:02That everybody else forgets to do
00:20:04Now, gentlemen, you all have before you
00:20:06A copy of the Williamston plant
00:20:08Purchase prospectus
00:20:10Mr. Jameson, did you attach your supplements?
00:20:12It's right there, Mr. Ramsey
00:20:14Page 17-R, under process equipment
00:20:16And, Mr. Granigan
00:20:18The stock purchase plan I outlined
00:20:20I have your comments here
00:20:22You do, Mr. Ramsey
00:20:24Feasible, is it?
00:20:26Very much so, in my opinion
00:20:28Good
00:20:30Well
00:20:32That about winds it up
00:20:34Unless there are any further points to be made
00:20:36I do think, Mr. Ramsey
00:20:38If we could keep the transaction under wraps for a bit
00:20:40At least during the preliminaries
00:20:42You know, what'll happen to the stock quotations
00:20:44If it leaks out that we've agreed to purchase
00:20:46I've arranged it this way
00:20:48The stock quotation as of yesterday morning
00:20:54You seem to be straining at the leash, Mr. Briggs
00:20:56Or am I mistaken?
00:20:58You mention here that probable time of purchase
00:21:00Will be sometime in June
00:21:02Are the plans to be in receivership until then?
00:21:04That seems to be what it says
00:21:06That means six months with improper maintenance of equipment
00:21:08Oh, I doubt it, Bill
00:21:10I've had two of my best men out there for the last six weeks
00:21:12We had a varying voltage problem
00:21:14But that was taken care of
00:21:16You know, maintenance-wise
00:21:18I doubt if there'll be $1,000 worth of deterioration
00:21:20How about goodwill?
00:21:22What about it?
00:21:24The plant employs 900 men
00:21:26That's half the working force of the village
00:21:28So?
00:21:29Do we get ready to resume production?
00:21:31I thought your concern was for the plant
00:21:33And what good is the plant without the men?
00:21:35You chop a village payroll in half for six months
00:21:37And you might not have a plant
00:21:39Because you might not have a village
00:21:41Mr. Briggs, if we may be permitted to disregard
00:21:43For the moment the considerations that you have brought up
00:21:45What about the rest of the plan?
00:21:47I'd say it was adequate
00:21:49Adequate?
00:21:53That gentleman is the kiss of death, believe me
00:21:55I've known Mr. Briggs for a long time
00:21:58When he says something is adequate
00:22:00What he means is that it is entirely inadequate
00:22:02I must admit to feeling a concern
00:22:04Over some 900 men suddenly deprived of a livelihood
00:22:06Mr. Briggs, if you would do me the goodness
00:22:08To look at what I consider to be
00:22:10A fairly elementary business principle
00:22:12By putting 900 men out of work temporarily
00:22:14We may ultimately employ twice that number
00:22:16In the same town
00:22:18By cutting production costs as a result
00:22:20We will then be able to compete more favorably
00:22:22In the market
00:22:24Thus we'll be able to sell more goods
00:22:26We're not going to ruin that town
00:22:27I should think, Mr. Briggs
00:22:29That after 30 years
00:22:31You'd be able to think beyond the tongue-clucking stage
00:22:33And come up with something resembling
00:22:35An analytical point of view
00:22:37I was under the impression I'd given you a point of view
00:22:39I saw none
00:22:41I perceived what amounts to a rather emotional little tidbit
00:22:43That was decidedly more charitable than cooperative
00:22:45And by no means thought through
00:22:47I asked, I believe, for an objective view
00:22:49Of a business venture
00:22:51From you I got, and I seem constantly to be getting
00:22:53A very negative response of any at all
00:22:55Adequate, I believe you said
00:22:57That it will save us conservatively
00:22:59Half a million dollars
00:23:01Which we'll be able to put back into the business
00:23:03I must say you take a liberal view of adequacy
00:23:05I didn't intend to make a central issue out of this
00:23:07But I did feel it important enough to air in this meeting
00:23:14Well, you have aired it in this meeting
00:23:16I think it's a good thing you did
00:23:18But I think, Bill, we're pretty much
00:23:20Of one mind about it now
00:23:22And we may assume the matter is closed now
00:23:25Mr. Briggs
00:23:27How about you, Mr. Staples?
00:23:29Do you have an opinion?
00:23:31No
00:23:33No, I think not, Mr. Ramsey
00:23:35Why not?
00:23:37Well, frankly, it's a little out of my grasp
00:23:39At the moment
00:23:41I don't know anything about the firm
00:23:43It's cooperative set up
00:23:45Reasons for bankruptcy
00:23:47Or, for that matter, it's product
00:23:49I'm afraid I'll have to pass
00:23:51Mr. Staples
00:23:53Mr. Staples
00:23:55Mr. Staples
00:23:57Good answer
00:24:00I respect thoughtful judgment, Mr. Staples
00:24:03Congratulations
00:24:08We'll adjourn now until 2 o'clock
00:24:11I'm sorry we got started so late this morning
00:24:13But I wanted this analysis mimeoed
00:24:15For your inspection
00:24:17After lunch, we'll take up the Portland report
00:24:19Which you have before you
00:24:21Mr. Granigan attended the stockholders' meeting
00:24:23There on Tuesday
00:24:25And we'll begin our discussion
00:24:27With his report
00:24:29That's all
00:24:31All right, sir
00:24:33Bill
00:24:35Come and have some lunch
00:24:37Thank you
00:24:41Bill, wasn't there something
00:24:43You wanted to speak to me about before?
00:24:45Nothing important
00:24:47Tummy's all right, eh?
00:24:49Cast iron, couldn't be better
00:24:51Good, keep it up
00:24:54Staples
00:24:55See you later
00:24:58Good to have you with us, Staples
00:25:00Thank you
00:25:01The arrangement satisfactory?
00:25:02Oh, yes, just perfect
00:25:04I'm sure you'll be hearing from my wife
00:25:05Very soon about that
00:25:06It's a beautiful house
00:25:07Beautiful country up there
00:25:08I'm sure you'll love it
00:25:10Oh, uh
00:25:11See you later, Bill
00:25:14Oh, Fred
00:25:16Briggs is working on a project now
00:25:18A comprehensive planning report
00:25:20The point is that it's very important
00:25:22Most important indeed
00:25:23For our future program
00:25:25And it's far too big a job for Briggs
00:25:27Or for any one man to handle
00:25:29Now, what I want you to do
00:25:30Is get your finger in there
00:25:31Certainly
00:25:32What I mean is
00:25:33More than just your finger
00:25:35You understand?
00:25:36Yes, Mr. Ramsey
00:25:37You make that quite clear
00:25:38Oh, could I see you a minute, Miss Fleming?
00:26:08Yes, sir
00:26:10Oh, I wonder if you could
00:26:11Check for me, please
00:26:13As to who's to be my secretary
00:26:15I need some notes typed up
00:26:17I'm to be your secretary, Mr. Staples
00:26:22But I thought Mr. Briggs
00:26:24It was arranged for
00:26:26Just before the meeting, Mr. Staples
00:26:30I take it you'd rather
00:26:31Remain with Mr. Briggs
00:26:33Yes, I do
00:26:35But I'm afraid
00:26:36I take it you'd rather
00:26:37Remain with Mr. Briggs
00:26:39I was Mr. Briggs' secretary
00:26:40For seven years, Mr. Staples
00:26:42Well, in that case
00:26:43I see no reason
00:26:44Why I shouldn't be able
00:26:45To get someone else
00:26:48It was Mr. Ramsey's idea
00:26:50Do you want to give me
00:26:51Those notes now?
00:26:56No, uh
00:26:58Why don't you have your lunch
00:26:59First, Miss Fleming
00:27:00We'll take care of these
00:27:01When you come back
00:27:06Mr. Briggs
00:27:12There are some notes here
00:27:14Later, Marge
00:27:16I'll do it later
00:27:17There are some notes here
00:27:19Later, Marge
00:27:21I'll do it later
00:27:47I'll do it later
00:27:49I'll do it later
00:27:50I'll do it later
00:27:51I'll do it later
00:27:52I'll do it later
00:27:53I'll do it later
00:28:09Darling, you didn't say
00:28:10Anything about my new hairdo
00:28:11Do you like it?
00:28:12Yeah, it's lovely
00:28:13I wish you could see the new dresses I bought. They're just beautiful.
00:28:17Where are they?
00:28:18Oh, they're still at the store having little things done to them.
00:28:21Go on in the kitchen. I'll fix you a drink.
00:28:23Not the kitchen. The library.
00:28:28Oh.
00:28:38I hope they'd have the dresses ready and have them sent over to me.
00:28:41I hope they'd have the dresses ready and have them sent over to your office this afternoon.
00:28:45I spoke to your secretary about it when I called.
00:28:48It's funny she didn't mention it.
00:28:50They didn't get the job done in time.
00:28:53She had a nice voice. What did she like?
00:28:56Who?
00:28:57Your secretary.
00:28:59Oh. What you might expect. You know.
00:29:06What's her name?
00:29:08I'll tell you the truth. I didn't get her name.
00:29:11Only your dimensions.
00:29:13All right.
00:29:15No. Her name is Fleming.
00:29:18So happens you don't have a thing in the world to worry about.
00:29:21She doesn't like me worth a bit.
00:29:24Why?
00:29:26Well, I guess she prefers working for her former boss.
00:29:31Well, then why doesn't she?
00:29:34I don't know. Some kind of...
00:29:37strategy at the top, I guess.
00:29:41That sounds funny.
00:29:43Yeah.
00:29:45Her ex-boss happens to be only one of the vice presidents.
00:29:51My superior and a very nice guy to boot.
00:29:54Could that perhaps be a good sign?
00:29:58You figure it out. Left me a little up in the air.
00:30:02You know, Nancy, running a plant in Ohio
00:30:06is beginning to take on all the aspects
00:30:10of a nice, simple, uncomplicated gravy train.
00:30:16What happened today?
00:30:19Oh, nothing, really.
00:30:21Just... an impression, I guess.
00:30:26Sort of... queer undercurrents and tensions and...
00:30:36Good luck.
00:30:55Mr. Ramsey?
00:30:57Good morning, Mr. Ramsey.
00:30:59Ms. Stevens?
00:31:04Fine, thanks, Jerry.
00:31:06Let me see that breakdown again.
00:31:08Oh, sure.
00:31:09Ms. Fleming, would you step in for a minute, please?
00:31:11Yes, Mr. Stevens.
00:31:16Mr. Ramsey?
00:31:18Good morning, Mr. Ramsey.
00:31:20Ms. Stevens?
00:31:22Good morning, Mr. Ramsey.
00:31:25No, that's another one.
00:31:27Oh, sorry.
00:31:28Let me see this.
00:31:30Yeah.
00:31:31Now, this is the only one that I have cross-indexed for division,
00:31:34so don't let him keep it.
00:31:35I want Billy to take my letter from Henry Jacobson with him.
00:31:38Oh, yes.
00:31:39Now, look, Billy.
00:31:41Henry is a nice, sincere guy, you know?
00:31:44Made out of Bessemer steel.
00:31:46He hasn't been off of his duff since he learned how to walk.
00:31:49He started out stoking coke furnaces when he was 14,
00:31:52was mill foreman when he was 20,
00:31:54and then he ended up buying the whole plant for his own 40th birthday present,
00:31:57so you know what I mean.
00:31:58Watch out.
00:31:59I sure will.
00:32:00Now, give him that report, and then remember what he says.
00:32:02Make stenographic notes when you can,
00:32:04and when you can't, put it all down on paper as soon as you get out of the office.
00:32:06No approximations.
00:32:08Make it as... Yes, I know.
00:32:09I want to know what they're thinking.
00:32:11I want to know how they feel about every paragraph of that thing.
00:32:13I just hope they'll open up more to you than they did to me.
00:32:16I'll be down there sometime next week for their decision.
00:32:18Okay.
00:32:19Mention that to them, will you?
00:32:20Yes, I will.
00:32:21Hello?
00:32:22Uh...
00:32:23Hold it, please, just a second.
00:32:25Have a nice trip, Billy,
00:32:26and be sure and call me Sunday night.
00:32:28Yeah, I will. Thank you very much.
00:32:29Thank you, Mark.
00:32:30Yes, put him on.
00:32:31Don't go away, Miss Fleming, please.
00:32:33Hello?
00:32:34Judd.
00:32:35Look, I'm sorry, I meant to call you right back.
00:32:37It's about that Atlantic States Nitrate meeting set up for October the 3rd.
00:32:40I'd like a delay on that.
00:32:45Well, I want to walk in there sure on my ground,
00:32:48but October's not going to give me any ground at all.
00:32:54Yeah, could you do that?
00:32:55That'll be a help.
00:32:58November 7th?
00:33:01Fine.
00:33:03Look, I'll see you in the dining room.
00:33:05Okay, good.
00:33:07Put that on my calendar, please.
00:33:09Now then, uh...
00:33:11Would you get those wires off?
00:33:12Yes, sir.
00:33:13Good. Right after lunch, I want you to set up a conference call
00:33:15with Ramsey Jameson, myself, with Frank Dering in Denver.
00:33:18Got a minute, Fred?
00:33:19Sorry, Mark, this is urgent.
00:33:20It's about that NLRB vote in Portland.
00:33:22What about it?
00:33:23Ramsey's grumbling about it.
00:33:24He thinks it's premature.
00:33:26Premature? What's he talking about?
00:33:28He's had that plant running on wishful thinking for 19 months now.
00:33:32We've got a labor problem out there all primed to explode in our face.
00:33:36Now look, Bill, you better walk into his office with a great big neon sign.
00:33:39Strike, you know?
00:33:41Then tell him I've got a little estimate worked out
00:33:43that it'll cost us conservatively $4,000 a day if that plant goes out.
00:33:47Oof, you know how that'll hit him.
00:33:48Yeah, well, you go in there and dig up the ground
00:33:50and I'll follow you with a bulldozer and we'll plow him under.
00:33:53Now, we've got 800 big lumberjacks out there,
00:33:55and if they go, that'll do it big, you know.
00:33:57This won't be any one-week picket.
00:33:58This thing could go on for a year with no strain at all.
00:34:01You walk in there, set the charge, and I'll be in to light the fuse, huh?
00:34:04Fine.
00:34:05I'll have to call you back.
00:34:08Whew.
00:34:11Is 2.30 convenient for your call to Denver, Mr. Staples?
00:34:15Is everything else on?
00:34:16I've got another problem out here, if you can spare a minute.
00:34:18Well, Paul, how are you, partner?
00:34:21Mr. Staples, that gun.
00:34:23Oh, you got it. You like it? You try it out yet?
00:34:25Try it yet?
00:34:2630 seconds from the time he read Winchester double barrel on the box, he was sighting it.
00:34:29Well, how about going out for a little skeet shooting on Sunday?
00:34:32Give it a try, huh?
00:34:33Wonderful. Can I, Dad?
00:34:34He's all yours, Fred.
00:34:36He's a little too strenuous for me.
00:34:38Mr. Staples doesn't get tired like you do, Dad.
00:34:40I don't get tired.
00:34:41He was an all-American.
00:34:43Well, it was just horrific, so I had to stop by and thank you.
00:34:45You forget it.
00:34:46Well, so long. I'll see you outside.
00:34:51Real thoughtful of you, Fred.
00:34:53It was my pleasure, Bill.
00:34:55Hello, Mr. Ramsey.
00:34:56How are you, Paul? Still taking your vitamins, are you?
00:34:59I guess so, sir.
00:35:00Fine, fine. Keep it up.
00:35:03Excuse me, Mr. Poole.
00:35:05Oh, man, I'm tired.
00:35:07I've made arrangements for your call to Denver, Mr. Staples.
00:35:09If I could go over one paragraph...
00:35:11No, I think I'll knock that off after lunch, if you don't mind, Miss Fleming.
00:35:14All right, Mr. Staples.
00:35:17No, drink it here. Relax a minute.
00:35:23I will.
00:35:35Would you like some of mine?
00:35:38Yes, thank you. As a matter of fact, I would.
00:35:44No, that is plenty. Thank you.
00:35:51Where'd you play your football, Mr. Staples?
00:35:54I don't know.
00:35:55I played it at my uncle's house.
00:35:57Oh, I see.
00:35:58Well, I'll take it.
00:36:01Where'd you play your football, Mr. Staples?
00:36:04Oh, Ohio State, but don't ask me the years.
00:36:07I won't tell you.
00:36:08I won't ask you.
00:36:10Anyway, I feel about three times older than when I first came here.
00:36:14They've kept you busy.
00:36:16Yes, they sure have.
00:36:19You've done very well.
00:36:20You fitted in quickly.
00:36:26You know, I think that's the first out-and-out friendly thing you've said to me.
00:36:31I think you resent me a little, don't you, Miss Fleming?
00:36:33I don't know why. You should...
00:36:35Well, it's just a feeling that I've gotten from time to time.
00:36:40You work with a man for a long time.
00:36:42A fine man.
00:36:43You become part of him.
00:36:44You identify yourself with him.
00:36:46Then along comes the new man.
00:36:49I like Bill Briggs. I like him a lot.
00:36:51I have from the beginning.
00:36:53I like Bill Briggs. I like him a lot.
00:36:55I have from the first.
00:36:57If I have done or said anything...
00:36:59No, no, no. Of course not.
00:37:03Because I must say, you've been very fair.
00:37:08But seven years isn't a day.
00:37:11I owe a lot to Mr. Briggs.
00:37:14Mr. Briggs is the last of the original bunch around here.
00:37:17The people who really started this business.
00:37:19That's not easy to be the last of the original bunch.
00:37:23I know.
00:37:25He's not well. He has a bad heart.
00:37:28And an ulcer.
00:37:31I guess that's just about par for the executive course, isn't it?
00:37:35Well, I guess I've always been a field man.
00:37:37I haven't been an executive long enough to find that out for myself.
00:37:41But you're a good one.
00:37:42I think you're a very good executive.
00:37:45You admit mistakes.
00:37:47You don't pass the buck.
00:37:50You're a lot like Mr. Briggs that way.
00:37:53I take that as a very nice compliment.
00:37:55I mean it.
00:37:58Mr. Briggs' only trouble is that he could never be a yes man.
00:38:01Not even to Mr. Ramsey himself.
00:38:04He always has to speak his mind.
00:38:07And Mr. Ramsey doesn't like his judgment questioned.
00:38:12You either go along or you get off.
00:38:16Bill Briggs never got off.
00:38:20No, he never did.
00:38:23But maybe he's about to be pushed.
00:38:33He blew up at the next round and then Howard went right by him with a 65.
00:38:37A 65, I ask you.
00:38:38Seven birdies and he sank an 82-foot putt on the last green for an eagle.
00:38:42Oh, hello, my dear. You know, that's some golf.
00:38:45Yes, indeed, it's worth it.
00:39:02The coffee will be ready in just a little while.
00:39:05Fine.
00:39:07You know, my father's recipe for coffee was to make salt out of it.
00:39:13It was to make salt and chocolate with the grounds.
00:39:16Cook them all up together.
00:39:19He'd never drink anything else.
00:39:21Sounds wonderful.
00:39:23They serve it at a small downtown restaurant I eat at occasionally.
00:39:28I must remember to mention it to Fred.
00:39:32You said he was a confirmed coffee drinker?
00:39:35Dedicated.
00:39:36Fine.
00:39:38He's quite a young man, this husband of yours.
00:39:40Have you had a chance to read much of the report?
00:39:42Of course, it isn't finished yet, but...
00:39:44Well, thank you for letting me see this much.
00:39:47Not according to Miss Post, I suppose, at the dinner party, but...
00:39:51It makes me extremely proud of my gentleman.
00:39:54I'm so happy.
00:39:56He's been worried about it and...
00:39:57Nancy!
00:39:59Will you excuse me?
00:40:00Yes.
00:40:10Wonderful party, you two.
00:40:12Makes me think I should get married.
00:40:14Oh, don't do anything as drastic as that.
00:40:16Wonderful having you, Ed. Come again soon.
00:40:18You try keeping me away.
00:40:20I'll see you at the office tomorrow, Fred.
00:40:21Yes, bright and early, Ed.
00:40:22Good night.
00:40:23Ah, Jamie, you don't have to go yet. Stick around a while. It's early.
00:40:26Of course, I'd love to stay all night, however...
00:40:28We're going home.
00:40:29Can't get him out of here, Nancy.
00:40:31Usually he leaves office parties as soon as the canapes are fast.
00:40:34I thought everybody behaved very well.
00:40:36I thought so.
00:40:37Gotta give credit to her.
00:40:38Not again.
00:40:39I was beginning to like her.
00:40:41Will you come over and see us?
00:40:42Certainly.
00:40:43Come over during the day?
00:40:44You know, nowadays, Jamie never gets home at all.
00:40:47I think we wives ought to form a union.
00:40:49You're right. We should.
00:40:50Good night, dear. Bye-bye.
00:40:51Good night.
00:40:59I wonder what happened to Bill Briggs tonight.
00:41:01Oh, darling, I forgot to tell you.
00:41:03He phoned earlier.
00:41:04He said he wanted to come, but he just didn't feel up to it.
00:41:07Oh, Nancy, I wish you'd have called me to the phone.
00:41:09I wanted to talk to him anyway.
00:41:10Darling, you were busy.
00:41:11Well, I know, but I...
00:41:15What about Ramsey? Is he planning to spend the night?
00:41:17No.
00:41:18He just gravitated towards the library and made himself cozy.
00:41:23That sounds a little like artificial gravitation to me.
00:41:26You didn't have anything to do with it, of course.
00:41:28Well, he's really an amazing person.
00:41:32You know, I expected a real tycoon, but he's so simple.
00:41:36Almost childlike.
00:41:38Baby, I just hope by mistake you never wander into a jungle.
00:41:44Good night, dear.
00:41:45Good night, dear.
00:41:51Some interesting reading matter here, Fred.
00:41:54Very interesting reading.
00:41:57I took the liberty of accepting your wife's kind invitation to look over your report.
00:42:02Oh, really?
00:42:03Good, heady stuff.
00:42:05Good, solid thinking.
00:42:07And some of it is better than good.
00:42:10Of course, I can't say that I agree with all your conclusions,
00:42:13but I listen to arguments.
00:42:16It'll be good to hear arguments for a change.
00:42:19Good arguments.
00:42:21Well, I can't tell you what a relief that is.
00:42:22We really sweat that one out.
00:42:24Fred, I like a man to show initiative.
00:42:27I like a man who's not afraid to think a new thought,
00:42:30to take a different kind of step on his own.
00:42:33With your permission, I'll borrow this extra copy of your report just overnight.
00:42:38But for now, I can say I'm very impressed.
00:42:43Well, of course, we haven't finished this thing yet,
00:42:45but Bill and I feel that another week...
00:42:47Bill?
00:42:49You mean Briggs?
00:42:52Yes, sir.
00:42:53Well, we work together on this.
00:42:55Oh, come now, Staples.
00:42:57I pride myself on my sense for style.
00:42:59I can link what I see with what I know to be peculiar to a certain individual.
00:43:03And I know Bill Briggs well.
00:43:05I've been exposed to it since I was a voting age.
00:43:08This...
00:43:09This isn't his style.
00:43:11It isn't his brand of thinking.
00:43:13Well, I don't know what Nancy could have told you,
00:43:15but Bill and I work together...
00:43:16Fred, learn to accept success.
00:43:19It's tougher sometimes than learning to accept failure.
00:43:22Don't take half of your accomplishment
00:43:24and hand it out gratuitously to the man on your left.
00:43:27Who hasn't the stuff to do it on his own.
00:43:29That's charitable, humane,
00:43:31and it makes you feel good.
00:43:32But it's not business.
00:43:33Mr. Ramsey, I'd like to clear up one point.
00:43:35There'll be a meeting on Tuesday, Fred.
00:43:37We can discuss the report then.
00:43:40I assure you I don't want any undue credit.
00:43:42I never extend undue credit.
00:43:44Ask anybody.
00:43:45Ask your friend Briggs.
00:43:48You think I'm tough on him, don't you?
00:43:52I am tough on him.
00:43:54I am tough on him.
00:43:59I think Bill is...
00:44:02I think he's a good man.
00:44:04He was.
00:44:06And grandfather clocks were good clocks,
00:44:08and Stanley steamers were good automobiles,
00:44:10but you can't run them in competition today.
00:44:13I must say that I like some of his ideas very much.
00:44:17Very much indeed.
00:44:18So do I.
00:44:20Some of them.
00:44:21Some of them.
00:44:23Not many.
00:44:26Still, a man with Bill's experience and...
00:44:31I don't know. I think he'd be very hard to replace.
00:44:33I'll see if that coffee's ready.
00:44:35Are you serious, Fred?
00:44:36Briggs would be hard to replace?
00:44:39Do you honestly think that?
00:44:41And why do you think I brought you on here from Mansfield
00:44:43on such short notice?
00:44:45Do you think that was a whim?
00:44:46Is that what you think?
00:44:48Fred, you're Briggs' replacement.
00:44:51I thought you understood that.
00:44:55I'm...
00:44:57expecting his resignation.
00:44:59I don't like to prolong these things.
00:45:01They're unpleasant and personal,
00:45:03no matter what tack you use.
00:45:06And under no circumstances
00:45:08could I or would I undertake to fire him.
00:45:18Coffee's in the living room.
00:45:19I thought perhaps you'd like to go in there.
00:45:20It's quiet.
00:45:21Look at the time. I really must go.
00:45:24It's been a wonderful evening.
00:45:26I'm sorry you have to leave so soon.
00:45:28I really must.
00:45:30My coat, I think, is in the bedroom.
00:45:34Oh, yes, of course. I'll get it for you.
00:45:46May I make a suggestion?
00:45:50Mr. Ramsey, I don't want to seem ungrateful.
00:45:52I'm not looking for gratitude.
00:45:55You can't run a business on thank-you notes.
00:45:58That's Briggs' trouble.
00:46:00And, God forgive me, that was my father's trouble, too.
00:46:03This...
00:46:05This incredible conception of a huge industry
00:46:08being run like a soup kitchen,
00:46:09like a...
00:46:10like a welfare comfort station.
00:46:14I know what the old-timers think of me.
00:46:16I've grown up getting stared at
00:46:18by a lot of tongue-clucking old fogies
00:46:20who find me ruthless.
00:46:22The kind of people who represent everything
00:46:24that might have kept our business
00:46:26from growing to anything like its present size.
00:46:29This...
00:46:30This stupid black-and-white idea
00:46:32that honesty and fair profit are incompatible.
00:46:36I just happen to feel
00:46:38that the atmosphere of a large corporation
00:46:41cannot be constantly cathedral-like.
00:46:44Thank you, Mrs. Staples.
00:46:47And, again, thanks for a wonderful evening.
00:46:57I'll see you in the morning, friend.
00:47:01You didn't steal anything, did you?
00:47:04I didn't steal anything.
00:47:06I didn't steal anything.
00:47:08I didn't steal anything.
00:47:10I didn't steal anything.
00:47:12You didn't steal that promotion.
00:47:15You won it.
00:47:17Remember that.
00:47:25Good night, Mr. Ramsey.
00:47:26Hope you'll come soon again.
00:47:27Thank you, Nancy.
00:47:28I hope I'll be able to.
00:47:29Good night.
00:47:30Good night.
00:47:42What was that all about?
00:47:45I'm Bill Briggs' replacement.
00:47:49A vice presidency.
00:47:51You must have really spread it on.
00:47:54Listen.
00:47:56A little rare roast beef and wifely pride
00:47:59don't get you that kind of a promotion.
00:48:01Yeah, I'll take something a little more.
00:48:04A little misrepresentation, for one thing.
00:48:07A little switch in authorship.
00:48:09A little switch in authorship for another.
00:48:12You told him I'd written that report.
00:48:14I did not.
00:48:15I told him, Bill, it helped you.
00:48:16But, Nancy, this is Bill's basic idea.
00:48:18Oh, the same set of ideas that he's had for years.
00:48:20I gathered that much.
00:48:22You gave it life.
00:48:23You made it work.
00:48:24You made it practical.
00:48:25Even so, Nancy, I don't want any part of it.
00:48:26Oh, Fred, I happen to know what you contributed to this.
00:48:29I also know that you can't stand winning
00:48:32if you have even a nodding acquaintance with a loser.
00:48:34I don't like stepping on another human being
00:48:36to get into our capital gains bracket.
00:48:37Ramsey's stalking that poor guy like an animal.
00:48:39He'll whip him to death if he has to to make him resign.
00:48:41I didn't hear you tell Mr. Ramsey that he was mistaken.
00:48:43I didn't hear any clear-cut defense of Mr. Briggs.
00:48:46If you don't want to be successful,
00:48:48go and tell that to Mr. Ramsey.
00:48:49He'll give you a room.
00:48:50Will you please?
00:48:51You can check in at 7 o'clock every night,
00:48:52but don't tell him.
00:48:53Now, look, I don't want to argue about this.
00:48:54Neither do I.
00:48:55I just want you to answer me.
00:48:58Did you tell him that your wife was mistaken?
00:49:01Did you tell him that you were taking vows
00:49:02for something you did not do?
00:49:08No.
00:49:12No, I didn't.
00:49:15Why not, Fred?
00:49:18Why not?
00:49:21Because I want the job.
00:49:28For a straight and honest answer.
00:49:31Now, I think we can both sleep tonight.
00:49:37Good night.
00:50:08Hi.
00:50:09Good morning, Paul.
00:50:12Where's Cora?
00:50:13She's late, I guess.
00:50:19Aren't you going to be late for school?
00:50:21It's only 8.10.
00:50:23I've still got six minutes.
00:50:25You've got it figured out to a science, haven't you?
00:50:29I've just got it figured to how far I have to go
00:50:31and how long it's going to take me.
00:50:33Well, if you found that out, you've found out a lot.
00:50:38Thanks for breakfast.
00:50:42You worked late again last night.
00:50:44Yeah, no rest for the weary.
00:50:47You haven't got it down to a science yet, have you, Dad?
00:50:50What?
00:50:52How far you have to go and how long it'll take you.
00:50:57What's the matter, Paul?
00:51:03Here, here's last night's double header.
00:51:05The one we were going to see.
00:51:07Oh, I forgot all about it, Paul.
00:51:10I'm sorry.
00:51:12We didn't miss much.
00:51:13I watched it on television.
00:51:15Crummy double header.
00:51:16The Braves took both of them.
00:51:17You're lucky.
00:51:19The Yanks are playing tonight, aren't they?
00:51:21Yeah, they play the Red Sox.
00:51:23Let's start all over again.
00:51:25You meet me at the office, we'll have dinner
00:51:26and then we'll go to the game together.
00:51:27Sounds good.
00:51:28It's a date.
00:51:31You're on.
00:51:32So long, Dad.
00:51:33Have a good day and...
00:51:35Uh...
00:51:37If you can't make it tonight,
00:51:38would you give me a call at school?
00:51:41I've raised the world's worst pessimist.
00:51:43At eight o'clock in the morning,
00:51:44you're figuring out the worst possible thing
00:51:45that could happen at six o'clock tonight.
00:51:48Upstairs in my room, I've...
00:51:50I've got a drawer full of tickets to ballgames
00:51:52we've never seen.
00:51:54Because of that stuff.
00:51:56But, um...
00:51:57Call me if you can't, Dad.
00:51:58It's important.
00:52:00I'll make it this time, son.
00:52:02Can't you have another glass of milk
00:52:04and maybe tell me about last night's double header?
00:52:07I'd be late.
00:52:08Wish I could.
00:52:10So long, Dad.
00:52:11Take it easy.
00:52:12Sure.
00:52:33Good evening, Mr. Staple.
00:52:34Good evening, Sally.
00:52:37Good evening.
00:52:51Paul?
00:53:02Hi, Bill.
00:53:04Hi, friend.
00:53:05I thought it was my son.
00:53:07He's gonna pick me up.
00:53:10Got time for a cigarette?
00:53:13Sure.
00:53:18What are you doing here?
00:53:19I thought you were going to the ballgame.
00:53:22I've had a miserable headache since dinner.
00:53:25So I sent Paul on to see the game alone.
00:53:28He's gonna pick me up.
00:53:30How long you been here?
00:53:32Couple of hours, I guess.
00:53:36Can I get you an aspirin or something?
00:53:38Oh, no, no.
00:53:39It's much better now.
00:53:42Anyway, it gave me a chance to look over
00:53:45the supplements you did for the report.
00:53:49I think Ramsey's right, Fred.
00:53:52You may be an engineer by diploma,
00:53:53but you're a crackerjack industrial planner
00:53:57by instinct or something.
00:53:59Coming from you, Bill, that sounds real good.
00:54:02No question about it.
00:54:03Some of your suggestions were great, Fred.
00:54:06Really great.
00:54:07I've incorporated them verbatim.
00:54:12I like your approach, Fred.
00:54:14You think of people in terms of the human factor,
00:54:17not just logistically.
00:54:20Something I've never been able to make Ramsey understand.
00:54:24Anyway, now he can't complain.
00:54:27I turn in the same report every year.
00:54:30He won't be able to say that this year.
00:54:33Join me, Fred?
00:54:36No, thanks, Bill.
00:54:37I've got to pick Nancy up for supper
00:54:41and that long drive home, you know.
00:54:47I don't know.
00:54:48Maybe I'm just getting old.
00:54:51I used to be pretty tough.
00:54:54Still tough, I guess.
00:54:57But every now and then I get tired.
00:55:00Every now and then I get tired.
00:55:06Tired of arguments, tired of battling,
00:55:09tired of the whole bloody mess
00:55:11with all this fancy organization and super finagling.
00:55:14Oh, I know it's legal and modern and all that.
00:55:17It's what they call the trend, isn't it?
00:55:20In the old days, things were a lot simpler.
00:55:23Businesses grow, Bill.
00:55:25This business didn't grow,
00:55:27not since old man Ramsey passed on.
00:55:29It's been added to.
00:55:31That's not growth.
00:55:32It's just plain acquisition
00:55:34of business of stock transfers and bank loans
00:55:37manipulated by hired shysters
00:55:39and their sharpshooting accountants
00:55:41and organized and controlled
00:55:43by a barracuda like Walter Ramsey.
00:55:48You sure you won't have a snifter, Fred?
00:55:51I wish you would.
00:55:52No.
00:55:54Well, times change, Bill. You know that.
00:55:57But do they always change for the better?
00:55:59Old man Ramsey could walk down a production line
00:56:01and call every man by his first name
00:56:03and get called by his first name in return.
00:56:06I know that feeling. Believe me.
00:56:08He didn't need public relations experts.
00:56:11Honor was enough. Character.
00:56:14And he never sold a share of stock in his company either.
00:56:17Not till the Depression came along
00:56:19and he had to raise cash or go under.
00:56:21And do you know why?
00:56:22Because he would not lay off one single man.
00:56:26That's the kind of man Jim Ramsey was.
00:56:30Now I sit in that fancy conference room
00:56:33with Jim Ramsey's son.
00:56:36I sit there and I see all the old man's principles.
00:56:40All his beliefs.
00:56:42Every single thing holy to him.
00:56:44Jobbed off by this spindly little financial wizard,
00:56:47this wall-eyed, ice-coated little rooster
00:56:50who knows more about debentures than he does about the human heart.
00:56:53Bill.
00:56:54I'm all right.
00:56:55Take it easy.
00:56:56I'm all right.
00:56:57Begin to work yourself up.
00:56:59I'm all right.
00:57:03Sit down, friend.
00:57:06Sit down quietly and be a nice, sympathetic friend and associate.
00:57:12I'm wondering if you're as good a human being as you are
00:57:15an industrial relations man.
00:57:21He doesn't like you, does he?
00:57:23No.
00:57:26Bill, has it ever occurred to you to resign?
00:57:30Of course it has.
00:57:32A thousand times.
00:57:35Why don't you?
00:57:37What?
00:57:39Resign.
00:57:40You can't take the chance of letting this man fire you.
00:57:43On our level, you don't get fired.
00:57:45You know that.
00:57:47After 30 years of productive work,
00:57:49they can't say to a man like me,
00:57:51all right, now get out.
00:57:53They just can't do that.
00:57:55So what do they do?
00:57:57They create a situation.
00:57:59A situation you can't work in
00:58:01and finally that you can't live in.
00:58:04Where there's no way out.
00:58:07And finally that you can't live in.
00:58:10Where there's tension, abuse,
00:58:13small humiliations.
00:58:16It all starts out on a scale so subtle, so microscopic,
00:58:21that at first you can't really believe it's happening at all.
00:58:25But gradually the thing begins to take shape.
00:58:29The pieces fit together, all the little bits,
00:58:32and it becomes unmistakable.
00:58:35All the way at your pride, your security,
00:58:38till you begin to have doubts.
00:58:42Then fears.
00:58:46Ramsey.
00:58:48He wants me to resign.
00:58:50He wants me to get my cross so full
00:58:52that I'll be miserable enough to do just that.
00:58:54But you take it.
00:58:55Yes, I take it.
00:58:56Why?
00:58:57The bigger the job, the more desperately you try to handle it.
00:58:59Why?
00:59:01Why?
00:59:02Why do you take it? Why don't you quit?
00:59:04Quit?
00:59:05Yes, quit. Get out of it. Chuck it.
00:59:07You'd have your pension, your peace of mind.
00:59:10No.
00:59:11You know Ramsey's gonna go on hounding you
00:59:14until he makes you quit.
00:59:15Never.
00:59:17He'll never make me quit.
00:59:24Bill, I...
00:59:26I wish I could understand why you go on taking it.
00:59:30Because I'm weak, I guess.
00:59:32Because I'm 62 years old and I don't think I could get another job.
00:59:36How does that strike you?
00:59:38How do you think?
00:59:42Once in a while I have a dream.
00:59:45I dream I'm sitting in that conference room
00:59:47and he starts working me over.
00:59:50I'm just smiling, see?
00:59:52Perfectly calm and I'm taking it.
00:59:55I don't show the slightest resentment.
00:59:58And then...
01:00:00And then without any change of expression
01:00:02I get up out of my chair and I walk over to him.
01:00:05And I say, Ramsey...
01:00:07Bill.
01:00:08Ramsey!
01:00:09Bill!
01:00:10Ramsey, I say!
01:00:11And then I smash him!
01:00:12Bill!
01:00:13And then I smash him again!
01:00:14Bill, get a hold of yourself!
01:00:15And I hit him again!
01:00:16What's wrong with you?
01:00:17And I hold him up!
01:00:18Bill!
01:00:19And I say, I'm not through!
01:00:20Bill!
01:00:26It's the kid.
01:00:28He's coming to pick me up.
01:00:29Fred, I don't want him to see me.
01:00:31Not like this!
01:00:32You're all right, Bill.
01:00:33Just sit down now.
01:00:34No, he can't see me like this!
01:00:35Fred, help me!
01:00:36Help me!
01:00:37All right, all right.
01:00:38I'll take care of him.
01:00:39You just lay low for a minute.
01:00:40I'll see you get home.
01:00:41Tell him I left early to get some rest.
01:00:43Bill, please be quiet!
01:00:44Hurry!
01:00:45Be quiet!
01:00:52Oh, it's me, Paul.
01:00:54Oh, hi, Mr. Staples.
01:00:57Man, what a place by night.
01:01:00Where do they keep the caskets?
01:01:02How you doing, partner?
01:01:03Dad said I should drop in and pick him up.
01:01:05Oh, well, he went on home.
01:01:07He needed a little rest.
01:01:08Oh, good.
01:01:10He's under orders not to work late.
01:01:13Can't seem to keep away lately.
01:01:15Always work, always worrying.
01:01:18No wonder he's number two, man.
01:01:20Suppose I drop you off at Grand Central, huh?
01:01:22Swell, thanks, Mr. Staples.
01:01:24Ever since I can remember, he's been married to this place.
01:01:26Mom used to say the same thing.
01:01:29They were great together, Mr. Staples, Mom and Dad.
01:01:32They used to yell and argue and carry on.
01:01:35He was a fighter.
01:01:37It was great growing up.
01:01:38I remember.
01:01:41Oh, here they are.
01:02:06Moore?
01:02:08Moore?
01:02:09There's another bundle on the truck.
01:02:25Mr. Staples, you left your hat in Mr. Briggs' office.
01:02:28Oh, Fred, I have the Stanley contracts made up.
01:02:30Would you like to take a look at them?
01:02:31Right here, please.
01:02:33Bad night.
01:02:38Yes, Mr. Staples?
01:02:40Now, this is the proposals report.
01:02:42Give that to Miss Lanier for confidential memoing.
01:02:45Tell her that Mr. Briggs has the only carbon.
01:02:48Is he in yet?
01:02:49No, sir.
01:02:50Mr. Staples?
01:02:51Yes?
01:02:52It's not signed.
01:02:53How would you like the names?
01:02:55In what order?
01:02:56First yours, or first Mr. Briggs?
01:02:58Oh, I don't care.
01:02:59It makes no difference to me.
01:03:00But in joint projects, Mr. Staples...
01:03:02I really don't think it's too important.
01:03:04Put Mr. Briggs' name first, if you like.
01:03:06Just give it to Miss Lanier right away.
01:03:08I'd like this thing printed by afternoon, if possible.
01:03:14That's all, Marge.
01:03:15Yes, Mr. Staples.
01:03:17That's all, Marge.
01:03:18Yes, Mr. Staples.
01:03:35Yes, Marge dear, what is it?
01:03:36The proposals report.
01:03:37Would you sign it so it can be printed?
01:03:39Oh, would you...
01:03:42Just a moment, please.
01:03:43Marge, will you please take it in to Mr. Ramsey?
01:03:45I'd like to see it first.
01:03:46Hello?
01:03:48Oh, yes, good morning.
01:03:50Is that the report?
01:03:51Yes, sir.
01:03:52Miss Lanier said you wanted to see it.
01:03:53Yes, I do.
01:03:55Who signed this?
01:03:56I wrote the title page.
01:03:57Mr. Staples suggested I sign it.
01:04:04Print it.
01:04:05I'm sure that if Mr. Staples...
01:04:06Print it, Miss Fleming.
01:04:16I can sign that report now, Marge.
01:04:25Now, we meet with Ramsey in 20 minutes.
01:04:27Under the conditions and in the time we've got left,
01:04:29it's the best plan I can devise and it's the only one ready,
01:04:31so you fellas have got to go along.
01:04:33There's nothing wrong with...
01:04:34Marge, I can sign that report now.
01:04:36Hold us up for a while.
01:04:37You've got to order section B and review the...
01:04:43Thank you, Marge.
01:04:46Good.
01:04:55The major projects during the period of aforementioned being
01:04:58the Huber Petroleum Refinery,
01:05:00the Sterling Cast Airs Refinery,
01:05:02the Chatham Nickel Smelter Company,
01:05:04the Henderson Valley Dam,
01:05:05the Swing Carbon Steam Plant
01:05:07and the New England Canadian Natural Gas Pipeline.
01:05:10Good report, Van.
01:05:12I got a real feeling of activity during your reading.
01:05:16The next item of business is the project's proposal report.
01:05:21Clearly of the greatest single importance on our docket this morning.
01:05:24I must say, and I'm sure you'll all agree,
01:05:26that I am not given to enthusiasms at the drop of a submission.
01:05:30But of this, I feel impelled to say
01:05:32that it is unique in effort, ingenious in thought.
01:05:35To Mr. Fred Staples of our organization
01:05:37goes my heartfelt thanks and congratulations.
01:05:40Besides being our newest member,
01:05:41he seems to be shaping up as among our most astute.
01:05:44This set of proposals is ingenious,
01:05:46comprehensive and fresh.
01:05:48Congratulations.
01:05:50Your success is a reaffirmation of my own judgment.
01:05:52Mr. Ramsey.
01:05:53Of my own good judgment, I may add.
01:05:54Mr. Ramsey.
01:05:55I prefer not to be drenched with modesty, Mr. Staples.
01:05:57This is not modesty,
01:05:58just the extension of credit where it's due.
01:06:01Bill here is as responsible as...
01:06:03Mr. Banks, is your name about to be used in vain?
01:06:06I don't think Fred would use my name in vain.
01:06:08And it's refreshing to find someone
01:06:10not suffering from over-modesty.
01:06:12What I was trying to say is
01:06:14that we worked on this project together.
01:06:16It's a combined effort.
01:06:17I'm sure it was.
01:06:19Well, as long as that's understood.
01:06:21Oh, it is, it is.
01:06:22It's just that I feel reasonably competent
01:06:24to assess individual performances
01:06:26and to single out those that I feel should be singled out
01:06:30with all due regard for Mr. Staples' concern
01:06:33for his fellow man.
01:06:36Now then, if Mr. Briggs' ego has been sufficiently nourished...
01:06:39I don't think Fred brought this out to feed my ego.
01:06:41Oh? Well, then whatever it was
01:06:43that prompted his precipitate dash to your defense.
01:06:45There was no dash to my defense.
01:06:47Why don't we drop the thing, Mr. Briggs?
01:06:49I hate becoming entangled
01:06:50in absurd little personality conflicts.
01:06:52I'll put a star by your name on the front cover
01:06:54if that'll make you happy.
01:06:55My name is no longer on the front cover.
01:06:57Mr. Briggs.
01:06:58You're twisting the entire thing
01:06:59to make it appear as if I were grubbing
01:07:00for some sort of recognition.
01:07:01Mr. Briggs.
01:07:02I find it unfair, Mr. Ramsey.
01:07:04We have a full agenda.
01:07:06If you feel so bruised
01:07:07that you must persist in prolonging this discussion...
01:07:10Mr. Ramsey.
01:07:11Let me finish, Mr. Staples, if I may.
01:07:13We have only one purpose here.
01:07:15To work.
01:07:16We cannot hope to accomplish this
01:07:18if we must be continually subjected
01:07:20to these singularly unbecoming strains and tensions.
01:07:23These childish claims and counterclaims.
01:07:27Mr. Briggs, I ask you a simple question.
01:07:29Is it or is it not within my province
01:07:31to credit a man with a job well done?
01:07:33Of course it is.
01:07:34Then may we drop it now?
01:07:36Only if it's clearly understood
01:07:37that I don't submit to any of these
01:07:38calculated discolorations of a man's worth.
01:07:40As to a man's worth, Mr. Briggs,
01:07:42I think I've proven myself a competent judge.
01:07:45I ask you to recall that I built this business
01:07:47from a scratch pile of used lumber
01:07:49and a few machines into a giant.
01:07:51And I made few mistakes in doing it.
01:07:53Few mistakes in business
01:07:54and few mistakes in judging men.
01:07:56Well, you've made one this time.
01:07:57This report...
01:07:58I refuse to engage in a running fight
01:07:59because a supposedly responsible official of this company
01:08:02persists in wasting time haggling over credit.
01:08:05That is not fair.
01:08:06I was not haggling over credit.
01:08:07This is a joint report that we worked on.
01:08:09Don't presume to tell me what's true and what is not true.
01:08:11What am I, some kind of idiot
01:08:13that I can't recognize another man's thinking?
01:08:15Whatever your abilities in the past, Mr. Briggs,
01:08:17your work hasn't shown this stamp
01:08:19of originality and talent in ten years.
01:08:21A man slips, clutches, he loses his grip,
01:08:25he tries to hang on by someone else's.
01:08:27You have no right to say that.
01:08:29Bill, will you please speak up?
01:08:32Do, by all means, Mr. Briggs.
01:08:35You think I'm mistaken, do you?
01:08:37Shall I go through 150 pages
01:08:40and point out to you line by line
01:08:42where another man has taken over for you?
01:08:44Has had to take over for you?
01:08:45And I can point out sections of this report
01:08:47that I never had to touch?
01:08:48Had to, Mr. Staples, of course you can.
01:08:50Let me show them to you.
01:08:52I've seen them submitted year after year.
01:08:54Principles and precepts for better business.
01:08:57Mr. Briggs, yearly platitudes.
01:09:00But you translated his unworkable,
01:09:02well-intentioned philosophy
01:09:03into tough business procedure.
01:09:05You make it work.
01:09:07Ramsey!
01:09:08Mr. Briggs, I will not tolerate
01:09:10insubordination on any level.
01:09:12And if anyone here finds that intolerable,
01:09:14he has the God-given right to offer his resignation.
01:09:30Bill.
01:09:32Please.
01:09:36Mr. Ramsey.
01:09:39I had no intention of seeming insubordinate, I...
01:09:59Meeting is adjourned.
01:10:01Meeting is adjourned.
01:10:14Mr. Briggs.
01:10:20Mr. Briggs.
01:10:24Bill, are you there?
01:10:25Bill.
01:10:27Bill, can you hear me?
01:10:29A little...
01:10:30A little bottle of pills.
01:10:33Cold.
01:10:34Office.
01:10:35Get some water.
01:10:36Yes.
01:10:37Rannigan, get an ambulance.
01:10:39I'll call Dr. Laker.
01:10:40Don't move him.
01:10:42Fred, he's still...
01:10:45Still giving orders.
01:10:48Do me a favor, Fred.
01:10:50What, Bill?
01:10:51Tell him...
01:10:53Tell him...
01:10:55Go to...
01:10:58Go to...
01:11:16Hello?
01:11:21Thank you, Mr. Staples.
01:11:24Five minutes to go.
01:11:44Just had word from the hospital.
01:11:47He died five minutes ago.
01:11:50Thank you, Mr. Rannigan.
01:13:54Nancy?
01:13:56What are you doing here?
01:13:58I called your office.
01:14:00And there wasn't any train, so I drove here.
01:14:05How did you know where to find me?
01:14:08They told me at the hospital.
01:14:12Does Paul know?
01:14:17Yes, he's with Bill's sister. He's all right.
01:14:20Bill's sister, he's all right.
01:14:22Did you have something else for me?
01:14:27Have you had anything to eat?
01:14:29Huh?
01:14:31Have you eaten anything?
01:14:39Fred...
01:14:41What happened?
01:14:44Nothing.
01:14:47Not a thing.
01:14:49Except a murder.
01:14:52There were witnesses, too. Plenty of us.
01:14:56And no one lifted a finger to stop it.
01:14:58Oh, Fred...
01:14:59Nancy, I know. I didn't lift a finger.
01:15:01You don't know.
01:15:03I'm not going to have you going around in sackcloth and ashes
01:15:06for something that you did everything in your power to stop.
01:15:09You begged him to resign. You know that.
01:15:12What more could you have done?
01:15:14What more could anyone have done?
01:15:15Nancy, I think you'd better go home.
01:15:17Would you take this, please?
01:15:19Are you coming?
01:15:20No.
01:15:22Then I won't go.
01:15:23I want you to go home and start packing.
01:15:27Where are we going?
01:15:29I don't know. Somewhere, anywhere.
01:15:32Just away.
01:15:34There's an awful stink in this town and we're going to get away from it.
01:15:40Come on, I'll put you in the car.
01:15:41No, I'm not going to leave you alone.
01:15:43Nancy, I want you to go home, please.
01:15:44No, I'm not going tonight.
01:15:46Tomorrow I'll do anything you ask.
01:15:47I'll pack, I'll go anywhere you ask, but not tonight.
01:15:50Not in the state you're in.
01:15:51Now look, there's something I've got to do.
01:15:53Fine.
01:15:54Then we'll do it together.
01:16:13Come on.
01:16:44Bill was supposed to go to Lansing tomorrow morning for a meeting with Phillips.
01:16:49You'll have to take his place.
01:16:51I believe I've already mentioned that.
01:16:53Yeah, you mentioned it.
01:17:00You'll leave on flight number 116, 832 from LaGuardia.
01:17:06Miss Lanier will meet you at the airport with your reservation
01:17:08and all the memoranda and correspondence pertaining to the case.
01:17:11You'll have three uninterrupted hours in the air
01:17:13to familiarize yourself with all the details.
01:17:16I have no interest whatever in the Phillips matter.
01:17:20What was that?
01:17:21I'm telling you that I don't want the job.
01:17:23I'm through, I'm quitting.
01:17:24I resign as of now.
01:17:26Why?
01:17:27Because I hate your guts.
01:17:30You used Bill Briggs for a whipping boy.
01:17:32You made him knuckle under and then you beat him to death.
01:17:35You wouldn't try anything like that with me
01:17:36because I wouldn't let you get away with it.
01:17:38And you beat him to death.
01:17:39You wouldn't try anything like that with me
01:17:41because I'd kill you first.
01:17:43I'm not a nice human being.
01:17:44What else?
01:17:45You're nothing but a freak.
01:17:47You drive your people into peak efficiency
01:17:49if they can make it or a grave if they can't.
01:17:52Because Bill Briggs lacked the strength and the capacity.
01:17:54He was second in command.
01:17:56He had a lot of responsibility to hold and he cracked out of it.
01:17:59It was his business too.
01:18:00It's no one's business.
01:18:02It belongs only to the best.
01:18:03To those who can control it, sustain it, nurture it, keep it growing.
01:18:07Right now it belongs to us because we're producing.
01:18:10But in the future it belongs to whoever has the brains,
01:18:12the nerve and the skill to take it away from us.
01:18:15Well, they can have my share of it right now
01:18:16because I don't want any part of it.
01:18:18What do you want from me? Apologies?
01:18:20I don't apologize.
01:18:23What else?
01:18:25A nice unsullied conscience?
01:18:28You walk out of here with a halo because you spoke your mind?
01:18:32What do you do then?
01:18:34Go to work for some nickel and dime outfit
01:18:36run by nice people
01:18:37who won't challenge you and prod you and goad you
01:18:40and drive you to a height you never even dreamed of?
01:18:43A company where there's nothing to fight for
01:18:45because you're the best and there's no competition?
01:18:48Where everything is handed to you
01:18:50and nothing is worth fighting for?
01:18:53I want you to stay!
01:18:56I don't think you understand, Ramsey.
01:18:59I don't like you.
01:19:00I don't like anything about you.
01:19:02I didn't hire you to like me.
01:19:03All right, I'm not a nice person in your eyes.
01:19:06But whatever I am, you learn more, grow more
01:19:08and do more here with me than anywhere else on earth.
01:19:12I want you to stay because I need help on my level.
01:19:15And you're the only one who's able to function there.
01:19:18Be a conscience for me if you want.
01:19:20Be anything you like.
01:19:22And if it's something I don't like,
01:19:23you'll know about it soon enough.
01:19:25I think you're strong enough to take it.
01:19:27And if not, I think you're strong enough to get out.
01:19:30Name your terms.
01:19:31Name your terms!
01:19:32All terms are negotiable.
01:19:35I don't think so.
01:19:37Not mine.
01:19:38All right.
01:19:40I just assume not waste any time doing trading.
01:19:43As of now, your salary is doubled.
01:19:46Your stock option is doubled right down the line.
01:19:50Your expense account is whatever you make it.
01:19:52Add to that a new title, vice president.
01:19:58I want a lot more than that.
01:20:01You're not going to take me on as just another vice president
01:20:04you can push around.
01:20:06You'll take me as someone who hates you down to the bare nerve.
01:20:10Nothing in the world will ever change that.
01:20:12I'll argue with you, contradict you,
01:20:14fight you in every way I know how.
01:20:17I'll do everything in my power to push you out
01:20:19and take your place myself.
01:20:21Go ahead and try.
01:20:24Mr. Staples, you have yourself a deal.
01:20:28Have it drawn up.
01:20:30No reservations now?
01:20:35Yes, one.
01:20:37Bill had one pitiful little dream
01:20:39that someday he'd walk in here and break your jaw.
01:20:43I reserve the right to have that wish for myself.
01:20:47I'll have it drawn into the contract
01:20:50with a little rider giving me the same privilege.
01:21:00Oh, uh...
01:21:02Staples,
01:21:04you'll be pleased to know that Bill Briggs' boy is being taken care of.
01:21:11Will that let you sleep better tonight?
01:21:15It begins, huh?
01:21:18It begins. Fair enough?
01:21:21Fair enough.
01:21:29Fair enough.
01:22:00Do we pack?
01:22:03No. We stay.
01:22:07On whose terms?
01:22:09Mine.
01:22:11And his.
01:22:13Are you satisfied?
01:22:15Yes.
01:22:17Oh, Fred.
01:22:19You know, it's easy enough to chuck something you think is wrong,
01:22:23but, I don't know, this way maybe there's a chance.
01:22:26I'm sorry.
01:22:27This way maybe there's a chance.
01:22:29I'm so happy.
01:22:31Well, we'll see.
01:22:33I've got to go to Lansing.
01:22:35Morning plane.
01:22:37When will you be back?
01:22:38Tomorrow night.
01:22:40I'll be late.
01:22:43Aren't you always?
01:22:58I'm sorry.
01:23:00I'm sorry.
01:23:03I'm sorry.
01:23:05I'm sorry.
01:23:07I'm sorry.
01:23:09I'm sorry.
01:23:11I'm sorry.
01:23:14I'm sorry.
01:23:16I'm sorry.
01:23:18I'm sorry.
01:23:20I'm sorry.
01:23:22I'm sorry.
01:23:24I'm sorry.
01:23:25I'm sorry.
01:23:27I'm sorry.