Hello. Good Lord, what happened to you?
Oh, nothing. A hard landing. I cut my foot.
Sit down. I'll take care of it. You tell me everything.
You cannot imagine what it was like, Katie. You cannot imagine the speed.
- She was like a winged bullet up there. - What did she make?
Oh, around 352.
You did it!
Fastest man on the planet.
Hot dog! I'm so proud of you.
- She did it, baby. - You knew she would.
Oh, she was fine. She was just fine.
Now let me see your foot.
Yeah.
- Good God! You're covered in blood. - Oh, no. That's just beet juice.
- I crashed into a beet field. - What?
Yeah, I crashed in a beet field.
Let me get you cleaned up.
- Heavens, what is this? Electrical tape? - Yeah. Odie just sort of slammed it on there.
But all I could think about was getting home to see you.
I am so proud of you.
Now, this is gonna sting a little bit.
Oh, this is useless. Come to the bathroom.
- Don't get beet juice on the carpet. - I won't, I won't.
- Too hot! - Don't be a baby.
Was the press there?
Some.
But they're calling everyone. Should be on the wires by now.
What is it?
Kate?
I've been famous, for better or worse...
...for a long time now...
...and I wonder if you know what it...
...really means.
Yeah. I had my fair share of press on Hell's Angels.
I'm used to it.
Are you?
Howard, we're...
We're not like everyone else.
Too many acute angles. Too many eccentricities.
We have to be very careful not to...
...let people in, or they'll make us into freaks.
Kate, they can't get in here. We're safe.
They can always get in.
When my brother killed himself...
...there were photographers at the funeral.
There's no decency to it.
You know, sometimes I...
I get these feelings, Katie.
I get these ideas, these...
...crazy ideas about...
...things that may not...
Things that may not really be there.
Yeah.
Sometimes I truly fear that I'm...
...losing my mind.
And if I did, it would...
It'd be like flying blind.
You understand?
You taught me to fly, Howard.
I'll take the wheel.
Smashing all records, Howard Hughes outdoes Jules Verne's wildest dreams.
Around the world from New York to New York in four days.
Even beating Wiley Post's mark by over three days.
New aviation history is written when his Lockheed monoplane...
...returns swiftly and safely. A daring aviator.
A true pioneer of the world's airways.
From New York to Paris, he cuts Lindbergh's time in half. Then on to Moscow.
Thirty-five hours out of New York, he roars across Siberia's trackless wastes.
Sixty hours out of New York, he heads for Alaska, most hazardous hop of all.
Continuing the terrific pace, he comes home...
...bringing new laurels to American aviation.
Howard Hughes and his crew may find more worlds to conquer...
You won't believe this. It just came over the wires. Hughes has bought control of TWA.
I thought Mr. Hughes was flying around the world.
Apparently he did it while he was flying, over the radio.
I have heard some disquieting rumors about Mr. Hughes.
I'd like to know everything there is to know about Mr. Hughes.
I'd like you to attend to that for me.
Thoroughly.
The Pantages is glittering tonight.
- Howard! - Right over here. This way, over to the left.
- Mr. Hughes, how was your flight? - Miss Hepburn!
- When are you gonna name the day? - Raise your head.
What's the next movie? Give us the scoop.
Right here. How many more records are you gonna set?
Right over here. Come on. Give us a smile. It won't kill you.
- Howard, this way. - Beautiful.
Over here, over here, Mr. Hughes.
When are you gonna fly around the world again?
You gonna fly with Kate next time? Did you get lonely without her?
- Talk to Lindbergh about your flight yet? - Where's Linda Darnell tonight?
- Please, Mr. Hughes. - Right here. Right here, Mr. Hughes.
Are you trying to be more famous than Lindbergh?
You know, fame is supposed to be my turf.
L.B.!
If you don't get more distinguished every time I see you.
You look so beautiful.
Is that true?
Don't worry about it, Howard.
She's just working the room. It's her job, baby.
Sultry Southern tigress Ava Gardner dazzles the room tonight.
She's the newest star in the MGM galaxy.
And believe you me, she puts the "cheese" in "cheesecake. "
Well, Jane Eyre has been selling popcorn for over a hundred years, L.B.
Hello.
Could you reach me a towel?
I...
I really can't do that.
I'm sorry.
I'm an idiot. I'm a complete idiot, and I'm sorry.
- Forget it. - No, no. I'm a vain, preening ass...
...without a single redeeming feature. - That's not true. You have very good teeth.
Come on.
I've got a better idea. Take me flying. Or better yet, I'll take you flying.
Do your worst, Miss Hepburn.
Don't be so squirmy. You're gonna get on famously with Father and Mother.
And I'm sure they'll like you too. Once they get to know you.
- Hello! Hello! - Kath, hello.
Kathy.
- Who's that with the camera right there? - That's my ex-husband, Ludlow.
Father and Mother are just mad about Luddie.
- What the hell's he doing here? - Oh, he's here all the time.
Hello!
Sorry we're late.
- Mom. - Oh. Oh, thank you.
- Dad. - Darling.
- Uncle Willy. - Oh, who have we got here?
- Don't feel self-conscious. - Hepburns! Hepburns!
Attention, please. This is Howard.
Howard, welcome.
Don't worry, he's had his lunch.
He likes you. That's unusual.
We pay our devotion to the arts here. A colony we created.
Julian's a painter. Abstract, of course. What's the point of painting...
...something real when you can just take a picture nowadays?
Where do you stand on politics, Mr. Hughes?
- Excuse me? - We're all socialists here.
We are not.
You've met Mr. Roosevelt. What make you of him?
What are you sniggering at?
- What? What was that? - You just sniggered.
No, no. The dog. It seems to be crushing my feet.
- Oh, my God! - Buster!
Hey. Hey!
Don't you like dogs?
I will not have you sniggering at Mr. Roosevelt.
- Please leave. - No. I wasn't.
- I thought everybody liked dogs. - Perhaps he had a bad experience.
Does it upset you that Howard gets more press?
- A bad experience with a dog? - No, no.
- You are such a shy creature, aren't you? - Perhaps it was a very large dog.
- The press can be a damned nuisance. - Was it a Doberman?
- A Doberman, Mr. Hughes? Or a dachshund? - Neither, sir.
- Dachshunds are little dogs, Hep dear. - They should all be lined up and shot.
- What's that Spanish painting? - The Goya.
Goya. Of course. Yes.
- Yes, Mexican. - What was that called?
Anyway, that's the vulgar press, I'm sure. Do you read much, Mr. Hughes?
I try to stay up to snuff on the trade journals, yeah.
- Snuff? - These would be flying magazines?
- What was that? - Oh, he's a little deaf.
- Pass the goddamn butter, I beg you. - You read flying magazines?
Trade journals. On engineering. Aviation.
We read books.
Howard has to read the trade pieces, Mom, because he's designing a new aeroplane.
Oh, really? Do tell.
Well...
...it's quite exciting, actually. It's a spy plane for the Air Corps.
A twin-engine plane with some...
...I must admit, some rather unique design features.
You see, it has these two booms at the back...
Luddie built a birdhouse once. You remember that, dear?
- Yes, well, a mere trifle, darling. - I remember the painting!
The painting, it's called May 18-0- something.
Anyway, Goya's vastly overrated. All the Spaniards are.
- Nonsense! Picasso is sacred. - I'm a urologist.
- It was quite aesthetic, really. - A sacred monster.
The birds don't care for it much, but the bats do.
- I'll bet. - That's such bunk!
- Do speak up, dear. - Nothing, nothing, Mrs. Hepburn. Nothing.
Why did you speak? I can't abide people who speak but have nothing to say.
Did you go to mechanic school to learn all this airplane guff?
No, no, I didn't, Luddie. No.
Well, Howard just flew round the world in three days.
- I think we've had enough about airplanes. - And dogs.
- Then how did you make all that money? - We don't care about money here.
Well, that's because you have it.
Would you repeat that?
You don't care about money because you've always had it.
- How did you make all that...? - Excuse me, I'm speaking.
- Okay. - Thank you.
All right.
Some of us choose to work for a living.
Speaking of which, I have more of that airplane guff to attend to.
Excuse me.
Well, seems a rather high-strung chap.
You're a fine bunch of bullies, aren't you?
Have you talked to Mr. Mayer about letting you do Jane Eyre?
The old philistine won't budge. Too arty, don't you know.
I'm convinced the man hasn't read anything longer than a Katzenjammer Kids in his life.
No fair, kicking. You have to use the mallet.
Really, darling, you can't retire from the field of battle like that...
...or they'll never respect you. - Katie, I don't understand.
You're like a different person in there.
They just expect me to be a certain way.
There's only one real Kate, and that's your Kate.
Over in Hollywood, aviation tycoon Howard Hughes is cooking up something big.
Even as he edits his new picture, he's been secretly meeting with the U.S. Air Corps.
We applaud his patriotism and look forward to his newest marvel.
You know how many Allied ships we lost because of U-boat attacks?
- No. - Six hundred and eighty-one ships...
...just this year so far. The Army needs a new airplane to fly the troops to Europe.
These ships, they're sitting ducks for the U-boats.
- You wanna build a troop-carrier plane? - Stop thinking like an insect.
Not just to carry troops, a plane to carry everything.
The troops and the jeeps and the tanks and whatnot. Here, take a look.
No. Other side.
I figure around 200 feet from nose to tail. Wingspan, around 300.
We're gonna need about 24,000 horsepower.
Now, this is just what Kaiser and the Army are looking for.
- They're gonna pay for it this time. - What are you getting us into?
Well, it's a big plane, so I'm calling it The Hercules.
Swell name, isn't it?
- How heavy you imagine this thing is? - Say around 200 tons.
Well, I didn't say it was gonna be easy.
All right, boys, I want you to rig up something like this.
Should give the proper uplift ratios and reduce need for torque support on the front.
We are not getting enough production out of Jane Russell's breasts.
I want smooth titties, gentlemen. Smooth titties.
- It's all in engineering, isn't it, Odie? - Howard...
...do you really think they're gonna let you put out a whole movie just about tits?
Sure. Who doesn't like tits?
Good afternoon, gentlemen. Sorry I'm late.
Please record that Mr. Hughes has arrived and this session is now called to order.
- I yield the floor to Mr. Breen. - Mr. Hughes...
...members of the committee, I've reviewed the photoplay entitled The Outlaw...
...and I can state that I have never seen anything so unacceptable...
...as the shots of the mammaries of the character named Rio.
For almost half the picture, the girl's mammaries, which are quite large...
...and prominent, are shockingly uncovered.
For this reason, I concluded the picture appeals only to prurient interests...
...and should be denied the Motion Picture Association's seal of approval.
Really, Mr. Hughes.
- Thank you, Mr. Breen. Mr. Hughes. - Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Breen. It's good to see you again.
I haven't seen you all since that situation with all the violence in Scarface.
The situation here revolves around Miss Russell's mammaries.
Mr. Breen feels that they are too prominent, yes?
More prominent than other mammaries have been up on the screen?
Well, I hope to dispel that notion.
Jean Harlow.
Ann Sheridan.
Irene Dunne.
Claudette Colbert.
Rita Hayworth.
Betty Grable. And the lovely Miss Jane Russell.
Now, all these shots, save for Miss Russell, were enlarged from pictures...
...that received Mr. Breen's seal of approval.
Now, as you've probably noticed by now, they all contain mammaries.
I will ask my associate to join me now. May I introduce...
...Dr. Ludlow Branson of Columbia University.
Dr. Branson...
...is a mathematician of some note.
Yes. And he will now demonstrate...
...that in fact...
...Miss Russell's mammaries are no more prominent...
...than any of these other fine ladies'.
Doctor.
Doctor...
...you forgot your calipers.
Gentlemen, Mr. Hughes.
Let us commence by calling this...
...Mammary Exhibit Number One.
Now, you'll see that the length of the actual cleavage...
...if I may, is...
...5 inches and a quarter.
Now if we move to Mammary Exhibit...
Dateline: Hollywoodland.
Movie tycoon Howard Hughes must have the greatest job in the land.
Every night, the lucky guy escorts a different beautiful woman...
...to a different dazzling event.
The TWA king always talks up his airline as he escorts a succession...
The Hercules, ladies and gentlemen.
The Hercules.
A plane, a boat, a flying city.
Don't forget, every bill comes to me. They don't pay for anything.
Those men decide whether to fund the plane, so I need them happy.
- You do what it takes. - You betcha, boss.
How are the girls in the bomb department?
Well, let's put it this way, it'll be a regular boob buffet.
I don't think the Air Corps men will have trouble scoring.
- Good. - And inside, 700 brave American soldiers...
...a dozen Sherman tanks all winging their way over the Atlantic...
...free from the threats of the U-boats below.
Could Jules Verne himself have ever imagined anything so magnificent?
Could he have imagined her mammoth wingspan, longer than a football field?
Don't you see how this demeans me?
Since when do you care about scandal rags?
Every time there's a picture of you with another woman, it's a slap in the face.
- Don't you understand that? - Well, that's overstating it.
Joan Crawford, Ginger Rogers, Linda Darnell, Joan Fontaine...
...and now Bette Davis, for God's sake.
Look, they're Cracker Jack candy, honey. They don't mean anything to me.
Oh, very nice.
You're the one that said that all men are predators.
I mean, it's all in Darwin, remember?
And am I to expect this behavior to continue after the wedding?
What is really bothering you, Kate?
Is it the women or the publicity?
Can't you eat ice cream from a bowl like everyone else in the world?
Don't you dare.
Yeah.
No, Odie, this is not a good time.
For chrissakes, we can't make The Hercules if we don't have any aluminum.
Wait.
I can hear you better now. Tell the War Production Board...
...that this is an essential strategic operation.
If they're giving aluminum to Boeing, they can give some to Hughes Aircraft.
Don't set the ice cream...
We gotta think of something else. If we can't get aluminum, we'll find another way.
You tell me. We'll find some alloy that works just as well.
Right. Look...
- If we can't get aluminum, we'll use wood. - You can't make a plane out of wood.
Why not? The damn thing is a flying boat, right?
- What do they use to make boats? - Oak.
And think of The Hercules like a flying Spanish galleon.
Spanish galleons can weigh 1200 tons.
Good luck today.
We just have to find the right wood. Something light but strong.
- Morning, Kate. - Pine, cedar, maybe birch.
Catch.
From my farm.
If you like it, I can get you a bushel.
Trouble with Mr. Hughes?
There's too much Howard Hughes in Howard Hughes.
That's the trouble.
Beautiful.
Don't you take Christmas off?
Nice to see you. Sorry, I've got grease on my hands.
Have we got something to show you.
Take a look. The XF-11 reconnaissance flier. Spy plane, really.
Designed every inch of her myself.
She's got a top speed of 450...
...which means she can outrun anything they throw against her.
After the Japs stole my H-1 design for their Zeros...
...I needed to do them one better.
Yeah, she's my Buck Rogers ship.
She's a looker.
Okay, what do you got for me?
Jiminy Cricket.
Seating capacity for 60. Wingspan, 123 feet.
Four Double Cyclone engines. Her ceiling's 25,000 feet.
- Gross weight? - 86,000, wing loading of 41 pounds.
So less drag on the plane in thinner air.
So high-cruise power, you're looking at a top speed of around 340.
Giving her a range of about 3000 miles.
- Cross-country. - Nonstop.
Bob...
...you know something? You are a son of a bitch.
Yeah. Bob, you got something on your suit.
Yeah.
On your lapel. You got something on your lapel.
Right there, Bob.
You missed it. Right there.
Clean it off, would you?
Here. Thanks.
No, throw it away.
No, over there.
Thanks. So, what do you call her?
The Constellation, but we can change that.
No, no.
It's pretty. I like her.
So, what kind of deal can you give me?
What kind of deal can you give me?
The first 40 planes off the assembly line.
That should give us about two years' exclusivity.
Hell, more than that.
United and American don't have the imagination for a plane like this.
Two years ahead of Juan Trippe, then.
How much?
Four hundred and fifty thousand each.
So that's 18 million for the first 40.
Hell, TWA can't afford that. The damn airline's flat broke.
Guess I'll just have to pay for them myself.
Build them, Bob. Send the bill to Noah Dietrich.
Oh, and thank you.
Merry Christmas.
You've just placed the largest order for airplanes in the history of the damn planet.
Lockheed sent us a bill for $ 18 million.
Don't get all hysterical on me, Noah. It isn't good for you.
- This is a lot of money for planes. - I know it's a lot of money.
It's too damn much. You think I've got $ 18 million in petty cash?
I should've told you. It slipped my mind.
- Slipped your mind? Oh, for... - Right.
- I'll get back to you. Bye. - How could $ 18 million slip your mind?
Hey, honey. What are you doing home?
You're not one for tears, and, well...
...neither am I, so it's best to come out with it.
I've met someone. I've fallen in love and I'm moving out.
If I could make it any more gentle, I would.
But I can't, so...
...there we both are.
Let's be honest.
It's all been a grand adventure, but it couldn't possibly last.
We're too alike, you and I.
You met someone?
Someone more appropriate. To me, I mean.
What does that mean, "more appropriate"?
Someone more attuned to my needs.
Look at me, Katie.
Stop acting.
I'm not acting.
I wonder if you even know anymore.
Don't be unkind.
You...?
You wanna go?
Go on.
Actresses are cheap in this town, darling.
- And I got a lot of money. - This is beneath you.
No, no, this is exactly me.
You tell me you're leaving me, and you have the nerve to expect graciousness?
I expect a little maturity.
I expect you to face the situation like an adult who...
Don't talk down to me!
Don't you ever talk down to me! You are a movie star.
Nothing more.
Don't answer it.
What is it, Howard?
Hey, Noah...
...I need you to get to Penney's and buy me some clothes.
- Penney's isn't open. - Oh, shit.
- It's 2 in the morning. - Yeah, that's right.
Well, first thing tomorrow, then, all right?
I need two new suits off the rack. One light and one dark.
Three white shirts and three pairs of white tennis shoes. Got that?
- Yeah. - No, no.
- Make it Woolworth's. - Woolworth's.
No, no, Penney's. Penney's.
All right.
I'll get into it as soon as I can, Howard.
- All right? - Noah, do you have a recorder?
- No. - Are you recording this conversation?
- No. - Okay.
I trust you.
- Howard... - I need those suits first thing tomorrow.
- All right. - Wait. Did I say Penney's or Woolworth's?
- Penney's. - Better make it Sears.
All right, then, Sears.
I'm sorry, honey.
If I don't answer, he'll just call back.
Stop there, if you please, Miss Domergue.
Have you had surgery, Miss Domergue?
No.
Do you have scars of any kind?
No.
Wipe off your lipstick.
That's much better.
Now, you understand that you'd be under contract to me? Personally.
Do you know what that means?
Now turn around for me.
Very nice.
You move well.
You live with your family, do you?
Yes.
That's nice.
Tell me something.
How old are you, Miss Domergue?
Fifteen.
Holy Mother of God.
Well, a car picks me up every morning at 8, and off I go.
I'm getting my high school diploma.
Howard thinks that education is important.
- That's right. - And then, after classes...
...I'm off for elocution and grooming and fittings.
Well, blow me down.
Pan Am's working out of the Cocoanut Grove?
- Hello, Jack. - Hello, Juan.
Helen, good to see you.
- How are you, Howard? - Good, thanks.
- This is Faith Domergue. - Sit down.
- Pleasure. - What are you doing here?
Well, I'm out to meet with Douglas about the DC-4.
It's our new plane, and it is gonna be a pip, let me tell you.
- How's the Constellation coming? - Good.
Great.
So how about letting me steal a peek?
I don't think so.
I should be cross with you. You stole Ray Loewy from us.
- He's doing our interior design. That's right. - He was doing ours.
So...
...what are your colors? - Stop fishing.
So you have buttons...
...or zippers?
I'm sorry?
Buttons or zippers for the drapes on the sleeping berths?
Zippers.
Buttons.
So I suppose you'll be expanding on down to Mexico.
- Why do you say that? - Well, your range is 3000 miles.
I'd imagine you'd expand from Los Angeles to Mexico and South America.
Hey, that's a good idea. Anyone got a pen?
Or across the Atlantic.
You've had enough of this ice cream.
You give me that spoon. You don't wanna get your gloves all sticky.
Isn't that too far?
New York...
...to Newfoundland...
...to Ireland.
To Paris.
Well...
...Pan Am welcomes you.
We're overbooked as it is.
It's such a burden doing it all on your own, let me tell you.
So when's the Connie gonna be ready?
- Next year maybe. DC-4? - Next year.
Well, we look forward to her then.
And I to the Connie.
I've ordered the next 40 after you.
- It's Miss...? - Domergue.
Yes, of course. Now, was that a rumba or a samba you were doing?
- It was a samba. - A samba, yes.
Howard, I never knew you were such a good dancer.
Helen, Jack.
Good going. You gave away our entire postwar strategy.
- He can't stop us. - He's Pan Am. He can stop anything.
Give me the largest Scotch you got.
I don't know what in the hell you're so damn giddy about. Excuse me.
Jack.
Get in touch with Joyce and Berg. Those are my boys in Washington.
Set up a meeting with Jones, secretary of commerce, old golfing buddy.
- Slow down. - We'll need terminals in Ireland and France.
I wanna get some tax breaks.
If that ass thinks he owns the world, he's got another thing coming.
Pan Am owns Europe. We ought to think about Mexico.
To hell with Mexico. No airline should have a monopoly on flying the Atlantic.
It just isn't fair. He owns Pan Am, he owns Congress.
He owns the Civil Aeronautics Board, but he does not own the sky.
We're in a street fight with that son of a bitch.
I've been fighting high-hat Ivy League pricks like him my whole life.
And listen, fire Ray Loewy. You goddamn heard me? Fire Ray Loewy.
He's spying for Trippe. That shitheel knew all about the buttons.
Spies in my midst, Jack.
Spies in my midst.
- Hello, Howard. - Roland.
So...
...what can I do for you?
I want all the pictures you have of Kate Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
All the negatives. And I want you to kill the story.
Howard, he's a married man. He's a Catholic.
They're movie stars. Fair game all around.
My office knows where I am, Howard.
I'm not gonna kill you, Roland.
I don't do that.
- How much? - Not for sale.
How much?
Not for sale.
You ever cheat on your wife, Roland?
You ever screw a colored girl?
You ever steal anything? You ever hurt anyone?
Good night, Howard.
You ever go to a Communist Party meeting, Roland?
TWA stock.
How much?
Fifty thousand shares.
Ten.
All right.
This isn't gonna be that easy.
He's been making big contributions on both sides of the aisle.
And Jack Frye is out there lobbying everybody in town.
The French and British ambassadors are lined up on his side.
I'm telling you, TWA is serious about going international.
Okay.
Point, Mr. Hughes.
I think it's time for you to introduce the community airline bill...
...on the floor of the Senate.
- Is it done? - My people are finishing it right now.
I also have to get you on the committee investigating the national defense.
On the committee or chairman?
I could be much more effective as chairman.
It's a great public platform. You know, it generates a lot of press.
- Wasn't Truman chairman of that committee? - Yeah, right.
He's vice president. Look what he did with it.
No, I think...
I think chairman.
What do you think?
- Chairman. That is interesting. - Yeah.
Let me show you these specs for the DC-4.
Ava, what do you think about Trans World Airlines?
Transcontinental and Western doesn't fit anymore.
We're international, we need a name that reflects that.
Trans World is good. Kind of peppy.
TWA, right?
That way you don't need to repaint any of the planes.
That's you. Always pinching pennies.
Hand me my wrap.
Knock it off.
I have something for you.
Stay here.
- What the hell is this? - It's a present.
Go on, open it.
Oh, a box of trash. You shouldn't have.
Keep looking, keep looking.
It's a Kashmiri sapphire.
I had my boys all over the damn globe looking for this.
Why?
Because.
Look.
It matches your eyes.
I am not for sale.
For chrissakes, it's just a present.
You can't buy me, Howard, so stop trying.
Don't buy me any more diamonds or sapphires or any other damn thing.
You can buy me dinner. How about that?
Jesus, Ava.
It's bad enough I have to endure those gym shoes of yours.
But I get all dolled up and we go out in this jalopy without a hood.
Ava, will you marry me?
- No, Howard. - Well, why not, for heaven's sake?
In the first place, I don't love you.
In the second place, I'm still married.
Look, you got girls stashed all over town. You got a damn harem just at the Bel-Air.
Marry one of your bungalow girls.
Those are employees. I won't marry an employee. How would that look?
What is going on?
- Oh, my God! - Goddamn it!
Faith!
- Faith, what the hell? - Look out!
Goddamn, what the hell are you doing?
- Are you okay, lady? - What are you doing with her?
We are going to dinner. Now, get out of there.
Get that crazy bitch away from me!
Don't you love me anymore?
Course I love you, pork chop.
Ava, look over here. Howard.
Hey.
Juan Trippe is working with Senator Brewster now.
They're after you. If the community airline bill becomes law, we are finished.
Pan Am will have a monopoly on international travel.
Well, how can they justify it? It's un-American.
Brewster is saying that nationalized foreign carriers, like Air France...
...can offer lower rates because they don't have to compete.
Let's get rid of competition and have a nationalized airline...
...and why don't we make it Pan Am? - I'm not kowtowing to anyone.
- Howard, I need you up here. - One sec, Odie.
Look, we are Trans World Airlines, all right?
Get me something with a circle or a globe or something round, for God's sake.
- Speak up. - One cut.
I don't give a rat's ass. I'm not making a cut. I'll release it without a seal.
We gotta go public with this.
I'm gonna talk to Hearst...
...but we gotta get some senators on our side.
- What do you want me to do? - What Trippe does.
Offshore operations. See who's up for re-election...
...let's start making donations. - Bribe senators?
I don't want them bribed. I want it done legally.
I want them bought. Put a team of investigators on Brewster.
I need to know everything about that shitbag.
Where he goes, what he says and who he screws.
- Get into it right now. - You got it.
Just give me a second.
- All right, what do you need? - Rudder and elevators.
No. These are fine.
Have Simon and Pete get back to me on the assemblies. We need a secondary system.
Okay.
Listen, we need to take another look at the wheel.
- Jesus. The damn wheel? - Yeah.
It just doesn't feel right.
Christ almighty, you've seen 8000 goddamn wheels. Choose one, please.
- Just one of them. - I know, I know.
- This one? - I know, this one...
This one's pretty close. Pretty close.
Odie.
That man sweeping up over there...
...does he work for me? I mean, have you seen him before?
Name's Nick, something like that.
Why's he looking at me?
I don't know.
Fire him. And make sure they use damp brooms from now on.
Respiratory diseases are expensive, and I don't want lawsuits.
But can we at least proceed with the instrument panel?
- The tool shop's ready. - I wanna see the blueprints.
Look, Howard, the deadline is now completely unrealistic.
The war is gonna be over by the time she's done.
I need you to help consult on vital decisions, and you're off dealing with movies.
You got 1000 workers waiting for you to make a decision...
Hey, Odie!
Take it easy, all right.
You're under pressure, but it's gonna do me no good if you crack up on me.
All right? Look...
...take a couple of hours off, all right.
- You just relax a little. - Okay.
- See your wife. - Okay.
All right.
- Be sure to show me all the blueprints. - All right.
Show me all the blueprints.
I'm serious, now. Show me all the blueprints.
- Howard. - Show me all the blueprints.
Show me all the blueprints.
I wanna get this done right.
Show me all the blueprints.
- Howard. - Show me all the blueprints.
Show me all the blueprints. Show me all the blueprints...
Quarantine.
Q...
...U...
...A...
...R...
...A...
...N...
...T...
...I...
...N...
...E.
Quarantine.
General McEwan. Colonel Bertrang. Thanks for coming down.
Odie, you reading me okay?
Yeah, you're A-okay.
All right, flight controls are active. She's all yours.
Spotless. No wiggle on the wheel or throttle.
Take it easy.
- How does she sound, Howard? - She's whispering to me, buddy.
All right, make her sing.
Well, Odie, she can fly. Congratulations.
I'm glad to hear it. Retract landing gear and climb to 5000 feet...
...on a heading of 2-7-0.
Retracting landing gear and climbing to 5000 feet on a heading 2-7-0.
- She's fast. - What's your air speed?
292.
- All right, take her back to 200. - No damn way.
We gotta bring her home.
Scheduled time of one hour and 45 minutes has elapsed.
- Set course for 0-9-0... - Ten more minutes. Roger that.
Negative, Howard. Bring her home.
Okay. Okay. Setting course for 0-9-0.
Preparing to descend.
- Jesus. - What is it, Howard?
The right wing just dipped. I'm losing starboard engine.
Increasing power to 2800 rpm.
Cutting back.
Increasing starboard engine only.
Cutting back. I'm losing altitude.
Check starboard-engine manifold pressure.
- It's good, but rpm's are low. - Are both starboard props turning?
Hold on.
They are, but she's pulling me back and starboard, Odie.
- How bad is your cross control? - I'm at full left rudder...
...and full left aileron, but she won't stay level. Goddamn it.
- Give us your position. - Two thousand feet over...
Oh, Christ, I don't know, Beverly Hills. Fifteen hundred feet.