It is always up there, close to the clouds,
on the topmost floors of the sky-reaching towers of big business.
And because it is high in the sky,
you may think that those who work there are somehow above and beyond
the tensions and temptations of the lower floors.
This is to say that it isn't so.
- Goodbye, Julius. - A pleasure, Mr. Bullard.
Caswell.
- Mr. Bullard. - Good afternoon, Mr. Bullard.
Straight wire.
That'll be $1 even, please.
Out of five?
- And four. - Thank you.
Taxi!
Hey, there, taxi!
Taxi...
Oh, no.
Your friend Avery Bullard didn't come all the way up here from Millburgh
just to taste the steamed finnan haddie in our private dining room.
Salty today.
And all those hints about his upcoming earnings report.
He was just softening us up for another debenture deal,
another five million teeth for us to pull for his Tredway Corporation.
Such talk from a member of his board of directors.
The only reason he put me on was
to wrap up Steigel and Company for bond issues.
Tredway's board. A rubber stamp for Bullard, you know that.
But always black ink.
Last year, five and a half million net after taxes.
That's beside the point. Julius, you know how tough it is
to sell these investment fund boys on a one - man corporation.
Bullard hasn't had an executive vice-president since Fitzgerald died.
They want to see continuity of management,
a second-in-command in case...
My next birthday, I'm 71. Avery Bullard is only 56.
Fitzgerald was 50 the day they buried him. Why hasn't Bullard replaced him?
He's got five vice-presidents down there, all with equal authority,
all waiting, all wondering.
Well, if you ask me, they won't be waiting and wondering much longer.
Always, Avery Bullard likes to take his top executive
from inside the company.
But always, first, he likes to convince himself
there's nobody better on the outside.
It is my opinion, Mr. Caswell, that at lunch today,
you were crossed off the list.
- Me? - Obvious.
You didn't warn me, you didn't say a word.
You wanted it?
- Of course not. - So...
Julius, come here, quick.
What is it?
No. No, it isn't.
- It just looks like... - It's Bullard.
Only a minute ago he was...
Avery Bullard.
Get me Phil Wingate and hurry.
A one-man company without its one man.
Hello, Phil. This is George Caswell.
You've got 43 minutes before the close.
I want you to start selling Tredway common short.
That's right, short. Feed out all you can before the bell.
Yes, I said all you can, everything you can get rid off.
Do it in your name, not mine.
Okay, get to it.
When the Street finds out in the morning that Bullard is dead,
Tredway is gonna break wide open.
Tomorrow is Saturday. The market is closed.
Well, all right, Monday. Give them a weekend to digest the bad news.
That's the kind of gamble I like, a sure thing.
I'll be able to buy that stock back for 10 points less than I sold it.
There are some ways that don't seem right to make money.
All right, break it up. Break it up.
Move along, now, move along. All the way back.
Kennedy reporting. I got a John Doe here.
Dropped dead in front of the Chippendale building around 2:45.
Beekman Downtown took him to the morgue.
No, no identification.
Twenty-two, please.
Going up.
- Hey, what you got there? - Telegram for Miss Martin.
I deliver all messages to executive suite.
Yes, well, will you send up the swatches, please?
You wait here.
That's right. Send them to the Tower, not the house.
Yes, I'll see that Mr. Bullard takes a look at them.
Thank you. We'll be in touch with you.
- Telegram, Miss Martin. - Oh, thank you, Luigi.
- How's your cold? - All right, thank you.
Good.
Mr. Bullard's coming in. He's arriving on the 5:49.
You want me to tell Eddie to be there with the car?
Oh, tell him not to have it sitting out in the sun again.
Mr. Bullard is coming here to the Tower?
Called a meeting for 6:00.
Oh, then I tell Maria not to wait with my supper.
Oh, no need, Luigi. The night man can take us down.
No, I don't mind waiting for him.
- Oh, Miss Martin. - Is he busy?
- Group insurance meeting. - Oh.
Come in.
Excuse me. Jim.
There's a wire from Mr. Bullard. He's called an executive meeting.
- Tonight? - 6:00.
Oh, just a minute, Miss Martin.
Gentlemen, we'll continue this on Monday.
Right, I'll check with Collins in the meantime.
- Good. - Have a nice weekend, Fred.
Thank you. Bye, boys.
- Do you have any idea what this is about? - No.
- Did he say anything else in the wire? - No, Mr. Alderson.
- Yes, sir. - Call my home, please.
Tell Mrs. Alderson if I'm not there when the guests arrive, not to wait for me.
Is he in?
Oh, gosh, Miss Martin, you just missed him.
He got an early start on the weekend.
Well, you'll have to call him back.
Mr. Bullard wants him at 6:00. There's an executive meeting.
Oh, he'll hate me.
I know he's already on his way to the Bay, and I don't see how I can reach him.
Well, call the turnpike toll station. They know Mr. Grimm.
Well, tell them to turn him back.
... and has once again overrun
the first-half estimate for experimental work,
this time by $23,254.
In view of the consistent high-profit curve achieved
by our budget-rated K- F line,
I should like at your earliest convenience, Mr. Bullard,
to discuss with you the economic soundness
of Mr. Walling's experimental program.
I'm sorry, Miss Martin.
Executive meeting at 6:00, Mr. Shaw.
Apparently, there must have been some development in New York today.
Apparently.
Miss Martin, was there any information Mr. Bullard might want at this meeting?
Anything you suggest that I have ready for him?
Mr. Shaw, I don't know what the meeting's about either.
I wasn't probing, Miss Martin, just asking.
Of course.
Eva?
Why don't you wear bells or something?
- May I go in? - Mr. Dudley's on the phone.
In fact, he's in the phone.
Oh? Well, maybe you better tell him then.
- Executive meeting at 6:00. - But he...
Mr. Dudley has to take the 7:00 plane to Chicago. A furniture show.
Mr. Bullard's orders, not mine.
"Mr. Bullard's orders, not mine."
I didn't say I'd have dinner with him at the club, you did!
Look, will you hold it? Sylvia, please listen to me for a minute.
Bullard's getting ready to appoint an executive vice-president, and I...
Well, be bored then! It happens to be the way I make my living!
Hold it, will... Please hold it a minute.
You don't care whether I'm with you or not,
it's just that if I'm not there, you won't have anything to complain about.
Sylvia? Hello, Syl?
Would you like a transcript of that?
You told me to monitor all important calls.
You made no commitments, nothing was said by either party
that could be construed as binding either on this company or...
Please, not now.
Mr. Bullard would like you at an executive meeting at 6:00 tonight.
Shall I change your reservation?
Maybe you'll have to take the late plane.
Maybe I will.
Hello? Yes, he's here.
Oh. Just a moment.
- Mr. Walling, telephone. - Take a message.
It's Mr. Bullard's secretary. She says it's important.
- How's the density? - Building up fine.
Yes, Erica?
Well, there must be some mistake.
Today is the day we test the new molding process.
Are you sure he wants me there?
Well, the wire says "executive committee," Mr. Walling.
Well, can't you put it off?
Lt'd take months to reproduce this set-up.
Either it comes off on schedule or not at all.
Yes. Yes, I'll be there.
What's the trouble?
Bullard wants me in a meeting at 6:00.
You're gonna have to make this shot without me.
But how can we? Suppose something goes wrong.
- Nothing's gonna go wrong. - You think he forgot?
Bullard never forgets.
Then I don't understand why...
Maybe we're not supposed to understand.
It's none of your business and none of mine.
If Bullard calls a meeting, he's got a good reason.
He's a big man.
It's been quite a day, Mr. Caswell.
That's a lot of stock Wingate sold for you in 45 minutes,
an active issue like Tredway.
- Where's that elevator? - Relax, Mr. Caswell.
You said it yourself.
You sold 3,700 shares of stock you haven't got,
and you'll be covering it Monday morning at 10 points less.
Why, that's a real killing.
So, what have you got to worry about? You're in good shape.
Unless, maybe the man under the blanket ain't Avery Bullard.
Julius...
No, no.
It was Bullard. I saw him. He was dead.
You saw him, too, Julius.
I'm an old man, Mr. Caswell.
My eyes don't see easy money so good anymore.
But I take your word for it.
- Have you got the late finals yet? - Any minute now.
Can I drive you someplace?
It was right there.
Enjoy your weekend, Mr. Caswell.
- Late finals? - Yep.
- The Journal, Post and The Telly. - After I count them.
Oh, come on, come on.
Taxi!
- Stork Club. - Right.
Hey, don't you want your change?
- Be with you in a minute. - I thought you said 5:00.
Will you give me the Beekman Downtown hospital?
Certainly, Mr. Caswell. Take booth three, please.
Is that "B" as in Benjamin?
I'm sorry, sir, but there's been no one by that name
admitted here during the past 24 hours.
Perhaps it was some other hospital.
Don't tell me. It was Beekman Downtown. I want you to...
Hello?
Thank you, Mr. Caswell.
I wanna make a person-to-person call.
Mr. Avery Bullard, B- U-L-L-A-R-D,
Tredway Corporation, Millburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Take it in booth four, please. - Yes.
Operator, this is Plaza Three, 1940.
Mr. George Caswell calling Mr. Avery Bullard,
Tredway Corporation, Millburgh, Pennsylvania, person-to-person.
That's right, time and charges, please.
You have a big nerve.
I told you I'd be right with you. What's happening here?
I've been waiting a half hour.
Look, can't you see I'm busy? Wait for me at the bar.
- Mr. Caswell? - Yes?
How long do you think I'm gonna put up with this?
- At the bar. - Mr. Caswell?
- Yes? - Mr. Bullard isn't in.
They say he's on his way and he'll be there in about 20 minutes.
20 minutes?
- Wallet? - None.
- Laundry marks? - None.
Ought to be a federal law.
- What about the suit? - No customer label.
- How about Andruzzi the tailor? - Palm Beach police trying to locate him.
He closes for the summer.
We should have been tailors.
- Car keys? - GM's checking on it.
All they know, it's a '53 Cadillac.
- Anything else? - Monogram on shirt, "AB."
Cuff links engraved, "AB."
Couple of predictions,
one, it turns out to be a guy with the initials "AB,"
two, 6:00, I go home.
"I'm on the green in two. How much?"
"300 to 1,000." "You're on," he says.
So, I took my seven iron, I waded...
It's no good, you're going too fast. What are you trying to do, carbonize it?
Attaboy, Don, give it to him.
Give me the checkpoints on the time - temperature curve.
- So, what happened? - What happened?
It took me four to get out of the rough, and two more to get on the green.
You lost the 300, huh?
Yes, but I got his French Provincial order for the whole year.
Twenty-eight stores, 135,000 bucks on the line.
That bet convinced Milton Overfelder
that I was the one guy in St. Louis he beat that week who was really trying.
- Right. - Were you?
Next time you play Fresh Meadows in St. Louis,
let me see you hook a brassie shot in back of that tree.
Bill, those RF temperatures have to be uniform
over the entire surface, you know that.
- Walt, Jesse, Fred. - Hello.
Do you know what this meeting is all about?
All right, give me the figures again.
Didn't Fred tell you?
Well, I'm sorry, Fred. I assumed Mr. Bullard spoke to you.
I don't know. See that the lines are balanced. You know it's something.
- Everything going all right, Don? - Everything's going fine.
Shall I start tearing up my material rejection charts right now?
You can start to reexamine them.
How about that, Jesse? What's production got to say about that?
All I'm thinking about right now is a mess of soft-shelled crabs
fresh out of Chesapeake Bay.
We're rooting for you, Don.
I hope this thing doesn't string out.
I got a 7:00 date with a DC-6, and I'd sure hate to stand her up.
Taking Mrs. Dudley along, Walt?
Not this time. I'll be too busy romancing the chain and mail-order boys.
You're ready for some pressure on prices, of course.
Dealer stocks are up again.
I assume you've figured how far you can cut.
Well, no, I thought I'd work that out on the plane.
Like this?
You'll find a volume and price chart there for each major item.
Where the curves intersect, that's your relative net profit.
Maybe you ought to go to Chicago and try pushing the K-F line, Shaw.
See how far you get with the boys with your kind of intersecting curves.
Mr. Bullard must've missed the 5:49.
Eddie just called from the station. He'll wait for the 6:10.
Well, I'm sure none of us minds waiting, Miss Martin.
Oh, Mr. Alderson, may I see you for a moment, please?
Pike Street, please.
Julia Tredway is here.
- Where is she? - In Mr. Bullard's office.
She insisted on waiting.
Better let me know when Mr. Bullard's on the way up.
Yes, sir.
Julia.
Nice to see you.
Miss Martin says he hasn't come back yet.
That's right.
I know I shouldn't be here. Mr. Bullard doesn't like it.
I... I had to talk to him, Mr. Alderson.
- Perhaps I can help you. - Well, it's rather important.
I do think it best if I discuss it with Mr. Bullard.
He'll be pretty busy when he gets here. Why don't you call him later, Julia?
It's about my stock, Mr. Alderson,
my Tredway stock.
You're thinking of disposing of it?
- That's why I wanted to see Mr. Bullard. - Naturally.
- Am I really as tiresome as all that? - Julia, I didn't say...
That I've come here to threaten Avery again?
To play on his fear that he might lose control of the company
if I did sell my stock?
No. No, Mr. Alderson, you didn't say it.
Just as you didn't say that this is the only way I had
- to make him pay any attention to me. - Oh, Julia.
I'm sorry.
How does he do it to us?
Your devotion, my imagination.
It does take imagination, you know, to think up reasons for coming here,
because he won't come to me anymore.
I had a phone call a while ago, a rather strange call from someone in New York.
This man said he had information that was highly unfavorable
to the future prospects of the Tredway Corporation.
What's this man's name, Julia, and what's the information?
I asked him that, but he said it came from a confidential source.
Oh, yes, of course.
Well, if I were you, I'd ignore rumors like that.
When you see our earnings report, you'll realize
how senseless such mysterious phone calls are.
Then I wonder why Mr. Caswell was so insistent that I sell.
George Caswell?
Yes, he said I ought to sell now and buy back later.
- When did you say he phoned? - About 20 minutes ago.
But Caswell is one of our directors.
All he would tell me was that he had a customer,
who didn't want his name known,
who is willing to buy 3,700 shares of Tredway at today's closing price.
3,700 shares?
Provided I would give him an immediate decision.
He said it would have to be a private sale.
Miss Martin, will you come in, please?
Mr. Bullard wouldn't want me to sell, would he?
You know that, Julia. You've always known it.
But you never let a simple thing like gratitude stand in your way, do you?
Before Mr. Bullard goes into the meeting, I want to see him.
- Well, yes, Mr. Alderson, but I'm afraid... - What is it?
I just had another call from Eddie at the station.
Mr. Bullard wasn't on the 6:10 either.
I called the Waldorf in New York. He hasn't checked out.
- Have you told the others? - Why, no, I...
Let me do it then.
You... You do understand, don't you, Mr. Alderson?
The reason I wanted to see Avery.
I'm sorry.
I did want to make sure I didn't say the wrong thing to Mr. Caswell.
You see, I promised to phone him back by 6:00.
Or don't you think I should phone him...
Do as you wish, Julia. You can use the phone right there.
But...
But it would end all this, wouldn't it?
If I did sell once and for all.
It would end a lot of things.
I'll check back with you.
- I'll see you Monday, Fred. - Was that Mr. Bullard on the phone?
No. Give anybody a lift? Don?
I'm going back to the plant...
I guess I can just about make it.
- I'll run you out to the airport. - No, that's all right, I'll get a cab.
Any reason why I can't drop you off?
Okay, let's go.
- Good night, Fred. - Good trip, Walt.
Oh, Shaw, you haven't by any chance been in touch with Caswell lately, have you?
- George? No, why? - Oh, nothing. Nothing special.
Miss Martin, if Mr. Bullard gets in touch with you this evening,
would you ask him to call me? I'll be home.
- Yes, Mr. Alderson. Good night. - Thank you. Good night.
Yes, Miss Tredway? Yes.
Mr. Caswell?
Plaza Three, 1940.
Perhaps you'd like to order now, sir?
- I would. - No.
- Tell Enrique to come here. - Yes, sir.
But I'm starving.
- She said she'd call back by 6:00. - Who said?
Can't you talk to me? What am I here for?
- So, what about that Millburgh call? - Sorry, Mr. Caswell, not yet.
Would you like to start your dinner now?
- Cherry stones, perhaps? - Make it two dozen.
Go back and check with the operator again.
Yes, sir.
- One of these days... - You're gonna stop talking.
- Oh, hello, Farrell. - Oh, hi.
- What have you got there? - Tomorrow morning's Farrell, what else?
- Do you mind if I look? - No, go ahead.
You'll have to excuse my friend. He likes to read while he doesn't eat.
"AB."
Who's AB?
Thank you.
- Your Millburgh call, Mr. Caswell. - Oh, Enrique,
tell the operator I'm not here and you don't know where I've gone.
- But, Mr. Caswell... - And get me the police department.
- The police department? - The police department?
And a magnum of champagne.
Yes, Mr. Caswell.
- Can we eat now, George? - Are you hungry?
Am I hungry?
Well, why didn't you say so?
Flight 79 to Pittsburgh and Chicago,
now loading at gate three.
Did you hear that? When Dudley dates them, they wait.
I'll park the car.
Never mind, Loren, I'll be taking off in a minute.
Good luck.
Don't worry. With this under my belt, I'll really keep the K-F line moving.
Your attention, please.
Final call, Flight 79 to Pittsburgh and Chicago,
now loading at gate three.
All aboard, please.
Your attention, please.
Final call, Flight 79 to Pittsburgh and Chicago,
now loading at gate three.
All aboard, please.
- Good night, Mr. Walling. - Good night, Bill.
Good night.
Forget it.
If only we hadn't come so close.
Why didn't I give it all we had? That might have done it.
Stop knocking yourself out, Bill.
I was afraid to take the gamble, blow all the mixture on one shot.
It wasn't your gamble to take. I should've been there.
- Hi, dear. - Hi.
- Hello, Bill. - Good evening, Mrs. Walling.
There's room for one more.
I've got my car, thanks. See you tomorrow?
- Not unless you're out at the ballpark. - I almost forgot.
Good night, Bill, and stop blaming yourself, will you?
I'll try.
- Darling, I could cry. - Don't.
You were so sure this time. What went wrong?
I don't know, I wasn't there. Bullard called a meeting.
How's Mike?
Oh, he's nervous as a pup over the game. I had to chase him out to play next door.
This late?
Well, sure, I had to do something to get his mind off it or he'd never sleep.
He'll be okay when he steps to the mound.
Yes.
- What was it for, Don? - What was what for?
Bullard's meeting.
He never showed up.
If I'd had the new equipment I asked for,
nothing would've gone wrong tonight, whether I'd been there or not.
Oh, Don.
I needed equipment, I didn't get it. Shaw didn't approve.
But who listened to Shaw? Who canceled the order?
He doesn't understand.
Nobody's claiming that a new molding process
is going to revolutionize the industry,
it's just one attempt in a hundred to make one improvement in a hundred.
"Lmprove the profits but never the product," that's Shaw's philosophy.
To him, the whole company is just a curve on a chart.
And to you it's always somebody else, never Avery Bullard.
Oh, darling, why can't you face it?
The dream is dead. Bullard made you a promise.
He said, "Plan what you want, design what you want. Develop new ideas.
"We need you, boy."
Sure, he needed you, and it was good, a fine dream,
but it's over with, done, finished.
- I tell you, it's Shaw. - And it's Bullard who listens to him.
Oh, he's changed, Don, and you're dying a slow death here
because you refuse to admit the truth,
the truth about Bullard.
I just don't know how long you can go on this way.
I'll walk.
He's out early. The test at the plant must have failed.
You don't sound disappointed.
- Should I? - Your plant.
Every brick, every machine, every inch of every production line.
And I didn't need the boy wonders and slide-rule experts to show me how.
You really think you'll be able to say goodbye to it, Jesse?
I would've told Bullard tonight, but he didn't get back from New York.
Monday.
Remember when you used to bring him home to dinner?
The two of you would sit up half the night talking.
A long time ago.
Sure that isn't what's bothering you?
... officials have just cleared up the five- hour-old mystery
of the identity of the unknown man...
Will you get some music, Sara?
... who dropped dead in the center of the city's financial district.
Don.
Why do we do this to each other?
- It's my fault. - No, it's mine.
Small boy stuff.
I'm selfish. I'm only interested in loving you.
Never stop.
I'll fight anything, anyone, even you,
if I think it'll make you into someone I can't go on loving.
- You know something? - What?
Mr. Walling, there's a man on the phone, a reporter from the paper.
No. Not now, no statement.
It's Bullard. He's dead.
Oh, no.
Dead.
We were hating him, and all the time he was lying there dead.
Darling, don't.
He was a great man.
The greatest man I've ever known.
Larry, let me see those Julia Tredway pictures
we got the night her old man jumped out of the Tower.
Hello, is this the residence of Jesse Grimm?
May I speak with him, please?
Joe, tell UP if they call once more...
Is there any way I can reach him?
- Now, what about Miss Tredway? - Getting her right now.
Be careful what you write about her and Bullard. That's libel.
Hello?
Yes, this is she.
As reorganized under Bullard's leadership,
Tredway Corporation rose to become
the nation's third-largest manufacturer of fine furniture.
A very Bullard would have been 57 on...
Excuse me.
Got Fred pretty hard.
Well, you know how they were.
You realize what this means, don't you?
- For Fred? - He'll be president of the company.
Dear.
There's nothing you can do for him now. You've got to think of yourself.
You worked for it, Fred, 29 years of it. You've earned it.
You have a right, and so have I.
You gave your whole life, lived in his shadow.
If it hadn't been for you, Avery Bullard would never...
Oh, Edith, Edith, please.
We've waited a long time.
I want something for those years. I want us to be paid back!
Excuse me. Mr. Walling is here.
Don, he'll need your help.
It's incredible. Incredible.
I thought you'd want to get over to the Tower.
Yes, that's right.
I guess I'll have to get on top of things right away.
Let's go.
- Good night, Edith. - Good night.
Miss Martin...
If there's anything more you need to fill out your story,
just get in touch with Lee Ormand here.
Thank you very much, Mr. Shaw.
Fred, Don, it's good you came down.
Perhaps you can make some suggestions here.
I've roughed out a plan with Lee for handling the news,
but it's possible we missed something.
First of all, I've taken the liberty of ordering
the immediate release of the earnings report.
I didn't authorize that.
Well, I'm sure you'd agree that it's not only wise, but necessary.
Why?
Served up cold, the news of Mr. Bullard's death
would hit Tredway's stock pretty hard at Monday's opening.
By countering with the good news of our increased earnings,
we'll not only check the decline,
but send Tredway stock up quite handsomely.
It's not a bad way to start a new management, is it?
And there'll be a special release for the Times, Tribune and Wall Street Journal,
and a follow-up for the evening and Sunday papers.
The same basic story, but with a stronger company slant,
will be sent to the trades and the morning papers in our factory cities.
Lee will telephone the business editors of Time and Newsweek.
That pretty much takes care of the first - priority stuff.
Anything I've missed?
I'll follow through on everything, Mr. Shaw. Gentlemen.
I hope Ormand there isn't handling this like some publicity story.
I'm quite confident we can rely on his good taste and judgment.
Don't you think so, Don?
In a situation like this, you can't be too careful.
That's why I got Ormand down here right away.
As a matter of fact, I almost didn't call him.
I was sure somebody must've thought of it before I did.
Apparently, no one did.
I have made all the other arrangements.
The funeral will be Monday at 4:30, and I've asked...
No, it won't!
The funeral will be at 2:00.
- At St. Martin's? - At St. Martin's, yes.
Perhaps I was misinformed.
When I checked the church calendar, I found a wedding scheduled for 2:00.
Something can be done about the church.
There's another point I had in mind.
The highest proportion of older factory workers,
those who might want to attend the funeral, are found in the 7:00 to 3:00 shift.
What difference does it make? The factories will be closed anyway.
- For the day? - Yes, for the day.
I suppose all you're thinking of is the money it'll cost.
Not as a first consideration, but I did happen to recall
Mr. Bullard pointing out at the time of Fitzgerald's death
that a paid holiday would represent a loss to the company of approximately $87,000.
And that figure, of course, was before the last wage raise.
It'd be somewhat more at the current rates.
There's another consideration, minor perhaps,
but it did seem worth taking into account.
The 4:30 time would make it more convenient
- to close our showroom... - Convenient!
...during the funeral. - That's always been your attitude, Shaw.
To make everything as convenient as possible for yourself.
Even Mr. Bullard's death has to fit into one of your charts.
I don't rate that, Alderson. I don't rate that at all.
I have only one interest, the good of this company.
Don.
Tell me, am I wrong, or did the old boy seem a little shaky just then?
- I know he hasn't been well. - Don't you think he has a right to be?
You know he was closer to Bullard than the rest of us.
Don, I was careful to take that into account.
Surely you saw there was every reason
for me to be annoyed at his attitude,
and so I did my best not to show it.
- Why don't we just skip it? - Don,
I wish you wouldn't feel that way.
You particularly.
Why me particularly?
Well, after all, we know things haven't been run too perfectly around here.
That's one of the reasons I've often wished we could work more closely together.
And frankly, I'd hoped that now I could, well,
count on your support.
I've always felt that you and I shared a certain community of interest.
In your own words, Shaw, I have only one interest around here,
the good of this company.
Erica.
I'm sorry.
- I'm terribly sorry. - Now, don't be.
Don't ever be sorry for feeling the way you do about him.
Fred?
Sorry, Don. Made a mess of it.
Oh, look, Fred, nobody expected...
You were disappointed in me, I was disappointed in myself.
I thought I could do it, but I can't.
Look, nothing's settled. Just because Shaw took advantage of...
Oh, it wasn't Shaw. It wasn't Shaw at all.
That was my mistake, thinking I was fighting him.
I was ready for him, could've handled him.
- That wasn't it. - I don't know what you're talking about.
It was Avery Bullard I was fighting. Can't you see that?
I could've coped with Shaw. It's easy to fight somebody you hate.
But I couldn't fight Avery Bullard. Never could.
Now, look, Fred, you're tired and upset. We're all upset.
- It's no use, Don. - Fred, listen to me!
Avery Bullard doesn't want me to be president.
He never wanted me to be anything but what I am,
a number-two man, never more, never less.
- I don't believe that. - Oh, no, Don, it's true.
If it weren't, he would've made me executive vice-president months ago.
- He didn't want me. - Then who did he want?
Fred, I assume you know where to reach Jesse Grimm.
Yes.
When you do, better make sure he knows about the special meeting
of the board tomorrow at 6:00.
When was that decided?
I'm sure we all agree, the sooner the better.
Wires have gone out to everybody.
I'll double check with Walt Dudley. Good night, gentlemen.
One thing I can tell you.
It's not going to be him.
Who's gonna stop him?
If it was five years from now, I can tell you who could.
Good evening, Miss Bardeman.
- Mr. Shaw... - I want to speak to Mr. Dudley.
Oh, you mean, you want to know where to reach him?
Well, he's staying at the Blackstone in Chicago. I thought you knew.
I see. I've got to talk to him right away.
Would you be good enough to let me use your telephone?
Well, just a minute!
The phone is over there.
Mr. Shaw.
Mr. Shaw!
I've got to talk to you for a minute, Walter.
Which chart did you find this one on, Shaw?
Well, is that all you're gonna say to him?
Just who do you think you are coming in here like this?
Eva, wait a minute.
This is my apartment. Why don't you tell him to get out?
- Eva. - All right, what are you waiting for?
Don't you want to get back to your Dictaphone
and make out your special report to the president?
Apparently, you two haven't had the radio on tonight.
He's dead.
Bullard? Dead?
You're lying.
He had a stroke in New York this afternoon.
They identified the body this evening.
The old man.
Dead. I don't believe it.
The company will carry on with a minimum of confusion.
You can catch the 11:00 plane to Chicago.
Get together with your men there in the morning, brief them,
let them take over.
You get back here on the afternoon plane.
- There'll be a meeting of the board... - Meeting?
...tomorrow at 6:00, to elect a new president.
I'll want to talk to you before then.
And while you're in Chicago, I'd rather you didn't take any calls.
Millburgh calls. Is that clear?
Naturally, Sylvia won't hear about this.
Look, Loren, this is not what you think.
I come here because... Well, I don't know.
Well, it's home. I guess it's what keeps me going.
She lets me say what I want, be myself.
Some people wouldn't understand...
I mean, not knowing Sylvia, but you...
All I ask of you...
- This is a fine girl, Loren, and... - Corner of your mouth, the right side.
Put your clothes on, I'll drive you to the airport.
Would you wait in the car?
Eva.
Baby.
Look, don't worry, baby, everything's gonna be all right.
Sure. You'll take care of everything like you just took care of him.
Nothing will happen. Now, don't worry.
Look, honey, Mr. Bullard's dead, and I've gotta...
Shaw's downstairs.
I've got to go now.
Honey, don't feel like that.
I promise you, it'll be all right.
I'll be home tomorrow on the afternoon plane.
Eva.
Eva, you all right?
You want me to call you from Chicago?
Don, you'll be a wreck.
I'll quit in a few minutes.
- Fred stay long? - Long enough.
Oh, I like that.
Did he change his mind?
It's gonna be Jesse Grimm.
Fred's gonna get to him first thing in the morning.
You sound so positive.
Don't the stockholders have anything to say?
The stockholders had their say when they elected the board.
Seven directors will vote, four votes will elect.
Jesse Grimm will have his own vote, mine, Fred's and Walt Dudley's.
I think that Dudley's about as fed up with Shaw as the rest of us.
Well, what's this question mark after Julia Tredway's name?
Just that.
First her father, now Bullard.
Who knows what she thinks about the company.
Anyway, she's never even shown up at a board meeting. Bullard had her proxy.
Then that means Shaw has only himself and George Caswell?
Who helped him come into the company.
Well, if it's all settled, why are you still up?
Don, maybe this is the time for you to leave Tredway.
No.
But you could do what you always wanted to do, be on your own,
design what you want, build what you want.
If it hadn't been for this room the past few months, you couldn't have lived.
I've got to make sure that it can't be done right here at Tredway
the way that Bullard made me believe it could.
You don't walk away from a thing like that, not till you know it's hopeless.
Well, if you couldn't do it under Bullard,
how do you expect to do it with Jesse Grimm running the company?
- Jesse's a fine production man. - You told me he lives in the past.
- But he's our best chance to stop Shaw. - Is that all that matters?
Well, there's nothing we can do about it this late at night, is there?
Fred wanted me to try for the presidency.
When?
Earlier tonight, back at the Tower.
What did you say?
I told him to forget it.
I'm not gonna die young at the top of the Tower,
worrying about bond issues and stockholders' meetings.
That's not why I came here, that's not what I'm working for.
I'm a designer, not a politician.
I think.
I think, too.
Well, anyway, I just wanted you to know
that you might have been the president's wife.
Come to bed, Mr. Ex-president.
Yes, that's right.
And when you get that call through, tell the garage to send my car over.
Yes. Yes.
Where are we driving to now?
We're driving no place. I'm going to Millburgh.
But you promised to take me to the track.
Did I know about this?
What about this?
You're a director of the company, aren't you?
It says here, "Tredway's increased earnings
- "for the first quarter..." - Do me a favor, will you?
Read the funnies.
There aren't any in the Times. Don't you know that?
Then read "Situations Wanted." You may need one.
Yes? Okay, put Mr. Shaw on.
Yes. Loren? George Caswell.
Huh? Yes, terrible.
Yes, I was shocked.
Now, look, Loren...
I certainly have seen it. I've got it right here.
Remarkable showing.
Now, look, Loren, I'll tell you why I called.
Yes, I've got the wire about the meeting,
but it's very important that I see you before then.
Right. I'll be expecting you.
- Oh, did you send for Miss Martin? - She's outside.
What about the call to Miss Tredway?
Mr. Shaw, I checked with the telephone company,
and they said it isn't just a busy signal, her receiver's off the hook.
- Keep trying. Send Miss Martin in. - Yes, sir.
Will you go in, please, Miss Martin?
Would you close the door?
- Sit down, please. - That's all right, Mr. Shaw.
Well, first,
I want you to know, Miss Martin, that even though there will be certain
inevitable changes within the organization,
you have nothing to worry about.
Your closeness to Mr. Bullard will naturally be of considerable aid to us
in handling those matters of personal policy
which was so vital in Mr. Bullard's running of the company.
Well, what I mean, Miss Martin, is that it would be most helpful at this time
if I could be sure there were no facts,
no dark areas of misunderstanding in Mr. Bullard's personal relationships
that could possibly hurt Tredway Corporation.
What are you trying to say, Mr. Shaw?
I want you to tell me everything you know
about Mr. Bullard's relationship with Julia Tredway.
Mr. Bullard saved the company after the death of Miss Tredway's father.
He helped her regain her health when she broke down.
They became good friends.
- Go on. - Those are the facts, Mr. Shaw.
- But surely... - All the facts.
I don't think you quite understand the seriousness of all this.
Perhaps I do, Mr. Shaw.
That will be all.
Strike three!
And Philly goes down swinging.
Pretty sharp there today, Lopat.
Oh, not Lopat. He's a lefty. I'm Allie Reynolds.
All right, Allie, just be sure you do as well against the Eagles.
- Who's up? - Eddie Joost.
- Dad? - Yeah, yeah.
- Low. - Oh, that looked good to me!
Now, hold it.
Gee whiz, Mom will get it.
- Just a minute. - Is that Alderson?
It's Bill down at the plant.
Hello, Bill.
Yeah. Yeah.
You what?
Now, wait a minute. Give me that again.
Are you sure?
Well, of course that's it, it's got to be.
Now, look, stay where you are. Don't touch a thing.
I'll be right down.
How do you like that? We had it all the time.
Oh, good.
Now, if we can just duplicate the same thing at the correct pressure.
- Pick me up at the plant before the game. - Pop, you coming?
Change in the lineup, Mike. I'll see you later.
Oh, it's a gyp. I would have struck Joost out.
- How do you feel, baby? - Okay, I guess.
- Perspiring? - No.
Well, then, come on. Let's go to work.
Now, none of that soft stuff.
Well, Mom, I don't wanna hurt you.
Never mind Mom, you just burn them in.
Come on, now. Right in here!
It's better than Yogi Berra.
You kidding?
- Mom? - Yup.
- Was Mr. Bullard a nice man? - Yes, he was.
When does Pop become president?
Oh, Mike, get them up!
Don't you want him to be?
Mom?
Less talk and more pitch, sonny boy. Come on!
You better not wait.
That mixture's liable to kick over and we'll be nowhere again.
- What do you say? - I'm with you.
- Joe? Steve? - Right.
Benedeck!
How long would it take your men to reset the platins and get rolling?
Sorry, Mr. Walling.
- Not this minute. I mean after the whistle. - Can't do it.
No work except straight production until further notice.
What are you talking about?
Orders from the Tower.
Okay, knock off. That's all for today.
When do you think we'll be able to have another go at it?
Maybe never.
Hello, Fred. Any news yet?
He's still out on his boat.
Now, now, now, don't worry.
I'll get to Jesse if I have to send the coast guard after him.
No, no need to. There's nothing for you to do.
Well, I checked with Walt's secretary, and he's coming in on the afternoon plane.
So, you go ahead. I'll know where to reach you.
Right.
Where do we go from here, Mr. Walling?
Four years since we've done anything good like that.
This is what we make now, the K-F line.
Look at it.
I remember when Mr. Bullard used to come down here,
see stuff not half as bad as this,
and just pick it up and smash it against the wall.
"Not good enough," he used to yell. "Not good enough!"
Not good enough.
Why did he allow it, Mr. Walling?
What happened to him?
What's gonna happen to us?
- Hello, Mr. Walling. - Hello, Tom.
Hello, Mr. Walling.
Mr. Walling?
Yes, Liz?
- Everything's going to be all right, isn't it? - Don't you worry about a thing.
But you weren't here in '33.
You don't know how it was in Millburgh when Tredway shut down.
Now, nobody's gonna shut down anything around here.
Mr. Bullard brought us a long way from that.
The trouble with us, George, is we understand each other too well.
I know that all this talk of yours about the earnings report
is part of a campaign to put me on the defensive
because you want something.
You know that whatever it is, you'll probably get it.
So, why don't you just save time and get to the point?
There are 50,000 shares of unissued Tredway common stock
in the company reserve.
I want you to arrange that
4,000 shares of that stock are sold to me immediately,
at yesterday's closing price.
- How do you expect me to do that? - Oh, there are ways. You'll find one.
- Why 4,000 shares, George? - I have my reasons.
I mean, why the extra 300?
What are you talking about?
Yesterday afternoon, between 2:51 and 3:29,
starting approximately six minutes
after Avery Bullard dropped dead beneath your office window,
Mr. Philip Wingate
sold 3,700 shares of Tredway common stock, short.
- Wingate told you? - No.
- How did you know? - As you said, there are ways.
I had a sure thing.
If you hadn't released that earnings report...
You knew, is that why you did it?
Now... Now, look, Loren.
I can't go into the open market Monday morning and cover that short sale.
I have no liquid assets, not a thing I can lay my hands on. I...
You know the way I live.
I'll be wiped out inside of an hour.
Mr. Shaw, have you seen Mr. Alderson around?
He hasn't been in today.
Well, I wonder...
- Perhaps I better... - What is it, Miss Clark?
There's a call for him. I have a feeling it may be urgent.
- Who is it? - Miss Tredway.
- Have it transferred in here. - Yes, sir.
Hello?
Miss Tredway, this is Loren Shaw.
No, Mr. Alderson isn't in right now. Perhaps I can help you.
Yes.
I see.
Why, certainly. As controller of the company, I...
Yes, I believe I can give you that information.
By all means.
In about an hour?
I'll be waiting for you.
Goodbye, Miss Tredway.
Well, what's the answer?
Are you gonna get that stock for me or not?
- Why should I? - Because you want the presidency.
Do I?
It's the only reason you joined this company.
It's the kind of set-up you've been dreaming about
ever since you came on the Street with that night-school CPA in your hand.
For years I've been working for it and now I'm going to get it.
- But not by larceny. - And not without my vote.
You'll need four votes, Shaw.
Without me, you don't stand a chance and you know it.
You realize, of course, as controller, my hands are tied.
Do a Houdini, untie them.
But as president,
I'll be in a better position to help you.
Suppose I vote for you and you don't come through.
The only chance you have to get that stock, George,
is if I become president.
Well, I guess I don't have much choice then, do I?
That's right, I guess you don't.
6:00, George.
Miss Nordley, right away, I want a complete breakdown
of Julia Tredway's holdings in this company.
And bring me the personal file on George Caswell.
You know, the SEC Committee report on the Luckheim Case.
And...
Strike three!
Settle down, kid! Settle down!
All right, now, Mike. They've had enough.
There's Fred.
Come on!
Go! Come on, Mike.
Well, I finally got Jesse on the phone. He hadn't heard about Bullard.
I gave him the whole set-up and he said no.
- What you mean, no? - He won't take the presidency.
He's going to retire. Made up his mind weeks ago.
Nothing I could say would change it. You know Jesse.
Yes, I know Jesse.
- Now, wait a minute. - Well, what for? It's all over.
There's still a way.
- Now, look, Fred, I told you last night... - Let me finish.
Jesse feels the way we do about Shaw, so we still have four votes:
Yours and mine and Jesse's and Walt's and maybe Julia's.
- Four votes for what? - For Dudley.
- Look, Fred... - Walt's got a lot of standing, Don.
He's been on two government commissions,
he's been president of the association,
made institutional speeches all over the country.
He knows how to keep people happy.
He's a darn good salesman, and that's all.
There's isn't a man in the business who's more popular.
Well, Bullard didn't build the company being popular.
We're not going to get another Avery Bullard, Don.
You've got to make up your mind to that.
Well, look, you can't put Tredway...
You can't put Millburgh into the hands of J. Walter Dudley.
You'd rather have Shaw, is that it?
- Okay, it's Dudley. - I'll get right over to the airport
and meet him at the plane.
Walt's going to need a lot of help running this company, Don.
That means he's going to need you.
Ball one!
- Let's have a new pitcher! - All right, tighten up in there, tighten up!
Ball two!
What happened?
Grimm won't take it. He's going to retire.
Come on, Mike...
Fred's gonna offer it to Walt Dudley.
- Come on, let's go! - Strike one!
Did you agree?
Yes.
Come on, get it over, get it over!
Ball three!
Come on!
- Come on, Mike. - Move! Come on!
Strike two!
Flight 31 from Chicago and Pittsburgh...
Fred!
... now arriving at gate four.
Is that his plane?
You didn't have to come, I could've handled it.
Forget it. I'm not gonna go through with it.
- But, Don, you said... - I don't care what I said!
He hasn't the guts, he can't do it.
- Look, with you there to help him... - It wouldn't work.
He's just dead weight, something we'd have to ease out of place
every time we wanted to get anything done.
All right, then, if not Dudley, who?
Me.
- Did you hear me? - Yes, I heard you.
- Well... - Forget it.
- Why? - You haven't got a chance.
Well, then, what were you talking about last night?
That was last night.
You've had a chance to change your mind, is that it?
I'm not ready yet.
Five more years to be properly seasoned while the company goes down the drain.
- Nobody said... - I've never had my picture in Fortune.
I get my hands dirty once in a while. I don't know the rules.
I'm not old and tired, or weak and afraid.
- Now, listen to me. - Not anymore.
This was my idea, remember that, not yours.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe I didn't realize just how hot your head really is.
One thing Bullard always had was respect.
Now, look, Fred, I didn't mean to...
Walt will be coming out. Now, we haven't got much time.
Don't you understand? It can't be Dudley.
- Look, with you and Jesse behind me... - No, Don. Not Jesse.
I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you this.
- What? - When I talked to Jesse,
I brought your name up.
- Well? - He wouldn't go along.
I don't understand.
Jesse and I have always worked together. I can't believe he feels that way about me.
- He does, Don. - Why?
Oh, 20 years from now, when you're Jesse's age,
maybe you'll understand.
At least now you can realize that giving Dudley the presidency
wasn't just an old man's crazy idea.
Will you forget about Dudley?
- Without Jesse... - I don't need him. I can do it without him.
- How? - Four votes.
- We're two right here. - Yes.
- Julia Tredway is three. - Oh, but...
Why not? And the fourth one is coming off of that plane.
You've got to talk to him, Fred.
- Well, how do you expect me... - I don't care how. It's got to be done.
Is that an order?
Yes, that's an order.
All right.
I'd better get over to Julia Tredway's.
Maybe you'd better let me talk to her.
There are things you don't know about her and Bullard.
You take care of Walt Dudley.
- Walt! - Oh, Fred, it was good of you to come.
I still can't believe it about the old man.
- I've got my car. - Oh, no, I...
I'm expecting someone to pick me up.
I thought we'd go to the Tower. I want to talk to you.
- Well, what about? - About the presidency.
Look, not now, I... I just can't be with you now.
Look, we've got to talk before the meeting.
This is important.
We're counting on you to help us stop Loren Shaw.
Not now.
You do feel the way we do, though, don't you?
I just told you I don't want to discuss it now.
Isn't that plain enough?
Very plain.
J. Walter Dudley, kindly report to the United ticket counter.
Mr. Dudley, I have a message for you.
Mr. Shaw won't be able to meet you here,
but he'd like to have you join him at the Federal Club at 5:00.
- Thank you. - You're welcome, Mr. Dudley.
Edith, don't wait for me, I won't be home.
No, no, everything is all right. I have a job to do for Don Walling.
Goodbye.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Oh, honey, how nice.
I didn't wanna leave without saying goodbye.
Baby, you've got to understand about last night.
But I do.
I'm not helping you, and you're certainly not helping me.
So, I'm getting out of here.
- I won't let you go. - Oh, yes, you will.
You've never faced an unpleasant situation in your whole life.
You never will.
You're too busy being popular.
Eva, what do you want me to do?
About me, nothing.
About yourself,
there's nothing you can do, not while you're so afraid.
- Please, honey... - No!
You go find yourself another aspirin tablet.
Look, baby, I have to be at the Club.
Drive me there and we can talk this over, huh?
Walt, the taxis are right over there.
Okay, Eva, I...
I don't know where you're going, but this isn't the end.
Goodbye, Walt.
You don't know me as well as you think you do.
A guy can change, you know.
Wanna bet?
Mary!
- Hi, dear. - Fred call yet?
- Well, we just got home. - Then ask Louise.
- Oh, Don! - Yeah.
- Where are you? - In here.
Oh, nobody called.
Well, try the Alderson house. He may be there.
Thanks.
Hello, Edith? Don Walling. Fred there?
Well, do you know where he went?
I see.
No, no, never mind. Thanks anyway.
If I marry you, will you tell me what's going on?
- Where did you run off to? - The airport.
Oh, well, that explains everything.
- And now? - Julia Tredway's.
- What for? - Her vote.
- For Walt Dudley? - No, for me.
Did you hear what I said? I'm going for the presidency.
- Yes, I heard you. - Is that all you're gonna say?
- What would you like me to say? - Well, a good word, a few cheers.
Do you really think you can get it?
- You got to try. - Why?
Why not?
Well, for one thing, because I love you.
And I wouldn't enjoy seeing you crack that handsome head of yours
against a stone wall trying to do the impossible.
Nothing's impossible.
- Bullard's line, not yours. - Still true.
Okay, I know what you're thinking, but last night was years ago.
I've changed my mind.
Look at your face in the mirror.
- Look at your hands. - It's because I'm in a hurry,
and you're not helping one bit, Mary. Now, will you...
Five years now, I've stood by and watched you.
Harassed, frustrated and denied, and for what?
To try to keep a dream alive.
I'm selfish, Don.
I want the man I was in love with and married.
I won't let you do this to yourself.
And I'm not gonna stand by and let the company
fall into the hands of a weakling like Dudley,
or an adding machine like Shaw.
There are too many lives involved. The whole town is at stake.
Tredway has got to be kept alive.
Avery Bullard's got to be kept alive, isn't that what you mean?
You want to sit in his chair and be his ghost.
You're even beginning to sound like Bullard.
Oh, let's not.
Don.
- Don... - Hey, Pop!
Later, Mike.
Gee whiz. He didn't even ask me who won the game.
Oh, don't worry, sweetie, he will.
Hello?
No, he just left.
Mary, this is very important.
I want you to call the Tower, get hold of Don,
and have him delay the meeting until I get there.
That's right. Tell him to hold up the voting.
Right.
You sure Mr. Grimm will be coming through this way?
Yes.
Tredway Corporation. Good afternoon.
Hello?
Over there, please, Luigi.
- By the window, please. - Yes, Miss Martin.
Thanks, Luigi.
Luigi, don't go in his office, please.
- Erica, has Mr. Alderson arrived yet? - I haven't seen him...
- Well, did he call me? Any messages? - Why, no, Mr. Walling.
- Is Miss Tredway here? - Yes, she's in Mr. Bullard's office.
She left some of her personal papers in his safe.
- She insisted I open it for her. - Oh.
Mr. Walling.
Is there...
Is there anything I can do?
Thanks, Erica.
Miss Tredway, I'd like to speak to you for a moment.
I know how you feel.
Then let me alone.
- I hate to bother you, but this is important. - Important?
- It has to do with the company. - The company.
I don't want to hear another word about it.
I've said all I'm ever going to say to Mr. Shaw.
Shaw?
I've given him full instructions.
Miss Tredway, I don't want you to think that I'm here...
To urge me not to sell out?
In another minute, Mr. Alderson will come in,
also not to urge me not to sell out.
I don't know what you mean.
This, Mr. Walling! The funeral pyre of nothing at all!
Bon voyage, Julia.
Sorry, you couldn't stay longer.
Miss Tredway, you mustn't let this...
Oh, no. No, you mustn't, Julia. You mustn't be unreasonable.
We wouldn't want that, would we?
There, there, my dear. You'll be all right. That's a good girl.
You've got everything in the world to live for:
Money, brains, beauty.
So, you just sit here and wait.
And if you wait long enough, say,
10 or 20 years,
maybe something else will happen.
Because you know, Julia, no matter how horrible things are,
they can always get worse.
Miss Tredway.
You said something about instructions to Mr. Shaw.
Yes, Mr. Walling.
The holdings of Julia Tredway,
39,500 shares of common stock of the Tredway Corporation.
There it is, there it was, and there it goes.
The liquidation will be prompt, but swift. I quote Mr. Shaw.
You're not going to throw your stock onto the open market, are you?
I don't know and I don't care. Mr. Shaw will take care of everything.
You can't do that! You're selling out the company,
Avery Bullard's company, your own father's.
What did I ever get out of it but loneliness and sudden death?
What did I ever get out of them but the sight of their backs?
Bullard gave you everything you have.
There wouldn't be any stock if it hadn't been for him.
You wouldn't be here at all.
I gave him 10 years of my life and all my love! Isn't that enough?
Please, please, go away.
- Miss Tredway, at this meeting... - I'm not interested.
But surely you want to see us elect a man who will stand for...
I told you, I don't care. It won't make any difference to me.
Well, whether you care or not, your vote will count.
Mr. Shaw has my proxy. Now, will you let me alone?
If you wanna stab a dead man, why don't you do it yourself,
instead of having someone else do it for you?
- Get out of here. - Go on, sell out!
Smash everything he lived for! That's what you wanna do, isn't it?
Pay him back for loving the company more than he could love you?
Will you get out of here?
- Hello, Wally. - Caswell.
No use. I tried, it's only water.
- Where's the rest of this s�ance? - Don't worry, they'll be here.
Oh, hello.
How about a little three-handed gin?
Personally, I prefer to have a little vermouth-played martini instead.
A must for the early bird who fails to catch the worm,
3,700 wriggling worms.
Evening, everyone.
- Everything all right, George? - Oh, perfect.
- Where's Fred? - I don't know.
Well, didn't he talk to you?
Don, why don't you sit down?
- Well, gentlemen, shall we begin? - We can't begin.
Perhaps my watch is fast, I have 6:03.
- There are only four of us here. - Five.
Miss Tredway's proxy.
Miss Martin, am I correct in assuming that five constitutes a quorum?
Yes.
Am I also correct in assuming
that four votes out of the total of seven directors,
are sufficient to pass the usual motions, as well as to elect?
Yes.
Then I see no reason why we shouldn't proceed.
Well, don't you think this is important enough to wait for Fred and Jesse?
Mr. Alderson and Mr. Grimm have been officially notified
of this meeting, have they not?
And you've had verification of their receipt of notification?
Yes.
George, any objections to proceeding?
No.
Walt?
- No. - All right, let's get started.
Now, then.
Gentlemen, I take pleasure in...
Miss Tredway.
You know everybody.
Mr. Caswell, Mr. Dudley, Mr. Walling. Sit here.
This won't be necessary, Mr. Shaw.
I'll do it myself.
Walt?
Miss Tredway, gentlemen,
I take pleasure in nominating as the next president of our company,
the man whom I believe best qualified to fill the terrible void
left by the death of our beloved president.
I nominate Loren P. Shaw.
Thank you, Walt.
George?
I second the nomination.
Miss Martin.
"Mr. Loren P. Shaw has been placed in nomination
"for the presidency of Tredway Corporation
"before this 116th meeting of the board of directors
"on the 20th day of June, 1953."
There being present a quorum of the total number of directors as of this date,
an affirmative vote delivered four times shall constitute an elective majority.
Are there any other nominations?
Nominations on this first ballot are now closed.
If you'll please place your ballots in these envelopes.
Your ballot, Mr. Walling.
One "no" for Mr. Shaw.
One "yes" for Mr. Shaw.
Two "yes" for Mr. Shaw.
Three "yes" for Mr. Shaw.
One "abstain."
No decision on the first ballot.
Miss Tredway, could I speak with you for a moment?
Perhaps I failed to make my position clear this afternoon.
How about a break before we go on with this?
- Anybody got an aspirin? - In there.
Miss Tredway, I don't know how you just voted,
but I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for what I said.
No matter how I feel about the company, I had no right to do that.
Well, Loren, how does it feel?
- What? - Not getting it.
- I had her. I know I had her. - Oh, you still do.
It was you. Why? Why?
3,700 reasons.
I told you I was...
I told you I was gonna do my best for you, didn't I?
I didn't realize this afternoon how much bargaining power I really had.
It's not just that my "no" keeps you out and my "yes" puts you in.
Loren, I want the delivery of that stock guaranteed.
You blasted idiot. I have it for you right here.
Julia Tredway's pulling out of the company,
and I'm handling the sale of her stock.
Here's your 3,700 shares, right here.
A letter of transfer signed by me, as president.
Do you mind?
Now, let's go.
All right, now, Miss Martin.
Mary, is there anything wrong?
- Is it all over? - No, not yet.
Oh, Don, please don't hate me. I did a terrible thing to you. I really did.
- Honey, what is it? - Fred called you right after you left.
Where is he?
He said it was important for you to hold up the voting until he got here.
I didn't call you, Don.
And then when I did try to get through, I couldn't find you, and...
It's okay, honey. It's all right.
Darling, I was so wrong.
If it's what you want, really want,
that's all that should matter to either of us.
Don, is there still a chance in there?
Nothing's impossible. Remember?
You're funny.
Am I?
- Getting ready for the second ballot, Don. - Already?
Miss Martin.
"At 6:19, after a brief recess, the meeting was resumed,
"and Mr. Dudley once again placed the name of Loren P. Shaw
"in nomination for the presidency of Tredway Corporation."
Miss Tredway, gentlemen...
We all seem to be in a big hurry around here, don't we?
I'd like to second the nomination...
Maybe we're a little too accustomed to quick decisions in this room,
to directors' meetings that never really meant anything.
If you mean that's pretty much the way Bullard ran this company,
we might all be inclined to agree with you.
After all, isn't that why we're here,
to replace that kind of dictatorial leadership?
With what, Loren?
- Well, I was about to tell you... - Replace it with what?
Just a second, George. I want to answer that question.
After all, Miss Tredway is a major stockholder in this company,
and if she, or anyone else, wants to know where I stand...
I believe that a company is answerable first and last to its stockholders.
To fulfill that obligation,
primary emphasis must be placed upon return on investment.
- Jesse. - Don.
- Anything happened? - Not yet.
Thought I could swing him. He's a mule.
Jesse, Fred, welcome.
We're into the nominations,
and I was just trying to make clear to everyone here
what I believe to be the only
sound basis for corporation management today.
When the average stockholder buys Tredway stock,
he makes an investment.
Now, the only reason he makes it is to get a return.
That's why I believe that corporations today
must be governed to be what its owners want it to be,
and have paid for it to be,
a financial institution yielding the highest and safest return on investment.
You know why more and more corporations today
are drawing their leaders from the ranks of controllers
and investment bankers?
Because the problems that come to the president's office today
are predominantly financial.
I get it.
Manufacturing and selling don't count anymore.
Of course they count, Fred, but they're not ends in themselves,
only the means to the end.
It's a matter of management levels. I just said it.
At the presidential level, the emphasis must be financial.
Take our own case.
Jesse and his staff have done a wonderful job
of reducing costs on our finishing operation,
and we all appreciate the creative effort that's been poured
into our experimental program at the Pike Street plant.
But the truth is,
such efforts add comparatively little to our net earnings,
even when they succeed.
Last year, they contributed less than a quarter of what we gained
from one new tax accounting procedure I got the government to approve.
So, you see, that one piece of work, all purely...
Yeah, we see, all right.
While Jesse and Don are turning out products,
you figure-jugglers and chart-men are busy flyspecking it with decimal points.
Well, some of us have had enough of it,
and some of us are sick to our stomachs from it!
I've had enough of that attitude!
I know how I've been regarded around here by most of you.
Efficiency has become a dirty word.
Budget control has a bad odor.
Well, that's my job. That's my responsibility,
to plug every profit leak,
to run to earth every single case of waste and inefficiency in this company.
If I have to step on toes and hurt feelings in the process,
that can't be helped.
But nobody's going to say I ever had anything
but the best interests of this company at heart while I was doing it.
You take a look at the record of the last three years.
Fight that record.
My record.
Your record, Shaw?
Couldn't have been done without me.
Understand, I don't mean to belittle Mr. Bullard.
We all recognize his magnificent contribution
to this company during its period of growth.
In other words, Avery Bullard was the right kind of man
to save this company from disaster,
to build it up and set it on its way.
But now, we need a different kind of management,
one that will dedicate itself to paying
the maximum dividends to the stockholders.
Is that it?
I don't know that I'd express it in exactly those terms,
but, yes, that's substantially what I do mean.
Shaw, let me ask you something.
The president of a company like Tredway would have to be a man
- of outstanding qualities, wouldn't he? - Naturally.
A man prepared to make a good many personal sacrifices,
willing to devote himself to the company, mind and heart, body and soul.
If you have the right man, there'd be no worry on that score.
Why? Why would he do it?
What would be his incentive?
You mean, outside of salary?
There's such a thing as success, isn't there?
The sense of accomplishment.
Exactly.
Now, let's assume, Shaw, that you're the man
running the Tredway Corporation your way.
Would you be satisfied to measure your life's work
by how much you raised the dividend?
Would you regard your life as a success
just because you managed to get the dividend
to $3 or $4, or five or six or seven?
Would that be enough?
Is that what you want engraved on your tombstone when you die?
The dividend record of the Tredway Corporation?
Are you suggesting that earnings aren't important?
I'm suggesting no such thing and you know it!
Shaw's right when he says
that we have an obligation to our stockholders.
But it's a bigger obligation than raising the dividend.
We have an obligation to keep this company alive,
not just this year, or next, or the year after that.
Sometimes, you have to use your profits for the growth of the company,
not pay them all out in dividends
to impress the stockholders with your management record.
There's your waste, Shaw! There's your inefficiency!
Stop growing, and you die!
Turn your back on experimentation and planning for tomorrow
because they don't contribute to dividends today
and you won't have a tomorrow
because there won't be any company.
Avery Bullard didn't seem to think
my policies were exactly destroying this company.
No.
No, he didn't.
And he was wrong.
The way a lot of people are wrong these days,
grabbing for the quick and easy, the sure thing.
That's just a lack of faith in the future,
something that's in the air today,
the groping of a lot of men, who know they've lost their faith,
but aren't sure what it is, or how they happened to lose it.
Avery Bullard was one of them.
He'd been so busy building a great production machine
that he finally lost sight of why he was building it,
of why he was the man he was!
If he ever really knew.
Do you know, Mr. Walling?
Yes, I think I do.
Avery Bullard was driven by pride,
pride in himself,
the urge to do things that no other man on earth could do.
He was the man at the top of the tower,
needing no one, wanting no one,
only himself.
That's what it took to satisfy his pride.
That was his strength.
That was his weakness, too.
Why shouldn't a man have pride if he's earned it?
All right.
But why should that set him apart from the people he's working with?
The force behind a great company has to be more than the pride of one man,
it has to be the pride of thousands.
You can't make men work for money alone,
you starve their souls when you try it.
And you can starve a company to death the same way.
Avery Bullard must have known that once,
but he'd become a little lost these last few years.
The company had been saved.
There were no more battles to win.
Now he had to find something else to feed his pride:
Bigger sales, more profit, something.
And that's when we started doing things like this.
The K-F line.
Walt, are your boys proud when they go out and sell this stuff
when they know the finish is gonna crack,
the veneer will split off and the legs come loose?
Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. That's price merchandise.
It serves a definite purpose in the profit structure of this company.
- We're not cheating anyone. - Ourselves!
At that price, the customer knows exactly what he's going to get.
This?
This is what Tredway has come to mean!
And what do you suppose the people think of us when they buy it?
How do you suppose the men in the factories feel when they make it?
What must they think of a management
that's willing to stoop to selling this kind of junk
in order to add a dime a year to the dividend?
Do you know there are men at Pike Street who've refused to work on the K-F line?
Who've taken a $7.50-a-week cut to get transferred to something else?
Well, after all, that's only part of our business.
Eventually, we can cut down on the line.
We'll drop that line!
And we'll never again ask a man to do anything that will poison his pride
in himself or his work.
We'll have a line of low-price furniture,
a new and different line,
as different from anything we're making today,
as a modern automobile is different from a covered wagon.
That's what you'd want, Walt, isn't it? What you've always wanted?
Merchandise that will sell because it had beauty and function and value,
not because the buyers like your Scotch or think you're a good egg.
The kind of stuff that you, Jesse, will be able to feel in your guts
when you know it's coming off your production line.
A product that you'll be able to budget to the nearest hundredth of a cent, Shaw,
because it will be scientifically and efficiently designed.
And something you'll be proud to have your name on, Miss Tredway.
We're gonna give the people what they need
at prices they can afford to pay.
And as fresh needs come up, we'll satisfy them, too,
with something new and even more exciting!
And when we achieve that, we'll really start to grow!
We're not gonna die, we're gonna live!
And it's gonna take every bit of business judgment
and creative energy in this company
from the mills and the factories right to the top of the Tower!
And we're going to do it together.
Every one of us.
Right here, at Tredway.
I'm with you, Don!
I take great pleasure in nominating Mr. McDonald Walling
for the presidency of the Tredway Corporation.
Second!
I move we make it unanimous.
All those in favor?
Miss Tredway?
Yes.
Mr. Caswell?
Mr. Shaw?
So voted.
- Congratulations. - Thank you, Loren.
Loren?
About that stock...
- You're Mary Walling, aren't you? - Yes.
- You must be very proud of him. - I am.
- I'm a little frightened, too. - Because you don't quite understand him?
We never do. Not completely. Not men like that.
It will make you very lonely at times when he shuts you out of his life,
but then he'll always come back to you.
And you'll know how fortunate you are to...
To be his wife.
Will you tell him something for me?
Say thank you for saving my life.
Congratulations, Mary.
- Oh, Erica. - Yes, Mr. Walling?
Better call a committee meeting for 10:00 Monday morning.
We'll be appointing an executive vice-president.
Yes, Mr. Walling.
- Good night. - Good night.
- Hey, by the way, who won today? - We did.
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