All My Sons (1948) Movie Script

All dressed up, huh? New suit?
Any good? Yeah, looks swell.
For Annie, huh? Yeah.
When does the train get here?
Oh, I got time. How's mom?
Better. She fell asleep early
this morning, and I let her.
Yeah, I know.
I heard her crying.
Yeah, she cried hard, all right.
Dad, we made a terrible
mistake with her.
Somehow she's gotta be made to understand that
Larry's dead. It's insane what she's doing.
Shhh. She might hear us.
Dad, walk over to the garage
with me. I wanna talk to you.
You might as well get that out of your
mind, because you'll never convince her.
But nobody comes back
after three years.
Well, there's no body
and there's no grave.
He was reported missing.
That's all. So where are you?
You just have to look
at the newspapers.
Every month some boy
turns up somewhere,
so the next one's
gonna be Larry.
Look, dad, I'm gonna
ask Ann to marry me.
Well, Annie is Larry's girl.
She was engaged to marry him.
She's not Larry's girl! How can
she be Larry's girl when Larry's dead?
Well, from mother's point
of view, he's not dead,
and you have no right
to take his girl.
The world's full of girls,
and you pick out Annie.
I happen to be in love with her.
You've hardly seen her
since she moved away.
More than that,
since you went to war.
I saw her in Chicago
last year for two whole weeks.
Besides that, I was brought up
next door to her.
I know her best, all my life.
When I think of someone for my wife, I
think of Annie. What do you want, a diagram?
Well, you marry that girl, and you're
pronouncing him dead. You've no right to do that!
All right, then.
Hello, Joe! Oh, hello, dick.
Give it some more thought, kid.
I have given it thought.
I hoped we could have a regular
wedding and everything happy.
But if that can't be, then I'll have to
get out. What are you talking about?
I'll get married
and live some place else.
Are you crazy? I've got
a right to live my own life.
Yes, but you've got
a business here.
What is this? The
business doesn't inspire me.
What do you mean "inspired"?
Do you have to be inspired?
Ain't it enough
you're sitting pretty?
One step behind me in a manufacturing
plant that's turning in profits!
Inspired! The Keller machine
works alone do not inspire me!
If I have to grub for my money,
at least I want something for it.
I want a family, a home.
I want some kids.
I want to build something
I can give myself to.
Ann's in the middle of that. Do I
find it here or elsewhere? You name it!
You mean... tell me something.
You mean you'd leave
the business?
Yes, on this I would.
Well, don't think like that.
Then help me to stay here.
All right, but don't
think like that because...
What did I work for?
It's all for you.
I know that, dad. Just help
me to stay here. That's all I ask.
Well, don't think like
that. I'm thinkin' like that.
Now, look, uh...
Let's leave it this way.
Don't do anything without Kate knowing
about it. I don't want her to be hurt.
You know that way she is. I don't
wanna hurt mom. You know that...
I know you don't,
but you gotta be careful.
Just don't go running off and do
something crazy. See what I mean?
I see.
Well, promise me
you'll talk to her first.
All right, I promise.
I don't know you, kid, do I?
No, dad, you don't.
Hmm.
It's just like it used to be.
Nothing's changed a bit.
It's only been
three years, you know.
The sagendorfs finally painted
their house. It's about time!
And there's us. Our house.
- Good morning.
- Ann, Dr. Bayliss.
Jim, this is our Annie.
How do you do?
How do you do? Tsk, tsk, tsk.
She looks very intelligent.
What can I take for it?
Chris writes about you
in his letters.
I could think of better things to write
about. What's the matter with you?
Jim, come in here!
Mrs. Adams is on the phone.
I told you, I don't wanna be
disturbed. Sunday is my day off.
What do you mean you...
No calls on Sunday.
- Hello!
- Hello.
You must be Ann.
And you must be Mrs. Bayliss.
Guilty. But don't hold it against
me. It was his bedside manner.
Well, go on in and talk to her.
She says she's in great pain.
She gives me a great pain!
What's the matter with her now?
What do you think? She wants you
to go over and hold her hand, beautiful.
So go! Such are the
conditions which prevail.
Never marry a nurse, Chris.
Ohh, I better go in and see he
doesn't muff that call. See you!
- Anme!
- Joe!
Annie.
Hello, Joe. Annie.
Here, let me look at you.
Annie, you're beautiful.
A dish if I ever saw one.
Here, give us a kiss.
Uh-uh-uh-uh! They're still falling
for me. How do you like that?
You're a regular dog. Here, let
me help you. Come on in, Annie.
Welcome home!
You're a sight for sore eyes.
You certainly look swell.
Go on, Annie.
Here we are.
Uh, Kate. Kate?
Yes? Annie's here.
How does it look to
you? It looks wonderful.
Still know your way
around? I think I do.
Oh, the piano.
I haven't touched one in years.
Oh, Annie, uh, you
better not play on it.
Kate hasn't let anybody
use it since... Larry, you know.
That's silly. Larry'd love to
have me play it. Play, then.
Well, I'm just telling you
that... go ahead, play it.
How nice.
It's been so long since
anyone's played that piano.
Hello, Kate. Annie, darling,
I'm so glad you could come.
It's so wonderful to be back
again. I'll take your bags upstairs.
Seems like old times with
Annie around, hey, Kate?
Almost like old times.
The piano still sounds good, in spite
of the way Larry and I used to punish it.
You think of him! You see, Joe?
She still thinks of him.
What do you mean, Kate?
Just that you remember him.
He's in your thoughts.
That's a funny thing to say. How
could I help remembering him?
I-I'll take you up to your
room. I'll see you later, Annie.
You must be tired
after that long train ride.
Oh, I don't mind. It was
fun to be coming home.
Did you sleep well?
No, I couldn't.
I was too excited.
Well! A room that doesn't
look out on a court.
What a relief!
Isn't she the sweetest
gal you ever saw?
Cut it out, Chris.
You'll have me believing it.
Okay, then, you're not the
sweetest gal I ever saw. Mom is.
Oh, Chris! Go away!
See you downstairs.
Chris feels just like
a brother to you,
and I suppose in a way, he is.
How do you like Chicago?
Still work at the same place?
Chicago's okay. I'm still
pounding a typewriter...
For lubowitz and Cochrane,
attorneys-at-law, bless 'em.
Hey, what's all this?
These all belong to Chris?
No, this is Larry's room.
Don't you remember?
You mean, they're Larry's?
Yes. Didn't you recognize them?
Well, it never occurred
to me that you'd...
The shoes are all shined.
Yes, dear.
For when he comes back.
Sometimes it's better to let
things stay the way they are,
not disturb them,
no matter what.
Joe. Yeah?
Did you take a bag
from under the sink?
Yeah. I put it in the garbage.
Would you do me a favor, Joe?
Stop being helpful.
That was my potatoes.
I thought it was garbage.
If you'd make up your mind that
every bag in the kitchen isn't garbage,
you wouldn't be throwing out
my vegetables.
Last time it was the onions.
I don't like garbage.
Then stop eating.
When I was a little girl
in the old country,
a bag of potatoes
was like a bag of gold.
Where's Annie?
She's changing her dress.
I wish she hadn't come.
Why not?
People will ask questions.
Let them. Well, we ought
to know the answers.
What questions? What answers?
It's a good thing she come here.
Let people know there's no
grudge and what's past is past.
It's a good thing.
I like that girl.
She's got a lot of spunk
coming here at that.
- No flies on her.
- You like every girl.
Well, no flies on me, either.
Don't move, anybody.
Say, Annie, I never noticed it
before, but you've got pretty legs.
Joe! Well, she has.
Joe's getting gay, Kate. You
oughta do something about him.
No fool like an old fool.
Hey, Kate! I've got the charts
here for Larry's horoscope.
Came yesterday
in the mail. Annie!
Frank. Lydia! Lydia!
- Yes?
- Come on over. Annie's here!
Annie! Be right down.
Gee whiz!
Good to see you, frank.
Long time no see, Annie.
How's tricks?
Tricks are fine, frank. How's
tricks with you? Oh, I got three kids.
So I've heard. Are you
still haberdashering?
Why not? Maybe I, too,
can get to be president.
My, you look wonderful.
You've gotten sort of...
There, now, now. Take it
easy. You're a married man.
Yeah, and how!
Oh, I think you'll be interested in
this, Annie. It's Larry's horoscope.
Kate asked me to work on it.
I sent for a chart.
Horoscope for what?
You see, the point is, if February
9... that's the day Larry disappeared...
Was a favorable day for him, then it's
completely possible he's alive somewhere...
Because he couldn't have been
killed on his favorable day.
Bilge! Oh, sure. Just
because you don't believe in it.
There's lots of things you
don't believe in that are true.
This isn't something
I make up, you know.
It's all in the stars.
Been goin' on forever.
- Annie!
- Lydia, it's so good to see you.
Having babies agrees
with you. Which one is this?
Meet my latest. We call him
Rupert after frank's grandfather.
I think it's awful. Well,
what's so awful about it?
Frank, the toaster won't work
again. I fixed it this morning.
Oh, I know, honey.
But fix it back the way it was.
Do you... how's your brother?
George is fine.
He's got his own office now.
Full-fledged lawyer
without clients.
And your dad? Is he
getting along all right?
I don't know. Does he
expect a parole soon?
You better go back to the house.
I left gertrude in the kitchen...
When I get to think,
sometimes, how an intelligent
man like your father
can be put in prison...
When there are gangsters
running loose all over...
Cut it out, frank.
Well, see you later.
I'm sorry, Annie. Frank's just a
dope, I guess. But he means well.
Sure. I know.
I'll drop in to see you.
Bye, now.
Oh, Kate, I'll have your hat finished by
tomorrow. Just some trimming left to do.
That's nice.
Lydia still loves to make hats.
I don't know how she finds
the time with three kids.
Haven't they stopped
talking about it?
Nobody talks about it
anymore, Ann. Honestly.
Gone and forgotten, kid.
Believe me.
How do you think I could stay
in business if they didn't?
But it's different with you.
You were exonerated.
Annie's father
is still in prison.
She might as well be prepared.
People do talk about it.
The only one that still talks about it
is my wife. She's sorry they let me go.
It certainly was more peaceful
while you were away.
Now, there. Didn't I tell you?
Gosh, it's wonderful
to hear you laughing about it.
It doesn't seem so awful when you
laugh about it. Sure. What did you expect?
Say, I got a great idea.
Why don't we all go out to the lake
tonight and have a shore dinner?
I think that'll be
just fine. Annie?
I'd love it.
You got our business.
I'll call up Swanson's
and reserve a table.
Oh, no, you don't.
I'll do the calling.
We're gonna have the works, wine
and everything. We'll get mom stinko.
No, no, no.
I couldn't drink another one.
Oh, come on, mom. Joe, you
know I can't stand more than one.
Oh, this is a celebration.
Come on. Where was I?
Uh... oh, yeah, yeah.
So this fellow begins
to worry a little,
and so one day he decides
to go home unexpectedly.
- And so...
- Uh-uh, keep it clean now.
Oh, clean as a baby's thoughts!
One of the kids in the
office told it to me.
Drink up, everybody.
It'll seem a lot cleaner.
Table's ready,
Mr. Keller. Oh, thank you.
Well, bring your drinks
to the table.
- I'll send them over.
- Thank you.
This way, please. Nice
fellow, Pete. Good service.
Now, let's not have any
trouble tonight. What do you say?
He's a murderer. So who ain't?
Good evening,
Mr. Keller. Hiya, Henry.
Where have you been keeping
yourself? Where are we, anyway?
- That's enough, now.
- Best couple on the floor.
Will you teach me that step?
Shake a mean leg, don't I?
Murderer.
Oh. Safety first, huh?
Aw, looks great, Pete.
Nothing but the best
for you, Mr. Keller.
Anything you want,
just holler for it.
Don't encourage him. Mr. Keller
can have anything in the place.
We don't see him often
enough. No, not like the old days.
Big shot, eh? Didn't know your
old man had influence, did you?
Stick around me, kid,
and you'll go places.
This is where I put on pounds.
Oh, lobster's not fattening.
It is the way I eat it. So this
fellow goes home unexpectedly...
Hey, Joe! Hi, ed.
How's things? Great.
And you? Oh, never felt better.
That's ed, uh... what's his name?
Can't think of his
last name. Nice fellow.
Here, you're doing this all
wrong. Let me do it for you.
I could never eat lobster
right. You dig in like this, see?
And then you twist it like that.
It's all ready for eating.
It's too big, Joe.
So, uh, this fellow
goes home unexpectedly...
- Who goes home?
- This fellow.
This better be good.
It is good. So this fellow
goes home unexpectedly,
and he knocks on the door
and nobody answered.
So he goes around to the
back. Joe, look who's at the bar.
Everybody is a point-killer
around here. Who's at the bar?
Mrs. Hamilton. She's drunk too.
So what? Oh, so nothing.
She's always drunk.
- Who's Mrs. Hamilton?
- Oh, a lush, that's all.
She worked at the factory during the
war when we were taking on extra help.
Her husband was killed
in the invasion, in France.
Will you let a man
finish his story?
So nobody answers the door,
and he goes around to the back...
And he climbs in
the window. Joe.
She's seen us.
She's coming this way.
You're making a big thing
out of nothing.
Pay no attention to her.
She'll go away.
So when he gets inside,
there, uh,
wearing his own pajamas...
And smoking one of his best
cigars, is this guy and, uh...
So he says, "pardon me.
I didn't know I was home."
Murderer. You cut
it out. Do you hear?
- Murderer.
- You cut it out, or I'll...
- Murderer!
- Joe!
- What's going on here?
- Get her out of here, quick!
It's all right, folks.
Everything is all right.
Go back to your tables, please.
I'm sorry, Mr. Keller.
It's okay, Pete.
She does that every time she
gets drunk and she runs into me.
She's got some kind
of a crazy bug in her head.
Don't mean nothin'. Sit down.
Joe, let's go home.
I don't feel so good.
Yes, please, let's.
Okay.
You go along to the car, all
of you, and I'll pay the check.
See you outside.
Oh, Annie.
You're not, uh, letting that
upset you, are you?
Well, I guess things aren't
the way I thought they'd be.
Perhaps I shouldn't have come
back. That's what I told Chris.
Mom! Kate's right.
She's not right! You had to come,
because this is where you belong.
Now, look, uh,
listen to me, Annie.
You do like I did and you're
gonna be all right.
The day I come home after
the trial, I got out of my car.
But not in front of the house.
Oh, no. On the corner.
You should've been here.
You, too, Chris.
You'd have seen somethin'.
Everybody knew
I was out that day.
Nobody believed I was really
innocent. The porches were loaded.
So I got out of my car,
and I walked down the street.
But slow and with
a smile on my face.
The beast. I was the beast.
I was the guy who sold defective
cylinders to the army air force.
I was the guy who made
21 planes crash in Australia.
Well, kid, walking down the
street that day was somethin'.
But I walked past the porches...
Past every single one of
them... with my head up.
Result? Fourteen months later I had
one of the best shops in the state again.
A respected man again.
Bigger than ever.
I'm afraid I haven't
the courage, Joe.
Well, that's the only way to lick 'em.
With courage. You gotta have guts.
Every Tuesday night the whole pack
of 'em is playing poker up in my office.
All those who yelled "murder
tryin' to take my money from me.
Annie, the worst thing you did
was to move away from here.
And it ain't gonna end
till you move back...
Till people start playing
cards with your dad again...
And smile with him,
talk with him.
Play cards with a man, you
know he can't be a criminal.
Next time you write him, I'd
like you to tell him just what I said.
But I don't write him.
Well, every now and then...
Neither does George.
But why? Because
he did murder 21 pilots!
What kind of talk is that? That's
no thing to say about a man.
When they took him away,
I followed him.
I went to see him
every visiting day...
Until I learned
the news about Larry.
Then I stopped.
What your father did had
nothing to do with Larry. Nothing.
Because he's not dead.
Do you hear?
He's not dead. Now,
Kate, please. Kate!
He's not dead.
I think I'll turn in.
There's some cold things
in the ice box,
if anybody's still hungry,
and some grape juice.
Listen, Annie, there's no proof that
Larry ever flew one of those planes.
Who flew them? Pigs?
The man was a fool, but
don't make a killer out of him.
You got no sense?
Look what it does to her.
Now, look, Annie, you've got to appreciate
what he was doin' in the shop in the war.
I mean, just try to see it
human. Just see it human.
All of a sudden, a batch
of cylinders come out bad.
Something went wrong.
A mistake. But it ain't murder.
You mustn't feel that way. You
understand me? He didn't have to ship them.
All right, so he shipped them. He believed
they'd hold up 100%, and some of them did!
The major screaming for delivery,
me home sick, so he shipped them!
He shouldn't have.
I don't say it was right.
But it wasn't murder.
It wasn't murder!
Well, let's forget
about it, Joe.
Annie, the day the news
came about Larry,
he was in the cell
next to mine... your dad.
And he cried, Annie.
He cried half the night.
I guess the fathers
of those boys cried too.
Don't talk like that.
I don't understand why you...
Are you gonna cut it out?
Chris, don't yell at him.
We've had too much
of that kind of talk.
Yeah, Chris is right.
Too much talk about it.
Now, look, uh, why don't you two
go driving or something?
Stop in at a roadhouse. What's
the matter with you anyway, Chris?
A pretty girl on your hands,
and all you do is sit around.
Why don't you mind your own
business? He's right. Let's go.
Now, there. What did I tell
you? Too bad I'm not younger.
You're just the right age,
Joe. Well, what do you know?
Beat it, you. You're competition.
Well, have a good time.
Enjoy yourselves! Go to bed.
Hello?
Yes.
It's long distance. Somebody
wants to talk to Annie.
Well, she went
riding with Chris.
Uh, she's not in just now.
Oh, in an hour, maybe.
All right. I'll tell her.
That was George calling her.
George? From Springfield, Joe.
What's he doing there?
Went to see his father,
I suppose. What else?
But Annie said they
hadn't been in touch.
That's what I was thinking.
Tell her operator four.
Remember how we used to
picnic here? You, Larry and I?
This is where I learned
three was a crowd.
You were too sensitive.
Are you still?
The army rubbed some of it off.
Not enough, I'm afraid.
Chris, I'm not staying.
Well, why? What's happened?
For one thing, Kate doesn't want
me here. Oh, she doesn't understand...
And then, ever since I got here,
you've been a little... well, distant.
Am I embarrassing you
by being here, Chris?
Why, no, Annie, no.
You act like it.
Well, you see, I...
The trouble is, I...
I sort of figured
on working up to this...
I guess you know
why I asked you to come.
I guess that's why I came.
I love you, Annie. Honest.
I love you a great deal.
I love you.
Gee, I have no imagination.
That's all I know to tell you. Isn't it
awful? I didn't want to tell you here.
I wanted some place we'd never
been, a place brand new to each other...
I kissed you, Annie.
I kissed Annie.
How long I've been waiting
to kiss you.
We're gonna live now.
I'll make you happy. So happy.
Oh, not like that, you're not.
You kissed me
like Larry's brother.
Now kiss me like Chris.
How long have you
loved me, Chris?
Always. Ever since we were kids.
You never said anything
or showed it.
You were Larry's girl.
You're funny.
Oh, Annie, uh, there's a
long distance call for you.
Ask for operator four
in Springfield.
Springfield? Yes. It's George.
Operator four, please.
This is Ann Deever speaking.
You had a call for me.
Hello, George? This is Ann.
What are you doing
in Springfield?
I-I can't understand you.
What are you so excited about?
You're not making sense.
But what did he say to you?
No, no, I won't discuss it with you any
more on the phone. I'll see you in Chicago.
In Chicago!
Anything wrong? No.
How's George? He's all
right. Went to see my father.
What is it? Your dad
took sick or something?
No. George is just
a little upset, that's all.
About what?
I think I'll turn in now.
Good night, Joe.
Good night.
Good night, Chris.
Good night, Annie.
Doc gave me these pills
for you to take.
I told him about last night.
Sleeping pill?
That's what he said.
I hate to take sleeping pills.
I don't like the kind
of sleep they give you.
Oh, well, it's better than
staying awake all night.
I think Rupert's
cutting another tooth.
Lydia says no,
but I think he is.
All these years he don't
even write to herb...
And suddenly he goes to see him.
He's a lawyer now, Joe.
What's that got to do with it?
Lawyers like to dig up things.
Well, let him dig.
Can't scare me.
You sure, Joe?
Oh, sure, I'm sure.
I got a court paper
that says so. Let him dig.
Then stop worrying.
I'm not worrying.
Joe, Chris is not gonna
marry Annie. I won't have it.
Go to sleep.
Be smart, Joe.
Get her out of here.
She means trouble for us.
She and George both.
Go to sleep.
Be smart, Joe.
Turn it off.
No use kidding yourself, Tom.
This baby'll never to the job.
I'll go to work on it in the morning.
Meantime, use the old machine.
Okay, boss. Same old Joe!
"If you wanna know, ask Joe."
That's what we used to say.
That's right, Charlie. That's
what we used to say, all right.
"If you wanna know, ask Joe."
Okay, fellas, get with it.
Knocking off time
ain't until 5:00.
What I wanna know, Joe, is what's
this all about? Nobody seems to know.
Have to come
to the old man, huh?
Oh, uh, this is the stuff I
picked up at the bankruptcy sale.
Must be a whole flatcar full of it.
Send the trucks down, pick it up.
Tell us about these things. This isn't a
one-armed joint you're running anymore.
I'll never get used to an office full of
people nosing around in my business.
Where were you this morning? You
come in late. I had breakfast with Annie.
Well, business before pleasure. You
can dock yourself a couple of hours' pay.
Wait a minute! It was only
an hour. Hour and 14 minutes.
"If you wanna know, ask Joe."
Annie feeling all right? Great.
Oh, uh, we need some more lave
operators. We're short five or six.
Did, uh, Annie say
why George called her up?
And, uh, some finishers.
As many as we can get.
No. I guess it wasn't anything.
Why? Does it bother you?
No. It's just that I don't want them raking
up things that had better be forgotten.
To his last day in court,
that man blamed it all on me.
This is his daughter. Dad!
Annie's gonna be my wife.
You asked her? Last night.
Well, I'm glad.
I'm glad for you, kid.
And I'm glad Annie's
gonna be part of the family.
It's gonna make it better
all the way around.
I want a clean start
for you, kid.
I want a new sign
over the plant:
"J.e. Keller and son."
How does that sound?
Sounds important.
It is important.
I'm gonna build you
a house. Stone.
With a driveway from the road.
I want you to spread out. I want
you to use what I made for you.
With joy, I mean.
Without shame, with joy.
Of course, dad.
Sometimes I think you're
ashamed of the money.
Ashamed of it. I'm sorry.
Because it's good money. There's
nothing wrong with that money.
Well, you don't have
to tell me this, dad.
Oh, well, forget it, kid.
Forget it.
- Am I interrupting big business?
- Annie!
I came to drive you
both home. Hello, Annie.
What, at 4:30? What kind of
a plant do you think we run?
You've been here long
enough. That's right, tell him.
Annie, Chris just told
me the good news.
And I'm glad. Really glad.
Thank you, Joe.
You know, you belong
with us, in the same family.
You and George... and dad.
I hope that, uh, George found
him a little less bitter toward me...
When he saw him yesterday.
He didn't say.
Well, how about it?
Am I going to drive you home?
Not me. I've got to stay till
closing time. I'm only the boss.
Slave! Come on, Chris. Let's
leave him to his moneymaking.
Now, don't knock it.
It comes in handy.
Now, look, uh, there's one thing
that you kids'll have to consider,
and that's Kate.
You can't do this thing over her
head. You understand that, don't you?
It's going to be hard. Well,
hard or not, you've got to do it.
You'll have to talk
to her. I'll talk to her.
Come on, Annie. Let's go before
he thinks up something for me to do.
I suppose you think
that's a bad idea.
Who do you think you are anyway,
coming in late
and going home early?
The boss's son?
Well, how do you like the place,
Annie? Some difference, huh?
It's big, Joe. And all yours
someday. Yours and his.
I want you to tell that to George next
time you see him so he can tell your dad.
It might make him
feel happy to know that.
You're a good man, Joe.
I'll see you for dinner.
George phoned you, Annie.
He's at the depot.
Here? Yes. He wouldn't
take a taxi to come out.
He wanted you to meet him there.
I can't imagine
what's gotten into him.
I finally got Jim bayliss
to go down and make him come.
I'll phone the station
and see if he's still there.
If he's coming to reopen the
case, I won't live through it.
Now, mom... we can't go
through with that thing again!
Now, morn, it's not half as bad
as you're making it out to be.
When George goes,
tell her to go with him.
Annie's different, mom, no matter
what the others may think or do.
He's her father too.
She's different.
You'll see.
He's not there.
Well, Jim must have
picked him up.
I'd better go in
and look after the dinner.
No matter how much help you've got,
you have to look after things yourself.
She's upset.
She's worried about George.
She thinks he's coming here
to make trouble.
George isn't friendly, Chris.
Might as well warn you.
You'd better be prepared
for a lot of wild talk.
George can be
such an awful fool sometimes.
It won't change anything
between us, will it, Chris?
No matter what he says.
- No matter what anybody says.
- Jim!
Oh, say, have you seen Jim?
I've been looking for him.
Yes. He went to the station to pick up
my brother. Well, how do you like that?
If I ask him to drive me to
the store, he hasn't got time.
If anybody else asks him,
that's all he's got.
That's what you get for marrying
such a bighearted guy. Yeah.
Chris. Yeah?
Come in here, please.
No matter what anybody says.
I guess your brother's coming
to give the bride away, huh?
You mean, people are gossiping?
Well, people can put
two and two together.
What's your father going to say to
all this? Why should he say anything?
Well, why shouldn't he? After
all, Joe outsmarted him, didn't he?
That's not true!
Oh, I'm sorry, Ann.
You know me. I always talk
too much. Have you told Kate?
Not yet. It's a lie, isn't
it? What you just said.
There isn't a person on the
block that doesn't believe it.
But people
always think the worst.
But it can't be. They're on the best
terms with everyone on the block.
So what? They just give Joe
credit for being clever, that's all.
I guess I do myself.
Susie, go on in and see if you can
calm mother. She's all worked up.
Did she find out about you two?
Mind your own business. Go
see what you can do. Okay.
You'll find something
in the medicine cabinet.
I'll give her two of everything.
That's all Jim ever does.
She says they think Joe's
guilty. She talks too much.
I'm not here
out of a blue sky, Chris.
I turned my back on my father.
If there's anything
wrong here now... Annie!
He's innocent. Do you think I
could forgive him if he were guilty?
Believe me, there's
nothing wrong for you here.
He's outside in the car.
Well, ask him to come in.
Don't bring him in here.
Why not?
I better see if... no,
wait. I'll go get him.
Stop being an idiot. Fight it out somewhere
else. Nobody's afraid of him here.
Chris!
George. Hello, Annie.
Kate asked me to bring
this grape juice out to you.
Susie. This is
Ann's brother, George.
This is Mrs. Bayliss,
Jim's wife. Hello.
So you're George! Well, I'm
pleased to meet you at last.
I've heard a lot about you too.
Somebody take this grape juice away
from me so I can shake hands with a man.
Well, it's time we had
some new men around here.
That'll do, sue. We
have to go. Do we?
Yes. Oh. I...
You don't have to push me.
I can take a hint.
Good-bye, Annie's
brother George! So long.
- Thanks for the lift.
- See you later.
How about some grape juice?
Kate made it especially for you.
No, thanks.
Seems impossible
that I'm back here.
How's the law, George?
I don't know. When I was
studying, it seemed sensible,
but outside there doesn't
seem to be much of a law.
You're not gonna marry him.
Why not? Because his father
destroyed your family. That's why not.
Well, look here, George... cut it
short, Chris. Tell her to come with me.
Who are you to come bullying
your way in here like this?
If you've got something
to say, say it!
I went to see dad to tell him
you were going to be married.
It seemed impossible
not to tell him.
Annie, I've been thinking maybe
we've been wrong not to go see him.
Whatever he did, Annie, he's our
father. We've gotta remember that.
That's not what you said when
you came back from overseas.
I know what I said, and I did a
terrible thing. I can never be forgiven.
It wasn't all dad's fault.
Joe knew about those cylinders.
That's a lie, and you know it!
He was home, sick.
Sick? He stayed home to give himself
an alibi so the blame would fall on dad.
But all this
came out at the trial.
Dad told the whole story. The jury didn't
believe him. The jury didn't know him.
Yesterday I heard it
from his mouth.
From his mouth it's altogether
different from the court record.
Anybody who knows him and knows
your father will believe it from his mouth.
Your father tricked him.
He took everything we had.
I can't beat that.
But this I can.
She's one item
he's not gonna grab.
Get your things
and come with me.
No, George. I'm
staying here with Chris.
Everything they have
is covered with blood!
You're not the kind of a girl
who can live like that!
Georgie!
My Georgie!
Hello, Kate.
Georgie, they made an
old man out of you. Well, I...
I told you when you went away,
don't try for medals.
I didn't have to try, Kate.
They made it easy for me.
Aw, go on! You're all alike.
Look at him. Why did you say he
looks fine? He looks like a ghost.
What's the matter with you?
It must be those restaurants.
Oh, I feel all right. I just don't
have much appetite these days.
If you ate in my house,
you'd have an appetite.
Wait till you see the dinner I've spread
out for you. I'm not staying for dinner.
Of course you're staying
for dinner. No, Kate. I can't.
Now, you don't start telling me what
you can do and what you can't do.
Going around
making believe you hate us.
You can't hate us, Georgie.
Not in your heart.
I know you. You can't fool me.
I diapered you!
You... you haven't changed.
None of us have changed,
Georgie. We're all the same.
Why don't you give him
some grape juice?
No, thanks. You always liked
grape juice the way I made it.
You came for it all the time. Don't
you remember? Now, here, you drink it.
There.
Kate, I'm feeling
hungry already.
I think I will stay for dinner.
Nobody can resist Kate.
Why should he resist me?
Georgie's like one of my own.
One of my very own.
I practically raised you...
You and Ann both...
From the day
your poor mother died.
- Geor ' gle!
- Lydia!
What did you do to yourself?
Just grew up, I guess.
You got prettier.
Here's your hat.
I just finished it.
Thanks. It's lovely.
She's so clever, that one.
I hear you have a baby.
Oh, you don't hear so good.
I got three.
Three?
You've been away
a long time, Georgie.
I'm beginning to realize that.
You going to be around
for a while?
No. I've gotta get back tonight.
There goes my youngest again.
He cries all the time.
I've got to go.
So long, Georgie.
So long, Lydia.
Be seein' you.
She got pretty, that one.
She makes things seem
so nice around here.
They didn't take frank, huh?
He was always one year
ahead of the draft.
When they were calling
boys 27, he was 28,
and when they made it 28,
he was just 29.
I guess frank won the war.
Well, well, well,
look who's here.
Well, good to see you.
How are you, Joe?
Oh, so-so. Getting on.
You look fine, George.
He looks terrible!
Yeah, that's what I said.
You look terrible, George.
I wear the pants,
and she beats me with the belt.
Oh, boy. Now I feel tired.
You stay too long at the plant.
Well, somebody's got to make
the dough. How's your dad?
Feel all right?
No. He's not well, Joe.
Well, that's too bad.
That's the way they do, George.
A man makes an honest mistake,
and they hang him by the thumbs.
I wish you'd let me know
you were going to see him.
I didn't think
you were interested.
Of course, I'm interested. Why
shouldn't I be? I think about him a lot.
And I'd like him to know
that as far as I'm concerned,
any time he wants,
he's got a place with me.
Not as my partner, of course, but a
job. You don't owe him anything, dad.
Of course, I don't.
Butjust the same...
He hates your guts, Joe.
Don't you know that?
Yeah. I imagined it.
But that can change too.
- Herb was never like that.
- He's like that now.
Well, that's
a sad thing to hear.
Why? What'd you expect him
to think of you?
Well, a thing can be sad
even if you expected it.
I expected it because
I happen to know your father,
and I'm sad to see
that he hasn't changed.
As long as I've known him...
25 years...
That part of him made me sad.
The man never learned
to take the blame.
You know that, George. Well, I...
Yes, but you do know it.
Because by the way you come in here,
you don't look like you remembered it.
I mean, like in '37, when we
had the shop on flood street,
and he near blew it up with that heater
he left burning for two days without water.
He wouldn't admit
it was his fault, either.
I had to fire a mechanic
to save his face.
You remember that,
don't you? Yes, but...
I'm just mentioning this because this
is just another one of a lot of things.
Like when he gave frank next
door that money to invest in oil stock.
I know... well, it's good
to remember those things.
The way he cursed frank
when that stock went down.
Now, is that frank's fault? To listen to
him, you'd think frank was a swindler.
All the man did was give
him a bad tip. I know, but...
Well, remember them!
Remember them.
- Dinner's ready, everybody!
- We'll be right in, minnie.
You know, uh, there are
certain men in this world...
Who just haven't got
the guts to take the blame.
Do you understand me?
Come on in. Let's eat, kid.
So this fellow says, "he can
talk, but he can't bark."
No, thanks.
I made all the things
Georgie likes.
Oh, no, not again. Go on, eat.
There's lots more in
the kitchen. I'll bust!
Mom operates on the theory that if
there's more food you're still hungry.
I notice you're not starving. Uh,
Georgie, go on now. Take some, will you?
Leave a little for me,
'cause I've just started.
Remember the time we went on the
picnic and Kate made so much food...
We had to stop and
give away sandwiches?
Yes! A whole truck full of
food. Enough for an army!
Well, I don't like seeing people go
hungry. Anyway, it was a small truck.
I could've used you
in our outfit overseas.
You aren't kidding. Me too!
It wouldn't be such a bad idea to have
the mothers go along to feed the boys.
Mr. Macy's daughter! That's the girl
for Georgie! She's got you hooked.
Who's Mr. Macy's daughter?
A drip!
She's not a drip. She's nice.
And very intelligent.
Wrong thing to say, Kate.
Now, you come back here
to live the way Joe says...
Yes, uh, I'll talk
to judge Collins in the morning.
Have him take you in with him.
Great spot for you, Georgie.
And I'll find a girl for you and
put a smile back on that face.
I feel so... so wonderful.
I've never felt at home
anywhere but here.
Why shouldn't you, Georgie?
We have no argument.
Why should we have an argument?
We were all hit by the
same lightning. All of us.
You know, Kate,
you look so young.
You know, you haven't
changed a bit.
I-It rings an old bell.
And you, too, Joe.
You're amazingly the same.
Still healthy
and strong as an ox.
I haven't got time to be sick.
That's for old people.
Joe hasn't been to a doctor
as long as I can remember.
Never been sick a day
in my whole life!
Knock wood.
- Is that a fact, Joe?
- Yeah, sure.
Except for that time when you...
Oh, yes, yes! Except for
that time when I had the flu.
I thought he had pneumonia.
He couldn't leave the bed.
- Never sick a day, you said?
- Mm-mm.
Not a day in your whole
life. George, please.
- Do you remember every time you were sick?
- I'd remember that time.
George! Especially if that
was the day when my partner...
Was going to ship defective
airplane parts out to the army!
What happened that day, Joe?
Please don't talk so loud.
Minnie might come in.
That's enough out of you.
I've had just about enough.
I don't have to
tell you anything.
Ask the court what happened
that day, if you're curious.
Ask the jury! It's all written
down, and it says I'm innocent!
You had me fooled
for a minute, Joe,
with all this food and your talk
aboutjobs and girls.
You had me fooled.
We're getting out of here.
Listen, George...
Now! I'll wait for you
outside. Get your things.
I'll go talk to him.
Put the dessert in the ice box.
We'll have it later, minnie.
I told you not to bring her here,
Chris. She doesn't belong here.
Why doesn't she belong
here? Because she's Larry's girl!
She's not Larry's girl! Larry is dead!
He's dead, and he can't come back!
Now cut it out, Chris!
Never. Never in this world.
He's not dead.
As long as we're alive... your
father and I... he's not dead.
Do you understand?
He can't be dead!
What did she mean by that?
Oh, I don't know.
That was a funny thing
for her to say.
Well, you know
the way she talks.
What's the matter?
What are you driving at?
If it ever turned out that you
weren't telling the truth, I'd kill you.
What kind of a thing
is that to say?
What kind of...
I don't have to defend
myself to you or nobody!
Do you understand me?
Not to you or nobody!
No hard feelings, kid.
What kind of happiness
are you gonna have...
With all that
rottenness underneath?
Use your head, Ann. It can't be.
George, I want you to go away and never
come back to this house as long as you live.
Ann?
Wait for me, George.
Don't leave me, Annie.
It's no good, Chris.
It's no good.
Sometimes... you have to
leave things the way they are...
And not disturb them.
That's what Kate said...
And she was right.
I've disturbed them
too much already.
Let me go with
you. No, Chris. No.
Just take a seat. Thank you.
He'll be along any minute now.
Chris.
You look fine, Chris. You've...
You've grown up.
Thanks. You look... now
don't... don't try to tell me.
I've changed.
Some ways for the better, Chris.
Some ways for the better.
Lost it here and...
Gained it here.
And here.
You always seemed to me to
have plenty of both, Mr. Deever.
Not enough, Chris. Not enough.
Not enough brain.
Not enough heart.
Oh, no time to talk of me, boy.
You've come about Annie.
George was here and told me. You
and Annie wanna get married, he said.
We're not getting
married, Mr. Deever. Not?
Annie broke it off.
George came to our house...
After he'd seen you,
and she went away with him.
Why?
Because he convinced
her that my father was guilty.
Well, I'm... I'm sorry for
you, Chris. Very sorry.
I don't believe
my father is guilty, Mr. Deever.
Go away, Chris.
Go away and forget all about it.
All about us.
Don't dig into this thing.
You'll be hurt by what you find.
Go away.
I want you to tell me
that dad is not guilty.
It's important.
My happiness, and Annie's, depends
on your courage to admit the truth.
Admit it and free us.
Chris,
as god is my witness,
what I am going to tell you
is the truth.
We were in the midst
of all that... war business,
turning out stuff
for the army and Navy.
Night and day, night
and day. No end to it.
The place was going full blast.
We only worked
till midnight on Saturday.
We were going 24 hours
the rest of the week.
The foreman stopped me as I was
making my way through the shop.
He was also
the government inspector.
Herb, you seen Joe?
He's in the office, I guess.
You looked at those cylinders
we turned out today? Why should I?
That's Joe's job. I don't
know anything about 'em.
They're defective. Defective?
What's the matter with 'em?
Nothing you could see with the
naked eye, but it shows up in the X-ray.
I'll have to reject the whole
batch. You can't reject them!
They've gotta be shipped outta here
Monday morning. They have to pass!
What can I do? They're
no good. I've warned Joe.
He's been cutting
the process too fine.
I'll talk to him.
Joe, have you seen Stan?
He says there's something
the matter with the cylinders.
Yeah, I know.
What happened, Joe?
What happened? They
came out bad, that's all.
It happens. They came out bad.
Can they be fixed? No.
Start all over again. By that
time, we're out of business.
We shouldn't have
gotten into this.
We're way over our head.
We're not big enough.
We had no right
to take on those contracts.
I don't remember you saying that when
I came back from Washington with them.
You looked at the profits at the bottom of
the page and thought we were big enough.
I relied on you.
You said we could handle it.
And we can! Just because a
batch of cylinders come out bad?
Stan's an old lady. Ever since
they made him the army inspector...
And gave him that X-ray
machine, he's been seeing things.
What are we gonna do, Joe?
What can we do? Take the rap.
Or ship them.
Ship them? How can we?
Ship them, that's all.
It isn't the first time we've shipped
stuff outta here that wasn't 100%.
Do you think every stove we sent
outta here before the war was perfect?
Nobody turns out
a perfect product.
But this is different, Joe.
Do you want to not ship them
and have them cancel?
Put us out of business? You know
what they'll do if we don't deliver.
Will they be all right?
They'll have to be.
I don't like it. We're taking an
awful chance. If something happens...
Okay, you think
of something better.
Either we take the chance or we're
through, good and through. Broke!
Joe, I've got every cent in
the world tied up in this place.
It'd be the end
of everything for me.
I wouldn't even
be able to keep the house.
What makes you think
I'm any better off?
I've got more than my money
tied up in this; I've got me.
Me! My flesh and blood!
My heart! My brains!
Forty years of it!
Forty hard years!
Keller and Deever.
You don't know what that means because
you... never had to get it the way I did.
It was all there for you. All you
had to do was just reach out for it.
Me? I had to grab it.
Grab it and hold on!
When you were
working for your father,
living in the best house in town, I was
collecting scrap iron in the back alleys.
Ajunk man. Old cars,
old sinks, old stoves.
I picked up a stove
from you once.
Paid you for it too.
I guess you wouldn't
remember. It was only $3.50.
But I would, because
it was my last $3.50.
I beat it into scrap with my
bare hands and sold it for five.
Dollar and a half profit.
Nice turnover.
No. The tough times were
finished when you joined up with me.
We were on the way then.
There were times when I
couldn't meet the payroll.
Yes, and the times that the
workmen left on Saturday...
With more money in their
pockets than I took home.
The time when Kate took a job
to pay the interest on the notes.
Kate.
Kate, the foreign girl
who worked for your mother.
You're only losing money.
Only money.
It's a crime to ship those cylinders
out of here. You must realize that.
It's only a crime if you get
caught. The main thing is to survive.
Joe Keller is going to survive.
So ship them outta here. I
say they're okay. Ship them.
Just the same,
I didn't ship them.
On Monday, Joe was
home sick. I was scared.
I should like to say I didn't
because of honesty and principle,
but it isn't so.
I was merely frightened.
And so Monday passed.
Next day was... Tuesday.
Black Tuesday.
There 'd been the devil to pay.
We were late in shipping
the cylinders we promised,
and the army men
were raising Cain.
When they left, I called
up Joe on the phone.
He was home sick.
The first time since I'd
known Joe, to stay home sick.
Joe, is that you? It's herb. They
were just here. They want the stuff.
Did you tell them they'd get
them? No, of course I didn't.
Why didn't you? I'm scared
to take the responsibility.
Who says you have to? Will you do like
I say and stop acting like an old woman?
I'm frightened. Can't you
come down here and handle it?
How can I when I'm sick?
But if something happens...
Nothing's going to happen. I'll take
full responsibility. Do you hear me?
Yes, you'll take full
responsibility. I heard you.
Butjust the same, Joe...
Full responsibility,
I said! Ship them!
- Ship them!
- Joe...
Joe!
What are we gonna do
about them cylinders, herb?
They're piling up on the loading
platform. Do they go or don't they?
Will somebody
kindly make up their mind?
Ship them, Eddie.
Ship them. It's about time.
Ship them.
"Full responsibility," he said.
He'd take full responsibility.
But you told them this in court
and they didn't believe you.
The judge, jury, all those men
didn't believe you. Why?
On the telephone you
can't have responsibility.
In a court...
You can always deny it.
He couldn't be like that.
He couldn't be.
I know him. He's my father.
This is something you've brooded
about until it's become real to you.
But it isn't the truth.
You know it's not.
It's the truth, Chris.
It's the truth.
Time's up.
Do the men
at the plant still say,
if you want to know, ask Joe"?
All right.
It's all right, minnie.
I'll see who it is.
Annie. Yes, it's me.
May I come in? Of course.
You surprised me.
I thought you were
in Chicago. I was.
Is Chris here? I phoned him at the
office. They said he hadn't been there.
He's out of town for a few days
on a vacation. Oh, that's too bad.
I wanted to talk to him
before I spoke to you.
But perhaps it's just as well.
Annie, I don't know what brought
you back here, but I'm sorry you came.
I'm not going to pretend.
You're not welcome here.
I expected that you'd
feel that way, Kate.
But it's not important. What's
important is what I have to say.
You have nothing to say to me.
When I left here last week, it was for
good. I thought I should never come back.
But in Chicago, I began
to figure things out,
and I realized that I'd merely
run away and that it wouldn't do.
It isn't better to leave things
the way they are, Kate.
Sometimes they've
got to be disturbed.
What do you want of us?
Why do you come back?
You, George and your father. What
do you want? I want to marry Chris.
That's impossible,
and you know it.
Chris would never marry you as long as
Larry's alive. He wouldn't do such a thing.
Why won't you learn
to face the truth, Kate?
The truth, the truth. What good
is the truth if it destroys us all?
What good is it?
Chris asked me
to marry him, Kate.
He had no right to do that,
and you had no right to let him.
It was wicked of you... both
of you... and you know it.
We love each other.
You're engaged to Larry.
Larry's not coming back.
No such thing.
No such thing, you hear?
He is coming back,
and when he does,
if you want to break it off,
that's all right.
But you've got to wait
till he comes back.
We can't wait forever. Chris
and I have a right to live too.
It doesn't depend on me. I
can't change the way things are.
I don't wanna do it without your
consent. It would make Chris unhappy.
He loves you so.
It would break his heart.
You owe him this much
happiness. Tell him it's all right.
It would take
more than my words.
The night you marry him,
Larry will be with you.
Your hearts will dry up thinking of him. And
every night afterwards as long as he lives!
Larry's dead. No!
He crashed off the coast
of China February 9, 1944.
You've got no proof. You
say that, but you have no proof.
Not even the army had proof!
I have proof, Kate.
This is a letter from
Larry. His last letter.
It was written the
day he died. No!
Read it, Kate. No!
I tried not to show it to you.
Larry.
Now you know why it was...
I had to keep it from you.
When Chris comes,
I'll be at Lydia's.
Larry.
Annie!
Annie.
Joe must never see that letter.
Do you hear? Whatever happens.
Aw, that's Joe. Raise him.
- What? Oh, well. I'm in this far.
- Too stiff for me.
Freshen my drink,
will ya, Charlie?
No, no, no, no. Joe
doesn't need any coaching.
He's winners now.
Play to win. That's my
motto. But I raise you. Stay.
Don't you ever lose, Joe? Cards.
One, please.
He's drawing to a flush again.
Somebody come in.
See who it is, Charlie.
Did you fill it?
Cost you money to find out.
Hello, Charlie. Chris.
When'd you get back? I thought you
were going to stay away for a while.
I just got in. I stopped
by to pick you up.
I won't be long.
This is my last hand.
You know everybody here,
don't you?
This is Mr. Ellsworth,
big customer.
My son Chris. How are ya, Chris?
Let's get this thing
over with. It's getting late.
Where were we?
I'll call ya, Joe.
What have you got? Four ladies.
Four queens! Didn't
think you had 'em, Joe.
See how easy it is
to make money, Chris?
Collect, Charlie.
Give 'em the bad news.
Don't brag, Joe. I'll get ya next
Tuesday. Ya gotta lose sometime.
He pays me wages, and I give
it back to him in poker.
See ya next Tuesday. Good night.
Good night. What
cards! A man has no luck.
See you in the morning,
Joe, Chris.
Good night, Swede.
Good game, Joe. It
was fun. Invite me again.
I certainly will.
Pleasure to take your money.
I told you to play
that hand, Joe.
You certainly did, Charlie.
You certainly did.
Good night, Joe. Good night.
Do you play poker
as well as your father?
I can't do anything
as well as my father.
D'ya hear that?
And he's got an education.
I never went to school.
An ignoramus, he calls me.
By the way, Joe, we're getting
complaints from the retailers.
Seems to be something the
matter with the doors. Got any ideas?
It's that stamping machine.
We had a bad stamping machine.
You ship them back, and
I'll refit them. No cost to you.
Fair enough. And here's
something else you don't know...
And none of
your experts know, either.
They're not exactly to
specifications. They're not?
I changed them. If I'd followed those
highbrow blueprints, you'd have gone broke.
Joe, you're a wonder. I'll bet there isn't
a nail in the place you don't know about.
I wouldn't be against that.
"If you wanna know, ask Joe."
Isn't that what they say in the trade?
That's right!
"If you wanna know, ask Joe."
- Good night, Joe. See ya.
- Good night.
Glad to have met you.
Good night, sir.
Better luck next time!
That's a big man.
Head of united service.
We're makin' plenty with him.
"If you wanna know, ask Joe."
What do you know about that?
Even he heard it.
I'm getting famous.
Put the chairs back, will you?
What's the matter? You don't look
happy. Didn't you have a good time?
Is it really true, dad?
"If you wanna know, ask Joe"?
Sure. "Every nail in the
joint, just like he said.
That's how I built this place... by
knowing what's going on, knowing it good.
Then I wanna ask you a straight
question. Shoot. Go ahead.
How did those cylinders get shipped out
of here without your knowing about them?
So you're on that again,
huh? Well, how did they?
Why don't you say I'm guilty?
Go ahead. You might as well.
I don't want you to be guilty.
I want you to be innocent.
People have put doubts in my
mind. Help me to get rid of them.
Isn't it enough that I told you so?
Can't you trust your own father?
You're right. I should.
But somehow I can't.
I can't let it go at that!
You've got to help me!
What can I do? I've told you a
million times. I've told the jury.
Dad, I saw herb Deever today.
You... I went to
Springfield and saw him.
What did you go and do
a thing like that for?
He told me his side.
Now I want to hear yours.
My own son. I want to hear
yours and judge for myself.
My own son spying on me,
going behind my back.
I've got a right to know what
happened! You owe it to me to explain!
Explain! Explain!
That's all I've been doing.
I'm tired of explaining.
Sick and tired of it! I don't
have to explain. Not to you!
You're my son. You're in it
with me. My flesh and blood.
You wear my clothes, eat
my food, live in my home.
I don't have to explain to you!
If I'm guilty, you're guilty too!
Do you understand?
You're guilty too!
Then you... you did know.
A man is in business.
I'm in business.
A batch of bad cylinders
and you're out of business!
You don't know how to operate,
they tell you.
They close you up, tear up your
contracts. Your stuff is no good.
What's it to them?
You put 40 years into a business, and
they cut off your head in five minutes!
What could I do?
Let 'em take 40 years away?
Let 'em take my life away?
I... I never thought
they'd install them.
Honest, I didn't.
I thought they'd be stopped
somewhere along the line.
Why didn't you tell them? You knew they were
defective. You knew they wouldn't hold up.
It was too late.
The newspapers...
It was all over the front page.
Twenty-one planes crashed.
It was too late.
They came with handcuffs
to the factory.
What could I do?
I ask you: What could I do?
Chris. Chris, I did it for you.
I'm an old man. When would I have
another chance to make something for you?
For me? Yes!
I was dyin' every day, and my boys
were dyin'. And you did it for me?
What kind of a man are you?
Kid hangin' in the air by those
cylinders, and you knew it!
I was so proud. You were helping us to
win. And you were worried about business.
Don't you have a country?
Don't you think about people?
Don't you live in the world?
Haven't you got a heart?
Chris! What must I do to you?
Chris. Chris.
Dad. Dad.
Chris.
Chris. Chris.
Why don't you go to bed,
Kate? It's almost 1:00.
You know why.
I'm waiting for Chris.
Don't worry about me, Jim.
I'm perfectly all right.
Would you like some coffee?
It's too late for coffee.
It's too late for you too.
No wonder you don't sleep.
I don't want to
go to sleep tonight.
Had an emergency? Somebody had
a bellyache and thought he was dying.
How's Joe?
He cried like a child before.
I never saw him that way.
Since when did you know it, Jim?
Since always, I guess, Kate.
You're smart.
I always had the feeling that...
In the back of his head
Chris knew.
I didn't think
it would be such a shock.
You don't know your own son.
You don't think he'd...
Go away without...
I mean, for good? He'll be back.
Chris is a good son.
He'll come back.
I, uh, heard voices.
Hello, doc. Hi, Joe.
- What are you doing here?
- I was just going.
Put her to bed, Joe.
Both of you go to bed.
Staying up won't help.
Sleep will.
Sleep's a wonderful thing.
Best thing about living.
What did he want?
I don't like him
mixing in so much.
Joe, he knows.
How does he know?
Guessed a long time ago.
I don't like that.
I guess Annie knows too.
You heard from her? No,
she's still over at Lydia's.
Funny thing,
her not coming back here.
Maybe Chris is with her. No.
Frank was just here.
What is this? Open house
in the middle of the night?
Would you like a cup? You
know what it does to me.
I thought I had a family.
What happened
to my family, Kate?
Joe, I was thinking this way.
If he comes back... he is coming
back. What do you mean, "if"?
I think... if you could sit him
down and explain yourself...
I mean, you ought to
make it clear to him that...
You know you did
a terrible thing.
I mean,
if he saw that you
realized what you did.
You see?
Ask him to forgive me, you mean?
Something like that, Joe.
Ask my son to forgive me.
Hmph.
I don't know what happened.
You wanted money, so I made money.
A man has to take care of his family.
That's the first thing... he
has to take care of his family.
What must I be forgiven?
You needed money, didn't you?
To buy clothes, food, to send the children
to school. You had to have money, didn't you?
Not that way. I didn't
want it that way either.
What difference is it
so long as you've got it?
I spoiled the both of you.
I should have put him out when
he was ten like I was put out.
Made him earn his keep, then he'd
know how a buck is made in this world.
Forgive me. I could live on a buck a
day myself, but I've got a family so I...
It doesn't excuse it that you
did it for the family. It's got to.
There's something bigger
than the family to him.
No, there's nothing
bigger than that.
There's nothing he could do
that I couldn't forgive.
Because I'm his father and he's
my son. There's nothing bigger.
And you're going to tell
him that, you understand?
You don't...
You don't think he'd go
to the police? Joe, please.
No. No, he wouldn't do a thing
like that, not without telling me.
Where is he?
Going away like this without
saying a word, and not coming back.
He'll be all right, Joe.
Nothing's going to happen.
For you, Kate.
For both of you.
That's all I ever lived for.
I know, Joe.
I know.
I know. I know.
Annie. Chris.
Chris, darling.
I knew you'd be here.
He's guilty, Ann.
Jim bayliss told me
what happened.
I've been sittin' out here lookin' at
the stars and tryin' to figure it out.
Looking and looking
and trying to figure it out.
I almost killed him, Ann.
Chris, no.
I love him, Annie. I love
him and I almost killed him.
I still don't know
how it was I didn't.
Only it would have been useless
because he doesn't know what he did.
He doesn't know
how awful a thing it was.
He lied to himself
and he doesn't know.
He'll have to suffer to know.
He'll have to suffer
in some horrible way to know.
Come away with me, Chris. Leave
them all and come away with me.
We'll forget everything
and start fresh.
No, I can't run away.
It's too easy.
We've all been running away,
and it's too easy.
What can you do but go to
the police and give him up?
It's not enough to give him
up, Annie, to put him in jail.
He's got to see it himself, to
understand what he did. Do you see?
He's got to see it and be
his own judge. Yes, Chris.
But how do you make a man
see into himself?
How do you explain such a thing
to a man like dad?
A man who's forgotten about other men,
living as if he were alone in the world.
How do you tell him such a thing
and make him understand?
You show him this.
So you decided
to come back, huh?
What do you mean, frightening
your mother half to death?
What kind of a thing is that to
do? You know she's not well.
I wanna talk to you,
dad. I wanna talk to you.
Something bothers you,
huh? Got too much money?
Is that what bothers you?
The way you got it bothers me.
Well then, what's the problem?
When something bothers you,
either get used to it or get rid of it.
If you can't get used to it,
then throw it away.
Do you hear me? Take
every cent and give it to charity.
Throw it in the sewer! Does that
settle it? In the sewer, that's all!
That's not enough, dad. What's
the matter? You think I'm kidding?
I'm telling you what to do.
If it's dirty, then burn it.
It's your money, not mine.
I'm a dead man. I'm an old,
dead man. Nothing is mine.
What do you want me to do?
It's not what I want;
It's what you want to do.
What should I want to do?
You want me to go to prison?
Is that where I belong?
Well then, tell me so!
What's the matter?
Why can't you tell me?
You say everything else
to me. Say that!
I'll tell you why
you can't say it.
Because you know I don't
belong there. You know!
Read this, dad.
Then tell yourself
what you must do.
What is it?
What have you got there?
Chris. Chris,
where have you been?
No, Chris, no! It's from Larry.
Give it to me.
He wrote it the day he died.
Don't read it, Joe.
My dear Ann...
Don't listen. Be quiet, Kate.
I want to hear
what he has to say.
"It's impossible to put down
the things I feel,
but I've got to
tell you something.
"Yesterday they flew in a
load of papers from the states,
"and I read about
dad and your father.
"I'm not clever the way you are
and the way Chris is,
"and I cannot understand or make myself
understand how this could have happened.
"We get to be proud
of the planes we fly.
"They come to be
piece by piece, bit by bit,
"something of you at home
who have made them.
"We are not alone.
"But my father
has made me alone.
"He has betrayed us all...
"You at home who have
kept faith with us...
And we who have
kept faith with you.
"I'm ashamed.
"I can't face the other men.
"I can't face anybody.
"I don't know
how to tell you, Annie,
"but I'm going out
on a mission in a few minutes,
"and I will not come back.
"I want you to forgive me,
Annie, for doing this,
but it's the only way I know
to pay for what he has done."
Do you understand
what this means, dad?
Yes. I understand.
I didn't like doing this, dad.
You know?
Sure, kid. I know.
You did right.
Joe.
No, it's no use, Kate.
No use.
Maybe I've known it all along.
A man... can be defective too,
like a machine part, a cylinder.
Little pressure and he cracks.
A lot of innocent people die.
A lot of innocent people...
You paid for it, Joe!
Larry paid for it!
He was your son!
There's nothing more you can do!
Sure, he was my son.
But I think, to him,
they were all my sons.
And I guess they were...
All my sons.
He's your father. You can't
send your own father to prison!
It's with him now.
It's whatever he thinks.
Have you gone crazy? What's
accomplished if he goes to jail?
Will it raise the dead? The
war's over! Don't say that, mom.
What was Larry to you? A
stone that fell into the water?
It's not enough to be sorry. Larry didn't
kill himself so you and dad could be sorry.
He did it to show you. What
more can we be than sorry?
You can be better!
Once and for all, you can know that the
whole earth comes in through those fences.
That there's a universe outside,
and you're responsible to it.
And if you're not,
then you threw your son away.
Because that's why he died.
You understand? That's why.
Joe!
Don't go in, mom.
Why not?
I took care of him all his life,
whenever he needed me.
I can take care of him now too.
Make a good life for yourselves.
And never look back. Never.
Larry is dead, and Joe is dead.
So live. Live.