Ithaca (2015) Movie Script
- Come on, let's go!
You okay?
We must
be set to face a long war
against crafty
and powerful bandits.
The attack at Pearl harbor
can be repeated
at any one of many points,
in both oceans
and along both our coastlines
and against
all the rest of the hemisphere.
It will not only be a long war,
it will be a hard war.
We expect to eliminate
the danger from Japan,
but it would serve us ill
if we accomplished that
and found that the rest
of the world was dominated
by Hitler and Mussolini.
We are going to win this war
and we are going to win
the peace that follows.
- Is it a letter from home?
- Yep, from my brother, homer.
- It's the youngest one, right?
- Uh, no, no.
Youngest one's Ulysses.
He's, um...
Well, he's four.
He believes nothing good
ever ends.
And he's under the impression
that he belongs
wherever there's something
interesting to see.
I have this idea
that you'll come to ithaca
and meet him one day.
And my brother homer,
my sister Bess... and ma.
- Hiya, Harry!
- Fourteen words, collect.
You're a little short.
- A little.
I got drafted.
- Drafted, I see.
- My mother'll send me
enough money to get home.
- Uh-huh.
- Do you know how long
it'll take the telegram
to get to her?
What's that?
Why...? What's this?
- Just go ahead. It's nothing.
Don't worry about it. Just...
- Wh-why? What's...
- you pay me back when
your mother sends the money.
- Thanks.
- Send it paid, Willie!
- Tom...
- What?
I know, Willie. It's just...
Every once in a while.
So remind me, why do you want
to be a messenger?
- Because I'll get to visit
a lot of people
and go to a lot of places.
- Oh. And, uh,
how did you sleep last night?
D'you nod off today at school?
- A little.
- What about sports?
What about missing out on them
on account of having this job?
- We have a physical-education
period every day.
- Is that so? Well, I used
to run the 220 low hurdles
when I went to Ithaca high.
I was, uh...
I was the valley champion.
I was val...
So tell me,
you really want this job?
- I'm gonna be the best
messenger this office ever had.
- I was the best messenger this
office ever had, so you're on.
Okay, the faster
you deliver messages,
the more you can deliver.
The faster you pick up
outgoing messages,
the more we can send.
The more we can send,
the better our chances
of beating western union
and staying alive.
We're postal telegraph.
We get there swiftly.
We're polite to everyone.
We take off our hats
in elevators and,
above all things,
we never lose a telegram.
- Yes, sir.
- How old are you?
- Sixteen.
- Yeah, that's
what you said yesterday.
We're not allowed
to hire a boy unless he's 16.
How old are you?
- Fourteen.
- Well, so you'll be 16
in two years.
What are you gonna do
with the $15 a week?
- Give it to my mother.
- Alright, from here on out,
you're part of this outfit.
You watch everything,
you listen closely,
you keep your eyes open
and your ears peeled.
You got me? This here,
this is what we call a quarter.
You're gonna take it
to Chatterton's bakery
and bring me back two day-old
pies: Apple and coconut-cream.
- Yes, sir.
- What do you think of him?
- He's a good boy.
- I think he is.
A couple of years underage,
that's all.
- Well, I'm a couple of years
overage,
so I think we'll get along.
- If you need me,
I'll be at Corbett's.
You two can share
those pies between you.
What's your name again?
- Homer Macauley.
- Homer Macauley.
You're just the boy
this office needs.
I reckon you're the
fastest-moving thing
in this valley.
Remember, once a messenger,
always a messenger.
- Alright, boy, alright.
Homer Macauley.
My name is William Grogan.
I'm 67 years old.
Old-time telegrapher,
one of the last.
And I'm hungry.
And from now on,
you and I are friends.
Mm.
Here you go.
I may, on occasion,
ask you to run me an errand.
In the event of drunkenness,
I shall expect a depth
of understanding.
- I've got a pretty good
understanding.
- Do you? We'll see.
Every evening...
I'll count on you to see that
I'm able to perform my duties.
A splash of cold water
directly on the face
if I don't respond when shaken
and to be followed immediately
by a cup of hot black coffee
from Corbett's across the road.
You know where Corbett's is?
- Yes, sir.
Cold water, hot coffee.
- Excuse me.
Homer...
Do you think that this world
is gonna be a better place
after the war?
- Yes, sir.
- How do you like
that coconut-cream pie?
- Very good, sir.
- Homer...
This is your first telegram.
Put it in your cap.
- Postal telegram.
- You have a telegram?
- Yes, ma'am.
- For who is it?
- A Mrs. Rosa Sandoval,
1129 G street.
Are you Mrs. Sandoval?
- S, s, s. Please come in.
I cannot read English.
How does the telegram read?
- Ma'am?
- Please, open the telegram
and read to me the telegram.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Please, come inside.
Who sends me this telegram?
My son, Juan Domingo?
- No, ma'am.
It's, uh...
From the secretary of war.
- The secretary...
- Maybe it's a mistake.
Maybe it wasn't your son.
Maybe it was somebody else.
The telegram says
it was Juan Domingo, but...
Maybe the telegram's wrong.
- Please, sit down.
I will bring you some candy,
okay?
All boys love candy very much.
- I can't quit. Otherwise,
I'm as good as dead myself.
Mr. Grogan!
Mr. Grogan.
Mr. Grogan, there's a telegram!
They're calling you! Wake up!
- Ah!
Coffee. Corbett's!
- Mr. Corbett, I need
a cup of coffee right now.
It's for Mr. Grogan.
- Sure.
No, it's alright.
No charge, boy.
- Thanks.
- That's right, that's right,
that's right! Don't be afraid.
That's exactly right.
That's what I told you.
It's exactly right.
Corbett's coffee.
- Is it... an important
telegram?
- No.
It's most unimportant.
Ah, the accumulation of money,
business.
Seeing it takes a few weeks
for the important ones
to get here.
It's a night letter,
but you won't have
to deliver it tonight.
It's most unimportant.
But very important
for me to receive it.
They wanna... replace me.
They've been wanting
to retire me for years,
bring in machines, teletypes.
Machines instead
of human beings.
- Yes, sir.
- I knew I could count on you,
homer. I just knew it.
You've already been
a great help to me.
You know...
You've come to work
just in time.
I used to be the fastest
telegrapher in the world.
Faster than Wolinsky.
Sending, receiving,
receiving, sending...
And no mistakes. No mistakes!
Yeah.
Willie Grogan.
Everybody in the world,
every operator in the world
knew that...
Knew that name.
And I... pfft. Well...
You and me, homer,
we're still alive.
We are.
Mm. Ah...
I should like to say just a word
to the women in the country
tonight.
I have a boy at sea
on a destroyer.
For all I know, he may be
on his way to the pacific.
Two of my children are
in coast cities on the pacific.
Many of you
all over this country
have boys in the services
who will now be called upon
to go into action.
You have friends and families
in what has suddenly become
a danger zone.
- Everything's alright, ma.
I don't want you to sit up
this way. Everything's alright.
I had to deliver a telegram...
To a lady over on G street.
It said her son's dead.
She wouldn't believe it.
And when I got back
to the office,
the old telegraph
operator was drunk.
He has to do his work,
or they'll put him on a pension.
- Everything's alright, homer.
It's only that you are becoming
aware
of a world
in which you've been a child.
- I don't know what's happening.
Or why.
But no matter what...
I won't let anything hurt you
that way.
- Dear homer, you are now
the man of the Macauley family.
So everything I have at home
is yours.
My books, my phonograph,
my microscope.
I miss you, of course,
and I think about you
all the time.
I think about our father,
who died so recently
and yet so long ago.
His goodness... somehow...
Still with us.
- Ah, knock it off.
- His death is not an easy
thing to understand.
I guess it just takes time.
Time to let it go.
And when the pain leaves...
I hope the rest will be lighter
and better than ever.
We leave for action soon.
No one knows where that may be.
I'm happy.
And even though
I wish there were no war...
I'm happy
to be serving my country,
which, to me, is Ithaca.
- Marcus.
So what are... so what
are mornings like back home?
- Mornings?
- What's that?
- Exercises.
- What for?
- Muscle.
- Gonna be the strongest man
in the world.
- No.
- What are you gonna be, then?
- Go back to sleep.
- Gonna go to school?
- Yep.
- Gonna learn something?
- I'm gonna run the
220 low hurdles someday.
- Why?
- Because everybody born in this
town wins the 220 low hurdles.
Marcus did,
the manager
of the telegraph office did
when he went to Ithaca high.
He was valley champion.
- What's valley champion?
- That's the best.
- Gonna be the best?
- I'm gonna try.
Tomorrow... no, yesterday
I saw the train.
How'd it go?
- The Bachmann waved.
- Did you wave back?
- He said, "going home."
Where's he going?
- I don't know. Everybody's got
a different home.
- Are you going?
- Someday.
- Gonna come back?
- Sure.
- Gonna be glad?
- Sure. Gonna be glad to see ma,
Marcus and Bess,
glad to see you.
- Don't go, homer, don't go.
- I'm not going now.
I'm just going to school.
- Papa went and he won't come
back, not like he used to.
Marcus went...
Don't you go too, homer.
- It's gonna be a long time
before I go.
But, for now,
it's time for you to go.
- Where?
- Back to sleep.
Ah!!
I have no idea what's ahead.
But whatever it is,
I am humbly ready for it.
- Marcus.
Marcus.
Marcus. Marcus!
My friend here is an orphan.
His name is Toby George.
I've told him
all about our family
and someday I'll bring him home.
I would rather
I wasn't in the army
and there was no war.
I don't hate anyone.
But I've long since made up
my mind
to be the best soldier I can be.
More than anything else in
the world, I wanna come home.
And spend many long years with
you, ma and Bess and Ulysses.
I wanna come back for a home
and a family of my own.
You are now on your way,
in a world chockfull of things
that...
Aren't easy to understand.
So, of course,
all the mistakes are ahead.
All the wonderful mistakes
that you must,
and will make.
Trust your heart,
which is a good one,
to be right, and go ahead.
- Set!
No! Get off the field!
- Ugh!
- And if you fall, tricked
or tripped by others,
or yourself even...
Get up.
- Dinner with... well...
No, now wait a minute.
I promised?
When did I promise to have
dinner with your parents?
- Come on, you remember.
- Uh-huh.
- We talked about it
at breakfast.
You remember, right, darling?
- Okay, take it easy. Every...
Every time you call me darling,
it make me wanna...
- what are you afraid of?
- Yeah, no...
- dinner is at 7:00 sharp.
- 7:00 sharp.
- You know how...
- what do you mean
by sharp exactly?
- You're a diamond!
Wear something right.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, evening clothes.
- What do you mean,
evening clothes?
I wear the same clothes
morning and evening Bo...
- the clothes I got you.
- No, no, alright.
- I love you.
And I know you love me, too.
- Yes, I do.
Okay. No. Goodbye.
I have been out to dinner
two times in my life and...
I was scared to death
both times.
I had no fun at all.
- Mr. Spangler,
I'm sorry I'm running late.
- Hi, homer.
- Hey, homer.
- Ulysses,
what are you doing here?
- Oh... Ulysses, huh?
That makes sense.
This little fella, he just
walks in right off the street,
plops himself down,
listens to my phone calls.
Fearless, that's what you are.
You are a fearless young man
and you're an excellent
listener, too.
What is happening?
Are you limping over there?
Are you okay?
- Yes, sir.
- Okay, then. A few telegrams
have piled up and a few pickups.
You do the pickups first,
then deliver the telegrams
afterwards.
- Yes, sir, right away.
I'm awfully sorry I'm late.
- Ah, that's alright.
Don't worry, we'll keep
an eye on your brother for you.
You just... you go ahead.
- Yeah, you go ahead, homer.
- Willie, I'm going over
to Corbett's for a drink.
I am having dinner tonight
with Diana and her parents,
and I feel the need
for a little... fortification.
- Well, Ulysses and me can hold
down the fort while you're gone.
Can we? You think? Yep.
Get the good wine
ready for pickup.
- Oh, when homer comes back,
you two keep him here
until sunripe growers calls
for their pickup.
Listen, your brother has beaten
western union to sunripe growers
twice in the last two days.
How many'd he get yesterday?
- Uh... 67.
- Sixty-seven.
He beats them again, we might
have a good month after all.
I'll be back. One drink.
- Oh, that's sunripe now,
ready for pickup.
- I'll do the pickup, Willie.
How do you like that?
- You?
- Yes, me. If homer can beat
western union, so can I.
And I'm gonna do it on foot!
- Hmm.
- Sam. Hannah.
Hi, boys!
You! Are the loveliest woman
in the world.
Heya, Harry.
Postal telegraph! Stan.
- What on earth?
- Once a messenger, always
a messenger, Mrs. Brockington.
- I declare, you're never gonna
grow up, tom Spangler.
- Hope not.
- Beaten again, Harry.
- Ah, poor Harry.
- Here it is, 129 night letters,
all paid.
- Oh! Thank you.
Here you go, Harry. Hate for you
to go back to western union
with nothing to send.
How is it, Ralph?
- Oh, not bad, not good.
- Not bad, not good.
I buy them three to their one.
When they're broke
and ready to go,
I'll give them their money back.
- You afford that?
- No.
- Ah, something eatin' you,
Ralph?
- Maybe.
You know old Dutch here...
Would've been 45 years old
today.
Can you imagine that?
- Is that so?
- Hey. Hey, screwball, give us
another couple of drinks.
- We're just catching up.
He'll be right with you, friend.
- The war to end wars, right,
tom?
- That's what they told us.
That's what they said.
- Hey, pal, I asked you
for a couple of drinks.
- Yeah.
- What are you gonna do
about it?
- Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Hey!
- Do you know
who you're talking to?
- Ralphie.
- I didn't mean nothin' by it.
- You got no idea.
- It's okay.
- I'm sorry, sir.
- It's okay. Don't worry.
Just... like you were.
As you were.
- You go on, miss.
- It's gonna be fine.
- You don't wanna be
with this guy.
- Here, here.
Good luck, soldier.
Come on, it's alright, pal.
- No, it ain't.
I'm scared, tom.
- Well, nowadays...
We're all scared.
Uh... Diana, she...
She's getting impatient.
She's having me have dinner
tonight with her parents.
You wanna talk about scared.
- I didn't think it'd ever
happen again, tom.
But no wonder, huh?
The fightin's... inside us.
It's inside of me.
It's what we are.
Till we ain't.
- Can I have another?
Gentlemen...
- You got sunripe, Mr. Spangler?
- I surely did.
129, give or take a handful.
- How'd you get there first?
- I ran!
- You beat western union
to sunripe running?
- Nothing to it.
- Yeah, it's a shame that
you got lost on the way back.
- What do you say you take
Ulysses here on home now?
- We got a pickup
from Guggenheim's.
That's down our way,
so I'll hike Ulysses home,
go to Guggenheim's,
then Ithaca wine, then Foley's.
Come on.
I'll be back in no time.
- I know you will.
- Bye-bye.
- It's just thunder.
That doesn't scare you, right?
- No, nothing scares me.
Go faster, homer.
Pay attention, homer.
Look around at this wonderful,
senseless yet beautiful world.
And feel compassion
for all things.
And their terrible way
of enduring... and dying.
Helpless...
And full of the world to come.
- Guess we're on our way.
Scuttlebutt's we leave
first thing in the morning.
- Yeah?
What do you think about, Toby?
What... what do you wanna
go back to?
- Uh, anything... I guess.
I don't have a girl like Mary
waiting for me,
sister like Bess.
Hell, I didn't even know
kids had parents
till I went to school and
heard the kids talk about them.
So whatever I go back to,
it'll be a place,
but it won't be people.
I'd like to think that I could
go back to Ithaca with you.
- You will.
- What do you think about?
- I think about my father.
- Matthew Macauley.
- Yeah. That's right.
- Yes.
- Uh, he worked in the orchards.
Just... plain, ordinary,
everyday work.
Never made any more money
than we needed.
Ever.
But he did save enough money
to make a down payment
on a piano.
My mother wanted that for Bess.
There are still men in the world
like that, Toby.
- Tell me about Bess.
- You wanna know about Bess?
You are in luck.
- Got a picture in your pocket?
- Yeah, I'm my pocket.
- Hi, Bess.
- Hello, Mr. Grogan.
- A little wet, huh?
- This is my friend Mary.
- Pleased to meet you, Mary.
- We're just on our way
to the majestic.
And here's homer's supper.
- We're going to the pictures.
- Oh. I'll see he gets it.
- Oh. Uh... hello.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- Uh, ma'am.
- Hi!
- May I help you gentlemen?
- Uh, yeah, um... how much is
a telegram to New Jersey?
- Well, it's 25 words
for 50 cents,
plus a small tax and...
We don't count the address
or the signature.
- Alright, 50 cents,
that's not bad.
Uh, how much to San Antonio?
- Uh, half as much as, uh,
Jersey.
- That makes a lot of sense.
- So half of 50 cents,
that would make it...
- A quarter.
- 25 cents.
- Thank you.
- Alright, great.
- Here you go, sir.
Ooh, there it is.
- Huh?
- You're gonna have to pardon
my, uh, pal fat here.
He's just, uh, he's just
homesick something awful.
- It's not my name, no.
- Dude.
- You see, ma'am,
fat here and I, we're shipping
out tomorrow
and he's just a little nervous,
that's all.
- It's not my name. At all.
- Box.
Box? B-o-c... b-o-c-k-s?
- Uh, yeah, c-k-s.
- Of... of dried figs.
Dried figs.
- Yes, f-i-g-g-s.
- We were gonna go
to the picture show
and we were wondering if-if...
Well, if you wanted...
If you wanted to maybe come
with... if you wanted to come.
- Yeah, there's gonna be
a cartoon, I hear.
The cartoon's my favorite part.
- Sure.
- You would? We're going
to the pictures with 'em.
- Okay, hold on just one second.
- Don't worry about nothing.
- Love, Bernard.
- You're done. After you.
- I got it. I'll get the door.
- I'll get the door!
The greatest
double-cross in history.
Jap envoys talk peace
in Washington.
Jap planes, without warning,
bring war to America.
Our great pacific outpost
in the Hawaiian islands
is ruthlessly bombed
as Japan's perfidious
declaration of war.
Death and destruction unleashed
on a nation at peace.
On that fateful Sunday morning,
when this country was
extending a friendly hand
of conciliation and peace.
A nation,
like a person,
has something deeper,
something more permanent,
something larger than
the sum of all its parts.
It is that something which
matters most to its future.
- It's yours.
- Huh?
- Here, take it.
- Your sister Bess brought
your supper by.
She was with a girl,
a very pretty girl.
- Is it an important telegram?
That's Mary, our neighbor.
She's Marcus's girl.
I was gonna get us two pies,
but there's plenty here.
Will you share with me?
- Oh, no, thanks.
I'm not hungry.
- Maybe if you...
Started to eat a little,
your appetite will improve.
- Yeah.
We... we do have raincoats,
you know.
- Yeah.
I know.
I just...
Got caught in the rain.
They don't just... die
for nothing, do they?
- Well, I can't answer
that question, son.
I'm not sure
there is an answer to that.
It's a very young question.
I'm an old man.
Just try not to live in fear,
homer.
Would you run upstairs
and get my pills for me?
- Yes, sir.
- Ah, thank you, boy. Thank you.
- Yes, sir.
- Wait!
What's the matter?
- I'm sorry.
I've got a telegram
for Mrs. Claudia Beaufrere.
- Of course you do.
It's her birthday.
Mother!
There's a telegram for you.
It's from Alan, I'm sure.
Come in, young man.
Just a moment.
- Hello.
- Hello, ma'am.
- May I offer you some punch?
- No, thanks.
- Wait right here, I'll just go
get my change purse.
- There's no need.
I'll just...
I have to go back now...
To the office.
- Please...
Wait.
- Mother!
- Thanks. Thank you.
- So, uh... did you like it?
- Yeah, it was great.
- It was good, it was good.
- The cartoon was great.
- Yeah.
- Well, we need to go home now.
- Oh... well, uh... thank you.
- For what?
- I'm very fond of you.
- Think I could steal one too?
I'm shipping out tomorrow,
as well.
Try to remember...
That none of us
is separate from each other.
He is ours.
And we... are his.
- Come on, Bess.
- Bye.
- Whoo-wee!
- How you talk, boy!
- Oh man! Oh, man!
- Smooth! Silky smooth.
- Hoo!
- Ah.
The world's gone mad, homer.
- What's the matter
with your leg, boy?
- It's nothin'. I guess I...
...twisted a ligament
or something.
I was running
the 220 low hurdles.
- Hmm.
- And, uh...
...it's all confused.
Everything's...
Changed out there.
I guess I'll rub some liniment
on it tonight or something.
- Yeah, that might be good.
You've changed, you know.
In the week or so you came
to work, you've changed.
- Yeah.
I didn't know anything
before I got this job.
I don't like the way things are.
I just want things to be better.
How can any man
ever get it all straight
so that it comes out even
and makes sense?
Everything's so...
Sad or mixed up...
And wrong.
And...
I don't even care if Helen Eliot
doesn't like me anymore.
Sure, I wish she... would,
but if she doesn't, that's okay.
Yeah, something's the matter
with it.
It's five after 12.
I guess I'll go home now.
Tomorrow's Saturday.
Saturdays used
to be my best day.
You sure you wouldn't like
a sandwich now?
- Yeah, I'll have a sandwich.
Changed my mind.
Please...
Thank your mother for me.
- Nah, it's nothing.
- No!
It's somethin'.
Thank her.
Please thank her for me.
- Yes, sir.
- You do love me, don't you?
I know that you do.
You do love me, don't you?
I know that you do.
What do you think about...
What do you think about a woman
who says to you:
"You do love me, don't you?
I know that you do."
- That you'd be a fool
to let her get away.
- What do you think
of that new messenger?
- He's the best I ever seen.
- Stop! Wait! Don't go!
Don't go there!
Leave them alone!
Dad!
Don't go!
We will sing one song.
- No!!
- Homer. Alright, lie down.
- Oh...
- Oh...
It's alright.
He's alright, Ulysses.
Go back to sleep.
- It's Marcus.
- Ma?
Ma?
- Yes, homer.
- I never cried
when I was little.
Even Ulysses never cries.
Because, well, what's the use?
I thought a fellow would never
cry when he got to be grown up.
'Cause that's when you start
finding out about things.
- There will always be pain
in this world, homer.
And a good man will seek
to take the pain out of things.
- Mrs. Macauley,
Ulysses and me have already been
to Mr. Henderson's tree
with Auggie, Enoch, Shag,
Nickie and Alf,
but the apples aren't ripe.
- Well of course they're not,
Lionel. They need more time.
- Well,
they're gonna play football now,
and Ulysses's too small,
and Ulysses and me,
we're partners
and I wanna ask permission
to take Ulysses
to the public library.
- You have my permission.
- Was Marcus like Ulysses
when he was little?
- In what way?
- Fearless.
- Well,
Ulysses is like his father.
Except...
No one is fearless.
- I wish I could be
like Ulysses.
You know, ma, you're just about
the most wonderful person
anyone could ever know.
There goes Auggie.
Another touchdown.
I'm gonna go
to the telegraph office.
I told them I'd come,
just in case they needed me.
Oh, and Mr. Grogan,
he ate one of the sandwiches.
He told me
to tell you thank you.
So thanks, ma, from Mr. Grogan.
- Katie.
Katie?
- Yes, Matthew?
- Katie.
- Yes.
- Marcus?
Marcus?
You okay?
- Yeah.
- So, uh...
So, Ulysses...
What's he like?
- Let me tell you about him.
- Hi, homer!
Homer's going to work.
Homer's going to work!
: Okay, in a minute!
Saved by the bell.
- So, uh... thank you, Lily,
and... I'll be seeing you.
- Mm-hmm.
- Telegram for Dolly Hawthorne?
- Oh, she's out. I can take it.
Hold on a minute, will you?
Boy, would you come here
a minute, please?
Oh. Would you mail this letter
for me?
It's very important.
It's my sister.
Send it air mail,
special delivery, registered.
There's money in it.
Um... I haven't got any stamps.
Would you do this for me?
- Yes, ma'am.
- Here is a dollar.
Put the letter in your hat,
don't let anybody see it,
and don't tell anybody.
- I won't tell anybody.
I'll do it right now.
I'll bring you your change.
- No!
Don't come back here.
- No, it can't be.
It's a machine!
- I don't think so, Auggie.
- I don't know.
- No, Auggie's right.
It's a machine. I'm telling you.
- Ah, lookit!
- It's a man.
- Oh, what do you know, Lionel?
: Marcus?
- You okay?
Come on, Ulysses,
let's go home.
We've seen him
go through all the cards.
I'm going, Ulysses.
- Papa, mama!
Ma!
- He got lost, ma.
Auggie found him and brought him
to the telegraph office.
- Thanks, homer.
- Careful, there's a busted egg
in his pocket.
Homer.
I've never believed in wars.
I know them to be foolish,
even when they're necessary.
I'm glad that I'm the Macauley
who is in this war,
for it'd be a pity
and a mistake if it were you.
I can write to you what I would
never say in person.
You are the best
of the Macauleys.
You must go on being the best.
You must live in the years
of your life forever.
You are
what we are fighting for.
Yes, you, my brother.
- "Now I'll write your name here
to remind you, homer Macauley,
"that's who you are.
"I miss you very much.
"I can't wait
until I see you again.
"God bless you.
"So long, your brother,
Marcus."
If my brother...
Is killed in this stupid war,
I'll spit at the world.
I'll hate it forever.
I won't be good.
I'll be the worst of them all,
the worst that's ever lived.
- Uh, you be grateful
for yourself.
You... be thankful.
That's what your brother's
trying to tell you.
- Mr. Grogan, are you drunk?
- Yeah... I'm a little drunk.
I feel better when I'm drunk.
I probably wouldn't be telling
you the things I'm telling you
if I wasn't drunk!
You're a man, homer!
Fourteen years old
and you're a man!
Now who knows who made you
such a thing.
I don't know, you don't know.
But it's true!
Know that it's true!
You understand me?
- Hello, Lionel.
Going to see the movie?
- Haven't got any money.
- Why are you standing in line?
- Me, Auggie, Enoch, Shag,
Nickie and Alf
went out to the jailhouse
to talk to the criminals,
but then Shag chased me away.
I don't know where to go.
- Well, do you wanna see
the movie?
- No.
- Come on with us.
We're only taking a walk around.
The sun's going down.
- Come on with us, Lionel.
- Okay.
Thanks. I sure was getting
tired standing there.
Stop it, Ulysses!
- Hey, come on now.
- Stop it!
- I'm gonna say hello
to Mr. Grogan.
I'll catch up.
- Homer?
- It's me, Mr. Grogan.
I'll hurry and get the coffee.
Coffee!
- Oh, I'm cooking a new pot
right now, homer.
It'll be just a minute.
- You don't have any?
- There'll be coffee
in a minute.
Mr. Corbett's making a...
Mr. Grogan?
What's the matter?
- What's the matter, homer?
What's wrong with the old man?
- He's dead.
- Oh, you're crazy.
- No.
He's dead.
- Auggie?
- Uh, it's Mr. Grogan.
Homer says he's dead.
- I'll stop that.
Auggie?
Um, I want you to go over
to Corbett's.
Alright?
Um, you have them telephone...
...dr. Nelson.
His number's 1133.
He'll take care of everything.
Okay, have him come
right on over here,
and then also have him telephone
Harry Burke.
He's the other
telegraph operator.
And you have them both
come down here, okay?
- Yes, sir.
- Thank you, Auggie.
: Hi, homer.
- Willie always said he wanted
to work until the day he died.
You gotta believe your brother
isn't gone,
he's still inside you,
he's inside...
- no! That isn't good enough!
I want to see him!
I wanna smell him.
I wanna hear his voice,
hear him laughing
and have fights with him!
Everything's different now.
And this place...
Everything in Ithaca
has changed,
because my brother isn't gonna
look at anything anymore!
My brother's dead.
- Right, okay.
I'm not... I'm not gonna try
and comfort you.
I can't.
But just try to believe...
...that the best part
of a good man stays.
It stays forever.
- They'll know.
They'll know
the minute they see me.
- Well, I can sit with you
for while, if you like.
- I have to go now.
- Ma, somebody's...
There's a soldier outside.
Well, go on out to him, honey.
- Hello.
- Bess?
- How do you know my name?
Do you know my brother Marcus?
- Yes.
- Has he come home with you?
- Your brother...
- You're Toby, aren't you?
It came this afternoon.
- I'm sorry, homer.
You okay?
We must
be set to face a long war
against crafty
and powerful bandits.
The attack at Pearl harbor
can be repeated
at any one of many points,
in both oceans
and along both our coastlines
and against
all the rest of the hemisphere.
It will not only be a long war,
it will be a hard war.
We expect to eliminate
the danger from Japan,
but it would serve us ill
if we accomplished that
and found that the rest
of the world was dominated
by Hitler and Mussolini.
We are going to win this war
and we are going to win
the peace that follows.
- Is it a letter from home?
- Yep, from my brother, homer.
- It's the youngest one, right?
- Uh, no, no.
Youngest one's Ulysses.
He's, um...
Well, he's four.
He believes nothing good
ever ends.
And he's under the impression
that he belongs
wherever there's something
interesting to see.
I have this idea
that you'll come to ithaca
and meet him one day.
And my brother homer,
my sister Bess... and ma.
- Hiya, Harry!
- Fourteen words, collect.
You're a little short.
- A little.
I got drafted.
- Drafted, I see.
- My mother'll send me
enough money to get home.
- Uh-huh.
- Do you know how long
it'll take the telegram
to get to her?
What's that?
Why...? What's this?
- Just go ahead. It's nothing.
Don't worry about it. Just...
- Wh-why? What's...
- you pay me back when
your mother sends the money.
- Thanks.
- Send it paid, Willie!
- Tom...
- What?
I know, Willie. It's just...
Every once in a while.
So remind me, why do you want
to be a messenger?
- Because I'll get to visit
a lot of people
and go to a lot of places.
- Oh. And, uh,
how did you sleep last night?
D'you nod off today at school?
- A little.
- What about sports?
What about missing out on them
on account of having this job?
- We have a physical-education
period every day.
- Is that so? Well, I used
to run the 220 low hurdles
when I went to Ithaca high.
I was, uh...
I was the valley champion.
I was val...
So tell me,
you really want this job?
- I'm gonna be the best
messenger this office ever had.
- I was the best messenger this
office ever had, so you're on.
Okay, the faster
you deliver messages,
the more you can deliver.
The faster you pick up
outgoing messages,
the more we can send.
The more we can send,
the better our chances
of beating western union
and staying alive.
We're postal telegraph.
We get there swiftly.
We're polite to everyone.
We take off our hats
in elevators and,
above all things,
we never lose a telegram.
- Yes, sir.
- How old are you?
- Sixteen.
- Yeah, that's
what you said yesterday.
We're not allowed
to hire a boy unless he's 16.
How old are you?
- Fourteen.
- Well, so you'll be 16
in two years.
What are you gonna do
with the $15 a week?
- Give it to my mother.
- Alright, from here on out,
you're part of this outfit.
You watch everything,
you listen closely,
you keep your eyes open
and your ears peeled.
You got me? This here,
this is what we call a quarter.
You're gonna take it
to Chatterton's bakery
and bring me back two day-old
pies: Apple and coconut-cream.
- Yes, sir.
- What do you think of him?
- He's a good boy.
- I think he is.
A couple of years underage,
that's all.
- Well, I'm a couple of years
overage,
so I think we'll get along.
- If you need me,
I'll be at Corbett's.
You two can share
those pies between you.
What's your name again?
- Homer Macauley.
- Homer Macauley.
You're just the boy
this office needs.
I reckon you're the
fastest-moving thing
in this valley.
Remember, once a messenger,
always a messenger.
- Alright, boy, alright.
Homer Macauley.
My name is William Grogan.
I'm 67 years old.
Old-time telegrapher,
one of the last.
And I'm hungry.
And from now on,
you and I are friends.
Mm.
Here you go.
I may, on occasion,
ask you to run me an errand.
In the event of drunkenness,
I shall expect a depth
of understanding.
- I've got a pretty good
understanding.
- Do you? We'll see.
Every evening...
I'll count on you to see that
I'm able to perform my duties.
A splash of cold water
directly on the face
if I don't respond when shaken
and to be followed immediately
by a cup of hot black coffee
from Corbett's across the road.
You know where Corbett's is?
- Yes, sir.
Cold water, hot coffee.
- Excuse me.
Homer...
Do you think that this world
is gonna be a better place
after the war?
- Yes, sir.
- How do you like
that coconut-cream pie?
- Very good, sir.
- Homer...
This is your first telegram.
Put it in your cap.
- Postal telegram.
- You have a telegram?
- Yes, ma'am.
- For who is it?
- A Mrs. Rosa Sandoval,
1129 G street.
Are you Mrs. Sandoval?
- S, s, s. Please come in.
I cannot read English.
How does the telegram read?
- Ma'am?
- Please, open the telegram
and read to me the telegram.
- Yes, ma'am.
- Please, come inside.
Who sends me this telegram?
My son, Juan Domingo?
- No, ma'am.
It's, uh...
From the secretary of war.
- The secretary...
- Maybe it's a mistake.
Maybe it wasn't your son.
Maybe it was somebody else.
The telegram says
it was Juan Domingo, but...
Maybe the telegram's wrong.
- Please, sit down.
I will bring you some candy,
okay?
All boys love candy very much.
- I can't quit. Otherwise,
I'm as good as dead myself.
Mr. Grogan!
Mr. Grogan.
Mr. Grogan, there's a telegram!
They're calling you! Wake up!
- Ah!
Coffee. Corbett's!
- Mr. Corbett, I need
a cup of coffee right now.
It's for Mr. Grogan.
- Sure.
No, it's alright.
No charge, boy.
- Thanks.
- That's right, that's right,
that's right! Don't be afraid.
That's exactly right.
That's what I told you.
It's exactly right.
Corbett's coffee.
- Is it... an important
telegram?
- No.
It's most unimportant.
Ah, the accumulation of money,
business.
Seeing it takes a few weeks
for the important ones
to get here.
It's a night letter,
but you won't have
to deliver it tonight.
It's most unimportant.
But very important
for me to receive it.
They wanna... replace me.
They've been wanting
to retire me for years,
bring in machines, teletypes.
Machines instead
of human beings.
- Yes, sir.
- I knew I could count on you,
homer. I just knew it.
You've already been
a great help to me.
You know...
You've come to work
just in time.
I used to be the fastest
telegrapher in the world.
Faster than Wolinsky.
Sending, receiving,
receiving, sending...
And no mistakes. No mistakes!
Yeah.
Willie Grogan.
Everybody in the world,
every operator in the world
knew that...
Knew that name.
And I... pfft. Well...
You and me, homer,
we're still alive.
We are.
Mm. Ah...
I should like to say just a word
to the women in the country
tonight.
I have a boy at sea
on a destroyer.
For all I know, he may be
on his way to the pacific.
Two of my children are
in coast cities on the pacific.
Many of you
all over this country
have boys in the services
who will now be called upon
to go into action.
You have friends and families
in what has suddenly become
a danger zone.
- Everything's alright, ma.
I don't want you to sit up
this way. Everything's alright.
I had to deliver a telegram...
To a lady over on G street.
It said her son's dead.
She wouldn't believe it.
And when I got back
to the office,
the old telegraph
operator was drunk.
He has to do his work,
or they'll put him on a pension.
- Everything's alright, homer.
It's only that you are becoming
aware
of a world
in which you've been a child.
- I don't know what's happening.
Or why.
But no matter what...
I won't let anything hurt you
that way.
- Dear homer, you are now
the man of the Macauley family.
So everything I have at home
is yours.
My books, my phonograph,
my microscope.
I miss you, of course,
and I think about you
all the time.
I think about our father,
who died so recently
and yet so long ago.
His goodness... somehow...
Still with us.
- Ah, knock it off.
- His death is not an easy
thing to understand.
I guess it just takes time.
Time to let it go.
And when the pain leaves...
I hope the rest will be lighter
and better than ever.
We leave for action soon.
No one knows where that may be.
I'm happy.
And even though
I wish there were no war...
I'm happy
to be serving my country,
which, to me, is Ithaca.
- Marcus.
So what are... so what
are mornings like back home?
- Mornings?
- What's that?
- Exercises.
- What for?
- Muscle.
- Gonna be the strongest man
in the world.
- No.
- What are you gonna be, then?
- Go back to sleep.
- Gonna go to school?
- Yep.
- Gonna learn something?
- I'm gonna run the
220 low hurdles someday.
- Why?
- Because everybody born in this
town wins the 220 low hurdles.
Marcus did,
the manager
of the telegraph office did
when he went to Ithaca high.
He was valley champion.
- What's valley champion?
- That's the best.
- Gonna be the best?
- I'm gonna try.
Tomorrow... no, yesterday
I saw the train.
How'd it go?
- The Bachmann waved.
- Did you wave back?
- He said, "going home."
Where's he going?
- I don't know. Everybody's got
a different home.
- Are you going?
- Someday.
- Gonna come back?
- Sure.
- Gonna be glad?
- Sure. Gonna be glad to see ma,
Marcus and Bess,
glad to see you.
- Don't go, homer, don't go.
- I'm not going now.
I'm just going to school.
- Papa went and he won't come
back, not like he used to.
Marcus went...
Don't you go too, homer.
- It's gonna be a long time
before I go.
But, for now,
it's time for you to go.
- Where?
- Back to sleep.
Ah!!
I have no idea what's ahead.
But whatever it is,
I am humbly ready for it.
- Marcus.
Marcus.
Marcus. Marcus!
My friend here is an orphan.
His name is Toby George.
I've told him
all about our family
and someday I'll bring him home.
I would rather
I wasn't in the army
and there was no war.
I don't hate anyone.
But I've long since made up
my mind
to be the best soldier I can be.
More than anything else in
the world, I wanna come home.
And spend many long years with
you, ma and Bess and Ulysses.
I wanna come back for a home
and a family of my own.
You are now on your way,
in a world chockfull of things
that...
Aren't easy to understand.
So, of course,
all the mistakes are ahead.
All the wonderful mistakes
that you must,
and will make.
Trust your heart,
which is a good one,
to be right, and go ahead.
- Set!
No! Get off the field!
- Ugh!
- And if you fall, tricked
or tripped by others,
or yourself even...
Get up.
- Dinner with... well...
No, now wait a minute.
I promised?
When did I promise to have
dinner with your parents?
- Come on, you remember.
- Uh-huh.
- We talked about it
at breakfast.
You remember, right, darling?
- Okay, take it easy. Every...
Every time you call me darling,
it make me wanna...
- what are you afraid of?
- Yeah, no...
- dinner is at 7:00 sharp.
- 7:00 sharp.
- You know how...
- what do you mean
by sharp exactly?
- You're a diamond!
Wear something right.
- Mm-hmm.
- You know, evening clothes.
- What do you mean,
evening clothes?
I wear the same clothes
morning and evening Bo...
- the clothes I got you.
- No, no, alright.
- I love you.
And I know you love me, too.
- Yes, I do.
Okay. No. Goodbye.
I have been out to dinner
two times in my life and...
I was scared to death
both times.
I had no fun at all.
- Mr. Spangler,
I'm sorry I'm running late.
- Hi, homer.
- Hey, homer.
- Ulysses,
what are you doing here?
- Oh... Ulysses, huh?
That makes sense.
This little fella, he just
walks in right off the street,
plops himself down,
listens to my phone calls.
Fearless, that's what you are.
You are a fearless young man
and you're an excellent
listener, too.
What is happening?
Are you limping over there?
Are you okay?
- Yes, sir.
- Okay, then. A few telegrams
have piled up and a few pickups.
You do the pickups first,
then deliver the telegrams
afterwards.
- Yes, sir, right away.
I'm awfully sorry I'm late.
- Ah, that's alright.
Don't worry, we'll keep
an eye on your brother for you.
You just... you go ahead.
- Yeah, you go ahead, homer.
- Willie, I'm going over
to Corbett's for a drink.
I am having dinner tonight
with Diana and her parents,
and I feel the need
for a little... fortification.
- Well, Ulysses and me can hold
down the fort while you're gone.
Can we? You think? Yep.
Get the good wine
ready for pickup.
- Oh, when homer comes back,
you two keep him here
until sunripe growers calls
for their pickup.
Listen, your brother has beaten
western union to sunripe growers
twice in the last two days.
How many'd he get yesterday?
- Uh... 67.
- Sixty-seven.
He beats them again, we might
have a good month after all.
I'll be back. One drink.
- Oh, that's sunripe now,
ready for pickup.
- I'll do the pickup, Willie.
How do you like that?
- You?
- Yes, me. If homer can beat
western union, so can I.
And I'm gonna do it on foot!
- Hmm.
- Sam. Hannah.
Hi, boys!
You! Are the loveliest woman
in the world.
Heya, Harry.
Postal telegraph! Stan.
- What on earth?
- Once a messenger, always
a messenger, Mrs. Brockington.
- I declare, you're never gonna
grow up, tom Spangler.
- Hope not.
- Beaten again, Harry.
- Ah, poor Harry.
- Here it is, 129 night letters,
all paid.
- Oh! Thank you.
Here you go, Harry. Hate for you
to go back to western union
with nothing to send.
How is it, Ralph?
- Oh, not bad, not good.
- Not bad, not good.
I buy them three to their one.
When they're broke
and ready to go,
I'll give them their money back.
- You afford that?
- No.
- Ah, something eatin' you,
Ralph?
- Maybe.
You know old Dutch here...
Would've been 45 years old
today.
Can you imagine that?
- Is that so?
- Hey. Hey, screwball, give us
another couple of drinks.
- We're just catching up.
He'll be right with you, friend.
- The war to end wars, right,
tom?
- That's what they told us.
That's what they said.
- Hey, pal, I asked you
for a couple of drinks.
- Yeah.
- What are you gonna do
about it?
- Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Hey!
- Do you know
who you're talking to?
- Ralphie.
- I didn't mean nothin' by it.
- You got no idea.
- It's okay.
- I'm sorry, sir.
- It's okay. Don't worry.
Just... like you were.
As you were.
- You go on, miss.
- It's gonna be fine.
- You don't wanna be
with this guy.
- Here, here.
Good luck, soldier.
Come on, it's alright, pal.
- No, it ain't.
I'm scared, tom.
- Well, nowadays...
We're all scared.
Uh... Diana, she...
She's getting impatient.
She's having me have dinner
tonight with her parents.
You wanna talk about scared.
- I didn't think it'd ever
happen again, tom.
But no wonder, huh?
The fightin's... inside us.
It's inside of me.
It's what we are.
Till we ain't.
- Can I have another?
Gentlemen...
- You got sunripe, Mr. Spangler?
- I surely did.
129, give or take a handful.
- How'd you get there first?
- I ran!
- You beat western union
to sunripe running?
- Nothing to it.
- Yeah, it's a shame that
you got lost on the way back.
- What do you say you take
Ulysses here on home now?
- We got a pickup
from Guggenheim's.
That's down our way,
so I'll hike Ulysses home,
go to Guggenheim's,
then Ithaca wine, then Foley's.
Come on.
I'll be back in no time.
- I know you will.
- Bye-bye.
- It's just thunder.
That doesn't scare you, right?
- No, nothing scares me.
Go faster, homer.
Pay attention, homer.
Look around at this wonderful,
senseless yet beautiful world.
And feel compassion
for all things.
And their terrible way
of enduring... and dying.
Helpless...
And full of the world to come.
- Guess we're on our way.
Scuttlebutt's we leave
first thing in the morning.
- Yeah?
What do you think about, Toby?
What... what do you wanna
go back to?
- Uh, anything... I guess.
I don't have a girl like Mary
waiting for me,
sister like Bess.
Hell, I didn't even know
kids had parents
till I went to school and
heard the kids talk about them.
So whatever I go back to,
it'll be a place,
but it won't be people.
I'd like to think that I could
go back to Ithaca with you.
- You will.
- What do you think about?
- I think about my father.
- Matthew Macauley.
- Yeah. That's right.
- Yes.
- Uh, he worked in the orchards.
Just... plain, ordinary,
everyday work.
Never made any more money
than we needed.
Ever.
But he did save enough money
to make a down payment
on a piano.
My mother wanted that for Bess.
There are still men in the world
like that, Toby.
- Tell me about Bess.
- You wanna know about Bess?
You are in luck.
- Got a picture in your pocket?
- Yeah, I'm my pocket.
- Hi, Bess.
- Hello, Mr. Grogan.
- A little wet, huh?
- This is my friend Mary.
- Pleased to meet you, Mary.
- We're just on our way
to the majestic.
And here's homer's supper.
- We're going to the pictures.
- Oh. I'll see he gets it.
- Oh. Uh... hello.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- Uh, ma'am.
- Hi!
- May I help you gentlemen?
- Uh, yeah, um... how much is
a telegram to New Jersey?
- Well, it's 25 words
for 50 cents,
plus a small tax and...
We don't count the address
or the signature.
- Alright, 50 cents,
that's not bad.
Uh, how much to San Antonio?
- Uh, half as much as, uh,
Jersey.
- That makes a lot of sense.
- So half of 50 cents,
that would make it...
- A quarter.
- 25 cents.
- Thank you.
- Alright, great.
- Here you go, sir.
Ooh, there it is.
- Huh?
- You're gonna have to pardon
my, uh, pal fat here.
He's just, uh, he's just
homesick something awful.
- It's not my name, no.
- Dude.
- You see, ma'am,
fat here and I, we're shipping
out tomorrow
and he's just a little nervous,
that's all.
- It's not my name. At all.
- Box.
Box? B-o-c... b-o-c-k-s?
- Uh, yeah, c-k-s.
- Of... of dried figs.
Dried figs.
- Yes, f-i-g-g-s.
- We were gonna go
to the picture show
and we were wondering if-if...
Well, if you wanted...
If you wanted to maybe come
with... if you wanted to come.
- Yeah, there's gonna be
a cartoon, I hear.
The cartoon's my favorite part.
- Sure.
- You would? We're going
to the pictures with 'em.
- Okay, hold on just one second.
- Don't worry about nothing.
- Love, Bernard.
- You're done. After you.
- I got it. I'll get the door.
- I'll get the door!
The greatest
double-cross in history.
Jap envoys talk peace
in Washington.
Jap planes, without warning,
bring war to America.
Our great pacific outpost
in the Hawaiian islands
is ruthlessly bombed
as Japan's perfidious
declaration of war.
Death and destruction unleashed
on a nation at peace.
On that fateful Sunday morning,
when this country was
extending a friendly hand
of conciliation and peace.
A nation,
like a person,
has something deeper,
something more permanent,
something larger than
the sum of all its parts.
It is that something which
matters most to its future.
- It's yours.
- Huh?
- Here, take it.
- Your sister Bess brought
your supper by.
She was with a girl,
a very pretty girl.
- Is it an important telegram?
That's Mary, our neighbor.
She's Marcus's girl.
I was gonna get us two pies,
but there's plenty here.
Will you share with me?
- Oh, no, thanks.
I'm not hungry.
- Maybe if you...
Started to eat a little,
your appetite will improve.
- Yeah.
We... we do have raincoats,
you know.
- Yeah.
I know.
I just...
Got caught in the rain.
They don't just... die
for nothing, do they?
- Well, I can't answer
that question, son.
I'm not sure
there is an answer to that.
It's a very young question.
I'm an old man.
Just try not to live in fear,
homer.
Would you run upstairs
and get my pills for me?
- Yes, sir.
- Ah, thank you, boy. Thank you.
- Yes, sir.
- Wait!
What's the matter?
- I'm sorry.
I've got a telegram
for Mrs. Claudia Beaufrere.
- Of course you do.
It's her birthday.
Mother!
There's a telegram for you.
It's from Alan, I'm sure.
Come in, young man.
Just a moment.
- Hello.
- Hello, ma'am.
- May I offer you some punch?
- No, thanks.
- Wait right here, I'll just go
get my change purse.
- There's no need.
I'll just...
I have to go back now...
To the office.
- Please...
Wait.
- Mother!
- Thanks. Thank you.
- So, uh... did you like it?
- Yeah, it was great.
- It was good, it was good.
- The cartoon was great.
- Yeah.
- Well, we need to go home now.
- Oh... well, uh... thank you.
- For what?
- I'm very fond of you.
- Think I could steal one too?
I'm shipping out tomorrow,
as well.
Try to remember...
That none of us
is separate from each other.
He is ours.
And we... are his.
- Come on, Bess.
- Bye.
- Whoo-wee!
- How you talk, boy!
- Oh man! Oh, man!
- Smooth! Silky smooth.
- Hoo!
- Ah.
The world's gone mad, homer.
- What's the matter
with your leg, boy?
- It's nothin'. I guess I...
...twisted a ligament
or something.
I was running
the 220 low hurdles.
- Hmm.
- And, uh...
...it's all confused.
Everything's...
Changed out there.
I guess I'll rub some liniment
on it tonight or something.
- Yeah, that might be good.
You've changed, you know.
In the week or so you came
to work, you've changed.
- Yeah.
I didn't know anything
before I got this job.
I don't like the way things are.
I just want things to be better.
How can any man
ever get it all straight
so that it comes out even
and makes sense?
Everything's so...
Sad or mixed up...
And wrong.
And...
I don't even care if Helen Eliot
doesn't like me anymore.
Sure, I wish she... would,
but if she doesn't, that's okay.
Yeah, something's the matter
with it.
It's five after 12.
I guess I'll go home now.
Tomorrow's Saturday.
Saturdays used
to be my best day.
You sure you wouldn't like
a sandwich now?
- Yeah, I'll have a sandwich.
Changed my mind.
Please...
Thank your mother for me.
- Nah, it's nothing.
- No!
It's somethin'.
Thank her.
Please thank her for me.
- Yes, sir.
- You do love me, don't you?
I know that you do.
You do love me, don't you?
I know that you do.
What do you think about...
What do you think about a woman
who says to you:
"You do love me, don't you?
I know that you do."
- That you'd be a fool
to let her get away.
- What do you think
of that new messenger?
- He's the best I ever seen.
- Stop! Wait! Don't go!
Don't go there!
Leave them alone!
Dad!
Don't go!
We will sing one song.
- No!!
- Homer. Alright, lie down.
- Oh...
- Oh...
It's alright.
He's alright, Ulysses.
Go back to sleep.
- It's Marcus.
- Ma?
Ma?
- Yes, homer.
- I never cried
when I was little.
Even Ulysses never cries.
Because, well, what's the use?
I thought a fellow would never
cry when he got to be grown up.
'Cause that's when you start
finding out about things.
- There will always be pain
in this world, homer.
And a good man will seek
to take the pain out of things.
- Mrs. Macauley,
Ulysses and me have already been
to Mr. Henderson's tree
with Auggie, Enoch, Shag,
Nickie and Alf,
but the apples aren't ripe.
- Well of course they're not,
Lionel. They need more time.
- Well,
they're gonna play football now,
and Ulysses's too small,
and Ulysses and me,
we're partners
and I wanna ask permission
to take Ulysses
to the public library.
- You have my permission.
- Was Marcus like Ulysses
when he was little?
- In what way?
- Fearless.
- Well,
Ulysses is like his father.
Except...
No one is fearless.
- I wish I could be
like Ulysses.
You know, ma, you're just about
the most wonderful person
anyone could ever know.
There goes Auggie.
Another touchdown.
I'm gonna go
to the telegraph office.
I told them I'd come,
just in case they needed me.
Oh, and Mr. Grogan,
he ate one of the sandwiches.
He told me
to tell you thank you.
So thanks, ma, from Mr. Grogan.
- Katie.
Katie?
- Yes, Matthew?
- Katie.
- Yes.
- Marcus?
Marcus?
You okay?
- Yeah.
- So, uh...
So, Ulysses...
What's he like?
- Let me tell you about him.
- Hi, homer!
Homer's going to work.
Homer's going to work!
: Okay, in a minute!
Saved by the bell.
- So, uh... thank you, Lily,
and... I'll be seeing you.
- Mm-hmm.
- Telegram for Dolly Hawthorne?
- Oh, she's out. I can take it.
Hold on a minute, will you?
Boy, would you come here
a minute, please?
Oh. Would you mail this letter
for me?
It's very important.
It's my sister.
Send it air mail,
special delivery, registered.
There's money in it.
Um... I haven't got any stamps.
Would you do this for me?
- Yes, ma'am.
- Here is a dollar.
Put the letter in your hat,
don't let anybody see it,
and don't tell anybody.
- I won't tell anybody.
I'll do it right now.
I'll bring you your change.
- No!
Don't come back here.
- No, it can't be.
It's a machine!
- I don't think so, Auggie.
- I don't know.
- No, Auggie's right.
It's a machine. I'm telling you.
- Ah, lookit!
- It's a man.
- Oh, what do you know, Lionel?
: Marcus?
- You okay?
Come on, Ulysses,
let's go home.
We've seen him
go through all the cards.
I'm going, Ulysses.
- Papa, mama!
Ma!
- He got lost, ma.
Auggie found him and brought him
to the telegraph office.
- Thanks, homer.
- Careful, there's a busted egg
in his pocket.
Homer.
I've never believed in wars.
I know them to be foolish,
even when they're necessary.
I'm glad that I'm the Macauley
who is in this war,
for it'd be a pity
and a mistake if it were you.
I can write to you what I would
never say in person.
You are the best
of the Macauleys.
You must go on being the best.
You must live in the years
of your life forever.
You are
what we are fighting for.
Yes, you, my brother.
- "Now I'll write your name here
to remind you, homer Macauley,
"that's who you are.
"I miss you very much.
"I can't wait
until I see you again.
"God bless you.
"So long, your brother,
Marcus."
If my brother...
Is killed in this stupid war,
I'll spit at the world.
I'll hate it forever.
I won't be good.
I'll be the worst of them all,
the worst that's ever lived.
- Uh, you be grateful
for yourself.
You... be thankful.
That's what your brother's
trying to tell you.
- Mr. Grogan, are you drunk?
- Yeah... I'm a little drunk.
I feel better when I'm drunk.
I probably wouldn't be telling
you the things I'm telling you
if I wasn't drunk!
You're a man, homer!
Fourteen years old
and you're a man!
Now who knows who made you
such a thing.
I don't know, you don't know.
But it's true!
Know that it's true!
You understand me?
- Hello, Lionel.
Going to see the movie?
- Haven't got any money.
- Why are you standing in line?
- Me, Auggie, Enoch, Shag,
Nickie and Alf
went out to the jailhouse
to talk to the criminals,
but then Shag chased me away.
I don't know where to go.
- Well, do you wanna see
the movie?
- No.
- Come on with us.
We're only taking a walk around.
The sun's going down.
- Come on with us, Lionel.
- Okay.
Thanks. I sure was getting
tired standing there.
Stop it, Ulysses!
- Hey, come on now.
- Stop it!
- I'm gonna say hello
to Mr. Grogan.
I'll catch up.
- Homer?
- It's me, Mr. Grogan.
I'll hurry and get the coffee.
Coffee!
- Oh, I'm cooking a new pot
right now, homer.
It'll be just a minute.
- You don't have any?
- There'll be coffee
in a minute.
Mr. Corbett's making a...
Mr. Grogan?
What's the matter?
- What's the matter, homer?
What's wrong with the old man?
- He's dead.
- Oh, you're crazy.
- No.
He's dead.
- Auggie?
- Uh, it's Mr. Grogan.
Homer says he's dead.
- I'll stop that.
Auggie?
Um, I want you to go over
to Corbett's.
Alright?
Um, you have them telephone...
...dr. Nelson.
His number's 1133.
He'll take care of everything.
Okay, have him come
right on over here,
and then also have him telephone
Harry Burke.
He's the other
telegraph operator.
And you have them both
come down here, okay?
- Yes, sir.
- Thank you, Auggie.
: Hi, homer.
- Willie always said he wanted
to work until the day he died.
You gotta believe your brother
isn't gone,
he's still inside you,
he's inside...
- no! That isn't good enough!
I want to see him!
I wanna smell him.
I wanna hear his voice,
hear him laughing
and have fights with him!
Everything's different now.
And this place...
Everything in Ithaca
has changed,
because my brother isn't gonna
look at anything anymore!
My brother's dead.
- Right, okay.
I'm not... I'm not gonna try
and comfort you.
I can't.
But just try to believe...
...that the best part
of a good man stays.
It stays forever.
- They'll know.
They'll know
the minute they see me.
- Well, I can sit with you
for while, if you like.
- I have to go now.
- Ma, somebody's...
There's a soldier outside.
Well, go on out to him, honey.
- Hello.
- Bess?
- How do you know my name?
Do you know my brother Marcus?
- Yes.
- Has he come home with you?
- Your brother...
- You're Toby, aren't you?
It came this afternoon.
- I'm sorry, homer.