Crown Court - 30,000 Pieces of Silver (1974) - video Dailymotion

Jezza

Porter vs Porter. Lance Porter, composer of the successful musical "Jesus, Baby", is suing his father to whom he made an outright gift of the copyright of the play. Robert Powell and William Lucas star as the two warring parties. Watch out for a wonderfully prim performance from Dinah Sheridan.

Transcript

00:00:00All stand.

00:00:30In the Crown Court today, there's a conflict between two very different ways of life, represented by two generations of a family.

00:00:46The plaintiff being sworn in now is Lance Porter, one of the great names in pop music.

00:00:50He's seeking a declaration that his father, the Reverend Fortescue Porter, a country vicar, obtained from him by fraud the copyright of a musical work.

00:00:57Because of this allegation of fraud, the case is being heard before a jury.

00:01:02Lance Porter is represented by Mr. Jonathan Fry, QC.

00:01:06Is your name Lancelot Ashley Porter?

00:01:08Yes.

00:01:09And you live at Grangefield Manor, Weybridge in Surrey.

00:01:12I did when this action was put down for hearing. I moved last month into an hotel.

00:01:16But does Grangefield Manor remain your property?

00:01:18I'm trying to sell it if I can find a buyer. It's a very large house. I can't afford to live there any longer.

00:01:23We'll come to that in a moment. What is your occupation, Mr. Porter?

00:01:26I'm a musician.

00:01:28Do you have any special training in that field?

00:01:31I won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music and studied there for a diploma.

00:01:34Did you complete that course of study?

00:01:36No.

00:01:36Why was that?

00:01:38I decided it was time to make a living.

00:01:40Didn't you feel you'd be better qualified for that if you had received a diploma?

00:01:43Not necessarily, no.

00:01:46You see, my original interest was in what you might call serious music, but I soon realized I wasn't cut out for that.

00:01:53What exactly were you studying at the college? Musical composition or one particular instrument?

00:01:58Both, my lord. I studied the piano and the organ.

00:02:02My father was particularly keen on that.

00:02:05I think it was his ambition that I should end up as a cathedral organist.

00:02:08In fact, your subsequent career took a rather different direction, didn't it?

00:02:11Yes. Some of the other students and myself got together a group to play at dances and so on, and we started to experiment.

00:02:18I found out that what I was really interested in was progressive rock.

00:02:21Did you say progressive rock?

00:02:24A kind of music, my lord.

00:02:26Yes, indeed. But what kind, Mr. Fry?

00:02:29Without going into technicalities...

00:02:30Well, I suppose the main characteristic is the strong underlying beat.

00:02:40The tone colors and harmonies, of course, can vary a great deal, but there is this basic rhythmic feeling.

00:02:47Afro-Cuba, I suppose.

00:02:52I'm afraid it's a bit difficult to explain.

00:02:53It's easier to recognize than describe, as someone once said about the elephant.

00:03:01The point I was trying to make, my lord, is that this music is secular rather than ecclesiastic.

00:03:05I rather thought so, Mr. Fry.

00:03:08And were those songs recorded and often for sale?

00:03:11Yes, I was very lucky. One of the recording companies got interested, and after a couple of singles, they decided to put out an album.

00:03:17That was when I decided to chuck the college and go full-time.

00:03:20And what, roughly speaking, have been the financial benefits to you?

00:03:22From the first album.

00:03:24I mean, on average, your earnings as a songwriter.

00:03:27Well, it was a steady living for about three years.

00:03:32Five thousand a year, I suppose.

00:03:34That was before things really took off.

00:03:37What caused them to take off?

00:03:40Well, in spring of 1970, I was approached by a theatrical management in London.

00:03:45We were very keen to do a musical on a religious subject.

00:03:47A musical play?

00:03:49Yes.

00:03:49There had been a couple of very successful ones on Broadway, and they were prepared to put up a great deal of money.

00:03:55They were convinced they were going to make a profit.

00:03:57And did they, Mr. Paul?

00:03:59Yes, they certainly did.

00:04:00When the idea of a musical play based on a religious theme was first discussed, did you say anything about this to your father?

00:04:05Yes, of course, on several occasions.

00:04:08In May, June 1970.

00:04:12I wanted his help in choosing a subject.

00:04:15I mean, he does know far more about the Bible than I do.

00:04:21The crucifixion had already been done, and Joseph and his brethren, and the twelve disciples, and I really didn't see much left.

00:04:28What subject did you eventually decide on?

00:04:31The nativity.

00:04:32And what title did you give this work?

00:04:35It was called Jesus Baby.

00:04:38With a comma and an exclamation mark, my lord.

00:04:41Did you discuss this subject with your father, as you said, in mid-1970?

00:04:46Yes.

00:04:46Did he object to it?

00:04:48No, not at all.

00:04:49Was this work produced on the London stage?

00:04:51Yes, with great success, and in Rome, Paris, and New York.

00:04:55A film version was made last year.

00:04:56And what have been the financial benefits to you?

00:05:00None whatever.

00:05:01Why is that, Mr. Porter?

00:05:03I entered into an agreement with my father.

00:05:06I assigned the entire copyright over to him.

00:05:08What was the effect of that agreement?

00:05:11All the performing rights and royalties in the play and in the records of the music were to go to him every penny.

00:05:16He became the owner.

00:05:18I had no claims on it at all.

00:05:20Was this before or after the play Jesus Baby was first performed?

00:05:23While I was writing it.

00:05:24If we look at page one of the agreed bundle of documents, we see there, do we not, the assignment.

00:05:30It's undated.

00:05:34Yes.

00:05:36How was this agreement with your father made?

00:05:38I phoned him up and told him what I was thinking of doing.

00:05:40When did you telephone? Can you remember?

00:05:41I think it was January the 24th, 1971.

00:05:45And then what did you do?

00:05:47I went to see him at the vicarage.

00:05:48When was that?

00:05:49February the 1st.

00:05:501971?

00:05:51Yes.

00:05:52And what did you say to him?

00:05:54I said I wanted to give him the copyright of the musical I was writing.

00:05:58You'd already written much of it by then?

00:05:59Yes.

00:06:00Did you tell him why you wanted to do this?

00:06:02Yes, I explained that there were several reasons.

00:06:06The most important being that he'd paid for my education and it seemed like a good way of giving him something in return.

00:06:13How much had your education cost?

00:06:16I don't know.

00:06:18A few thousand, I suppose.

00:06:20And I'm sure he thought it had been wasted, so it seemed like a good idea.

00:06:24I did point out that I might be giving him something completely worthless.

00:06:29I was a complete gambler at this stage.

00:06:32Rather like giving him a ticket in a raffle.

00:06:34Did you discuss the possibility that you might be giving him the winning ticket?

00:06:38Yes.

00:06:39He said he hoped the show would be a success because there were several things that needed doing in the parish.

00:06:45A new route for the church hall, that sort of thing.

00:06:49Yes, I don't actually think that he quite grasped what a lot of money might be involved.

00:06:55I mean, neither did I at this stage.

00:06:56We were talking in terms of, I don't know, five thousand pounds.

00:07:01Not a quarter of a million?

00:07:03No.

00:07:04I did point out, though, that there might be a great deal more than either of us imagined.

00:07:10I read somewhere that Agatha Christie had assigned a copyright of Mousetrap to somebody.

00:07:14I don't know, I think a grandson.

00:07:16Nobody could have foreseen how long that would run.

00:07:18Was there any further discussion of the possibility that it might be a success on the scale of the Mousetrap?

00:07:23Yes.

00:07:25I said that if my play ran for as long as the Mousetrap, and for some reason I found myself broke, then I'd expect him to help me out.

00:07:33Besides, he might need a bit of money himself one day.

00:07:36So I said that he wasn't to give the copyright away, and if it made money, he wasn't to spend it all on the village hall or give it away to Oxfam or Christian Aid or something like that.

00:07:49And what was his reply to that?

00:07:51Well, he said a gift with conditions attached wasn't a gift.

00:07:55And I said that I wasn't asking for any promises.

00:07:57I just wanted to know what he had in mind.

00:07:59What did he say?

00:08:00He said he wouldn't dream of giving the copyright away, and he agreed that it would be sensible if it made any money to keep a bit for ourselves.

00:08:09I said that he should keep a sizable chunk, because in the music business success can disappear overnight.

00:08:16What was his comment on that?

00:08:17He said he thought it was very unlikely, but of course he'd never let me starve.

00:08:24Now, was any limit set to the amount of money that he would give you if you found yourself in need?

00:08:29No, no, I mean because at this stage, as I said, we didn't know how much was going to be involved.

00:08:33Was anybody else present at this interview?

00:08:35Yes, Mr. Plenderbooth.

00:08:36Who's he?

00:08:38He manages my financial affairs, contracts, income tax and so on.

00:08:42I'm not very good at that sort of thing.

00:08:43Was anything said about the legal aspect of what you were preparing to do?

00:08:47Mr. Plenderbooth said that we ought to see a solicitor first take legal advice so that we got the wording right.

00:08:55And did you take that advice?

00:08:57Yes, apparently. It was quite simple. We went to see Father again the following week.

00:09:00By we, you mean you and Mr. Plenderbooth?

00:09:02Yes. He wrote out the assignment on a piece of paper. I signed it and gave it to Father.

00:09:07Now, will you look at the first document in the agreed bundle of documents on page one.

00:09:12Is that the assignment?

00:09:13Yes. It just says that I am assigning the copyright in Jesus' baby entirely and irrevocably to him.

00:09:20You did not put a date on the piece of paper?

00:09:24No, my lord.

00:09:26Mr. Porter, would you have given your father this copyright if you had known that he would give it all away?

00:09:31Oh, no. I wanted some benefit from it from him and myself.

00:09:36Now, let's move on a year or two after the play had been produced and become an international success.

00:09:40Did you at any time remind your father of this conversation with him in February of 1971?

00:09:44Yes. I went to see him on April the 12th of last year.

00:09:50I pointed out that he'd made an unexpected fortune out of Jesus' baby and that I was absolutely broke.

00:09:56I was in every sort of trouble with the tax authorities and I was having to sell the house to make ends meet.

00:10:01Why was this, Mr. Porter?

00:10:02Well, the most extraordinary thing.

00:10:08As I said, before I wrote this play, I was making quite a good living out of my songs of 5,000 a year.

00:10:16And afterwards, when it was such a success, I got all sorts of offers.

00:10:21And somehow, nothing I wrote seemed to be any good at all.

00:10:25I wrote another play and spent a great deal of my own money in promoting it, making demonstration records, that sort of thing.

00:10:32I don't know whether I'd just lost my talent or whether it was a change in fashion, anyway.

00:10:38It turned out that the only money-making thing I'd ever written or was ever likely to write was Jesus' baby.

00:10:44And I'd given that away to my father, so naturally I went to see him.

00:10:47And did you ask him to honour the understanding that had been reached?

00:10:51Yes. I didn't put it quite as formally as that. I asked him to let me have 10,000 pounds.

00:10:56What was his reply?

00:10:58He said he didn't have the money to give me.

00:11:00He'd use a copyright to set up a charitable trust, and most of the proceeds had gone on various charitable projects.

00:11:07The whole quarter of a million?

00:11:09Well, I don't think it amounted to that much at that stage, but it was certainly more than 100,000.

00:11:12Did the Reverend Mr. Porter say what he'd been doing with this money?

00:11:15He mentioned renovating the church and building a new church hall, but I think that most of it had gone into some charitable trust or other.

00:11:24In all events, it was not available to you.

00:11:26No. No, he made that quite clear.

00:11:29Treated me rather like the prodigal son, the only difference being that there wasn't going to be any fatted calf.

00:11:33Did he say why he'd given the copyright away?

00:11:36Yes. He gave me quite a lecture.

00:11:40He said that the money had been used, been got, by exploiting the Bible story.

00:11:47Perverting it, I think, is what he actually said.

00:11:48And the only way to redress the balance was by using it for God's work.

00:11:54Did he express any opinion on the quality of the play itself?

00:11:57Yes, he said it was nauseating.

00:11:59Had he seen it?

00:12:00Oh, no, I don't think so.

00:12:02But that wouldn't make any difference.

00:12:04He's always expressing strong opinions on things he knows nothing about.

00:12:07Now, you said that when the idea of a musical play based on a religious theme was first brought up in mid-1970, your father raised no objections.

00:12:15No, on the contrary, he was quite enthusiastic about it.

00:12:18Mind you, he probably thought it was going to be the sort of thing that would get put on at Christmas in church halls with all the little kiddies dressed as angels.

00:12:25Why do you suppose he later took such a violent dislike to it without having seen it?

00:12:31Well, I think somebody had seen it and told him all about it.

00:12:35Well, in fact, I know she had.

00:12:37Because she came in while father and I were talking and started making all kinds of Snyder.

00:12:40Who do you mean by she?

00:12:42Mrs Harper-Frost.

00:12:45She's a sort of queen bee in father's parish, sits on all the committees and gets up bazaars and that sort of thing.

00:12:51I think she'd been to London to see the show and had given father a really lurid account of it.

00:12:56She's very keen on purity.

00:12:59I mean, if somebody says damn on television, she starts ringing up the Daily Telegraph and that sort of thing.

00:13:04I don't think Jesus would have been her cup of tea at all.

00:13:06So you think this lady had influenced your father with her opinions?

00:13:10Yes, I'm sure of it.

00:13:10I mean, even before she'd seen the show.

00:13:15I think that my father told her about my telephone call in January and before I went to see him, they had the whole thing worked out.

00:13:23I think that we're going to use every penny, if it made money, to what Mrs Harper-Frost would consider good works.

00:13:32Now, you said that at that interview, in the presence of your business manager, Mr Plunderbooth, your father said that he intended to keep the copyright and itinerate some of the royalties in case you or he ever found yourselves in need.

00:13:42Is it your case that he never intended to honour that agreement?

00:13:47Yes.

00:13:48I think he was deliberately deceiving me.

00:13:50I think he'd made up his mind that the money was somehow tainted and it didn't really matter who he gave the money to, as long as it didn't come back to the person who'd earned it.

00:14:00Me.

00:14:00Mr Fry, I think it would help us all to know what is the position of the trustees, the trustees who are now the owners of the copyright.

00:14:16The position, my lord, is that they have agreed to be bound by the outcome of these proceedings.

00:14:22Then if the fraud is established, they will reassign the copyright to the plaintiff together with any of the proceeds still in their hands.

00:14:29They will not, however, have to account for any of the money that's already spent.

00:14:32They have agreed that to save the expense of further proceedings, of third-party proceedings.

00:14:37Yes, lord.

00:14:38Very sensible. Thank you, Mr Fry.

00:14:41Now, Mr Lottabere.

00:14:44Mr Porter, you said in your evidence-in-chief that this musical play of yours, Jesus Baby, was not the usual kind of nativity play that one might expect to see performed in a village hall.

00:14:55Now, for the benefit of those of us unfortunates who have not seen the play, could you describe what sort of thing it was?

00:15:03Yes, it was an unconventional treatment of the theme.

00:15:06Yes, well, can you elaborate on that?

00:15:08Well, for a start, it was set in the present day.

00:15:11We didn't feel it would be quite right to have the contemporary music and people going around in costumes of 0 AD.

00:15:18In some cases, were there no costumes at all?

00:15:21They're appropriate, yes.

00:15:22Yes. The angels didn't wear anything. How would you dress a contemporary angel?

00:15:28And how closely did the plot resemble the Bible story?

00:15:32Well, in my view, very closely.

00:15:35I mean, one had to find parallels, of course. There aren't many mangers around these days.

00:15:39So we had Joseph and Mary as squatters in an unoccupied office building in the underground car park.

00:15:46Yes, I see. And did a large number of people take offence at this treatment of the theme?

00:15:52A few did. The sort of people who'd take offence at anything.

00:15:55Yes, well, it wasn't the kind of entertainment that your father, for instance, would have appreciated.

00:16:00If he'd taken the trouble to see it, he might have understood what I was getting at.

00:16:03You said you made him a gift of the copyright for various reasons.

00:16:08That's right.

00:16:08But you only mentioned one, that you wanted to reimburse him for the cost of your education.

00:16:13Yes.

00:16:13But you had a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, did you not?

00:16:16And a full maintenance grant from the local education authority.

00:16:20Yes.

00:16:21So your father didn't pay for the major part of your musical education.

00:16:25What were the other reasons, Mr. Porter?

00:16:28I suppose I just wanted to give him something.

00:16:31At that time, were you in comfortable financial circumstances?

00:16:35Yes, as I said, I was earning about $5,000 a year.

00:16:38I went up and down a bit, but that would be the average.

00:16:41And Mr. Plenderbooth was looking after your financial arrangements?

00:16:45Yes, I took him on about that time.

00:16:46Why did you decide to employ this business manager?

00:16:50Well, I hadn't been very clever with my money.

00:16:52I, whenever I'd had a successful record, I didn't always put enough aside for tax.

00:16:56Were you in trouble with the Indian Revenue?

00:16:59No, nothing serious, no.

00:17:01But I thought I ought to have Sonny to look after that side of things,

00:17:04and he was recommended to me by some friends in the business.

00:17:08And after a few months, he got everything straightened out.

00:17:10You put your financial affairs entirely in his hands?

00:17:13Yes.

00:17:13And fell in with any arrangements he proposed?

00:17:15It seemed the best thing to do, yes.

00:17:17And was one of these arrangements suggested by Mr. Plenderbooth

00:17:20that you should assign the copyright in Jesus' Baby to your father?

00:17:24Yes, I believe it was his idea, basically.

00:17:25It wouldn't have occurred to me, but it did seem like a good idea.

00:17:28In order to save tax?

00:17:32No, I said I wanted to give my father something,

00:17:35and Mr. Plenderbooth suggested arranging the copyright,

00:17:37and he assured me there was nothing illegal in the arrangement.

00:17:40Look, honestly, there is no point in asking me about this.

00:17:43I left all that to him.

00:17:44Yes, but you would know, would you not,

00:17:46that your father, as a clergyman on a modest stipend,

00:17:49would be paying a lower rate of tax on the copyright income

00:17:52than a successful songwriter like yourself.

00:17:55Look, if you're suggesting it was some kind of fiddle...

00:17:58Oh, please don't misunderstand me, Mr. Porter.

00:18:00It may well be that your intention

00:18:01was to make a generous gift to your father,

00:18:03but one effect of this arrangement would be

00:18:06that considerably less tax would be taken by the Inland Revenue.

00:18:10That's all I was trying to...

00:18:11Lord, I don't want to interrupt my alerted friend,

00:18:13but he may be giving the impression

00:18:14that there was something reprehensible in this arrangement.

00:18:16Yes, of course, Mr. Fry.

00:18:17I think I should tell members of the jury

00:18:19that the law makes a very clear distinction

00:18:21between the evasion of tax, which is a criminal offence,

00:18:24and the avoidance of tax, which is not.

00:18:28A man is perfectly entitled to arrange his affairs

00:18:30so that he pays as little income tax as possible,

00:18:32provided he does it in a legal way.

00:18:35I'm obliged to your lordship.

00:18:37Of course, I was not implying

00:18:38that there was anything improper in this arrangement,

00:18:41so long as it was intended

00:18:43that the Reverend Mr. Porter should keep the money

00:18:46or dispose of it in any way he chose.

00:18:49But the question is, was that the whole reason?

00:18:53Yes, apart from what I've already said.

00:18:56You were, in fact, using your father, weren't you?

00:18:59What do you mean by that?

00:19:00Well, you were using him, firstly,

00:19:02to avoid paying a large amount of tax at a time

00:19:04when, as you've said, you were in trouble with the Inland Revenue.

00:19:07And secondly, you were using him as a kind of bank

00:19:10on which you could draw out any amount at any time.

00:19:13Now, wasn't that the real object of the exercise?

00:19:15That is not true.

00:19:18It was meant as an outright gift

00:19:19to give him a bit of extra income

00:19:21so that he could do the things in a parish that needed doing.

00:19:26Now, why didn't you give him cash?

00:19:27In that way, you could have said a limit to the amount.

00:19:30Well, in the first place, I didn't have any.

00:19:33And there was another reason.

00:19:36My father has never shown any understanding

00:19:38or even interest come to that in what I've been trying to do.

00:19:41Now, look, I don't expect him to appreciate my pop songs.

00:19:45But when I wrote this play,

00:19:47I thought there might just be a possibility

00:19:49that he would see that I was trying to do, in my own way,

00:19:51what he'd been trying to do all his life.

00:19:55Make the Gospels into something alive,

00:19:58into something that has meaning now.

00:20:00Complete with nude angels and the infant Jesus in a garage.

00:20:03Oh, dear.

00:20:05There's nothing new in that.

00:20:08All the paintings of the Nativity are in modern dress,

00:20:12or in what was modern dress when they were painted.

00:20:15All the Madonnas by the Italian and Flemish painters

00:20:17are wearing perfectly ordinary costumes of the period,

00:20:20not fancy dress.

00:20:21That's why people believed in the Bible characters in those days.

00:20:26They recognized them as people like themselves.

00:20:28From the newspapers, you know,

00:20:30it would appear that a good many people thought

00:20:32that your motives were purely commercial and sensational.

00:20:37And that was very stupid of them.

00:20:39Yes, you wrote the play out of deep religious conviction, did you?

00:20:42Well, I wrote it because it was commissioned

00:20:45by a very rich and influential management.

00:20:49And having agreed to take it on,

00:20:50I wrote it as well as I could,

00:20:52because I think it's a great and a moving story,

00:20:54and I wanted to do justice to it.

00:20:56I was perfectly sincere in my intentions,

00:20:58and I wanted my father to appreciate that fact.

00:21:02We've had a few misunderstandings,

00:21:04and I thought it might draw us closer together.

00:21:08That is why I made him a present of the play.

00:21:10But this was suggested, was it not, by Mr. Plenderbooth?

00:21:13Now, do you suppose that his reasons were quite so altruistic?

00:21:16All I know is that when he suggested

00:21:18I give the copyright in the play to my father,

00:21:20I agreed, gladly.

00:21:21Yes, thank you, Mr. Porter.

00:21:22No further questions.

00:21:23Do you wish to re-examine the plaintiff, Mr. Fryer?

00:21:26Lord, Mr. Porter,

00:21:27it's been suggested that the object of this arrangement

00:21:29was to secure certain tax advantages.

00:21:32Was that your understanding of the matter?

00:21:34Honestly, it didn't occur to me.

00:21:36Your only purpose was to help your father

00:21:38and to create a better understanding between you?

00:21:40Yes.

00:21:42From that point of view, was the arrangement a success?

00:21:46From the point of view of helping him financially,

00:21:48yes, of course it was.

00:21:50I'm sorry to say that we're no closer

00:21:51to understanding each other than we were before.

00:21:54Thank you, that's all.

00:21:55Does your Lordship have any questions?

00:21:57No, no.

00:21:58Very well, you may leave the box, Mr. Porter.

00:22:01I call Charles Henry Plenderbooth.

00:22:04I swear by Almighty God

00:22:06that the evidence I shall give

00:22:07shall be the truth, the whole truth,

00:22:08and nothing but the truth.

00:22:10Is your name Charles Henry Plenderbooth?

00:22:12Yes, that is correct.

00:22:13And do you live at 12, Belgrave Street,

00:22:15London South West 1?

00:22:16Yes, I do.

00:22:17How would you describe your occupation, Mr. Plenderbooth?

00:22:20I'm a director of several companies

00:22:22in the entertainment business.

00:22:23And what is your connection

00:22:24with the plaintiff, Mr. Lance Porter?

00:22:26I'm a director of several companies,

00:22:27of which he is a co-director.

00:22:29Several?

00:22:30Yes, there's Porter Booth Productions,

00:22:32Lance International, Plenderland Projects.

00:22:35They're all limited companies

00:22:36engaged in the exploitation of Mr. Porter's talents.

00:22:39Would it be correct to describe you

00:22:40as his business manager?

00:22:42Well, I prefer the term business advisor.

00:22:45At the end of 1970 and the beginning of 1971,

00:22:48when he was engaged in writing the script

00:22:49and composing music for a play called Jesus Baby,

00:22:52did you give him certain advice

00:22:53about disposing of the royalties?

00:22:55Yes, he said that he wanted to make some provision

00:22:59for his father, a gentleman in holy orders.

00:23:02So I suggested that the copyright

00:23:03in this religious work might make an appropriate gift.

00:23:06What was Mr. Porter's reaction?

00:23:08Well, he liked the idea very much.

00:23:09And what did you think of the arrangement?

00:23:11To be honest, I thought it would be very good publicity.

00:23:14As his business advisor,

00:23:15did you think that Mr. Porter was in a position

00:23:17to renounce all the income from this play?

00:23:19Well, financially, he was in a very healthy position.

00:23:22I mean, quite frankly,

00:23:23I would have preferred him to go on writing songs.

00:23:25I mean, if you write a pop song

00:23:27and it turns out no good,

00:23:28well, what have you wasted?

00:23:29Half an hour?

00:23:30But a play is different.

00:23:31You have to attend conferences and rehearsals

00:23:34and take people out to lunch.

00:23:36It can be six months' work for nothing.

00:23:38Now, I was getting a great deal of interest from the States.

00:23:40Several of the big stars liked his numbers.

00:23:42There could have been a fortune in it.

00:23:44But no, he had to go and write this play.

00:23:47If you'd foreseen that the play would be so successful,

00:23:49would you have allowed him to give away the rights?

00:23:51Well, unfortunately, I wasn't interested in the play.

00:23:55I thought he'd go on writing these money-making songs.

00:23:58And if it made him happy to mess around in the theatre

00:24:01at the same time, well, why not?

00:24:03You'd no means of telling whether the play would be a success.

00:24:06Well, I thought it was going to be a real 22-carat flop.

00:24:11I mean to say, a musical with a baby in the lead,

00:24:14who needs it?

00:24:15Now, I thought that I was a pretty good judge of public taste,

00:24:18but you, how do you know these days?

00:24:21I thought the boy was giving away nothing.

00:24:23And look what happened.

00:24:24The case of Porter against Porter

00:24:43will be resumed tomorrow in the Crown Court.

00:24:45No Wonder Woman

00:24:52No Wonder Woman

00:24:53No Wonder Woman

00:24:59Day two in the case of Porter vs. Porter.

00:25:21Lance Porter, composer of the fabulously successful pop musical Jesus Baby,

00:25:25is suing his father, the Reverend Fortescue Porter,

00:25:28to whom he made an outright gift of the copyright in the play,

00:25:31which produced royalties of a quarter of a million pounds.

00:25:34Lance alleges that before the gift was made,

00:25:36his father told him he would not give the copyright away

00:25:38and would keep back some of the royalties in case Lance or he were ever short of money,

00:25:43but that his father entered fraudulently into this understanding

00:25:46without any intention of carrying it out.

00:25:48Yesterday we heard that the copyright had in fact been given away to a charity.

00:25:52Giving evidence at the moment is Lance's business advisor, Mr Charles Plenderbooth.

00:25:56And did you and Mr Lance Porter subsequently visit his father?

00:26:00Yes, it was on the 1st of February.

00:26:03We went up by train to Fulchester,

00:26:05took a taxi to the vicarage at Little Wormsley.

00:26:08We all had lunch together.

00:26:09Would you describe the meeting as friendly?

00:26:11Oh, not particularly.

00:26:12The Reverend and I didn't have very much in common.

00:26:16You might say it was difficult to find subjects of conversation.

00:26:19And did you discuss his son's musical career?

00:26:22Well, I tried to, but I don't think the vicar was very interested.

00:26:25I got the impression that he thought that pop songs were just a load of old rubbish.

00:26:29Do you talk about the play at all?

00:26:31Well, Lance did.

00:26:32He tried to explain his ideas for giving a new twist to the Bible story

00:26:36to make it more interesting for younger audiences.

00:26:40But I don't think the vicar was really listening.

00:26:42He only livened up when Lance asked him what he was going to do with the money.

00:26:46I mean, I didn't say anything because I didn't think there was going to be any.

00:26:49Was there anything said about the possibility that you might be wrong,

00:26:52that a great deal of money might come in?

00:26:53Well, naturally, Lance was a great deal more optimistic about that than I was.

00:26:58But he did raise it in a way, yes.

00:27:00What exactly did he say?

00:27:02Well, quite a lot was said.

00:27:03I can't remember it all, but I think he said something like,

00:27:07Well, you never know.

00:27:08It may run as long as the master.

00:27:10And if it does, and I'm broke, well, I'll come round for a piece of cheese.

00:27:14And what was the vicar's reply to that?

00:27:15Well, he just sat there thinking for a moment, and then he said,

00:27:20Don't worry.

00:27:22I won't let you starve.

00:27:24And after that, was the subject allowed to drop?

00:27:26Well, no.

00:27:28I can't remember exactly what was said,

00:27:31but Lance was very anxious that his father shouldn't give everything away,

00:27:35either the copyright or the royalties.

00:27:37Well, then his father said he wouldn't dream of giving the copyright away,

00:27:40and that he agreed with Lance that they should keep something back for themselves.

00:27:44Well, at that, Lance was all for assigning the copyright on the spot.

00:27:48But I thought that we ought to look at the legal aspect first.

00:27:51And did you, in fact, see a lawyer the following week,

00:27:53and did you thereafter pay another visit to the Reverend Mr. Porter?

00:27:56Yes, we went back on the 8th.

00:27:58Who wrote out the note to signing the copyright?

00:28:01I did.

00:28:02I mean, my lawyer had explained that it was quite straightforward.

00:28:05Lance signed it, gave it to his father.

00:28:07At that meeting, was there anything said about the Reverend Mr. Porter's intentions?

00:28:11Not by the other two.

00:28:13But by then, I'd been doing a bit of thinking myself,

00:28:16and I thought to myself,

00:28:17my God, supposing it does run for 20 years.

00:28:20All that money's going to go on stained glass windows

00:28:23and knitted comforts for the Indians,

00:28:25and the boy won't get a penny.

00:28:26So, after lunch, when Lance was out of the room

00:28:29washing his hands or something,

00:28:30I took his father on one side,

00:28:32and, you know, and I said to him,

00:28:34look, I don't know much about the church.

00:28:37But wasn't it against gambling on principle?

00:28:40What did he say to that?

00:28:42Well, he sort of blinked for a moment

00:28:44and asked me what I was getting at.

00:28:48So I gave it to him straight.

00:28:49I said that if the play made a lot of money,

00:28:52then he'd have an obligation to see Lance all right.

00:28:54I mean, if it hit the jackpot,

00:28:56he ought to share it out,

00:28:57otherwise it would be downright immoral.

00:28:58How did he react to that?

00:29:01Well, he said that he didn't think it was up to me

00:29:04to tell him what was immoral and what wasn't.

00:29:07As it happens, he thought the whole project was immoral,

00:29:09meaning Jesus, baby.

00:29:11He thought there ought to be a law against people

00:29:13making money out of that sort of thing,

00:29:14but since there wasn't,

00:29:16the next best thing was to make sure

00:29:17that the money was used for decent purposes.

00:29:20I mean, I tried to explain to him

00:29:21that I was simply looking after his son's interest,

00:29:23but I couldn't get a word in edgeways.

00:29:25He'd made up his mind already and slammed it shut.

00:29:28And this was two months before they even started rehearsals.

00:29:31He appeared already to have formed strong opinions about the play.

00:29:35Strong?

00:29:36You wouldn't get a critic saying things like he said.

00:29:38And did you gather if he'd also made up his mind

00:29:40as to what was going to happen to the money?

00:29:43Yes.

00:29:44He said that he was going to use it,

00:29:46however much it was,

00:29:47on what he called decent purposes.

00:29:50And that, as it turns out,

00:29:52did not include helping his own son,

00:29:56even if he went to him on bended knees.

00:29:58Thank you. No further questions.

00:30:02Mr. Blender Booth,

00:30:03you said that the vicar told his son

00:30:05that he would never let him starve.

00:30:08Yes, that's correct.

00:30:09Would you describe Mr. Lance Porter as starving?

00:30:12What now do you mean?

00:30:14At the time when he went to visit his father

00:30:15on the 12th of April, 1973,

00:30:17would you have described him

00:30:19as being in a state of starvation?

00:30:21You know,

00:30:22I think he'd been a very unfortunate young man.

00:30:26He'd given away his most profitable asset

00:30:28and somehow his career had never picked up again.

00:30:31But he wasn't starving?

00:30:33Well, relatively, yes.

00:30:35He certainly wasn't making any money

00:30:37and he'd been spending a great deal.

00:30:38Why was that?

00:30:40Well, he was a celebrity.

00:30:42He'd written this show that had been a sensation

00:30:44all over the world.

00:30:45I mean, what do you expect him to do?

00:30:46Sit in a bedsitter eating bread and jam?

00:30:48Listen, in our business,

00:30:49if you live like a failure,

00:30:50you are a failure.

00:30:51He was living, in fact, beyond his means.

00:30:53He didn't have any means.

00:30:55That's what I'm trying to tell you.

00:30:57He'd put all his heart and soul into Jesus' baby

00:31:00and he wasn't getting a penny out of it.

00:31:03Don't you see what that had done to him?

00:31:06He'd used up all his talent.

00:31:08And now, he's nothing.

00:31:10Nobody wants to hear about him.

00:31:12Well, I must say,

00:31:13a rather different impression

00:31:14was given in the first newspaper reports of this case.

00:31:17He still appears to be very well known.

00:31:19Well, that's another thing about our business.

00:31:21There are plenty of people who are well known,

00:31:23but does it get them work?

00:31:25Like somebody once said,

00:31:26you can be famous for being famous,

00:31:28but it doesn't pay the rent.

00:31:29So you're telling us that Lance Porter

00:31:31is in reduced circumstances?

00:31:34He's had to get rid of everything.

00:31:35The big expensive house, the two cars.

00:31:38He's even considering getting rid of me.

00:31:39No doubt it'd be a considerable sacrifice.

00:31:42Well, making a difference to me.

00:31:43I mean, what's 25% of nothing?

00:31:45Is that your regular commission, 25%?

00:31:47We have different arrangements

00:31:49for different projects.

00:31:52I've set up a number of companies

00:31:53on Mr. Porter's behalf.

00:31:54Oh, yes, a whole battery of them.

00:31:56At all events, you have a considerable stake

00:31:58in his financial future, do you not?

00:32:00Well, I want him to make money, yes.

00:32:01Including as much of this quarter of a million pounds

00:32:04as he can lay his hands on.

00:32:05Now, just a moment.

00:32:07If his father wants to give it back,

00:32:09then that is a matter between the two of them.

00:32:13And the inland revenue, perhaps.

00:32:15I don't know anything about the inland revenue.

00:32:18Oh, don't you?

00:32:19Here was I thinking that you were responsible

00:32:21for Mr. Porter's tax affairs.

00:32:23What I mean is that I don't know where we stand

00:32:26with regard to this particular item.

00:32:28And presumably the vicar has paid his income tax.

00:32:32But it's no use asking me about it.

00:32:33The witness is quite right, Mr. Latterby.

00:32:36Yes, my lord.

00:32:37Mr. Plenty Booth, let's indulge in a little fantasy, shall we?

00:32:42Now, suppose that A writes a play

00:32:45and gives away the entire copyright to B,

00:32:48who, by reason of having a lower income,

00:32:51will pay a lower rate of tax on the profits from it.

00:32:55Now, if this tax is paid and B keeps what remains,

00:32:58has any law been broken?

00:33:01No, not that I can see.

00:33:03No, but supposing B then gives this sum back to A,

00:33:07who thus retains a much larger slice

00:33:09than he would have done

00:33:10if he'd pay tax on it at his own higher rate,

00:33:13would you say that an offence had then been committed?

00:33:16The tax authorities might think so, yes.

00:33:18Yes, I think they might.

00:33:20And wasn't this the arrangement you had in mind,

00:33:22Mr. Plenty Booth,

00:33:23when you suggested to Mr. Lance Porter

00:33:25that he should give away,

00:33:26or appear to give away, the copyright?

00:33:28That is the most outrageous thing I've ever heard.

00:33:31Yes, and the vicar thought so too,

00:33:33which is why he refused to fall in with your ingenious plan.

00:33:36Nothing of the kind was put to him.

00:33:39Now, I don't like to call a gentleman of the cloth a liar,

00:33:46but really...

00:33:47So if he says that, he's a liar, is he?

00:33:49If that is what he says, then yes.

00:33:54Yes, thank you, Mr. Plenty Booth.

00:33:56Yes, that's all.

00:33:57Do you wish to re-examine the witness, Mr. Pryor?

00:34:00Yes, my lord.

00:34:00Mr. Plenty Booth,

00:34:01when my learning friend outlined this nefarious scheme just now,

00:34:03he was careful to describe it as a fantasy.

00:34:06If we accept it as such, as something purely theoretical,

00:34:09would you say that such a scheme

00:34:10required a considerable degree of mutual trust

00:34:13between the participants?

00:34:15Oh, yes, it would, of course.

00:34:17And would you say that such a degree of mutual trust

00:34:19existed between Mr. Lance Porter

00:34:20and his father, the vicar?

00:34:22No, I certainly would not.

00:34:25Thank you, that's all.

00:34:26You may go.

00:34:27That concludes the case for the plaintiff, my lord.

00:34:30How many witnesses are you proposing to call, Mr. Latterby?

00:34:33Only two, my lord.

00:34:34My client first, the Reverend Mr. Porter,

00:34:36and then Mrs. Hazel Harper-Frost.

00:34:39Well, in that case,

00:34:40I think this might be a convenient moment

00:34:42to adjourn.

00:34:44All stand.

00:34:55Your name, Fortescue Beresford Porter?

00:34:58Yes, it is.

00:34:59And do you live at the vicarage,

00:35:00Little Walmsley, near Fulchester?

00:35:01I do.

00:35:02What is your occupation?

00:35:04I'm a clerk in holy orders.

00:35:06Are you married, Mr. Porter?

00:35:07My wife died 20 years ago.

00:35:09I have one son, Lancelot,

00:35:11who's the plaintiff in this case.

00:35:13Do you remember your son telling you

00:35:15about a theatrical project,

00:35:16a musical play to be based on the nativity?

00:35:20Yes, I think the first I heard of it

00:35:22was that he'd been commissioned to write a play

00:35:24on an unspecified biblical subject.

00:35:27We discussed several possibilities.

00:35:29I believe it was I who suggested the nativity.

00:35:32And was the play eventually produced

00:35:33under the title Jesus Baby?

00:35:36Yes, it was.

00:35:37And the title certainly wasn't my suggestion.

00:35:40I find it unspeakably distasteful.

00:35:43Have you, in fact, seen the play or the film?

00:35:46Oh, I prefer not to.

00:35:48The reviews in the newspapers

00:35:51and the musical excerpts on the wireless

00:35:53have been a sufficient indication of its quality.

00:35:56Nevertheless, you were, in a manner of speaking,

00:35:58the owner of this play.

00:36:00Yes, but I must stress that when I accepted ownership,

00:36:03as you call it,

00:36:04I had no idea it was such a degraded entertainment.

00:36:08Do you now regret having accepted the copyright?

00:36:11Oh, in some ways, yes.

00:36:13It's resulted in a great deal of unpleasant publicity

00:36:15for me personally,

00:36:16and I think some of my parishioners were deeply shocked

00:36:18that I should have anything to do with such an enterprise.

00:36:23But then, God moves in strange ways sometimes.

00:36:27It may have been a personal humiliation to me,

00:36:30but the proceeds from the play

00:36:33have certainly benefited a great number of good causes.

00:36:35We've heard that you assigned the copyright

00:36:37to a charitable trust that you set up.

00:36:39When did you make that assignment?

00:36:41In January, the 24th of January, 1972,

00:36:44just a year after he first telephoned.

00:36:46Why did you do that?

00:36:48Well, I knew a little more about the entertainment then,

00:36:50and I thought it better to give it to the charity

00:36:52Lock, Stock and Barrel.

00:36:55Now, when the copyright of the play was assigned to you,

00:36:58did you have any idea of the amount of money

00:37:00that might be involved?

00:37:01No, absolutely none.

00:37:02Why do you think your son made this gift to you?

00:37:05Oh, I think he felt an obligation to me, to repay me.

00:37:11He knew how deeply disappointed I was

00:37:14that he hadn't put his talents to better use,

00:37:15and as a result of that,

00:37:17I'm afraid we'd rather lost touch with one another.

00:37:20I think he wanted to make a gesture.

00:37:24Now, at the end of January, 1971,

00:37:27your son telephoned you and told you his intentions.

00:37:30Yeah.

00:37:30And he and Mr. Plenderbooth visited you on two occasions,

00:37:33on the 1st and on the 8th of February, 1971.

00:37:36Yeah.

00:37:37Now, on which of these two occasions

00:37:39did your son make the assignment?

00:37:41The 1st.

00:37:42Now, was there any discussion at that first meeting

00:37:44about what you would do with the copyright?

00:37:47No, none at all, because it didn't occur to me

00:37:49that it would have any value.

00:37:51Now, what happened on the 2nd meeting,

00:37:53on the 8th of February?

00:37:55In the course of that meeting,

00:37:56was there anything said about the possibility

00:37:57that the play might make a great deal of money?

00:38:00Yes, I believe it was mentioned,

00:38:01because my son put it to me in a half-joking way

00:38:04that he may have to borrow some of the money back

00:38:07if he was starving.

00:38:10Is that the word he used, borrow?

00:38:13Oh, to the best of my recollection, yes.

00:38:15What was your reply?

00:38:17Well, I said that, naturally, I'd never let him starve.

00:38:20And in your view, did that constitute

00:38:22a solemn and binding promise

00:38:23to let him have whatever he wanted on demand?

00:38:26Oh, no, certainly not.

00:38:27It was the sort of thing anybody might say,

00:38:29just a vague sort of statement.

00:38:32Not a promise, no.

00:38:33And later, after lunch,

00:38:34was there a conversation between you and Mr. Plenderbooth?

00:38:38Yes.

00:38:39He button-holed me in what I thought

00:38:42was a rather disagreeable way,

00:38:44and he pointed out that his job

00:38:46was to look after my son's financial interests.

00:38:49He said he couldn't just stand by

00:38:51and watch him give away a fortune.

00:38:54He implied that for me to keep the money

00:38:56would be somehow immoral.

00:38:59And what did you say to that?

00:39:01I said that perhaps I was a better judge

00:39:03of what was immoral than what wasn't.

00:39:06I suppose it was uncharitable of me,

00:39:08but I hadn't formed a very good impression

00:39:10of Mr. Plenderbooth during luncheon.

00:39:12He seemed to be exclusively preoccupied

00:39:15with the commercial side of things.

00:39:17Somehow I instinctively distrusted him.

00:39:21Did he say anything to confirm that distrust?

00:39:25Yes.

00:39:26He said that the gift of the proceeds from the play

00:39:31was only a temporary one,

00:39:33that Lancelot would be entitled

00:39:34to have the money back whenever he asked for it.

00:39:38Well, in that case, did he explain

00:39:39why the gift had been made at all?

00:39:41Yes.

00:39:42He described it as a tax arrangement.

00:39:46Did that meet with your approval?

00:39:49No.

00:39:49It sounded as though I was being asked

00:39:51to take part in something

00:39:52that wasn't quite legal.

00:39:54Did you say so?

00:39:55Did it Mr. Plenderbooth?

00:39:56No.

00:39:56My son came back at that moment

00:39:57and I didn't discuss the matter

00:39:58any further with either of them.

00:40:00I'd already made up my mind what to do.

00:40:01And what was that, Mr. Porter?

00:40:03Well, from the legal point of view,

00:40:06the copyright had been given to me

00:40:08as an outright gift

00:40:10to do with as I pleased.

00:40:13Now, if my son really needed financial help,

00:40:17I might very well lend him

00:40:19or even give him some of the money back.

00:40:21But first I'd have to satisfy myself

00:40:22that his need was greater

00:40:24than that of some of the deserving causes

00:40:26I already had in mind.

00:40:28And then, later on,

00:40:30I decided it would be best, in fact,

00:40:32to give the copyright

00:40:33to the Charitable Trust.

00:40:35Did he, in fact, later on

00:40:37ask you for money?

00:40:39Yes, he came to see me

00:40:41in April of last year

00:40:42and asked for £10,000.

00:40:44Did he appear to be in need?

00:40:47Well, he said he was,

00:40:48but he arrived in a very large

00:40:50and expensive-looking motor car.

00:40:52Did he ask you for the money

00:40:54as a loan or as a gift?

00:40:55He simply said he needed it, at once.

00:40:57What did you think of this request?

00:40:58Well, I told him that the money

00:41:03I was in the Charitable Trust

00:41:06and much of it was already spent.

00:41:07I couldn't give it to him

00:41:08even if I wanted to, which is true.

00:41:12Mr. Porter,

00:41:13when you refused

00:41:15to give money to your son,

00:41:16did you in any way feel

00:41:18that you were breaking

00:41:18a solemn undertaking

00:41:20or doing something deceitful?

00:41:23No, I've already told you

00:41:24I entered into no such undertaking.

00:41:26So it would be completely wrong

00:41:28to suggest that before

00:41:29the gift was made to you,

00:41:31you had made a solemn statement

00:41:32as to your intentions

00:41:33which you did not propose

00:41:34to carry out.

00:41:36It would not only be wrong, sir,

00:41:38it would be iniquitous.

00:41:39You deny that you practice

00:41:41the fraud upon your son?

00:41:43Yes, I deny it, absolutely.

00:41:45Thank you, Mr. Porter.

00:41:48Mr. Porter,

00:41:49how often do you go to the theatre?

00:41:52Oh, I haven't been to the theatre

00:41:54for years.

00:41:55My wife used to enjoy

00:41:57musical comedy.

00:41:58We'd go together

00:41:58if there was anything suitable.

00:41:59Yes, but that was 20 years ago.

00:42:01We're not living in the days

00:42:02of Ivan Avello anymore.

00:42:04Did you know that there had been

00:42:05other musical plays

00:42:06based on Bible stories

00:42:07apart from the one

00:42:08written by your son?

00:42:10Well, I know very little

00:42:11of these things.

00:42:12Jesus Christ Superstar,

00:42:14Godspell,

00:42:14Joseph in the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

00:42:16I'm afraid I'm not familiar

00:42:18with these works.

00:42:19Well, will you accept it from me

00:42:19that they are all stories

00:42:21which treat the Bible

00:42:23in a modern way,

00:42:23a way that you might not

00:42:24necessarily approve of,

00:42:25but which has won the approval

00:42:27of some of the more

00:42:27liberal-minded leaders

00:42:28of the church?

00:42:29If you say so, yes.

00:42:30I can only express

00:42:31my own judgment

00:42:32on this particular entertainment.

00:42:34Without having seen it?

00:42:36I've heard quite enough of it,

00:42:38and heard enough

00:42:39from those who have seen it

00:42:41to form my own opinion.

00:42:42Mr. Fry,

00:42:43I don't think the merits

00:42:44or demerits of this particular piece

00:42:45are the subject at issue here.

00:42:47Possibly not, my lord,

00:42:48but what is important

00:42:49is the precise date

00:42:50at which Mr. Porter

00:42:50formed his judgment

00:42:51of the play.

00:42:52Then perhaps you had better

00:42:54ask him that, Mr. Fry.

00:42:56Mr. Porter,

00:42:57when your son gave you

00:42:58the piece of paper

00:42:59assigning you the copyright,

00:43:00had you already

00:43:01formed your opinion?

00:43:03But I knew very little

00:43:04about it at that time.

00:43:05And when he and Mr. Planderbooth

00:43:06first came to see you,

00:43:07had you made your mind up then?

00:43:10That was some time before

00:43:11the production of the play.

00:43:13How could I have formed

00:43:13an opinion of it?

00:43:14I'm asking you, Mr. Porter,

00:43:16had your son said anything

00:43:17about his treatment of the play

00:43:18that might have prejudiced you

00:43:19against it.

00:43:20Well, he certainly hadn't said

00:43:21anything about naked angels

00:43:23and underground car parks, no.

00:43:25And if he had done so,

00:43:26what would you have said?

00:43:28I would have done my best

00:43:29to dissuade him

00:43:30from profaning the gospel

00:43:31in that way.

00:43:32He was already engaged

00:43:33in writing the script

00:43:34and composing the music.

00:43:36Didn't it occur to you

00:43:37to ask to see a copy?

00:43:38But why should it?

00:43:39Well, because by February

00:43:40in 1971,

00:43:41you were already

00:43:41the owner of this property.

00:43:43I was the owner

00:43:43of a piece of paper,

00:43:44that was all.

00:43:45It was quite possible

00:43:46the play would never

00:43:47be produced at all

00:43:48or might be withdrawn

00:43:49after one or two performances.

00:43:51I certainly didn't look on it

00:43:52as a property,

00:43:54as you call it.

00:43:54But it did belong to you

00:43:55and you found it

00:43:56a rather embarrassing acquisition.

00:43:58Well, it was later

00:43:59that it became embarrassing.

00:44:00Rather like inheriting

00:44:01a brothel?

00:44:04Well, if you care

00:44:05to put it that way,

00:44:06yes, it was.

00:44:06And if I found myself

00:44:08in that position,

00:44:08I'd take immediate steps

00:44:11to get rid of it.

00:44:12But you didn't send

00:44:13the assignment back, did you?

00:44:14Or decline the offer?

00:44:15No.

00:44:15Why was that?

00:44:16Because I thought

00:44:17that if it did make

00:44:18a few hundred pounds,

00:44:20it could be put

00:44:20to some useful purposes.

00:44:22So, whatever the sum involved,

00:44:24you'd already decided

00:44:25to give it all to charity?

00:44:27Well, it was mine.

00:44:28It had been given to me

00:44:29to dispose of as I wished.

00:44:31And this didn't include

00:44:32supporting your son

00:44:33if you became rich as a result

00:44:34and he ended up

00:44:35without a penny?

00:44:35Oh, you know,

00:44:36this really is preposterous.

00:44:37Does my son look

00:44:38as if he's without a penny?

00:44:39I could take you

00:44:41to the poor quarters

00:44:42here in Forchester

00:44:43and show you

00:44:44a thousand more deserving cases.

00:44:46In other countries,

00:44:47there are tens of thousands,

00:44:48millions.

00:44:49Two-thirds of the world's population

00:44:51don't get enough to eat.

00:44:52There's a rather overworked saying,

00:44:54Mr. Porter,

00:44:54that charity begins at home.

00:44:56Well, it emphatically

00:44:57does not begin

00:44:58by taking ten thousand pounds

00:45:00earmarked for the poor

00:45:02and giving it to someone

00:45:03who can afford

00:45:04to stay in the best hotels,

00:45:05who's about to dispose

00:45:07of his house,

00:45:07no doubt at an enormous profit,

00:45:09who can employ

00:45:10the services

00:45:11of a business manager.

00:45:14No, I'm sorry.

00:45:15I can't accept

00:45:16this picture of Lancelot

00:45:17as some sort of down and out.

00:45:19He's 25 years old.

00:45:21He has a great,

00:45:22if misused, talent

00:45:22and I'm quite sure

00:45:24that his capacity

00:45:25for earning

00:45:26is undiminished,

00:45:26whatever Mr. Plenderbooth

00:45:27might say.

00:45:28As a cathedral organist,

00:45:30for example?

00:45:31He could do

00:45:31a great deal worse.

00:45:33Would you think

00:45:33more highly of your son

00:45:34if he abandoned his career

00:45:35in the entertainment world

00:45:36and took up serious music

00:45:37once again?

00:45:38Well, certainly I would

00:45:39if he's still capable

00:45:40of such a thing.

00:45:41And you'd do anything

00:45:42in your power

00:45:42to encourage him

00:45:43in such a course?

00:45:44Yes, I think I would.

00:45:46Including withholding

00:45:46from him money

00:45:47that he had earned

00:45:48on your behalf?

00:45:48But I've already explained

00:45:50the money is in a charitable trust

00:45:53and much of it

00:45:53is already spent.

00:45:55Yes, but supposing

00:45:55that more comes in.

00:45:56It's perfectly possible

00:45:57that the earnings

00:45:58of Jesus' baby

00:45:59will go on for years.

00:46:00If my son

00:46:03really needs

00:46:04financial help,

00:46:05I'm not saying

00:46:06I'll deny it to him

00:46:07under all circumstances.

00:46:08Ah.

00:46:09In what conditions

00:46:11would you give it to him,

00:46:12Mr. Porter?

00:46:13Well, I'd have to satisfy myself

00:46:14that he really was in need,

00:46:16which at the moment

00:46:16I beg leave to doubt.

00:46:17Yes, and what other conditions?

00:46:18What other conditions

00:46:18would you make?

00:46:20I'd have to be quite sure

00:46:21that in future

00:46:23he'd use his talents

00:46:24for the greater glory of God

00:46:26and not for writing trash

00:46:28of the kind

00:46:29we've been discussing.

00:46:30And you've held that view

00:46:31from the very beginning,

00:46:32haven't you?

00:46:32From the start of his career

00:46:33as a pop composer.

00:46:35But at that time

00:46:35there was nothing

00:46:36you could do about it.

00:46:37Oh, I expressed my disapproval

00:46:39on numerous occasions.

00:46:41But there was nothing

00:46:41you could do about it.

00:46:43He was no longer paying

00:46:43for his education

00:46:44or his board and lodging

00:46:45so you couldn't cut that off.

00:46:46By this time

00:46:46he was self-supporting.

00:46:48Indeed, he was making

00:46:48a great deal more money

00:46:49than you.

00:46:50Yes, it's rather a reflection

00:46:51on our scale of values,

00:46:53don't you think?

00:46:53I preach the gospel

00:46:54for a pittance.

00:46:55He perverts it

00:46:56for a fortune.

00:46:57I suggest that

00:46:58when he made that fortune

00:46:59out to you,

00:47:00you saw your opportunity.

00:47:02Opportunity for what?

00:47:03Your opportunity

00:47:04for bringing your

00:47:04erring son back

00:47:05into the fold.

00:47:07For punishing him,

00:47:08perhaps,

00:47:08for disobeying you.

00:47:09For taking away

00:47:10the money that was due

00:47:11to Caesar

00:47:11and rendering it

00:47:12unto God.

00:47:13But the decision

00:47:14to hand the copyright

00:47:15over to me

00:47:16was entirely his.

00:47:17Yes.

00:47:18But by doing so,

00:47:19he played right

00:47:20into your hands.

00:47:21I suggest that

00:47:22when you receive

00:47:22that assignment,

00:47:23it was like the answer

00:47:24to a prayer.

00:47:25It restored you

00:47:25the thing you'd quite lost,

00:47:26your power over your son.

00:47:28It gave you the opportunity

00:47:29to dictate to him.

00:47:30It did nothing of the kind.

00:47:31But you will not deny

00:47:32that that has been the effect.

00:47:34That you now control

00:47:35a large sum of money

00:47:36and that you're determined

00:47:36your son won't get

00:47:37one penny of it

00:47:38unless he toes the line.

00:47:39and that is why

00:47:40you're pretending

00:47:40that the assignment

00:47:41was made

00:47:41before any discussion

00:47:42as to your intentions.

00:47:46It would be very surprising

00:47:48if I didn't now

00:47:49feel determined

00:47:50that my son

00:47:51won't get a penny

00:47:52out of me.

00:47:54What do you mean by that?

00:47:56My son has seen fit

00:47:58to accuse me of fraud.

00:48:00Now that

00:48:00isn't very easily forgiven.

00:48:03Oh, but you've made

00:48:03your mind up

00:48:04before the beginning

00:48:05of this case.

00:48:06I suggest you've decided

00:48:07what to do

00:48:07as soon as you'd spoken

00:48:08to your son

00:48:08on the telephone.

00:48:10And when he and Mr.

00:48:10Planderbooth

00:48:11came to see you

00:48:11for the first time

00:48:12you'd already seen

00:48:12the possibilities.

00:48:14But I had no idea

00:48:16then how much money

00:48:17was involved.

00:48:18You discussed the

00:48:18mousetrap, didn't you?

00:48:20Oh, yes, it was mentioned

00:48:21at the second meeting.

00:48:23Now in its 22nd year

00:48:24I imagine even

00:48:24a country clergyman

00:48:25would know about that.

00:48:26I believe the mousetrap

00:48:27is a very different

00:48:28form of entertainment.

00:48:29Yes, more of a family show.

00:48:30It deals with murder.

00:48:32You were deeply prejudiced

00:48:34against the whole idea

00:48:35of Jesus' baby

00:48:36from the start.

00:48:38Yes, a person in my position

00:48:43could hardly fail

00:48:44to be prejudiced

00:48:45when the characters

00:48:46of the Bible story

00:48:47are presented

00:48:48as the dregs of society

00:48:50expressing themselves

00:48:52in a foul-mouthed way

00:48:53to the accompaniment

00:48:55of noises

00:48:55that might have emerged

00:48:56from the lower depths

00:48:58of hell

00:48:58and as often as not

00:49:00unclothed.

00:49:01Now do you really

00:49:03expect me to approve

00:49:05of that?

00:49:06And even before

00:49:07the play was written

00:49:08you knew that it

00:49:09would be like that?

00:49:11I prayed that it

00:49:12might not be, sir.

00:49:13But you had an intuition

00:49:14that it might.

00:49:16I hoped my son

00:49:17would respect the faith

00:49:18in which I brought him up.

00:49:19The case of

00:49:37Porter against Porter

00:49:38will be resumed tomorrow

00:49:39in the Crown Court.

00:49:40THE END

00:49:56THE END

00:49:58The

00:50:12third and final day in the case of Porter versus Porter.

00:50:16The plaintiff, pop composer Lance Porter, is claiming a declaration against his father,

00:50:21the Reverend Fortescue Porter, to whom he has assigned the copyright of his musical play Jesus Baby,

00:50:26a rock opera treatment of the Nativity.

00:50:28He claims that his father obtained the assignment by fraud.

00:50:31Yesterday, the Reverend Mr. Porter, vicar of a country parish,

00:50:35denied that before the assignment there was an understanding that he would give the proceed to the show to Lance if he ever needed it.

00:50:41Mrs. Hazel Harper-Frost has just entered the witness box to give evidence on behalf of the vicar.

00:50:47At the Maltings Little Walmsley near Fulchester?

00:50:50Yes, I do.

00:50:51Do you have any occupation, Mrs. Harper-Frost?

00:50:53I am a widow of independent means.

00:50:55Do you do any voluntary work?

00:50:57Oh, good heavens, yes, a great deal.

00:50:58I'm a member of the parish council.

00:51:00I am chairman of the Voluntary Welfare Group.

00:51:02I am also on the Sunday School Committee, and I organise outings for the old-age pensioners.

00:51:07And then, of course, there's the Conservation Society and the Mothers' Union and the Women's Royal Voluntary.

00:51:12Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Harper-Frost.

00:51:13I think that gives us a fair indication of the wide range of your activities.

00:51:17Do you know the defendant in this case, the Reverend Fortescue Porter?

00:51:21Yes, of course.

00:51:22He's our vicar.

00:51:24Do these charitable works of yours bring you into much contact with him?

00:51:27Oh, naturally.

00:51:28But quite apart from that, we're close friends as well.

00:51:31And do you also know his son, the plaintiff in this case?

00:51:34Oh, yes.

00:51:35I've known Lancelot since he was a little boy.

00:51:37He used to come and use my piano sometimes.

00:51:39They didn't have one at the vicarage.

00:51:41He played very nicely.

00:51:42It really does seem such a pity.

00:51:45And what seems a pity, Mrs. Harper-Frost?

00:51:47Well, that he didn't go on and make something of himself.

00:51:50But he has, hasn't he?

00:51:52Well, I suppose he has, but not in what I would call the musical field.

00:51:57Have you heard his work at all?

00:52:00Well, one can't avoid it, can one?

00:52:02You know, I really don't understand the BBC playing that rubbish over and over again.

00:52:06You'd think there was enough noise about already with those enormous great juggernauts and things.

00:52:11Do you know that even in my little village...

00:52:13I do sympathise with you, Mrs. Harper-Frost, but for the moment you think we can confine ourselves to the musical noises.

00:52:20Perhaps, Mrs. Harper-Frost, you wouldn't describe Mr. Porter's work as musical.

00:52:24Oh, I most certainly would not.

00:52:25To one who's been brought up on Beethoven is a positive assault on the eardrums.

00:52:30Did the vicar share these opinions?

00:52:32Oh, yes, we often talked about it.

00:52:34He was deeply distressed that Lance hadn't taken up the organ.

00:52:37You know, it was dreadful to see him wasting his talents in this way.

00:52:41Now, when did you first hear that Lance was writing a play about the nativity?

00:52:46Oh, the vicar told me.

00:52:47Yes, he said that if the play was to make any money at all, it was all to come to him.

00:52:51What did you feel about that?

00:52:53Well, I was delighted, naturally.

00:52:55It couldn't happen to a more deserving man.

00:52:57Were you at all worried about the play itself?

00:52:59Oh, well, I did hope that it wouldn't turn out to be peculiar.

00:53:03But, well, the main thing was the money, wasn't it?

00:53:06You know, there were so many deserving causes in the parish,

00:53:08and, well, there's nothing like an unexpected little windfall, is there?

00:53:12You thought it would be just a little windfall?

00:53:14Well, I had no idea of telling.

00:53:16No way at all of knowing that this wretched thing would turn to be such a popular success.

00:53:21When did the vicar first tell you about the play?

00:53:24It was in January, oh, the end of January 1971, after the telephone call.

00:53:30At that stage, was there any discussion between yourself and the vicar as to what he should do

00:53:34if his son did give him the copyright and if he did make any money?

00:53:38Oh, yes, yes.

00:53:39We discussed whether he should keep any of it for himself or whether it should all go to charity.

00:53:44You are quite sure of the date of this conversation, the end of January 1971, not early February.

00:53:51January?

00:53:52January, I'm quite sure.

00:53:54Did you know that Lance Porter visited his father on the 1st of February?

00:53:59Oh, yes, yes.

00:54:00The vicar showed me the, what do you call it?

00:54:03The assignment?

00:54:04Yes, yes.

00:54:05When?

00:54:06February the 4th.

00:54:07How could you be so precise about these dates, Mrs Harper-Frost?

00:54:10Oh, well, practice, I suppose.

00:54:12I have so many dates to remember.

00:54:14You see, the voluntary welfare group always met on the 4th of every month, and it was after that meeting.

00:54:19I mean that the vicar and I were having the chat.

00:54:22You're aware that Lance Porter met his father again in February on the 8th.

00:54:26You're sure it wasn't after the 8th that you were shown the assignment?

00:54:30Quite sure.

00:54:32Subsequently, after it had been produced, did you go and see the play?

00:54:37Yes, I went with my sister Violet.

00:54:40She's very interested in music, she works for a recording company, but I must say that her opinion of the play was exactly the same as mine.

00:54:47And what was your opinion, Mrs Harper-Frost?

00:54:49Well, I was deeply embarrassed and outraged.

00:54:52I mean, we all know and love the Bible story, and it was horrible to see it depicted in this way.

00:54:59What way in particular?

00:55:01Well, it was the language for one thing.

00:55:04You know, it really was quite disgraceful and so unnecessary.

00:55:08You should have heard the shepherds.

00:55:10The shepherds?

00:55:11The ones who watched their flocks by night.

00:55:14I suppose they were intended to be comical, but...

00:55:17Well, I don't want to go into any details, but really their behaviour was distinctly lewd.

00:55:21And the music accompanying all this?

00:55:24Indescribable.

00:55:25My sister Violet, who has a deep musical sensibility, was almost physically in pain.

00:55:31When did you go and see the play?

00:55:33It was in January.

00:55:35January of 1972.

00:55:37And when you returned to Little Wormsley, did you tell the vicar what you had seen and heard?

00:55:40Oh, yes, of course. I considered it my duty.

00:55:43How did he react to your description?

00:55:45Oh, I think he was very shocked.

00:55:47Did he say anything to you about the copyright?

00:55:49Yes, he said he could not possibly keep it for himself.

00:55:52Was it a long discussion?

00:55:54Well, it was a very terrible situation.

00:55:56I mean, there was no simple answer what to do with the copyright.

00:56:00But in the end, did he say what he decided to do?

00:56:03Oh, yes, yes.

00:56:04We decided that the copyright should be given to the charity.

00:56:07Previously, he had intended only giving the earnings, the royalties.

00:56:14Now, let's move on a little to April the 12th of last year.

00:56:18Did you go to the vicarage on that date?

00:56:20Yes, I did. It was at about tea time.

00:56:23I went to discuss the floral arrangements for the church.

00:56:26Can you remember who was there?

00:56:27Oh, yes, I remember it distinctly.

00:56:29There was a large foreign car in the drive, which I presume must have been Lancelot's.

00:56:34And he was in the drawing room talking with his father.

00:56:37Did you get the impression that it was a friendly meeting?

00:56:40Oh, no, no, no. I could hear loud voices the moment I entered the hallway.

00:56:44Did you overhear part of the conversation?

00:56:46I couldn't help it. There was quite a dispute going on between them.

00:56:49What about?

00:56:50Well, I heard Lancelot asking his father for some money.

00:56:53The sum of 10,000 pounds was being mentioned,

00:56:56and I heard his father say that he couldn't possibly give him that sum.

00:56:59I believe Lancelot was trying to give the impression that he was starving,

00:57:03but of course I knew that wasn't true.

00:57:05And did you then go in and join them?

00:57:07Yes, I did.

00:57:09I think Lancelot was extremely embarrassed.

00:57:11As well he might be, he probably knew that I'd seen the play.

00:57:14Did you mention it to him at all?

00:57:16Oh, yes, I did. I certainly did.

00:57:18I told him exactly what I thought of it.

00:57:20In roughly the same terms you used to describe it in the court?

00:57:23Oh, stronger, if anything.

00:57:25I don't mince my words when it comes to a matter of right and wrong.

00:57:28I told him that in my opinion it was a thoroughly debased entertainment.

00:57:32Did he make any reply?

00:57:34I'm sorry to say that he said something extremely rude.

00:57:38Well, I don't want to cause you any distress, Mrs Harperfrost,

00:57:41but could you repeat it to the court?

00:57:44He said that I was an interfering old B-I-T-C-H.

00:57:49He also said that I had put his father up to it, whatever that was supposed to mean.

00:57:54I see. And do you consider that you had interfered at all?

00:57:59Not in the least.

00:58:01As I said, the vicar is a very close friend of mine,

00:58:03and when he asked for my advice I gave it to him.

00:58:06And did that advice include any suggestion that he should defraud his son in this way?

00:58:11Certainly not.

00:58:12And even if I had made such a suggestion,

00:58:14I'm quite certain that he wouldn't have considered it for one single moment.

00:58:17He's not that kind of man.

00:58:19Thank you, Mrs Harperfrost.

00:58:26Is that all?

00:58:28Oh, I expect my learning friend will have a few questions for you.

00:58:31Oh, yes, of course, yes. Far away.

00:58:43Mrs Harperfrost, you said just now that it was the vicar's intention

00:58:46to give the copyright of this debased entertainment, as you called it, to charity.

00:58:50Yes.

00:58:51You say that...

00:58:52Had you decided that from the very beginning that that was the best thing to do?

00:58:55Yes, I believe I had.

00:58:57You said that we decided.

00:58:59Does that mean that you decided?

00:59:01Oh, it was the vicar's decision.

00:59:02But you played some part in it.

00:59:04Well, as I said, he asked for my advice and I gave it gladly.

00:59:08Would you say that the vicar was a man of wide experience in the handling of money?

00:59:11Oh, no, no, no.

00:59:12He doesn't know anything about that kind of thing at all.

00:59:14That's why he asked me.

00:59:15So, in a sense, you acted as his financial advisor, rather as Mr Plenderbooth acted for my client.

00:59:19I have nothing whatever in common with Mr Plenderbooth.

00:59:22I was not trying to make money for myself.

00:59:24I'm not suggesting that you were, but you were determined, weren't you, from the very beginning, as you said,

00:59:28that all the earnings from this place should go to charity.

00:59:31Yes, that's fair.

00:59:32And that none of it should get back to Lance.

00:59:34Well, I wouldn't object if he'd really been in need of it.

00:59:37But, you know, really, a lot of nonsense has been talked about Lance's financial state.

00:59:42He's trying to pretend that he can't get any work, and it simply isn't true.

00:59:45Are you basing that observation on the fact that he arrived in what you've described as a large foreign car?

00:59:51Not entirely, no.

00:59:52Well, how can you possibly know what my client's financial position is?

00:59:55Well, all I'm prepared to say is that he's not as badly off as he says he is.

00:59:59But how can you possibly know that?

01:00:00Well, I simply do, that's all.

01:00:01But how?

01:00:02Have you good access to his income tax returns? Are you in the confidence of his bank manager?

01:00:05There is no need to be sarcastic.

01:00:06Madam, you come into court and make these unsupported allegations.

01:00:09Well, if you really want to know, it was my sister Violet who told me.

01:00:11Your sister Violet?

01:00:14Mrs Violet Slingsby.

01:00:16She says it's common knowledge in the musical world that Lance is doing extremely well.

01:00:20Some of the songs that he wrote before this play are still making very good money.

01:00:24I must say, I got the impression that your sister was interested purely in classical music.

01:00:29She is personal assistant to the chairman of Music International.

01:00:33They cover a very wide field and one of their subsidiaries controls Lance's recordings.

01:00:39That's how she knows.

01:00:40I see.

01:00:42And when did you and your sister first discuss the play Jesus Baby?

01:00:46First discuss? Oh, I really can't remember.

01:00:48But she did have that job at the end of 1970, in the beginning of 1971, by which time a good deal of the writing had been done.

01:00:54Oh yes, she's been there eight years.

01:00:57Do you see each other very often?

01:00:59No, it's very difficult for her to get away.

01:01:01But she does come and spend weekends with me now and again.

01:01:04And the fact that the son of your friend the vicar was writing a musical which her firm was publishing would naturally be a topic of conversation.

01:01:10Yes, of course.

01:01:11So you discussed the play in 1971 whilst it was still being written?

01:01:15Yes, I believe we did.

01:01:16Now your sister, in her privileged position, would probably know something about this project before it was ever performed on the London stage.

01:01:23She may even have heard some of the music.

01:01:25I believe it's common practice for something called a demo disc to be recorded so that backers and managements can have some idea of the show beforehand.

01:01:32Oh, I don't remember my sister Violet saying anything about having heard the music, no.

01:01:37Had she already formed an opinion of the play?

01:01:40Well, I don't think she was very much in favour of it.

01:01:43You know, Violet agrees with me there's quite enough of that kind of thing about already.

01:01:47What kind of thing is that, Mrs Harper-Frost?

01:01:50So-called entertainment.

01:01:52It usually means pandering to the lowest taste.

01:01:55Quite bestial, some of it.

01:01:57Do you go to the theatre very often?

01:01:59No, I don't.

01:02:00Then what makes you such an authority on it?

01:02:02Well, as I said before, I sit on a great many committees, and the members are seriously concerned with what passes for entertainment these days.

01:02:10We've even had occasion to write to the Home Secretary more than once.

01:02:13After going all the way up to London to expose yourself to this bestiality.

01:02:17But it's very difficult, isn't it, to know what you're going to see, and by the time one has, it's too late, isn't it?

01:02:23These committees that you speak on, does the vicar sit on them as well?

01:02:28Yes, some of them.

01:02:29And are any of them concerned with the upholding of moral standards?

01:02:32We are not trying to uphold moral standards, we're trying to bring them back.

01:02:36The committees whose members had occasion to write to the Home Secretary, was the vicar a member of any of those?

01:02:41Yes, of course he was.

01:02:43So you and the vicar must often have discussed the decline, as you saw it, of morality, particularly in the field of entertainment.

01:02:49But it would have been very strange if we hadn't. It's a subject of concern to all decent people.

01:02:54And would you say that there was any difference of opinion between you on that subject?

01:02:58Between the vicar and me? Oh, not at all. We see absolutely eye to eye.

01:03:02Well, he's not a very regular theatre-goer, is he?

01:03:04Well, no, good heavens, no. He's far too busy.

01:03:07And then where does he get his opinions from, I mean, on a particular play or film?

01:03:11Well, from somebody who has seen it, I suppose.

01:03:14From a newspaper critic, for example?

01:03:16Well, I'm sorry to say that they very often like things that I most certainly would not.

01:03:20But even when they are enthusiastic, one can usually tell from their descriptions what kind of a spectacle it is.

01:03:26So you, for instance, sometimes form an opinion of a show simply from what you've read about it?

01:03:31Yes.

01:03:32Or from what you've been told about it by somebody else?

01:03:34Yes.

01:03:35Your sister Violet, for example.

01:03:37If my sister Violet saw something and found it unpleasant, the chances would be that I would dislike it too.

01:03:43I suggest she expressed that dislike from the very beginning when she first heard about it,

01:03:47and that you told the vicar what she'd said.

01:03:50Well, I may have done, but I really don't see what this has got to do with the case.

01:03:55I mean, the vicar's being accused of fraud.

01:03:57Yes, but nobody's suggesting that his motives are commercial.

01:03:59The only other possibility is that someone had so poisoned his mind against this project

01:04:03that he conceived the idea of using this unexpected gift to the copyright as a means of punishing his son.

01:04:09Oh, that's ridiculous. For what?

01:04:11Well, you heard him in the witness box.

01:04:12He accused Lance of having perverted the Bible story.

01:04:14He hadn't seen the play himself.

01:04:16He got his information from you, didn't he?

01:04:18After I'd seen it, yes.

01:04:20And are you asking the juror to believe that your sister, who must have known all about this project from the very beginning,

01:04:25hadn't expressed the most vehement opinions about it at the very start,

01:04:29and that you had not passed on those opinions to your friend, the vicar?

01:04:33I did not try to influence his opinions in any way at all.

01:04:36I certainly did not suggest that he should commit a fraud.

01:04:40Thank you, Mrs Harperfrost.

01:04:42It's a lot to be of you. Any further questions of this witness?

01:04:45No further questions, my lord.

01:04:46Very well, Mrs Harperfrost. You may leave the box.

01:04:49That concludes the case for the defendant.

01:04:51Sure.

01:04:52Members of the jury, you will no doubt have been surprised at these allegations of fraud

01:04:58that have been levelled against my client, the Reverend Mr Porter.

01:05:01Especially as no word has been said against his character, nothing to suggest that he is otherwise than an honourable man.

01:05:07Well, of course, the explanation for all of this is quite straightforward.

01:05:11The plaintiff decided to give the copyright of the musical play, Jesus Baby, to his father as a gesture of goodwill.

01:05:19The play was based, however, loosely on the nativity, a subject which had been suggested by his father.

01:05:25And it seems the plaintiff mistakenly believed it to be an appropriate gift.

01:05:30Well, a legal assignment was drawn up and the copyright given to my client.

01:05:34And then, unexpectedly, incredibly, the show became a huge success.

01:05:40Well, the copyright was worth a great deal of money.

01:05:42Money which was being used entirely on charitable works.

01:05:45The plaintiff realised he had made a financial blunder.

01:05:48His gesture had cost him dear.

01:05:50And so he invents this story of a pre-arranged gentleman's agreement.

01:05:55Well, I suggest to you members of the jury that there was no such agreement.

01:05:59That if there had been, it would have been included in the legally drawn up assignment.

01:06:03I do not believe that either Mr Lance Porter or his business manager are exactly naive when it comes to such matters.

01:06:10My lonely friend has suggested that even before that first meeting on February the 1st,

01:06:16my client had already known the kind of entertainment that this nativity play was going to be.

01:06:22How did he know that he was going to be offended by this play that had not yet been written, let alone performed?

01:06:29Well, my lonely friend suggests that Mrs Violet Slingsby, the sister of Mrs Harper-Frost,

01:06:35because she works for Music International, must have had inside information as to the kind of entertainment

01:06:41Mr Lance Porter was writing and that this information was passed on to the vicar.

01:06:46Well, I submit, ladies and gentlemen, that if my client had known what his son's treatment of nativity was going to be,

01:06:52he would have attempted, to use his own words, to dissuade him from profaning the gospel in this way.

01:06:58Well, I submit that the vicar remained in complete ignorance of the nature of this play until much later,

01:07:04when he read about it in the newspapers and when Mrs Harper-Frost, having been to see the play, told him her opinions.

01:07:10But at the time of this first meeting on the 1st of February, he had no idea what it was going to be like.

01:07:15Even Mr Plenderbooth has said that the plaintiff talked about the play, but the vicar wasn't really listening.

01:07:22Was it conceivable that the vicar was sitting there quietly plotting to defraud his son?

01:07:27It's always distressing when one member of a family takes another to court,

01:07:32and you may think that this action would never have started it.

01:07:35The sum involved had been, say, four or five thousand pounds.

01:07:39The reason why it has been brought, in my submission, is that Mr Lance Porter made a gift to his father

01:07:44which turned out to be a great deal more valuable than he had anticipated.

01:07:48And he's determined, by any means, fair or foul, to get it back.

01:07:52Even if that entails blackening the character of a completely innocent man

01:07:56who was never intended to keep a single penny of this money for himself.

01:07:59It may be remains for you, members of the jury, to decide whether in the original transaction,

01:08:06at the time of the letter of assignment, the defendant agreed to transfer a portion of the copyright income to the plaintiff.

01:08:14Now this is the question which is submitted to you, as my lady friend agrees.

01:08:18But I submit that the suggestion of repayment is a fabrication made after the original contract,

01:08:24and that you have no alternative but to dismiss this action.

01:08:30May it please, you Lordship, members of the jury.

01:08:33The crucial matter in this case is the opinion the defendant formed of his son's work.

01:08:38Now let me remind you of his evidence.

01:08:41The very title of the play he found unspeakably distasteful.

01:08:45It was a degraded entertainment. It profaned the gospel.

01:08:49He agreed it was rather like inheriting a brothel.

01:08:53And yet he was able to swallow this odious pill and put it to good use,

01:08:57because God moves in a strange way, he said.

01:09:01What he thought of the play, therefore, and what he did with the copyright are not in dispute.

01:09:05The vital question, then, is when did he form these views?

01:09:09Before the gift of the copyright or after?

01:09:13Even he admitted that he had an idea what the play would be like,

01:09:16though he said he prayed it would not be so.

01:09:20I suggest he had more than an idea.

01:09:23Long before the play was produced, at the end of 1970, when it was still being written,

01:09:28he already had inside information about the project from Mrs. Harper-Frost's sister Violet,

01:09:33who was working for the publisher of the company.

01:09:36Yes, members of the jury, he had more than an idea of what the play would be like.

01:09:41And though his mind was poisoned by these two women against the project,

01:09:46he was not able to prevent it being produced.

01:09:49So he decided, then and there, to turn it to his own ends.

01:09:53And I suggest that, in order to do so, he deliberately misled his son as to his true intentions.

01:10:00My friend has stressed the fact that his client is an upright and honourable man, a man of God,

01:10:06and has asked you to reject the possibility that he lied and is lying as inconceivable.

01:10:11But is it?

01:10:13The vicar has been able to carry out many of his most cherished designs, many good works.

01:10:19And God does, after all, sometimes move in a mysterious way.

01:10:24Is there anything improbable about the plaintiff's case?

01:10:28That before making the gift, he discussed with his father what his father would do with it.

01:10:32Isn't this what anybody would do?

01:10:34Remember that they all contemplated the possibility that the play might make money.

01:10:39What would be more natural than for a son to express concern to his altruistic father,

01:10:44that if the gift were made, his father would not give it all away?

01:10:49All this considered, I submit that there was an agreement between the defendant and the plaintiff at the time of the assignment.

01:10:55An agreement that part of the sum earned by the play Jesus Baby would be awarded to the writer, my client, if he so requested.

01:11:02Members of the jury, whilst I accept that the burden of proof lies on my client,

01:11:06I submit that he has more than discharged it and I ask you to find for him accordingly.

01:11:11Members of the jury, fraud has a very special meaning.

01:11:16It means obtaining something by a statement of fact,

01:11:21which the person making that statement knew to be false or knew very well that it might be false at the time that he made it.

01:11:29Now, in this case, it is said that the defendant made a false statement as to his intentions

01:11:36and that the plaintiff was induced by that statement to make the assignment of the copyright.

01:11:43Now, the defense is that the statement as to the defendant's intentions was not made until after the assignment

01:11:52and, second, that that statement was true.

01:11:55Now, you must ask yourselves, as Council have requested in the agreed question submitted to you,

01:12:01whether the defendant verbally agreed to grant part of the income of the copyright to the plaintiff at the time of the original assignment.

01:12:11Now, it is important for you to remember that the burden of proof is on the plaintiff, Lance Porter,

01:12:18and the proof in civil cases must be established on the balance of probabilities,

01:12:25a much less stringent condition than proof beyond reasonable doubt, which is the standard applied in criminal cases.

01:12:34Now, the upshot of that is that uncertainties must be resolved by you in favor of the defendant.

01:12:43Now, members of the jury, will you kindly retire to consider your verdict?

01:12:49All stand.

01:13:04Members of the jury, will your foreman please stand?

01:13:08Have you decided answers to the Council's questions to which you are all agreed?

01:13:11Yes.

01:13:12On the first question, was an unwritten agreement entered into by the plaintiff and the defendant

01:13:17that a part of the copyright income be returned to the plaintiff if he so requested?

01:13:22Yes.

01:13:23Then the second question, what damages do you award to the plaintiff?

01:13:27We award possession of the copyright plus the remaining £20,000 as agreed by the charitable trustees, but nothing further.

01:13:39In accordance with the jury's answers, I ask that the judgment be recorded for my plaintiff, the client.

01:13:45I'm instructed to ask.

01:13:57Next week, you can join another jury when our cameras return to watch a leading case in the Crown Court.

01:14:04Here, let's get started.

01:14:05Please visit our website at the

01:14:05Praise the Wast .

01:14:06If you are notки dat, you'll receive the pursuit of money.

01:14:07Let the jury start to watch a leading case in the Crown Court.

01:14:08If you are not typing, you can join in the Crown Court now.

01:14:09If you are not typing in the Crown Court.

01:14:10Please visit our website at the za'a.

01:14:11To the legislator, please visit our website at the юsliu.

01:14:13It is an anniversary time for the cocktail of the clicks and the

01:14:30Arlt 알아s.

01:14:31It is available in the LA.

Crown Court - 30,000 Pieces of Silver (1974)

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended