Skip to playerSkip to main content
ReelMovies
When retired Col. William Seaborn Effingham comes back home to small-town Fredericksville, Ga., he finds little has changed in his absence of several decades, until he unwillingly becomes involved in local politics. Upon learning that corrupt mayor Edgar and his cronies plan to knock down the historic town courthouse, the colonel becomes the star columnist at the local newspaper and attempts to rally the townsfolk to save their town's heritage.
#B&W #comedy #drama

Category

🎈
Fun
Transcript
00:00:05The End
00:00:36The End
00:01:08I shall never forget that warm April evening in 1940
00:01:12when the first hint reached me that Cousin Willie had reappeared full-blown
00:01:15in the life of our little southern town of Fredericksville, Georgia.
00:01:19Until the moment he telephoned and invited me to supper,
00:01:22I hadn't even known I had a Cousin Willie.
00:01:30Is this Albert Marbury?
00:01:32Yes, sir.
00:01:34Are you Cousin Willie?
00:01:35I am.
00:01:36Come in, my boy.
00:01:37Come in.
00:01:38It's good to see kinfolks again.
00:01:40I used to know you when you were no taller than a duffel bag.
00:01:43Emma, here's your Cousin Albert.
00:01:45Good evening, Albert.
00:01:47Hello, Cousin Emma.
00:01:49Well, I didn't know you were going to be here.
00:01:51Oh, yes.
00:01:52Nothing would do, Will, but that I must keep house for him.
00:01:55You know, we were just talking about you.
00:01:57I'd care if Will's as full of curiosity as an old cat
00:02:00and tried to catch up on everybody and everything.
00:02:04Let's see, Cousin Will.
00:02:05You're, uh...
00:02:06A mother's second cousin to Albert.
00:02:09Of course.
00:02:10I remember.
00:02:11Mom talked about you.
00:02:12You sent us a bolo knife in the Philippines one Christmas.
00:02:15I did.
00:02:16Sit down, Albert.
00:02:17Supper will be ready any time now.
00:02:18Thanks.
00:02:20Uh, you back in Frederick's show for good now, Cousin Will?
00:02:22I don't know.
00:02:23I've only been here a week.
00:02:25Hardly time enough to decide whether this is a garrison or a bivouac area.
00:02:29But you're retired, aren't you?
00:02:31Yes, Uncle Sam has turned the old horse out to graze.
00:02:34What may I offer you to drink, my boy?
00:02:36Well, if Cousin Emma doesn't mind...
00:02:38Oh, don't pay any attention to me.
00:02:40What, any?
00:02:41Uh, I guess a little whiskey and ranch water or anything else you say.
00:02:46Yes, sir?
00:02:47Well, 98.
00:02:48Oh, good evening, Mr. Hal.
00:02:50I thought you were working down at the depot.
00:02:51Well, yes, I would, so the colonel mobilized me up here.
00:02:54Or did he bring us two rum tempicos?
00:02:56Yes, sir.
00:02:56Go on and get them.
00:02:59It's a nice place you have here.
00:03:02Comfortable quarters.
00:03:04But we were speaking of my retirement, Albert.
00:03:06I confess I've been looking forward to it merely as an assignment to a new post.
00:03:11A new command means a new point of view.
00:03:13New problems, new solutions.
00:03:16You must have a lot of old friends around here, Cousin Willie.
00:03:19Enough, at least, for a good Saturday afternoon poker game.
00:03:21Yes, this post is not wholly without his social aspects.
00:03:25But first, Albert, tell me about Fredericksville.
00:03:29Well, there's nothing to tell.
00:03:30Well, it's just like any one of a hundred towns in Georgia.
00:03:34What's the population now?
00:03:36Oh, about 30,000.
00:03:37How many voted in the last election?
00:03:41Four or five thousand, I'd say.
00:03:44You mean 25,000 took no part in the action?
00:03:47Well, you know how folks are around here.
00:03:49Politics and polite society just don't mix.
00:03:52They mixed when your grandfather was a boy.
00:03:54Perhaps Fredericksville is neglecting its history.
00:03:57Yes, sir.
00:03:57That road out in front was the very road over which the late General Sherman was expected to advance on
00:04:02Fredericksville in 1864.
00:04:04But General Sherman didn't come to Fredericksville, Will.
00:04:07Sure enough, Emma.
00:04:08Why didn't he?
00:04:09Didn't he think our town was as important as Atlanta?
00:04:11Lots of folks around here have never felt the same about Atlanta since he passed us by, had they, Cousin
00:04:16Emma?
00:04:18You aren't still expecting General Sherman, are you, Cousin Willie?
00:04:21Every populated center is always in danger, Albert.
00:04:24Call in your sentries and the enemy appears.
00:04:27A community's history is its family tree.
00:04:32Swell drink, Cousin Willie.
00:04:33The mess is ready, Miss Emma.
00:04:35All right.
00:04:36Just bring your drink along with you to the table, Albert.
00:04:39No use that in supper get cold just because Will's wound up like this.
00:04:43No, my boy, Fredericksville didn't spring up like a mushroom overnight out of the molded earth.
00:04:49It was wrested by steady hand and steady eye from the reluctant wilderness.
00:04:53Wrested from a British king's tyranny.
00:04:56Wrested from Sherman.
00:04:57Wrested from the noxious mire of defeat and reparations.
00:05:00It is for us, the living, my boy.
00:05:02For you and me and every decent citizen in the community
00:05:06to say to it that Fredericksville does not forget that.
00:05:09Yes, sir.
00:05:09I'll try to keep it in mind.
00:05:18By morning I had forgotten about Cousin Willie for it was Confederate Memorial Day.
00:05:23In Confederate Monument Square, the mayor,
00:05:26head of the Home Folks Party, which had governed our town for as far back as I can remember,
00:05:31was delivering his usual glowing tribute to the lost cause.
00:05:35I yield to no man in everlasting pride
00:05:39in that gallant band of gray-clad heroes.
00:05:48With the mayor's salubrious praises still ringing in my ears,
00:05:51I return to my job under the leader.
00:05:54Say, how about handing this to duty?
00:05:56Sure.
00:05:56Thanks.
00:06:05Say, maybe this isn't going to be such a phony war after all.
00:06:09Give that an ink-con banner, Pete.
00:06:13Nazis sweep through Norway.
00:06:15Got a cigarette, Al?
00:06:19Thanks.
00:06:20What about his honor's tribute to the lost cause?
00:06:23Oh, yes.
00:06:23We mustn't let the war interfere with anything big like that.
00:06:29And to beat that, it's locked.
00:06:30It's tighter than the...
00:06:31Well, that's the trouble of the world today.
00:06:33No faith in human nature.
00:06:34Why do you reckon a dame would want to lock up a few measly cigarettes?
00:06:38Maybe we should have a chisel.
00:06:42Well, there's one thing you can bet on.
00:06:44Miss Carrie would never have done such a thing when she was society editor.
00:06:47No, Miss Carrie was one swell old girl.
00:06:49Oh, the salt of the earth.
00:06:51But this new dame...
00:06:53Yeah.
00:06:53And all these fancy things here.
00:06:55Venetian blinds and flowers and rugs.
00:06:58Yeah, just like I say.
00:07:00There ought to be a law against women in newspapers.
00:07:02Louise!
00:07:03Yes, sir.
00:07:04Look at this.
00:07:06How come that other paper up the street gets a full-page ad from Cromarty's
00:07:10and we only get six inches?
00:07:11Well, I'll tell you how it is, Mr. Hayes.
00:07:13I know, I know.
00:07:14The news supports the city hall, and the city hall tells Cromarty's where to spit.
00:07:17That's about the size of it.
00:07:19Well, it's got to stop, boys.
00:07:20It's costing us money.
00:07:21I want the mayor's speech on page one.
00:07:23You understand?
00:07:24Yes, sir.
00:07:25What else you got on the stove, Dewey?
00:07:26Well, the British are getting ready to pull out of Norway.
00:07:29No, no, no.
00:07:29I mean your locals.
00:07:30Well, Doc Putin says they're going to change the name of the square.
00:07:32What square?
00:07:34Confederate Monument Square.
00:07:35Change it to what?
00:07:37Toulon Square, after old Pud Toulon.
00:07:39So they're going to name the square after that old crook.
00:07:42Hold up your story on that.
00:07:43Right.
00:07:44Eavesdropper.
00:07:44Maybe she doesn't understand that he was the founder of the Home Folks Party.
00:07:48I understand plenty.
00:07:49The way he lived on the city, the poor white relatives he kept on the payroll.
00:07:53Isn't there anyone around here who will stand up for what he thinks?
00:07:55My father was still editor of this paper.
00:07:57You know, Dewey, that was another nice thing about Miss Carey.
00:08:00He never caught her sticking her nose into men's business.
00:08:02Oh, Miss Carey was sure restful.
00:08:04Well, a credit to pure southern womanhood if ever I saw it.
00:08:18Dewey, I want to send the editorial on Pud Toulon.
00:08:21Pud Toulon?
00:08:22He's been dead for 20 years.
00:08:24Well, dig him up.
00:08:25Unless I miss my guess, here's our chance to get in solid with the folks down at City Hall.
00:08:28You know, hit the civic leader angle, talk about what he did for the city.
00:08:32Four or two.
00:08:34Ended off on the note.
00:08:35The leader takes pride in joining its voice to the clamor for naming Monument Square after its benefactor and so
00:08:41forth.
00:08:41The time has come and the growth of the expansion of our city and so forth, however you feel it.
00:08:47Give it the works.
00:08:48But isn't that dynamite?
00:08:50Listen, I'm from Ohio.
00:08:51Maybe I don't feel the way you southerners do about these things.
00:08:54I've got to think about the red and black ink on the books.
00:08:56My bosses sitting up in Chicago aren't worrying about what Stonewall Jackson did at Manassas.
00:09:01And let me see it before you set it up.
00:09:02I may want to add something.
00:09:06You might have been surprised to all Pud, I'll bet.
00:09:13I'll bet.
00:09:13Wait, pardon.
00:09:14Where will I find the managing editor?
00:09:17Right in there.
00:09:24I'm Colonel Effingham, sir.
00:09:27W.C. Bourne Effingham.
00:09:28Colonel, United States Army, retired.
00:09:30Good morning, Colonel.
00:09:31Take a chair.
00:09:35You're visiting in Fredericksville, Colonel?
00:09:37Not at all.
00:09:38I was born in Fredericksville.
00:09:40My father and my grandfather and my great-grandfather were all born in Fredericksville.
00:09:45To an Effingham, Fredericksville is home.
00:09:47I see.
00:09:48My people have always been soldiers.
00:09:49My grandfather fell at Chickamauga.
00:09:51His grandfather at Saratoga.
00:09:53When Beauregard fired on Fort Sumter, my own father, unfortunately, was only nine.
00:09:57That was a little young.
00:09:59I myself was wounded at San Juan Hill.
00:10:01I was at the Siege of Panama.
00:10:03For 50 years, Mr. Editor, the forces of civilization had been held at bay on the isthmus, unable to join
00:10:10the waters of two great oceans.
00:10:11And do you know what blocked them?
00:10:13Gatlin guns?
00:10:14Mini balls?
00:10:15Superior forces?
00:10:16Guerrilla bands?
00:10:18Mosquitoes?
00:10:20Well, perhaps one of my boys could fix up a little story for Sunday.
00:10:24Stegermeyer fasciata.
00:10:25For half a century, the enemy, less than a quarter of an inch in stature, blocked the economic march of
00:10:31a nation of a hundred million people.
00:10:32It was insupportable.
00:10:33Well, Colonel...
00:10:34We blockaded General Stegermeyer to wit the Mosquito.
00:10:37We cut him off from reinforcements.
00:10:39We hammered his communications.
00:10:40So you're back in Fredericksville for good now, Colonel.
00:10:42We sprayed his concentrations with oil.
00:10:45We screened his wells.
00:10:46We put fifth columns of fish in the water to attack his ammunition dumps.
00:10:50But more of that another day.
00:10:52What I'm leading up to, Mr. Editor, is the possibility of a column of war commentary in your paper.
00:10:57War commentary?
00:10:58War commentary?
00:10:59I've read both the leader and the news, and though I realize the news has the larger circulation, your former
00:11:05editor, Mr. Sam Dozier, was an old and honored friend of mine.
00:11:07Well, we couldn't offer you enough, Colonel.
00:11:11We're only a small paper.
00:11:12We haven't got much money to pay.
00:11:14Blood, sir.
00:11:14I don't want pay.
00:11:15I'm offering my services free.
00:11:18Well, I'd like to think it over.
00:11:21How can I get in touch with you?
00:11:22My telephone is 514, sir.
00:11:25Good day, sir.
00:11:26Good day, Colonel.
00:11:30For the lover, who is that guy?
00:11:33I'm proud to say I never saw him before in my life.
00:11:36Sometimes I wonder what I ever did to deserve things like this.
00:11:40What's the harm in trying it?
00:11:42Are you crazy?
00:11:43Oh, I know it wouldn't be as good as taking on another comic, but you're always looking for something to
00:11:48fill up that page, and he's a local guy, column two or three times a week on the editorial page,
00:11:53Mike.
00:11:54But Mosquitoes, his grandfather.
00:11:56Oh, I know, but this is a funny town, Earl.
00:11:59It's built around grandfathers and mosquitoes.
00:12:02You know, this war in Europe is picking up.
00:12:04Got a lot of people worried.
00:12:06We may be getting into it ourselves.
00:12:08Can't tell.
00:12:09In that case, a lot of the boys will be joining up.
00:12:12And after all, the old boy was a colonel in the United States Army.
00:12:16You don't get to be a colonel in peacetimes for nothing, you know.
00:12:19You might set well with a lot of folks who think we had a military expert right here in the
00:12:22paper.
00:12:23Yeah, that's...
00:12:25I think you ought to try it, Earl.
00:12:27What have you got to lose?
00:12:30Okay, I'll take a chance.
00:12:33Call it on the firing line.
00:12:35But if you ask me any time you buy something for nothing, that's just what you get.
00:12:43Did you ever hear of a guy named W. Seaborn Effingham?
00:12:46What's he done?
00:12:47He's going to run a column in our little paper.
00:12:50Column?
00:12:50I didn't know he could write.
00:12:52Anybody can write, Bob.
00:12:53As long as we're going to do it, let's do it right.
00:12:55Build up the old guy two or three days before you start.
00:12:57Get a few informal shots of the author at work and at play.
00:13:01Oh, you better let me handle it.
00:13:02All right, take Jake along to get the pictures.
00:13:04No, I'll do it alone.
00:13:04Two of us will make him nervous.
00:13:05Two of us didn't make him nervous this morning.
00:13:07And for my personal information, find out the name of the last lunatic asylum he attended.
00:13:12I can tell him that now.
00:13:14Why, do you know the guy?
00:13:15That's my cousin Willie.
00:13:20Orly!
00:13:21On the doubles!
00:13:24Orly, our guest here wants a dog.
00:13:26Is there an animal on the post?
00:13:27There's a buck, Colonel.
00:13:29Buck, I don't know him, but have him report here at once.
00:13:31Yes, sir.
00:13:33Oh, hello, Miss Emma.
00:13:34Oh, I don't know what Will's thinking about.
00:13:38This is the first time an Effingham has ever done such a thing.
00:13:41What do people say?
00:13:43It's bad enough getting your name in the paper when you're born or get married or die.
00:13:48It's not my idea.
00:13:49He's a man of determination.
00:13:50Mr. Effingham men have always been men of determination.
00:13:54Hey, hey, hey, go on.
00:13:56Hey.
00:13:58Well, attention.
00:14:08It's got reader confidence written all over it.
00:14:11What's his name?
00:14:13W.S. Seaborne Effingham.
00:14:15Colonel, United States Army, retired.
00:14:17The dog.
00:14:18Buck.
00:14:20His name's Rover.
00:14:25Our subscribers seem to open their arms to the pair.
00:14:29First thing we knew, our leading citizens were giving parties for them.
00:14:33In the most stylish houses in town.
00:14:35Good evening, Mr. Elmer.
00:14:37Good evening, Mr. Elmer.
00:14:38Good evening.
00:14:39Well, Will.
00:14:41How's the old publicity hound?
00:14:43Good day, sir.
00:14:44Well, Effingham.
00:14:45Well, man, they've certainly been giving you plenty of write-ups.
00:14:48Everybody in town must know Colonel Effingham and his faithful old dog, Rover, by now.
00:14:53How does it feel to be in the limelight, Will?
00:14:55Well, I'm used to being shot at.
00:14:57Anyhow, Will, we want you to know we're right behind you.
00:15:00Thanks, Clyde.
00:15:01Sorry, I can't offer you anything but punch.
00:15:03But if you boys will step out into the kitchen.
00:15:06I've already sweetened it just to my, Mr. Clark.
00:15:10Here's to you, Will.
00:15:11And to our good old Billy-go days together.
00:15:14And to Will's new column.
00:15:15Oh, here's your good health.
00:15:19I can't get over it.
00:15:21Old Will here, a colonel in the army, been everywhere, seen everything.
00:15:24And we've just sat home and kind of milled you.
00:15:27On the contrary.
00:15:28You gentlemen have made substantial successes in your chosen fields of endeavor.
00:15:32Jesse and you, Sterling, presidents of Flourishing Banks.
00:15:34And Clyde, head of the Southeastern Fertilizer.
00:15:36Oh, we managed to keep a roof over our heads.
00:15:39Will Effingham.
00:15:42You don't remember me.
00:15:45Clara Breckenbridge.
00:15:46Clara Meigs, now.
00:15:48You remember Charlie Meigs.
00:15:50He was a dancer at school with us.
00:15:52He was always a lucky dog.
00:15:54I would have known you anywhere, Clara.
00:15:56Still the finest figure in Georgia.
00:15:59Now, Will, there you go.
00:16:01The same old flatterer.
00:16:03I declare I don't know how you ever escaped marriage.
00:16:05Colonel Effingham, I'm Alice Sue Dozier.
00:16:07I believe you knew my father, Sam Dozier.
00:16:08Sam Dozier, one of the most courageous editors Georgia ever produced.
00:16:12I rank him with Henry Grady.
00:16:14I'm delighted to know his daughter.
00:16:15You probably see a lot of this little girl now that you're fellow workers.
00:16:19Fellow workers.
00:16:19I felt some Dozier had to be on the leader.
00:16:21It's a pleasure to join forces with you any day, my dear.
00:16:24To the ladies under whose sheltering wings lives the valor of Fredericksville.
00:16:31Excuse me, Alice Sue.
00:16:32Oh, hello, Ed.
00:16:33Colonel Effingham, this is Mr. Edward Bland, professor of economics in the high school.
00:16:36Good evening.
00:16:37How are you, Colonel?
00:16:38Isn't this our dance?
00:16:39Oh, I'm sorry, Ed, but I've been saving this one for Colonel Effingham.
00:16:42Will you dance with me, Colonel?
00:16:43It's an honor, my dear.
00:17:01I don't mean to be sacrilegious, but you know who Will reminds me of, if he had a beard?
00:17:07General Lee.
00:17:11Yes, I can see the resemblance, but I'm afraid General Lee wouldn't lend his name to a column in the
00:17:18public print.
00:17:55Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways.
00:17:58Amen.
00:17:59Brother, are you prepared?
00:18:01I am.
00:18:01Hallelujah.
00:18:02Hallelujah.
00:18:03The end of the world comes, brother.
00:18:05Are you saved?
00:18:07I've been saved, brother.
00:18:08Hallelujah.
00:18:09This thing will ruin you.
00:18:11Hallelujah, don't I know it?
00:18:17Good morning, Albert.
00:18:18How are you, my boy?
00:18:19Fine, cousin Willie.
00:18:20How's the war going?
00:18:21Albert, tell me, does, uh, does what's-his-name know about this plot?
00:18:26What plot?
00:18:27The plot to name our converted square after that, uh, that, that carpetbagger.
00:18:31Well, I, uh, I couldn't say.
00:18:33The information hasn't been made public yet.
00:18:34Well, let's go tell him.
00:18:35It's time for newspapers to unlimber their big guns.
00:18:37Well, I, I, I can't go right now.
00:18:39I have to write a story.
00:18:40Well, I'll go see you myself.
00:18:41Mr. Holtz isn't here.
00:18:42He had to go to Atlanta for the day.
00:18:43Well, surely there's a second in command.
00:18:44No, Mr. Holtz is the man you have to see.
00:18:46There's no hurry.
00:18:47Next time you're in town, why don't you stop by and have a chat with us?
00:18:49Yes, I'm sure he'll be glad to do everything he can.
00:18:52It isn't a question of doing everything he can.
00:18:54A new service run for the good of the community, isn't it?
00:18:57Well.
00:18:58Well, isn't it?
00:18:59Exactly.
00:19:00Well, I know, my boy.
00:19:01Good day, Ellis O.
00:19:05Then cousin Willie struck.
00:19:08It was exactly as if he'd hurled a custard pie to the established government.
00:19:12The response to the town was quick and emphatic.
00:19:15Yeah.
00:19:18What do you make of it?
00:19:19Doc, after all we've done for Earl Holtz, it's like finding a rattlesnake in your bureau drawer.
00:19:28Hello?
00:19:29Is this the leader?
00:19:31Is it true that they're going to rename Monument Square?
00:19:35Well, as far as I can determine, Mrs. Meggs, it's an unfounded rumor.
00:19:38Here.
00:19:39Thank you very much.
00:19:40Yes, we'll do everything we can.
00:19:42Selly desk.
00:19:44No, no, the colonel doesn't happen to be in at the moment.
00:19:47Mr. Holtz is the editor.
00:19:49Yes, he's the man you want to see.
00:19:51What's going on?
00:19:52Oh, I never read his tripe.
00:19:54I just turned it on the hook.
00:19:55I thought the old guy was going to write a war column.
00:19:58Holtz said to give him his head.
00:19:59Here, he's your cousin.
00:20:01Who is Pud Toulon?
00:20:03Never got through the sixth grade.
00:20:04Came interested in politics when working in the cotton mills.
00:20:08Set himself up as head of the Home Folks Party.
00:20:11Robbed this city for 20 years.
00:20:13How does this compare with the contribution of our glorious Confederate dead?
00:20:19Selly desk.
00:20:20Isn't it horrible?
00:20:22Nobody complained about the city government for as long as I can remember.
00:20:26And just as peace and friendship and mutual understanding was taking place between them and us.
00:20:33Glad you liked it, ma'am.
00:20:35The United Daughters of the Confederacy congratulating us.
00:20:40Say, is this cousin of yours just a nut or is he just a nut?
00:20:44Well, he doesn't understand.
00:20:46The trouble is, he's been in the Army for so long, he just doesn't understand the rest of the world.
00:20:50Give him a chance, he'll catch on.
00:20:51What are you and I going to use for money while he's catching on?
00:20:54Uh-uh, uh-uh.
00:21:10How'd it get by yet, Dewey?
00:21:13Where?
00:21:14Uh-uh.
00:21:17Silly desk.
00:21:19It's for you, Mr. Holtz.
00:21:22Hello?
00:21:23Mr. Holtz?
00:21:24Uh, this is Mrs. Clyde Manageau.
00:21:27I just want to tell you how terribly pleased I am, how terribly pleased all my friends are,
00:21:32with the position Colonel Effingham has taken on your paper in regard to the renaming of Confederate Monument Square.
00:21:39Goodbye.
00:21:45Have you heard anything from the city hall yet?
00:21:48They wouldn't see it unless on the sport page.
00:21:50Seems to me, Mr. Holtz, that if this thing was signed by a special writer,
00:21:53it wouldn't necessarily represent the policy of the paper.
00:22:02Mrs. Manageau's words must have fallen so sweetly on his ear as to undermine his sense of reality.
00:22:09At any rate, his reaction was simply to write a new editorial to fit the circumstances,
00:22:14offered in the spirit of righting a wrong.
00:22:22I read it with satisfaction, as I ordered my sausage in harmony in the Manhattan Café.
00:22:33Then I turned the page to cousin Willie's column.
00:22:43What's the matter? Coffee too hot?
00:22:46Listen, we shall not submit.
00:22:49It is not enough that we stand to the defense and hold the name of the square as it has
00:22:52been for near a generation.
00:22:54Let us improve the square.
00:22:56Oldie.
00:22:59Picture, if you will, in a circle about that shaft of Georgia marble, 13 live oak trees.
00:23:06Ain't you feeling good, Al?
00:23:08Have you read what he's been up to now?
00:23:13Oh, I think that'll be nice.
00:23:15Nice shade.
00:23:16It's nice to see the leaves blowing in the summertime.
00:23:19Look, every year or two, somebody brings up the question of the trees.
00:23:22Well, where'd we be with our trees?
00:23:24You want this place to look like a country town?
00:23:27Well, anyhow, I'm not going to do it.
00:23:30No use bringing the whole thing up again and trying to embarrass everybody.
00:23:33Gee, I never heard of a tree embarrassing anybody.
00:23:37What's the matter, Al?
00:23:38Are the begging birds?
00:23:40Do you ever read this little piece called On the Barring Line?
00:23:42Yeah, yeah, sure.
00:23:44But we always read it.
00:23:46Sort of a nicer fellow, huh?
00:23:48Look at the dog.
00:23:49My wife, she cut it from with the paper.
00:23:51What are you going to do about all those trees?
00:23:55A little something spent for beauty is a good buy.
00:23:59Before I read what he says, I never know we had such interesting things in this town.
00:24:06You live in a place and you never know what happens way back.
00:24:11It makes you feel like somebody.
00:24:16You know, the old guy got something there.
00:24:35On guard.
00:24:36Straighten your body, man.
00:24:37Straighten your body.
00:24:38Then you leave.
00:24:39Oh, Mr. Counsel, won't you rather have a rump-tanned pico?
00:24:42Position.
00:24:43One, two, three.
00:24:45Watch your feet, man.
00:24:46Watch your feet.
00:24:46Oh, Mr. Counsel, I'm going to go whack my feet in here, too.
00:24:49Come in, Albert.
00:24:50We're just keeping in shape.
00:24:51Have a seat.
00:24:53Cousin Malik, you know the mayor, don't you?
00:24:55I haven't had the pleasure of meeting his honor.
00:24:57Well, the mayor's a garden fancier.
00:24:59He loves trees and flowers.
00:25:01Seems to me it'd be nice if you consult him about planting those trees.
00:25:05Naturally, he'd like to be in on any civic improvement of this type.
00:25:08But, you know, take a little of the credit.
00:25:10I don't care anything about the credit.
00:25:11I want the trees.
00:25:12On guard.
00:25:14Touché.
00:25:15They might welcome the chance of the trees just to show their hearts in the right place.
00:25:19I don't know, Albert, whether their hearts are in the right place or not.
00:25:22Stand up to it, man.
00:25:23Mr. Counsel, sir, you sure you don't want no rump-tanned pico?
00:25:26Oh, God.
00:25:29They're nice fellas.
00:25:30They're only trying to do what's right.
00:25:32Mustn't forget, Cousin Willie, that they haven't had the advantage of an education and travel and that sort of thing
00:25:36like some of the rest of us have had.
00:25:37You'd be surprised if some of those boys comfortable.
00:25:40Wouldn't surprise me at all, Albert.
00:25:42But I don't see why our biggest and most important project, the administration of government, should be handed over lock,
00:25:48stock and barrel to a bunch of incompetents.
00:25:50On guard.
00:25:51But, Cousin Willie, I don't think you're quite giving the boys adieu.
00:25:53Dieu?
00:25:54When we turned on the malarial mosquitoes in the Canal Zone, do you think the mosquitoes were not getting their
00:25:59due?
00:25:59On guard.
00:26:00Somebody has to run the government.
00:26:02The citizens won't do it.
00:26:03If it weren't for the Home Folks Party, there wouldn't be any government at all.
00:26:06Is it your impression, Albert, that these people are acting as trustees until such time as the citizens come of
00:26:12age and can take over the government themselves?
00:26:15Well, anyhow, I think you ought to have a chat with the mayor sometime.
00:26:18All right, I will.
00:26:19Orally, bring the car, please.
00:26:21Can I drop you by your office, my boy?
00:26:23You're not going to see the mayor right now, are you?
00:26:24As soon as I can change my clothes.
00:26:25There's no hurry, Cousin Willie.
00:26:26Any old time will do.
00:26:27Son, when you get to be 65, it's a good time to hurry.
00:26:39Mr. Mayor.
00:26:41Your name is familiar to me, Colonel, but I can't seem to put my finger just where I've run into
00:26:45it before.
00:26:47Are you here in Fredericksville in connection with national defense?
00:26:51Defense of America is the nearest thing to my heart.
00:26:53What I want to discuss with you, Mr. Mayor, is the desirability of planting 13 trees in a circle about
00:27:00the Confederate monument.
00:27:01You write that column in the leader.
00:27:03I do.
00:27:04I knew your name was familiar to me.
00:27:06Well, Colonel, I'll tell you what you do.
00:27:08Now, understand there's nobody in Fredericksville that loves trees more than I do.
00:27:12Any kind of beautification appeals to me.
00:27:14But there's a water main under Monument Square that might be disturbed.
00:27:19And you can't dig up a water main just to plant a few trees.
00:27:22Now, why don't you go see Mr. Klemmer, the city engineer?
00:27:25I couldn't do a thing without his approval.
00:27:27It's been nice to see you, Colonel.
00:27:29Any time I can be of service?
00:27:31Good day, sir.
00:27:35See what I had to put up with?
00:27:36No gratitude.
00:27:38Sometimes I wonder why I ever let him put me up for bear in the first place.
00:27:42I don't blame you, Cousin Ed.
00:27:43And don't you Cousin Ed me around here.
00:27:46I'm enough to contend with without relatives.
00:27:49Hey.
00:27:49Ah, look Ed.
00:27:50You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
00:27:53The way to handle these nuts is to agree with him.
00:27:58Let him plant his trees.
00:27:59Are you crazy?
00:28:01Do you want to undermine the whole city government?
00:28:03No, no, certainly not, Doc.
00:28:05But while we're improving the park, planting the trees,
00:28:07we'll just go one step farther
00:28:09and improve the whole square by putting up the new courthouse.
00:28:12He'll think the whole idea is his.
00:28:14Hmm.
00:28:15What do you think, Doc?
00:28:16By Granny, I believe Joe's got something there.
00:28:19Yes, sir, do I think we've hit the nail right on the head.
00:28:23From now on, this Effingham Colonel's playing second base on our team.
00:28:29The End
00:28:34The End
00:28:35The End
00:28:38The End
00:28:42The End
00:28:43The End
00:28:45The End
00:28:45The End
00:28:46The End
00:28:50The End
00:28:50So you're going to tear down the courthouse.
00:28:52I have nothing to do with it.
00:28:53You could stop it.
00:28:54How?
00:28:54You could if you wanted to.
00:28:56Look, the old fire trap's about ready to fall apart anyhow.
00:28:58Well, how'd it wear out so quickly?
00:28:59It's been worn out for years.
00:29:00I just discovered it.
00:29:01Well, why didn't you keep it repaired?
00:29:03Look, why do you suppose I'd have anything to do with this?
00:29:05I just tell the facts.
00:29:06How, you tell some of them.
00:29:07Isn't it a fact that they've already signed a contract with Bill Silk,
00:29:09the mayor's brother-in-law, to build a new one?
00:29:11I don't know anything about that.
00:29:12Well, you ought to know.
00:29:13That's your job, isn't it?
00:29:18Say, what's the matter with you today anyhow?
00:29:19I've got a slight case of moral indigestion.
00:29:22You don't understand.
00:29:22The old building's just tumbling down.
00:29:24The floor's unsafe.
00:29:25The stone's disintegrated.
00:29:26The roof's so good.
00:29:27Why, you sound like somebody in Berlin describing democracy.
00:29:29Do you think every building that's 150 years old is tumbling down?
00:29:32Sure, and if it isn't, it ought to be.
00:29:43The end of the world cometh, brother.
00:29:46Are you prepared?
00:29:46I will be as soon as our artillery comes into position.
00:29:53Gentlemen.
00:29:54You'll have to excuse me, Colonel.
00:29:56London's just been blitzed.
00:29:56Just a moment, if you please.
00:29:58May I presume to ask, what is the attitude of this newspaper
00:30:01regarding the destruction of that final landmark, our courthouse?
00:30:04Oh, later, Colonel, later.
00:30:05Dewey, get this set up.
00:30:07I've searched your column for a word of condemnation of this diabolical plot,
00:30:11but I could find nothing, sir.
00:30:12I'm afraid you don't understand, Colonel.
00:30:14The courthouse is in a pretty dangerous condition.
00:30:15Who says so, may I ask?
00:30:17The two best structural engineers in this section.
00:30:19Local engineers.
00:30:20The condition cannot be determined except by a man from out of town,
00:30:23one who has never even heard of this courthouse.
00:30:26When I was in the canal zone...
00:30:27Excuse me, Colonel.
00:30:27I just remembered a date.
00:30:28I had the privilege of seeing the great Miraflorey's locks
00:30:31hewn out of the jungle.
00:30:32One of the greatest feats of skill in that entire monumental project.
00:30:36The man principally responsible was the Captain Hickok,
00:30:39now Major, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
00:30:42Major Hickok is now retired and living in Atlanta.
00:30:44Let him look at this building.
00:30:46He'll tell you whether he's falling down or not.
00:30:48Colonel, nothing would give me more pleasure
00:30:50than to help in getting your friend this little job.
00:30:53But no loyal citizen of Fredericksville wants to ask Atlanta anything.
00:30:56Besides, there's a cost of bringing him here.
00:30:58Floods, I'll get him here for nothing.
00:30:59Doesn't that imply a lack of confidence in the government?
00:31:02It certainly does.
00:31:03I've discussed this matter with a number of responsible citizens.
00:31:06And they agree that the leader, true to its name,
00:31:08should sponsor a movement.
00:31:09What responsible citizens?
00:31:10People you know.
00:31:11They'll come forward when the time is ripe.
00:31:13Never fear.
00:31:14I'm a newspaper man, Colonel, not an evangelist.
00:31:17My function is to inform our readers of what's going on in the world,
00:31:21not to advise them.
00:31:22If a group of citizens want a third engineer to look at this courthouse,
00:31:26bring him in.
00:31:26I'll print the story.
00:31:28That's our position.
00:31:29As you say, Mr. Adito.
00:31:36Long distance, please.
00:31:45You never get anything for nothing.
00:31:46I always did know that.
00:31:47You got me into this, remember?
00:31:49I told you what would happen.
00:31:50But all I said...
00:31:50And you, don't stand there with your mouth open.
00:31:52Do something.
00:31:53He's your cousin.
00:31:54I tell you, no private citizen has the right to go meddling in public affairs
00:31:57that don't concern him, pulling us into it.
00:32:01Confound it.
00:32:01It's sedition.
00:32:03Captain Major Hickok, Walnut, 1483 Atlanta.
00:32:08Now I don't want to reverse the charges.
00:32:11Charge it to the leader.
00:32:22Naturally, we didn't carry any build-up on Major Hickok's coming to Fredericksville.
00:32:27But I was detailed to accompany him and the Colonel on their tour of the building.
00:32:32Just to make sure they didn't go into a huddle and fling us a fast one.
00:32:36Of course, if the Major should happen to agree with the local contractors
00:32:40that a new building was needed,
00:32:43it was to be a page one story with a byline.
00:32:47I don't quite see how this old wreck rates a society call.
00:32:49I'm just here on my own.
00:32:50Curiosity?
00:32:51Interest.
00:32:52Trying to check up, hmm?
00:32:53Trying to make sure I won't draw any wrong conclusions.
00:32:55Possibly, or print them.
00:32:57How do I get up onto the roof?
00:32:59Right this way, gentlemen.
00:33:07You can wait over there.
00:33:12Can I?
00:33:14I won't find anyone socially prominent up there.
00:33:19After you, my dear.
00:33:27Fire up there?
00:33:29Way back.
00:33:30Just after the war.
00:33:31War between the states?
00:33:32No, sir.
00:33:33That other war.
00:33:35Surface charm.
00:33:36I'd like to see the rope.
00:33:51Give me a hand, will you?
00:33:52I don't want to go out there.
00:33:53You'll ruin your clothes.
00:33:57Oops.
00:33:58Sorry.
00:34:04What's the matter with that Effingham Colonel, anyhow?
00:34:07Bringing in that old has-been engineer from Atlanta.
00:34:10Is he a red or something?
00:34:11Wait, let's get down to grassroots.
00:34:14What does this guy own?
00:34:15Five acres from the country and a $500 Ford.
00:34:18But what sort of business is he in?
00:34:20Maybe we ought to inspect his plumbing.
00:34:22He's retired.
00:34:24What does he live on, then?
00:34:25Yeah, he gets a pension from the United States government.
00:34:27He's still got a water bill, hasn't he?
00:34:29Reformers are mighty touchy about water bills.
00:34:32Gentlemen, the question before us is the new courthouse.
00:34:34Exactly.
00:34:35And if we don't watch out, he's going to get people to thinking we're trying to railroad this thing through.
00:34:40The people don't care.
00:34:41I don't know, Doc.
00:34:43You can never tell about that.
00:34:44My idea is to get the jump on him.
00:34:46Call a public meeting.
00:34:47Discuss the whole thing right out in the open.
00:34:50Show him we're not trying to hide anything.
00:34:52But, Ed, you're my brother-in-law, and the contract for the courthouse has already been signed.
00:34:56Don't you worry, Bill.
00:34:57You'll build it.
00:34:58We only want to do what's right and proper.
00:35:01Besides, how many people came to the last public meeting?
00:35:05Must have been 15, counting you and me.
00:35:08That's a good idea, Chief.
00:35:09Let the public get it off his chest.
00:35:11The public hasn't got anything on its chest but his shirt.
00:35:14Right, Doc.
00:35:15Suppose you call Holtz around the leader.
00:35:17Let him have the story.
00:35:18We set the meeting for a week from tonight in the courthouse in the superior courtroom.
00:35:22Think that'll be big enough, Your Honor?
00:35:24Well, it's not up to us to get a crowd.
00:35:31Come on.
00:35:58Let's go.
00:36:10Well, I don't like subtlety.
00:36:13Maybe you like petitions.
00:36:14Petitions?
00:36:15Would you like to sign one?
00:36:16I would not.
00:36:19What sort of petition?
00:36:33Listen, honey child, you've reached the age of reason.
00:36:36Do you really think free people in a free country are going to sign their commercial death warrants?
00:36:41I'm not asking you to sign.
00:36:42I asked you if you want to.
00:36:44I have nothing against the old courthouse.
00:36:46As a matter of fact, I have a personal attachment for it.
00:36:49Just think Cousin Willie's stirring up a lot of unnecessary trouble.
00:36:52He's stirring up a lot of trouble, all right.
00:36:55Sort of feels sorry for the old guy.
00:36:57He's like a rabbit, bouncing out of his nice briar patch and leaping lickety-split across the field under the
00:37:02muzzles of 12-gauge shotguns.
00:37:04More like a rabbit to sit cowering in his nest.
00:37:06Put it on the desk, will you?
00:37:13Well, the National Guard's just got in some new 30-caliber machine guns.
00:37:18Go on over and have a talk with Captain Rampey, will you?
00:37:20See if he can get a little story for Sunday.
00:37:26Well, it's water-cooled.
00:37:28This is your water jacket, your hose, your water can.
00:37:33It fires from a belt of 250 rounds.
00:37:38And it fires at the rate of 500 to 550 rounds per minute.
00:37:42Not steadily, of course, but in short bursts.
00:37:45Then a funny thing happened.
00:37:47The captain talked and talked, but I didn't hear a word he said.
00:37:52I just kept looking at that uniform and wondering how Ellis Sue would like me in it.
00:37:58Well, here, this field manual will tell you all about it.
00:38:20Not bad.
00:38:21Not at all.
00:38:23Officer, how are you, Marbury?
00:38:28By the way, did I tell her...
00:38:32Tell me what?
00:38:37I have offered my services to the government.
00:38:39That's swell, Ed.
00:38:41You what?
00:38:42You are now addressing Private Marbury of the Georgia National Guard.
00:38:52I don't understand.
00:38:54Nothing to understand.
00:38:56Democracy is threatened.
00:38:57I reach for my gun.
00:38:58It's as simple as that.
00:39:11Funny that all of a sudden you should be so much more concerned about democracy than Europe and democracy in
00:39:15Fredericksville.
00:39:16My dear girl, what happens in Europe is directly connected with what happens in Fredericksville.
00:39:22You can't isolate our town and forget all about Europe.
00:39:31Neither can you isolate Europe, which is 3,000 miles away, and forget about Fredericksville right here under your nose.
00:39:37Okay.
00:39:38Okay, I'll sign your petition.
00:39:39Sorry, we've done very well without you.
00:39:44Hope it isn't your trigger finger.
00:39:51Thursday night was more fitting to moonlight and mint juleps than to public meetings.
00:39:57But to everyone's amazement, there was quite a turnout.
00:40:00We'll stay together, ladies.
00:40:04Mostly widows and old maid ants.
00:40:07They know as much about running the town as a jackrabbit.
00:40:09Yeah, but they're the talky type.
00:40:11Yes.
00:40:16Well, there seems to be a scarcity of bank presidents and captains of industry.
00:40:20Where's Mr. Clyde Menadue?
00:40:22Probably in a dugout.
00:40:23He usually is when there's any shooting.
00:40:27Mrs. Meg, ladies.
00:40:29Hello, boy.
00:40:31Mr. Mayor.
00:40:34The sooner we get started, the better chance we have of getting out of this place before it collapses.
00:40:39Just a minute, Mr. Mayor.
00:40:41If you please, sir.
00:40:43These ladies have not found seats.
00:40:44Oh, ladies, I think you'll find comfortable seats over by the window.
00:40:53I know you're all anxious to get through with this so you can go on about your own affairs.
00:40:57To the contrary, Mr. Mayor.
00:40:59This matter requires considerable discussion.
00:41:02There he goes.
00:41:05Order, order.
00:41:07We've invited you here tonight, ladies and gentlemen, to express any opinion you may have as to the disposition of
00:41:13this old building.
00:41:14Now, I'm going to ask the clerk to put into evidence, as Exhibit A, the reports of two independent contractors
00:41:21who have examined the building.
00:41:22It's all so sweet and legal.
00:41:25Nice-looking couple.
00:41:28Lovely.
00:41:29From that report, ladies and gentlemen, you'll be able to see that it is not a question of what we
00:41:34would like to do with this grand old building.
00:41:37It's a question of what we can do.
00:41:39Mr. Mayor, before presenting a petition to repair this building, I'd like to have your permission to read a report
00:41:49on the state of this edifice.
00:41:51A report by Major Anthony T. Hickok, United States Army Corps of Engineers, retired.
00:42:02But we don't know anything about this gentleman.
00:42:04You've heard of the Miraflores locks, I presume, sir?
00:42:07Why, no, sir. I don't think I've ever heard of that particular brand.
00:42:10Have you heard of the Panama Canal?
00:42:12Why, yes, I've heard.
00:42:14Major Hickok was the engineer in charge of that monumental achievement in the Panama Canal.
00:42:19He's examined this building from top to bottom and has filed his report.
00:42:23Has this man a license?
00:42:25Yes, has this man a license?
00:42:27A license?
00:42:29He has a Congressional Medal of Honor.
00:42:32Now, Mr. Mayor, I move that the chair accept the Major's report in evidence.
00:42:37Certainly. I was just about to make the same suggestion.
00:42:41Proceed, sir.
00:42:43That the structure should have been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent as now is a matter of apparent
00:42:49negligence,
00:42:50concerning which it is not my duty to report.
00:42:55But the building is by no means beyond repair.
00:42:59To destroy such a dignified and harmoniously proportioned structure
00:43:04is something which the pride of this community should go to great lengths to prevent.
00:43:15The council will be glad to take this report under its due consideration.
00:43:19Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that the chair call for a rising vote of those in favor of preserving
00:43:25this building.
00:43:26Take another motion!
00:43:28Just a minute, if you please, Mr. Mayor.
00:43:30Yeah, Mr. City Attorney.
00:43:34May I inquire if it is in order to call upon this meeting for a vote on a matter which
00:43:39is entirely the responsibility of the duly elected city officials?
00:43:43Does a gathering of citizens require a government license to vote on a public question?
00:43:48Well, I don't deny the right of this or any other anomalous body to express its opinion.
00:43:54But that opinion must not be forced upon the council, which has had the benefit of the advice of competent
00:43:59engineers known and respected by all of us.
00:44:02This is not a matter in which a pressure group should try to enforce its will.
00:44:06No, this building doesn't belong to the city council to dispose of as they choose.
00:44:11It belongs to the people of the city of Fredericksville and the county of Fredericks.
00:44:16500,000 strong!
00:44:20I'm afraid the gentleman's idea of our population is as exaggerated as some of his other ideas.
00:44:25The figure is highly conservative, sir.
00:44:27This courthouse doesn't belong merely to the citizens of today, but of yesterday.
00:44:32On the steps of this building, General George Washington addressed the citizens of Fredericksville.
00:44:38In this very room, the delegates from the young state of Georgia assembled to ratify the federal constitution.
00:44:45This embodiment of our common memories is a symbol of law and order and of democratic procedure.
00:44:52A symbol of what we fought the revolution for.
00:44:55It represents a heritage of our free government handed down to us through perilous years.
00:45:02It belongs to every citizen who trod these streets before us.
00:45:07It belongs to every citizen who will tread these streets after you and I are gone, sir.
00:45:13No, the figure is not exaggerated.
00:45:16The only exaggeration is in naming any figure at all.
00:45:20For the owners of this building are as impossible to number as the generations yet unborn.
00:45:34The old boy is quite an order.
00:45:37But the contract's been signed.
00:45:40The council is, of course, interested in the opinions of the citizens.
00:45:45Whatever is done with this old building is going to cost money.
00:45:49The taxpayers' money.
00:45:51And it is our duty to see that that money is well spent.
00:45:55Now, in order to either rebuild or repair, we will need WPA help.
00:46:02If a grant can be secured from the WPA, it will take care of one-third of the cost.
00:46:08But the WPA is not interested in repairing old buildings.
00:46:14However, there is every reason to believe that a grant of one-third can be obtained toward building a new
00:46:22courthouse.
00:46:26May I ask, what would be the approximate cost of these two projects?
00:46:31Approximately $375,000 for a new courthouse.
00:46:35And for repairing?
00:46:38$390,000 of them.
00:46:41You mean to say it would cost $15,000 less to build a new courthouse than to repair this one?
00:46:48$15,000 on the face of it, man.
00:46:51But when you add to that saving the $120,000 that the WPA will probably grant,
00:46:57you have a total saving to the taxpayers of something like $150,000.
00:47:03Preposterous!
00:47:04What kind of repairs would cost $390,000?
00:47:07It's all contained here, sir, on the report of the architect,
00:47:11which unfortunately is too long to read.
00:47:13This building should be preserved, no matter what the cost.
00:47:22I question the figures submitted for the cost of repairing this building.
00:47:26Objection noted, sir.
00:47:27Furthermore, no matter how much is spent on a new building,
00:47:30you cannot buy for it the history and dignity of this one.
00:47:33Unfortunately, the city government cannot be conducted on mere dignity.
00:47:38We are entrusted with the duty of providing the county
00:47:41with safe and proper means for carrying on its business.
00:47:45Has the WPA already agreed to grant $120,000 for a new courthouse?
00:47:49Why, um, I move the meeting be adjourned.
00:47:53I second the motion.
00:47:55It is moved to second to this meeting be adjourned.
00:47:57All those in favor say aye.
00:47:59Aye!
00:47:59Opposed sn harm!
00:48:02Motion carried, reading adjourned.
00:48:05Ha!
00:48:09Ha, ha!
00:48:12Ha!
00:48:16Ha!
00:48:20Ha!
00:48:22Ha!
00:48:23Ha!
00:48:25Ha!
00:48:32I hope this means he's going to lay off he ought to know by now he can't do anything with
00:48:36these
00:48:36people they have too much power why don't you steer him to raising roses or camellias or anything
00:48:43cousin Willie have you a statement for the paper you may say I have nothing but praise for the
00:48:48magnificent behavior of the troops well at least I'm glad it's all over there's been no order to
00:48:55sound retreat madam I'm scarcely mobile I write an editorial to go with it something like since
00:49:08the WPA refuses to aid in financing the repairing of the old courthouse even the most sentimental
00:49:14citizen will be practical enough to realize and so forth and so forth lay it on hey shape
00:49:19look at this full-page ad for sunday from crow marty's good boy yeah well don't thank him thank
00:49:25your pals down city hall they passed the word to crow marty's you see that's what comes of
00:49:29playing ball on the right team see to it we keep on doing that city desk for you mr. hoats
00:49:37Atlanta
00:49:40calling hello hello it's him yes girl your cousin in other words sir the local authorities seem to be
00:49:52suffering from a considerable misapprehension the WPA has one not agreed to aid in the building of a new
00:50:00courthouse and two has not refused to aid in the repairing of the present structure in fact the WPA has
00:50:08not even been approached in the manner therefore since it was this misrepresentation regarding the
00:50:15attitude of the WPA that caused the citizens at the recent public meeting to hesitate as to how to cast
00:50:21their vote I insist mr. editor that you demand a new public meeting I'll inform the mayor of your
00:50:27suggestion colonel that's the best I can promise goodbye give me strength what are we going to do
00:50:35with them why don't the officials do something is the whole country headed for chaos is he trying to
00:50:40start a second party here with all the wastes of campaigns why some of these people have been in
00:50:44office since they got out of the fifth grade they know their job is he trying to turn them all
00:50:48out on
00:50:48the street you're not going to print that are you if we don't the news will blow it wide open
00:50:53especially when they see what we got from crow marty's Al go and tell the mayor we've got to run
00:50:59it maybe they can think of something who me he's your cousin why did he have to come back here
00:51:07nice and peaceful and contented couldn't he stay in Panama with general stegamaya to whip the mosquito
00:51:14and your identification day oh this makes you know mr. Marbury one of our bright young reporters
00:51:20and one of our most patriotic citizens well yes of course you're a relative of my very dear friend
00:51:25good lucking him aren't you sort of they're devoted congratulations thanks
00:51:55the town took it like a man two or three people called in about the meeting but they were mostly
00:52:02just surprised or sorry there was no suggestion of resistance my idea of the fault lies with the
00:52:09high command we made the tactical error of withholding our reserves too long the time has now come to
00:52:15throw in our storm troops and our capital ships then you're not discouraged colonel discouragement has no
00:52:19more place in a soldier's equipment than an inner spring mattress to our capital ships full speed
00:52:25ahead and as admiral farragut said you know about the torpedoes
00:52:46top on the list of the colonel's reserves was his friend sterling tignor well uh what do you want me
00:52:53to do will i want you to help us save this fine old courthouse it belongs to the people
00:52:58and the people want it saved will let me tell you something i've been watching all this to do about
00:53:03the courthouse it reminds me of somebody trying to open up a can of sardines with a pocket knife
00:53:10you're going about this the wrong way if you want to save that courthouse you can do it
00:53:15are you suggesting bribery these are practical men you're dealing with they listen to reason
00:53:22i'd be willing to make a personal contribution of any reasonable amount myself what you suggest is
00:53:27unthinkable and indecent all you need do is write a letter to the paper as a private citizen
00:53:32calling for another public meeting in the light of this new information from the wpa write a letter to
00:53:38the paper why don't you know if i did that tomorrow morning the whole municipal checking account would
00:53:43be closed out nonsense it's you fellows who are impractical what can they do with it they can't walk
00:53:47around town with the money in the pocket they take it right up the street to jesse bibbs bank
00:53:51no no you reformers don't have a sense of reality will you don't seem to grasp the hard-headed
00:53:57facts the hard-headed facts are if you don't repair something that needs repairing pretty soon you
00:54:02won't have it to repair i'm sorry but there's no use arguing about it good day
00:54:14i'm sorry will but you're making a mistake a great mistake to antagonize these people antagonize
00:54:20do you advocate appeasement no but what you're proposing is that i stab my stockholders in the back
00:54:26and that i most assured he will not do what about all the widows and orphans
00:54:31who own stock in the bank of fredericksville what sir what about all the widows and orphans who own
00:54:36stock in the city of fredericksville what are you afraid of man no citizen has anything to fear from
00:54:41a politician the young man of this town will be going off to war soon they volunteered to serve
00:54:47their country in time of war when they come home they must be prepared to volunteer to serve their
00:54:51community and time of peace to confront every enemy of progress wherever he shows his head what sort of
00:54:57example are we going to set them i'm sorry you won't see this realistically will idealism is all
00:55:04right in this idealism is everything jesse without it you go stumbling along in the dark day after day
00:55:11it's your match in the dark tower romantic then whatever you want to call it there's nothing more
00:55:16romantic in any of us than to think we are not romantic we are such stuff as dreams are made
00:55:22on
00:55:24well never mind there's one man in this town will see things the way i do clyde manadu he can
00:55:30buy and
00:55:30sell a lot of you bankers and you know it i let him call the tune we'll see if you
00:55:35fellas dance
00:55:35yes sir i should have consulted cline manadu in the first place he'll put a stop to this this invasion
00:56:05okay
00:56:14oh is he you know the cool and the style where's miss emma she's inside
00:56:23oh albert thank goodness you've come maybe you can do something with him any change cousin emma no he
00:56:29He just sits there, staring out the window.
00:56:31Ever since his best friend, that Clyde Manadieu, turned him down...
00:56:36the whole fight seems to have gone out of him.
00:56:39He just can't understand it.
00:56:41Clyde Manadieu, of all people.
00:56:44Have you been able to make him take his medicine?
00:56:46Yes, that's what worries me.
00:56:49He takes it without hardly any fussing at all.
00:56:51And you know how cranky he used to be about medicine.
00:56:54It's not like Will to give in so easy.
00:56:57Could I see him?
00:56:57Yes, go right on up. Maybe you can do something with him.
00:57:02Oh, stop playing that thing about he can't hear himself think around here.
00:57:06I ain't playing them, Miss Emma. I ain't touching, Sister Curl.
00:57:09Well, then play it. Stop acting like there was a funeral in the house.
00:57:19Come in.
00:57:24Hello, Cousin Willie.
00:57:35I just thought I'd stop by for a minute before we leave.
00:57:41Leave?
00:57:42Yes, sir.
00:57:44The company's pulling out at 9.30.
00:57:47Forgive me, my boy.
00:57:49I'd clean forgotten it.
00:57:52I'll be there.
00:57:54Oh, no, Cousin Willie. You mustn't do that.
00:57:56You'd better stay here and take care of yourself.
00:57:59Albert, I've made the unpardonable error of overestimating the quality of my reserves.
00:58:06Oh, you mean Manidou and that crowd?
00:58:11Well, that's not as bad as it looks, Cousin Willie.
00:58:14No, Albert.
00:58:15No, Albert.
00:58:16There's only one phase of this whole campaign I can look back on with satisfaction.
00:58:22When I first saw you again, I must say you seemed as indifferent to the fate of Fredericksville as all
00:58:28the rest.
00:58:28But after you began to consider the life story of Fredericksville and realized the toil and blood and sorrow that
00:58:36Fredericksville had grown from, your indifference began to leave you.
00:58:41And you enlisted in the National Guard.
00:58:44Sure, Colonel, but...
00:58:46Now that we've come to a time of new growth when toil and blood and sorrow are again called for,
00:58:54I'm proud, Albert.
00:58:57Proud that you stepped forward among the first.
00:59:02The same is true of your comrades in arms.
00:59:06I didn't do anything, Cousin Willie.
00:59:09They drafted me anyway.
00:59:12Albert, I want you to have this.
00:59:14Oh, no, Cousin Willie, I couldn't take that.
00:59:17This was the first wrist watch in the Panama Canal Zone.
00:59:23It hasn't lost a minute in 34 years.
00:59:31Gee, Cousin Willie, that's swell.
00:59:34I should like to think of it carrying you into action.
00:59:41In action, my boy, timing is very important.
00:59:46Thank you, sir.
00:59:50Well, I guess I'd better be shoving off.
00:59:55Goodbye, sir.
00:59:58Goodbye, my boy.
01:00:01I can't brush you.
01:00:20Goodbye, columnist.
01:00:42Hello, Dr. Evans.
01:00:43Oh, good afternoon, Albert.
01:00:44Say, Doc, what's the real lowdown on the colonel?
01:00:47Well, I'll tell you, Albert.
01:00:49He ought to be in a hospital, but I can't do a thing with him.
01:00:51He refused to budge from the house.
01:00:54Is he going to get well?
01:00:56Not unless we can put some fight back into him.
01:00:58Give him something to get well for.
01:01:00The way he is now at his age, it's hard to say.
01:01:03But we'll do our best.
01:01:05Goodbye.
01:01:12THE END
01:01:39THE END
01:01:40THE END
01:01:40THE END
01:01:40THE END
01:01:53THE END
01:01:54ORDER!
01:01:56HOLD!
01:01:58Rage!
01:02:00Please!
01:02:03First, Sergeant!
01:02:13Dismiss the company.
01:02:15Yes, sir.
01:02:19Inspection!
01:02:20Hunt!
01:02:23Hunt!
01:02:26Dismissed!
01:02:28Tommy!
01:02:35Hello!
01:02:38So you've come to cover the story, have you?
01:02:40Well, you don't think I came to see you, do you?
01:02:42Ella Sue.
01:02:43Want something to eat, soldier?
01:02:53Have you a statement for the press?
01:02:55Only that I wish to convey to our esteemed city leaders my heartfelt appreciation for this delicious barbecued thing.
01:03:03Without which democracy as we have known it in Georgia.
01:03:18You know, I think you ought to hang a service down at the door of the Society Department.
01:03:23Why?
01:03:26You got me into this.
01:03:27Me?
01:03:28I thought you liked the uniform.
01:03:30Oh, Albert, this is so sad.
01:03:32Remember that day at the courthouse?
01:03:34Up in the catwalk when, uh, the wind blew your skirts off?
01:03:37Albert, how sweet of you to notice.
01:03:40I guess that was the turning point in my life.
01:03:43Oh, I've seen your legs be clawed, but they never impressed me as being anything unusual.
01:03:48Just one of them now.
01:03:50Suddenly I realized there was something about them that didn't seem to fit in with that first little dame in
01:03:54the office who hit her cigarettes.
01:03:57I mean, there was something sort of special and personal.
01:04:01I didn't even suspect you knew I had legs.
01:04:04It just began to bother me, that's all.
01:04:07You mean there's something profane in your feelings towards me?
01:04:13Definitely.
01:04:14Oh, Albert, you are nice.
01:04:17After that, I never felt the same towards you, towards anything for that matter.
01:04:21But I thought maybe you liked the uniform.
01:04:24Why didn't you tell me?
01:04:26I reckon I couldn't figure out how to say it without getting serious.
01:04:31Seriousness won't hit you.
01:04:33Listen, honey child, I'm a southerner.
01:04:35Seriousness is one thing I'm scared to death of.
01:04:43Seriousness won't hit you.
01:04:44Ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege and distinguished pleasure to present his honor, the mayor.
01:05:00This is a red-letter day in the glorious history of Fredericksville, when the sons of Georgia once more answer
01:05:10the call of duty.
01:05:12Words fail me to express the gratitude that we, the citizens of this community, feel for you young men who
01:05:20are going forth like your fathers of old to preserve and protect our way of life.
01:05:26And the ideals of government of the people, for the people and by the people.
01:05:35Some of you may even be called upon to make the supreme sacrifice in defense of our ideals and our
01:05:43homes.
01:05:44But boys, I want you to remember this.
01:05:47You can always count on the folks at home.
01:05:50And when the war is won, you come marching back in triumph.
01:05:55You'll find the home folks right here waiting for you.
01:05:59And the home folks party.
01:06:11Quiet, I want to make a speech.
01:06:19I've listened to all the bunk I want to.
01:06:22We guys are going out to do a job that's gotta be done.
01:06:27Maybe we won't get back in time for the next election.
01:06:31But when we do get back, we want to make sure that we're going to have something to say about
01:06:36what's going on around here.
01:06:41Too many of us have sat back like scared rabbits.
01:06:46We're scared to talk.
01:06:48Scared to vote.
01:06:50Scared to even look at things the way they are.
01:06:53But maybe by the time we get this job done, we won't scare so easy.
01:07:01Maybe more people heard Colonel Leffingham than you thought.
01:07:04When an honest man speaks out, you'd be surprised how many people hear him.
01:07:10Maybe they're tired of political tricks and grabs and run-arounds and shenanigans.
01:07:15Maybe they want that town run and not run down.
01:07:19And about this courthouse, leave it right where it is.
01:07:22See to it that it's fixed up by the time we get back.
01:07:25If it's not fixed up, we're going to want to know why.
01:07:32And leave Monument Square alone, too.
01:07:34We had enough of Pug Toolin' while he was here in person.
01:07:37Am I right, fellas?
01:07:38Yeah!
01:07:39Yeah!
01:07:40Yeah!
01:07:42Yeah!
01:07:43All right, come on, you sir.
01:07:44Let's get down.
01:07:46All right, what's the rest of it, Mr. Mayor?
01:07:48We want it straight.
01:07:49Yeah!
01:07:50Yeah!
01:07:51Boys, boys!
01:07:53And we want it right here in front of the whole town, so there'll be no stalling.
01:07:57Well, uh...
01:07:58Come on!
01:07:59Come on!
01:08:06Come on!
01:08:07Come on!
01:08:07Come on!
01:08:10Come on!
01:08:11Boys, boys!
01:08:13Why, I...
01:08:15We promised.
01:08:17You know we wouldn't do anything to harm that grand old building.
01:08:21That's all we wanted to know!
01:08:24So long, everybody!
01:08:27Fall in!
01:08:28Goodbye, Elisabeth.
01:08:30John.
01:08:37Left!
01:08:38Please!
01:08:41Right shoulder!
01:08:43Pull!
01:08:46Forward!
01:08:48Up!
01:08:56Hey!
01:08:57Hey!
01:08:57Hey!
01:08:58Hey!
01:08:58Hey!
01:08:58Hey!
01:09:00Hey!
01:09:01Hey!
01:09:01Hey!
01:09:14Colonel!
01:09:15Hey!
01:09:28Colonel!
01:09:31I'm sorry, Will.
01:09:33I was wrong.
01:09:34From now on, you can count on me.
01:09:36And the others, too.
01:09:37Yes, yes, Will.
01:09:39Good luck, Will.
01:09:40Colonel!
01:09:40Do you want to hurry and get back on the job?
01:09:42We need you!
01:09:43Colonel!
01:09:45Great column, Dewey.
01:09:46I always said so!
01:09:47Oh, that's right, Will.
01:09:48You did!
01:09:49Always!
01:10:00Good luck!
01:10:08My yum!
01:10:10The End
01:10:11The End
01:10:12We will continue to play.
Comments