"Good morning, Miss Lanier." "If you're this early, you'll have to take the local." "Alright, Phil." "20th floor Executive, Miss Lanier." "─ Thank you, Phil." "Good morning, Miss Lanier." "─ Good morning, Martha." "I couldn't find a cab anywhere." "─ Such a lovely day, though." "40th Floor Executive." "Ramsey Company." "MissStevens." "I'm sorry sir, our switchboard doesn't open until nine." "You will be able to reach him shortly thereafter" "Ann." "That's correct, sir." "Mr Staples begins with the company today." "I'll leave your message on his desk." "Ann, would you put this on Mr Staples's desk, please." "Yes, ma'am." "Mr Staples will be in Mr Quinn's old office, Executive Corridor." "Yes, I know." "I said deliver it, not read it." "─ Yes, ma'am." "Executive. 40th Floor." "Miss Stevens." "Morning." "─ Hi." "Good morning, madam." "What did Margie say?" "She's to go to work next door?" "Oh no." "Well I'm glad I don't." "─ Not there." "Well, they really fixed up a new Exec's office for him, didn't they." "Very nice." "A new man." "Right next door to your boss." "And awfully close to Mr Ramsey." "It so happens that the new man." "What's his name?" "Staples?" "─ Uhuh." "Will be working with Mr Briggs." "They try to have adjoining offices." "Marjorie baby, you're awfully defensive." "I guess that's because you're worried about your Mr Briggs." "Run along, will you." "May I have some more cream, please?" "Next car, please." "Next car." "Next car, please." "Okay." "Next car." "Harry, Charlie, Joe." "Express down." "No stops." "We're jammed." "Next car, please." "Next car." "Next car." "Good morning, Mr Ramsey." "Next car, please." "Thank you, Lenny." "─ Yes, sir." ""Miss Lanier." "We've seen him." "He's here" ─ Thank you, Martha." "Chief operator, please." "Miss Phillips, you can put those three long distance calls through to Mr Ramsey." "Portland, Dallas, St Louis offices." "Good morning, Mr Ramsey." "─ Good morning, Miss Lanier." "Any messages?" "You have calls place for our Portland, Dallas and St Louis offices." "Nothing else important, sir." "Martin Tool  Die." "You said you'd wired him." "Yes, you'll find a copy in my briefcase." "You are right as usual." "Nothing important." "I have the Portland report in my briefcase." "I want it teletyped this morning to Seattle." "Have someone there drive over to Portland and get it to Johnson before lunch." "Run off 20 copies, confidential mimeos." "Have them ready for the board meeting." "I want it on the agenda." "Has Mr Staples arrived yet?" "─ Not yet, sir." "Delay the meeting until 10:00 to give time get it mimeo'd and distributed." "I want it read, and carefully." "Get word to the secretaries that no-one can count on early lunch appointments." "And make a note." "Staples is to sit one down from Vandeventer on my left." "Yes sir." "Let me know as soon as Mr Staples arrives." "Yes, Mr Ramsey." "Well, Fred .. here we are." "Yeah, here we are." "A little different to Mansfield, isn't it." "Now I know what a mother feels when her child goes to school for the first time." "Well, goodbye mother." "It looks big, doesn't it." "Well, give me a chance, honey." "Maybe I can cut it down to my size." "I'm running a little late." "─ Shall I call you when I .." "No, no." "You go on home after you've finished shopping." "And find a garage somewhere around midtown to park the car." "I'll phone on what train I'll be on." "Bye bye." "Goodbye, darling." "Ramsey  Company, the 40th .." "Yes, sir." "Executive or Administrative?" "The Executive." "Mr Ramsey." "─ 40th floor." "Morning." "Morning." "Oh, you want the tower, sir." "The tower elevator, sir." "It will be down in a minute." "─ Oh." "Sorry." "Thank you." "─ My pleasure, sir." "Good morning, Ed." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Good morning, Jamie." "─ Good morning, Bill." "Morning, Marge." "How was the weekend?" "─ Fine." "Letters are on your desk and the coffee cart is here any minute." "I can use some coffee." "─ Didn't you get any rest at all?" "Couldn't even take Paul to the double-header." "Ah, what a shame." "That planning report is going to be a real job, Marge." "This will be a big week for you too, with that thing." "I believe we'll try a rough first draft." "No longer than the telephone directory." "Phew!" "Marge." "Has Mr Staples come in yet, Marge?" "No, sir." "Mr Staples?" "─ Yes." "I'm Margaret Lanier, Mr Ramsey's secretary." "Oh, how do you do." "Mr Ramsey would be here to welcome you himself but he has a long distance call." "May I take you back to your office?" "Why, thank you very much." "And on our way, I might show you some of our other departments." "Have you met Miss Stevens?" "I introduced myself, Miss Lanier." "─ Fine." "And may I bid you my own personal welcome." "We are very glad to see you." "Well, that's very nice of you." "Thank you." "Now if you'll just come with me, Mr Staples." "Miss Stevens." "Marketing and Sales are below here." "We have our own research department on the 40th floor." "Perhaps you'd like to see that later?" "This is the Executive Corridor." "Mr Ramsey's office is that one down at the end." "Then Mr Jameson, head of purchasing." "Mr Briggs." "You'll be working closely with Mr Briggs." "Mr Vandeventer, Chief Engineer." "And this is your office." "Isn't it nice?" "I hope you like it." "Mr Ramsey was told by your office that you're especially fond of this period." "Wasn't your office in Mansfield furnished in early American?" "My furniture consisted of two filing cabinets .." "And a surplus metal desk off of a destroyer escort." "No, it's .." "It's really very attractive." "Very." "I appreciate it very much indeed." "Excuse me, Miss Lanier." "Ann said you wanted to see me." "Oh yes, Marge." "Mr Staples, this is Miss Fleming." "How do you do." "─ How do you do." "Marge, see that Mr Staples has all he needs in the way of office equipment." "It was arranged for this morning at Mr Briggs' suggestion." "I must rush now, Mr Staples." "Again, a most cordial welcome." "Thank you very much." "And Marge, will you stop by at my desk when you've finished here please?" "Yes, Miss Lanier." "I think I'd better explain the phone system, Mr Staples." "There are four lines." "One, is your private line direct to outside." "Two is for conference calls." "Three is for inter-office." "And Four, this button, is for your secretary." "Oh I'm sorry." "May I?" "─ Oh." "Yes, thank you." "Yes, I think I have that." "Let me see." "Outside, inter-office .." "conference and .." "Yes, that's .." "That's fine." "Thank heavens this isn't early American." "Busy?" "No .. not at all." "Well, you must be ..?" "─ Bill Briggs, your next-door neighbor." "Yes, of course." "Well I'm certainly glad to meet you, sir." "I think Mr Ramsey told me you'd been sick, didn't he?" "Oh, did he?" "Actually, it's just a .. just a pesky stomach that's been acting up on me." "You just in from Mansfield?" "Yes, they took a house for us." "Oh, sit down, Mr Briggs." "Settled already?" "Good." "I'm not trying to set myself up as a real New Yorker." "Altoona, Pennsylvania." "That's where I came from." "My first trip home, I was wearing spats." "I remember my father not being able to get over it." "He says "Bill"." ""Bill" he says .." ""You went to New York to see the sights, and instead you've became one of them."" "We just got here Friday afternoon." "So this morning, Nancy insisted .. my wife." "Insisted on driving me to work on the first morning." "Well, you know the way women are." "Yeah, you come out of a .. small-town plant." "You feel a little lost in a place like this." "That's the thing, you know." "We walked into a house Friday afternoon." "And we'd never laid eyes on the place before, you know." "And there it was furnished like a magazine." "Milk in the icebox, bourbon on the shelf." "I don't know." "You got to hand it to them the way they do things round here." "Yes, Miss Lanier handles all that." "Does a fine job." "That feeling that I got driving into town this morning." "I got to admit it's just .." "It's just a little overwhelming." "Yes." "And it's a pretty wonderful thing to be as young as you are." "And see it all spread out in front of you like a .." "Like a Christmas tree." "You know .. you think of .." "You think of big business." "You always think of it as being .." "Very impersonal .. you know ..?" "But .." "It's really not true with your Mr Ramsey." "I know what you mean." "How much time did you put in Mansfield?" "Almost six years." "You must have blown a bugle in Ramsey's ear in Ohio." "He got you here in a hurry." "Well actually, I wasn't at all sure I wanted to come to New York, but .." "This Ramsey is a pretty dynamic man." "Yes .." "I know." "You see, you've been with the firm some time now, haven't you?" "Oh, maybe forty years or so." "I seem to recall Mr Ramsey talking about you as a production man." "You're an engineer, aren't you?" "Yes, but .." "From what he told me, I guess I'll be a little of everything around here." "Mostly, in industrial relations." "Industrial relations?" "As a matter of fact, that's been one of my specialties." "We .." "We ought to get along pretty well together." "I'm sure we will." "Excuse me." "Mr Ramsey has called a meeting in the conference room, Mr Briggs." "Oh?" "Well Fred, it's been a real pleasure meeting you." "Thank you." "Mr Ramsey is expecting Mr Staples, too." "Oh." "Well then, I'll .." "I'll go in with you if you don't mind?" "Not at all." "I just hope Mr Ramsey remembers hiring me." "Mr Ramsey rarely forgets anything." "After you." "─ Thank you." "Staples?" "─ Yes. ─ Hello." "Fred, this is Harvey Jameson, head of purchasing." "Hello." "How are you?" "So they finally finished it." "What?" "Fred, your office." "On Friday the painters were over." "It was a madhouse." "Hey Bill, are you taking along Ramsey's breakdown?" "No." "I forgot that." "A couple of other things I forgot, too." "Jamie, you and Fred go in together." "I'll be a few minutes. ─ Fine." "I suppose Lanier has given you the Cook's tour?" "What?" "Oh yes." "Did she show you the conference room?" "Oh yes, on the other side." "Yes." "Mr Briggs." "What is it, Marge?" "I don't know." "Mr Briggs, I think I ought to resign." "Resign?" "What are you talking about?" "What happened?" "What is it, Marge?" "Mr Briggs, I've just been ordered to go over to Mr Staples as his new secretary." "Temporarily?" "─ No, I don't think so." "Who gave this order?" "─ Miss Lanier." "When?" "─ About five minutes ago." "You are supposed to break in your new secretary." "They've picked a new secretary for me?" "─ Yes, I think so." "Out of the question for you to resign, Marge." "To even think of resigning." "You're a fine, wonderful woman, and a great secretary." "That's the reason they want you over with Staples." "He'll need someone like you as he's new." "They want him to get into harness fast." "Who can tell, Marge?" "One of these days .." "That .. stomach of mine is a pretty perverse organ." "And .." "I'm tired." "You know, as it must to all men." "Mr Briggs." "Have you any idea who your successor is?" "Yes." "They've chose Sylvia Trammel." "Miss Trammel?" "─ Hmm." "It is so ordained." "So be it." "She's new, but she supposed to be very good at dictation." "Well, we'll give her a chance to prove it." "Mr Briggs." "If I could only tell you what this job has meant to me." "What working with you has meant to me .." "Alright, kid." "Wash up, get your money and get out of here." "And give Mr Staples all the best you've got in you." "I know you will." "That's the only way you operate." "I like they guy." "I have a feeling he's going to carve out a career around here." "Yes, sir." "Everybody seems to think so." "Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen." "Mr Ramsey will be with us in a moment." "Been away, have you?" "Good to see you." "Sorry, Fred." "I was held up for a few minutes." "See you later, Fred." "Where are we going to sit you?" "Oh, here's an empty chair." "I guess you can sit right here." "Mr Staples, will you sit over there, please?" "Right next to Mr Vandeventer." "One down from Mr Ramsey." "Welcome back, Bill." "Feeling better?" "Much, thank you." "A little stomach upset." "Good .." "I'm glad it's cleared up." "John, don't forget that contract." "Can we get it through tomorrow?" "First gentlemen, I'd like you to look over the mimeo'd sheet on top." "Haverford Mutual had some doctors look into the matter of executive diets." "Their findings showed incredible deficiencies." "They've gotten up some food tables." "I'll have them mimeo'd" "I'd like you to look them over." "As you know, it's been my feeling that a healthy executive is an efficient one." "I think it not amiss now to introduce the newest member of our team." "Mr Fred Staples." "He's from Mansfield, Ohio." "As you know, he was General Manager of Queen Tool  Die until we took it over." "His record there was a brilliant one." "He's a production engineer by training." "And an industrial relations man by instinct." "I expect good things from him." "You've probably met everyone, but .." "Just for the record, reading from left to right." "Mr Jameson, Head of Purchasing." "─ Yeah, we've met." "Mr Grannigan, Controller." "Mr Gordon, Head of Sales." "Mr Latham, Head of Service." "Mr Portier, Chief of Operations." "How'd you do, sir." "─ Nice knowing you." "And Mr Vandeventer, Chief Engineer." "How are you?" "Nice to see you." "─ Pleasure." "Oh, and of course you've met Mr Briggs." "Yes." "He's our Vice President and Assistant General manager." "In charge of everything that everybody else forgets to be in charge of." "Now gentlemen, you all have before you a .." "Copy of the Williamstone Plant purchase prospectus." "Mr Jameson, did you attach a supplement?" "It's right there, Mr Ramsey." "Page 17R, under "Process equipment"." "Mr Grannigan, the stock purchase plan I outlined." "I have your comments here?" "You do, Mr Ramsey." "Feasible, is it?" "─ Very much so, in my opinion." "Good." "Well." "That about winds it up, unless there are any .. further points to be made." "I do think, Mr Ramsey, if we could keep the transaction under wraps for a bit." "At least during the preliminaries." "You know what happens to stock quotes if it leaks that we agreed the purchase." "I've arranged it this way." "The stock quotation as of yesterday morning." "You seem to be straining at the leash, Mr Briggs." "Or am I mistaken?" "You mention here that probable time of purchase will be some time in June." "Now, the plant is to be in receivership until then?" "That seems to be what it says." "That means 6 months with improper maintenance of equipment." "Oh, I doubt it, Bill." "I've had 2 of my best men out there for the last 6 weeks." "We had a varying voltage problem, but that was taken care of." "No, maintenance-wise, I doubt if there will be $1,000 worth of deterioration." "How about goodwill?" "─ What about it?" "The plant employs 900 men." "That's half the working force of the village." "So?" "─ What do we do with the men?" "Cover them in Cosmoline and put them in a drawer until we resume production?" "I thought your concern was for the plant." "What good is the plant without men?" "You chop a village payroll in half for 6 months and you might not have a plant." "Because you might not have a village." "Mr Briggs, if we may be permitted to disregard for the moment .." "The considerations that you have brought up." "What about the rest of the plan?" "I'd say it was adequate." "Adequate?" "That gentlemen, is the kiss of death." "Believe me." "I've known Mr Briggs for a long time." "When he says something is adequate, what he means is, it is entirely inadequate." "I must admit to feeling concern over 900 men suddenly deprived of a livelihood." "Mr Briggs, you will do me the goodness." "To look at what I consider to be a fairly elementary business principle." "By putting 900 men out of work temporarily." "We may ultimately employ twice that number in the same town." "By cutting production costs as a result." "We will then be able to compete more favorably in the market." "Plus we'll be able to sell more goods." "We're not going to ruin that town." "We're going to make it." "I should think Mr Briggs, that after thirty years .." "You'd be able to think beyond the tongue-clucking stage .." "And come up with something resembling an analytical point of view." "I'm under the impression I gave you a point of view." "I saw none!" "I've received what amounts to a rather emotional little tidbit." "That was decidedly more charitable than coöperative." "And by no means thought through." "I asked I believe, for an objective view of a business venture." "From you I got and seem to be constantly to be getting .." "A very negative response if any at all." ""Adequate", I believe you said." "Well Mr Briggs, move will save us conservatively half a million dollars." "Which we'll be able to put back into the business." "I must say you take a liberal view of adequacy." "I didn't intend to make a central issue out of this." "But I did feel it important enough to air in this meeting." "Well, you have aired it in this meeting." "And I think it's a good thing you did." "But I think Bill, we're pretty much of one mind about it now." "And we may assume the matter is closed now?" "Mr Briggs?" "How about you, Mr Staples?" "Do you have an opinion?" "No .. no, I think not, Mr Ramsey." "Why not?" "Well frankly, it's a little out of my grasp at the moment." "I don't know anything about the firm, its .." "Corporative set up." "Its reasons for bankruptcy." "Or for that matter, its product." "I'm afraid I'll have to pass." "Good answer." "I respect thoughtful judgment, Mr Staples." "Congratulations." "We'll adjourn now until 2 o'clock." "I'm sorry we got started so late this morning." "But I wanted this analysis mimeo'd for your inspection." "After lunch, we'll take up the Portland report which you have before you." "Mr Grannigan attended the stockholder's meeting there on Tuesday." "And we'll begin our discussion with his report." "That's all." "─ Alright, sir." "Oh, Bill." "What about coming to have some lunch?" "─ No, thank you." "Oh Bill, wasn't there something you wanted to speak to me about before?" "Nothing important." "─ Fine." "Your tummy is alright, eh?" "─ Cast iron." "Couldn't be better." "Good." "Keep it up." "Oh, Staples." "See you later." "─ You bet." "Good to have you with us, Staples." "─ Thank you." "The arrangements satisfactory?" "Yes, just perfect." "I'm sure you'll hear from my wife very soon about that." "It's a beautiful house." "It's beautiful country up there." "I'm sure you'll love it." "Oh .." "See you later, Bill?" "Oh Fred." "Briggs is working on a project now." "A comprehensive planning report." "The point is that it's very important." "Most important indeed for our future program." "And it is far too big a job for Briggs." "Or for any one man to handle." "Now what I want you to do is get your finger in." "Certainly." "What I mean is .. more than just your finger in." "You understand?" "Yes, Mr Ramsey." "You make that quite clear." "Oh, could I see you a minute, Miss Fleming." "Yes, sir?" "Oh, I wonder if you can check for me, please, as to who's to be my secretary." "I need some notes typed up." "I'm to be your secretary, Mr Staples." "But I thought Mr Briggs .." "It was arranged for." "Just before the meeting, Mr Staples." "I take it you would rather remain with Mr Briggs?" "I was Mr Briggs' secretary for seven years, Mr Staples." "Well in that case I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to get someone else." "It was Mr Ramsey's idea." "Do you want to give me those notes now?" "No .. why don't you have your lunch first, Miss Fleming." "We'll take care of these when you come back." "Mr Briggs." "There are some notes here that .." "Later, Marge." "I'll do it later." "Darling, you didn't say anything about my new hairdo." "Do you like it?" "Yeah, it's lovely." "I wish you could see the new dresses I bought." "They're just beautiful." "Where are they?" "Ah, they're still at the store having little things done to them." "Come to the kitchen, I'll make a drink." "Not the kitchen." "The library." "Oh." "I hope they'd have the dresses ready." "I'd have them sent over to your office this afternoon." "I spoke to your secretary about it when I called." "It's funny." "She didn't mention it." "They didn't get the job done in time." "She had a nice voice." "What's she like?" "Who?" "Your secretary." "Oh .." "What you might expect." "You know." "What's her name?" "Now to tell you the truth, I didn't get her name." "Only her dimensions." "Ha." "Alright." "No .. her name is "Fleming"." "It so happens you don't have a thing in the world to worry about." "She didn't like me worth a bit." "Why?" "Well, I guess she prefers working for her former boss." "Well then, why doesn't she?" "I don't know." "Some kind of .." "Strategy at the top, I guess." "Sounds funny." "Yeah." "Her ex-boss happens to be only one of the Vice Presidents .." "My superior, and a very nice guy to boot." "Could that perhaps be a good sign?" "You figure it out." "It left me a little up in the air." "You know Nancy, running a .." "Plant in Ohio is beginning to take on all the .." "Aspects of a .." "Nice simple uncomplicated gravy train." "What happened today?" "Oh, nothing really." "Just .." "An impression, I guess." "Sort of .." "Queer undercurrents." "Tensions." "Good luck." "Mr Ramsey." "Good morning, Mr Ramsey." "─ Miss Stevens." "Fine." "Thanks, Jerry." "Let me see that breakdown again." "─ Oh, sure." "Miss Fleming, will you step in for a minute?" "Yes, Mr Staples." "No, that's not the one." "─ I'm sorry." "I'll see to this." "Here it is." "Yeah." "This is the only one I've cross indexed for division, so don't let him keep it." "I want Billy to take my letter from Henry Jacobsen with him." "Oh." "Yes." "Now look, Billy." "Henry is a nice, sincere guy, you know." "Made out of Bessemer steel." "He hasn't been off of his duff since he learned how to walk." "He started out stoking coke furnaces when he was 14." "Made foreman at 20 .." "And ended up buying the whole plant for his own 40th birthday present." "So .." "Know what I mean?" "Watch out." "─ Sure will." "And give him that report and then remember what he says." "Make stenographic notes when you can." "When you can't .." "Put it on paper as soon as you get out of his office." "No approximations." "Make it as .." "─ Fred, I've got to go." "I must know what they think." "I want to know how they feel about every paragraph they read." "I just hope they'll open up more to you than they did to me." "I'll be down there sometime next week for their decision." "Mention that to them will you." "─ Yes sir, I will." "Hello?" "Ah .. hold it please." "Just a second." "Have a nice trip, Billy." "And be sure and call me Sunday night." "I will." "Thanks very much." "Thanks, Marge." "Yes, put him on." "Don't go away Miss Fleming, please." "Hello?" "Judd." "Look, sorry." "I meant to call you right back." "It's about that Atlantic States meeting set up for October the 3rd." "I'd like a delay on that." "Well, I want to walk in there sure of my ground and .." "October is not going to give me any ground at all." "Yeah, could you do that?" "That would be a help." "November 7th." "Fine." "Look, I'll see you in the dining room." "Okay, good." "Put that on my calendar, please." "Now then .." "Did you get those wires off?" "─ Yes, sir." "Right after lunch I want you to set up a conference call .." "With Ramsey, Jameson and myself with Frank Derring in Denver." "You got a minute, Fred?" "Sorry, Marge." "This is urgent." "It's about that NLRB vote in Portland." "─ What about it?" "Ramsey's grumbling about it." "He thinks it's premature." "Premature?" "What's he talking about?" "He's had that plant running on wishful thinking for 19 months now." "We've got a labor problem out there all primed to explode in our faces." "Look Bill, you'd better walk into his office with a great big neon sign:" ""Strike", you know." "You say I've an estimate worked out .." "That it will cost us, conservatively, $4,000 a day if that plant goes out." "You know how it will hit him." "You go and dig up the ground." "I'll follow you with a bulldozer and we'll plow him under." "We've got 800 lumberjacks out there and if they go it will do us big, you know." "This won't be any one-week picket." "This thing could go on for a year with no strain at all." "You walk in there, set the charge, and I'll be in to light the fuse." "Fine." "I'll have to call you back." "Is 2:30 convenient for your call to Denver, Mr Staples?" "I have anything else?" "I've another problem here if you can spare a minute." "Oh Paul." "How are you, partner?" "Mr Staples, that gun." "Ah, you got it." "You like it?" "You try it out yet?" "Try it?" "30 seconds after he read "Winchester", he was sighting it." "Well, how about going out for a little skeet shooting on Sunday?" "Give it try." "Wonderful." "Can I Dad?" "He's all yours, Fred." "It's a little too strenuous for me." "Mr Staples doesn't get tired like you do, Dad." "I don't get tired." "He was an All-American." "It was terrific." "I just had to stop by and thank you." "Forget it." "Well, so long." "I'll see you outside." "Real thoughtful of you, Fred." "It's my pleasure, Bill." "Hello, Mr Ramsey." "How are you, Paul?" "Still taking your vitamins, are you?" "I guess so, sir." "─ Fine, fine." "Keep it up." "Excuse me, Mr Briggs." "Oh man, I'm tired." "I've arranged for your call to Denver, Mr Staples." "I must go over a paragraph." "No, I think I'll knock that off after lunch if you don't mind, Miss Fleming." "Alright, Mr Staples." "No." "Drink it here." "Relax a minute." "Thank you." "I will." "Would you like some of mine?" "Yes, thank you." "As a matter of fact, I would." "No, that's quite fine, thank you." "Where did you play your football, Mr Staples?" "Oh." "Ohio State." "But don't ask me the years." "I won't tell you." "I won't ask you." "Anyway, I feel about three times older than when I first came here." "They've kept you busy?" "Yes, they sure have." "You've done very well." "You've fitted in quickly." "Thank you." "I think that's the first out-and-out friendly thing you've said to me." "I think you resent me a little, don't you, Miss Fleming?" "I don't know why you should .." "─ Well, it's just .." "A feeling that I've gotten from time to time." "If you work with a man for a long time, a fine man." "You become part of him." "You identify yourself with him." "Then along comes a new man." "I like Bill Briggs." "I like him a lot." "I have from the first." "If I have done or said anything .." "─ No, no." "Of course not." "Because I must say you've been very fair." "But seven years isn't a day." "I owe a lot to Mr Briggs." "Mr Briggs is the last of the original bunch around here." "The people who really started this business." "And it's not easy to be the last of the original bunch." "I know." "He's not well." "He has a bad heart." "And an ulcer." "I guess that's just about par for the executive course, isn't it." "Well, I guess I've always been a field man." "I haven't been an executive long enough to find that out for myself." "You're a good one." "I think you're a very good executive." "You admit mistakes." "You don't pass the buck." "You're a lot like Mr Briggs that way." "I take that as a very nice compliment." "─ I mean it." "Mr Briggs only trouble is that he could never be a yes-man." "Not even to Mr Ramsey himself." "He always has to speak his mind." "You see Mr Ramsey .. doesn't like his judgment questioned." "You either go along." "Or you get off." "Bill Briggs never got off." "No." "He never did." "But maybe he's about to be pushed." "They drew up in the next round and then Howard went by him with a 60 foot putt." "I ask you. 7 birdies and he sunk an 80 foot putt on the last green for the lead." "Well, hello my dear." "You know, that's some golf." "The coffee will be ready in just a little while." "Fine." "You know, my .." "My father's recipe for coffee .." "Was to mix salt and chocolate with the grounds." "And cook them all up together." "He'd never drink anything else." "Sounds wonderful." "They .." "They serve it in a small downtown restaurant." "I eat there occasionally." "I must remember to mention it to Fred." "You said he was a confirmed coffee drinker?" "Dedicated." "─ Fine." "He's quite a young man, this husband of yours." "Have you had a chance to read much of the report?" "Of course it isn't finished yet." "Thank you for letting me see this much." "Not according to the protocol, I suppose, of a dinner party." "It makes me extremely proud of my judgment." "He's been worried about it." "Nancy." "Would you excuse me?" "A Wonderful party, you two." "Makes me think I should get married." "Oh don't do anything as drastic as that." "It's been wonderful having you, Ed." "Come again soon." "You try keeping me away." "I'll see you at the office tomorrow." "─ Yes." "Bright and early." "Goodnight." "Ah Jamie, you don't have to go yet." "Stick around a while." "Of course, I'd like to stay all night, however .." "We're going home." "I can't get him out of here, Nancy." "At these office parties, eating all the canapés is bad." "I thought everybody behaved very well." "Is that so?" "I give you credit for that." "─ Goodnight, again." "I was beginning to like all of them." "Will you come over and see us?" "─ Certainly." "During the day?" "─ Love to." "You know, holidays." "Jamie never gets home at all." "I think we wives ought to form a union." "─ You're right." "Goodnight, dear." "─ Bye bye. ─ Goodnight." "I wonder what happened to Bill Briggs tonight." "Oh darling, I forgot to tell you." "He phoned earlier." "He said he wanted to come but he just didn't feel up to it." "Oh, I wish you'd have called me to the phone." "I wanted to talk to him anyway." "─ Darling, you were busy." "Well, I know, but I .." "What about Ramsey?" "Is he planning to spend the night?" "No .. he just gravitated towards the library and made himself cozy." "That sounds a little like artificial gravitation to me." "You didn't have anything to do with it, of course?" "─ Well .." "He's really an amazing person." "You know, I expected a real tycoon, but .." "He's so simple." "Almost childlike." "Baby, I just hope by mistake you never wander into a jungle." "Goodnight, Jeff." "─ Goodnight." "Wonderful time." "Some interesting reading matter here, Fred." "Very interesting reading." "I took the liberty of taking your wife's invitation to look over your report." "Oh really?" "Good, heady stuff." "Good solid thinking." "And some of it is better than good." "Of course, I can't say that I agree with all your conclusions, but .." "I listen to arguments." "It will be good to hear arguments for a change." "Good arguments." "I can't tell you what a relief that is." "We really sweated that one out." "Fred, I like a man to show initiative." "I like a man who's not afraid to think a new thought." "To take a different kind of step on his own." "With your permission, I'll .." "Borrow this extra copy of your report just overnight." "But for now, I can say .." "I'm very impressed." "Of course we haven't finished it yet, but Bill and I, after another week we .." "Bill?" "You mean Briggs?" "Yes, sir." "Well, we worked together on this." "Oh come now, Staples." "I pride myself on my sense for style." "I can link what I see with what I know to be peculiar to a certain individual." "And I know Bill Briggs' work." "I've been exposed to it since I was of voting age." "This .." "This isn't his style." "It isn't his brand of thinking." "Well, I don't know what Nancy has told you, but Bill and I worked .." "Fred." "Learn to accept success." "It's tougher sometimes than learning to accept failure." "Don't take half of your accomplishment and .." "And hand it out gratuitously to the man on your left." "Who hasn't the stuff to do it on his own." "That is charitable." "Humane." "It makes you feel good." "But it's not business." "Mr Ramsey, I'd like to clear up one point." "There will be a meeting on Tuesday, Fred." "We can discuss the report then." "I assure you I don't want any undue credit." "I never extend undue credit." "Ask anybody!" "Ask your friend, Briggs." "You think I'm tough on him, don't you." "I am tough on him." "And I think Bill is .." "I think he's a good man." "He was." "And grandfather clocks were good clocks." "And Stanley Steamers were good automobiles." "But you can't run them in competition today." "I must say that I like some of his ideas very much." "Very much indeed." "So do I." "Some of them." "Not many." "Still, a man with .." "Bill's experience and .." "I don't know." "I think he'd be hard to replace." "I'll see if that coffee is ready yet." "─ Are you serious, Fred?" "Briggs would be hard to replace?" "Do you honestly think that?" "And why do you think I brought you down here from Mansfield on short notice?" "Do you think that was a whim?" "Is that what you think?" "Fred, you're Briggs' replacement." "I thought you understood that." "I'm .." "Expecting his resignation." "I don't like to prolong these things." "They are .." "Unpleasant and personal, no matter what tack you use." "And under no circumstances could I, or .." "Would I, undertake to fire him." "Coffee is in the living room." "I thought perhaps you'd like to go in there?" "Quiet." "Look at the time." "I really must go." "It's been a wonderful evening." "Sorry you have to leave so soon." "I really must." "My .. coat, I think is in the bedroom." "Oh yes of course." "I will get it for you." "May I make a suggestion?" "Mr Ramsey, I don't want to seem ungrateful." "I'm not looking for gratitude." "You can't run a business on thank-you notes." "That's Briggs' trouble." "And, God forgive me that was my father's trouble, too." "This." "The incredible conception of an industry being run like a soup kitchen, like a .." "Like a welfare comfort station." "I know what the old-timers think of me." "I've grown up being stared at .." "By a lot of tongue-clucking old fogeys who find me ruthless." "The kind of people who represent all .." "That might have kept our business from growing to anything like its present size." "This .. this stupid black and white idea that honesty and profit are incompatible." "I just happen to feel." "That the atmosphere of a large corporation." "Cannot be constantly cathedral-like." "Thank you, Mrs Staples." "And .. again, thanks for a wonderful evening." "I'll see you in the morning, Fred." "You didn't steal that promotion." "You won it." "Remember that." "Goodnight, Mr Ramsey." "I hope you'll come again." "Thank you Nancy, and I hope I'll be able to." "Goodnight." "Goodnight." "What was that all about?" "I'm Bill Briggs' replacement." "A Vice Presidency?" "You must have really spread it on him." "Listen." "A little rare roast beef and .." "Wifely pride don't get you that kind of a promotion." "Yeah, it takes something a little more." "A little misrepresentation for one thing." "A little switch in authorship for another." "You told him I'd written that report." "I did not!" "I told him Bill had helped you." "But Nancy, this is Bill's basic idea." "They're the same set of ideas that he's had for years." "I gathered that much" "You gave it life, you made it work." "You made it practical." "Even so Nancy, I don't want any part of it." "Fred, I happen to know what you contributed to this." "I also know that you can't stand winning." "If you have even a nodding acquaintance with the loser." "I don't like stepping on another human being to get to a capital gains bracket." "Ramsey stalks the poor guy to death like an animal." "He'll whip him to death if he can, to make him resign." "I didn't hear you tell Mr Ramsey that he was mistaken." "I didn't hear any clear-cut defense of Mr Briggs." "If you don't want to be successful." "Go tell that to Mr Ramsey." "─ Look, Nancy." "Will you please .." "Then you can check in every night, but don't tell me .." "I don't want to argue about it!" "─ Neither do I." "I just want you to answer me." "Did you tell him that your wife was mistaken?" "Did you tell him that you were taking bows for something that you did not do?" "No." "No, I didn't." "Why not, Fred?" "Why not?" "Because I want the job." "Thank you." "For a straight and honest answer." "Now I think we can both sleep tonight." "Hi." "─ Good morning, Paul." "Where is Cora?" "─ She's late, I guess." "Aren't you going to be late for school?" "It's only 8:10." "I've still got six minutes." "You've got it figured out to a science, haven't you." "I've just got it figured to how far I have to go." "And how long it will take me." "Well, if you've found that out, you've found out a lot." "Thanks for breakfast." "You worked late again last night." "Yeah." "No rest for the weary." "You haven't got it down to a science yet, have you dad?" "What?" "How far you have to go and .." "How long it will take you." "What's the matter, Paul?" "Here." "Here's last night's double-header." "The one we were going to see." "Oh, I forgot all about it, Paul." "I'm .." "I'm sorry." "We didn't miss much." "I watched it on television." "A crummy double-header." "The Braves took both of them." "The Yanks are playing tonight, aren't they?" "Yeah." "They play the Red Sox." "Let's start all over again." "You meet me at the office." "We'll have dinner and go to the game together." "Sounds good." "─ It's a date." "You're on." "So long, Dad." "Have a good day and .." "Uh .." "If you can't make it tonight." "Would you give me a call at school?" "I've raised the world's worst pest, mister." "At eight in the morning you work out the worst thing that could happen tonight." "Upstairs in my room, I've .." "I've got a drawer full of tickets to ballgames we've never seen." "Because of that stuff." "But .." "Call me if you can, Dad." "It's important." "I'll make it this time, son." "Can't you have another glass of milk and tell me about last night's double-header?" "I'll be late." "I wish I could." "So long, Dad." "Take it easy." "Sure." "Good evening, Mr Staples." "Good evening, Sally." "Paul?" "Hi, Bill." "Hi, Fred." "I thought it was my son." "He's going to pick me up." "You got time for a cigarette?" "Sure." "What are you doing here?" "I thought you were going to the ballgame." "I've had a miserable headache since dinner." "So I sent Paul on to see the game alone." "He's going to pick me up." "How long have you been here?" "A couple of hours, I guess." "Can I get you an aspirin or something?" "─ No .. no." "I'm much better now." "Anyway." "It gave me a chance to look over the supplements you did for the report." "I think Ramsey's right, Fred." "You may be an engineer by diploma, but you're .." "A crackerjack industrial planner by instinct or something." "Coming from you Bill, that sounds real good." "No question about it." "Some of your suggestions were great, Fred." "Really great." "I've incorporated them verbatim." "I like your approach, Fred." "You think of people in terms of the human factor." "Not just logistically." "Something I've never been able to make Ramsey understand." "Anyway." "Now he can't complain I turn in the same report every year." "He won't be able to say that this year." "Join me, Fred?" "No thanks, Bill." "I've got to .." "Take Nancy out for supper." "And that long drive home, you know." "I don't know." "Maybe I'm just getting old." "I used to be pretty tough." "I'm still tough, I guess." "But every now and then I get tired." "Tired of arguments." "Tired of battling." "Tired of the whole bloody mess with all this .." "Fancy organization as super-finagling." "Oh I know it's legal and modern and all that." "It's what they call a "trend" isn't it?" "In the old days things were a lot simpler." "Businesses grow, Bill." "─ This business didn't grow." "Not since old man Ramsey passed on." "It's been added to." "That's not growth." "Just plain acquisition of business and stock transfers and bank loans." "Manipulated by hired shysters and a sharp-shooting accountant." "And organized and controlled by a barracuda like Walter Ramsey." "You sure you won't have a snifter, Fred?" "I wish you would." "─ No," "Look, times change, Bill." "You know that." "But do they always change for the better?" "Old Ramsey could walk down a production line and call each man by his first name." "And get called by his first name in return." "Yeah, I know that feeling, believe me." "He didn't need public relations experts." "Honor was enough." "Character." "And he never sold a share of stock in this company either." "Not until the depression came along and then he had to raise cash or go under." "And do you know why?" "Because he would not lay off one single man." "That's the kind of man Jim Ramsey was." "Now I sit in that fancy conference room with Jim Ramsey's son." "I sit there and I see all the old man's principles .." "All his beliefs." "Every single thing holy to him." "Jobbed off by this spindly little financial wizard." "This wall-eyed, ice-coated little rooster." "Who knows more about debentures than about the human heart." "Bill." "─ I'm alright." "Take it easy." "I'm alright." "You're beginning to work yourself up." "Sit down, Fred." "Sit down quietly and be a nice, sympathetic friend and associate." "I wonder if you're as good a human being as you are an industrial relations man." "He doesn't like you, does he." "No." "Bill." "Has it ever occurred to you to resign?" "─ Pah." "Of course it has .. a thousand times." "Why don't you?" "What?" "Resign." "You can't take the chance of letting this man fire you." "On our level you don't get fired." "You know that." "After 30 years productive work they can't say to a man like me "Alright, get out"." "They just can't do that." "So what do they do?" "They create a situation." "A situation you can't work in and find that you can't live in." "With this tension .. abuse." "Small humiliations." "It all starts out on a scale so subtle, so microscopic." "That at first you can't really believe it's happening at all." "Gradually, the thing begins to take shape." "Pieces fit together." "All the little bits." "And it becomes unmistakable." "They chip away at your pride, your security." "Until you begin to have .. doubts." "Then .. fears." "Ramsey." "He wants me to resign." "He wants me to get my craw so full that I'll be miserable enough to do that." "But you'd take it?" "─ Yes, I'd take it." "Why?" "The bigger the job, the more desperately you hang on to it. ─ Why?" "Why?" "Why don't you take it?" "Why don't you quit?" "Quit?" "Yes, Quit." "Get out of it, chuck it." "You'd have your pension, your peace of mind." "No!" "You know Ramsey is going to go on hounding you until he makes you quit." "Never!" "He'll never make me quit!" "Bill, I .." "I wish I could understand why you go on taking it." "Because I'm weak, I guess." "Because I'm sixty-two years old and I don't think I could get another job." "How does that strike you?" "How do you think?" "Once in a while I have a dream." "I dream I'm sitting in that conference room and he starts working me over." "I'm just smiling, see." "I'm perfectly calm and I'm taking it." "I don't show the slightest resentment." "And then." "And then without any change of expression, I get up out of my chair." "And I walk over to him." "And I say .. "Ramsey"." "─ Bill." "Ramsey!" "─ Bill. ─ Ramsey, I say." "And then I smash him, and then I smash him again." "Get hold of yourself." "─ I hit him again!" "And he starts to fall and I hold him up." "Bill!" "Ramsey, I say:" "I'm not through yet!" "Bill!" "[ Whistling ]" "It's the kid." "He's coming to pick me up." "Fred .." "I don't want him to see me." "Not like this." "You're alright, Bill." "Just sit down now." "─ No, he can't see me like this." "Fred, help me, help me." "─ Alright, I'll take care of him." "You just lay low for a minute." "I'll see .." "Tell him I left early to get .." "─ Bill, be quiet .. be quiet!" "Please Fred, hurry." "Be quiet." "[ Whistling ]" "It's me, Paul." "Oh hi, Mr Staples." "Man, what a place by night." "Where do they keep the caskets?" "How you doing, partner?" "Dad said I should drop in and pick him up." "Oh." "Well he went on home." "He needed a little rest." "Oh .. good." "He's under orders not to work late." "He can't seem to keep away lately." "Always working, always worrying." "No wonder he's number two man." "Suppose I drop you off at Grand Central, huh?" "Swell." "Thanks, Mr Staples." "Ever since I can remember he's been married to this place." "Mom used to say the same thing." "They were great together, Mr Staples." "Mum and Dad." "They used to yell and argue and carry on." "He was a fighter." "More?" "There's another bundle on the truck." "Mr Staples." "You left your hat in Mr Briggs' office." "Fred, I've the Stanley contract made up." "─ Later, please." "A bad night." "Yes, Mr Staples?" "Now this is the proposals report." "Give that to Miss Lanier for confidential mimeo-ing." "Tell her that Mr Briggs has the only carbon." "Is he in yet?" "No, sir." "Mr Staples." "─ Yes?" "It's not signed." "How would you like the names?" "In what order?" "First yours, or first Mr Briggs?" "I don't care." "It makes no difference to me." "But a joint project, sir?" "I really don't think it's too important." "Put Mr Briggs name first if you like." "Just give it to Miss Lanier, right away." "I'd like this thing printed by afternoon if possible." "That's all, Marge." "Yes Marge, what is it?" "Proposals report." "Will you sign it so it can be printed?" "Oh would you .." "Just a moment, please." "Marge, would you please take it in to Mr Ramsey." "He asked to see it first." "Hello?" "Oh yes, good morning." "Is that the report?" "─ Yes, sir." "Miss Lanier said you wanted to see it." "─ Yes, I do." "Who signed this?" "I wrote the title page." "Mr Staples suggested I sign it." "Print it." "I'm sure that if Mr Staples knew .." "─ Print it, Miss Fleming." "I can sign that report now, Marge." "Now we meet with Ramsey in 20 minutes." "Under the conditions and the time we've got, it's the best plan I can devise." "It's the only one ready, so you fellows have got to go along." "Marge, I can sign that report now." "Thank you, Marge." "The major projects during the period aforementioned .." "Being the Huber Petroleum Refinery." "The Sterling Carstairs Refinery." "The Chatham Nichols Smelter Company." "The Henderson Valley Dam." "The Swincarbon Steam Plant." "And the New England Canadian natural gas pipeline." "A good report, Van." "I get a real feeling of activity doing your reading." "The next item of business is the projects proposal report." "Clearly, it's the greatest single importance on our docket this morning." "I must say, and I'm sure you'll agree .." "That I am not given to enthusiasms at the drop of a submission." "But this, I'm impelled to say, that it is unique in effort, genius and thought." "To Mr Staples of our organization goes my heartfelt thanks and congratulations." "Besides being our newest member, he is shaping up as our most astute." "This set of proposals is ingenious comprehensive and fresh." "Congratulations." "Your success is a reaffirmation of my own judgment." "Mr Ramsey." "Of my own good judgment, I add." "─ Mr Ramsey." "I prefer not to be drenched in modesty, Mr Staples." "This is not modesty, just the extension of credit where it's due." "Bill is as responsible as .." "If he's responsible, is your name used in vain?" "I don't think Fred would use my name in vain." "It is refreshing to find someone not suffering from over-modesty." "What I was trying to say is, that we worked on this project together." "It was a combined effort." "I'm sure it was." "Well as long as that's understood." "Oh it is." "It is." "It's just that I feel .." "Reasonably competent to assess individual performances .." "And to single out those that I feel should be singled out." "With all due regard for Mr Staples' concern for his fellow man." "Now then, if Mr Briggs' ego has been sufficiently nourished .." "I don't think Fred brought this up to feed my ego." "Oh, well whatever it was that prompted his precipitate dash to your defense." "There was no dash to my defense." "─ Why not drop the thing, Mr Briggs?" "I hate becoming entangled in absurd little personality conflicts." "I'll put a star by your name on the cover if that will make you happy." "My name is no longer on the front cover." "─ Mr Briggs." "You're twisting the thing to make it seem I'm grubbing for some recognition." "Mr Briggs." "I find it unfair, Mr Ramsey." "─ We have a full agenda." "I f you feel so bruised that you must persist in prolonging this discussion." "Mr Ramsey!" "Let me finish Mr Staples, if I may." "We have only one purpose here." "To work." "We cannot hope to accomplish this if we must be continually subjected to the .." "To these singularly unbecoming strains and tensions." "These childish claims and counter-claims." "Mr Briggs, I asked you a simple question." "Is it or is not within my province to credit a man for a job well done?" "Of course it is." "─ Then may we drop it now?" "Only if it's understood I do not submit to discolorations of a man's worth." "As to a man's worth, Mr Briggs, I think I have proven myself a competent judge." "I ask you to recall I built the business from a scratch-pile of used lumber .." "And a few machines into a giant." "And I made few mistakes in doing it." "Few mistakes in business and few mistakes in judging men." "You've made one here, this report .." "I refuse to engage in fight because a supposedly responsible company man .." "Persists in wasting time haggling over credit." "That is not fair." "─ I was not haggling over credit." "This is a joint report we worked on." "Don't tell me what is true and what is not true." "What am I, some kind of idiot?" "That I can't recognize another man's thinking." "Whatever your abilities in the past, Mr Briggs." "Your work hasn't shown this stamp of originality and talent in ten years." "A man slips, clutches." "He loses his grip." "He tries to hand on by someone else's." "You have no right to say that." "Bill, will you please speak up." "Do by all means, Mr Briggs." "You think I'm mistaken, do you?" "Can I go through 150 pages .." "Where I can point out, line by line, when another man has taken over for you?" "Has had to take over for you." "And I can point out sections of this report that I never had to touch." "Had to, Mr Staples?" "Of course you can." "Let me show them to you." "I've seen them submitted, year after year." "Principles and precepts for better business." "Mr Briggs' yearly platitudes." "But you translated his unworkable well-intentioned philosophy." "Into tough business procedures." "You make it work." "Ramsey!" "Mr Briggs, I will not tolerate insubordination on any level." "And if anyone here finds that intolerable .." "He has the God-given right to offer his resignation." "Bill." "Please." "Mr Ramsey." "I had no intention of seeming insubordinate." "Meeting is adjourned." "Mr Briggs." "Miss Lanier!" "Miss Lanier!" "Bill." "Bill, can you hear me?" "A little .." "A little .. bottle of pills." "In my coat .. in the office." "Get some water." "─ Yes, sir." "Grannigan, get an ambulance." "And call Dr Fletcher." "Don't move him." "Fred." "Bill .. still giving .. audits." "Do me a favor, Fred." "What, Bill?" "Tell him .." "Tell him .." "Go to .." "[ Telephone ]" "Hello?" "Thank you, Mr Staples." "Five minutes ago." "We just had word from the hospital." "He died five minutes ago." "Thank you, Mr Grannigan." "Nancy?" "What are you doing here?" "I called your office." "And there wasn't any train, so I drove here." "How did you know where to find me?" "They told me at the hospital." "Does Paul know?" "Yes, he's with .." "Bill's sister." "He's alright." "You care for some drink?" "Have you had anything to eat?" "Huh?" "Have you eaten anything?" "Fred." "What happened?" "Nothing." "Not a thing." "Except a murder." "There were witnesses, too." "Plenty of us." "And no-one lifted a finger to stop it." "Fred." "Nancy, I know." "I didn't lift a finger." "─ You don't know." "I'm not going to have you going around in sackcloth and ashes .." "For a thing you did everything in your power to stop." "You begged him to resign." "You know that." "What more could you have done?" "What more could anyone have done?" "Nancy, I think you had better go home." "Would you take this please?" "Are you coming?" "─ Nope." "Then I won't go." "I want you to go home and start packing." "Where are we going?" "I don't know." "Somewhere." "Anywhere." "Just away." "There's an awful stink in this town and we're going to get away from it." "Come on, I'll put you in the car." "─ No, I'm not going to leave you alone." "Nancy, I want you to go home, please." "─ No, I'm not going tonight." "Tomorrow, I'll do anything you ask." "I'll pack, I'll go anywhere you ask." "But not tonight, not in the state you're in." "Look." "There's something I've got to do." "─ Fine." "Then we'll do it together." "Bill was meant to go to Lansing tomorrow morning for a meeting with Phillips." "You'll have to take his place." "I believe I've already mentioned that." "Yeah." "You mentioned it." "You'll leave on flight number 116." "8:32 from LaGuärdia." "Miss Lanier will meet you at the airport with your reservation .." "And all the memoranda and correspondence pertaining to the negotiations." "You'll have three hours in the air to familiarize yourself with the details." "I have no interest whatever in the Phillips matter." "What was that?" "I'm telling you that I don't want the job." "I'm through." "I'm quitting." "I resign as of now." "Why?" "Because I hate your guts." "You used Bill Briggs for a whipping boy." "You made him knuckle under and then you beat him to death." "You wouldn't try anything like that with me because I'd kill you first." "I'm not a nice human being." "What else?" "You're nothing but a freak!" "You drive your people to peak efficiency if they make it or a grave if they can't." "Because Bill lacked the strength .." "─ And the perspicacity." "He was second in command." "He'd a lot of responsibility to hold and he cracked." "It was his business, too." "─ It's no-one's business." "It belongs only to the best." "To those who can control it, sustain it, nurture it, keep it growing." "Right now it belongs to us because we're producing." "But in the future it belongs to whoever has the brains .." "The nerve and the skill to take it away from us." "Well, they can have my share of it right now, as I don't want any part of it." "What do you want from me?" "Apologies?" "I don't apologize!" "What else?" "A nice, unsullied conscience?" "Do you walk out of there with a halo because you spoke your mind?" "What do you do then?" "Go to work for some nickel and dime outfit run by "nice" people?" "Who won't challenge you and prod you and goad you." "And drive you to a height you never even dreamed of." "A company where there is nothing to fight for, because you are the best." "Where there is no competition." "Where everything is handed to you." "And nothing is worth fighting for." "I want you to stay." "I don't think you understand, Ramsey." "I don't like you." "I don't like anything about you." "I didn't hire you to like me." "Alright." "I'm not a nice person in your eyes." "But you'll learn more, grow more and do more here than anywhere else on earth." "I want you to stay because I need help on my level." "And you're the only one who's able to function there." "Be a conscience for me if you want .. be anything you like." "And if it's something I don't like you'll know about it soon enough." "I think you're strong enough to take it." "And if not, I think you're strong enough to get out." "Name your terms!" "All terms are negotiable." "I don't think so." "Not mine." "Alright." "I'd just as soon not waste any time doing trading." "As of now, your salary is doubled." "Your stock option is doubled right down the line." "Your expense account is whatever you make it." "Add to that a new title:" "Vice President." "I want a lot more than that." "You will not take me on as just another Vice President you can just push around." "You'll take me as someone who hates you down to the bare nerves." "Nothing in the world will ever change that." "I'll argue with you, contradict you, fight you in every way I know how." "I'll do everything in my power to push you out and take your place myself." "Go ahead and try." "Mr Staples." "You have yourself a deal." "Have it drawn up." "No reservations now?" "Yes." "One." "Bill had one pitiful little dream." "That someday he'd walk in here and break your jaw." "I reserve the right to have that dream for myself." "I'll have it drawn into to the contract." "With a little rider giving me the same privilege." "Oh .." "Staples." "You'll be pleased to know that Bill Briggs' boy is being taken care of." "Well, that lets you sleep better tonight." "It begins, huh?" "It begins .. fair enough?" "Fair enough." "Do we pack?" "No .. we stay." "On whose terms?" "─ Mine." "And his." "Are you satisfied?" "─ Yes." "Oh, Fred." "You know it's easy enough to chuck something you think is wrong." "Whereas this way maybe there's a chance." "I'm so happy." "Well, we'll see." "I've got to go to Lansing." "The morning plane." "When will you be back?" "─ Tomorrow night." "I'll be late." "Aren't you always?" "T-G"