"Somebody's looking for you." "Miss Jeffries!" "Morning, Sheriff." "We've got what you want, we always get a good haul on the 4th July." "Good." "Come on, les go." "Here she comes, Bill." "Come in, and see what we've got." "Wait, I forgot my tape recorder." "Boys, this is Miss Marcia Jeffries." "How do you do?" "Her uncle owns the radio station in town, KGRK." "She's been doing a programme, maybe you've heard it..." ""A face in the crowd"." "A mighty nice programme it is, too." "I know this is a little unusual... but this morning she's going to do her programme from here." "Miss Jeffries, the jail of Tawny Hawk County is at your disposal." "Is very simple, you just talk into this microphone in a natural voice." "We'll just chat back and forth." "This is completely informal... so if anybody wants to sing a song or tell an anecdote... a funny story..." "Let me see." "Beanie, last time you were here..." "I heard you sing something." "I ain't got my teeth with me this time." "This is Radio KGRK, the voice of North East Arkansas... bringing you its morning feature, "A face in the crowd"." "Whose face?" "It could be yours." "Or yours." "People are fascinating wherever you find them." "This is Marcia Jeffries, looking for more faces... this time from the county jail." "Say something." "Don't worry Ma, everything's fine." "Nicest jail I've been in in this part of the country." "Hey you, you can do something." "I got black skin, but I ain't no minstrel." "I'm sorry, Miss Jeffries, they're just an ordinary bunch." "Where's the drunk from last night with the guitar?" "Whas his name?" " Rhodes." "Thas him lying there..." " Go and wake him up." " Watch him, he's mean." " Miss Jeffries, we'll wake him up." "Hey, wake up!" "Morning, Mr. Rhodes, I'm from Radio..." "Get away!" "Get away!" "The sheriff's here." "I don't care if the President is here." "If a man can't get a little decent sleep in jail..." "Who are you?" "I'd like to introduce you to our radio audience." "Radio?" "Join me in a little chat..." "Wait a minute!" "quit racing your motor." "What do I get out of it?" "I mean, Me Myself and I." "Sheriff?" " Whas he in here for?" " A week, drunk and disorderly." "If you'll co-operate, I might let you out in the morning." "Me too, I'm his manager." "The boys say you don't keep your word any too good." "You keep your end of the bargain, I'll keep mine." "Well, OK." "Is a deal, tomorrow morning." "I'll sing you a song." "I went to Sarah Lawrence College, I majored in music." "I learned that real American music comes from the bottom up." "When Gershwin played at the New York it was black tie music... but the real beginning of it was in folks that never owned a tie." "I just bumped into a fella you never heard of, Rhodes." "Whas your first name?" "Jack, or Mack, whas the difference?" "Calls himself "Lonesome Rhodes"." "Lonesome?" "Don't be rushing me, cut that thing off a minute." "Give me a chance to lubricate my Adam's apple." "Nothing like a little medicine to put you in the mood." "Ain't mamma a beauty?" "A guitar beats a woman any time!" "I never have seen a woman I could trust like this old guitar." "I love my mamma guitar." "She's always waiting for me to pick her up and hold her." "Never asks me for money or goes cheating around when I ain't looking." "If she gets a little sour, I just give her a little twist like so... and we're right back in tune together." "Hey, Lonesome, sing "Rye whisky"." "Lonesome." ""Hallelujah, I'm a bum."" "She can see that plain enough." "Whenever a bunch of fellas like us... outcasts, hobos, nobodies, gentlemen loafers... one time or all time losers, call us what you want to..." "Whenever we get together, we tell funny stories... me and Beanie and the rest of these... hand-to-mouth tumbleweed boys like you see in here." "If whisky don't get us, then women must... and it looks like..." "I'm never gonna cease... my wandering." "But, deep down, when we get ready... to tuck our heads under our wings and go to sleep... we ain't kidding ourselves." "We're so low-down lonely... the fella we couldn't stand the sight of this morning... tonight, when the guards douse the lights... and plunge us into darkness... why that same fella seems like our nearest, dearest buddy." "Ten thousand miles away from home." "And I don't even know my name." "But I ain't crying." "No, I ain't crying, because I'm gonna be a free man in the morning." "You hear that, fellas?" "A free man!" "The sheriff's gonna open up his cage... and I'm gonna be as free as a bird in the morning." "Hey, maybe I can try putting a couple of rhymes together..." "Sing something dependable like "Home on the Range"." "I ain't gonna sing no "Home on the Range"." "No, sir, not if it means I rot in here another month." "I'm gonna sing what I'm gonna be... a free man in the morning." "Oh, good night, moon." "Moon, you just fade, fade, fade away." "Oh, good night, moon." "Moon, you just fade away." "And hurry on, Mr. Sun... bring on the new day." "Oh, bring on the sheriff... with his great big old key." "Yeah!" "Bring on old Big Jeff, the sheriff of Pickett, Arkansas... with his big old fat key." "To open up this nasty, filthy jailhouse... and make a free man of me." "You got any objections to being a free man in the morning?" "No, sir, I ain't." "Gonna be a free man in the morning... free man in the morning... free man in the morning..." "I know the reason..." "All right, I'm ready." "Thank you, Lonesome Rhodes, that was just fine." "You mean to tell me you had that going all the time?" "I'm a sneaky type." "Well, lock me up..." " You like him?" " Yes, sir." "By golly, I think you've got yourself quite a fella there, quite a fella." "I'd sure like to use him on our Early Bird Show from 7 to 8." "Would you let me, Uncle J. B?" "Hello, get me the jail, Gladys." " The jail?" " Thas right, the sheriff." "Or should I say, our future mayor." "That boy may be bashful, Marcia, but he's pretty sweet on you." "The only thing I'm interested in... is running the best radio programme in North East Arkansas." "Hello, Big Jeff?" " Rhodes?" " Yes." "Thas the thing, J. B..." "I was only holding him on a drunk and disorderly." "You've no idea which way he was headed?" "There's only two ways out of town, and I can hardly see him going west." "He'll be on the east road." "Les go after him." "There he is." "Hey!" "Morning!" "We've been looking for you." "Yeah?" "What for?" "This is my uncle, Mr. Jeffries, who owns our radio station." "Well, how's it feel to be a free man in the morning?" "Where you headed now?" "Port St Joe, Florida." "Thas a long walk." "Whas down there?" "Oh, plenty of water and plenty of fishing bridges... and snapper boats, and tarpon rolls..." "You know, I've always wanted to catch me a tarpon." "Whas to stop you?" "I can't afford it." "I've got a radio station, newspaper, printing business..." "I'm president of the Caguanas..." "I can't afford it." "Come on, Beanie." "Listen, I ain't got but 4 or 5 days to make it to St. Joe." "Unless I steal somebody's car." "Wait a minute, we've got a job for you." "Every morning on our station, 7 to 8." "I don't want no job." "Why not?" "Too much like work, man." "Do you have any money?" "Mamma will always get me a meal." "I can sleep in a jail." "Come on, try it for a day." "How about if you had a plane ticket?" "You can put it in your pocket... if you ever want to go, you just go." "Well..." "OK." "I'll try it for one day." "I'll turn around." "Les go." "Take him to the hotel and get him a room." "And you better clean him up a bit." "See you around, Beanie." "Get in the back." "Would you mind closing the door?" "My goodness, ain't we fussy!" "This wardrobe you got, I think I better send it to the laundry." "I'll wash it myself." "That way I can cut out any time I feel like it." "So early in the morning?" "How would you like to come and get aquainted... early in the morning?" "We really do have to hurry." "I bet you never sat on bed with a man before." "Really!" "Look, I'll meet you downstairs." "Ladies, or I guess I should say, girls... the boss lady just shoved a piece of paper at me... says I ain't got but 3 more minutes." "Thas what I've got against working... is tangled up with the word "hurry"." "Back in my town, we had a cousin named Harry... they all called him Hurry 'cause he was always running someplace." "Till one day he fell down a flight of steps and broke his fool neck." "We put a sign on his grave that said..." ""He was in such a hurry, he couldn't wait to get here."" "Shucks, I was just going to add on a verse about being a free woman." "I bet a lot of you dream of that... with all the breakfast dishes piling up in the sink... and cranky husbands to get off to work." "Ain't it a shame how they get on about everything... because they ain't got the gumption to take it out on their boss?" "Well, good-bye, dear, I'm late for work." "I hate to talk against my own kind but I never saw... a man who could appreciate how hard you women have to work." "They think running water over a dish is all there is to it." "They never see you clean the grease out of the sink... or wiping out of the oven the gravy... or the apple juice that sizzles over the side of the dish onto your grill." "How would he know that?" "Listen to this." ""Dear Lonesome, though I never set eyes on you..."" "Listen. "I know you must be saintly looking." "Only a saint could understand the burdens of a housewife like you do."" "They all say the same." "They love his voice, his guitar, his ideas." "They should know some of them." "You're not fooling me, you're proud of him." "There hasn't been mail like this since you started the station." "Hello." "Hello, Wayne." "Oh, so you like the fella?" "OK, I guess we can put you down for three one-minute spots." "Thanks for calling, bye." "Well, advertisers are actually calling to buy time." "This station will make a little money yet." "Go easy on the advertising." "I don't think he wants to stay." "Marcia, you found him, is your job to get him..." "Honey, whenever you see this well running dry... you just come over here again." "Thas right, Lonesome." "I'm afraid thas going to be your name." "My real intimate friends call me Larry." "You can call me Larry." "Thas a good chaser." "Did you always drink like that?" "Not always, back in Riddle I was pretty straight." "I didn't touch hard liquor till I was 10 or 11." "Is there really a town called Riddle?" "To tell you the truth is just sort of a what do you call it..." "Composite?" "Compost heap is more like it." "Where are you from?" "From all over." "Any town you mention for 500 miles, I lived in a day or two." "What did your father do?" "He was a spieler with a two-bit con." ""Now, if each of you hand me your $1 bills..." "I'm gonna favour you with a five dollar gift."" "Still loved him, didn't you?" "He left us when I was knee high to a beer barrel." "You mother took care of you?" "Never mind about her." "What about those uncles you talk about?" "Uncles?" "If I'd a nickel for every time I fell asleep waiting for my old lady." "When I'd wake up she'd say, "Your uncle's sleeping"." "I'd say "Uncle Lou?"" "She'd say "No, this is your Uncle Mike, Uncle Moe"." "There wasn't a town in Arkansas or Missouri I didn't have an uncle in." "Yes, ma'am." "My old lady sure was generous about taking in relatives." "Yet you grew up so happy-go-lucky." "You put your whole self in that laugh." "Marcia, I put my whole self into everything I do." "You turned down my invite to go out with this tramp?" "No!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Thanks for the pies, girls." "You're going to spoil me." "Well, I reckon I've sung at you enough for one morning." "Maybe I'll wind up with a joke." "Les see..." "Yeah, I got one." "Sheriff Big Jeff Bess." "You say that ain't no joke?" "The fact he's running for mayor strikes me as kind of funny." "You know, back in my little town, Riddle... the way we elect fellas to office is... we try to figure which fella can best be spared from useful labour." "Like, you take the village half-wit..." "Now, in most places, he's going to be put on town relief... but in Riddle, as an economy measure, we make him the dog catcher." "But, now, this sheriff of yours..." "I don't say nothing against him... but if you've any mutts you want rid of... why don't you take them to his place to see if he can handle the job." "Here, Whitey!" "Here, Whitey!" "How does it feel?" "How does what feel?" "Saying whatever comes in your head and being able to sway people." "Yeah, I guess I can." "Yeah, I guess I can." "And now, an amusing example of grass roots democracy in action." "It seems there's a small town radio personality... called "Lonesome Rhodes" out in Arkansas... who literally sent a mayoralty candidate to the dogs." "Larry, Larry." "Just plough out through and keep going, leave the rest to me." "Thanks for bringing up my breakfast." "This is Mr. Steiner, all the way from Memphis." "Mr. Rhodes." "I'm one of the oldest theatrical agents in the mid south." "I book a lot of acts for the Grand Old Opera." "I discovered Hank Snow, and Webb Pierce... and the first morning I heard you, I said to myself..." ""Steiner, that man's got power."" "Not just catchy songs and funny stories, power." "How would you like to come to Memphis, sir?" "Memphis?" "You put me in mind of Will Rogers when he first came to Memphis." "I can make you a star, boy, if you put yourself in my hands." "Shucks, I'm just a country boy." "I'm not even sure I want to stay in this radio business." "I'm not one of these hard pressure fellas." "But, do you mind if I call you again?" "No." "Miss Jeffries." "Grand Old Opera, thas the big time." "It never hurt none to play hard to get." "You ought to know that." "You don't seem to be pining for lack of company." "I get extra hungry in the morning." "You cold fish respectable girls." "Inside you crave the same things as the rest of them." "Tell the truth." "You're on in 8 minutes." "Is so hot this morning, the creek gave up." "I mean it was bone dry." "So the young ones figure they ain't got no place to swim." "But my boss... old J.B. Jeffries, he's got a fine swimming pool... right here in town." "So why don't you kids go to his place for a ducking?" "J. B will be proud to have you." "Can you hear them?" "Can you hear them, splashing?" "Thas your curly-headed little darlings, enjoying..." "J.B. Jeffries' kind of hospitality." "Mr. Rhodes, telephone." "He's on the air." "Is the Memphis TV Station, he says Steiner told him about you." "Well, shucks, I can talk to him on the air." "All these folks are my friends, I ain't got nothing to hide." "Hello there, partner." "Whas that?" "You want me to come on TV in Memphis?" "With this kisser of mine?" "All I can say is you're a brave man." "$500 a week?" "Confederate?" "$500?" "We can do better than that." "Partner, leaving Pickett is like leaving my own flesh and blood." "Now, if I've got to take leave of these good folks..." "I'd rather try it for nothing for a couple of weeks... and if you ain't satisfied, or if I get homesick for Arkansas... back I come and nobody gets hurt." "But, if we find we get along... you make it a $1000 a week." "Yeah, you get the idea." "And transportation for yours truly and my little Girl Friday... not to mention Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Marcia Jeffries." "I'm glad you're going with him, take care of him." "I'll sure try." "Take good care of yourself." "Marcia!" "Come on, honey." "We'll be late, come on." "The train will leave, come on." "Bye!" "Bye Lucy, so long, Luther, you write to me now." "I'll be thinking of you." "Am I glad to shake that dump!" "I was only kidding, honey... you should know me better than to believe everything I say." "Bye!" "Bye!" "Good-bye and God bless you good people!" "If I'd known you'd put lipstick on me, I'd have never come." "Stop complaining, you look beautiful." "This is Mel Miller, the station's assigned him as your writer." "Writer?" "You're gonna have an easy job." "I don't do much reading." "I just work out the continuity." "What are you, eastern college?" "No, I went to school in Nashville." "I was Vanderbilt 44." "OK, Vanderbilt 44." "Mr. Rhodes, we're ready for you." "Hey, what are you doing to that make-up?" "10 seconds, ready on one, stand by two..." "Just be natural, easy and relax, real country." "When that red light is on, that camera is on you." "Now, put this in your mouth." "I think that straw's gonna be a nice touch." "Here he is, a newcomer to Memphis Television... but sure to become an old friend." ""A face in the crowd", starring that Arkansas traveller..." "Lonesome Rhodes." "What do you want?" "Howdy." "I've never seen myself on one of these things before." "So if I start admiring myself on this..." "What do you call it?" "Monitor." "Monitor." "Show folks what I'm talking about, will you?" "The director said all I had to do was..." "He said I had to act like I was looking straight at you... but he forgot to say there'd be a redeye looking straight at me." "You know, it does look kind of familiar though..." "It reminds me of my Uncle Ivan after a night of drinking... that fine old five star corn liquor." "He put a star on the bottle for every day it aged." "If the ocean was moonshine and I was a duck..." "I'd dive..." "I'm too tired to sing this morning." "Whas the matter with you big city fellas anyhow?" "Don't you ever go to bed around here?" "Last night, I settled down for my 12 hour nap in the hotel... and moly hoses, what a honking... and lights a-flashing and girls a-giggling on the street!" "So I called the desk on the telephone they've got in every room." ""Whas going on?" I said..." ""It ain't New Year's Eve, by any chance?"" ""No," he said..." ""Is just ten o'clock at night in Memphis"." "So I pulled back on my duds and went out to see what the commotion was." "Hey, Mr. Cameraman, move that redeye a little closer." "He's already telling us what to do." "I want to talk face to face with my friends out there." "Which one of these holes do I look in?" "One thing I could see right off about a big city... there's a whole lot of people in trouble out there." "You don't see it much in the daytime when everyone's hustling around... rushing from where they is to where they ain't... but is at night, late at night... around 4 o'clock in the morning is what I call "the dividing line"." "All you've got left is folks in trouble." "I'm gonna tell you people something happened to me this morning." "I'm going to tell you, and see if it don't happen to you the same way." "If it don't move your hearts... you're just a bunch of big city pickle hearts." "I'll pack up my one shirt and the Bible my daddy gave me... and my cigar box guitar... and I'll just get me on home to Riddle." "Is true about the one shirt, but I've yet to see the Bible." "The way he talks about the night, I couldn't write it that well." "Come out here." "Don't be scared of this, at least no more than I am." "A coloured woman." "In Memphis, that takes nerve." "I told you, he's his own man." "You just tell folks the same thing you told me." "You see, is my house..." "It burnt down." "She's got seven young ones..." "Helen, look what they're having on television, now." "Is about time." "She just walked around, because she didn't have no place else to go." "I didn't know a single living soul in Memphis." "Are you kidding?" "I bet you've got 20000 friends out there." "Each one will prove it by sending bucks... so you can build a decent house for those brats of yours." "Now, please, noboby send in more than $4.50... you might not be able to spare it." "If you've got over $10, cut in for that house of hers." "They're gonna be looking out for you, ain't you, folks?" "Lonesome!" "You should see how the money is pouring in!" "Get out of bed, you've got a client!" "Whas that?" "Is a mattress company, that means you get your $1000." "Stand still, you slob." "Here, get your hand in here." "Here it comes." "That sure is prettier music than a cigar box guitar." "There's eighteen thousand five hundred... and forty-one... of these things so far, and we ain't hardly started." "Mrs. Tooley says thank you... you good people." "You folks are building a house." "Ain't nothing you can't do when you let the best side of you take over." "Oh, I see the old clock-watcher going this way." "He wants me to make sure I leave time for the commercial." "You didn't know I had a sponsor, did you?" "Neither did I till I woke up this morning." "He's a good looking scoundrel, ain't he?" "What?" "Yeah, I've got the commercial on me somewhere." "Les see..." "Johnny Longshos tip for the Daily Double..." "No." "No, that ain't it." ""Lonesome... darling, you ain't forgetting your little Arkansas Annie...?" "No, that surely ain't it." "This is it." "Friends "comma" why not invest in sleep insurance "question mark"." "That is what you will be doing when you buy your..." "Luffler Easy-Rest mattress "period"." "It comes in six tasty flavours..." "Well, thas about enough commercials." "Personally, when I'm dog-tired, I sleep on the floor." "One of the best nighs sleep I ever had was in a box car." "They say that a firm mattress is better for your spine... but if you follow that, ain't it better just to sleep on the floor?" "But, if you softies insist on sleeping on a bed..." "I reckon you can do worse than a Luffler Easy-Rest." "End of commercial." "Maybe also the end of Lonesome Rhodes." "Seriously, I was on the phone with Mr. Luffler for half an hour." "I'm sure he's seen us and hasn't even looked around." "He's got a loophole in his contract... and if you kill his commercial once more, he'll walk right through it." "Hi there, Lonesome." "Hey!" "Boy, I almost forgot." "I got those tickets for the plug you gave this morning." "I guess you didn't know I do a little shlockmeistering." "Shlockmeistering!" "You just slip in a remark about these products and they pay you in kind." "A case of beer, free drinks at the Elrose Cafe, all that jazz..." "I tell you, it mounts up." "Isn't that illegal?" "Stealing time from regular sponsors?" "Illegal?" "Honey, nothing's illegal if they don't catch you." "See you, Joe." "OK, see you around." "Who was that?" "Joe, Luffler's office boy." "He won't be an office boy long." "Mr. Luffler doesn't like what I said about his mattress." "Shucks, I said you could get a good nighs sleep on one of them... if you're real tired." "There I go again." "I just can't get my mouth around the things they want me to say." "But, I'll try." "And now, a message of importance." "Now, you good people ain't so dumb you don't know whas important." "The atom bomb's important, things like that." "A Luffler mattress won't break your back... but it sure ain't no world-shaking message." "Just in case you won't be seeing me again..." "Fellas, come on." "Here's a little song to remember me by." "Give me an "E"..." "Well, good-bye, Mr. Luffler, and thanks for the ride..." "I'd like to have your money, but I'd rather have my pride." "On this corny old commercial we just cannot agree... so you can tear up my contract... make a free man of me!" "Going to be... a free man in the morning... a free man in the morning... a free man in the morning..." "I know the reason why." "Yes, Mr. Luffler." "Get me my lawyer." "Yes." "Who is it?" "Is me, Lonesome." "Larry." "I've come to say good-bye." "Just a minute." "I just wanted to say I'm gonna hit the road." "Where to?" "Whas the difference?" "For Mr. Luffler." "He's firing me unless I promise to show him my scripts in advance." "There ain't no script, I'm just me." "Stay." "Even after what you did for Mrs Tooley?" "I'm not my brother's keeper." "You are and you don't know it." "I don't cow tow to no mattress company." "See you in jail, sometime." "We shook them up a little bit." "Had a run for our money." "Larry." "Come here." "Did I call you a cold fish, Marcia?" "Marcia... is short for marshmallow." "My little marshmallow." "This way, please." "Joey, the boss wants you." "Thas terrible." "Mr. Luffler, since you hired Lonesome Rhodes... up to an including yesterday, our sales have increased 55º/º." "I smell smoke." "I know he's hurt your feelings, but as a merchandise man I must say... that a 55º/º jump in sales is quite a painkiller." " I'll think it over." " You called for me?" "Yes." "I can always get him back!" "For the credit department." "Yes, sir." "Joey..." "You're a smart lad." "Do you think I acted hasty in firing him?" "I wouldn't let anyone ridicule my product." "Your wife on one." "Yes, dear?" "Would you mind your own business dear?" "Would you tell the Ladies' Garden Club to mind its own business?" "Credit department." "Get me Browning, Schlegel and McNally in New York." "Don't worry, is kosher, Luffler gave me a message for them." "Do you know the number?" "Is the biggest ad agency in New York." "Browning, Schlegel and McNally, try information." "Browning, Schlegel and McNally, long distance from Memphis?" "Just a moment." "A Mr. Joseph De Palma, from Memphis, he represents Lonesome Rhodes." "Is a crazy business we're in." "This is about some joker called Lonesome Rhodes on a local Memphis..." "Hey, he topped both CBS and NBC down there." "Hello." "Mr. De Palma?" "Hello, I just thought I'd let you know... that Lonesome Rhodes is being flooded with offers." "If you happen to be interested, 5 o'clock is our deadline." "All right." "I'll call you back at five." "Five." "Well, my pleasure." "I caught that show on my vacation, he's a living doll." "Could be." "EBDNO, in New York City." "Marcia." "Marcia?" "You told me to pick you up in time for the show." "Hey, have you seen Lonesome?" "You'll find him in there." "In here?" "Oh, you mean in here?" "I wouldn't barge in there if I were you." "I'm not you." "Hey, hey, Lonesome!" "Lonesome, boy, hey!" "Yeah, yeah, who is it?" "Is destiny, thas who it is." "Joe Destiny." "Hi." "Child, I sold your show." "To the big time." "You wouldn't know it, THE advertising company." "I got them bidding against the Cutler Agency, MCA..." "Who?" "and a dozen others you won't know." "Look..." "BSNM wants you for primetime." "8 o'clock, coast to coast." "I told them we'd let them know at 17.00 hours." "Boy, I tell you, we're on to New York." "We are?" "They asked me if you had a New York agent." "Would you like to meet him?" "A bum out of jail in Pickett, Arkansas... and a Memphis office boy!" "Go, baby!" "Yes, sir!" "Go, daddy-o!" "Hey, will you sign this?" "Thank you." "Now, in the last quarter, gentlemen, and Miss Valerie... we have spent over $300000 of General Hainsworth's money... to make this country Vitajex conscious." "And all we've succeeded in doing..." "Next chart, please... is dropping from 10º/º of the market to 7º/º." "Now I..." "Mr. Macey, I'm late for the dog food meeting." "Can I say my say and go?" "Yes." "I've gone over this product pretty carefully in the lab." "Vitajex has a few grains of aspirin... a little sugar, that might give you some energy... but, frankly, General or no General... we've nothing to sell." "Strike that from the transcript, Miss Murray." "You know General Hainsworth always reads the product group reports." "I can't help it, I was hired as a research chemist." "Dr. Wiley, there's nothing wrong with Vitajex, is there?" "It won't kill you, if thas what you mean." "Is relatively harmless, like a patent medicine..." "Thank you, doctor." "Now, les get this train back on the tracks." "With all due respect to our estimable television department..." "He hates our guts." "and is sudden enthusiasm... for Lonesome Rhodes..." "I think we need a dignified sell." "I'd like a 15 minute participation on the Ed Murrow show." "Mr. Rhodes is here, sir." "Don't you think..." "I mean, is irregular." "I just thought if you and the boys got a look at him... you'd see why the TV shop is sold on him." "Gentlemen, Lonesome Rhodes." "Hi, folks." "Howdy." "I'm here to sell these kidney pills or whatever the heck they are." "Hey, whas the matter?" "You got no spittoons around here?" "Denise, would you bring the gentleman a spittoon?" "Now, whas your particular problem, Mr. Fuzzy Lip?" "Sit down, Mr. Rhodes." "You may as well know..." "Vitajex is the sick sister in the International Drug family." "They're getting ready to put out a smaller pill..." "Jim, before we make any hasty decisions..." "Look at these poor little white pills you're trying to peddle." "They're kind of pale, got no charge to them." "I got an idea." "Les make them yellow." "The colour of sunshine and energy." "Gives a fella the get up and go that sets him up with the ladies." "I guess... if you want to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed... just gobble up a handful of Vitajex and your battery's charged." "Watch." "I am ready!" "I mean, I am in the mood!" "My personality undergoes a startling change." "I got your spittoon..." "I'm going to get you, you little redhead!" "Thas what Vitajex does to me and I haven't even swallowed them yet." "You college geniuses want dignity on your programme." "Where I come from, a fella looks too dignified... he's looking to steal your watch!" "I'll move your merchandise!" "Peace." "Peace." "Oh, Vitajex, what are you doing to me?" "Oh, Vitajex, what are you doing to me?" "You fill me full of ecstasy!" "Oh, Vitajex, what are you doing to me?" "Oh..." "Vitajex..." "Vitajex, what are you doing to me?" "Vitajex, what are you doing to me?" "You fill me full of ecstasy!" "Vitajex puts a gleam in your eye." "Vitajex puts a gleam in your eye." "Keep your eye on that rating." "Do it again." "Vitajex puts a gleam in your eye." "Fills you full of..." "And each pill contains 97 units... of energy-giving endrocaine." "Vitajex, jex, jex makes you go, go, go!" "Keep your eye on that rating." "Thas why Vitajex gives you that get up and go." "Do you have trouble with your girl?" "Does she look elsewhere?" "Here's how Vitajex solved his problem." "Vitajex!" "It fills me full of ecstasy!" "See what I mean?" "This is General Hainsworth." "I've just seen Lonesome on the television, and I like him." "Why don't you take Vitajex... like Lonesome Rhodes does?" "She's talking about the new large economy size." "I bought my boyfriend a ten year supply." "Now, the soft sell." " Keep your eye on the ratings." " Vitajex, Vitajex, Vitajex." "Vitajex, what are you doing to me?" "Now, the hard sell." "Vitajex, 39.8." "General, I'm willing to put myself on record." "I say he's a risk, uncooperative and unpredictable." "We've spent tens of thousands to find out the key words... like "racing" and "zestful"." "Rhodes has the audacity to tear us to shreds in front of the audience." "39.8." "General, where are you?" "If you'll forgive us, we have to get back to town." "Why, hello, girls!" "How's Princeton 28 and the old lady?" "Afraid I'm making these fellas unhappy." "I'm not in the business to make them happy... but of putting the public in the frame of mind to buy Vitajex." "Exactly." "Excuse us, dear." "Poor Mace, he's already had one heart attack... and you're winding him up to another." "Well, thas his hard luck." "Hello, Senator!" "Did you have a fine flight?" "Splendid!" "Splendid." "I'll join you when I get freshened up a bit." "My guest, Senator Fuller, I'd like to see him in the White House." "Don't they call him the last of the Isolationists?" "Maybe, in some of those left-wing papers." "Rhodes, I want you to get to know people like that." "I'd like to take you under my wing and educate you." "Shucks, general, I'm just a country boy." "Young man, never forget Will Rogers." "He was just a gum chewing rope twirling cowboy... but he got to where he was telling off presidents and kings." "General, my thinking is the second section of the same train." "I've always gone in for long range planning." "Right now, Lonesome is merely popular, very popular... but Lonesome Rhodes could be made into an influence." "A wielder of opinion, an institution... positively sacred to his country, like the Washington monument." "I suspect your idealistic young lady disagrees with me... but my study of history has convinced me... that in every strong society from the Egyptians on... the mass had to be guided with a strong hand... by a responsible elite." "Let us not forget that in TV we have the greatest instrument... for mass persuasion in the history of the world." "I don't mean to flatter you, sir..." "What?" "Oh, yes." "Well, les have a go at it, shall we?" "Roger, Roger!" "Are you jotting this down?" "First, I'll see if I can sell Henry on the idea of a "Life" cover." "Remind me to call him for lunch." "I proudly dedicate to you... the latest hybrid iris of our horticultural laboratory." "The "Unusfloratorum"..." "We girls call it "The Lonesome Rhodes"." "I christen thee the "USS Rhodes"." "And so, on behalf of our great commonwealth..." "I'm proud to dedicate one of nature's wonders... henceforth and forever to be known as..." ""Mount Rhodes"." "And now, Lonesome, back in those difficult days... you had a pal." "We flew him to New York tonight... to help recall the struggle and joys of times gone by." "Because, Lonesome Rhodes, you lived it!" "Hey, Lonesome!" "Beanie!" "You old scoundrel, where have you been?" "Here, go out and get yourself some good liquor." "Thank you, New York, thank you, thank you!" "Hey, listen to this..." "The boys in our ward at the Veterans' hospital... just got together and donated $9.75." "You ask me how I can keep going 17 hours without sleep?" "Man, this is better than sleep!" "Didn't I tell you, kid?" "Didn't I tell you?" "Do you still want me to hold this sign?" "As general manager of the Sherry Towers... is my honour to present you with a gold key... to the two top floors of New York's finest hotel." "To the very top!" "You can't get much higher." "Hello." "Larry." "What time is it?" "Marcia, you've got to come over." "I never shoulïve let Joe sell me the idea of a penthouse over the offices." "25 rooms to be alone in." "I feel like a shipwrecked fella on an island." "Larry, I know that island, is populated with friendly girls." "Marcia, honey, believe me, is a matter of life and death." "Call me soon, doll." "Larry?" "If you don't come I'll dive off the balcony... and I'm ten blocks from the lake." "Marcia, come out here." "I had a girl up here tonight." "I get restless." "I lied to you." "When is over I'm Ionelier than I was before." "Come out here a minute." "Look at all those TV aerials sticking up like branches." "There's a whole forest of them from here to San Diego." "All waiting to hear what I have to say." "Is that why you woke me in the middle of the night?" "What I'm trying to say is all them millions of people believing it... doing what I tell them to... scares me." "The General and all them big-shots trying to educate me." "Educate, or use you?" "Thas it, the General says the country needs me." "I'm supposed to be an influence." "Is mighty tall grass, Marcia." "We're getting in deep, Marcia." "Deeper than we ever dreamed when we started out in Arkansas." "I know I act like I just ate the western hemisphere for breakfast." "But, down here in the boiler room, I know I need advice." "And not the kind I get from Joey, or the Madison Avenue lot... who'll betray me as soon as my back is turned." "No, I know when I come to the top of a mountain..." "I need you." "Because you're level with me." "You're my lifeline to truth." "Well... marry me, Marcia." "Please?" "Thas what I called you over here for." "Can't keep anything alive up here." "Dust in this city kills everything." "Larry." "Don't play with me." "Don't hurt me." "Don't hurt me." "Marcia, there's a lady to see you." "A lady?" "She's got a dress on." "I don't want to see anybody." "OK, I'll tell her to move it out." "I'm sorry ma'am..." "Are you the..." "I am Mrs. Rhodes." "Are you related to Mr. Rhodes?" "But, you're not his mother?" "His wife." "All right, Beanie." "Isn't he something?" "Do you turn this down a little?" "So..." "You're Lonesome's new tootsie?" "Lonesome, thas a hot one." "I hope you had better luck keeping him Ionesome than I did." "You should understand that I'm just a business associate of Mr. Rhodes." "Ain't you something!" "The floor manager of your programme is my brother in law's first cousin." "He told me where I could find you." "So you come off it, little lady." "Do you mind...?" "Mr. Rhodes might have done me the courtesy of telling me himself." "Mr. Rhodes don't do no courtesies to nobody." "I could write a book about him." "Is the purpose of your visit to collect material?" "Oh, I came to collect, but it ain't material." "Unless you get Larry to pay me three grand a month... not only will I not divorce him... but I'll make it plenty hot for the both of you." "I already got some feelings from confidential magazines." "I'm not engaged to your husband." "Larry thinks he has to take a bite out of every broad he comes across." "Then he calls them a tramp, drops them... all sort of psycho-something or other, you know?" "I caught him red-handed with my best girlfriend." "He broke my jaw." "Seems to be working quite effectively now." "Mrs. Rhodes, if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy this morning." "Well, tell Larry, 3 G a month, and he's yours." "An old fashioned marriage... is my favourite marriage." "Is a sincere type song." "Should be a big hit." "An old fashioned kiss needs a silvery..." "Oh, shut up!" "The Backward Barons are rehearsing our new theme song." "Very catchy." "Lonesome wrote it." "Actually, two fellas wrote it." "Of course, their names aren't on it." "General, we wanted to show you this." "Lonesome designed it himself, the reaction machine." "You just push these little levers, it can laugh." "Giggle." ""Ah"." " Ain't that good?" " Most ingenious." "We're thinking of putting them on the market." "A Lonesome Rhodes automatic reactor." "Mechanical laughter and applause, what are we coming to?" "We're coming to a bigger model." "I'm sorry to end this, is most interesting... but I've got a date at my club, lunch with Senator Fuller." "Whas the matter?" "General, I wish you had time to see our whole operation." "You're wound tighter than a clock, whas up?" "Next time you propose, you might consider getting unmarried first." "Listen, Beanie told me, it ain't as bad as you think." "I got a divorce, a couple of years ago in Mexico." "But the judge got indicted for fraud so my ex claimed..." "The latest ratings, Mr. Rhodes." "Hallelujah!" "Rhodes, 41.4." "Opposition, 19.5." "That other fella's gonna be jumping out of windows." "So, like I say, the ex claimed the divorce was a fraud too..." "I've got a good lawyer working it out in Juarez." "If I go down there, he'll get it off my back in 24 hours." "Don't play with me, I'm not one of your girls." "On a stack of Bibles, Marcia." "Saturday I'm going to be in Pickett judging the drum majorette contest." "I'll go straight from there to Mexico." "Next time you hear from me, ill be from Juarez, believe me." "That is just dreadful..." ""We also take in laundry." Thas a new one." "Welcome to the black hole of Calcutta." "This is one place they didn't show the General." "Naturally, here are the lepers of the great TV industry... men without faces." "They even slide our cheques under the door to pretend we're not here." "Ha, ha, ha!" "Think of the satisfaction of being a small cog... in the great wheel of humanity "Lonesome Rhodes"." "Ha, ha, ha!" "Sounds like she's coming over to our side." "Ha, ha, ha!" "Why don't you quit?" "Why don't you quit?" "I'm deeply involved with him." "Spoken like a lady." "Got his introduction ready?" "Home town boy, not only making good, but making everybody." "For a mild man, you sound vicious." "Didn't you know?" "All mild men are vicious." "They hate themselves for being mild and the extroverts whose violence... has a strange attraction for nice girls who should know better." "Today, "A face in the crowd" takes you on a sentimental journey... as Lonesome Rhodes, your old Arkansas traveller goes home... to the typical dirt road cotton-picking town of Pickett." "Where America's favourite country cousin got his humble start... he now returns to the simple folk who loved him first." "The latest face in the crowd, the lucky, talented girl... whom he will select from hundreds of contestants... as Miss Arkansas Drum Majorette of 1957." "And here's the man you've been waiting for..." "Look at them." "Look at them!" "Ain't that the most?" "I mean the most!" "Fantastic." "Country people." "The heart of America, the salt of the earth." "Hey, Beanie, L.R.!" ""We love L.R."." "Lonesome!" "Hi, you all!" "Is dangerous." "What, baton twirling?" "No, power." "You've got to be a saint to stand the power that box gives you." "Oh, is wonderful!" "She's only seventeen." "She looks like a very sweet child." "Friends..." "Friends..." "Friends... my heart is too full... to say anything more... than welcome back to Pickett." "A great artist... a great humanitarian... a great American." "Our very own Lonesome Rhodes." "Friends... fellow Arkansasians, fellow Americans..." "I know I should start off with a funny story... about my kin folk in Riddle... but I just feel too humble this afternoon... as I look out on this fine representative body... of wholesome young American womanhood." "You know I've been a fan of baton swirling from way back." "I think is a honest to God American art form." "Here's a number I just recorded for the Golden Oak Label." "You kids might enjoy twirling to it." "Here she goes, "Mamma guitar"!" "Oh, yeah." "Our first contestant will be..." "Miss Suzanne McKinley of Beagelstown... les have a real doozie, Suzie!" "And now, Miss Linda Bruce from Ganderstown." "Go, girl, go!" "From the town of Snakebite..." "Miss Peggy May Hardy." "Les see you twirl it and swirl it Peggy May!" "I give you Miss Mary Jane Johnson... from the neighbouring village of Pocahontas." "And now, Miss Betty Lou Fleckum." "And I say, that the winner... by unanimous decision and thas me... is little Miss Betty Lou Fleckum!" "Miss Arkansas Drum Majorette... of 1957!" "I'm so excited..." "I'm sorry." "You're my idol, honest." "I pasted your picture on the ceiling over my bed... so you're the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning." "Well, bless your heart." " What will you have?" " Water, I have a family." " Hello." " Mace, good show." "Yes, I think it went well." "Hi, Beryl." "Mace, that baton bit was the living end." "Thanks." "As Lonesome said, is an American art form." "A glass of water, Joe." "Oh, peach of a show, Miss Jeffries." "Should boost the ratings." "Poor Macey." "Lives on a diet of hydroglycerine and ratings." "Call it a Bible, but is really a death warrant with decimal points." " Here you are, sir." " Thanks." "Miss J, this just came for you." "Being in this place is just like being in the office." "Not quite." "Joe, two more, please and this time would you just... let the vermouth blow a kiss at the gin?" "Our barefoot boy won't be flying in tonight." "He's hopping over to Juarez." ""Get Arthur Godfrey to fill in, I'll do the same for him someday." "Counting on you to hold the fort."" "This shoulder's getting a permanent callus from holding that fort." "Whas in Juarez?" "Bars... lawyers, quick marriages... quick divorces." "Then, this is it?" "You're blushing." "Sixty to one martinis." "I suppose I should be a gentleman and wish you all the happiness." "I think I'll just be a cad and hope he chokes on a Vitajex pill." "You look nice." "Larry!" "Make sure you get the bride." "This is great stuff." "Officer, I'm his fiancée." " Did you say married?" " Sure did." "This lady had done me the honour of becoming Mrs. Lonesome Rhodes." "We did it in Juarez." "Easy, fellas, I just got her." "Where are you going?" "Miss, I'm Earl Wilson, what are your measurements?" "Hey, what are you trying to do?" "Are you out of your mind?" "Get it up there." "Thas it." "Their names are Kiko and Pico." "Kiko and Pico!" "Well, here she is." "My little Arkansas sweet potato, Betty Lou." "I ain't been so happy since the day I fell into Grandpa's corn liquor... and just guzzled my way down to dry land." "I don't reckon I'll be a free man tomorrow morning." "But if this ain't freedom... man, is the next best thing." "And now... you want to see what first caught my eye?" "And what second caught my eye?" "And what keeps on... and on catching my eyes?" "Ladies and gentlemen..." "I give you Mrs. Lonesome Rhodes." "Doing her unbelievable... double five baton twirling dance... to the scherzo from the 7th Symphony... by Ludwig van Beethoven." "Mr. Rhodes... could I talk to you for just a minute, please?" "I told you I didn't want you agents nagging me." "I've been with Browning, Schlegal and McNally for 17 years... in charge of the International Drug account." "The General just told me he's taking his business away." "Your young Mr. De Palma has wormed his way in..." "Look, Macey, Joe De Palma's doing a heck of a job for me." "But, you know this business, is cut-throat..." "Look, Macey..." "If a rating nose-dives or if you lose a client... even if it isn't your fault, the executive has to go." "Mr. Rhodes, if I lose this account, I'll be fired." "I've got a son in Princeton..." "Rhodes, you've seen my..." "You've seen my office..." "A corner office with four windows." "Do you know how long it takes to get a corner...?" "I was afraid to marry you, thas the truth." "The dirt root cotton-picking truth." "Last time you said you were afraid not to." "Both were true, you sort of overawe me." "You know more than I do..." "I figured you'd be so doggone critical all the time." "You and that smart alec Mel." "You don't really approve of me." "Thas so, ain't it?" "You're getting to be all the things you used to harpoon." "See what I mean?" "The bigger I get, the smaller you make me feel." "You take Betty Lou." "Don't try to explain." "Betty Lou is your public... all wrapped up in ribbons in a cute little package." "She's the logical culmination of the great love affair... between Lonesome Rhodes and his audience." "Well, I wish you weren't so bitter." "I'm not bitter." "If I sound stridently female about Miss Majorette, I don't mean to be." "I knew you'd married her just as a way of not marrying me." "Look, Marcia, I'm not forgetting what I owe you." "I'll give you a healthy slice of our operation." "10º/º of my end..." "You won't have to lift a finger with what I'm giving you." "Giving me?" "Giving me?" "You're not giving me anything!" "And you're not throwing me off the train like poor Abe Steiner!" ""Face in the crowd" was my idea." "The whole idea of Lonesome Rhodes belongs to me!" "I always shoulïve been an equal partner." "Well, now I'm going to be!" "I'm going to get something I deserve." "That doesn't sound like you." "And I want it on paper!" "OK." "All right." "I'll tell George to draw up the papers." "Look at yourself in the mirror, Marcia." "You'll see a millionaire." "There's always Vanderbilt 44." "He's going back to Memphis." "He wants to forget us both." "I know he'd wait for you till there was ice on the equator." "Thas how long he did wait." "When people ask me, Walter, "Where do you get all that news?"" "I invariably tell them I usually get it from a lot of people... who promised someone they'd keep it a secret." "As, for example... just what is Lonesome Rhodes going to talk to General Hainsworth about?" "Oh, General, oh, Lonesome Rhodes..." "And now, Mike Wallace interviews Senator Worthington Fuller." "Senator, do you mean you are not infected..." " with the presidential itch?" " Itch?" "Senator, is it not a fact that you have a date tomorrow night... for what is known as Madison Avenue coaching from Lonesome Rhodes... in General Hainsworth's private projection room?" "I have said, it calls for the closest scrutiny." "I am unable to persuade myself and to believe... that the blatant squandering of American wealth... at home and abroad is a road to a sound peace." "Thank you all... and good evening all." "Lights!" "I know is not what the people want to hear... but I know whas best for them." "We think so too, thas why everyone in this room... wants you to be the next President of the United States." "But your problem is getting the voters to listen to you." "Getting them to like you enough to listen to you." "Senator, I've got to be blunt." "Your TV appearances have been, well, catastrophes." "Wouldn't you say, Lonesome?" "Beanie, did you check the ratings for the Senator on "Face the People"?" "Brutal." "Excuse me, 4.2." "Go ahead." "We've got to face it, politics have entered a new stage, television." "Instead of long-winded debates, the people want slogans." ""Time for a change" "The mess in Washington" "More bang for a buck"." "Punch-lines and glamour." "Yes, Mr. Furness, even glamour." "My papers have supported Worthington Fuller... from the first day he ran for office, he's not a grandstander... a backslapper or a baby-kisser." "Thas exactly what he's got to become." "The majority in this country don't see eye to eye with him." "We've got to find 35 million buyers for the product "Worthington Fuller"." "You underestimate the respect..." "Respect?" "Did you ever hear of anyone buying any product... beer, hair rinse, tissue, because they respect it?" "You've got to be loved, man." "Loved." "I may be old-fashioned but I think there is still a distinction... between politics and, well, the field you're in." "Bull." "I beg your pardon, sir?" "Sorry if I tread on your corns, but I said "bull"." "Politics is people." " Mr. Rhodes..." " Now, now..." "The General asked me to come here." "If you don't want to hear me..." "Do go on, Mr. Rhodes." "I'm sorry to make a disturbance, but..." "Senator, I'm a professional." "I look at the image on that screen same as at a performer on my show." "And I have to say... you'll never get over to my audience... not to the 65 million people... who welcome me into their living rooms each week." "And if I wouldn't buy him, do you realise what that means?" "If I wouldn't buy him, the people of this country... aren't ready to buy him for that big job on Pennsylvania Avenue." "Do you know where I found him?" "I don't think he'll mind my saying, in jail." "He's stupid, he's got no mentality, he thinks with his feet." "But I trust those feet." "Now if he don't laugh... if he don't think the show's any good... then I know there's something wrong with it... something people just ain't gonna take to." "See what I mean?" "Now, Beanie..." "What did you think of the personality you just saw on screen?" "Well, I..." "Come on, give it to us straight." "Flatter than last nighs beer." "You see your problem now?" "How are you going to get this man, this bush-monkey to vote for you?" "Frankly, I don't know." "Well, maybe I do." "Do you know how to lift your ratings... from 4.2 to 51.7?" "You need..." "Now hold on to your hat, my friend..." "You need a whole new personality." "A new personality?" "Frankly, thas impossible." "Now, wait just a moment." "For instance, do you have a pet?" "My wife and I have a Siamese cat." "Beanie?" "My public love dogs." "One pitch with a hound is worth 10000 words." "That mutt didn't do Roosevelt any harm, did it?" "Dick Nixon either." "I'm sure you're right." "How about a nickname?" "Only dishonest thing about Curly is the way he combs his hair." "Curly, thas rather amusing." "See?" "You've got a sense of humour about that fine head of skin." "No hard feelings now, we're talking television." "Don't press your lips together, it gives you a kind of sissy look." "Keep your mouth relaxed so you can say..." "Once in a while." "It sounds crazy to you." "No, I realise is a new technique I've got to face." "Thas why I came." "Thas a boy, Curly." "You just put yourself in my hands." "I'll have them loving him." "I mean loving him." "You know, thas just what he did for Vitajex." "He ought to be in the cabinet." "I'll be going to bed now, sir." "Night, Sidney." "Lonesome, I don't know anyone in the country... who coulïve won the Senator the way you did." "It was..." "Shut up, I'm thinking." "Listen to me, as your adopted father... you've only one flaw, the way you've begun... to suddenly shoot out of control." "Like this evening, almost walking out on the Senator." "And you're beginning to antagonise the press, you're..." "Cracker Barrel." "Lonesome Rhodes' Cracker Barrel." "Whas that?" "My new show, set it up right away." "Give me a bunch of colourful country characters... all sitting around... listening to Lonesome Rhodes sound off about everything... from the price of popcorn to the hydrogen bomb." "You don't like it?" "Well, just forget it." "All I've got to do is pick up the phone..." "I can get Tim Andrews of National Motors to back it in a minute." "I'm not just an entertainer..." "I'm an influence, a wielder of opinion... a force." "A force." "Now, Shelton cigarettes, and Best Friend Dogfood... bring you the voice of grass root wisdom." "Lonesome Rhodes on the Cracker Barrel." "You know boys what really bugs me about our Limey cousins... is the way they keep trying to act like a first class outfit... when their store is having to close its branches all over the world." "Thas right, Lonesome." "Thas telling them." "He's getting crueler every minute." "Thas the Lorïs truth." "Well, look who's stopping by to chew the fat with us... around old Cracker Barrel, Senator Worthington Fuller." "Hey, howdy Curly how's my old bunk mate?" "Is a real pleasure and surprise." "Come and meet the boys." " Hello." " Hi." "Sit down, put your feet up on that." "Hello, Mr. Miller, long time no see." "The usual?" "And just let the vermouth blow a kiss at the gin." "In just a while I'll be tossing some questions at old Curly Fuller." "I should say Senator Worthington Fuller." "Are you waiting for someone?" "I'm just having a quiet drink." "I don't remember you doing that before." "I talk to a thousand people a day, this is a chance to unwind." "We didn't know that swallowing too much raw politics... can put a crease in your head a whole lot deeper... than that home-made joy juice we used to concoct back in Arkansas." "I wish you'd give me the real cotton-picking truth... about how you feel on the subject of more and more... and more social security." "I'm glad you asked me that, Lonesome." "I'd say that people today... are obsessed." "I mean, real drawn for security." "They want protection, coddling from the cradle to the grave." "I say that weakens the moral fibre." "Boone wasn't looking for unemployment insurance and old age pension." "All he needed was his axe and his gun... and a chance to hue a living out of the forest, with his own hands." "Real wizzy, ain't it?" "Thas the spirit that built this country." "Joe, would you turn the sound down, please?" "I'll say one thing, he's got the courage of his ignorance." "How's our old station in Memphis?" "I didn't go near it, I've been writing a book... about..." "I call it "Demagogue in Denim"." "Never had such a good time in my life." "You look wonderful." "All those months he was calling me Vanderbilt 44 and Frontal Lobe." "I shoulïve been punching him in the nose." "Now, I've got a book to punch him in the nose." "Is it going to be published?" "Came up to sign the contracts." "The publishers like it." "They think is time to pull the mask off him." "Let the public see what a fraud he really is." "I wouldn't say that." "What would you say?" "Is just harder for him to be as simple as he was... with all those generals and senators and politicians hanging around." "You're still with him?" "I tone down some of the crazier notions... he wants to spout on the air." "I'm the only person he can talk to anymore." "Lots of people have been fired..." "There's an awful lot of money at stake." "The agency we started with the International Drug account... is grossing over a hundred million a year." "How's Mamma Guitar selling?" "I found him." "He's mine for better or worse." "I'm doing my small bit to make him better." "Marcia, you're the locker room where he eases up after the fight... win or lose." "You're the shock absorber for collisions with ex-wives... models, new wives and assorted tramps." "You're the little wheel without which the express called Lonesome Rhodes... plunges off the track and leaps to destruction." "I can hardly wait to read that book." "Don't worry, I've spared you more than you've spared yourself." "I know." "I know" "I'll call you again sometime... when I think you're ready." "Hey, Betty Lou, take a look at this poll." "I got it up from 3º/º of voters to 11º/º." "11." "Thas a lucky number." "He's going to get in." "Hey, Sweet Potato..." "look who's home, you're big papa man." "You're not going to hit me." "Don't play the noble defender of the sanctity of marriage." "I know where you were those nights when Betty was waiting up for you." "If you hit me, ill be all over the papers." "As much as the people love you..." "You're fired, you're through." "I've got news thall move you and shake you." "I'm president of Lonesome Rhodes Enterprises." "I own 51º/º of the voting stock." "You're in bed with me, Larry, in bed." "Get me Beanie." "I think I'll just freshen my soda." "Beanie, get Mrs. Rhodes a seat on the next train to Little Rock." "You don't own 51º/º." "You're fired." "Fired?" "Lonesome..." "Lonesome, nothing happened, really." "This programme is brought to you by Shelton Cigarettes." "I'll treat you like any performer on my show that flops." "I've got a contract with you." "You'll get your money every week as long as you stay in Arkansas." "But I don't want to go home." "Ed Sullivan wants me to do my batons act on his show Sunday night." "You can do your baton twirling dance... in the ladies' room at the Little Rock depot." "Marcia, can you hear me?" "Get up, wake up!" "Is me, big me, the king." "Come on, Marcia, open up." "I said hurry up on this door, Marcia." "Lonesome's back." "Just got rid of Betty Lou." "Sweet talking little floozy, she'd have ruined me." "Fix me a drink." "What are you doing?" "We'll have to be more careful than we used to be." "I'll have to stay married till I get my new appointment." "Your what?" "This is still top secret." "The General's been talking to Fuller." "He's selling him the idea of creating an academy post for me." ""In time of imminent crisis and danger"." "Thas the way the General puts it." "Who can rabble people better than me?" "Hold them in line, right behind the government." "If we put Fuller across the way, and we will, he's gonna owe me that." "Secretary for National Morale." "How's that sound to you?" "Secretary for National Morale." "General's asking him to shake on it after my banquet tomorrow... launching Fighters for Fuller." "Fighters for Fuller?" "Yeah, how do you like that name?" "I made it up." "Everybody's nuts about it!" "The biggest men in the country are coming to my banquet... to get things rolling." "I've got an admiral, two governors... some investment house boys and a cabinet minister." "Which one?" "I don't know." "I told the general to pick one." "They're coming to your party?" "Honey, if I ask them, they've got to come." "They'd be afraid not to come." "I could murder them, like guests." "I'm afraid is true." "Whas true?" "Right here, tonight, you might have that much power." "Seen the ratings?" "53.7... just picked up another million." "This old country's just like my flock of sheep." "Sheep." "Rednecks, crackers, hillbillies... houseprouds, shut-ins, pea-pickers... everybody thas got to jump when someone else blows the whistle." "They don't know it yet... but they're all gonna be Fighters for Fuller." "They're mine, I own them, they think like I do." "Or they're more stupid than I am, so I've got to think for them." "Marcia, you just wait and see..." "I'll be the power behind the president... and you'll be the power behind me." "You made me, Marcia, you made me." "I always say that." "I owe it all to you." "I owe it all to you." "All to you." "I know it." "I know it." "Turn the light out." "I'm tired." "Big day tomorrow... a really big day." "A really big day." "Come on, come on, I've got to get some sleep." "Marcia!" "Where are you going?" "All I can say is tonighs show is going to be a mess." "Now you tell me the show's in a mess, now." " Marcia never showed up all day." " I've looked every place..." "She's the only one who can co-ordinate." "Co-ordinate, hell!" "Do you mean to tell me the success of my show... depends on one self-important, neurotic, temperamental female?" "I'm fed up with the whole lot of you incompetents." "Nincompoops!" "Bootlickers!" "Would you like some coffee, Mr. Rhodes?" "Is that your subtle way of trying to tell me I'm swacked?" "Well, I'm not drunk, just disgusted." "I'll handle it." "Of course, Mr. Rhodes." "I'll ad lib." "Just keep up with me." "I've saved the show before." "Well, I just wonder what they do with their afternoons..." " One more day like this, and I quit." " Here she comes." "Marcia, where've you been?" "We've been trying to find you all day." "You know how important it is." "We still haven't got our commercials routine." "I know thas kind of going out of style, like the corset... but every once in a while, I ask myself, Lonesome... where's that unmodern, uncomplicated, unliberated... but oh-so-happy one-man woman gone?" "Ain't no use getting het up about something we can't change." "I was duck-shooting over the weekend..." "I brought my movie camera along to show you folks what it was like." "Roll the film." "Hit it." "Hey you, in the projection room, show us the movie!" "Mr. Rhodes, they can't hear you." "About time." "I want to talk to you." "I can't tonight, I have to rush to the banquet... but first thing in the morning." "In my office, in the morning." "20 seconds, Mr. Rhodes." "You can take this, I've quit today." "Even after the senator bagged his limit, he hated to leave." "He says to me, "Lonesome..."" "Keep the door clear." "I'm surrounded by a lot of dumb sons of nitwits." "Hey, you redneck scoundrels still here?" "Why aren't you out working someplace?" "Ain't that Curly Fuller a duck-shooting fool?" "You know when we were standing shoulder to shoulder... in that cold water, belly button high... and the sun was smiling on us..." "Curly looked at me, and he says, "Lonesome... a family that prays together, stays together."" "Thas what he said." "I tell you that man is an inspiration... a man among men." "The Cracker Barrel, starring that irrepressible Arkansas traveller..." "You're off." "I'm glad thas over." "I'm gonna start shooting people instead of ducks." "For relaxation and for health... the cigarette that cleans your tobacco without a filter... and by Best Friend Dogfood... your dog's best friend." "And by Vitajex, that old "Vitajex what you doing to me" pill." "Hurry back you all, remember what old Lonesome said..." "A family that prays together stays together." "All right, super one, and start the crawl." "This has been an FBN production..." "Fuller, the great hunter." "He's shaking like this." "If they ever heard the way that psycho really thinks..." "Scenic design, James Fitzsimmons." "Costumes by Robert Hose." "Unit manager, George K George." "Sell that stuff about a man among men... to those morons out there?" "Shucks, I sell them chicken fertiliser as caviar." "I can make them eat dog food and think is steak." "Sure, I've got them like this." "You know what the public's like, a cage full of guinea pigs." "Good night, you stupid idiots." "Good night, you miserable slobs." "They're a lot of trained seals..." "I toss them a dead fish and they'll flap their flippers." "Let them listen, please!" "Marcia." "Why, he's a monster!" "I'm going to call the station and give them a piece of my mind." "We'll fix you, jerk." "I knew he'd open his big yack once too often and blow my 3 Gs." "I can believe is the same Lonesome Rhodes." "It is, only this time his personality finally came through." "Give me a drink." "Got to hurry boys, is a big important day." "Come in strong tomorrow, I'll be loaded for bear." "Held the elevator for you, the Lonesome Rhodes express... going down!" "All the way down." "Yes, sir." "Central Broadcasting Network." "That line is busy." "Tell him I'll never listen to his filthy programme again." "We're slobs are we?" "Well tell Lonesome from me..." "I said, are we paying you network a $100000 an hour... to build up our business, or destroy it?" "Just a minute, General." "Get De Palma on the phone." "Remember it was your company brought Lonesome to FBN." "Keep this scandal from rubbing off on Vitajex." "Disassociate ourselves." "Lonesome Rhodes?" "That line is busy." "What did he say?" "It must have been a whopper." "Come up with a good replacement." "Thanks for not stopping to pick up the peasants." "How's your ratings?" "Sorry, Mr. Rhodes has left and there's no one in the studio." "De Palma, you know your contract, the morals clause." "Any act abusing public confidence." "I've just the boy to fill the gap." "Barry Mills." "He's a young Lonesome and a lot easier to handle." "Buddy, I'm just a country boy." "Don't spare the horses, I've only 30 minutes to get into my dinner suit." ""L. R's blooper tops Unk Don's"" "I could never see what people saw in him, but he's had it." "The sinking of the Titanic, what happened?" "Marcia, she went crazy." "She's in the booth." "I hear you just wrote the ending to my book." "Yeah?" "Just a minute, I'll see if she's here." "Is him." "Marcia." "Oh, Marcia, I need you." "Come over right away." "Nobody's come, everybody cancelled." "They didn't even send me a wire." "The General sent me a wire." "The Secretary of the Interior sent me a wire, "Regret to inform you... unavoidably detained, unable to attend."" "All of a sudden, everybody's too busy." "All of a sudden, I'm poison." "Are you laughing at me?" "Are you laughing at me?" "You think I'm washed up, don't you?" "The same way I lost them, I'll get them back again." "I'm going to make them love me." "You're gonna love me." "Say you're gonna love me." "Say you're gonna love me." "You're gonna love me, you're gonna love me." "Say you're gonna love me." "Say you're gonna love me." "Say you're gonna love me, you're gonna love me..." "Whas your name?" "Francis, Francis, you're gonna love me." "Francis, you're gonna love me, love me, love me." "Get out!" "Get out!" "Get out, you black monkeys!" "You turn my stomach." "Get out!" "Sounds like he's finally gone through the roof." "Marcia, how soon can you get here?" "I'm surrounded by traitors." "That engineer... wait till I get him, I'll fire him." "I'll burn him over a slow fire." "Marcia..." "If you don't come right away, I'll jump!" "I'll jump!" "Jump!" "Jump!" "Get out of my life!" "Get out of everybody's life." "Jump." "Jump." "Jump." "I don't believe you." "Now, you'll be a..." "Oh, Mel..." "Why didn't you tell him it was you?" "Is true." "You'll just make it harder." "You should tell him face to face before he blames 20 other guys." "Face to face, then maybe I'll believe you." "Is it ever as simple as that?" "You've got to force complicated things into simple channels." "Either you go and tell him you did it and chop it off clean... so he never comes crying to you again... or you hold his hand... wipe his poor perspiring brow, fan his smouldering dampened ego... so he can burst into flames and burn again." "Secretary for National Morale... is a job that I was born for!" "Somebody send for a doctor, he's been like that for 20 minutes." "In a time of crisis... who else could rabble the people like Lonesome Rhodes?" "Who else could move the people to action like Lonesome Rhodes?" "You are looking... at America's answer... to the crying need for national..." " What are you doing that for?" " He likes lots of applause." "Maybe I'm just a country boy... but if the President tries to stop me..." "I'll flood the White House with millions of telegrams!" "I made him and I can break him!" "Yeah!" "Yeah, you know I can." "Because the people listen to Lonesome Rhodes." "Because the people love Lonesome Rhodes." "Lonesome Rhodes is the people." "The people is Lonesome Rhodes." "Beanie!" "More, yeah, yeah!" "No!" "No!" "Ten thousand miles away from home... and I don't even know my name." "Marcia..." "Oh, Marcia." "Marcia..." "I knew you'd come." "I knew you'd come." "Marcia, I lost them... but all I've got to do is talk to them one more time." "I'll say I said that just to see how many were really listening." "Sure, I'll have them eating out of my hands again, just like old times." "Larry, it was me." "I'm back on top again." "First thing I'll do when I'm back on top..." "I'll get that sound man..." "I'll get that dirty, stinking little mechanical genius..." "It was me." "It was." "It was me." "I held you open... on purpose." "I'm telling you, so you'll never call me again." "Never again." "OK." "My little Marshmallow." "Good luck with Mel." "Run along." "I'm sorry, forgive me." "Go on." "Go." "Listen, I'm not through yet." "You know whas going to happen to me?" "Suppose I tell you exactly whas going to happen to you?" "You'll be back on television... only it won't be quite the same as it was before." "After a cooling-off period, someone will say..." ""Why don't we try him again in an inexpensive format?" "People's memories aren't too long."" "And in a way, he'd be right." "Some people will forget, some won't." "You'll have a show." "Maybe not the best hour, or top ten." "Maybe not even in the top 35." "You'll have a show, it just won't be quite the same as it was before." "Then a couple of new fellas will come along... and soon a lot of your fans will be flocking around them." "Then, one day, someone will ask "Whatever happened to... whas his name?" "You know, the one who was so big... the number one fella a couple of years ago." "He was famous, how can we forget a name like that?" "By the way, have you seen Barry Mills?" "He's the greatest thing since Will Rogers."" "Beanie!" "Marcia!" "Don't leave me!" "I don't figure him for a suicide." "Marcia!" "Mel, if I'd only left him in that jail in Pickett." "Marcia, stop it." "You were taken in just like we all were." "We got wise to him, thas our strength." "Come back Marcia!" "Marcia!" "Come back!" "Don't leave me!" "Don't leave me!" "Don't leave me!" "Marcia!" "Don't leave me!" "Come back!" "Come back!" "Come back!"