Original subtitles

♪ Gonna sing out in anger

♪ Gonna cry out in pain

♪ Gonna sing out and cry out

♪ Until this world

♪ Is sane ♪

[Gidget narrating] You might say a record is just a rut...

that goes 'round and 'round in circles.

But sometimes, when its message gets

through, it can spin you into orbit.

That's what happened to me.

You see, every generation...

has fought against tyranny and

injustice wherever they found it.

Striking out against the moral diseases of their time.

It suddenly became obvious to me

that my generation needed awakening.

Someone to lift a torch, to light the way.

All I needed was a mission.

A mission? Protest. Eternal vigilance.

Where? Where? Not here. That's just the point.

Where are all the injustices for us to fight?

Down at the Spring Street Theater?

The Spring Street Theater?

They're gonna raise the prices for the early

show Saturday night, when all the kids go.

That's discrimination. That's injustice. That's--

That's ridiculous.

I've got to give them a real cause. That's my mission.

Or why else was I elected president of

the Civics Club? 'Cause nobody else ran.

Protest, eternal vigilance, an end to complacency.

Wake the sleeping masses.

[Gidget narrating] I could see it was going to be a long road.

♪ [jazzy pop]

♪ If you're in doubt about angels ♪

♪ Being real

♪ I can arrange to change

♪ Any doubts you feel

♪ Wait till you see my Gidget ♪

♪ You'll want her for your valentine ♪

♪ You're gonna say she's all that you adore ♪

♪ But stay away Gidget is spoken for ♪

♪ You're gonna find that Gidget is ♪

♪ Mine ♪

What turned me on when I was young?

Well, in the first place, we couldn't

afford a torch in those days,

but we did have taxation without

representation, the Boston Tea Party.

Oh, come on now. Tell me. Straight arrow.

What turned me on? Let me see if I can remember.

The, uh, struggle for freedom, the fight against dictatorship,

the making the world safe for democracy.

Oh, and yes, my local draft board.

But you enlisted.

Well, let's just say they helped turn me on.

Boy, they really had causes back in those days.

And to think how we got shortchanged.

How can they ever expect us to grow up to be anything?

I understand he's going to be...

at the Palisades Auditorium.

An evening with America's angry young man on a motorcycle.

Suppose I take you and Larue

tomorrow night, and we call it even?

Are you suggesting a sellout?

Precisely. At 5.50 a head.

Speaking of theater prices,

suppose you came across an injustice that--

That wasn't exactly the biggest in the world,

shouldn't you fight it?

I mean, when you think about it,

isn't it the principle that counts?

- Straight arrow? - Straight arrow.

That's all that counts.

[Gidget narrating] Suffice to say that the die was cast.

One last resort remained.

A direct appeal backed by the full weight of the Civics Club.

Civic Club? Sorry. No theater parties.

Everybody pays the same price.

That's exactly what we're here to talk to you about.

We at the Civics Club

feel that raising the prices for the early show Saturday night...

is discriminatory and tends to--

That's right. It singles out the kids so they'll pay more.

They got all the money. Why shouldn't they?

But that's unfair.

What's unfair? I run a union house. You check.

What about pension plans? Employees'

disability? Bernard, please.

Tell you what I'm gonna do. You look like nice, clean-cut kids.

Here's a couple of passes for tonight's show.

And don't ever say that show business hasn't got a heart.

[Gidget narrating] At that moment,

when I thought of the mighty forces

of public opinion that were gathering,

I almost felt sorry for him.

[Gidget] Couldn't you do any better than that?

My brother brought it down from Berkeley.

Well, you know I can never think of anything to write.

Besides, it doesn't seem to make much difference what it says.

There are more kids tonight than ever.

Look. Uh, why don't I bring you out a couple of chairs?

What do you want to sit on the cold ground for?

No, thank you.

Would you keep an eye on that for me? Well, where you going?

Well, the feature starts in two minutes. Bernard, how could you?

After all this, you're gonna sell

out and pay the price to get in.

Me, pay? Why should I? I got a pass.

[Gidget narrating] I always say

some people are born to defeat...

and others have it thrust upon them.

I seem to go both ways.

However, I am no quitter when it comes to wakening my generation.

It was obviously simply a question

of finding the right voice.

At first look, it might seem difficult,

but when you really think about it,

nothing is impossible when those around you truly believe.

This is crazy. Ridiculous. Complete madness.

Well, then go home. Not for all the money in the world.

What'd you say your name was again? Uh-- Uh, Gidget Lawrence.

I don't got no Billy Roy fan club that got you as president.

Well, I-- I was just elected this week.

Oh, yeah? Congratulations.

By almost 400 votes.

Oh. What have you got for Billy? A sit-in?

A ban the bomb demonstration? Peace march?

Well, it's a little hard to explain out here.

It's a little hard to explain anywhere.

Are you ready? Well, uh--

♪ [guitar]

[voice cracks] Mr. Soames-- [clears throat]

Uh, my name is Gidget Lawrence.

Uh, I'm president of one of your fan clubs, kind of.

Well, anyway, I'm president of the school Civics Club, and--

Well, that's what we're here to talk to you about.

- Go. - [man] I know all about it.

It's a free-speech rally.

Look. You've already done three of these this month, champ.

I don't think you ought to do it.

Actually, uh-- Uh, we--

I mean, my generation, well, we're not quite up to that yet.

It's kind of hard to explain.

Hey. Where'd you get the popcorn?

Hey. That's double butter, huh?

That's kind of what we're here to talk to you about.

You see, this movie theater is

raising its prices just for one show,

and, well, that's the show we all go to.

So we decided we'd go on strike.

- Strike? - Yeah.

Well, we thought you could come down and--

And maybe sing some songs or something.

- You're puttin' me on. - I'll dissolve the fan club.

Right away. Kaput. Just like that.

Well, it hasn't got anything to do with the fan club.

Hey, what call you got to put me on?

I'm just trying to--

Don't come down here and put me on, and

I won't bug you around your playgrounds.

Look. I've got a personal photo for

both-- each of you of Billy Roy.

Don't make no trouble,

and I'll see that you get 'em signed

with similar facsimiled signatures.

It'd just be for one night.

Yeah. It's always just for one night.

Look, besides, I got a peace march in Akron.

Come on. All you want to do is get in on the big things.

Nobody cares about the little ones.

Nobody cares about the principle anymore.

And that's the only thing that really counts!

I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine.

[motorcycle approaching]

All you people don't know about lost causes.

Oh, please, don't tease.

He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for.

[doorbell rings]

And he fought for them once.

For the only reason any man ever fights for them.

I still think you're puttin' me on,

and I'll only work it for one night, check?

- Check. - Check.

Got all my gear. You name it. I bed down anywhere.

[gunshot on TV] [crowd screams on TV]

What was that? Justice just triumphed.

Claude Rains just tried to shoot himself. [shouting on TV]

[sighs]

Dad. Mm-hmm?

I've been thinking. Good for you.

You don't know what I've been thinking about yet.

I approve of any kind whatsoever.

I've decided I don't want any children of mine...

marching around in protest marches

and all that sort of stuff.

The whole moral injustice bit.

I take it from all this you're

about to let the torch drop, right?

Wrong. It is up to me as a potential mother...

to see that they haven't got anything to protest against.

I have therefore decided to slip into high gear.

One must be prepared to go to any lengths...

to ensure that we pass on a cleaner, fresher world.

I'll drink to that. Oh. You say

all the right things this morning.

Accordingly, I have taken steps--

I don't eat fried eggs. I never eat fried eggs.

Oh. Yeah. [chuckles] Oh. Silly.

I therefore feel-- You don't eat fried eggs either.

Oh. No. [chuckles]

[footsteps approaching]

I overslept.

Uh, I didn't know whether you liked fried

eggs or scrambled eggs, so I made some--

Uh, Dad, I'd like you to meet Billy Soames.

This is my dad. [clears throat]

Hey. Don't mind me, man. Eat up.

[Gidget narrating] Right away, I

could see they were gonna hit it off.

Of course, they had one absolutely

fabulous thing in common.

First off, I figured she was some kind of a nut.

Then I thought about it a while, and I realized...

that she had to be some kind of a nut.

I mean, no offense, Dad. But I

mean, just some kind of a "wiggo."

Then third time around, I say to myself, "Now, hold on, man.

I mean, maybe there's somethin' there."

I mean, who tells this new line of

kids that you don't have to buy...

everything in that great big package

they hand you when you grow up.

[John] I know what you mean.

When I was back at college, they tried

to shut down the hot dog stands...

behind the cheering sections at the football games.

- Talk about your protest. - Yeah, huh?

Yeah. You really racked them up, huh?

Oh, yes, sir.

Pushed 'em right back to the wall. Even got

'em to put in two sizes of orange drinks.

Hey. Good man. Good man.

We were pushin' for more, too, but... football season ended.

Hard line. Killed you on the grape drinks, huh?

But they knew they'd been in a fight.

Yeah.

I'm still not quite clear on what you're doing here.

Well, the way I see it, Dad,

I'm kind of like a-- a hammer. Fap!

You know? Everybody listens.

- You dig? - I dig.

No. You accept too fast, man.

You know, John,

you fought the good fight, right?

All I need is a shave and a haircut...

and a drip-dry suit, and Dad here would buy me too.

- It'd be a start. - [chuckles] A finish too.

The day that guys like you look at me and say,

"Well, there's a nice, clean-cut young man.

I think I'll go out and buy a few

records to take home to the kiddies,"

well, that day it's fallback, man,

and I am dead.

You know, you and I are never gonna find each other, man.

Anyone for the beach?

I figure we'll start phase one of our campaign there.

Crazy.

Aren't you gonna change?

Man, I'm as changed as I'm ever gonna be.

[Gidget narrating] Let it be recorded

that Operation Awake had begun.

The hammer's here!

Come on!

[Gidget narrating] Tremendous forces

had been unleashed that could not be quelled.

[yelps]

Put it this way. It was a start.

♪ Our music's wrong Our hair's too long ♪

♪ And we're too immature ♪ [continues, indistinct]

[Gidget narrating] There was nothing now

that could stop its growing momentum.

We've got to stop this here and now.

I still don't see how any of this involves the university.

I'm only a concerned observer.

Just a member of the alumni committee.

You-- You are in the front line.

Consequently, you should be even

more aware of the problem than I.

Well, Billy Roy Soames is a match.

Mr. Evans, this seems to me to be a tempest in a teacup.

My daughter is concerned only with theater

prices for some of her teenage friends.

A small matter of principle. May seem unimportant to us, but--

But there could be 5,000 students outside

that theater tomorrow evening, Professor.

It's happened.

With even less provocation than this.

If that fire does start--

If it does spread to our campus,

don't let it start here.

Oh. And as you say, Professor, it

is a very small matter of principle.

Not very important.

Let's keep it inside that teacup.

Daddy, we had a real bonfire demonstration at the beach!

Everything's really caught on!

The responsibility is in your hands, Professor.

I assume you'll do what's best.

Who was that? Why, that was the establishment, man.

I got so I can recognize the, uh, uniform and the 86 look.

Daddy?

Just a friend, honey. Nothing of any real importance.

[sighs]

Rallying point. Theater parking at D-minus 10 minutes.

[Russ] Francie? Come in.

I don't know what time D-minus 10 is.

It's a figure of speech.

It's whatever time the early matinee is over with.

Well, just call the theater and find out.

Of course I can't. Well, they might recognize my voice.

Okay. And call me right back.

I never knew it was so much work

setting up a spontaneous demonstration.

How's it going? So far, it's a smash.

I see.

Talk time, huh?

Big talk? Little talk?

Oh. Little talk that could turn big.

Could you give me a general heading?

[sighs] Well, let's just call

it the wonderful world department.

Okay. Let's just.

Oh, no. It's a pacer.

That's either gotta be failing marks or free love.

And since I haven't had any of either lately-- Francie.

Honey--

You're going to be growing up into a wonderful world soon.

Back when I was your age, it was different.

That's what Annie always says.

No matter where you slice it, it's always different.

I know it must sound that way.

But it was different. The problems--

Somehow they were more definite.

Well, that's what made it so easy.

Everything was either one thing or

the other-- with big signs on it.

You always knew where you stood. Yeah. But

the point is we've come a long way since then.

But there's still a lot of things wrong.

You always say that. It's just now you've

gotta look a little harder to be sure.

Yeah, but they're not all that important.

What I'm trying to say is that...

sometimes nowadays, without big clear-cut issues, you--

You're apt to get lost with a little unimportant one.

True. And that's why you have to find

the ones where principle is involved.

Because that's all that really

counts, and it never changes, right?

- Right. - [phone rings]

Gidget here. I don't care what time the last cartoon ends.

We can't possibly follow a cartoon. That's ridiculous.

[Gidget] Dad.

A sudden thought.

Did that man that was here have anything

to do with what you wanted to tell me?

Uh, he's a member of the alumni committee.

A very important member of the committee.

Seems he's concerned-- Everybody's

concerned about Billy Roy.

They're... afraid this thing tomorrow

night might spread, get out of hand.

So they pulled the big stick out. They threatened you.

Used all sorts of pressures to get you

to stop it. Nothing quite so dramatic.

And I know what happened. You stood up to them!

Even when they said it would mean your job,

you said it was a matter of principle.

Francie-- And that's what you wanted to tell me!

You've been thrown out of the

university, blackballed everywhere.

Francie!

Come here.

It was like that, wasn't it?

I mean, I overdid it,

but you did stand up to 'em?

Not in so many words.

Then you want me to stop tomorrow

night. I didn't say that.

It's not very important. It-- It's nothing really.

Just a stupid old-- It is important.

I want you to believe that.

Honey, I want you to be aware.

I want you to care.

About everything.

I don't want you to buy everything...

in that great big package they hand you when you're...

growing up.

I'm glad you're doing what you're doing.

And I'm glad you're glad.

I changed the guest suite, man.

I burn up a lot of energy, you know?

Gotta stay close to the action.

Hey. I couldn't help but, uh, overhearing.

I mean, it's a weird bit of mine,

but I can't stand closed doors.

Funny. I always had the impression

that's what doors are for.

Yeah. Yeah.

That cat really hung you up, didn't he, man?

Hey, listen. Uh,

why don't you tell her that they blew the whistle on you, huh?

Cop out, Dad, huh? While you still got a chance.

I mean, even Alice in wonderland has gotta wake up sometime.

No.

Yeah. Well, think about it, huh?

No.

No compromise. No sellout.

No cop-out.

Man.

Man, you are so square,

they ought to build a town around you.

[motorcycle revving]

Hey! What are you doing?

Where are you going? Oh, I got a call this morning.

Big deal up north. But-- But I--

They're trying to kick some teacher out

just 'cause he wanted to grow a beard.

How can you leave now?

Well, it's easy. I got a low overhead.

But everything's all arranged for tonight.

And it-- And it all depends on you. Honey, Gidget,

the day it all depends on me,

that day you got nothin'.

But-- But-- Honey, save up all those juices now.

Believe you me, we are all gonna need 'em.

Dad, let me tell you somethin'.

I don't know where you are,

but the trains just don't go there anymore.

Is that all?

No. No, that's not all.

There's one other thing.

Let me know if you ever want to grow a beard, huh?

A beard?

Why would you want to grow a beard?

Well, let's put it this way. Why wouldn't I want to grow a beard?

toodles. Where to?

Movies. Found a new theater?

Nope. Same one.

Mr. Lefferts conceded defeat.

I am happy to report that discrimination

was brought to a screeching halt.

Without a massive sit-in demonstration?

Moral pressure triumphed.

Oh. He lowered his prices on Friday nights. Right?

Wrong. He raised them on all the other nights.

Well, after all, that was the principle involved.

I'll have to think about that for a while.

In the meantime-- Eternal vigilance.

With double butter.