Original subtitles

For your WBW traffic, eye in the sky, and it's a glorious Atlanta morning.

too nice to go to work. So far, the thruways are flowing smoothly, but there

will be tie -ups due to construction later in the morning. So for those of

still in bed, good luck.

Now back to WBW's own Arthur. Say it like it is Saxon, the man you love to

WBW, Arthur Saxon. Talk to me.

Hi, Arthur. It's Gloria.

Gloria. Well, I should have known it was garbage by the sound of seagulls.

What's on your alleged mind this morning, sweet cheeks?

Mwah, moe.

Badmouth Moore, the moron.

Good morning, Atlanta.

Get up.

Yes, yes, yes. It's Robbie Moore.

Moore. Moore.

Oh, come on. I think he's kind of cute.

You do?

Well, I used to work with him right here at WBW, and I think he's adorable.

I love the way he got Deirdre Wallace canned so he could be top disc jockey.

How many of you actually know somebody named Bambi?

Come on now, raise your hands.

No, no, no, not both of them.

I admire the way he fired Leonard Gilbert, the only man who would take him

manager when he was nobody. I had the worst meal of my life last night.

Now,

I would be a good guy and tell you what the name of this restaurant is, but the

only thing is they buy airtime here at old WZF.

And as Bambi once said, hey, I'll do anything for a buck. And I worship...

Worship the way he shafted our own station owner, Marty Lynch, by jumping

to our chief competitor after Marty made him a star.

Yeah, real class act, that Robbie Moron. Folks, this is Robbie Moore reminding

you that if your child is threatening, I'm leaving home, please.

Get it. Writing.

Get him out of the house.

I'll tell you a little story. You know, last night, I went out with this really

nice girl. Speaking of lungs.

What a bummer.

Didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't even have a chance to.

The only problem with the war on poverty is they didn't shoot enough for it.

You're on with Saxon.

Say, Arthur, do you know the communists have taken over the entire U .S. Senate?

No, but if you have a few bars, I'll fake it. Do you know the communists are

taking over the... You are on with Saxon.

Good fight.

Southwest and westerly at 10 miles an hour in a...

WBW Radio, Arthur Saxon. Please, whoever this is, let them have access to a

brain. Whenever you talk about Robbie Moore, you always leave out one

point.

Yeah? What's that?

Enlighten me, babe.

The point is, you're no longer number one in drive time.

Robbie Moore is.

WBW Radio, 98 .6 FM, Atlanta.

out there, talk to me.

Well, if everybody cared to fire off shotguns, there'd be a lot less crime.

Yeah, and a lot fewer people, too, dork.

Whippersnapper, there ought to be a law against you.

Yeah, well, there is a law, bushbrain. It's called freedom of speech, and it's

in the Constitution.

You're out of here.

WBW Radio, Arthur Saxon, talk to me.

Arthur, I read that if you dream you're falling into a vat of chocolate...

whilst we ponder that often burning question what do you say to god when she

sneezes think about it

People, it is 9 -5 -9. This is it. I am sick of you people, and I am out of

here. Try not to screw up too badly until 6 a .m. tomorrow when I will be

to straighten you out.

In the meantime, this is mad -mouth Arthur Saxon saying, Hank, I am only

serious. Oh, yeah.

Hi, this is Melody on WBW Radio, 98 .6 FM Atlanta.

What the hell is going on, Marty? I've been telling you for three weeks now

phone link is worthless. Get it fixed.

Arthur, I've got some bad news.

Robbie Moore is dead. He's been murdered.

So what's the bad news?

Your car was seen coming out of the Moore's driveway.

What the hell? Oh, really?

Yeah, a witness said it was going so fast he couldn't get out of the way.

Sideswiped his car.

Put a crease in yours on the right front here.

Scared the hell out of him.

I haven't been anywhere in this car since 6 a .m.

Still warm.

Anybody could have driven this car.

I keep the keys in the glove compartment.

Oh, what am I, a magician? I can be in two places at one time?

For the past four hours, I have been behind the mic, dazzling hundreds of

thousands of listeners. Ask Marty. He's my biggest fan. Has to be.

He owns the station.

I had to tell him.

About the relief tape you play when you eat breakfast.

I'm sorry.

Mr. Saxon.

Sure would appreciate it if you'd come downtown with me.

Morning.

Morning. What do you think?

A friend of mine's been arrested.

Oh.

Is it anybody I know?

No. I've been seeing him, you know, socially, just for a short time.

Oh, what was he arrested for?

Murder. Somebody you've been going out with was arrested for murder?

Ben, will you just... Did he do it?

Oh, I can't imagine that he did.

He is such a...

Gentle, kind, intelligent person.

Well, he sounds like some kind of nice guy.

He is.

He's Arthur Saxon.

From the radio?

Yes. Oh, you'll like him, Ben. He's smart and he's clever.

He's a genuine, true jackass.

See, that's just an act for his radio show. Underneath you, he's warm. He's

sensitive. Really.

That's his job.

Once you get to know him, he's... I said I'd talk to him.

Yes!

Yeah.

I think it's your people like each other.

What's not to like?

Arthur, this has been Matlock.

Ben, this is Arthur Saxon.

Is that it? Not even hello?

I told him you didn't kill Robbie Moore.

Yeah, well, she tells you right.

I'll go see about the arraignment.

I didn't agree to take the cake.

Why the hell not? My money's as good as anyone else's.

What's the matter with you?

Nothing.

They told me they found a .38 in a trash can half a mile from Robbie Moore's

house, yeah.

Registered to you.

I collect guns.

It would be very easy for someone to steal a gun from my house.

Do you have any idea when that might have happened? Remember that party a

weeks ago, 150 people? It was probably then.

You didn't think much of Robbie Moore.

It was slime mold.

But you didn't kill him.

This is personal, isn't it? You don't like me.

Not much.

And you hate my radio show.

Yeah.

Well, I call a creep a creep and a jerk a jerk. I don't suffer fools gladly. Do

you, Mr. Matlock? I mean, unless it's for money.

Not even for that.

good to meet you okay you don't like me you don't like what i do but i say what

i think and i believe what i say i may be angry but i'm honest that's a very

nice speech you better pray you've got a lot of nice speeches because the

trouble you're in is very serious the charge is first degree murder

Moving toward the recommendation from both sides, I hereby set bail for Mr.

Saxon at $150 ,000.

Your Honor.

Pam, I'm out of here.

Come back here, Bailiff!

Hold that man!

Please.

That judge sure is a hard -boiled old man. Try that one more time, and I'll

you rot in jail.

What's with him?

Ben is your only hope.

All right.

What happens next?

Grovel, grovel. I won't do it again.

Okay, we have to figure out who set you up.

Now, this tape you play while you eat breakfast, it's called a relief tape?

Yeah, I tape people who call in after the show's over and play the tape during

my break.

Do all DJs use a relief tape?

I'm a radio personality, Matlock.

My name is Mr.

Matlock.

Pardon moi.

Are you the only radio personality who uses a relief tape?

That I know of, yeah.

And who besides you knew about this tape?

Well, there's three people. They're all friends of mine.

Marty Lynch, he's the station owner.

Deirdre Wallace, she's the DJ who used to have the show that came on after

And Leonard Gilbert, my manager.

And they all hated Robbie Moore.

We'll start with them.

I'm ready.

No, that means Ben and I will start with Ben.

You go on home and try to relax.

Have dinner with me?

Eight o 'clock?

I'll relax.

Well, what next?

absolute creep.

Please, Ben, he's not a creep.

It's just that under pressure, his radio personality flips into real life. He

can't help it.

He's a creep.

What's the matter with you?

I've never seen you this crazy over anybody.

He's wrong for you. I know it. I know.

Well, you think you're going to change him?

There's always a change. You can't change a rattlesnake into a...

Pet rock you walk around with in your pocket. Sooner or later, he's going to

bite you. It's probably sooner than later.

As most of you know, I was a disc jockey at WBW when Robbie first signed on.

I'll never forget how excited he was the first time he sat down in front of that

mic. Or how truly grateful he was for any help that any one of us could ever

give him.

Just had to see for myself He just like you to try to pull a fast one on me

Mr. Lynch, Michelle Thomas, we had an appointment.

What happened?

Your client happened.

Arthur did this?

Yeah, I told him I was taking a show off the air until this murder thing blew

over and he went nuts.

He accused me of being the one who framed him.

Hey, wait a minute. I liked Robbie more. I gave him his first big break.

So you didn't mind that he took that job with a rival station?

Actually, I hated that.

I hear he cost you close to $600 ,000 in lost advertising.

Yeah, well, I hated that, too, but I didn't kill him.

I was at home, and I was alone.

I've only killed Robbie Moore in my dreams.

Arthur didn't believe you.

in your sink.

About a drop a second.

You know how much water that amounts to in a day's time?

Enough to keep an entire Ethiopian family going.

Hmm. Seven o 'clock in the morning and you already found a way to give me

What's that?

I sent away.

3950. It's the Mr.

Handyman. I'll fix that, Lee.

Oh, no, that's too much trouble. I'll call a plumber. Bite your tongue.

20 bucks an hour?

Not while Ace Calhoun is around.

And looky here.

Every wrench known to man.

Sockets domestic and metric.

And looky here.

A spark plug wrench for a Ferrari.

You don't own a Ferrari.

We don't know anybody that owns a Ferrari.

Well, that's an example for the other tools.

In the morning, what was Robbie Moore gone?

I tried to lift that other crumb. You know, the nasty one? Yeah, Arthur Saxon.

Yeah. Boy, that guy really gets up in my skin.

Sometimes I like to punch him right in the kisser. Mm -hmm.

He's a suspect, you know.

Yeah, I know.

I'm sending him.

come through here?

May I help you, sir?

Oh, yeah. Is Leonard Gilbert here yet?

Be sweet, sir.

Mr. Gilbert, Ben Matlock.

This is your fault.

If it weren't for you, that maniac would be in jail where he belongs.

This suit cost 800 bucks.

Grape jelly doesn't come out.

Arthur, uh, Arthur threw jelly on your suit.

Let me get this straight. Arthur just walked in here and started throwing

and stuff?

That's not funny. I'm sorry.

First, he just yelled at me.

Accused me of framing him for Robbie Moore's murder.

He didn't get violent until I told him I was dropping him as a client.

Oh. Well, why was that?

I'm an agent, Mr. Matlock.

If a client goes down, I go down with him.

I need Arthur like I need a hole in the head.

WBW just laid him off.

Ten percent of zero is zero.

So, uh, you dropped Arthur like Robbie Moore dropped you.

He decided that he'd outgrown me.

Accused me of stealing from him.

Hell, he owed me money.

That ungrateful rat.

I bought him his first suit. Had his teeth capped. Paid for his nose job.

Talked Marty Lynch into giving him his first shot.

I created him.

I need to stab you in the back.

Yeah.

Well, he's dead.

I'm not.

Arthur's gonna fry.

Things are looking up.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Things are looking up.

Yeah. I enjoyed talking with you. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Make it quick, okay?

Arthur, security is on its way, so just don't do anything you might regret.

I asked him. He didn't. I said you were home when Robbie was murdered, but you

weren't. Who says I wouldn't? Your neighbor.

Mrs. Kruger said she saw you leave your house at 7 .30. Moore was murdered at 7

.45. Oh, come on. What does she know? The old bat's always half in the bag.

You wasted him, then framed me, didn't you?

No, Arthur. Please don't do it.

That's enough, Mr. Saxon.

You are history.

Get it? I don't get it. I don't get it.

You're my lawyer. You better come up with something fast.

What talent did you rip that off?

Okay, that's it.

That's it.

You better listen to me.

You don't have a job.

You don't have a defense.

And in about a minute, you won't have a lawyer.

You can't quit on me now. I will in a heartbeat.

Go ahead.

I'll survive.

And I'll come out on top.

Because I got talent and I got guts.

And what more do I need?

I'll tell you.

You need some damn common sense.

You need a jury that wants to find you innocent.

Not one that can't wait to find you guilty.

It's your job to convince the jury.

Yeah, it's my job.

You keep committing mayhem.

getting arrested, treating the whole world like everybody's a fool but you,

jury's going to find you guilty, condemn you to death, the state's going to show

you the chair, the guards are going to strap you in it, the chaplain's going to

pray over your stupid head, and I'm going to pull the switch personally and

applaud. You got that?

Hello, Ben.

Arthur.

I got the relief tape from WDW.

He played this relief tape every day.

Right.

But not exactly at the same time.

Well, whenever I got hungry.

Sometimes earlier, sometimes later.

So there was no way any of our suspects could have known Arthur was playing the

tape.

Unless something on the tape tipped one of them off.

But what will we be listening for?

I don't know.

Aren't you going to stay? No.

You stay.

If you hear anything peculiar, let me know.

do unto others before they do unto you.

Yo, this is Arthur Saxon, lean, mean, and better than you deserve.

WBW Radio, 98 .6 FM, Atlanta.

Rewind. No.

I, uh, I can't listen anymore. I'm not hearing anything important or peculiar.

Maybe you need a break, Arthur.

I'll make some fresh coffee.

No. Look, Michelle, I've had a dozen cups already. I'm not going to sleep for

month.

You and I just sit down over here and talk.

We've been talking for hours.

About the case.

You're on trial for your life, Arthur. The case is important.

Arthur, you can't kiss me here. All right, I'll kiss you here.

Arthur, no, Arthur.

You're making me very nervous. Since when?

The cleaning crew comes on Wednesday night.

What time? Ten o 'clock.

You've got 23 minutes.

Arthur!

You are hopeless!

What do you mean, hopeless?

You're the kind of man my mother warned me about.

A heartbreaker, love them and leave them.

A dangerous man.

And you're my lawyer.

So I don't want to get you mad.

I'm not mad.

You're not?

I never asked you for a commitment, Arthur.

At least once in every woman's life, she should kiss a dangerous man.

You and I should get out of here.

There's somewhere quiet in that place.

Well, Paul, the rooster's crowing and the sun's rising.

Where does the time go?

Well, Ma, when we're jarring with our friends at WCPG, midnight to six is just

spit in the wind.

Until midnight tonight, this is Deidre Wallace saying so long, y 'all.

WCPG, country's taking good time.

93 .4 on your FM dial.

Yeah, that's pretty funny stuff.

I've been here three months, nine days, and six hours.

You sound like you don't like it.

I used to be the top DJ at the number one station in Atlanta.

Now I do commercials for tractors and give pork belly reports.

What do you think?

On the air, you sound like you love it.

So I'm a great actress?

Hell, pay the rent.

Those were all taken when I was back at WBW.

Out here, a celebrity is the county fair winner of the hog -calling contest.

Oh.

Is there a picture of Robbie Moore up there?

No, but I don't have one of the Ayatollah up there either.

I don't want to be rude to you, Mr.

Matlock, but I am real beat, and I want to get out of here. I just want to go

home and go to bed.

Is that what you do every day after your show, go home and go to bed?

Exciting, isn't it?

Yeah. And that day, I went home and went to bed, and I got up around 2 o 'clock,

put on the television and heard the news about Robbie.

And I just marveled to think that there really is some justice in this world

after all.

Where's Arthur?

At home, I hope. Yeah, what a creep.

Thinks he can come in here and wreck my office and take a swing at me?

Arthur's pretty hard to take sometimes.

Arthur's pretty hard to take most of the time.

But I think you're going to want to drop your assault charge.

Oh, no, no, no.

Not in your life.

Don't think you can come in here and lawyer talk me out of seeing Arthur in

jail. Uh -uh.

Well, Mr. Lynch.

You lied about being home the morning Robbie Moore was murdered.

What are you saying?

I had a talk with Mr.

James T.

Crosby. I believe you know Mr. Crosby.

Yeah, I know him.

So does your sound engineer.

He saw you having breakfast with him the morning of the murder.

Yeah, well, we were talking business.

Big business.

I'd send James T. negotiating to buy your station.

Mr. Matlock, please.

If the wrong people find out about this, that business deal can go right down

the tubes.

So that's the secret you were trying to protect by saying you were at home?

Well, yeah. I mean, wouldn't you?

This deal is worth millions.

Look, you're not going to tell Arthur about this, are you?

I mean, he's got a mouth bigger than the Mississippi.

He does, doesn't he?

Arthur, I took a course on positive thinking and it changed my life.

See, I used to think I was weak and wimpy and... Yeah, well, you still are a

toad breath. Take a course in skydiving.

Anything? Not yet.

Don't you keep a record of who calls?

Those yo -yos.

Wait, remember you told me that...

When a listener goes on the air, the station sends an official WBW mug with

picture on it?

Oh, so you do.

You not only have the names of the yo -yos, but their addresses.

I'll call the station.

voices on that tape and only ten mugs were sent out.

Why?

Someone could refuse a mug.

One of these eleven people refused a mug. Which one?

I don't know.

Wait a minute.

Yeah. I think I do know.

It's that old guy. He calls about twice a month.

Mr. Paranoid.

Thinks everyone should be armed and shoot to kill.

Probably lives in a bunker and doesn't want anyone to know where.

Does he always refuse?

Yeah, well, I guess so.

If everybody carried a sawed -off shotgun, there'd be a lot less crime.

Yeah, and a lot fewer people, too, dork. Oh, come on, man. This is a big waste

of time. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

This is the person who killed Robbie Moore.

How do you know?

I just know.

I can't prove it yet.

Some deal, huh? Yeah.

Stationed vote from the studio right in his own house.

Must have wanted him pretty badly.

Yeah.

Hmm.

Pretty nice looking fellow, isn't he?

Hmm. Yeah.

You used to be a disc jockey at station WBW, along with Arthur Saxon and

Robbie Moore. Is that right?

Yes, I was.

But you were let go.

Fired, Mr. Matlock, yes.

Didn't the listeners like your program?

Robbie Moore didn't like me.

He was jealous, or he had me fired.

Oh.

But... After a while, you found another position at station WCPG.

Voice of the boonies, yeah.

Same pay?

Hardly. Much less.

So much less, in fact, that the bank repossessed the home you'd bought.

I lost my home, yes.

Well, with...

Robbie Moore dead and Arthur Saxon out of the running, why, maybe

something will come up for you back here at WPW. Objection. I fail to see the

relevancy of any of it. It goes to motive, Your Honor.

The people have already established motive. For my client, yes, but not for

person who actually killed Robbie Moore.

Am I correct in assuming you know better than to make such an allegation without

proof?

Yes, ma 'am. I'm going for that now.

Proceed.

Thank you.

When you were at WBW, did you ever send your car out to be washed?

Yes. How'd you do that?

I would call an attendant.

He'd take the car someplace, have it washed, and bring it back.

Where'd he get the key?

I kept a spare in the glove compartment.

Just like...

All the other people who worked at the station.

A lot of people did that, I believe, yes.

A witness testified that she saw Arthur Saxon's car

racing away from Robbie Moore's house right after the murder had been

committed. She didn't see who was driving.

But you knew about the key, and you knew where Arthur parked his car.

So I submit it was you who was driving the car that morning.

I was at home, sleeping.

No, I don't think so.

Now, I don't think so.

What if everybody carried a sawed -off shotgun?

Maybe a lot less crime.

Know who that was?

I have no idea.

That's one of the voices.

on the relief tape we've heard so much about. The one the prosecution says that

Arthur was playing when he was not on the air.

So? I thought about this.

Well, Ma, when we're jarring with our friends at WCPG, midnight to six is just

spit in the wind.

That's me. On WCPG, that's hardly a secret.

No, no. The secret is that you are also

our shotgun -carrying Mr. Clements.

That's ridiculous. I am not.

You're a very, very talented woman.

And I have a confession to make.

I'm a fan.

I listen to, on the radio, classical music or...

Country and Western. I'll go from Mozart and Brahms right to Eddie Arnold.

And I listen to you. And you're very talented. You do all those voices.

You do them so well, no one would ever know that you are not all those people,

except for one thing.

Where are you from originally?

Arkansas. That's it.

That's it.

Listening to you.

All this time.

And I just now figured it out.

It's the R sound.

People from Arkansas often add a little R sound to their words.

Arkansas.

Sardoth shotgun.

It's a beautiful accent, but it's unmistakable.

And there your voice is.

On Arthur's Relief Tape.

Why would I call Arthur's show?

Well, you called him late Monday, knowing it would be taped and

played on Tuesday morning.

So on Tuesday morning, you got in Arthur's car, drove over to Robbie

house, turned on the radio, and waited till you heard your voice,

knowing that Arthur would not be on the air live and therefore would not have an

alibi.

And you went in the house with the gun you had taken from Arthur's party and

shot your old nemesis to death.

All right. Yes, I called Arthur's show.

I did it as a joke to see if I could fool him, which I did.

But that hardly means that I killed Robbie Moore.

Just one more thing.

Just one more thing.

I understand that you're a big fan of John Lennon.

Yes, I am.

Did you ever meet him personally?

Once. Where was that?

He was on a promotional tour of Atlanta, and he stopped by some of the major

radio stations.

Autograph that was on a picture.

To all my friends at WBW, now and forever, John.

It's a valuable photograph.

Mr. Lynch told me that he more or less gave you that picture.

Put on your wall behind your desk. Since you were such a big fan, he figured

you'd take the best care of it. But when you were fired and gone, the picture

stayed. I guess Robbie Moore thought it would look good on his wall, too.

Whatever Robbie wanted, Robbie got.

Maybe you can explain something.

This, uh... This is a publicity still that Robbie

Moore sent out. See, that's Robbie there in his studio, and those are the

pictures on the wall. You see the picture there of John Lennon?

Now, this is the photograph the police took after the murder. There's Robbie.

Pictures.

Picture of John Lennon's gone.

And here's why.

It's here in my hand.

The police retrieved it from the wall behind your desk this morning.

You wanted this picture so badly that you took it after you shot him.

You figured the people at that little station would never notice.

And you were right.

They didn't.

I don't know much about...

rock and roll music, don't care.

But I know that John Lennon was a famous man.

And I noticed.

We find the defendant not guilty.

A not guilty verdict is entered in the record.

Court is adjourned.

I guess nice guys don't always finish last, huh?

Mr. Saxon, with any luck, I'll never see you again.

You still at it?

Oh, the faucet's fixed.

I found some ham and cheese in your icebox, and I thought I'd better finish

before it goes bad.

Oh, good.

How's Arthur Saxon? Oh, disgusting.

Did you say you finished this thing?

Yeah, let's give her a whirl.

Okay.

All right, now.

When I turn the water on down here, you turn it on up there, okay?

Okay.