Original subtitles

Advice to the lovelorn, to the love -torn, to the love -worn,

please listen to me.

Advice to the lovers who are trying to recover

some ecstasy.

To the man and the woman who are looking to play their

part.

Advice to the lovelorn, be careful when you give

your heart.

Sylvia Richland with Eye on Atlanta.

Today we're at the spacious home of Marjorie Manners.

Marjorie is this year's recipient of Atlanta's coveted Golden Peach Award

by the local chapter of the Women of America to that person who best

family values.

And what better person to receive this award than one of America's favorite

columnists. Marjorie Manners' column, Dear Marjorie, appears daily in over 300

papers coast to coast.

Atlanta's own Marjorie has been dispensing advice to the lovelorn for

years. And now we're going to meet her family in person.

Was that too awkward?

No. Do you want me to do it again?

No.

Hello. Hi, I'm Sylvia Richland with Ion Atlanta. You must be Marjorie's husband,

Lee. No, I'm her brother -in -law, Carter Weston. Lee's inside. Please come

My wife, Carol.

You must be Marjorie's sister. That's right.

Oh, that's wonderful.

Please. Thank you.

Oh, now. You have to be Lee Manor's Marjorie's husband.

That I am, yes. Great. And you must be her son?

No, no. I'm her copy boy.

Oh. Maybe we should set it for Marjorie now.

I'm just so overwhelmed.

It's such an unexpected honor.

Really, helping people solve their problems is rewarding in and of itself.

This makes me feel almost guilty.

Marjorie, people across the country say they don't feel as though they've read

the paper unless they've read your column.

How does it feel to know you touch so many lives?

All I am to my readers is a friend, Sylvia.

Someone who listens and helps put things in perspective, that's all. Still, it's

quite an accomplishment to be syndicated in every major newspaper in the U .S.

What's the secret of your success?

A little intuition and a lot of luck.

And the uncompromising love and support I receive daily from my wonderful family

who are with me here today.

Marjorie. And not to be overlooked, our two very special people, our terrific

kids.

Randall and Lucia, who grew up all together too fast in our way at college.

And then, of course, there are the people that I work with at the Examiner

have become like family. Nora Gould, our editor, who could not be here today.

And Harold, our ever -ready coffee boy.

Always Johnny on the spot.

Any words of advice for our viewers?

My advice to everyone watching today is cherish

your loved ones.

No matter who you are or where you are or what you do, they are life's most

precious commodity.

As usual, Marjorie, you've given us something to think about.

Again, congratulations.

Thank you.

This is Sylvia Richland coming to you from the home of Marjorie Manners, this

year's recipient of Atlanta's Golden Peach Award.

Congratulations.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer landlady. Thank you, Gideon. Help

some champagne.

Harold.

Some very dear and old friends of mine have asked me out to dinner, and what

with receiving the award and all, I'm afraid I haven't had time to do

column. The copy will be ready at ten instead of six tonight.

Okay? No problem, Ms. Minner, sure.

All right, where is she?

Where's the famous answer lady?

You're destroying my life. Do you know that?

Who are you?

I'm Craig Moore.

Because of her, my wife is going to leave me.

How can you do that?

You treat her fantasies like they're real. She actually believes you.

Stay back!

I came here to have it out with her, nobody else!

I'm calling the police. No, Carol, please wait.

What's your name again?

Craig. Moore.

Craig.

I've obviously done something to make you very angry, and for that I'm sorry.

Let's talk, shall we?

In there. Just the two of us.

You can't do that. The man's deranged. I don't think so.

If anything, I'm a pretty good judge of character.

Come on, son.

Let's talk.

Those people out there are very special to me, Craig.

And we were just about to celebrate something that will happen only once in

lifetime and no doubt never in yours.

So if it's all the same for you, I'd like to get this over with.

What the hell do you want?

I just want you to straighten out Anna.

What you know her as in love but miserable. What do you want me to do?

Print a retraction.

Retraction?

Who do I look like, Bob Woodward?

I give advice to the lovelorn for crying out loud.

Then print a modification.

I think you better leave.

You could write an open letter saying you've been giving in love but

problem more thought and you think she'd be better off staying with her husband

after all. And that all her crazy ideas about... I don't have time for this now.

Well, I'll come back.

Fine. You come back here tonight and we'll write this open letter together.

Does that do it?

You bet.

Good.

Now smile

Ten

o 'clock tonight in my office.

It's the bungalow by the pool. Just come straight back.

I will thank you Did I hear you correctly did you just invite

him back here Marjorie the man threatened you he's harmless

Like so many people, all he really wants is someone to listen and to care.

Drink up. You deserve it.

Ms. Manners?

Good morning, Cassie.

Good morning.

Problems with her boyfriend.

At least she thought it was her boyfriend. They've been going out for

month. Suddenly, he just stopped calling.

Oh, we were thinking, what, dropped her? Something like that.

I'm sorry, Ben. That won't happen again.

As far as I'm concerned, Brad is history.

Good for you.

So what if he looks like Tom Cruise with curly hair?

So what if he has a great sense of humor?

So what if we have absolutely everything in common? He can take a flying leap.

Well, why don't you call him?

Because he said he'd call me.

And besides, I don't care anymore.

Well, we better go to court.

What do you say we call the office and go straight to lunch? I'm starved.

Mr. Matlock?

My name is Anna Moore.

My husband is Craig Moore, the man who's been charged with the murder of

Marjorie Manners.

I called your office, but there was no answer.

There wasn't?

My husband needs a good attorney.

Oh, um, Miss Moore, the state's case against your husband is rock solid. I

They've got fingerprints, witnesses, motive, and God knows he isn't much of a

saint. But my husband isn't a murderer.

Mr. Matlock, you have to understand something.

I'm rich.

My father left me a trust fund of over $20 million.

I can pay you any fee you want. Just name it.

Well, wait a minute.

If your husband thought he was going to lose all that money because of some

advice Marjorie Manners gave you in her column, that's a very powerful motive.

I offered all of my money to Craig years ago. He wouldn't take it. He even

signed a prenuptial agreement.

Then I said, let's live on my fortune.

He said, no, I'd like a nice office job.

He wasn't in danger of losing you or the marriage?

Well, yes, I threatened leaving him just to get him to face up to what

was going on between us.

What was that?

It's very personal.

You said a little while ago that he was no saint.

What did that mean?

Not in front of her.

Excuse me.

This is privileged information, right?

Yeah. There's something about Craig.

I'm not even sure what it is, but it's very powerful.

Women can't resist him. They are constantly throwing themselves at him.

And Craig is only human.

He succumbs.

He unfaithful?

Doesn't, like I.

You have proof?

A woman doesn't need proof of that sort of thing, Mr. Matlock. She knows.

But despite this incredible, this unexplainable magnetism, Craig is a

wonderful, if occasionally weak, man.

I just love him.

Will you take the case?

They only said at $50 ,000, the preliminary hearing will take place in

courtroom on March 12th.

Your wife's made arrangements for bail. You should be out of here within an

hour. Mr. Matlock, I'm going to be frank.

I don't think your associate should be involved with this case.

Isn't it obvious?

Well, not that I blame her, though, but she won't be able to resist him.

Oh, well, she'll resist him. She's a professional.

Anna, Michelle said I'll be out of here within an hour.

The big question is, then can I come home?

Not until you at least admit we have a problem.

Anna, I love you.

I have never, nor will I ever, have an affair with someone else.

I'll be at the hotel.

Isn't he wonderful?

Pool house where they're off and on. Yeah.

Lieutenant Daniels left it alone.

Yeah.

Think

we

provided ourselves a burglar?

What kind of burglar would leave something like this behind?

Maybe he was looking for something in here.

You think maybe we walked in on him before he found what he was looking for?

It'd be good.

You know, you don't need me to meet with the family members. Why don't I just

stay here and look around?

Sure.

Look here.

There's a picture of the president up here.

Yeah. It's autographed and everything.

Yeah, her column was pretty popular.

I've never read it.

Well, maybe that's why he's up there and you're down here.

Mr. Matlock. Yes.

Lee Manners. Very nice to meet you.

Good -looking kids. Are yours?

Oh, thank you. Yes.

Randall's at Duke.

Lucia's at Baxter.

Marjorie was very proud of both of them.

This is a very awkward time for you to be paying us this visit, Mr. Matlock.

We're all still in a state of shock.

You

must

be Ben Matlock?

Yeah. I'm Carol Weston. Hello. This is my husband, Carter.

Hello.

I'm sorry we're late. We didn't know you were here.

What's this all about, Mr. Matlock?

Just to say hello.

I know this is a bad time, and I apologize, but I have to follow up on

something. It occurred to me that my client, Craig Moore, was framed.

And if that's so, then whoever actually killed Marjorie had to have heard her

tell him to come back here at 10 o 'clock that night.

I don't think your client was framed, Mr. Matlock. I think he killed Marjorie,

and I think you really should leave.

Absolutely. Well, I thought rather than depose all of you or haul you into

court, it might be more convenient for you to answer my questions here.

Excuse me.

You don't seriously think that it was one of us?

Lee, this is just some sort of legal smokescreen.

No, it isn't that. Somebody did kill Marjorie, and I don't think it was Craig

Moore.

But now that I've seen all of you, husband, sister, brother -in -law,

together under the same roof,

I can see that you have to be ruled out. You're just one big happy family.

Again, Mr. Matlock, I hardly think that happy is an apt description of any of us

under the circumstances.

I'm sorry, I have an appointment.

Yes, I have to get to class. I like to skip it, but I am the professor. Well,

I'll move along, too.

I just, as I say, wanted to say hello.

Could I use your telephone?

Somebody was, uh... rifling through Marjorie's office and I need to report

the police. I don't suppose one of you knows who it might have been.

No, I... Or what they were looking for?

Mr. Matlock, I can't imagine.

Neither can I.

Well...

You're

too pretty to be a thief.

Or a cop.

And you're obviously not the cleaning lady.

Atlanta Examiner?

No. I'm one of the attorneys representing Craig Moore.

Michelle Thomas.

And you're? Gideon Harris. I've got a room upstairs.

Do you rent it out, or are you a member of the family?

Rent.

Although I must say, Marjorie had this way of making even poor college students

working on their PhDs feel like they were at home.

Good lady.

Um, about 20 minutes ago, someone was in here.

Tearing this place apart, I don't suppose you saw anybody.

No, I just got back from the library.

Although I do have a clear view of this room from my room. That's how I knew you

were here.

See?

Oh.

Whoever was in here just might come back.

How amenable would you be to my taking out this place from your room?

Just for a while, till midnight at the most.

Sounds good to me.

Great. I really appreciate it.

I'll just throw a bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge and we'll be all set.

Well, now you can say you've dined at Gideon's Playroom.

Great.

No, no, I meant that the Manners use this as a playroom for their kids.

Oh.

How long have you been running it?

Just two years. That's when Carter heard I needed a place to stay and he offered

it to me.

I met him down at the university.

Sure you wouldn't like some wine? You only got a half hour to go.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Of course, you're welcome to stay longer.

Sorry, I'll shut up.

Is that your dissertation?

Yeah, I just finished the rough draft.

Not a minute too soon.

What do you mean?

I'm a sociologist. I'm specializing in the effects of mass communication on

modern culture.

Specifically, I'm studying the influence of advice columns.

Don't tell me your dissertation's on Marjorie Manners.

You don't knock it till you read it. It's good.

It's gonna get me a teaching position at Yale.

Sounds like Lee just got home.

We're supposed to be watching the pool house.

Watching the main house is much more interesting, believe me.

Yeah, off goes his light, and on goes hers.

Whose?

Carol's.

Now, what room's it gonna be in tonight?

Give me the study.

What are you talking about?

How important is it for you to know what Atlanta's perfect family is really

like?

Very. Come on.

Gideon. I'm sorry, Lee. I saw the light on in here. I thought I could just come

in and get this.

Have you met Michelle Thomas? She works for Ben Matlock.

Michelle, this is Carol Weston, Marjorie's sister, and Lee Manners,

husband. How do you do?

Hello.

Carter working late tonight?

An interdepartmental meeting.

I was waiting up for him.

Gideon? For God's sake, let go of me.

Michelle Thomas, Carter West, and Marjorie's brother -in -law.

I'm an attorney.

I work with Ben Matlock.

I thought you had one of those late -night interdepartmental meetings.

I left early.

What were you doing here?

I was looking for something that I lent to Marjorie, a book.

With a flashlight?

Crossing police lines without authorization?

Now, can you give me any reason why I shouldn't just pick up the telephone and

report this to the police?

Getting a few excuses, please.

Sure.

I'll be at my place if you need me.

In case you're curious, it was me in here earlier.

I was looking for Marjorie's diary.

Why?

I'm going to give you the short version.

My marriage is all I have left.

I don't want to lose Carol.

Losing Marjorie was traumatic enough.

Marjorie and I were having an affair.

It was her idea from the start, but... But I did grow accustomed to the

arrangement.

Now that... Now that Marjorie is out of my life, I don't want Carol to find out.

I'm going to have to leave this up to your discretion, but please.

Carol is all I have left.

on my way over to the university to check out Gideon Harris.

You know, the guy that lives upstairs.

He says he was at a seminar, so we'll see. Yeah.

You gonna answer that?

What if it's Brad?

Hello?

No, she just left.

Yes, I'll tell her.

I thought you and Brad were history.

Well, I finally called him, and it turns out he goes out of town a lot on

business, and that's why I hadn't heard from him.

And that's also why I'm afraid to answer the phone.

I don't get it.

Well, he's got another business trip coming up, and he wants me to go with

Oh.

I told him that I'd have to think about it.

What do you think?

I don't know.

Well, if I go, I know it'll change our relationship radically.

What do you think?

Well, I don't know.

Do you think I ought to go?

Maybe you ought to go and stay in two separate rooms and meet him at

I'll be out at the manager's table.

You know, this is kind of an odd family.

Mr. Matlock, Marjorie could be very vindictive.

I adored her when we were first married, but the more popular her column became,

the more miserable she made everyone around her. She became enthralled with

own power.

She made more money than anyone else, so she insisted that I give up my job and

stay home with the kids. She even made Carol stop working.

She wanted to control everything.

She let Carter keep working?

Only because his salary was so laughable.

But what's inexcusable isn't so much what she did to us, but what she did to

kids.

They're as screwed up as they come.

Oh, that's right.

They didn't even come home when their mother died.

One I can't even find. And Randall, the other one, he'd rather not see any of

us.

That's a shame. That's really a shame.

I'm sorry.

You know, sometimes I feel awful.

But I have to ask where you were the night of the murder.

I was home, alone.

Can anybody corroborate that?

No, nobody was here.

Where was Carter?

Carter, well, he said he was going to the library.

Mr. Matlock, as unusual as our situation was here,

I did not kill Marjorie.

Of course, you were mentioned heavily in her

will, weren't you? I mean, everything.

Yes, that's correct.

What if she had found out about you and her sister?

What if she had decided to cut you out?

And what if she didn't?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You wouldn't have any reason to kill her.

Well, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Ms.

Weston.

I understand.

Congratulations are in order.

For what?

I hear the paper found someone to take over your sister's column.

That was supposed to be a secret. Well, the editor -in -chief of the Examiner is

an old friend of mine. And he told me that he was delighted when you

him with the idea.

Well, it is kind of exciting.

Well, now you have your sister's column, her income, and maybe

even her husband.

I, uh... I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask you where you were at the

time of the murder.

I was at home, alone.

And you, sir?

Of course.

Where was Lee?

He said he was going to a concert that night.

Now, if you don't mind, you'll have to excuse us, Mr. Matlock.

Not only does this conversation seem pointless... but we do have a court in

minutes. Oh, speaking of court, it's just a little subpoena to

appear in mine.

Well, not mine, but...

Mr.

Matlock, what could be so urgent that it can't wait until morning?

My associate and I asked each of you where you were the night of the murder.

And Carter, you said you were home alone.

Lee, you said you were home alone. And Carol, you said you were home alone.

That's an awful lot of people to be home alone at the time of this murder.

Honey, you said you were having dinner with Gladys.

According to Gladys, she did not have dinner with her.

Where were you?

I had a meeting.

With whom?

I had a meeting with Carl Kravitz. His company has decided to publish my novel.

No.

I've been writing a novel, yes.

Well, why didn't you say that to begin with?

Because I have to publish it with a pseudonym now. It's a little explicit.

Oh, you mean... I mean explicit. And I don't want it to jeopardize my taking

over Marjorie's column.

Ms. Weston, when the copy boy got here at 10 o 'clock that night and discovered

Marjorie Manor's body, he ran up to this house...

And no one was home.

Now, this, uh, Mr. Kravitz.

How late were you with him?

Well, I... I... I, uh, picked her up from Kravitz's office.

What... What are you talking about?

Carol was with me.

Lee... It's gonna come out anyway.

Look, Carter... You might as well know.

Carol and I have been lovers.

No, no, no, no, no.

Now, we know that none of you were at home alone at the

time of the murder. And we know that none of you were where you told each

you were. Now, Mr. Manners, according to my investigator, you were

not. at the concert, as you said.

Where were you before you met Mrs. Weston?

Very interesting question, Mr. Matlock.

As a matter of fact, I was in a meeting with the president of Sendrax Chemicals.

I was trying to get him placed as a head of research in Detroit. I want him out

of this house, out of the city. I want him out of my life so that I can have

Carol.

For myself.

You know, you're really some kind of friend.

Wait a minute. What about you?

There's more than one liar here.

You told me you were going to the library the night Marjorie died.

Why did you tell Mr. Matlock that you were at home?

No one saw you at the library, we checked.

All right, so I wasn't there.

Well, where were you? What's the big secret?

I was at a bar near the university called the Cedar Lounge.

The Cedar Lounge. That's a pickup bar for young people, isn't it? That's

That's exactly what it is.

The reason I lied, Mr. Matlock, is because I was embarrassed.

And for your information, the reason I was at that bar was because I was upset.

Now, you want to know why I was upset?

Because I was having an affair with Marjorie.

And she threw me over for somebody else. Liar! No, no, no, this is working. This

is really working. This is wonderful.

Now we know where all of you were at the time of the murder, and I'm sure none

of you did.

Who did Marjorie throw you over for?

Uh, excuse me, I just wanted to get some hot water for some tea here.

She threw me over for him.

Marjorie Manners.

Little did all these people know that her life was just one big pajama party.

Yes.

Even Gideon was involved.

At least he wasn't a member of the fan.

Yeah.

Now we know why Carter was never able to find Marjorie's diary.

Gideon must have found it first.

Probably just after he killed her.

But he was at a seminar from 9 to 11 that night. His alibi is airtight.

If she were killed around 10, but what if they, Gideon killed her a

little before 9?

The university is only five minutes away.

The time of death is only an approximation.

No, she couldn't have been killed then.

Her column.

It was just one sentence away from being done.

If she was killed at nine, when could she have written it?

How about before that?

No, the people she was at dinner with dropped her off at 8 .50.

Well, that column had to have been written before nine. That's all there is

it. That's impossible.

She couldn't have done it.

What kind of typewriter does Gideon have?

One just like this.

Well, that's it.

I had an underwood all the way through law school. I remember the way it

smelled, the way the little bell sounded on the carriage return, and

how it ruined my day when I had to change the ribbon.

It always turned out to be a mess.

But with the cartridges they have nowadays...

You don't even need to look at the ribbon, let alone touch it.

Um, Mr. Harris, you live on the Manor's estate?

Yes, I do.

Upstairs in a room in the main house?

That's right.

How would you describe your relationship with Marjorie Manor?

We were friends.

Did you ever have an affair with her?

Never.

So you're just a struggling Ph .D. candidate seeking a convenient place to

while he writes out his dissertation.

Is that about right?

That's right.

Do you mind telling the court what your dissertation was about?

Objection. Relevancy.

I assume there's a point to this, Mr. Matlock. Absolutely, Your Honor.

Overruled.

Answer the question, please.

My dissertation is a study of the sociopsychological ramifications of the

media phenomenon known as advice columns.

Specifically?

The major portion of my dissertation is a study of Dear Marjorie. Marjorie

Manners' column.

That's correct.

So you analyze her column and the effect it has on the people

who follow it. Yes.

Is it a serious, scientific, objective analysis?

Definitely.

What would happen to the validity of such a dissertation if it were known

that the author of that dissertation were sleeping with the creator of the

subject? I'm speaking of Marjorie Manners of Dear Marjorie.

The integrity of the work would be suspect.

The integrity of the work would be out the window, wouldn't it?

The Ph .D. would be out the window, wouldn't it? And the years you spent

for that Ph .D. would be out the window, wouldn't they?

Objection, Mr. Madler. I'll move on to another line of questions, Your Honor.

Mr. Harris, sir.

Did you know that Marjorie Manners kept a diary?

Yes.

You know it's missing?

No, I didn't know.

Yeah, yeah.

What was in it, Mr. Harris?

Was she giving you too much unsolicited advice?

Was she asking more than you were prepared to give?

Were you trying to get out of the relationship?

Was she threatening to go public with it? Is that why you killed her?

Objection, Your Honor. No foundation.

Speculative, argumentative. Withdraw.

Withdraw the question.

Mr. Harris, on the day that

Marjorie Manners was killed, did you hear her say that in celebration of

her award, she was going out to dinner with some very old and dear friends, and

her column would be finished at 10 o 'clock instead of 6?

I think everybody at the party heard that. And you knew that Harold the copy

boy... would come by at 10 o 'clock?

Again, everybody did. Just answer yes or no.

Yes. And you heard her tell my client to come

by her office at 10 o 'clock?

Yes. While you were at the party, did you see my client pick this up?

Yes. You knew his fingerprints were on it?

Yes. Mr. Harris, isn't it true?

that you went to Marjorie Manor's office that night and, wearing gloves, used

this to deliver the fatal blow to her head?

Objection, Your Honor. Again, no foundation, speculative and

Withdraw! Withdraw!

You did... go to her office that night,

didn't you, Mr. Harris?

Mr. Matlock, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I was nowhere near her office

night. I was in a seminar.

Yeah.

After nine, I know that.

And I know that her column was found in her typewriter, indicating she had been

working on it for an hour.

But what if she didn't write it?

What if it were written by someone who knew that column intimately well?

I don't understand.

You wrote the column, didn't you? Up in your room on your typewriter while she

was at dinner. No. Then you put it in her typewriter.

You went by her office, you killed her shortly before nine, and left that

as proof that she was killed around ten.

No, absolutely not.

I'd like this typewriter introduced as Defense Exhibit C.

Do you recognize this typewriter?

It looks like mine. It is yours.

Would you remove the ribbon?

There you go.

Now, what if we had the forensics department of the Atlanta police examine

the impressions on this typewriter ribbon?

Transcribe it, so to speak.

What would they find?

A copy of my dissertation.

Some letters.

That's right.

What else?

Dear Marjorie's last column.

Dear angry, tense...

My advice to you is stay with your husband.

I know that most of the time he is either too tired or his back hurts.

But there is that once in a while.

Keep a good thought and make the best of that once in a while.

That's good advice.

You know what I think, Mr. Harris?

I think...

you would have made a wonderful replacement for Audrey Manners if

you hadn't killed her.

There's something I have to confess.

All those women you thought I was with, well, you were right.

They couldn't resist me, and I couldn't resist the temptation.

I knew it.

But I'm never, ever going to do anything like that again.

I'm going to be strong, I promise.

Promise? Going without you has taught me a big lesson.

I love you, and only you.

You don't have to worry about me anymore.

Let's go home.

I'm really happy for them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How are things with Brad?

I took your advice.

Yeah? Yeah.

I told him I wanted to go, but I wanted to have my own room.

Yeah?

He already booked me one.

Separate rooms?

Yeah.

I think he actually likes me.

Oh, well.

Give yourself some credit.

Thanks.