Original subtitles

Bye bye.

Willie?

It's all right.

I came back.

Why? What happened? Did something happen, Willie? No, nothing happened.

You didn't smash the car, did you? I said nothing happened.

Didn't you hear me?

Don't you feel well?

I'm tired to the death.

I, uh, I couldn't make it.

I just couldn't make it. Where were you all day? You looked terrible.

Oh, I got as far as a little above Yonkers. I stopped for a cup of coffee.

Maybe it was a coffee.

What?

I suddenly couldn't drive anymore. The car kept going off onto the shoulder.

Well, maybe it's the steering again. I don't think Angelo knows this thing. No,

it's me. It's me. Suddenly I realize I'm going 60 miles an hour, and I don't

remember the last five minutes. I can't seem to keep my mind to it.

Maybe it's your glasses. You never went for your new glasses. No, I see

everything. I came back ten miles an hour. It took me nearly four hours from

Yonkers. Well, you just gotta take a rest. You can't continue like this.

Oh, I just got back from Florida.

But you didn't rest your mind. Your mind is overactive, and the mind is what

counts, dear. I'll start out in the morning. Maybe I'll feel better in the

morning. Oh, these arch supports are killing me. Take an aspirin. Should I

get you an aspirin, it'll soothe you.

I was driving along, you understand? I was fine.

I was even observing the scenery.

You could imagine me looking at scenery on the road every week of my life.

But it's so beautiful up there, Linda. The trees are so thick and the sun is

warm. I just opened the windshield and let the warm air bathe over me, and then

all of a sudden...

I absolutely forgot I was driving. If I'd have gone the other way over the

white line, I might have killed somebody.

So it went on again, and five minutes later, I'm dreaming again, and I

nearly... I have such thoughts. I have such strange thoughts.

Talk to them again, Willie.

There's no reason.

Why, you can't work in New York.

They don't need me in New York on the New England man. I'm vital in New

England. You're 60 years old, Willie. They can't expect you to keep traveling

every week. I'll have to send a wire to Portland. I'm supposed to see Brown and

Morrison tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock to show the line. Oh, I could sell them.

Now, Willie, you go down to that place again. You talk to Howard. You tell him

you just got to work in New York. You're too accommodated. If old man Wagner was

alive, I'd have been in charge of New York now.

That man. was a prince he was a masterful man but that uh that boy is

that howard you don't appreciate when i went north the first time the wagner

company didn't know where new england was well why don't you tell these things

to howard oh i will i definitely will oh is there any

cheese oh i'll make you a sandwich oh you go to sleep i'll take some milk be

up right away cheese maybe he smashed up the car again

He's gonna get his license taken away if he keeps that up there.

I'm getting nervous about him, you know?

His eyes are gone. No, no, no. I've driven with him. He sees all right.

Just, uh, doesn't keep his mind on it.

Yeah, I drove into the city with him last week.

He stops at a green light, then it turns red and he goes. Maybe he's colorblind.

Hop! Why, he's got the finest eye for color in the business. You know that.

The boy's in.

Well, they're sleeping.

Have you took Biff on a date tonight?

That's so...

Oh, it was so thrilling seeing them shaving together, one behind the other

in the bathroom and going out together.

Did you notice?

The whole house smells of shaving lotion.

Figure it out.

Work a lifetime to pay off our house. You finally own it.

There's nobody to live in it. Well, life's a casting off, dear. It's always

that way. No, no, some people, some people accomplish something.

Did Biff say anything after I went this morning?

You shouldn't have criticized him, Willie, especially after he just got off

the train.

You must not lose your temper at him. Why the hell would I lose my temper? I

simply asked him if he was making any money. Is that a criticism? Oh, Willie,

dear, how could he make any money?

Oh, there's such an undercurrent in him.

He became a moody man.

Did he apologize when I left this morning? He was crestfallen, Willie.

Now, you know how he admires you.

I think when he finds himself, you'll both be happier and you won't fight

anymore. How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life a farm man in the

beginning when he was young? I thought, well, a young man is good for him to

tramp around and take a lot of different jobs, but it's more than 10 years now

and he has yet to make $35 a week. He is finding himself, Willie.

Not finding yourself at the age of 34 is a disgrace.

The trouble is, he's lazy.

Fifth is a lazy... They are sleeping.

Bum! Go down.

Get yourself something to eat and be quiet.

Why did he come home?

I would like to know what brought him home.

Well, I don't know.

I think he's still lost, Willie. I think he's very lost.

As long as he's lost in the greatest country in the world, a young man with

such personal attractiveness gets lost.

He's such a hard worker.

There's one thing about Biff. He's not lazy.

Never.

I'll see him in the morning. I'll have a nice talk with him. I'll get him a job

selling. Oh, it could be big or no time. My God, remember the way they used to

follow him around in high school?

Oh, when he smiled at him, their faces lit up.

When he walked down the street with a crowd of kids behind him, will you ever

forget that?

Are you smoking?

I can never sleep when I smell it.

It's funny, Biff, you know?

Us, sleeping in here again, eh?

The old beds.

All the talk that went across those two beds, eh? Our whole lives.

Yeah.

A lot of dreams and plans.

About 500 women would like to know what's said in this room.

You remember that big Betsy something?

What the hell was her name? Over on Bushwick Avenue. With the collie dog.

Yeah, that's the one.

Hey, I got you in there, remember? Yeah. That was my first time, I think.

Boy, that was a pig.

Now, you taught me everything I know about women. Don't forget that.

I bet you forgot how bashful you used to be.

Especially with the girls. Oh, I still am, Biff. Go on. Nah, just control it,

that's all.

I think I got less bashful.

You got more so.

What happened, Biff?

With your humor, your confidence, what's the matter?

Why does Dad mock me all the time?

Ah, he's not mocking you. Hap, everything I say, there's a twist of

mockery on his face. I can't get near him.

I think the fact that you're not settled, that you're still kind of up in

the air. I think there's one or two other things depressing him. What do you

mean? Never mind. Just don't weigh it all on me. But I think if you just got

started, I mean, is there any future for you out there?

I'll tell you, Hap, I don't know what the future is. I don't know what I'm

supposed to want.

What do you mean?

I spent six or seven years after high school.

trying to work myself up, you know, shipping clerk, salesman, business, or

one kind or another, and it's a measly matter of existence to get on that

subway on hot mornings in the summer, to devote your whole life to keeping stock

or making phone calls, selling and buying, to suffer 50 weeks of the year

for the sake of a two-week vacation when all you really desire is to be outdoors

with your shirt off.

And always to have to get ahead of the next phone and still that's how you

build a future I bought a new kind of American-type cheese today.

It's whipped.

Why do you get American when I like Swiss? I thought you'd like a change. I

don't want a change. I want Swiss cheese. Why am I always being

contradicted? I wanted it to be a surprise. Why don't you open a window in

here, for God's sake? Oh, open it, dear. The way they boxed us in here, bricks

and windows, windows and bricks. We should have bought the land next door.

The street is lined with cars.

There's not a breath of fresh air in the neighborhood. The grass don't grow

anymore. You can't raise a carrot in the backyard. They should have had a law.

Against apartment houses.

Remember those two beautiful elm trees out there when I and Biff hung the swing

between them?

Huh?

Like being a million miles from the city. Oh, they should have arrested the

builder for cutting those down. They massacred the neighborhood.

One more thing of those days. Remember this time of year?

It was lilacs and wisteria, and then the peonies would come out, affability, butt

fragrance. This room, well... People had to move somewhere. No, there's more

people now.

No, I don't think there's more... There's more people! That's what's

ruining this country!

Population is getting out of control!

The competition is maddening!

Smell the stink from that apartment house and another on the other side!

How can they whip jeans?

Go down, try it, and be quiet.

You're not worried about me.

Are you, sweetheart?

You got too much on the ball to be worried about mine.

You're my foundation and my support.

Oh, just try to relax. You make mountains out of molehills.

I won't fight with him anymore.

If he wants to go back to Texas, let him go. He'll find his way. Sure. Certain

men just don't get started till later in life, like Thomas Edison, I think, or

B.F. Goodrich.

One of them was deaf.

I'll put my money on Beth.

And Willie.

If it's warm Sunday, we'll drive in the country. We'll open the windshield,

we'll take lunch. The windshields don't open on the new cars.

But you opened it today.

Me?

I didn't.

Now, isn't that peculiar?

Isn't that remarkable?

What, dear?

That is the most remarkable thing.

What, darling?

I was thinking of the Chevy.

1928, when I had that red Chevy.

I thought... I could have sworn I was driving that Chevy today.

That's nothing.

Something must have reminded you.

Remarkable.

Remember those days, huh?

The way Biff used to Simonize that car.

Dealer refused to believe there was 80,000 miles on it.

Close your eyes. I'll be right up.

Now, you be careful on the stairs.

The cheese is on the middle shelf.

80,000 miles.

82,000.

I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and whenever I come back here,

I know that all I've done is to waste my life. You're a poet, babe.

You know that? Yeah.

You're, um... You're an idealist. No, I'm mixed up very bad.

Maybe I ought to get married, right?

Maybe I ought to get stuck into something.

Maybe that's my trouble. I'm like a boy.

I mean, I'm not married. I'm not in business. I'm just like a boy.

Are you content, Ham?

You're a success, aren't you? You content?

Hell no.

Why not? You're making money, aren't you? All I can do now is wait for the

merchandise manager to die.

Listen, kid.

Why don't you come out west with me?

And you and I?

Maybe we could buy a ranch, raise cattle, use our muscles. Men built like

we are should be working out in the open.

The Lohman brothers.

We'd be known all over the county. Biff, Biff, Biff, that's what I dream of.

Sometimes, you know, sometimes I want to just rip my clothes off in the middle of

the store and outbox the damn merchandise manager. I mean, Biff, I can

outbox, outlift, outrun anybody in the store, and I have to take orders from

those common teddy sons of bitches.

See, if you were with me, I'd be happy out there. You see, Biff, everybody

around me is so false that I am constantly lowering my ideals. But,

baby, together we'd stand up for one another. We'd have somebody to trust.

Sure, if I was around you. The trouble is, we weren't brought up to grab for

money. I don't know how to do it. Neither can I. Then let's go.

The only thing is...

What can you make out there?

App. No, I got to show some of those pompous, self-important executives over

there that half Roman can make the grade, huh?

Then I'll go with your buffet.

We'll be together yet?

I swear.

Huh?

You could take those two we had tonight.

Weren't they gorgeous creatures?

Yeah. Yeah, most gorgeous I've had in years. Get that any time I want, Biff.

Whenever I feel disgusted.

The only trouble is it gets like bowling or something.

I just keep knocking them over. It doesn't mean anything.

You still run around a lot?

No.

I like to find a girl steady, somebody with substance.

Mm-hmm. That's what I long for.

Go on.

You'd never come home. Yeah, I would. Somebody with character, with resistance

like mine, you know? You're gonna call me a bastard when I tell you this.

That girl Charlotte I was with tonight?

Engaged to be married in five weeks.

No kidding. Sure.

Guy's in line for the vice presidency of the store.

I don't know what gets into me.

Maybe I just have an overdeveloped sense of competition or something, but I went

and ruined her.

Furthermore, I can't get rid of her.

And he's the third executive I've done that to.

Isn't that a crummy characteristic?

At the top of it all, I go to their weddings.

Don't get your sweater dirty.

Biff! Doesn't he know Mom can hear that?

Oh, what a Simonizing job.

Huh?

Look, Biff.

Don't leave again, will you?

We'll find a job here, Biff.

You've got to stop him. Hey, Biffo! I don't know what to do about him anymore.

It's getting embarrassing. Oh, boy.

What a Simon.

Look,

you go to sleep now. And talk to him in the morning, will you? With her in the

house? I wish you'd have a good talk with him.

That's selfish, stupid... Shh!

Sleep, then.

You just want to be careful with those

girls. If that's all, don't make any promises, no promises of any kind.

As a girl, you know, they always believe what you tell them. You're very young.

You're too young.

I'm talking seriously to the girls.

You want to watch your schooling first and when you're all set, though.

Leave the girls for a real boy like you.

That's all.

The girls pay for you.

Boy, you must really be making a hit.

I've been wondering why you polished that car so careful, then.

Uh, uh, uh... Uh... Only the hubcaps boys get the,

uh... Get the shaming to the hubcaps.

Happenings newspaper on the windows at season.

Use it like a pan.

That's a fancy footwork. They're doing all right.

Biff.

Uh, first thing we gotta do when we get time, we gotta clip that big branch over

the house there. I'm afraid it's gonna fall on us, don't hit the roof.

I'll tell you what, we get a, uh... We get a, uh, a rope and sling around, and

we climb up there with a couple of saws and take her down.

As soon as you finish the call, boys, I wanna see you. I got a surprise for you,

boys. What do you got, Dad?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You finish first.

Never leave a job till you finish. You remember that.

Biff?

Up in Albany, I saw a beautiful hammock. You know, I think I'll buy it next trip

and we'll hang it right between those two towns there, huh?

Wouldn't that be, huh?

Wouldn't that be something?

Just hanging, just swinging there under those, those, those, those, those

branches? Oh, boy, that would be something.

How's that, Pop?

profession terrific that's terrific job boys good good work there where's the

surprise pop in the back seat of the car.

What is it, Pop? Tell me. What you buying? Never mind.

Something I want you to have.

What is it?

It's a punching bag.

It's got Gene Tunney's signature on it. How'd you know we wanted a punching bag?

Well, it's the finest thing for the time being. I'm losing weight. You notice,

Pop? Jumping rope is good, too. Pop, see the new football I got? Where'd you get

a new ball?

Coach told me to practice my pass. Ah, so he gave you the ball, huh? Well, I

borrowed it from the lot. I want you to return that. See, I told you he wouldn't

like it. I'm bringing it back. Sure, he's got to practice with a regulation

ball, doesn't he? Coach would probably congratulate you on your initiative.

Pop, he keeps congratulating my initiative all the time. That's because

he likes you. Somebody else took that ball, it'd be an uproar.

So what's the report?

Boys! What's the report?

Where'd you go this time, Pop?

We were lonesome for you. Lonesome, huh?

Let me see every minute. Don't say.

Tell your secret, boys. Don't breathe it to a soul.

Someday I'll have my own business and I'll never have to leave home anymore.

Like Uncle Charlie, huh? I figured an Uncle Charlie because Charlie is not

like this.

He's like, but he's not well-liked. Where'd you go this time? Well, I got on

the road, and I went north to Providence, met the mayor.

The mayor of Providence? He was sitting in the hotel lobby.

What'd he say?

He said, good morning.

And I said, oh, you got a fine city here, mayor.

And he had coffee with me, and then I went to, uh, uh, Waterbury.

Waterbury's a fine city. Big clock city, the famous Waterbury clock.

Sold a nice building.

And, and...

boston boston is the cradle of the revolution fine city a couple other

towns mass and out to portland bangor straight home love to go with you

sometime soon as summer comes you promise oh you and happen i'll show you

all the towns because one thing boys i have friends i can park my car on any

street in new england and the cops protect it like their own this summer

huh we'll bet you pop we'll take a bathing suit hey we'll carry your bags

oh won't that be something coming to the boston stores with you boys carrying my

bags what a sensation

You nervous, Biff, about the game?

Not if you're going to be there. What do they say about you in school now that

they made you captain?

There's a crowd of girls around him every time the class is changed. Pop,

this Saturday, just for you, I'm going to break through for a touchdown. No,

Biff, you weren't supposed to pass. I'm taking one play for one.

Pop, you watch me. When I take off my helmet, that means I'm breaking out. And

you watch me crash through that locker. Oh, wait till I tell this boss.

Biff! Where are you? Hey, look at Bernard!

What are you looking so anemic about, Bernard?

I've got to study, Uncle Willie. He's got Regents next week. Bernard, come on,

let's box.

Listen, Biff, I heard Mr. Birnbaum say that if you don't start studying math,

he's going to flunk you and you won't graduate. I heard it. You better study

with Biff. Go ahead. I heard it. Pop, he didn't see my sneakers. Hey, that's a

beautiful job of printing.

Yeah, well, just because he prints University of Virginia on his sneakers

doesn't mean they've got to graduate. What are you talking about? With

scholarships, the three universities are going to flunk him. Yeah, but I heard

Mr. Birnbaum say... Don't be a pest, Bernard.

What an anemic.

I'm waiting for you in my house, bitch.

Bernard is not well-liked, is he? Pop, he's liked, but he's not well-liked.

That's just what I mean. Bernard can get the best marks in school, you

understand? But when he gets out into the business, will you understand?

You're gonna be five times ahead of him.

That's why I thank almighty God you both built like Adonisons.

Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who

creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead.

Be liked, and you will never want.

You take me for instance. I never have to wait in line to see a buyer.

Willie Bowman is here. That's all they have to know. And I go straight through.

Did you knock him dead, Pop? Knocked him cold and prominent.

Slaughtered him in Boston. I'm losing my public notice.

Hello, dear.

Sweetheart. How'd the Chevy run? Oh, Chevrolet Land is the greatest car ever

built. Since when do you let your mother carry water? Grab hold of them. Me too,

Ma. Oh, just hang it on the line. Biff, you've got to go down to your friends.

The cellar's just filled with boys. They don't know what to do. Mom, when Pop

comes home, they can wait. You better go now and tell him what to do, Beth.

Think I haven't sweeped out the furnace.

Way to work, Beth.

The way they obey him. Well, it's a training, a training.

Oh, I'm telling you, I was selling thousands and thousands, but I had to

come home. The whole block will be at that game. Did you sell anything?

Oh, I did 500 gross in Providence, 700 gross in Boston. No, wait, no, wait,

wait, wait. I got a pencil.

Let me see your commission.

200. Oh, my God.

212.

I didn't figure it yet. Well, how much did you do? I did about 180 gross in

Providence. 180? Well, no, it comes to roughly 200 gross on the whole trip. 200

gross? You see, the trouble was, the three of the stores were half closer

inventory than Boston. Otherwise, I would have broke breakfast. Well, it

makes 70 dollars and some pennies. That's very good.

What do we owe?

Well, first, there's 16 dollars on the refrigerator.

Why 16?

Well, the fan bell broke, so it was a dollar 80. But it's brand new.

Well, it's like the man says. It's got to work itself in, you know? I hope we

didn't get stuck on that machine.

It's got the biggest ads of any of them. I know. Oh, it's a fine machine.

What else?

Well, there's $9.60 for the washing machine, and for the vacuum cleaner,

there's $3.50 due on the 15th and the roof.

You got $21 for me. It only does it. Oh, no, they did a wonderful job.

Oh, then you owe Frank for the carburetor. I'm not going to pay that

man. That lousy, rotten Chevrolet, they ought to prohibit the manufacture of

that car.

Well, you owe him three and a half.

And odds and ends come to around $120 by the 15th. $120?

Oh, my God, if business don't pick up, I don't know what I'm going to do. Well,

next week you'll do better. Oh, knock them dead next week. I'll go to

Hartford. I'm very well liked in Hartford.

You know the trouble is, Linda, people don't seem to take to me. Oh, don't be

so foolish. I know it. When I walk in, they seem to laugh at me. Why? Why would

they laugh at you? Don't talk like that. I don't know the reason for it, but they

just pass me by and not notice. Well, you're making $70 to $100 a week. I

gotta be at it 10, 12 hours a day. Other men, I don't know why they do it easier.

I don't know why I can't stop myself. I talk too much.

Oh. Oh, a man ought to come in with a few words. One thing about Charlie, he's

a man of few words, and they respect him. You don't talk too much. You're

just lively.

Well, I figured what the hell, life is short.

A couple of jokes.

I joke too much.

Why? You... I'm short.

I'm very foolish to look at, Linda.

I didn't tell you, but Christmas time I happened to be calling on F.H. Stewart,

a salesman I know, as I was going in to see the buyer.

I heard him say something about the shrimp.

And I crack them. I crack them right across the face. I won't take that.

I simply will not take that.

But they do laugh at me. Oh, I know that.

Darling. Oh, I got to overcome it. I know I got to overcome it. Darling. I'm

not dressing to advantage, baby.

Willie, darling, you're the handsomest man in the world.

You're the best there is. You know that. You're a pal.

On the road, on the road, I want to grab you sometimes and just kiss the life out

of you.

Because I get so lonely, especially when business is bad, and the way to talk to

you, I get the feeling I'll never say anything anymore, that I want to make a

living for you.

What business? A business for the boys. Oh, there's so much I want to make for

them. Me?

You didn't make me, Willie. I picked you.

You picked me, huh? I did.

I've been sitting at that desk watching all the salesmen go by day in and day

out. But you've got such a sense of humor.

And we do have a good time together, don't we? Sure, sure. Why do you have to

go now?

Two o'clock. No, come on. My sisters will be scandalized when you'll be back.

About two weeks about. Will you come up again? Sure thing.

You do make me laugh. That's good for me.

And I think you're a wonderful man.

You picked me, huh?

I did. Because you're so sweet and such a kidder. Well, I'll see you next time

I'm in Boston.

I'll put you right through to the buyers.

Right. Well, bottom line... Willie!

You just killed me.

And thanks for the stockings. I love a lot of stockings.

Well, good night.

Good night. Oh, and keep your pores open.

Willie.

You are Willie, the handsomest.

Well, there's nothing to make up, Willie. You're doing fine. You're doing

better than... What's that?

Well, I'm mending my stockings. They're so expensive. I won't have you mending

stockings in this house. I'll throw them out. Where is he? If he doesn't stop...

I don't have any answers.

I do, but I can't on a regent's. It's a state exam. They're liable to arrest me.

Where is he? Where is he? You better get back that...

You want him to be a worm like

Bernard?

Oh, he's got spirit.

Personality. He's loaded with it. Loaded? What is he stealing?

He's, uh, he's giving it back, isn't he?

Why is he stealing?

Why did I tell him I never in my life told him anything but Dayton?

Come on up, Pop.

Let's cool off, buddy.

Why did she have to wax the floors herself every time? She waxes the

floors, she keels over, she knows that. Take it easy. Ah. Hey, hey, hey. What

brought you back for that? Oh, I got an awful scare. Yeah, I nearly hit a kid in

Yonkers.

Oh, God, why didn't I go to Alaska with my brother Ben that time? Ben, that man

was a genius. That man was success incarnate. What a mistake. He begged me

to go.

There is no... Oh, you guys.

There was a man started with the clothes on his back and ended up with timing

mines. Boy, someday I'd like to know how he did it. What's the mystery? The man

knew what he wanted, went out and got it, walks into a jungle, comes out at

the age of 21, and he's rich!

The world is an oyster, but you don't crack it open on a mattress.

I told you, I'm gonna retire you for life. Oh, yeah, you're gonna retire me

for life. On $70 a week and your women and your car and your pump, you're gonna

retire me for life? For God's sake, I couldn't get past your office today.

Where are you guys? Where are you? The woods are burning.

I can't drive a car.

Everything all right?

What's the matter? Everything is fine.

I heard some noise. I thought something happened.

No. Can't we do something about the walls?

You sneeze in here, my house hats blow off. Come on.

Let's go up, huh?

You go ahead. I'm not tired at the moment. All right.

Take it easy.

What are you doing up?

I couldn't sleep because I had a heart attack. Well, you do not eat.

I eat with my mouth. Oh, you're ignorant. You got to know about vitamins

and things like that. Come on, let's shoot. Hurry up.

All right.

You got cards?

I got them someplace.

What is it with those vitamins?

Don't lift your bones, chemistry.

Yeah, but there's no bones in a Harper. What are you talking about? You know the

first thing about it Don't talk about something you don't know anything about

What are you doing home a

Little trouble with the car.

Oh I Like to take a trip to California, don't say

one job

I got a job. I told you that. What the hell are you offering me? A job?

Don't get insulted. Oh, don't insult me.

I don't see no sense in it. You don't have to go on this way. I got a good

job. What do you keep coming in here for?

You want me to go?

I can't understand it. He's going back to Texas again. What the hell is that?

Let him go. I got nothing to give him, Charlie. I'm clean. I'm clean.

He won't starve. None of them starve.

Forget about it. What have I got to remember?

You take it too hard.

To hell with it. When a deposit bottle is broken, you don't get your nickel

back. That's easy enough for you to say. That ain't easy for me to say.

You see the ceiling I put up in here?

Yeah,

that's a piece of work.

To put up a ceiling is a mystery to me.

How you doing? What's the difference?

Huh?

Well, talk about it. What, you gonna put up a ceiling?

How can I put up a ceiling? So what the hell are you bothering me for?

You're insulting again. A man who can't handle tools is not a man.

You're disgusting.

You don't call me disgusting, Willie.

Oh, I'm getting... I'm getting awfully tired, Ben.

Good, keep playing. You'll sleep better.

You call me Ben?

It's funny, for a second there, you reminded me of my brother, Ben.

I only have a few minutes.

You never heard from him again, huh, since that time? Didn't Linda tell you?

A couple of weeks ago, we got a letter from his wife in Africa.

He died.

Ah, is that so?

So this is Brooklyn, huh?

Maybe you're in for some of his money. No, he had seven sons. There's just one

opportunity I had with that man. Must make a train, William. There are several

properties I'm looking at in Alaska. Sure, sure. If I'd have gone with him to

Alaska that time, everything would have been totally different. Now, Juan,

you're a frozen death, I bet. What are you talking about?

Opportunity is tremendous in Alaska, William.

Surprised you're not up there. Sure, tremendous.

There's the only man I ever met who knew the answers.

How are you all? Fine.

Fine. Pretty sharp tonight. Is Mother living with you? No, she died a long

time ago.

Who? That's too bad. Fine specimen of a lady, Mother. Huh? I'd hope to see the

old girl. Who died?

Anything from Father, have you? What do you mean, who died?

What are you talking about? What are you talking about?

William, it's half past eight. That's my bill. No, no, no, no. I put the eights.

You don't know how to play the game. My eights, for God's sake.

I'm through.

I'm through.

When did Mother die? Long ago, since the beginning. You never knew how to play,

Carl. All right.

Next time I'll bring a deck with five beasts. I don't play that kind of game.

I want to be a champion, sir. Yeah.

Yeah.

Ignoramus. So, you're William.

Oh, Ben.

I've been waiting for you so long.

What's the answer? How did you do it?

Oh, there's a story in that. Is this Ben?

How do you do, my dear?

Well, where have you been all these years? Willie's been wondering. Where is

Dad? Didn't you follow him? How did you get started? I don't know how much you

remember. Well, I was just a baby. Of course, only three or four years old.

Three years and 11 months. Oh, what a memory.

I have many enterprises, William, and I've never kept books. I remember I was

sitting under the wagon. What was it, Nebraska? No, it was South Dakota, and I

gave you a bunch of wild flowers. I remember you walking way down some open

road. I was going to find Father in Alaska.

Where is he?

In those days, I had a very faulty view of geography, William. I discovered

after a few days that I was heading due south. So instead of Alaska, I ended up

in Africa.

Africa? The Gold Coast!

Principally, Diamondmont.

Diamondmont. Yes, but I'm afraid I only have a few minutes. Boys, boys, listen

to this. This is your Uncle Ben.

Great man.

Ben.

Tell my boys.

My boys, when I was 17, they walked into the jungle.

When I was 21, they walked out.

And by God, I was rich.

You see what I've been talking about? Oh, the greatest things can happen.

I have an appointment to catch count Tuesday week. No, Ben, please tell about

that. I want my boys to hear. I want them to know the kind of stock they

spring from. To you, all I remember is a man with a big beard, and I was sitting

in Mama's lap around a fire, you know, some kind of high music.

Oh, his flute. He played the flute. Oh, the flute, that's right.

Father was a very great, very wild-hearted man.

We would start in Boston, and he would toss the whole family into the wagon,

and he'd drive the team right across the country, through Ohio, Michigan,

Illinois, and all the western states.

And we'd stop at the towns, and he would sell the flutes he made on the way.

Great inventor, father.

With one gadget, he made more in one week than a man like you could make in a

lifetime. Oh, no, no, Ben, that's just the way I'm bringing them up.

Rugged, well-liked, all around.

Hit me, boy, hard as you can.

Come on, come on, get to me. Go ahead, show them. Show them the chair. Show

them the chair.

Never fight fair with a stranger boy, you'll never get out of the jungle that

way It was an honor and a pleasure to meet you Linda Have a

nice trip.

Oh and a good luck with your What do you do? Oh?

Oh, that's really long. Oh, Ben, I don't want you to think it's Brooklyn I know,

but we hunt, too.

Really, then? Oh, sure. There's snakes and rabbits, and that's why I moved out.

And why Pip can fell any one of these trees in no time. Boys, go right over to

the weather building in your apartment house and get some sand. We're going to

rebuild the entire front stoop right now. Watch this, Ben. I lost weight,

Pop. Listen,

unless you're any more from that building, watch where you put the cops.

Oh, don't let Pip take any more. You should have seen the lumber they brought

home last week. At least a dozen six-by-tens worth all kinds of money.

Listen, what?

I get the belly, you understand, but I got a couple of fearless characters

there. Really? Yeah. The jails are full of fearless characters. And the stock

exchange, friend.

Uncle Willie!

Uncle Willie!

Watchman's chasing Biff. Shut up.

He's not stealing anything. Where is he?

Biff, dear. There's nothing wrong.

What is the matter with you? Nervy boy.

Good.

Oh, nerves are high in that bit.

I don't know what it is.

My New England man comes back and he's bleeding. They murdered him up there.

Couldn't sell a nickel for five cents. It's contacts, Charlie. I got important

contacts. Glad to hear it, Willie.

Come in later. We'll shoot a little casino.

I'll take some of your Portland money.

Ball business is bad. It's murderous.

But...

Not for me, of course. I'll stop by on my way back to Africa. Ben, wait.

Can't you stay a few days?

Huh? I mean, you're just what I need, Ben.

Because, you know, I have a fine position here, but Dad left when I was

such a baby. I never had a chance to talk to him, and I still feel kind of

temporary about myself.

I'll be late for my train.

Ben, my boys, can't we talk?

See, they'd go into the jaws of hell for me, see, but I... William, you're being

first rate with your boys.

Outstanding, manly chaps.

Oh, Ben, that's good to hear, because sometimes I'm afraid that I'm not

teaching them the right kind.

Ben, how should I teach them?

William,

when I walked into the jungle, I was 17.

When I walked out, I was 21.

And by God, I was rich.

Was rich.

That's just the spirit I want to imbue them with, to walk into a jungle.

Oh, boy.

I was right. I was right. I was... I was right.

Willie. I was right. Willie.

Willie, dear, did you get some cheese?

It's awful late, darling.

Come to bed.

You gotta break your neck to see a star in this yard.

Are you coming up, Willie?

What happened to that diamond watch club? You remember when Ben came from

Africa that time. Didn't he give me a watch club with a diamond in it? Well,

you pawned it, dear, 12, 13 years ago for this radio correspondence course.

That was a beautiful thing. I'll take a walk.

But in your slippers, Willie?

What a man, huh?

Now, there was a man worth talking to. But in your slippers. I was right.

Shh.

What is he doing out here?

Shh. God almighty, Mom. How long has he been doing this? Don't.

He'll hear you.

Well, what the hell is the matter with him?

It'll pass by morning.

Well, shouldn't we do anything?

Oh, my dear, you should do a lot of things.

There's nothing to do. Go to bed.

Well, I never heard him so loud, Mom. Come around more often. You'll hear him.

Why didn't you ever write me about this? How would I write to you?

For over three months, you've had no address.

I was on the move.

Well, you know, I thought of you all the time, you know? I know, dear, I know.

But he likes to have a letter just to know there's still the possibility of

better things. Well, he's not like this all the time. It's when you come home,

he's always the worst. When I come home? When you write, you come home. He's all

smiles. He talks about the future. He's just wonderful.

And the closer you come, the more shaky he gets. And by the time you get here,

he's arguing. He seems to be angry at you. I think it's just because he can't

bring himself to open up to you.

Now, why are you so hateful to each other? I'm not hateful. Oh, you know

sooner walk through that door than you're fighting. Well, I don't know why.

I mean to change, Mom. I'm trying. You understand?

Are you home to stay now? I don't know.

I'm gonna look around, see what's done.

You can't look around all your life, can you? Well, I just can't take hold, Mom.

I can't take hold of some kind of life. If a man is not a bird to come and go

with the springtime.

You're here.

Your hair's getting so gray. Oh, it's been gray since you were in high school.

I just stopped dyeing it, that's all.

Well, dye it again, will you?

Well, I don't want my pal looking old.

You are such a boy.

You think you can go away for a year?

If you've got to get it into your head now, one day you're gonna knock on this

door, there'll be strange people here. Mom, what are you talking about? You're

not even 60 yet.

What about your father?

Well, I meant him, too.

He admires Pop.

If you don't have any feeling for him, you can't have any feeling for me. Sure

I can. No, Biff.

You can't just come to see me.

Because I love him.

He's the dearest man in the world to me, and I won't have anyone making him feel

unwanted and low and blue.

You have got to make up your mind now, darling. There's no leeway anymore.

Either he's your father...

and you pay him that respect or else you're not to come here.

What the hell is the matter with him? Mom, stop making excuses for him. He

always, always wiped the floor with you. Never had an ounce of respect for you.

He always had respect for Hart. What the hell do you know about it?

Just don't call him crazy. He's got no character. Charlie wouldn't do this, not

in his own house, spewing out that vomit from his mind. Charlie never had to cope

with what he's got to. People are worse off than Willie Loman. Believe me, I've

seen it. Then make Charlie your father, Biff. You can't do that, can you?

I am not saying he's a great man.

Willie Loman never earned a lot of money. His name was never in the paper.

He's not the finest character that ever lived.

But he's a human being.

And a terrible thing is happening to him.

So attention must be paid he must not be allowed to fall into his grave like an

old dog attention Attention must finally be paid to such a person you called him

crazy mom. I didn't wait a minute a Lot of people think he's lost his balance,

but you don't have to be very smart to know what his trouble is The man is

exhausted sure A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man.

He works for a company.

36 years this March, he opens up unheard of territories to their trademark, and

now, in his old age, they take his salary away.

I didn't know that, Mom. You never asked, my dear.

Now that you get your spending money somewhere else, you don't trouble your

mind with him. I gave you money. Oh, Christmas time, $50.

To fix the hot water, it costs $97.50.

For five weeks, he's been on straight commission like a beginner, an unknown.

Those ungrateful bastards.

Are they any worse than his sons?

He drives 700 miles.

And when he gets there, no one knows him anymore. No one welcomes him.

And what...

goes through a man's mind, driving 700 miles home without having

earned a cent.

Why shouldn't he talk to himself?

Why not?

When he has to go to Charlie every week and borrow $50 from him and pretend to

me it's his pay. Now, how long can that go on? How long?

And you tell me he has no character?

The man who never worked a day in his life but for your benefit.

And when does he get the medal for that?

Is this his reward?

To turn around at the age of 63 and find his sons, who he loved better than his

life.

One a philandering bum.

Mom. That is all you are, my baby.

And you.

What happened to the love you had for him? You were such pals. He used to talk

every night on the phone. How lonely he was till he could come home to you.

All right, Mom.

I'll live here in my room. I'll get a job. I'll just keep away from him,

that's all. No, Biff.

You can't stay here and fight all the time. Mom, he threw me out of this

house, remember that? All right, why did he do that? I never knew why. Because I

know he's a fake, and he doesn't like anybody around. A fake? In what way?

What do you mean?

Just don't lay it all at my feet, Mom. It's between me and him. That's all I

have to say.

Look, I'll chip in from now on. He'll settle for half my paycheck. He'll be

all right. I'm going to bed. He won't be all right. I hate this city, and I'll

stay here.

Now, what do you want?

He's dying, Viv.

Why is he dying?

He's been trying to kill himself.

Oh.

Do you remember I wrote you that he smashed up the car again in February?

Well?

The insurance inspector came. He says there's evidence that all the accidents

in the last year weren't accidents.

How can they tell me? That's a lie.

It seems there's a woman, and this woman... What woman?

What?

Nothing. Go ahead. What did you say? Nothing. I said, what about her?

Well, it seems she was walking down the road. She said she saw his car. She said

he wasn't driving fast at all. He didn't skid. She said he came to that little

bridge, and he deliberately smashed into the railing, and it was just the

shallowness of the water that saved him.

Mom, he probably just fell asleep again.

I don't think he fell asleep.

Why not?

Last month... Oh, boys, it's so hard to say a thing like this.

I was looking for a fuse. The lights blew out. I went down the cellar.

And behind the fuse box that just happened to fall out was this... length

of rubber pipe, just short.

No kidding.

There's an attachment on the end of it.

I knew.

Right away and sure enough on the bottom of the hot water heater. There's a new

little nipple on the gas pipe Jerk. Well, did you have it taken off?

I'm ashamed to How can I mention it to him?

Every day I go down and I take away that little rubber pipe

But when he comes home I put it back where it was

How can I insult him that way?

It sounds so silly and old-fashioned, but I tell you, he's put his whole life

into you.

And you've turned your backs on him.

Biff, his life is in your hands.

I feel like a damn fool.

All right.

All right.

It's settled now. I've been remiss. I know that. But now I'll stay, and I

swear to you, Mom, I'll apply myself.

See, I don't fit in business.

That I will try. I'll try and I'll make good. Sure you will.

Trouble with you in business was you never tried to please people. It's like

when you worked for Harrison.

Bob Harrison, he said you were tops.

Then you go and do some damn fool thing like whistling all songs in the elevator

like a comedian.

Well, so what? I like to whistle sometimes.

You don't raise a guy to a responsible job who whistles in the elevator. Oh,

don't argue about it now. Or when you go off for a swim in the middle of the day

instead of taking the line. Oh, and you don't take off? You run off sometimes,

don't you? On a nice summer day? Yeah, sure, but I cover myself.

Oh, boys. No, no, Biff. You do what? Biff.

I'm gonna tell you something that I hate to say.

In the business world, some of them think you're crazy. Screw the business

world. Right, screw them. Great, but cover yourself. I don't care what they

think. They have laughed at Dad for years, and you know why?

Because we don't belong in this nuthouse of a city. We should be mixing cement

somewhere on some open plain of carpenters. A carpenter is allowed to

whistle. Even your grandfather was better than a carpenter.

You never grew up.

But no, I does not whistle in the elevator, I assure you.

Yeah, I bet you do. I never in my life whistled in an L.A.

And who in the business world thinks I'm crazy?

Dad, I didn't mean it like that. Don't make a whole thing up. Go back to the

West, be a carpenter, a cowboy, enjoy yourself. Willie, he was just saying...

I heard what he said. Hey, Pop, come on now. Don't you laugh at me.

Go to Filene's, go to the Hub, go to Slattery's Boston and call out the name

Willie Long and see what happens. Big shot. All right, Pop.

Big. All right.

Why do you always insult me?

Dad, I didn't say a word.

Did I say a word?

He didn't say anything, Willie.

All right, good night. Good night. Willie, he's just... If you get tired

hanging around tomorrow, paint the ceiling I put up in the living room.

I'm leaving early tomorrow, Pop. He's gonna see Bill Oliver, Pop.

He always said he'd stake me, and I'd like to go into business, so maybe I'll

take him up on it.

Isn't that wonderful?

Don't interrupt. What's wonderful about it? There's 50 men in the city of New

York that stake him.

Sporting goods?

Well,

I guess so. I know something about it. He knows something about it.

You know sporting goods better than Spalding, for God's sake.

How much is he giving you?

I don't know, Pop. I haven't seen him yet. Then what are you talking about?

Dad, all's I said was I was gonna go see him. Ah, you're counting your chickens

again. Jeez.

Don't curse on this house.

Since when did you get so clean? Don't use that language to me.

I won't have it. I got an idea. I got a feasible idea. Now, Biff, let's talk

this over. Let's talk a little sense here. Now, Biff, Biff, when I was down

in Florida last time, I thought of a great idea to sell sporting goods. It

just came back to me. It's you and I, Biff. See, we have a line.

The Lowman line. Now, we train a couple weeks, put on a couple of exhibitions.

That's an idea.

We form two basketball teams, two water polo teams. Yeah, we play each other.

It's a million dollars worth of publicity. See?

Two brothers, see? Huh?

The Lowman brothers.

Baby, we could sell sport.

That is a $1 million idea.

Marvelous. I'm in great shape as far as that's concerned.

And the beauty of it is, Biff, it wouldn't be like a business at all. We'd

be out playing ball again. Hap, that's what I was talking about. And you

wouldn't get fed up with it. Biff Seed would be the family again. Lick the

world. You guys together could absolutely lick the civilized world.

Hap, I'll see Oliver tomorrow. If we could work that out. Oh, I think

everything is good. Stop interrupting. But don't wear a sports jacket and

slacks when you see Oliver.

A business suit. You should talk as little as...

as possible, and don't crack any jokes.

Hey, he did like me.

Always liked me. Oh, he loved you. Will you stop?

Walking very serious. You're not applying for a boy's job. Money is to

pack. Be quiet, fine, and serious. Everybody likes a kid, but nobody lends

them money. I'll try to get some myself if I'm sure I can. Oh, I see great

things for you kids. I think your troubles are over, but remember, start

big and you'll end big. Ask for 15.

How many can I ask for?

Gee, I don't know. Oh, and don't say, gee, gee, is a boy's word. A man walking

in for $15,000 does not say, gee. Well, 10, I think, would be top. Don't be so

modest. You always started too low.

Walking with a big laugh.

Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten

things up. It's not what you say, but how you say it.

Because personality always wins the day. Oliver always sought the high end. Will

you let me talk?

Dad, stop yelling at him, will you? I was talking.

Wasn't I? I know, I just don't like you yelling at her all the time, and I'm

telling you, that's all. What, are you taking over this house? Oh, Willie, you

didn't mean... Don't take her side all the time, damn it!

Stop yelling at her.

Why did you have to start that?

Did you see how sweet he was as soon as you talked, hopefully?

Go up.

Say goodnight to him.

Don't let him go to bed that way. Hey, come on, Beth. Let's fuck him up.

Please, dear.

It takes so little to make him happy.

Come.

Your pajamas are hanging in the bathroom, Willie. Oh, what a woman.

They broke the mold when they made her. You know that?

A piece of off salary.

Oh, my God. Working on commission?

Well, let's face it. He's no hot shot selling, man.

Except that sometimes you gotta admit he's a sweet personality.

Let me ten bucks, will you? I'm gonna buy some new ties. I'll take you to a

place I know beautiful stuff. Wear one of my striped shirts tomorrow.

Mom got so gray.

She got awful home.

I'm gonna go in and I'm gonna see Oliver tomorrow and I'm gonna knock him. Well,

come on up and tell that to Dad. Let's give him a whirl, huh? You know, with 10

,000 bucks.

You know, Biff, that's the first time I've heard the old confidence out of

you. You're gonna live with me, kid.

And I'm telling you, any babe you want, you say the word.

Can you do something about the shower? It drips.

All of a sudden, everything falls to pieces.

That damn plumbing, you know they ought to be sued, those people.

I hardly finished putting it in. I was just wondering if Oliver will remember

him. Now, do you think he might? Remember him? What is the matter with

you? Are you crazy?

If he'd have stayed with Oliver, he'd be on top by now.

You wait till Oliver gets a look at him.

You see, you don't know the average caliber anymore.

The average young man today has got a caliber of zero.

Greatest thing in the world for him was to bum a...

You wanted to say good night to your sport.

Oh, yeah, you knock him dead, boy.

What do you want to tell me?

Just take it easy, pal.

Good night. And if anything falls off the desk while you're talking to him,

like a package or something, don't you pick it up.

They have office boys for that. I'll make a big breakfast.

Will you let me finish?

Hmm?

You tell him that you were in the business in the West, not farm work. All

right, Dad, I will. I think everything's gonna be... And don't

undersell yourself.

No less than $15,000.

Okay. Good night, Mom.

Because you got a greatness in you.

Biff!

Remember that.

You got all kinds of greatness.

Sleep well, darling.

I'm gonna get married, Mom.

I wanted to tell you. Go to sleep, dear.

I just wanted to tell you.

Keep up the good work.

Do you remember that Ebbets Field game, the championship of the city?

Just rest, dear.

Should I sing to you? Yeah, you sing to me. You know, when that team came out,

he was the tallest.

You remember?

Long gold.

Oh, like a young god.

Hercules, something like that.

And the sun, the sun all around him.

Remember how he waved to me?

Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges

standing by, and the, uh... the, uh, the buyers I brought, and all that.

A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away.

Oh, boy.

Willie.

Dear.

What has he got against you?

Will you ask Howard to let you work in New York? Oh, first thing in the

morning. Everything will be all right.

Jim.

Look at the moon moving between the buildings.

Amen.

Wonderful coffee.

Meal in itself.

Can I make you some eggs? Take a breath.

You look so rested, dear.

I slept like a dead one. First time in months, imagine sleeping till 10 on a

Tuesday morning.

Boys left nice and early. They were out of here by 8 o'clock.

Good work. Oh, so thrilling, seeing them leaving together.

I cannot get over the smell of shaving lotion in this house.

Biff was very changed this morning. His whole attitude seemed to be, hopefully,

he couldn't wait to get downtown to see Oliver. Always heading for a change.

There's no question. There simply are certain men that take longer to get,

uh... Solidified. How did he get a dress?

His blue suit. Oh, he looked so handsome in that suit. He could be anything in

that suit. Oh, there's no question, no question at all. Gee.

On the way home tonight, I'd like to buy some seeds.

Oh, well, that's wonderful, dear, but not enough sun gets back there. Nothing

will grow back there. Oh, you wait, kid. Before it's all over, we'll get a little

place out in the country. I'll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens.

Well, you'll do it yet, Willie. And I'll get married and come for a weekend. You

know, I'd build a little guest house because I got so many fine tools. All

I'd need would be a little lumber and some peace of mind. I sold the line. You

know, I could build two guest houses so they'd both come. Yes.

Did he decide how much he's going to ask Oliver for? Well, he didn't mention it,

but I imagine ten.

15,000.

Now, you're gonna talk to Howard today. Oh, yeah, I'll, uh, I'll, uh, I'll put

it to him, straight and simple. Just have to take me off the road.

Yeah, well, don't forget to ask him for a little advance because we got the

insurance premium. It's the grace period now.

That's $108. It's $108.68 because we're a little short this month. Why are we

short? Well, you had the motor job done on the car.

Oh, that damn Studebaker. And you got one more payment on the refrigerator.

But it just broke again.

Well, it's old, dear. I told you we should have bought a well-advertised

machine. Charlie bought a General Electric, and it's 20 years old, and

it's still good. Willie, please.

Oh, whoever heard of the Hastings refrigerator?

Once in my life, I'd like to buy something outright before it's broken. I

am always in a race with the junkyard. I just finished paying for the car, and

it's on its last legs. The refrigerator consumes belts like a maniac. They time

those things. They time them.

So when you finally pay for them, they're used up.

All told, about $200 would carry us, dear, but that includes the last payment

on the mortgage.

When we've made that payment, Willie, the house belongs to us.

It's 25 years.

But it was nine years old when we bought it.

Well, that's a great thing, to weather a 25-year mortgage, you see.

It's an accomplishment.

All the cement, the lumber, the reconstruction I put in this house,

there ain't a crap to be found in it anymore.

Well, it served its purpose.

What purpose? Some stranger will come along, move in, and that's that.

If only Biff would take this house and raise a family.

Goodbye, I'm late. Oh, I forgot to tell you. You're supposed to meet them for

dinner tonight. Me?

Yeah, Frank's Tapas, 48th near 6th Avenue. That so?

Yeah. How about you? No, just the three of you. They are going to blow you to a

big meal. Don't say.

Who thought of that? Biff came to me this morning. Well, he said, tell Dad

we're going to blow him to a big meal. Be there 6 o'clock.

You and your two boys are going to have dinner. Aw, gee whiz. That's really

something. Yeah. Oh, I'm going to knock holler for a loop, kid. I'll get an

advance and I'll come home with a New York job. Damn it, I'm going to do it.

Oh, that's a spirit, Willie.

I will never get behind a wheel the rest of my life. Changing, Willie. I can feel

it changing.

Beyond the question.

Oh.

Got your glasses. Yeah. And your handkerchief. And my handkerchief. And

your sacrament. And my sacrament. Now you be careful on the subway stairs.

Will you stop mending stockings at least while I'm in the house? It gets me

nervous. I can't tell you, please.

And don't forget Frank's chop house. You know, maybe Beats would grow out there.

Oh, Willie, you tried so many times.

Yeah, well, don't work hard.

Now you be careful.

Come on, give me a little something.

Goodbye.

Goodbye. Goodbye.

Hello, Willie.

I'd like to have a little talk with you, Howard. Sorry to keep you waiting. I'll

be with you in a minute. What's that, Howard?

You ever see one of these?

It's a wire recorder.

Oh, can we talk a minute? It records things.

I just got delivery yesterday.

It's been driving me crazy. It's the most terrific machine I ever saw in my

life. I was up all night with it. What are you doing with it? I bought it for

dictation, but you can do anything with it.

Listen to this. I had it home last night. Now listen to what I picked up.

The first one is my daughter. Get this.

Listen to that kid whistle.

That is lifelike, isn't it?

Seven years old. Get that tone. I'd like to ask a little favor.

It's your turn now, Daddy.

She's crazy for you.

That's me.

You're very good. Get this now. This is my son. The capital of Alabama is

Montgomery. The capital of California is Sacramento. Five years old, Will. The

kiss.

He'll make an announcement someday.

Get that. That is alphabetical order.

Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. The maid kicked the plug. That certainly is

it. Shh, for God's sake. It is 9 o'clock, little rush time, so I have to

go to sleep.

Really, is he? Wait a minute. The next is my wife. Are you going to talk? I

can't think of anything.

Talk. It's time.

Hello? Oh, Harry, I can't talk.

That was my wife.

That is a wonderful machine. Can we, uh... I'll tell you, Willie, I'm going

to take my camera and my bandsaw and all my hobbies.

And out they go. This is the most fascinating relaxation I ever found. I

think I'll get one myself.

Sure, there are only a hundred and a half. You can't do without it.

Supposing you want to hear Jack Benny, see? But you can't be home at that hour.

So you tell the maid to turn the radio on when Jack Benny comes on.

And this automatically comes on with the radio. And when you come home, you...

You can come home at 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, any time you'd like it. You get

yourself a Coke, sit yourself down, throw the switch, and there is Jack

Benny's program in the middle of the night. Oh, I'm definitely gonna get one

myself, Howard, because lots of times I'm on the road and I think to myself,

what I must be missing on the radio.

Don't you have a radio in the car?

Well, yeah, but, you know, whoever thinks of turning it on. Say, uh, aren't

you supposed to be in Boston?

That's what I want to talk to you about, Howard. You got a minute?

What happened? What are you doing here? Well, uh... You didn't crack up again,

did you? Oh, no.

Oh.

Jeez. Got me worried there for a minute.

What's the trouble? Well, uh, to tell you the truth, Howard, I've come to the

decision that, uh, I'd rather not travel anymore.

Not travel?

Well, what do you do? Remember Christmas time when you had the party here? You

said you'd try to think of some spot for me here in town.

With us?

Well, sure.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Remember, we'll, uh...

I couldn't think of anything for you, Willie. I tell you, Howard, the kids are

all grown up now, you know.

I don't need much anymore. If I could take home, well, $65 a week, I could

swing it. Yeah, but Willie, see, I... I'll tell you why, Howard.

Speaking frankly and between the two of us, you know, I'm just a little tired.

Oh, I can understand that, Willie.

But you're a road man, Willie.

We do a road business. We've only got half a dozen salesmen on the floor here.

God knows, Howard, I never asked the favor of any man, but I was with the

firm when your father used to carry you in here in his arms. I know that,

Willie. Your father came to me the day you were born and asked me what I

thought of the name Howard. May he rest in peace. I appreciate that, Willie, but

there just is no spot here for you. If I had a spot. I would slam you right into

it, but I just don't have a single solid time. Howard, all I need to set my table

is $50 a week. Where am I going to put you, kid? Look, it's not a question of

whether I can sell merchandise, is it?

No, but it's a business, kid, and everybody's got to pull his own weight.

Just let me tell you a story. Because you have got to admit that business is

business. Oh, business is definitely business, but just listen for a minute

now. You don't understand this. Now, when I was a boy, 18, 19, I was already

on the road, and there was a question in my mind as to whether selling had a

future for me, because in those days,

I had a yearning to go to Alaska. You see, there were three gold strikes in

one month in Alaska, and I felt like going out, just for the ride, you might

say. You don't say. Oh, sure. My father lived many years in Alaska. He was an

adventurous man.

We got quite a little streak of self-reliance in our family, Howard. And

I thought I'd go out with my older brother, try to locate him, maybe even

settle in the north with the old man. And I was almost decided to go.

When I met a salesman in the Parker house, his name was Dave Singelman. He

was 84 years old, and he drummed merchandise in 31 states.

And old Dave, he'd go up to his room, you understand, put on his green velvet

slippers, I'll never forget, pick up the phone, call the vibes.

Without ever leaving his room, at the age of 84, he made his living.

And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career that a

man could walk. because what could be more satisfying than to be able to go at

the age of 84 into 20 or 30 different cities and pick up a phone and be

remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?

You know, when he died... By the way, he died the death of a salesman in his

green velvet slippers in the smoker of the New York, New Haven and Hartford

going into Boston.

When he died, hundreds of salesmen and buyers were at his funeral.

Things were sad on a lot of trains for months after that.

You see, in those days, there was personality in it, Howard. There was

respect and comradeship and gratitude in it.

Today, it's all cut and dried, and there's no chance for bringing

friendship to bear or personality. I mean, you see what I mean.

They don't know me anymore.

That's just the thing, Willie. If I had $40 a week, that's all I need. Kid, $40.

Howard. I can't take blood from a stone, Willie. The year Al Smith was nominated,

your father came to me. I'm talking about your father. There were promises

made across this desk. You mustn't tell me that you got people to see.

I put 34 years into this firm, Howard, and now I can't pay my insurance.

You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away.

A man is not a piece of fruit.

Your father.

Howard.

In 1928, I had a big year.

I averaged $170 a week. Willie, you never averaged $170 a week.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I averaged $170 a week in the year 1928.

And your father came to me, Howard. It was right across the desk. He put his

hand on my shoulder. You have to excuse me, Willie.

Yeah. I've got to see some people.

Pull yourself together. I'll be back in a little while I

Was

yelling

at

Don't you remember what you told me at that time? You put your hand on my

shoulder, in fact.

Oh,

Howard.

Howard.

Howard. Howard.

Shut it. Shut it off.

Shut it off.

Look, Willie.

Oh, you know, I've got to get myself some coffee.

I've got to get some coffee. Willie, look. I'll go to Boston. Look, Willie.

You can't go to Boston for us.

Why can't I go?

I don't want you to represent us.

I've been meaning to tell you for a long time now.

Howard, are you firing me?

I think that you need a good long rest, Willie. Howard. And when you feel

better, come back and we'll see if we can work something out. I gotta earn

money, Howard. I am in no position... Where are your sons?

What? Why don't your sons give you a hand?

Oh, they're working on a very big deal.

This is no time for false pride, Willie. You go to your sons.

And tell them your time.

You got two great boys there, haven't you? Oh, no question, no question,

but... That's that, huh?

In the meantime... That's that, huh? All right, I'll go to... I'll go to Boston

tomorrow. No.

No.

I can't throw myself on my kids. I'm not a... Look, kid, I am busy this morning.

I've got to let you go to Boston. I have got a line of people to see this

morning.

Sit down. What? Sit.

Take

five

minutes. And pull yourself together.

And then go home.

Will you?

I need the office.

Oh, yeah, whenever you can this week, stop by and drop off the samples. You'll

feel better, Willie, and then come back.

We'll talk.

Pull yourself together, kid. There's people outside.

Oh,

Ben.

How did you do it, huh?

What's the answer?

Did you wind up to the Alaska deal already? Doesn't take much time if you

know what you're doing. Just a short business trip. Voting ship in an hour.

Wanted to say goodbye. Ben, I gotta talk to you. Have the time, will you? Ben,

nothing's working out. I don't know what to do.

Now look here, William. I bought Timberland in Alaska, and I need a man

to look after things for me. Oh, God.

Timberland. Me and my boys and those grand outdoors.

You have a new continent on your doorstep, William.

Get out of these cities. They're full of talking time hammers and cords of law.

Screw on your fists so you can fight for a fortune up there. Yes, yes, Linda.

Linda. Linda. You're back.

I haven't much time.

No, wait, Linda. He's got a proposition for me to ask. But you've got a

beautiful job here. Oh, but an Alaska kid. I... You are doing well enough,

Willie. Enough for what, my dear?

Don't say things like that to him. Enough to be happy right here, right

now. Why must everyone conquer the world? You're well liked. The boys love

you. And just the other day, old man Wagner told him, if he keeps it up,

he'll be a member of the firm. Now, didn't he, Willie? Sure, sure. I am

building something with this firm, Ben. And if a man is building something, he

must be on the right track, mustn't he? What are you building? Lay your hand on

it. Where is it? It's true, Linda.

There's nothing. Why?

There's a man 84 years old, Willie.

That's right!

Ben, that's right. When I look at that man, I say, what is there to worry

about? Oh, it's true, Ben. All he has to do is go into any city, pick up a phone,

and he's making his living. And you know why?

I've got to go with you. Oh, look at this boy.

Without a penny to a thing.

Freemate universities are begging for him. From there, the sky's the limit.

Because it's not what you do, Ben.

It's who you know. And a smile on your face. It's context, Ben.

Context. The whole wealth of Alaska passes over the lunch table or the

Commodore Hotel. And that's the wonder.

The wonder of this country that a man can end with diamonds here on the basis

of being liked.

And that's why when you get out on that field today, it's important because

thousands of people will be rooting for you and loving you.

And Ben, when he walks into a business office, his name will sound out like a

bell, and all the doors will open to him. Oh, I've seen it, Ben, huh?

I've seen it a thousand times. You can't feel the ants like timber, but it's

there. Ben, am I right? Don't you think I'm right? I value your advice.

It's a new continent at your doorstep, William.

You could walk out rich.

Rich!

Oh, we're gonna do it here, Ben, you hear me? We're gonna do it here!

Gee, I was afraid you left already. Why? What time is it? Tap past one. Oh, come

on, everybody.

Ebbets Field.

Next stop, where's the pennants?

Did you pack fresh underwear?

I want to go.

I'm carrying your helmet, ain't I, Biff? No, I'm carrying the helmet. Oh, Biff,

you promised me. I'm carrying the helmet. Well, how am I going to get in

the locker room? Well, let him carry the shoulder guards.

Oh, can't I, Biff, because I told everybody I was going to be in the

locker room. In Ebbets Field, it's the clubhouse. I meant the clubhouse. Biff.

Biff.

Let him carry the silver gun. All right, but you stay close to us now. Everybody

wait when Biff comes out on the field. Get set now, boy.

Ready to go, Pop. Every muscle is ready. You realize what this means? That's

right, Pop. You're coming home this afternoon, captain of the all-scholastic

championship team of the city of New York.

That's right, Pop. And you remember.

What? When I take off my helmet, that touchdown's for you.

No room for you, Charlie. No? For what? In the car.

Going for a ride?

I want to shoot some casino.

Casino? Don't you realize what today is? Oh, he knows, Willie.

He's just kidding.

That's nothing to kid about.

I'm not kidding, Linda.

What's going on?

He's playing in Ebbets Field today.

Baseball in this weather? Don't talk to him. Come on. Come on, Willie. Wait a

minute. Can you hear the news?

What? Listen to the radio.

Edmonds Field just blew up. You go to hell. Everybody in?

Knock a homer, Biff. Knock a homer. I don't think that was funny, Charlie.

Willie. You hear me?

It's the greatest day in his life.

Willie, when are you going to grow up? Yeah, when this game is over, you'll be

laughing on the other side of your face. I'll be calling him another Red Grange.

25,000 a year. Yeah, that's so.

Oh, wait a minute, Willie.

I'm sorry. Yeah? But tell me something. What?

Who is Red Grange? Put up your hands. Put up your hands. Come on, put up your

hands. Who do you think you are? Better than everybody else? Put up your hands.

Put up your hands. Put up your hands. Who the hell do you think you are?

You don't know everything you say. You're doing stupid. Put up your hands.

What are you walking away for?

Don't walk away. You're going to say something to me. You say it to my face.

I know you'll laugh at me behind my back. You'll be laughing out the inside

of your face after this game.

So what's up, Barney?

Touchdown! Touchdown!

80,000 feet to the right!

Open!

Open!

Open!

Touchdown! Touchdown!

Hey, Jenny.

Jenny, good to see you. How are you, huh?

Working? What's the lot?

Fine. How have you been feeling?

Not much anymore, Jimmy.

Hello, Uncle Willie.

Bernard.

Well, who's here?

How are you? Good to see you. What are you doing here?

Just stopped by to see Pop.

Get off my feet till my train leaves. I'm going to Washington in a few

minutes. Is he in? Yes, he's in his office with the accountant.

Sit down. Oh.

What are you going to do and why?

Just a case I've got there, Willie. Ah, so?

You gonna play tennis there?

I'm staying with a friend who's got a court. Oh, say.

Their own tennis court.

Supposed to be fine people, I bet. They are very nice.

Dad tells me Biff's in town. Yeah.

Biff's in. He's working on a very big deal, Bernard.

Oh, what's Biff doing?

Well, he's been doing very big things in the West, but he decided to establish

himself here.

Very big.

Grabbing dinner.

Did I hear your wife had a boy?

That's right. Our second.

Two boys.

Oh, yeah.

You still with the old firm, Willie?

I'm overjoyed to see how you made the grade, but I'm all overjoyed. It's an

encouraging thing to see a young man really,

really... Oh, it looks very good for Biff.

What is it, Willie?

What? What's the secret? What's the secret?

What's the secret? How did you? Why didn't he ever catch on? Oh, Willie, I

wouldn't know that.

Oh, you were his friend, his boyhood friend. There's something I don't

understand about it. His life ended after that Ebbets field game. From the

age of 17, nothing could ever happen to him. Willie, he never trained himself

for anything. He did, he did. After high school, he took so many correspondence

courses, radio mechanics, television, God knows what. He never made a slice

more. Willie, do you want to talk candidly? Bernard.

I regard you as a very brilliant man, but I value your advice.

Oh, hell with the advice, Willie. I couldn't advise you. But there's one

thing that I have always wanted to ask you.

When he was supposed to graduate and the math teacher flunked him... Well, that

son of a bitch ruined his life.

Yeah, but, Willie, all he had to do was go to summer school, make up that

subject. That's right. That's right.

Did you tell him not to go to summer school? Me? I begged him to go. I

ordered him to go.

Then why wouldn't he go?

Why? Why, Bernard?

That question's been trailing me like a ghost for the last 15 years. He flunked

the subject and he laid down and he died like a hammerhead. Make it easy. Paul,

let me talk a little bit. I got nobody to talk to. Was it my frog? You see, it

keeps going around in my head. Maybe I did something to him. I got nothing to

give him, but no. Willie, don't take it so hard. Why did he lay down?

Please hold a minute.

What is the story, Dan? Willie. You're his friend.

Willie.

I remember it was June, our grades came out, he'd flunked mad. Well, that son of

a bitch ruled his life.

Listen, right then, Biff just got very angry, I remember, and he was ready to

enroll in summer school.

He was. He was. He wasn't beaten by it at all. But then Willie, see... What?

He disappeared from the block for almost a month.

Now, I got the idea that he'd gone up to New England to see you. Now, did he ever

talk with you then?

Willie... Yeah?

He, uh... He came to Boston.

What about him?

Well, it's just that when he came back... I'll never forget

this. It always mystifies me, because I thought so well of Biff.

I loved him, Willie, you know.

He came back after that month, and he took his sneakers. You remember those

sneakers with the... University of Virginia printed on them? He was so

proud of them.

Wore them every day.

Well, they took them down into the cellar, burned them up in the furnace,

and we had a fistfight.

It lasted at least half an hour, just the two of us punching each other down

the cellar, crying right through it.

And I've often thought of how strange it was that I knew he'd given up his life.

What happened in Boston, Willie?

I'll just bring it up because you asked me.

What do you mean, what happened? What does that got to do with anything?

Willie, don't get so... What are you trying to do? Blame it on me if a boy

lays down? Is that my fault? Willie, don't take... Don't you talk to me that

way, Bernard.

What does that mean, huh?

What happened? Hey!

You're gonna miss that train.

Yeah, go.

Goodbye, Willie.

Don't worry about it. I know if at first you don't succeed. Oh, yes, I believe in

that. Sometimes, Willie, it's better for a man just to walk away. Walk away.

That's right.

But if you can't walk away, I guess that's when it's done.

Goodbye, Willie.

Goodbye, boy.

How do you like this kid?

Don't argue a case in front of the Supreme Court. No.

The Supreme Court?

Uh-huh. I gotta run.

Bye, Dad.

Knock him dead, Bernard.

The Supreme Court?

And he didn't even mention it?

You don't have to. He's gonna do it.

And you never told him what to do, did you? You never took any interest in him.

My salvation is that I never took any interest in anything.

Here's some money.

$50. I got an accountant inside.

Uh, Charlie, look, uh, I got my insurance to pay. If you can

manage it, I... I need $110.

No, I dropped from my bank. Sit down, Willie. Look, I want you to know I'm

keeping an account of everything, remember?

Now, listen to me, Willie. I'll pay every penny back.

Willie, what's going on? What the hell is going on inside your head?

Why, I'm simply, uh... I offered you a job.

You can make $50 a week, and I won't send you on the ride. I got a job.

Without pay?

What kind of a job is a job without pay?

Now, look, kid, enough is enough.

I'm no genius, but I know when I'm being insulted.

Insulted? Why don't you want to work for me? What is the matter with you? I got a

job. What do you walk in here every week for?

Well, if you don't want me to walk in here, I am offering you a job. I

don't want your job.

When the hell are you going to grow up?

You think, Ignoramus, if you say that to me again, I'll rap you one. I don't care

how big... how big you are.

How much do you need, Willie?

Oh, Charlie, I'm... I'm strapped. I'm strapped. I don't know what to do. I

was... I was just fired.

Howard fired you?

That's not known.

Imagine that. I named him Howard.

I named him. I named him Howard.

Willie, when are you going to realize that them things don't mean anything?

You named him Howard. But you can't sell that.

The only thing you've got in this world is what you can sell.

The funny thing is that you're a salesman and you don't know that.

Well, I always try to think otherwise. I guess I always felt...

The man was impressive and well-liked and nothing... Why must everybody like

you? Who liked J.P. Morgan? Was he impressive?

If it took his path, he'd look like a butcher.

But with his pockets on, he was very well-liked.

Now, listen, Willie.

I know you don't like me, and nobody can say I'm in love with you.

But I'll give you a job because Just for the hell of it. What do you say?

I Just know I just can't work for you job. What are you jealous of no?

Can't work for you. That's all don't ask me. Why you've been jealous of me all

your life you damn fool Yeah

Say your insurance

I'm keeping strict accounts

I got some work to do. Take care of yourself.

And pay your insurance.

Funny, you know, after all the highways and the trains and the appointments and

the years, you end up with more dead than alive.

Willie.

Nobody's worth nothing dead.

See what I said?

Willie!

Oh.

Apologize to Bernard for me. When you see him, I didn't mean to argue with

him. He's a fine boy, you know?

They're all fine boys.

And they'll end up big.

All of them someday.

They'll all play tennis together.

Wish me luck, Charlie. You saw Bill Oliver today.

Good luck.

Oh, Charlie, you're the only friend I got.

In the front there, you're in the middle of all kinds of noise.

Whenever you got a party, Mr. Lohman, you just tell me. I'll put you back in.

You don't have to be French.

You look French. Mr. Lohman. How's it coming, Stanley? That's a dog's leg.

Only wished it during the war.

They took me in the army.

I could have been dead by now. You got a couple nice lobsters? 100% big. I want

them with the claws.

Don't worry. I don't give you no mice.

How about some wine?

Put a hat on this. No, no, you remember, Stanley, the recipe I brought you from

overseas with the champagne in it?

Sure, I still got that tactic yet in the kitchen, but it cost you a buck a piece

anyway. That's all right.

What, you hit a number or something? No, no, it's a little celebration. My

brother as well, I think he pulled off a big deal today. I think we're going into

business together. Thanks, that's the best. It's a family business, you know

what I mean?

That's the best. That's what I think. Because what's the difference? Somebody

steals, it's in the family, you know what I mean?

Shh.

It's true.

Ma'am?

I'm, uh...

Expecting someone.

Oh, look at that mouse.

Oh, God, and the binoculars. Wait on it.

Would you like a manual, ma'am?

I'd like a... Why don't you bring her? Excuse me, miss, do you mind? I sell

champagne, and I'd like you to try my brand. Bring her a champagne stand.

That's awfully nice of you. Don't mention it. It's all company money.

That's a charming product to be selling, isn't it? Well, it's like everything

else. Selling is selling, you know? I suppose.

You don't happen to sell, do you?

No, I don't, sir. Would you object to a compliment from a stranger?

You ought to be on a magazine cover. I haven't. Oh, what did I say before?

You see, Stanley, she's a cover girl. Oh, I could see, I could see. What

magazine?

A lot of them.

Thank you. You know what they say in France, don't you?

Champagne is the drink of the complexion.

Okay.

Hiya, Biffo.

You saw him late. No, no, no. I just got here.

Miss, um... Forsythe. Miss Forsythe? This is my brother.

Is Dad here?

His name is Biff. You might have heard of him. He's a great football player.

Really? What team?

Are you familiar with football?

No, I'm afraid I'm not. Biff is quarterback with the New York Giants.

Well, that is nice, isn't it? Good health.

I'm happy to meet you. That's my name, Hap. Well, it's really Harold, but at

West Point they called me Happy.

Oh, I see. How do you do?

Isn't Dad coming?

I could never make that. Oh, Biff, I remember the time that idea would never

come into your head. Where's the old confidence?

Listen, I just saw... Wait a minute, please. I got to see the old confidence.

Now, Biff, you want her? She's on call. No. I'm telling you. Watch this.

Honey?

Are you busy?

Well, I am.

But I could make a phone call. Oh, do that, would you, honey?

And see if you can get a friend, huh?

We'll be here for a while. Biff, one of the greatest football players in the

country. Well, I'm certainly happy to meet you. Yeah, well, come back soon.

I'll try.

Oh, don't try, honey.

Try hard.

Oh,

isn't that a shame?

Beautiful girl like that, that's why I can't get married.

Hey, I told you she was on call. Hey, cut it out, will you?

I want to say something. All right, so, did you see Oliver?

Yeah, I saw him, all right, and I want to tell Dad a couple things, and I want

you to help me. Is he gonna back you?

Are you crazy?

You're out of your head, do you know that? Why? What happened?

I did a terrible thing today, Hap. It's been the strangest day I ever went

through. I'm all numb, I swear.

What do you mean? He wouldn't see you?

I waited six hours for him, see?

All day, I kept sending my name in, even tried to date his secretary, so she got

me through to him with no soul.

Yeah, that's because you're not showing the old confidence. Biff, now, he

remembered you, didn't he?

Finally, about 5 o'clock, he comes out. I didn't remember who the hell I was,

Ernie. Biff, did you tell him my Florida idea?

Hap, he walked away.

I saw him for one minute. I got so mad I could have torn the walls down.

I mean, how the hell did I ever get the idea that I was a salesman there? I even

believed myself that I'd been a salesman for him. And then he gave me one look,

and I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. We have been

talking in a dream for 15 years.

I was a shipping clerk.

What did you do?

Well, he... He left, see, and his secretary went out, and I was alone in

the waiting room.

And the next thing I know, I was in his office.

Panel walls and everything, and I... I can't explain it, Hop. I took his

fountain pen.

Jeez. Did he catch you?

I ran out. I ran down all 11 flights.

I ran, ran, ran.

Boy, oh, boy, that was dumb, Biff. Why did you do that?

I don't know.

I just wanted to take something.

You gotta help me, Hap. I wanna tell Pop.

What are you crazy? What for?

Hap, he's gotta understand that I'm not the man that somebody lends that kind of

money to.

Thinks I've been spiting him all these years, and it's eating him up. Yeah,

yeah, that's just it. You tell him something nice. You say you've got a

lunch date with Oliver tomorrow.

So what do I do tomorrow? Now, look, Dad is never so happy as when he's looking

forward to something, huh?

Really?

Oh, gee, I haven't been here in years.

Sit down, Pop. You want a drink? Sure, I don't mind.

Let's get a load on it. You look worried.

No. Scott, make it double. You had a couple already, didn't you?

What happened, boy? Did it go all right? I had an experience today. Terrific.

Scott, what happened? I want to tell you everything from first to last. It's been

a strange day.

I had to wait quite a while.

All of it? Yeah, all of it. All day is a matter of cold facts and a lot of

instances of facts.

Facts about my life came back to me.

Who was it, Pop? Who was it that ever said I was a salesman?

Well, you were. No, Dad, I was a shipping clerk, Dad. I don't know who

said it first, but I was never a salesman for Bill Holiday. What are you

talking about? Look, just hold on to the facts tonight, Pop. We're not going to

get anywhere bullying around. I was a shipping clerk. All right, now listen to

me. Dad, why don't you let me finish? I'm not interested in stories about the

past or any crap of that kind because the woods are burning. Boys, you

understand me. There's a big place going on all around. I was fired today.

How could you?

I was fired.

And I'm looking for a little good news to tell your mother because the woman

has waited and the woman has suffered. But, Dad. The gist of it is, Biff, I

haven't got a story left in my head, so don't give me a lecture about facts and

aspects I am not interested in now. What have you got to say to me, huh?

Did you see Oliver?

Huh?

Jeez, Dad.

You mean he didn't go up there? Sure he went up there, Pop. Dad, I did. I saw

him. How could they find him? What kind of a welcome did he give you? He won't

even let you work on commission?

I'm out, so tell me, he gave you one welcome? Sure, Pop, sure. I was

wondering if he'd remember you. Imagine a man doesn't see him in 10, 12 years,

and he gives him that kind of a welcome. You know why he remembered you, don't

you? Because you impressed him in those days. Yeah, Dad, can we talk quietly and

get this down to the best? Well, what happened? It's great news, Beth. Tell

me, did he take you to his office? Did you talk in the waiting room? Well, he

came in. What'd he say? I bet you he threw his arms around you. Oh, he's a

fine man. He's a very hard man to see. Oh, I know that. Is that where you had

the drinks? Yeah, he did.

He told him my Florida idea.

Don't interrupt. How did he react to the Florida idea?

Please give me a minute to explain. I've been waiting for you to explain since I

sat down here. What happened? He took you into his office and what?

Well, I talked. He listens. Always famous for the way he listens. What was

his answer?

Answer. Dad, you're not letting me tell you what I want to tell you. You didn't

see him, did you? I didn't see him. What, did you insult him or something?

You insulted him, didn't you? Dad? You let me out of it. Will you just let me

out of it? Hey, Beth, what the hell happened?

Will you please tell him what happened? Just shut up and leave me alone. No, no,

no, no. You had to go and fuck me up.

Dad, what? Matt, Matt,

Matt. Take it easy.

If you ain't a flunk, you've been sent. Dad, now I'm going to tell you what

happened and you're going to listen to me. I waited six hours.

I kept sending my name in, Dad, but he wouldn't see me. So finally he came. No.

Where is he?

He went to Grand Central. You mean he went to Boston?

See, so I'm washed up with Oliver Pop. Do you understand, Dad? Are you

listening to me? Yeah, sure, if you hadn't flunked. Dad flunked what? Don't

blame everything on me. I didn't flunk. Matthew did what pen? Yeah, that was

dumb. You took Oliver's pen. Dad, I just explained it to you. You stole Bill

Oliver's fountain pen, huh? I didn't exactly steal it, Pop. That's just what

I was trying to tell you. He had it in his hand, but just then Oliver walked

in, he got nervous, and he stuck it in his pocket. By God, Ben. I never

intended to do it, Dad. I'm not in my room.

I'm not there, now stop it.

I'm not there.

I'm not there.

No, you're no good. I am, Dad. You're no good for anything.

Dad, I'll find something else. Don't worry about anything.

Talk to me. I'll make good, Dad. No, no!

Strike something, Pop, please. No, no! Dad, Dad, I'm telling you something

good. Oliver talked to his partner about the Florida idea. You listening, Dad?

Yeah. Dad? Yeah. He talked to his partner, and he came to me, and I'm

gonna be all right, Pop, because he said it's just a question of the amount.

Yeah.

Then you got it. Oh, he's going to be terrific.

Oh, then you got it, haven't you?

You got it, haven't you? You got it. I'm supposed to have lunch with him

tomorrow, Dad. I'm just telling you this so that you'll know I can still make an

impression, Pop, and I'll make good somewheres, but I can't go tomorrow.

Why not? It's simply... The pen, Pop.

Why are you giving him the pen? You tell him what's in it. Sure, but if you have

lunch tomorrow... I can't say that. You were doing a crossword puzzle yet. Then

we used his pen. No, listen, kid.

I took those balls years ago, Pop, and now I walk in with this fountain pen

that clinches it. Don't you understand that? I can't face them like that. I'll

try elsewhere.

Don't you want to be anything?

But, Pop, how can I go back?

You don't want to be anything. Is that what's behind it? Dad, don't take it

that way. Do you think it was easy walking into that office after what I'd

done to him? A team of horses couldn't have dragged me to below.

Then why did you go?

Why did I go?

Why did I go? Dad, look at you. Look at what's become of you.

Beth, you're going to go to that lunch tomorrow. Dad, I can't go. I've got no

appointment. Are you spiting me? Don't take it that way, damn it.

Little louse, are you spiting me? Dad, I'm no good. Can't you see what I am?

You're in a restaurant.

Now cut it out, both of you.

Someone's at the door. Hello, girl.

Sit down.

Guess we might as well. This is letter.

What are you doing?

I might not be able to stay long. I got to get up very early tomorrow.

I got jewelry duty.

I'm so excited.

Were you fellas ever on a jewelry?

No, I've been in front of them.

This is my father. Isn't he cute?

Sit down with us, Papa. Yeah, sure, Beth, sit him down. Come on, slugger,

sit down.

Come on, drink us something. Willie, are you coming?

Willie,

I'm waiting. Open the door. What door?

with a wash on the door.

Where's the door? Just go straight down.

Will you stop laughing?

Will you stop?

Will you stop?

Will you stop?

I think it's sweet you bring your daddy home. Oh, he isn't really your father.

Miss Forsythe, you've just seen a prince walk by.

A fine, troubled prince. A hard-working, unappreciated prince.

A pal, do you understand? A good companion.

Always for his boys.

That's so sweet.

Yeah, well, girls, we're wasting time here, huh? Now, what's the program?

Biff, yeah, gather round. Now, where would you like to go?

Why don't you do something for him? Me?

Don't you give a damn for him? What are you talking about, Biff? I said you

don't give a good damn about him.

Look what I found in the cellar, huh?

How can you bear to let that go on? Yeah, me, huh? Who goes off? Who runs

away? He doesn't mean anything to you, Hap. You could help him. I can't.

Hap, don't you understand what he's going to do to himself? He's going to

kill himself. Don't you know that? Don't I know him? Hap, help him.

Help him.

Help me.

Help me. I can't bear to look at his face.

Biff, where you going? What's he so mad about?

We're going to catch up with him.

Say, I don't like that temper of his. No, no, he's always strong. Don't you

want to tell your father? No, that's not my father. He's just a guy. Come on,

we're going to catch up with Biff.

Oh, honey, we're going to paint this time.

I love those bedroom eyes.

Yeah, yeah, that's how I knew you were friends. Mr. Lohman.

Mr. Lohman.

Mr. Lohman.

Willie, aren't you going to answer the door?

Willie.

Willie, aren't you going to answer the door?

Sure.

Someone's at the door, Willie.

Huh? Willie, are you going to answer the door? He's going to wake up the whole

hotel.

I'm not expecting anybody.

Why don't you have another drink, honey? Stop being so damn self-centered.

I'm so lonely.

You know, you ruined me, Willie.

From now on, whenever you come to the office, I'm going to see you go right

through to the buyers.

No waiting at my desk anymore, Willie. You ruined me.

Oh, that's nice of you to say that.

Oh, gee, you're self-centered.

Why so sad?

You're the saddest self-centered soul I ever did see, so...

Boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Oh, silly to be dressing in the middle of the night.

Aren't you going to answer the door?

Oh, they're knocking on the wrong door.

But I felt the knocking and he heard us talking.

Maybe the hotel's on fire. It's a mistake.

And tell him to go away. There's nobody there.

Silly.

It's getting on my nerves.

There's somebody standing there. Let's get out of my number. All right, all

right, all right. Stay in the bathroom here. And don't come out. I think

there's a long message.

Shoes are spotted, so don't come out. It may be the new room clerk. He looked

very mean. It's a mistake. There's no fine.

Dad, why didn't you answer? Beth.

What are you doing in Boston?

Dad, why didn't you answer? I was knocking for five minutes. I called you

on the phone. I just heard you. I was in the bathroom and had the door shut.

Did anything happen home?

Huh?

Dad, I let you down. Look at me.

What's this about?

Come on, let's go downstairs and get you a ball.

I... I flunked math.

The term. I haven't got enough credits to graduate.

You mean to say that, but an odd wouldn't give you the answers? Pop, he

did. He tried, but I only got a 61. And it wouldn't give you four points? Dad,

that Birnbaum refused, absolutely.

Pop, I begged him to give me those points, but he won't listen to me. You

gotta talk to him, Dad, before they close the school, because if he saw the

kind of man that you are and you talk to him in your way, I'm sure he'd come

through for me, Pop. See, the...

The class came right before practice, so I didn't go enough. Would you talk to

him, Dad? I know he'd like you. You know the way you could talk. You're on. We'll

drive right back. Dad, good work.

I'm Cheryl. Hurry down. Go right down.

Oh, see, Pop, the reason he hates me is one day he was late for class, so I got

up at the blackboard and imitated him.

Crossed my eyes and talked to the lid.

Oh, you did?

The kids like it?

They nearly died laughing.

Yeah, what did you do?

The square root of 63.

And in the middle of it, he walks in.

He walks in.

All right.

Somebody in there? No, that was next door. Pat, somebody got in your

bathroom. No, it's the next room. There's a pot.

Can I come in?

There's something in the bathroom, Willie, and it's moving.

You better go back to your room now. They must be finished painting by now.

See, they're painting a room, so I let her take a shower.

Go back, go back.

I just

hope

there's nobody in the hall. That's all I hope.

You, uh, football or baseball?

Football.

That's me, too.

Good night.

Well, uh, better get going. I want to get to the, uh, school first thing in

the morning, huh? So get my suits out of the closet, and I'll... I'll get my

police.

What's the matter?

Oh, she's a buyer, Biff. She buys for... She lives down the hall.

She buys for J.H. Simmons and, you know, their painting.

Oh, now, you don't imagine that I... Now, look, pal, she's

just a buyer. She sees merchandise in her room and they have to keep it

looking just so, all right?

Come on, now, get my suits.

Now you stop crying and you do as I say, Biff. I gave you an order, Biff.

Biff, I gave you an order.

Is that what you do when I give you an order?

Is it?

Then how dare you cry?

Now, look, Biff, when you grow up, you'll understand about these things,

hm? No, no, no, you mustn't. You mustn't overemphasize a thing like this. Come

on, then, hm?

I'll see Brunbon first thing in the morning. Never mind.

Never mind?

He's gonna give you those points. I'll see to it. He wouldn't listen to you.

He certainly will listen to me. You need those points for the U of Virginia.

I'm not going there. What?

I'm not going there. Look, if I can't get him to change that mark, you'll make

it up in summer school.

Oh, come on, now. You got all summer to... Dad.

Nothing to me, dear. If I was lonely, I was just terribly lonely.

Daddy, you gave her mother stockings. I gave you an order!

Don't touch me, you liar!

You apologized for that!

You fake!

I gave you an order! I gave you an order! Now you come back here!

You phony little fake! Hey, hey, come back here! You fake!

I gave you an order! Come back here or I'll beat you!

I'll whip you!

I gave you... Pick it up, Mr. Long.

Your boys just left with the chippies. They said they'd see you home.

Well, we were supposed to have dinner together.

Can you make it? Oh, yeah.

Sure, I'll make it.

Just a moment. Okay.

I'll make it.

I look all right.

Sure, you look all right.

Here. Here, here's a dollar.

Oh, your son just paid. It's all right. You're a good boy. No, you don't have

to. Here, here's some more. I don't need it anymore.

Tell me, is there a seed store in the neighborhood?

Seeds?

You mean like to plant? Yes, you know, like carrots or peas.

Well, there's a hardware store on 6th Avenue. It may be too late. Oh, I'd

better hurry. I gotta get some seeds. I gotta get some seeds right away.

well what are you looking at i

don't have a thing in the ground

Oh,

what a proposition.

Terrific, terrific.

She's suffered, man.

Woman has suffered.

Man can't go out the way he came in.

Man has got to add up to something.

You can't, you can't. You gotta consider now.

Don't answer so quick.

Remember, it's a guaranteed $20,000 proposition, huh?

Now, look, Ben, I want you to go through the ins and outs of this thing with me.

I got nobody to talk to.

And the woman has suffered.

You hear me?

What's the proposition?

It's $20,000. I'm the barrelhead.

Guaranteed. Guilty as you understand.

You don't want to make a fool of yourself.

They might not honor the policy.

How can they dare refuse? Didn't I work like a coolie to meet every premium on

the nose and now they don't pay off?

Impossible. It's called a cowardly thing, William. Why does it take more

guts to stand here the rest of my life ringing up a zero?

That's a point, William.

And 20,000, that is something one can feel with a hand that is there. Oh,

that's the whole beauty of it, Ben.

I see it like a diamond.

shining in the dark that i can pick up and touch in my hand not like an

appointment this would not be another damn fool appointment and it changes all

the aspects because he thinks i'm nothing you see so he spites me but the

funeral ah ben that funeral will be massive

Oh, they'll come from Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire.

All the old-timers with the strange license plates. That boy will be

thunderstruck, Ben, because he never realized I am no one.

Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, I am no one, Ben. He'll see it with his eyes.

Once and for all, he'll see what I am.

He's in for a shock, that boy.

He'll call you a coward, William.

Oh, no, no, no. That would be terrible.

Yes, and a damn fool.

He'll hate you, William.

What are you doing up?

Where's Papa?

Is he sleeping?

Where were you? We met two girls, Mom. Very fine types. Here, I brought you

some flowers. Put them in your room.

What did you do that for? I want you to have some flowers.

Don't you care whether he lives or dies? Piff, let's go up. Go away from me.

What do you mean lives or dies? Nobody's dying around here, pal.

Get out of here.

Get out of my sight.

I want to talk to the boss, Mom. You're not going near him. Where is he?

You invite him for dinner. He looks forward to it all day.

And then you desert him there?

Dad! There's no stranger you'd do that to. My mom, he had a swell time with us.

When I desert him, I hope I don't outlive the... Get out of here.

Ma.

Mom? Did you have to go to women tonight?

You and your rotten, lousy whores. Mom, all we did was follow Biff around trying

to cheer him up.

Boy, what a night you gave me. Get out of here, both of you, and don't come

back. I don't want you to harm any of them anymore.

Go on, get your things together. You can sleep in his apartment.

And pick up this stuff.

I'm not your maid anymore.

Go on, pick it up, you bum, you.

You're a pair of animals.

There's not one, not a living soul, who would have the cruelty to walk out on

that man in a restaurant.

Is that what he said?

He didn't have to say anything.

He was so humiliated, he nearly limped when he came in. Oh, look, Mom, he had a

great time. Shut up!

You didn't even go to see if he was all right.

No, Mom, I didn't.

I didn't do a damn thing. How do you like that? Just left him babbling in a

toilet.

You louse, you.

Yeah, now you hit it on the nose, the scum of the earth, and you're looking at

him. Get out of here.

I want to talk to the boss, Mom. Where is he? You're not going near him. Get

out of this house. No, we're going to have an abrupt conversation, him and me.

You're not talking to him.

Please, leave him alone.

What is he doing out there?

He's planting the garden.

No.

Oh, my God.

Never would have let me carry the felices in the house and Simon Isaac.

That little red car.

Why?

Why can't I give him something and not have him hate me?

Let me think about it. I still have a little time.

Remarkable proposition.

But you gotta be sure you're not making a fool of yourself.

Dad?

Where the hell is that seat? You can't see nothing out here. It ain't boxed in

the hallway.

Dad, there are people all around here. Don't you realize that? Don't bother me.

I'm saying goodbye to you, Pop.

I'm not coming back anymore.

You're not going to see Oliver no more. Dad, I've got no appointment. Put his

arm around you. You've got no appointment.

Now, every time I've left, it's been a fight that's something higher, Dad. Now,

today, I realized something about myself.

And I tried to explain it to you, and I think I'm just not smart enough to make

sense out of it for you.

To hell with whose fault it is or anything like that.

Let's just wrap it up, huh? Uh-huh.

Come on in. Now, tell Mom. No, I don't want to see that. Come on. No, I don't

want to see that. Dad.

Don't bother me, will you?

Dad, what do you mean?

You don't want to see it?

You don't want him calling you yellow, do you?

Dad, it's not your fault.

It's me. I'm a bum.

Now, come on inside.

Dad, did you hear what I said to you?

Did you put it there?

All right, Mom.

We had it out. I'm...

I'm going, and I'm not writing anymore.

I think it's best, Willie.

There's no use drawing it out. You two will just never get along.

Now, people ask where I am, what I'm doing. You don't know. You don't care.

That way, it'll be off your mind, and you can stop writing it up again.

All right?

That clears it, doesn't it?

You gonna wish me luck, Scout?

Shake his hand, Willie.

What do you say?

There's no necessity to mention the penalty.

Put his arm around... Dad, you're never gonna see what I am, so what's the use

of arguing? If I strike oil, I'll send you a check.

Meantime, forget I'm alive. Spike, say.

Shake hands, Dad.

Not my hand.

I was hoping not to go this way. Well, this is the way you're going.

Goodbye.

May you rot in hell if you leave this house.

Exactly what is it that you want from me? I want you to know on the train, in

the mountains, in the valleys, wherever you go, that you cut down your life

despite... No.

By...

your undoing and when you doubt it out you remember what data when you are

rotting somewhere beside a railroad track remember and don't you dare blame

it on me dad i'm not blaming i'm not taking a rap for this that that it's

just what i'm telling you trying to put a knife for me don't think i don't know

what you're doing all right leave it there don't move what is that You know

damn well what that is. I never saw that.

Yeah, you saw it, all right. The mice didn't bring it into the cellar. What is

that supposed to do? Is that supposed to make you hear all that? Never heard of

it. Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you? Because there will be no

pity for you. You hear that?

No pity. Here to spite?

No, you're going to hear the truth. What you are and what I am. You put it out

there. You don't know who we are.

The man is going to know.

We never told the truth.

ten minutes in this house. Well, we always pull through. Big Blow, are you

the assistant buyer? You were one of the two assistants to the assistant, aren't

you? Well, I'm practically... No, you are practically full of it. We all are,

and I'm through with it. Now, hear this, Willie. This is me. Oh, I know you.

Do you know I had no address for three months? I stole a suit in Kansas City,

and I was in jail. I suppose that's... Stop crying! I'm through with it!

I stole myself out of every good job since high school. And whose fault is

that? I could never get anywhere because you blew me so full of hot air that I

could never stand taking orders from anybody. That's whose fault. I hear

that. It's about time. Stop it! I had to be boss big shot in two weeks, and I'm

through with it. And hang yourself!

No! No!

No.

Nobody is hanging himself fully.

I ran... down 11 flights with a pen in my hand today, and suddenly I stopped.

Do you hear me?

And in the middle of that office building... Do you hear this?

I stopped in the middle of the building, and I saw the sky!

And I saw the things that I love in this world, the work and

the food and the time to...

to sit and smoke, and I looked at the pen in my hand, and I said, what the

hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what I don't want to

be? What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself

when all that I want is out there waiting for me the minute I say I know

who I am? Now, why can't I say that, Willie? The door of your life is wide

open. Pop, I am a dime a dozen, and so are you. I am not a dime a dozen. I am

Willie Loman, and you all

I am not a leader of men, Willie, and neither are you.

You were never anything but a hard-working drummer who landed in the

ash can like all the rest of them.

I am $1 an hour, Willie.

I am not bringing home any prizes anymore, and you're gonna stop waiting

for me to bring them home. You vengeful, spiteful mutt.

Yeah, Pop.

Pop, I'm nothing.

I'm nothing, Pop. Can't you understand that?

There's no spite in it anymore.

I'm just what I am. That's all.

What are you doing?

Oh, what are you doing?

Why is he crying?

Dad, will you let me go for God's sake?

Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens?

I'll go in the morning.

Put him to bed.

Isn't that... Isn't that remarkable?

Biff, he... He likes me.

He loves you, Willie.

Always did, Pop.

Oh, Biffy.

He cried. He cried to me.

Oh, that boy, that boy is going to be magnificent.

Yes, outstanding, with 20,000 behind him. Now come to bed, Willie.

It's all settled now. Oh, yes, we'll sleep. Come on.

Let's go to sleep.

It does take a great kind of man to crack the journals.

I'm getting married, Pop. Don't forget it.

I'm changing everything. I am going to run that department before the year is

out. You'll see. The jungle is dark, but full of diamonds, Willie.

Be good.

You're both good boys. Just act that way, that's all.

Act that way.

Come, dear.

I must go in to fetch a diamond out. I just want to get settled down. Let me

sit alone for a little. I want you upstairs.

In a few minutes. I couldn't sleep right now. Go on.

You look awful tired. Not like an appointment at all. The diamond is rough

and hard to the touch. Go on. I'll be right up. I think it's the only way. Oh,

sure. It's the best thing. Best thing? The only way everything is going to be.

Oh,

go on, kid. Get to bed.

You look so tired.

You come right up. Two minutes.

He always loved me. Isn't that a remarkable thing, Ben?

He'll worship me for it. It's dark there, but full of diamonds, Willie.

Oh, can you imagine that magnificence with $20,000 in his pocket?

Willie, come up.

Yes, yes, coming.

Coming.

It's very smart. You realize that, don't you, sweetheart? Even Ben sees it.

I gotta go, baby.

Get up and nod again. Perfect proposition all around.

You see how he cried to me?

Oh, if I could kiss him, Ben. Time, William.

Time. Oh, Ben.

I always knew one way or another we were gonna make it.

Vote.

We'll be late.

Now, when you kick off, I want a 70-yard boot.

And get right down the field, under the ball.

And when you hit, it...

Because it's important, boy.

Oh, there's all kinds of important people in the stands.

That's the first thing that you know.

Willie?

Ben? Ben, where do I... Willie?

They'll be closing the gate soon.

He had no right to do that. There was no necessity for it. We would have helped

him. Come on, Mal.

Why didn't anybody come?

It was a very nice funeral. Well, where were all the people he knew? Maybe they

blame him. No.

It's a rough world, Linda. They wouldn't have blamed him.

I can't understand it.

First time in just about 35 years we were almost free and clear.

He only needs a little salary.

Even finished with the dentist.

No man only needs a little salary.

I can't understand it.

There were a lot of nice days.

When he'd come home from a trip or on Sundays making them stew.

Finishing the cellar when he'd build the extra bathroom, put up the garage.

You know, Charlie, I think there was more of him in that front stoop than in

all the sales he ever made.

Yep.

He was a happy man with a badge of cement.

So wonderful with his hands.

He had the wrong dreams.

All, all wrong.

Don't say that.

Men didn't know who he was.

Nobody dares to blame this man.

You don't understand.

Willie was a salesman.

And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life.

You don't put a bolt to a knot, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine.

He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.

And when they start not smiling back, that's an earthquake.

And you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished.

Nobody dares blame this man.

Salesman has got a dream, boy.

Comes with the territory.

Charlie, the man didn't know who he was. Don't say that.

Why don't you come with me, Happy?

I'm not licked that easily.

I'm staying right in this city, and I'm gonna beat this racket.

Lohman Brothers.

I know who I am, kid. All right, boy.

I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willie Lohman did not die in vain.

He had a good dream.

It's the only dream he can have, to come out number one man.

He fought it out here, and this is where I'm going to win it for him.

Oh, I'll be with you in just a minute.

You go on, Charlie.

In just a minute.

I never had a chance to say goodbye.

Help me, Willie.

I can't cry.

Seems to me you're just away on another trip and I keep expecting you.

Why did you do it?

I search and I search and I search and

I can't understand it. Willie.

I made the last payment on the house today.

Today, dear.

And there'll be nobody home.

We're free and clear.

Free. Free.

Free.

Thank you.