All language subtitles for The.Founder.2016

Order up!

I know what
you're thinking.

"What the heck do I
need a five spindle for,

when I barely sell enough
milkshakes

to justify my single spindle?"
Right?

Wrong.

Are you familiar with the notion
of the chicken or the egg,

Mr. Griffith?
I mention it because,

well, I think it applies here.

Do you not need
the multi-mixer because,

well heck, you're not
selling enough milkshakes?

Or are you not selling
enough milkshakes

because you don't
have a multi-mixer?

I firmly believe
it's the latter.

You see your customer comes in
here and he knows if he orders

a shake from your establishment,
he's in for a terrific wait.

He's done it before
and he thinks to himself,

"Well by-golly, I'm not going to
make that mistake again."

But if you had the Prince Castle
five spindle multi-mixer

with patented
direct-drive electric motor,

we greatly increase your
ability to produce delicious,

frosty milkshakes fast.

Mark my words,
dollars to donuts,

you'll be selling more of those
sons-a-bitches

than you can shake a stick at.

You increase the supply,
and the demand will follow.

Increase supply, demand follows.

Chicken-egg.
Do you follow my logic?

I know you do, because you're
a bright forward-thinking guy

who knows a good idea
when he hears one.

So, whaddaya say?

- Nah, but thanks anyways.

Order's up.

- Miss? How much longer?

- Should be a few more minutes.
- You said that 20 minutes ago.

- I'm so sorry,
we're really busy today.

See, it only stands
to reason here, Bud,

if you increase supply,
demand will follow.

Chicken and the egg.
Do you follow my logic?

Of course you do, you're
a bright forward-thinking guy

who knows a good idea
when he hears one.

So?

What do you say?

Here we go.

- What is...?
- Enjoy.

- I ordered the barbeque beef!

There's a lot of good
leads, real-real strong leads.

Yeah. What?

Nothing. That's wonderful.

- Well, I mean, there's
just tremendous interest.

- I'm sure there is.

- You sound like you
don't believe me.

- Of course, Ray.
Why wouldn't I?

- All right. I've got a
lot of paperwork to do here.

So ahh... I'll... I'll call you
from the road tomorrow.

- Okay.

- All right. Goodnight.

Persistence.

Nothing in the world can
take the place of persistence.

Talent won't;
nothing is more common

than unsuccessful men
with talent.

Genius won't;

unrewarded genius
is practically a cliché.

Education won't; the world
is full of educated fools.

Persistence and determination
alone are all powerful.

Show that you don't have
to be defeated by anything.

That you can have peace of
mind, improved health

and a never ceasing
flow of energy.

If you attempt each and every
day to achieve these things,

the results will make
themselves obvious to you.

While it may sound
like a magical notion,

it is in you
to create your own future.

The greatest discovery
of my generation

is that human beings
can alter their lives

by altering their attitudes
of mind.

Or as Ralph Waldo Emerson
declared,

"A man is what he
thinks about all day long."

Prince Castle Sales,
how can I help you?

- Hi, June.

- Ray, how's it
going down there?

- Good, swell, lot of interest.

- Hold on, let me
fetch your messages.

Let's see, Gene Rafferty

from United Aluminum

needs to reschedule Friday.

Ed Nance calling
about the refund.

Sloan and Sons,
they called again,

we're sixty days past due.

A lady from the
March of Dimes, oh...

We got an order, six mixers.

- Six?
- Mm-hmm.

Some drive-in out in
California.

- Same place, one place.
No that's... that's impossible.

- I've got the slip right here.

- No, I'm sure you
misunderstood.

You know what?
Give me the number.

- You got a pen?
- Okay.

All right.

- Hello, McDonald's.
- Hello, good afternoon.

May I please
speak with the owner.

- Which one?
- I'm sorry?

- Dick or Mac?

- Ahh, whichever one's
available, I guess.

- Order up!
I need six fries!

- Patties up!
- This is Dick.

- Hello, Dick, this is Ray Kroc
from Prince Castle Sales.

The reason I'm calling is
someone placed an order...

- Yes. Yes, that was me.

How soon can you
get them out here?

- Well, that's actually
why I'm phoning now, Dick.

I think there might have been
some kind of miscommunication...

- Freezer! Top shelf!
Left side! Sorry.

- No problem.

My secretary's under the
impression that you wanted six?

- Yeah, you know,
I think that was a mistake.

- Well, that's what I figured.
I mean, what kind of drive-in

can make
30 milkshakes at a time.

- Better make it eight.
- What's that, Al?

- There's a brand new box...

- Look, now isn't
the best time.

- Yeah, I'm sorry. I understand.
I'm still a little bit...

- You know where to send them?
San Bernardino, California.

- Yeah.
- Corner of 14th and E.

- Hold on a minute.
To anyone in particular?

- Just the store is fine.
McDonald's. Okay. Thanks a lot.

- Yeah.

- Don't worry, it moves fast.

- Really?

Welcome to McDonald's.

May I take your order?
- Here you go.

French Fries?

You guys have a great day.

Hi, welcome to McDonald's.
May I take your order?

- Yeah, give me a hamburger,
French fries and a Coca-Cola.

- That'll be.35 cents, please.
- All right.

Fifteen cents is your change.

Here you are.

- What's this?
- Your food.

- No, no, no.
I just ordered.

- And now it's here.

- You sure?

All right.

Where are the umm...

you know, the silverware
and plates and everything?

- You just eat it
straight out of the wrapper,

then you throw it all out.

- All right.

Really?

Okay.

Where do I eat it?

- In your car.

At the park.

At home. Wherever you'd like.

- Okay. Okay. Okay, thanks.

- May we join you?
- Huh? Yeah. Sure.

Thank you.
Have a seat.

Just throw it right there
and I'll sweep it up.

How is everything?

- This might be
the best hamburger

I've ever had in my life.
- Well, we aim to please.

Mac McDonald.

- Oh! Well, look at this...
Ray Kroc.

- The Multi-Mixer fella.
You spoke with my brother, Dick.

- I did yeah, yeah.

- What are you doing
way out here?

I'm in Los Angeles,
business meetings.

I thought I'm in
the neighborhood,

I should just swing by
and say hello.

- Well, I'm sure glad you did.

- This whole thing.
This is some operation.

- Care for a little tour?

- Of the...?
- Yeah.

- Yeah, I would.

- Well, then finish up,
I'll come back for you.

- Alrighty. Thanks.

May I take your order?

Two soft drinks and two fries.

Anything else for you, sir?

- Speed, that's the
name of the game.

The first stop for every
McDonald's hamburger

is the grill.
Manned by two cooks

whose sole job is to grill those
all-beef beauties to perfection.

Meanwhile, as the patty cooks,
our dressers get the buns ready.

Watch out. Burger crossing.

- Burger crossing!
- Burger crossing!

- Every McDonald's burger
has two pickles.

A pinch of onions and a precise
shot of ketchup and mustard.

- Now where'd you get those?
- We made them.

- Made them!
- Yeah, custom built.

The whole kitchen is.
Next is the finishing station

where we put
the whole thing together.

And...

Voila, a fresh delicious burger
from grill to counter

in 30 seconds.

- How the heck did you
come up with this?

- Oh I didn't. We did.
Dick McDonald, my brother.

- Hi. I gotta tell you,
this is the most...

Well, it's nice to meet you.

- The fries.
- What about them?

- They're five percent
too crisp.

- No, they're perfect.

- I think we should drop to
two minutes, fifty seconds.

- Wasn't that what
we were at before?

- 400, not 375.
Higher temp, shorter cook.

- I think they're spot on.
- Excuse me, may I?

None of my beeswax,
but I'm with the big fella here.

I loved them.
Golden brown on the outside.

Fluffy white inside.

And they're not too
oily, salty, crunchy.

Who are you?

- Oh, this is Ray Kroc. The
multi-mixer fella you spoke to.

- When do you figure
we can expect them?

- Umm, sent them
blue-label air...

- Good-good.
- Hey, wait, wait.

Wait.

Wait a minute. I'm going to
take you out to dinner.

- You're really not my type.

You and your brother.

- What for?

- This is the most remarkable
restaurant I've seen in all my

years in the food
service industry.

And I've seen it all.

I wanna hear your story.

Well, we were young
and hungry.

There wasn't a job to be
had in all of New Hampshire.

So we decided to pack
our bags and head west.

To Hollywood. I wanted to be in
the movie business.

And Dick,
well, he wanted to be...

- Employed.

- So we landed jobs at Columbia Pictures driving trucks.
- Huh.

And after a few years,
we had enough saved

to buy our own
little piece of showbiz.

A beautiful little
movie theater in Glendora.

Which would have been swell.
Except for the timing.

It was September of '29.

One minute we're screening
the Gold Diggers of Broadway,

and next it's,
"Brother can you spare a dime?"

- I couldn't.

- Nobody in town was
making any money,

except for one fella,
Wylie Reid.

Had a hot dog
and root beer stand.

Hey people still
gotta eat, right?

So we decide to open up
our own little stand,

hot dogs and orange juice,
in Arcadia.

And it went okay. I mean we
weren't going gang-busters.

There just weren't
enough people in Arcadia.

Meanwhile, one town over
is San Bernardino

and we want to relocate, but we
got no money for a new stand.

And that's when
my brother here

comes up with one of his
brilliant ideas. Tell him, Dick.

- Well...

- He says, why don't we
move the stand we've got.

Put it on a truck.
Genius, right.

Only there's
one little problem.

On the road between the two
towns, there's an overpass.

And the building won't clear.

Now I figure that's it,
we're done for.

But then Dick says, "Why don't
we saw the building in half?"

- Saw it in half...

- Come on.

- So we've moved the restaurant
we're setting up shop.

But now we want to
do a few tweaks,

because now it's 1940.

And drive-ins are all the rage.

I mean, they are
the hottest thing going,

and I say, "Dick we
gotta get in on this."

And Dick says...
- "Okay".

And two months later
we open for business...

McDonald's Famous Barbecue.

27 item menu.

Uniformed waitresses bring
your food right to the car.

And it goes gang-busters.
We're going great guns.

But then sales
start to level off.

- The drive-in
model as we learned,

- has a few built-in problems.
- Tell me about it.

For starters,
there's the customer issue.

Drive-in's tend to attract,
shall we say,

a less than
desirable clientele.

- Teenagers.
- Hot rodders and hooligans.

Juvenile delinquents
in blue jeans.

And then there's the service.

It takes forever and a day
for your food to arrive.

- And when it finally does...
- It's usually wrong.

- Yeah. The Carhops are too busy
dodging gropes to remember

that you wanted strawberry
phosphate, not cherry.

- Well, that's if
they remember at all.

- And then,
there's the expenses.

The huge payroll.

Due to the large staff required.

Dishes constantly
getting broken or stolen.

- Tremendous overhead.

- So one day,
Dick has a realization.

He sees that
the bulk of our sales

are only in three items.

Hamburgers.
French fries. Soft drinks.

Eighty-seven percent.

- So we say to ourselves
let's focus on what sells.

And that's exactly what we do.

Brisket gone. Tamales gone.

But we don't stop there.
We look at everything.

- What else don't we need?
- Turns out quite a lot.

- Carhops.

Walk up to a window,
get the food yourself.

- Dishes...
- All paper packaging.

- Disposable.
- Cigarette machines, jukeboxes.

- Drive out the riff-raff.

- Creating a family
friendly environment here.

- But that's not enough.
- All right.

See, our whole lives
we'd piggybacked

off other people's ideas.

We wanted something that
wasn't just different.

It had to be better.
It needed to be ours.

And that's what brings us
to the biggest cut of all.

- Which was?

- The wait.
- Orders ready in 30 seconds.

- Not 30 minutes.
Mecca.

- We looked at each other
one night.

- You thinking
what I'm thinking?

- We're going to have to
tear down, rebuild.

Reconfigure.
Rethink the whole dang thing.

- We're talking about
shutting down

a thriving business for months.

- People are going to
think we're crazy.

- We were crazy.

- And you are going to
love how we did it.

Dick, you gotta tell him.

- The tennis court?

- He brings me out to
this tennis court.

And he's drawn this line,

the exact dimensions
of our kitchen.

Sink on the right.
Extruder on the left.

- Extruder.
- Bagging and hood.

- Hood.
- Garnish-garnish.

- This is burger finish.
- Got it.

- And this is burger slide.

We could just move those.

- Okay.
- Multi-mixer, soft drinks.

- We bring out our whole staff
and we have them go through

the motions, making
pretend burgers and fries.

All right, Steve,
anticipate that.

You gotta keep the tray level.

- And Dick is running around
with this stick

marking where all the
equipment should be.

- Tuck in. Tony are you going
to skip the pickles

when we're really doing it?

- They do it over and over,
hashing it out.

Choreographing it like
some crazy burger ballet.

What's going on over there?

- Yes!

No!

No!

Everybody stop! Stop!

Garnish one. Garnish two.

You've got pickles,
you've got onions.

It's a goddamn hamburger.

- Come on, clear off.
- Let's clear off.

It's time for the pink chalk.

And then root beer, orange.

See all this open
space here now?

We've rearranged
the fry situation.

So now it's stage left.
The deep fryer stage right.

Begin! That's great.

- Come on, guys.
- We're pretty tied up here.

- Watch out, it's the
timing of the Lazy-Susan.

Those are finished burgers.
You can't...

Hold it.

I-I still think
there's a third version.

- What do you want to move?
- I want to move everything.

Back to stage left, please.

We got it all drawn.

This is better.

- Is that all right?

I think so.

I guess... I guess... Let's
assume our battle stations.

Okay. Okay.

Finally, after about
six hours of this,

we get it just right.

It's a symphony of efficiency.
Not a wasted motion.

Good form, Jasper.

You feel good
about those pickles!

Ketchup!

Use your Lazy-Susan.

Put your back into it, Seth!

And pickles and
pickle and mustard!

We take the layout to a
builder,

custom build the kitchen
to our exact specs.

- Tada!
The Speedee System is born.

The world's first-ever
system to deliver food fast.

It's totally revolutionary.

- And a complete disaster.
- Why?

Opening day,
cars pull up onto the lot

and they start honking
immediately

because no carhop comes up.

You place your order!

- We try to explain to them
the walk-up window.

And they are bewildered.
Now they're furious.

What do you mean
I gotta get out of my car?

Most of them just cuss
us out and drive off.

And the few that stay
are mad as heck

because they're
eating off paper

and they gotta
discard their own trash.

- Why?
- You're doing great.

Yeah, we won't be
coming out to the car,

but you can come on up.

Welcome to McDonald's!

We may have underestimated
the learning curve.

- So by five o'clock Dick is
calculating how much it's going

to cost to go back to drive-in.

But I am not ready to
throw in the towel.

I go back to our
old Hollywood days,

I think to myself,
we gotta go big with this.

We gotta put on a show.

So I say, "Dick, I wanna
throw a grand re-opening.

A gala premiere that would put
Louis B. Mayer to shame."

So we rent a bunch
of spotlights.

Same ones we used to haul
around in the Columbia days.

We get sparklers,
a juggler for the kiddies.

It is an event,
people show up in droves.

- And then...
- The flies.

They must've been
drawn by all the lights.

Millions of them. It was
like a scene outta Exodus.

The Pharaoh would've
released the Israelites.

Total disaster.

Now it is towel time.

The next day,
Dick and I meet up

to discuss going back to
the old format.

And as we're talking there's a
knock at the service window.

- I tell him we're closed.

- We're closed.
- But he looks so cute.

Hang on. Hang on.
What would you like, Son?

- Can I buy a bag of
burgers from you?

- Three?
- Yes, please.

And I feel bad,
so I fire up the grill

and I make him a batch.

There you are.

As he's walking away from the
service window a car pulls up.

And then another.

Dick?

And then another.

- Hello, welcome to McDonald's.
- Hello there.

Pretty soon there's
a line around the block.

- The word has spread.
- And it's off to the races.

And we are
an overnight sensation

30 years in the making.

So that's our story.

- Franchise!

- Beg your pardon?
- Franchise!

Franchise the damn thing!

It's too damn good
for just one location.

There should be
McDonald's everywhere.

Coast to coast.
Sea to shining sea.

- Mr. Kroc...
- Hey, you know I...

I got a confession I
want to make to you boys.

I'm not out here in California

for any kind of
business meetings.

I came out here for you.

A few days ago,
I got into St. Louis, Missouri.

And I was doing some business,
and I broke out my map.

And I followed my finger
on one single highway west.

Route 66.

- Mr. Kroc...
- And something told me.

Something told me to get into
my car and drive that highway.

And you know where it led me?
Right here.

Right smack dab here.

Right to this
unbelievable establishment.

And when I saw these lines
and your whole operation,

and tasted your product,
I knew what needed to happen.

Franchise. Franchise!

Franchise! Franchise! Franchise!

- We already tried.

Five. Three in Southern
California. One in Sacramento.

And one in Phoenix.

And that's all
there will ever be.

- Why?
- Two-words.

Quality control.

It's almost impossible to
enforce standards from afar.

Places were a mess,
filthy kitchens,

inconsistent menus.

- Sacramento was
selling burritos.

- To watch your
precious creation

be mismanaged like that...

Your name...
- Put Mac in the hospital.

- Well...

So you put somebody in
charge to supervise them.

- We did.
- So what happened?

- He obviously
didn't do a great job.

- So you hire somebody else,
get somebody better.

- Our energies are better spent
making this place

the best it can possibly be.

- It's better to have
one great restaurant

- than fifty mediocre ones.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I still think if you
hire the right guy...

- Ray, we're not interested.

- Look, I think you boys are missing
something here that is...

I tell ya,
you got something here.

What is that?

- A concept.
- Huh.

What are those?

It's a way to make
the place stand out

when you're driving by.

- The "Golden Arches",
I call them.

- The Golden Arches.

Who thought of that?

- Oh, that's some pure
Dick magic right there.

- Did you ever
build one like that?

- Just one.

Phoenix.

Ethel!

In here.

- Oh boy, I saw a restaurant,

I've never seen a restaurant
like this in my life.

They've got this
fully automated system.

It's called the Speedee System.
- Mm-hmm.

- Which is a good name for it,
'cause man it is speedy.

I'm telling you it's like
something sprung from the mind

of Henry Ford or something.

- It's revolutionary?
- It's revolutionary.

Exactly what it is,
it's revolutionary.

- And you want to invest in it?
- I don't know. I don't know.

I'm not sure yet. But I just
know I want to be part of it.

- Boy...
- So here we go.

What do you mean by that?

- Wax cups,
Fold-a-Nooks, multi-mixers.

A new idea to chase.

- Those things put a
roof over our heads.

- At least over mine.

- What do you mean over yours?

Over "our" heads.

- It's a good roof, Ray.
It's a good house.

It's a good life, if you
weren't too busy to live it.

We could go to the club,
more than twice a year.

Christ, just take a walk
around the block together.

Isn't it time to enjoy a little
and stop chasing your tail?

When's enough going
to be enough for you?

- Honestly?

Probably never.

Why should I settle
when other men won't?

- I don't know, Ray.

- Maybe if I had a wife
with an ounce of vision.

Showed me an ounce of support.

Sorry. Wrong word.

- I've done nothing
but support you!

- Look, I'm sorry.

- No. Ups, downs.

Dwindling savings, your schemes.
- You're right.

Are you familiar with
the concept of the chicken

and the egg, Mr. Johnson?

Because I think
that's applicable here.

- Hey, Dick.

- What is it with this guy?

- Do it for your country!
- What?

- If you boys don't want to
franchise for yourselves,

that's fine.
Do it for your country.

Do it for America.

You know I've drove
through a lot of towns.

A lot of small towns.

And they all had
two things in common.

They had a courthouse
and they had a church.

On top of the church
you got a cross,

and on top of the courthouse,
they'd have a flag.

Flags, crosses.

Crosses, flags.

Driving around, I just
cannot stop thinking about this

tremendous restaurant.

Now at the risk of
sounding blasphemous,

forgive me, those arches
have a lot in common

with those buildings.

A building with a
cross on top of it.

What is that? It's a gathering
place where decent wholesome

people come together
and they share values

protected by
that American flag.

It could be said that beautiful
building flanked by those arches

signifies more or less
the same thing.

It doesn't just say
delicious hamburgers inside.

They signify family.
It signifies community.

It's a place where American's
come together to break bread.

I am telling you,

McDonald's can be
the new American church.

Feeding bodies and feeding souls

and it ain't just open
on Sundays, boys.

It's open seven-days a week.

Crosses.

Flags.

Arches.

- Give us a minute, Ray.

- Sure.

- I don't know.

- This is your dream,
it's bigger than your dream.

Arches. Your arches.
Coast to coast.

- I can't put you
through that again.

- I know how bad you want this.
And you should have it.

- Your diabetes. Last time...

- We'll do things differently.
Learn from our mistakes.

- How so?

- Keep a tighter leash on
everything. Complete oversight.

Every change goes through us.

- Who says
he's going to listen?

- We'll make him listen.

We'll draw up a contact.

Clear as day,
black and white.

- Fine.

Fine.

Fine.

Fine.

- Let's get to work, boys.
- What's the first step?

- Just leave that to me.

We are a
dynamic-fast growing company.

And we're poised to make
major inroads nationally.

So in addition to giving us a
real strong foothold right here

in the Midwest, the Des Plaines
location would serve as kind of

a lure for other
franchises if you will.

- What are those?

- What are...
- Those?

- Let me see. Oh, those. Yeah.

That's just my little way
of separating us

from the rest of the pack.

You like 'em?

I call them the Golden Arches.

- You look familiar.
Have we met before?

- I don't think so.

I think I would
have remembered that.

Peruse the inside here
if you don't mind.

- Take a look at the, read that.
- Yeah.

- The Fold-a-Nook.

It's like a Murphy Bed,
for your kitchen.

Huh?

- Take a look at the
blueprints we got.

We had those done locally.

- I never forget a face.

- Unique. Original.
Totally innovative.

There's nothing like this.

Nothing in the entire
food service sector.

- Nice brochure,
professionally done.

Have we met?

The paper cup guy.

- Yeah. That was
a long time ago.

That was a long time ago.

What do you think?

- I don't know.

- There's...

Look...

I'm gonna level with ya.

I need this one.

You think, uh...

Is there anything you
can do to help me out?

- I'll tell you what,
let me refer you

to one of my colleagues.

Somebody who may be better
suited to meet your needs.

- Thank you.

- Ray Kroc.

Address...

- 143 Juniper Road,

Arlington Heights, Illinois.

- Home telephone number?

- Ahh, use my office
telephone number,

that's the best
place to reach me.

- All right.

Of course we'll need
an appraisal on your home

before we can issue funds.

- Be right.

Just be right one time.

One time.

June, did you schedule the
stakeout with the engineer?

All set.

- What about the fire
department?

Did you get the approval
for the driveway design?

- Left a message
with them yesterday.

- Excavation permits?

- I'm meeting with them today.

- All right.

Hey, what's going on with
San Bernardino, by the way?

- I just spoke to Dick,
he says they're working on it.

- They're working on it?

- That's what he said.

- Ray Kroc on the line.

- Hiya, Ray.
- Boy, you boys are killing me.

What's the hold up?

I break ground in two weeks.

- These things take time.

You're proposing
substantial alterations.

- I'm adding a basement
and a furnace, that's all.

- We need our architect to
thoroughly review it

and make sure everything
is safe and up to code.

- Fine. Has he seen it yet,
has he taken a look at it?

- I'm not sure to be honest.

- I've got bulldozers
rolling up on the 23rd.

- I'm not the one
who scheduled that, Ray.

- I need you to take a breath.
- Take a breath?

Do you realize what it's going
to cost me if I have to push?

- Hopefully,
it won't come to that.

- Every restaurant
in the Midwest

has a basement and a furnace.

- This is standard stuff.
- I understand.

But it's our name
on that building.

God forbid the floor caves in
and people get hurt or worse

because of some
design flaw we missed.

Let's just slow down a minute
and make sure it's done right.

- So much for the
Speedee System, huh?

- Did he just hang up on you?
- Yes.

Unless we got
violently disconnected.

- Okay.

It'll be fine.

- Where's the...
Where's the front of the apron?

- Show me.
- All right.

Just make sure the windows
are big enough so the customers

can look into the restaurant.
All the way to the kitchen.

Doesn't look right.
Let me see this.

- Ray.
- What?

- We got a letter
from San Bernardino.

- Read it to me.

- Dear Ray. Thank you for your
letter sharing your idea

to strike a deal with Coca-Cola
to sponsor menu boards

at the new
Des Plaines location.

An intriguing notion, indeed.

As you rightly point out, such
an arrangement would provide

a steady source of
revenue to the store

at no additional labor cost.

- However...
- However? However, what?

- However, this is a concept

that goes beyond
our core beliefs.

McDonald's was founded
with the idea of families

and not strict commerce.

- Sons of bitches, they don't
know what the hell...

- And so on and so on...

Here you go, gentlemen.
Back to work.

- Let me explain.

It'll be real small, along
the bottom. Very discreet.

- We're just not
comfortable with the notion

of turning our menu
into an advertisement.

- See it's not an ad,
it's sponsorship.

- It's distasteful.
- It's free money!

- There are plenty of things we
could do to make a quick buck,

- that doesn't mean we should.
- Loads of restaurants do it!

- Well, we don't.
- Why not?

- Cause I have no interest
in indulging

in that sort of
crass commercialism.

It's not McDonald's.

- I didn't realize I was
partnering with a beatnik.

- I'll have you know I'm a
card-carrying Republican.

- Yeah, well you coulda
fooled me.

- He hung up again.

- He's just... He's just a
little excitable, that's all.

- A hot head like that, you
don't know what he's capable of.

- It's all bluster, Dick.
His bark is worse than his bite.

- That's what
Neville Chamberlain said.

- He'll relax.

Give him some time.

- What are you doing? Come on.

There's time to lean,
there's time to clean. Let's go.

Put the hat on straight.

400 degrees, right?

That'a boy, way to work.

Nice.

Hey, hey, hey.
There's one pickle on there.

Two pickles on all the buns.
Two pickles on all of them.

Don't... don't... Look, watch.
Flip 'em like that.

You already turned them over
and press them one time.

And that one's too pink.
All right.

And you...

Get... these...

That's pretty damn good.

- What's your name?
- Fred Turner, sir.

- Nice work. Fred Turner.

Fred Turner.

It's such a
delicate subject

that I... I just don't
know how to say it.

Kind of a...
I don't know how to say it.

Now, look, Mary.

You called me,
you rushed over to gab.

Now, what is it
you want to say?

Well, Jack...

- I'm sorry.

I know I've been
neglecting you.

What do you say tomorrow
we go to supper at the club?

- Really?

- Really.

Well, look what
the cat dragged in.

Hello, everyone.

Hi there. Hi. Hey...
How are ya?

- Evening, stranger.
- Good to see you.

- Linda Ballen was just
there, she adored it.

- This is on the left side
of the 14th fairway.

- No, use your three-wood.

- Hmm, three-wood.
- Hit it clean.

- I hear Acapulco is divine.

- Where do you like, Ethel?

- Umm, Spain.

- Spain?
- Wonderful.

- Wow. How was it?

- Oh no, I mean,
I'm thinking about it.

- Oh, you haven't been.

- Well, we're
dreaming of a trip, right?

- Great, yeah.

- How's your game, Ray?
- Lately?

- Non-existent.
- I'm no Ben Hogan myself.

- No kidding?

- Haha, yeah. I did hit
a hole-in-one of a sort,

recently though.

I came across an really, really
interesting business opportunity.

Really interesting.

You boys are gonna
want a piece of this.

- Here we go again.
- What is it this time, Ray?

- Restaurant.

- New kind of restaurant.
- New how?

Restaurant filled with
milkshakes and Fold-a-Nooks?

- Fold-a-Nooks.

- Ha-ha.
- I'm just joking with you, Ray.

- Hold on, Jack.
You should hear him out.

This one's different.

- Well, do tell us more.

- I will.

This is a thing of beauty.

Fully automated kitchen.

Likes of which I've never seen.
It's revolutionary.

It's called
the Speedee System.

The thing I like about this,
it's franchisable.

The first one is
already up and running.

Come on over and take a look.

Might make you boys
a few dollars.

You don't have to
worry about a thing.

We're in charge of
everything after.

And all these franchises
look exactly the same.

I would have never thought
but younger workers are better.

They're hustling,
they're ambitious.

Easy as pie.

You just pay the franchise fee,
we take care of everything else.

I'll tell you the whole thing.

Close enough, pick it up, Drew.

All right, let's do this.

Got her?

Okay.
You'll be real happy there.

- Congratulations.
- All right.

- Three new franchises
in the last month.

- Well, that's great.

What?

- I don't know.

- What?

- Don't you think maybe,
given our experience,

that this is all happening
a little too quickly?

If they all pop up at once,

how is he going to
maintain standards?

- Son of a bitch.

- Give it a whack, Jack.

- Hey! Look at this.
What is this?

Huh? What is that?

- It appears to be
a hamburger.

- Not a McDonald's
burger it's not.

Look at all that ketchup.

You've got three pickles
on there instead of two.

Look at that.
Look at that, lettuce.

Really, Jack? Lettuce?

- Can we talk about
this another time?

- Look at the patty itself,
that is tragically overcooked.

Tragically!

- I don't know, Ray,
it looks good to me.

- What the hell do you
know about quality?

I was by your
restaurant today too.

- Yeah, what about it?
- What about it?

You got corn on the cob,
you got fried chicken!

- People love fried chicken.
- Do they?

Let them go somewhere where
they serve fried chicken.

And your kitchen is filthy!

What the hell is the
matter with you guys?

- I don't know about you,
Ray, but I'm retired.

- You said this would be a good
place for us to park our money.

- No, no.
- It's an investment!

- If I wanted a job,
I would have applied

for a cook position.

- You couldn't get a job as a
cook in one of my restaurants.

- Hey!

- What's his problem?

- He's a pain in the
ass is what he is.

Right back at ya, Ray.

- Ethel?
- In here.

- Hi.

- Ray, hurry and get changed.
Dinner is called for seven.

- Yeah, we're not going
to the club tonight.

- You canceled our dinner?

- I canceled our membership.

- What?

- Those Roland Green people,
they're not really our kind.

- What are you talking about?

- I've lost interest
hobnobbing with the idle rich.

- The idle rich?

- Yeah, you know their golf,
their Rob Roys.

They're so
complacent and content.

- Ray.
Please tell me you're joking.

These are our friends.

- No, I know. I know.
You know what?

You and I can make
a lot of new friends.

It's all right,
we'll make new friends.

Friends that are
more suitable, for us.

You know?

Don't you think?

You know what?
Give me one second.

The garage is driving me crazy.

Can I just go sweep
it up and clean it up?

And then put a nice dress on,

I'll take you out
for something to eat.

Yeah! Yeah!
This is ridiculous!

Might as well go, you're
not going to get anything!

- Good job, guys!
- Good job!

You look real busy!

Fine, yeah dance, that's
a good dance there, buddy.

Good job, do anything
but make a hamburger.

Cancel! Cancel my order!

- Just take a gander at
this handsome gold inlay.

You're telling me such
spectacular craftsmanship

isn't worth $8.95?

- But I'm not interested.

- You're not interested
in a Bible

sure to be the pride of your
family's home library?

As you no doubt know, June, envy
is one of the seven deadly sins.

And that is what your friends
and neighbors will be guilty of

when they see this leather-bound
beauty on your bookshelf.

- Sir, this is a
private place of business.

I'm afraid I'm going to
have to ask you to leave.

Thank you for your time.

Prince Castle Sales.
Oh, hold on.

Ray. It's Mac.
Do you want to take this?

Ahh yeah, tell him
I'll call him back.

- Hey, hey. Wait a minute.

What's your name?

- Leonard. Leonard Rosenblatt.

- Rosenblatt? Really?

What's a Jew doing
selling Catholic Bibles?

- Making a living.

- I believe in you.

- Tuck that pickle in. These
are ready to spin. Smooth...

275...

No salt for 30 seconds, okay?
Looking good, fellas!

Looking good! Big smiles!

If you've got time to lean,
you've got time to clean!

- It's normally ten and under,

but for you
I'll make an exception.

Haha!

Love it. Nice.

My new franchisees
are great.

He's in the back
working in the kitchen.

She's out front, handing
suckers out to the little kids.

Husband and wife,
side by side.

Like a real team.

It is really something to see.

Wonderful, don't
you think, Ethel?

- I suppose it is, yeah.
- Yeah.

Like teammates.

I made supper
plans for us, Friday.

- I'm guessing you
didn't rejoin Roland Green?

- Well no... no.
Someplace far better.

- B-5!

- So salty.

I love the salt.

- So what do you do, Art?

- Had a little plumbing business
going for a while after getting

out of the service.

Now I sell vacuum cleaners and
give piano lessons on the side.

- Wow.

- Wow.
Busy guy. Good for you.

Vacuums,
plumping, piano lessons.

You're a jack of all trades.

- Yeah, whatever puts
food on the table, right?

- You must be so proud?

- How would you like to do
more than

"put a little food
on the table"?

Bingo!

- She's excited.

- What'd you have in mind?

- Burger up.

- I'm going to give
you three words.

I want you to take those three
words home with you tonight.

McDonald's is family.

Isn't that great?

You know what I
say when I see that?

Family. We're one big family.

Aren't we?

We've got mouths to feed.

That's a family.

I'm looking for a few good men.

And women!
Who aren't afraid of hard work.

Aren't afraid to
roll up their sleeves.

Cliché, I know, but I'm looking
for scrappers, hustlers.

Guys who are willing to
roll up their sleeves.

People with drive.

They got a little
fire in the belly.

Got a little chutzpah!

I stand right here before you
today and I'm going to offer you

something as precious as gold.

You know what that is?
Anybody?

Anybody? Opportunity!

It's opportunity! Opportunity.

Opportunity to advance.

To move forward.
To move up, to advance.

To succeed.

To win. To step up.
The sky's the limit.

The sky's the limit.
To grab the brass ring!

To give yourself a shot
at the American dream!

Put your arms around
the American dream!

Opportunity... 'Cause I'll tell
you something, at McDonald's...

Just like this
great nation of ours,

some of that elbow grease...

I guarantee if
you've got the guts,

got the gumption,
you've got the desire.

I guarantee ya, you can succeed.

There's gold to be had at the
end of those Golden Arches.

Golden Arches.
Golden Arches.

Now who's with me? Who wants to
jump on that ladder to success?

Become part of the
McDonald's mishpucha.

Now who's with me?

Come on, let me see some hands!

- I'll join!
- Here!

- There you go. Who else?

McDonald's!

Good, Art, good job!

- Thank you, sir.

- The nerve of this guy!

- What?

- Guess what he's calling
his Des Plaines store.

- McDonald's Number one.

- Then... What are we, then?

- Could his head get any bigger?

Ladies and gentlemen,
we are about to begin

our initial descent into
Minneapolis-St. Paul.

- Mr. Kroc,
welcome to Minneapolis,

wonderful to see ya!
Gimme an M!

- M!

- Give me a C!

- C!

- Gimme a D!

- D!

O!

N!

McDonald's!

- Ray, how is it?

- You can't even top
that in Chicago.

- Well, we don't
mess around up here.

- Boy, my compliments
to the chef.

That's wonderful.

- I can do you one better.

- How about the owner?
- Sure, why the hell not.

- Rollie?

Rollie.

- Jimmy, great to see ya.

- Rollie, how are ya.
- Oh, wonderful.

- Rollie Smith, Ray Kroc.

- Hey.
- Real pleasure.

- Boy, I tell ya, you got
one helluva restaurant here.

- Well, coming from you
that's quite a compliment.

- My reputation precedes me.

- I'm a great admirer.
- Well umm... sit down.

- I don't want to interrupt.
- Have a seat.

- Well, maybe just a minute.

- This is Fred Turner
my associate.

- Welcome.

- Steaks cooked, okay?
- Excellent. Perfect.

- Our intention is to ahh...

expand pretty far
beyond the Midwest.

We're not going to settle here.
We're not gonna...

We're going to expand
far beyond the Midwest.

- You've clearly got a warm and
loving home here in Minneapolis.

- Yeah, so it seems.

- Yeah, this town just can't
get enough of McDonald's.

- Here you go, sir.

- Another Canadian Club
for my friend.

- Yes, sir. Coming right up.

Thank you.

In fact, I'd say there's
sufficient enthusiasm

to support another.

A second location?

- You know,
come to think of it,

I know the perfect person
to own and operate.

- You don't say?

- Somebody who knows
what it takes

to build a great restaurant.

Someone with more than
20 years experience

in the food service industry.

- Who?

- Me.
- You!

Oh! That's a shock.

- He's funny.

I've got the know-how,
I've got the backers

and I've got
the perfect location.

Are you familiar
with Hennepin Avenue?

That's one of the busiest
commercial arteries

in the whole Twin-Cities.

There's a prime site that's
recently become available.

Full acre on the
corner of Hennepin and...

- Mr. Kroc?
- Yeah?

- Would you like to meet her?

- Yeah. Sure.

- So Ray, how long are
you here with us for,

- in the Twin-Cities.
- Huh?

- How long are you in town?

- I... Not sure yet.

- If you gentlemen
could steal a second,

I would love to personally
give you a tour of this site on

Hennepin that
Rollie is talking about.

He knows how to pick 'em.

I mean this place has
enough room for the restaurant,

the parking, possibly a
playground for the little ones.

- Ray Kroc meet Joan Smith.

My wife.

- Pleasure to meet you.
- Pleasure to meet you.

- Well, join us.
Have a drink with us.

- I'd love that.

- How are you guys?
- Good.

This is Fred Turner...

Madison, Milwaukee,
Kenosha, Grand Rapids.

Ahh, we've got the
three in the Chicago area.

Oh, Jim's here in Minneapolis.

St. Paul.

- Got one in Dayton, Ohio.

- That's right.

- You must be
positively dizzy, Mr. Kroc.

- Please, call me Ray.

- Ray...

- That's some growth.

- Yeah.
We're doing good, right Fred?

- Yes, sir.

- Yeah, we're doing good.

- When did you start it?

- Hmm? Sorry?

- What year did you
start McDonald's?

- Year?

I started it in 1954.

- Remarkable.

- Yeah.

- Well, I should get back.
- Back?

- To my piano.
- Oh, of course.

- What's your favorite song?

All-time favorite.

- Pennies from Heaven.
- Pennies from Heaven.

- Great gal.
- I know.

- I sold pianos for a while.

- ♪ Every time it rains ♪

♪ It rains
Pennies from heaven ♪

♪ Don't you know? ♪

♪ Each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven ♪

- ♪ You'll find your fortune ♪

♪ Fallin' all over town ♪

- Sounds pretty good.

- ♪ Be sure that
your umbrella ♪

♪ is upside down ♪

♪ Trade them for a package of ♪

- ♪ Sunshine and flowers ♪

♪ If you want the things
You love ♪

♪ You must have showers ♪

♪ So when you
Hear it thunder... ♪

♪ Don't run under a tree ♪

♪ There'll be
Pennies from heaven ♪

♪ For you and me ♪

- Sorry.

- Oh yes, yes.

- Will you be expanding
beyond this or is this...?

- Oh, no doubt.
We'll be everywhere.

- Very exciting.

What is on the menu
beyond hamburgers?

- Well, we've got French fries,
milkshakes and soft drinks.

- Ray?
- Down here!

- I think I've got
some people for you.

I met this young couple.
Very committed.

They're from Glenview.

High School sweethearts,
married for five years and

they're looking for a business
they can operate together.

And they seem very excited.

- Yeah, forget that.
Everything's changed.

- You want a drink?
- No... Changed, how?

Forget the Chicago suburbs.
Think bigger.

- Bigger?
- I'm not chasing them anymore.

They're chasing me now.

- What is...?

- The trip!
The trip I just took.

- The trip. How was it?
- Triumphant.

They rolled out the red carpet.

They're kissing this ring.

They're begging for McDonald's.

Here, have a drink.

- That's nice.
- Yeah, sure is.

- I'm sure.

Well, then all hail
Pope Raymond the First.

- Damn right.

God damn right.

- Ray?
- Yeah?

- We have a small problem.
- Wait a minute.

How can we be
almost out of capital?

Well, your revenue,
the monthly cut of the stores.

1.4% of net.

- 1.4?
- Yeah.

1.9 minus Dick and Mac's
half-percent.

- Mr. McDonald,
Ray Kroc's on the line.

Good to see you.

- Hiya, Ray.
- I want to renegotiate.

- Renegotiate what?

- My deal. My lousy deal.

1.4 doesn't even
cover my monthly nut,

let alone drive expansion.

- Ray, those are the terms.

- It's not good enough.
- It's almost triple our cut.

- You should be getting more
too then, shouldn't you?

- We are not greedy men.

- Greed has nothing to
do with it.

If I had more
money to work with,

I could be growing this
thing at twice the pace.

- We have no beef with the
current rate of expansion.

- I've got nothing, not one
location in Pennsylvania.

- Nothing in New York.
- All in good time.

- Nothing in Texas.
- I have no doubt it will come.

- I'm out here breaking
my neck for you guys.

- And you're doing
a bang-up job.

- Well, then I should be doing a
heck of a lot better

- than just breaking even.
- I don't know what to say.

- Say you'll renegotiate.
- I can't.

- Can't or won't?

- Upping your cut it would be
unfair to the franchisees.

- The franchisees
are doing just fine!

I'm the one
that's drowning here.

- You freely and
willingly agreed

to the terms of
your deal, Ray.

Nobody put a gun to your head.

- Four percent?
- No.

- Three and a half percent?
- Ray...

- What?
- No!

- Goddamn it!

- Dick.

Is he a pain in the rear?
Yes.

Does he have a few screws loose?
You bet.

But that doesn't mean he's
going to do us any harm.

- How long are you
going to keep this up, Mac?

- Keep up what?

- The whole
"everything is fine" act.

There's a wolf
in the henhouse.

We let him in!

I never should have listened.

- We have a contract for
just this sort of thing, Dick!

- I should have trusted my gut.

- So it's my fault, huh?

Just like the movie theater?

Well, I'm sorry I wanted you
to have your dream.

- Ninety-four dollars.

- It's unbelievable what
these suckers cost to run.

My Pop used to own
an ice cream parlor.

He went belly-up from
the refrigeration costs.

- Really?

- A man called today.

Illinois First Federal.

- Did he say what he wanted?

- Why don't you tell me?

- What did he want?

- Ray...

- What?

- Did you mortgage our home?

We could lose everything.

- I specifically said the office
is the best place to reach me!

- I tried there, Mr. Kroc.
Numerous times.

- You have no right to
call me at my home.

It is a blatant
invasion of my privacy!

- With all due respect, sir,
when you're three months behind

on your payments you don't
get to pick and choose

where we contact you.

- Ray?

- Surprise inspection.

- What are you doing here?

- I just came up to see
how things are going?

- $12,400.

- That's pretty good
haul for month one.

- Could be bigger.

I hate to mix
business with pleasure.

- I don't.

- But my expenses.

- What about them?

- Well, they're a bit
higher than anticipated.

One thing in particular,
that dang walk-in.

That bill is a real whopper.

- I know, it's a problem,
all that ice cream.

- I don't want to
overstep my bounds here.

But, we may have
found a solution.

Or Joan did, actually.

- You don't say?

- What if I told you there was a
way all of your owner-operators

can save literally hundreds
of dollars a year

in electrical costs?

And reduce the time that it
takes to make a milkshake,

by half.

- I'll bite.

- It's a powdered milkshake.

Costs a fraction of ice cream

and there's no refrigeration
necessary.

- It contains powdered milk.

Thickening agents
and emulsifiers

simulate the texture
of ice cream.

Tastes just like the real thing.

- It's easy as pie to make.

You put a packet into
a glass of water and stir it.

- I know maybe a
tad blasphemous,

what with your dairy background
and all.

- Personally, I think
it's a marvelous idea.

Chocolate or vanilla?

- Vanilla.

Good things come
to those who wait.

What do you think?

- I think I'm drinking a
delicious vanilla milkshake.

- May I?

Mmm...

I can't resist.

- So what do you say?

We try it out at our place
and then if it goes well...

- You roll it out nationally.

- I could. Yeah.
Let me think about it.

- You're the boss.

- McDonald's.

I just found a way
to save you, me,

and all the owner-operators
literally hundreds of dollars

a year in electrical costs.
- And what would that be?

- Two words,
powdered milkshake.

I'm telling you I came across

a remarkable product called
Inst-A-Mix.

Like I say, it's a
powdered milkshake.

It's a fraction of the cost
of ice cream

and requires no refrigeration.

- Ray...
- I tell ya, I tried it myself,

it tastes just like
the real thing.

It's delicious. Comes in
chocolate, comes in vanilla.

Me, I'm a vanilla man.

- Ray, we have no interest in a
milkshake that contains no milk.

Why don't we add sawdust to the
hamburgers while we're at it?

Frozen French fries!

- You don't want to
save a bundle?

- Not like that.

- We're talking about
the same great taste.

Same great taste while
boosting the bottom line.

- It's called a milkshake, Ray!

Real milk, now and forever!

- I understand.

I'm just asking you
to extend my line.

- Until you build more equity in
your home or pay down the loan,

there's nothing I can do.

- My business is booming.

- Unfortunately,
that's immaterial.

- Well, I've got 13
locations in nine states.

- It's a home-equity loan.
- Then give me a business loan.

- These thirteen locations,
you own them?

- Me personally?
- It's your business, correct?

- You own it?
- I'm the head of franchising.

I'm the one behind this growth.

Well, that's all well and good,
but you need assets.

- Have you been to
a McDonald's?

Because we've got three right
here in the Chicago land area.

You should come by
and take a look.

No, I would love to give you a
tour to give you a better sense

- of what I'm talking about.
- Thank you.

- Mr. Kroc?

- Can I help you?

- No, but perhaps
I can help you.

Harry Sonneborn,
nice to meet you.

- No, thanks, we're very happy
with our current supplier.

- I'm not here to
sell you ice cream.

- What the hell do you want?

- I caught a bit of your
conversation back there,

sounds like you're
having financial troubles.

- Why don't you
mind your own business?

- I'm a great admirer
of your establishment.

- Thank you.

- I eat lunch at your Waukegan
location at least twice a week.

Always a fantastic crowd.

- Your point being...

- Mr. Kroc, if you're not
making money hand over fist,

something is terribly wrong.

- June, grab the ledger,
would you?

Come on in the office, Harry.

- So to summarize...

you have a
minuscule revenue stream.

No cash reserves.

And an albatross of a contract
that requires you to go through

a slow approval process
to enact changes

if they're approved at all.

Which they never are.

- Am I missing anything?
- That about sums it up.

- Tell me about the land.

- The... land?

- The land, the buildings, how
that whole aspect of it works.

- Oh, pretty simple really.

Franchisee finds a
piece of land he likes.

Gets a lease, usually 20 years.

Takes out a construction loan,

throws up a building
and off he goes.

- So the operator
selects the site.

- Yeah.
- He picks the property?

- Right.

- You provide the
training, the system,

the operational know-how, and
he's responsible for the rest?

- Is there a problem?
- A big one.

You don't seem to realize
what business you're in.

You're not in the
burger business.

You're in the real
estate business.

You don't build an empire
off a 1.4 percent cut

of a 15-cent hamburger.

You build it by
owning the land

upon which that burger
is cooked.

What you ought to be doing is
buying up plots of land then

turning around and leasing
said plots to franchisees

who as a condition
of their deal,

should be permitted to
lease from you and you alone.

This will provide you
with two things.

One, a steady,
up-front revenue stream.

Money flows in before the
first stake is in the ground.

Two, greater capital
for expansion.

Which in turn fuels
further land acquisition,

which in turn fuels further
expansion and so on and so on.

Land.

That's where the money is.
And more than that, control.

Control over the franchisee.

Fail to uphold
quality standards,

you cancel their lease.

Control over Dick and Mac.

End result, you'll have the
banks and the franchisees

in the palm of your hand.

- If I were to do this,
the brothers,

they'd effectively would be...

- Yes.

So, whaddaya say, Ray?

We'll need backing.
I've arranged meetings

with investors
and financial institutions.

We're in the center of the town

which is the only
over-saturated aspect.

We should do well in
this area because...

Has anyone here ever
eaten at a McDonald's?

...Operation growth is
going to enable us to expand.

Franchise Realty
Corporation how may I...?

They seem exaggerated
but they're fully supported

by the numericals.

In fact, we erred on
the side of caution.

- He's being conservative.
Mine, based on gut,

and my gut tells me
those numbers are low.

McDonald's is
growing quick as a hiccup.

- I'm Harry Sonneborn
this is...

Hurry on over
to McDonald's,

now serving family communities
from coast to coast.

You're probably
only minutes away

from America's
favorite restaurant.

McDonald's fast service is
the perfect answer for parties.

Birthday lunches!

And family meals anytime.

With no fuss or dishes to do.

It's America's
greatest food value.

No wonder you see so many
of your neighbors there.

If you want home quality
cooking without the home work,

try McDonald's.

Look for the Golden Arches
at McDonald's.

The closest thing to home.

- Have you heard of the
Franchise Realty Corporation?

- What is it?

- I have no clue, apparently
Ray Kroc is President and CEO.

- Hiya, Dick, how ya doing?

- Well, if you really want
to know I'm a tad miffed.

- Why? What seems
to be the problem?

- Franchise Realty Corporation.

- What about it?

- For starters, would you
mind telling me what it is?

- Oh, nothing really.

Just a little something I
created to help provide leasing

services, you know, lend
support to our new franchisees.

- You know full well you can't
do something like that

without first clearing it.

- Now, why would I
need to do that?

- Because as your
deal plainly states,

any and all changes must
be agreed to in writing.

- Except it's not a change.

- Excuse me?

- It's not a change.
It's a company.

It's its own separate company.

Which puts it
outside your purview.

- Anything relating
to McDonald's

is within our purview.

- Let me explain
something to you, Dick.

You boys have full say over what
goes on inside the restaurants.

But outside? Above? Below?

Your authority
stops at the door.

And at the floor.

All right?

- What's he saying?

- He's buying the land...

- Our land?

- ...on the map.

Make sure to get this,
you wanna get all pins in.

Make sure you see the pins.

- Oh that's great. Beautiful.

- How about one at the desk?

- Yeah. Do one at the desk.

...on your throne.

- Make sure you get
that in focus.

- Big smile. Good.
Good, good, good.

- Delivery!

- Where do you want these?

- Ray!

- I thought it over.

Approved.

- Really?

- Thank you!
- No, thank you.

It's a wiz-bang idea and you're
the one who thought of it.

- Well we're deeply honored to
serve as your test market.

- The hell with that. I'm going
to roll this out nationally.

Hey, have you seen
the latest copy of RBM?

Hot off the press.

- Oh, Ray, good for you.

It's about ten miles
south of downtown.

They're building a
brand-new sports stadium there.

- Yeah, Bloomington,
I read about it.

- We're getting a professional
baseball and football team.

They'll both be playing there.

- I think I know where
you're headed with this.

- A 40,000 seat stadium,
just a stone's throw away.

Imagine the foot traffic.

- Hungry families looking for
a bite to eat after the game.

- Or before, whenever.

- Exactly.

Yeah.

You think big,
don't you Joan?

- Is there any other way to?

- Well, you'd be surprised.

A lot of people are
afraid of taking a chance to,

you know, reach for greatness.

- That's so sad.

- Yeah, I agree.

Ambition,
that's the stuff of life.

- What is that saying?

Fortune favors the bold.

- Absolutely.

- Just look at you.

- You calling me bold, Joan?

- You don't build
a restaurant empire

acting like a timid
little mouse.

That's a fast growing area.

And cheaper, you're talking
fifteen percent less per acre.

- Yeah, I still think
Houston's a better location.

- Ray.
- Yeah?

- Dick's on line one.
- Now...

- Hiya, Dick.

- I just received a
very disconcerting call.

- Oh?

- From Buddy Jepsen.
Our operator in Sacramento.

- I'm very aware of
who Buddy Jepsen is.

- He told me he received
a shipment this morning.

- Oh, it arrived.

- You are way out of line, Ray.

- Gee, I didn't expect that

to get there until Friday
at the earliest.

- Do you mind telling me
what you're doing

shipping four cases

of Inst-A-Mix to
one of our operators?

- Look, if you don't want to
make a profit, that's fine.

But don't stop the rest of us.

- Us?
- Us.

As in everyone but you.

- Who did you send them to?

- Everyone but you.

- You have no right,
you are to stop this instant.

Is that clear?

- Nah.

- What the hell does that mean!
Nah!

- You will abide by the
terms of your deal!

- I am through taking
marching orders from you.

You and your
endless parade of nos.

Constantly cowering
in the face of progress.

- If phony powdered milkshakes
is your idea of progress,

you have a profound
misunderstanding of what

McDonald's is about!

- I have a far greater
understanding of McDonald's

than you two yokels.

- What? You will do as we say.

- Nope.

- You have a contract!

- You know,
contracts are like hearts.

They're made to be broken.

- Could you please
pass the salt?

Thank you.

- I want a divorce.

When quietly trying
to settle a divorce,

the first thing to ask is,
what will she want?

And is her request
reasonable and equitable,

in terms of marital property.

There's a house, a car,

savings and checking accounts,
insurance.

- Just give it to her.
House, car, insurance.

- What about the business?

- Nope.

- Ray, you have to
understand, she's...

- Let me explain
something to you.

That's never going to happen.

I would sooner die,

than give her one share
of stock in McDonald's.

- It's not so simple.

The brothers are
your business partners.

You signed this contract.

- Make it go away.

And I don't care
what it takes.

- It's going to cost you.

I'm looking at a letterhead

with the name
McDonald's on it.

You care to explain?

- It was confusing,
people didn't even know

it had anything to do
with McDonald's.

- What's confusing is you
calling yourself

the McDonald's Corporation.

People will think it's the
whole company,

not just the real estate arm

which we strongly
suspect is what you hope.

- You put Dick's Arches
on your letterhead?

This is not your company, Ray!

- Mac...
- Do you understand that!

- Mac, don't get upset.

- We came up with
the Speedee System, not you!

Us! What have you
ever come up with!

Can you name one thing?
You can't!

And you never have
and you never will.

Because you are a leech, Ray.
You are a professional leech!

- You know what I came up
with, Mac? A concept.

I came up with the
concept of winning.

- Let me talk to him.

- While you two boys
were content

to sit back and be
a couple of also-rans.

I'm going to take the future.
I wanna win.

And you don't get there by being
some aw-shucks, nice-guy sap.

There's no place in
business for people like that.

Business is war.

It's dog eat dog,
rat eat rat.

If my competitor were drowning,

I'd walk over and I'd put a hose
right in his mouth.

Can you say the same?

- I can't, nor would I want to.

- Hence your single location.

- We want you out of
this company, Ray!

- Mac, how do you
propose you do that.

- We will sue you,
whatever it takes!

- And you'd probably win.
But you can't afford to sue me.

I'd bury you in
court costs alone.

Mac, I'm the President and CEO

of a major corporation
with land holdings in 17 states.

You run a burger stand
in the desert.

I'm national.

You're fucking local.

- He's national...

- Mac!

- Are you following
your eating plan?

- Yes.

- And you're checking
your glucose levels?

Are you taking your medication
on a consistent basis?

- Yes.

- Regular walks,
20 minutes a day.

- I'm on my feet all day.

- Any stress?

- Okay.

You need to watch that,
it's a big contributing factor.

So as I said,
your kidney function

is currently at 50 percent.

18 months ago, it was 65.

Any lower, and you're at
serious risk for kidney failure.

Okay, I'm going to
check on you later.

- Thanks.
- Thank you.

William who rode
with Revere?

- How many letters?

- Five. Fourth letter, E.

- Dawes.

Come in.

- How ya feelin'?

That must've been some spill.
I felt it through the phone.

Here, I brought ya...

I brought ya some...

I'll set it right here.

Dick. There's a card in there.

Go ahead.

- That's okay.
- Here. Just...

I think you'll be happy.

- What's this?

- What's it look like?

- A blank check.

- Then that's ahh...

that's probably what it is.

- What are you buying?

- Okay.

You get better, you'll be
up on your feet in no time.

And we'll talk.

All right. Dick.

- We will never beat him.

We will never be rid of him.

- Dick McDonald on the line.

- Hello, Dick.

2. 7 Million.

It's a million for
each of us after taxes.

And one percent of the
company's profits in perpetuity.

- That's outrageous!
That's borderline extortion!

That's a bunch of bullshit!
Bullshit!

- I know it seems
like a lot now...

- Yeah, that seems like
a lot of money anytime.

- And they want one other thing.
- What?

- San Bernardino.
- Uh-uh. No way.

- To give to their longtime
employees as a gift.

- I need the profits
from San Bernardino

in order to pay off
the purchase loan.

- I've spoken at length
about it with their lawyers.

It's unfortunately,
non-negotiable.

Our client agrees fully
with your conditions of sale,

with one exception.

Your one percent cut of future
corporate earnings will have to

be carried out on
a handshake basis.

- It's my investor group.

The financing is contingent
on leaving that out of the

contract, and unfortunately,
this deal just doesn't happen,

it doesn't get financed
unless you leave that

out of the contract.
Because unfortunately, that's...

that's a deal breaker for them.

Look fellas, you'll get
your full royalties. All right?

You've got my word on that.
Dick, Mac.

Let's make a deal.

All right.

- All right, gentlemen,

if you would turn to page
four of your contract.

That's the first set of
signatures to go over.

- I just have to ask you
one thing.

Something I've never understood.

- All right.

- That day we met,
we gave you the tour.

- Uh-huh. What about it?

- We showed you everything.

The whole system,
all our secrets.

We were an open book.

So why didn't you just...

- Steal it?

Just grab your ideas, run off,
start my own business

using all those ideas of yours.
Would have failed.

- How do you know?

- Am I the only one who
got the kitchen tour?

You must've invited
lots of people back there.

- And?

- How many of them succeed?

- Lots of people
started restaurants.

- As big as McDonald's?

Of course not.

No one ever has
and no one ever will.

Because they all lack
that one thing

that makes McDonald's special.

- Which is...?

- Even you don't know
what it is.

- Enlighten me.

- It's not just
the system, Dick.

It's the name.

That glorious name, McDonald's.

It can be anything
you want it to be.

It's limitless,
it's wide open.

It sounds...

...it sounds like...

it sounds like America.

As compared to "Kroc". What
a crock. What a load of crock.

Would you eat a
place named Kroc's?

Kroc's has that
blunt Slavic sound.

Kroc's.
But McDonald's, oh boy.

That's a beauty.

Yeah, a guy named McDonald.

He's never going to get
pushed around in life.

- That's clearly not the case.

- So, you don't have
a check for

$1.35 million dollars
in your pocket?

Bye, Dick.

- So if you can't
beat 'em, buy 'em.

- I remember the first time
I saw that name

stretched across your
stand out there.

It was love at first sight.

I knew right then and there,
I had to have it.

- And now I do.
- You don't "have" it.

- You sure about that?

Bye, Dick.

As per the terms
of your agreement,

while you are entitled to
maintain ownership of this

location, you no longer have
the right to call it McDonald's,

McDonald or any such variation
so as to confuse or infringe

upon the McDonald's trademark
which is now the exclusive

intellectual property of
Mr. Raymond A. Kroc.

Thank you, gentlemen.

It'll be alright.

- Now, I know what
you're thinking.

How the heck does a
52-year-old, over the hill,

milkshake machine salesman,
build a fast food empire

with 1600 restaurants, in 50
states, five foreign countries,

with an annual revenue
of in the neighborhood

of 700 million dollars?

One word, persistence.

Nothing in this world
can take the place

of good ol' persistence.

Talent won't...

Nothing's more common than
unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius won't.

Unrecognized genius is
practically a cliché.

Education won't...

Why the world is
full of educated fools.

Persistence and determination
alone are all powerful.

- Mr. Kroc? Will Davis.

- I'd like to do a profile of
you pegged to the opening

of your hundredth location.

- Sure. Call my office.

- Sure thing.

All right.

It's these core principles
that enabled me to

rise to the top of the heap
at a point in life

when most men would be thinking
about retirement.

Why, we appear to have that
in common, Governor Reagan.

Why, you were what, 55
when you started in politics?

It's why you make me
look like a spring chicken.

Laugh, laugh, laugh.

Why look at us, a couple
of Illinois boys made good.

Only in America.

Only in America.

Only in America!

Now where wa...
now where was I?

Ah, yes. The beginning.

The year was 1954,

the place,

Des Plaines, Illinois.

- Car is out front hon.

- Be right down.

That's where it all started.

Right there on Lee Street.

McDonald's number one.

It was a typical
English-American word,

it flowed. McDonald's.

I liked the sound of it.

It sounded wholesome
and it sounded genuine.

You know?
Ahh, I don't like these umm...

gimmick type names, you know?

Ahh...

burger this and burger that
and all that kind of stuff.

McDonald's, it's got a
nice sounding name.

Nobody had eight
multi-mixers in one business.

So I went out there.

And I was amazed!

They were serving
hamburgers for fifteen cents.

French fries for ten cents and
milkshakes for twenty cents.

And basically that was
the menu, and I said,

that's for me.

Now I have ultimatums,
you know.

...except that I'd like
to be able to say that.

I bought the agreement back
from them for two million,

seven hundred thousand dollars.

I got the name,
the Golden Arches,

basically it was a matter of me
working longer and harder

than anybody else.

I'll take every resource that
I have and I'll put it in

and I'll go for broke
if I believe in it.

The only thing I could do
besides play the piano,

was to talk.
What happened to my talk?

It's not dog eat dog out there
in that competitive world,

it gets more like rat eat rat.