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(gentle orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
(engines revving)
- [Announcer] Angelo Perino has just come into the pits.
The leader, once again, is A.J. Foyt
as we near the halfway mark here at the California 500.
This is going to cost Perino.
He pitted under the green flag of course.
That means he'll probably lose at least three,
maybe four spots.
Foyt has already gone by to increase his lead.
Gordon Johncock and Bobby Unser
are in second and third.
That wasn't Perino's best stop.
He was in nearly 20 seconds.
That means Angelo will have to do some fancy driving
if he wants to get his lead back.
Perino has never won here at Ontario,
one of the few tracks where he hasn't
been in the winner's circle,
but he is the favourite here this afternoon,
and he's dominated most of the race.
After that lengthy stop, though,
Perino has his work cut out.
He lost considerable ground, but look at him now.
Perino's doing an incredible job at driving.
He's gotten past slower traffic,
and here he is, closing in on the leaders.
Unofficially, we have Perino in fourth place,
seven seconds behind A.J. Foyt.
He's closer now.
Perino has nearly caught up to Unser and Johncock.
- He'll catch up.
- [Announcer] On that last lap, we clocked him
at better than 189 Miles an hour.
Perino is alongside Unser now.
Look at this battle for third place.
Perino ducks to the inside.
He's trying to pass Unser.
He's got him, he's got him.
Perino has just passed Unser.
And there he goes after Johncock in second place.
He's overcome a costly pit stop
that dropped him at least back to fourth place.
And now here he is again, challenging for that lead.
Can he catch A.J. Foyt?
Here he comes.
He's really moving.
He's getting into turn one, awfully fast.
(tyres screeching) Wait a minute.
Perino's in trouble.
He's spinning, heading for the inside.
Oh my God.
The car is coming apart,
cartwheeling into the infield.
The yellow flag is out.
The cars are slowing everywhere.
There go the emergency crews in action.
I don't see any sign of fire,
but I can't see Perino, either.
The ambulance is there now.
- Here, take this before you have another stroke.
- Not now!
Damn it, Betsy, get on the phone!
Find out where they're taking him.
I wanna know how bad he's hurt.
(gentle orchestral music)
(engine starts)
- [Betsy] May I give you a lift, Mr. Perino?
- Who the hell are you?
- [Betsy] I'm Betsy Hardeman.
My great-grandfather won-
- Wait a minute.
Hardeman.
Bethlehem Motors?
- My great-grandfather would like to see you.
- He could have phoned.
- [Betsy] He doesn't trust telephones.
- Tell him to buy out AT&T.
- His Lear is standing by at the airport for you.
- He expects me to come right now?
- Well, you can pack if you like.
- What's he want to see me about?
- He just said to say it was important.
- [Angelo] How's the old man doing,
still running the world from his wheelchair?
- [Betsy] (chuckling) He's still trying to.
- [Angelo] Are you on his payroll?
- [Betsy] No.
Just summer vacations.
- [Angelo] Oh, you're, um, a sophomore.
(both laughing)
And you're majoring in, um-
- [Betsy] Iam majoring in something
that will be of the least possible use
in three years’ time, early civilization.
- [Angelo] A-ha.
(gentle orchestral music)
- By all rights, you should be dead. (chuckles)
(Angelo chuckling)
Probably thinking the same about me.
- Well, I wouldn't say time is exactly
on the side of either of us, Mr. Hardeman.
- The only difference is,
I don't intend letting it catch up on me just yet.
Come over here into the light
and let me look at you.
Yeah.
You got quite a little look of your grandfather,
you know that?
It was a sad day when they tossed him out.
He was a smart man.
I was mighty fond of him.
Sit down.
Want you to come and work for me.
- Doing what?
- I'm going to build a new car.
- Sorry.
I only race the cars I build myself.
Not a race car.
People's car.
- You have the wrong man for that, too.
Racing's the only thing I've ever done.
It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do.
- I know what your qualifications are better,
probably, than you do.
I know every school you went to,
every degree you took,
every engineering system you come up with,
any automotive innovation you ever put on wheels,
so don't try and pull that sort of bull
over on me, all right?
- All right, sir.
I could have gotten a job in Detroit,
but I chose racing instead.
- (scoffing) Why don't you leave racing to the kids
who still got something to prove?
Only two men have built universal cars.
Henry Ford built the Model T,
and an even bigger son of a bitch, Hitler,
built the Volkswagen.
Now I'm going to build the third.
I need help, Angelo, 'cause I'm on my own.
- You have Bethlehem Motors behind you.
- No.
My grandson's president of the company,
and he's just the same as the rest of them,
too mercenary to adapt to new times.
No.
If I'm going to build this car,
I got to do it on my own.
- That shouldn't be difficult.
All you really need
is a few hundred million dollars.
Why don't you sell the house and a couple of the planes.
- You joke with me, young man, I'll break you in half.
- You'd have to catch me first.
- I'd catch you.
- All right.
No jokes.
- Look, my boy,
I got no time to waste.
Hell, I celebrated my 86th birthday in April.
I've been out of it for years,
dumped down here, sitting to listen to the coconuts drop.
Well, before they lay me out
and start throwing dirt in my face,
I'm going to build me a car
the world will never forget.
Everybody's working on some kind of engine,
diesel, electric, gas turbine,
rotary, steam,
but each one's got its own drawbacks.
No one's come up with a car that's small, cheap,
pollution-free, economical to run, and safe.
- You think you have. - Ha ha.
I know damn well I have.
(door whirring)
John Duncan, Angelo Perino.
- How are you?
- John used to be my head of production
till those idiots retired him.
- Saw you crash on television.
You build that car yourself?
- Ground up.
- Well, everybody's entitled to one mistake.
- So this is your baby.
- It's a gas turbine.
- Very interesting.
Oh, well, you've done something to the fuel system here.
I never saw a fuel system like that.
Ought to get pretty good mileage.
- 60.
- Relative to what weight?
- 1,900.
- No way.
- For how much?
- Takes a lot more than improved combustion.
- Take another look.
- Oh, you black-boxed it.
- Know why?
- Monitor the fuel system, presumably.
You have a computer here,
electronic probes into the exhaust system,
sending information back to the computer,
which then regulates the fuel flow.
That give you 60?
- 90% increase in thermal efficiency.
- We're working on the other 10%.
- Very impressive.
- You think I was just an old man jerking off?
(Angelo laughing)
- [Betsy] Are you going to build his car for him?
- [Angelo] I don't know.
He said I could sleep on it.
That's what I'm gonna do.
- [Angelo] But you don't think it can be done?
- I'm afraid he's dreaming.
The days of the good old rugged individualists are over.
- Well, he is rugged.
He's also a monster.
- [Angelo] I thought you liked him.
- Oh I do, but he's still a monster.
They all are, the Chryslers,
the Hardemans, the Fords.
The hereditary monarchs of Detroit.
Anyway, I hope he wins.
- He's tough.
He might.
- Well, father's tough, too.
If that new car means risk, no profits,
he'll fight it.
(dog barking)
- (laughing) That's his prerogative, you know.
Your father can't run a business to lose any money.
- Spoken like a Hardeman.
You know, you better be careful.
You'll catch the disease.
It's highly contagious.
- What are the symptoms?
- An insatiable appetite for success
and an uncontrollable craving for power.
It can grow into a fever,
the more power, the higher the fever.
- No hope for the victim, I guess.
- Once infected, it's terminal.
April, come here.
Come on, girl.
(gentle orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- In Detroit, they all know you as a race-car driver.
They've forgotten all the rest of it.
We'll let on that we're going in
for factory-sponsored racing,
just a senile whim of the old man,
worth indulging just to keep him quiet.
And down here in Florida, that'll be our smoke screen.
There'll be a title,
vice president special projects.
And a salary, of course.
A hefty salary.
Will you do it?
- I want a bonus, too.
Up front.
- How much?
- Just shares,
an option on voting shares.
- We keep the votes in the family.
- Aman ought to have a vested interest
as an incentive.
You vote 80%,
I'd like an option to buy up to 2%.
- Young man, you're talking an awful lot of money,
you know that?
- [Angelo] Yes, sir, I do.
- Big.
Five, six million.
Can you get access to that kind of money?
- No, sir.
- (chuckling) He's got a lot of nerve. (chuckles)
Okay, you'll get it.
Uh, your option up to 2% at present value.
Okay, now build that car!
Know what we're going to call it?
The Betsy. (laughing)
(gentle orchestral music)
(laughing) A whole new car from bottom up
and bumper to bumper.
Whee!
Damn!
It's going to be like the old days again. (laughing)
(gentle orchestral music)
(people chattering)
Oh.
Hey, you, where's my wife, huh?
- She's downstairs, monsieur.
She's greeting the guests.
- Oh, what the...
Why didn't somebody wake me?
- I think madame tried.
- I can't get this damn thing fastened.
Hey, d-did you see Malcolm, my valet?
Huh?
You know him?
- Perhaps I can help, monsieur.
- Y-you...
Well, do you mind?
Well, thanks.
- No wonder you have trouble.
You have made the wrong buttons
in the buttonholes.
- Well, I'll be hornswoggled.
What do you think of that?
(gentle orchestral music)
- Mother, where's father? - Oh, I'm afraid
he's still sleeping the sleep of the just, as they say.
After all that was quite a reception this afternoon.
- I suppose I'm responsible for that, Elizabeth.
- You furnished the drinks, Angelo.
You didn't pour them.
- Can't he even behave himself
on my wedding day?
- What's your name?
- Roxanne.
(gentle orchestral music)
- He's incorrigible.
- Why don't I go wake him up?
- Please do.
Try putting a little shame into him too.
Just tell him Walter Chrysler's been looking for him
for half an hour.
(gentle orchestral music)
- Daddy Hardeman?
Daddy Hardeman?
(both breathing heavily)
Da...
(both breathing heavily)
(water running)
(Sally breathing heavily)
- Roxanne,
now, don't be offended, huh?
I'd like to give you something.
A present.
- No.
Please, monsieur.
- No, it would make me really happy to do that.
Now, there must be something you'd like.
Like, uh, something you've always wanted.
Hmm?
Come on.
- I came to America to
make enough to open a little shop one day.
Perhaps in Paris.
(Roxanne laughing)
- You've got it.
- Sally.
- Oh, uh, I came upstairs to wake you.
There wasn't any answer.
- Why, that was very kind of you, my dear.
Shall we join our guests?
(drum rolling)
Ladies and gentlemen,
as you all know, this is a very special occasion
for Elizabeth and myself.
(all applauding)
Loren, Sally,
come on up here where everyone can see you.
(all applauding)
We live in Detroit, and we're proud of it.
(all applauding)
And what better gift for a newlywed couple,
who, I may add, are also going to live in Detroit,
(all applauding)
than a new, new car, huh?
(all applauding)
Follow me now, please, outside, huh?
Come on, now.
(all chattering)
- [Man] Oh, wow!
Look at that.
- So, Loren, there is a little surprise
for you and your enchanting bride,
a Car.
A brand-new model,
and I have named it,
and it's written right on it,
the Loren II!
(all applauding)
Don't drive it away, though.
(all chattering)
Oh, and that is not all! (chuckling)
Entwhistle, if you please.
Thank you.
100,000 shares of Bethlehem Motors stock.
10% of my company,
made out in the name of my son
Loren Hardeman Jr.,
(all applauding)
which, if my accountants don't deceive me,
and they better not,
(all laughing)
is worth a sum between
25 and $27 million.
(all applauding)
(gentle orchestral music)
Angelo.
Palsy-walsy.
Hey, have you seen my son,
and his bride anyplace?
- Loren, in God's name,
what sort of son of yours
would the kid be
if he was still up on his wedding night?
- Oh, sure.
Yeah.
Still, you know what?
I sometimes wonder,
you know what he said to me a while back?
That the stock was the greatest present
a father ever gave his son.
He never mentioned the car.
Not one word about the Loren II.
(gentle orchestral music)
I made it for you, son.
Made it all for you.
(gentle orchestral music continues)
He doesn't know, does he?
He doesn't understand,
does he?
It's not the stock.
It's not the money.
It,
it's the car.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music)
(helicopter whirring)
- Mr. Perino, I'm Dan Weyman,
head of finances for the company.
Mr. Hardeman's waiting.
(ball thudding)
That's Mr. Hardeman in white.
By the way, he doesn't like to be called Loren III.
- Who's the guy he's playing?
Is this guy in the company, too?
- No, no.
He's just a hired pro.
- Very well-played. - Well, thank you a lot.
- Mr. Perino, glad to meet you.
I've been a fan of yours for quite some time.
- I just became a fan of yours.
- Good way to work off the old hostilities.
- [Loren III] How the hell's grandfather?
How's number one?
- Just fine.
He sends his best.
- Amazing, isn't he, for his age?
- Hope I'm still that sharp at 86.
- Yeah, well, trust Number One to be different.
Everyone else is getting out of racing,
and he wants in.
- That's the old man for you.
- Originally, I was against the idea.
What finally persuaded me was the publicity,
good publicity if you can turn out a winner for us.
These days, the automobile industry
can use all the favourable publicity it can get.
(both laughing)
- It's the old "bread and circuses for the people" syndrome.
Paid off for the Roman emperors.
Let's hope it pays off for us.
- Dan, wipe the Maalox off your face, would you mind?
He's got an ulcer like a barometer.
You see white around his mouth,
it usually means we've got trouble.
One thing you can always trust,
Number One's instincts.
At a board meeting, I try to keep an eye on his face.
It's like a spectrometer.
It'll show the tiniest flaw in an argument
that otherwise looks like solid steel.
- As a pro, Mr. Perino,
you must have observed the same thing
in the crowd at a race.
They'll automatically know
whether someone's giving them their money's worth
or just stringing them along.
- Anyway, the project's been approved by the board.
You're to build us a race car.
I assume at some point you'll let us know
what kind of car you plan to build.
- A winner.
- I like the sound of that.
Welcome to the team.
Dan will show you around the place.
I better get showered.
- We'll start with design and research.
(light piano music)
Yes.
You can feel it, can't you?
- Yeah.
(gentle orchestral music)
(machinery whirring)
(electricity crackling)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- [Reporter] The .45-calibre pistol
was thrust at president Ford
at point-blank range.
The woman was identified
as Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme,
26 years old
and a follower of Charles Manson.
President Ford, we repeat, was not hurt.
A secret service agent grabbed the woman,
and wrestled her to the ground (doorbell rings)
before a shot was fired.
More bulletins as they happen.
And now back to wall-to-wall music.
- Am I interrupting?
- It's a pleasant interruption, however.
Please, come in.
(upbeat music)
I thought the fall semester started.
- It did.
- Ah.
Home for the weekend.
- Is this me you're working on?
- That's you,
the Betsy.
A few kinks to work out.
- Me or the car?
Don't answer that.
Please, keep on working.
May I watch?
- Of course.
- Is this the rear-end suspension?
- Thought you were into early civilization?
- Well, I play hooky sometimes.
I quit school.
- Why did you do that?
- Because I can't think of anything
except the Betsy.
I'm supposed to be in the bronze age,
and I'm here in Detroit,
asking you if I can help you.
Please, can I?
- Doing what?
- Anything.
Sweeping floors.
- What do your parents say about that?
- If I tell them
that you've given me a job,
it'll be cool.
Please?
- Well, I'll tell you what.
I'm going to have dinner at your house on Sunday,
and if your parents bring it up,
I'll say it's fine with me.
- Oh, Angelo.
- Um, I'll require respect, of course, Elizabeth.
Affection in small doses, fine,
but, above all, an employer will require respect.
(Betsy laughing)
(engine rumbling)
(door clicking)
- Hi, Angelo.
- Back to college, Betsy?
- (sighing) I've never known father and great-grandpa
to get together on anything so quickly.
- Well, what are you doing during Thanksgiving vacation?
- You mean that?
- I don't think they'll object, do you?
- Oh, excuse me.
I'm sorry.
I forgot.
Respect.
- That's right.
Respect.
- [Edward] Mr. and Mrs. Hardeman send their apologies, sir,
but they'll be a few minutes late coming down.
May I get you a drink, sir?
- [Angelo] Scotch, please, on the rocks.
- Hello.
I'm Roberta Ayres.
I'm staying with the Hardemans.
- Angelo Perino.
- Yes, I know.
How do you do?
- Hello.
- I gather there's been a slight family tiff.
That's why they're not down yet.
Also, Betsy's not going to grace us.
- That's too bad. - Sir.
- Thank you.
- Lady Ayres, may I freshen yours?
- Oh, please, Edward.
- Lady Ayres?
- My husband was John Ayres.
- Uh, lord Ayres, the, uh, driver.
He was good.
- Yes, he was.
Unfortunately, not quite good enough.
- Who is?
- Anybody who wins and stays alive.
(Angelo laughing)
Are you obsessed with cars
to the exclusion of all else, too, Mr. Perino?
- Not to the exclusion of all else.
- That's rather a strong point in your favour,
if I might say so.
- I gather you didn't enjoy being a racer's wife.
- Well, let's just say I was a widow
long before my husband died.
To fast cars
and the men who race them.
- To their women,
Who wait and worry.
- Bobby, Angelo, I'm sorry.
You've obviously introduced each other.
- Oh, I'd say we've gone a stage beyond that, maybe two.
- I'm not sure I approve.
You look lovely tonight, Bobby,
but then you always do.
Glad you could make it, Angelo.
You're on your way to California?
- Yes, in a week or So.
Wanted to line up a pit crew and some drivers.
- Whereabouts in California are you going?
- Yes, Bobby was thinking of flying out to the coast,
toying with an idea of opening a branch out there.
San Francisco?
Beverly Hills?
- Branch?
- I'm a decorator.
- You like this room?
- Very much.
- [Loren III] It's her work.
- I like it.
- And she did our house in London last year,
a whole house.
She did a superb job.
- Mr. Perino, I couldn't be sorrier.
Your first visit,
and we're outrageously late coming down.
- Mrs. Hardeman.
- Please sit down.
- Thank God.
At least the Wilsons aren't here yet.
- That's Secretary of Commerce Wilson.
- Bobby, dear, you look radiant.
- Oh, how sweet of you to Say so.
- Yes, well, who's for a glass of champagne?
I know damn well I am.
- Congress is leaning on us, Loren.
The feeling on the hill
is Detroit isn't getting the message.
- Well, what you fellas in Washington
got to be made to understand
is that the public dictates the kind of cars we make.
Now, if congress starts legislating taste,
that's the end of the free enterprise system,
of the American way of life
as we've always known it.
- But you've been given a timetable, repeatedly,
on emissions and on safety.
You're nowhere near on target.
- We're not about to absorb the extra cost
of legislated emission controls ourselves,
Mr. secretary.
That's going to be passed on straight to the public,
cent for cent.
- [Wilson] Very well put, Dan.
- If that's what the congress thinks
the public wants, let them enact.
- And if you start legislating,
we may have to halt production for a while.
Do you want to cope with that kind of unemployment?
It seems the president has enough on his hands already.
- [Wilson] Hmm, something's got to give.
- The congress, Mr. Wilson, or the public?
Because we're not giving one goddamn thing
to that son of a bitch Nader.
I'll tell you that.
- Loren.
- I'm sorry, Alicia.
Forgive me, ladies.
- Excuse me, Sir.
Why, lady Ayres, what a pleasant surprise.
- Surprise, Mr. Perino?
Then why did you make such a point of telling me
exactly which flight you'd be on?
- Did I do that?
- Mmm.
- Well, I'll be damned.
(engine rumbling)
(gentle orchestral music)
(bell ringing) (gentle orchestral music)
- Thank you, sir.
(gentle orchestral music continues)
(door clicking)
(knuckles rapping)
(door clicking)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- Good morning.
- Aren't you having any breakfast?
- No.
20 minutes, downstairs,
man wants to sell me some tyres.
J elly, ma'am?
- That's known as jam where I come from.
Look, it's even written on it.
"Jam."
- Jam, ma'am.
- (laughing) You fool,
except you're not.
I'm the one who is.
Do you know that?
- I didn't know that.
- There is no bigger fool in this world
than a calculating woman who miscalculates.
- You miscalculated?
- Mmm.
Over you.
You're far nicer than I thought you'd be.
- Oh.
Nice isn't very much where I come from.
- From where I've been, it's very rare.
Very rare, indeed.
How long will you be here?
- A few days.
You?
- As long as you want me.
- You'll be here until Loren shows up.
- Loren would marry me if I wanted him to.
- Don't worry.
I won't spoil it for you.
- I wish you would.
(gentle orchestral music)
- Bobby? - In here.
- I made a reservation
at that restaurant in Sausalito.
What's all this?
- What does it look like?
This is a suitcase.
These are my clo...
Sorry.
Loren called.
He's on his way up from Los Angeles.
He wants me to meet him at the airport
and go to Hawaii with him.
- All he has to do is, um,
snap his fingers.
Right?
- You're not very nice, after all.
I can make him happy.
I can, you know.
- I know.
(sighing) What about yourself?
- Oh, please, please don't ever worry about me, Angelo.
Will you drive me to the airport
or shall I order a taxi?
- I'll drive you to the airport.
It's the least I can do.
- No.
It's the most you can do
at this stage of your life.
With any luck,
we'll meet up again in another.
(gentle orchestral music)
- How's that new race car of mine?
- [Angelo] Very good, sir.
- Mm-hmm.
You getting all the help you need?
- Not really.
More red tape than the Pentagon,
but we'll get there.
- [Loren] Did you decide about that regenerator?
- [Angelo] No.
John and I are going to run a test tomorrow.
We'll mount the engine in a pinto.
- Ah, now listen, I just wanted to ask you and forgot to.
Did you get, what office space did they give you?
- [Angelo] Number seven, executive wing.
- Number seven, executive wing.
Well, that means they're taking you seriously. (chuckling)
Now listen, before you get back here,
I want you to doa little something for me.
(Loren whistling)
(bell rings)
(engine revving)
- Sounds good.
How is she coming?
- Pretty good.
Still a few problems to work out.
- If anybody can work them out, you two can.
Zoom. (laughing)
- Slide it on out.
There we go.
(engine revving)
- [Angelo] Duncan, I picked up a tail.
- But nobody knows you're out there.
- Somebody does.
Let's check them out.
(tyres screeching)
(horns honk)
(tyres screeching)
(engine revving)
I think he's definitely interested.
Hold on.
I have an idea.
- [Duncan] Don't take any chances
with that engine, damn it.
Come on in.
- Okay, Turkey, follow me.
(tyres screeching)
(horns honk)
(siren wailing)
He's gone.
Dumb bastard ran a red light. (laughing)
- Nothing under here.
Beats the hell out of me how they tracked you.
- Say, John?
- Yeah.
- Well, there you are.
That's how they did it.
- [Angelo] Who?
- I don't know,
but whoever put that there must like you.
Could just as easily have been a bomb.
- [PA] United airlines flight 23 from Honolulu
now arriving at gate 10.
- [Edward] Good evening, Mr. Hardeman.
How was your trip?
- [Loren] Fine, Edward.
Thank you.
- Darling.
- You're an angel to wait up for me.
- Of course I'd wait up for you.
Anyway, you know how nervous I get when you fly.
How was it all?
- Oh, pretty hectic.
- Poor dear.
You must be exhausted.
Let me fix you something.
- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- You don't have to give me presents always.
- I don't always.
- Loren, you shouldn't have.
Really.
This is too much.
- Nonsense.
Dan, I hope I didn't get you up.
What is the latest?
Simply fascinating.
Good.
We'll drive out together.
Oh, Hong Kong was terrific.
We'll be turning out around 150 dishwashers a day
within six months.
Mmm.
Bye.
- [Alicia] You always know how to please me.
- If I don't by now...
(dramatic orchestral music)
I'll just run through these quickly,
if I may.
- Of course.
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
- [Loren III] Go on up if you want.
- All right.
Don't be too long.
- I won't.
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
(engine revving)
- Okay, thanks.
Angelo, can you read me?
- [Angelo] I read you.
- Cool her off and bring her in.
They're here.
(engine rumbling)
- Good morning, John.
Uh, everything going all right?
- So far so good.
- [Loren III] The car looks good, Angelo.
- It's coming along.
- I'd like to see the, uh, other one.
I understand it's been mounted in a pinto.
The other engine you've been working on for the Betsy,
may I see it?
(door whooshing)
Fascinating.
That's that fuel system you've been working on,
uh, how many years is it?
- 23.
Very creditable, John.
What mileage?
- 60.
- In traffic? - Not much less.
- It would make one hell of a car.
Thank you, John.
Dan, when we get back,
would you call a board meeting as soon as possible?
- Right, Loren.
- Be sure you get in touch with my grandfather.
- Of course.
- You're fired, Angelo.
You, too, John.
(engine rumbling)
Five years ago,
Bethlehem Motors was going bankrupt.
It was saved by diversifying.
- Diversifying.
- Well, it was saved.
Go ahead and scoff, but I saved the company.
And I'm saying it, it would be suicide
to expand the automobile division
with an experimental car.
- It's no more of an experiment than the Model T was
when it was on the drawing board.
The world's running out of gas and oil.
We got to build lighter, more efficient family cars.
Revolutionise and send these gas guzzlers
to the Smithsonian.
And that's just what the Betsy's designed to do.
- Hmm, it's an awful big risk, Number One.
- [Loren] Ah, and a risk worth taking.
- Not in my opinion.
- Gentlemen, Alicia,
build the car before the government forces you.
Build the car before the competition does.
You'll have your profits,
and the industry and the American people
will be better off for it.
- I will not gamble the future of this company
on one Car.
- This company was built on one car!
- When, uh, Theodore Roosevelt was president.
Things are a tiny bit different now, grandfather.
- They're not different.
Our business is still cars.
- Untrue.
You want to know what business
we are in, grandfather?
Because it's time you took a look.
Appliances from Hong Kong, uh,
net worth 60 million.
Sporting goods from the Philippines,
uh, profit of three million six.
Uh, South Korea, menswear,
uh, soft.
Should profit under a million.
Mobile homes, land development.
We're building a resort in Mexico
to take advantage of the devaluation.
That's our business.
Eight times as much as when my father died
and 12 times as much
as when you retired and I took over.
And, uh, the automobile division
is the only one showing a loss.
Which is why by the end of next year,
we intend to eliminate it altogether.
- Over my dead body.
- Any way you want, grandfather.
(light piano music)
(water spraying)
(doorbell rings)
- Bobby.
Come in.
You look great, stranger.
- You need any help packing?
- Word gets around, doesn't it?
- Mm-hmm.
Is it true?
- Yeah.
They're meeting right now.
It's either my car or Loren's.
No.
- He's asked me to marry him.
- Oh?
What about Alicia?
- He's working up to asking her for a divorce,
very gently.
Aren't you even a little bit jealous?
- Oh, the time for me to have been jealous, Bobby, was, um,
in San Francisco.
Remember San Francisco?
- I've missed you, Angelo.
- Well, we've both been busy.
- I've really missed you.
(gentle orchestral music)
- Are you sure this is a good idea?
- Well, if it's good ideas you want, yes.
You can get back at him for firing you.
- You think I'm not very nice.
- Hell, Tom,
you've been in this with me since the beginning.
I got my first loan from you people.
Trust me, Tom.
- How can I justify it?
- Well, we didn't lose, did we?
With the odds against us,
bigger odds than these, remember?
I'm asking you, Tom.
Take this chance with me.
- (sighing) Well,
I was crazy then.
Why stop now?
- Uh, that's still only 5 out of 11, grandfather.
Uh, I'm sorry.
- Six.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(telephone rings) (gentle orchestral music)
- You should answer it.
- Hello.
Thank you.
I'm back on the payroll.
- Terrific.
Tell me about it later.
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
You're very kind.
Thank you for your support.
- What the hell do you think you're doing?
- Tell me something, Loren.
It's silly, I know, but I'm curious.
Were you fucking Bobby Ayres
while she was still our house guest,
or did you have the decency to wait until Hawaii?
- Alicia, I want a divorce.
Get in touch with your lawyer.
Let me know your plans.
- My plans were made at the altar, Loren,
and they haven't changed since.
(door clicking)
Congratulations, grandfather Hardeman.
(dramatic orchestral music)
- If you think I enjoyed that,
I didn't.
- That's a pity.
I certainly did.
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
(door clicking)
- (chuckling) Would you like to hold him?
- Yes, sure.
Come here, Loren.
- There you go.
Say hello to your grandfather, Loren.
(telephone rings)
Hello? - Sorry I'm so late, darling.
- Don't tell me you're still at the office.
- Iam, indeed.
The thing is I've still got a hell of a lot of work
to get through tonight and another meeting tomorrow.
Crack of dawn, so to speak.
- Then I'll have something kept hot for you in the oven
and, when you get here, we'll all-
- No, no, no, don't do that.
I'll grab a sandwich here.
Quite honestly, darling, that does make more sense.
Plus, you have father there to keep you company.
Just give little Loren a kiss good night for me.
See you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
- So?
What'd she do?
Oh, I see. (chuckling)
She gave you a little bit
of the old guilt twist there.
- No.
She's not like that.
She's fine.
She'd never-
- Well, anyway, we have the evening.
You know, it really can't do you any harm
if your dad thinks
you're killing yourself working overtime.
- You must be kidding, Joe.
He's never been impressed by things like that.
He expects it.
Anyway,
as you say, We have the evening.
- Does he, uh, stay in town often?
- Oh, lately, I'd say two,
maybe three nights a week.
A touch more?
- Please.
- You're, uh, by the way,
very welcome to stay the night.
- Oh.
Thank you.
- It must get lonely in that big house now,
Without Elizabeth.
- It does.
Why don't you fix something for yourself?
- Oh, I'm not supposed to till after I've weaned the baby.
(gasping) Damn.
- What?
- I missed his 10:00 feeding.
I won't be long.
Hello, baby.
Hello.
Oops.
Ohh.
Here we go.
Ha.
- May I come in?
- [Sally] Of course.
(gentle orchestral music)
- My God.
That's beautiful.
(gentle orchestral music continues)
(door clicking)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- I'm sorry.
I just had to be close.
- Sure.
It's all right.
Sure, you do.
I understand you.
- Do you?
- I think.
- Loren.
- Hmm?
- On my wedding night,
When you were upstairs in your bedroom,
I saw you with that woman.
- I knew that.
- I've wanted it to be like that ever since.
Just once.
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- Yes, of course.
He's right here.
- Yes, Junior?
- Gotta have a decision on that refrigerator deal, Father,
by this afternoon, or we lose out.
- Why don't you decide for yourself
one way or the other?
You're president of the company now.
- Sure.
And when I go ahead and do just that,
you come right back at me and say
why the hell didn't I consult you in the first place?
- Yeah.
That's happened.
I'll admit that may indeed
have happened on occasion,
but it won't anymore.
I'm going away on that trip I told you about,
to Europe.
Stay away maybe a year.
Maybe two.
- I thought that wasn't supposed to happen
for six months or so,
at the earliest.
- Changed my mind.
I'm leaving right away.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
(engine revving)
(tyres screeching)
(water splashing)
(upbeat music)
- Angelo! - Hello, Betsy.
Happy Birthday.
- Oh thank you.
I was so afraid you weren't going to come.
- Are you kidding?
For your 21st birthday?
I flew in especially from Washington.
- I've been so proud of you.
Since I've been back, I hear your name all the time.
- Betsy, your great-grandfather would like to see you.
- Thank you, daddy.
Save me a dance?
- Angelo, glad you could make it.
How are things going with the Betsy?
- Would it spoil your evening if I said great?
It's time you got one thing absolutely straight, Angelo,
I was against the project
because I judged it bad for the company.
Now that we're committed,
I'm 100% for it succeeding.
And if you don't believe that,
you don't know a damn thing about me
as president of Bethlehem Motors.
And I feel it's time you did.
- Hello, Angelo.
- Excuse me.
Hello, Alicia.
You look lovely.
- I look ghastly,
which is perhaps understandable.
But I mustn't be morbid, not tonight.
Come and join the party.
I want to introduce you to some nice people.
- Another Canadian. - Of course.
- Look at him.
That son of a bitch
thinks he's cock of the walk again.
- But not without a certain justification, wouldn't you say?
(upbeat music)
- Jesus.
Lady Ayres, glad you could make it after all.
What the hell do you think you're doing?
- Darling, I came to wish my future stepdaughter
a Happy Birthday.
There's nothing wrong with that, is there?
- I'm having a tricky time with Alicia
over this divorce question.
- You mean to tell me just because she chooses to hang on
to the pretence of a marriage,
I'm supposed to remain in some kind of
permanent social limbo?
- Bobby, this is our daughter's birthday.
Alicia's daughter and mine.
Now, please go back to the penthouse.
- Excuse me, Loren.
(upbeat music)
- Well, now we're all here.
Don't look so miserable, daddy.
Just tough it out,
as your favourite president says.
(upbeat music)
I love you, mother.
- Thank you for that, darling.
I'm going to give him his divorce.
Is that all right with you?
- I just want you to be happy.
(upbeat music continues)
- Well, I fucked it up good and proper now,
as they say.
- I doubt it, Bobby.
Loren prides himself on being very pragmatic,
which means there'll probably be
a loud knock on your door about 1:00 this morning.
- Excuse me, Lady Ayres,
but great-grandfather is asking for Mr. Perino.
- Which here, I suppose,
is the equivalent of a royal command.
Excuse me.
Are you in the blue book by any chance?
- Well, as a matter of fact, I am.
- Ooh, let's dance.
- Oh.
- Thank you for coming to the rescue.
Hey, what's this?
(Betsy crying)
- I'm sorry.
This party is such a farce.
Why do they have to put me through all this?
What are they trying to prove?
- Maybe they just didn't want
to cheat you out of anything.
- (sighing) Well, they could've asked me first.
- That's the trouble with parents.
Always ask when they shouldn't,
never ask when they should.
- (sighing) For once, I'll be glad to get back to school.
(gentle orchestral music)
I'll miss you, though.
It was a wonderful summer.
(gentle orchestral music)
What took you so long?
- You're very young.
- And the boss' daughter?
- That too.
- Kiss me again.
(gentle orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music continues)
I knew it would be like this,
from the first moment I saw you,
with that nurse.
- You're a beautiful child.
- No, Mr. Perino.
A beautiful woman.
It's my 21st birthday, remember?
(gentle orchestral music continues)
- And, so,
I want you all to know
that upon my death,
one half of all my shares
in Bethlehem Motors
will be put into trust
for the Hardeman foundation.
(all clapping)
The other half,
representing 40% of the voting stock
in the company,
I'm turning over to my great-granddaughter
Elizabeth Hardeman,
Whose 21st birthday this is.
Where is she?
(gentle orchestral music)
(all clapping)
Now I want to drink a toast
to Hardeman Manor
and to Betsy,
whose birthday will be the last party
ever to be held here.
When Elizabeth and I built this house,
we had a dream that it would one day be filled
with the sounds of a happy family.
Well, it didn't work out like that.
Tomorrow, Hardeman Manor will be closed.
State of Michigan
will take it over and do with it what it will.
To Hardeman Manor.
To days gone by.
To my beloved wife.
To my unhappy son.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(engine rumbling)
Hold it a minute.
(all chattering)
Hey, Eddie.
- Mr. Hardeman, welcome home.
- Looks like one hell of a welcome.
What goes on here?
- Well, you might have to ask Mr. Hardeman Jr.
Or Mr. Warren.
- Drive on.
(engine revving)
(all shouting)
- Labour relations are Joe Warren's responsibility, father,
and I'm not about to let you talk me into overruling him.
- Guess I didn't make myself understood, junior.
Offer the men
the 25-cent-an-hour increase
plus a 38-cent raise
for overtime after 5:15,
or I'm accepting your resignation
right now and here.
- I'm not giving it.
And on the subject of wage increases,
did it escape your attention in the South of France
that we happen to be in the middle of a depression?
- Junior, you're fired.
- You can't fire me.
- No?
Call a board meeting.
We'll see who runs Bethlehem Motors.
- All right. fine.
Let's have a trial of strength,
but it will be me who they support, not you.
Do you know why the union's taking us on?
Because we're the weakest link in the chain.
Ford, GM, Chrysler,
they're all counting on me to hold the line
and I've given them my word.
And I will not be the one responsible
for letting the rest of this industry down.
- Letting the rest of the industry down?
Why, you punk!
Did Henry Ford give a shit
about the rest of the industry
when he offered his workers $5 a day?
The hell he did.
But, of course, Junior's different.
Ford's nothing compared to him.
He's the strong man of the automobile world.
Is that what you think they're saying about you?
They're not saying a thing about you, Junior.
They're laughing too hard.
‘Cause while you close production to save their ass,
they're churning out cars at the rate of 5,000 a day.
They know who you really are, Junior,
almost as well as I do, though not quite.
Son, I hate to say this,
but in your heart you know it anyway.
You're not within 20 years
of running a company bigger than a bicycle shop,
let alone a great company like mine.
Now, I,
you really have had plenty of time,
and I, I've tried you fair.
I come back, and I find you hollow,
and it's a big, big disappointment to me, son!
I tell you that!
Oh, that's right.
That's a great idea.
- Yes, sir? - Send Joe Warren in here,
and tell him to bring his handkerchief.
- Damn you.
(both grunting)
- Warren, you're fired.
- Maybe.
I gather Junior's in the doghouse, too.
It's a pity, Number One, because I don't think
you really appreciate your son
as much as you should.
At least he's smart enough to let me run the business.
You see, I'm responsible for this company diversifying.
Would you like to see the latest figures?
- I'd like to see your back.
- Oh.
I am sorry to hear that.
Maybe you'd prefer to see
some rather pretty photographs I have of Junior.
Well, I mean,
they're not very pretty, really.
- Whatever my son is or has become,
I bear much responsibility for,
Mr. Warren.
I bear it in private,
as he bears what he is in private,
and as I suppose you have the sense to do also.
The chief of police here
happens to be an old friend of mine.
So, as a matter of fact,
is the Attorney General of the United States.
You show one photograph of my son
to a living soul,
and I'll have you locked up for blackmail
for 18 years.
Get out, Warren!
You're fired!
- I'm going to ask him for a divorce.
- He, uh,
he never knew about us?
- If so, he never said anything,
not even tonight when I left him,
though he certainly hates you.
- Oh.
That comes from way back.
So, you and the boy
are welcome to stay with me.
- Well, I can't stay with him anymore.
- Why should you?
Compete with Warren?
Why?
- Maybe Warren will leave him alone
now you've fired him.
Anyway, it's not only that.
I want to be near you.
God knows I've missed you.
(car horn honking)
- What seems to be the trouble, George?
- I don't know, sir.
- [Loren] Down!
(guns firing)
(engine revving) - [Man] Let's go!
(dog barking)
- You all right?
- Yes.
Are you hurt?
- The kid all right?
- [Loren III] Mommy, what happened?
- That's a bit of glass.
George.
Geo...
(dramatic orchestral music)
My God.
- Loren, believe me, I'm just as shocked as you are.
Deeply, deeply shocked.
- Goddamn right you're shocked.
Shocked it didn't come off.
- What are you talking about?
Are you crazy?
Kill Sally and your boy?
- Not Sally and the boy, no,
but father, yes.
You'd do that.
- So would a lot of other people.
But you want to get rid of your father so badly,
you're trying to blame the attempt on me.
- Never.
I could never murder anybody,
even after all he's done.
I could never murder.
- Curious, isn't it,
a woman of Sally's means,
moving in with her father-in-law?
Might there just possibly be
a little incestuous something going on there?
Loren.
Do you think, between Sally and him?
(dramatic orchestral music)
(Loren sighs)
(dramatic orchestral music)
(thunder crashing)
- Daddy. - Shh.
Loren, it's all right.
I just came to say good night.
Go back to sleep now.
Daddy loves you
very much.
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
- Daddy.
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
(thunder crashing)
Daddy.
Daddy!
(gun firing)
(dramatic orchestral music)
- Any idea what's behind it?
What's it called?
Auto News & Motorists Report?
Well, get me a copy.
Nevermind.
Duncan's here.
He's got a copy.
Thank you, Jim.
I appreciate your interest.
Good-bye.
- Look at this rag, a five-page piece on the Betsy,
facts and figures that even I don't have,
and everything accurate except for one thing.
They say the turbine is dangerous,
could blow up at high speeds.
What crap.
- Well, that was Bancroft in the sales department.
He says quite a few of the dealers
are running scared.
He said he's had cancellations.
- Who puts this thing out?
- A guy named Mark Sampson,
a poor man's Nader, and I mean poor.
- Why would he want to keep the Betsy
off the market?
(birds chirping)
(knuckles rapping)
(footsteps thudding)
- Looking for something?
- Are you Mark Sampson?
- That's right.
- I'm Angelo Perino.
- Why, Angelo Perino.
Of course.
I've been reading about you.
I've been a fan of yours for a long time.
What can I do for you, Mr. Perino?
- Turn off the bullshit before we both drown in it.
- Sure.
Anything you Say.
Hey, you mind if we talk outside?
I was just locking up.
Too bad about that new car of yours.
But I call them as I see them.
- Then you know as well as I do
that there's nothing dangerous about that engine.
Come on, Sampson.
Who hired you?
- No.
I run an independent outfit.
No contributions accepted,
no advertising allowed.
- All right, I know the game.
Company doesn't kick in,
you're going to smear them in your rag of yours.
Okay, we're gonna kick in.
How much you want?
- Is this conversation being recorded?
- Yeah, tape recorder's up my ass.
- Look, take a tip from me, Angelo,
you're in over your head.
All I can offer you
is a good deal on a slightly used car
or maybe a word of advice, stick to racing.
- No, you're right.
Sampson's not important.
It's whoever's behind him.
- Got any idea who?
- Loren.
The next time you talk to him, Evangeline,
you can tell him I said so.
- I never heard such rubbish in my life,
such wicked rubbish,
and at your time of life.
- You trying to tell me that your grandson
wants to wreck his own company?
- It's Loren.
Ouch!
Watch out what you're doing, will you?
- Hold still, then.
Keep your evil tongue of yours from wagging so hard.
- He has no wish to see BMC go down the tubes.
All he wishes is to destroy the Betsy.
Prevent that happening,
only one thing we can do, discredit him.
- Tie him to Sampson?
- They'll all turn on him then,
the board, the stockholders,
the entire Hardeman family.
- All of a sudden,
I have a nasty taste in my mouth.
- You got no stomach for the job, boy,
just say so.
I'll get somebody else to finish it.
- What are you rubbing him down with,
sulfuric acid?
- The radio predicts snow.
I think I'll take Bobby to the Nassau for the week.
- Just remember something, Loren.
In this town, the man who builds the car runs the company,
and that will be Perino, unless we go bust,
in which case,
the man in the president's office is responsible,
and that will be you.
- Dan, when a company goes in the red
or let's say even goes bust,
there are those who look
to see who's been in charge of finance.
Now I don't, but there are those simple-minded enough,
like bankers and such, who do just that.
- [PA] United airlines flight 12 from Miami
now arriving at gate 7.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(keys jingling)
(all grunting)
- For God...
Who'd want to do that?
Is he hurt bad?
- [Man] Yeah, he's been beat up pretty bad.
- Any idea who did it?
- [John] We're not sure.
They're taking him to the hospital now.
- What hospital?
- [John] Westside County.
Sorry to bother you.
- Oh, no.
Thanks, John.
I'm glad you did.
- [John] Good night, Mr. Hardeman.
(dramatic orchestral music)
- As far away as possible.
Europe somewhere.
Maybe England.
I love you, Loren,
even if I have to be damned for it.
I always will.
You should say good-bye to your grandfather, darling.
- No.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(door clicking)
(engine revving)
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
(door clicking)
- I found out who was trying
to kill you and Sally and the kid.
Joe Warren.
I figure you knew that anyhow.
- I had to be sure.
- Let's say you owe me one.
- But couldn't we at least meet at your convenience?
I feel I deserve better than that, Mr. Wilson.
(door clicking)
(wind howling)
(chandelier tinkling)
(all grunting)
(objects clattering)
No!
No, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't! (screaming)
(body thudding)
(dramatic orchestral music)
- [Loren] I'm sorry, Angelo.
Just, it's one time my hands are tied.
- Loren, I didn't come here to ask for help.
I came for one last drink with an old friend.
- If I find out who's behind this, I hope-
- They've been trying to get rid of Angelo Perino
for a long time.
- Could have been worse than getting deported,
If you know what I mean.
- Alcatraz or Sicily.
I'll take Sicily.
- But you love this country.
Hell, I never should have let you get involved.
- For you I'd do it again.
He was a no-good bastard, anyhow.
- Is there anything I can do?
You need money?
What about your liquor business?
- I can leave all that with Jake.
He's a good lawyer and a true friend.
It's my family.
Do you remember my son?
- Sure.
How's he doing?
Uh, he's a good doctor.
- He's got a little one now,
a baby girl, my first grandchild.
And another's on the way.
- (laughing) Good.
A big family's important.
If he's a boy,
they can name him after you.
- Sure.
Why not?
There will still be an Angelo Perino
in this country,
and not a thing they can do about it.
- To England?
How come?
You're in the lead, the last lap.
- I just wasn't cut out to be Mrs. Loren Hardeman III.
- A bit late in the day to be deciding that, no?
After all, she's divorcing him.
- If it weren't me,
Loren would have found someone else.
(sighs) Can you imagine me in Detroit society life,
presiding over charity balls,
judging beauty competitions, hmm?
I'm not that self-destructive.
I'm a survivor, Angelo,
like you.
So good-bye,
and good luck.
Good luck with Betsy.
- The Betsy.
- Of course, I meant the car.
I could be persuaded to stay, however, if, uh...
- No.
- You wound me, sir.
Why not?
Have you found someone you prefer?
- Bobby, do you remember the time I told you
I would never spoil it for you?
- Mmm.
- You wouldn't spoil it for me, would you?
- (chuckling) It is her you're after.
Dearest Betsy and her shares.
You're after the whole bloody lot.
Her, the car,
you want the whole fucking empire.
- Watch where you're going.
Donald!
- Number one.
This is an honour, sir.
- The least I can do, my boy.
- Do you know Lady Roberta Ayres?
- I just came to say good-bye to him.
I'm off to England.
- I've heard your name, of course.
But you should see some of the country before you go back.
Ever been to Florida, for example?
- Never, I'm ashamed to say.
- Oh, now, you must.
Now, I'm going down there tonight.
I've got my own plane.
Why don't you come along,
stay at my house for the weekend?
- That's very sweet of you, Mr. Hardeman.
But I can feel it in my bones.
It is very, very definitely time
I was going home.
Good-bye, Mr. Hardeman.
- Oh, well, if you change your mind,
I'll be at the Pontchartrain Hotel
till this evening.
Pity.
However, Angelo,
if I got to bring you bad news to the hospital,
the least I can do is bring it myself.
Angelo, I don't want anybody else to get hurt.
I'm giving up the Betsy.
- You're what?
- I've seen people broken before,
and it's not going to happen again.
The next funeral I want to attend is my own.
- We could fight this magazine.
This man Sampson
could be gotten out of the way with no trouble.
We'll mount a nationwide campaign of our own.
We'll go to Nader,
we'll go to the guys in Consumer Reports.
We'll show the car performing on television
to the entire world!
We can do it!
It can be done.
I can do it!
- When the board meets next week,
I'm voting to drop the Betsy.
Young man,
if you think you can fight me on this issue
on the board of Bethlehem Motors...
- Uncle Jake!
Good to see you.
- Let me look at you.
I don't see you for a while, look what happens.
How long ago is it?
- Carlo's wedding 10 years ago.
- On the phone you said serious.
I learned a long time ago you don't talk serious
when you're old.
If this thing comes off,
you're gonna be a powerful guy in Detroit.
My contacts have a way
of expecting favours in return.
Think you can handle that?
- [Angelo] Damn right I can handle it
if it'll put the Betsy on the road.
- Well, this Sampson guy's no problem
with money on a scale like that.
My contacts have money, of course, but-
- There's a stockholders meeting coming up in a week.
I need it by then.
- You know what you're asking?
- My grandfather said if it's serious, call on Jake.
I'm calling.
- And if I choose not to hear?
- I'll still get what I need.
- This was meant to be a warning, Angelo.
Next time they won't be so gentle.
- Will you do this for me, Uncle Jake?
Divorce becomes you, Alicia, I must say.
- Thank you.
You wanted to know about the settlement?
- Yes.
- All right.
I was awarded 4% of the voting shares.
Loren retains 5%.
Now, the other 1% of his father's shares
went to a man named Joe Warren
some time ago.
Joe Warren's heirs always vote with Number One.
(chuckling) Why do you want to know all this?
What, are you taking a summer job with internal revenue?
- (laughing) It must sound like that, I know,
but actually, I'm after your votes.
How would you like everybody in America driving a Betsy?
- I'd buy one tomorrow if it were on the market.
- It's gonna take your votes to put it there.
- Poor Loren.
Doesn't know a good thing when he has it.
- [Betsy] Mother phoned me last night.
She said you'd been to see her.
You want my proxy?
- Yes.
- You expect one Hardeman to betray another?
- I don't know what to expect, Betsy.
I know the car's worth fighting for
and I expect you'll want to see it on the road.
- Angelo, I'm not worried about the Betsy.
I'm worried about you.
Do you remember that highly contagious disease
I told you about?
- Yeah.
- Now you seem to have the symptoms.
- Such as?
- Ruthlessness,
an obsession with winning.
- Winning is not something I caught.
I always had it.
I'm a carrier.
- Okay.
Here they are, the keys to the kingdom.
It's all made out to you.
Angelo, I love my great-grandfather very much,
and, in a strange way, I love my father, too.
But neither is my kind of man.
Promise me you'll never become like them.
(gentle orchestral music)
And next time you come, make sure it's for me.
(gentle orchestral music continues)
(engine rumbling)
(dramatic orchestral music)
(door clicking)
(switch clicking)
(dramatic orchestral music continues)
(suspenseful orchestral music)
(Sampson grunting)
(glass shattering)
(explosion booming)
(fire roaring)
(engine revving)
(explosions booming)
- Perino's behind this.
I'm sure of it.
- What do you expect?
I shouldn't have gotten involved
with a guy like Sampson.
- Well I think we ought to have a confidential chat
with the DA.
Perino's dangerous.
No telling what he might try next.
- That could be dangerous.
(knuckles rapping)
Good morning, Angelo.
Glad to see you on your feet again.
- Let's dispense with the bull, Loren.
There's a stockholders' meeting
in less than an hour.
I'd like to settle this before then.
Leave us alone.
- Who the hell do you think you are, Perino,
come barging in here, ordering people around?
- I said leave us.
- Go on, Dan.
- I'll be in my office if you need me.
- Exactly, uh, uh, what do you want?
- Your resignation.
- Well, you're quite funny.
(latches clicking)
- Try laughing at that.
- [Loren III] What makes you think I'll stand for blackmail?
- Feeling that you don't want to go to jail.
- I was only doing what I thought good for the company.
- You were doing what you thought
would hurt your grandfather the most,
you were trying to wreck this company.
- I've been trying to reach you all week.
Where the hell have you been?
- Trying to save your car.
- I told you that was all over.
- You gave me a job to do.
I'm here to finish it.
- Angelo, if I give an order, you damn well obey it.
- You better take a look at this.
May I?
You might want to change your order.
Turns out your hunch was right, sir.
Loren hired Mark Sampson to smear the Betsy.
- Why?
For God's sake,
why?
- In my judgement ,
the Betsy was an unsound investment for this company.
- Crap.
You know damn well it was a winner.
So why hire Sampson to kill it, huh?
I want to know!
- All right.
I will tell you why.
Because it was a way of stopping you, grandfather.
- You hate me that much?
- All those years you stayed away,
clipping your coupons in Florida,
minding your business,
I could, I could tolerate you, just barely.
But once you decided to get back in
and take over and run me like you did my father
and destroy me like you murdered him,
I said no, damn it.
I'll give him a taste of what he gave his own son,
humiliation, despair, defeat.
So finally the poor bastard shot himself.
- You blame me for that?
- Stick around, Angelo.
He's not the lovable old philanthropist
that he's depicted, you know.
He's earned the name, Number One.
That's all he's ever thought of himself.
His cars, his women,
and you see,
one of them was my mother.
Jesus.
And he asks why I would want to stop him,
why the hell I hate him.
- Loren-
- My father killing himself while they were...
- What?
- Yes.
I saw you.
I knew.
- Loren, you mustn't blame your mother.
There were things about your father
you never knew.
Believe me,
she was a good woman.
- I hope you rot in hell!
- You don't need have any worries on that score.
You can leave now, Angelo.
The odd thing is, Loren, I'm on your side.
I came here to vote against building the Betsy.
- Excuse me, Sir.
I think under the circumstances,
Loren will vote with me,
since I'm sure he doesn't want to go to jail.
- Back off now, will you, please, Angelo?
You've done a great job.
Go now with my thanks.
Let's go.
- No, sir.
Not while I control the company.
- You control nothing.
Get the hell out of it!
- Have you forgotten that you gave 40%
of the voting stock to Betsy?
- Her stock votes my way.
- No, sir.
This is her proxy.
40%, made out to me.
And this is Alicia's.
- Jesus.
- This is a notarized statement of intent
to exercise my option on 2% of the voting stock.
I so exercise herewith
under the terms of my employment contract.
Here is a cashier's check for one fourth the value,
the balance payable in 30 days,
as also specified in the contract,
which gives me control, sir, of 51%.
- Let me see that.
Give it here.
How'd you lay your hands on this kind of money, Angelo?
Where'd it come from?
- Never mind where it came from.
I'll tell you where it's going,
into the Betsy.
I run the corporation from here on in.
- The board will never stand for it.
- I'll fire the board if I have to.
It's in the charter.
- You wouldn't dare.
- It's no use, grandfather.
He's in the catbird seat right where you put him.
(intercom buzzes)
- Beautiful.
Beautiful.
- Yes. - Sorry to interrupt, sir.
The board members are all in there.
- Thank you.
I'll tell you this, Angelo.
You have the makings of a good Hardeman.
God help you.
(dramatic orchestral music)
I'll announce my resignation at the meeting
and then nominate you to take my place as president.
- That'll be fine.
- If you'll wait here,
I'll call you in
after the votes have been taken.
- Thank you.
I want you to stay on, by the way.
I know Cars,
but that's only a small part of our business.
The rest is yours.
- In what capacity?
- Chairman of the board.
I figure there ought to be
at least one Hardeman in the company.
- What about Number One?
That's always been his job.
- I think he'll go quietly now.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(Angelo sighs)
(dramatic orchestral music)
(gentle orchestral music)
- Yes, Sir. - This is Mr. Perino.
I want you to get Betsy Hardeman on the telephone for me.
Tell her she has a dinner date Saturday night
with the president of Bethlehem Motors.
- [Secretary] Yes, sir.
- Then put her through to me.
(dramatic orchestral music)
(door clicking)
- Are you troubled about something, Angelo?
(laughing) I just figured out
where you got your option money from,
your Uncle Jake.
Is that what's troubling you, my boy?
- You misread me, Number One.
I'm not at all troubled.
- You can do better than that, Angelo.
Never shit a shitter.
Come on. (chuckling)
But don't you worry.
They can be handled.
- Really?
- Yeah.
Years ago, when you were just on the way,
I had to take care of it.
I was mighty fond of him, too.
- Him?
- You haven't put it together yet, have you? (chuckling)
- Your grandfather.
Like you, I owed him too much,
you know.
What the hell.
I bet a buck he was happier in Sicily.
Anyway, he got to die in a nice bed.
So don't you worry, son.
You got me behind you.
- What do I do when you're gone?
- Oh.
Oh, yeah. (chuckling)
Well, better learn fast. (laughing)
(gentle orchestral music)
- (laughing) Dynamite.
(gentle orchestral music continues)