1
I'm convinced that this fire
was deliberately set.
But by who, Mr. Holmes?
By who?
- Dilg escaped?
- Escaped?
- Miss Shelley...
- One move and I'll brain you.
- I'd appreciate the keys to your car.
- Get out of here, Leopold Dilg.
- I'm sorry, but it's important.
- I'm warning you!
Dilg! Dilg!
Excuse me.
Dilg, what are you doing here?
You broke out of jail.
In passing, it was necessary
to hit me on the skull.
You fool, the whole police force
must be looking for you.
The whole country.
I'd like to stay here.
You can't. I'm fixing this house up
for rent. It'll be occupied tomorrow.
Why did you escape?
You've got to leave.
Come on, please.
What's the matter?
My ankle.
Oh, my gosh! How far do you expect
to get with that?
And where are you going?
I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Why didn't you think of that
in the first place?
Miss Shelley, do you believe
I could burn down a factory?
You're crying.
One day you love the whole world,
and all of a sudden, every...
No! Get upstairs, quick.
Quick.
I want you to go in the attic
and keep quiet, understand?
Close that door behind you.
Good evening.
- I am Michael Lightcap.
- Michael Lightcap?
You're supposed to arrive tomorrow.
Your secretary...
My secretary is getting married.
Nothing deranges a woman's mind more.
My entire life has been in complete
confusion for the last two months.
- You must be the person we spoke with.
- Yes, Nora Shelley.
How do you do, Miss Shelley?
An excellent name.
- Yes. It's raining, isn't it?
- Definitely.
We're having an early summer.
Could we talk inside?
It's rather damp out here.
Nothing is ready. I thought tomorrow
about noon... I suggest a hotel.
I planned to spend the night here,
so I'll spend the night here.
Standing under an open umbrella inside,
bad luck. Silly superstition, isn't it?
Still, in a new, strange house,
you never know what's liable to turn up.
- I've had that umbrella 11 years.
- I'm so sorry.
You have a nervous, impulsive quality
that I find in many of my students.
- Disease of the age.
- Yes, sir.
I'll get my bags.
Get up in the attic. Didn't you hear?
That's the new tenant!
You shouldn't have
broken his umbrella.
Get up in the attic.
Do you know who he is?
He's a legal genius,
Dean of Commonwealth Law School.
He eats with the governor.
He writes to the president.
Yeah, a very cold character,
Mr. Lightcap.
He's back.
Now remember, keep quiet.
- Later, out you go.
- I wonder where.
Oh, darn.
- Hello.
- Why did you lock the door?
Did I? Why, isn't that queer?
There seems to be a strange atmosphere
hanging over this house.
Soon as I get the curtains up
it'll be all right.
Yes.
You're a very sarcastic man,
aren't you?
I've just finished teaching,
for nine months...
...400 weary young men
the rudiments of law.
I drove all the way down here myself...
...because my man went to see
his ailing mother in West Virginia.
I had a long, hard trip and was looking
forward to a cheerful, bright house...
...a warm bed. And I find myself,
on a rainy night, in this shambles.
I must confess, Miss Shelley, I've never
seen such monumental inefficiency.
Why didn't you tell your secretary to
get things right before she ran off?
Is it my fault you came
barging in here 24 hours early?
If you'd come tomorrow, it would have
been efficiently whipped together.
It would've been cheerful and bright.
- Are you through?
- Yes.
There's justice in what you say,
but the violence with which...
- I'm sorry, but...
- I accept your apology. Accept mine.
Is there a bedroom in the house
fit to be slept in?
- The master bedroom is quite fit.
- Thank you.
- I'll show you where it is.
- No, I can find it.
- It's on the second floor.
- Yes. Good night, Miss Shelley.
I'd better stay and finish this job,
if you don't mind.
I'd rather you leave everything
as it is and go home. Good night.
- Right in there.
- Thank you. Good night.
I forgot my hat and coat.
Would you please close the front door
noiselessly when you leave?
Hey, where are you?
I was going to break your neck.
Lucky you spoke.
Yes, it certainly was.
All right, he's asleep now.
You used to live here with your mother,
didn't you?
Yes. We live in town now
and rent this place.
Come on, get up.
You can make it if you go quietly.
My ankle is so swollen now,
I couldn't walk five yards.
Why does everything happen to me?
What will you do?
You can't stay here.
You're still the prettiest girl
in Lochester.
Now, look. This escape was insane.
You haven't been convicted yet.
Go on back.
Maybe they won't convict you.
The first day I saw the faces
of those 12 citizens on the jury...
...I knew my goose was cooked.
They don't like me.
What do you suppose they think
after this jailbreak?
That you're guilty.
It's possible I am, don't you think?
Maybe, maybe not.
As far as I know, you're capable
of anything, even burning a factory.
You were the wildest kid that ever went
to a Lochester school.
You wore pigtails then.
I was in love with you.
Always collecting a bad reputation,
even after you grew up.
Speeches on street corners, petitions.
Any kind of a squawk,
Dilg's right in the middle of it.
This was bound to happen.
What's wrong with you, anyway?
It's a form of self-expression.
Some people write books, some music.
I make speeches on street corners.
This is no time for nonsense.
You're even prettier now.
What about Yates?
Does he know what you've done?
- Yates?
- Sam Yates, your lawyer.
Don't you know your own lawyer?
The state gave me a lawyer.
If anybody can help, it's Sam.
I'll call him,
and that's the end of it for me.
Whatever Yates decides,
he's got to get you out of here by dawn.
- That ankle had better be better.
- Thank you.
- See that you keep quiet.
- Yes, Miss Shelley.
I thought you had gone.
I was hoping you'd be awake.
I must say, this is irregular.
- I'm in trouble.
- In trouble?
- Yes, it's Mother.
- And what has Mother to do with it?
We live in a house in town.
We scrape on each other's nerves.
Sometimes the fights,
the things we say to each other...
Today we had one of our disagreements.
You have no idea how ugly.
The only thing that works is absence.
I thought that I'd stay here tonight.
You weren't supposed to come
until tomorrow.
I'm sorry, forgive me.
I'll go now.
Miss Shelley.
If you wish, another room.
Thank you so much.
There are plenty of blankets.
- Thank you.
- Good night.
Good night.
I was wondering if I could borrow
a pair of your pyjamas.
Thank you so much.
- Don't mention it. Good night.
- Good night.
If you're worried about anything,
there's a lock just inside the door.
Thank you. Good night.
Hello, is Mr. Yates there?
Do you know where I can find him?
Nora Shelley.
You haven't any idea
when he'll be back?
You haven't.
No, he can't reach me.
I may call again
early in the morning.
Goodbye. Thank you.
She must have adenoids.
Oh, my gosh.
Hey, get back in there.
Good morning.
A morning for the angels.
- A morning for jailbirds to stay in.
- What's for breakfast?
Lovely, lovely.
Really lovely.
Beautifully lovely.
Good morning.
Morning.
- Did you sleep well?
- Fair, thank you.
That's good.
Your adenoids trouble you, don't they?
Perhaps I shouldn't mention it...
...but I've never heard such
magnificent snoring in my life.
Yes, isn't it awful?
They're as big as your fist.
I'll be obliged if you patch things up
with your mother today.
I'll go right home as soon
as I get things straightened up.
I intend to be at work
within the half-hour.
Please get dressed and leave,
without slamming the door.
But, your breakfast...
I'll have it ready in a jiffy.
If you don't mind, I'd prefer to...
Hello, is Mr. Yates there?
He's left the house?
Where to? Do you know?
This is Miss Shelley again.
Did you tell him I phoned last night?
No.
No, thanks.
Mother.
- What is this?
- Don't get alarmed.
Why did you stay out all night?
Where did you get these?
- Why didn't you phone me?
- It's all very simple.
Who owns that car?
Professor Lightcap has arrived.
These are his pyjamas.
Take that look off your face.
I stayed to finish the house.
It was too late to phone you...
- Hi, Nora.
- Donald, what are you doing here?
- That's some getup.
- What do you want?
Came to interview Lightcap.
- He's not even here yet.
- Not expected for weeks.
- I'd know his pyjamas anywhere.
- How'd he know that?
Get a shot of Miss Shelley...
You lift that camera, I bust it.
Get out of here.
It serves you right, Nora.
Get dressed and come right...
Oh, a beard.
I take it all back, baby.
And what, may I ask, is going on here?
Professor, this is my mother.
Professor Lightcap, I'm so glad.
I've heard of you but
I was afraid you were a younger man.
My name is Forrester.
I'd like an interview.
I'm sorry.
- Your opinion in the Dilg case would...
- Dilg's escaped.
- No!
- Yeah.
What do you say about this jailbreak?
An admission of guilt?
- I'm not acquainted with the case.
- The burning of the Holmes factory...
- Mr. Lightcap wants his breakfast.
- And reasonable solitude.
Now will you please go.
- Will you come right home?
- Yes, dear.
- Where does it go, Miss Shelley?
- Right over there.
- Excuse me, bud.
- No, right over there, Eddie.
- You weren't expected till noon.
- That is becoming quite evident.
- Bless you.
- Thank you.
- You must've been caught in the rain.
- I was.
- Your mother doesn't seem frightening.
- She's very changeable.
- Why should I be frightening?
- Now, Mother, he wants to do his work.
Get out of those pyjamas.
- Why, Sam Yates! Look at you.
- Hello, Nora.
I'm hiding in the middle of a parade.
- Why, Sam Yates.
- Michael. I'll be doggoned.
- How'd you know I wanted to see him?
- I didn't know you knew him.
I went to school with him.
What did you call me about then?
- I didn't call you.
- You didn't?
- They gave me a message...
- Somebody must be cuckoo.
- Have you been fighting?
- I fight three times a day.
At school you had a tendency toward
riots. I thought you'd outgrow it.
I hate the way this town
is going after Leopold Dilg.
Anybody who believes what Holmes says
about him has got to settle with me.
I take it you're Dilg's lawyer.
I am not. That is, I am.
The state appointed me.
But Dilg doesn't want me. He says an
innocent man doesn't need a lawyer.
- Original thinker.
- He certainly is.
He's the only honest man in town
and they want to hang him.
Sam, really.
He's been shouting for years
that Holmes is crooked.
Mind you, he's just a worker with
gumption enough to fight the boss.
Getting quite a following too.
So, what happens?
He predicts the mills will burn down.
They do. One man is killed.
Here's Holmes' chance.
"It was Dilg," he says.
He lashes this burg into a frenzy,
he rigs this phoney trial.
Dilg escapes because he knows
he hasn't got a chance.
- And the way this town feels now...
- What did you expect me to do?
You, the most distinguished legal mind
in the state, could head a committee...
...and demand a fair trial for him,
away from the prejudice of this town.
Judge Grunstadt is a tool of Holmes
and out to get Dilg.
He's said as much.
You're not buying the idea.
My business is with
the principles of law.
I can't get mixed up
in these little local affairs.
The philosophy behind the deed,
that's my field.
- May I quote that?
- No.
Little squabbles, eh? Personality.
And now what?
- Who lives here?
- Michael Lightcap.
- Take the house, I'll take the grounds.
- Have you got a search warrant?
Dilg escaped.
We're searching every house.
Have you a warrant?
There's nobody here but us.
- Lightcap came here for a quiet summer.
- Listen...
No warrant, out!
That's from the Constitution.
- Well, not exactly in those words.
- Nobody's here but us.
And that's too many.
Please leave, all of you.
Yes, Mother, will you, please?
Donald. Both of you.
- Don't come home in those pyjamas.
- I won't.
Watch it, now. Here we come.
Just put that down there.
I've rented this house and I don't want
a lot of policemen in it, or truckmen.
- Shippers, bud.
- Or shippers bud, reporters, mothers.
Bless you.
You be sure to take them off now
and come home soon.
- So long, Michael.
- I'm sorry, Sam.
You're still wearing it, I see.
It's becoming. You've grown into it.
And what's that?
- It's the coffee boiling.
- Take it off.
You do it, will you?
I've got to speak to Mother.
Do you know who's up in that attic?
Leopold Dilg.
- Who?
- Dilg.
- In that attic?
- Yes.
- Now?
- Yes, now.
He stumbled in here last night
five minutes before Lightcap arrived.
- What's funny?
- "Can't get involved in local affairs."
- There's a local affair in his house.
- Get him out of here.
What's as safe as
a law professor's home?
Are you kidding?
Dilg's life won't be worth a dime
if I turn him back to that jury now.
- Lightcap can help, but it'll take time.
- That's nothing to me. He can't stay here.
- Why not?
- Who'd take care of him?
- You.
- Me?
- Miss Shelley.
- Yes, just a minute.
I can't hang around here.
Lightcap's ordered me out.
I'm here now only because I'm in his
pyjamas. If not, I'd be out on my ear.
Then stay in them.
- Yes, I'm coming.
- I'll keep in touch.
The coffeepot is about to explode.
I'm coming, Your Honour.
I'm coming.
- Would you like some coffee?
- Thank you.
- Is that the way you like your eggs?
- Thank you, yes.
By the way, if you could arrange
to get out of my pyjamas...
...I'd take it as a great
personal favour.
Just as soon as
I clear things up a bit.
Please leave things as they are.
I intend to start right away.
What are you going to do
about your lunch and dinner?
Is there a good employment agency
in the town?
- Mrs. Hines. She's very good.
- Will you leave me her phone number?
- You want a cook, naturally.
- And a stenographer.
Would you object to both functions
being performed by one person?
Very advantageous.
You want it quiet,
no extraneous people tramping about.
Do I understand that you are
applying for this position?
Yes.
Judging by the last 12 hours...
...how quiet could the house be
with you in it?
You mustn't judge by that.
Take right now, for instance.
Nice and peaceful, isn't it?
Excuse me, please.
- Michael Lightcap?
- Yes, indeed. Telegram for you.
Professor Lightcap, for you.
Of course, if you get telegrams,
it's not my fault.
Bad news?
- It's from my man, Tilney.
- Is he arriving?
Not for a few days.
You see, it happens to be my birthday,
and Tilney always remembers it.
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- Do I look 40 years old?
- Yes, you...
That is, in a way, you do.
Will you let me have
Mrs. Hines' number?
As I said, I represent
the perfect solution.
Cook and secretary.
$40 a week and board.
- I dictate 150 words a minute.
- Some think more slowly than others.
- Breakfast at 8, eggs every other day.
- No eggs tomorrow.
Lunch at 1, an hour for correspondence,
work from 3 to 6, dinner at 7.
How could you find time
for all of that?
I could cook while you're reading,
you see?
- I think someone more mature...
- Let me try. I'd love to work for you.
It'd be a mental holiday for me. You
only need a cook until your man arrives.
It'd be a shame
to hire a woman temporarily.
It doesn't matter to me. I'm a
teacher and this is my summer vacation.
Don't you agree with me?
You'll never regret this move.
Your clothes, Miss Shelley.
We got them here as quick as we could.
Take them right upstairs.
First door to the right.
Yes, ma'am.
I'll get out of these pyjamas.
Collect your thoughts.
When I come down,
you can plunge right into work.
The beginning is always
a little difficult.
Yes, sir.
Jot down this title:
The Relation of Literature to
Legislation in 18th-Century England.
Yes, sir.
The effects...
There's no need to say "Yes, sir."
No, sir.
The effects of literature
upon legislation...
...is a study that has long claimed
the interests of scientists...
...social scientists...
...in every country in the world.
The law is the sum of the experience
of civilized man...
...the sign that man
has emerged from the jungle.
Period.
The 18th century was the high point
of man's intellectual development.
Reason, simple and pure...
...was the weight against which
human problems were held in balance.
Law became, for the first time...
...the instrument of pure logic...
...with each man's rights
and responsibilities...
...considered from the viewpoint
of the possible and reasonable...
...rather than the...
Bless you.
Thank you.
Pay close attention.
Did you get that?
"...from the viewpoint of the possible
and reasonable rather than..."
- rather than the feudal conventions
of divine and everlasting rights.
It was the aim of the lawmakers
and the law administrators...
...to build the law firmly
on principles...
...which are above small emotions,
greed...
...and the loose thinking
of everyday life.
Impossible.
The law is a gun
pointed at somebody's head.
It all depends upon which
end of the gun you stand.
Who is he?
He's the gardener, Joseph.
Joseph, this is Professor Lightcap,
the new tenant.
Pleased to know you.
Excuse me, I...
Still, your point of view
is very interesting.
- Thank you.
- It represents the ideal condition.
I like people who think in terms
of ideal conditions.
They're the dreamers, poets, tragic
figures in this world, but interesting.
- How are the zinnias getting along?
- Dying.
- You see, professor...
- I must get on with my dictation.
You might see if you
can save the zinnias.
Certainly. Still, it might do you good
to talk to somebody like me.
I have certain very practical
relations with the law.
The zinnias, Joseph.
Miss Shelley, we might as well take
our work inside. It's getting chilly.
Bless you.
If you'll excuse us, Joseph.
And now, what's that?
- What are you trying to do?
- When I hear nonsense, I get an impulse.
- Get upstairs.
- With this ankle, it's too late.
Then hide somewhere, quick.
Get in there.
See who it is, will you?
I'm looking for Michael Lightcap.
I was told he arrived yesterday.
Yes, indeed. Come right in.
- Well, well, Senator Boyd.
- How are you? I'm glad to see you.
- This is quite a surprise. Sit down.
- No, thanks, I'll only be a minute.
I have a bit of news for you.
- Rather important.
- Excuse me.
Senator, my secretary.
- And cook.
- And cook?
- How do you do, senator?
- How do you do?
- Excuse me.
- Now, sit down.
The news I have for you couldn't
be entrusted to the mail or telegraph.
By the way, what party
do you belong to?
- I vote whichever way I see fit.
- An independent voter.
The backbone of the country.
Senator Boyd, please,
won't you tell me what...
Well, Lightcap...
...the president would be
pleased to appoint you...
...to the bench of the
Supreme Court in September.
Well? Would you be willing to accept?
- I'd be willing to accept.
- Wonderful. Perfect.
Congratulations. In six weeks, your
name will be submitted to the Senate.
The Senate will investigate, naturally,
but I don't think we have to fear that.
But I'd be careful.
I'd keep the name out of the papers
if I were you.
I've been keeping my name
out of the papers for years.
- I've got to start back.
- You must have something first.
No, thanks, really.
- Goodbye, Michael. Congratulations.
- Thank you.
- You'll hear from me.
- Goodbye.
Miss Shelley, yes...
Where were we?
Oh, yes, bring your book.
You're not going back to work now.
- Bring your book.
- But you've done a good morning's work.
Besides, this is your birthday.
And really, professor, you've
got a honey of a cold.
I feel responsible for it.
I'm going to take care of you.
I'm going to put you to bed and feed
you nourishing broths and hot lemonade.
- Hot lemonade?
- Yes.
Now, now, don't be silly.
Bring your book.
There's something to what she says.
Take care of your health.
- Supreme Court. What do you know?
- This stuff he reads is remarkably dead.
- You eating again?
- That prison food was terrible.
Supreme Court appointment
or not, we're dragging him into this.
Yeah, we certainly must.
We must, must we?
Look at him. Calm and relaxed
like he was on his yacht.
He got his neck in a noose
and now he says, "We certainly must."
How do you suggest we start, Leopold?
Well, what have we here?
An intelligent man, but cold.
No blood in his thinking.
So we must start to thaw him out.
We thaw him.
Can't let a man like that take a seat
on the highest court in our land.
I see. All of a sudden what
he's concerned about is our country.
Our country first, yes.
Then my neck next.
That's beautiful, but this thawing-out
process... We haven't got months.
Plenty of time. I like to break out in
a sweat every time the doorbell rings.
How do you propose we thaw him,
Leopold, with a blowtorch?
Well, we have to give
that some thought.
We have a good start.
- The prettiest woman in Lochester.
- Miss Shelley.
Miss Shelley.
I'm feeling a little tired.
I think I'll get some sleep.
That's just what you need,
plenty of rest.
Yes, it's been quite a day.
This is for you, for being
such a good patient.
Thank you, Miss Shelley.
The professor's custard.
Not now, Joseph. Thank you.
Not at all. I was on my way
to bed anyway.
- Feeling better, professor?
- Much better.
- I'm really very grateful to you both.
- Say nothing of it.
Your cold will thaw. Everything thaws.
Good night, Joseph.
I hope your ankle is better.
Thank you.
Good night, Miss Shelley.
Good night.
- Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Well, what's wrong?
- Well...
- I didn't think you'd be down.
- No, stay as you are.
- The gardener shouldn't eat here.
- Nonsense. Sit, I insist.
- Good morning.
- You sure you should be up?
- Yes, I'm quite well.
- That's good.
- Is there a morning paper?
- I'll see.
No, it hasn't come yet.
Wonderful cook. We're in clover.
I'll take this out of your way.
Well, Joseph, this is very nice
and companionable.
You know, there's a touch of
the philosopher about you that I like.
- And you interest me enormously.
- Good. Good.
- Sit down and have some breakfast.
- Yes, I just must get the coffee.
Wonderful.
- Ever had borscht, professor?
- What's that?
Beet soup with sour cream.
It's a Polish dish.
With an egg in it. Don't let anybody
give it to you without an egg in it.
- We must have some, Miss Shelley.
- Of course.
As soon as I finish my course
in American cooking...
You can buy it
at Mrs. Pulaski's Polish dairy.
Pulaski's. By all means,
let's get some.
Well, here we are, professor.
No!
This is not your egg morning.
Well, you certainly think
of everything, Miss Shelley.
Too bad about your paper. Still, if you
read yesterday's, why read today's?
- Just some more about that man Dilg.
- Dilg?
- Oh, the fugitive from justice.
- Or a miscarriage of justice.
- Your opinion too?
- It'd be yours if you knew Mr. Holmes.
He puts a fellow like Grunstadt
on the bench. Grunstadt takes orders.
- Well, the voters may remove him.
- This corruption is too thick.
That's the way every decent
person around here feels about it.
If feelings influenced law, half the
country would be in jail. Facts.
My dear professor, people wind facts
around each other like pretzels.
Facts alone, that's a nut
without a kernel.
Where's the soul? The instinct?
Where's the warm, human side?
Conduct the law on sentimentality and
you will have violence and disorder.
Your way, you have a Greek statue.
Beautiful, but dead.
All right, two schools of thought.
I see your point of view, theoretically.
In fact, I respect it.
I wish I could
respect yours, professor.
Joseph puts it a little strongly.
He does respect you.
He's for the practical side, the
garden-variety type of human experience.
- Yes, and makes the law up as he goes.
- Out of common sense, yes.
The way I see it, you don't live in this
country, you just take up room in it.
- Now, Joseph.
- That's all right.
- Discussion amongst friends.
- Delightful.
All you know about the American scene
is what you read in magazines.
Somebody else's impressions
hashed up for lazy people.
If you don't feel it yourself,
you've learned nothing.
- Miss Shelley, I am at a total loss.
- That'll do, Joseph, for this morning.
Professor, I challenge you
to make an experiment.
Spend half a day with books and the
other half finding out what people do.
With these indoor habits of yours,
you've got the complexion of gravel.
- You're no oil painting yourself.
- A mummy's closer. They wore beards.
Well, Joseph, what would you suggest?
Well, there's a baseball game today.
Baseball? Baseball!
Joseph, are you crazy?
Baseball? Lightcap?
If I know the habits
of our leading Lochester citizens...
...Professor Lightcap is about to have
an enlightening experience.
Pass the beans.
- Peanuts, peanuts.
- Come on, Dockwoilor. Pickle it!
- Hi, judge.
- Hi.
Hello, judge.
Get your fresh-roasted
Georgia goobers, 10 cents a bag.
- Hello, Your Honour.
- How do you do, sir?
- Hello, Miss Shelley.
- Hello, judge.
- Anything happen?
- Connolly speared a line drive, a beaut.
Professor Lightcap,
this is Judge Grunstadt.
- Lightcap. Why, how do you do, sir?
- How do you...?
- Well, this is a great honour.
- Thank you. Did you say Judge...?
Grunstadt. Doubt you've heard
of me. But your work...
I've read it in the Law Review.
Admired it deeply. Who hasn't?
It's profound. Yes, austere.
Absolutely austere.
Sit down, you're not made of glass.
Yes, indeed. How I envy you, sir.
You work in the quiet of your library
and the world does not interrupt.
That was right across the plate!
But me, I labour in the vineyard.
You've heard of the Dilg case?
- Yes, yes.
- There's luck for you.
First case I've had in 10 years
that drew any outside attention.
Slide, you idiot, slide!
And right in the middle of the trial,
the swine skips out.
- I was preparing a brilliant opinion.
- Before the trail was finished?
- They hadn't brought all the evidence in.
- But he was as guilty as Judas.
- How do you know?
- The clearest thing.
The town malcontent.
Holy terror, even as a boy.
Throw it, throw it, you blockhead!
You consider it ethical to judge a man
without all the evidence?
My dear fellow, he broke jail.
That proves it, doesn't it?
Even a library philosopher
like you would have to admit that.
Miss Shelley, I think we've had
enough baseball for today.
- You're not going.
- I have work to do.
That's too bad.
Great thing, this baseball. Gets the
legal cobwebs out of the brain.
I have this box. Any time
you'd like to see a game...
- Thank you.
- Sit down, will you?
You play very well.
Where did you learn?
My father. He was the kind
of man who resented work.
It interfered with
chess, and argument.
You're a man of many parts.
I look forward to a very
pleasant summer.
- Thank you. Your king is still in check.
- Yes, now, let's see.
Thanks for lending me these slippers.
It's been a relief.
Well, that's good. I'm glad.
- Cosy here, isn't it, Miss Shelley?
- I'm glad you're comfortable, Joseph.
- Did you hear that fool Grunstadt?
- Yes, wasn't it remarkable?
Joseph, Judge Grunstadt was sitting
next to us at the game today.
- I hear he's a very charming man.
- He's an idiot.
Writing an opinion of a case
before hearing the evidence...
Preposterous fake.
- Your rules don't allow that.
- Naturally not.
And what do you do about it?
- I?
- You or anybody.
There's nothing to do.
I can't intrude on the business
of the Superior Court of the county.
So you just turn your face.
Joseph, you don't understand.
I understand you laugh at my
kind of law and wink at the other.
What kind do you practice?
I refuse to be dragged into any further
discussion of the philosophy of law.
Well, then let's not.
Joseph, I'm sorry.
It isn't that I have no respect
for your intelligence.
- But you're taking a vacation from law.
- Exactly. But I was a little sharp.
- Don't mention it.
- Now, let's see. My king is in check.
As a matter of fact, Joseph, I'm very
grateful for your presence in the house.
And you're a big treat
to me, professor.
Thank you, Joseph.
They've picked up Dilg's scent.
They'll let us know when they
get him cornered. They never miss.
You wouldn't believe it, Sam,
the way those two like each other.
- Maybe the thaw is actually setting in.
- Maybe.
That professor's got a mind
like a steel trap.
And sometimes he seems like such
a little boy, I feel like kissing him.
- Not a bad idea.
- Never do that.
- What are you doing out?
- An active man has to stretch his legs.
Naturally you feel like kissing him.
He's a wonderful man.
- I only meant that I...
- Of course.
And the way he looks at you... When
a thaw sets in, anything can happen.
Leopold, stop acting like a fool.
His man Tilney may arrive any minute.
There's plenty of time.
Holmes is whipping up such hysteria,
they'll go over this whole country.
Tomorrow he's pulling a big affair
at the factory ruins.
- Well, that's fine.
- What do you mean?
A most important experience
for our professor.
I'm getting awfully... How do you think
I'm going to get him down there?
There are some old buildings
down there.
Some of the best examples of early
American architecture in New England.
And he's a cultured man from Boston.
Should be simple.
Get back in the attic.
Joseph!
Help!
We're getting close, sheriff.
- We got him, sheriff.
- Dilg, come down.
- Them hounds never miss.
- I'll shoot you.
Don't shoot!
Don't shoot. Don't shoot, boys.
Take off that beard, Dilg.
I recognize you.
His name is Professor Lightcap.
I'm sorry, professor, but I've never
known hounds to make a mistake.
- This town is nothing but mistakes.
- Bad dogs.
And I'll thank you to call
your men off and your dogs too.
I'll see that you lose
your badge for this.
I can't understand it.
I raised those hounds and this is the
first time they've ever made a mistake.
- That house there was built in 1740.
- Yes, yes.
Beaver.
It's a game. First one to spot a beard.
Beards are unusual in these parts.
I suppose they are. I don't think I
ever told anyone how I came to grow it.
I was one of the youngest ever
to graduate from Harvard Law School.
In fact, I was teaching at
Commonwealth before I was 22.
I had a frank and open face. People
in trolley cars used to call me "sonny."
Boys I was teaching would slap me
on the back. Women would wink at me.
- Is that bad?
- No, but I had no time for nonsense.
The beard became a sort of fortress.
And then I grew attached to it.
- I think it's pretty.
- What am I to say to that?
- I wonder what's going on over here.
- Pulaski's, the borscht place.
- We must get some for Joseph.
- We haven't time.
But think of his face, the ecstasy.
- You're going to spoil that man.
- Spoil Joseph?
- Yes, sir.
- Borscht, please.
- A quart.
- Yes.
With an egg in it.
- It must have an egg beaten up in it.
- Yes, sir. In a moment, sir.
Ma, come on.
- Look. Look at those two.
- I see them. So?
- They ordered a quart of borscht.
- So?
- With an egg!
- Is that a crime?
Only one customer ever
orders it that way:
Leopold Dilg!
Sherlock Holmes, you think that
he's Leopold Dilg with a beard, huh?
- I'm going to follow them.
- My own Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I'm an American citizen. In America,
everybody is responsible for everything.
- I'm following.
- He's such a...
With an egg. It's wonderful.
30 cents.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- This is the way back to the car.
- But this is the shortest way.
Well, well, as I live and breathe,
Michael Lightcap.
- Hello, Nora.
- Hello.
- What's cooking over there, Sam?
- Holmes is having pictures taken...
...to remind people Dilg is a villain.
- I think our car is this way.
- You mustn't miss this. See that pose?
That's how you try a case out
of court and stack the evidence.
Right there, Mr. Holmes. Hold it.
That's good, thank you.
- See how it's done.
- No, I have an appointment.
Mr. Lightcap, for goodness' sakes.
I'm very glad to see you again, sir.
- I want you to meet Mr. Holmes.
- I must be going...
- Mr. Holmes.
- Give Mr. Holmes room.
Mr. Holmes, meet
Professor Michael Lightcap.
I'm glad to see you. I don't wonder
this tragedy attracted even you.
- As a matter of fact...
- Public feeling has run high.
As for Mr. Dilg, justice
will not be cheated.
- I'm sure it won't.
- Miss Bush.
Here's an example of how deeply this
tragedy has struck.
Miss Bush, a friend of Clyde
Bracken, the man who was killed.
I'm pleased to meet you.
- We found her searching the ashes.
- I was looking for a watch I gave Clyde.
All they found of Bracken
was a medal he had won in school.
It gives a girl a queer feeling.
A man weighs 211 lbs. And, wham, all
that's left is a medal for shot-putting.
Too bad they're not taking a picture
of Dilg swinging from a pole.
- Who said that?
- I did.
Jake, I told you anybody
talking like that had to fight me.
I've licked you four times in two weeks.
I'm tired of hitting you.
- Go on, put them up.
- Sam Yates, you're a disgrace.
- Save that wind for the bench, judge.
- Jake, now, come on.
- Break it up.
- Let him go.
Hit him!
- Go on, break it up.
- Why don't you guys act like men...
...instead of a couple of kids?
Miss Shelley?
- I looked all over for you.
- I won't have it, Miss Shelley.
Yates deliberately
dragged me into this.
- His motives aren't selfish.
- That has nothing to do with it.
I know, but you take a man like
Holmes whipping people into hysteria...
...it makes you wonder.
- Not me, I cannot be involved.
- If it's your purpose to see that I...
- Professor, this amounts to violence.
And from you? Making charges against
Miss Shelley without evidence?
- Perhaps I'd better resign, professor.
- No, Miss Shelley...
You're right, Joseph.
I apologize, Miss Shelley.
Now, you see, a happy family again.
And the question is, are
we ready for dinner?
- Are we ready for dinner?
- I'll be right down.
- Any time you're ready, Joseph.
- One minute!
- I'm very sorry I lost my temper.
- That's all right. You're forgiven.
I've been thinking of something.
I may be going to Washington.
I can't tell you in what capacity.
Not just yet.
But I'll need someone there with me,
more than a secretary.
Someone I can trust and respect.
It would be an important job, for life.
It would mean your giving up
your career in Lochester...
...so I can't urge you to take it,
but I sincerely wish you would.
- Well, I don't know what to say.
- I realize...
But all I'm asking now
is that you will consider it.
- Yes, I will, thank you.
- That's wonderful.
- Here we are.
- All ready?
- Come on, Miss Shelley.
- That's good.
My dear professor.
- Did you make these, Joseph?
- Not bad, eh?
- Why the soup plates? There's no soup.
- No soup, eh? No soup.
Joseph, while strolling in town...
No, that's a bad beginning.
My dear Joseph, to cement the bond
that binds our happy family together...
...what could
be more fitting than...
Borscht! It's that rubber band.
Pulaski's, I'd know it anywhere.
- Wait a minute. I won't get a taste.
- Fancy you thinking of that.
With an egg in it.
- You scared me, professor.
- Is that the kind your mother made?
- What?
- Is that the kind your mother made?
- Yeah, almost. Here we go.
- Use the cup.
I'm an old hand at this, don't worry.
Nectar, Miss Shelley. Nectar.
Don't spill it.
Give me lots, I love it.
What are you going to do?
- Call the police.
- No, no you won't do that.
Professor...
...I'm sorry I spoiled your party.
There's no use discussing my case.
I'm afraid not, Joseph... Leopold.
I have a duty to perform
and I must do it.
When he hid in that attic,
he didn't know who you were.
Nora.
Here we have the two
schools of thought, professor.
This time in action.
That telephone to you means
law and order. And to me...
...I've got to stop you using that
telephone. By violence, if necessary.
Yes, I see. That's bad.
I have a very warm feeling for you,
but I must use this telephone.
If you do, professor,
and I am as fond of you as a brother...
...I'll be compelled to knock you down.
No!
Please, professor, let's be sensible.
I should regret that too. I've never
been fonder of a man in my life, but...
Operator?
Give me the police station.
- Hello, is that the police?
- No, please!
- Oh, Leopold.
- Nora, I'm sorry, but...
Cover the house.
He's up there. Come on.
Take that room, sergeant.
Take the other room, Ed.
Does Mr. Lightcap live here?
Mr. Lightcap?
Mr. Lightcap!
Speak to me, sir.
Pardon me, sir, are you the doctor?
Yeah. See that he gets rest and quiet.
- Why, Tilney.
- Are you all right?
You. You knew it was Dilg.
All those lies, attentions,
just for Dilg.
You and Sam Yates.
- You planned it all, didn't you?
- Mr. Lightcap, take it easy, sir.
You're a silly, dangerous girl.
You had me feed and lodge
a notorious fugitive from justice.
You endangered a lifetime's
career for a stupid gesture.
- Michael, let me tell you...
- Our association is at an end, Nora.
That's a tip-off.
You had to get good and sore
before calling me by my first name.
- Miss Shelley.
- "Nora" when you're angry, remember?
- That will be all, Miss Shelley.
- That will not be all.
Dilg is innocent, regardless of
all the reasonable evidence...
...dredged up by lawyers.
I'd rather be hated
by 40 frozen legal giants like you...
...than turn him over to those
bloodthirsty idiots of Lochester.
You were right to grow a beard.
You were an old man all your life.
Don't ever shave it off, Mr. Twilight,
somebody might think you were alive.
Come on, Sam, let's get out of here.
When did you hide Dilg in that house?
- I didn't hide anybody.
- Oh, you didn't?
- When did you first know he was there?
- Last night, just before you did.
Showed up in the kitchen, hungry.
Care much for borscht, Miss Shelley?
Do you care much for borscht?
That's funny. I bought some
yesterday at Pulaski's.
With an egg, perchance?
Why, yes!
The professor said, "With an egg."
- The professor was with you?
- Pulaski didn't leave that out, did he?
- The professor wanted it with an egg?
- With an egg.
Dilg has been buying it there
for years with an egg!
Are you trying to tell me the professor
bought that borscht for Dilg?
I'm telling you he didn't know who
he was buying it for. But you did.
That's quite a statement.
What kind of statement
would you care to make?
I'd say that two men liking borscht
with an egg in it, is amazing.
I've never heard
of such a thing before.
If any scandal attaches to Lightcap's
name out of this incident...
Just a few questions
we must have answers to.
Senator, these questions have nothing
to do with Professor Lightcap.
But they bear strongly
on a lady named Nora Shelley.
Yes, well, go on, Mr. Scott.
Get it over with.
How did the assault take place?
I was going to the telephone to call
the police, and he hit me from behind.
How did you recognize Dilg?
From a newspaper picture.
- At that very moment I was unwrapping...
- Borscht?
Yes, yes, I never can pronounce it.
You had never seen
Dilg before last night?
He said so, didn't he? I won't tolerate
that tone toward Dean Lightcap.
You'll end by dragging him into this.
Tilney, pack Mr. Lightcap's things.
Tilney, leave things as they are.
I came to write a book and I will do it.
They have every right
to ask me questions.
Dilg was found on the premises.
Now, Mr. Scott, go on.
How did you happen to go to
Mrs. Pulaski's for the borscht?
Miss Shelley and I were strolling by.
I suggested buying some.
Do you mean to say that you went in
to get borscht for yourself?
Yes, I love it.
I have loved it for years...
...especially with an egg in it.
He loves it.
Okay.
That's all.
- Hello!
- What did you have to say?
I know you're anxious to go,
so I'll be brief.
I was held for questioning, I was
questioned, and they just said...
..."Miss Shelley, you are free to go."
I don't know why.
Your daughter goes off one night
to the country house...
...and then you find her
in the police station.
- They haven't found him yet, Sam?
- Not up to 15 minutes ago.
It's a miracle that lunatic
didn't kill you.
It's a morning of miracles.
They wouldn't have let me go if Lightcap
hadn't lied. I can't believe he did.
You go on, Mother, I'll go with Sam.
No. You need sleep and so do I.
I can't have you gallivanting around.
Phone me if anything happens.
Tilney, what are you doing?
We never have flowers, sir.
- The odour is distracting.
- I know, but just for a change...
After all, it's spring in the country.
Just leave them where they are.
Yes, sir, Mr. Lightcap.
- Tilney.
- Yes, sir?
Why does a man lie?
Well, sir, he just
comes by it naturally.
The best of men, in self-protection,
or to carry out a desire of their heart...
But to lie against your principles
that took your whole life to build...
- Maybe we'd better go back to Boston.
- No.
I came down here to write...
...but I can't write.
I don't understand it.
Tilney, where's my hat?
Hello, Sam.
Hi, Mike. What can I do for you?
You can stop being critical of me,
both you and Miss Shelley. It's unfair.
Well, we'll try to stop.
Dilg's escape is lawlessness and riot.
I can't get into this. I can't even
afford to have an opinion about it.
And yet there are things
whirling around in my brain.
There's Grunstadt and Holmes,
Miss Bush, shot-put medals.
You ought to be able to
uncover some shred of evidence.
- Have you gone over everything?
- Day and night for a month.
Total profit to date is the
fire inspector's report six weeks ago.
At the end of the page,
in Bracken's own handwriting...
...he was the one killed...
...says, "Sprinkler system
slightly defective."
So was the whole joint. Worn out,
ready to go up in smoke...
...or deliberately burned by Holmes and
Bracken for insurance.
You know, this Bracken's
handwriting is moronic.
And Miss Bush's affection for him,
that's not sincere.
- I think she's putting on an act.
- She and Holmes are thick as fleas.
Quite possibly there are things
going on behind the scenes.
Quite possibly justice
is being hoodwinked, Sam.
You don't say.
Yet, if Dilg walked in right now...
Yes, I would. I'd have to.
I'd turn him in.
- Now, goodbye, Mr. Yates.
- Bye, Michael.
Mr. Lightcap.
Hello, Tilney.
No, sir. You can't do that. You can't.
There's work to do. It's in my way.
Oh, no. For 15 years, sir...
15 years. Beaver.
You have beautiful hands.
Scholarly.
Clyde had hands you could use
to knock in spikes with.
Who is Clyde?
"Who was Clyde?"
Would be more accurate.
I'm in mourning. It's a great hardship
because I like to get around.
- Thank you.
- You visiting for the summer?
Yes.
I wish he wasn't dead,
at least for one night.
I'd love to go dancing tonight.
Miss Bush, I wonder if
I might have the pleasure...
...of taking you dancing tonight?
The pleasure?
Well, say now,
that's really something.
It takes my breath away.
Why, you're real cute.
Listen, you blow your horn at 7
tonight right outside, sonny.
Will you stop walking around
and lie down for a while?
I can't figure it out.
Why can't 100 policemen
find one man with a bad ankle?
What the dickens is that to you?
Nothing. It's just killing me,
that's all.
- Tilney.
- Yes, sir.
I have a great regard
for your judgment.
In practical matters, I consider it
equal, if not superior, to my own.
Thank you, sir. But you worry me.
If you wanted to get some information
out of a woman, how would you do it?
I feared as much.
Now come on, help me.
Well, Mr. Lightcap, I've lived
a cloistered life, like you.
In fact, with you.
On a subject of that sort, why, we're
babes in the woods, both of us.
- But you were married once.
- That was the folly of youth, sir.
But you wooed and won her. How?
By the darndest series of lies
you ever heard.
I gave her a character and charms
she never possessed.
I played to the well-known weakness
of every woman alive...
...and perjured my soul
for a thousand years to come.
Very interesting.
- Maybe we'd better go back to Boston.
- No, no, Tilney. Hurry along.
- We must keep our appointment.
- Yes, sir.
Why, of course. I should've known.
What a dope.
Where do you think you're going?
If you're not out of the doorway by the
time I'm dressed, I'll mow you down.
You dance divinely, Miss Bush.
Your physical coordinations
are remarkable.
I thought I'd heard them all,
but your line is brand new.
You are definitely a superior person.
- Far too superior for this exhibition.
- You're cute.
If I was free,
I would take you seriously.
But you are free, aren't you?
Your gentlemen friend
is dead, isn't he?
That's the general impression.
What do you mean?
Little Regina is drinking too much.
It makes the tongue loose.
Dance, honey?
Your hands are beautiful.
Extraordinarily beautiful.
Would you like to kiss me?
Cultured. It's a cultured kiss.
You know, you are rare, Regina.
Your beauty makes my head swim.
Like music. Like music from a band.
- If I were only free...
- But you are free.
- You're only tormenting me.
- I'm not. I got a letter from him.
He wants me to meet him in Boston.
The moment I saw you, you seemed to
strike a rich, deep note inside of me.
Like an organ.
More.
All women after this
will seem different.
That moronic handwriting again.
"C. Barnard, Boston."
So that's where he is.
That's where who is?
Give that back.
- I feel like dancing.
- You heard me!
- But I hate...
- Give that back!
- Regina, darling.
- Don't "Regina, darling" me.
There's something fishy about you.
Help! Throw this guy out!
You dirty double-crosser.
Get him out of here!
Leopold.
Leopold.
Hello, Nora.
Leopold.
You idiot. I figured the attic's
just where you'd go.
Your ankle.
You couldn't go anyplace else.
Now, now. Nora Shelley, crying?
I've been out of my mind for 24 hours.
I thought you were dead.
Well, what an idea.
You know something?
Our friend, the professor,
lied to the police.
I knew it.
He did something else tonight:
Shaved off his beard.
But why?
Who can tell what a man
in love will do?
- In love? Who with?
- You.
And I know just how he feels.
The prettiest girl in Lochester.
Leopold, I've been
so miserable to you.
I never really knew you.
Leopold.
Stop saying "Leopold" like that,
tenderly.
It sounds funny with
a name like "Leopold."
Shut up.
Where's this going to end, anyway?
Here you are, back in the attic.
Now he's pulling tricks.
Where did he go without his beard?
- He'll be all right.
- He won't be all right. He's a child.
I know just how you feel.
Don't start that soupy stuff again.
You don't know
how I feel about anything.
Nora, you'd like that job
in Washington, wouldn't you?
Come on, tell me.
Who wouldn't want to
get out of this burg?
Certainly, and with him.
I've been sitting here wondering.
It's all wrong.
The whole thing's wrong.
What's all wrong?
Well, I've been wondering.
Suppose you two had met up here
and Leopold Dilg hadn't butted in.
- Now wait a minute.
- No. That isn't the whole thing.
That's quite a man, an important man.
And quite a career too.
Can't kick a career like that around.
Who said I was right about the law?
Leopold, what do you mean?
Nothing. I was just wondering,
that's all, Nora.
- What are you wondering about?
- Just wondering. Can't a man wonder?
- Nora, you'd better get going.
- Wait.
- You're taking chances.
- I'm going to get Yates.
- You stay here.
- Everything's going to be fine.
Remember what I said.
Don't go any place.
- Hurry, Tilney.
- Yes, sir.
Miss Shelley, I believe Clyde Bracken
is still alive. It seems that...
- If you find my face unpleasant...
- No.
- What are you doing here?
- I came to...
- Did you say "Bracken"?
- Yes. Alive.
- At last you know the truth.
- Not until I can prove it.
A stickler to the last.
- If you knew where he was...
- I would turn him in.
You just took that beard off your face.
Inside, you're as whiskered
as the Smith Brothers.
- Suppose you turn me in right now.
- Leopold!
That's too bad.
- It was a delightful beard.
- Leopold.
- What do you say?
- What's the matter with you?
I'm leaving for Boston
to find Bracken.
How about dropping you off
at the police station?
- Do you hear? Bracken's alive.
- Interesting.
I beg your pardon.
Tilney, I'm very hungry.
Could you find something
I can nibble on as I ride?
That's all right, Tilney.
A whole chicken.
He has an enormous appetite.
Will somebody listen to me?
Bracken's alive.
Why should Dilg go to jail?
It's the principal.
The law says that's where I should be.
- Thank you.
- Now it's you. Before it was him.
Will somebody please light around here?
My dear, centuries of precedent
say the professor is right.
Friends should be in agreement.
- Thank you.
- That'll be all tonight, Tilney.
If they get him in jail, they'll
make pt de foie gras out of him.
That's a bridge we can cross
when we come to it.
- Right.
- Who knows who's right?
Why does he make all the concessions?
Isn't there a concession in your bones?
Concessions?
I shaved off a beard I was fond of.
I lied to the law. I danced with a
blond beauty parlour owner.
I kissed her in public. Concessions!
Whenever you're ready, Leopold.
- Quite ready, my friend.
- Thank you, Leopold.
Don't mention it, professor.
- After you, professor.
- Thank you, Leopold.
They're both nuts.
You're not getting away from me.
- Mind if I move this truck?
- We'd better go in my car.
Leopold, will you do me a favour
and sit on the floor?
Look! Police. I told you.
Drive right through.
It's a signal to stop. It's the law.
- Leopold, get down on the floor.
- Yes, Nora.
Don't be silly. Stop it.
- What's the matter?
- Where are you going?
Just into town.
Drop me a little way down the road,
will you, please?
Yeah, sure.
- I don't want to crowd you.
- There's plenty of room up here.
I'll tell you when we come to it.
- Got a cigarette?
- No, I'm sorry.
That's okay.
- What's this place up at the next road?
- Trap for Dilg.
A kid said he saw him about 3 this
afternoon near the reservoir.
- Think you'll get him?
- No doubt about it.
When we do, darned if
I don't feel sorry for him.
- Why?
- I don't know.
The word's gone out.
"Let's not be too ambitious, boys."
- What do you mean?
- They'd turn him over to the crowd?
If there was a demand.
- And they're making sure there is.
- Maybe.
Here we are.
Thanks. If you hear of
a good job, let me know.
Cramped down there.
- Did you hear what he said?
- Nonsense.
Fellows with badges always have more
inside information than the president.
Hey, where you going?
I don't think I'll have time
to take you to the police station.
How's that?
I've decided to take you to Boston.
That's a noble gesture, but that
fellow was talking through his hat.
My place tonight is in jail.
I'm sorry, but we're on the road now.
That is taking the law
into your own hands.
Shut up, will you?
Leopold, sometimes there are
extenuating circumstances.
The letter of the law
is sometimes wrong.
- I'm afraid I can't agree with you.
- Well, I'll have to be firm.
- I'll have to pull on your brake.
- Stop it. We'll be killed.
- Leopold.
- What?
I can walk.
Walk with that ankle?
Sure, that'll be all right.
Well, Miss Shelley, on to Boston.
Professor, you're wonderful.
You're really wonderful.
Thank you, Nora.
Leopold. Poor Leopold.
Did he hit you, Leopold?
Does that make it feel better?
Where did he hit you?
Does that feel better?
Any mail for John A. Smith?
- John A. Smith?
- Yes, sir.
Three hours. My feet are tired.
Can't we go someplace for coffee?
You'd better stay where you are.
- Do you have to stand next to that?
- What?
Nobody would recognize me from that.
Doesn't catch the spirit.
- C. Barnard.
- C. Barnard?
Mr. Bracken.
- You've got the wrong party.
- I think not.
We're leaving for Lochester and
inviting you to join us.
I'm staying right here.
In that case, friend,
we may have to insist.
You mean violence, professor?
Dilg.
Look out.
Come on, let's have the truth.
Turning state's evidence
is the only hope you've got.
Talk.
Leopold, how about stopping the car and
giving him another going over?
- Pleasure.
- Okay.
Wait. Holmes paid me to burn it.
The factory was on the rocks.
His only chance was
the insurance money.
That's what Leopold said.
- Why did you have to play dead?
- To get people excited.
So Holmes could put Dilg away good.
- A very simple plan.
- It's astonishing.
Well, it won't be long now.
Go straight to Lochester City Hall.
No, drive straight home.
Home? Why?
Well, they're apt to mob me first
and ask questions afterward.
- What are you going to do?
- Call the district attorney.
No, no. Wait. Bracken, go sit down
where I can see you.
You don't have to call anybody.
I'm taking him to City Hall myself.
- What?
- What about the mob?
The mob won't hurt anybody.
I just wanted you out of trouble.
I don't understand. Why?
Professor, you've solved this case
beautifully and I'm very grateful...
...but this country needs you
on the Supreme Court bench.
I don't want to risk losing that.
That's thoughtful of you,
but I see things differently now.
- So do I.
- I want to see this job through.
I'd sooner do that than hand down a
fine piece of literature from the bench.
Sorry, but I'm not in accord.
This is no time to be
doing that act again.
Friendly feelings are one thing...
...it's fine of you,
but a mob's another thing.
I'll take feelings every time.
- Please put down that telephone.
- I'm sorry, my friend. Police?
- I'm warning you.
- Oh, dear.
- Sorry, Leopold. I must.
- Now, don't!
Police, this is Sweetbrook Cottage.
- Dilg and Bracken are both...
- Look out!
Hello?
Hello?
Charlie, riot squad.
Mr. Lightcap?
Mr. Lightcap?
What? Again?
My goodness, a double-header.
Mr. Lightcap. Mr. Lightcap.
Is he dead, ma'am?
Mr. Lightcap, speak to me.
Police! We've got to hide him.
Get him in the attic.
Take his head. Hurry. Quick.
- Dilg!
- All right, it's him.
Step aside, Miss Shelley.
Put the bracelets on him.
Get out of here!
Keep the town blazing hot
against this criminal.
They laughed at the Bracken story.
I said, how did he get that cut
on his head?
They say, "Maybe some of our men
shot at him in the woods, grazed him."
- What's that?
- Mob. Parade.
They're after your scalp.
Holmes is on the job again.
This is where we came in,
isn't it, Sam?
I gotta get busy.
Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye.
All persons having to do
with Judge Grunstadt...
...Justice of the Superior Court...
...may now draw near.
God save the Commonwealth.
Gentlemen, be seated.
Nobody believes this Bracken story.
Dilg and Yates tried it...
...you'll make yourself
ridiculous with it too.
Haven't you run enough risk?
Will you please get out of this town?
No. A man's life is at stake.
A friend.
I'm warning you,
I just came through that town.
It's got a desperate look in its eye.
They're out for blood.
Miss Shelley.
Nora, I know just how you feel.
I didn't understand at first.
I didn't know Leopold.
But I know now.
You couldn't help feeling
the way you do about him.
Now don't you start that.
Who says I feel any way about anybody?
Why does everybody try to
make up my mind for me?
Why don't you and Leopold
mind your own business?
Why should my love life be kicked
around from pillar to post?
I hear you're in love
with Regina Bush.
- Regina Bush.
- Yes.
From the salon. How do you like it?
Regina Bush.
Where did I see a gun around here?
- Where is it?
- A gun?
I know.
- Here we are.
- It's loaded.
- We'd better go back...
- No, get my hat.
- What are you going to do?
- I'm going to settle this.
- You can't do it.
- Oh, can't I?
My great-great-grandfather fought off
Indians for a whole week in 1756.
If that isn't good enough for the
Supreme Court bench, it's too bad.
What are you going to do?
- Where is he?
- Who?
- Bracken.
- He isn't here.
Come on out or I'll let you have it!
The state will tolerate
only one verdict from this jury.
And that verdict should be quick:
Guilty!
- Clyde Bracken, judge.
- Bracken?
Where are you, Mr. Holmes?
Clyde Bracken, alive.
There's the man the law
is looking for, not Leopold Dilg.
His only crime was that
he had courage and spoke his mind.
This is your law and your finest
possession. It makes you free.
Why have you come
to destroy it?
Take those weapons home
and burn them, and then think.
Think of this country and of the law
that makes it what it is.
Think of a world crying
for this very law.
Then you'll understand why
you ought to guard it...
...and why the law has got to be the
concern of every citizen...
...to uphold it for your neighbour
as well as yourself.
Violence against it is one mistake.
Another mistake is to look upon
the law as just a set of principles.
Just so much language
printed on heavy paper.
Something he recites and then takes it
for granted that justice is being done.
Both kinds of men are equally wrong.
The law must be practiced every
minute, to the letter and spirit.
It can't even exist unless we fight
a battle every day to preserve it...
...for our neighbour
as well as our self.
Could you tell me where I could find
Professor Lightcap, please?
- In the judge's chambers, madam.
- Around there?
- Yes, miss.
- Thank you.
Supreme Court now open.
Good morning.
Good morning, sir.
You look wonderful, sir.
Now, Tilney, you mustn't be absurd.
Well, it must be
getting near the time.
Miss Shelley. Come in, come in.
I knew you wouldn't fail me.
Well, you...
You look fine, Miss Shelley.
- You must stop staring.
- I'm sorry.
It's just a robe, isn't it?
And where's Leopold?
- I tried to bring him. He disappeared.
- Where? Why?
- Well, you never can tell about Leopold.
- But he must come.
Now, why do you look like that?
I really don't know. It just
all seems so far from Sweetbrook.
No, it isn't. Sweetbrook
will never be far.
That's what I wanted
to say to you.
Sweetbrook, those few weeks there...
I wonder if I can say this as I want to.
Well, what I'm trying to say...
You see... Look at me.
A dream of 20 years come true.
More happiness than any man deserves.
That chair... But now there's
something else, Nora: My friends.
I want to see them as happy as I am.
Nothing less will do.
Leopold, what a fine fellow.
I've been thinking, Nora, that if
someone took his hand and said...
..."Leopold, my reckless friend, here's
love and companionship forever."
Well, some day that man would...
You see what I mean, Nora?
Mr. Justice, it's time, sir.
Mr. Justice.
Far from Sweetbrook? Never.
Leopold.
- Where are you going?
- That's all I wanted to see.
The rest is about law, very boring.
- He looks fine up there, doesn't he?
- Yes.
Our country's in good hands.
The woman's touch. Indispensable.
- You better go back in.
- Where are you going?
- Home. Lochester. What about it?
- Then what?
You're gonna like Washington.
Wonderful town.
He's a wonderful man too.
Position, dignity, a place in life.
Exactly where a fine woman belongs.
Well, Nora...
...see you sometime.
- Leopold.
- Go back in. He may be looking for you.
I'm getting tired of people trying
to make up my mind for me.
Well, stop it and do as I tell you.
- Leopold.
- Stubborn women, they're a curse.
- My mother always warned me.
- Leopold.
Now, stop following me
or I'll call the police...