Part 3 of 14
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[Ed Cunningham] Howdy! Have you got anything to read --? I'm sorry, Mrs. Benedict. I said, "Have you got anything --?"
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[Angela Benedict] I heard you.
[Ed Cunningham] Where?
[Angela Benedict] The section on manners is right over there.
[Ed Cunningham] I've read those. I'm looking for something on China.
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[Angela Benedict] When do you leave?
[Ed Cunningham] As soon as you marry me. I thought it'd be a nice place to honeymoon.
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[Angela Benedict] Edward Cunningham! If you --
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[Ed Cunningham] Seriously, I want to check on a city called Panohai.
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[Angela Benedict] Section on Asia, third shelf from the top.
[Ed Cunningham] You wouldn't want to help me?
[Angela Benedict] You can find it. It's called The History of China, by D. Boulger.
[Ed Cunningham] Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?
[Angela Benedict] It should be clear by now that I do not wish to go out with you, Mr. Cunningham. Ever.
[Ed Cunningham] Why not? All those stories about me, they're lies! I'm not a bank robber or a cattle rustler.
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And I've never kicked a woman in the stomach even once. Really!
[Angela Benedict] It's quite impossible. I've a little boy and a mother-in-law to take care of. And you've only been in town a short while. I don't even know you.
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So please, stop asking.
[Ed Cunningham] Never. It isn't Mike or your mother-in-law. It's because you're afraid.
[Angela Benedict] Of you?
[Ed Cunningham] Of falling in love.
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Of being a woman. That's what you are, Angela, underneath all those widow's weeds.
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Isn't that right, Luther?
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***
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[Mike Benedict] You got any more of that pie, Gram?
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[Sarah Benedict] Certainly.
[Angela Benedict] He can get it himself.
[Sarah Benedict] All right.
[Angela Benedict] Thank you.
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[Mike Benedict] Ed likes apple pie too. When are we gonna invite him over?
[Angela Benedict] Don't be disrespectful. His name is Mr. Cunningham.
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[Mike Benedict] Come on, Mom. He said I could call him Ed.
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[Angela Benedict] And I say you can't. Now you get the pie and go finish your homework.
[Mike Benedict] All right.
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[Angela Benedict] Don't bother with the dishes. I'll do them when I get back.
[Sarah Benedict] All right.
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[Mike Benedict] Good night, Mom.
[Angela Benedict] Good night, Michael.
[Mike Benedict] Good night, Grandma.
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[Sarah Benedict] Good night, Mike.
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[Sarah Benedict] You're being a little hard on him.
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[Angela Benedict] It's not easy for a boy to grow up without his father.
[Sarah Benedict] I know. You could change that, Angela. Did you hear me?
[Angela Benedict] Yes.
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[Sarah Benedict] He is such a fine man.
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[Angela Benedict] Who is?
[Sarah Benedict] Ed Cunningham.
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[Angela Benedict] Oh, Sarah, I do wish you'd stop going on about that drifter.
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[Sarah Benedict] He is not a drifter! He's been here almost a year. Whatever else you may think of him, you have to admit he is the only man in town with spirit enough to stand up to that devil, Stark!
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[Angela Benedict] Well, it takes more than spirit to make a fine man. I loved your son, and no other man will ever take his place. No, Sarah.
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We'll manage, just you and I. After all, Mike has two mothers, and that makes up for quite a lot.
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I won't be late.
[Sarah Benedict] Good night, dear.
***
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[Mayor] I don't think Cunningham's going to show up.
[Clint Stark] Why not?
[Mayor] He doesn't want to lose. Who does?
[Clint Stark] I do. Mayor, every time I bet on weakness, corruption and fallibility, I want to lose. But I always win.
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[Lucas] Hey, boss.
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[Mayor] Meeting will come to order. Now, folks, may I have your attention?
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Now a few words from someone who don't need any introduction. The man who's done more for Abalone than any other man ... Mr. Clinton Stark.
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[Clint Stark] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, fellow citizens of Abalone. I know you're all tired of waiting, so I'll cut the fancy talk and come right to the point. Abalone is dying of thirst. Now, you all know we get our water from a point 16 miles from here through an underground pipe. That pipe is worn out. It's crumbling. According to the top engineers of this state, it has maybe another six months left. Then it's finished. So looking at it realistically, it seems you all have two choices:
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Either you repair the pipe, or you let it rot. Now, if you repair the pipe, it'll cost you $237,000! And what do you get for your money? I'll tell you that too.
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Nothing. Because that's what Abalone is. Nothing.
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Is that what you want? To spend the rest of your lives here as bored as you've always been? Of course not. But you don't want to die of thirst either. Now, you can't afford to leave your homes, lose your possessions. Folks, I have an alternate choice for you. Sell.
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Sell what you've got and move away. Leave Abalone to the buzzards.
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Folks, I'll buy this town from you. Every house. Every building. Every single nail.
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And pay you a fair price to boot. So you don't have to go head over heels into debt ...
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to raise $237,000. You don't have to lose everything you've got.
[Mrs. Howard Cassin] That makes sense!
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[Mayor] Well, I think we all agree that Mr. Stark has been more than generous with us. I suggest, therefore, that we take a vote --
[Ed Cunningham] Just a minute!
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I'd like to say a few words if Mr. Stark doesn't mind.
[Clint Stark] Not in the least, Mr. Cunningham.
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After all, this is a free country.
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[Ed Cunningham] It's good someone remembers that. You know, folks, I haven't been here long. But it's home to me. And I believe in fighting for your home when it's threatened.
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Now, Mr. Stark wants us to sell our home, because it's gonna be an effort to keep it up.
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But if we make the effort, he says that Abalone is nothing. It's zero. I say he's wrong. I say any place where people live and work together is something. Something very important. Now, one more thing. Just outside of our town, there's another with even less of Mr. Stark's kind of future. There's one of its citizens. Stand up, please, George.
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This is George G. George. He's a Navajo Indian. Most of you know him. His forefathers were here before the white man even heard of America.
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What will happen to his family, his friends, without our town to help him?
[Angela Benedict] I'd like to say something.
[Mayor] All right, Mrs. Benedict.
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[Angela Benedict] If Abalone is as worthless as Mr. Stark says, why is he so anxious to buy it?
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[Clint Stark] That's a fair question. I'm glad you asked it. Mrs. Benedict, you're a teacher, a librarian. And as such, you can take a dull boy and make him into a smart boy. In a manner of speaking, you can turn a profit. It's the same with me. I'm a businessman, and as such,
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I feel I can do this, well, without taking a loss. It's as simple as that.
[Angela Benedict] But just exactly --?
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[Mrs. Howard Cassin] You should be ashamed of yourself for doubting Mr. Stark's integrity.
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[Peter Ramsey] Mr. Stark, when do we have to give our answer?
[Clint Stark] Well, frankly,
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I'd hoped to settle this this evening. But if you want some time to think it over, well, let's say within a couple of days.
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[Mayor] Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Stark. We owe you a vote of gratitude for being so fair with us.
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Don't you agree, folks?
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Meeting adjourned until 9:30 Friday night.
[Ed Cunningham] Oh, George.
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We didn't accomplish very much, but thanks for coming down.
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[Clint Stark] Not a chance, Ed. They're sentimental, but that doesn't make them stronger.
[Ed Cunningham] That's what you want to think.
[Clint Stark] You'll find this hard to believe, but I was like you once, a long time ago. I believed in the dignity of man. Decency. Humanity. But I was lucky. I found out the truth early, boy.
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[Ed Cunningham] And what is the truth, Stark?
[Clint Stark] It's all very simple.
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There is no such thing as the dignity of man. Man is a base, pathetic, vulgar animal. Good night, Ed.
***
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[Carey] Halt, you miserable redskin! You're keeping the wrong kind of company, boy. Ain't good to be seen with a man like Cunningham.
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Bad medicine. Savvy? Cat got your tongue?
[Lucas] I believe that's what's happened. Cat got his tongue.
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[Carey] Who told you you could go?
[Lucas] He's a sassy one, ain't he?
[Carey] You know what my old man used to say?
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He said the only good Injun's a dead Injun.
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What do you think of that, boy? Talk, you miserable redskin!
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Talk! Talk!
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[Dr. Lao] Excuse, please.
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This town ain't big enough for you and me, partner. Smile when you say that, you miserable horny-toad hombre.
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[Carey] What happened?
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***