U.S. Steel Hour: "Man on a Mountaintop" (11/15/1961)

[Coughing] [Announcer] Opening take three. [Theme music] [Furnace blast] [Announcer] "The United States Steel Hour," from New York. [Theme music] [Announcer] Now, Cliff Robertson stars in, "Man on the Mountaintop." [Announcer] A drama of explosive emotions, co-starring Paul McGrath and Salome Jens. [Theme music continues through opening titles] [Player piano music, party noise] [Group singing, "By the Light of the Silvery Moon] [Group] Where would you like to spoon? My cue with you, [Group] Underneath the silvery moon. [Group] Ba, da, da, da. [Group] By the silvery moon. I want to spoon. To my honey, I'll croon. [Party guest] Hello! [Betty Blake] And we've got some wine and beer. Gerta, honey! [Betty] This is Gertie, this is Gerta, sorry. [Willie] But you're not singing. [Gerta Blake] Well, I don't sing very well. [Willie] Everybody from Iowa sings, don't they? [Willie] I thought it was a Midwestern institution to be a community singer. Because in a community you gotta sing. I'm an actor. [Gerta] I know. Charlie told me. [Willie] Well, you're not singing, come on. Let's sing. [Willie] I'll teach you how to project. I'm very good at projecting. [Betty] Willie, you're going to scare her. [Willie] Not a chance. I'm going to show her how to become my ? in one easy lesson. [Betty] In the meantime, we're outta beer. Would you mind going down to the delicattessen and getting us some beer. [Willie] All right, sure, you come with me. This is your chance. Your big chance to see the village after midnight. [Music, By the light of the moon] [Willie] Tell the folks in Iowa, that you did whole thing. [Door shuts] [Willie] Ah, have you got any money? [Gerta] Oh no, I haven't but I'll go back and get my purse. [Willie] Nevermind, I'll get it from your brother. [Door opens and shuts] [Knocking on door] [Father Max Borden] Horace. [Knocking on door] [Father's voice] Horace, I know you're in there. [Horace Mann Borden] Go away. [Father's voice] Horace, I've got to talk to you. I don't want to talk. [Father] It's about that position, Dr. Wilson offered. Horace, you must listen to me, you understand. Now look Horace. I, I'm trying to be reasonable. But I'm not going to try to tell you anything if you, if you won't even see me or, or, or answer my letters. [Borden's voice] Go away. Horace, haven't you had another this. Isn't it about time you came to your senses. There comes a point, [Borden's voice] Go away. When I feel that you are being completely foolish about this whole thing. Now, look, Horace. I'm telling you, Don't tell me anything. Go away or I'll kill you, do you hear me. I'll kill you. [Door slams] [Willie] They had to take up a collection, that impoverished mob, come on. [Gerta] Who's that? Who lives in there? [Willie] Oh, in there? Oh, that's the genius, you know. [Gerta] The genius? Oh, yeah, there's the prodigy. Horace Mann Borden, a great prodigy. [Willie] Some prodigy, that creep. Come on. Let's get the beer. [Music] [Willie] The trouble with your brother, Charlie is he's the member of the, "What is it?" school of painting. Take one look at it and you say, "What is it?" [Gerta] Willie, we've been gone almost an hour. [Willie] He's a painter who thinks. You know, he paints the inner man. [Willie] If I want to know what the inner man looks like I go to a doctor, I get an x-ray. Cows. He oughta paint cows, [Gerta] Willie, we should go back. [Willie] trees, an occasional flower pot and you will agree with me because you're from, Iowa. [Willie] Well, wouldn't you rather see a cow hanging on a wall, then an "what is it?" [Laughter] [Willie] You know, you think too much. You never say anything. [Gerta] I think we ought to go back, the beer's getting warm. [Willie] Don't you think, it's dangerous to think too much. Look at that genius, there, the prodigy. You see what happens when you think. [Gerta] Shh, Willie, he'll hear you. [Willie] He doesn't mind. You mind, prodigy? See, he doesn't say anything. He lives in a world of his own. A dark, creepy world, full of dark thoughts. [Gerta] Willie, please let's go. [Willie] Huh, if we went right back your sister-in-law would faint. When you beat you gotta, you got to do things inconsistently. [Willie] That's what makes character. Prodigy, clean up the coffee cups, will ya. [Willie] That's a good prodigy. [Willie] Have you ever wanted to know what a prodigy looked like? There, that's a prodigy. That's a real prodigy. [Willie] See what happens when you have brains and you think too much. You work in a crummy cafeteria. [Willie] Prodigy, say hello to your neighbor. [Gerta] Willie, don't. [Willie] Wait. I'll show you. I got an idea. [Willie] Prodigy, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. Fifty cents if you give me answer the following question, within three seconds. [Willie] Gerta listen to this. This is the way makes his movie money, because this prodigy goes to two or three movies a day. [Willie] All right, you ready harness man. Give me the answer in three seconds. [Willie] What is five hundred and seventy eight times three hundred and nine? [Borden] A hundred seventy eight thousand six hundred and two. [Willie] Just a minute, I'll check it. Twenty eight and carry the two. Right. [Willie] Absolutely right. [Willie] Fabulous. Isn't it fabulous, Gerta. That's what you can do when you think. Let's take the beer back. [Willie] ? genius. Come on. [Gerta] No, please don't touch me. [Willie] Gerta, baby, what did I do? [Gerta] You're a monster. A vicious, horrible little monster. [Music] [Willie] I'll take the beer back. I told you, you think too much. [Gerta] I want to apologize. [Gerta] Please don't think that, I mean that was a terrible thing he just did. And, since we're going to be neighbors, you see I'm going to live with Charlie and Betty. I think I ought to introduce myself. My name is Gerta. Gerta Blake. Don't cry. Please don't cry. [Borden] You must let me alone. You must let me alone. [Melancholy music] [Scraping dishes] [Charlie Blake] Boom, de, boom. [Gerta] Oh, hi Charlie. Is the party over, already? [Betty] Oh, leave the door open, huh Gerta, let's get some air in here. [Charlie] Yeah, the party's over all right. What happend to you? Willie came back over an hour ago. I figured maybe, first day in New York, you got lost. [Gerta] I was sitting in Washington Square. I didn't feel like coming right back. [Gerta] Charlie. [Charlie] What? [Gerta] I met the strangest man. The saddest man, I've ever met. [Charlie] Oh brother, who? [Greta] He lives next door. His name is Borden, Horace Mann Borden. [Charlie] What? That flip? [Laughs] [Gerta] Charlie! [Charlie] That's what he is. He's a real flip. I know all about him. [Gerta] What do you know? [Charlie] Oh, he was famous. [Charlie] I guess you wouldn't remember. [Charlie] His father had some kind of theory about kids being able to learn. And like, by the age of three months, this kid was building with blocks. [Charlie] And by three years, he could read. He could translate Greek. He memorized the complete works of Shakespeare. [Charlie] Huh, you know he graduated from college when he was twelve. [Gerta] No wonder, he's so lonely. [Charlie] Hey, are you? [Charlie] Uh, now listen, Gerta, don't start feeling sorry for this character. He's, [laughs] [Charlie] He's gone, you know what I mean. [Gerta] What a waste, what a terrible waste. [Charlie] Oh look Betty. Will you talk to this girl? This is the girl who brought home a stray cat. [Charlie] This is the compassionate member of the family. [Betty] So, I thought that's why she was your favorite sister. [Bottle clinks] [Borden] Hi. [Charlie] Hi! [Betty] Charlie, leave him alone. I'm gonna ask him in for coffee. Hey. How'd you like to join us for coffee? [Gerta] Charlie don't, can't you see he's scared? [Charlie] Scared? What has he got to be scared of? You know, people have called me a genius too, you know. [Gerta] Charlie, you're as bad as Willie. [Music] [Gerta] Oh, here, do you want these? My, how many are there? [Gerta] Oh! Sunset Boulevard! [Gerta] Isn't this from Sunset Boulevard? [Gerta] Well, sure it is. [Gerta] There's William Holden in that scene with Gloria Swanson in her bedroom. You know, I think he's one of my favorite actors. [Gerta] Ah, do you collect them? [Borden] Yes, may I have them please. [Gerta] Where do you get them? Some of these are from very old pictures. [Borden] Second-hand stores and, ah, movie houses. [Gerta] Why are you afraid of people? [Gerta] Are you afraid of me? Shouldn't you get to know someone before you decide whether to be afraid of them or not? [Gerta] People make fun of you don't they. Like that terrible Willie and, they get angry with you like my brother, Charlie. [Gerta] Do you have a cigarette? [Horace] No. [Gerta] Oh, well, I don't smoke anyway, not as a general rule. Just, every once in a while, to be sociable. [Gerta] Well, here are your pictures. [Gerta] Good night. [Borden] Good night. [Music] So after I got of college this spring, mum and dad wanted me to stay in Iowa and start teaching right away but, I didn't think I wanted that. So a couple girlfriends and I, decided to take a crazy tour of Europe. Where all we did was get on and off buses. And when I was in Europe, I decided that, maybe I'd, study in New York for a while. Take a couple of teachers courses, at Columbia, you know. Maybe even teach in New York for a while. And then Charlie said that I could stay with him and Betty until, I found a place of my own. [Greta] I have two other brothers and two sisters. But, I'm the youngest. [Greta] Are you an only child, Horace? [Borden] Please don't call me that. [Greta] Well what should I call you? I've got to call you something, if we're going to talk, if we're going to be friends. [Borden] Borden. [Gerta] Borden. Well, are you an only child? [Borden] Don't you know about me? [Greta] No. [Borden] If you want to know about me. You can read about me in books. Go to the library. Look under the card. Borden, Horace Mann, cross-reference child prodigy. [Gerta laughs] [Borden's voice] You're laughing. Oh no. I was just thinking I never knew anyone before who is the subject of books. That must mean that you're very important. [Greta's voice] And now you're laughing at me. I find it inconceivable that anyone could be so naive. Important. I'm not important. I don't want to be important. I will tell you something. I stand here talking to you and listening to you talk and I ask myself why? I asked myself that question because I have learned, I must do without people. That's a terrible decision. It's the least painful, take my word for that. But, why? Knowing people, being friendly with people, liking people, how can that be painful? Nineteen years ago, when I was twelve, I graduated from the University, summa cum laude. And I was asked to, deliver my honor thesis before the combined physics staffs of Harvard and MIT. The subject of my paper, was Einstein's theory of the expanding universe, its meaning and application. [Borden's voice] Do you understand what I've just said? Do you understand the implication of what I've just told you? It means that I am a freak. A freak and a monster. A freak and a monster cannot live in this world of normal people. [Melancholy, forboding music] [Gerta] Oh, hi Charlie. [Charlie] Oh, hi Gerta. [Gerta] Am I late? [Charlie] An, dinner's almost ready. Ah, Willie's inside. [Gerta] Willie? All right, I'll be right in. [Charlie] Fine. [Gerta] Thank you for the coffee. [Borden] It's all right I didn't have to pay for it. [Greta] Oh, I didn't mean that. [Gerta] Will we talk again, some other time? [Borden] Why? Does there have to be a reason? There's another book you should read. It's not about me, but I think you should read it. Philip Wylie wrote it. And it's about a doctor who has a serum. A superman serum. And he injected it into his newborn child, his son, as an experiment, and sure enough, the son grew up to be a superman. The serum was good, but there was one problem. The world, this world, we live in, is too small and too narrow for a superman. People are afraid of supermen, just as they are afraid of monsters. Being a superman is a beautiful fantasy for the tormented and tortured little people. But those same little people can't stand it when a superman comes along. In this world, a superman is crucified. Is that what happened to the superman in Wylie's book? That poor creature, ended up on a mountaintop. Shouting his defiance at God until lightning came from the sky and destroyed him. Reduced into nothing, absolutely nothing. [Gerta's voice] Must be a very sad story. It's a true story. But. What was there for people to fear? Why must everyone be afraid? Don't you see? [Gerta's voice] No. Last night I, was looking through the collection of my photographs and I came across some pictures of William Holden. You said that, you liked him. Would you, like to come in and look at them? [Music] This is, "The United States Steel Hour." And now, George Hicks. [George Hicks]Something big is happening these days here in Seattle, Washington. The beautiful key city of America's great and fast-growing Northwest. [Hicks] Yes, this progressive metropolis is busy preparing for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. [Hicks] "The Century 21 Exposition." First American World's Fair in more than twenty years. [Hicks] Thousands of men are already at work constructing the spectacular international show. [Hicks] And creating 74 acres of buildings and displays, dedicated to, man in the space age. [Hicks] One of the many unique features of the fair will be an advanced Swedish monorail system. [Hicks] That will carry ten thousand people an hour. From the heart of Seattle to the fair in just one and a half minutes. [Hicks] The coliseum, including an incredible floating city, will house the themed exhibits, showing man's life to be in the space-age. [Hicks] This beautiful glass walled building, will be a permanent structure and the heart of a new Seattle Civic Center, after the fair. [Hicks] One of the major attractions will be the United States government science exhibit. A great six building pavilion that will preview, [Hicks] scientific marvels of the 21st century. [Hicks] United States Steel's exhibit will be housed here. [Hicks] Other buildings will contain exhibits from more than thirty nations and many American firms. [Hicks] But the real symbol of this fair is the Space Needle. [Hicks] Rapidly rising towards its full height of six hundred feet, [Hicks] this soaring structure will be topped by a revolving restaurant, [Hicks] where diners and visitors will see a panoramic view of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, the Cascades and beautiful Mount Rainier. [Hicks] The Space Needle is being fabricated and constructed, by The Pacific Car and Foundry Company, [Hicks] from a new structural steel, made by United States Steel, called A36. [Hicks] These huge columns weigh one thousand pounds per foot. [Hicks] But even so, this new steel has lighter weight and greater strength, [Hicks] that make it an important advance for major construction projects. [Hicks] As the Space Needle rises and the work continues, [Hicks] the thoughts of practically all Seattle, are on April 21st, 1962. [Hicks] Opening day. When the Seattle World's Fair will be a magnificent reality. The fair will run for six months. [Hicks] United States Steel joins with the people of Seattle and the Northwest, In the hope that you and your family will be among the millions who will come to the fair. [Music] [Announcer] We return to Act Two of, "Man on a Mountaintop," from New York. [Charlie] You know the thing is, Willie, she's been seeing this guy every day for the last couple of weeks. [Charlie] That's the thing that can lead nowhere. And you gotta help. [Willie] So what can I do if she doesn't like me? Come on, green there. [Charlie] Oh, come on, Willie. What happened to the ego? I thought all the girls liked you. [Willie] Only in a relative way. This sister of yours is way down the scale. [Willie] See the more they think, the less they like me, and this one's a regular Rodin statue. She thinks so much, she hates me. [Charlie] Well, then be charming. All right. [Willie] For the lovely lady. [Gerta laughing] Thank you Willie, but put them back in the glass. [Gerta] Charlie, tell Betty I'll be back to make supper. [Charlie] Oh, where are you going? [Gerta] I'm going to meet Borden at the movies. [Willie] Oh you could go blind from seeing so many movies. [Charlie] No Willie. This is the stray cat bit. This is the real stray cat bit. [Gerta] Charlie. You've got to understand, no one ever cared for this man. [Gerta] Yes, he goes to two, three movies a day. Do you know why? [Gerta] Just to hear the sound of people's voices. [Charlie] So you're on a mission. [Gerta] No, I'm on no mission. I happen to like him. [Charlie] But, why? [Charlie] What does he do for you? What does this guy satisfy in you, that you've got to knock yourself out like this. [Gerta] I don't. [Charlie] Oh, go to the theater with Willie tonight. He wants to take you. [Willie] Live actors, real live actors. Thump, thump, thump. [Gerta] I'm sorry. I'm busy. [Charlie] You want to change him, don't you, Gerta? [Charlie] Well, look out little sister, 'cause you're playing with dynamite. Now, let him alone. [Gerta] Tell Betty, I'll be back. [Gerta] And Charlie, thank you for your concern, but I do know exactly what I'm doing. [Taps brush] [Willie] Sick. Very sick. [Charlie] Aw, shut up. [Willie] What's with the green there? [Charlie] Oh, shut up. [Knocking on door] [Knocking on door] If you're looking for Mr. Borden, he isn't home. [Father's voice] Oh. [Gerta] He's at work. I just left him. [Father] Oh, you're, you're, a friend of his, of course. [Father] Yes, I've seen you together sometimes standing across the street I've, I've seen you. [Gerta] You're his father. [Father] Yes. [Father] Oh, please don't run from me, please. [Gerta] But, I really have to. [Father] No, I must, I must talk to you. [Father] I must talk to someone who, who knows my son, and who, who likes him. [Father] You look like a fair-minded young woman, Miss ah? [Gerta] Blake. [Father] Miss Blake. Twenty minutes? [Father's voice, loud] For five minutes. [Father's voice, softly] Please? All right, Dr. Borden, come in. [Gerta] My brother and his wife will be back shortly. I have to prepare dinner. [Father] Just five minutes. [Father] Please go on with whatever it is you have to do. [Gerta] I don't know if Borden, [Gerta] Horace, would approve of our meeting like this. [Father] Then he's spoken to you of me. [Gerta] No, I read the books. [Father] You see me as a villain. [Gerta] I suppose you did what you thought was right. [Father] I was right, Miss Blake, I was. [Father] Oh, he was an astonishing child, a true marvel. [Father] But I still maintain, that in general practice, any child given, given the right, [Father] No, but you ah, [Father] you were not good enough to give me five minutes of your time to listen to my theory. [Father] May I please? [Gerta] Yes, of course. [Father] Miss Blake. [Father] I need your help. [Father] Somewhere along the line, somewhere in the relationship between my son and me, something went wrong. [Father] Six years ago, he rejected me, and everything in his life. [Father] Then began living like this, like this. [Gerta] Perhaps it's the way he wants to live, Dr.. Borden. No, I can't believe that. I won't believe it. And, you can't believe that either, not for my son. I live here. My brother and his wife live here. Oh, no, you're rationalizing, Miss Blake. For you, for your brother, he's an artist, isn't he? It's perfectly proper, perhaps even necessary, but not for my son. Not for Horace Borden, who could be the Einstein of his generation. Can you imagine the marvel of two such minds, in one century. The waste. The terrible, terrible waste. Miss Blake, There is a position at Columbia University. They, they want him. Now, he must take it. He must. But, if he doesn't want to. [Father's voice] He doesn't know what he wants. [Father] It's up to us, to lead him, to, to guide him. [Gerta] I don't know if I can interfere. [Father] Not interfere, help. [Father] Can you understand the potential of this mind, this man? [Father] Do you know what the world might lose if Horace were to remain in obscurity? [Father] No, no, you you don't know. No one knows, because it's all locked inside him. [Father] Like a Cobalt bomb, it lies hidden there, ready to explode. Ready to give the world great new knowledge. Facts unknown to us now. [Father] Miss Blake, [Father] In all conscience. I tell you, our failure to help him now, would be a tragic failure. [Father] Will you think about it, please? [Gerta] All right, I'll think about it. [Father] Thank you. [Father] Well, my five minutes are up. [Music] [Father] Miss Blake. [Father] My wife, Horace's mother died, [Father] when he was born. [Father] To the outside world, I must appear to be a lonely man. [Father] But I want you to understand that I am not trying to reclaim my son for personal reasons. [Father] I am not a selfish man, Miss Blake. [Music] [Father] good night. [Music] [Scene change music] [Footsteps] [Gerta] Hi. [Borden] Hi. [Gerta] Hi. You're late. You work late tonight. [Borden] I lost track of the time. [Borden] Well, what should we do go to a movie? [Gerta] Oh Borden. [Borden] What else is there to do? [Gerta] Just walk maybe. [Gerta] There's something I want to talk to you about. [Borden] Walking? [Gerta] I talked to your father this afternoon. It was a coincidence really, and he, [Gerta] Borden. [Gerta] Borden, please. [Gerta] Borden, please, give me a chance to explain. [Gerta] Please. [Borden] What a fool I've been. What a complete and absolute idiot. [Borden] I trusted you. I believed in you. Just this afternoon, I told you how safe I felt with you. [Gerta] Borden, I'm on your side. I believe in you. [Gerta] Now, there's a position open in the physics department at Columbia. It would be so easy for you. [Borden] It would be impossible. [Gerta] Well, you can't like working nights in a cafeteria. [Gerta] You can't like going to two, three movies a day just to lose yourself in some dream. You don't understand do you. You say you understand, but you don't. [Borden] Did you know that the army wouldn't take me be, because they felt I couldn't adjust. [Borden] Adjust. [Borden] Do you know how badly I wanted to go into the army. To put on a uniform, to be just a soldier, just a simple human being. [Borden] But they wouldn't take me. [Borden] Six years ago, I started living like this because I gave up. I just gave up And this way I don't have to prove anything. Yes, I was a teacher. At nineteen, I was an associate professor. And all that time I had the feeling that everybody was looking and waiting, waiting, waiting. All right, prodigy, produce. All right, genius, produce. Produce the evidence, that will prove Einstein is wrong. Produce a theory that will change the world. They were like children at my feet waiting for me to hand them down the ABCs that would rock their very existence. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it. I can never do it, because I don't know enough, and I'll never know enough. There's so much. [Borden] So very much to know, and I could never know enough. But they expected me to make it up. they expected me. [Borden] In a fireless world, to make fire. In a wheeless world, to invent the wheel. [Borden] Explain the blue sky to a blind man who has never seen blue or a sky. That's what he did to me. [Borden] I used to walk the halls of that University. Afraid to face the people to whom I was becoming a failure. [Borden] I hid behind the door of my office hating the thought of seeing my students and the other members of the faculty, [Borden] to whom each day was another day of disappointment. [Borden] Another day in which I did not produce. And one day I said, "Enough!" [Borden] I will live where there are no mirrors. Where I, [Borden] where I won't even have to face myself. I will live alone, where I will disappoint no one. [Borden] It's simple. [Borden] Satisfying. And I'm happy this way. [Greta] Happy? [Borden] Yes, happy. [Borden] You refuse to see that don't you, Gerta? [Borden] You refuse to accept what I am as an end. [Borden] Your idea of happiness is like everyone elses. Based on fairy tales and pots of gold at the end of rainbow. [Borden] Or you walk off into sunset accompanied by sweet music. Well, I'll tell you what happiness is. [Borden] It's the absence of pain. [Borden] If I strive for anything, I strive for that. Not to be hurt. [Borden] Not to experience pain. [Gerta] A vacuum. [Gerta] Even I know that nature abhors a vacuum. [Gerta] Borden, please listen to me. [Gerta] Do you collect these pictures and go to the movies just for something to do? [Gerta] Or is it possible that, you feel somewhere in these pictures is the answer? [Gerta] And, why do you keep these three books? [Gerta] Einstein, Freud and the Bible. [Gerta] Why just these three? [Borden] They're a reminder to me that, [Borden] there is knowledge in the world. [Borden] Truth. [Borden] I read them trying to understand. [Gerta] Trying to find an answer. [Borden] This first one, Einstein. [Borden] The words are so simple dealing with the physical world. [Borden] But the other two. [Borden] They're dealing with love. [Gerta] And that's the easiest, Borden. The easiest. [Betty] Charlie, would you mind basting the chicken. [Coughing noise] [Charlie grumbles] Of all the people we've had over, [Betty] What are you mumbling about? [Charlie] I said we've entertained some real crapolas in our time. You know, we've had ? of them. First time we've ever had an ex child prodigy. [Betty] Quiet. Gerta might hear you. [Charlie] I want her to hear me. [Charlie] If you're on her side, from now on, I don't want to hear no more criticism about any of my friends. [Charlie] Even if I bring home my poet friend. [Betty] Oh, no I draw the line at poets. Unless they rhyme. [Betty] Besides he's kind of nice. [Charlie] Oh you women. You're all alike. You're all alike. [Charlie] You give me a pain. [Charlie] It's like when we first met. And you told me how crazy you were about my painting. You couldn't stand academic art. [Charlie] Then the minute we got married, you wanted me to paint like Thomas Hart Benton. [Betty] Uh, uh. Orozco. [Charlie] What's the difference? [Betty] A lot of difference. They make money. [Charlie] Money. [Betty] Oh, I beg your pardon, my darling husband. I keep forgetting you hate money. [Laughs] [Betty] Oh, maybe she's got it in her mind she can get him to go to an analyst. [Betty] Look if she could do that. [Charlie] On, an analyst. Now that I would like to see, that really would be something. [Charlie] There is one analyst who, in two weeks, is gonna be back with his analyst. [Gerta] Betty? [Gerta] Can I help? [Betty] Yes, you can help Charlie finish setting the table. [Charlie] Okay, I can do it myself. [Gerta] Charlie, please don't be angry at me. [Charlie] I'm not angry. [Gerta] Now, this won't be the worst experience you've ever had. Just, [Charlie] No? [Gerta] Be nice to him. Try to be understanding and tolerant. [Charlie] Oh, tolerant. You know I hate that word. To be tolerant you gotta tolerate people. [Charlie] There's another reason I left Iowa. My work was tolerated. [Gerta] Sometimes you forget just how lucky we had it in Iowa. [Gerta] You forget that we had a home and a family and that there was love and affection in that family. [Gerta] It seems our folks were just happy when we did something good. No matter what it was. [Gerta] No one ever pushed us, Charlie. No one ever tried us, to make us into something we couldn't be. [Charlie] Yeah, all right. [Charlie] Are you trying to make Borden into something that he can't be? Now, just be careful how you manipulate. [Charlie] This is no stray cat you find in the woods and you feed and pet until it purrs. [Charlie] This is a man. [Greta] Mm-hmm. [Charlie] Apparently a lot of people before you have tried to turn Borden into something he isn't. [Charlie] And failed. [Gerta] They didn't give him the one thing he really needed. [Gerta] The only thing that counts. [Gerta] They didn't love him, Charlie. [Charlie] Ah. [Betty] I'll get it. [Charlie] Uh, oh. [Borden] Mrs. Blake, Am I late? [Betty] Betty. No, you're not late. Come on in. [Gerta] Come in, Borden. [Charlie] Ah. Hi, ya, Borden. [Borden] Hello. [Borden] Well, this is very nice. [Charlie] Make yourself comfortable, Borden. Can I get you a drink? [Borden] I don't know. [Charlie] Well, how about a beer? We got plenty and it's cold. [Borden] A beer? [Gerta] Yes, I'd like one, Charlie. [Betty] Yeah, me too. [Charlie] Borden? [Borden] All right. Yes, I'd like one very much. [Borden] Charlie, I, I like this painting very much. [Charlie] Oh, you do? Aren't you going to ask me what it is? [Borden] No, I, I know what it is. [Betty] I know what it is too. It's Time Square as seen from a rocket ship. Right? [Charlie] Oh! [Betty laughs] [Charlie] Oh, take no notice of her, Borden. You know, she just resents supporting me, that's all. [Borden] I think it's interesting here. [Borden] Breaking down light structure the way the Cubist's used to break down physical objects. I think that's the natural step forward. [Charlie] Hey Borden, you're gonna have to come around more often. [Willie] Hi, is there ? [Betty] You're early. [Gerta] Betty, I'll do the dishes. Don't worry. [Willie] Well, aren't you coming with us? [Willie] We're going to the reading of a new play where I'm up for a part. [Willie] It's a great play. Pretty far off Broadway, but what are you gonna do. [Willie] It's called, "The Garbage Heap," because that's where it all takes place. [Betty] What? Inside a garbage heap? [Willie] It's way out, symbolic. Gerta, It's the kind of thing you'd love. [Willie] It's not what usually happens in an Iowa drive-in. [Gerta] You'd be surprised what happens in an Iowa drive-in. [Laughter] [Gerta] Would you'd like to go, Borden? [Borden] Ah, no. [Willie] Yeah, right, it's probably gonna be a drag. You know, even now the whole idea bugs me. [Charlie] I'll be right with you. [Willie] I want to apologize to you. [Borden] Why? [Willie] Why? Do I have to say why? Isn't it enough I want to apologize. I'm stupid. [Willie] Look, sometimes when you're stupid, you ah, [Willie] You're afraid of people who aren't stupid. [Willie] You understand what I mean? [Borden] I think I do. [Willie] Good! All right. Are you coming to the reading? [Borden] No, but, thank you. [Willie] All right. [Willie] You'll be sorry. All right, all right. [Willie] Well, when we're a big smash and the tickets are harder to get then, "South Pacific" or "My Fair Lady," [Willie] don't bother to get down to your knees and beg. [Willie] Just don't bother. Come on, we won't bother to say good night. [Gerta] He apologized. I think for Willie to apologize is very difficult. [Borden] I imagine it is. [Borden] And I think he, he meant it. [Gerta] I'm sure he did. [Borden] I feel good. It's amazing how good I feel. I, I almost didn't come for dinner. [Gerta] Why? Oh, I, I like your brother, Charlie and, and Betty and, and I think they like me too. [Gerta] Certainly they do. [Borden] I mean, I think they like me for myself. Not just because you told them to. [Gerta laughs] [Gerta] Borden, Borden, what do people have to do? [Borden] I don't know. I'm beginning to wonder if they have to do anything. [Borden] There's a piano. [Borden] A player piano, it's [Borden] crazy, ah. What would anyone do with a player piano in this day and age. [Gerta] Borden. [Borden] No, but I mean, a player piano is, Well, Charlie likes it. He likes the sound of it. Isn't that enough. People do something or get something because they like it. My mother used to have a player piano. I remember it as a child. Of course, I never heard it because she died when I was born. And it was kept in a front room that was always closed. But I used to go in, and look at things. [Piano notes} Yeah, one day my father came in and said that I, didn't belong in there. I mustn't go in there again because I didn't belong in my mother's room and I believed him. I believed everything my father said. To my father, I was a machine, a calculating machine. He fed in the data, and, the facts became correlated and registered and when you punch the right buttons out came the correct answers. Simple. Not so simple. No, not really so simple. Because somewhere the cogs didn't mesh. [Piano note, off key] He failed. But, then my father always failed. He studied under ? and Freud. But, he was never one of their brilliant students. And that was his failure, the ignominy of obscurity. Hmm. [Piano notes] Where did it fail? What happened to the machine? You read the books. And they don't tell you. They don't tell you. They don't tell you, why your mother died when you were born, and why your father, You take a child. And you have a theory. Like my father had a theory, a psychologist with the theory, that the human brain even at the moment of birth is simply a receptacle for knowledge. Endless and, bottomless. For the theory to work. Learning, learning, learning. Knowledge, knowledge. No time to play, no time for affection, no time for love. A baby, that is a sponge soaking up facts. Absorbing everything within sound and sight. And for a while it worked. But, my father forgot one thing. He had forgotten the simple element of, of humanity. God. Love. So, I don't know, I, At the age of six, I, I knew what E = MC squared meant, but I, I didn't know what, "I love you," meant. I still don't. [Gerta's voice] That's the, that's the easiest part of it. The easiest. [Borden] How do I find it, Gerta? [Borden] Gerta, how do I find? [Borden] Gerta, do you? [Gerta] It's a beginning. [Borden] The beginning. [Borden] Is that all? [Gerta] But, don't worry. [Borden] No, but you said it's the beginning. Well, [Borden] Where is the end, Gerta? How do I find the end? [Gerta] Borden, it's not as simple, as [Borden] No, Gerta, you said it has a beginning. Where is the end, how do I find it? [Gerta] Just be sensible, be logical, you'll see. [Borden] Where is the end, how do I find it? [Borden] You don't understand. All my life. I've been expected to find the end, and I've never been able to find it. [Dramatic music] [Door slams] And I never will [Dramatic music] [Theme music] [Announcer] This is, "The United States Steel Hour." See now, the march of the automobiles, strong on steel for '62. [Marching band music] [Cymbals crash] [Chorus sings] Strong on steel! Strong on steel! [Chorus sings] And the great new '62 automobile! [Chorus sings] Strong on steel! Strong on style! [Chorus sings] A car that you'll be proud to drive, mile by mile! [Chorus sings] Strong on steel! Strong on steel! [Chorus sings] Quality approved. [Chorus sings] You'll love the feel of the strong on steel automobile for '62! [Marching band music] [Cymbals crash] [Marching band music] [Cymbals crash] [Chorus sings] Strong on steel! Strong on steel! [Marching band music] [Chorus sings] Strong on steel and strong on style [Marching band music] [Chorus sings] Strong on steel! Strong on steel! [Chorus sings] Quality approved. [Chorus sings] You'll love the feel of the strong on steel, automobile for '62! [Chorus] Bumpers! [Chorus] The body! [Chorus] To wheels! [Chorus] To trim! [Marching band music] [Drums] [Marching band music] [Chorus sings] Strong on steel! Strong on steel! [Chorus sings] Quality approved. [Chorus sings] Get behind the wheel of the strong on steel, automobile for '62! [Announcer] See your local dealer now. There's only one thing better than steel in a new car. [Chorus] And that's you! [Marching band music] [Music] We return to, Act Three of, "Man on a Mountaintop," from New York. [Gerta] Will you buy me a cup of coffee? [Gerta] Borden, maybe you, [Gerta] Maybe I was wrong about last night. Maybe it happened too fast for you, but is that my fault? [Gerta] I've tried to understand about you, really I have. [Gerta] Last night, I read that book by Philip Wiley. [Gerta] And it frightened me because, [Gerta] sometimes I can't separate the man you are, from the man that you might be. [Gerta] Are you the man in Wiley's book? [Gerta] Must you be destroyed? [Borden] I've given up. [Gerta] No, I won't believe that. [Gerta] You run from your father because it represents everything that frightens you, and you shout at me because, [Gerta] you think I'm trying to push you the way he did. [Gerta] But how much can you hide? How deep can you dig? [Gerta] Your father will find you Borden, he'll always find you. [Gerta] See him. [Borden] No. [Gerta] See him just once, and face the problem. [Borden] No. [Gerta] Borden, don't you see. He's just a man, a poor bewildered man, who doesn't understand what he's done. Tell him. [Borden] I can't. [Gerta] Oh, Borden, don't you understand. No one's crucifying you. You're crucifying yourself. [Borden, slams silverware on counter] I can't. [Melancholy music] [Player piano music] [Loud knocking on door] [Borden] Who is it? [Charlie's voice] Borden, it's me, Charlie. [Charlie] Oh, hi. [Borden] Hi. [Charlie] I guess we were making an awful lot of noise. [Borden] That's all right. [Charlie] Ah, would you like to come and join us? [Borden] No, thank you. [Charlie] Well, you're welcome, you know. [Borden] I have to work soon. [Charlie] Well, the thing is, it's kind of a party for, Gerta. She's leaving. Leaving? [Charlie's voice] I guess you haven't talked to her very much lately. Have you? No, I haven't [Charlie's voice] Well, she's got another place, it's up near Columbia. She and a couple of other girls. It's more convenient, you know. [Charlie] I guess she's out of the village anyway. Charlie, come on, we need some more ice. [Charlie] Yeah, okay, I'll go get some. You're sure? [Borden] No, thanks. [Charlie] Okay. Willie. [Willie's voice] Yeah. Willie, would you do me a favor? [Player piano music] [Group] Alexander's rag time band! [Willie] All right, break it up fellas! Hold it! Hold it! [Willie] Come on. I wanna tell, [Loudly[ Quiet! [Willie] Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce, the entertainment for the evening. A real live genius. An honest-to-goodness prodigy, Horace Mann Borden. [Drum roll] [Willie] Let's give him a little hand. [Applause] [Willie] He's would like to perform his famous act last seen on the stage of lows, lower depths. An act known as, "The Prodigy ?." Are you ready, Horace Mann? [Chair scrapes on floor] [Willie] Now boy, take a seat. Ably helped by that world famous, Willie the Wonder Bliss. [Laughter] [Drum ricochet] [Willie] Prodigy, give me the answer to the following question, within three seconds. How much is nine hundred forty two times six hundred seventeen? [Drum roll] Five hundred and seventy five thousand oh, four, four. [Willie] How about that! Let's give him a hand. [Applause] [Willie] And don't even check because the prodigy guarantees absolute accuracy or your money is cheerfully refunded. [Willie's voice] Prodigy, William Shakespeare, Hamlet Act Four, Scene Nine. There are only seven scenes in the fourth act of Hamlet. [Laughter] [Willie's voice] Brilliant! [Willie's voice] Scene six, the words please. Scene Six. Another part of the castle. In are Horatio and Servant. Horatio, "Who were they, that would speak with me." Servant, "Seafaring men they say they have letters for you. Let them come in." Exit Servant. Horatio, "I do not know from what part of the world I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet." Exit Hamlet. [Willei] Wait a minute, we haven't finished the bit. [Gerta sobbing] [Borden] Isn't that it? Isn't that it? Isn't that the middle ground? I can be, I can be the life of the party, too. [Borden] What do you want, Gerta? [Gerta sobs] [Borden] What do you want? [Borden] All right. I'll do anything you say. You tell me what to do. [Dr. Wilson] Max, you seem to be so nervous. Now, let me get you another cup of coffee. [Father] Oh, no, thank you, Wilson. Thank you, no. [Father] No, I am nervous. I feel this is the culmination of all the years. [Father] This is the moment when everything will be the same. [Father] Thank you for coming with me, Wilson. [Father] Maybe if the offer from the University comes from you directly as the head of the department, he'll feel more, sympathetic, [Father] Oh, Miss Blake. [Gerta] Dr. Borden. [Father] Well, where's Horace? You promised on the telephone. [Gerta] Well, he'd like to see you in his room, alone. [Father] This is Dr. Wilson, his old friend. Oh, this is the young lady I told you about. [Wilson] How do you do? [Gerta] Hello. [Wilson] It's all right, Max. Just give him my best. [Father] Why shouldn't he want to see, Dr. Wilson? [Gerta] Perhaps he's a little frightened, Dr. Borden. [Father] Frightened? No, that's not possible. Well you know Horace. He's never been afraid of anything in his life. [Music] [Knocking on door] Come in. [Gerta] Come in, Dr. Borden. [Father] Horace. [Borden] Please, sit down. [Father] You're been most kind, Miss Blake. Thank you, now perhaps, if you'll be good enough to leave us alone. [Borden] I want her to stay. [Father] But, ah, I want her to stay. She need not inhibit us. We know each other very well. [Father's voice] But, Horace, you wouldn't see Dr. Wilson. [Borden] Wilson is not involved. [Father] Oh, but he is Horace, he is. He came prepared to make you a splendid offer. He wants to make you his departmental assistant. In five years perhaps, a full professorship. You'll have your own laboratory, if you want one. You lecture perhaps twice a week, to graduate seminars. [Father's voice] And the University Press will publish any of your work that you care to make public. Such a splendid offer, Horace. Do you think it a splendid offer, Gerta? [Gerta] Of course it is, Horace. [Father] That's only the beginning. [Borden] I don't want to talk about it. [Father] But, ah, [Borden] We'll not discuss it. It's a trifling offer. An unimportant offer. Whether I accept it or not is not the subject of the meeting here. I thought that was, I want to ask you one question then the meeting is over. Will you answer me one question? [Father's voice] Horace, I did not come here to quarrel, [Borden] One question. If I can. It's a simple question. It should be very simple for you to answer. My father. Do you love me? I love you? I wish you'd go, please. [Father's voice] No. I will not go. I will not go. What is this foolishness. [Borden] I asked you a simple question. [Borden] The simplest question in the world. Can you answer it? Can you, search your mind and, and find one moment when you said this is my son, and I love him. [Borden's voice] Was it a moment in the hospital when I was born. Was it a moment as you stood over my crib. Was it a moment when I walked suddenly into a room. [Borden's voice] You stay in, Gerta. This is the moment you asked for. Now you want to run. Please stay in. The truth, Father. I want the truth. I, loved you. I must have loved you. When? What was that moment? All right Did you love my mother? Yes. [Borden's voice] Did you love her very much? [Father] Yes! Look at me, Father. Look at me. When I killed her, by being born. Did you hate me for that? The truth, Father, I want the truth. Did you hate me for that? Is that why you did to me what you did? I did nothing to you. You only attained your full capabilities. I did nothing wrong to you. Nothing wrong Yours is the most marvelous mind of our time. And if for six years you have indulged yourself, [Borden's voice] You've indulged yourself. No, I have waited for six years. I will wait for twenty. I will wait a lifetime. You have failed! You have failed. Look at me. I'm a freak. I'm a machine.. I'm a machine built without love. Didn't you know that father? Didn't you know if you failed, that I would be a freak. Didn't you know that? When you build a machine, and it fails, you throw it away. What do you do with a man? [Borden's voice] What do you do with a man? I never thought of, it. [Door slams] [Gerta] Now, go on. I can't. [Gerta] Borden, you can. [Gerta] Don't think of yourself as a superman in a world that wants to crucify you. [Gerta] Don't destroy yourself. [Gerta] Come out of here. [Gerta] Come with me. [Gerta] But, come out knowing that it's a beginning. [Melancholly music] God. I don't want to be destroyed. I want to live. [Music] [Hopeful music] [Door slams shut] Gerta. I want to come in. [Music swells] [Announcer] Funny thing about the places you go fishing. They're always off some old road that could double as an obstacle course. [Announcer] That's why the rough treatment parts of your car are made of steel. [Announcer] To give your car that extra strength that carries you safely over roads. [Announcer] It's great to know you can count on steel when the going gets rough. [Announcer] Knowing you can count on steel for wheels that will take it. For the strength the suspension has to have. [Announcer] For the ruggedness of bumpers that front for you and back you up. [Announcer] What else but steel takes you so far over such rough roads, so often, so safely. [Pastoral music] [Announcer] It all adds up to a feeling of competence. Knowing you've got steel to count on, if the going gets tough. [Announcer] Here is a message from our alternate program. [Announcer] On November 22nd, be sure to see, "Track of an Unknown: The Story of North American Air Defense." [Announcer] One week from tonight on, "The Armstrong Circle Theater." [Theme music continues under end credits]