- I can write really small. - Huh? What do you mean?
What is it?
It's the 23rd psalm.
Holy smokes.
I guess "why" would be inappropriate.
Cool, huh?
Are you suffering from ennui?
- Huh? - Come on.
- Oomba ooga oomba ooga - (Indian Yelp)
- Oomba ooga oomba ooga - On the bank
Of the river
Stood Running Bear
Young Indian brave
On the other side of the river
- Stood his lovely Indian maid - (Giggles)
Little White Dove was-a her name
Such a lovely sight to see
But their tribes fought with each other
So their love could never be
Running Bear dove in the water
Little White Dove did the same
And they swam
Up to each other
Through the swirling stream they came
As their hands touched and their lips met
- The raging river pulled them down - (Giggling)
Now they'll always be together
In that happy hunting ground
Running Bear loved Little White Dove
- With a love that couldn't die - (Laughing)
- Oomba ooga, oomba ooga oomba ooga - (Indian Yelp)
(Sighs) Whew!
- Whew.! - Yeah.
Dad, we've gotta get out more.
(Sanding Noise)
(Boy) Come on, hit the ball.
You got a baseball bat there, not a rolling pin. Go take cooking classes.
Come on, sissy. You can't play baseball. Don't waste our time.
Come on, strike 'er out.!
Come on, Pierce! She can't hit, she's a girl.
(Girl) Hit it.!
- (Umpire) Strike.! - All right, strike one! Yeah!
- Boy, are we losin'! - (Woman) Shut up, Janet.
- (Indistinct Yelling) - (Catcher) Go get in a cookin'class.
She's a sissy! Come on, hurry up and get it over with.
- Strike two! - Come on, Mathilda!
Lawrence is crazy about her. He tries to talk to her.
She just ignores him and she won't give him the time of day.
I don't think she's thinking about that stuff yet.
Here we go, girl!
(Crowd Cheering, Applauding)
Go back! You're goin' the wrong way!
You're supposed to go the other way! Dang!
You go this way, not that way!
Girls!
(Cheering, Applause Continue)
Yes, Mathilda.! Yes, Mathilda.!
We lost! We lost! We lost!
(Cheering)
(Giggling, Chattering)
Good game, kid.
Good "spectatoring," Pops.
I gotta take this piece of furniture up to the Newlands tomorrow...
- So I'll be gone early. - Could I go?
You know, I'm dying to see inside. I heard they have gold salt shakers.
Hey, just because our salt shakers are linoleum...
- It's no reason to put 'em down. - And they have a butler!
Yeah, and he's English too. Here's what happens:
Mrs. Newland rings a little bell, and the butler comes in and he goes...
- (English Accent) "Tea, sir? Tea?" - (Girls Giggle)
- Yeah, you can go if you want. - Thanks, Pop.
- Oh, let me go with you, please! - Come on, I wanna go there so...
Now we're gonna let him manipulate Fred...
swap his vote later down the line on the tax credit.
- I want a yes vote from you. Right? - Right.
You're gonna get a call from that son of a bitch Boggs...
about your vote on the farm thing.
Play along, say anything. Then you'll fiip-fiop at the last minute.
He won't have enough votes if you wait late enough.
By the way, John...
we're having diffculty getting permission to divert water...
- From the quarry for your project. - No, you're not.
- Yes, we are. - No, you don't understand. We are not.
Not if you want the yes vote.
(Explosion)
(Man #1) Let's bring two more sections up.!
(Man #2) just two more?
- (Man #1 Shouting) - (Man #2) All right.
(John) We're gonna divert the water from the, uh...
from the quarry here.
Let it go down through the valley to form a lake.
And then we're gonna sell the property around it for development.
But you know, there's a beautiful spot just right here...
I thought would be a real nice place for you and me to build a little house.
So we can go live next to a bunch of ducks?
(Laughing)
john?
You oughta snap outta this.
You're sleepwalkin'.
- Mr. McCann is here with the delivery. - Thank you, Esther.
- Hello, Michael. - Hi.
- Hi, Mathilda. - Hello, Mrs. Newland.
I hope you don't mind me bringing her. She's never been up here before.
No, it's no problem at all.
- Mathilda, would you like to come in? - Thank you, Mrs. Newland.
- (Michael) I'll get the drawers. - Come on.
(Nancy) Now, are you thirsty?
- No, ma'am. - Okay.
- That's by Andrew Wyeth! - Yes, it is.
Oh, have you seen this picture here?
That's the way the house used to look in the old days.
You see that man there? That's my grandfather.
And that little boy beside him, that's my father.
Dad, books on horses!
- Easy. - Got it. I got it.
(Nancy) That's great. Thank you.
- Would you like to see the real horses? - Yes, sir!
- If it's not too much trouble. - No, of course it's not.
Tea, sir?
(Giggling)
- Up we go. - Oh!
(Laughing) Dad, look.!
(John) Now, you gotta be sittin' absolutely straight.
- Yeah, hold onto the reins tight. - Okay.
There she comes. Annie Oakley.
(Nancy Laughing) I'm gonna go get the camera.
Fastest gal on a horse this town's ever seen.
Michael.
She is havin' such a great time out there.
She has a real passion for horses.
I was thinkin', Michael, of maybe invitin' her up here...
- For some lessons, if that's okay with you. - I think she'd love that.
- Can I tell her? - Be my guest.
And thank you.
- Dad, it's time. - Okay, take off.
(Whining)
Remind me to cut that hole bigger.
(Whining, Panting)
You... are... done.
- (Giggling) - Let's see. Yes! (Laughing)
(Nancy) That looks good, with all that food coming out of your mouth.
- (Mathilda Laughing) - That looks good.
Look at me, Mr. Newland!
I'm sorry.
- Sorry for what? - I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted.
You look at her, I know how you feel.
Sorry I couldn't give you this.
Look, Nancy, it's all done.
No, it's not.
We can still have a family. Why won't you think about adopting?
(Sighs) This isn't something I want to discuss now. Okay?
- Don't turn away. Excuse us, please! - Yes, ma'am.
Adopted children, they... they become your own children.
Look at the Greens.
Look at Michael McCann.
- Michael McCann has her because of me. - I know.
You helped him. Why you won't help yourself, I'll never know.
That's not what I mean, Nancy.
Michael McCann has her...
because of me.
(Mathilda) Come on, we gotta go faster. Come on. Come on.!
What are you sayin'?
Are you sayin' Mathilda is your daughter?
(Inhales) I thought I could be strong.
just havin' her in the house, l...
Look, Nancy, the woman who died in the snow was her mother, and l...
Yeah, I thought it was strange, how you seemed so close to Mathilda.
Now I understand it's not so strange at all.
- Nancy. - Don't.
Don't.
- Mathilda. - Hi.
Did you have fun?
I did.
Do you like it here?
I love it.
Good.
Well... bye.
Bye.
There have been times that I have wanted to leave.
After we lost the second child...
I thought I was bringing you too much pain.
But then I thought if you had someone else...
they might bring you children but pain in some other way.
If I'd told anybody back then...
I would've been ruined politically.
And if I had told you...
I know that you would not have stayed with me.
If you had taken her...
she would have known me as her mother.
And you, you would've been happier with me.
Our lives would've been more like we thought they would be.
(Sighs)
I see it all now.
Ten years too late.
What?
I chose the wrong door.
You are her natural father.
You are her father.
Hmm?
- (Clicks Tongue) - (Neighs)
(Keating) See, what you're doin'is very good.
just keep asking her over as much as possible.
Let her get used to frst class.
Have you given it any thought?
This is how we can get everyJoe six-pack in town behind us.
They all want to win the lottery, and this kid can.
She goes from beggar to princess.
We'll even have McCann believing it.
So our money may fnally have some use.
(Bicycle Bell Rings)
- Hey, how're you doin'? - Hi.
You, uh...
- You ready to ride? - Oh, yeah.
Tom?
Now, which of these three guys do you like the best?
- The grey one. - The grey one. Well...
you can have him.
- Huh? - He's yours.
(Laughs)
- Holy smokes! (Laughs) - (Chuckles)
And you can come up here anytime you want.
You can ride him anytime you want, and you can call him whatever you want.
You have a name you'd like to call him?
Um... I'll have to do some research, but Sparkle immediately comes to mind.
You can call him Flipper if you want. He's yours.
By the way, uh...
l-I think that maybe we should keep this to ourselves.
- How come? - Oh, just keep it our secret.
- Why? - Okay, you can tell your dad if you want, but, um...
he mightn't like it.
Parents can be kinda funny about things like this.
- Really? - Mm-hmm.
- Hey, just in time for nachos. - I'm full.
(Knock At Door)
I think we should talk.
Already I don't like it.
I just think that maybe...
- You shouldn't go up to the Newlands so much. - Why?
Well, you live here...
and... it's... you know, you can overstay your welcome.
- But they invite me. - I know, I know.
But sometimes it's possible to abuse a situation...
without really realizing it.
- I wanna go. It's not hurting anyone. - Not so much and not so often.
- I'm going. - Well, sometimes...
you can't have everything you want. Now just don't be greedy.
Look who's talking.
What do you mean?
judy's dad said that you were a miser...
that you loved money.
You loved it so much, you kept it in your own house so you could look at it.
And that's why it was stolen, because you wouldn't put it in the bank like everybody else.
- All right, you're not going up there anymore. - I am!
- No, you're not! - Yes, I am!
(Nancy) You couldn't have written it better yourself.
I did write it myself.
- (Instructor) That's good. - (Applauding)
(Michael) She's defiinitely good.
She's fne.
She's good.
Real good.
She fiubbed it 'cause she's in a bad mood. She hates me right now, but she'll get over it.
Oh, sure. Five, six years, a little therapy...
Prozac shaped like Flintstones, she'll get over it.
She doesn't mean it.
(Michael) You know what?
I think she's being scouted. You see this guy?
He's been around. I think he's some kind of sports somebody.
And he's coming this way.
That your daughter?
Quite a little talent, isn't she?
You're Michael McCann?
And I represent her.
You are served.
Problem.
That's funny. I thought I was the victim of my own greed and ambition.
You're not getting her.
I think you would really want what is best for her.
You are not getting her.
She is my child. That is profoundly unchangeable.
If you love her so much...
then why did you turn your back on her ten years ago?
(Nancy) It's inevitable. Inevitable.
Now, you can fight this or you can accept it. But given time...
there is no way she won't prefer her real father and this family!
You might want her now, but it's me she's been calling daddy...
- Ever since she could say the word! - Oh, God.
Hello, Mathilda.
Mr. Newland is my real father?
Yes, he is.
Would you like to come and live here with us, Mathilda?
I don't know what I'm supposed to say.
When you turn a gift away from your door...
it, uh...
it goes to the one that takes it in.
Dad?
Where was my mother buried?
I don't know.
We never knew where she was taken.
Why not?
I was afraid. I was afraid that...
they might fnd a relative...
or your father or someone who might take you away from me.
One day I'd like to know where she is.
We could do that.
Mrs. Simon can fnd anything on her computer.
just a minute.
(Charms Jingling)
This, uh...
was your mother's, and you should have it.
I mean, it's you and her, isn't it? You're my parents.
You and Mom, not the Newlands.
Uh, I'll fx you a drink. Uh, you know...
Make you some juice.
Do you know what it means, that he's your real father?
Do you, you know, understand how babies are made?
(Laughing Continues)
This fairy tale story of a little match girl...
who discovered she's a princess.
- Let's get some opinions. - Well, now how's he supposed to take care of her like they can?
I mean, she can still see him. It's just that she'll be livin' in a better house.
Kinda like me and my ex-husband.
(T. V. Reporter) Okay, so that's six for and four against.
To cast your vote dial 8 1 0-REALDAD:
This is WAPB:
We bring you other people's business.
Mrs. Latham...
you currently are the principal and teacher at Gardner school...
- Where Mathilda Newland attends, are you not? - Yes.
- Mathilda Newland? - He's just trying to get your goat.
Speaking as a teacher, do you think this child has the potential...
to attend a college of the prestige of Harvard or Yale?
Mathilda has unlimited potential.
Do you know what it costs to attend Harvard or Yale?
Lots, I suppose.
- Wait 'til he gets me up there. - No further questions, Your Honor.
Thinks he's getting little Aunt Mildred with an antique shop.
- (Judge) You may step down. - What he's getting is Aunt Attila the Hun.
The court calls Mrs. April Simon.
Please raise your right hand.
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give in this matter...
shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
You bet your boots.
(Mrs. Simon) He is a great father. He's caring. He thinks of nothing but that child.
- Mm-hmm. - Uh-huh.
And he's not your typical great father. He's original, he's creative.
He's very unconventional.
Unconventional? How?
- What? - You said he was unconventional. How is he unconventional?
Well, um... when Mathilda was just a toddler...
in order to keep an eye on her, he used to tie her up with a red ribbon.
We thought it was hilarious.
- What, tie her up? - Not "tie her up," no.
just, you know, tie her to a table leg or something so he could watch her.
Ah. Tie her to a table leg?
Why, could the ribbon have become entangled around her neck at all?
No. It was tied around here.
- Not exactly the latest in parenting, is it, Mrs. Simon? - No.
- But that's my point. - Perhaps you can tell us some other things...
that Mr. McCann does that are... different.
Yes. He has educated Mathilda in his own way.
When she was learning to read, he told her not to read the books from school...
but instead read the books that he gave her. Adult books.
He wouldn't let her read the schoolbooks?
- Because she didn't want to read the schoolbooks. - So he let her...
read... adult books.
Yes, right. No, not "adult" books.
May I be excused, please?
Thank you, Mrs. Simon. That's all.
- (Whispering) I'm sorry. - That's all right.
Mrs. Simon, we're not done yet.
Ah, shit. Excuse me.
(Spectators Murmuring)
No questions.
I don't blame you.
- (Champagne Cork Pops) - (Nancy And John) Whoo!
(Laughing)
Oh! Thank you, sir. Thank you.
And thank you.
Okay.
- To Stone Lake! - (Together) Stone Lake.
Well, that'll sure quench your thirst.
- Can I talk to you? - I would like nothin' more.
Who are you?
(Chuckles) That's the best question anybody's thought to ask me...
since this whole thing started.
I'm your real father.
Not the best father, I know that.
Not as good a father as Michael's been to you up to now.
But I know that I can be.
See, I made a mistake a long time ago...
which I will regret for the rest of my life.
That's why I'm fghting for you. I know you think I'm hateful.
- But I gotta take that chance. - What was my mother like?
(Sighs) Your mother loved you, Mathilda.
And I love you too.
How did you treat my mother?
I treated her as best I could. I never hurt her.
I respected her. We just weren't meant for each other, that's all.
But she took drugs.
- You've heard how bad that can be, hmm? - Mm-hmm. (Crying)
Do you think that...
you could ever... live here?
Sometimes.
Mr. Newland, will you read the signature...
at the bottom of this hospital admittance form, pediatric ward...
for a Miss Marsha Swanson?
(Whispering) Marsha Swanson.
- Uh, "Mr. Henry Swanson." - Who is Mr. Henry Swanson?
I am. I mean, I signed this paper using a different name.
- That is your handwriting? - Yes, it is.
I came to an arrangement with the mother whereby I would pay her...
a monthly sum of money, and this would be our secret.
- And she agreed? - Yes, she did.
- And why did she agree? - Because she was a drug addict.
And you... what were you?
I was young, foolish and, uh...
I was afraid.
Looking back now, you see how foolish you were?
Yes, I do.
- No further questions. Your witness. - Mr. Newland...
the night that the child walked into Mr. McCann's house, you were there, were you not?
- Yes, I was. - And yet you said nothing?
- I felt that the child needed to be... - Mr. Newland, please.
just answer the question. You said nothing, am I right?
- Yes. - And by failing to claim your daughter at that moment...
you neither asserted your parental rights nor fulflled your parental responsibilities.
Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.
- Sustained. - I'll rephrase, Your Honor.
Mr. Newland...
you did not act as though you were the father.
You did not comfort her or hold her.
- Things a father might do. - No.
So, at that time, your feelings towards your future wife and career...
dictated your actions more than your feelings for your child.
Yes, but since that time, I have made sure that she was safe...
in this community where I could watch over her...
and make sure that she was taken care of.
Well, you're breakin' our hearts.
- Why did you start seeing the mother secretly? - I think that's obvious.
Obvious to you maybe, Mr. Newland, but why don't you tell us?
Because I felt that at the time she was not someone I was... proud to be seen with.
- Because you were in politics? - Yes.
- Better to lie to the public. - No, that's not... that's not what I meant.
Look, I made a mistake. I admit that.
You admit it because you have to admit it to look like a man with remorse, Mr. Newland.
Is that why you were trying to pay her off? To get this embarrassment out of your life?
She was out of control. Addicts do not care about anybody but themselves!
Thank you, Mr. Newland.
(Judge Marcus) The witness may step down.
Call Michael McCann to the stand.
- (Clinking) - Ah, yes, I hit it! I get to keep it.
Haven't we done enough of these little girl stories?
Our only hope is that the two dads murder each other.
May I ask what you earn a year?
Around $15,000.
How did you plan to send her to school? Or did you?
There are scholarships. I can borrow.
I've always been there for her in the past...
and I believe I can be there for her when that time comes.
You believe. I have a belief too, Mr. McCann.
I believe that if this child were the responsibility of Mr. Newland...
she would, without a doubt, attend the best schools;
without a doubt, be able to travel the world, ;
without a doubt, be given the opportunities that this child deserves.
I object, Your Honor.! Where's the question?
Sustained. Get to the verb.
You feel thatJohn Newland abandoned his child, don't you?
Yes.
See, that sounds terrible, the way you put it...
when you leave out the details, the circumstances.
I admit it sounds bad, when you leave out the details.
You were married once, weren't you?
Yes.
And you left that marriage while your wife was pregnant.
Sh-she...
(Keating) Please answer the question only.!
- There were special circumstance... - Answer yes or no!
Objection!
(Spectators Murmuring)
Yes.
Now, in fairness, Mr. McCann...
there were circumstances that made you guiltless...
when you abandoned that child...
just as there are circumstances in Mr. Newland's case...
that would make any reasonable person understand why he did what he did.
That is why we have to understand what kind of a man john Newland was at that time.
And it makes me wonder... what kind of a man you were then.
Mr. McCann, I'm going to say some words.
And if you feel that these words inaccurately describe you at...
various times in your life, please stop me.
Poor.
Reclusive.
Unfriendly. Miserly.
Angry.
Lonely.
Were you lonely enough...
to seize a child to ease your selfsh pain?
Lonely enough to bend the law?
To collaborate in stopping the natural process...
of fiinding a suitable home for this child?
I wonder how much you were in on this deception.
- Objection! - I'm fnished, Your Honor.
(Spectators Murmuring)
- So is he. - (Judge Marcus) The witness may step down.
(Keating) Hi, Mathilda.
Hi.
- How are you? - Not so good.
How's your horse?
How's Sparkle?
I don't know.
Will you tell us how you got Sparkle?
Mr. Newland gave him to me.
And you accepted it?
- Yes. - Did you tell your dad?
No.
So you had a secret gift from Mr. Newland...
your real father, that you didn't tell Mr. McCann?
Yes.
So you might say you had a special relationship with your real father...
that you were... afraid to tell Mr. McCann about?
I wasn't afraid.
But you didn't tell him about the horse that your real dad gave you?
No.
Thank you, Mathilda.
I have no further questions, Your Honor.
How do you like being called Mathilda Newland?
It's not me.
- What do you like to be called? - Mathilda McCann.
Would you point to the man that you think of as your father?
And what is Mr. Newland to you?
I used to think of him as a nice man.
- What do you think ofhim now? - As somebody who's trying to take me away from my father.
How would you feel, Mathilda, if you were separated from your father?
(Sobbing) l-l...
I could never be separated from him.
He's the one who's taken care of me.
He's the one who's inspired me.
And now that I'm entering my years of womanhood...
I'm going to need his guidance more than ever.
I could never be anything without my lovin' daddy!
(Spectators Murmuring)
- (Sniffng) - (Mathilda Sniffling)
- (Murmuring Continues) - (Woman) Poor child.!
(Mathilda Sobbing Loudly)
(Sobbing Continues)
(Mathilda Wailing)
(Laughing)
- I want to be an actress! - Shhh!
(Bailiff) This court will please come to order.
Y-you better go to school.
Do good, Pops. You and me.
You and me.
(Playing "Past Three O'Clock")
(Continues)
I didn't tell you about the horse.
I should've...
but I wanted it.
I know you did.
- There's a problem, though. - What's that?
I still want it.
(Groans) I got a headache.
And so you should.
I can't believe I have to give her to that... son of a bitch.
Oh, Marcus, baloney! You'd sell your mother for cat food.
(Sighs) Oh.
Do somethin'right for once.
Oh, I can't go against Newland.
There's too much goin' way back, father to father.
Now son to son.
How can I ask her to, to live in squalor?
(Inhales) No, I can't give her to McCann, not without a powerful reason.
Powerful reason.
(Bailiff) The court will now come to order.
- (Gavel Pounds) - (Judge Marcus) I have come to a decision.
But fiirst, I would like to explain my thinking.
And perhaps you'll understand what a diffiicult decision it was.
We have a man who has raised a child as if she were his own...
generously and lovingly.
That child has turned out to be well brought up.
Not something easy to do in today's world.
I would like to explain to you what it was that tipped the balance.
That something was not concerning the happiness of the child.
That is impossible to quantify.
I am very clearly directed to look at the welfare of the child...
which can be very coldly calculated in terms of money.
She will need money for her education...
for her protection as an adult.
Hey, hey, hey! Hey, come back here!
- (Indistinct Shouting) - It would be irresponsible of me...
- (Car Horn Honking) - To deny this child her natural claim...
- To the wealth which is offered her. - (Tires Screeching)
- (Spectators Murmuring) - If it were...
otherwise so, believe me...
not only would I be inclined to go the other way...
- But my heart would want it that way. - (Tires Screeching)
(Spectators Chattering)
What is goin'on out there?
Young man. Wait. Hey! Hey! Wait! Wait.
(Judge Marcus) Come here, boy.
Come here!
(Whispering)
- Well, let's go see what this is. Court is recessed for one hour. - (Gavel Pounds)
- All rise. - The hell with that. Let's go!
(T.V. Reporter) Apparently, we were waiting for the verdict...
when an occurrence happened in the courtroom.
Ayoung... as a matter of fact, here he is. Uh, young man...
- (Indistinct Chatter) - Over here, Judge.
- (Siren Wailing) - What's going on? What's happening?
Everybody's rushing around.
(Siren Wailing)
(Chattering, Shouting)
(Indistinct Murmuring)
Oh, careful. Ohh!
Bingo!
- (Woman) Tanny? - (Crowd Murmuring)
(Man) Thought he was in Rio or someplace in South America.
Poor guy must'vejust fallen in.
As a Judge, I'm always interested...
in the exact moment when someone's argument falls apart.
- (Man) McCann's got his gold back. - (Murmuring Continues)
(Wind Whistling)
Sorry about what happened to your brother, Mr. Newland.
Thank you.
Mathilda.
I'll see you around.
(Man) Yeah, we get a few folks like you each year...
Iookin' for someone.
Everybody's lookin' for someone.
This is the last place they look.
That's for sure.
The last place they look.
Right over there, folks.