Teacher's Pet

Now you can see the elevators

leading up to the executive offices.

That's it, step right in, ladies and gentlemen.

That's the idea. That's fine.

And now if you'll just get up a little closer to the table

you'll all be able to view this room quite well.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the City Room,

the heart center of every newspaper.

Here you see only a handful

of the 2,500 highly-trained specialists

employed by the Evening Chronicle.

Men and women who work tirelessly,

not only in this vast building,

but in every country in the world.

Editors, reporters, photographers,

who become your eyes and ears in war and peace,

who make it possible for you to sit in your arm chair

and witness history in the making.

Men and women who uphold

the highest tradition of American journalism

and are dedicated to the task of making you

the best-informed newspaper reader on this earth.

These are some of the papers you saw

printed only a few minutes ago.

These first copies are rushed up here

to be distributed among the editors and reporters

so they can be checked in case there are any mistakes.

Now, in this department,

all the news of the city is funneled through the City Desk...

Which one's the city editor?

I'll get to that in a moment, madam.

Headed by the city editor

who is seated over there

in the center of the room facing his entire staff.

That's Mr. Gannon. Yes?

Mr. Gannon. Yes, James Gannon, yes, madam.

And at the far end of the room is the office

of our managing editor, whose name is Lloyd Crowley.

And down the hall, Colonel J.R. Ballantine, our publisher.

And now, ladies and gentlemen,

what you may find of interest next

is what we term in newspaper parlance the morgue.

So if you'll just follow me right over here,

I'll be very happy to show you what we have.

Mr. Gannon, could I talk to you...

I don't care what his brother thinks of him.

That won't sell a paper.

Get me a quote with lace on it.

Mr. Gannon... Archard!

Where's the city hall story? Can I talk to you?

You want to talk to me about what?

My son.

Look, madam, I don't know how you got in here

or who you are, but I've got a...

I'm Mrs. Kovac. My Barney works for you. That's who I am.

Oh.

Barney's mother?

Why, glad to meet you.

Yeah, I bet you are.

Say, Jim, Fisher's calling in. He's down at Bellevue.

Some dame tried to commit suicide over a guy.

Swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills.

Now that's the business to be in: Sleeping pills.

You wanna send a cameraman?

That depends on who she is. Find out...

Wait a minute.

- Mr. Gannon. - Yeah, uh-huh.

No, he says they just pumped out her stomach,

and all they got was a quart of bourbon.

That's not a bad business either.

In that case, no pictures.

Listen, I been trying for weeks to see you.

I can't get you on the phone. I have to take a tour.

What are you, the president?

We've got a paper to get out,

and your boy helps us do it. You should be proud.

Why? He's just an errand boy.

Copy boy. Same thing.

Do you want me to start him as managing editor?

I want you to fire him.

Mr. Gannon, he's gotta go back to school.

What for?

What for?

Because I want him to get educated, what for.

So did his father.

Mr. Gannon, his father worked all his life

in an overcoat factory on 7th Avenue.

He took a dictionary along with him

every day in his lunch pail.

"But, Edna," he said to me,

God rest his soul, he said, "You get Barney educated.

That's the golden key."

Gannon.

Try it tomorrow. This is okay.

Ahem, Andrews'll get you quotes from the deputy mayor

and you and he can get together on a sidebar.

Did you hear what I just said?

Certainly.

He took the dictionary with him every day in his lunch pail.

"Edna," he said, God rest his soul,

"Get Barney educated. That's the golden key."

With all due respect, Mrs. Kovac,

you see that fancy-Dan over there

clipping pictures out of the paper?

He's got a golden key:

Phi Beta Kappa.

I keep him around for laughs.

Uh, you, uh, wanna see something else?

This, uh, letter from some professor

up at the university,

E.R., uh, Stone.

Would I, uh, favor them by appearing as guest lecturer

in one of their night school journalism classes?

Me, Jim Gannon, who never went to high school.

So what's it got to do with Barney?

Barney wants to be a newspaperman.

He'll never learn that in school.

Your baby's grown up, Mrs. Kovac.

He's old enough to decide his future for himself.

Yeah, how can he decide

when he don't even know what he don't know?

Mr. Gannon, I think if he was educated,

who could tell what he could find...

I'll tell you one thing he won't find

is another chance like he's got here with me.

I'm teaching him his business.

During lunch, I let him take a whack at a news story.

Then when I get the chance, I show him his mistakes.

I didn't need him, I just put him on as an extra because...

You wanna play father?

Oh, Mr. Gannon, kids don't come that easy.

You have one first.

You wash his diapers, you stay up nights with him.

You love him and you worry about him like for about 18 years

and then maybe...

Maybe you have a right to tell him what to do.

Gannon.

Oh, hello, Peggy.

Yeah. How are you, honey?

Sure. Sure, I can see you tonight.

It's Tuesday. Aren't you gonna play poker?

Oh, I have a very important conference,

but I could, uh, get there for the last show.

What? A new joint? The Bongo Club?

Oh, yeah, sure, sure. I know where it is.

Yeah, I'll see you later, honey.

All right, Mrs. Kovac, I'll talk to Barney.

You will?

Like a Dutch uncle.

Or is that still too closely related?

Oh, my! Oh!

I've been having such a hard time with that boy.

Oh, relax. He's a very fine boy.

Thank you.

We're very proud of him.

Oh, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Goodbye, Mrs. Kovac. Bye-bye.

Pleasure to see you.

Jim. Here's the new murder lead.

Is that the way you want it?

Yeah, it's all right.

Mr. Crowley wants to see you right away.

Okay, Barney. Oh, by the way...

I know you're gonna fire me. I just saw her going out.

I told her not to come.

I told her I won't go to school

no matter what anyone said...

Now, wait a minute, kid. Wait a minute, slow down.

I didn't tell her I was gonna fire you.

I just said I'd talk to you like a Dutch uncle.

And maybe I will one of these days.

Gee, thanks, Mr. Gannon.

Oh, uh, Barney,

I, uh, I read this story of yours.

Stinks, huh? Well...

Barney, I...

C'mon, we'll talk about it on the fly.

Now in the first place... Oh, by the way, you heard about it?

What? They found him dead.

Who? The boss.

No kidding! When? A few minutes ago.

Where'd they find him? In his office.

How'd it happen? Well, some dame shot him.

Some dame? Why?

Barney, you just asked me six very important questions.

Who, what, where, when, how, and why?

That's what every news story should answer.

You haven't done it.

Gee, Mr. Gannon, you had me... Had me half scared to death.