Seabiscuit

They called it the car for Everyman.

Henry Ford himself called it a car for the "great multitude".

It was functional and simple, like your sewing machine or your cast-iron stove.

You could learn to drive it in less than a day,

and you could get any color you wanted, so long as it was black.

When Ford first conceived the Model T, it took 13 hours to assemble.

Within five years, he was turning out a vehicle every 90 seconds.

Of course, the real invention wasn't the car,

it was the assembly line that built it.

Pretty soon, other businesses had borrowed the same techniques.

Seamstresses became button sewers.

Furniture makers became knob turners.

It was the beginning and the end of imagination

all at the same time.

Howard.

Charles, I'm talking to you.

- They need spokes, same as the others. - I know. They ought to make a better spoke.

Yeah? Then what would you do?

It was a land of opportunity.

The country was shrinking, and there was life to be made out west

for any man with drive and ambition.

If your dream was big enough and you had the guts to follow it,

there was truly a fortune to be made.

Good day, sir.

- Damn thing blew on me. - What?

It's a Stanley Steamer. The boiler blew.

Can you fix it?

Sure. Sure, I can fix it.

This is an amazing machine.

It's got a two-stroke boiler system that's heated by this huge fire grade.

I mean, it's... well, it's basically a very small locomotive.

- Thank you. - Now, I made some improvements.

It wasn't your boiler that was blowing, it was your bleed valve.

So, with the increased pressure,

I can see you getting up to 40 miles an hour.

- Really? - Oh, yeah.

And if you superheat the excess, I can see you reaching...

- Fifty, maybe sixty miles an hour. - Is that right?

Easily. And the thing of it is, Mr. Coughlin, you don't feed it,

you don't stable it, and unless you hit a lamppost,

the thing's not gonna get sick and die on you.

- That's funny. - To tell you the truth,

I wouldn't spend more than $5 on the best horse in America.

This is not the finish line, my friends. This is the start of the race.

The future is the finish line!

And the new Buick White Streak is just the car to take us there!

Yeah.

Four in-line cylinders, 42 and a half horsepower.

Wonderful.

And this is the very same car that you can buy

at any one of our five showrooms all across the Bay Area.

"The age of the automobile is here", boasted Howard. "The future has arrived."

- Oh, my. - Read the part about the future again.

I'm kind of dealing with it right now.

Oh, sorry. Here. I'll take him. Come here, big guy.

Come here. Come here. Are you the future, huh?

Are you the future?

Are you gonna...

Are you going to the moon?

The moon!

I'll take it.

Do we really need all this?

Well, no. We don't need it...

There's also a caretaker's house, a paddock, a barn, some very nice stables.

How big are the stables?

Got it.

Settle down. Settle down.

Quit. Quit. Whoa. Whoa.

Whoa.

Whoa.

Come on, Dad.

Whoa.

There you go.

- You're not getting him a horse. - Why not? He's great at it.

- Because he's 16 years old. - So?

So, he should earn it.

All right.

- Tennyson! - Emerson!

Longfellow!

- Everybody knows Tennyson. - All right. Quiet.

- Nobody knows Longfellow. - Yes, they do.

Dickinson.

"We never know how high we are..."

- Oh, I know that. - Yeah. I know.

I know it.

Well?

"We never know how high we are Till we are called to rise"

- Good. - Very good, John.

"And then, if we are true to plan Our statures touch the skies"

- Excellent. - Yes!

That's really good.

Uh-oh.

- "The heroism..." - Right.

Right. "The heroism..."

"The heroism we recite"

"Would be a daily thing"

- That's it. - "Did not ourselves the cubits warp

for fear to be a king"

You should be riding it. You knew the poem.

Yeah.

But he looks so perfect out there, doesn't he?

Yeah. He does.

That's the poetry right there, Agnes.

That's the poetry.

Thank you. Thank you for coming.

I came here 15 years ago with 21 cents in my pocket.

I know a lot of us at the table have a story like that.

And, you know, I can't help thinking that if we can start out there

and end up here, where can't we go in America?

So, as corny as it sounds, I'd like to propose a toast to the future.

Because out here, my friends, the sky is literally the limit.

- To the future! - To the future!

To the future!

There were no suicides on Wall Street that day.

It was a myth that would grow over time.

The real effect of October 29th took a little longer to sink in.

By noon, all the gains of the previous year had been obliterated.

By 4:00 p.m., nearly $10 billion of market value was gone.

Over the next two weeks, the hemorrhage continued.

And before long, 25% of the workforce was unemployed.

A great national migration began.

Displaced families took to the American highway

in the last possession that remained to them,

their automobile.

And all at once, millions of Americans

had a new definition of home.

I made $2 today.

What?

I made $2.

Here.

Where did you get these?

Yeah, your boy combed them out, changed all the tack.

I didn't have to tell him a thing.

- Hey, Red. - Attaboy!

Where'd a young fellow like you learn so much about horses?

His name's Johnny.

You can call me Red.

Yeah!

Yeah!

What's wrong?

What's wrong?

- What's that? - Everything.

Dickens, Wordsworth.

There's your Arabian Nights and Moby Dick, even your Milne, from when you were...

Why? What's wrong?

- Mr. Blodget here, he has a house... - Dad.

- ...a real house. - Dad, what's wrong?

- And his wife cooks. - She is a good cook.

- No. No. Dad... - There's even a phone next door.

We'll call you. Every couple of weeks, we'll call you,

- and we'll tell you where we are. - No. We're just gonna go home, all right?

- Let's go. - Listen to me.

You have a gift. You have a gift.

Don't... Don't do this.

- Dad, don't do this. - We'll be back.

- Go on. Go with Mr. Blodget. - No.

He's gonna take care of you, sweetie.

- Mom, don't... Don't do this. - It's okay. Go with him.

I don't know. You still look pretty tall to be a jockey.

I've never been over 115.

- Where'd you learn to ride like that? - Home.

All right. Here's the way it works.

I pay you $10 a week to ride. You owe $9 for your meals,

$6 to sleep in the stalls, $3 tack fee. That's the deal.

How do I pay all that back?

You win.

You son of a bitch! Get off of me!

Get off!

Get off of me! Get off of me!

Get off of me!

A nose?

You lose a race a nose, you'd better fall off trying! Here!

Muck these stalls down, every damn one of them!

A nose! For Christ's sake!

No. No, Bill. I'm not gonna do it. No more layoffs.

Well, it can't get any worse.

Look, if it stays like this, we'll just...

Bill, we'll be fine, really. We will.

All right. I'll see you in town.

Frankie, come on. It's a glorious day outside.

Why don't... Why don't you go fishing or something?

I'm reading.

You can read when it's raining.

Come on. I'll teach you to drive the truck.

You already taught me to drive the truck.

- Well, what are you reading? - Flash Gordon.

Come on, Dad. It's about the future!

We'll be in San Francisco till Wednesday.

Yeah?

What?

No!

Come inside.

I'm not done.

Sam can do that.

I don't want Sam to do it. I want to do it.

- Annie. - Don't... Don't... No!

Ma'am.

Come on, Red! Come on!

Come on, kid.

At a time when the world really needed a drink,