The Man in the Glass Booth

Happy birthday, Mr. Goldman.

How is momma ?

Heh, never better, thank you Mr. Goldman.

That woman ought to go on a diet.

Heh...

- You say it's my birthday ? - Yes Mr. Goldman

Friday, the twentieth of September.

How old am I, Charlie ?

You're timeless, Mr. Goldman

- That old ? Thank you, Charlie, thank you.

What's the temperature outside, Jack?

Fahrenheit or Centigrade?

You know my preference.

Sixty-Eight and one half Fahrenheit.

Sixty Eight and a half... it's cold in here.

If I wasn't so old, I don my vicuna.

Matilda always adored me in my vicuna.

It's a house without a woman, Charlie.

I ought to get a new wife.

Yes, Mr. Goldman.

It's all these empty closets that are getting me down.

All those coat hangers with no dresses on them.

A man without a woman...(repeats quietly) a man without a woman

When are we due at the banks ?

- 11:07, the National Bank of North America; - 11:22, Royal Bank of Canada;

- 11:47, the Security National and 12:40, the Sterling.

When do I see Dewitt?

He's coming from Boston this afternoon, Mr. Goldman

Call Schwab. Tell him I'm in.

For how much, Mr. Goldman?

All the way, all the way Charlie,

he's my blood brother.

You know the thing about the woman, Charlie...

Where do I go tonight ?

The opera tonight Mr. Goldman.

You are escorting the Duchess.

There are, ah... twenty-two begging letters this morning.

Ah, give them something, but not too much.

Listen, when you call Schwab tell him my limit is a hundred thousand.

I think you're right there. I think you made a substantial point.

Hey, I don't like that Carter, do you ?

No I don't, Mr. Goldman.

No, no, I don't like that Carter.

I don't trust him.

I don't trust him either.

Did you find the MacTavish lease ?

- Yes, sir here it is. - What's the date on it?

- Nineteenth of March Nineteen Forty Seven - Ah, You see? Alright, make copies.

You'll have this photostatted, eh, Jack.

Xeroxed, Charlie.

Xeroxed. Credit where credit is due. It's a Jewish invention.

Can I have that old newspaper.

Mr. Goldman, there's currency in here...

...maybe... maybe a million dollars in baggies.

Two million, Charlie. Two million.

What's the date on that newspaper ?

November 20th, 1964.

Mr. Goldman forgive me but, ah, ...

Two million dollars in cash just sitting here ?

- The New York Herald Tribune. Alav ha-shalom

Couldn't cut the mustard against the New York Times.

Credit where credit is due.

Alav ha-shalom means "rest in peace", Jack, in case you didn't know it. A Hebrew patois.

There must be a poem, somewhere Charlie, in the box, an original. Look for it.

Jack,

- did you know the Pope forgave the Jews?

Ah, forgave the Jews for what, Mr. Goldman ?

For Christ's killing.

In the movies the Romans always took the rap for that.

Well, maybe the Pope never went to the movies.

Listen to this:

The Jewish people should never be presented as one, rejected, cursed or guilty of deicide.

The council deplores and condemns the hatred and persecutions of Jews...

whether their roles in former or in our own times.

How do you like them apples Charlie?

Oh, well that was, that was very generous of them, Mr. Goldman.

You never disappoint me, my boy.

November 20th, 1964.

What do you suppose they suddenly wanted after two thousand years ?

It couldn't be money ?

Ah, you have found the poem. Read it to me.

"I am old, I am old, I have bought and I have sold.

Friday the twentieth, nineteen hundred and sixty-four.

The Pope has absolved the Jews.

I am old. I am old. I have been bought and I have been sold.

Tear it up, Charlie.

Mr. Goldman, what about the money?

Leave it for a rainy day.

Charlie!

Can we continue now with the MacTavish brochure ?

Yes, right away, Mr. Goldman.

Ah, It was in the golden spring of 1947.

Cut that "golden".

It was in the spring of 1947.

at about the time that Mr. Goldman's Pelican building was about to rise... -

Charlie, you've got two 'abouts'.

You've got two "abouts" !

Oh yeah. (sighs)

ahh... It was in the spring of 1947. At the time, without the "about" then ...

that Mr. Goldman's Pelican building was about to rise into the skies...

that the beginnings of the lease to the MacTavish Publishing Company were planted.

It's a house without a woman, Charlie.

I must have a new wife.

Yes, Mr. Goldman.

I've gotta have somebody pretty to look at.

Miss America, Miss America, that's what I need.

I'd knock her up in no time forthwith, you know what I mean ?

Still, maybe I should go for intelligence,

one of those reporters

one of those Time magazine long-leg Washington Post ...

an articulate somebody

with a face , for Christsake,

someone with bones .. somebody aristocratic.

Is Miss America in town ?

I could find out.

Nevermind.

Babies. I ought to have babies.

Go on, go on...

Ah ... that the beginnings of the lease to the MacTavish Publishing Company were planted."

You don't plant beginnings, you plant seeds.

Mr. Goldman walked into the lobby of the 400 Lexington Avenue building

He crossed the lobby to the cigar counter.... where he purchased.... R aus !

Jack! Jack ! JACK !

What is it, Mr. Goldman?

Cognac, Jack. No, bourbon.

Make it Jack Daniel's !

In my great dream do I know what I am doing ?

What was it, Mr. Goldman?

My father... pushing a pretzel cart.

Nobody's going to say:

"Mr. Goldman, your father was murdered in a shower in Auschwitz...

in 1943, at the age of seventy,

so he couldn't be pushing pretzel cart on 5th Avenue" ?

Well, what could I expect ?

Even He was denied thrice before the cock crowed.

Shall I go on with the brochure, Mr. Goldman ?

No. I have to think this out.

'You a Panther, Jack ?

You a Muslim ?

No ....?

It don't matter you know.

No sweat, even better.

More protection for me that way.

But Nobody is after you, Mr. Goldman.

Are you sure?

Where will you be on that day ?

I'm white and rich.

That's the name of the game, ain't it ?

Well, the money comes from the Arabs anyway doesn't it ?

I heard it comes from playing the numbers.

(German language is heard briefly, Fatherland... then indistinct

Jack !

Jack... ! - (Charlie asks for help with him) - Help me...

Mea culpa, dans mann

Mea maxima culpa.

God, Why do I live ?

I have built a city of rock.

A juiceless city

fabricated of the bleached skulls of pterodactyls.

Send me a testimonial, God of the Hebrews.

Was I right ?

Was I wrong ?

Say something !

What's the matter today Mr. Goldman ?

Nothing, doctor. I never felt better.

The Pope's put me right on, y'know-what-I-mean ?

Have you taking the medicine I prescribed ?

Don't patronize me, doc.

Patients you can do it to on the examining table.

I'm not a gynecologist.

Super Block, I salute you.

Isn't that a gorgeous city ? Look at all my palaces, ! My temples.

Which of my palaces do you prefer, doc?

The one that appeals to me the most is the one at 85th and Lincoln .....

You know I remember them all. All my children.

I shared Scott Fitzgerald's bed.

I sat naked with him in the Astor bar.

I, who enjoy the enviable and austere reputation of a long-established builder,

was the friend of Scotty and Zelda, the hedonists.

Scotty and I swam in Zelda's panties...

in the Pulitzer Fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel.

I had the pink, he had the purple.

I didn't know you knew the Fitzgeralds

Oh yes, indeedie. We drove on the roofs of our landaus...

from Broadway down to Washington Square.

Call me a liar, Charlie...

Then up through Harlem, where they all threw tickertape.

And we finished at Childs' at 55th and 57th for breakfast.

Will you take your medicine now, Mr. Goldman ?

Of course, anytime.

Why didn't you suggest it before ? Go right ahead.

- That was my brochure you were quoting from before, Mr. Goldman.

Thank you for remembering it.

- I think we should send your brochure to the Pope, Charlie.

I mean it. It is really a piece of art. Now, sing for me.

Move me, render me, rape my senses. Sing my favorite song.