Blossoms in the Dust Page #8

...to introduce your bill in the legislature

next week. "

What's that?

"The opposition, however,

is pretty strong...

...and as I have not had time

to prepare as I would wish...

...you had better come at once to Austin

and advise our committee...

...on the points you state so ardently. "

Max, I leave for Austin today.

- This afternoon.

I beg your pardon, Mrs. Gladney.

I hate to butt in this way,

but I'm in a hurry.

The name's La Verne. Bert La Verne.

Remember?

- Yes, I do.

- Come on in, Charlie.

Mrs. Gladney, I have cause to believe

you took that kid of mine...

...and turned him over to somebody

with plenty of dough.

Who is it?

That's a question I can't answer,

Mr. La Verne.

Now look here, Edna.

I know you're not running this place

for your health.

You took my kid

and sold him to somebody.

So I'd like to collect on him myself.

- I think you'd better be on your way.

- Max.

Now, who is it?

Who's got my kid?

You're wasting your time, La Verne.

Okay, Charlie. Give her the letter.

I'll see you in the morning.

But don't you see, Your Honor...

...I'm pleading for a father

and a father's rights.

Some time ago, my client...

...dazed...

...broken...

...almost out of his mind

through the death of his beloved wife...

...took his little newborn son

to Mrs. Gladney.

He asked Mrs. Gladney

to keep the child...

...until he could make a home for it

somewhere.

This, Mrs. Gladney promised to do.

My client then went to Mexico

and found work.

Hard work. In a cheap dance hall.

But he didn't mind the hours

or the humiliation...

...or even the heartbreaking exhaustion,

because he was doing it for his son.

He saved every penny he had...

...until at last he had enough money

to send for his child.

His little Frederick.

My client wrote Mrs. Gladney,

asking for the little one.

She refused.

Then we started to investigate.

And we learned that a paper

Mrs. Gladney had forced him to sign...

...the day he brought the child to her...

...had been a legal relinquishment

of the child for all time to come.

Yet even so, judge, the love my client

bears his child is great enough...

...that if he finds the boy getting along

all right, as Mrs. Gladney claims...

...he's willing to sacrifice

the only thing in life that he holds dear.

And go his way alone.

All I'm asking, judge,

is to see my little boy...

...to know he's happy.

According to the law, a parent

may demand knowledge of a child...

...only if there is any doubt

as to the environment in which it lives.

My client has such a doubt, judge.

Mrs. Gladney, you will tell

the complainant where his child is.

If you refuse, I shall be compelled

to confine you in jail for contempt of court.

I'm ready to go to jail, Your Honor.

Judge Hartford, my client is

putting up a fight in the legislature...

...that requires

her immediate presence in Austin.

Is there any way sentence

can be postponed?

If you refuse to answer,

Mrs. Gladney...

...the law insists I find you

in contempt of court.

I'm ready to go to jail.

Mr. Rader.

I have reason to believe

that I'm not qualified to try this case.

I'm going to ask that it be transferred

to another court.

For your information, Mr. La Verne...

...there's a very adequate law

against blackmail in the state of Texas.

Go on to Austin, Mrs. Gladney.

And God bless you.

This court's adjourned.

Was it the baby he adopted?

Wonderful.

We, in this country, gentlemen,

are blessed with a constitution...

...conceived in the sublime

and unshakable faith...

...that all men are created equal.

I ask you how, under that constitution...

...we can endure the law of illegitimacy

as it stands today?

How can we let little children...

...from the time they are old enough

to understand the meaning of the word...

...ponder on its dreadful implication?

Mr. President.

The law is no place

for quixotic and expensive illusions.

Mr. President.

It would cost the state of Texas

hundreds of thousands of dollars...

...for the reissuing

of old birth certificates alone.

Order. Order. Order. Order.

Chair recognizes Senator Cotton.

Mr. President.

Persons branded as illegitimate...

...must pay the same taxes

everybody does.

And yet they cannot enter the civil service

of their country.

They cannot marry

without exposing their tragedy.

They cannot have children

without passing on that shame...

...as a black and bitter heritage.

Bravo, senator.

- Mr. President. Mr. President.

The passage of this bill in Texas

would result in anarchy.

It'd leave our families,

our loved ones unprotected...

...and open to association

with creatures of shame.

If those who transgress the moral code...

...aren't punished for breaking the rules

of decency...

...what's left to hold society in check?

Do I hear correctly,

Mr. Senator? Punished?

Mr. Senator, did you say punished?

Yeah.

Order, order, order.

I declare a 10-minute recess.

Go ahead, Mrs. Gladney.

Members of the Senate may walk out

if chivalry is dead in Texas.

EDNA;

Thank you, Mr. President.

Gentlemen.

If you don't know what it means

to a mother who loves her child...

...to give it up to strangers

knowing she'll never see it again...

...never hold it in her arms...

...never hear it call her "Mother"...

...come to my home in Fort Worth

and see.

I'll show you punishment

that will haunt you all the days of your life.

I've put hundreds of little

nameless babies into respectable homes.

Fine homes.

And all of them,

without one single exception...

...are growing up to be

morally fit and strong.

Madam.

This is resolving into the old argument

of what shapes human destiny:

Heredity or environment.

That argument has never been answered yet

by the scientists.

Then ask the scientists to come to me.

I'll tell them.

I never knew a child take a wrong step...

...that couldn't be traced to the ones

who are bringing it up.

To misunderstanding.

Lack of honesty.

Lack of heart.

She's evading the issue.

If this law goes through,

it will encourage bad girls to have babies.

Bad girls don't have babies.

Gentlemen.

Life can be made

so much more beautiful by love...

...by sympathy and understanding...

...that it ever can by intolerant rules

and laws and regulations.

I've seen hearts broken.

I've seen a pure and innocent

young life...

...destroyed by the inhumanity

of this man-made law.

For it is man-made.

God has placed no dishonor

on these innocent and helpless victims.

Oh, believe me, gentlemen,

there are no illegitimate babies.

There are only illegitimate parents.

Merry Christmas Eve, Mrs. Gladney.

Here's a telegram for you.

Why, Zeke, I thought you and Cleo

had gone on to your party.

Not yet, Mrs. Gladney,

though all the nurses is gone.

If you're nervous here alone...

Oh, I'm not alone. I have little Tony.

Yes, ma'am, Mrs. Gladney.

Merry Christmas, Mrs. Gladney.

Merry Christmas.

- Here's a Christmas present for you.

- Is this for me?

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