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Call Northside 777 Page #6
- APPROVED
- Year:
- 1948
- 112 min
- 160 Views
Maybe I'd better go over and talk to him.
You'd better take a shovel with ya.
You'll have to dig him up.
He died in '38.
[ All Chattering ]...
Hi.
- Hi, Mac. Off your beat, ain't ya?
Yeah, yeah, sort of.
I need some help.
Nah. Lay off of me, Mac.
The word's gone out to
keep away from you.
I've done you a lot of favors, Matt.
Is there anyplace I can find some records...
...of people that come in here
and look at the police show-ups?
Material witnesses.
Somebody might have been subpoenaed...
...to come in here and identify Wiecek.
If we kept that kind of stuff,
the books would fill Soldier's Field.
Would there be any photographs,
anything like that?
We don't take no pictures in station houses.
Press boys might get
a shot of the witnesses on the steps...
...but never inside.
Now, look, Mac,
if I'm seen talking to you...
I'm gonna be back walking my old beat.
Why not be a good guy
and don't be here when I get back.
Can I use your phone?
- Yeah. Use that line. Don't touch those.
Uh, this is McNeal.
Give me Kelly.
and see if any of our boys took pictures...
...at the Wiecek arrest in 1932.
Get someone to check the Tribune
and the rest of the papers. And listen, Kelly.
A photographer takes
maybe 10 shots, prints one of them.
I want to see the other nine.
And listen.
The Herald Examiner--
They were still
in business then, weren't they?
This is just their kind of picture.
I'll check on that myself.
- [ Buzzing ]
Hey, uh, I just thought of something.
See ya later.
[ Buzzing ]
- New City Precinct.
This is McNeal over at headquarters.
You got the book
in the Wiecek arrest, 1932?
Yeah. But we've been told
to pull it out of the files.
I'll drop over and see it.
Okay, be right over.
Right.
Yeah, I'm McNeal.
I just phoned you from headquarters.
You got that book on the Wiecek arrest?
Come in.
Thank you.
What did you find?
Wiecek was arrested
in the morning of the 22nd.
But he wasn't booked
until the afternoon of the 23rd.
Norris took his time, didn't he?
- What did you say your name was?
McNeal.
- What division?
I'm McNeal of the Chicago Times.
This is confidential information.
This is public information,
and I'm entitled to use it.
We've got our orders. You got a beef,
you talk to the state's attorney's office.
That's a good idea.
I think I will. In the meantime...
I wouldn't let anything
happen to that book if I were you.
Mac. Hey, Mac.
Hey, this is hitting him pretty hard, isn't it?
I haven't even started on him yet.
I think this whole thing stinks.
- [ Buzzing ]
Kelly speaking.
Yeah. Yes, sir.
Right away.
That's the boss.
He wants us both.
Let's go. Let's go.
Go right in, Mr. Kelly.
Mr. Palmer's waiting.
Mr. Kelly, Mr. McNeal,
I believe you know the commissioner.
How do you do, sir?
Mr. Faxon, from the state's attorney's office.
And this is Robert Winston,
representing the governor.
How do you do, sir?
Of course, you know Mr. Burns.
Mr. Kelly,
these gentlemen object...
...to our handling of the Wiecek story.
Mr. Kelly, we feel that the Times,
through you and Mr. McNeal...
...is slinging mud on one of the finest
police departments in the United States.
And specifically,
we object to your efforts...
...to arouse sympathy
for a man who killed a police officer.
We'd just like to point out, gentlemen...
...that Frank Wiecek
was convicted by a jury.
His case was reviewed
by the Supreme Court...
...and the conviction was upheld.
All these legal authorities believed
in Frank Wiecek's guilt.
Well, a long time ago,
a lot of people believed the world was flat.
Well, at this late date,
do you wish to impugn...
...the integrity of the jury and the court?
If they were wrong, yes.
Back in 1932...
...a steady stream
of convictions made good publicity.
Remember?
Frank Wiecek was found guilty,
Were you in the state's attorney's
office in 1932?
Why, uh, yes, I was, but I didn't have
anything to do with the Wiecek case.
I have no ax to grind, Mr. McNeal.
But I believe you're unnecessarily
discrediting this regime.
Furthermore, your stories...
...may be holding out
false hope of a pardon...
...to both Frank Wiecek and his mother.
I'm not so sure it's false.
- We are.
Look, up until now, what
we've printed was based...
...on interview and investigation.
We've invented nothing,
and we don't intend to.
A great deal of emotion
and color can be lent to simple facts.
The governor feels this entire matter is
undermining law and order.
But Wiecek is innocent.
It'd be criminal for us to stop now.
Well, you must remember,
Mr. McNeal...
...that another political party
was in power at that time.
We're not to blame,
but the public tars us with your brush.
You can't destroy the
confidence we've built up...
...in this regime just to sell newspapers.
It may have started like that,
but it isn't that way anymore.
Now, look, gentlemen,
believe me, this man is not guilty.
I don't know if he's guilty or not...
...but we don't want this police force
persecuted anymore.
What's the difference--
- Just a minute, gentlemen. The...
...governor wants this cleared up.
We're not asking you
to forget the man if he's innocent...
...but we don't want this dragged on and on
just to promote circulation.
We have a proposition
to offer you to settle this once and for all.
I can suggest to the governor...
...that he set up a hearing
in the Pardon Board.
If Wiecek is exonerated,
he'll get a pardon.
But if you can't clear him,
you're to drop this matter once and for all.
Is that a deal?
What do you say, Mac?
It's a deal if Mr. Palmer says so.
Okay.
It's a deal.
I'll ask the governor
to set up a special hearing next week.
- Yes, I am.
There's just one thing,
Mr. McNeal.
If you go before a pardon board
and they turn him down...
...it'll go on Wiecek's record.
Then when he's eligible for parole...
...that record may hurt his chances.
Now, mind you,
there's no regulation...
...there's no law...
...but the very fact that he was investigated
by the Pardon Board...
...and turned down...
...may have a prejudicial
effect upon his application.
What you're doing is gambling
with Wiecek's parole.
Well, that's a chance we'll have to take.
Well, gentlemen,
that's settled, then. We're agreed.
Thank you very much, gentlemen.
We'll live up to our end of the bargain.
Good-bye. Good-bye.
- Good-bye, sir.
Good-bye.
Well, you two seem to be satisfied,
but Mr. Burns doesn't seem to be.
I'm not.
As your attorney,
I think you've made a bad deal.
While I have read
the transcript of this case...
...and am familiar with some of the things
Mr. McNeal found...
I am not at all certain that we have
sufficient evidence to obtain a pardon.
But you haven't seen
all of the evidence yet, Mr. Burns.
What, for instance?
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"Call Northside 777" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Sep. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/call_northside_777_4959>.
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