Desk Set Page #10

and pay an extra fare.

Oh, there's my phone.

So what?

Shouldn't somebody

be answering the phone?

Yes, dear. Go right ahead.

Hello?

Huh?

Does the king of the what

drive an automobile?

The Watusis. Would you mind

spelling that, please?

W- A-T-U-S-l-S.

Oh.

What are Watusis?

King Solomon's Mines?

Oh, the tall natives

that were in the movie.

And you want to know if the king

drives an automobile?

Where would I find that?

Oh, the Herald Tribune.

Well, just hold on. Hold the phone.

I'll get that for you.

Hello? Yes.

L- I don't quite...

Would you mind repeating that, ple...

Oh, Mr. Sumner, would you mind

taking this, please?

- I'm on the other phone.

- Oh. Sure. Sure. Where is everybody?

- Here we are, Mr. Sumner.

- Huh?

He... Hello.

What is the information you wanted?

Corfu?

All available statistics on Corfu,

Miss Warriner.

Yes, sir.

We're getting that information for you.

Just hang on.

"The Herald Tribune, November 10, 1950,

page 39." What is this?

Oh, I had a question on the other phone

about the king of the Watusis.

That's wrong information.

Hello? Now, uh, what was

the information you wanted?

Peg, Tribune index,

last four back copies.

Let's show him what people can do.

Sylvia, Corfu.

Well, as far as we know, it's the

Herald Tribune, November 10, 1950.

I'll tell you what

you'll get on that date...

a review of the movie

King Solomon's Mines.

- The other phone, Mr. Sumner!

- Hang on. Hang on.

- What's the matter with everybody?

- As if you didn't know.

What... Hello.

Well, ju-just be patient.

We're trying to get

the information for you.

Uh, hang on, will you?

Corfu, Miss Warriner.

- It's coming out now.

- Hang on. Hang on.

"Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

has sent its color cameras and crew...

into Kenya, East Africa, and is coming

up with a whopping good picture."

Yes. I could see

that picture again.

- This is the wrong classification.

- I'm sorry, sir.

How are we doing on Corfu?

"Introduced into England

by William the Conqueror...

A bell rung every evening."

Not "curfew,"

Miss Warriner, "Corfu."

I'm terribly sorry.

I didn't understand the spelling.

Sylvia, give 'em Corfu.

"The island of Corfu is off the coast of

Albania near the mouth of the Adriatic.

Scenery beautiful,

climate pleasant, soil fertile...''

Let's see what

little Emmy has to say.

- Hello!

- What the devil is this?

It's the poem,

"Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight."

Isn't that nice?

"Cromwell will not come till sunset,

"and her lips grew strangely white...

"as she breathed the husky whisper,

curfew must not a-ring tonight."

- Mr. Sumner, what can I do?

- Nothing.

You know you can't interrupt EMMARAC

in the middle of a sequence.

- Yes, but, Mr. Sumner...

- Quiet! Just listen.

"She had listened

while the judges read,

"without a tear or sigh,

at the ringing of the curfew,

Basil Underwood must die."

Uh, how long does this go on?

That old poem has

about 80 stanzas to it.

- Where are we now?

- "She has reached the topmost ladder.

"O'er her hangs the great dark bell,

"awful is the gloom beneath her

like the pathway down to hell.

"Lo, the ponderous tongue is swinging.

'Tis the hour of curfew now,

"and the sight has chilled her bosom,

stopped her breath and paled her brow.

"Shall she let it ring? No, never!

"Flash her eyes with sudden light,

"as she springs and grasps it firmly...

curfew shall not ring tonight!"

- They hung up, and I know another one.

- I got it.

"Out she swung, far out,

the city seemed a speck of light..."

King Watusi does drive

a specially built 1954 Pontiac.

He bought it with the money he got

making the movie. You're welcome.

''There twixt heaven and earth

suspended as the bell swung to and fro,

and her heart..."

Good heavens!

What have you done now?

- I don't know! I don't know!

- There, now, calm down.

You know you have to tell me.

L- I can't fix it unless I know...

I don't know what I did!

I don't know.

- It's your machine, not mine!

- Is this supposed to be smoldering?

- Don't you touch that machine!

- Now, now, stop crying.

Crying won't help it

just because you made a stupid mistake.

- Stupid?

- Yes. Or asinine, if you prefer.

There's nothing wrong

between me and EMMARAC.

Ever since I got here, you've done

nothing but try to sabotage me!

You all hate me!

I've been forced to work in an

atmosphere of hatred and suspicion!

It's all your doing.

You did it!

You did it, and you're

just as bad as they are!

I don't know what I did to the machine!

At this point, I don't care!

I have to stop this thing

and try to figure out what she did.

Would this have something

to do with it?

Yes. Yes. Thanks.

- Has anybody got a little piece of wire?

- How about this?

Oh, that's fine. Fine. Thank you.

I hope he can't fix it.

Peace.

It's wonderful.

The human element...

entirely unpredictable.

- Mr. Sumner, this is for you.

- Me?

Sign here, please.

Well, this is my last pickup.

So I'd better say good-bye.

Oh, Kenny, not you, too!

Did you invent some kind of

a machine that carries mail?

What do you mean?

Isn't anybody going to

answer a telephone?

- You forget. We don't work here anymore.

- You don't work here?

I don't understand.

What did you do?

- Somebody hand me a blunt instrument.

- What did we do?

"Good night, sweet prince."

I'm not even on the payroll!

Wait, let me get this stra...

- Did you all get fired?

- Right.

- Why?

- Why? Why, indeed.

I can tell you what the grapevine says.

- It's that big merger.

- What do you know about the merger?

It's in the afternoon paper.

We're joining with the Atlantic Network.

- So they're letting most of us out.

- I know all about the merger.

That wasn't meant to have people fired.

It was supposed to do just the opposite!

What?

Hello. Get off this line, will ya?

It's urgent. This is Mr. Sumner.

- I want to speak to Azae.

- You want to talk to Mr. Azae?

He's been trying to reach you! What's

the matter with everyone down there?

- Yes?

- Azae, you broke a promise to me.

Do you know everybody

down here in Research has been fired?

The whole darn building's been fired!

That crazy fool machine of yours

in Payroll went berserk this morning...

and gave everybody a pink slip!

No kidding.

Oh, but that... that's impossible.

It's impos...

It just couldn't happen.

All right. Sure.

Sure. Right away.

- What? What?

- EMMARAC down in Payroll. Mistake.

- What mistake?

- It fired everybody in the building.

- Some mistake!

- You mean we're not really fired?

- No, nobody's fired.

- Oh, boy, was that a close shave!

If we're not fired, what's going to

happen when EMMARAC takes over?

- Yes, what?

- EMMARAC is not going to take over.

It was never intended to take over.

It was never intended to replace you.

It's here to free your time for research.

It's here to help you.

- Why didn't you say so?

- Because of your darn grapevine.

They didn't want that Atlantic stock

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