Executive Suite Page #4

every inch of every production line.

And I didn't need the boy wonders

and slide-rule experts to show me how.

You really think you'll be able

to say goodbye to it, Jesse?

I would've told Bullard tonight,

but he didn't get back from New York.

Monday.

Remember when you used

to bring him home to dinner?

The two of you would sit up

half the night talking.

A long time ago.

Sure that isn't what's bothering you?

...officials have just

cleared up the five-hour-old mystery

of the identity of the unknown man...

Will you get some music, Sara?

...who dropped dead in the center

of the city's financial district.

Don.

Why do we do this to each other?

- It's my fault.

- No, it's mine.

Small boy stuff.

I'm selfish.

I'm only interested in loving you.

Never stop.

I'll fight anything, anyone, even you,

if I think it'll make you

into someone I can't go on loving.

- You know something?

- What?

Mr. Walling, there's a man on the phone,

a reporter from the paper.

No. Not now, no statement.

It's Bullard. He's dead.

Oh, no.

Dead.

We were hating him,

and all the time he was lying there dead.

Darling, don't.

He was a great man.

The greatest man I've ever known.

Larry, let me see

those Julia Tredway pictures

we got the night

her old man Jumped out of the Tower.

Hello, is this

the residence of Jesse Grimm?

May I speak with him, please?

Joe, tell UP if they call once more...

Is there any way I can reach him?

- Now, what about Miss Tredway?

- Getting her right now.

Be careful what you write

about her and Bullard. That's libel.

Hello?

Yes, this is she.

As reorganized under Bullard's leadership,

Tredway Corporation rose to become

the nation's third-largest manufacturer

of fine furniture.

A very Bullard would have been 57 on...

Excuse me.

Got Fred pretty hard.

Well, you know how they were.

You realize what this means, don't you?

- For Fred?

- He'll be president of the company.

Dear.

There's nothing you can do for him now.

You've got to think of yourself.

You worked for it, Fred, 29 years of it.

You've earned it.

You have a right, and so have I.

You gave your whole life,

lived in his shadow.

If it hadn't been for you,

Avery Bullard would never...

Oh, Edith, Edith, please.

We've waited a long time.

I want something for those years.

I want us to be paid back!

Excuse me. Mr. Walling is here.

Don, he'll need your help.

It's incredible. Incredible.

I thought you'd want

to get over to the Tower.

Yes, that's right.

I guess I'll have to get

on top of things right away.

Let's go.

- Good night, Edith.

- Good night.

Miss Martin...

If there's anything more

you need to fill out your story,

Just get in touch with Lee Ormand here.

Thank you very much, Mr. Shaw.

Fred, Don, it's good you came down.

Perhaps you can make

some suggestions here.

I've roughed out a plan with Lee

for handling the news,

but it's possible we missed something.

First of all,

I've taken the liberty of ordering

the immediate release

of the earnings report.

I didn't authorize that.

Well, I'm sure you'd agree that it's not

only wise, but necessary.

Why?

Served up cold,

the news of Mr. Bullard's death

would hit Tredway's stock pretty hard

at Monday's opening.

By countering with the good news

of our increased earnings,

we'll not only check the decline,

but send Tredway stock up

quite handsomely.

It's not a bad way

to start a new management, is it?

And there'll be a special release for the

Times, Tribune and Wall Street Journal,

and a follow-up for the evening

and Sunday papers.

The same basic story,

but with a stronger company slant,

will be sent to the trades and

the morning papers in our factory cities.

Lee will telephone the business editors

of Time and Newsweek.

That pretty much takes care

of the first-priority stuff.

Anything I've missed?

I'll follow through on

everything, Mr. Shaw. Gentlemen.

I hope Ormand there isn't handling this

like some publicity story.

I'm quite confident we can rely

on his good taste and Judgment.

Don't you think so, Don?

In a situation like this,

you can't be too careful.

That's why I got Ormand

down here right away.

As a matter of fact,

I almost didn't call him.

I was sure somebody

must've thought of it before I did.

Apparently, no one did.

I have made all the other arrangements.

The funeral will be Monday at 4:30,

and I've asked...

No, it won't!

The funeral will be at 2:00.

- At St. Martin's?

- At St. Martin's, yes.

Perhaps I was misinformed.

When I checked the church calendar,

I found a wedding scheduled for 2:00.

Something can be done about the church.

There's another point I had in mind.

The highest proportion

of older factory workers,

those who might want to attend the

funeral, are found in the 7:00 to 3:00 shift.

What difference does it make?

The factories will be closed anyway.

- For the day?

- Yes, for the day.

I suppose all you're thinking of

is the money it'll cost.

Not as a first consideration,

but I did happen to recall

Mr. Bullard pointing out

at the time of Fitzgerald's death

that a paid holiday would represent a loss

to the company of approximately $87,000.

And that figure, of course,

was before the last wage raise.

It'd be somewhat more

at the current rates.

There's another consideration,

minor perhaps,

but it did seem worth taking into account.

The 4:
30 time would make it

more convenient

- to close our showroom...

- Convenient!

...during the funeral.

- That's always been your attitude, Shaw.

To make everything as convenient

as possible for yourself.

Even Mr. Bullard's death has to

fit into one of your charts.

I don't rate that, Alderson.

I don't rate that at all.

I have only one interest,

the good of this company.

Don.

Tell me, am I wrong, or did the old boy

seem a little shaky Just then?

- I know he hasn't been well.

- Don't you think he has a right to be?

You know he was closer to Bullard

than the rest of us.

Don, I was careful

to take that into account.

Surely you saw there was every reason

for me to be annoyed at his attitude,

and so I did my best not to show it.

- Why don't we Just skip it?

- Don,

I wish you wouldn't feel that way.

You particularly.

Why me particularly?

Well, after all, we know things haven't

been run too perfectly around here.

That's one of the reasons I've often wished

we could work more closely together.

And frankly,

I'd hoped that now I could, well,

count on your support.

I've always felt that you and I shared

a certain community of interest.

In your own words, Shaw,

I have only one interest around here,

the good of this company.

Erica.

Erica.

I'm sorry.

- I'm terribly sorry.

- Now, don't be.

Don't ever be sorry

for feeling the way you do about him.

Fred?

Sorry, Don. Made a mess of it.

Oh, look, Fred, nobody expected...

You were disappointed in me,

I was disappointed in myself.

I thought I could do it, but I can't.

Look, nothing's settled.

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