Park Row Page #5

Miss Hackett, I'm only interested

in the progress of journalism.

Of course!

I would give you this machine

for nothing...

...if 'The Star' were a great newspaper...

It's not great.

It's not a newspaper.

It's a cheap collection of words...

...garbage that you call journalism...

...that will die.

What are you...

A parrot or an inventor?

If you have mechanical genius, use it.

You're too brilliant a man

to ape Mr Mitchell...

...and repeat his little

paragraphs of envy.

I like you Mr Mergenthaler...

I respect you.

And I want you.

But understand, that unless 'The Star'

gets this machine...

All your hard work

will be buried on Park Row.

Without a trial or a tombstone.

Miss Hackett...if I need a tombstone...

friend Mitch will buy it for me.

Like he bought one for you.

That's much better...

makes you look much younger...

Don't you think so, Mr Vandenberg?

Did he turn you down, Charity?

Who'd turn her down?

Obviously she didn't come over here

to visit our steam press.

She could've come over to visit ME.

She's not that interested in

morals of an editor.

I have a sneaking suspicion she just failed

in attempt to shanghai Mr Mergenthaler.

- Is the editor here?

- I'm the editor.

I want to give a penny

for the Statue of Liberty.

Thank you very much...

what's your name?

Martha Downs

Poppa said I was a good girl

for giving my penny.

Rusty...you give Miss Downs

a 'Globe' receipt for 1 penny.

For the Statue of Liberty fund.

Miss Hackett...would you care to donate

a substantial sum?

Not that I elect 'The Star'...

...but at least there was some privacy

for a man to think.

Those separate little cells you've been

working in, are all wrong.

We'll have a real editorial department...

with everybody in one office.

And I can see what's going on.

Sit down, Jeff.

Got plenty of room?

That's your copy desk...

From now on you're in 'The Slot'.

When are you going to get

a telegraph, Mitch?

It's a lot more important than

taking down these walls...

We need a wire service.

I was over at Associated Press...

You know what they want

for their service, for a week?

$300!

Well, the AP's worth it.

Sure..sure...I was just thinking...

If I had $300 what would I do with it?

I'd get myself a lot of good newsprint...

the finest paper money could buy.

And I'd come out with a REAL headline...

Big...bold...120point

Where would you get

such big type, Mitch?

I'd make it...

Cut it out of wood myself.

It'd have to be a big story.

Mr Davenport...when you ran a story...

Why do you always put '30'

at the bottom?

30 is a symbol to all printers...

That means it's the end of the story.

There isn't any more.

Is it hard to tell with the story?

Well, if you see a dog

running down the street...

...with a can tied to its tail...

...that's nothing.

But if it stops...

...turns around...

...unties the can...

...and throws it away...

...that's a story.

I'd like to have a dog like that.

You wanna bet?

You got a lot of them right here...

Type lice...

They are little teeny-weeny insects

and they live right inside here.

And they get fed by the ink

that sticks to the type.

You never see them, Rusty?

They have a lot of fun

and play games...

Can I look at them?

I don't know...

If Mr Mitchell think you got ink

in your blood, you can look.

Can I look at them, Mr Mitchell?

What do YOU think, Mr Davenport?

Why do we put 30

at the end of copy?

Because it's the end of a story.

There ain't no more.

Alright, Mr Angelo...

let him look.

Look down, Rusty...way down...

Now you're a real printer's devil!

There always will be type lice...

even if my machine will work.

There'll always be type lice.

He's got to do something

about increasing circulation.

A lot of people have tried to figure out

new methods of selling papers.

I've been thinking about fish.

Yeah..they got fish carts out there...

They can sell fish right on the street.

What's fish got to do with newspapers?

Why not sell papers from a pushcart...?

Have a stand.

Newsstand...a 'Globe' newsstand.

I do not write words to be peddled

from the street, from a pushcart, like fish.

What do you think, Mr Davenport?

Well I think there's sufficient wood in here

for at least 3 newsstands.

You mind, Mr Leach?

No...might be able

to squeeze 4 out of it.

We can use the room, anyway.

There is that Frenchman...

he's going into "The Star."

That's the Frenchman who's connected

with the statue, alright.

Maybe Hackett's gonna give him

a big cheque for the pedestal.

If she'd just pull the curtains,

we could see what was going on.

C'est les bonne manires n'xistent pas!

Vous...vous les auriez en franais.

Mademoiselle, vous me confondez...

c'est vous que je veux dire.

Mais, c'est trs difficile, je crois...

Qu'on vais, gentil homme,

pour associe tre un hypocrite.

Pardon...je ne comprend pas de tout!

C'est du camouflage.

Du camouflage!

Camouflage!

She's going to tell the whole world

that my country gave America the statue...

...just to camouflage a loan!

Just a minute, Mr Dessard...

Did she say WHEN she was going

to tell the world?

O?

Not 'where'...WHEN!?

WHEN is she going to tell the world?

You've got to be exact, Mr Dessard...

the newspaper has to be factual.

Now, it's a very important story...

but it's no good unless we get the facts!

Demain...tomorrow!

You're sure?!

Oui...oui...TOMORROW!

TOM...get a pen and paper...

You're going to draw a picture

of a beautiful woman.

I want an extra 10,000 copies

on the street this morning!

They're loading the wagons right now.

You'll be the first paper out today.

Oh, you look pleased

with the editorial, Mr Spiro!

Changed your mind

about being factual?

I'm looking at 'The Globe.'

He's not only beat you

with your own story...

...but he's been out on the street

for 15 minutes.

And there's something else new...

Newsstands...and every one of them

is marked 'The Globe'.

How was the banquet?

That was news.

I wrote down a few highlights.

The choice is yours.

AFL...the American Federation of Labor

It was organised tonight.

The Printer's Union's joined it.

The other side of the cuff, Mitch...

That's an interesting item, too.

ANPA...

American Newspaper Publishers Association.

It'll officially be an organisation

at the end of this year.

Got a list of the publishers?

You should've been there.

Likes of Met men like Pulitzer...

...Dana...Bennett...Reid...

...Jones of 'The Times'!

Was she alone?

I didn't think that was

important enough to notice.

Just a question.

I thought maybe she was with

some out-of-town publisher.

No, she was alone as usual.

Does that type of woman appeal to you?

Look, Mr Davenport...

You're an old man,

but you're not senile.

That's why I hired you.

You're very virile mentally.

And a question like that isn't exactly

proof of mental virility.

What DO you think of her?

I don't.

As long as you're on the subject.

There's very little I can add.

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