Pittsburgh Page #9

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Josie Winters may die?

Is that why you've come running back,

to make sure of me?

If that's cruel of me,

I'm sorry, Charles.

All right, Shannon.

You can have your divorce.

- I won't stop you.

- Markham, as time goes on...

you'll realize that retribution has a way

of overtaking people, even as clever as you.

Come, my dear.

I'll never rest 'til

I break that fellow.

I'll put him back where he was the day he came

into my office if it's the last act of my life.

This is Charles Markham calling.

Any news about Miss Winters yet?

She is?

If there's any change, will you have

Doc Powers call me, please? Thank you.

From now on, we're gonna

be together, no matter what.

No matter what.

I beg your pardon.

Isn't your name Markham?

Of the monkey business

Markhams?

I really missed you, Josie.

Dancing with you again,

it's- it's like old times.

You picked the kind

of life you want...

so go back to it

and to her...

and at least let me keep

a little respect for you.

- Hello?

- Hello, Pittsburgh.

Yeah, Doc Powers.

Yes, I heard you'd called

several times.

Well, I'm glad to be able to report

to you that Josie's out of danger.

Yes, but it will be many, many months

before she's fully recovered.

Thanks.

Thanks for calling, Doc.

Thanks to guys like you

who forgot the human element...

labor's gonna be good and solid.

You're the father of practically a thousand

new unions just because you tried to be smart.

How do you like that?

How do you like being...

a guardian angel left-handed

just because you forgot to be human?

I came to tell you things

are gonna be different.

Different? I wouldn't believe a word you

said if you swore it on a stack of Bibles.

I'm goin' whole hog for the miner.

I'm gonna make Pittsburgh...

the greatest town to work

and live in in America!

Nah. The boat sailed, Pittsburgh,

and you're not on it.

Nobody'll ever like

or trust you again.

We'll see about that.

I'll make 'em like me.

I'll cram it down their throats.

Even you'll be singing

my praises, Joe.

I don't have so good

a voice, Mr. Markham.

So it's

Mr. Markham now, eh?

There you are, something new.

The model city

of Markham, Pennsylvania.

Markham, huh? Named after?

Joe Doakes. Look at it.

For the coal and steelworkers

of Pittsburgh.

Sunshine in every room. Movies.

A hospital. A recreation center.

Practically rent-free.

The land is bought and paid for...

and ready for occupancy

in ten months, right, Thornton?

- Yes, Mr. Markham.

- How do you like it, boys?

Where do you come in, Mr. Markham?

What's your angle?

My angle?

This is all for the people.

A Christmas present

from Pittsburgh to Pittsburgh...

and no strings attached.

All you big guys are just alike.

The harder you are when you're young, the

more you think of heaven when you pass 35.

Now if you gentlemen will excuse me,

I have another appointment.

I'll have that lug fired.

Did you hear what he said?

You don't fire

newspapermen, Mr. Markham.

They always have

the last word.

As long as you rook

everybody, they like it.

Treat 'em nice,

and they start wisecrackin'.

Beg your pardon.

What's this building going up here?

That's the new hospital

Charles Markham is giving the city.

Charles Markham, the big coal

and steel man? I hear he's a great guy.

That's what he says.

But believe me, he's so crooked...

he could hide

behind a corkscrew.

Oh. Well, I hear

he does a lotta good.

Any guy that's double-crossed

all the people he has...

can't be on the up-and-up.

- Cigarette?

- Thanks.

I may be needin' this.

- Dinner is served, Mr. Markham.

- All right.

May I wish you many happy

returns of the day, sir?

You certainly may.

Thank you.

- Mike.

- Yes, sir?

Have I ever done anything

you didn't like?

Well, sir, I can, uh, I can only speak

of personal contact, sir.

In that respect you've lived up

to my highest standards.

Then you can honestly say,

man to man, that you actually like me?

Well, sir, speaking free and easy, and

man to man, I honestly would say it, sir.

You're a good, democratic guy, Mike.

I'm gonna ask a favor of you.

By all means, sir. What is it?

- Have dinner with me.

- But, Mr. Markham!

I'll be darned if I'm gonna

celebrate my birthday alone!

Cash told you once

that all the mistakes you had made...

were going to pile up and someday

fall on you like a ton of slag.

Prentiss also knew it

when he promised to break you.

And the day finally came

when Prentiss kept his promise.

And that wasn't the end

of your bad luck, Pittsburgh.

It seemed as though some special kind of justice

kept following you through the next years...

until at last you were

counting your assets with a minus sign...

and your friends on one finger.

In all those years, you'd never

seen Cash and Josie again.

In a way, I suppose,

they were grateful to you...

for indirectly you had brought them closer

together than either of them had ever dreamed.

And as the parade of years went by, you thought

often of their happiness and your troubles.

Suddenly, one day all your little troubles

became less than nothing.

The day the laughter

went out of the world.

And in the weeks

and months that followed...

the shadow of destruction spread its

darkness across the face of the earth...

until what some people called

"the impossible" happened.

I appreciate your coming down here

when I phoned you, Doc.

I'm all mixed up.

You gotta help me.

That sounds odd

coming from you, Pittsburgh.

I remember as though

it were yesterday.

I never heard a baby squawk so loud

and determined...

as though he were shouting

for everybody to hear...

"There's nothing

in the world I can't do!"

That was a long time ago.

And yet there was one thing

you never learned.

- What was that?

- Humility.

You destroyed a great company just

because you wanted to be the whole show.

Well, I've learned a lot

of things, but what can I do?

- I guess I can still fight, eh, Doc?

- I wonder.

You haven't thrown

a decent punch in years.

Always promoting. Why don't you stop

trying to be a skyrocket?

Come down to earth.

Find a spot.

In what spot do you think

I'd do the most good?

Well, there are some

problems, Pittsburgh...

that every man has gotta

solve for himself.

So long, Pitt.

- Where you goin', Barney?

- Oh.

I'm goin' over to a meeting

of the third district defense committee.

Here. I'm a senior

air raid warden.

Heh-heh. See you later, Pittsburgh.

Report at 8.00

in the morning. Name?

Charles... Ellis.

Charles Ellis.

Experience?

Coal miner.

You thought no one would know

anything about Charles Ellis...

but Josie, Joe Malneck

and I did.

And we knew it was

the start of something good.

That like black coal

on the way up to sunlight...

you too were beginning

to work out of the darkness.

No job was too hard

for you, Pittsburgh.

You were down to earth,

finding in honest work...

the first real satisfaction

you'd known in years.

It felt good to work

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