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and doesn't know it.

Come on, now. It's not that bad.

No?

Roy, I salute you.

Borough National's your masterpiece.

Well, we may have to tighten our belt.

Try it around your neck.

Okay.

- I'll call Emery. You can bail out.

- No, I took this trip without a parachute.

- This is when the fun begins.

- Smith, this is not some sort of game.

Yes, it is. That's exactly what it is.

You keep talking about a system, Roy.

That's your problem.

You can't beat the system,

but you can win a game.

- How?

- First, we have to find a way...

...to get some profit in here now.

Just 3 or 4 million...

...so we can meet that dividend

and give ourselves a little time to breathe.

A nice, hungry customer

so we can give him a big, fat loan.

Say, a couple 100 million.

- Collect the commission.

- Where are we gonna get the money?

I'll find the money.

What we need right now is a customer.

We really need a company even more

in the shithouse than we are.

If that's possible.

Sit down, Roy.

Talk to me about

the Winterchem Petrochemical Corporation.

We're loaned out to them to the legal limit.

No matter how hungry they are,

we can't give them a thing.

Not even lunch?

I'll start with what you're dying to hear.

We don't need to borrow another dime.

Well, I don't know what to say.

All we have to do is scale down a little.

Think in more modest terms,

and we should weather the storm.

I don't think it makes any sense at all.

This is wrong. You can't cut back on this

company and expect it to ever grow again.

The replacement cost

would be astronomical.

We're grateful for your interest

in Winterchem.

All the public relations

you've put in for the company.

And I know how you must feel,

especially now that Charlie's gone.

Henry, don't patronize me.

You know where we went wrong. We let the

competition walk away with the technology.

Instead of cutting,

we must invest in R & D.

Keep the plants going

until new products are developed.

- Financed how?

- We'll just get ourselves a moneymaker.

There's a small petrochemical plant

in Spain at Valencia.

They're in place.

Their balance sheet looks real good.

And they're for sale. We'd have to invest

in some updating and a sure feedstock.

If we get it, we'll be buying ourselves

a real cash-flow machine.

I hear you, but that kind of capital

is simply not available.

Sorry, good people. I'm running late.

Roy, fill me in on the rest of this later.

Ms. Winters.

- Henry.

- Delighted to have met you.

- Warner.

- Good to see you.

That's a hell of a fella. I think

we're gonna enjoy working with him.

Let me speak with Lee Winters, please.

She's at the far corner table.

Lee, you're gonna be opening

the Palm Beach house soon?

Sorry, Mrs. Winters, a call for you.

Thank you. Excuse me, I'm sorry.

Yes, this is Mrs. Winters.

How good are you

at keeping a straight face?

Because your Valencia deal

happens to be full of holes.

Helen, I can't talk now.

I'm at a luncheon meeting.

- Lf you have some messages...

- Try this on Helen.

Number one, what about

currency translation?

A Spanish plant has peseta obligations.

If the peseta goes up...

...your dollar earnings won't be worth

a plate of frijoles.

Two, how about labor stability?

Half the country's busy slipping bombs

in the pockets of the other half.

Three, Winterchem's tapped out

with us at Borough National.

How do you figure to fund

the acquisition?

I see.

Is that all, Helen?

Sorry, but I didn't wanna embarrass you

in front of Tweedledum and Tweedledee...

...since it's obvious that you wanna be

the new chairman of the board.

No, absolutely not. Would you tell him

I'm out of town, please?

I'm sorry. Some people

just don't understand business.

Absolutely.

Of course we're gonna show a profit.

One, their currency may be unstable, but

they have to sell in international markets...

...so our dollar wouldn't be affected.

Two, the Spanish labor market

happens to be relatively strike-free...

...which you would have known

if you'd bothered to check, as I did.

Three, there are other banks that recognize

a sound investment when they see one.

As for that "chairman

of the board" remark...

...Mr. Smith, I don't know

what you're talking about.

How much stock did you say

her husband left her?

You were saying?

I thought we ought to have a drink on it.

On what exactly?

Your future at Winterchem.

Scotch, if you don't mind, with a twist.

Mr. Smith, you must have me confused

with an executive.

They tolerated me on the board

because of Charlie.

But now that he's gone, I'm just

an ex-movie star coasting into the sunset.

Not someone throwing them

a curve ball at lunch...

...about a Spanish petrochemical plant.

I'd say you coast pretty good.

Where'd you learn the moves?

Charlie involved me a lot in the business.

And when I was an actress,

I had my own company.

I made my own deals.

Charlie always says I have...

Charlie used to say I had good instincts.

Well, we're playing the classic scene,

aren't we?

The banker and the widow.

I'm sorry. I guess this is all too soon.

Of course it's too soon.

Everything's too soon, isn't it?

The company's in trouble too soon.

Charlie died too soon.

So what?

It'd be funny, wouldn't it?

If the banker helped the widow

walk off with the chairmanship.

Hilarious.

You mind telling me how?

- Your Valencia deal.

- I thought you said it was full of holes.

I thought you said

you didn't wanna be chairman.

Too bad because Ackerman's

just blowing smoke...

...about all this so-called support.

Nobody really wants to sell off.

Nobody wants to be on the board

of a shrinking company.

You nail that deal, you have a real shot.

Providing they took me seriously.

Come up with the 500 million to buy

that plant, and they'll take you seriously.

All you need is the okay

from Ackerman to go after it.

And I'm in a position to put you

together with the money.

There are risks involved.

I've never been afraid of risks.

That was Scotch with a twist.

For one thing, I'm not gonna get the okay.

Aren't you the man that told me

Winterchem...

...was borrowed out with the bank?

I'm the man.

- Where's the money supposed to come from?

- Private placement. Outside source.

- Direct?

- Through an agent I know.

We'd have to negotiate with his people.

Probably be a joint venture if they put up

the capital and share the profits.

And the bank collects 1 percent

for setting it up.

On 500 million, that's 5 million profit.

No risk to you.

You have a very profitable

sense of humor, Mr. Smith.

You wouldn't deny me a little incentive,

would you?

No.

Was that on the rocks or straight up?

Of course, we do have to handle her

very carefully.

Yes. She is sitting on the largest block

of company stock.

If she sells her stock to some outfit,

we could all be out on our collective ass.

I say to hell with her damn stock.

What's she gonna do, unload

600,000 shares? That's her meal ticket.

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