The Paper Chase Page #5

Okay. Certain kinds

of contracts...

have got to be put

into writing.

Marriage contracts,

buying and selling of land...

any contract that is not

to take place within a year.

Does this cover

international law?

With holdings in

the United States. Yeah.

I failed, Hart.

I flunked every damn exam.

I don't know

what happened.

I can't tell Asheley.

Her father's got a summer job

waiting for me...

if I get the grades.

Well...

it's just

a practice exam.

You know, practice.

Doesn't really count.

Yeah.

They gave me the name

of this tutor...

so I called him up.

He told me to come over

on Saturday.

I don't suppose

you'd have time...

to come over with me,

would you?

Sure.

Just come by the dorm.

Pick me up.

Thanks.

Oh, hey, Hart.

Don't tell anybody.

Don't tell Ford.

Yeah?

I'm looking

for a William Moss.

You've come to the right

place, all right.

Moss, you've got company!

He's in the kitchen.

Moss!

What time is it?

It's ten after 10:00.

I didn't see you

at the mixer last night.

Yeah?

Sorry about that.

Couple of guys

at the door.

Yeah, back to that interview

I was telling you about.

Yeah, it's a New York firm.

See, New York people...

hate to hire people

from New York.

I'm from New York.

They want people

from the South.

Yeah, they don't have

to teach 'em manners.

Which one of you

is Brooks?

I am.

What are you

doing here?

I asked him to come.

He's in my study group.

Want me to leave?

No, no. You can stay

as far as I'm concerned.

So, you flunked every one

of your practice exams, huh?

Every one?

Uh, yeah,

every one.

That's quite

an achievement.

Oh, my God, man.

Don't look like that.

You'll be saved.

Every guy in this house...

almost flunked out

the first year.

It's not too hard

to see why.

They had broads

on the brain.

It's the worst thing

that can happen...

to a first-year

law student.

I don't suppose

that's your problem.

No, no, I'm married.

Well, the vote's

split on that.

But I've saved

all kinds.

I moved in here and saved

all these dum-dums.

They'll all graduate.

All from Harvard,

all good jobs.

I give them a little lecture

before each exam.

They go out and take it

on their own.

They remember things

for about a day or two.

They're not stupid.

Did you bring any samples

of your work?

Yeah, I brought

some notes.

Notes don't mean a thing.

Why don't you go get dressed?

Take this down.

All set?

Imagine an old woman

comes to dinner with you.

While you're mixing her drink,

she slips on an ice cube...

slides across the room...

smashing into your new

breakfast table...

demolishing it,

and killing herself.

Got that?

Yeah.

Kills herself, right?

After you've cleaned her up

off the floor...

you discover a statute

which says that homeowners...

must keep their land free

of dangerous ice...

especially, but not exclusively,

ice on their sidewalks.

And you find out that the old

lady suffered from dropsy...

a falling sickness.

So you're sued

on two accounts.

The one relying

on the statute...

and the other,

ordinary negligence.

Can they recover from you...

for having caused

the old lady's death?

Can you recover the price

of the breakfast table...

from the old bag's estate?

Write out an answer.

Take half an hour to do it.

No help from your friend.

Come back a month before exams,

and we'll go over it together.

Don't worry.

There's no possibility

of error in my analysis.

Thanks.

- Good morning, Mr. Bell.

- Good morning.

Excuse me.

I need the second series...

of the Pacific Reporter...

number 75.

It's not in the stacks...

and I was wondering if there was

someplace else I could look.

No, if it's not in the stacks,

it's not in. We don't have it.

I see. By the way,

what is this room up here?

Oh, that's where

we keep the red set.

What is the red set?

The memoranda,

the notebooks.

The first drafts of all

the professors' writings.

Do you mean that Professor

Kingsfield's original notes...

on contracts

when he was a student here...

are in that room?

Yes.

May I see

those notes, please?

I'm afraid we couldn't

allow you to do that...

unless you have

special authorization...

or unless you have

Kingsfield's permission.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Toombs.

I found something.

There's a room

above the stacks...

where they keep

all of the actual notes...

the professors took when

they were law students here.

They're just sitting there

waiting.

It's called

the red set room.

You have to have special

permission to get in there.

I want to see the notes.

I want to see Kingsfield's

notes on contracts.

Oh, no, oh, no.

I know what

you're thinking.

Jesus.

Do you realize

what this is?

This is it.

This...

This is

the unbroken chain.

This is the ageless

passing of wisdom.

Hey.

What is it?

Listen to this.

"Kingsfield, Charles W.

"Notes on contract law

in a course on contracts...

"given by Professor Willingston...

at the Harvard

Law School, 1927."

Here.

What the hell is it?

They're just notes...

and they look

just like mine.

"Questions:

"Does everybody

have a contract...

"to obey everybody

else's rights?

What is a contract?

What do you owe to others?"

Look at this.

He even doodles.

Come on, let's get

out of here.

Wait, wait.

"Can we make

a contract with God...

that is binding

to man?"

Look. Here's the

original notes he wrote...

on the article

about statute of frauds.

"After all, I am almost

the living extension...

"of the old judges.

"Where would they be

without me?

"I carry in my mind

the cases they wrote.

"Where the hell

would they be...

"if it wasn't for me?

"Who would hang

their pictures...

"if there were

no law students?

"It's hard being

the living extension...

of tradition."

- Hart.

- Yeah?

Telephone.

Hello.

Hi.

Well, it's not

very original...

but it is effective.

Want to play?

My father never misses

a Harvard-Yale game...

and he always sits

right over there.

And I once sat

on his left...

with the president

of the United States...

on his right...

and two Supreme Court

justices at his feet.

I was only 12 years old.

Where are you going?

Don't you want

to explore?

No, I want to talk.

Well, I want

to explore.

I want to talk!

Oh, come on, Hart.

Susan, please.

I want to talk.

Explore with me.

Please.

I want to talk.

No, please.

I want to talk,

Susan!

Come explore.

Susan!

I want to talk

with you.

Goddamn it.

Susan.

Susan.

Susan.

Susan.

Why the hell can't you

just do things?

Why do you have to talk

about everything?

I am trying

to do something.

I am trying

to make sense.

I want us

to be together.

Why?

What's wrong with that?

I was right.

You were born for

the married students' dorm.

You were born

for the dating bar.

I can't live like this.

I need to be organized.

Susan, I need a way of living

that I can rationalize.

This way I spend

half my time worrying.

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