look away.
Can't munch popcorn.
That would be rude.
Do you like
the theater?
No.
Oh, I adore
the theater.
Only alive onstage.
I'll teach you.
We'll see some Ibsen,
hmm.
If the republicans
haven't outlawed him by now.
Ha-ha! You're not a republican,
are you? Couldn't abide that.
How did you vote in '32?
Well, I didn't.
You must!
It's your sacred franchise.
Hmm.
[the Benny Goodman quartet's
"Avalon" playing]
Heard you were wooing
Ginger Rogers. What about that?
Ah, she's, uh,
just a friend.
Ha! Men can't be friends
with women, Howard.
They must possess them
or leave them be.
It's a primitive urge
from caveman days.
Ah.
It's all in Darwin.
Hunt the flesh,
kill the flesh, eat the flesh.
That's the, uh,
male sex all over.
Excuse me?
Well, if you're deaf,
you must own up to it.
Get a hearing aid.
Or see my father.
He's a urologist,
But it's all tied up
inside the body, don't you find?
Mmm.
Me, I keep healthy.
I take seven showers
a day to keep clean.
Also, because I'm
What's so vulgarly referred to
as "outdoorsy."
Well, I'm not outdoorsy.
I'm athletic. I sweat.
There it is. Now we both know
the sordid truth.
I sweat,
and you're deaf.
Aren't we a fine pair
of misfits?
Three.
Noble effort.
So I suppose
you're wooing me now?
Oh, well.
Not enough.
Not enough.
These rivets have to be
completely flush.
I want every screw
and joint countersunk.
I want no wind resistance
on the fuselage.
She has got to be clean, Odie.
Clean. Understand?
Okay, Howard.
I don't know
what else to tell you.
Howard:
Well, what have you got for me?
Man:
The thing is,
TWA needs a new plane,
a modern plane.
Oh, yeah? What kind of plane?
Okay.
Dc-3 has 21 daytime seats
and 14 overnight berths.
Something bigger?
Try 50 seats with
a ceiling of 12,000 feet.
No. No, 20,000.
Think about it, Jack.
What does 20,000 feet give you?
Less turbulence.
Right, because
it's above the weather.
Jack, we wanna fly
above the weather.
Only one percent of
the American population
Has ever set foot
on a commercial airliner.
Why? Because they're scared to
death, Jack, and they should be.
I mean, 7000 feet is bumpy
as shit. You know that.
We build a plane
that flies above the weather,
We could get every man,
woman and child in this country
To feel safe up there.
An airplane
with the ability to fly
Into the substratosphere...
Across the country.
Across the world.
Now, that is the future.
You with me?
Yeah.
Shoot straight with me now.
I don't wanna get into all this
If your board doesn't have
the balls for it.
Would they support us?
I don't know.
They're tight bastards.
Well, what's
your financial picture?
Not great.
Last year's deficit?
Seven hundred
and seventy thousand.
What's it selling at?
About $8 a share.
That's the lowest
it's been, huh?
I could do that.
Do what?
Buy it.
You wanna buy the airline?
For crying out loud, Jack.
We don't want a bunch of
damn pencil pushers
Gettin' in the way of us
makin' our plane, do we?
Gimme brass tacks, now.
What does controlling interest
in TWA cost me?
Call it 15 million.
[whistles]
That is a chunk of change, huh?
Yeah.
You call Noah Dietrich.
You have him start buying.
Howard, hold on.
Are you sure? You wanna think
about it for five minutes?
Hell, Jack,
I've got a tiger
by the tail here.
I ain't gonna
let it go.
[band playing "happy feet"]
Maitre d':
Good evening, Mr. Hughes.
Welcome.
Your table is ready.
How goes the aviation,
Mr. Hughes?
Howard:
Oh, just fine, Pete.
I'm so glad.
Good evening,
Mr. Hughes. Madame.
It's "miss."
Miss. The usual, Mr. Hughes?
Please. Yeah.
And may I recommend, for
the lady, our clementine soup
Followed by roast wild duck
with currant glaze
And poached pears
in Rose sauce.
It's truly divine.
Yeah. That sounds fine.
Your kind of, uh,
joint, is it?
Wouldn't have thought.
Yeah, well, they're open late.
I go to a hot