- Good morning, Mr. Kirby.
- Good morning.
- Good morning, A.P.
- Good morning.
Good morning.
- No pictures.
- New York Times, Mr. Kirby.
We'd like a statement
on the business outlook.
The newspapers should know that
Mr. Kirby never issues any statements.
Come on, come on.
I got your telegram, Mr. Kirby.
They're all waiting in your office.
Good.
Hello, A.P.
- You're looking well.
- How was the trip?
- Hi, Dad.
- I'm glad to get home.
- Tony, how are you?
- Good.
- How's your mother?
- Fine.
Good, i nearly sent for you.
I thought you might like the White House.
Sorry you didn't.
- How do you like being vice president?
- Painless so far.
He still talks
as if he were having a tooth yanked.
- What happened in Washington?
- What did you find out?
- How do we stand?
- Get me some bicarbonate of soda.
How do we stand, A.P.?
Well gentlemen, there will be no interference
from the powers that be.
- There won't?
- Are you sure?
What about the senator
with the anti-trust complex?
I said there'd be no interference.
We're going ahead exactly as we planned.
It'll be the largest individual monopoly
in the world gentlemen, if we're smart.
Particularly now that Ramsey is lined up.
- Ramsey do that, that's impossible.
- The administration'd never stand for that.
- We'd control every type of war material.
- That's exactly it, gentlemen.
With the world going crazy,
the next big move is munitions.
And Kirby and Company are going to cash in on it.
It's unbelievable.
A war wouldn't be possible
anywhere without us.
A.P. , if i know Ramsey, he'll never let himself
be absorbed by anybody.
- Oh, he won't?
- No.
We'll see if he will
when i hand him a little surprise.
I own every inch of the 12 blocks
that completely surround the Ramsey factories.
- News to us!
- We certainly didn't know anything about that.
So, how is he going to fulfill his contracts
without us?
You'd better get busy.
Complete all your negotiations with the others.
- I'll handle Ramsey myself.
- We'll hop right to it.
I have a meeting with my nitrate group
this afternoon.
Good.
$10,000 a year for doctors
and I'm still taking this stuff.
- Well, son, what do you think about it?
- Don't ask me.
You know how my cockeyed sense of value is.
Get me that sour-faced real estate agent
on the phone. What's his name?
- Blakely.
- Yeah. Yeah.Private line.
- Dad, how do you feel?
- Rotten. It's my stomach.
I thought so.
These trips to Washington have me jittery.
But it's the last one.
From now on, they come to me.
Tony, do you realize there won't be a bullet,
gun or cannon made in this country without us?
Now, Dad, don't tell me
you've forgotten the slingshot market.
Mr. Blakely on the phone.
Hello, Blakely. This is A.P. How's it going?
You what? What trouble?
Now, wait a minute. Don't bite my head off.
I've got all 12 blocks, everything...
...with the exception of one little lot
and i can't get the man to sell.
Those 12 blocks are absolutely useless to me
unless i get every inch of them.
I'm up against some kind of an old crank.
His house isn't worth over $25,000.
I've already offered him $50,000,
but he's standing pat.
If you can't get it with money
there are some other ways.
That's up to you. Now, remember this, Blakely :
Unless you buy up the whole 12 blocks,
you won't get a penny commission.
That man has got ice water in his veins.
The description fits only one man.
I've simply got to get that property, Bill.
You can't force a man
to sell his home, John.
I've got to. I'll make him sell
if i have to drive him out with stink bombs.
Listen, a fortune has been invested
in those 12 blocks.
Behind it is one of the most powerful men
in the country, and a silly old man...
...with that silly little house
is holding up the whole business.
- Now, how do you like that?
- Excuse me, John, but i think it's great.
What did he say when you offered him
the $50,000 for his place?
I'm