Original subtitles

Kingsfield is the greatest professor of contract law in the world.

This is a shroud, Mr. Hart.

A burial garment.

For the dead.

I'm forming a study group.

Do you want to join?

Yeah, sure.

I'd be interested.

You're talking to yourself, aren't you?

I noticed a lot of law students end up talking to themselves.

Hart, which do you want?

Contracts. I think that is a big mistake.

I have to have a true Socratic dialogue with you.

We're off to a very poor start.

She didn't go off.

What time is it?

8.50. I'm gonna be late.

Sorry.

Yeah,

it's down the hall, third door on your left. You're late. If Kingfield's in the

classroom already, you'd better not go in.

Mr. Hart.

You recite the facts of the case of Hawkins versus McGee.

I do have your name right. You are Mr. Hart.

Yes, my name is Hart.

Mr. Hart, you're not speaking loud enough.

You speak up.

Yes, yes, my name is Hart. You are still not speaking loud enough, Mr. Hart.

You stand.

Now, Mr. Hart, now that you're on your feet, the class will be able to

understand you. You are on your feet?

Yes, sir, I'm on my feet.

Loud!

Fill the classroom with your intelligence.

Now, would you give us the facts of the case?

I haven't read the case.

The class assignments for the first day are posted on the bulletin boards of

Smith and Wilson Halls. You must have known that?

No, sir. Ah, you assumed that the first class would be a lecture, an

introduction to the course.

Yes, sir. Never assume anything in my classroom.

Now, Mr. Hart, I will myself give you the facts of the case.

Hawkins versus McGee is a case in contract law, the subject of our study.

A boy burned his hand on an electric wire, and a doctor who wanted to

experiment in skin grafting offered to operate on the hand, guaranteeing that

he would restore it 100%. He removed a piece of skin from the boy's

chest. and grafted it onto the unfortunate boy's hand.

The operation failed to produce a healthy hand.

Instead, it produced a burned and hairy hand.

A hand that was not only burned, but covered with dense, matted hair.

Now, Mr. Hart, what sort of damages do you think the doctor should pay?

All right, let's start again What did the doctor promise?

There there was a promise To fix the hand Back the way it

was before it was burned to make it normal again and the result of the

operation well the hand was Much worse than before he went to the doctor so The

boy got less than he was promised.

He got even less than he had when the operation started.

How do you think the court should measure the damages? What should the

doctor pay?

The doctor should pay for what he did.

He should pay the difference between what the boy had, a

burned hand, and what the doctor gave him, a burned and hairy hand.

Mr. Hart, you may sit down.

You see this?

This is a shroud, Mr. Hart.

A shroud.

A burial garment.

A winding sheet for the dead.

This is for you, Mr. Hart.

The late Mr. Hart.

And now, Mr.

Pruitt.

That's just the screamer, man. It's all right.

I promise you, it's all right.

Trust me.

Nobody's ever seen him. Not that I know of.

But he's been screaming since I first came.

For three years now.

You never know when he's gonna do it.

Maybe in the day, in the night.

He screams and screams, and he runs away.

Story is, it was Kingsfield that drove him mad. Of course, Big K has driven a

lot of lawyers mad in the 40 years since he's been teaching here.

I heard he ripped up a 1L so bad this morning that the kid lost his breakfast.

That's true. That was me.

Hardly a propitious start.

I guess I've covered everything I'm supposed to tell you about the dorm.

It's intramural football and basketball.

If you have the time.

Where's the pool?

It's across the square.

You a swimmer?

I just find that I study better if I get a little bit of exercise sometime during

the day. It helps me relax.

It's a full-time psychiatrist for just the law school, if you have any trouble.

The story is they hired a psychiatrist the same year they hired Kingsfield.

Yeah. Suicide rate rose 20%. What'd he do?

Shroud you?

Yeah, how'd you know?

He shrouds someone every year, first day in his class.

What does it mean?

It means you're dead.

As far as he's concerned.

You don't exist.

He'll never call on you again.

One more thing.

All that stuff about grades is true.

You've got to work like hell.

Try getting a job when you get out.

You don't make the grades now.

That clock is wrong.

What? What time is it?

I got exactly quarter to six. Oh, shoot, I'm late for work.

Remember, I'm here to answer your questions, Hart.

My room is right down by the elevator.

Sorry about the shrouding.

That's the worst thing that could happen in this class.

Ciao.

Now you listen. You take the tomato sauce and you spread it on nice and

even. You practice, you know how.

Now you take the... Ordering. Two anchovy, one spaghetti with meat sauce,

one spaghetti with marinara.

Two anchovy, one spaghetti with meat sauce, one marinara.

Right. I'll make the pizza this time. You come in here and show Hart how to

make the spaghetti.

So he shrouded you, huh?

Come on, first day of class.

Who told you?

Oh, I just overheard some students over there talking.

Okay, now look. Here, come on. The spaghetti here is partially cooked. You

know, we cook it early on the hard side of al dente, you know?

Anyway, so you take two handfuls, enough for two servings, and you drop them in

the boiling water just to get them to kind of cook a little bit through and

through, all right? Hey, am I talking to myself?

I'm wasting my time. I mean, I know how to cook spaghetti.

What did they say exactly?

Oh, just...

There he is. What's his name?

Oh, thank goodness that didn't happen to me.

Poor guy, he really should have been prepared. You know, stuff like that.

Okay, now, to get it done, it only takes a few seconds. You have to drain it, and

then you put it on a plate.

Would you get me a plate?

Okay.

Two plates.

Right.

Now, the sauces are over here.

There's meat sauce, marinara sauce. Two ladles and each serving, okay?

Harts, come on, you do it. Okay?

Sorry.

That's all right.

My name's Ford.

We're neighbors. Hi, my name's Hart.

Yeah, I know.

I was in Kingsfield's class this morning.

I, uh,

talked

to my father this afternoon.

He says Kingsfield shrouds a student every year and has been as long as

anybody can remember. So I've been told.

Thanks.

Your parents?

Yes.

Your father a lawyer?

No, Dad's a farmer.

Your girl?

Mm-hmm.

Nice.

Serious?

Maybe. After I pass the bar.

Yeah.

My father says more law students have been done in by women in the first two

years than anything else.

I'm forming a study group.

Do you want to join?

What do you mean, a study group?

It's a device, a tool.

Groups of first-year students get together at least once a week.

They review the classwork, the casebooks.

They make outlines and share them with the rest of the group.

It helps at exam time.

You interested?

It's not against the law, is it?

Against the rules of the school, I mean.

On the contrary, it's encouraged.

You just think about it.

I'm going to take my time selecting the students I want in my group.

I want fresh, eager minds.

You're the first one I've asked.

Are you sure you want someone who was shrouded the first day of class in your

study group?

I have a hunch about you.

And I'm smart enough to trust my hunches.

After all, I am a genius.

I have an IQ of 190.

I'll join.

Want to go get a beer?

No, thanks. I've got to study.

Want some pizza?

Oh, thanks.

Hey, don't push yourself too hard. It's the first day of school.

I've got criminal law first thing tomorrow morning.

Well, so do I. But the rest of the professors are pussycats compared to

Kingsville.

You want some advice?

About? Try to get out of his class. Take contracts from someone else, from one of

the younger ones.

Kingsfield is the greatest professor of contract law in the world.

Yeah?

But he's never gonna call on you again.

We'll see.

I'm not gonna take being dead lying down.

Thank you.

We're not going to be late, are we? You relax.

This course I'm teaching in criminal

law includes a lot of things.

Consideration of vital constitutional issues, including self-incrimination,

search and seizure, wiretapping.

I'll do a lot of talking about that because I was part of the free speech

movement.

Coerced confessions, right to counsel.

This is Linda O'Connor and Willis Bell.

This is Hart.

Hi. Hi.

Two more hunches for the study group.

Sit, please.

I'm going to get some coffee and something to eat.

Anybody else want something?

Coffee. Black. Yeah, me too, Bell.

Actually, Bell's not much of a hunch.

My father and his father are friends.

My father was his father's lawyer, big real estate firm.

And his father called my father and asked if I wouldn't do the boy a favor,

you know, help him out, keep an eye on him, put him in my group.

Well, naturally, I said yes.

I'd like to keep my father happy.

However, Linda here is a total hunch, just like you, Hart, a total hunch.

I'm not quite convinced that I'll need a study group. And if the meetings are not

really helpful, I've warned Ford that I won't stay.

We need it for decorative purposes, if nothing else. I couldn't agree with you

more.

Being the only woman in the group so far, I have to warn you guys that it's

strictly a study situation.

Hands off. No playing around.

No bedroom eyes across the table. No relationships at all.

Trying to have a relationship and go to law school is next to impossible.

One can have a relationship without the relationship getting serious, Linda.

Maybe one can, but I can't. I know myself.

And don't call me Linda.

Call me O'Connor.

Here's your coffee, O'Connor.

And some cherry cheese Danish I couldn't resist.

Uh-oh.

Look who just walked in.

Kingsfield. And one of the justices from the Supreme Court.

I can't remember his name, but I know...

Only for his class. I haven't read the case book.

I knock trays of Danish and coffee out of people's hands when he walks through

the room with the justice of the Supreme Court.

Everything I do is wrong.

I'm just... It's so unlike me.

If you put a piece of lemon under your upper lip, the onions won't make you

cry.

And the thing about it is, he's the reason I decided to come. I used to go

to school here. I mean, I could have stayed in Minnesota, go to law school

there, but I got interested in the law. I started reading his books and his

articles and following his career in the government. And I wanted him to teach

me, you know. I mean, it's like he's the great guru of contract law, you know.

His limit doesn't seem to work.

That's all right.

We ought to have enough onions anyway.

All right, you two.

The restaurant is open and we got some customers.

To your posts.

Ordering three antipasto, one large deluxe, and a side of spaghetti.

Three antipasto, one large deluxe, side of spaghetti with... Meat sauce. Meat

sauce. Oh, and there's some people here who say they know you and they'd like to

say hello.

Where? Over there, second table.

O'Connor, Bell.

And this is Anderson. Anderson, this is... Ah, yes, I recognize him. The late

Mr. Hart.

Anderson is from New York.

He's going to join the study group. I've weighed the advantages and disadvantages

and have decided to give it a try.

Any study aid that's been in existence that long must have some merit.

Susu, come and meet some of my fellow law students.

This is Susu.

Ford, Bell, O'Connor, and...

I got to get back to work now. I'll see you later.

You ready to order?

Yeah, I was sure about that. Okay, now.

I mean, I knew it was going to be hard.

I never thought it would be as hard as it really is.

I never felt such competition.

I mean, you're up against some of the finest minds in the country.

Just look at that group at the table tonight.

They're all brilliant.

I sit in those classrooms and I look around and I think, well, he'll probably

end up on the Supreme Court.

She'll probably be running Wall Street.

He might even be president.

She might even be president.

There's such a sense of power.

You know what I mean?

Of course I know what you mean.

You walk down the halls, past the classrooms, and you know that behind

those doors, minds are being formed to run the world.

God help us all.

What?

Nothing.

Well... This is where I live.

Right there, first floor.

Would you like to come in?

I know it's late and everything, but, you know, it takes me like a few hours

to unwind.

I could give you wine or beer, whatever you want.

Well, I would like to.

Well, yeah? Come on, then.

But... But what?

I have Kingsfield tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock, and Tort's in the afternoon at

2. I've got to study.

I mean, you never know, he might change his mind and call on me. You know, I've

got to get him to call on me.

Thanks anyway.

Good night, Hart.

Susie, don't be mad.

You're not mad at me, are you?

The study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you.

unlike any other studies that you have ever gone through before.

Here we use the Socratic method.

I call on you, I ask you a question, and you answer it.

Why don't I just give you a lecture?

Because through my questions, you learn to teach yourselves.

By this method of questioning, answering, questioning, answering, we

seek to develop in you...

the ability to analyze that vast complex of facts that constitute the

relationships of members within any given society.

Now, you may think at times that you have reached a correct and final answer.

I assure you, this is a delusion on your part.

You will never, in my classroom, reach the final correct and ultimate answer.

In my classroom, there is always another question. There is always a question to

follow your answer.

You are on a treadmill here.

My little questions spin the tumblers of your brain.

You are on an operating table. My little questions are fingers probing your mind.

We do brain surgery here.

Teach yourselves the law and I train your minds

You come in here with a skull full of mush

Send you out thinking like a lawyer

Now will you recite the case of Stewart versus

Ratner Mr.

Brooks.

In this case, Mrs. Stewart sued Dr. Rudner for a breach of contract to

deliver her baby by cesarean section.

She asserted that the child would not have died had Dr. Rudner performed said

contract and so delivered the baby.

The jury agreed with her and awarded damages of $5,000.

Uh, yeah, sure. I'd be interested.

I don't live on campus, though. Does that make any difference?

I thought all first-year students had to live on campus.

Unless you're married. Oh, you're married.

I think we should all get together sometime tomorrow and get organized.

Why don't you all come over to my place right after a civil procedure?

We could have lunch there, give Ashley, that's my wife, Ashley, something to do.

Sounds great.

You all right?

I was prepared.

Yeah. I saw you with your hand up in the air. He looked directly at me, saw I was

prepared, and called on someone else.

Don't think about it. There's nothing you can do.

I'll catch up with you in a second, but you waste sun time.

He's everywhere.

Hi. Well?

What? Is he calling you?

No.

Sausage, one pepperoni with bell.

Quartering, two sausage and mushroom, extra sausage on one, extra mushroom on

one. Three spaghetti, one with meat sauce, two with clam sauce, one large

deluxe, hold the onions.

You're talking to yourself, aren't you?

I noticed a lot of law students end up talking to themselves.

Hart!

What's the matter with you, Mr. Hart?

I didn't betray you. I forgot.

You forgot?

You forgot pizza's in an oven?

Look at them. They're ruined.

How could you forget that pizza is in the oven?

Couldn't you spell them Bertie?

Mr. Hart, please, keep your mind on your work.

Please.

Please!

Please!

What's the address?

10307, apartment number 3.

The theater.

Hey, hey.

Mr. Brooks is very well-to-do. Yeah, I had a hunch about him.

Living in a lousy dormitory. Well, now, Belle.

Wonder who has the money.

Probably Ashley.

Rose. Hi. Hi. Come on in. Come on in. Come on.

Please, can I get the door? Yeah.

This is my wife, Ashley. Hi. Hello. This is O'Connor, Anderson.

Hello. Bell.

Hi. Ford.

How do you do? And Hart.

Come in and sit down, won't you, please? You know, you're the first people we've

met here, and I've just been going crazy. I'm not knowing anybody.

Please, sit down.

This is quite a place.

Yeah, yeah. Ashley's parents wouldn't permit their daughter to live in

anything that wasn't quite a place.

I'll get everybody a drink, okay?

Now, I think the most sensible thing to do is to divide up the courses.

Each person be responsible for one particular course. Each person do an

outline. Then at the end of the year, we have them Xeroxed and exchange them. I

propose that no one buy any outlines.

It won't reflect the work we do together. There's no guarantee that

we'll all be here in the spring.

After all, some of us might have nervous breakdowns. I think we should research

the incidence of nervous breakdowns. I want property.

I've already started to outline property.

Hart, don't you think this is the logical thing to do, to divide up the

courses? Sure.

Was that directed at me?

What? The incidence of nervous breakdowns?

Not necessarily.

Jonathan, lunch is ready.

Shall we do it?

Okay, how are we going to divide up the courses?

We've divided them. I'm taking property.

I think we should talk about who gets which course.

Maybe we should draw lots.

Like I said, I've already started to outline property.

Forget it, Blondie. Listen, Belle.

Watch it, Fatty.

Fatty? Belle.

I'm trying to think of this in terms of maximum utility.

Treat all your courses as of equal importance.

They're not equal. My father is in real estate. He wants me to take property.

That's going to be my field.

Oh, well, that's different. Go ahead and take property. If it's that important,

you'll do a better job.

I can outline something else.

Well, I hope you all liked Lobster Bisque.

Ashley, I want to thank you for a delicious lunch.

Thank you.

Now we should get down to business.

Anderson, which course do you want?

It's not important to me.

I've already made out a studying schedule to the end of the year,

dividing my time equally among all my courses.

I'll outline anything.

Shall we have some more cookies?

I made them myself.

Chocolate, coconut.

Thank you.

Brooks?

Oh, I don't know. I don't know which course I'd be best at.

Jonathan will be best at any course he takes.

I don't care which course I take, just as long as it's not contracts.

I hate Kingsfield.

Hart, which do you want?

Contracts.

I think that is a big mistake.

What do you mean?

What do I mean?

Yeah, what do you mean a big mistake?

He shrouded you, Hart. So what?

You're dead in his class. He doesn't intend to call on you. Don't tell me

being shrouded won't affect your work. Listen, fellows, why don't we just draw

lots for Kingsfield's class? I mean, that is the roughest course of... I want

it. I want contract law.

I said it's a big mistake.

Calm down, Anderson.

I won't calm down.

We're not in kindergarten. This is a law school.

And every person in this study group has an obligation to the rest of us. We're

making a contract here. You give me something, I give you something in

return. Every one of us must be working 100%. How can he work when he's dead?

I don't trust him with the contract outline.

That's the most important outline we have.

How can he do his best work when the professor won't even call on him? All

right, Anderson, all right. No, it's not all right.

Stop it, you guys.

No, it's all right. I don't blame him. I gotta do something about it. I'm gonna

go talk to Kingsfield.

What? I'm gonna go talk to him and try to convince him to unshroud me.

My father says, as far as he knows, Kingsfield has never unshrouded anybody.

Maybe no one's ever tried.

I'll see you all later.

You're gonna go see him right now?

Right now.

Thank you very much for lunch. Don't bother to show me out. I know my way to

the door.

Yes? Is Professor Kingsfield here? I'd like to see him if it's possible.

Do you have an appointment?

No, no appointment.

Professor Kingsfield sees no one without an appointment.

Well, I, uh... Something I can help you with?

No, I... Uh... I really need to talk to Professor Kingsfield. It's urgent.

He gets very annoyed when I disturb him.

What's your name?

Hart.

Excuse me, Professor Kingsfield.

There's a Mr. Hart here to see you. He doesn't have an appointment, but he says

it's very urgent.

Well, I don't know.

Does he know you?

Sort of.

What do you mean, sort of? I'm in his first-year contract law class.

He's a student in Contracts 1.

Yes, yes, that's what he said. Urgent.

Yes. Heart.

How do you spell it? H-A-R-T.

H-A-R-T.

Yes.

Very good.

If you care to wait, he'll fit you in between scheduled appointments.

You'll have to be at work at 6 o'clock.

I don't know how long it'll be.

Thank you very much, Professor.

Goodbye, Mrs. Wilson.

Yes?

Well, Mr.

Shoukri from Bombay is here. Mr.

Hart is still waiting.

Mr. Shoukri, your appointment's at five?

Yes, one minute to five.

Very well.

You may go in now, Mr. Hart.

What is so urgent, Mr. Hart?

Yes, yes.

You must know why I'm here.

I have the faintest idea.

One of the reasons I came to this law school was to study with you. Yes.

There is no doubt you have the greatest legal mind in the country.

You get to the point. I know I have a skull full of mush. Will you get to the

point?

I think you're being unfair.

Mr. Hart, will you stop beating about the bush?

I have to have a true Socratic dialogue with you.

We're off to a very poor start.

But how can I have a dialogue with you if you won't call on me?

My name's Hart.

Hart, don't you recognize me?

I teach hundreds of students every day, tens of thousands every year, millions

over the past 40 years.

I cannot be expected to recognize everyone.

But you shrouded me.

Ah, yes, the late Mr.

Hart. I know I wasn't prepared, but I didn't think you'd start on the first

case right away. I thought you'd lecture.

And besides, I just got here from Minnesota, and I had to find a job, and

they put me to work the very day I applied, and I didn't have myself

organized. And my mother gave me a brand-new alarm clock, and it was

defective, and it didn't go off, and I just... Please give me another chance,

Professor Kingsfield. Please don't keep me shrouded all year long.

Mr. Hart, you are no longer in high school or in college.

You're in a professional school, a law school, where there is no room for

error.

It is my obligation to... to prepare my students to exist in the most

competitive of all worlds, where there is also no room for error. Good day, Mr.

Hart.

But, Professor Kingsfield... Mr. Hart, can you imagine a lawyer who goes

into court unprepared, and after he's lost his case, goes crawling to the

judge's chambers to beg for forgiveness, to ask the judge to give him another

chance?

Good day, Mr. Hart.

I... Good day.

You may go in now, Mr. Shufry.

Excuse me.

Hey! Thanks a lot.

Watch where you're going!

Watch the bike.

Hey, look out!

Hey, I'm watching!

Hart, every one of these orders is wrong.

I said sausage and mushrooms, not sausage and peppers.

Pepper and ancho, behold the onions. This one's full of onions.

Spaghetti's cold.

It hasn't even been heated up yet.

And would you look at this?

This pizza hasn't even been in the oven.

Why me?

What happened to me?

Come on.

Hey, Hart, what happened? What did Kingsfield say?

Sorry. Can't talk right now.

are you all right yeah i just had a nightmare kingsfield buried me

but i know

you know what i'm gonna do if i'm dead i'm dead i know what i'm gonna do

what

Where's Hart?

I don't know.

Look at that.

Now, will you give us the facts?

Uh, the facts.

Clark versus Marsiglia.

Mr.

Schwartz.

Uh, Clark versus Marsiglia is a case that came before the Supreme Court of

New York in 1845.

Marsiglia sued Clark for work, labor, and materials.

in cleaning, repairing and improving sundry paintings belonging to the

defendant. The plaintiff proved that a number of paintings were delivered by

the defendant to him to clean and repair at certain prices for each.

Very good, Mr. Schwartz.

Will you continue, please, with the facts?

Mr. Hart!

The rest of the facts... Mr. Hart.

The paintings were delivered upon two occasions. After the first parcel, for

the repairing of which the price was $75, no defense was offered.

In respect to the other parcel, for which the plaintiff charged $165, the

defendant gave evidence tending to show that after the plaintiff had commenced

work upon them, he desired him not to go on as he had concluded not to have the

work done. The plaintiff, notwithstanding...

finished the cleaning and repairing of the pictures, and claiming to recover

for doing the whole and for the materials furnished, insisting that the

defendant had no right to countermand the order for which he had given. The

defendant's counsel requested the court to charge that he had the right to

countermand his instructions for the work, and that the plaintiff could not

recover for any work done after such countermand.

That was terrific.

Wait till I call and tell my father.

That's just great.

That took a lot of guts. Take back everything I said.

You can have contracts, all right? The outline's obviously in good hands.

Thanks. I was so scared.

Admirable behavior.

Hold the door, Professor Kingsbury.

Thanks.

So it goes all right, Professor?

Usual sloppy minds, but I shall be taking care of that in the weeks to

come.

Much more than we know.

With good friends to love us, we'll field every blow.

Stay open to all things unknown and new.

And one day we'll all say.