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- Hi Mr. Schmidt!

- Afternoon, Mary.

- Be back in time for dinner, Mom!

Hello, Mrs. Kerr.

- Hello, Mary.

- Hold on, ready?

- Whee!

- Okay Billy, that's all for today.

- Bye, Mary.

- See you tomorrow, Billy!

Hi Tom!

- Hello, Mary!

Mary?

Mary!

Oh God, Mary.

- The Associated Press reports carrying the news

of Mary White's death, declared that it came

from the result of a fall from a horse.

How she would've hooted at that.

She never fell from a horse in her life.

Horses have fallen on her and with her.

I'm always trying to hold 'em in my lap,

she used to say, but she was proud of few things

and one of the most that you could ride anything

that had four legs and hair.

The last hour of her life was typical of its happiness.

She came home from a day's work at school,

topped off by a hard grind with the copy

on the high school annual

and felt that a ride would refresh her.

She climbed into her khakis, chattering to her mother

about the work she was doing and hurried to get her horse

and be out on the dirt roads for the country air

and the radiant green fields of spring.

As she rode through the town on an easy gallop.

- Hi, Tom!

- She kept waving at passers by.

She knew everyone in town.

For a decade,

the little figure in the long pig tail

and the red hair ribbon had been familiar

on the streets of Emporia

and she got in the way of speaking

to those who nodded at her.

- Mary!

Mary!

Mary, Mary!

- I know there's no way to accept the death

of a beloved child,

but the irony of Mary's accident,

the awful irony of her being killed

when she was going so slowly.

Year ago, she used to ride like the wind.

Being the warm hearted girl she was,

she tried to share her joy with her friend Selina.

I sometimes thought the prairies had been made just for her.

- Mary, slow down!

- Come on, Selina!

- Wait!

- Selina, you can do it!

- Mary!

Mary, stop!

Slow down!

Wait for me!

I can't help it, you're scary.

I'm not riding with you anymore.

Don't be mad.

I'm just not as brave as you.

- That's silly.

You're braver.

It takes more courage to do what you're afraid of

than to do what you enjoy.

- I never thought of it that way.

Is that why you do all the things you do?

To prove that you're brave, I mean.

- I don't know.

It's part of it, I guess

It's just that I can't stand the sham.

I hate hearing people lie.

- Well, maybe they think they're tellin' the truth.

- It's like there's something inside of me

that wants to change things, fix things,

so that when I die, people will know I was here.

- They will.

You're William Allen White's daughter.

- That's what makes it so hard.

Come on, let's go Selina.

I got an idea, come on!

You've got a pretty good seat.

Your only problem is you're afraid to let go.

- I don't know what you're talkin' about.

- Okay, I'll show you.

Close your eyes.

- What for?

- Nevermind what for, just do it.

Now try to imagine that you and your horse are one person,

that his legs are your legs.

You wouldn't be afraid to run as fast

as you can on your own legs, would you?

- No.

- Okay, now imagine yourself running.

The wind is hitting your face.

You're a giant.

You can cover the whole earth in one day.

You're free.

Okay, now open your eyes and let's ride.

Take it easy.

Now, I want you to watch it.

Now squeeze with your knees, not with the stirrups.

Good, come on!

Okay, now let's ride!

You're doin' great, Selina!

- Mary, you are crazy!

- Some people in Emporia

who weren't too happy with me

said I spoiled its small-town flavor

with all my famous visitors,

but they still enjoyed it

when Teddy Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge came to call.

This time, my illustrious guest was Jane Addams,

the founder of Hull House.

Now, Mary couldn't wait to meet Jane.

And she barely made it, as usual.

- See, I'm early.

- You certainly don't expect

to meet Miss Addams looking like that, do you?

- Well, why not?

Of all the people in the world,

Jane Addams is the last person to care about clothes.

Isn't that right?

- Well, if she doesn't, I do.

- Here she comes.

- Here she comes!

- Here she is!

- I had visited Jane Addams several times

in Chicago since the opening of Hull House.

She had worked and dreamed

of a settlement house for many years,

a place where needy families, delinquent youngsters,

and the foreign born could come for help

in dealing with a world that had dealt harshly with them.

Hull House was that dream come true.

As she went on to become president

of the International Women's Congress,

my admiration for her deepened.

And over the years, she, Sallie, and I

had become dear friends.

- I don't see her.

- There she is. - Jane!

- How do you do?

You don't look a day older,

and I swear you look just as young

as you did when you opened Hull House.

- Oh, Will, I've never known you to lie

and don't start now.

It's you who never looks a day older.

- It's wonderful to see you.

And we look several days older.

Oh Jane, this is out daughter, Mary.

- You know, Will, she does look like Peter Pan.

I've been looking forward to meeting you and your brother.

- Bill's away at Harvard.

If you'll please excuse me,

I just thought of something I have to do right away.

I'll see you all at home.

- Mary-

- Did I say something wrong?

- No, it's nothing, don't worry about it.

- Well, shall we go?

- Did you have a nice trip, Jane?

- I knew Mary didn't like Jane Adams saying

she looked like Peter Pan and it was my fault.

I was the one who always talked about my daughter that way

and Mary always resented it.

Like all children,

she felt she was grown up by the time she could walk.

You see Jane,

that's why I particularly wanted you to come to Emporia now.

This is the real heartland of the United States.

Not the big cities filled with those idiots

who've been seeing Reds under every bed.

- Well, I'm sure you're right, Will,

but I'm going back to Europe.

I feel more comfortable there.

You seen this?

That is being distributed by a group called

the Sentinels of the Republic.

- Is that the group which called you

the most dangerous woman in America?

- No, that was Mr. R.A. Gum

of the American Protective League.

The funniest thing that's happened is

that I've been denounced

by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Can you imagine their embarrassment

when they found out

that I'd been a member for more than 20 years?

- I don't understand.

Why are they doing this to you?

- I suppose because I represent change Mary,

and change is very threatening to people.

- Mrs. White, supper is ready.

- Thank you, Martha.

- Well, it'll blow over.

We're all a bunch of hotheads in this country

but our bark is worse than our bite.

- Well, they may forget about the colleges

and the intellectuals

but I'm not so sure about the women's organizations.

- Oh, I hope you're wrong.

- You've managed to take a small town newspaper,

through the sheer brilliance of the editorials

and made yourself a voice to be reckoned with

right across the country.

Do you think that could have happened

if you'd been a woman?

- Maybe not.

- That's why I'm so apprehensive.

The hysteria is even beginning to affect Hull House.

- You can't let that happen.

There's so much further to go.

There's the double standard.

The terrible clothes women have to wear.

The way smart women like you are attacked.

If you had them run you out of the country-

- Mary, please, Miss Adams has come here

for a moment of peace.

- That's all right.

You're quite right, Mary.

It's just that when you fought so many battles,

you tire temporarily.

- But you'll be back?

- I'm afraid I will.

- There's so much I wanna do.

- Well, start.

- Here?

- You've had the misfortune to be born

into a family of reformers.

You'll find something.

- Would you write something

in my copy of "Twenty years at Hull House"?

- Certainly.

- It's a little battered, isn't it?

- There you are.

- To Mary, who will learn that a journey

of 1000 miles begins with one step, Jane Addams.

- That's the hard part, learning to accept that.

I was just like you-

- Sallie, Look.

- Wanted to change the world overnight.

I suppose I still do, but it can't be done.

- I'll never be like you.

I have no patience.

When I see stupid people doing stupid things,

I wanna hit them.

- Jane Addams represented Mary's humanitarian side

but no matter how concerned she was for others,

she never stopped being a happy, friendly school girl,

sharing her car.

I guess I did do a lot of protesting

about the benefits of walking,

but I did it mainly to escape her offers

to drive me in that car.

Her car was her social life.

She never had a party in all her nearly 17 years.

Wouldn't have one,

but she never drove a block in her life

that she didn't begin to fill the car with pickups.

Everybody rode with Mary White,

she liked nothing better than to fill the car

with long-legged high school boys

and an occasional girl and parade the town.

She never had a date or went to a dance

except once with her brother Bill

and the boy proposition didn't interest her.

Yet.

But young people gave her great pleasure.

- Okay, end of the line.

Everybody out!

- Thanks for the ride, Mary.

- Sure.

- See ya later.

- Bye Mary, thanks.

- Bye.

Tod, that means you too.

- I'm not moving until you tell me

if you'll go to the spring dance with me.

- Suit yourself.

- Don't tell me he's at it again.

Doesn't that dope ever learn?

- What's the matter?

What's the matter, huh?

I bet I could ask any other girl in this town

and she jump at the chance.

- That's exactly what's the matter.

- Since when is it bad to be popular?

- Why is it so important then that I say yes?

I can think of 10 other girls

that would be walking on clouds if you asked them.

I'm not even your type.

- Well you're different.

- You bet I'm different.

I'm William Allen White's daughter.

- And what's that got to do with it?

- Isn't he the local celebrity.

Don't I walk in his reflected glory.

- Well, that's not the reason.

- Oh, well is it my beautiful golden curls?

- Forget it.

Just forget I even asked ya, huh?

- Are you crazy?

I wish he'd ask me.

- Just tell him your my father's illegitimate daughter.

- You better not talk like that in front of my mother.

She says you're a bad influence on me as it is.

- Then don't ride with me.

- I didn't say it.

My mother did.

She just can't understand that you and your family

are different from the rest of us.

- For once I agree with your mother.

You really can't tell the White family

from the rest of the lunatics around here.

- I'd like to believe you, Mary,

but you don't act like everybody else.

Everybody else wouldn't turn down a bid to the prom

by Tod Turner.

- Bother Tod Turner.

I'm sorry.

You wanna go riding after school?

- If you slow down.

I get scared riding that fast.

Will you?

- Mm-hm.

- Now I don't want you to get the wrong idea.

She tried to conform.

She did.

But somehow her efforts were always just slightly askew.

- Selina, Selina, Selina.

- Quiet down.

Now, who can you tell me

what president succeeded Abraham Lincoln?

Selina.

- Andrew Johnson.

- Correct, good.

And what action was taken against President Johnson

that has never been taken before?

Mary.

- The House of Representatives voted articles

of impeachment against him,

but it was only because he wanted

to carry out Lincoln's policy

of lenient reconstruction in the South.

- Oh, that's a very broad assumption, Mary.

I don't think your book mentions that connection.

- But it's true.

The Congress didn't care what the people wanted.

They just cared about punishing the South.

Look what happened in Russia, it led to revolution.

- Yes, well, you may sit down, Mary.

- Jane Addams says if we don't learn from history-

- I said, you may sit down.

- Same thing's happening here.

There'll be blood in the streets.

Jane Addams is being persecuted

just for trying to get women their rights.

- I think we would prefer to listen

to the wisdom of historians.

Neither you nor Miss Addams can aspire to that title.

- She's a great woman.

You don't have any right to make fun of her.

- That will do Mary.

You will leave your seat and present yourself

to Mr. Andrew's office for discipline.

You are being insubordinate!

- Why don't you pick up Jane Addams on the way?

Maybe the two of you can burn down the school.

- Quiet, quiet!

- It was only

in that last year that Mary had begun

to express herself with her pen.

She discovered a talent for pen and ink drawing

and one of her proudest moments was

when some of her sketches of school life

were accepted for the annual.

I know I was prejudiced, but I believe she had talent.

- I don't think her legs are quite that thin, do you?

- I'm sorry.

- No, it's really quite good.

Although I can't say I approve of your drawing.

If your pictures are a liable clue,

I'd say you and Ms. Peabody have had a run in.

- She said to tell you I was insubordinate.

- And were you?

- Well, I don't think so,

unless telling the truth is insubordinate

- One person's truth, can appear to be another person's lie.

Did you contradict her?

- I just said that president Johnson was impeached

because the Congress wanted to punish the South

for the Civil War.

- Well, that's an interesting theory.

Is that all you said?

- Almost.

I just said that any unresponsive government

would be responsible for blood running in the streets.

- And how did you conclude that?

Doesn't sound like your father.

- I wasn't quoting my father.

I wasn't quoting anybody.

- Well I'd be interested in how life in Emporia

could have led you to such a dire conclusion.

Is there something going on

that I don't know about?

- You know Mr. Andrews,

Emporia isn't the whole world.

When Jane Addams was here-

- Jane Addams was here in Emporia?

- Uh-huh.

- I should have enjoyed meeting her.

I have the most tremendous respect for her achievements.

- Well, she was only here for one night.

- Then what was she like?

- She was thrilling.

Absolutely thrilling.

Do you know she's being called the most dangerous woman

in America now?

Just because she speaks up for people

who can't speak up for themselves.

Isn't that disgusting?

- It most certainly is.

You know, I heard her once.

I was in New York on vacation.

I happened to see a notice of her appearance in the paper.

When she stood on that stage

and described the working conditions for men and women

who had come here from Europe full of hope,

only to end up slaving in sweat shops,

trying to make enough to pay the rent

on tenement flats full of roaches.

She took the audience with her.

I was quite carried away.

As a matter of fact, I-

I fear we're digressing.

Impertinence to a teacher cannot be tolerated.

I hope you understand that.

- Mary, was he very mad?

- No.

- Is he gonna call your father?

- No.

He just told me what he had to.

- Had to?

What do you mean?

- He's really a very nice man

but he's like everybody else around here.

As soon as he starts being human,

he remembers who he's supposed to be.

- What?

- Forget it.

Hi, Ellie.

- Mary, can I talk to you for a minute?

- Sure.

- After you loaned me "Twenty Years at Hull House",

I kept trying to imagine what Jane Addams was really like.

I haven't read the book 10 or 12 times,

just trying to picture her.

Is she beautiful?

- Yeah, she's really beautiful.

Inside, I mean.

She wrote an inscription in my book.

I'll show it to you if you like.

- Okay.

- She's the most exciting woman.

She's brave.

She's really brave.

- What are you two girls doing?

You know, you're not allowed

to be in the hall after the bell.

- Where are you going?

- Come on, we have to go to class.

- Oh, you go, I've had enough for one day.

- You mean you're just gonna walk out?

- This is a public school.

That means it belongs to the people.

Well, it doesn't.

I can't speak the truth here.

We can't even have a conversation when we want to.

- I know.

I really wanted to talk to you,

but I'll get in trouble if I stay.

- Darn it!

Ow, ow, ow!

- Does it hurt much?

- Not like when the doctor set it.

- Here you are.

- No thanks.

Maybe later.

I'm not hungry now.

- Oh, don't put another record on just yet, Will.

I think we should talk.

- All right.

Floor is yours.

- Mary, I hope you'll understand what I'm going to say.

I've thought about it for a long time

and I realized today

I just couldn't let it go on any longer.

Something has to be done about your accidents.

- Now, Sallie, come on.

Let's not get carried away.

Practically no one goes through childhood

without breaking something.

I had two broken legs before I was 12.

- You never told me that.

How'd you get them?

- I don't want to talk about your father.

I want to talk about you.

I'm frightened Mary.

Every time you go out on that horse of yours,

I worry until you get back.

You ride too fast-

- That's silly.

I got hurt today just standing still.

- No, Mary, you got hurt

because you were cranking the car too fast.

Now I've heard your brother warn you about that very thing.

- But mother, please, I-

- I'm sorry, Mary, but I know what I'm talking about.

And I propose to do something about it.

Will, I think we should sell Ginger

and get Mary a slower mount until she proves

that she's responsible enough

to take care of herself properly

and as for the car-

- No, you can't do that.

That's not fair.

- Yes, we can, Mary.

If you behave like a child, dear,

you will be treated like a child.

By the same token, if you behave like an adult,

you have every right to expect us to treat you as an adult.

- That that's not fair.

You talk to her.

She won't listen to me.

- No, your mother's right.

Neither of us wants you to get hurt.

You didn't think she was right two minutes ago.

- I hadn't really thought about it two minutes ago.

- You're just saying that

because you think you have to agree with Mother.

- I'm sorry you feel that way, Mary, but you're wrong.

I wouldn't do such a thing.

- Yes you would.

You do at all the time.

- That is a very insulting thing to say

and I'm sure you don't mean it.

- I do mean it.

I don't expect that of you

- At that moment, I hated being human.

I wanted to be the God my daughter demanded

and I'm afraid sometimes I let Sallie bear the brunt.

But first and foremost,

I was a man deeply in love with his wife.

Look what I found.

- Balad and blue china.

Do you remember the day you gave that to me?

- Four months from the day we were married.

- August 27th, 1893, to my girl.

Remember how we sat on the floor

and read it aloud to one another?

- I certainly do.

You were much better at it.

Now then, if that egotistical pup

of 27 years ago were to come knocking at your door,

would you still have him?

- If I were still the girl I was then.

- What about now?

- Oh, I wouldn't trade him for the egotistical man

I have now.

- Thank you very much.

- Don't mention it.

- Mary always looked up to her brother Bill

and she really brightened up

when he unexpectedly came home from Harvard one day.

- Father?

- Bill, oh, oh, what a lovely surprise!

For heavens sakes,

why didn't you let us know that you were coming?

- Well, I got tired of being good old predictable Bill

so I thought I'd surprise you.

- Bill, Bill!

- Oh, playing hooky.

- Oh, I'm legal.

- What happened to you?

- I'll tell you later.

What's your excuse?

- Oh, well I got lucky on my midterm schedule.

I took three in a row.

Heard Bucky Newland was driving as far as Kansas City

and here I am.

- My you look different.

- It's the clothes.

Well, you wouldn't want me dressing like a hick

and disgracing the family name would you?

And this may come as a shock to you, Mary,

but when you get to college,

you're going to have to give up wearing your uniform.

- Then I'm not going.

- Says you.

You'll probably be the first one to go boy crazy

and start dressing like a fashion model.

- Well, I only hope I live to see that day.

- Then you'll have to live to be 100.

- Ah, youth, youth.

What are you reading here?

"Twenty Years at Hull House".

Are you trying to memorize this book?

- Mary, not again.

- When I loaned it to Ellie Rogers, she read it 12 times.

She told me.

I'm just looking through it to see if I missed anything.

- Who's Ellie Rogers?

- Nobody you'd remember.

- What does that mean?

- She's colored.

- Now I know I'm home.

- Mrs. White, the iceman would like a word with you.

- Oh, and I'd like several with him.

Now you two behave while I'm gone.

- Don't worry, we'll behave.

Well, now that women have the vote,

I take it this year's project is bigotry.

- Just because you're a college man

doesn't mean you have to talk down to me.

This town is filled with self-satisfied bigots

- Mary, don't be so hard on Emporia.

It's the same everywhere else.

People are slow to change.

- You sound just like father.

He always looks at the other side, unless it's mine.

- Just wait until you go away to school.

Then you'll have some perspective.

- On what?

- Well, on father, on this town

on the crazy life this family leads.

- Like we're really not small town people.

- That's right.

It's one of Father's fantasies.

He's just playing Will White,

editor of a small town newspaper.

So naturally his children are just small town children.

I mean, after all, doesn't every small town kid

come home from school

to find Teddy Roosevelt stopping in for dinner?

- Or Jane Addams waiting to autograph a book for her.

And of course, everybody goes to Europe

and has a father who was there when

they signed the Treaty of Versailles.

- Of course.

- At least he doesn't insist you're Peter Pan.

- Well, he'll get over that.

I mean, he'll have to,

when he sees you with four

or five children hanging onto your skirts,

calling you mama, even he'll have to give up.

- You're just as bad as everybody else.

You all assume that all I wanna do with my life

is get married and have children.

Well, first of all,

I think we should straighten up the world

before any more children are brought into it.

And secondly, I'm not planning on getting married.

When I find my own road,

I'm gonna travel it like Jane Adams.

- Good for you.

And in the meantime, can you get around with that thing?

- Yes, where do you wanna go?

- To the newspaper office.

- Then I'll see you later.

- Well, don't you wanna go?

- No.

Father's letting Mother punish me for breaking my arm.

They're selling my horse,

and they're not letting me drive the car.

- What do you mean he's letting mother punish you?

- Well, he could have stopped her.

He didn't agree with her, I could tell.

He just thinks that he has to play father,

the way he plays William Allen White,

small town philosopher.

- Look, Mary, he's a great man, but he's not perfect.

Stop pushing him so hard.

- You did to go to Harvard.

- Well, that was different.

- I helped you.

- Those two, they fought

like all brothers and sisters,

but when one of them decided to take on the parents,

the other instantly joined forces.

I have to admit that what Bill said that night

a year and a half before he enrolled in Harvard

was a bit of a shock.

- And that's why I don't wanna go back to Kansas University.

I know it was your school, Father,

but did you know they only have two books

in my whole fraternity house?

"Tarzan of the Apes"

and a very well-worn copy of Krafft-Ebing.

The guy who owns Tarzan and is trying to trade it off

for a pony translation of Hannibal in the Alps.

But I wanna go where people talk things over

and Harvard's the place for that.

- Aren't you proud of him, Father?

Harvard's much harder than KU.

- You know, it seems to me you should get more

than enough talk right here at this table.

- Well, it's pretty one-sided.

I think a man should be exposed to more

than one point of view, don't you, Father?

- Well, you know very well

there's only one way I can answer that question,

but Bill, Harvard is not the only repository

of knowledge in the world.

I even managed to dig some out right here in Kansas.

- But that was before.

The world's changing.

There's so much more to learn now.

- Sallie, will you fix my shawl and my slippers?

There's a bit of a breeze out here.

We have to be careful with that at my age.

- Look, now, we don't mean it that way.

- Oh, don't you?

Sometimes watching a child grow up fills a man with pride.

And there are other times when it can be quite painful.

I found that out for the first time

when the author J.M. Barrie visited us.

- Even your American air smells young and aggressive.

It's very stimulating.

- Well, I suppose it's all in what you get used to.

I was never so stimulated in my life

as when Mrs. White and I visited you in London.

It was partly you, of course,

but the rest was the air, full of history.

- Oh good, let's put the plates down

right here, Bill, please.

I hope everyone's hungry.

It looks like Martha thought she was cooking for an army.

Mary, food's ready!

Food's ready!

Will, Sir James, food's ready.

- You've done such marvelous work, but of all your plays,

I like "Peter Pan" the best.

Doesn't she remind you of Peter.

- A bit.

I must say, I'm surprised at your preference.

I wrote "Peter Pan" for children, you know?

- Ah, but there's so much more in it.

The wonderful knowledge

that a world full of people who never grow up

would be a world full of innocence and joy.

- I'm immensely flattered.

I didn't know all that was there.

But if it is, it's purely an accident.

I don't subscribe to that sentiment, really.

No, I'm more inclined to believe

that most of the trouble in the world

can be laid squarely at the feet of people

who never grow up.

- I quite agree.

- I think you're pulling my leg.

- No, indeed, I'm not.

No, I'm not a romantic at all.

I simply use a romantic style to express my feelings.

- Of all your plays.

my favorite play is "What Every Woman Knows".

- Indeed.

I would've thought it was a bit sophisticated for you.

- Don't underestimate her, Sir James.

Lately, she's been telling me

which books she thinks I'll understand.

- Only after she consults with me.

- So I take it you don't share your father's enthusiasm

for "Peter Pan".

- It's a lovely play for children.

- There, you see what I mean?

I can just hear Peter saying that.

He always took himself so seriously.

- So does Charles Evans Hughes.

- No politics here.

- Now, Bill.

- Do I detect a mutiny in the ranks?

- I wouldn't call it a mutiny.

Maybe just a touch of insubordination.

- Aye, quite right too.

Every young man is duty bound to disagree with his father.

You see, I'm a realist at heart.

Truth is what is.

- I can't believe you mean that.

Truth is what should be.

- See what I mean?

That's why he thinks I'm Peter Pan,

because he wants me to be.

- Now, Mary.

- I think that courage is one

of the most heroic of emotions.

Takes great courage to think for one's self.

I must congratulate you, both of you,

on the way you've raised your children

- Why thank you, Sir James.

Unfortunately, the results can be painful sometimes.

- Yes, somehow a parent always thinks

that an independent child will end up agreeing

with the very great wisdom of the parent.

- Well, don't despair, Father, may happen yet.

- I'll never think truth is what should be

- There she was again, my Mary, the realist.

Jane went off to Europe,

but her spirit stayed behind.

She put a burr under Mary's saddle all right.

Mary was itching to take that first step.

And she did.

And she took it right here with the Pastor John Rice.

He never knew what hit him.

- Here we are, Mary.

Ladies, Mary has decided to switch

from our missionary group to your committee this year.

Mrs. Pettigrew, have you got a job for her?

- Well, that's sweet of you, my dear,

but between us, we've pretty much got the menu covered.

The old people out at the home like their Christmas dinner

to be the same every year.

- I don't wanna cook.

I'm sure you're all much better at that than I am.

- Well, perhaps you might organize the delivery

of the food on Christmas Day?

Would you like to do that?

- Surely, alone?

- Well, naturally we'd get some strong young men

to help you.

I'm sure if you're anything like my daughter,

you'd like that.

- Why don't we all go?

- Well, that's hardly necessary,

there won't be that much to carry.

- No, no, why don't we all go?

Why doesn't each person

on this committee take the food she's made

and stay and eat Christmas dinner

with the people at the home?

- It isn't done that way.

Now if you'd like to-

- Well, just because it hasn't been done,

doesn't mean it can't.

It's nice of all of you to do that cooking,

but it's so cold, impersonal.

I'll bet the people at the home would like to see you

as well as your baskets of food.

It's unchristian.

- The day William Allen White shows up at the county home,

I'll be there too.

- Now, ladies, Mary,

just isn't familiar with our procedures.

- Well I never!

Really!

- Mary!

Mary, wait.

- You think I'm wrong too?

- I respect your motives, but I don't agree

with your methods.

Giving can't be ordered.

It must come from the heart.

- That sounds like one of my father's editorials.

He writes and you preach.

I joined the church to get something done.

- Now, the women's committee is getting something done.

Now the fact that they're not doing it the way

you would like them to doesn't make their contribution less.

- In other words, you're not going to help me.

- I have a whole congregation to consider.

You're not the only one.

- No wonder my father doesn't go to church.

- Now, slow down.

Now a minute ago, you were lumping the two of us together.

Now it's you and him against me.

Mary, I know you want to help.

We all do, each in our own way.

Sometimes that way takes a long time to find.

Have a little patience.

- No.

I'm sorry, but I'll find my own way.

Without the Women's Committee

- You're thinking she was a pretty fresh kid, aren't ya?

Well, she was.

But it came out of a real love

for people who never seem to get a break.

I can remember feeling pretty much the same way at her age

and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you did too.

I guess the Lord had it figured out pretty well.

If kids knew how tough it is to change the smallest thing,

they'd never have the heart to think

they could change the world.

She really upset the pastor though.

- Morning, Sam.

Morning, Al.

- Put it on the desk, go away.

- That's not the warmest welcome I've ever had.

- I'm sorry.

Come on in.

Sit down.

I gotta warn you.

This is not a day to preach brotherly love to me.

I'm not even sure I like you.

You ever have a day when you'd rather kick your fellow man

than help him?

- Answering as a clergyman, never.

As a fellow human being, occasionally.

- You know, don't you that Joe Indicart

and that rag tag of Ku Klux Klan idiots he consorts with

are planning a parade down the main street

of town night after next?

- I thought we'd seen the last of that nonsense.

- No sirree.

They're coming, complete with signs,

burning crosses, and white nightgowns.

That piece of paper I threw away was my fifth attempt

at an editorial trying to show 'em up as the asses they are.

- Will, I want to talk to you about Mary.

- Well, good.

That's bound to be a more pleasant subject.

- Usually I'd agree with you, but not this time.

I'm feeling very human about her.

As a matter of fact,

I'd like to put her across my knee and spank her.

- Well, John, you'd better go back to being a clergyman.

If you tried to spank her, she'd probably hit you back.

- I'm serious, Will, I'm very angry with her.

- Made you feel guilty, did she?

- She told you about it.

- No, but when she said she

was joining the Christmas Committee,

I figured it was bound to happen sooner or later.

I'm glad she's doing it to you for a change.

- Will, Will, she's got me talking to myself.

Do you think maybe I don't see the forest for the trees?

- John, Mary's gifted.

She has the intelligence of a woman

and the heart of a child.

That's a real Peter Pan.

Unfortunately for us, we've grown up.

Now John, don't take it to heart.

There's not a person

in this world can live up to Mary's expectations.

- I guess you're right, Will.

I just wanted to talk it over.

Thank you.

- Okay, see you later.

I finally got that Klan editorial written

but it didn't mean much.

If Mary had let me in on her plans,

I wouldn't have had to bother with it.

- It's okay, King, easy, easy boy.

Sh, sh.

It's okay, King, easy, easy boy.

Stay!

- Citizens of Emporia,

and by that, I mean the white Christians among you.

The day of reckoning is at hand.

How long must the pure among us-

- Don't, stay still.

- Allow ourselves to be dragged into the slime

by the unclean, the Niggers, the Jews, the radicals

that pollute our clean American air.

I tell you now!

Get away, get away, dog.

Get outta here, dog.

Get outta here, King.

Get outta here, boy.

Get away, dog, get away.

- Hey Joe, it's your own dog!

- What's the matter, Joe?

Don't even King know he's supposed to be afraid of ya?

You got a great cast out there, Joe.

- Get outta here, King.

King, King, get outta here.

- Don't be mad, Papa, I'll get him.

Come back King!

- Get away from me, King.

- Papa, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Papa.

He didn't mean it, Papa.

- King, King, get away.

- I'll get him, Papa.

- Get away

- Come back, King, come back, boy!

- I'll whup your backside, Billy.

I told you to keep that damn dog at home.

Citizens of Emporia, citizens, come back here!

Come on back here, you listen to me.

Listen to what I've got to say to you.

Listen to me!

Don't go away, I've got somethin' to say to you.

You come back here and listen to me.

Listen to me, I've got something to say to you!

- Good morning, dear.

- Here she comes.

The slayer of dragons.

- Ta-da!

Morning.

- Good morning, Mary.

Your father was just giving me an eye-witness report

of what happened at the parade last night.

It must've been very funny.

- Then why aren't you laughing?

- It's probably because I'm not a very good reporter.

- Oh, stop fishing for compliments, Will.

- Oh, the sage of Emporia would never stoop to such depths.

- That'll be enough of that.

More respect please.

- Mary, do you remember the night

when you convinced us you were responsible enough

to drive the car?

- It was a pretty good piece of salesmanship, wasn't it?

- Well, growing up brings more than privileges.

It also brings obligations.

Now that prank last night,

no matter how we feel about the Klan,

was not very responsible.

- Oh, now come on, Sallie.

You should have been there.

It was the prank of the century.

Well, gotta get to my study.

Come along, Sallie, we've got a lot of proofing to do.

- I'll be right there dear.

You know Mary, you can't have it both ways.

If you want your father and me to take you seriously,

you're going to have to give up

some of the freedoms of childhood.

- Well then I guess I don't understand the difference.

- Sallie?

- Later, dear.

He's calling me.

Coming, Will!

- Last summer when Bill came home for vacation

we were all together again.

But even then Mary refused to be anything

but the free spirit she was.

- Now, don't forget.

She'll try and put you off

by being as tomboyish as possible.

Just ignore it.

- I hope you know I wouldn't do this

for anyone else but you.

- Hey, pal.

Here we go.

- Bill, oh, Bill!

- Mother.

- Bill, you're early!

How lovely.

- This is my friend, Richard Sloan.

- How do you do, Mrs. White?

- We're so pleased that you can come.

- Thank you.

- For heavens sakes, come inside, both of you.

Well you both must be parched.

How 'bout some lemonade?

- Oh, you have just been offered nectar of the gods.

Say yes.

- Oh, for heaven's sakes, Bill.

It's only lemonade.

- Now when you make it.

- You better not walk around town dressed like that

otherwise somebody's gonna see you

and put you in an envelope

and mail you back to the Harvard Lampoon.

- See what I mean?

- You must be Bill's sister.

I'd know you anywhere.

- How?

- Mary, this is Richard Sloan,

my roommate at Harvard.

- How do you do?

- Hello?

- Oh, you're going riding?

- Yes, would you like to come?

- Well, how about it, Dick?

- Fine.

- We can borrow a horse for you.

He's gentle or do you ride horses at Harvard, Mr. Sloan?

- Mary, Mr. Richard Sloan III's family

have been raising horses

since they arrived on the Mayflower.

- Well, the only thing I like better

than mother's lemonade is a good ride.

And I'd like to see Mr. Sloan handle one

of our Kansas horses.

- Well, it would be my pleasure, Miss White.

- Okay, Mr. Sloan, you know the course.

You have to touch base at the amphitheater,

down by the river, go through the creek,

over to the clump of bushes over there,

then through the arbor and we finish here.

You ready?

- Yep.

- Okay, go!

- You're crazy!

- Well, better luck next time, Miss White.

- And there will be a next time, Mr. Sloan.

- All right.

- Bill chose his friends very well.

Finally, even Mary had to admit that.

♪ God rest ye merry gentlemen ♪

♪ Let nothing you dismay ♪

♪ Remember Christ our savior ♪

♪ Was born on Christmas day ♪

♪ To save us all from Satan's power ♪

♪ When we had gone astray ♪

♪ Oh tidings of comfort and joy ♪

♪ Comfort and joy ♪

♪ Oh tidings of comfort and joy ♪

- Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas, everybody.

- What is this?

John. - It's for John.

- Nice to see you. - Oh, thank you.

- Happy Christmas.

- Merry Christmas, John.

- Thank you, Merry Christmas.

- Merry Christmas, John.

- Merry Christmas, Martha. - Thank you, Martha.

- Thank you, Bill.

- I'm leaving. - Well, where are you going?

- Oh, Mary's volunteered to deliver Christmas dinner

to the county home.

- Oh, good, who's gonna help you?

- Pastor Rice said he'd round up some strong boys.

- Well, I'm a strong boy.

Why there are even those who would say

I'm the equal of two strong boys.

- I don't think it's your cup of tea.

- Oh, well, I'd be interested in hearing

what you think my cup of tea might be.

- Country club dances, regattas, things like that.

- Oh, Mary!

- No it's all right, Mrs. White.

I know that your daughter thinks I'm a lightweight.

- Well, aren't you?

- Why don't you try me and see?

- Okay, get your coat and let's go.

- Goodbye everyone.

- Bye, thank you Bill!

- Drive carefully.

- Thank you, Mary.

- We will.

- Take care, you two!

I think maybe Mary's met her match.

- It does, doesn't it?

Merry Christmas.

- I like your young man, dear.

Has lovely manners.

Is he a local boy?

I've been out here so long,

I've lost touch with the town.

- He's not my young man.

He's a friend of my brother Bill's from Harvard.

- Ooh, I haven't been here that long.

The way he's looking at you.

- How long have you been here?

- Long enough to learn to mind her own business.

- Don't mind him.

He only talks about once a year and we're all very grateful.

- I just read a wonderful book.

Would you like to read it?

- No.

- How about painting?

Have you ever tried watercolors?

- No.

- What do you like to do?

- I like to eat Christmas dinner

with company of my own choosin'.

- I'm sorry.

- Mary.

- I was only trying to help.

- And you are helping, dear.

Don't let a crotchety old man spoil your day.

Everyone else is having a wonderful time.

- That was some experience.

You should be very proud of yourself.

Come on now.

You're not gonna let that old buzzard get to you, are ya?

- He was right.

- What do you mean?

- I just, I waltzed in there like the Queen of England

scattering largess to the peasants.

I invaded his privacy.

- Mary, you can't bleed for the whole world.

He was just one of the people who doesn't want you to try.

- Wasn't it awful?

Do you know what I wanted to do?

I wanted to hit him.

- I know.

When you came back with more stuffing,

I was afraid you might pour it on his head.

Mary, if it's all right with Bill and your parents,

I'd like to come back here for spring vacation.

How would you feel about that?

- I think it's wonderful.

Bill's very fond of you.

- What about you?

Are you ready to stop calling me Richard Sloan III?

- I'm ready for that, but...

- You're not ready to say, please come back Richard

because I want you to?

- Is it important that I do?

- It is, to me.

- Okay.

Please come back, Richard, because I want you to.

- Mary was very much like her mother,

neither of them knew or wanted to know how to flirt.

When I met Sallie, she liked me and she let me know it.

And Mary was the same way,

whether it was Richard Sloan III

or Tom Knight, the gazette carrier.

- Come on Tom, just give 'em to me now.

- I could take them out to your desk for you, you know?

- If you don't stop treating me like this, I'll-

- You'll what?

- I don't know.

You just make me feel so helpless.

- Well, that's all the thanks I get for being considerate.

After all, you're used to riding,

not walking to school.

- A little exercise never hurt anybody.

Besides, they're letting me have the car back next week.

- What about Ginger?

- Uh-uh, still off limits.

My father says he'll let me know

when they think I can be trusted to ride again.

Oh, I have to talk to someone.

I'll see you later, okay?

Ellie, hold on.

Wait a minute.

I've been thinking about you.

We never got a chance to finish our talk.

- I know.

Maybe we can meet later in the yard.

- Oh bother.

Come on in here for a second.

We can decide where to meet.

- Mary, Mary. - Come on, come on.

- Maybe they should put white only on the door.

- Mary-

- Be careful.

They might put no idiots allowed.

Then where would you two go?

- You think you so smart.

- What's wrong with you?

They insulted you.

- Forget it, I'm not wanted in here.

- Who said?

- It's an unwritten rule.

- I never heard of it.

- Did you ever see a colored girl in here?

- I never noticed.

I don't pay much attention to things like that.

- Well, most people do.

Mary, I've got to go to class.

- But Ellie-

- We'll talk about it later, okay?

- And I don't remember a single article

or editorial about it.

How could you let it go by?

- Hi Mr. White, hi, Mary

- Mary, I am just as outraged as you are

by senseless cruelty but segregation is not something

that started this morning in the girls' lounge.

And it's gonna take a lot more than an editorial to stop it.

- Well, okay.

But somebody has to take the first step.

Why wasn't it you?

- I can't answer that question.

- Well, that isn't gonna help Ellie very much.

- Well, we all do the best we can.

- I think we can do better.

The undersigned believes that segregation of any kind

at Emporia High School is contrary

to the principles on which this country was founded.

As taxpayers, we demand equal access to facilities

for all students, regardless of race, creed, or religion.

Well, what do you think?

- Well, it's a fine idea, dear,

but who do you think will sign it?

- You and Father and the men at the paper

and Pastor Rice and-

- Well, you can count on us and probably Rice

but don't be so sure about my employees.

They don't all think like I do.

- But they have to sign.

Everybody should.

- Mary, I don't hold with making a man's private convictions

a consideration for employment.

- I know how you feel, dear.

I used to feel the same way growing up in Kentucky.

Come to think of it, I still do.

Or I would, if your father hadn't taught me the art

of the possible.

- What's that?

- That's reaching for the moon

when you know you can't get it

and then settling for a piece of it

which is more than you had when you started.

- But that's not good enough.

- It may have to be.

- You put me in a very difficult position, Mary.

Why, you know I agree with you,

but this sorta decision isn't up to me.

It's up to the school board.

- But you're the principal.

- I'm their employee.

- Well, does that mean that you can't even sign it?

It's really watered down, you know?

The first petition I drew up asked for complete integration.

- What made you change your mind?

- I haven't, not really, but,

well, Jane Addams talked about a journey

of 1000 miles starting with one step

and my parents talked about the art of the possible.

And I don't know,

I guess I'm just trying to believe that they're right.

- Well, my heart's with you.

I wish you luck.

- I'd rather have your signature.

- I know.

But I can't.

You made your compromise

and I have to make mine.

- But-

- I'm sorry.

I know when Will White's daughter

has a chance to think it over, she'll understand.

- I hope I never understand.

- Did he sign? - No.

- I knew he wouldn't.

Maybe we should forget the whole thing.

- No!

- Give it to me.

I'll take it on my paper route.

Maybe I can get some signatures.

- That's a good idea.

Don't worry, Ellie, between us, we'll find a way.

- I really wish you'd forget it.

- What's the matter with you?

This is for you.

All of this, don't you care?

- I shoulda known better.

- What are you talking about?

- If you really wanna help, then leave us alone.

- Oh, sure, that's a big help.

Look, I won't stop.

I can't!

Just thinking about stopping hurts too much.

- Hurts?

What do you know about hurt,

living up there in that big house

with everything you want and your daddy so famous?

You ain't even like other folks in this town.

You don't even know your place.

If you did, you wouldn't let me talk to you like this.

You will have nothing to be afraid of.

You're William Allen White's daughter

- Jim, take that up to Wally.

Let him have a look at it, will you?

Harlow, will you excuse us?

- Sure, Mr. White.

- I hate this town.

I hate everybody in it.

- I have days like that myself.

- Don't make jokes, I'm serious.

- I know you are.

I'm serious too when I feel like that.

- Will you stop patronizing me?

What do you know about how I feel?

- Why don't you tell me?

- You built a wall around us in this town.

Nobody even trusts us.

Ellie said that I couldn't understand pain

because I was William Allen White's daughter.

Well, I'm sick and tired

of being William Allen White's daughter.

I'm me!

- You didn't say a word all through dinner.

Between your silence and Mary's, I've got heartburn.

- Take some bicarbonate.

- I did.

It didn't help.

- Try hot water.

- I don't need medical advice, Will.

I need to know what this is all about.

First Mary leaves the table without even a word.

And she rides off on a horse she's forbidden to ride

and now you sit here like a Sphinx.

What's going on?

- Mary came by the office today

to tell me she was tired of being my daughter.

- Will, I'm sure she didn't mean that.

I think she did.

I know she did.

- Well, you surprise me, Will White.

You're the one who's always telling me not

to forget my growing up.

That it'll help me understand our children better.

Didn't you ever say anything in anger

that might've hurt your father?

- Many times.

- Well, that didn't mean you didn't love him, did it?

- I'm not talking about love, Sallie.

I'm talking about like.

Mary doesn't like me

and tonight I don't like her.

- Thank heavens she's back in one piece.

- Mind if I talk to her alone?

- Are you sure you want to?

- Better use part of that towel on yourself.

- I'm okay.

- Don't ever run out again like that, Mary,

I don't like it.

Did you hear what I said?

- Yes.

- You're angry at me, aren't you?

Well, that's all right

'cause I'm angry at you too

and I don't like the way it feels.

Now, what are we gonna do about it?

- It's just that I can't do anything, right.

- Well, I wish I could tell you that you're not gonna feel

like this again, but it wouldn't be true.

I don't want any lies between us.

And when you told me you were tired of being my daughter,

Mary, that hurt like the devil,

but at least it was honest.

- I didn't mean it.

I just meant that-

- Wait now.

At that moment, I think you did.

- I guess you're right.

It's just that I can't even remember a time

when you and mother weren't all excited about some cause.

I'd hear you down in the living room after I'd gone to bed,

you'd be planning some big editorial

that would right a wrong

or point out to people how blind they were being.

And all I ever wanted to do was help.

To do what you do.

And every time I try, I get it all mixed up somehow.

- Oh sweetheart, I'm afraid,

you're just gonna have to settle

for being a little less than perfect.

- I thought that's what you expected of me.

Everybody else does.

- I doubt that.

I think the only one expects you to be perfect is you.

Well, if that's what you thought I wanted

then I don't blame you for being tired of being my daughter.

Matter of fact, I know just how you feel.

- How could you?

- Because sometimes I get very tired

of being William Allen White.

I forget, you see?

And I expect him to be perfect too.

- But you were never like me.

You didn't start out by wanting to make something better

and end up by just making it worse.

- Oh my.

Boy, I'd hate to have to tell you how many times

I've done just that

and I might even be doing it right now,

but I have to take that chance.

You see, Mary, that's what it's all about,

being willing to take a chance.

You do it.

And I hope you never stop.

- Do you really mean that?

- Lord have mercy on my soul.

Yes, I really mean that.

- I'd rather be your daughter than the Queen of England.

- Now I feel good.

Got my Peter Pan back.

- When graduation day comes along in a few weeks,

Mary's chair will be empty.

She was all ready though.

She even had her dress.

Sallie and I figured it had to be pretty important to her

for her to be willing to go shopping for it.

Usually she had to be dragged into a store,

kicking and screaming.

- Oh Mother, we weren't going that fast.

- Good afternoon, Sallie.

How are you Mary?

Getting excited about graduation?

- Nervous is more like it.

- We're just starting to shop for her graduation dress.

- I bought Jessie's last week.

Isn't it a nuisance having to go all the way

to Topeka to shop?

- Why, Jessie has such a nice figure.

I'm surprised you couldn't find something

to fit her right here.

- Not as long as that's in the window.

Hasn't Mr. White instructed you to stay out of these stores?

- Certainly not.

Why should he?

- I imagine he has more important things on his mind.

Good thing you ran into us.

We're all-

What's that we're doing?

- Boycotting. - Boycotting all the merchants

who support the strike.

- Why?

- Because our husbands said we should.

- I don't understand.

Neither of your husbands works for railroad management.

- My Charles says the Bolsheviks

are stirring up the laboring men.

They don't really want to strike, you know?

They're being forced to by the union agitators.

- Well, I think I'd rather take my chance

with the Bolsheviks than with the roads to Topeka.

Come along, Mary.

- Coming, mother.

- Good day, ladies.

- Good afternoon.

Why I imagine you've suffered a considerable drop

in business due to the strike, haven't you Mr. Bonner?

- Oh, well, I never wanted to get mixed up in this

in the first place.

I just didn't want to lose my working trade.

Anyway, the governor's just passed the law.

He's put out an injunction prohibiting those placards.

Oh, it's sure a relief to me.

Well, come for your graduation dress, have ya?

- Well, what were the shop men striking for?

- Oh, the freedom to choose their union.

I wanna support them

but I can't afford to have it cost me my business.

How does that one strike you, Mrs. White?

- Oh, that's rather pretty.

What do you think Mary?

- You mean to say that just to sell a few dresses,

you're willing to let all those families starve?

- I've got a family to feed too.

- Mary, please.

Let's get back to our business.

- Good afternoon Miss Butler.

Will. - Hello, Sarah.

- Good, you came exactly the right minute.

Just getting ready to go home.

- Oh, Mary drove me downtown.

- Uh-oh.

Well, I'll probably walk.

I need the exercise.

Ben. - Daddy.

- Will you put this up in our window please?

- Oh, you're too late, Will,

the governor just obtained an injunction

forbidding the posting of that sign.

- I know it.

That's why I'm gonna put up a bigger one,

make sure everybody can see it.

- When they come to arrest you,

should I tell them they'll find you at home?

- Yes, indeed.

- Arrest, Will, they wouldn't do that, would they?

- No, I'm afraid not.

They know that's exactly what I want them to do.

I want this to be a test case.

They know darn well it'll never stand up in court.

Clear infringement of civil liberties.

- If the governor ignores you,

why don't we all drive down to Topeka

and march up and down in front of the Capitol with a sign.

- That wouldn't be breaking law.

The injunction prohibits the sign

from being placed in shop windows.

- It's not fair.

That skinflint Bonner's gonna get away with it.

Why don't we boycott him for taking the sign down?

- Because that's an infringement of his civil liberty.

- He doesn't deserve to have any.

- Mary, if civil liberties were only available

to those people we approved of,

we'd all be at the mercy of every crackpot that comes along.

- Then why aren't you fighting for Ellie?

- I am.

You know, I wrote that article on segregation.

- I am not talking about writing.

I'm talking about doing.

- Well, Mary, when you get to be a little older-

- If getting older means putting words before actions,

I hope I die young.

I'm sorry.

- I love your spirit, you know that?

I hope you keep it all your life.

- Will, she's serious.

- Of course she is.

That's what makes her Mary

I had written a novel called "In the Heart of a Fool".

And I was quite flattered when an offer was made

by the infant film industry

to make it into a motion picture.

And when the filming was done, I was invited to New York

to view the results.

Well, Sallie and I agreed

that Mary and I needed some time alone together

so I invited her to come along.

Well, our trip was a lark

from the minute we pulled out of here.

Trains have always fascinated me

and Mary shared that feeling.

She was so excited.

So alive, so eager to drink in new experiences.

And so iconoclastic.

- You really can't get the full effect without the music.

When it shows in the theater,

the piano player will be pounding out

the "Stars and Stripes Forever".

Yes, well that oughta help quite a lot.

- You really shouldn't take the money for this.

They haven't used your story at all.

- Well, what do you think?

- Well, Mr. Stoner, I'm afraid that-

- Look, Mr. White, you're a great writer.

Maybe the greatest, but the printed page is not the screen.

- But what we just saw had no relation to-

- You're being too literal, little lady.

See what goes up on the screen is the director's vision

of what the story is all about.

- Well, if that's his vision of my father's book,

he needs glasses.

- That will do.

My goodness.

Time flies when you are enjoying yourself.

Mr. Stoner, you're just going to have to excuse us.

We were late for an appointment.

Come along, Mary.

- For an appetizer, may I suggest the escargot?

- No, I don't think so.

- Oh, I'd love some.

- The last time you were served escargot,

you just stared at them.

- I was only 10 years old then.

- One order of escargot.

- Very good, sir.

- Thank you.

- I could have ordered for myself, you know?

- I'm sorry.

Would you rather have something else?

- No.

- Miss White, may I please have this dance?

- Certainly, Mr. White.

- Now, if I step on your foot, just pinch me.

That's what your mother always does.

What did you really think of the motion picture,

or shouldn't I ask?

- Well, it was-

- It was an experience.

- Yeah, it certainly was.

It was awful.

- Mary, I wish you'd stop beating around the bush like that.

- And now by popular request...

- Are they good?

- Delicious.

- Well, when you finish those,

I can order you some more if you like.

- Daddy, I-

- Yes, Mary?

- I think you should sue them, the motion picture people.

- Well now, wait a minute.

I thought they showed great taste.

Mr. Stoner called me the greatest writer in the world.

And I'm gonna put that on my list right under

the Sage of Emporia.

- Have you finished, miss?

- Yes.

That's another one for me.

- I concede, you're too good for me.

You coming down with a cold?

- Let's play another game.

I'll let you beat me.

- Wouldn't much pleasure out of that, would I?

- Well, I seem to remember you used to let me beat you.

- Yes, well, that's different.

You were a little girl.

You knew what I was throwing the game?

- Oh, not at first but

when I got to be about 12-

- Oh, come on.

I didn't do it that long, did I?

- And for all I know, you may still be doing it.

Either that or you're a rotten player.

- No, my mind wasn't on it.

I was starting to compose a letter to Will Hayes.

- The postmaster general?

- He's the one that got me into this motion picture deal.

It's all he ever talks about it.

He thinks they're the coming things.

- What are you gonna say?

- I don't know, got some ideas

and get home, I'll talk 'em over with your mother,

sort them out.

What was that for?

- It's like I'm not even here.

- What are you talking about?

- I saw that awful picture show with you, not Mother.

Why do you have to wait till you can talk to her?

- Well, it's the way I always do it.

You know, I share all my work with your mother.

It has nothing to do with you

- But I want it to.

- Mary, there are some things that just have to wait.

- What, 'til I'm older.

Is that what you're gonna say?

How much older do I have to be, 100?

I have a brain.

I have opinions.

I may not be a woman yet, but I'm not a child either.

I can't wait for you to see that

because you never will.

- Mary, it just seems that way to you.

I remember when I was growing up-

- When Mother was my age,

she was teaching school.

You were working at the newspaper.

You didn't consider yourself a child then, did you?

- Mary, your mother was forced to miss her childhood.

I don't want you to miss yours,

now thank goodness you don't have to.

- Daddy, if that's all you're worried about, please don't.

I had a wonderful childhood,

the best any girl could ever want, but it's over now.

Can't you see that?

Can't you look at me for once and really see that?

- All right, what do you think I should say to him?

- Well, first of all, the audience isn't made up of morons.

If people pay to be entertained,

they should get what they've paid for.

Real entertainment shouldn't glaze your eyes.

It should stimulate your mind.

- Maybe I can rephrase that.

- What's wrong with it?

- Nothing.

Go on, what else?

- Tell them that if they think enough of a book

to pay good money for it,

they should respect the author's thoughts.

Writers think up the stories, for heaven's sake.

Not only that, how do they know

that the audience won't like-

- Just wait, now, let's go back to your first thought.

- Don't be so gentlemanly.

You said you hated the picture show.

Now you're writing that you're disappointed with it.

- You're right.

We'll call a spade a spade

and let the devil take the hindmost.

- Thank you.

- From the time Mary and I got back from New York,

the current of my public life nearly swept away all memory

of those few minutes when my daughter and I knew

and respected each other as people.

Miss White.

Can you buy me a soda?

- My pleasure.

- Get my hat.

I'll stand behind this editorial.

- Of course you will, dear.

- Damn La Follette.

It's bad enough we didn't join the League of Nations.

Now, if we don't get a World Court,

we're in for 100 years of war.

Children of this country deserve a better legacy than that.

- Speaking of children,

what's happening between you and Mary?

- There's no end to the idiocy

of some of the politicians in this country.

It's a good thing we're a strong people

because we have to either survive some of our leaders.

What about Mary?

- Well, when the two of you came back from New York,

I noticed a great difference in her.

- I'm glad.

Sallie, what am I gonna do about La Follette?

- When you calm down, Will, you'll know.

- Sallie was right as usual.

I decided to go to Washington and debate La Follette.

I left on a warm spring day.

- I wish I were going with you.

- Not this time.

This trip is no place for a lady.

I anticipate some strong language.

- Well, Will, now you're a much more effective speaker

when you don't get excited.

- All right, alright.

- Mary, where are you going?

- I forgot something in the car.

- I've been thinking about her.

When I get back,

I'm gonna try to treat her as if she weren't a child.

Matter of fact, I'm gonna get behind that drive of hers

to get the lounge for those colored girls.

- Oh, Will, I'm so glad.

I'll tell her.

- No, don't.

I don't think words are gonna be enough.

I'm gonna have to prove them.

- Just to remind you.

- That is first rate.

You have the makings of a fine political cartoonist.

Sallie.

Now, don't you ride Ginger too fast when I'm gone.

- But what about the-

- Letting your ride faster again?

Well, maybe when I get back, we'll talk about it.

- Oh no we won't.

I just can't stand the strain.

Now every time you ride fast, Mary,

I expect to hear that you've been thrown.

- I've never been thrown from a horse in my life.

- That was a close call.

I couldn't go anywhere without my talisman, could I?

Well, I'm off.

- All aboard!

- Hurry back, will you? - I will, I will.

Bye.

- I love you.

- All aboard!

- That was the last picture I had of Mary.

When I came home, she was dead.

Her funeral yesterday at the congregational church

was as she would have wished it,

no singing, no flowers,

save for a big bunch of red roses

from her brother Bill's Harvard class men.

Heavens how proud that would've made her

and the red roses from the gazette for us

in vases at her head and feet.

A short poem.

Paul's beautiful essay on love,

from the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians.

Some remarks about her democratic spirit

from her friend John H.J. Rice, pastor and police judge,

which she would have deprecated if she could.

A prayer sent down for her by her friend, Carl Nowell,

and opening the service , the slow poignant movement

from Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata", which she loved.

Then the Lord's Prayer by her friends in the high school.

That was all.

- Mary was the embodiment of those things

that in the lives of young people are essential.

She was the outstanding champion

of the down and out and the pure of heart.

Her emotions and her instincts led her

into a finer region of human living.

She always stood for things that were worthwhile

and gave herself, unafraid, to the person

or the cause that needed and deserved a friend.

It is such personalities will stand in the breach

when the right things are in danger,

and who become the law, the life that has no law in itself.

And so we shall remember Mary White

a democrat, unafraid with a great heart,

and a strong, clean mind and a dominating will.

We will miss you, Mary.

And now Mary's classmate from Emporia High School

will deliver the Lord's Prayer.

- Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,

thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us

and lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power

and the glory forever.

Amen.

- Your mother's waiting for me,

but there was something I wanted to tell you alone.

I know in my heart that you would've made a fine woman.

A woman that both of us could love and respect.

I want you to know that.

But I want you to understand that if I write about you

as my Peter Pan,

my free spirit that'll never grow up,

that's who you were to me.

And now that's how you will always be.

Good night, Mary.

Sleep well.

Finished it.

- The Associated Press reports carrying the news

of Mary White's death, declare that it came as the result

of a fall from a horse.

How she would have hooted at that.

She never fell from a horse in her life.

Horses have fallen on her and with her.

I'm always trying to hold them in my lap,

she used to say.

She was proud of a few things

and one was that she could ride anything

that had four legs and hair.

- A rift in the clouds on a gray day threw

a shaft of sunlight upon her coffin

as her nervous, energetic little body sank

to its last sleep.

But the soul of her,

the glowing, gorgeous, fervent soul of her surely

was flaming and eager joy upon some other dawn.