All language subtitles for Target The Corruptors - S01E06 - Bite of a Tiger

The ranking business in the
United States is government.

It makes and spends more money than
any other enterprise, legal or illegal.

And where that kind of wealth is involved,

you'll find the corruptors reaching for
their cut. They know what's at stake.

And when a crusading young
man campaigns on a platform

devoted to ridding the
government of such thieves,

he's one of three things.

A fool, a liar, or an idealist.

My reason for spending the
last two weeks of June in this

New England city was to
find out which one he was,

and to report my
findings to the readers of my

syndicated column entitled The Corruptors.

It was also a chance to renew an
acquaintance with ex-Governor Hayes,

who had given his son strong support in
getting him elected district attorney.

Some of the party supporters attending
the victory celebration bothered me.

They were the old line
guard, hardened politicians.

Who didn't go with the
image of this knight on

horseback and his
clean house reform ticket?

My son, and our new District Attorney of
Somerville, Michael Francis Hayes. Well,

we did it. We knew what the
people wanted, and we gave it to them.

We did it.

As the skipper was trying to tell you,
and I'm sure he would have, we did it.

In spite of all the pollsters,

and in spite of all the
wiseacres and the smart money,

I was elected district
attorney of this city.

So we know what the people want.

They want to be rid of
municipal corruption.

They want to kick the
cheaters out of City Hall.

And we won our election
because they believed me

when I said I would
flush out the cheats and

the privileged givers
and privileged seekers

and the leeches who feed but do not serve.

As of this moment, Party
loyalty goes out the window.

No man can expect
immunity from investigation

just because he
belongs to the right party.

Now, the honeymoon is over.

And at 10 o'clock Monday
morning on the 16th of July,

the district attorney's
office will be open for business.

And the first order of business...

It's to clean our own house, because
in our own house I can see the dirt.

And as I promised the
voters, I'm starting here and now.

I'm starting with the
biggest and the dirtiest.

I'm starting with them.

I think you'd better hop
a train and get up here.

My old friend Mike
Hayes has promised to kick

Shannon and his party boys out
of City Hall. You're kidding.

No, I'm not kidding.

And I think we'd better be around to see
what happens after that meeting tonight.

Well, I look so depressed.

You've been in politics too many
years to pay any attention to speeches.

I didn't like the way he was
talking about dirt, Harry.

I hate dirt.

I've been a commissioner of one
department or other in this city for 20 years.

Well, with our help, you'll be a
commissioner for 20 more years,

and you'll get richer
and richer each year.

It ain't your help I'm worried
about. It's that baby tiger, Mike Hayes.

He's just like his old
man. Maybe even worse.

Well, here's to good government.

Well, government anyway.

Harry.

I've got a $40 million
contract with the city.

If he starts in on me... I
wouldn't lose any sleep about it, Chuck.

Mike Hayes may have won this election,

but he can't keep on winning
without the party. And we are the party.

Suppose he doesn't know about it.

Then his papa will have to tell him.

You don't think young Michael makes any
decision without asking his father first,

do you? Well, whose idea was it
to start cleaning up with us?

We helped put him there.

Before he goes any further,
somebody better reach that boy.

Fell, Stu Hayes is no one's fool.

He knows he's got a hot shot in young
Michael. When you've got a hot shot,

you enter him in the big races.

When a man thinks he's bigger than
the party, he has to be chopped down.

Stu Hayes knows that if he
wants to see his son sitting

in the state capital
within the next three years,

he's got to make a deal
with us. Yeah, that tiger

doesn't chew up half of
us first. Oh, just wait.

Ah, Chuck, why don't you go home?

You've been scared for 35
years. Go home, get some rest.

Yeah, maybe you're right.

Imagine me going home before
daylight on an election night,

first time in nearly 20 years. Chuck.

I'll take a lift from you.

Might as well you take
everything else, Commissioner.

Harry, it's all right to
reassure them that there's

no point in you and me kidding ourselves.

This kid's got a lot more on
the ball than we thought he had.

Just what does Stu Hayes want?

My head, for one thing.

You know, he's never
forgiven me for what happened

at the convention eight years ago.

He couldn't have won
then. He doesn't think so.

When you cheat a man out of a chance
to be president of the United States,

he's never quite sure but
that he could have won it.

He's going to want
control of the Seneca Club.

Give it to him then.

You guaranteed me that this
election wouldn't disturb my status quo.

I don't have to tell you how
much money that means to us.

He's gonna want more than that.

When you raise a tiger, you
have to feed him on raw meat.

Okay, then you can feed
his tiger, Phil Constantine,

and Chuck Hare. He might even want you.

Well, we draw the line right there, Harry.

We'll draw the line when
I see it has to be drawn.

And just you remember, this is
something that cannot be bought with money.

Never underestimate the
power of money, Harry.

It makes the world spin
round. Yeah, maybe it does.

But it doesn't mean anything to tigers.

Congratulations, Mr. White.

Come on, let's give it to old Seneca Club.

Roar!

Listen, I'd like to make an
announcement here and now

that I couldn't have made it
without the skipper. Did you win, Daddy?

He sure did, honey.

And why did Daddy win?

Because he listens to you, Grandpa.

You're a smart boy and a smart girl.

All right, children, now
you've seen Daddy. Time for bed.

You're training the next
generation, to mind you, Governor. Well,

that's the way I raised Michael here,
to listen to Daddy. And it paid off,

didn't it? It certainly did, Skipper.

Why shouldn't he listen? Haven't
I spent a lifetime in politics?

Oh, fine. Here, let's drink a toast.

A toast to good
government. Excuse me, sir.

Mr. Wilson wishes to see
you. He's in the library.

Thank you, Don. Yes, sir.

Excuse us, please.

Doug Wilson is here.

Didn't I tell you they'd come
swimming upstream right into our hands?

I don't think we should see him.

You haven't taken your oath of
office yet. You can talk to him.

I don't think it's a good idea, Skip.

People might get the idea we owe him
something. Now, don't be so prissy, Michael.

You sound like your mother.

People have seen Doug Wilson around here
before without getting any wrong ideas.

When I told him off tonight, I
meant it. Of course you meant it.

The man's here to parley a
little. Give him a hearing.

Sorry to break in on your victory
dinner this way, Mike. Governor,

may I add my congratulations?

As you know, I have clients who do
business with city and state departments.

That's my job to smooth the way.

Yes, I know how you smooth the
way. By bribing elected officials.

I consider those activities
criminal, and I'm going to prove it.

You aren't giving me a chance, Michael.

Governor, I want to help you take the
Seneca Club away from Harry Shannon.

In exchange for what?

Some assurances.

Oh, Doug, that's very generous of you.

You wouldn't be able to be much help in
that matter if you should go to prison.

Governor, you'd better explain the
political facts of life to your baby tiger here.

Which facts are you
referring to, Mr. Wilson?

That there's a limit to how far an
independent candidate can go. At the moment,

I'm only interested in the
district attorney's office.

What you're interested in doesn't count.

It's what the governor
here wants that matters.

And for what he wants,
he needs party support.

You want Harry Shannon out of the
party leadership, right, Governor?

Well.

I'm ready to help you.

We want no help from you.

What do you say, Governor?

You heard the district attorney.

All right.

But remember, I was ready to make a deal.

Good night.

You can always reach me
if you change your minds.

He carries a lot of
cards in his hands, Michael.

He swings weight in the
party organization upstate.

That won't give him
immunity from prosecution.

He's a thief.

Yes, he is.

But certainly not as bad as
old Commissioner Constantine

and his partner, Chuck Hare.

I'm going after them
first. And so you should.

That old crook Constantine was
just starting his petty larceny

in City Hall when I came into
the DA's office as a young man.

Why couldn't you stop him?

You know, Michael, we haven't
drunk a toast to your victory.

Fix us a drink.

Come on, come on, Skip.
Now, why couldn't you stop?

In those days, I was considered that
insufferable rich kid from uptown.

I had made up my mind
to turn the party upside

down and kick out the
thieves and the hacks.

Why didn't you?

Because I was ambitious
and green as new wood.

And what I learned after a
great deal of pain was that

you didn't have to be a
crook to be a politician.

But to be a politician,
you had to deal with them.

I don't believe that.

There'd be no bribe-taking
in government if there were

no so-called honest
citizens to offer the bribes.

Remember that.

Well, you have nothing to be ashamed of in

your career, Skip. You
never took a dollar.

But saw plenty of others who did.

And put them in jail.
And put them in jail.

Remember, Michael, I never needed to
take a dollar. I was a rich man's son.

Public service is
underpaid and largely unrewarded.

And considering the temptations,

the wonder is not that there
are so many crooked politicians,

but the fact that there are so few.

Here's to the good ones.

Michael.

Your success.

We finally made it.

Well, let's get back to the party.

In at least one respect, the new DA
lived up to his campaign promises.

On a Monday morning in July,
following the swearing-in ceremonies,

he started to clean house.

And where once the old
guard might have been reaching

into the barrel for their political plums,

this time things were reversed.

Young Hayes was reaching into the
barrel to throw out the rotten apples,

and his office was bustling with activity.

Congratulations, Mike. Thanks.

You're a half hour late. Where were you?

A tough morning and a tough judge.

A rumor has it that
you're going to the grand jury

to get an indictment
against that old crook,

the not-so-honorable
Philip Julian Constantine.

Well, I'm starting with him, and
then running right on down the list.

What list? Come on with me.

Listen, Bob, you've been popping off
for years. Close the door, will you?

You've been popping off at women's
clubs and civic association shindigs

for years now about the corrupt
politicians running this city.

Are you willing to do something about it,

or are you strictly out for
those chicken-out-of-king dinners?

What do you have in mind, Mike?

An appointment?

That's quite a list you got. Mm-hmm.

Now, what was that about an appointment?

As a special assistant district
attorney, you'll be underpaid, overworked,

insulted, abused, and otherwise put upon.

But you can put a sticker
on your jalopy and park

in the reserve spot in front of City Hall.

And you can finally do
something about everything you've hated

and yapped about ever
since you got your law degree.

I like the light in your eyes.

A bit fanatic, perhaps, but what do I do?

You're going to get me
documentation and witnesses

for an indictment against
Douglas Hayward Wilson.

You'll be working alone on this.

I want you to keep this
assignment strictly to yourself.

Mike, I talk in my sleep.
You know, Helen's gotta know.

All right, Helen's gotta
know, but nobody else.

What do you know about Wilson?

I know his function.

He's a bag man.

Contractors, businessmen,
manufacturers, vendors,

suppliers of all sorts give
him money, generally in cash.

And aside from his usual fee, he
distributes the money where it'll do the most harm.

I believe he's a dedicated,

ruthless corrupter of public
officials with a bottomless money bank.

The reason I want you
to keep it quiet is that

he's easily the most
slippery of the bunch,

and potentially the most dangerous.

A man who knows where to
buy anything he needs knows

where to buy violence,
if he needs that too.

Well, bring out the Bible and swear me in.

And I promise to defend motherhood, the
mayor, the law, and put Wilson in jail.

I do.

You are the project
supervisor for the Bureau

of Public Works, are you not, Mr. Healy?

Yes, sir.

Do you recognize these papers, Mr. Healy?

Yes, sir, I do.

Records of people who
worked on city projects.

The names, the addresses,
the social security numbers,

and the hours worked by each employee?

Yes, sir, but they're not
city employees. No, they're not.

They're employees of private contractors.

Laborers, truck
drivers, helpers, and so on.

Is that your signature on
the bottom of each sheet?

Yes, sir.

Mr. Healy, are you aware that my staff has

carefully checked each
one of those sheets?

And that there are 130 names in
those sheets of men who do not exist?

I wouldn't know about that.

I repeat, Mr. Healy,
130 men who do not exist.

My staff and the police
have tried to find them.

They're not simply gone.

They do not exist.

Their addresses are
fake, their names are fake,

their social security numbers
are fake. They do not exist.

I can't keep track of every drifter
who does a day's work on a city project.

Your project supervisor, Mr. Healy,

tells me that he can't keep track
of them either, Mr. Constantine.

Why ask me?

Who should we ask?

Ask Mr. Hare.

I don't know where they are.

My firm employs 20,000 laborers a day.
You can't expect me to keep track of them.

But you keep track of them carefully
enough to pay them, don't you, Mr. Hare?

Oh, sure, they get paid.

Do they get paid in cash?

Oh, yes, sir, generally. They like cash.

A day laborer gets, what, $15 to $18 a
day, doesn't he? Oh, yeah, union wages.

And 130 day laborers would get
paid about $2,000 a day. About.

And in a five-day work
week, about $10,000.

And in a work year of 50 weeks,
about a half million dollars.

Yeah, about that.

Well, that's a lot of cash, Mr. Hare.

A half million dollars a year
of the taxpayer's money goes out

into the hands and pockets of
130 men who don't have names

or homes or families or
friends or enemies or creditors or

anything to mark the fact
that they lived on this earth.

Well, the way you put
it, it does sound funny.

It doesn't sound funny, Mr. Hare.

It simply sounds crooked.

Hi, Jack.

Have something?

No, no thanks.

I take it that's the
hotshot DA over there that

I've been reading about in your column.

Well, it sure is. What
did you find out about him?

He's clean all the way
through, made no deals with anyone.

Glad?

Sure, I'm glad, but
that's what worries me.

It means he's raw.

When a kid's that clean, he's ripe for
anything the old pros have in mind for him.

Won't he listen to you?
That's just the trouble.

He's one of those rare
commodities that doesn't

want to believe in a political machine.

When they find out one of
the wheels isn't turning,

they'll get out the
axes and go to work on it.

To break the machine? No.

To break his heart, maybe.

That's why you're going
to hang around here. Well,

you don't want a
detective. You need a watchdog.

I can't think of anybody who
barks better than you do, Jay.

Hey, don't keep knocking Bob.
He's doing an awful lot on this job.

It's nice work, Mike.

Constantine makes one man
down, only three to go.

Well, thanks for the
plug in your column, Paul.

I don't believe you know Mr.
and Mrs. Larch, my wife Carol.

We saw each other during the campaign.

And I'm glad my husband
cured you of your cynicism.

Not completely.

I'm waiting to see what
he does about that list.

What list?

Oh, the list that they're
gonna... I shouldn't have said that.

No, dear, you shouldn't have.

If you'll excuse me, I
think I'll go to the ladies'

room and see if I can do
something with my place.

I suggest covering it. Just ask the
attendant for some sackcloth. Come on.

Paul?

Is this really that secret? I don't
know what the hell she's talking about.

And anyway, you'll get all the
names as the grand jury indicts them.

You know you'll be cutting your
throat at the party if you go too deep.

I wasn't elected head
of the party, just DA.

If you don't want it to be
the last job you ever hold.

I'm too young to worry about
the last job I'll ever hold.

Mike, you're an honest guy. I
don't want you to get hurt.

But these boys you're dealing
with aren't exactly amateurs.

They know all the angles.

That's why I'm worried
about how they may get to you.

Don't worry, Paul.

They won't get to me.

Well, have a nice dinner. Thanks.

The indictment of Commissioner
Constantine brought special panic to the

members of the Seneca Club
employed in the Bureau of Public Works.

And by Friday evening, Shannon had called
a hurried meeting of the party leaders.

There you are, Harry.
Now, Peter, stop worrying,

huh? How are we doing? It's me, man.

Come on, wait, wait, wait.

We're getting nowhere like that.

What are you scared of?

Wait. I know, I know. Phil
Constantine's going to court. Well,

Phil knows what the score is.

Phil's ready to take the rap.

Don't you realize that
we have protection here?

Don't you know that we
have this organization

that took us a good many years to develop?

Now, Mike has nothing but
amateurs, and in politics,

amateurs die away like morning glories.

Hayes hopes to see his son in the
governor's house in a few years,

and he knows that he'll need
this organization to get him there.

Now, it stands to reason that a man
doesn't kill the thing he needs. Yeah,

but this young DA's a wild man. Ah,
no, he may be wild, but he's not crazy.

Look, a club like this
political club didn't grow overnight.

It took years to make it. Why,

I was a member of the Seneca
Club when I was 14 years old.

I've given my whole life to it.

I don't even have a wife. I don't have
any children. I don't even have a hobby.

All I've got in this
world is you fellas here.

And the mighty ugly,
hairy-looking punch you are at that.

But if you're going to
act like a lot of scared

washwomen throwing your
aprons over your head,

the first sign of trouble, you'll be of
no use to yourselves or anybody else.

Every reformed DA has got
to get it out of his system.

Now Mike is getting it out of his system.

And as soon as he stops
breathing fire so I can

get close enough to
him and not get toasted,

we'll talk, we'll make a deal, and
then it'll be business the same as usual.

No DA ever bothers with little crooks
when he can get a chance at the big ones.

So you go on out there
and you tell those little

crooks to take it easy
and tell any of them that

are worried about their job
that no man ever suffered

because he was a member of the
Seneca Club. Now, good luck.

Mr. Shannon, sir.

Show him in. Yes, sir.

Sit down, Harry. Make
yourself comfortable.

It's a long time since you've
been here, Harry, isn't it?

Too long, Governor.

Yes, I've regretted that myself, Harry.

Governor, your boy has me over a barrel.

Brilliant boy, Michael, brilliant.

Yes. It's a shame he
has no political future.

He's done all right.

Up to now he has, but
he's gone about as far as he

can without major party
support, and you know it.

And you're here to offer
that, Harry, aren't you?

I am.

I was betting myself
just how long it would

be before you walk
through that door, Harry.

Well, let's say you've won your bet. Now,

suppose we put our
cards face up on the table.

I don't care what
happens to Phil Constantine.

You can hang him in front of
the city hall if you wish.

I don't care about any of them.

But I've got nearly 3,000 people on
the city payroll whom I'm worried about.

The party faithful.

Yes, the faithful.

Without them, you'd have no
professional political organization.

If you want your boy in
the governor's mansion,

you'll have to find statewide support.

And I'm ready to get it for him.

I'll submit your name as city leader.

At what price?

I remain the head of the Seneca
Club, and I'll be your second man.

That's agreeable.

What else?

Get your boy to cut off the
investigation just beneath Constantine. Now,

if he digs any deeper,
it'll cut off the pay of every

precinct captain and
political worker that I have.

And once they're in jail or even
out of a job, they're useless to me.

That, too, can be arranged.

What else?

I'd like to save Doug Wilson.

Not really.

You know he's been here
trying to sell you short.

That's typical of him.

But he's a bad enemy to make, Governor.

And we'll want him when your boy
goes after the nomination for governor.

He swings a lot of weight upstate,
and that's where we'll need him.

Yes, I suppose we will.

But I am not after the
governorship, Harry.

We want the presidency.

We want the presidency of
the United States of America.

That's what I really want.

Well, it could be done, Governor.

Don't stop me this time.

I won't stop your boy when he runs
for it. I think he could win it,

if we both live long enough.

I don't know about you, but I
fully intend to live long enough.

Corruption in government is one of
the most difficult mazes to uncover.

It's not just a few men in on the take,

but an intricate network of small
grafters stooging for the bigger ones.

That's why the little
ones were ready to testify

against the top guns,
to save their own hides.

The panic button had been pushed,

and the big and the little were
all scrambling to cop a plea.

Looks like a dam
broke, Mike. What happened?

Don't ask me. It all started
at 8 o'clock this morning.

We'd been scratching for witnesses for
weeks without luck, and all of a sudden,

all of a sudden, all these showed up.

Was all that any good?

Well, listen.

Sure I did. Lots of times.

Can you give me one particular
time Commissioner Constantine

told you to pass inferior work?

They were building retaining walls for
the bridge approach on Highland Avenue.

I saw the cement mix was running thin.

I told the foreman to
keep his mix thicker.

He said he would.

I checked a week later.

Wasn't any better. Did you report that?
The commissioner himself came down one day,

and I said to him, Commissioner, these
guys are cheating on the cement mix.

And what did he say to
that? He said, And I

remember his exact words. Pack your rage.

Go get yourself a beer
and stop sweating about it.

All of them like that?

We didn't have anything compared to
this when I went before the grand jury.

A lot of documentary
evidence, but no real witnesses.

Why do they all come out?

Maybe they want to keep
their jobs. Maybe they trust me.

Or maybe Harry Sharon sent them.

Could be. But whatever the reason,
Constantine is finished, and so is Chuck Hare.

How about the others on your list?

We're working on them.

Mike, I'm going to ask
you a tough question.

Constantine wasn't alone
in this. A lot of other

people had to be in on
the take. What about them?

And I do include a lot of your witnesses.

We haven't made any promises to anyone.

Testifying against
Constantine doesn't buy them immunity.

Have you told them that?

In every case.

Well.

A lot of public-spirited citizens around.

Times sure have changed.

What do you expect me to do? Help
me, that's what I expect you to do.

There was a time when
you'd have found a way to

keep a kid like this
from pulling me under.

That was another time before I
made this deal with the governor.

You expect me to take the rap?

You take the rap if that kid
nails you. He mustn't nail me, Harry.

Nobody's going to nail me.

A fired round of a young lawyer
gets himself elected district

attorney in the teeth of
his own party's resistance.

After his election, the very first thing
he does is turn in his own supporters.

Now, in turning on those supporters,

he suddenly is offered
help from the very man

he's trying hardest to nail to the wall.

What's wrong with that picture?

Something's missing. Or someone.

Like ex-governor Stuyvesant Hayes.

He's the one who got his
son elected. And Shannon's

worst enemy. Political
enemy, there's a difference.

Political enemies can become political
friends when their stakes are high enough.

I don't know so much about politics,
but I do know they're run by deals.

Maybe Mike Hayes made a deal with Shannon.

I hate to believe that about Mike Hayes.

I don't know.

I think he's an honest man.

How about his father?

Now you're talking
about another horse race.

You know, I, uh... I wonder what
Stuyvesant Hayes is really interested in.

Who he's talking to.

You got a job on your hands, Jack.

I have an idea he's going to
supply us with something interesting.

Eureka!

That's it.

Hey, look here, young fellow. I left
your work in here way past closing time.

You got to keep it quiet. You're done
with that? I'm all through with this one.

No smoking in here.

These incorporation records
aren't complete. Sure they are.

Aren't they supposed to
show the names and addresses

of every officer of the
corporation? They do.

Not this one.

The Spring Rock Country
Club, incorporated June 1950.

President and Vice President Philip
Julian Constantine and Charles Evans Hare.

But no secretary's
showing, no other officers,

and no disposition of controlling shares.

Well, that's funny.

That don't look right. Sure doesn't. Hey,

nobody's allowed to take
any pictures of city records.

Your five bucks don't buy that.

Pop, I'm a special
assistant district attorney.

And this is a mighty
important page in this book.

Nobody told me
anything. No special authority.

You'll be told.

Meantime, you better
keep this on a lock and

key until I can get a
court subpoena for it.

Where's your real estate files?

Over there. Relax, Puff.

I'll be around for a while.

Hello?

Can I speak to Mr. Shannon, please?

I don't think I understand, Harry.

Just what was it that you found out?

Someone from Mike's staff had been
nosing around the Hall of Records.

The incorporation papers for
the Spring Rock Country Club. Oh,

yes, I remember that now.

Well, Harry, you see how the
chickens come home to roost.

I never thought they'd go that far back.

I told you ten years ago
that was a bad business.

As far as I'm concerned,
that kills Doug Wilson.

I don't care how much
weight he swings upstate.

I'd better tell him, hadn't I, Governor?

I don't care what you do, Harry,

but make it clear that if this
whole Spring Rock business comes out,

then we're washed up with
him. Yeah, right. I understand.

Mr. Larch?

Oh, hello, Wilson.

I see you've been busy. Yeah.

Great place, the Hall of Records.

Full of very interesting
information, if you can dig it out.

There's no sense playing
cat and mouse with me, boy.

You can hurt me. You can hurt me bad.

I want you to forget
what you've dug up here.

Will you do that, son?
What's that supposed to do?

Soften me up, make me feel
kindly disposed, you call me son?

I suppose so.

I'm begging you, boy.

Try throwing yourself
on the jury for mercy.

They're the ones whose
pockets you've been rifling.

You want to play ball?

Not your kind, Wilson.

You break windows and run.

It's time you stood your
ground and paid the damages.

Mr. Larch?

Yeah?

We've had a complaint that you've
been photographing city records.

Look, I'm a special assistant district
attorney. May we have the camera, please?

All right, but look, I'm a
special assistant district attorney.

You'll have a chance to explain
that when we get down to the office.

You'll get a chance to do that, Mr.
Lodge, when we get down to the office.

Hello, Carl. Mike Hayes.
Have you heard from him?

I don't understand that.

Well, try his apartment.

Try it again. He should
have reported in by now.

Something very strange
about that. About what?

Nothing.

A gentleman to see
you, Mr. Harold Shannon.

Tell him I don't want to see him.
That's very unfriendly of you, Michael.

Ask him to come in, please.

Yes, sir.

He won't bite you.

Would you please go in, sir?

Good evening, Governor.

Michael. All right,
Shannon, what is it you want?

Well, you're a young man in a
hurry, aren't you, Michael?

I've come here to ask you
what you're going to do.

About what?

About the political organization
that's going to elect you governor.

You've won, Michael. What
Harry means is that the party

is ready to name you as
its gubernatorial candidate.

I just talked to Maury Ames upstate.

He says that he'll get behind you.

Well, that's very
interesting, Mr. Shannon.

Of course, you'll have to step down.

Yes, I'm prepared to give up control.

Those witnesses you've sent me. They
don't all deserve to be in jail, Michael.

You know yourself that a man
gets along as best he can.

If the top of a city department is
rotten, the little fellow at the bottom, well,

he sees nothing wrong in cutting
himself in for a bit of the take.

You can always ask for their resignations.

However, in some cases... Michael,

there comes a time in a
politician's life when

he must make up his mind as to whether

he's going to be a rigid moralist or he's
going on to do bigger and better things.

The people who do the dirty work in
the precincts, the electioneering,

the canvassing, the phoning of
voters, the ringing of doorbells.

They're small people, but
they're absolutely necessary.

We had party workers, Skip.

Party workers who
weren't bribed with jobs,

whose record of municipal
employment wasn't phony.

They're your political amateurs.

They're wonderful when you're
winning, but they fade away in the stretch.

Think what you like about Harry Shannon.

But he's not a fool when it comes to
politics. I know he's right, Michael.

Are you willing to accept this?

I know we must accept it.

Because these are the
political facts of life.

I'm willing to work with Harry
Shannon because I know with him,

you can go as far and as high as
your abilities can let you go.

But ability alone never did
anything for a man in politics.

Yes?

Mike, we just found Bob Larch.

Where?

The bottom of an elevator shaft.

All right.

All right.

Yes.

Right away.

Now, let's get back to the subject.

You're no kid, Michael. You know that.

No, I'm not a kid.

Then finish the work you've started,
but leave Doug Wilson for another DA.

I see.

That's part of the price
for the governor's mansion.

Don't be sarcastic, Michael.

You were ready to use him
to become district attorney.

Now he can be useful
in making you governor.

I think that's a small
enough price to pay.

And what about Robert Larch?
What about the price he paid?

Who's Robert Larch?

The man I had investigating Doug Wilson.

They just pulled his body
out of an elevator shaft.

How do you think his wife
feels about the governorship?

How'd you make out? Got
something I want you to hear.

I don't think I understand, Harry.

Just what was it that you found out?

Someone from Mike's staff had been
nosing around the Hall of Records.

The incorporation papers for
the Spring Rock Country Club. Oh,

yes, I remember that now.

I can tell you one thing, that
Robert Lawrence died in the line of duty.

Do you believe it was murder, Mr. Hayes?

Yes, Mr. Marino, I do. I believe he
was murdered because he uncovered

some evidence in the whole
network of corruption of this city.

Are you accusing someone of
the previous administration?

I'm accusing everybody.

I am accusing every citizen of
this city, and of this state,

and even of this country
who ever shrugged their

shoulders over accounts
of municipal corruption.

I accuse every speeder who ever
tried to bribe a police officer,

every businessman who
ever kicked back part of his

earnings to inspectors
or grafters or worse.

Every voter who failed to go to the polls,

every American who was either
too lazy or too indifferent

to care about corruption in public life,

they're all individually and
collectively guilty of the death of Robert Larch.

I hope it disturbs their sleep tonight
and every night for a long time to come.

No statements, Paul, not
tonight. I'm tired of talking.

I just want you to listen,
Mike. That's why I'm here, okay?

What is it?

A telephone conversation
my assistant recorded.

I want you to hear it.

Then I want to hear you reaffirm
those statements you made this afternoon.

I want to see if you still can.

Well, Harry, you see how the
chickens come home to roost.

I never thought they'd go that far back.

I told you ten years ago
that was a bad business.

As far as I'm concerned,
that kills Doug Wilson.

I don't care how much
weight he swings upstate.

Well, better tell him, hadn't I, Governor?

I don't care what you do, Harry,

but make it clear that if this
whole Spring Rock business comes out,

then we're washed up with
him. Yeah, right. I understand.

No need to hear more. I know what I said.

You dig this up, Paul?

My assistant.

It figures.

You would admit this?

Boy, when the chips are down, don't ever
try to squirm. No matter what you've done.

If you squirm, it makes
you look twice as bad.

I'd like to ask a favor, Paul. I'd
like to speak to my son in private. Well,

of course. I have some phone calls.

I'd like you to meet me at our office.

Well?

You want to know what the
Spring Rock Country Club was?

It was a scheme to make a few men rich.

In 1948, the state embarked on
an ambitious road building plan.

A group of men bought land after they got
advanced looks at maps of the throughways.

In 1950, that land was
amalgamated into the joint

property of the Spring Rock Country Club.

It was largely owned by
Doug Wilson and his clients.

And you knew all this?

Yes, Michael.

I knew about it.

But you were the governor of this
state, and you said nothing about it?

I wanted the nomination to the presidency.

Doug Wilson could have killed my chances.

How much is a man
willing to pay for power?

Everything he must if he wants
it badly enough, as I wanted it,

and as I suspect you want it.

You killed Bob Larch.

Perhaps I did, Michael.

If you want to draw the long line
of responsibility, I'm in the line.

Along with speeders trying to fix tickets,

and contractors who
kick back to inspectors,

and the non-voters who helped Harry
Shannon elect his political hacks.

No one ever went into life
and stayed clean, Michael.

Life tarnishes you, it must.

The only things it can't
tarnish are the things

which remain behind glass in a vacuum.

If you want to be pure as a driven snow,

then resign yourself to
disappearing as fast.

I don't believe that.

I don't believe that everybody is
tarnished, that everyone can be bought.

And what happens if you're wrong?

Then I'd get out.

Sure you would.

You always were ready to give in.

Ever since you were a child, I tried
to instill some fighting spirit in you.

I thought you had it.

But when the nerve is down to the
bone, you don't have it, you quit.

Then what's your answer? Get me to
swallow deals, to swallow murder,

to swallow everything just to get ahead?

I don't care what you
swallow or what you want.

Now on, you do as you're told.

A deal has been made to make
you governor of this state.

Part of that deal was to
let Doug Wilson off the hook.

You believe he was responsible
for the death of Bob Larch. Well,

that's just too bad for
you, because the deal stands.

If the police can find evidence
to pin the murder on Doug Wilson,

then prosecute him. Put him
in the chair. If they can't?

Drop the matter.

If you think I'll swallow
that deal, you're crazy.

You're being told now.

I mean you to be in the governor's
mansion, and I mean to go to the White House.

And you're going to get me there.

I'll see you in jail first.

No, you won't, because you
haven't the courage for it.

Come on, Michael.

You take orders or you get out.

From this moment on, no one is
interested in what you think,

whether you stay or quit.

Excuse me, Charlie. I'll call you back.

Well, Paul.

You got in your licks, didn't you?

I was just doing my job.

No, you weren't, Paul.

If you don't know it,
wiretapping is illegal.

And the district attorney
is confiscating that tape.

If I were you, I wouldn't make
any reference to it in the story,

unless you can back it up.

We have such a thing as libel.

Yes, I know.

You would know the law, Governor.

Mike, I want my tape back.

I'm resigning, Pa.

I'll turn over your tape
and what other information

I have to the DA who replaces me.

You're quitting, huh?

Good night, Paul.

And you said they couldn't get to you.

Listen, Paul, he's my father.

I'm not saying he shouldn't be prosecuted,

but it doesn't have to be me who
does it. Who's going to do it?

Some pawn of Shannon's
that he shoves into office?

Some joker who'll take orders
from the machine from now on in?

Some man who can be impartial.

No man can be impartial.

You either fight corruption or you
allow it. There's no in between.

Now, your father's being in the
picture makes it rough, I know,

but it doesn't change the picture. You
still have your obligations to the people,

and you can't let the
Shannons and the Hares and

the rest of them run
roughshod over this city.

Right now, you're the
only man who can stop them.

Listen, Paul, he's my father. Well,

nobody told him how to
act while he was in office.

He's the man who made
the deal with Shannon,

who stood aside while
thieves ran his state. He

made his own choice.
Well, now it's your choice.

Sometimes I wonder which is worse,

the man who does wrong or
the man who does nothing.

Good evening, Johns.

These gentlemen have
been waiting for you, sir.

Good evening, sir. Good
evening. My name is Otter Sands.

I'm from the district attorney's office.

This is Inspector Wheeler, police
department. Oh, yes, I know Ed Wheeler.

How are you, Ed? I'm
sorry about this, Governor.

Sorry? About what?

Sir, the inspector has a
warrant for your arrest.

Arrest?

On what charge?

For attempting to
bribe an elected official.

Which elected official?

This elected official.

We will also go into other matters for
which you may have been responsible.

I am sorry about this, Governor.

See you in court, Mr. D.A.

A famous political
boss now dead once said,

it isn't the voters who keep me in
power, but the people who don't vote.

But the corruption starts earlier,
because no matter who gets into office,

the same greedy fingers
reach out to pull the strings.

And it's only the appearance
of a Mike Hayes every once in a

while who cuts those strings
that helps balance the scale.

It isn't just enough to
put them into office.

We must see to it that they follow
through on their promises no matter what the

cost might be if we're to keep this
government of the people and for the people.