The Waltons (1971–1981): Season 7, Episode 8 - The Illusion - full transcript

Verdie, Esther, wait!

You left your groceries.

I don't think I'll ever show my
face in Ike Godsey's store again

after what was just said.

You didn't say it. I did.

You're my daughter.

I'm my own person, Mama.

I'm the only one accountable
for what I say or do!

A mother never stops
feeling responsible.

I don't recall inviting you
to meddle, Mrs. Walton.

Your mother's so proud of you.



Mama's been lying
to herself about me.

Now the truth has come home
and everybody has to live with it,

like it or not!

In my family, one of the
earliest truths we learned

was the inevitability of change.

We saw this in the march of
the seasons across the land,

and in the sometimes bewildering
growth of our brothers and sisters.

As World War II edged closer to us
all, the patterns of change accelerated,

carrying some of us far from home,
bringing others back to the mountain

with painful consequences.

- You need some new shirts.
- I got a new shirt.

You ought to have a clean
shirt for every day you're away.

Why don't you come along
with me then, and do my laundry?

Now there's a romantic proposal.



Well, we could do other
things besides laundry.

You need a new suitcase, too.

Liv, I like my new work

but I'm not interested in remodeling
John Walton to suit the newest fad.

And I do wish you'd come
along with me more often.

Once in a while, fine.

But mostly, I know
I'd just be in the way.

Besides, there's plenty
here to keep me busy.

I'll be back next Thursday or
Friday, and I'll call you in between.

I still say you need
a new suitcase.

After you finish your cereal.

Why does he have
to have his cereal first?

Because it's good for him.

Well, peaches are good for him.

Elizabeth, will you
just stay out of this?

- Got to get going.
- Come on.

Aren't you going
to have breakfast?

I'm off to win the war.

The war hasn't even started yet.

That's the time to win
it. Goodbye, honey.

Goodbye, Daddy.

- I'll get your suitcase, Daddy.
- Come on.

John Curtis, you take
care of everybody, all right?

Goodbye, honey.

- Bye, bye, Daddy.
- Erin, I hope you get that job.

- Bye, Daddy.
- Bye-bye, Daddy.

- What job is he talking about?
- At Pickett's.

Pickett Fork and Hoe? I though
they'd been closed for years.

No, Jefferson Davis Pickett, Jr.
Has taken his daddy's old factory

and turned it into
a defense plant.

It's hiring everybody
and anybody.

So maybe, just maybe,
Erin might get a job.

Thanks, Elizabeth.

I better get started.

These days I have to
rush just to stay behind.

- Good morning, Mama.
- Open wide.

You know, Mary Ellen,
you remind me of a dentist.

Painless Willard, "Open
up, it won't hurt a bit."

Jim-Bob, I would
smack you if I didn't think

it would be setting a bad
example for John Curtis.

Why is it that I always forget

that teenagers are still
seven parts children?

At least, it looks like they've
finished their breakfast.

Yeah, everyone
except for John Curtis.

I don't think he ever
will finish this cereal.

Of course, he will.

He will for me. Won't
you, John Curtis?

Oh, that's Jason. Are you
ready to go, Mary Ellen?

Yeah. Mama, don't feel like you
have to entertain him every minute.

We entertain each other.

- Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.

Come on, sweetheart.

- Hi, Verdie.
- Oh, Olivia.

I followed the mail truck over.

I'm due a letter from Esther, and
Mr. Godsey's sorting the mail now.

I'll wait with you.

Corabeth is having one of her
Ladies' Aid Society meetings.

We're gonna roll some
bandages. I said I'd help out.

Oh. You've got
mighty fine company.

My! How that boy is growing!

It seems every time I turn around,
he's an inch taller and a pound heavier.

Well, hello, everybody.

Now, I got something
for everybody.

John Curtis, look
what I got. Yeah.

And I got a letter
here for you, Olivia.

And Verdie, it looks
like this one's for you.

It's from John-Boy.

Yes, he sure is faithful. Boy,
he writes no matter where he is.

It's from the north of England.

It makes the job of sorting
mail much more interesting.

I get to see those foreign
postmarks from all over the world.

Mr. Godsey, I don't understand.

I wrote this letter to Esther last
week and now it comes back to me.

Oh. Well, don't you see? It says
"Moved, no forwarding address."

But my daughter wouldn't
move, not without letting me know.

Post office must
have made a mistake.

Verdie, you say the word,
we'll send it through again.

No, no, I'll take it along,
maybe add more to it.

Why don't you telephone,
set your mind at ease?

I don't have a number for her.

Oh, did you ladies
see the new honor roll?

I had it special-made
in Charleston.

It certainly is colorful.

Yes, sir. Every time one of
our boys goes into the service,

his name goes right up there.

You see, Verdie, we got
your son's name right there.

Right there with
the rest of them.

I see.

Oh, Olivia!

I was just saying, it's not
like Olivia Walton to be tardy.

I'm sure Mr. Godsey
has been detaining you.

Now, Corabeth, let's
not start that again.

Sometimes I think Mr. Godsey
was born to be a bottleneck.

All right, Mrs. Godsey,
I will remove myself.

Mrs. Foster.

Do come in, Olivia. The
other ladies are underway.

I hate to leave you, Verdie.

Oh.

Well, Mrs. Foster, um,

perhaps you could form another branch
of the auxiliary with your own friends.

My friends and I are
already doing our part.

Bye, Verdie.

Bye.

Well, I was just trying
to make her feel a part.

You do understand?

I understand.

- Sure is a lot of people here.
- Yeah.

Hmm.

- Can you see J.D.?
- Nope.

- Wonder what kind of work they're doing.
- I have no idea.

Hey, Jason, Erin!
Am I glad to see you.

Ain't this something?

These folks are
spilling out of the hills,

all going to get rich working
for J.D. Pickett, Jr., that is.

Nobody ever got rich
working for my daddy.

- Then you are hiring?
- You bet I am.

We get rolling, gonna be
working three shifts a day,

seven days a week.

What are you making?

Top secret, but I'll tell you.

Mess kits and canteens.

Doesn't sound like
much, now, does it?

But you should see the contract
the Defense Department gave me.

Didn't know there
was that many zeroes.

What do you pay?

Start you off at
60 cents an hour.

Forty hours a week. With
overtime, you can easy make yourself

$30, $35 a week.

Who else is offering
that in this old tater patch?

- Oh, I'd like to apply, J.D.
- You got yourself a job.

How about you, Jase?

I'm tied up right
now, maybe later.

Do I fill out an application?

What for? I know
you, you know me.

- What kind of work will I be doing?
- Easy as pie.

The only other jobs I've had
were at the switchboard and...

Relax. No problem.

Well, what shift
will I be working?

Um, come in tomorrow at
7:00. We'll get you going.

I have to deal with some
of these other folks now.

Anybody else in your family wants
a job, tell them to come talk to J.D.

- Congratulations.
- I guess.

Can we give you a lift?

Esther?

Erin?

Is that you, Erin Walton?

Yes! I thought I
recognized you. Get in.

- You got room?
- We'll make room.

I'll put this in back.

- What have you got in here? Gold bullion?
- It's mostly the baby's things.

Oh, come here.

- Oh, it's so good to see you.
- You too.

Oh, come in.

Can you hold her for a minute?
- Oh, sure.

Oh.

You remember my
brother Jason, don't you?

- Are you Verdie's daughter?
- That's me, Esther.

- I think you've made a friend.
- She's beautiful.

Better beautiful than smart.

Remember how I used to tag along

when you were delivering
laundry for your mama?

I made you think you were tagging along.
All the time I was getting you to help.

You always were way
ahead of the rest of us.

Your mama told us how well
you've been doing up north.

Mama's favorite
subject, and so boring.

Oh, not to me.

I'd like to have a
business career like you.

But I don't know if I have enough
courage to do it like you, all alone.

Maybe it looks
like courage to you.

I'd say it was being
too dumb to know better.

Nobody would ever
take you for dumb,

not with that college
degree and those honors.

Some of the dumbest people
I know have college degrees.

Hi.

What are you doing?

Reading Favorite Short
Stories, and Ancient History.

Both at once?

Well, the short story is
keeping me from falling asleep

while I read the
ancient history.

- Oh.
- How did the meeting go?

Well, mostly, we tried
to keep this young man

from unrolling the bandages
we just finished rolling.

He gets into everything.

After a whole afternoon at
that, one of us is ready for a nap.

How about a little
cooperation, John Curtis?

You're not making things
easy for your grandma.

Here, let me take him upstairs.

Thank you, Elizabeth.

- Oops.
- There you go.

- Come on.
- Take this, too.

Got it.

I'll go start supper.

Esther!

Hello, Mama.

Oh.

Josh, it's Esther!
I can't believe it.

Hello, Erin.

- Jason.
- Hi, Verdie.

Oh.

- And this must be Harriet.
- Yes.

- Say hi to your grandma.
- Yes, it's all right, darling.

Yes, yes.

Oh, look this side.

You got to get to
know your Uncle Josh.

- Hi...
- Hi, Josh.

- Hi.
- Where's Clint?

Clint's gone, Mama, for good.

Gone?

We just couldn't
work things out.

He claimed he was worn out

trying to live up to me
and my education. And I...

Well it's... It's just over.

Oh, honey, I'm sorry.

Oh, but it's so good to
have you home for a visit.

Home, period, Mama.

Home to stay.

- There you are, Mama.
- Thanks, son.

I'll chop more
kindling after school.

You better run along
now or you'll be late.

Won't miss much.

Reading the same old
stories. I know them by heart.

Reciting the nine times
tables and the ten times tables.

They are important to know.

At the white kids' school
they study science.

What makes things grow,
how the stars move in the sky,

what they're called.

Well, you'll get
all that by and by.

They figure you're black,
you don't need to know much.

- Colored.
- Esther says black.

That's New York talk.

Black, colored, still
don't give us new books.

That's enough
of that kind of talk.

You be glad you're learning
what you're learning now,

instead of having to wait until
you're grown up, the way I did.

Run along now, son.

- Bye, Ma.
- Bye, son.

Ow!

This is so nice, watching
you fix breakfast,

like I was a child again,

like I had never been away.

You...

You've been talking
to Josh, haven't you?

He was a little late
getting started this morning.

Mama, Josh has a head on his shoulders. I
said what I said because I care about him.

Honey,

Walton's Mountain and Rockfish,

they are not New York City.

I guess I'll have to learn
to watch my northern ways.

Well,

what do you want to do today?

Anything, nothing,
I don't really care.

I noticed.

- Esther...
- Now, Mama.

Give me a little
room to breathe.

For a little while, let me
just be happy being here.

All right.

And 10 cents' worth
of marshmallows.

Josh likes them
melted over yams.

Yeah.

Esther, you going to be staying
on here with us for a while?

I haven't decided yet.

I see. Well, it must be kind
of quiet being around here,

after all those years
you were in New York.

You know, I was
in New York once.

Three days and two
nights, and I saw everything.

- Verdie.
- Olivia.

Esther, I heard you were back.

- Esther, you remember Mrs. Walton?
- Of course. Hello.

We need some more
sacks, Mr. Godsey.

And, oh, Olivia,
please go on in.

Excuse me.

Good afternoon, Mrs. Foster.
This must be your daughter.

I'm sure you're relieved to
have her safely back home again.

Those stories about New
York City, particularly Harlem.

All the squalor
and overcrowding.

I didn't know you'd ever
been to Harlem, Corabeth.

Well, Olivia, one
reads. One knows.

I just don't understand
why you prefer to live

in such hideous conditions.

We might have gone up there
to try to improve ourselves.

Oh, but you'd be so
much better off here.

Where we care, we understand.

Ah, Esther, come and help me
pick out something for the baby.

You're so right, Mrs. Godsey.

How much happier everybody would
be if we forgot about improving ourselves,

stayed in our places.

Oh, but don't misunderstand.

I am all for education.

But don't overdo it.
That can be dangerous.

And I'm the living proof.

- Esther.
- I mean, look at me.

An over-educated negro.

College degree. Magna cum laude.

Not only black but
female, a double waste.

Absolutely no utilitarian
value, bizarre and an oddity.

Like training a
jackass to sing Mozart.

How can that help the
dumb beast bear his burden?

Now, Esther, wait a second.
Corabeth didn't mean all that.

Esther, please, let's go.

You see, it's the dreams,

the false hopes, the
illusions that cause pain.

Telling ourselves being
black makes no difference,

makes all the difference.

The smart people know that.

Like you ladies
rolling bandages.

White bandages for
white soldiers. Right?

Same as with the blood.

You give white blood, it
goes into white bodies,

black blood into black bodies.

Now, Mama, you should be rolling
black bandages for all the black boys

gonna get themselves shot to
hell defending this glorious country.

Esther, let's go.

Oh, wait a minute. Now,
what do we have here?

Honor roll of our
boys in service.

And sure enough,
it is segregated.

White boys up there,
black boys down there.

War, peace, a
place for everybody.

And everybody in his place!

I'm sorry.

What's the problem at the table?

Hey, Erin, got to
get moving, girl.

This table isn't
meeting its quota.

I'm sorry, J.D., but I just
can't 'cause there's smoke,

and it's crowded...
I can't do it!

You just have to
try harder, that's all.

Isn't there some
other job I could try?

Look, this here's a factory.
You do the job you're set to do.

Well, I can't!

You'll get the hang of it.

Oh, please, just let
me try something else.

- You're staying right here!
- No, I'm not!

I can't do it. I quit!

Yeah, but you can't quit!

What about the defense effort?

What about Hitler?

Esther!

Esther!

All right.

I don't argue with a word you
said, but it was how you did it.

I have to live here, you know?

I'm sorry, Mama.

Now, things have got
to change, and they will,

but not the way
you're going about it.

I'm really sorry, I'll go back and
say the same to Mrs. Godsey.

Mrs. Godsey can wait.

I want to know what's
going on with you.

You move from New York,
you leave no forwarding address,

you walk in here and tell
me you are home to stay,

you've got nothing to say that
isn't mean-mouthed and bitter...

Why are you
carrying on like this?

The years you spent
to get where you are.

And what are you doing?
Throwing it all away?

Is that because your
husband walked out on you?

No, Mama.

Then why?

I've got some stake
in this, too, you know.

All those years you scrimped,
saved, denied yourself.

For what?

To give you a college education.

Thanks to you, I got it,
and it means nothing, Mama.

- Less than nothing.
- Oh, how can you say that?

Oh, Mama, you and
your damn dream!

A college-educated daughter.
Someone to point to, and brag about.

Well, what it did
was ruin my life.

You wanted it!

I wanted it, till I found
out what it would do to me.

But you wrote all those letters.

You said it opened
doors for you.

You were given opportunities no
colored woman had ever had before.

I lied to you, Mama.

I couldn't bear to tell you
what was really going on.

Why?

How did it go wrong?

I took on your dream.

That was enough.

More than enough.

Then I took on the
dream of my professor.

Professor August.

He convinced me I was special.

You were special. You are.

"Esther," he said, "you know people.
You have a gift for working with people.

"You have a glorious
future in personnel work."

Ah! I was so
intelligent, so brilliant.

What a future
ahead for this girl.

All the leaders of industry
would be hammering at my door

the day after I graduated.

Nobody hammered at any door.

Except me.

Me!

I beat my fist bloody
and no door opened!

But you had the diploma.

You had the training.

That's supposed to open doors.

Mama,

a black woman screening
white job applicants?

A black woman telling a white
boss how to treat his white workers?

There are colored businessmen.

Yes, they were worse.

No uppity college kid coming into
their place, taking over their power.

Power to hire and fire,

power of life and death.

Get back to your place, girl, get
yourself a mop, and a dust rag,

and take out the garbage.

And if you're so unhappy,
climb in the can and put on the lid.

All these years,

I've been believing a lie.

What have you been doing?

Don't ask, Mama.

Don't make it worse.

All those years in schools, I never
learned the most important thing.

I didn't find out
till it was too late.

Nobody wants an educated
black woman, Mama.

Nobody.

Whites don't want her.

Her own people don't want her.

And even her
husband resents her.

I shouldn't have come
back here, Mama.

Now I've taken
away what you had.

Your dream.

I'm sorry.

I don't belong here.

There is no place I do belong.

Hey, any luck with
the job hunting, Erin?

Oh, there's a few possibilities,
but they don't pay enough.

Hmm. Too bad it didn't
work out over at Pickett's.

Yeah.

Ben, you're taking stuff out of
there faster than I can put it in.

Well, I'm sorry.

No, well, maybe I should
have hung on there.

But it was so terrible.

All those mess kits piling up,
and J.D. red in the face and yelling.

I'm glad you quit.

Well, I know that there's jobs
at that factory that I could do,

but J.D. just won't listen.

You're not the only one to quit.
He's lost a lot of people already.

How did J.D. Pickett get to be
boss anyhow? Who hired him?

The way I heard it, the Defense
Department put him in business overnight.

Yeah, but if he doesn't deliver,
he'll be out just that quick.

I'll bet Esther could help him.

Well, what could she do?

Well, she could put the
right people in the right jobs.

- Erin, J.D. won't hire Esther.
- Why not? She has the training.

All the training in the world
isn't going to impress J.D. Pickett.

Her skin's the wrong color,
is that what you mean?

Erin, I understand how
you feel about Esther.

You've admired her for a long time.
We all do but you've got to face facts.

The fact is, she's got
something that J.D. needs.

I wish I could take
her over there myself.

I'm proud that you
feel that strongly

but you'd only be letting
her in for more hurt.

From what I heard, she can't
hurt any worse than she does now.

It's a good thing it's not a
sin to be born with red hair.

In that case, half our
family would be in trouble.

Mama?

Josh,

what in the world are you doing
out of bed this time of night?

I can't sleep.

Child your age can always sleep.

I'm scared, Mama.

Oh, now.

What's there to be scared of?

You're not happy.
That scares me.

You're not to worry, understand?

I'm gonna be just fine.

Your mama's learned a lesson.

A hard lesson.

From Esther?

That's right.

If it's true, what
Esther tells me,

I have to be careful not to
do to you what I did to her.

Make you act out my dream,

which will just
make you miserable.

I'm sorry Esther feels so low

but I don't believe what
you wanted was bad.

I don't believe you'd ever want
anything that was bad for me.

We think we know.

We want to believe we know what's
going to be best for our children,

what will give them happiness.

But who knows?

Who really knows?

I'm going to trust you, Mama.

Any time I'm not sure,
I'm going to trust you.

- Harriet asleep?
- Mmm-hmm.

Not a worry in the world.
I'd like to trade places.

Esther,

I've been thinking a lot about what
you said and I'm sorry for what I did.

It hurts to say, but
I guess you're right.

I had a dream,

and I tried to use you
to make it come true.

I lied to myself saying it was
your dream and you wanted it too.

But I believed in it, Mama.

To please me.

From now on, please yourself.

It's your life. Whatever
you want to do is fine.

You want to do nothing,
nothing at all, that's fine, too.

That's not your way, Mama.

Forget my way. It
doesn't work for you.

Find a way of your own.

Come in.

- Hello.
- Oh, hi, Erin.

- Hi, Erin.
- Come and sit.

I was just going to
make some mint tea.

Oh, thank you, Verdie, but I'm
on my way over to see J.D. Pickett.

Your boss.

Well, he was my boss, till I quit.
And now he wants me to come back.

He must need
your help pretty bad.

Well, he can't keep his workers.

And I thought with your training,
there might be a job for you over there.

If you were interested.

Well,

I'll ride along with
you, out of curiosity.

- That is, if you don't mind, Mama.
- I don't mind.

I'll be just a minute.
I'm gonna change.

- I'll take that chair then.
- All right.

- Let me help you with one of these.
- Thank you.

Ah, hi.

Hey, Erin!

Good to see you.
No hard feelings.

J.D., I'd like you to
meet a friend of mine.

- Esther Grant.
- I'll put you back on the same table.

- I can't do that kind of a job.
- Anybody can do that job.

Okay, who else we got
here? I'll use you in the office.

Number three spot on D table.

J.D., would you
please talk with Esther?

Can't you see I have to
deal with all these people?

She has special
training that can help you.

I already got a good
cleaning woman and janitor.

If they need extra help,
I'll keep you in mind.

She is a college graduate! She
knows more about personnel, hiring...

It's all right, Erin.

Actually, Mr. Pickett, I'm not
too experienced in mopping toilets

and cleaning up
white folks' mess.

More what I had in mind
was taking over your job.

She's crazy.

This negro is out of her mind.

This negro is better qualified
to run this place than you are.

I don't believe
what I'm hearing.

This is a nice little plant.

You might have made it pay off
with the right approach to personnel.

But, Mr. Pickett, you
are sinking, going under,

just like the old Titanic.

Get out of here!

You're going to lose your
government contract, Mr. Pickett.

Not because you can't
make a good mess kit,

but because you have no
idea how to find the right people,

put them in the right jobs,

and keep them happy
while they're doing it.

I'm not listening
to any more of this!

I'll bet you lose half your workers
every week, Mr. Pickett, don't you?

And the half that stays does
lousy work. You need help.

Well, I'm going to get help.

From the sheriff, if you ain't
off my property in 30 seconds.

I'm leaving! Come on, Esther.

As you go under, Mr. Pickett,

remember a sassy black
gal tried to throw you a lifeline,

but you were too blind
and bigoted to grab it.

Don't take it so hard.

At least you tried to change the
way things are. That was very brave.

It was very stupid.

I don't blame any of you,
if you said, "I told you so."

Well, you stuck your neck out.

That's got to mean
something to Esther.

You haven't had a bite to eat.

- Can I fix you some supper?
- No.

I wish I'd been there to hear
Esther tell old J.D. where to get off!

Well, she wasn't doing too much
talking by the time we got home.

And the look in her eye was
the saddest thing I've ever seen.

That kind of anger
takes it out of you.

I've known J.D. Pickett all of
my life, and tonight I hate him.

Unfortunately, J.D.
doesn't know any better.

Verdie is highly thought of
around here. Esther is too.

It's just that they have a
different place in the way of things.

It's that place that's keeping them poor,
and dependent on people like J.D. for work.

I'm glad to see that you care.

Enough people start caring,
maybe things will change.

But by that time it'll
be too late for Esther.

- Can I give you a hand?
- That's very kind of you, Olivia.

Grandma says you can always
read a family by its clothesline.

A pair of coveralls means
a hard-working man,

sparkling sheets, a
woman who loves her home.

I'd say there's a very
active baby in this family.

You know, Harriet's
good and bright and happy,

the same way Esther was.

Erin feels real bad about
what happened yesterday.

It wasn't Erin's fault.

It was me who taught Esther to think
she could step outside of her place.

What's she going to do now?

- I don't like thinking about it.
- Have you talked to her?

Oh.

A daughter gets to be
26, has a college degree,

a mother can't tell her what's
right and wrong anymore.

Especially since the daughter thinks
the mother's already ruined her life.

You did what you thought was
best. She can't hold that against you.

I wonder.

You don't have to have a college
degree to know the hurt of being shut out

because you're colored.

Verdie.

You're a good person, Olivia.

A good friend.

Verdie,

you forgot this.

Esther hasn't been a
mother for very long,

but give her time
and she'll understand

that we all dream of better
things for our children.

You stop packing.

Harriet and I are
heading north, Mama.

Sit down.

I said, "Sit down."

We've got some
hard truths to face, girl.

- There's no point.
- Hush.

Listen.

Now, first off,

I will not have my dream
thrown on the trash.

It was a good dream.

Just having it carried me
through many a bad times.

It's still a good dream,

seeing to it that a smart colored
girl gets a college education.

There's nothing wrong in that.

But what does she do
when she has the education?

That's where the
dream goes sour, Mama.

Some people get knocked
down a few times, they quit.

They don't even try
to get up anymore.

They just lay there where
they've been knocked,

and they blame their
mamas and their professors,

anybody that comes to mind.

Only fools keep getting up when they know
they're just gonna be knocked down again.

Well, miss,

you come from a
long line of fools,

a line that stretches
from here to Africa.

No one in this family has
ever been willing to stay down.

And it shames me to think you're
setting yourself up to be the first.

You, that's had it
the easiest of any.

Easiest? Oh, Mama,
you don't know.

I don't know all you've
been through and suffered.

But I do know that your great-grandma and
your great-grandpa were born into slavery,

just as their folks before them.

They came out of slavery,

and they struggled their whole lives to
show the world they deserved to be free.

I know your grandpa kept
walking a path he believed in,

no matter how rough it was,

so as his children would be a
little further along than he was.

Me,

I didn't learn how to read and write
until I was a woman with grown children,

a daughter getting ready
to graduate from college.

But I learned.

You've got a daughter now.

What you doing for her?

I don't want her to feel what I have
felt. To take what I have had to take.

Then do something about it.

Every generation in this family has
boosted the next a little further along.

Nobody ever said it
was going to be easy.

Get back in the fight.

I'm tired, Mama.

Tired?

Girl, you're too
young to be tired.

Time to be tired when
you're dead and in your grave.

You've got the best tools to work
with of anybody in this whole family.

Use them.

Mama, it is so hopeless.

- We can't win.
- Oh, yes, we can.

We get knocked down a lot,

but they can't count us
out till we stop getting up!

Esther,

please get up!

Mama,

you know, I think
you're a little crazy.

And I've tried not to be,
but I guess it's part of...

It's part of being
in this family.

What you doing here?

We heard that you were lonely,
so we came to keep you company.

I'm not hiring.

You're not hiring because
there's nobody left to hire.

Word is out on this place,
and the way you're running it.

I'm getting along just fine.

But you need
help, Esther's help.

Here are my credentials
and references.

No way.

You had a big opportunity
here, Mr. Pickett,

probably the chance
of your lifetime.

But it's going down the drain

because you're too stubborn to admit
there are a few things you don't know.

Look, I don't need
advice from any...

From you.

Do yourself a
favor, Mr. Pickett.

For one minute, try to forget I'm
black. I'll try to forget you're white.

Look at me and see a
college-trained expert in personnel.

Somebody who can
screen the job applicants,

keep the best, and put them in
the jobs they're qualified to do.

Somebody who's trained to deal
with absenteeism, employee morale.

One person decides who
works here and who don't. Me!

You had it that way, J.D.
Look where it's gotten you.

There'll be a government
inspector in here

to find out why you're
not meeting your quotas.

Well, he's not coming
for a couple of weeks.

You'll be worse off by then.

Mr. Pickett, if you
were bleeding to death,

and a doctor knelt down beside
you to try and save your life,

would you send him away
because he was black?

All right, so I've been having a little
trouble and maybe you could help.

But do you think folks around
here are gonna let some...

Someone like you ask
them personal questions,

decide whether or not
they're gonna get a job?

You'll lose some
workers if you hire me,

but do you really think you'll be
worse off than you are this minute?

I'll make a deal with you.

Give me a chance.

Two weeks.

If I haven't
straightened things out

by the time the government
inspector comes, I'll quit.

And you won't owe me a cent.

Two weeks?

On the other hand, Mr. Pickett,

if you don't give me a chance,

I'm going over to the phone
and call the FEPC in Washington.

Call the what?

The Fair Employment
Practices Commission,

set up by President Roosevelt

to eliminate racial bias in
companies working for the government.

You'll be a man without
a defense contract.

- You're bluffing.
- Try me.

All right. Two weeks.

- I'm hired?
- You're hired.

But don't get the idea you're
going to walk all over me

the way you've done today.

You be careful where you step, too,
and we're likely to get along just fine.

Now, my first official act as Personnel
Director of Pickett Metal Works

is to hire Erin Walton
as my assistant.

For you that'll be $1.15.

Well, I understand that your
daughter is helping Mr. J.D. Pickett, Jr.

Operate his defense plant.

Esther's personnel director.

My! Isn't that remarkable?

She's a remarkable woman.

Yes.

Then, I guess if it works
out, she's gonna stay on, huh?

Mmm-hmm. We found a
little house Esther can rent,

and my sister Alice will come
in and take care of the baby.

Well, the war is certainly
changing people's lives.

Some changes are long past due.

- Are you ready?
- John Curtis is raring to go.

Oh,

Mr. Godsey,

would you put my son's name
where it rightfully belongs on this sign,

under the "F's,"

or kindly remove it altogether?

Thank you.

In those anxious days

when the rest of the world
seemed to be collapsing

under the assault
of the Axis Powers,

my family and our friends

were reassessing the
attitudes and illusions

that had sustained
us in the past.

Under stress, new insights were revealed,
the enduring values were reaffirmed,

and out of the emotional
crucible of the time

emerged the strength
and confidence

on which we could stand to
face the critical days ahead.

I see you've come back
with the same old suitcase.

Same old suit, same old husband.

- Same old wife.
- Same old house.

Same old room.

- Not quite.
- What's different?

There's a new lump
on my side of the bed.

You want to trade sides?

How about we just
sleep in the middle?

- Goodnight, John.
- Goodnight, Liv.

English -SDH