Charles Durning

Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), a suave, fast-taking convict, escapes from incarceration at a chain gang in rural Mississippi in 1937 during the Great Depression. He is chained to two other prisoners, slow-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Neslon) and hot-tempered Pete (John Turturro), so the three must escape together. Everett convinces them that he has hidden $1.2 million after robbing an armored car, and promises to split it with them. They hitch a ride with an elderly blind man on a railway handcar, and he foretells that they will indeed find a treasure, though it may not be the one they seek. They travel on foot to visit Pete's cousin, Washington Hogwallop, who removes their shackles, gives them new clothes, and allows them to sleep in his barn for the night. However, the trio is awakened by the authorities, led by the partly-blinded World War I veteran Sheriff Cooley (Daniel Von Bargen) after Hogwallop had turned them in for the reward. The barn is set ablaze, but Everett, Pete, and Delmar escape with the help of Hogwallop's rambunctious young son (who drives them out of the fiery barn in a car). They continue their journey, and encounter a religious congregation in the midst of a mass baptism. Pete and Delmar are drawn in and are baptized as well, but Everett resists. They later pick up a hitchhiking young black guitarist, named Tommy Johnson (Chris Thomas King), who claims he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical talent. They hear that the nearby WEZY radio station pays people to sing into a can, so they pay a visit to the blind disc jockey (Stephen Root), and sing a version of "Man of Constant Sorrow" with Tommy accompanying them. Calling themselves 'The Soggy Bottom Boys', they are paid $40 in cash and leave satisfied. However, unbeknownst to them, their record becomes wildly popular around the state, with no one knowing the identity of the band. That night, the shadowy Sheriff Cooley and police track them down and find their car near their campsite. Everett, Pete, and Delmar part ways with Tommy as they escape. The next day, they meet famed robber George 'Babyface' Nelson (Michael Badalucco), on the run from police, and accompany him in robbing a bank. After spending the night at a campsite, Babyface gives them a share of the stolen loot and departs. The trio encounters three sirens: beautiful women washing clothes in the river, and are seduced by them. Delmar and Everett discover the next morning that Pete has disappeared, and Delmar believes the women had turned him into a toad (which was found in Pete's abandoned clothes). Carrying "Pete" in a shoe box, Delmar and Everett go to a restaurant for breakfast where they meet Big Dan Teague (John Goodman), a one-eyed Bible salesman. Thinking that their box contains money, Big Dan lures them to a field for an advanced tutorial on salesmanship. He violently beats the two men, kills the toad after finding no cash, and steals their car and what money they have on them. Bruised and defeated, Everett and Delmar arrive at Everett's hometown, where he attempts to speak to his estranged wife, Penny (Holly Hunter), mother of his seven daughters. He finds that Penny is engaged to Vernon T. Waldrip, the campaign manager for Homer Stokes (Wayne Duvall), who is running for governor against the grouchy elderly incumbent, Pappy O'Daniel (Charles Durning). Penny refuses to take Everett back, and was so ashamed of his arrest that she told their daughters he was hit by a train and killed. Rejected, Everett and Delmar attend a movie, where a prison chain gang is in the audience. Pete, it turns out, was turned into the police by the Sirens, and is once again in chains. In the theater, Pete advises his friends to abandon their quest, as it is a "bushwhack." That night, Everett and Delmar stealthily break him out of jail. Pete tearfully confesses that, after threatened with death by the authorities, he revealed their plans to find the armored car loot for Sheriff Cooley, whom they finally learn is the one who has been hunting them across the state. However, Everett reveals that he fabricated the story to entice Pete and Delmar to escape with him. Everett had truthfully been arrested for practicing law without a license, and was determined to escape when he heard his wife planned to remarry. If caught, the trio could face an additional 50 years in jail. An enraged Pete tackles Everett. The three stumble upon a Ku Klux Klan rally in a nearby field. Shocked, they see that Tommy Johnson has been captured and that the Klan is preparing to hang him. The trio disguise themselves as color guard members and attempt to rescue Tommy, but are confronted by Big Dan Teague, a member in attendance. The red-robed Grand Wizard, it so happens, is candidate for governor Homer Stokes. After a scuffle, Everett, Pete, and Delmar topple a huge fiery crucifix onto Big Dan, presumably killing him, and escape with Tommy. The four men arrive at a campaign dinner, disguised by long false beards. Pretending to be the hired band, they slip onstage and entertain (Delmar sings an impressive version of "In the Jailhouse Now") while Everett attempts to speak to Penny again. When the men launch into "Man of Constant Sorrow", they watch in awe as the entire audience rises to its feet and cheers, recognizing them as the elusive Soggy Bottom Boys. However, Homer Stokes arrives and tries to reveal them as the men who disrupted the lynch mob in performance of its duties. The townspeople are outraged at Homer's confessed racism, and literally ride him out on a rail. Everett, Pete, Delmar, and Tommy resume playing, and a delighted (and victorious) Pappy O'Daniel joins them onstage and grants them an official pardon. After the event, Penny takes Everett back, but demands that he return to their old cabin and retrieve her wedding ring. The four men depart quickly, as the cabin is in the valley that is due to be flooded the following day. They briefly see Babyface Nelson again, re-captured by police, but in extremely high spirits, happy at the thought of being executed in the electric chair. The men arrive at the cabin the next morning, but to their horror find that Sheriff Cooley and his posse have caught up with them and his men have already dug their graves. As the authorities loop nooses over a tree branch, Everett drops to his knees and prays that he might see his daughters again. At that moment, the valley is flooded. The cabin is destroyed, and Everett, Pete, Delmar, and Tommy surface on the newly-made lake. They retrieve the sought-after ring from a floating roll top desk, and return to town. Shortly afterwards, Everett is happily reunited with Penny and his children. The family is taking a walk through the town when Penny remarks that the ring Everett brought her is the wrong one. She firmly asserts to a frustrated Everett that he must find the original ring (now at the bottom of a lake). Their daughters sing the hymn Angel Band as they cross paths with the elderly handcar operator who had predicted Everett's fate.

Jimmy needs $900 to clear a gambling debt but a series of lies leads to Ray trying to raise the cash from friends who owe him money. Jimmy has a gambling debt and uses a lie to get his girlfriend Susan to help him find $900. Susan uses another lie to get her bartender brother Ray to help, but Ray hates Jimmy. Ray wanders around the local bars collecting the money; Jimmy's looking for Ray and Susan's looking for Jimmy. If the wrong people meet, the lies will unravel. —Rob Hartill At Christmas-time, a generally disliked out-of-work actor finds himself in debt for $900 to a local bookie, who threatens to start breaking bones if he doesn't pay. Knowing he won't get much sympathy, he tells his girlfriend that he needs money for an emergency abortion for his sister. Soon a bartender and a friendly bar customer starts hitting everyone up for the cash. Meanwhile everyone is roaming amongst Christmas parties and spreading the word. In the end, everyone meets back at the bar and only then does the actor's ploy stand revealed. —John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>

During the film opening, we see a man, presumably Einstein (Walter Mathau) playing a violin, as another man walks past a poster advertising Boyd's comet. We then see Catherine Boyd (Meg Ryan) with her fiance James Moreland (Stephen Fry). She's working on some math referring to the comet. He comments that she's babbling when she tries to tell him a story. The scene cuts back and forth with a group of elderly men arguing about whether time exists. Meg and James are in his convertible when it develops engine trouble. We see Einstein discussing with his friends (the elderly men), whether there are 'accidents' and he says, "I do not believe God plays dice with the universe." Catherine and James pull into a garage, where Ed Walters (Tim Robbins) is arguing with his boss, Bob (Tony Shalhoub), about the car they hear coming into the shop, what make and model it is and what the trouble with it is, based on what they can hear. Bob sends out Ed to check because he sees the couple and assumes they're "college people" meaning they come from Princeton College. As soon as Ed sees Catherine, he falls for her. James, obnoxiously asks if someone there can work on a British engine, and Ed says, "May I look under the bonnet?" James, reassured by the use of the word 'bonnet' consents. Ed looks at it, looks at Catherie and pronounces, "You have no spark." There's clearly a double meaning here, referring to her relationship with James. James insists, "But what's wrong with it?" and Ed adds, "My guess is that you have a short stroke and premature ignition." He turns to Meg Ryan and says, "Does it ever feel that way?" She replies, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean" but it's clear that she gets the double entendre. Ed says he'll go check with his boss about fixing it, and goes in to tell his boss that he's in love, that time and space stopped, that he could see himself kissing Catherine in the future. Ed tells Catherine that fixing the car will take days, and she uses his phone to call a cab, giving the cab company and Ed her address for the invoice. In the process, she leaves behind a pocket watch. There's a brief moment where you see a hand move the watch under some magazines, but whose hand? And is it an accident? Or deliberate? The theme of accident versus deliberate intervention occurs repeatedly in the film. Ed goes to return the pocket watch and discovers that the address is the home of Albert Einstein, who is Catherine's uncle. Ed helps Einstein and his friends retrieve a badminton racket and in the process befriends them. It's clear to them that Ed likes Catherine. Einstein sees that his niece is unhappy with her fiance and wonders how to help Ed date her. She will only date a very intelligent man, and Ed is an auto mechanic. Ed says, "That's easy, lend me your brain for a couple of days." Einstein gets an idea. Einstein and his three friends hatch a plot to make Catherine think that Ed has developed cold fusion as a way to power a rocket to reach the stars so she'll desire him. They help Ed appear hyper-intelligent, helping him present a paper on cold fusion at a symposium and then helping him pass an IQ test administered by Catherine's fiance. Catherine, as a mathematician, is trying to figure out "Ed's" theory on cold fusion, but she struggles with it. Ed wants to tell Catherine he's a fake, but he can't quite seem to. Einstein and his buddies interfere with Catherine's relationship with James, and encourage Ed. James is presented as a sadistic, sexually cold man who puts Catherine down subtly. Of course, there's always a happily-ever-after ending, even though it takes President Eisenhower's appearance in the film, a convertible, a motorcycle, waltz music, engineered automotive troubles and a comet, to make it all come about.

After generations of being apart, an accident brings a family back together and they begin to cope with their original issues.

Nick and Charlie (Peter Falk and Charles Durning) are two crooks that rob Harry Winston's jewelry store. Nick portrays a rich elderly brother and sister by using prosthetics and make-up to con the manager. Small time crooksters Nick (Peter Falk) and Charlie (Charles Durning) have an elaborate plan to rob an exclusive jewelers store. Using a variety of disguises and posing as rich old men and women they begin the set-up, but then Nick falls for the owner of a neighboring antique store and things get a little complicated. ‚

Insurance agent plots with client to kill her nutty husband. Leonard Hoffman is an insurance salesman struggling to make ends meet. The fact that he has triplet sons who all want to go to Yale isn't making things any easier. Blanche Rickey is also worried about money; her husband is a millionaire with a weak heart, and she worries that he'll blow through all his cash before he finally dies. When Blanche meets Leonard, she devises a murderous plan that she claims will fix both their problems. —Filmweb

Released from prison, Stick meets up with a friend and joins him on a job delivering a bag. His friend gets killed in the setup. Stick gets away and is ready to forget all and see his daughter, but they won't forget. Ernest 'Stick' Stickley returns from prison, and very soon he gets involved with his old friend in a drug-running deal that goes sour. Hired by a rich investor, he tries to walk the line, but trouble follows him throughout as he tries to collect a debt and make up for lost time with his daughter. Stick also finds a new flame with a financial wiz and gets set to enjoy a new life, but Chucky and Nestor, the two hoods who owe him the debt, have other plans for Stick.

An out-of-work actor finds success, love and frustration when he gets the role of his life...playing a woman.

A town's Sheriff and regular patron of a historical whorehouse fights to keep it running when a television reporter targets it as the Devil's playhouse. Founded in 1910 just outside of the city limits of Gilbert located in Lanville County, Texas, the Chicken Ranch has for generations been known as the best little whorehouse in Texas for its wholesome fun, strict moral code, and cleanliness, all perpetuated by its original owner, Miss Wulla Jean. Seven years ago, Miss Wulla Jean died, leaving the Chicken Ranch to her favorite working girl, Miss Mona Stangley, who wants to keep the same traditions of Miss Wulla Jean. The Chicken Ranch has always had the unofficial blessing of the local authorities, who see the ranch providing an important community service, one which most in local authority have used at one time or another in their lives. In fact, Miss Mona and Lanville County Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd have been in a relationship for years, Ed Earl, who is Miss Mona's protector, albeit one with a hot temper and good ol' boy attitude that doesn't exactly match the needs of his law upholding position. That blessing may change when television personality and consumer watchdog, Melvin P. Thorpe, one of the most powerful men in the state, starts an on-air exposé of the illegal activities at the Chicken Ranch, the exposé which includes Ed Earl's role in letting it happen. Ed Earl and Miss Mona's relationship goes through some difficult times on how to deal with this issue, especially with the upcoming annual party night with the players following the Thanksgiving Day football game between the University of Texas and Texas A&M, this party which is arguably the Chicken Ranch's busiest night of the year, and one filled with tradition for the ranch and the participating schools. Will the Chicken Ranch be able to remain open especially in light of a spineless Governor who sways to the direction of polls, and will Ed Earl and Miss Mona's relationship be able to withstand the pressure? —Huggo

In 1948, Reverend Desmond Spellacy is a young Roman Catholic monsignor in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. His older brother Tom is a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Des is skillful at developing church projects while keeping down costs. He sometimes cuts a corner, overlooking the shady side of construction mogul Jack Amsterdam, a lay Catholic who uses his ties to Des for the congregation's benefit but mainly for his own. One day, Lois Fazenda, a young woman, is found murdered in a vacant lot, her body cut in two. Tom and his partner Frank Crotty are in charge of the case. Fazenda is labeled "the Virgin Tramp" by the press for apparently being both a Catholic and a prostitute, turning it into a sensational case. Tom's investigation leads him to Brenda Samuels, a madam. Tom was acquainted with Brenda years earlier while working as a bagman for Amsterdam, whose corruption extends to the local prostitution ring. Brenda called the police to report the death of a Catholic priest who was having sex with one of her prostitutes. While there, Brenda reproaches Tom for doing nothing for her while she was sent to prison for running one of Jack's whorehouses. Tom later believes that Fazenda appeared in a stag film and obtains a copy. He and Frank notice that a girl in the movie was at Brenda's brothel when they came to retrieve the philandering priest. Tom wants Brenda's help with tracking down the girl. Frank spots her days later when she is being taken to jail after a roundup. They learn that Fazenda was a favorite of Leland Standard, a pornographic movie director, because of her tattoo. Standard did his filming in a deserted army post in El Segundo. At lunch with his brother, Tom provokes Amsterdam with secret facts about Amsterdam's dark side, which makes Des uncomfortable. Des tells the Cardinal that the church needs to cut ties with Amsterdam for good. Des discusses "getting rid of Jack" with his cronies, who remind him that it would not be easily done. Sonny, a corrupt City Council member and mortician, proposes that they give Jack a salutation dinner. Des organizes a Catholic "layman of the year" banquet for Amsterdam as a gesture of appreciation before ending the church's relationship with him. Furious, Tom walks up to Amsterdam at the banquet and pulls off his sash while shouting, "Were you wearing this when you were banging Lois Fazenda?" Jack attacks Tom, and they scream at each other. Tom goes to Standard's "studio" and finds the floor and a bathtub covered with dried blood. He also finds Chinese food, which the medical examiner had found in her stomach. Tom and Frank look for Standard but learn that he had been killed in a car accident twelve hours after the murder. Tom wants to drag in Amsterdam for questioning to humiliate him in public, but Frank talks him out of it. Tom starts digging around and discovers that Fazenda was having sex with community leaders. Amsterdam's lawyer Dan Campion warns the Monsignor that Tom should lay off unless they want it revealed publicly that Des also knew Fazenda. She met Des only once in passing, whereas she had a sexual relationship with both Amsterdam and Campion. But the fact that Des had any kind of involvement in such a lurid case could permanently stain his reputation with the church. Tom will not be talked out of it. His determination becomes complete when Brenda is found dead, an apparent suicide. He decides to have Amsterdam picked up and taken to headquarters, which leads to Des being treated the same way. His rising career curtailed, Des asks to be relocated to a remote parish in the desert, the same place to which his mentor in the diocese, Monsignor Fargo, was exiled. Years later, in 1962, Tom visits Des, who is now dying. Tom feels that everything is his fault, but Des calls him his salvation, tells him that he is at peace, and absolves his brother of all blame. He shows Tom the plot where they will be buried together.

In New York City, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds), a freelance magazine writer, tries once more to reconcile with his wife Jessica (Candice Bergen), but she wants a divorce and is ready to pursue an independent life as a singer-songwriter. Leaving their apartment with a single suitcase, Phil moves to Boston, Massachusetts, where his brother, Michael "Mickey" Potter (Charles Durning), resides. While Mickey, a psychiatrist, recommends a local support group for divorced men, and his wife, Marva (Frances Sternhagen), states that the end of marriage could be an exciting new beginning, Phil is too sad to consider their advice. Later, Phil rents an apartment in town and tries to make the place feel like a home, but longs for companionship. Walking to Mickey's house for dinner one night, Phil encounters a skittish woman, who believes Phil is following her. After cursing at him, she runs away. When Phil arrives at the house, Mickey introduces the same woman as Marilyn Holmberg (Jill Clayburgh), a nursery school teacher and friend, whom he and Marva invited to dinner, hoping she and Phil might be well matched. Realizing the mistake she made, Marilyn is overcome with embarrassment. At the end of the evening, Phil asks Marilyn for a date, but she is wary of recently divorced men and thinks they should wait. After learning his divorce is final, Phil joins the support group and has his first date in eight years with an overeager woman named Marie. As soon as he arrives home from the uncomfortable experience with Marie, he telephones Marilyn and persuades her to have dinner with him. The evening goes well, and Phil and Marilyn enjoy getting to know each other over the next two weeks. Phil, however, confides to the support group that he has avoided going to bed with Marilyn, and a fellow divorce suggests that he probably still feels married. One evening, Phil surprises Marilyn at her apartment and announces that he wants to have sex with her. Despite his abrupt declaration and her anxiety, they spend the night together. When Phil leaves before dawn, Marilyn angrily reminds him that she is not a one-night stand, but Phil reassures her. As his relationship with Marilyn progresses, Phil overcomes his fear of teaching for the first time and begins a new job educating college students about magazine writing. At Thanksgiving, Mickey and Marva notice how happy the couple appears. During the holiday dinner, Marilyn answers the telephone and tells Phil that Jessica is on the line. While everyone at the table overhears the conversation, Phil awkwardly informs Jessica that Marilyn is a friend of Mickey and Marva. Upset, Marilyn leaves the gathering. Phil follows her, explaining that he was nervous since he had not spoken to Jessica in awhile and felt as if he was cheating on her. Although Marilyn is more comfortable with Phil than any previous boyfriend, she believes he still has feelings for his former wife and says goodbye. Later, Phil approaches Marilyn while she volunteers at the nursery school's charity fair. In light of her outburst at Thanksgiving, Phil believes they need to define their relationship more clearly, then asks Marilyn to move in with him. With both nervousness and enthusiasm, she agrees. To celebrate their first evening of co-habitation, Marilyn makes a "Welcome Home Hotstuff" banner, while Phil is at work. On the way back to the apartment, Phil arranges for duplicate keys and adds Marilyn's name to the mailbox. Upon arrival, however, he is shocked to find Marilyn sitting on the couch with Jessica. To ease the awkward encounter, Marilyn enables the former spouses to visit in private. Dressed in a sexy blouse, Jessica explains to Phil that she impulsively decided to visit him and apologizes for her timing, but confesses she is disappointed to find he is not pining for her. As Phil drives Jessica back to her hotel, she flirts with him, while he admits that he is still mad at her. When they arrive at her hotel room, Jessica hangs the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and has a bottle of wine waiting. Phil is ready to give in to the seduction, but as she sings her song, "Better Than Ever," dedicated to their reconciliation, his desire dissipates, and he leaves. Jessica telephones later that evening to explain that her dramatic behavior was inspired by her love for him. During the support group meeting, Phil confesses that he desperately wanted to have sex with his former wife. While shopping for a couch with Jessica, Phil has an anxiety attack in the department store, and Mickey is summoned to calm him down. After he recovers, Phil reveals to Marilyn that he must return to Jessica. As Marilyn angrily moves back to her apartment, she persuades Phil to "swear on his brother's life" that he will never contact her again. In New York City, Phil attempts to resume his relationship with Jessica, but as they bicker, Phil is reminded that the connection with his former wife does not feel as "terrific" as the one with Marilyn. After six weeks, he arrives back in Boston. Phil, however, is unaware that Marilyn has been has been dating John Morganson, a professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics. At the department store, he buys the couch Marilyn wanted, then arrives outside her nursery school dressed for the Christmas season as Santa Claus. Marilyn does not immediately recognize him as she meets her new boyfriend and drives away. When Phil tries telephoning her, she pretends to be a voice on an answering machine. Next, Phil tracks down Marilyn at the Boston Garden arena while she watches her boyfriend practice with the Celtics. Seeing Phil arrive, Marilyn immediately claims she is no longer interested in their relationship, until Phil asks her to marry him. Shocked by the proposal, Marilyn cannot hide her feelings, and embraces him.

A satire of American professional football in which a veteran pass-catcher's individuality and refusal to become part of the team family are bitterly resented by his disciplinarian coaches. A semi-fictional account of life as a professional (American-style) football player. Loosely based on the Dallas Cowboys team of the early 1970s. —Afterburner <aburner@erols.com>

In a small Norwegian town, Catherine Stockmann, the wife of Dr. Thomas "Tom" Stockmann, prepares to entertain prominent members of the community, including the People's Daily Messenger newspaper editors, Hovstad and Billing. Tom returns home with his two young sons, Morten and Ejlif, as well as his friend, Captain Forster, who is included among the dinner guests. Before the event begins, Tom's brother, Peter Stockmann, arrives for a routine medical examination. As the town's judge and mayor, Peter also serves as chairman of Kirsten Springs, the community's new tourist destination and the foundation of its economy. Tom, who is the Springs' medical examiner, has recently conducted a study of the water and is awaiting its results; Peter is pleased to learn that Hovstad and Billing will publish Tom's findings before the summer season to promote tourism. Hovstad credits Tom with originating the plan to capitalize on the town's natural resources, but Peter claims that he alone had the wherewithal to establish the business and leaves the house in anger. As guests sit down to dinner, the Stockmann's eldest child, Petra, runs to the table with mail for her father. After reviewing the letter's report in his office, Tom returns to his family and friends with terrible news: Kirsten Springs is polluted with bacteria from a nearby tannery owned by his eccentric father-in-law, Morten Kiil. Before construction began, Tom warned that it was unsafe to build a pipeline so close to a mill that dumps waste into a nearby river, but Peter prioritized cost reduction and expediency. Although the town's water is now contaminated, Tom is convinced that conditions can change for the better with a new waterworks system. Placing the report and his article in an envelope, Tom has his maid, Randine, deliver the findings to Peter. Meanwhile, Hovstad and Billing insist on including the story in the following day's newspaper, even though the official report is in Peter's possession. Later that evening, Tom receives a reply from Peter, but tucks the report away before Catherine can see it. In the morning, her father, Morten Kiil, visits the Stockmann home, skeptical about Tom's findings. Later that day at a tavern, Tom meets Hovstad, who intends to portray the story as a scandal involving the town's corrupt bureaucrats. Just then, the People's Daily Messenger publisher, Mr. Aslaksen, joins the table and promises to galvanize the community with a public demonstration, but Hovstad suspects Peter Stockmann will try to cover up his brother's findings and turn the town against him. Upholding Peter's integrity, Tom gives Hovstad the report in good faith, promising that it is fit for print once he has discussed the data with his brother. Back at the Stockmann home, Peter antagonizes Tom and declares that the decontamination plan will cost 300,000 kroner. Peter appeals for Tom's "discretion" in revealing his findings, but Tom warns that the danger to human life could reach epic proportions if the truth is suppressed. He also reveals that Hovstad and Billing are preparing to print the report. Threatening Tom's career and family, Peter orders his brother to publicly denounce the article and endorse the Kirsten Springs board. Tom later visits the People's Daily Messenger and consents to the publication of his report. When he leaves, publisher Aslaksen suggests a moderate approach toward the article, since it could create a backlash against the newspaper. Shortly thereafter, Peter arrives at the office, claiming he will tax poor and middle-class townspeople to pay for the new waterworks, even though Kirsten Springs is a privately owned corporation. Peter claims that his brother fabricated the report to defy authority, and Aslaksen fears the town's economy will collapse under the new taxation. As Peter procures an alternate "report," the publisher agrees to cover up Tom's findings to save the town from financial ruin. Just then, Tom returns to the office and Peter hides to conceal his arrangement with the newspaper. When Tom sees his brother's walking stick, he realizes his allies have been swayed. He retrieves his report and insists on leading a town meeting the next day. By the time of the gathering, however, the townspeople have already been biased in favor of Peter's false report. The mayor declares that his brother is a threat to democracy, and promises that the springs will bring prosperity to rich and poor members of the community. When Peter argues that his brother should not have the right to read his report, Aslaksen calls for a vote. Realizing the town has turned against him, Tom declines to present his data. Instead, he warns that democracy is not foolproof, since the decisions of the majority can ultimately be wrong. As the crowd responds with rage, Aslaksen reads a motion to proclaim Tom an "Enemy of the People." With the exception of Captain Forster, all citizens agree to deny the doctor's civil rights. Upon returning home in a snowstorm, the Stockmanns are greeted with stones thrown through their windows and an eviction notice. Tom plans to move his family to the U.S. on Forster's ship, but Catherine does not want to leave. Meanwhile, Petra is dismissed from school for being a "radical." Just then, Peter arrives with news that Tom has lost his job, but he can re-establish his career by retracting the report. Tom also learns that his father-in-law, Morten Kiil, has spent the day amassing Kirsten Springs stock for half its original value. Noting that Morten is capitalizing on the repercussions of Tom's report, Peter threatens to punish his brother as a conspirator, but Tom refuses to give in. Sometime later, Morten visits his son-in-law with a fist full of Kirsten Springs bonds. Reminding Tom that the Kiil family has owned the polluting tannery for generations, Morten declares that he used Catherine's inheritance to purchase Kirsten Springs shares. In Morten's blackmail scheme, Tom must accept the bonds to retain his family's wealth. In doing so, however, he will own an enormous stake in Kirsten Springs, and is therefore obligated to recant his report to protect his investment. As Morten leaves, Hovstad and Aslaksen arrive to suggest a new approach to the crisis. Since Morten bought the Kirsten Springs bonds in the Stockmann family name, the People's Daily Messenger can publish articles that convey Tom as a hero, showing townspeople that he purchased the stock to implement his changes. In return, Hovstad requests payment from Tom to cover the newspaper's financial loses. Realizing that the only way to clear his name is to become corrupt, Tom declares that the community is as poisoned as its water. After chasing Hovstad and Aslaksen from his home, Tom announces that the family will stay put and fight for the truth. While the Stockmanns cover their broken windows, a barrage of rocks are hurled through the windows of Tom's office.

In 1892, two vaudevillians and petty con artists get involved, together with the most notorious bank robber, in a New York City bank heist. Two hopelessly-out-of-their-class conmen attempt to pull off the largest bank heist of the nineteenth century. They gain the enmity of the most famous bank robber in the world, and the affection of a crusading newspaperwoman. —Don Devlin <ddevlin@loop.com> It's 1892. Harry Dighby and Walter Hill are a Massachusetts-based third-rate vaudeville team and penny-ante con artists who pilfer money from audience members to supplement their meager income. They often feud with each other because of their differing perspectives and personalities, but they both have the same primary goal of making it big in vaudeville. Adam Worth is a renowned New York City socialite and ladies' man who also robs banks, the latest being the Lowell Bank and Trust. He has a standing agreement with New York City bank Presidents that after the robberies, he keeps the cash, but returns the securities for a fifteen percent face-value fee minus a modest commission for the bank President. Harry and Walter meet Adam when they are assigned cellmates during their incarceration at Concord Prison for their latest crimes. As Adam manages to arrange to continue living lavishly in prison, Harry and Walter become his manservants. They learn that Adam has a copy of the blueprints for the redesigned Lowell Bank and Trust, now reported to be the most impenetrable financial institution. Adam plans to rob the bank again to satisfy his ego that he can do it, but also to get back at the bank's President, Rufus T. Crisp, who was responsible for his capture. Much against Walter's sensibilities, Harry senses an opportunity to get a copy of the plans so he and Walter can rob the bank first. They manage indirectly to get a copy of the plans, but they destroy the originals in the process and subsequently escape from prison. Adam finds out about the copy and does whatever he can to get the plans back from Harry and Walter. But unexpectedly on Harry and Walter's side are Lissa Chestnut, the emancipated publisher of the New York City-based Socialist Advocate newspaper, and her associates at the newspaper. She inadvertently helps Harry and Walter get the plans, but does whatever she can to rob the bank with them in the name of the common man and to avenge an action against her and the newspaper by Adam. —Huggo

John Deakin is being transported, as a prisoner, on a train with supplies and medicine to Fort Humboldt, Nevada, so he can help aid the remote garrison of Fort Humboldt. After a sudden outbreak of diphtheria, the authorities dispatch an express train carrying reinforcement soldiers and medical supplies through the frozen West across the Rocky Mountains to aid the remote garrison of Fort Humboldt. Along with the troops, there are also aboard Governor Richard Fairchild; the outpost commander's daughter, Marica; the squad's captain, Major Claremont; the U.S. Marshal, Pearce, and his mysterious prisoner, John Deakin. Indeed, this was supposed to be a routine operation; however, before long, in this confined but well-guarded place, missing officers and unexplained deaths start to shroud the mission with mystery and suspicion, as an unstoppable unknown killer is picking them off one by one. Who is the murderer in their midst? —Nick Riganas When a military outpost is struck with a severe outbreak of diphtheria, the authorities send a train loaded with medical supplies and replacement soldiers. As the train is on its way however, a passenger is murdered. And then two passengers; then the entire human cargo of several cars. John Deakin, a man under arrest and being transported to custody, does some digging to find out the reason for the carnage. —Alfred Jingle

May, 1937. Kathie Rauch from Milwaukee, Wisconsin sends a letter to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. claiming the Hindenburg zeppelin will explode after flying over New York. In the meantime, Luftwaffe Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott) boards with the intention of protecting the Hindenburg as various threats have been made to down the airship, which some see as a symbol of Nazi Germany. Ritter is assisted by a Nazi government official, SS/Gestapo Hauptsturmführer Martin Vogel (Roy Thinnes), who poses as official photographer. However, both operate independently in investigating the background of all passengers and crew on the voyage. Ritter has reason to suspect everyone, even his old friend and former mistress, Countess Ursula von Reugen (Anne Bancroft), who vehemently opposes the Nazi regime. Other prime suspects include card sharks Emilio Pajetta (Burgess Meredith) and Major Napier (Rene Auberjonois), Edward Douglas (Gig Young), a suspicious German-American ad executive, as well as several crew members and even the Hindenburg captains Pruss (Charles Durning) and Lehmann (Richard A. Dysart). As the Hindenburg makes its way to Lakehurst Air Field, events conspire against Ritter and Vogel. They soon suspect the rigger Karl Boerth (William Atherton), a former Hitler Youth leader who has become disillusioned with the Nazis. Ritter attempts to arrest him. Boerth resists. He requests help from Ritter, whose son was killed a year before. Boerth's girlfriend, Freda Halle, was killed while trying to escape arrest as the Hindenburg crossed the Atlantic. Boerth, upon hearing the news of Halle's death, plans to commit suicide by staying aboard the airship as the bomb goes off. Ritter eventually agrees with Boerth to set the bomb to detonate at 7:30 p.m., when the airship should have landed and passengers disembarked. While setting up the bomb (a small C-4 plastic explosive), Boerth drops a knife, which was later revealed to have been stolen from Rigger Ludwig Knorr. Vogel starts to work behind Ritter's back, arresting Boerth and confiscating the Countess's passport. As the airship approaches Lakehurst Naval Air Station at 7:00, Ritter now realizes the landing has been delayed and searches for Boerth to ask where the bomb is. Vogel is caught by Ritter torturing Boerth and gets into a fight with Ritter and is knocked unconscious. An injured Boerth tells Ritter the bomb is in the repair patch of gas cell 4. Ritter attempts to defuse the bomb, but is unable to do so in time and is spotted at the last few seconds by a now awakened Vogel. The bomb explodes, killing Ritter instantly and sending Vogel flying down the walkway. Vogel survives, being carried by ground crewmen, while Boerth dies of his burns. At this point the film changes to monochrome in order to match up with the actual newsreel footage of the disaster. Passengers and crew struggle to survive the fire. The disaster scene ends when the camera pans over wreckage, towards a strip of burning fabric that says "Hindenburg" on it. The following day, with the fire cleared, a list of passengers who died or survived is described briefly, while the wreckage is examined for the inquiry before being cleaned up. The film ends with a tribute to Herbert Morrison's radio commentary, with the memorable quotation, "Oh the humanity," as the Hindenburg flies once again, only to disappear again in the clouds.

Chicago, Illinois, 1929. Outside a criminal courts building, police build a scaffold and bleachers for the public hanging of Earl Williams, who has been convicted of killing a policeman. Upstairs, reporters play poker in the press room. Newspaper editor Walter Burns (Walter Matthau) calls from the Chicago Examiner, looking for reporter Hildebrand 'Hildy' Johnson (Jack Lemmon) to put him on the story, but he's not there. Walter leaves word that Hildy should immediately come to his office. Later, Hildy wanders into Walter's office at a leisurely pace and informs the editor that he's in love. Walter tells Hildy he wants him to cover the hanging the next morning and snap an illegal picture of the hanged man with a hidden camera. Minutes after the execution, an ambulance will be waiting for Hildy outside so that he can type his story in the back and beat the other newspapers to press with a morning extra. Hildy tells Walter he's quitting to get married and move to Philadelphia. He plans to take an advertising job so that he can spend time with his future wife instead of continuing as a workaholic reporter. Walter resents Hildy for betraying him, insisting that he taught Hildy everything he knows. Determined to keep Hildy in town and on the Williams story, Walter tracks down Hildy's fiancee, Peggy Grant (Susan Sarandon), an organist who works at a movie theater. Posing as Otto Fishbein, a probation officer, he tells Peggy that Hildy is on probation and cannot legally move to another city. Hildy then calls his fiancee, and, over the phone, realizes that Walter is playing a trick. Hildy explains to Peggy that Fishbein is actually Walter, and she sends him away. At the criminal courts press room, Hildy's replacement, Rudy Keppler (Jon Korkes), arrives and informs the others that Hildy has left the business. Mollie Malloy (Carol Burnett) arrives moments later, and yells at the reporters for writing lies about her, claiming she is Williams' girlfriend. Mollie confesses that she had befriended Williams but was not his girlfriend. Unlike the reporters, Mollie believes that Williams didn't intentionally kill anyone. As Mollie leaves, Hildy shows up with drinks to celebrate his new advertising job. Just then, the sheriff (Vincent Gardenia) visits the press room to hand out tickets to the hanging. Hildy accuses the sheriff and mayor of reprieving Williams twice so that the hanging would take place just before an election. The sheriff insists that Williams is a communist who is very sane and shot the policeman to make a political statement. Hildy disagrees, claiming that Williams is "just a screwball." At the jailhouse, Williams (Austin Pendleton), a diminutive, soft-spoken man, is escorted to the sheriff's office for his final psychological examination. Williams calmly explains to Dr. Eggelhofer (Martin Gabel) that he once sent a bomb to J. P. Morgan's office on Wall Street, then contradicts himself by saying he loves people and would never abuse anyone. Eggelhofer borrows the sheriff's gun to demonstrate his theory about why Williams shot at the police officer. Upstairs, Hildy's celebration is interrupted by gunshots. Sirens blare, more shots are heard, and the reporters realize Williams has escaped. Hildy gets on the phone to tell Walter the news. The editor laments that Hildy is no longer reporting, but Hildy promises he's "right on top of it." Downstairs, the sheriff tells reporters about Williams' escape, but insists he doesn't know where the prisoner got a gun. Hildy runs into Jennie (Doro Merande), the building's janitor, who overheard the incident. She tells Hildy she had better not reveal what she overheard, as the sheriff would fire her. Meanwhile, the injured Eggelhofer's stretcher falls out of an ambulance. As the stretcher speeds down the street, Eggelhofer yells repeatedly that Williams is a "fruitcake." Hildy phones Walter to tell him what he's learned from Jennie, that Eggelhofer used the sheriff's gun to reenact the crime, and Williams stole it, shot Eggelhofer, and made his escape. Hildy then informs Walter that Peggy is picking him up in 15 minutes and he can no longer follow the story. The Mayor (Harold Gould) addresses reporters in his office and tells them he has utter faith in the sheriff. After the reporters leave, the Mayor reprimands the sheriff for letting Williams get away. A man named Plunkett (Paul Benedict) arrives and delivers a reprieve for Williams, sent by the Governor. The sheriff receives a phone call that police have trapped Williams. The Mayor tells Plunkett that the reprieve is not applicable because Williams has escaped custody, but he may try to serve the reprieve again tomorrow. The Mayor then sends orders, via the sheriff, for the police to "shoot to kill," now that Williams is in their sights. Headed for a night train to Philadelphia, Hildy joins Peggy in a taxi outside the courthouse. However, when he realizes he left the wedding rings, he runs back inside. There, Hildy finds the rings moments before Williams falls through a window and points a gun at him. Hildy reminds Williams that he conducted an interview with the convict at his jail cell a few days ago. Williams then passes out, and Hildy drags him to the bathroom, draws the curtains, and calls Walter to tell him that he has Williams in his custody. Mollie shows up, and Williams emerges at the sound of her voice. Hildy sends Peggy to pick up their luggage while he finishes up some last-minute business. Hildy hides Williams inside a roll-top desk when the other reporters demand entry to the press room. The men suspect Hildy is hiding something. To cover for Hildy, Mollie claims to know where Williams is, then jumps out the window. The reporters run outside to see if she's still alive. As the room clears, Walter appears at the door. He orders a delivery truck and six large men to move the desk, with Williams inside, to the Chicago Examiner office. Hildy types up a story while Walter takes Williams' picture and sends Keppler to develop the negative. Just then, Peggy returns to find Hildy typing away with Walter at his side. Distracted, Hildy suggests Peggy go to the train station ahead of him, and she leaves, dejected. When he finishes the story, Hildy becomes frustrated with Walter's persistence and heads off to the train station. Before he can leave, however, the sheriff shows up with the other reporters, all of whom accuse Hildy of hiding something. A policeman holds Hildy, while the sheriff demands Williams' whereabouts. The sheriff finally realizes Williams is inside the desk. Police escort Williams away, and the sheriff arrests Hildy and Walter for hiding the convict. In a jail cell, Hildy blames Walter for keeping him from Peggy. In a neighboring cell, Plunkett, who has been arrested for drunkenness, overhears Walter and informs him that he has Williams' reprieve. The Mayor arrives at the jail, and Walter presents him with the reprieve, accusing him of ignoring it so that he could hang Williams before the election. The Mayor lets Walter and Hildy out, and Walter arranges for Hildy to be rushed to the train station to meet Peggy. Just before the train pulls away, Walter gives Hildy his pocket watch as a gift for service to his newspaper. After the train pulls out of the station, Walter (crafty and evil to the end) arranges for Hildy to be arrested at the next stop for stealing his watch! The film closes with a series of texts that say that some time later, Hildy returned to the Chicago Examiner to become Managing Editor. Walter retired, lecturing from time to time at the University of Chicago on the ethics of journalism. Williams, now freed, got married to Mollie, and the two run a health-food store together.