- What's wrong with the Bradley place?
- That's where Frankenstein lives.
Frankenstein?
That's what everybody calls him
because he's a monster.
Just like out of the movies.
He's the biggest, evilest, wickedest
creature that ever walked the earth,
and that's the gospel truth.
- Steve, this is Jonathan Smith.
- Hello.
And this is my cousin
Mark Gordon.
- Hi.
- Steve, how you doing?
And this is my husband, Scotty.
- Hi, Scotty, it's nice to meet you.
- You'll forgive me if I don't get up.
Hey, don't look embarrassed.
That was just a little humour.
Right.
Well, it was nice meeting all of you,
and I'll see you later, Diane.
Hey, don't try and put a hit on my wife.
You don't have a chance.
I might be in a chair,
but that doesn't mean I'm dead.
- You know what I mean?
- Scotty.
Please say something.
You're frightening me.
Don't be afraid, I'll help you.
Scotty, I don't mind working,
as long as I know you're trying.
What do you tell them at work?
What do you tell that jerk
I met tonight?
That you support
your pathetic husband
because he can't make a living?
Hey, come on, Scotty.
That's enough.
Hey, you bet it's enough.
I'm taking the pressure off you,
Diane.
I know it's tough
to walk out on a cr*pple.
A lot of guilt and all.
So I'll make it easy on you.
I'll get Willis to move me out tonight.
What is it? What is it?
You'll be able to see my face.
You'll hate me,
just like all the others.
Why?
Why?
Clark, I don't know
what you're talking about.
I'm not Clark.
I'm Julian!
Don't you understand?
I'm Julian!
Hey, freeze or you're dead.
Julian, don't run!
For God's sake, don't run!
Julian Bradley, you are under arrest
for kidnapping and attempted m*rder.
- Hey, Willis.
- Yeah?
After dinner tonight, why don't
you go see a movie or something?
- What about you?
- I'll be okay.
I just wanna be alone.
Do some thinking.
Okay, thanks.
Your son is right here, Mrs. Bradley.
He has a visitor with him right now,
and normally we only allow
one at a time.
But I don't want anyone saying
I didn't bend over backwards
to see that he was treated fair
in my jail.
- Visitor?
- That's right.
After you, ma'am.
Who is this man?
I don't know him.
And I don't want some reporter
scandalizing my family.
I'm not a reporter, Mrs. Bradley.
My name's Jonathan Smith,
and I'm a friend of Julian's.
My son doesn't have any friends.
He doesn't have anyone but me.
And the sooner he remembers that,
the better.
He has a friend now, Mrs. Bradley.
This is Mr. Kling,
the attorney I told you about.
Now, he has explained
everything to me
and I suggest
that you listen to him.
Now then, Julian,
I've been talking to the prosecutor,
and I think we just might be able
to do a little plea bargaining.
As long as that girl doesn't die,
of course.
How is she? How is Rachel?
She's still in a coma.
Now, I think with a little luck,
we can get the DA's office to accept
a plea of manslaughter.
Why would he plead guilty
if he hasn't done anything?
I'm trying to save his life.
Save his life? You haven't even
asked him if he's innocent or not.
Fine.
Julian, did you do it?
Did you try and k*ll her?
No. I love her.
Love.
I love her. I didn't do a thing.
She fell. I wasn't even near her.
Great.
Now, if we get lucky
we can get the DA to agree
to a guilty plea on
manslaughter charges.
He just told you he was innocent.
Do you think a trial has anything
to do with innocence or guilt?
It has to do with winning.
Have you seen the paper
this morning?
- They're calling him a monster.
- He's not a monster.
That's what they'll make him into
in that courtroom
and there's not a thing
I'll be able to do to stop them.
The minute they see his face,
half the battle will be lost.
I'm sorry to put it so bluntly,
but that's the truth as I see it.
Then maybe you're not the right man
to defend him.
You stay out of this.
I'll say what's best for my son.
Do you want him to go to jail?
Of course I don't.
That's where he's gonna go
if he pleads guilty.
You have to give him a chance.
If you hadn't left that house,
you wouldn't be here now.
I tried to warn you,
but you wouldn't listen.
Your mind was so filled with lust.
Now you're being punished by God.
Mrs. Bradley, he's not being
punished by God.
He's being punished
by people because he's different.
I want a trial.
Mr. Kling, we'll go to trial.
Then you're going to have
to get an attorney
who'll know how to defend you
in that trial better than I will.
And to tell you the truth, I don't know
of such a man around here.
Well, I do.
Why didn't you just leave me there?
Why couldn't you have
just left me alone?
It would have looked
like an accident.
At least Diane could have gotten
the insurance money.
Oh, that's really nice.
You did this for Diane.
What a loving gesture, Scotty.
I'm not worth anything to her alive,
at least this way--
Oh, come on, stop it, will you?
You can lie to yourself,
but don't lie to me.
You know, what a phoney
you turned out to be,
you, always preaching about
living in the minute.
Oh, get off my case. It's my life.
No, it's not just your life.
It's Diane's too.
And what about the guys
in the hospital?
The ones you con just to puff up
your own ego. What about them?
What do you think
this would've done to them
and the rest of the people
that care about you?
Hey, man, I can't carry
everyone else anymore.
Well, who the hell asked you to?
Nobody asked you to be Superman.
You're the one who's always saying it.
Yeah, well, now I'm saying
I'm tired of living like this.
I'm tired of it.
I don't want it anymore.
Yeah, what don't you want anymore?
Being helpless.
- I'm tired of being helpless--
- Will you stop the helpless stuff?
You're a man who went to college,
you passed the bar exam,
and you're telling me you're helpless.
And where did it get me?
Have I got any clients?
As a matter of fact, you do.
If you hadn't been so busy
trying to knock yourself off,
you'd have known
about it an hour ago.
What are you talking about?
Your first case,
that's what I'm talking about.
Case? Well, what kind of case?
The best kind for you.
The kind nobody else wants
because they figure he can't win it.
Now, what do you say?
You want the case or not?
You kidding?
All right.
I'll heat you up some broth
and we'll talk about it.
Jonathan?
Yeah, Scotty, I know.
But the next time you try to adiós
yourself, do me a favour.
Call Jacques Cousteau, okay?
- There you go.
- Julian?
- This is ScottyWilson.
- Hi, Julian.
What's the matter? Haven't you ever
seen anyone in a wheelchair before?
No, I haven't.
Except on television.
Well, this is what it looks like.
My body's in the chair, Julian.
My mind works just fine.
I wasn't staring at the chair.
I was looking at your face.
My face?
What's wrong with my face?
Nothing.
It's so perfect.
Your skin is so perfect.
I suppose I was envying you.
You've gotta be kidding.
Mr. Wilson,
when I look at people, they run.
Yeah, well, you're lucky. I can't run.
Jonathan tells me you're innocent.
With God as my witness.
If you had him as a witness,
you wouldn't need a lawyer.
All right, first thing we do is arrange
a bail and get you out of here.
What for?
At least in here,
people can't look at me.
Besides, I don't have the money
for any bail.
Julian, the judge is going to release
you on your own recognizance,
because I'm going to tell him
that with your face,
there's absolutely nowhere you can
run that you wouldn't be recognized.
That's true.
And you said I wasn't a monster.
You're better off staying
with us for a while, Julian.
I got a feeling this town is not
too friendly towards you right now.
That's Ridley.
That's the boy who saw me going over
to Rachel's that night.
Jonathan, can you pull over
for a sec?
- I wanna ask him a few things.
- You got it.
How you doing, Ridley?
What are you doing here?
This is our hotel.
We're staying here during the trial.
Yeah? Well, that trial
won't last too long.
Hi, Ridley, can I ask you
a few questions?
Who are you?
I'm a friend of Julian's.
Well, then I'm not gonna talk with you,
not if you're a friend of that monster.
He tried to k*ll that poor blind lady.
That's not true.
Why are you saying those things?
Hey, get away from me.
Don't you try to grab me.
Hey, Ridley!
See what I mean?
They've been running away from me
all my life.
- Who is it?
- It's Jonathan, Diane.
- Is anything wrong? Is Scotty okay?
- No, no, he's fine.
Can I talk to you for a minute?
- Sure, come on in.
- Thanks.
How are you doing?
Okay.
Learning to cook for one again.
How's Scotty?
- He's scared.
- About the trial?
Mark told me you got him a case.
I'm very happy for him.
Then why don't you tell him that?
I tried calling him,
but I just got his machine.
I left him a message.
I guess he doesn't wanna talk to me.
Well, maybe that's part
of what he's scared about.
What do you mean?
All this time he's complaining about
the world not giving him a chance,
and now he's got one
and he's afraid he's gonna blow it.
He needs you to be there
in his corner, to cheer him on.
I don't wanna be
his cheerleader, Jonathan.
I want to be his wife.
Come on, Diane, can't you be both?
Every man needs his wife
there in his corner.
Well, what about me?
I have needs too.
I need some support around here.
Don't you think Scotty knows that?
He knows he was a jerk.
That's why he's afraid to call you
to ask you to the trial.
He's afraid you're gonna say no.
- That is ridiculous.
- Well, then tell him that too.
How can I tell him that if he won't even
talk to me on the phone?
Come on, Diane, I mean,
if we're gonna play this dumb game
about who's supposed
to call who first...
Jonathan, he is the one
who walked out on me, remember?
Yeah, I remember.
Hey, let me ask you something,
you still love him?
Yes.
Then you're acting like a jerk now.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury.
We have no ordinary case before us.
The victim,
who even now lies in a coma,
her very life dangling
by the thinnest of threads,
was blind,
helpless.
She was not able to see, as you are,
the monster who loomed
before her.
Objection, Your Honour.
The characterisation of the defendant
as a monster is prejudicial and--
I withdraw the characterisation.
Alleged monster, shall we say.
And we'll let the jury decide
just how monstrous,
in fact, his actions were.
Now, this creature,
who hid himself from public view
for years
and prowled among us
only under the cover of darkness,
until he could find the one victim
who lived in a world of darkness.
And when he found her,
like a fiend from a horror movie-
- Objection.
- Overruled.
Like a fiend from a horror movie,
he att*cked her, carried her off,
and only by the grace of God
did he fail in his attempt
to m*rder her.
Now, the defence will attempt
to show you
that this poor blind girl did in fact
care for Julian Bradley,
that theirs was a love affair.
But I submit to you
that this is a perversion
of the very notion of love.
And that if any such romance
existed,
it existed only in the perverted mind
of the defendant!
Yeah!
Now,
they will attempt to elicit
your pity for this man.
They have even gone so far
as to secure the services
of a crippled attorney in an attempt--
I object, Your Honour.
On what grounds?
On the characterisation
of the defence attorney as a cr*pple.
I am a quadriplegic.
We refer to ourselves
as physically challenged,
and I am not the issue
in this case.
Sustained.
Thank you, Your Honour.
That is precisely my point.
The defendant's counsel
is not the issue in this case.
And I would ask you,
ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
to not allow the natural pity
which any of you might feel
for the defence counsel.
Objection. No one's asking
for anybody's pity.
Overruled.
Counsellor, you just said
you were not the issue in this case.
If that's so,
why don't we let the prosecutor
finish his opening statement?
Thank you, Your Honour.
I would ask you,
ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
to not allow the natural charity
which any of you might feel
for the defence counsel's infirmities
deflect your vision
from the facts of this case,
which, I am sure, will lead you to see
Julian Bradley
for the heinous monster he is,
and return a verdict
of guilty as charged.
Thank you.
Order in the court.
Order in the court.
Mr. Wilson.
Thank you.
Well, not at all, counsellor.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury...
Jonathan...
What's the problem, counsellor?
My notes, they're upside down.
I need to...
Just take it easy.
You're just gonna do fine.
Okay.
Your Honour,
may I ask for a -minute recess?
Just to get my
notes back in order?
Mr. Wilson, are you able
to try this case?
Yes, of course I am.
Well, then, get on with it, son.
Yes, Your Honour, I--
Your Honour, counsel
is having a clonus spasm.
- A what?
- It's an involuntary spasm, sir.
It'll pass,
but with the court's permission,
if we could just take a short recess?
The court will recess
until Mr. Wilson is able to continue.
Here you go, Scotty,
you want some water?
No.
- Hi.
- Hi.
Jonathan, could you
leave us alone for a minute?
Yeah, sure.
I don't need your pity,
so why don't you just save it?
What do you need from me?
Nothing, so just leave.
I'm blowing it, okay?
It's not the world's fault, it's mine.
I'm no good at this, okay?
You don't need my pity.
What you need is a swift kick.
You are a damn good attorney,
Scotty.
How many times have you sat
in front of me
and rehearsed speeches to a jury?
What? One hundred?
Two hundred?
I know,
because I've been there, Charlie.
And now you are letting this two-bit
shyster fake you out of your mind.
Okay, you said your piece.
Let's leave it at that.
No, I will not leave it at that.
Stop thinking about yourself
all the time, Scotty.
You've got a client out there
who needs you, remember?
Damn it.
I want you to go out there
and kick his butt.
I love you, Scotty.
See you in court, counsellor.
Now, Ridley,
I'm going to ask you
a few simple questions
and I would like for you to answer
them just as honestly as you can,
so don't you be nervous.
I'm not nervous at all, Mr. Thrasher.
Good, good.
Now, Ridley,
on the night of the th of this month
at about : in the evening,
where were you?
I was out over
by the McCulloch place,
and it was exactly : ,
because I'd just looked at my watch,
and I always set it by the radio,
so I know what time it was.
- And then-
- What did you see?
Well, I saw that man right over there.
Let the record show that the witness
has indicated the defendant.
Go on, Ridley.
Well, I saw that man
right over there, the defendant,
sneak over to
Miss McCulloch's cottage.
And then I saw him looking
all around,
like he was scared that somebody
might be watching what he was up to.
Objection, Your Honour.
The witness is characterizing
the defendant's actions as sneaking,
when in fact--
When I see a man walking
all hunched over
and looking like he's up to no good,
I consider that sneaking.
Sustained.
Just say what you saw Ridley,
without the interpretation.
I wasn't interpreting a thing.
He was sneaking, Your Honour.
- Objection.
- Sustained.
Mr. Thrasher,
you will caution the witness.
What did the defendant do then?
Well, he went up
on the blind lady's porch,
and then he looked all around,
then he peeked through some window
like some kind of a peeping Tom.
Objection.
Just say what you saw, young man,
without any embellishment.
And then what happened?
I don't know, because I ran.
Why did you run, Ridley?
Well...
Because I didn't want him to see me
and then come after me.
Well, why did you think
that he would do that?
Because he just tried to do that
the other day.
Go on, Ridley.
Well, I was riding my bicycle
when he and Mr. Smith came up
in this big old van
and he leaned out
and he said, real mean-like:
"Hey, Ridley, come here,
I want to talk to you."
And then that van
just forced me off the side of the road.
And then I just fell off my bike,
and then he grabbed for me,
and then there was this other guy
in the van,
and then they grabbed at me.
But I was too fast for them
and I got away.
Your witness.
Hi, Ridley, how you doing?
- Very well, thank you.
- Good.
Ridley, you're very precocious,
aren't you?
Yes, sir, I am.
I bet there's not anybody
in this whole town
who knows more about
what's going on than you do.
Is that true?
Well, I do keep my eyes
and ears open.
I thought so.
So the other day,
Julian Bradley pulled up in a van
and tried to grab you.
You sure about that?
Positively.
And you say there was another man
in the van and he tried to grab you too.
That's right, and he would have
if I hadn't gotten away.
Have you ever seen
this other man before?
No, I don't think so.
It was kind of dark in the van.
Could you describe
how he tried to grab you?
Well, he just leaned out
and he tried to grab me, that's all.
You're sure?
- Yes!
- Objection, Your Honour.
The boy has already
answered that question.
Sustained.
Could you describe the man?
Well, like I said,
it was kind of dark in the van.
But he did wear this cap
over his eyes,
kind of like a crook
in the funny papers.
I see.
Can I be excused now?
Not yet.
Jonathan, get my cap
out of my briefcase.
You bet.
And did he say something like:
"Hey, kid, we just wanna
talk with you."
You were the guy?
That's right.
I'm the guy who you have just
testified, under oath, reached out,
reached out, Ridley,
and tried to grab you.
I'm paralysed
from the neck down, Ridley.
It couldn't have happened, Ridley.
It didn't happen.
You were lying just now, weren't you?
No, no, I wasn't lying, honest.
I really thought-
And what you say you saw
concerning the defendant,
that was the same thing,
wasn't it? Wasn't it?
Yes.
Thank you, Ridley.
No further questions.
Mr. Smith, where were you
on the night of the th
at approximately : ?
I was in Rachel McCulloch's cottage.
I was rigging up a light fixture for her.
A light fixture? For a blind woman?
Well, she was having company
that night, a dinner guest.
And she wanted the place
to look especially nice.
I painted a little bit, put up some light
fixtures. A few flowers, things like that.
All that just for a dinner guest?
I had a feeling this was more
than just another dinner guest.
What was Miss McCulloch
acting like that day?
Was she apprehensive?
Was she afraid of this guest?
Well, no, I don't think she was afraid.
Little apprehensive,
she was acting
like a woman in love.
Objection, Your Honour.
The witness is not an expert on love.
I wouldn't be so sure about that.
Sustained.
Who was Miss McCulloch's
dinner guest?
Julian Bradley.
Were you apprehensive at all
about his actions?
No. No, not apprehensive
in any way.
He was acting
like a man falling in love.
Objection, Your Honour.
There he goes talking
about love again.
There are worse subjects
to talk about, counsellor.
Sustained.
Was Rachel upset at his presence?
Was she frightened by him?
Was she concerned for her safety?
No, I think the only concern
she had that night
was how dinner
was gonna turn out.
When I left,
they were both very happy.
Your witness.
Mr. Smith,
may I call you Jonathan?
Well, certainly.
A long as I can call you Egbert.
- That is your name, isn't it?
- No, it is not.
Well, it was until
you changed it to Richard.
Could we get on with the testimony?
Of course, Your Honour.
- Mr. Smith.
- Richard.
Excuse me, Your Honour.
Excuse me, Your Honour.
I have just received word
that Rachel McCulloch
has been rushed to surgery
due to haemorrhaging.
Her chances are very slim.
No.
In light of what we have just heard,
I will declare a recess
until : this afternoon.
It's all my- It's all my fault.
It's my fault. It's my fault.
Julian, you've got to take the stand.
You've got to tell the jury what
happened or we don't have a chance.
It doesn't matter now.
What the hell do you mean,
it doesn't matter?
We're talking about your life here.
I don't wanna live.
She was the one person in life
who cared for me,
who accepted me, and I've k*lled her.
- That's not true.
- Yes, it is.
She'd be all right now
if it wasn't for me.
My mother was right.
She tried to tell me,
but I wouldn't listen.
I'm a monster, just like they say.
I'm sorry, I know you mean well.
But you could never understand
how I feel.
I want to die.
I want my life to be over.
From his own mouth,
ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
you have heard the defendant say:
"It is my fault, my fault,"
upon learning that the one person
who had shown him any kindness
in his tortured life,
because she could not see
his disfigurement...
Upon learning that that person
would soon be able to see again,
he ran, he flew into a rage.
And there in that cave in the woods,
he smashed all the statues
which he had made.
Objects which were near
and dear to him.
Dearer, in fact, than any living person
up until the time he met the victim,
Rachel McCulloch.
And with that same rage,
he turned upon that poor blind girl.
It's a story as old
as Beauty and the Beast.
If the Beast cannot have Beauty,
he would destroy it.
That's what happened
up there in the woods.
Pity not Julian Bradley.
Pity instead the victim,
Rachel McCulloch,
and return the verdict
of guilty as charged.
Thank you.
Go get them, counsellor.
My client refused his right
to testify on his own behalf,
and I'm sure you know why.
Because Julian Bradley is guilty.
But not of the attempted m*rder
of Rachel McCulloch.
That was an accident,
pure and simple.
And if Julian Bradley
didn't look the way he looks,
and if the medieval legends about him
hadn't sprung up in this town,
he wouldn't be on trial
here today at all.
If all of you were as blind
as Rachel McCulloch,
if you couldn't see his face,
but just the man,
this talk of monsters
would be absurd.
But he is guilty of one thing.
He is guilty of attempting to destroy
something that is very precious.
Love.
It was offered to him,
pure and innocent and true,
and he ran away from it.
He ran away from it because
he couldn't bring himself to trust it,
or the girl
who was offering that love.
He couldn't believe
that if she saw him as he really was,
that she would still love him.
I know that's true,
because I did the same thing.
I ran away from the person
who loves me
and who I love
more than anyone on Earth.
I, too, felt I had to be some kind
of superman for her to love me.
You see, there is a monster
in this room.
It's the lie that people tell
about those who are different.
About black people,
or yellow people, or brown people,
or people who are in wheelchairs,
or people who are Jews or Catholics,
or Mormons, or whatever is different.
And we who are different,
sometimes, as stupid as it seems,
we buy it and we end up
living by that lie.
Oh, don't expect too much from me.
I'm handicapped,
or no one could really love me
because I have a birthmark
splotched across my face.
It's a disease
that has probably caused more death
and destruction and suffering
than any other
in the history of the world.
And it's carried only by human beings.
And its name is prejudice.
And you are the cure for it.
We all are.
And that's why I ask you
to find the defendant, Julian Bradley,
not guilty.
Here it is, Harry.
Not guilty. No, I'm not kidding.
The defence counsel
took the jury apart.
The kid got off.
Julian?
I'm Ella McCulloch, Rachel's aunt.
I just came from the hospital.
She's going to be all right.
What?
When they operated
to stop the haemorrhaging,
they were able to excise the tumour
that was pressing on the optic nerve.
She can see again.
The first thing she said was:
"Tell Julian."
I'm very happy for her.
Julian, let's go home.
Yes.
She's asking for you.
We could ride over together.
I have to go home now.
- I wish you didn't have to go.
- Hey, me too.
But duty calls.
Hey, Scotty, don't get a swelled head
now that you're a bigtime lawyer.
Hey, it's too late.
I'll try not to. Thanks, both of you.
Anytime, counsellor.
- You take care of yourself, you hear?
- Oh, I will.
- Call us, will you?
- Oh, I will.
- Bye, Scotty.
- See you later.
- So long.
- Bye.
Well, counsellor,
in the two weeks since the trial,
by my tally,
you have ten new clients.
How's it feel?
Wonderful.
I think we should celebrate.
All right. What would you like to do?
I would like to have a baby.
I would like to quit work
and have a baby.
You would, huh?
Yeah, I would.
Well, why don't we step inside
my private chambers here
and we'll see
what we can do about that.
Well, what's our next assignment,
Kemo Sabe?
We're not through here yet.
I promised Mrs. McCulloch
we'd pick Rachel up at the hospital.
You got it.
But-- No, but I just want
to speak to him.
Why can't he tell me that himself?
No, I don't understand. I--
Mrs. Bradley?
Mrs.-?
Mrs. Bradley.
- How you doing?
- Hi.
I'm all ready.
- Is this it?
- Yeah. Thank you.
What's the matter?
You look a little down.
I just got off the phone with Julian's
mother for the umpteenth time.
Still won't talk to you, huh?
No.
I'm probably better off.
Hey, come on, you don't mean that.
No, I don't.
I love him.
Then why don't you tell him?
How can I?
He won't even speak to me
on the phone.
Well, then go over there
and tell him to his face.
That's the only way
he's gonna believe you.
What's the matter, you scared?
Yeah.
Let's go.
Hello, Mrs. Bradley.
I told you my son
doesn't want to see you.
Your relationship with him
has caused him enough pain already.
Mrs. Bradley, my relationship
with your son is none of your business.
I wanna see him.
No. He is my son.
And I know what's best for him.
Nice talking to you.
You'll see. You'll see I'm right.
Go away.
Please.
No. I won't go away.
Rachel, please.
I want you to remember me
the way I was.
Please.
But I fell in love with you
the way you are.
Do people stop loving each other
because of the way they look?
You don't understand.
No, you don't understand.
Look at me.
Look at me.
I love you, Julian.
I love you.
Mother, you've met Rachel?
Yes, we've met.
We're going out for a walk.
We'll be back sometime.
A walk?
Yes, Mother.
Outside, where everyone can see us.
We'll talk when we get back.
You really ought to open
some windows in here, Mom.
Goodbye, Mrs. Bradley.