06x11 - Turn the Other Cheek

[bunniefuu]

(big band music)

- [Announcer] Robert Young

And Jane Wyatt

With Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin

In Father Knows Best.

- [Betty] Wait 'till you see

what we're having for dessert, Bart.

- [Margaret] Well I'll be right in, dear.

- Take your time, honey.

Bart and I can talk a little business in the meantime.

- It'll be hard to get back to business

after a wonderful meal like that.

- Sit down Bart.

- Mom doesn't cook that way for everybody, Mr. Holden,

you must be pretty important.

- I don't feel very important.

Even the bottom rung of the ladder

looks mighty high from where I stand.

- You'll do alright, Bart.

It just takes a little time and patience

to get started in any business.

The insurance business is no exception.

And I think you're going to like Springfield, too.

It's a good town.

- If this is any example ofits hospitality, I know I will.

- Thank you.

- Tell me, Mr. Anderson,how long did it take you

to get where you are?

- Oh, it was tough sledding

for quite a few years, but worth it.

- Course in this day and age, it shouldn't take so long.

Everything's geared up now to a faster pace.

- Yeah, but I wonder if the people

who have to handle the speed are geared up to it.

Sometimes the slow way is the best way.

Particularly when it comes to handling prospective clients.

Personally, I like to find out

what kind of a man I'm dealing with.

What he likes, hishobbies, if he has any.

You take someone like Bryant Page.

- Don't tell me Bryant Page is a client of yours.

- Well, I don't have his name on a policy,

yet, but I'm hoping.

- You better work fast, Mr. Anderson,

I'll bet every insurance agent

in town's after this character.

- That's the point I'm trying to make, Bart.

Before I see him again,

I wanna little time tofind out more about him.

I know, for instance, that his hobby is tropical fish.

So, I've been spending a little time

in the local aquarium,boning up, so to speak.

- This says here he's got one fish worth over $ .

- $ for one fish?

- That's right, Bud.

- One plain old fish?

- This plain old fish, Bud,

happens to be a Gambusia affinis.

- Oh.

- It's a real pet.

Mr. Page calls it Hector.

- Funny name for a fish.

- Bart seems like a very nice young man.

- What I like about him is he's so quiet in a smooth way.

How did Father find him, anyway?

- Goldfish bowl.

- At a Rotary Club luncheon, I believe.

Your father took a liking to him

and offered to help him get started

in the insurance business.

- Father should go to more Rotary Club luncheons.

I hope he's single.

- Want me to ask him for ya?

- Thank you, no.

- Not getting any younger, you know.

- Bud, do two things for me, will ya?

- Anything to advance the cause.

- Open the door and shut your mouth.

(audience laughs)

- Oh, by the way, Betty,

as long as Bart's gonnasettle in Springfield,

he'll need a place to live.

Know anyone with an apartment they want to rent?

- What kind of an apartment, Bart?

- She means, are you looking for a bachelor or a double?

- Oh, Bud.

- You better be careful, Bud,

or you'll be looking for an apartment.

- A bachelor would be just right.

After all, it's for me,and I am a bachelor.

- See how easy it is?

- You'll have to excuse my brother,

sometimes he convulses us with his humor.

- Don't mind me.

Not having any brothers and sisters,

I kind of enjoy this banter.

- Oh, wait'll Kathy gets here.

We're just warming up.

- Kathy's our youngest.

- They're having a box social at the church.

We've been looking forward to it for a month.

Big deal.

- You should have seen the box lunch

she fixed up for herselfand her boyfriend.

- She had enough food in it

to give her boyfriend, Burgess,indigestion for a week.

- Oh, here she is now, Bart.

- Daddy?

- Come on in here, Kitten,

I'd like to have you meet a friend of ours.

- If you don't mind, Daddy, I'd like to be excused.

- Something's wrong, Jim.

- I suspect this callsfor a small conference,

excuse me, Bart.

- Of course.

- You better stay a bachelor, Bart.

Save yourself a lot of trouble.

(audience laughs)

- What's a matter, Kitten,

didn't Burgess like your box lunch?

Wanna tell me about it?

- If I do, I'll start crying.

- I've got pretty good shoulders for that, you know.

- I'm too mad to even cry!

- Now, let's have the whole story, so I can be mad too.

- Well, you know how box socials work.

- Somewhere in the dim pastthere's a recollection of a few.

- The girls fix up nice box lunches

and the boys bid on them?

- Don't tell me no one bid on yours.

- No one did, because Burgess was supposed to bid on mine.

Except he didn't get mine.

- Whose did he get?

- Patty!

She told him to bid on the one

with the purple ribbon,that it was mine.

- Oh, glimmer of light'sbeginning to show.

- She was describing her box lunch.

I sure looked silly eating by candlelight

and music all by myself.

- I'm sorry, Kitten.

- Mother!

- You'll have to settlefor me, Princess,

your mother's next door.

- I just wanted to tell her

I won't be here for dinner tonight.

- Oh?

- Guess who the lucky man is.

- Well, it wouldn't, by any chance,

be a young insurance salesman by the name of Bart Holden?

- How did you know?

(laughs)

- It's a wise father whoknows his own daughter.

Especially, whenthere's a young, single,

attractive man around.

- I didn't know I was that obvious.

Anyway, I found anapartment for him today.

- Good.

- Mrs. Mettler has one.

- Good.

- She says if we'd stop bytonight, she'll show it to him.

- I'm glad to see that Bart's such a good salesman.

You meet him onenight, and the next day

he has you out lookingfor apartments for him.

- I really wasn't very hard to sell, Father.

Tell Mother I'll be upstairs dressing,

Bart will be here in a few minutes.

- Alright.

- Does m*rder have one "d" or two?

- One.

m*rder?

Revenge?

What are you doing?

Writing a mystery story?

- Making up a list of things to do to Patty

for stealing Burgess away from me.

(audience laughs)

- What?

- I have to get even with her some way.

- You can't gain anything

by getting even with people, Cathy.

- I can try.

- Think of all the timeand energy you'll waste.

- I'm loaded with both.

- Not only that, what's even worse,

it makes you fill your mind

with dark and unpleasant thoughts.

It isn't worth it.

- Just what would you do if somebody double-crossed you?

- It would depend on the circumstances, of course.

Sometimes, it's better not to do anything,

particularly in your case.

Patty's a friend.

- You mean to tell me, Daddy, that if someone you trusted

suddenly did something realmean, you wouldn't do anything?

- I don't think I would.

I think I'd just pretendit didn't happen.

Turn the other cheek.

- Course you have seen more of life than I have.

Suppose you oughta know.

Frankly, though, I don't think it makes much sense.

(audience laughs)

But I'll think about it.

- You'd better think about it too.

- Oh, hi, honey.

- Kathy's not the only one

who's been double-crossed by a friend.

Remember that fine young man you've been doing so much for?

The one you've gone out of your way to help and befriend?

- Bart?

- Well Mrs. Brown was at

the Bryant Page home this morning visiting.

She said while she was there,

a young insurance salesman arrived

and insisted that he talk to Mr. Page.

It was Bart.

He was trying to sellMr. Page a quick policy.

- What?

- Well, that's only part of it.

He tried to convince the Pages

that your methods of selling insurance

were old-fashioned and out of date.

All I can say is if Mr. Page's hobby is collecting fish,

he's got himself a first-class eel this time.

- There must be a mistake, Margaret.

Bart would have no reason to double-cross me.

He'd only hurt himself.

I'm his friend.

- Evidently, he's not yours.

- But I've been trying to help him.

We all have.

Even Betty wou ...

Margaret, he's taking Betty out to dinner tonight.

- Why?

- Now, you know hewouldn't have the nerve

to come around here and face us if ...

(horn honking)

- [Betty] I'll get it, it's probably Bart.

- I will not have Betty going out with that, that --

- Now, wait a minute.

Don't you think we oughta hear his side of the story?

- Oh, alright.

- Alright, Bart, I'll be right out.

(motor running)

- Betty.

- Oh, I won't be too late, Mother.

- Is Bart coming in, I'd like to at least say hello to him.

- Oh, there's somethingabout his engine,

he says if he shuts it off, he can't get it started again.

- That's --

- I guess in a case like this,

I can overlook the finer points of etiquette, bye, bye.

- Is it alright if I stop smiling now, Jim?

- Oh, here they are, thank goodness.

Jim, go on down and talk to him.

- Margaret, I'm not going down to talk to Bart tonight.

- Why not?

- All we know is whatMrs. Brown said she saw.

Other than that,we have no proof

that Bart was doing anything he shouldn't be doing.

- Look, Jim, I know allabout babbling females

who love to take some little thing

and turn it into a major disaster.

But Martha Brown, doesn't happen to be that type.

- Okay, honey, so what can I do?

(knock on door)

- [Betty] Anybody up?

- Come in, Betty.

- [Jim] How was the date, Princess?

- What a character.

- We know.

- What do you mean?

- He's not only square,he's oblong, and dull.

All this man talks about is money

and how fast it can be made.

And when he wasn't talking about money,

he was on the phone trying to reach

some new client he'd heard about recently.

- He didn't happen to mention this client's name, did he?

- No, and in fact he was very careful not to mention it.

I don't know why, I couldn't have been less interested.

(yawns)

Guess I'll go to bed now, goodnight.

Just hope I don't dreamabout fish all night.

- [Both] Fish?

- Oh that's another little jam.

Bart's developed a strange new hobby.

Tropical fish.

I'll bet you didn't knowthat a Gambusia affinis,

fish to you, gives birth to living young.

And if you'd like any otherinformation just check with me.

We spent the entireevening at the aquarium.

(audience laughs)

- You know what upsets me the most?

It isn't that Bart might get a client away from me.

That happens in business all the time, we expect it.

It's the fact that someone I trusted and liked,

would go behind my backto do such a thing.

I suppose it doesn't make sense,

but actually I feel sorry for him.

- How can you feel sorry for someone

who's doing everything in his power to double-cross you?

- I feel sorry for him because

he's letting himself in for a lot of hard knocks.

- What are you gonna do about him, Dad?

- I don't know.

- Why don't you do what you told me to do, Daddy.

- Huh?

- You know, don't do anything, just turn the other cheek.

- I also said, Kathy, thatcircumstances can be different.

- What's so different?

We both lost something we were working on.

You lost a client and I lost a boyfriend.

- Well, I can't argue with that.

- Then let's forget thisother cheek business

and get in and fight, huh?

(audience laughs)

- I don't know whether you'll consider

an explanation or not,

but I could give you my side.

- Good, go ahead.

- Well as I see it, this is a free competitive world.

You and I are both inthe insurance business.

You have plenty of clients,

I'm just getting startedso I haven't any.

Well, to put it bluntly, Mr. Anderson,

you don't need Mr. Page, I do.

I know what you're thinking,

after all you've done for me, I should be grateful.

And I am, but I'm also practical.

This day and age, we have to be.

I know that one client like Page

can set me up for a long time.

Don't worry Mr. Anderson,

I'll pay you back someday in a big way.

- For your information, Bart, I wasn't trying to help you

for what I could get out of it.

Not monetarily, anyway.

You see, one of those old fashioned ideas of mine,

is that there's a great deal of pleasure in helping

young people get started.

I've always taken some pride in believing

I was a pretty fair judge of character.

But, I really goofed, this time.

- What have I done that's so wrong?

- There's nothing wrongin what you've done,

it's the way that you've done it.

I could respect you if you'd been man enough

to come to me and tellme what you were doing.

Instead of going around behind my back

with these underhanded methods.

- Okay.

Now, you call my way of doing things underhanded,

I call it aggressive.

Furthermore, the way you've been holding back on this man,

cajoling him and getting to know him, as you put it,

you'd lose him anyway.

- Tell me, Bart, this aggressive approach of yours,

have you sold him a policy?

- Well, no, but then I've only talked to him twice.

- Well now let me tell you something my young friend.

My methods may not be aggressive, by your terms,

but they happen to be ethical.

I would suggest that if you

want to be successful in this community,

and if you want the respect of the other businessmen here,

you'd better become acquainted with that word, ethics.

- I don't mean for you to get all shook up.

- Well I am all shook up.

And there's one other thing I think you should know.

Bryant Page made a name for himself many years ago

by practicing honestyand ethics in business.

And if you'd taken the time

that I've taken to know this man,

you'd find that he hasn't

changed his theories through the years.

So you go ahead with your modern theories, Bart,

and we'll see which method works.

Yours or mine.

- How do I know you won't go to Page

and tell him this whole deal?

After all, you're pretty much in the driver's seat.

- That's just the point,Bart, you don't know.

Your best bet is to hope I am as ethical

a businessman as I claim to be.

(phone buzzes)

- Yes, who is it Miss Thomas?

Mr. Page?

- Daddy, look!

- What is it, Kitten, Patty's reservation

for a trip to the moon?

- Something even better.

It's a note she wrote toBurgess in class today,

only he never got it, I did.

- What good is it going to do you?

- Well, it's against the rules to write notes in class.

And all I have to do is give this note to the teacher

and old Patty will haveto stay after school

every night for a week!

- What?

- Oh, that'll get even with her

for snitching my boyfriend away.

- Now wait a minute --

- It's too bad you can't get even

with Mr. Holden like I'm gonna get even with Patty.

- Well, I had a good chance to get even with him today.

- Yeah?

- As you put it, I had a good chance to snitch on him.

Mr. Page called me, he wanted to know

what kind of a person Bart Holden is.

- Boy, now you're cooking!

- What did you tell him, Jim?

- Oh, the truth.

Or what I thought was the truth once.

I told him I had high hopes

for Bart in the insurance world,

which I did at one time.

And that I was sure he would do everything in his power

to give him the best of service.

Which I'm sure he will.

- Daddy, couldn't you have thrown in

just a couple of mean things?

(audience laughs)

- I could have.

- Oh Jim, honestly.

It's one thing to turn the other cheek,

you don't have to lean over backwards.

I think you should have told Mr. Page

exactly the kind of person Bart is.

- Don't think it wasn't a temptation.

- [Margaret] Then why didn't you?

- Because all of a sudden it became a challenge to me.

It became a matter of ethical practice

over dishonest practice.

Of high-pressure salesmanship

as opposed to my old fashioned ideas.

One being that Ibelieve there should be

a code of ethics among friends.

Even when they are competing in the same profession.

Besides, why should I lower my standards

to conform to those of someone like Bart?

- Well, I guess if youcan risk losing Mr. Page

I can risk losing Burgess.

I won't tell on Patty.

- Good for you.

I'd sure like to know what's in this note, though.

- You mean you haven't read it?

- Well I don't read other people's mail.

- Kitten, I have an idea.

- You think I should read it?

- No, I think you should see that Burgess gets that note.

- What?

- After all it was to be delivered to him, not to you.

- But supposing it's a poison pen letter about me.

- Well, I just said it was an idea.

- Well, okay.

- Jim, I appreciate the fact

you're trying to set agood example for Kathy,

but hers is a child's problem, yours is different.

This is a pretty big business deal you're gambling with.

- I know, but Margaret, I couldn't do it any other way.

I just couldn't.

- I understand, dear.

- You know, honey, I have an uncomfortable feeling that

Kathy stands a much better chance of winning back Burgess

than I have of winning back Mr. Page.

No thanks, Honey.

- Well, any news from Mr. Page yet?

- No.

- Well I don't mean to rub it in.

You must have really sold Bart to him.

- Looks that way.

- Mrs. Brown says he's been to the Page's twice for dinner.

And evidently he plays golf with him.

Anyway, I saw them together up at the club the other day.

I think you oversold him, Jim.

- Well, that's my profession, honey, selling.

(laughs)

(phone rings)

Oh, that's Miss Thomas,

tell her I'm on my way to the office.

- Alright, dear.

Hello?

Yes.

Well, he's on his way tothe office, who is this?

Page?

Mr. Page!

Jim! Jim come back!

Hold the page Mr. Line.

(laughs)

I mean just a minute Mr. Page.

I mean, I can catch him.

- What is it dear?

- It's Mr. Page!

- Oh, excuse me, he's coming, oh ...

- Hello.

Yes Mr. Page.

Oh, I was just on my way to the office.

- Have you seen my --

- Shh!

- I'll be glad to, Ican stop by on the way.

(laughs)

Will I what?

Mr. Page, beleive me, I would consider it a great honor.

Alright.

Uh huh, goodbye.

- What did he say, Jim?

- Are you gonna handle his insurance?

- I think so.

- Really?

- Well, he said his writing arm was in good shape.

- Congratulations, Jim.

- Yehaw!

(audience laughs)

You know, Margaret, I wasn't at all sure

it would turn out this way.

- I wasn't either, as you know, but it did.

And I've never been so happy to be so wrong.

- I guess my old fashioned methods weren't so bad after all.

And you know what else he told me?

- What?

- Hector had twins this morning!

- Now how can Hector have twins?

- I guess when you have as much money

as Mr. Page, anything is possible.

(audience laughs)

Particularly, when Hector turned out to be a lady.

(laughs)

- Oh, I must wake Betty and tell her of the blessed event.

- Yes.

- Ahh!

- You mean that $ fish is a mother?

- That's right.

- $ for one fish.

Let's see, times is smackers,

now that's the kind of multiplying I dig.

- Daddy, can I have cents?

- Oh, what for?

- So I can buy Patty and me some ice cream.

- You and Patty must have made up.

- Uh huh.

I guess you knew what you were doing after all.

Gave that note to Burgess like you asked me to

and now we're all friends again.

- You've certainly aroused my curiosity.

What was in that note anyway?

- Well, Patty wrote to Burgess

about what she did to me at the box social.

Said she was sorry.

- Well, I'm glad to hear that, Kitten.

- Thanks.

Has Mr. Holden said he was sorry for what he did?

- No.

- Do you think he ever will?

- He might, one day.

(laughs)

Particularly when he finds out

he missed being godfather to a Gambusia affinis.

(audience claps)

(big band music)