Child's Play (1972)

[bunniefuu]

One, two!
One, two! One, two!

"But howsoever thou pursuest
this act, taint not thy mind,

nor let thy soul contrive
against thy mother aught.

Leave her to heaven and to those thorns

that in her bosom lodge
to prick and sting her."

Come on, come on! Now,
simmer down, fellas. Come on.

Give McArdle a chance.
Poetry is one thing that you guys

can all use an extra big dose of.

I don't think this room has housed
a more un-poetic bunch of juniors

in the ten years I've been here.

There's plenty enough hot stuff in
Shakespeare. He doesn't need your help.

So fare thee well at once.

The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,

and 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire.

Adieu, adieu, adieu.

Remember me.

The ghost goes off.

A cute little fellow.

And Hamlet, left alone
on the battlement, says...

Banks?

All right...

"O all you host of heaven!
O earth!

What else?
And shall I couple hell?

Hold, hold, my heart.

And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,

but bear me stiffly up."

Mr. Reis?
I'm Father Mozian.

You're late.

I called him last night, Jennings.

I'll try to talk to him again today.

Only why do you guys
do dumb things like that?

It was just a joke, Mr. Dobbs.

The joke is he caught you at it.
Now, look.

If you guys decorated my black
boards with smutty drawings,

I'd have you up in the carpet too.

Yeah, but you wouldn't have me

- thrown out of here.
- Well...

You haven't been thrown out yet.

Well, give him time.

He's mean enough to do it.

Oh, Lash would really
get a charge out of that.

Don't call him Lash.

- He's Mr. Malley to you.
- Well, it's the truth, sir.

He enjoys watching us sweat it out.

I mean, there's gotta be
something wrong with a man like that,

- all the guys say so.
- Well, I don't care

what all the guys say.

Now, listen to me, Jennings.

What is it, Medley?

Time for basketball practice, sir. - Now?

- Who's supervising?
- Father Degangy.

Well, Jennings will be with you in
a minute, Medley. You run along.

I need the ball, sir.

Well, give him the ball.

All right, Medley, you've got the ball.

Say, what is it with you guys lately?

- I have to go, sir.
- What?

Well, all right, Jennings.
I'll do what I can.

- But remember, no promises.
- Yes, sir, thank you.

Jennings.

Ah! Father Penny working
during the lunch hour. Admirable.

Biology tests to run off.
Fodder for filthy little minds.

The answers to last week's test
were not to be believed.

One of your boys, Travis.

"The male reproductive cells are
formed in the organs known as the balls."

Yes, it's that time of year. The
long push before winter holiday.

It is always that time of year.

Bellyachin' as usual, George?

The pain, alas, is not in my
belly, but rather od podicam.

George, you didn't really mean to put 15
students on detention last period, did you?

- Have they all been prescribed?
- They're all here.

Then 15 it was. Everyone
of them a k*ller at heart.

Thirty-five students on detention
in one week. Grades falling.

- What's with them?
- They always let off steam before the holidays, Father.

- It's their way of unwinding.
- Oh, that's what it's called, huh?

Joe, you've been noticing them between classes
on the stairway in the gym after school.

Kids getting hurt
every... every day.

You ask them,
"How did it happen?"

And they just look at you and shrug.

In my years here,
I've never known a situation

that collar couldn't control.

Well, we must be getting
less starch in them nowadays.

Used to scare the hell out of
a kid, being sent to detention.

Now, some of them, I think they're
just waiting for me to lay into them.

- Cup of coffee, Father?
- Huh? What?

Oh, oh, later, thanks, Joe.

I've still got work to attend to.

Father Griffin and his uncanny efficiency.

Almost forgot.
You have company.

- Company?
- He's waiting in the entrance hall.

One of your boys.

Oh! O'Donnell again,
I'll bet.

You know, suddenly, this semester,
O'Donnell's gotten it into his head

that St. Charles here should be
made into a coeducational institution.

Boy's dead serious about it. Three
lunch hour conferences in as many days.

- Reis!
- Mr. Reis!

Oh, so it's Mr. Reis, is it?

You hire the little ones
and right away they think

they have the license
to get uppity with their elders.

Well, not with this elder.

Not with Mr. Dobbs!

Without whom you wouldn't be here.

- Am I right?
- Yes.

- Yes what?
- Yes, sir!

- Yes what, sir?
- Yes, Mr. Dobbs, sir!

Oh, Paul.

- How'd you get here? Bus?
- Thumb.

Oh. We'll try you out
on Father Penny. Come on.

- Nine-fifty.
- A shaft for the boys, is it, Father?

Something to drive them back
into the woodwork.

Father Penny, Paul Reis,
our new gym teacher.

- My condolences.
- Yeah. Father Penny, among his many other rare accomplishments,

is one of our more spectacular
lacrosse players.

Only on those occasions when my
truss isn't being laundered.

- Uh, Jerome.
- What is it?

Paul Reis, our new gym instructor.

- How are you, sir?
- He was one of my first juniors.

- You remember Mr. Malley.
- Of course. Latin Two.

Latin Two-B.

Two-B, right.

Nice to see you again, Reis.

Oh, Jerome.

May I speak to you for a moment, please?

My mother's nurse goes off duty
in 15 minutes.

Oh, this won't take long.

It's about Jennings.

Jerome, I know it's not my
place, but if you could just

manage to go a little easy on the boy...

You're quite right, Dobbs,
it's not your place.

You were speaking to him
just a few minutes ago.

- Why?
- The boy's frightened.

It was a silly phone call.

Adolescent prank.

But that's no reason to crucify the boy.

You'd let it pass, wouldn't you?

I've let worse than that pass.

Oh, Jennings is a good kid.

A bit imprudent, OK, but certainly
there was no real malice intended.

Real?

Unreal?

Your solicitude is very
touching, Dobbs, it always is.

But this does not concern you.

I've never interfered with what you do

with the senior class, Jerome.
You know that.

But Jennings is a junior.

Now, if I don't look out
for the junior boys, who will?

You're determined to see
the headmaster about him.

First thing tomorrow morning.

Jerome, as a favor...

- To you?
- To the boy.

Don't be ridiculous.

Hey.

What'd you think of Father Penny?

- Great.
- Oh, wait'll you see his room.

Did his own paint job about a month back.

The priesthood hasn't recovered yet.

There's one or two things
I thought you might like

to have a look at first.

- Teacher.
- Are you sure? I could have sworn you sat there.

- No, next row over.
- Well, I'll be damned.

- Who sat in front of you?
- Reardon.

And Kaminsky right behind me.

Kaminsky and I were always
being sent down to detention.

I was totally innocent, of course.

Oh, of course.
Oh, that first junior class.

I don't know how I managed you guys.

Sitting in that seat ten years
ago, you never dreamed

you'd be back here one day
as a teacher, did you?

I never dreamed I was gonna graduate.

You wanna hear something crazy, Joe?

You know when we were just up
in the faculty room?

Malley walked in.
I thought sure

he was gonna send me to detention.

Can you believe that?
I'm supposed to be a teacher,

- and I'm still scared of Lash!
- Paul.

I believe you learned
some Latin from Mr. Malley.

Sure. I learned
some English too.

And it wasn't nearly so painful.

Oh, that's because I'm the
grandest guy on the faculty,

beloved of all the boys.
Come on.

Let's get out of here before I
start dropping nostalgic tears

all over the furniture.

You may have to wait a wee bit
for this room.

Oh, don't worry, I've got the
junior class reserved for you.

I'm getting my handpicked protege
in here, don't you worry about that.

Only before you can move in,
I have to move out.

Isn't it definite about you taking
over the senior class next term?

I was supposed to take it over this term.

I thought Malley was up for retirement.

Voluntary retirement at 60.
He's taught here for 30 years.

But it's his choice to make.
His and his alone.

Exactly as you left it.

The same lethal swinging doors,

the same pungent aroma.

It's all yours, starting tomorrow morning.

I'm gonna like that.

Hey, are you still as good
on the parallel bars

- as you used to be?
- Oh, way past my prime.

Yeah, I'll bet.

Come on, Paul, get on down
there and do your stuff.

Come on.

Beautiful! Oh, this place
can use a lot more of that,

a hell of a lot more!
Teachers who inspire by example!

- More?
- More!

Say, boys aren't supposed to be in
the locker room at this hour, are they?

- Not without supervision, why?
- Hey, somebody's fighting in there!

- Ow! Ah!
- Hey! Hey!

Come here!

Hey! Come here!

OK.

Let me see your hand.
Come on. It's all right.

I'm not gonna hurt you.

Easy, easy. I'm gonna
have to look at it.

- Ow!
- I'm sorry. OK, OK.

Can you move it?

OK. We'll have it x-rayed,
but it's gonna be OK.

No thanks to your friends.

That's right.

I'm Paul Reis, your new gym
teacher. What's your name?

- Ow!
- Hm?

I'm gonna find out in the
next couple of days anyway.

- So, uh... huh?
- Travis.

And their names?

Come on.

What were their names, Travis?

I don't know, sir.

Well, you know all the names of
the kids in this school, don't you?

- Right?
- Yes, sir.

OK. Then give me the names
of the boys

that tried to break your hand.

I don't know, sir.
I didn't see them.

Travis, Mr. Reis is trying to help you
and he's being damn patient about it too.

I didn't see who they were.

Finish telling me
about your lapse of reason.

My lapse of reason?

The misguided impulse
that brought you back here.

Oh, that. After four years
in the public school system,

I decided I'd had it with teaching.

One should never go back
on sensible decisions.

No, the problem is I really like
teaching. I like working with kids.

So you thought, what better
place than my old alma mater? Hm?

- Close to orderly...
- Something like that.

- Bull.
- It was a pretty damn good school when I went here.

- A toast to the past.
- No school can change that much in nine years.

This one has, just since this term started.

There have been six student-caused
accidents here in the past two months.

Six.

No one k*lled or permanently maimed as yet,

but there is a nice... steady
progression to the v*olence,

a nice, discernable, gory pattern.

What kind of pattern?

Boys going after one another with no
other intention but to inflict physical hurt.

Maximum physical hurt.

Of course, as Father Mozian has not

officially acknowledged there is a problem,

we have nothing to worry about.

Doesn't he give any explanation at all?

"The boys are always jumpy
at this time of year."

- You don't buy that?
- I'm not sure it's just something that's going on

- between the kids.
- What else can it be?

I don't know.
Maybe the school itself.

Maybe there is an evil presence
afoot that is poisoning the student body,

driving the kiddies berserk.

Yes?

Why do you call at this hour,
Dobbs? What is it?!

Jennings has asked you
to intercede. I see.

Oh, I see, you just want
to get the facts straight.

Well, you won't get the facts
from me, Dobbs.

You'll stay out of this.

Jennings will be governed by the headmaster

without your interference!

And Dobbs, you can tell your boys

that if this harassment continues...

It's all right, Mrs. Carter.

I said it's all right.

Please, do not leave my mother unattended,

unless it's absolutely necessary.

How's the fan mail this morning, George?

The usual.
Requests for my autograph,

beads from my personal rosary,
that sort of thing.

No marriage proposals today?

Yes, here's one from
a Mother Superior in Trenton.

Wishes us to marry, move to Las
Vegas, and open a school for strippers.

- Good morning.
- What is it?

I said good morning, that's all.

Yes.

Good morning.

I'm waiting, Travis.

I'm not sure, sir.

That was apparent a long time ago.

Finish it.

"Similar to the soul

is the faithful voyager."

- Is that it, Travis?
- Yes, sir.

Utterly wrong.

All right. Shea?

You try it.

"Trust, like the soul,
never returns once it goes."

"Trust, like the soul, never
returns once it goes."

Your own translation, Shea?

Yes, sir.

In that case, you should have no difficulty

- parsing it for us.
- Parsing it, sir?

Yes, parse, Mr. Shea.

Break a sentence down into its parts,

explaining grammatical form, the
function and interrelation of each part.

We've been doing it
for two years. Proceed.

"Simul," preposition,
means "like."

"Anima," noun,
means "soul."

"Anima," first declension,

ablative, singular, feminine.

This is a Latin course, gentlemen.

Not one of those entertaining
English classes where you get by

by laughing at the teacher's jokes.

Go on.

"Es," the verb, "sum."

Third-person singular.

Present indicative.

"Fidet..."

I'm sorry.

"Fides," verb.

Third conjugation.

Present participle.

A boy, who having translated
the proverb correctly,

has the audacity to define
"fides" as a verb is a cheat.

Sit down.

Banks.

Banks?

"Fides," noun, fifth declension.

Nominative, singular,
feminine. "Trust."

At last.
Thank you, Banks.

"Fides," trust.
A much abused word, gentlemen.

Add this to your homework.

You'll decline "fides" in its nominative

through ablative form, singular and plural,

constructing an original
sentence for each form.

You'll also memorize proverbs
22 through 27 of Publilius Syrus,

and be prepared to parse
each one of them correctly.

OK, that's good. Hold it, hey!

Easy, easy. All right,
knock it off! Knock it off!

Knock it off.
All right, Banks.

Look, now, if you wanna get past your man,

you gotta give him a head fake, then go.

Then move as fast as you can.
You see? Now, wait.

I wanna show you something.
Uh, OK.

I left my stopwatch upstairs.
Here's your new chief.

OK, you guys, now you...
you sh**t free throws

for about five minutes,
I'll be right back. All right?

Less time than that.

- How are things going?
- Fine.

- Who's with the boys?
- Banks.

I wouldn't leave them
unsupervised too long!

I'm just gonna get my stopwatch!

I'll be right back down!

- Mr. Malley.
- Yes.

You're, uh...

Are you usually here this late?

Occasionally.

My first day here, they already
got me working double-shifts.

Coaching the basketball team.

- First day go smoothly?
- Oh, yeah. Yes.

Kids are great.

- You find them great?
- So far.

Of course, you're not too much
older than them yourself, are you?

Oh. Excuse me.

What about Jennings, Jerome?

He's been suspended.

How long will he be out?

Indefinitely.

Jerome, I'm asking you
to ease up on the boys

for their good and yours.

Or what?

Will the boys cease to love me if I don't?

They won't blow me kisses,
give me bear hugs when I retire?

I'm not about to retire, Dobbs, in spite
of all your fond hopes to the contrary.

In fact, because of them.

Dobbs, I'll suffer if I must, the
humiliation of sharing this room

with you and the daily spectacle
of a pathetic, middle-aged man...

- All right, that's enough.
- ...the affection of adolescent boys...

- That's enough, I said!
- That too, degrading as it is, but I won't

be lectured by you on my responsibility.

I will not let you tell me
what I may or may not do!

God, where the hell is Reis?
Isn't he down there?

Help! Somebody help me!

- Wait. Let me see!
- Get away from me!

We don't know yet, Mrs.
Banks. Mrs. Dobbs and Mr. Reis

are at the hospital with him now.

- Can I call you back after...
- Are these all the boys?

- Yes, I will.
- How is he?

- He...
- He's a brave boy.

But I'm afraid he's gonna lose an eye.

Lose an eye?

What happened down there, Reis?

I don't know.
I was there, I saw it happen.

And I swear, I don't understand it.

When I came in,
they were playing dodgeball.

I thought they were just
trying to k*ll time.

You left them unattended?

Just to get my stopwatch.
I left it in the faculty room.

He wasn't up there long, Father.
No more than a minute.

- Go on.
- By the time I got to them,

eight, nine of them
were on him. They were...

...b*ating him, clawing him,
tearing at his face.

I yelled!

And then these other kids
came running over,

and they...
they grabbed me, and held me

while the others were on Banks.
And I...

I heard one of them...
Somebody yelled...

"Hold that bastard!"
And then I hit one of them.

Uh... a couple of them,
I guess. I don't know.

I started to pull them off of Banks.

And Banks...

When I got to him, he...

He...

I don't understand this, he...

He pushed himself up against a wall,

and he screamed no at me! He was
trying to get away from me!

He was fighting me off and...

Until finally I just...

I grabbed hold of him!

I lifted him up!

And they didn't move, the other kids.

They just... drew back,

and I started to...

...carry him.

I didn't know where I was carrying him.

You did what you could.
No one could have done more.

He was fighting me, Joe, I swear to
God. He didn't want me to stop them.

Come on, now, Paul,
that just doesn't make sense.

- I know these boys.
- I saw it!

What you saw was a schoolboy brawl.

No, the boy obviously wanted to be hurt.

There have been other incidents
here in the past few weeks.

More and more violent and senseless.

This all of them?
These all the names?

Yes. - What will you do to those boys?

I don't know.
Can I expel 11 boys?

That's half a class.

Paul, Joe,

Father Degangy, Father Penny,

gentlemen, that's all for now, thank you.

I don't want them attending
classes tomorrow morning.

Have them report to your office

and keep them there till I'm ready to talk.

- Yes, Frank.
- Jerome?

I'd like a word with you before you go.

Come on up to the office.

Jerome, about Jennings. What
say we let him back in Thursday?

The suspension was to have been indefinite.

That was before this incident.

And now we're to let him
back in on Thursday?

Why wait that long?
Two whole days?

Oh, come on, Jerome.
A boy can't be bad as all that.

I've checked his records.

He's never been in serious trouble before.

He has his champions, I'm sure.

Forgive me, Father,
but this sort of leniency

- has a way of getting back to the boys.
- Let it then.

Maybe this sort of leniency
is what we need right now.

How have they been for you
in class lately, the boys?

I'm afraid my students don't lend
themselves to lengthy analysis.

They might spend more time on
their Latin and less on their coiffures.

That's hardly the point, though, is it?

Jerome, are you aware of what's
been going on in the classrooms?

The classroom pranks have
become more than pranks,

more than adolescent defiance.

What they're doing
is deliberate and violent.

- Why?
- I have no idea, Father.

Jerome, we've all got to try to
understand what it is driving these boys.

Maybe even revise our methods for a while.

I'm too rough on them.
Is that it?

Because I expect them to do a
little work, possibly even to think?

Jerome, you've been
here longer than I have,

and that puts me in an awkward position.

- Why should it? You're the headmaster?
- So I am.

All right.
Everything right on the line.

Jerome, I want you to ease up
on those boys.

No.

- Jerome?
- No.

And that's final?

That's final.

Jerome, I'm afraid it can't be final.

What is it you think
I've been doing to these boys?

I've been teaching here for 30 years.

My students have always
been important to me.

I would have retired this year
and been done with it,

- if my students were not important...
- I have a great respect

- for you as a teacher...
- I am not their chum!

I will not tolerate laziness and
stupidity, but I am not an ogre!

- Not what Dobbs would have me.
- It's not what Dobbs would have you that concerns me.

It's what the boys would have
you, what they scrawl on the walls

- and pass each other under their desks.
- I'm not interested

in what's written on the walls
of a lavatory.

Maybe you should be aware of it.

The obscenity, the malevolence

- directed against you in this school.
- I'm aware

of the malevolence.
I've been made aware of it.

Are you?

Fully aware of it?

What's that?

A note some of the boys were passing.

I am not interested in notes.

Read it, please.

- Where did you get this?
- It doesn't matter.

I have a right to know
where this filth came from.

It doesn't matter. What matters
is that there've been other notes

uglier than that, all of them
directed against you.

None of the other teachers.

I'm sorry for all this, Jerome.

But there are 200 boys in this
school, and more than any one of you,

they are my responsibility.

While they're here with us,

we're more than just their teachers.

We're more like their parents.

He's reached you too, hasn't he?

- Who?
- He's the malevolence, he's the obscenity.

Dobbs wrote that note.

- Jerome...
- Yes, Dobbs, the writer of notes,

Dobbs, the phone caller, Dobbs,
the sender of gifts through the mail.

He wants to force me out.
That's why he's doing this.

He wants the senior class for his own!

What you're saying is insane, Jerome.

I've seen the way they react to you.

I know what the boys think of you.

They react the way he's taught them to react,
all that charm, all that false kindness

in the service of mediocrity!
But he won't get the senior class.

Whatever it takes, I'll deny him that.

There are no names, you'll observe.

He told you he got this from the boys.

- He's the one who wrote it.
- No, Jerome.

I took the note from the boys.

You're lying! Lying!

He wrote it and brought it
to you! You know he did!

- You're lying!
- Jerome!

- Lying!
- That's enough, Jerome!

Dr. Irving Sims.

Dr. Sims wanted at reception.

Visitors here to see you.

Two of your teachers.

Hey, how we doing, Freddy?

Dr. Mcready. Dr. Mcready
wanted in neurosurgery.

I spoke to your mother.

She wants to take you out.

I asked her not to.

Freddy, what was all that about?

What happened yesterday?

Mr. Reis says you didn't
try to stop them.

That you let them hit you.

Now, I can't believe
you didn't put up a fight.

Freddy, what happened in that
gym yesterday? I wanna know.

I don't know, sir.

Hey, come on, Freddy. This is
Mr. Dobbs you're talking to.

Not the prefect of discipline.

Did you let them hit you?

Why?

Why did you let them, Freddy?

Afraid of them, that's what?

Well, then...

Is there...?

Is there some kind
of agreement between you all?

What kind of agreement, Freddy?

Please don't ask me to tell you
any more because I can't.

- I won't.
- But you got to tell me more.

Don't you turn away from me,
not from Mr. Dobbs.

You turn back and look at me.

What are you doing here?

Why do you keep following me?

Jerome, I've been here for almost an hour.

I saw Freddy Banks this afternoon.

And the other boys, too.

You're a great comfort to all your boys.

I try to be.

I remember in grade school, years ago...

I remember the sisters
telling us that God himself

was present on the altar whenever
that little red light was burning.

I used to think, what if a wind
should blow into the church...

...and find that light?

No more God.

Jerome...

Can we talk?
Calmly, for once?

I don't want to talk to you, Dobbs.

Just leave me alone. You've
all made your point, haven't you?

Have we?

Or will you come in again
tomorrow, it'll be the same pressures.

The same going at the boys.

- They're children, Jerome.
- And I'm a teacher,

nothing more than that.
This school is my life.

- I belong here.
- We all know that.

And if we seem concerned,

the headmaster, Father Griffin,
all of us...

It's for your boys, I know.

The headmaster's made that very clear.

As clear as you've made it to him.

I've never said anything
to him against you.

I wouldn't expect the truth
from you, Dobbs.

Not even in here.

The hate.

The hate between us.

Is it because I see through your posturing,

your sporty clothes,
your locker room gusto?

Because I know how empty, how
mediocre your life is, that you hate me so?

I don't hate you, Jerome.

More, I think, than I hate you.

All right, Dobbs.

If this is finally to destroy one of us,

then let it be just that.

One of us.

My mother is very ill.

I know, Jerome.

I know the strain you're under.

She's dying, and I have
no defense against that.

If I... If I...

...go along with you,
if I try,

will you at least
have a little pity on her?

Of course I pity her.

You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

No, I don't think I do.

Someone's been calling her
during the day while I'm gone.

Terrible calls, terrible,
filthy lies about me.

Please, Dobbs.

No more.

For her sake, Dobbs, no more.

Dear God!

Frank! Frank, help me!

- I appreciate the help, Shea.
- It's nothing, sir.

That's all of it, huh?

All right.

Let's sort out the blue ones
and count the rest.

There should be 30.

Shea...

I want you to give it to me straight now.

What happened in that chapel yesterday?

I don't know anything about it, sir.

- I wasn't there.
- I'm not saying you were,

and I don't want any names.

I just want to know

why any boys in this school
would desecrate their own chapel.

You don't wanna know, sir.

Shea, what are you doing here?

He's... helping me, Father.

- Where's your next class?
- Library.

- Are you finished with him, Mr. Dobbs?
- I don't know.

- Am I, Shea?
- Yes, sir.

Are you sure?

OK, put those on the desk in
1-C. Leave the others. I'll take them.

Shea. Three minutes.

You've got three minutes to
deliver those books and get to class.

Afraid I've got more
in the bad news department, Joe.

All masses and services in the school

will be canceled until further notice.

In fact, the school building

will be closed each day, 15
minutes after the last period.

You're locking the kids
out of the building?

Locking God out of the building?

Any boy found in this building
after 3:15 is on suspension.

Father, there was no
faculty meeting on this.

- I was not consulted.
- Joe, Frank is headmaster.

This is the way he wants
to handle the situation.

I'm sorry.

She'll be more comfortable in the hospital.

You've kept her here as long as you could.

Hello?

Oh, just a minute.

It's Father Griffin.

Yes?

No, the ambulance just left.

Yes, I imagine sometime later this morning.

Take the next few days off?
That's...

That's very, uh... that's
very kind of Father Mozian.

Very thoughtful, very kind.
Please thank him for me.

No, no, there's no need to have my mail...

...brought here to the house.
There's no need at all. I assure you...

I'll come by and pick it up myself.

Well, thank you again.

Where is it?

Where is it?

Mr. Malley?

Where's Dobbs?

Where's Dobbs?

He just left to teach a class.

Gone to be with his boys.
Splendid.

Can I, uh...

Can I help you with anything?

He has something of mine, your
friend Mr. Dobbs has, and the joke...

The joke is it isn't even mine.

It's something he sent me
in the first place.

He giveth and he taketh away.

- I don't understand.
- Aren't you one of his boys?

I thought he let his boys in
on all his secrets.

Or does he keep the magazine
subscription department all to himself?

- Magazines?
- Keeping you in the dark, Reis?

You, his oldest and most devoted protege?

Well, the next time you two confer,

don't forget to ask him why he
bothers to send me those fascinating,

those fascinating magazines if he's...

Are you all right?
Are you all right?

I'm fine. Get...

I prefer to sit in my own chair.

I'm all right, I'm all right.

Uh, can I get you some coffee, OK?

Here. That'll make you
feel better.

A test?

It's composition of Caesar.

Caesar. Uh...

You probably remember
what a brain I was in Latin.

And here we are, ten years
later, we're sort of like colleagues.

And, uh...

I'm afraid of you.

Afraid of me?

Still.

Well, why not? I'm...

...frightening,
a menacing figure.

Lash, the unfeeling monster.

Lash, the sadistic pedagogue.

And I'm sure that's all
been refreshed for you

by a certain party in these past few days.

OK, I'm just gonna go away. I'll
let you have your coffee in peace.

No, no, wait.

Uh, you'll be spending
most of your free periods here,

- will you?
- Here and the gym.

Uh, that was...

...a singly stupid class,
wasn't it, your 2-B?

- The worst.
- Yes, the worst.

I have a newspaper clipping
somewhere, that was your 2-B, wasn't it?

Yes.

You boys had left it on the desk for me.

You weren't too happy about that.

I must look for that
newspaper clipping somewhere.

It was something about...

A student stabbing his teacher?

I remember feeling vaguely
threatened at the time.

You had us all kneeling in the aisle.

- Did I?
- Forty minutes.

Something to add to the
Lash Catalogue of Infamy.

I imagine that's the sort
of reminiscing that you do

when you boys get together, isn't it?

Something like that.

You keep in touch?

Sometimes.

O'Dwyer? You ever see him?

No, not since graduation.

Dirty fingernails.

But a first-rate mind.
One of the best I ever taught.

- And... Peter Jackman.
- He's still in the seminary.

He may actually pick up a bit of Latin.

It was Jackman who left
that clipping on my desk.

- You knew that?
- No, not then.

I had a Christmas card
from him once with a note.

I sometimes hear from you boys
after a while.

More than you'd think.

I don't know why I save all these...

...newspaper clippings
and Christmas cards, but...

It may be comforting,

someday, to...

...take out all these bits
of the past,

and lay them out on the floor
like paths through a maze.

And perhaps...

...track the course
of one's life and see what's

been there all the time,
tucked away in a...

...drawer.

- Ah...
- "Student stabs teacher."

If I've hurt you, any of you boys,

I'm sorry.

That's the way I am. That's...

...the only thing I know.

No, don't answer it!

I won't speak to him.

Maybe I'd better...

Hello?

Paul Reis.

- Jerome?
- No.

It's the hospital.

Yes?

Yes...

Yes, I see.

Thank you.

Jerome?

Go!

They were trying to reach me at home.

I told them to call me there.

He'll be so happy.

He'll be so happy
to hear that because of him...

...I wasn't even with her.

That should make him so very happy.

Ah! You're missing the high
point of the faculty meeting.

Booze.

Want some?

Is everybody still in there?

Everybody except moi.

Lucky you, to be a novice teacher,

and not be invited
to their black mass specials.

L'Chayim. Prost.

Skol.

And may we survive this current bloodbath.

Father Penny, dancing on the ruins.

Very smooth.

Thank you. One never knows where
liturgical reform may lead.

George?

Did you ever think of going over the wall?

All the time.

I was only kidding.

I wasn't.

Don't let this cassock put you off.

Its sanctity is fast becoming one
of the great mysteries of faith to me.

In view of what's happening around here,

it dwarfs the immaculate conception.

You wouldn't really
go over the wall, would you?

I've taken vows.

May I use the lay toilets?

The urinals downstairs have
suspicious wires running from the flushers.

I shall be blown up decorously,
or not at all.

Don't write on the walls.

I'll leave that

to the already moving finger.

What's wrong?

Kids are in the building.

It's after ten.

Somebody just threw this at the door.

Uh...

Charming.

Why are they here?
What is it that they want?

I don't know if you have
noticed, there's a decided...

...smell of brimstone
in the air.

This may have been the wrong way
for me to go.

But I believe in God,

and I believe in Satan.

Now, I believe I will go get another drink.

If I may give you one bit
of parting advice:

Split.

You have to be a teacher,

be one somewhere else,
only not this school.

Anywhere else but here.

Joe.

Don't creep up on me like that.

Well, I'm glad you were spared that one.

Oh, they're gonna ruin
this school, those black robes.

The way they're panicking.

What's wrong with your hand?

I cut myself.

Sit down.

Lucky for you, the doctor stopped by.

Will you sit down?

I've patched torn hands,

knees, elbows, trousers.

I've been doing it for years.

How'd you manage that?

Joe...

...I did it on purpose.

What do you mean you did it on purpose?

I don't know, I...

I thought maybe if I hurt myself...

I cut myself deliberately.

What's going on, Paul?
What's with you tonight?

It's not just tonight.

Joe, ever since I got to this school,
everything seems upside down.

First, Banks.

And that thing in the chapel.

Even Malley seems different.

Joe...

He mentioned something
about you... giving him

or sending him something,
and then taking it back.

Magazine, he wasn't very clear.

Oh.

You mean the magazines I'd been
sending him with the p*rn pictures?

Or what about the...

What's he complaining about now?

His subscription's running out and
he's afraid I won't renew it in time?

For years, I've listened
to accusations like that.

And each year, each month, they
get sicker, dirtier, more disgusting.

I send him dirty pictures,

I steal things from him,

I turn the boys against him.

I k*lled his mother, you know.

She didn't die of cancer.
I hounded her to death

with abusive phone calls.

You mean the phone calls, the magazines,
none of that's been happening to him?

I don't know a damn thing
about his magazines!

The boys have called him
at home a couple of times.

Write notes about him,
pass them around the classrooms.

They're onto him!
They want him out!

His going may be the best thing
to come out of all of this.

But he's not going to get to another
one of my boys, I'll tell you that.

- What do you mean, get to?
- I mean influence them!

Shape them!

They go into that senior class OK.

By the time he's through, half of
them have their heads on backwards.

They're not leaving here
to go out into a world

where people count rosaries
and speak Latin.

They need a man to guide them.

Someone who'll let some air in here.

I will not have a paranoid
ruining the lives of my boys!

This place scares the hell out of me, Joe.

Oh, come on now. Don't you
join the panic brigade.

This place is gonna be all right.

It's just a school, for God's sake.

I know it's just a school.
I went here.

I can take you down,
show you my old locker, my desk,

but it's changed, it's not the same.

Something's come into this
place. Joe, the boys are here!

Boys?

- In here?
- Why are they here? What are they looking for?

- There's nobody in the building.
- They are!

They just threw this at the door.

- Did you see them?
- No.

I'd know it if they were in here.

Come on.

Shea? Jennings?
McArdle?

Bassland?

Blake?

Curran?

Delayle?

Enright?

Barnett?

Keeney?

Carney?

Landis?

Martin?

Stoddard?

Capcud?

Bootsole?

Maloney?

Weeks?

And Paul Vincent Reis.

English 2-D.

He's the only one here.

You know, I've taught over 1,000 boys here.

Do you know that?

1,226 boys.

Other men's sons.

I've always valued it.

The affection of all those boys.

The friendship.

Years of it.

You know me, you boys.

It's you...

You, I trust.
Not myself.

You.

All you boys.

And what you see...

...what all you boys
have seen in me...

...that must be what I am.

Truly. Isn't that so?

And there's nothing here to frighten you.

May her soul and all the souls
of the faithful departed,

the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Jerome, why have you come back so
soon? We told you to stay out the whole week.

No, three days were enough.

You were a great help to me
yesterday, Father, at the funeral.

I had hoped that more
of the priests would come.

- Go home now, Jerome.
- No, I can't. I have class.

- I don't think that's wise!
- I'm all right now. Thank you.

Frank, Jerome Malley is here.

I know, Bill, I saw him from the window.

He looks awful.

Go easy on him, will you?

I only wish I could.

- Father Brook downstairs yet?
- I don't think so.

Try to head him off.

Tell him Malley's teaching the class,

no need for a scene in front of the boys.

- Oh, Bill.
- Yes, Frank.

Another faculty meeting this afternoon.

- Make sure it's announced.
- Yes, Frank.

Well, gentlemen.

How have things gone during my absence?

Who is the... lucky man
who filled in for me?

- Father Brook, sir.
- Ah, yes.

Patient, kindhearted man, Father Brook.

What was... Father Brook
trying to teach you?

- Cicero, sir.
- Ah.

Only Cicero.
None of those excellent maxims

of Publilius Syrus.

- No, sir.
- Poor Publilius Syrus.

Does anyone remember that?

Anyone remember what it means?

Shea?

"Trust, like the soul,
never returns once it leaves."

Once it goes...

...leaves, goes.

Is anyone brave enough
to put that back into Latin?

Shepherd?

Go on, Shepherd.

I'll help if necessary.

I might as well read you this
from my letter to the archbishop.

"You ask what if there
are further incidents?

Our hope, of course, is
that there will be no others.

Certainly, all our efforts are
being bent in that direction.

However, should events prove us wrong,

a closing of the school for the remainder
of the term would have to be viewed

as a very real possibility."

The remainder of the term?

Father, that could mean
the end of the school.

In the face of what's been happening,
what would you have me do, Joe?

Fight to keep this school open
no matter what.

Find out what's wrong, and fix it.

And if we can't find out what's
wrong, what's causing all this?

Then it just means we
haven't looked hard enough.

Jerome, we never expected
to see you here this week.

I know, you've been very kind,
Father, but it's...

- ...better this way.
- Your classes are being covered.

- There's no need for that.
- Father Brook's been reassigned to second-year Latin.

I've been handling your Greek class.

I've never had another teacher
take my classes.

A week without me, three days without me,

and they've forgotten everything.

That's not a major concern right now.

If this is still
a school, then it should be.

The new assignments are permanent, Jerome.

- Permanent?
- Yes, permanent.

Jerome...

This is very painful for me.

Please, there's no need.

I've thought it over.
And of course you're right.

- I'll change my methods.
- Jerome...

If you'll just give me a little time

to get my thoughts in order, I'll explain.

I can revise the course, we can discuss...

There's nothing to discuss. I know what
you've been through these past few days.

No, you don't. You wouldn't
be saying this to me now

if that were true. I...

I won't be dismissed.
I'll do whatever you ask.

I'll go against what I believe.
But I won't be dismissed.

Not for something I'm not
responsible for. Not from this school.

And please, not now.

I'll change my methods.

This is addressed to you.

Do you know what it is?

- Yes.
- Have you received them before?

At my house, yes.

- Twice before.
- Magazines like this?

You're teaching young boys, Jerome.

Whatever there is in my life,

I've never brought it into this school.

Well, I'm afraid it has
come into the school now,

very much so. Jerome, you were
offered voluntary retirement

at the beginning of this year.
Retirement with full pension.

If you resign now, give up
your position voluntarily,

as of today, I can see to it that
this retirement contract is honored.

I'm sorry, Jerome.
You understand my position.

Yes, yes, of course.

No, I can't.

- Jerome...
- I can't.

Since these pictures being sent
to me, deliberately sent to me...

- Sent to you?
- I have nothing to do with them.

They were addressed to you.
You've involved the school,

- all of us, in this.
- But they're being sent to me.

Don't you understand? They
could be sent to you, to anyone!

- Sent to you by whom, Jerome?
- Dobbs!

He's the malevolence behind
this. He's forcing me out, I told you.

So that he can have the senior class to do
with as he will. This class that I deny him,

as long as I remain here.
He is the evil in this school.

- He's the one that must be gotten rid of.
- Jerome, I'm afraid

- I can listen to you no more.
- He was sending those pictures to my home.

He was calling my mother, telling
her lies about me. Terrible lies.

Then, when he was done with her,
when she was dying,

then he had the magazines
sent here to the school.

You do believe me, don't you, Father?

- No, Jerome.
- But it's the truth!

I think it would be best if you left
this school as soon as possible.

- Best for whom?
- For all of us!

Best for me?
He's destroying me!

He's using you to help him destroy me!

He can't win that easily, can he?

- I'm sorry, Jerome.
- Wait!

You're a priest. Above everything,
you're a priest. This is your chapel.

If I got down on my knees to
you, would you believe me?

- That's enough, please!
- If I were to humiliate myself before you...

- Please!
- I'll make confession to you.

Then you'd have to believe me.
Bless me, Father.

- Bless me for...
- I said that's enough!

But you're a priest! You can't deny
a confession, not if you're a priest.

Your contract with this school
is terminated.

And I forbid you, I absolutely forbid you,

to go to those boys!

Jerome? What's the matter?

- Jerome? Come into the faculty room.
- I have class.

All right. Come on. You can't
go in there like this now.

Just come in and sit down for a while.

- I have a class...
- Jerome, all right. Later.

There's no way he can stop me.

I won't let him teach it for me.
It's my class.

Who is it that's trying to stop you?

He's a priest before anything.

But if I...
If I explain everything to him,

when my mind is a little clearer,
when I can think more clearly,

then he's...
then he's got to believe.

Jerome, I can't follow you. I don't
understand what you're saying.

Who is it that's trying to stop
you from teaching your class?

Dobbs!

That magazine that he stole
from my briefcase,

the one he sent to me,
with all those awful pictures.

He brought it to Father Mozian.

My contract with the school
has been terminated.

Jerome...

I'll be right back.

...excellence of your
service to St. Charles.

Your salary for the remainder of the term,

as well as your pension benefits
will of course be paid to you just as...

- Yes?
- May I speak to you for a moment, Father?

I'd prefer you wait
until this afternoon, Reis,

unless it's something absolutely urgent.

It can't wait till this afternoon, Father.

- All right, go in, Reis.
- Thank you.

Only for a moment. Finish
the letter and type up a draft.

Here are the dates you need
for the first paragraph.

- Yes?
- Father, is it true Jerome Malley is being dismissed

- as of today?
- He told you?

- Yes, it's true.
- Can anything be done?

Uh... whatever, his emotional
state is just not... He...

- He's taught here so long.
- The decision is final.

I know. He's been accusing people of
doing all sorts of terrible things to him.

But given time,
you think all that will pass.

- Yes, I do!
- And this?

Will this pass too?

I'll tell you what I told Joe
Dobbs when he brought me this.

I have 200 boys in that school
to look out for!

And their welfare comes before anything!

Anything or anyone!

- Joe brought you this?
- And pleaded the way you're pleading now.

I don't need to be reminded of
the man's capabilities as a teacher!

I've done what had to be done!

And Joe brought you this?
Where'd he get it?

I don't know where he got it.
Does it matter?

Thank God he did.

There are decision that have
to be made sometimes, Reis.

Painful decisions that go
beyond friendship, kindness,

even compassion.
Joe understands that.

I hope you understand it too.

Jerome?

I tried.

Tried? Tried what?

I have to see you alone in a moment.

Anything you have to say, Paul,
you can say here.

Jerome and I have no secrets
from each other.

Well, go on. What is it?

I know about the magazine, Joe.

I see.

He's filled your head with more
of the same old lies, has he?

The old accusations.

Everything wrong in his life is Joe Dobbs.

Well, look at him.

Look at the sweat pouring
off him. Look at his face!

He doesn't belong in this school.

- Don't do that.
- He doesn't belong in any school.

- Jerome, pack up your red mark books...
- Stop that!

I was just with Father Mozian.

He showed me the magazine you brought him.

I'm sorry he did that.

- Why did you lie to me, Joe?
- To spare him, that's why.

That was the only reason.

You tell one person, he tells someone else,

the whole school knows it in no time flat.

What purpose would that serve?

I don't want to hurt the man.

Yeah, but you stole it from him.

You saw the magazine.

The perverted filth of that magazine.

Those photographs. Whatever
I did was to protect the boys.

To expose what was already there.

And that's all, Paul.

I swear to God.

Careful.

Careful.

Destroying me,

destroying the school,

and poisoning everything around him.

You, look at you.

You believe him.

He's won you back already.

Same as he's done with all the rest.

This time...

...I'm not going to let you win.

I'm finally going to give you
what you always wanted.

Me.

That's the only way, isn't it...

...of destroying you as well?

Mr. Dobbs.

- Jerome.
- Don't.

Let him go.

Jerome!

Jerome!

Jerome!

Jerome!

Huh? It's all right.

Joe?

Where's Joe?

Joe?

Joe, don't!
Where are you?!

Joe?

Come out here!
See what you've done!

Well, most of my work has been
with juniors and seniors.

No, no, no.

I understand your situation completely.

Well, I'll be up there on Monday, Father.

No, no, no, no.
Monday will be fine.

Oh, I'm sure we'll be able
to work something out.

Of course.

Thank you again.

It's Father Lyons
of St. Bruno's.

He's heard we're closing down here.

He's offered me their
sophomore class for next term.

Thinks he may have an opening for you.

Your very own mark book, Joe.

With all the marks of the boys you love so.

Open it up.

English, turn the page.

Math.

Biology.

Latin. Latin marks.

Travis,

McArdle,

Banks.

Anyone who did well in Malley's class
had to be punished, didn't they, Joe?

You could go to the hospital,

and hold Banks' hand knowing
what he was talking about.

You knew what was happening
all along and you didn't try to stop it.

They were tearing themselves up.

Maiming themselves.

But that was fine.

Anything was fine, as long
as it helped get rid of Malley.

You let them get hurt, your
own boys, Joe. Your own juniors.

You infected your boys
with so much of your hate.

- You poisoned the school...
- You think you know how my boys feel about me?

You don't know.

You come along with me
to my classroom, you'll see.

You surprised that they're here?

Why?

Just because the school's
officially closed.

They're here.

They're waiting for me.

If I told my boys to meet me

up on the bell tower at dawn,

they'd be there at dawn.

Come.

Come on.

Fellas.

Every one of you.

Thank you.

Downey, Jennings, McArdle,

Shepherd, all of you.

They're closing the school on us, boys.

They're closing this school
on the finest bunch of kids

I've had the privilege to teach
in the ten years I've been here.

You all know what happened here
this morning.

I don't know if any of you actually
saw it. I hope to God none of you did.

It was an awful, terrible tragic thing.

A sick man,

a man who should have been
spared the pressures of teaching,

was instead encouraged to stay

until things got to be too much for him.

And he did what he finally did.

And because of that,

the people who run this place have decided

that the only thing to do
is to close down this school.

They don't ask themselves
what they did wrong.

They don't ask themselves how
they can improve things around here.

They don't even wanna face up to
the fact that one good important thing

did come out of it this morning.

That the person responsible
for the v*olence, the hate,

the strife that was tearing
this school apart,

is gone now.

No, they don't wanna know about that.

Oh, no.

All they want to know is
how fast they can get you

on trains and busses, so
they can close down this place.

Well, you know what I say to that?

I say if you can't trust kids,
don't become teachers.

If you're afraid of kids,

get out of the business of running schools.

Because that's one thing
I've always had in you.

And have never lost,
not for one single moment.

Trust.

It's you.

You, above anyone else,

that I've always trusted.

And will always continue to trust.

Don't touch them.

Don't touch them.

Leave them alone.

Don't let him con you with his lies.

All that talk about
his... trusting you,

caring for you, there's only one
person he cares about, that's Joe Dobbs!

You know what he's really saying to you?

"Trust me!
Don't ask any questions!

You just do what I tell you to
do, hate who I tell you to hate,

and I'll love you the way I've
loved all the boys who obey me!"

And he loves you so much.

Yeah.

He loves you so much,

he lets you maim one another
without lifting a finger!

He cares for you so much, he
was willing to destroy your lives!

Your very souls!

In order to bring down an innocent man!

A fine teacher.

Who knew Joe Dobbs

for the evil, evil, evil that he is!

Tell them where you're going, Joe.

Tell them about St. Bruno's.

That fancy new job that you got
lined up for yourself

starting next week.

He's walking out on you.

You did all his dirty work for him.

And he's walking out on you.

Once trust has gone,
it is gone, isn't it, boys?

Wilson.

What was that expression
you were telling us about?

The one you learned in Latin?

"Trust, like the soul,
never returns once it goes."

Beautiful.

A profound sentiment,
Mr. Wilson. Most profound.

May we hear it in the original Latin?

Mr. Shepherd.

English translation once more, class.

"Trust, like the soul,
never returns once it goes."

A much abused word,
the word "trust."

Wouldn't you say, Mr. Reis?

You think you can stop me from
telling the boys what you are!

- Feel our trust!
- You're wrong!

- ...he trusts!
- This man does not care for you!

- We trust!
- Shut up!

- They trust!
- Shut up!

- Once again, everyone.
- He's using you!

- I trust! You trust!
- He's using you!

- Please listen!
- He trusts!

- We trust!
- You trust!

They trust!