Of parking space, ventilation, fresh air, and enough room. opens door those drafty, dingy cubicles were in now, its so crowded you get crushed every time you pull out a filing cabinet door. Well it sounds wonderful whats this little black square on the very corner of the property . Oh, thats the one thing thats been holding up the deal. shuts door a fellow holds a lease on that building, he couldve renewed it for another five years if he had made certain improvements, so his lease is now expiring. Well, will you have to tear that building down . No, a good, stiff wind would blow it down. Its sort of a off campus coffee hangout for the college kids. Oh, i know the place, betty says they call it the hovel. The hovel . Oh, dear. Well, the official name is hannos place. Actually its a small monstrosity. romantic music look, we cant just sit here, and let them move hanno out. But how can we stop them . This lease looks awful legal. The one we want is the office thats trying to buy the property. Hanno, how many more days do you have . Whats the deadline . In the lease, it tells. A few days more, six, maybe ten. Oh, heres the date. Your lease expires on the 20th. Lets see, todays the 11th, wow, only nine more days, that doesnt give us much time. That means well have to work that much faster. Hanno, how come you goofed on this provision here . If youd only put a new roof on, and modernized the front a little,. Well, i meant to do it, just never got around to it. For the last five years, you never got around to it . Well, time flies, you know . audience laughs its too late to worry about that now. Well have to figure out another way of keeping hanno here. Say hanno, may we borrow this lease for a bit . The less i see of that, the more i dont care if i dont see it too much again. We can show this to my father. I know hell be able to figure out some way hanno, i give you my pledge. You are going to stay right here for a long, long time. Good, im with you, viel glk joel speaks german audience laughs door jingles we want to discuss something very important with you, father. door shuts you know both ralph and joel. Sure, sure, sure. boys greet him ive seen their pictures on the post. audience laughs now, father, you believe in justice, dont you . And you believe in loyalty to old friends and traditions. And a mans right to run his business. And not get shoved out in the street. Im with you so far. pats audience laughs father, were enlisting out the name of a crass, heartless individual whos trying to pull the rug out from under a very good friend of ours. Get the dirty rats name, and well write him a scorching letter. audience laughs get a box of stationery for your birthday or something . Will you do it, father . Well, some miserable sneak. Yes. Is planning to put up an Office Building. An Office Building. Right where our friend has his place of business. And your friends name is . Hanno. audience laughs hanno batreul. Uh, look, did it ever occur to you there might be two sides to this matter . Oh no, its obvious that some greedy welp push hanno out to make a nice, neat pile for himself. audience laughs how do you know, you dont even know him. Well its obvious. Heres hannos lease. Maybe you can find some loophole in it. Well, betty. [ralph] you got any ideas how we can throw a blockbuster at this landgrabbing gorilla . audience laughs betty, could i talk to you alone for a moment . Boysll excuse us, wont you. Whats the matter . jim shushes concerned music [betty] why this sinister mood . Well, i thought before our discussion concerning the landgrabbing gorilla went any further, youd better know that the gorilla in question is yes, well. audience laughs you well, not me personally. T it will be my new offices. No, youre joking, arent you . No, im afraid not. But, father, you cant do this tell them to build some place else. Weve been hunting for a suitable site for two years. This is the first piece of property the companys ever approved. The papers are being drawn up now. Hannos lease hasnt expired yet, read it. Your Insurance Company rance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement . , you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. Make the switch to Liberty Mutual and see why weve been awarded highest in Customer Satisfaction by j. D. Power. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you . Im really sorry, of course your friend hannoll have plenty of opportunity yes, i know, but he never could afford to put on a new roof and all that. He must be a pretty poor business man then. So maybe he is, but he, father, dont you understand, if hanno moves out, the college might just well fold up. Oh, well, betty, thats better they should burn down the Administration Building audience laughs than tear down the hovel. Well i dont believe its that serious. Besides, why cant he find another place . The place would be much better than that ramshackle thing hes in now. Its just right the way it is. Its oldness has meaning. And warmness and friendliness. And tradition, you feel all these things when you step inside. Betty youre just romanticizing now. Romantic father of all people, i thought youd understand. Well i do see your point. You know i gave hanno my pledge that id fight this thing through for him. Well, before you go around pledging yourself, you should look into all sides and i still believe that. Im giving you fair warning, father. Im going to have to fight you. Well, if you believe in it, thats what youre going to have to do. chuckles but you might as well know now, the battle is already over. Maybe it is, maybe it isnt. Well see. audience laughs playful music hey whats talulah so hacked about . Well, son, youre a student of shakespeare. Ng lear said. I think it was lear. O, how sharper than a serpents tooth it is to have a thankless child. playful music audience laughs good to get that cleared up. audience laughs [ralph] wait, let me get this straight. Your father knows who the gorilla is, but you wont tell us . Why not, is he a bigger crook than we figured . Hes not a crook audience laughs well, this just puts a different light on things. See, how many days have we left . Only nine days until the deadline. Nine. Alright, ralph, find a contractor. Find out how much it will cost to put a new roof on the hovel, and whatever else has to be done to meet the terms of the lease. Joel, youre head of the fundraising committee. Betty, we only have nine days. Ok, so we have to make every second count are you with me . Youre darn right. Viel glck put hands together other contractor today, and hell give us a better deal than any of the others. Only 500 bucks. Wonderful. He can do the whole job in two days, maybe less. Well now were cooking jingles coins how much loot do we have . Well, not much more than we had yesterday. About 123 dollars, and the deadlines bearing down on us. Yea, well how much did joel turn in today . He hasnt even shown up yet. Im afraid hes running out of gas after that big start he made. door jingles door shuts pennies from heaven. 65 ones. 65, look joel, youre a doll all cheerfully donated, on threat of death by torture. Oh, thats beautiful, stop by george, if we keep this up, we can make it, betty, we can beat the deadline gathering money audience laughs come on, johnny, cough up ralph, you know im 200 for hanno, but when youre broke, man, youre busted audience laughs sweetie, id give hanno the shirt off my back but, the only one i have is at the laundry. audience laughs sad music well, thats it. Only 272 dollars. We didnt do it. We started out so good. And then nothing. Oh this may be the blackest day in the history of our school. Well, now, wait. We still have until midnight tomorrow night. Oh, cut it out, joel. Thats when the lease expires, wed have to have the work done before then. Yea, thats right. Poor old hanno. Where are we going to go when the hovels gone . Whos going to tell hanno we failed him . Yea, i know i couldnt face him. thoughtful music maybe you could write him a letter. starts to Dial Telephone well, whats the matter with my beloved enemy . audience laughs cant you guess . The hovel fund failed . The worst part of it is i have to tell hanno we failed him. No you didnt, you did all that you could. I found out he does a good steady business. That hes always way behind in paying his bills. Ok, so hes no good at business, but, hes a wonderful person. Now hes finished, and its our fault. Betty, you mustnt take it so hard, dear. Things usually work out the way theyre supposed to. This didnt. Father, i know this is an awful lot to ask you, but, me, oh, no, i dont even know the man. But you know how to tell people grim things without making them want to leap off a bridge. audience laughs well, after all, you caused all this. Betty, thats not true. And i think its much too much to ask of your father. Especially after the way youve treated him. I guess youre right. But you people just dont understand now, wait, im convinced it does mean a lot to you. Why it does, im not quite sure. But, maybe i will go down there. I want to tell him that you didnt fail him. And i also want to explain to him that no one, the Insurance Company, me, or anyone has anything against him personally. Oh thank you, father. father chuckles and break the news to him, very gently. audience laughs door jingles cheerful music door jingles shut sets tray down yea, well, i guess the mistake is on me. laughs so, go ahead, eat. No, no really, hanno, im not hungry. Eat, how do you expect to become a big, famous lawyer on an empty stomach . Thanks, hanno, but you shouldnt do this. sets another plate down hanno, i dont and whats for you, sir . To talk to you hanno. Im bettys father, betty anderson. Betty that woman, oh shes the one. Do you know, if it wasnt for that betty of yours, i would be in sad trouble. Yes, thats what i want to talk to you about. You see, excuse me, hanno may i speak to you for a moment . Sure, georgie. Excuse me please. Nno. Next month is ok. Books youve got to have, if you want to get educated. pats his back thank you. Ya, that betty of yours, audience laughs so i dont have to move. But hanno, the lease expires tomorrow. Surely you dont think they can still do anything. Time is up. You dont know these scholars like i do. [jim] but, hanno, excuse me. Sam, how did it go with the examination . All i can do now is, drop out. Oh no, quitting only forms the habit of quitting. We have to form the habit of fighting. Walt whitman says, never yield or falter. And now you go, and have a nice talk with your professor. Tell him what it is you cant get through that head of yours. It. Thats why hes a professor. You tried it. thoughtful music as they do about you. But, all that does is just make my task harder. The deadline is tomorrow. And you havent made any of the improvements that could have kept you here. Yea, its so. And i can see why. You give everything away, food, money, advice. Look, walt whitman, thoreau, abraham lincoln, waldo emerson. And look here, these are all like my own children. These scholars. Yes, but hanno. I see them come, i see them begin to scratch their brains. And the story of all of them is here, and here, and here. Hanno, i understand all that, but. This one just got married. This one is in the state assembly. This one is a doctor, and they all sat here, in this room, in these walls. touches wall this woodwork. Hanno, this is, all well and good. But the facts of the case door jingles [man at door] hanno old richie, he was one of mine hanno, my son tells me theyre trying to move you well, they say. Some kind of an Office Building going in, is that right . I didnt know i would have to move, but now they say the deadline is coming. Well whatever outfit is going in here, theyll never do a nickels worth of business with any of the alumni, you can bank on that. [hanno] well, i just dont know, i just dont know. Excuse me, hanno. Dont start packing up, yet. Just tell me where the nearest telegraph office is. Telegraph office . Nobodys going to move you out of here. door shuts ill get the alumni together. Go on, read it, its a copy of the telegram i just now sent to my Insurance Company. opens paper have discovered serious drawbacks to our building site. Will explain in letter to follow. Suggest we abandon site, and continue search for more suitable location, father did you really send that . Yep, i called carter, the real estate man too. When i told him the deal was off, he thought i had rocks in my head. chuckles saving the hovel didnt seem very important to him. Do it . Well, i learned a lot down there. Im still for progress, but there are values telephone rings in old things too. That we shouldnt destroy. picks up phone hello. Yes, carter. What . Uh oh, i hadnt figured on that. No, no that doesnt change my mind. We still dont want the property. No thats definite, carter. Ok. hangs up phone how do you like that . Well the owners going to sell the property whether we buy it or not. The only way he can sell it is to get hanno out of there. Oh, no [margaret] if hanno had only made those improvements on the building. Yea. Thats the only thing that couldve saved him. Why oh why did we fail him . Lets see, the deadline is midnight tomorrow. Betty, how much money did you kids raise . A contractor wanted to buy well, wouldnt do any good to get a hold of a contractor now anymore. How many kids could you round up right now . Well lots of them, but why . Then get on the phone and start calling them, go on. Ok. Tell them to wear their old clothes. If they have any of those study lamps, bring those along too. And lots of extension cords. Come on, honey, im going to need you. [margaret] but jim, what are you doing . Hello, ralph, would you get a hold of 10 kids, will you, and tell them to call 10 more. What do you think boss, think well beat the deadline . We will, if we can keep up this current pace ill tell you one thing though, im beginning to get hungry again. shouts of agreement think ill go down, and see whats holding up the food. Hey, how about some more of those hot dogs more hot dogs, get them there, boss, coming right up more hot dogs more hot dogs more hot dogs coming, coming, ya, ya sings in german hot dogs sings in german donuts sings in german donuts hot dogs, donuts hot dogs, donuts hot dogs, donuts hot dogs, donuts [whole group] hot dogs, donuts, hot dogs donuts audience laughs group chanting hot dogs, donuts on roof construction sounds audience applause father knows best theme music [voiceover] robert young and jane wyatt children laughing with elinore donahue, billy gray, and Lauren Chapin in father knows best. [betty] come here a second, mother, i want you to see something. Oh, what a picture. [betty] thats the most onesided romance in history. Honestly, sometimes bud is the dumbest thing. Bernice has had a crush on him since they were in kindergarten and bud doesnt even know shes alive well, you have to give bernice credit. In spite of everything, shes loyal