Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Charles Halton: Hawthorne
Photos
Quotes
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Abe Lincoln : [In the law office with feet up on desk, arbitrating a dispute] Now, it says here brother Hawthorne... that you owe brother Wooldridge fifty-five dollars and forty-seven cents board at the rate of a dollar and a half a week, you owe him ninety dollars for use of a team and wagon for eight months, besides one hundred dollars cash on a loan.
Woolridge : [triumphant] Yeah...
Hawthorne : [indignant] Well, I never said I didn't!
Abe Lincoln : [scratches head, speaks slowly and methodically] Well, I ain't no lightnin' calculator... but accordin' to my figurin'... you owe him two hundred and forty-five dollars and forty-seven cents. You're askin' two hundred and fifty dollars damages. Now, my idea is to split the difference of four dollars and fifty-three cents... which by a *strange* coincidence happens to be exactly the amount of my legal fee.
[stands, speaks faster]
Abe Lincoln : And the whole thing's settled! Well, what d'ya say?
Hawthorne : [defiant] I won't do it!
Woolridge : [defiant] Me either! I'll go to the law first!
Abe Lincoln : [strolls between Hawthorne and Wooldridge, puts hands in pockets] Gentlemen... did ya ever hear about the time in the Blackhawk war when I... butted two fella's heads together? And busted *both* of 'em?
[looks slowly from one man to the other]
Woolridge : [sheepishly] Eh... well uh, I'm willin' if he is.
[digs in pocket for money]
Hawthorne : [indignant] 'Tain't fair... but I'll do it just to be shut of him!
[digs in pouch for money]
Abe Lincoln : Thanks, gentlemen. Ahh, that's gonna save us all a heap'a legal trouble... and headaches.