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| Character | Mr. Deeds???? | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Persuasive, Mocking, Speech, Reminiscing life story/Telling a story | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Year | 1936 | |
| Period | Any | |
| Genre | Romance, Drama, Comedy | |
| Props | A piece of paper | |
| Description | Am I crazy because I play the tuba? | |
| Details | 1 hr 44 minutes into the film | |
Summary
When Martin W. Semple, a wealthy civic leader, dies in a car accident, everybody awaits to know who will be named the heir to his fortune. The closest relative turns out to be Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper), a young man from a small town who likes to write poetry and play the tuba in his town's band. As he moves to the big city to get his inheritance, he becomes the target of a lot of people interested in his money. They also think he is simple minded and that they can make fun of him, but it turns out he is not easily outwitted or manipulated. Eventually he falls in love with a girl, Babe Bennet, a reporter that pretends to be a girl in need of help just to get close to him and write articles about him.
After he finds out Babe Bennet is not who he thought she was and after almost getting shot by a desperate homeless man, he decides to leave town and give his fortune away to people in need. In order to stop him, his lawyers accuse him of being crazy and bring him to court. After having many people testify about his odd behaviour, Mr. Deeds is given the opportunity to defend himself.
In this speech Longfellow Deeds argues that, even if his behavior may seem a little odd sometimes, like the fact that he plays the tuba very often, that doesn't make hiim crazy. We all, after all, do something peculiar from time to time...
After he finds out Babe Bennet is not who he thought she was and after almost getting shot by a desperate homeless man, he decides to leave town and give his fortune away to people in need. In order to stop him, his lawyers accuse him of being crazy and bring him to court. After having many people testify about his odd behaviour, Mr. Deeds is given the opportunity to defend himself.
In this speech Longfellow Deeds argues that, even if his behavior may seem a little odd sometimes, like the fact that he plays the tuba very often, that doesn't make hiim crazy. We all, after all, do something peculiar from time to time...
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| MR. DEEDS: "Well, I don't know where to begin. There have been so many things said abour me that I....About my playing the tuba. Seems like a lot of fuss has been made about that. If, if a man's crazy just because he plays the tuba, then somebody'd better look into it, because there are a lot of tuba players running around loose. Of course, I don't see any harm in it. I play mine whenever I want to concentrate. That may sound funny to some people, but everybody does something silly when they're thinking. For instance, the judge here is, is an O-filler....An O-filler. You fill in all the spaces in the O's with your pencil. I was watching him. (Laughter) That may make you look a little crazy, your Honor, just, just sitting around and filling in O's, but I don't see anything wrong 'cause that helps you think. Other people are doodlers....This is the piece of paper he was scribbling on. I can't figure it out. One minute it looks like a chimpanzee, and the next minute, it looks like a picture of Mr. Cedar. You look at it, Judge. Exhibit A for the defense. It looks kind of stupid, doesn't it, your Honor? But I guess that's alright if Dr. Von Haller has to doodle to help him think, that's his business. Everybody does something different. Some people are ear-pullers, some are nail-biters. That Mr. Semple over there is a nose-twitcher. (Laughter) And the lady next to him is a knuckle-cracker. (Laughter) So you see, everybody does silly things to help them think. Well, I play the tuba." |
