♪
Davey, one moment please!
Button your collar ... tuck in your shirt-tails.
Sorry, Miss King.
Never mind being sorry.
Follow your sister's example and take pride in your appearance.
No dawdling after school, remember.
I'll expect you at the Dale house by four o'clock sharp.
Give me your arithmetic homework.
What for?
So I can follow your example like Miss King said.
This is not what she meant and you know it.
C'mon Dora, you know I can't figure anything out ...
and besides it's a waste of time ..
Honestly, I'll have no use
for fractions and stuff when I'm done with school.
Well now, if it ain't Dopey and Doorknob.
Fancy meetin' you here.
Whadya know, it's wimpy Lester.
C'mon, Davey, we're going to be late for school.
Wild horses couldn't drag me to school.
Boys who don't go to school become layabouts and thieves.
Well excuse me, Miss!
I work for a livin'.
Got me a job down at the cannery!
So what?
So I'll be done work and gone fishin' while you're still
cooped up with old prune face Pettibone and I'll have money
in my pocket to boot.
You just think about that, little man!
What an awful boy.
He's a lucky one, if you ask me.
Davey Keith!
Step up to the front please.
Class put your books down.
Davey is going to help us solve a mathematics problem.
Train A departs at five past eleven in the a.m., traveling
at thirty miles per hour to arrive at its destination,
at five past twelve, in the p.m.
Train B leaves the same station at eleven thirty-five
in the a.m., traveling at a speed of sixty miles per hour.
Both trains arrive at the same destination at precisely
the same time.
What is the distance traveled by both trains?
What's the problem, son?
You answered the problem correctly
in your homework assignment.
I'm not sure.
I don't remember.
Well perhaps your sister remembers.
Dora?
What is the distance traveled by both trains?
Thirty miles, Sir.
Correct.
My query is this class ... student A and student B each
turn in homework assignments.
Both students have the same answers correct and incorrect.
Student A remembers the answers.
Student B does not.
Who can explain this strange phenomenon?
Velma Bugle.
Davey Keith copied the answers off Student A.
Each student will stand in the corner.
Student B in that corner.
Student A, in that corner.
Noses against the wall for fifteen minutes.
Starting now.
Miss Keith!
Sir?
In future, Dora, you would be wise to let your brother
do his own homework.
I've written a note to Miss King regarding this matter.
Be sure you deliver it to her right and proper.
So what's this enlarger thing do anyway?
You know, it occurred to me
that I'm in the middle of something else
that you might find
much more interesting.
This is an electric broom.
How's it work?
Ah ha.
You push this nozzle over any -
any dirty surface and the dirt
sucked right up and deposited inside the machine.
Hence the term vacuum cleaner.
No guff!
Highly ingenious device.
I made a minor adjustment of my own
to the original mechanism.
I have introduced a watertight canister ...
... and voila!
The aqua-vacuum!
Listen to this one, Hetty.
Lobster thermidor: lobster meat, cream, mushrooms,
sherry and egg yolks, cooked to perfection in a lobster shell.
Doesn't that sound positively scrumptious?
Positively repulsive, if you ask me.
Since when did you become enamoured with haute cuisine?
I just wanted to thank all the people that work so hard to make
the cannery a success, so I thought I'd try my hand
at preparing a really elegant buffet for the employees.
Elegant?
Where did I put the pliers...
HETTY: Jasper!
Are you in there, Jasper?
I'll clean it up for you, Mr. Dale.
Good, Olivia and I are at odds, Jasper and I thought you'd
make a good sounding board.
Honestly, is this really necessary?
Yes, it is.
Now about this "do" at the cannery, look, I know you-
and Olivia mean well, but I cannot bear to see you
waste good money for nothing.
Now look, plain, old-fashioned boiled lobster has always been
good enough for the King family so I wager it's good enough
for everyone else too.
The workers stare at plain old boiled lobster five days a week,
I think they'd appreciate the change!
What?
The change!
We can give them chicken if they needed change!
We have a lobster cannery, not a chicken cannery!
Ahh!
Turn it off! Turn it off!
Davey Keith!
Wait for me outside!
We're going home!
- But I didn't ... - Not a word!
Well ... well it is a most unpleasant incident.
Excuse me.
Are you alright?
Yes, yes, yes.
I'm fine.
I'm fine, thank you.
I wouldn't be surprised if you were barred
from Jasper Dale's workshop permanently
... Come on.
I didn't do it on purpose
No excuses, young man.
Just learn to be more careful in future.
I don't want to hear of anymore of these
so-called accidents of yours.
Go on, dry yourself off.
Miss King ...
Yes dear, what is it?
Mr. Pettibone said to deliver this note
to you right and proper.
Right and proper?
Oh dear.
Davey Keith!
Will you kindly explain the meaning of this.
Davey Keith's study habits have always been haphazard.
Davey has the ability to do his work, but does not apply
himself, choosing rather to rely on the hard work of other's.
Dear me.
Well, what do you have to say for yourself?
I've never been good at school, Miss King.
I can't help it.
Really, Davey.
How can you possibly hope to make anything of your life
if you don't learn to apply yourself.
I don't care and I'm never going back
to that stupid school either.
Don't talk rubbish.
It's not rubbish.
Wiley Lester doesn't go to school.
He works.
And if he can get a job, so can I.
What Wiley Lester does is no concern of yours, young man.
And whilst you're under this roof in my house,
you go to school, you understand?
Davey Keith -
you're not even dressed.
I don't feel so good Miss King.
No, no.
It's my stomach - it feels ... funny.
I see.
Your stomach is it?
Well then, it's castor oil for you, my boy.
I'd say three tablespoons - maybe four.
You know, maybe ... maybe I'm just hungry.
Yes, hungry - well you're probably right.
Davey!
Behave yourselves now, children!
Davey, wait up.
Davey!
Where you going?
There he was, just walking along the north road ...
I've never seen such delinquency!
Such brazen truancy!
Up to your room, Davey Keith!
This instant!
No matter how many times you send me to my room,
I'm never goin' back to that school.
How can I impress upon the boy the importance of learning.
He can't be allowed to throwaway education
with no regard for the future.
No, no, this can't go on, Olivia.
It has to be nipped in the bud.
Hetty, just give it some time.
Forcing Davey back to school before he's ready is the surest
way to drive him in the opposite direction.
Opposite direction ...
you could be right ...
that would mean the surest way to drive him
toward the classroom would be to put him to work.
A job.
A job?
A job.
Brilliant idea!
If Davey Keith would rather work,
work he shall!
Where?
Here?
You mean here?
Well, it's only for a few days and I promised Hetty
we'd give it a try.
But ... Davey Keith?
I'm not even sure it's such a good idea, Olivia.
How hard can it be to make a little boy hate work?
There, you see?
No one else is dressed up.
Davey, I told you working in the cannery is a messy business.
I want to make a good impression Miss King.
Very well then.
Lunch, Davey.
Remember: chin up and shoulders back.
If you get nervous, breathe deeply.
Yes, Miss King.
Bye, Miss King.
... so Miss King said you might be hiring, and here I am.
Alright, why don't you have a seat right there.
Jasper?
As it happens, Davey, we're rebuilding the steam plant
so we could probably use a few additional workers.
Isn't that right, Jasper?
Yes, yes, yes.
Why don't you tell me about your previous work experience, Davey.
You know, other jobs you've had?
Oh.
None except my chores at home.
It's bad if you don't have work experience, isn't it?
No, no I'm a touch light in that department myself.
Surely you have other qualities, Davey that you feel would
make you suitable for the job?
Yes, ma'am!
If I get this job,
I promise to be the hardest worker you ever saw.
Marvelous.
You're hired.
Welcome aboard, my boy.
Lionel Lester to the office, please.
Lionel Lester to the office.
You punch in here with one of these cards,
when you get in every morning.
Seven-thirty smart.
You mean sharp, don't you, sir?
Won't be too sharp if you're not punched in before seven thirty,
I'll tell ya.
Come along then.
Yes, sir.
And call me Lionel, everybody else does.
Yes, sir ... Lionel.
You're polite one aintcha.
I'll put you to work with my boy, Wiley.
Maybe some of your good manners'll rub off on him, eh?
Wiley!
Comere boy!
Hop to 'er!
What d'you want, pa?
Take charge of young Davey here.
He's gonna help you with that brick.
So you think you're on holiday or something?
You can take more'n that.
Oh no...
It's too much Wiley.
Now I can't even see ...
That's Mr. Lester to you bud and don't
say you can't till you try.
We ain't got all day.
Well, it looks like Davey is holding his own.
Got yourself right bollixed up, didn'tcha?
On your feet.
The bosses are givin' you the old fish eye.
Keep this up, you won't last till quittin' time.
Mr. Davey, why are you still here?
Everyone else went home half an hour ago.
Wiley said I had to clean the cutting room floor
before I left.
Mr. Wiley seems rather overzealous
where you're concerned.
At least this is the last of it.
Good, good.
Give you a lift home then, shall I?
Thank you, sir.
There you are Davey Keith.
I'd practically lost hope.
Oh, that smell ...
you can't take that stench inside the house with you ...
Go on, round the back and wait by the kitchen door
whilst I fetch you some clean clothes.
Go on.
The boy's completely played out.
Well done, Jasper!
I don't know if deception can ever be well done.
Now, now.
All for a good cause, remember.
By the looks of it, we'll have young Davey
back in school in no time.
Bravo!
You're quiet.
You barely said two words at supper, Davey.
Well, how was your first day at work?
Fine and dandy.
You needn't worry about me, Miss King.
I wasn't worried, not in the least.
Well good ... cuz I wouldn't want you to.
Oh no, your life is your own, my boy.
Far be it for me to hover over you like a mother hen.
Olivia?
Mmm hmmm?
Davey Keith.
At the cannery.
The situation is intolerable.
Well, I'm sure it will only be for a few more days.
How can I stand back, while Davey flounders about
chaotically, blundering and bungling ...
bearing the brunt of everyone's jokes ...
I know how it feels ...
Oh, Jasper.
But look how well you turned out in spite of all that.
I can't think of anyone that I would rather Davey
take after than you.
Well now, the cookiecutter's back for more.
Stop it, chowderhead.
Pretty brassy for a guy who's a quarter hour late second day
on the job.
I'd punch in and stop chin waggin' I was you.
No, no.
It won't do.
Hetty's way is not going to work.
You're right ...
There's only one thing to do with Davey Keith.
Mr. Davey.
Time clock acting up on you?
It's not the clock, Mr. Dale.
It's me.
I was late and I tried to turn the hands back on the clock
so you wouldn't notice
but now I think I broke it.
I appreciate your honesty, Davey.
I should've said this earlier,
you've been so nice giving me
a job and all.
I'm really sorry about your workshop.
I want you to follow me into my office.
Jasper, I'm going to make those sales calls.
Ah, that's it.
The hairspring's gone galley-west.
Hand me the tweezers,
thank you.
I wanted to speak to you about something Mr. Davey ...
Yes, sir?
I have a notion ...
... that's got it!
As I was saying, I wanted to speak
to you because I've arrived at a decision ...
... I need a secretary.
A right hand to help me around the cannery.
Interested?
Me?
You bet!
Good.
Uh ... what would a secretary do, sir?
Meet Homarus americanus.
The common lobster.
Now if you want to be getting on in the cannery business,
Mr. Davey, you're going to have to learn everything you
can about him.
How d'you know it's a "him", Mr. Dale?
Not a her?
Let's save that for another day.
Now, if we were zoologists,
we would use taxonomy to classify
our friend,
the lobster over there as follows ...
... Kingdom - Animalia.
Phylum -Arthropoda.
Class - Crustacea.
Order - Decapoda.
Family- Nephropidae.
Genus - Homarus, species - americanus.
How do you remember it all?
It's the first letter of each word.
Kingdom, phylum, class, order.
K, P, C, O.
K, P, C, o.
But if I don't even remember the words,
how am I supposed to remember those letters?
Mnemonics.
Knee what?
It's a trick for the memory.
You make a rhyme of it.
Something that sticks it in the brain.
Kingfish, perch and chub.
Ocean fillets, gutted and scrubbed.
Kingfish, perch and chub.
Hey, pa, comere a sec ...
Ocean fillets, gutted and scrubbed.
What d'you reckon they're on about?
Beats the heck outa me.
What is this place comin' to?
According to Newtonian mechanics ...
... gravitational mass is proportional to weight.
Inertial mass and gravitational mass are equal.
Mass displaces mass.
Therefore, when filling the pots with water to cook homarus
americanus, in order to prevent the overflow,
you must observe the law of displacement.
You understand?
Let me demonstrate ...
Now I get it Mr. Dale.
I have displaced the water.
Yes?
Gravitational mass in, equal weight out.
Cost effectiveness -- efficiency is essential
to running any business ...
They're at it again, pa.
Never mind just pretend you don't see 'em.
As we have already calculated,
it takes 463 bricks
to cover the floor of our new steam room.
You simply multiply that
by the price per unit
and you arrive at the cost ...
Beggin' your pardon, Mr. Dale but you forgot
about labor ... and cement.
Well, you know you're quite right, Mr. Wiley,
but it's just for the purpose of this exercise,
we're only interested in rough costs.
So you go ahead, Davey.
I'll be back in a minute.
Are you sure you want me to do this?
I'm not very good at sums ...
I have absolute faith in you Davey.
Really?
Absolutely.
What's he talking about rough costs?
Either you know what you're paying for or you don't.
I'm workin' ...
Ooops ...
You can't you do nothin' right, can you?
Gimme that.
... sixty times seven...three times seven is twenty-one . .
... there's your answer.
How did you do that?
I can see the numbers in my head, that's all.
You never told me you was good with figuring and such.
You never asked, did you?
Two times six?
Twelve.
Twelve times twelve?
One hundred and forty-four.
Davey!
Guess what?
Mr. Dale promoted me today.
I'm his secretary.
His right arm.
Really ...
Very important position.
Lots of responsibility.
What may I ask does this new position of yours entail?
First ... you have to know everything you can about the ...
um ... Americans ... Homerus americanus ...
... the common lobster ...
There's lots of other names you have to know too?
Kingfish, perch or chub.
Ocean fillets, gutted and scrubbed.
I was teaching him taxonomy ...
And you have to know how much everything costs,
and there's that new overflowing physics stuff...
Newtonian physics.
You don't say.
Jasper ...
Jasper, weren't you going to take Davey
to the General store for a soda right after work?
Yes, yes, yes.
What's your poison, son?
Raspberry fizz, apricot, sarsaparilla ... ?
What are you going to have, Mr. Dale?
Rather partial to raspberry, myself.
Me too.
Do you mind telling me what in blue blazes is going on here?
Jasper has been introducing Davey to the joys of learning.
As I understand it, the purpose of this exercise was to
introduce Davey to the hardship of work so he might return
to the joys of learning.
Proper learning.
Not to turn him into another Jasper Dale.
What's wrong with that?
I think Jasper has been a wonderful influence!
In small doses maybe ...
what Davey needs now is structure,
Olivia, and discipline.
Not abstraction.
Hetty, all the discipline in the world won't do a bit of good for
Davey unless he believes in himself.
Believes?
Jasper's been building up his confidence ...
and that way, as Davey begins to feel more sure of himself,
he'll do better in his schoolwork ...
And when will his confidence be
sufficiently bolstered, would you say?
A week?
A year?
Soon.
I'm sure it will be soon.
I don't know why I let you talk me into this in the first place.
What's that bird way up there?
Ah .. accipitridae ... a forest hawk.
You sure know a lot of things, Mr. Dale.
You must have been really smart at school.
Would you like to know a secret ...
When I was in school, I used to get teased terribly.
Made me miserable.
I hated every minute of it.
Why did they tease you?
Oh, the usual reasons.
I wore glasses, clumsy, tripped over things.
Nobody ever thought that I would amount to much.
And neither did I truth to tell.
Then I met Olivia - Mrs. Dale
- and she believed in me.
Soon, I started to believe in myself.
And then I found that I was happy doing experiments
and other people's opinions didn't seem to matter.
But what if a person isn't good at anything, Mr. Dale?
Oh, no.
We're each good at something, Mr. Davey.
All that is needed is the opportunity to discover it.
Night, Mr. Dale.
Good night, Mr. Davey.
Take it, look at the birds.
I gotta tell ya, Mrs. Dale,
this is the best fish I ever tasted . . .
... right here.
What do you call this gain?
It's lobster Thermidor.
I'm glad you're enjoying it Nat.
My boy, Wiley ... he sees numbers in his head.
Real smart.
It's the darndest thing.
Now my oldest, Nat there,
he's inherited my good looks.
Good thing too cuz,
the boy's dumb as a bag of hammers.
Well I think that we're each intelligent
in our own way, Lionel.
Jasper, go and talk to Davey.
Attention, everybody.
It's time for the father and son race ...
So let's all go outside, grab your partners and move outside!
C'mon, pa!
We're up!
Hold your horses.
I'm comin'.
It occurred to me,
given that you're my right arm at the cannery,
in the name of teamwork, perhaps you and I
should enter the father and son race together,
like a team.
Isn't that against the rules?
I mean we're not even related in the smallest way.
Well, I think the rules could bend a little
in the name of good sportsmanship ...
besides ...
... the judges, they're friends of mine.
Alright, lobsters, take your marks, get ready and ...
Hey, is that allowed?
Not sure ... it does seem highly efficient though.
Go Jasper!
Go!
We have our winners!
There you have it.
Immortalized for posterity.
How do you know it's going to turn out okay?
Well first I set up the picture looking
through the viewfinder.
Would you like to look?
Jasper, take a walk with me, will you?
I know you and Olivia have the best of intentions,
and I do appreciate all the pains you've taken
on Davey's behalf ...
but all this horseplay, Jasper ...
it's not helping me get Davey back to school.
I don't understand how a little harmless fun ...
Whether you understand or not, the fact remains.
As long as Davey is having harmless fun as you put it,
he's not wanting to go back to school.
I thought the plan was to give him a job
at the cannery to discourage him from working...
not to set him off on a career...
I know that was the plan initially ... but it became
clear to me, that, in the long run, it would be better for
Davey to go to school of his own accord.
Because he wanted to, not because he felt discouraged.
And he will make the right choice
if you only give him a chance.
He needs a little encouragement that's all...
How do you know?
My boy is not one of your experiments, Jasper Dale.
He's flesh and blood ...
Davey!
Let him go, Jasper.
The more attached he gets to you,
the harder it will be to pry him away later ...
I won't have his feelings hurt ...
I won't have him think I don't care ...
Davey! - Leave me alone!
The only reason you hired me 'cuz Miss King told you to!
I admit, that's how it started but when I saw how hard
you were trying, I truly wanted to help ...
I don't need your help, okay?
Davey, please ...
let me explain ...
You told me we were a team but it was a lie.
You just felt sorry for me.
Me being your right arm and that junk you gave me to do
it was all for show!
I wasn't really good at any of it!
That's simply not true.
You're bright, you're inquisitive ...
why do you think you ask so many questions all the time?
Because I don't know anything, that's Why.
I'm not smart like you!
I'm not so smart as you think ...
... I had to learn everything as I went along ...
just like you ...
even now, I'm still amazed
at how little I really seem to know,
often times it's good to think of your life as a journey.
The terrain gets fairly rough at times ...
but if you want to get where you're going,
you got to keep at it.
Just like you at the cannery.
You fell, you picked yourself up, you kept going.
But I don't know where I'm going anymore.
Why decide now?
Why not leave yourself many options.
I found that I could try anything I wanted -inventing
mechanical devices, a flight experiment, research on bats,
running a cannery -
It all seems so impossible to me.
Why?
It's all about asking questions and then going out
and seeking the answers.
It's the answers part that's always got me stumped.
It may seem like a mountain to climb,
but when you get to the top,
you can see for miles,
you can choose any path you like.
There you are.
Take your seat.
Breakfast's ready, you know.
Miss King, do you know where my blue shirt is?
I wanted to wear it to school this morning
but I couldn't find it.
My what a coincidence.
I was just about to press your blue shirt.
You're goin' and that's that!
Davey Keith!
This is all your fault!
What did I do?
Can't stop to chat, we got a meeting with Mr. Pettibone.
Mr. Dale?
Are you in there?
Yes, Davey.
Come in.
The red light's on outside.
Can I still come in?
Yes, but carefully, my boy.
Carefully.
I guess Miss King told you already,
I can't work for you anymore ...
... cuz I went back to school today.
You'll certainly be missed at the cannery,
I do think you've made the right choice.
Me too.
It wasn't even that bad today ...
Excellent.
... what're you doing?
I finally got my enlarger assembled.
So I'm doing a test run.
Can I look?
Mrs. Dale was right.
It turned out really well ...
Quite a team, if I do say so myself.
You can have this copy if you like it.
I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've arrived
at the notion that I'd like to have an apprentice to help me
out around the workshop ... part-time.
Saturdays and after school.
You wouldn't possibly be interested would you?
Me?
You bet!
Um ... what would an apprentice do, sir?
Well, I'm in the middle of an experiment which I think you
might find rather interesting.
Now, have you ever seen
a refrigeration machine?
Hey, what's this gizmo here do, Mr. Dale?
No, no!