Marvin Miller: Michael Anthony

Quotes 

• Michael Anthony : [Anthony enters the Tipton library, where he finds Tipton seated in a high-backed chair and sitting at his desk. Only Tipton's right arm is visible to the viewers. Tipton is smoking a cigar and is handling a pocket watch]  You sent for me, sir?

  John Beresford Tipton : Mike, this is a railroad watch - as close to absolute accuracy as a watch can be made. Something no locomotive engineer or conductor would function very well without. To such men, punctuality is as important as the... the steady beat of the human heart.

  Michael Anthony : Quite correct, sir.

  John Beresford Tipton : [Chuckles]  I know someone else, not a railroad man at all, to whom punctuality is a fetish.

  [Tipton hands over an envelope to Anthony] 

  John Beresford Tipton : I'm curious to discover, Mike, if perhaps a million dollars might alter this human clock's rigid manner of existence.

  [Anthony smiles and bows] 

• Michael Anthony : [Anthony rings the doorbell of the Larsen home. Dan responds]  Pardon me, are you Dan Larsen?

  Dan Larsen : Yes.

  Michael Anthony : My name is Michael Anthony. May I see you for a moment?

  Dan Larsen : Well, all right, but you'll have to wait till Newt Newton and the News is over. Come in.

  [Larsen leads Anthony to the kitchen where Dan, with a TV set before him, is ready to watch the news. A woman appears beside Anthony] 

  Michael Anthony : Mrs. Larsen?

  Mrs. Larsen : Yes.

  Newt Newson : [At precisely 9:00 pm, the TV turns on]  Stop! Look! And listen! This is Newt Newton with the evening news. Tonight, the news is headlined by reports on the local scene of a daring holdup.

  [Anthony switches off the TV] 

  Dan Larsen : Hey, what are you doing?

  Michael Anthony : [Opening his briefcase and withdrawing a check]  I'm sorry, Mr. Larsen, but I have more important and better news for you than Newt Newton.

  [Displays the check to Dan] 

  Michael Anthony : This is yours, entirely yours, to do with as you choose. There is only one stipulation. No one but your wife may ever know how much money you received, um tax-free, or how you got it.

  [Returning to his briefcase to take out a document] 

  Michael Anthony : You have to sign this paper to that effect.

  Dan Larsen : [Dan silently counts the zeros on the check]  Oh!

  Mrs. Larsen : What is it, darling?

  Dan Larsen : [stammering]  I... i... i... it's a cashier's check.

  Mrs. Larsen : [Examining check]  One milli... a million dollars!

  Michael Anthony : If you will sign here, please.

  Dan Larsen : [Dan signs. Anthony returns the agreement to his briefcase]  Oh, I'm really very glad to have met you, Mr. Anthony.

  [They shake hands] 

  Michael Anthony : [Smiling]  And I know you mean it.

  [to Mrs. Larsen] 

  Michael Anthony : Good night, Mrs. Larsen.

  [to Dan] 

  Michael Anthony : Mr. Larsen.

  [Anthony turns and departs] 

• Michael Anthony : [Reviewing a case history, to the viewers]  Middle aged, conscientious Dan Larsen was head cashier for a chain of supermarkets. And as Mr. Tipton remarked, Dan Larsen was a punctual man. A very punctual man, indeed.

• [first lines] 

  Michael Anthony : [to the viewers]  My name is Michael Anthony and until his death, I was executive secretary to John Beresford Tipton, a multibillionaire, who had the strange hobby of giving away $1,000,000. One million dollars, tax-free, to an individual who had never met him, who indeed had never even heard of him. This is Silverstone, John Beresford Tipton's 60,000-acre estate. Mr. Tipton was a man with a wide range of interests - so wide that one never knew what to expect when called into his presence.