1
00:00:52,826 --> 00:00:54,701
[wind howling]
2
00:01:27,326 --> 00:01:29,410
[wind stops]
3
00:02:01,535 --> 00:02:03,618
[train engine chugging]
4
00:02:27,285 --> 00:02:28,868
[clang]
5
00:02:30,285 --> 00:02:31,743
[rumbling]
6
00:02:31,826 --> 00:02:33,826
[brakes screeching]
7
00:02:53,243 --> 00:02:55,326
[people murmuring]
8
00:03:19,618 --> 00:03:20,993
[man] Boys!
9
00:03:32,493 --> 00:03:34,576
I hope you brought your checkbooks.
10
00:03:36,410 --> 00:03:38,368
[indistinct chatter]
11
00:03:57,035 --> 00:03:59,701
[woman] The air brakes pay
for George's latest obsession.
12
00:03:59,785 --> 00:04:02,243
By changing the dimensions of his pipes,
13
00:04:02,326 --> 00:04:05,910
George can move natural gas
over 20 miles from the well.
14
00:04:05,993 --> 00:04:07,743
Shooting, like a gun.
15
00:04:07,826 --> 00:04:10,535
Is that good or bad, Mrs. Westinghouse?
16
00:04:11,993 --> 00:04:14,660
- How is your daughter, Gladys?
- Oh, quite well, thank you.
17
00:04:14,743 --> 00:04:16,618
She's met a financier.
18
00:04:16,701 --> 00:04:18,993
The beading on your dress is exquisite.
19
00:04:20,076 --> 00:04:24,410
Mr. Westinghouse, I saw in The World
Mr. Edison's new electric system
20
00:04:24,493 --> 00:04:27,118
is significantly cheaper than gas.
21
00:04:27,201 --> 00:04:29,451
Does that keep you up at night?
22
00:04:29,535 --> 00:04:31,535
There's always more to see.
23
00:04:32,493 --> 00:04:35,201
Mr. and Mrs. Worthington, Mr. Manesberg,
24
00:04:35,285 --> 00:04:38,576
Dr. and Mrs. Burton,
Reverend Vincent, Mr. McCoy,
25
00:04:38,660 --> 00:04:40,951
Mr. Faulk, Miss Faulk, enjoy your evening.
26
00:04:53,910 --> 00:04:57,618
Edison says he's months away
from lighting up the world.
27
00:04:57,701 --> 00:05:01,618
It's impressive, but trust me,
it's ten years away from being practical.
28
00:05:02,701 --> 00:05:05,660
The papers make it sound
as though this is something different.
29
00:05:06,993 --> 00:05:08,368
A miracle.
30
00:05:09,285 --> 00:05:11,910
As if you started to levitate
off the carpet.
31
00:05:13,493 --> 00:05:15,743
I'd love to meet him.
Could you arrange it?
32
00:05:15,826 --> 00:05:17,076
It's been several years...
33
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,410
A dinner.
Comfortable. Elegant. Substantive.
34
00:05:19,493 --> 00:05:23,118
Edison can't be bothered to tie his shoes,
let alone attend a social event.
35
00:05:23,201 --> 00:05:25,993
[chuckles] Perhaps you're right.
But try anyway.
36
00:05:29,576 --> 00:05:31,743
Anything fascinating?
37
00:05:31,826 --> 00:05:35,410
Mr. Pennoyer has found a bargain
on a Beaux Arts shack in Newport.
38
00:05:35,493 --> 00:05:38,535
Mrs. Abernathy's mother has passed,
and apparently Edison believes
39
00:05:38,618 --> 00:05:40,743
it may never be nighttime again.
40
00:05:43,826 --> 00:05:46,160
- Are you excited to meet the President?
- Yes.
41
00:05:46,243 --> 00:05:48,285
Don't say a thing
about J.P. Morgan's nose.
42
00:05:48,368 --> 00:05:49,993
- What's wrong with his nose?
- Nothing.
43
00:05:50,076 --> 00:05:53,535
- What's wrong with his nose?
- It's huge. Huge!
44
00:05:53,618 --> 00:05:56,243
It's like someone took a hammer
and slammed it into his face.
45
00:05:56,326 --> 00:05:57,969
[woman]
I thought you already got the money.
46
00:05:57,993 --> 00:05:59,326
[man] I only got half.
47
00:05:59,410 --> 00:06:01,011
[woman] Does Morgan even know
that you're coming?
48
00:06:01,035 --> 00:06:02,910
He'll invest as always. I hate this.
49
00:06:02,993 --> 00:06:04,753
- Mr. Edison, you have dinner with...
- What?
50
00:06:04,826 --> 00:06:06,660
Dinner with Westinghouse. On your return.
51
00:06:06,743 --> 00:06:07,993
[girl] Why are barns red?
52
00:06:08,076 --> 00:06:09,761
[woman] Maybe so you can
see them in the snow.
53
00:06:09,785 --> 00:06:11,594
- [man] It's 'cause red paint's cheapest.
- What happened to your shoes?
54
00:06:11,618 --> 00:06:13,993
Morgan will want to know
the practicality of your system.
55
00:06:14,076 --> 00:06:15,243
[girl] I have money.
56
00:06:15,326 --> 00:06:17,451
Enough for two small buildings
in Manhattan?
57
00:06:17,535 --> 00:06:18,576
Yes.
58
00:06:18,660 --> 00:06:19,701
Oh, good.
59
00:06:33,451 --> 00:06:35,243
This was intended to be my lunch.
60
00:06:35,326 --> 00:06:37,660
The President has asked to see
the phonograph in person.
61
00:06:37,743 --> 00:06:40,576
- I had no idea you'd be here.
- Mrs. Edison.
62
00:06:40,660 --> 00:06:42,285
Mr. Morgan. These are our children.
63
00:06:42,368 --> 00:06:45,076
Dot and Dash. Delightful.
I know what you're doing.
64
00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,285
How much are you short? Just how much
of my money do you want to wash away?
65
00:06:48,368 --> 00:06:50,785
Oh, as very, very much as possible.
66
00:06:50,868 --> 00:06:52,576
- Who's this?
- Samuel Insull.
67
00:06:52,660 --> 00:06:55,326
- Mr. Edison's personal secretary.
- [door opens]
68
00:06:55,410 --> 00:06:58,743
- Mr. Morgan, Mr. Edison.
- Which one? He's also Mr. Edison.
69
00:06:58,826 --> 00:07:00,535
The President will see you now.
70
00:07:06,951 --> 00:07:08,118
Now.
71
00:07:08,201 --> 00:07:11,451
On top of the Crumpetty Tree
the Quangle Wangle sat,
72
00:07:11,535 --> 00:07:15,201
but his face you could not see,
on account of his beaver hat.
73
00:07:15,826 --> 00:07:17,660
This is the sound of your voice.
74
00:07:20,243 --> 00:07:23,243
On top of the Crumpetty Tree
the Quangle Wangle sat,
75
00:07:23,326 --> 00:07:25,535
but his face you could not see,
76
00:07:25,618 --> 00:07:28,368
- on account of his Beaver Hat.
- Is that what I sound like?
77
00:07:28,451 --> 00:07:30,160
[giggling]
78
00:07:30,243 --> 00:07:32,618
My men tell me
you're turning down $5 million.
79
00:07:32,701 --> 00:07:34,261
I'm grateful for the offer, Mr. President,
80
00:07:34,285 --> 00:07:37,826
but it's the type of science you're after
that I find objectionable.
81
00:07:37,910 --> 00:07:40,302
- There's always money in guns.
- The one device I shall never build
82
00:07:40,326 --> 00:07:42,451
is that which takes the life
of another man.
83
00:07:42,535 --> 00:07:43,660
It's barbaric.
84
00:07:44,868 --> 00:07:47,576
But... take a look at this.
85
00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:50,868
One square mile of Manhattan,
the First District.
86
00:07:50,951 --> 00:07:53,201
- And I'm gonna light it up.
- Then you have done it.
87
00:07:53,285 --> 00:07:55,660
A star in a jar. It's a warm glow.
88
00:07:55,743 --> 00:07:59,035
No smell. No poison.
Thirteen hours of light per globe.
89
00:07:59,118 --> 00:08:00,951
And it's cheaper than gas. Safer too.
90
00:08:01,035 --> 00:08:02,993
We bury the wires using my DC current,
91
00:08:03,076 --> 00:08:06,701
and those same wires
will bring you energy and heat.
92
00:08:07,576 --> 00:08:10,535
I need two buildings to house
six dynamos of my own construction.
93
00:08:10,618 --> 00:08:12,618
This won't even reach my house.
94
00:08:12,701 --> 00:08:15,451
Morgan, let me make you so rich
95
00:08:15,535 --> 00:08:17,427
that you will look back
at this moment and wonder,
96
00:08:17,451 --> 00:08:19,701
"Why was I ever so disgustingly poor?"
97
00:08:19,785 --> 00:08:20,993
[Morgan chuckles]
98
00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,201
[Edison] It's all right there.
Ferry to Wall Street.
99
00:08:24,285 --> 00:08:26,094
In case you missed my scribble,
that's a big old circle
100
00:08:26,118 --> 00:08:28,160
around the New York Times...
free advertising.
101
00:08:28,243 --> 00:08:30,368
- One hundred fifty.
- Half a million.
102
00:08:30,451 --> 00:08:33,576
I'm talking about $500,000,
you buy the next century.
103
00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:35,576
Brighter, safer, yours.
104
00:08:35,660 --> 00:08:38,427
[President] Sounds rather grand to me,
Pierpont. If I had your fortune...
105
00:08:38,451 --> 00:08:40,785
[Morgan]
With respect, you don't, Mr. President.
106
00:08:44,660 --> 00:08:46,618
- What is that?
- That's not very nice.
107
00:08:46,701 --> 00:08:48,993
- [Edison] Morse code.
- [Dash giggles]
108
00:08:49,743 --> 00:08:51,160
[Morgan] What did the boy say?
109
00:08:51,243 --> 00:08:52,677
- What did the boy say?
- If there's nothing else,
110
00:08:52,701 --> 00:08:55,141
- it's been a pleasure, Mr. President.
- What did the boy say?
111
00:08:57,035 --> 00:08:58,701
Do you know what you've done?
112
00:08:59,785 --> 00:09:01,785
I always receive more by saying no.
113
00:09:03,826 --> 00:09:06,868
Set up the Manhattan offices
and make them look professional.
114
00:09:06,951 --> 00:09:09,035
- What does that mean?
- Oh, I don't know. Carpets.
115
00:09:10,410 --> 00:09:12,951
I don't know. Carpets. [mumbles]
116
00:09:13,035 --> 00:09:14,451
And the name?
117
00:09:16,201 --> 00:09:19,535
Edison Electric, of course.
Sir, why not build munitions?
118
00:09:19,618 --> 00:09:21,427
Five million dollars.
It's hard to say no to...
119
00:09:21,451 --> 00:09:23,160
No.
120
00:09:23,243 --> 00:09:24,701
If it's Edison, it works.
121
00:09:24,785 --> 00:09:27,576
If it works,
I'd strongly prefer it not kill anybody.
122
00:09:29,076 --> 00:09:30,160
Right.
123
00:09:59,076 --> 00:10:03,076
Thomas Edison has an unfavorable opinion
of college graduates seeking employment
124
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,243
because they cannot answer
his examination questions.
125
00:10:07,076 --> 00:10:08,785
"Who composed Il Trovatore?"
126
00:10:08,868 --> 00:10:10,201
[Marguerite] Verdi.
127
00:10:10,285 --> 00:10:12,005
[Westinghouse]
"What is the speed of sound?"
128
00:10:12,035 --> 00:10:13,177
[Marguerite] Oh, a trick question.
129
00:10:13,201 --> 00:10:16,201
Sound travels at
a constantly diminishing rate of speed.
130
00:10:16,285 --> 00:10:21,993
But I believe the fastest rate on record
is 11,463 feet per second.
131
00:10:22,076 --> 00:10:23,743
[Westinghouse] How do you know all this?
132
00:10:23,826 --> 00:10:25,285
I read that this morning.
133
00:10:26,285 --> 00:10:27,326
[chuckles]
134
00:10:29,993 --> 00:10:31,326
[Marguerite] This is different.
135
00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:34,660
I can feel it.
136
00:10:35,785 --> 00:10:38,201
You never requested a house guest before.
137
00:10:39,243 --> 00:10:40,326
Really?
138
00:10:42,076 --> 00:10:43,243
Hmm.
139
00:10:50,868 --> 00:10:53,660
- Eight minutes from the junction, sir.
- Hmm?
140
00:10:53,743 --> 00:10:55,493
The Westinghouse dinner.
141
00:10:55,576 --> 00:10:59,368
We're going home. They're tired.
I already shook enough hands today.
142
00:11:02,951 --> 00:11:04,701
[Westinghouse] Evening, Frank.
143
00:11:04,785 --> 00:11:06,368
George.
144
00:11:07,535 --> 00:11:08,576
Pardon?
145
00:11:09,618 --> 00:11:10,993
I'm not stopping.
146
00:11:12,993 --> 00:11:14,076
Right.
147
00:11:21,826 --> 00:11:23,826
[train engine chugging]
148
00:11:26,035 --> 00:11:28,035
[Pope] Maybe the brakes are busted.
149
00:11:29,951 --> 00:11:31,576
[Westinghouse] I doubt that.
150
00:11:56,493 --> 00:11:57,701
[sighs]
151
00:11:57,785 --> 00:11:59,743
An emergency came up in New York.
152
00:12:04,743 --> 00:12:07,993
[thunder rumbles]
153
00:12:09,201 --> 00:12:10,576
[horse whinnies]
154
00:12:14,660 --> 00:12:16,285
[pistol clicks]
155
00:12:21,410 --> 00:12:23,285
[Pope] Don't let him agitate you.
156
00:12:24,035 --> 00:12:25,535
This is how he is.
157
00:12:26,660 --> 00:12:29,493
Before he was a wizard,
I let him live in my basement.
158
00:12:30,451 --> 00:12:33,302
My wife wouldn't have him at the table
with us unless he cleaned himself.
159
00:12:33,326 --> 00:12:35,868
And boy, given the ultimatum,
the man ate alone.
160
00:12:35,951 --> 00:12:37,410
How does he work?
161
00:12:39,493 --> 00:12:42,785
You want to know his secret?
He engineers his own reality,
162
00:12:42,868 --> 00:12:45,243
and he looks for needles in haystacks.
163
00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,951
But how does he know
there's a needle in the hay to begin with?
164
00:12:49,035 --> 00:12:50,951
He doesn't. Neither do you.
165
00:12:51,035 --> 00:12:53,660
But he's so determined not to be
the second person to find it,
166
00:12:53,743 --> 00:12:56,326
he'll go stalk by stalk,
on a "what-do-you-know."
167
00:12:56,410 --> 00:12:59,660
I will say one good thing about him:
He could be the richest man on earth,
168
00:12:59,743 --> 00:13:01,993
but he doesn't give a damn about money.
169
00:13:04,576 --> 00:13:06,826
What does he give a damn about?
170
00:13:10,910 --> 00:13:12,910
Mary? Talk.
171
00:13:12,993 --> 00:13:15,177
- I just want to test the resistance...
- Where's my barrette?
172
00:13:15,201 --> 00:13:17,118
- On top of your bureau.
- What's a bureau?
173
00:13:17,201 --> 00:13:18,993
It's what's under your barrette.
174
00:13:19,076 --> 00:13:22,118
Can I get you to promise on here
that you'll build me a fence?
175
00:13:22,201 --> 00:13:24,451
Ground's frozen. Needs to thaw.
176
00:13:27,326 --> 00:13:28,951
[Dot] Look, you're missing it!
177
00:13:29,910 --> 00:13:32,326
It's a baby! Still has her spots!
178
00:13:37,910 --> 00:13:39,535
[Mary] Tom, come see this.
179
00:13:42,660 --> 00:13:45,076
- Tom? Tom?
- [phone rings]
180
00:13:46,660 --> 00:13:49,743
You want half a million dollars,
make me something with your name on it
181
00:13:49,826 --> 00:13:51,868
that I can sell to General Sherman.
182
00:13:51,951 --> 00:13:54,285
Counteroffer.
How about I don't give you what you want,
183
00:13:54,368 --> 00:13:56,118
but you give me everything I want?
184
00:13:59,451 --> 00:14:03,201
We are gonna be big, big, big!
185
00:14:03,285 --> 00:14:06,410
- [Dash] Bigger than an elephant!
- And no one stops an elephant!
186
00:14:06,493 --> 00:14:08,243
- Whoo!
- [giggles]
187
00:15:22,201 --> 00:15:24,160
[horn blaring]
188
00:15:49,451 --> 00:15:50,701
It'll work.
189
00:16:03,493 --> 00:16:06,118
Look, I've got to be honest.
This might not work.
190
00:16:06,201 --> 00:16:07,951
[crowd chuckles]
191
00:16:08,035 --> 00:16:11,660
Conventional wisdom has it, if you think
you're gonna fall flat on your face,
192
00:16:11,743 --> 00:16:13,493
better not do it in front of a crowd.
193
00:16:13,576 --> 00:16:14,910
[crowd laughs]
194
00:16:16,910 --> 00:16:19,076
Tonight, things could change.
195
00:16:19,743 --> 00:16:21,618
I hope they do.
196
00:16:22,285 --> 00:16:23,826
And if they do...
197
00:16:25,201 --> 00:16:27,160
they'll change there...
198
00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:29,618
and there.
199
00:16:31,451 --> 00:16:33,868
My boys and I caught in a jar
200
00:16:33,951 --> 00:16:37,285
what before now
has only flashed across the night sky.
201
00:16:39,035 --> 00:16:41,951
What say we unscrew the lid
and see what happens?
202
00:16:42,035 --> 00:16:44,743
- [crowd cheering]
- You ready?
203
00:16:45,951 --> 00:16:48,993
- Three, two...
- [crowd] Two, one!
204
00:16:49,076 --> 00:16:50,910
[crowd cheering]
205
00:17:47,410 --> 00:17:51,368
[Westinghouse] The man has 100,000 feet
of copper for 87 customers.
206
00:17:51,451 --> 00:17:53,451
It will never be profitable.
207
00:17:54,326 --> 00:17:57,660
[Pope] It's a hobby for the rich.
Something to show off.
208
00:17:57,743 --> 00:17:59,368
It doesn't have to be.
209
00:18:01,826 --> 00:18:05,576
I'm securing patents on the Siemens dynamo
and the Gaulard-Gibbs transformer.
210
00:18:05,660 --> 00:18:08,118
Transformer?
That's more like a metal suitcase.
211
00:18:08,201 --> 00:18:10,576
How much did that cost?
212
00:18:10,660 --> 00:18:13,201
Edison, he picked the wrong horse.
213
00:18:14,201 --> 00:18:16,618
His current is like a hose
with a knot in it.
214
00:18:16,701 --> 00:18:18,743
He needs to sell one generator per mile.
215
00:18:18,826 --> 00:18:22,285
[Pope] You want to build an AC system.
That's too powerful for motors.
216
00:18:22,368 --> 00:18:25,326
Put doubt out of your mind
for one moment and tell me,
217
00:18:25,410 --> 00:18:27,701
what distance
do you estimate one could get
218
00:18:27,785 --> 00:18:29,618
with a single alternating dynamo?
219
00:18:29,701 --> 00:18:31,160
- A few thousand.
- Yards?
220
00:18:31,243 --> 00:18:32,576
- Miles.
- Mm-hmm.
221
00:18:32,660 --> 00:18:34,993
And how many houses could we reach?
222
00:18:35,076 --> 00:18:37,868
I suppose all of them.
What about the bulbs?
223
00:18:37,951 --> 00:18:39,910
Hiram's agreed to license me his.
224
00:18:39,993 --> 00:18:43,160
If you're gonna rip off Edison,
rip him off right. They glow bright gray.
225
00:18:43,243 --> 00:18:45,951
I just want to do a demonstration
for Edison.
226
00:18:46,035 --> 00:18:48,243
Somewhere small. Small town. Rural.
227
00:18:48,326 --> 00:18:51,826
And then he'll see
alternating is possible,
228
00:18:51,910 --> 00:18:54,285
and we partner... our system, his bulbs.
229
00:18:54,368 --> 00:18:58,535
In my opinion, which I will admit is based
solely on physics and reality,
230
00:18:58,618 --> 00:19:00,785
what you want to do is fun to talk about.
231
00:19:00,868 --> 00:19:02,826
I really don't think it can be done.
232
00:19:02,910 --> 00:19:05,160
- Why?
- Because he would've already done it.
233
00:19:13,493 --> 00:19:15,576
[muttering]
234
00:19:35,618 --> 00:19:39,243
My Paris office seems to think you may be
the only man on Earth to rival me.
235
00:19:39,326 --> 00:19:42,535
- How would you like to work for me?
- Very much.
236
00:19:42,618 --> 00:19:45,910
I'm expanding to 12 cities,
building direct-current systems...
237
00:19:45,993 --> 00:19:47,326
Direct current?
238
00:19:49,535 --> 00:19:51,451
Alternating current is far more efficient.
239
00:19:51,535 --> 00:19:54,118
- [doll] Hickory, dickory dock...
- Higher voltage,
240
00:19:54,201 --> 00:19:55,921
greater distance. less copper conductors...
241
00:19:55,993 --> 00:19:58,993
It's lethal, and it's too much power
for a motor to handle.
242
00:19:59,076 --> 00:20:00,826
I'm going to start you on $100 a month
243
00:20:00,910 --> 00:20:03,410
until you prove yourself worth
more or less.
244
00:20:03,493 --> 00:20:05,677
- A hundred dollars?
- If you can solve five things I can't,
245
00:20:05,701 --> 00:20:08,243
I'll pay you $50,000,
and then I'll have to fire you.
246
00:20:09,243 --> 00:20:11,201
Mr. Tesla, welcome to Edison Electric.
247
00:20:11,285 --> 00:20:13,368
We make a minor invention every ten days
248
00:20:13,451 --> 00:20:15,618
and a major one every six months or so.
249
00:20:19,285 --> 00:20:21,805
[woman] I have a suspicion
that though your husband's lab is but
250
00:20:21,868 --> 00:20:25,576
a hundred yards from your house, it must
seem sometimes like a hundred miles.
251
00:20:25,660 --> 00:20:27,160
No, a million.
252
00:20:28,035 --> 00:20:31,410
I've tried to find a way to stop
his brain, but it just runs and runs.
253
00:20:32,285 --> 00:20:36,118
It's something he can't control.
All I can do is bring him back to center.
254
00:20:36,201 --> 00:20:39,743
I've heard Mr. Edison called
"the worst husband in America"
255
00:20:39,826 --> 00:20:42,785
on account of him sleeping in his lab
on your wedding night.
256
00:20:42,868 --> 00:20:44,785
I've heard the story myself.
257
00:20:48,618 --> 00:20:50,785
Well, on our wedding night,
258
00:20:50,868 --> 00:20:53,451
Tom and I left on the Albany, uh...
259
00:20:55,201 --> 00:20:56,743
boat.
260
00:20:56,826 --> 00:21:00,243
- We spent a week in Niagara Falls.
- [woman writing]
261
00:21:00,326 --> 00:21:02,535
I thought that one week of happiness
would be enough
262
00:21:02,618 --> 00:21:05,493
to illuminate an entire lifetime.
[chuckles]
263
00:21:05,576 --> 00:21:08,618
He was a dashing inventor,
and I worked for him.
264
00:21:08,701 --> 00:21:10,285
You know. I was a...
265
00:21:10,368 --> 00:21:11,951
[writing]
266
00:21:12,035 --> 00:21:13,701
I-I was a...
267
00:21:15,035 --> 00:21:16,076
uh...
268
00:21:18,576 --> 00:21:20,076
Uh... [chuckles]
269
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:21,326
I-I was a...
270
00:21:22,743 --> 00:21:23,868
[woman] Yes?
271
00:21:25,243 --> 00:21:27,701
Um... [chuckles]
272
00:21:28,701 --> 00:21:30,576
I'm sorry.
273
00:21:30,660 --> 00:21:32,410
I-I operated the...
274
00:21:37,785 --> 00:21:39,868
- Telegraph?
- Yes.
275
00:21:39,951 --> 00:21:41,993
Yes. Telegraph.
276
00:21:44,368 --> 00:21:46,076
Forgive me.
277
00:21:49,951 --> 00:21:52,035
Does he have any hobbies?
278
00:21:52,118 --> 00:21:53,743
[train rumbling]
279
00:22:03,035 --> 00:22:05,326
You promised them Coney Island.
280
00:22:05,410 --> 00:22:07,201
At the very least, a walk.
281
00:22:07,993 --> 00:22:10,285
We'll go on three walks tomorrow,
I promise.
282
00:22:13,618 --> 00:22:15,493
Here, why don't you take a picture?
283
00:22:34,368 --> 00:22:35,743
[Mary] Slow down!
284
00:22:36,743 --> 00:22:38,368
[indistinct shouting]
285
00:22:51,535 --> 00:22:54,868
It's neuralgia, brought on by eye strain.
286
00:22:54,951 --> 00:22:57,535
A good pair of spectacles
is all that's required.
287
00:22:57,618 --> 00:22:59,743
Oh, no. I'll look awful.
288
00:22:59,826 --> 00:23:02,576
No, no. No, you won't. That's impossible.
289
00:23:02,660 --> 00:23:06,118
Are you sure that's all?
She's been having terrible headaches.
290
00:23:06,201 --> 00:23:09,285
I'll leave her a vial of laudanum
until her eyes adjust.
291
00:23:09,368 --> 00:23:11,326
Thank you.
292
00:23:11,410 --> 00:23:12,910
Can you...
293
00:23:12,993 --> 00:23:15,910
Would you mind delaying the bill
for this visit?
294
00:23:16,826 --> 00:23:20,868
Well, my son would love an autograph.
295
00:23:24,076 --> 00:23:26,951
[train whistle blows]
296
00:23:49,243 --> 00:23:51,035
Christ, it's primitive.
297
00:23:53,118 --> 00:23:54,701
How much did this cost?
298
00:23:54,785 --> 00:23:57,035
- He won't tell me.
- What we need is here.
299
00:23:57,910 --> 00:24:00,951
[Westinghouse] Edison's current
can't travel more than one mile, Frank.
300
00:24:01,035 --> 00:24:04,368
It peters out.
He'll have to build so many DC motors
301
00:24:04,451 --> 00:24:07,243
and bury all his copper
just to power one town.
302
00:24:07,326 --> 00:24:10,535
This country will look like
a checkerboard of power plants.
303
00:24:10,618 --> 00:24:14,410
But with one AC dynamo,
we can step-up the voltage
304
00:24:14,493 --> 00:24:16,701
and reach as far as the eye can see.
305
00:24:16,785 --> 00:24:19,160
We string the wires overhead on poles.
306
00:24:19,243 --> 00:24:21,410
Less copper, more electricity.
307
00:24:21,493 --> 00:24:23,785
We're 75 percent cheaper.
308
00:24:23,868 --> 00:24:26,993
The only thing that matters here
is distance.
309
00:25:14,326 --> 00:25:17,868
Frank, this is as much yours
as it is mine.
310
00:25:17,951 --> 00:25:20,410
- I'd be proud if you'd flip the...
- I couldn't possibly.
311
00:25:20,493 --> 00:25:22,535
- Oh, don't be ridiculous.
- No, it belongs to you.
312
00:25:22,618 --> 00:25:24,658
- But you spent hours...
- George, it was your idea.
313
00:25:24,701 --> 00:25:26,201
You were the instigator.
314
00:25:26,285 --> 00:25:28,826
- [machine whirs]
- Shall we go for a ride?
315
00:25:37,660 --> 00:25:40,785
[Westinghouse]
"To the Wizard of Menlo Park.
316
00:25:41,826 --> 00:25:44,576
As it seems your brakes have issues,
317
00:25:44,660 --> 00:25:48,410
I would be delighted to send my car
to deliver you
318
00:25:48,493 --> 00:25:51,451
to Great Barrington, Massachusetts...
319
00:25:52,576 --> 00:25:56,660
where I have successfully
transmitted current one full mile."
320
00:26:00,326 --> 00:26:01,951
- No!
- [glass shatters]
321
00:26:02,035 --> 00:26:03,910
How did he get the bulbs?
322
00:26:06,118 --> 00:26:09,076
What a roaring silence
from the brightest minds of America.
323
00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,701
- [man] He's using Hiram's design.
- Which Hiram stole from me!
324
00:26:15,993 --> 00:26:18,743
- Sue him.
- We did. The court upheld his patent.
325
00:26:18,826 --> 00:26:20,552
I'm talking about Westinghouse.
Find an angle.
326
00:26:20,576 --> 00:26:22,868
Take a trip to Barrington
and see for yourself.
327
00:26:22,951 --> 00:26:25,285
Is anyone even slightly irked
that 15 years of work
328
00:26:25,368 --> 00:26:27,201
is being filched
from right under your eyes?
329
00:26:27,910 --> 00:26:29,118
Not again!
330
00:26:29,201 --> 00:26:32,660
I built a system here,
and he goes shopping for patents
331
00:26:32,743 --> 00:26:35,785
to cobble together something
to legally steal what is mine.
332
00:26:36,868 --> 00:26:40,326
If the bulbs are a battle,
then nail him on the dynamos.
333
00:26:40,410 --> 00:26:41,743
We can't.
334
00:26:43,535 --> 00:26:45,451
He's not even using direct current, sir.
335
00:26:47,618 --> 00:26:49,410
He's using alternating?
336
00:26:52,076 --> 00:26:53,951
[indistinct conversation]
337
00:27:01,285 --> 00:27:02,951
[horse and buggy passes]
338
00:27:03,035 --> 00:27:04,285
[woman] Mary?
339
00:27:04,868 --> 00:27:06,243
Mary?
340
00:27:06,326 --> 00:27:08,368
Yes, I think we should have some more tea.
341
00:27:08,451 --> 00:27:10,285
[chuckles] Patricia?
342
00:27:10,368 --> 00:27:12,201
[machines rumbling]
343
00:27:27,201 --> 00:27:28,701
[man] George Westinghouse?
344
00:27:29,576 --> 00:27:32,326
- Can we help you?
- I came from Thomas Edison.
345
00:27:33,243 --> 00:27:35,785
He wants me to buy one generator per mile.
346
00:27:36,701 --> 00:27:39,368
And then I saw the piece in The Globe
that says
347
00:27:39,451 --> 00:27:43,576
your electricity would save 66 percent
on Edison's.
348
00:27:45,451 --> 00:27:47,535
Well, it's a proposed saving.
349
00:27:48,118 --> 00:27:51,701
And it's not "my electricity."
It's "electricity."
350
00:27:52,326 --> 00:27:54,868
I think it makes much more sense
for the taxpayers of Columbus
351
00:27:54,951 --> 00:27:56,993
to go with Westinghouse Electric.
352
00:27:58,410 --> 00:28:01,618
I don't want to compete.
I only intend to license my system.
353
00:28:01,701 --> 00:28:03,868
- He's got the better bulbs.
- Why not compete?
354
00:28:03,951 --> 00:28:06,118
By now he knows.
Edison knows, I promise you.
355
00:28:06,201 --> 00:28:09,701
The man doesn't care about
getting it right, just about getting it.
356
00:28:09,785 --> 00:28:11,219
[Westinghouse] But he doesn't respond.
357
00:28:11,243 --> 00:28:13,701
[Edison] Look, Westinghouse will never
have a complete system.
358
00:28:13,785 --> 00:28:16,427
- He can't even power a sewing machine.
- [Tesla] But I can solve that problem.
359
00:28:16,451 --> 00:28:19,618
Instead of again converting the currents
to work with a commutator,
360
00:28:19,701 --> 00:28:22,076
I would pass alternating current
differing in phase
361
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:23,826
through two or more energizing circuits.
362
00:28:23,910 --> 00:28:26,701
You're supposed to be working on
commutators with DC dynamos.
363
00:28:26,785 --> 00:28:28,243
Well, I have.
364
00:28:28,326 --> 00:28:31,094
Look, I have done everything you have
asked, but you are making a mistake.
365
00:28:31,118 --> 00:28:33,576
- What?
- Direct current may be fine for cities
366
00:28:33,660 --> 00:28:37,451
when the buildings are close together,
but most of your country is empty spaces.
367
00:28:37,535 --> 00:28:40,493
Only high voltage can span the distance.
You are not thinking long-term.
368
00:28:40,576 --> 00:28:44,535
This technology is within your grasp.
I can build you an efficient motor.
369
00:28:44,618 --> 00:28:45,910
Have you tried it?
370
00:28:45,993 --> 00:28:47,118
No.
371
00:28:48,201 --> 00:28:50,410
Look, in my head, it is nearly completed.
372
00:28:50,493 --> 00:28:52,653
Men claim to have heads
full of sonnets and symphonies,
373
00:28:52,701 --> 00:28:55,618
but their only problem seems to be
they can't quite write it down.
374
00:28:55,701 --> 00:28:59,368
- Let me try.
- No, because I can't start again!
375
00:28:59,451 --> 00:29:01,886
I got orders from Michigan.
I got a roomful of press waiting for me.
376
00:29:01,910 --> 00:29:03,618
Do what you were hired to do.
377
00:29:03,701 --> 00:29:05,910
So, you will not honor your word
about the remuneration?
378
00:29:05,993 --> 00:29:08,160
- What are you talking about?
- Well, you said $50,000.
379
00:29:08,243 --> 00:29:11,493
- Are you unhappy with my contributions?
- I'm not paying you $50,000.
380
00:29:11,576 --> 00:29:12,993
That was a joke.
381
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,410
[footsteps retreating]
382
00:29:16,493 --> 00:29:18,618
Coconut fibers and horn shavings,
and fishing lines
383
00:29:18,701 --> 00:29:20,951
and cork and celluloid and flax
384
00:29:21,035 --> 00:29:23,243
and platinum, iron, nickel, copper, steel.
385
00:29:23,326 --> 00:29:25,701
We scoured the earth, years and years,
386
00:29:25,785 --> 00:29:28,826
trying thousands,
10,000 different combinations.
387
00:29:28,910 --> 00:29:32,743
Then George Westinghouse
saw how I did it and put on a pirate hat.
388
00:29:32,826 --> 00:29:35,326
- [reporters laugh]
- You get vultures in every venture,
389
00:29:35,410 --> 00:29:37,118
but you've just got to keep them away.
390
00:29:37,201 --> 00:29:40,368
- So this is just how it works?
- Map-makers include mistakes in their work
391
00:29:40,451 --> 00:29:42,743
to see if anyone else is copying them.
392
00:29:42,826 --> 00:29:45,785
I don't have that luxury. I can't invent
streets to lead the world down.
393
00:29:45,868 --> 00:29:48,243
- Otherwise we all end up in the dark.
- [reporters chuckle]
394
00:29:48,326 --> 00:29:51,493
Good, and remember, write as much
as you can about how he's infringing.
395
00:29:52,243 --> 00:29:54,618
Thank you, Mr. Edison,
and thanks for this.
396
00:29:56,535 --> 00:29:58,243
[flashbulb pops]
397
00:30:01,368 --> 00:30:03,535
Did I mention that his system's lethal?
398
00:30:04,243 --> 00:30:06,326
You reach out and touch
399
00:30:06,410 --> 00:30:09,785
a doorknob or a rail,
and, well, you become the circuit.
400
00:30:10,493 --> 00:30:12,826
Just to be clear on that point...
401
00:30:14,826 --> 00:30:16,243
Well, you die.
402
00:30:17,451 --> 00:30:19,951
With DC current,
you can reach out and touch anything
403
00:30:20,035 --> 00:30:22,701
at any stage of the line
with your bare hands.
404
00:30:22,785 --> 00:30:25,910
It's safe. It works. And it bears
the name of Edison, so it's pretty.
405
00:30:27,243 --> 00:30:31,076
Our government has been trying for some
time now to get me to invent a weapon,
406
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,160
but I won't use this brain to invent
anything that hurts people.
407
00:30:34,243 --> 00:30:36,743
For that, you can shop in Pittsburgh.
408
00:30:36,826 --> 00:30:39,201
So you say
Westinghouse wants to hurt people?
409
00:30:39,285 --> 00:30:42,701
No. I can't say that. But you can.
410
00:30:54,451 --> 00:30:56,618
[Marguerite]
This is what he thinks of you.
411
00:30:57,785 --> 00:31:01,660
Issue a statement to the papers today.
Refute his charges.
412
00:31:01,743 --> 00:31:03,535
I'm not going to engage with this.
413
00:31:03,618 --> 00:31:06,368
We have the better system.
That speaks loudest.
414
00:31:12,535 --> 00:31:16,993
Westinghouse Electric Company
was founded at a quarter past 9:00.
415
00:31:18,618 --> 00:31:21,076
Hello. I'm George Westinghouse.
Do we have an appointment?
416
00:31:21,576 --> 00:31:22,910
North Dakota.
417
00:31:22,993 --> 00:31:24,285
New Orleans.
418
00:31:24,368 --> 00:31:25,660
Fort Worth.
419
00:31:25,743 --> 00:31:26,868
Sioux City.
420
00:31:26,951 --> 00:31:28,993
You want the good news or the good news?
421
00:31:29,076 --> 00:31:32,076
♪ Hurrah, boys, hurrah ♪
422
00:31:33,868 --> 00:31:36,136
[man on phone] We've been spending
all our time trying to nab him
423
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,640
on what's in the glass bubble
when we should've been looking at
424
00:31:38,701 --> 00:31:40,951
is the clear opposite end of the bulb,
the corkscrew.
425
00:31:41,035 --> 00:31:42,701
- I own that.
- That you do.
426
00:31:44,076 --> 00:31:45,618
He's suing you.
427
00:31:46,285 --> 00:31:47,993
[man 2 on phone]
This is a massive lawsuit.
428
00:31:48,076 --> 00:31:50,326
This is Edison and Morgan.
429
00:31:50,410 --> 00:31:53,076
My advice: Is there any way
that you can think of
430
00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:55,076
to beat gravity other than a corkscrew?
431
00:31:57,701 --> 00:32:00,451
[man 1] Westinghouse designed
a stopper to get around your corkscrew.
432
00:32:00,535 --> 00:32:02,615
It's only a matter of time
before they're everywhere.
433
00:32:04,076 --> 00:32:07,951
To tell you the truth, I am mostly looking
forward to using it at the lumber mills.
434
00:32:08,035 --> 00:32:10,451
Well, at the moment, we offer only light.
435
00:32:10,535 --> 00:32:14,160
In time, we'll move on
to motorized tools and appliances.
436
00:32:14,243 --> 00:32:16,826
When? I don't care what light costs.
437
00:32:17,785 --> 00:32:21,743
My home's on gas. I'm after productivity.
I don't understand.
438
00:32:21,826 --> 00:32:25,368
Edison said that electricity
can already be used in factories.
439
00:32:26,660 --> 00:32:28,201
Well, his can.
440
00:32:31,826 --> 00:32:33,826
I need to see this needle move.
441
00:32:33,910 --> 00:32:36,594
I can't step the voltage down
without blowing the whole thing to pieces.
442
00:32:36,618 --> 00:32:38,576
Come on. You must've made some progress.
443
00:32:38,660 --> 00:32:39,785
It's just not ready.
444
00:32:47,910 --> 00:32:49,826
[machine humming]
445
00:33:02,910 --> 00:33:04,826
- Kill it. Kill it!
- [electricity crackling]
446
00:33:08,410 --> 00:33:09,826
[sighs]
447
00:33:12,326 --> 00:33:14,366
[Westinghouse]
There has to be a solution out there.
448
00:33:19,493 --> 00:33:23,410
The Nikola Tesla Electric Light Company.
How does that sound?
449
00:33:23,493 --> 00:33:26,243
- When can you bring arcs to production?
- Arc lighting?
450
00:33:26,326 --> 00:33:29,743
I believe we agreed to compete for
incandescents, motors and distribution.
451
00:33:29,826 --> 00:33:31,326
Leave that to Edison.
452
00:33:31,410 --> 00:33:34,076
I am working on advanced methods
to surpass him.
453
00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:37,826
- To beat Edison? How soon?
- Only a few years.
454
00:33:37,910 --> 00:33:39,993
I need a lab, engineers, supplies.
455
00:33:40,076 --> 00:33:41,743
There are, of course, expenses.
456
00:33:41,826 --> 00:33:44,368
Oh, where do you get the cash
for those fancy silks?
457
00:33:44,451 --> 00:33:46,660
How I spend my income is my concern.
458
00:33:46,743 --> 00:33:50,743
Look, Mr. Tesla, if you need cash now,
you should sell us your patents.
459
00:33:51,701 --> 00:33:53,493
And what would I receive?
460
00:33:53,576 --> 00:33:54,743
Stock.
461
00:33:54,826 --> 00:33:57,535
And later, if you succeed,
you can sell it for a killing.
462
00:33:57,618 --> 00:33:59,285
That means a fortune.
463
00:33:59,368 --> 00:34:02,993
- Yes, I know what an idiom is.
- We'll take on two-thirds of the risk.
464
00:34:03,076 --> 00:34:05,826
It's a good price
for the only thing you have to sell.
465
00:34:08,951 --> 00:34:12,285
[Edison] Congestion of the brain?
What does that even mean?
466
00:34:12,368 --> 00:34:16,076
[doctor] There's a... an occlusion hidden,
467
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,451
and it expands.
468
00:34:18,535 --> 00:34:20,868
Her eyesight will likely go first,
469
00:34:20,951 --> 00:34:23,368
and then her vocabulary will fall away.
470
00:34:23,451 --> 00:34:24,910
I can't lose her.
471
00:34:27,618 --> 00:34:30,785
Working on a raised alphabet,
I'll make her a dictionary.
472
00:34:30,868 --> 00:34:33,660
[doctor]
She'll gradually lose her mobility.
473
00:34:33,743 --> 00:34:35,410
I'll build her an elevator.
474
00:34:36,410 --> 00:34:37,451
Mr. Edison,
475
00:34:38,410 --> 00:34:40,326
what your wife needs...
476
00:34:41,410 --> 00:34:43,201
no man can build.
477
00:34:44,035 --> 00:34:45,951
What my wife needs, according to you,
478
00:34:46,660 --> 00:34:48,451
is a simple pair of spectacles.
479
00:34:50,201 --> 00:34:52,035
Nature will take its course.
480
00:34:55,285 --> 00:34:56,326
I, uh...
481
00:34:57,743 --> 00:35:00,118
I have to leave for New York tonight.
482
00:35:00,993 --> 00:35:02,701
It can't be avoided.
483
00:35:04,368 --> 00:35:07,576
I will attend to her
while you're away, but...
484
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:10,368
don't linger.
485
00:35:21,410 --> 00:35:23,243
[train horn blows]
486
00:35:25,410 --> 00:35:27,050
[Morgan] Ohio is going with Westinghouse.
487
00:35:27,076 --> 00:35:30,243
- Columbus. Zanesville.
- Zanesville? Give it to him.
488
00:35:30,326 --> 00:35:31,451
That isn't funny.
489
00:35:32,701 --> 00:35:35,493
We don't know something is a pattern
till it happens again,
490
00:35:35,576 --> 00:35:37,618
which I sincerely hope it does not.
491
00:35:37,701 --> 00:35:41,368
Now, you tell me, what is he doing right
that you're doing wrong?
492
00:35:41,451 --> 00:35:44,326
He is successfully selling machines
that will result
493
00:35:44,410 --> 00:35:46,868
in the accidental deaths of human beings.
494
00:35:46,951 --> 00:35:49,011
- And where are these deaths?
- Where are these deaths?
495
00:35:49,035 --> 00:35:50,160
Why don't we switch now,
496
00:35:50,243 --> 00:35:52,427
and then you get to shoulder
the inevitable suits of manslaughter.
497
00:35:52,451 --> 00:35:56,451
I think that people aren't dying because
it's not as dangerous as you wish it were.
498
00:35:58,410 --> 00:36:01,326
All right, he's beating us on costs,
but that is a temporary advantage.
499
00:36:01,410 --> 00:36:03,368
You give me enough time,
I'll make ours so cheap
500
00:36:03,451 --> 00:36:05,535
that only the rich will burn candles.
501
00:36:05,618 --> 00:36:08,451
And until then, you bleed cities
to Westinghouse. I'm not a bank.
502
00:36:08,535 --> 00:36:10,493
That is exactly what you are.
503
00:36:10,576 --> 00:36:14,201
We could've had this conversation by
telephone instead of you wasting my time.
504
00:36:14,285 --> 00:36:17,243
When I want to see someone, he comes.
Eye to eye. That's how it works.
505
00:36:17,326 --> 00:36:19,243
No. Here's how it works.
506
00:36:19,326 --> 00:36:23,243
I build miracles, and you continue to
give me as much goddamn money as I want.
507
00:36:23,993 --> 00:36:26,160
Oh, what? Did I squander another town?
508
00:36:26,243 --> 00:36:27,951
[thunder rumbles]
509
00:36:28,035 --> 00:36:29,785
All right, what did I lose?
510
00:38:21,910 --> 00:38:23,993
[machinery whirring]
511
00:38:26,951 --> 00:38:30,035
- [Mary speaks indistinctly on recording]
- [Edison's voice] Say something.
512
00:38:30,118 --> 00:38:33,618
[Mary's voice] Can I get you to promise
on here that you'll build me a fence?
513
00:38:34,993 --> 00:38:37,160
[Edison's voice]
Ground's frozen. Needs to thaw.
514
00:38:38,993 --> 00:38:40,660
[Dot's voice] Look! You're missing it!
515
00:38:48,826 --> 00:38:50,160
[recorder clicks]
516
00:38:50,701 --> 00:38:53,661
- [Mary speaks indistinctly on recording]
- [Edison's voice] Say something.
517
00:38:53,743 --> 00:38:57,160
[Mary's voice] Can I get you to promise
on here that you'll build me a fence?
518
00:38:57,243 --> 00:38:59,493
[Edison's voice]
Ground's frozen. Needs to thaw.
519
00:39:00,993 --> 00:39:02,785
[Dot's voice] Look! You're missing it!
520
00:39:05,243 --> 00:39:07,868
No. Now we move on
to my motor, as agreed...
521
00:39:07,951 --> 00:39:10,535
Look, we don't...
we don't want any of that.
522
00:39:10,618 --> 00:39:12,493
The arcs you built aren't selling anymore.
523
00:39:12,576 --> 00:39:14,826
We can't compete with Edison
and Westinghouse!
524
00:39:14,910 --> 00:39:17,910
Then I will take my patents
and wish you both a great misfortune.
525
00:39:17,993 --> 00:39:20,493
- Your patents?
- Yes. My patents.
526
00:39:21,035 --> 00:39:23,035
[bell tolling]
527
00:39:29,743 --> 00:39:31,618
[sighs] Can I get you anything, sir?
528
00:39:32,868 --> 00:39:34,451
[Edison] A time machine.
529
00:39:34,951 --> 00:39:38,285
Well, if I ever find one, I'll travel
back to this moment and give it to you.
530
00:39:39,535 --> 00:39:41,118
Did you read over the proposal?
531
00:39:41,201 --> 00:39:44,868
I'm not diverting what I've got left
of my resources in lighting up a fair.
532
00:39:44,951 --> 00:39:47,576
It's much more than a fair, sir.
A third of this country
533
00:39:47,660 --> 00:39:51,993
will get on trains to Chicago
to try and see this City of Light.
534
00:39:52,493 --> 00:39:54,993
Every window, every streetlamp,
a sign that says,
535
00:39:55,076 --> 00:39:56,951
"The race is over, and we won."
536
00:39:57,701 --> 00:39:59,826
Why spend your final dollars
traveling this country
537
00:39:59,910 --> 00:40:02,493
to show everyone your electricity
when they're all
538
00:40:02,576 --> 00:40:05,076
traveling to the same place
to try to see it anyway?
539
00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:06,677
Because in a year, they'll rip it down.
540
00:40:06,701 --> 00:40:09,326
Only after 30 million people
have seen it, yes.
541
00:40:16,535 --> 00:40:18,326
Westinghouse is placing a bid.
542
00:40:32,868 --> 00:40:35,493
[Edison] Nice hat. Looks expensive.
543
00:40:35,576 --> 00:40:37,910
I owned this before I worked for you,
Mr. Edison.
544
00:40:37,993 --> 00:40:41,326
I don't think you are working for me.
He's still using my bulbs.
545
00:40:41,410 --> 00:40:43,660
[man] His patents are in order.
546
00:40:43,743 --> 00:40:45,285
Do you want my advice?
547
00:40:45,743 --> 00:40:48,160
You keep saying
Westinghouse's current will kill people,
548
00:40:48,243 --> 00:40:51,451
so in lieu of evidence,
why don't you provide it?
549
00:41:00,743 --> 00:41:04,326
We're doing this because
when we have a complete system,
550
00:41:04,410 --> 00:41:07,576
it works, and it's Edison.
551
00:41:07,660 --> 00:41:09,076
Poor bastard.
552
00:41:10,035 --> 00:41:14,368
Well, he was gonna be slaughtered anyway.
He's not going to feel any pain, right?
553
00:41:14,451 --> 00:41:16,785
At 3,000 volts,
it'll be over before it begins.
554
00:41:16,868 --> 00:41:18,535
So there's nothing to worry about?
555
00:41:19,451 --> 00:41:22,243
But these are reporters, so you might
want to liven up a little bit.
556
00:41:23,201 --> 00:41:25,285
[horses whinnying]
557
00:41:26,826 --> 00:41:29,535
- [Edison] Welcome to Menlo Park.
- [indistinct chatter]
558
00:41:29,618 --> 00:41:31,910
Thank you for coming out
on this cold morning.
559
00:41:31,993 --> 00:41:34,618
- Good to see you again.
- Good morning.
560
00:41:34,701 --> 00:41:36,743
- I'm Southwick Brown.
- A pleasure.
561
00:41:36,826 --> 00:41:39,285
Now you, uh, you might all
want to stand back a little bit.
562
00:41:39,368 --> 00:41:41,451
Gus is being connected to the same current
563
00:41:41,535 --> 00:41:43,910
that Westinghouse uses from his generator.
564
00:41:43,993 --> 00:41:47,701
But there's no word yet coined
to define death by electricity,
565
00:41:47,785 --> 00:41:50,451
so I asked the men who write
the dictionaries, and I heard back
566
00:41:50,535 --> 00:41:54,118
"electro-dite," "electro-cremate"
and "dyna-mort."
567
00:41:54,201 --> 00:41:58,118
But just as Joe Guillotine
got his name on his invention,
568
00:41:58,785 --> 00:42:01,951
how could we rob the rightful inventor
of death by electricity
569
00:42:02,035 --> 00:42:04,326
of his due credit?
570
00:42:04,410 --> 00:42:08,243
I ask you to please be respectful
as we Westinghouse this horse.
571
00:42:29,826 --> 00:42:31,118
[snorts]
572
00:42:34,035 --> 00:42:35,868
[indistinct chatter]
573
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:41,535
Mr. Edison, Southwick Brown,
Capital Punishment Commission.
574
00:42:41,618 --> 00:42:44,660
You've read, no doubt, of the botched
hangings throughout the Northeast.
575
00:42:44,743 --> 00:42:47,011
- The prisoners either choke to death...
- [man shouting indistinctly]
576
00:42:47,035 --> 00:42:49,076
...or are violently decapitated.
577
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:50,993
The spectacle is inhumane.
578
00:42:51,076 --> 00:42:54,868
But the horse... his death
was so calm, you could call it...
579
00:42:57,160 --> 00:42:58,576
poetic.
580
00:42:58,660 --> 00:43:00,618
[grunting, bones snap]
581
00:43:01,826 --> 00:43:05,160
The governor of New York,
upon my personal recommendation,
582
00:43:05,243 --> 00:43:07,326
would like to explore a death device
583
00:43:07,410 --> 00:43:09,910
which uses electricity on a human being.
584
00:43:10,535 --> 00:43:14,076
It would be our honor
to award you the contract.
585
00:43:15,243 --> 00:43:17,701
- If nothing else, a pleasure.
- I beg your pardon?
586
00:43:17,785 --> 00:43:22,201
To kill a human being under the guise
of justice is... is cockeyed.
587
00:43:22,285 --> 00:43:24,743
There's a big difference
between a horse and a person.
588
00:43:24,826 --> 00:43:27,951
God humanely brings us into this world.
589
00:43:28,535 --> 00:43:31,993
Why would you reject the opportunity
to be the first man
590
00:43:32,076 --> 00:43:34,493
to humanely take us out of it?
591
00:44:34,618 --> 00:44:36,076
William.
592
00:44:38,285 --> 00:44:39,951
I killed my wife.
593
00:44:47,451 --> 00:44:49,368
[door closes]
594
00:44:51,826 --> 00:44:53,910
[Mary's voice on recorder]
I'm turning the handle.
595
00:44:54,868 --> 00:44:56,785
Maybe there's more to it than that.
596
00:44:57,785 --> 00:45:00,201
If I'm doing it wrong,
you'll never know I was fooling around
597
00:45:00,285 --> 00:45:03,076
with your phonograph or gramophone,
598
00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:05,243
whatever you end up calling it.
599
00:45:05,326 --> 00:45:07,410
And what is this thing really?
600
00:45:08,201 --> 00:45:11,785
Today's Mary is speaking
to tomorrow's Thomas.
601
00:45:11,868 --> 00:45:13,201
Or from where you sit,
602
00:45:13,285 --> 00:45:15,743
today's Tom is listening
to yesterday's Mary.
603
00:45:15,826 --> 00:45:18,535
[wind gusting]
604
00:45:18,618 --> 00:45:20,993
I wonder what else you can do with it.
605
00:45:29,243 --> 00:45:30,910
Mr. Tesla,
606
00:45:30,993 --> 00:45:33,969
my son and his idiot friend tell me
you don't want to make arc lights anymore.
607
00:45:33,993 --> 00:45:35,535
Is that true?
608
00:45:35,618 --> 00:45:38,035
Don't look at him, look at me.
I'm your primary shareholder.
609
00:45:38,118 --> 00:45:40,660
No. I already completed
the arc light project.
610
00:45:40,743 --> 00:45:44,493
Completed? You covered one city:
Rahway, New Jersey.
611
00:45:44,576 --> 00:45:47,410
For the love of God, think bigger.
Philadelphia.
612
00:45:47,493 --> 00:45:50,618
You design arc lights to outfit cities.
That was your only job.
613
00:45:50,701 --> 00:45:53,785
No. My AC motor. Okay? We agreed...
614
00:45:53,868 --> 00:45:56,368
- No, I never agreed to anything.
- In this office, you said...
615
00:45:56,451 --> 00:45:57,576
Uh!
616
00:45:57,660 --> 00:45:59,993
Lane, could you wait outside for a moment?
617
00:46:06,910 --> 00:46:09,410
I'm sorry. Don't you realize
you're being fired here?
618
00:46:11,535 --> 00:46:15,326
No. Please, let me work through
what I have in my head.
619
00:46:15,410 --> 00:46:18,576
I will make you the greatest provider
of electrical power in the world.
620
00:46:18,660 --> 00:46:20,451
Better than Edison.
621
00:46:20,535 --> 00:46:22,868
I'm-I'm so close. Just a few months.
622
00:46:27,576 --> 00:46:30,368
You drop in here like you're from Neptune,
623
00:46:30,451 --> 00:46:33,201
like you got a great vision of the future
624
00:46:33,285 --> 00:46:35,386
- that no one understands but you.
- No, please don't touch.
625
00:46:35,410 --> 00:46:37,451
But you're just an immigrant.
626
00:46:38,285 --> 00:46:41,243
Head full of notions,
looking for a handout. You're not Edison.
627
00:46:41,326 --> 00:46:44,451
There's only one Edison. That's why
he's in. There's millions of you.
628
00:46:44,535 --> 00:46:48,660
Big ideas, but you can't see
the real force that moves things.
629
00:46:48,743 --> 00:46:51,701
And it's not AC/DC, it's not currents.
630
00:46:52,368 --> 00:46:53,743
It's currency.
631
00:46:54,326 --> 00:46:56,410
And that's the only motor
I'm interested in.
632
00:46:59,535 --> 00:47:03,285
These patents belong to
the Tesla Electric Light Company.
633
00:47:03,368 --> 00:47:06,951
This is now the Union Electric
and Manufacturing Company,
634
00:47:07,035 --> 00:47:09,076
and I own everything in this office.
635
00:47:09,701 --> 00:47:13,035
Patents, designs, engineers, all mine.
636
00:47:14,285 --> 00:47:16,951
Never going to be anything
named Tesla ever again.
637
00:47:18,326 --> 00:47:22,535
You take your notions
and go back where you came from.
638
00:47:28,076 --> 00:47:29,451
[door closes]
639
00:47:35,035 --> 00:47:37,035
He's snapping up town after town.
640
00:47:37,993 --> 00:47:41,535
Cats, dogs, sheep, 11 horses...
What more do people need to see?
641
00:47:41,618 --> 00:47:44,035
The problem is, no one's actually dying
from alternating,
642
00:47:44,118 --> 00:47:47,076
apart from your cats,
dogs, sheep and 11 horses.
643
00:47:48,368 --> 00:47:51,076
- Sir, I realize I'm only your secretary...
- Just say it.
644
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:54,035
[sighs] Bring the phonograph to market.
You can make your own money.
645
00:47:54,118 --> 00:47:56,826
- No, it needs too many improvements.
- Make them. sir.
646
00:47:57,868 --> 00:48:00,868
- Bell is ripping you off.
- Graphophone? He just switched the name.
647
00:48:00,951 --> 00:48:03,927
Direct me to a store where I can buy
yours, and I won't give him the business.
648
00:48:03,951 --> 00:48:06,076
You have a real offer on the table here.
649
00:48:06,743 --> 00:48:10,035
Half a million dollars.
Sir, take the money. You need it.
650
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:13,160
If Bell ripped you off with the telephone,
651
00:48:13,243 --> 00:48:15,243
he'll do it again with the graphophone.
652
00:48:15,326 --> 00:48:17,493
Did you just misspeak intentionally?
653
00:48:17,576 --> 00:48:19,576
Do you want Chicago?
654
00:48:23,951 --> 00:48:25,451
All right, I'm ready.
655
00:48:46,660 --> 00:48:48,035
A dollar a ball?
656
00:48:48,826 --> 00:48:50,493
So, what's your trade?
657
00:48:50,576 --> 00:48:53,910
Inventor. I fix problems for idiots.
658
00:48:54,993 --> 00:48:58,076
Imagine dictation
without the aid of a stenographer.
659
00:48:59,826 --> 00:49:02,701
Phonographic books
that will speak to blind people.
660
00:49:02,785 --> 00:49:05,368
Reproduction of music. Talking toys.
661
00:49:05,868 --> 00:49:08,701
Clocks that will announce the time.
662
00:49:08,785 --> 00:49:11,035
The preservation of dying languages.
663
00:49:11,118 --> 00:49:12,993
Teaching of elocution.
664
00:49:13,076 --> 00:49:15,618
- You hustled us.
- Yes. No.
665
00:49:16,535 --> 00:49:17,927
I didn't come all this way to lose.
666
00:49:17,951 --> 00:49:21,285
The final capturing of the dying words
of your loved ones.
667
00:49:25,201 --> 00:49:28,285
[woman] Mary had a little lamb,
his fleece was white as snow,
668
00:49:28,368 --> 00:49:31,493
and everywhere that Mary went,
the lamb was sure to go.
669
00:49:37,410 --> 00:49:41,701
Well, it's either not possible,
or I'm not the engineer I thought I was.
670
00:49:43,910 --> 00:49:47,451
And he's traveling around the country,
cooking up cats.
671
00:49:47,535 --> 00:49:50,576
George, he's playing dirty. You can too.
672
00:49:50,660 --> 00:49:51,701
Mm.
673
00:49:53,326 --> 00:49:55,785
You know, when I was a boy, my father...
674
00:49:57,035 --> 00:49:59,035
tried to whip me with a branch.
675
00:50:00,076 --> 00:50:03,993
But after the first hit,
it broke into three little pieces.
676
00:50:05,618 --> 00:50:08,951
And we just stood there, looking at
this shattered stick on the ground.
677
00:50:10,576 --> 00:50:14,118
And then I noticed there was
a leather strap hanging on the wall,
678
00:50:14,201 --> 00:50:16,410
so I pointed to it and said,
679
00:50:16,493 --> 00:50:19,910
"Look. That's the better one."
680
00:50:21,118 --> 00:50:22,576
And he stopped.
681
00:50:27,076 --> 00:50:31,743
I can take a beating, but I have
no patience for shoddy craftsmanship.
682
00:50:34,368 --> 00:50:38,160
You are gonna have a working motor
sitting next to your display in Chicago,
683
00:50:38,243 --> 00:50:41,493
come hell, high water,
or the Wizard of Menlo Park.
684
00:50:48,243 --> 00:50:49,951
- Good night, Frank.
- Good night.
685
00:51:08,701 --> 00:51:10,743
[thunder rumbling]
686
00:51:20,826 --> 00:51:22,701
[horse whinnies]
687
00:51:23,535 --> 00:51:25,493
[electricity crackles]
688
00:51:46,576 --> 00:51:48,201
[clamoring]
689
00:51:49,076 --> 00:51:51,076
[reporter] So you admit Edison was right?
690
00:52:19,576 --> 00:52:21,868
We will remember Franklin Pope...
691
00:52:22,785 --> 00:52:25,576
for his fearless dedication
to moving us forward.
692
00:52:26,326 --> 00:52:29,451
He tried to see
what was hiding in plain sight.
693
00:52:29,535 --> 00:52:31,368
[voice fades]
694
00:52:35,201 --> 00:52:36,868
Today, I am...
695
00:52:38,701 --> 00:52:40,660
filled less with grief than anger,
696
00:52:40,743 --> 00:52:43,201
because what happened
could've been avoided.
697
00:52:45,618 --> 00:52:48,493
Hear me now
as you have never heard me before.
698
00:52:49,326 --> 00:52:50,910
As I breathe...
699
00:52:52,493 --> 00:52:54,660
as long as Westinghouse
stays in business...
700
00:52:56,076 --> 00:52:58,118
more people will die.
701
00:53:18,243 --> 00:53:19,993
My condolences.
702
00:53:22,326 --> 00:53:24,785
Sounds like he was
more than just an employee.
703
00:53:29,868 --> 00:53:32,076
What was his name? Franklin Popes?
704
00:53:33,243 --> 00:53:35,326
Pope. Just one.
705
00:53:36,576 --> 00:53:38,660
- It's a shame.
- Mm.
706
00:53:38,743 --> 00:53:40,285
But I'm here to help.
707
00:53:41,035 --> 00:53:42,910
Now, I know that you, uh,
708
00:53:42,993 --> 00:53:45,035
you wish Edison to quiet down.
709
00:53:47,785 --> 00:53:51,285
So let me combine your companies.
Let me clean up the mess.
710
00:53:55,243 --> 00:53:59,076
You really think Westinghouse Electric
is worth $5 million?
711
00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:02,451
The value of something is the highest
number someone else is willing to pay.
712
00:54:02,535 --> 00:54:06,118
But 800 men will lose their livelihoods.
713
00:54:06,201 --> 00:54:08,368
I will keep your workers.
714
00:54:08,451 --> 00:54:11,993
I will not make the same promise
for your five-day work week.
715
00:54:12,076 --> 00:54:13,118
Mm.
716
00:54:14,618 --> 00:54:16,701
Seems like you're amenable.
717
00:54:19,368 --> 00:54:20,451
Mm.
718
00:54:27,368 --> 00:54:29,326
Which current will you use?
719
00:54:30,826 --> 00:54:33,076
Whichever Edison selects, I suppose.
720
00:54:42,951 --> 00:54:44,285
[Marguerite] Absurdity.
721
00:54:44,910 --> 00:54:46,826
You think I'm being absurd?
722
00:54:47,993 --> 00:54:49,868
Yes, I do.
723
00:54:49,951 --> 00:54:52,160
We're overextended, Marguerite.
724
00:54:53,285 --> 00:54:55,201
There's no shame in selling.
725
00:54:59,076 --> 00:55:02,243
What I was always after
was to partner with Edison...
726
00:55:03,285 --> 00:55:05,368
and I have the chance to do that now.
727
00:55:06,576 --> 00:55:10,535
We have no motor, so we're a train into
a mountainside anyway. It's impossible.
728
00:55:10,618 --> 00:55:13,660
I thought "impossible" wasn't a word
in your vocabulary.
729
00:55:19,785 --> 00:55:21,826
I am dissolving Westinghouse Electric.
730
00:55:21,910 --> 00:55:26,118
The proceeds will go to preserve
our other failing enterprises,
731
00:55:26,201 --> 00:55:30,285
and time itself will mend
Edison's mistakes.
732
00:55:30,368 --> 00:55:34,326
You are not a captain
who changes his course with the sea.
733
00:55:34,410 --> 00:55:36,326
We are not on a course!
734
00:55:36,910 --> 00:55:38,743
We're drowning!
735
00:55:38,826 --> 00:55:41,743
This whole thing is costing us a fortune!
736
00:55:41,826 --> 00:55:44,368
- You don't care about money.
- A fortune!
737
00:55:45,701 --> 00:55:48,868
I lived in your parents' house
while you went door-to-door.
738
00:55:49,493 --> 00:55:52,576
Do you want people saying
you stand for everything you don't?
739
00:55:52,660 --> 00:55:54,743
Using your last name as a verb?
740
00:55:54,826 --> 00:55:58,118
Well, how exactly do you suggest
I correct that, dear?
741
00:55:59,576 --> 00:56:02,701
I have you, and I had Frank.
742
00:56:04,285 --> 00:56:05,368
That's it.
743
00:56:06,618 --> 00:56:08,201
I loved the man.
744
00:56:09,993 --> 00:56:14,410
This is really nothing
but a sensible business decision.
745
00:56:15,826 --> 00:56:17,868
- George...
- That's all.
746
00:56:22,451 --> 00:56:23,701
That's all.
747
00:56:26,618 --> 00:56:28,535
[footsteps depart]
748
00:56:30,410 --> 00:56:33,326
Say what you will about
George Westinghouse, he sure is nice.
749
00:56:39,451 --> 00:56:41,243
[thunder rumbles]
750
00:56:52,160 --> 00:56:53,951
[horse whinnies]
751
00:57:04,910 --> 00:57:07,660
- [pistol clicks]
- [horse whinnies]
752
00:57:09,326 --> 00:57:12,576
You've crossed into territory
for the Confederacy.
753
00:57:14,576 --> 00:57:17,618
No, I, uh, I think you're mistaken.
754
00:57:18,160 --> 00:57:20,451
- According to my map here...
- [pistol clicks]
755
00:57:20,535 --> 00:57:22,535
[whinnies]
756
00:57:31,618 --> 00:57:36,285
Though I mourn the loss of my colleague,
misfortune does not trump progress.
757
00:57:38,493 --> 00:57:42,826
Now, it seems to me that Mr. Edison
puts his name on everything
758
00:57:42,910 --> 00:57:45,826
because he's terrified of being forgotten.
759
00:57:46,993 --> 00:57:49,993
If you want to be remembered, it's simple:
shoot a president.
760
00:57:50,951 --> 00:57:54,118
But if you prefer to have
what I call a legacy,
761
00:57:54,201 --> 00:57:57,076
you leave the world
a better place than you found it.
762
00:57:58,118 --> 00:58:01,451
Thomas Alva Edison is a charlatan
763
00:58:01,535 --> 00:58:05,201
who preys on the fears of the common man
764
00:58:05,285 --> 00:58:07,410
because I have the better system.
765
00:58:08,826 --> 00:58:13,910
And because I do have the better system,
Westinghouse Electric shall endure.
766
00:58:13,993 --> 00:58:15,076
Good day.
767
00:58:16,326 --> 00:58:19,785
[Morgan] Westinghouse has taken the lead.
He's not going away.
768
00:58:19,868 --> 00:58:23,618
And while I appreciate your lights,
Mr. Edison, I'm also your customer.
769
00:58:24,201 --> 00:58:26,951
If something comes to my door
and offers me something that I need
770
00:58:27,035 --> 00:58:30,201
that is better than what I have now,
at a cheaper price,
771
00:58:30,285 --> 00:58:33,368
why, I'd be a fool
not to invite him in for tea.
772
00:58:33,451 --> 00:58:36,368
- Is this an ultimatum?
- More of a threat.
773
00:58:36,451 --> 00:58:38,493
If you maintain
that fear is the best strategy,
774
00:58:38,576 --> 00:58:40,660
then you'd better hurry up and try harder.
775
00:58:42,243 --> 00:58:43,285
Time's up.
776
00:58:46,868 --> 00:58:48,951
[Mary's voice]
...man who was handsome and clever
777
00:58:49,035 --> 00:58:51,535
built a box with a crank and a lever
778
00:58:51,618 --> 00:58:55,118
to store his wife's voice,
though he made a poor choice,
779
00:58:55,201 --> 00:58:58,868
because now she can tease him forever.
780
00:58:58,951 --> 00:59:01,243
[brakes screech]
781
00:59:01,326 --> 00:59:04,743
[man] I couldn't stop it if I wanted to,
782
00:59:05,243 --> 00:59:06,993
which I don't,
783
00:59:07,076 --> 00:59:10,535
because I...
I think it's a remarkable gift.
784
00:59:11,993 --> 00:59:15,910
Electricity will kill that man in Buffalo.
785
00:59:15,993 --> 00:59:18,785
We don't know the voltage.
786
00:59:18,868 --> 00:59:22,576
Too much, and he ignites.
Too little, and he's still alive.
787
00:59:23,160 --> 00:59:25,535
[voice echoes] All we need is your advice.
788
00:59:25,618 --> 00:59:28,993
How much is humane?
Where to put the electrode?
789
00:59:29,076 --> 00:59:33,951
And in exchange, I will promise you
something that I know you want.
790
00:59:35,951 --> 00:59:40,285
I will put the Westinghouse name
right out front
791
00:59:40,368 --> 00:59:44,326
as the official electricity used
to kill human beings.
792
00:59:46,701 --> 00:59:50,701
I even think we can get this chair
on display at the Chicago World's Fair.
793
00:59:52,410 --> 00:59:54,076
The future.
794
01:00:02,076 --> 01:00:04,160
My name must never be
associated with this.
795
01:00:04,243 --> 01:00:07,076
I did not provide any consultation,
and you will advertise
796
01:00:07,160 --> 01:00:10,118
that Westinghouse is the best way
to take a human life.
797
01:00:11,201 --> 01:00:12,868
You guarantee your assistance?
798
01:00:14,826 --> 01:00:17,201
You ask a question, and I'll reply.
799
01:00:20,910 --> 01:00:22,493
Burn the correspondence.
800
01:00:23,951 --> 01:00:25,493
Absolutely.
801
01:00:28,660 --> 01:00:31,993
Fauteuils and blue painted bergère.
802
01:00:32,076 --> 01:00:34,410
I sold three sets of these
last week alone.
803
01:00:36,785 --> 01:00:39,576
Oh, uh, this is your classic spindle back.
804
01:00:39,660 --> 01:00:42,576
Oh, yes. And these are framed cockpen.
805
01:00:42,660 --> 01:00:44,326
Quite popular.
806
01:00:50,660 --> 01:00:52,743
Oh, deportment style.
807
01:00:55,576 --> 01:00:58,410
Would you like four, six, eight, 12?
808
01:00:58,493 --> 01:00:59,535
Just one.
809
01:01:01,285 --> 01:01:05,160
[Edison's voice] Mr. Brown, the apparatus
consists of a stationary engine,
810
01:01:05,243 --> 01:01:09,076
a Westinghouse alternating dynamo
capable of generating 3,000 volts,
811
01:01:09,160 --> 01:01:12,576
wood chair with headrest,
binding straps and adjustable electrodes.
812
01:01:12,660 --> 01:01:14,868
Burn. TAE.
813
01:01:23,368 --> 01:01:25,868
The voltmeter, ammeter
and switchboard controlling the current
814
01:01:25,951 --> 01:01:28,951
should be located in the execution room
for monitoring.
815
01:01:29,035 --> 01:01:30,618
Burn. TAE.
816
01:01:30,701 --> 01:01:34,160
The dynamo room is communicated
by electric signals. Burn. TAE.
817
01:01:34,243 --> 01:01:37,701
The most effective machines manufactured
by Westinghouse... Burn. TAE.
818
01:01:37,785 --> 01:01:41,868
I authorize payment of $3,600
for your efforts.
819
01:01:41,951 --> 01:01:43,576
Burn. TAE.
820
01:01:43,660 --> 01:01:46,785
The only argument which can be
urged against "Westinghousing"
821
01:01:46,868 --> 01:01:48,951
on the score of cruel punishment is that
822
01:01:49,035 --> 01:01:51,160
the flesh may burn
at the points of contact,
823
01:01:51,243 --> 01:01:53,923
and the amount of current which can be
given without such mutilation
824
01:01:53,993 --> 01:01:55,868
is not yet known.
825
01:01:55,951 --> 01:01:58,201
Burn. TAE.
826
01:02:08,410 --> 01:02:10,650
For someone who's trying to compete
for the World's Fair,
827
01:02:10,701 --> 01:02:12,410
this death-trap business
doesn't look good.
828
01:02:12,493 --> 01:02:16,743
Yeah, I know. It's just Edison
trying to smear me, as usual.
829
01:02:16,826 --> 01:02:18,743
- Can you prove it?
- No.
830
01:02:18,826 --> 01:02:21,285
But I was thinking maybe I could stop it.
831
01:02:22,076 --> 01:02:23,451
You mean me?
832
01:02:24,576 --> 01:02:27,701
You want my advice?
Don't hire me. Save your money.
833
01:02:28,701 --> 01:02:31,951
But I do know a man who could determine
834
01:02:32,035 --> 01:02:35,285
whether Edison has an exploitable
connection with the death chair.
835
01:02:35,368 --> 01:02:38,743
No, I was thinking
we could stop him via legal means.
836
01:02:39,993 --> 01:02:42,451
- You want me to put Edison on trial?
- No.
837
01:02:42,535 --> 01:02:44,868
The chair itself. The Eighth Amendment.
838
01:02:44,951 --> 01:02:47,410
So I'm to get an ax murderer
839
01:02:47,493 --> 01:02:50,035
who readily admits he slaughtered his wife
840
01:02:50,118 --> 01:02:51,951
a what... a sustainment?
841
01:02:52,035 --> 01:02:53,868
This is about showing,
842
01:02:53,951 --> 01:02:56,701
what kind of a man is Thomas Edison?
843
01:02:58,701 --> 01:03:00,826
You just keep my name out of it.
844
01:03:00,910 --> 01:03:03,118
Does your wife know
you're paying for this?
845
01:03:03,201 --> 01:03:05,035
It was her idea.
846
01:03:08,535 --> 01:03:11,951
[man] What precisely makes electricity
not cruel and not inhumane?
847
01:03:12,035 --> 01:03:14,076
The velocity of the current is so great
848
01:03:14,160 --> 01:03:17,201
that the brain
is instantaneously paralyzed.
849
01:03:17,285 --> 01:03:18,993
The subject is dead
850
01:03:19,076 --> 01:03:21,701
before the nerves
can communicate any shock.
851
01:03:21,785 --> 01:03:23,660
How can you know if you haven't proof?
852
01:03:23,743 --> 01:03:25,035
I tested it...
853
01:03:25,785 --> 01:03:27,993
on a gorilla from London Zoo.
854
01:03:28,076 --> 01:03:31,618
Are you connected in any way with
any of the electric lighting companies?
855
01:03:31,701 --> 01:03:33,243
No, sir.
856
01:03:33,326 --> 01:03:36,910
The State calls Thomas Alva Edison.
857
01:03:36,993 --> 01:03:39,410
Will you explain generally
858
01:03:39,493 --> 01:03:41,993
the difference between
your continuous current
859
01:03:42,076 --> 01:03:45,785
and Mr. Westinghouse's
alternating electricity?
860
01:03:46,368 --> 01:03:49,618
A continuous current flows
like water through a pipe,
861
01:03:49,701 --> 01:03:51,910
and alternating current flows
in both directions.
862
01:03:51,993 --> 01:03:53,868
Water. That doesn't sound so dangerous.
863
01:03:53,951 --> 01:03:55,826
- Not until you drown.
- [people chuckle]
864
01:03:55,910 --> 01:03:58,701
Why don't you use
Mr. Westinghouse's current?
865
01:03:58,785 --> 01:04:01,118
- I don't like it.
- You think it's dangerous.
866
01:04:01,201 --> 01:04:02,410
Yes, I do.
867
01:04:02,493 --> 01:04:04,743
Suppose you took this...
868
01:04:05,785 --> 01:04:08,201
wicked Westinghouse current...
869
01:04:08,285 --> 01:04:11,035
the one that is going to be used
on Mr. Kemmler here...
870
01:04:11,993 --> 01:04:15,160
now, suppose you kept it up
for five or six minutes.
871
01:04:15,951 --> 01:04:18,410
At 1,500 volts,
872
01:04:18,493 --> 01:04:20,993
how long would it take
before he would feel the heat?
873
01:04:21,076 --> 01:04:24,201
Well, the temperature might rise
874
01:04:24,285 --> 01:04:26,326
four or five degrees above normal
875
01:04:26,410 --> 01:04:29,118
and continue until he was mummified.
876
01:04:29,868 --> 01:04:32,243
And this wouldn't cause considerable pain?
877
01:04:32,326 --> 01:04:33,993
- It would not.
- How do you know?
878
01:04:34,076 --> 01:04:36,451
Because I personally observed
such electricity
879
01:04:36,535 --> 01:04:38,576
being used to execute
a thousand-pound horse.
880
01:04:38,660 --> 01:04:40,886
- And did the horse feel pain?
- If he did, he didn't mention it.
881
01:04:40,910 --> 01:04:42,785
[crowd chuckles]
882
01:04:43,868 --> 01:04:46,326
Now, Mr. Edison,
there is a great degree of feeling
883
01:04:46,410 --> 01:04:48,410
between you and Mr. Westinghouse.
884
01:04:48,493 --> 01:04:51,326
[Edison]
I do not dislike Mr. Westinghouse.
885
01:04:51,410 --> 01:04:53,535
[man] There is a contest
between you two, isn't there?
886
01:04:53,618 --> 01:04:55,576
That is not what this is about.
887
01:04:56,785 --> 01:04:58,951
I've been asked
as a dispassionate scientist
888
01:04:59,035 --> 01:05:02,076
to advise on the simple question
of whether death by electricity
889
01:05:02,160 --> 01:05:04,951
is a violation of the Eighth Amendment
and is cruel and unusual.
890
01:05:05,035 --> 01:05:08,368
In my expert opinion,
the only humane method of execution
891
01:05:08,451 --> 01:05:10,451
is Westinghouse alternating current.
892
01:05:10,535 --> 01:05:12,886
[man] Your Honor, Mr. Edison knows
that any current over 30 amperes...
893
01:05:12,910 --> 01:05:16,451
Milliamperes. If you're gonna interrupt,
do so in the proper denominations.
894
01:05:19,035 --> 01:05:20,493
Oh, thank you, Your Honor.
895
01:05:20,576 --> 01:05:22,052
- [judge] It's my honor.
- [gavel raps]
896
01:05:22,076 --> 01:05:24,410
[judge]
All right, that's all I need to hear.
897
01:05:33,076 --> 01:05:35,326
[clamoring]
898
01:05:35,410 --> 01:05:37,576
[Edison]
What do you two lowlifes want, huh?
899
01:05:37,660 --> 01:05:39,535
[Westinghouse] Mr. Edison. Mr. Edison.
900
01:05:39,618 --> 01:05:40,660
Huh?
901
01:05:43,910 --> 01:05:45,076
Now look...
902
01:05:45,160 --> 01:05:47,052
I thought you were gonna leave
before I had a chance.
903
01:05:47,076 --> 01:05:50,743
- Mr. Edison, can I get your autograph?
- Uh, yeah, sure, I...
904
01:05:50,826 --> 01:05:52,826
William, do you mind?
905
01:06:03,701 --> 01:06:07,076
I should warn you, there's one thing
that always beats justice.
906
01:06:07,160 --> 01:06:08,285
Money?
907
01:06:08,368 --> 01:06:09,410
Fame.
908
01:06:24,326 --> 01:06:27,410
- [thunder rumbles]
- [horse whinnies]
909
01:06:30,535 --> 01:06:33,035
Oh, is that a New Model Army revolver?
910
01:06:33,701 --> 01:06:35,951
What a lovely machine that is.
911
01:06:36,868 --> 01:06:39,326
- Do you know how it works?
- You want me to show you?
912
01:06:39,410 --> 01:06:42,951
Oh, I didn't mean how it fires.
I simply meant how it works.
913
01:06:43,701 --> 01:06:46,160
It's quite a device.
You should have a look.
914
01:06:46,243 --> 01:06:49,493
You see, they designed the cylinder
so the hammer
915
01:06:49,576 --> 01:06:51,951
doesn't have to sit in an empty chamber.
916
01:06:52,035 --> 01:06:54,910
So I could shoot you six times
instead of five.
917
01:06:54,993 --> 01:06:57,785
- Well, I suppose.
- [horse whinnies]
918
01:06:59,243 --> 01:07:01,451
[man] They both lied on the stand.
919
01:07:02,368 --> 01:07:05,951
If you're gonna take your shot,
now is the last time to fire.
920
01:07:06,035 --> 01:07:09,243
Sometimes we have to work
outside of the rules to get what's right.
921
01:07:11,243 --> 01:07:13,243
It would be nice if we didn't have to.
922
01:07:14,951 --> 01:07:16,035
Wouldn't it?
923
01:07:17,285 --> 01:07:19,910
- This doesn't make you like him.
- Mm.
924
01:07:22,868 --> 01:07:24,285
So, what will it be?
925
01:08:01,243 --> 01:08:03,118
[piano playing]
926
01:08:09,201 --> 01:08:11,535
[playing haltingly]
927
01:08:20,535 --> 01:08:22,368
[phone rings]
928
01:08:22,451 --> 01:08:24,951
In my bad ear, it sounded extraordinary.
929
01:08:25,035 --> 01:08:26,201
[Dash] Father...
930
01:08:29,743 --> 01:08:30,785
Hello.
931
01:08:30,868 --> 01:08:33,701
[Westinghouse] The apparatus consists
of a stationary engine,
932
01:08:33,785 --> 01:08:36,243
a Westinghouse alternating dynamo
933
01:08:36,326 --> 01:08:38,785
capable of generating 3,000 volts.
934
01:08:38,868 --> 01:08:40,910
Wood chair with headrest.
935
01:08:40,993 --> 01:08:43,785
- [Edison] Where did you get that?
- I'm sending them to the paper.
936
01:08:43,868 --> 01:08:46,951
Those letters are stolen.
You can't publish them.
937
01:08:47,035 --> 01:08:49,493
- Why not?
- Because they're private correspondences.
938
01:08:49,576 --> 01:08:53,368
Mr. Edison, if you say something
about me or my company again,
939
01:08:53,451 --> 01:08:55,618
I would ask that you tell the truth.
940
01:08:57,160 --> 01:08:59,493
That would be the decent thing to do.
941
01:09:01,451 --> 01:09:02,576
Wouldn't it?
942
01:09:04,951 --> 01:09:08,660
- [Edison] Why didn't you burn the letters?
- [Brown] They were from Thomas Edison.
943
01:09:08,743 --> 01:09:11,535
I don't think you appreciate
that this chair is something
944
01:09:11,618 --> 01:09:13,868
to be proud of and remembered for.
945
01:09:13,951 --> 01:09:16,243
I don't even know
how much electricity you need to use.
946
01:09:16,326 --> 01:09:19,951
- You said 1,500 volts.
- I said I think 1,500 volts.
947
01:09:20,035 --> 01:09:22,701
But if all the water in his body
evaporates, then he may ignite.
948
01:09:22,785 --> 01:09:25,493
- So we lower the amount.
- Then you slowly roast him to death.
949
01:09:25,576 --> 01:09:29,118
Listen. You must listen to me.
What you're going to do is wrong.
950
01:09:29,201 --> 01:09:31,993
Now you said that it's inevitable
and somebody else will do it.
951
01:09:32,076 --> 01:09:35,326
But just because somebody else is
gonna do it doesn't mean that you have to.
952
01:09:36,368 --> 01:09:40,576
The State thanks you
for your expert opinion and your help.
953
01:10:00,076 --> 01:10:01,160
What?
954
01:10:04,160 --> 01:10:06,243
- It's not my place to say.
- Say it.
955
01:10:06,993 --> 01:10:09,701
You said you'd never build
a device that would kill anyone.
956
01:10:18,993 --> 01:10:21,910
I make something impossible,
and they rip it away from me,
957
01:10:21,993 --> 01:10:24,285
so I do it again and they do it again.
958
01:10:24,368 --> 01:10:26,618
And again. And again.
959
01:10:29,035 --> 01:10:30,868
This isn't like everything else.
960
01:10:32,618 --> 01:10:34,326
This is everything else.
961
01:10:35,618 --> 01:10:39,493
Our future is not gonna be paved
with bricks but with copper.
962
01:10:41,368 --> 01:10:45,451
Automation, transportation, communication,
and the man that controls that current
963
01:10:45,535 --> 01:10:47,493
controls that future.
964
01:10:48,660 --> 01:10:50,618
But you know Westinghouse is right.
965
01:10:52,326 --> 01:10:54,326
You don't actually believe
that a few accidents
966
01:10:54,410 --> 01:10:56,326
rule out the viability of his current.
967
01:10:56,410 --> 01:10:58,552
- You just don't want to lose.
- I have merely amplified
968
01:10:58,576 --> 01:11:00,660
what no one else
was willing to take seriously.
969
01:11:00,743 --> 01:11:03,076
No, what you did was run him over
with a 12-ton train.
970
01:11:03,160 --> 01:11:05,469
Oh, well, he's the one
that's supposed to only make brakes,
971
01:11:05,493 --> 01:11:07,493
so, who's to blame here?
972
01:11:07,576 --> 01:11:09,243
[thunder rumbles]
973
01:11:10,160 --> 01:11:12,326
Switch tonight, and you win.
974
01:11:12,410 --> 01:11:14,493
His current kills people.
975
01:11:14,576 --> 01:11:15,951
Only because you said it will!
976
01:11:16,035 --> 01:11:18,826
Listen, I either stop complaining
about the scavengers in my garden
977
01:11:18,910 --> 01:11:22,451
or build a wall so damn high that people
will never even dare to scale it.
978
01:11:22,535 --> 01:11:24,368
You are the smartest man I know.
979
01:11:24,451 --> 01:11:27,701
Beyond building miracles out of thin air,
980
01:11:27,785 --> 01:11:30,201
I was most impressed by your principles.
981
01:11:32,160 --> 01:11:35,535
You didn't invent the incandescent.
People just think you did.
982
01:11:42,826 --> 01:11:47,618
Let me welcome you to the reality
of how things come into existence.
983
01:11:47,701 --> 01:11:50,743
We all contribute.
That's what invention is.
984
01:11:50,826 --> 01:11:54,618
The salt. The grain. The heat. The heart.
985
01:11:54,701 --> 01:11:58,243
But only one man makes the bread rise.
986
01:12:00,201 --> 01:12:02,743
That's the one that puts it all together
987
01:12:02,826 --> 01:12:05,743
and makes it taste so damn good
that people will go out there
988
01:12:05,826 --> 01:12:10,076
and hand over their hard-won dollars
to buy it.
989
01:12:10,160 --> 01:12:13,160
Mr. Edison, I want you to succeed. I do.
990
01:12:15,451 --> 01:12:18,451
But you have to switch tonight,
or you'll die as PT Barnum
991
01:12:18,535 --> 01:12:20,493
rather than Sir Isaac Newton.
992
01:12:45,243 --> 01:12:47,701
[Upton]
Though he may be unfamiliar to you,
993
01:12:47,785 --> 01:12:51,576
his studies have demonstrated
an understanding of electrical matters
994
01:12:51,660 --> 01:12:55,660
unlike anyone I have ever known,
with respect to the assembled.
995
01:12:55,743 --> 01:12:59,285
Gentlemen and lady, Nikola Tesla.
996
01:12:59,368 --> 01:13:01,035
[applause]
997
01:13:02,743 --> 01:13:05,285
[Tesla] Straight to our ultimate question,
998
01:13:06,035 --> 01:13:07,535
yes or no...
999
01:13:08,368 --> 01:13:11,076
can alternating currents operate a motor?
1000
01:13:12,826 --> 01:13:14,076
Yes.
1001
01:13:15,743 --> 01:13:17,868
Now anyone who builds
an alternating system
1002
01:13:17,951 --> 01:13:21,368
will be able to do what Edison can
for only a third of the cost.
1003
01:13:21,451 --> 01:13:23,701
In figure two of my polyphase system,
the armature coils
1004
01:13:23,785 --> 01:13:25,660
are shown in a more advanced position.
1005
01:13:25,743 --> 01:13:27,951
2-A illustrates the corresponding
magnetic condition...
1006
01:13:28,035 --> 01:13:29,969
Synchronous motor obtained
by winding a laminated ring
1007
01:13:29,993 --> 01:13:31,302
provided with pole projections...
1008
01:13:31,326 --> 01:13:33,160
The induction is of an ideal character,
1009
01:13:33,243 --> 01:13:35,618
being always maintained
at its maximum action.
1010
01:13:35,701 --> 01:13:39,201
Mr. Tesla, have you actually built
the motor to test your theories?
1011
01:13:39,285 --> 01:13:42,201
But they are not theories.
No, I have not built it.
1012
01:13:42,285 --> 01:13:44,160
But that would prove your beliefs.
1013
01:13:44,243 --> 01:13:47,076
But they are not beliefs,
and it is absolutely immaterial to me
1014
01:13:47,160 --> 01:13:49,160
whether I run the motor in my mind
or in a shop,
1015
01:13:49,243 --> 01:13:52,076
for I have built it already
in my imagination, and it is perfect.
1016
01:13:52,160 --> 01:13:54,410
- [man] Are you serious?
- Almost always.
1017
01:14:00,076 --> 01:14:02,368
[knock at door]
1018
01:14:03,785 --> 01:14:06,285
Hello. I'm George Westinghouse.
1019
01:14:16,368 --> 01:14:18,076
- George Westinghouse?
- Mm-hmm.
1020
01:14:18,160 --> 01:14:20,868
An engine that compresses air into a tank
1021
01:14:20,951 --> 01:14:24,035
which is taken via pipe
to each brake on the train,
1022
01:14:24,118 --> 01:14:26,410
allowing them to operate simultaneously.
1023
01:14:28,243 --> 01:14:29,993
Smart design.
1024
01:14:30,076 --> 01:14:31,285
Thank you.
1025
01:14:39,660 --> 01:14:40,910
Please.
1026
01:14:56,451 --> 01:14:59,035
I think this entire room
is slanted two degrees.
1027
01:15:03,326 --> 01:15:07,285
I sincerely appreciate you
taking the time to meet with me.
1028
01:15:07,368 --> 01:15:09,743
Are-Are you going somewhere?
1029
01:15:11,618 --> 01:15:13,201
[rummaging]
1030
01:15:21,368 --> 01:15:22,410
Oh.
1031
01:15:24,326 --> 01:15:26,576
- This is it?
- [Tesla] It's Niagara Falls.
1032
01:15:26,660 --> 01:15:27,826
[Westinghouse] Yeah.
1033
01:15:27,910 --> 01:15:30,910
And ever since my school days,
I have pictured in my imagination
1034
01:15:30,993 --> 01:15:33,326
a big wheel spinning out lightning.
1035
01:15:34,993 --> 01:15:38,243
Did you know that when I first came
to this country, I worked for Mr. Edison?
1036
01:15:38,326 --> 01:15:40,160
- I did not.
- Tea?
1037
01:15:40,243 --> 01:15:41,785
Sure.
1038
01:15:42,618 --> 01:15:45,535
I fixed two of his DC generators
in one night,
1039
01:15:45,618 --> 01:15:47,743
and he called me a damn good man.
1040
01:15:48,826 --> 01:15:50,951
So, why did he not treat me that way?
1041
01:15:51,035 --> 01:15:54,201
I quit.
Tried my own company and was deceived.
1042
01:15:54,285 --> 01:15:56,576
Who was I? Some immigrant.
1043
01:15:57,618 --> 01:16:00,285
So I took the only job I could find:
digging a ditch.
1044
01:16:01,618 --> 01:16:05,160
The men laughed at my fine clothes,
but at the end of the day, I had $2.
1045
01:16:08,160 --> 01:16:10,576
What was the ditch to be used for?
1046
01:16:11,576 --> 01:16:13,326
Edison Electric.
1047
01:16:14,660 --> 01:16:16,535
It felt like digging my own grave.
1048
01:16:18,160 --> 01:16:22,118
If Mr. Edison succeeds, he will set us
back so far, we may never recover.
1049
01:16:22,201 --> 01:16:24,535
The Fair must be alternating.
1050
01:16:24,618 --> 01:16:26,201
It must be my motor.
1051
01:16:26,910 --> 01:16:29,660
I have watched as the world talks
of Chicago as a symbol,
1052
01:16:29,743 --> 01:16:31,118
a City of Light.
1053
01:16:31,951 --> 01:16:35,118
All cities will have light
in your lifetime,
1054
01:16:35,201 --> 01:16:39,743
but harnessing the power of Niagara,
that is to see our future.
1055
01:16:39,826 --> 01:16:43,493
The Falls? I'm here to talk about Chicago.
1056
01:16:43,576 --> 01:16:44,993
Think beyond Chicago.
1057
01:16:45,076 --> 01:16:48,785
Energy is as fundamental
as food, as water, as air.
1058
01:16:48,868 --> 01:16:51,993
You can... You cannot say
that only those with money can eat
1059
01:16:52,076 --> 01:16:53,785
or can breathe.
1060
01:16:53,868 --> 01:16:55,677
Yes, the Falls will light up
the Eastern Seaboard.
1061
01:16:55,701 --> 01:16:58,594
Yes, there is a great fortune to be made,
and I covet a very nice walking stick
1062
01:16:58,618 --> 01:17:00,951
I saw on 63rd and Madison,
but Niagara is the proof
1063
01:17:01,035 --> 01:17:03,076
that one day we may detach power
from profit.
1064
01:17:03,160 --> 01:17:05,701
- That is how you truly win.
- Mm.
1065
01:17:06,618 --> 01:17:10,785
- How do I know you will not cheat me?
- Well, you don't.
1066
01:17:13,326 --> 01:17:16,076
But the fact is, Mr. Tesla,
I need your motor.
1067
01:17:16,160 --> 01:17:19,618
I may be able to light up the Fair,
but I still can't move a machine.
1068
01:17:19,701 --> 01:17:23,118
If we cannot reach an agreement today,
my company will die
1069
01:17:23,201 --> 01:17:25,076
right here in your hotel room.
1070
01:17:27,576 --> 01:17:31,326
But if it does perish, so might your dream
of harnessing power from Niagara.
1071
01:17:35,785 --> 01:17:37,785
So, do we have a deal?
1072
01:17:39,660 --> 01:17:41,035
Five thousand.
1073
01:17:48,785 --> 01:17:50,076
One thousand.
1074
01:17:51,535 --> 01:17:53,410
[scoffs, laughs]
1075
01:17:59,368 --> 01:18:01,035
[coughing]
1076
01:18:02,076 --> 01:18:03,118
Yeah.
1077
01:18:05,868 --> 01:18:07,951
I'll give you $2.50...
1078
01:18:12,410 --> 01:18:13,785
per horsepower.
1079
01:18:15,285 --> 01:18:19,118
I'm no genius myself,
but that should be millions.
1080
01:18:22,035 --> 01:18:24,410
- May I treat you to dinner at Delmonico's?
- [door opens]
1081
01:18:25,826 --> 01:18:27,743
All right, Mr. Tesla, time to go.
1082
01:18:27,826 --> 01:18:31,146
- No, I will not leave your slanted room.
- He hasn't paid his bill in over a month.
1083
01:18:31,201 --> 01:18:34,493
Well, how much would it cost
to keep him here for the year?
1084
01:18:34,576 --> 01:18:36,410
[train engine chugging]
1085
01:18:39,451 --> 01:18:42,493
I need to shed 300 men
from the gas company.
1086
01:18:45,743 --> 01:18:47,826
There's no way around it.
1087
01:18:48,618 --> 01:18:51,418
[Marguerite] So we pay their salaries
and move them to the electricity.
1088
01:18:51,493 --> 01:18:53,493
We can't keep doing this.
1089
01:18:54,535 --> 01:18:56,743
If we win, we won't have to.
1090
01:18:58,785 --> 01:19:00,618
You have truth on your side.
1091
01:19:02,826 --> 01:19:06,951
And whatever happens, you'll know
you never did anything but play fair.
1092
01:19:18,910 --> 01:19:20,535
I stole the letters
1093
01:19:20,618 --> 01:19:22,993
linking Edison to the death chair.
1094
01:19:24,368 --> 01:19:26,701
I gave them to the papers to smudge him.
1095
01:19:29,451 --> 01:19:31,326
I know you're disappointed in me.
1096
01:20:01,660 --> 01:20:03,493
[Morgan] What am I looking at here?
1097
01:20:03,576 --> 01:20:06,993
An 80-foot tall tower
covered with 16,000 Edison bulbs,
1098
01:20:07,076 --> 01:20:08,910
topped with an eight-foot lighthouse.
1099
01:20:08,993 --> 01:20:11,201
That signals to the world
that we are the victors.
1100
01:20:11,285 --> 01:20:13,326
Otherwise,
how will people know that we won?
1101
01:20:14,035 --> 01:20:15,368
It's an idol.
1102
01:20:16,285 --> 01:20:17,993
It's a... signature.
1103
01:20:19,410 --> 01:20:22,743
And you'll get something that no one's
ever received from Thomas Edison before.
1104
01:20:22,826 --> 01:20:25,035
- Oh, yes? What's that?
- An apology.
1105
01:20:25,118 --> 01:20:29,160
I admit that spending has been,
well, more than anticipated,
1106
01:20:29,243 --> 01:20:32,410
but now, more than ever,
it's important you must push through.
1107
01:20:32,493 --> 01:20:36,285
Whatever Westinghouse is bidding
for the Fair, we... you must bid more.
1108
01:20:36,368 --> 01:20:37,576
I must.
1109
01:20:39,035 --> 01:20:40,076
"Must."
1110
01:20:42,326 --> 01:20:43,743
Who's Nikola Tesla?
1111
01:20:46,743 --> 01:20:47,868
What about him?
1112
01:20:47,951 --> 01:20:50,368
Well, he gave a talk at Columbia.
1113
01:20:50,451 --> 01:20:54,660
Word is, the Serb is building Westinghouse
a polyphase motor.
1114
01:20:55,243 --> 01:20:59,076
Light and power.
You can do both. He now may as well.
1115
01:20:59,160 --> 01:21:01,844
Who even knows how long it'll take them
to build a functioning model...
1116
01:21:01,868 --> 01:21:05,118
As of this morning,
you have ceded, I have here,
1117
01:21:05,201 --> 01:21:07,660
nine more cities to Westinghouse.
1118
01:21:07,743 --> 01:21:09,868
So, here's what's happening.
1119
01:21:10,910 --> 01:21:14,993
I am merging Edison Electric
with some of the other ankle-biters.
1120
01:21:15,451 --> 01:21:17,451
You are out.
1121
01:21:18,368 --> 01:21:19,576
You know why.
1122
01:21:20,451 --> 01:21:23,993
And I'm happy to tell you, if you require
this moment to be even more unpleasant.
1123
01:21:24,076 --> 01:21:26,285
You will receive stock,
1124
01:21:26,368 --> 01:21:28,743
and you will retain a seat on the board.
1125
01:21:35,410 --> 01:21:36,785
Who's gonna present? You?
1126
01:21:36,868 --> 01:21:39,493
- Good God, no.
- You tell me now?
1127
01:21:39,576 --> 01:21:41,677
I was here. I thought you deserved
to hear it face-to-face.
1128
01:21:41,701 --> 01:21:44,826
No, you didn't.
You just wanted to waste my time
1129
01:21:44,910 --> 01:21:47,035
and get me to sign autographs
for children.
1130
01:21:48,160 --> 01:21:50,302
- What are you going to call it then?
- That's your concern?
1131
01:21:50,326 --> 01:21:51,993
Edison Electric. It has to be.
1132
01:21:52,076 --> 01:21:55,576
Edison and electricity are synonymous,
Morgan. The bulb...
1133
01:21:55,660 --> 01:21:58,576
I do not attach a losing name
to a fledgling enterprise.
1134
01:21:58,660 --> 01:22:01,035
Now that your letters have leaked,
you've lost credibility.
1135
01:22:01,118 --> 01:22:02,238
- So, what is it?
- The name?
1136
01:22:02,285 --> 01:22:03,910
Yes, the goddamn name!
1137
01:22:03,993 --> 01:22:06,785
The contract just says General Electric,
but I'll think of something.
1138
01:22:06,868 --> 01:22:07,993
I can be creative too.
1139
01:22:13,660 --> 01:22:14,743
Yeah.
1140
01:22:17,576 --> 01:22:18,660
[Morgan] Mr. Insull.
1141
01:22:20,993 --> 01:22:22,118
A moment.
1142
01:22:55,826 --> 01:22:57,160
[knock at door]
1143
01:22:57,243 --> 01:22:58,701
- [glass shatters]
- [Edison shouts]
1144
01:23:01,410 --> 01:23:04,368
He said they'd keep your name attached
as long as you didn't pursue action
1145
01:23:04,451 --> 01:23:06,618
or speak negatively to the press
about the merger.
1146
01:23:06,701 --> 01:23:08,035
What did he offer you?
1147
01:23:09,160 --> 01:23:11,120
- Tell me.
- Vice president, but I turned it down.
1148
01:23:11,160 --> 01:23:12,326
- You should take it.
- Why?
1149
01:23:12,410 --> 01:23:14,302
Alternating current...
what's the transmission voltage?
1150
01:23:14,326 --> 01:23:15,535
230,000 volts.
1151
01:23:15,618 --> 01:23:17,368
What's the filament on a 12,000-hour lamp?
1152
01:23:17,451 --> 01:23:19,552
- Carbonized Japanese bamboo.
- What do I eat for breakfast?
1153
01:23:19,576 --> 01:23:20,802
- Pie.
- So, what's the surprise?
1154
01:23:20,826 --> 01:23:23,660
Of course he needs you.
You're me, but a human being.
1155
01:23:32,660 --> 01:23:34,326
Look around the room.
1156
01:23:34,410 --> 01:23:35,826
- Hmm?
- Who's missing?
1157
01:23:37,910 --> 01:23:41,118
- [door opens]
- Edison General Electric Company, please.
1158
01:23:41,201 --> 01:23:42,951
General Electric?
1159
01:23:43,035 --> 01:23:45,660
- Edison General Electric Company.
- Yes.
1160
01:23:45,743 --> 01:23:47,576
- Ah!
- [Marguerite whispers indistinctly]
1161
01:24:00,785 --> 01:24:02,035
He's 12.
1162
01:24:02,118 --> 01:24:05,660
Mr. Insull, these are
the committee members of...
1163
01:24:05,743 --> 01:24:08,285
Listen closely.
Focus on the quality of the light.
1164
01:24:08,368 --> 01:24:10,451
I don't care what the courts say.
1165
01:24:10,535 --> 01:24:12,118
Westinghouse ripped off my bulbs,
1166
01:24:12,201 --> 01:24:14,826
and the good news for you
is he did a terrible job.
1167
01:24:14,910 --> 01:24:18,118
They are outdoor bulbs,
so they have a life of about two hours.
1168
01:24:18,201 --> 01:24:20,118
So focus on the replacement time.
1169
01:24:21,201 --> 01:24:24,868
Talk about the superiority of ours,
as if there's no competition.
1170
01:24:25,451 --> 01:24:27,993
Use terms like "standard," "purest,"
1171
01:24:28,076 --> 01:24:30,076
"the most beautiful light," et cetera.
1172
01:24:30,160 --> 01:24:32,802
Find out what kind of men they are.
There are really only two types.
1173
01:24:32,826 --> 01:24:36,243
The first believe themselves to be
practical, but they're secret dreamers.
1174
01:24:36,326 --> 01:24:38,243
They're the ones who'll take the risks.
1175
01:24:38,326 --> 01:24:40,743
The second, well, they'll smile
and thank you for the show,
1176
01:24:40,826 --> 01:24:42,535
but they'll vote with their wallets.
1177
01:24:42,618 --> 01:24:46,410
Unless Westinghouse is mortgaging
everything he's worth on this bid,
1178
01:24:46,493 --> 01:24:48,451
Morgan has you in good stead
with the money men.
1179
01:24:48,535 --> 01:24:51,160
So your only real job
is to look the dreamers in the eye
1180
01:24:51,243 --> 01:24:52,951
and promise them magic.
1181
01:24:53,035 --> 01:24:56,076
Now, explain back to me everything
that you remember about a parallel
1182
01:24:56,160 --> 01:24:58,594
and series of electric circuits
using none of the words I just said.
1183
01:24:58,618 --> 01:25:00,451
[sighs]
1184
01:25:00,535 --> 01:25:03,201
Though I am young,
I am an expert in these matters,
1185
01:25:03,285 --> 01:25:06,285
rivaled only really by Mr. Edison himself.
1186
01:25:06,368 --> 01:25:09,076
Should you choose Westinghouse, then...
1187
01:25:09,160 --> 01:25:11,660
then yes, there is a possibility
1188
01:25:11,743 --> 01:25:14,785
you'll be putting in jeopardy
the lives of 28 million people.
1189
01:25:16,035 --> 01:25:19,951
Even if Westinghouse were to make
even the smallest of errors,
1190
01:25:20,035 --> 01:25:22,285
unintentional, of course,
1191
01:25:22,368 --> 01:25:24,368
a visiting politician, a wife,
1192
01:25:24,451 --> 01:25:26,701
even a seven-year-old girl
may lean against a lamppost
1193
01:25:26,785 --> 01:25:28,701
and be struck dead immediately.
1194
01:25:29,368 --> 01:25:30,701
There you have it.
1195
01:25:30,785 --> 01:25:34,035
Mr. Westinghouse's brand of electricity
is fatal.
1196
01:25:34,118 --> 01:25:36,535
Thank you, Mr. Insull.
1197
01:25:36,618 --> 01:25:38,201
Just to be clear, sir,
1198
01:25:38,285 --> 01:25:41,451
any electrical current
over 200 milliamperes can be deadly.
1199
01:25:41,535 --> 01:25:42,951
Even yours?
1200
01:25:50,910 --> 01:25:52,993
Mr. Westinghouse,
these are the committee members
1201
01:25:53,076 --> 01:25:54,826
of grounds and buildings:
1202
01:25:54,910 --> 01:25:57,493
Charles Schwab, Craig Cannon,
1203
01:25:57,576 --> 01:25:59,701
- Mayor Cregier, of course.
- Oh, of course.
1204
01:25:59,785 --> 01:26:02,243
Victor Lawson of the Chicago Daily News,
1205
01:26:02,326 --> 01:26:04,660
and the Honorable Judge Tree.
1206
01:26:04,743 --> 01:26:06,160
I'm Daniel Burnham.
1207
01:26:06,243 --> 01:26:10,451
Respectfully, we ask that you please
keep your remarks to one hour.
1208
01:26:10,535 --> 01:26:12,201
That won't be necessary.
1209
01:26:12,910 --> 01:26:15,160
- Here you go. Sir.
- Thank you.
1210
01:26:16,743 --> 01:26:17,910
Hmm.
1211
01:26:18,743 --> 01:26:19,826
[chuckles]
1212
01:26:20,535 --> 01:26:22,285
My bid.
1213
01:26:22,368 --> 01:26:24,076
These are all your figures?
1214
01:26:24,160 --> 01:26:26,410
Yes, sir. Independent estimates.
1215
01:26:26,493 --> 01:26:29,826
Before we, uh,
get into the messy business,
1216
01:26:29,910 --> 01:26:33,035
let us begin
with this most general question:
1217
01:26:33,118 --> 01:26:37,910
Why should we grant Westinghouse Electric
the contract for the World's Fair?
1218
01:26:37,993 --> 01:26:42,660
Well, I guess because
our system works significantly better,
1219
01:26:42,743 --> 01:26:43,910
and, uh...
1220
01:26:46,243 --> 01:26:49,285
because our system
is significantly cheaper.
1221
01:26:54,451 --> 01:26:57,326
Mr. Schwab, Mr. Higinbotham, Mr. Cannon,
1222
01:26:57,410 --> 01:27:00,618
Mayor Cregier, Mr. Lawson, Judge Tree,
1223
01:27:00,701 --> 01:27:01,993
and Mr. Burnham,
1224
01:27:02,743 --> 01:27:05,660
thank you very much for your time
and your consideration.
1225
01:27:19,576 --> 01:27:21,910
Financially, it's clear.
We just take the better bid.
1226
01:27:21,993 --> 01:27:24,910
- Look, Westinghouse is dangerous.
- Potentially dangerous.
1227
01:27:24,993 --> 01:27:26,993
You even printed it in your own paper.
1228
01:27:27,076 --> 01:27:30,493
Alternating will be used
to kill that man in Buffalo.
1229
01:27:42,743 --> 01:27:44,535
[man] They both light up lights, right?
1230
01:27:44,618 --> 01:27:47,618
Westinghouse saves us some money.
Thomas Edison sells tickets.
1231
01:27:51,076 --> 01:27:53,910
[Westinghouse]
What I wouldn't give to flip through that.
1232
01:27:53,993 --> 01:27:56,660
It's like a handbook
to the future, isn't it?
1233
01:28:00,535 --> 01:28:03,368
- We need a clear majority, gentlemen.
- Don't you have stock in GE?
1234
01:28:03,451 --> 01:28:04,826
That's irrelevant.
1235
01:28:06,368 --> 01:28:09,285
[Tesla] No one has ever done
what you have done for me.
1236
01:28:09,368 --> 01:28:12,826
The value of something
isn't what someone's willing to pay,
1237
01:28:12,910 --> 01:28:16,076
but the value of something
is what it contributes.
1238
01:28:16,160 --> 01:28:19,785
When we vote again, Burnham,
you can telephone the winner tonight.
1239
01:28:24,326 --> 01:28:26,826
Is it true you were born
during a lightning storm?
1240
01:28:27,910 --> 01:28:29,535
- It is true.
- [chuckles]
1241
01:28:31,701 --> 01:28:34,118
All right. Tell me one thing in that book.
1242
01:28:36,493 --> 01:28:39,618
Look, you and Mr. Edison, you spend
all your time on either end of the system,
1243
01:28:39,701 --> 01:28:41,618
the dynamos and the lamps.
1244
01:28:41,701 --> 01:28:43,785
But what about what is in between?
1245
01:28:43,868 --> 01:28:45,285
- The wires?
- Mm.
1246
01:28:46,368 --> 01:28:49,076
- Do we need them?
- [billiard balls clatter]
1247
01:28:56,076 --> 01:28:57,785
[phone rings]
1248
01:29:04,285 --> 01:29:08,285
[Westinghouse] The problem is, despite
all the advantages of the Remington...
1249
01:29:12,701 --> 01:29:16,118
it doesn't fix the fact that
you just dampened the gunpowder.
1250
01:29:16,826 --> 01:29:19,285
[gunshot echoes]
1251
01:29:35,118 --> 01:29:37,118
[projector whirring]
1252
01:29:48,118 --> 01:29:49,660
What's this?
1253
01:29:52,535 --> 01:29:56,160
This is gonna do for the eye
what the phonograph did for the ear.
1254
01:30:02,576 --> 01:30:03,660
Dot?
1255
01:30:14,701 --> 01:30:16,410
[clattering]
1256
01:30:20,243 --> 01:30:21,285
Again.
1257
01:30:24,660 --> 01:30:25,743
Again!
1258
01:31:01,660 --> 01:31:03,743
[indistinct conversations]
1259
01:31:37,576 --> 01:31:39,660
[applause]
1260
01:31:58,535 --> 01:32:00,451
Do you have any final words?
1261
01:32:02,743 --> 01:32:05,118
[William]
I believe I'm going to a better place.
1262
01:32:07,493 --> 01:32:08,910
Goodbye, William.
1263
01:32:17,451 --> 01:32:20,910
We live in a higher civilization...
1264
01:32:21,868 --> 01:32:23,326
from this day.
1265
01:32:33,201 --> 01:32:35,826
[applause]
1266
01:33:07,410 --> 01:33:09,285
[cheering]
1267
01:33:23,493 --> 01:33:26,118
[electricity crackling]
1268
01:33:27,743 --> 01:33:29,785
[people clamoring]
1269
01:33:41,701 --> 01:33:45,118
[Insull] "An awful spectacle,
far worse than hanging.
1270
01:33:45,201 --> 01:33:49,326
George Westinghouse:
'They would have done better with an ax.'
1271
01:33:49,410 --> 01:33:51,535
Sizzling sound. A billow of smoke
1272
01:33:51,618 --> 01:33:53,951
that filled the room
with the odor of burning hair."
1273
01:33:55,451 --> 01:33:57,535
Well, at least it happened to a murderer.
1274
01:33:59,410 --> 01:34:02,035
[Edison] At least
they'll never use it again to kill anyone.
1275
01:34:05,201 --> 01:34:06,326
[sighs]
1276
01:34:09,618 --> 01:34:11,618
Soon all these people
will have electric light,
1277
01:34:11,701 --> 01:34:13,993
and no one will even remember
it ever happened.
1278
01:34:15,535 --> 01:34:17,785
I have books so full of ideas
1279
01:34:17,868 --> 01:34:20,951
it would take me more than 12 lifetimes
to execute them.
1280
01:34:22,451 --> 01:34:24,826
So let the man have his fair
and waterfall.
1281
01:34:30,118 --> 01:34:31,743
Well, for what's it's worth,
1282
01:34:32,285 --> 01:34:35,826
I'd much rather have worked for you
than Westinghouse any day.
1283
01:34:35,910 --> 01:34:37,076
Why is that?
1284
01:34:37,993 --> 01:34:40,285
Well, I wouldn't have had as much fun,
would I?
1285
01:35:41,410 --> 01:35:43,535
Have you seen much of the fair?
1286
01:35:43,618 --> 01:35:46,868
- A Muybridge lecture, Little Egypt.
- Oh, the dancer.
1287
01:35:46,951 --> 01:35:48,326
- You saw her?
- No.
1288
01:35:49,201 --> 01:35:52,326
Well, she was... If you get the time.
1289
01:35:53,243 --> 01:35:54,285
Hmm.
1290
01:35:59,285 --> 01:36:01,951
Don't you think
a fence is a unique creation?
1291
01:36:03,743 --> 01:36:06,785
Your neighbor puts one up,
and suddenly one becomes two.
1292
01:36:07,701 --> 01:36:11,118
You also have a fence.
There's only one problem.
1293
01:36:11,201 --> 01:36:14,451
You see, one person
on one side of the fence designed it,
1294
01:36:14,535 --> 01:36:16,743
one person on one side built it,
1295
01:36:16,826 --> 01:36:18,993
and one person paid for it,
1296
01:36:19,076 --> 01:36:22,826
and yet the other person receives
a fine, free fence.
1297
01:36:25,535 --> 01:36:27,493
I didn't take your ideas.
1298
01:36:28,326 --> 01:36:29,576
Mr. Edison?
1299
01:36:30,826 --> 01:36:31,868
Sure.
1300
01:36:33,701 --> 01:36:34,826
Thank you.
1301
01:36:35,826 --> 01:36:38,951
- I was wondering about one thing.
- Oh, I'm sure there were many.
1302
01:36:39,035 --> 01:36:42,910
I was gonna invite you to dinner again,
1303
01:36:42,993 --> 01:36:45,410
but I suppose now
is as good a time as any.
1304
01:36:45,493 --> 01:36:46,969
You want to know
what was in the 13-hour bulb?
1305
01:36:46,993 --> 01:36:49,160
- I know how it works.
- Yeah, I know you do.
1306
01:36:49,243 --> 01:36:51,243
I only wondered what it felt like.
1307
01:36:53,285 --> 01:36:54,660
- Pardon?
- The bulb.
1308
01:36:55,660 --> 01:36:57,035
When you knew.
1309
01:36:57,576 --> 01:36:59,951
What was the feeling in that moment?
1310
01:37:08,368 --> 01:37:09,993
I can't tell you. I mean...
1311
01:37:11,826 --> 01:37:16,535
It's impossible to describe the feeling
because it was impossible.
1312
01:37:17,451 --> 01:37:20,410
Years of work.
Ten thousand different filaments.
1313
01:37:20,910 --> 01:37:23,201
When the thread went in the bulb,
as usual,
1314
01:37:23,285 --> 01:37:26,201
we placed our bets
and the generator sputtered to life
1315
01:37:26,285 --> 01:37:30,035
and the ball began to glow, we didn't
expect anything but another failure.
1316
01:37:32,160 --> 01:37:34,118
Then something started to happen.
1317
01:37:37,785 --> 01:37:40,576
See, our best filament
only lasted ten minutes,
1318
01:37:41,285 --> 01:37:44,410
and this fluke was rounding 20,
1319
01:37:44,493 --> 01:37:46,660
so people started to chatter.
1320
01:37:46,743 --> 01:37:50,535
And 30 minutes, 40 minutes,
an hour, two hours.
1321
01:37:50,618 --> 01:37:52,743
Then people started to shout.
1322
01:37:52,826 --> 01:37:55,493
And remember,
we hadn't got past ten minutes.
1323
01:37:56,285 --> 01:37:59,576
The boys were climbing up the walls,
tearing their hair out, and...
1324
01:38:01,410 --> 01:38:03,285
because it was impossible.
1325
01:38:04,326 --> 01:38:07,701
Seven hours. Eight hours. Nine.
1326
01:38:09,201 --> 01:38:11,035
We were silent when we hit ten.
1327
01:38:13,368 --> 01:38:15,743
Just sat around that glowing bubble,
1328
01:38:15,826 --> 01:38:18,910
drunk on our own magic,
staring at it like it...
1329
01:38:18,993 --> 01:38:22,035
I don't know, like it was the baby Jesus
playing Mozart.
1330
01:38:25,701 --> 01:38:29,035
After 13 and a half hours,
the glass cracked, and I knew it.
1331
01:38:31,368 --> 01:38:33,243
The world would never be the same.
1332
01:38:35,368 --> 01:38:38,451
I'm working on something now,
something so new that...
1333
01:38:40,076 --> 01:38:43,826
people will forget that my name
was ever associated with electricity.
1334
01:38:43,910 --> 01:38:46,035
I wonder if you know what it is yet.
1335
01:38:52,201 --> 01:38:54,285
You know, I think the solution is...
1336
01:38:54,951 --> 01:38:56,993
to divide the cost of the fence.
1337
01:38:59,410 --> 01:39:02,535
Or you cannot build a fence at all.
1338
01:39:05,410 --> 01:39:07,451
Your garden would be twice as big.
1339
01:39:08,201 --> 01:39:10,201
Wouldn't it, Tom?
1340
01:39:17,660 --> 01:39:19,618
If nothing else, a pleasure.
1341
01:39:21,868 --> 01:39:23,410
Enjoy the fair, George.
1342
01:39:30,035 --> 01:39:32,243
[indistinct conversations]
1343
01:39:41,493 --> 01:39:45,201
[Tesla] We build monuments to speak
to the future, to say, "We were here.
1344
01:39:46,910 --> 01:39:48,368
We have lived."
1345
01:39:49,701 --> 01:39:53,451
A true legacy
isn't what we build up to the heavens
1346
01:39:53,535 --> 01:39:55,618
or carve deep into stone.
1347
01:39:56,785 --> 01:39:58,951
Rocks will crumble,
1348
01:39:59,035 --> 01:40:00,660
paper disintegrates,
1349
01:40:01,701 --> 01:40:03,576
and bone turns to powder.
1350
01:40:05,160 --> 01:40:08,118
Only that
which isn't in the physical realm
1351
01:40:08,201 --> 01:40:10,743
and reaches in both directions
can be eternal.
1352
01:40:12,576 --> 01:40:13,993
Our ideas.
1353
01:40:15,951 --> 01:40:17,951
They are what we leave behind.
1354
01:40:19,410 --> 01:40:21,826
And only they
are what can push us forward.
1355
01:41:22,285 --> 01:41:24,451
[water rushing, wind gusting]
1356
01:41:50,535 --> 01:41:52,410
[projector whirring]