The Paper Dragon (17 page)

"You know they were not unique?"

"I know that."

"Do you think they were unique at the time of the Korean conflict?"

"I have no knowledge of the Korean conflict."

"Then you are possibly not aware that the average training time for an officer in October and November of 1950 — which is the time span covered by the novel
The Paper Dragon
— the average training period for an officer was ninety days. Did you know that, Mr. Constantine?"

"I did not know that."

"Will you accept my word for it? Or need I produce a letter received from the Office of the Chief of Information, United States Army, stating it as a fact?"

"I will accept your word for it."

"And will you further agree that ninety-day wonders were not unique during World War II, nor were they unique during the Korean conflict?"

"I would agree to that."

"That Roger Mason being a ninety-day wonder was not unique?"

"Yes."

"And that Alex Cooper, the lieutenant in
The Paper Dragon
was not unique, either."

"Yes."

"That both characters in fact are commonplace characters who might be found in any war at any time in the world's history?"

"I don't know about that."

"But you
do
agree, Mr. Constantine, that wherever there are wars, there are also officers hastily trained to fight them?"

"Yes, I would agree to that."

"Thank you. You are a writer, Mr. Constantine…"

"Yes, I am."

"… so surely you must know that the basis of all drama is conflict."

"Yes, I know that."

"If a man were writing about an Army combat squad, wouldn't it be natural to have the conflict take place between an officer and his men?"

"No; it would not."

"It would
not
be natural?"

"I can imagine any number of conflicts taking place in a combat squad, and they need not all be between an officer and his men."

"The question was whether this would be a natural development."

"And the answer is that this would be only
one
of the possible developments."

"Would you say that one of the developments in
The Naked and the Dead
is a conflict between a man or men in command, and those who are not?"

"I have not made a study of
The Naked and the Dead
."

"Would you say that one of the developments in
From Here to Eternity
is a conflict between a man or men in command, and those who are not?"

"I haven't studied that one, either."

"You testified that the film based on that book won the Academy Award in 1953."

"Yes."

"Did you see the film?"

"No."

"Did you read the book?"

"No."

"Did you read
The Caine Mutiny
?"

"Yes."

"Do you agree that one of the developments in
The Caine Mutiny
is a conflict between a man in command and men who are not?"

"
All
the men in
The Caine Mutiny
are in command."

"You mean that the leading characters are officers, don't you?"

"Yes."

"But Captain Queeg is in command."

"Yes."

"And Maryk and Keefer and the others are all subordinate officers."

"Yes."

"And the conflict is between them."

"Yes."

"The conflict is between the man in command and those below him in rank."

"If you wish to put it that way, yes."

"Is there another way to put it, Mr. Constantine?"

"I am merely saying that this is only
one
of the paths a war story can take."

"But this is a very natural development that has been utilized time and again by a great many writers producing works about men in war."

"Yes, I would say so."

"Would you also say that another possible development would be a conflict between an officer and a
specific
enlisted man?"

"That's one of the possible developments, yes."

"Such as the conflict between Roger Mason and Corporal Janus in your play, and the conflict between Alex Cooper and Private Colman in
The Paper Dragon
."

"Is that a question?"

"The question is would you consider this conflict a natural development in a work dealing with an Army combat squad?"

"I don't know if it is a natural development or not. It was a development of
mine
when I was writing the play."

"Do you claim it as a
unique
development?"

"I claim it as an integral part of my play. In that respect…"

"But not unique."

"Not unique, but—"

"Thank you, Mr. Constantine. Would you also—"

"I would like to finish what I—"

"You have sufficiently answered the question."

"I'd like to hear what he has to say, Mr. Willow," McIntyre said. "Go on, please."

"I was going to say that simply because a line of development is a natural one doesn't mean that two separate writers would automatically choose it as their approach. If we pick apart the play and the novel, piece by piece…"

"I am prepared to do
exactly
that," Willow said.

"… the isolated pieces and fragments would
seem
to be coincidental, I mean the similarities between them would seem coincidental. But when we put them all together, we're presented with overwhelming evidence of…" Arthur hesitated.

"Yes, Mr. Constantine?"

"Of copying," Arthur said.

"You seemed reluctant to use the word."

"I don't like to call a man a thief."

"But that's exactly what you've done in your complaint," Willow said and paused. "
Do
you or do you
not
believe Mr. Driscoll copied your play?"

"Actually sat down and copied it, I don't know. I mean, I don't know if he actually had a copy of my play on his desk while he was writing his novel."

"You are aware, are' you not, Mr. Constantine, that access must be proved in a plagiarism case?"

"I have been so informed by my attorneys."

"But you don't know whether or not James Driscoll actually
possessed
a copy of your play when he was writing his novel?"

"I was not there when he was writing his novel."

"Please answer the question, Mr. Constantine."

"No, I don't know if he had a copy." Arthur paused. "But if he didn't have one, then he must have seen the play."

"When it was performed in New York, do you mean?"

"I don't know when. The similarities are too astonishing for someone who did not have prior knowledge—"

"We are here to decide whether there
are
similarities, Mr. Constantine, astonishing or otherwise. In the meantime, do you believe that James Driscoll saw your play during its brief twelve-day run at the Fulton Theatre in October of 1947?"

"I don't know."

"But you testified that he must have seen it."

"Yes."

"Well,
when
do you think he saw it?"

Arthur glanced at Brackman, and Brackman nodded. "There was also a series of previews," Arthur said.

"Are these the previews you testified to during the direct examination yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Did you personally distribute the tickets to those previews?"

"I did not."

"Who was responsible for the distribution?"

"Our press agent."

"How do you know they were distributed?"

"I was told."

"Then all you know about the distribution is what you were told."

"Well, we were concerned with getting a representative college audience."

"Yes, but all you actually
know
about the distribution is what you were told, is that true?"

"Yes. But I know the tickets were sent out to various colleges and universities."

"Do you know
which
colleges and universities?"

"Yes."

"Of your
own
knowledge?"

"No. The names of the schools were given to me."

"By whom?"

"We had a meeting and decided we wanted this play to be seen by representative college kids, and we decided to distribute a limited amount of free tickets."

"
Who
gave you the names of the colleges to which the tickets were actually sent, Mr. Constantine?"

"I don't remember exactly who. It could have been anybody involved with the show, though it was most likely the man who was handling our press for us, I'm not sure."

"All you know is that somebody said something about having sent these tickets out."

"That's right."

"Which schools, to your recollection, were these mysterious tickets sent to?"

"Objection," Brackman said.

"Sustained."

"Which schools received these tickets, Mr. Constantine? Would you name them, please?"

"I named them yesterday."

"Please do it again, would you?"

"They were sent to City College, Hunter, Brooklyn College, L.I.U., Pratt Institute, and Fordham, I believe."

"You
believe
?"

"I believe they were sent to Fordham. I'm not sure about Fordham."

"But you
are
sure about Pratt Institute?"

"Yes, I am."

"Are you aware, Mr. Constantine, that in 1947 Pratt Institute was a highly specialized school teaching art, engineering, library, and home economics?"

"Architecture, I thought," Arthur said.

"Yes, as part of its art program. Were you aware of that?"

"I thought it was primarily an architectural school."

"In any case, more than half the students there at the time were taking courses like Industrial Design, or Illustration, or Food and Clothing. Would you agree that it was a highly specialized school?"

"Yes."

"And yet, in your search for 'a representative college audience'—I believe that was your exact language — you included Pratt among these other schools?"

"Yes."

"Did you know that James Driscoll was a student at Pratt Institute in 1947?"

"I didn't know that."

"You've never heard that before, Mr. Constantine?"

"I knew he was a student at Pratt Institute, but not that he was there in 1947."

"In other words, when you testified that free tickets were sent to Pratt Institute in 1947 — a highly specialized school, even though you were looking for a representative college audience — when you so testified, you were not aware that James Driscoll had been a student there at the time?"

"I was aware that Mr. Driscoll went to Pratt Institute, but I had no knowledge as to the date, I just told you that. If you want to know whether I think Mr. Driscoll could have seen my play in performance,
yes
, I think he could have seen it."

"That was not my question."

"It seemed to be your question."

"It was
not
. I'll rephrase it so that it will be perfectly clear to you. Do you not feel, Mr. Constantine, that your having sent free tickets to Pratt Institute at the very time James Driscoll was a student there is a remarkable coincidence?"

"I do not. To the best of my knowledge, we sent the tickets to Pratt. If Driscoll happened to be a student there at the time, that's a plain fact, and there's nothing coincidental about it."

"Thank you." Willow sighed and walked toward the defense table. He leafed through a batch of papers his assistant handed to him, his back to Arthur all the while. Apprehensively, Arthur waited for Willow to turn toward him again. Brackman caught his eye and nodded encouragingly.

"Mr. Constantine," Willow said, walking slowly toward him, "you have testified that you served in the United States Army during World War II."

"I did."

"Were you an officer?"

"I was a second lieutenant."

"Like the character in your play?"

"In that he was a second lieutenant also, yes."

"Were you in command of a platoon?"

"I was."

"How many men were in the platoon?"

"Forty-one."

"As in your play?"

"As in
any
Army platoon during World War II."

"What was the composition of this platoon?"

"What do you mean?"

"What sort of men were in it?"

"I still don't understand you."

"Where were they from, what was their education, their racial or religious background, and so on?"

"I don't remember. There were all types of men in the platoon. And there were replacements from time to time. I can't remember all the background details of each man."

"Was there a man from New York City in your platoon? Besides yourself, I mean."

"I think so."

"Was there a Southerner?"

"There might have been."

"And possibly someone from the Middle West? Or California?"

"Possibly."

"Men of high school or college education perhaps?"

"Perhaps."

"Was there a Catholic?"

"Yes."

"And a Protestant, and a Jew?"

"There could have been. I don't remember."

"Was there a Negro?"

"No."

"The Army was not integrated at that time, was it?"

"No."

"Was there an Italian in your platoon?"

"Yes."

"Was this the only platoon you ever commanded, Mr. Constantine?"

"I commanded several other platoons later on. And when I made captain, I was given command of a company. This was shortly before I was discharged."

"Would you say that the composition of these other platoons you commanded was roughly the same as that of the first one? In terms of background?"

"Roughly, yes."

"There were New Yorkers possibly, or Southerners, or men from California or the Middle West. There were Catholics and Protestants and Jews. There were men of Irish descent or Italian descent. There was, if you will, a cross-section of America."

"I would say so."

"Do you suppose this was true of
any
platoon in the United States Army during World War II?"

"I would suppose so."

"Do you suppose it was also true of any platoon in the United States Army during the
Korean
conflict?"