"Do you consider this theme unique?" Brackman asked.
"I do not, sir."
"Do you consider it original?"
"I do not, sir."
"Do you consider it your exclusive property?"
"No sir. But this suit is not based on a similarity of theme alone. In fact, if my play had developed its theme along certain lines and the novel had developed the very same theme along different lines, I would never have brought suit at all."
"How are these themes developed?"
"They are developed along identical lines," Arthur said. "To begin with, the hero of my play is shipped to the Pacific to wage war against the Japanese on Eniwetok. The hero of The Paper Dragon is also shipped to the Pacific to wage war, this time against the enemy forces in Korea. Now the men in the platoon to which the lieutenant is assigned, and specifically the men who are in one squad of that platoon—"
"Excuse me," Brackman said, "but are we discussing plot or character?"
"This is plot," Arthur said.
"Very well, go on."
"The men in the squad are described in Act I, Scene 1, page 3 of my play as 'battle-weary and battle-hardened.' In the book, the men in the squad are described with the words — may I have a copy of the book, please?"
"Certainly," Brackman said. The clerk handed him the exhibit copy, which he in turn handed to Arthur. Arthur quickly found the page.
"These are the words Driscoll uses to describe his squad. This is on page 42. 'Weary-eyed and cynical, they studied their new lieutenant in his college boy crewcut and freshly issued fatigues, and wondered how he could possibly lead them into hell.' In short, the men in both combat squads are hardened veterans in juxtaposition to inexperienced commanding officers — and the word 'weary' is used to describe them in both works."
"Go on, please."
"The first time Lieutenant Mason — who is the hero of my play — leads his platoon into battle, this particular squad is ambushed and a young private is killed by a sniper. In the book, this basic situation has been altered only slightly. The lieutenant's name has been changed, of course — to Cooper — and the incident of the sniper takes place before his arrival in Korea. It is a major this time who is killed by a sniper who has infiltrated the lines. That's on page 18. But the plot development is essentially the same, and it continues along parallel lines.
"In my play, for example, the men come to resent Mason enormously because they hold him responsible for the private's death. This is stated in Act I, Scene 3, pages 14 and 15. And whereas Mason tries to reach them in various ways, they remain resentful. In the book, the men resent Cooper because he is taking the dead major's place. That's page 51. The same attempts to reach the men are present, and the same continuing resentment is there. Moreover, the biggest troublemaker in Cooper's platoon is a man named Private Colman, and it is implied on page 56 that he has had homosexual relations with the dead major."
"You mean when he was alive, of course," Brackman said, and McIntyre burst into laughter. "I was trying to clarify," Brackman said quickly, "the relationship between—"
"Yes, of course," McIntyre said, still laughing. "Go ahead, Mr. Constantine."
"I mention this homosexual attachment," Arthur said, "only because in my play, a senior officer is also suspected of homosexuality and is sent back from the front to a hospital unit. This is in Act II, Scene 2, pages 6 and 7. It is there that he becomes the patient of an Army nurse who later falls in love with my hero. I think it is significant that an Army nurse appears in The Paper Dragon on page 124, and that a love affair between her and Lieutenant Cooper develops along lines parallel to my play."
"Your Honor," Willow said, rising, "I wonder if I might interrupt to ask Mr. Brackman how long this will take. I think we all agree that the final test in a case of this sort is a comparison of the works themselves. Mr. Constantine's opinion as to similarities is not in my judgment competent testimony. Couldn't we shorten this by putting in a paper calling your Honor's attention to the alleged similarities? I would certainly have no objection to that. But if Mr. Constantine intends to go on interminably, I must raise an objection."
"Mr. Brackman?" McIntyre asked. "What do you say to that?"
"I quite agree with Mr. Willow that a comparison of the works themselves is the heart of the issue involved here. But that is exactly what we are doing, your Honor, comparing the works themselves. As for the second objection, Mr. Constantine's testimony is definitely competent, and I believe precedent will so indicate."
"How much longer do you suppose he will be testifying, Mr. Brackman? Concerning these similarities?"
"The similarities of plot, do you mean?"
"I mean all the similarities."
"There are several more similarities of plot, your Honor, and then we had hoped to go into character and specific language."
"Won't there be an overlap between plot and character?"
"Only to a limited extent."
"How long will it take to outline the plot similarities?"
"Mr. Constantine?"
"Only five or ten minutes, your Honor," Arthur answered.
"And the others?"
"At least forty-five minutes, your Honor," Brackman said. "Perhaps longer."
"Well, I notice that Mr. Constantine has been making frequent reference to the prepared charts. Couldn't we simply submit those, as Mr. Willow suggested? I know you want the Court to form an impression of your witness, but I feel we've already done that sufficiently. I do think any means of saving time would be appreciated."
"Your Honor, I would prefer to do it this way," Brackman said. "It it will help, perhaps the witness can leave out the specific page references wherever possible."
"I stand on my objection," Willow said. "I do not see why Mr. Constantine cannot testify that he prepared these charts, and then offer them in evidence as an aid to the Court. Solely as an aid to the Court, your Honor, and not as expert testimony. To that, I would have no objection."
"Mr. Willow, I don't like to limit an attorney's latitude," McIntyre said. "If Mr. Brackman wishes to present his case in this manner, I think it only fair to allow him to proceed. But if he can think of another way to shorten the testimony, in addition to eliminating page numbers, I think we would all be enormously grateful."
"If he's going to eliminate page references," Willow said, "can he supply a list of them so—"
"I assumed…"
"Yes, of course."
"… that he planned to do that, Mr. Willow."
"So that we may have them for reference during the cross, your Honor."
"Certainly. Please proceed, Mr. Constantine."
"In order to save time," Arthur said, "it might be possible to combine plot and character in explaining these three soldiers. Would you want me to do that?"
"Which three soldiers?" McIntyre asked.
"Private Colman in the novel, and Corporal Janus and Colonel Peterson in my play."
"Yes, please do," McIntyre said. "We would appreciate any means of saving time."
"Just so we can keep this straight," Arthur said, "let me again say that Private Colman is the prime troublemaker in the novel, and is also suspected of having had homosexual relations with the major. In fact, there is a stream-of-consciousness passage beginning on page 212—"
"We want to leave out the page references," Brackman reminded.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I was going to say that this interior monologue clearly indicates, beyond mere suspicion, that Private Colman did have homosexual relations with the major. In my play, the prime troublemaker is a man named Corporal Janus, but in addition there is the homosexual colonel who is sent up for observation — he later goes psycho, but that's beside the point. The point is the two characters in my play, Corporal Janus and Colonel Peterson, are combined in Driscoll's book to form the single character named Private Colman. In other words, Driscoll has taken a troublemaker and a homosexual and put them together to form a homosexual troublemaker."