
The Paper Chase (1978)
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Philip Leacock — Director
Episodes 3
A Day in the Life of . . .
Hart asks Kingsfield to answer a question before he thoroughly researched the case himself. As a penalty, Kingsfield gives Hart additional research that is due the following morning. Hart is lost in thought while bicycling across campus, and is struck by a car driven by Leanne Laski, the president of the Law Review. Meanwhile, Bell misplaces his Property outline (actually stolen by Ford, as a prank). Elsewhere, Logan is arrested when her off-hand legal advice to some high school girls results in a riot at the girls' private school.
Read MoreDa Da
This episode focuses on Tom Clayton, the guy with the ""photographic memory"" in the study group. Early in the episode Kingsfield intimidates Tom to the point he is incapable of speaking and freezes up. In an effort to ""start at the very beginning"" and teach him how to talk again, Kingsfield tells him to say ""da da"". In this episode Tom's wife, Karen, announces she's pregnant. Faced with stresses due to his (losing) struggle with law school and the further complication of having a child, Tom goes on a drinking binge and falls behind in Kingsfield's class. In an all-night cram session, where members of the class impersonate Kingsfield, Tom is helped to learn to synthesize the material he so easily memorizes into fully developed ideas and he is able to make a good showing in the actual class the next day.
Read MoreThe Tables Down at Ernie's
This episode further develops Kingsfield's character and fleshes-out his past. It begins with the news that Ernie's bar, a favorite campus hangout for generations, will be closed along with the other small businesses on the block. All the buildings will then be razed for parking for a new gym the college is building. Kingsfield has been retained by the school to represent the school's interest in the project. Meanwhile, Hart has taken on the cause to save Ernie's (where he works) and he confronts Kingsfield in his office. After some difficulty finding a lawyer who will take the case, Hart appeals to Kingsfield's nostalgic side by telling him he knows that he frequented that establishment back in his law school days in the 1930's because there is a table with his initials carved in it. This sparks some distant memory in Kingsfield's mind and he pays a visit to Ernie's. It so happens that the original Ernie, Sr. is there at the same time and they recognize each other and reminisce
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