"I don't know if it was unique or not."
"Have you ever heard the expression 'ninety-day wonder,' Mr. Constantine?"
"I have."
"It was a common expression, was it not?"
"It was a derogatory expression."
"But common. You did, in fact, use this very expression in your play. One of the enlisted men refers to Lieutenant Mason as a ninety-day wonder, doesn't he?"
"Yes, I suppose so. I don't recall exactly."
"Let me refresh your memory then," Willow said, and turned again toward the defense table.
"I'll take your word…"
"Here we are," Willow said, leafing through the manuscript. "Act I, Scene 1, page 4. This is Corporal Janus speaking. He says, 'Another ninety-day wonder. I wonder how long he'll last.' Do you recall the speech now?"
"If it's there, I recall it."
"It is here, Mr. Constantine. As a matter of fact, you cited it only yesterday in referring to one of your specific character similarities."
"Yes, I remember now."
"When you wrote your play, you were undoubtedly fully aware of what the Army called 'ninety-day wonders,' weren't you?"
"I suppose I was."
"And therefore you must have also been aware that so-called ninety-day wonders were not unique, Mr. Constantine."
"Yes."
"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."