:20:01
Just a minute.
What does the chairman do?
:20:05
Well, the chairman
presides the meeting.
:20:08
That's what I thought.
:20:10
But, if you don't mind, I'm rather
interested in the treasurer's report.
:20:12
The treasurer reports a deficit
of $180,000 for the current year.
:20:22
A deficit? We lost that much?
:20:26
You see, Mr Deeds, the opera
is not conducted for profit.
:20:28
- It isn't? What is it conducted for?
- It's an artistic institution.
:20:32
- We own an opera house, don't we?
- We do.
:20:36
- And we give shows?
- We provide opera.
:20:39
- But you charge? You sell tickets?
- Of course.
:20:42
- And it doesn't pay?
- Impossible. The opera has never paid.
:20:45
Well, we must give
the wrong kind of shows.
:20:49
There isn't any wrong or right kind.
Opera is opera.
:20:51
I guess, but I wouldn't care to be head
of a business that kept losing money.
:20:55
That's not common sense. Incidentally,
where is the $180,000 coming from?
:21:00
Well, we were rather expecting it
to come from you.
:21:05
- Me?
- Naturally.
:21:09
Excuse me, gentlemen.
There's nothing natural about that.
:21:11
Fire engine!
:21:19
Gee, that was a pip!
:21:28
We're gonna have one like that in
Mandrake Falls soon, with a siren too.
:21:30
Where were we?
:21:34
The opera is not conducted
like any ordinary business.
:21:35
- Why not?
- Because it just isn't a business.
:21:38
Maybe not to you,
but it certainly is to me,
:21:42
if I have to make up a loss
of $180,000.
:21:44
If it's losing that much,
something's wrong.
:21:48
Maybe you charge too much,
sell bad merchandise.
:21:50
A lot of things.
:21:53
You see, I expect to do
a lot of good with that money,
:21:55
and I can't afford to put it
into anything I don't look into.
:21:58
That's my decision
for the time being, gentlemen.