Imaginary Latvian Chairman of the New York Latvian Society
in the Paramount Pictures film “Beau James” (1957), starring Bob Hope and Vera Miles
Chairman: “Godātie viesi! Senatoram Volkera kungam gan jau kopš pusstundas vajadzēja būt šeit…un es nezinu kāpēc…bet es domāju, ja Jūs vēl mazlietiņ drusciņ paciestos…es domāju, ka viņš ieradīsies…katrā ziņā…Ā, tur jau viņš arī nāk! [applause]
Chairman: Tautieši! Kā redziet, mūsu augsti godātais viesis beidzot tomēr ir ieradies.
Jimmy Walker: I’m getting a little mixed up… Who are these people?
George Jessel: I don’t know, Jim. This is our sixth banquet tonight and everybody looks the same.
Chairman: …un proti, par James J. Walker!
Chairman: (whispering to Jimmy) Tagad ne, tagad ne…
Chairman: …mūsu kandidātu, Ņujorkas pilsētas galvu…
Jimmy Walker: What language is he talking?
George Jessel: Sounds like gesundheit to me.
Chairman: …cienījamo un mīļo Jimmy Walker!
Chaiman: [to Jimmy] Tagad ne.
Chairman: …mūsu mīļo Jimmy Walker ir audzinājs viņa mīļais tēvs, kas pats šajā zemē ir ieradies nesen kā nabadzīgs īru emigrants. Bet ar centību. Bet tāpēc, mēs visi kopā vēlēsim šai Ņujorkas pilsētas augstākajā amatā mūsu mīļo senatoru! Mūsu…George Jessel. [applause]
George: I want to thank the Chairman for his very warm remarks. And now, without further ado, I bring you a man who speaks everybody’s language. The honorable James J. “Jimmy” Walker, the next mayor of the great City of New York. [applause]
Jimmy: May I close?
George: Well, they’re having Jell-O for dessert.
Jimmy: Thank you, Sherlock Holmes.
Jimmy: My friends, on the way to the hotel tonight I drove through Central Park, past the heroic statue of Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kościuszko, that great Polish patriot.
Jimmy: It reminded me that New York owes its greatness to many races. There are statues on the streets to that friend of democracy, Giuseppe Garibaldi. The Marquis de Lafayette. Simon Bolivar. Karl Marx? But greatness is not a matter of geography. New York’s sons have come to her from Albania…Bulgaria… Denmark…Latvia. [applause]
You know, when I got up to speak I didn’t know who you were. And now that I’ve found out, it really doesn’t matter. Because when you step into that voting booth, you’re Americans, which means you can vote for whoever you want to. And I will be very, very proud if it’s for James J. Walker.
Betty Compton: Have some Jell-O. You always could talk your way out of anything.
