"Are You With It?" is a 1948 movie starring Donald O'connor
as an Actuary who makes a mistake. He is so mortified he
leaves Nutmeg Insurance Company. By a chance meeting in a
park he ends up joining a traveling carnival. While there he
uses his mathematical talents to save the carnival and get
back his old job and girl he loves. Two times in the movie
he uses his slide rule. The first time was when he had
figured out how one of the slot machines worked and hit the
jackpot. The script reads; "And he got out his slide rule
and checked it against that bit of mental arithmetic." The
second time is at the last scene when his soon to be wife
reminds him of another mistake regarding his prediction
about the weather. It is about to rain, but by now in the
course of the movie he is much more relaxed. The script
reads; "Vivian gave Milton an accusing look. 'You said it
wouldn't rain for three more days.' Milton pulled out his
slide rule and started to work at it, then he changed his
mind. He shrugged, and then he grinned, and he took Vivian
in his arms. 'So I made a mistake,' he said. 'You know,
honey, a guy can have an awful lot of fun making mistakes!'
"
Editor's Note: This seems like a great way to handle
mistakes. Think I'll try it next time. Regards, Bill
Robinson