Original subtitles

[José Feliciano] One, two, a-one, two, three and...

[guitar playing]

♪ Chico, don't be discouraged ♪

♪ The man, he ain't so hard to understand ♪

♪ Chico, if you try now ♪

♪ I know that you can lend a helping hand ♪

♪ Because there's good in everyone ♪

♪ And a new day has begun ♪

♪ You can see the morning sun if you try ♪

♪ And I know things will be better ♪

♪ Oh, yes, they will for Chico and the Man ♪

♪ Yes, they will for Chico and the Man ♪

♪ Even though he's funny, he don't understand, yeah ♪

[whistles]

Good morning.

I don't know what's wrong with her.

She's been stalling on me.

And I brought...

I-I brought her in so that you could look at her.

Now, it could be -- It could be dust in the carburetors.

It could be the spark plugs.

So I thought it would be a good idea if you looked at the car.

Can you read lips?

I want you to look at my car.

Do you know who you are?

You're Sammy Davis Jr.!

That's right.

[laughs]

[laughing]

Look at my car.

Oh, Sammy Davis Jr.

I can't believe.

What's not to believe? Even if it's an expensive car,

it breaks down once in a while, man.

Hey, my name is Chico Rodriguez, man. I'm a mechanic.

I've been a big fan of yours a long time.

I got two of your albums, man.

- You have two of my albums? - Yeah.

You can have three if you'll stop breaking my wrist

and fix my car.

Yeah.

All right.

Oh!

Oh, that's a Sammy Davis Jr. car, man.

Diamonds on the spark plugs.

Can you fix it?

Is a pig pork?

I wouldn't know.

I want to show you something. I'll fix it.

But let me show you something.

♪ Mr. Bojangles ♪

♪ Mr. Bojangles ♪

♪ Bum, bum, bum, bum ♪

♪ Mr. Bojangles ♪

♪ Dance ♪

Hey! Bravo!

Very, very, very good.

Now, would you do me an encore?

[Chico] Sure. What do you want?

I want you to fix my car.

Sure, sit it right here, Mr. Davis. Right here.

Let me pour you a nice cup of coffee.

No, hold it. You fix the car, and I'll pour the coffee. Okay?

Good thinking.

Did I mention I was a songwriter?

No, you did-- You didn't mention that.

Dig this.

♪ I feel like a wheel on Route 49 ♪

♪ I'm humming and I'm coming to that old gal of mine ♪

How was that?

If Mac Davis comes in,

give him that song.

I'm Sammy Davis.

Fix my car.

You got it.

I got a dozen of them, man. How about this one?

♪ I had a little girl named Alice Brown ♪

[vocalizing]

♪ She's the finest girl in town ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

You need the band.

Come here a second.

Do me a favor. Fix my car for me, Chico.

And then after you fix the car,

I'll listen to every song you've ever written. All right?

It'll be done in five minutes.

There you go, my man.

♪ Stick out your can, here come the garbage man ♪

Whoo-whee!

That's it. That's it.

The whole neighborhood's auditioning.

The Candyman!

Ain't this a killer! The Candyman!

I want you mean a close friend.

Louie, this is Sammy Davis Jr.

Hello, Louie. How do you do?

Well, I do what I do best.

You see, in the daytime,

I'm the local sanitation engineer, and at nighttime,

I'm a songwriter.

Oh.

He's mine, man.

I mean...

Come here. I think it's the carburetor, Mr. Davis.

Mr. Candyman. Brother Candyman.

Would you mind if the garbage man told you something?

Well, anything you can offer that will help us.

Well, to begin with, I've been a fan of yours

ever since I was a little kid.

[chuckles]

Why did I turn left instead of right?

Well, then you would have never met us.

And that would have been a tragedy, wouldn't it?

Well, Brother Candyman,

the garbage man gotta finish making his rounds.

So I'll see you in a couple hours.

Then we can rap some more.

Yeah.

Yeah.

♪ You marvelous ♪

♪ You marvelous ♪

♪ You're marvelous ♪

That's you!

I wrote that last night.

Uh, Mr. Davis, could you show me something here?

I'm not familiar with this machine.

What is that?

[Sammy] That would be the carburetor

[Chico] How about that?

[Sammy] That's the fuel injection.

[Chico] What's that?

[Sammy] That's a distributor.

And under the manifold, you'll find the spark plugs.

Who is that?

That Ed Brown, our resident master mechanic.

Oh, hello, Mr. Brown. I--

Would you excuse me just a second?

Okay. What's the problem?

She keeps stalling on me.

Why do people always come into my garage

when they're in trouble?

I think I got another one.

Why don't you take better care of this car?

Well, you see, Mr. Brown, I've been a little busy.

Ed, do you know who this is?

I don't care who it is. We don't take personal checks.

I'll give you a teeny weeny hint.

♪ Mr. Bojangles ♪

Okay, Mr. Jangles, get in the car.

Ed, you have to take a good look at him.

No, he don't. He just has to fix my car.

[engine starts]

Okay, turn it off.

You got carbon in the spark plugs and maybe something else.

This may take a little time to fix.

Would you excuse me?

They make a proper introduction.

Sammy Davis Jr., this is Ed Brown.

- Hello, Mr. Brown. - Hi.

I think your fuel injection is clogged up, too.

Ed, do the name Sammy Davis Jr. ring a bell?

Oh, I always thought you were shorter.

Ed Brown. Yeah.

Eddie Brown. I know you!

Well, you should. We've just been introduced.

No, I mean -- would you mind?

I mean, I know you're from the old days in vaudeville,

with my dad and uncle.

We worked together. You were a juggler.

Wrong.

Wait a minute. It'll come to me.

Ah, I got it.

Jersey City Majestic Theater.

1950. You were a magician.

Magician?

The only thing you ever tried to make disappear was me.

You got the wrong Ed Brown, Sammy.

Wrong. He's got the right Ed Brown.

But the wrong year. It was 1951.

And the wrong act. I was a hoofer.

Now hand me those spark plugs.

That's right.

You mean you were a dancer like Fred Astaire?

Yes. I used both feet.

If it hadn't been for Ed here,

I probably would have never become a star.

You mean he taught you all you know?

Well, no, not exactly, but my dad and uncle

and I had a big break coming, an audition in New York.

And on the way to New York, our car broke down.

If Ed hadn't been on the road and help us fix the car,

we'd have never made it to New York.

Forget it. I had as much to do with your success

as the guy who hands Hank Aaron his bat.

Mail call! Mail call!

Hello, Chico.

Hello, Ed.

Did anyone ever tell you that you look just like

Sammy Davis Jr.

My father did once.

But you're not.

No, of course not.

Mabel, did you ever see Sammy Davis Jr.? Huh?

Oh, lots of times.

On television, that is.

I wouldn't spend a dime to see him in person.

Would you?

Of course not.

You know, you're really a dead ringer for him.

Must be aggravating,

looking like a man who's lost all his talent.

If I were you, I'd grow a beard.

Something.

[Sammy] Nice meeting you.

Sam. You got to forgive her.

I think she got that way from being chased by too many dogs.

That lady don't like me.

No. No. She likes you.

It's Sammy Davis she doesn't like.

Hey, Ed, I just remembered.

You remember this step that you used to close the act with?

It was not the actual closing step.

It was like, near it. It went like this.

Come on. You got it all wrong.

Went like this.

- That's wrong? - Wrong?

Wrong. I'll show you. Wait till I show.

[vocalizing]

- No, went like this. - We'll do it together.

[laughing]

Let me see more.

All right, cut. Back to the car.

Back to the car.

Well, that's about it. That was just the number five plug there.

- That should do it. - Yep.

- You mean it's all finished? - It's all finished.

Gee, that's marvelous. How much do I owe you?

Well, let's see. For parts and labor, make it $8.

All right.

Certainly is fun to do business with an old friend.

Yeah.

Good seeing you.

Same here.

And keep the change.

Hey, this is a $20.

Well, isn't that enough?

Enough?

How dare you try to tip me!

Ed, take it easy.

- Shut up. - [speaking Spanish]

Ed, look, you know what show business is.

If you make it and you get hot...

Look, Ed, I'm Sammy Davis Jr.

I mean, I-I got to tip big.

Look at the car!

That's right. That's not a tricycle, man.

He can't give you a nickel.

That's all I need to do is be a nickel tipper.

It'd be in all the gossip columns

in Hollywood and everything.

"Sammy Davis Jr. think he big time

He going around giving people nickel tips,

that little jive turkey."

Well, let me tell you something, buddy.

You can't tip me. I'm the boss.

You can tip me. I'm the employee.

Shut up!

Here. Here's your change.

Goodbye.

Well, I got to split, old buddy. Catch you later.

Hey, wait a minute.

You said after the car fixed, you'd listen to my songs.

Well, I tell you what. Put them on tape

and send them to me, and I'll listen to them.

[engine sputters]

[engine sputters]

[whistles]

It won't start.

Terrific! Now you can stay and listen to my song.

Ed, tell me what I can do, because what I did,

I will make sure that I will not do again.

I'll tell you what you can do. You can apologize.

I apologize?!

I accept your apology.

Okay. Okay. You got a point.

I -- Well, I guess I sometimes forget

that little guys get very sensitive about tipping.

Who are you calling a little guy?

Listen, let me tell you something about us little guys.

Wait a minute. You called yourself a little guy.

All right for me to call myself a little guy.

We don't like big guys calling us that.

That means you owe me another apology.

Ed, listen to me carefully.

For whatever I said in the past

and whatever I may say in the future,

I apologize.

Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?

I apologize for that, too.

- Okay. - Okay. [chuckles]

Ah, yeah.

You know something, man?

You're not a little guy. You're a big guy.

Yeah. And you're not a big guy, Sammy. You're a...

You're a nice guy.

Thank you.

This is out of sight. How'd you do this?

Nothing to it, man. We met each other half way.

I apologized, and he accepted it.

Well, that calls for a little coffee.

All just in the proper timing.

Your car is ready, and so am I.

My first number is rhythm and blues.

Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute, Chico.

Look, it's been so kind of hazardous around here.

If you even played something for me,

I couldn't concentrate on it, so I tell you what I'll do.

I got to split now, but I'll keep in touch.

All right?

Hey, wait a minute. You're brushing the kid off.

Ed, I have been here all day!

Did you hear that? All day!

Now, I'm not going to stay here another minute!

All right. Maybe another minute.

But, Chico, you only have to play a chorus of it

because I can tell right away, with one chorus,

whether it's good or bad, okay?

[tuning guitar]

Why don't you sing it a cappella?

I'm almost ready.

Okay. This is the way I see it.

You come out on stage, you're wearing a purple

velvet tuxedo with a yellow satin shirt,

black tie, and you have black patent leather shoes,

and instead of bows, something very kinky--

bells on your shoes.

Bells on my shoes?

Well, you got rings on your fingers.

But don't you think that bells are a little too much?

Okay, just wear them on one shoe.

Okay, now, the way I see it, the announcer says,

"Ladies and gentlemen, Caesars Palace

is proud to present the one,

the only, America's greatest entertainer,

star of stage, screen, and television,

Mr. Sammy Davis, Jr.!"

Ba-dum!

You come out on stage, look very humble,

and you say, "Ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to introduce a new song tonight

by a brilliant new sensational songwriter

by the name of Chico Rodriguez."

[imitating cheering]

[imitating cheering]

[imitating cheering]

Now, after my name is mentioned and the applause dies down,

you go into this number.

♪ How foolish can I be? ♪

♪ Where is that love for me? ♪

♪ Could it be that you are she ♪

♪ Where will we meet? On a street car ♪

♪ In a neighborhood bar, on a hill from afar ♪

♪ Where will we meet, my love? ♪

Why don't you put it on tape and send it to me,

and I'll get my publisher to listen to it, okay?

Wait a minute! How dare you do that to this poor boy?

Encourage him to think this song can be published. It's terrible.

It has potential, doesn't it, Sammy?

Well, they walked on the moon.

Come on, Sam. Stop being a nice guy.

You know that song is rotten.

Well, Chico, it ain't the greatest, you know?

But, hey, man, the fact that this one doesn't make it

doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep on

writing and trying.

Well, I got another one. You want to hear a rock number?

Hold, hold, hold.

What I really want to hear

is the bark of my friendly dog when I go home.

Woof, woof, woof. That's what I want to hear.

My dog is home. I will be home soon to pet him.

I have got to leave.

Now, I'll be in touch. That is it.

I am leaving. Pray for the car to start.

Wait a minute. What you're saying is,

"Don't call us, we'll call you," right?

Wrong, Ed!

You're absolutely wrong.

And to prove that you're wrong,

I'll invite both of you over to the house tonight for dinner.

And after dinner, you can go into my little private

recording studio and record all your songs on tape.

Okay?

How about that? Dinner with Sammy Davis Jr.?

Why not? My wife Altovise and I are having some people over,

and we're having a little dinner party tonight.

Sure. What do we do at that party?

Make fools of ourselves, huh? I know.

You just want to show you haven't lost touch

with the common man.

Oh, I can see it all now.

As we enter the house, a voice over the loudspeaker says,

"And here comes two of Sammy's closest friends,

a dirty old, greasy mechanic and his helper."

How dare you invite us to your party?

Get out of my garage!

♪ It's the man of the hour with that good pizza power ♪

Hey, I knew you'd still be here.

Now, maybe you can stay for supper and we can

rap some more.

- We can rap some more? - Yeah!

And you want me to stay for supper?

Sure!

I wouldn't have dinner here,

well, let me put it this way to you.

I'd rather be a fireman in "The Towering Inferno."

After what they've done to me here today.

I don't understand how a guy gets--

I'm good to everybody. I try to be a regular guy.

My car gets stalled. I pull into a garage.

What happens to me? It's very simple.

I run it to a handsome young mechanic.

He's a bad mechanic.

And on top of that, he writes bad songs.

He cannot fix my car.

Then all of a sudden, here you come in.

♪ Hey, stick out your can ♪

♪ Here come the garbage man ♪

Right?

Now you do all of that.

"I'm gonna be back. I'm gonna be back.

You marvelous. You marvelous. You marvelous."

And then after that comes down an old man.

I recognize him as a friend from vaudeville days

with my dad and uncle.

He was so charming in those days.

Now only thing he does is this.

"Get out of my garage!"

I offer his a tip, he's insulted.

I apologize, he accepts it.

And the next second, he says I'm brushing his kid.

Oh, I forgot to mention. "Mail call! Mail call!"

Hello, Ed. Hello, kid.

Now, on top of that, every time I say something to Ed,

he's got his buddy over there going,

[imitating Spanish]

And you have, Lou,

you of all people, a soul brother,

have "dee gall"...

"dee gall" to ask me, do I want something to eat?

Well, before I tell you, let me just say this.

I've got one thing fixed dead center in my mind.

One question I want to ask.

- What's that? - What's that?

Are there any anchovies on that pizza?

Yes! Get it, man! Get it!

[indistinct chatter]

- [Ed] Gimme a slice of that. - [Sammy] The boss.

[Ed] The boss first.

- Yeah. - Yeah. Oh.

- Mm. - Mm.

- Mm... - Dynamite.

And, incidentally, you were wrong about the step.

- Yeah? - I remember very well.

And I'm right. It went like this.

No, no.

- No, no. - No, no. You're both wrong.

It went like this.

Well, I'm back in a trio again.

Well, will you ever forget dinner tonight?

How can I forget it?

Those anchovies are still laying in my stomach.

Well, it was nice seeing Sammy again, wasn't it?

Yeah. Really was.

Except it brings back a lot of, well, memories.

You miss show business, don't you?

Miss show business? Are you kidding?

Those one night stands, those terrible train trips,

those fleabag hotels, the terrible food.

Are you kidding? Do I miss that?

Do you?

No.

I'm going to go tell all the fellas.

They're never going to believe me.

- I'll see you later. - Okay.

Eh...

He was wrong about that step.

We'll have to see.

[José Feliciano] ♪ Chico was born in El Barrio ♪

♪ Spent much of his time in the street ♪

♪ His mind was craving for knowledge ♪

♪ His belly for something to eat ♪

♪ But times are hard ♪

♪ For Chico and the Man ♪

♪ Times are hard ♪

♪ For Chico and the Man ♪

♪ Hey, hey, hey, alright ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah ♪