Original subtitles

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

[SIRENS WAILING]

Three minutes of.

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

I'm going around back.

I'm gonna take a squad car with me.

Oh, Lieutenant.

What is it, Gillis? Go ahead, say it.

Well, I just want you to know that you look sensational.

Like part of the real world.

Well, Officer Gillis, I've been walking around

in that real world,

and I've been wearing these threads

for over two hours,

setting this raid up, and I don't want to hear

another word out of you.

Not one little sound, all right?

Now, give us 30 seconds, no more, no less.

Go.

We move on him, we forget the others inside.

Let's go.

Now.

Police officers!

[SIREN APPROACHING]

[GLASS SHATTERING]

Did you get 'em all?

TERRY: All but one.

He took off before we made it.

All right, let's move.

The wagon ought to be here by now.

Find any evidence?

Cards, dice, gambling stuff.

We'll check them out for the joy stuff

at the station.

Come in.

[ENGINE TURNS OVER]

What is it?

You know that guy?

Yeah.

He's family.

My family.

This one that got away,

there's no way you could have

held onto him?

WILLIE: No way. There wasn't enough time.

And we would have lost the guys inside

the building, sir.

All right, that's all, Gillis.

Webster.

Send him in.

You got five minutes.

For what?

[BOTH LAUGHING]

My cuz, the fuzz.

Hey, you look good, man.

You look real good.

Blue is not your shade, but you look good.

How long you been back?

About a month.

Couldn't wait to get in touch, huh?

I wasn't ready, Terry.

Ready for what, man?

All you had to do was pick up the phone.

What did you expect me to do?

Call and tell you I had

no place to go and nothing to do

with my life?

If that's where you are in your life,

that's what you tell me.

What are we, Jimmy?

People who share the same bloodline,

and that's it?

We aren't sometime cousins, are we?

We never have been.

We shared the same house, the same food.

I wiped your nose whenever you fell down.

Yeah.

But I just figured that it was time

that I wipe my own, that's all.

You look older.

Talk older, too.

Well, it's 23 months, two weeks, five days

and one war older.

Hey, I have got to be more than

just a little cousin,

I'm getting in your way all the time, you know.

I want to prove that to you, Terry.

I figured by getting myself squared away

is one way to do that, huh?

I wasn't shutting you out, Terry.

I'm not you.

I just wanted things to be cool once

I asked you in, that's all.

Do you understand what I'm saying, man?

Yeah.

I understand.

Come on. Get in now.

JIMMY: And he's sitting there with aces wired

and betting like there's no tomorrow.

[CHUCKLES] And you guys, you guys come in there

and busted up my inside straight.

[BOTH LAUGH]

And what about all that loot that was

in the pot, huh?

What happens to it?

Oh, that's all impounded as evidence.

Oh, evidence, huh? Well, there was about

100 bucks worth

of my evidence in there.

Hope the courts treat it with respect.

Well, don't look to get it back too soon.

It'll be about three months.

Yeah, well, that figures.

I knew I'd have to pay those three months back

to somebody, huh?

Rolled a jeep in the army.

They discharged him three months early.

20% disability. Yeah.

Oh, and it's non-taxable, huh?

Which means I clear about, oh,

100 bucks a month.

Which you can imagine will afford to make me the, uh,

playboy of the month, huh?

Oh.

Here we go.

That don't look like G.I. to me.

Yeah, it's a little souvenir.

Better let me have it. I'll take care of it.

I can take care of it.

Needs to be registered.

I can do that.

[LAUGHS]

Old habits are hard to break, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, is that what you guys do

all the time, huh,

knock over places like Al's Cove?

Mmm-mmm, no, not all the time.

Just when there might be hard drugs involved.

Yeah, well, I didn't see any hard stuff.

[LAUGHS] You ever see anybody tryin'

to win at a game of poker or dice

when he's trippin'?

No way, man. No way.

Okay, lay it on me. What happens now?

Well, the only rap you're facing is, uh,

gambling.

And the first offense usually brings a fine,

maybe probation.

But anyway that's some weeks before

something happens,

so in the meantime,

why don't we get you situated?

What?

A thing called a job, man.

Job? [LAUGHS]

Yes, a job.

Ain't none, man.

I have looked.

TERRY: Where'd you try?

Where didn't I try?

Hey, look, man.

I spent close to a month

with two other cats just like me.

We all tried.

Well, we'll start looking tomorrow, huh?

Mmm-hmm.

Oh.

Well...

High school.

Have you ever thought of the G.I. Bill, Mr. Webster?

Perhaps extending your education?

Not much.

Well, perhaps it might be something to consider.

A good vocational school perhaps

to give you some skills.

Miss, um, Miss Hopkins,

I've got skills,

but they're not legal in civilian life.

MISS HOPKINS: But school...

JIMMY: Did you see those high school grades?

Could I get into a college with those?

Well, no, not right away,

but maybe after a year or so of remedial work.

Yes, uh, followed by four years or so of college.

Five years or so if I want my masters.

Making me 28 or 29 or so when I get out.

And besides, even if I live that long,

what's to say that I'm going to

get the kind of job

to make all of those years pay off?

You ever check to see how many PhD's

are out of work?

Well, nobody guarantees anything, Mr. Webster.

After all, the world doesn't owe you a living.

Well, these are the positions

that we have available right now.

Why don't you look them over

and see if anything appeals to you?

Dishwasher.

Handyman.

Messenger boy.

Stationary engineer.

What... What's that stationary engineer?

A janitor.

Right.

MISS HOPKINS: Excuse me, sir.

Are you looking for a job?

No, thank you.

I think I have one already.

WILLIE: You have dinner yet?

Hey!

Have you eaten?

Yeah.

Don't want a beer?

No.

[CAN OPENS]

Job hunting didn't pan out, huh?

We went to, uh,

I don't know how many places.

You want to hear what they offered?

Dishwasher.

Busboy.

Handyman.

Terry, Jimmy's released in your custody, you know.

Let's find him.

If you want a man to come back,

you gotta give him something to come back to!

Oh!

[LAUGHING LOUDLY]

Hey.

Hey, hey, I'm all right.

Get off, man. What you doin'?

Wait a minute. I'll get Jill.

Yeah.

Hey, you all right?

Hey. Yeah, I'm all right.

You look like you ran into a wall, man.

Huh? No.

Yeah, Miss... Miss Hopkins.

[MUMBLING]

Hey, how you doin', man?

All right. All right. You okay?

Yeah! Let go of me, man.

I'm all right. You're doing good.

You're doing good. Your place looks good.

It looks real good.

[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

Terry! Terry, I ever tell you about the time

I was most scared over there, huh?

Let me tell you, there was a time we was...

We was all going through the boonies.

See, it was nighttime.

[LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY]

It was darker than bad dreams get.

So we're going through the boonies

and I can hear 'em.

They can hear us, too, I guess,

but I can hear 'em.

So I jump from this tree, you see?

And there right in front of me is this little guy,

little guy in black pajamas, man,

and he's standing there and he's got his AK with him.

And I got my M-16, right?

And he's standing there, oh...

And, man, we turned around and went the other way!

Oh, I was scared.

Oh, you get it, huh?

I don't think so.

You don't get it?

I'm just as scared now, but I ain't got no place

to run.

Uh-oh.

Oh, you must be the medic, huh?

Yep.

I'd better patch him up in the bathroom.

You get his coat off.

Looks like he might need a couple of stitches.

No damn stitches. I don't want any stitches.

MIKE: You're gonna be okay, boy.

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS]

He hit a hot streak.

Yeah, maybe.

What about the inscription? It matches.

The inscription matches. What's that supposed

to mean?

This ring showed up

on a list of stolen property at this morning's briefing.

RYKER: And you'll add that to your

hot sheets.

MIKE: Lieutenant, I missed those

last numbers.

Uh, in the five column, Roger, Tare, William,

five-seven-two.

Savoy and Miller in section three.

Pay particular attention to the park.

Two muggings.

Apparently the same suspect.

Victims described him as a man

dressed up to look like a nice little old lady.

There was another rumble in the district last night.

A poker game.

Wound up as a fight.

There were no arrests.

Card players split before police officers arrived.

There was blood at the scene.

Rumor links some of the card players

to a recent jewelry store heist,

but that's absolutely all it is, is rumor.

That's it. Hit the street.

Well, I was wrong.

You didn't need any stitches.

When'd you tell me that?

Last night.

I'm not surprised you don't remember.

You were in pretty rocky shape, let's say.

[LAUGHING] Yeah.

Yeah, I was pretty ripped last night.

You were.

It wasn't funny to see either.

No.

Neither was the expression on Terry's face.

Oh, he doesn't care.

Where do you get off saying something like that?

I mean, all you had to do was see the look on his face

when he'd watch the news at night,

and they'd announce Vietnam casualty reports.

He cares.

You can believe that.

He cares.

Okay, Jill.

Jimmy, what is this?

Oh, you know, well...

Oh, uh, a game Terry and I used to play,

rock, paper, scissors, huh?

See, if you put out a rock...

Hey, Terry.

Come on, for Jill, rock, paper, scissors, huh?

Right, now look.

One, two, three.

TERRY: I didn't say you stole it.

I said it was stolen.

Well, I don't know anything about it.

Tell me about the bundle in your wallet

that fell out with the ring.

Wait, wait, wait a minute!

Now, what's with this hot-seat treatment?

I mean, if you're gonna lecture me

about playing poker,

then go ahead and get it over with,

but, uh, what... What's with...

Hey, I don't like this, man.

This is starting to get to me. Terry!

TERRY: The ring.

Someone cash it in in the game?

Could be.

Jimmy.

Let us help each other.

Now, the ring was taken

in a jewelry theft two nights ago.

Now, who'd you win it from?

I don't remember.

I don't remember!

What kind of law says I'm supposed to remember?

Hey, Jimmy, you don't leave us any choice.

We gotta run you in.

Okay.

No, you're not under arrest.

You could very possibly be a material witness, though,

in the event your memory improves.

You cannot identify any of the people

you were playing poker with?

It was a pickup game.

I sat in.

Did anyone refer to anyone else by name?

A Sam or Joe or something?

Not even Tom, Lieutenant.

But you could identify them

if you saw them again, I suppose?

It was dark.

It was very, very dark in that room.

Thank you. That's all.

Officer Webster.

How much of a card player are you?

I've played.

What do you look at when you try to judge

whether a man is holding or bluffing?

The way he handles his cards.

That's right, and his face.

His eyes, his nose, his mouth.

You look for a nervous twitch, a telltale reaction.

You memorize his face.

You saying my cousin is a liar?

No, but I am saying, for his own good,

someone better build him a foundation,

or he's gonna take a very heavy fall.

I just heard the D.A. is not gonna prosecute

on a charge of gambling,

so as of now, he's clear.

Just thought you might like to help him keep clear.

Okay?

That's fair enough.

All right.

Where's Jimmy?

He's gone.

Took off.

Do you know where?

Nope.

But I do know a couple of things, Terry.

Jimmy did not have that ring until after the poker game.

The robbery took place the night before,

so looks like he wasn't involved with the heist.

What else?

Your cousin Jimmy does not fink

on his friends.

You know,

when Jimmy said that there was no heavy drugs

at the poker game,

he didn't say anything till the detectives confirmed it.

When he said that he didn't steal the ring,

he didn't say anything till the dates confirmed it.

Now why don't you just try believing what he says

when he says it.

You are doing enough of that

for both of us.

That ring,

the one you threw in the pot last night...

What about it?

Well, where'd you get it?

Well, what difference does it make?

Well, none, unless you think

my getting hauled in

and questioned by the cops over it

makes any difference.

PHIL: Well, it was some dude, some guy

on the street.

He claimed that it was the real goods.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was the real goods, all right.

It was ripped off of some jewelry store.

You mean you got busted and they let you go?

Yeah, well, they believed me.

Told the truth.

Is that a fact?

Hey, man, you must have some kind of muscle

with the man.

They believed me, that's all.

Hey, hey, come on, come on.

[LAUGHS]

Bridge just asked you a question,

and you answered it.

It's cool.

There's some beer inside.

Why don't you go grab yourself one?

[LAUGHING]

Hey, I guess you didn't find anything yet, huh?

I'm still looking.

Yeah, me and Bridge, too.

Hey, we figure it's gonna take some time, you know.

Oh, look, something will break sooner or later.

But the idea is to just wait for the right thing, you know?

[SCOFFS]

Yeah, that's easier said than done, huh?

PHIL: Maybe, and maybe not, man.

You see, we got us an idea.

Well, come on, man.

Come on, I'm ready to listen to just about anything.

[LAUGHS] Well,

we got to thinking, me and Bridge.

And what did the army teach us?

Reconnaissance, man. That's all.

Reconnaissance.

You run a recon on this, you run a recon on that.

This is just another kind of jungle.

So we decided to run ourselves

a little recon

on kind of a special place in this jungle.

Just one time, man.

Just one time!

Big enough so's none of us is gonna have to jump

for no straws for a long time.

You understand that, man?

BRIDGE: Hey, it's fun and games.

It's like old times.

What do you say?

Fun and games.

You got a, uh... You got a time?

[LAUGHS]

Any time, man.

Say, in the next day or two.

In or out, man?

I'll let you know tomorrow.

Hey, man.

About that souvenir of yours.

The... The gun.

You bring it along, huh?

Tomorrow.

I'd like to buy it from you.

I'll scrape up the bread somehow.

You think he's in?

After we told him as much as we told him, huh?

He's in all right, because we can't afford

to let him out.

You're putting me on.

You want to be a cop?

Well, I've been thinking about it.

It looks like it might be worth looking into.

Whew.

That's incredible, but I, uh...

That's a great choice.

I just thought that you'd seen

enough of uniforms.

Well, now, hey, man, I didn't say it was

my first choice.

It might even be my last.

But at least it's something that I get to choose

instead of it being the other way around.

It's a good one.

I was in the service before I went on the force.

Oh, well, I mean, if Danko can do it...

JILL: Now, wait a minute.

He's the best married cop at the table.

That's putting 'em in their place, babe.

Well, I say a man's got a right to change his mind.

I'll buy another round to celebrate that fact.

Oh, that's big. You going on the force,

but him buying another round

is really big.

Oh.

You want to hit the jukebox?

Hey, Jimmy.

Don't worry about it. You can handle it.

Yeah, well, I hope so, Willie.

'Cause I'm coming to the end of my rope.

RYKER: It won't wash, Webster. I'm sorry.

Why?

You told me he's clear.

The D.A. dropped the charge.

It has nothing to do with that.

You still think he's holding back on

the jewelry heist, huh?

He could be, but it isn't that either.

It's this. He's drawing disability

on a service-connected injury.

Guys on the force get hurt all the time.

They don't get bounced for that!

If their injuries are serious enough

to collect disability, they do.

The admissions board would not even consider

his application.

There is no reason on God's green earth

for me to put it up to them.

Suppose he waives disability payment.

That still will not alter what is already written

in his service record.

With your recommendation for waiver, it might.

I am telling you, Webster,

there is nothing either of us can do.

Absolutely nothing.

Lieutenant, this isn't a piece of paper we're talking about.

This is man's chance to prove he means something.

I am just as sorry as you are, Webster.

Sorry?

Sorry?

Lieutenant, if you knew what it was like

knocking on doors day after day

hearing the same thing,

"Sorry, you're not qualified.

"Sorry, we need experienced people.

"Sorry..."

Webster, it all adds up to one thing.

Guys like Jimmy need a lot of help

that guys like me just can't give.

I'm sorry.

[PHONE RINGING]

WILLIE: Jimmy?

Jim, if that's for me, tell 'em I'll call back,

all right?

Yeah. Hello?

Hi.

Hey, man.

How'd it go?

It didn't.

Look, uh, I'll be home soon.

We'll talk about it, huh?

No, no. Let's talk about it now.

I'm tired of waiting all my life for bad news.

Look, it's that disability thing.

Some departmental regulation.

They can't take any recruits with something like that.

Jimmy?

You still there?

No, man.

No, I am long gone.

'Cause here ain't nothin'.

And I'm fed up with trying to make it something.

Who was it?

Oh, hey, man. You were wrong, buddy.

Couldn't handle it.

There was never a doubt in my mind.

No, sir.

Not for even a little bit.

Hundred and fifty.

Huh?

Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll have it for you tomorrow, okay?

Wait, I thought we were going on a mission.

Mission's tonight.

Now we're gonna run a little recon.

You're in, man. You know you are.

And you don't want to blow a good thing, do you?

You wouldn't cop out on your buddies.

Hey, we're counting on you, man.

Come on, now, don't push me, Bridge.

PHIL: Hey, come on, now. Ain't nobody pushing you.

We wouldn't want it that way.

If you've got something better going for yourself,

you'd better go get it, man.

You got that something?

Look, this is big, Jim.

Why don't you just come along with us

and take a look at it?

It ain't gonna hurt just to take a look, is it?

All right, let's take a look see, huh?

All right.

Yeah, yeah, hey, hey, come on.

Closes at 6:00.

There's a silent alarm, but it can be had.

Private Patrol cases the building every hour

on the quarter hour.

Two men could handle it, but three's better.

Tradin' stuff is kept in a room in the back.

I got some putty for the vault.

Sounds bigger than you said.

Let's check out the alley.

What is it? Not here.

Not here.

Hey, man, what's going on?

What's going on, man?

Phil, what's up?

Remember that cop I saw just before the bar was busted?

What about him?

He followed you, man.

What are you talking about?

It's no wonder they believed that story

about winning that ring.

Old Jimmy here just copped out on us, Bridge.

Yeah, Phil?

Phillip, have you gone nuts?

Is that why you didn't want to come in with us,

because we've gone nuts?

Or was it just you don't have any need

for your friends anymore? Which is it?

I didn't cop out on anybody.

Well, then why was he following you?

I don't know why anybody would follow me.

Well, then we just have to presume then,

don't we, brother Bridge?

There ain't no other way to look at it.

Hey, come on, man...

Aah!

You got it all wrong, man!

Oh, man!

Come on, man!

Look, oh, listen!

[GROANING]

No!

Okay.

If you're not gonna believe me,

then why don't you go ahead and ask Jimmy?

You see him with two other guys,

and right away you got him made out for a jewelry heist.

I don't ask him for nothin'.

He went out to get a beer because he got the short end,

that's all.

Well, what about the gun?

He took the gun with him.

You can't ignore that, man.

For his sake, you can't ignore it.

Look, it could be Jimmy is mixed up

in something he doesn't even know about.

Now, maybe we can help him

before he gets in too deep.

He took his gun.

All the guy had to do was take his gun,

and right away, everyone wants

to help him.

Come on, Terry.

That's a cheap shot, and you know it.

It's just that I had such hopes.

I wanted so much...

RYKER: Webster.

You'd better get over to the hospital.

They just brought Jimmy in.

He's been badly beaten, and it doesn't look too good.

That's right, Webster.

Jimmy Webster.

Come on, Mama. Tell us true.

Yes, yes, I'm still here.

Yes, I understand.

Right.

All right, thank you very much.

He's still in the recovery room, man.

Nobody gets to talk to him for

a long while.

We can still pull it off.

Well, let's get it on!

[GROANS]

Look who's here.

Oh, you take it easy.

I'm all right.

Picture of health.

Where's Willie?

I thought you two always worked together.

Don't worry none about him.

He was...

Tell me who gave you the paint job.

TERRY: Jimmy,

don't be stupid.

Who did it?

Stupid.

Yeah.

I was always the dumb cousin.

I didn't mean it like that.

No.

No.

You're right.

It's no good. There's wire mesh.

Come on. Let's try a window.

They're all barred.

Not that one.

That's no good. It's too high.

Well, look, let's get something.

Anything, man.

Look, those boxes over there.

Come on, hurry up. We got a half hour

before the security guard comes around.

Jimmy, what does the ring have to do

with the two guys Willie saw you with?

They did this, didn't they?

They're my friends.

We've been through a lot together.

Yeah, some friends.

You don't know, Terry.

You don't know

how it gets over there.

How you come to depend on one another.

Would you turn on Willie?

I don't know.

If I could help him,

yes, maybe I would.

When do they pull it off?

Jimmy, if I can stop them before they do anything,

there's no trouble.

Is it too late already?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Tonight?

Where?

If old Willie followed me,

he knows where.

Give me their names.

Phillip Walker.

Vernon Bridge.

Terry, that souvenir,

the gun, they got it.

I gave it to 'em.

Terry,

you be careful, man.

Careful takes time.

What you guys doing here?

MIKE: Waiting for you.

Come on, man, hurry up! Get up there!

Man, there's no way I'm going up there.

It's too shaky.

Then get down. Then I'll do it myself!

[TIRES SCREECHING]

MIKE: I'll take him!

[SIREN WAILING]

Bridge! TERRY: Police! Drop it!

[SIREN WAILING]

Freeze!

Now, come on, drop it.

You're not in too deep yet.

Could get deeper, man.

I don't think a friend of Jimmy's

would do that.

What's Jimmy to you?

He's a cousin!

Well, I don't think a cousin of my friend

would shoot me in the back.

[PHIL GRUNTING]

Some odds you were running.

Yeah, but I told you that Jimmy's cousin

wouldn't shoot me, didn't I?

Yeah?

But he ain't Jimmy's cousin.

[TIRES SCREECHING]

I become ambulatory the day after tomorrow.

Thanks, man.

What about the day after that?

I don't know.

Maybe that little chick at the unemployment office

had the right idea, huh?

Hey, Willie.

You know any colleges anywhere

that could teach me anything?

Sure.

In fact, there's a little college in the Midwest

that I know about.

Probably teach you a few things.

Yeah, but will they take an ex-belly crawler?

Hey, that's their specialty.

Want me to get you an application?

Okay.

Gotta split.

Gotta report in.

What about them?

Bridge and Walker.

They're no different from me, man.

Except maybe I've got somebody who cares.

That's a difference that means something.

We don't know yet what will happen with them.

But whatever it is, they'll need a friend.

You know, that's funny, ain't it?

What?

How some guys don't become casualties

until after the war is over.

Yeah, and, uh,

some guys never get home even though they've come back.

Welcome home.

[LAUGHING]

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]