Original subtitles

♪ [ trumpet ]

These books are the product of one man's imagination.

He stirred the world with great tales of adventure,

many of which were taken out of his own incredibly adventurous life.

His travels took him all over the world, and they began on the waterfront

of Oakland, California, where he became known as...

Aah!

[ grunting ]

[ laughs ]

[ grunts ]

Don't. Don't do it, Frank, please!

You opened your mouth up once too often, Scratch.

All right. Anyone wanna bet that I don't drive this

through his skull on the first try?

No, Frank. No.

Look, I'll go away. I won't bother you again.

But please don't kill me.

I got 50 says Frank can do it.

Any takers?

I'll tell you what I'll do with you, Scratch.

If I miss on the first throw, you can walk out of here, huh?

[ breathing heavily ]

Tell him not to do it. Tell him not to do it.

Hey, what do you think you're doing?

Get away from him, kid. You looking to get yourself killed?

Turn around, or I'll drive this right through your back.

You don't want to kill me, Frank.

I came to buy your boat.

The Razzle-Dazzle?

All right. The price is 300.

You don't look like you got that kind of money to me.

I can get you the money for the boat today,

but you gotta let him go, or the deal's off.

You're not afraid to let him go, are you?

Afraid of that jellyfish?

Scratch knows better than to cross my path again, don't you?

I won't, Frank. J-Just let me go, huh?

[ loud thud ]

All right. I'll let him off the hook this time, kid.

But you better bring that money today like you said,

otherwise never step foot in the Last Chance Saloon again.

I'll get it.

Bring it here, 5:00.

I'll be here.

[ chattering ]

♪♪ [ piano ]

I, uh-- I give you my thanks.

Maybe I can do something for you someday.

Glad I could help. What made him want to kill you anyway?

Aw, he's a mad dog.

Every now and again, he kills someone

just to show them he's still the king.

[ scoffs ] King?

That's what they call him-- King of the Pirates.

Now, listen, you try to steer clear of him.

He may have you marked already for saving my skin.

Thanks for telling me.

Say, uh, did you really mean that

about buying the Razzle-Dazzle?

If I can get the money.

Well, now,

if you're figuring on stealing it now, maybe I can help.

No, thanks. I think I can get it from a friend.

Oh, anybody who'd hand over 300

must be some friend.

She is.

"She"?

So long, Scratch.

♪♪ [ humming ]

[ knocking on door ]

Who is it? It's me, Aunt Jenny. It's Jack.

Come on, child. It's good to see ya.

[ laughs ]

I just made a pie out in the kitchen. You want some?

No, thanks.Oh...

Aunt Jenny, I came to ask you a favor.

Well, no need you sounding so serious about it.

Ain't your Aunt Jenny always helped out?

Yeah, but this is a big favor.

Maybe too big.

You ain't in trouble with the police, is ya?

No. But I need money.

A lot of it. See, I gotta buy a boat.

A boat? [ laughing ]

Well, ain't you some kind of fancy rich child.

What you needin' a boat for?

I wanna be an oyster pirate.

Oh, honey, that ain't no kind of life for you.

Better you stay on at the cannery.

No. I'm never going back there.

Does your mama know about this?

No.

But I'm never going home again either.

Sit down, Jackie. Tell me what's happened.

After work today, I went down to take my skiff out around the bay,

but it wasn't there.

My mother sold it.

That little rowboat you saved up all summer for?

Now, what'd she have to go and do an ugly thing like that for?

Oh, you know how she is.

If I made twice as much, she'd still want every cent.

I told her I wasn't coming back, not ever.

Can't blame you for that.

I don't know how you put up with her this long.

There's a sloop for sale for $300.

$300?

I know it's an awful lot,

but I can pay it back in just a few weeks working as an oyster pirate.

Honey,

I love you like my very own,

but I don't want you getting messed up with no scum like them.

If the fish patrol catch you, they'll put you away in the state prison.

That doesn't scare me. Those prisoners have it better than I do.

Closed up inside of them walls like that?

Working in the cannery,

I'm closed up inside walls all day long.

Last week, I worked for 36 hours straight with no sleep

for ten cents an hour.

At least it's honest work.

Taking those oysters isn't dishonest.Isn't it?

Those beds are on public property.

That company has no right raising them there.

They paid off the politicians. They're the real crooks.

That don't mean they won't put you in jail if they catch you stealing.

You can't fight rich folks like them.

Why not?

What have I got to lose?

You know what it's like in that cannery?

It's like being swallowed up alive.

Me and all those other people packed inside that gray,

tin factory.

We're just like the dead fish we seal up in tin.

Sometimes I think I gotta scream.

But if I did, nobody'd know it.

[ scoffs ] Nobody'd even care.

When I go to work early in the morning, it's dark and cold out.

When I come home, it's the same.

And all day long, I just keep thinking

there's a day going by out there that I'll never see.

If I don't get out soon, my whole life's gonna be like that.

No, it won't.

Not for you.

You're too smart to stay there for long.

That's what everybody thinks when they first start there.

But I've seen old men there with sad eyes,

and they have no dreams left in them.

They're just passing time,

waiting out their lives.

I'm afraid that's gonna happen to me too.

That's why I need your help, Aunt Jenny.

More than I've ever needed anything before.

Over there,

in that drawer,

there's a wood box.

That's where I keep my money.

Oh, thanks, Aunt Jenny.

I knew I could count on you.

Hey, another drink for the new skipper of the Razzle-Dazzle.

No, thanks. I've had enough.

Can you stand up?

Yeah. Well, then, you ain't had enough.

[ both laugh ]

Hey, look, kid, if you wanna be a real oyster pirate,

you've gotta learn to drink like one.

Mamie, get him another drink. [ laughing ]

Hey, you know, you bought a good boat there, kid.

She's fast and she's tough.

Best sloop on the waterfront, she is.

If I wasn't going into partnership on the Lucy Belle,

I'd have never gotten rid of her.

Hey, Spider, we had some good times on her, huh?

Oh, we sure did.

Hey, you remember the time the fish patrol came aboard

and caught us with 12 sacks of oysters?Do you want another drink?

No. But I'd sure like some fresh air.

SPIDER: And you said, "Them oysters are all right.[ whispering ]

"I got more. You fellas help yourself.

Take a sack."

[ indistinct chatter ]

[ laughing ] FRANK: And all they did was take one sack of oysters.

[ waves crashing ] [ seabirds screeching ]

[ mutters ]

[ sighs ]

Frank's in for a big surprise when he sobers up.

What surprise?Oh, he thinks he owns me.

Thinks I'm his personal property like his boat out there.

But he doesn't own that boat anymore, I do.

That's right. And he doesn't own me anymore either.

Whatever made him think he did?

Oh, everybody knows he likes me, so they stay clear.

I've been waiting a long time for somebody to come along that he doesn't scare.

You have?

That was a brave thing you did at the saloon today.

If you hadn't stepped in, Scratch would be dead now.

Frank's like that. He's mean.

Looks like we're both declaring our independence today.

What's that mean?

It means we're both through letting other people tell us how to live our lives.

Declaring our independence.Independence.

[ both chuckle ]

Feels pretty good, doesn't it?

Best I ever felt in my whole life.

All of a sudden, that waterfront doesn't look so ugly anymore.

Now I can sail away from it any time I want to on my own boat.

With your own girl?

I haven't got a girl.

I'd like to come along with you.

I mean, if you wanted me to.

Yeah. I'd like that.

Do you think I'm pretty?

Hey!

What's going on here?You got eyes, don't you?

Yeah, I got eyes, only I don't like what they see.

Now come on. Let's go.I'm not going with you.

You do what I tell you to, understand?

She said she didn't wanna go.

Kid, I should've opened you up with that harpoon.

[ chuckles ]

Aah![ screams ]

[ gasps ][ grunting ]

Aah! Aah!

Get me outta here! It's freezing cold!

Come on!

"'Drink, ye harpooneers!

"'Drink, ye men who man the deathful whaleboat's bow.

"'Death to Moby Dick!

God hunt us all, if we do not hunt Moby Dick to his death!'"

You like stories about the sea best, don't you?

I guess so.

Maybe that's because it's so big.

It can take you all over the world

or swallow you up like that.[ snaps fingers ]

Will you leave someday and go to sea?

That's the one thing I'm sure of.

I've gotta see all the strange places there are out there.

The only way to do that is on a ship.

Why do you have to? Couldn't you stay here in Oakland?

When there's so much more to the world?

No. I want more than that waterfront can give.

And so should you.

Me? Girls can't be sailors.

Maybe not, but you can still do a lot with your life.

You don't have to stay here. You're young. You're pretty.

This place will make you old before you're ready.

How can I leave?What's to stop you?

You can travel all over the United States, read to educate yourself better.

But I'd have to make a living.

You could be an actress, maybe, or a singer,

or a writer like I'm gonna be.

You could be a great lady.

I could never act proper enough to be a great lady.

You don't have to act like them. Be your own kind of lady.

They got books over at the library can teach you anything you need to know.

I'll bet you've read lots of books already, haven't you?

Not really.

When I go to that library and see all the books there are...

I've just begun.

Working in the cannery, I've never had time.

That's what I like about being an oyster pirate.

Now I got time for the things I love best.

Like stuffing your mouth with jawbreakers?

That's the best part.

Are you sure?

Well, come to think of it,

there is something I love more than jawbreakers.

I thought so.

Peppermint sticks.

Oh, just for that, I'm not going with you on that oyster raid.

What do you think of that?I won't stand for it.

I am the captain, and you are the crew.

Are you aware, sir, that there is a serious penalty for mutiny?

No. What is it?

Death.

Death by tickling.

No, no, no. Please stop.

[ no audible dialogue ]

There's your girlfriend, Frank.

Or is she that kid's girl now?

I'll show you whose girl she is.

Hey, Mamie.

Yeah, you showed me, all right.

Watch your mouth.

She's been seeing him every day.

The boys all think you're scared of that kid.

Who said that?Nobody. But we're all thinking it,

and we'll go right on thinking it till you put him in his place.

I'll do that, all right.

What do you want, Frank?

Well, I haven't seen you much this week.

Maybe you still think I'm mad at you, huh?

That's not it, Frank.

What's the matter?

Look, Frank,

you've always treated me pretty good,

and I'm grateful.

But you're too...

I'm too young for you, Frank.

I'm still young enough to whip anyone around here.

Sure. I know that.

But you oughta get yourself a girl like--

like Michelle over there.

I've got a girl. Prettiest one around.

I'm not your girl anymore, Frank.

So?

[ gasps ]

Now, look, tramp, I'll tell you when I'm through with you.

Nobody treats me like that. I'm a lady.

You're a...

[ chuckles ]

You hear that, Spider? She is a lady.

That's right. And since you two

don't have any way of knowing how to treat a lady,

I got nothing more to say to you.

Now you shut up and listen.

You tell that boyfriend not to come around anymore.

You can't make me do what you say.

All right.

Then I'll personally see he doesn't come back from the oyster beds.

You wouldn't.

You ever know me to bluff, Mame?

MAMIE: No.

All right. Then you act like a nice little girl, and nobody'll get hurt.

But you tell him good to stop buzzing around.

'Cause if you can't stop him, I will.

[ chuckles ]

Well, kid, how do you like the boat I sold you?

I like it fine.I'm glad.

You know what you oughta do?

You oughta get yourself a girl.

A good-looking young one like Mame here.

Yeah, it might make a man out of you.

I already got a girl.

You coming with me, Mamie?

Tell him.

I changed my mind.

I'm going with Frank on the Lucy Belle.

But you said--

A girl can change her mind, can't she?

That was fun. But Frank's my man.

I don't believe it. Why are you talking like this?

She just ain't interested, son.

Playing around with you, that's all.

What'd she want with a little boy

when she got a man like Frank?

King of the Oyster Pirates we call him.

And Mamie's his queen.

Is that how it is?

That's how it is. Come on, Frank.

[ door opens, closes ]

Jack?Yeah?

Don't blame Mamie for what she said.

She had to say it.

What do you mean?

I saw Frank walk over and talk to her

just before you come in.

Did he threaten her?

Well, I couldn't hear everything they were saying,

but I saw Frank slap her.

He must've really scared her.

Now it all begins to make sense.

Are they going out to the oyster beds?

Yeah.

I'm going after her. She needs me.

You go there alone, you're as good as dead.

No. If I don't go out there, I'm as good as dead,

'cause I'll be a coward.

I owe you a debt, Jack.

Maybe now is a good time to repay it, huh?

[ seabirds screeching ]

Hey, ain't that the Razzle-Dazzlepulling in on the Lucy Belle?

Yeah, looks like it is. What's he up to?

Jack! Come on. You're going back with me.

No, I can't. He'll kill you.

I can fight my own battles. Now, are you coming, or aren't you?

Please, Jack, go away.Scratch!

Eh?Go!

Right.

He's got Mame.

Come on. Sam, Charlie, come on.

We're going back.

Please, Jack, it's the last chance we have.

No. I'm not running away from him.

I'm gonna meet him at the Last Chance.

With all the others around, he'll have to agree to a man-to-man fight.

How can you be sure?

Because the thing he's most afraid of is showing them he's afraid.

If I challenge him, he'll accept.

All right. You pushed your luck to the limit this time, kid.

Get him.Just a minute, boys.

What's the matter, Frank? You scared to take me out alone?

Grab him.I think you're scared.

I challenged Frank to a fight, but he's afraid of me.

Well, you heard me, didn't you?

We're wondering, Frank, maybe what he said is true.

All right, kid. You asked for it.

[ gasps ]

[ grunts ]

[ coughs ]

Don't kill me.

Look, kid, you can have her.

Let me go, huh?

King of the Pirates!

Finish him off!

Go on! Finish him! He'd have killed you!

So would you.

No.

I'm not gonna kill him.

But I'm not so sure he'll do the same when he catches up with you.

You better start running, Spider.

No need to kill you, Frank.

All I had to do was kill the King of the Pirates.

Now nobody's king.

[ sighs ]

[ sword clatters on ground ]

Oh, Jack.

Come on. I'll walk you home.

You know, first we gotta have a drink to celebrate.

To Jack London, Prince of the Oyster Pirates.

[ people whooping ]

For most men, one close call with death is enough to last a lifetime,

but for Jack London, it was just the beginning.

He was a seaman, a newspaper correspondent,

a Klondike gold seeker, and, of course,

one of the greatest adventure writers of them all.

He was truly a remarkable man.

A man who wrote the books he lived and lived the books he wrote.

Next week, another true story from Western history.