Original subtitles

You're a sentimentalist. How strange.

I did that backdrop…

What are you gonna do, kill somebody else?

Shut up!

Would you look at that?

He's back in the pokie again!

You gotta be one of the dumbest-looking ape I have ever saw!

BACKLASH OF THE HUNTER (I) Season 1 / Pilot

This is Jim Rockfort.

At the tone leave your name and message, I'll get back to you…

Billings, LAPD…

You know Thursday is Chapmans 20th year

and we're giving a little surprise party at the Captain's.

I think you should come… By the way, we need 5 bucks for the present!

Sync and corrections: BLU DUAINE blu.duaine@gmail.com

Jerry, telephone.

- Yellow… - Hello, Jerry, it's Milly.

Yeah, I was just about to call you.

I think we're in trouble…

Hey, you!

Ha?

Got to get off or pay for the return trip. We're at the beach.

I've got to meet somebody.

I got to stay here until he gets here.

Don't make me throw you off!

Bye, Mr. Butler. That's right.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

You j… just relax.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

You did me good, Mr. Butler.

Just right.

Everything is gonna be all right now.

Some of these cases are still "possibles."

I don't have enough time to talk to the people listed on the AR reports.

I don't like it better than you do…

but we don't have time to screw around on dead-enders.

Okay, okay…

How about this prosti Janet Nicolas. You got anything good on that one?

At first we thought that the pimp was good for it…

but he's got an alibi that won't quit.

Maybe it's a john. I don't know.

Dump it.

How about this wino they found under the pier? Butler… What's with him?

That looks like a mugging, except for one thing.

He had a pretty good bauble on his finger. A wedding ring with a half-karat stone.

We had it appraised for $200.

Some diamond… Probably wouldn't scratch glass.

I got a hunch it's more than a mugging. Let me hold onto it for a couple more days.

You got anything solid?

I got a feeling, I got a hunch.

Dump it!

I settled up with Mort.

He's got the cabin all stocked with Scotch.

We could really have ourselves a hoot, Son.

What have you got that's so important, you can't go fishing with your old man?

I ain't been a good father or something?

Come on, Rocky, don't get personal.

You're broke, right?

Aaa… you should have took over my rig, Jimmy.

You would have made a heck of a good trucker.

But no, you got to be Sam Spade or something.

You're a vicious old coot.

Ten bucks says it's a bill collector.

Make it 20, plus welching privileges.

Are you James Rockford?

Yes I am.

My name is Sara Butler. I'd like to speak with you, if I may.

Sure. Come in.

I bet you're that Miss Butler from the bank, right?

I beg your pardon.

This is my father, Joseph Rockford.

How do you do?

Is this your office?

Yeah, it's cheap, it's tax deductible, earthquake-proof…

and when I get a job out of town, I take it with me.

I'd like to hire you, Mr. Rockford.

I'll be at Mort's cabin. You got the number.

And don't forget the welching privileges.

I won't.

Nice to have met you.

He's lost a bet. I gave him the right to renegotiate the loss.

He'd get me drunk and we'll settle for five bucks.

You want a cup of coffee?

No, thank you.

I hope you can afford me.

I'm sorry. What?

I like to get the business out of the way up front.

I don't want to shock you, Miss Butler, but I cost $200 a day, plus expenses.

Two hundred dollars?

Plus expenses.

And I only handle criminal cases that are closed.

I get myself messed up in a LAPD active file…

I get my can shot off.

Tell me how you got this wonderful finishing school approach, Mr. Rockford?

People come to me all the time and they all have problems.

Sit down. I used to be softhearted and I'd sit and listen.

But they couldn't pay the freight.

So they'd leave and be all depressed…

and I'd be depressed…

and it was turning me off my own business, so now I do it this way.

If $200 is the price, that's fine.

Money doesn't happen to be my particular problem.

I have enough money to hire a platoon of people like you.

That's Rockford with a "k."

Now, may I assume I have your attention?

What is it that I can do for you, Miss Butler?

My father was murdered.

The police don't seem to think it was very important.

Just a skid row killing.

Skid row?

My father was a wino.

Two years ago, my mother died.

After she died, it seemed to be all over for him.

I tried to make him forget, but he started drinking and ended up a bum.

Two months ago somebody killed him…

and nobody seems to care who did it but me.

Aren't the police on it?

There was a Detective Becker working on it,

but they closed the case… so he recommended I come to you.

If homicide can't solve it, there's a pretty good chance I can't, either.

Well I've just learned something that I think changes that.

Did you tell the police?

Yes, but they still don't think there's anything they can do.

What is it?

I'd like you to meet my brother. He can tell you.

Could you wait outside, Miss Butler?

I'd like to make a phone call.

Does that mean you'll take the case?

We'll talk to your brother first, then I'll let you know. I'll be right out.

I'd like to run a credit check on a Miss Sara Butler.

Now that's dumb, Sara. I mean, that's just plain dumb.

I don't want to talk to you, mister, so you and my sister can just take a hike.

I'm not talking to anybody about my father.

He was just a drunk.

The hell with him.

He treated you like a queen.

Bought you presents, told you how pretty you were.

I got to carry his golf bags on Saturday and take out the garbage.

So you go ahead, Sara, you have sympathy.

But sympathy is an emotion that's counterproductive.

Would you rather I take Mr. Rockford to meet your Mrs. Elias?

You wouldn't.

Come on, Mr. Rockford. There's someone I'd like you to meet.

Sara, wait a minute. You can't do this.

Watch me.

You're a cop, huh?

No. What I am, sonny, is about 50 pounds heavier and one hell of a lot meaner.

So you better straighten up your act. I don't think I like you.

Yeah, okay.

But just don't bother Mrs. Elias. I mean, it's not even important.

Sara thinks it's a big deal, but it's not.

Tell me about it anyway.

This lady that I make deliveries to, got kind of interested in me.

She heard about my mother dying and my father getting killed.

She found out that I wanted to be a doctor. That's all.

That's not all, Nick. Tell him everything.

She's offered to put me through medical school.

That's all?

I told you it wasn't much.

Will you tell him the rest?

She orders her pharmaceuticals from this drugstore…

and has them delivered to her house in Bel Air.

You see?

No.

Why would she deal with this drugstore? There's 15 or 20 that are closer to her.

Look, she just does! Sara, don't blow this for me.

How many times does a guy get a chance to be put through medical school?

Don't mess it up.

The medical profession needs more sweet guys like you.

All right. Yeah, thank you.

What's wrong?

I was just beginning to like you.

I like you, too.

While we were out slapping your brother around…

I had somebody run a credit check on you.

Guess what I found out?

What?

You laid some bad paper on me.

People who like each other hardly ever do that sort of thing.

How stupid of me. That's my household account.

I'm sorry. I wrote it on the wrong bank

Knock it off, Sara.

These guys tell me that you're the only one in town with worse credit than me.

I had to do that.

This is important to me. He was my father.

Somebody killed him. They choked him with a necktie.

They took his shoes and left him on the beach.

And they're not gonna get away with it. Not if I have anything to say about it.

I'm sorry about that check but nobody would listen to me.

Will you please take this case, Mr. Rockford?

Don't you see how strange it is?

Why would she deal with that pharmacy? It doesn't make sense.

What's that got to do with your father's death?

I don't know, but it is strange, isn't it? Admit that.

All right, it's strange, but it's not that strange.

Now that you've seen Nick, how many women do you think…

would be interested in sending him to medical school?

But we haven't seen Mrs. Elias yet.

She may look like she got dredged up out of the LA river.

Nick says Mrs. Elias is very attractive.

All right, Sara. I say that is a little odd, but…

it's still pretty thin.

I don't see how I can help you.

What is it with you? Are you independently wealthy…

or just on some kind of big case or something?

What do you do for a living when you're not writing bad checks?

I have a small bikini shop.

How much do you make?

Two hundred a week after expenses.

So you really can't afford me.

No.

Look!

If I don't think I can solve this case…

and I go ahead and take everything you make in one week…

for one day of my time, what does that make me?

I don't think that's your problem.

I think it makes me an unprincipled jerk.

Since I don't have any real close friends, I have to get along with myself.

So I don't take cases where I think I'm wasting my time or your money.

If you had any.

Wait a minute. What are you doing for dinner tonight?

What?

I know this restaurant out in the Valley…

and it's really very lovely. If you're free…

Sara, don't do that.

All right, I'll look into it for an hour or so, just for fun. No charge.

If it looks like it's gonna develop, I'll take it on.

Good.

Here… Don't drop it. It may bounce up and hit you in the chin.

Funny, very funny.

Oh, I don't know, Jimmy… Go figure.

If I didn't have to keep this job, I'd quit.

So quit.

You don't know what it's like being on parole.

You got sprung by the Governor. But me…

I got to check in once a week with some fish named Norman Carter…

and I got to tell him how it's going.

If my brother-in-law didn't own this paper, I'd never have gotten out of prison.

No, I'm stuck, baby. I'm stuck.

I'm sorry to hear it, Angel.

Yeah, well, I probably had it coming.

I did that bank job.

Yeah?

When we were in prison,

you must have told me 100 times you were innocent.

Well, I wasn't.

How about you? Did you do that thing?

No, no, I was bad-rapped.

Sure…

Sure!

Look, I told you. Come on, be straight with me.

You were in on that robbery, right?

Wrong!

I don't believe you.

Nobody ever did.

Look, did you find what I wanted?

Yeah. I looked through some old society columns…

I came up with this stuff on that Elias twitch.

Here you go. Take a look at that.

That's kind of strange, huh?

Yeah. Sure is.

When did her husband die? What's the date?

Aaa… June of last year. Here it is.

Thank you, Angel. Let's have dinner, huh?

I can't. It's a condition of parole:

I can't hang around with anybody I did time with.

Oh well… when you get off then!

Hey, Jimmy.

Just between us.

You were dirty, right? You did that thing.

No.

Come on, I'm not gonna tell anybody. What the hell?

I just wanna know for myself.

No. I never pulled that job.

All right…

If that's the way you want to be about it, I didn't do the bank job, either.

I never thought you did.

Well, I didn't.

See you, Angel.

The file is closed. I thought it was a mistake.

But we're getting a homicide a night down here…

and I've got to devote all my time to the ones that look solvable.

Dennis, let me have a look at the file, will you?

I can't do that, Jim. I can't even tell you about it.

Let's face it, every time you get lucky and you solve one of these dead cases…

it makes us look stupid. My captain hates you.

Dennis, Dennis, look…

If you… If you could tell me, what would you say?

If I could tell you, I'd probably tell you

that the guy had a $200 diamond on his finger.

And for my money that doesn't check out as a robbery.

That's if I could tell you.

I see.

Well, I think I'm gonna poke around a little.

If you get anything solid, you'll let me know, right?

Right. And thanks… for "nothing".

I thought you said this place was informal.

What are you laughing at?

Nothing.

Listen, I thought we could work out a deal.

I'm sorry, I don't have specials anymore.

It's 200 a day, plus expenses.

Why so expensive?

It's not expensive.

It's just a little less than a good plumber would make…

if he doesn't work on the weekends.

Besides, it's dangerous.

Strange thing about unsolved cases.

There's always someone in the shadows who doesn't want them reopened.

You'd be surprised how nasty they can be.

What if I paid you on the installment plan?

I did that once and got stiffed. Ended up in Small Claims Court.

Would you care for cocktails?

Scotch and water, please.

Make it two.

I'm trying to hire you but I guess you just don't want to work for me.

You're not trying to hire me, you're trying to chisel me.

How big an installment?

Twenty-five dollars a week.

Is that all?

I'll pay you, Mr. Rockford, I promise.

That means if I work for you for one day,

you owe me $25 a week for eight weeks.

Are you sure that's what you want to do?

Okay, we got a deal.

Why did you take it?

Oh, I looked into Mrs. Elias's background. I found something strange.

Three years ago, she was a dancer here in LA.

Did a lot of TV variety shows.

Why is that strange?

Well… She married a man by the name of William Elias.

Mr. Elias was 68 years old…

and looked like he'd been dumped out of a vacuum cleaner,

but he had $10 million dollars.

So they were married in Las Vegas and on their wedding night, he croaked.

Hmm…

But I don't see how that ties in with my father's death?

I don't either.

It didn't even happen within 10 months of when your father was killed.

But Nick's medical school offer…

that's also strange, and I don't like coincidences.

So, I'll look into it for a day or so.

Thank you, Mr. Rockford.

My father is Mr. Rockford. I'm Jim.

Thank you, Jim.

Oh well, I don't mind telling you that his widow, Mrs. Elias…

was treated very badly by the authorities.

They felt she had killed him because of the amount of money involved…

but also because she was 30 years younger.

The fact that he died on their wedding night.

That all sounds pretty reasonable.

Yes, well, maybe… But you should have seen his respiratory system.

His arteries were hard enough to pound through two inches of concrete.

There is no way it could have been induced by electric shock, or drugs, or something?

No! As I said, Mr. Rockford…

Mr. Elias had a cousin who was trying to cut himself into the will.

He had four different doctors examine the body after I did.

They all came to the same conclusion.

Mr. Elias died of a very natural and inevitable heart attack.

Thank you.

Mr. Rockford?

Are you planning to reopen the case?

Because if you are, and you're interested in a medical opinion…

you're wasting your time.

Thank you for seeing me, Doctor.

Hello.

Oh, hello. Mrs. Elias?

I don't know whether you remember me, but this is Dr. Seelman.

Oh, yes, of course I remember, Doctor…

you did the autopsy on William.

I didn't want to bother you, but there is a man up here…

who seems quite interested in the coroner's report I filed.

Oh! How strange…

Yes… I felt very badly about the way you were treated when your husband died.

Thank you, Doctor. You wouldn't happen to have his name?

Oh, yes I do… I have his card.

James Rockford.

It says that he's a private investigator who specializes in closed cases.

There's no address on the card.

I see. Thank you very much, Doctor.

Uh… Mrs. Elias…

if you ever get up to Las Vegas…

I hope we might see each other.

Yes, of course, Dr. Seelman. I still have your number.

Let's make a date and… plan on it. Could I call you back later?

Of course.

Yes, I'm always in the office.

Okay, yhank you very much, Doctor. Goodbye.

Yup, yup.

Jerry, telephone.

Yellow…

Hello, Jerry, it's Milly.

Where's this week's check?

Forget the check. It'll be there. I've got to see you!

Hi.

Hi.

Just got back from Vegas.

The coroner who did the autopsy says that Mr. Elias died of a heart attack.

He swears it's legit. There is no possibility it was induced.

Well, if there was some connection between my father and Mr. Elias,

maybe he's lying.

Why?

Well, maybe she paid him.

There were four other doctors involved.

If you want my opinion, it's a dead end.

Does that mean you're off the case again?

Yeah… Look I didn't charge you for the time, 10 hours driving up to Vegas and back.

I just…

put in seven cents a mile and the gas…

and the time I spent working on it up there and the two phone calls here.

It comes to $75. It's tax deductible. This is your receipt.

What kind of a jerk are you?

My own kind, I guess.

Look, Sara, I'm sorry. I…

I know you want to find out who killed your father, but…

Well…

If you wanna take the advice of a friend, forget it.

Even if you find out who killed him…

he'll still be dead and you won't feel any better about it. Believe me.

You don't know anything about it.

You're standing there with your seven cents a mile

and your two phone calls…

and you're trying to tell ME about my father.

Well. I'm GOING to find out who killed him.

It was nice knowing you, Sara.

I think you better bury your father before he buries you.

Yes?

It's Jim Rockford.

Look… I was thinking there's still one other thing I could look into.

What's wrong Jim? You just figure out you're overdrawn at the bank?

You don't have to get smart.

Now, I might take a look at Mrs. Elias.

If she's sending eight other guys through medical school… Well…

maybe you'll give up on all this.

How about it? If that's the case, we got a deal?

You there?

Yes.

Tell you what I'll do. I'll make this half-price.

Thank you, Jim. But don't hurt Nick's chances for medical school.

- Damn it! - What's wrong?

I tore my picture. I'll call you later.

You don't look much like a dean of admissions.

What do I look like?

You look like a truck driver in a suit.

I'm not.

Actually, being a dean of admissions is quite a challenging job.

Most people don't realize it, but…

at Mollar we have at least 1,200 applications for every opening.

Oh? Twelve hundred?!

What a job you must have screening them out…

I had no idea.

Most of those are multiple applications.

That means they are people who are also applying to other medical schools.

I see. Well… What is that you want of me, Dean…

Simpson. Carter Simpson.

It says that you're the one who is going to pay for…

Nicholas's education at Mollar and uh…

Since you are not related to Nicholas Butler…

We just wanted to make sure that you're willing to pay for the whole four years.

What we're trying to determine is… just how…

deep your interest in Nicholas really is.

I don't think that came out the way I wanted it.

Nick Butler is a very bright young man, whose mother and father are both dead.

I'm very wealthy, so I've decided to do this boy a favor.

Does that answer your question?

Yes, almost. Just one other thing.

The school would like to know if you could set up some sort of trust…

to guarantee the full four years.

Believe me, it's not that we don't trust your word… It's just…

we have to have certain guarantees.

After all, it's going to come to almost $15,000 a year.

Call my attorney. He'll take care of all the arrangements.

Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you.

You know, Miss… Mrs. Elias…

since you are interested, we have other needy applicants.

Perhaps you'd be interested in helping some of them.

No, Nick is my only charity case.

Goodbye.

That's a lovely, lovely pool.

It is.

Must be comfortable on a warm day like this.

Goodbye, Dean Simpson. Call my attorney.

What was he doing here? What are you doing here?

You don't even know who he is, do you?

Yes I do. His name is Simpson.

His name is Rockford and he's the man you sent me to follow.

What is this $8.62?

That's tax.

There's no sales tax on a personal service.

It's not a sales tax. It's a federal tax.

It's part of the fee.

I just break it down separately for my own records.

Oh…

- Who's buying the hotdogs? - Me.

I have to tell you something.

You certainly have been a new experience for me.

Sara, if Mrs. Elias had said anything I could sink my teeth into,

I would have kept on.

But I called her attorney and he's setting up the trust.

I don't know what her interest in Nick is.

But I'm at a dead end.

I even tried to get friendly but she wasn't buying.

Maybe your rates were too high.

No need to get nasty.

This is the second time you've quit and I'm still getting these slips of paper from you

- I'm not even sure you're really off this case. - I'm not sure, either.

You go home. I'll call you later.

Hey!

- Hello, Jim. - How are you, Harry?

The usual? Yeah, please.

- What are you gonna have? - Bourbon and water.

Hey, pal, I got myself a real problem.

Could you loan me $20? I'm with this girl from the office…

I figured, I put enough booze in her and let her watch the acrobatic dancers…

I could make a score but I'm running out of dough.

I put 10 scotch and sodas in that broad, she's drinking me under the table.

Just let me have that $20. Give me your address, I'll mail it to you.

I'm awfully sorry.

I'm good for it. Everybody knows I'm good for it, pal.

You gotta be one of the dumbest-looking ape I have ever saw!

Of course, you big muscle-bound guys, you're usually compensating…

for feelings of inadequacy.

Meaning?

You know, queer.

That's fine, mister. That's just right.

Everything is gonna be all right.

Sync and corrections: BLU DUAINE blu.duaine@gmail.com