Original subtitles

[MUSIC PLAYING]

-Don't go to bed with no price on your head.

No, no.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Yeah.

Don't do it.

And keep your eye on the sparrow when the going gets narrow.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

Where can I go where the cold winds don't blow now?

-Well, well, well, well, well.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I don't think uptown meetings are that good for you no longer.

You're forgetting where you came from, who you owe to.

Hector, I can't do anything more for Ruben.

Now listen, Judd, everything I've asked

you up to now has been peanuts, nothing.

Ruben is my brother-in-law.

How we grew up together, we were all the

boys together, we went to school together.

We are like this.

Well, tell him to change his plea to guilty or involuntary manslaughter.

Then I'll make the sentence as light as I can.

You don't understand.

He's part of my family.

How do you think I'm going to look in the neighborhood

if I cannot protect my own family, huh?

It'll only be 5 to 10 when the heat is off.

Then I can reduce the sentence.

You'll be out in 18 months.

Judd, you are not listening.

The DA is watching this one.

I am boxed in.

All right.

What about a technicality?

You've done that before?

Listen, there's no point in arguing like this.

Please pick up a chair.

Let's sit down and discuss this rationally, OK?

Come on, come on, I'll walk you to the car.

Nice day outside, huh?

All right.

Hector.

What?

Poor favor.

No, I guess that's all true, I say.

You know, you ought to come down to the old neighborhood sometimes.

We can have dinner like we used to.

Paella vino a la Paloma.

No, Hector, no.

That's neutral territory.

Come on, John.

OK, big shot.

Up town.

What good is having all the money we have to get together like we used to?

Hey, John, I still remember.

Black and brown against the town.

Negritos, Andreas, Andrea.

Come on, come on.

I'll call you later.

Alberto, vina, porque pasa?

Nothing, nothing, somebody was watching, that's all.

Well, that's all we need.

Qué haces, viejo?

Qué pasa?

Dámela! Qué cosa?

Ya, dámela.

La cámara es mía. No te doy nada!

Dámela! No te la doy!

Damela!!!

[MUSIC PLAYING]

You'd better take off.

[GRUNTING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[GRUNTING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Pour some wine down his throat.

Are you sure?

I want to.

No.

Rico, I want you to remember your grandfather the way

he was, all the love, all the good times.

And that love will live in your heart as long as you do.

Will you remember that?

OK, Mary.

Take that John Doe tag off.

He was Juan Lacayo, a retired cop.

One of the finest men I ever knew.

Carson.

This is Rico Berto Lacayo.

Howdy, man.

How you doing?

OK, I guess.

Atta boy.

How are you doing, Tony?

He looks terrible.

Yeah, I'm tired.

I, uh, I read the report on your grandfather.

What does he say?

Uh, straight.

He's a tough kid.

He did the identification and signed at the morgue.

Your grandpa had too much to drink.

He was drunk.

And he fell off of that roof, and it could happen to anybody.

He wasn't a drunk.

Well, we took a lot of tests on him.

He had a lot of alcohol in his blood.

No, somebody killed him.

He wasn't an old wino.

He was on a case, and they killed him for it.

Look, it's God's truth.

I swear it.

Uncle Billy, you knew my grandpa.

He liked his sauce like I did.

Juan was no-- That's right.

He used to come home some days with his dirty clothes on,

but that was because he was on a case.

You knew he wasn't a wino.

Honey, boy, your grandpa hadn't worked on a case in years.

There ain't no record of him making a dime since he retired.

Let's take him home.

Come on, pap.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Give me a phone and your rip off.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Rigo, bring plenty of clothes.

You may be stinking.

Oh, man.

Looks like the grave robbers have already been here.

What do you mean?

When somebody dies and their obituary appears

in the paper, robbers rip the place off.

But nobody knew he was dead.

Pros at this know who's dead before the cops do.

I'm sorry, Rigo.

Sure is a mess.

They took his TV and a radio.

Why didn't they take his cameras?

They even took his pictures.

He had a new batch hanging from that wire.

Lately, there were a lot of shots of a black man.

Last time I saw him, he was drawing some new ones

of the same black man with a couple of Chicanos.

Are they the ones that are missing?

Yeah.

What?

Oh, look at this.

Me telling my brother-in-law.

We were together for only five minutes

outside the courtroom before the trial.

How did he get us?

Why was the old man doing this?

I don't understand.

What did you find out about him?

Well, we've been digging.

He was a copper, but he was retired.

Retired my foot.

He's probably an undercover man working for the ace office.

Hey, what about the kid?

Has he seen Taylor's pictures?

Yeah, yeah, he saw them, but he doesn't know who the judge is.

But he was the only black in any of the pictures.

Damn.

If the cops put it together, he can crucify Taylor.

Yeah.

Got to do something.

I'll tell you what.

Get somebody from out of town, somebody who doesn't know us,

has no connections with us, and no Latinos.

Have them hit the kid.

That kid is got to go.

[PHONE RINGING]

[BEEP]

Hey, Billy.

Wake up. It's Tony.

What time is it?

It's 4 30.

Two hours sleep.

Yeah, at parties.

Listen, that booze that you were drinking

today at the old man's place, you and him,

you always drank Sour Patch, huh?

That's all he drank.

I'm not so fussy.

I'm just wondering, why does a guy who's got money,

he can even hock stuff and get more money,

he's got booze in his house, all of a sudden, one day,

he goes out and he gets drunk on cheap wine and kills himself?

Hey, do you think there might be something?

I think you and this kid got me going around chasing rainbows.

Ah, go back to sleep.

I'll try.

Good night.

What do you think, Fred?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hey, Rio.

What are you doing here, man?

Stay with Billy.

You don't think my grandpa was drunk and fell, do you?

Don't start that again, kid.

I told you I like you and I want to help you,

but the only way people can help each other is by leveling with them, right?

And the truth is, we ain't got nothing to go on, pal.

Yeah?

Then what are you doing here?

I can't sleep.

My old man always said when you can't

sleep, it's because you got something to do.

I'm just getting it done, kid, that's all.

Just getting it done.

Come on.

Wait a minute.

I might as well talk to Scheherazade while I'm here.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

Very beautiful.

My name is Beretta.

I'm a cop.

I was just, you know, checking on the

old man that fell off the roof yesterday.

By thinking of something to ask you, I'll just ask you.

I already talked with a dozen cops.

And like I told them, I just see the kids flying the kites here.

And anyway, I had an important audition yesterday.

OK?

Excuse me.

Kid, you got a nose like a fox.

What do you mean?

I ain't sure yet.

Pigeons are just like people.

They find a place that they like,

and every day they congregate there to talk things over.

So what?

Wherever they congregate, they turn into a public toilet.

See that?

That's a pigeon's friend.

That's what your grandpa had on his jacket when he died.

Now, he could have got it sleeping in the park if he was drunk.

Could have got it.

Right here.

You see this?

That's a man's elbows.

He wouldn't be leaning here drunk.

You're stroking now, partner.

Grandpa was here all right.

That newspaper's from the day before yesterday.

Pay dirt, kid.

You see that?

That's a film box.

Grandpa was working on a case, all right.

Like Cucaracha, I was wrong.

What do we do now?

Keep on stroking.

What kind of case would he be working on?

These things are rotten.

He was up here for four or five days a week.

Why would he leave his lens here?

He got me, pal.

He didn't leave his lens here.

You see them threads?

This thing got broken.

What are you shooting pictures of?

Windows over there are all out of focus.

So is that roof.

See that door right over there?

That's in focus.

How far away did you say that was?

About half a foot, Barfield.

You're right, partner.

160 feet.

What does that mean, huevo mundo?

That's the New World Employment Agency.

New World Employment Agency, huh?

Hey, those are some of the guys on grandpa's pictures.

Get out.

What pictures?

What are you talking about?

The ones that were in his work room.

See no pictures in there?

They must have got stolen.

Partner, you and me are going to go have a burrito

and a frosty freeze, and you're going to tell me all about them pictures.

You got a new huevo mundo employment agency.

I know that.

You got Hector Santos, Kingfisher the barrio.

Yeah.

Brother man is strong on this side of town, all right.

Be running it down, too.

Lone shot from his heart.

You hear that?

Yeah.

Be wheeling and dealing.

Running the numbers.

Matter of fact, I remember once losing a couple of my fines ladies to him.

All right.

You got me, I'll keep you on the streets.

What's he got going for him?

How come he's out?

Things and things, brother man.

This guy's got some connections uptown, AC/DC, direct connection.

You hear what they are?

You know what they are?

Say man, that's your job.

I'm supposed to be on the street, but

you're supposed to be up there in city hall

keeping things straight.

What you want me to do your work for you?

All right, all right.

No, no, I'm doing just fine.

You stay on it and keep stroking.

Don't follow me now.

I got to get into some things.

What about my money, man?

Say, brother, make me get mean and talk about my green.

Now you're going to run off without my cash.

Playing with the roots of sin and got me out of eating this job.

You ain't seen the end of this yet, Turkey.

It's all sissy peanut butter and tortillas.

Man, this is a trip.

Corruption, boss, the worst kind.

This guy's been milking his own people for 25 years

and somebody up there is making a whole thing come out like snow white.

That's exactly what I thought you were going to get to.

Now, Billy says that this old guy, LeCayo, had one mission in life.

He wasn't getting paid from nobody, didn't want no money.

All he wanted to do was get the goods

on Santos and run them out of the barrio.

Now he's going to do that by stripping his cover.

That's right.

Now he got some pictures of Santos

with this big muckety muck, whoever he is.

Only somehow or other they made him, they threw him off the roof

and made it look like some old juicer was checking out.

It's good, Beretta, but it's only a guess.

You got to be right.

Well, they got all the pictures that are holding all the cards right now.

All I got is that little cucaracha named Rio.

But if he can make that black guy in those pictures, whoever he is,

the whole thing is going to shake itself down a little bit different.

The kid's rather important, huh?

He's the man.

So what do you got in mind, Beretta?

Well, we know they got all the pictures, but do they know?

If I was them, I'd be quaking in my boots just a little bit.

Supposing the picture pops up here or there, maybe the kid had some,

maybe the old man stashed some with us.

Number two, Dane had no truck with the law for 25 years.

It's been easy street.

I'm going to Mark them up a little bit.

I'm going to shake them up just a little bit.

I think maybe they're virgins.

We'll see what we can do.

[music playing].

Run, kids, get out of here!

[music playing].

[gunshots]

Hey, kid, just keep your head down.

I can't get to you, but they can't either.

[gunshots]

We got time on our side, kid.

I'll keep the head down.

The heat's on the way.

You chucked your numbers up.

If you put your head up, I got you.

If you keep it down, my boys got you.

Forget the kid.

Let's get out of here.

[gunshots]

Watch that first step.

[music playing]

What can I say?

We're playing with some tough cookies.

Try not to make any more mistakes.

I know that feeling.

Come on, what can I get you?

You want an enchilada and a snow cone?

Maybe in a little while.

Grandpa put in 30 years, and it warmed down.

Even since I was little, I remember him tired.

I know, man.

You're feeling bad out there running around, getting shot at.

That ain't kid stuff, is it?

I promise you something.

When this is all over, I'm going to take you around town

and show you just how many friends your grandpa really had.

I never want to be a cop.

You don't want to be a cop, huh?

Get out of here.

I'll tell you something.

You already are a cop.

Anybody that don't like the bad guys is a cop.

You see Rooster down there yet?

Where the hell is he with that roadblock?

See, once we get Santos boxed in, we're

going to have a lot easier shot at him.

Billy didn't say nothing about where he was going, huh?

Not a word.

Keep watching.

I sure ain't like him.

[engine revving]

Hey, La Cucaracha, come here.

See that old man up there?

He loved your grandpa so much, he's up there playing Dick Tracy.

I got to go up and get him.

You come and lock the door and don't open it for nobody.

Watch this door.

[engine revving]

Hey, Billy.

What?

What are you doing up here, you nut?

We're supposed to be working together.

What, Warren was trying to get on film?

I'm going to get on film.

I know what you're trying to do, pal.

I love you for it.

I want to help that kid too.

But if we don't work together, one of us

is going to wind up pushing up daisies.

Tony, you can't see from over there both entrances.

The back entrance-- You don't have to watch that door.

Ain't nothing going to happen down there.

That's Rooster and his guys down there.

You see them?

Hey, man, come on.

There's three of you dudes.

You can't move no faster than that.

I'm going to help you, man, but I'm the supervisor, you know.

I want to get my hands dirty.

[singing]

How do there?

How do there?

What is your name, my man?

My man, Rooster.

Who are you, Buck Jones?

No, my name is Peaches.

Ragtime Billy Peaches.

And you're in for a rare treat, my boy, because there's two things I want.

First of all, I own a job.

You understand?

Good.

No, I don't pick cotton.

I'm a singer.

I can't swing and I can't jam.

Are you a drunk?

Yes, I am.

No, sir.

[singing]

The second thing I want is I want them little chili beaner girls.

I understand I can get a woman in here that'll just about set me free, boy.

And when I get that woman, then I want to bet on the horse.

Now, you tell me where-- Is this why they bet on the horses around here?

Look around you, Sheriff.

Hold it now.

What?

Well, here.

No, I just want a woman is all I wanted.

Check him out.

You all get attention.

Come on, top.

You're going out.

[speaking Spanish]

[shouting]

What are you getting at now?

Why, you pure flatfoot?

Stay out of here.

You said it, boys, sir.

With jerk.

I ain't no policeman.

I'm a singer.

I come here looking for a job.

Peaches is the name.

Back time Billy Peaches.

Well, that's what I'm going to have happen.

[music playing]

He's gone for coffee.

Time for me to go down there and rattle that chamoke again.

[music playing]

They didn't take anything.

Everything is here.

I probably scared them out before they could really start looking.

I don't like it.

Nobody hits us in this neighborhood.

Excuse me, Father.

My name is Tony Beretta.

I'm a cop.

I'd like to ask you about one of your people, Hector Santos.

He sells a lot of raffle tickets for you, I know.

Yes.

Buys a bunch himself.

He probably gives a lot of money to the church.

I hate to bring you news like this, but I'm sure he's in very bad trouble,

and it looks like murder is a part of it.

It's that kid, El Cayo's grandson.

We've got to get rid of him.

Yeah, but first you've got to find him, Hector.

But after the two professionals you hired

blew it, it's going to be very difficult.

I'm sure that kid is guarded by the police now.

I've got to work on getting somebody in there.

Well, do it fast, before he talks.

There's another way.

Somebody a lot easier to find, Hector.

What you talking about?

What's the worst a kid can hurt us?

What a dumb question, real bad.

He get Mia, Taylor together, Taylor and my brother-in-law together.

And Taylor's going to get hurt us, right?

What you talking about?

That's the answer.

Get rid of Taylor.

I've known Hector since he was a boy.

He went to school here.

I'll do everything I can to help.

Can you tell me anything about him?

Not very much as a grown-up.

You said he went to school here.

Yes.

How about when he was a kid?

He was alienated as a child.

No friends.

God can't do it all, you know.

But he did have one friend.

And I'd hoped that that relationship might save them both.

There was a time when Hector Santos and

Junior Taylor were each other's only friends.

You see, this whole area used to be Irish.

Yeah.

Hector was the first Chicano here and Judd was the first black.

They formed an alliance.

They said they were black and brown against the town.

I used to even encourage their independence.

Father, you called him Judd, the other boy.

What was his name?

Well, that's another irony.

Hector, my bad penny, comes to every mass.

But Judd, my prized pupil, never comes, not even to see me.

And he's turned out so well, too.

Become a judge.

Judson B. Taylor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Father.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[SINGING IN SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

Oh, yeah, this suit, I think, fit very nicely.

Who the hell are you?

I'm the heat. Hello, amigo.

How are you? Turn around and spread it.

How you been here?

Be quiet. I'll have to kill your friends.

Shut up.

You got nothing.

You're wasting your time.

I want something on you.

I have something on you.

You got a right to remain silent.

I suggest you use it.

Get out of here.

Don't you touch me.

Get out of here.

Come on, man.

Do it.

Get out of here.

Keep moving.

Don't be sorry.

Get out of here.

[CAR APPROACHING]

[CAR HORN]

[CAR APPROACHING]

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

Shut up, buddy.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

Huh?

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

I don't want any problems.

[MUSIC PLAYING].

[KNOCKING]

He squeaks.

Breaks something.

Oh, baby.

Hey, sir.

I know how busy your people are.

Wait a second.

That's right.

We have a little matter what we're working on here.

We think you could tie up a few loose ends for us.

Detective, Brett and I, they'd like to ask you a few questions.

You want to sit down here?

- Yeah. - It's very nice to meet you, sir.

I respect you work a great deal.

Thank you.

Want to just come here?

Go ahead, sir.

I guess first off, the most important thing is Hector Santos.

Can you tell me about him?

I spoke to Father Quinn, and he said that you were boyhood friends together.

Yes, we grew up together.

It was more than 25 years ago.

I was the only black on the west side, and he was the only Chicano.

Black and brown against the town, Father Quinn.

Yes, yes.

What do you want to know about Hector Santos?

Just anything you could tell me about today.

I mean, do you still know him or see him?

Well, I've run into him a couple of

times, a reunion and once at the racetrack.

Actually, we don't move in the same circles.

Look, Detective, Brett, just let me get in here, if you don't mind.

Sir, I happen to know that you have on

your dock a case involving Ruben Dominguez.

Are you aware that he's the brother-in-law of Hector Santos?

Are you sure?

Yes, sir, I'm sure.

Well, I'm glad you called me.

It would be a serious breach of ethics

if I sat on the case, childhood loyalties being suspect, as they are.

Well, sir, we just found out ourselves yesterday.

Well, I'm glad you did.

I'll disqualify myself and step down immediately.

Look, do you happen to know a man named Juan LeCayo?

No, why?

You see, he's been killed.

We're investigating that murder.

We think that Hector Santos may be involved.

Well, I haven't seen Hector in quite a while.

That is not recently.

I hope he's not involved.

We were good friends once.

What time is it, Lieutenant?

It's a quarter to two, sir.

Well, I have to be in chambers shortly.

Thank you, your honor.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

All right, gentlemen.

Goodbye, sir.

Well, he knows we made him now, that's for sure.

The guy made? Why isn't he booked, Beretta?

Well, because... Why don't you bring

Rigoberto down here to identify him, huh?

I don't know if an identification would do any good at this time, sir.

If it doesn't do any good, what are we doing here?

Hope we get something done inside.

It's a real test.

I haven't seen good old John in years. He looks great.

You should have let him have a chat.

Uh-oh.

I guess that was for your little game, eh?

The judge knows that we made him.

He does?

So the cat's out of the bag now.

And the clawing, screeching cat he is, and a very thin bag he was in.

Gee, tell me about it.

I guess you're gonna put him away for life.

I'm really terrified.

Hey, listen, it's getting real late. I got

to get back to my tail... Oh, what's that?

You're involved in Juan LeCayo's death

and a lot of other bad garbage around this town.

You will fall, and that man out there is gonna help me.

Black and brown are going down.

(music)

I want to see Hector.

He ain't here, man. What, are you crazy, coming here like this?

Mendoza, don't lie to me.

I ain't lying, judge. Nobody ever made a press.

Well, where is he?

We don't know, judge.

Look, you wanna come and look around?

You tell Santos I want to see him at the church.

Yeah, I'll tell him.

All right, man.

(Music)

You looking at me, boy?

What is it?

Don't be afraid.

You look scared.

See what I say.

You've got troubles too, huh?

Well, you haven't got anything to fear from me.

You remind me of myself when I was 14, alone, frightened of everyone.

And then, of course, I... I grew up and I

thought I didn't need this place anymore.

Like so many others, I fooled myself.

It's so easy to do so.

(Music)

Good work, Jack.

You got the kid.

He's black and brown against the town all over again.

It's the only piece of evidence there is.

What are you talking about?

He's Lacaya's grandson.

He can identify.

It's the whole ball game, amigo.

And there is no ball game.

That's why I wanted to meet you.

The police, they know it.

You've been out town too long.

You've gone soft.

Had to scratch too many ears to give everything up for a lousy kid.

Come over here, kid.

Come here.

Hey, Chad.

Hold it.

No.

No, no, no.

No.

Look.

Nothing happens to the kid.

You touch him, you got to do it over me.

Put it down.

You've been killing people in church, Mendoza.

Put it down, you idiot.

We've been together for many years.

We've done a lot of things together, Chad.

Taken him out of here.

No, you're not.

You're killing old friends in church, then you'd better pull the trigger.

Here it goes with me.

I'm in church.

I'm in church.

Get the keys out of the restaurant.

[gunshots]

[screaming]

[gunshots]

[gunshots]

Stay down, kid.

Break it up.

[gunshots]

Looks like we've been here before, huh, kid?

Keep that melon down.

Stay right where you are.

We're going to make it.

Santos, if you feel like living, you got one way to go.

Slide that piece of iron out and come on up over that thing.

Fingertips first.

I've never been in jail.

I'm not going in now.

Oh, go ahead.

Mess up.

Boy, do I want you to mess up.

If you try to wait it out, the Federales are going to come storming in here

and the end's going to be the same.

Let me see something beside them fingertips.

Just do anything.

Turn around and spread them against that wall.

Go ahead.

Get cute.

Spread them.

You okay, kid?

Yeah.

He killed my grandpa, didn't he?

Yeah.

You were right.

You've been right all along.

It looks like your grandpa taught you something.

It takes most of his lifetime to learn.

Try to believe in yourself.

Some folks call that being a winner.

What do you call it?

I call it being a hard head.

Keep that hard head down.

Hard head down.

(music)

Hello.

No, Tony, not me.

I want to go to school and become a forest ranger.

A forest ranger?

That ain't never going to work.

The first night that you don't hear the street cars,

you're going to get the heebie-jeebies.

Besides that, all that fresh air will kill you.

Come on, nut.

Come on, nut.

Well, I don't want to be a cop.

Oh, I don't know.

It ain't so bad being a cop, is it?

Is it so bad being a cop?

Let's see.

Sometimes it's just a matter of sprinkling a little bird seed,

and them bad guys come right to you.

And sometimes, like your grandpa, see, he started out rattling those guys.

All we had to do was pick up the ball.

Sometimes the bad folks are like rats in a cage.

You just shake that cage, and they start chewing on each other.

That's the difference in the good ones and the bad ones.

Rio, I'm so glad Father Collias said you're going to his boy's home.

Yeah, you'll have a good life there.

A couple of weeks with your hard head, you'll be running the place.

Wait a minute.

Oh, here we go again.

Rio, get those towels up there.

Ship ahoy, gang.

Abandon ship.

Abandon ship.

Get some up.

Get some more.

Get some more.

Pull the rug over.

Help!

So keep your eye on the sparrow when the going gets narrow.

Well, well, well.

[music]