Original subtitles

(CROWD CHEERS)

(GRUNTS)

(YELLS)

AH TOY: Whenever you're ready, I'm betting I can help.

I don't need any help.

Saw these guys at the fight pit.

(YELLING)

They call themselves Teddy Boys.

Chinese scalp is your way in.

(MEN YELL)

If you can't find me one fucking swordsman--

I'll get someone to come.

Give me something I can use.

Don't overestimate how much I'll suffer to keep your secret.

Speaking of secrets, have you gone to see yours?

I did everything I could to keep you out

of that tournament.

Then you ordered my death.

We need a local source we can trust.

The mayor's wife has 100 coolies.

You understand the position you're putting me in?

Is he stable enough to move?

♪ (INTENSE MUSIC PLAYS) ♪

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪

[engine revs]

- Fuckin' cunt! [frenzied footsteps]

Floyd!

[grunts]

[pants and grunts]

Get back here, you bastard!

[panting]

- [strains] - [shouts]

- [gasps and coughs]

[panting]

I--I think you broke my fucking ribs.

- Yeah, well that's nothing

compared to what the Fung Hai'll do to ya.

- [groans]

- Now pay up.

- Okay, okay.

[groans]

[grunts and groans]

- God, you fuckin' stink.

[dogs barking distantly]

- [grunts and groans]

- That's for making me run.

[dramatic spaghetti western music]

♪ ♪

[blade swishes]

- This deal had better work.

If this guy fucks us

we won't have a dime left to buy from China.

- Father Jun won't start treating you like an equal

till you make him see you as one.

- Why are you pushing this so hard all of a sudden?

- I thought this is what you wanted.

- Yeah, maybe.

But it's starting to feel like you want it more.

I'm just saying, if there's a fuckin' agenda here,

I want to know about it.

- I'm the one who lost that fight and let Mai Ling in,

so I guess my agenda...

is to kick her the fuck back out.

- Okay, I can get behind that.

And you may have lost that fight,

but Father Jun should never have agreed to it

in the first place.

- You're late.

Happy Jack doesn't like to be kept waiting.

- He's in the back.

[sparse suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- They're with me.

- [grunts]

♪ ♪

- You're late.

- Happy Jack?

He doesn't look so happy.

- You didn't say anything about tongs.

I don't need that kind of headache.

- Just hear them out, okay?

♪ ♪

- What do they need me for?

They have their own sources.

- If he doesn't want to take our money

we'll find someone who does.

- Look who speaks the King's English.

- Oh, he's not my king.

200 a crate.

That's the going rate, right?

- Maybe.

- We'll need a dozen to start.

- To start?

You vouch for them?

- I wouldn't be here if I didn't.

- And we'll need you to store it for us.

Somewhere we can pull it out in pieces.

How's 210 a crate?

- [clicks tongue] Three.

- For 300 I can keep getting it from China.

- Then maybe that's what you should do.

- Jack--

- I import it, I sell it, I deliver it.

I'm not in the storage business; too much risk,

so you're going to have to pay extra for that.

- 250.

If this works, the orders will get bigger.

- You have the cash?

- I've got half on me.

- Leave it.

Come back tonight with the rest.

- [speaking Cantonese]

- I don't have all fucking day.

In or out right now.

♪ ♪

[money thuds]

♪ ♪

- Guess now we know what makes him happy.

- There you are.

I've been doing some thinking.

- In a minute.

- The first victims-- Morgan and Davis--

they had a history of harassing the Chinese, right?

They beat those poor bastards to death, got off in court,

were killed soon after--

one beheaded, the other disemboweled.

- Jesus, Lee. It's 8:00 in the morning.

- A quarter past, actually.

Now we have these Teddy Boys,

the dead hooligans from the other day.

Also known to attack the Chinese

and in their case take their queues as trophies.

- Where the hell are my cigarettes?

- In the months between Morgan and Davis

and the Teddy Boys now,

we have had three other instances of murder by sword,

all of which makes sense in a Chinese vengeance scenario.

- Okay, okay.

Lee, you're standing there spewing information

that I already know, so I assume--

- Timmons and McCormick.

- The real estate tycoons. - Yes.

Neither had any business dealings with the Chinese

or were ever known to express any anti-Chinese sentiment--

not publicly, anyway.

They were businessmen,

capitalists who no doubt approved of coolie labor.

- They don't fit. - No, they do not.

- Did you even go home last night?

- Look, I spent the last few days

going through Timmons' business dealings,

bank deposits, property records,

looking for any other inconsistencies.

- What the hell are you doing that for?

No wonder you're still getting headaches.

You're a cop, not a fuckin' accountant.

- Just listen.

The last deal Timmons made

was to sell a piece of property in Spring Valley

to a Leonard Patterson for $5,000.

- So?

- So that property was originally listed

at just over $2,000.

That's less than half what Patterson paid for it.

- Mornin'.

- And the deal was signed over on the same day

Timmons and his partner were murdered.

- Your theory is that

this Patterson discovered that he'd overpaid

and in a blinding rage he grabbed his trusty sword

and disemboweled the sellers.

- Maybe.

Look, I'm just saying

there's something fishy about that deal.

- So, um...

I guess you'll wanting to talk to this Patterson.

- Never get the lard unless you boil the hog.

- I'll take your word for it.

- You must have property insurance, Leland.

- Against fire, flood, and theft.

Not dynamite, for god's sake! Not sabotage!

[door latch clicks]

- Penny.

This is a closed-door session, dear.

- This is an emergency meeting for business owners, is it not?

- Correct.

- Now, Leland.

I'm sure we can find some tax relief for you

that will soften the blow.

- An interest-free loan, perhaps.

- Yes, we'll get you back on your feet

as quickly as possible.

- That's a generous offer.

Does it extend to everyone in this room?

- Of course, the first order of business

will be to ensure this kind of attack doesn't happen again.

I spoke with Chief Flannagan this morning.

His men have already begun scouring the city

for those responsible.

- We already know who's responsible

and unless you're prepared

to arrest all of Leary's workingmen--

- Well, that's hardly possible-- - Mrs. Blake is right.

We'd be better served with those same officers

guarding our work sites.

- Yes, but-- - According to Chief Flannagan,

the force is already overextended as it is.

- You spoke to Flannagan?

Well, that's hardly appropriate.

- The real question is will this office do anything

to protect the city's industries from Leary's thugs?

- Mm-hmm, yes. - I like that.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- Fuckin' chink.

♪ ♪

[baby crying]

- Chao.

- Claire.

[dogs barking]

It's light.

Work has been little hard.

New dress? Very nice.

Expensive, eh?

- Lady can't come up in the world

if she doesn't have a proper dress.

I haven't been entertaining,

if that's what you're wondering.

You give her this, hmm?

- Hannah? - Don't.

- Hannah.

♪ ♪

Look who's here.

[peaceful music]

♪ ♪

- Hello.

Bah. Huh?

♪ ♪

- What do you say?

- Thank you.

- Thank you, what?

- Thank you, Papa.

- Not Papa.

Friend. Just friend.

Understand?

♪ ♪

Good.

Okay, go.

♪ ♪

Don't do that.

- I just thought-- - Don't think.

♪ ♪

- Truth is, I never met Mr. Timmons or his associate.

All of our business was conducted through the bank.

I was shocked when I heard what happened.

I mean, it's a terrible thing.

- Mr. Patterson, the bank records show

you paid more than double the asking price

for the Spring Valley property.

Do you mind if I ask why?

- Well, Mr. Timmons listed the property rather low.

There were multiple bidders.

Didn't take long to drive the price up.

- Even so, sir, I checked quite a few properties

in surrounding areas with similar acreage.

They don't price at anywhere near what you paid.

You must admit, it's exorbitant.

- Like I said, there were other offers.

And I knew a substantial overpayment

would assure me the sale.

I took a risk.

The land has good long-term prospects.

Well, if that's all, gentlemen.

- Ever do any business with the Chinese, Mr. Patterson?

- Why would I do that?

You never know what those people

are gonna use the buildings for.

- [chuckles]

- Now, if you'll excuse me,

my next appointment will be here shortly.

- Lee.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Patterson.

[door closes]

- Well?

- I've played enough poker to spot a bluff when I hear it.

- The man's definitely hiding something.

- I've also met enough murderers

to know he doesn't have the stones.

- No. You never know what

a man might do to protect his fortune.

I reckon we dig into his business a little more.

It'll lead us somewhere.

- Well, to financial crimes maybe,

but to a Chinese swordsman? It's a reach.

- We're onto something here.

Just gotta find the Chinese connection.

What?

- Well, every so often,

it feels good to actually do a little police work.

[knock at door]

- Miss.

- You came.

Jacob told me you were back with the Hop Wei.

- Did you ask me here just to disapprove of me?

'Cause honestly, I'm a little busy.

- No. [chuckles]

Of course not. I--I--I'm sorry, um...

Would you like some tea?

- Um...

How about you just get to the point?

- Leary's goons are still harassing my men.

Every day.

And as I'm sure you've heard,

another factory that hires Chinese workers

was blown up last night.

My guards have quit

and I can't seem to find anyone willing to replace them.

- Okay. - I can pay you.

And your...

associates.

All you need to do is keep my workers safe

and my factory secure.

- You can't be serious.

- I'm dead serious.

- You called me a criminal.

- I was angry.

- And now you want us criminals to work for you?

- I need protection.

- Which, if you think about it, makes you a criminal.

- It's to protect your own people.

- Don't.

Even if this wasn't a terrible idea, which it is,

for a million reasons,

your father would never agree to it.

- My father is dead.

That day when they attacked the factory,

he had a heart attack.

- I'm sorry.

- I don't need your sympathy. I need men.

I'll pay a fair wage.

- Why don't you just hire the Irish and be done with it?

- What, Leary and his thugs just...

win?

- It's good to see you, Penny.

- So that's it, then?

- Yeah, that's it.

[metal clanking]

[dramatic orchestral music]

♪ ♪

[wood cracks]

- San Francisco Police.

This is a raid. Johns out.

- Oh, come on. - San Francisco Police!

- The hell is this? Already paid you guys!

- Fuck down. Move!

[unintelligible chatter]

We good here?

- You should be arresting these men.

- My orders were to take you in and take you out.

Go get your girls.

- While you get your kickback.

- Tell you what.

I won't tell you how to be a bossy rich widow,

and you don't tell me how to be a cop.

[unsettling music]

♪ ♪

- [gasps]

♪ ♪

- Oh, come on!

- Shit!

♪ ♪

[quiet sobbing]

- Oh, God.

♪ ♪

[quiet sobbing]

[panicked panting]

♪ ♪

[quiet sobbing]

- Got the money?

- You hold it.

Otherwise you'll have to pry it out of my hands.

I still can't believe I let you talk me into this.

- Let's go.

[crickets chirping]

- From the minute you came into the world,

you carried on.

[knife scraping against wood]

Screaming and crying all day and all night.

[knife scraping against wood]

Kept your mother awake for days at a time.

- My mother?

- She couldn't handle you.

So at four months old, she left you here.

"He's your problem now."

She saw your stubbornness as a curse.

I didn't see it that way.

I saw a born fighter.

But the stiffest tree cracks easiest.

Mai Ling will learn that the hard way.

While we will survive by bending with the wind.

- But we're losing, Father.

There's a difference between bending and bending over.

- All my life,

I've never backed down from a fight.

But we must pick our moment.

You're the only one I trust.

But now I need you to trust me.

We uphold our end of the treaty until I say otherwise.

[slow dramatic music]

Get me?

- I get you.

♪ ♪

- What the fuck are you talking about?

We had a deal.

- [speaking Cantonese]

- Then give us back that money

and we'll find another source, how about that?

- That's not how it works.

Your order is already in process.

- Ah.

- [speaking Cantonese]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [shouts]

- [grunts]

- [bellows]

- [wails]

♪ ♪

- [screams]

♪ ♪

[crunch]

[hammers click]

- [growls and breathes heavily]

- It'd be a shame to waste that beautiful hairdo on a corpse.

Now everybody calm the fuck down.

I have your shit.

But the cops have been cracking down.

They raided two shops in the area today already,

and I cannot get caught holding.

So you can walk out of here empty-handed and broke

or you can tell me where you want the opium delivered

before I turn around and find somebody who will.

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- Bit thicker than usual.

- Long Zii used to say

you always want your partners to be fatter than you.

- Fatter is fine,

but that wasn't the goal of our arrangement, was it?

Your little truce with the Hop Wei

is starting to try my patience.

- That truce has allowed us

to increase our share of the molasses trade.

And yes, business is good,

but the other tongs are getting restless.

It's only a matter of time

before they get greedy and make a move.

Until then, enjoy the spoils.

- You're assuming that I have the luxury of time.

And worse, you're assuming that you do.

I need chaos, and quickly.

[slow dramatic music]

Mai Ling--

never make the mistake of thinking

that this arrangement makes us partners.

I sell, you buy.

That's the market we find ourselves in today.

Tomorrow could be a different story.

♪ ♪

[jaunty Irish music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

♪ ♪

[drunken cheering]

[glass shatters]

- Hey.

- What can I get you?

[soft dissonant music]

♪ ♪

- Uh, whiskey.

With a little something extra in it.

- Extra what?

- You got laudanum?

- You got money?

- Keep going.

- I can't make change for that.

- Keep it.

- Hey.

What's your name?

- Why?

- Look, friendly warning--

you don't wanna be walking around alone out there

when that stuff kicks in.

Why don't you... come in the back?

I got a place you can sleep it off.

Or if you don't feel like sleeping...

[chuckles] We can talk.

I'm Abigail.

[dissonant dreamy music]

You okay, honey?

- Nora?

♪ ♪

What--what'd you do to me?

♪ ♪

- [panting]

- Don't wake the kids.

- To hell with 'em.

[panting and gasping]

- [grunts]

- [panting]

- You seemed to enjoy that.

- Can you blame me?

Not having to do all the work around here for a change?

- [laughs]

[groans]

- Last time you made love to me like that, you gave me twins.

I swear, Bill O'Hara,

if you put another baby in me, I'll kill you.

- [chuckles]

You have my permission to do so.

[chuckles]

But before you do-- [groans]

- What's this?

- It's jewelry.

Goes around your neck.

- I've seen a necklace before, Bill.

I'm asking what are you doing with it.

Please tell me this isn't poker winnings.

- Have you ever known me to win anything?

- Come on.

You've been strangely flush lately.

- Well,

put in a few extra shifts.

There's a chink swordsman on the loose,

if you haven't heard.

- Enough shifts to buy something like this?

- Fine. I'll take it back.

God forbid your husband should

try to do something nice for you in once in a while.

- Hey.

I love how badly

you want to give us everything you never had.

I just want you to know that I don't need jewelry or steak.

I just need my husband to come home

at the end of every shift spent in that godforsaken place.

- Nothing is gonna happen to me.

- It better not.

- [exhales deeply]

- [groans]

[soft spaghetti western music]

♪ ♪

[jaunty whistling]

- Here.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Hiyah!

♪ ♪

- What's this?

- The Suey Sing have apparently decided

to start selling opium now.

Quietly.

In back alleys and brothels.

- Who told you that?

- He did.

After our men caught him.

- The Suey Sing are too small

to take on the Hop Wei or Long Zii.

Why would they risk it?

- The Hop Wei had a stranglehold

on the molasses business for so long,

now that we've broken it,

it makes sense other tongs

would see what they could get away with.

- They're not a threat.

- No.

But we have an opportunity here to send a message.

- A message?

- That the Long Zii will protect what's ours

every bit as much as the Hop Wei.

- Mai Ling.

[soft suspenseful music]

Their leader is young.

Lao Che can be reckless, but he's not stupid.

Let me talk to him.

♪ ♪

- Li Yong.

♪ ♪

Bring Zing with you.

♪ ♪

Let them see who's behind us.

♪ ♪

- Are you reconsidering my offer?

- Why are you doing this?

- This?

- You could easily sell it.

Go back to your painting.

Why go to all this trouble?

- I tell my sisters it's our father's legacy.

And that's true.

But the real reason is actually more of a lie I tell myself--

that this place means I don't depend on my husband's money.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- So, uh-- [clears throat]

♪ ♪

I can offer you protection.

But...

what can you offer me?

- Eight guards should do it.

Let's say $4 a week, per man.

- Seven.

- That's above market rate. I can't afford that.

♪ ♪

- As long as we're here, no one will touch this place.

You know that.

♪ ♪

- Five. That's as high as I can go.

♪ ♪

- I'll be back in an hour with the first shift.

♪ ♪

- We are watching the slow,

relentless decay of our hard-won democracy.

We cannot allow anxiety and dread

to become the law of the land.

We cannot stand by

and watch our moral fiber be compromised.

[cheers and applause]

Yet here we are in the throes of uncertainty,

living in a time when people feel the need

to blow up buildings in order to be heard,

when the yellow peril is spreading faster

than your mayor can contain it.

And your police chase their own tails

while citizens continue to be cut to shreds

by Chinese swordsmen?

Where, I ask you, are hardworking,

God-fearing Americans like you supposed to turn?

[crowd shouts angrily]

[crowd chanting] Send them back! Send them back!

- Send them back!

all: Send them back! Send them back! Send them back!

- Look at him pandering to the labor class

like he's one of them.

And they're lapping it up like hungry dogs.

They'll vote for a fuckin' millionaire

and then wonder why they're getting fucked.

- Politics.

I would think you'd be used to it by now.

- But now he's denigrating my fuckin' office, Bill.

Do you see why that's upsetting to me?

Especially as I can't point to any fuckin' progress.

- We're working a lead.

- I don't care who you have to shake down to get an arrest

but find me a fuckin' swordsman

so I can shove it down that bloviating bastard's throat.

- Friends!

I have done all I can from the State Capitol.

[applause]

All I can. Soon it'll be your turn.

[crowd shouts]

Use your privilege as Americans and send me to Washington

where I'll have the authority to draft laws--

laws that will send them, all of them,

back to China!

[cheers and applause]

Yes!

[band plays bouncy music]

Send them home!

Get them out of here!

♪ ♪

- Well, look who's decided to grace us

with his fuckin' presence.

- Back to China!

- Good morning, Chief.

- The hell it is.

- God bless you, sir!

[cheers and applause]

God bless you all!

Get out and vote!

[cheers and applause]

Back to China!

[cheers and applause]

Get 'em out of here!

[cheers and applause]

Yes!

Yes, sir!

[cheers and applause]

- Rough night?

♪ ♪

- I'll live.

♪ ♪

- So this is the notorious Banshee.

Yeah, I believe my father actually came in here once.

- Somehow I doubt that.

- No, I'm sure.

He, um.

came in here to hire workers to lay track for the cable car.

- Your father was Byron Mercer?

- I imagine you didn't like him very much.

- Well,

to be fair,

he didn't like me very much either.

What do you think he'd say if he saw you in here?

- [chuckles]

Well, I don't much care.

Which was usually the problem between us.

[Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"]

♪ ♪

- That's Beethoven, is it?

- "Moonlight Sonata."

♪ ♪

You like it?

♪ ♪

- You're very good.

- I'm sloppy.

I never gave it the time it needed.

My teacher, Madame Le Claire,

said I was awash in the stink of wasted potential.

At least I think that's what she said.

I failed French.

- Finishing school, huh?

♪ ♪

- I dropped out.

♪ ♪

Which, I suppose means I'm unfinished.

[chuckles]

- [clears throat]

- Thank you, Mr. Leary,

for letting me play.

[door creaks]

[band plays bouncy music]

- Fuck me.

♪ ♪

[door slams]

[cheers and applause]

♪ ♪

- That fuckin' snake!

Why the hell did he add fuel to that fire?

And throw me on the pyre of process?

- I don't know, Mr. Mayor. To motivate you, perhaps?

- Motivate me?

He embarrassed me.

- Well, if embarrassment is your concern,

perhaps it's your wife you need to be dealing with.

- What?

- You can't pretend to be against Chinese labor

while your own wife is hiring coolies.

- I'm trying to keep the city from burning down

and you're talking about my wife.

If the people of San Francisco were truly aware

of what happens in Chinatown on a daily basis--

how close they're all living to the ninth circle of hell--

they'd be up in arms.

We wouldn't be able to contain them.

- And we'd have no trouble

getting the Exclusion Act passed.

- Sometimes I wonder who you work for, Buckley.

♪ ♪

- The people of San Francisco, Mr. Mayor.

As do you.

♪ ♪

- Idiot.

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

[diners fall silent]

- Mr. Nichols, I presume.

- How'd you know that?

- I know a lot about you, Mr. Nichols.

I know you worked for the Pinkertons.

And I know why they fired you.

- Then you'll know I'm not interested

in whatever it is you're selling.

- I'm not selling.

I'm buying.

I hear you still do a little private consulting.

- The Pinkertons won't work for a Chinese gal.

That it?

Even one who speaks English as well as you.

- Walter Buckley.

- The Deputy Mayor. What about him?

What do you need?

- Insurance.

[suspenseful music]

- It's bullshit.

He sold some old shit he found in his back pocket.

We're not dealing.

- He's lying.

- Oh, fuck you, Genghis Cunt!

- I don't need your confession, Lao Che.

It just has to stop.

This is the only warning you'll get, do you understand?

- [chuckles] Listen, Li Yong--

- Shh.

I only need to hear two words.

♪ ♪

- I understand.

- Let's go.

- I don't know why you even bother

with these bottom-feeders.

This onion just lied to your face.

- [chuckles]

You Mongol dogs think you can

come into my house-- [gags]

[gasping]

- The hell is wrong with you?

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

- [groans quietly]

[blade swishes]

♪ ♪

[bone crunches]

♪ ♪

- [shouts]

[bone crunches]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- [shouts]

When Mai Ling finds out about this--

- Do you really think

she didn't' know what would happen?

Huh?

Why else would she send me with you?

[speaks Cantonese quietly]

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- [speaking Cantonese]

- Miss Davenport.

You not come back here for many months.

I think

maybe you finally give up.

- Well, there were other establishments

that required more immediate attention,

but I've been meaning to come back.

- All my girls very happy, as always.

- I'm sure it helps to tell yourself that.

- They choose this life.

I give them job.

Bed. Clean clothing.

- [speaking Cantonese]

- Ah, Miss Davenport.

Here to save world again.

- Oh, no, just your people,

since you're too busy exploiting them.

- Well, someone has to. - [chuckles]

- Save them or exploit them?

- Yes.

- So?

- My girls can go any time they want.

I own no one.

- May I visit with them?

- Of course.

[wagon rattling]

- Whoa, whoa, whoa. [horse chuffs]

[wind whistling]

[horse whinnies]

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[jaunty Irish music]

♪ ♪

- You've played that same fucking song

three times tonight.

Do you know anything else?

- I'm sorry, Mr. Leary.

I could play you "Olde Irish Rose" if you like.

- Jesus, no. I'm sick of that one.

♪ ♪

[Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"]

♪ ♪

[no audible dialogue]

♪ ♪

[menacing chords]

♪ ♪

- ♪ Two, one, yo! ♪

[man rapping in Cantonese]

♪ ♪

My struggle life, it is over!

[engine revs]

WANG CHAO: This thing between you two,

or whatever it is, we're all gonna suffer for it.

And, what you are doing, it's smart business.

(GRUNTING)

-MAN: What the f-- -(PUNCHING THUDS)

-You must trust. -But trust goes both ways.

(GRUNTS)

This isn't gonna end well.

I'll do whatever he wants.

I did what I had to do.

(THUD)

-(GLASS BREAKING) -(TRIGGER CLICKS)

(GROANING)

(CHEERING)

AH SAHM: This isn't the time to lose your nerve.