Original subtitles

( dramatic theme playing )

( bell tolling )

MAN: Stuart, wanna work tonight and tomorrow?

STUART: Yeah. MAN: Okay.

How about you, Jackson?

There must be an easier way to make a living.

There is. For Anglos.

MAN: Lopez? No, sir.

Some of them don't do so good either.

So quit your beefing.

And besides, what more do you want?

Six bits an hour and all the tomatoes you can eat.

Yeah.

When you get tired of tomatoes, there's pears.

When you get a bellyful of pears, there's grapes.

Chavez. Rodriguez.

I need some more help for tonight and tomorrow.

How about you two? I have to get home.

How about you, Rodriguez? Pay you time and a half.

No, thanks. Tonight's Saturday.

And tomorrow's Sunday.

These tomatoes have gotta be moved.

Okay, So you're in a hurry to get tanked up.

Beat it.

Lazy good for nothings.

Come on, Lopo. You know what kind of a guy he is.

A few bucks a head

and you can't do a thing with them.

You know, I'd like to have about 40 acres along this road.

Maybe 20 would be enough.

So you'll plant tomatoes? No.

Peaches. You'd have to pick them.

Oh, I wouldn't mind.

As long as they were mine.

Boy, that would be living.

You know, rows and rows of peach trees

with the fruit getting ripe.

Your own ditch to swim in.

It doesn't take much to make you happy.

A field with a few trees and a hunk of sky.

Do you need anything more than that?

Yeah. At least what I had in the Army.

When you were young, you used to beef plenty.

You and my brother both.

You guys couldn't get back here quick enough.

I guess I forgot what I was coming back to.

There's a lot of worse places than this town to come back to.

( sighs )

Every time I cross this bridge, it does something to me inside.

You know, like it wasn't real.

Like it was someplace else.

You know, like something out of a book or a dream.

Yeah. That's the trouble.

In the Army, this is what I remembered.

I forgot how quick you've gotta cross that bridge.

Across the tracks to Sleepy Hollow.

Hey, Lopo!

( tires screeching and banging )

Didn't you see the sign? Or can't you read English?

I'm sorry, I wasn't watching the road.

Oh, you weren't?

Let's see your license.

LOPO: You got the worst of it. I'll say I did.

MAN: Yeah. Come on, let's see your license.

You haven't got one.

You cholos are all alike.

No license, no brakes, no insurance--

All right, break it up. Break it up!

Do you want me to run you in?

All right, now, what's this all about?

He busted through a stop sign and into my car.

And who started the fight? He did.

Sure I did.

We don't like to be called cholos.

Oh, so that's it? Get going.

Wait a minute. Who's gonna pay for my car?

The insurance company.

Name is Chavez, 713 Santa Fe Avenue.

That's right. Okay. Come on, cholo.

Maybe we'll see you again.

How about it? Did you jump the stop sign?

Yeah. We were talking.

That'll cost you 5 bucks.

You boys ought to know better when you get into fights.

My tire rod is bent.

Is it okay if I leave the car here?

I'll have someone pick it up tonight.

Well, we'll push it over to the curb.

Thanks. Thanks.

Okay. Come on, let's catch a bus.

( scatting )

I'll see you later. Hasta luego.

Buenas tardes, Señor Garcia.

Hi, Lopito.

SUNNY: Como estas, Lopo?

Como estas yourself.

Say, how about it? Are you going to the dance?

Yes. but late. We have to finish this job.

Well, don't forget to wash your face.

I won't if you won't.

You mean I'm dirty? It's good clean dirty.

Save me a dance.

I will if you're not too late.

( upbeat theme playing )

MRS. RODRIGUEZ: Pablito?

Hi, Pop. Pop?

Always it is Pop.

No matter how many times I tell you.

You're late, Pablito.

Lopo ran through a stop sign

and smashed into another car.

There was a fight.

That Lopo. Ever since the Army, he's fighting.

I fought too. They called us dirty names.

When my father spoke, I listen.

But you, you tell me how to speak.

I say no fight, you fight.

You want trouble? You want to go to jail?

Stay away from those Americans.

I'm an American, Padrecito.

( speaking in Spanish )

Hi there, cholo.

Juan, Pablito understands you.

Try to understand him.

I'll try.

( upbeat theme playing )

MOTHER: Joe? Did you fill the ice bucket?

Did you hear me?

I asked you if you filled the ice bucket.

Your father will be home soon.

Can't you wait till I'm dressed?

Don't be rude, Joe.

Hello, darling. Hello, dear.

Are we going out tonight? Mm-hm.

Do I have to dress? No.

But it might be a good idea if you shaved.

All right.

As soon as I have a look at the paper.

( footsteps )

Hello, Joe. Hi, Dad.

What happened to your hand?

I had a fight with a kid from Sleepy Hollow.

I told you not to go down there looking for trouble.

I wasn't looking for trouble.

Anyway, I didn't go to Sleepy Hollow.

It happened on the highway.

Harry and I were coming from the river,

and these two guys in an old jalopy smashed into us.

Well, what did you fight about?

Nothing. They got tough and we weren't having any.

They or you and Harry?

What did you do? Call them names?

Okay, take their side like you always do.

You don't even wait to listen.

I say I got into a fight and right away you yell at me

about going down to Sleepy Hollow.

If you have any friends down there,

you can go any time you want to.

Don't worry. I haven't any friends there.

Might be a good thing if you did have.

I should hang around with fruit tramps?

Mr. Wilder?

Most of the press runs are already gone, Mr. Ferguson.

Well, I'll catch what I can and run another tomorrow.

Sorry that happened.

You made a slight error

in the ad copy on Ferguson's new subdivision.

The price is 1,500 a lot, not a hundred and fifty.

So I did.

Also, you left out the wading pool for the kiddies.

Mistakes have a habit of creeping in

now and then, Mr. Wilder.

And maybe that's why this paper has a habit

of losing money now and then, Mr. Pollock.

Would you please fix it? What a pity.

I was just about to rush out and buy me a lot.

You mean you have a hundred and fifty bucks?

Well, within 75, $80.

When things get tough, I'll know who to hit for a touch.

They'll get tough, but I'm not your man.

I wouldn't invest a nickel in this sheet.

Prime time to tell me.

Well, you didn't ask.

Just walked in, took off your hat

and said, "Boys, I'm the new owner."

All my life, I've been dreaming a dream.

And don't pinch me because I might wake up.

Why, do you know last night,

I heard mockingbirds outside my window?

First time in 20 years.

Just think, mockingbirds and nobody to take orders from.

Did I say that?

Well, I haven't changed my mind about the mockingbirds.

I, too, am a man with a dream

of getting out of Santa Marta.

You're gonna have it and the mockingbirds.

In six months, you'll hate both.

What got into you?

This morning, you were bubbling over.

You had a new girl, the world is a wonderful place.

Fight with her already? No. We're just like that.

And after tonight,

when I buy her dinner and stare at her with flagons,

we might even be closer than that.

You got a date? Yeah.

She like dancing? Loves it.

Good. Here you are.

Gee, thanks, Larry.

Oh, no. Well, someone's got to cover it.

Now, Larry, I've been working on this mush for weeks.

You know I have. What's she gonna say when I drag her down

to a fruit tramp ball in Sleepy Hollow?

What do you think her folks will say?

You're not taking her folks.

No, I'm not taking her either.

Anyway, it'll probably end up in a fight.

That's why I want it covered.

Well, I guess I'll have got to call

and tell her I've gotta work.

Never mind, I'll cover it.

Be sure you take her somewhere impressive.

Gee, thanks.

Before you leave, check the car loadings

and phone them in to Stockton.

Make a final check on the weather for tomorrow.

And be careful tonight.

You know how they talk in small towns.

You're telling me.

Hi, Frank. Hi, Buddy.

Hello, Joe. Hi, Frank.

HARRY: Hey.

Hi, Harry. It's about time you got here.

What did they do? Make you wash the dishes?

Nobody makes me wash dishes. Ah, you've got dishpan hands.

Wanna take a feel of them with your eye?

( chuckles )

Hey, what's on the program for tonight?

I feel like dancing.

The country club's jumping with parents.

We won't have any fun.

Who said anything about the country club?

Some of those tomato pickers

are pretty good-looking tomatoes themselves.

Oh, it's you, Mr. Wilder. I'm sorry.

And if it hadn't been me? We'd be shaking you down.

We don't want any trouble here in the Hollow tonight.

(band playing dance music)

( indistinct chattering )

All I need is one.

No strings attached.

You're just being generous?

Why not? It didn't cost me anything.

Mine didn't either.

Press too. What paper?

La Luz.

Weekly.

Oh, I didn't know there was one.

But there's a lot I don't know about Santa Marta.

I've, uh, only been here a month.

Have you had a chance to cross the tracks?

No reason to till tonight.

Tonight?

Let's say I felt like my dancing.

Good evening, Miss Garcia.

( indistinct chattering )

Even if you find him,

he's probably with another girl.

He is.

Then what are we waiting for? Be introduced?

My name is Wilder, Miss Garcia.

Yes, I know.

This is a small town, Mr. Wilder.

I work for a newspaper, remember?

Friend, huh? Just a friend? Yes.

He's trying to show me up.

It isn't impolite to watch, is it?

No.

( speaking in Spanish )

( speaking in Spanish )

( crowd clapping )

At the country club, they dance outside.

When they turn off the lights,

you could see the river down the hill.

When there's moonlight, you could see the mountains.

It's very lovely.

(band playing dance music)

Maybe the music's better here.

The music doesn't matter much when you can see the sky.

Well, doesn't that depends on whom you're dancing with.

Yes.

You came alone tonight.

It's-- It wouldn't be

because you expect something to happen, would it?

Now, why would I expect that?

Because a lot of people do.

At least down the street.

Mothers and fathers sitting over there.

Some of the kids themselves.

Take those two over there, for instance.

A month ago, they were trying to knock each other's teeth out

every time they met.

Cigarette?

Not in here.

Each one had a gang.

Eight boys in a block.

Sleepy Hollow, that's a gang.

Nothing much to do, so one gang fought another.

Then the police would come and haul them off to jail.

( chuckles )

Pretty soon people were saying

we were all juvenile delinquents.

It sounds like what happens in every town.

But we're doing something about it.

The minister, the teachers.

A lot of people in this town figured

if you kept the gangs together, the fighting would stop.

It has. I'll throw away my pencil.

SUNNY: No.

No, you can do a lot of good with it.

You can tell the people over there to--

Well, look across the tracks.

Sleepy Hollow has been here for years.

I've been here a month.

So it's not your worry.

You're looking at a tired man.

I'm a guy who likes small towns.

I was born in one and I've been going around

looking back and wondering why I ever left it.

This town is a lot like the one I remember.

A lot of trees, a lot of mountains,

a lot of nice people.

Blind to some things but who isn't?

So I'm not taking sides or picking fights

or telling them what to do.

I'm against gray meat poppers, nematodes,

and Bang's disease.

Me? I'm for Mother's Day

Excuse me.

( indistinct chattering )

( crowd clapping )

Wasn't that the pastor you were just talking to?

Don't you know a parson when you see one?

Not unless his collar's turned around backwards.

He isn't that kind of a parson.

LOPO: Hey, Sunny.

Special for you and your friend.

(waltz playing from phonograph)

How did he know I like the waltz?

How about this dance?

What's the matter?

Don't you wanna dance? No.

( speaking indistinctly )

( indistinct chattering )

( indistinct shouting )

MAN: Hey, break it up. Break it up.

MAN 2: Come on, break it up.

You got what you came after.

( indistinct chattering )

Tell Bill to get over here quick.

( indistinct chattering )

( indistinct shouting )

(music playing from ice cream truck)

( indistinct chattering )

POLICEMAN 1: Come on, snap it up.

Hurry up.

Come on.

Hurry up.

POLICEMAN 2: Carlos, wrap it up in there.

POLICEMAN 1: Hurry up, come on. Hurry up.

( indistinct chattering )

You run around with a newspaperman,

you've gotta get used to things like this.

You do?

Are all the newspaper offices so dirty?

Oh, no. This is clean compared to some I've worked on.

You take the, uh--

Well, take any one of them.

Creel of The Union speaking.

Get me the city desk of The Stockton Express.

I cover Santa Marta for the Express.

I pick up quite a few bucks that way.

City desk? This isCreel in Santa Marta.

Say, we've got a riot down here.

Yeah, a big one.

Heh, you want me to dictate?

Oh, all right.

Um, they're on a deadline.

( phone ringing )

Get that, will you, baby?

Hello? Just a minute, please.

It's Mr. Prentiss. He wants to talk to Mr. Wilder.

Oh, tell him Larry will call him back.

Mr. Wilder, will call you back.

I wonder what's worrying him.

Oh, hello, Miss Dawson. Jonas Creel.

Say, we've got a little excitement down here.

Yeah. A gang of fruit tramps threw a dance

for some other gangs over in Sleepy Hollow.

Good fellowship dance they call it. Ha, ha.

And what it did to promote good fellowship.

Some of them started throwing punches at each other

and it was a shambles by the time the cops got there.

Yeah. One of kids, one of the ringleaders,

a kid named Paul Rodriguez, slugged a cop.

Al Peters.

Yeah, heh.

Yeah. He stole an ice cream wagon

and took it on the lam.

Hold it, Miss Dawson.

Uh, I'm covering for the Express.

Hurry it up.

Uh, the guy with the mortgage, Prentiss,

wants you to call him. That's Caroline Tyler.

Here's a good one, Miss Dawson.

It was one of those trucks with bells on it.

Yeah, heh.

( suspenseful theme playing )

( siren wailing )

Hey, that's mine!

( siren wailing continues )

( tires screeching )

POLICEMAN: Hit somebody your own size, will you?

He's the guy that slugged me. Let me have him.

Cut it out, Pete.

Try to act like an officer, will you?

Boy Scout knife, 2 bucks,

St. Christopher's medal,

and he sure needed it on this road.

That's the work.

All right, kid, get in the car.

Why don't you kiss him?

Get in there with him and behave yourself.

Manny, take this car back to the shack.

Pick up the ice cream truck. Why don't you send Pete?

Maybe the music will take some of the meanness

out of him.

Car 14 calling in.

Yeah, Sergeant Boswell talking.

Call off the dogs. We got him.

Hello there. Hi, Larry.

Please, Let's be practical. Trials cost money.

And none of the people have any money to throw away.

Now, I'm not charging anything for my advice.

I'm giving it to you. So why don't you take it

and let me plead the boys guilty.

Guilty of what? They haven't done anything.

But they're still in jail, Miss Garcia.

Now, the charges against them aren't serious.

They're assault and disturbing the peace.

They pay a small fine and they're free.

The whole thing's forgotten.

But if I plead them not guilty,

you've got to put up a bond.

And that means money.

And then there's the trial,

and, well, they'll be found guilty anyway.

LARRY: What will the fine be?

Oh, 5 or $10.

But they haven't done anything to be fined for.

Well, there are two schools of thought on that subject.

They better pay the fine.

But it's not fair.

They arrested 11 of our boys and only one from town.

Oh, there're a lot more of your boys there.

I'd say that everything just about averaged up.

Mr. Green's right.

They better not go to court.

ED: Excuse me, Mr. Wilder.

May I talk to you for a minute?

Surely.

ED: This is my boy, Joe.

Joe, this is Mr. Wilder of the Union.

How are you? Joe.

Is there anything you'd like to tell him?

No, sir.

I'd like to help those other kids.

May I pay their fines for them?

LARRY: Go ahead.

Green.

Yes? How many boys are in there?

Eleven.

Well, they fined my son $10.

Hundred and fifty ought to cover it.

Thank you, Mr. Ferguson.

I'll have your boys out of here in no time.

Come on, all of you. Mr. Green, what about my boy?

If they catch him, they won't let him pay a fine.

They will keep him in jail.

Well, let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Come along, please.

Ferguson gave Green the money

to pay for the fines, didn't he?

Why? Why not? Maybe he likes kids.

Maybe he has a guilty conscience about his boy.

So it eases his conscience.

Gets us to admit we're wrong.

Sunny, wait a minute.

If you'll take that chip off your shoulder,

I'll drive you home. It's a big chip.

No bigger than the one I carried for years.

My car is just around the corner.

It's a good smell, isn't it?

What happened to the chip you were carrying?

Well, I got kind of tired lugging it around.

You will too when you get as old as I am.

I used to be like you.

Violent, impatient.

You know what upset me most back there?

You. Running away from a fight.

It isn't like you.

Why do you say that? You only met me tonight.

I met you years ago.

First, you were a name.

A byline on a newspaper story.

It's a New York paper my father used to take.

Then your name wasn't in that paper anymore.

One day I was watching the UP teletype in the office.

There your name was again over a story from Warsaw.

I used to follow you after that.

From country to country, wherever you went.

Finally I came face to face with you

on the jacket of a book.

Now do you understand why I danced with you tonight?

Do you know what it meant

when you said you weren't taking sides anymore?

That all you were for was Mother's Day?

Yeah.

But you understand what it is

to have your belly full of fighting?

So you reached back into your past

for something to hang on to.

Leaves burning in October.

the sound of people talking over fences.

Kids calling as they run through the dark.

Don't you see? I had all that once.

And I want it again.

I understand.

( romantic theme playing )

Whatever that is, it isn't leaves.

Next time you bring me home, I'll have some.

Then there'll be a next time?

Mm-hm.

No, Larry.

It was to been a very respectful kiss.

I don't doubt that.

I do. I save my respectful kisses for my mother.

So do I.

Hasta la vista, Mr. Wilder.

Don't give me that about thinking I was somebody else.

Will you lay off that kid?

Stick to your driving, I'll teach him to hit an officer.

I said lay off the kid.

( dramatic theme playing )

It was your fault.

( dance music playing )

( indistinct chattering )

Give me the police department.

Wanted for grand theft auto and resisting an officer.

Paul Rodriguez, 19,

who escaped from the custody of Santa Marta police

following an automobile crash on highway,

5 miles south of Camptonville.

( over the radio ): Patrolman Anderson,

an eyewitness to the crash

in which Sergeant James Boswell was killed

and patrolman Al Peters was injured,

saw the suspect running from the scene.

Ten-four.

Be with you in a minute.

I'm Jan Dawson of The Stockton Express.

Hello.

What brings you down here this time of night?

What do you suppose brings me down here?

Decide to see the country? Yearn for fresh air?

I was sent by the city desk

on the strength of a phone call

from a youth in your employ that led us to believe

martial law has been proclaimed.

Jonas' glands are overstimulated.

No riot?

Just what did Jonas say?

He had blood running in the gutters.

Only blood spill so far

was by a cop killed chasing a boy.

I'm giving it to the UP now.

I'll speak firmly to him.

I'll make him church editor till he learns what truth is.

It's a little late.

We took him at his word and put the paper out.

( dramatic theme playing )

( slow theme playing )

( dog barking )

Skipper, stop it. Come on now.

Stop it. Come on, come on. Come here.

What's them matter? Come on.

What's the matter, you silly dog?

( barking )

That's okay, dog. I won't hurt you.

( suspenseful theme playing )

MILDRED: Skipper? Skipper.

Come on, where are you? Skipper.

( screams )

Ugh.

JAN: Wait a minute, Mickey.

Now a big head, Mickey.

Now, dear, try and remember just what happened.

You went out to the barn and he jumped out of the dark

and grabbed you!

( dramatic theme playing )

Can I have the funnies, daddy?

REPORTER: That was little Mildred Jensen telling you her own story

of a night of terror.

She is crossing the port supported by her mother,

still suffering from the terrible shock

of her ordeal.

Now she is entering the house.

Thank you, Mildred Jensen.

You can be sure that before the day is over

the young gangster who assaulted you

will be behind bars.

Mm-hm.

Mm.

Yeah, Cappy, Mickey's down at the bus station now

sending the plates.

Sure we've covered everything.

The Rodriguez family, a bunch of kids--

I don't know. They all look alike to me.

Sure, as soon as they catch him.

Everybody and his brother is out hunting for him

because of that 500-buck reward

the television station's putting up.

Good morning. Where's Mr. Wilder?

He isn't here, Miss Garcia. He's in a meeting

with Mr. Penderson and some other people.

I'll wait.

Might be a long time.

MAN: You've got to be practical, Larry.

Dragging these kids into this won't help the situation.

Leave their names out of it.

LARRY: Nobody's dragging them into it.

What where they doing there? We went there to dance.

Is there anything wrong with that?

But you were fighting. I saw you.

Were you there?

MAN: He was dancing with a Mexican girl.

What I was doing makes no difference.

What you were does.

Like I said, this kid chose me

because of what happened yesterday afternoon.

He started throwing punches.

Naturally, I threw them right back.

After that everybody was fighting everybody else.

Isn't that the way it was? Sure it was.

We didn't do a thing out of line.

We even danced with the girls the preacher introduced us to.

Even so, I don't see how I can leave you out of it.

Go ahead and print their names, Larry.

The kids were there. Mine made the clink.

Look here, Ferg, you can feel any way you want to.

But me, I don't want mine in,

tied in with any Sleepy Hollow brawl.

Maybe we should get rid of Sleepy Hollow then.

It shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Come on, Joe. I told your mother

you'd take her to church.

A little praying won't hurt you.

Why didn't you just come out and call me a liar?

You notice Harry's dad stuck up for him.

You noticed he didn't go against his own flesh and blood

when it comes to some dirty tramps.

I'm not Harry's dad.

Joe, don't you feel sorry for that boy?

Sure, but it's not my fault he hit a cop and stole a car.

Then you don't feel sorry for him.

Oh, nothing to me.

No. He's nothing to you.

You boys wouldn't be putting a little pressure on me,

would you? No.

As long as I don't mention the kids' names in the paper?

It won't cost you anything to be practical.

Well, maybe just a little self-respect.

FARMER: * I was out walking The streets of Laredo *

* As I was out walking Laredo One day *

* I made a young cowboy All dressed in white linen *

* All dressed in white linen And cold as the grave *

* Da-da-di-di-di-do Di-do-di-di-do-di *

MAN: Hey, what are you doing in there?

Get out of there. Come on, beat it.

Get out of here. Go on.

Hey, wait a minute. Aren't you the kid they're looking for?

Leave me alone.

I haven't done anything. Drop that fork!

I haven't done anything. I tell you.

Drop that pitchfork, you hear?

Hey!

Hey, come back! Hey!

MARK: Everyone is ready for the flash that will bring to a climax

the greatest manhunt in the history

of this lovely little town.

Heavily armed men, tense with expectancy,

have their ears glued to police radios, ready for the kill.

Oh, Larry. Here's a man who can take you behind the scenes,

a great newspaperman

who gave up covering the world and writing books

to come to Santa Marta and edit the Union.

Come on over here, Larry, where the camera can see you.

Larry has a nose for news.

He was right in the middle of the riot.

Let's call it a fight between a bunch of hotheaded kids, huh?

Well, call it whatever you want to,

but it sounded like a riot to me.

I was there.

Now, don't tell me the Rodriguez kid

didn't slug a policeman.

That I didn't see.

Uh, hi, Mark. Hello, Jonas.

I'm covering the story too, you know?

Well, step right over here. CHIEF: Come on, come on, Larry.

This is it, folks. They've got him cornered.

He just tried to kill a farmer with a pitchfork

and he's standing at bay.

Stay tuned to KTJC

for the television scoop of the year.

CHIEF: Let's go at this systematic.

Now keep strung out. And if you happen to see him,

don't take any chances of him getting away.

Hello, Mick. Hi, chief.

You sure he's out there? Yeah, he's out there all right.

The longer you all stand there, the higher my taxes will be.

CHIEF: All right, men. Don't shoot unless you have to.

Why shoot at all?

Ain't you the new editor of the Union?

Yeah.

I chased the boy in here if anybody should ask.

Name's Cadwallader.

See that pipeline over there?

If I was the sheriff, which I ain't,

because I never was lazy enough to work for the county,

I'd hike right along it to the river.

Thanks.

Look out, mister, they don't shoot you.

( suspenseful theme playing )

( gunshot )

( gunshots )

( whimpering )

Come on, boys! I think he's over there!

Yeah.

Here's your desperate criminal.

But you'd better bring a handkerchief.

He's crying his eyes out.

( sobbing )

LARRY: Come on, boy.

You'll be all right. Now, don't worry.

MARK: Can we have him right here in front of the camera, chief?

Right here.

That's right. Move him over a little bit.

That's good.

You are witnessing the climax

of one of the most dramatic manhunts

in the history of Jacinto County.

Tightlipped, sullen Rodriguez,

who, in a wild night of crime, stole two cars

and attempted to attack a pretty 15-year-old girl,

is in the custody of the law

and must pay the penalty for his crime.

That kid works for me. I always said he was no good.

None of them are any good.

MAN: I am sorry to hear about this.

WOMAN: Hi, Mildred.

( crowd indistinctly chattering )

( siren wailing )

MAN: Break it up, everybody.

Hey, sir. Come on, get back.

That's it.

Say, mister, could I please call my folks?

Later. Over there.

Two.

Oh. Ha, ha.

Well, you know the place I mean.

On 40th Street, right next door to the Herald Trib.

Where they have the stuffed fish in the suit of armor

and they play this game with matches.

Blake's? Yeah, Blake's.

That's where I met him.

Full of old fashions

and a plan to buy the tombstone epitaph.

Well, I was young and impressionable,

and the next thing I knew we had a weekly

in a town called Clovis, just out of Fresno.

Two kids and a sheriff hanging around our door.

So what does Joe do but get a job in Africa.

When I met him, he was in Australia.

Still full of old fashions I'll bet.

But without the desire to buy the epitaph.

I inherited the desire.

What gets into newspapermen?

Why can't they act like people?

I don't know about Joe.

Me, I was fed up moving from one job to another

and being told what to write and what not to write.

You just think you were.

One of these days, you'll walk out on your wife and kids

and end up in New York,

which you never should have left in the first place.

Not me. In the first place, I haven't got a wife.

( chuckles ) Wells says to tell you

the girl's parents signed a complaint against the kid.

Thanks.

You can use my office if you want.

I know how you feel, Mrs. Rodriguez.

I'm a mother myself.

Did they hurt him?

No, they just scared him.

Could we see him, please?

Just for a moment, could we see him?

They have him in Blake's office for questioning.

They won't let anyone see him.

Not even his mother?

I don't think it'll work, but I'll try it.

The chief must be in a good mood.

He said yes.

That was Paul's mother saying thanks.

She has nice warm lips.

What are we gonna do about him?

We'll have to get a lawyer, the best in town.

They're throwing the book at him.

Assaulting an officer, grand theft auto, attacking a girl.

But why? He didn't hurt the girl.

You and I might believe that, but they don't.

Can his father afford 25,000 for bail?

He hasn't any money. How could he possibly hire a lawyer?

That's what he's going to have to do.

But how? What with?

Can't you do anything?

Tell people he's a poor, scared kid.

Tell them to let him go.

That'd be like yelling at a thunderstorm.

Who'd hear me? And if they did, who'd listen?

Isn't it worth a try?

No.

They'd turn on you, wouldn't they?

For the first time in your life,

you've got what you want.

You can't lose it.

Anyway, nobody'd listen.

Thanks.

For understanding.

NEWSPAPER BOY 1: Extra! Sacramento Herald! Hoodlum captured!

Read all about it! Paper, mister?

NEWSPAPER BOY 2: Extra, extra! Criminal caught!

Paper, sir? Thank you. Paper? Extra!

NEWSPAPER BOY 1: Extra! Sacramento Herald! Criminal captured!

Read all about it!

( newspaper boys shouting indistinctly )

Rodriguez stood there,

mud covered, sullen, cruel.

A trapped animal if every I saw one.

I moved closer to him,

stared deep into his eyes, hoping to find some spark,

some little ember of remorse,

but all I could see was cruelty.

Not bad, huh, for a country girl?

Maybe a little overripe, but not bad.

Where was I, Mick?

Oh, yeah, cruelty.

MAN 1: Yeah, that's right.

They got the streets of the Sleepy Hollow

blocked off.

Oh, let's say they're scared

some of those gangs will try to break into the jail.

Well, it could happen.

No, there's no real trouble yet,

but there's some mighty angry people around.

MAN 2: Oh, no, no fireworks yet.

If I was fruit tramp, I'd stay away, though.

It ain't exactly the healthiest place in the world.

MAN 1: He doesn't have any dough.

MAN 2: Yeah, complaint's been issued.

Bail, 25,000.

Looks like the kid's address will be the county jail

for quite a while.

MAN 1: It looks all right from here.

You must be psychic.

Now, did you look in your crystal ball

and see a man trying to figure out what to do?

I wanted to see if you were carrying through on the boys.

Are you up to something?

Nothing to speak of.

Just so you keep your head,

remember, you like this town, you like your place in it.

Don't let that heart of yours start bleeding.

You better stick to-- Mother's Day?

We're pretty close to the deadline, Larry.

So sit down and make yourself useful.

You type a lot faster than I do.

A kid named Paul Rodriguez went to a dance last night

in Sleepy Hollow,

where the streets aren't paved and people live in shacks.

When he left home, he was a good kid,

ask his parents,

ask his neighbors.

Ask the principal of his high school.

You can't ask his brother,

because his brother died in the Normandy beachhead.

Today he's in jail.

Today people call him all the names in the book.

You don't know a paper that needs a couple guys, do you?

To me, he's the same boy who worked in the fields

and took his pay home to his mother.

I think the facts will show

the only crime he's guilty of is fear.

He has no money for bail,

he has no money for a lawyer.

As editor and publisher of the Union,

I'm raising a fund to defend Paul Rodriguez.

I'm putting my name on the top of the list

for a hundred dollars.

Paper?

Paper! Get your evening paper!

MAN 1: Boy. Paper, sir?

MAN 1: Yeah. Thank you.

Look at this. He's taking the fruit tramp's side.

NEWSPAPER BOY: Paper!

Paper?

He wants to turn him loose.

MAN 2: Paper, boy.

Defense fund. How do you like that?

How do you think to sell a paper...

MAN 3: Kid!

MAN 4: Paper.

Ed.

You see this?

He's good as called Mildred a liar.

You gonna let him get away with it?

( phone rings )

This is Wilder.

( phone ringing )

Sorry you feel that way, Mrs. MacIntyre.

( phone ringing )

( phone ringing )

The telephone company objects to profanity, madame.

( phone rings )

Who's thanking me this time?

I am.

( footsteps )

Take it easy. Call my kid a liar, will you?

I didn't say Mildred lied.

I said she couldn't say what happened

because she didn't know. She was out cold.

It ain't hard to see why you said it.

Get out. Look out the window.

There are a lot of guys that feel the same way I do.

In my office there's a gun and if things get too tough,

I'll use it. So get out.

It's in my bottom drawer under a bottle of gin.

There's a thing called the libel law.

If you think I'm wrong, use it.

Go on, get out!

All I could find was a bottle of gin.

Well, give me that.

( indistinct chattering )

( car honking )

( car honking )

MAN: What do you think you're honking at?

Hey, it's that Rodriguez kid's pal.

( indistinct shouting )

MAN 1: Back up! MAN 2: Come on, break it up.

MAN: Hey! Hey, don't let him get away!

( indistinct shouting )

How do you feel, son?

( indistinct shouting )

MAN: Come on, get him!

Well, get me somebody. Anybody.

I don't care what you think about me.

A crowd's over here beating up some kids.

There's a riot in the making.

I'm not telling you how to run your department.

I'm telling you there's trouble.

You better take that Rodriguez boy out of town.

Will they take him out of jail?

Yeah, if I have to break it down.

Now, listen to me. Stay here. Stay off the streets.

( indistinct shouting )

( indistinct shouting )

( indistinct shouting )

MAN: Come on, gang, don't let him get away!

You guys sure give up easy.

They didn't do anything anyway. Let them go.

You don't care what happens to a man's daughter, huh?

You don't want this to be a safe place for a man's kids.

Let's go smoke them out. Burn their shacks.

MAN: Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Now, wait a minute!

I know how Ed here feels because I got a daughter too.

Over at the jail, there's a sneaking dirty criminal,

and what are they gonna do with him?

Maybe they'll go so far

as to slap a little quiet in him.

It looks like some of us have forgotten how to be men!

Well, go on home! We don't need guys like you!

MAN: Don't pay any attention to him.

( indistinct chattering )

( suspenseful theme playing )

POLICEMAN: Hold it. None of you are going anywhere.

MAN 1: They're taking him out the front.

They're gonna turn him loose.

MAN 2: Come on, let's go. MAN 3: Come on, let's get him.

( indistinct chattering )

( tires screeching )

Hey, it was that newspaper guy. What did I tell you?

Calling my kid a liar.

Let's wreck his place.

( indistinct shouting )

Lopo.

I would have been here sooner, but I got held up out there.

Where's your handkerchief?

Yeah.

Yeah, that was me they were kicking around.

I was bringing in the afternoon collection

for this guy's fund.

Where is he?

He's gone to the jail.

He thought they might go after Paul.

He sounds like he might be a good guy.

Well, you run into one once in a while.

( indistinct shouting )

( indistinct shouting )

Lopo. Lopo, don't run away.

I'm not running.

( indistinct shouting )

Go on home before somebody gets killed.

MAN 1: What are you waiting for? Come on, let's wreck the joint.

They paid me to kill the same kind of guys you are.

Get out of the way!

LOPO: Come and get me. MAN 2: Get that cholo!

MAN 3: Get him!

MAN 4: Get out of the way, cholo! We're coming!

Don't argue with him. Let him have it!

( indistinct shouting )

( siren wailing )

( indistinct shouting )

( indistinct chattering )

MAN: Break it up.

Why did you stay here?

Why didn't you run?

Where to? Sleepy Hollow?

Uh-uh.

( indistinct chattering )

You might as well let them all go.

I won't file charges against them.

I won't be here to file charges or tell a jury what they did.

There are others who will.

What are you hanging around for?

Are you waiting to watch me pack up and leave?

If you are, you needn't wait because I'm going, so beat it.

And try and find some shame for what you've done.

Skoal.

Stop crying about it. You'll get another job.

But I liked this one. So did I.

We couldn't maybe patch things up a little,

just enough to put out a couple of pages?

No.

And even if we could, I wouldn't.

I'm through.

With the newspaper game?

With small towns.

They act like I remembered them.

But then I was pretty young when I lived in one before.

You said I'd get sick of mocking birds.

I am.

Jan Dawson said I'd end up in a place in New York

with a stuffed fish and a suit of armor.

Well, why not?

Right now I'm very fond of stuffed fish.

Good night, kid.

Good luck.

They really wrecked it.

You ought to see what they did to the press.

I heard you were leaving town.

There's nothing else to do, is there?

No typewriters, no linotype machines,

no press.

Nothing but creditors.

And you can't print a paper with them.

No, you can't.

But I hate to see you leave.

That's something.

A lot of people will hate to see you leave.

Thanks.

You wouldn't change your mind?

Somebody's gonna put out a newspaper here.

Yes, but not on a shoestring like I did.

Too easy to break the string.

Oh, I can scare up some money.

Maybe I can find some others who'll scare up more.

Why do that?

I don't like what happened today.

I didn't think it could happen here.

Don't run out on us, Larry.

Get somebody else.

Here's someone who wants to thank you.

I went his bond.

He's seeing my lawyer in the morning.

Never mind.

I know what you want to say.

ED: Come on, I'll drive you home.

No need to do that.

I'm heading that way now to tell a friend to pack a bag.

If you change you mind, drop around tomorrow.

Back there, I couldn't talk.

You said you knew what I wanted to say.

Maybe you do.

Anyway, I'll say it now.

I had a brother once.

And when I was hiding and you looked in at me,

I thought for a minute you was him.

I guess it's because

you got the same thing in your eyes.

( indistinct chattering )

Ah, Mr. Wilder, good evening.

Good evening.

Sunny, he is here.

Could you print a daily on this thing?

Not a very big one.

It wouldn't have to be too big.

Just big enough to say all the things

I've left unsaid.

Would you mind calling it The Union?

The name's about all I have left.

SUNNY: We wouldn't mind.

( slow theme playing )

Would you show me how?

Sure.

( upbeat theme playing )

( upbeat theme playing )