Original subtitles

[theme music]

A lady in our village recently bought a new car,

and then complained to the dealer

that it was using an exorbitant amount

of gasoline, which it was.

It turned out that what the silly woman was doing

every time she went for a drive was

to pull the choke full out and hang her handbag on it

for the rest of the journey.

In most countries today, one has to pass a driving test,

and usually a pretty stiff one.

That's fine.

But wouldn't it be a good thing if people also

had to pass an elementary test on how the internal combustion

engine works?

The cautionary tale coming up in a few moments

is a case in point.

The morning light on the great western desert

can play tricks with your eyes.

And many travelers discover that things

aren't always what they seem.

You manage to drive all right and do that too, huh?

You awake?

Whew.

It's looks like we're low on gas, very low.

Didn't you ever think about getting any gas?

Gas?

Hello?

Oh, I hate to wake you.

Like I say, I'm awake.

Isn't it beautiful?

NEWT: I could do with a little less desert.

Oh, stop it, you old grouch.

How's that?

You knew that was there?

Uh huh, spotted it from the top of the rise.

Ah, Ha.

Yes, sir?

Morning.

HARRY: What can I do for you?

- Is there a men's room? - Right over there.

[honking]

Morning.

Hi, could you fill it up, please?

Sure will.

Oh, that is with unleaded.

I'm sorry miss, we don't have any unleaded.

Premium do you?

Uh, the-- the sign on the pump there, uh, that says unleaded.

Huh, that's what it says, but it's dry.

MARCIE: That's the price on the pump?

That's right, that's uh, for a half gallon, of course.

You wouldn't have just a little bit of unleaded,

would you?

HARRY: Sorry, bone dry.

Well, fill it up.

You know something?

He's lying.

How's that?

He says all he's got is premium.

Well, uh, I guess premium will burn just as good as unleaded.

Yeah, at $0.07 more a gallon, not to mention

the fact that uh, his premium is $0.15

higher than anybody else's.

Adding that up, that comes to--

NEWT: Well, honey, I don't think 6 bucks is gonna break us,

you know?

You know I hate to be taken.

NEWT: Nickel and dime stuff.

Uh, speaking of nickel and dime stuff, careful.

This nickel bottle of pop just cost me $0.50.

I'd like to pour it over his head.

All that'll do is calm him down some.

It might do you some good, actually.

MARCIE: What's he doing now, prospecting for gold?

He's checking the oil.

Well, I hope we don't need any.

You know what he's got to be getting for a quart.

The man's got his higher costs and all that.

Look we're out here in the middle of nowhere.

I don't care. It serves him right--

Ahem, oil's OK, son.

Now, it took a long drink of gas, all right.

You're lucky got here, because I'll tell you,

there's a whole of highway between here

and the next gas station.

We appreciate it.

Sure enough.

If you've got a minute, I'd like show you something.

Excuse me.

Sure.

Now, you see this piece of equipment right here?

That's your fan clutch.

You see how it's wobbling?

Now, it's not going to last too long.

If your fan clutch goes, your water pump's going to go.

If your water pump's going to go, that's your cooling system.

The cooling system's big bucks.

Now, you may want to have your own mechanic take care of this,

I don't know.

But I wouldn't be driving too far too fast if I was you.

I'd say 40, 45 miles an hour.

You stop every now and then, let the heat dissipate.

NEWT: Fan clutch-- uh, what does it cost

to replace something like that?

HARRY: Oh, I don't know.

If I do it, 30 or 35 bucks.

NEWT: How much time does something like that take?

Hm, 20 minutes, half an hour.

NEWT: You can do it yourself?

Sure, sure can if I got the part.

Want me to check?

Sure.

HARRY: I'd be delighted.

What are the odds he's got the part?

Oh, you know about fan clutches, huh?

Listen, you know, I mean, the guy's out here.

He's in the middle of nowhere.

He's not a crook.

Then again, you've got to figure he's charging these prices

for gas and everything.

He hasn't had another customer since we've come in here today.

Maybe he gets one car a day.

That's how he makes his living.

Then tell him what to do with this fan clutch.

Then again, maybe all he is in the world is a good mechanic

trying to do us a service.

Look, you know, suppose we take this car,

we drive 50 miles out of here, and you know,

the fan clutch kicks the uh, water

pump through the radiator, I don't know.

Newton, $35 plus whatever he gets extra for that gas

is going to blow our budget to the ceiling.

How much do we have left?

A little more than we need till pay day.

A little less if we let him slip

it to us with that fan clutch.

Look, uh, look at it this way.

We've got to be in Silver City this evening.

We've got to.

Johnny Mackley purely expects us.

Now, he's not going to hold up the show

waiting for us to get over some broken down fan clutch.

Newton, the man is a thief.

He's taking us.

I just know it.

Well, you feel strong enough about that

to-- to move out of here with a fan clutch

that's on its last legs, huh?

I suppose you're gonna do what you think is best.

No, no no, no.

Not me, not me.

See, we're a team, remember? It's us.

It's what we think.

Look, we've got a nice job waiting for us in Silver City.

Things work out for us, we don't have to worry about no $35.

Yeah but, suppose we get to Silver City

and uh, Johnny Mackley gets up on the wrong side of the bed

and slips on a banana peel or something.

Suppose there's no job waiting for us.

Well, I guess it's better than being

left out here in the desert.

That's how I look at it.

I got it, ha ha ha.

You're in luck, he he he.

Ah, here it is.

I got the part.

Want me to put it on for you? - Sure.

Go right ahead.

We're not going to risk being caught out here.

That's smart.

Well now, you and your little woman go on over there to--

My wife.

It's my wife.

Uh huh.

Go on over there to the cafe and get yourself a cup of coffee.

This won't take long.

She's a pretty good cook, if I don't mind saying so.

I take all my meals there myself.

What do you think?

Should I buy it for you?

You like it?

Yeah, you know, it reminds me of the hat

that you had in Tulsa.

Do you remember that hat?

Yeah.

Pretty.

It's the hat.

It's not the hat.

It's you, honey, with the hat, without the hat.

You're a class act.

Don't you think that I don't love you.

[door slams]

RUBY: Ahem.

Good morning.

Could we see a menu, please?

Do you have another one?

They're all the same.

Well, I'll get you another menu.

Thank you.

She's real friendly.

I don't guess she gets much company around here,

something tells me.

Lord, lord, no wonder that old boy charges so much.

He's got to get top dollar if he's going to pay for his meals

in here.

She's got him or he's got us.

I suppose if he doesn't like the food

he can just take a long walk.

Ahem.

Why don't you take a little more time?

I'll tell, I'm not that hungry, but what I would like

is a wedge of that apple pie over there, and black coffee,

and she'll have the same.

You see, we already ate.

We're just here while your husband's fixing the car.

He does real good work.

Yeah, uh, our fan clutch broke, so he's over fixing it.

You probably get a lot of people in here

who break their fan clutches, huh?

Wouldn't know about that.

He's the mechanic, I'm the cook.

It's the way we divvy things up.

You're just lucky you found it.

Oh, for sure, we know that. We are really lucky.

It's our lucky day.

Got any music in here?

Thank heaven it's busted.

How'd you know that that was his wife?

Well, the waiting room looked a lot like his,

so I figured I'd take a shot at it.

Well--

NEWT: Well what?

Well I guess that proves it.

Proves what?

That that fan clutcher across the street is a crook.

Oh, it proves no such thing.

A man setting up a business in a place like this

would want to have his woman with him.

I know I would.

Then again, it's funny that a gas station that small

has a complete line of fan clutches.

Like I was saying?

But then again, maybe he's got to have a full line.

I mean, he can't skip down the street

every time he needs a part.

No, the thing is, all up and down the line,

you can read this either way.

Either they're taking advantage of us,

or they're doing us a favor.

It's practically impossible to tell which.

OK, but if he's such a good Samaritan,

then how come he didn't tell us that she was his wife?

Well, I guess it's not really any of our business, now is it?

They're sitting on a gold mine between the two of them.

Ah, please, nickels and dimes.

They got us for 60 bucks, didn't they?

You know something?

They probably have a stash a foot high in the basement.

I can't believe that.

Look, it's all credit cards now.

The whole tourist trade is credit cards.

The regular customers are probably [inaudible] entirely.

Hm mm, Newton, we're paying cash.

Honey, we're hardly the regular customers, huh?

I'll best most of their business is cash.

The food and the liquor, that has to be cash too.

Marcie, what does all of this have to do with you and me?

I guess I'm just grumbling.

Yeah, I guess you are.

And here's my advice-- don't grumble.

Thank you.

Let these people have their little game.

It's small time, nickels and dimes.

Well there it is.

Here's your old fan clutch.

I want you to take a hold of this and try and turn it.

Here.

Heh heh.

It's tight.

HARRY: Yeah, you're lucky you made it this far, both of you.

I guess we are.

Uh, what do we owe you?

Wait a minute, I got something else I want to show you.

Here's your old fan belt and the water hose.

Go ahead and smell that.

You're kidding.

You went ahead and replaced that?

Well, you can see what kind of shape it's in.

I didn't want to bother you while you's over there eating.

Well thanks, that's mighty considerate of you.

Mhm.

I figure you'd want it tended to.

I mean, you blow a fan belt or a water hose out here

in this inner land, it's a long walk back out, [inaudible],,

and hot.

Now, I realize you didn't authorize

me to do this work, son, and if you want me to,

I'll take the new ones off and I'll

put these old ones back on, and it won't be no charge to you.

No, no, it's OK.

Forget it.

Look, I suppose we're lucky to have a car

that is in good working order.

I don't want any trouble out there in the desert.

I mean, it's fixed now, right?

I mean it's in good shape?

We have nothing more to worry about, right?

Well now, there is one other thing.

There's a matter of this grommet mounting

up there in your right shock.

So come and take a lookie here.

This is a shock absorber, you know that.

Well, right up there on top of that shock absorber,

right up here, there is a grommet.

Now, that grommet's wearing thin.

If it breaks through, you're going to have frame damage.

You're going to have front end damage.

It's going to wear out your tires.

Now, I'd like to suggest to you, if you got the time, that you

let me fix this for you.

I'll be right back.

What do you think?

Looks like the old boy's sticking it in pretty deep,

huh?

Tell me something new.

Then again, that fan belt was shot.

Them hoses were the next best thing to petrified.

If they were ours in the first place, and not some junk

he had hanging around.

Yeah, I had that same thought.

Still, there's something not altogether

perfect around that grommet, you know?

Probably something he did himself.

Maybe Maybe.

Looks to me like the guy's either a con man or a saint.

Except we know he's not a saint, not at the price

he's getting for gas.

Well what do you want to do?

You want to go on to Silver City on the grommet, Johnny

Mackley expecting us and all?

You want my opinion?

Yep.

Well, OK.

Yeah, abs-- I've had it.

What the heck.

Enough is enough.

Listen, thank you.

We're going to be pushing on.

Uh huh.

All right my boy, if that's the way you want it.

Have a good trip.

(SINGING) What a friend we have.

I'm so glad we're getting out of here.

[clanging]

(SINGING) What a friend we have in Jesus, all

our sins and griefs to bear.

Ah, na na na na na na, na.

Na na na, na na na na.

Eh, all right.

Ahem, I guess the uh, grommet up and kicked over on us.

Yes, and I even got to be the one to say I told you so.

Oh, you did.

Well, I'm just glad you made it back here.

Well, yeah, we know that.

My wife and I, we figure we've been neglecting the car,

and uh, we really ought to do right by it.

So look, if the grommet needs replacing, please do it.

You're smart, oh yeah, you're smart.

NEWT: Probably already worked its way back in the shocks too,

so you might want to take a look at them.

HARRY: Sure, sure.

And uh, it may even have done a little damage to the frame,

like you said, so--

HARRY: Well, I tell you what--

let's solve both of our problems then.

We'll just shoot it up on the hoist

and I'll take a look at it. - Fine, fine.

And while you're under it, just check it all out.

Whatever you think needs fixing, we'd appreciate it.

Now, my wife and I, we, we don't have all the time in the world.

And to be perfectly honest with you,

we don't have all the money in the world either, but--

I understand. I understand.

NEWT: The way we look at it, we're

just lucky we ran into a guy like you, a mechanic who knows

as much about cars as you do, so whatever you can do to help us,

we'd appreciate it.

Maybe we'll just uh, walk on over

and find a nice patch of shade and wait for you over there.

Yeah, yeah.

That's right.

That's what you ought to do.

You and your little missy go over there and sit down.

I'll take care of it for you.

Marcie?

(SINGING) [inaudible] Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong.

They are weak but he is strong.

[whistling]

NEWT: It's amazing what was wrong with car, huh?

Psh, [inaudible] here, I thought it rode pretty good.

NEWT: Shows you what you know about cars.

I'll tell, one thing's for sure, it'll

ride a whole lot better if we ever get out of here today.

I guess it should.

He's building a whole new car around that cigarette lighter.

I'll tell you one thing.

He'd better not touch that clock, because there's nothing

wrong with that clock, outside of it

loses a couple of minutes every day.

If you tell him that, we'll never get out of here.

Hold on, son.

This our bill here?

Yep, all itemized, neat and proper, right there.

Now, that there number right here with a circle around it,

that's your total.

That's quite a total, huh?

Well, all them parts, all that labor adds up.

Sure, it's clear.

It's black and white.

It all adds up.

Well, thank you.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Uh, my wife and I, we'll just go to the car

and we'll get our money for you.

Thank you again.

Mhm.

You ain't gonna have no more problems with that car, my boy.

Don't you worry about that.

Funny how things work out, huh?

What in the world did either one of us

want when we came in here this morning

other than a tank of gas?

Tank of gas, maybe a quart of oil.

Looking at the bill is was one thing we didn't need.

I swear, sometimes I think people get pushed into things

that nobody even wants.

What did either of us want other than a tank of gas?

Now, how much did Johnny Mackley say would be in it for us

on that bank job?

20,000, 10,000.

Well, one thing's for sure.

You can't call a repair bill of $247.51 nickels and dimes.

I'm gonna go next door and settle up with our little buddy

over there.

Why don't you go over there and settle up

with that nice little cook lady?

It's gonna be a long way between liquor stores.

Get us a nice little bottle of peach brandy.

[theme music]