Original subtitles

(upbeat jazzy orchestral music)

- Somebody oughta tell 'em.

- Tell 'em what?

- Bioport motors.

(upbeat jazzy orchestral music)

Well come on.

- You really want me to?

- You think I'm gonna carry it all

down by myself?

- Yeah, I'm trying to conserve a little strength.

You know, it's gonna be a long weekend,

and you know Vicky.

- No, I don't know Vicky, but I'm just as glad

she's meeting us at the Cape and not riding up with us.

She sounds like the number one kook in Massachusetts.

- Because she rides a motorcycle,

wears black boots, and has a big wide belt with

"Vicky" spelled on it in Rhinestones?

- I still don't know why you didn't let

Charlotte fix you up with one of her friends.

- Oh, not another Radcliffe girl

with those black stockings to here.

We'll talk about it Monday when the returns are in.

- Come on, you tanker, get out the car.

- The shirt, the shirt.

(humming and singing)

- Is that my jacket there?

(humming and singing)

Yeah.

Sweet cheery-o.

(singing and humming)

- I don't care what you say,

I still thinking riding a motorcycle is obscene.

- I'd just been waiting for ya, man.

I'd just been here waitin'.

Some cat tried to take your wheels and

I came on the scene and he cut out.

So I climbed in here and

keeped the home fire's burning.

But you're back on so I'll hit the bricks.

- Just a minute.

- Why?

- I said wait a minute.

- You got your cherry, old man, I'm goin'.

- Let him go, leave him alone.

- He was trying to steal the car.

- I said let him go.

- Look, he was trying to steal the car.

- You don't know what's buggin' him.

He's got a birdcage on his foot.

- What?

- He's all strung out, be high on H.

Dope.

- Charlotte, call the police.

Tell 'em he's headed down Beacon Street

toward the public gardens.

I'll follow him.

Come on.

- No, I'll sit this one out.

- You know, I don't dig you.

- You follow him, you will.

(slow orchestral music)

(slow orchestral music)

- [Tod] Hey.

Hey.

I wanna talk to you.

- You're wastin' your time, 'cause I'm goin'.

No sense you're goin', too,

'cause I can amble like daddy long legs, you know?

(singing and humming)

- [Tod] Wait a minute.

- I got a weapon here, man.

Change your mind, huh?

Now look around ya.

It's a good day and a good place

to reflect on a question:

what are you doing here, on this scene?

A good, quiet day to go back to your friends

and let people be.

Alright, man?

(upbeat orchestral music)

- He's got a knife!

- Hank, you got me man.

Thank god, man, thank god.

- Okay, the knife.

- Look, don't let him take it, man.

Look I was just watching your car for you.

You don't know what these cops'll do to me, man.

You don't know what they've done to me.

- Hey, hey, hey.

- I haven't got a knife.

It's only a skate key.

- The way you held it, the way it flashed in the sun,

it looked like a switchblade.

- Get down like for pushups.

- Look, don't let him touch me.

Look, I'm clean, mister, I promised I'm clean.

- Okay, did you threaten this man?

- Come on, with a skate key?

- What's the key for?

- It was just a little key, I got it off the sidewalk.

I like the way it feels in my hand.

It makes me think about when I was a kid.

- [Lieutenant] This is your day for picking up things,

like cars, huh?

- Well I was just sittin' in it, I told ya.

- How 'bout that?

- He broke into the glove compartment.

- Well sonny, that's the hummer.

- Well look, I got my rights, see?

- Roll up your sleeve, huh?

- No, no, I've been sick.

I've been--

- Okay, kid, we'll go downtown and talk about it some more.

- Please don't let him take me, mister.

- What happens to him, now?

- [Arnie] Look, please, mister!

- Well if he's got a dirty jacket at headquarters,

he's goin' for a long trip.

If he's clean, we got your charge,

attempted grand theft.

You'd better come right in and make out your complaint.

154 Berkeley.

Vice and Narcotics Unit, ask for Calder, that's me.

(slow orchestral music)

- You should've seen the way he pleaded with me.

He actually got down on his knees and cried.

- Forget it.

- What's the matter with you today?

- Just forget it, will ya?

- Wow.

- Knock off the mood music and stop sulking.

Come on in, you're a witness, too.

- Just remember,

it was your idea.

(slow orchestral music)

- The only thing these heels are guilty

of is being run down.

- See, I told you.

- Here's the connection.

- Look man, you know it's tight town,

I can't find a man.

Now you've cops have cooled me.

Ever since yesterday, I've been looking

all over for the man.

That's why I had to go back on the wind,

they're looking for a new connection.

- You're a long way from home free, kid,

so just calm down, will ya?

The lab is still checkin' your laces.

Some of you schmeckers have been soaking the laces

in two grain solution.

(knocking) Yeah?

You ever been arrested before?

- Yeah.

- Well, what charge?

- For being alive after midnight.

- Aww.

And you're not in our files.

What state ya from, hm?

Where's home?

- Home, that's where they got the Fountain Head,

where they measure you for the couch,

make the tailor-made traumas.

You know the old jazz hate thy old man and mother?

- Yeah, well we don't' shrink heads here,

so spare me the Freud, will ya?

You folks wanna step over here for a minute?

Hey, look at this.

"You'll never be alone, now or ever.

"For always, your Laura."

Where is she, kid?

- What's the difference, you won't let me out.

- [Lieutenant] Says who?

- You think I don't know the Narc-Hole laws?

You know, like California.

See, you'll catch it with a habit out there.

I don't mean just the pushers and sellers.

And not only the wholesalers and the margin men,

the big shots.

Just a poor panic man like me, see?

Three months are the minimum.

An ace if you have a large hat.

In Illinois, if you don't register as an addict,

six months, and a year in Michigan.

You'd think we were lepers.

(phone ringing)

- Calder.

Well bring 'em back.

What, do you expect him to walk around with no shoe laces?

- So what do you throw at me here?

- On the narco charge?

Nothing.

We didn't find any herry on ya.

If we had, I'd bury you for possession.

But you'd already hide it, so we can't bulge ya.

That's the law in Massachusetts.

But, there's till the car rap.

- Oh, mister, I didn't take your car.

When you came out, I cut out, didn't I?

I didn't cause you any trouble, did I?

- But you're causin' me some trouble, now shut up, will ya?

Did you get that complaint form at the desk?

- Yes, sir.

Well I haven't filled it out yet.

- You haven't what?

- Look what if we just dropped the charges?

- What do you wanna do that for?

Look at him.

He's already starting to sneeze.

Here, I'll show ya.

Hey, where's your next fix coming from?

Hey, how 'bout some lunch, huh?

You see?

All he's got on his mind is his next boost.

Says he had one at seven this morning,

it's going on noon.

Looks like a two grander to me.

State of panic has already started.

Look, young fella, you better get the picture.

Guys like this are hopeless.

The public seems to think that addicts are

beaten ex-poets, musicians, way out types

who shoot for kicks.

Well sure, we get a few of those, too,

but most of our trade is stuff like this baby here.

Just a bag of bones, more of a menace to himself

than anybody else.

Just a no good, gone for broke bum

who's better off in jail where maybe,

just maybe, 'cause he can't put his hands on any narco,

he might shake the habit.

Here, ask this one why he's a user.

To make rainbows in the sky?

(chuckles) Not on your life.

Just so he can get out of bed and start the day

so he can get normal so a fix could bring him even

with the rest of us.

Here.

See this, money?

Two bucks, change.

That'll buy him nowhere.

Even if he got lucky on the street and made a contact.

If I let him out of here, you know what he'll do, huh?

He'll bust into some drug store of doctor's office,

any place where he can steal himself another day.

No.

The best thing, all the way around, is to lock him up,

and that's why you are gonna press charges.

- But he's sick.

- Around here, miss, we don't get any well people.

Sure, he's sick.

But if he really wanted to help himself,

he could turn himself into the Public Health Service

office, couldn't you Arnie?

And go to the government hospital on Lexington

and let the next narco doctors in the country

take care of ya.

Do you see any Kentucky bluegrass on this baby?

- What if we took him?

- Took him where?

- My place?

- Miss, I've been in this for a long, long time.

- Maybe that's the trouble.

- Well I think it's a good idea.

If we stick with him while he goes through that period,

what do they call it?

- Withdrawal.

- Cold turkey.

- He might get it out of his system.

- Like ringing out alcoholics,

they go right back in for seconds, miss.

Look, I understand what you wanna do.

You wanna help him, so do I.

But the best thing for him is to lock him up.

Arnie and I, we understand that, don't we, Arnie?

- If we could get him through that first stage,

maybe he'd agree to turn himself in at Lexington.

I'll drop the charges if you'll agree to try.

And let us try with you.

How 'bout it?

- The best way to fight back, man.

Surrender.

- That's great motto to live by.

- Well how will you handle barbed wire?

- You see.

Impossible.

- Yes or no?

- Why not?

- Okay.

Here.

Lace up.

Then follow the sun.

Soon as you're wrung out, say Monday morning,

get the outside, go.

And don't land back in Boston.

Clear?

- Oh he'll be in Lexington by then, I know he will.

- Treasure the thought, miss.

And have a happy weekend.

- We're not going to take him.

This is wrong, and it's crazy,

and I think the whole deal stinks.

Leave him alone.

Do him a favor, leave him here where he belongs.

Who wants him?

Who wants to help him?

Let him drop dead.

(slow orchestral music)

- [Tod] Buz.

- I don't wanna talk about it.

I said what I had to say.

- So we're just gonna pretend you didn't say it

and I didn't hear it?

- Is he worth it?

- I don't know, but even if he isn't,

that doesn't take me off the hook.

- Tell me somethin', Tod.

Are you really with him or are you above it?

- I don't have to wallow in his filth to try and help him.

- That's what you think now.

Let me tell you somethin' buddy:

in a contest like this, you against that junkie.

Watch out.

He's from another world.

He can tune you in and out like a sputnick.

To you, there's 12 inches in a foot.

To him, a foot can be anything.

Something under a microscope,

something that stretches from coast to coast.

He can cut you down easier than you can lift him up.

You big enough for that job?

- If you try, you're big enough.

- Sure.

I'll tell you what:

I'll drop you all off at Charlotte's,

and then I'll drive up to

the Cape by myself for the weekend.

- Just like that?

- Just like that.

- We'll take a cab, you can cut out right now.

I wouldn't want you to keep Vicky waiting.

- What about all the sandwiches?

- They're all yours.

The tuna fish and the peanut butter and the salami.

(slow orchestral music)

You're really going, huh?

- Like the song says,

"if you don't believe I'm going,

"count the days I'm gone."

- I hope you choke on the salami.

(slow orchestral music crescendoing)

(slow orchestral music)

- I used to live on the top floor.

It eliminated my capricious suitors.

A man has to be really dedicated

to line those stairs.

- [Tod] Well didn't Leander swim

the Hellespont to be with Hero?

- I hear he drowned.

- [Charlotte] You read.

- And everything.

- Well I think we'd all feel a lot better

if we had some lunch so I think

I'll go in the other room and change.

(chipmunk squeaking)

Hey, how 'bout mushroom omelet?

Something simple and gay, hm?

(chipmunk squeaking)

- Now there's a cat who digs.

It's not the gettin' there that counts, it's the goin'.

- What's your last name, Arnie?

- Go man, go.

Keep ballin', cousin.

'Cause you won't last forever.

- I'm Tod Stiles.

The lady's Charlotte Lee.

- Good solid names.

Wear 'em in health.

Hey, what'd we ever do, huh?

Not our fault we were born.

Who asked for a ticket?

These things don't' bug you, huh?

- What things?

- The gauze that covers everything.

This is a mothball world, man.

So bundle up so the chill

of society doesn't freeze your marrow.

- I still don't know your last name, Arnie.

- Alright, so big deal, okay?

Arnie.

That's enough.

Set that to music.

Look man, I'm way past due.

- Try not to think about it.

- Man, isn't that the way?

They always say that to ya.

Just as you're splittin' down the middle,

they always say, "boy, try to hold on to yourself."

And when you break into a million pieces

they try to say, "keep yourself together."

Just like you could flip it on or off.

- Must be pretty rough.

- I'll tell you, if you don't let me out of here

in the next five minutes, I'll show you how rough

a wingding can be.

I'll make this place look like an elephant walk.

- Why don't you lie down and get some sleep?

- You think just because I yawn that I'm sleepy?

Look.

Just give me a little money, see, just 10 bucks?

I'll pay it back to ya.

Just to see me through the morning.

So I could think about going to Lexington, you know?

Huh?

Now you go back in there with your girl,

she's a great, good lookin' kid.

And you go in there and you eat your omelet,

and let me go out the front door.

- I'm sorry. - Oh, please.

- Arnie I'm trying to help ya, you've given up.

Don't ask me to give up, too.

- "I owe you 10 bucks.

"Arnie."

Now it's in writing.

Look, Tod.

Tod, old boy, now look.

Inside the next tick of the clock,

a time bomb's gonna bust right out in your face.

Now look at me.

You know what's on my back?

All saddled and ready for yippee yi-yo?

You know what happens when they open the corral?

(screaming)

Any second now, it's gonna swing out.

All I gotta do is press the end of my nose

to the tip of my jaw, and I bust inside out.

Did you ever see a man bust inside out?

Well answer me, you got an answer to every part, answer me.

- You better stay in the other room.

- We're in this together.

- Sure, you do the watching and I'll do the shaking.

Man who must be imperial, wheeling about in the sun.

Great, big beautiful seagulls

circling around without a feather out of place

looking down, watching the sharks tear the tuna.

(yelling)

(groaning)

- There must something we can do for you.

- Look, just loan me 10 bucks, huh?

And tell your muscle friend to quit flexing

his biceps and let me out of here.

- You know we can't do that.

Why don't you let me see the picture?

The one of Laura and your little boy?

Go in the kitchen and get something

to eat now before it gets cold.

I'll handle him.

(groaning)

- What do you want with it?

- I was thinking it would be a

good idea if we both studied it.

Then everything you're about to go through now,

it would be for them.

You see, I care.

- Yeah, I can see you do.

Oh, sorry.

- Tod!

(tense upbeat orchestral music)

He dropped this.

And I started to pick it up and...

- Man, listen, if I don't get a fix by three o'clock,

my jaw's gonna come right off, right on her pretty carpet.

- Forget about your jaw.

The writing on this IOU is the same

as on the back that picture.

You wrote it, not Laura.

- Well somebody had to write it.

- There isn't any Laura.

- Man, you don't have a brain you have a sight toucher on.

One flash after another.

- No Laura and no little boy.

- Well why isn't there a Laura, there has to be.

You know, 10 million Lauras all over the world

with 10 million kids in their arms,

all lookin' at cameras.

Why not me?

- Who's the girl in the picture?

- [Arnie] How do I know?

- You found this like the skate key

and just used it to get sympathy.

- Look, leave me alone, huh?

- What do you do with somebody that dishonest?

- I'll call the lieutenant and let him take care of it.

Obviously this is more than we can handle.

- Look you pick up that phone, I'll bust up this place.

- Don't try it.

(glass shattering)

- You make that call, I'll cut off my arm.

(groaning)

Where is it?

- There.

(knocking)

Yes?

- It's me.

Hi.

- Did you come back for more sandwiches?

- It was raining books.

Where is he?

- The bathroom.

- Alone?

- Well what's the matter with that?

- [Buz] Get it open.

- [Charlotte] You'll break it in.

- [Buz] That's the idea.

(door crashing)

Grab him.

- [Arnie] Who are you, God?

- I'm the official guard.

You just try it with me, Arn, just try it.

- Why'd you come back?

- You almost snapped my back.

Why don't you have some mercy, man?

- You and me, we're gonna climb out of this

swamp together.

Now you get a pillow case.

And you clean out the medicine cabinet.

Wrap up everything in that bathroom, expect the towels.

- You mean he was gonna use an ordinary

medicine dropper right into the vein?

- He'd use a shovel if that's all he had.

- What could he find in Charlotte's medicine chest?

What's in the dropper?

- Dollies?

- PG.

- Paregoric.

- You mean like for the stomach?

- Shut up, shut up.

You talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

You and that wide-eyed dame.

Like neither of ya ever lifted a stone

or turned a corner.

Now what do I have to do?

Educate 'em, conduct a tour?

Look, tell 'em to climb off.

- Get started in the bathroom.

After we get finished there,

we'll take one of these mattresses away from the door

and put it over there in the middle of the room

where we can watch him.

- Now wait a minute man, if you think

I'm goin' cold turkey, you're flipped.

I'm gonna bust out of here.

- He's been acting like a mad man.

I still think we should call the lieutenant.

(groaning)

- He was faking and he's faking now.

Whatever he pulled on you before was a circus.

All that jazz you see in the movies about cold turkey,

guys climbin' the walls and screamin' and hollerin',

it doesn't happen that way.

So you can cut the act.

I'll tell ya what's going to happen.

Around seven o'clock tonight, it's gonna land on you.

And when it does, you're gonna be

too sick to climb the walls.

You're gonna lay out there on the floor

and you're gonna sweat for five,

and you're gonna freeze for five.

And you're gonna pull yourself into a ball,

and you're gonna kick a couple of times,

maybe to ease the pain.

And then you're gonna run in there,

and you're gonna cough up your stomach.

But that's it.

For the next 48 hours, that's the whole enchilada.

Nothing glamorous, Tod, like what you see from Hollywood.

No big dramatic deal, no crises.

No serum being rushed to Rome.

No fever that breaks and the kid opens his eyes

and smiles into the camera while they sneak in the violins.

Just a dirty, filthy, sickness.

But when it's over, you're not gonna have

anymore horse in your veins.

- How do you know?

- I've heard it all, so don't try and con me.

Don't tell me it's like hands of a clock

turning inside of you, razorblades, every second a cut,

every minute an amputation.

A sky full of pigeons caged in your brains.

Drums in your lungs.

Words.

Two big thunder.

Something that witch doctors rattle to hide the truth.

I know the truth, kid.

You've got a cone of ether over your nose?

Well nobody's holding it there except yourself.

I'm gonna tear that cone off.

You're gonna start breathing fresh air again.

You're gonna start looking around

at other people's problems, not just hiding in the mirror

and knocking your knees together

because the sun comes up in the morning.

And I don't wanna know your name, I don't care.

To me, you're X1.

I don't wanna know your case history.

So don't tell me about how your mother

belted your father, and you lost respect for him,

or how your uncle drank, or how some cat

set a bad example for ya in some broken down tenement.

So what?

The world stinks, huh?

People, times?

Well look around you.

It doesn't have to.

You don't have to stay home to see bad examples.

Now you and me, we're going to work.

You and me, X1, we're going to see

if you've got the guts to be born again,

and if I've got the stamina to deliver you.

(slow orchestral music)

(slow orchestral music)

(slapping) (finger snapping)

(slow orchestral music)

- It's almost seven o'clock.

He's been right about everything else.

I guess he's right about this, too.

- He could've been a little more diplomatic,

don't you think?

- Well there's something about the word "out,"

gets the message across.

Never seen Buz like this before.

Times today, I wondered if I ever really knew him.

As a matter of fact, I'm beginning to wonder

if I ever really knew anybody.

Myself included.

- I know what you mean.

Me too.

May I have a cigarette?

- I feel like I've been walking on fire.

Can't find any blisters but,

something got burned away.

I don't know yet if it's for good or bad.

But I'm different.

I'm not sure about a lot of things

that I was sure about before.

I guess the fact that we failed as human beings

with that kid downstairs.

A bag of bones.

That's what the lieutenant said, wasn't it?

There was nothing we could do for him.

- It made me feel alone.

Almost...

scared alone, you know?

Take all those cars down there.

Take the whole city.

Alive with a million people.

And here we all are, pressed in together.

Passing each other on the highway, talking to eachother.

Even loving each other.

All the time we're...

We're really alone, aren't we?

How many of those people down there on Sturo Drive

have any idea what's been happening under our feet

in my apartment?

And what do we know about the people in those cars?

- Yeah.

Yeah we failed with Arnie, but maybe Buz won't.

Well as long as somebody, somewhere,

anybody, anywhere can hook onto another person.

Share a truth, even for a 10th of a second.

That's something, isn't it?

Yeah.

It's a start.

(slow orchestral music)

(chipmunk squeaking)

(groaning)

(children playing)

(groaning)

(slow orchestral music)

(fighting)

- Man if I ever get out of this,

I'm gonna kill you.

So I'm on broil, you're gonna throw me a blanket?

- Any minute now, you'll be at deep freeze,

keep it handy.

(slow orchestral music)

(chipmunk squeaking)

- 10 years of my life, I'd give to get you on the rack.

- We're all on the rack.

We're all hooked by something.

One thing or another, some time.

The idea?

To get unhooked.

To find our new fix, a better one.

Something you don't have to look for in the dark.

(piano playing)

I can't push you into Lexington.

I'm not trying to.

I'm doing this for myself and not for you.

- Oh, help me.

- Look, you want any help from me?

You're gonna have to crawl to me, X1.

On your knees, beggin'.

Clear?

- Just to get well to come and get you would be worth it.

(groaning)

Man what's with you?

You got a stone chest and a cannonball for a heart?

You don't even care.

You don't even wanna hear my story.

- I hate it.

- X1, huh?

- Yeah, that's it.

(tense slow, orchestral music)

- Please help me, help me get through it.

Look, I'm crawling.

Just like you wanted.

- You're not crawling towards me, Arnie.

You're crawling towards yourself.

For the first time.

- Anyone who tried to keep me this long never had the guts

and I haven't got the guts now because I'm dying.

You hear me, I'm dying.

I can't make it, I can't make it by myself.

- Yes you can.

You're not alone, Arnie, you're not alone.

- You were on it, weren't ya?

You wouldn't act like this unless you were on it.

You were hooked once, weren't ya?

- No, not like you think.

Maybe worse.

I don't know, I never spoke about it to anybody,

not even my buddy.

It's like opening a closet full of

last century's clothes.

You see, I was a kid that had nobody.

Just a basket case on a front door step.

Anyway, like 15 years later, I was on the street,

makin' out.

And I meet this guy.

He's about 40, and he's got a good job.

Nothing great, you know, it's good.

He's got a wife, who for years,

he's got the moon in one hand and the sun in the other.

And he's got a kid about my age.

So a truck hits this kid, 21st street, in the afternoon.

I don't know, after that, I sort of fit in the family like,

well, like in his place.

And this older guy,

well I sort of felt like I had a old man of my own.

I'd put him on top of the Empire State building.

Just like Anna, that was his wife, just like Anna.

Okay, so I loved him like he was my own dad.

(groaning)

Shh, it's alright.

It's alright, easy, easy.

Easy.

It's alright.

Anyway,

one night...

When he figures we're all out of the house,

I catch him giving himself a line shot.

I'd seen plenty by the time I was 15,

but this really got to me.

I guess it's about the first time I ever cried.

He was pretty frantic, you know,

to see me shook up like that.

And he promised me he'd try to kick it.

And he asked me to help.

So, we took a room in this hotel,

and we stayed there for six days.

And I went through it with him.

Every second of it.

He'd be doing great, you know, he'd be doing fine,

gettin' clean, and...

And then he'd start acting high again.

I found out he...

He brought his needle and a supply of caps.

He was just pretendin' for my sake,

not really trying to kick it for himself.

I don't know,

maybe I cried again just then but,

if I did, it was the last time.

I ran out, and I left him there in that room.

The next day,

somebody found him.

Face down in the East River.

The guys on the block told me later that,

he'd come lookin' for me the night before and he...

Well they said that he said that he was

beggin' for me to come back and help him but,

but I was out of touch.

You see, when he needed me,

I was out of touch.

(slow orchestral music)

(crying)

(slow, orchestral music)

(cat meowing)

(bells chiming)

(slow orchestral music)

(upbeat orchestral music)

(slow orchestral music)

- It's a long way up.

- Go, man.

Go.

Bust out.

(slow orchestral music)

(slow orchestral music crescendoing)

(upbeat,jazzy orchestral music)

- [Narrator] This has been a Screen Gems

film presentation from Columbia Pictures.

Herbert B. Leonard, executive producer.