Original subtitles

(rock and roll music)

- How long will it take us to get to Lake Wales?

- Good road, I'd say about three hours.

- Put a couple of these in a bag, will ya?

- Here's to ya, bass.

They go in and cut your lateral canal

right out from under you.

Didn't they, bass?

Come around and go fishing with me sometime, Everett.

Huh?

Well, how about it?

- Yeah, one of these days.

- It's a real thing that lateral canal.

Tells them what's going on.

Gives them vibrations.

Fella was feeling low, it'd be nice if there was someone

catching all of his vibrations.

Well, who do you think?

- It's only Friday night, Walter.

Let's keep it sensible.

- Don't put the cuffs on me, Arthur.

Do you know my friend up there?

Big black bass looking around for something honest.

Swack, it's hooked.

- Settle down now.

Settle down.

- Where you goin', Arthur?

Want to play state capitals?

I can name all the state capitals in three minutes.

- My friend and I knew this woman in North Dakota.

- Bismark.

Most people miss that one.

- This woman's hobby was collecting

baby teeth of famous people.

(Walter laughs)

She said to me once, "Do you know anything about teeth?"

I couldn't help her either.

- Well, that's just the point.

It's a matter of getting the teeth people

with the teeth people, and the fish people

with the fish people.

- Somethin' like that.

- On me.

- We'll get it.

- Thanks, brother.

Play 10 songs on me.

Taking in the salt baths this season?

All right, all fish out of the water!

All bathers into the ocean!

We're about to play musical world!

- Come on, Walter.

I'll walk you part of the way home.

- All the way.

- Come on, Walter.

(subdued music)

- [Walter] Hey.

(suspenseful music)

(metal banging)

- Walter?

- [Walter] Rickety, rickety, rantos!

Let's give a yell to Arty Santos!

Yay, law!

Yay, law!

- All right, Walter.

(train whistle blowing)

- Come on up and join my club.

- One member doesn't make a club, Walter.

That's enough now, Walter.

Come on, it's five o'clock.

Now, you get down here.

- You can't ask a man to give up being king of the mountain.

- You get down here, boy.

- [Walter] Arthur, look out!

Arthur!

(boxes clattering)

(dramatic music)

(fabric rips) (grunts)

Arty.

Arthur?

Arthur.

- [Guard] Hey, who's in here?

I know someone's in here.

Now, speak up.

Hey!

Hey, stop or I'll shoot!

(subdued music)

(siren wailing)

- Anything at all?

Anything comes to your mind?

Anybody?

Any smells or sounds?

Come on, anything.

Any strangers around?

Did you see anything unusual?

Is there anything you saw today maybe make you think?

You boys are a little old for this group.

- We're just passin' through.

- Passing through to where?

- [Tod] Lake Wales.

- Got identification?

- [Detective] You're, uh--

- Stiles.

- [Detective] What's that?

- Hamburgers.

- I know.

What about the fight?

- [Detective] What fight?

- Arty and Walter Reston had a fight.

- Walter fell to the floor.

- Arty tried to walk away from Walter

and Walter started to get rough,

so Arty got mad and pushed him away.

- That's right, we saw that.

- Where's Walter now?

- He left after Arty did.

He grabbed my hand to put some money in it for the jukebox

and then he walked out really angry.

He really did hurt my arm, Warren.

- How come it took you so long to remember that?

- [Tod] Because there wasn't any fight, Captain.

- There was so.

We saw it from the table.

- [Tod] There wasn't any fight, he slipped.

Look, we were standing about five feet from him

and the policeman came in, went over to Walter.

Walter was acting kind of silly,

the policeman started to leave,

Walter grabbed for him, fell on the floor.

- Because they started to fight.

- There wasn't any fight.

It was an accident.

- You boys friends of Walter's?

- No, we never met him before.

- I don't think Walter has any friends in this room.

- Captain, a couple of boys said they saw Arty

following Walter Reston down the beach.

(table bangs)

- Find the boy, bring him to the station.

Send out a description.

Tell Delecart to have an all-points roadblock.

He was a good cop.

Loved the kids.

You ask yourself why.

You figure the answer is that

somewhere in all this nonsense,

there's some kind of sense to hang onto.

You've gotta believe that or close up shop.

You can go.

Leave your address with the officer.

(tense music)

- How are your vibrations?

- Do you believe in coincidence?

I mean, you're going to Lake Wales

and I'm going to Lake Wales.

- Only room for two, Walter.

- He didn't say that, you said that.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Flag says go, turn right.

- We heard about it, Walter.

- Today's question, did you hear it right?

- All right, we don't know.

But, there's a detective I think you can talk to.

- And they're all gonna to come

bearing gifts for Walter, aren't they?

Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, boom!

(dramatic music)

Turn left!

- Why don't we go down there and stop?

- Turn!

Turn!

(tense music)

That's the way it is.

She don't dance with me, you don't let me pay the check.

- That's the spirit, Walter.

We all killed the cop, didn't we?

And you're just a big white dove.

- Just follow the white dove with the broken wing.

I keep thinking about him.

How he looked and that I did it.

Just doesn't make any sense.

I liked Arthur.

I really liked him.

There were even times I actually felt like

we smiled at each other.

You know, like people do?

(dramatic music)

(subdued music)

- We haven't had this many people around here

since that movie star got caught.

- [Warren] Can I see you for a minute, Captain?

- [Captain] Yeah?

- We'd like to help find Walter Reston, Captain.

- George, go on and get me a cup of coffee, please.

You don't drink coffee yet, do you, Warren?

- You don't have to put me down, Captain.

Arty Santos never put me down.

- You don't have to put us down either.

A lot of tears around here this morning.

- We can get enough kids together to form a search party,

practically every place in town.

- Here you are, Captain.

- Thanks, George.

You know, Warren, I started drinking coffee when I was 10.

Had a little girlfriend at the time named Katie Divide.

She started smoking cigars, she was 9.

Or, at least she tried.

- Captain.

- Uh.

That's the trouble with most kids.

They try to jump in too fast where they shouldn't.

Little girl smoking cigars gives it up,

writes it off as a bad scene, right?

- You didn't turn us away when Sally Rash

got lost in the Harptell Marsh.

Didn't we get together when you asked us to?

And didn't I organize those kids?

Didn't we form a human wall and move through and find her?

- Thank you very much for that, Warren.

But, we knew where she was and we knew who she was.

And we knew she wasn't carrying a gun with which she could

shoot someone if they try to pick her up and take her home.

If I remember correctly, you argued with us about the marsh.

You were positive she was in Norwood Hills, weren't you?

- Well, that's not the point.

- That is the point, Warren.

For 16 years I've sat behind this desk

and I've learned a lot of points.

The most important point that I've learned

is that you cannot jump to conclusions

about whether somebody is guilty or not.

- Well, Benny Royal saw him follow Arty to the beach.

- [Captain] How's your basketball, Warren?

- [Warren] Huh?

- [Captain] Done any practicing lately?

- Fingerprints on Arty's holster.

Walter Reston.

- Warren.

Warren, look, talk to the kids.

Maybe you can organize some kind of campaign

to have them dedicate the new youth center to Arthur.

Something like that, huh?

That would mean a lot to his wife and kid.

(train chugging)

- That's the 8:09.

Oil, gasoline, wheat, citrus.

In the Raleigh Junction West.

9:14, 9:48, 12:03, 1:13, 5:08, seven O'clock.

Think I'll take the 12:03.

No, better yet, the 1:13.

Funny thing is, I used to go watch him.

- Who?

- There was even a time when I tried to walk like him.

I was about 11 and he was in high school.

That's how long I knew Arthur Santos.

He use to hit home runs right out into Chestnut Street.

He got famous for that.

But, that's the way it is.

Dunbar Street.

- Dunbar Street?

- I was five, maybe six.

We lived on Mullen Avenue and I used to go down

Dunbar Street on my way to the freight yards.

There was this house on Dunbar Street.

And this house had a porch.

There was a green rail around that porch.

Behind that green rail there was this old man.

I don't think I ever went past that house

that that old man wasn't just sittin' on the porch.

And every time I went by, I'd give that old man a smile

and he'd just sit there and look at me,

and he'd never smile back.

I must've smiled at him at least a million times

and he never once smiled back.

I always felt like he stole something from me.

Then, one day I was coming up Dunbar Street

bouncing this rubber ball and as I looked through the trees

I saw that old man just sitting on the porch.

And all of a sudden the strangest feeling came over me.

I got real angry.

And the closer I got to that porch, the more angry I felt,

until finally I was right in front of that porch.

And just like some bolt of thunder hit me,

I took that rubber ball and I threw it with all my strength

right at that old man and I missed,

and it bonked up against the door,

and then it banged back and hit this post,

and then it hit the old man's chair,

and then it bounced around some more,

and it just sort of settled down.

And it bounced off the porch right down the steps

and it rolled right out onto the lawn.

Then, stopped dead right against the tree.

Well, I just stood there for a minute.

And then, I ran in and I picked up that ball

and I was just about to run out

when I looked up at that old man.

You know what he was doin'?

He was smiling at me.

It always struck me as being strange.

I mean, him never smiling till I did a thing like that.

But, that's the way it goes.

(gun fires)

You see that?

You take out your feelings and you put 'em

right out in the open and what do you get?

- Well, what do you want me to do, nominate you for king?

We didn't ask to hear your life story.

Is that supposed to make us smile that some old man

thought you were cute because you threw a ball at him?

Well, you don't win me on that count.

And you don't get me for your friend

because you want to buy my hamburger.

Only one thing's gonna make me smile, Walter.

That's for you to toss away that gun and let us out of here.

- I need something for my arm.

Medicine, bandages.

And hurry back.

And don't bring anyone with you, or try any trick,

or else I'll kill him.

(dramatic music)

You be fair, you hear?

Be fair!

- The police have been here, they've already looked.

- [Warren] Then, you got nothing to hide, Mrs. Reston.

- Are you crazy?

Get out of here.

(tense music)

Why don't you help him?

He's your friend.

- Johnny, check the basement.

- [Mrs. Reston] You went to school with him,

you played with him.

There's a policeman down the street.

- [Warren] Don't do it, Mrs. Reston.

If you do, it'll be worse for Walter when we find him.

- What do you mean?

What are you gonna do?

What do you mean worse?

You don't touch him.

Why don't you try to understand?

- It's all books.

He reads everything.

- You think he sits home and decides to kill people?

He reads, he thinks.

- [Girl In Black] Never saw so many books.

- Look.

- [Warren] What is it?

- [Girl] Stars.

It's a constellation.

- Yeah.

Orion.

We studied it.

Mrs. McCloud, 11 B.

She was a nut on that stuff.

- Yeah, Orion.

He's the hunter.

- [Boy] Hey.

- What does it mean?

- Oh, who knows.

Come on.

(uptempo jazz music)

- [Kid] Same one that was by the coffee house last night.

Belong to those two fellas who stuck up for Walter.

- That's blood if I've ever seen it.

- Sure looks like blood.

Mr. Stiles?

- [Tod] That's right.

I'll take that if you don't mind.

- First I'd like to ask you a few questions, Mr. Stiles.

- [Tod] I don't want to buy tickets to the game.

Thank you very much.

- How come you're still around?

There's some blood in the car.

Police report said Walter Reston

left some blood of his own at the warehouse.

Couldn't be his blood, could it?

- [Boy] First aid kit.

- Where's your friend?

- [Tod] What are you, a vigilante committee?

Is this some sort of a mission?

- Where's Walter Reston?

- I can tell.

He's not going to say anything, Warren.

- You never knew Arty, or you wouldn't be

standing there like that.

- Oh, I see.

You're so full of passion, you're gonna go out

and burn all the law books and toss out all the judges.

Why don't you tear down the courthouses at the same time?

- You're gonna make it rough on yourself, Mr. Stiles.

- Don't let him talk that way, Warren.

- That's right, Miss.

You go out and get justice for Arthur Santos.

While you're at it, what about all the other people

that broke the law yesterday?

You gonna go after them, too?

- Tell us, Mister.

- Just tell us where he is.

- We're serious, Mr. Stiles.

Where is he?

(people chattering)

(dramatic music)

- Police!

(subdued music)

- [Walter] Hey, don't you go to sleep.

- Hurt your feelings?

- Well, where is he?

It doesn't take this long to get from there to here.

There ought to be some kind of a button you could push

to warn you when you're off the track.

Trains have 'em.

- The button's there, Walter.

You just never bothered to push it.

- [Walter] Well, you just stay awake, you hear?

- You stand ready to put a bullet in me

and you don't want me to go to sleep.

Come on, Walter.

Let me be rude to you just a little bit.

You don't like me, do you?

- No, I don't like you.

- Because I wouldn't let you pick up the check, right?

- You keep harping on the check.

What's the matter with wanting to pay a lousy check?

- Write this down on your shirt sleeve, Walter,

so you won't forget it.

Buy the burger, not the friend.

- I'm not looking to buy anybody.

- Walter, you're the biggest spender in the business.

- Don't you see?

You try and be part of something and whamo,

all of a sudden you're nothin'.

Do you know that I practiced hitting a baseball

two or three hours a day all one winter

so I could play on a team?

For three months I practiced.

Up comes a game, I get up to hit.

I swing so hard, I nearly screw myself into the ground.

The whole crowd, they started screamin',

"That was a bunt, you should've bunted."

But, if I'd hit that ball right off into the boulevard,

it would've been a different story.

I would've been a hero.

- Heroes bunt, Walter.

- Well, you try, you work at it.

You hunt out some kind of a connection,

like Orion found Diana.

Only, he can't get close to her.

He spends the rest of his days holding off the bull.

I mean, it's like every time you get close to somebody.

- So, Walter smiled and nobody smiled back.

So, Walter sat down and thought what to do about it.

And then, it came to him.

From then on, he'd smile once, and if they didn't

smile back right away, he'd take his rubber ball

and throw it at 'em as hard as he could.

- Well, it worked, didn't it?

- You ever see a dog smile, Walter?

Well, they do if you wait.

Get to know them, let them get to know you.

I had a hound once who smiled two or three times a day

and all day on Sunday.

Found him by a river.

He snarled at me when I went up to him.

I thought he was going to rip my hand off.

So, I stood back and called out.

Took a little while, but little by little he followed me.

Got home, but he wouldn't come past the fence.

Two days he sit out there by that fence.

I had to feed him out there.

And then, one morning I found him in by the well.

And then, one morning he let me touch him.

And then, one morning he came into the house.

We became real good friends.

But, the best morning of all, Walter,

was when he smiled at me.

You know, I think he knew how to smile

that day I found him by the river.

- What?

- You know where he is?

- Yes, Ma'am.

- God give him mercy.

- I was counting on your mercy, Mrs. Santos.

- My mercy?

- For my friend.

As Arty's wife, maybe you could talk to these kids

before somebody else gets killed.

They're not thinking straight.

They need--

- Arthur tried to help him.

Tried to help so many.

He'd come home at night and I'd give him his dinner.

And he'd talk about the people that were givin' him trouble.

You hear a name mentioned at your dinner table

and you don't think anything of it.

And then, one night a man comes to your door

and tells you that the name you heard,

when you put down the soup, killed your husband.

And you look around at the world

and you want to lock your doors.

Is that why I should give him mercy?

No, that kind of mercy comes only from God.

I don't even understand that kind of mercy.

Who are you anyway?

- I told you, Ma'am.

- You want to help him, is that it?

- No, that's not it.

I want to help my friend.

- Well, I'm gonna call Captain West.

He wants to help him. (chuckles)

He wants my mercy for, oh God.

(crying)

(somber music)

(uptempo jazz music)

- Obstacles.

Weller, man gets sick, can't come in.

Another guy leaves town.

Wife won't talk.

I got a million of them.

And now, in comes this man who is going to Lake Wales

with a brand new wave turning my hair gray.

Look, look at this hair.

My wife thinks it's distinguished.

I think it's nervous.

- I'm making a deal.

My friend has a gun at his head.

I'm trying to protect him.

- We're a police force, or didn't you notice

the men in uniform as you came in?

Any one of them could've put you in a cell

for obstructing justice.

- I've seen lots of police forces and some of them

would send their uniformed men of justice

to storm the fort without--

- Is he at the fort?

- No, he's not in the fort.

- You're darn right he's not at the fort.

- But, I'll tell you where he is if you'll listen

to what I think you should do.

- And if I say yes, does that guarantee I'll do what I say?

- I think so.

- All right.

All right.

- [Tod] He's at a warehouse, 2200 Old Beach Road.

- It's in Orlando, we'd have gotten there.

- But, you don't go there.

- You don't go there.

- He's catching a 1:13 freight, whichever one that is,

or some other freight, I don't know.

Anyway, that's where he'll be and he's scared.

So, you stake out the train, you don't go to the warehouse.

Maybe that way, somebody won't get hurt.

All right?

- We have a deal, don't we, Mr. Stiles?

- How do you stay so calm?

- Collin, Harshaw, get in here!

Practice.

(dramatic music)

(suspenseful music)

(uptempo jazz music)

- What's he up to?

He's coming on foot.

I shouldn't have let him go.

Well, it doesn't take that long

to get to the drugstore and back.

Where's the car?

- [Tod] I ran into a teenage posse.

There's your first aid kit.

- Well, what'd they say to ya?

- They said, "Where's Walter?"

- Well, what'd ya tell them?

- I said, "Walt"...

I said, "Walter's trying to figure out

"why nobody likes Walter."

- You talk straight.

- Better put something on that arm, Walter.

- And they took the car.

See how they think?

What'd I tell ya?

- Ask him about think.

He knows all about think.

What's the capital of Oklahoma, Walter?

- Oklahoma City.

(train whistle blowing)

You study, you work, you lie at home at night

and try to figure out how to get yourself

into the world the next day.

They don't know what it is to think.

- Illinois?

- Springfield.

- [Tod] Idaho?

- Boise.

- Louisiana?

- Baton Rouge.

I missed that once.

That's how it all started.

The whole class went ooh, aah, he missed Baton Rouge.

Then, you know what I did?

- You got your rubber ball.

- I went home that night and I memorized every senator

and every house member of every state in the U.S.A.

And then, I learned every governor, lieutenant governor,

and Secretary of State of every state in the U.S.A.

I just had to do it.

I guess I just had to do lots of things

is how it worked out.

But, I didn't mean to hurt Arthur.

Sometimes, he and I, I don't know.

But, I think he understood, you know?

Well, I'm gonna take the 1:13 out of this place

and I'm gonna go somewhere else.

There are other people.

(train whistle blowing)

Well, I think we better get out of here right now.

Maybe we're gonna forget about the train.

- You better clean up that arm, Walter.

- Move.

(tense music)

They followed you.

This way, hurry up.

- Look, Walter!

There he goes!

(people shouting)

(uptempo jazz music)

- What are you gonna do, Walter, shoot 'em all down?

Well, go ahead, Warren.

This is your chance.

Tear him to pieces.

What's the matter?

You've got yourself a hundred thousand troops.

Five bullets?

You're not gonna let that stop you.

Remember the just, the brave.

(rock thuds)

- Hold it.

- Get him, Warren.

(tense music)

- Drop it, Walter.

It isn't a rubber ball.

- Come down.

- You went into my house.

You went into my room.

- Come down, Walter.

- Don't you remember the time

I invited you to come to my house?

- You killed Arthur.

(sighs)

- I didn't mean to.

- He's dead.

- I just wanted to talk with him.

Anyone.

I just wanted to talk with anybody.

(woeful music)

- I made a mistake.

I'm going home.

- Come on.

(slow violin music)

- Who's the Secretary of State in Texas?

- I don't know.

- Good, Walter.

That's good.

- Hey.

Yeah.

(uptempo jazz music)

- [Announcer] A Screen Gems presentation.

Herbert B. Leonard, executive producer.