Original subtitles

Webster defines an amateur athlete as one who engages in a contest

for the sheer love of the sport with no monetary return, a noble thought.

But when the take from these admissions runs into the millions,

it loses its amateur standing somewhere along the line.

New coliseums, new athletic buildings, arenas, parade grounds, gymnasiums,

all out of the admissions these amateurs have earned for their scholastic sponsors.

Out of this seemingly noble enterprise have come some of the

major gambling networks controlled by the corruptists.

Who stop at nothing to swing the betting odds their way.

St. Stephen's, 65. Boland Tech, 68.

The game was over. Everybody had had a good evening.

The favorite team had won,

although not by as wide a margin as the newspapers had predicted.

The winning team had reason to be proud.

They had just played their eighth straight win.

And their most celebrated player, young Ollie Oliver,

had even more reason to be proud.

He'd personally made more than half of their points.

Yeah, that's right. One ticket in the name of Flood on the 5 o'clock plane.

Thank you.

Me? Yeah, this is only all of a suicide. It's important.

I want you to look up a friend of mine named Wally.

I'll find out what last name he's using these days.

He's a tough little man who owes me a favor.

I'll give you a letter to him.

He's learned to be what you might call uncommunicative on telephones.

What's he do, friend Wally? He runs the book, the big book.

He knows some real weird people, Pops.

You know, I think Ollie Oliver was being bribed,

and I think there's another gambling syndicate at work

bribing college kids to play basketball their way.

It's pretty rotten, so I don't want to wait around.

I'm on my way.

Talk about corruption.

Here is the control center for it.

The bookmaker's Pentagon, where they lay off their bets.

Where experts decide what the proper odds are on athletic contests.

Where Mr. and Mrs. America's innocent little bets on every sport come together.

This is the center of illegal gambling in the United States.

Our country's largest single business, gambling. All right, goodbye.

You're Marino's man. That's right, Flood, Jack Flood. Sit

down. What can I do for you?

Marino thinks maybe there was a fix on that game where Ollie Oliver killed himself.

He thinks if there was, probably the odds here

would show that somebody beat the book.

We'd like to get an idea who it was.

I didn't follow that game too close.

But we can check the records, look at all the

poop. Might take a little while, but let's go.

There's a minimum charge, 25 cents a person at the tables.

On account of the college kids, they'd sit all day.

I'd like hot tea, and bring the tea bag separate. I want to put it in myself.

And a slice of lemon. Now, please notice, dear, a slice, not a big chunk.

And a piece of apple pie with apple in it.

Do it my way, and there's a dollar tip in it.

Okay, mister. I got it.

Hi, five bucks. How you doing?

I'm a little deef. Charlie sent me.

But Charlie, you shared a very small room with in Dannemora.

I'll, uh... I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

I'm Danny O'Sullivan.

Charlie says you'll be able to help me in a little

endeavor I got up this part of the world.

Look, I've been here six years now. I ain't had no trouble.

Just being nice to the college kids.

Which kid is the Linsky kid?

Cornelius Linsky.

I know he has a job here in the coffee shop.

I don't know Charlie nothing.

Friend, that's a velvet collar.

I don't think they'd like it if anyone ex-con was working here in the college town.

Linsky, he's the kid over there.

That serious kid.

He's a good kid. Not a fast-type kid. We got plenty of them, too.

Look, you're barking up the whole wrong tree if you're thinking of hooking Corny.

My information is he needs money.

A kid that needs money is no different from a man who needs money.

Or a woman.

Give them a taste of money, and they're hooked.

I gotta go.

Hey, everybody, I've got a big announcement.

That's Mr. Kildick. He owns this here joint.

I've just made a deal for four television sets,

which I'm gonna have placed in here,

so that anybody can see how our team looks on television.

Corny?

I've got a feeling you're going to be the new Wyatt Earp.

Especially if the fans know. All these fans know that next to basketball,

you'd rather hunt than anything else. Come on! Laugh it up a little.

You're a big man around here.

I've got a pass in everything, don't I?

Leave us hope and pray so.

Kulik hired Corny so he could keep eating while he's playing basketball.

He don't look very smart, young Linsky.

He's just a hick kid.

He ain't smart enough for your kind of smart.

Dumb, if that's the word. He's too dumb for that. A hundred bucks, I get him.

Personally, I don't bet that high. I'm in the old clothes business.

For what you're wearing, five bucks.

Can I go now?

No.

Sit here while I eat.

I don't like eating alone. And keep your hand off the velvet collar, huh?

I thought we had a date.

That was over an hour ago, Skeeter.

Gotta go home now.

You and your silly schedule.

Poor Corning. He's always got a schedule.

Are you saying it's my fault?

You're always tied down to something.

It's either that silly coffee shop or your basketball

practice or your schoolwork or something.

Now, don't you give me grief. I'm getting enough of it from everybody else.

I try and understand, Corny.

But I have to think of myself. I'm human.

Very human.

So I like you. So what?

So I've got a present for you.

Another basketball letter.

That's the fourth one.

Just being a champ isn't enough.

These were the electronic geniuses that could sort

out and digest a lot of facts and figures.

The indications were pretty clear.

Someone was trying to bend the odds and beat the bookies.

But it was still too early to be sure,

so Flood and the machines worked around the clock.

Well, yeah.

It looks like there was a fix.

And done pretty cagey, too.

Somebody had money laid down in San Francisco, Omaha, St. Louis.

There's even Canadian money working here.

It's a pretty fancy fix, and it's costing the bookmakers plenty, and us too.

Well, Marino wants you to keep an eye out for

the same kind of operation, as a favor to him.

And call him if you see the play looking suspicious

on any other college basketball games.

Call him, Collector.

Well, I'll watch, and I'll call. I may even pay for the call myself.

Corny? Corny, I got the wrist right now, ain't I? Watch.

That's pretty good, Joey.

Uh, will you autograph Jackie's gym shirt if he has it clean first?

I said you would.

Sure.

Now, wait a minute. You're still holding your hands wrong.

Try this.

See?

Camellius!

Yes, Ma?

He called!

The man who runs the basketball, the foreman, you know.

Coach, Ma.

Mr. Robertson, the coach.

What'd he say?

Well, I wrote it down.

And you play to study for tomorrow's practice.

I'm better, eh, Corny?

It's a darn good beginning, Joey. Now, look,

all you have to do now is practice every afternoon,

three hours a day for about two years,

and pretty soon you're gonna be a big man on the campus, too.

Play number 18.

He said to know it by tomorrow.

And there is going to be a review of all new plays. Here.

Are you going to fix the stairs today?

What?

Somebody could break their necks.

Tomorrow, Mama.

Where are you going?

See if I can get a rabbit. There are plenty around.

Football, huh?

Working on a football play?

Hey, awful late in the year to be worried about football.

Basketball.

A basketball play.

I'm afraid we're not open for business right now.

The waitress doesn't get in till 6.30.

Oh, sorry.

Hey, you wouldn't mind my just sitting here and waiting, would you?

It's cold out there, man.

I'm a city mouse.

Sure, all right. Get yourself a cup of coffee if

you want. But excuse me, I gotta learn this.

You varsity basketball?

Too young for varsity, aren't you?

Well, I used to play in high school.

My name's O'Sullivan.

Sure appreciate you letting me perch here. What's your name?

Linsky, Cornelius Linsky. Hi.

Corny Linsky.

Hey, you played basketball right here, the

high school here. You were real hot stuff.

Well, I don't know about that, but we did have a pretty good team.

Matter of fact, boy, this is funny.

You got a real guardian angel, all right.

This belongs to you.

That's a $50 bill. Yeah, it's yours.

Imagine that, just walking in here.

Well, I can't take that. What do you mean it belongs to me?

You see, I saw that high school game that you practically won single-handed.

I'm a traveling salesman, and I travel through this area.

I had 100 bucks bet on the game, and I said to the doll I was with,

the most beautiful doll... Well, another story.

I said that kid played so good, that corny Linsky, he won for me.

If I ever meet him, I'll give him half.

So, I met you.

No, hey, I couldn't take that. You gotta.

Listen, if you know anything about luck,

you'd know that if a guy makes a promise like that and don't keep it,

that's the end of his luck. Now, you wouldn't want to ruin my luck, huh?

Corny, uh, is there a pay telephone around?

Yeah, over there.

I can't take that.

So, let it blow away.

Mr. O'Sullivan, line two. He's calling from Risdon.

Yeah.

Well, you're working out a good clean play. No lumps in the gravy this time.

No headlines, no mess.

Morning, Charlie.

I think so. You think so.

You better make sure, real sure, or those lumps won't be just in the gravy. Well,

I'm stretching everywhere. Make sure you reach.

Well, this kid, I think he'll be fine.

His old man was a bricklayer and died a couple of months ago.

Well, anyway, the kid just took 50 bucks.

And he's bright enough to figure nobody gets 50 bucks for nothing.

It takes time for me to get the money laid on the way I like it,

so they can't figure out where it's coming from.

If I start the play going and you don't get him,

it'll cost plenty to cover all those bets. Well, I'll, uh, I'll keep the heat on,

and I'll, uh, I'll let you know in a day or so.

And there won't be any mess this time.

I'm starting the play. I want to call all of our branches, beginning with Toronto.

Call them one after the other.

Give me that newspaper guy.

Marino.

There it was, the call I'd been waiting for.

A team favored to win by more than ten points was being bet heavily against.

Wally said the bets were coming in from all over the country.

A thousand dollars here, two thousand dollars from somewhere else.

That was the way it had worked on Ollie Oliver's team, too.

The late Ollie Oliver's team.

Well, anyway, it looks to me as though the fix is in at Risdon College.

Thanks, Wally. Here's where I go to work.

I'll pack my Ivy League clothes and get to Risdon as quick as I can. All right.

Now, you're going to be playing a real team this Saturday.

That means you can't let down not any of you, not for a minute.

Let's forget this is practice. Let's really play.

Come on, come on, keep it in play. Come on.

Yeah, it's a nice bunch of boys you got there, Mr. Robinson. Work well together.

Yeah, they really do, don't they?

You the reporter I was to expect, Mr. Moreno?

That's right. Well, glad to meet you, sir.

Before you give them a winning team, the whole world comes to your door.

Newspaper reporters, television this year.

Did you know we're going to have four games on television this season?

They really love a winner, don't they?

Well, it brings attention of all kinds, Mr. Robertson,

including some unpleasant kinds.

I'm referring to the basketball bribery that's been going on all over the country.

You know, boys being paid to lose games, shave points, lay down.

Yeah, well, I think that applies some of the big city colleges, maybe,

but not to little fellas like us.

Zone defense! Remember that zone defense!

Would you mind if I talked to your kids? Asked

them if anybody's been around? Any strangers?

Their minds are full of the game right now, Mr. Marino.

New plays and keeping their academic averages

up so they can qualify. Now, that's plenty.

I don't want anything else in their heads.

Look, the reason I think your boys are in danger is because the betting

odds have suddenly been changing on Risdon for next Saturday's game.

They're going to win next Saturday, Mr. Marino. That's for sure, by 15 or 20 points.

Now, you've got to have faith in your boys. I've got faith in mine.

They're going to win by 15 points,

and nobody talks to them about anything except me.

All right, head for the showers, and dry the backs of those necks.

I don't want any calls or sniffles on the team.

Look, if you don't want me to talk to them, will you do it?

Ask them if anybody's been around. Warn them.

I believe in clean thinking, Mr. Moreno. I don't like to start dirty thinking.

There are dirty people in the world, coach.

You don't protect yourself against them by pretending they don't exist.

Or by worrying about your boys drying the backs of their necks.

I'll be in my hotel for a few days.

Ask your boys if anybody's been after them.

And call me if you find out anything at all.

Out here, please.

I want to talk to everybody. Right away.

Men, you've all read about the basketball scandals in some of the big city colleges.

I want you to tell me if anybody ever asks you to, well, you know,

shave down points in a game or pull off some kind

of a stunt to make things come out a certain way.

One of the reasons this game has been gradually

slipping is because of these suspected fixes.

I don't have to remind you that it's a very serious offense.

Well, it can just ruin you for the rest of your life.

So I know that if any stranger or anybody tried to talk to you, you'd let me know.

Has anybody got anything to tell me?

Well, that's the end of that. Put it out of your heads.

And get a lot of sleep tonight. That's what makes winners.

Come on.

See you, guys. OK, gang. Let's have a look.

No, thanks.

Kid, friends of mine I know got an in with a credit company.

I had you looked up.

Turns out you owe eight, nine hundred dollars.

Some of it pretty old debts.

Corny, you start out in life as an oar, you end up in life as an oar.

I'm gonna be an engineer, and I'm gonna pay back those debts.

They may have to wait a while, but I'll pay them back.

You could pay them all tomorrow.

You're not a traveling salesman, are you?

You know how many pairs of dice are sold in the United States last year?

Millions. How many decks of cards?

Millions.

You know how many people in the United States don't gamble in one way or another?

Including the stock market, numbers and races and all?

Just about none.

Just about zero.

So what I am, I'm just busier at it than most people.

I'm the same as everybody else. I'm a gambler.

Only I gamble to win.

Now, that's using the bean, isn't it?

Only a sucker gambles to lose.

Do you think I'll throw a game or something?

Me?

Oh, kid.

Corny.

Me ask you to throw a game?

Baby, I just want to beat the book a little.

The bookmakers all over the country,

they're offering five to one that you kids will win by 10 points or better.

So suppose you win by only nine points or less.

Who does that hurt?

Risdon wins, the cheerleaders cheer, the alumni cheer.

Everybody's happy, except maybe the bookmakers.

I made a bet for myself and a bet for you.

If Risdon wins by less than 10 points, Corny, you personally will win 1,000 bucks.

One comma zero zero zero.

Now look, your classmates and all your college friends, they want you to win.

So win!

Only, uh, after you've won, take it easy.

Let a few points go by.

And I'll meet you here with the cash.

One grand.

We'll be cheering for you, boy. Does that make you feel good?

At that tall center there Saturday night, if he should fall on his face, trip-like,

or even get an elbow in his eye?

Well, that traveler from Styxville.

Is the kid all wrapped up?

Charlie, I think we'd better cover those vets.

I ain't sure about the boy.

I set him up so I think he'll shave points for us.

I think he'll take the money afterwards. I know we'll have him next week,

but for tomorrow, I just ain't sure.

Unless you want to gamble.

He's a human being, Charlie. You gotta leave a little margin.

Sugar, go to the next room.

Oh, it's lumps in the gravy again, huh? It'll be all right.

It will by next week, sure.

You know what it'll cost to cover all those bets, to unmake this whole play?

I'm sorry, Charlie, but I'll cover the bets.

Like you said, the kid's a human being.

I'll unmake the play.

But he better take that money.

He better be all ours by next week. All ours and no doubts,

or you might be in serious trouble.

Yeah, I, uh, I get it, Charlie.

I ought to make a series of calls, starting with Toronto, Canada.

George.

Wire that Marino fella. Tell him it looks like I was wrong about Risdon.

Send him on a wild goose chase.

That's my Corny! Corny! Corny! Corny!

Corny! Corny!

Corny! Corny! Corny! Corny!

Corny! Corny! Corny! Corny!

Corny! Corny! Corny! Corny!

Corny! Corny! Corny! Corny

Shoot, Courtney, shoot!

What were you waiting for?

Maybe I should call time out or make a substitution.

Who have I got to put in?

We won anyway. Look, one minute to play.

We should have had them by 15 points, not just 6.

Meet the kid on the road and give him this. Tell him he won it.

How much is in here?

One grand. And see that he gets it all. He won't take it.

I don't think he purposely shaved those points.

I think he was just tired at the end.

I'll tell you what, Firebuck. If he don't take it, I'll split it with you.

But, uh, he'll take it.

Good game, Corny.

Yes, sir.

Night, Colt. See you tomorrow.

Good game.

Yeah, great.

I got your winnings.

Here's the grand you won.

That so?

You gonna take it?

I got a lot of responsibilities, Feibach.

Sure.

Hello?

There's a fix, all right. I saw the kid take money.

Also, there's a hot shot gambler in town named O'Sullivan.

I figure he's running the deal, but I need proof.

Get hold of the best wire-topping equipment you can find,

including something to bug a car and come down to Risdon right away.

We'll need a court order on that. Well, I'd like to protect the kid if I can.

Well, there's no legal way without us making full disclosure to the DA's office.

Shall I do that? Well, that's going to involve the kid.

But I guess there's no other way.

All right, do that, and let me know when you're arriving.

Okay, goodbye.

You hadn't heard that one before, really?

Not told by you, Corny Linsky, telling a joke. It's just great. Thank you.

Mary had a little lamb. One, two, three, four. Its fleece was white as snow.

As clear as a bell. One, two, three, four.

Mary had a little lamb.

How about that?

Hi, Connie.

Hello, Mr. O'Sullivan. Want to take a little stroll?

I'm in a kind of hurry right now.

Just a short walk, Connie.

Oh, no.

I'm even with the world, and it sure feels great.

I want to thank you, you and Feibach.

Glad to do it.

I, um, got a few problems with next week's game, Corny.

Now, I've had it, Mr. O'Sullivan. No more fooling around.

I don't know whether I shaved those points for you last

Saturday or whether it was just a natural letdown. I think it was that.

I was just tired.

Next Saturday, my friends and I, we mean to bet real big.

The way we're gonna bet, we'd like it if you

fellas didn't win by more than one point.

One point? How can you figure things that close?

Oh, you might as well say lose it.

Well, now that you mention it, yeah, lose it.

For 2,000 bucks this time.

Money in the bank.

And frame some poor slobs on the wrong side. Who's asking them to bet?

Somebody putting a gun to their heads, making them?

Those suckers come to us, begging for book.

Look, you made a mistake about me.

Okay, I admit, last Saturday, well, that's all in the past.

I couldn't even throw a game now if I wanted to.

You know, my sidekick Roberts, the other forward, he'd know in a minute.

And he even acted funny about last Saturday's game, and we won.

Introduce me to Roberts. I'd like that.

Do you think that Greg... His family owns half the bank.

Oh, you don't know what you're talking about.

I'm not crazy, Corny.

Introduce me to Robert. No.

Then give me back the grand.

You know I can't do that. I spent it.

Five Buck kind of has to do what I say.

He'll arrive at your house.

Your mother, brother.

He'll let it out that you bet on last week's game.

Bet that you'd win by less than ten points, and collect it.

Your little brother Joey, he'd like that, huh?

I'm not introducing you to Roberts, and I'm not throwing any games.

Roberts might like a chance at some easy money.

Why don't you face a few facts, kid?

You're in the basketball business, and so is everybody else around you.

Why don't you make a buck out of it?

You've been a pro since you were a high school kid.

You think those free trips weren't pay? Those free uniforms, that scholarship?

You think Mr. Kulik needs a manager in that coffee shop?

That's pay, kid.

Pay for playing basketball.

Only it's lousy pay is all.

You think your free tuition is because of your big super brain?

That's pay too, kid. Pay!

Now, why not get paid good instead of lousy?

Now, have the Roberts boy here tonight.

Say around ten.

Right here.

Or five buck calls on your family and tells them how you bet against yourself.

That's all we need on O'Sullivan. I could pick him up right now. But the kid,

I suppose I gotta wait and see if he delivers the Roberts boy.

That'll make him an accomplice.

A dumb, honest kid.

Getting mixed up with a guy like that.

Corny, Coach Robertson called.

Mama said to tell you that he said to call Greg Roberts tonight.

What about?

What's about modern history, the modern history class tomorrow.

OK.

You look tired. Are you all right, Corny?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm fine.

Well, if you don't get a C or better on this exam,

you're not going to be playing basketball Saturday night.

I'll do the best I can, Greg. It's a pretty hard course for me.

Well, I'll tell you what.

If you sit close to me tomorrow,

I'll write real big and you can crib off of my paper.

I'm not going to start cheating on exams.

Carney, get off of it.

We're in a basketball racket now. We're not a bunch of little college kids.

Let's face it. Yeah.

See ya.

Well, what do you think?

Maybe he'll change his mind and won't go through with it. Yeah, maybe.

Maybe he will.

It isn't right to nail a kid like that to the wall.

Everybody stop throwing punches at him.

What do we expect him to do except protect himself?

At least put his hands up in front of his face.

Why, if there was ever a kid with a string of cans tied to him,

trying to make a living, take care of his mother, take care of his kid brother,

get along in the schoolwork, play basketball, talk about being ripe for temptation,

then along comes a guy with a touch, the easy buck.

They don't all do it. No, they don't all do it.

But I'm only concerned right now with this one boy.

And the more I find out about him, the more responsible I feel.

Why should you feel responsible?

It's you, me, all of us.

And the rotten part of it is,

I'm the one that's going to have to pull the switch on him.

Not unless he makes that call to his buddy.

Until then, there's a chance he might not.

Come on, back and listen.

Play a little bit, Corny? Yeah.

What is it, Corny?

You start shooting baskets, I'll be right out there.

Okay.

Greg, Corny, what are you doing later this evening?

Nothing. There's a guy I want you to meet around 10 o'clock.

What kind of a guy?

A guy who's in the basketball racket like you and me.

I'll be over later.

Okay, Dad.

You fascinate me.

Well, I guess I can make my arrests. You want to come along?

Yeah, please.

What is it?

Driving a basketball player. You're under arrest.

Thank God, O'Sullivan.

I seen the cops going up.

Jail's a lousy place for a kid. Jail's lousy for anyone but for a kid.

Corny. Get out of town. Get your truck and skip over the state line. Get away.

You got another one of those? Yeah.

Guess it doesn't matter if I break training now.

Thanks, Feibach.

The things they pile on you kids, like that Ollie Oliver. They pile on too much.

It ain't your fault what you done.

They can't blame you.

It was my fault, all right.

I blame me.

Thanks again. Corny, are you going to get out of the state?

I don't know.

I got a mother and a kid brother.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Corny, where'd you go?

Corny?

You take the shotgun?

Corny! Corny! Where are you, Corny?

Corny!

Where'd you go?

Don't be frightened, son. Let me go. You know where your brother is?

Corny didn't do anything. Corny! Let him go.

Look, he's in trouble, Joey.

I want to help.

Where would he go?

Well, sometimes when he has troubles, he goes...

I'll take you.

Come on, come on, keep it in place.

Shoot, Corny, shoot.

That's my Corny.

All right, come on, Corny, we got him by seven points

and only four minutes to go. Now let's go.

If anybody, any stranger comes to you and tries to talk to you.

My name's O'Sullivan. I'm a traveling salesman. I had 100 bucks bet on the game,

and I said to the doll I was with, the things they pile on you kids like that.

Ollie Oliver. A tall senator Saturday night. Ball on his face. Ball on his face.

He's got you winning. He's got you winning. So? So?

Medical? Medical?

Corny.

Your kid brother's here, Corny.

He was worried about you.

Corny!

What's wrong?

I don't understand.

This will all be forgotten in a few years, Corny.

You're not the only one who made a mistake.

Ali Oliver made a much bigger one.

And it's because he didn't talk up and take his punishment

that the man who bribed him is still operating.

It's tough, Corny, I know.

They talk about a sport and they make it an industry.

Come on with us. Tell us what you know.

I don't understand, Corny.

It's all right, Joey.

What's he talking about?

My brother's the champ.

It's only a game, Joey.

And I was only a basketball champ.

You just have fun playing the game and be a man.

Then you'll be a real chap.

Let's go home.

Well, maybe that seems a small victory.

One college boy willing to stand up on his own two

feet and tell the truth, take his punishment.

National corruption is the sum of individual corruption.

And the little individual victories could light up the sky for us.