Original subtitles

To be a spy in Her Majesty's secret service requires intense training.

Order! The targets are down there, not up here!

Not in my eyes, sir!

Impeccable timing.

Oh, I'm sorry. And supreme confidence.

We're going backwards.

Yes, sir, I know. That was an assignment for you.

Yes, sir.

But the agent chosen for this mission must be more.

They said you were a British agent.

I did?

I need an agent.

You do? For my act.

He must be lovable.

He must be durable.

I have been in the Vita less than an hour and have no reason to believe that

cover is broken or that my life is in any danger whatsoever.

But most of all, to be entrusted with the fate of the Empire, he had to be

expendable.

This is my first mission.

I'm not doing very well.

Remember me?

I'm the guy you tried to kill five times. Donald Sutherland, Ruth Gordon,

Beatty, and Robert Morley are all having trouble with spies.

Be careful with that thing. Oh, it's all right, sir. It's not loaded.

Trouble with spies.

I am prepared to die.

Mandela, the world must listen.

How is it?

Does it have any fucking in it?

Give me another one.

Thicker.

I wish I enjoyed reading more.

You can lose yourself in a book for a while.

Of course, the book always ends.

I've been reading a lot of Freud and all the philosophers, Plato, Socrates, and

from the thing I gather they were some sort of addicts, most of them.

Yet still that didn't keep them from being the great minds of that era,

era they'd be in.

She's always a lady, just like a lady should be.

But when they turn out the lights, she's still a baby to me.

And when we get behind closed doors, and she lets her

hair hang down, and she makes me glad that

I'm a man,

oh, no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

We're waiting for Godot.

What do we do now?

Wait. Yes, but while waiting.

What about hanging ourselves?

He'd give us an erection.

An erection.

Let's hang ourselves immediately.

Am I sleeping while the others suffered?

Am I sleeping now?

Tomorrow when I wake? What think I do?

What shall I say of today?

It was after gone my friend at this place until the fall of night I waited

Godot?

In that what truth will there be?

We have time to grow old.

The air is full of our cries but habit is a great deadener.

And me too, someone is looking.

Of me too, someone is saying.

He's sleeping, he knows nothing.

Let him sleep on.

I can't go on!

You gonna say something?

It's different.

Different? I don't know much about this type of thing, Lee.

It's kind of nice.

Nice? It's kind of nice?

Well, which part is nice? Where I stab the guy in the neck or the two guys are

fucking under the blanket or strangling the cat?

I like all those parts.

But... I don't understand why you wrote about a French prison. I mean...

What's the point?

We wouldn't want to give anybody the idea that atrocities occur in this penal

institution, would we?

No.

So do you like it or not?

I guess.

You know, Mullen, sometimes you're a very unsatisfying person.

Stinks or what? No, man, I think it's very, very good.

It's got ideas, you know, and the words are good.

Yeah, but does it make you feel something?

Well, it makes me feel a lot of things.

It makes me feel mad.

And then it makes me feel emotional, like I want to hit somebody.

You think it's too violent?

No, the violence ain't bad. I like it. And you know why?

Because it's a symbol for the human condition in a hunky deaf culture.

That's what you made it like that for, right? All right, I'm glad you caught

that. This could change people's lives. I mean, I'm talking rehabilitation here,

maybe. We don't have rehabilitation anymore.

We have punishment. We know and we welcome it, but there's a lot of people,

a lot of talent, and they don't do nothing. Just sit around, and that's

gets people tense.

Yeah, that's where the violence comes in. Maybe this could be an example of

of these inmates.

They might be inspired to do their time positive instead of getting worse in

here. They could maybe even be creative like Lee.

and get their minds off criminal thoughts.

It would definitely be a lesson of racial tension. People see us on that

together.

When an inmate does something good, shouldn't he get recognized for trying?

Lee is doing life without possibility.

What about hope?

How about salvation, man? Just trying to do something right in life. How about

that? How much do you think it would cost?

Nothing.

I'll take it up with the warden.

Beautiful man. I love you and we'll never forget this. What a human being.

I don't belong here. I want to see the warden. I don't belong here. I want to

see the warden. I don't belong here. I want to see the warden. I don't belong

here.

I want to see... You have trouble reading?

No, I can read.

But not without my glasses.

What are you in for?

Can he act?

I don't know.

Well, we really need guys that can act. Wait, maybe a guard.

That'll be our way of getting back at them motherfuckers. We can't have this

dead idiot here as a guard. You understand?

Well, do you know a poem you could say for us by heart or a song?

A poem? I know one.

It's a confetti audition.

Be with you in a minute. Have a seat.

Okay, can you say it?

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

Catch a... fella by the toe.

Fee hours, let him go.

That's all I can remember. Is that okay?

Yeah, that's plenty.

Imagine your baby's head was run over by a tire.

You've seen it to her.

You're out of your court.

How would you say it?

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

Catch a fella by the toe.

If he hollers, let him go.

Maybe I can use him backstage.

So, give him a couple of lines and break his ass before you shoplift his mate.

Great prop, man.

Remember, we'll work something out.

to bear the unbearable

sorrow to run where the brave dare not

go this is my

And we'll know if we'll only be true to the

glorious land where my heart will lie peaceful

and still.

Lehigh.

I've spent in any theater anywhere.

Bravo Lee Umsteader and his prison players. Bravo! What a review!

It's a fucking rave!

She's beautiful!

Ow! I love a man!

What a human being.

Dear Miss Binghamton, I want to thank you for your kind words.

They meant a lot to me, especially since until recently I never had the

confidence in my mind. Of course, I thought I knew everything there was to

about life. The nexus of the matter being I knew nothing. I wasn't preparing

myself for anything but bigger and better crimes and was in fact on a well

road to dead end.

But now with a little help from you and a few others, that's changing.

Sometimes I think there's nothing I can't do, nothing I can't know.

And for people like me, I mean common people, uneducated people, that's a big

step.

Could it be that even in the least of us, there are crumbs of all abilities

potentials?

You say I'm a bright star shining behind bars.

San Quentin is a cold place, Miss Binghamton, but it's nice to think that

there, just across the bay, there's someone who is a human deluxe.

Dear Lillian, probably there are things for which there just is no

answer.

I'm not sure where to begin.

I'm afraid I'm just myself.

Do you have a boyfriend?

Where's your ex? Do you have kids?

Tell me everything.

And then tell me if you can loan me $10. Dearly. I'll pay you back. And only if

you come to visit. Of course I'm aware of your sins. I've never had a visit.

do you ask?

I think it would be interesting.

Please. No.

I'm dying.

Take it easy, fellas.

Please love that guy.

Take a look at the place and everything.

What are you doing, man?

Sign this, please.

Helen's got this little petition thing here. We're getting a letter writing

campaign.

What I get from the transcripts is a guy in trouble since he was 11, in and out

of institutions, who assaults a clerk while committing an armed robbery.

Because of the number of priors, the sentence was severe.

Mandatory life, without possibility of parole.

Without possibility of parole.

What's that mean?

We should parole you because you put on a couple of plays and we get some

letters.

The judge felt that you were someone society needed permanent protection

See, I remember Jack Abbott upstair.

I don't think that's really the issue.

He's done 12 years. He's an exemplary prisoner.

The fact is we don't have the legal right to consider your case.

Do you have anything to say?

I'm sitting here doing my time. It's all I got left here at the end of the line.

I used to think that I was bad. I was cool. I could do anything and I could

break any rule. But that fantasy died in my victim's eyes.

Now tell me when to stop, when to go, when the man says yes and when the man

says no.

He says, what you got to think about, son? You ain't got no right, you ain't

no one.

And this liar, he must be protected from me.

In the place I know best, will I ever be free?

I'll come see you when I can, okay? No, just write.

I want to hear what you're doing.

Don't lose hope.

Keep writing.

Write another play.

It'll be your voice proud behind bars.

Protect your mind and your soul.

You understand?

And don't give up hope no matter what. I love you, man. I believe it.

Don't you forget it.

No, the governor's waiting.

Bob!

This is to advise you that the governor has granted you the power of sentence.

I ain't never had any dealings with your man. I don't know what you got,

bitches.

Thank you.

Tell me the truth. Did I die and go to heaven?

I mean, I can just turn on the TV when I want. I can stay up late. I can drink

or eat when I want.

I mean, I can go buy something if I want.

You can have whatever you want now.

Have you got any candy?

You're serious?

Do you have any chocolate?

Yes.

Oh, Jesus.

How come they let you out?

I'll be damned.

Hello, Senator.

Mr. Everhart from Quinton. Hey!

Yes, I'm calling for Bill Grief, please.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Is Dufresne Johnson there, please?

Larry Arizonte, please.

Jesus Christ, he's destroyed himself.

Who else is there?

Burt. Burt.

Oh, not Burt.

I was afraid you guys didn't want me. Are you kidding? Couldn't do without

Bull! Yo, what's up?

That's a free merchant.

My baby brother. What's happening? Good to see you there, brother man. Good to

see you.

Lord.

Look, I want you all to meet my lady.

This. It's Yvonne, Gretchen, and Aron. Boy, that's some soup. Oh, check it out.

Rodeo's finest. Holy shit. Check out the ring. Nothing but the best, baby. They

hot? No way. Maybe the money they brought them was.

I'm sorry, man, but I'm not most of the guys.

I'm getting an agent now. She's going to want to know what kind of peace you're

offering me, what my billing would be, who's got artistic control.

Who's got what?

There's got to be one person in charge. Otherwise, you got chaos.

Homesteader's in charge.

Well, I can't accept that anymore.

And why the hell not?

What's the matter with you, Navarro? I just... No offense, man.

I don't respect you.

Oh, yeah? Look, we're not in Quentin anymore.

I've been out for years and doing plenty, man.

Studying Strasburg, working all the time. I love you very much, baby, but

just starting out.

Another fucking spook takes a couple of acting lessons and thinks who he is.

What about my business? What happened to him? I go on the road.

Hey, look, what do you want to be a pimp for when you could be a star?

Yeah, come on, Navarro. It's a chance to show people what it's like on the

inside. At the time, he did mean something. None of us talking about

fees. This is more important. We'd have to get somebody else.

Well, maybe I could get real.

I am a real actor.

That's the point. Y 'all don't know shit about acting fresh out the

penitentiary. I've been acting... Let me finish.

I wrote this play in the joint about us, and we did it from our guts.

I don't care if I get a Sidney Poitier or whoever.

He ain't gonna be as good as you, because you're real.

I know what you mean, and I love you very much for your confidence in me.

But, Lee, it's just that I... What?

I've been out the joint for three years.

And in my dreams, I'm still in the joint.

I wake up mornings with my heart aching from a night in the joint.

And if I do this, it would mean going back to the joint in my head.

That's the method.

I'd like to hear more about this method.

Maybe I could keep my ladies going and do two at the same time.

I'm so tired anyway of misusing women.

And there's always the phone.

That's my man.

Misusing my phone.

Fuck. I know couldn't nobody do my part as good as me. And you know, if anybody

else talked to me the way you did with that spook shit, I'd kill him without no

questions.

But you?

I love you, man.

You changed my life, and I'll always love you very, very much.

You know, in my line of business, I done been in some pretty high -class homes,

but this is special.

I just can't believe it that I'm seeing a place as beautiful as this one.

This is what I want. Now, if you should ever decide to tell, you give me a

chance to make you an offer.

I just can't believe it. It's so beautiful.

Your taste?

Your taste is very, very good.

Most of these guys never been in a house like this.

Have you?

Have you?

Except in the dark.

It's appropriate to say a few words before we start.

First, no dope.

Now, when we're working, we need to be clean and clear -headed, and when we're

not, we're still on parole, most of us.

Lee's on lifetime.

And if one of you gets busted and he has to go back, you better pray it's to a

different joint.

So no dope.

Anybody has a piece, leave it at home. That's right, because we all have a

responsibility to each other as human beings. If anybody cares, deal with me!

Now this tour is going to be rough at times.

But if we keep our good repose with one another, and our dreams, we'll win.

I think we're at the beginning of something that's

very, very important.

What's this, a boy or a girl?

Ten -year -old male.

That's too old.

Everybody wants kittens.

Couldn't you get a healthier one?

This is good, Lee.

All right.

Let's see what he can do. Let's see how smart he is.

Put him down.

Let's get a lot of sympathy. So mangy.

We'll just drug him a little. Fix him a little cocktail. Real mild.

Pinch of heroin.

Pinch of dimmerol.

A couple of leaves.

All right. Put him under the bed.

We ain't got a bed.

The chair is the bed, Bert.

From under the chair.

Dave, I got 12 here.

Dave.

Excuse me.

You see, he's smart.

Okay. All right. So now, guard number two. He's making the round, right? And

hears the cat.

Come on, bird. Move, for Christ's sake. Wake up, will you?

Scott, I'm sorry. All right. Just do it. Do it.

All right.

Well, well, well.

What have we here? The bars, Bert. The bars.

The bars?

You just walked through the bars.

Come here. Look.

Now, just watch me. Just do what I do. Now, just watch this, okay?

Here's the door here, all right? You take out your keys. You open the door.

you walk through. You swagger, cold, burp, cold like a guard. Don't you

remember? Not so fucking nice. You swagger through the open door. Now do

Just do that.

What have we here?

The door, Bert.

What, Lee? I opened the fucking door with the fucking key. You left the

door open for Christ's sake. I'm going to kill you now, Bert, if you don't do

this right.

Will you take it easy, Lee? I'm doing the best I can here. You make me nervous

for Christ's sakes, okay?

All right?

So what am I doing? All right, so I'm walking along, and I come up to the

fucking imaginary door, and I take out the fucking imaginary keys, and I open

the fucking imaginary door, and I shut the fucking cock stuff, all right?

Yeah, that's good.

Public sweet.

I'll call you tomorrow.

To go on with murder. It's my bio, man.

Punk got my crimes all cocked up. You can't say various crimes, Lee. You got

be more specific.

Otherwise, they'll think I'm a child molester.

You saying you ain't?

You got me all agitated now.

Try to prepare my interstate.

He implored.

The heaviest thing about the joint?

That's a good question. Let me think.

I'd say loneliness and violence.

The feeling of ineptness?

Just the tension.

I don't know how many guys I've seen get their throat cut.

The worst thing for me was waking up.

You see, I dream all the time, most every night. I guess, in fact, that's

good part, is when you dream in your home.

The worst is when you wake up and find you're not.

I don't know. I never really minded the joint that much.

I dug the structure.

I was never any good at planning my days.

Come on, let's talk about the best things. Clean sheets.

And how about you? Not drinking tonight?

Here's my fee.

Of course.

Have yourself whatever you like. There's coffee over there.

I like what you said after the play.

Me? Yeah.

How long have you been out?

Three weeks.

Really? Yeah.

Fresh out.

Haven't had a chance to do much of anything.

I haven't even had a woman yet.

How long were you in?

Fifteen years.

Really? Yeah.

I don't know if I still can, since that time they beat on my privates in Folsom.

God. Yeah.

How do you want your coffee?

Hot, sweet, and black, like me.

I wonder if you're familiar with the works of the great French.

Criminal playwright. Joins your name?

Yeah, sure. Why?

Well, I noticed how similar your play is to his, Death Watch.

I think I thumbed through it once.

Great writer's your name. Very influential.

Got any Smirnoff?

Yeah. Help yourself.

There's some couscous, too.

You worried?

About what? Well, I was shocked.

They always like to play in prison.

I know.

Maybe we should replace Bert.

No. He's okay.

No, he's not.

Why don't you get Claude here to play his part?

We gotta give him another chance.

I'll talk to him.

Hey, Bert.

This stuff is great, Lee. Listen,

I don't want you to be nervous anymore. No more shaking on stage.

Okay, I'll try. No, you gotta do more than try. You must not shake!

Tremendous party you're having here. Tremendous party. I had wanted to ask

about that book you had mentioned earlier when you were discussing it with

What was the name of it? Oh, the play.

Death Watch.

That's right. Death Watch.

You have amazing powers of recuperation.

Well, for a guy who's had his private seat not imprisoned, you're in

fitness. What a great car.

Where do you want me in that?

Holy God, they're stealing the students.

All right, who thought the audience liked the play last night? I did.

Well, they didn't. And I'll tell you why.

We're dropping the accents.

See, I think the accents give it a lot of class.

They suck.

And when they were good, outside they're weird.

Dump them.

Let's hear how it sounds.

You start, Bert, without the accent.

Right, Bert? Yeah.

Here you are to find a cell in Clavel. Quentin.

Say, Quentin.

I mean, we're out now. We don't have to... hide anymore we can tell it like

is in this country the fight is selling quentin sure that's good that's great i

finished it

congratulations it's similar to yours and it was wrote before a lot of things

are similar coincidences i love you very much baby but this coincidence is a

little too much too many things are the same

You plagiarized them.

Well, maybe there are some things that are similar.

But that's accident.

I never read this play until I finished mine.

You tell that to the New York critics, homie.

You've got to change it so it's different.

I don't get sore.

But instead of all that about a hand of an angry God, maybe we should just run

out in the audience with clubs and stuff and scare the shit out of them.

Uh -huh.

Make them feel.

Not that they don't feel now, but let's face it. They ain't feeling like they

should. Make them feel what it's like inside.

All right, let me take this upstairs. I'll take a look at it. Yeah, sure,

Go ahead. Knock this stuff out. I've been planning on making some changes

anyhow. All right, you do that. Because if you think you're going to take

somebody else's plate of New York and palm it off as your own, you full of

Because they're going to know.

And they're going to say...

You just doing the thing you always did.

What's that?

Stealing.

Give me a cigarette!

Give me a cigarette!

Say, guard, why don't you give him a cigarette?

Here's your cigarette. Well, uh, doctor?

There he is. I'm going to invite him over.

Excuse me.

I saw the play last night, and I just wanted to let you know how important I

think it is, especially the sense I get from it of the class basis of

incarceration.

Oh, thanks.

Are you a student yet?

Postgraduate.

Oh, I remember. You asked questions at the encounter session.

Yeah.

Go deeper.

Hurt me.

She's in there with you, man. Open the fucking door.

Who's in here with me?

Look, she's in there with you, motherfucker. Open the fucking door. I

someone else.

Now go away. You're interrupting.

Lee, I ain't gonna hurt you, all right?

I just want to talk to you, okay?

Okay?

I'm just gonna kill you, motherfucker.

If you open this motherfucking door, I'm gonna kill your ass. You know that,

don't you?

You know I'm gonna fuck you up. You know that, don't you?

I wouldn't do that to you, man.

Of course, you could have just said so.

So, bye.

Bye.

Lily and I have a right to a little fornication after all that downtime.

What am I, a fucking Dominican?

What if you got put in prison when you were 20? All those years when you should

have... I'm older than you remember.

You want to go out with younger women.

Age has nothing to do with this. Oh, please.

You

know,

my friends warned me about you.

They thought you might try and kill me.

But I wasn't afraid.

I knew you wouldn't.

I knew you'd only break my heart.

I should leave.

I don't want you to.

Why? Why should I stay?

Because I love you.

And I need you to see the play.

I've seen your play.

Well, because you love me.

I'm in trouble.

What kind of trouble?

Well, there's a lot of confusion going on.

People don't like the play.

They don't feel anything.

You said you changed it. They didn't like it the other way either.

Now I've got to change it more.

Why?

Because it's stolen.

It is?

Yeah, some of it.

You know, Jeanine.

Jeanine.

Death Watch.

I've never actually seen it. Yeah, but you've read it.

I know about it. Jesus, what kind of critic are you?

Food.

And drama.

You mean you actually plagiarized Death Watch?

Oh, my God, how much?

You know, it's really obscure.

I know. That's why I thought. And then I thought, since you didn't notice, now I

don't know what to do. It's all cocked up.

You must fix it. I don't think I can.

Of course you can.

Oh, Lillian, look.

I thought I was born to life, to joy, not so I'm a sad and tangled thing. Now,

what am I supposed to do with that? Take that out just because somebody else put

that on paper first?

I feel like a sad and tangled thing.

Besides, that isn't your baseline.

That's all bellows.

You're kidding.

I wish I was. A lot of it's pasted together from other people's work. I

wanted it to be good. I didn't know how to make it good. I've never been in a

theater, not even to rob one. I'm not a creative person.

Yes, you are. No, no, I'm not. Yes, you are. Oh, really? In all my life,

everything I've tried, I've always stepped on my dick.

I don't understand why the good things have happened to me, why you've happened

to me. Of course, now I'm working the fuck out. Just shut up. I'm going to

you what you have to do.

You have to write your own thoughts in your own words.

My mind's a blank. I don't have thoughts.

Lee, you're a super weasel. You probably think you can weasel this one, but you

can't. This one calls for you.

Write about wanting to die.

Write about stepping on your dick, for God's sake.

That'd be a creative thing.

No, I'm going to lose you, lose everything. We'll be back on the street,

inside. You won't lose me.

Oh, no?

He offered his love in such a way, the poor boy just couldn't

refuse.

Yes, and isn't it just like a 20 -year man?

a prick or a noob

he

carried his torch in such

good grace you'd think he was courting a wife ah but it became

clear when the

Cause nothing...

me think things are falling apart on stage and i don't mean to set that was

disgusting god damn it bags that was humiliating to all of us man how the

did you come out there and fuck you man

Every night I go in a cell where I'm surrounded by losers.

I'm not reverting, I'm...

You had a piece. You came out stone crazy with a piece and blew the follow

No, ma 'am. Sorry.

It won't happen again. It won't happen again. You bet your ass it won't happen

again. God damn it, it won't happen again.

Okay, we had some behavioral factors rise up tonight.

I've talked to those involved.

I think we're squared away to where it won't happen again.

I just want to apologize to everybody for my unprofessional behavior.

So would I.

Now, before I tell you what I've got to tell you, there's something else I have

to tell you.

I stole some of this play.

Hey, I thought I'd be in for life. Who knew? One writer I borrowed from, he had

been incarcerated too and identified with what he was saying.

You know, it was more like osmosis than stealing.

That's what I told the judge.

So anyway, I thought I owed it to you to know.

Okay, there's something else.

We lost bookings.

I feel bad about this, but there's not enough money to pay this week's

If any of you want to leave, I wouldn't mind.

And go back to what?

For me, this is all I got left to look forward to. Now, are you kidding? Quit?

I love this.

I'd do it for nothing.

Problem is, where do I send my old lady?

I mean, I would like to stay, man, but, you know, I will for a while.

Okay, there's something else.

Now, I don't want you to misinterpret it.

That was a terrible thing Baggs did tonight.

And if he does it again, I'll kill him.

But I liked it.

I mean, they woke up there, didn't they?

That's because it was real.

Now, Naboro had an idea.

He thinks we should run out in the audience with clubs and scare the shit

them.

That's great.

Yeah, I think so, too.

Okay, I'm going to start by cutting anything I swiped. And I'll add some

Maybe a dream sequence or something.

Just jazz this sucker up until I can think of something.

I appreciate your understanding.

That's about it.

Any questions?

How was I tonight?

Better, huh?

Some.

to help you?

Just looking, Dix.

All right, let's go. Come on, come on.

Playing our song.

You have to do it.

get home sick for the joint?

No.

I was in there longer than you.

I don't either, but you hear about it, though.

That mysterious pool.

People wanting to go back.

The brotherhood of the doomed.

I think that's bullshit, don't you?

I wonder sometimes.

All those pieces.

What the hell are you carrying for?

Why do we do the way we do?

I wonder sometimes if we'll make it.

We're pretty fucked up.

Yeah.

We just gotta keep going.

I think everything will be alright.

Look, I want you to take my car and sell it.

I know how much you love your car, Navarro. No.

I don't love my car.

I love you, man.

I don't want your car.

Look, take the car, sell it, use the money to pay the guys their salaries.

Anything I got, you can have it.

Because it don't mean nothing.

I can get more.

When I get back to L .A., man, I can buy ten cars. Anything I got, you can have

it.

I'll pay you back.

Oh, yeah, sure, you will, sure, you will. Look, if you have it and I need

cool. But I don't need it.

You don't understand, do you, man?

I love you.

Coffee, Lee?

Give me up your right.

Yeah, sure, thanks.

It's okay, it's okay.

Here he is, the New York actor. Come on, guys.

Carmine Vaccaro.

Bunny about.

Come here.

How you doing?

I'm Lee. Lee.

These are the members of the couple.

Have a seat.

So you're from New York, right?

Yeah, that's right.

You've done a lot of plays?

Yeah, I've done a lot of theater. Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Shaw.

Okay, you'll do fine.

Tell your agent we'll be in touch if we start rehearsals tomorrow.

Yeah, but, uh, excuse me one second. I, um... What's the problem?

Well, I mean, what's my part? I haven't even seen a script yet.

That's a new character I wrote in. An inmate named Navarro. It's a good part.

Now, the thing is, we have... One second.

This is the manager.

I, uh, see you have a visitor.

So? Will he be registering? Yeah, why?

Mr. Olmsted, you know your bill is past due.

My expenses are my concern. Told you you'd get your money in a couple of

You're going to get a percentage for Christ's sake. But you mustn't disturb

when I'm rehearsing.

I'm afraid your expenses are also my concern.

The thing is, we do these confrontations with the audiences after the show. Now,

they ask us questions, and we rap with them pretty openly about our problems.

Now, that's an important part of our success and of our progress as human

beings. I never thought I'd be able to strip myself emotionally naked.

The way I do with those things.

That sounds real interesting.

We got to phony up a background for you.

A few jobs you pulled, a little time you served.

Dossier for your program buyer.

Dynamite. What kind of crimes you see yourself perpetrating?

I don't know. You tell me. You're the experts.

Well, what do I look like?

A small -time mafia runner, a bag man or something like that. No, no. Look at

him, for Christ's sake. Never. Not enough balls.

Homosexual incest? No, it's too grim. Let's steer clear of crimes against

nature.

He could have killed somebody.

Like a hitman.

Too obvious.

A booster.

Hey, I'm a booster here, right? I'm a booster.

I worked hard for my bio, Lee.

He can't come in here now and get the same in his. It wouldn't be fair.

So what's the verdict? What am I? Hey, I'll think of something, something

simple. Don't worry about it.

I was wondering, can I borrow your car for a second?

I've got to drive a critic to the airport.

You want to borrow my car?

Yeah.

You'll find it'll go much better now.

Hey, I love the changes.

Much more personal. The riot scene helped.

Take care of yourself.

Don't lose hope.

Cry out. Let them hear your voice. Cry out behind the bars.

Protect your mind and soul.

Life is cruel, but it's sweet.

Understand what I'm saying!

Don't give up hope, no matter what.

I believe in you.

And don't forget it.

You see, I know behind those insane eyes, there's just a human being who

life very, very much.

Yeah,

the real heavy thing about my time in the joint...

was the lack of women and the things I had to resort to, like, um...

Well, I'd rather not say.

Hey, we were really talking to each other up there, weren't we? Yeah, it was

like Navarro was challenging Hatchet to love life, but Hatchet, he loved death.

I got completely caught up in that. You're good.

Man. Yeah.

I mean, I knew you'd be good, but I didn't know this good.

Okay, time to get laid.

Hey, he was great.

Maybe we ought to replace three or four guys with real actors. No way, I'm

surprised at you. This doesn't look like a real thing, baby.

You must be very proud. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Oh, I'm Derek Mann.

Derek Mann, the producer?

Yeah.

You came to the play, you saw it? Oh, yes.

You hit me with your club.

Oh. Yeah, great.

No, I'm sorry.

No, that's okay.

Moving, terrifying, and funny.

Umsteader's tin pan hymn to the world that hate makes is a hit. A veritable

sixth grade education.

Here you are with a sixth grade education.

We used to hate each other back in the winter.

You wanted to kill me and I wanted to kill you.

And now we're going to get to do it in New York on fucking Broadway!

Almost, almost.

Give me a kiss, you black son of a bitch.

Leave him for me.

All right, let's go on.

That help you?

It's me, Ma. Lee Umstead.

Your son, Ma.

No, my son's not home.

No, Ma. It's me, Lee.

I'm your son.

Lee Umstead. Me, Ma.

Oh, my son!

That in heaven, it is so different.

Come in.

How come they let you out? I thought you were in for life.

Thank God.

Thank God.

What time is it?

Daddy!

I'm doing good.

You? Great. My whole life's changed.

Yeah?

What'd you do, escape?

You know, Pop, when we get to Broadway and the money starts coming in, I'm

move you out of this place.

What for?

Because everything's gonna be different. That's what for.

Wait till you meet this Lillian. I mean, she's a beautiful person.

She'll be there at the opening.

You'll meet her there.

What's that for, therapy?

Yeah.

I do it for my stroke.

But I do it anyway because I like to stay in shape.

Here, feel this.

That's good, Bob. That's good.

Prison wants to confirm January 2nd.

Syracuse. I don't see how we can.

Well, sure we can. We can drive up there after the show on Sunday, do the

cocksucker on Monday. We'll be back here for Tuesday night's show. All right,

all right. Whatever.

All right, well, I'm going to book it. That's all. All right.

Why do I have to ask him every damn thing?

And we got you an agent that are still a tough tree.

Jesus, Lillian, I'm scared about tonight. I mean, I'm talking scared.

Don't be.

No, okay, then I won't be.

That's good. Now I'm fine. Boy, I'm glad you said that.

Come on in.

Paul, good to see you. Dan, come on in. Go on in. It's all right.

Hey!

so I won't have to. From Dominic Shapiro? No, he's a great kidder.

Best of luck from Dan Petrides and Condote and all the guys still in

Do it for all of us.

We are going to do it. I'm with you.

I bet we are, man.

I can see those long lines forming at the box office night after night. The

bread will come rolling in so fast we won't be able to count it.

I'll count it.

I'll jazzed up. Let's just play our show, you know. Let's just enjoy

You know, let the chips fall.

Mr. Cobb, what's tonight?

Perfect. Putting on a play. Get ready.

Ten minutes!

places.

But this is your car. Should we wait for him? We have to, or he'll be sold. All

right. Damn it.

You don't start this show now, I'm going to fuck you up.

Jesus, Derek, we've got to stop. Will you hold the fucking curtain, damn it?

Fish, fish, why you walking?

I just sent the car.

Creeping up through cracks in the street.

Knowing no one wants you under their feet.

Growing time and time again.

I had the chance to live my life over. I'd make the same mistake I'd never

learned from all the years I spent just living up to date. I'd only find an easy

way to cheat the odds again and wake up with my head. I was just thinking I

could change, thinking that I could have changed. When I was younger, I held

on to life. With a fire in my hands, I lived every breath with all I had.

No one wants you under their feet.

Weak, growing,

creeping up through cracks in the street.

Knowing no one wants you under

their feet.

of my dead brothers.

In the darkness, I feel your eyes.

When I was put in this cage, the first thought that came to my head was that I

would die here.

When I get out, I'm going to get a steady job. I'm going to better myself.

I'm going to live clean.

I won't be hard anymore.

Of course, I won't be too soft neither.

Because as they say, it's a good life if you don't weaken.

Of course, my problem is that I always weaken. And the anger grew. I weaken.

It swelled and rang out in my soul that I would not die in this inhuman

confinement. Not die in this hole.

Not like an animal.

But that somehow, someday, I would be free to die like a man.

That somehow, someday, I would...

I would live like a man!

Free!

Everyone's well aware of the fact I like my clothes and my Cadillac

Tell the surprise but my magic provides understood

That's not saying quitting.

I thought they were in Alcatraz.

Numb nuts.

This is Lillian Binghamton.

Pop? Mom.

Nice to meet you, Mrs.

Umsteader. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

That's okay.

It's okay.

So how'd you like to play, Pop?

It was good. Very good. Did you like the play, Mrs.

Umsteader? You got it.

Get out of here.

He always was a bad boy. But he never killed anybody.

But he was bad in school.

All right,

listen up, everybody.

Barbed wire.

That's us.

Barbed wire troupe stages Lee Umsteader's Weeds.

We have seen theater of the streets and theater of the absurd.

Now we can see theater of the prison.

Weeds is a strange, wild piece.

It was first performed behind the walls of San Quentin.

Blah, blah, blah. He tells the history here.

Oh, here we are.

It's a strange play.

And to be bitterly honest, I don't think it's a very good play.

I would go to prison for its right to say what it is saying, yet the lasting

impression left by these prison sketches was both too vague and too conventional

to be truly impressive.

Then he tells about the story, blah, blah, blah, a bit derivative of Janae's

Death Watch, but original enough to stand or fall on its own terms.

Shall I go on?

Yeah.

The actors are ex -convicts.

There is a certain voyeuristic interest in this, but the acting is curious, for

it is clearly amateur where professional would be expected.

That Weeds finally fails is to be seen in the insecure dramatic structure.

the curious mixture of musical extravaganza and social documentary, and

oddly uncertain strength of the author's message.

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but it will never be more dramatic.

Now, someone is bound to ask me, why did you invite the San Quentin Workshop to

come here?

I am frank to say that while I have not seen their play, I have permitted it by

way of an experiment in the hope that you men seeing these men and knowing

at one time in their former lives they were in a prison might get some idea

about the opportunity that exists in a prison.

I mean, don't serve time.

Make time serve you.

I mean, that's what these men did.

Okay.

I hope you enjoy the show.

I'm sick, too.

Those bastards won't give me my medication.

Don't worry, I'll get it for you. I've got some connections.

We'll be buddies.

Buddies gotta look after each other, right?

You're so nice. What are you doing in here?

Life. Let me tell you what.

Scum. America was built by misfit prisoners.

Hey, animal, what are you doing playing a god? I didn't expect it to be perfect.

You ought to get down on your knees and thank the Lord the scum of the earth

accomplished so much.

Okay, 39027. I'm not a number. I'm a human being. You ain't shit to me.

Yes, we are the little people, the creeps and cripples, beaten, disturbed,

oppressed.

But in us lie the seeds of all potentials.

We only need to be shown the way.

Here's the key.

It unlocks the hole.

Use it.

Get us out of here.

This isn't a key.

This is a plastic toothbrush manufactured by Latana and Company.

The lifeline model, which somebody has filed to raise a point to cut and tear

troubled interstate.

Long time ago, when I walked the night, it rained blood all over the city.

That's right. You were famous. Everyone knew you.

No, it wasn't me they knew.

It was Hatchet the Coy, Hatchet of the Cross.

And if I now do what you ask...

What God will ever lift that name from my head? What prophet proclaim my coming

floating down a river of blood with a ton of lifeline in my head?

I aspire to greatness, to joy.

flame is bright enough to light the darkness in my heart.

No night so dark a ladder high to scale my wall of shame.

us in poverty and bombard us with commercials and if some of us are nuts

to go off and rip off the shit they made us want they put us in cages and call

us victims of our personalities well they're right we are but we're also your

victims capitalist society maybe you should skip this part man how come

only the poor people go to jail we're the big criminals

The guys that poison the atmosphere.

Palm City's fixed prices.

Where are the rich people here?

They're not here, they're out there.

If not justice, they were a blind hole.

But when it comes to money, you better believe she pigs.

likes to see it.

After close study.

After much suffering.

Now the show is over.

Back to your cells.

Back to your cells.

Back to your cells.

Pack up the stuff you can sit about the back.

And keep this in your

heart.

Take it if you must.

I'll live to show you.

Take it if you must.

I live to see.

There was publicity all over the world.

We played New York again for limited engagement, but on Broadway this time.

Everyone wanted to see the play that caused the riot.

Then we went on tour.

New Orleans, Chicago, Boston.

We played all over.

I live in a place.

I saw a prison near Plymouth Rock.

It was overgrown with weeds, ragweed and thistles, milkweed and fetch.

They sprang from every crack.

Someday their roots will pry the walls apart.

I won't be around.

But I saw them last summer, and they were in blue.

They were springing up from the wall with all the strength they were given to

tell the world they were there.

And bees came and drank from them.

Just like any garden flower, they had nectar to give too.

I'm going to get there, my brother.

I'm going to be free.

I don't want to go.

Will the wind carry me?

Will it lay me to rest in the place I know best?

I want to go home.

I've got to believe.

I've got to be.

One way or another.

I'm going to get them.

I've got to believe one

way or another I'm gonna get there