Original subtitles

[♪♪♪]

[SIRENS WAILING]

[♪♪♪]

[SHOUTS]

Oh!

[CROWD APPLAUDS]

This time the knife was only wood.

But it could have been real, you know.

[SIGHS]

You see, unarmed self-defense,

as applied in, uh, military forces,

is not only for combat situations.

I mean, it's, uh,

everyday civilian life.

You've got guard services, right?

Police work, personal protection.

Perhaps even more important than that,

it's a way for an individual

to gain confidence and self-respect.

That's something we can all use, right?

That's it.

Thanks a lot, fellas, ladies.

[CROWD APPLAUDS]

I can't take you like I used to, brother Frankie.

You're too tough.

Those two tours in Nam have made you too tough.

Oh, I don't know. You're no wiltin' lily yourself, you know.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Hey, I want you to meet my good buddy.

Frank Ramirez, that's Mike Danko, Willie Gillis.

Frankie. My pleasure.

Hey, Frank. Hi.

Hey, you guys were all right. You really were.

You put on a good show. Thank you.

When they see what you've got, you'll sign every kid in town.

Well, I hope so because, uh, these bruises on my body,

I hope they're not for nothin', you know.

FRANKIE: Benny, come on over here.

I want you to meet some people.

Come on, man.

This is my brother-in-law, Benny Santos.

I want you to meet Mike Danko, Willie Gillis

and this is my man, Terry.

Hey. This is the guy

I told you about, man.

We grew up together.

Benny Santos,

you married Frankie's little sister.

Beautiful woman, man. What a fine woman.

Hey, Frankie, uh, do you mind if I wait for you in the car?

Yeah, sure.

I'll see you later.

Bye.

Later. See you, Benny.

Well, we better split too. We're back on duty soon.

Why don't you come back again, huh?

Okay. Good seeing you, Frankie. Same here.

Thank you, Frankie, very much. Good show.

Bye. You we'll see later.

[YELLS]

See, I told you you're no wiltin' lily.

WEBSTER: Hey, Frankie,

when are they gonna let you know

about your application to West Point?

[♪♪♪]

[MAN LAUGHS]

Well, I've got eight more days leave left

and I'm gonna enjoy 'em.

Whoo.

For eight more days, I'm plain Joe Blow, civilian.

[LAUGHS]

Yeah, I'm gonna see some of the old gang,

have a few beers, and have a lot of fun.

And no uniform.

Starting now.

Hey, when's your next day off?

Uh, mañana.

Beautiful. You want to visit the old neighborhood?

You got it.

Okay.

You know, um,

some of these kids got a lot of nerve, a lot of guts.

They show up for a demonstration

sponsored by the police department,

then they want to smoke a little grass and--

[LAUGHS]

it's not too swift upstairs, you know.

Yeah, they got a lot of nerve, all right.

Yeah.

Later.

[♪♪♪]

Hey, Benny.

Open the trunk, will ya?

What's eating you?

I don't know what you're doin'

talkin' to those pigs all the time, man.

You're not man enough to ever say that to me again, Benny.

Not to my face and not to his.

Hey, Frankie.

I swear, I-- I didn't mean your buddy, man.

I mean those old cops, you know, they--

They never leave a guy alone, you know?

Yeah, you mean the ones that busted you twice for possession.

You're lucky they didn't nail you for pushin'.

I never pushed!

Like hell you didn't.

But I didn't push.

That's bull and you know it!

Well, maybe once or twice but--

But that was before.

Look, you know that I wouldn't jazz you.

You know what?

You better be setting me on straight, Benny.

'Cause if you do anything to hurt my sister,

or that kid she's gonna have--

Oh!

Oh, man.

What's the matter? Oh, I forgot to tell you.

There's something wrong with the lighter.

Let me have a match. I think I'm out.

Look in the glove compartment. There might be some in there.

No, there ain't any there.

I-- I cleaned it out some time ago.

What are you giving me?

You never cleaned up anything in your life.

Nothing, wait a minute, Frankie.

What's the matter with you, man?

Huh?

Nothing.

Nothing in there!

Why you--

It's only--

Lousy lying creep!

It's only a few joints and some pills

that I'm keeping for a friend of mine.

I swear to you, Frankie.

Shut up.

Shut up. You think I don't know where you

pick up your nickels and dimes, huh?

You think I haven't heard about you from the other guys?

Hey, listen. Listen to me. I swear to God--

Shut up! I don't wanna hear it anymore!

Oh, God.

Listen to me. You got it all wrong.

Look, I told you to shut up.

I don't wanna hear any more from you, you hear me?

[TIRES SCREECH] [HORN HONKS]

[TIRES SCREECH]

[SIREN WAILING]

[BREATHING HEAVY]

The fuzz! It's the fuzz!

Oh, now you've done it.

Hey, I can't afford to get busted again.

I'm a two-time loser.

What about the baby? What about Eva?

I told you to shut up. What are they gonna do?

Stick that junk in your pocket and sit tight!

[SIRENS WAILING]

Didn't you guys see that red light back there?

I didn't see anything.

All right, out of the car. Let's go.

For a lousy traffic signal?

Out!

Hey, look, if you're gonna give us a ticket, give us a ticket.

If not, then leave us alone, huh?

I said out, buddy. Now, you too.

Frankie-- Shut up!

Is this your usual routine,

or do you reserve it for us, huh?

All right, greaser,

I said out!

[♪♪♪]

Frankie.

[GRUNTING]

[SIRENS WAILING]

Frankie, it's the fuzz.

[♪♪♪]

Let's go.

Get those legs apart.

Frankie?

Hey, Mike, we got a problem here.

Well, we got worse than a problem, Willie.

It's Ron Ellis.

I think his neck's broken.

GILLIS: I'll get an ambulance.

[♪♪♪]

Assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.

That's what it reads, Mr. Ramirez,

and that's a pretty heavy fall.

What deadly weapon?

According to his service records,

Sergeant Ramirez has been certified by the Army

as an instructor in hand-to-hand combat.

And he has taken money for teaching others

how to kill with their bare hands.

In the DA's book this puts him in the same category

with a professional prizefighter.

Legally, his hands are weapons

and he has used them to assault an officer.

WEBSTER: That wouldn't hold up

five minutes in court.

Yes, it will.

You want some coffee, Mr. Ramirez?

No, nothing.

Frankie, you gotta help us.

You gotta tell us what happened.

There's a cop in the hospital, man.

He's hurt bad.

There's gotta be some reason for it.

There's gotta be some explanation.

I gave my explanation.

I figure... we've been friends too long

for you to shut me out.

Am I right, Frankie?

All right.

All right.

I'll try it one more time.

Terry, so help me God, I didn't hit that guy first.

I didn't.

We were arguing over a lousy traffic light

and he grabbed me and pulled me out of the car

just like I told you before.

Even then, I might have done nothing

if he just hadn't...

If he hadn't what, Frankie? What? What?

Called me a greaser.

Yeah, that's what he called me, a greaser!

And he grabbed you?

Yeah, he grabbed me.

Grabbed me like a piece of trash

and pulled me out of the car.

Officer Danko thinks he, uh,

might have seen some other man running away from the car.

Was there another man there with you?

No.

Weren't you, in effect, not running away

from a simple traffic offense?

But making a narco-- No!

--deal when Officer Ellis spotted you?

Are you telling me Officer Ellis assaulted you

verbally and physically over a simple traffic violation,

nothing more?

Yeah, I'm telling you that.

Frankie...

we all know Ron Ellis.

We graduated the Academy together.

Now,

what you're saying

is gonna be very hard for a lot of people to buy.

Hey, Frankie,

what about all those pills, man?

That dope you had in the car?

Don't cut us off, man!

[♪♪♪]

Um...

What about the stash?

Now, these guys wouldn't make that up.

Wasn't yours, was it?

What about your brother-in-law?

He's not involved. Leave him out of this.

He was with you when I left you.

Come on, come on!

All right, cop!

What do you want to hear, the truth?

Okay.

Your pal caught me with the stuff,

and I creamed him.

Okay?!

All right, then.

That's it.

You may be interested to know,

Ellis, the man who assaulted you,

is still unconscious.

X-rays show a skull fracture and possible brain injury.

Take him out.

[♪♪♪]

He's not guilty.

Terry, you heard him yourself.

He said-- I don't care

what you saw and I heard.

He's not guilty.

Lieutenant,

I grew up with Frankie, and I know his family

and I think I know Ron Ellis.

Give me a chance to straighten this out.

You got it.

[♪♪♪]

[DOORBELL RINGS]

GIRL: I'll get it, Mama.

Terry. Ahh!

Why haven't you been around? It's been a long time.

Oh, well, you know. Work and all that.

Come on in. Mama, look who's here.

Terry. I'm glad you came.

Mama.

Mrs. Ramirez, Eva,

my friend and partner, Willie Gillis.

Officer. Mrs. Ramirez.

Hello, Willie. Hi.

I I'll get some coffee. Sit down, okay?

No, no, no, no. Please. Uh, we can't stay.

Look, let me get right to the point.

Frankie's in a tough spot.

EVA: My brother's innocent.

You know him.

You know he's telling the truth.

He won't defend himself.

I don't know if I can help him.

If it were you, Frankie would find a way.

My job is to investigate.

WEBSTER: I'm trying to be objective.

If it were you, would Frankie be objective?

I don't know.

But...

we need help.

We need proof.

Now, can't you or your mother give us anything

that we could go on?

You are my Frankie's friend.

Can he lie to you?

If he says he's not guilty,

he's not guilty.

Mrs. Ramirez, we believe your son.

GILLIS: And-- And Terry asked to be

put on the case

so he could help him.

[♪♪♪]

Eva.

Excuse me, but...

we saw your husband

with Frankie this morning.

GILLIS: But Frankie claims he was alone

at the time of his arrest.

EVA: Benny called me

and he said he-- He left the car with Frankie

and went back into the gym.

Do you believe him?

He's my husband.

Eva, I'm sorry,

but that doesn't answer the question.

Yes, it does, Willie.

[♪♪♪]

He's covering for something or somebody.

Benny.

Yeah, there's his hangout.

You go ahead.

I'll, uh, see if I can get a make on him, okay?

All right.

It's Benny Santos, right?

Benny Santos.

Okay.

Hey, uh, if you find him, wait for me, huh?

Well, you know me, William.

Ludlow 7.

MAN [OVER RADIO]: Ludlow 7, go ahead.

Requesting a make on a Benjamin Santos.

[CLASS MEMBERS EXCLAIMING]

[MEN GRUNTING]

Hey.

Hey.

What it is, man?

[SIGHS]

Just, uh, wanna ask you a few questions.

Yeah, no kidding.

What about?

About Frankie.

In case you haven't been given the word,

he's in the glass house.

Yeah, I know, I know.

My old lady told me, man.

Hey, that's a bummer, you know.

Hey, I thought that you cops were his friends.

What happened?

Hey.

Man, I didn't see nothing.

I can say nothing.

Frankie and I split up.

Right after you left and that's it.

Where'd you go when you split?

Well, I-I come here, man.

Right here.

Hey, can you do me a favor, man?

Get lost.

I mean, all these guys see me rappin' with you

and then they'll think that I know you.

You know what I think?

I think you're a liar.

I think you were with Frankie,

and I think that you split when it got too hot

and you left him on the hook.

And you know what's more?

I'm gonna prove it.

You ain't gonna prove nothing, man.

I ain't takin' no fall for nobody.

Not me, man.

If Frankie stumbled, that's his hard luck.

You find yourself somebody else to pay his dues

because I am gone.

[♪♪♪]

Right, three.

[MEN GRUNTING]

INSTRUCTOR: One.

Two.

Ready.

One.

Two.

Three.

Right side.

Ready. One.

Two.

Three.

Left side.

Ready.

One.

Two.

Ready.

One.

Two.

[♪♪♪]

MAN [OVER RADIO]: Ludlow 7, remake

on Benjamin Santos.

Age 26.

Occupation: unknown.

Two arrests, suspicion narcotics violation.

One arrest, carrying a concealed weapon.

Two arrests, suspicion of receiving stolen property.

Ten-four.

INSTRUCTOR: Once again, ready to go.

Ready.

One, two.

[♪♪♪]

[MEN GRUNTING]

INSTRUCTOR: One, two.

Ready, one, two...

[♪♪♪]

[MEN GRUNTING]

Okay, man.

Take it easy.

Come on, get those legs out.

Spread it.

You could've been killed!

What's it take to teach the two of you

to follow procedure?

Lieutenant, if we could just get them to talk.

About what? A pair of bashed-in palookas like that.

They're both junkies, to boot.

Where do they get the garbage they put in their veins?

On the street, that's where.

They talk, their connection is blown.

Oh, they'll talk, to nobody but their lawyers.

That's who they'll talk to.

[PHONE BUZZES]

Here I am, I'm right here.

Ryker.

When?

Right.

It's the hospital.

Ron Ellis has regained consciousness long enough

to make a positive ID of a mug shot of Ramirez.

Did he say anything else?

Yeah, he says the assault was unprovoked.

Your friend just jumped him.

That's all he remembers.

And that's enough.

[♪♪♪]

Frankie.

I told you not to come, sis.

I wanted to see you.

How do you feel?

I'm not far enough along to notice any difference.

Oh, Frankie.

They say you're covering for somebody.

It's Benny, isn't it?

You've got to tell the truth.

All of it.

You've got to tell Terry.

It's too late.

You think I wanted this?

Don't you think I wanna undo it all?

What Benny did was nothing.

Oh, he made it happen, sure.

I hit the cop.

Benny could tell them how it happened.

Oh, no way.

And take a fall?

I hit the cop.

It's me they nailed.

Oh, if he'd only given me his lousy ticket.

But no, he had to make a big deal out of it.

Yelling at me and...

calling me a greaser.

When he called me that, I wanted to kill him.

That's what I wanted to do.

Oh, Frankie.

Well, I-- I got medals for killing men

who never said a word to me.

But this is different.

You don't mean that.

This is different.

Go home, sis.

Go ahead, take care of Mama.

The money I sent you will help.

You do the best you can for yourself.

It's over for me.

Tell Terry. Frankie, please.

You just tell Mama...

I love her.

[♪♪♪]

Jill.

Hi.

How's Ron?

Well, there's no change.

His father's over there.

JILL: Girl's his fiancée.

Jill, how are they taking it?

Well, she's taking it pretty hard.

I talked to her earlier.

Her father was a policeman.

Um, he was killed 10 years ago.

I don't know what she'll do if she loses Ron.

I think I'll have a talk with him.

What do you got in mind?

Just questions.

Terry. Mr. Ellis.

You know Janice.

Janice.

I'm so grateful you came to see Ron.

Uh, are you boys on the case?

Uh, yes, sir.

I just wanted to ask some questions.

Well, if it'll help Ron,

I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Mr. Ellis...

have you ever known Ron

to have any particular sentiments

against other people?

Mexican-Americans, for example.

You mean, is my son prejudiced?

Yes, sir.

You can ask that.

You, of all people.

I thought you were Ron's friend.

No.

Hmm.

I had to ask.

[♪♪♪]

What are you doing?

What are you doing with that money?

Get out of here.

Frankie gave me that money for Mama.

Now, give me that money!

I'll give it to you.

[SCREAMS]

Look, your friends--

Your brother's friends got the heat on me

and I can't deal with the heat on me.

And if I can't deal,

there are few people there

that will squash me like a bug!

That money is for Mama!

I'm not going to take it all.

I'm only going to take $500,

just enough to make a big deal.

Just enough to get you and I out of here.

I wouldn't go anywhere with you.

Now, give me that money!

[SCREAMS]

He did what?!

He did what, Terry?

Take it easy, Frankie. She's gonna be okay.

She's home now, and we're looking out for her.

What about the baby?

Sorry.

You're sorry.

You're sorry.

[♪♪♪]

Find a parking space.

I'll babysit the kid.

Hogan's kind of a worrywart.

Me? I'm too old to worry.

You don't look like a bad kid.

Ever been to a preliminary hearing before?

Really nothing to it.

You just keep your lip buttoned

and let your lawyer do the talking.

Hey, your partner's signaling.

[GRUNTS]

[♪♪♪]

Ramirez is loose somewhere in the city, and he's dangerous.

I want him picked up,

and I want him picked up fast.

Do ya hear that?

I want him fast before he does any more damage.

You all have mug shots

and some of you know his habits and his hangouts.

So get out and find him.

All right, dismissed.

Uh,

Webster, Gillis, get over to his house,

see if you can pick up any leads there.

Danko, you go to the hospital and keep an eye on things.

Okay. Yes, sir.

GILLIS: This is crazy.

We haven't got a chance

of spotting Frankie on the street.

WEBSTER: It's the only chance we've got.

He won't try to leave town.

He's gotta know there's an APB out on him.

He wouldn't go to his mother's.

He's given her enough pain.

What about his sister?

Same thing.

Eva was telling the truth and so was Frankie.

If he was, then Eva's probably right.

He's out looking for Benny right now.

If he finds him, all the truth in the world

isn't gonna do us any good.

We gotta get there first.

[HORN HONKING]

[♪♪♪]

[CHATTER OVER RADIO]

Miss Stewart.

I just, uh, gave him a shot.

He'll be asleep for quite a while.

Thank you.

You know you oughta go home yourself

and get some rest.

Frankly, I'm a little afraid to.

Afraid something might happen while I was away.

Look, he'll be all right.

He's improved a lot in the past couple of days.

It's just that--

Well, we had an argument.

I'm so afraid that something might--

I would just hate for the last words between us

to be vicious and mean.

When did you have the argument?

The same morning that Mexican man attacked him.

Janice, would you mind telling me

what the argument was about?

[♪♪♪]

Well, how long do we keep on looking?

Till we find him.

Or he finds Benny.

[♪♪♪]

There he is.

[TIRES SCREECH]

[♪♪♪]

I'm taking you in, Frankie.

No way, Terry.

You're gonna have to use that gun to stop me.

I'm going out.

That's a bad mistake, Terry.

Yeah.

We're not in the gym now, you know.

No more wooden knives.

[GRUNTING]

[GRUNTING]

[♪♪♪]

Oof!

Don't be stupid, man. You had it.

I'm taking you in.

Terry, you're whipped, man. Don't.

I'm taking you in, Frankie.

Don't, Terry.

Oof!

Ugh!

Terry, will you leave me alone now?

Please.

For God's sakes, will you leave me alone?

I'm taking you in, Frankie.

Okay. Okay.

You win, man.

You win.

Okay?

You win, man.

[♪♪♪]

I'm aware Ramirez is your friend

and your loyalty is admirable but--

So is your loyalty to preconception, Lieutenant.

Now, that kind of a remark could reflect

an unconscious death wish on your part, Officer Webster.

Forget loyalty, forget friendship. Okay?

Just facts.

Why did Benny Santos set me up at the gym?

And why did he take off when it isn't him we're after?

'Cause you told him you thought he was lying.

You told him you were gonna prove it.

But the easiest thing for Benny to do

would have been to do nothing,

to let us take the case at face value.

Okay.

A guy hits a cop

and a stash is found in the car, right?

Now, the guy who hit the cop

is also the guy who owns the car.

Case solved.

Conjecture.

DANKO: Okay, try this then.

Ramirez said that Ron really leaned on him hard.

Well, Jill said something last night

that might have some bearing on that.

A fact, I hope, and not a theory.

No, no, sir. It's a fact.

Janice Stewart said that she and Ron quarreled

the day he picked up Ramirez.

RYKER: You believe that?

Absolutely sure, lieutenant.

Did she say what they were quarreling about?

I told him I wouldn't marry him

unless he resigned from the police force.

I told him I--

I couldn't endure it all over again,

the way I had with my father.

What did he say?

He begged me for more time.

The next morning, he called me from a payphone.

He couldn't make up his mind.

I told him that

I was breaking off our engagement

and he went wild.

Completely wild.

He began screaming at me,

said I was lying.

That I had other reasons, other men.

Did you?

No.

I love him.

I just knew that if I stayed,

he'd persuade me to marry him anyway.

About what time was this argument?

A little before noon.

Lieutenant, was I wrong?

I think you have the answer to that.

Ron had his crisis.

You didn't leave him.

You telling me I'm some kind of a psycho now?

That I'm lying to ya?

And to myself?

Now take it easy, Ellis.

All we're tryin' to do is give it some facts.

Come on, now.

What do ya--? Think I made all this up.

That I knocked myself cold, and I fractured my own skull.

Put myself in here?

You've identified Frank Ramirez, uh, Ron.

Uh, nobody questions that.

What about the motive?

Hey, what is this?

What are you guys tryin' to make me say?

WEBSTER: There's more than

a man's career at stake here.

Now there's a chance that Frank Ramirez is innocent.

Something happened that day.

That may have started you and Ramirez

on a collision course.

Brought you to a point of impact that ended for you here

and him in jail.

I think you guys have--

Have flipped your lid.

Ellis, I've known cases of partial amnesia.

Where an injured cop has managed to block out the events

leading up to the injury.

Incidents that are too painful and too agonizing to remember.

Now, what happened out there?

[♪♪♪]

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

You fought with Janice.

Right?

You were angry.

No.

No. That had--

That had nothing to do with it.

You hung up on her.

Then you saw the car running a light.

You chased it.

You stopped Ramirez.

No. No, it wasn't like that.

That's not so.

You were mad, he was mad.

You were yelling. No.

He was yelling. No.

You both were yelling then you reached in and grabbed him.

Get out of there greaser! Greaser!

JILL: All right, all right.

That's enough.

[SOBBING]

It's what I said.

Greaser.

[SOBBING]

DANKO: Hey, lieutenant?

What?

They spotted Benny Santos. Heading for the pier.

[♪♪♪]

Lieutenant, look. Isn't that him?

It is. Hit the siren.

[SIREN WAILING]

WEBSTER: Drop it, Benny.

Ugh!

Was the stash in the car yours, Benny?

Yeah, good stuff too.

I only deal the best.

Real high.

Go on, sis, read it.

I mean, it won't be official unless you read it, right?

Frankie, it's already official. I don't have to read it.

We weren't at the Army camp.

As far as we're concerned, it's not official.

Speaking as an ex-Marine,

I can verify it is not official.

Oh, that goes for the ex-Air Force too.

Scout Troop 77 of Sylvania, Ohio votes present.

I think you better read it, Eva. Uh-huh.

All right.

"In accordance with special instructions

"of the Department of Defense,

"you have been selected to attend the Military Academy

"at West Point for the term 1973 as cadet U.S. Army

by order of the Secretary of the Army."

RYKER: Now that the charges have

been dropped, it's official.

[ALL APPLAUD]

Don't I get to kiss the sister of the transferee?

[GRUMBLING]

As the senior officer present,

it only seems the right thing to do.

And the man has always been a bear

for doing the right thing.

BOTH: Mm-hm.

You know, at the Army post,

no one ever asked about kissing Eva.

Frankie, that's the difference

between the Army and the Marines.

RHIP.

RHIP?

Rank has its privileges.

[ALL APPLAUD]

[♪♪♪]