Original subtitles

Once upon a time

there were three little girls who went to the police academy.

One in Los Angeles.

One in San Francisco.

The other in Boston.

And they were each assigned...

very hazardous duties.

But I took them away from all that

and now they work for me.

My name is Charlie.

Come on. Come on.

Stop worrying, we're still learning too.

And we have a great teacher.

Good, I'm gonna need one.

You'll never be a true Californian

till you skate Venice.

When did I say I wanted to be a true Californian?

Oh, come on. It's fun. Let's get you some skates.

Hi. Hi.

We need a pair of sneaker skates.

For me.

Well, you came to the right place.

Let's see, size, uh... - Seven.

Seven and a half.

Right. Seven and a half.

Now, listen, uh, no offense, gorgeous one,

but with a set of ankles like you've got

I suggest you skip the sneaker skates.

Really?

You need the full protection

of the Riedell boot, Chicago plate combo, okay?

You're the expert.

Perceptive. I like that.

Gert, give her the best.

Right, boss.

Pardon me.

You know, if you girls can skate anywhere near your looks

you could win a fortune.

Oh, the contest? Uh-huh.

At Flipper's. That's my rink.

Allow me to introduce myself:

Frederick Victor Fortune, call me Freddie.

Hi.

Hi, Freddie. Hi.

Well, we're really not that good.

No, we're just beginners. Ah, it doesn't matter.

I'll teach ya everything you need to know.

You girls would make perfect Fortune girls.

Fortune girls?

The chorus line for my big production numbers.

Fabulous costumes, exciting choreography.

Great exposure, all the media's gonna be there.

Girls, you are looking at the next Ziegfeld.

The great Freddie Fortune's gonna make

roller disco a household word.

Not that I don't believe you, Freddie,

but, uh, we sort of have a gig.

Yeah.

What a waste.

But if you change your minds, you know where to find me.

Free passes.

Oh.

Compliments of Fortune's.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Gert, you take good care of these ladies.

Right, boss.

Think it over.

Not ever girl gets a chance to be a Fortune girl.

Right. Here you go.

One pair of Chicago boot, Riedell plate combo,

size seven and a half.

Lots of luck.

Thanks, I'll need it.

Thank you.

Ah... Whoa...

Hey, you know what? This isn't so bad.

Come on, you guys. What ya waitin' for?

Whoa...

Here, check this out.

Oh, they're very good.

That's Ken and Rita. He's our skating teacher.

Puts you in good hands.

Yup. They're gonna win

the $30,000 Freddie Fortune contest easy.

Come on.

Hey, Rita.

Come back and take a bow for the press.

That was fabulous. Fabulous.

Rita! Hey.

There she is.

What's going on, Kenny?

Where's Rita going?

I don't know.

You mean you don't know those men?

No. No, I don't.

I think we should call the police.

The police?

If Rita's in trouble there may not be much time.

There's a phone booth right over there.

Let's go.

I have the police report, Angels,

it's not encouraging.

As far as they can determine, nothing happened.

Two men forced her into a van, I saw it happen.

The point is, Kris, they're not sure what you saw.

They've come up with a dead end on Rita Morgan's background.

No Social Security number, voter registration,

no parents, no previous address, nothing.

So Rita Morgan probably isn't her real name.

And we can't be sure she didn't want to get in the van.

So there might not have been any crime.

Uh-huh. That's the police viewpoint.

I don't care what the police say.

Rita was kidnapped.

And I'd really like to help Kenny.

I know he can't afford our fee,

but if we don't help him who will?

Kris is right. What if it was a kidnapping?

I'm willing to put in some time.

I'll go along with that.

What do you say, Charlie?

Well, majority rules, Angels.

Now, I think the first step is to find out

what we're getting into.

We have to find out who Rita Morgan really is.

Right. Her ransom demand

from Kenny doesn't make any sense.

He doesn't have any money.

You don't suppose someone would go this far to keep Rita

and Kenny from winning that dance contest, do you?

What dance contest?

There's a rink in the area

that's holding a roller disco contest.

Kenny and Rita are the favorites.

You think somebody would go that far

to knock them out of the competition?

Well, first prize is $30,000.

That's a nice little bundle.

Yes, but hardly enough to risk a kidnapping conviction.

There's a lot of homework to do on this case, Angels.

Now, Kris, I want you to stay close to Kenny.

The rest of you, blend into the scene down at the beach.

Let's see what we can find out about our couple's background.

Well, good luck and good skating.

Hey. I bet you're Gert Thomas.

Yeah. Who wants to know?

I'm Auren Rembrandt.

I'm with the West Coast Roller Derby.

I've been writing to you about a tryout for months.

Well, here I am.

Look, roller derby's my dream, I've been practicing.

I mean, I got my moves down, my speed work is coming along.

Feel this. Feel that.

I mean, I got the size to be a jammer.

Oh, yes. Oh, yes, I can see your potential.

Does this mean I get a tryout?

Uh-huh. What are my chances

of getting on the team?

Oh, well, I can't promise you anything,

but, uh, how would you like to be called

Gert the Enforcer?

Gert the Enforcer?

I'm ready. I'm ready, when do I start?

I'll be in touch.

Oh, Gert, listen, I was wondering...

You know, we wanna jazz up the roller derby

with some of these new disco skaters.

Yeah. I, uh, heard of a couple,

names of Kenny Daniels and Rita Morgan.

I heard they were the best around here.

Yeah, you're too late, Auren, Rita disappeared.

It's a shame. They really were the best too.

They were a shoe in for Freddie's big contest.

Freddie?

Yeah, Freddie. He owns this place. He owns the rink.

It's his contest.

Listen, Gert, uh,

you don't think somebody would've done something to Rita,

you know, to keep her and Kenny out of the contest, do ya?

Well, uh, this is a long shot, Auren,

but before Kenny came along,

Rita had another partner.

His name is Reggie Martin.

Oh, yeah? Where would I find him.

Well, he hangs out at the pavilion.

Thanks, Gert. I will be in touch.

Uh, A-Auren, wait, I have...

I have to show you something.

Are you ready?

Sure.

Hah!

That wasn't even half speed.

I'm glad you told me.

I'm ready, Auren. I mean, I'm really ready.

I can see that, Gert.

I can really see that.

Hang on, baby. I'll be right back.

You're distracting my partner.

I thought we were distracting you.

Your Grace.

You're right. You were.

Heh. I'm Yvonne Henning, Terra White,

Roller Disco Magazine.

We are doing a fabulous

feature issue on the Venice scene.

Well, I am Reggie Martin, and I am your man.

Ow. What do you wanna know?

You're in the space... of His Grace.

Darling. Well, we've heard

that you're one of the big favorites

for the contest at Fortune's.

Ha-ha! You heard wrong.

You see, I am light-years ahead of my competition.

Oh.

What about Kenny Daniels and Rita Morgan?

Oh, they are no more.

You see, Rita left Kenny waiting in the wings.

Rumor has it that you lost Rita to Kenny.

No, it was her loss, not mine.

See, Kenny was just hustling her for the contest.

He didn't really care about her.

And you did?

Yeah, I did.

She had class, mystery, you know?

I never really knew where she came from

or who she really was.

I liked it that way.

She's a perfect match for His Grace.

Any chance of you two getting back together

for the big contest?

I have a new partner.

But I'll tell you this:

If Rita and Kenny do show up at the rink Saturday night,

they'll need a miracle... Ow.

To beat us, baby.

I hope they get the chance.

Here it is, number six.

Tiffany, look at this.

Ooh.

Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton luggage.

Now, where do you suppose Rita got the money for this stuff?

She must be a runaway. But from what?

Let's look at this, come on.

Wait a minute.

You recognize him?

He looks very familiar.

We'd better get these to Charlie right away. Come on.

Now it's time to give up the floor

to those who can show us a little bit more.

This next funky number is for advanced

and intermediate skaters only, so all of you beginners

and those of you who refuse to improve,

please clear the floor.

And don't forget, tickets are still available

for Fortune's fantastic disco dance contest.

Skate on.

But why hasn't there been a call, some contact?

Look, I know it's tough.

But you have to give us a chance

to put all the pieces together.

It's real early in the game, Kenny.

We're doin' everything we can.

I know.

You shouldn't be here, Kenny.

One of the other guys can cover the floor.

I know, I wanna work.

Kenny tells me you're a detective.

I, uh, sure wouldn't have taken you for one.

A lot of people don't.

Any word on Rita?

Not yet.

Well, Rita's a good kid.

I'll do anything I can to help her.

Remember, anything.

Thanks, Freddie.

How's our guest?

See for yourself, boss.

Come on.

No, no, no. Girls, give me a break.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Five, six, seven, eight.

Shake those shoulders, drop that head back,

it's simple.

Yeah, if you're not wearing skates.

Listen, sweetheart, you were hired to do a job.

Nobody leaves here till we get it right.

From the top.

I guess we could all use a break.

Take five, girls.

Hey, hey, hey.

Changed your mind about the show, huh?

My talent, your looks, couple of years work.

You could be the queen of roller disco.

I can see us now.

Madison Square Garden, you're making your descent

into the big musical number, on a star.

Everybody's watching you, and me of course.

Wait a minute, time out.

I didn't change my mind.

Still a private eye, huh? Afraid so.

I wanted to ask you some questions about Rita.

You better make it snappy, sweetheart,

we got five minutes. Okay.

We haven't found any information out about her background.

Like where she's from,

do you know anything about her family?

Well, uh, Rita never talked much about herself.

Hm. Did she ever work for you?

We, uh... We had an arrangement.

She gave lessons here, I took a small cut.

She had a place to work out of.

Uh, it was all under the table, no paperwork, no records.

Sorry.

And, uh, that's time, darlin'.

Gotta get back to work.

Darlin'.

That's show biz.

Yeah.

Up we get, here we go.

Feeding time, honey.

Why are you doing this?

I don't have any money.

Maybe you don't,

but we both know who does, don't we?

Be nice!

You'll live longer.

We've hit pay dirt with the photo, Angels.

The man in the picture with Rita,

was her father, Henry Lathrop.

Of the Lathrop real estate empire?

That's right, Tiffany.

Rita Morgan is really Rita Lathrop, an heiress.

Didn't Lathrop die recently?

Mm-hm. Six months ago.

Well, that coincides with about the time

that Rita dropped in on the Venice scene.

Yes. I've contacted Lathrop's widow, Julia.

She's been looking for Rita and wants our help.

Well, no wonder she didn't want to have her picture taken.

Sure. She was afraid someone would recognize

her picture in the newspaper

and tell Mrs. Lathrop where to find her.

And if whoever grabbed Rita knows who she really is...

Then we have a real kidnapping on our hands.

And the Lathrop estate

is capable of paying a huge ransom.

We have to move on that assumption, Kelly.

Julia Lathrop has denied

any contact from the kidnappers so far,

but we have to be prepared.

Bosley, I want you to get our equipment

up to the Lathrop estate

in case that ransom phone call comes in.

Tiffany and Kelly will go with you.

Right, Charlie.

What about me, Charlie?

You stay with Kenny.

See if he knows anything he isn't telling us.

If he was aware of Rita's true identity

he could've been in on this.

Hm. Right.

Now we're gonna mix it up with something a little bit slower.

So, kids, relax, get a snack, get a drink,

or get in there with the old folks.

Kenny, we have to talk.

What's up?

We found out who Rita really is.

She's the daughter of a millionaire.

Her name's Rita Lathrop.

I can't believe it.

She borrowed 20 bucks off me last week.

No, you're wrong. You must be.

We're not wrong.

I didn't know. I really didn't.

It doesn't matter whether you knew who she was or not.

If there's been a kidnapping...

And it's looking more all the time like there has.

You're gonna be a prime suspect.

So if you know anything,

or you're holding anything back,

you better level with us.

Rita's life will depend on it.

We did have a few happy times together,

the three of us.

It wasn't easy.

At first Rita resented me.

I never tried to replace her real mother,

but finally I began to believe I was getting through to her.

And Henry died suddenly.

Rita took it very hard.

Next thing I knew she was gone.

Have you heard from her since?

Not a word.

I tried to find her,

oh, this has been such a nightmare for me.

Henry's dying, Rita's running away,

trying to make sense of the businesses.

It's... It's almost been more than I can handle.

I got it. Ah, good.

This'll complete the setup.

We should be ready in a minute.

Mrs. Lathrop, the minute the call comes in,

Charlie wants us to notify the FBI.

Oh, no, no. No FBI and no police. Absolutely not.

I will give these people whatever it is that they want.

Rita's safety is all that matters to me.

If you're gonna continue working for me,

that is the way it's going to be.

Ungh! What'd you tell the detective?

Nothing. Nothing.

I don't think we need to be that rough on our young friend.

Not yet.

They know who Rita is.

And that's causing all these unfriendly feelings between us?

Ha! It don't mean a thing.

They're not gonna stop us.

Rita's the only family Julia Lathrop's got left.

She'll pay to get her back.

Please let her go, Freddie.

Out of the question.

Don't get cold feet on me, Kenny.

Hey, you're the one who started all this, remember?

You didn't hesitate to tip me off

who Rita really was when she wanted out of the contest.

She wanted out because you were making a media circus out of it.

She was scared.

She knew her picture'd be on TV,

her stepmother'd know where she is.

I'm sorry I told you anything.

Aw, come on, Kenny.

You were tired of starving.

Rita's all right.

She doesn't know where she is,

she's never seen the boys before,

she'll never see them again.

You'll go through with this whether you like it or not,

so don't make a problem for yourself or for her, okay?

That's a boy.

Don't let him out of your sight.

Please. Please leave me alone.

You should get used to me, honey.

We're going to be together for a long time.

I hope you're in good voice tonight.

We have to do a little recording.

No.

No.

Okay, you can answer now.

Remember, talk as long as you can.

Hello?

Mrs. Lathrop?

Yes, this is Julia Lathrop. Who's this?

Never mind. Just listen.

Mom? Please, help me.

I wanna come home.

Rita, is that you?

Correct, Mrs. Lathrop.

We have your daughter.

Where is she? Is she there?

She's in a safe place, and she's yours for $1 million.

I don't have that kind of cash available.

No, but you can get it.

And you will if you ever want to see Rita alive.

I want proof that she's alive.

I thought you might. Don't worry, you'll have it.

You did very well, Julia.

Thank you.

May I use the phone?

Oh, yes, of course.

There's a certain banker who's about to be very busy.

We traced the call to a phone booth near the roller rink.

Do you think someone at the rink is involved in the kidnapping?

We've got to consider it a possibility. Kris?

I'm here, Charlie.

I want you to get over to Fortune's right away.

You're going to break in to show business.

All right, let's smile. Let's see those smiles.

Let's see it. Hubba-hubba. Let's go.

We're in the big time now. Cha-cha-cha. Let's go, now.

All right, lights, camera, action.

This is where it's at.

Right? Ha-ha. Hello.

Hello.

Uh, more questions?

Nope. Came to take you up.

On what?

Your talent, my looks, Madison Square Garden, remember?

You serious?

Try me.

Well, it's a little late for that descent on the star,

but, uh, maybe I can fit you into the chorus line.

Chorus line?

Eh. Take it or leave it, sweetheart.

I'll take it.

Great. Check into Wardrobe.

See what you look like in costume.

You won't be disappointed.

I promise. Uh-huh.

I'm back.

What?

What are you gonna do?

Relax, honey. This won't hurt a bit.

I'll have to talk to Kris.

She's not here, but I may be able to get in touch with her.

Tell her to meet me on the pier in an hour.

Kenny, wait. Is there anything I can do?

No, just tell her.

All right.

Special messenger just left this here at the front gate.

Thank you.

Oh.

What is it?

It's Rita's earring.

It's an original. I had them made for her 18th birthday.

Mom? I'm okay.

But I don't think I can stand much more of this.

Please, give them whatever they want.

Julia, I trust everything's in order.

Get a yellow knapsack, put the money in it,

then go to the Venice Beach Recreation Center.

There's a phone booth there.

I'll call you at 5:30 this afternoon.

Where are you? Rehearsing.

I just got your message.

Well, Kenny just called. He sounds desperate.

Where is he?

He's at the pier. But you've only got 10 minutes.

Okay, okay. I'll be there.

Bye-bye.

Hello, Kenny boy.

Going my way?

One million dollars.

It's a good thing you got the license plate off that van.

Who's it registered to?

Fortune's roller rink.

I guess that does it.

Why don't we call the police and have them pick up Freddie?

Why don't we take a chance then on never seeing Rita alive?

Now, ladies and gentlemen,

to kick things off,

Freddie's fantastic, phenomenal and fabulous

Fortune Girls.

Hello? Julia?

No. But I have the money.

Walk about 75 yards.

See the drinking fountain?

Yes.

Put the knapsack in the trash barrel right beside it,

and head south down the boardwalk.

Don't look back. I've got people watching you.

You blow this,

and I'll take my time with your girl.

Understand? Yeah.

Bos, look who's here.

You better cover him. I'll watch Tiff.

Okay.

Oh.

Just what we need.

The ransom in the lost and found.

Holy...

Freeze.

Hey, what does that cop think he's doing?

Bos, I don't think he's a cop. Well, we better find out.

Hey. Hold it!

I'll get Kenny, you go after him.

Thanks a lot.

Stop!

Gert! He's not a cop! Stop him!

Show me your stuff!

Wow, nice rep.

Eh, I had a good angle.

Looks like he won't be going anyplace for a long time.

Gert, watch him for us, will you?

Tiff, let's you and I get to the rink.

Next up, from our very own Venice Beach,

Reggie Martin and Susan Moss.

They're hot, so let's hear it for them,

people.

Hey.

I made a terrible mistake, and I know it.

Please let me do something right for a change.

All right.

Come on.

What a waste.

Hold it.

It's all my fault, Rita. I'm sorry.

Your fault?

Why don't you explain later?

Might have time for one last dance if you hurry.

Come on.

That's time, and that's great.

Who are you? It's over, Freddie.

All except for the last dance.

The last dance?

Open the mike. I'll tell you what to say.

Now, ladies and gentlemen,

the couple you've been waiting for:

Kenny and Rita.

I'm going home. I want to thank you all.

We owe you a very great deal.

We're just happy that Rita's all right.

What do you think will happen to Kenny?

Don't worry. I think the courts will go easy.

We'll see that he has the best attorneys.

Bye-bye. Good luck. Bye-bye.

Bye.

Hee-hee! Bosley, what are you doing?

Well, I never liked that recruiting bit, you know?

Gert here's gonna give me a few pointers

so I can enjoy the action.

That's right. Put some glide in his stride.

Show 'em your stuff. Go on.

Now? Yeah.

Oh!

Ooh.