Original subtitles

Got your Christmas shopping done?

Uh, still got the wrapping ahead of me.

I let the elves do my wrapping.

Elves, huh?

Well, not your usual elves

but, uh, they wrap a mean gift.

Yeah. I'll bet you, with a little eggnog

candlelight, fire in the fireplace, soft music.

Hey, 'tis the season.

Elves love it, man.

Okay, guys. Tie tight this time.

Doris, they're here to hang our bell.

Oh, great. Come on, kids.

Oh. Come on.

- Hi. - Hi.

I'm the youth worker, Doris Stenfield.

Reverend Warmer didn't expect you so early.

Well, we understand this is special.

We've heard so much about the bell on the news

we're just glad to be of help. I can, uh--

Wait.

They said you could never raise the money

to buy this bell.

Did you do it?

We did it!

They said it would never get here on time.

Did it get here?

It got here! Yeah!

And is this bell gonna ring

right here on Christmas Eve?

Yeah!

Okay!

Grand opening!

Gather-oh! Gather around.

- Here. Maybe we can, uh, help. - Here.

There you go. Careful now, kids.

Oh, neat!

There it is.

Oh!

Late Italian Renaissance.

That's just magnificent.

Cast in Rome, 1428.

Its little village church was destroyed in the war

and the bell has been without a home ever since.

And we may have a problem.

What?

Okay. Uh, back to the decorations.

Everyone has work to do.

- The swing armature.

Corrosion and father time.

That won't hold the weight. That bell's gonna fall.

Oh, Bob, isn't there, uh..

'Isn't there anything we can do?'

Well, I'll cast a new armature, but that'll take time.

Christmas Eve?

If we get it into the shop this morning

we can probably..

No, we'll do it. We'll get it back for you.

Oh, you have to.

- You just have to. - 'Okay.'

Why don't you get started and I'll

write out the, uh, work order?

Alright. Now, that's, uh, Doris Stenfield, was it?

- Right. - Alright.

Okay. Thanks, partner.

Well, thank you very much.

You will be careful with it, won't you?

Yes, of course. Very careful.

I give you all my personal promise.

Bye-bye.

It'll take a week to fix that Mimeo machine

but they're going to print our Christmas bulletin for us.

- The contractors came early.

It's a good thing, too. The bell needs fixing.

Well...Doris..

...this isn't the company I called.

Oh, Jim..

...they've got the bell.

Oh, my! No!

You don't have to go.

Hit it, reverend, or they'll get away.

Oh, would you believe it?

He's trying to tag us.

I thought a church would show a little faith.

This is not going to look good to the bishop.

I'm, uh, I'm the Reverend Warmer, officer.

I-I'll pay for all this. I'm terribly sorry.

Yeah, well, uh..

...I've heard of fighting commercialism

at Christmas time, reverend, but, uh

it's a little too much, isn't it?

'Beautiful. This is really something.'

'The tree, the Nativity, the holly, the candles..'

...the altar. Man, kids, you're fantastic.

You know, this is what Christmas is all about.

Peace and love.

They made everything themselves.

They can all be proud of this.

Don't you feel good about that? Huh?

I guess.

You're gonna bring back the bell?

See, our church had no bell.

And the bell had no church.

I told the children the story about that.

They decided they were going to raise enough money

to buy the bell.

Worked at it for a whole year.

The bell has become a neighborhood symbol.

Unity and achievement.

'I understand your feelings, but, uh..'

I guess you know you're pretty lucky.

You could have made a bad situation

a whole lot worse.

Oh, yeah. I, uh, I did some very sinful driving.

I was just trying to get

their license number to report.

The children have been planning for months

to ring that bell on Christmas Eve.

The lettering on the van was probably magnetic.

Easy to change or remove.

So the odds are against us?

They usually are, Reverend Jim

but, uh, don't lose hope.

Lose hope? Hey, kids, you going to lose hope?

No!

Ahh..

It's my Christmas sermon.

Children...the hope of the world.

'On Christmas morning, I take'

'the graveyard shift for Douglas, okay?'

'And then new year's, he takes the first four hours for me.'

'No. Douglas covers for me on New Year's day.'

'Now, hold it. Hold it. Hack

Yeah, Hacker takes new year's day, Bear.'

I take the swing shift on the 24th

and you cover Bonnie on the 28th, so she--

I keep telling you I got the court appearance

on the 28th.

Hey, can one of you guys cover

my shift on the 28th?

- No. We're on duty the 28th. - Yeah.

We got to cover, uh, Jones and McGrath.

So who's free to cover Bonnie on the 28th?

Okay. Let's start over. Come on. Here we go.

Now, I have to be free on the first.

Maybe one of these years

we won't work Christmas watch.

Yeah, well. Oh.

Well, we're single. That's why we get New Year's.

That seems fair, huh?

Yeah, New Year's is fun but..

...Christmas is special, you know? Family and everything.

Well, Ponch, uh, that's why

the married guys have their preference.

But I'll tell you, maybe you can marry

one of your elves, huh?

One, yeah, but, uh, what do I do about the others?

Hey! They're back! He's got it. Come on.

- Hey! - Alright!

'Sarge, you alright?'

It's no big thing. I'm not hurt.

Everything's alright. Just, uh, forget it, alright?

Sure you're okay?

Look, look, everybody out, huh? Out!

Uh...Harlan..

...uh..

...clean up the mess, huh?

Why me?

Well, um..

...think of a reason, huh?

Yeah.

I'll do it in the spirit of the season.

There are three days till Christmas.

People rushing around getting ready

for the family reunion

family dinner, the tree.

But us, we work.

'There are aggressive theft rings'

'out there robbing people, so we remain alert.'

'Maximum enforcement effort.'

Concentrate on hazardous violations

and remember..

...for every Christmas excuse you get out there

you may have saved a life and kept a family together.

That goes double for everybody

working Christmas day.

Yes. Well, I was coming to that.

But it's, uh, hard to tell

who's working on Christmas day.

Can anybody read this?

'Uh, I found this on the bulletin board.'

It's the, uh, duty schedule.

Now, I count 116 changes on this thing

and we only have 100 officers

assigned to this station.

Now, according to this, what we have working

on Christmas day is, uh..

...either 88 motorcycles or eight..

'...uh, or 41 cars and, uh, one car..'

...or, uh, three motorcycles and no cars

or 40 cars and no motorcycles.

Remember last year? And the year before?

Last year and the year before

I had to settle this by canceling

every mutual swap you had made.

Same thing again this year.

Uh, well, I'm going to do the same thing again.

'As of now..'

'...no body-for-body trades, unless I make them.'

Married men who want Christmas day off

you come see me. I will make up the Christmas watch.

That is all.

- 'Got to have it his way.' - What a downer.

'He can spoil things for a lot of people.'

Look, Getraer's going to be working Christmas

whether he likes it or not.

That's right, and he's a family man.

I'm still not covered on the 28th.

I bet you could do something about that.

Hey. Boy, people are sure

giving a lot of this sports stuff this year.

I just might keep this thing

and get in real good shape.

Did you get a chance to, uh

check the classifieds for that torque job?

Yeah, I did.

Here's a nice, clean station wagon.

Huh. "'78 country squire..

"...low mileage, excellent condition

must sell." Ha ha.

"34/20 Centinella Place." Terrific.

How about taking a little drive?

Drive.

Oh, okay. Sure.

What's the matter, Alice? You okay?

Oh, Bob, I don't know.

It's just..

It's just that stupid bell.

I mean, it's never going to bring enough money

for me to forget..

...those kid's faces.

Hey, kids got to grow up sometime. Come on.

Now, your buddy, Roger, whatever-his-name-is

has a buyer for the bell, right?

I know, but I just don't think--

So he'll sell it. You'll forget about it.

Then you and I..

...go up to Mammoth, do a little skiing

over New Year's, okay?

Okay?

Okay.

Making it big this season, babe.

Let's get changed and go check out that wagon.

Okay.

- Oh, hello. - Hi.

Uh, my name is Tom, and this is my wife, Veronica.

- Hi.

We saw your ad. May we take a look?

- Oh, yes. The car. - Yes.

By all means. I'll get the keys. Excuse me.

Why don't you, uh, pop the hood for me?

Oh, okay.

My husband and I decided to do some belt-tightening

and that's why we want to sell.

Well, I have a street load of kids I have to drive around.

Oh, I know what you mean.

- It is nice and clean, Tom. - Yeah.

Why don't you start it up?

Actually...I'd like my wife to drive it.

'It's going to be hers.'

I can leave you my driver's license..

...and my credit cards.

You know we'll be back for these.

What can you do around Christmas without plastic?

Yes. I know what you mean.

Oh, and my car keys.

Okay, well...that'll be just fine.

Be back in 15, 20 minutes?

- Fine. - Great.

My husband just had it tuned up, uh, there's a new battery

and, um...try the air conditioning. It's super.

Thank you.

Mom! Mom!

You sold the car. Boy, will dad be surprised.

I thinkwe sold it.

They're just trying it out.

- Hmm.

But I saw them leave in two cars.

The lady was driving our car

and the man got out and followed her off in his van.

Gordy, turn down the heat on the stove, will you?

Manette.

Yes. Mrs. Paul Manette.

Thomas Johnson is the name on the credit card.

License, too.

No.

No. It's his picture.

Oh. Okay.

They think the license may be forged.

They're just checking on the credit cards.

'Yes?'

'Yes.'

Alright. I will.

Stolen.

I think they've stolen our car.

Ponch!

Don't bunch 'em like that.

Hey, I didn't apply for this job.

Ponch..

...the rituals of Yuletide

are not things to be tolerated.

They're to be enjoyed

in the doing.

Here. Enjoy. I'll go chase cars.

Hey, Ponch.

Grossman was right, you know.

Look, Jon, the trouble is, I do enjoy it.

'And the more I enjoy it, the more I miss'

a real family Christmas.

I might as well be out working, really.

Look, I know what you mean, but what..

Does Ponch know about his surprise?

Does Ponch know about his surprise?

Yeah.

Think about that question, huh, Harlan?

Hello? Yes, this is she.

'Yes, I did report it to the police.'

Really?

The car. They found the car.

Yes. What would you like me to do?

Come to Central Division, Highway Patrol.

Ask for Officer Hayworth.

You can claim the vehicle, and we'd like you

to identify the suspects.

I'll leave right now.

And thank you. Thank you so much. Bye.

Grab your jacket. Let's go.

- Hey, Cliff. - Huh.

They're gonna shut down the party before we get there.

No. We're already at the party, you dummy.

- Yep.

So where are we goin'?

Nowhere if we don't get any gas.

Hey, guys, you gotta see this! Come on.

Here, Harlan.

What can we do for you, sir?

Is this a full

Yes, sir. We give full service here.

Okay. I wanna fill it up with regular

and would you check the hood? There's the key to the gas cap.

Yes, sir. Will you pop the hood, please?

- Oh, yeah.

Check for inflation, would you?

Inflation. Ha ha! Do you get it?

We even have inflation in our tires.

Hey, Cliff, s-somethin's unreal here.

What? That's service.

That's service with a smile, Jack, old buddy.

You don't see that much of that anymore, I'll tell ya.

Boy, those guys are great.

These dudes have the Christmas spirit, I'll tell ya.

Sir...your right front side is soft.

Oh.

Uh, sir, you're due for an oil change.

'Uh, would you be the 3 wise men?'

Uh-oh.

W-would you repeat the question, please?

Would you get out of the car, please?

Okay.

But that wasn't the question.

Would you go with this officer, please?

Uh, wait a minute. Now, y-you gotta read me my rights.

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

Right this way, sir.

You guys gotta heck of a nerve pretendin' this

is a gas station, you know?

Oh, excuse me.

I'm looking for Officer Hayworth.

- Yes. It's about my stolen car.

He called me and told me where to come.

Oh, that would be at the impound yard. Stolen cars.

No. No, he told me to come here.

He also wanted me to identify the suspects.

What's your name and address, ma'am?

It's Mrs. Paul Manette, 34/20 Centinella Place.

Okay. Is anybody watching your home right now?

No. Is something wrong?

Yeah. We don't hold suspects here

and we don't have any Officer Hayworth.

- Oh, no! - 'Hold on now. Wait a minute.'

'Just take it easy, would you?'

Take it easy. Just get it together

and I'll be right back. Excuse me.

Okay. I want you to drive home very slowly, okay?

Very slowly. We'll get there long before you, alright?

Okay. I understand.

Merry Christmas, Hitler.

Hey, Alice, look what I found in the folks' back bedroom.

Oh, sweetheart, we're already past the safety margin.

This is a P-38 lightning, baby.

I know, but I don't really think you need--

Twin Allisons, 2,400 horsepower.

Operational ceiling. 36,000 feet.

Terror of the pacific theater, world war deuce.

Terrific. Follow me.

You know, I remember one Christmas.

I was ten...and I wanted one of these things

with all my heart, as the saying goes.

Not like this. I mean, the detail

on this is unbelievable.

I asked my old man why Santa Claus didn't bring it.

And he knocked me across the room.

Long time ago.

Well, now you have one.

I'm sorry I didn't get their license number.

Oh, that's alright, Gordon.

At least you got the description of the van.

That's important, right?

And this is the model number on the stereo.

That's about it.

I feel so stupid.

Mrs. Manette, it happens time after time.

Joan, you and Gordy are safe.

We've still got our Christmas stockings.

We can open them and then pack a picnic lunch

and go hunt for seashells up the coast.

You know, Mr. Manette, you were smart in keeping those papers

and model numbers on file.

A lot of people don't do that.

Okay. Thank you.

Sir, do you think we'll be gettin' our things back?

Uh, maybe, Gordon, but you got a lot of love here.

You'll be okay.

A man and a woman, blue dodge van.

It's got to be the same two people

that ripped off the church bell.

Look. Anybody that rips off a church bell

I mean, what are they thinking?

It's good Ponch isn't here. He'd be blowin' his top.

Oh, if Ponch was here, you can imagine I mean, jeez--

Not you, though. Laid-back, cool.

You'll take it in stride, right?

That's right. You could say that.

You could also say that I know who I want for Christmas.

That makes three of us.

That's right. That--

You on duty tomorrow

Yeah, working the Christmas watch.

Christmas watch? Sounds like the name of a carol.

More like a war chant.

Now that I think of it, sure.

Some of you have to be out there no matter what.

Keeping the peace we all pray for, huh?

Yeah. Well, we try, you know?

I just wanted you to know that we hadn't quit on you.

We never thought you had

and we'll have a lovely Christmas eve service anyhow.

Come if you can. 9 o'clock.

Alright. You're a special kind of lady, Doris. Thank you.

We love you, too.

And we have hours to go.

There's time for a miracle, right?

Well, like my partner always says..

...this time of year, anything could happen.

Ponch?

Don't be sad if you can't find our bell.

Where's Ponch? Everything is all set up.

Ladies and gentlemen, crime-fighters and others..

...it's customary to give our supervisors

little mementos of the season..

and Sergeant Getraer is here, so

sarge, before you get away from us.

- Oh, yeah.

Sarge..

It's usually hard to pick a gift for you, sarge

but, uh, this year, rememberin' all the trouble you went to

to get us this beautiful tree, it was easy.

Merry Christmas from all of us.

Well! Uh..

I don't know what to say.

Uh, open it. You'll find words.

Yeah.

'Aww!'

- 'Alright!' - Yeah.

Training wheels and a..

bag of sand for the grease spots.

Well, I'll, uh, I'll try to think of a way to thank you

while you're enjoying the party.

Well, quite a spread, huh? The girls outdid themselves.

You gonna eat, partner?

No. I'll just have a cup of coffee, Jon.

I'll go back on my beat, too.

Listen, uh, what's wrong? You miss your favorites?

'Excuse me. Excuse me, folks.'

Excuse me, please. Make way here.

- Excuse me. - You bet.

Hey, Pan Dulce. This looks just like--

Hey, my mother sent these from Chicago, right?

No, Francis. I brought them!

Hey!

Merry Christmas, Ponch.

Hi. Uh, I want an officer, Frank Poncherello.

So your brothers will be together tomorrow

and I had my druthers.

Fly to Europe and join your father

or come out here and be with you.

Well, I don't speak German, so here I am.

And all the guys knew you were comin', huh?

Well, I had to tell someone. If you had a wife--

No, no, no. I'd rather you surprise me.

And how long you gonna stay, ma?

Well , visit some friends

and make you some rice and chicken.

Twist my arm. I'll stay a week.

Oh, you sure know how to please a guy.

Uh, speaking about twisted arms..

How am I since my accident? Just fine.

Am I still gonna ride a motorcycle? Sure.

You think you can read your mother's mind, huh?

Her mind, no.

Her heart, yes.

Hey, Ponch. Front desk is asking for you. Mr. Clifford.

Mr. Clifford?

Hey, you're the one that arrested me.

It's the only name I had. I just met Officer Baker.

I didn't know who else was there.

- Yeah. It matters a lot.

I mean, that was..

...very humiliating for me and my friends.

- Mr. Cliff-- '

Just let me finish. You know, uh..

...this is not easy.

We asked for it. We got it. I hope we learned a lesson.

Hey, I know I was a real pain in the neck to you.

Hey, Mr. Clifford..

...compared to some people I meet

you were a pussycat.

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what.

Next office party, I'll take a taxi home.

'I mean, hey, you guys got a tough job, and you do it well.'

And I thought maybe if somebody came down and said thanks

it might mean a little something.

Mr. Clifford, it means a lot.

- Yeah.

Okay. Pass it on, will you?

Alright. I'll pass it on, believe me.

Okay.

Uh, Merry Christmas, Mr. Clifford.

Merry Christmas to you.

To everybody.

Sweetheart, why don't we just

take this last load to the warehouse and quit?

What do you say?

Ah, maybe just one more job tonight.

Oh, Bob, I'm tired.

Besides, what about..

What about our own Christmas?

Let's loot the loot, okay?

Pick each other some presents from the stuff

we got in storage and just go home

have a little White Christmas on the tube.

Why don't we just grab our skis

and head for the slopes right now?

I promised you, darlin'. Mammoth over New Year's.

Oh, boy.

Oh, no...it's my fault.

It's my fault. I-I didn't see the stop sign.

I'm sorry. Are you hurt?

No, no. Why don't you just back it right on out?

Well, shouldn't we wait for the police?

My insurance man will skin me alive

if I don't get a police report.

Who cares about the insurance man?

Look, $1,100, $1,200. That'll do it.

No, no, mister. I think we'd better do it the right way.

Look, take the money and get outta here.

Back it up! Back it up! Come on. Back it up.

Alright. Okay, pull forward.

Alright. That's good. Let's go.

Come on.

Anybody hurt here?

No. I-I hit a blue Dodge van and the fella gave me

he gave me this, and then he just took off.

Okay, listen. Stay in your car.

There'll be another unit along in a minute.

LA-15, 7 Adam.

I have a blue Dodge van and a hit-run suspect.

Left-side damage. Last seen Northbound Sartell 3 ago.

15 Mary 3 and 4, 15 7 Adam. Channel two if you copy.

10-4 Mary 3 and 4.

What's your 10

We're now at the off ramp at Sepulveda and Barry.

B.O.L. A blue Dodge van Northbound Sartell.

'Could be your Christmas bandits, buddy.'

15-7 Charles. I have a visual.

East on Washburne from Barry.

Back me up. I'll make the stop.

Honey, they may as well want us for speeding, too. Let's go.

Oh, Bob.

- Hold tight, baby. Let's go. - Okay. Hold on.

I think maybe we got caught.

Christmas Eve service is at 9 o'clock.

We still have time to return the bell to the church..

...if you tell us where it is.

We don't have to--

And I'm gettin' very tired of being patient

with you about it.

'Mr. Manette?'

Yeah. This is officer Jon baker, highway patrol.

Listen, are you still planning that picnic lunch?

Right. Well, we have to work Christmas.

We thought maybe you'd like to spend a little time together

and identify the items that were stolen from your house.

You got it. Oh, yeah?

Joan, Gordon.

Yeah. I understand.

Okay. Okay, we'll be there.

Alright. Merry Christmas.

Thank you very much.

Uh, Merry Christmas.

- Guess what.

They got 'em.

Oh! Ohh!

This is the only questionable item I found.

Maybe you've been stealin' all your life.

Maybe you don't know what it is to tramp the streets

and work your guts out like those kids did for that bell.

But sometime, man, there had to be something you wanted

with all your heart.

Once he wanted an airplane.

I remember, Bob.

And so the time draws near for us to light our candles

and go our separate ways.

This was to have been a very special night for us

particularly for our children.

We were going to ring our joy

for the first time for the whole community to hear and to share.

'But I submit to you that you should think of this'

'not as a sad Christmas Eve'

but rather as a very happy one.

For we have been reminded in our adversity

that though the thief may take from us

each and every one of our possessions

we have within us that which he can never take.

Our love.

'And so I charge you with my love'

'to go from here as brothers and sisters.'

To go in peace and tranquility

and to carry with you the light of the world.

My son is never late.

What'd he say on the phone?

That he'd be here by 10 o'clock.

Oh, he's late.

Look!

♪ Silent night

♪ Holy night

♪ All is calm

♪ All is bright

♪ Round yon virgin

♪ Mother and child

♪ Holy infant

♪ So tender and mild

♪ Sleep in heavenly peace

♪ Sleep in heavenly peace

♪ Silent night

♪ Holy-- ♪

Where was it?

Well, the crooks had a storage garage.

Go on. Hit it.

It's Christmas, mom. It's really Christmas.

- Reverend. - Oh, sure.

'Multiple 11-83. The I-5 at the Robertson off ramp. Let's go.'

[dispatcher speaking indistinctly]