Original subtitles

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

And why did it take you so long to get here?

I’ve been sitting here for 10 minutes.

I don’t know why everything is so heavily guarded.

Even if I could get through this screen,

I couldn’t escape without breaking

your picture tube.

All this is to illustrate to you that while

the television viewer’s lot may be difficult,

the performer’s is even worse.

Only one half hour visit a week,

and in between, nothing but work.

Then, of course, my associates aren’t the best.

Singers, comedians, news analysts, and the like.

But perhaps, we should have our play

before I reduce all of you to tears.

[heavy breathing]

Forty minute.

Thirty-nine minute.

[man] Hang on, boy. You’ll get that stay.

Right, Jorgensen?

Yah, yah. You get it.

Look at me, I got mine.

It’ll come through like Holt said.

[Holt] Sure, just like I said.

[Jorgensen] That phone will ring any minute.

Thirty-seven minute.

You listen to me, kid.

Now, you’ll get that stay.

[mumbles]

Stay.

Stay.

It’s happened before in less than a minute to go.

Hey, professor.

[banging on wall] Professor, you tell him.

You tell him he’ll get that stay.

I wouldn’t count on it, De Baca.

Chances are, you won’t get a stay.

[man 3] Don’t listen to him.

Don’t worry, amigo, I can hear that phone ring now.

That Prof is wrong. Crazy wrong.

[stammers]

What do you mean?

I no get stay? [sobbing]

I mean the chances are too great against it, that’s all.

It’s the wrong way to--

[Holt] Quiet, Morrison. Keep quiet.

You think you know it all. Well, you don’t.

-[Jorgensen] That’s right. -[overlapping shouts]

[Jorgensen] You shut your mouth, Morrison.

[Jorgensen] You shut your mouth.

[shouting continues]

[Jorgensen] You hear me, Morrison?

[metallic clinking]

[guard] All right, son.

No. It’s not time. Four minute.

[guard] But we start our walk now.

No, stay. I got time yet... no, wait.

-Wait, please, don’t take me. -We wouldn’t want to keep

Warden Elvery waiting now, do we?

A little longer. A little longer please.

Just a little longer.

Just a few minutes. A little longer.

Please. Don’t take-- Don’t-- Please, don’t take me.

[sobbing and mumbling]

Take it easy, son.

[De Baca] Don’t take me, please.

[priest] "The Lord is my shepherd,

-I shall not want." -[De Baca] Please, I got time.

[priest] "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness."

Save a place for me, amigo. I’ll see you soon.

Spit in their dirty eyes, De Baca. You tell ’em.

[prayer continues and De Baca mumbles]

So long, De Baca.

There’s always hope, boy. Even to the last second.

[De Baca sobs loudly]

[De Baca yells]

Morrison!

-Morrison. -What?

Well, you finally did it, didn’t you?

You must look happy.

Did what?

Broke him wide open with all that jazz

about him not getting a stay.

Well, he didn’t get it, did he?

Well, no. But he ought to have been able

to think he was gonna get one.

No.

I think it was his lying to himself

about getting a stay that broke him.

Oh, nuts.

On top of that,

you didn’t even tell him goodbye.

What would be the use in that?

De Baca was already dead.

[metallic clinking]

-May I come in? -If you like.

Now what would you like to talk about, Father?

Whatever you’d like.

How about rituals?

Now, you understand all about rituals,

don’t you, Father?

Well, there are many rituals in the church.

I mean outside the church. I’m speaking

of the ritual of sacrifice.

My being here now is part of that ritual.

You’re a very intelligent man, professor, but I don’t quite--

You don’t understand what I mean.

Let me explain, Father.

In here, you don’t just die suddenly

in the gas chamber.

No, there’s a long, carefully worked out plan.

First, to grind a man down until he ceases to be human.

We are here and we must all have hope.

That’s an interesting point, Father, but I disagree.

Because in here, there is no way out,

and there’s no hope of a way out either.

Is that what you believe?

Well, if you’ll forgive me for being dogmatic, Father,

it’s what I know.

Now, I’ve watched these others waiting, agonizing,

hoping until they’ve accepted their role of scapegoats.

What will you do?

I won’t to be their scapegoat

because I won’t accept the role.

I’ll live without hope,

and I’ll fight them as I have a right to.

And I’ll hate them for what they do

to my dignity as a man.

And I won’t take part in their game

of writs and reprieves and stays.

So when I die, it will be as a man...

not a sheep that a fat butcher

like Pops Lafferty leads to slaughter.

[tapping]

I heard what you said.

What do you got against Pops anyway?

I don’t think you’d like it if I told you.

Pops is the only right guy

who ever worked this row, professor.

Good old Pops.

The smiler with the knife.

No, you got him all wrong.

He’s the only screw who’s ever given us

an even break.

He even puts a shot in that last cup of coffee.

Hmm.

I’m sure that’s very commendable.

It looks to me as though he enjoys

his work too much.

Somebody’s got to work the row. We’re lucky to have Pops.

Hmm.

This is a free country. I’m sure Pops wasn’t drafted

for his job.

Now, let me ask you a question, Hennessey.

[Hennessey] Sure, shoot, man.

What kind of a man is it that makes a career

out of leading us to the gas chamber?

[Morrison] They won’t do it to me.

They won’t do it to me.

They won’t do it to me.

They won’t do it to me.

They won’t do it to me. It’s not...

[tapping]

[Hennessey] Are you talking to me, professor?

No.

What’s all that jazz

about them not doing it to you, man?

[Morrison] Did I say that?

You sure did.

You’re not planning to bust out, are you professor?

No. There’s no way out of here, Hennessey.

There’s no chance of a way out.

[Hennessey] Well, you’ll get that stay for sure.

Just to live a little while longer

isn’t the most important thing.

What’s more important, man?

The way we live and die.

And in that way we’re not so different

from the ones on the outside.

Oh, they all have death coming too,

but it’s a long way off.

Or at least it seems to be.

[Morrison] At least they’re spared the knowledge

of when it’ll happen...

and where and how.

They can even pretend it won’t happen at all.

But we can’t do that.

[Hennessey] Why can’t we?

Because we shouldn’t play it their way.

We shouldn’t pretend like that.

It’s just going along with the torture

and that’s what breaks us down.

I think you got a head full of holes, man.

Can you give me a light, please?

[Morrison] Getting ready for a new tenant, Lafferty?

[Lafferty] Just keep limbering up, Herby.

Oh, I’m in pretty good condition.

I have 15 hours left and I’m not apt

to get out of condition now.

Oh, you shouldn’t think about that.

Just keep in shape. Think about that stay.

Oh, he don’t want no stay, Pops.

Hennessey, you shouldn’t talk like that.

You worry about us too much, Lafferty.

Don’t you think it’s a waste of energy,

considering what’s going to happen?

I’ll be able to walk all the way,

and my respiratory system’s quite sound.

Shut up! Come on now, just shut up.

All right, jump to it, Morrison.

Get the lead out. I want to see a little sweat.

No, why bother?

Because I want some life in those legs, Morrison.

You want us to carry you down the row tomorrow?

You won’t have to.

None of your lip.

[Lafferty] Herby, you wouldn’t want

to spend these last hours in solitary, would you?

Yeah, sure, Morrison.

Maybe you’d like to walk out of the hole tomorrow.

I’d rather not.

-Good morning, Callahan. -A fine day, Father.

-Hello, professor. -Hello, Father.

Well, I think I’ve cultivated

the body beautiful sufficiently for today.

-How are you? -[Morrison] Nothing new here.

Father, I’d rather you didn’t think me irreligious.

No, I don’t believe that you’re an irreligious man.

But I would like you to explain more about yourself.

Me?

Why, I’m here under a social code

of retribution, Father.

Professor, do you believe that murder is morally wrong?

If society considered murder morally wrong,

you and I wouldn’t be here.

There couldn’t be a death row.

[Morrison] Now, you tell me.

How does one distinguish between murder committed

by an individual and murder committed

by the state?

We will all be forgiven.

That seems to be our only chance.

[metal sliding]

[Morrison] What do you want?

Your lawyer’s here, Herby.

This may be your last chance, and I got a feeling

that this is a stay for sure.

He don’t want no stay. He wants a pardon.

You gotta see him this time, Herby.

All right, I want to say goodbye to Berg anyway.

[Hennessey] Attaboy, professor.

Maybe your mouthpiece has got good news for you.

You gotta have faith, Herby. You never know.

Pops, how many of us have you given

the final send-off, huh?

We don’t like to think about that, Herby.

[Morrison] No...

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, all right.

OK.

Sit down, Mr. Berg. They’re on their way down.

Morrison ought to be here any minute.

Thank you, Warden.

I appreciate your help. He wouldn’t see me before.

You know, Berg, your client is a strange man,

but he’s been a quiet prisoner.

He’s always been quiet man. But he’s not strange.

He’s just--

well, he’s just Herbert Morrison,

bachelor, professor of English literature

in a small freshwater college.

He’s a murderer, Mr. Berg.

He killed a young girl, one of his students.

That’s why he’s here.

He’s not a murderer, Warden.

He’s just a man who is caught up in a legal nightmare,

alienated from everything familiar,

isolated from humanity,

dropped into an incomprehensible concrete mixer of jurisprudence...

and started down the belt to the murder factory.

Every murderer protests his innocence.

[metallic clinking]

Hello, Maury.

Sorry. No, we’re not allowed to shake hands.

[Berg] I don’t get it, Herbert.

I don’t understand why you wouldn’t see me.

And now you’ve only a few hours left.

I just came to say goodbye, Maury,

and to tell you I appreciate everything

you’ve tried to do for me.

I haven’t done anything yet.

You wouldn’t even let me try.

I could’ve gotten writs, stays.

There are both the state and federal courts. Why--?

I don’t want to play their game, Maury.

That’s all part of their ritual.

I didn’t volunteer, and I’m still not playing.

[Berg] I’m going to get you that stay yet.

I’ve seen what it does to a man

to prolong the inevitable that way.

I don’t want it.

Just sign this.

I’ve got the warden’s permission.

[Berg] Sign it, here. Now.

Oh, you idiot.

You don’t know what’s going on.

I’ve got Lou Dutton on this thing now.

Now, who’s Lou Dutton?

I’ll tell you who Lou Dutton is.

He’s the best private detective in the country.

He never accepts a case unless he can deliver.

But he needs a little more time.

Forget it, Maury, and forget Lou Dutton.

I told you, I’m not playing that game.

I want a pardon.

I want a full pardon or nothing.

I can get you a stay.

Then Lou will have time

to uncover that paid-off perjured witness.

For a famous defense attorney, you’re a miserable liar.

Will you just sign this?

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I have to spoil your perfect record

of acquittals.

I took this case because I’m a defense lawyer.

Moral judgments are of no concern to me.

They can’t be.

A case, to me, is strictly a legal problem.

[Berg] Now, will you please sign this?

Maury, will you understand?

There’s no way out of this place.

And hopes and dreams just make it worse.

There’s only your final exit, dead.

Herby, you’re not giving up without a fight.

No. I’m fighting. I’m fighting all the way.

But when I die, it’ll be on my own terms,

as a man.

[Berg] All right, professor.

All right, Socrates.

[metallic clinking]

I brought you some dress-up clothes, Herby.

Oh, I know it’s very important to be well dressed

where I’m going.

What surprises me, is you didn’t come in

and measure me for them personally, Pops.

Now, now, Herby, you’ll get that stay.

[Hennessey] Sure you will, professor.

[Holt] You’ll get that stay.

[Jorgensen] You’ll get it yet, prof.

[Holt] Sure, you will, sure you will, sure.

What do you want to eat, Herby?

Swiss cheese on rye and black coffee.

-Well, now you know you can-- -[Morrison] I know I can get Bombay duck.

I just want Swiss cheese on rye and black coffee.

[guard] He thinks he’s tough, Pops.

Too good to order a real meal and pass it on to the boys.

When their time comes, they can order their own.

Herby...

I’ll slip a shot in that coffee.

No shot, just straight black coffee.

[guard] Come on, Lafferty.

-Anything I can do? -No, thank you, Father.

I wish I could make things easier for you.

Well, you can’t. There’s not a thing

you can do for me.

But you might try for a few thousand others that’ll be along.

I wish I could make it easier.

You remember this, Father?

"And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the Earth.

And it shall come to pass that everyone

that findeth me shall slay me."

The Lord didn’t want Cain slain.

He arranged for Cain’s passage into the land of Nod.

Mm-hmm.

You know, they were kinder in those days.

Even though the human scapegoat was still demanded,

there was a still sanctuary sometimes.

You quote very old, very primitive laws.

The human conscience can be reduced

to something purely primitive, Father.

And there’s a point where the only way

a man can defend his pride,

or what he has left of it...

is to fight like an animal for his life.

But to fight like a beast in the jungle

is to fight without hope.

How right you are.

Every man here wears a suit of armor to protect himself.

Each man wears his own kind.

I hope yours is the right kind for you.

Your eats will be here right away, Herby.

How come you didn’t make them with your own fat hands, Pops?

What are you always bugging him for?

All he’s trying to do is give you a break.

Oh, don’t you know who he is, Hennessey?

That’s the Judas goat

that leads the sheep to slaughter...

a sadist with a sunshine smile,

a ghoul, a necrophile...

lover of the dead, Hennessey.

[Lafferty] All right, Herby.

I’m ready.

Come on, Herby.

You, uh, going to need some help?

No.

"The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me on the paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff,

they comfort me.

Anointest my head with oil...

my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

[yelling]

Take him back to his cell.

When you attacked Pops, I was on my way down to tell you

that I’d just talked to your attorney by telephone.

They uncovered that witness, and he’s fingered the guy

who really killed the girl.

[Elvery] You know what this is, Morrison?

This is a stay.

There would have been a pardon coming to you.

That means you could’ve walked out of here,

clean.

Oh, I’ll bet Pops Lafferty is smiling wherever he is,

because you’re back.

You’re really back for killing him.

Do you know what it’s like in here

after you’ve bumped a guard, Morrison?

Do you really have any idea?

Well, you will know.

You’ll find out.

I have a theory which would account

for the immense popularity of revenge.

Revenge is sweet without being fattening.

[siren wailing]

I see the guard is signaling that our time is up.

I hope you will visit me again next time.

Until then, goodnight.