Bang the Drum Slowly
- PG
- Year:
- 1973
- 96 min
- 498 Views
Actually, you get over it
fairly quick.
You might not think so,
but it's true.
You're driving along
with a man
who's been told he's dying
and yet everything
keeps going on.
I mean, it'd been hard enough
rooming with him
when he was well.
He chewed
this disgusting tobacco
he pissed in the sink,
and as a catcher
he was a million dollars
worth of promise
worth two cents on delivery.
Most people didn't even know
he was with the club
and, um, he was almost too dumb
to play a joke on...
and now he'd been played
the biggest joke of all.
Bill! Oh, Bill!
Hi, Mom.
Oh, Bruce,
I'm so happy to see you.
I'm so glad you're home.
Hey, Bruce, Bruce,
how are you, son?
Hi, Dad.
It's so good
to see you.
- How you been?
- Okay.
You're looking good.
Oh, I feel... feel fine.
Daddy, Mama,
I want you to meet Henry.
You can call him Arthur.
Oh, I tell you,
it's an honor
to have you here,
Henry Wiggen.
I can't believe it.
I can't believe
I'm here.
Wonders never cease,
Papa.
- Howdy, Mr. Bruce.
- Hi.
- You all better now?
- Yeah.
We was worried.
Well, I was in good hands.
I bet it was cold
up there.
Not too damn cold, Mama.
What was wrong?
Nothing.
Arthur, tell me why in hell
I swam up and down this mud
a million times
and I never drownded
Why I never got killed
in the war in Vietnam
or why I never
got plastered by a truck
but I come
clean through all that
and now I get this disease.
Arthur?
Don't ask me questions
I can't answer.
Well, I been handed
a sh*t deal, boy.
I'm doomed.
Shh...
Arthur, you know that game
you and Joe Jaros played,
tegwar?
How you play it?
- Tegwar?
- Mm-hmm.
You don't know
how to play tegwar?
Spell it.
T-E-G-W-A-R.
Stands for "The EXciting Game
Without Any Rules."
T-E-G-W-A-R.
No rules.
No rules at all?
I'm not too sure
I'm understanding this game.
You might never.
Throw down
in the middle, sir.
Why? Nobody else
threw down in the middle.
It's your fish-fly card.
How can you tell?
It's the rules.
When the rules are wrong.
What rules?
I haven't been noticing
any rules.
They seem to keep changing.
Five and siX or 11, that's why.
Attaboy, Bruce.
Rules concerning what?
The rules of arithmetic.
I wouldn't play this game
for money, I can tell you.
Don't be discouraged.
Don't be discouraged.
See, it was no double birdie.
Double birdie?
Whereas where
it could've been a spread-eagle.
Probably you've been playing
southeastern tegwar
all your life,
but in the Majors
the boys all play
Western Canadian style
which, for my money,
is much faster.
That leaves you free
for a... butchered hog
most any time, whereas...
Whereas, uh...
whereas...
Whereas what?
Well, whereas it, uh
keeps you from dropping dead
on the board.
Hello, there, old lady!
Hi. Oh...
Hi. Hi, Bruce.
Hi. Hello.
Holly, believe me
seeing you here
is a real pleasure.
Thank you.
My son's talked
Oh, wonders never cease.
How are you?
Oh, I'm fine; never better.
These are the medical papers,
just in case
the doctors gave me
in Minnesota.
God, it was cold up there.
What'd you think
of your contract?
I didn't read it.
Hell, you didn't read it.
I was taught in school
where slavery went out
when Lincoln was shot.
Henry, who knows
about him?
Well, you know, I know,
the Mayo Clinic knows...
maybe his father.
And Bruce knows.
The talk of the Echo
Player Camp that spring was
a kid name of Piney Woods,
a wild crazy catcher
out of a place
called Good Hope, Georgia.
The sports writers
all called him
"Dutch's Good Hope
from Good Hope."
In the catching department,
Dutch needed hope.
Come on, Piney,
eh? Let's go.
Okay, stand close.
Put your arms
around each other's shoulders.
I'd rather not.
I'm very high on him,
very high.
He's got all the tools.
He hits them a mile.
He runs like a deer.
His backside's one mile wide
by actual measurement
where his power is.
Drinks milk by the tons.
Who will stay?
Aw, how do I know
in February
who I'll love in April
when the flowers bloom, huh?
No, no, flowers
bloom in May.
It's April showers.
Smartest prospect
in years.
Henry, how many
catchers on a team?
Never that many.
Here's the premium
from George, Arthur.
Gracias, George.
George says,
"Sign your contract, Arthur."
Morning, Arthur, Holly.
- Hi.
- Hey, Ugly.
Uh, I believe this, uh,
brings my insurance up to date.
Keep it coming;
it's your future.
Well, uh, I have to save some
for the present, however
such as, uh, these little girls
running around here
with their eye
on handsome ball players.
How much
you holding out for?
$127,500.
Well, even if I believed you,
you'll never get it
but as a veteran
of many a holdout
let me give you
a piece of sound advice:
Don't hang in the park
because your eye gleams,
your hand itches
and you wish
you were playing ball.
It shines through, Arthur,
and it'll cost you money.
It's the boss.
Don't be too comical;
just answer it.
Let it ring awhile.
Fishing pier;
tapeworms for sale.
Hey, Arthur, how
about coming down
and playing a game
of duo tegwar?
It's not the boss;
it's Joe Jaros.
Arthur, come on down.
This place is
swimming with fish.
All right, we'll be right down.
Who's "we"?
Well, me and Bruce.
Bruce Pearson?
Yeah, um... him
and me played
quite a bit of tegwar
over the winter.
He's a great player.
I'll stay here.
Forget it for today, Joe.
No, Henry, you go.
Bruce and I will stay here.
Yeah, yeah.
You okay?
Yeah, go.
I'll be right down, Joe.
Would you mind if I watch?
Quarter to 11:
00.No, I said,
"Would you mind if I watch?"
Paging Mr. Donald Graham.
Mr. Donald Graham.
You're Henry Wiggen.
Paging Mr. Donald Graham.
Hey, would you mind if I sit in?
You know, I read your book, too.
I didn't read
your book, Arthur
but I will, I will, I plan to.
So far, I've just been concerned
with the parts that concern me.
Hey, who did you used to be?
I'm Joe Jaros.
I'm a coach.
I used to be a baby.
These are fifth and two,
fifth and queen.
Red rooster.
Banjo!
That's the first
natural banjo I've had
since the days of Joe DiMaggio
in St. Petersburg.
Hey, wait a minute, here.
15 and 15's 31.
Hey, what's the name
of this game?
15 plus 15
is 32.
32...
Oh, that's right.
That's a double honeybees.
I'm not sure if I'm too clear
on some of these new rules.
What new rules?
There hasn't been any new rules
since the Black SoX scandal,
Big league tegwar
is big league tegwar
known to every
big-time ballplayer
from Boston to California.
And this is the last time
we play without Pearson, Joe.
Arthur, your mind is crumbling.
He's too damn dumb.
- Promise me, Joe.
- I promise you.
I promise you.
I promise on a stack of cards.
Anyway, the way
that Banjo's been hitting
Pearson's sure
to drift down and out.
They're sending him down?
I didn't say nothing.
Well, that's it, then,
they're releasing Pearson?
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"Bang the Drum Slowly" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/bang_the_drum_slowly_3551>.
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