Barbary Coast Page #7

Law and order in San Francisco.

Law and order has come to stay.

Law and order is here to stay.

"Law and order".

- I'll give then some law and order.

- Lot of 'em running around down there.

Selling those things all over the streets.

And they've got guns to back 'em up.

I got guns, too.

The first thing is to bust the machine

that printed this, like I should have done.

Go to the paper

and take some of the boys with you.

I won't need anybody.

So you killed Col. Cobb.

You must be crazy. You think you can

go on killing and destroying...

No. Never mind about that.

I found this under your pillow.

Who gave it to you?

It's about love. Poems. Who gave it to you?

Do you want me to take

the little wheel tonight?

I'll find out who he is,

but I'm giving you a chance.

- Tell me.

- There's nothing to tell.

Some rat with a book of poems.

That's what you went for.

That's what made you push me away?

- Who is he?

- Stop it!

I bet he held you and made you happy.

You stupid fool.

Nobody's touched me and nobody will.

- You and nobody else. Understand?

- He kissed you, didn't he?

You kissed him like you never done to me.

Throwin' yourself on some rat.

I wish I had. I wish I could tell you

something to make you howl and shoot!

I'll do the shooting.

But somebody else is going to do the howling.

Here he comes.

Anybody with him?

Keep on walking, Mr. Jacoby.

- Which way?

- We'll steer you.

Turn right here.

You call this a fair fight?

You're not in a fight, Mr. Jacoby.

You're on trial, Knuckles.

- For what?

- Murder.

Where's the trial going to be?

The trial is going on now, sir.

Can I get word to Chamalis

to get me a lawyer?

I'm representing you, sir.

- With a gun in my back.

- That's right.

Is this the man you saw

shoot down McTavish and Col. Cobb?

That's him.

Allow me to cross-examine the witness,

Mr. Slocum.

Are you sure, sir?

Dead certain!

- Where's the rope?

- Here.

- Wait a minute. Who do you think you are?

- We're Vigilantes, sir.

- You're what?

- The Vigilantes.

We're bringing law and order

to San Francisco.

What monkey business is this?

I thought there was going to be a trial.

You have been tried, Knuckles.

I didn't hear any trial.

There wasn't any judge or jury.

- Gentlemen, what is your verdict?

- Guilty!

No, wait a minute. You can't do this.

Get Louis Chamalis.

- Who done it?

- The Vigilantes!

They're holding meetings everywhere.

- Who?

- The Vigilantes.

They've gone crazy. They'll be after us.

We must get away. They'll hang us like that.

- Stand up, Rubber Knees.

- But Louis!

This is my town and it's going to stay mine.

- But they're too big...

- Shut up!

Climb up there and take him down.

Vigilantes?

Come on.

Kind of quiet around here, ain't it?

Them Vigilantes sure depressed the business.

- What's troubling you?

- I'm feeling pretty low tonight, son.

Seein' Knuckles hangin' up out there,

reminded me I done somethin' I don't like.

- That's easy to believe.

- You're right.

I'm a no-good, terrible old man

with the heart of a coyote.

Yes, I'm certain of it.

I wish you wasn't so ready to believe me.

Why?

It makes it harder to confess.

Confess what?

I ain't gonna beat about the bush, then.

There's one thing that's

botherin' my black soul in particular.

I found something that don't belong to me.

There it is, you recognize it?

Somebody dropped it by mistake.

- That's mine.

- I was wondering.

Where did you get it?

Off the floor.

Don't look at me like that, son.

Say you forgive me. Just say it once.

Thanks.

It's the first decent thing

I've done in my whole black life.

Sort of overwhelms me.

I feel like a little white kitten, reborn.

- May I reward you, sir?

- The reward.

I took that out myself in advance so as not

to delay matters with any bickering.

I see.

Thanks again.

Looks like the fog's gonna lift

and that boat'll be sailin'.

- You shippin' on it?

- Yes.

Hate to see you go, son,

but things'll be more suitable in the East.

For poets and failures.

He's goin' away, Swan.

This is the second time we say goodbye.

I'm sailing after all.

I thought you didn't have your boat fare.

It seems that this old gentleman

rescued some of my loot the other night.

It dropped under the table in the excitement.

And so with a bag of gold, the prodigal

returns to Gramercy Park, licked.

There won't be any bands to play,

if that's what you mean.

Or any poems to write.

No, I guess not. I won't have much time

for writing poetry and...

Anyhow, I kind of run out of subject matter.

Write about a harpy

who smiled at you and cheated you.

Write about that.

That's what you believe, isn't it?

That I'm a cheat.

No. I don't believe that.

Then why are you crawling out

without giving yourself another chance?

He's just got enough for another ticket,

let him go!

That's no way for a man to go,

to crawl out of the West...

...just for the price of a ticket.

- Not when there's still a chance.

- Now listen, I'm agin' it!

Go away thinking that I stole your money

and sent you back, licked and broke.

- I'll try the black again.

- Son, it's pure folly.

Weigh it for him, Bill.

The gentleman from Gramercy Park

bets on the black.

Here it goes.

This teaches me.

I'll never do a good deed again.

You're stakin' your whole future

on a ball rollin'.

It's an outrage.

It's not much of a future, win or lose.

- 17, on the black.

- Moses in the mountain! You win!

- How much did he have, Bill?

- $320.

- Are you letting it ride, Mr. Carmichael?

- I don't know. I...

The play is made, here it goes.

Snatch it up, son, while there's time.

22 on the black.

Sufferin' Moses! You win again.

I can't believe it!

- Make your play, sir.

- Pick it up, son.

- Here it goes.

- Pick it up. It's on a number.

- Are you leaving it on the number?

- Son, it's a million to one, I tell you.

You'll write something

about the fog, won't you?

About how people forget where they are

and who they are?

13 and it's black.

You won again, Mr. Carmichael.

A bonanza!

Pay off, Bill. The game is closed.

Do I win all that?

The Bella Donna pays 35-to-1

on a number, always, Mr. Carmichael.

Hurry, Bill. Get him on the boat.

I'll take him.

- I don't know quite what to say.

- Say it to somebody else, not me.

I've seen quite enough of you

for one day or for one lifetime.

I'm afraid, Mr. Carmichael,

I'm not as good a loser as you were.

Come on, son, don't stand around now.

You know the purpose of

organizing the Vigilantes?

- I do.

- Sign here.

- What do we do first?

- Get Chamalis.

That's fine by me.

- The guns are in there. Pass 'em around.

- All right, Boss.

Law and order?

Here are my orders

and don't get 'em wrong.

Find out where these Vigilantes are meeting.

- What are you going to do?

- Set fire to the city.

Burn down every building

with a Vigilante in it.

- There's a wind coming.

- It's blowing the right way.

Just a minute. We'll need plenty of money.

- How much have you downstairs, Bill?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes