Shock Corridor Page #4

I'll get the mess sergeant

to fix you some baked apple.

Baked apple. I -

I haven't had any baked apple

since I was in Japan.

How far is that from Shiloh?

Japan isn't in this country.

It's far away in Asia.

Is that Buddha still there?

I keep seeing it in color...

and it keeps looking at me.

The Great Buddha of Kamakura.

I want to climb a parallel up to his head...

and look at the people down below

praying for my battalion.

I keep seeing monks in a parade...

and little girls dressed

like baby geishas...

going to prayer...

to ask Buddha to take care of me

when I go back to Korea.

I get up there on that playground.

It's on the roof of the world.

And the wheel keeps going

round and round...

and round!

Like those Commies kept going

round and round us on that hill in Korea.

Toy train.

Toy train. No.

Train.

Mount Fuji.

No. Another train.

And another train. And another.

And another! And another!

And another!

We were supposed to sandbag

a train in Korea.

But we were captured.

I remember it was cold,

and they marched us in the snow.

Who are you?

Johnny Barrett.

Well, what is this place?

It's a mental hospital.

What am I doing here?

You were a Commie in Korea.

- That's a dirty lie!

- You became a member of the Kremlin Club.

Don't you call me a Commie!

You wrote your father

that the Russians were your friends.

Now you tell me something, boy.

Why should I write my Pappy?

He can't read.

He's a tenant farmer.

He can't read or write.

I remember.

I remember I helped Pappy sharecrop

another man's land.

But that's before I ran away from home

and joined the army.

But, now, why did I run away from home?

I like my home.

That's a downright lie.

Downright lie.

I know why I went over to the Commies.

Ever since I was a kid...

my folks fed me bigotry for breakfast

and ignorance for supper.

Never - not once -

did they ever make me feel proud

of where I was born.

Now, see, that was a cancer

they put in me.

No knowledge of my country.

No pride.

Just a hymn of hate.

I'd have defected to any enemy.

Because, you see, it was easy.

My brains was cabbage.

They taught me everything

from cabbages to commissars.

And they gave me a woman.

And she called me "mister."

And she made me feel important.

What changed your mind

about the Reds?

The Dogface.

I was having a ball waving a red flag

until I met a sergeant from the First Division.

He was a G.I. retread from World War II.

Fought through North Africa

and Sicily...

and all through Europe

up to Czechoslovakia.

And after he was captured in Korea,

well, then he was transferred to my camp...

and then...

I was assigned to help brainwash him

over to the Commie side.

And this sergeant -

Kolowicz.

That was his name.

Kolowicz.

He told me things that...

I never dreamed of.

Things that - that I wanted to wrap up

gentle and proud-like and...

go to sleep thinking about.

Things that give me a feeling like -

Things my folks should have told me.

And I wanted to go home.

So, yeah, I stopped wavin' the red flag.

And the Commies said

that I was sick in the head.

So it was easy for me to...

get on the next prisoner exchange.

And they brought me back

and they gave me a dishonorable discharge.

And nobody talked to me.

And everybody spit on me.

And Pappy spit on me.

The newspaper reporters just kept

hounding me, hounding me...

hounding me and hounding me...

hounding me and hounding me.

Stuart...

sorry, but...

could I ask you a question?

Do you think they'll let me out

of this place now that I'm all right?

Did you see the man that...

killed Sloan in the kitchen?

Yeah.

I saw him.

I was under a table

with two other men.

What was I doing under a table?

I didn't see his face, but...

I know he had white pants.

White pants.

White fence.

A stone wall.

A bend in a stone wall!

Lee!

We've got to help General Lee!

Come on!

Let's get those damn Yankees!

Come on!

White... pants.

- Does he ask for me?

- All the time.

You have nothing to worry about.

He likes tea, you know?

With lemon in it.

And oatmeal.

The killer is an attendant

or a doctor.

Stuart couldn't see his face,

but he saw white pants.

Tell Swanee that one of

the other two witnesses will open up.

I feel it.

The killer is an attendant

or a doctor.

Stuart couldn't see his face,

but he saw white pants.

Tell Swanee that one of the other two

witnesses will open up. I feel it.

You know, if he went down into a coal mine

on a disaster story...

he'd come up with a little coal dirt

on his face, wouldn't he?

He's getting sick.

He's doing great.

He's been there only six weeks...

and narrowed the hunt down

to a hospital employee, didn't he?

Something the cops couldn't do.

If you don't phone Dr. Cristo right now

and get Johnny out of there tonight, I will.

Oh, Cathy, you're becoming

a nervous wreck.

I'm more worried about you outside

than I am Johnny inside.

- Phone him!

- You phone him!

Call Dr. Cristo, and you lose Johnny

for good, and you know it!

Have a stick of gum.

Have another one. Come on.

Chew two.

Open your mouth and chew 'em.

I got five. Come on.

Chew. Chew 'em good.

Put 'em in your mouth.

It's very good for you. Here.

It's very good for you. Chew these up.

Chew 'em.

A little more.

That'll be just enough.

Chew. Come on. Chew, chew, chew.

See, you chew, and your jaw muscles,

they get tired. See?

And then the other muscles, they get

the message and they get tired too. See?

And before you know it...

you're sleeping.

And when we're asleep...

nobody can tell a sane man

from an insane man.

Huh?

Good night, Mr. Barrett.

Good night, Mr. Pagliacci.

Did you make Johnny change his mind?

I tried, but he's just too close

to the story now.

That ex-G.I. Stuart has been transferred

to another floor...

but Johnny is certain

that Trent or Boden will open up.

- Was Dr. Fong with you?

- Uh-huh.

What did he say?

That it's natural for Johnny

to show mental strain.

- What else?

- Well, that's it.

Do you want me

to check with Dr. Fong myself?

Well, he is afraid that the force

driving Johnny can boomerang.

Meaning he could snap? Is that it?

Now, don't jump to conclusions.

Look, if I pulled him off now, he'd still suffer

from some kind of depressive psychosis...

because he'd never know

what would have happened...

if he had stuck it out long enough

to contact the other witnesses.

You mean if he quits now,

that depression sickness could hit him?

Yes.

But if he cracks the murder,

he'll be all right, won't he?

Yes.

Do you seriously believe that?

Yes!

You're crazy!

Oh, no. No, thank you. No.

There is nothing in there

that will hurt you.

Last time I went into a strange room,

I was attacked by amazons.

That's a secret dream most men have.

Mm-hmm. Well, you try it sometime,

tell me about.

Come on, Mr. Barrett.

Hmm.

Something wrong?

No.

Just saw the twitch

in one of your muscles.

The one in my head?

Tell me, John.

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