The Defiant Ones Page #3

- Catchin' men is my business.

And makin' the decisions is mine.

It don't look like much.

That the company store?

Yeah.

There's tools in there,

and food too, waitin' for us.

They'll be asleep pretty soon. We better

hunker down before somebody sees us.

(hogs snorting)

They sloppin' the hogs.

That means suppertime's over.

I used to feed the hogs

at the prison farm sometimes.

That sure was a nice farm.

Yeah. All that machinery.

You know somethin'? Fella get himself

a farm, he'd have a pretty sweet setup.

As long as a fella don't have to scratch it

out with hand tools and a mule.

Leastways you always got

somethin' to eat.

I worked 36 acres by hand once.

My wife...

My wife helped me.

Sometimes even my little kid.

Man, we never had enough to eat.

I didn't know you was married.

What happened to your kid?

He was just five years old when I left.

He don't even remember me that much.

Everybody winds up alone.

Not just you. Everybody.

That's the way it is.

One down, five to go.

I got an old man around someplace.

The last time I seen him

was the day I got out of the army,

and we spent half my bonus cheque

gettin' lushed up together.

Ahh, I got nothin' against him.

My old man,

he was a Bible-thumper.

- Always tryin' to teach us somethin'.

- What's there to know?

I used to work in automobiles.

Transmission man.

$1.80 an hour, so some fink in a Cadillac

could drive it without havin' to shift gears.

- That's pretty good pay.

- You know what it meant to me?

Saturday night in a gin mill,

bein' Charlie Potatoes with a blonde,

or maybe a redhead. Anythin' I wanted.

Then Monday mornin' there I was, back

in that pit with grease in my eyeballs.

- Somebody gotta fix them cars.

- Let somebody else fix them cars.

Me? I wanna drive 'em!

- You gotta buy 'em first.

- On a buck-eighty an hour?

That's just a stopover

for a second-hand Chevy.

Nah, not for me. I got smart.

You're a maker or a taker. Me, I'm a taker.

That's how you wound up in jail.

Because I didn't know how to be

a big enough taker. I was just a stealer.

You gotta be a big enough crook

so you can get away with anythin'.

Just a few more lights now.

What did they get you for?

Assault and battery. Intent to kill.

Oh, that's great.

Man come on my land

cos I didn't pay the note.

When I gave him an argument,

he pulled a gun on me.

- I took it away from him.

- They put you in jail for that?

I whipped his head good.

Were you gonna kill him?

Maybe.

- If they hadn't pulled me off him, I would.

- You gotta roll with them punches.

Yeah!

What are you gettin' so mad about?

I ain't gettin' mad, Joker.

I been mad all my natural life.

- I'm just tellin' you the facts of life.

- I don't wanna hear it.

I been listenin' to that stuff all my life.

From my wife:
"Be nice."

They throwed me in solitary confinement,

and she said "Be nice."

A man'd shortweight me. She'd say

"Be nice, or you get in trouble."

She'd teach my kid that same damn thing.

I never could get that woman to

understand how I was feelin' inside.

All of a sudden there

was nothin' left to say.

Ain't they never goin' to sleep?

I used to think,

if I could get away someplace,

someplace where folks

weren't always so afraid,

maybe she won't be

so afraid all the time.

Well...

There you go.

Well, that buttons it up for the night.

If we leave now they'll be asleep

when we get down there. Come on.

What?

Your white face shines out

like a full moon.

- What am I gonna do about it?

- I don't know what you're...

Here.

- How's that?

- Missed a couple of spots.

- Now just the meanness shines through.

- Then we sure look alike.

Check. Come on.

(insects chirping)

(dog barks)

(crow squawks)

Chain.

Can't see much.

Go on.

I... I can't reach it.

(cans clattering)

(dogs bark)

- I'm slippin'.

- Grab a hold of the chain.

Urgh!

Grab a hold of the chain!

(loud crash)

- How you doin', Joker?

- My wrist... My wrist...

(dogs barking)

I bet we woke up this whole town.

- Somebody's in there! I heard 'em!

- Hey! Over here!

- Do you see anybody?

- There's somebody in there!

- Where's Claude? He's got the key.

- Forget it! Let's try the back door.

They're in there, I know it.

You hang on to me, Joker, the best way

you can. We're gettin' outta here.

Hey, come on back here!

Hold it, you guys!

Here they are!

Hold it!

- Looks like you two boys are in trouble.

- Mac, they hurt Joe real bad!

Say! This one's white!

Here, Max. You look pretty beat.

I figured sure we'd grab 'em

sometime today.

Take it easy.

Here comes Captain Bligh.

( rock'n'roll)

- How about a nice hot coffee, Captain?

- No.

- I thought you'd want the casualty report.

- Go ahead.

Three men.

- How bad?

- Legs.

- Send 'em back.

- Someone's gotta go with 'em.

- Pick someone out.

- That's a lot of men outta the line.

- What about it?

- Solly says the trail'll get no fresher.

So?

So I'd like to make it a matter of record

that I requested help. You refused.

- It's your responsibility.

- It is my responsibility.

Anythin' else you'd like to remind me of?

Just this.

I happen to be civil service.

I don't have to worry about my job.

Got a point there, Max.

If I listened to him

I'd be callin' out the marines.

If they get away because you refused

to call in help, you'll look pretty foolish.

And I'd have to print it, Max.

Look, let me tell you somethin', Dave.

I got a wife and two kids. And a mortgage.

My job as sheriff pays me 6800 a year.

It comes in steady.

I don't have to work too hard.

It's a good setup and I like it.

But don't frighten me about losin' it.

I can always go back to practisin' law.

Max... no offence.

We've been friends a long time.

You never made much of a livin'

as a lawyer. Stop kiddin' yourself.

I didn't think it was possible, but

I'm beginnin' to hate those two men.

I'll get them.

Rafe, get rid of the women and children.

Come on, ladies. Let's go.

- What you men fixin' to do?

- Old-fashioned prayer meetin', ma'am.

Let's go now. Come on. Let's go.

Prayer meetin'. That's pretty funny.

Give us a break, buddy, uh?

I ain't your buddy. You got your buddy.

Which one of you did it?

Did you do it?

Why did you do it?

- How is he, Sam?

- He ain't come to yet.

- He oughta be all right.

- He oughta be.

Did he do it?

Are you protectin' your buddy?

It don't matter. You're both gonna hang.

You can't do anythin' to us.

We're escaped cons.

- So?

- So they're lookin' for us.

What you gonna do when they find us?

You gonna be crow meat

when they find you.

Well, you ain't gonna get away with it.

Nobody's gonna know

who pulled the rope.

Don't you know there's a reward

for escaped convicts?

Rewards always say "dead or alive".

Don't you understand?

You can't go lynchin' me.

I'm a white man!

You are?

I'll tell you the kind of white man you are.

- Spit on him.

- For God's sake...

- Go on! Spit on him.

- Mac...

Let me alone, Sam!

We're just havin' a little fun, huh, boys?

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