A Force of One (1979) Movie Script

Hey, hey, I know that kid.

Yeah? So do I. I went

to school with his brother.

Did you know he's been busted

for pushing angel dust?

What are we following him for?

Just keep your eyes on him

and don't lose him.

If he rolls into

Melrose Sporting Goods

with that envelope

in his back pocket

and rolls out with a package

of Christmas goodies

then you're on the way to your

first major bust, rookie.

Why don't we just pick him up

and take him to juvenile?

Because we got

bigger fish to fry

right under our own noses.

Hey, don't lose him!

Just watch the road, Murph.

He's not gonna disappear.

Yeah?

I knew it. I knew it!

They are using that joint as a depot

and that little punk is a mover.

I can smell it.

I can always smell it.

If you really got something,

Murph, let's get a warrant.

Oh, that's very good. Very good.

Three weeks out of the academy,

you know all about warrants.

Look, I don't want

to give any advance notice.

Hey...

..it's alright with me, Murph,

but the lieutenant's

gonna have your ass

if we go in there with no backup.

Then my ass is all his, Mr Johnson,

because when we find

what I know we're gonna find

he's gonna have to kiss it first.

No envelope

and there's the goodies.

A ski jacket?

Listen, you and I

are going on a little hunting expedition

tonight, rookie,

without a licence.

Hey, Murph!

Check out these gloves!

Great feel.

I remember wanting a first baseman's

mitt for Christmas so bad one year

I promised my dad I'd mow the lawn

every day if he'd get me one.

I ran downstairs Christmas morning,

it wasn't under the tree.

I figured he couldn't afford it.

Then when I went back to my room

there it was, lying on my bed.

Boy, I loved that glove.

I played great ball with it too

until my younger brother left it

out in the rain for two days.

I went nuts! I... Jeez, $55?!

Who the hell can afford to buy

their kid a leather glove for $55?

I'm telling you, Murph,

they gotta start

paying cops more money.

I mean, can you afford to buy...

Johnson.

Johnson! Ohh!

Murph?

Hey, Murph?

Murph. Murph!

Murph!

Huh!

Ohh!

Ohh...

Does the Narcotics Squad

want the car back?

Yeah, get it out of there

before they tell us

we're polluting the bay.

Just what the hell

were your guys doing?

Son of a bitch, I don't know.

You tell me.

I sure as hell don't know.

Two experienced narcs end up

in the bay with their throats crushed,

nobody here has even a smell

of what was coming down?

Did you go through their files?

First thing. There's nothing there.

Well, shit.

Shit, shit!

OK, Harry, what have you got?

Um, bruises that are so deep

that there was internal haemorrhage.

And, uh, major tracheal injuries,

obliterating the air passage.

In other words, uh,

something smashed their windpipes

and they strangled

in their own blood.

Two dead cops!

So what the hell happened?

Lieutenant, we all wanna know

just as bad as you do.

Sam, the only thing I'm thinking

is that maybe they ran

across something

and they didn't have

time to check in.

Now, that happens all the time.

It should never happen!

You know that.

I know that.

You know that. They knew that.

Hey, I think something went down

that has nothing to do with the job.

How do you figure that?

Look at the beating they took, man.

It looks like something

you get from a loan shark

for not keeping up

with your payments.

A pusher or dealer,

he gonna shoot you or cut you.

He's not gonna hang around

to see if he can beat you to death.

That's right.

Come on. That's a lot of crap.

Two experienced men just stand and let

a loan shark beat them to death?

Come on. They never

even fired a shot.

I didn't say they stood around.

I can't buy it.

If they were involved in anything,

anything financially, you know,

one of you guys would

have fished it out by now.

Uh, what...what about Murphy's wife?

She give you anything?

It's the god-damnedest

thing I've ever seen.

I've never seen anything like this.

It's like they ran into

something from outer space.

Doc, you find anything

unnatural on their bodies?

Well, the only thing

we found on their bodies

was a trace of goose down.

Say what?

Goose down.

Goose down?

Mmm.

Well, what was the weapon, Harry?

No idea.

Now, what the hell does that mean?

It means weapon unknown, Sam.

It's as simple as that.

So you're saying they got stomped

in a bar room brawl or something, Doc?

Yeah, and their wounds

healed up real fast

and then all

the Saturday night drunks

hauled them out

and dumped them in the bay?

Goddammit. Goddammit!

Murphy and Johnson,

they were handy guys.

I mean, they...

If they ran into a professional fighter,

they could stand...

One of them could stand 10 feet away

and dust him off with a piece, right?

I could do that.

Unless, uh...unless the killer hit

before they saw him.

I mean, an expert in martial arts,

hand to hand combat

somebody who could kill

with their bare hands

and not leave a mark, huh?

She's got something, Lieutenant.

Maybe it's one of them

karate weirdos like in the movies.

It sounds pretty feeble to me.

But...

..let's check it out.

We'll check that out.

I don't want anything

we discussed here to leave this room.

Nothing. Clear?

That's all this town needs to

make it a perfect Christmas - panic.

This isn't even a fight.

This guy's no match for Matt.

It's the next one

he's gonna have to worry about.

Yeah, who?

Me.

Yeah, right.

I wonder if that guy knows

he's so obnoxious.

Unfortunately,

that's his sense of humour.

1, 2,

3, 4,

5, 6, 7,

8, 9, 10.

He's out.

Come on! Come on, Christa! Come on!

Come on, come on!

Go, Christa! That's it.

Harder, harder!

Oh!

- That's it! That's it!

- Congratulations!

There you go.

Shake hands.

Very good. Thank you, Christa.

Good job, Christa.

You're welcome.

Will you take over?

Sure will.

Until you have proof that the killer's

a karate man, Lieutenant,

I'm afraid I can't help you.

You could train

my undercover people, Mr Logan.

Right now I hardly have time

to even train myself, Lieutenant.

I've got a big fight coming up.

Yeah, well...

Look.

About three...

three and a half months ago,

our little Californian city here

started to become

a pusher's heaven...

..just like that.

I mean, I thought we had

drug related problems

pretty well wrapped up around here,

but all of a sudden

we started getting reports

of busts from all over the county

and the point of origin turned out

to be Santa Madre right here.

I mean, there's just no end to it.

We don't know why,

we don't know how...

You got a minute?

Well, you brought me down here.

Good. I want to show you something.

Should've squeezed it out of him.

Oh, I don't know, man.

You can't squeeze him.

The guy's looking for his 20 bucks.

I guarantee you one thing, though.

He knows a hell of a lot more than

he's talking about. I'd bet on that.

Hey, how's it going, Bishop?

Hey, Lieutenant.

Que pasa, Orlando?

Nada.

I'd like

for you to meet Matt Logan.

Hello, Matt.

He's a karate man.

I've been trying to talk him

into helping us out a little bit.

We need all the help we can get.

Yeah.

Lieutenant, we're gonna check in

and comb the west side for

anything on Murphy and Johnson.

OK, yes.

See you round.

Right, sure.

They're a couple of guys

you'd be training.

See, it's not that

we don't work the streets.

It's just someone's

working them faster.

42267, box 11.

Got that, Dan?

Yep.

47 ounces of cannabis,

California v. Daniel Mickey.

Hey, Tom?

Yeah.

I got an order for two.38s and

an icepick to go to the grand jury.

And hurry it up, will you?

Damon, would you relax?

I can't.

Boy, this place gives me the creeps.

Why the hell didn't they

build a new storeroom

when they built a new jail?

What do you mean?

This old joint's a landmark.

Yeah.

You know, you guys ought to use

that stuff instead of burning it.

You'd be a lot happier on the job.

Here, Damon. Sign this and get lost.

OK. What else?

Uh...

..number 9264, box 14.

14 kilograms of heroin,

uh, California v. Kay Reeds.

OK, you got it.

Alright.

OK, it's ready for the fryer.

OK, Frank, lock it up.

I'll come back and pick it up later.

OK. Hey, what's new

on Murphy and Johnson?

Well, nothing much. They think

maybe karate was used on them.

Really?

So the lieutenant wants everybody

in Narcotics to take lessons.

Hm, well, lots of luck, then.

Take care.

Hey, Rollins.

You know Matt Logan here?

Oh, sure. Yeah, I've seen you

fight many times. I enjoyed it.

Well, thank you. Good day.

These two containers here

that Rollins was just working on,

they hold over a million bucks

worth of confiscated drugs.

We got smack, we got coke,

we got uppers, we got downers,

we got acid, we got pot,

we've got angel dust.

We've got it. Anything you want,

you name it.

We've gotta burn those two boxes

by the end of next week

and we'll have two more

full boxes, maybe three.

We've got a major connection

in this city, Mr Logan,

and we are gonna bust it.

Obviously Mr Logan doesn't

want to get involved right now.

Let me drive him back to the school

and he can think about it.

Look, he might have

a change of heart.

OK. Well, you think about it.

Come on.

Look, I don't need to be shown

what life is like on the streets.

I've lived on them all over the world

and it's the same everywhere.

My son was an addict.

His mother was hooked

when she got pregnant.

How can you not get personally involved

if your own wife and son...

No, she wasn't my wife,

just a girl who brought

her 7 year old son in

to take karate lessons...

..because

that was more important

than anything else

in the world to him.

Charlie, uh, didn't know his father

and she wanted him

to have someone to look up to.

He used to walk all the way

to the studio all by himself

just to watch and ask me questions.

Yeah?

Then, uh...then one afternoon

he found his mother dead

from an overdose...

..and he came to the studio

to tell me about it.

There was no family,

so I petitioned the court

and Charlie's been my son ever since.

That was 10 years ago.

Did he ever pick up

a habit of his own?

Not Charlie. All he does is train.

He wants to be

world champion one day

and, you know, I think he'll make it.

I'd like to meet him.

One more stop, OK?

Hello, Erwin.

Is this a raid?

No, not if you behave yourself.

Pass key.

Go to it.

Always.

Romantic, huh?

Does this feel good?

It's Detective Rust. I'm coming in.

Well, Alice...

Oh, please don't arrest me,

Miss Rust. Please, please.

I'm not gonna bust you.

Have you been to the clinic?

I...I'm going tomorrow.

Honest, I am, tomorrow.

Let me see your arm.

I have to see how you're doing.

Terrific.

Alice is 15 years old.

Her father runs a very

successful insurance company.

We've sent her home

at least a dozen times,

but she always ends up back here

'cause this is where she finds

the man with the magic nickel bag.

And this is what she does to pay up.

Ah, here he is.

What the hell is this, girl?

A social gathering

or something, huh?

You're lucky it's not a bust.

Rudy, please!

You and you, get out of here.

Well?

Rudy, please put it away!

Please!

Please, mister. Please!

Ooh!

Please don't hurt him. Rudy! Oh!

I'll drag him down to the car?

No, I'll radio for a wagon.

Rudy,

everything's gonna be OK.

Pack your bags.

Alice, pack your bags.

Go to the clinic. I'll call them.

They're waiting for you.

He's gonna be away a long time.

- Do you hear me?

- Yes, I promise.

OK, Miss Rust, I promise, I promise.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, Rudy.

Everything's gonna be OK, Rudy.

Rudy, I'll call my father.

Everything will be OK.

Please don't be angry

with me, Rudy. Please, Rudy.

Phew! What's that?

About a million, million and a half?

Yep.

Now I know how the boys

in the Treasury Department feel

when they burn up all that old money.

How did you go with

the fastest hands in town?

I'm working on it.

To hell with him.

I'm not gonna jump around

like a chimpanzee in jockey shorts

so Sam knows

I'm safe on the streets.

Sound like one of your kids.

Come on.

Sign that. Let's get out of here.

Just a minute!

I don't sign anything

until I read it.

God, it looks like a drug store.

Mandy, will you

please sign that thing?

Getting cold here, baby.

May I?

He's gonna get it.

I wouldn't bother with him.

Here you go.

Bye bye.

OK.

See you back at the place.

Right.

What were you doing all morning?

Or shouldn't I ask?

Not what you think, unfortunately.

No, I was with the police.

They want me to teach

their Narcotics squad.

With your schedule?

Are they kidding?

No, they're not.

Don't get grumpy with me

just because you missed your training.

Pay your respects.

Ready? Bow.

Thank you. Continue, Charlie.

Give me 10 push-ups.

Your belt's undone.10 push-ups.

Detective Rust?

Tell your people I'll teach them.

Be here tomorrow at noon.

Not that it would be the first time,

but I think you've

lost your marbles.

Don't tell me.

He's got a date with you.

No, he's got a date with the entire

Santa Madre Police Force.

Man, what about your training?

I'll manage.

Sparks is training

harder for this fight

than any other fight in his career

and he's going around telling people

that you won't last

three rounds against his kicks,

and you will 'manage'.

I'll be ready, Charlie.

There's just...

something I have to do first.

You know, I don't understand

how anything could be more

important than your title, Matt.

I'm telling you, Charles...

Hey, wait. Don't, don't.

Don't call me 'Charles'.

I hate 'Charles'.

Call me 'Charlie'.

Frankly, I think 'Charles'

makes you sound more mature.

Well, don't...

What about my maturity?

Let's not discuss it.

No, what about my maturity?

Anyone who goes around with

half a moustache needs 'Charles'.

You know what I mean?

You need a little help.

You're gonna get it.

Oh, yeah? Who's gonna give it to me?

I am. And don't call me Charles!

Oh, God! This is really mature!

Don't call me Charles no more.

Charles! Charles!

Don't call me Charles!

All you good people are

gonna report to that gym

every morning for two hours

of karate training

or you can go back to hanging paper

on jaywalkers downtown.

I don't care.

My kids know about this stuff from

watching it on TV. It's a lot of crap.

What good does it do me to bust

a two-by-four with my bare hands?

'Cause I don't want your head

busted open, Moskowitz.

You go to those classes.

That means everybody,

every one of you.

What do you say, Mandy?

Huh, no argument from me.

I've seen him in action.

Oh, now, we've all had

hand-to-hand combat training,

everybody's an expert marksman.

I got a desk full of paperwork here.

Lieutenant, there's

an epidemic going on.

Detective Newton, you fix it so

it doesn't interfere with your work.

Oh, thank you.

Listen. If it's for everybody,

where's Orlando and Bishop?

They got caught up in something

coming off the night shift.

They'll be there.

Don't worry about it.

Well, what are they into, Sam?

I don't know. I don't know.

You selling any tacos?

Taco? Funny.

You don't look like a Mexican.

Hey, a good taco is the lifeblood

of the Chicano community.

You're telling me.

I ain't got no tortillas.

That's what I've been

telling you, my friend.

You ain't got no tortillas!

I will tell you this.

The dealers are having themselves

a field day out here.

Oh, oh, the pony express

has just arrived.

Well, well, well.

We gonna follow that

little skateboarder, Orlando,

and I'll just bet you all the tortillas

that you don't have

that he's not gonna take

that money home to mamma.

Nine yellows.

Yep.

Three light blues.

Bring me up a couple dozen of those.

Yes, sir.

Six, eight...

I gotta go upstairs for a minute, Al.

Take over for me, will you?

Uh, Mr Melrose, that new

jogging suit, how much is it?

Uh, $38.50.

OK, good. I'll bring some up.

Let's have it.

I think some guy was following me.

Damn! What did he look like?

I don't know.

He was selling balloons.

That's him - the guy

by the ski jackets.

Are you looking for

something in a ski jacket?

Oh, no. I'm just

looking for now, thank you.

Great sport.

Yeah, it is.

Warm too, huh?

Well, if there's anything we can do,

just ask somebody for help.

Yeah, I'll get my wife to come in,

get me one for Christmas.

The door right behind me

goes to the storeroom.

Is that a fact?

Look at all these golf clubs.

Oh, look at that!

Jesus, those are...

Hey, OK, let's go.

Shh, shh, shh!

What's this? Soap?

Wax.

Oh, yeah.

Ohh!

Oh, son of a bitch!

What is it?

God, that's hot wax.

Well, you stuck your finger

in it, didn't you?

Ohh! What the hell

do they use hot wax for?

The skis, man.

Yeah, it makes them go faster.

Sure.

Damn.

What if you took

six kilos of coke...

..and put it in here with this wax...

..then you melted it down

and then you put it

in smaller containers,

then later on you can melt it again

and the coke would

come right to the top?

Yeah?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah!

Ohh! Arggh!

You son of a... Oh!

Hyah!

This is Charlie Newton.

Hi. How you doing?

And this... Well, you remember.

Yeah, I know Moskowitz.

How you doing?

Oh, this is Matt Logan.

And this is Harriett.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

Hey. How are you?

Hi.

Hello.

OK, well, let's get started, then.

Uh, should fit you.

Let's see. Moskowitz.

The dressing rooms are

right in the back, over here.

You'll look snappy.

And for you...

- Yes, snappy is the word.

- Dressing room?

Right that way.

This will fit you and

I'll show you where to get dressed.

OK, sure.

If I'd have known...

This always happens to me.

Matt calls for a cop,

they send one like that.

Ha-ha-ha. It's not funny, Bob.

Have a chip.

Alright.

What I would like to know is how you

keep these things from falling down.

I don't know, Doug. I think they're

supposed to fall when you get hit.

Cool it, man.

No, seriously.

You know they don't give you

no real belt till you get good.

Wise-ass. What I would like to know

is where Orlando and Bishop are.

I think those rookies ran out on us

because they are embarrassed.

I do not blame them

for being embarrassed.

Hey, don't sweat, man.

You know General Dunne's

gonna send them down here

as soon as they hit the squad room.

Hyah! Ooh!

See, it's all in the attitude.

Gotta have authority, you know?

This whole, "Hyah!"

Hyah!

How do they do that?

Hai.

Oh!

Uh-uh...

The whole essence of what we do

is a philosophy of discipline.

Get your weapons in a ready position.

Now you're gonna get a chance

to find out for yourselves.

Jesus. Where did that come from?

Ha-ha-ha.

The techniques have

to become a reflexive action.

If you have to think about it,

it'll be too late.

Stick 'em up.

Mm-hm.

That's not very funny.

Let's keep it serious, OK?

Yeah, peace.

No, man. This is your piece.

Thank you.

Alright, Mandy,

you and Rollins work on it.

Bob, work with them, and I'll work

with Newton and Moskowitz.

You'll be over here.

You'll be the mugger first.

Now, remember, the main thing

is bring your hand across the face,

blocking with the edge of the hand.

OK, throw a punch.

OK.

Blocking, punch, grab, sweeping...

I'm not gonna go down.

I'm not gonna do it.

You notice that

he didn't go down, right?

You noticed that, right?

OK.

Hey, man, it's your world.

You know what I mean?

Let me show you

one more thing here.

When you grab the chin here,

grab his hair back here.

That way, you can control

the neck, like a bulldog.

Alright.

OK, let's try it.

It's not gonna cut you.

OK.

Yeah. That's it, that's it.

Ohh!

Yeah. Now you can ask him

why he grabbed you.

Why did you come up

and grab me like that?

Just insanity, man, you know?

Alright, alright.

Now as you turn, you just

twist his head, like this here.

As you do, you step back

slightly with the right foot,

take him to the ground, pushing

his head to the side and to the mat.

OK.

OK, going in, grabbing at her.

Blocking, grab hold

of the chin, grab the hair,

turn and take him down,

all the way down.

Right.

Remember, it depends

on where the gun is

for what block

you're gonna use, right?

If it's lower,

you can use the low block.

If it's above the middle of the back,

then use the knife hand block, OK?

Huh!

Good, good.

Remember, the main thing

is it depends on where the gun is

for what block you're gonna use.

One time he put it here

and you put your arm up.

If it's down in this area,

keep the hand down.

OK, Rollins.

Huh!

Good. OK.

That's a good one. Good work.

OK, again.

OK.

Huh!

Great. Good, good.

OK, one more.

Yo mamma!

Huh, hyah!

Arggh!

Oh!

Alright, what do I do?

OK, grab me.

Alright.

Hyah! Arggh!

Huh!

Hyah!

Huh!

Oh!

Oh, Charlie. Detective Rust,

this is my son Charlie.

Hey. How are you?

Hi.

I understand you're gonna be the next

karate champion of the world.

Probably not the NEXT,

but maybe the one after that.

Nice meeting you.

How do you feel?

I feel every muscle in my body.

You're the one that

talked me into this.

I know, I know.

Also, the last two times I fell

I think I, um...

..landed on my pride.

I'll see you in the morning.

OK.

Thanks a lot. Really. 'Bye.

You know, that lady's OK.

Yeah.

She's got a lot more

going for her than pride.

Oh, yeah?

Not that her pride is so bad either.

Your towel.

Well, don't look at me.

Why don't you join

the police academy or something?

Or the highway patrol or the FBI?

You could be a meter maid,

eat with one hand and give out tickets

with the other,

have a suit and bullets,

everything else you want.

Goodnight.

I thought I taught you

to heighten your awareness.

If I weren't aware,

you'd be dead, Mr Logan.

You learn fast.

Tomorrow I'll show you how to keep me

from taking that away from you,

but tonight how about going

with me to a karate match

and meet some of the people

involved?

OK, if you feed me.

You got it.

Wow.

They're incredible.

And I have to defend

my title against the winner.

He loves all this.

Later on I'll introduce you

to that charming personality.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the winner by knockout

in the sixth round,

Jerry Sparks!

Kiss your title goodbye, big boy.

We'll see. Mandy Rust, Jerry Sparks.

I told you about him.

Hello.

Here you are.

You don't look like a cop.

What do cops look like?

When you're through with

basic karate training,

why don't you call me?

I will, I will, as soon

as I think of something to call you.

That's the end of round one.

Let's go get something to eat.

Mm, by the way, you have

a great kick. Really.

It's just as high as it needs to go.

Excuse me.

Rude. That was rude.

Oh, no.

I'm sorry. I'll be right back.

OK.

Not bad, not bad.

You can call me tomorrow, OK?

I'll give you one of my cards.

Wait a minute.

I got a card right here.

I'm gonna give it to you.

You call me tomorrow, both of you.

I thought you came to the party

to see all the great fighters

in one room.

Oh, well... Yeah, well, I saw them.

Oh, you saw them?

Yeah.

I can tell. I can tell you saw them.

Call me tomorrow, now.

I'm gonna give you a card.

Hey, Bob.

Oh, boy.

Well, in two weeks I'll be able

to start eating some cake too.

I'm trying to stay

in shape like you.

Great fight, Josh.

Uh...

What's wrong?

I have to go.

I have to go right away.

Listen, Mandy.

You don't wanna see this.

OK, we got one guy,

he's been in the park all night,

but says he hasn't seen anything.

We're gonna take him downtown.

I don't believe this kid at all.

Alright, turn around.

OK, Lieutenant, I've got enough.

They weren't supposed to die.

They were...

..more than friends.

See, uh...

..their life depended on me...

..and mine on...

..on them.

I don't know what to say.

Do you want me to leave?

Maybe we could go somewhere.

Some time outside,

a walk on the beach...

Mandy, I'll do all I can to help.

Homicide put 10 people on this thing,

that doesn't mean we stop.

I want you to talk to everybody

and anybody on a skateboard.

I don't care if they're 6 or 60,

that's all we got.

And these karate people,

check them out.

Mandy, you stick to this guy, Logan.

Look, I don't think he's...

Then make double sure.

Rollins, I want you to make contact

with all of your informants,

every one,

and tell them we'll bust ass

if we don't get some goddamn answers.

You got it.

Watch it.

Ooh!

Alright. Alright.

Watch it.

Watch out.

What's the matter, champ,

you getting old?

Oh, I feel old.

Hey, when are you gonna

let me fight full contact?

When I say you're ready.

Well, that's what you always say,

and I'm as good as

any bantamweight out there.

It takes more than technique, Charlie.

It takes attitude.

Well, damn, I got attitude

and I got technique.

OK.

Alright.

Let's see what you can do.

I mean, all-out, no pulling.

Like I've always tried to tell you,

it's attitude.

Matt...

Matt, I'm sorry...

..but I just wanna compete so bad.

I know, son.

I tell you what, as soon as I get

through with this championship fight,

you and I will get down

to some serious training.

How about that?

You mean that?

You bet I do.

Hey, what's going on?

Bob, where the hell have you been

for the last two days?

Hah, having a great time.

I suppose you haven't

noticed the papers.

No.

The headlines are screaming

that there's a karate killer

loose somewhere in the city.

You gotta be kidding.

I wish I were.

What if it is one of our people

who's killing these cops?

No way.

It takes an expert fighter to kill with

that kind of speed and accuracy.

Well, every top belt

is in town for your fight.

Yeah, but the drug tie-in

doesn't make sense.

I don't know one guy in that kind of

shape that fools with drugs.

Let's put together a list.

The least we can do is be sure.

Out of the group

in the special forces,

can you think of anyone

that might have gone bad?

How bad?

Drugs. Murder. As bad as that.

Jesus.

You, me, Bill, Bob, Sparks,

George Williams,

maybe 50 scattered

through the forces.

We were all in the killing business,

but murder?

Well, think, Alex.

Anything at all could help.

Bill. I need your help, Bill.

What can I do?

I think that one of the guys that was

with us in Nam is an assassin.

Oh, my God.

Hey, Josh, when you going home?

After Matt and Sparks's fight, man.

I don't wanna miss that.

Shit, what are you doing, scouting

the competition or something?

No, just killing time.

Hey, you think Sparky can take Matt?

Maybe.

Man, he fights like he's crazy.

I thought he was trying to kill me.

Sparky?

Mm-hm.

Sound like sour grapes to me.

Man, if I didn't know better,

I would think that guy was

really on something, you know?

Really.

Hey, um, where does Sparky train?

Well, there's a private road

at the end of Scotland Drive

that leads to, man, the prettiest

little house you ever saw.

Belongs to a buddy of his.

He's letting him train there

for the big fight.

Oh, man, that place

got EVERYTHING -

hot tub, jacuzzi.

Hey, man, you ought to

talk to him.

Maybe he'll let you take a few friends

around, use the facilities, huh?

Yeah, maybe he will.

Thanks a lot.

Alright.

Logan Karate.

Hey, Harriett, where's Matt?

You just missed him, Charles.

He's out checking some other schools.

Wanna leave a message?

OK, tell him I'm on to something

and I'll talk to him later on.

And don't call me Charles!

See you later, Josh.

Hey, alright.

Take care, little brother.

Ho-ho, and what have we here?

Coke.

Pure coke, almost a kilo.

You do good work, Detective Rollins.

Well, thank you, Mr Melrose.

Rollins, you gotta

get rid of those kids.

Look, all you have to do is get

those kids off of those skateboards -

put them on bicycles,

tricycles, anything.

Try that.

Where's the tooter?

Alright. Here.

Hand me the tooter. There you go.

How can people use this crap?

You know what it does to the sinuses?

I wouldn't worry

about that too much.

You got problems of your own.

I know.

Those kids have gotta go, Rollins.

Hey, Sparky, lunch. Come on.

That little greaser he killed

put a call in through the desk,

said something about

somebody on skateboards,

so now we're pulling in

everybody who's on skateboards -

I mean everybody.

You might even get some cop

coming in asking who's been buying.

Well, if they can put it together,

how long is it gonna take

Matt Logan to figure out

that if he's not doing it,

somebody like Sparky is?

Can he take him?

Yeah.

Why did you come?

Sparky, you'll never get away

with it. Turn yourself in.

Turn yourself in, Sparky.

Want a chance, Charlie?

I'm gonna give you one.

All you gotta do is get past me.

Oh!

That's enough!

OK, Michael, I guess that's all.

Must be 3 million skateboards

in this city.

Detective Rust.

Hi. Any luck?

Bob and I have checked just about

every karate school and gym in town.

So far nobody knows anything.

Meet me at

the In Chon Restaurant on 15th.

It's a hangout for karate types,

and we'll see who's there.

OK. Bye-bye.

Hi.

Uh, two, please.

OK.

The other's coming.

Hey, are you OK?

Hi. Gentleman like see you. Kitchen.

Oh. Thank you.

There.

Thank you.

What happened to you?

I had a blow-out

and had to change it.

Ah.

Is it good?

I tripped on a trash can outside.

I don't think you've tripped over

anything in your whole life.

Well, anyway, I should

go home and change.

Oh, yes, I agree.

It's just that I thought you said...

Hi.

..your training gave you

some sort of-

what was it? - special night vision.

I get the feeling that

you're questioning me.

I am. Not getting

any answers, though.

Do you realise that any man

in this city with the ability you have

is a suspect?

You don't have to tell me that.

OK.

But after you've changed, alright,

I want you to keep checking,

and if you find anything,

please call me.

I'll be at the headquarters.

We're still working on

Orlando and Bishop.

OK.

Um...Matt.

Don't be a hero or anything.

I don't think I could

take another one.

Logan Karate School. Yes.

Yes, he does,

but he's not around now.

Oh.

Well, I'll let you

talk to his father.

Matt! Matt, pick up line two

in your office.

It's the police.

Uh, we found him still in the car

at the bottom of San Ysidro Ravine.

He's shot full of junk, man.

Must've lost control and...

He never lost control.

The kid was clean.

Well, um, look at his arm.

Tracks.

And there was a needle

in the back seat.

Call it anything you want,

but whoever did this...

is as good as dead.

Harriett told me

you were up here.

Matt...

..you can't...let everything

you've ever believed in

be destroyed because of revenge,

no matter what.

What do I need? A badge?

A cop loses a friend and he has

a hunting licence in his pocket,

but not me.

Well, that's right, yeah.

That's the law.

I know the law.

I fought for it from here

to dirty little places on the South

China Sea you never even heard of.

Charlie never got his chance.

And whoever killed him and stuck

that needle in his arm is gonna pay.

That's our job.

If it was anything but an accident,

we'll find out.

Matt, I...I promise.

Nobody's found out much so far!

I'm sorry.

Hey.

Look, I've got to, uh...

check something out

and, uh, you've got

a fight tomorrow.

Why don't you, uh,

go down and work out,

concentrate on that?

OK?

I just checked that one.

Uh-huh.

This bothers me.

What?

The medical examiner said

he found nothing on their bodies

except traces of wax under

some of their fingernails, right?

So they shined their shoes

before they went on duty.

Exactly. What colour shoes

did they wear?

I don't know.

Bishop always wore those

ridiculous black cycle boots.

And Orlando wore jogging shoes.

Mandy, why was the wax red?

That's a good question.

That's a very good question.

It turned out to be a paraffin mix

commonly used for skis,

among other things.

There are various weather conditions.

Well, how can you

tell the difference?

Well, they're colour-coded -

blue, green, red and so on.

Is that in here?

No, it's in my skiing lessons.

Can you identify

the brand of that stuff?

A lot of it comes from Europe -

Switzerland, France -

but there must be

domestic brands available.

What the hell? It's only wax.

Let's go.

Oh, boy. Is that why you guys

got me out of bed? For that?

Goose down on Murphy and Johnson

and wax on Bishop and Orlando.

Don't you know no judge

in his right mind

is gonna give us a warrant to go around

busting sporting goods stores

on something like that stuff there?

Stake them out, couldn't we?

Stake 'em out?

You...

See that?

Oh!

About 2,000 in there, I'd say,

including most major

department stores,

discount outlets, ski shops,

God knows what else.

And then we'd need a team

of about 25,000 highly trained

surveillance personnel.

I got an idea.

I'm gonna call L.A.,

that's what I'm gonna do,

and, uh, see if I can borrow

the entire department.

Murphy and Orlando

were checking out related areas.

It makes sense

there's a connection.

It makes nothing, Mandy, as evidence

to justify search and seizure,

unless we get more information.

Then maybe this will

mean something. Maybe.

It mean...

Hey.

I gotta talk to you, Ernest.

I said I've got to talk to you!

What are you doing, man?

I didn't do nothing.

Man, you're blowing it, man.

Now everybody's gonna know

I'm talking to you.

There's 100 people watching us.

We'll just have to go some place

more private, won't we?

I'm holding it for a friend.

Oh, bullshit.

You ain't got any friends, Ernie,

don't you know that?

I can't even be your friend anymore.

Mandy.

Yeah?

I got an idea.

Why don't we throw his ass back

in a cell with a couple of regulars?

They love young ones like this.

Hey, y-y-you can't do that to me.

Yes, I can.

Uh-uh. I got rights.

No. I can.

I'll get the FBI.

Hah, I'm underage.

That's enough, Ernie.

The kid on the skateboard

used you for a drop.

You've been dealing again,

haven't you?

Haven't you, Ernie?!

How many times I gotta tell you,

I don't...know nobody

with a skateboard.

Tell us about it, Ernest.

OK. Alright. OK.

Alright, alright, we were...

Dan.

What are you doing here?

Well, I picked up

one of the skateboarders

and he broke when I told him you guys

had Ernie down at the station

and he was spilling his guts.

And I picked up, I guess,

about the same info as you guys

and I beat it right over here

but, uh, it's all bullshit.

Who's this guy?

Ah, this is Martin Vigo, the owner

of the place, who let me in.

Oh, hi.

Listen, I checked this place out.

It is absolutely clean.

I mean, I tore the joint apart.

What about the wax?

Any ski wax?

Ski wax?

Ski wax.

Not a scrap. What is it with ski wax?

Come on, Mandy,

may we look around now?

Just wait a minute, wait a minute.

What about Melrose?

Well, I got his address,

I got the names of

all the employees who work here.

Now, apparently Mr Melrose

put a sign in his window

saying "Closed during Christmas rush"

and split.

Now, Mr Vigo says he has a bad heart

and does this sometimes

when he's not feeling well.

Sure.

Doesn't like holidays, right?

Right. I'll put an APB on him,

don't worry.

Listen, I'm going to class.

Karate anyone?

No, we'll do that.

I don't know what the hell's

with this karate anyway.

It's like a drug store out there.

Quaaludes, angel dust, heroin, cocaine,

and we're studying karate.

Mandy, let's look around ourselves,

please. Come on.

Um, let's just go.

Mandy, it can't hurt to look around.

Rollins checked it. Now let's go.

Look, what should I do if, er...

Go ahead.

..if I suspect one of us?

Hmm.

That's not such

a simple question, Mandy.

I know that.

Yeah.

Well, who is it?

Sam, I don't have any evidence,

just suspicions. I'm not sure.

I don't wanna say.

That's good. That's-that's good.

Because you'd better be

goddamn sure of your facts

before you even whisper something

like this, even in your sleep.

The whole bunch of you,

you're getting paranoid.

Murphy started it before the poor

son of a bitch got dumped in the bay.

What did he say?

He didn't. He didn't.

I told him he was talking about

something so sensitive,

it could blow this

whole force wide open,

and I didn't wanna hear about it

till he had facts.

Yeah, I can understand that.

If the facts warrant it,

then the officer in question

would be arrested, suspended

and maybe put under

close surveillance.

Either way, that'll pretty well

write off the man's career, right?

I mean, he'll be transferred

away from sensitive areas

like us, like Narcotics here,

put in some mundane position

and probably never trusted again.

You got me?

I understand.

I hope so.

Thank you.

Oh, Mandy, I...

Oh, you scared me.

I get paid to sneak up on people.

It's my job.

It's a habit.

Yeah.

You talking to Matt later?

Yeah. Why?

Well, I want some tickets for the fight

tonight, one ticket anyway,

and I don't wanna bother him.

I'll get you one, OK?

Oh, great, great.

Hey, why don't we go together?

We can make it a party.

Uh, I'm going with

Matt's secretary, Harriett.

OK.

Well, I'll see you there anyway.

Hi.

Where have you been all day?

Matt's been trying to get you.

Oh, I barely had a chance

to change.

Did you get that ticket

to Dan Rollins?

Yep. Picking it up at 6:00.

6:00?

Mm-hm.

Then he should be there now.

Well, if he's not, they'll sell it.

The fight's SRO.

Look, we gotta make a stop.

OK.

So long as we don't miss

any of the action.

No problem.

Get your program right here!

Right here. Sparks versus Logan.

Programs, T-shirts right here.

Programs.

Programs, T-shirts right here.

Right here.

Matt.

Matt, I've looked all over.

She's not there.

You're not gonna have time

to talk to her before the fight.

OK, if you're not back,

I'm calling search parties.

Who lives here anyway?

Dan Rollins.

Be right back.

Ladies and gentlemen!

The number one contender

for the middleweight karate

championship of the world,

Jerry Sparks!

And now, the current middleweight

karate champion of the world,

Matt Logan!

Just don't move.

Uh, I didn't expect to find

a burglar in a cop's apartment.

Burglar, your ass. As far as

I'm concerned, you're the burglar,

and I could blow you away

with no problem.

Mr Melrose...

Didn't you know that cop killers

are executed in this state?

Cop? What cop?

Me.

You don't look like no cop.

Come on.

Hold it.

Move.

Hold it. In here.

If I had time, I'd join you.

Yee-ha!

Ha!

Get up. Get up!

Put your hands on your head.

Do you know how to use this?

Keep it on him.

Sit down.

OK.

Oh, shit.

Very sneaky. Stay here.

Help's on its way.

Sorry you have to miss the fight.

Are you OK?

Yeah.

OK.

Have a good time.

Logan! Logan!

Logan! Logan! Logan!

Logan! Logan!

One! Two! Three!

Four! Five! Six!

Seven! Eight! Nine!

Are you alright?

Yeah.

Rollins is inside.

I'm going after Sparks.

You OK?

Hey, I want you to get out.

I'm gonna try to block the road.

Stay away from the car.

Is that the reason, Sparks, the box?

Not the box, just the million in it,

and I'm taking it outta here.

You're a dead man, Sparks.

Hee-yah!

Yah!

Hee-yah!

A Force of One (1979) - full transcript