Subway Riders (1981) - full transcript
A Psychotic saxophone player (played both by Amos Poe and John Lurie) lures victims to deserted spots with his music and then guns them down.
(tense atmosphere music)
(doorbell ringing)
- [Maid] Hi.
- [Anthony] Mr. Gollstone here?
- [Maid] Yes, you have an appointment?
- [Anthony] Yeah.
- [Maid] What's your name please?
- [Anthony] Anthony Zinda.
- [Maid] One moment.
Have a seat there, I'll go get him.
Mr. Gollstone, Anthony
Zinda's here to see you.
- Is he coming?
- Yes, He'll be down in a minute.
(footsteps approaching)
(throat clearing)
- [Leo] Anthony.
Gollstone, Leo Gollstone.
How are you?
Would you like a cigar or drink?
- [Anthony] No.
No, Mr. Gollstone.
- You can call me Leo.
You know, I like your story.
I really like it a lot.
And I think it's gonna be a good,
what is it, riding on the...
- [Anthony] Subway Riders, Mr. Gollstone.
- Subways, yeah.
You know, years ago back
in Brooklyn, my grandfather
used to have a shirt shop
there on King's Highway.
The thing is they had
a vacant room upstairs,
so they turned it into one
of the early nickelodeons.
Then they later made it
into a movie theater,
but anyway, my grandfather always used to
say to see, he'd say Leo, this is
the greatest business in the world.
When you run the shirt
shop, the customer comes in,
you have to get the right
color, you have to get
the right size, you have to
get the right sleeve length,
you have to get the right collar,
and they had those detachable collars.
So the customer gives you 50 cents
and he walks out of
the store with a shirt.
With the merchandise.
Now in this business, the customer
pays his money, he goes in.
He comes out with nothing.
And that's what this business is about.
It's about money and nothing.
Now this project...
- [Anthony] Subway Riders, Mr. Gollstone.
- Right.
This project, Subway Riders.
Now I've been on the phone to the coast.
And I'm pretty sure we
can get Jack Nicholson,
Warren Beatty to do the sax player.
Diane Keaton to do that
mind-reading woman.
Maybe Anne Bancroft to do the hooker.
And Jane Fonda for the junkie.
- [Anthony] Oh really?
- Yeah.
Brando maybe for the cop.
So it's gonna be, we're
talking about a big picture.
And I'm flying to the
coast day after tomorrow.
I'm taking a meeting out there
with Sherry Lansing at 20th Century
and we'll probably bring
in Robert Town or Paul...
- Excuse me, Mr. Gollstone.
Run that by me one more time.
- [Leo] You gotta have a writer.
You gotta have a script
writer on this thing.
- You got a writer, Mr. Gollstone.
You got a writer, you got it?
You got me.
- No, it doesn't work that way.
Look, let me tell you a
little story about that.
- See when I came over
here, I went by the park.
There was a lady sleeping.
She was nodding back and forth.
People were waiting for
her to fall in the water.
But she didn't fall in.
Then a guy came by in a bike and he went.
(blowing air)
And she fell in.
- Well I'm flying out to the coast
day after tomorrow Anthony,
so make up your mind.
- [Anthony] Leo.
Have a safe trip.
(coughing)
- [Narrator] Home is where the heart is.
The desk man is dressed in black.
(thunder booming)
(typewriting clicking)
(ominous atmosphere music)
(funky saxophone music)
(gun shooting)
(bird cawing)
(sirens wailing)
- Detective Langley.
You run about here around midnight?
- [Store Owner] Yeah.
I keep the place open all night.
- You hear the police cars?
- Sure.
Everybody's talking about it.
Guy's on some bend huh?
- Who says it's a guy?
- Eh.
A woman can't do that.
I mean she'll kill her
old man or something
like that, but this is something else.
I mean this is no lover's quarrel is it?
- Anything happen around here tonight?
Any unusual sounds or sights?
- No.
Just a night like any other night.
Just some fine regular customers
buying their beers, cat food, and milk.
I ain't seen an unfamiliar face all night.
I didn't even hear the gunshots.
I didn't know nothing
until I heard the sirens.
Even that ain't so unusual.
- I'll tell you what I'll do.
Here's my number.
If anything should come
to mind, call me okay?
- Nah, just regular people.
Regular people walking their dogs.
Saxophone playing somewhere.
Somebody's stereo coming
out to the street.
Nothing at all.
- Okay.
Call me anyway.
- [Penelope] I love you.
Susanna, you think I like taking walks?
You think I get off on subway cars?
I'll tell you another
secret Susanna, I do.
Yeah I get off on 100 bucks.
I got the best act in town.
And I love the applause.
Until the real hand-clapping
starts I've got to have it.
Susanna, the applause is what I'm after.
- [Susanna] I can't stay with you tonight.
I have to go.
- [Poet] No life left anywhere.
Only zombies.
They walk and talk and
talk, oh Christ they talk.
Please shut up.
Shut down.
Shut off.
Off with your fucking head.
Fools, tools, of the ones on top
with this heap of garbage and slop.
Heathens, hedonists.
You're too self-satisfied, selfish.
You big tuna.
Tune in, tune out.
The technocracy.
They're turning us into technicians.
No Jesus, no, why?
Why?
Why has Thou forsaken me?
Us, all of us.
I was a good man, still am,
but I got problems you see?
I get a little crazy now
and then and then some.
Oh so nervous, so nervous, so nervous.
In the service of what?
Art, life, soul, the fucking cosmos.
Where does it all lead?
What is it you need?
He said I must bleed.
He begged me, bleed me,
cleanse me, purify me.
I give you my pain, I give you
my blood, I give you my life.
Take me, take me, take me there.
Somewhere.
I know.
I know you want me.
I know you need me.
Say yeah, say it's true.
No no don't say that, don't say that.
Don't love me.
No, not love.
Not love, don't love me, need me.
Need me.
Say you can't live, can't live without me.
Live without me.
Without me.
(moaning)
- Man was that good.
Now I know how you keep in shape.
- You were pretty good,
how do you keep in shape?
- Do I look okay?
- You look great.
- All right, well I just swim
and eat a little few vegetables and stuff.
I'm not gay though.
- Oh I knew that, I could tell.
- I just keep in shape.
Just enough to survive.
Boy, you're built like a fucking minx.
So do you do a lot of this?
I mean I don't mean that insinuating it,
I don't wanna cut you down,
but you're a real pro.
- [Penelope] Well I do a lot of things.
- As good as this?
- [Penelope] Well I hope so.
- I don't know.
You have the makings of real talent.
So can I see you again?
- Sure.
You have my number.
You can call me whenever you need me.
- Anytime?
- Anytime at all.
- I can get away from the
wife about once a week.
I figure, you know, if I come to see you,
we have something going, you know?
Give you money.
It's not like cheating on her, you think?
- No.
- I didn't think so either.
I feel bad.
I can have a girlfriend anytime I wanted.
Something on the side.
A lot of girls come on to
me, but that would be wrong.
That's against the marriage contract.
- I agree.
- You know, you're a real pro.
Look sorta like a penny
girl with those pink legs.
Ever thought about being
an actress in film?
- [Penelope] Yeah, why?
Do you have any connections?
- Well I have a daughter,
she's about your age.
She does film work.
You know something?
If she turned out to be
like you, I don't know
whether I'd shoot her, or
whether I'd hang myself.
So next Wednesday all right?
- Let's see.
Well it'd have to be a 10 o'clock,
I have an 8 o'clock
appointment for dinner.
- Great.
See you at 10.
(knocking)
(knocking)
- Well come in, it's open!
- Are you the artist?
Isn't this in a gallery show?
I thought you were the artist, aren't you?
- No, actually...
- No?
See you.
(laughing)
- Hey take it easy, buster.
Hi.
I'm Penelope Trasher.
I'm staying in Carmen's
apartment on the fourth floor.
- Oh yeah yeah yeah, room 42.
- Yeah.
Can I get this stuff upstairs?
- I'm the super here lady,
not the moving department.
- Put them anywhere.
- You in the same line
of work as Carmen was?
- What's it to you?
- Well maybe if you were, maybe
we could work something out.
- Like what?
- Like what I did with Carmen,
used to help her out what she needed it
and she'd help me out,
you know what I mean?
Like you know, it's good
to have ears around.
For protection, something like that.
- Yeah, all right.
- Well November 12th.
- Okay.
Thanks.
(dramatic saxophone music)
(knocking)
- Come in, it's open!
You must be the new lady from upstairs.
I wrote that one for you, sweetheart.
- Are we gonna listen to this
bang at the moon all night?
- Glad you like it.
I always play.
It's the only way I can keep warm.
So cold in here.
You got heat upstairs?
- Now look, mister.
- [Anthony] Name's Ant.
- [Penelope] Let's keep it simple.
Keep that disco music out of my ears.
And if you need warmth, I suggest
you hock your tuba and get a heater.
It might even sound better!
- It's a sax and I already got a heater.
- [Penelope] Well I'm glad
we understand each other.
Ant.
(door slamming)
(dramatic saxophone music)
(knocking)
- [Anthony] Yeah?
Come in, it's open!
You moved in upstairs?
- [Susanna] Are we going to listen to this
bang at the moon all night?
- I'm glad you like it lady 'cause
when it's hot I play all the time.
- Look mister.
- Anthony.
- Let's keep it simple.
Keep that disco music out of my ears.
If you want ventilation,
I suggest you hock
your tube and get an electric fan.
You might find it even sounds better.
- This is a saxophone and
I've already got a fan.
- I'm glad we understand each other.
(ominous atmosphere music)
(fog horn blowing)
(typewriter clicking)
(whistling)
(dramatic saxophone music)
(music distorting)
(dramatic saxophone music)
(footsteps approaching)
- Not bad, amigo.
Not bad at all.
Wish I had some money to give
you for the entertainment,
but you can see I haven't
got a penny, look.
Nothing.
Take a look.
But I have got this.
- Aw man.
- Come on, get it out.
Let's see what you got.
Hurry it up.
(distorted atmosphere music)
- Hi hun.
Rough day at Alcatraz?
You're looking as ravishing as ever.
Here.
That'll help.
That's what I like to see, a thirsty man.
After a long hard day of chasing
criminals a man needs a drink.
Maybe two.
Aww, let me help.
You know what you need?
A hot, hot bath.
- I don't wanna play, Eleanor.
- Play what?
- You were seen with Pinky Marbles.
(gasping)
- Well yowza, yowza, yowza!
- Don't give me any of your jive.
You're not talking to one of your
goddamn junkie niggers now, Eleanor!
I'm telling you right now!
Get off the smack, stop seeing
Pinky Marbles, and wise up.
Can't you even keep this place straight?
Look at it, it's a fucking mess!
- Why don't you take your little sticky
and smash my face to
smithereens, you big baby?
You're a bigger joke.
With a little gun and a rubber badge.
You having me tailed?
- It's not necessary, Eleanor.
This is a small town with
big ears and big eyes.
Besides, you're hardly
the soul of discretion.
Christ, I could know what you
were up to even before you did.
You gotta see the light of it, Eleanor.
I'm a cop.
What do you think it does
to me when I hear you
running around with a guy who's a killer?
A guy who's known to be stepping
on the biggest heroin racket in town?
You're a thoroughbred, Eleanor.
What are you running around
with these mutts for?
You know where he gets
his dough from, that guy?
You know where it comes from?
Gets it from the little chickens
with hardly a hair in the snatch.
When he's not making a
fortune pumping heroin
into their veins, he's cleaning up
getting businessmen to
fuck them up the ass.
And they're all phoning home to the wives
and saying I'm playing
late with the boys, honey.
You like your guy like that?
Huh?
- I'm not gonna stop being his friend
just because he made a success of himself.
- So that's success huh?
Driving around with flashy automobiles
and $500 suits with two
kilos under the front seat.
You lose, baby.
You lose.
- What are you, life's big winner?
You're not different than he is.
You're a white rat, he's a black rat.
You're both caught in the same trap.
I don't give a rat's ass.
- You are even more stupid than
I gave you credit for, Eleanor.
You realize there are 600 guys out there
just waiting to waste that
godforsaken motherfucker?
And they'll get him!
Maybe not the first
time, maybe they'll miss.
Maybe not the third time or the 30th time
or the 150th time, but they'll get him.
And when they do, he'll be dead.
And if you're in the crossfire
Eleanor, you'll be dead too.
You know what dead means, Eleanor?
No more dreams, no more
smack, no more nothing.
And it won't mean a goddamn thing.
And no one will give a shit.
- Not even you?
(water running)
- Not even me.
- You should never take a
shower without your gun!
Even cops die.
(dramatic saxophone music)
(knocking)
(siren wailing)
- [Anthony] I been keeping you up?
I'm sorry.
I forget the time sometimes.
- Listen, asshole!
You wake me up one more time and you're
gonna have to learn to play the harp!
- [Anthony] It's a sax
and I was (mumbles).
- I'm gonna take a bulb and a cord
to that thing and turn it into a lamp.
Even Gerry Mulligan used
to sleep once in a while.
(off-key saxophone music)
(dog barking)
(guns firing)
(ominous atmosphere music)
- Downtown, lady.
Don't be scared.
My name's Anthony.
I just need a ride back.
I'm tired.
Downtown.
I need a ride downtown.
Lady.
- [Claire] Yeah, I heard you.
- I need a ride downtown.
- [Claire] I heard you.
(tires screeching)
- Hey take it easy!
Hey!
Lady, take it easy.
(funky saxophone music)
- What's that for?
- Something.
(mumbles).
Over here on the right.
Right up there.
Little bit further.
Right here.
Well you know, I've been
around here for a long time.
See, I work as sanitation in New Jersey.
Pay's good.
See, and this pistolero, well
I keep it on me on payday.
See, the way I look at it is that an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
And well, Beatrice.
Beatrice here, well she's my
.44 calibers of ounces of prevention.
Understand?
Gonna get back from here?
- [Claire] Back where?
- Wherever you were going.
- I don't know where I was going.
- Well if you ever need
directions, I live over there.
Thanks for the ride.
Oh yeah, lesson number two.
Keep your doors locked.
Lots of creeps in this town.
(distorted atmosphere music)
(slow romantic music)
The other day I was in the subway.
My sax was on my lap.
A woman sat opposite me.
She stared.
Then she said "You like jazz?"
Without realizing what I was saying I said
"Is that where everybody plays
"a different tune at the same time?"
(distorted atmosphere music)
(sirens wailing)
- [Cola] One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
2010.
- Cola!
Are you hungry?
Did you put your toys away?
- I may have.
And I had to play with them because
I was too tired to put them away.
I was.
- Do you wanna go to sleep?
- No, I just wanna play around a little.
- All right, why don't you go play
and I'll get you something to eat.
Go ahead.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(phone line disconnecting)
(siren wailing)
(phone ringing)
- Yeah?
- I've been trying to call you all day.
Where have you been?
- I've been here most of the day.
Vacuuming.
Plunging the toilet.
Watching the world turn on TV.
- You sound stoned, are you?
- Feeling pretty good.
How about you?
- You know me.
High on crime and feeling groovy.
Look, I gotta talk to you seriously.
- About what?
- Not now.
I'll be home soon.
- [Captain] Was that your wife
you're talking to, Langley?
- Yes.
- Sounds like a fine woman you got there.
How's the case coming?
- Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
- Listen Langley, it's getting serious.
I've been talking to the boys upstairs
and they've been putting the screws to me,
and that means I gotta
put the screws to you.
- Look, I got 12 men on this case.
12 fucking men.
Why don't you look out
the window, Captain?
Tell me what you see.
- All I see is this.
That psycho wastes another person,
the newspapers are gonna
be out for our heads.
That means the mayor's
gonna be out for our heads.
My head.
That means I'll be sent down to the morgue
and you'll be patting a
beat in the South Bronx.
- Is that a threat?
Is that what you really
see out there, Captain?
You know what I see?
I see a big city under pressure.
I see the big D right around the corner.
That's the depression
in case you didn't know.
You tell me to go and get
this guy and what have I got?
I got a computer vomiting
out all this garbage all day.
Profiles, data, information.
Nothing.
If I had half the man hours and money
that they put into that machine
it'd be a different story, but just 'cause
the mayor's nephew works for IBM
I have $30 million worth of garbage.
Oh come on!
It could be one of a
million guys out there.
But which one?
If I had anything to
go on, if I had a clue.
A thumbprint, a button, a
piece of cotton, anything.
You say go out and get the lucky number.
Well it's not that easy.
It's not a goddamn lottery,
it's gonna take a lot of time.
You can either get off my ass
or get on the case yourself.
- That's exactly what I had in mind.
How many more men do you need?
- As many as I can get.
- Okay, tonight you got five more men.
That's it.
- Really Captain?
Well that's terrific, that's gonna
make a lot of difference.
Agent Wood!
When's the last time you rode the subway?
- March.
'62.
- Aw geez, this prick
sure has something else
up his sleeve apart from his hairy arms.
(rhythmic xylophone music)
(phone ringing)
(rock music)
- Hi.
Yeah, that's me.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
All right.
Okay bye.
(phone falling)
(rock music)
(siren wailing)
(fingers snapping)
- Cola.
Mommy has to go away for a few days.
What are you gonna do while I'm away?
- Play.
In the house.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(tires screeching)
(slow romantic music)
(funky synthesizer music)
(slow romantic music)
(girls shrieking)
(glass shattering)
(chuckling)
- Want a beer?
Want a beer?
I just want a woman.
I want a woman like you.
(muttering)
♪ I just wanna love you ♪
- [Claire VO] Bobby.
Oh Bobby, what did you do to my life?
I'm so alone.
Talk to me, Bobby.
(dog barking)
- [Claire] I was looking for you.
- [Anthony] Most people come
in through the front door.
- [Claire] I remember you
told me that you lived here.
- [Anthony] Want a beer?
- [Claire] No.
You know, New York's a funny place.
I've been riding the subways a lot.
All the people down there seem like
they're really afraid of something.
You can see it in their eyes.
- I rarely ride the subways.
Unless I have to.
- You don't seem afraid.
- What's to fear?
- Being murdered.
- [Anthony] I'm not
afraid of being murdered.
- I know.
I know that the only people in this town
that aren't afraid are the
innocent and the guilty.
Take you.
You jump in my car.
I look at you.
You're nervous, but you're not afraid.
Take me.
I'm not afraid.
But then I'm naive.
Take you.
You're not naive.
You're guilty.
- Guilty?
You're nuts.
- [Claire] I am?
- Absolutely.
Where'd you escape from, lady?
Some mental institution or something?
- Oh I escaped.
Not from there.
You see I lived in this town once.
I was studying to become a doctor.
I thought that if a person was in trouble
another person could help them.
And now I'm trying to help myself.
Like physician heal thyself?
- That's funny.
- Don't believe it.
- Lady, I don't know if
it's the beer or the cold,
but you're off your rocker.
- Me, you.
All of us.
Everybody riding subways.
Waiting for stations.
When do you get off?
(ominous atmosphere music)
(horses neighing)
(fog horn blowing)
(elephants trumpeting)
(guns firing)
(classical music)
- Cup of coffee?
- [Waitress] Anything else?
- No, just a cup of coffee.
Is the bathroom back there?
(siren wailing)
- [Cop] Can I help you, miss?
- I was just about to ask you that.
- [Cop] Not tonight, I'm busy.
Would you mind moving on please?
(electronic pinball sound effects)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(purring)
(hissing)
- I always forget how to do it.
Wish I had a man in the house.
(mumbles) but, oh yeah.
(humming)
♪ Take the little needle ♪
♪ Put it in the water ♪
- Okay.
And then.
I hate cooking.
(giggling)
Hate cooking.
Fuck, I hate cooking.
(humming)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
♪ And then I take the liquid ♪
(humming)
(music intensifying)
(horses clomping)
(horses neighing)
- [Eleanor VO] Who's to say?
When we married I knew him.
Now I'm not so sure.
He's changed, that's all I can say.
I guess in a way he's like
a lot of cops who suffer and sweat.
Third-degreeing a lot of crooks.
I'm afraid for him.
He's gone off his rocker living with
the thoughts of my
infidelity and my addictions.
Funny, he used to be a human being.
He was warm and funny.
He actually used to have a sense of humor.
But it's all turned to ugliness.
Cynicism.
It's grotesque.
It's different and ugly.
He's blind and arrogant, flying
high above the rest of us.
Now the poisons of this
fucking city infect him.
He's coming down, he's falling.
Crashing and squirming
like a poisoned vulture.
Me, I don't care anymore.
I'm sick of it.
Sick of his sadism.
I'm sick of tough guys who
are terrible and unclear.
Pathetic little men who kill anything.
Destroy any little light.
Who look at love and laugh.
Who think that caring about anything
or anyone is a sign of weakness.
Well I'm not gonna break down because
it's not my problem anymore.
Yeah, sure, I'll go to the funeral.
When they tell me that his brain has been
blown into some gutter in
some corner of this town.
Sure, I'll be the cop's widow.
Dressed in black.
I'll play the role in that charade,
but all them tears have
been shed a long time ago.
- [Eleanor] Eight.
Seven.
Eight.
Seven, eight.
Eight...
Fuck.
(dialing phone)
Hi.
Pinky.
It's Ellie.
I need some.
Yes.
Can I come?
Don't be dirty.
(giggling)
Yes.
Okay.
Soon.
Thank you.
(electronic synthesizer music)
(reverberating atmosphere music)
(upbeat calypso music)
- [Musician] Ladies and
gentlemen, we unite!
It's not gonna repeat this afternoon!
You don't have to worry
about being murdered!
What I try to do with my music
is to make your trip as safe as possible.
- Can I help you?
- Yeah, no, I'm looking for somebody.
- Can I help you?
- No.
(foreign language radio broadcasting)
- Don't touch, you can't afford it!
- Can I touch you?
Here's money to touch you.
(laughing)
It's real!
It's real!
It's real money!
Real money!
It's real!
You bitch, it's real!
- You live here?
- [Claire] Yeah.
- Well then what are you doing?
- [Claire] Came to see a friend.
- Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
- [Claire] Maybe.
- You're a friend of the
sax player aren't you?
- [Claire] That's right.
I'm Claire, who are you?
- Name's Penelope.
- [Claire] Your friends call you Penny?
- Uh-uh.
Penelope.
- [Claire] Penelope?
- Yeah, Penelope.
Penelope Trasher.
- What happened to you?
I've been here over an hour.
- I had to talk to Joe after class.
Little words of wisdom
from the master, you know.
I'm in great need of a little inspiration.
I certainly haven't gotten
much from you lately.
- Yeah?
Much what?
- Much of anything.
And inspiration least of all.
What's happening with you anyway?
You getting ready to take a trip?
- No, not exactly.
- [Penelope] Well what exactly?
- [Susanna] I'm just getting
a little bored, that's all.
- That's it!
The guy's a saxophonist!
- [Captain] Saxophonist?
Saxophonist.
A sax player.
What's this about a sax player, Fritz?
- Good evening, dear Captain.
It's quite elementary.
There's been 11 murders in
the last three weeks right?
At six sites.
The witnesses said to the police that they
distinctly heard a saxophone playing.
I want every cop in the city to keep
his eyes open for a sax player.
- [Captain] You got the ball.
Run with it.
Go all the way.
- [Fritz] These (mumbles) right?
On Vice.
Cops at each.
There's a subway station.
You get it?
- Yeah, but it would be terrible
if you fumble so close to the goal line.
- Excuse me, El Capitan,
he's probably sitting
in the BMT right now
sizing up his next victim.
A looney sitting around
with a a saxophone,
a gun, and a pocketful of subway tokens.
Now the way I see it is this.
He finds a place that's deserted,
a park, something like
that, he starts playing
his saxophone, and maybe he's pretty good.
People come up to him, throw
two bits in a hat, whatever.
Just when they're close enough, blam.
Shoots them, right?
All our guys are trying to make their way
through town in the cars
and the traffic jams.
He's down in the subway.
For him it's just like putting
out sugar for the flies.
Soon as they get near
enough, he swats them.
- That's your theory Fritz?
- [Fritz] Yeah.
- Well.
I think it's about time you
took a leave of absence.
Fritz, you're nuts.
- Nuts is it?
Nuts?
Logic!
Logic and hard work!
Look, I'm pretty close to
this guy, maybe too close.
And I'm right.
- [Captain] Okay, let's say you are right.
- I am right, goddammit!
You bet your sweet ass I'm right!
- Okay, well let's put out an APB.
- Wrong again, El Capitano.
I thought of that.
You do that, he's just gonna
disappear underground for two weeks.
Every sax player in New
York's gonna be arrested
they're under suspicion,
except the guy we want.
No APB.
- What do you suggest?
- I suggest a 30 man detail,
24 hours, watching the subway.
Three shifts, that's 10 men a shift.
It'd be better with 300, mind you.
100 men a shift.
- The commissioner would never ship it.
- Okay, 30 men, 48 hours.
- It's a big gamble, but
we're running out of time.
I'll give you the men.
If this doesn't work,
I'm going to the top.
(door slamming)
- Elle?
Eleanor?
Elle?
Eleanor?
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(glass shattering)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
- I remember.
I remember.
The boys.
Going by my house.
With me upstairs, with my hand in myself.
My mother in the bathroom
with rubber gloves on.
My father at his desk,
scratching his head with a gun.
Blow us.
Blow us, cried the boys.
Save me, said my mom.
Watch me.
Then my dad said goodbye with his gun.
And me upstairs with my hand in myself.
Feeling everything.
Everything.
Everything, it's gotta be just everything.
(electronic pinball sound effects)
- [Shane] Hi Fritz.
- [Fritz] How you doing Shane?
- [Shane] Same as usual?
- [Fritz] You got it.
What's happening?
What happened to your car?
- [Shane] Bloody thing,
supposed to pick it up today.
Still haven't done it right.
Water, soda?
- [Fritz] Soda.
- [Shane] How's the case coming along?
- [Fritz] Well I'll be honest
with you, at the moment
(mumbles) guy I was two
years ago, you know?
- [Shane] Still having those problems huh?
- [Fritz] Yeah.
I try not to think about it,
but it gets on top of you.
- That's what we're here for.
Trying to get (mumbles)
serve it every time.
- [Fritz] Want me to tell you
my wife doesn't understand?
We've known each other too long for that.
(soft romantic music)
(dramatic saxophone music)
- [Penelope VO] Never love
a wild thing, Mr. Bell.
That was Doc's mistake.
He was always loving the wild things.
A hawk with a hurt wing.
One time it was a full grown
bobcat with a broken leg.
But you can't give your
heart to a wild thing.
The more you do, the stronger they get.
Until they're strong enough
to run into the woods.
Or fly into a tree.
Then a taller tree.
Then the sky.
And that's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell,
if you let yourself love a wild thing.
You'll end up looking at the sky.
Good luck.
And believe me, dearest Doc, it's better
to look at the sky than live there.
Such an empty place.
So big.
Just a country where the thunder goes.
And things disappear.
(slow romantic music)
- [Susanna] Why do you always make a fuss
when the guy downstairs plays his sax?
- Oh I don't know.
It bothers me.
- [Susanna] Well I like it.
He plays well.
- The truth is I think so too.
It's just a game we play.
In this city you can't give an inch.
If you go into a restaurant
and you order tea,
and the waiter brings you coffee,
you just have to make a fuss.
You can't ever let yourself be easy.
- [Susanna] There's a subtle difference
between being hard and being a bitch.
- Yeah, that's what they call me.
A bitch in heat.
(phone ringing)
Oh hi Doc.
I'm gonna play Holly Golightly
in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
They're remaking it for TV.
No, no more porno for me.
Yeah, I'm really excited.
She was an incredible character.
She knew how to be gay even when she was
miserable and that's really important.
Okay.
Bye bye.
- [Susanna] So long, Trash.
When the door closes behind
me remember I loved you.
But you love yourself even more.
And I'm the jealous type.
(glass shattering)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
- Why if it isn't the lovely Claire.
Never did get your last name, honey.
- Smith.
- Smith.
Well isn't that interesting.
Claire Smith.
- Your friend left in quite a hurry.
- Oh everybody's in a hurry.
Everybody who's anything in this town
is always in a hurry, darling.
And that includes me.
Well bye, Claire.
Claire Smith.
(chuckling)
- He was paroled in October '73.
Kennedy, Parker, and
Allen were each sentenced
to 99 years at the Tennessee State Prison,
where they subsequently
escaped May 12th '74
during a picnic in the prison grounds.
Yeah, yeah, a picnic.
Terrific huh?
All subjects are believed
to be in the New York area
and are well known jazz enthusiasts
who prefer after hours establishments.
Who doesn't, right?
A reward is offered for
information, et cetera et cetera.
You got that?
Yeah, see you Saturday.
Bye.
(typewriter clicking)
(distant saxophone music)
- [Claire] Door's open.
Don't you ever lock your door?
Aren't you afraid your
saxophone's gonna get stolen?
- No.
- [Claire] What about your gun?
- [Anthony] I always have it on me.
- [Claire] Why don't you play something?
- [Anthony] I can't.
- [Claire] I saw her go out.
- [Anthony] Who?
- [Claire] I'm sure I saw her go out,
I passed her on the way in.
Penelope Trasher.
I know who she is.
Why don't you play something for me?
(loud stomping)
- I was thinking about what
you said the other day.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
Oh god.
Were you really gonna be a doctor?
- Yeah.
I was always pretty good in school.
I guess you could say
that I knew how to learn.
I grew up with my aunt.
My mother died when I was four
and I never knew my father.
He died when I was about three months old.
Plane crash.
Anyway, I always wanted to be a doctor.
I never thought about specializing.
After high school I came to New York
'cause I got a scholarship from Columbia.
I never really liked the city.
I never really could get comfortable.
Things went pretty well until I met Bobby.
Bobby was my first love.
Robert Lincoln Custard.
We went together in high school,
then I left and he stayed in New Jersey.
Back then he was a simple guy,
tough but sweet, and I was much
brighter and it kinda bugged him.
He was a truck mechanic and
I was gonna be a doctor.
He'd come into the city once
or twice a week to see me.
We always had a good
time, I liked him I guess.
Because he had this knack for living.
He was so unlike the other students
and the teachers I was
with, he became an escape
for me, nostalgia back
to days of high school
and driving around in his car all night.
Cars.
They were his toys and his escape.
One night we parked by the seashore.
We already made love three or four
times and I was getting dressed.
I had a 10 o'clock class.
He asked me to marry him.
At first I just laughed,
I never wanted to marry.
But he persisted.
About three months later I
found out that I was pregnant.
I could understand.
How women wanted abortions.
Bobby.
He was raised a Catholic and
he didn't believe in abortion.
I said well if you don't believe
in abortions then you have the baby.
He got down on his knees and
begged me to have the child.
A month later I married
him at St Luke's Church.
Teaneck, New Jersey.
I got married in a white
dress that his sister made.
The rest was all downhill.
He was willing to (mumbles) vacation.
Seemed like a vacation, our honeymoon.
We spent six days in a hotel
room in the rain watching TV.
We went to Disney World once.
And then we came back and
got a shitty little house.
I started to commute to
school, but it didn't work out.
Bobby's mom took care of Cola-Marie
and she got sick, so it
was either Bobby or me.
Bobby had the job.
Cola-Marie had to eat.
So I quit school.
It's a funny thing when you
lose interest in a dream.
You kinda lose interest in everything.
Sometimes kids really understand
the essence of things.
You know, just before I came to New York,
I went for a ride with
Cola-Marie in the country.
And it was at night.
We stopped the car.
We got out and sat on the hood.
And we looked up at the sky.
And the stars.
And she said to me in that little voice.
"Mommy, how many stars are there?
"A zillion?"
And I said.
There's as many stars
as there are people.
And that everybody has a special star.
And if they're ever
lost, all they had to do
was look up and find
that star and follow it.
And in that they'd find morning.
(siren wailing)
It's gonna be difficult now.
(mumbles).
- Aren't you scared to be in New York?
- I'm in the apartment with a man
that the newspapers call psycho killer
and you're asking me if I'm scared?
- I'm not a psycho killer, lady.
- But you're a killer.
Just answer me one question.
Why'd you do it?
Why?
- She made me do it.
See that?
I have to go out there, play,
(mumbles) out my own house.
That's what made me do it.
- Yeah, but...
How'd you go up to people that you
would've never ever met...
With a gun, and just
kill them in cold blood?
I mean what'd they ever do to you?
If it's really her, you could just move.
- Where?
Where would I move?
- Anywhere.
Anyplace.
Because you see, when they catch you,
and they will catch you...
You're gonna suffer.
(phone ringing)
Then you're really gonna suffer.
- I just wanna play my sax.
She won't let me.
My mother was like that.
I'd come home from school,
I'd put on some records.
She'd come up to my room and
turn the record player off.
Then she'd tell me to go outside.
"Anthony, go out and play.
"Anthony, go out in the yard."
Anthony, go out.
Anthony go out, Anthony go out.
She drove me out of the house.
- Have you ever been happy?
- Well.
I don't know.
Maybe.
Maybe once.
When my family came over
from Italy on a boat.
That was fun.
The sea and the ship.
The freedom.
The clear, straight line of the horizon.
The peacefulness.
The moon on the water.
The smell and the wind.
I was happy there.
Okay, I gotta go.
You gotta go.
You can stay if you wanna stay.
I gotta go, okay?
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(siren wailing)
- Yeah.
Yeah, he hit again in Chinatown.
Three bodies.
Same method, same numbers.
Yeah yeah yeah.
Sax music, suddenly there's two corpses,
suddenly something ain't right.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll find him.
Okay.
(classical music)
(siren wailing)
You see a guy going up
here with a sax case?
- [Homeless Man] Nah.
- See you tomorrow.
- [Fritz] Seen a guy
carrying a saxophone case?
- [Citizen] Yeah, he went down there.
(siren wailing)
(ominous atmosphere music)
(funky suspenseful atmosphere music)
(dog barking)
(siren wailing)
(guns firing)
- [Anthony] Not so wise
now are you, smart ass?
(guns firing)
(groaning)
(siren wailing)
(coughing)
Where are we?
(dramatic atmosphere music)
The rider?
Where are we going?
(Anthony groaning)
It hurts, it hurts.
It hurts.
(sirens wailing)
- [Claire] Come on.
No, no.
(Anthony groaning)
(coughing)
- [Anthony] All I can think about is...
- [Claire] I have a friend that
can get you off the island.
But you don't have time.
(mumbles) I have to get you out of here.
I can get you out of here.
My friend's gonna help.
You gotta come with me.
You've gotta trust me.
- [Anthony] What is this place?
(dramatic synthesizer music)
(helicopter whirring)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
Too many demons.
Just too many demons.
(heart beating)
(doorbell ringing)
- [Maid] Hi.
- [Anthony] Mr. Gollstone here?
- [Maid] Yes, you have an appointment?
- [Anthony] Yeah.
- [Maid] What's your name please?
- [Anthony] Anthony Zinda.
- [Maid] One moment.
Have a seat there, I'll go get him.
Mr. Gollstone, Anthony
Zinda's here to see you.
- Is he coming?
- Yes, He'll be down in a minute.
(footsteps approaching)
(throat clearing)
- [Leo] Anthony.
Gollstone, Leo Gollstone.
How are you?
Would you like a cigar or drink?
- [Anthony] No.
No, Mr. Gollstone.
- You can call me Leo.
You know, I like your story.
I really like it a lot.
And I think it's gonna be a good,
what is it, riding on the...
- [Anthony] Subway Riders, Mr. Gollstone.
- Subways, yeah.
You know, years ago back
in Brooklyn, my grandfather
used to have a shirt shop
there on King's Highway.
The thing is they had
a vacant room upstairs,
so they turned it into one
of the early nickelodeons.
Then they later made it
into a movie theater,
but anyway, my grandfather always used to
say to see, he'd say Leo, this is
the greatest business in the world.
When you run the shirt
shop, the customer comes in,
you have to get the right
color, you have to get
the right size, you have to
get the right sleeve length,
you have to get the right collar,
and they had those detachable collars.
So the customer gives you 50 cents
and he walks out of
the store with a shirt.
With the merchandise.
Now in this business, the customer
pays his money, he goes in.
He comes out with nothing.
And that's what this business is about.
It's about money and nothing.
Now this project...
- [Anthony] Subway Riders, Mr. Gollstone.
- Right.
This project, Subway Riders.
Now I've been on the phone to the coast.
And I'm pretty sure we
can get Jack Nicholson,
Warren Beatty to do the sax player.
Diane Keaton to do that
mind-reading woman.
Maybe Anne Bancroft to do the hooker.
And Jane Fonda for the junkie.
- [Anthony] Oh really?
- Yeah.
Brando maybe for the cop.
So it's gonna be, we're
talking about a big picture.
And I'm flying to the
coast day after tomorrow.
I'm taking a meeting out there
with Sherry Lansing at 20th Century
and we'll probably bring
in Robert Town or Paul...
- Excuse me, Mr. Gollstone.
Run that by me one more time.
- [Leo] You gotta have a writer.
You gotta have a script
writer on this thing.
- You got a writer, Mr. Gollstone.
You got a writer, you got it?
You got me.
- No, it doesn't work that way.
Look, let me tell you a
little story about that.
- See when I came over
here, I went by the park.
There was a lady sleeping.
She was nodding back and forth.
People were waiting for
her to fall in the water.
But she didn't fall in.
Then a guy came by in a bike and he went.
(blowing air)
And she fell in.
- Well I'm flying out to the coast
day after tomorrow Anthony,
so make up your mind.
- [Anthony] Leo.
Have a safe trip.
(coughing)
- [Narrator] Home is where the heart is.
The desk man is dressed in black.
(thunder booming)
(typewriting clicking)
(ominous atmosphere music)
(funky saxophone music)
(gun shooting)
(bird cawing)
(sirens wailing)
- Detective Langley.
You run about here around midnight?
- [Store Owner] Yeah.
I keep the place open all night.
- You hear the police cars?
- Sure.
Everybody's talking about it.
Guy's on some bend huh?
- Who says it's a guy?
- Eh.
A woman can't do that.
I mean she'll kill her
old man or something
like that, but this is something else.
I mean this is no lover's quarrel is it?
- Anything happen around here tonight?
Any unusual sounds or sights?
- No.
Just a night like any other night.
Just some fine regular customers
buying their beers, cat food, and milk.
I ain't seen an unfamiliar face all night.
I didn't even hear the gunshots.
I didn't know nothing
until I heard the sirens.
Even that ain't so unusual.
- I'll tell you what I'll do.
Here's my number.
If anything should come
to mind, call me okay?
- Nah, just regular people.
Regular people walking their dogs.
Saxophone playing somewhere.
Somebody's stereo coming
out to the street.
Nothing at all.
- Okay.
Call me anyway.
- [Penelope] I love you.
Susanna, you think I like taking walks?
You think I get off on subway cars?
I'll tell you another
secret Susanna, I do.
Yeah I get off on 100 bucks.
I got the best act in town.
And I love the applause.
Until the real hand-clapping
starts I've got to have it.
Susanna, the applause is what I'm after.
- [Susanna] I can't stay with you tonight.
I have to go.
- [Poet] No life left anywhere.
Only zombies.
They walk and talk and
talk, oh Christ they talk.
Please shut up.
Shut down.
Shut off.
Off with your fucking head.
Fools, tools, of the ones on top
with this heap of garbage and slop.
Heathens, hedonists.
You're too self-satisfied, selfish.
You big tuna.
Tune in, tune out.
The technocracy.
They're turning us into technicians.
No Jesus, no, why?
Why?
Why has Thou forsaken me?
Us, all of us.
I was a good man, still am,
but I got problems you see?
I get a little crazy now
and then and then some.
Oh so nervous, so nervous, so nervous.
In the service of what?
Art, life, soul, the fucking cosmos.
Where does it all lead?
What is it you need?
He said I must bleed.
He begged me, bleed me,
cleanse me, purify me.
I give you my pain, I give you
my blood, I give you my life.
Take me, take me, take me there.
Somewhere.
I know.
I know you want me.
I know you need me.
Say yeah, say it's true.
No no don't say that, don't say that.
Don't love me.
No, not love.
Not love, don't love me, need me.
Need me.
Say you can't live, can't live without me.
Live without me.
Without me.
(moaning)
- Man was that good.
Now I know how you keep in shape.
- You were pretty good,
how do you keep in shape?
- Do I look okay?
- You look great.
- All right, well I just swim
and eat a little few vegetables and stuff.
I'm not gay though.
- Oh I knew that, I could tell.
- I just keep in shape.
Just enough to survive.
Boy, you're built like a fucking minx.
So do you do a lot of this?
I mean I don't mean that insinuating it,
I don't wanna cut you down,
but you're a real pro.
- [Penelope] Well I do a lot of things.
- As good as this?
- [Penelope] Well I hope so.
- I don't know.
You have the makings of real talent.
So can I see you again?
- Sure.
You have my number.
You can call me whenever you need me.
- Anytime?
- Anytime at all.
- I can get away from the
wife about once a week.
I figure, you know, if I come to see you,
we have something going, you know?
Give you money.
It's not like cheating on her, you think?
- No.
- I didn't think so either.
I feel bad.
I can have a girlfriend anytime I wanted.
Something on the side.
A lot of girls come on to
me, but that would be wrong.
That's against the marriage contract.
- I agree.
- You know, you're a real pro.
Look sorta like a penny
girl with those pink legs.
Ever thought about being
an actress in film?
- [Penelope] Yeah, why?
Do you have any connections?
- Well I have a daughter,
she's about your age.
She does film work.
You know something?
If she turned out to be
like you, I don't know
whether I'd shoot her, or
whether I'd hang myself.
So next Wednesday all right?
- Let's see.
Well it'd have to be a 10 o'clock,
I have an 8 o'clock
appointment for dinner.
- Great.
See you at 10.
(knocking)
(knocking)
- Well come in, it's open!
- Are you the artist?
Isn't this in a gallery show?
I thought you were the artist, aren't you?
- No, actually...
- No?
See you.
(laughing)
- Hey take it easy, buster.
Hi.
I'm Penelope Trasher.
I'm staying in Carmen's
apartment on the fourth floor.
- Oh yeah yeah yeah, room 42.
- Yeah.
Can I get this stuff upstairs?
- I'm the super here lady,
not the moving department.
- Put them anywhere.
- You in the same line
of work as Carmen was?
- What's it to you?
- Well maybe if you were, maybe
we could work something out.
- Like what?
- Like what I did with Carmen,
used to help her out what she needed it
and she'd help me out,
you know what I mean?
Like you know, it's good
to have ears around.
For protection, something like that.
- Yeah, all right.
- Well November 12th.
- Okay.
Thanks.
(dramatic saxophone music)
(knocking)
- Come in, it's open!
You must be the new lady from upstairs.
I wrote that one for you, sweetheart.
- Are we gonna listen to this
bang at the moon all night?
- Glad you like it.
I always play.
It's the only way I can keep warm.
So cold in here.
You got heat upstairs?
- Now look, mister.
- [Anthony] Name's Ant.
- [Penelope] Let's keep it simple.
Keep that disco music out of my ears.
And if you need warmth, I suggest
you hock your tuba and get a heater.
It might even sound better!
- It's a sax and I already got a heater.
- [Penelope] Well I'm glad
we understand each other.
Ant.
(door slamming)
(dramatic saxophone music)
(knocking)
- [Anthony] Yeah?
Come in, it's open!
You moved in upstairs?
- [Susanna] Are we going to listen to this
bang at the moon all night?
- I'm glad you like it lady 'cause
when it's hot I play all the time.
- Look mister.
- Anthony.
- Let's keep it simple.
Keep that disco music out of my ears.
If you want ventilation,
I suggest you hock
your tube and get an electric fan.
You might find it even sounds better.
- This is a saxophone and
I've already got a fan.
- I'm glad we understand each other.
(ominous atmosphere music)
(fog horn blowing)
(typewriter clicking)
(whistling)
(dramatic saxophone music)
(music distorting)
(dramatic saxophone music)
(footsteps approaching)
- Not bad, amigo.
Not bad at all.
Wish I had some money to give
you for the entertainment,
but you can see I haven't
got a penny, look.
Nothing.
Take a look.
But I have got this.
- Aw man.
- Come on, get it out.
Let's see what you got.
Hurry it up.
(distorted atmosphere music)
- Hi hun.
Rough day at Alcatraz?
You're looking as ravishing as ever.
Here.
That'll help.
That's what I like to see, a thirsty man.
After a long hard day of chasing
criminals a man needs a drink.
Maybe two.
Aww, let me help.
You know what you need?
A hot, hot bath.
- I don't wanna play, Eleanor.
- Play what?
- You were seen with Pinky Marbles.
(gasping)
- Well yowza, yowza, yowza!
- Don't give me any of your jive.
You're not talking to one of your
goddamn junkie niggers now, Eleanor!
I'm telling you right now!
Get off the smack, stop seeing
Pinky Marbles, and wise up.
Can't you even keep this place straight?
Look at it, it's a fucking mess!
- Why don't you take your little sticky
and smash my face to
smithereens, you big baby?
You're a bigger joke.
With a little gun and a rubber badge.
You having me tailed?
- It's not necessary, Eleanor.
This is a small town with
big ears and big eyes.
Besides, you're hardly
the soul of discretion.
Christ, I could know what you
were up to even before you did.
You gotta see the light of it, Eleanor.
I'm a cop.
What do you think it does
to me when I hear you
running around with a guy who's a killer?
A guy who's known to be stepping
on the biggest heroin racket in town?
You're a thoroughbred, Eleanor.
What are you running around
with these mutts for?
You know where he gets
his dough from, that guy?
You know where it comes from?
Gets it from the little chickens
with hardly a hair in the snatch.
When he's not making a
fortune pumping heroin
into their veins, he's cleaning up
getting businessmen to
fuck them up the ass.
And they're all phoning home to the wives
and saying I'm playing
late with the boys, honey.
You like your guy like that?
Huh?
- I'm not gonna stop being his friend
just because he made a success of himself.
- So that's success huh?
Driving around with flashy automobiles
and $500 suits with two
kilos under the front seat.
You lose, baby.
You lose.
- What are you, life's big winner?
You're not different than he is.
You're a white rat, he's a black rat.
You're both caught in the same trap.
I don't give a rat's ass.
- You are even more stupid than
I gave you credit for, Eleanor.
You realize there are 600 guys out there
just waiting to waste that
godforsaken motherfucker?
And they'll get him!
Maybe not the first
time, maybe they'll miss.
Maybe not the third time or the 30th time
or the 150th time, but they'll get him.
And when they do, he'll be dead.
And if you're in the crossfire
Eleanor, you'll be dead too.
You know what dead means, Eleanor?
No more dreams, no more
smack, no more nothing.
And it won't mean a goddamn thing.
And no one will give a shit.
- Not even you?
(water running)
- Not even me.
- You should never take a
shower without your gun!
Even cops die.
(dramatic saxophone music)
(knocking)
(siren wailing)
- [Anthony] I been keeping you up?
I'm sorry.
I forget the time sometimes.
- Listen, asshole!
You wake me up one more time and you're
gonna have to learn to play the harp!
- [Anthony] It's a sax
and I was (mumbles).
- I'm gonna take a bulb and a cord
to that thing and turn it into a lamp.
Even Gerry Mulligan used
to sleep once in a while.
(off-key saxophone music)
(dog barking)
(guns firing)
(ominous atmosphere music)
- Downtown, lady.
Don't be scared.
My name's Anthony.
I just need a ride back.
I'm tired.
Downtown.
I need a ride downtown.
Lady.
- [Claire] Yeah, I heard you.
- I need a ride downtown.
- [Claire] I heard you.
(tires screeching)
- Hey take it easy!
Hey!
Lady, take it easy.
(funky saxophone music)
- What's that for?
- Something.
(mumbles).
Over here on the right.
Right up there.
Little bit further.
Right here.
Well you know, I've been
around here for a long time.
See, I work as sanitation in New Jersey.
Pay's good.
See, and this pistolero, well
I keep it on me on payday.
See, the way I look at it is that an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
And well, Beatrice.
Beatrice here, well she's my
.44 calibers of ounces of prevention.
Understand?
Gonna get back from here?
- [Claire] Back where?
- Wherever you were going.
- I don't know where I was going.
- Well if you ever need
directions, I live over there.
Thanks for the ride.
Oh yeah, lesson number two.
Keep your doors locked.
Lots of creeps in this town.
(distorted atmosphere music)
(slow romantic music)
The other day I was in the subway.
My sax was on my lap.
A woman sat opposite me.
She stared.
Then she said "You like jazz?"
Without realizing what I was saying I said
"Is that where everybody plays
"a different tune at the same time?"
(distorted atmosphere music)
(sirens wailing)
- [Cola] One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
2010.
- Cola!
Are you hungry?
Did you put your toys away?
- I may have.
And I had to play with them because
I was too tired to put them away.
I was.
- Do you wanna go to sleep?
- No, I just wanna play around a little.
- All right, why don't you go play
and I'll get you something to eat.
Go ahead.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(phone line disconnecting)
(siren wailing)
(phone ringing)
- Yeah?
- I've been trying to call you all day.
Where have you been?
- I've been here most of the day.
Vacuuming.
Plunging the toilet.
Watching the world turn on TV.
- You sound stoned, are you?
- Feeling pretty good.
How about you?
- You know me.
High on crime and feeling groovy.
Look, I gotta talk to you seriously.
- About what?
- Not now.
I'll be home soon.
- [Captain] Was that your wife
you're talking to, Langley?
- Yes.
- Sounds like a fine woman you got there.
How's the case coming?
- Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
- Listen Langley, it's getting serious.
I've been talking to the boys upstairs
and they've been putting the screws to me,
and that means I gotta
put the screws to you.
- Look, I got 12 men on this case.
12 fucking men.
Why don't you look out
the window, Captain?
Tell me what you see.
- All I see is this.
That psycho wastes another person,
the newspapers are gonna
be out for our heads.
That means the mayor's
gonna be out for our heads.
My head.
That means I'll be sent down to the morgue
and you'll be patting a
beat in the South Bronx.
- Is that a threat?
Is that what you really
see out there, Captain?
You know what I see?
I see a big city under pressure.
I see the big D right around the corner.
That's the depression
in case you didn't know.
You tell me to go and get
this guy and what have I got?
I got a computer vomiting
out all this garbage all day.
Profiles, data, information.
Nothing.
If I had half the man hours and money
that they put into that machine
it'd be a different story, but just 'cause
the mayor's nephew works for IBM
I have $30 million worth of garbage.
Oh come on!
It could be one of a
million guys out there.
But which one?
If I had anything to
go on, if I had a clue.
A thumbprint, a button, a
piece of cotton, anything.
You say go out and get the lucky number.
Well it's not that easy.
It's not a goddamn lottery,
it's gonna take a lot of time.
You can either get off my ass
or get on the case yourself.
- That's exactly what I had in mind.
How many more men do you need?
- As many as I can get.
- Okay, tonight you got five more men.
That's it.
- Really Captain?
Well that's terrific, that's gonna
make a lot of difference.
Agent Wood!
When's the last time you rode the subway?
- March.
'62.
- Aw geez, this prick
sure has something else
up his sleeve apart from his hairy arms.
(rhythmic xylophone music)
(phone ringing)
(rock music)
- Hi.
Yeah, that's me.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
All right.
Okay bye.
(phone falling)
(rock music)
(siren wailing)
(fingers snapping)
- Cola.
Mommy has to go away for a few days.
What are you gonna do while I'm away?
- Play.
In the house.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(tires screeching)
(slow romantic music)
(funky synthesizer music)
(slow romantic music)
(girls shrieking)
(glass shattering)
(chuckling)
- Want a beer?
Want a beer?
I just want a woman.
I want a woman like you.
(muttering)
♪ I just wanna love you ♪
- [Claire VO] Bobby.
Oh Bobby, what did you do to my life?
I'm so alone.
Talk to me, Bobby.
(dog barking)
- [Claire] I was looking for you.
- [Anthony] Most people come
in through the front door.
- [Claire] I remember you
told me that you lived here.
- [Anthony] Want a beer?
- [Claire] No.
You know, New York's a funny place.
I've been riding the subways a lot.
All the people down there seem like
they're really afraid of something.
You can see it in their eyes.
- I rarely ride the subways.
Unless I have to.
- You don't seem afraid.
- What's to fear?
- Being murdered.
- [Anthony] I'm not
afraid of being murdered.
- I know.
I know that the only people in this town
that aren't afraid are the
innocent and the guilty.
Take you.
You jump in my car.
I look at you.
You're nervous, but you're not afraid.
Take me.
I'm not afraid.
But then I'm naive.
Take you.
You're not naive.
You're guilty.
- Guilty?
You're nuts.
- [Claire] I am?
- Absolutely.
Where'd you escape from, lady?
Some mental institution or something?
- Oh I escaped.
Not from there.
You see I lived in this town once.
I was studying to become a doctor.
I thought that if a person was in trouble
another person could help them.
And now I'm trying to help myself.
Like physician heal thyself?
- That's funny.
- Don't believe it.
- Lady, I don't know if
it's the beer or the cold,
but you're off your rocker.
- Me, you.
All of us.
Everybody riding subways.
Waiting for stations.
When do you get off?
(ominous atmosphere music)
(horses neighing)
(fog horn blowing)
(elephants trumpeting)
(guns firing)
(classical music)
- Cup of coffee?
- [Waitress] Anything else?
- No, just a cup of coffee.
Is the bathroom back there?
(siren wailing)
- [Cop] Can I help you, miss?
- I was just about to ask you that.
- [Cop] Not tonight, I'm busy.
Would you mind moving on please?
(electronic pinball sound effects)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(purring)
(hissing)
- I always forget how to do it.
Wish I had a man in the house.
(mumbles) but, oh yeah.
(humming)
♪ Take the little needle ♪
♪ Put it in the water ♪
- Okay.
And then.
I hate cooking.
(giggling)
Hate cooking.
Fuck, I hate cooking.
(humming)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
♪ And then I take the liquid ♪
(humming)
(music intensifying)
(horses clomping)
(horses neighing)
- [Eleanor VO] Who's to say?
When we married I knew him.
Now I'm not so sure.
He's changed, that's all I can say.
I guess in a way he's like
a lot of cops who suffer and sweat.
Third-degreeing a lot of crooks.
I'm afraid for him.
He's gone off his rocker living with
the thoughts of my
infidelity and my addictions.
Funny, he used to be a human being.
He was warm and funny.
He actually used to have a sense of humor.
But it's all turned to ugliness.
Cynicism.
It's grotesque.
It's different and ugly.
He's blind and arrogant, flying
high above the rest of us.
Now the poisons of this
fucking city infect him.
He's coming down, he's falling.
Crashing and squirming
like a poisoned vulture.
Me, I don't care anymore.
I'm sick of it.
Sick of his sadism.
I'm sick of tough guys who
are terrible and unclear.
Pathetic little men who kill anything.
Destroy any little light.
Who look at love and laugh.
Who think that caring about anything
or anyone is a sign of weakness.
Well I'm not gonna break down because
it's not my problem anymore.
Yeah, sure, I'll go to the funeral.
When they tell me that his brain has been
blown into some gutter in
some corner of this town.
Sure, I'll be the cop's widow.
Dressed in black.
I'll play the role in that charade,
but all them tears have
been shed a long time ago.
- [Eleanor] Eight.
Seven.
Eight.
Seven, eight.
Eight...
Fuck.
(dialing phone)
Hi.
Pinky.
It's Ellie.
I need some.
Yes.
Can I come?
Don't be dirty.
(giggling)
Yes.
Okay.
Soon.
Thank you.
(electronic synthesizer music)
(reverberating atmosphere music)
(upbeat calypso music)
- [Musician] Ladies and
gentlemen, we unite!
It's not gonna repeat this afternoon!
You don't have to worry
about being murdered!
What I try to do with my music
is to make your trip as safe as possible.
- Can I help you?
- Yeah, no, I'm looking for somebody.
- Can I help you?
- No.
(foreign language radio broadcasting)
- Don't touch, you can't afford it!
- Can I touch you?
Here's money to touch you.
(laughing)
It's real!
It's real!
It's real money!
Real money!
It's real!
You bitch, it's real!
- You live here?
- [Claire] Yeah.
- Well then what are you doing?
- [Claire] Came to see a friend.
- Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
- [Claire] Maybe.
- You're a friend of the
sax player aren't you?
- [Claire] That's right.
I'm Claire, who are you?
- Name's Penelope.
- [Claire] Your friends call you Penny?
- Uh-uh.
Penelope.
- [Claire] Penelope?
- Yeah, Penelope.
Penelope Trasher.
- What happened to you?
I've been here over an hour.
- I had to talk to Joe after class.
Little words of wisdom
from the master, you know.
I'm in great need of a little inspiration.
I certainly haven't gotten
much from you lately.
- Yeah?
Much what?
- Much of anything.
And inspiration least of all.
What's happening with you anyway?
You getting ready to take a trip?
- No, not exactly.
- [Penelope] Well what exactly?
- [Susanna] I'm just getting
a little bored, that's all.
- That's it!
The guy's a saxophonist!
- [Captain] Saxophonist?
Saxophonist.
A sax player.
What's this about a sax player, Fritz?
- Good evening, dear Captain.
It's quite elementary.
There's been 11 murders in
the last three weeks right?
At six sites.
The witnesses said to the police that they
distinctly heard a saxophone playing.
I want every cop in the city to keep
his eyes open for a sax player.
- [Captain] You got the ball.
Run with it.
Go all the way.
- [Fritz] These (mumbles) right?
On Vice.
Cops at each.
There's a subway station.
You get it?
- Yeah, but it would be terrible
if you fumble so close to the goal line.
- Excuse me, El Capitan,
he's probably sitting
in the BMT right now
sizing up his next victim.
A looney sitting around
with a a saxophone,
a gun, and a pocketful of subway tokens.
Now the way I see it is this.
He finds a place that's deserted,
a park, something like
that, he starts playing
his saxophone, and maybe he's pretty good.
People come up to him, throw
two bits in a hat, whatever.
Just when they're close enough, blam.
Shoots them, right?
All our guys are trying to make their way
through town in the cars
and the traffic jams.
He's down in the subway.
For him it's just like putting
out sugar for the flies.
Soon as they get near
enough, he swats them.
- That's your theory Fritz?
- [Fritz] Yeah.
- Well.
I think it's about time you
took a leave of absence.
Fritz, you're nuts.
- Nuts is it?
Nuts?
Logic!
Logic and hard work!
Look, I'm pretty close to
this guy, maybe too close.
And I'm right.
- [Captain] Okay, let's say you are right.
- I am right, goddammit!
You bet your sweet ass I'm right!
- Okay, well let's put out an APB.
- Wrong again, El Capitano.
I thought of that.
You do that, he's just gonna
disappear underground for two weeks.
Every sax player in New
York's gonna be arrested
they're under suspicion,
except the guy we want.
No APB.
- What do you suggest?
- I suggest a 30 man detail,
24 hours, watching the subway.
Three shifts, that's 10 men a shift.
It'd be better with 300, mind you.
100 men a shift.
- The commissioner would never ship it.
- Okay, 30 men, 48 hours.
- It's a big gamble, but
we're running out of time.
I'll give you the men.
If this doesn't work,
I'm going to the top.
(door slamming)
- Elle?
Eleanor?
Elle?
Eleanor?
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(glass shattering)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
- I remember.
I remember.
The boys.
Going by my house.
With me upstairs, with my hand in myself.
My mother in the bathroom
with rubber gloves on.
My father at his desk,
scratching his head with a gun.
Blow us.
Blow us, cried the boys.
Save me, said my mom.
Watch me.
Then my dad said goodbye with his gun.
And me upstairs with my hand in myself.
Feeling everything.
Everything.
Everything, it's gotta be just everything.
(electronic pinball sound effects)
- [Shane] Hi Fritz.
- [Fritz] How you doing Shane?
- [Shane] Same as usual?
- [Fritz] You got it.
What's happening?
What happened to your car?
- [Shane] Bloody thing,
supposed to pick it up today.
Still haven't done it right.
Water, soda?
- [Fritz] Soda.
- [Shane] How's the case coming along?
- [Fritz] Well I'll be honest
with you, at the moment
(mumbles) guy I was two
years ago, you know?
- [Shane] Still having those problems huh?
- [Fritz] Yeah.
I try not to think about it,
but it gets on top of you.
- That's what we're here for.
Trying to get (mumbles)
serve it every time.
- [Fritz] Want me to tell you
my wife doesn't understand?
We've known each other too long for that.
(soft romantic music)
(dramatic saxophone music)
- [Penelope VO] Never love
a wild thing, Mr. Bell.
That was Doc's mistake.
He was always loving the wild things.
A hawk with a hurt wing.
One time it was a full grown
bobcat with a broken leg.
But you can't give your
heart to a wild thing.
The more you do, the stronger they get.
Until they're strong enough
to run into the woods.
Or fly into a tree.
Then a taller tree.
Then the sky.
And that's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell,
if you let yourself love a wild thing.
You'll end up looking at the sky.
Good luck.
And believe me, dearest Doc, it's better
to look at the sky than live there.
Such an empty place.
So big.
Just a country where the thunder goes.
And things disappear.
(slow romantic music)
- [Susanna] Why do you always make a fuss
when the guy downstairs plays his sax?
- Oh I don't know.
It bothers me.
- [Susanna] Well I like it.
He plays well.
- The truth is I think so too.
It's just a game we play.
In this city you can't give an inch.
If you go into a restaurant
and you order tea,
and the waiter brings you coffee,
you just have to make a fuss.
You can't ever let yourself be easy.
- [Susanna] There's a subtle difference
between being hard and being a bitch.
- Yeah, that's what they call me.
A bitch in heat.
(phone ringing)
Oh hi Doc.
I'm gonna play Holly Golightly
in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
They're remaking it for TV.
No, no more porno for me.
Yeah, I'm really excited.
She was an incredible character.
She knew how to be gay even when she was
miserable and that's really important.
Okay.
Bye bye.
- [Susanna] So long, Trash.
When the door closes behind
me remember I loved you.
But you love yourself even more.
And I'm the jealous type.
(glass shattering)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
- Why if it isn't the lovely Claire.
Never did get your last name, honey.
- Smith.
- Smith.
Well isn't that interesting.
Claire Smith.
- Your friend left in quite a hurry.
- Oh everybody's in a hurry.
Everybody who's anything in this town
is always in a hurry, darling.
And that includes me.
Well bye, Claire.
Claire Smith.
(chuckling)
- He was paroled in October '73.
Kennedy, Parker, and
Allen were each sentenced
to 99 years at the Tennessee State Prison,
where they subsequently
escaped May 12th '74
during a picnic in the prison grounds.
Yeah, yeah, a picnic.
Terrific huh?
All subjects are believed
to be in the New York area
and are well known jazz enthusiasts
who prefer after hours establishments.
Who doesn't, right?
A reward is offered for
information, et cetera et cetera.
You got that?
Yeah, see you Saturday.
Bye.
(typewriter clicking)
(distant saxophone music)
- [Claire] Door's open.
Don't you ever lock your door?
Aren't you afraid your
saxophone's gonna get stolen?
- No.
- [Claire] What about your gun?
- [Anthony] I always have it on me.
- [Claire] Why don't you play something?
- [Anthony] I can't.
- [Claire] I saw her go out.
- [Anthony] Who?
- [Claire] I'm sure I saw her go out,
I passed her on the way in.
Penelope Trasher.
I know who she is.
Why don't you play something for me?
(loud stomping)
- I was thinking about what
you said the other day.
(dramatic atmosphere music)
Oh god.
Were you really gonna be a doctor?
- Yeah.
I was always pretty good in school.
I guess you could say
that I knew how to learn.
I grew up with my aunt.
My mother died when I was four
and I never knew my father.
He died when I was about three months old.
Plane crash.
Anyway, I always wanted to be a doctor.
I never thought about specializing.
After high school I came to New York
'cause I got a scholarship from Columbia.
I never really liked the city.
I never really could get comfortable.
Things went pretty well until I met Bobby.
Bobby was my first love.
Robert Lincoln Custard.
We went together in high school,
then I left and he stayed in New Jersey.
Back then he was a simple guy,
tough but sweet, and I was much
brighter and it kinda bugged him.
He was a truck mechanic and
I was gonna be a doctor.
He'd come into the city once
or twice a week to see me.
We always had a good
time, I liked him I guess.
Because he had this knack for living.
He was so unlike the other students
and the teachers I was
with, he became an escape
for me, nostalgia back
to days of high school
and driving around in his car all night.
Cars.
They were his toys and his escape.
One night we parked by the seashore.
We already made love three or four
times and I was getting dressed.
I had a 10 o'clock class.
He asked me to marry him.
At first I just laughed,
I never wanted to marry.
But he persisted.
About three months later I
found out that I was pregnant.
I could understand.
How women wanted abortions.
Bobby.
He was raised a Catholic and
he didn't believe in abortion.
I said well if you don't believe
in abortions then you have the baby.
He got down on his knees and
begged me to have the child.
A month later I married
him at St Luke's Church.
Teaneck, New Jersey.
I got married in a white
dress that his sister made.
The rest was all downhill.
He was willing to (mumbles) vacation.
Seemed like a vacation, our honeymoon.
We spent six days in a hotel
room in the rain watching TV.
We went to Disney World once.
And then we came back and
got a shitty little house.
I started to commute to
school, but it didn't work out.
Bobby's mom took care of Cola-Marie
and she got sick, so it
was either Bobby or me.
Bobby had the job.
Cola-Marie had to eat.
So I quit school.
It's a funny thing when you
lose interest in a dream.
You kinda lose interest in everything.
Sometimes kids really understand
the essence of things.
You know, just before I came to New York,
I went for a ride with
Cola-Marie in the country.
And it was at night.
We stopped the car.
We got out and sat on the hood.
And we looked up at the sky.
And the stars.
And she said to me in that little voice.
"Mommy, how many stars are there?
"A zillion?"
And I said.
There's as many stars
as there are people.
And that everybody has a special star.
And if they're ever
lost, all they had to do
was look up and find
that star and follow it.
And in that they'd find morning.
(siren wailing)
It's gonna be difficult now.
(mumbles).
- Aren't you scared to be in New York?
- I'm in the apartment with a man
that the newspapers call psycho killer
and you're asking me if I'm scared?
- I'm not a psycho killer, lady.
- But you're a killer.
Just answer me one question.
Why'd you do it?
Why?
- She made me do it.
See that?
I have to go out there, play,
(mumbles) out my own house.
That's what made me do it.
- Yeah, but...
How'd you go up to people that you
would've never ever met...
With a gun, and just
kill them in cold blood?
I mean what'd they ever do to you?
If it's really her, you could just move.
- Where?
Where would I move?
- Anywhere.
Anyplace.
Because you see, when they catch you,
and they will catch you...
You're gonna suffer.
(phone ringing)
Then you're really gonna suffer.
- I just wanna play my sax.
She won't let me.
My mother was like that.
I'd come home from school,
I'd put on some records.
She'd come up to my room and
turn the record player off.
Then she'd tell me to go outside.
"Anthony, go out and play.
"Anthony, go out in the yard."
Anthony, go out.
Anthony go out, Anthony go out.
She drove me out of the house.
- Have you ever been happy?
- Well.
I don't know.
Maybe.
Maybe once.
When my family came over
from Italy on a boat.
That was fun.
The sea and the ship.
The freedom.
The clear, straight line of the horizon.
The peacefulness.
The moon on the water.
The smell and the wind.
I was happy there.
Okay, I gotta go.
You gotta go.
You can stay if you wanna stay.
I gotta go, okay?
(dramatic atmosphere music)
(siren wailing)
- Yeah.
Yeah, he hit again in Chinatown.
Three bodies.
Same method, same numbers.
Yeah yeah yeah.
Sax music, suddenly there's two corpses,
suddenly something ain't right.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll find him.
Okay.
(classical music)
(siren wailing)
You see a guy going up
here with a sax case?
- [Homeless Man] Nah.
- See you tomorrow.
- [Fritz] Seen a guy
carrying a saxophone case?
- [Citizen] Yeah, he went down there.
(siren wailing)
(ominous atmosphere music)
(funky suspenseful atmosphere music)
(dog barking)
(siren wailing)
(guns firing)
- [Anthony] Not so wise
now are you, smart ass?
(guns firing)
(groaning)
(siren wailing)
(coughing)
Where are we?
(dramatic atmosphere music)
The rider?
Where are we going?
(Anthony groaning)
It hurts, it hurts.
It hurts.
(sirens wailing)
- [Claire] Come on.
No, no.
(Anthony groaning)
(coughing)
- [Anthony] All I can think about is...
- [Claire] I have a friend that
can get you off the island.
But you don't have time.
(mumbles) I have to get you out of here.
I can get you out of here.
My friend's gonna help.
You gotta come with me.
You've gotta trust me.
- [Anthony] What is this place?
(dramatic synthesizer music)
(helicopter whirring)
(dramatic atmosphere music)
Too many demons.
Just too many demons.
(heart beating)