Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): Season 5, Episode 37 - Escape to Sonoita - full transcript

Bill and Andy Davis are driving an old tanker truck across the desert when, 85 miles from their destination, they truck develops engine problems. A passing car gets stuck in the sand and it turns out the occupants have kidnapped a young woman in Phoenix and are on the run with the $100,000 ransom they've collected. They decide to take the truck to continue their escape but fight over the limited water available. One kidnapper shoots the other, but he eventually dies of thirst. Turns out he was much closer to water than he thought.

Good evening.

Television has done much to raise the
level of weather prognostication.

The addition of the weather girl
has not improved the predictions,

but she does make the
mistake more enjoyable.

Those of you
in the North-East sector...

Can expect the weather
to continue.

I must warn those
of you in the West

that there is a cloud
on your horizon.

So, if this is a rain cloud,

you can expect rain, perhaps.

(STEAM HISSING)



You should've got that radiator fixed
before we started for Hell's Basin.

That old engine is ready to burn up.
That's why I'm gonna stop.

We'd be lucky if them pistons
haven't swelled up and locked.

They won't, not if
we take it easy.

Of all the crummy places to get stuck in,
Hell's Basin sure would be the worst.

Sure wish there was a patch of shade to stop her in.
She'd cool down a lot faster.

Sure, sure. How about a canopy from
the Biltmore, or something, huh?

There's a lot of shade out
here in this stinking desert?

No use heatin' yourself up
more, just 'cause you're here.

We've only got 85
more miles to go.

And the last 50 is enough to tear
the guts out of a bulldozer.

I somehow get the idea,
Bill, you don't like it.

Oh, I love it.

I love it out here.



Balmy breezes, beautiful cactus.
I love it. It's just...

Thanks.

That help any?
A little, not much.

As long as we gotta
stop to cool the truck off,

we might as well
cool ourselves off too.

How do you stand it? Lousy weather,
this miserable equipment...

It's my job.

As long as I can remember.

Well, another thing. How could
you let that chiseling Max Bell

stick you with this lousy
piece of equipment?

It's the best I could afford.

Well, ain't you gonna paint it,
ain't you gonna cover up that sign?

Oh, I'll get around to it.
No hurry.

Sure shows you ain't no,
you ain't no businessman.

You go around advertising for Max Bell
and he don't pay you a nickel for it.

And it ain't worth
a nickel either.

It don't matter to the Gilas, or
the sand fleas what it reads.

Well, it sure don't matter to some fool
out here scratching around for a living

in this overheated sandbox.

All you do is haul their loads
back and forth, back...

You want more, more water?

You want me to fill up a swimming
pool for you to cool off in?

Why not? You got a big
enough beach out here for it.

She's still pretty hot.

I guess we'll have
to wait a while longer.

Unless you wanna walk back
50 miles to the highway?

More like 25. We've been
rolling kinda slow.

She couldn't do 10 miles
right now, but...

Couple of hours, taking it
easy, she'll do all right.

Yeah, sure.

Sure.

Stop and water her all the
way back to town, huh?

Right.

And if you don't like it, when you get
back, you can draw your time and quit.

I won't hold no hard feelings.

All right, as long as you
keep bringing it up, I will.

Ajax needs a driver on the
Phoenix to Denver run.

Starting when?

Monday.

It's a steady job.

Good pay, good highway.

Looks like dust back
there on the road.

Yeah, dust. So what?

I mean dust in the air
like a car traveling.

They're really moving.

They're too fast
on this kinda stuff.

Must be tourists. Got lost.

BILL: They'd better slow down.

You all right, mister? Yeah, I'm all right.
But I didn't see no stop light.

How about your buddy?

Hey, is that your truck?

ANDY: Yeah. What's the big idea
parking it in the middle of the road?

Shut up, Lemon. You hit that
rock like you was aimin' at it.

Yeah. But there ain't no sign saying he
should park it in the middle of the road.

I'll check your car. Yeah, in a minute.
But, first, you got any water?

Over there on the running board.
You got lost, huh?

Well, let's put it
this way, Pops.

I know where I was, but I
don't know where I am.

Yeah. You see, we're supposed to take a shortcut...
Go count your buttons.

I sure could use
some of that water.

Help yourself.

There was a sign back there where
you turned off the highway

warning there wasn't any
water for 100 miles.

Didn't you see it?

Sign? (LAUGHS)

He can't read.

Well, that ain't so.
I'll check your heap.

The wheel's sure gone.

Drive shaft's broken.

ANDY: Who is this?

It's a friend of ours.

Lemon's fiancee, sort of.

You in the habit of taping
up your friends, mister?

MARSH: No, I'm not.
But Lemon is.

His joke.

He don't like the feel of her finger
nails in his hide. Do you, Lemon?

Aw, the dame bugs me.

She needs water.

She's in bad shape.

Take it easy, now.

Yeah.

She's worked up quite a thirst.

She was all right when we
left Phoenix this morning.

(LEMON LAUGHING)

You mean to say she hasn't had
a drink of water since then?

That's what I mean to say.

(LAUGHS)

Now, as the saying goes...

It's my turn now for
a little aqua.

Ain't she got pretty hair? Real pretty hair.
MARSH: Lemon!

Rest is for you.

Hey, Marsh, you
drunk it all up.

There's another bag
there on the front fender.

Take it easy, miss. You've got to help me.
Those men...

You're Stephanie
Thomas, aren't you?

Those are the men who kidnapped you.
I heard it on the radio.

MARSH: Good for you, Pops.

Now either of you guys
want to be heroes?

(BOTH LAUGHING)

That's enough.

Now go see if
you can fix the car.

Why don't you let this girl go? You got the money.
A hundred thousand dollars.

As the saying goes, Pops,
money ain't everything.

She'll come in handy if we have
to run another road block.

There ain't no road
blocks in the desert.

Okay. Okay.

Well, let's just say, Lemon likes her, huh?
Now, stop with the questions.

How far to the border, Pops?

About ninety, I reckon. Straight
across, far side of this basin.

How far back to the main road
where we turned off?

50 miles, a mite more.

Some water, please.

Drive shaft's busted, Marsh.
We can't fix it.

Please, can I have
some more water?

Lemon! Sure, you don't
need her for a hostage

so don't give her any...
Shut up!

I gotta think this thing out.

No chance of fixing
the car, huh?

You got a better chance
getting Edgar Hoover's job.

(LAUGHS) All right, all right.

Go get our stuff out of the car.
Can I have some more water?

I'm very thirsty. You are, kid?

Would you like me to
give you a drink of water?

(GASPS)

(BOTH LAUGHING)

You want another drink?
Just one little drink, huh?

C'mon, just one little drink?

You try that again, lover boy,
and you'll be just a relic.

Don't do me no favors, Marsh.
Let me do... (SCREAMS)

Lemon! Let me do it.

MARSH: Hold it.

How many shells you got left?
Huh?

Two. Why?

I just remembered.
I got my last one up.

But don't get ideas.
Three is all we need.

You touch that bag, and I'll
drop you right where you are.

For that bag of water? ANDY:
Sure, he'd kill for that bag.

It's the only water there is.

Hey, lover boy.

You still want to be
a hero with the doll?

Maybe she'll settle for a nice sweet
little kiss instead of a drink.

Huh, man?

Now you're talking. Shut up.

Let lover boy do it.
He'll show you how.

Go ahead, lover boy.

Now, wait a minute,
Marsh, you told me...

You had your chance
and you couldn't make it.

Now let's watch Sir Galahad.

I'm doing you a favor.

Don't you appreciate it?

Lemon does. Show him
what I mean, Lemon.

Hold it.

You don't want Lemon to
get into the act, do you?

Well, do you?

Marsh, please don't let him.

(SIZZLING) (LEMON SCREAMS)

(MARSH LAUGHING)

I can smell that sizzling
steak from here.

You asked for it. But you promised me, Marsh.
You promised me, you promised.

Forget the dame. We've got
more important business.

Can you still drive? Yeah.

You can drive this truck?

There ain't no rig
I can't drive.

Okay. Then get the green stuff
out of the car and let's roll.

Where does this road
hit the border, Pops?

That sign you missed, warning about
water, pointed this way to Sonoita.

What's between here and there?

Just what you see ahead there.

And an Indian village about
40 miles off to the right.

Any water between here
and the border?

Didn't I just tell you?

Not a drop till you get to Sonoita,
that's 10 miles other side of the border.

But there's plenty
of water there.

Can this truck
of yours make it?

You treat her right, she'll make it.
Always has.

You're going to leave us here to die?
I reckon you will.

He'd have killed the girl
at the border anyway.

You guys wanted to have me let the
girl go and that's what I'm doing.

Hey, Marsh, let's trade this rig
in for a car, huh? Who cares?

Yeah, who cares?

With fifty grand
a piece who needs it?

C'mon, let's burn 'em and
get out of here. Shut up.

I gotta do some figuring.

How far could you make it, Pops?
The three of you.

In this heat without water,
we'd be dead in five miles.

You couldn't walk out, huh?

Nobody in this country ever made 10
miles on foot if his water was gone.

We'd be better off
if you shot us. Quick.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right, Marsh.
Why ditch 'em out here?

Listen, you dope. I gotta do
the thinking for both of us.

We got three shots left.

We waste 'em on these jerks, what
happens if we run into the law?

We buy some more. Not
till we get to a town.

And maybe what happens
before we get there?

Yeah, yeah. I guess you gotta
figure all the angles, huh.

It's 50 miles back to the highway,
90 miles straight ahead to Sonoita.

They can't make it.

You mean you're going to
leave us here to die?

To bake alive?

Sure.

Sure.

But with your hero, sweetheart.

I guess Pops here can
tell you all about it.

How you die of thirst.
LEMON: Yeah.

I hear your tongue
swells up real big

like a ripe banana.

(LAUGHS)

It ain't pretty, but there's no
need to talk about it, either.

Oh, I think I'm
going to like it.

When I hit that
first bar at Sonoita.

I'll remember all of
you with pleasure.

Now, get this junk
started, Lemon.

Three of you, start walking

out there toward the car,
where I can see you.

Go ahead.

Leastways, they're gone.

They're gone, so what?
We're still here.

Why did they have to
leave us here like this?

Why couldn't they
have killed us?

Now, now. Don't go
getting yourself upset.

Main reason was, I suppose,
because I lied to 'em.

We'll make it out all right.
Without water?

There's not even a barrel
cactus within miles.

You said you lied to them.

What did you say?

I told 'em it was better than
50 miles back to the highway.

It's only about 25.

What difference does that make? We
still can't go anywhere without water.

Well, the way I figure,

there's probably four or five gallons
of water in the radiator of this car.

Can we... Can we drink it?

Well, maybe it won't
taste very good,

but after a while, the rust
settles out and it ain't too bad.

It's hot. Complaining already?

It'll cool off enough to drink
by the time we need it.

After it's dark and cool,
I'll walk out and get help.

But 25 miles,
that's a long way.

Those high-heeled shoes of yours
wasn't designed for hiking,

but I've made it before.

Any hiking to be done, I'll
be the one that does it...

I know this country
better than you do.

Just 'cause you're getting
old is no sign to get mean.

Besides, I probably won't
have to walk it all the way.

Not when you can see a signal fire
for a hundred miles in this country.

A signal fire? What's
going to burn out here?

There's gas in this tank.

Soak those seat cushions, they'll
burn real bright for a long time.

Well, if I'm going, I better get
something to carry the water in.

(AIR HISSING)

You had this all
planned, didn't you? No.

Like Bill says, I ain't
much of a businessman.

I ain't so good at planning.

Some things I know and
some things I don't.

I just didn't want none of us to
get killed over that water bag.

This inner tube'll hold about
three quarts of water.

That's what I call
real good planning.

I never would've
thought of it myself.

It's about time.

Yes, I guess it is.

I figure I can average about
two miles an hour walking.

Should put me out
in about twelve hours.

Well, that ought to
about do it.

Everything ready for the fire?

I doused it all with gasoline.

Well, let's get it started.

They'll be able to see that blaze
all the way to San Fran...

Dad?

Dad?

Dad, come back!

Dad?

What's wrong?

Where's your father gone?

He's an old man. He shouldn't
try to make it. Please,

don't leave me.

That old desert camel.

A bullet right
through the head.

That means there's only
two bullets left.

Marsh must have
taken Lemon's gun.

ANDY: Let's get after him. What makes
you certain he didn't reach Sonoita?

That punk was too anxious about water
to use any of it in the truck.

All right. Let's go on
a few more miles.

The deep sand will get him. That's where
the engine would start to heat up fast.

It was headquarters. The girl's
in the hospital and she's okay.

Tell them to send an ambulance.

Hey there. You in the truck. Throw
your guns out and get down.

He must have abandoned
the truck.

The water bag's gone.

Roy, you look down the culvert over
there, I'll go up the other side.

(ENGINE STALLING)

(SIGHS) She's seized solid.

Well, all we need is a new engine,
Dad, and we'll be back in business.

Hey, Roy, over here.

Empty.

Oh, Roy, you call
headquarters, will you?

I'm gonna have it repainted.

White and blue.

Andy Davis & Son.

Water Contractors.

3,000 gallons of water
right behind them.

And they kill each other
over a couple of quarts.

The weather in the Sonoita
area continues fair.

Very fair.

Now, in the central portion,
there's a low pressure area.

Which leads me to predict
high-velocity winds in the Southeast.

And cloud formations
in the East-Central section.

Goodnight, until next time.