Mannix (1967–1975): Season 2, Episode 19 - End Game - full transcript
Mannix gets an urgent call from the police. Lt. Art Malcolm, Mannix's friend who also served with the detective during the Korean War, is being held hostage in an abandoned building. The police are unable to enter the structure, which is filled with explosive booby traps. The man behind Malcom's abduction served in the same outfit as Mannix and Malcom. The man was left behind when a group of G.I.'s escaped from a Korean prison camp. He has been revenging himself on the escapees and now only Mannix and Malcom are left alive.
(siren blares)
(siren wailing)
OFFICER (over megaphone): You
bomb squad men, take cover quickly!
Three men to the south
side of the building!
On the double and take cover!
Joe Mannix.
Oh, yes, sir. Captain's
been expecting you.
You better leave the car here.
(siren wails in distance)
Captain?
What do you got, Captain?
I'll tell you what I've got.
Two of my bomb squad boys
are on their way to
Central Receiving,
that's what I've got.
We tried getting in, but
that place is a minefield.
What about Art Malcolm?
Still in there, with
a gun at his head.
Unless that maniac's
pulled the trigger.
The guy wants to
see you, Mannix.
Why me?
I don't know why you.
But Art told us
the guy'd let you in.
Where is he? What
floor, what room?
No idea.
I just walk in there
and an usher will
show me to my seat, huh?
Without your gun.
Use the front door, Mannix.
Everything else
is booby-trapped.
Good luck.
(indistinct background
radio communication)
Mannix coming in.
(footsteps echoing)
MAN (over
walkie-talkie): Mannix!
Over here.
The elevators.
The third elevator.
Fourth floor, room 416.
(whirring)
(theme music playing)
♪ ♪
(siren blares)
MAN (over speaker):
Mannix, the walkie-talkie.
Take it with you.
You'll need it.
416's dead ahead, Joe.
Oh, uh, don't tread
on the dust sheet.
Under the ladder.
(handle clicks)
(siren wails in distance)
(siren stops)
MAN (over radio): Grab a seat.
I'll be there in a sec.
Who are you?
Where's Art Malcolm?
He's here.
Where's "here"?
In the building.
MANNIX: Who is this?
You see the tape recorder?
Yeah.
Turn it on.
Switch is on the right.
WOMAN: Captain
Griswold's office.
Art Malcolm, Captain, please.
He's on another line, Sergeant.
This is Code Three, Margaret.
GRISWOLD: What
have you got, Art?
I've got a .45 automatic
in my right ear, Skipper.
I'm being held in the
old Capricorn Building,
Larchmont and Sixth.
Give me what you can.
The guy with the gun
wants to see Joe Mannix.
Mannix? What for?
Can't go into that.
But give it to him straight.
It doesn't look good.
This is a guy Mannix and I know
from a long time back.
He tells me he's
already killed four men.
And I believe him, Skipper.
Are there any other
people in that building?
Negative, the building's
being remodeled.
This is police business, Art.
Is there any way to handle this
without pulling Mannix into it?
No chance.
Okay. I'll call Mannix myself.
Then we'll throw everything
we've got around that building.
One more thing, Skipper.
Mannix has to come in
through the front door.
No gun and alone.
Tell him I personally
think it's a lousy idea.
He should stay in bed.
All right, let's
knock off the games.
Where's Art Malcolm?
Malcolm'll keep.
Hey, you see the photo?
It's in the other room.
MAN (over walkie-talkie):
Take a closer look.
Yeah, I see it.
Go on.
(man laughs)
Hey, relax, Joe.
These rooms are clean.
They're my living
room and office.
All right, I want to see Malcolm
and I want to know
who I'm talking to.
Malcolm'll keep.
You got to be kidding!
You're looking at
our graduation picture
and you don't know who this is?!
Shame, Joe, shame.
All those weeks in basic,
in paratroop and ranger school,
and underwater demo
and survival training,
and you don't dig?
No, I don't.
Three months of combat
behind the gook lines,
16 firefights,
ten months in that
Chinese squeeze...
Let's see,
what was the name
of that P.O.W. place?
Changju.
Yeah, Changju.
The North Korean Boys' Town.
I thought maybe you'd
forgotten Changju.
No, I haven't forgotten.
Neither have I, buddy.
Okay, Joe, roll call.
Pick up the pencil and
start checkin' 'em off.
First man, first
row. Jamal, right?
Yeah, Turk got it at Hamgyong.
So cross him off.
Art Malcolm.
We both know I'm not Malcolm,
so go to Cobber Jackson.
Changju.
They nailed him going
over the wall in the escape.
Scratch him.
Move up one.
And there he is, second
row, right... Joe Mannix.
And we both know
I'm not good old Joe,
so that brings us to Stavros.
MANNIX: That tank chopped him
down when we crossed the river.
And good old Joe got the tank,
and the Silver Star.
So scrub Stavros.
Zaleski.
Pass Frankie for now.
Whitehead.
Derek Whitehead.
Chinese never brought
him back from interrogation.
Scratch him.
Top row, on the right.
Saba.
Skip him for now.
Pass on Harris, too.
Go to Radford.
Minefield.
Then Keller.
Gus Keller.
Leavenworth, life sentence.
Skip Keller. Next.
You're for sure not Kim Yung.
Well, 86 him anyhow.
He got very careless one
night about a month ago.
Somebody left a knife in him.
How do you know?
I just know.
Hey, what do you
hear about Harris?
Lives in Canada. Not anymore.
Somebody wired his car.
Blew the roof off the garage.
(laughs): A real
mess... And Saba?
That was kind of too bad.
He got himself
shot, .45 automatic.
Addis Ababa, you
ever been there?
You beginning to get
the hang of it now, Joe?
And what happened
to Frank Zaleski?
You remember those wire
gizmos with the wood handles?
The stranglers?
You make a loop and
drop it over a guy's neck.
You know what I mean, Joe.
Well, it seems Frankie was
living in Cleveland and, uh...
I get the picture, Gus.
How did you get out
of Leavenworth, Keller?
Good behavior, Joe.
What did you do to Art Malcolm?
Joe...
why don't you take
a little look around?
But, uh, buddy,
be real careful from here on in.
Don't touch a phone.
Don't open a window.
Don't walk unless
I say it's okay.
Okay?
You know what anti-personnel
mines do to a guy.
And keep the walkie-talkie
with you, chum.
I'd hate to lose touch.
Joe!
You see the double doors?
Yeah, I see them.
Well, go through them.
It's all right, Joe.
He's not wired.
No booby traps.
(laughing maniacally
over P.A. speaker system)
Hey, you thought it was Art?
That isn't Art.
(whispering): Art's over here.
Hey.
(laughing)
Hey, Joe.
Over here.
Last of the headhunters.
Well, after 16
years... here we are.
Last of the old combined forces
combat team A.
Gus Keller and Joe Mannix...
the creep who went
over the wall at Changju
and left his buddy to
take the bamboo shaft.
You ready to die, Joe?
(cocks gun)
(click)
(cocks gun)
Remember what the
sergeant said, Joe...
Never keep a shell
in the chamber.
All right, hands on
the stairs, feet back
and wide, just like on TV.
Where's Art Malcolm?
Is he still alive?
Oh, we'll get around
to him, pretty soon.
Stand up.
Hey, you seem kind of
surprised to see me, Joe.
I wouldn't be if I were you.
It's not a pleasure I
was looking forward to.
Oh, come on now, you
knew it had to happen.
A soldier doesn't desert a
buddy in a gook P.O.W. camp
and not expect to
pay for it someday.
Well, Joe...
this is your day.
In a way, you're kind
of lucky, you know?
You might've had it really bad,
like I did, in Changju.
We all had it tough, Keller,
and don't you forget it.
Except you... Nothing!
You got nothing compared
to what they did to me
when you guys broke out!
You and Malcolm
and Radford and
the rest of you guys.
You planned that
bust-out for weeks.
You tunneled under that wall
and you blew the main
barricade and you got out.
You made it clean
and I stayed, Joe.
You guys figured that
breakout for weeks.
Weeks!
All of you!
And you didn't say
word one to me.
The Chinese think you
double-crossed them.
What do you think?
If we'd have let you
in on it, you'd have
blown the whistle
on us in two seconds,
just like you did at
least twice before.
That's a lie, Joe!
And for a pack of
cigarettes, probably.
That's a lie!
Okay, okay, you tell...
you tell me what happened
to Derek Whitehead.
How should I know?
You turned him in.
I swiped those wire cutters
and slipped them to Whitehead.
And Whitehead hid 'em
under the boards near his bunk.
Our unit was the only ones
that knew that... eight of us.
The next morning, that
Chinese major walked in,
right to the spot, and
picked up those wire cutters.
You know what they did to
Whitehead in interrogation.
Why blame me?
Who was the only man that
went out to sick call that night?
The only man out of our
outfit that left that cell?
It all came out in
that court-martial.
Or don't you remember
that, either, Gus?
Well, they just happened
to believe you instead of me.
Yeah, they believed me.
And five others.
Well, now there ain't
five other guys, Joe.
There's just you and there's me.
And it's your word against mine.
My word and Art Malcolm's.
And pretty soon, it's
just gonna be my word.
You know, you gave me a
long time to think about it, Joe,
and I'm gonna give you
a little bit of the same.
I finally got out of
Changju... finally.
And then I got rapped
with Leavenworth,
because of you...
Because of what you said
at that trial.
And what those others said.
That's why you killed four men.
Four... so far.
All witnesses against me, Joe.
When I walk out
of here, I'm clean.
No chance!
Not as long as there's a record
of that court-martial
anywhere on this earth.
(siren wailing in distance)
Even if you kill me...
what are you gonna do
about the others... out there?
Changju all over
again, isn't it, Joe?
Searchlights...
the bare walls...
guys with guns... the pressure.
Oh, the pressure.
You made it, Joe...
You busted out of Changju.
How about it?
You think you can
get out of here alive?
I'm gonna try, Gus.
I'm gonna sure try.
Good.
I figured you would.
You go ahead and try, Joe.
But this time, the
deck's stacked...
Against you, just
like it was against me
in that Korean rat trap.
All right, we're gonna
take a little walk.
We've got to send a
note down to Art's boss.
Hey, Joe... Hm?
Got your walkie-talkie?
Yeah. Good.
Don't lose it.
We might get separated.
Hold it!
What do you want to do?
Get us both blown to bits?
Look under it.
You're rusty, Joe.
Turn left.
Under the ladder.
It's mined.
In there.
It's clean.
Write.
Just like the man said.
Dear cops... Sergeant Malcolm
and his pal from
Private Eyesville...
are dead.
Is Art dead?
Just do what I tell you.
Do it yourself.
(cocks gun)
I don't want to
write it myself, Joe.
I don't want it in
my handwriting.
You can understand that.
They don't know who I am.
Are... dead.
Sign it... A Friend.
Empty your
pockets... On the table.
Fold the note,
stick it in the lighter.
Toss it here... easy.
(gunshot)
(snickering)
That was for them... outside.
I really got their
attention, you know.
Get Captain Griswold.
You're wanted around the
other side of the building, sir.
What good is it gonna do you
if Griswold thinks
Art and I are dead?
Later, Joe.
Something came out
of that window, Captain.
It landed over there.
Bomb Squad!
GRISWOLD: Return that fire!
I want a gas grenade
in that window.
(coughing)
(coughing): I really think
we got their attention, Joe.
Come on, this way.
Remember how those
interrogators used to muscle us
to try to get us to
sign that poison gas
and germ warfare garbage?
Don't touch the ladder, Joe.
Well, they ought
to talk to the LAPD.
Come on, this way.
Gus.
Did you ever sign one
of those confessions?
What do you think I am, Mannix?
(coughing): I was just wondering
why it was you always had
cigarettes and when we didn't.
How it was you
never had any marks
when you came back
from interrogation,
like the rest of us?
I took my lumps, same
as everybody else.
Yeah, for the first
couple of weeks.
Then it was smokes and beer
all the rest of the
way for you, wasn't it?
I told them stuff they would
have found out anyway.
Yeah...
like where Derek Whitehead
hid those wire cutters.
Oh, we're back to that again.
What's the game, Keller?
It's called "Kill Joe Mannix."
Okay.
You better explain
the rules to me, Gus.
It's very simple, Joe...
One of the guys on your
team got himself trapped,
and you've got to get him out.
That's what you come
here for, isn't it, Joe?
To spring old Art Malcolm?
Well, buddy, if you want
to get to good old Art,
you're gonna have to
run an obstacle course.
And you're gonna have
to run it against the clock.
0300... That's when
the game is over.
Where is he, Gus?
That's for you to find out, Joe.
Get back.
That's part of the game.
One thing: the cops
think you're dead now,
so they'll be shooting at
anything that moves, huh?
So, if I were you, Joe,
I wouldn't try for a...
a window or try
to get to a door,
unless you want the
cops to do my job for me.
All right, get around there.
Another thing, Joe...
Keeps you from
telling them who I am.
Like yelling out a
window or anything.
They'll find out who you are.
(chuckling)
That's just the
point... They won't.
That's why the gloves.
Oh...
that's why I'm burning
the picture and the tapes.
It's why I didn't
talk on the phone
to the cops earlier.
It's why I didn't
write the note.
I'm not gonna get caught, Joe.
They got nothing to connect me.
They've got maybe 100
men surrounding this building.
They got guns,
grenade launchers...
Right, right.
But what I got is
a way out of here.
You see, there's an
old tunnel downstairs
that goes under the
street for two blocks.
Two blocks, Joe.
What you don't seem to
get is that I've had 14 years
to figure this thing, Joe.
14 years.
I know this building inside out.
I used to peddle
papers in the lobby.
I can leave any time I want.
Ah, speaking of time,
what do you make it?
2:31.
Uh-uh, you better
synch it with mine.
I make it 2:32... in...
ten seconds... nine, eight...
Be careful, Joe.
Joe, don't move,
it's all mined in there.
♪ ♪
(thudding)
Very, very careful, Joe.
Stand still, Joe!
Oh, you shouldn't
have picked it up, Joe.
You've activated the fuse.
Don't move!
Don't try to put it down.
Don't move, Joe.
That's one of those
sensitive ones.
You just think about it,
it goes off, remember?
It's been a long
time for me, Gus.
Nice going.
I just want you to
understand what it feels like
to be on a spot
that there's no exit.
There's no way to get out of it.
Nothing... there's
nothing you can say.
There's no one
who'll listen to you.
Well, I guess if you'd
been left behind,
you'd... you'd know
what I mean, huh?
How is it coming, Joe?
Remember that thing
the Chinese had?
That iron box?
180-degree inside.
And all the while,
those miserable...
standing outside,
washing themselves.
Gargling.
Playing splash.
Now, you know what the
sound of water does to a man
inside that box, Joe.
You took a turn in it.
Well, I took one week in it
for every one of you
guys who escaped.
And every day, they'd come by
and they'd... they'd ask me
the same old questions, Joe.
How'd they get out?
Where are they going?
And why didn't I
warn them... ah...
Hold very still, Joe.
You see, next came
the bamboo cage.
With my arms up
in the air like this.
And they took a
pair of grenades,
and they pulled
the pins out of them,
and they stuck a
grenade in each hand.
And I couldn't
get any sleep, Joe.
Not without dying.
Pretty soon it was like
1,000 pounds on each arm,
just like you're
starting to feel now.
You want to know
why you're here?
You tell me why I was there.
Got the picture?
And all of a sudden,
you'd find that you'd say
just about anything
that anybody would want,
if they'd only take
those grenades
out of your hand...
Ah, sorry, Joe.
I should've made a list.
I rigged a lot of
things in this building.
I just... guess I just forgot.
All right, let's go.
Back the way you came.
(gun cocks)
Is anything mined, Gus,
or are you afraid of
going up with me?
Oh, Joe.
(explosion thunders,
debris clatters)
(giggling)
Forget, don't you?
They make quite a bang.
Come on, Joe, use your head.
You came here to
save a man's life.
Get the old brain thinking.
Then Malcolm is alive.
Eh, what time is it?
Hey, almost blastoff.
You better get to a window
and see what's doing outside.
In there.
By the wall.
(chuckling): Whoo-ee.
They're bringing
in the heavy stuff.
Just like old times.
GRISWOLD (over
bullhorn): Fire at that window!
(gunfire)
Get a grenade in that window.
(gunfire continues)
(glass shattering)
(gunfire continues)
(coughing)
Nice try, Joe.
Now live with it.
(coughing)
Oh, God...
(water running)
(coughing continues)
Hold it.
Come on out with your hands up.
(coughing, gasping)
Keep him covered.
(coughing)
It's Mannix.
(gasps, groans)
GRISWOLD (over
bullhorn): Don't move, Mannix!
We'll get you down!
Get that ladder truck over here!
No!
No, I'm staying!
Malcolm is still alive!
(coughing)
Joe?
Yeah, Gus, I'm here.
Good you didn't
say who I was, Joe.
That would've
done it for old Art.
Yeah, that's what I figured.
Well, Cap'n, like they say,
what have we got here?
Gus, this is just
between the two of us.
There's no sense in
anybody else getting killed.
Combat casualties, Joe.
Gus, before Changju,
you were the best
fighting man I ever saw.
Now, I know what those...
Chinese brain laundries can do;
those years in Leavenworth.
There are people
who can help you, Gus.
Don't tell me I'm crazy, Joe.
Gus, I'm sure the
jury would understand.
So we walk out of
here, hand in hand,
and you get a lawyer who will
plead me as a Section Eight,
and you're home free.
Again.
Right, Joe?
Why don't you let
me help you, Gus?
You listen to me, hotshot.
You think you're safe and
snug as a flea in a footlocker.
Well, let me tell you something.
Your buddy, Art Malcolm,
is in the basement
right this minute,
tied between two posts.
He's got two
anti-personnel charges
taped around him,
and I got a timer wired in.
He can hear every
tick that thing makes.
And that timer is
set for 0300, Joe.
Now, are you just
going to sit there
and listen for old
Art to go boom?
Or are you going to
try and do something
to help your old friend?
How do I know he isn't dead now?
Can you take that
chance that he isn't?
Okay, Gus, you win.
(grunts)
All right, let's see what
you can remember, Joe.
(yelling)
(thudding)
It's busted!
My ankle.
No, Joe, don't come down here!
There's no time.
(panting)
Joe, I should have been
gone a long time ago.
You got to get to Malcolm.
Those mines on him can
set off sympathetic explosions.
We can all go up!
You got to get to
him, Joe, please!
It's six minutes, Gus.
Take the elevator.
That hallway's clear.
I'll lead you there
with the walkie-talkie.
(groans)
(elevator motor whirring)
Joe, stop!
There's a contact mine
on the first floor landing.
Go on back up to the
second floor and walk down.
(motor whirring)
(elevator doors opening)
What about the hallway?
Clean.
Coming to some stairs.
Go on down. They're okay.
Gate's on the right.
Okay.
They're all mined, Joe.
The center one's your best bet.
Up top, far side.
Got it.
Joe, keep the
tension on that wire.
If it goes slack,
you're done for.
(gate squeaking)
I'm through the gate.
What now?
Fourth step down.
Pressure pad.
Okay, clear through four.
Step seven. Trip wire.
Nothing else until
the fourth step
below the landing.
♪ ♪
Gus, there was a
photoelectric cell
on the landing.
Joe, I can't remember them all!
All right, take it easy.
What next?
Fourth step.
Wire knee-high.
(click)
All clear.
Gus?
Gus!
Gus, can you hear me?!
Joe.
What happened?
Oh, my set's been acting up.
Must have been that fall I took.
Where are you?
Seven steps from the bottom.
You had me worried
there, old buddy.
We got two minutes left to go.
Let's get going.
What about these
last seven steps?
Oh, you haven't got time, Joe,
'cause they're in a real mess.
Jump!
Okay, I'm in the lobby.
Come on, Joe, snap it up!
Which way?
(echoing): Hang a left,
Joe, then a left again.
And there's the door.
But don't open the door, Joe!
Look up and... and to your left.
There's a little gray
box stuck in the runner.
You've got to get it out.
But gently, Joe, gently.
It's very sensitive.
You got 50 seconds, Joe.
Art?
MALCOLM: Is that you, Joe?
Yeah.
Keller, what about the steps?
Keller?!
Hold your breath,
I'm coming down.
It's clear. Come ahead.
Where's the bomb?
He dragged me in
here, and took off.
Do you read me, Joe?
Keller!
You got... 15 seconds, Joe.
Where's the bomb?!
12 seconds.
Where is it? You
said it was on Malcolm!
It's close enough.
Ten... Nine... Where is it?!
KELLER: Eight... Where?
Seven... (hissing)
Six... Five... Four...
Three...
(echoing): Joe!
(explosion thunders)
(debris clattering)
What went up?
Don't know.
Captain!
(theme music playing)
(siren wailing)
OFFICER (over megaphone): You
bomb squad men, take cover quickly!
Three men to the south
side of the building!
On the double and take cover!
Joe Mannix.
Oh, yes, sir. Captain's
been expecting you.
You better leave the car here.
(siren wails in distance)
Captain?
What do you got, Captain?
I'll tell you what I've got.
Two of my bomb squad boys
are on their way to
Central Receiving,
that's what I've got.
We tried getting in, but
that place is a minefield.
What about Art Malcolm?
Still in there, with
a gun at his head.
Unless that maniac's
pulled the trigger.
The guy wants to
see you, Mannix.
Why me?
I don't know why you.
But Art told us
the guy'd let you in.
Where is he? What
floor, what room?
No idea.
I just walk in there
and an usher will
show me to my seat, huh?
Without your gun.
Use the front door, Mannix.
Everything else
is booby-trapped.
Good luck.
(indistinct background
radio communication)
Mannix coming in.
(footsteps echoing)
MAN (over
walkie-talkie): Mannix!
Over here.
The elevators.
The third elevator.
Fourth floor, room 416.
(whirring)
(theme music playing)
♪ ♪
(siren blares)
MAN (over speaker):
Mannix, the walkie-talkie.
Take it with you.
You'll need it.
416's dead ahead, Joe.
Oh, uh, don't tread
on the dust sheet.
Under the ladder.
(handle clicks)
(siren wails in distance)
(siren stops)
MAN (over radio): Grab a seat.
I'll be there in a sec.
Who are you?
Where's Art Malcolm?
He's here.
Where's "here"?
In the building.
MANNIX: Who is this?
You see the tape recorder?
Yeah.
Turn it on.
Switch is on the right.
WOMAN: Captain
Griswold's office.
Art Malcolm, Captain, please.
He's on another line, Sergeant.
This is Code Three, Margaret.
GRISWOLD: What
have you got, Art?
I've got a .45 automatic
in my right ear, Skipper.
I'm being held in the
old Capricorn Building,
Larchmont and Sixth.
Give me what you can.
The guy with the gun
wants to see Joe Mannix.
Mannix? What for?
Can't go into that.
But give it to him straight.
It doesn't look good.
This is a guy Mannix and I know
from a long time back.
He tells me he's
already killed four men.
And I believe him, Skipper.
Are there any other
people in that building?
Negative, the building's
being remodeled.
This is police business, Art.
Is there any way to handle this
without pulling Mannix into it?
No chance.
Okay. I'll call Mannix myself.
Then we'll throw everything
we've got around that building.
One more thing, Skipper.
Mannix has to come in
through the front door.
No gun and alone.
Tell him I personally
think it's a lousy idea.
He should stay in bed.
All right, let's
knock off the games.
Where's Art Malcolm?
Malcolm'll keep.
Hey, you see the photo?
It's in the other room.
MAN (over walkie-talkie):
Take a closer look.
Yeah, I see it.
Go on.
(man laughs)
Hey, relax, Joe.
These rooms are clean.
They're my living
room and office.
All right, I want to see Malcolm
and I want to know
who I'm talking to.
Malcolm'll keep.
You got to be kidding!
You're looking at
our graduation picture
and you don't know who this is?!
Shame, Joe, shame.
All those weeks in basic,
in paratroop and ranger school,
and underwater demo
and survival training,
and you don't dig?
No, I don't.
Three months of combat
behind the gook lines,
16 firefights,
ten months in that
Chinese squeeze...
Let's see,
what was the name
of that P.O.W. place?
Changju.
Yeah, Changju.
The North Korean Boys' Town.
I thought maybe you'd
forgotten Changju.
No, I haven't forgotten.
Neither have I, buddy.
Okay, Joe, roll call.
Pick up the pencil and
start checkin' 'em off.
First man, first
row. Jamal, right?
Yeah, Turk got it at Hamgyong.
So cross him off.
Art Malcolm.
We both know I'm not Malcolm,
so go to Cobber Jackson.
Changju.
They nailed him going
over the wall in the escape.
Scratch him.
Move up one.
And there he is, second
row, right... Joe Mannix.
And we both know
I'm not good old Joe,
so that brings us to Stavros.
MANNIX: That tank chopped him
down when we crossed the river.
And good old Joe got the tank,
and the Silver Star.
So scrub Stavros.
Zaleski.
Pass Frankie for now.
Whitehead.
Derek Whitehead.
Chinese never brought
him back from interrogation.
Scratch him.
Top row, on the right.
Saba.
Skip him for now.
Pass on Harris, too.
Go to Radford.
Minefield.
Then Keller.
Gus Keller.
Leavenworth, life sentence.
Skip Keller. Next.
You're for sure not Kim Yung.
Well, 86 him anyhow.
He got very careless one
night about a month ago.
Somebody left a knife in him.
How do you know?
I just know.
Hey, what do you
hear about Harris?
Lives in Canada. Not anymore.
Somebody wired his car.
Blew the roof off the garage.
(laughs): A real
mess... And Saba?
That was kind of too bad.
He got himself
shot, .45 automatic.
Addis Ababa, you
ever been there?
You beginning to get
the hang of it now, Joe?
And what happened
to Frank Zaleski?
You remember those wire
gizmos with the wood handles?
The stranglers?
You make a loop and
drop it over a guy's neck.
You know what I mean, Joe.
Well, it seems Frankie was
living in Cleveland and, uh...
I get the picture, Gus.
How did you get out
of Leavenworth, Keller?
Good behavior, Joe.
What did you do to Art Malcolm?
Joe...
why don't you take
a little look around?
But, uh, buddy,
be real careful from here on in.
Don't touch a phone.
Don't open a window.
Don't walk unless
I say it's okay.
Okay?
You know what anti-personnel
mines do to a guy.
And keep the walkie-talkie
with you, chum.
I'd hate to lose touch.
Joe!
You see the double doors?
Yeah, I see them.
Well, go through them.
It's all right, Joe.
He's not wired.
No booby traps.
(laughing maniacally
over P.A. speaker system)
Hey, you thought it was Art?
That isn't Art.
(whispering): Art's over here.
Hey.
(laughing)
Hey, Joe.
Over here.
Last of the headhunters.
Well, after 16
years... here we are.
Last of the old combined forces
combat team A.
Gus Keller and Joe Mannix...
the creep who went
over the wall at Changju
and left his buddy to
take the bamboo shaft.
You ready to die, Joe?
(cocks gun)
(click)
(cocks gun)
Remember what the
sergeant said, Joe...
Never keep a shell
in the chamber.
All right, hands on
the stairs, feet back
and wide, just like on TV.
Where's Art Malcolm?
Is he still alive?
Oh, we'll get around
to him, pretty soon.
Stand up.
Hey, you seem kind of
surprised to see me, Joe.
I wouldn't be if I were you.
It's not a pleasure I
was looking forward to.
Oh, come on now, you
knew it had to happen.
A soldier doesn't desert a
buddy in a gook P.O.W. camp
and not expect to
pay for it someday.
Well, Joe...
this is your day.
In a way, you're kind
of lucky, you know?
You might've had it really bad,
like I did, in Changju.
We all had it tough, Keller,
and don't you forget it.
Except you... Nothing!
You got nothing compared
to what they did to me
when you guys broke out!
You and Malcolm
and Radford and
the rest of you guys.
You planned that
bust-out for weeks.
You tunneled under that wall
and you blew the main
barricade and you got out.
You made it clean
and I stayed, Joe.
You guys figured that
breakout for weeks.
Weeks!
All of you!
And you didn't say
word one to me.
The Chinese think you
double-crossed them.
What do you think?
If we'd have let you
in on it, you'd have
blown the whistle
on us in two seconds,
just like you did at
least twice before.
That's a lie, Joe!
And for a pack of
cigarettes, probably.
That's a lie!
Okay, okay, you tell...
you tell me what happened
to Derek Whitehead.
How should I know?
You turned him in.
I swiped those wire cutters
and slipped them to Whitehead.
And Whitehead hid 'em
under the boards near his bunk.
Our unit was the only ones
that knew that... eight of us.
The next morning, that
Chinese major walked in,
right to the spot, and
picked up those wire cutters.
You know what they did to
Whitehead in interrogation.
Why blame me?
Who was the only man that
went out to sick call that night?
The only man out of our
outfit that left that cell?
It all came out in
that court-martial.
Or don't you remember
that, either, Gus?
Well, they just happened
to believe you instead of me.
Yeah, they believed me.
And five others.
Well, now there ain't
five other guys, Joe.
There's just you and there's me.
And it's your word against mine.
My word and Art Malcolm's.
And pretty soon, it's
just gonna be my word.
You know, you gave me a
long time to think about it, Joe,
and I'm gonna give you
a little bit of the same.
I finally got out of
Changju... finally.
And then I got rapped
with Leavenworth,
because of you...
Because of what you said
at that trial.
And what those others said.
That's why you killed four men.
Four... so far.
All witnesses against me, Joe.
When I walk out
of here, I'm clean.
No chance!
Not as long as there's a record
of that court-martial
anywhere on this earth.
(siren wailing in distance)
Even if you kill me...
what are you gonna do
about the others... out there?
Changju all over
again, isn't it, Joe?
Searchlights...
the bare walls...
guys with guns... the pressure.
Oh, the pressure.
You made it, Joe...
You busted out of Changju.
How about it?
You think you can
get out of here alive?
I'm gonna try, Gus.
I'm gonna sure try.
Good.
I figured you would.
You go ahead and try, Joe.
But this time, the
deck's stacked...
Against you, just
like it was against me
in that Korean rat trap.
All right, we're gonna
take a little walk.
We've got to send a
note down to Art's boss.
Hey, Joe... Hm?
Got your walkie-talkie?
Yeah. Good.
Don't lose it.
We might get separated.
Hold it!
What do you want to do?
Get us both blown to bits?
Look under it.
You're rusty, Joe.
Turn left.
Under the ladder.
It's mined.
In there.
It's clean.
Write.
Just like the man said.
Dear cops... Sergeant Malcolm
and his pal from
Private Eyesville...
are dead.
Is Art dead?
Just do what I tell you.
Do it yourself.
(cocks gun)
I don't want to
write it myself, Joe.
I don't want it in
my handwriting.
You can understand that.
They don't know who I am.
Are... dead.
Sign it... A Friend.
Empty your
pockets... On the table.
Fold the note,
stick it in the lighter.
Toss it here... easy.
(gunshot)
(snickering)
That was for them... outside.
I really got their
attention, you know.
Get Captain Griswold.
You're wanted around the
other side of the building, sir.
What good is it gonna do you
if Griswold thinks
Art and I are dead?
Later, Joe.
Something came out
of that window, Captain.
It landed over there.
Bomb Squad!
GRISWOLD: Return that fire!
I want a gas grenade
in that window.
(coughing)
(coughing): I really think
we got their attention, Joe.
Come on, this way.
Remember how those
interrogators used to muscle us
to try to get us to
sign that poison gas
and germ warfare garbage?
Don't touch the ladder, Joe.
Well, they ought
to talk to the LAPD.
Come on, this way.
Gus.
Did you ever sign one
of those confessions?
What do you think I am, Mannix?
(coughing): I was just wondering
why it was you always had
cigarettes and when we didn't.
How it was you
never had any marks
when you came back
from interrogation,
like the rest of us?
I took my lumps, same
as everybody else.
Yeah, for the first
couple of weeks.
Then it was smokes and beer
all the rest of the
way for you, wasn't it?
I told them stuff they would
have found out anyway.
Yeah...
like where Derek Whitehead
hid those wire cutters.
Oh, we're back to that again.
What's the game, Keller?
It's called "Kill Joe Mannix."
Okay.
You better explain
the rules to me, Gus.
It's very simple, Joe...
One of the guys on your
team got himself trapped,
and you've got to get him out.
That's what you come
here for, isn't it, Joe?
To spring old Art Malcolm?
Well, buddy, if you want
to get to good old Art,
you're gonna have to
run an obstacle course.
And you're gonna have
to run it against the clock.
0300... That's when
the game is over.
Where is he, Gus?
That's for you to find out, Joe.
Get back.
That's part of the game.
One thing: the cops
think you're dead now,
so they'll be shooting at
anything that moves, huh?
So, if I were you, Joe,
I wouldn't try for a...
a window or try
to get to a door,
unless you want the
cops to do my job for me.
All right, get around there.
Another thing, Joe...
Keeps you from
telling them who I am.
Like yelling out a
window or anything.
They'll find out who you are.
(chuckling)
That's just the
point... They won't.
That's why the gloves.
Oh...
that's why I'm burning
the picture and the tapes.
It's why I didn't
talk on the phone
to the cops earlier.
It's why I didn't
write the note.
I'm not gonna get caught, Joe.
They got nothing to connect me.
They've got maybe 100
men surrounding this building.
They got guns,
grenade launchers...
Right, right.
But what I got is
a way out of here.
You see, there's an
old tunnel downstairs
that goes under the
street for two blocks.
Two blocks, Joe.
What you don't seem to
get is that I've had 14 years
to figure this thing, Joe.
14 years.
I know this building inside out.
I used to peddle
papers in the lobby.
I can leave any time I want.
Ah, speaking of time,
what do you make it?
2:31.
Uh-uh, you better
synch it with mine.
I make it 2:32... in...
ten seconds... nine, eight...
Be careful, Joe.
Joe, don't move,
it's all mined in there.
♪ ♪
(thudding)
Very, very careful, Joe.
Stand still, Joe!
Oh, you shouldn't
have picked it up, Joe.
You've activated the fuse.
Don't move!
Don't try to put it down.
Don't move, Joe.
That's one of those
sensitive ones.
You just think about it,
it goes off, remember?
It's been a long
time for me, Gus.
Nice going.
I just want you to
understand what it feels like
to be on a spot
that there's no exit.
There's no way to get out of it.
Nothing... there's
nothing you can say.
There's no one
who'll listen to you.
Well, I guess if you'd
been left behind,
you'd... you'd know
what I mean, huh?
How is it coming, Joe?
Remember that thing
the Chinese had?
That iron box?
180-degree inside.
And all the while,
those miserable...
standing outside,
washing themselves.
Gargling.
Playing splash.
Now, you know what the
sound of water does to a man
inside that box, Joe.
You took a turn in it.
Well, I took one week in it
for every one of you
guys who escaped.
And every day, they'd come by
and they'd... they'd ask me
the same old questions, Joe.
How'd they get out?
Where are they going?
And why didn't I
warn them... ah...
Hold very still, Joe.
You see, next came
the bamboo cage.
With my arms up
in the air like this.
And they took a
pair of grenades,
and they pulled
the pins out of them,
and they stuck a
grenade in each hand.
And I couldn't
get any sleep, Joe.
Not without dying.
Pretty soon it was like
1,000 pounds on each arm,
just like you're
starting to feel now.
You want to know
why you're here?
You tell me why I was there.
Got the picture?
And all of a sudden,
you'd find that you'd say
just about anything
that anybody would want,
if they'd only take
those grenades
out of your hand...
Ah, sorry, Joe.
I should've made a list.
I rigged a lot of
things in this building.
I just... guess I just forgot.
All right, let's go.
Back the way you came.
(gun cocks)
Is anything mined, Gus,
or are you afraid of
going up with me?
Oh, Joe.
(explosion thunders,
debris clatters)
(giggling)
Forget, don't you?
They make quite a bang.
Come on, Joe, use your head.
You came here to
save a man's life.
Get the old brain thinking.
Then Malcolm is alive.
Eh, what time is it?
Hey, almost blastoff.
You better get to a window
and see what's doing outside.
In there.
By the wall.
(chuckling): Whoo-ee.
They're bringing
in the heavy stuff.
Just like old times.
GRISWOLD (over
bullhorn): Fire at that window!
(gunfire)
Get a grenade in that window.
(gunfire continues)
(glass shattering)
(gunfire continues)
(coughing)
Nice try, Joe.
Now live with it.
(coughing)
Oh, God...
(water running)
(coughing continues)
Hold it.
Come on out with your hands up.
(coughing, gasping)
Keep him covered.
(coughing)
It's Mannix.
(gasps, groans)
GRISWOLD (over
bullhorn): Don't move, Mannix!
We'll get you down!
Get that ladder truck over here!
No!
No, I'm staying!
Malcolm is still alive!
(coughing)
Joe?
Yeah, Gus, I'm here.
Good you didn't
say who I was, Joe.
That would've
done it for old Art.
Yeah, that's what I figured.
Well, Cap'n, like they say,
what have we got here?
Gus, this is just
between the two of us.
There's no sense in
anybody else getting killed.
Combat casualties, Joe.
Gus, before Changju,
you were the best
fighting man I ever saw.
Now, I know what those...
Chinese brain laundries can do;
those years in Leavenworth.
There are people
who can help you, Gus.
Don't tell me I'm crazy, Joe.
Gus, I'm sure the
jury would understand.
So we walk out of
here, hand in hand,
and you get a lawyer who will
plead me as a Section Eight,
and you're home free.
Again.
Right, Joe?
Why don't you let
me help you, Gus?
You listen to me, hotshot.
You think you're safe and
snug as a flea in a footlocker.
Well, let me tell you something.
Your buddy, Art Malcolm,
is in the basement
right this minute,
tied between two posts.
He's got two
anti-personnel charges
taped around him,
and I got a timer wired in.
He can hear every
tick that thing makes.
And that timer is
set for 0300, Joe.
Now, are you just
going to sit there
and listen for old
Art to go boom?
Or are you going to
try and do something
to help your old friend?
How do I know he isn't dead now?
Can you take that
chance that he isn't?
Okay, Gus, you win.
(grunts)
All right, let's see what
you can remember, Joe.
(yelling)
(thudding)
It's busted!
My ankle.
No, Joe, don't come down here!
There's no time.
(panting)
Joe, I should have been
gone a long time ago.
You got to get to Malcolm.
Those mines on him can
set off sympathetic explosions.
We can all go up!
You got to get to
him, Joe, please!
It's six minutes, Gus.
Take the elevator.
That hallway's clear.
I'll lead you there
with the walkie-talkie.
(groans)
(elevator motor whirring)
Joe, stop!
There's a contact mine
on the first floor landing.
Go on back up to the
second floor and walk down.
(motor whirring)
(elevator doors opening)
What about the hallway?
Clean.
Coming to some stairs.
Go on down. They're okay.
Gate's on the right.
Okay.
They're all mined, Joe.
The center one's your best bet.
Up top, far side.
Got it.
Joe, keep the
tension on that wire.
If it goes slack,
you're done for.
(gate squeaking)
I'm through the gate.
What now?
Fourth step down.
Pressure pad.
Okay, clear through four.
Step seven. Trip wire.
Nothing else until
the fourth step
below the landing.
♪ ♪
Gus, there was a
photoelectric cell
on the landing.
Joe, I can't remember them all!
All right, take it easy.
What next?
Fourth step.
Wire knee-high.
(click)
All clear.
Gus?
Gus!
Gus, can you hear me?!
Joe.
What happened?
Oh, my set's been acting up.
Must have been that fall I took.
Where are you?
Seven steps from the bottom.
You had me worried
there, old buddy.
We got two minutes left to go.
Let's get going.
What about these
last seven steps?
Oh, you haven't got time, Joe,
'cause they're in a real mess.
Jump!
Okay, I'm in the lobby.
Come on, Joe, snap it up!
Which way?
(echoing): Hang a left,
Joe, then a left again.
And there's the door.
But don't open the door, Joe!
Look up and... and to your left.
There's a little gray
box stuck in the runner.
You've got to get it out.
But gently, Joe, gently.
It's very sensitive.
You got 50 seconds, Joe.
Art?
MALCOLM: Is that you, Joe?
Yeah.
Keller, what about the steps?
Keller?!
Hold your breath,
I'm coming down.
It's clear. Come ahead.
Where's the bomb?
He dragged me in
here, and took off.
Do you read me, Joe?
Keller!
You got... 15 seconds, Joe.
Where's the bomb?!
12 seconds.
Where is it? You
said it was on Malcolm!
It's close enough.
Ten... Nine... Where is it?!
KELLER: Eight... Where?
Seven... (hissing)
Six... Five... Four...
Three...
(echoing): Joe!
(explosion thunders)
(debris clattering)
What went up?
Don't know.
Captain!
(theme music playing)