Police Woman (1974–1978): Season 1, Episode 14 - Target Black - full transcript
Pepper is assigned to protect a prominent political activist who is being targeted.
Anything I have to say,
I say tomorrow night.
Cora Sanders.
Comrades, I am
happy to be with...
Police! Hold it!
That's what they
want... for me to quit.
- The threats haven't stopped.
- I thrive on threats.
I don't like you either,
Cora. You don't have
to. I'm not your
cleaning lady, Sergeant.
Get her outta here!
You bang on the door, round us up at
5:00 in the morning like farm animals.
And we want to know why. We
don't like it any better than you do.
Okay, Michaels, what
we wanna know is...
did you or any of your buddies
send us this little love letter last night?
If it's of any interest to
you... And I'll bet it isn't...
I graduated cum
laude in philosophy.
I flunked typing.
"Keep Cora Sanders out
of this city, this country,
or else she gets wasted, and
maybe some of you pigs go with her."
I didn't send that,
and I didn't type that.
You see, I wouldn't waste
the time on Cora Sanders.
You still don't dig her since she
split from you, huh, Michaels?
We should have never let her in
the organization in the first place.
You felt she might detract
from your masculinity?
We felt, Sergeant Anderson, that
she detracted from our blackness.
You see, she's a
Communist, a Marxist.
Preaches how all brothers of all
colors should groove it together.
And we're black, all right?
This washroom and
this world for blacks only!
Yeah, well, black Cora Sanders
arrives here this morning.
Now she's gonna be here
about two and a half days.
So, gentlemen, I
suggest that you behave
yourselves at all times
for the next 60 hours.
You, you, you... in fact,
your whole little organization...
is gonna have a little
company on your tails,
makin' sure that
those tails keep the hell
out of our way and out
of Cora Sanders's way.
- Is everybody gettin'
my message?
- What else is new?
Smile, Pep. Why?
You might get your
picture in the paper.
Look, I was up all night going over her
jacket and checking out those threats,
and I had an honest-to-goodness
weekend coming to me,
and I'm not exactly
crazy about her politics.
What difference does it make
if we like her politics or not?
She's a citizen. We've
got to protect her.
How's it going? Perfectly.
That's the, uh, welcoming
committee... Neil Armitage.
- He teaches at Landon.
- Sociology.
Great white father figure.
She was his prize pupil,
and from what I understand,
she was supposed
to stay with him and his
wife over the weekend.
Hey, here she comes now. Cora!
Oh, you look marvelous.
It's just a front.
I'm pooped. Here.
Face the camera, please, Miss
Sanders. Oh, they're gorgeous.
Frances picked them. Sends
her love. How was your trip?
Miss Sanders, I'm
from the Herald.
I may just get sick. Big
smile over here, Miss Sanders.
Look, 15 hours ago
I was in Moscow.
I've had a very
long trip. I'm tired.
Anything I have to say, I say tomorrow
night at the university, loud and clear.
And wide awake, I hope.
And then you go to Japan?
My more liberated
Japanese brothers...
have offered me a teaching
job, which I will accept.
Thank you. Just one more
question, Miss Sanders.
Ooh, is she a charmer.
So you finally learned to drive and
come to pick me up in your chariot, huh?
Oh, no. I still won't touch
one of those infernal machines.
Look, uh, these people over
here have something to say to you.
They're police. No. No
police. I don't need police.
Now wait a minute.
The university won't let you talk tomorrow
night unless you have police protection.
And I don't want to see anything
happen to you either. Come on.
Miss Sanders, I'm Sergeant
Crowley with the police department.
This is Sergeant Anderson,
Investigator Styles, Investigator Royster.
I'll meet you outside.
There's been a threat. Threats.
Threats don't bother
me. They never have.
Yeah, well, they bother
us. They bother us a lot.
I guess you could say
I'm back home. So?
We've been assigned to
stay with you. To protect me.
- That's right.
- Or set me up.
What's that supposed to mean?
It's been known to happen
to some of my brothers...
Cops setting us
up for the execution.
- Right, brother?
- Wrong.
Ha! Brother. All right.
I just want you all to
know something. I'm me.
Used to taking care of
myself, doing what I want to do.
Which of you bureaucrats gets
to stay with the Red Menace?
- This one, naturally.
- And of course you're thrilled.
My bosses hand me
a job, I'm stuck with it.
Miss Sanders, you and Sergeant Anderson
are gonna stay at the Gregory House.
That's a new hotel here in town.
You can come and go as you like,
just so long as you're with Sergeant
Anderson or the proper police protection.
And we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't pass
around the name of the hotel too freely.
That's the Gregory House.
I want you and Frances
to phone me, hear?
And, Neil, call Boomer...
and tell him to get in touch.
Please.
Looks like you got your
work cut out for you.
I love you. Even though we
remain, as ever, out of sync politically.
Well, that's what life
is all about, isn't it?
Said Liebknecht.
Or was it Cabet?
One of those
misguided Socialists.
Thanks for arranging
for tomorrow night.
Now listen, Cora, I can't
guarantee a huge crowd.
Oh, how soon they forget.
Only a year and a half, and
already I'm a yesterday's terror.
There wasn't much time to
arrange things, you know?
Neil, if I can talk
to only one kid...
Black, yellow, brown or white...
I mean, if I can just get
through to one brother or sister,
it'll be worth it to me.
Hey, folks, my last
fare. I wanna get going.
All right. Now, listen,
2:00 tomorrow. Don't forget.
My office. I want you to meet
some of my new geniuses.
See you, Neil.
Miss Sanders, you will ride
with Sergeant Anderson here.
We'll accompany
you to the hotel.
Like a convoy. Yeah,
something like that.
You like sunflower seeds?
Yes. Help yourself.
I buy my own.
I don't like you either, Cora.
You don't have to. I'm not
your cleaning lady, Sergeant.
Understood, Miss Sanders.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Hey, Bill, there's a
friendly out in the hall.
Has something
about Cora Sanders.
Hey, hey! All right, already.
Anson Croy. Does that name
mean anything to you guys?
Oh, yes, the Nazi
jerk. That's tautologic.
That's what? Redundant.
What about Anson Croy?
I'd keep an eye on
him if I were you.
He's been making a lot of
noises about that Cora Sanders.
Yeah, we don't that. We also know
he's out of town. No, he was. He's back.
Oh? Back when?
Last night. I saw him.
He was drinkin' beer.
Drinkin' lots of beer and
makin' lots of noises about her.
- Where was this?
- At that, uh... What is that?
Rotskeller? Ratskeller?
Whatever it is on Sixth Avenue.
You know the
place... On the corner?
Yeah. Get on him.
Right.
Okay, Eddie.
Thanks a lot.
Yeah. Hey, anytime. Anything to
keep them weirdos off the street, man.
Yeah, stay in touch.
Yeah, get me the
Gregory House, will ya?
You got it, Bill. Bye.
Sure you don't
want any of these?
No, thanks.
There's a problem.
What sort of problem?
The threats haven't
stopped. That was my boss.
The department hopes you'll
call off your lecture tomorrow night.
No, way. Mm-mmm.
I thrive on threats.
Means people know
I'm here, Sergeant.
People can get
hurt. Innocent people.
Innocent people, oppressed
people in this country, in this world,
are used to being hurt, stomped
on, exploited, oppressed, hurt.
Or hadn't you heard, Sergeant?
Oh, I've read about it.
Yeah?
Hold on.
It's for you.
I thought I asked you not to make a
public announcement of where we were.
So you did, Sergeant.
- Hello?
- Hello, Cora?
It's Boomer. How ya doin'?
Fine, Boomer. Where are you?
Well, I don't know about that.
I mean, I don't
know if it's possible.
Oh. Okay.
Fine, Boomer. Yes.
You know something? I'm hungry.
Okay. I could
eat too. I'll order.
There must be some menus
around here someplace.
Hey, I'm not a prisoner. They
got a nice dining room here.
We could just traipse out
past that cop in the hall...
and take one elevator down
to that fancy dining room.
Okay. Show 'em
your badge, Sergeant.
They might not try to stick
us at a table near the kitchen.
They won't.
Let's go.
I'd like to freshen up first.
Hi. Hi.
You know, I didn't
think you'd call.
You knew I'd call. You
also knew I'd be here.
But a married man.
My goodness, Boomer.
No jokes about that, Cora.
We're having problems.
Oh, poor, mixed-up Marnie.
Oh, she... she was the wrong woman for
you, you know? I could have told you that.
It's not good between us,
but I'm gonna keep trying.
No frown.
That's not why I traveled
a million miles... for frowns.
That's not why I
just ditched a fuzz.
That's not why I
wanted to see you.
Why did you want to see me?
To talk about old...
Old and good times.
Beautiful times
they were, Boomer.
How was Russia? Very big.
I want a little Noel Coward. And
very efficient and very friendly and...
You learned the
language? Mm-hmm.
She asked me to take
her up to the top floor.
Let's go.
How's the team doing?
Or should I ask, considering
that their coach is...
One big, together Boomer Reed.
Murder!
And you never saw
anybody on that other roof?
No.
You mean there was no
warning? No warning at all? No.
Why did you leave
the hotel room...
without notifying me or the
patrolman in the corridor?
- I wanted to see him alone.
- You could have asked me.
I didn't. I was wrong.
I just wanted to
be alone with him.
Miss Sanders, would
you tell me, please,
what the exact relationship
with Ralph Reed was?
Um,
we were very close friends.
I was in love with him once,
and we went to the
same college together,
and he was one of the few
black people in any of my classes.
So in that sense, it was kind of
a natural attraction, and it grew,
and... we... planned
to marry at one point.
But you didn't?
His beliefs... They... They
didn't coincide with mine.
No, instead he married
a Marnette Gibson.
Yeah.
What has any of this got
to... Got to do with his death?
He was murdered this afternoon.
Anything you can tell us might
have something to do with it.
Well, whoever it was was after
me. I think that's pretty obvious.
Nothing is obvious to us until we
know exactly what happened and why.
I think I'd like to
get back to the hotel.
The hotel is out, I'm afraid.
You'll have to stay with Sergeant
Anderson, at her apartment.
You'll both be under guard. Well, I
would rather not stay at her apartment.
It's very nice. You'll like it.
- Isn't there someplace else?
- Like where?
Well, Neil... Professor Armitage
and his wife. I could go there.
I'm sure you could. And I'm sure
they'd be pretty nervous about it.
You could be endangering
their lives, Miss Sanders,
or don't little things
like that bother you?
- Look, somebody's been killed.
- I know that, Sergeant!
I know that.
All right, I'll go.
But what is it? What
do you want me to do?
Miss Sanders, won't you
reconsider your decision?
My decision to speak?
No, no. The meeting's still on.
Even now when
someone's been murdered?
Don't you see?
That's what they want.
Whoever did this to Boomer...
Whoever tried to do this to me...
That's what they
want. For me to quit.
There's nothing some
people want more.
I want to ask you both...
Would you back off?
Well, I'm not. I'm not running.
There. That's not so bad, is it?
Thanks, John. See
you in the morning.
I'll flip you for the
bedroom. It's upstairs.
Does this open up? Yeah.
I'll sleep here.
Suit yourself.
You must be hungry.
No, no, I'm not. Would
you like some coffee?
Okay.
Instant's all I've got.
That's what they used to serve in
some of the better jails I've known.
Instant's fine.
That's my sister.
- She's very pretty. What's her name?
- Cheryl.
She has a kind of strange,
kind of infinite smile.
Unfortunately, she's autistic.
- Why do you say unfortunately?
- What do you mean?
Oh, there are times like now...
today... when that's the only way to be.
Not to react to anything
in this rotten world.
She's a very ill, very sick child
that has nothing to do with politics.
- I'm sorry.
- Are you really?
I said it! I'm sorry!
Look, I'm very tired.
I've lost a friend today, and
inside me is just empty, empty.
All right, listen. I can understand how
you feel when you lose someone you love,
and yet... you gave him up.
He understood why.
The few other men I've known,
loved in my way... They've understood.
But you don't, do you?
Well, I really don't
care what you think,
what your type thinks.
People who do what you do in
the name of... what is it... justice?
♪♪
Danke schön. Same to you.
How do you say "These
creepies give me the creepies"?
Quietly. Mmm.
♪♪
That him?
Anson Croy?
Shove off! How'd he get in here?
Police officers. Let's go.
Go where? Downtown.
We wanna talk with you.
You'll have to drag
me. I'll drag you.
Hey.
All right! Now everybody's
gonna go. Come on. Let's move.
I don't want a lawyer.
I don't need a lawyer.
And I'll tell you
something. Murder, killing...
It's not my style.
I believe in purified race,
in purified blood,
but I don't have to shed
any to prove my point.
Time will prove my point.
At approximately 1:00 this
afternoon, what were you doing?
I was in my room, reading.
- Reading what?
- The Constitution.
What's it to you what I read?
Your pals down the hall...
They were at the university, right?
I don't know where they
were. Hassling all the kids.
I'm not their keeper. I
don't know where they were.
You own a rifle?
No. I have a revolver.
And it's registered.
But I don't have a rifle.
And at approximately
1:00 this afternoon,
you were doing nothing more
than a little harmless reading, right?
That's right. You
got any witnesses?
If only books could talk.
Let me tell you something.
Don't get cute with me, okay?
Look! If it's murder you're
trying to accuse me of,
okay, I did it!
In my conscience, in my soul.
Look, I got rights the same
as you, see? Same as you.
And one of them's to
take a polygraph, correct?
And that test is gonna show
you crud that I'm tellin' the truth.
I want that test now!
Did he cop out? No,
he showed truthful.
♪♪
May I help you?
Reed. Ralph Reed.
Yes, chapel one.
Right this way, please.
Thank you.
♪♪
Hello, Marnie. I'm very sorry.
Aren't you going to
kneel and pray for him?
Don't you pray,
you godless tramp?
I pray in my own way.
Then, uh, pray for
forgiveness, Cora.
Pray to be absolved of
my husband's murder,
because he wouldn't
be dead, lying in there...
in that suit and tie he hated
wearing, if it weren't for you.
You know that. Yes.
- Who are you?
- I'm Sergeant Anderson.
You're protecting her?
- Yes, I am.
- Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
She gets herself
sweetly protected.
She lured my
husband up to that roof.
- I'm not sure about that.
- Oh, she lures men
to shame, to death.
Did she tell you about the time
she spent with my husband?
It seems that was
before you were married.
How about Neil Armitage, her
sacred, her beloved professor?
Did she tell you about the affair she had
with him when she was his darling student?
Even though he
was married. Get out!
Take her with you. I
don't want her near him.
Take her out of here!
I'm sorry about what she said.
Please don't be! I didn't
expect anything else.
Here we go.
So I'll, uh, see you
tonight at the auditorium.
Oh, by the way,
Frances won't be there.
Oh. Is she afraid to come?
Well, yeah. I guess
a lot of people are.
- I can understand that.
- Okay, I'll see you tonight.
Take care. Okay. See you later.
- Well, how was the seminar?
- All right. It was all right.
- It was very interesting.
- Really?
Oh, you didn't make
a convert out of me.
My big revolution's gonna come if
my landlord raises my rent again.
Get outta here!
All right, hold it!
Joe, you wanna get that?
Yeah. I'll get it.
Easy now.
Easy.
All right.
It's a toy, man. It shoots caps.
Same here, man.
What's your name?
Name's Harold. But
m-most people call me Harry.
I like... I like to play cowboy.
Harry? You all right, Harry?
Yeah, Daddy. Oh, yeah.
We ready to go home?
In just a little while, Harry.
You the police?
Yeah, that's right.
I'm sorry about this.
He's a good boy. A lonely boy.
I'm a gardener here, and I bring
him to work with me once in a while.
And I'll always tell him no
trouble, you understand?
Well, let me tell you something.
This boy could've been killed.
I'm awfully sorry.
We'll do better.
Come on. Let's go home.
Can I get you something?
No, thank you.
A poor, retarded soul
on the roof with a toy rifle.
We've got nothing on
Michaels and his troops.
Croy and his goose-steppers
are as pure as the driven slush.
Yeah, well, you don't think any of
them sent those warnings, do you, Bill?
I don't know. All I know is that somebody
knew she'd be at the Gregory House.
Yeah, but not on the roof. True.
Maybe they were
casing the window.
Bill, what you just said... I mean,
it may be silly, but that cabdriver...
What cabdriver?
When she was saying
good-bye to Armitage at
the airport, the cabbie
was standing there.
I mean, I heard her say, "I'll be at the
Gregory House." Maybe he heard her.
Do you remember
what he looked like?
Oh, he was kind of tall,
uh, heavyset, white, 50, 51.
Like about three million
other guys? Yeah.
Company Cab?
No, City. I do remember
it was a City Cab.
You guys wanna check into that?
Absolutely.
I'm going over to the campus,
check out the auditorium.
Why don't you take her home?
See if you can talk her
out of this thing tonight.
I can't, Bill. How are
you two getting along?
Haven't you noticed?
She hates cops.
Good. We're in
time for the news.
I don't know about
you, but I'm starved.
Do you want to split a
sandwich? No, thank you.
You could eat
something. How about
some cheese and crackers?
No, no. I'm just not hungry.
The mayor's office
announced today...
But I would like a
shower, if that's okay.
Sure.
- Sergeant?
- Yeah?
Never mind.
Hey, Raynor, do
mine up good this time.
Capisce? What do
you mean, Lombardi?
"What do you mean, Lombardi?" I
mean no streaks this time. No streaks.
My windshield looks like I been
through the Okefenokee swamp.
Ah, come on, Lombardi.
Oh, good morning.
Hi.
You fellas lookin' for a job?
Hey, I'm on
welfare. I don't work.
You don't hire ex-cons, do you?
Where's the manager?
The manager? Right back
there. Go ahead. Okay.
Hey, don't let him con
you about tips, huh?
Heavyset, 50s. Sounds like
half the guys I got workin' for me.
Yeah, well, look. Do
your men keep ledgers?
Yeah. I mean, for
the fares they record.
Well, we're interested
in a cabbie...
who picked up a fare at the
airport yesterday about 11:00.
A professor. Probably dropped
him off at Landon University.
Okay, let's see. This
might take some time.
That's what we
don't have... time.
I want six men working the exterior of
the auditorium and 10 men on the inside.
Also, Fred, there's a basement
door to the orchestra pit.
Slap a padlock on it and have a
man check it just before the speech.
Right. You been up on
the roof of that building?
No, not yet.
I could pick off our subject
with a slingshot from up there.
Yeah, but how
would you get down?
How would I get down? Uh.
I would, uh, jump to the
roof of the next building.
Or I would shimmy
down a drainpipe.
And the cops would be
shooting at you from down there.
So I'd, uh... I don't know.
No, I think I'd still shimmy
down the drainpipe,
crawl into one of the johns and
try to make it out from the inside.
Uh-uh. You know the heat
would be all over the building.
Yeah, but I'm the kind of killer
who thinks that the heat are stupid.
So what do you want?
I want a man on the roof
and a man in the john.
For two hours? You're right.
So give him a
yo-yo to play with.
Here it is. What do you got?
Driver named Maddox. Lou Maddox.
Picked up a fare at the airport.
Dropped him off at Landon.
Four dollars and 50 cents.
I don't cut in on their tips.
Well, that's very nice of
you. Where's Maddox now?
Well, he works nights and mornings.
He's off now. Home, probably.
Hello. Oh, are you from
the phone company?
No, we're from the police
department. May we come in?
Oh, who's done what to who now?
Lou Maddox... He
a tenant of yours?
The best kind. I never see him.
He done somethin'?
No, no. We just
want to talk with him.
Well, he's not here right now.
Do you know where we
might be able to find him?
You know, I had
some trouble here once,
and I phoned for a cop.
Just one cop.
It took him 35
minutes to get here.
You should've seen him walk
in, takin' his own sweet time.
Now two of you show
up askin' questions...
about a fine gentleman
that wouldn't hurt a fly.
Well, do you know where we might
be able to find that fine gentleman?
He's eatin'. This is his time
to eat. Then he plays cards.
And where might that be?
- Over at Blanca's.
- He goes all the way
over to Blanca's to eat?
You know anybody else that
makes such a good hero sandwich?
A nice man. Sometimes
he brings one back for me.
Well, if it were me, I would
bring you a nice bowl of fruit.
Thank you.
Good night.
It's almost time to go.
Bill oughta be along any second.
I like your outfit.
Thank you.
I like your
apartment, very much.
Oh, it's a little
bourgeois, but it's home.
I'm used to that kind
of joke, you know.
It wasn't a very good one.
Not bad.
Well, tomorrow about this time,
you'll be on your way to Japan.
Now, that's exciting. That's a
place I'd like to go sometime.
It's exciting, yes, mm-hmm.
But I'd rather stay home.
- Then why don't you?
- I have no home.
Beliefs are one thing. But where you
park your suitcase, that's another thing.
Figuratively, I have no home.
I mean, my ideas are restless.
They cry in the wind, kind of,
and the wind drags them
and me all over the place.
I'm not complaining,
mind you. It's just that
I have something to
say, you understand...
Something I feel I was
born to, raised to say,
that I can at least say.
Wherever the wind and the mood
and the circumstance take me.
Sergeant, there's something I
started to say to you a while ago...
Mm-hmm.
Never mind.
I'll bet I can
guess what it was.
You wanted to, uh, thank me...
for defending you
with Boomer's wife.
About your thing with Boomer
and Professor Armitage.
That's right.
Those matters are private,
and the reasons
for them are yours.
Thank you.
♪♪
Now, you wanna know
about my fare yesterday.
Professor, right? What
we wanna know about is...
do you remember the
black woman he was
talking to just before
he got into your cab?
- Cora Sanders?
- Cora Sanders.
He didn't say nothin' about her.
But he didn't have to, 'cause I
recognized her from the newspaper. Why?
- Well, did she mention anything
about the Gregory House?
- How'd you know?
Did you pass that information
on to your next fare, maybe?
Mmm, there was no next...
There was no next fare.
I clocked in after
I deposited him.
Then I went straight back to the
garage, then home and then here.
Hey, look, uh, you live
in a rooming house, right?
Yeah. Did you
tell anybody there?
Nah. All right, what
about here? Tell anybody?
No.
Are you sure about that?
The garage... I might have
mentioned it to Raynor.
Who's that?
A kid that works for us. He sweeps,
hoses down the cabs. Nice kid.
Yeah, I can dig that. Uh,
what did you say to him?
Well, you know, whenever I
pull in, he says... he says to me,
"What big movie star
did you see today?"
You know, what
celebrities, what diplomats.
He wants to know if I
brought him an autograph.
I mean, he digs
that stuff, you know.
Or he'll say, "Hey, you know, Raquel
Welch just flew in from New York.
Did you see her when you
dropped that fare off at the airport?"
You know, a couple
of times I said "Yeah."
And he got a real big kick out of it when
I gave him Faye Dunaway's autograph.
Who is it? It's me, Pep.
Hi.
Convoy ready to
roll, Miss Sanders.
Thank you. Anything
from Pete and Joe yet?
No, not yet. I'm
ready, Sergeant.
Good. Let's go, huh?
Sergeant.
That's a heck of a monologue.
Now all we wanna know about
is yesterday. Cora Sanders?
Ring a bell?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Raynor wanted
to know who I saw out at the airport.
So I told him I saw her,
'cause, after all, she's a celebrity.
I mean, she's in the
papers and on the TV news.
Then you did mention
the Gregory House, right?
Well, he wanted to know what
they were talkin' about, so I told him.
Bad crowd. Yeah.
They start yet? Yeah.
Excuse me. That's all right.
Ladies and gentlemen,
tonight we're going to hear
from an old friend... of many...
and a new friend, I
trust, of many more.
A poor girl, a black
girl, a brilliant girl,
one that I had the pleasure
of teaching for a while...
and with whom I've had
many disagreements,
but never, never with
any loss of respect.
As a matter of fact, my admiration
for her only continues to grow.
Students, faculty, friends,
Cora Sanders.
Comrades!
Comrades.
Say, can you all hear me
without this microphone?
Comrades that are,
comrades that will be,
I am very happy to be with my
brothers and sisters here tonight.
- Yes?
- Hello? Is Sergeant
Bill Crowley handy?
Sergeant Crowley?
- Yeah. Crowley.
- Yeah, Bill?
His name is Raynor,
Caucasian, 160 pounds,
24 years old, blond long hair...
and usually wears
a red windbreaker.
Okay, Joe.
And sometimes my
grandmother would read to us...
from writings that grandmothers
don't normally read to children from.
She used to say, "You
gotta know about it all."
I remember this from
the Song of Solomon.
"Many waters cannot quench love.
Neither can the
floods drown it."
And these words have
stayed with me because I love.
I love my people.
I love and grieve for
all of the oppressed
brothers and sisters
in this world of ours.
And no flood of criticism,
of ridicule, of hatred,
of ignorance, fear,
shall drown that love.
Because it's all I have to
give. It's all I have to give.
Now, one of the earliest loves...
You know, it seems strange,
because I was a
poor girl on a farm,
and we were very poor and
black and therefore hopeless...
But one of my earliest loves
was a man named Marx.
Not one of the funny
brothers you see in the movies.
This brother was a
genius of another kind.
He was a very important man.
His name was Karl Marx.
It seems strange because, you
know, until I came across his writings,
I'd never heard of him; his
name meant nothing to me.
But I'd like to read you
something from H.G. Wells.
And I quote. He says...
"When I was a boy of 14,
"I was a complete Marxist,
"long before I had
ever heard of him.
"I had been cut
off from education,
"caught in a detestable shop,
"and I was being broken into
a life of mean and dreary toil.
"I was worked too hard
and for such long hours...
"that all thoughts of
self-improvement seemed hopeless.
I would have set fire to..."
Freeze! Hold it!
Pepper!
Pepper.
Dr. Curtis, Dr. Curtis, please
call 104 West. Dr. Curtis.
How's she doin',
Bill? She's okay.
I'll tell you. That doctor would
be in a lot of trouble if she wasn't.
They tell me the creep that
shot her is doing okay too.
They're holding him under
psychiatric observation.
Just a psycho. My, my, my.
Yeah. He stole that
uniform he had on.
He said he had to get you because a
lot of people wanted you out of the way,
but he was the only one
who'd do anything about it.
It's a sick mind.
Yeah, we got a
lot of 'em around.
Can I go and see her now?
Yeah. She's expecting
you. Go ahead.
Hi. Hi.
How are you? How do you feel?
My pride hurts.
Well, I just wanted to say
thank you and good-bye.
Good luck to you, Cora.
Thank you.
Even though something tells
me you don't mean that. I do.
In my own way, I do.
As you said, you
pray in your own way.
I guess what it all
boils down to is...
you have to do your
thing, and I gotta do mine.
Thank you, Sergeant.
Good-bye.
Good-bye.
I say tomorrow night.
Cora Sanders.
Comrades, I am
happy to be with...
Police! Hold it!
That's what they
want... for me to quit.
- The threats haven't stopped.
- I thrive on threats.
I don't like you either,
Cora. You don't have
to. I'm not your
cleaning lady, Sergeant.
Get her outta here!
You bang on the door, round us up at
5:00 in the morning like farm animals.
And we want to know why. We
don't like it any better than you do.
Okay, Michaels, what
we wanna know is...
did you or any of your buddies
send us this little love letter last night?
If it's of any interest to
you... And I'll bet it isn't...
I graduated cum
laude in philosophy.
I flunked typing.
"Keep Cora Sanders out
of this city, this country,
or else she gets wasted, and
maybe some of you pigs go with her."
I didn't send that,
and I didn't type that.
You see, I wouldn't waste
the time on Cora Sanders.
You still don't dig her since she
split from you, huh, Michaels?
We should have never let her in
the organization in the first place.
You felt she might detract
from your masculinity?
We felt, Sergeant Anderson, that
she detracted from our blackness.
You see, she's a
Communist, a Marxist.
Preaches how all brothers of all
colors should groove it together.
And we're black, all right?
This washroom and
this world for blacks only!
Yeah, well, black Cora Sanders
arrives here this morning.
Now she's gonna be here
about two and a half days.
So, gentlemen, I
suggest that you behave
yourselves at all times
for the next 60 hours.
You, you, you... in fact,
your whole little organization...
is gonna have a little
company on your tails,
makin' sure that
those tails keep the hell
out of our way and out
of Cora Sanders's way.
- Is everybody gettin'
my message?
- What else is new?
Smile, Pep. Why?
You might get your
picture in the paper.
Look, I was up all night going over her
jacket and checking out those threats,
and I had an honest-to-goodness
weekend coming to me,
and I'm not exactly
crazy about her politics.
What difference does it make
if we like her politics or not?
She's a citizen. We've
got to protect her.
How's it going? Perfectly.
That's the, uh, welcoming
committee... Neil Armitage.
- He teaches at Landon.
- Sociology.
Great white father figure.
She was his prize pupil,
and from what I understand,
she was supposed
to stay with him and his
wife over the weekend.
Hey, here she comes now. Cora!
Oh, you look marvelous.
It's just a front.
I'm pooped. Here.
Face the camera, please, Miss
Sanders. Oh, they're gorgeous.
Frances picked them. Sends
her love. How was your trip?
Miss Sanders, I'm
from the Herald.
I may just get sick. Big
smile over here, Miss Sanders.
Look, 15 hours ago
I was in Moscow.
I've had a very
long trip. I'm tired.
Anything I have to say, I say tomorrow
night at the university, loud and clear.
And wide awake, I hope.
And then you go to Japan?
My more liberated
Japanese brothers...
have offered me a teaching
job, which I will accept.
Thank you. Just one more
question, Miss Sanders.
Ooh, is she a charmer.
So you finally learned to drive and
come to pick me up in your chariot, huh?
Oh, no. I still won't touch
one of those infernal machines.
Look, uh, these people over
here have something to say to you.
They're police. No. No
police. I don't need police.
Now wait a minute.
The university won't let you talk tomorrow
night unless you have police protection.
And I don't want to see anything
happen to you either. Come on.
Miss Sanders, I'm Sergeant
Crowley with the police department.
This is Sergeant Anderson,
Investigator Styles, Investigator Royster.
I'll meet you outside.
There's been a threat. Threats.
Threats don't bother
me. They never have.
Yeah, well, they bother
us. They bother us a lot.
I guess you could say
I'm back home. So?
We've been assigned to
stay with you. To protect me.
- That's right.
- Or set me up.
What's that supposed to mean?
It's been known to happen
to some of my brothers...
Cops setting us
up for the execution.
- Right, brother?
- Wrong.
Ha! Brother. All right.
I just want you all to
know something. I'm me.
Used to taking care of
myself, doing what I want to do.
Which of you bureaucrats gets
to stay with the Red Menace?
- This one, naturally.
- And of course you're thrilled.
My bosses hand me
a job, I'm stuck with it.
Miss Sanders, you and Sergeant Anderson
are gonna stay at the Gregory House.
That's a new hotel here in town.
You can come and go as you like,
just so long as you're with Sergeant
Anderson or the proper police protection.
And we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't pass
around the name of the hotel too freely.
That's the Gregory House.
I want you and Frances
to phone me, hear?
And, Neil, call Boomer...
and tell him to get in touch.
Please.
Looks like you got your
work cut out for you.
I love you. Even though we
remain, as ever, out of sync politically.
Well, that's what life
is all about, isn't it?
Said Liebknecht.
Or was it Cabet?
One of those
misguided Socialists.
Thanks for arranging
for tomorrow night.
Now listen, Cora, I can't
guarantee a huge crowd.
Oh, how soon they forget.
Only a year and a half, and
already I'm a yesterday's terror.
There wasn't much time to
arrange things, you know?
Neil, if I can talk
to only one kid...
Black, yellow, brown or white...
I mean, if I can just get
through to one brother or sister,
it'll be worth it to me.
Hey, folks, my last
fare. I wanna get going.
All right. Now, listen,
2:00 tomorrow. Don't forget.
My office. I want you to meet
some of my new geniuses.
See you, Neil.
Miss Sanders, you will ride
with Sergeant Anderson here.
We'll accompany
you to the hotel.
Like a convoy. Yeah,
something like that.
You like sunflower seeds?
Yes. Help yourself.
I buy my own.
I don't like you either, Cora.
You don't have to. I'm not
your cleaning lady, Sergeant.
Understood, Miss Sanders.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Hey, Bill, there's a
friendly out in the hall.
Has something
about Cora Sanders.
Hey, hey! All right, already.
Anson Croy. Does that name
mean anything to you guys?
Oh, yes, the Nazi
jerk. That's tautologic.
That's what? Redundant.
What about Anson Croy?
I'd keep an eye on
him if I were you.
He's been making a lot of
noises about that Cora Sanders.
Yeah, we don't that. We also know
he's out of town. No, he was. He's back.
Oh? Back when?
Last night. I saw him.
He was drinkin' beer.
Drinkin' lots of beer and
makin' lots of noises about her.
- Where was this?
- At that, uh... What is that?
Rotskeller? Ratskeller?
Whatever it is on Sixth Avenue.
You know the
place... On the corner?
Yeah. Get on him.
Right.
Okay, Eddie.
Thanks a lot.
Yeah. Hey, anytime. Anything to
keep them weirdos off the street, man.
Yeah, stay in touch.
Yeah, get me the
Gregory House, will ya?
You got it, Bill. Bye.
Sure you don't
want any of these?
No, thanks.
There's a problem.
What sort of problem?
The threats haven't
stopped. That was my boss.
The department hopes you'll
call off your lecture tomorrow night.
No, way. Mm-mmm.
I thrive on threats.
Means people know
I'm here, Sergeant.
People can get
hurt. Innocent people.
Innocent people, oppressed
people in this country, in this world,
are used to being hurt, stomped
on, exploited, oppressed, hurt.
Or hadn't you heard, Sergeant?
Oh, I've read about it.
Yeah?
Hold on.
It's for you.
I thought I asked you not to make a
public announcement of where we were.
So you did, Sergeant.
- Hello?
- Hello, Cora?
It's Boomer. How ya doin'?
Fine, Boomer. Where are you?
Well, I don't know about that.
I mean, I don't
know if it's possible.
Oh. Okay.
Fine, Boomer. Yes.
You know something? I'm hungry.
Okay. I could
eat too. I'll order.
There must be some menus
around here someplace.
Hey, I'm not a prisoner. They
got a nice dining room here.
We could just traipse out
past that cop in the hall...
and take one elevator down
to that fancy dining room.
Okay. Show 'em
your badge, Sergeant.
They might not try to stick
us at a table near the kitchen.
They won't.
Let's go.
I'd like to freshen up first.
Hi. Hi.
You know, I didn't
think you'd call.
You knew I'd call. You
also knew I'd be here.
But a married man.
My goodness, Boomer.
No jokes about that, Cora.
We're having problems.
Oh, poor, mixed-up Marnie.
Oh, she... she was the wrong woman for
you, you know? I could have told you that.
It's not good between us,
but I'm gonna keep trying.
No frown.
That's not why I traveled
a million miles... for frowns.
That's not why I
just ditched a fuzz.
That's not why I
wanted to see you.
Why did you want to see me?
To talk about old...
Old and good times.
Beautiful times
they were, Boomer.
How was Russia? Very big.
I want a little Noel Coward. And
very efficient and very friendly and...
You learned the
language? Mm-hmm.
She asked me to take
her up to the top floor.
Let's go.
How's the team doing?
Or should I ask, considering
that their coach is...
One big, together Boomer Reed.
Murder!
And you never saw
anybody on that other roof?
No.
You mean there was no
warning? No warning at all? No.
Why did you leave
the hotel room...
without notifying me or the
patrolman in the corridor?
- I wanted to see him alone.
- You could have asked me.
I didn't. I was wrong.
I just wanted to
be alone with him.
Miss Sanders, would
you tell me, please,
what the exact relationship
with Ralph Reed was?
Um,
we were very close friends.
I was in love with him once,
and we went to the
same college together,
and he was one of the few
black people in any of my classes.
So in that sense, it was kind of
a natural attraction, and it grew,
and... we... planned
to marry at one point.
But you didn't?
His beliefs... They... They
didn't coincide with mine.
No, instead he married
a Marnette Gibson.
Yeah.
What has any of this got
to... Got to do with his death?
He was murdered this afternoon.
Anything you can tell us might
have something to do with it.
Well, whoever it was was after
me. I think that's pretty obvious.
Nothing is obvious to us until we
know exactly what happened and why.
I think I'd like to
get back to the hotel.
The hotel is out, I'm afraid.
You'll have to stay with Sergeant
Anderson, at her apartment.
You'll both be under guard. Well, I
would rather not stay at her apartment.
It's very nice. You'll like it.
- Isn't there someplace else?
- Like where?
Well, Neil... Professor Armitage
and his wife. I could go there.
I'm sure you could. And I'm sure
they'd be pretty nervous about it.
You could be endangering
their lives, Miss Sanders,
or don't little things
like that bother you?
- Look, somebody's been killed.
- I know that, Sergeant!
I know that.
All right, I'll go.
But what is it? What
do you want me to do?
Miss Sanders, won't you
reconsider your decision?
My decision to speak?
No, no. The meeting's still on.
Even now when
someone's been murdered?
Don't you see?
That's what they want.
Whoever did this to Boomer...
Whoever tried to do this to me...
That's what they
want. For me to quit.
There's nothing some
people want more.
I want to ask you both...
Would you back off?
Well, I'm not. I'm not running.
There. That's not so bad, is it?
Thanks, John. See
you in the morning.
I'll flip you for the
bedroom. It's upstairs.
Does this open up? Yeah.
I'll sleep here.
Suit yourself.
You must be hungry.
No, no, I'm not. Would
you like some coffee?
Okay.
Instant's all I've got.
That's what they used to serve in
some of the better jails I've known.
Instant's fine.
That's my sister.
- She's very pretty. What's her name?
- Cheryl.
She has a kind of strange,
kind of infinite smile.
Unfortunately, she's autistic.
- Why do you say unfortunately?
- What do you mean?
Oh, there are times like now...
today... when that's the only way to be.
Not to react to anything
in this rotten world.
She's a very ill, very sick child
that has nothing to do with politics.
- I'm sorry.
- Are you really?
I said it! I'm sorry!
Look, I'm very tired.
I've lost a friend today, and
inside me is just empty, empty.
All right, listen. I can understand how
you feel when you lose someone you love,
and yet... you gave him up.
He understood why.
The few other men I've known,
loved in my way... They've understood.
But you don't, do you?
Well, I really don't
care what you think,
what your type thinks.
People who do what you do in
the name of... what is it... justice?
♪♪
Danke schön. Same to you.
How do you say "These
creepies give me the creepies"?
Quietly. Mmm.
♪♪
That him?
Anson Croy?
Shove off! How'd he get in here?
Police officers. Let's go.
Go where? Downtown.
We wanna talk with you.
You'll have to drag
me. I'll drag you.
Hey.
All right! Now everybody's
gonna go. Come on. Let's move.
I don't want a lawyer.
I don't need a lawyer.
And I'll tell you
something. Murder, killing...
It's not my style.
I believe in purified race,
in purified blood,
but I don't have to shed
any to prove my point.
Time will prove my point.
At approximately 1:00 this
afternoon, what were you doing?
I was in my room, reading.
- Reading what?
- The Constitution.
What's it to you what I read?
Your pals down the hall...
They were at the university, right?
I don't know where they
were. Hassling all the kids.
I'm not their keeper. I
don't know where they were.
You own a rifle?
No. I have a revolver.
And it's registered.
But I don't have a rifle.
And at approximately
1:00 this afternoon,
you were doing nothing more
than a little harmless reading, right?
That's right. You
got any witnesses?
If only books could talk.
Let me tell you something.
Don't get cute with me, okay?
Look! If it's murder you're
trying to accuse me of,
okay, I did it!
In my conscience, in my soul.
Look, I got rights the same
as you, see? Same as you.
And one of them's to
take a polygraph, correct?
And that test is gonna show
you crud that I'm tellin' the truth.
I want that test now!
Did he cop out? No,
he showed truthful.
♪♪
May I help you?
Reed. Ralph Reed.
Yes, chapel one.
Right this way, please.
Thank you.
♪♪
Hello, Marnie. I'm very sorry.
Aren't you going to
kneel and pray for him?
Don't you pray,
you godless tramp?
I pray in my own way.
Then, uh, pray for
forgiveness, Cora.
Pray to be absolved of
my husband's murder,
because he wouldn't
be dead, lying in there...
in that suit and tie he hated
wearing, if it weren't for you.
You know that. Yes.
- Who are you?
- I'm Sergeant Anderson.
You're protecting her?
- Yes, I am.
- Oh, yes. Oh, yes.
She gets herself
sweetly protected.
She lured my
husband up to that roof.
- I'm not sure about that.
- Oh, she lures men
to shame, to death.
Did she tell you about the time
she spent with my husband?
It seems that was
before you were married.
How about Neil Armitage, her
sacred, her beloved professor?
Did she tell you about the affair she had
with him when she was his darling student?
Even though he
was married. Get out!
Take her with you. I
don't want her near him.
Take her out of here!
I'm sorry about what she said.
Please don't be! I didn't
expect anything else.
Here we go.
So I'll, uh, see you
tonight at the auditorium.
Oh, by the way,
Frances won't be there.
Oh. Is she afraid to come?
Well, yeah. I guess
a lot of people are.
- I can understand that.
- Okay, I'll see you tonight.
Take care. Okay. See you later.
- Well, how was the seminar?
- All right. It was all right.
- It was very interesting.
- Really?
Oh, you didn't make
a convert out of me.
My big revolution's gonna come if
my landlord raises my rent again.
Get outta here!
All right, hold it!
Joe, you wanna get that?
Yeah. I'll get it.
Easy now.
Easy.
All right.
It's a toy, man. It shoots caps.
Same here, man.
What's your name?
Name's Harold. But
m-most people call me Harry.
I like... I like to play cowboy.
Harry? You all right, Harry?
Yeah, Daddy. Oh, yeah.
We ready to go home?
In just a little while, Harry.
You the police?
Yeah, that's right.
I'm sorry about this.
He's a good boy. A lonely boy.
I'm a gardener here, and I bring
him to work with me once in a while.
And I'll always tell him no
trouble, you understand?
Well, let me tell you something.
This boy could've been killed.
I'm awfully sorry.
We'll do better.
Come on. Let's go home.
Can I get you something?
No, thank you.
A poor, retarded soul
on the roof with a toy rifle.
We've got nothing on
Michaels and his troops.
Croy and his goose-steppers
are as pure as the driven slush.
Yeah, well, you don't think any of
them sent those warnings, do you, Bill?
I don't know. All I know is that somebody
knew she'd be at the Gregory House.
Yeah, but not on the roof. True.
Maybe they were
casing the window.
Bill, what you just said... I mean,
it may be silly, but that cabdriver...
What cabdriver?
When she was saying
good-bye to Armitage at
the airport, the cabbie
was standing there.
I mean, I heard her say, "I'll be at the
Gregory House." Maybe he heard her.
Do you remember
what he looked like?
Oh, he was kind of tall,
uh, heavyset, white, 50, 51.
Like about three million
other guys? Yeah.
Company Cab?
No, City. I do remember
it was a City Cab.
You guys wanna check into that?
Absolutely.
I'm going over to the campus,
check out the auditorium.
Why don't you take her home?
See if you can talk her
out of this thing tonight.
I can't, Bill. How are
you two getting along?
Haven't you noticed?
She hates cops.
Good. We're in
time for the news.
I don't know about
you, but I'm starved.
Do you want to split a
sandwich? No, thank you.
You could eat
something. How about
some cheese and crackers?
No, no. I'm just not hungry.
The mayor's office
announced today...
But I would like a
shower, if that's okay.
Sure.
- Sergeant?
- Yeah?
Never mind.
Hey, Raynor, do
mine up good this time.
Capisce? What do
you mean, Lombardi?
"What do you mean, Lombardi?" I
mean no streaks this time. No streaks.
My windshield looks like I been
through the Okefenokee swamp.
Ah, come on, Lombardi.
Oh, good morning.
Hi.
You fellas lookin' for a job?
Hey, I'm on
welfare. I don't work.
You don't hire ex-cons, do you?
Where's the manager?
The manager? Right back
there. Go ahead. Okay.
Hey, don't let him con
you about tips, huh?
Heavyset, 50s. Sounds like
half the guys I got workin' for me.
Yeah, well, look. Do
your men keep ledgers?
Yeah. I mean, for
the fares they record.
Well, we're interested
in a cabbie...
who picked up a fare at the
airport yesterday about 11:00.
A professor. Probably dropped
him off at Landon University.
Okay, let's see. This
might take some time.
That's what we
don't have... time.
I want six men working the exterior of
the auditorium and 10 men on the inside.
Also, Fred, there's a basement
door to the orchestra pit.
Slap a padlock on it and have a
man check it just before the speech.
Right. You been up on
the roof of that building?
No, not yet.
I could pick off our subject
with a slingshot from up there.
Yeah, but how
would you get down?
How would I get down? Uh.
I would, uh, jump to the
roof of the next building.
Or I would shimmy
down a drainpipe.
And the cops would be
shooting at you from down there.
So I'd, uh... I don't know.
No, I think I'd still shimmy
down the drainpipe,
crawl into one of the johns and
try to make it out from the inside.
Uh-uh. You know the heat
would be all over the building.
Yeah, but I'm the kind of killer
who thinks that the heat are stupid.
So what do you want?
I want a man on the roof
and a man in the john.
For two hours? You're right.
So give him a
yo-yo to play with.
Here it is. What do you got?
Driver named Maddox. Lou Maddox.
Picked up a fare at the airport.
Dropped him off at Landon.
Four dollars and 50 cents.
I don't cut in on their tips.
Well, that's very nice of
you. Where's Maddox now?
Well, he works nights and mornings.
He's off now. Home, probably.
Hello. Oh, are you from
the phone company?
No, we're from the police
department. May we come in?
Oh, who's done what to who now?
Lou Maddox... He
a tenant of yours?
The best kind. I never see him.
He done somethin'?
No, no. We just
want to talk with him.
Well, he's not here right now.
Do you know where we
might be able to find him?
You know, I had
some trouble here once,
and I phoned for a cop.
Just one cop.
It took him 35
minutes to get here.
You should've seen him walk
in, takin' his own sweet time.
Now two of you show
up askin' questions...
about a fine gentleman
that wouldn't hurt a fly.
Well, do you know where we might
be able to find that fine gentleman?
He's eatin'. This is his time
to eat. Then he plays cards.
And where might that be?
- Over at Blanca's.
- He goes all the way
over to Blanca's to eat?
You know anybody else that
makes such a good hero sandwich?
A nice man. Sometimes
he brings one back for me.
Well, if it were me, I would
bring you a nice bowl of fruit.
Thank you.
Good night.
It's almost time to go.
Bill oughta be along any second.
I like your outfit.
Thank you.
I like your
apartment, very much.
Oh, it's a little
bourgeois, but it's home.
I'm used to that kind
of joke, you know.
It wasn't a very good one.
Not bad.
Well, tomorrow about this time,
you'll be on your way to Japan.
Now, that's exciting. That's a
place I'd like to go sometime.
It's exciting, yes, mm-hmm.
But I'd rather stay home.
- Then why don't you?
- I have no home.
Beliefs are one thing. But where you
park your suitcase, that's another thing.
Figuratively, I have no home.
I mean, my ideas are restless.
They cry in the wind, kind of,
and the wind drags them
and me all over the place.
I'm not complaining,
mind you. It's just that
I have something to
say, you understand...
Something I feel I was
born to, raised to say,
that I can at least say.
Wherever the wind and the mood
and the circumstance take me.
Sergeant, there's something I
started to say to you a while ago...
Mm-hmm.
Never mind.
I'll bet I can
guess what it was.
You wanted to, uh, thank me...
for defending you
with Boomer's wife.
About your thing with Boomer
and Professor Armitage.
That's right.
Those matters are private,
and the reasons
for them are yours.
Thank you.
♪♪
Now, you wanna know
about my fare yesterday.
Professor, right? What
we wanna know about is...
do you remember the
black woman he was
talking to just before
he got into your cab?
- Cora Sanders?
- Cora Sanders.
He didn't say nothin' about her.
But he didn't have to, 'cause I
recognized her from the newspaper. Why?
- Well, did she mention anything
about the Gregory House?
- How'd you know?
Did you pass that information
on to your next fare, maybe?
Mmm, there was no next...
There was no next fare.
I clocked in after
I deposited him.
Then I went straight back to the
garage, then home and then here.
Hey, look, uh, you live
in a rooming house, right?
Yeah. Did you
tell anybody there?
Nah. All right, what
about here? Tell anybody?
No.
Are you sure about that?
The garage... I might have
mentioned it to Raynor.
Who's that?
A kid that works for us. He sweeps,
hoses down the cabs. Nice kid.
Yeah, I can dig that. Uh,
what did you say to him?
Well, you know, whenever I
pull in, he says... he says to me,
"What big movie star
did you see today?"
You know, what
celebrities, what diplomats.
He wants to know if I
brought him an autograph.
I mean, he digs
that stuff, you know.
Or he'll say, "Hey, you know, Raquel
Welch just flew in from New York.
Did you see her when you
dropped that fare off at the airport?"
You know, a couple
of times I said "Yeah."
And he got a real big kick out of it when
I gave him Faye Dunaway's autograph.
Who is it? It's me, Pep.
Hi.
Convoy ready to
roll, Miss Sanders.
Thank you. Anything
from Pete and Joe yet?
No, not yet. I'm
ready, Sergeant.
Good. Let's go, huh?
Sergeant.
That's a heck of a monologue.
Now all we wanna know about
is yesterday. Cora Sanders?
Ring a bell?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Raynor wanted
to know who I saw out at the airport.
So I told him I saw her,
'cause, after all, she's a celebrity.
I mean, she's in the
papers and on the TV news.
Then you did mention
the Gregory House, right?
Well, he wanted to know what
they were talkin' about, so I told him.
Bad crowd. Yeah.
They start yet? Yeah.
Excuse me. That's all right.
Ladies and gentlemen,
tonight we're going to hear
from an old friend... of many...
and a new friend, I
trust, of many more.
A poor girl, a black
girl, a brilliant girl,
one that I had the pleasure
of teaching for a while...
and with whom I've had
many disagreements,
but never, never with
any loss of respect.
As a matter of fact, my admiration
for her only continues to grow.
Students, faculty, friends,
Cora Sanders.
Comrades!
Comrades.
Say, can you all hear me
without this microphone?
Comrades that are,
comrades that will be,
I am very happy to be with my
brothers and sisters here tonight.
- Yes?
- Hello? Is Sergeant
Bill Crowley handy?
Sergeant Crowley?
- Yeah. Crowley.
- Yeah, Bill?
His name is Raynor,
Caucasian, 160 pounds,
24 years old, blond long hair...
and usually wears
a red windbreaker.
Okay, Joe.
And sometimes my
grandmother would read to us...
from writings that grandmothers
don't normally read to children from.
She used to say, "You
gotta know about it all."
I remember this from
the Song of Solomon.
"Many waters cannot quench love.
Neither can the
floods drown it."
And these words have
stayed with me because I love.
I love my people.
I love and grieve for
all of the oppressed
brothers and sisters
in this world of ours.
And no flood of criticism,
of ridicule, of hatred,
of ignorance, fear,
shall drown that love.
Because it's all I have to
give. It's all I have to give.
Now, one of the earliest loves...
You know, it seems strange,
because I was a
poor girl on a farm,
and we were very poor and
black and therefore hopeless...
But one of my earliest loves
was a man named Marx.
Not one of the funny
brothers you see in the movies.
This brother was a
genius of another kind.
He was a very important man.
His name was Karl Marx.
It seems strange because, you
know, until I came across his writings,
I'd never heard of him; his
name meant nothing to me.
But I'd like to read you
something from H.G. Wells.
And I quote. He says...
"When I was a boy of 14,
"I was a complete Marxist,
"long before I had
ever heard of him.
"I had been cut
off from education,
"caught in a detestable shop,
"and I was being broken into
a life of mean and dreary toil.
"I was worked too hard
and for such long hours...
"that all thoughts of
self-improvement seemed hopeless.
I would have set fire to..."
Freeze! Hold it!
Pepper!
Pepper.
Dr. Curtis, Dr. Curtis, please
call 104 West. Dr. Curtis.
How's she doin',
Bill? She's okay.
I'll tell you. That doctor would
be in a lot of trouble if she wasn't.
They tell me the creep that
shot her is doing okay too.
They're holding him under
psychiatric observation.
Just a psycho. My, my, my.
Yeah. He stole that
uniform he had on.
He said he had to get you because a
lot of people wanted you out of the way,
but he was the only one
who'd do anything about it.
It's a sick mind.
Yeah, we got a
lot of 'em around.
Can I go and see her now?
Yeah. She's expecting
you. Go ahead.
Hi. Hi.
How are you? How do you feel?
My pride hurts.
Well, I just wanted to say
thank you and good-bye.
Good luck to you, Cora.
Thank you.
Even though something tells
me you don't mean that. I do.
In my own way, I do.
As you said, you
pray in your own way.
I guess what it all
boils down to is...
you have to do your
thing, and I gotta do mine.
Thank you, Sergeant.
Good-bye.
Good-bye.