CLASSIC CINEMA: The Klansman (1974) | Thriller | English Subtitles

[waves crashing] [engine revving] [upbeat funk music] ♪ Everybody here, yeah ♪ ♪ Got some love to share ♪ ♪ But when it sharin' time ♪ ♪ We all change our minds ♪ ♪ It's a slip of the lip ♪ ♪ when you say you care ♪ ♪ I keep my love over here ♪ ♪ you keep yours over there ♪ ♪ And it's all in the name ♪ ♪ of the good Christian people ♪ ♪ Said that it's all in the name ♪ ♪ of the good Christian people ♪ ♪ You wanna tell the truth ♪ ♪ Who you gonna tell it to? ♪ ♪ Ain't got no hiddin' place ♪ ♪ Go

on and show your face ♪ ♪ Good Christian people ♪ ♪ Get your heart on ♪ ♪ Don't let your feeling's and fears ♪ ♪ Be your downfall ♪ ♪ All in the name of the good Christian people ♪ ♪ Said that it's all in the name ♪ ♪ of good Christian people ♪ [people yelling] [woman screams] [car horn honks] This property is posted, you boys are trespassing. That Lightning Rod is going to check. Now get out of here, go on. We's gonna give him a dollar. All black women like being raped. How'd you figure where w

e was anyhow? Well Lightning Rod's mama saw you fetch him and she figured what was spreading in the air. Alright boys, party's over. Rod, oh Rod. Here's your dollar. Go on, take it. Now, you know where you live? Do you? Well, you go on home now. You too, Bobby. Well, you mind if I get my wife, I mean she's got the car. And where she at? Oh, she just up the hill there, a piece. She and Mrs. Alverson bird watching. - I'll give you a lift. - Ah, thank you, sheriff. [upbeat music] I'm turnin' here.

Thanks a lot sheriff, Nancy's waiting for me already. I'll see you! Hi, Track. Could you spare me a few minutes, Breck? Sure, sure. Well, if you wanna finish what you're doing I might lend ya a hand. No, no, no, it's okay. It's practically finished anyway. You can go in, come inside? - Would you like a drink? - Not just yet. [rooster crowing] The last time I was out here you could see 27 miles across north west Alabama. You getting tired of the view? No the trouble is the birds keep on flying in

to the glass, because they can't see them and break their wings. Well, why don't you just throw an old fishnet over the window? That way you'd have your view and your birds. Well, I just guessing, calculate, I never thought of it. You know, I swear if a fly was to bust his leg, you'd be coming running with a split. Do you plan on welcoming the strangers next week? You mean the black folk demonstration? You gonna let them camp on your mountain? I hadn't intended to, why? Well, a lot of the good c

ountry people asked me what you're gonna do and I didn't know, so I thought I'd ask you. It's none of their business, is it? Well, it's just that they don't like a lot of strangers coming in and telling them how to run their county. Maybe they got a point. I'm not gonna be down in the court house square cheering the movement. I don't like circuses. But you won't be cheering against either, will you? Well, I'll try to maintain a dignified neutrality. Now, what do you want to drink? Well, you got

anymore of that brown whiskey? Yeah, you know where it is. You think you might be having trouble with the strangers? No, I don't think so, no. [upbeat funk music] No, someone's coming! Someday your father's gonna catch us. Ah, forget about it. What were you doing all afternoon? Who, me? - I wasn't doing nothing. - [loud clatter] What in the world, this thing is skipping! Anyway, we'll get a new car in the spring, don't make no sense to fix it up now. You've been saying that since Christmas. What

the hell is-- [loud clatter] I have had it with the car. Nothing to be done. It must be the engine. Figured it out by yourself, did ya? Come on, let's go into town and get a tow truck. Come on. I'm tired. I've been on my feet all day, I'm not walking no four miles to town. You ain't? Well, I recon you can just wait here then. I'm cold. [radio playing] And don't go messin' with the goddamn radio, you hear? - [turns volume up] - [man groans] ♪ 'Cause I don't hold no grudge ♪ ♪ A grudge ain't neve

r been strong enough to block our love ♪ No! No! No! No! No! No! Well, I can goddamn guarantee ya one thing. We're not gonna have no trouble from outside agitators. Not as long as I'm the mayor. What I wanna know, how we gonna stop 'em? We, you mean the Klan? Well, the Klan's gonna do nothing. I spoke to the Grand Dragon in Birmingham. He says nothing, we're gonna let them have their sweet Jesus freedom "We shall overcome", get out the goddamn black vote demonstration. We might have some trouble

with the membership about that, they're getting kinda antsy. Well, then I suggest you take 'em down to awful Annie's. As the president of the Atoka Lumber Company I'll pick up the tab. Well, that's truly kind off you, Mr. Hardy. But what I was thinking that, well, we should-- The boys get tired of coming over here to meet and talk about the Fourth of July picnic and Christmas turkeys for orphans. As a matter of fact the boys was planning a little action for tonight, Hardy. Kind of a preventive

action, so to speak. Now's the time to discourage our niggers from attending that demonstration next week. We thought you'd want to know about it. Well, I got to know about it. Hell, I'm the goddamn exalted cyclops! What I don't want to know is what you're gonna do. You see, one of these days I might have to put my hand on the Bible. What we ought to talk about is what you're not gonna do. Now, you're not gonna kill nobody. No, we ain't gonna do that. You're not gonna dynamite no churches. [all]

No! Then I guess it's alright. What I mean is this. We've got fine Christian people here both black and white, we got great opportunity, my only interest is the orderly development of Atoka county. And none of us want a bunch of agitators, whores, punks, scum, atheists, perverts, all controlled by the communists, coming in here, bothering our niggers! That's right! The boys at state head quarters don't mind if you go out and burn a few crosses every once in a while, every once in a while take a

n agitator out and touch him up a bit, leave him feeling chastised so he knows his good Christian neighbors just doing what you gotta do, so everybody can get along. Sure, Hardy, sure. [phone ringing] Hello. What? God almighty. Nancy Poteet's done been raped. What? Well, thank you for calling, Fred, I appreciate it, right. Nancy Poteet? 'Lil yellow-headed gal. Raped by a nigger. - What nigger? - Well, we don't know yet. I'll venture a guess. I guess and calculate it's that goddamn Willy Washingt

on! Willy. What it is? Step outside for a minute. You can run it down to me right here. [upbeat funk music] Where were you between eight and nine? Now, Sheriff, I don't go around talkin' about my delight. Willy, I'm not here to pass the goddamn time of day. I got a warrant for your arrest. Well, I ain't gonna be namin' no names, 'cause that kind of stuff'll get me in a whole peck of trouble. You are in a peck of trouble. I'm arresting you for rape. She said it was rape? [balls clacking] Quiet! [

lighter clicking] Let's go, Willie. You get in the front. [ominous music] You better jump in the back, Willy. Thank you, Sheriff. We want him, Track. Sheriff, goddamn it, be reasonable! Don't dispute us, Mr. Bascomb, we're just trying to save the county the cost of a trial. I know what you're trying to do. Now, if you boys'll just back off and let me do my elected duty. Your goddamn duty is to us, we elected you. And by God, we can un-elect you. Well, until that great day comes... You take your

hand off that arm. [groans] [indistinct] [tires screeching] Alright, get in the truck! Hey, hey, a couple niggers. Well, what do you say, boys? It's Garth, that uppity spade, and his friend Henry. I'll show that son of the devil! Watch out! [tires screeching] [groans] Come on, Henry, come on, bank up. Get those bastards. Come on, you guys, get 'em. Come on, come on, let's go get 'em. Come on! Come on, man, come on. [tense music] [gunshot] Garth! Garth! Hey, wait for me, man! [gunshot] We got you

! No! No! What y'all doing to me? Shut up! We'll flay you! Leave me alone! Alright now, you all know the rules. We each gotta put a shot in him. [gunshots] Who'd you figure done it? A little something from a national office. Probably some other nigger. Probably so. Or one of them outside agitators. Some of them's already in town, a nigger by the name of Charlie Peck and a mongolizing white preacher. Preacher? No don't worry about it, we had the word on that bunch a long time ago. That's right. F

or sure. This republic is great, not because of our land, our wealth, or our population. We are great because of the genius of pioneer white freemen who settled this continent dared the might of kings and made the wilderness a home of freedom. Our future depends on the purity of this racial stock. Granting the ballot to Negros is a crime against human progress. Trash. Hi. Hey, sheriff Bascomb, hey sheriff, I wanna talk to you. Okay, Toddy, out. Thanks, sheriff. How you feeling? Holy, must have b

een something I ate. Must have been something you washed it down with. I'll swear to you, I'll never do it again. I'll swear to you on a stack-- - Stack of six packs. - What did I do? Well, you gave your wife one hell of a nose bleed, you wrapped a kid something awful, you mashed the cat. God almighty. You fixed it with my wife? You can go home now. Hey, hey mister, hi, sheriff, sir! Did old Henry rape Miss Nancy Poteet? Well all I know is it sure in the hell wasn't me, why that warrant you laid

on me at that juke joint kinda caught me by surprise. Shit, I sure in the hell didn't have to rape her. Hey Track! Track, he'd done it to me again. He yanked down my bulletin in front of Hardy Riddle and everybody, I mean don't he give a diddly damn about preserving the purity of the race? He don't care about the people that do. He think's our great governor is weak. You know something, he even hates the Klan. Well, maybe he has his reasons. Yeah, but that happened a long time ago, you know, in

the holy here, and now I think I might knock Mr. High and Mighty Breck right flat on his stiff-legged-- Oh, no, you won't. He knows karate from the marines. He can ram his fist in a barrel of rice up to his elbow. Hey, honey cheeks, let me tell you something, I got friends and we got ways. Sure, sure, I know you can poison Breck's dog or you can shoot his horse, or maybe you could burn down his trees, or maybe you could shotgun him in his pick-up, sure I know. Well, maybe that's the way it'll e

nd. But as long as I'm sheriff... Well, if you say so, Track, I mean, if that's what you want or shit. It could be so easy, there he is now. Right now over at the bus depot. [imitates gunfire] Welcome home. Thank you, Breck. How's the job? 120 a week, it's kind of a miracle for a-- For a handkerchief head five years out of the corn pone belt. You married? When I left, you told me to keep my skirt down and my legs crossed. Well I didn't mean it to last forever. By this time I expected you to have

a husband, a Chevy, and an old electric kitchen. Oh, the Chevy I got, you're the one that taught me to strive, make a run for the middle class. But you're not much of a striver yourself. Now are you? Well, you know there's not much use striving on a 3000 acres that grows nothing but rocks and pines and-- And relief hounds. Well, sure, they're have their shacks, their welfare checks, and have a TV and hope for heaven. They're mummified, you think it's too late for them to change? Why should they

change? It's all they've ever wanted. And you Breck, what do you want? Much the same thing, as long as there's quiet on the mountain. Grandma wrote you never married. She wrote right, did she write you about the demonstration next week? I wrote her. It could be dangerous. Danger's just another way of thinning out talent down here. Well, down here, you know, we work without nets. Breck, I'm not against shaking up the mountain a bit. But I came back because the only creature in the world who real

ly ever loved me is dying. I guess that's not the whole truth. Guess, I also came back to see what happened there. But also what happened to you. [tense music] Who is that? We're going with the Klan tonight! Not bad! It'll be fun! [chuckles] Ku Klux Klan. Ku Klux Klan! Ku Klux Klan tonight! Haven't worn our glory suits for a long time. [tense music] Nigger! [gunshot] And this is Johnson's shotgun. Ever find the murder weapon? No but we think it was an automatic or a pump, or a five empties doubl

e out back. Got any idea who did it? Not yet. And you think it was a black huh? Jan, putting your words in my mouth won't win you the Pulitzer prize. Hey, wait a minute. Track, I've come all the way from Birmingham on a goddamn Sunday morning and this stud in the barn yard threads, he's come from New York. You've got to give us something, even if it's filler. What's the crime rate in this county? Nothing to write about. No crime or you don't keep records of the rate? There are two kinds of law o

pen to a back county sheriff. He can book and punish-- That way every black in this county would have a police record. Or he can cool things, smooth them out by bending the law a little to keep people from breaking them. Sheriff, that's mighty fine cracker barrel talk but we've got a job to do, and it might be best for all of us if you were a little more cooperative. Well, I could be more cooperative if I got back to work, huh? Isn't there anybody around here we can talk to? Well, why don't you

try Trixie in the other room, you'll find her very cooperative. We'll be back. You are always welcome. What I wanna know is who the hell does he think he is? - Trixie baby. - Hello. Hey Trixie, working on Sunday? - Hi, Jan. - Hi. Winston, New York Times. Aren't you a little off your beat? Not if this is Ellington, Alabama, the garden spot of the universe. And the news capital of the world. At least this week. Why the sudden interest in the back woods of Alabama? Maybe it has something to do with

a rape and a couple of murders. And a black vote demonstration coming up. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that the human skin differs in pigment. Ah, sugars in homicide. What do you think honey? What I mean is how did all this happen? How did it start? I guess it started in 1619 where the sea captain lying off Virginia with the first cargo of slaves. Sometimes I wish the son of a bitch had been fired on and denied permission to land. Oh, it's a missing persons. Uh, sheriff, I gotta see you.

What is it Bobby? Listen, uh, I'm leaving town. Oh, then I guess you better give me a forwarding address in case you. Oh no, no, not with Nancy, I mean, I'm sorry, but I cannot take it no more. Working in the market there cutting up pork chops for some lady who I just know wants to ask me how does it feel to screw a wife that's been screwed by a nigger! But, but, what bothers me is it don't bother her. She's got no shame. Where will you go? Oh God, I don't know. All I know is I'm going greyhoun

d. [giggles] Just like the niggers, goddamn it! Why did this thing have to happen to me? You don't think that there's any way that... No, no, no, listen would you give her my insurance policy? And this 34 dollars, now I've divided it up. Half for her and half for greyhound. Just tell her that. [bells tolling] And because of them the way of truth will be revealed. And-- [indistinct chatter] Let's get out of here! Shame. Filth! How can you push yourself on these good Christian folks? After being i

n that nigger's foul embraces? Please, please, please. Will the congregate, will the congregation, please be seated. Well, she don't belong here. I think I'm gonna faint. If you have any Christian decadency in you, you will leave. I am waiting. You blame me for what happened? As though I did something filthy? Well, you're the filthy ones! You lying Christian people! I wish I could forgive you like our Lord forgave his enemies. They're just trying to bother you. But I won't! I can't! And I never

will! I am not ashamed for what happened, I did nothing! You know it's quiet and peaceful up here. It's a shame. What's a shame. I mean up here, Nancy'd be outta sight. Outta sight, outta mind. Nobody be calling her names. Track, I got about, I guess 200 dollars, now you take it and ship her off, I don't care where to the Vatican, to the Salvation Army, or to anyone who cares enough about nursing her back to health. Oh, she's healthy enough, that's the trouble. She's too damn healthy. Why she su

ddenly become so healthy? The good country people think she ought to dig a hole and stick her head in it. If she ain't dead from rape she ought to suicide herself. Or at least have the decadency to be all torn up and crying and trembling with shame. But hell, Nancy kept her head. She even showed up in church and that's when it hit the fan. How could I ever get rid of her? Beats the hell out of me. I'd have to supply her with food. Unless you wanted her to starve. She'd have to move in here with

me and you go tell her it can't be done. Oh, hell, you do that much for a bird with a broken wing. Okay, you tell her it can't be done. She's out in the car. [dog barks] [melancholy music] Come on in. [solemn marching band music playing] [tense music] [gunshot] [people scream] [gunshots] [tires screeching] [singing] ♪ Rock of ages, cleft for me ♪ ♪ Let me hide myself in thee ♪ Must have been some of them goddamn agitators. Shamed us in front of the grand wizard and two imperial dragons. No, it w

eren't no agitator. What do you mean no, a couple of our night hawks saw them up on Stancill's mountain. John with that nignog Loretta. I know that, but it weren't anyone who shot Taggert. Now, how can you be so goddamn sure? Remember the night we got Henry? Uh huh. Well, Garth was with him. He must have seen what we did to him. That black son of a bitch got Johnson, got Taggert, and I think he's fixing to get us all one by one. Yeah, you tell Track? How could I, how could I tell him it was us t

hat got Henry? Well I'll tell him, I'll tell him I got an anonymous phone call, no, I'll go bring him myself. How you gonna do that, how you gonna find him? How, how am I gonna find him? Listen, I'll lay you five to ten that that gal agitator got him stashed away in her shack up in the mountains. You wanna go up against Breck? Anytime, anyplace. But this is the one night of the week that Mrs. Big Track Bascomb takes pity on that poor miserable son of a bitch bachelor and asks him to supper. Huh,

Mrs. Track never asks me to supper, she ever ask you? Wouldn't go if she were to ask, but particularly not tonight, we've got more important things to do. Come on man, Hector, come on boys. We got a lot a work to do. Hey! - What do you want? - Open up! Look, you don't want me to put the hood on you. Have you got a search warrant? Search warrant, my ass, give me that I'll open the goddamn. Alright, alright, shh. Search warrant. [scoffs] - What's that, Loretta? - Nothing, grandma. Evening. Have a

good look-around boys, I mean good. Alright Loretta, where's Garth? I have no idea. Anybody else in the house? Like you saw, just my grandmother. Loretta, tell me, what brought you back here? It's my grandmother, she's dying. Don't you lie to me, nigger. You've come here to demonstrate. Two days ago you let them two communist agitators into this house, and they spent the night with you. They come to my door, we talk for about ten minutes, but nobody spent the night here. Well, now that's a croc

k. But at least you're admitting that the three of you was conspiring. I never said that. Yes, conspiring against the peace and dignity of Atoka county. If you've got charges that I... Yeah, I might have! Nothing, nothing, nobody home. - You sure? - Not a squeak. Well... I'm taking you in, that's what I'm gonna do, yeah. What for? For further investigating. Grandma, I'll be back soon, the neighbors will look after you. Let's get her in the truck! Get your hands off me. But does it have to be? Yo

u know, I often wonder why you do it. Do what? Tear down Butt Cutts bulletins. 'Cause I don't buy that racist bull. But don't you think that's just a little, uh, self-indulgent? That's a good word for it. I mean, of all the good country people in this county have you ever managed to influence anyone? Change their mind about anything? Alan's, suppose you wish I hadn't. Well I don't know. Who the hell can say? This I know. We live in a Klan-ridden society. About 40 gorillas dominating the lands of

16,000 so-called free people. Well, if you think the Klan is just a fistful of red necks, you got your facts twisted. There's over 6000 Klan members stretching from here to California, membership over half a million. Doesn't that sadden you, Track? I'll tell you what saddens me. You and the Klan are running a collision course. Just 'cause I treat blacks they were members of the human race? No, because you're so goddamn righteous about it. You know that the Klan has a hit list down at state head

quarters? And did you know that your name is on that list? How do you know my name was on it? Well, as a police officer I'm given certain, uh... You're making this tough on me. Why? Because I'm trying to keep you alive and you won't cooperate. You a member of the Klan, Track? What the hell kind of a question is that? What the hell kind of an answer is that? I'm gonna tell you something. I'm just a back country sheriff, up for election every year, and in order to get reelected I had to swear all

egiance to the Rotary, the American allegiance, even God. That's right, I'm a card-carrying member of the West Ellington First Baptist Church, and I'm an honorary captain in the State Troopers, and a light colonel in the National Guard, and something else, I don't even know what, Boy Scouts of America. I'll tell you this. I wouldn't be the first public servant that ever joined the Klan. We have congressmen in this state, senators, Supreme Court judge. Why don't you drink your whiskey and we'll c

hin more ice on another subject. [engine rumbling] Just hold her, don't worry yet. Now that we got her, what we gonna do? We must give the enemy a sign! I'm begging your pardon, preacher, but what in the hell does that mean? Every black knows Loretta Sykes and the reds are expecting to lead a demonstration in Ellington in a few days! God expects his people to fight back. And we are God's instruments, so let's beat her and just take her down main street and leave her there for everybody to see. T

hat won't work. What we need is something that won't show on TV or bring in any more of them outside reporters. What we need is something that hurts niggers and nigger lovers that won't show. You mean some kind of torture? Sorta. You know, in my time I handled lots of niggers in the woods, but I never yet hit one, I always let some other nigger do it for me, 'cause nothing hurts a nigger more than having some smart white man sit back and watch another nigger beat 'em. You mean you want that nigg

er got beat up by another nigger? I mean, Lightning Rod! That gal be one unholy mess when old Lightning Rod's through with her. You just hold on, Vern. You know, Jesse, there's better ways to do it. There ain't nothing old Lightning Rod can do, that old Butt Cutt can't do better. Let's get her out of the truck. Get her in there! No! Get your hands off me! [grunting] [groaning] Just give her to me. Sheriff, I'm gonna bleed to death if you don't get me to a hospital. [panting] You know, but you're

not moving. You wanna kill me, don't you? Sheriff. You know, I could grab that squawk box and call the hospital and have the doctor there. Turn on the red lights and the siren and you could be in emergency within ten minutes. If we can make a deal. Deal, what kind of deal? Nothing much, just have to make me a promise. What do I have to do? Butt Cutt Gates picked you up in the mountain, took you into town and tried to book you, he had nothing to hold you on, so he released you at 9:15. You were

hitching a ride back to the mountain, when a black man in a car, kind of good looking, tall, blue glasses, picked you up and gave you a lift back to the mountain, but instead he drove you here, where three other blacks were waiting for ya, and they did this to ya. That's not the truth, sheriff. Nothing is true. I have no choice, do I? Nobody has a choice. Alright, alright, it's a deal. Just hurry, sheriff. Promise me. It's a deal, okay? Hurry, sheriff, help me! [engine revving] Well, that's kill

ing talk. The idea that Loretta was a virgin will never occur to the good country people. I'll be damned I if mention it. You better take her things to her. She's over there in 18. Sheriff. [suspenseful music] Hi there. Hi. How's my grandma? Oh she's fine, she's fine. You know, Trixie just made her some supper and now they're sitting around, watching some thing instructive on TV. All your efforts to make me striving. In a few days you'll be back in Chicago again, striving again. No, I don't thin

k I want to, Breck. Maybe, maybe I've been doing a wrong number. I, I'd a quit long ago if you hadn't encouraged me. Well, you know, to encourage people is sometimes a reckless act. Well, don't fret about me, I'll get along. I just wanted you to be so proud of me. I guess, guess I kinda lost track of what I wanted in life. What do you want? I've been thinking about it, guess I just have to think some more. Not now, you're too tired. Breck, before you go, can you give me some advice? Well, advice

and encouragement are both equally reckless. About what happened to me, I lied to the doctor. I had to, I promised the sheriff. Does the sheriff know the truth? Yes, but I want you to know, you see. [shushes] That's killing talk. You keep your promise to the sheriff. Why should I? To stay alive till we get you out of here. Alright, Breck, alright. Breck, how's my grandma? Did I ask you that? She's fine, they're all fine, they're watching TV. ♪ Marching to victory ♪ You ought to be ashamed! Stop

laughing, picket in there, go to hell. Some turnout, huh? Loaded the whole bunch on the bus. I've seen more people at a slick pig contest. Look at that ass, he's just standing there. What the hell was that all about? Oh, who cares! I drew up a list of the conduct of your demonstrators, if they abide by them there shouldn't be any trouble. Yes, sir. [chanting] Look at 'em, so that's what they want on a great git up morning. They want to piss on liberty. They should all leave! [scoffs] Look at th

em, all outsiders and a few sorry snot nosed kids, not one of them's a local nigger, nor over 20. If any of them was local, I'd have their job. Hey there, doctor, morning, Mr. Mayor. I'll take a walk. Brothers and sisters! ♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ Oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord I want to be in that number ♪ ♪ When the Saints go marching in ♪ [protesters clapping] Hey Hardy, you promised to talk remember? Alright, alright. I'm not gonna discuss it anymore. You mea

n you ain't gonna do nothing about them? You're just gonna let them carry on like that? Okay, you gonna see, you'll see, you watch and see. Real discipline. Why don't you put Butt Cutt back on the force? He owes me a little money. What the hell is the matter with you? Track. How you doing? Well, I got elected to keep the demonstrators out of town. Well, it looks like I'm gonna lose next year's election. I didn't think you liked circuses. No, I just came to take Loretta home from the hospital. So

good luck. Track, Track, let me ask you something. Why don't you stomp you foot and chase those brats off? [protesters chanting, clapping] Alright, alright, then stay out of our way and let us do it. - Flag! - Oh! [gunshot] [tense music] [gunshots] They find the man who did the shooting, Breck? I don't think so. After this Chicago must seem like the friendliest town on earth. Breck, I'm not going back, now I've made up my mind. What are you gonna do here? I don't know, maybe I could do somethin

g for the movement. So what happened to me doesn't happen again. Maybe I'll find a job. What job you gonna do? I don't know, but it won't be hiding in the woods. What did you mean when you said hiding in the woods? Think that's what I do because of my leg, because I'm crippled? You're not crippled, Breck, but I think you think you are. You're a very attractive man. Nah. Now that's true, why every one in the county thinks you can get any gal you want, including me. Quit that. No, Butt Cutt and th

ose Kluxes, as they watching me get raped, they think I'm your brown comfort, that's one of the reasons they did it, they wanted to foul your nest. - Never thought of that. - No, you wouldn't. Just keep driving. Hey, what are you trying to do? Busting some skulls. What's the point of busting up a peaceful meeting? What good's a peaceful meeting? It's for them bourgeois Negros. When you gonna learn any way that all that marching gonna get you is what you got! And don't you now you gotta keep viol

ence out of the movement? You know, if I was honky I'd want niggers to all be just like you, do-nothings. Always marching them dumb ass marches and mouthing them dumb ass slogans. Ain't that right, boy? Hey, boy I'm talking to you. Yeah, sure. Let me out of here! You are twisted! All he cares about, is they hung his great granddaddy. Well, what do you want with all your killing? The same damn thing you want with all your marching. Only history proves my way works. Your boy there, he's a reader.

Ain't he told you about the revolution fixed to go off around this world? You dun heard about the revolution, ain't ya, boy? Yes, there's a revolution going on. Well, I'm a part of that revolution. The revolution of the oppressed minority. Well, you've got to be organized don't you at least know that? I'm an organization of one. I'm headquarters, you might say, for the revolution in Atoka county. And you mean, that's how the line is drawn, white on one side, and black on the other? Hey, now, whe

n they raped you, didn't you fight back? Now you're learning. Hey mister, man, when you gonna learn, huh? When you gonna pick up a gun and fight? Well, whenever you do, you know where to find me. [tense music] [engine revving] [bright music] I'll get you a drink. Now you drink it. What's the matter? I never thought anybody would want to touch me again. That's a ringer! I tell you, it's been a frustrating week. Four, Martha, bring out some more beer. Everything, I mean everything's gone contrary.

Nothing good came of what we did to the Chicago gal. Now, what you should have done, is get old Willy Washington. It's only right, he's the nigger that black snaked Nancy. Goddamn Willy sitting in that slammer, living like a lord. Eating like he was in the army. We ought to kill him, tonight. You boys wanna go up against old big Track? You bet ya, if Hardy Riddle was to approve. Ain't no harm in asking him. Well, it's gonna take a little time. Hardy'll have to check with state head quarters, th

ey might wanna check with the national office. By the time they get back to us, I'd best put a move on. [door opens] Just turn your head around, Track, we want Willy. Oh, here we go again. How bad do you boys want Willy? I mean bad enough to shoot me? We might. Now, that wouldn't look very goon on network TV, would it? "Local boys shoot dully elected sheriff." Quit your gassing, Track. Come on, Track, give me the damn key. You're not taking Willy. Shit, Track, come next election you gonna be gru

bbing cotton and hunting coons. Listen, Track we're all white patriotic Christians. Goddammit. Before I hit you with this, white patriotic Christian. Sheriff? Sheriff. What the hell are you doing here? I'm here to testify before the Lord and Sheriff Bascomb. Willy Washington never raped Nancy Poteet. Is that a fact, Martha? It purely is because that night Willy was with me. You Goddamn whore! [yelling] You Negro lover! I'll kill her! I'll kill her! What the hell did you think I do at night while

you're out running around. Why don't you all go out and have a few more beers, huh? You gotta lock him up for an hour, sheriff. Now go on, go on. Let me go! Let me go! Come on, Jesse, let's get the hell out of here. Come on, Jess, she ain't worth it. Come on, Jessie. Don't let it get to you. [sobbing] I loved her, she's the mother of my kids! You gotta lock him up for an hour, Track, till I can get the first bus out to Alabama. Well, that won't be necessary, I'll get Trixie to drive you. Now, y

ou boys stay with Shaneyfelt, huh? And get rid of those goddamn guns. You're a brave women, Martha. Oh, I'm not brave, I'm just so tired of it all. You best look after Willy, too. [door knocking] Hello, Ron. Could you tell me where you were last Saturday around sundown? He was right there with that dog and me. And where were you, Garth? Don't try to pin no rape on me. Where were you when your friend Henry was jerked to heaven and Taggert was killed? And Johnson, and Flag? How do you figure? Why

else would you be holding a rifle on me? You know, if I can figure it out, so can the Klan. Not me. Not you. Because you're leaving the county now. And if you ever point a gun at me again, I'll... I'll drop you myself on sight. [suspenseful music] Hey, sheriff, just what were you doing when they got Henry? Hmm? Sheriff. [gentle music] Breck, wake up. Wake up. Huh, what? Are you awake? Now I am. I'm hungry, are you? Tell me, you gonna keep these undisciplined hours after we marry? Marry? You wann

a marry me? Well, I weren't proposing to the sandwich. I can't. I've thought about it. Maybe someday, when I come back if you still want me. Where are you going? I don't know, it's a big world out there and I've never seen any of it. - When do you go? - Soon. Maybe tomorrow. How are you going? A long time ago you offered me some money, does the offer still hold? Sure. Are you sure you don't want to stay? Is that of your considered opinion? I thought you wanted to get rid of me. I changed my mind

. It's my mind, I can change it. Breck, I've found I like older men. Yeah? Sorta mellow a girl, if you know what I mean. But you're old enough to be my uncle. Well, I suppose in a certain sense, I-- Hey, Breck. Thought you was a reader. Hey, ain't you interested in my literature? Jackson, one way please. That suitcase heavy for ya? What with your gimpy leg and all. I mean, maybe what you need is a real red blood patriot American to help you tote it. She'd take good care of you. Little lady, you

must sink to a Negro's level, if you walk as his equal in physical contact with him. The physical touch of a Negro is pollution, and any-- [thudding] Get him, Cutt. Get up, Cutt! [groaning] Cutt, Cutt, come on! Get him, Cutt, get him, go ahead, get him. [groaning] [clattering] [groaning] Bus leaving! Bus leaving! God almighty. Get up, come on. Get up. - I'll always remember you. - Like this? We're leaving, lady. [engine starts] Evening, all! - Hi, Annie. - Hi, Hector. Hiya, Butt-- What the hell

happened to you? None of your business. You get hit by a truck? Well, he looks like Custer's massacre. Who done it, big Track? Breck? Imagine that, beating up on our next sheriff. He shamed us all by taking in that Nancy Poteet. Yeah, you know he taught Loretta how to type. And he got her a good job in Chicago which is more than he's done for any of you decent God-fearing white girls in this whole county. Yeah, but he come from a violent and ungodly family. He ought to stretch a rope just like h

is great granddaddy. You're right, I hear he's even got a whole library of communist books. And you know what, he doesn't even have a TV. I say, let's string him to the same damn tree as his great granddaddy was strung to. [agitated chatter] What the hell's this? Yeah, what's he doing here? Vernon Hodo tells me that some of the good old boys is kinda sore at you, up at awful Annie. What else is new? They might be fixing to burn you out. Tonight. Well, you know spring's coming up, the sap's risin

g high. You better take this seriously. You've been pretty salty with these old boys. Well, we seem to have trouble relating. Usually I can relate to 'em. See half of 'em work for me, the other half borrow money from my bank. But this thing is gone beyond the knife. If I could pass on some favorable word from you, question is what word do I pass? You might ask them to disband. Don't waste time. Well, you tell them Kluxes, to get together and maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement and tell

them, if they're ashamed of their faces, they can wear their Halloween masks. Now we're getting somewhere. Here's what you're gotta do. You've got to acknowledge the South's debt to the Christian patriots to the Klan. Two, you gotta kick Loretta off your mountain. And three, you gotta let big Track evict your relief hounds. I can't do that. Well, then you're just asking for a midnight knock on your door. There is one other way. I could buy you out. You could take the money, go to California. No

, sir. You could go to the south of France. No, sir. You could go to the goddamn Louvre! No, sir! I'm not leaving here, I've lived here too long. Trouble is, you just lived too long. And you got all shot up in the war. That's when you should have died. I'm sorry I disappointed you. In every society there's a way out for a man who gets himself so screwed up he has to die a little bit before his time. The ancient Greeks used hemlock, the Japs used harakiri. And America, they just jump off of bridg

es. Are you trying to tell me to kill myself? I'm telling, you, you are killing yourself! But you are letting the Klan do it for you! Oh, it's gonna take a better man than me to unscramble this omelet. I wish you luck, for you and for all of us. Yes, Hardy, what is it? Tonight? On the mountain? Alright, I'll look into it, I'll get right on it. Is Breck in trouble with the Klan? You go on home, Alan. Can I help you? I don't want you flirting with no purple heart. What's the big do? Breck's got pr

oblems. The Klan again? Yeah, I think so. [sighs] - Where are you going? - To Stancill's mountain. Well, I'm going with ya. Now, as I told you, go home and put out your lights. We'll hide in the dark, as we've done so many times before on the hill. Goodnight, Erin. - Breck. - Yeah? Here's the horns. There's one for you, one for you, and one for you. And if you hear any strangers come, you just use those things. Come on, boys, let's go. What do you want, Track? I'm trying to stop a war. If you ta

ngle with the Klan tonight, a lot of people could get killed, and that would blow the lid off of this county. And orphan a lot of raggady kids. You know, if you'd nailed Loretta's rapists instead of covering up, we wouldn't have a war on the mountain tonight. What's done is done, I tried. And I'm still trying to keep you alive. The odds are against it. Tell you what you could do. You could deputize a few good men to guard my woods from burning. I tried that too. Nobody. Not one man in this whole

county would protect your trees. They're all afraid of the Klan? No. - Why, then? - They hate your guts. You expect poor white men to like you, when you take a black's part against them? You let the relief hounds live up here for free on poor white taxes. You know what they say? They say that if you had run the blacks north 20 years ago, we'd have a new football stadium and higher prices for teachers, and what's a noble purpose to some is a pain to others. I hate to tell you this, but just as t

his county, you might say, is out of step as the rest of the world, you are out of step with the goddamn county. Anyway, if there's trouble tonight, you let me handle it, will ya? Breck? Maybe I should get out. [engine rumbling] Well, what are you doing here? If he's in a tangle, I wanna be in it with him. - In the ditch. - Uh-uh. "Uh-uh", what? Uh-here! Uh-uh in the ditch! You're gonna be killed, because you're at a disadvantage. The Klan wants to kill you, but you don't wanna kill them. Maybe

I won't have to. If you stay here, you'll have to. Have to be killing them the rest of your life, until they kill you. That would be the most pathetic useless murder in the history of this town. [trumpets playing] Get in the house, turn out the lights. Alan, come on. You take this, and get on down the road. Don't use it unless you have to! [bell ringing] [ominous music] Cover me. [dramatic music] I want you to hear this! Breck is leaving the county! It's too damn late now, Track! You boys are tr

espassing! Well, now ain't that some kind of a chicken shit crime? You better think of something better than that. Unless you got something more important to say, sheriff, you best get out of the way. I want you all to throw down your weapons, and come out with your hands above your head. Just remember, Track, you're one of us. Not anymore! Butt Cutt Cates, I am charging you with the assault and rape of Loretta Sykes! And I'm charging the rest of you as members of the Klan of Atoka county, with

conspiracy against the Constitution of the United States and the sovereign state of Alabama. [gunfire] [tense music] [gunfire] [gunfire] [yelling] [dramatic music] Breck! [sobbing] What a stupid waste. [fire crackling] [gunshot] Alright, boys. But who's left? [gunfire] [groaning] [tense music] Daddy, daddy, are you alright? Don't. Just look around and see if anybody's alive. I'm gonna call for help. Somebody help me. Oh, God, I'm dead! No, not yet. Murderer. I'm the executioner. [ominous music]

[gunshot] [suspenseful music] 1099, 1099 at 1020 at Stancill's mountain. I need all available forestry fire department. [gunshot] [somber music] Daddy! Dad. Dad! Dad. [dramatic music] No one'll ever have to pass this tree again.