FIX University Movie Script Paul Newman

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Cool Hand Luke (1967)

by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson.
Based on the novel by Donn Pearce.
Shooting draft.

More info about this movie on IMDb.com

FADE IN:  EXT. SOUTHERN CITY STREET EXTREME CLOSEUP PARKING METER  (NIGHT)  Its irritating head opens a glaring red eye: the red flag  pops across the entire screen:         VIOLATION  INSERT: PARKING METER SUPPORT (NIGHT)  CLOSEUP of a pipe cutter attached to the meter neck, metal  slivers curling out. From o.s. we HEAR -- LUCAS JACKSON  cheerfully humming and mumbling Auld Lang Syne and then:    LUKE  Okay, Mister General, you son of a   bitch. Sir. Think you can put things   right with a piece of tin with a   ribbon hangin' on it? Gonna put you   right.  CLOSEUP PARKING METER (NIGHT)  as the meter head falls out of FRAME.  NEW ANGLE ON METER (NIGHT)  as it falls to the ground amidst a forest of meter stands  and Luke's hand comes into the FRAME to pick it up and we  SEE him in CLOSEUP for the first time. He is cheerful, drunk,  wearing a faded GI Field jacket. A bottle opener hangs on a  silver chain around his neck. He addresses the next meter.    LUKE  All right. Helen, honey. I lost my   head over you. Now its your turn.  Suddenly the beam of headlights crashes in, FLARING the  SCREEN.  ANGLE ON PROWL CAR (NIGHT)  sliding up to us, headlights glaring, red toplight revolving  menacingly. TWO OFFICERS, black shapes, get out and start  warily toward Luke.  ON LUKE (NIGHT)  illuminated by the headlights. He grins as the Officers  approach, lifts a bottle of beer, opens it and drinks,  smiling. On his smile, FREEZE FRAME. ON THE FRAME SUPER-IMPOSE  MAIN TITLE and as it FADES         DISSOLVE TO:  OMITTED  EXT. CLOSEUP A YOYO BLADE IN THE SUN  It swings with a pendulum motion, its shining blade topping  a clump of grass and weeds; it swings on the backstroke,  lopping more grass, then moves a little away from CAMERA.  FROM CAMERA RIGHT, a pair of feet move INTO the FRAME, the  feet of the man swinging the yoyo. They are booted and  connected by chains, riveted around the ankles. The feet  move further INTO the FRAME and the SHOT WIDENS. We are on:  EXT. A COUNTRY ROAD (DAY)  and we see the work gang in uniforms (14 men) flailing away  with yoyos, short-handled scythes in the hot sun, guarded by  three men. Three of the workers wear chains (Gambler,  Dynamite, Sailor). The scene is bleached and hot; the men  sweating and dirty in prison shirts and pants. The light  shifts during the following:  A MONTAGE OF A FULL DAY - SUPERIMPOSE TITLES AS APPROPRIATE  OVER FOLLOWING  ANGLE ON RABBIT  He is a trustee. He walks up INTO CAMERA and sets up sign:  SLOW DOWN -- MEN AT WORK  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE (9:00 A.M.)  He is a giant, covered with sweat and dust. He starts to  pull off his shirt.    DRAGLINE  Takin' it off here, Boss!    BOSS KEAN  Yeah, take it off, Dragline!  ANGLE BOSS KEAN (11:00 A.M.)  pulling out watch, looking at the sun.  ANGLE THE BULL GANG  flailing away, most of them naked to the waist.  ANGLE KOKO  He is sweating streams.    KOKO  Wipin' it off here, Boss!    BOSS SHORTY  Okay, wipe it off there, Koko.  Koko takes out a limp handkerchief and mops his face.  ANGLE ON GAMBLER (A CHAINMAN) (NOON)  his yoyo flashing like a sword. He pauses, panting.    GAMBLER  Drinkin' it up here, Boss!  ANGLE BOSS KEAN    BOSS KEAN  Awright, drink it up, Gambler. Water   'em, Rabbit.  NEW ANGLE GAMBLER AND GANG  as Gambler takes a drink from a tin cup, passed by Rabbit.  FULL SHOT THE GANG (2:00 P.M.)  working away like a machine.  ANGLE PAST BOSS GODFREY TO BOSS SHORTY  Godfrey is the Walking Boss, silent, implacable symbol of  ultimate judgement. He wears a black hat, globular mirrored  sunglasses -- the Man With No Eyes, impassive, emotionless.  He nods to Boss Shorty.    BOSS SHORTY  Awright, smoke it up!  FULL SHOT THE GANG  In unison they chant:    THE GANG  Yeah, Boss.  ANGLE SOCIETY RED AND BLIND DICK 4:00 P.M.  Society is checking his yoyo edge with a file, covertly  watching a passing car. Blind Dick sneaks a look, then ducks.  ANGLE BOSS KEAN    BOSS KEAN  You eyeballin' there, Society?  SOCIETY RED    SOCIETY RED  Checkin' my yoyo, Boss!  KOKO (5:00 P.M.)  He sees something o.s. He speaks, as they all do outside,  like a ventriloquist, not moving the lips, and in a stage  whisper, to Dragline.    KOKO  Drag... Drag... Newmeat Bus! We got   us Newmeat tonight!  ANGLE ON GAMBLER AND DRAGLINE  They look up covertly.  P.O.V. ANGLE ON ROAD  The Newmeat Bus, a prison vehicle, a panel truck with meshed  windows; and men in it, appears down the road approaching  the gang. It slows as it passes them and the men covertly  look at it.  KOKO AND GAMBLER    KOKO   (whispering)  A bunch. Must be halfa dozen Newmeat.    GAMBLER  No more than five. For a cold drink.    KOKO   (whispering)  Bet! Babalugats, bet here!  ANGLE BABALUGATS  He is the idiot of the gang. He grins foolishly, making the  bet official.  NEWMEAT BUS  as it passes, picking up speed, PAN INTO:  CLOSE SHOT GODFREY  looking at the Newmeat Bus.  EXT. CLOSEUP THE EYES OF GODFREY  His sunglasses FILL THE SCREEN, distorting the image of the  bus as it moves away from us and the last TITLE ROLLS.          CUT TO:  INT. NEWMEAT BUS  The SCREEN is mostly black, but we see out through the meshed  rear windows a desolate panorama of gnarled trees and grubby  landscape, bleak and hopeless.  Now we HEAR outside the barking and baying of bloodhounds,  not like they're tracking, but just playing as the truck  turns and stops. The BUS GUARD and DRIVER get out. The back  of the truck is opened by the guard and through that rectangle  of bright sunlight, the silhouettes of the Newmeat descend,  Luke last.  EXT. PRISON CAMP LUKE'S P.O.V. (DAY)  The Scene: in a hollow is a long barracks, white-washed,  faded gray, one story high. At right is a mess hall and  laundry. A chain-link fence surrounds the whole compound.  The corners of the fence are telephone poles with floodlights  on the tops. These burn all night. Back of the mess hall,  again outside the fence, are several kennel runs in which  bloodhounds are now ROARING. A wooden tower with a simple  board roof stands at two corners of the compound where the  guards sit when the prisoners are not locked in the barracks.  A picnic table sits in a grassy area just outside and at one  side of the gate is a picket fence enclosing a scrubby lawn.    BOSS PAUL  Four. Right.  He hands the papers to the CAPTAIN, a small man with a kindly  face but a firm, set mouth who always carries a golf club.  In b.g. the bloodhounds are YOWLING:    BOSS PAUL  Dogboy, get them dogs shut up!  DOGBOY, a trustee whose leather gloves are always sticking  out of one back pocket, puts his hand to be licked by the  dogs who quiet, friendly, like any pets.    DOGBOY  They just smell newmeat is all, Boss.  The Captain has been ignoring this, watching the prisoners,  looking at their records.  EXT. NEWMEAT BUS (DAY)  as the Bosses (BOSS PAUL and BOSS HIGGINS) motion for them,  the other Newmeat (to be known as TRAMP, ALIBI, and TATTOO)  stumble into each other and jostle Luke in their eagerness  to obey orders.    BOSS PAUL  You men git lined up here.  The Newmeat jostle into line. They are wearing State Issue  gray pants and their own Free World shirts. All except Luke  carry a paper bag or cigar box containing their wordly goods.  All except Luke look apprehensive, worried. Luke stands with  languid grace, neither insolent nor hostile, nor fearful.  The Bus Guard hands Boss Paul a folder that contains records  as the Captain approaches from his porch.    CAPTAIN  What did they bring us today? Gibson.   A 507, Manslaughter. Good for a two   spot.    ALIBI  It was an accident. I've never been   in any trouble.    BOSS PAUL  You'all call the Captain, Captain.    CAPTAIN   (to next man)  Edgar Potter. A 302 and resisting   arrest. One year.    TRAMP  I was tryin' to keep outa the rain.    BOSS PAUL  Git the wax out'n yore ears. You   call the Captain, Captain.    TRAMP  Yes, sir.    BOSS PAUL  And you call the rest of us Boss,   you hear?    TRAMP  Yes, Boss.    CAPTAIN  This man is gonna make us proud of   him, Mr. Hunnicutt.   (moving on)  Raymond Pratt.    TATTOO  Yes, Captain.    CAPTAIN  Breakin', enterin' and assault. Five   spot. Hmmm. Able-bodied seaman.    TATTOO  That oughta come in handy here,   Captain.    CAPTAIN  Maybe.   (turning to Luke)  Lucas Jackson.    LUKE  Here, Captain.    CAPTAIN  Maliciously destroyin' municipal   property while under the influence.   What was that?    LUKE  Cuttin' the heads off parkin' meters,   Captain.    CAPTAIN  Well, we ain't never had one of them.   Where'd you think that was gonna get   you?    LUKE  I guess you could say I wasn't   thinkin', Captain.    CAPTAIN   (looking at record)  Says here you done real good in the   war: Silver Star, Bronze Star, couple   Purple Hearts. Sergeant! Little time   in stockades. Come out the same way   you went in: Buck Private.    LUKE  That's right, Captain. Just passin'   the time.    CAPTAIN   (staring at him)  Well, you got yourself some time   now. Two years. Hell, that ain't   much, we got coupla men here doin'   twenty spots. We got one who's got   all of it. We got all kinds and you   gonna fit in real good. Course in   case you git rabbit in your blood   and decide to take off fer home, you   git a bonus a some time and couple   leg chains to keep you slowed down a   little -- fer your own good. You'll   learn the rules. It's all up to you.   I can be a good guy or I can be one   mean son-of-a-bitch, it's up to you.  He turns and walks away.  CLOSE SHOT LUKE  His eyes have been wandering during this speech. He sees a  doleful, lovable bloodhound, nose at the mesh and winks at  him.  CLOSE SHOT BLOODHOUND  He simply stares dolefully.  INT. BARRACKS (DAY)  Bare, unpainted wood. The windows are barred and covered  with chain link. The door from the barracks up to the compound  passes a small area enclosed by a woven metal strap cage. In  this usually sits the WICKER MAN, whom we generally see as a  heavy, short shape moving about his own business which is  making an endless series of rings or jewelry by hammering  coins with the back of a heavy spoon.  The door to the barracks locks by the tongue of a strap iron  bar that is thrust through a hole in the wicker where the  Wicker Man locks it by padlock. Thus he can always see them,  but they can't reach him. The single big room is filled with  two and even three-tiered bunks. Bare bulbs hang from the  ceiling.  CARR, the floorwalker, a 240 pound behemoth, is indoctrinating  the Newmeat while they change into camp clothing: gray twill  trousers, shirt and jacket, all numbered, which has been  piled on the table. Carr squeegees up and down, a restless  man, and CAMERA in following him SHOWS us the room. At the  same time, the Wicker Man is moving about the barracks,  tapping the floors and bunk posts with a broom handle for  signs of tampering. Carr pays no attention to him, addressing  the Newmeat.    CARR  Them clothes has got laundry numbers   on 'em. You remember your number and   always wear the ones that has your   number. Any man forgets his number   spends a night in the box.   (passing out spoons)  This yere spoon you keep with you   and any man loses his spoon spends a   night in the box. There is no playing   grabass or fighting in the building.   You got a grudge against another man   you can fight him Saturday afternoon.   Any man playing grabass or fighting   in the building spends a night in   the box. First bell is at five minutes   of eight when you will get in your   bunk and last bell is at eight...  O.S. now are heard the SOUNDS of trucks arriving and the  Wicker Man goes back to the wicker.    CARR   (continuing)  Any man not in his bunk at eight   will spend a night in the box. There   is no smoking in prone position in   bed. To smoke you must have both   legs over the side of your bunk.   Anyone caught smoking in prone   position will spend a night in the   box. You get two sheets. Every   Saturday you put the clean sheet on   the top, the top sheet on the bottom   and the bottom sheet you turn in to   the Laundry Boy. Any man who turns   in the wrong sheet spends a night in   the box. No one will sit on the bunks   with dirty pants on. Any man sitting   on a bunk with dirty pants will spend   a night in the box. Any man who don't   bring back his empty pop bottles   spends a night in the box.  O.S. now are the SOUNDS of men counting off, filling the air  with the apprehension of impending arrival.    CARR   (continuing)  Any man loudtalking spends a night   in the box. You got questions you   come to me.   (attentive now)  I'm Carr, the floorwalker. I'm   responsible for order in here and   any man that don't keep order...  Luke mouths the next line with him. At the same time, we  HEAR the clanking of the Wicker Man's doors opening and the  thudding of many steps.    CARR  ...spends a night in the box.   (to Luke, sincerely)  I hope you ain't gonna be a hardcase.  NEW ANGLE  As Luke shrugs the chute bursts open and the Bull Gang rushes  in, men trying to get hands clean, urinate and get back out  into the chowline. Sudden LOUD CHAOS. The Newmeat are seated  on the bench, bewildered, except Luke who grins. Koko spies  the Newmeat and is unhappy that there are only four.    GAMBLER   (to Koko)  Four. You owe me a drink.    DRAGLINE   (pushing both aside)  Get outa mah way you don't want a   wet pocket!    SOCIETY RED   (passing the Newmeat)  Gentlemen, welcome to the Family.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Any of you guys from Connecticut?    CARR  Awright, let's move it along!  NEW ANGLE  as the flow of bodies reverses and the men stampede for the  chute, going out, adjusting clothing, etc. Dragline shoves  Loudmouth Steve along.    DRAGLINE  Fill your loudmouth with some beans!  And they are in the chute. The Newmeat still sit there. .in  the empty barracks, the SOUND of men disappearing across the  yard.    CARR  Well, what are you doin' here? You   supposed to be eatin' them beans!  The Newmeat stampede out the chute.  INT. MESS HALL (DUSK)  Most of the other men already have their food and are sitting  down with no jockeying for places: everybody knows. They are  shoveling it down as fast as they can, getting back up for  seconds. Luke and the other Newmeat get their plates and  while the others stand there, confused, Luke sits at the  first vacant spot and begins to eat industriously.    KOKO   (sotto voce to Dragline)  Newmeat's a hog-gut.  Dragline looks up, goes back to his food. There is an off- stage CRASH.  NEW ANGLE TRAMP  He is sitting on the floor, between his knees a mess of stew  on the floor and his plate upside down. He has made the  mistake of taking Dynamite's seat. DYNAMITE, the champion  eater, has casually displaced him and is busy chowing. Dogboy  is serving; he is the only one to break the rule of silence  in chowlines.    DOGBOY  These pigs is rollin' in thar slops   now, Boss!  Tramp makes terrified and ineffectual efforts to scoop the  stew back onto his plate with his hand, wiping his hand on  his uniform, etc., then trying to obliterate the stain on  the floor with a foot.  EXT. BARRACKS PORCH (NIGHT)  The men are being shaken down before entering the barracks  for the night. They sit and take off their shoes. They empty  their pockets into their caps. Carr inspects shoes, throws  them inside door, frisks men who stand with backs turned,  arms raised. Then Carr mutters a number.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  Through the Wicker Cage toward door. As the men enter, stoop  to pick up shoes, repeat their number to the Wicker Man, as  they go through the chute.  INT. BARRACKS NEW ANGLE (NIGHT)  The men are preparing for their hour of free time. Gambler  has layed out the blanket for the poker game and is shuffling  cards. Koko and BLIND DICK have their seats, are arranging  their piles of change. Luke sits at the other end of the  table, past the blanket line. Dragline who has been talking  to the Wicker Man now enters casually as we HEAR Dynamite,  change in hand, moving to the game berating Tramp.    DYNAMITE  Next time you stay outa my place! I   earned it. You try that agin an'   I'll bounce you all over the floor.    TRAMP  I didn't know. I was hungry.    KOKO  You don't take another man's place,   boy.    ALIBI  It wasn't his fault. Nobody said   anything about seats. We --    DRAGLINE   (to Tramp)  You gotta mind your manners, you   actin' like a hillbilly tramp.    KOKO   (delighted)  Tramp! Beautiful!  Dragline nods.    GAMBLER   (to Tramp)  You got your bullgang name, boy.    TRAMP   (good-naturedly)  Ain't no worse than some I been   called.    TATTOO  In the Navy, we used to call guys --    DRAGLINE  Fasten your flap! All you Newmeats   gonna have to shape up fast and hard   on this gang. We got rules here an'   in order to learn them, you gotta   keep your ears open and your mouths   shut.  Luke snorts.  OMITTED  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  looking up as if he has just heard a strange sound.    DRAGLINE  Somebody say somethin'?    LUKE  I didn't say nothin', Boss.    DRAGLINE  Well, whatta we got here?    LUKE  A Lucas Jackson.    SOCIETY RED   (at mirror, back turned)  Dragline gives out the names here.   You'll get yours when he figures you   out.    DRAGLINE   (to Luke)  Maybe we oughta call you No-Ears.   You don't listen much, do you, boy?    LUKE   (smiling)  Ain't heard much worth listening to   yet. Just everybody handing out rules.  A feeling of discomfort. Koko assesses Luke, who has remained  at the poker table.    KOKO  Newmeat looks like a poker player,   Drag.    DRAGLINE  Wouldn't surprise me none.   (to Luke)  Wicker Man says you got a hundred-  twenny and some change in the   Captain's safe and you got your five   dollars pocket money... That'll buy   you a whole fistfull of cards. You   in or out?  Luke stares at him for a beat, then shrugs -- who needs it --  and walks over to his bunk.    SOCIETY RED  Looks like you've got yourself a   redhot, Dragline.  Dragline just stares after Luke.    GAMBLER   (dealing)  Awright, let's play some poker. First   Jack is the Man... a trey, a duck, a   neighter...  He continues to call cards as we PAN AWAY and DOWN the bunks  showing Alibi writing a letter, Loudmouth Steve reading a  sex book, STUPID BLONDIE working a rattleskin wallet, SAILOR  removing his pants through his chains, CHIEF rolling  cigarettes, etc.  CLOSE THE WICKER  The shadow of the Wicker Man behind it rises and moves to  the tire rim which he beats with a tire iron.  CLOSE CARR    CARR  First bell!  POKER TABLE  The men break it up, some head for the urinal.  ANGLE ON LUKE  He lies in his bunk staring directly into a flyspecked bulb  hanging from the ceiling about eighteen inches from his face.  It will be on all night. The tire iron SOUNDS again and men  hurry for their bunks.    CARR (O.S.)  Last bell. Last bell.  INT. BARRACKS MED. SHOT  Carr moves down the aisle, counting lips moving. The barracks  is silent. Finishing the count, Carr goes to the Wicker.    CARR  Fifty, Boss.    WICKER MAN (O.S.)  Fifty. Okay, Carr.  ANGLE ON LUKE  staring up at bulb.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE'S VOICE  Gittin' up here, Carr.  MOVING CLOSE SHOT CARR  Pacing along, his feet squeegeeing on the floor.    CARR  Yeeahp.  ANGLE SHOWING LOUDMOUTH STEVE  In the sleeping barracks he gets up and moves toward the  toilets...  ANGLE ON BABALUGATS  He is crouched in a tortured position to pray, in the space  between his bunk and the one above.  CLOSE LUKE  He rolls over and goes to sleep. SOUND OVER: Carr squeegeeing  along, the CREAK of the bunks as men toss and turn, the WATER  RUNNING in the toilets, the DOGS BARKING a little outside.  OMITTED  OMITTED  ANGLE ON CARR  He sits at the poker table. The sound has dropped now in the  depth of the night, the chink, chink of the Wicker man  stopped. Carr simply sits staring at his half-finished game  of solitaire, a card in his hand, his eyes seeing something  far distant. He's breathing but he could be carved of stone.  OMITTED  INT. BARRACKS LONG SHOT BEFORE DAWN (NIGHT)  All others sleeping. Carr at poker table. Suddenly the clamor  of the iron bar is HEARD.    CARR  First bell! First bell! Let's go!  ANGLE ON ALIBI  as, still asleep, he is unceremoniously dumped onto the floor  by Carr who goes right by. Pandemonium of rushing men all  around.  EXT. CHUTE MED. SHOT BEFORE DAWN (NIGHT)  Carr is barring the gate with his body. The door outside is  unlocked and opened. The gong SOUNDS. Carr opens the gate,  steps outside to the porch and the men begin counting out.  EXT. BARRACKS PORCH BEFORE DAWN (NIGHT)  The voices continue to count off as the men run to lockers  and quickly line up outside the mess hall. Watching them go  is Boss Godfrey.  GODFREY'S FACE  impassive behind the sunglasses.  EXT. MESS HALL INSIDE YARD BEFORE DAWN (NIGHT)  The men pour out. There is a little dawnlight, but the  floodlights are still on. The Yard Man opens the gate and  the men begin counting off again. Gambler is the last out of  the mess hall and gets a kick in the ass from Boss Paul to  get him up with the others.  ANGLE ON CAPTAIN'S PORCH BEFORE DAWN (NIGHT)  He sits in his rocket watching. We hear the SOUND of the men  counting, clanging of chains.  TRUCK BEING LOADED (DAWN)  The men clamber inside. The Little Bull Gang truck leaves.  EXT. ROAD NEAR CAMP  Caravan of the Little Bull Gang and Patch Squad trucks moving  off down the road into the dawn light.  INT. TRUCK (DAWN)  just as the gate is swung shut. We SEE Godfrey's face looking  in, then all is dim and the truck begins to lurch away,  gunning fast, throwing the men, searching for their customary  seats. Chaos.    DRAGLINE'S VOICE  Git outa my eyeballin' seat, you   Newmeat dummy!  Luke stands, holding a strut in the roof and watching with  amusement as Tattoo is shoved away by Dragline, then Koko,  and then pushed from man to man as he tries to sit down but  always finds a lap in the way. Bawdy laughter; it's a game  but earnest. As they settle Tattoo winds up on the floor but  grins, understands, finds a place beside Tramp. Across the  way Alibi begins a serious conversation with Blind Dick.    ALIBI   (nervously)  Where are we going now?    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  It's the Captain's birthday. They're   takin' us on a picnic.    ALIBI   (uncertainly smiling)  I'm a salesman. I used to drive these   roads all the time. I never thought --   it was an accident, car skidded,   maybe I'd had a drink or two --  ANGLE ON KOKO, TRAMP, TATTOO    KOKO  Man! It's gonna be one hot muther   today.    GAMBLER  Bears gonna be walkin' the road today.    MECHANIC   (to Tattoo)  You ever seen a man bearcaught?  Tattoo and Tramp look uncertain, frightened.  NEW ANGLE    GAMBLER  All the salt goes outa his body and   the water follers the salt and the   brain shrivels up like a dried pea.    TATTOO   (trying to ingratiate)  When I was in the Navy --    SOCIETY RED   (to Alibi)  Convulsions, shivering. Very   unpleasant to watch.    BLIND DICK   (to Alibi)  Man's never the same. Makes him lose   his sex drive.  ON KOKO, OTHERS    KOKO   (to Tramp)  I'm lucky I got a broom. Work up   top. Real easy job. Man, it's gonna   be hot down in that ditch.    ALIBI  We work down in the ditch?    GAMBLER  Ain't you never seen a chain gang,   in all your driving around?    TRAMP   (to Koko)  I ain't used to hard labor neither.   Done my best to avoid it.    TATTOO  I ain't crazy about it myself.    KOKO   (shaking his head)  Gonna be a hot one to learn on.    SOCIETY RED  Koko, why don't you let one of these   Newmeats take your broom for today?    KOKO  Hell, no. I ain't goin' down in the   ditch.    TRAMP  I shore would appreciate it. I ain't   in much shape just now.    TATTOO  What about me?    SOCIETY RED   (to Tramp and Tattoo)  Perhaps if you offered Brother Koko   a small...   (makes money gesture)    TRAMP  I ain't got much. A quarter?    DRAGLINE   (to Koko)  You was to sell your job, maybe this   Lucas War Hero would give you a price.    TATTOO  I'll give you fifty cents.    KOKO  Fifty cents? Sweet job like that   worth at least a buck.    ALIBI  I'll make it a dollar.    KOKO  Buck is a deal.    ALIBI   (apologetically to    Tramp, Tattoo)  I've got this weak heart. Too much   drinking, I guess. As soon as they   find out about it, they'll probably   send me someplace else.    TRAMP  If you even need dough in here, I'm   in big trouble.    LUKE   (to Dragline)  Where'd you get that about war hero?    DRAGLINE  Oh we got our sources... Tearing the   heads off... what was it... gumball   machines? What kind of thing is that   for a grown man?    LUKE   (amused by the put-on)  Well, you know. Small town, not much   to do in the evenings. Mostly it was   settling up old scores.    SOCIETY RED  You'll have to do better than that   if you want to impress these men.   Some pretty hard numbers here.   Dragline's an ex-safe cracker, Koko's   a jewel thief. Blind Dick is a rapist.    BLIND DICK   (to Luke)  Show you the clippings some time.   News-Dispatch called me "The Shiek   of Simmonsville." Five broads in   three days...    GAMBLER  'Course two of them were sisters.    SOCIETY RED  Of course some of them, like Stupid   Blondie, were just unlucky... he   fell off the fire escape... and one   or two don't really belong here at   all...   (indicates Babalugats)  ...or myself, who just made the small   error of misspelling a friend's   name... on a check.    DRAGLINE  Hey, Koko. You hear that? All this   time I been thinkin' Society just   come here for the sun and exercise.  Everyone laughs.    DRAGLINE   (to Luke who is smiling)  Whatta you so happy about?    LUKE  I just always did like truck rides.  EXT. CLAYPIT ROAD (JUST AFTER SUNRISE)  as the trucks pull up and stop and the men pour out, picking  up tools for the day's work.  EXT. TOOL TRUCK  The guards for the day are: Paul, Kean, Higgins and Godfrey.  As the men move through the line for tools, Alibi approaches  Boss Paul:    ALIBI  Boss, I made an arrangement with   that man to take his broom.    BOSS PAUL   (shoving him along)  Git your shovel and git to work.    ALIBI  I don't think you understand. We   made a deal ---    BOSS PAUL   (canes him on the leg)  Git movin', I said.    ALIBI   (in pain)  But I made this arrangement --    BOSS PAUL   (shoving him)  Cut that backsass!  Alibi sees the light, accepts a shovel and walks off  resentfully to where the others are working, casting hurt,  angry looks at Koko and Society who ignore him.  THE SUN COMES UP  in Godfrey's glasses, and we SEE the gang begin their work.  In VARIOUS CUTS, in each of which the sun leaps forward,  time passing inexorably...  FULL SHOT: THE GANG  rhythmically working away.  CLOSE: ALIBI  Trying to pretend to work, not doing it well and getting a  passing cut from Boss Paul's cane. Resentfully, he goes at  it, sweating heavily.  CLOSE: LUKE  He is working hard but badly, unused to the awkward tool,  trying to master it. Society Red works up behind him.  LUKE AND SOCIETY    SOCIETY RED  You're working too hard. You won't   last two hours. Watch the way the   Human Dragline does it.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  He is whipping away with apparently effortless ease but  accomplishing more than the others.  THE ROAD  An open red Continental with kit zips past, the driver  grinning at the Gang.  CLOSE: TATTOO  He is suffering along, sweat pouring off him. The sun is  beginning to really beat down now. Dragline works a little  behind him.    DRAGLINE  Takin' it off here, Boss!    BOSS PAUL  Yeah, take it off there.  He takes off his jacket and tosses it to the edge of the  road where Dogboy collects it. Tattoo decides to imitate,  tentatively.    TATTOO  Takin' it off here, Boss?    BOSS PAUL  Yeah, take if off there.  He strips, revealing a tattoo of "Mother" lodged thornlike  in his flesh and a great garland of flowers and a girl on  his chest.    DRAGLINE   (sotto voce)  Hey, turn around! Let Koko see the   broad.  CLOSE TATTOO  turning so Koko can see, grinning, stopping work.    KOKO  Beautiful! A real work of art!    BLIND DICK   (low voice)  Nice broad. Good set.    TATTOO   (proudly, flexing it)  Had it done in Singapore. Bunch of   us drunk as coots --    DRAGLINE   (hissing)  Hey, Tattoo!    TATTOO   (not hearing)  -- went down to see this old hag and   she had needles the size of that   cane.    MECHANIC   (quietly)  Hey. Swing that yoyo or you gonna   get a taste of that cane.  Tattoo realizes where he is and goes back to work.  MOVING SHOT TRAMP (LATER)  as he seems to spin, his eyes closed, his arms limp, his  head lolling back, he stumbles, twists, careens.  CLOSE DRAGLINE  seeing this.    DRAGLINE  Man bearcaught, boss!  CLOSE BOSS KEAN    BOSS KEAN  Blondie... Sleepy! Git him afore he   falls.  STUPID BLONDIE AND SLEEPY  They drop their tools and rush over as Tramp falls. Without  ceremony, they drag him over the rough ground to the truck,  where Boss Paul locks him in.  DRAGLINE  He is watching Luke, who is very close to the same fate.  Although he has achieved some grace, it is apparent that  Luke is working too strenuously, too determined.  MED. SHOT BOSS KEAN  He reaches into his pocket and takes out a turnip watch,  looks to Godfrey, who nods.    BOSS KEAN  Awright, let's eat them beans!  The men break and head for the chow line.  OMITTED  ANGLE ON LUKE  He has dropped to the ground, examining a blister on his  hand. At Boss Kean's call, he looks up, ruefully resentful,  and gets to his feet and slowly walks to the chow line.    BOSS KEAN'S VOICE  Hey, you. Bean time!    DRAGLINE   (eyeing Luke, to    Gambler)  Cold drink he don't make it.    GAMBLER  Bet. Babalugats, bet!  Babalugats grins. Dragline has his chow, passes Luke.    DRAGLINE   (whispering)  You got to snag it, man. You got to   stop foolin' around and tear up them   weeds.  Luke stumbles past, not paying attention.  FULL SHOT GANG WORKING  It is later in the afternoon.  ON STUPID BLONDIE  He stops.    STUPID BLONDIE  Caught short here, boss!  ANGLE BOSS KEAN    BOSS KEAN  Awright, Blondie. Take it behind   that tree.  ON STUPID BLONDIE  He drops his tool and gratefully trots off in the direction  of the tree.  ANGLE ON LUKE  It is later. He is working hard, stops a minute as he HEARS  a crow cawing overhead. He looks up at it.  CLOSE SHOT GODFREY  He snaps his fingers.  ANGLE ON LUKE, TATTOO, KOKO, OTHERS  looking up as Rabbitt goes to the truck and gets out a single  action rifle which he brings to Godfrey, who puts in a bolt  and bullets from his pocket.    TATTOO  Who's that?    KOKO  Boss Godfrey.    MECHANIC  The walking boss.    TATTOO  Don't he ever talk?  Godfrey has raised the gun and now FIRES.  INSERT CROW ON THE WING  It is hit, explodes in a burst of feathers.  ANGLE ON LUKE AND TATTOO    LUKE  I believe he just said something.  OMITTED  FULL SHOT THE MEN  working, Luke flailing away like an automaton.  INT. THE TRUCK (AFTERNOON)  as it is opened from the outside. Tramp sits up against the  bench, still in rocky shape from his collapse. The others  step over him as though he weren't there. Luke appears, like  a sleepwalker. He grabs the side rails, gets one foot up and  tries to pull himself over the edge of the truck body. But  the muscles are just used up. Boss Paul sees this and gives  Luke a kick, timed so that it coincides with his jump. It  gives him just the added momentum needed to send him over  the edge of the body and sprawling along the floor. He's the  last one and as the guards lock them up, he grins up at  Dragline and Gambler from his prone position.    LUKE   (to Dragline)  You owe that fella a cold drink.  The men are not tired, they smoke and talk and laugh: it's  been an easy day.    KOKO  Hot damn, Drag. Tomorrow's Saturday.   Another week almost made.    ALIBI   (hopelessly)  I got two years.    DRAGLINE  Only two? Man, I already done eight.   Nothin' to it. Just make the days   and let the weeks and the years make   themselves.    TATTOO  I did three hitches in the Navy. It   ain't bad. After a while, you get   used to it and the time --  Koko is looking out the back of the truck.    KOKO  Oh, man, oh man. Look at that. On   the bicycle. Lookit them shorts. I'm   dyin'.  The men rush to look out at the vision of freedom on the  bike.    DRAGLINE   (knowledgeably)  She looks just like a lil girl I   useta know named Louise Merryweather.   Fine lil ol' girl, always partial to   home-made whiskey. Remember one time   down in the cellar, both of us knee-  walkin' drunk and ah had this lil   pint and Louise wanted a poke of it.   So ah said: you wanna poke and I   wanna poke, so...  He starts his story. On the floor, Luke sleeps.  EXT. PRISON YARD LATE (AFTERNOON)  as they are counting in through the gate, their hats with  their personal possessions in them held out to be inspected,  their pockets turned out. A guard frisks them quickly but  efficiently. The Captain stands nearby ignoring them, testing  a golf swing. The men move to the mess hall, most of them on  the run. Luke moves painfully with exhaustion. Alibi seems  quiet and cowed, lost in the crowd. They fall into a line at  the mess hall door. Dynamite, his spoon out, moves to the  front of the line and Luke winds up somewhere near the rear.    BOSS HIGGINS   (yardman)  Awright, you, Gibson, step out. Boss   Paul says you wasn't happy with your   job. Done a lot of complainin'. Gone   give you a chance to think it over.  Alibi looks around, fearfully steps out, peering up and down  the line, wondering.    BOSS HIGGINS  Get them clothes off.  Alibi is led to the box. A light stands about it shining  down into it and it always burns when the box is ready to be  used or when there's someone inside. Now a nightshirt is  laid out on top of it. Alibi strips and puts on the pajamas.  Boss Kean opens the heavy lid of the box and we see it is  grilled with heavy chain link fencing and with strap iron  bars. A chamber pot is put inside. Alibi stands in the box,  looking back at them, then lies down out of sight. The lid  is slammed shut.  FULL SHOT  The men watching this. The mess hall door opens and they  begin to file in.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  as the Wicker Man whales away at his tire rim outside the  barracks.    CARR  Awright, first bell! Let's hit them   bunks!  The men are piling into bunks and the CAMERA FINDS Luke  heaving himself with a kind of rueful amusement up to the  third tier bunk he sleeps in; he's exhausted.    DRAGLINE  Plumb busted out. Looks like the   hard road finally got to Mister Lucas   War Hero.    LUKE   (agreeably)  Back at it in the mornin'. Just need   a little nap...  He lies back. Across him and in various perspectives are the  other participants in this conversation, speaking in the  ventriloquist's whisper while the stragglers get into the  sack.    KOKO  Man, I never thought they'd put him   in the box on his first day.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  It was just supposed to be a joke.   There ain't no brooms. Whoever heard   of a chain gang using brooms?    TRAMP  I gotta tell you that I believed it.    TATTOO  He should have known; it was a gag.    KOKO  You can't switch 'round jobs, anyway.   I figured he knew that.    SOCIETY RED  You can't expect him to learn   everything the first day. Hopefully   it's taught him a very valuable   lesson.    LUKE  Well, you fixed it up so he's got   all night to think about it.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  It's not our fault he's a square.    DRAGLINE  Course not. He ain't in the box 'cause   a the joke played on him. He's there   'cause he back sassed a Free Man.   They got their rules and we ain't   got nothing to do with that. Woulda   probably happened to him sooner or   later, to a complainer like him.   He's gotta learn the rules same as   anybody else.    LUKE  Yeah, those poor old guards need all   the help they can get.    DRAGLINE  You tryin' to say somethin'?  Luke rolls over and goes to sleep.    DRAGLINE   (to his back)  You jus' keep flapping your mouth   and one of these times, you and me   gonna raise a little dust.  The Wicker Man begins hitting the tire rim again.    CARR  Awright, last bell!  Silence.    CARR   (continuing)  Forty-nine and one in the box, Boss!    WICKER MAN'S VOICE  Forty-nine and one in the box. Right,   Carr.  EXT. ROAD CLOSEUP YOYO TRANSITIONAL DEVICE (DAY)  It slashes away like a pendulum, golden in the sun, TICKING  away time, over roads that stretch to infinity -- a SHOT  that will always tell us that the men are building time.  SHOT WIDENS. The gang is laboring, filling in washouts by  the roadside. The bosses are Paul, Kean, Higgins, and, always,  Godfrey, the Walking Boss.  CLOSE LUKE  He is tanned and hardened now, and has mastered the work  rhythm. SHOT WIDENS to show Dragline near him, checking his  shovel for nicks but really eyeballing a passing car. In the  ditch, Luke expertly scoops up a shovel full of sand and,  levering the handle on his knee, flips the sand through the  air so it hits spang in the pan of Dragline's shovel while  Dragline is still eyeballing. It knocks him off balance and  by the time he has caught up, Luke is already catching him  with another shovel full.    DRAGLINE  Slow down, man. They ain't passing   out medals for slinging dirt.    LUKE  I thought you knew, boy... they   sentenced me by the mile.  Dragline grins at this insouciance, sneaks a look down the  road. He digs into his pocket and hauls out a pair of salvaged  sunglasses, which he holds up.    DRAGLINE  Puttin' 'em on here, Boss!    BOSS KEAN'S VOICE  Yeah, put 'em on, Drag!  NEW ANGLE DRAGLINE, LUKE  as Dragline hooks on the glasses. Luke, Tattoo and Tramp are  working around here.    LUKE   (to Tramp)  Lookit that. Some Hollywood movie   star jus' joined up with us.  Tramp smiles.    DRAGLINE   (to Koko)  Man, this here Newmeat parking meter   bandit thing what calls itself Luke   don't know nuthin' 'bout nuthin'.    LUKE   (to Tramp)  But damn if he don't look like a fat   old Dragline.    TRAMP  Coulda fooled me.    DRAGLINE   (to Tattoo)  These is my eyeballin' glasses. Now   I'm gonna play peek-a-boo and ol'   Godfrey ain't gonna know if I'm   eyeballin' or tootin' the piccolo.    TATTOO  That ain't nuthing compared to what   we used to do in San Pedro. There   was this ensign...    DRAGLINE   (has been sniffing    the air)  Ah believe I smell me a blonde-haired   lady.  ANGLE ON BULL GANG  They all look up covertly and, sure enough, in the second  car slowed down by Rabbit's sign, is a lush BLONDE in a sun  dress that is hiked up high on the thighs and cut low over  the bosom. She cringes under their gaze and starts the top  going up on the car as though to hide from them.    KOKO  Man, see her legs. She's tanned all   over.    BLIND DICK  Nice broad. Nice set.    DRAGLINE  She looks just like Mrs. Patricia   Handy, a married woman... I useta   fool with. Man, I kin sniff blondes   from a hunnert yards and redheads   from a mile and a half.    KOKO   (to Tattoo)  Drag's been chain-ganging so long   he's got a nose like a bloodhound.    LUKE  Maybe he's been chain-ganging too   long.    DRAGLINE  Long enough to see redhots come and   redhots go.  The car begins to move away. They sigh. The work begins again.  OMITTED  NEW ANGLE ON GANG  Time has passed; they are further down the road. A small  blue coupe kicks up dust as it jitters down the road and  stops across the highway before a small home. A blonde, mid- twenties, gets out, and heads covertly look up.  THE BULL GANG  The woman is too much for them, too close, too blonde, too  lush. They stop as one and watch as she disappears into the  house.  CLOSE GODFREY  Seeing their odd behavior, he turns to see what's happening  but the woman is gone; when he turns back, the men's heads  are back down.  DRAGLINE, KOKO, LUKE, OTHERS    KOKO  Oh, man, did you see her? Did you   see her?    DRAGLINE  I got eyes, don't I? How my not gonna   see something like that?    BLIND DICK  Nice broad. Good set.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  How could you tell? You could hardly   see her.    GAMBLER  She's back!  Heads pop up again as the blonde comes out of the house, now  dressed in a short house dress, carrying a radio, a pail and  a sponge. She is clearly buxom. She goes to the outside  faucet, fills the bucket and drags the attached hose toward  the car.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Look at that!    DRAGLINE  Shut up, you loudmouth jerk!  THE BLONDE  She begins to hose the dusty car, splashing herself, making  the cotton dress cling to her body, tossing her hair, every  movement and gesture erotic and provocative.  THE MEN  Their work is completely disorganized as they attempt to  shovel while watching. Their voices overlap.    KOKO  Man Oh Man.    LUKE  That is one mean lady. Bet her husband   spends one day a week shooting   milkmen.    BLIND DICK  Lookit her bounce.    GAMBLER  Oh lean over here, lady. Lean this   way.    TRAMP  I wouldn't mind being that hose.    GAMBLER  More... a little more.    TATTOO  I don't know if I believe it.    BLONDIE  She's so big!    GAMBLER  Now lean down... a little more.    DRAGLINE  Lookit that little honeypot. Lookit   those legs.    MECHANIC  Oh man, I ain't never been so thirsty   in my life.  THE BLONDE  She begins to rub the windshield erotically.    BLIND DICK  Oh rub.    SLEEPY  Rub.    DRAGLINE  Rub!    BABALUGATS  Rub-a-dub-dub. Rub-a-dub-dub.    KOKO  I'm dyin'. I'm dyin'!    DRAGLINE  Look, she's got paint on her toenails!   Oh Lord, whatever I done, don't strike   me blind for 'nother couple minutes.   Oh you Lucille!  DRAGLINE AND LUKE    LUKE  Lucille? Where do you get that?    DRAGLINE   (whirling)  That'sa Lucille, you mullet head!   Any girl so innocent and built like   that gotta be named Lucille.    LUKE  Innocent?    BLIND DICK  She don't even know what she's doin!.    LUKE  She knows exactly what she's doin.   She's drivin' you crazy and lovin'   it.    DRAGLINE  Shut your mouth 'bout my Lucille.    LUKE  Your Lucille? Man, you better put   them glasses back on and take a look   at yourself.    DRAGLINE   (glaring)  Boy. You jus' asking to be handled!  P.O.V. MEN TO GIRL  as Godfrey moves across the scene, blocking their view,  staring at them, FILLING THE SCREEN.  OMITTED  INT. SHOWERS (NIGHT)  Trashing bodies and heads in the steam. Feeling of tension,  irritation, except for Babalugats, who is SINGING.    SLEEPY  Babalugats, shut up.    MECHANIC  Leave him alone. He's happy.    SLEEPY  That's because he's a damn moron.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Now why don't you just shut up?  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  The men are in their bunks, sullen, quiet as the tire iron  SOUNDS.    CARR  Awright, last bell.  Carr paces, counting. Beds SQUEAK as men turn restlessly,  unable to get comfortable. At the far end of the barracks, a  slow-turning fan CREAKS gratingly. It will continue to do so  throughout the scene, adding irritation to Carr's SQUEEGEEING  steps and the regular SQUEAKING of bedsprings.  OMITTED  ANGLE ON MEN  restless, irritated.    CARR'S VOICE (O.S.)  Fifty, Boss.  NEW ANGLE ON MEN    WICKERMAN'S VOICE  Fifty, right, Carr.  ANGLE ON KOKO    KOKO  Man, it's so hot.  NEW ANGLE ON MEN    GAMBLER  Gettin' up, Carr.  FULL SHOT BARRACKS  as Carr paces, SQUEEGEEING. The fan CREAKS. Springs SQUEAK.    CARR  Yeahhpp.  Gambler gets up, chains JANGLING.  NEW ANGLE ON MEN  uncomfortable, tense, shifting.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Giddyap, Carr.  NEW ANGLE ON MEN    CARR'S VOICE (O.S.)  Yeahhpp.  NEW ANGLE ON MEN  Tramp turns, irritated, as Carr SQUEEGEES by.    TRAMP  How can you sleep with that damn   squeaking!  FULL SHOT BARRACKS  Carr pacing. SQUEEGEEING, the fan CREAKING, springs SQUEAKING.    DYNAMITE'S VOICE  Gettin' up, Carr.    CARR  Yeahhp.  Dynamite gets up, chains JANGLING.  ON FAN  It is turning slowly, CREAKING, CREAKING, CREAKING. And now  on the SOUNDTRACK we HEAR low at first, but steadily building,  the tinny SOUND of the Blonde Girl's radio.  ANGLE ON MEN  tense, annoyed, frustrated as the SOUND of the RADIO GROWS,  joining the CREAKING, SQUEAKING and SQUEEGEEING.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  as Carr passes by. He speaks in a low whisper.    DRAGLINE  Man, that lil Lucille was a lot of   lil girl.  OMITTED  ANGLE ON MEN  some turning away, not wanting to be reminded, some staring  ahead unhappily, thinking the same thing.    DRAGLINE'S VOICE (O.S.)  You see how she was jus' poppin'   outa the top of that dress.  ANGLE ON KOKO  irritated, anxious.    KOKO  Aw, come on, Drag.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  not paying attention.    DRAGLINE  And down below, that thing didn't   reach no higher than...   (chuckles)  She liable to catch cold... runnin'   around like that.  ANGLE ON MEN  irritated by Dragline's voice and the SQUEEGEEING and the  SQUEAKING and CREAKING and the RADIO SOUND, tinny and grating,  growing in volume.    DRAGLINE'S VOICE  ...And that thing was so tight 'cross   her bottom... made me wanna just   reach out my hands and...  ANGLE ON LUKE    LUKE  Forget it, man.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  suddenly angry.    DRAGLINE  Whatta you mean, forget it?  ANGLE ON LUKE    LUKE  Stop beatin', man. You ain't doin'   nobody no good.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  his face corroding in fury as the RADIO SOUND and the  CREAKING, SQUEAKING and SQUEEGEEING are at an unbearable  peak.    DRAGLINE   (with slow menace)  Boy, you better get some sleep and   save your strength. 'Cause you're   gonna need it.  OMITTED  ANGLE ON FAN CLOSE  As the SOUNDS threaten to burst our ears with their high- pitched tension, the CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY into the hub of the  fan and our nerves scream for relief.  OMITTED  EXT. BARRACKS CLOSE ON LUKE AS GLOVE SMASHES INTO HIS FACE  (DAY)  and Luke falls back into the dirt. He's hurt, startled, but  grins. We HEAR a CHEER from the men O.S., as he gets up. He  is stripped to the waist, wears huge 16 oz. boxing gloves.  FULLER ANGLE  showing Dragline similarly dressed. They are squared off in  the yard, surrounded by YELLING men who want blood. It is a  release from the sexual tension built up by the night before.  The guards stand in the guard boxes, watching. The Captain  sits up on his porch, so he can see without being too obvious.  Luke gets up and manages a lunging right across to Dragline's  Adam's apple. Dragline is momentarily staggered but counters  with a terrible clubbing blow that mashes Luke's gloves into  his face, knocking him to the ground. Time is called for the  round.  LUKE AND OTHERS BEHIND HIM  as he gets to his feet.    TRAMP  Why don't you just stay there? He's   only gonna knock you down agin.    ALIBI  It's not your fault. He's just too   big.    SOCIETY RED  Let him hit you in the nose, get   some blood flowing. Maybe they'll   stop it before he kills you.    LUKE   (shaking his head,    grinning)  I don't want to frighten him.  The second round is called and Luke advances toward Dragline.  TWO SHOT LUKE, DRAGLINE  circling. Luke has to get in his shot before Dragline gets  too close and clubs him again. He feints a punch that moves  Dragline off-balance and winds up for a big one, but Dragline  smashes him backhand. Luke hits the dirt, the men SCREAM AND  YELL. Wiping some blood from his mouth, Luke rises again. He  is dizzy. Dragline smacks him down again.  THE MEN  SHOUTING, SHRIEKING, they have blood in their eyes, releasing  their tensions.  INTERCUT THE VARIOUS REACTIONS  as the fight continues. The Captain on his porch rocks and  spits dry little spouts of wind, Godfrey, impassive, waiting  in his guard house. The YELLING gradually subsides as Dragline  continues to smash Luke, who keeps getting up.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  Without relish, he pokes Luke down again. Now there is no  cheering, no yelling, just silence.  ANGLE ON CAPTAIN  as he gets up and walks down to the wire where he can see  what is happening. The silence disturbs him.  ON LUKE  He rises, grinning and winds up to throw another punch. But  the act of lifting his giant glove is a Herculean task.  Seconds go by in which he tries to raise the glove high enough  to launch a punch.  ON DRAGLINE  waiting, gloves at waist level, poised.    DRAGLINE   (low)  Ommana pop you one easy. Stay down.  He pops Luke who reels, goes down on a knee and then slowly  rises, rises. Dragline is honestly agonized.    DRAGLINE  I'm gonna kill you, you go on...    LUKE  That's what you're gonna have to do.  ANGLE ON CAPTAIN  concerned.  ANGLE ON BOSS GODFREY  impassive.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  He raises his fists. But Luke is up again. Dragline realizes  he'll have to kill him to beat him. After a long moment,  Dragline drops his hands to his sides, looks back toward  Godfrey and the captain and then starts walking to the  barracks, fast.  ANGLE ON LUKE  He looks after him and reaches up to wipe the blood away,  still grinning.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  The poker game. Five card stud. Playing are Gambler, Koko,  Dynamite, Blind Dick and Luke, bandaged. The mood of the  barracks is quieter than usual. The men are still assessing  the fight, uncertain as to who now is their leader, looking  toward Dragline for an indication. Not playing, Dragline  lies on his bunk behind Koko, sullenly reading a sex book.  Gambler deals the third cards.    GAMBLER  Ana paira ninas. Koko's the brains.    KOKO  Cuter.  Dynamite is already out. Blind Dick now folds.    GAMBLER  Ace calls.    LUKE  Kick a buck.    KOKO   (considers, then chips)  I'm in.    GAMBLER  Ace calls. Here we go.   (deals Luke)  King-five gets a tray for no help.   (deals Koko)  Paira ninas gets a Jack.   (deals himself)  Ana man with the ace gets... slop in   the face... Ninas up.    KOKO   (regarding Luke)  Cuter again.    GAMBLER  Call.    LUKE   (expressionless)  Kick a buck.  Koko is worried. He looks at his hole card, considers, long  silence. Dragline looks over from his bunk.    DRAGLINE   (to Koko)  Whatcha got?    KOKO  Pair'a nines.    DRAGLINE  I kin see that, brick head. I mean   your hole card.  Koko hands it over his shoulder to Dragline, who now sits up  to consider the whole situation.    DRAGLINE   (continuing)  Uh-huh. And he ain't got nothing   showing. Raise his head off.    KOKO  He's been betting his head from the   gun. Gotta have kings.    DRAGLINE  So then you just call him.    KOKO   (chipping)  I call.    GAMBLER   (studies Luke's cards)  I gotta believe. Out!   (folds)  Now they're rollin'.   (deals Luke)  King-five-four gets an eight.   (deals Koko)  Pair'a nines with a Jack gets a four.   Ninas still up.    KOKO   (tentatively)  Cuter.    LUKE   (automatically)  Kick a buck.    KOKO  Damn.  He looks up to Dragline for help.    DRAGLINE  Kick him back a buck!  Koko looks uncertain, but listens.    KOKO  Back a buck.    LUKE   (automatically)  Kick a buck.  Koko looks up to Dragline: What do we do now?    DRAGLINE  Don't look at me, mullet-head.  Koko looks to the others.    GAMBLER  Man, you play like a kokonut. You   got to call him at least.    KOKO  I know he's got a paira kings. He   don't have to stick 'em in my ear.    BLIND DICK  Gotta have kings.    GAMBLER  Sure he's got kings but you still   gotta call him.  Koko looks back to Dragline.    DRAGLINE  Man's got a paira kings, get your   tail out.  Koko folds. Luke reaches for the pot at the same time that  Dragline reaches for Luke's cards.    DRAGLINE  Nuthin'! A handfull of nuthin'!   (cuffs Koko)  You stupid mullet-head. He beat you   with nuthin'! Just like today when   he kept coming back at me.    LUKE   (smiling)  Nuthin' can be a pretty cool hand.    DRAGLINE  Cool Hand Luke.  So saying, Dragline saves face and the baton of leadership  is passed.  EXT. YOYO SHIMMERING IN THE SUN TRANSITIONAL DEVICE (DAY)  swinging away the time...  INSERT: ROAD MOVING SHOT DAY  SHOOTING THROUGH cage truck, as it moves swiftly along, the  landscape a blur of shadows and racing phone poles, etc.,  the men shadows slouched on their benches inside.         DISSOLVE TO:  BEARCAUGHT AVENUE  This is a country road running over rolling moors, land open  to the sky and sun, the roads reaching out to infinity. The  cage truck rolls to the end of the road and stops. Stretching  out on either side of the road, every five feet is a pyramid  of freshly dumped sand.  ANGLE ON REAR OF TRUCK  as the bull gang gets down, looks at the sand, are given  shovels.    KOKO  Oh no, man! Not on this hot muther.    GAMBLER  All the bears gonna be walking today.    ALIBI   (nervously)  What's the deal?    DRAGLINE  Tar truck.  At these bleak words, over the last rise comes a filthy  blackened tank truck with a fire in its belly and an array  of pipes and valves at its rear, like a hellish beetle.    KOKO   (to Tattoo, Tramp,    Alibi)  You think you've been working hard.   This muther'll break your back.    SOCIETY RED  This is a big day for the guards.   They get to remind us who's boss.    TRAMP  I ain't forgot.  ON THE MEN  as the truck driver makes adjustments in the heater, flame,  etc.    BOSS PAUL  Awright, every second man, git to   the other side of the road.  Dragline, Dynamite, Gambler, Tattoo, Loudmouth Steve, Alibi,  Sleepy, Stupid Blondie and Chief cross over, leaving Luke,  Koko, Society Red, Tramp, Babalugats, Blind Dick, Mechanic  and Sailor. The tar truck begins to move slowly down the  road, spreading a black, hot, acrid wake behind it.    BOSS PAUL   (continuing; with    undisguised malice)  Captain heard this gang been doin'   so good, gave us this special job.   We got three miles of tarrin' to   cover today. Let's roll it!  NEW ANGLE ON THE MEN  They begin to work, digging a shovel-full of sand, fanning  it out over the hot tar, moving up to the next pile. Luke  and Dragline in the lead of their respective groups. The  guards move up along the ridges behind the men, urging them  to move faster, caning the slow workers.    BOSS PAUL  Let's git with it!    BOSS SHORTY  Roll it, heah?  ANGLE GODFREY  He is at the rear of the columns, walking down the center of  the road. With his stick he points to spots where the tar  has not been covered and the nearest man flicks a spray of  sand over it.  ON LUKE WITH KOKO AND SOCIETY RED LATER  They are working steadily but it is hot, hard, back-breaking  labor. Koko stops for a moment to rub his arm.    KOKO  Oh man. I'm gonna twist my arm off   if this heat don't kill me first.  Boss Paul canes him across the legs.    BOSS PAUL  Roll it!  ON DRAGLINE  sweating and suffering across the road, just keeping up with  Luke.    DRAGLINE  Hey, buddy. Take it easy. You're   making me look bad.    LUKE  The man wants speed, let's give it   to him. Ram it in and break it off.   Go hard. Shag it.  Dragline begins to work harder, digging and fanning, keeping  pace with Luke.  ON DRAGLINE AND DYNAMITE    DYNAMITE   (panting)  Whatta we racin' for?    DRAGLINE  Man wants speed, let's give it to   him. Use that shovel like you use   your spoon. Shag it, man!  Dynamite understands and throws himself into it.  FULL SHOT THE MEN  up to their waists in smoke and dust, splattered with tar,  working like devils as the word passes down the line.    BLIND DICK   (to Society Red)  Go hard!    GAMBLER   (to Tattoo)  Ram it in and break it off!    ALIBI   (to Sleepy)  Roll it!    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Shag it!  They are all working like hell.  ANGLE ON BOSS PAUL  He looks confused, concerned by this sudden manic activity.  ANGLE ON BOSS GODFREY  forced to walk faster to keep up, finding no unsanded spots  for his sorcerer's wand.  ON LUKE, DRAGLINE, OTHERS  enjoying the guard's confusion.    DRAGLINE   (to Luke)  They don't know iff'n to smile, spit   or swallow.    LUKE  They ain't never seen a bull gang   before.    SOCIETY RED  Work those shovels instead of your   mouths.  WORKING ON BEARCAUGHT AVENUE  Essentially a MONTAGE, a wild insane ballet of labor as led  by Luke and Dragline, the bull gang throws itself into the  madness, muttering Luke's words of inspiration to each other  and loving the guards' confusion. (SONG ON SOUND TRACK)    TRAMP  Go hard!    TATTOO  Ram it in...    MECHANIC  Break it off...    SOCIETY RED  Roll it!    DYNAMITE  Shag it!    STUPID BLONDIE  Move it!  Luke grins and works. The guards are tense and uneasy and  walk the road backward, not daring to turn their backs on  these madmen. Rabbit runs around with his water bucket but  the men don't drink, just upturn the water over their faces  and keep going.  ON BOSS PAUL  confused, angry, has not been able to cane anyone in an hour.  As Rabbit rushes by:    BOSS PAUL  Rabbit! What the hell's goin' on?    RABBIT   (knows but isn't saying)  I don't know, Boss. They must be   bearcaught. All of them.  He rushes off, as caught up in the esprit as the others.  WORKING AGAIN  More of the madness but now even faster, sweatier, wilder.  The men are bearcaught by their sudden power to confound the  guards. ALL SHOTS FAVORING Luke, splattered with tar, working  right behind the truck.  ON GODFREY  Replacing his stick with a rifle, as tense and uncertain as  the other bosses, staring at Luke with blank, hating eyes.  ON LUKE  as he looks up just as the tar truck turns off the road which  has ended, crossed by a small highway. They have finished.  Luke stands straight, looking out across the highway to the  rolling green beyond. Dragline works up to him.    DRAGLINE  Where'd the road go?    LUKE  That's it. That's the end.    KOKO  But there's still daylight left.    DRAGLINE   (checking the sun)  'Bout two hours left.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  What do we do now?  Luke has been looking at the guards who have grouped in  conference around Boss Paul who has his watch out. They look  concerned, gesticulating toward Luke and the others.    LUKE   (smiling)  Nothin'.  The others understand. They have beaten the Free Men by  working harder. They all collapse on the ground, rolling  about, dazed, tired but happy as hell, laughing.    DRAGLINE  Oh, Luke, you wild beautiful thing!   You crazy handful of nuthin'!         DISSOLVE TO:  OMITTED  INT. BARRACKS (DAY)  Sunday afternoon scene. The chain men are dancing, jingling.  Three RADIOS BLARE in different corners; a hell-fire preacher  where Deacon and Society Red sit working a letter; romantic  ballads (Near You, Heart Aches by Ted Weeks, etc.) for the  men reading fuck books; rhythm and blues, country music for  a couple of wrestlers, banging into bunks until one depants  the other and runs off. CAMERA FOLLOWS THIS ACTION SHOWING  the scene. Other men rolling cigarettes, Dynamite still on  his rattlesnake wallet, Koko cutting hair, using a board  over an ash can for a barber's chair. Everyone is barefoot.    WICKERMAN  Visitor for Luke!  Luke sits up from his bunk, staring at the Wicker, unmoving,  amazed.    GAMBLER (O.S.)  Steve. Your mother's here!  ANGLE ON LUKE  as he gets up. Behind him Loudmouth Steve gets up, tossing  down his sex book resentfully:    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Jeez! She never lets me alone.    TRAMP  You oughta be glad you got somebody.  Steve tosses him a finger as he leaves.    ALIBI  My wife hasn't been here for a month.   She must be sick again. She's had   this condition of the liver for...    TATTOO  Alibi, can't you never say nothin'   without explainin' it? Carr says you   even explain when you get up at night.  EXT. CAMP GATE (DAY)  By the picnic table set up for visitors. In far b.g., we SEE  Luke come out of the door and start across the yard toward  the gate, where he is shaken down and permitted to exit,  moving down to the table. A few feet from the end of the  table, Boss Godfrey sits in a kitchen chair, his hands  discreetly crossed over the pistol in his lap. His mirror  eyes play over the scene. Loudmouth Steve, his MOTHER -- a  desperately fortyish blonde -- and a couple of other prisoners  and visitors occupy the background. Parked next to the table  is a truck. In the bed lies Luke's mother, ARLETTA. She is  propped up on pillows and wedged in for traveling.  The whole back is set up as for a chronic invalid, everything  within reach, etc. She smokes incessantly. Nearby, Luke's  BROTHER and his nephew, JOHN-BOY, a kid of twelve, enormously  impressed with the sights and the guns and dogs, etc.    LUKE  Comin' out here, Boss?    BOSS PAUL   (by the gate)  Yeah. Come on out, Luke.  A few feet outside the gate, Jackson reaches for the boy,  pats him on the head. Shakes hands in passing with his  brother, who is unmistakably a farmer, and stands in the  doorway looking at his mother. She lies on her side craning  to see him.    LUKE  How'd you find me?    ARLETTA  Helen, she sent along your things   with a note, and John here, he wrote   to the police.    LUKE  Yeah. Well.   (to Godfrey)  Gettin' up here, Boss.  Godfrey just looks at him, says nothing.    LUKE  Well, Arletta, I got to stand down   here.    ARLETTA  I allus hoped to see you well fixed   and have me a crop of grandkids to   kiss and fuss around with.    LUKE  Like to oblige you, Arletta, but   right off I don't know where to put   my hands on 'em.    ARLETTA  Sometimes I wisht people was like   dogs, Luke. Comes a time, a day like,   when the bitch just don't recognize   her pups no more, so she don't have   no hopes nor love to bring her pain.   She just don't give a damn. They let   you smoke?    LUKE  Smokin' it up here, Boss.  Boss Godfrey nods. He lights cigarettes for her and for  himself.    LUKE  Yeah, well, Arletta, you done your   best. What I done with myself is my   problem.    ARLETTA  No it hain't, Luke. You ain't alone.   Ever whar you go, I'm with you, and   so's John.    LUKE  You never thought that's a heavy   load?    ARLETTA  We allus thought you was strong enough   to carry it. Was we wrong?  Luke gives her the cigarette, and smiles at her.    LUKE  No. But things ain't always like   they seem, Arletta. You know that. A   man's gotta go his own way.    ARLETTA  Well, I don't know, I just wash my   hands of it, I guess I just got to   love you and let go.  She catches his hand as he puts the cigarette between her  lips.    LUKE  Yeah.    ARLETTA  What are you doin' here?    LUKE  We call it abuildin' time, Arletta.    ARLETTA  I ain't askin' what you'll do after   you get out, because I'm gonna be   dead and it don't matter.  His mother's disappointment in him brings Jackson a real  twinge of pain here. He tries to change the subject.    LUKE  You never wanted to live forever   anyways, did you? It wasn't such a   hell of a life.    ARLETTA  Oh, I had me some high old times.   Yore old man, Luke, wasn't much for   stickin' around, but damn it he made   me laugh.    LUKE  Yeah, would of been nice to of knowed   him, the way you talk about him.  She's looking at him and begins to laugh, losing control and  coughing to the point it alarms John and Jackson and they  have to help her. She pays no attention to the cough.    ARLETTA  He'd... He'd of... broke you up.  She quiets after the fit and lies back, tired.    ARLETTA  You think life is some kind of ocean   voyage and you start out with buntin'   and hollerin' and high hopes, but   the damn ship goes down before you   ever reach the other side. Luke?    LUKE  Here, Mom.    ARLETTA  What went wrong?    LUKE  Nothin'. Ever'thing's cool's can be.    ARLETTA  No.    LUKE  Tried to live always just as free   and aboveboard as you been, and well,   they ain't that much elbow room.  Arletta is looking hard into his eyes as he speaks. She  reaches out to him again...    ARLETTA  You allus had good jobs, and that   girl in Kentucky I taken a shine to   her.    LUKE  She took off with that convertible   feller...    ARLETTA  Well, why not? Idee of marryin' got   you all choked up, trying to pretend   you was respectable you was borin'   the hell out of all of us.    LUKE   (grinning at her)  Yeah.    ARLETTA  I'm leavin' the place to John.    LUKE  That's good: he earned it.    ARLETTA  Nothin' to do with it. I ain't never   give John the kind of feelin' I give   you, so I'm payin' him off now. Don't   feel you got to say anything. Way it   is, sometimes, you just have a feelin'   for a child or you don't, and with   John I just didn't.  OFFSTAGE WHISTLE    LUKE  Gotta go, Arletta.    ARLETTA   (recovering)  Laugh it up, kid. You'll make out.  She kneads his hand and subsides onto her bed. Luke turns  away from her to face John, who has stood by. Godfrey is on  his feet. The other men are getting up and saying goodbye to  visitors, picking up their packages, etc., and among them is  a chain man, his chains dragging, holding them up with a  string. The kid stands by John looking at the chains clinking  past...    JOHN-BOY  Why can't you have chains?  Luke looks up at John, Sr. with amusement.    JOHN-BOY  Uncle Luke?  TWO SHOT LUKE AND JOHN, SR.    JOHN  John-Boy looks to you. You're a hero.   He's braggin' on you all over the   county.    LUKE   (thoughtful)  Yeah.    JOHN  You must've really flung a binge   this time. You really hit that cop?    LUKE   (not liking the smug    pride in John)  Much as I'd like to oblige you, John,   I didn't hit the cop.   (beat)  She's in pretty bad pain, ain't she?    JOHN   (nods)  Fulla dope, Luke.    LUKE  Keep it with her all the time. Let   her have all she wants.  They understand each other. Luke chucks John-Boy under the  chin, then stops, looks at John, kneels beside him.  TWO SHOT LUKE AND JOHN-BOY    LUKE  You don't want to admire them chains,   John-Boy. They ain't medals. You get   them put on for makin' mistakes.   (beat)  And if you make a really bad mistake,   then you got to deal with the Man...   and he is one tough old boy.  THEIR P.O.V.  Godfrey stares at them, his glasses mirroring.  BACK TO THEM    LUKE  So long, Arletta. Take care.    ARLETTA'S VOICE  You know it, kid.  John holds Luke for a beat and reaches into the truck and  pulls out a battered banjo which he gives Luke.    JOHN  Now there's nothin' for you to come   back for.  ARLETTA'S TRUCK  LEAVING down the road, kicking up dust. Barracks in b.g.  EXT. HIGHWAY WITH YOYO SUPPORT (DAY)  cutting away at the time...         DISSOLVE TO:  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  Luke sits on his bunk plunking aimlessly at the BANJO. The  barracks are quiet, an air of [...]. Suddenly there is an  unidentifiable SOUND, low, but all the heads in the barracks  look up, waiting, silently. It has begun to rain, the big  drops DRUMMING on the roof. It begins to fall heavily. There  are moving slams around the building as outside the guards  SLAM the storm shutters. It is hot, oppressive.    ALIBI  I guess they have to close those   things, or we'd drown. But it's really   suffocating.    TATTOO  Talk about drownin', I did some   trainin' on a submarine once. Boy,   when you're under there you really   feel it.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Shut up, man. It's too hot to talk.  The air is stifling, desultory. Out of boredom, Dragline  turns to Dynamite.    DRAGLINE  You see mah skinny lid boy at chow   tonight. He was matching you plate   for plate.    DYNAMITE  I wasn't feelin' good. Think I got a   ulcer or somethin'.    DRAGLINE  He had a spoon like yours, he'd make   you look like a possum [...] on a   tree bark.  Society Red is lying on his bunk looking at the bottom of  the bunk above.    SOCIETY RED  Oh, come on, Clarence.  Dragline sits up and looks at him aggressively.    DRAGLINE  What do you mean, Clarence? You   callin' me a liar?  He waits.    SOCIETY RED  Not a liar. You just have a common --   and likable -- tendency toward   exaggeration.    DRAGLINE   (proudly)  He's the champeen hog-gut of this   camp. Hell, I seen him eat ten   choc'lat bars and seven cold drinks   in fifteen minutes. He kin eat busted   bottles and rusty nails, any damn   thing. If you'd so kindly oblige as   to let me cut off your yankee head,   he'd even eat that.    LUKE  I can eat fifty eggs.  They turn to look at him as though surprised to find him  there. Before Dragline can think he says...    DRAGLINE  Nobody kin eat fifty eggs.    SOCIETY RED   (to Dragline)  You just said he could eat anything.    DRAGLINE   (doubtfully, to Luke)  You ever eat fifty eggs?    LUKE  Nobody ever ate fifty eggs.    GAMBLER  Bet! Bet! Babalugats!    DRAGLINE  Mah boy say he kin eat fifty eggs,   he'll eat fifty eggs.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Yeah but in how long?    LUKE  One hour.    SOCIETY RED  Well I believe I'll have to take   part of that wager.    DRAGLINE  Two bucks.    GAMBLER  Let's talk money.    DRAGLINE  Awright, twenty bucks. Anything! The   Syndicate'll cover any money you   got. Koko, get paper.    KOKO  Dragline... fifty eggs got to weigh   a good six pounds.    DYNAMITE   (expertly)  Man's gut can't hold that. They'll   swell up and bust him open.    BLIND DICK  You're gonna kill him.    DRAGLINE  Getcha money, up. Gambler! Dynamite!   Everybody. Kokonut Head here is taking   the money. Loudmouth -- get it up!  The initial boredom of the scene is dispelled -- a purpose  has been created to lead them through the endless building  of time.    GAMBLER  How's he gonna eat 'em?    LUKE   (cutting in)  Boiled for fifteen minutes. Then   peeled. I eat all fifty in one hour.  Men are all around Dragline and Koko now with money and  wagers. Koko is frantically scribbling.    DRAGLINE  Koko, write down their names, don't   just make marks.    SOCIETY RED  One rule! No throwing up. He throws   up, you forfeit everything.    DRAGLINE  You ever see mah boy throw up? Shut   your mouth and put up your money!  Koko is on the floor now with Babalugats beside him, assorting  papers, handing out betting receipts. Dragline turns to Luke.    DRAGLINE  Why'd you have to say fifty? Why not   thirty-five or thirty-nine?    LUKE  Fifty's a nice round number.    DRAGLINE  Damn, Luke. What's the matter with   you? what's the matter with me?    LUKE   (winking)  Nothin' to worry about. We got a   deadlock on that mullet.  EXT. PRISON YARD MOVING TWO SHOT (DAY)  Luke and Dragline jog around the yard like roadwork for a  boxer and trainer.    DRAGLINE  What did I do? Stole and tole lies.   I loved mah neighbor and his wife,   but what did I do to deserve this   lunatic to come in mah happy home   and beat me outa hard earned bread.    LUKE   (grins)  We got it locked in the sock.    DRAGLINE  Yeah, I know. But what we gotta do   first is stretch that l'il ol' belly   of yours -- git it all strained out,   in fightin' shape, like a barrage   balloon.    LUKE  You ol' sack of guts. I had a belly   like yours, we wouldn't have nothin'   to worry about.    DRAGLINE   (considers paunch)  'Atsa sign I got me an affectionate   nature.    LUKE  Like an elephant.    DRAGLINE   (grinning)  Us elephants may be a lil slow, like   in makin' love, but you give us a   coupla three days to really get with   it an' man -- stand back!  Luke grins.  LUKE IN THE CHOWLINE  taking enormous helpings.    DOGBOY  Lookit this hot gut, Boss. Here's a   man gone bust the State feedin' his   face.    BOSS HIGGINS  Wisht I could eat like that.    LUKE  Thing about bad food, you got to eat   a lot of it.  OMITTED  LUKE  He sits in a yoga position, rippling his stomach muscles  miraculously. Koko and Gambler pop INTO THE SHOT to watch  with amazement.  INT. MESS HALL (NIGHT)  Luke refuses food. He moves to his place, sits before his  empty plate.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  as Dragline stops in front of the Wicker Man.    DRAGLINE  Boss! Man needs a brown bomber and a   dose of salts.  Instant UPROAR of protest.    SOCIETY RED  Rules Committee! Rules Committee!    ALIBI  Nobody said nothin' about that!    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Same as dopin' a race horse!    SLEEPY  It don't sound right.    TATTOO  You can't do that!    DRAGLINE  You jes' watch us!    BLIND DICK  Fair's fair.    KOKO  Got a right to start with a clear   gut!    DYNAMITE  Man can't eat that much no matter --    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  You can't just change the rules any   way you want!  All of this is overlapping: Dragline walks through them  carrying the pile and cup of salts passed out from the Wicker,  ignoring it all.  INT. KITCHEN  JABO, the cook, is lowering the sacks of eggs into huge pots  of boiling water. Carr stands by with a watch, timing. Outside  the open door are Dragline, Dynamite and Gambler watching  tensely.    DRAGLINE  Take it easy now, Jabo. Them is eggs,   not them cathead biscuits.    JABO  I know what eggs look like. I ain't   seen any around here for three years,   but I remember.  ANGLE ON BARRACKS DOOR (DAY)  as a file of men carry the still-steaming eggs in their hats  from the yard into the building.    RABBIT   (adding on a scrap of    paper)  I've got it figured. If he eats an   egg a minute, he's got 10 minutes   left to swaller them.    CHIEF  I just got sent five bucks from the   rodeo company.    RABBIT  What for?    CHIEF  A bull I fell off.  INT. BARRACKS  as the line of men reach the poker table and begin stacking  up the eggs. The Rules Committee sits around the table leaving  one side for Luke. It's all set up with towels, etc. They  are counting eggs carefully, piling them in pyramids. Dragline  picks up an egg and cracks it smartly on the table. Again  uproar...    DRAGLINE  Awright! Stand back, you pedestrians,   this ain't no automobile accident!    ALIBI  You're peeling his eggs!    DRAGLINE  That's right, Mister Alibi.    SOCIETY RED  He peels the eggs himself. That's   understood.    DRAGLINE  You jus' may be great at hangin'   paper around the big cities, but us   country boys is not entirely   brainless. When it comes to the law,   nothin' is understood.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Who made what law about peeling his   eggs?    DRAGLINE  I'm his trainer, I'm the syndicate   what's coverin' all bets, and I'm   his official egg peeler.    SOCIETY RED  Just wait till the hour starts, that's   all.  The champion enters and the talk dies. He's naked from the  waist. He does some side-straddle hops and deep-knee bends.  His stomach is markedly concave. He, drying himself from a  shower, walks to the fragment of mirror on the wall and combs  his hair, studies his image a second and, at last ready,  moves to the table and sits down.    LUKE   (ingeniously)  What's goin' on?  Dragline jumps up and gives a second's rubdown to Luke's  shoulders. There is a flurry of last minute betting, and  then silence. Everybody gathered around. Luke shuffles his  feet, twitches his toes. One egg from the pile is peeled and  in front of him. Carr waits, his eyes on his wrist watch,  his other hand up in the air, and all eyes rest on that hand.  All eyes drop as the hand drops. Dragline grabs eggs and  peels them, his fingers flickering, the shells flying. Luke  picks up the peeled egg and eats it in a gulp.  CUTS OF LUKE, DRAGLINE, REACTIONS  LUKE  He's eating very fast.    SOCIETY RED   (keeping a written    tab)  One, two, three...   (continues counting,    throughout)    KOKO  He's gonna lose a finger eating eggs   like that.  Dragline reaches over and pops an egg into Luke's mouth, his  pinkie extended, like tossing a tidbit into the mouth of  some animal.  FULL SHOT LUKE IN THE CENTER  The others stand around, motionless. Dragline cracks and  peels and Luke eats in a regular musical rhythm inexorable  and horrible as it is sustained. Red is checking and counting  off eggs...    SOCIETY RED  ...twenty-four. Twenty-five, twenty-  six...  LUKE  His face bears an expression of ineffable absent pleasure as  though eggs reminded him of something a long way away.  DRAGLINE  looking at him, neutral...    DRAGLINE  Slow down a little.  THE GROUP  Some chew fingernails, some stare, some mouth open, some  stand with unlighted cigarettes in their mouths, staring.  Some have eyes shut, their lips silently counting with Red.    SOCIETY RED  ...thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two.  LUKE  He stops and stands up, stretching. His stomach bulges as  though he were pregnant. Slowly he walks across the barracks  toward the water faucet. Dragline stands looking after him,  alarmed. Luke slowly bends over and washes his mouth out,  not taking a drink. He stands, turns, walks up and down,  does some exercises. Silence, no one else moves. He walks  back, looks at the eggs, making an expression of distaste.  He turns away and does some more exercises. Gambler moves  over very close to him. Luke is going up and down, up and  down doing knee bends. Gambler tries to look into his eyes,  examine his stomach, listen to his wind. Luke sticks out his  tongue obligingly for a check. Gambler stands up.    SOCIETY RED  Eighteen to go!  There is a flurry of last-minute betting led by Onionhead's  examination. Koko, Babalugats beside him, are the tellers.    GAMBLER  He's had it. I'm throwin' in my last   tenner.  Sleepy appears, as does Tramp, to make beta.    BLIND DICK  He don't look good.    DYNAMITE   (expertly)  Man's gut can't hold more'n that.    GAMBLER  Oh you gonna come crawlin' around   beggin' for a cold drink, Drag. Your   boy is done for!  Mechanic has been studying Luke as if he were an ailing  carburetor.    MECHANIC   (quietly to Dragline)  If I give you a dollar and he don't   eat all fifty eggs, I get two dollars?    DRAGLINE  Mechanic!  Dragline puts his arm around Mechanic's shoulders  affectionately.    DRAGLINE  You're a sweet old boy and I don't   like to see you pick up no bad habits.   Better use that dollar to buy yourself   a new spark plug or something. But   as long as you done took a stand,   why don't you put some money where   your mouth is? Not no measly buck!    MECHANIC  All I got is three-seventy-five.    DRAGLINE  It's a bet! Koko! I gone this far,   I'm backin' mah boy all the way!   Come on, who's next? Where are the   big money men, I want to hear from   some high rollers.  Silence.    SOCIETY RED  I believe you've got it all, Dragline.   Every nickel in camp is riding.  Dragline turns to Luke and grins. Luke instantly appears to  recover and walks casually back to the table. It should be  clear this last was a little put-on between him and Dragline  to milk the last money into bets. Luke sits and begins eating.  LUKE  cool, confident, but as the egg is crushed in his mouth the  first real gagging feeling of total surfeit hits him. His  jaw closes and freezes. His eyes grow desperate and swivel  toward Dragline, though he doesn't dare move his head lest  he give way to nausea.  DRAGLINE  reacts.  LUKE  with a herculean effort, he swallows.    SOCIETY RED'S VOICE  Thirty-three.  Dragline swallows with relief. Gambler moves and looks about,  a man feeling victory within his grasp.    ALIBI  Carr? What's the time?    CARR  Twenty-four minutes to go.  Luke swallows another egg; sweat bursts out on his forehead.  Dragline signals to a second, Koko, to sit in for him and  peel eggs. He moves to Luke.    SOCIETY RED  Thirty-four.  TWO SHOT LUKE AND DRAGLINE  as Dragline stands behind him, massaging his shoulders and  neck, tenderly... Luke doggedly eats eggs, one by one. Red  counts off under...    SOCIETY RED  Thirty-nine... forty... forty-one...   forty-two...  MEANWHILE:    DRAGLINE  Come on, boy, come on, darlin'. You   kin do her. Just let that ol' belly   sag and enjoy itself. Stay loose,   buddy. Eight more, between you and   everlasting glory. Little ol' eggs,   pigeon eggs, that's all, fish eggs   practically.  Luke almost throws up, and Dragline signals Koko to hold  up... he gets Luke of his feet and begins walking him up and  down the barracks...    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Carr? Time?    CARR  Six minutes to go, Dragline.    DRAGLINE   (into Luke's ear)  Just shakin' it down, that's all,   settlin' them eggs down...  He sits him down, takes an egg from Koko and puts it to Luke's  lips, pursing his lips in a kiss...    DRAGLINE  Come on, Baby... don't be that way.   Open your little ol' gator mouth.  Luke opens his mouth, in goes the egg, he chews, chews,  swallows. Another egg...    SOCIETY RED  Forty-four...    CARR  Two minutes to time...    DRAGLINE  All right now: get mad at them eggs.   Eat it there boy! Bite it! Gnaw on   it!    SOCIETY RED  Forty-five.    CARR  One minute, thirty seconds.  Another egg goes. Luke closes his eyes and motions to  Dragline; just stuff 'em in any old how!    DRAGLINE  That's it, that's how to do it, chew,   chew, chew!  All eggs peeled, Koko is up and dancing wildly, and a couple  of men, even though they've got nothing but everything to  lose, are intoxicated beyond power to restrain themselves  and are yelling and jumping up and down.    CARR  One minute, fifty-five... fifty...   forty-five... etc.    SOCIETY RED  Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven...  So that it all comes out in a near dead-heat, with Dragline  yelling and popping in eggs. At the last second before  deadline, two whole eggs are shoved into Luke's mouth, and  Dragline rams Luke's mouth shut for him...    DRAGLINE  All in: that's it: chew, chew, chew!    CARR  Fifteen, ten, nine, eight, seven...   six...  Luke looks around, then takes a mighty swallow, as:    CARR  One... zero!  Luke collapses with his head on the table, his arms flung  out.    SOCIETY RED  He didn't swallow the last...  He grabs him by the hair and pulls his head back. Dragline  pries his mouth open with his fingers. Luke is out...    DRAGLINE  You think so, huh?  NEW ANGLE PAST LUKE'S EAR  as they all peer down into his throat. Dragline grins, looks  around at Society.    DRAGLINE  Where's the egg?  He slaps Luke on the cheek affectionately, closes his mouth  and lets his head fall back on the table with a loud thump,  his arms again sprawled out in the piles of egg shells. A  dance of victory for Dragline... he collects all over the  place. Dynamite, shaking his head, quietly knights the new  champion hog-gut by laying his big spoon on the table next  to Luke's head.  EXT. ROAD (DAY)  A car ROARS by, leaving a hint of laughter and music in the  air and a cloud of dust. The men are working rhythmically.  Godfrey watching.  ANGLE ON LOUDMOUTH STEVE GAMBLER  They have been observing Godfrey.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Man looks like a goddamn bus driver.    GAMBLER   (yoyoing)  He gets too close to me and I'll cut   his belly open.  OMITTED  ANGLE ON KOKO  He sees snake.    KOKO'S VOICE  Snake in the grass! Boss!  He runs. Men flail at the snake in the grass with their yoyos  and CAMERA MOVES WITH Snake though we can't see it and we  follow its progress only by the men jumping, hitting at it,  yelling.  GODFREY  He rams his cane into the soft sand and Rabbit reaches into  the truck cab and hands him his rifle. Godfrey slams the  bolt in.  BACK TO MEN  They jump and yell and chase the snake until they reach Luke,  who stoops, grabs cooly and comes up with the snake, holding  it by the tail.    LUKE  Pickin' it up here, Boss!  GODFREY  His EYES HUGE IN THE SCREEN: Luke seen there IN DUPLICATE,  standing tall in the sun, grinning, the rattler wriggling  and thrashing in his grasp. Godfrey's face holds for a long  beat then the rifle is brought up so that we can now see  Luke CLEAR IN ONE LENS and the other he is lined up in the  rifle sight pointing directly INTO THE LENS -- or just CAMERA  LEFT. There is a SHOT and the rifle is lowered enough so we  can see Luke IN DUPLICATE again.  LUKE  looking at Godfrey, grinning, but a little tougher now. The  snake has no head. He walks down a little and throws the  body of the snake on the road at Godfrey's feet. It brings  him close to where Godfrey's cane still stands in the sand.  Godfrey kicks at the snake. He turns... Luke pulls the cane  out of the sand and holds it out to Godfrey.    LUKE  Don't forget your walking stick,   Boss.  Godfrey turns to face him and stares at him. Luke just holds  the stick out to him. Godfrey slowly takes the bolt out of  the rifle, looks down the barrel, blows the smoke out, puts  the bolt in his pocket and hands the gun back to Rabbit before  finally reaching out and taking the stick from Luke. He turns  and walks away.    LUKE  You shore can shoot, man.  Godfrey's shoulders almost jerk as though at every word he  were being hit with invisible bullets.  SKY CLOUD THUNDER LIGHTNING  EXT. ROAD DRAGLINE LUKE  working.    DRAGLINE  Luke, why you actin' so strange?   What you wanna do somethin' like   that for? You gone too far when you   mess with the Man With No Eyes. You   gonna be outa here in a little bit --   whyn't you jus' take it a little   easy?  Luke has been staring up at the darkening sky which is growing  more ominous with clashing clouds and rolling thunder.    LUKE  Man, it looks like the Big Boss is   getting ready to let us have it!  It begins to rain, large spattering drops, quickly turning  into a downpour.    BOSS PAUL (O.S.)  Awright, you kin git in that truck.  The gang rushes back into the shelter, all except Luke and  Dragline.    LUKE  Look at Him go. Bam! Bam!    DRAGLINE  Knock it off, Luke! You cain't talk   about Him that way.  Dragline begins to move off toward the truck.    LUKE  You still believe in the Big Bearded   Boss, Drag? You think he's up there   watching us?  He grins at Dragline and then, after a beat, raises his bush  axe straight up to the sky, grinning at Dragline.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  He is frightened as he backs off toward the truck.    DRAGLINE  Get in here! Ain't you scared --   ain't you scared of dyin'?  ANGLE ON LUKE  The rain is torrential. He has to shout to be heard.    LUKE  Dyin'? He can take back this nice   pretty life any time He wants.   (looks up)  You welcome to it, Old Timer. Come   on! Make me know you're up there!   Kill me or love me, one or the other.  He holds his bush axe again, laughing, soaking wet.  REVERSE BACK OF TRUCK  The men jammed into the frame of the body, a frieze of shocked  faces staring out at him through the rain. There is a blinding  flash of lightning and a THUNDEROUS ROAR. They wince but  don't turn away.  LUKE  He smiles and lowers the bush axe, walking toward the truck.    LUKE  Standin' out here in the rain! All   alone! Talkin' to myself.  He smiles a little shamefaced, rueful, sad smile and climbs  into the truck and the men draw back from him.  ANGLE THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF THE TRUCK PARKED BEHIND  Godfrey seen dimly through the rain-misted windshield.  EXT. YOYO SHIMMERING IN THE SUN TRANSITIONAL DEVICE (DAY)  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  It is the free hour. But instead of the poker game, Dragline,  Luke and Koko sit at the table dealing with their line of  debtors from the egg-eating. Koko acts as secretary, changing  the amounts as the men pay off or borrow more. As Blind Dick  receives his money and leaves:    DRAGLINE   (to Koko)  Blind Dick is payin' us off three   and borrowin' back five. Next!  It is Tattoo.    DRAGLINE  Borrowin' or payin' back?    TATTOO  Borrowin'.    DRAGLINE  Mister Cool Hand here is the soft   heart in our Loan Department. Next!  ON CARR AT THE WICKER (NIGHT)  He has just been handed a telegram by the Wicker Man. He  reads it impassive as always, while in b.g., the business  continues and we HEAR:    SOCIETY RED'S VOICE  I believe I still owe you thirty. I   don't suppose you'd take a check.    TATTOO'S VOICE   (to Luke)  My Navy disability didn't come yet.   You know how it is.  Carr finishes reading and we FOLLOW HIM as he walks to the  table.    LUKE  Sure do... that's why we didn't bet   with the Navy.    DRAGLINE  Oh, that's mah darlin' Luke. Grins   like a baby and bites like a 'gator.  Carr sets the telegram on the table next to Luke.    CARR  Sorry, Luke.  Luke picks up the telegram and reads. Then he sets it down,  stands and goes to his bunk. Dragline looks after him, takes  up the telegram and hands it up to Society Red.    SOCIETY RED   (after reading)  His mother's dead.  ANGLE ON LOUDMOUTH STEVE  As he sees Luke go to his bunk, he picks up his sex book and  moves down to the other end of the barracks. Alibi does the  same with the cigarette papers and tobacco he has been  rolling.  ANGLE ON LUKE  sitting on his bunk, bare feet tucked up beneath his drawn- up legs, softly picking out a slow hymn melody on his banjo.  Tears slowly stream down his cheeks.  ANGLE ON CARR  as Luke continues playing softly. He walks down to the other  end of the barracks, too.  FULL SHOT BARRACKS  All of the other men are congregated at the other end, giving  Luke what privacy they can. There is no conversation, only  the slow, plaintive plucking of the banjo.  ANGLE ON LUKE CLOSE  playing, the tears coursing.  NEW ANGLE ON LUKE  in his bunk now, staring wet-eyed up at the ceiling.    CARR'S VOICE  Fifty, boss.    WICKERMAN'S VOICE  Fifty, awright, Carr.  EXT. MESS HALL (PRE-DAWN)  As the men pour out they see that the light on the box is  burning, a nightshirt is hung on the fence. Their usual hurry- up pace is slowed to a nervous, apprehensive gait.    BOSS PAUL  Awright, git lined up here.  ANGLE ON CAPTAIN'S PORCH  He has been watching, rocking. As the men line up, he gets  up and goes down the steps toward the yard.  CAPTAIN'S P.O.V.  pushing the gate open, moving in front of Boss Paul, facing  the men.    CAPTAIN  Luke, fall out.  Luke steps forward, pulls off his shirt and jacket. He steps  behind the latticework screen to take off his pants as the  Captain speaks.    CAPTAIN'S VOICE   (emotionless)  When a man's mother dies and he gits   to thinkin' about her funeral and   payin' respects, before he knows it   his mind ain't right and he's got   rabbit in his blood and runs. We're   keepin' you off the road fer awhile.  He has said all he has to say. He walks off.  FULL SHOT LUKE AND THE MEN  They are watching him slip on the nightshirt. Boss Kean opens  the box.    BOSS KEAN   (to Luke)  Ah'm jus' doin' mah job, Luke. You   gotta appreciate that.  ANGLE ON LUKE IN BOX    LUKE  Boss, when you do somethin' to me   you better do it because you got to   or want to... but not because it's   your damn job.  ANGLE ON KEAN  His eyes narrow. The box door slams. Greyness.    BOSS PAUL'S VOICE (O.S.)  Awright, let's move it out!  And o.s. the SOUNDS of the men counting through the gate and  the truck engines coughing.  EXT. ROAD DAWN (NIGHT)  The bull gang truck pulling out. In b.g. the barracks and  the light over the box.  EXT. CAMP  The bull gang truck stopping. The back is opened and the men  jump out, line up and begin counting off through the gate.  In b.g. as they count is Luke's voice singing.  CLOSE ON DRAGLINE  He smiles... oh that Luke!  CLOSE ON BOSS GODFREY  listening to the mocking voice.  EXT. BARRACKS  It is the next morning. The tire iron SOUNDS.    CARR'S VOICE  First bell! First bell! Let's go!  The figures of Boss Paul and Boss Seven go to the box. Seven  carries Luke's food.  INT. BOX PAUL'S P.O.V.  as it is opened. The dimness of the overhead bulb illuminates  Luke.    LUKE  Shut the door, Boss. You're lettin'   in a draft.  ANGLE ON PAUL  His face corrodes in fury.    BOSS PAUL  Git on your feet! Ah'm gonna teach   you some respect right now!  Furiously he tries to cane Luke with his walking stick. But  the cramped quarters restrict him. The cane clangs wildly  against the sides of the box as Luke crouches in a corner,  covering his head.  ANGLE ON LUKE  protecting, as Boss Paul retreats. The box door slams!  Greyness.  EXT. BARRACKS (AFTERNOON)  as the bull gang counts in after the day's work. The light  on the box still burns. No sound from Luke.  CLOSE ON DRAGLINE  He looks worried.  EXT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  The tire rim SOUNDS and the men scurry for their bunks.    CARR'S VOICE  Last bell! Last bell!   (the pacing of his    steps)  Forty-nine, Boss. And one in the   box.    WICKERMAN'S VOICE  Forty-nine and one in the box. Right,   Carr.  EXT. BARRACKS (PRE-DAWN)  Boss Paul, carrying a shotgun, and Boss Seven are opening  the box. In b.g. the tire rim SOUNDS.    CARR'S VOICE  First bell! First bell! Let's go!  And the uproar of the men getting out of their bunks, hurrying  to dress and line up by the chute.  INT. BOX CLOSE SHOT LUKE'S P.O.V.  as the door opens and the double muzzle of Boss Paul's shot- gun stares.  BOSS PAUL'S P.O.V.  Luke is standing at the rear of the box, his arms crossed  over his chest, his eyes slightly wild, his face dirty and  stubbled. In b.g. the SOUND of Rudolph, the pet bloodhound  puppy, yipping.  LUKE'S P.O.V.  Paul's gun draws back. Boss Seven hands Paul a heavy biscuit,  grinning. Rudolph is sniffing, nipping at Paul's trousers,  smelling the biscuit.    BOSS PAUL  You look hongry, Luke.   (tosses biscuit in    his hand)  Reckon this would taste mighty good,   but Rudolph looks pretty hongry,   too. Why don't we split it with the   pooch, okay?  He breaks the biscuit and dangles half over Rudolph who nips  and barks for it.    BOSS PAUL   (feeding Rudolph)  Tha's a good boy.   (to Luke)  Well, here's your piece, Luke.  ON LUKE  He speaks in a low, uneven voice.    LUKE  Might as well give it all to him,   Boss. I just ain't much hungry.  ON BOSS PAUL  Livid with rage, he slams the door! Greyness.  EXT. LAUNDRY FENCE CLOSE ON LAUNDRY FLYING OVER FENCE  (AFTERNOON)  as LAUNDRY BOY tries to catch the flying sheets, pants and  shirts being tossed by the men. Behind him we SEE the  steaming, pumping cleaning machines.  EXT. YARD (AFTERNOON)  Laundry boy and machines in b.g. as Boss Kean and Boss Seven  go to the box. Boss Seven carries Luke's shoes and a freshly  cleaned set of state issues. The men turn.  INT. BOX (AFTERNOON)  as the door opens. Luke looks up. Kean's face stares down,  not unkind. Luke moves forward.  OMITTED  EXT. BOX (AFTERNOON)  as Luke emerges, Kean behind him.    BOSS KEAN   (gently)  She's in the ground now, Luke. Best   forget about it. You got a day ana   half lay-in... and tomorrow's a   holiday.  OMITTED  INT. BARRACKS (EVENING)  The Fourth of July. All hell is breaking loose. Four radios  going, chain men jitterbugging, one of the men has a mouth  harmonica, another plucks Luke's banjo. A lemonade barrel is  in a corner and men dip into it with coke bottles; others  are banging together bottles as instruments, playing combs,  etc.  ANGLE ON ALIBI AND DYNAMITE  just filling their bottles with lemonade.    ALIBI   (toasting)  Happy Fourth of July.    SLEEPY  Same to you.    ALIBI  Boy, if anyone had told me where I   was going to be spending Independence   Day...   (shakes his head)  ON MUSIC MAKERS, OTHERS  Most of them are concentrated in front of Luke's bunk, singing  and screaming, trying to make as much noise as possible.  Tattoo is reading a new sex book aloud while Dynamite,  Loudmouth Steve, others listen intently, some avid, some  confused.    TATTOO   (reading)  Wanda trembled, faced by this awesome   decision. It was the moment of choice.   Could she take the plunge and wantonly   hurl herself into pagan abandon? Or   would she remain ever fettered by   the bonds of her puritanical   upbringing? Could she take this chance   to experience the sensual thrill of   total release and gratification? Or   would she turn her back and retreat   into frigid denial? Desire and fear,   temptation and terror, yearning and   horror, warred within her beautiful   young body...  Luke is not to be seen among the music-makers and revellers.  Moving through the crowd, the CAMERA FINDS Luke on his hands  and knees, sawing at the floorboard with a piece of hacksaw.  ANGLE ON CARR  as the tire iron SOUNDS and SOUNDS again to be heard over  the din.    CARR  First bell! Let's git to bed. You   done had your fun.  The singers and music-makers around Luke finish their song,  reaching a high, piercing, noisy crescendo. At the same time,  Dragline has been reading another sex book to Stupid Blondie,  Blind Dick and Chief who are trying to act out the  description, tying themselves into an intricate anatomical  knot.    DRAGLINE   (reading)  She moved her head another inch while   he reached up and put his left hand   on Carol's cheek as Carol pressed   her lips to... Oh Lord, I can't read   it!  He wriggles, panting with eye-popping pleasure, attracting  Carr's attention. Stupid Blondie, Rabbit and Chief are still  trying to untie themselves.    DRAGLINE  Carr. Lookit this. Oh I don't believe   it.    CARR  What you got there, Drag? You bought   yourself another of them dirty books?  Intrigued, Carr sits down on Dragline's bunk and follows  Dragline's finger pointing out the lascivious parts. He is  quickly absorbed.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  He looks over toward Luke who can be seen between the legs  of the surrounding men, poised, waiting to drop down into  the hole. Dragline winks.  ANGLE ON LUKE  He winks back, grins and disappears through the hole in the  floor.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE AND CARR  The tutor and the student.    DRAGLINE  Here's a real hot one!  Carr reads intently.  ON THE HOLE BENEATH LUKE'S BUNK  gaping, empty, inviting.  VARIOUS REACTIONS OF MEN  A. KOKO - suppressing a giggle.  B. SOCIETY RED - considering it, cowardly.  C. ALIBI - tense, nervous.  ANGLE ON TATTOO  He has been considering it, weighing his chances, his eyes  darting from the hole to Carr, back again. Now he scurries  to the hole, drops inside.  ANGLE ON CARR, DRAGLINE  as the tire iron SOUNDS. Carr gets up.    CARR  Awright, last bell!  The men are in their bunks, Carr begins to make his count.  As he comes to Tatto's bunk:    WICKER MAN'S VOICE  HEY, CARR! WHAT'S THAT OUTSIDE?  Carr rushes to the window.    CARR  Somebody's on the fence, boss!  EXT. YARD ON THE FENCE  It is Tattoo, half-way up the fence, startled by the clamor  as the Wicker Man whales the GONG. He falls back down, starts  up again, dogs BARKING.  EXT. YARD NEW ANGLE  as guards come running from the Captain's house, the dogs  HOWLING.  ON TATTOO  frantically trying to get up the fence, falling down, starting  to run, seeing the guards approaching with guns and canes,  turning to the other direction: more guards. Caught like a  rat, eyes wild with fear, he makes terrified motions to go  in one direction, then the other but is rooted by fear and  indecision as the guards move in. He SCREAMS.  INT. BARRACKS ANGLE ON WICKER AND DOOR  which is unlocked. Dogboy is dressed, combing his hair, self- importantly putting on his gloves while the men lie in their  bunks, staring contemptuously. Boss Paul, Godfrey and others  stare with shotguns leveled from the wicker.    BOSS PAUL  Who else?  Carr has been tearing a sheet off Luke's bed.    CARR  Jackson. He cut a hole in the floor,   Boss.  He hands the sheet to Dogboy.    BOSS PAUL  He ain't even got the sense to run   from the road like everybody else.    DOGBOY  Blue'll git him, Boss. We'll git   that bastid, Cool Hand Luke.  OMITTED  EXT. DOG PEN MED. CLOSE SHOT (NIGHT)  Boss Paul is unlocking the pen. Dogboy stands by the screen  letting the yapping, frothing hounds sniff at the sheet.    BOSS PAUL  Stan' back, Dogboy. Git the leash   here.  As he opens the pen, the hounds rush out. Dogboy grabs one,  Boss Paul grabs another but Big Blue, the lead hound, has  the scent and he bolts, howling and tearing off.    DOGBOY  Blue! Come back here! Come back, I   said.  EXT. SWAMP (NIGHT)  Luke, smiling, running like hell through the murky water. In  b.g. Blue's baying.  EXT. SWAMP (NIGHT)  Blue in pursuit, sniffing, dashing, on the trail.  EXT. SWAMP (NIGHT)  Dogboy with the other dogs being pulled through the muddy,  murky, thickly-foliaged swamp. Behind him, wading unhappily  through knee-deep water are Bosses Paul, Higgins and Shorty.  EXT. ABANDONED RAILROAD STATION NIGHT (LATER)  Boss Paul is on the phone to the Captain, Bosses Higgins and  Shorty sit disconsolate, dirty, wet, exhausted. Only Dogboy  is still eager, two hounds by his feet, listening in the  distance to the howl of Blue baying.    DOGBOY  Listen to Blue sing. She's on to   him. She says: got him.    BOSS SHORTY  Hail, that dog is jus' runnin' in   circles.    BOSS PAUL   (returning from phone)  Captain says to wait 'til the Patrol   gits here.    DOGBOY   (listening to Blue)  She's on to him. You shoulda waited   fer me to git her out -- loose like   she is, he kin run her crazy.    BOSS PAUL  It ain't my fault you don't know how   to handle your dogs.    DOGBOY  How my suppose to handle a dog someone   jus' let loose?    BOSS HIGGINS  I'm beat. This ain't mah job, nohow.    BOSS SHORTY  Me neither.  A Highway Patrol car pulls up.    BOSS PAUL  Here's the Patrol.    DOGBOY   (pulling up dogs)  She's got him! You hear that?  Higgins and Shorty shake their heads wearily.    OFFICER   (to Dogboy)  Okay, let's get started.  EXT. FARM COUNTRY (PIPELINES) (NIGHT)  Luke steps under and through the pipeline supports and  vanishes. In b.g. Blue's plaintive HOWLING.  EXT. FARM COUNTRY (PIPELINES) DAY (DAWN)  Dogboy moves ACROSS the SCENE with his pack of dogs, having  trouble following through the supports. The Officer behind  him.  CLOSE SHOT DOGBOY  plodding along, exhausted, yanking at the dogs as they pull  in different directions.    DOGBOY  Come on, Rudolph, Austin, you no   good buncha chicken-eaters, we're   lookin' for a man. We got us a job   to do.  EXT. BUSH BY FENCE (NEAR RAILROAD TRACKS) (DAY)  Luke carefully slips through the barbs, runs a few yards,  slips back through again, runs a few yards, returns to the  other side.  EXT. BUSH BY FENCE (NEAR RAILROAD TRACKS) DAY (LATER)  Dogboy with his pack and the Officer. In b.g. Blue is HOWLING,  the dogs are BAYING frantically. It is with trouble that  Dogboy and the Officer get through the fence, pulled by the  eager dogs. Then they must cross it again.    OFFICER  Your dogs are crazy.    DOGBOY  He keeps criss-crossin'. He's   smarter'n a dog. But he ain't got us   boxed yet... Blue'll get him.  OMITTED  EXT. RAILROAD BRIDGE DAY  A trestle built of creosoted timber. The dogs reach it, break  up into a milling, confused mass. Dogboy wrestles them out  of the trestle. In b.g. as always, Blue's plaintive BAYING.  ANGLE ON BRIDGE  as Dogboy fights the dogs to get them across.  ANGLE ON FAR SIDE OF BRIDGE  as Dogboy hauls at the dogs who are pulling in different  directions.  CLOSE SHOT DOGBOY  exhausted, disappointed, looking around, puzzled.  NEW ANGLE  The dogs are confused, seem to mill around aimlessly.    DOGBOY   (almost in tears)  Dammit.   (calling)  Blue! Blue!  No answer.  EXT. FARMLAND ORCHARD TRACKING SHOT OF LUKE  running through the thick overhead cover. It is like a jungle.  PULLING UP SLOWLY to HELICOPTER SHOT, we SEE that the cover  is only a small patch of foliage and on the other side is a  huge panorama of rolling, empty moor-like country in which,  after a moment, Luke enters, a tiny figure, running free.  EXT. CAMP (LATE AFTERNOON)  The men are coming out of the mess hall, washing their spoons,  about to line up for inspection. A Highway Patrol car pulls  up outside the gate; from the back seat comes the yipping of  dogs. Every head turns. The Captain moves from his rocker  and starts down the porch. Boss Paul and Godfrey move toward  the car.  CLOSE ON PATROL CAR (LATE AFTERNOON)  as the Officer (seen at the railroad station) gets out and  opens the front door. He nudges a sleeping, grizzled figure  who emerges. It is Dogboy. The back door is opened and Rudolph  and the other small dogs leap out, cavorting, glad to be  home. Then the Officer and Dogboy go to the trunk. The Officer  opens it. Dogboy reaches in and carries out -- the body of  Big Blue. Staggering with fatigue, tears in his eyes, Dogboy  stumbles up to the Captain.    DOGBOY  Look, Cap'n. Look what he done to   Blue. He's dead, Cap'n. Dead! Run   hisself plumb to death. That crazy   sadis Cool Hand Luke run her 'til   her heart bust.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE KOKO    DRAGLINE  He made it.  EXT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)    CARR'S VOICE  Forty-eight, Boss. One in the box   and one in the bush.  EXT. ROAD  The Bull Gang is working at the bottom of a high embankment  and the guards stand on the road high above their heads,  looking down, shotguns out now, alert. The men work away at  a rackety pace.  EXT. GODFREY'S EYES (DAY)  as he turns at the SOUND of a distant motor approaching and  the image of a car coming closer enlarges in his glasses.  EXT. ROAD  The car pulls up beside the guards and the door opens. The  Captain steps up to the road edge and looks down. He says  something to Boss Paul.    BOSS PAUL  Awright, hold it!  The men stop working, puzzled, looking up. Then from the car  a guard escorts Luke to the edge of the pavement. Luke grins  down at the men sheepishly. His prison uniform is filthy and  torn, his hands are cuffed behind his back, his face is dirty  and stubbled.  EXT. ROAD PAN REACTIONS OF MEN  They are stunned, saddened.  ANGLE ON LUKE, CAPTAIN, GUARDS  Behind Luke are Godfrey, Paul, Bosses Six and Seven and the  Captain. Kean and Shorty flank the gang. The guns are held  levelled at the men. One guard uncuffs Luke's hands; others  produce a sledge hammer, ballpeen hammer and a set of leg  irons from the Captain's car. Two guards kneel before Luke  and begin hammering on the irons. Silence except for the  HAMMERING AND CLINKING. Luke is silhouetted, a tall, straight  figure on the low horizon. The Captain looks directly ahead.    CAPTAIN   (to Luke)  You gonna get used to wearing them   chains aftera while, Luke. But don't   you never stop listenin' to them   clinkin'. That's gonna remind you of   what I been sayin'.    LUKE  Yeah, they sure do make a lot of   cold, hard, noise, Captain.  The Captain feeds his fury staring, then reaches out his  hand and Boss Paul lays the blackjack in it. As the chain  guards finish and stand up, trembling with rage, the Captain  takes a convulsive step forward and brings the sap down behind  Luke's ear. As Luke tumbles down the littered embankment  toward the men:    CAPTAIN  Don't you never talk that way to me!   You hear? You hear? Never!  His rage subsides and his voice becomes calm, reasonable.    CAPTAIN   (to the men)  What we got here is a failure to   communicate. Some men you can't reach,   that is they just don't listen when   you talk reasonable so you get what   we had here last week, which is the   way he wants it, well he gets it,   and I don't like it any better than   you men.  Nodding curtly, the Captain gets back in his car. Someone  throws a shovel down the embankment. It CLATTERS until it  lands beside Luke. Dragline and the others are by his side,  helping him to his feet. Above Godfrey stares down at them.  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE, LUKE AND OTHERS    DRAGLINE  Awright, buddy. You be awright. You   give 'em a run for their money. Jus'   take it slow and easy, baby. You   gonna make it fine.  As Luke tries to get his bearings, someone thrusts the shovel  into his hands and they get him going like a rusty piece of  machinery.    DRAGLINE  Come on, buddy. Show 'em you're   awright.  Luke seems to nod and begins to work slowly. The others back  away, glancing fearfully at the guards, go back to work,  quiet and sullen.  ANGLE ON LUKE  He is working with great difficulty, stiff, tired, aching.    BOSS KEAN'S VOICE  Awright, let's eat them beans.  Luke stumbles gratefully toward the chowline.  ON THE CHOWLINE  Dogboy dishing it out to Luke. Dogboy is gleeful, gloating.    DOGBOY  I knew they'd git you. With them   chains an a bonus of a coupla years,   you runnin' days is over forever.   Ah'd like to see you try to run agin.   You gettin' so you smell so bad, I   could track you myself.    LUKE  For a natural born son of a bitch   like you, that oughta be easy.  NEW ANGLE THE MEN  as Luke settles down with his beans, the others find spots  around him so he is the focus of the group. We SEE Tattoo in  chains, forlorn. Luke wolfs his food hungrily.    DRAGLINE  Jus' take it slow, buddy.    KOKO   (unable to restrain    himself)  What happened? How far did you get?    DRAGLINE  Shut up. Let him eat. Don't pay them   no mind, boy.    TATTOO   (urgently)  I gotta know -- How... how'd they   get you?    LUKE   (between mouthfuls)  Topflight police work.    GAMBLER  Tell us about it.    BLIND DICK  You steal a car?    LUKE  Yeah, found one in this supermarket,   keys in the ignition.    KOKO  Well, how far didya get?    LUKE   (eating)  Fat mile'n a half. Hit this red light,   highway patrol pulls up alongside.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Didya fight it out with him?    LUKE  Nope. I jus' kept lookin' straight   ahead waiting for that light to   change. And he kept lookin' over,   wondering what somethin' that looked   like me was doin' drivin' a shiny   new car.    ALIBI  And then...?    LUKE  Then he leans over and sees this   state issue... All there was to it.   Feller's probably a lieutenant by   now.  Luke continues to shovel in his beans. The men are clearly  disappointed. Only Dragline understands.    DRAGLINE  Well now we jus' gonna lay low and   build time and afore you know it the   heat'll be off you and things be   back where they was. Right, sweet   buddy?  Luke winks and slaps Dragline affectionately on the cheek.  During this last, Luke has been idly winding a piece of kite  string found on the ground beside him. As, idly, he shoves  it into his pocket.  ANGLE ON BOSS KEAN LATER  The gang has resumed working, Kean stands looking out at the  horizon, not talking directly to Luke, just leaning on his  gun, following Luke whenever he moves, his voice as calm and  secure as a priest in his study.    BOSS KEAN  Ah hears tell you don't believe in   no God, Luke. Ah was wonderin' how   come a nice lookin' feller like you   come to get put on the Hard Road.   But now ah reckons ah knows. Ah been   on the Road Gang for twenny-two year,   Luke, and in all that time I ain't   never killed no white man but I ain't   afeerd to cause a body has to do his   work. And I ain't never seen no man   that wasn't afeerd to die neither.    LUKE  'Scuse me, Boss. Don't mean to   interrupt... but... caught short   here.  Boss Kean is stunned.    BOSS KEAN   (slow, dangerous)  Awright, Luke. Thas okay... You go   on up there in them trees. Man's   gotta have some privacy sometime.   But you grab a bush and keep shakin'   it, hear? Jes' so we know you're   there. Jes' keep shakin' that bush.    LUKE  Yes, boss.  He begins to trot off, awkward in his chains. Kean looks at  Godfrey who snaps his fingers to Dogboy, a gesture that means  rifle. Dogboy runs to the truck and brings back the rifle  which Godfrey loads and arms with the bolt from his pocket.  ANGLE ON LUKE  Slowly walking off into the rough grass, his chains catching  on brush and stumps. He disappears behind a large bush.  CLOSE SHOT GODFREY  Luke's bush is in distance. He raises the gun to his shoulder  and FIRES.  REVERSE HIS P.O.V.  The bush shakes, we can't see Luke.    LUKE  I'm shakin' it, Boss. I'm shakin'   it!  We see the dust kick up behind the stump and another SHOT.    LUKE  Still shakin' it, Boss.  CLOSE SHOT GODFREY  impassively: SHOOTS again, aiming.  REVERSE HIS P.O.V.  The bush goes on shaking. Then it stops.  GODFREY  Caught loading. He brings up the rifle fast, FIRES.  CLOSE THE BUSH  It is still.  FULL SHOT  The gang stops working, looks up stunned.  ANGLE ON BOSS KEAN AND GODFREY  A long beat of shock -- they (and us) think Godfrey's hit  him. Boss Kean trots hurriedly up to the bush.  ANGLE BY THE BUSH  Boss Kean appears, looking down and off. CAMERA ADJUSTS so  we see what he sees: a piece of kite string tied to the bush  and leading off into the brush.    BOSS KEAN  Damn!  He turns and rushing back down toward Godfrey, others.    BOSS KEAN  He's gone! Git the dogs!  EXT. DIRTY ROAD (DAY)  It is a rutted country road with farms on both sides. Luke  appears, a filthy wide-eyed, stumbling, bearded beast in  filthy uniform and chains. PAN with him past sharecropper's  village of ramshackle huts, rusted junk. An OLD NEGRO WOMAN  sees Luke and goes inside, closing the door. PAN with him to  a General Store where an OLD NEGRO MAN watching, quickly  retreats inside leaving only two small Negro boys (BEN and  LAWRENCE) staring at Luke as he shambles toward them.    LAWRENCE   (looking at chains)  Whattaya got them on for?    BEN  How do you take your pants off?    LUKE   (smiling)  Well -- the best way is to take the   leg irons off first.   (to Lawrence)  But you ain't strong enough.    LAWRENCE  Strong enough for whut?    LUKE  You couldn't heft an axe.    LAWRENCE  Can, too.  He's off, running toward a house. In the distance now, we  hear the dogs baying, coming closer. Luke smiles at Ben.    LUKE  What's your name?    BEN  Ben.   (a beat)  Had'n you better take them stripes   off your pants?  Smiling, Luke sits in the dirt and begins ripping off the  stripes as Lawrence appears, dragging a huge double-bitted  axe behind him.    LUKE   (to Ben)  You wanna see somethin' funny? Go   get some chili powder, pepper, curry,   dried mustard and like that. A lot   of it.  Ben rockets off and Luke turns to see Lawrence, struggling  mightily, attempting to bring the axe over his head and down  on the chains.    LUKE  Hold it!  He takes the axe, sets the chains up on a stump and begins  to back heavily, BAYING OF DOGS growing louder.    LAWRENCE  No, me, me. Let me do it!  Lawrence cries and stomps unhappily, clouding up dust as  Luke severs the chain from one shackle. Ben APPEARS with an  armload of spices.    BEN  Here's them spices.   (looks at Lawrence,    crying, stomping)  What's wrong with him?  Luke begins backing away, scuffing his feet in the dust,  pouring out the spices as he goes.  ANGLE ON LUKE  stopping at Lawrence. The baying of the dogs is much closer  now.    LUKE  You remember how them dogs do when   they get here so you can tell me   about it someday.  He is gone.  ON DOGS IN DISTANCE  They are approaching quickly.  ON VILLAGE  Some of the people have reappeared, now go back inside.  ANGLE ON DOGS  They fill the FRAME, milling around the empty street,  sneezing, howling, stirring up dust, pawing at their noses.  CLOSE LAWRENCE  He is peeping from a corner. His tears stop and he smiles.  EXT. ROAD CLOSEUP YOYO TRANSITIONAL DEVICE (DAY)  ...cutting away at the time.  INT. CAGE TRUCK (PROCESS) (DAY)  as it passes the Negro Church.    DRAGLINE'S VOICE  Thas the church. After he chopped   off those old chains and whilst he   was layin'd down the pepper --    GAMBLER'S VOICE  I heard it was curry powder.    DRAGLINE'S VOICE  It was pepper and curry powder and   dry mustard. Now shut your face.   Whilst he was layin' down them spices,   Luke heard them choir practicin' in   there. So he just sauntered inside,   cool's kin be, and sung along with   them... my baby Luke... and he was   still singin' when the dogs come by,   singing and grinning and eatin' the   food the people had brung him.  EXT. ROAD TRANSITIONAL DEVICE  EXT. ROAD (DAY)  The bull gang at the end of bean time.    BOSS PAUL'S VOICE  Awright, let's git to work.  Dragline and the others deposit their chow plates, pick up  their yoyos and start to work.    DRAGLINE  He ain't eating beans fer lunch.    KOKO  He's eatin' steak and corn with butter   and green beans and...    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  ...fried clams, pizza, chocolate,   malted milkshakes.    SOCIETY RED   (yoyoing)  ...and a Brown Bomber.    DRAGLINE   (yoyoing)  Shut your mouth. He's out there doin'   it for all of us.  OMITTED  INT. BARRACKS (DAY)  It is Saturday afternoon. Carr is distributing mail and  packages, the men clustered around; others lying on bunks,  making wallets, etc.    CARR  Magazines for you, Dragline!  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE  Dragline sits up from his bunk, astonished.    DRAGLINE  Magazines? Who's sendin' me magazines?  He looks at the package. Carr has tossed on his bunk.    DRAGLINE  From mah uncle? Ah never heard from   him in eight years and now he's   sendin' me magazines. He musta gone   crazy.  He has torn open the package, looks through the magazines,  which are movie fan books, lies back to flip the pages. In  b.g. Carr is continuing the mail call. Suddenly Dragline's  eyes widen, his mouth opens, but he catches himself and closes  it before he has revealed himself.  INSERT THE PICTURE  It is taped to page in the magazine. It shows Luke in a suit  and tie, holding up four aces and a joker in one hand, arms  around two buxom over-made strippers. On the table in front  of them is a giant bottle of champagne and glasses. Scrawled  across it is something in Luke's writing.  ANGLE DRAGLINE KOKO SOCIETY RED OTHERS  Seeing Dragline's reaction, they have gathered around.    DRAGLINE  Looka that! Two of them. Oh my...    KOKO  I'm dyin'. I'm dyin'.  Dragline suddenly realizes the danger and closes the book so  Carr and the Wicker Man don't catch on. The others reluctantly  move away. Dragline casually hands the magazine to Society  Red.    DRAGLINE   (whispering)  What's the writing say?    SOCIETY RED   (opening to the    picture, reading)  Dear Boys. Playing it cool. Wish you   were here. Love, Cool Hand Luke.    DRAGLINE  Oh my. Oh my... Give it back here!  Red surrenders the magazine. Dragline opens it again and a  look of pure bliss settles over his face.    KOKO  Lemme see it!    DRAGLINE   (violently)  Get away!  He looks over at Carr but Carr has moved away, is talking to  the Wicker Man, his back to the men. Koko, Loudmouth Steve,  Gambler and the others hurriedly cluster around Dragline.  Their voices are eager intense whispers.    KOKO  Lookit the brunette...    BLIND DICK  The blonde's gotta better set.    GAMBLER  Some legs.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  They must be six feet tall.    TATTOO  ...And the champagne.    SOCIETY RED   (from his bunk)  Domestic.    TRAMP  Wonder how he got the dough.    ALIBI  He's probably a salesman. You can   make pretty good money if you know   what your doing in selling.    GAMBLER  A salesman! Cool Hand Luke a salesman?    BLIND DICK  He's probably a gigolo.    MECHANIC  Or a con artist.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  The head of the rackets.    KOKO   (reverently)  Oh lookit that brunette.    DRAGLINE  Mah baby! We're diggin' and dyin'   but our boy Luke is lovin' and flyin'.  They all gaze at the picture with loving, dreamy, painful  rapture.  OMITTED  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  Blackass time, dull, sad, boring. Koko sits idly flicking  cards from the poker deck, men staring into space. The cards  sail by Society Red who is clipping his nails.    SOCIETY RED  Stop that.    KOKO  How about you tryin' to make me?    SOCIETY RED  Oh for...  They slowly subside.    KOKO  Dragline, lemme look at the picture.    DRAGLINE   (feigned innocence)  What for?    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Yeah, Drag. Get it out for a look.    DRAGLINE  You're just a kid. Whatta you know   about it? You don't wanna see that   dirty picture. Luke and those broads   an' all that booze.    KOKO  Come on, Drag. Lemme take a look.    DRAGLINE  It'd go to your coconut head. You'd   start getting ideas. Maybe even pass   right out.    BLIND DICK  Dragline! Be a buddy!    DRAGLINE  How much you figure it's worth, a   peek at this here picture? A quick   look, I'm not talkin' about no   memorizin' job.    KOKO  A cold drink.    DRAGLINE  A cold drink? You mean one cold drink?   To feast yore starvin' fishy l'il   eyes on The Picture? A true vision   of Paradise itself? With two of the   angels right there in plain sight a-  friskin' round with mah boy?    KOKO  A cold drink? Okay?    DRAGLINE  Well --- okay. It's a deal. One cold   drink, if'n you please. In advance.   One chilly bottle right here in mah   hot l'il hand... That goes for the   rest of you mullet-heads, too.  Activity as the men dig out coins to purchase drinks. Dragline  pulls out the magazine and the men all gather round, gazing  into it as though it were a crystal ball. Suddenly the wicker  door slams open and as the men look up...  THEIR P.O.V.  Luke is dumped to the floor, face down, unconscious, by Boss  Paul, Boss Kean, others. The Captain is standing there over  him. Luke wears a new prison uniform and two sets of chains.    CAPTAIN   (to Luke)  You run one time, you got yourself a   set of chains. You run twice, you   got two sets. You ain't gonna need   no third set because you're gonna   get your mind right... And I mean   right.  He looks at the men who are stunned by the juxtaposition of  their hero in The Picture and the reality of the unconscious  figure before them.    CAPTAIN  Take a good look at your Cool Hand   Luke.  With his foot he prods Luke over onto his back.  CLOSE ON LUKE  As he rolls over we can see he has been badly beaten.  OMITTED  NEW ANGLE THE MEN  As the Captain turns and walks out past the guards who follow,  and the wicket chute CLANGS shut, Dragline, Koko and others  move forward and gently lift Luke onto the poker table.    DRAGLINE  Oh mah poor baby. They done you real   good... I don't know if you gonna   have them gals chasin' after you for   a while...  CLOSE ON LUKE  lying, eyes closed.    SOCIETY RED'S VOICE  I've got some aspirin.    KOKO'S VOICE  They half killed him.    ALIBI'S VOICE  He should have a doctor.    DRAGLINE'S VOICE  Don't you never learn nuthin'? They   ain't gonna let no doctor see what   they dont to him...  ANGLE ON DRAGLINE, OTHERS  Dragline looks up at Carr who stands hovering above them.    DRAGLINE  Carr, kin we use your razor to clean   up where they cut his head?  Carr moves off to his canteen area.  CLOSE ON LUKE  as Blind Dick, Gambler, others move in...    GAMBLER  How you feelin', buddy?    TRAMP  He don't hear.    TATTOO  Somebody get him something to drink.    SOCIETY RED  Here.  Gently he tucks two aspirin tablets into Luke's mouth, holds  a cup of water to Luke's mouth. Luke's eyes slowly open, he  drinks the water.    DRAGLINE  That's my baby.    KOKO  He's gonna be awright.  NEW ANGLE ON MEN  as Carr moves in with a razor, bandage, etc. The men clear  to give him room.    KOKO  Luke?... We got the picture! See?  He holds it up.  CLOSE ON LUKE  His eyes squint open, close.    BLIND DICK'S VOICE  A pair of beauties. Best I ever seen.    TATTOO'S VOICE  You really know how to pick 'em.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE'S VOICE  Tell us about 'em. What were they   like?  CLOSE ON LUKE  as his lips open. He speaks slowly, painfully.    LUKE  Picture's a phoney... Cost me a week's   pay.  NEW ANGLE THE MEN    KOKO  A phoney? Whatta you mean, a phoney?    GAMBLER  We saw the broads.    BLIND DICK  Yeah. Did you have them both at once   or --    LUKE  It's a phoney. Made it up just for   you guys.    LOUDMOUTH STEVE  Aw, come on. We saw it all.    TATTOO  The champagne.    TRAMP  Some life.    FIXER  You really had it made.    LUKE  Nothin. I had nothin, made nothin.   Couple towns, couple bosses. Laughed   out loud one day and got turned in.    KOKO   (about to cry)  But -- but --    LUKE  That's all there was. Listen. Open   your eyes. Stop beatin' it. And stop   feedin' off me. Now get out of the   way. Give me some air.  Stunned, the men shrink back.    DRAGLINE  He ain't himself. He's all beat up.   Cain't you see that? He don't know   what he sayin'.  EXT. ROAD DAY  Luke is working with great difficulty, pained, weary under  the double set of chains. Bosses Paul and Kean stand right  over him, watching every move.  ANGLE ON GODFREY  standing far behind, his mirrored eyes on Luke.  ON LUKE  moving, he stumbles on the chains, gets hit by Paul's cane.    BOSS PAUL  You was eyeballin', Luke. You can't   gitcha mind on them weeds if yer   eyeballin'...    LUKE   (wearily)  Boss, you don't need reasons to hit   me.  He gets the cane again.    BOSS PAUL  Gonna learn you not to back sass!  EXT. THE BOX (NIGHT)  as Luke is slammed into it and the door is closed.  INT. THE BARRACKS (NIGHT)  The poker game is in progress: Dragline, Koko, Blind Dick,  Gambler, Tattoo with Tramp behind him. Society Red stands at  the window, looking out as he brushes his hair.    SOCIETY RED  He'll never make it.    KOKO  What are you talking about?    SOCIETY RED  He doesn't know when to give in.   They'll kill him.    KOKO  Give in? That's our Luke out there.    DRAGLINE  That ole box collapse and fall apart   before Luke calls quits.    SOCIETY RED  Your Luke's got more guts than brains.    KOKO  I don't see no sign of guts in you.    SOCIETY RED  No. No chains either.    KOKO   (heating up)  You ain't man enough to wear them!    SOCIETY RED  But you're dog enough. Maybe they'll   let you sleep outside the box near   your master.    KOKO  Big deal paper hanger! Hell, anyone   who can write can pass fifty-sixty   dollar checks. Like breakin' open a   piggy bank.    SOCIETY RED  You've been having bad luck with   masters, haven't you? Your last one   left you when the cops came... and   now Luke. You should complain to the   S.P.C.A.    KOKO   (rushing him)  You phony creep!  Dragline steps in to separate them.    DRAGLINE  Awright, that's enough. You wanna   end up in the box, too?  The tire rim sounds.    CARR'S VOICE  First bell! First bell!  INT. MESS HALL (NIGHT)  The men file in from work, sullen and quiet, Dogboy serving  but without his usual chatter. Higgins leans back, unusually  alert.  ANGLE ON DOORWAY  Suddenly Luke appears, unshaven but cleaned up and in his  uniform. The men make room as he moves to his accustomed  place at the head of the line, before Dynamite.    DOGBOY  Here's our champeen hog gut. Ain't   et for four days, gonna need a little   extra... Well we got plenty for you...  He's heaping food onto Luke's plate.    DOGBOY   (continuing)  Now you know the rules... gotta eat   everything on the plate or go back   in the box, right, Boss?  Higgins nods, Dogboy continues to pile it on. When Luke tries  to move on, Dogboy reaches out and grabs the plate with his  free hand and continues to ladle it out. Behind Dogboy, Jabo,  the cook, looks sympathetic to Luke.    JABO   (to Dogboy)  We ain't got but one pot of stew,   you know. He ain't the only one   eatin'.    DOGBOY   (piling it on)  Man use to Free World food gotta big   appetite... so here's some more   potatoes and here's some ice cream   and some cake with choclat fudge   sauce... there you go, stretch that   hog-belly right out.  Luke looks at the impossibly piled plate and moves off.  LUKE AT A TABLE  He is eating with great difficulty, finally puts his spoon  down and his eyes close with weariness. Koko reaches over  and takes a bite off the plate. Luke sits there and one by  one the men get up and file out, each one passing behind  Luke and taking a bite until, as Deacon takes the last  mouthful, the plate is empty and Luke stands up and leaves.  EXT. CAMP YARD (DAY)  It is Saturday afternoon. The men have just returned from  the road. Luke moves slowly toward the barracks, Dragline  helping him.    DRAGLINE  You made the week, boy. Plenty of   time to rest up for old Monday.  They move a few feet until confronted by...  THEIR P.O.V. BOSS PAUL AND BOSS KEAN    BOSS PAUL  Luke!  Kean steps forward, draws a long line in the dirt of the  yard, barring the path, moves three feet back and draws a  parallel line.    BOSS PAUL  Boss Kean say that's his ditch. I   tol' him that their dirt is yore   dirt. What's yore dirt doin' in his   ditch?  Luke looks up at them blindly.    LUKE   (weakly)  I don't know, Boss.  Boss Paul canes him and the other prisoners scatter. Boss  Kean throws a shovel at Luke's feet.    BOSS PAUL  You git yore dirt outa his ditch,   boy!  Luke takes up the shovel and starts to dig.    BOSS PAUL  Roll! I wanna see you roll it!  He canes Luke across the back, Luke digs.  ANGLE ON BARRACKS  It is later. The men sit on the stoop, the usual Saturday  activities.  ANGLE ON LUKE  He is hidden up to his waist in the trench he has dug, about  three feet deep and wide and as long as the lines Kean drew.  ANGLE ON MEN  watching.  ANGLE ON BOSS SHORTY  walking along briskly, feigns surprise at seeing what Luke  is doing. He stops.  TWO SHOT BOSS SHORTY AND LUKE    BOSS SHORTY  Luke, what you think you doin'?    LUKE   (not stopping)  Diggin' my dirt outa Boss Kean's   ditch, Boss.  Shorty is carrying a hoe handle with which he hits Luke on  the head. Luke slumps to the ground.    BOSS SHORTY  Be damned iff'n you gonna put your   dirt in mah yard. You hear me?    LUKE   (getting to his feet)  Yes, Boss.    BOSS SHORTY  Then git it out there. Roll it, heah?  Luke begins slowly shoveling the dirt back into the ditch.  Boss Shorty nods with satisfaction and walks away.  ANGLE ON LUKE (LATE AFTERNOON)  The dirt is almost all back in the ditch. A shadow falls on  the dirt beside him. A walking stick falls across his buttocks  and he staggers to his knees.    BOSS PAUL'S VOICE  Ah done told you to get yore dirt   outa Boss Kean's ditch, didn't ah?    LUKE   (getting to his feet)  Yes, Boss.    BOSS PAUL  Then how come it ain't done yet?    LUKE  I don't know, Boss.    BOSS PAUL  You don't know!  He canes Luke on the back of the legs. Luke falls and rolls  over and Paul canes him across the head. Luke gets up on all  fours and makes a rush right at Boss Paul. He is so weak and  uncoordinated that the attack does nothing but smear blood  and dirt over Paul's uniform. The guards beat Luke away and  he falls on his back in the soft dirt.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  The men are restless, their efforts to ignore what's happening  are futile. Dragline gets up and looks out the window into  the yard. Koko leans over beside him. He holds the picture.  DRAGLINE'S P.O.V.  Luke under the lights, working again, slowly, dumps a shovel  full of dirt and hasn't the strength to move the shovel.  Momentarily, he stops moving and is hit. We HEAR the thud  and the groan he gives.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  Dragline goes back to his bunk. We HEAR another thud and a  cry from outside. Dragline begins to WHISTLE. Koko begins to  chink his chains. Onionhead and Dynamite join in with their  chains. Other prisoners rhythmically beat on bunk posts.  Only Society Red does not join in.  EXT. YARD (NIGHT)  Luke works. From inside we HEAR the music from the prisoners.  Boss Paul and Boss Kean appear.    BOSS PAUL  What's all this dirt in the yard?    LUKE  I... I... I...  He can't talk. Paul hits him and he falls again on the dirt.  Paul hits him again.    LUKE  Please! Please!    BOSS PAUL  Git to work!    LUKE  Don't hit me! Please, for God's sake,   don't hit me.    BOSS KEAN  What was that? What was that name   you said, Luke?    LUKE  God. I pray to God you won't hit me.   (he grovels in the    dirt before them,    tears streaming down    his cheeks)  I'll do whatever you say, but I can't   take no more. Please.  TWO SHOT PAUL AND KEAN  A trace of smiles.    BOSS PAUL   (kindly)  You got your mind right, Luke?  CLOSE LUKE    LUKE  Yes, Boss. I got it right.  ON KEAN AND PAUL    BOSS PAUL  Supposin' you was to backslide on   us, Luke? Supposin' you was to   backsass or try to run again...    LUKE  No, Boss! I won't. I won't. I got my   mind right. I got it right, Boss.   Please don't hit me no more.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  The music has stopped, the men listening.  ON KOKO  His face tightens into an expression of contempt, hatred. He  grabs the picture on the bunk beside him and violently tears  it in half.  EXT. YARD LUKE, BOSSES PAUL AND KEAN (NIGHT)    BOSS PAUL   (kind and reasonable)  Luke, you run again and we'll kill   you.    LUKE  I know, I know. Just don't hit me.  The Captain steps in -- out of the dark. He has been watching  from his porch.    CAPTAIN  Okay, son. Go get shaved and cleaned   up and get you some sleep. I reckon   you need it.  Luke slowly struggles to his feet and begins painfully  stumbling toward the barracks.  INT. BARRACKS (NIGHT)  as the chute opens and Luke staggers inside and the door is  slammed behind him.    LUKE  I got my mind right. I got it right.  He stumbles toward his bunk, passing Tattoo and Alibi who  turn away embarrassed.    LUKE  I got my mind right.  Others like Dragline and Koko stare straight ahead, not seeing  him; Society Red has his back turned; Dynamite, Blind Dick,  Loudmouth Steve meet his gaze contemptuously.    LUKE   (collapsing on his    bunk)  Where are you now? I got my mind   right. You hear me? I got it right!  Silence.  EXT. ROAD (DAY)  The gang is working. Over a week has passed. Luke's wounds  are healed. He works in a slow, spiritless way, broken.  CLOSE GODFREY  looking somehow less menacing.  BOSS PAUL  He is sitting, not even looking at the men, relaxed, pulls  out watch looks over to Godfrey in b.g. Godfrey nods.    BOSS PAUL  Awright, smoke it up.  The men break and sit down for smoking.    BOSS PAUL  Luke! Water 'em.  Without a moments hesitation, Luke jogs over and gets the  water pail and dipper from Rabbit and moves to the group of  men.  CLOSE THE GROUP  as Luke moves around filling their cups. The men are silent,  some embarrassed, some sympathetic, some confused, some  disappointed.  CLOSE GODFREY  He signals with his cane for his rifle.  ON RABBIT  He hurries to the cab of the truck, gets Godfrey's rifle.  The other men, but not Luke, watch as Godfrey slips in the  bolt, loads, fires at something out in the swamp.  ON BOSS PAUL  As Godfrey takes bolt out of rifle, returns the gun to Rabbit.    BOSS PAUL  Go git it, Luke.    LUKE  Yes sir, Boss Paul!  Grinning, cheerful, he begins to hobble away through the  swamp and grass.  CLOSE ANGLE ON TURTLE IN THE MUCK  Luke's hands COME INTO FRAME AND OFFER the head a stick. The  jaws clamp down on the stick and Luke lifts the turtle up.  FULL SHOT LUKE  grinning, holding up the turtle by the stick.    LUKE  Here he is, Boss. Deader'n hell but   he won't let go.  THE GROUP  as Luke walks back through them carrying the turtle.    BOSS PAUL  You cut that up fer lunch, Luke.    LUKE  Yes, Boss.  He moves off toward the trucks with the turtle, and we HOLD  on the disappointed reactions of the men, featuring Dragline.  Then there is the SOUND of a motor starting.  ON THE GROUP NEW ANGLE  as they turn to look, as one man.  THE TRUCK  as Luke tries to get it in gear, there is the SOUND of gears  grinding and as the truck begins to move the bed of the dump  body begins to raise. The truck begins to move past the  prisoners, away from the guards.  ON THE GUARDS  As they begin to run toward the truck, raising their guns.  ON DRAGLINE  on his feet.    DRAGLINE  Oh Lord!    SOCIETY RED  That fool. That damn fool.    DRAGLINE  Oh mah baby Luke.  He starts to run like hell toward the truck coming past.  ANGLE ON GUARDS  stopping to fire but bullets ricochet off the rising bed of  the dump body.  MOVING SHOT PARALLELING TRUCK  Dragline running alongside trying to grab the door handle.  Inside Luke, grinning fiercely, as he drives. SHOTS sounding.  Dragline gets hold of the door, swings inside. HOLD AND PAN  the truck off down the road until all we can see is the steel  dump body.  REVERSE THE ROAD  It is littered with tools and equipment dumped from the truck  body. The guards stand there, their guns empty.    BOSS KEAN   (from another truck)  He's taken the keys. He's got the   keys!  Boss Shorty pokes his head out of another truck.    BOSS SHORTY  Here, too.  INT. TRUCK LUKE AND DRAGLINE    DRAGLINE  We're free, Luke. You terrible man.   Think of that. We're free. Free!  Over them, appears the SUPERIMPOSED image of Godfrey's  glasses, the Man With No Eyes, watching them, denying  Dragline's words.           LONG DISSOLVE:  EXT. PALMETTO SWAMP  Dragline is exuberantly hacking away at palm fronds to cover  the truck while Luke is filing away at his chains.    DRAGLINE   (rattling frond)  Shakin it here, Boss. Shakin it...   Oh my baby Luke.  He laughs, shakes his head in appreciation. Luke ignores  him, continues to file. Dragline does another worshipful  imitation.    DRAGLINE  Don't hit me no more, Boss! Don't   hit me! I'll do anythin' you say but   just don't hit me! Oh Luke. You are   an original, you truly are. You really   fooled them.    LUKE  Foolin', Hell! I would have eaten   that dirt for them. They coulda used   my head for a shovel and a my face   for a broom... They just never did   get a piece of my mind.    DRAGLINE  And all the time you was plannin' on   runnin' again.  Luke has filed through the chains, stands up.    LUKE  Yeah, well... I never planned nothin'   in my life...  He tosses the severed chain link into the swamp and starts  to walk off, Dragline hurrying behind him.  EXT. NEAR NEGRO VILLAGE (DUSK)  Luke and Dragline appear, tired and cold. Dragline is having  trouble keeping up. Seeing this, Luke stops and rests, looking  off at church visible in distance.    DRAGLINE  Whoee, it's cold. Wisht I had   somethin' to eat. Bread, grits, beans   even. Soon's we get to my house,   we're gonna have us one big meal and   then I'm gonna show you some farm   girls that...    LUKE  We ain't goin' nowhere.    DRAGLINE   (confused)  What you talkin' about, Luke? We're   together, you and me, just like   always. Now the thing we gotta work   out is how to get Koko outa there   and then the Terrible Trio be all   complete again. Man, this old Free   World ain't gonna know which ear to   stand on.    LUKE  Yeah, well, you and Koko kin handle   it without me.    DRAGLINE  What you mean, Luke?    LUKE  I've done enough world-shakin' for a   while. You do the rest for me. Send   me a postcard about it.  He gets up, starts off.    DRAGLINE  But, Luke...    LUKE  Take it easy, Drag.    DRAGLINE  Luke. Where you goin?    LUKE  On my own.    DRAGLINE  But what am I gonna do all by myself?   (hangs head)  Oh if'n I hadn't lost mah head. I   only had two more years to go. But   when I saw you tearin' down with   that truck... But you right Luke. We   oughta split up. Be safer for us   both.  He looks up. Luke is in the distance.    DRAGLINE  Luke?   (calls out)  Just the same, you're a good old   boy, Luke. You take care, hear?  There is no answer.  OMITTED  EXT. NEGRO VILLAGE (NIGHT)  as Luke trots down the main street, passes the church.    LUKE  Hey, Old Man! You home tonight?  He starts across the bridge.    LUKE  If you kin spare a minute, it's about   time we had ourselves a little talk.  INT. CHURCH  Luke mounts the steps of the lectern, looks up.    LUKE  Old Man, I know I'm a pretty evil   feller who killed people in the war   and got drunk and chopped up municipal   merchandise and like that. I admit   ain't got no call to ask for much.   But even so, you ain't dealt me no   cards in a long time. I mean it's   beginning to look like you got it   fixed so I can't never win out. Inside   or out, it's just different bosses   and different rules. Where am I   supposed to fit in? Old Man, I got   to tell you: I started out pretty   strong and fast but it's starting to   get to me... When does it end?...   What you got in mind for me next?   Old Man. What do I do now? Awright.   On my hands and knees a skin'. Yeah.   That's what I thought. I guess I'm   just a hardcase and I gotta find my   way out myself.  We HEAR the SOUND of vehicles outside, telling Luke that the  police have arrived. He starts for the back just as Dragline  enters from the side entrance. Seeing him, Luke looks up at  the ceiling.    LUKE  Is that your answer, Old Man? You're   a hardcase too, ain't you?    DRAGLINE  Luke, are you alright?... They got   us, boy. They're out there thicker'n   flies. Bosses and dogs and sheriffs   and more guns than I ever seen in my   life. We don't have a chance, Luke...   They caught up with me right after   we split up and they was aimin' to   kill you, Luke. But I got 'em to   promise if you give up peaceful,   they wouldn't even whip you this   time.    LUKE   (amused)  Do we even get our same bunks back?    DRAGLINE  Why sure, Luke. I mean I didn't talk   to them about that. But why not?   They're reasonable, Luke. Hell, we   only been gone a coupla hours.    LUKE  You don't understand a thing, do   you, Drag?    DRAGLINE  Luke, you got to listen to me. All   you got to do is just give up nice   and quiet, just play it cool.    LUKE  Like I always do?    DRAGLINE  Thass right. Just play it...  He sees Luke moving toward the window.    DRAGLINE  Luke, what are do doin'?  OMITTED  ANGLE BY WINDOW  as Luke steps out of pitch black into the harsh light in  full view, calm, slight smile, having chosen his moment. His  voice is loud, clear, mocking:    LUKE  WHAT WE GOT HERE IS A FAILURE TO   COMMUNICATE...  A SHOT! It catches Luke in the throat and throws him back,  but he stays in the light, still smiling.    DRAGLINE  Luke!  EXT. CHURCHYARD (NIGHT)  ON guards and police, FEATURING Godfrey, who holds his smoking  rifle. There are confused SHOUTS and movements by the  sheriffs, but the Captain and the prison guards only look  toward Godfrey, then turn away, stoic.  INT. CHURCH  as Luke falls to one knee, trying to hold himself up. Dragline  is by his side, helps him up and to the door.  EXT. CHURCHYARD (NIGHT)  where Bosses Kean and Paul move in to handcuff Luke. Dragline,  seeing Godfrey, bellows out an INCOHERENT ROAR and charges  past the surprised guards to knock Godfrey to the ground,  tear his glasses from him. Confused, bewildered, Godfrey  gropes for the glasses as the prison guards beat Dragline  into submission.  ANGLE ON CHURCH (PRE-DAWN) (NIGHT)  as Luke, handcuffed behind his back, is being led toward the  Captain's car by Bosses Paul and Kean. He is half-paralyzed,  blood pouring from him. The Captain has turned his back on  Godfrey, talking to the Sheriff.    SHERIFF  You follow me and I'll radio the   emergency clinic to open up...    CAPTAIN  I'm takin' him to the prison hospital.    SHERIFF  But that's an hour away. He ain't   gonna last twenty minutes.    CAPTAIN  Git outa the way. He's ours.  MOVING SHOT LUKE  as he is brought past Dragline, who is being held by several  guards. Tears stream down Dragline's cheeks. Luke looks at  him, still smiling as he is pushed into the Captain's car.  LUKE INT. THE CAR  as it begins to move out. In the b.g. across the road we SEE  the Negro villagers watching, silently. The window of the  car is up and the reflections on the glass make Luke already  dim, a little distant.  MOVING SHOT THE CAR (DAWN)  as it moves down the road, over the trestle. It is the mystic  hour of dawn, the sun's rays just diffusing as we watch the  car until it disappears over the rise in the road.  EXT. ROAD CLOSE ON YOYO (DAY)  The yoyo is swinging in the sun. As the shot WIDENS we SEE  it is Dragline, wearing chains, wielding the yoyo and now we  SEE the others working around him. Godfrey is gone; Boss  Paul is now the Walking Boss. The MUSIC gains strength and  speeds as  Dragline works with strong, certain grace and determination  and the others also seem more vital and free as imperceptibly  the CAMERA PULLS BACK and RISES SLOWLY TO:  HELICOPTER SHOT  as the men grow smaller in the limitless field of gold  stretching in all directions as far as the eye can see,  intersected by four roads that reach out to infinity. Now  the men are specks, now invisible in the fields and there  are only the roads, lines in the gold, going on forever.  OVER THIS, SUPERIMPOSE the PICTURE OF LUKE, now scotch-taped  together, HOLD and         FADE OUT: