"If the story you are about to see were the product of a writer's imagination, you might label it unbelievable." "But these events actually took place on the streets and alleys and the tenements where we filmed them - in the shadow of the bridge." "[Dramatic music]" "(Lawyer) What did you do after he fell down?" "(Defendant) I hit him." "(Lawyer) What did you have in your hand when you hit him?" "(Defendant) A piece of wood." "(Lawyer) And this piece of wood you had in your hand, what was on it?" "(Defendant) What do you mean?" "(Lawyer) On the end of piece of wood, what was there?" "(Defendant) I don't remember." "(Lawyer) Please, speak up so we can hear you." "(Defendant) I don't remember." "(Lawyer) What was your answer:" "Please, let the court hear it." "Objection!" "Are you trying to make a fool of me?" "Your honor, I cannot complete my examination if this idiot goes on interrupting..." "That is not a proper remark in reference to counsel." "(Judge pounds gavel) Gentlemen." "Your remarks are discourteous not only to one another but to this court as well." "I realize everyone is very tired." "Let's just confine ourselves to questions and answers." "Get away from me!" "Don't lay a hand on me." "Your honor, this man wants to assault me." "Your honor, I did not assault him." "Take the defendants out of here." "I demand police protection from the prosecution." "This court will be in order at once!" "This trial stands adjourned until 4 o'clock the jury will be advised..." "Judge..." "May I have just a moment?" "Get that man out of here!" "...can I just say something... (Policemen) ...Get him out, get him out..." "What did I do?" "All right, stand there." "Lean forward and put your hands up against the wall and freeze there." "Where's the weapon?" "Weapon?" "It's a Bible." "Maybe there's a gun in it." "Who do you work for, the gangs?" "Ahh, it's just a Bible, where's the gun?" "I don't have a gun." "I'm a minister." "Those are my ordination papers." "You always carry ordination papers with you?" "What are you tryin' a hide?" "David Wilkerson." "That your name?" "Yes." "What are you doing here?" "I'm trying to get permission from the judge to help those kids." "With what, new evidence?" "All right, stand up, now." "Watch him." "I'll go see what the judge wants to do about him." "How do you think you can help those kids?" "I've got a whole church full of people praying for them back in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania." "[Laughter] They better be praying for a miracle because the D.A. will burn those creeps." "(Policeman) Give him back his Bible." "Alright, the judge said he won't press any charges if you agree not to come back here anymore." "Now what do you say?" "What the hell." "These kids aren't of your faith." "(Reporter) Hey, reverend, what's that book you got in your hand?" "The Bible?" "You ashamed of it?" "Of course not." "Stop hiding it then." "Hold it up where we can see it." "(Court personnel) ...All rise, hear ye, hear ye, hear ye..." "What can you do, what can you say?" "Where do you start to begin, begin you gotta face the fact that you're just one guy, but, on the other hand the fact is you've got to try." "There's a dude sleeping in the backseat." "I dig." "What if he wakes up?" "He look bad?" "He don't look too bad - but, he don't look too good either." "You choking' up, baby?" "How we goin' about this?" "Now look." "When he comes out of the car, you grab him like this." "You hold on to him and I'll grab his wallet." "You like that?" "Yeah." "That's nice." "Okay, when he come out, we just get on him, dig?" "Get his wallet." "Watch out!" "He's fast." "Hey, Bottlecap, cool it." "Turn loose that cat." "You're the cat from the trial, ain't ya?" "Yes." "Lay it on me, baby." "Don't wrestle with me." "Just lay in the sky." "That's it." "Look here." "This is the cat that went after the judge in the Egyptian king trial." "Right, baby?" "Well, in away I went after him." "I'm David Wilkerson." "Little Bo-peep, Davey baby." "You can call me 'Bo', and the dude that tried to slice ya, that's my man 'Bottlecap.'" "Hi, Bottlecap." "Hey, you niggers." "Bring that junk back here!" "Come on!" "You want me to whale tail on you?" "You fools coppin;" "From my man." "Get yourselves together." "That's a real fine pair o' shoes you got there." "Sure wish I had me a fine pair o' shoes like that." "Thanks." "Hey do you know that gang, the Egyptian Kings?" "Yeah, they pretty bad, but they ain't the heaviest." "Like they wouldn't mess with the Mau Maus or the Bishops." "I took these shoes off of a wino." "He must a had athlete's feet or something, 'cause I'm always itching." "Mau Maus, huh?" "Sure would like to meet them." "Is that you're gang?" "What I need a gang for?" "I run alone." "I got no use for jitterbuggin, and getting messed up and cuttin' cats." "Ain't no bread in it." "Bo, do you believe in God?" "I don't worry about him." "I just worry about the pigs and hustlin' bread." "Easy for you to talk about God..." "A rich man like you with that bad car and those fine shoes." "God worries about you." "You're on his mind right now." "You better tell him to think a little harder, 'cause he ain't comin' through." "What's the gag?" "You keep belly achin' about shoes, put 'em on." "I don't want your stinking shoes, man." "Don't make a thing of it." "Just put them on." "What you gonna wear?" "I've got another pair at home." "Where's that?" "Philipsburg, Pennsylvania." "Oh, beautiful, baby." "Give me five." "So you want to see the gang." "I'll show you the gang." "Let's get this chariot together, Davey baby." "I'll take you to see some real boppers." "Only don't go laying none of that God stuff on them cause they'll cut you so full of holes that you could sprinkle the grass in which-em-a-call-it, Pennsylvania, just by drinking a glass of water." "This turf belongs to the A.A.A.G.P." "They got a peace treaty with the Bishops and the Mau Maus." "They don't rumble anyhow, they just freak out." "What's the A.A.A.G.P.?" "That's the American Association for the Advancement of Gangs and Pot!" "You better park here." "This is about as close as you're going to get and still keep your car." "I think you're gonna wish you still had your shoes." "Music it's water." "We were lucky." "Hey, Angela!" "Angie, it's me Bo." "Hello, where you been?" "I haven't seen you around in along time." "You don't know him." "You just seen his picture in the paper." "This is the preacher that got himself busted at the Egyptian Kings trial." "Oh... (Bo) Leave him alone." "That's his thing." "And don't go tryin' to turn a trick on him." "He popped that same smile on me an' Bottlecap." "Hey, he wants to meet the gang." "Why don't you take him inside?" "I can't." "The Mau Maus waitin' for a war council with the Bishops." "My brother's inside." "That's all right, Bo, we'll go in." "Oh, now wait a minute." "Maybe it's better if I don't." "Like I said, I'm loner." "I just run dispatches for one gang or another, but if I was to just walk right in the clubhouse, they might not like it." "You're just afraid they might cut you." "Oh, go on." "Take him in." "Uh huh." "I ain't gonna get bawled out- unless you give me five dollars." "Go on, you can turn him loose just inside the door." "Five dollars is my price." "Let's cool it, Davey baby." "Five bucks is this chick's top price." "For that you get two joints of marijuana, her body, and two bits change." "Should I give her some money?" "Two bucks tops." "You better make it three." "You don't wanna insult her pride." "That cat could only swing two." "Come on." "Later, Davey baby." "I'm gonna go steal me some breakfast." "All right, Bo." "Thanks." "Hey, Rosa can I come in?" "Your brother wouldn't think so." "I brought a friend." "Hey man." "The tennis club is down the block." "You're stumblin' around in my turf." "He's okay, chance." "He's the preacher they dragged out and beat up for trying to help the Egyptian Kings." "Yeah?" "That's cool, cool, man." "Smoke my peace pipe?" "I will." "Have my peace pipe." "Have a piece of my pipe." "Have a..." "What are you doing with that joint?" "I like it." "It makes me feel sexy." "Do you want me to embarrass you by slapping your face?" "Will you quit acting like you own me!" "Get out of here." "Hey, man, don't walk on that grass." "That's genuine Kentucky Blue." "Go home!" "I wanna stay!" "I want to be a deb." "I keep telling you that I want to be a deb!" "Look look at 'em." "You want to be like them?" "You want to do what they're doing?" "I gotta start doing it sometime, why can't I start doing it now?" "Tell the man we have arrived." "We are the chosen people." "We are the Bishops." "Big Cat's the name, and jitterbugging's my game." "Now let's get this thing together, ace- time and place." "Okay, Mr. Cool." "Mr. Cool." "I like that." "Israel," "President, and I say the park." "The turf under dispute- symbolic to boot." "Monday." "It'll be at eight, baby." "Don't be late." "Not at night man." "You can't see these cats at night." "My man, the War Lord, Abdullah, he say the night time's no good." "Too many pigs out at night." "High noon then so that the schools ain't out." "Yeah, right on, cat, I like that." "If the pigs come, then we join forces and fight 'em together, you dig it?" "Agreed." "What weapons?" "My War Lord, Abdullah." "Make it light on yourself." "My War Lord, Nicky." "Zips, blades, straights, chains, clubs." "Anything goes." "That's the way we like it too." "Wait a minute." "No zips." "The cops don't like shooting." "Even from a homemade job." "You chicken?" "You go one-on-one with me and you'll find out who's chicken, fat lip!" "Oh, wait a minute now." "You gonna insult my War Lord we gonna get this thing on right now." "[Brief argument]" "Cool it man." "I told you you could use the place but leave it standing, dig?" "Okay." "No zips." "No guns at all." "We just use blades, chains and baseball bats." "[Laughing] Blades, chains and baseball bats..." "Can I... can I say something?" "Well, I don't know, dude, can you?" "L... uh..." "I just want to say that there's somebody who cares about you people." "He cares about you very much..." "In fact, he loves you just like you are." "Keep talkin' about me, baby." "He knows about the drinking, marijuana..." "[Laughing] La cucaracha..." "He knows what you're looking for when you play with sex." "We're looking to make love, not war." "(Big Cat) All right, all right, everybody quiet, now." "Okay, dude, you go ahead and rap." "Anybody give you steam, I'll pound 'em into cream." "He wants you to have what you're looking for." "Groovy." "Where's his turf?" "What she mean, dude, the big man in the sky eludes the naked eye." "He is dere, but where?" "You guys talk about gettin' high." "God'll get ya high." "But he won't let you down." "What God you talkin' about" " Allah tell me, preach." "This God of yours, does he rumble?" "Yeah, yeah, he rumbles." "He's fighting for you right now." "Whose side is he fighting' on?" "Is he with the Bishops?" "Or is he with the Mau Maus?" "He's with both of you." "That's why I'm here." "God sent me." "Look I'm scared." "I know you guys could kill me." "That's why I know God's on your side because he's making me do what I'm doing." "Big Cat, Mr. President, I'd like to shake your hand." "Nicky, Mr. War Lord, how 'bout it." "I've got one thing to say to you," "God loves you." "Oh yeah, now I dig it." "You dragged this dude in here to pacify us." "You thought maybe you was goin' change our minds." "The only thing we gonna change is your lip..." "We gonna push it up into your nose!" "[Brief argument]" "Alright, alright, it's bats, blades and chains..." "And when all your worstest plans are made, you best sign up for medicaid!" "You better forget about medicaid and start saving for your tomb!" "[Brief argument]" "This God of yours preach, is he on my side, too?" "What's he gonna do for me?" "I'm a mainliner." "You know, the hard stuff, heroin - a whole mountain of snow white." "That's heaven." "You just don't know what heaven's like, preach." "What da ya got for me, huh?" "I don't have any magic cure." "Then what did ya come here for?" "Where is your good life nobody knows ." "Do, do, do..." "Did they dig ya, Davey baby?" "You say that love will change the world someday, how come it doesn't happen right away?" "Where is the magic?" "I like to see." "Where is your good life, aren't you coming on strong with me?" "Hey, look at this!" "Can you play with that?" "Sure I can swing with it." "I used to play in the Y.M.C.A." "Drum and Bugle Corps- 'till they kicked me out." "Why'd they kick ya out?" "They found out I was a girl." "Bo..." "[Singing in the background]" "Wait a minute." "Is that a church?" "[Singing]" "You are David!" "We have all been praying for you!" "You have?" "This is the preacher in the newspaper." "This is David Wilkerson." "I am Hector Gomez." "I am pastor here." "We have been practicing for the service." "And this is my wife, Graziella." "This is Isaac, Ruth, Israel, Samuel." "Oh go on, shake his hand." "Hello..." "So, where are you staying?" "Well... it took all the bread money in my congregation to get me here." "The cat sleeps in his car." "Oh no, you mustn't do that." "That's very dangerous." "You must come and stay with us, Mr. Wilkerson." "Oh no, I... although it would be awfully nice on my back be nice to be near a phone too, I'm having a baby." "My wife's having a baby." "[Laughter]" "So while you are living in the city, this is your home." "Thank you." "Where do you live?" "Oh, he's got his car parked in my parlor." "You don't have a home." "Yeah, I got a home." "And I got ten brothers and sisters." "Better in the streets." "More room and a lot more quieter." "So you will live with us, too." "What is it?" "What miracle brings such a fine young man to our troubled streets?" "Miracle?" "I was beginning to think it was pure insanity." "But you people, you make me feel that maybe it was... something good." "[Dramatic music]" "[Dramatic music]" "[Dramatic music]" "[Police sirens]" "[Whistle blows]" "[Police sirens]" "[Whistle blows]" "[Whistle blows]" "[Dramatic music]" "[Gunshot!" "]" "Norma!" "Nicky?" "Yeah, yeah, it's us." "It's back here." "How did it go?" "Great." "For us it went great!" "We burned 'em good." "Did you get hurt?" "Nahh-we're doing great." "We don't get hurt, baby." "We hurt them." "Hey, anybody else been here?" "Just Mingo." "The Cheer Leader." "Will the others be coming soon?" "If they make it." "You got your watch?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Listen." "You give 'em one more hour, see?" "No more." "Anybody comes in that time, you give 'em their rags and tell 'em where the new hideout is." "Okay, I dig." "When the hour's up, you stash the rest of the rags and split." "Okay." "[Horn music] "Onward Christian Soldiers"" "what do you think you're doing?" "I'm going to preach." "You're not preaching here." "We got enough trouble." "Okay, everybody." "The circus is over." "You can all go home now." "Go on." "Officer, don't I have a constitutional right to speak on any street corner in America?" "Only under an American flag." "Okay, you people move on." "You're blocking traffic." "Come on now." "Does anybody have an American flag?" "I can't speak without a flag." "You get outta here, buddy, or I'll run you in." "[People booing]" "Here's a flag." "[People cheering]" "That's no flag." "You can't speak under that." "What do you mean that ain't a flag?" "What is it then?" "That's a toy." "Get down from there." "What's going on?" "Oh hello Sergeant." "This fellow is trying to make a speech and he's pawning off that toy as a flag." "What's your pitch?" "I just want to tell these people that somebody loves them." "That'll be a novel experience for them." "But that's no flag - that's a toy!" "That looks like a flag to me." "Go ahead." "You talk to them." "Thank you." "[People cheering]" "I'm just a country preacher, 300 miles from home." "But I've got a message for you." "Hey!" "I've got a message for you!" "[Sputtering tongue]" "[Laughter]" "Is there anything in your life you'd like you change?" "Yeah!" "Yeah, I'd like to make the rich poor and me rich!" "We got no love, we got no bread." "We try to call out but the line was dead." "Look at that." "Hey, man." "That's their president." "And he's all alone." "Cool it, man." "Look." "(Big Cat) What's the matter, preach, you forget your lines?" "[Laughter]" "I don't know much of what's goin' on around here." "But I do know that some of you are so blind that you're heading for a ditch and you don't even know it." "I've seen you walk around like you own the world." "You don't even know how much danger you're really in." "Now you can't live too long around here on luck." "Because somebody could put a knife in your back in the next minute." "In fact, for some of you time may be running out right now." "The Bible says" ""how can you escape if you neglect your soul?"" "Now that's one thing you can't run away from." "Come on." "Let's go." "No, wait a second." "...I can see the hate sticking out of your eyes - some of you." "I don't know who put it there, but I do know who can take it out." "Some of you strutting like a big man, but it's all a front." "I can see right through ya." "Will you come on?" "You wanna go?" "Go." "I wanna listen a minute." "You pretend you don't want anybody to touch you." "But inside you're crying out for love." "Now I know there's some pretty tough guys in this crowd." "You wouldn't be afraid to shake hands with a skinny preacher, would ya?" "Will you, big cat?" "What do you want me to do, man?" "Pray with me." "Pray with me right now that the Holy Spirit will come into your heart and make you a new man." "I ain't ready, man." "Hey, don't let it bug ya." "You're coming through." "[Spits]" "[Crowd in awe]" "God loves you, Nicky." "You come near me and I'll kill you." "Yeah, you can do that." "You could cut me up into a thousand pieces and lay 'em in the street..." "And every piece will still love you." "Sergeant Delano." "Am I glad to meet you." "Burn 'em..." "Did we ever burn 'em." "You should have seen 'em when they hit the trees." "They were tumbling over the wires and knocking each other down like ten-pins." "And then when they trapped us in the alley and they were blasting us with fire-bombs." "I picked up this garbage can, see." "And I was running up the fire escape with the bricks..." "Hey, Nicky, hey, I thought you got busted." "I didn't see you get outta the alley." "Next time look over your shoulder when you run." "Hey, man, you're kidding, right?" "I fought out there like a maniac." "I don't see a scratch on ya." "Oh, you're kidding, man." "Look at this." "Look, look at that." "You got that falling over a garbage can." "Are you calling me a liar?" "I'm calling you a liar and a chicken!" "Line up." "Come on, get off your butts." "Let's go." "Come on." "Come on." "Let's go." "Get your belts and leave room to swing." "Nicky, honest." "Now you gonna run through, or do I have to come over there and drag you?" "You holdin' an election?" "Mingo was chicken." "Israel, I swear." "I fought the biggest, blackest jigs you ever saw- three of 'em..." "With bats and bayonets." "What are you trying to do behind my back?" "Make an ass out of me?" "You done that pretty good already." "When?" "Hangin' around that phony preacher!" "Keep your voice down." "Did you get down on your knees and sing hallelujah!" "We rapped for awhile." "About what?" "How to bring all your lost sheep into the fold!" "Why do you let that guy bug you?" "Because I hate him!" "He's just a nice guy with a lot of guts trying to help people." "He wants to break up the gang!" "What the hell do you think he's in the neighborhood for?" " To be our chaplain!" "He wants to bust us!" "What's the matter with me!" "?" "Why does he have to pick on me?" "Because you're the worst, craziest bastard there is." "If he can reach you, he can reach anybody." "No!" "[Dramatic music]" "[Ahhhhhh...]" "[Screams]" "Somebody get an ambulance!" "Who won?" "What?" "Who gets the park?" "I don't know." "[Dreaming] Mingo..." "Mingo..." "Mingo was chicken... ahhh..." "[Knock at the door]" "Who's there?" "[Knocking continues]" "Hi, Nick." "Can I come in?" "You gotta be kidding!" "I just had to come by and try to make you understand that God loves you." "You woke me up to tell me that?" "Can we talk awhile?" "Listen, you crazy witch." "I told you to stay away from me." "I didn't think you really meant that." "Tell me what I meant!" "I'll kill you!" "I'm not afraid of you Nicky." "You better be..." "You talk tough, but inside you're just like all the rest of us;" "you're scared." "There are a lot of guys with scars from Nicky that know different." "Aren't you sick of hating people?" "I like to hurt people." "Aren't you lonely, Nick?" "You..." "Damn you!" "Love is only a word to me a word you use when you're not to sure of what to say..." "Don't sit down." "I'm meeting someone." "Oh, Norma?" "Well I'll just sit here till she comes, then I'll split." "How'd the rumble go, huh?" "Great." "And how have you been?" "Great." "I been just great." "Do you think you could let me have some money?" "Ten bucks." "Come on, baby." "It's not for stuff." "It's for food." "Order a soda." "I'll pay for it." "Don't tease me, Nicky." "Then don't try to kid the kidder, baby." "I can see that look in your eyes." "You're sweating out you next fix." "Ten bucks." "Trust me, Nicky." "Just until tomorrow." "I wouldn't trust you till yesterday." "Remember when you used to do everything for me?" "I got a secret." "I know a deb is supposed to belong to the whole gang but I only really ever belonged to you, Nick." "Now it isn't a secret anymore, is it, baby?" "With all the other guys it was boring." "But with you, Nicky, I really dug it." "Write it in my yearbook" "I loved you, Nicky." "And I was good for you." "Now you love the needle and you're good for nothing." "Please, Nicky." "Please what?" "Give me the money." "You're really desperate, huh?" "Like I'm down." "You know what I mean?" "You want me to straighten you, huh?" "Oh Nicky, would you?" "Would you?" "What do you think of the preacher?" "He's okay." "He wants to help people." "No!" "He wants to break up the gang." "Why would he want to do that?" "Because he's a fanatic!" "Because he's got a one-track mind." "He's gotta convert everybody." "So where does that leave you, huh?" "Without any gangs to mooch from you'd have to whore for your habit." "Think how boring that'd be." "What do you want me to do?" "I want you to get rid of the preacher." "How?" "However." "Kill 'im, scare 'im, ball 'im, I don't care." "Nicky, no." "With him out of the way, you have nothing to worry about." "I'll see to it." "Nicky, you're teasing me." "You can have all the junk you ever want." "You can even be my girl again." "Oh my God, Nicky, what a mess we're in." "You gonna do it?" "Yeah, but straighten me first." "Uh huh." "Do the job first." "Then I'll straighten you." "I can't." "I need to get fixed." "I'm shakin' so I can't even hold a knife." "Okay, baby, forget it." "Oh no, gimme the knife, Nicky." "I'll do it." "What do you think the stuff is worth?" "Few bucks." "We should da clobbered the guy and searched the whole pad." "I bet he had tons of bread hidden in them closets in his shoes." "Or in his yarmalke." "Hey!" "Look at this." "It was in his jewel box." "The guy's a catholic!" "This worth anything?" "We gotta take it back." "Take it back?" "It's bad luck to steal a crucifix." "Yeah, 'cause ya can't get nothin' for it." "You shut your mouth!" "Maybe we could take it to the hospital and give it to Mingo." "Are you crazy?" "He doesn't even see us." "How is he going to see this thing?" "He can feel what it is." "He don't feel nothin'." "Yeah, that's right." "He still in a... coma?" "A komona?" "Mingo's in a komona?" "Hey, Israel, Mingo's in a komona!" "What?" "Somebody's in the clubroom." "I'll go." "It's Nicky." "What's he doin'?" "How should I know?" "What am I, his mudder?" "What do you call these?" "Tostones." "Hmm." "These are delicious." "We don't have anything like this in Philipsburg." "Maybe we should open a mission there." "Seriously, David." "You have done wonders already with the kids in the street." "You've been working with a bad bunch of apples and you got 'em smiling'." "I didn't see Nicky smiling'." "Nicky!" "Do you know what you're dealing with when you're dealing with Nicky?" "Yeah, but none of them are breaking." "I get to the point where I think I'm really getting through, they turn me off." "They turn you off because they're afraid of being called chicken." "Being the gang, fighting, stealing, shooting dope is their way of proving that they are a man." "Yeah." "Maybe if I could just get 'em all together in on big place - get them to really commit themselves right in front of their friends so they couldn't turn back." "You mean like a rally?" "Yeah, a rally." "A gang rally with all the beeboppers, jitterbuggers and everybody." "Now wait a minute." "You can't tackle a hoard of the toughest gangs in New York with a Bible." "They're liable to crucify you." "Where could we get a hall?" "I think you just lost an argument." "What kind of a hall?" "A big one, big enough for every gang member and junkie in New York." "That don't take a hall." "That takes the Grand Canyon." "Well, I could get you a hall." "Will it be expensive?" "Never mind about that." "If you're crazy enough to go in with those fuzzy faced killers," "I'll find somebody crazy enough to pay the bill." "What's the matter?" "Nothin'." "I felt like being by myself." "Bugged about Mingo, eh?" "Yeah I know." "It gets to me, too." "I just want to know one thing." "How can you take a guy like that?" "A guy like what?" "What do you mean, Mingo?" "I mean the preacher." "Are you still thinkin' about him?" "What'd you rap about that was so interesting?" "When?" "The other day, by the school." "How do I know." "I don't even remember." "God loves me..." "Crap like that." "You know..." "He came to my place at 3 o'clock in the morning just to tell me that." "I almost had a heart attack if he wasn't right on my doorstep, I'd a killed him." "So you know what I done?" "I sent Rosa over to kill him." "I gave her the knife and everything." "No kidding." "Hey, you think she done it?" "If she did, it'd be the first thing she done right since she's been on the stuff." "[Door buzzer]" "I'll get it." "Vacation time is the best time." "You know some of these kids do go to school." "So Thanksgiving vacation would be the time." "Right." "[Phone rings]" "You know, we're gonna have to get a bus to move these kids." "They're not gonna cross each others turfs." "Hadn't thought about that?" "(Mrs. Gomez) David." "For me?" "Thank you." "Hello." "Hi Gwen!" "It's my wife." "[Door buzzer]" "Rosa!" "Come in, come in." "Is the preacher in?" "What is the matter with you?" "You know what's the matter." "You've seen it before." "I'm sorry." "You got ten bucks?" "You know the answer to that, you've asked before." "...here with the Gomezes and Sergeant Delano." "I had a wonderful meal." "Listen honey, we had a great idea!" "We're gonna have a big rally - a lot of the gangs are going to be there..." "Hector..." "Oh Rosa poor baby." "Where's the preacher?" "(Hector) Why do you want to see David?" "What is this- a police station?" "!" "I want to give him something!" "...yeah but honey, it has to be vacation time, it's the only time we can get the gangs out." "(David) ...What?" "I want to see you." "Please, I gotta see you now." "Yeah, okay..." "Gwen, I know it's time for the baby, but aren't babies usually late?" "Please?" "Sit down." "Would you like something to eat?" "No!" "Uh, Gwen, honey, can I call you back in just a few minutes?" "I've got an emergency here." "Oh honey, it'll be soon, I promise." "Bye." "I..." "I love..." "I want to see you, preach." "I gotta talk to you- alone." "Use the chapel." "Okay." "(Sergeant Delano) Who was that?" "It was a girl in the neighborhood." "She's on heroin." "Glad to see you again, Rosa." "Glad?" "Oh sure, why?" "Sit down." "Why are you glad to see me, huh?" "Why?" "Because I've thought a lot about you since the last time we met." "You know I love Nicky, don't you?" "No, I didn't know that." "He's like it for me." "Now he don't give two pops what happens to me." "You know why?" "I think I do, but you tell me." "He says you're trying to break up the gang." "Break up the gangs?" "I'm trying to grab them with something that will wake 'em up!" "You don't care who you hurt, do ya?" "Take it easy, Rosa." "Liar!" "Lend me ten bucks." "Don't touch me!" "I don't have ten bucks to lend you." "I need a fix!" "Oh, can't you understand that?" "A fix!" "I need it twice a day." "And I haven't had any since last night." "So give me some bread, man, I gotta score." "Rosa, I'm no easy touch." "I'm a man of God." "I'm not going to help you kill yourself." "You're a filthy fink, that's what you are!" "You want to scare people into believing in God." "Oh, what am I going to do without Nicky?" "But you didn't think about that did you?" "Rosa, if you really want Nicky, you better get yourself clean." "I want ten bucks!" "And you're going to give it to me." "Or I'll cut it out of you!" "Rosa, you don't need that." "Rosa..." "Help!" "Don't come near me!" "Help!" "He's trying to..." "Step back..." "I'm gonna to cut my throat." "I'm gonna stick myself like a pig and you're all gonna watch!" "Don't throw your life away, Rosa." "You're too young." "God needs you." "He sent you here for help." "God wants David to help you." "But there's no way out for me." "I'm hooked." "I'm hooked." "There's no way out." "I'm in hell!" "We are here, just for you." "Why don't you give us a chance with you?" "If there's just a chance, just the smallest chance that we might succeed, isn't that worth a try?" "Be still, Rosa." "Just let your body relax." "Let your arms hang loose, easy;" "just let your mind..." "That's it, Rosa..." "We'll take care of you." "Cover my ground with fleecy white snow cover my floor with dust cover my walls with spidery webs" "[Rosa cries out]" "Cover my mind with drugs" "I won't be needing sympathy" "I'll never know you cried for me" "I'll love another chance and then why do the same damn thing again?" "I'm feeling cold" "hey, look at that!" "I wish he were in that box instead of Mingo." "Yeah, poor Mingo." "Boy, that mother's really got guts!" "[Dramatic music]" "[Whistle blows]" "It's the pigs..." "[Dramatic music]" "Hey, Nicky." "What's the matter, you get hurt?" "Hey, Nicky." "It's me, Little Bo." "I sometimes run for your gang." "Do you want me to get help or somethin'?" "(David) Need some help, friend?" "I'll be all right." "We gotta get you to a doctor." "Get away from me." "Bo said you wanted to see me." "You outta your mind?" "Nicky, I gotta say two things to you." "Yeah, Jesus loves me and you love me." "I heard it before." "This is important." "Hey, man, no kidding, look." "I got a leak in my chest and my head is busted." "Go away, huh?" "Can't you give a poor spik a break?" "Can't you see I'm dying?" "How can I just walk away and leave you?" "With you feet." "Just leave, man." "Tip!" "Blow!" "Someday you're gonna stop running, Nicky." "When you do, I'll be there waiting." "Should I help him?" "He won't listen to me." "Yeah, go ahead." "Tag along, Bo." "I can do it alone, Bo." "I don't mind helping." "Go away, please!" "Go on, get out of here." "Go on, beat it!" "Nick, I'm clean." "I went through it an I'm clean." "You deaf or somethin'?" "I said beat it!" "What's the matter, Nick." "You said if I stopped using the stuff that..." "Stopped?" "What do you mean, stopped?" "Nobody stops." "I know." "But I did." "Oh Nicky, look at me." "I kicked." "It was the preacher and the Gomez family..." "Get out of here." "Is it because of the preacher?" "Get outta here!" "All right." "I'll go." "But just tell me." "Is it because of the preacher?" "The preacher, the preacher, all I ever hear on this turf, all I ever see is the preacher!" "But he and his friends brought me through." "So what!" "What do you want, a shrine named after you?" "You gonna go on television and tell 'em how you got saved?" "I thought you'd be happy, Nicky." "You thought wrong!" "When you went on the hard stuff, you died as far as I was concerned." "Now you got religion and you're deader than ever!" "I liked you better as a junkie." "I seen junkies before." "You're the first religious freak to come out a this turf." "Cover my ground with fleecy white snow cover my floor with dust cover my walls with spidery webs cover my mind with drugs" "I won't be needing sympathy" "I'll never know you cried for me just turn your head and look away there's nothing else for you to say" "I'll love another chance and then" "I do the same damn thing again?" "I've turned around" "Hugo?" "Hey, about a taste, huh?" "Beat it." "It's scarce." "Oh just a drop!" "Bitch!" "You made me spill it!" "[Doorbell rings]" "Hey, Rosa, where have you been?" "I tried to kick you poor doll." "By yourself?" "No, with the preacher." "Oh... boy, he messed you up good." "You look terrible." "Oh, it wasn't so bad." "That guy's a phony." "I can spot 'em." "He's been messing with a lot of my clients." "Well, anyway, I'm back don't feel bad." "Nobody can kick it." "Even the big doctors say so." "It's in the papers every day." "I don't have any money." "No problem." "First one's always on the house." "Gee, it's good to have you back." "I don't have any fixins." "No problem." "The first one comes with fixins." "Whenever a steady customer doesn't show up for a few days, it worries me." "You know, like maybe I hurt their feelings or something." "I can't make it work!" "Relax." "Just call for room service." "We bone it..." "(Singing)..." "Saute it..." "(Humming and whistling)..." "Wash the silverware..." "(Humming)..." "Fill the sugar tip..." "(Humming and whistling)" "And serve it with a smile." "[Whistling]" "That's it baby." "Let it out." "Let all the bad run out." "Nothing in there now but the cool, cool snow." "Now let your head drift off, drift off into that purple-violet-squish." "You cut it!" "Ssh, ssh." "Don't fight it." "You're selling garbage!" "I didn't sell you nothing, baby!" "I gave it, and it's the best." "Put it on your tongue." "Taste it." "You taste quinine?" "Do you taste sugar?" "No sir, baby, you taste pure junk." "I don't feel the same." "It's like a bad drink or a tranquilizer." "I've seen 'em trying to get a free taster before but baby, you're the best." "The second one's no freebee, baby, it's ten bucks and so is the third, the fourth and the four thousandth!" "Get yourself out in the street, baby and you better learn to turn a sweet trick or two because you gonna have to bring your tail in here more often and it better be waggin' up ten dollar bills 'cause you're already behind by one!" "And stay away from that preacher!" "Somebody's messin' with your head!" "I know what you're thinking." "Nothing but good niks out there." "(David) All I see is empty seats." "Yeah." "Maybe I'm the reason they're not coming." "The gangs know there's a cop around." "They may think it's a trap or something." "You think so?" "It's a thought anyway." "I won't show up tomorrow." "They'll see there's no squad cars parked outside." "We just won't hang around at all." "That is if you think you can handle them." "I don't see much fight in those empty seats." "[Dramatic music]" "You dudes trampled my man's grave." "Yeah, baby." "So what's the beef?" "Hey." "I'll talk yeah, a few of the people got out of hand." "You saying you're sorry?" "I don't apologize!" "And I don't talk to seconds." "I'm talkin', Nick." "My people want blood." "Well then, blood there'll be, baby." "When?" "Whenever." "Tonight." "Where?" "The park." "Stick the park." "We had the park!" "Clam up!" "I'm talkin'." "Well, what did it prove?" "We trample some grass and jitterbug around a bonfire and whose turf is it?" "I say we have it out once and for all." "Winners get the turf." "Right, baby." "But whose winners?" "What do we do, count cuts, bruises and broken bones?" "Last man standin', that's winners." "How you gonna do that?" "Soon as we get it on, everybody runs all over the city." "We get it on where they can't run." "What the hell are you talkin' about?" "The youth rally." "Man, there's fuzz all over the place." "Not tonight." "Words around that the fuzz is laying off to give the come-on to us gangs." "So?" "So we come on with all we got." "The cool gangs seal off the doors." "Nobody gets in or out." "Then we have it on." "Last man standing, his gang's got the turf." "First time I ever hear a white cat say something good." "Man, didn't I say you were to lay back?" "I'm on." "We got the time and place..." "The hardware." "Bats." "Blades." "Chains." "Spikes." "Zips." "Yeah, baby, but none of that store bought stuff." "Hey, preach!" "Look at this!" "I brought my whole Bible class with me!" "Hey, Dave." "I think you're making it." "Oh, oh, this is the first time" "I don't want no soul brothers comin' to my party." "[Bickering back and forth]" "I don't like the look of the whole thing." "We'll let Mary sing." "Maybe that'll cool 'em down." "Someday a bright new wave will break upon the shore and there will be no sickness, no more crying no more war little children never will go hungry anymore and there'll be a bright new morning over there there'll be a bright new world for us to share" "someday there'll be an end to unkind words and the man who says there is no God will know he is a fool [crowd rowdy and cheering]" "And peace will be the way of life and the only rule and there'll be a bright new morning over there, there'll be a bright new road for us to share someday, we know not when life will be strong" "and everyone from every land will all become as one..." "[Crying]" "[Crowd booing and chanting]" "I..." "I'm going to try something different tonight." "...anything will be an improvement..." "I'm going to take up an offering." "[Crowd boos]" "And I'm going to ask some of you gang members to do it." "Can I have four volunteers." "[Crowd cheers]" "Nick, Augie..." "Abdullah, Pete." "[Crowd laughs]" "All right now, when you finished collecting, take the money through that back stage door and bring it to me." "Okay." "Music hey, dig it, man." "Do we split it now or do we put it together in a bundle and the winner takes all in the rumble." "Know what?" "That dude is so cock-sure of himself, he knows that everybody in this place expects us to cop this bread." "I bet he's going to pop some stupid sermon about honesty." "I say we cross him up, and take all the bread and we give it to that stupid preacher." "That's cool, man." "Here's your money, preacher." "Yeah, every cent of it." "Thanks, Abdullah." "Thanks, Nicky." "[Crowd rumbles about giving money]" "You know, we all like to put tags on people, don't we?" "Try to make 'em like everybody else." "I'll bet you thought that askin' those guys to collect the money was like askin' a junkie to guard a drug store." "[Laughter]" "Right?" "But they fooled you, didn't they?" "They wouldn't wear your tags." "They shook free." "(Shout from the audience) They did it because they were suckers!" "[Laughter]" "There's nobody in this world that can tag you 'cause nobody knows how you really feel inside." "No friend, no gang member, no deb or ditty bopper or preacher or priest or rabbi, or social worker or psychiatrist, nobody!" "'Cause your mind, your feelings, your spirit are so fantastic it would take a mind bigger than the whole world to understand you." "That's why I don't preach religion." "I preach about a man." "The only one who knows why you do the things you do." "The only one who knows what's bugging you, what's eating you." "And the only one who has the power to do anything about it." "Now I want every ditty bop off and I want you to listen to me." "Go on, take 'em off." "Don't be looking around at somebody else to see what everybody else is doing." "Have the guts to be different." "To listen for once." "Now I'm makin' this God's house right now." "And this is a pulpit." "And I'm gonna talk and if you've go the guts - you'll listen." "I'm gonna talk about a man." "And I'm gonna talk about love." "That's right, love!" "The word that bugs you." "It's a sissy word to most of you." "You're going to see tonight that love is the gutsiest word in the English language." "I've got to try and make you understand the meaning of love." "Love isn't just something you feel." "Love is something you do." "It's got nothing to do with weak knees or a fluttering heart." "Love is the gutsiest act that you'll ever do." "Because love is turning away from hate." "That takes guts!" "Now this book says "God is love"." "God looked at the sins in our heart." "All our hearts- yours, mine, everybody's." "And he hated those sins." "But God turned away from his own hate and sent his only son into the world to love us." "Jesus was a package of pure love." "Sweet, straight love." "For you and for me." "I don't care who you've cut." "I don't care what you've been smoking' or shooting," "I don't care who you been layin' around with," "God loves you anyway." "I know each one of you here knows about the Ten Commandments." "Most of you have broken every one of 'em." "God knows about that too." "He knows about your angers, you fears, your frustrations." "He knows that most of you have fought." "Some of you have even killed." "But God also knows what you can be like in the future." "Not just what you've been in the past." "Jesus said there is just one great commandment." "That you love God with all you heart, your soul, your mind and your neighbor as yourself." "He said, "a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another.'" "I'm gonna ask God right now for a miracle." "Father, I'm askin' you now for a miracle, that in this next moment these live will be changed." "I'm asking you Mau Maus to turn away from hating your black brothers." "I'm asking you Bishops to forgive the white man's sin- just as God forgives yours." "Look at this, preacher!" "See this hole I got in me." "It came from one of them nigger zip guns, and you say that I'm supposed to love them." "Man, you're not real!" "Hey, man." "My brother died from a Mau Mau rumble." "And you say you want me to love them honkies?" "Yeah, man, I'm gonna love 'em." "I'm gonna love 'em with a sharp blade." "Now you shut up and listen to me." "You say you gotta kill them because of what they did to you." "And you've got to kill them because of what they've done to you." "Everybody's gripping about this atrocity and that tragedy." "All I hear is what a rotten deal we've all got." "Let me tell you something." "Jesus Christ was perfect!" "And they crucified him!" "He never said one complaining word." "And when he died on that cross, he was a man!" "Like you, he had the same fears and the same feelings that you have." "He felt pain just the way you feel pain." "He had those nails driven into the flesh of the hands." "His hands, his hands, the most sensitive part of his body." "And his feet, they drove a spike into his feet." "And they nailed his hands and feet to the cross." "And he didn't have to let them do that to him." "He could have called down a whole legion of angels to take him down from that cross." "He could have slaughtered all his tormentors." "But he didn't." "He hung there." "Bleeding." "For you." "And he died there." "For you." "So you wouldn't have to die here today." "So you wouldn't have to kill here today." "Why don't you stop crying about the sins of the past." "Stop paying for those sins." "Man, it's all paid up." "It's free!" "All you have to do it just accept it." "Just open up your hearts and let all that bitterness run out." "And let Jesus Christ come in!" "(Echo the voice of preach) Just open up your hearts and let all that bitterness run out and let Jesus Christ come in..." "Come in... come in..." "Come in... come in..." "Come in... come in..." "Listen!" "All you white cats!" "And all you black cats!" "Listen to me." "Now you been hearing about the power of love." "Well, I'm going to tell you about another power." "It's gang power." "And that's where it's at." "Now the Bishops and the Mau Maus are having it out here tonight." "And you're going to be in on it." "You can't get away." "All the exits are shut off." "And you might as well face it, man, we are going to have it out right here and now!" "[Shouting with music]" "Cool it." "I said cool it now!" "Hasn't there been enough killing and cutting?" "!" "Weren't you listenin' to the preacher?" "Well, I heard the preacher..." "I don't know how to say it." "He's here." "You feel him." "You all feel him." "He's here in this room and he wants to touch you." "If you ever want your lives changed, now is the time." "Put your weapons away." "There's not going to be a rumble here tonight." "You're in the presence of the almighty God." "Come on up here together." "Stand." "Come on." "Not as saints." "Don't wait till you're good enough because that day's never gonna come." "Come on." "Come on with all your hangups and let Jesus clean you up." "And would you come." "Let your coming say it." "God I need you." "God forgive me." "God I give myself to you." "Hey, man." "I know you got love." "I can feel it in ya." "'Cause I ain't scared of you no more." "Nicky!" "Man, I got your life right in my hands." "I can take it away, or I can give it back to you..." "I'm gonna give it back to you." "Wow, man..." "I really don't dig this scene tonight at all." "God loves you, he loves you just as you are now standing there in your cold, dark and bitter, little world, he loves you, he loves you his hand is reaching out..." "I'm gonna give my life to God, Davey." "It better work 'cause I damn near got killed for it." "...and his love is stronger than anything..." "This is the miracle, Nicky." "The miracle I've been praying for." "God loves Nicky, too this is the miracle I'm talkin' about." "That you're gonna find yourselves tonight." "You're gonna know in your hearts it was a miracle so you'll never trust in you own flesh again." "But in the flesh sacrificed for you by Jesus!" "I want you all to have Bibles." "Gomezes, help me please." "Hey, hey, hey preach." "How about givin' us one of those big books so people can really see what we're carrying." "Hey, preach, me too." "Me too, preach." "You look kinda different, Nick how?" "Bright." "All kinds of shiney." "Maybe it's because I'm about two minutes old right now." "I'm different too." "I know." "You kicked the junk." "Oh, Nicky, I'm free now." "I'm really free." "Hey!" "I'm all over this book!" "My name is in the Bible!" "Israel..." "Israel..." "Israel..." "Israel..." "I'm practically on every page." "[Laughter]" "[Preacher speaking] So this was the beginning." "The breakthrough that was to make the ghetto my church." "Little did I know it was going to lead to our own center, a home where lonely, mixed up kids could be given a new beginning." "Or that from the tortured streets of Harlem and Brooklyn, the Teen Challenge concept would spread across the land to other cities, to other Nickys and Israels and Rosas." "Surrounding them with love instead of hate and fear." "One thing I already knew, in the battle for souls that surges through the tenement lined alleys and the back street, you can take it from this skinny preacher from the hills of Pennsylvania, the cross is mightier than the switchblade." "{{{ The end }}}"