"(eerie music playing)" "(theme from ( the twilight zoneplaying)" "(heartbeat)" "all right, folks, closing time." "look at this shot." "you'll never sink this in a million years." "the guy thinks he's the next fats brown." "let's get out of here." "hey, joe, how come he gets to stay?" "'cause he asks nice." "now get going." "i'm off to mulvaney's." "anybody for a beer?" "do you see what i mean?" "!" "see what i mean?" "an impossible shot, but i made it." "the right stuff." "the right draw." "perfect position." "and what do i get?" "fats brown." "fats brown!" "i'm sick of it!" "fats brown... i'mthe best pool cue on randolph street-- me, jesse cardiff-- and everybody knows it." "fats was good." "so he was good, but he's dead." "do you hear me?" "he's dead." "he's been dead for 15 years." "but every time i turn around, i hear about him." ""that was pretty good, jesse, but fats was better."" ""fats was the best, jesse."" "fats, fats, fats brown is dead and buried." "if he was alive in this room, i could beat him." "you'd see." "i'd give anything... anythingto play him one game." "i'd show you who's best." "one game." "one lousy game." "at your service." "jesse cardiff, pool shark-- the best on randolph street-- who will soon learn that trying to be the best at anything carries its own special risk in or out ofthe twilight zone." "you called?" "but you're... dead?" "not really." "as long as people talk about you, you don't really die." "as long as people speak your name, you continue." "the legend doesn't die because the man does." "this is impossible." "nothing's impossible." "just some things are less likely than others, that's all." "this isn't a rib." "you're him." "you're... james howard brown." "my friends call me "fats."" "now, i know it's a shock, but you called me, i didn't call you." "i didn't mean... it's just a lot of talk?" "you like to play with fire, but you don't like to cook." "is that it?" "you know that you're not as good as you claim to be." "you know deep down inside that you're second-rate." "hey, hold on!" "strictly second-rate." "what, are you afraid?" "look, i come a long way." "i don't like to be fooled with." "i meet guys like you all the time... a little knack, a little skill... a little style." "but when the heat's on, you choke." "excuse me." "you've never seen me play." "how do you know i can't beat you?" "it is possible, isn't it?" "yeah, it's possible." "but you ain't going to do it with your mouth." "all right, fat boy, dead or alive, i'll tell you something." "you may be some tin god, but i think you're a big balloon waiting for somebody to put a needle in you." "i'm that somebody." "and this is the needle." "so you'll play me?" "rack 'em." "stakes?" ""stakes"?" "yeah, something to make the game a little more interesting." "any or all of it." "hey!" "use your brains, kid." "what good is that to me?" "then what?" "something to make my long journey worthwhile." "name it." "you said that you'd give anything to play with me." "anything?" "what are you talking about, pal?" "just what kind of stakes are you talking about?" "life or death." "what?" "you beat me, you live." "you lose, you die." "it's interesting." "it's interesting to see how much faith you have in yourself." "you don't want to be the best bad enough, kid." "when i was your age, i'd have jumped at the chance." "but then again, i wasn't second-rate." "hey, hold on!" "you say i don't want to be the best bad enough?" "you're wrong." "do you know how many nights i slept on this table?" "yeah, i did that." "i made a deal with the owner." "that way i could practice after the place closed." "i haven't seen a movie in years." "i haven't read a book." "i haven't dated a girl because it would take too much time from this table." "that's a lot of talk." "you'll never know till you risk everything." "stop pushing!" "wait!" "don't go." "then you accept the terms?" "life or death?" "rack the balls." "i had this specially made for me in st. louis." "rock maple, ebony... it cost me $600." "been making a living from it for about 25 years." "so name the game." "nine ball?" "eight ball?" "rotation." "get out of here." "nobody plays that." "i do." "what's the matter?" "you not up to it?" "i'm up to it." "i know the rules." "300 points." "toss for the break?" "sure." "call it." "tails." "change your mind?" "you can, you know." "heads." "my break." "two balls on the rail." "a perfect break." "no advantage given." "now it's your turn to scatter the balls." "do something with that." "looks like you're sewed up." "it'll cost you if you don't connect with the one ball." "bank." "two rails... two ball, corner pocket." "did you see that, fat boy?" "funny how a man can rise to the occasion when his life is at stake." "two ball, two points." "not bad." "it was great!" "you're like all the others." "you keep trying to bring me down." "when i was a kid, there were plenty of guys like you." "guys that were good at things like music, basketball, arithmetic." "they'd do everything they could to make me feel this high." "but you fooled them, didn't you?" "right." "i knew that somewhere there was something i could be good at." "i had the eye for it." "what happened to it?" "if you don't hit the five ball, you scratch." "that'll cost you points." "your shot." "i have 59 points." "you have seven." "the game is young yet, my friend." "very young." "shoot." "rack 'em, please." "15 ball in that pocket and a perfect break at the same time." "the one... and two." "the three... four." "you need every ball on the table to win." "i only need one of them." "jesse, there's more to life than this pool hall." "it's not right for you to keep yourself cooped up here like this." "i mean, you ought to get out a little more." "see what's going on... you didn't become the best by sitting on a park bench." "you spent plenty of time with a cue in your hands." "yeah, of course i did." "but i still had a life." "i been to places where they never even heard of pool." "i know i don't look the part, but i've made love." "i've watched sunsets, i've swam in the ocean." "and when i think of all the beautiful things there are to do in this world, it hurts me to see yourottingaway." "'cause that's what you're doing." "you'rerotting in this dark room." "you're lying!" "you're trying to distract me." "that's low." "(scratching)" "(chalk hits floor) you did that on purpose!" "you made me miss!" "a little gamesmanship, a little pressure and you come apart!" "that's kid stuff!" "you break your concentration, you go wild." "that's it." "the game ball." "all my life i've waited for this moment." "sink it, and i beat you." "i become the greatest." "ifyou sink it." "you're sweating." "why are you nervous?" "for reasons you probably wouldn't understand." "oh, i understand." "it means a lot, doesn't it?" "even to a dead man." "to have your name up there as the unbeatable champion of all time." "it carries a certain satisfaction, yes." ""i'll give you a shot at my crown, jesse, but only if you're willing to stake your life on the game."" "couldn't be just a friendly game, could it?" "i take them as i get them." "it's not just a friendly game to you." "it's a "life or death" thing, so i acted accordingly." "you see, the champions and the legends... serve a purpose." "they're an incentive." "they're a challenge." "i don't need no challenge." "everybody needs a challenge." "the great musicians..." "they're better." "they're better because of bach." "they're better because of beethoven... mozart." "see, i'm just a pool player." "but i'm the best." "youwerethe best!" "what are you waiting for?" "get it over with." "you said life or death!" "you really didn't expect me to kill you, did you?" "you said if i won, i'd live." "if i lost, i'd die." "and you will as all second-raters die." "you'll be buried and forgotten without me touching you." "see, if you'd beaten me... if you'd beaten me... if you'd beaten me, you would have lived forever." "you tricked me!" "no." "you just had to be tested under pressure, that's all." "any man can be a marksman if the target doesn't shoot back." "wait!" "it's not over!" "i haven't given up." "i'll practice night and day!" "i'm still alive." "i can be better." "iwillbe better!" "you'll hear from me again, fats brown." "lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime and departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time on the earth, as we know it and inthe twilight zone."