Thunder Bay (1953) Movie Script
Wait a minute, wait.
Hold it.
Another shell?
Yeah.
lf you hadn't blown our mustering-out
pay on this hare-brained idea,
you might've had
a new pair of shoes.
Me, too.
Two million dollars. Can't
be done for a penny less.
lf you can promote one
Confederate two-bit piece,
l'll kiss you
in Yankee Stadium.
You really think
your man will show?
He said he would.
Well, if he does,
he'll miss us.
We're not gonna walk
any 20 miles in one hour.
Yeah? We'll run, then.
Where you going?
Only one place you can go
on this road, Port Felicity.
Good. We're late
for an appointment.
Do you think you could
speed this thing up,
or should we get
somebody else?
Please.
Thanks, my friend.
l'd appreciate the lift.
lt's worth $5 to us if you
can get us to town by 2:00.
Okay? Thank you.
$5 to go 20 miles
in one hour.
Foreigners.
Entertainment. Can you
juggle or anything like that?
We might pick up
a few bucks.
l can imitate
a movie star.
l'd rather go hungry.
Now, you go rent a boat.
Take good care of the jewels. Give
me that. See you in a few minutes.
Nice, clean boat
you got, skipper.
She's good to me
and l'm good to her.
Yours, huh?
For a long time.
How is the shrimp haul
this season?
Some years is good,
some years is bad.
This year, terrible.
That's too bad. Would you
like to rent your boat?
Rent my boat? For what?
A partner of mine is in town.
Wants to look around, maybe
take a spin on the Gulf.
We'll give you $50
for the day.
This partner of yours
give $50 just to look around?
Oh, he's a big money man.
He's interested in making
an investment around here.
Oh, but there's nothing here
but fish.
What kind of an investment?
A fish cannery?
That all depends upon
how he reacts to the place.
We have no fish cannery here.
lt would be a good thing.
lt would save me
lot of time and money,
hauling my fish and shrimp
to New Orleans.
l would like to
meet this man.
Well, that's fine, skipper.
That's fine.
Now,
have you got some deck chairs
we can put out here?
Deck chairs?
Yeah.
Dress the place up a little
bit. Make a good impression.
But there's no room for
chairs on a shrimp boat.
Skip it.
Well! Mr. Martin!
Come aboard! Come aboard!
See if you approve!
This is your partner?
Yeah.
This is Mr. Steven Martin. l
don't believe l got your name.
l am Dominique Rigaud.
Mr. Rigaud.
Well, it's a pleasure.
Yes, sir, l'm very glad all
of us ran into each other.
You know, this just might be
the most important day
in the history
of Port Felicity.
Smaller places than this
have been put on the map
just because some very shrewd
investor comes in and, and...
And...
Ah, Stella!
This is my daughter, my beautiful
girl and the best sailor in Port.
This is Mr. Martin.
How do you do?
l didn't get your name.
Johnny Gambi.
What's all this about, Dad?
l have rented the boat to
them. $50 just for today.
And this one wants to
make an investment.
Where is the $50?
Hmm?
Well, miss, we...
We haven't got to talk
about the money yet, Stella.
With his kind, you don't talk
about money, you ask to see it.
You don't talk about investments,
you check Dun & Bradstreet.
That's my daughter.
She's got her head
on her shoulders, for sure.
She spent three years
in Chicago.
Oh.
Where is the $50?
Why, miss, are you suggesting
we're not good for it?
Yes.
Uh-huh.
Well...
Do you hear that?
Yeah.
Right on time. Come on.
Here he comes.
There he is.
He did come.
There's our investor.
And just in time, too.
Yeah.
You think this a lie?
Could be loaded
with them.
We'll cast off the lines.
You get underway.
Think you can remember how to
handle a stern line, boatswain?
l'm more at home on light
cruisers but l'll try.
Yeah.
Where did you get
all your man-training, pigeon?
ln the hardest school
there is, professor.
So stop trying
to thrill me.
Hey, give me a lift out
to that seaplane, will you?
Got to meet your fellow.
Gambi, take her downriver,
l'll bring him aboard!
All clear, aft. Let's go!
Hey, foreigner.
Where is that $5?
Nobody around here makes
a promise to Teche Bossier
and don't live up to it.
Where is the $5?
Where is the $5?
When you come ashore, l'll
take $10 out of your hide!
What did he say?
Oh, he was just
wishing us luck.
Mr. MacDonald?
Yeah.
l'm Steve Martin.
Glad to see you.
How are you? Climb aboard.
Mr. Rawlings.
Mr. Rawlings, how are you?
Yes. How do you do?
Where do l meet you?
Why don't
you anchor right here?
We're going for a boat ride.
Be back in a few hours.
Okay.
All right.
Over to that boat there.
This is my partner, Johnny
Gambi. Hello, Johnny.
Hello, Mr. MacDonald.
Mr. Rawlings,
my private secretary.
Come aboard,
Mr. Rawlings.
He protects my interests.
Uh-huh.
Skipper, head for the Gulf.
Well, Mr. Martin, your persistence
has won out. Here we are.
Now, what is this you couldn't
discuss on the telephone?
Well, Mr. MacDonald, l know your
company is in a lot of trouble,
and l think
we can help you.
Oh, you think that,
do you?
l know that
MacDonald lndustries
has invested $400,000
in an offshore oil lease,
and in three months you're gonna
have to put $200,000 more into it,
or you're gonna lose
the lease.
l also know that
you've invested $500,000
in a converted LST to be
used as a drilling barge.
You've got two air-sea
rescue boats and a tug,
and they're all going to
waste up in New Orleans.
Did you let me
do all that?
Why, Mr. MacDonald,
l've been trying to tell you,
l mean, this is precisely
what the board of directors
has been complaining about.
How much did all this
confidential information
cost you, Mr. Martin?
All of our
mustering-out pay.
Get the jewel box.
Now, so far,
nobody's been able to come
up with a drilling platform
that'll pass the specifications
of the insurance company.
Well, we've got
one right here.
Now, let's...
Let's say that this
is the floor of the Gulf.
Now here is the platform that
will do the trick for you.
Prefabricated templates,
built ashore
and brought out
to sea by barge,
and put on
the floor of the Gulf.
Now we anchor them
by these permanent pilings,
driven right down through
these verticals, like this.
Drive them down 10, 20,
30, 35 feet,
into the floor of the gulf,
makes it solid as a rock.
Now the insurance companies
have a big worry in this thing.
Storm damage.
Where's that history?
Here.
Here's a history of the Gulf's
storms from 1899 to 1945.
Now my platform
and the rig,
they're built to stand
the worst of these storms.
Not the average, the worst
of any of these storms.
And the insurance companies
have okayed the plans.
You collected
all these figures?
You sort of took a lease on a
dream of mine, Mr. MacDonald.
l know that that Gulf
out there is hiding enough oil
to make an inland field
dry up in shame.
Johnny Gambi and l
can get it out for you,
if you'll just give us
the go-ahead.
What do you think, Rawlings?
Mr. MacDonald,
of course l'm not,
but if l were in your place, l'd go
along with the board of directors,
take the loss,
and proceed with much
more caution in the future.
Yeah, but why take the loss when l
can turn it into a profit for you?
Profit?
l had Rawlings
check your record, Martin.
We found the word "profit"
conspicuous by its total absence.
Well, yes, l've had a little
bad luck every once in a while.
And all
on offshore operations.
Well, lots of times you
can learn more from failure
than you can from success.
You ought to know that,
Mr. MacDonald.
You've done a lot of
wildcatting in your day.
Don't you
agree with me?
Fortunately, in my position,
l can forget my failures.
Let me see that list,
Rawlings.
l see.
1938, Mexican coast, failed.
Oh, yeah, well,
there's no
government cooperation.
There was sort of shaky
financing there, too, you know...
1939, Guatemala, failed.
Yeah.
Well, there's...
There was a revolution.
How are you gonna drill oil when
you got a revolution on your hands?
1940, Venezuela, failed.
Yeah.
Well, l...
l didn't know how to handle
hurricanes then. l do, now.
Then you stayed out of trouble
the next five years,
probably because
you were in the Navy.
Yeah, in spite of which
we won the war,
isn't that right?
Well, yes.
Now would you
please just sit down
and enjoy
the Louisiana scenery.
l got something to show you.
lt won't take long.
Where are we going?
We're going 26 miles
out to sea.
Now, just... Just make
yourselves comfortable.
DOMlNlQUE: Mr. Martin,
we're just about
over the spot you wanted.
All right, skipper. Hold
her up here for a while.
Well, this is it.
Right in the heart
of your lease.
But why here?
Come over here
a minute.
Mr. MacDonald...
Now look down there.
All you can see is water,
but if you dream real hard,
you can smell the oil.
There. Can't you smell it?
Maybe you've got
a better nose than l have.
Maybe you've been cooped up
in that office too long.
Twenty years ago
l'll bet you could smell it in the
middle of a wheat field in Oklahoma.
Mr. MacDonald...
The only difference here
is 48 feet of water,
and my platform
will take care of that.
Mr. MacDonald...
This is something brand new.
Nobody ever wildcatted
like this before
and that oil is down there
waiting for us.
How much would it cost?
With what you've got
invested already, $1 million.
Another million?
Why, we could drill
30 wells on land for that.
There's $2 billion
in oil down there.
Mr. MacDonald, for your
own good, you can't do this.
You know what
the board is saying.
They're blaming you for
this whole fiasco as it is,
and there isn't a chance of
their voting you any more money.
When can you start?
When? Tomorrow.
Today.
Mr. MacDonald, you say
l protect your interests.
Then why won't
you listen to me?
Why don't you sit down
someplace?
Maybe you and the board will learn
something about the oil business.
You heard
the man, junior.
Place it where
it won't get kicked.
As you can gather
from Rawlings,
the board thinks
l was a little off
for even coming down
to meet you.
l came because l had the
same kind of dream you had.
You've got three months, but if
you don't bring in a well by then,
the company will be looking
for a new president.
We'll keep you
president.
What did you see down there?
The Golden Shrimp?
No, no,
just some dirty, old oil.
Well, come on.
Let's get back to port.
We got work to do.
Come on.
l'll have
$500,000 deposited
in our New Orleans bank
for you.
lt'll be there in the
morning. That's fine.
Gambi and l'll
be over there tonight.
Get things moving
in right away.
Mr. Martin.
Yeah?
There was some
mention of $50.
$50?
The boat.
Oh!
Oh, the...
Yes, the...
Do you have my wallet?
Seem to have
lost the wallet.
You cheap,
lying fakes.
Now, wait a minute, miss.
We have a...
What's the matter,
Stella?
Did moneybags
cheat you, too?
Look at him and answer that.
He's even run out of talk.
For that l think l'll
take $20 out of your hide.
Did you want that advance
in cash or by check, Martin?
Well, l think maybe cash would
save a few hospital bills.
Would $300
last you until tomorrow?
$300?
l think we can
squeeze through on that.
Let's see. Five.
One, two, three,
four, five.
Fifty for you.
Ten, twenty...
You ought to have more faith
in people. Thirty, forty...
Mr. MacDonald, l don't wish
to overstep my position,
but l just can't
understand this.
Why, these men are nothing
but penniless wastrels.
You've never been one,
have you, Rawlings?
Never had to talk yourself
out of a jam.
Never had the privilege
of gambling your last
penny on a dream.
l feel sorry for you.
You lost a lot of education
by going to college.
Well, perhaps...
And l'll tell you
another thing.
lf this penniless wastrel
hadn't called me,
l would've looked him up,
because l know he's the
only man in the country
that can lick
this offshore problem.
l'm going with him
all the way.
Thank you, Mr. MacDonald.
lt's all right.
l've been there myself.
Yeah?
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Good luck to you, Gambi.
Seems to me we've already had our share.
You'll need more.
So long.
There's a real one, pal.
Yeah.
But that one small point you
sort of tossed away worries me.
What's that?
The fact that nobody can do a
job like this in three months.
How do you know?
Nobody ever tried it.
Hey, Julius, what kind
of boats are those?
Look like a Navy LS and a couple of crash boats.
You gonna have
another war already?
lt's a little classier
than our first arrival.
New shoes and everything.
A whole blasted navy.
That's pretty good going
for two weeks,
from con man
to commodore.
We even got
a welcoming committee.
We're gonna have to have another
boat for that seismograph work.
You try and round up
Dominique's. All right.
l'll arrange for the mooring
for all these things.
All we need is
a bigger river.
Dominique!
Hey, Dominique.
He's not aboard.
All of a sudden, l don't care.
But does he have a corner on
all the beautiful dames in town?
What do you mean?
Why, you're the second one
that's popped out of that cabin.
Who are you?
The younger daughter,
Francesca.
Francesca.
lt's a pleasure.
l'm Johnny Gambi.
Oh, the oil man.
Father spoke of you.
lf it was a bad report,
it's a pack of lies.
Do you know
where l can find him?
l want to rent
his boat again.
Payment in advance
this time.
That's an improvement.
l was just leaving
to meet him.
lf you want me
to show you the way.
There.
l don't have to answer
that, do l? Where to?
La Bonne Chance.
The best this place can do
in the way of a night club.
La Bonne Chance?
Honey, with you in it, it's
gonna look like The Stork Club.
What's he got to sing about?
He sings about love.
You think
the whole world stops
just because
the shrimp go bye-bye?
l have nine kids
to feed and a dog.
What's the matter?
Doesn't your wife eat, too?
Ah, that's no time
for joking.
No more shrimp,
l gonna give it up.
For what?
You can't go in a monastery
with nine kids and a dog.
l can get job someplace.
Sephalu, you don't mean
what you say.
Yes, l do.
You would die
if you leave this place.
You belong here.
We've had bad times before.
Keep looking, Sephalu.
All of us will keep looking,
and one day we'll find the
Golden Shrimp. This big.
Oh, no. This big.
And then
we'll have good times.
l look for them
since l was this high.
Now l look for job.
That's enough, Sephalu,
that's enough.
Hey, Louis!
Two more beers!
You are just afraid
to look at the truth.
And don't complain while
you drink beer on my credit.
Your credit has this cuff so
full there is no more room.
Then buy yourself
another shirt
and put it on my cuff.
No more shirts.
No more credit.
l'm a poor man, too.
l think he means that.
l do.
But, Louis,
l'm thirsty.
All right.
Who wants to get
in the circle with me?
Huh?
Anybody?
Loser pays for the beer.
Toups, how about you?
Polo, do you want to try?
Campagna?
Antoine,
do you want to try?
l think l do.
All right.
Antoine is going to fight
Teche Bossier.
Having fun?
Hey, foreigner,
you come back, huh?
Yeah. To stay a while
this time, l hope.
Are you all right?
Pay no attention to him!
lt's just a friendly,
little game that we play.
Game?
Knocking your sheriff
around, a game?
He's only half sheriff. The other
half, he's bartender with no pay.
He's a cousin
to the owner.
Come on.
Father's in the back room.
Hey, foreigner,
you really mean you're going
to look for oil out in the Gulf?
Starting in the morning.
Well, Mr. Gambi,
you're with us again.
How are you, Dominique?
And l see
you have met Francesca.
l wouldn't have missed it
for the world.
We were old friends
in 30 seconds.
How are you,
pigeon?
Have you met
my sister's fianc?
Oh.
You didn't tell me
l had competition already.
Down here we get engaged
before we're born.
Oh, one of those kind.
l think we remember each
other from that $5 truck ride.
Let's not
go through that again.
Johnny...
Mr. Gambi
wants to rent our boat.
Yeah. Same price.
For a week, maybe more.
No.
We won't rent our boat.
But, Stella,
$50 a day.
We don't want anything
from him. Not for $100.
Hey, you rent
my boat, then.
lt's a better one
anyway.
Well, Dominique's got
first chance.
Don't do it, Dad.
But why not?
They're going to
cause trouble.
The trouble
is only in her head.
l take a chance
for $50 a day.
l didn't come here to argue.
lt's a deal, Teche.
You got a good boat. And
Phillipe here, a good crew.
Come on,
l'll buy you a drink.
Hey, Louis!
Three on the cuff.
No more cuffs.
What's the matter with her?
She needs a good man,
but l won't marry her
until she asks me.
You people sure go for
marriage, don't you?
Why not?
lt makes it nice for the kids, don't it?
Three on the cuff.
l'll buy.
Set them up for the house,
Louis. Drinks for everybody.
The oil men
have come to town!
How much of a job
you got left?
l'm almost through
on this boat.
Where's the one
Gambi went after?
l wish l knew.
l didn't think anybody could
get lost in a town this size.
Might have found something
to get lost with.
Yeah.
Yeah, well,
it's a little early,
but l'd better go and find
out. l'll see you later.
Come on, gusher!
Set them up again, Louis!
Everybody, drink!
No, now, you been
buying drinks all night.
Now it's my turn.
Louis, this round is on me.
You thankless uncle. All
right, l'll tell you what.
l win the drinks from you.
What do you think of that?
Who cares?
Just so we drink.
All right, you get
in the circle with me.
ln the circle?
Come on.
l win,
you buy the round
and l save my pride.
And if l win, we go dry?
Don't worry, my friend.
l take care of that,
all right.
You're liable
to get hurt, Johnny.
Watch me.
l didn't teach judo
in the service for nothing.
Where do you want me
to throw him?
You are my friend.
You ready?
Ready.
Are you having fun?
l'm spreading good will.
You look it.
Did you get a boat?
Sure, l did.
Best boat in the river.
Mine.
Glad to see you back.
We're not mad at each other. Just a
friendly little game we're playing.
Yeah, relax, sweetheart.
We haven't had
a night off in two weeks.
Come on, come on,
meet the people.
lt's the finest bunch
of fishermen you ever saw.
And this...
This is Francesca.
She's pledged to Bayard,
as they say down here,
but l'm not so sure
he's gonna get her.
Come on. Come on.
l've been telling her l'm
gonna plaster her with mink,
and set her up
in a 10-mile-high penthouse.
She'd outshine
the Statue of Liberty.
Oh, your friend
is crazy, Mr. Martin.
Have you ever seen
a penthouse, baby?
Stay away from her!
What's the matter
with you?
lt's only in fun.
Stay away from him, Fran.
He'll hurt you
if you don't.
Stella, they are
our friends.
Friends.
Because they feed you drinks?
l thought you'd have
brains enough to see them
for what
they really are, Teche.
They're selling themselves with
this party. They're buying the town.
They'll spoil everything
they touch.
Oil crews with their filthy
men and their filthy money.
l thought l had a clean
place to come home to,
but if they stay they'll make
it as filthy rotten as they are.
l'm sorry. How can you talk like this?
Because l know.
Three years away from here taught
me plenty about men like these.
Buy and sell, anything you
want, anything you've got.
l don't want to hear
any more.
Well you're going to hear. l
don't care what you think of me,
but you must believe
that l know their kind.
l learned.
You don't think
l sent $100 a month home
on secretary's pay,
do you?
Maybe now you'll believe me.
Hey, wait a minute!
Now we're not in business
to break up your family.
Gambi didn't mean
anything in there.
He just had a little too
much to drink, that's all.
Didn't mean anything? Well,
maybe it didn't to him.
But what do you think
it meant to Francesca?
Words she's never
heard before
from the kind of man she
doesn't know anything about.
All right, l'll keep him away from her.
The only way to stop it is
for you to get out of town.
Well that'd only mean
another crew would come in.
There's oil out there,
somebody's got to get it.
Now you may not
believe this right now,
but this is gonna be good
for your town
and it's gonna be good
for the people.
Oh, listen.
Why does there have to be this
sort of trouble between us?
Don't touch me.
Don't ever touch me.
That's quite a chick!
Yeah.
Yeah.
You all set?
Hey, did you get married yet?
Lay off.
lt was only a joke.
Morning.
How do you like this?
Teche Bossier,
the oil baron.
What are those things?
They're geophones.
They're worth a small fortune,
so take good care of them.
Sure, like babies.
How do you find oil
with them?
Well, they record the vibrations
from the bottom of the gulf.
You just keep listening
to the radio,
l'll let you know
what's going on.
Get your boat started
and follow us out, huh?
First time anybody ever told
me what to do with my own boat.
But for money
l think l'll like it.
Stella, it's not good
that a father and daughter
don't talk.
You didn't mean
what you said, Stella.
About those men,
about yourself.
You always say things you don't
mean since you were a little girl.
l wish there were some way
l could take it all back.
Look.
l think you were wrong.
l think Teche will be richer
than we are tonight.
Teche! Teche!
Hello, Dominique!
All right, let it go.
Mac One to Big Bossier.
You have your geophones
strung out?
l string them out
prettier than pearls.
Yeah? Okay, that's fine.
Mac One to Mac Two.
Mac Two.
We just marked our last
location. How are you set now?
Are you ready
to drop your charges?
Yeah.
All right,
you can go ahead anytime.
Okay.
Drop one.
There she goes.
Mamma mia! The shrimp beds.
The shrimp beds!
The shrimp beds!
No!
Hey!
Don't you know
there are shrimp down there?
What does it mean?
Don't they know
they're killing the shrimp?
The town's not enough.
They've got to ruin
the whole bay.
You blow up the shrimp!
Turn around.
We stay here no more.
We go back to the river.
What's the matter
with that clown?
Hey! Swing around.
Catch up with that tub.
Turn back! Turn back!
You'll get us killed!
Hey! What's the matter
with you? Are you crazy?
You're fouling up
those cables!
You didn't tell me you were
going to blow up the gulf!
Well, what do you think l'm
recording? That bellow of yours?
That dynamite
will kill the shrimp.
Oh, those shrimp
were built
to stand 50 times
the force of those blasts.
You think l'm ignorant enough
to believe that? Huh?
We're starving now because
there are not enough shrimp.
They hear about this
in Port Felicity,
you'll be lucky
to get out of here alive.
Come on, pull up this thing!
Pull up the bow here!
We'll pick up this gear!
You'll pick it up,
all right.
Oh, you want to play rough
with Teche Bossier, huh?
All right.
Drop it.
Go fish your friend out!
Charlie?
How much of a job is there
to fix that?
That's a pretty mean job.
All right, let's get all this
equipment on our boat and go to work.
Looks like you blew up
some of that good will
l was spreading last night.
Yeah, maybe all of it.
Teche, what do you mean helping
those guys dynamite the bay?
Help them, huh?
You don't hear no more
bombs, do you? Huh? Why?
Because Teche Bossier wrecked
their gear, that's why.
Ask him.
That's right.
But they go back
for more gear.
We'll have the same thing
tomorrow.
Listen, my friends,
Stella was right last night.
These men are no good. They
spoil everything they touch.
We'll have a meeting
at Louis'.
We've got to stop this thing
before it goes anymore.
Why you get so wet?
l was so mad
when l see those bombs,
l jumped over
to cool off!
l don't cool off no more.
Not until we take care
of the oil men.
Come on!
Let's go.
Yeah, he fouled up
all the geophone cables.
Had to stop
the whole operation.
Come in.
But we got
the equipment repaired
and we'll try it again
tomorrow.
Yeah, l'm gonna
take out enough dynamite
for about 40 shots,
so l think...
Yeah, l'll call you
tomorrow night, Mac. Bye.
Well, good evening.
l see you're getting ready
to dynamite our shrimp again.
Oh, now, listen, that
dynamiting doesn't do any harm.
lf it hurt the shrimp,
l'd stop it.
Look,
will you please tell me
how l can get along
with this town?
Do you think
l'm the one to do that?
Yes, l think you could
if you tried.
l think you're doing a
wonderful job all by yourself.
You really kicked them in
the stomach today, didn't you?
Well, they can kick back.
They're on their way here now.
Oh?
l'm surprised you came over.
l wanted to bring you
the news myself.
l want to see what happens
when somebody like you gets
kicked around for a change.
Say, what's your trouble?
Who hurt you?
You're a lot like him.
You say that. You don't
know anything about me.
All right. Why don't you
go out with your friends?
l'll show you
some fireworks.
You aren't going to leave
here without getting hurt.
l've waited 10 years
to get here.
l think l'll stick around,
if you don't mind.
Thanks a lot for coming
over, though. l've enjoyed it.
You'd do anything,
wouldn't you?
Yeah, if l have to.
All right, that's far enough!
Stay where you are.
Nobody back down!
We got to stick together.
We'll stop them from
killing our shrimps! Come on.
Keep going. Keep going.
l said stay where you are!
Now you've got no reason
to come out here like this.
Nothing we do will spoil
the fish or the town.
All he talks is lies.
Come on!
Come on!
Sure, let's go.
Now start backing
out of here
or the next one lands
right in the middle of you!
You kill our shrimp
with your bombs.
Now you want to do the same
thing to the people, huh?
This fuse lasts about
20 seconds. Now, go on.
Don't anybody move!
He won't let
that thing go off!
Fifteen seconds.
l'm telling you, oil's gonna
do good things for this place.
More money in your stores.
Lots of jobs for some of you,
if you want them.
Teche, l told you
this was the wrong way.
There are peaceful ways.
Let's get our people
out of here.
Ten seconds!
We've got no reason
to fight each other,
but if you make me,
l will.
Some time, l'll catch you
without your bombs.
Now, beat it!
Do you need any help?
Well, l'm not getting
any from you.
Say, how many times do l have to
tell you to stay away from her?
Now wait a minute.
On company time,
you tell me what to do.
Not on my own.
Things are bad enough
as they are, Johnny.
Will you please not
make them any worse?
Now look, miss,
l think it would be better
for everybody concerned
if you went back
to your people.
l'll handle this.
All right, all right.
All right.
Look, baby, we've evidently
had a little trouble.
You run along home
for now, huh?
All right, Johnny.
Good night.
Good night.
We'll get along fine,
as long as you don't start
throwing your weight around.
l need a tool-pusher
with his head still on.
You're gonna get yours
knocked off,
if you don't
stay away from her.
Now go home
and get some sleep.
l'm sorry to
disappoint you.
l want to thank you.
You want to thank me?
You have tried to keep your
friend away from my sister.
l said l would,
didn't l?
But tell me,
just who are you afraid
for, her or yourself?
l hate to complain,
but it's after 3:00.
ln fact, if we hurry we might
just get back in time to get up.
We've still got half an hour
of moonlight. Let's use it.
You know,
l'm getting awful sick
of doing things
the hard way.
Well, we got two more
months to go on this job.
We don't have
much choice.
You'll have the crew down
with combat fatigue
if you don't give them
some rest.
Mr. Martin.
Well, what're you doing around
here without your local army?
l am a peaceful man, Mr.
Martin. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is Mr. Parker
from the Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries.
We just got in
from the state capitol.
This, Mr. Martin, is a
cease-and-desist injunction
against the dynamiting you've
been doing in these waters.
lt supersedes
any permits you have.
l see.
You know,
fish and shrimp
are among Louisiana's
chief natural resources.
We plan to launch
a thorough investigation
to determine if any damage has
been caused by your dynamiting.
Of course, that'll
take about two months.
You're a little late.
How're we late?
l finished dynamiting
at 1:00 this morning.
We've picked out
a drilling site.
So, in the future,
l hope you'll give us the
same conscientious protection.
Because, as l recall,
oil is also one of this
state's great natural resources.
Hmm?
There you are.
Hey, Steve!
Gambi, there's your crew.
Hey, Gambi,
what do we do first?
Bail out the gulf
so we can get our rig up?
No, no, ain't you heard?
They're using a submarine.
Any likely dames
in this burg,
or shall we send home
for our own?
You mugs.
Well, Mac, hello.
Gambi,
glad to see you.
What will happen
to us now?
Progress is not
without faults, my friend.
Hey, Mac!
Well, l wasn't expecting you.
Kind of rough down here
for an office man, isn't it?
You wouldn't think so if you had
to face that board every morning.
They tell me you and l are
ruining the company. Are we?
Don't you believe it. l've
got something to show you.
l got something to show...
All right, get them
started on that pipe, Gambi.
All right, boys.
You asked for work, and believe
me, you came to the right place.
Take them down
to the shack, Bob,
and let them
drop their gear.
Hey, we're with you, Gambi!
You're sure getting your
money's worth out of that one.
He's driven the seismograph
crew day and night,
and here we go again.
Be honest with me, Gambi.
Do you think we can do it
with less than 60 days to go?
Oh, l'm not gonna
pull out on him.
l'll stick as long as
there's a chance.
Well, he's fighting a lot
of things in this town.
lf there aren't
any more delays
and if he gets a few
good breaks for a change,
and if he doesn't
kill himself,
along with a few of the
rest of us, he might make it.
Come on, Gambi!
Quit stalling!
See what l mean?
We got ourselves a location.
Here, l'll show you
what we're gonna do.
Gambi seems to think you got
a slim chance of making it.
What do you mean,
slim chance?
Making it's right on the last
page of this schedule of ours
right there
in black and white.
Now, look, we're gonna start
out with two 12-hour shifts.
Now here's the...
Hey, wait a minute there!
Don't run away.
l'll be right down.
Gambi, come on, step it up!
Step it up!
Who do you think
you're talking to?
l've been working
my heart and soul out all day.
MacDONALD:
l'm proud of it, Steve.
You, Gambi, the whole crew
have done a whale of a job.
This is one time
l'm gonna enjoy
walking into
a board meeting.
This time
they'll listen to me.
Seems like we ought to
bust a bottle over her bow
or something like that.
Somebody ought to
break one over your head.
All you've accomplished
is the impossible.
Don't you think
we deserve a celebration?
Now you listen to me.
Way down below here, maybe 8,000
feet, there might be some oil.
We got 26 days to find out.
There's a drilling crew waiting
at the dock. You go get them.
l'll celebrate
by watching them work.
Why don't you let down
for a few hours?
All right, now, you know
where the pay office is,
but just before you resign,
you get somebody else
to bring that crew out, huh?
l'm not too far from
resigning at that, pal.
Come on, Mac.
You coming in?
You're not losing a friend, are you?
Who, Gambi?
l only worry about him
when he stops beefing.
Have a good trip.
So long, Steve.
Here, Gambi.
A hurricane warning.
Just came in.
A hurricane?
Why, that's the greatest news
l've had in two months.
Tie her up, boys.
A big wind's on the way.
No shift going out.
Take the night off.
You're not going out
for Steve?
Look, if it took
an act of God
to get a night off
on this job,
l'm not gonna
mess around with it.
Well, but will
he be all right?
Why sure. Besides, do you
think he'd pass up a chance
to ride out a blow
on that baby of his?
You couldn't drag him
off with a winch.
Come on, boys!
With an early start,
we'll out-howl
that hurricane!
Hey, Louis!
Yeah?
l'll have whiskey.
How does the sky look?
We'll have the wind
by midnight.
Did you find Francesca?
She wasn't at home
or on the boat.
What about Dominique?
Doesn't he know where she is?
l didn't have to ask. l
know where she is all right.
Teche, this year
l wish we have the
biggest wind in the world.
Ah, don't say that!
Big enough
to blow those oil men
and their steel and their
boats right out of here.
Louis!
Why don't you drown yourself
out in the gulf?
lt would be cheaper.
Hey, bartender, bring us
the tallest beer you got!
Phillipe, wait.
He's making
a cheap tramp out of her.
Baby, l'll get you a drink.
What do you drink?
Johnny, look out!
Let me through!
Antoine! Antoine! Antoine!
l'm ruined. Antoine!
Antoine, wake up,
l'm being wrecked.
Come on,
act like a sheriff.
Don't you hear the noise?
Would you let me
to be wrecked forever?
What's going on?
What's going on?
Don't you hear?
Those oil men downstairs
are wrecking my place up.
Come on, get down there
and stop them. Come on.
Hey, wait, wait! Your badge.
How can you be sheriff
without your badge?
Hey, knock it off!
Here comes the sheriff!
Now,
l think we've had just about
enough trouble from you oil people.
We came in here for a drink
and a little relaxation.
ls there any law
against that?
OlL MAN: Your people
started it, not ours.
We didn't ever have this kind
of trouble before you came.
l'm holding you responsible
for all this here destruction,
and l'm going to
keep you in jail
until my cousin, here,
gets his money.
You mean you're gonna
arrest us for this?
Yes, l am.
Now get marching
out of here.
You can't do this,
Antoine.
They didn't start it.
Phillipe did.
Keep out of it,
baby.
He said get marching
out of here.
He's losing his patience.
Well, what's the matter?
You guys act as though you'd
never been in jail before.
Let's go.
Come on, let's go!
You don't win all the time,
huh? Foreigner!
Francesca...
Get away from me.
l never want to
see you again.
l hate you,
and all the rest of you.
That's all right,
Phillipe.
She might change her mind,
and if she does she won't
let you drink with me anymore.
Hey, Louis! On the cuff.
NEWSCASTER..
And the entire coastline
from Galveston to Mobile
has been alerted.
All shipping has been advised
to avoid the area,
and residents have been warned to
expect winds up to 85 miles an hour.
What's the matter?
Nothing, l'm going to bed.
Did something happen?
Yes.
l was born in this horrible
town. That's what happened.
Feels more like a prison
every day.
lf l can't get out of it,
l might as well die!
l can't stand it
anymore.
You had the chance.
Why can't l?
Yeah.
l took the chance.
lf you'd been my older sister
three years ago
l'd have probably made
the same complaint to you.
l know l was thinking
the way you are.
l hated this town
and everything about it.
Well, if you understand,
why have you been acting
the way you have?
l'd do anything to keep you
from getting hurt like l was.
And l'd do anything
to get away.
Just because you made
mistakes, doesn't mean l would.
Johnny wants to marry me.
Does he, Fran?
Yes.
Or has he just said so?
Somebody like him
asked me, too,
and it made me happy
until l woke up one morning,
and found out
it was just another lie.
l know what it is
to want somebody
who's new and exciting.
The feeling you get
when he looks at you
and touches you.
But l'm way ahead of you.
l also know what happens
when it turns out to be empty.
Don't take a chance.
Stay with your own people.
lt's too late.
What do you mean?
l hate them.
l hate Phillipe and Teche.
l hate them all
and l told them so.
Where are you going?
You handle that boat
pretty good.
Afraid l can't say
the same
for the time and place
you picked to practice.
Didn't you hear there's
a big wind kicking up?
l heard.
l didn't think l could
make it back to the river.
That's why l came here.
lf you'll let me stay.
Sure, you can stay.
Right up on deck there.
You probably
won't believe this,
after all the things
l've said and done,
but l'm glad the storm gave me
a chance to come. l've wanted to.
ls that so?
This is more than just
a job to you, isn't it?
Sure it is. Sure.
Yeah, this is my baby.
l hope it rides out
that storm tonight,
like l promised it would.
Do you think it will?
l'll tell you
after it's over.
l hope this is the roughest, toughest
storm in the history of the world,
'cause that's the kind
l said this could beat.
Why are you doing it?
Will it make you rich?
Not especially.
Then why?
Oh, it's a challenge,
l guess.
Nobody had ever wrestled with
this particular spot in the world
before l came along,
so, l, you know...
Maybe
you don't know how oil was
formed millions of years ago.
lt was formed by things dying
and being held in the Earth.
Well now,
if l can reach down there,
and bring up the results of
all those millions of years,
and make them work for
the present and the future
then l've done something,
haven't l?
l'm going to put
all time together.
You understand what l mean?
ls there a chance
that you could tell me the
rest over a cup of coffee?
There isn't any more.
l mean there isn't
any more speech.
There's plenty of coffee.
Come on.
Here it is.
Gonna be
a little strong.
You know,
up there,
l told you why l was here.
Now, why don't you tell me
why you're here.
All right,
l'll be honest with you.
What would it cost me to
persuade you to fire Johnny Gambi?
What would it cost...
Why?
Francesca's fallen
in love with him.
Why, what's so terrible about that?
He's a top man in his field.
He makes good money...
He's hit and run,
and you know that.
He's making promises he
has no intention of keeping.
You're kind of mixed up,
aren't you?
l mean, l can see promises
have been made to you
that weren't worth anything,
but that doesn't mean
all promises are like that.
l wasn't talking about myself.
Well, l am. Look at you,
out here trying
to be tough and cheap,
you can't even be that.
You don't know what kind
of a woman you are, do you?
Stop it!
You got yourself all torn
apart trying to hate everybody.
Why don't you stop
fighting yourself?
Oh, l don't want to be
mixed up anymore.
Maybe l wasn't really,
because l knew this would
happen if l ever got near you,
l kept telling myself l was
coming out here to help Fran,
but l wasn't. l...
l just wanted
what she'd found.
Say, where'd you go?
l turn around
to say something to you at
the bar and you are gone.
l went someplace,
all right.
Where'd you get
that dynamite?
Get it off my boat.
l took all
l'm gonna take, Teche.
l'm gonna blast that thing of
theirs right out of the gulf.
You're crazy.
Listen to me.
You don't have to do
anything but take me out.
ln the morning,
the platform's gone
and everybody
blames it on the storm.
l think you had
too much whiskey.
Oh, that don't have
anything to do with it.
You're mad because
you lost your girl.
He can have her!
What's the matter with you?
You say you wanted to
blast them before.
Now we got the dynamite, you
don't want to fight no more.
They make a coward
out of you.
Don't say that.
Go on, coward.
l'll take the boat out
by myself.
You're drunk
and you're a fool.
All right,
l take you out.
Not because
you called me a coward.
But because
you are my friend.
l'll go cast off,
and we finish this thing, huh?
All right, we go.
lf you want to do this
crazy thing, do it fast!
That storm's
really kicking up now.
l'm going up above and check
if everything's secure.
You wait right here.
Phillipe!
Steve!
Steve.
You don't care how you
kill your men, do you?
l've seen some cold ones
in my day,
but nothing
will ever come close
to that act
you put on tonight.
Teche, where is Stella?
She wasn't here all night.
And the boat is gone.
Where is she?
l don't know.
Dominique,
Phillipe, he's dead.
Phillipe?
He had some dynamite.
He wanted to go out
and blow that oil thing up.
l tried to
talk him out of it
but he was drunk.
All night long l look for him
out in the storm.
l'm going crazy,
Dominique.
lt wouldn't have happened
if those people were not here.
He thought
he was doing the right thing.
He wanted to get rid of
that platform for us.
For all of us.
But then the storm came up.
l should've known better.
l should've known better.
Where is Stella? What
have you done with her?
She's right in there.
Just keep her away from me.
Why, you people don't
stop at anything, do you?
l've got a good notion to
prefer charges on the whole town.
Stella!
What're you doing
with that man?
l went to see him.
You don't belong
here anymore.
Maybe you're right.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
What was the bar bill?
$500.
There wasn't $500 worth
of stuff in that joint.
l left a large tip.
lt was a great night off.
Yeah, yeah.
Storm do any damage?
We rode it out. That rig's
out there waiting for you.
So l hope all you fellows
had enough rest
because from now on,
there isn't gonna be any.
We start drilling
right away.
Still batting 1,000.
Come on, let's go!
She don't
feel good, Steve.
We got too much weight
on the bit,
and we're working her
too fast.
You just keep her going.
lf we hit a high pressure
area at this speed,
there won't be nothing
we can do about it.
Well, we haven't got time
to slow down.
You won't have anything but
time if this thing blows out.
We'll be in worse trouble if
we don't come in, in eight days.
You keep the weight on
and keep this same speed.
Okay. You're the one who'll have
to explain a ruined rig, not me.
That's right.
You just keep it going.
l'm gonna get some sleep.
lf he's not gonna
worry about it, l'm sure not.
Yeah, that's right. He's giving
the orders. We just carry them out.
Hey, will you
take over for me?
l gotta go ashore.
You gonna take on La Bonne
Chance all by yourself?
No, l'm not going
near the place.
But Martin hasn't let me out
of his sight for two weeks
and l gotta get in tonight.
lt's worth 20 clams.
Now them was the words
l was waiting to hear.
Take off.
Thanks.
Hey, l can hear the echo of
Pappy's shotgun from way out here!
What's the matter?
Did it...
Take it easy,
take it easy.
l guess
l must've been dreaming.
Yeah, l know.
l've been waking up
like that myself, lately.
What brought you down?
Well, after all, this is
my baby, too, you know.
How's it going?
Just fine.
Just fine.
Hit 8,000 feet last night.
Averaging
100 feet a day.
l'll get some coffee
in the galley.
Come on. Let's take a
look at the new samples.
Steve, before we go...
What's the matter?
Nothing. You look tired.
You do, too.
What's the matter?
Steve, we had
a board meeting last night.
With a week left
to go on the lease,
they want a safety margin
against running over
and having to pay the penalty.
Oh, we're not gonna have to
pay any penalty now.
We'll flood in here
before the week's out.
They don't think so.
ln spite of everything
l could say,
they voted to
stop the operation tomorrow.
You have no more money.
You're president of the
company. Can they do that?
l'm a president
that led the company
into the biggest loss
in its history.
l don't know
if we'll pull out.
But l'm not sorry, Steve,
because if nobody took a gamble,
the oil business would stop.
lf you have faith in us,
couldn't you carry us for a week?
l've been carrying you
since you started.
The company took the lease,
but they wouldn't finance you.
Every penny l've got
is in this rig of yours.
Oh, l'm sorry, Mac.
That's all right.
l've failed before.
lt's just that it's a little
more expensive these days.
We did the best we could.
That's that.
MAN ON PA.. Blowout! Blowout!
We hit a salt water flow!
Saltwater flow! Everybody hit
the rig! All hands, hit the rig!
Mudpump room, build up the
mud weight! Let's go, men!
It's bad, it's bad.
Switch those pumps.
Come on, switch them boys!
MAN ON PA.. All hands,
hit the rig! Hit the rig!
How long's
she been kicking?
She just started.
l got the boys
checking the mud.
You better stop the drill.
You get the forward valve,
l'll take this one.
We can't build enough weight
to hold her.
Better get that kelly
out of there.
Looks like l'm gonna have
to use the blowout preventer!
All right,
hit the preventer!
Hit it!
What's the matter?
The valve's stuck.
l can't get it open!
All right! We'll go down
and use the manual control.
Come on!
Come on, you guys!
Hurry up! Come on!
Come on,
give me a hand.
Where's Gambi?
Where is he?
He went into town last night.
All right, boys.
Well, l think
we got her licked.
All right, come on,
l really got work to do now.
First, l want to thank you
for the job you just did.
l'm sorry my board of
directors wasn't here to see it.
But they're probably
sleeping late this morning.
They did quite a big job
themselves last night.
They've decided
to cut off our money.
They don't believe
we can bring this well in.
Yeah? lf that's the way they
feel about it, it's okay by me!
They know
what they can do with it...
Now, wait a minute!
Wait a minute. Hold on!
Now Mac's done all he could. He's
been with us all the way in this thing,
and he took the rap
for the whole gamble.
But we still got
one week to go on this lease,
and l'm asking you all
to go along with me.
Now, maybe some of you
have been mixed up
in a wildcat deal
like this,
and come out of it broke,
l know l have.
Mac, there, he sure has.
So what l'm doing,
l'm just making the same,
old tired promise to you
that if we strike oil,
everybody gets a $200 bonus.
Now, how about it? Huh?
Why should we gamble our time
and money if the company won't?
The company's got two million
dollars in this thing already.
Well, l'd risk a week if l really
thought there was oil down there.
But l got a feeling
there just ain't.
You listen!
There's enough oil down here
to lubricate the universe.
l'm sure sorry, Steve.
But l can't stay.
l got a family at home
and l got to send them
a paycheck every week.
l guess that's it, Steve.
Yeah we're all sorry.
That's all right,
fellows.
That's all right.
We understand.
Well, you picked
a good time to take off.
But l don't think
you should've come back.
Looks like l was right.
She did blow.
Why did you
leave the barge?
l had a date!
Okay.
You've been asking for this
from the beginning.
You knew there was a chance
for a blowout!
Why didn't you stay here
and watch for it?
You had that coming, too!
You never understood it,
but with me,
this is no holy crusade.
lt's only a job!
You've been crowding the men,
you've been crowding the rig,
l've been telling you that.
But you don't crowd me.
Why did you
leave the barge?
l told you l had a date.
l got married!
All right, take him with you
and get off the barge.
All of you.
l'm sorry, Steve.
Maybe we'll have
better luck next time.
Next time, nothing.
l'm going to finish this job
if l have to do it myself.
What does he mean,
do it himself?
We're all quitting.
The main office
stopped his money.
None of us can afford
to work for nothing, Gambi.
Did he ask you to do it?
Yeah, he asked for a week.
Gave us the same old
bonus pitch.
You should have taken it.
What do you mean?
You know
he's just liable to do it,
bring it in
all by himself.
And l don't know
whether l'm gonna let him
get the last laugh on me
or not!
What?
After all the work we did,
we ought to have
some of the glory
of bringing in
the first offshore well.
Do you really think there's a
chance of coming in this week?
The samples are looking
better every day.
MacDONALD: Fellows,
l'll up that bonus to
$300 a man, if we come in.
Look, what's one
pay check?
All you do is toss it
into a crap game anyway.
l'm for staying.
Anybody else?
lf you can take what he just
gave you and still back him,
l don't guess
l got any complaints.
Yeah, yeah! And l just remembered
that 20 clams you owe me!
So l think l'll just
stick around and collect.
How about
the rest of you?
Another week won't kill me.
l'll stay.
Yeah!
All right, let's get
up there and go to work.
Hey, Steve!
l hear you're
looking for a crew!
Hard work and low wages.
That's right.
Well this is it!
The cheapest bunch
you'll ever find!
Are we hired?
Let's go, boys. Let's
get this mess cleaned up.
Could you use
another crewman, Steve?
Think the board of directors
will approve?
Of course they won't.
That's what's gonna
make it more enjoyable.
Okay, you're hired.
Gambi, you take care
of things here.
l'll go into the base
and get supplies and tools.
We'll be drilling again
by the time you get back.
Oh, Steve...
l'm not much of a guy
for apologies...
Did you really marry
that girl, Johnny?
Yeah, l did!
All right,
all right.
You know, l never thought
it would happen to me.
l'm stuck and l love it,
but maybe you don't know
how it is, huh?
What do you mean,
l don't know how it is?
Maybe l do!
All right, all right.
All right. All right.
See you later.
Stella, l don't know,
maybe we should go back.
You have nothing
to go back to.
Don't let Dad wreck your
life. He has no right to.
Maybe he won't.
Maybe he'll get used
to the marriage.
No, there's no telling
what he'll do.
You've got to get out
of here. Now, hurry.
Mr. Martin!
Well...
You sure surprised
everybody, didn't you?
Congratulations.
Thank you.
l think it's fine.
Maybe this is the first step
in the oil business and
the town getting together.
Oh, no.
No, you're wrong.
lt's worse than ever.
Dad won't stop until he gets
the marriage annulled.
He's sending me away
tomorrow morning.
That's why l came.
To ask you if...
lf you'd take me
out to Johnny.
ls your sister
behind this?
Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
There wasn't
anything else to do.
l don't have any place to go.
Okay. Come on aboard.
Right over there.
All right, let's go.
You stay here.
l'll hunt him up for you.
Hey, Max, where's Gambi?
lnside the mudpit.
An intake valve clogged up.
What's up?
l was hoping
you'd get here for this.
Now we got shrimp.
They're clogging
the valves.
And these shrimp-chasers are
complaining 'cause they can't find any.
Are there a lot of them
in the valves?
Not too many tonight,
but underneath the barge
the water's thick with them.
He says it's been
for the past three nights,
but we've never had any
trouble on the day shift.
Hey!
l was thinking
the same thing.
Well, you suppose the
shrimpers know about this?
lt might improve relations
if you told them.
Oh, no, you mean
getting them to listen
to an oil man telling them
how to catch shrimp.
No, no.
Things are rough enough.
Say, speaking
of relations,
l brought you a wedding present. Huh?
Yeah, a kind of original
present, too. Your wife.
You can have my quarters.
Are you leveling?
Yeah, l eloped for you.
She's right outside
in the boat.
l'll thank you later.
Oh, darling!
Come on. l'll show you
our new home.
We're making history.
First honeymoon on first
offshore drilling barge.
Listen to me,
my friends.
All of you,
listen to me.
You all know that
from the beginning of all
this trouble with the oil men,
l have talked of peace.
Everything l have done has
been legal and honorable.
But tonight
that is finished.
What has happened?
They have taken Francesca.
Taken the last thing l have.
My two daughters
have turned against me.
My family is gone.
And what has happened to me
will happen to others.
Unless we go out, the whole
town, every man, every boat,
to bring Francesca back
to show these people
they can't do that to us.
Julian, you have
four daughters.
What about them?
Maurice, your Evangeline
is 18 years old.
We're with you,
Dominique.
Yes, we're with you.
What are we waiting for?
They've killed our fish. They
will take everything from us!
lt must be
the whole town.
Tell every man.
Go home, get weapons.
Every man. Every boat.
You're through fighting
the oil men, Teche?
Yeah.
We know now that our people
are acting like children.
That fighting's going to bring
more trouble and more trouble.
We finally learned that,
didn't we?
l don't think about
trouble anymore.
l only think about Phillipe.
That was the end
of the fighting for me.
Then why don't you do the
rest of the town a favor?
Go out and tell Steve
what's happening.
Me go out there?
They'll throw me
to the fish.
Maybe you
can stop it, Teche.
l know something!
Steve Martin's
an understanding man
when he has
the facts straight.
l think you
could be friends.
Friends?
What are you talking about?
Well, he said from the
beginning that he wanted to be.
Well, he could've had you
arrested but he didn't.
What do you think
that means?
That he doesn't care about
anything else but his oil!
No, Teche. That he
doesn't want enemies.
Nobody does.
Look what hate
did to Phillipe.
To the crazy men
who just left here.
Look what it
did to you.
Why don't you go out
to the rig?
Show him that at least one person
around here knows the difference
between right and wrong.
You were the first one
to know, Stella.
All right,
l'll tell him.
l'll tell him
about Phillipe, too.
What about you?
l love him, Teche.
You know,
l don't think
l'll marry you, anyway.
My kids are going to
be fishermen,
not oil drillers.
Friend of yours
wants to see you.
Uh-oh.
Take over, will you?
Well?
You're going to have
more trouble.
What did you have in mind
this time?
l have nothing
to do with it.
l came to
tell you about it.
lt's about Francesca.
Dominique has talked the
whole town into coming out.
You better get your men
away from here.
You came out here
to warn me?
Sure.
These people
are like children.
Stella and me,
we have brains enough
to know what's
right from wrong.
She know you're here?
Yeah. She talk to me
about that night.
Yeah, l'll bet!
What's the matter
with you?
She didn't know Phillipe
and l were coming out.
You got no time to
dream now, Mr. Moneybags.
You better get your men
away from here quick.
Hey, come with me a minute.
l want to ask your advice
about something.
Come on!
All of you! Come on!
We're having some trouble
with the pumps here,
l just wanted to show you.
Let's see. Here.
You ever see one as big
as that? What is that?
Are you crazy?
That's the Golden Shrimp.
The Golden Shrimp?
Do you know
how we can get rid of them?
Get rid of them?
What're you talking about?
We've been looking
for these shrimp for years.
We know they're around here,
but we can never find them.
Well, l wish you could
locate them for us.
You see,
they keep fouling up
these intake valves
of ours every night.
Of course, if they start
showing up in the daytime,
we got a real problem
on our hands.
But they don't do that.
They're just at night.
Not in the daytime.
l just thought
you'd be interested.
See what you can
do for me, will you?
What a dumb oil man.
Quite a
task force!
l guess you might call
this our wedding reception.
Yeah.
They are like
crazy men!
You are going to have
plenty of trouble, all right.
Why don't
you and l leave, Johnny?
We could stop it
if we did, Steve.
Now, don't worry
about it.
You just stay right here.
Stay here.
Max.
Call the men on the barge.
Get them up here!
Johnny, get up
this ramp here.
Be sure the men
watch both ladders.
Right.
Whatever happens, keep
drilling. Keep drilling, Johnny.
Okay.
l'll go down,
and try to talk to them.
Come on, boys. Hurry up!
Get up on the platform.
All right.
Take up the ramp.
Come on. Come on.
All right.
Come up with this one.
Get off the barge, Rigaud.
This is private property.
We're prepared
to defend it.
Put Francesca off
and we'll go.
lf you keep her,
we'll tear this platform
apart to get her back!
She's here to stay
and so are we.
l thought you were
a peaceful man, Dominique.
l want my daughter.
Your daughter's
safe and sound right here
where she belongs
with her husband.
There'll be no marriage.
There's been
a marriage.
lt's a good marriage
and a happy one.
We came for Francesca.
Now, l know
you've had hard times,
but we won't hurt you.
We never will.
You and l ought to
be friends, Dominique.
We have the same
kind of a job.
You look for one thing
here in the Gulf.
l'm looking
for something else.
That's the only difference.
That's the only difference.
All right, now. You may put
me out of business, all of you.
But that isn't important.
The important thing is that
there's oil under this gulf,
and we need it.
Everybody needs it.
You need it.
Without oil, this country
of ours would stop!
And start to die.
And you'd die.
Now, it doesn't make any
difference what you do to me.
Dominique, you can't
stop progress.
Nobody can.
GAMBl: Just keep on drilling.
You heard what Steve said.
Just keep her going.
Why, there's going to be
hundreds of...
There's gonna be
hundreds of rigs,
just like this,
all over the Gulf.
Pull up that kelly,
she's gonna blow!
This is gonna be the richest
oilfield in the world!
There she blows!
There she blows!
There she is!
Hey, Steve!
Get a load of this!
There she is!
lt's a good thing this town
has one fisherman with brains.
Teche Bossier will teach you
how to catch the Golden Shrimp.
You come out with me tonight,
l'll show you something.
There are thousands,
millions, enough for all of us.
But it took Teche Bossier
to find them.
Francesca.
Father.
l'll do my best
to make her happy.
So you found your oil
at the bottom of the ocean.
l hope we've found
friends, too, Dominique.
Hey, Moneybags.
You better hurry.
Stella left.
She's waiting for the bus.
l told her
l didn't want to marry her
so she's on her way
to New Orleans.
My truck is over there.
Here is the key.
You better hurry up
before l change my mind.
Do you have any
particular place to go
or are you open
to suggestions?
l don't have any place to go.
Yes, you have.
l promise it'll be
better this time, too.
Come on.
Hold it.
Another shell?
Yeah.
lf you hadn't blown our mustering-out
pay on this hare-brained idea,
you might've had
a new pair of shoes.
Me, too.
Two million dollars. Can't
be done for a penny less.
lf you can promote one
Confederate two-bit piece,
l'll kiss you
in Yankee Stadium.
You really think
your man will show?
He said he would.
Well, if he does,
he'll miss us.
We're not gonna walk
any 20 miles in one hour.
Yeah? We'll run, then.
Where you going?
Only one place you can go
on this road, Port Felicity.
Good. We're late
for an appointment.
Do you think you could
speed this thing up,
or should we get
somebody else?
Please.
Thanks, my friend.
l'd appreciate the lift.
lt's worth $5 to us if you
can get us to town by 2:00.
Okay? Thank you.
$5 to go 20 miles
in one hour.
Foreigners.
Entertainment. Can you
juggle or anything like that?
We might pick up
a few bucks.
l can imitate
a movie star.
l'd rather go hungry.
Now, you go rent a boat.
Take good care of the jewels. Give
me that. See you in a few minutes.
Nice, clean boat
you got, skipper.
She's good to me
and l'm good to her.
Yours, huh?
For a long time.
How is the shrimp haul
this season?
Some years is good,
some years is bad.
This year, terrible.
That's too bad. Would you
like to rent your boat?
Rent my boat? For what?
A partner of mine is in town.
Wants to look around, maybe
take a spin on the Gulf.
We'll give you $50
for the day.
This partner of yours
give $50 just to look around?
Oh, he's a big money man.
He's interested in making
an investment around here.
Oh, but there's nothing here
but fish.
What kind of an investment?
A fish cannery?
That all depends upon
how he reacts to the place.
We have no fish cannery here.
lt would be a good thing.
lt would save me
lot of time and money,
hauling my fish and shrimp
to New Orleans.
l would like to
meet this man.
Well, that's fine, skipper.
That's fine.
Now,
have you got some deck chairs
we can put out here?
Deck chairs?
Yeah.
Dress the place up a little
bit. Make a good impression.
But there's no room for
chairs on a shrimp boat.
Skip it.
Well! Mr. Martin!
Come aboard! Come aboard!
See if you approve!
This is your partner?
Yeah.
This is Mr. Steven Martin. l
don't believe l got your name.
l am Dominique Rigaud.
Mr. Rigaud.
Well, it's a pleasure.
Yes, sir, l'm very glad all
of us ran into each other.
You know, this just might be
the most important day
in the history
of Port Felicity.
Smaller places than this
have been put on the map
just because some very shrewd
investor comes in and, and...
And...
Ah, Stella!
This is my daughter, my beautiful
girl and the best sailor in Port.
This is Mr. Martin.
How do you do?
l didn't get your name.
Johnny Gambi.
What's all this about, Dad?
l have rented the boat to
them. $50 just for today.
And this one wants to
make an investment.
Where is the $50?
Hmm?
Well, miss, we...
We haven't got to talk
about the money yet, Stella.
With his kind, you don't talk
about money, you ask to see it.
You don't talk about investments,
you check Dun & Bradstreet.
That's my daughter.
She's got her head
on her shoulders, for sure.
She spent three years
in Chicago.
Oh.
Where is the $50?
Why, miss, are you suggesting
we're not good for it?
Yes.
Uh-huh.
Well...
Do you hear that?
Yeah.
Right on time. Come on.
Here he comes.
There he is.
He did come.
There's our investor.
And just in time, too.
Yeah.
You think this a lie?
Could be loaded
with them.
We'll cast off the lines.
You get underway.
Think you can remember how to
handle a stern line, boatswain?
l'm more at home on light
cruisers but l'll try.
Yeah.
Where did you get
all your man-training, pigeon?
ln the hardest school
there is, professor.
So stop trying
to thrill me.
Hey, give me a lift out
to that seaplane, will you?
Got to meet your fellow.
Gambi, take her downriver,
l'll bring him aboard!
All clear, aft. Let's go!
Hey, foreigner.
Where is that $5?
Nobody around here makes
a promise to Teche Bossier
and don't live up to it.
Where is the $5?
Where is the $5?
When you come ashore, l'll
take $10 out of your hide!
What did he say?
Oh, he was just
wishing us luck.
Mr. MacDonald?
Yeah.
l'm Steve Martin.
Glad to see you.
How are you? Climb aboard.
Mr. Rawlings.
Mr. Rawlings, how are you?
Yes. How do you do?
Where do l meet you?
Why don't
you anchor right here?
We're going for a boat ride.
Be back in a few hours.
Okay.
All right.
Over to that boat there.
This is my partner, Johnny
Gambi. Hello, Johnny.
Hello, Mr. MacDonald.
Mr. Rawlings,
my private secretary.
Come aboard,
Mr. Rawlings.
He protects my interests.
Uh-huh.
Skipper, head for the Gulf.
Well, Mr. Martin, your persistence
has won out. Here we are.
Now, what is this you couldn't
discuss on the telephone?
Well, Mr. MacDonald, l know your
company is in a lot of trouble,
and l think
we can help you.
Oh, you think that,
do you?
l know that
MacDonald lndustries
has invested $400,000
in an offshore oil lease,
and in three months you're gonna
have to put $200,000 more into it,
or you're gonna lose
the lease.
l also know that
you've invested $500,000
in a converted LST to be
used as a drilling barge.
You've got two air-sea
rescue boats and a tug,
and they're all going to
waste up in New Orleans.
Did you let me
do all that?
Why, Mr. MacDonald,
l've been trying to tell you,
l mean, this is precisely
what the board of directors
has been complaining about.
How much did all this
confidential information
cost you, Mr. Martin?
All of our
mustering-out pay.
Get the jewel box.
Now, so far,
nobody's been able to come
up with a drilling platform
that'll pass the specifications
of the insurance company.
Well, we've got
one right here.
Now, let's...
Let's say that this
is the floor of the Gulf.
Now here is the platform that
will do the trick for you.
Prefabricated templates,
built ashore
and brought out
to sea by barge,
and put on
the floor of the Gulf.
Now we anchor them
by these permanent pilings,
driven right down through
these verticals, like this.
Drive them down 10, 20,
30, 35 feet,
into the floor of the gulf,
makes it solid as a rock.
Now the insurance companies
have a big worry in this thing.
Storm damage.
Where's that history?
Here.
Here's a history of the Gulf's
storms from 1899 to 1945.
Now my platform
and the rig,
they're built to stand
the worst of these storms.
Not the average, the worst
of any of these storms.
And the insurance companies
have okayed the plans.
You collected
all these figures?
You sort of took a lease on a
dream of mine, Mr. MacDonald.
l know that that Gulf
out there is hiding enough oil
to make an inland field
dry up in shame.
Johnny Gambi and l
can get it out for you,
if you'll just give us
the go-ahead.
What do you think, Rawlings?
Mr. MacDonald,
of course l'm not,
but if l were in your place, l'd go
along with the board of directors,
take the loss,
and proceed with much
more caution in the future.
Yeah, but why take the loss when l
can turn it into a profit for you?
Profit?
l had Rawlings
check your record, Martin.
We found the word "profit"
conspicuous by its total absence.
Well, yes, l've had a little
bad luck every once in a while.
And all
on offshore operations.
Well, lots of times you
can learn more from failure
than you can from success.
You ought to know that,
Mr. MacDonald.
You've done a lot of
wildcatting in your day.
Don't you
agree with me?
Fortunately, in my position,
l can forget my failures.
Let me see that list,
Rawlings.
l see.
1938, Mexican coast, failed.
Oh, yeah, well,
there's no
government cooperation.
There was sort of shaky
financing there, too, you know...
1939, Guatemala, failed.
Yeah.
Well, there's...
There was a revolution.
How are you gonna drill oil when
you got a revolution on your hands?
1940, Venezuela, failed.
Yeah.
Well, l...
l didn't know how to handle
hurricanes then. l do, now.
Then you stayed out of trouble
the next five years,
probably because
you were in the Navy.
Yeah, in spite of which
we won the war,
isn't that right?
Well, yes.
Now would you
please just sit down
and enjoy
the Louisiana scenery.
l got something to show you.
lt won't take long.
Where are we going?
We're going 26 miles
out to sea.
Now, just... Just make
yourselves comfortable.
DOMlNlQUE: Mr. Martin,
we're just about
over the spot you wanted.
All right, skipper. Hold
her up here for a while.
Well, this is it.
Right in the heart
of your lease.
But why here?
Come over here
a minute.
Mr. MacDonald...
Now look down there.
All you can see is water,
but if you dream real hard,
you can smell the oil.
There. Can't you smell it?
Maybe you've got
a better nose than l have.
Maybe you've been cooped up
in that office too long.
Twenty years ago
l'll bet you could smell it in the
middle of a wheat field in Oklahoma.
Mr. MacDonald...
The only difference here
is 48 feet of water,
and my platform
will take care of that.
Mr. MacDonald...
This is something brand new.
Nobody ever wildcatted
like this before
and that oil is down there
waiting for us.
How much would it cost?
With what you've got
invested already, $1 million.
Another million?
Why, we could drill
30 wells on land for that.
There's $2 billion
in oil down there.
Mr. MacDonald, for your
own good, you can't do this.
You know what
the board is saying.
They're blaming you for
this whole fiasco as it is,
and there isn't a chance of
their voting you any more money.
When can you start?
When? Tomorrow.
Today.
Mr. MacDonald, you say
l protect your interests.
Then why won't
you listen to me?
Why don't you sit down
someplace?
Maybe you and the board will learn
something about the oil business.
You heard
the man, junior.
Place it where
it won't get kicked.
As you can gather
from Rawlings,
the board thinks
l was a little off
for even coming down
to meet you.
l came because l had the
same kind of dream you had.
You've got three months, but if
you don't bring in a well by then,
the company will be looking
for a new president.
We'll keep you
president.
What did you see down there?
The Golden Shrimp?
No, no,
just some dirty, old oil.
Well, come on.
Let's get back to port.
We got work to do.
Come on.
l'll have
$500,000 deposited
in our New Orleans bank
for you.
lt'll be there in the
morning. That's fine.
Gambi and l'll
be over there tonight.
Get things moving
in right away.
Mr. Martin.
Yeah?
There was some
mention of $50.
$50?
The boat.
Oh!
Oh, the...
Yes, the...
Do you have my wallet?
Seem to have
lost the wallet.
You cheap,
lying fakes.
Now, wait a minute, miss.
We have a...
What's the matter,
Stella?
Did moneybags
cheat you, too?
Look at him and answer that.
He's even run out of talk.
For that l think l'll
take $20 out of your hide.
Did you want that advance
in cash or by check, Martin?
Well, l think maybe cash would
save a few hospital bills.
Would $300
last you until tomorrow?
$300?
l think we can
squeeze through on that.
Let's see. Five.
One, two, three,
four, five.
Fifty for you.
Ten, twenty...
You ought to have more faith
in people. Thirty, forty...
Mr. MacDonald, l don't wish
to overstep my position,
but l just can't
understand this.
Why, these men are nothing
but penniless wastrels.
You've never been one,
have you, Rawlings?
Never had to talk yourself
out of a jam.
Never had the privilege
of gambling your last
penny on a dream.
l feel sorry for you.
You lost a lot of education
by going to college.
Well, perhaps...
And l'll tell you
another thing.
lf this penniless wastrel
hadn't called me,
l would've looked him up,
because l know he's the
only man in the country
that can lick
this offshore problem.
l'm going with him
all the way.
Thank you, Mr. MacDonald.
lt's all right.
l've been there myself.
Yeah?
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Good luck to you, Gambi.
Seems to me we've already had our share.
You'll need more.
So long.
There's a real one, pal.
Yeah.
But that one small point you
sort of tossed away worries me.
What's that?
The fact that nobody can do a
job like this in three months.
How do you know?
Nobody ever tried it.
Hey, Julius, what kind
of boats are those?
Look like a Navy LS and a couple of crash boats.
You gonna have
another war already?
lt's a little classier
than our first arrival.
New shoes and everything.
A whole blasted navy.
That's pretty good going
for two weeks,
from con man
to commodore.
We even got
a welcoming committee.
We're gonna have to have another
boat for that seismograph work.
You try and round up
Dominique's. All right.
l'll arrange for the mooring
for all these things.
All we need is
a bigger river.
Dominique!
Hey, Dominique.
He's not aboard.
All of a sudden, l don't care.
But does he have a corner on
all the beautiful dames in town?
What do you mean?
Why, you're the second one
that's popped out of that cabin.
Who are you?
The younger daughter,
Francesca.
Francesca.
lt's a pleasure.
l'm Johnny Gambi.
Oh, the oil man.
Father spoke of you.
lf it was a bad report,
it's a pack of lies.
Do you know
where l can find him?
l want to rent
his boat again.
Payment in advance
this time.
That's an improvement.
l was just leaving
to meet him.
lf you want me
to show you the way.
There.
l don't have to answer
that, do l? Where to?
La Bonne Chance.
The best this place can do
in the way of a night club.
La Bonne Chance?
Honey, with you in it, it's
gonna look like The Stork Club.
What's he got to sing about?
He sings about love.
You think
the whole world stops
just because
the shrimp go bye-bye?
l have nine kids
to feed and a dog.
What's the matter?
Doesn't your wife eat, too?
Ah, that's no time
for joking.
No more shrimp,
l gonna give it up.
For what?
You can't go in a monastery
with nine kids and a dog.
l can get job someplace.
Sephalu, you don't mean
what you say.
Yes, l do.
You would die
if you leave this place.
You belong here.
We've had bad times before.
Keep looking, Sephalu.
All of us will keep looking,
and one day we'll find the
Golden Shrimp. This big.
Oh, no. This big.
And then
we'll have good times.
l look for them
since l was this high.
Now l look for job.
That's enough, Sephalu,
that's enough.
Hey, Louis!
Two more beers!
You are just afraid
to look at the truth.
And don't complain while
you drink beer on my credit.
Your credit has this cuff so
full there is no more room.
Then buy yourself
another shirt
and put it on my cuff.
No more shirts.
No more credit.
l'm a poor man, too.
l think he means that.
l do.
But, Louis,
l'm thirsty.
All right.
Who wants to get
in the circle with me?
Huh?
Anybody?
Loser pays for the beer.
Toups, how about you?
Polo, do you want to try?
Campagna?
Antoine,
do you want to try?
l think l do.
All right.
Antoine is going to fight
Teche Bossier.
Having fun?
Hey, foreigner,
you come back, huh?
Yeah. To stay a while
this time, l hope.
Are you all right?
Pay no attention to him!
lt's just a friendly,
little game that we play.
Game?
Knocking your sheriff
around, a game?
He's only half sheriff. The other
half, he's bartender with no pay.
He's a cousin
to the owner.
Come on.
Father's in the back room.
Hey, foreigner,
you really mean you're going
to look for oil out in the Gulf?
Starting in the morning.
Well, Mr. Gambi,
you're with us again.
How are you, Dominique?
And l see
you have met Francesca.
l wouldn't have missed it
for the world.
We were old friends
in 30 seconds.
How are you,
pigeon?
Have you met
my sister's fianc?
Oh.
You didn't tell me
l had competition already.
Down here we get engaged
before we're born.
Oh, one of those kind.
l think we remember each
other from that $5 truck ride.
Let's not
go through that again.
Johnny...
Mr. Gambi
wants to rent our boat.
Yeah. Same price.
For a week, maybe more.
No.
We won't rent our boat.
But, Stella,
$50 a day.
We don't want anything
from him. Not for $100.
Hey, you rent
my boat, then.
lt's a better one
anyway.
Well, Dominique's got
first chance.
Don't do it, Dad.
But why not?
They're going to
cause trouble.
The trouble
is only in her head.
l take a chance
for $50 a day.
l didn't come here to argue.
lt's a deal, Teche.
You got a good boat. And
Phillipe here, a good crew.
Come on,
l'll buy you a drink.
Hey, Louis!
Three on the cuff.
No more cuffs.
What's the matter with her?
She needs a good man,
but l won't marry her
until she asks me.
You people sure go for
marriage, don't you?
Why not?
lt makes it nice for the kids, don't it?
Three on the cuff.
l'll buy.
Set them up for the house,
Louis. Drinks for everybody.
The oil men
have come to town!
How much of a job
you got left?
l'm almost through
on this boat.
Where's the one
Gambi went after?
l wish l knew.
l didn't think anybody could
get lost in a town this size.
Might have found something
to get lost with.
Yeah.
Yeah, well,
it's a little early,
but l'd better go and find
out. l'll see you later.
Come on, gusher!
Set them up again, Louis!
Everybody, drink!
No, now, you been
buying drinks all night.
Now it's my turn.
Louis, this round is on me.
You thankless uncle. All
right, l'll tell you what.
l win the drinks from you.
What do you think of that?
Who cares?
Just so we drink.
All right, you get
in the circle with me.
ln the circle?
Come on.
l win,
you buy the round
and l save my pride.
And if l win, we go dry?
Don't worry, my friend.
l take care of that,
all right.
You're liable
to get hurt, Johnny.
Watch me.
l didn't teach judo
in the service for nothing.
Where do you want me
to throw him?
You are my friend.
You ready?
Ready.
Are you having fun?
l'm spreading good will.
You look it.
Did you get a boat?
Sure, l did.
Best boat in the river.
Mine.
Glad to see you back.
We're not mad at each other. Just a
friendly little game we're playing.
Yeah, relax, sweetheart.
We haven't had
a night off in two weeks.
Come on, come on,
meet the people.
lt's the finest bunch
of fishermen you ever saw.
And this...
This is Francesca.
She's pledged to Bayard,
as they say down here,
but l'm not so sure
he's gonna get her.
Come on. Come on.
l've been telling her l'm
gonna plaster her with mink,
and set her up
in a 10-mile-high penthouse.
She'd outshine
the Statue of Liberty.
Oh, your friend
is crazy, Mr. Martin.
Have you ever seen
a penthouse, baby?
Stay away from her!
What's the matter
with you?
lt's only in fun.
Stay away from him, Fran.
He'll hurt you
if you don't.
Stella, they are
our friends.
Friends.
Because they feed you drinks?
l thought you'd have
brains enough to see them
for what
they really are, Teche.
They're selling themselves with
this party. They're buying the town.
They'll spoil everything
they touch.
Oil crews with their filthy
men and their filthy money.
l thought l had a clean
place to come home to,
but if they stay they'll make
it as filthy rotten as they are.
l'm sorry. How can you talk like this?
Because l know.
Three years away from here taught
me plenty about men like these.
Buy and sell, anything you
want, anything you've got.
l don't want to hear
any more.
Well you're going to hear. l
don't care what you think of me,
but you must believe
that l know their kind.
l learned.
You don't think
l sent $100 a month home
on secretary's pay,
do you?
Maybe now you'll believe me.
Hey, wait a minute!
Now we're not in business
to break up your family.
Gambi didn't mean
anything in there.
He just had a little too
much to drink, that's all.
Didn't mean anything? Well,
maybe it didn't to him.
But what do you think
it meant to Francesca?
Words she's never
heard before
from the kind of man she
doesn't know anything about.
All right, l'll keep him away from her.
The only way to stop it is
for you to get out of town.
Well that'd only mean
another crew would come in.
There's oil out there,
somebody's got to get it.
Now you may not
believe this right now,
but this is gonna be good
for your town
and it's gonna be good
for the people.
Oh, listen.
Why does there have to be this
sort of trouble between us?
Don't touch me.
Don't ever touch me.
That's quite a chick!
Yeah.
Yeah.
You all set?
Hey, did you get married yet?
Lay off.
lt was only a joke.
Morning.
How do you like this?
Teche Bossier,
the oil baron.
What are those things?
They're geophones.
They're worth a small fortune,
so take good care of them.
Sure, like babies.
How do you find oil
with them?
Well, they record the vibrations
from the bottom of the gulf.
You just keep listening
to the radio,
l'll let you know
what's going on.
Get your boat started
and follow us out, huh?
First time anybody ever told
me what to do with my own boat.
But for money
l think l'll like it.
Stella, it's not good
that a father and daughter
don't talk.
You didn't mean
what you said, Stella.
About those men,
about yourself.
You always say things you don't
mean since you were a little girl.
l wish there were some way
l could take it all back.
Look.
l think you were wrong.
l think Teche will be richer
than we are tonight.
Teche! Teche!
Hello, Dominique!
All right, let it go.
Mac One to Big Bossier.
You have your geophones
strung out?
l string them out
prettier than pearls.
Yeah? Okay, that's fine.
Mac One to Mac Two.
Mac Two.
We just marked our last
location. How are you set now?
Are you ready
to drop your charges?
Yeah.
All right,
you can go ahead anytime.
Okay.
Drop one.
There she goes.
Mamma mia! The shrimp beds.
The shrimp beds!
The shrimp beds!
No!
Hey!
Don't you know
there are shrimp down there?
What does it mean?
Don't they know
they're killing the shrimp?
The town's not enough.
They've got to ruin
the whole bay.
You blow up the shrimp!
Turn around.
We stay here no more.
We go back to the river.
What's the matter
with that clown?
Hey! Swing around.
Catch up with that tub.
Turn back! Turn back!
You'll get us killed!
Hey! What's the matter
with you? Are you crazy?
You're fouling up
those cables!
You didn't tell me you were
going to blow up the gulf!
Well, what do you think l'm
recording? That bellow of yours?
That dynamite
will kill the shrimp.
Oh, those shrimp
were built
to stand 50 times
the force of those blasts.
You think l'm ignorant enough
to believe that? Huh?
We're starving now because
there are not enough shrimp.
They hear about this
in Port Felicity,
you'll be lucky
to get out of here alive.
Come on, pull up this thing!
Pull up the bow here!
We'll pick up this gear!
You'll pick it up,
all right.
Oh, you want to play rough
with Teche Bossier, huh?
All right.
Drop it.
Go fish your friend out!
Charlie?
How much of a job is there
to fix that?
That's a pretty mean job.
All right, let's get all this
equipment on our boat and go to work.
Looks like you blew up
some of that good will
l was spreading last night.
Yeah, maybe all of it.
Teche, what do you mean helping
those guys dynamite the bay?
Help them, huh?
You don't hear no more
bombs, do you? Huh? Why?
Because Teche Bossier wrecked
their gear, that's why.
Ask him.
That's right.
But they go back
for more gear.
We'll have the same thing
tomorrow.
Listen, my friends,
Stella was right last night.
These men are no good. They
spoil everything they touch.
We'll have a meeting
at Louis'.
We've got to stop this thing
before it goes anymore.
Why you get so wet?
l was so mad
when l see those bombs,
l jumped over
to cool off!
l don't cool off no more.
Not until we take care
of the oil men.
Come on!
Let's go.
Yeah, he fouled up
all the geophone cables.
Had to stop
the whole operation.
Come in.
But we got
the equipment repaired
and we'll try it again
tomorrow.
Yeah, l'm gonna
take out enough dynamite
for about 40 shots,
so l think...
Yeah, l'll call you
tomorrow night, Mac. Bye.
Well, good evening.
l see you're getting ready
to dynamite our shrimp again.
Oh, now, listen, that
dynamiting doesn't do any harm.
lf it hurt the shrimp,
l'd stop it.
Look,
will you please tell me
how l can get along
with this town?
Do you think
l'm the one to do that?
Yes, l think you could
if you tried.
l think you're doing a
wonderful job all by yourself.
You really kicked them in
the stomach today, didn't you?
Well, they can kick back.
They're on their way here now.
Oh?
l'm surprised you came over.
l wanted to bring you
the news myself.
l want to see what happens
when somebody like you gets
kicked around for a change.
Say, what's your trouble?
Who hurt you?
You're a lot like him.
You say that. You don't
know anything about me.
All right. Why don't you
go out with your friends?
l'll show you
some fireworks.
You aren't going to leave
here without getting hurt.
l've waited 10 years
to get here.
l think l'll stick around,
if you don't mind.
Thanks a lot for coming
over, though. l've enjoyed it.
You'd do anything,
wouldn't you?
Yeah, if l have to.
All right, that's far enough!
Stay where you are.
Nobody back down!
We got to stick together.
We'll stop them from
killing our shrimps! Come on.
Keep going. Keep going.
l said stay where you are!
Now you've got no reason
to come out here like this.
Nothing we do will spoil
the fish or the town.
All he talks is lies.
Come on!
Come on!
Sure, let's go.
Now start backing
out of here
or the next one lands
right in the middle of you!
You kill our shrimp
with your bombs.
Now you want to do the same
thing to the people, huh?
This fuse lasts about
20 seconds. Now, go on.
Don't anybody move!
He won't let
that thing go off!
Fifteen seconds.
l'm telling you, oil's gonna
do good things for this place.
More money in your stores.
Lots of jobs for some of you,
if you want them.
Teche, l told you
this was the wrong way.
There are peaceful ways.
Let's get our people
out of here.
Ten seconds!
We've got no reason
to fight each other,
but if you make me,
l will.
Some time, l'll catch you
without your bombs.
Now, beat it!
Do you need any help?
Well, l'm not getting
any from you.
Say, how many times do l have to
tell you to stay away from her?
Now wait a minute.
On company time,
you tell me what to do.
Not on my own.
Things are bad enough
as they are, Johnny.
Will you please not
make them any worse?
Now look, miss,
l think it would be better
for everybody concerned
if you went back
to your people.
l'll handle this.
All right, all right.
All right.
Look, baby, we've evidently
had a little trouble.
You run along home
for now, huh?
All right, Johnny.
Good night.
Good night.
We'll get along fine,
as long as you don't start
throwing your weight around.
l need a tool-pusher
with his head still on.
You're gonna get yours
knocked off,
if you don't
stay away from her.
Now go home
and get some sleep.
l'm sorry to
disappoint you.
l want to thank you.
You want to thank me?
You have tried to keep your
friend away from my sister.
l said l would,
didn't l?
But tell me,
just who are you afraid
for, her or yourself?
l hate to complain,
but it's after 3:00.
ln fact, if we hurry we might
just get back in time to get up.
We've still got half an hour
of moonlight. Let's use it.
You know,
l'm getting awful sick
of doing things
the hard way.
Well, we got two more
months to go on this job.
We don't have
much choice.
You'll have the crew down
with combat fatigue
if you don't give them
some rest.
Mr. Martin.
Well, what're you doing around
here without your local army?
l am a peaceful man, Mr.
Martin. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is Mr. Parker
from the Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries.
We just got in
from the state capitol.
This, Mr. Martin, is a
cease-and-desist injunction
against the dynamiting you've
been doing in these waters.
lt supersedes
any permits you have.
l see.
You know,
fish and shrimp
are among Louisiana's
chief natural resources.
We plan to launch
a thorough investigation
to determine if any damage has
been caused by your dynamiting.
Of course, that'll
take about two months.
You're a little late.
How're we late?
l finished dynamiting
at 1:00 this morning.
We've picked out
a drilling site.
So, in the future,
l hope you'll give us the
same conscientious protection.
Because, as l recall,
oil is also one of this
state's great natural resources.
Hmm?
There you are.
Hey, Steve!
Gambi, there's your crew.
Hey, Gambi,
what do we do first?
Bail out the gulf
so we can get our rig up?
No, no, ain't you heard?
They're using a submarine.
Any likely dames
in this burg,
or shall we send home
for our own?
You mugs.
Well, Mac, hello.
Gambi,
glad to see you.
What will happen
to us now?
Progress is not
without faults, my friend.
Hey, Mac!
Well, l wasn't expecting you.
Kind of rough down here
for an office man, isn't it?
You wouldn't think so if you had
to face that board every morning.
They tell me you and l are
ruining the company. Are we?
Don't you believe it. l've
got something to show you.
l got something to show...
All right, get them
started on that pipe, Gambi.
All right, boys.
You asked for work, and believe
me, you came to the right place.
Take them down
to the shack, Bob,
and let them
drop their gear.
Hey, we're with you, Gambi!
You're sure getting your
money's worth out of that one.
He's driven the seismograph
crew day and night,
and here we go again.
Be honest with me, Gambi.
Do you think we can do it
with less than 60 days to go?
Oh, l'm not gonna
pull out on him.
l'll stick as long as
there's a chance.
Well, he's fighting a lot
of things in this town.
lf there aren't
any more delays
and if he gets a few
good breaks for a change,
and if he doesn't
kill himself,
along with a few of the
rest of us, he might make it.
Come on, Gambi!
Quit stalling!
See what l mean?
We got ourselves a location.
Here, l'll show you
what we're gonna do.
Gambi seems to think you got
a slim chance of making it.
What do you mean,
slim chance?
Making it's right on the last
page of this schedule of ours
right there
in black and white.
Now, look, we're gonna start
out with two 12-hour shifts.
Now here's the...
Hey, wait a minute there!
Don't run away.
l'll be right down.
Gambi, come on, step it up!
Step it up!
Who do you think
you're talking to?
l've been working
my heart and soul out all day.
MacDONALD:
l'm proud of it, Steve.
You, Gambi, the whole crew
have done a whale of a job.
This is one time
l'm gonna enjoy
walking into
a board meeting.
This time
they'll listen to me.
Seems like we ought to
bust a bottle over her bow
or something like that.
Somebody ought to
break one over your head.
All you've accomplished
is the impossible.
Don't you think
we deserve a celebration?
Now you listen to me.
Way down below here, maybe 8,000
feet, there might be some oil.
We got 26 days to find out.
There's a drilling crew waiting
at the dock. You go get them.
l'll celebrate
by watching them work.
Why don't you let down
for a few hours?
All right, now, you know
where the pay office is,
but just before you resign,
you get somebody else
to bring that crew out, huh?
l'm not too far from
resigning at that, pal.
Come on, Mac.
You coming in?
You're not losing a friend, are you?
Who, Gambi?
l only worry about him
when he stops beefing.
Have a good trip.
So long, Steve.
Here, Gambi.
A hurricane warning.
Just came in.
A hurricane?
Why, that's the greatest news
l've had in two months.
Tie her up, boys.
A big wind's on the way.
No shift going out.
Take the night off.
You're not going out
for Steve?
Look, if it took
an act of God
to get a night off
on this job,
l'm not gonna
mess around with it.
Well, but will
he be all right?
Why sure. Besides, do you
think he'd pass up a chance
to ride out a blow
on that baby of his?
You couldn't drag him
off with a winch.
Come on, boys!
With an early start,
we'll out-howl
that hurricane!
Hey, Louis!
Yeah?
l'll have whiskey.
How does the sky look?
We'll have the wind
by midnight.
Did you find Francesca?
She wasn't at home
or on the boat.
What about Dominique?
Doesn't he know where she is?
l didn't have to ask. l
know where she is all right.
Teche, this year
l wish we have the
biggest wind in the world.
Ah, don't say that!
Big enough
to blow those oil men
and their steel and their
boats right out of here.
Louis!
Why don't you drown yourself
out in the gulf?
lt would be cheaper.
Hey, bartender, bring us
the tallest beer you got!
Phillipe, wait.
He's making
a cheap tramp out of her.
Baby, l'll get you a drink.
What do you drink?
Johnny, look out!
Let me through!
Antoine! Antoine! Antoine!
l'm ruined. Antoine!
Antoine, wake up,
l'm being wrecked.
Come on,
act like a sheriff.
Don't you hear the noise?
Would you let me
to be wrecked forever?
What's going on?
What's going on?
Don't you hear?
Those oil men downstairs
are wrecking my place up.
Come on, get down there
and stop them. Come on.
Hey, wait, wait! Your badge.
How can you be sheriff
without your badge?
Hey, knock it off!
Here comes the sheriff!
Now,
l think we've had just about
enough trouble from you oil people.
We came in here for a drink
and a little relaxation.
ls there any law
against that?
OlL MAN: Your people
started it, not ours.
We didn't ever have this kind
of trouble before you came.
l'm holding you responsible
for all this here destruction,
and l'm going to
keep you in jail
until my cousin, here,
gets his money.
You mean you're gonna
arrest us for this?
Yes, l am.
Now get marching
out of here.
You can't do this,
Antoine.
They didn't start it.
Phillipe did.
Keep out of it,
baby.
He said get marching
out of here.
He's losing his patience.
Well, what's the matter?
You guys act as though you'd
never been in jail before.
Let's go.
Come on, let's go!
You don't win all the time,
huh? Foreigner!
Francesca...
Get away from me.
l never want to
see you again.
l hate you,
and all the rest of you.
That's all right,
Phillipe.
She might change her mind,
and if she does she won't
let you drink with me anymore.
Hey, Louis! On the cuff.
NEWSCASTER..
And the entire coastline
from Galveston to Mobile
has been alerted.
All shipping has been advised
to avoid the area,
and residents have been warned to
expect winds up to 85 miles an hour.
What's the matter?
Nothing, l'm going to bed.
Did something happen?
Yes.
l was born in this horrible
town. That's what happened.
Feels more like a prison
every day.
lf l can't get out of it,
l might as well die!
l can't stand it
anymore.
You had the chance.
Why can't l?
Yeah.
l took the chance.
lf you'd been my older sister
three years ago
l'd have probably made
the same complaint to you.
l know l was thinking
the way you are.
l hated this town
and everything about it.
Well, if you understand,
why have you been acting
the way you have?
l'd do anything to keep you
from getting hurt like l was.
And l'd do anything
to get away.
Just because you made
mistakes, doesn't mean l would.
Johnny wants to marry me.
Does he, Fran?
Yes.
Or has he just said so?
Somebody like him
asked me, too,
and it made me happy
until l woke up one morning,
and found out
it was just another lie.
l know what it is
to want somebody
who's new and exciting.
The feeling you get
when he looks at you
and touches you.
But l'm way ahead of you.
l also know what happens
when it turns out to be empty.
Don't take a chance.
Stay with your own people.
lt's too late.
What do you mean?
l hate them.
l hate Phillipe and Teche.
l hate them all
and l told them so.
Where are you going?
You handle that boat
pretty good.
Afraid l can't say
the same
for the time and place
you picked to practice.
Didn't you hear there's
a big wind kicking up?
l heard.
l didn't think l could
make it back to the river.
That's why l came here.
lf you'll let me stay.
Sure, you can stay.
Right up on deck there.
You probably
won't believe this,
after all the things
l've said and done,
but l'm glad the storm gave me
a chance to come. l've wanted to.
ls that so?
This is more than just
a job to you, isn't it?
Sure it is. Sure.
Yeah, this is my baby.
l hope it rides out
that storm tonight,
like l promised it would.
Do you think it will?
l'll tell you
after it's over.
l hope this is the roughest, toughest
storm in the history of the world,
'cause that's the kind
l said this could beat.
Why are you doing it?
Will it make you rich?
Not especially.
Then why?
Oh, it's a challenge,
l guess.
Nobody had ever wrestled with
this particular spot in the world
before l came along,
so, l, you know...
Maybe
you don't know how oil was
formed millions of years ago.
lt was formed by things dying
and being held in the Earth.
Well now,
if l can reach down there,
and bring up the results of
all those millions of years,
and make them work for
the present and the future
then l've done something,
haven't l?
l'm going to put
all time together.
You understand what l mean?
ls there a chance
that you could tell me the
rest over a cup of coffee?
There isn't any more.
l mean there isn't
any more speech.
There's plenty of coffee.
Come on.
Here it is.
Gonna be
a little strong.
You know,
up there,
l told you why l was here.
Now, why don't you tell me
why you're here.
All right,
l'll be honest with you.
What would it cost me to
persuade you to fire Johnny Gambi?
What would it cost...
Why?
Francesca's fallen
in love with him.
Why, what's so terrible about that?
He's a top man in his field.
He makes good money...
He's hit and run,
and you know that.
He's making promises he
has no intention of keeping.
You're kind of mixed up,
aren't you?
l mean, l can see promises
have been made to you
that weren't worth anything,
but that doesn't mean
all promises are like that.
l wasn't talking about myself.
Well, l am. Look at you,
out here trying
to be tough and cheap,
you can't even be that.
You don't know what kind
of a woman you are, do you?
Stop it!
You got yourself all torn
apart trying to hate everybody.
Why don't you stop
fighting yourself?
Oh, l don't want to be
mixed up anymore.
Maybe l wasn't really,
because l knew this would
happen if l ever got near you,
l kept telling myself l was
coming out here to help Fran,
but l wasn't. l...
l just wanted
what she'd found.
Say, where'd you go?
l turn around
to say something to you at
the bar and you are gone.
l went someplace,
all right.
Where'd you get
that dynamite?
Get it off my boat.
l took all
l'm gonna take, Teche.
l'm gonna blast that thing of
theirs right out of the gulf.
You're crazy.
Listen to me.
You don't have to do
anything but take me out.
ln the morning,
the platform's gone
and everybody
blames it on the storm.
l think you had
too much whiskey.
Oh, that don't have
anything to do with it.
You're mad because
you lost your girl.
He can have her!
What's the matter with you?
You say you wanted to
blast them before.
Now we got the dynamite, you
don't want to fight no more.
They make a coward
out of you.
Don't say that.
Go on, coward.
l'll take the boat out
by myself.
You're drunk
and you're a fool.
All right,
l take you out.
Not because
you called me a coward.
But because
you are my friend.
l'll go cast off,
and we finish this thing, huh?
All right, we go.
lf you want to do this
crazy thing, do it fast!
That storm's
really kicking up now.
l'm going up above and check
if everything's secure.
You wait right here.
Phillipe!
Steve!
Steve.
You don't care how you
kill your men, do you?
l've seen some cold ones
in my day,
but nothing
will ever come close
to that act
you put on tonight.
Teche, where is Stella?
She wasn't here all night.
And the boat is gone.
Where is she?
l don't know.
Dominique,
Phillipe, he's dead.
Phillipe?
He had some dynamite.
He wanted to go out
and blow that oil thing up.
l tried to
talk him out of it
but he was drunk.
All night long l look for him
out in the storm.
l'm going crazy,
Dominique.
lt wouldn't have happened
if those people were not here.
He thought
he was doing the right thing.
He wanted to get rid of
that platform for us.
For all of us.
But then the storm came up.
l should've known better.
l should've known better.
Where is Stella? What
have you done with her?
She's right in there.
Just keep her away from me.
Why, you people don't
stop at anything, do you?
l've got a good notion to
prefer charges on the whole town.
Stella!
What're you doing
with that man?
l went to see him.
You don't belong
here anymore.
Maybe you're right.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
What was the bar bill?
$500.
There wasn't $500 worth
of stuff in that joint.
l left a large tip.
lt was a great night off.
Yeah, yeah.
Storm do any damage?
We rode it out. That rig's
out there waiting for you.
So l hope all you fellows
had enough rest
because from now on,
there isn't gonna be any.
We start drilling
right away.
Still batting 1,000.
Come on, let's go!
She don't
feel good, Steve.
We got too much weight
on the bit,
and we're working her
too fast.
You just keep her going.
lf we hit a high pressure
area at this speed,
there won't be nothing
we can do about it.
Well, we haven't got time
to slow down.
You won't have anything but
time if this thing blows out.
We'll be in worse trouble if
we don't come in, in eight days.
You keep the weight on
and keep this same speed.
Okay. You're the one who'll have
to explain a ruined rig, not me.
That's right.
You just keep it going.
l'm gonna get some sleep.
lf he's not gonna
worry about it, l'm sure not.
Yeah, that's right. He's giving
the orders. We just carry them out.
Hey, will you
take over for me?
l gotta go ashore.
You gonna take on La Bonne
Chance all by yourself?
No, l'm not going
near the place.
But Martin hasn't let me out
of his sight for two weeks
and l gotta get in tonight.
lt's worth 20 clams.
Now them was the words
l was waiting to hear.
Take off.
Thanks.
Hey, l can hear the echo of
Pappy's shotgun from way out here!
What's the matter?
Did it...
Take it easy,
take it easy.
l guess
l must've been dreaming.
Yeah, l know.
l've been waking up
like that myself, lately.
What brought you down?
Well, after all, this is
my baby, too, you know.
How's it going?
Just fine.
Just fine.
Hit 8,000 feet last night.
Averaging
100 feet a day.
l'll get some coffee
in the galley.
Come on. Let's take a
look at the new samples.
Steve, before we go...
What's the matter?
Nothing. You look tired.
You do, too.
What's the matter?
Steve, we had
a board meeting last night.
With a week left
to go on the lease,
they want a safety margin
against running over
and having to pay the penalty.
Oh, we're not gonna have to
pay any penalty now.
We'll flood in here
before the week's out.
They don't think so.
ln spite of everything
l could say,
they voted to
stop the operation tomorrow.
You have no more money.
You're president of the
company. Can they do that?
l'm a president
that led the company
into the biggest loss
in its history.
l don't know
if we'll pull out.
But l'm not sorry, Steve,
because if nobody took a gamble,
the oil business would stop.
lf you have faith in us,
couldn't you carry us for a week?
l've been carrying you
since you started.
The company took the lease,
but they wouldn't finance you.
Every penny l've got
is in this rig of yours.
Oh, l'm sorry, Mac.
That's all right.
l've failed before.
lt's just that it's a little
more expensive these days.
We did the best we could.
That's that.
MAN ON PA.. Blowout! Blowout!
We hit a salt water flow!
Saltwater flow! Everybody hit
the rig! All hands, hit the rig!
Mudpump room, build up the
mud weight! Let's go, men!
It's bad, it's bad.
Switch those pumps.
Come on, switch them boys!
MAN ON PA.. All hands,
hit the rig! Hit the rig!
How long's
she been kicking?
She just started.
l got the boys
checking the mud.
You better stop the drill.
You get the forward valve,
l'll take this one.
We can't build enough weight
to hold her.
Better get that kelly
out of there.
Looks like l'm gonna have
to use the blowout preventer!
All right,
hit the preventer!
Hit it!
What's the matter?
The valve's stuck.
l can't get it open!
All right! We'll go down
and use the manual control.
Come on!
Come on, you guys!
Hurry up! Come on!
Come on,
give me a hand.
Where's Gambi?
Where is he?
He went into town last night.
All right, boys.
Well, l think
we got her licked.
All right, come on,
l really got work to do now.
First, l want to thank you
for the job you just did.
l'm sorry my board of
directors wasn't here to see it.
But they're probably
sleeping late this morning.
They did quite a big job
themselves last night.
They've decided
to cut off our money.
They don't believe
we can bring this well in.
Yeah? lf that's the way they
feel about it, it's okay by me!
They know
what they can do with it...
Now, wait a minute!
Wait a minute. Hold on!
Now Mac's done all he could. He's
been with us all the way in this thing,
and he took the rap
for the whole gamble.
But we still got
one week to go on this lease,
and l'm asking you all
to go along with me.
Now, maybe some of you
have been mixed up
in a wildcat deal
like this,
and come out of it broke,
l know l have.
Mac, there, he sure has.
So what l'm doing,
l'm just making the same,
old tired promise to you
that if we strike oil,
everybody gets a $200 bonus.
Now, how about it? Huh?
Why should we gamble our time
and money if the company won't?
The company's got two million
dollars in this thing already.
Well, l'd risk a week if l really
thought there was oil down there.
But l got a feeling
there just ain't.
You listen!
There's enough oil down here
to lubricate the universe.
l'm sure sorry, Steve.
But l can't stay.
l got a family at home
and l got to send them
a paycheck every week.
l guess that's it, Steve.
Yeah we're all sorry.
That's all right,
fellows.
That's all right.
We understand.
Well, you picked
a good time to take off.
But l don't think
you should've come back.
Looks like l was right.
She did blow.
Why did you
leave the barge?
l had a date!
Okay.
You've been asking for this
from the beginning.
You knew there was a chance
for a blowout!
Why didn't you stay here
and watch for it?
You had that coming, too!
You never understood it,
but with me,
this is no holy crusade.
lt's only a job!
You've been crowding the men,
you've been crowding the rig,
l've been telling you that.
But you don't crowd me.
Why did you
leave the barge?
l told you l had a date.
l got married!
All right, take him with you
and get off the barge.
All of you.
l'm sorry, Steve.
Maybe we'll have
better luck next time.
Next time, nothing.
l'm going to finish this job
if l have to do it myself.
What does he mean,
do it himself?
We're all quitting.
The main office
stopped his money.
None of us can afford
to work for nothing, Gambi.
Did he ask you to do it?
Yeah, he asked for a week.
Gave us the same old
bonus pitch.
You should have taken it.
What do you mean?
You know
he's just liable to do it,
bring it in
all by himself.
And l don't know
whether l'm gonna let him
get the last laugh on me
or not!
What?
After all the work we did,
we ought to have
some of the glory
of bringing in
the first offshore well.
Do you really think there's a
chance of coming in this week?
The samples are looking
better every day.
MacDONALD: Fellows,
l'll up that bonus to
$300 a man, if we come in.
Look, what's one
pay check?
All you do is toss it
into a crap game anyway.
l'm for staying.
Anybody else?
lf you can take what he just
gave you and still back him,
l don't guess
l got any complaints.
Yeah, yeah! And l just remembered
that 20 clams you owe me!
So l think l'll just
stick around and collect.
How about
the rest of you?
Another week won't kill me.
l'll stay.
Yeah!
All right, let's get
up there and go to work.
Hey, Steve!
l hear you're
looking for a crew!
Hard work and low wages.
That's right.
Well this is it!
The cheapest bunch
you'll ever find!
Are we hired?
Let's go, boys. Let's
get this mess cleaned up.
Could you use
another crewman, Steve?
Think the board of directors
will approve?
Of course they won't.
That's what's gonna
make it more enjoyable.
Okay, you're hired.
Gambi, you take care
of things here.
l'll go into the base
and get supplies and tools.
We'll be drilling again
by the time you get back.
Oh, Steve...
l'm not much of a guy
for apologies...
Did you really marry
that girl, Johnny?
Yeah, l did!
All right,
all right.
You know, l never thought
it would happen to me.
l'm stuck and l love it,
but maybe you don't know
how it is, huh?
What do you mean,
l don't know how it is?
Maybe l do!
All right, all right.
All right. All right.
See you later.
Stella, l don't know,
maybe we should go back.
You have nothing
to go back to.
Don't let Dad wreck your
life. He has no right to.
Maybe he won't.
Maybe he'll get used
to the marriage.
No, there's no telling
what he'll do.
You've got to get out
of here. Now, hurry.
Mr. Martin!
Well...
You sure surprised
everybody, didn't you?
Congratulations.
Thank you.
l think it's fine.
Maybe this is the first step
in the oil business and
the town getting together.
Oh, no.
No, you're wrong.
lt's worse than ever.
Dad won't stop until he gets
the marriage annulled.
He's sending me away
tomorrow morning.
That's why l came.
To ask you if...
lf you'd take me
out to Johnny.
ls your sister
behind this?
Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
There wasn't
anything else to do.
l don't have any place to go.
Okay. Come on aboard.
Right over there.
All right, let's go.
You stay here.
l'll hunt him up for you.
Hey, Max, where's Gambi?
lnside the mudpit.
An intake valve clogged up.
What's up?
l was hoping
you'd get here for this.
Now we got shrimp.
They're clogging
the valves.
And these shrimp-chasers are
complaining 'cause they can't find any.
Are there a lot of them
in the valves?
Not too many tonight,
but underneath the barge
the water's thick with them.
He says it's been
for the past three nights,
but we've never had any
trouble on the day shift.
Hey!
l was thinking
the same thing.
Well, you suppose the
shrimpers know about this?
lt might improve relations
if you told them.
Oh, no, you mean
getting them to listen
to an oil man telling them
how to catch shrimp.
No, no.
Things are rough enough.
Say, speaking
of relations,
l brought you a wedding present. Huh?
Yeah, a kind of original
present, too. Your wife.
You can have my quarters.
Are you leveling?
Yeah, l eloped for you.
She's right outside
in the boat.
l'll thank you later.
Oh, darling!
Come on. l'll show you
our new home.
We're making history.
First honeymoon on first
offshore drilling barge.
Listen to me,
my friends.
All of you,
listen to me.
You all know that
from the beginning of all
this trouble with the oil men,
l have talked of peace.
Everything l have done has
been legal and honorable.
But tonight
that is finished.
What has happened?
They have taken Francesca.
Taken the last thing l have.
My two daughters
have turned against me.
My family is gone.
And what has happened to me
will happen to others.
Unless we go out, the whole
town, every man, every boat,
to bring Francesca back
to show these people
they can't do that to us.
Julian, you have
four daughters.
What about them?
Maurice, your Evangeline
is 18 years old.
We're with you,
Dominique.
Yes, we're with you.
What are we waiting for?
They've killed our fish. They
will take everything from us!
lt must be
the whole town.
Tell every man.
Go home, get weapons.
Every man. Every boat.
You're through fighting
the oil men, Teche?
Yeah.
We know now that our people
are acting like children.
That fighting's going to bring
more trouble and more trouble.
We finally learned that,
didn't we?
l don't think about
trouble anymore.
l only think about Phillipe.
That was the end
of the fighting for me.
Then why don't you do the
rest of the town a favor?
Go out and tell Steve
what's happening.
Me go out there?
They'll throw me
to the fish.
Maybe you
can stop it, Teche.
l know something!
Steve Martin's
an understanding man
when he has
the facts straight.
l think you
could be friends.
Friends?
What are you talking about?
Well, he said from the
beginning that he wanted to be.
Well, he could've had you
arrested but he didn't.
What do you think
that means?
That he doesn't care about
anything else but his oil!
No, Teche. That he
doesn't want enemies.
Nobody does.
Look what hate
did to Phillipe.
To the crazy men
who just left here.
Look what it
did to you.
Why don't you go out
to the rig?
Show him that at least one person
around here knows the difference
between right and wrong.
You were the first one
to know, Stella.
All right,
l'll tell him.
l'll tell him
about Phillipe, too.
What about you?
l love him, Teche.
You know,
l don't think
l'll marry you, anyway.
My kids are going to
be fishermen,
not oil drillers.
Friend of yours
wants to see you.
Uh-oh.
Take over, will you?
Well?
You're going to have
more trouble.
What did you have in mind
this time?
l have nothing
to do with it.
l came to
tell you about it.
lt's about Francesca.
Dominique has talked the
whole town into coming out.
You better get your men
away from here.
You came out here
to warn me?
Sure.
These people
are like children.
Stella and me,
we have brains enough
to know what's
right from wrong.
She know you're here?
Yeah. She talk to me
about that night.
Yeah, l'll bet!
What's the matter
with you?
She didn't know Phillipe
and l were coming out.
You got no time to
dream now, Mr. Moneybags.
You better get your men
away from here quick.
Hey, come with me a minute.
l want to ask your advice
about something.
Come on!
All of you! Come on!
We're having some trouble
with the pumps here,
l just wanted to show you.
Let's see. Here.
You ever see one as big
as that? What is that?
Are you crazy?
That's the Golden Shrimp.
The Golden Shrimp?
Do you know
how we can get rid of them?
Get rid of them?
What're you talking about?
We've been looking
for these shrimp for years.
We know they're around here,
but we can never find them.
Well, l wish you could
locate them for us.
You see,
they keep fouling up
these intake valves
of ours every night.
Of course, if they start
showing up in the daytime,
we got a real problem
on our hands.
But they don't do that.
They're just at night.
Not in the daytime.
l just thought
you'd be interested.
See what you can
do for me, will you?
What a dumb oil man.
Quite a
task force!
l guess you might call
this our wedding reception.
Yeah.
They are like
crazy men!
You are going to have
plenty of trouble, all right.
Why don't
you and l leave, Johnny?
We could stop it
if we did, Steve.
Now, don't worry
about it.
You just stay right here.
Stay here.
Max.
Call the men on the barge.
Get them up here!
Johnny, get up
this ramp here.
Be sure the men
watch both ladders.
Right.
Whatever happens, keep
drilling. Keep drilling, Johnny.
Okay.
l'll go down,
and try to talk to them.
Come on, boys. Hurry up!
Get up on the platform.
All right.
Take up the ramp.
Come on. Come on.
All right.
Come up with this one.
Get off the barge, Rigaud.
This is private property.
We're prepared
to defend it.
Put Francesca off
and we'll go.
lf you keep her,
we'll tear this platform
apart to get her back!
She's here to stay
and so are we.
l thought you were
a peaceful man, Dominique.
l want my daughter.
Your daughter's
safe and sound right here
where she belongs
with her husband.
There'll be no marriage.
There's been
a marriage.
lt's a good marriage
and a happy one.
We came for Francesca.
Now, l know
you've had hard times,
but we won't hurt you.
We never will.
You and l ought to
be friends, Dominique.
We have the same
kind of a job.
You look for one thing
here in the Gulf.
l'm looking
for something else.
That's the only difference.
That's the only difference.
All right, now. You may put
me out of business, all of you.
But that isn't important.
The important thing is that
there's oil under this gulf,
and we need it.
Everybody needs it.
You need it.
Without oil, this country
of ours would stop!
And start to die.
And you'd die.
Now, it doesn't make any
difference what you do to me.
Dominique, you can't
stop progress.
Nobody can.
GAMBl: Just keep on drilling.
You heard what Steve said.
Just keep her going.
Why, there's going to be
hundreds of...
There's gonna be
hundreds of rigs,
just like this,
all over the Gulf.
Pull up that kelly,
she's gonna blow!
This is gonna be the richest
oilfield in the world!
There she blows!
There she blows!
There she is!
Hey, Steve!
Get a load of this!
There she is!
lt's a good thing this town
has one fisherman with brains.
Teche Bossier will teach you
how to catch the Golden Shrimp.
You come out with me tonight,
l'll show you something.
There are thousands,
millions, enough for all of us.
But it took Teche Bossier
to find them.
Francesca.
Father.
l'll do my best
to make her happy.
So you found your oil
at the bottom of the ocean.
l hope we've found
friends, too, Dominique.
Hey, Moneybags.
You better hurry.
Stella left.
She's waiting for the bus.
l told her
l didn't want to marry her
so she's on her way
to New Orleans.
My truck is over there.
Here is the key.
You better hurry up
before l change my mind.
Do you have any
particular place to go
or are you open
to suggestions?
l don't have any place to go.
Yes, you have.
l promise it'll be
better this time, too.
Come on.