SHOT 1. Interior. An extreme close-up of a pebbled glass door, on which INVESTIGATIONS is written in flaked black paint. The word fills the screen. On the soundtrack, we hear the voice of Bobby Seale.

BOBBY SEALE: YOU’LL FIND OUT. HUEY HAD A LOT OF STAGGERLEE QUALITIES - BUT HE WAS SO POLITICALLY CONSCIOUS. CONSCIOUS OF REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE AND CLASS STRUGGLE. I RESPECT THAT BROTHER. YOU MOVE YOURSELF UP FROM A LOWER LEVEL TO A HIGHER LEVEL. AT ONE TIME, BROTHER ELDRIDGE WAS ON THE BLOCK.

HE WAS STAGGERLEE.

SHOT 2. The camera pulls back into a medium shot of the door. It opens, and a man walks out of the office. He is tall and well-built, in his early forties. It is his office. He is the Detective. He walks past the camera and out of frame.

SHOT 3. Black screen. On the soundtrack, we hear “Staggerlee,” recorded by Mississippi John Hint in 1929:

Police officer, how can it be

You arrest everybody but cruel Staggerlee

That bad man, oh cruel Staggerlee

Credits roll as the song continues on the sountrack:

THIS IS IT

By Michael Goodwin and Greil Marcus Written Off The Front Page Dedicated To Raymond Chandler

SHOT 4. Interior, day. A small courtroom, In a wide-angle shot taken from above and behind the Judge we can see the entire room. There are four people: George Jackson, a tall, light-skinned black youth standing behind a table; a probation officer seated at the table; and Jackson’s mother and little brother Jonathan, who sit by themselves in folding chairs slightly to the rear.

SHOT 5. In medium shot, we see George Jackson standing, facing us. He stands stiffly, and his face is young, cold, impassive. His gaze moves around the front of the courtroom. On the soundtrack, we hear the Judge clear his throat. SHOT 6. A medium view of the Judge, from George Jackson’s point of view [hereafter: POV],

SHOT 7. A medium shot of George Jackson.

NARRATOR: JACKSON WAS DRIVING THE FAMILY CAR. THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT. HE WAS UNDER AGE. HE DIDN’T HAVE A LICENSE. HE GOT CAUGHT. SHOT 8. A medium shot of the Judge, from POV Jackson.

JUDGE: LOOK AT YOUR LITTLE BROTHER, HOW CUTE AND NICE HE IS.

SHOT 9. A close-up of George Jackson, His eyes burn at the Judge.

JUDGE: AND YOUR MOTHER IS A NICE-LOOKING WOMAN. YOU KNOW THAT FAMILIES LIKE THIS GO FARTHER THAN THE REAL DARK FAMILIES AND THE REAL BLACK PEOPLE. PEOPLE TAKE ALL THAT INTO CONSIDERATION. (He pauses) OF COURSE THEY DO. I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, YOUNG MAN.

SHOT 10. A medium two-shot of Mrs. Jackson and the young Jonathan Jackson, who sits by her side.

SHOT 11. Close-up of the Judge.

JUDGE: THAT’S ALL. I’M LETTING YOU OFF. YOU CAN GO NOW.

SHOT 12. Exterior, dawn. George Jackson, a few years older, is running through a railroad yard, and the camera tracks with him. The sun is just above the horizon, and it flashes on each set of tracks as Jackson passes. There is no other movement; the yards are deserted. On the soundtrack, we hear a slow freight picking up speed.

SHOT 13. Medium shot. The freight train.

SHOT 14. In long shot, Jackson runs directly toward the camera. He veers slightly to the side as he approaches us, and we pan to follow as he passes the camera. The pan brings the freight train into frame, and Jackson swings aboard.

The freight is moving quickly now, and Jackson is carried directly out of frame. Car after car rolls past the camera, as the Narrator is heard on the soundtrack.

NARRATOR: JACKSON WAS PACKING A 45 SMOKELESS. HE WAS ON THE LAM, HOT OUT OF THE BAKERSFIELD JAIL, HEADING FOR SWEET HOME CHICAGO. JACKSON WAS NOBODY’S INNOCENT CHILD.

HE STARTED OUT IN CHICAGO. ON THE BLOCK. THERE WERE A FEW ROBBERIES, KID STUFF, BUT THE COPS NEVER HIT HIM WITH ANYTHING HARDER THAN A NIGHTSTICK. THEN IT WAS CALIFORNIA,

AND THE AUTO ACCIDENT. AFTER THAT HE BOUGHT A BIKE; IT WAS STOLEN, BUT HE DIDN’T KNOW IT. WHEN THE COPS CAUGHT UP WITH HIM HE WAS IN THE PROCESS OF HIJACKING A DEPARTMENT STORE WITH TWO OF HIS BUDDIES. THEY GOT AWAY; JACKSON WAS SHOT TWICE WITH HIS HANDS IN THE AIR. HE WAS FIFTEEN.

SEVEN MONTHS IN REFORM SCHOOL, AND HE WAS ON THE STREET AGAIN. THERE WERE A FEW MORE ROBBERIES IN BAKERSFIELD. JACKSON AND HIS PALS WERE PICKED UP, AND THE COPS USED THEM TO WIPE THE BOOK CLEAN. SURE, THEY HAD PULLED SOME OF THE JOBS THE COPS HAD THEM DOWN FOR, BUT THEY HADN’T PULLED ALL OF THEM. THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR JACKSON IN THE FELONY TANK; ONE DAY HE JUST WALKED OUT OF JAIL, AND HIT THE ROAD FOR CHICAGO. MAYBE HE JUMPED A FREIGHT.

HE WAS LOOSE FOR THREE MONTHS. WHEN HE GOT TO CHICAGO, HIS AUNT TURNED HIM IN.

SHOT 15. Exterior, day. An extreme long shot of a courthouse. The camera zooms in slowly as music sneaks in on the soundtrack: slow blues guitar. Chuck Berry sings:

I go to court tomorrow morning

And I got the same Judge I had before

1 know he Won’t have no mercy on me

’Cause he told me not to come back no more

He’ll send me away to some stony mansion

And a lonely room and lock the door

The zoom ends in a close-up of the motto chiseled over the entrance to the courthouse:

TRUE FREEDOM LIES IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW

The music fades, and the shot dissolves to:

SHOT 16. Exterior, night. A medium two-shot, back through the windshield of a moving car. Two figures are sitting in the front seat, talking easily: the driver is George Jackson, and next to him is a friend. Rows of streetlights, in reflection on the windshield, move up the glass to disappear at the top.

We hear the steady rumble of a car at medium speed.

SHOT 17. A medium close two-shot through the side window on the driver’s side. George Jackson’s face fills the right half of the frame, and his companion’s face is slightly smaller, to the left. A soul station plays softly on the radio,

and the driving noise fades enough for us to make out the voices of the two men. They are jiving, and their speech is slow and exaggerated.

FRIEND: MAN, YOU KNOW I HAVE ENJOYED THINGS THAT KINGS AND QUEENS WILL NEVER HAVE. IN FACT, THAT KINGS AND QUEENS CAN NEVER GET,

JACKSON: AND THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT ’EM.

FRIEND: AND GOOD TIMES ...

JACKSON: MMMMM-HMMMM!

They drive without talking for a few seconds.

SHOT 18. From a stationary camera position by the side of the street, we pick up the car driving toward us. The camera pans with it as it passes.

SHOT 19. A close-up two-shot, from the passenger’s side, taken from the inside of the car.

FRIEND: PULL UP AT THAT GAS STATION, WILL YOU? I’M GONNA MAKE A PHONE CALL.

Jackson nods, and turns the wheel.

SHOT 20. From a stationary camera position in the gas station, we see the car, in long shot, screech to a halt in the far corner of the station away from the pumps. The door on the passenger side opens, the passenger light comes on (and stays on for the rest of the scene), and Jackson’s friend climbs out of the car. He strides purposefully toward the camera and passes out of the frame. The car door remains open.

SHOT 21. In a low-angle medium shot through the open car door, we see Jackson turn off the ignition. The music that has been playing dies with the engine. He turns the key again, and the radio comes back on. Jackson glances over the camera, toward where we would expect the gas station office and pay phone to be. Then he turns back to the front of the car and twists up the volume on the radio. A Bo Diddley song has been playing, indistinctly, and as the volume comes up we hear Bo sing:

He says, I want you to drive up in that alley over there

And pull in behind that liquor store

And keep a sharp look-out at all times

While I sneak in that back door

(That’s what he told me)

He said. Keep my foot on the gas And always be on guard ’Cause when he comes runnin’ outta there with all that money

He wanted me to mash on it real hard

Jackson snaps off the radio with an irritable motion. He glances toward the office again, and his face registers surprise.

SHOT 22. From POV Jackson, we look out of the open car door toward the gas station office. Jackson’s friend is in full flight, running at desperate speed toward the car. He throws himself inside and slams the door behind him.

FRIEND: GET MY ASS OUT OF HERE! I KNOCKED IT OVER!

SHOT 23. In a tight close-up of George Jackson, we can see that he understands what happens now. The cops. The Judge. The penitentiary. He glances down, and we hear the engine start. SHOT 24. A hand-held shot from the back seat of the car. Jackson’s friend reaches forward and turns the radio up loud, as Jackson puts the car in gear and accelerates hard. The cameraman lets the sudden motion push him back into the seat, and the shot jerks correspondingly.

We hear the car engine run up the gears, but Jackson is not driving well and he misses shifts, grinding the transmission loudly, Bo Diddley, on the radio, is even louder than the gears:

The guy comes runnin’ out of the store With the money in his hand He made a mistake in the dark And ran and leaped in the police car When they put the handcuffs on him I said Child, your crimes have outgrew you.

And then they said —

SHOT 25. Black screen, on which large white capital letters appear. They spell out the words to the last line of the song, which continues on the soundtrack along with the noise of the speeding car.

WORDS ON SCREEN:

YEAH, WE GONNA PUT HIM SO FAR BACK IN JAIL THIS TIME, THAT THEY’RE GONNA HAVE TO PUMP AIR IN TO HIM.

The music fades out, and the shot dissolves to:

SHOT 26. Interior, day. A courtroom, seen in the same wide-angle shot from above and behind the Judge that we remember from SHOT 4. This time there are only two figures at the bar: George Jackson and his attorney. They sit at the defense table, talking with their heads close together. SHOT 27. A close-up of the Attorney. He is white, and about 30. As he speaks, the camera pans slowly back and forth between him and George Jackson, alternating close-ups.

ATTORNEY: I’VE EXPLAINED IT ALL BEFORE, GEORGE - YOU PLEAD GUILTY AND THE D.A. COOPERATES. IT’S ALL SET UP - THE JUDGE WILL GO FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS IN THE COUNTY JAIL. YOU’RE ONLY 18. IT’D BE DIFFERENT IF WE DIDN'T HAVE YOUR RECORD WORKING AGAINST US, BUT THINGS BEING HOW THEY ARE . . .

The camera had ended with a close-up of George Jackson, who looks on impassively as the shot dissolves to:

SHOT 28. An extreme close-up of the Judge:

JUDGE: I SENTENCE YOU, GEORGE JACKSON, TO THE STATE PRISON FOR THE TERM PRESCRIBED BY LAW. THE LAW PRESCRIBES AN INDETERMINATE SENTENCE OF ONE YEAR TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT . .. Dissolve to:

SHOT 29. Interior, day. In a medium shot, we see George Jackson, dressed in prison fatigues, sitting at a writing desk. He looks perhaps four years older than he did in the courtroom shot which directly preceded. A sign on the wall reads:

RULES GOVERNING CORRESPONDENCE

Jackson is writing a letter, and we hear his voice reciting, his words as they are written:

JACKSON: DECEMBER, 1964. I’M FAST AWAKENING TO THE IDEA THAT I MAY NOT OWE THEM ANY-

THING, THAT THEY MIGHT EVEN OWE ME. I HAVE GIVEN THEM FOUR AND ONE HALF YEARS OF LIFE, DURING WHICH I HAVE HAD TO ACCEPT THE UNACCEPTABLE, FOR 70 DOLLARS THAT I DIDN'T TAKE. I PROTEST. I PROTEST.

Dissolve to:

SHOT 30. The same medium shot as above, but Jackson has shifted his position.

JACKSON: FEBRUARY, 1965. I SHOULD BE OUT OF HERE THIS YEAR. I HAVE COMPLIED WITH ALL OF THEIR DEMANDS . . .

SHOT 31. The same shot, Jackson again shifted in position.

JACKSON: FEBRUARY, 1966. I’LL BE WITH YOU AS SOON AS I CAN: I’VE GOT SOME CLEAN TIME ALREADY AND PLAN TO DO WELL FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR SO THAT IN DECEMBER THEY WILL LET ME GO. THEY HAVE PROMISED ME THIS ...

Dissolve to:

SHOT 32. The same medium shot, Jackson shifted in position.

JACKSON: JANUARY, 1967. I HAVE AT LEAST ANOTHER 14 TO 18 MONTHS TO DO ... THEY GAVE ME NO CONSIDERATION AT THE BOARD, THE SAME PEOPLE WHO GAVE ME THEIR PROMISE LAST YEAR. I WAS NOT SURPRISED. I WAS COMPLETELY PREPARED FOR THIS.

Dissolve to:

SHOT 33. Interior, night. A medium two-shot of Mrs. Jackson and a light-skinned black youth, Jonathan Jackson, 14. They are sitting together on a sofa in a somewhat darkened apartment. Mrs. Jackson holds a letter, which she reads aloud. As she reads, the camera moves in to end on a close-up of the boy.

MRS. JACKSON: DECEMBER, 1967. I GOT MY OFFICIAL NOTICE ON THE BOARD MEETING. THEY DENIED ME ANOTHER YEAR. I GO BACK NEXT DECEMBER. IT WILL BE EIGHT YEARS BY THEN.

We hold Jonathan's face, in silence, as the shot fades to black.

SHOT 34. The black screen holds for five seconds. Then, a terrifyingly loud siren bursts onto the soundtrack. It makes only one fast swoop up and down before we cut to:

SHOT 35. Exterior, day. A prison guard tower, in long shot. We zoom into a tight close-up of a guard with a sniper’s rifle, aiming down. Sunlight gleams on the barrel of his gun. The guard fires, and we hear the explosion. He fires again. Music by the Coasters comes in as the gun is fired twice more. The siren continues to wail. Blur pan to:

SHOT 36. A long shot of an outdoor recreation yard in Soledad Prison. The siren holds on the soundtrack. Black and white prisoners are scattering in all directions, most of them ending up with their backs against the walls of the yard. In the center of the yard are the tangled bodies of three black prisoners. The camera zooms in, very slowly, until the bodies fill the screen.

Under the zoom, we hear the Coasters:

The trouble started in cell block number four And spread like fire, ’cross the prison floor I said, OK boys, gettin’ ready to run Here comes the Warden With a tommy gun There s a riot goin’ on There’s a riot goin’ on There’s a riot goin’ on Up in cell block number nine

The Coasters fade down and out at the end of the chorus, along with the siren, and the shot begins to fade to black. Just before it is completely dark, it dissolves to:

SHOT 37. Interior, night. From a high overhead position, the camera shoots down into a dimly-lit, elevated prison corridor, bounded on frame left by a waist-high railing. A guard is walking down the corridor, and the camera tracks backwards, leading him. His footsteps echo. Since he is walking a little faster than the camera is tracking, he overtakes the camera and finally we are shooting directly down at him. As he passes under the camera, we cut to:

SHOT 38. A low-angle shot, in which we see the guard walking away from the camera. The rhythm of his footsteps is unbroken as he continues down the corridor. Growing smaller in the frame as he walks away, he turns a corner. SHOT 39. The camera is at eye-level, shooting toward the railing, across a corridor that is even dimmer than the one we have just left. The guard walks into a medium shot, but we see only a silhouetted profile. He pauses. Suddenly, a second figure, also in silhouette, rushes into the shot and throws himself onto the guard. The two figures fall to the floor, and the camera tilts down to keep them in frame. The shot is very dark, and we can see movement but no detail. The sounds of the struggle are muffled and desperate. A terrific blow stops the action. There is silence.

We can make out the unconscious figure of the guard, and his assailant kneeling over him. The assailant takes the guard by the shoulders, and heaves him up against the railing. Th« camera tilts to follow.

SHOT 40. An extreme close-up of the guard’s face, taken from over the shoulder of his assailant. The guard is still unconscious. Slowly, the face tilts away from the camera as the guard’s body is bent backwards over the railing.

SHOT 41. Extreme long shot, looking straight up from the floor of the cell block. High above, we see the tiny figure of the guard bent out over the railing. He begins to fall. His figure twists as it leaves the railing and plummets, face down, directly toward the camera. Just before he hits, we cut to:

SHOT 42. Extreme long shot, looking straight down from the point at which the guard left the railing. He hits the floor. We hear running footsteps fading on the soundtrack, as we hold the shot of the fallen guard and the Coasters sing:

The Warden said, Come out with your hands up in the air If you don’t stop this riot you all gonna get the chair Scarface Jones said, It’s too late to quit Pass the dynamite, ’cause the fuse is lit

The music fades as the shot dissolves to:

SHOT 43. A small office in Soledad Penitentiary. It is sparsely decorated. In a medium two-shot we see two Assistant Wardens sitting at a metal desk. One man, rather thin and wearing a cheap suit, sits behind the desk. To his right is the second man, a bit heavier. His suit is cheap too. Both men are relaxed. The first man takes up a sheaf of papers that are stapled together, and then replaces them on the desk.

FIRST WARDEN: SO IT’S DRUMGO, CLUTCHETTE AND JACKSON ON THE MURDER CHARGE, AND SECTION 4500 FOR JACKSON.

SECOND WARDEN: I LIKE THAT. 4500. MANDATORY DEATH SENTENCE FOR A LIFER ASSAULTING A GUARD.

He lifts a folder off the desk, shakes it at the first man, and continues speaking.

SECOND WARDEN: JACKSON, THE BIG BRAIN. WE’VE BEEN TAKING PICTURES OF MALCOLM X OUT OF HIS CELL FOR MONTHS. TALKS BIG. “FIGHT THE REVOLUTION.” “THE POOR OPPRESSED.” DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S REALLY FUNNY? HE CAME IN ON A ONE-TO-LIFE. HE COULD HAVE BEEN OUT OF HERE A LONG TIME AGO, BUT HE WOULDN’T COP TO THE BOARD. TOUGH. 4500 FOR JACKSON.

FIRST WARDEN: WHAT IF HE DIDN’T DO IT?

SECOND WARDEN: DON’T BREAK MY HEART.

SHOT 44. A montage of still photographs of George Jackson, which appear on the screen for two seconds each. The first few pictures are of Jackson as a youth; the later photos are mug shots, occasionally alternating full-face and profile. Over the montage we hear Jackson’s voice:

GEORGE JACKSON: MARCH, 1970. WHAT AM I DOING HERE? I FELL INTO THIS GARBAGE CAN IN A NARCOTIC STUPOR AND THEY CLOSED THE LID FOR GOOD. I’M GOING TO CHARGE THEM FOR THIS, 28 YEARS WITHOUT GRATIFICATION. I’M GOING TO CHARGE THEM LIKE A MADDENED, WOUNDED ROGUE ELEPHANT, EARS FLARED, TRUNK RAISED, TRUMPET BLARING. I’LL NEVER FORGIVE, I’LL NEVER FORGET, AND IF I’M GUILTY OF ANYTHING AT ALL, IT’S NOT LEANING ON THEM HARD ENOUGH, WAR WITHOUT TERMS.

SHOT 45. The famous poster of Huey Newton — Newton holding a spear ** appears on the screen. It follows the last still of Jackson in perfect rhythm. Huey Newton’s voice is heard on the soundtrack, and the words that he speaks appear on the poster, one by one, as if cut into it.

HUEY NEWTON: THE PRISON KEPT GEORGE JACKSON SO LONG, HE HAD TIME TO BECOME REALLY CONSCIOUS. THIS IS WHEN THEY BEGAN TO BE AFRAID TO LET HIM OUT.

We hold on the poster with the completed statement for a few seconds. Then we dissolve to:

SHOT 46. Exterior, day. In long shot, a car pulls to a stop in front of a white stucco house on a residential street. The Detective gets out of the car and walks up to the front door of the house.

SHOT 47. In close-up, the Detective knocks on the door, and waits. There is no response. He turns the knob, opens the door, and walks inside.

SHOT 48. POV the Detective: the bodies of two men are sprawled on a rug in a pool of blood. There is a gun.

SHOT 49. In medium shot, the Detective picks up the gun, sniffs the barrel, and shakes his head. Pulling out his handkerchief, he wipes the gun clean and drops it into his pocket. SHOT 50. Exterior, day. In long shot, the Detective emerges from the house, shuts the door, pauses to polish the doorknob, and returns to his car. He starts the engine and drives away. Dissolve to:

SHOT 51. Night. In medium shot, we see the interior of a moving police car. The camera is in the back seat, and we are looking over the driver’s shoulder through the windshield. On the soundtrack we hear the occasional crackle of the police radio. The cop drives in silence for fifteen seconds, and then we notice a pair of tail-lights through the windshield. We draw closer to the tail-lights and hold position as the cop reaches for his microphone.

COP: THIS IS FREY. CAN YOU GET ME INFORMATION ON AZM 489?

He drives in silence for fifteen seconds, waiting for a reply. Then the radio;

RADIO: WE HAVE GOT SOME INFORMATION COMING OUT ON THAT.

FREY: CHECK. IT’S A KNOWN BLACK PANTHER VEHICLE. I AM GOING TO STOP IT AT 7TH AND WILLOW. YOU MIGHT SEND A UNIT BY.

NEW VOICE FROM RADIO: THIS IS HEANES. I AM EN ROUTE TO 7TH AND WILLOW.

Dissolve to:

SHOT 52. Exterior, night. A long shot, showing Huey Newton with his arms on the roof of his Volkswagen, in position to be searched. Frey is searching him while Heanes stands by.

SHOT 53. In medium shot, Frey finishes the search and grabs Huey’s arm, turning him around to face the camera. There is a book in Huey’s hand.

FREY: ALL RIGHT, INTO THE CAR!

Huey starts to move toward the police car, pushed by Frey. Then he stops, opens the book and turns to face Frey.

HUEY NEWTON: YOU HAVE NO REASONABLE CAUSE TO ARREST ME.

FREY: YOU CAN TAKE THAT BOOK AND STICK IT UP YOUR ASS, NIGGER!

Frey strikes Huey in the face, hard. Huey falls bacKwards, and down to one knee. The camera tilts to keep him in frame. The shot fades quickly to black.

SHOT 54. Black screen for two seconds, with a dead silent

soundtrack. Then we hear several gunshots in quick succession. The screen remains black for five seconds, and very slowly dissolves into:

SHOT 55. Interior, day. In a medium shot, we see a black woman running a mimeograph machine. On the wall behind her we see several Panther posters. The shot holds for five seconds.

SHOT 56. A close-up of the catph-bin of the machine, shooting straight down at flyers as they come off the drum and settle into position. Most of each flyer is taken up with headlines, and we can read:

HUEY P. NEWTON MUST BE SET FREE!

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!

THE SKY'S THE LIMIT IF HUEY P. NEWTON IS NOT SET FREE!

The shot holds long enough to register the headlines, and then match-dissolves to:

SHOT 57. Close-up of newspapers coming off a giant rotary press and falling into a collection bin. The headline reads:

NEWTON GUILTY - MANSLAUGHTER

The camera pulls back to discover two middle-aged, white, press operators, waiting attendance on the rotary press. Their heads are nearly touching, but they must still shout to make themselves heard over the roar of the machine.

1ST ATTENDANT: THE SKY'S THE LIMIT, HUH?

2ND ATTENDANT: BULLSHIT!

1ST ATTENDANT: NIGGERS WITH GUNS! WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO, BLOW UP OAKLAND?

SHOT 58. Close-up of newspapers again. The headline:

NEWTON GUILTY - MANSLAUGHTER

We hold for less than a second, and dissolve to:

SHOT 59. Interior, day. A medium shot of the pebbled glass door panel of the Detective’s office. The door swings open, and we see the Detective sitting behind a desk with a glass top and a telephone. He is reading p. library book, his feet up on the desk. The library book is “Man's Fate.”

The camera moves into a medium shot 6f the Detective, who puts down the book, reaches into the bottom left-hand drawer of the desk, and pulls out a glass and a bottle of rye. He holds the glass up to the light, blows the dust out, and pours a drink.

Replacing the bottle, the Detective slugs down half the drink. He has had the bottle in his desk for a long time, and the rye has not improved with age. Two-dollar rye rarely does. He shakes his head, and looks directly into the camera. When he speaks, we recognize his voice as that of the Narrator.

DETECTIVE: NEWTON WAS IN FOR TWO YEARS, UNTIL THEY LET HIM OUT ON A LEGAL TECHNICALITY. BLOW UP OAKLAND? NO, THEY DIDN’T BLOW UP OAKLAND. IN FACT, TWO OAKLAND COPS SHOT UP THE PANTHER HEADQUARTERS THAT VERY NIGHT. THE COPS GOT SIX MONTHS SUSPENDED, BECAUSE THEY PROMISED THE JUDGE THEY’D NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

THE PANTHERS HAD A SLOGAN: “HUEY P.

NEWTON MUST BE SET FREE. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.” NOT, “MUST BE FOUND INNOCENT.” HUEY SAW HIMSELF PURELY AS A POLITICAL ACTOR WITHIN A POLITICAL SITUATION, REMOVED FROM THE RULES OF EVIDENCE AND JURY PROCEDURE. THE RULES WERE LIKE RIGHTS TO THE PANTHERS -GOOD FOR PROTECTION IF YOU COULD PULL IT OFF, AND IRRELEVANT TO ACTION. THEY SPREAD HUEY’S SLOGAN ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND WHEN THE COPS CAME DOWN ON THE PARTY - KILLING OFF BOBBY HUTTON AND MARK CLARK AND FRED HAMPTON AND SOME OTHERS WHOSE NAMES YOU WOULDN’T KNOW, SETTING UP BUSTS IN NEW HAVEN, NEW YORK, BALTIMORE, NEW ORLEANS, CLEVELAND HUEY’S SLOGAN HAD TO BE ABSTRACTED FROM THE FORCE OF HIS PERSONALITY. HUEY NEWTON BECAME A SET OF DOCUMENTS IN THE OFFICE OF A LAW CLERK, BECAUSE THERE WAS AN ELECTRIC CHAIR ON THE POSTERS OF BOBBY SEALE THAT TOLD US HE WAS FACING A MURDER RAP.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE THREATS OF NOBLE REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE? WHAT ABOUT THE REVENGE OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY? LOOK, THAT’S NOT WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT. REVENGE WAS SOMETHING THE OAKLAND COPS COULD AFFORD TO THINK ABOUT; THE PANTHERS NEVER HAD THAT KIND OF POLITICAL CASH, SO THEY RAISED THEIR THREATS OF REVENGE AND TRIED TO KEEP THEIR STRUGGLE UNDERNEATH THAT UMBRELLA.

PERHAPS IF HUEY’S FREEDOM HAD BEEN THE CAUSE OF THEIR LIVES, ACTION WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED. BUT IT WAS HARDLY THAT; HUEY’S IDEAS MADE UP THE CAUSE OF THEIR LIVES BECAUSE HE WAS AN ACTOR, BECAUSE ONCE HE FACED DOWN THE FRISCO COPS WITH A GUN IN HIS HAND, BECAUSE THERE WAS A SHOOT-OUT ONE NIGHT IN OAKLAND AND HUEY LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT. THE BROTHERS ON THE BLOCK HAD A REASON TO LISTEN TO WHAT HUEY SAID. THEY WERE ON THE STREETS, AND BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY LEARNED FROM HUEY THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT STAGGERLEE WAS NOT THE ONLY MAN WHO HAD A PLACE THERE. HUEY HAD STRUGGLED FOR A THEORY THAT MADE SENSE ON THOSE STREETS,

AND WHEN HE WAS PUT BEHIND BARS IT WAS THE PANTHERS’ JOB TO STRUGGLE TOWARD ACTION AND DISCOVER ITS LIMITS.

SHOT 60. Interior, day. A medium side-angle shot of Bobby Seale, who is dressed in prison clothes and speaks into a microphone.

SEALE: STAGGERLEE IS MALCOLM X BEFORE HE BECAME POLITICALLY CONSCIOUS. LIVIN’ IN THE HOODLUM WORLD. “STAGGERLEE SHOT BILLY ...” STAGGERLEE TOOK A WALK DOWN ON RAMPARTS STREET, DOWN WHERE ALL THEM BAAAAAD SON-OFA-GUNS MEET, BY THE BUCKET-A-BLUUUUUUD. THIS IS WHERE STAGGERLEE'S HISTORY IS. EVERYBODY’S BAD, YOU SEE? BUT HUEY SAY, “UH UH, ORGANIZE.” SO STAGGERLEE, MAN, THAT’S WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION IS . . .

SHOT 61. We are back in the Detective’s office.

DETECTIVE: SO STAGGERLEE, THE SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION, A KILLER, A THIEF, SETTING HIMSELF UP AGAINST HIS OWN PEOPLE, PLUNDERING THEM TO GET WHAT HE WANTED - YOU START FROM THAT. THE FACT OF CRIMINAL VIOLENCE WAS SEIZED BY THE PANTHERS. THEY STAKED OUT A CLAIM TO IT, AND TRIED TO TURN THAT CRIMINAL FACT INTO A POLITICAL THREAT. SINCE NO ONE HAD ANY DOUBT THAT THE FACT WAS REAL, THE THREAT WAS TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

THE PANTHER IDEA CAME DOWN TO A NEW KIND OF POWER, GROWING OUT OF A GUN THAT WAS GOOD ONLY AS LONG AS IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE FIRED. THEY WALKED THAT FINE EDGE, THREATENED BY THEIR OWN RHETORIC, WHICH CALLED FOR ACTIONS THEY COULD NOT AFFORD TO TAKE, NOW HUEY WAS OUT OF JAIL, BUT THE STRUGGLE WAS NO LONGER LIMITED TO THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY, AND WITHIN A DAY OF HIS RELEASE -

The phone rings, and the Detective picks it up.

DETECTIVE: HELLO?

WOMAN’S VOICE: IT’S YOU! I’VE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU ALL DAY. LOOK, IT’S ALL OVER. YOU’VE BEEN PERFECTLY MARVELOUS. I PUT YOUR CHECK IN THE MAIL A FEW MINUTES AGO.

DETECTIVE; MAYBE YOU’D BETTER STOP PAYMENT. THERE ARE TWO MATTERS WE STILL HAVE TO DISCUSS. THEY’RE IN A HOUSE IN BAY CITY. THEY’RE DEAD.

SHOT 62. Exterior, day. A tracking shot which follows a group of blacks bopping down a street toward the Oakland Hall of Justice. As they approach the Hall they are joined by more and more people, long-haired whites as well as blacks. The camera shoots directly into the street, tracking sideways. There is a feeling of joy and exhuberance about the shot, communicated by the free and easy movement of the figures, and the smoothly tracking camera. We follow the group until they join the crowd which has already formed around the entrance to the Hall of Justice.

On the soundtrack we hear the muted voice of the crowd, and over it the voice of a Judge, dispassionately reading a legal opinion:

JUDGE: WHERE EVIDENCE OF INVOLUNTARY UNCONSCIOUSNESS HAS BEEN PRODUCED IN A HOMICIDE PROSECUTION, AND THE REFUSAL OF A REQUESTED INSTRUCTION ON THE SUBJECT, AND ITS EFFECT AS A COMPLETE DEFENSE IF FOUND TO HAVE EXISTED, IS PREJUDICIAL ERROR. DEFENDANT DID NOT REQUEST INSTRUCTIONS UPON UNCONSCIOUSNESS, BUT A TRIAL COURT IS UNDER A DUTY TO INSTRUCT ON DIMINISHED CAPACITY, IN THE ABSENCE OF A REQUEST AND UPON ITS OWN MOTION, WHERE EVIDENCE SO INDICATES. (There is a short pause) THE CONVICTION IS REVERSED.

SHOT 63. Exterior, day. Medium shot of the front door of the Hall of Justice, taken over the heads of the crowd. The crowd noise is brought up to full volume. After five seconds the door opens and Huey Newton comes out: he is dressed in prison clothes. The crowd noise grows to a joyous roar as they rush forward and surround him. They half-push, halfcarry him toward a car to the right, and the camera pans to hold him in the frame. The crowd lifts him onto the top of the car.

SHOT 64. Close-up of Huey on top of the car, alone in the frame. Crowd noises on the soundtrack. Huey looks at the crowd with a grin on his face. He lets the crowd look at him. Suddenly, he rips off his prison shirt and lets it fall out of the frame. Barechested, he raises his fist in the Panther salute. Other fists appear in the bottom of the frame as the crowd returns the salute.

HUEY: I’M WITH YOU NOT BECAUSE OF THE COURTS, BUT BECAUSE OF THE PEODLE. (pause) ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Fade to black and hold.

SHOT 65. Hold black screen. On the soundtrack:

VOICE: IT’S A MOVIE EVERYONE HAS SEEN, AND IT HAPPENED BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS SEEN IT.

SECOND VOICE: BULLSHIT.

SHOT 66. Interior, day. A wide-angle shot using an extreme fish-eye lens, of the side of a courtroom. The fish-eye lens makes it look as big as a sports arena. Outside, it is a warm, sunny morning in Marin County, California.

Court is in session. In addition to the Judge, jury, prosecution and bailiff, there are a number of spectators. James McClain, a black convict acting as his own attorney, is questioning another black convict, Ruchfell Magee, who is sealed in the witness chair. Both men have their hands chained. Although there is dialogue going on, the soundtrack is silent. This lasts for about fifteen seconds.

Suddenly, one of the spectators rises to his feet and points a gun at the bar. He is a tall black youth with a medium natural. He is Jonathan Jackson, 17.

SHOT 67. The camera zooms in for a tight profile close-up of Jackson. Courtroom sounds begin on the soundtrack, but subside immediately as Jackson speaks:

JONATHAN JACKSON: THIS IS IT, GENTLEMEN. I’M TAKING OVER NOW. I’VE GOT AN AUTOMATIC WEAPON. EVERYBODY FREEZE.

SHOT 68. Slowly, the camera zooms back into a wide-angle shot as Jackson moves away from his seat and down the aisle. He moves slowly, and keeps his gun aimed in the general direction of the jury. The courtroom has been shocked into

silence, but we hear the vague suggestion of movement. Jackson passes in front of the bar, and hands weapons to McClain and Magee, who have stepped down to meet him.

Under the whole of the shot we hear the Coasters on the soundtrack:

Red went and bought himself a monkey Got him from a pawnshop broker He taught that monkey how to guzzle beer And he taught him how to play stud poker Last night they were gambling in the kitchen The monkey he was takin’ a beating The monkey said, Red I’m gonna shoot you dead ’Cause I know damn well you’re cheating

Well, run, Red, run, ’cause he’s got your gun

And he’s aiming it at your head

Run, Red, run, ’cause he’s got your gun

And he’s aiming it at your head

You better get up and wail

You better move your tail

Before he fills it full of lead

SHOT 69. Medium three-shot; Jackson, Magee and McClain. Jackson is holding his automatic on the bailiff, who is out of frame. Magee and McClain, both armed, stand to Jackson’s right, and slightly behind him.

MAGEE: I’LL GET CHRISTMAS.

As Magee walks quickly out of frame, Jackson speaks:

JACKSON: NOBODY MOVE.'

SHOT 70. Medium three-shot, from behind Jackson. We see his back, and past him McClain and the bailiff. Jackson’s gun, which is clearly visible, covers the two men. McClain, his hands cuffed together, raises his pistol and addresses the bailiff. His voice shakes.

McCLAIN: I HAVE BEEN IN PRISON TOO MANY YEARS. REMOVE THESE CHAINS.

SHOT 71. Close-up of McClain with his hands raised. The bailiff moves slowly into frame, unlocks the handcuffs, and backs slowly out of frame. McClain turns to face the jury, which is not yet visible.

SHOT 72. In a long shot from the side of the courtroom, we see McClain move to stand directly in front of the jury box. His gun is leveled straight at the jury.

SHOT 73. Wide-angle shot from directly behind McClain, in which we see the faces of the jury and the back of his head. We can see the whole jury. The lens exaggerates the size of McClain’s head, and it dominates the shot.

McCLAIN: I HAVE BEEN UNJUSTLY ACCUSED. I MUST BE SET FREE, SO HELP ME GOD.

The jury is in a state of near-shock, and they do not visibly react to McClain’s statement in any way. They understand that they are watching a prison break-out movie, but they do not yet appreciate that McClain has brought them into the action.

SHOT 74. Close-up of the courtroom door. In a brief shot, six people enter: a second bailiff; Magee, armed; a couple with a baby; and a second black convict, Christmas.

SHOT 75. An overhead shot. In a high-angle close-up (with the camera about two feet above the men) we see McClain taping a sawed-off shotgun to the Judge’s neck. The Judge faces forward, avoiding McClain’s glance. As the shot goes on, the camera descends so that by the time McClain is finished, we are in a conventional close-up two-shot.

McClain turns to face the camera, and we zoom in slowly for an extreme close-up. He looks directly into the lens, and the image begins to ripple, indicating a flashback.

Ripple dissolve to:

[NOTE: The flashback sequence which follows (SHOTS 76-83) employs two conventions maintained throughout.

All the shots are made with an extreme fish-eye lens, and the soundtrack has a slight electronic reverberation.]

SHOT 76. Interior, day. We are following McClain, in a medium moving shot, down the aisle of a supermarket. The camera is mounted on a shopping cart, and we can see the front of the cart. On the soundtrack, we hear supermarket Muzak playing, but the tape is running noticeably slower than it should. ,

McClain is without a cart. He has a rifle stuck down the back of his shirt and into his pants leg — the gun is obvious beneath his clothing. McClain bothers no one, and seems to be in control of himself. As far as we can tell, he is merely taking a stroll through the supermarket. We follow him until he turns a corner.

SHOT 77. High overhead crane shot. McClain has just turned the corner. He proceeds down this aisle, passing several shoppers. One of them, a woman pushing a cart, turns and looks after him. He doesn’t notice. The woman stares after him for a few moments, then turns again and pushes her cart rapidly down the aisle.

SHOT 78. C][ose-up of a supermarket Clerk, in a white apron, depositing a dime in a pay phone. He dials for the operator, glancing occasionally toward t'he camera, and speaks:

CLERK: GIVE ME THE POLICE, PLEASE.

SHOT 79. A medium long shot, in which we see the checkout counter and a line of people. Our camera position emphasizes McClain, who is standing last in line, emptyhanded. The gun is still prominent beneath his clothing. SHOT 80. Hand-held shot from POV McClain: looking down the line we see two policemen come in the door of the supermarket. They hesitate for a moment, looking aroind, and then proceed directly toward the camera in a purposeful manner. Ripple dissolve to:

SHOT 81. Interior, day. A courtroom. In a medium two-shot over McClain’s shoulder, we see a Judge.

JUDGE: YOU DON’T HAVE TO DEFEND YOURSELF. THAT’S WHY WE HAVE PUBLIC DEFENDERS IN THIS STATE.

SHOT 82. High-angle shot of McClain from POV Judge.

McCLAIN: THE LAST PUBLIC DEFENDER DID A POOR JOB. THIS TIME, EVEN IF I’M CONVICTED, I’LL KNOW I GOT MY SAY. '

Ripple dissolve to:

SHOT 83. Extreme close-up of the Judge.

JUDGE: JAMES McCLAIN, YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF BURGLARY AND ARMED ROBBERY. I SENTENCE YOU TO SERVE FIVE YEARS TO LIFE IN THE STATE PENITENTIARY.

A ripple dissolve ends the flashback, and returns us to: SHOT 84. The Marin courtroom: the camera dollies, in close-up, past people lying flat on the floor. We see a couple sheltering their baby between them, a woman crying softly, a bailiff, and a well-dressed man who is the District Attorney. There is off-camera dialogue:

JACKSON: WHO’S GOIN’ WITH US? WHO DO WE TAKE? McCLAIN: WOMEN ARE TOO SLOW. THE BAILIFF IS COOL, AND WE DON’T WANT THE BABY.

SHOT 85. A medium shot of Jackson, Magee, McClain and Christmas, standing close together at the edge of the group of prostrate figures. .

CHRISTMAS: HOW MANY CAN WE GET IN THE VAN? JACKSON: SHUT UP. LEMME THINK.

SHOT 86. Long shot of the courtroom, from the side. The seats are empty; everyone is on the floor except for the four black men. The camera zooms in on a clock mounted on the opposite wall, it reads: 10:50. Dissolve to:

SHOT 87. A title card:

“YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE”

A Film By Fritz Lang

-1937

SHOT 88. Actually, a number of shots: the jail-break sequence from You Only Live Once.

We are in a prison yard, at night, just inside the main gate. The scene is perceived dimly through thick, drifting fog. Sirens wail; a jail-break is in progress.

Eddie, a three-time loser played by Henry Fonda, has been framed on a murder rap. This time he is going to the chair. Moments before his execution, he has gotten a gun and taken a guard hostage. Now, standing in the foggy yard with his gun held on the guard, he shouts up to the Warden, who stands on the high concrete wall, “Open the gate or I'll kill him!"

Unbeknownst to Eddie, his pardon has just come through from the Governor. The Warden shouts down at him, telling him that he is a free man. Eddie thinks it is a trick, and repeats his threat. Impasse in the fog, sirens wailing.

The prison Chaplain, a man who trusts Eddie and who has always believed him innocent, is standing with the Warden. ‘‘Let me go down to him, ” he pleads. “Maybe he'll believe me.”

“OK," says the Warden, “but be careful."

The Chaplain runs down a flight of stairs, and approaches Eddie through the fog. “Don’t shoot, Eddie, it's me.”

Eddie is not at his clearest. He has been up for days, he has just escaped the chair by seconds, and he is living at the center of an emotional hurricane that will not allow him a second to gather his wits. “Stay back, Father!" he yells. ‘‘I'll kill you too.”

The Chaplain continues to walk, slowly, toward Eddie. “Listen, Eddie," he pleads, “you’ve got to listen to me. There’s no need for all this. You’ve been pardoned

“Stop right where.you are, Father," yells Eddie. “Don’t make me shoot!”

The Chaplain does not stop. “You can trust me, Eddie,” he says.

“Stay back!” yells Eddie.

Fog. Sirens. Eddie’s death-mask face.

Eddie shoots the Chaplain.

The Warden, hearing the shot, shouts from the wall, “Father, are you all right?”

“Yes I’m all right,” says the Chaplain. “Open the gate.”

“You know we can’t — ” begins the Warden.

“Open the gate,” insists the Chaplain, and the gate swings open. Eddie runs breakneck through it, and disappears into the fog. Behind him, the Chaplain crumples to the ground and dies. Dissolve to:

SHOT 89. Interior, day. The courtroom clock. Ten minutes have passed, and the clock reads: 11:00.

SHOT 90. Medium shot of the four black men standing in the aisle of the courtroom. They are confused and anxious.

CHRISTMAS: COME ON, COME ON!

MAGEE: WE HAVE TO FIGURE WHO GOES. WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE.

JACKSON: THE PIG D.A. GOES FOR SURE.

We hold the shot in silence for ten seconds. The men are trying desperately to think, but they can’t.

Dissolve to:

SHOT 91. Medium close-up of the Detective in his office. He is sitting behind his desk, reading from “Man’s Fate.” There is a half-empty glass on the desk. He reads out loud:

DETECTIVE: “HE HAD THROWN HIMSELF INTO THE WORLD OF MURDER, FROM WHICH HE WOULD NEVER EMERGE: WITH HIS PASSION, HE WAS ENTERING UPON THE LIFE OF A TERRORIST AS INTO A PRISON. BEFORE LONG HE WOULD BE CAUGHT -TORTURED OR KILLED; UNTIL THEN HE WOULD LIVE LIKE A MAN WILLFULLY OBSESSED, IN A WORLD OF DECISION AND DEATH. HE HAD LIVED BY HIS IDEAS; NOW THEY WOULD KILL HIM.”

The Detective puts.down the book, picks up the glass, drains it, reaches into the drawer and pulls out his bottle of rye. He fills the glass, moves as if to replace the bottle, thinks better of it and places the bottle firmly on his desk. He looks up and speaks directly into the camera.

DETECTIVE: THAT SCENE OF HUEY STANDING ON

THE CAR WITH HIS ARM IN THE AIR WAS FINE. I BET YOU LIKED IT. I LIKED IT MYSELF.

JONATHAN JACKSON ACTED LESS THEN 24 HOURS LATER. HIS ACTION GAVE SOME MEANING TO HUEY NEWTON'S RELEASE. THE ACTION SPOKE CLEARLY TO NEWTON, A MAN WHO CAME OUT OF PRISON TO FIND HIS FRIENDS IN JAIL, AND TO FIND, AS WELL,

A MAN ACTING ON A STAGE THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN BUILT FOR NEWTON’S BENEFIT ALONE. IT WAS THIS THAT GAVE HUEY’S FREEDOM MORE THAN SYMBOLIC MEANING - JACKSON MADE IT AN EVENT BY CHALLENGING ITS MEANING. NEWTON HAD TO ENTER INTO JACKSON'S DRAMA BECAUSE JACKSON SPELLED IT OUT. IT WAS AS IF HE SAID, YOUR RELEASE IS NOT ENOUGH, HUEY. YOUR FREEDOM IS A GREAT EVENT - BUT BY NECESSITY I REDUCE IT BY MY ACTIONS, AND YOU MUST RESPOND TO ME IF YOU ARE TO JUSTIFY YOUR FREEDOM AS A POLITICAL MAN. YOU MUST SEIZE ON MY EVENT BEFORE IT IS LOST, OR TAKEN AWAY FROM THOSE TO WHOM IT BELONGS.

The Detective pauses. He is no longer speaking for Jackson.

DETECTIVE: IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW YOU FELT THE DAY HUEY GOT OUT - YOUR LIBERATION HAD NO FORM TO IT. YOU’D BETTER RECOGNIZE THAT IT WAS JACKSON WHO GAVE FORM AND SENSE TO THAT LIBERATION. HE PUT THE WEIGHT ON NEWTON; HE DIDN'T GIVE HIM ANY TIME TO REST, NOT ONE DAY.

The Detective slugs down a drink, checks the level in the bottle, picks up the book and goes on.

DETECTIVE: “MAN'S FATE.” MALRAUX CALLS THE LEADER KYO, AND HE CALLS THE TERRORIST CH’EN. THEY AREN’T NEWTON AND JACKSON, BUT THEY’RE CLOSE ENOUGH TO MAKE IT WORTH TALKING ABOUT.

He reads:

DETECTIVE: “CH’EN KNEW THE OBJECTIONS THAT ARE MADE TO TERRORISM: POLICE REPRESSION . . . THE APPEAL TO FASCISM. BUT THE REPRESSION COULD NOT BE MORE VIOLENT THAN IT WAS ALREADY, NOR FASCISM MORE OBVIOUS. AND PERHAPS KYO AND HE WERE NOT THINKING OF THE SAME MEN.”

The Detective puts his book back on the desk and speaks directly into the camera, which zooms in for:

SHOT 92. Extreme close-up of the Detective.

DETECTIVE: THIS IS IT. TWO EVENTS, TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF POLITICS, AND TWO SORTS OF MEN WHO CARRY THEM OUT. THE TWO EVENTS DID NOT CAUSE EACH OTHER BUT THEY EXPLAIN EACH OTHER.

On the soundtrack we hear a door pushed open. The Detective hears it too, and looks off-screen.

SHOT 93. In medium shot, the Detective replaces his bottle in the desk.

VOICE OFF-CAMERA: ON YOUR FEET, BUDDY. WE’VE GOT A WARRANT.

Dissolve to:

SHOT 94. The Marin courtroom. In medium shot, we see a group of people standing near the door - the four blacks and their hostages: the Judge, the D.A., and three women jurors. There are nine people in all.

With his left hand, McClain holds the shotgun taped to the Judge’s neck; in his right hand there is a pistol, which he points at the Judge’s head. Jackson holds an automatic rifle, aimed at the door. Magee carries a pistol, as does Christmas. The three women are wired together, and move with some difficulty.

Carefully, McClain pushes the door open.

McCLAIN: I WANT NO SHOOTING HERE.

SHOT 95. In a long shot taken from the end of the hallway, we see McClain, gun at the ready, emerging cautiously from the courtroom. He looks both ways and moves into the hallway.

SHOT 96. Close-up, in which the members of the group enter frame right and leave frame left, in this order: McClain and the Judge, a female juror led by Christmas, the D.A., covered by Magee, who follows, the two remaining female jurors and Jackson, covering the rear.

SHOT 97. In close medium shot, Jackson whirls suddenly and points his gun from the hip, toward frame right.

SHOT 98. In long shot from POV Jackson, we see a photographer halfway down the hall. The photographer is terrified. SHOT 99. Extreme close-up of the photographer.

PHOTOGRAPHER: DON’T SHOOT ME. I’M NOT A COP.

SHOT 100. Medium two-shot of McClain and the Judge, taken from the side. The Judge looks directly into the camera, away from the action, while McClain addresses the photographer, who is out of frame to the right.

McCLAIN: TAKE ALL THE PICTURES YOU WANT.

WE ARE THE REVOLUTIONARIES.

The camera pans to the right, into:

SHOT 101. Medium shot of the photographer, who advances

several steps, crouches, and takes a picture. On the click of the shutter we cut to:

SHOT 102. Long shot of the photographer, the group of captives and captors in the foreground. The photographer takes a second picture.

SHOT 103. The hallway. In a medium shot we seethe photographer getting to his feet. He freezes. Behind him, a guard with a carbine moves around the corner.

SHOT 104. A medium close shot: Jackson, in the midst of the group, raises his gun, levels it, and stops just short of firing.

SHOT 105. In long shot, from POV Jackson, we see photographer and the guard. They are both frozen.

SHOT 106. High overhead shot, in which we see the entire hallway, the group of prisoners, the photographer and the guard. Jackson speaks, and his voice echoes down the hall:

JACKSON: DROP THAT GUN AND STAY WHERE YOU ARE!

Still in the same overhead shot, we see the guard drop his gun in front of him. It clatters loudly on the floor. Jackson leaves the group and advances toward the guard. He passes the photographer.

PHOTOGRAPHER (carefully): I’M GOING TO MOVE NOW.

The photographer turns slowly, returns to his crouch, and takes a picture of Jackson bending to scoop up the guard’s carbine. Holding the carbine leveled on the guard, Jackson backs away toward the group.

GUARD: YOU’LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS. SHOT 107. A medium close shot of the group. They have already forgotten the guard.

JACKSON: LET’S MOVE OUT!

Dissolve to:

SHOT 108. Interior, night. We are in the back room of a police station. In a medium three-shot we see the Detective, sitting in a straight-backed chair, and the two cops who are working him over. They look like they’ve been there a long time.

1ST COP: ALL RIGHT, LET’S HAVE IT AGAIN.

DETECTIVE: YOU WON’T LIKE IT ANY BETTER THIS TIME THAN YOU DID THE LAST TIME.

2ND COP: YOU MUST ENJOY GETTING BELTED AROUND.

DETECTIVE: IT’S JUST MY PASSION FOR TOUGH GUYS. KICKS ARE GETTING HARDER TO FIND THESE DAYS.

1ST COP (to 2nd cop): LET HIM COOL HIS HEELS FOR A WHILE. HE’LL CRACK.

2ND COP: THEY ALWAYS DO.

They give him a look of disgust, and move toward the

door.

DETECTIVE: WHAT’S THE MATTER? I’M NOT YOUR

TYPE?

The second cop turns, pulls out a gun, and hits the Detective across the mouth. But not as hard as he might; he wants to save something for later. The cops leave, locking the door, and the Detective wipes blood from his mouth.

SHOT 109. Medium close-up of the Detective. He sits for perhaps five seconds. Then he looks up, wearily, and addresses the camera:

DETECTIVE: YOU SAW THOSE JOKERS - THEY’VE GOT GUNS, AND THEY TOOK MINE, BUT THE POWER THEY USE DOESN’T COME FROM GUNS. GUNS AND POWER AREN’T THE SAME. POWER IS A MATTER OF HOW WELL YOU CAN SEIZE ON THE CONTRADICTIONS IN YOUR SOCIETY, INTENSIFY THEM, AND ORGANIZE AROUND THEM. A GUN ISN’T AN IDEA -IT’S AN IMPLEMENT THAT MAKES AN IDEA WORK FASTER, SOMETIMES SO FAST IT BECOMES ANOTHER IDEA ALTOGETHER.

BUT POWER COMES FROM SOMEWHERE - SAY, FRUm THE BIG CITY COPS THAT TURN THEIR HEADS WHEN THE SMALL TOWN HOODS MAKE THEIR MOVE; FROM THE PEOPLE IN THIS TOWN WHO HAVE NOTHING TO DO AND TOO MUCH TIME TO DO IT IN; FROM THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE NO TIME TO LIVE, AND NO TIME TO ASK THEMSELVES WHY THAT’S THE WAY IT IS. THESE COPS HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY AND THE CITY HAS IT CUT OUT FOR THEM; THEY HAVE POWER BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE GAVE IT TO THEM. THEY PULL JOBS FOR EACH OTHER. THEY HAVE POWER - ALL AGAINST ONE, THEM AGAINST ME.

The Detective looks down at his feet, realizes he’s made a cheap play for sympathy, and looks back at the camera.

DETECTIVE: THIS JOB USED TO BE A LOT MORE FUN THAN IT IS NOW.

He pauses, then continues:

DETECTIVE: ANYBODY CAN GET A GUN.

JONATHAN JACKSON HAD GUNS; HE COULD HAVE KILLED FIVE OR SIX OF THEM RIGHT OFF THE BAT, AND THERE'D BE PEOPLE TELLING ME ABOUT THE POWER THAT GROWS OUT OF A GUN. BELIEVE IT IF YOU LIKE.

JACKSON SEIZED POWER WHEN HE CHOSE HIS COMPANIONS - JOINING WITH THE MEN WITH WHOM

AND FOR WHOM THAT POWER COULD BE USED.

THEY CAME TOGETHER BECAUSE OF THEIR IDEAS AND THEIR IDEAS HELD THEM TOGETHER, FOR A MOMENT. BUT IT WAS THE CREATION, AS AN ACT,

OF THIS BAND OF OUTSIDERS THAT GAVE THEM THE SENSE THAT THEIR ACTIONS WERE RIGHTFUL. THEY ACTED TO PRESERVE A GROUP THAT WAS ONLY MINUTES FROM ITS FOUNDING - THIS OVERTOOK THE NECESSITY OF THEIR IDEAS, AND FORMED THE NECESSITY OF THEIR ACTION. THEIR POWER WAS NEW-BORN FROM THE ROLES THEY CREATED FOR THEMSELVES WITHIN THE COURTHOUSE. THEIR GUNS BOUGHT THEM THE TIME TO SET IT UP, AND THE SPACE IN WHICH TO RECOGNIZE EACH OTHER FOR WHAT THEY REALLY WERE. THEIR GUNS DIDN’T CLOTHE THEM BUT STRIPPED THEM NAKED.

BUT THIS IS AN ACT OF VIOLENCE. GUNS MAY NOT CREATE POWER, BUT THEY RAISE THE STAKES. ONCE YOU’VE PUSHED THE RULES ASIDE, EVEN FOR A MOMENT, AND ANNOUNCED THE GAME YOU’RE GOING TO PLAY, YOU PLAY IT. BECAUSE YOU’RE PLAYING FOR THE MEN WHO SEE YOU AS YOU ARE, AS ONLY COMRADES CAN SEE EACH OTHER.

The Detective looks at the floor, and reaches down out of frame. He straightens up with his library book in his hand.

DETECTIVE: THE BOOK AGAIN. THEY LEFT ME THAT.

He reads:

DETECTIVE: “THE PROBLEM WAS NOT TO MAINTAIN THE BEST ELEMENTS AMONG THE OPPRESSED MASSES IN ORDER TO LIBERATE THEM, BUT TO GIVE A MEANING TO THEIR VERY OPPRESSION; LET EACH MAN ASSUME A RESPONSIBILITY AND APPOINT HIMSELF THE JUDGE OF AN OPPRESSOR’S LIFE.”

The Detective looks up from his book and addresses the camera:

DETECTIVE: THERE IT IS. IT’S EASY TO SAY IT -MELT IT DOWN AND YOU'D HAVE A GOOD SLOGAN. BUT THIS SMALL BAND OF MEN PUT IT INTO ACTION, LIKE IT OR NOT. I’M NOT SURE I LIKE IT - GIVE ME A WHILE TO THINK ABOUT IT. BUT THIS IS FOR SURE: AS ONE SIDE HAS PRESUMED TO JUDGE, SO NOW SHALL THE OTHER, AND NOT IN TURN.

The Detective looks down, as if trying to remember something. When he speaks, he is quoting:

DETECTIVE: “THE BLOOD FELL BACK UPON THEM, AND REMAINED.”

He faces the camera again, and continues:

DETECTIVE: SOMETHING LIKE THAT. GIVING WEIGHT TO THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO COULD REALLY FEEL THIS EVENT AS IT HAPPENED - WHO COULD CATCH THAT BRIEF MOMENT WHEN THESE MEN CREATED POWER AND USED IT TO KEEP THE OTHER GUNS AT BAY.

He pauses for a few seconds.

DETECTIVE: BUT POWER MAY NOT EVEN BE THE CLUE. SOMETIMES, ACTING WITHOUT SPEAKING, WITHOUT THE LONG AND COMPLICATED EXPLANATIONS, IS THE ONLY WAY TO SET IT RIGHT AGAIN. I THINK MAYBE THAT’S THE WAY IT WAS, THIS TIME.

We hear a lock snapped open, and the Detective looks toward the sound. SHOT 110. Close-up of the door of the room in the police station. It opens, and the two cops enter. The camera pans with them as they cross to face the Detective, moving into a medium three-shot.

1ST COP: YOU’VE BEEN SPRUNG, SMART GUY. GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE WE THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE YOU’VE DONE.

The Detective gets wearily to his feet,

DETECTIVE: ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE ME MY GUN BACK?

2ND COP: YOU KNOW, YOU ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS.

DETECTIVE: IT WAS JUST A STALL. I'M TIRED.

GIVE ME A COUPLE OF MINUTES AND I’LL THINK OF SOMETHING BETTER.

Dissolve to:

SHOT 111. Exterior, day. In a low-flying helicopter shot, we see an enormous parking lot, adjacent to the Marin County Civic Center which houses the courtroom. The parking lot is ringed with cops: state highway patrolmen, San Rafael police, Marin County sheriffs and San Quentin guards. Police with sniper rifles are visible in all the second-story windows of the Civic Center. We hear the loud beating of the helicopter blades, and over it:

VOICE: SPECIAL UNIT TWO. WE HAVE ESTABLISHED POSITION DIRECTLY OVER THE LOT. DO YOU WANT US TO HOLD?

RADIO (filtered): JUST A MOMENT, JUST A MOMENT. THINGS ARE PRETTY CONFUSED HERE.

SHOT 112. Exterior, day. In medium shot, we see the group emerging from the side door of the Civic Center, directly into the parking lot. McClain is in the lead, still holding the shotgun to the Judge’s neck. He is followed by McGee, who is covering the D.A. Christmas is next, with the three women, and Jackson brings up the rear, covering the group with his automatic.

SHOT 113. A long shot, from inside a parked car: we see the group still clustered near the door; an uncertain but massive number of police, out of focus, make up the background of the shot. One policeman, a deputy sheriff, stands not far from the group. The shot holds for a few seconds as the armed men assess the situation.

SHOT 114. A quick close-up of the deputy sheriff.

SHOT 115. A quick medium shot of the group. They notice the sheriff.

SHOT 116. A quick close-up of the sheriff. He does not move.

SHOT 117. Close-up of McClain, in the front of the group. He gestures toward the sheriff with his pistol.

McCLAIN: STAY WHERE YOU ARE. WE’RE GONNA TAKE YOUR GUN.

SHOT 118. In medium shot, we see the photographer emerging slowly from the side door. He looks for a shot. SHOT 119. High-angle shot from over the shoulder of a second-story rifleman. We see his gun barrel in the foreground, and below him the group and the sheriff. We hear the dialogue from a distance, but clearly:

McCLAIN (turning to Jackson): GET IT.

Jackson begins to move toward the sheriff.

SHOT 120. A medium shot of the photographer. PHOTOGRAPHER: I’M GOING TO MOVE NOW.

SHOT 121. Same high-angle as SHOT 119. Jackson reaches the sheriff and disarms him, as the photographer moves out and takes a picture.

SHOT 122. Medium long shot from POV sheriff: Jackson is close to the camera, the group is a little farther away, and the cops are in the background, out of focus. Jackson backs away from the camera until he has rejoined the group. They begin to move out to the right, away from the building, and the camera pans with them for a few seconds.

SHOT 123. In long shot, the group enters the frame from the left and crosses toward the right. Behind them we see a row of parked cars with policemen crouched between virtually every car. A few are standing behind the parked cars. Guns are drawn, but pointed at the ground. As the group leaves the frame, we zoom in for:

SHOT 124. A close-up two-shot of a cop, crouching between two cars, and the Marin County Sheriff, dressed in a business suit, standing behind the cop. Both men hold guns. The cop raises his gun as we zoom in, and points it toward frame right.

SHERIFF: I SAID NO SHOOTING. GOD KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO DO.

SHOT 125. Exterior, day. Medium shot of a small van in the parking lot, with HERTZ written on the side. Near the edge of the frame we see several policemen and a San Quentin guard with a rifle. The group of armed men and hostages enters the frame near the camera, and moves toward the van. Jackson is last, walking backwards and pointing his gun at the police, who are out of frame.

As McClain, in the lead, reaches the van and begins to open the back doors, Jackson stops and turns toward the camera. Then he shouts:

JONATHAN JACKSON: WE WANT THE SOLEDAD BROTHERS FREED BY 12:30 TODAY!

SHOT 126. Close shot of the rear door of the van, which is now fully open. The Judge and the three women are pushed into the rear of the van, followed by McClain, Christmas, and Magee. The doors are closed from the inside.

Jackson directs the DA to the front of the van with his gun. They enter, Jackson behind the wheel. The front door is shut.

SHOT 127. A very quick close-up of the San Quentin guard. Sunlight gleams on the barrel of his rifle. Dissolve to:

SHOT 128. Medium shot of the Hertz van with a few cops and the San Quentin guard in the background. On the soundtrack we hear the engine start, and moments later the van begins to back up, slowly. Then it stops, and moves slowly forward, beginning to turn.

SHOT 129. A very quick medium close-up of the San Quentin guard. Sunlight gleams on the barrel of his rifle. SHOT 130. A quick medium shot of the van, moving slowly from frame right to frame left.

SHOT 131. A quick medium shot of the van moving directly toward the camera. Sun reflects off the windshield, and we cannot see the faces of the men inside.

SHOT 132. A quick helicopter shot of the entire parking area. We pick up the van moving out of the parking lot; there is no other movement.

SHOT 133. Exterior, day. A very brief flash-frame of the main gate of San Quentin.

SHOT 134. Interior, day. A very brief flash-frame of a pebbled glass door on which is written in black paint: SHOT 135. A medium close-up of Park, sitting behind his desk. He speaks into a battery of microphones; this is a TV news shot.

JAMES W. PARK

ASSOCIATE WARDEN

PARK: THE FIRST DAY AN EMPLOYEE COMES TO WORK AT SAN QUENTIN, THIS POINT IS STRESSED ON A PERSONAL BASIS - IF YOU ARE TAKEN HOSTAGE THERE WILL BE NO ESCAPE ALLOWED.

SHOT 136. Exterior, day. A quick close-up of the San Quentin guard. Sunlight gleams on the barrel of his rifle. SHOT 137. Low-angle shot of the van moving toward the camera, taken from near the ground. The van looks massive. Just as it is about to pass over the camera, it stops.

SHOT 138. Direct overhead shot, looking down on the San Quentin guard. He fires his rifle. The report of the weapon is very loud on the soundtrack.

SHOT 139. Close-up of the San Quentin guard. He is facing us, and his rifle is aimed slightly to the side of the camera. He fires again.

SHOT 140. Medium close-up of Jonathan Jackson, taken through the side window on the driver’s side of the van. Jonathan Jackson is slumped over the steering wheel. Jonathan Jackson is dead. The shot remains on the screen in silence for two seconds.

SHOT 141. Medium shot of the van, from the same angle. It fills the frame. On the soundtrack, we hear a slightly muffled shotgun blast at close range from inside the van, and at least a dozen more muffled shots. Smoke pours from the van.

SHOT 142. A long shot of the van from the same angle. An overwhelming barrage of police gunfire breaks out, and for fifteen seconds it does not stop. The windows of the van are shattered; the sound of the glass breaking is barely audible over the pounding of bullets into the sides of the van.

SHOT 143. An extreme long shot of the van from the same angle. Echoes of the gunfire die out. The police begin to approach the van. A few of them reach it.

SHOT 144. A medium shot of the back of the van. Two policemen open the back doors, and a woman’s body rolls out of the van and onto the pavement. Then we are looking directly into the back of the van, and the camera zooms in for:

SHOT 145. A close-up of dead men sprawled across the floor of the van. There is no sound. The shot holds for a full ten seconds before it begins a slow dissolve to:

SHOT 146. Interior. In close-up, newspapers fly off a rotary press and pass in front of the camera, one after another. On the soundtrack we hear the roar of the press. Headlines dominate the screen, but the papers are moving by so quickly that it takes us a moment to maKe out the message:

FOUR SLAIN IN MARIN SHOOT-OUT

A montage of hands dropping coins into newspaper vending machines is superimposed over the headlines. After a few seconds the headlines begin to fade, and the second shot pulls back slightly as a hand takes a newspaper from a vending machine. We can read the secondary headlines:

Judge Dies; DA Critical; Two Convicts &

Gunman Dead; Soledad Bros. Plot Alleged

Along with the noise of the press, which has faded slightly, we now hear the voice of a radio newsman speaking over the clatter of a teletype machine:

NEWSMAN: AND THE WONDER OF IT IS THAT ANYONE SURVIVED. THE MYSTERY GUNMAN ARMED THE CONVICTS AND PLANNED THEIR BREAK FOR FREEDOM. THESE WERE DESPERATE MEN WITH NOTHING TO . . .

A long-shot of the DA being lifted from the front of the Hertz van is superimposed over the secondary headlines. The camera zooms in quickly as he is placed on a stretcher. The secondary headlines fade out, but the press noise continues on the soundtrack. We are in an extreme close-up of the DA.

DA: I GRABBED A GUN, I GOT THREE OF THEM, I HOPE THEY DIE, JUDGE HALEY WAS A SAINT -

The shot of the DA fades as we dissolve back to the first shot of the montage: newspapers flying off the press. We can still read the headlines as they move past the camera: FOUR SLAIN IN MARIN SHOOT-OUT. Then the camera zooms in, and the headlines begin to blur out. On the soundtrack the roar of the press builds in volume. Presently the screen is a confusion of vertical motion, orchestrated by the thunder of the press. The shot holds, the noise holds, until we cut to: SHOT 147. Interior. A low-angle close-up of Huey Newton.

HUEY NEWTON: WE FEEL THAT THE EVENT WHICH OCCURED IN MARIN WAS A COLOSSAL EVENT. IT HAS CHANGED THE WHOLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OPPRESSED AND THE OPPRESSOR.

The camera pulls back into:

SHOT 148. A two-shot of Huey Newton and an interviewer, sitting in front of a microphone marked KPFA.

HUEY NEWTON: BECAUSE OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THREE COMRADES WHO WERE KILLED, WHO WERE MURDERED, THE EVENT WAS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT OCCURRED IN THE WATTS UPRISING, OR EVEN THE DETROIT UPRISING, WHICH WAS A SPORADIC, UNORGANIZED UPRISING. IT LACKED CONSCIOUSNESS AND CERTAINLY IT LACKED THE REVOLUTIONARY FERVOR EXEMPLIFIED IN THE MOVE OF BROTHER JONATHAN JACKSON IN PARTICULAR.

SHOT 149. Interior, night. In a rear-angle shot we see (from behind) the Detective sitting at his desk and staring at the door of his office. He is waiting for something.

SHOT 150. In close-up, the Detective slides open a desk drawer. He takes out a revolver, slides the chamber open, looks inside, closes the chamber and replaces the gun. He leaves the drawer open. On the soundtrack:

HUEY NEWTON: BROTHER JACKSON, 17 YEARS OLD, WHO HAD NO PRISON RECORD WHATSOEVER, ACTED STRICTLY ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT THE CORRUPT RACIST WARLORDS CAN MAKE NO LAWS THAT THE PEOPLE ARE BOUND TO RESPECT.

SHOT 151. In a POV shot, the camera is moving down the corridor toward the Detective’s office.

SHOT 152. The Detective looks up intently. He appears to be listening to something.

SHOT 153. In close-up, the door of the office swings open and a beautiful young woman comes through. She closes the door behind her. SHOT 154. In a medium side-angle shot the woman opens her purse, takes out a wad of bills, walks to the desk and puts them in front of the Detective. She says something, but the soundtrack is silent.

SHOT 155. The Detective shakes his head, and says something. On the soundtrack:

HUEY NEWTON: WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE A CHARGE THAT THE REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE ARE NEVER INTERESTED IN MURDER, THAT IT IS ONLY THE OPPRESSOR WHO IS INTERESTED IN MURDER. THIS WAS DEMONSTRATED IN MARIN, BECAUSE THE REVOLUTIONARIES DID NOT FIRE THE FIRST SHOT. THEY WERE INTERESTED IN GETTING OUT OF PRISON.

SHOT 156. In an extreme close-up, the young woman registers shock. Then she moves past the camera and out of frame.

SHOT 157. From POV Detective, the woman comes closer. Her face is unreadable, but somehow menacing.

SHOT 158. In a side-angle two-shot, the woman embraces the Detective and kisses him.

SHOT 159. In close-up, the Detective reaches behind him. Carefully he takes the revolver from the open desk drawer. SHOT 160. Side-angle two-shot: Suddenly he thrusts the woman away from him and points the gun at her. He gestures to the side, away from the door, and she moves.

Her face is terribly cold.

SHOT 161. The door bursts open and two gunmen rush in. When they see the Detective, and his leveled revolver, they freeze.

SHOT ro2. In close-up, the Detective says something and gestures with his revolver. On the soundtrack:

HUEY NEWTON: THE STATEMENT WAS MADE BY ONE OF THE COMRADES THAT “I HAVE BEEN IN PRISON TOO MANY YEARS. REMOVE THESE CHAINS; I MUST BE SET FREE, SO HELP ME GOD.” AND HE ADDRESSED THE JURY AND SAID THIS, AND IT WAS REALLY AN EXPLANATION TO THE JURY ON WHY HE HAD TO TAKE CERTAIN ACTIONS. THIS IS A REVOLUTIONARY’S OBLIGATION, TO ALWAYS EXPLAIN HIS ACTIONS TO THE PEOPLE.

SHOT 163. The gunmen drop their guns and move to the side to stand near the young woman.

SHOT 164. The Detective moves back behind his desk, sits down, and dials the phone with one hand while he holds the revolver steady with the other. After a moment he speaks into the phone. Then he hangs up, leans back in his swivel chair, and begins to speak. He is enjoying himself, and he speaks for a long time. Now and then the camera cuts to the woman and the gunmen for reaction shots, but they do not speak. On the soundtrack:

HUEY NEWTON: THIS IS WHY WE HATE THE OPPRESSOR SO MUCH, BECAUSE WHEN HE STRIKES US, HE STRIKES DOWN THE BEST THAT HUMANITY PRODUCES. WHEN THE BROTHERS WERE KILLED IN MARIN, HUMANITY WAS STRUCK A BLOW, BECAUSE THESE WERE TRUE REVOLUTIONARIES INTERESTED IN THE PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE. YET THEY WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM US.

SHOT 165. In close-up, a number of policemen come

through the office door with drawn guns. They handcuff the gunmen and the woman.

SHOT 166. In close-up, the woman says something. She is weeping.

SHOT 167. In close-up, the Detective replies. His face is tired. On the soundtrack:

HUEY NEWTON: THE YOUNG JONATHAN JACKSON, I VIEW HIM AS A BROTHER WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN AND PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN MY SUCCESSOR . . . Dissolve to:

SHOT 168. Interior. A bar. Sitting on a stool at the far end is the Detective. Music is playing softly on a jukebox.

SHOT 169. In medium shot, the Detective drains his shot glass.

DETECTIVE: IT WAS A SIMPLE CASE. A LOT OF THEM ARE. YOU LOOK AT IT FORWARDS, AND IF THAT DOESN’T WORK YOU LOOK AT IT BACKWARDS. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FIGURE OUT WHO DID THE KILLINGS, CALL THE COPS AND HAND IT OVER.

THEY WRAP IT UP.

BUT THE MARIN SHOOT-OUT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. THE SAME QUESTIONS DON’T DIG OUT THE ANSWERS THAT MATTER. IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE COULD GET ALL THE CHARACTERS TOGETHER -OVER DINNER, MAYBE - AND STRAIGHTEN EVERYTHING OUT. BUT SOME OF THEM ARE DEAD, AND SOME OF THE REST PROBABLY WON’T TELL THE TRUTH ANYWAY. YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHICH ONES WON’T TELL THE TRUTH.

WHAT’S LEFT OF THE MARIN SHOOT-OUT IS SCATTERED ALL OVER THE PLACE. CLEARING THE CORPSES OFF THE STAGE DOESN'T WRAP IT UP.

YOU ONLY HEARD PART OF WHAT HUEY NEWTON HAD TO SAY. THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT "THE LEGACY OF JONATHAN JACKSON.” WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE THAT IS? THEY’LL PUT BACK THE COURTROOM, HIRE MORE GUARDS, AND TRY TO KEEP ON AS BEFORE - TRY TO ISOLATE THE ACTION. THE FIGHT OVER THE LEGACY OF JONATHAN JACKSON WILL GO ON. IT’LL BE HARD TO FOLLOW; YOU MIGHT LOSE INTEREST.

BUT IT’S DIFFERENT NOW. THE RISKS ARE NEW. THE RISKS ARE NEW ON BOTH SIDES. THERE’S NOTHING LEFT TO TAKE FOR GRANTED.

The record on the jukebox ends. The Detective leaves some change on the counter, turns and walks over to the jukebox. The camera follows him. He drops a coin right into the slot, punches a couple of buttons, turns, and starts to walk toward the door. The camera holds position as the Detective draws away. "Run Red Run” begins on the soundtrack.

Run Red run ’cause he’s got your gun And he’s aiming it at your head Run Red run ’cause he’s got your gun And he’s aiming it at your head You better get up and wail You better move your tail...

The door swings closed behind the Detective.

FADE OUT

THE END

EPILOGUE:

George Jackson

Greil Marcus

by

Yesterday George Jackson was shot and killed, apparently as he ran out of the maximum security ward of San Quentin Prison in Marin County, California. Left behind, inside the so-called “adjustment center,” were six Quentin guards, three dead and three wounded, two dead white convict trusties, a group of about twenty black inmates that included Jackson’s Soledad Brothers, John Cluchette and Fleeta Drumgo, and Ruchell Magee, the sole survivor of the escape attempt led by George’s brother Jonathan little more than a year ago.

At this point it is impossible to tell what happened, how it happened, or why it happened, and the chances are good that we may never know. The facts of the event are so jumbled, and so contradictory, that no scenario makes sense out of them as things stand now.

Nothing is easier to dismiss than a political act that fails, because in our crudely logical and technological culture, only success is “rational.” To dismiss a political act is to deny that it is political, that it has any public meaning or deserves to have any public impact, to personalize it as an act of “desperation,” “suicide,” irrational “martydom,” “insanity,” or the like, implying that the man who ought to think about it is not the citizen, but the doctor.

But it is far too early to judge the events at San Quentin as a “failure,” because we have no idea what kind of events really took place and no idea what kinds of goals were involved. The prison warden and the media have accepted the idea that an escape was taking place, and that may be, but such an explanation, so far, does not make sense out of what is known to have happened, and it is possible that something very different was going on, something much more spontaneous.

Warden Park, speaking to the press hours after Jackson’s death, claimed that “unthinking people” who bought the “bullshit talk of dilletante revolutionaries” were the victims of an irrational and foolhardy politics, the leaders of which, he said, “aren’t here getting killed.”

“This dilletante revolutionary bullshit,” he said, “is getting people killed who didn’t want to buy into it in the first place ... but (the revolutionaries) aren’t laying here in a pool of blood.”

Park’s statement is blatantly false, even on its own terms. The Black Panthers, to whom he was obviously refering, have taken the same risks, and Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Bobby Hutton, and a lot more never got the chance to break out of prison because they were spared the nuisance of arrest and trial; Huey Newton, after Jackson the strongest influence black prisoners have, matters to them partly because he has walked the same streets and fought the same battles and lived to tell about it. Still, Park made no attempt to deny the politics of the matter, only to demean them, probably because he has learned that politics, not rowdiness or discipline, is the most serious “problem” in his prison. It is what he does not understand, though, that is the most crucial. Not only is politics a “serious problem,” those politics are serious. The casual racism of his dismissal of George Jackson as “unthinking” is in the end the most revealing thing he had to say. To the warden, a stupid black convict could not possibly develop his own ideas, develop his own values, and act on his own understanding. The fact that Jackson lay dead as the warden spoke gave Park the freedom to talk this way, gave him the contemptuous superiority of the living, the critic whose subject cannot answer back. “I must be right, I’m alive.” Such a posture was degrading not only to Jackson’s memory, but, in fact, to the memory of those whites who died the same day, who were, like Jackson, victims of the system the warden has been hired to protect. What the warden could not allow himself to understand was that George Jackson, far from being an “unthinking” con dumbly/ captured by the rhetoric of the outside, was in fact the central focus of black politics in America: its most important theorist and its crucial example. This was so not because Jackson had been made a “cause,” but because his brilliance as a thinker and his authenticity as a teacher, an actor, and a man had inevitably caused a re-organization of politics on his terms.

The impulses of black politics now flow from the prisons to the streets, not, as Park assumes, from the streets to the prisons. Jackson was the first to give real voice to new values arid a new ethic of action and struggle, an ethic that, as he put it, had less to do with surviving than with living properly. He not only disseminated his ideas outside the prison with his writings, but acted it out within the prison, showing other men that it was possible to remain unbroken, to resist, and to create dignity — not without suffering for it, but with a sense that the suffering had to be worth it, with a conviction that struggle without any final reward, with no personal utopia, was a new, and better way of life. George Jackson Was a legend in the prisons, said Huey Newton; a man who refused to submit either to the vicious, permanent oppression of the state or the pointless and petty criminality of ordinary prison life. When he died, said James Carr, an inmate who knew George Jackson well, “he was loved and respected more than any other man in the prisons of California.”

Jackson made it clear that prison had to be understood as the central social fact and the central political metaphor of the black man who made any claim to politics. He knew better than anyone else that the risks of action in prison were enormous and that the chances for tangible, immediate “success” were miniscule, and he did not chart the battle on those terms. He knew, as he said in an interview with KPFA about a year ago, that “a lot more of us are going to die ... there’ll be a lot more funerals.” Conventional values and conventional ethics were for conventional politics, conventional risks, and conventional rewards, and those were not and could not be the stakes of the game. California law is “rationalized” by the terroristic indeterminant sentence law, under which all three of the Soledad Brothers and most black prisoners were and are sent to prison: one, two, five years to life. Huey Newton spelled out what that means in practice:

The prison kept George Jackson so long, he had time to

become really conscious. This is when they began to be

afraid to let him out.

Jackson and those other prisoners who dared to think and act politically, and not violently, understood that resistance insured that they would never leave prison. Thus a politics had to be worked out that had a place for the man inside, who would never see the streets.

George Jackson took it upon himself to do two things as a political man: first, to devise and demonstrate, with great personal authenticity, a politics that gave meaning to the lives of his brothers, releasing them from the utter degredation of wishing they had never been born, releasing them from the vicious imperatives of a system that offered “freedom” in exchange for that authenticity they learned

about from Jackson; and second, to pass the ethics and the values of that politics into the streets, in order to educate black leaders and black youth in what Jackson saw as the true nature of their experience in America, so that they would be prepared to deal with it when the time came.

Jackson’s politics were based on the conviction that there is something more important in life than surviving at any cost: living with honor and nobility while you can, refusing to betray your brothers and your ideas when the daily test is offered. This is not an aggressive ethic, but given the reality of white against black in America, and especially in its prisons, it means either violence or change; certainly the former and perhaps both. It is, on the surface, a political ethic appropriate solely to black men who are facing life in prison — young men who never had a chance to marry or father their own children — men in their twenties who for the rest of their lives have nothing to look forward to but a shuttle between San Quentin and Soledad, Chino and Folsom. To Jackson, giving up everything simply to survive insured only that these men would be spiritually dead long before they reached the morgue, long before they could become docile old prison joes who never caused any trouble and who could no longer remember what it meant to feel vitality, pride, or courage. To Jackson — who saw his own, law-abiding father, a man who had devoted his life to surviving, not acting, not daring to think, as one of these men — such a fate was what America offered black men and what it expected them to accept. But there is nothing to wait for, he said: the end of the line is not peace, but oblivion, and the end comes early. “No black man leaves Max Ward walking,” wrote George Jackson. “Either he leaves on the meat wagon or he leaves crawling, licking at the pig’s feet.”

If that life that America “offered” the black men and women within it was not worth living, there had to be something else. Many will dismiss Jackson’s ideas, now that he is dead, and cry out that his alternative to a life not worth living was nothing more than simple death. But this, as he could have told them, is a lie. His politics were not suicidal; suicide is for those who cannot endure life, not for those who are full of its possibilities and determined to affirm them. Jackson’s alternative was a matter of living as he and his brothers knew they ought to live, for as long as they could, with the clear understanding that a year, a month, or even a day of real life was worth fifty years of spiritual death. As Jackson said a year ago, if there was nothing else, at least he knew that his generation would not die without ever having lived. Jackson’s legacy to his people and to us can be found in the nobility of his life, not simply in the tragedy of his death; it can be found in his writings, which will protect both Jackson and his politics from the oblivion to which America prefers to consign its black men and women.

This is not, though, a proper time for any sort of optimism. We have to realize that the most acute political thinker and the most vital political actor in America has been shot to death in San Quentin Prison. A friend of mine once said that America was creating a society that its best men would be unable to respect; but now, we have to confront the probability that the society America has created has dispensed with the respect of its best men and women, and has determined to kill them.