Godfather of Harlem (2019) s01e10 Episode Script
Chickens Come Home to Roost
1 My successor will be you, my son.
You don't need to antagonize the government.
You got enough enemies without 'em.
I watched tenants be brutalized and did nothing.
BUMP: Seeing you, Mayme, and Margaret standing there together, it was like Heaven on Earth for me.
Margaret is not my biological daughter.
She's Elise's.
Bumpy is Margaret's grandfather.
I need your consent to legally adopt Margaret.
I can't give up my child.
Finally found out the owners of Bowery Lane Holdings.
And here's one.
Johnson.
MALCOLM X: Every man has a legacy, whether they want one or not.
Let's get the bus to California.
This is everything we worked towards.
It's finally coming true.
Don't you see this girl is gonna get you killed? Mama, shut your damn mouth! - She's right.
- It's over, Teddy.
I'd rather give you up than see you dead.
CHIN: Stella! How many did you take?! Stella! You're a monster.
Will you leave Teddy alone? Tell me what happened to Lorenzo.
You killed Joe's son.
'Cause he was fucking your daughter! [GUNSHOT.]
Bumpy has never lied to me, not even once.
If I convince you that Johnson killed Zambrano, you will arrange a summit with Bonanno.
I saw Bumpy cut that peckerwood into ribbons, and I enjoyed every single minute.
CHIN: Bumpy Johnson instigated this war.
What are we gonna do about it? Yeah, I'm shiny, but I'm dark on the inside Some my brothers lose their heart on the inside I can't lie, it broke my heart when my friends died We gon' make that choppa spark till your friends cry Spin the block till your friends cry Never question God, I'm a fearin' child I'm-a ride for the gang till I'm not alive I'm-a up and let it bang till I'm not alive COSTELLO: Bumpy Johnson.
You are here to answer a summons that you, in cold-blooded fashion, did murder a made man in the Genovese Family.
I'm here to respond to those charges.
Sit down.
COSTELLO: Chin, why don't you start? Bumpy Johnson came out of prison less than a year ago.
He had one thing on his mind the desire to steal from us.
To pit us against each other to take territory that was never his in the first place! And worst of all, he killed my capo, Richie Zambrano.
He is not the loyal soldier that spent 11 years protecting Vito Genovese.
He's been inspired by the nigger "uprising" that's poisoning this country.
And this nigger here has forgotten his place! He's a cancer to our families.
[SNIFFS.]
And I move to cut this cancer out! The war of '57, he ordered the murder of my son from his prison cell.
I think he killed my capo Donnie Apreda just a couple of weeks ago.
My Family wants the contract for his death.
It is my right.
Bonanno.
I don't kill kids.
You bought into this line of bullshit from a guy who walks around the street in a bathrobe? [SCOFFS.]
Come on.
You killed Zambrano, and then you lied to me about it.
30 years, you lied to me! 30 years of friendship between us, and you betrayed me! Tell me you didn't lie! I admit it.
I killed Richie Zambrano.
In self-defense! Against the orders of the Family to not touch me, he sent a hitter to kill me with my family.
So I killed him.
Which is the same thing that any one of you guys would've done.
You killed a made man! That's end of story! Can I finish with my say? 1963's been a tough year for me.
I think it's been even worse for you guys.
A couple of weeks ago, Adam Clayton Powell named many of you in the Bowery Lane investigation.
Bowery Lane has kept our illegal profits hidden for years.
And over the last number of years, I've been watching every single transaction of Bowery Lane, the same kind of transactions that sent Al Capone to jail for life.
I am the mob's worst nightmare.
I'm a Negro with a mind for numbers.
And I got the records in a safe deposit box which will stay there unless you try to harm me, you try to harm my family, you try to harm my men.
Those Bowery Lane records will go back to Adam Clayton Powell's Subcommittee on Organized Crime.
Are you telling me that you're gonna snitch? You? You're gonna snitch? You see the news, see why the U.
S.
and Russia don't blow each other sky-high.
It's because they got nuclear weapons pointed at each other, just like we do.
Mutually assured destruction.
Yeah Change Ye-e-e-e-e-ah Open up my window again Open up my window again I can hear death callin' my name I can hear death callin' again I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I keep a revolver with your name I keep a revolver with your name Just in case [RAPPING.]
Lay on my back watchin' the ceilin' fan I had a dream to touch a kilo gram Still at odds with the Irish mob Rolls-Royce down Malcolm X Boulevard Lord, these haters literally out here preyin' on me Got the .
40 on me and his hand on me Snow-white mink like I'm Dutch Schultz Run the books and let me show you how the numbers look You can't be Lucky like you Luciano The kilos slammin' like they new pianos And Fat Boy got the big body Coast-to-coast, I could shoot product Open up my window again Open up my window again I can hear death callin' my name I can hear death callin' again I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I keep a revolver with your name I keep a revolver with your name Just in case MALCOLM X: So [CHUCKLES.]
So let me get this straight.
What you're saying is I inspired you to protect a man you can't even stand? Me and Powell, we're like oil and water.
Eh, see, I think you're beginning to attain a political consciousness, Bumpy.
Good.
'Cause everyone knows that crime don't pay as well as politics do.
But don't you get it, brother? When men of your stripe get political, that's when everything changes.
We'll have a million-man army to fight oppression.
Even more so when you take over the nation.
Your day is coming, Minister.
- Yeah.
- It's coming.
[BEEP.]
MAN ON TV: Here is a bulletin from CBS News.
In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas.
The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting.
This is Walter Cronkite in our news room.
There has been an attempt, as perhaps you know now, on the life of President Kennedy.
He was wounded in an automobile driving from Dallas airport into downtown Dallas along with Governor Connally of Texas.
They've been taken to Parkland Hospital there, where their condition is as yet unknown.
We have not been told their condition at Dallas in the downtown hotel room.
This picture has just been transmitted by wire.
It is a picture taken just moments split moment before the - Terrible.
Just terrible.
- assassination attempt is here.
Let's see if we can get a real close-up of that picture that has just arrived.
Good lord.
What is the world coming to? You'll notice a smiling Mrs.
Kennedy and the President in the back seat of the car.
Mrs.
Connally and Governor Connally, you cannot see behind.
The assassin took dead aim.
He got the President, apparently, with the first shot in the head and then Governor Connally.
From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.
m.
Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.
[INHALES DEEPLY.]
We do not know, uh, to where he has proceeded.
People are gonna remember what they were doing when they first heard President Kennedy was killed.
He was the first president to say that civil rights was a moral issue.
Yes, yes.
We've lost a good friend.
President Kennedy at the Dallas airport this morning, uh, was cheerful and waving.
It's been quite a Ladies, we shall not be defeated by this.
We shall overcome.
I just can't believe it.
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
[CRYING SOFTLY.]
Jack.
Jack.
CHIN: Nice work, Mr.
Lee Harvey Oswald.
- The son of a bitch is dead.
- [LAUGHS.]
suspect in the assassination of President Kennedy.
Maybe now I can get a date with Marilyn Monroe.
Pbht! Dream on.
Hold on.
I want to hear this.
pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
He went to Russia in 1959 saying he was relinquishing his United States citizenship.
He returned last year, complaining that he was disillusioned.
Holy shit.
A fuckin' commie did this! - Oswald - Do me a favor, guys.
Give us some some privacy here.
where he will be questioned.
He is also a suspect in the murder Eight ball? You gonna hit me with that fuckin' cue again? Hey.
Come on.
No hard feelings.
Huh? not long after the shot was fired on President We can make a move on Bumpy.
How? He'll put us all in the joint if we take a shot.
[SIGHS.]
Well, with Kennedy dead you know, Bobby Kennedy's got no latitude to fuck us.
Bumpy's leverage goes away when the investigation goes away.
[BREATHES DEEPLY.]
We would really have to be sure before we make a move.
Oh, I know a way we can stay clean.
How's that? I got a guy in Palermo, Sicily, right? Somebody I bring in when I want to make sure nobody can connect me to anything I do.
You fly him in, he does his work, he's on a plane the next day.
- A Zip? - Yeah.
He's a specialist.
He's got over 40 contracts.
Best Zip there is.
Salud.
MAN: In the news this Sunday, Lee Harvey Oswald, who has been charged with the murder of President Kennedy and a Dallas police officer, will be transferred today from Dallas Police headquarters - Daddy, why'd he do it? - [SIGHS.]
Our cameras are waiting at the police headquarters, where he will soon be escorted You'll understand this better when you get older but there's some really bad people in this world.
Like the guy who killed President Kennedy.
Or those people who were shooting at me.
So, I'm gonna send you down south with your mama for a little while.
I'll come and get you just as soon as this trouble is over, all right? I don't wanna go down south.
Margaret, listen to your daddy.
Go to your room, get your things together.
I'll be in to help in a minute.
What is going on? I stepped on Joe Bonanno's toes when I protected Adam Clayton Powell.
And I kept Bonanno and the guineas at bay with this with this Bowery Lane thing, but You pulled your trump card.
If the Italians go down for tax evasion, so will you.
I had to.
Bonanno's coming after me.
He thinks I killed his kid.
We're not safe in Harlem right now.
I'm gonna get Chance and Pettigrew to take you down to my sister's in Spartanburg, all right? I can't believe I'm leaving Harlem.
You remember that poem that Langston says about Harlem? "What happens to a dream deferred?" "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" I got a dream, babe.
You, Margaret Elise, me.
We're gonna be a real family.
I may have to defer right now, but but I ain't letting it go.
Mm.
Hey.
I got this.
Just take me a little bit to work it out, all right? Okay.
Okay.
MAN ON TV: Earlier today, the President's car took them from the hospital to Love Field, where they boarded OLYMPIA: I'm so sick of this news.
So depressing.
Think about poor Mrs.
Kennedy, what she must be going through.
- I know.
- Reports are Mrs.
Kennedy is holding up - [DOORBELL RINGS.]
- as well as one can - [DOORBELL RINGS.]
- in this difficult a time.
I'll get it.
Relax.
She has been described as stunned [SMOOCHES.]
I love you.
President Kennedy's casket was accompanied back to Washington by the First Lady and President Johnson, who waited to leave for Washington until they were all able to travel together.
Stella.
You have a visitor.
Wasn't gonna let him in, but he insisted.
Just remember, this is your father's house.
And he wouldn't like this at all.
downtown Dallas.
Teddy, what are you doing here? I brought you these.
I told him you didn't feel good, but I guess he didn't hear me.
Teddy, this is my stepmom, Olympia.
- Olympia, this is Teddy.
- I know who he is.
[TELEVISION CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
Could you put these in a vase or something? Please? Mrs.
Kennedy is now in Washington accompanying the President's body, which will be placed in the tomb beneath the White House and will then move to the I'll give you three minutes.
Three.
You say what you gotta say.
[TELEVISION CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
Life can be over in a second, shattered by a bullet.
I've lived that fear.
And I'm willing to accept that reality if it means I can be with you.
Okay.
Oh, Teddy.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
You got some nerve.
The both of ya's.
Your father would hit the ceiling, Stella! You gotta go.
Come on.
Let's go.
Get out.
Come on.
Let's go.
[HANDS CLAP.]
Now! ELIJAH: Thank you all for joining me on this trying day.
I've gathered the leadership of Mosque Number Seven to say that, on account of President Kennedy's death, I've canceled my appearance on the Lester Wolff show on Friday.
Malcolm, I'd like you to take my place.
Yes, sir.
You are to make no remarks at all concerning the assassination.
With all due respect, Dear Holy Apostle, this is our opportunity.
How's this man's death an "opportunity"? Because the white man's hatred, so casually practiced against defenseless black people, has spread unchecked and struck down its very own Chief of State.
This may be the only moment where we are able to get the white man to realize the error of his ways.
If asked, you are to say, "No comment.
" With all due respect, Dear Holy Apostle, today the white man needs our voice even worse than the so-called Negro.
Are you even listening to the Messenger, Brother? Captain Henry, did any white person mourn the death of Medgar Evers when America's hate shot him in the back? Did any of them mourn Patrice Lumumba when Kennedy's CIA plotted his assassination? And what exactly do you hope to gain other than more self-promotion? In every appearance on radio or television, I make it crystal clear that I am the Dear Holy Apostle's representative.
My briefcase is stocked with his photograph.
You think you're the only one who works around here? You don't sell no newspapers.
You ain't out there fishing for recruits! You got amnesia, Brother? As I recall, I fished your ass out of a garbage can in '52.
ELIJAH: Malcolm, Henry.
Silence.
Sometimes a man is so dedicated to a righteous cause that he begins to believe he is the cause.
Mind your tongue with Lester Wolff.
Yes, sir.
CAPTAIN HENRY: That smooth-talkin' Negro tried to show me up in front of the Messenger? SISTER MARNY: Restrain yourself.
I'm gonna kill that motherfucker.
Malcolm is currently Dear Holy Apostle's choice to replace him.
That doesn't mean he can't change his mind.
Do you know something? He asked Sister Elise to spy on Malcolm.
Does that sound like a man who is sure of his replacement? No.
Bide your time.
Action against Malcolm is always an option.
Hmm.
So, who is this Lee Harvey Oswald? I think he was hired by the New Orleans Mob.
That's a stretch.
Let's just hope this fucking patsy keeps his mouth shut.
- Patsy? - Oswald.
I'll bet you anything Bobby Kennedy had the goods on, uh, Marcello in New Orleans and Giancana in Chicago, and then those guys had Kennedy whacked.
You ask me, this is a clear case of self-defense.
How do you know all this shit? After I got made, I did a little piece of work in Chicago.
I ain't never making my bones.
Hey, don't worry.
You're gonna get made someday.
You just got to have, you know, like, initiative.
When I got tapped, I was 26, even younger than Chin.
'Cause I knew what my boss needed, and I delivered.
No questions.
"Initiative.
" Nobody understands the danger of the "Cosa Nostra" as much as I do, but to suggest that Kennedy was killed by the mob is outrageous.
If you think that they won't touch a politician [CHUCKLES.]
you're wrong.
Kennedy had more powerful enemies than the mob.
Russia, for one.
Or or Castro.
Castro ain't stupid enough to whack a president.
We'd wipe his country off the face of the Earth.
Well, hold on.
W why would the mob risk it? [CHUCKLES.]
Come Okay.
Kennedy's father, Joe, was a bootlegger with connections to the mob.
They say that the Chicago outfit swung the election so that his son would be elected.
But the minute, the very minute that Jack Kennedy gets sworn in, he makes his brother Attorney General, and Bobby goes after the mob.
So, here's the thing.
After that, Giancana in Chicago and, uh, Marcello in in in New Orleans, they all made threats against Bobby.
Well, if they hate Bobby so much, why kill the President and not him? Because if they kill Bobby, the President can use the Army and the Marines to go after them.
But with Jack Kennedy gone, Bobby just loses his power.
Where's your proof? Look, it's just a theory right now, but you need to use all your Congressional authority to continue to investigate the mob, all right? [LAUGHS.]
This is rich.
You want me to use my office to target your enemies? They're your enemies, too.
Who do you think hired the lawyers for Esther James to sue you? Has it ever occurred to you why I didn't lump you in with all those other guinea mobsters at the tenant rent strike hearings? Because deep down, you know that we're on the same side.
Because your wife appealed for my clemency in exchange for paying your back taxes.
[CHUCKLES.]
And out of the goodness of my heart, I took a measure of pity on that poor woman.
If I were you I'd quit while you're ahead.
[WHISTLE BLOWS, HORN HONKS.]
[ANGELA GRUNTS.]
Ahh.
Ahh.
Huh? Empire State Building, yeah? [WHISTLE BLOWS.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
No, no.
[MUMBLING.]
[DOOR HINGES CREAK.]
Ah.
Ah.
Will there be anything else? MAN: Oh, that's [SPEAKS ITALIAN.]
Thank you.
[GRUMBLES.]
[SIGHS.]
- Okay? - Okay.
[CHUCKLES.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
Hey.
Keep it quiet.
It's Mrs.
Gigante.
I need to talk to him.
Sure, Mrs.
G.
Let me show you inside.
I wasn't even gonna say anything to you 'cause I thought you were gonna blow up.
Boy, he's got some fuckin' nerve coming to the house, yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Nothin'.
What do you mean, nothin'? You heard what I said.
Nothin'.
I swore to her that I'd stay out of her life, you know? What's gotten into you, Vincent? She nearly died.
It was an image that I am not gonna forget for the rest of my life.
I don't understand you.
Look, I imagined the same as you did, Olympia, that she was gonna meet some nice Italian boy, you know, somebody maybe even like Ernie, you know, settle down.
But then I come to realize I have to accept her for who she is and that if she's gonna ruin her life, that's what she's gonna do.
You think I want to?! No! I don't want to! If you really cared about her, okay I'm just saying if you really cared about her - you would stop this.
- How? How? I don't know how.
Get one of your boys to teach him a lesson.
What? [LAUGHS.]
It's not funny.
You want to laugh.
Yeah.
I almost lost her once.
That ain't gonna happen again.
I did an interview with Adam Clayton Powell a few months back.
- Which I'm sure he regrets.
- [LAUGHS.]
Esther James.
She has been a thorn in his side.
And in three two one.
Good afternoon.
I'm Lester Wolff.
And this is "Wolff At Large.
" Today, my guest, in place of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, is the national spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Minister Malcolm X.
Good day, Mr.
X.
Good day, sir.
The hardships for the black man in America are hardships for white America, as well.
They just don't know it yet.
See, oppression is not just a one-way street, and neither are its costs.
You are referring to President Kennedy's assassination? Um, I have no comment on that.
You're a national spokesman for a religion that advocates violence, and you have no comment? Sir, I'd like to make it clear the Honorable Elijah Muhammad does not advocate violence.
He advocates self-defense against oppressors.
And yet the Nation stands accused of being all talk and no action.
Personally, I am committed to action on behalf of our people.
Black Muslims have demanded a complete separation from white America.
You want a separate nation? Hmm.
Well, here in America, the so-called Negro already lives in a separate nation with limited opportunity, poverty, and a government created by the white man for the white man.
But you will admit the late President Kennedy was committed to advancing the cause of Negro rights.
Again, no comment.
Does his death change anything? No comment.
But surely, like every American, you had a personal reaction to the news of Kennedy's death.
Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never made me sad.
They always made me glad.
What does that mean? Kennedy's assassination is just a taste of the violence that America has been inflicting in Africa, Cuba, and Vietnam and, of course, right here in its own backyard as it relates to the black man and his struggle for rights.
In other words In other words, you reap what you sow.
MAN ON TV: In the news this Sunday, Lee Harvey Oswald, who has been charged with the murder of President Kennedy and a Dallas police officer, will be transferred today Look at this little shrimp-ass motherfucker.
Changed world history with just one bullet.
Yeah, I'm just happy Kennedy wasn't killed by a Negro.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- God damn right.
MAN ON TV: There is Lee Oswald.
[GUNSHOT, GRUNTING.]
- Look at that! - He's been shot! Oh, shit! Someone popped that motherfucker.
Lee Oswald has been shot! There's a man with a gun.
- What the fuck? - Shit.
Shot his ass in the cop station.
Absolute panic here in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters.
Detectives have their guns drawn.
If they can kill the man who shot Kennedy in front of 50 cops, then they can get anyone.
Get to my house.
Now.
I want you to drive Mayme and Margaret down to Spartanburg.
I'm on it, Bump.
Oswald has been shot Send Pettigrew and Junie, Bump.
You need me here to cover your back.
I need you watching my family.
The armored car has now been cleared, and they are loading him into the ambulance.
The ambulance is now leaving Dallas Police headquarters.
POWELL: [MUMBLING.]
Hmm.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
WINGATE: His name is Jack Ruby, and you're not gonna believe this.
I am inclined to believe just about anything these days.
He owns a striptease club in Dallas.
According to preliminary reports, he has ties to mobsters in Chicago and New Orleans.
Those are the cities that Bumpy Johnson mentioned.
I'm not a big believer in conspiracy theories, but this certainly confuses things.
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
Call a press conference.
New York Times, Amsterdam Gazette.
Get everybody there.
I don't care what the hour! Esther James is in court right now trying to get you charged.
You'll open yourself up to questions about her.
Roy.
[SIGHS.]
Haven't you learned anything being my associate chief counsel? I am a master of the art of deflection.
Adam, you have ignored half a dozen subpoenas.
Next will be criminal contempt.
Yeah, well, that correctly sums up my feelings about that crazy bitch contempt.
What are you gonna do? I am gonna make Bumpy Johnson's day.
[POOL BALLS CLACK.]
[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES.]
Can I sit? I know it isn't my business, but is Stella all right? [MUMBLES.]
She's fine.
And you're right it ain't your fuckin' business.
I'd like to know what happened.
You got to get her out of your head.
I can't, and if you If I made my bones and you deemed me worthy, I would ask for her hand in marriage.
I'm serious.
Is somethin' fuckin' wrong with you? Is there somethin' wrong with your head? I'm concerned about her.
And what do you need, a fuckin' piano to drop on you? For fuck's sake, she doesn't fuckin' love you! She's got to love you back! You understand?! She loves that fuckin' black bastard, and I would kill that son of a bitch if I could, but I told her that I would leave it alone after she tried to kill herself.
Stella tried to kill herself? That's how much that nigger has crawled under her skin.
[HORNS HONKING.]
- Hey.
- Hey.
Hey.
You know we got to be quick.
People here aren't used to seeing Negroes on my block.
I ain't afraid of shit like that no more.
I don't care what anybody on this block says.
I got it.
Got what? Sam Cooke's warm-up act got sick or something, and the record label got me the gig.
Stella I got the Apollo.
The Apollo? The fuckin' Apollo.
It's happening, Stell.
It's all coming true! - Oh, my God! - I know! [LAUGHS.]
Teddy, I'm so happy for you.
For us.
Be happy for us.
Look, I'm gonna be onstage at 7:00 tonight, and I want you to be there with me.
Of course.
And bring a bag.
Hmm? We're going to L.
A.
[BOTH LAUGH.]
We're going to L.
A.
The label wants me to record some stuff out there.
They they're giving me a housing allowance.
- You're not serious.
- Yeah.
Maybe we'll get a place next to Sammy Davis Jr.
I don't know.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, my God.
Teddy.
Goodbye, Harlem.
Hello, Hollywood.
WOMAN: Ohh We're going to L.
A.
, Stell! [GIGGLES.]
Whoo! [LAUGHING.]
Teddy.
Dear Holy Apostle, you wanted to see me? Did you see the late edition? No, sir.
I didn't.
That was a very bad statement.
The country loves this man.
I apologize, Dear Holy Apostle.
A statement like that can make it hard for Muslims in general.
That wasn't my intention.
What was your intention? I'm frustrated.
Frustrated with the white man's inability to see that his hatred is, in fact, a boomerang.
I simply wanted to make that point.
You wanted to challenge my authority.
No, sir.
I would never knowingly challenge you.
But you did.
Perhaps you need some time to reflect on it.
I'll have to silence you for the next 90 days so that Muslims everywhere can be disassociated from the blunder.
Yes, sir.
I agree with you.
And I submit, 100%.
I'm sorry, son.
But you brought this on yourself.
[HORN BLARES.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Scusa.
Uh [SPEAKING ITALIAN.]
Empire State Building.
Empire State Building.
[GASPING.]
[THUDDING.]
[ENGINE STARTS.]
How long? Till I get things worked out.
What if I said no? Well [BREATHES DEEPLY.]
I ain't gonna lie to you.
I'd send 'em anyway.
[SCOFFS.]
Thank you for not lying.
You've always known the world I'm in.
Maybe better than anyone else close to me.
The truth is things are not safe for us here in Harlem right now.
What's wrong? When you say "us," you mean you, Mayme, and Margaret.
No, no, I didn't mean that.
I I didn't know that you could leave.
You're working for Malcolm and all that.
I didn't Elise, please.
I love you, okay? I love you just as much as I love them.
I guess I gotta stay anyway.
[SNIFFLES.]
Since Malcolm's been suspended.
What's that? MALCOLM X: The telephone's been ringing off the hook.
London, Paris, Associated Press.
I I informed them that I disobeyed Mr.
Muhammad.
I'm so sorry.
Elise, I've been gagged.
Which means that Muslims are forbidden to even look at me.
In fact, for your own protection, I should ask you to leave this office.
Please.
90 days isn't that long.
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Muslims are being given the impression that I rebelled against Elijah.
[CHUCKLES.]
Well, didn't you? Brother, I'm like someone who's been in a beautiful, inseparable marriage for 12 years, and then, suddenly, my partner thrust me with divorce papers.
The country's in shock over Kennedy's death.
This will blow over.
There's an officer here by the name of Captain Henry a man who I've known for a very long time.
I'm told he was heard saying, "If you knew what Malcolm did, you'd kill him yourself.
" Not on my watch.
You don't get it, brother.
Any "death-talk" for me could be approved by only one man.
The man to whom I've given everything.
BENNY EGGS: If you'd killed that nigger Teddy Greene like you were supposed to, none of this would've happened.
What are you talkin' about? Look at him over there.
I've never seen him in a state like that.
And I've known him since I was 11.
Man, you fucked up.
He's in such pain over this.
If you'd have whacked him, you would have made your bones and you might've even had the girl.
I should go whack that little jigaboo myself.
Initiative.
Gentlemen of the press, thank you for coming.
We are all still reeling over the tragic death of President Kennedy, and that is why I called you here this evening.
It has come to my attention that Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, could be involved in one of the most chilling criminal conspiracies in the history of this country.
Excuse me, sir! Well, you ought to know about criminal conspiracies.
Reverend Deadbeat! Ms.
James, our financial dispute is being adjudicated in court.
He transferred his money to his wife to get out of paying me my judgment.
Mr.
Powell, can you confirm this? Now the cops are here to arrest him! - Mr.
Powell! - Mr.
Powell! [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
ESTHER JAMES: Come back here, you weasel! JUNIE BIRD: Okay, Bump.
Hey, little one.
Look what I got you.
It's an Astro Pop.
Thank you.
I need you to be strong for your mom.
You got that? You gotta understand no one puts their child in a boat unless the water is safer than land.
- All right? - Okay.
[CAR DOOR CLOSES.]
What? I love you.
I love you, too.
- Keep 'em safe.
- You got it, Bump.
I'll call you from the road, huh? All right.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
You ready, Bumpy? Go home.
What? I want to be alone.
But, Bumpy.
Go home.
[HORN HONKS.]
STELLA: You're gonna be great.
TEDDY: I hope so.
SAM COOKE: Teddy? Hey, man.
I'm Sam Cooke.
Listen.
Thank you so much for opening for me tonight, man.
It's an honor, sir.
Ah, man, I know you're gonna knock 'em dead.
Thank you.
- [CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
- [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Harlem's own Teddy Greene! [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
Hello, Apollo.
I can't tell you how long I've dreamed of being here.
And I owe that to one person.
One, two, three, four.
["RISE" PLAYS.]
Hold up, wait minute, hold up, wait a minute There's something I'd like to say, yeah WOMAN: Whoo! Don't pretend that you ain't in it 'Cause Lord knows we in it We've all got our part to play, yeah They want us in opposition, I got a proposition Don't turn and look away, no Let's learn to teach Trust each to feel, yeah Not tryin' to preach, just bein' real, yeah We will rise, we will rise with a fire in our eyes Yeah, yeah, yeah With no hate in our hearts and the future in our minds Yeah, yeah, yeah WOMAN: Whoo! Hands raised high Like we're tryin' to give some praise, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah All we need is to believe that we'll be saved Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah I don't believe we can't fight what we face Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah Everybody needs a little hope in their own way Hey, hey, hey, hey We will rise, we will rise with a fire in our eyes Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah We will rise, we will rise with a fire in our eyes Yeah [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS, ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN.]
[GRUNTS.]
[BOTH GRUNTING AND GROANING.]
[GRUNTS.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS, ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN.]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH.]
ELISE: Hello? Daddy? Mayme? Ohh.
Officer, is is there something wrong? Well [GRUNTING.]
[GASPING.]
[COUGHING.]
Breathe.
Breathe.
[INHALES SHARPLY, COUGHING.]
You Are you okay? Are you [WHIMPERS.]
POWELL: I have to wear a disguise, Patricia.
Politically, I can't get arrested in Harlem.
So I have to slip out of town incognito.
It's kind of working maybe.
WINGATE: Um, Adam.
Uh, we just got a message.
Uh, the Justice Department is going to drop "Cosa Nostra" as an investigative priority.
- What?! Why?! - The Department's resources are gonna be focused on whether the President's assassination was part of a communist conspiracy.
Oh, my.
Comm Oh, I knew it.
I knew they Huh? There it is.
- Is it better? - It's much better.
Oh, well, thank you.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
Hello? BUMPY: Your friend from Sicily is going home in a box.
You're next.
And that's me, above you.
[RECEIVER CLANGS.]
[STELLA LAUGHS.]
- Stella.
- What are you doing here? - Yeah, motherfucker.
- I'm just here to warn you.
- It's not safe for you here.
- I ain't goin' nowhere.
[GUNSHOT.]
[GASPS.]
Teddy? Son of a bitch.
STELLA: Teddy? Teddy?! [GASPS.]
Oh, my God! [SOBS.]
Teddy! [SOBBING.]
[GASPS.]
[SOBBING.]
STELLA: Get the fuck away from me! Hey.
Teddy, look at me! Hey, hey, hey, baby.
Baby.
It's okay.
Just keep breathing.
Just Teddy? Teddy? Please? [SOBS.]
Please.
Teddy, open your eyes.
ERNIE: Stella.
I'm sorry, Stella.
[SNIFFLES, WHIMPERS.]
Teddy! Teddy.
Teddy.
Hey.
Hey, Teddy? Teddy.
[SOBBING.]
Stella.
Get the fuck away from me, you fucking murderer! [SOBBING.]
[SOBBING.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
[GLASS CLINKING, CONVERSATIONS STOP.]
COSTELLO: Gentlemen, come to order.
We are about to witness the end of the wiretaps and the hearings brought about by government harassment of La Cosa Nostra.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.
Now, Frank, if I may? Now that we no longer face the threat of the Bowery Lane Holdings, I would like to ask the Commission for a five-family sanction to kill Bumpy Johnson for the murder of Richie Zambrano.
I second that.
All in favor? - Yeah.
- Luccheses are with you, too.
[CHUCKLES.]
ALL: Salud.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
This This is on Joe.
[OBJECTS CLATTER.]
There are many dangers I still go out there There are many fallen But I'm still not scared There are many times When trouble's all around In my street Walkin' down my street In my street Walkin' down my street Unh, dark days, no sun to shine brightness Winter nights too cold, I don't like this Funny feelings, my intuition is frightened Huh, what they know? Unh, life can be grand, life can be shitty Life is what you make it, never look for pity Make excuses, we do it, the truest Life is so beautiful, and beautiful is music Scream, "Woe is me," niggas got they problems Learning lessons every day, you just gotta solve 'em Been through my bullshit, it just make me strong Please take me home There are many dangers I still go out there There are many fallen But I'm still not scared There are many times When trouble's all around In my street Walkin' down my street
You don't need to antagonize the government.
You got enough enemies without 'em.
I watched tenants be brutalized and did nothing.
BUMP: Seeing you, Mayme, and Margaret standing there together, it was like Heaven on Earth for me.
Margaret is not my biological daughter.
She's Elise's.
Bumpy is Margaret's grandfather.
I need your consent to legally adopt Margaret.
I can't give up my child.
Finally found out the owners of Bowery Lane Holdings.
And here's one.
Johnson.
MALCOLM X: Every man has a legacy, whether they want one or not.
Let's get the bus to California.
This is everything we worked towards.
It's finally coming true.
Don't you see this girl is gonna get you killed? Mama, shut your damn mouth! - She's right.
- It's over, Teddy.
I'd rather give you up than see you dead.
CHIN: Stella! How many did you take?! Stella! You're a monster.
Will you leave Teddy alone? Tell me what happened to Lorenzo.
You killed Joe's son.
'Cause he was fucking your daughter! [GUNSHOT.]
Bumpy has never lied to me, not even once.
If I convince you that Johnson killed Zambrano, you will arrange a summit with Bonanno.
I saw Bumpy cut that peckerwood into ribbons, and I enjoyed every single minute.
CHIN: Bumpy Johnson instigated this war.
What are we gonna do about it? Yeah, I'm shiny, but I'm dark on the inside Some my brothers lose their heart on the inside I can't lie, it broke my heart when my friends died We gon' make that choppa spark till your friends cry Spin the block till your friends cry Never question God, I'm a fearin' child I'm-a ride for the gang till I'm not alive I'm-a up and let it bang till I'm not alive COSTELLO: Bumpy Johnson.
You are here to answer a summons that you, in cold-blooded fashion, did murder a made man in the Genovese Family.
I'm here to respond to those charges.
Sit down.
COSTELLO: Chin, why don't you start? Bumpy Johnson came out of prison less than a year ago.
He had one thing on his mind the desire to steal from us.
To pit us against each other to take territory that was never his in the first place! And worst of all, he killed my capo, Richie Zambrano.
He is not the loyal soldier that spent 11 years protecting Vito Genovese.
He's been inspired by the nigger "uprising" that's poisoning this country.
And this nigger here has forgotten his place! He's a cancer to our families.
[SNIFFS.]
And I move to cut this cancer out! The war of '57, he ordered the murder of my son from his prison cell.
I think he killed my capo Donnie Apreda just a couple of weeks ago.
My Family wants the contract for his death.
It is my right.
Bonanno.
I don't kill kids.
You bought into this line of bullshit from a guy who walks around the street in a bathrobe? [SCOFFS.]
Come on.
You killed Zambrano, and then you lied to me about it.
30 years, you lied to me! 30 years of friendship between us, and you betrayed me! Tell me you didn't lie! I admit it.
I killed Richie Zambrano.
In self-defense! Against the orders of the Family to not touch me, he sent a hitter to kill me with my family.
So I killed him.
Which is the same thing that any one of you guys would've done.
You killed a made man! That's end of story! Can I finish with my say? 1963's been a tough year for me.
I think it's been even worse for you guys.
A couple of weeks ago, Adam Clayton Powell named many of you in the Bowery Lane investigation.
Bowery Lane has kept our illegal profits hidden for years.
And over the last number of years, I've been watching every single transaction of Bowery Lane, the same kind of transactions that sent Al Capone to jail for life.
I am the mob's worst nightmare.
I'm a Negro with a mind for numbers.
And I got the records in a safe deposit box which will stay there unless you try to harm me, you try to harm my family, you try to harm my men.
Those Bowery Lane records will go back to Adam Clayton Powell's Subcommittee on Organized Crime.
Are you telling me that you're gonna snitch? You? You're gonna snitch? You see the news, see why the U.
S.
and Russia don't blow each other sky-high.
It's because they got nuclear weapons pointed at each other, just like we do.
Mutually assured destruction.
Yeah Change Ye-e-e-e-e-ah Open up my window again Open up my window again I can hear death callin' my name I can hear death callin' again I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I keep a revolver with your name I keep a revolver with your name Just in case [RAPPING.]
Lay on my back watchin' the ceilin' fan I had a dream to touch a kilo gram Still at odds with the Irish mob Rolls-Royce down Malcolm X Boulevard Lord, these haters literally out here preyin' on me Got the .
40 on me and his hand on me Snow-white mink like I'm Dutch Schultz Run the books and let me show you how the numbers look You can't be Lucky like you Luciano The kilos slammin' like they new pianos And Fat Boy got the big body Coast-to-coast, I could shoot product Open up my window again Open up my window again I can hear death callin' my name I can hear death callin' again I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I swear to God, things ain't gon' change I keep a revolver with your name I keep a revolver with your name Just in case MALCOLM X: So [CHUCKLES.]
So let me get this straight.
What you're saying is I inspired you to protect a man you can't even stand? Me and Powell, we're like oil and water.
Eh, see, I think you're beginning to attain a political consciousness, Bumpy.
Good.
'Cause everyone knows that crime don't pay as well as politics do.
But don't you get it, brother? When men of your stripe get political, that's when everything changes.
We'll have a million-man army to fight oppression.
Even more so when you take over the nation.
Your day is coming, Minister.
- Yeah.
- It's coming.
[BEEP.]
MAN ON TV: Here is a bulletin from CBS News.
In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas.
The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting.
This is Walter Cronkite in our news room.
There has been an attempt, as perhaps you know now, on the life of President Kennedy.
He was wounded in an automobile driving from Dallas airport into downtown Dallas along with Governor Connally of Texas.
They've been taken to Parkland Hospital there, where their condition is as yet unknown.
We have not been told their condition at Dallas in the downtown hotel room.
This picture has just been transmitted by wire.
It is a picture taken just moments split moment before the - Terrible.
Just terrible.
- assassination attempt is here.
Let's see if we can get a real close-up of that picture that has just arrived.
Good lord.
What is the world coming to? You'll notice a smiling Mrs.
Kennedy and the President in the back seat of the car.
Mrs.
Connally and Governor Connally, you cannot see behind.
The assassin took dead aim.
He got the President, apparently, with the first shot in the head and then Governor Connally.
From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.
m.
Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.
[INHALES DEEPLY.]
We do not know, uh, to where he has proceeded.
People are gonna remember what they were doing when they first heard President Kennedy was killed.
He was the first president to say that civil rights was a moral issue.
Yes, yes.
We've lost a good friend.
President Kennedy at the Dallas airport this morning, uh, was cheerful and waving.
It's been quite a Ladies, we shall not be defeated by this.
We shall overcome.
I just can't believe it.
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
[CRYING SOFTLY.]
Jack.
Jack.
CHIN: Nice work, Mr.
Lee Harvey Oswald.
- The son of a bitch is dead.
- [LAUGHS.]
suspect in the assassination of President Kennedy.
Maybe now I can get a date with Marilyn Monroe.
Pbht! Dream on.
Hold on.
I want to hear this.
pro-Castro Fair Play for Cuba Committee.
He went to Russia in 1959 saying he was relinquishing his United States citizenship.
He returned last year, complaining that he was disillusioned.
Holy shit.
A fuckin' commie did this! - Oswald - Do me a favor, guys.
Give us some some privacy here.
where he will be questioned.
He is also a suspect in the murder Eight ball? You gonna hit me with that fuckin' cue again? Hey.
Come on.
No hard feelings.
Huh? not long after the shot was fired on President We can make a move on Bumpy.
How? He'll put us all in the joint if we take a shot.
[SIGHS.]
Well, with Kennedy dead you know, Bobby Kennedy's got no latitude to fuck us.
Bumpy's leverage goes away when the investigation goes away.
[BREATHES DEEPLY.]
We would really have to be sure before we make a move.
Oh, I know a way we can stay clean.
How's that? I got a guy in Palermo, Sicily, right? Somebody I bring in when I want to make sure nobody can connect me to anything I do.
You fly him in, he does his work, he's on a plane the next day.
- A Zip? - Yeah.
He's a specialist.
He's got over 40 contracts.
Best Zip there is.
Salud.
MAN: In the news this Sunday, Lee Harvey Oswald, who has been charged with the murder of President Kennedy and a Dallas police officer, will be transferred today from Dallas Police headquarters - Daddy, why'd he do it? - [SIGHS.]
Our cameras are waiting at the police headquarters, where he will soon be escorted You'll understand this better when you get older but there's some really bad people in this world.
Like the guy who killed President Kennedy.
Or those people who were shooting at me.
So, I'm gonna send you down south with your mama for a little while.
I'll come and get you just as soon as this trouble is over, all right? I don't wanna go down south.
Margaret, listen to your daddy.
Go to your room, get your things together.
I'll be in to help in a minute.
What is going on? I stepped on Joe Bonanno's toes when I protected Adam Clayton Powell.
And I kept Bonanno and the guineas at bay with this with this Bowery Lane thing, but You pulled your trump card.
If the Italians go down for tax evasion, so will you.
I had to.
Bonanno's coming after me.
He thinks I killed his kid.
We're not safe in Harlem right now.
I'm gonna get Chance and Pettigrew to take you down to my sister's in Spartanburg, all right? I can't believe I'm leaving Harlem.
You remember that poem that Langston says about Harlem? "What happens to a dream deferred?" "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" I got a dream, babe.
You, Margaret Elise, me.
We're gonna be a real family.
I may have to defer right now, but but I ain't letting it go.
Mm.
Hey.
I got this.
Just take me a little bit to work it out, all right? Okay.
Okay.
MAN ON TV: Earlier today, the President's car took them from the hospital to Love Field, where they boarded OLYMPIA: I'm so sick of this news.
So depressing.
Think about poor Mrs.
Kennedy, what she must be going through.
- I know.
- Reports are Mrs.
Kennedy is holding up - [DOORBELL RINGS.]
- as well as one can - [DOORBELL RINGS.]
- in this difficult a time.
I'll get it.
Relax.
She has been described as stunned [SMOOCHES.]
I love you.
President Kennedy's casket was accompanied back to Washington by the First Lady and President Johnson, who waited to leave for Washington until they were all able to travel together.
Stella.
You have a visitor.
Wasn't gonna let him in, but he insisted.
Just remember, this is your father's house.
And he wouldn't like this at all.
downtown Dallas.
Teddy, what are you doing here? I brought you these.
I told him you didn't feel good, but I guess he didn't hear me.
Teddy, this is my stepmom, Olympia.
- Olympia, this is Teddy.
- I know who he is.
[TELEVISION CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
Could you put these in a vase or something? Please? Mrs.
Kennedy is now in Washington accompanying the President's body, which will be placed in the tomb beneath the White House and will then move to the I'll give you three minutes.
Three.
You say what you gotta say.
[TELEVISION CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
Life can be over in a second, shattered by a bullet.
I've lived that fear.
And I'm willing to accept that reality if it means I can be with you.
Okay.
Oh, Teddy.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
You got some nerve.
The both of ya's.
Your father would hit the ceiling, Stella! You gotta go.
Come on.
Let's go.
Get out.
Come on.
Let's go.
[HANDS CLAP.]
Now! ELIJAH: Thank you all for joining me on this trying day.
I've gathered the leadership of Mosque Number Seven to say that, on account of President Kennedy's death, I've canceled my appearance on the Lester Wolff show on Friday.
Malcolm, I'd like you to take my place.
Yes, sir.
You are to make no remarks at all concerning the assassination.
With all due respect, Dear Holy Apostle, this is our opportunity.
How's this man's death an "opportunity"? Because the white man's hatred, so casually practiced against defenseless black people, has spread unchecked and struck down its very own Chief of State.
This may be the only moment where we are able to get the white man to realize the error of his ways.
If asked, you are to say, "No comment.
" With all due respect, Dear Holy Apostle, today the white man needs our voice even worse than the so-called Negro.
Are you even listening to the Messenger, Brother? Captain Henry, did any white person mourn the death of Medgar Evers when America's hate shot him in the back? Did any of them mourn Patrice Lumumba when Kennedy's CIA plotted his assassination? And what exactly do you hope to gain other than more self-promotion? In every appearance on radio or television, I make it crystal clear that I am the Dear Holy Apostle's representative.
My briefcase is stocked with his photograph.
You think you're the only one who works around here? You don't sell no newspapers.
You ain't out there fishing for recruits! You got amnesia, Brother? As I recall, I fished your ass out of a garbage can in '52.
ELIJAH: Malcolm, Henry.
Silence.
Sometimes a man is so dedicated to a righteous cause that he begins to believe he is the cause.
Mind your tongue with Lester Wolff.
Yes, sir.
CAPTAIN HENRY: That smooth-talkin' Negro tried to show me up in front of the Messenger? SISTER MARNY: Restrain yourself.
I'm gonna kill that motherfucker.
Malcolm is currently Dear Holy Apostle's choice to replace him.
That doesn't mean he can't change his mind.
Do you know something? He asked Sister Elise to spy on Malcolm.
Does that sound like a man who is sure of his replacement? No.
Bide your time.
Action against Malcolm is always an option.
Hmm.
So, who is this Lee Harvey Oswald? I think he was hired by the New Orleans Mob.
That's a stretch.
Let's just hope this fucking patsy keeps his mouth shut.
- Patsy? - Oswald.
I'll bet you anything Bobby Kennedy had the goods on, uh, Marcello in New Orleans and Giancana in Chicago, and then those guys had Kennedy whacked.
You ask me, this is a clear case of self-defense.
How do you know all this shit? After I got made, I did a little piece of work in Chicago.
I ain't never making my bones.
Hey, don't worry.
You're gonna get made someday.
You just got to have, you know, like, initiative.
When I got tapped, I was 26, even younger than Chin.
'Cause I knew what my boss needed, and I delivered.
No questions.
"Initiative.
" Nobody understands the danger of the "Cosa Nostra" as much as I do, but to suggest that Kennedy was killed by the mob is outrageous.
If you think that they won't touch a politician [CHUCKLES.]
you're wrong.
Kennedy had more powerful enemies than the mob.
Russia, for one.
Or or Castro.
Castro ain't stupid enough to whack a president.
We'd wipe his country off the face of the Earth.
Well, hold on.
W why would the mob risk it? [CHUCKLES.]
Come Okay.
Kennedy's father, Joe, was a bootlegger with connections to the mob.
They say that the Chicago outfit swung the election so that his son would be elected.
But the minute, the very minute that Jack Kennedy gets sworn in, he makes his brother Attorney General, and Bobby goes after the mob.
So, here's the thing.
After that, Giancana in Chicago and, uh, Marcello in in in New Orleans, they all made threats against Bobby.
Well, if they hate Bobby so much, why kill the President and not him? Because if they kill Bobby, the President can use the Army and the Marines to go after them.
But with Jack Kennedy gone, Bobby just loses his power.
Where's your proof? Look, it's just a theory right now, but you need to use all your Congressional authority to continue to investigate the mob, all right? [LAUGHS.]
This is rich.
You want me to use my office to target your enemies? They're your enemies, too.
Who do you think hired the lawyers for Esther James to sue you? Has it ever occurred to you why I didn't lump you in with all those other guinea mobsters at the tenant rent strike hearings? Because deep down, you know that we're on the same side.
Because your wife appealed for my clemency in exchange for paying your back taxes.
[CHUCKLES.]
And out of the goodness of my heart, I took a measure of pity on that poor woman.
If I were you I'd quit while you're ahead.
[WHISTLE BLOWS, HORN HONKS.]
[ANGELA GRUNTS.]
Ahh.
Ahh.
Huh? Empire State Building, yeah? [WHISTLE BLOWS.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
No, no.
[MUMBLING.]
[DOOR HINGES CREAK.]
Ah.
Ah.
Will there be anything else? MAN: Oh, that's [SPEAKS ITALIAN.]
Thank you.
[GRUMBLES.]
[SIGHS.]
- Okay? - Okay.
[CHUCKLES.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION.]
Hey.
Keep it quiet.
It's Mrs.
Gigante.
I need to talk to him.
Sure, Mrs.
G.
Let me show you inside.
I wasn't even gonna say anything to you 'cause I thought you were gonna blow up.
Boy, he's got some fuckin' nerve coming to the house, yeah? What are you gonna do about it? Nothin'.
What do you mean, nothin'? You heard what I said.
Nothin'.
I swore to her that I'd stay out of her life, you know? What's gotten into you, Vincent? She nearly died.
It was an image that I am not gonna forget for the rest of my life.
I don't understand you.
Look, I imagined the same as you did, Olympia, that she was gonna meet some nice Italian boy, you know, somebody maybe even like Ernie, you know, settle down.
But then I come to realize I have to accept her for who she is and that if she's gonna ruin her life, that's what she's gonna do.
You think I want to?! No! I don't want to! If you really cared about her, okay I'm just saying if you really cared about her - you would stop this.
- How? How? I don't know how.
Get one of your boys to teach him a lesson.
What? [LAUGHS.]
It's not funny.
You want to laugh.
Yeah.
I almost lost her once.
That ain't gonna happen again.
I did an interview with Adam Clayton Powell a few months back.
- Which I'm sure he regrets.
- [LAUGHS.]
Esther James.
She has been a thorn in his side.
And in three two one.
Good afternoon.
I'm Lester Wolff.
And this is "Wolff At Large.
" Today, my guest, in place of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, is the national spokesman for the Nation of Islam, Minister Malcolm X.
Good day, Mr.
X.
Good day, sir.
The hardships for the black man in America are hardships for white America, as well.
They just don't know it yet.
See, oppression is not just a one-way street, and neither are its costs.
You are referring to President Kennedy's assassination? Um, I have no comment on that.
You're a national spokesman for a religion that advocates violence, and you have no comment? Sir, I'd like to make it clear the Honorable Elijah Muhammad does not advocate violence.
He advocates self-defense against oppressors.
And yet the Nation stands accused of being all talk and no action.
Personally, I am committed to action on behalf of our people.
Black Muslims have demanded a complete separation from white America.
You want a separate nation? Hmm.
Well, here in America, the so-called Negro already lives in a separate nation with limited opportunity, poverty, and a government created by the white man for the white man.
But you will admit the late President Kennedy was committed to advancing the cause of Negro rights.
Again, no comment.
Does his death change anything? No comment.
But surely, like every American, you had a personal reaction to the news of Kennedy's death.
Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never made me sad.
They always made me glad.
What does that mean? Kennedy's assassination is just a taste of the violence that America has been inflicting in Africa, Cuba, and Vietnam and, of course, right here in its own backyard as it relates to the black man and his struggle for rights.
In other words In other words, you reap what you sow.
MAN ON TV: In the news this Sunday, Lee Harvey Oswald, who has been charged with the murder of President Kennedy and a Dallas police officer, will be transferred today Look at this little shrimp-ass motherfucker.
Changed world history with just one bullet.
Yeah, I'm just happy Kennedy wasn't killed by a Negro.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- God damn right.
MAN ON TV: There is Lee Oswald.
[GUNSHOT, GRUNTING.]
- Look at that! - He's been shot! Oh, shit! Someone popped that motherfucker.
Lee Oswald has been shot! There's a man with a gun.
- What the fuck? - Shit.
Shot his ass in the cop station.
Absolute panic here in the basement of Dallas Police headquarters.
Detectives have their guns drawn.
If they can kill the man who shot Kennedy in front of 50 cops, then they can get anyone.
Get to my house.
Now.
I want you to drive Mayme and Margaret down to Spartanburg.
I'm on it, Bump.
Oswald has been shot Send Pettigrew and Junie, Bump.
You need me here to cover your back.
I need you watching my family.
The armored car has now been cleared, and they are loading him into the ambulance.
The ambulance is now leaving Dallas Police headquarters.
POWELL: [MUMBLING.]
Hmm.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
WINGATE: His name is Jack Ruby, and you're not gonna believe this.
I am inclined to believe just about anything these days.
He owns a striptease club in Dallas.
According to preliminary reports, he has ties to mobsters in Chicago and New Orleans.
Those are the cities that Bumpy Johnson mentioned.
I'm not a big believer in conspiracy theories, but this certainly confuses things.
[EXHALES DEEPLY.]
Call a press conference.
New York Times, Amsterdam Gazette.
Get everybody there.
I don't care what the hour! Esther James is in court right now trying to get you charged.
You'll open yourself up to questions about her.
Roy.
[SIGHS.]
Haven't you learned anything being my associate chief counsel? I am a master of the art of deflection.
Adam, you have ignored half a dozen subpoenas.
Next will be criminal contempt.
Yeah, well, that correctly sums up my feelings about that crazy bitch contempt.
What are you gonna do? I am gonna make Bumpy Johnson's day.
[POOL BALLS CLACK.]
[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES.]
Can I sit? I know it isn't my business, but is Stella all right? [MUMBLES.]
She's fine.
And you're right it ain't your fuckin' business.
I'd like to know what happened.
You got to get her out of your head.
I can't, and if you If I made my bones and you deemed me worthy, I would ask for her hand in marriage.
I'm serious.
Is somethin' fuckin' wrong with you? Is there somethin' wrong with your head? I'm concerned about her.
And what do you need, a fuckin' piano to drop on you? For fuck's sake, she doesn't fuckin' love you! She's got to love you back! You understand?! She loves that fuckin' black bastard, and I would kill that son of a bitch if I could, but I told her that I would leave it alone after she tried to kill herself.
Stella tried to kill herself? That's how much that nigger has crawled under her skin.
[HORNS HONKING.]
- Hey.
- Hey.
Hey.
You know we got to be quick.
People here aren't used to seeing Negroes on my block.
I ain't afraid of shit like that no more.
I don't care what anybody on this block says.
I got it.
Got what? Sam Cooke's warm-up act got sick or something, and the record label got me the gig.
Stella I got the Apollo.
The Apollo? The fuckin' Apollo.
It's happening, Stell.
It's all coming true! - Oh, my God! - I know! [LAUGHS.]
Teddy, I'm so happy for you.
For us.
Be happy for us.
Look, I'm gonna be onstage at 7:00 tonight, and I want you to be there with me.
Of course.
And bring a bag.
Hmm? We're going to L.
A.
[BOTH LAUGH.]
We're going to L.
A.
The label wants me to record some stuff out there.
They they're giving me a housing allowance.
- You're not serious.
- Yeah.
Maybe we'll get a place next to Sammy Davis Jr.
I don't know.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, my God.
Teddy.
Goodbye, Harlem.
Hello, Hollywood.
WOMAN: Ohh We're going to L.
A.
, Stell! [GIGGLES.]
Whoo! [LAUGHING.]
Teddy.
Dear Holy Apostle, you wanted to see me? Did you see the late edition? No, sir.
I didn't.
That was a very bad statement.
The country loves this man.
I apologize, Dear Holy Apostle.
A statement like that can make it hard for Muslims in general.
That wasn't my intention.
What was your intention? I'm frustrated.
Frustrated with the white man's inability to see that his hatred is, in fact, a boomerang.
I simply wanted to make that point.
You wanted to challenge my authority.
No, sir.
I would never knowingly challenge you.
But you did.
Perhaps you need some time to reflect on it.
I'll have to silence you for the next 90 days so that Muslims everywhere can be disassociated from the blunder.
Yes, sir.
I agree with you.
And I submit, 100%.
I'm sorry, son.
But you brought this on yourself.
[HORN BLARES.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Scusa.
Uh [SPEAKING ITALIAN.]
Empire State Building.
Empire State Building.
[GASPING.]
[THUDDING.]
[ENGINE STARTS.]
How long? Till I get things worked out.
What if I said no? Well [BREATHES DEEPLY.]
I ain't gonna lie to you.
I'd send 'em anyway.
[SCOFFS.]
Thank you for not lying.
You've always known the world I'm in.
Maybe better than anyone else close to me.
The truth is things are not safe for us here in Harlem right now.
What's wrong? When you say "us," you mean you, Mayme, and Margaret.
No, no, I didn't mean that.
I I didn't know that you could leave.
You're working for Malcolm and all that.
I didn't Elise, please.
I love you, okay? I love you just as much as I love them.
I guess I gotta stay anyway.
[SNIFFLES.]
Since Malcolm's been suspended.
What's that? MALCOLM X: The telephone's been ringing off the hook.
London, Paris, Associated Press.
I I informed them that I disobeyed Mr.
Muhammad.
I'm so sorry.
Elise, I've been gagged.
Which means that Muslims are forbidden to even look at me.
In fact, for your own protection, I should ask you to leave this office.
Please.
90 days isn't that long.
[DOOR CLOSES.]
Muslims are being given the impression that I rebelled against Elijah.
[CHUCKLES.]
Well, didn't you? Brother, I'm like someone who's been in a beautiful, inseparable marriage for 12 years, and then, suddenly, my partner thrust me with divorce papers.
The country's in shock over Kennedy's death.
This will blow over.
There's an officer here by the name of Captain Henry a man who I've known for a very long time.
I'm told he was heard saying, "If you knew what Malcolm did, you'd kill him yourself.
" Not on my watch.
You don't get it, brother.
Any "death-talk" for me could be approved by only one man.
The man to whom I've given everything.
BENNY EGGS: If you'd killed that nigger Teddy Greene like you were supposed to, none of this would've happened.
What are you talkin' about? Look at him over there.
I've never seen him in a state like that.
And I've known him since I was 11.
Man, you fucked up.
He's in such pain over this.
If you'd have whacked him, you would have made your bones and you might've even had the girl.
I should go whack that little jigaboo myself.
Initiative.
Gentlemen of the press, thank you for coming.
We are all still reeling over the tragic death of President Kennedy, and that is why I called you here this evening.
It has come to my attention that Jack Ruby, the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, could be involved in one of the most chilling criminal conspiracies in the history of this country.
Excuse me, sir! Well, you ought to know about criminal conspiracies.
Reverend Deadbeat! Ms.
James, our financial dispute is being adjudicated in court.
He transferred his money to his wife to get out of paying me my judgment.
Mr.
Powell, can you confirm this? Now the cops are here to arrest him! - Mr.
Powell! - Mr.
Powell! [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
ESTHER JAMES: Come back here, you weasel! JUNIE BIRD: Okay, Bump.
Hey, little one.
Look what I got you.
It's an Astro Pop.
Thank you.
I need you to be strong for your mom.
You got that? You gotta understand no one puts their child in a boat unless the water is safer than land.
- All right? - Okay.
[CAR DOOR CLOSES.]
What? I love you.
I love you, too.
- Keep 'em safe.
- You got it, Bump.
I'll call you from the road, huh? All right.
[ENGINE STARTS.]
You ready, Bumpy? Go home.
What? I want to be alone.
But, Bumpy.
Go home.
[HORN HONKS.]
STELLA: You're gonna be great.
TEDDY: I hope so.
SAM COOKE: Teddy? Hey, man.
I'm Sam Cooke.
Listen.
Thank you so much for opening for me tonight, man.
It's an honor, sir.
Ah, man, I know you're gonna knock 'em dead.
Thank you.
- [CHUCKLES SOFTLY.]
- [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Harlem's own Teddy Greene! [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
Hello, Apollo.
I can't tell you how long I've dreamed of being here.
And I owe that to one person.
One, two, three, four.
["RISE" PLAYS.]
Hold up, wait minute, hold up, wait a minute There's something I'd like to say, yeah WOMAN: Whoo! Don't pretend that you ain't in it 'Cause Lord knows we in it We've all got our part to play, yeah They want us in opposition, I got a proposition Don't turn and look away, no Let's learn to teach Trust each to feel, yeah Not tryin' to preach, just bein' real, yeah We will rise, we will rise with a fire in our eyes Yeah, yeah, yeah With no hate in our hearts and the future in our minds Yeah, yeah, yeah WOMAN: Whoo! Hands raised high Like we're tryin' to give some praise, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah All we need is to believe that we'll be saved Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah I don't believe we can't fight what we face Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ooh, yeah Everybody needs a little hope in their own way Hey, hey, hey, hey We will rise, we will rise with a fire in our eyes Yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah We will rise, we will rise with a fire in our eyes Yeah [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS, ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN.]
[GRUNTS.]
[BOTH GRUNTING AND GROANING.]
[GRUNTS.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS, ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN.]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH.]
ELISE: Hello? Daddy? Mayme? Ohh.
Officer, is is there something wrong? Well [GRUNTING.]
[GASPING.]
[COUGHING.]
Breathe.
Breathe.
[INHALES SHARPLY, COUGHING.]
You Are you okay? Are you [WHIMPERS.]
POWELL: I have to wear a disguise, Patricia.
Politically, I can't get arrested in Harlem.
So I have to slip out of town incognito.
It's kind of working maybe.
WINGATE: Um, Adam.
Uh, we just got a message.
Uh, the Justice Department is going to drop "Cosa Nostra" as an investigative priority.
- What?! Why?! - The Department's resources are gonna be focused on whether the President's assassination was part of a communist conspiracy.
Oh, my.
Comm Oh, I knew it.
I knew they Huh? There it is.
- Is it better? - It's much better.
Oh, well, thank you.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
Hello? BUMPY: Your friend from Sicily is going home in a box.
You're next.
And that's me, above you.
[RECEIVER CLANGS.]
[STELLA LAUGHS.]
- Stella.
- What are you doing here? - Yeah, motherfucker.
- I'm just here to warn you.
- It's not safe for you here.
- I ain't goin' nowhere.
[GUNSHOT.]
[GASPS.]
Teddy? Son of a bitch.
STELLA: Teddy? Teddy?! [GASPS.]
Oh, my God! [SOBS.]
Teddy! [SOBBING.]
[GASPS.]
[SOBBING.]
STELLA: Get the fuck away from me! Hey.
Teddy, look at me! Hey, hey, hey, baby.
Baby.
It's okay.
Just keep breathing.
Just Teddy? Teddy? Please? [SOBS.]
Please.
Teddy, open your eyes.
ERNIE: Stella.
I'm sorry, Stella.
[SNIFFLES, WHIMPERS.]
Teddy! Teddy.
Teddy.
Hey.
Hey, Teddy? Teddy.
[SOBBING.]
Stella.
Get the fuck away from me, you fucking murderer! [SOBBING.]
[SOBBING.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
[GLASS CLINKING, CONVERSATIONS STOP.]
COSTELLO: Gentlemen, come to order.
We are about to witness the end of the wiretaps and the hearings brought about by government harassment of La Cosa Nostra.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.
Now, Frank, if I may? Now that we no longer face the threat of the Bowery Lane Holdings, I would like to ask the Commission for a five-family sanction to kill Bumpy Johnson for the murder of Richie Zambrano.
I second that.
All in favor? - Yeah.
- Luccheses are with you, too.
[CHUCKLES.]
ALL: Salud.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
This This is on Joe.
[OBJECTS CLATTER.]
There are many dangers I still go out there There are many fallen But I'm still not scared There are many times When trouble's all around In my street Walkin' down my street In my street Walkin' down my street Unh, dark days, no sun to shine brightness Winter nights too cold, I don't like this Funny feelings, my intuition is frightened Huh, what they know? Unh, life can be grand, life can be shitty Life is what you make it, never look for pity Make excuses, we do it, the truest Life is so beautiful, and beautiful is music Scream, "Woe is me," niggas got they problems Learning lessons every day, you just gotta solve 'em Been through my bullshit, it just make me strong Please take me home There are many dangers I still go out there There are many fallen But I'm still not scared There are many times When trouble's all around In my street Walkin' down my street