- What's his name?
- I don't know. He's not my dog.
I was driving through the hills,
and I hit him.
It was really dark.
Well, you brought him in.
You'll have to pay the bill.
Of course I brought him in.
I hit him. It was my fault.
- What do you do?
- I'm an actress.
You act for nothing?
I didn't say I wouldn't pay.
Of course I will pay the bill.
- How much is it?
- $218.
That includes inoculation,
medicine and after-hour fees.
- Do you take credit cards?
- All of them.
- He's gonna be okay, isn't he?
- Oh, yeah.
He'll be fit to take him home with you.
Or board him here for the night for $25.
Well, I think somebody
must be looking for him.
I suggest you take him to the pound,
unless you want to keep him.
Is the pound
where you find lost animals?
Yes, but if the owner doesn't claim him
in three days, he'll be put to sleep.
- You mean they'd kill him?
- Yes.
Well, maybe somebody
at the pound will adopt him.
Not this dog.
Why not?
He's beautiful and he's strong.
He'd be a great family dog.
Well, don't let his looks fool you.
He's too old to adopt.
They only adopt
cute, little puppies at the pound.
Well, isn't there someplace
where someone will want him?
No. S.P.C.A.
Send in a photo of him
to list with "dog found"...
and the owner will find you
if he checks with them.
And put up posters in the area
where you hit him.
And make sure you state
you want a reward.
- Why a reward?
- You want your money back, don't you?
Push two penicillin pills
down his throat twice a day...
until the owner contacts you.
- Down his throat?
- All the way down.
Take your pill.
Open the mouth.
Take the pill.
Quit spittin' it out. Come on.
This is really good for you.
You have to take it.
All right. Forget it.
Come on. Come on.
Sit down. There you go.
I got the camera.
Okay. Look at me.
Come on.
Look at this. Right here. Come on.
Yeah. Yeah, that's good.
Right there!
Oh, oh, that's great. Look at me.
Oh, that's gonna be a good one.
This is not gonna hurt you.
What are you doing?
Listen. You're a single girl...
living all by yourself up in the hills.
That is dangerous, Miss Julie.
I know.
But I like living alone.
You know, for an intelligent girl...
sometimes you're not very bright.
Look, if you won't let me move in
with you, at least keep the dog.
- You'll have a bodyguard.
- Bodyguard.
That's cute.
No, it wouldn't be fair,
to me or the dog.
Once you have a dog, you end up spending
more time with the dog, taking care of it...
and not concentrating on your work.
Ah, wait a minute. If that's true, how come
every time I see a picture of a big star...
she's always surrounded
by three or four dogs, huh?
They're rentals.
- They are.
- You cynic.
You fight me, I'll kill you.
That was a swell bunch.
I'm glad to have been able to serve.
...to tell you that we were
going out to bring back help.
Operator, give me the police.
Same damn rapist I nailed last year.
Okay, we'll read your rights.
You're lucky to have a dog like that,
young lady.
- All done, Miss Sawyer.
- Thanks.
Look what we got!
A new window.
Okay. Time to play.
Roland, the screen test went great!
I think I've got it.
They're gonna see it tomorrow.
Well, good. Good for you.
You deserve it.
How you feeling?
You still have the shakes?
Well, a little bit, here and there.
How are your arms?
How are the bruises?
Well, they covered it up with makeup.
Good. I hope they put
that son of a bitch away for life.
Let's not talk about that anymore.
- No one called to claim the dog.
- Good.
Listen, beauty, about tonight...
I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cancel.
I've got a meeting
with that producer, and it's...
looks like he may give me a chance
to direct my own damn script.
No!
Roland, let me call you right back.
The dog got into my laundry and made
a big mess. Let me call you right back.
Hey! What are you doin'?
Those are my underwear, not yours!
Give me those.
Give me that! Give me that!
Give me my underwear!
Give me that! Give it up!
Such a sick dog.
They're mine! Give me that!
They're mine, you little twit.
Clementine! Have you seen
a white German shepherd?
No, I haven't, Julie.
Los Angeles Animal Shelter.
- Is this the pound?
- This is the animal shelter. May I help you?
I lost a dog.
A white German shepherd. He's a male.
What's the tag number?
He lost his tag.
- Well, what's the number?
- I don't know.
I thought maybe you people
picked him up.
Our last pickup truck comes in
around 5:00.
Maybe he's too big for the apartment.
Snuffy. Snuffy?
- Is that him?
- No.
Snuffy?
- Billy, get away from there.
- I don't see him in the other one either.
Is that him?
That's not him.
Here, sir. Sir?
- Is that all of them?
- That's all of them.
Sorry, folks. Maybe your animal
will be in tomorrow's pickup.
Julie. Terrible news.
- I'll find him.
- Find who?
What's your terrible news?
They picked Jessica Drummond for the part.
I just got it from the boss.
But they haven't seen my test yet.
She had it locked in from the start.
Tough luck, Julie.
They haven't seen my test.
Give me the police.
You scared the shit out of me,
you little shit!
Look at you. You're a mess. Huh?
Did you get in a fight?
Look at this.
It's okay.
What did you do to yourself?
Bless you.
- I think I'm gonna write a dog story.
- Yeah? Write about my dog.
"My dog"?
Well, why not? Maybe if I write
about him, they'll let me direct it.
And star both of us.
Then I could work.
You working tomorrow?
Yeah. Molly and I play stewardesses
sightseeing in a gondola.
- Oh, good. You got any lines?
- Two, and they're very boring.
Very boring.
Look, if we're supposed to be celebrating
return of the lone wolf, why are you so down?
Is it 'cause you didn't get the role?
Darlin', she is not the first girl...
to have a role locked in
right from the start.
But I could have done something
with that part.
I know.
- They didn't even look at my test.
- What was it, 20 seconds?
Fifteen.
What can you do in 15 seconds, huh?
Nothing.
- What's in the middle of a bagel?
- Nothing.
Then why are we wasting
our time and good wine...
talking about nothing, huh?
I don't know.
Could we maybe put him outside?
Why?
All right. I'll put him outside.
Come back here. Come here.
Get off the couch.
Come on. You're makin' a mess.
Come on. Get off! Come on.
Watch the feet!
- I'm never gonna play the violin again.
- What are you doin'?
Oh, that must hurt.
You're in the picture. Back it off.
- You look beautiful.
- Step out of the way, okay?
You're all set now
on what you're supposed to do, huh?
Okay. Terrific.
The boat's gonna rock a little bit,
so don't let that throw you, okay?
Yeah. Don't go overboard.
I want it on the record, Herb.
I'm shooting this under protest.
It's out of sync.
I'm getting nothing but flicker.
In France they call that "artistic."
As Truffaut would say, "formidable."
Stand by for picture!
Give me a bell!
Isn't that pretty?
- They're so pretty.
- Isn't that Lord Byron's house?
I think so. I love his poetry.
- It's beautiful.
- Oh, look! Look at that one.
This is great.
Oh, look over there.
It's so pretty.
All right. The dog isn't rabid.
But any time in the last 10 days,
Molly could have pressed charges.
Now, she didn't, but you're not
gonna be that lucky the next time.
What do you mean, "next time"?
There will be a next time!
You've got yourself an attack dog!
Oh, hi. Can I call you right back?
- I don't know what you're talking about, Roland.
- Come on, Julie.
A dog trained by professionals
to attack people.
You have got to have him killed.
Will you stop talking about killing him?
Listen to me. Molly wasn't his first victim.
Now, she certainly isn't gonna be his last.
Please, darling, just take him down
to the pound right now.
- It will be over in seconds.
- Do you know how they kill those dogs?
I was there! I saw it!
Now, wait a second!
You don't compare him to those animals!
They are innocent!
Now, that dog has got to be stopped
before he kills somebody!
- That dog is sick!
- Then he should be cured.
Darlin', the people that made him sick
made him permanently sick!
Then they should be put to sleep,
not the dog!
Come on, Julie,
you got a four-legged time bomb!
So let's say somebody trained him to be
an attack dog. Let's just say that.
There's gotta be a place where they retrain
these dogs, and I'll find that place, that's all!
Julie, now you listen to me.
Jesus H. Christ.
Julie, that son of a bitch
is ready to attack me right now.
He's not gonna hurt you.
Nobody can retrain him
and guarantee him 100% safe.
Nobody can do that.
You made your point, Roland.
He's my responsibility.
Goddamn it, Julie!
He could attack anybody.
Bullshit!
Nobody's gonna kill him!
I'm calling the cops,
or I'm gonna get chewed up trying.
There's gotta be somebody
who can help him.
Shana.
Can I help you?
...are you Mrs. Carruthers?
No, I'm Martine Dawson.
I'm looking for Mr. Carruthers.
Across the road. Little green house
on your left-hand side.
What? Quit.
Quit.
No can do, Mr. Driscoll.
Too risky.
Tell you what- use our panther.
He's safe,
and he knows every camera angle.
I got another call.
Noah's Ark. Carruthers speaking.
Hello, Mr. Kellogg. What do you need?
It's open! Come on in.
That's impossible.
Mr. Keys is swamped.
He's breakin' in a load of wild animals.
He's working the leopards
and jaguars for two features...
and he's taming four crazy chimps
for a movie of the week.
Sit down, honey.
Make yourself comfortable.
All I can do for you, Mr. Kellogg,
is to give you another man...
who will get our tiger to sit
on the automobile with a girl in a bikini.
And he'll see to it that she's not
bitten on her finer parts.
Weekly rate.
Well, what kind of an animal
do you want to rent?
You doin'a TVshow,
a movie or a commercial?
I tell you, we've got the smartest gorilla
in the business.
Does great documentaries.
- I've got a problem.
- You have a problem?
Let me tell you about problems.
That! That is the enemy.
Over 40 years
of training animals for the movies...
and it's come down
to putting us in storage...
for a piece of tin
with blinkin' red lights!
- Are you married?
- No.
- Any children?
- No.
When you do have them, by the time
they're 25, there won't be any animals.
Mr. Carruthers...
Did you happen to see True Grit?
Remember when Duke reached down
with his hand into that hole full of rattlers?
That's the hand that did it.
That's the hand
that helped Duke win the Oscar!
I really do have a problem.
I'm listenin'.
I'd like you to teach him...
or rather, unteach him...
something bad
that he's been taught to do.
He's an attack dog.
Good friend of mine had
a German shepherd for eight years.
Lived with him.
Slept with him.
Hunted and fished with him.
Did everything with him.
Then one night that dog turned
and chewed my friend's jugular out.
That dog was an old attack dog.
Can you help him?
- Can't.
- Why not?
Can't nobody can unlearn a dog.
Nobody.
Well, there's gotta be someplace.
There's gotta be someone who can.
I mean, you have to know someone.
Well, there is.
Who?
Well, I heard about him years ago.
Can't even recall his name.
He's probably dead now.
You're my last resort.
And if you don't help him,
they're gonna kill him.
They should.
They should, miss.
Let me give you a little tip.
You take that dog
right down to the pound.
With that dog out of circulation...
there'll be a lot of people
sleep better tonight.
There's nothing I can do
for an attack dog that's gone bad.
Help me!
That ain't no attack dog you got.
That's a white dog!
- Of course he's a white dog.
- I don't mean his color!
He's taught to attack
and kill black people!
That's crazy!
I don't believe that!
What the hell you mean, huh?
You see this scar, lady?
You see this goddamn scar?
Well, I got that
when I was 14 years old.
A white dog did it!
I'm gonna call the police. I'm gonna tell 'em
we got a goddamn white dog here.
Joe, forget the police.
And as for the rest of the men,
he's just an attack dog.
Understood?
Keys, if you work on that bastard...
I go.
Damn it, Keys!
Don't start that again!
You ain't got the time!
Take five weeks vacation, Joe.
If I don't break him...
I'll shoot him.
I hope you didn't bring
that damn dog with you.
They didn't allow visitors until now.
Well, I'm glad you're the first one, Julie.
Julie, don't make me feel any worse
with that long, guilty face of yours.
It wasn't your fault.
It was an accident.
Come over here. Sit down.
And besides, I'm fully covered by
the Screen Actors Guild and Blue Cross.
Molly.
Julie, don't ask if there's anything
you can do for me.
You've done it. You're here.
Where did you get
that hound of the Baskervilles?
I found him in the hills.
That's the danger
in picking up a stranger.
You don't know what
family background he's got.
Is he still with you?
- No.
- Good.
You know, I've gone over it
in my head a hundred times.
What do you think spooked that mutt?
Give it all you got. Come on!
The old man's still blunting
all the syringe heads on this damn robot.
Well, all I know is
this tranquilizer gun needs cleaning...
and I'm working with an elephant today.
- I'll clean it.
- Thanks.
Where the hell'd
he hide 'em this time?
Ah, there they are.
I'm gonna trick him into using
some of these regular darts.
You're too tired to even try, huh?
Can you tell me
where I can find Mr. Keys?
You can't bother him right now,
young lady. He's workin' a lion.
- Are you the owner of that attack dog?
- Yes.
Yeah, he said somethin'
about you comin'.
Up this road.
On the right is the arena.
You can't miss it.
It's a big dome with bars.
You can't drive up there. You gotta walk.
There's no visitors' parking up there.
Now, Warners okayed the money
on that wild cat deal...
but he's got to be ready on the 16th.
And you're gonna need a hell
of a lot of time to crack him.
Good morning, Mr. Keys.
Good morning, Miss Sawyer.
Good morning, Mr. Carruthers.
- What's good about it?
- Keys letting me watch him work.
That old dog of yours
is unusually powerful, Miss Sawyer.
You can call me Julie, you know.
Well, Julie that means
that I'm gonna have to be...
stronger and meaner
to wear him down.
That's just the rock bottom beginning.
I got to wear him down till he realizes
it does him no good to attack me.
- And then he's cured?
- Oh, no.
Then comes the permanent
reconditioning of his brain.
Now we move into step two...
of the procedure.
What was step one?
With the muzzle.
You better get in that cage next to him.
He would never hurt me.
Would you, huh?
Get in the cage, please.
I'm gonna make you learn...
that it's useless to attack black skin.
All right. There it is.
See, it's not your enemy.
Sniff it.
Not yet?
I don't understand.
One minute he...
he's gentle as a lamb,
and the next minute he's a monster.
He's not the monster.
No, he was made into one
by a two-legged racist.
You know, I don't understand
how that can happen. I really don't.
How can someone
turn a dog into a racist?
Well, over a hundred years ago,
they raised dogs to catch runaway slaves.
Then they progressed -
to track down runaway black convicts.
What about runaway white convicts?
Well, almost overnight...
they graduated to a vicious breed
of watchdogs...
trained to tear apart
any blacks within sight.
Does he attack any other color?
No. Dogs live in
a black-and-white world.
Unlike ours, they live it
visually and not racially.
- The man who owned him...
- Yes?
- How did he turn him into a racist dog?
- It's simple.
Find a black wino
who desperately needs a drink...
or a black junkie
who'll do anything for a fix...
and then pay them to beat that dog
of yours when he was a puppy.
A puppy?
The younger the better.
And as the dog grew up,
those methodical beatings by blacks...
planted that seed of fear in him.
And that fear became hate,
and that hate...
conditioned him to attack
the color black before...
Before black can attack him.
Well, can't the sick part
of him be cut out?
- Like a cancer?
- Oh, yes.
But, to me,
lobotomy is a barbaric recourse.
You see, Julie, I'd like to develop
a foolproof method of reconditioning...
so that anyone, anywhere,
within a matter of weeks...
will be able to eradicate
that racist poisoning permanently.
Maybe that way that'll stop bigots from
investing hate and time into dogs like yours.
Has anyone ever tried doing that -
without surgery?
Oh, yeah. A number of
animal experts, you know...
but they all stop when they reach
that same danger zone -
that crucial instant where tampering
with a dog's twisted mind just boomerangs.
And then what?
Homicidal maniac.
He could turn on... anybody.
Even me?
Twice I've gotten into the brain
of a white dog.
Twice I've come that close...
to cutting out that savagery
without using a knife.
And both times the experiment failed.
Ah, she's a beauty.
You sure you got the right one?
Ask Teddy.
It's a big molar.
Yeah. Be nice to add to your collection
on that necklace.
Did I ever tell you about the time
I pulled the tooth of a billy goat?
No, Carruthers,
I don't believe you ever have.
Well, I had this billy goat,
and he was mean as a striped-ass spider.
Hi, handsome. Look what I got for you.
Look at that.
You're gonna like this.
You like the bun, huh?
Juicy hamburger.
No one but this color black
feeds that dog! No one!
He's got to know he's stuck with me.
What happened to
that pretty face of yours?
You like you got caught
with your hand in a cookiejar.
Keys caught me.
Doing something naughty?
Yeah, something real naughty.
Something really stupid.
Did he chew you out?
He should have spanked me.
What did you do?
I fed Mr. Hyde.
Hell, that'll set Keys back
a full week of work...
trying to change that dog
back into Dr. Jekyll.
Keys.
Hey, Keys.
That damn mutt of yours
bit his way out through the roof.
He'll probably try to climb over
the fence, like that bobcat.
Well, if he does, he's gonna
have an electric hangover.
It'll serve him right.
The dog busted out of the compound.
I think he must have hit a branch
and set off the electrified fence.
Now, as soon as it's light,
we'll try to find him.
He killed a man.
In a church.
And I'm sure it's not
the first black man he's killed.
Why didn't you kill him?
I wanted to shoot him at the church.
Why didn't you?
how I wanted to put a bullet
in that son of a bitch!
Then why the hell didn't you?
Because there's still
a chance to cure him.
Cure him?
He just killed a man.
There is no way you can cure that dog!
I want you to shoot him now,
before he kills more blacks!
So you finally joined the club.
That club of horrified people who raise
holy hell about that disease -
that racist hate - but do absolutely
nothing to stamp it out.
That dog is the only weapon we have
at least to remove a part of it!
If I cure him.
If?
"If" is not gonna stop him
from killing people!
Yes, Julie. I can't guarantee the result.
But if I fail...
I'll get another white dog...
and another, or another,
or another, and another...
and keep on working till I lick it.
Because that's the only way to stop
sick people from breeding sick dogs.
And goddamn it...
I can't experiment on a dead dog.
I'm gonna break you.
I'm not through with you... yet.
This Romanian caviar
is too good to go to waste.
Well, I feel like
all three of us are conspirators.
We are.
Well, we'd better get ready
for the pokey then.
Now look. That dog could have snapped
off this black enemy hand.
But look, it's intact.
And that's a spark of reconditioning.
To our first breakthrough.
To the hamburger.
How did he get into all this?
- What?
- All this.
All of what? Oh.
That's breeding.
Keys was suckled on anthropology.
His mother teaches it,
and his father writes about it.
Keys drives a Mercedes-Benz
while his classmates...
teaches grammar
to little knotheads.
That must be Tom
with the serum for those Kodiaks, huh?
- Yep.
- Don't you miss what your parents do?
No. They're welcome to
their academic world.
I can live where I want and go where I please
and work where I live.
You know, and every cage
in that compound is a test tube.
I mean, to me, Noah's Ark
is like a laboratory...
that Darwin himself
would go ape over.
These smell good.
While it's hot.
Sour cream.
- Love it.
- Fattening.
Come on in, Tom.
Sorry to bother you folks.
I'm from San Berdoo.
I'm looking for Yakima Crossing.
Oh, it's about 10 miles
further up the road.
It's the second turn on your left.
There's no sign.
Thank you.
Enjoy your dinner, folks.
We all know that...
in the long run, what we're doin'
with this dog is proper.
It's right.
It's humane.
Now, the officials...
they won't understand that.
They believe in long words and...
long prison terms.
They won't give a tinker's damn
for a dog with a mental problem.
They'll just shoot him.
what I'm sayin' is...
if this gets out...
we're in trouble.
Oh, to hell with all this.
Let's get at these lamb chops.
Come on. Let's eat.
Come on. Forget it.
Keys.
Now I know why it took you so long
to get that dog to eat out of your hand.
Boy, come here.
Good boy.
That didn't hurt, did it?
You're a weird one,
you know that?
Yeah. So you're finally
beginning to trust me, huh?
Now, you're gonna remember this
tomorrow, now, aren't you?
Yeah. One last test, okay?
Well, a blessing from heaven, Keys.
Five weeks are up,
and you've licked the disease.
I don't think so.
What the hell is there to think about?
Look at him.
All that black skin
for him to be chewin'on...
and he's happy as a clam,
eatin' like a horse.
That's no proof
he's permanently reconditioned.
I'm kind to him, Jack.
He finally learned
to love and trust me.
But he only knows that my blackness...
is no longer the enemy
he's been trained to hate and attack.
Well, in my book,
your experiment is a howling success.
Not yet.
I have to test him with a black who hasn't
fed him - somebody he doesn't know.
A new black enemy.
Charlie, I guarantee
you won't get hurt.
Easy does it. Easy.
Well, Julie is sitting on a hot griddle
waiting for your miracle.
Why don't you give her a call
and tell her he's a hundred percent cured?
- Ninety-nine.
- One percent.
Now, that percent
has got me in a corner.
He's still on the razor's edge
of a mental breakdown.
That dog's been subjected to so much
brutal punishment, anything can explode.
Come on. Call her.
Julie. Keys.
well, as soon as you can get here,
I'll make the final, crucial test.
I would say it's...
almost "V" for victory.
I'll be right there!
Miss Julie Sawyer?
- Yes?
- I'm Wilber Hull.
These are my grandchildren.
Helen here is six.
Theona's eight.
- Hi.
- This is the lady.
Hello, Miss Sawyer.
Hi. I'm in a real big hurry.
You'll have to excuse me.
Where's my dog?
The S.P.C.A. Said you have
our dog, Miss Sawyer.
He ran away from the trailer park.
We're very grateful you took
such good care of him.
We've brought you some chocolates.
- Did you train him?
- I sure did.
Since he was just a puppy.
To be a white dog?
And the best of the lot.
- You look here, young lady.
- You sick son of a bitch!
You got two puppies there. You gonna
teach 'em to be as sick as you are?
Do you know what
your grandfather did to that dog?
He turned that dog into a monster!
A killer!
Don't you let him turn you
into monsters either!
Don't listen to a damn word he says
about anything! Not a damn word!
You shut your damn mouth!
Don't even touch me!
If you don't give us our dog back,
I'll go to the police.
Go to the police!
Go, you son of a bitch!
I'd like to see you walk in there
and tell them this story.
Then I'd like
to haul your ass in court...
and expose your sick mind
for the son of a bitch you are.
The dog has been cured!
Do you understand me?
The dog has been cured!
Cured by a black man.
You did it, Mr. Keys.