[BUDDY STUART'S "DEEPLY" PLAYING]
* Deeply *
* That's how I feel about you *
* So deeply *
* I don't know why *
* But I do *
* One look *
* And then I'm all aflame *
* Eyes that shine Lips divine *
* They're all to blame *
* Moments with you near me *
* Will stay within my heart *
* Moments that I'll treasure *
* If time should make us part *
* Deeply *
* And with a love... *
ANNOUNCER: Here comes the pitch.
Strike three. He struck him out.
[CROWD CHEERING] * If your love is true *
* You'll feel deeply too *
[SHUTTER CLICKS]
Oh, okay. Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller?
Tommy Dorsey.
Uh, why?
My Frankie. Oh, of course.
That skinny little Italian cat?
BOY: Come on. Nah. No.
Come on. How 'bout this one, huh?
What's that?
[UPBEAT SWING PLAYING OVER SPEAKER]
[WOMEN CHATTERING]
I need your help on Sunday.
Uh, yeah, sure. No problem.
Oh, hey.
Well, I got the promotion. Can you believe that?
Five years, and I'm finally doing it.
That looks so good.
[LAUGHS] [SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
LYLE: There's only one guy on your team.
Is it gonna be Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams?
BOY: Yankee Clipper. Sweetest swing in the game.
LYLE: How 'bout this one: Bette Davis or Rita Hayworth?
Ooh. [LAUGHS]
I'll take 'em both.
In your dreams.
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
Come and get it. Hot dog, hamburger.
And Benny's hot-and-spicy sausages.
[PLAYING SMOOTH SOLO]
Lane, get your brother.
Hey, Lyle! What do you want?
Okay.
LYLE: Jazz and baseball.
Faster.
The sax I picked up on my own.
The baseball, that was my dad.
Taught me everything I know about it.
And it got me an athletic scholarship
to San Francisco State.
Now, my older brother Lane,
he had to go straight from high school
to working to help the family,
so I'm gonna be the first to go to college.
Jazz and baseball.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT: Yesterday,
December 7th, 1941,
a date which will live
in infamy.
The United States of America
was suddenly and deliberately attacked
by naval and air forces
of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation...
and at the solicitation of Japan,
was still in conversation with its government
and its emperor
looking toward the maintenance...
[***]
LYLE: We were given 10 days' notice.
Ten days to close the family business,
to sell our furniture,
to clear everything from our home.
We gave our dog to the neighbors.
I smashed my records and left them there.
We were only allowed to bring what we could carry with us.
First we were held at the Santa Anita racetrack,
living in a horse stall.
Then we were taken further away.
Everything we had known was gone.
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT: ...determination of our people.
We will gain
the inevitable triumph,
so help us God.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[CHILD CRYING]
MAN: ...must proceed to Medical...
[WHISTLE BLOWING]
MAN [OVER P.A.]: Prisoner, step away from the fence.
SOLDIER 1: Get on with it, now.
SOLDIER 2: Keep away from the damn fence!
MAN: ...and keep calm.
SOLDIER 1: Okay, keep the line moving.
SOLDIER 2: Go to the center circle.
Find your belongings. Stand in line.
SOLDIER 1: Once again, those of you exiting these vehicles
or anyone by the center circle, keep the line moving.
Head of the line's right there.
If you're not sure what line you're supposed to be in,
find a soldier or an officer that is near to you
and ask them.
Once again, once you exit this vehicle
go to the center circle to get your belongings quickly.
Okay. SOLDIER 1: If you're not sure,
ask one of the soldiers. Let's go. Ah.
They will tell what line you should be in.
Keep it moving.
Right here, just keep it moving.
She can get her own things. Move on. Move on.
Once you got your bag, just move on.
Hey.
You, in the gray cap.
You understand English?
Get up, get back in line.
[WHISPERING] Go, go, go. Go. Go!
She's my mother. I'm okay. Go, go.
[BABY CRYING]
SOLDIER 1: Go to the center circle,
find your belongings and then get in line.
Present your identification.
Once again,
those of you exiting these vehicles...
[***]
How are you? I'm fine.
Okay.
[SPRINGS SQUEAKING]
Can we have everyone's attention?
Inspection is in a few minutes.
Not enough time to go outside.
We change here.
Men and boys, come to this side.
And will please all the women and girls
come to this side.
KAZ: Okay.
Block 41, Barracks 11, bed check.
Everybody step to your cots.
[ALL MUTTERING]
Is that one of those trick pictures
like they have at carnivals or...?
No, my dad played semipro ball.
See, Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, they're on a barnstorming team.
They play on my dad's all-star team.
See?
Well, this guy right here,
he's about as close as you can get
without actually being a real Yankee.
He's in their farm system, Class A ball.
Line up. If you're not there when your name is called,
you will be reported as missing curfew.
MACK: Nomura.
Emiko, Kazuo, Lane and Lyle Nomura.
KAZ: I am Kazuo.
My wife, my sons.
Good evening.
My name is Walter Watson,
and I'm the director of this camp.
The government has created this camp
with your well-being in mind.
Every effort has been made here to make your transition
as smooth as possible.
You'll have an opportunity to live and work here
and establish constructive lives
as close to those that you previously had.
As for me personally, I look forward
to working with each and every one of you,
and I wish to bid you all a very good first night.
[CRICKETS CHIRPING]
[***]
[CROWD CHEERING]
ANNOUNCER [OVER P.A.]: Single-A minor-league pro ball.
Coming to the plate,
Bees catcher Billy Burrell.
Billy's the heart and soul of this Bees team.
WOMAN: All right, hit it out of the park!
ANNOUNCER: If you ask me, Billy is still showing
why he was once considered a major-league prospect.
My, oh, my,
look at it fly.
Billy caught all of that one.
That's a two-run shot.
Whoo!
That's the game winner, Billy Burrell!
Your Abraham Bees pull it out, 6 to 5.
JOE: He's having a heck of a season.
His best in years.
The last time he had a start like this
was back in Triple-A.
Don Lemon himself came out to take a look at him.
We really thought we were gonna get called up that year.
Hm. [GIGGLES]
Billy's son, Billy Jr.,
played with the Bees briefly
before he shipped out to the Pacific.
Father and son, both doing their duty
for their country.
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Oh.
[HAMMER TAPPING]
[SAXOPHONE PLAYING MELLOW MELODY]
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
LYLE: Hey, I can play here if I want to, okay?
It's a free country.
Free country, huh?
If it's a free country, let me see you take that horn
and go on the other side of that fence and play.
Get out of here.
Hey, what is that over there?
It's nothing for you.
Get out of here. Go play someplace else.
What do you got back there, old man?
You making something with those peaches?
Is that booze?
[SIREN WAILING]
MAN: All residents must be in their barracks.
All residents must remain in their barracks.
No one is allowed out of the barracks.
BILLY: Block 41, Barracks 11. Name: Nomura, Lyle.
Area around this barracks, then perimeter search.
We don't find him, we'll do barracks-to-barracks.
We found him out near the northeast firebreaks.
He's drunk.
NORRIS: He was lying on the ground. Smart-ass said he got lost.
Smells sweet. You make some kind of home-brew?
You make the booze, or did somebody bring it in?
Did you make it, or did somebody bring it into the camp?
[VOMITS]
Where--? Aw, son of a bitch!
WATSON: Who called lockdown?
Prisoner was missing. He wasn't in his barracks.
You are not authorized to call lockdown.
I'm putting him in the stockade. He's my son.
[SPEAKS IN JAPANESE]
Everybody, listen.
We have to do what we can to make a new home,
each one of us.
My father has spoken to Director Watson,
and he said we're allowed to make improvements
on our barracks.
Too many of us have gotten sick.
We can patch the holes, uh, make curtains,
do whatever we can to stop
the wind and dust from coming in.
There are over 8000 of us here.
We have the skills we can use.
Now, the government won't help,
but they will allow us
to use mail-order catalogs
and to go outside into town for supplies.
We have to pay our own way, but if everyone contributes,
then like my father said,
out of necessity,
we can make a new home for ourselves.
Says here she's a pretty nice sort of person
when she lets her hair down.
Did you know Rita Hayworth was actually a Mexican?
Hey, Billy.
Ed.
Camp okayed the Japs to come in,
order some supplies directly.
Hi, I'm Kaz.
My son Lane. Hi.
Do you have in stock?
"Fertilizer, watermelon seeds, strawberry plants."
What's this? Uh, ginger something?
That's gingham.
JOE: The material?
Yeah, my mom wants it to make curtains.
How you gonna pay for all this?
Cash.
Now we're giving these people cash too?
Sure, bring 'em here.
We'll take care of 'em, we'll feed 'em.
We'll house 'em, and you know what?
While we're at it, why don't we give 'em
some extra cash, just to go along with it?
No one is giving us money.
We were afraid banks would take our savings,
so we brought money here.
Bullshit.
Leave 'em alone, Ed.
You're not gonna win the war in here.
Let me see what I got in stock.
As long as you can make a buck out of it.
It's okay. Yeah.
Katie got a letter from your boy Jackie.
Hm.
Yeah, they're shipping him out to the Solomons,
not far from where your son is.
We said a prayer for him last night at dinner.
I appreciate that, Billy.
Yeah, we got most of it here,
but those curtains...
Gonna have to order.
Thank you. Thanks.
Gingham curtains?
MAN: How can we be held?
How can we be held without being charged
with breaking any laws?
What happened to the Constitution?
Where are all the Germans? What about the Italians?
Demand answers.
Join us. Come on.
Demand answers.
You're afraid. You're all afraid.
Where do you think they're taking 'em?
Nobody knows.
They don't know where they're going or for how long.
They got a special camp for these guys.
They put all the bad apples in one place
and make apple cider out of them.
Come on. Let's go.
NORI: Now, listen.
Where there are people,
there's gonna be drinking and gambling.
Where there's drinking and gambling,
there's money to be made.
You that good of a gambler?
There's no such thing as a good gambler.
Hey, I haven't risked a nickel in 25 years.
The only way to win in gambling is to be the house, the bank,
to run the games.
[PLAYING BREEZY MELODY]
NORI: That way, I don't give a damn who wins or loses.
Just give me a little piece of the play.
People wanna drink,
I'll make it for nothing
and sell it to them for a buck.
Hey, it's business.
Hurry up.
Hey, what does he wanna talk about?
[SCOFFS] I don't know.
Yes, you do.
All right, okay. Maybe I do.
Let's go, let's go. Just be a big boy.
Huh, okay.
You wanted to talk to me?
When I was a young boy...
I came to America.
I could not speak English.
Kids made fun of me.
One day, I found a game.
BOTH: Baseball.
Yeah.
KAZ: And I became good.
I became so good, no one could deny it.
And the kids
stopped making fun of me.
I want to make a league here,
just like we had at home.
You remember the first time you put a ball in my hand?
I was 5.
You told me about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig,
Lefty Grove.
You made me believe that I could be Babe Ruth.
That that was possible,
that I could try to be like him.
But you know what, Dad?
It's not true.
[PIANO PLAYING GENTLE MELODY]
GIRLS: * With many a conflict *
* Many a doubt *
* Fightings and fears *
* Within, without *
* O Lamb of God *
* I come *
* O Lamb of God *
* I come *
[PLAYING FUN MELODY]
[GIRLS GIGGLE]
Girls.
You making fun of us?
[PLAYS THREE NOTES]
[GIRLS LAUGHING]
Shh.
I don't think that's very funny.
I have the room here from 4:30.
Jazz-band auditions.
Well, we're not done here yet,
so you'll just have to wait, okay?
All right, girls, focus.
Eyes front. Let's try it again, okay?
And...
one, two, three. One, two, three.
GIRLS: * Just as I am *
* Without one plea *
* But that thy blood *
* Was shed for me *
[COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO]
* She's the lady That I love... *
BILLY: Jesus.
Hollister.
That kid Don Lemon brought up to the Yankees?
Did he make the news in New York?
You know, he reminded me of Billy Jr.
I thought he really had a chance.
I taught him things I believe.
He never even got an at bat.
Can you imagine that?
You spend your whole life dreaming of making it up there,
then you get called into the Army.
Why couldn't they at least let him have one?
Just one stinking big-league at bat?
Wasn't any sugar left. Must have used it all up.
Billy, take a look at this lineup now.
The great New York Yankees. No DiMaggio, no Bill Dickey.
The starters are all gone.
Yeah.
In another few months,
the war's gonna take everybody between the ages of 18 and 35.
We're gonna have another chance.
I'm too damn old.
SHIRLEY: No, no, not with the way things are now.
The war's changing everything.
We've just gotta get Don Lemon here in that fancy car of his
and take another look at you.
Big leagues, New York City?
I haven't heard you talk like this since I was a little girl.
Your mother's dreaming, sweetie.
Mm-mm.
[CHUCKLES]
MAN: All right, Lane. Come on. Batter up.
MAN 2: One time, right down the middle.
[MEN SHOUT]
MAN 3: Come on.
You too, baby. One more, one more.
LYLE: My brother never had any interest in baseball.
I mean, he could barely even throw a ball.
But it was him, not me, who helped my father
get guys organized and start playing.
And after that, it just...
It was never the same between me and my father and brother.
[MAN SINGING IN HAWAIIAN]
* Means too much stuff *
* Aloha 'Oe Means I love you *
* Take it easy *
[BAMBINO SINGING IN HAWAIIAN]
Wait.
MAN: Let's go, come on!
Two teams.
Pick which one you want to be on.
Home-run champ, bro. What?
Da kine Hawaiian league.
Shortstop, Fresno Tigers.
Let's go, let's go.
[***]
MAN 1: Come on. MAN 2: Go, go, go.
MAN 3: In the middle! We got him!
Thank you, son.
BAMBINO: Give me something right here.
Give me something. Give me something.
[EXHALES]
MAN: Come on, Lane.
[MEN SHOUTING]
LANE: Foul, it's a foul ball.
BAMBINO: Oh, yeah.
Home run all the way, little brother.
LANE: It's a foul ball. Foul ball.
Fair ball. Fair ball.
Foul ball.
Fair!
No way, come on.
Fair! Fair. That's fair.
Fair!
[BAND PLAYING LIVELY JAZZ]
Hey.
Hi.
Hey, come on up and sit in.
Oh, no, no, no. I was just curious.
I've never been to a dance like this before.
No, come on up.
No, no, no. Seriously, no, I can't.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't realize you were afraid.
Let's go.
I need you to let her sit in.
All right, we're about to hit the melody.
Okay.
You ready?
Hey, take a verse.
What?
A verse, a solo. Take a verse.
There's no solo written here.
Just try it, play what you feel.
Hey.
You weren't so bad in there.
Oh, yeah, right.
No, I'm serious. Uh...
Started off a little stiff,
but you started to get the hang of it.
When I got up, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack.
You know, I was just like that my first time.
Down at the Avenue.
What's the Avenue?
You want a drink?
Sure.
LYLE: Oh, so Central Avenue, downtown L.A.
All the best players in the country go there.
And so this one night...
somehow I got up the nerve
to just go on down there for jam night.
By myself.
Oh, my gosh.
I mean, I was so nervous...
I just stood by the edge of the stage.
Everyone was looking at me funny 'cause...
I mean, it's a hundred percent colored people over there.
Oh.
So, um, they finally call my name,
and-- And I put my horn to my lips.
And nothing.
No.
I could not play a note.
But, you know, there was this-- This piano guy.
He was this old cat.
He looked at me, and he said:
"Go ahead, son. Play a verse."
[LAUGHING] Oh, my God.
But I did. I did.
I started playing, and-- And...
And it was amazing.
Me, up there...
with guys from Count Basie's band.
Oh, wow...
Okay, I-- I never even knew that Japs played jazz.
I'm not a Jap.
I was born here just like you.
I-- I'm sorry, I didn't me--
Thanks for letting me play with the band.
Hey, big brother.
Worn out from all that dancing?
Yeah. It's hot in there.
Give me a cigarette.
Didn't know you still had those moves.
Yeah, that Nancy girl's running off my feet.
What are you doing out here?
Oh, you know, just needed some air.
Yeah.
So?
Why'd you ask her to come up and play like that?
Thanks, Dad.
[WIND WHISTLING]
Our people fighting and dying and these people here...
They start a baseball league.
They have dances, beauty pageants.
Yeah, Watson and his Quakers
made this place into a summer camp. I--
I've become a goddamn babysitter.
MACK: Will you get that ball for us?
BILLY: The ball there.
Oh, sorry.
No English.
Get the ball, pick it up, throw it back here.
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
You, you understand English.
Throw it back here.
If you can't get it all the way,
just try to get it as close to Mack, right there.
You got a pretty good arm.
How 'bout betting a buck
and see if you can strike out the sergeant there?
Five bucks.
Five?
I'll put up the 5.
BILLY: One at bat. Maximum seven pitches.
Hit, walk or strike out.
You strike me out, you win 5 bucks.
You don't, I win.
Call the shot, Billy. Like Babe Ruth.
Show him where you're gonna hit it.
NORI: Attaboy, Lyle!
You guys didn't know he had a scholarship to play baseball,
did you, huh? Ha, ha.
You picked up English quick, didn't you, Tojo?
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
Just a little bit.
How 'bout that? Huh?
[NORI LAUGHS]
LYLE: Zero and two.
You wanna double that bet?
Make it 10?
Ten bucks.
NORI: Throw them in there, Lyle.
Easy money, Lyle.
We got a couple of suckers on our hands here.
Ball one.
That was right down the middle.
Off the outside corner. One and two.
Ball two.
That was strike three and you know it.
Just a "riddle" bit high, don't you think there, Macky?
That's right.
Just a "riddle" bit, just a "riddle" bit high.
Bullshit.
Hey, watch your mouth, boy.
Heh. Not much question about that one.
Full count. Three and two.
Let's see what you do with money on the line.
Ball four.
Where's my money, hotshot?
You couldn't hit me if your life depended on it.
You weren't even close those first two.
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
Ten bucks.
I handle the money.
Here's your 10 bucks.
And thank you.
Thank you for a great demonstration
of skill and sportsmanship.
Like we say in the old country:
Arigato.
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
[***]
Let it go, Lyle.
Let it go.
Who the hell does he think he is,
thinking he could play baseball?
This had nothing to do with baseball.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS]
Ugh! I start getting it and then my fingers won't do it.
It's okay.
Just take it again at half tempo,
but this time listen.
No, no. Don't go easy on me.
I wanna-- I wanna play it fast, jazz-style.
See? It's not about playing it fast.
Sometimes it's more about
what you're not playing than what you are playing.
You just have to listen.
I am listening.
No, you're not listening.
You don't even know how to listen.
I listen.
Hey, I know these guys.
They're old guys.
They told me they spent their whole lives
trying to learn how to play one phrase.
Listening to it, getting it right.
You know, the sound. Getting a feel for it.
Trust me, okay?
Let's try it again, slowly.
Okay.
[BAT STRIKES BALL]
[CROWD CHEERING]
ANNOUNCER: Tully rounding first and headed for second!
Look out.
Feel like you can use a haircut?
Don't forget about Ed's Barbershop.
Cut it right, cut it at Ed's.
Sure feels good to be in first place, don't it?
Yeah, not bad, huh?
Good ball game.
Billy.
I thought you'd wanna see him as soon as possible.
Oh, Jesus.
Billy's son.
No. Sit down.
[CRYING]
ALL: * Silent night Holy night *
* All is calm All is bright *
* Round yon... *
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
* Holy infant So tender and mild *
* Sleep in heavenly peace *
* Sleep in heavenly...*
Mom, Dad, Lyle.
I have something important I wanna say.
I enlisted.
I joined the Army.
I can't be in here anymore.
You should have come to me--
I feel like I'm not doing anything.
I accepted what happened to us--
You accepted it?
I accepted it because we didn't have a choice.
But now we have a choice.
Now I can prove that I'm as American as anybody else.
LYLE: You just get smarter by the minute,
don't you, Lane?
Do you understand how much shame you've brought our family?
KAZ: Lane, that's enough.
I need to do this. I need to tell him this.
LYLE: I'm the only one in here
who's not afraid to say what I think.
Lyle.
You lost a scholarship. Big deal.
Everyone in here has lost something, Lyle.
And no one complains.
No one says anything, no one cries, except you.
Only you.
You know what?
You go.
Go fight.
You go over there...
you get yourself killed.
See what that proves.
[***]
Senninbari.
One thousand stitches.
One thousand mothers here have each sewn one red stitch.
This, for my son.
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
Lane.
As long as you wear this senninbari around your waist,
you'll be protected from harm.
Thanks, Mom.
Thinking what I'm thinking?
I doubt that very much, Mack.
I know they're gonna be killing Krauts and not their own...
but don't make no sense letting 'em join our Army.
LANE: I will wear this with pride.
And the thought of you...
all of you, will remind me of why I'm there.
Of what I'm fighting for.
And thanks for coming to see me off.
I appreciate it.
So I guess this is it.
Bye, Mom.
I'll be fine.
Yes.
Dad.
[SPEAKS IN JAPANESE]
[***]
[SPEAKS IN JAPANESE]
I am what I am because of you.
[TRUCK STARTS]
WOMAN: Bye, Lane.
WOMAN 2: Bye. WOMAN 3: Bye.
MAN: Come back soon.
KIDS: * O beautiful For spacious skies *
* For amber waves of grain *
* For purple mountain Majesties *
* Above the fruited plain *
* America America *
* God shed his grace On thee *
[SAXOPHONE PLAYING "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
Kazuo?
[SPEAKS IN JAPANESE]
[HUMMING]
[SINGING ALONG IN JAPANESE]
[***]
[FILM REEL SPOOLING]
ANNOUNCER: Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
The Japanese-American 442nd
Regimental Combat Team in training,
preparing to fight for their country
and the American ideals
that are a part of their upbringing.
Democracy and equality of opportunity,
regardless of race, creed, color or ancestry.
Their spirit is typified by their slogan
of "Go for Broke."
Meaning "shoot the works, risk everything,
go all out, never let up."
Go for broke indeed.
Go for broke. MAN: Go for broke.
Go for broke. Go for broke.
MAN 1: Go for broke.
MAN 2: Go for broke.
AUDIENCE: Go for broke. Go for broke.
Go for broke.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[DOOR OPENS] BILLY: Katie!
BILLY: Katie, you here? Yeah, I'm just here.
I, uh-- I got off a little early,
so if you're done now, I can drive us.
Oh, okay. Um, I just have to finish
cleaning up a couple things back here.
Where are your Jap girls?
They left a little while ago.
I'll just-- I'll meet you at the truck.
I'll be there in a minute.
All right.
[EXHALES]
[LAUGHING]
Oh, Lyle. Lyle, come here. Come.
Did you see this in the camp paper?
The Quakers are gonna offer a scholarship.
"One player from the camp league,
all expenses paid, to the University of Delaware."
Whoever wins this can get out of here, go to college?
EMI: Yes.
He's here. Tell him.
Have you seen the paper this morning?
If the Quakers will really offer this scholarship,
then I can win this and I can get out of here.
Did you hear what I said? I can get this.
You know that.
Now...
I asked you before, you said no to me.
EMI: Kazuo, what he's trying to say is--
Emi.
[TOOL SCRAPING GROUND]
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
I just want a chance for this.
I know that I haven't been--
No booze.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
No gambling.
All right.
No seeing that girl.
What?
Well-- What does she
have to do with anything?
Everyone in camp knows.
Everyone is talking.
I-I don't care what they say.
I say.
No hakujin.
[PAPER CRUMPLES]
[***]
Kaz, it could be a chance for him.
Quiet.
Lyle. Lyle.
If your father won't let you play on his team,
there are other teams to play for.
You can-- You tell my son
to turn his back on me?
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
[EXHALES]
[EXCLAIMS IN JAPANESE]
No.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Next batter.
[MAN PLAYING UKULELE]
[CROWD CHATTERING]
All right.
Whoo! What you get? What you get? Give me one, bro.
Strike one.
Aw, come on, brother.
You need some glasses. Strike?
Give me another one.
[SIGHS] Never could stand Hawaiian music.
Well, you know da kine jazz?
Give me one big headache, bro.
[CROWD GASPS]
MAN: Foul ball!
BAMBINO: Jeez.
It was a long strike.
You know aloha means "hello," yeah?
[LAUGHS]
Whoo! What you get? What you get?
Whoa. Whoo!
BAMBINO: Okay. All right. All right.
You know, it also means
"I love you," brother.
What you get? What you get?
[GRUNTS]
Hey, doesn't it also mean goodbye?
[LAUGHS]
Aloha.
I had an idea about when I win the scholarship.
How do you know you're gonna win it?
I'll win it. [LAUGHS]
But when I get out of here, I was thinking
that you would come with me.
Come with you?
Yeah.
I've been thinking about it a lot.
I mean, you're a good musician, Katie.
A really good musician, but you need to learn more.
You need to play with other people,
you need to, you know, get more experience.
Then maybe one day, you know,
you could play professionally
or you could teach.
[LAUGHS] Lyle, I'm-- Th--
That school is in Delaware.
I've never been outside of Abraham in my life.
Yeah, but that is the point, Katie.
You've got to get out of Abraham.
There's nothing there.
Delaware has this really good music department.
Yeah?
And I already got you an application.
We--
[EXHALES]
I want you to come with me.
[EXHALES]
Yes.
I will.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
BILLY: Ed, guess what. Yankees are looking for a catcher.
Dapper Don might be coming down here.
I don't give a shit about that.
What's the matter with you?
I always figured Katie and my boy Jackie
would be together someday.
And I even came to think of her as my own daughter.
Yeah, and?
Now I don't.
You've been seeing some Jap?
[SWALLOWS]
What?
You've been seeing some Jap boy?
Billy, what--?
BILLY: Answer the question, Katie.
No.
No?
You haven't been seeing that Jap Nomura?
No. No, heh, of course not.
Well, what Ed heard is wrong.
I know you wouldn't do that.
I know you would never do anything like that, Katie.
Not to me, not to our family.
Not to the memory of your brother.
I spoke to Director Watson about how to ease tension
between us and the people in town.
We had an idea to have a game
between your baseball team and our Topaz team.
Maybe we have-- No. Nobody on our team
would ever set foot in that camp.
JOE: Uh, delivery's running late, uh...
They just called, said they'll be about 15, 20 minutes.
BILLY: I got a package
to pick up at the post office.
Take care of their order when the delivery comes.
A basket for you and your wife.
JOE: Thank you, Kaz.
[***]
This town is sick to death of you people.
Why don't you go back to where you came from?
I'm from Los Angeles.
[GRUNTS]
[GASPING]
[LYLE COUGHING]
[GRUNTS]
No. Get off.
[GRUNTS]
Uh.
You hungry? Go ahead, eat!
Eat!
Hey! Hey, knock it off!
The hell are you doing out here, Nomura?
Nomura? This that kid?
[SCREAMS]
BILLY: All right, that's enough.
Break it up. Break it up!
Come here. Break it up!
Everybody, go on. Get out of here. Get out of here!
BILLY: Take it home, Ed.
All right. [GRUNTS]
Okay.
Are you okay?
Yeah. Okay?
BILLY: Get him in the jeep.
[GROANS]
No, I'm fine. Okay.
SHIRLEY [LAUGHING]: Who told you that one?
Mary Beth. Ho-ho.
[LAUGHS]
We had a little trouble in town today.
One of the prisoners tried to run off.
Run off? Where are they gonna run to?
I mean, there's nothing around for 300 miles.
He wasn't trying to escape.
He came into town with us to get some supplies
and then he decided he'd just wander off
and get himself a burger. [CHUCKLES]
That Nomura kid.
[CLEARS THROAT] What did you do to him?
Me? Nothing.
Couple fellas in town roughed him up a little bit.
Excuse me for just a second.
Sit your ass down.
You're not going back to that camp, Katie.
Not tomorrow, not the next day.
Not ever. What?
You've been fired from your job.
You try to go back into that camp,
the guards will stop you.
[SILVERWARE CLATTERS]
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
[DOOR SLAMS SHUT]
[EXHALES]
Heard you didn't get the scholarship
because of your injury.
That's too bad.
Things happen.
Whatever happens,
we have to deal with it.
Tough luck, kid.
Deal with it.
ANNOUNCER: The Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team
moving up from their battles in Italy
into the Vosges mountains in France,
fighting in tough terrain against seasoned German forces
trying to rescue a lost battalion of fellow Americans.
Mission after mission, these stalwart
fighting men are proving themselves,
bringing honor to themselves and the nation
that is proud to call them citizens.
Hey, Billy.
You know anybody in the Texas 36th?
No, I think Mack knows a bunch of guys with 'em.
Well, the Krauts cut 'em off
up in the Vosges mountains in France.
They got ripped up bad.
None of our other guys could get up the mountain
to help 'em.
Except for them.
The 442nd,
they took 800 casualties
to save 211 guys in the 36th.
These guys...
they're all from Topaz.
[***]
ED: Barber says to her, "Sweetheart,
you're gonna get hair on your Twinkie."
She says, "I know. I'm gonna get boobies too."
[BOTH LAUGH]
Just got off the bus from Phoenix.
On my way to Topaz.
[EXHALES] Thought I'd get cleaned up before seeing my folks.
[EXHALES] The back's kind of raggedy
so...think it could use a trim right now.
Billy gets called up, we're gonna be missing
a pretty big bat next year. Hm.
Not gonna be as easy to win
a championship again. JOE: Mm-hm.
Still, long as Grover's with us, you know, we got
a good arm there.
I'm kind of in a hurry here.
An MP's picking me up in a couple minutes.
I don't cut Jap hair.
MAN: Lieutenant Nomura.
Corporal Norris, here to pick you up.
At ease.
Welcome back, sir.
Thank you.
[***]
Hi, Mom.
[SOBS]
Dad.
[SPEAKS IN JAPANESE]
KAZ: Lane, we kept everything.
He wanted to show you how he kept them.
And I was telling him that he was acting like a librarian.
And the news.
[LAUGHS] And I really think that he can
still get a new job as a librarian.
LYLE: Hey. I heard you were back.
Hi, Lyle.
[LYLE CLEARS THROAT]
How have you been?
Fine.
EMI: I went around to neighbors
and got everything you like.
When Mrs. Watanabe came with the mochi,
I thought it was perfect.
I have everything I wanted.
I thought you would've lost more weight.
You'd be like skinny, skinny, skinny.
Now you're gonna have home cooking again.
Sounds good.
KATIE: I can't stand it anymore.
I'm doing nothing. I can't--
I can't play music, I can't come here.
I'm just stuck in that house here in Abraham.
I have to do something.
[EXHALES]
I'm going away.
What?
I am going away
on my own.
Where are you going?
[EXHALES] I'm going to Delaware.
To school. I got accepted.
No, that wasn't the plan.
You were going there because I was--
I applied because of you,
but now it--
I mean, this is an amazing chance for me.
You're the one who told me I could do this,
I could get out of Abraham.
It was you.
You were going there with me.
[SIGHS]
I can't see you here anyway.
BILLY [OVER MEGAPHONE]: Prisoner, step away from the fence.
Civilian on the outside, get back away from the fence.
Civilian and prisoner, both of you,
step back away from the fence.
NORRIS: Hey.
How's your brother adjusting to being back?
Uh, he's doing okay.
He's a hell of a guy.
Yeah.
Hey, I'm not talking about the Silver Star
or any of that.
That day I picked him up, we were driving back.
He never said a word about what happened
in that barbershop.
What barbershop?
Didn't even faze him enough
to bother mentioning it to you, huh?
What are you talking about?
Just a haircut.
That's Ed Tully.
He's a barber in town.
[***]
KAZ: Director Watson got permission for us
to go outside of camp.
We are going to their park.
Their home field.
[CHUCKLES] That's great.
'Cause that is the guy, Dad.
That day in town?
This was the guy.
I have to be a part of this.
[KATIE EXHALES]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
KATIE: Mama? Mm-hm.
Um...
[CLEARS THROAT] I-- I've been accepted by a college.
I'm gonna go.
Katie. Okay.
[MUMBLING] Delaware State University.
What--?
You wanna go to college in Delaware?
What? College?
You never talked about anything like this before.
I have some money saved up from my job.
I'll use that to pay for everything.
You're not going anywhere. You're staying in Abraham.
When I get called up, you're moving with us.
Billy. I've made up my mind.
This is what I'm doing.
I'm not asking for anything from you--
You're staying here with us.
And when we go to New York, we're all gonna be--
I spent my life hearing about how things are gonna change.
How we're going to New York.
All right, Katie-- How things will get better.
No, Mama, no. I don't wanna wait anymore for anything.
I just wanna go. I wanna do what I wanna do.
BILLY: You are not leaving home, Katie.
You are not going off to school.
You are not going back to that camp.
You are not seeing that Jap--
He's not a Jap!
Ha. Y-- You look at him
and you see the people who killed Billy Jr.
Well, Lyle wasn't over there.
None of the people at those camps were.
We're not talking about that.
Well, what are we talking about, huh?!
All this time, talking about them.
How they caused all this, how they killed Billy.
Why don't we talk about what it really is?
Why Billy Jr. was even there to begin with,
why he wasn't here at home.
Katie, that is enough.
All those years trying to make him like you.
Trying to make him be you.
Forcing him to play baseball.
Making him practice hours and hours and hours.
He never wanted it. You don't know what he wanted.
You don't know anything-- He hated it. He hated you!
He couldn't stand being here anymore
until he finally ran away to the Navy.
That is why he was there.
That is why he was killed.
It was you.
You who killed him.
Shut up!
Billy, no!
No!
[RAPID BREATHING]
[GASPS]
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
[BILLY SOBS]
[WEEPING]
[***]
LYLE: My father had set up the game with the Abraham team
because he wanted us to have a chance to prove ourselves
to the people of the town.
When I told him I had to be there,
he never brought up any of the things
that had happened between us in the past.
All he said was,
"You'll have to work hard to be ready."
NORI: We're gonna challenge them to a bet on the game, okay?
All of us together.
All it's gonna take is one quarter.
NORI: One quarter will do it.
Come on, give me a quarter.
Look,
one measly quarter,
that's all I need. One measly quarter each. Okay?
Sweet, kid. Put your money on your team.
BAMBINO: Give me another one. Another one.
Once again. Once again.
Come on.
NORI: One quarter, your bet. Our bet on our team.
All of us in one bet,
together. How's that?
Drop it on in.
BAMBINO: Attaboy. You got it.
NORI: We're gonna get there. Thank you.
Jeez.
[***]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Skinner Field,
home of your Abraham Bees.
We've got a special exhibition game
between the Bees and a team
from the Topaz Relocation Camp.
Quite a few people from the camp
came out to take a look.
Probably the first time they've ever seen a real game.
A little birdie put it in my ear that
Dapper Don Lemon, the scout of the New York Yankees,
is coming by today.
Y'all know what happened last time Don was here.
Yep, that's right.
Jimmy Hollister was called up to the big club. Our Jimmy.
We decided to treat this like any other day,
act like we didn't even know he was coming.
I heard he drives a big fancy car.
A brand-new Roadmaster,
and he doesn't even like driving.
[LAUGHS]
What the hell is this?
Twenty-five hundred bucks.
What? Ten thousand quarters.
Every person in camp is in on it.
Twenty-five hundred dollars? That's a new Cadillac.
Yeah.
We like to gamble.
Hey, Billy.
These are the guys that wanna put money on the game.
All right, how much? I'm in.
Two thousand, five hundred bucks.
[SCOFFS]
What, $2000?
What?
What's the matter, you scared?
Huh, you yellow?
You don't even belong on the same field as us.
There's just no way we can come up with that much money.
And you guys are gonna back down?
Come on,
what have you got that's worth 2500
that can cover the bet?
Little slants just trying to show us
how rich they are.
I have an idea.
Since this is a league game, it was decided that a coin toss
would determine which team will bat first.
Topaz, you will call the coin toss.
Heads.
Heads it is.
KAZ: We bat last.
Topaz has elected to bat last.
ANNOUNCER: Looks like the Topaz team has decided to let the Bees
lead this thing off.
Everybody,
we know what we have to do
to win today.
But...
today is not just about winning.
Today is about...
dignity.
Dignity of the game
and the dignity we have...
here.
Enough.
Let's play ball.
You heard him.
Who are we?
ALL: Topaz! Yellow!
Let's go, guys.
[CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING]
These guys are little,
and I mean little.
It's almost like looking at a bunch of midgets out there.
Personally, I always get a kick out of midgets.
You see a midget, you gotta chuckle.
[ALL CHUCKLE]
Hey, your Abraham Bees leadoff hitter,
first baseman Ed Tully, steps up.
MAN: Come on, Ed.
MAN: Let's go, Ed.
[CROWD GROANS]
Do that again.
Throw at me. Throw at me again. Come on.
That had more than "brush back" written on it.
The pitcher kid winds.
Strike!
What?
Attaboy, Lyle, attaboy.
Little pitcher fella has a decent-looking fastball.
Two! There's a fastball
right down the middle.
Out! Strike three.
He struck him out.
And that's one down.
Next up, we've got catcher Billy Burrell.
We're all expecting Billy to be called up.
No one deserves it more than him.
I've never known a player who respected the game more.
MAN 1: Mash it, Billy. MAN 2: Go, Billy!
My hat's off to Billy.
I couldn't be happier for him.
Strike! Come on, that's outside.
[NORI WHISTLES]
Hey, it's a little different
when you both have to play fair now, huh?
Just a little bit.
LYLE: This time, it's straight up.
MAN 1: Come on. MAN 2: Let's go, Burrell!
Straight up.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Down the line, hooking...
Foul.
UMPIRE: Foul ball!
Okay. MAN: Come on, Billy.
You're out!
NORI: Beautiful, beautiful.
That's the way to do it, now.
That's the way.
[***]
These guys have never seen anything like Grover.
You know, Grover really had a shot a few years back.
He told me that Don Lemon himself
came to take a look at him.
Talked to him about working on his curve ball.
Coming to the plate,
this must be... Let's see...
"Take-a-shita."
UMPIRE: Ball one.
Strike one.
Strike two.
Grover winds.
You're out!
And down he goes.
As next batter, this pitcher kid's coming up.
Come on, Grover, come on.
A little tap down the line.
That's two down.
Let's forget about this exhibition game.
Teach these guys a real lesson.
This big fella,
I don't know what he's doing with them.
He looks colored to me.
I guess he's married to one,
or got some of their blood.
Scorecard says he calls himself
Bambino.
Got no comment on that.
Grover winds and...
[CHUCKLING] Oh, hey.
They don't have fastballs like that
where they come from.
First inning: one, two, three.
Here comes the pitch. UMPIRE: Strike!
Down he goes. Grab some pine. Out!
Take your seat. Out!
Grover's working on a no-hitter.
It's damn near impossible to tell them apart.
Top of the fourth, and Nomura-- Nom-- Nom-- Nom--
Whatever-his-name-is delivers, and--
[CROWD CHEERING]
They don't have any bats, but their defense
is looking good out there.
Where is he?
JOE: Want me to go look around and see if anyone's seen him?
Oh, would you, Joe? I'd appreciate that.
This Topaz kid, now, I don't know if he's throwing
some kind of special imported pitches or what,
but he's got himself a shutout going as well.
Strike three. You're out.
NORI: We call that his radio ball.
You heard it,
but didn't see it.
Did you, sergeant-san?
[NORI LAUGHS]
Grover winds and...
[CROWD CHEERS] Bambino, I love you!
NORI: Yeah, Bambino! My, oh, my,
see it fly.
The Topaz team goes up, 1-0.
Yeah! Go! Yeah!
That calls for a little liquid refreshment.
JOE: He's here.
Oh, thank God.
Billy, he's here.
He just got here. What?
He always reserves a seat when he comes,
and Joe just went to find out where he is.
[SIGHS]
New York Yankees. New York Yankees.
[GIGGLES]
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please rise
for the seventh-inning stretch.
Feel like you could use a haircut?
Don't forget about Ed's Barbershop.
Cut it right, cut it at Ed's.
And join me in singing
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
* Take *
ALL: * Me out to the ball game *
* Take me out to the bar *
* Buy me some peanuts and... *
I bought my bus ticket.
I leave for Delaware day after tomorrow.
That-- That's great, Katie.
I won't go if you don't want me to.
No.
No, I want you to,
I do.
Really? Yeah,
really.
Oh, God. I'm so scared, Lyle.
I have never been anywhere by myself.
Yeah, I know. It's nothing to be afraid of, all right?
You're gonna be fine.
I just keep thinking about maybe next year,
maybe you could come, you could join me.
We could-- Could be in Delaware--
[SHIRLEY LAUGHS]
Ahem. Mom, this is Lyle.
This is my mom.
LYLE: Hello, Mrs. Burrell.
It's a pleasure to meet you.
It's nice to meet you.
Mom, Dad.
This is Katie.
Hello.
And her mother and father.
Well, here we are in the top of the ninth,
and our Bees are trailing, 1-0.
One on, two outs,
and now we got Ed Tully
coming up.
Ed hits a slow dribble off the first-base line.
Look out.
BAMBINO: Oh. Whoa.
What, you wanna hit somebody? Come hit me.
Come hit me, man.
You wanna hit somebody?
UMPIRE: Hey, catcher,
get back behind the plate.
That's Ed Tully-style baseball.
BILLY: Stay on the base, Ed.
Next up,
we got catcher Billy Burrell.
Nomura's made Billy look bad today.
Struck him out three times.
I can tell you right now,
Billy does not wanna strike out
to end this game.
MAN: Go Burrell!
Two on,
two outs.
This game is on the line
right here, folks.
MAN: Knock it out of the park, Burrell!
[EXHALES]
[WIND WHISTLING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
Bombs away!
Billy just hit a three-run homer.
It doesn't get any better than this, fans.
I'm sorry, sugar. I'm really sorry.
SHIRLEY: What is it, Joe?
JOE: I found out where Don Lemon reserved his seat.
Right over there.
I made a mistake.
Don Lemon isn't here.
That's a game winner, Billy Burrell!
That's a winner!
ANNOUNCER: One swing of the bat and your Abraham Bees have
taken control of this game.
We can just about call it a day here.
Hey, everybody.
I don't wanna see
any heads hanging down.
Every one of you.
I am proud of you.
[***]
BAMBINO: We're all here, yeah? ALL: Yeah.
Let's give 'em something to cheer about, guys.
Who are we? ALL: Topaz.
Who are we? ALL: Topaz. Let's go, let's go!
Well, here we are.
Bottom of the ninth.
Your Abraham Bees 3,
Topaz 1.
All right, let's get this thing over with. Three and out.
Grover looks fresh as a daisy out there.
They barely touched him today.
Out. And down he goes.
Right, that's one. Okay, we got one here.
Grover had that one slip
against the big colored guy,
but other than that, he's thrown a gem.
UMPIRE: You're out! All right, we got two.
All right.
It's all over but the shouting now.
Well, we're down to our last out here,
and I gotta tell you,
it was more of a game than what I expected.
This Topaz team managed to make a decent contest of it.
Bunt! Bunt down the first-base line.
No play at first.
Shit. Damn it.
MAN: Yeah!
Come on, now, come on.
Where were you? Come on.
Now, this next batter, he's 0-for-3.
Gone down on strikes every time he's been up.
Grover's got him terrified of that high-and-inside pitch.
And I gotta say,
I can't blame the little fella.
[CROWD GROANS]
Look out. That's gotta hurt.
"Take-a-shita"
takes a first "base-a."
Pardon my Italian.
That puts the tying run on base, folks.
Still got a chance at that 2500.
There's not gonna be any 2500.
NORI: I'm not saying we're not gonna win.
What I mean is,
we're not going to make 2500.
They don't have the money to put up for the bet.
So, what's the bet for now?
A haircut.
A what?
Our 2500 against a haircut.
That's ridiculous.
Is it?
You want your quarter back?
I'll give you your quarter back. I'll take care of it personally.
And anybody else who wants their quarter back.
Two on, two outs.
The Bees better quit fooling around
and finish these guys off.
It's all our money
against a haircut.
[ALL MURMURING]
NORRIS: I'd like a piece of that bet.
You're on. WOMAN: Come on, Topaz,
let's win this thing!
We've got a bet to win!
WOMAN 2: Let's go, Topaz! MAN: We can do it!
MAN 2: Come on, let's win this thing.
WOMAN 3: Come on, Topaz!
MAN 3: Let's go. WOMAN 4: Let's win it.
Lyle!
Go for broke, Lyle!
Go for broke.
Go for broke, Lyle.
Go for broke.
Go for broke! Go for broke!
ALL: Go for broke!
Come on, go for broke!
Go for broke!
Something's going on with the Topaz fans.
CROWD: Go for broke!
They're yelling something.
Being pretty insistent about it too.
CROWD: Go for broke!
Go for broke! Go for broke!
Go for broke!
There's a line drive down the line.
One run's gonna score.
The second one's rounding third,
and he'll score.
The throw comes into the plate. The runner heading for third.
And he's safe.
Safe at third.
[CROWD CHEERING]
We got a tie game, 3-3,
bottom of the ninth.
Coming up is the big colored fella,
their so-called Bambino.
Billy Burrell and Ed Tully going to the mound
to talk to Grover.
He's their only real hitter, so keep it away from him.
Heck, no.
I say we go after him.
Come on.
And, Grover, don't screw it up.
I got a lot of plans for that $2500,
and I sure as hell ain't giving no haircut.
Come on!
This is what it's all about:
pitcher versus batter.
Our best pitcher against their best batter.
Grover getting the sign.
He's gonna throw some smoke, I can tell you that.
[CROWD CHEERING]
Down the line. Hooking...
UMPIRE: Foul ball. Foul!
Grover better bear down here.
Grover getting his sign.
[TO HIMSELF] Come on.
Come on, Grover.
[***]
Out!
What? No, no, no. He didn't tag me!
He missed me. Went over my head.
KAZ: No tag! No tag!
Yeah, no tag. He missed the tag!
UMPIRE: The tag is good!
He was safe.
UMPIRE: Catcher made the tag.
Hell of a play. Way to hang in.
Goddamn it!
This runner is out.
[SPEAKING IN JAPANESE]
LYLE: His hands were way up here.
KAZ: Missed him! He was safe!
LYLE: I was safe. UMPIRE: Tag was good!
We'll get 'em this time. UMPIRE: Runner is out.
Three-three tie, we go to extra innings.
LYLE: He missed me.
Lyle, enough. Enough.
BILLY: Did you touch the plate?
What?
Did you touch the plate?
Yeah, I touched the plate.
Course you did.
Game's over.
[ED SCOFFS]
Tie game, extra innings. Let's go.
He was safe.
ED: What? The ump saw, I saw it, everybody saw it.
He's out. Come on-- I tagged him.
I made the tag, but I dropped the ball.
He's safe. Run scores.
I didn't see you drop the ball, catcher.
I know you didn't.
I did.
Call it.
Catcher dropped the ball after the tag.
Run is good at home!
No! No, you can't do that! You can't change the call.
Game is over. Topaz wins, 4-3. ED: He was out. You called it.
What the hell is that?!
Topaz wins?
Topaz wins! We won! We won!
ALL: We won!
Topaz wins?
He's saying Topaz won.
[ALL CHEERING]
CROWD: Go for broke! Go for broke!
Go for broke! Go for broke!
[***]
[SCISSORS SNIPPING]
[***]