Where are they?
Talk, you unreconstructed whelp of a whore!
Where they headed?
Your screams ain't gonna save your flesh.
Only your tongue is, boy.
Now, where are they headed?
Lump. I.O.
Sweet summer rain.
Like God's own mercy.
Your two friends have abandoned you, Pete.
They don't seem to care about your hide.
Okay.
Stairway to heaven, Pete.
We shall all meet, by and by.
Goddamn it!
God forgive me!
Believe me, Delmar, he would've wanted us to press on.
Pete, rest his soul...
...was one sour-assed son of a bitch and not given...
...to acts of pointless sentimentality.
It just don't seem right, diggin' up that treasure without him.
Maybe it was for the best that he was squished.
He was barely a sentient being.
As soon as we get ourselves cleaned up, get a little smell'um in our hair...
...we're going to feel 100 percent better about ourselves and...
...about life in general.
We must be near Parchman Farm.
Sorry sons of bitches.
Seems like a year ago we bust off the farm.
Pete got a brother?
Not that I'm aware of.
Heat must be gettin' to me.
"Though the storm and its furies rage today"
"Crushing hope that we cherish so dear"
"The cloud and storm will in time pass away"
"And the sun again will shine bright and clear"
"Keep on the sunny side always on the sunny side"
"Keep on the sunny side of life"
"It will help us every day"
"It will brighten all the way"
"If you keep on the sunny side of life"
That was wonderful.
Now, I know, the Sunny Siders would agree with me...
...when I say that the greatstate of Mississippi...
...can not afford four more years of Pappy O' Daniel.
Four more years of cronyism!
Nepotism! Rascalism! And service to the interests.
Now, the choice, she is clear.
Pappy O'Daniel, slave of the interests.
Homer Stokes, servant of the little man.
Ain't that right, little fella? - He ain't lyin'.
And ladies and gentlemen...
...the little man has admonished me...
...to grasp the broom of reform and sweep this state clean.
It's gonna be: "Back to the flour mill, Pappy."
The interests can take care of themselves.
Come Tuesday, we're gonna sweep the rascals out.
Clean government, yours for the asking.
Now, the Little Wharvey Gals.
"Wharvey Gals"? Did he just say "Little Wharvey Gals"?
Come here, girls, what are you gonna sing for us?
In the Highways.
Goddamn it all.
You know them gals?
"In the highways, in the hedges"
"I'll be somewhere workin' for my Lord"
"I'll be somewhere workin'"
"I'll be somewhere workin' for my Lord"
"I'll be somewhere workin'"
"I'll be somewhere workin' for my Lord"
Girls. - Daddy!
Daddy?
He ain't our daddy.
Hell, I ain't! What's this Wharvey Gals? Your name's McGill.
No, sir, not since you got hit by that train.
What are you sayin'? I wasn't hit by a train.
Mama says you was hit by a train.
Blooey. - Nothin' left.
Just a grease spot on the L&N.
Damn it, I wasn't hit by any train.
That's right, now Mama's got us back to Wharvey.
That's her maiden name.
You got a maiden name, Daddy?
No, Daddy don't have a maiden name--
That's your misfortune.
That's right, and now Mama's got a new beau.
He's a suitor.
Yeah, I heard about that.
Mama says he's bona fide.
He give her a ring?
Yes, sir, a big one.
Gotta gem. - Mama checked it.
It's bona fide.
He's a suitor. - What's his name?
Vernon T. Waldrip.
Uncle Vernon. - Until tomorrow.
Then he's gonna be Daddy.
I am the only daddy you got! I'm the damn paterfamilias.
But you ain't bona fide.
Where's your mama?
She's at the Five 'n' Dime.
Buyin' nipples.
Daddy! - Hello, sugar.
How's my little girl?
Who the hell is that? - Starla Wharvey.
Starla McGill, you mean. How come you never told me about her?
Because you was hit by a train.
Why are you tellin' our gals I was hit by a train?
Many respectable people have been hit by trains.
Judge Hobby, over in Cookeville, was hit by a train.
What was I to tell them?
That you were sent to the penal farm and I divorced you from shame?
I take your point. But it leaves me in a awkward position vis-à-vis my progeny.
Hello, Penny. This gentleman bothering you?
You Waldrip?
That's right.
You been using my hair treatment?
Your hair treatment?
Excuse me.
I got news for you, in case you hadn't noticed. I wasn't hit by a train.
And I have traveled many a weary mile...
...to be back with my wife and my six daughters.
Seven, Daddy.
That ain't your daddy. Your daddy was hit by a train.
Penny, you stop that. - No, you stop it.
Vernon, here, has got a job, prospects. He's bona fide. What are you?
I'll tell you what I am, I'm the paterfamilias.
And you can't marry him. - I can, I am, and I will.
Tomorrow. I got to think about the Wharvey gals.
They look to me for answers.
Vernon can support them and buy them lessons on the clarinet.
Only good thing you ever did for them was get hit by that train.
Why, you lyin' unconstant, succubus.
You can't swear at my fiancée. - Yeah?
Well, you can't marry my wife.
Who is that man?
He's not my husband.
Just a drifter, I guess. Just some no-account drifter.
And stay out of the Woolworths.
Say, I'll bet she does imitations, too.
Deceitful, two-faced, she-woman.
Never trust a female, Delmar.
Remember that one precept...
...and your time with me will not have been ill-spent.
Okay, Everett.
"Hit by a train." Truth means nothin' to a woman, Delmar.
Triumph of the subjective. You ever been with a woman?
Well....
I gotta get the family farm back before I can start thinkin' about that.
That's right, if then. Believe me, Delmar.
Woman is the most fiendish instrument...
...of torture ever devised to be devil the days of man.
Everett, I never figured you for a paterfamilias.
Yes. I've spread my seed.
Look what it's....
What the hell is going on?
Okay, boys. Enjoy your picture show.
Do not seek the treasure.
It's a bushwhack.
They're fixin' an ambush.
Do not seek the treasure.
We thought you was a toad.
Do not seek the treasure.
Quiet there! Watch the picture!
I signed that bill. I signed a dozen of those agriculture bills.
Everyone knows I'm a friend of the farmer.
What have I got to do, start diddlin' the livestock?
We can't do that, Daddy. We might offend our constituency.
We ain't got a constituency. Stokes has got a constituency!
Well, it's a well-run campaign. Midget and broom and whatnot.
Devil his due. - Hell of an organization.
Say, I got an idea.
What's that, Junior?
We could hire us a little fella even smaller than Stokes's.
You slope-shouldered sack of nuts!
We'd look like a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies.
Braggin' on our own midget.
Don't matter how stumpy.
That's the goddamn problem, right there.
People think this Stokes has got fresh ideas.
He's au courant and we're the past.
It's a problem of.... - Perception.
The reason he's pullin' our pants down.
Gonna paddle a little behind. - Ain't gonna paddle.
Gonna kick it, real hard.
No, I believe he's gonna paddle it.
That's not a proper description.
Well, that's how I'd characterize it.
I believe it's more of a kickin' situation.
God forgive me...
...l could not gaze upon that far shore.
Pete.
Hold still.
Can't stand much longer.
It was a moment of weakness.
Quit babblin'. We got to skedaddle.
That's all I got.
They lured me out for a bathe, then they dunked me...
...and trussed me up like a hog. And turned me in for the bounty.
Should have guessed it, typical womanly behavior.
Just lucky we left before they came back for us.
We didn't abandon you, Pete. We just thought you was a toad.
No, they never did turn me into a toad.
Well, that was our mistake, then.
And we was beat up by a Bible salesman...
...and banished from Woolworths.
I don't know, Everett, was it the one branch or all of them?
Well, I ain't had it easy either, boys.
Frankly, well, I...
...spilled my guts about the treasure.
I'm awful sorry I betrayed you fellas.
Must be my Hogwallop blood.
That's all right, Pete.
Awful white of you to take it like that, Everett.
I feel wretched, spoilin' your play for $1.2 million.
It's been eatin' at my guts.
That's all right.
You boys are true friends.
You my boon companions.
Pete, I don't want you to beat yourself up about this.
I can't help it, but that's...
...a wonderful thing to say.
Fact of the matter is...
...damn it, there ain't no treasure.
Fact of the matter is there never was.
So where's all the money from the armored-car job?
I never knocked over no armored car.
I was sent up for practicing law without a license.
But.... - Damn it, I had to bust out.
My wife wrote me she was gettin' married. I gotta stop it.
I had two weeks left of my sentence.
I couldn't wait two weeks, she's getting married tomorrow.
With my added time for the escape...
...I don't get out now until 1987.
Now, I am sorry about that.
I'll be 84 years old.
I guess they'll tack on 50 years for me, too.
Boys, we was chained together.
I had to tell you something. Bustin' out alone was not an option.
Sorry.
84 years old.
Well, I'll only be 82.
You ruined my life.
I do apologize about that, Pete.
84 years old. I'll be gummin' pabulum.
Now, boys. Boys.
It's Tommy. They got Tommy.
Oh, my God.
The noose.
Sweet Jesus, we got to save him.
A color guard.
Brothers!
Brothers! We are forgathered here...
...to preserve our hallowed culture and heritage...
...from intrusion...
...inclusion and dilution...
...of color, of creed...
...and of our old-time religion.
We aim to pull evil up by the root...
...before it chokes out the flower...
...of our culture and heritage.
And our women.
Let's not forget those ladies, y'all.
Looking to us for protection...
...from Darkies, from Jews, from Papists...
...and from all those smart-ass folks say we come descended from monkeys.
That's not my culture and heritage.
Is that your culture and heritage? - No.
So, we gonna hang us a Negra.
I ain't never harmed you. Neither of you gentlemen.
I never harmed nobody.
We've come to rescue you.
That's mighty kind of you, but I don't think nothing is gonna save me now.
The Devil's come to collect his due.
Don't be crazy, Tommy, you don't wanna get hanged.
No, I don't reckon I do...
...but that's the way it seems to be workin' out.
Listen, Tommy, I got a plan.
That color guard is colored.
Who made them the color guard?
Run, boys!
No, son.
Can't let that flag touch the ground.
Get your hand off me, I can do this myself.
Get away. I didn't tell you to sit over here.
I'm saying we should hire this man away. - That's a good idea.
Great idea. - Can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Have him join us, run our campaign, instead of that egghead's.
Enticements of power, wealth, et cetera.
No one says no to Pappy O'Daniel.
Oh, gracious, no, not with his blandishments.
Powers of persuasion. - What's his name again?
Campaign manager? - Yes.
Waldrip. - Vernon Waldrip.
Vernon T. Waldrip.
It's an invitation-only affair.
We'll have to sneak in at the service entrance.
Hold on. Wait a minute.
Who elected you leader of this outfit?
Since we've been following your lead...
...we've got nothing but trouble.
I got this close to being strung up...
...and consumed in a fire, and whipped no end...
...and sun-stroked, and soggied.
And turned into a frog. - He wasn't turned into a frog.
Almost loved up though.
So you're against me now, too.
Is that how it is, boys?
The whole world, and God almighty, and now you.
Guess I deserve it.
Boys, I know that I made some tactical mistakes...
...but if you just stick with me.
I got a plan, believe me, boys, we can fix this thing.
And I can get my wife back and we can get out of here.
Goddamn disgrace!
Made a travesty of the entire evening.
Oh, what I wouldn't give to get ahold of those agitators.
I mean, whoever heard of such behavior? Even amongst the colored.
Or mulattos, maybe. I suspect some miscegenation in the heritage.
How else you gonna explain it? Using the Confederate flag as a missile.
No one's ever gonna believe we're a real band.
This'll work. I need to get close enough to talk to her.
Coming with us has more future than marrying a guy named Waldrip.
I'm goddamn bona fide. I've got the answers.
Everett, my beard itches.
In the Jailhouse Now, fellas. Neighborhood of B.
It's me.
No.
"I had a friend named rambling Bob"
"He use to steal, gamble and rob"
"He thought he was the smartest guy around"
"Well, I found out"
We're leaving the state, pursuing opportunities in another venue.
I've got big plans.
Not minstrelsy. This here's just a dodge. I'm gonna be a dentist.
I know this guy who will print me up a license.
"He's in the jailhouse now"
"Well, I told him once or twice"
"Stop playing cards and shooting dice"
"He's in the jailhouse now"
"Bob liked to play his poker"
Well, that is an improper suggestion.
I can't switch sides in the middle of a campaign.
Especially to work for a man who lacks moral fiber.
Moral fiber! You pasty-faced son of a bitch.
I invented moral fiber.
Pappy O'Daniel was displaying rectitude and high-mindedness while that...
...egghead you work for was still messin' his drawers.
Go away.
I wanna be what you want me to be, honey.
I want you and the gals to come with me.
"Started playing cards and shooting dice"
What you doing here, Pappy?
I guess someone let on we was giving out liquor.
You'll be laughing out the other side of your face come November.
Pappy O'Daniel will be laughing then. - Not out the other side of his face, though.
No. Just the regular side.
They're my daughters too, Penny.
Ain't you ever heard--
"In constant sorrow"
"All through his days"
"I'm a man of constant sorrow"
"I've seen trouble all my days"
It's the Soggy Bottom Boys!
"I bid farewell to old Kentucky"
"The place where I was born and raised"
"The place where he was born and raised"
Holy Moly! These boys are a hit.
But, Pappy, they are integrated.
Wait a minute.
Well, I guess folks don't mind integration.
You're miscegenated. All you boys is miscegenated.
Give me a microphone.
These boys is not white.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey.
I happen to know, ladies and gentlemen...
...that this band of miscreants here, this very evening...
...interfered with a lynch mob, in the performance of its duties.
It's true.
See, I belong to a certain secret society, I don't believe I got to mention its name.
Let 'em play, I wanna hear them sing.
And these boys here...
...they trampled all over our venerated observances and rituals.
Now, this here music is over.
Listen to me.
These boys desecrated a fiery cross.
And they're convicts, folks. Fugitives escaped off the farm.
Now, folks, these boys have got to be remanded to the authorities.
Criminals! And I have it from the highest authority...
...that Negra sold his soul to the Devil.
Now wait a minute, folks. It's true.
Is you is, oris you ain't my constituency?
Is you is--
Is you is or is you ain't my constituency?
No! It's over now.
This is not necessary. Come on.
"It's fare thee well, my own true lover"
"I never expect to see you again"
"For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad"
"Perhaps I'll die upon that train"
"Perhaps he'll die upon that train"
Goddamn! Opportunity knocks.
Get out of my way!
"I'm just a stranger"
"A face you'll never see no more"
"But there is one promise thatis given"
"I'll meet you on God's golden shore"
"He'll meet you on God's golden shore"
That's fine.
Ladies and gentleman...
...here and listenin' at home.
The great state of Mississippi...
...Pappy O'Daniel, Governor...
...wants to thank the Soggy Bottom Boys for that wonderful performance.
Now, it looks like the only man in this great state...
...who ain't a music lover...
...is my esteemed opponent in the upcomin', Homer Stokes.
Well, there ain't no accounting for taste.
Its ounded to me like he was harborin' a grudge against the Soggy Bottom Boys...
...on account of their rough and rowdy past.
Looks like Homer Stokes is the kind of fella who wants to cast the first stone.
Well, I'm with you folks, I'm a forgive-and-forget Christian.
And I say:
If their rambunctiousness and misdemeanoring is behind them....
It is, ain't it, boys?
Yes, sir, it is.
Well, I say, by the power vested in me...
...these boys is hereby pardoned.
Furthermore...
...in the second Pappy O'Daniel administration...
...these boys is gonna be my brain trust.
What does that mean, Everett?
Delmar, it means you and me and Pete and Tommy are gonna be the...
...power behind the throne, so to speak.
Okay.
So without further ado, and by way of endorsin' my candidacy...
...the Soggy Bottom Boys is gonna lead us all in a chorus of:
You Are My Sunshine.
Ain't ya, boys?
Governor, it's one of our favorites.
Son, you're gonna go far.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine"
"You make me happy when skies are gray"
"You'll never know, dear how much I love you"
"Please don't take my sunshine away"
I guess Vernon T. Waldrip is gonna be goin' on relief.
Maybe I can throw a little patronage his way.
Get him a job diggin' ditches or roundin' up stray dogs.
So is the marriage off then, Miss Wharvey?
McGill. No, the marriage will take place as planned.
Little change of cast.
Me and the little lady are gonna pick up the pieces...
...and retie the knot, metaphorically speaking.
You boys are invited of course.
Hell, you're the best men.
Already got the rings.
Where's your ring, honey? - I ain't worn it since our divorce.
Must be in the roll-top in our old cabin. Never thought I'd need it.
Vernon bought one, encrusted with jewels.
Now's the time to buy it off him, cheap.
We ain't getting married with his ring. You said you'd changed.
Yours is just an old pewter thing. - There ain't gonna be no weddin'.
It's just a symbol. - No weddin'.
We'll go fetch it with ya, Everett.
Shut up, Delmar. It's just a symbol....
I've spoken my piece and counted to three.
She counted to three.
Goddamn it. She counted to three. Son of a bitch!
You have any idea how far that cabin is?
George?
Hello. Well, these men finally caught up with the criminal of the century.
Looks like the chair for George Nelson.
Gonna electrify me. I'm gonna go off like a Roman candle!
20,000 volts chasing a rabbit through yours truly.
Goddamn, I'm gonna suck all the power right out of the state.
Gonna shoot sparks outta the top of my head...
...and lightnin' from my fingertips.
I'm George Nelson, and I'm feelin' 10 feet tall!
Looks like George is right back on top again.
Cow-killer!
Well, at least you boys get to see the ancestral manse.
The home where I spent many happy days in the bosom of my family.
Refugium, if you will.
With a mighty oak tree out front and a happy little tire swing.
Where's the happy little tire swing?
End of the road, boys.
Now wait a minute.
It's had its twists and turns. Now it deposits you here.
Now wait a minute.
You have eluded fate and you have eluded me for the last time.
Tie their hands, boys.
You can't do this, now.
Didn't know you'd be bringin' a friend.
He'll just have to wait his turn.
Share one of your graves.
You can't do this, we just got pardoned by the Governor himself.
It went out on the radio.
Is that right?
Well, we ain't got a radio.
God have mercy.
"You got to go to the lonesome valley"
It ain't fittin'.
It ain't the law. - The law?
The law is a human institution.
"Nobody else can go there for you"
Perhaps you should start making your prayers.
Oh, my God, Everett.
Tommy, I'm sorry we got you into this.
Good Lord...
...what do we do?
Lord...
...please look down and recognize us poor sinners.
Please Lord, I just want to see my daughters again.
I've been separated from my family for so long.
I know I've been guilty of pride and sharp dealin'.
I'm sorry that I turned my back on you.
Forgive me, and help us, Lord.
For the sake of my family.
For Tommy's sake.
For Delmar's and Pete's.
Let me see my daughters again.
Help us, please.
A miracle! It was a miracle!
Don't be ignorant. I told you they were going to flood this valley.
No, that ain't it. - We prayed to God and he pitied us.
Well, it never fails.
Once again you two hayseeds are showin' how much you want for intellect.
There's a perfectly scientific explanation for what just happened.
That ain't the tune you was singing back there at the gallows.
Well, any human being will cast about in a moment of stress.
The fact is, they're flooding this valley so they can hydro-electric the whole state.
Yes, sir, the South is going to change.
Everything's gonna be put on electricity and run on a payin' basis.
Out with the old spiritual mumbo-jumbo, the superstitions and backward ways.
We'll see a brave new world where they...
...run everybody a wire and hook us up to a grid.
Yes, sir, a veritable age of reason...
...like the one they had in France, and not a moment too soon.
Not a moment too soon.
Hey, there's Tommy.
Tommy, what you riding there?
Roll-top desk.
"All's well that ends well" so the poet says.
That's right, honey.
I don't mind telling you that I'm awful pleased...
...my adventuring days have come to an end.
Time for this old boy to enjoy some repose.
That's good, honey.
You were right about that ring, too.
Any other wedding band wouldn't do.
This here was foreordained.
Fate was smilin' on me and you just have to have confidence--
That's not my ring.
Not your ring? - That's one of Aunt Hurlene's.
You said it was in the roll-top desk. - I said I thought so.
No, you said-- - Or under the mattress...
...or in my chiffonier. I don't know.
Well, I'm sorry, honey. - We need that ring.
Well, that ring is at the bottom of a pretty darn big lake.
A 9,000 hectare lake. - I don't care if it's 90,000.
That lake was not my doin'. - Well, of course not--
I counted to three. - Honey....
Findin' one little ring in the middle of all that water...
...is one hell of a heroic task.