Looking back at it now...
what can you say?
It feels like it was a dream.
Yeah, that's it, a dream.
Maybe none of it never happened.
Because when I look back on it today...
this is the best sense I can make of it.
But I believe that the times require imagination...
and courage and perseverance.
My call is to the young in heart...
regardless of age...
to the stout in spirit, regardless of party...
to all who respond to the Scriptural call...
"Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid."
For courage, not complacency, is our need today.
Leadership, not salesmanship.
And the only valid test...
is the ability to lead, and lead vigorously.
And we can have faith in the future...
only if we can have faith in ourselves.
You're in a motel room, right?
You're in a motel...
and you're a long way from home.
I want you to imagine...
the phone rings.
Ring.
Listen to me, ladies and gentlemen. A long way from home.
I know that feeling, all right. Believe me.
In a motel right here, in Dallas, Texas.
I say that because me, myself, I'm from Chicago.
Anyone in the audience tonight from the Windy City?
Yeah!
Old times, ladies and gentlemen...
Diego, give me a shot.
I've had my share of troubles in this life, believe me.
He's starting on Chicago.
I'm not going to disappoint you.
Your host, Jack Ruby, ladies and gentlemen.
Now, you're in this motel...
and you want some company, and the phone rings...
and there's this girl on the line, and it's...
Telephone Trixie!
You still got this stuff coming through?
You know your old Uncle Jack.
The reason I'm asking, Jack, is according to what I've been told...
pure green doesn't come in anymore.
Not since that cocksucker, Castro, closed down Cuba.
That's the reason I'm asking you. Where do you get this stuff from?
- There's $500, Jack. - Thanks.
Let's be clear about this before we all leave. Usual story applies.
Jack turned over some phony narcotics a hood in from Florida tried to sell him.
Never got the name of the hood, passed the evidence over to us.
We record "received" for one bag of white talcum powder.
We reimburse Jack his expenses through me.
Is that okay?
Okay.
Thanks, fellas. Good luck.
- And where were you born? - New York City, Senator.
September 22, 1903.
Not in Italy?
No. My mother and father come from Italy. Naples.
They were napoletano.
Are you a member of any organization that is dedicated to...
Thank you, Diego.
...or whose principal business it is to pursue crime?
Yes, I am, Senator.
What is the name that you give to this crime organization?
Just Cosa Nostra...
which translated means, "Our Thing," something like that.
What would happen to you...
if some of your Cosa Nostra confederates...
found you talking publicly about their organization?
What would happen?
Like with Action Jackson up in Chicago just recently, Senator...
they'd hang me up on a meat hook.
Kill you?
Not straight off.
Scumbag.
Hey, Jack. Good show tonight?
Yes, it was a great show tonight. Give me a cup of hot tea, will you?
Thanks.
- Excuse me. - Sure.
If you don't mind me saying this...
a bus depot can be a wrong place for a young girl on her own at night.
The problem is that there are people that hang around these kind of places.
Where you from?
You come in the Lubbock bus?
I ain't from nowhere.
I've been there.
What's it called?
Rising Star, Texas.
I'm from Chicago, myself.
Where you headed?
Out of Rising Star, Texas.
He hit you a left or a right?
He's a southpaw.
First bus don't leave till 7:00.
It ain't much.
To be honest, it ain't anything.
But it's safer than hanging around a bus station.
I ain't got no ready money.
I don't want no ready money.
I got nothing else, neither.
My bartender used to sleep here nights.
Runs off. I don't know where the hell he goes.
Nobody's gonna bother you here anyhow.
You own a club?
That ain't much, neither.
But it's mine.
See here?
That's where you lock it.
Nick, I need a headliner tonight.
No, she's not come. I don't want her back. I need a new headliner.
Right. It's the Embassy Club.
It's the Wolf Brothers. It's the amateur nights.
It's the unions. What the hell...
Where am I going to get another act?
I need a headliner, Nick.
No, I can't come down to New Orleans...
and hustle around all the joints.
She went to the Embassy Club.
No. What can I do?
Nick, what can I do about it?
I can't even get new hostesses.
All right, I understand. Maybe another time. Thank you.
I was wondering.
You think I'd be any good as a dancer?
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, your host, Jack Ruby.
Welcome once again to the Carousel Club here in Dallas, Texas.
Now tonight is truly a special night...
because tonight is precinct night.
And tonight is truly a special night...
when we in the entertainment industry...
salute our fellows in the world of law enforcement.
Now, without law enforcement, who'd show up here Tuesday nights?
You know what I'm saying.
So tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we have something new for you...
something real special.
A new act up here at the Carousel, because you know the pleasure we have...
in presenting the latest professional dancers...
from the world of show business.
He's introducing you.
I'll be right there.
Straight from the Dixie Riverboat in New Orleans, Louisiana.
A long engagement at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada...
ladies and gentlemen...
Miss Candy Cane.
Hello, boys!
You know about this big hit in Chicago. Action Jackson's a friend of yours.
You and him were close in the old days, or so you told me.
They hung him on a hook and tortured him with a prod.
- Bled to death. - Yeah? That's terrible.
You know who done that?
Give me a break. That's Chicago, this is Dallas.
Listen to me.
You know Dave and Alby Wolf at the Embassy Club?
Leave it with Dave and Alby Wolf, will you? - They steal my girls.
You check his liquor license? And his amateur nights?
Amateur nights for which they don't have to pay nothing?
You're supposed to be getting stuff for the Bureau...
not come crying to me about Dave and Alby Wolf.
You feds get right on my tits.
Last month, I told you Dave Wolf is agitating in the union.
We checked Wolf.
Just because he's paying a stripper $20 don't make him a communist.
What the hell else does it make him?
This is not about communists.
- What the fuck is it about? - Organized crime.
- I'm talking to you, Jack. - Yeah, organized crime.
Don't start telling me that it don't exist.
It's all over the TV, what with these Senate hearings.
Director's going crazy in Washington.
What makes you come to me? Jack Ruby, hardworking club owner.
Your club's in deep shit, so don't give me none of that.
If your club wasn't up shit creek, you wouldn't be an informant for the FBI.
You think the monkey nuts you give me keeps my club afloat?
Besides, haven't you heard? I got the hottest new act in Texas.
My takings is going sky-high.
I don't need no FBI.
Our director, Hoover, has issued a directive.
Organized crime. All since that cocksucker went on TV.
That equipment you got from me, you still got it?
That equipment?
That's second-rate. I mean, look at that.
Come up with something smarter than that.
Yeah, well, the government gave you this equipment.
Now use it.
Carousel.
Jack.
Louie?
You heard what happened to Action.
Yeah, that was bad.
Makes room for you, Jack.
Action was going to run an errand.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Something I can do in his place, poor guy?
Pack some bags.
- You're going on a vacation. - Yeah?
We're gonna give you a shot, Jack.
Hey, Ronnie!
Where did you find her, Jack?
She's something else.
Ain't that your dispatcher, Ronnie?
- I'm hungry. - Chicken soup, beef broth.
- Thank you. - They make it good here.
Like my act?
I never knowed anybody that learned to dance so quick.
It ain't dancing, it's stripping. Let's not be too coy about it.
Truth is, Mr. Ruby, I can sing a bit, too.
I can't make you out.
Kid in a bus station, sweet and beautiful.
She don't mind about taking her clothes off...
in front of a room full of drunken men.
I can't make you out.
Club owner, finds girls in diners, takes them in...
and doesn't even try to climb in the sack with them.
You're a cute kid. I like you.
Truth of the matter is, I got a lot of business interests.
Not just the club.
Most of the customers is policemen?
Tonight was a special. I do a precinct night.
That the vice squad or the narcos you was cutting a deal with?
I have stuff to take care of.
Your club is part of Cosa Nostra?
I thought you was out of Rising Star, Texas.
That's so.
That wasn't the first time you danced.
I went into burlesque when I was 15. I never did no good for myself.
Marrying Hank was meant to be some kind of alternative.
Maybe I was being unfair on burlesque.
Sorry I lied to you.
If I'd told you I was a seasoned dancer, you'd never have cared so much.
Listen, am I good, or am I good?
How many clubs you played? - It was so long ago, what's the difference?
No one remembers.
You got a lot of people on your back.
It'll come good. All I need is the right breaks.
Me, too.
I got to go to Cuba and get an associate out of jail.
I'm an expert with customs down there.
He a capo?
You know some funny words. He's a very important guy.
Does he own any clubs?
Matter of fact.
Does he like girls?
Nothing like a fresh broad on your arm to make you look nice.
What are you asking me now?
I want to move, Jack.
You know? Move on. I'm talking about my career.
You know somebody what's important. Owns clubs.
I've been two-timed before.
I'm Candy Cane, fresh out of nowhere.
An hour ago you billed me as Las Vegas hot sauce.
Tomorrow you headline me as a virgin schoolgirl from Carolina.
I'm whatever you say.
You ever climbed a high school wall when you was a kid?
Boys' prison.
You remember how many people it takes to climb that wall?
One to stirrup and one to hoist hisself.
That's right.
This needs salt.
I want to thank you for the opportunity, Louie.
Who said anything about bringing a broad?
A broad always looks good.
Santos likes to be seen with a broad.
Never mind what Santos likes. What Louie likes is what matters.
This is a real nice cellar here.
Everything's totally crazy, Santos.
Nothing is what you'd call normal.
The way it used to be, since you've been away.
Vito Tutone got hit.
After that, Action Jackson.
Santos, it's true. We had some losses.
That cocksucker on TV the whole time, talking about Cosa Nostra.
That guy's out of his mind.
Besides, there ain't nobody paying any attention to him anyway.
Now, Jack here is a very steady guy.
He's been making connections for us down in Dallas for a long time now.
He can step into Action's place, it won't be like nobody got hit whatsoever.
I come down to Dallas in '47. I was in Chicago...
which is really my hometown.
I got the house waiting for you. I fixed it up real good.
Jack's arranged for a trip home, no sweat.
Plus, he tells me he brought some fresh female company for you.
Sure, I done.
I brought you my freshest girl.
- Your shirt. - The shirt?
I got it in Texas. I figured I'd blend in easy.
You don't like the shirt?
Change the fucking shirt.
Gracias.
I had to get a shirt.
They had stores in Galveston if you wanted to get a shirt.
This shirt changes my life.
Forget it. You wouldn't understand.
What do you think of Cuba?
I think it's gonna be swell when they get it finished.
The boys made a big mistake. They should have gone to Texas.
Jesus Christ.
That's the Cuba Libre. It was the biggest casino in Havana.
That was Santos Alicante's place?
That was all marble in there. Even the toilets.
Even the toilets?
Santos come over from Sicily after the war.
He and his boys come over...
and kicked the old Neapolitans out on their asses.
These Sicilians...
they're something else.
That's what Cosa Nostra is.
Sicilian.
I never met a lot of Sicilians in Rising Star.
We had Mexicans when we wanted someone to look down on.
Are you Sicilian?
I'm jewish.
You want to make something out of it, I'll punch you right in the mouth.
What happened to your finger?
I got in a fight. Some guy bit it off.
Here.
Jack, it's beautiful.
Thank you.
You look terrific. They'll love you.
Now listen.
You don't got to do nothing with this guy.
- You follow my meaning? - Right.
He ain't gonna lay a finger on you.
But with a guy like this it don't pay to suggest you know that.
Follow me?
You're saying he's too old but you want to flatter him...
- and that's never crossed your mind. - You're a genius.
Let's go or we're gonna be late.
I'll be right with you.
I've brought someone for you. Her name's Candy Cane. Straight out of high school.
- She's got some talent. - Hi.
I'll be back for you later.
Enjoy yourself.
Mr. Santos, how about something with a small orchestra?
A little class.
- You left them? - Sure, I left.
You got a boat fixed yet, Jack?
I got a boat fixed since day one.
- I'm waiting to be told the time. - You'll be told the time.
I don't get it.
If the commies got Santos in the slammer...
how come he's got all them privileges? - You know Santos.
He's got the influence.
How come he ain't got the influence to get out of there?
Or walk in the plain?
Because his papers aren't straight.
He's got the Justice Department up his ass.
They'll deport him the minute he steps ashore.
That's why he needs me to get him off the island?
Well, that...
plus it looks better this way.
Looks better?
- Looks better to who? - Whoever the fuck's watching.
The time's gonna be tomorrow. - Good.
That's good.
This guy in the street the whole time, who is he?
Don't worry about him. He's a friend of ours.
I got some other instructions for you.
I'm listening.
You ain't just here to run a big man off of the island.
I figured.
You did?
You want to run a shipment, too. I figure, why not?
Makes it safer for Santos since I got customs fixed for a run.
They're less likely to pay attention to him that way.
That's right.
Because we don't want nobody to pay attention to Santos.
That's what I figured.
You figured nothing.
I just said you ain't here to run a big man off the island.
- That's what I said. - Then what? I don't get it.
You see this, Jack?
You ever see anything this pretty?
You ever see anything that fucking neat?
Where did you get a thing like that, Louie?
It's pretty?
What's it for?
You're gonna hit Santos, Jack. That's what it's for.
Louie, what are you trying to do to me?
Things are a little complicated now, and I don't think I can explain them to you.
Santos, he was meant to fulfill some obligations.
He failed to come up to scratch.
- It was up to me, I... - Santos is a top figure.
Not no more, he ain't.
- He's been out of circulation. - He'll kill you if he finds out.
- He'll hang you on a meat hook. - Well, he won't find out.
Come on.
You know what it was like in the old days, the Chicago days.
You remember.
The hit was ordered, you did it the best you could.
You figured you'd hit a guy when he's not looking...
then it was like a fucking train hitting him.
Then what the fuck is the difference?
Anyway...
it ain't tasteful to pull a gun on somebody like Santos.
Take his picture for him.
Now, come on, show me the boat.
Louie, look, I can't do this. Look, I'm talking to you.
You've done 15 years in a gutter on Commerce Street.
Today you're getting a number one shot to make yourself a player again.
I don't want you forgetting who put you back at the wheel.
Forget? What is this, Louie? What are you setting me up for?
I know what happens to someone who does a hit like this.
He never gets off the boat on the way home.
It's a pity about this island.
It was once a beautiful place.
You got your fat eye on my Candy Cane, too, Vitali?
This is how it works. Make sure the safety is off.
Then you tell the old man to smile.
Because I want him to die with a big fat smile on his face.
Don't forget your glasses, Louie.
You think so?
Mr. Santos liked me, Jack.
Great. The boat's fixed.
Louie won't be coming.
He got tied up.
Excuse me.
You're the guy who fixed the immigration details for Santos.
I'm Jack Ruby. Pleased to know you.
How'd you know Louie Vitali was planning a little takeover?
You get a feel for a situation.
From what I heard, you hit him good.
Did you ever hear of Sparky from Chicago, from the old days?
- You Sparky from Chicago? - In the old days. In Dallas today.
Dallas? - Yeah, I own a club, The Carousel.
You own a club. He owns a club.
The Carousel, 13121l2 Commerce Street, if you're ever in Dallas.
That's where the lady does her dancing?
That's great.
Sure.
She's my headline act. Excuse me.
- Jack, they want to see my show. - That's terrific!
Sparky from Chicago? Never knew you had such great friends.
Me neither.
Everybody!
Jack owns a club, The Carousel, in Dallas.
Special party coming up.
Everyone's invited at the Carousel Club in Dallas!
- What the fuck is going on? - It's a gala night.
The place is full of fucking hoods.
Fucking hoods? Do you know whom you're referring to?
Santos Alicante's outfit from New Orleans?
This is out of your league. So what the hell is going on?
These is businessmen. Old friends that come out to support my club.
There's something wrong here.
How did they let Santos back in the country?
Justice Department is gonna deport him...
the moment he returns to this country. - What would I know?
I'm just a smalltime club owner with a sense of the past.
- Something's going on. - Something usually is.
There's something you're holding out on me.
Listen, you're in over your head.
Isn't that where you always wanted me to be?
Don't sweat so much, Proby...
or you won't get that promotion you're lining up for.
It's been quite an evening. Quite an evening.
Mr. Santos wants you to go with him to Las Vegas.
Wants who to go where?
The Sun Hotel, Las Vegas.
The Sun Hotel?
That's right.
It's a career move, Jack, for both of you.
Well, sure.
What does the Cosa Nostra have to do with the Castro regime in Cuba?
Cosa Nostra is not unpatriotic, Senator.
They ain't gonna do no business with no lousy communists.
- They're patriots. - These men are patriots?
For all the cash they handle, they sure ain't no communists.
- You fed my dogs yet? - I got to go out.
Where is it you go the whole time?
It's my business, Jack.
That Ferrie taking a friendly interest in you?
Maybe.
- You don't own me, Jack. - I took you in.
You had no place to go home to and I gave you a home.
Someday, I'm really going home.
Forget it, Diego, you're never going back to Cuba.
You're living in dreamland, you hear me?
You look after Chippy and Sheba while we're gone.
This committee will break now for some...
Candy Cane!
I checked every clip joint from Houston to San Antonio...
and now I found her.
Asshole!
- Found who? - My wife, that's who!
Your wife, nothing! A $10 divorce will fix that.
Candy Cane?
- Where the hell did you get that, anyhow? - None of your damn business!
- Her name is Sheryl-Anne Dugene. - Not anymore, it ain't!
Dancing in the sleaziest pit in Texas for a policeman's pimp!
Get him, Jack. Give him one for me!
- You call my club a what? - A sleaze pit!
Lay off him, you jerk!
I'll get him, Jack.
Let go!
I worked six years in a rodeo ring to get her out of clip joints.
You two-timing jerk!
You stole all I earned, and drank your way through every rodeo...
in the Lone Star State!
- I made her respectable! - Respectable?
Respectable?
That's interesting.
I never thought about it that way.
- Respectable? - That's right, you heard it.
Here's how it is.
The American Guild of Variety Artists...
recognizes the exotic dancer...
as a principal artist!
You understand what I'm saying?
I'm saying...
that we is a part of the entertainment system...
of the United States of America.
You make that the last time you take out your disappointment in life...
on Jack Ruby.
Things don't always work out the way you planned.
Las Vegas?
Sun Hotel?
I'll see you in the morning.
Good night.
Why didn't you use the weapon where it was intended?
You don't need that, Jack.
This is grown-up talk.
Pretty strange, Jack.
You get asked to do a simple job.
Point a camera...
only you point it in the wrong direction.
What the fuck is this?
Murder One, Jack. You're in the shit.
Now it's time to talk.
Who are you, mister? The Lone fucking Ranger?
I was watching from across the street when you hit Vitali.
I was one step behind you the whole time you were in Cuba.
Not that I mind about Vitali.
He won't be missed.
Who do you think you're dealing with?
Bunch of cheap crooks?
Pimps, dealers?
Racetrack artists?
Who am I dealing with exactly?
Imagine this:
I know...
everything about you.
The real reasons you left Chicago.
The little jobs you did for Agent Proby.
Those little fees didn't wind up on your tax return...
did they?
You ain't with the IRS.
No, I ain't with the IRS.
Got a lot of good friends over there, though.
But you can get...
the IRS down on my back?
I can get just about anybody down your back.
Or off your back.
You had some kind of a deal with Louie Vitali?
What kind of deal?
You're the one who's in real big with Mr. Santos Alicante now...
so you tell me.
It's getting real complicated.
I ain't sure I can even explain it to myself.
Santos should be a dead man.
But he's back in play, thanks to you, Ruby.
It was nothing.
Now all the angles have to be triangulated all over again.
Is the girl a player in this?
The girl?
A player.
Is the girl in the picture?
The big picture?
That's the one.
She might be...
and she might not be.
Let's stop fucking with each other, Jack.
What's the next move gonna be?
Next move is we go out to Vegas and we play some blackjack.
- Why don't you come, too? - I was planning to.
Great!
We'll have a party.
What do we call you anyhow?
My name is Maxwell.
It's a fake name like yours, Mr. Rubenstein.
Okay, fine.
One thing puzzling me.
Only one?
Why don't I break your fucking jaw?
Wouldn't make sense to annoy me.
Wait a second, Mr. Lone Ranger.
You had some kind of a deal with Louie Vitali.
You give him the weird camera thing?
Only one outfit comes up with something like that.
You're CIA. Right, Mr. Maxwell?
Be in touch, Ruby.
Good evening. Welcome to the Sun Hotel.
Slow down, Jack. I want to see all of this. - We're late.
I always wanted to see this. Ever since I was in kindergarten.
Come on, we got to hurry.
What's the matter with you? You're like a cat on tiles.
- We're here to enjoy ourselves. - Hold on, we're gonna see everything.
Look at this.
Santos Alicante from New Orleans, Tony Ana from Los Angeles.
Mickey the Shoe from Cleveland, Sam Giancana from Chicago.
It's like Appalachia all over again.
- What's Appalachia? - It's the biggest meet ever.
Upstate New York, all the bosses.
The boys must be under some kind of heat.
I don't know what it means yet.
Tony Montana is singing tonight.
They fixed that. They did that special.
They can do anything. Like that.
You got a suite?
Jack Ruby from Dallas. Thank you very much.
Send the bags up.
Squeeze must be tight on Alicante for him to get all these big boys together.
But he's out of jail.
He can't operate in Cuba no more.
That cocksucker Castro has seen to that.
And if the Justice Department is on his back here...
he's being squeezed both ways.
That's why the big meet. They got to figure something out.
So it all makes sense, that they're meeting.
Santos is smart.
When he saw Castro coming, he give him guns, rockets.
You don't trust politicians no more after that.
So he's got to be figuring something about the Justice Department thing.
Like how to get Bobby Kennedy off his back.
Kennedy?
Hi, honey.
- Hello, Jack. - Hello, Ferrie.
Let me take baby doll to the party on my arm. Someone I want her to meet.
Just put them there.
Floor show tonight is real special.
- Tony Montana, that's big time. - I want you to do me a favor.
What favor?
This is swell!
What you were just saying...
Candy Cane!
- That's for me? - You bet.
Listen to me.
The boys want you to join them at their table.
- They do? - Sure.
What's going on here anyhow?
Looks like all the big boys are in here. - You could say that.
- Something big going on? - Could be.
And it could concern you.
It could concern Jack Ruby?
Could be.
So I'll just take Cinderella to the ball...
and you can sit and drink with the boys.
Freshen up, guys.
I don't know. I swear to god, I just don't know.
Tony Montana, that's something.
Plus, they may be fixing to introduce me to the guy who books the shows here.
I don't like this.
That Ferrie guy gives me the creeps.
What are all these guys doing here, and me?
You represent Dallas, Jack.
See?
I represent Dallas?
Sure you do, didn't you know that?
I represent Dallas?
You represent Dallas.
I represent Dallas.
So why did nobody tell me?
You just need a little confidence, Jack.
Even when it's been busted to pieces for so long...
you've forgotten how it fits together...
you still got to remember you can do it.
Like in the old days.
Like when you were in the bus station that night.
Looking for your confidence.
And you helped me find where I lost it.
Get the door, would you?
- "Good luck, Santos." - See?
- They're for me, Jack. - Good. Take it.
I'll get a vase.
I'm just gonna look around!
Hey, Montana!
- Who is it? - The President.
We delivered the votes for Kennedy in Chicago...
and now he bites the hand that feeds him, am I correct here? - Absolutely.
He just passed me in the hallway. I couldn't believe it.
Jack Ruby, Mr. Alicante.
Mr. Giancana.
- Mickey the Shoe. - Hi, Mickey.
Tony Ana.
When election time comes around...
these guys better remember who put them there.
We got the baby brother at the Justice Department.
He better get off the case.
La petra della scarpa, Santos?
La petra della scarpa.
Yes, Mr. Ruby from Dallas?
One hundred percent.
We're talking about politicians, right? - We are, Mr. Ruby.
Santos here will recall the classy place he had there in Havana at the Tropicana.
Before that Mr. Castro came in and loused everything up.
But look again at what could have happened instead...
if some promises about what was gonna happen in Texas might have been kept.
What in Texas?
I'm going back a ways here, to the good old days.
You know, when the boys wanted to leave Chicago and broaden it out?
Texas is the reliable place.
Who ever heard of a commie takeover in Texas?
Where is better in this country than Dallas?
- Dallas is full of patriots, yes? - 100 percent patriots.
What the hell do you talk? We was patriots.
My sentiments exactly.
I still got six boxes of rocket launchers in the basement of my club to prove it.
You brought Santos out of Havana?
You used to run a little fishing operation, right?
We schlepped some stuff in and out.
This is the old days I'm going back to now.
- We thought that Red cocksucker... - Kept some good contacts there.
Could deliver stuff.
What stuff?
Box of cigars, say.
Let me get this straight.
You're talking about me smuggling cigars into Cuba?
Special cigars.
Who are these cigars for?
He owns all the fucking cigars in Cuba.
Action didn't know how to get him to try a new blend.
This was how you was going to hit Castro?
You could think of a better way, no doubt.
Just as long as you do the job.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome.
I see many friends in the audience. You all know who you are.
Mr. President, this one's for you.
Excuse me, would you? I got to get some air.
Let me get this straight.
You're talking about me smuggling cigars into Cuba?
Special cigars.
Who are these cigars for?
What the fuck?
Where the hell are we going?
Take it easy!
Slow down!
You've been mixing with some interesting types, Jack.
Interesting types, yeah? I ain't so interested.
You know who's in the hotel, don't you, Jack?
Sure, all the top boys. L.A., Cleveland, Chicago...
Washington?
That I knew nothing about.
What's he doing here anyhow?
Now we know what your interest was in the girl.
What are you talking about?
Alicante, Giancana, Tony Ana...
That's a lot of boys.
What do you mean "my interest in the girl"?
What the fuck are you talking about?
Thank you very much.
You ever ask yourself why they did that to Action Jackson?
I'm just an honest, hardworking club owner.
I got a lot of overheads, I got arrears for my taxes.
Action Jackson had a lot of overhead.
He was a hardworking club owner.
- He was given a contract. - I don't want to know.
He was supposed to deliver something. He failed.
To President Castro. I know. Cigars.
Now what is this?
- You got nothing on me. - No?
Transporting a girl across state lines for immoral purposes.
- That's federal. - I ain't a pimp!
I was invited here by the boys.
There was talk about getting her auditioned.
- I bet there was. - Fuck you!
How many hits did you do in the old days, Jack?
The Chicago days...
when you were a bagman and a shakedown...
to the Scrap Iron and Junk Handlers Union...
and Leon Cooke, who founded that union, and gave you your first job...
- was shot in the back? - I walked on that.
- It was self-defense? - I was questioned, I was released...
and everyone knows Big John Martin pulled the trigger.
Maybe you didn't have the balls. Is that why they sent you to Dallas?
Check the files if you don't believe me!
Jack Ruby. Wire service scams...
racetrack swindles, bent slot machines...
hot-check bets, guns in and out of Cuba...
a little narcotics now and again!
What is it with you people?
You're the ones in shit, not me.
You blew it in Cuba, that's what you did.
You hired the boys to kill Castro.
- But Action Jackson chickened out. - What's going on with the girl?
The President doesn't know nothing about all of this?
If he finds out, he'll rip your fucking balls off.
What about the fucking girl?
They brought her to meet Tony Montana.
They brought her to put her with the President!
What do you people want from me?
We just want you to do your duty for your country, Jack.
Kill Castro.
Funny thing about life, Jack.
You only get one shot.
One shot at what?
One shot at greatness.
We got some pussy coming up.
We copy.
I'll be right back.
I'm so glad I found you. Where have you been?
What's happening?
I've been offered a shot at the big time.
I got to take it, Jack.
I never could have done it without you.
One to stirrup, one to hoist hisself.
Say you don't mind, Jack.
So long as you don't...
Never get too good to know me.
I'll never get too good to know you, Jack.
Did you miss Daddy?
You ate all your food, sweetheart.
Fair Play for Cuba!
Fidel Castro needs your support.
No more plots against the people.
No more capitalist plots against the people of Cuba.
Fair Play for Cuba!
I'll introduce you.
Fidel Castro needs your support.
Join the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, sir.
Lenny, is that you?
The thing is, Lenny...
the reason I thought of you...
when it comes to making a hit, your team was always the best.
I mean, the hits you made, believe me... You're the first one who came into my mind.
I need advice, Lenny.
Now, suppose you were told you got to make a hit.
Only it ain't nobody ordinary.
It's really so special...
- It's the president of a country. - Who gave you this contract?
- You know better than asking... - What I'm saying is...
you better have a way to decide who's gonna die.
You or the guy giving the contract.
Because it's gonna be the one of the two of you.
I'm in real deep, Lenny.
What would you say if I put it to you that the boys are working for the CIA in Cuba?
I finally figured out what they do, these CIA guys.
What do they do?
They do stuff that don't make no kind of sense.
And the reason they do that...
is so that if you ever come to squeal on them...
you don't make no sense neither and you seem screwy.
Now, what would you need for that kind of hit, Lenny?
You need crossfire, two or three guys and lots of tall buildings...
You'll get caught. They'll catch somebody in a situation like that.
You need yourself a patsy.
They're gonna catch someone, they catch the patsy.
You need three or four guns. High-power rifles and lots of tall buildings.
Plus you'll need your patsy, walks in the crowd with a gun...
some nut for security to jump on, covering your escape.
- That's what you need. - You're right, Lenny.
Otherwise you're chopped meat.
I don't want to be no part of this. This isn't why I signed on here.
You got a message for the President, you deliver it yourself. I ain't gonna do it.
You cheap bastard.
The President's gonna wipe out all of you.
We delivered the votes for Kennedy in Chicago...
and now he bites the hand that feeds him, am I correct here?
We got the baby brother at the Justice Department.
He better get off the case.
- La petra della scarpa, Santos? - La petra della scarpa.
A stone for my shoe.
A piece of news.
All your friends are coming to Dallas.
It's news to me.
Don't play the innocent with me.
Would I do that?
You set this meet up, didn't you?
Which meet is this, Proby?
At the Embassy Club.
Yeah.
I mean, a dozen out-of-town hoods all come together and...
sit around in a big huddle.
Yeah, that sounds right, I must have been in the middle of that.
Yeah, so what's the plan?
Prostitution, narcotics, illegal gaming?
All of those things.
- Opening up Dallas? - About time it happened, right?
Where's the tape?
I didn't make no tape.
I was too busy cutting myself in on deals in Dallas. You know...
prostitution, gaming.
I'm not kidding. I want the tape that you made.
It never worked. Government equipment, always fucking useless.
It was like that in the Army.
Don't give me none of that!
I can get Alicante.
Racketeering, tax fraud, narcotics.
You're a smalltime man in a midsize town in the middle of nowhere special.
Just like me.
And you're going crazy to play in the major league...
but you want to know what?
You ain't big enough.
Destroying Bureau evidence. I could put your ass in fucking jail.
You wouldn't have made head nor tail of it anyhow.
You want to try it on for size?
The government of the United States...
has a secret policy with organized crime.
I thought you said there ain't no such thing.
They work together, Proby.
They plan hits.
They made a plan, only the plan gone wrong.
They wanted Louie Vitali and Action Jackson to hit Castro.
If the President of the United States was to find out...
what Louie was really supposed to be doing in Cuba...
or Action Jackson...
and all these other big wheels...
Are you following me so far?
Yeah, sure. Thanks for all your help, Jack.
Anything else you want to know?
No.
Schmuck.
Daddy will be right back. You be a good girl.
How you doing, Jack?
The Justice Department is going to deport Santos.
That's right. Bobby Kennedy just signed the order.
Well, we're going to stop that little Irish shit.
We got to deal with all this crap the White House is throwing at us.
Look at that Irish dumpy son of a bitch with his wife.
He's never near his wife.
Him and his fucking brother, who the fuck do they think they are?
They're worse than gangsters.
I want to say something.
You chop a dog's head off...
the tail don't wag.
Good evening, Sparky from Chicago.
This is the Wolfs' joint.
They're the ones driving me crazy with this amateur nights.
It's a nice club.
Santos thinks we can do something with it.
What about the Carousel?
Carousel? It's got a tax problem. A big tax problem.
I brought Santos out of Cuba when his ass was hanging out of his pants.
You hit Vitali because you were too scared to do any different.
Listen to me.
I got this guy Maxwell on my back.
This Castro thing is killing everything.
You get the CIA off my back.
Forget Castro. Castro's history.
- What? - We changed our plans.
We're out of Cuba.
- Have you been using me for a patsy? - Castro's history.
And so are you.
You and your club. History.
Let me tell you something.
In New York, there's a man called Joe Valachi. He worked the West Side.
They come for him one day, they muscled him.
He knew his time was up, so he ratted them out.
You know why? His family come from Naples.
He wasn't no Sicilian.
Where are you from?
I'm from the Bronx.
Who does he think he is? Asshole!
What a stupid idiot...
I can't believe he's talking like that.
Hey, Maxwell.
Mr. Maxwell, the main man.
Lenny Doyle's coming in tomorrow.
...his children away from the spotlight of politics.
Trixie!
Candy Cane?
Jack.
I come back like I always meant to.
They always said Alicante was an animal.
Jack, I want to tell you what's been going on.
I know.
It's so weird.
You sound like you lost your marbles.
You can tell me.
They ask you to run messages?
Santos told me to say that he and the Cosa Nostra got Kennedy elected...
and what was he doing turning on him now?
What about the CIA?
Nobody said nothing about them?
Did the President realize they were trying to kill Castro?
The President said that he was going to blow the CIA into a million tiny pieces.
And I told Santos, "I quit, run your own errands."
In the meantime...
the boys are back in Dallas.
For what?
Not me, I walked away.
I got what was going. Now, I want to settle for what I can keep.
Can you understand?
I figure we can make something out of the club.
Something with class.
A singing club, like they got on the Coast.
- It's time to get out of burlesque. - You're telling me?
We can do it.
Just need to reach out. Believe in yourself.
Singing club.
A club with class.
Well, here's to us, Jack.
Here's to us, Sheryl-Anne.
An excited crowd of several thousand is waiting at the Dallas airport...
to welcome the President and Mrs. Kennedy.
Before leaving Fort Worth this morning...
the President attended a farewell reception at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
Two years ago I said that...
I introduced myself in Paris by saying that I was the man...
who had accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris.
I'm getting somewhat that same sensation as I travel around Texas.
Nobody wonders what Lyndon and I wear.
Where did Jack go?
He went to place the ad for your new show.
My friend works here. We're watching the parade together.
His name's Lee Oswald.
- He's okay. - Thank you.
And here comes Air Force number One.
And the President and Mrs. Kennedy have arrived at Dallas Love Field.
And there is Mrs. Kennedy.
The First Lady is stepping from the plane...
wearing a bright pink suit with a dark fur collar and a matching pink hat.
And the President, wearing a dark suit, directly behind.
They're being greeted by placards of varying emotion.
Those saying, "We're with you all the way, JFK."
And those saying, "Help JFK stamp out democracy."
So he is seeing Dallas County politics.
Stay back up on the sidewalk.
Stay away from the curb.
Got the passports?
The boys are out of here tonight. Free Cuba, right?
Now, from the benched area...
the President and Mrs. Kennedy...
Hi, Sam.
...the governor and Mrs. Connally are...
- Hey, Jack. - Hi, Alex.
I've come to place an ad for my club.
...is under way.
Here comes Jackie, waving by.
Mrs. Kennedy radiant in that pink outfit.
Well, you can see the crowd is absolutely going wild.
They're driving at about 5 miles an hour.
Slow enough for the people on hand here to get a good look at them...
to get a good wave in.
And I'm sure that everybody in my immediate vicinity...
would swear that they were waving directly at them.
And any fear that might have existed in the minds of some...
about the alleged small handful of people...
who might have marched in demonstration to mar the President's visit...
were slightly unjustified.
And the ticker tapes are beginning to fall from the windows.
The Dallas Police Department has such a tremendous force in evidence...
...to close in somewhat on the leading cars.
There's a big cheer going up as the President gets further down.
The large police escort is now ahead of the presidential motorcade...
just having now turned right and onto Main, off of Harwood.
The first car we believe to be Jesse Curry. And here is the President of United States.
And the crowd is absolutely going wild.
This is a friendly crowd in downtown Dallas.
No!
It appears as though something has happened in the motorcade.
Something, I repeat, has happened in the motorcade.
Secret Service men are spread-eagled on top of the car.
The Governor and Mrs. Connally are in the car with President and Mrs. Kennedy.
We can't see who has been hit, if anybody's been hit.
But apparently something is wrong here. Something is terribly wrong.
...Parkland Hospital here in Dallas, a priest has been ordered.
Women here in shock.
Some have fainted, tears streaming down their face.
There's only one word to describe...
the picture here, and that's "grief", and much of it.
What the fuck's going on? Can anybody tell me that?
Jack. Fuck this, Jack!
What the hell is going on?
Everything's connected up wrong.
The system is fucked.
What're you doing?
What're you looking for?
I'm looking for the tape.
Anything.
You got orders from Washington to clean up?
Get out! Get the fuck out!
I'm scared.
It's me next, Jack.
Help me.
You're gonna be okay.
Don't worry.
These were the scenes today at the Dallas Police Department...
when Lee Harvey Oswald answered a few brief questions.
Oswald declared his innocence...
and police spokesmen didn't say whether they were charging him...
with the assassination of the President. Oswald didn't seem to know.
According to police, Lee Oswald is the owner...
of the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle found in the Book Depository...
I ain't really here. I'm ice-skating in Houston.
...but Oswald has denied ownership of the rifle.
It is now known that Oswald spent three years in the Soviet Union...
and that he was dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps...
You know, I knowed him since he was 15.
...that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination.
It's neat?
Take a kid, any kid.
You get him young...
you can make him into anything.
He done a great job.
Look at him.
- Did you kill the President? - Are you communist?
Have you been charged with anything yet?
I really don't know what the situation is about.
Nobody has told me anything except that I'm accused...
of murdering a policeman...
Boys want to know if you can be relied on.
They said, "Jack, Sparky from Chicago...
he don't want no trouble.
He just want a quiet life in his little old club.
He can be relied on."
You can be relied on, can't you, Jack?
Relied on for what?
Be a little forgetful.
Forget everything and anything you ever seen or heard.
Everybody relies on Jack Ruby.
Smalltime club owner with a sense of the past.
That's good.
They ain't gonna get away with this.
Well, they got away with it.
You people...
You think you can walk on everybody.
You a smalltime club owner!
What makes you think you got anything to say about anything?
You are a chiseling little piece of nothing.
Nobody care what you say!
Not what I say, what I do.
I'll make them stop and listen.
What're you gonna do?
Blow this thing wide open.
How're you gonna do that?
We'll see.
Don't do nothing stupid, Ruby.
Do yourself a favor.
Okay, gentlemen, that's all.
What happened to your eye?
- A policeman hit me. - Oswald, are you a communist?
I'm just a patsy.
Once upon a time...
everybody knew where they stood.
Values.
Now it's all fucked up.
Forget everything you've seen or heard.
Don't do nothing conspicuous.
Nothing that would embarrass Santos.
But someone's got to cut through the shit.
Everyone out there at this time is dead.
Jack Ruby...
he's coming to life.
Sparky, from Chicago.
- It's Jack Ruby. - I'll be damned.
Just take it easy. Just lay there.
All right, Jack.
At this time, some of you may feel that it is the city of Dallas...
that is on trial here.
And some of you may have reason to ask yourselves...
what your own thoughts or feelings you had on November 22.
That fateful afternoon the President came to our city.
When you turned on your TV sets to see the man they all said...
shot our President...
and saw what happened in the police building...
how many of you felt the truth of what I say to you now?
That Jack Ruby did what every red-blooded American wanted to do.
That Jack Ruby...
is an American hero?
Attention. The following inmates have visitations in the day room.
Look, I can't speak in here. Everything is wired.
I'm gonna get...
The government isn't getting out of me what it might be.
You think you can talk to the people in Washington about me?
I want them to take me to Washington. I can't talk in here!
They took Valachi to Washington.
If they took me there, I can tell them what really happened.
Jack, listen to me.
They put him in a protection program.
They're gonna ask for the chair.
You've got to plead insane.
All of Dallas says I'm a hero.
I'll walk, Frank.
"We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder with malice...
as charged in the indictment...
and assess his punishment as death."
We'll appeal this to the highest court in the land.
In the appeal, we demand a retrial out of state.
Listen to me, Jack. We'll plead insanity.
It is the only way to go, believe me.
No!
Come on...
we'll ask for a conference after lunch.
They're saying you did it for all the little guys.
I done it so that one day everything's gonna have to...
be brought out in the open, you know?
Got all you want? I sent in some food.
The dogs.
Would you take care of the dogs?
What do you mean?
They wouldn't have no kind of life.
You got to leave here, Candy.
Change your name.
Move out West, and never say nothing.
'Cause the minute you do, they'd make you look crazy.
You've never been to Dallas.
Forget all about Jack Ruby.
How can I go?
How can you stay?
Believe in yourself.
Forget me.
I could never forget you, Jack.
I love you.
I love you, too, Candy.
Go on.
They're killing me!
Okay, Jack, this is just to calm you down.
You all know me.
I'm Jack Ruby.