Golden Gate

There was once a man who transformed himself into an angel.

This is him in 1952.

It was his twenty second birthday.

He'd gotten it into his head that he was a killer in the looks department.

And I guess that's all it takes to convince most people.

He had one of the best jobs in the world.

He was with...

Don't tell me. FBI.

What gave me away?

Attitude maybe.

- It's my... - First day?

His name then was...

Kevin Walker.

You've been waiting for me.

Third floor.

On that day, he met his partner, Ron Pirelli.

Ron was making a name for himself as the life of everyone else's party.

I grew up in New York City.

Every day I open the Herald, I see pictures of G-men.

They're coming in and out of the Stork Club, dames on each arm.

Every size and hair color you can imagine.

Wait a minute, how many different hair colors are there?

Two FBI men out on the town?

We are going to have a great time.

It's communism, see? We're fighting communism.

We're protecting your right to wear those frilly little dresses,

with your little low-cut tops like that.

Those beautiful knockers of yours practically falling out...

- Hey, hey, hey! - What?

You can't tell a girl her knockers are falling out of her dress.

All right. Dumb, dumb.

She might put them back in.

Also, it's not classy, right? To draw attention to her jugs like that.

That's one way of putting it.

Okay, forget the jugs.

Kevin, how can I forget the jugs when they're all around me?

Why aren't they all swarming over here?

Don't they know who we are?

Hey, hey, get a hold of yourself.

Now, you go over that one more time, okay?

Right.

It's communism, see?

We're fighting communism.

Do you wanna dance?

My name's Kevin. What's yours?

Cindy.

But you can call me Cynthia.

Is your friend okay, Kevin?

Too soon to call.

Hell, I just met him.

Why, you were watching him?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Justice.

What do you think about justice?

I'm all for it.

No, really, I mean, you're with the FBI and everything.

And you went to law school.

Do you believe that law is more important than justice,

or does justice win out over law?

In the case of a conflict, which do you choose?

Has nothing I've done over the past hour had the slightest effect on you?

No, but I'm thinking about you.

Thanks.

No, I'm serious.

I'm trying to figure out how I feel about you.

So it's very important how I answer this question, then?

Yes.

If law and justice were in conflict, which would you choose?

Justice. I would pick justice.

- Law? - Kevin!

Justice, I would pick justice!

I think that's wonderful.

So do I.

Now, I'm curious about communism.

This country is the greatest country on Earth.

Hold it right there, buddy! FBI

Those were the early days when he could do no wrong.

For a poor boy, this was the city

where life was a party and the lights blazed hot.

Of course, sooner or later every light burns out.

What do you know about the Chinese?

A few live in my neighborhood, sir.

Yes, but they don't act Chinese, right?

I'm talking about the real Chinese.

The ones that live 15 to a room and can't speak English.

Their women look great.

You should get married, Pirelli.

I'm having too much fun being single, sir.

There happens to be 120,000 Chinese in the US.

Twenty-five thousand in San Francisco alone.

What do we know about them?

Their customs are different. Their language is strange.

For all we know it's true. The stories about a maze of underground tunnels

crisscrossing Chinatown.

Here's what we do know.

Their country has fallen to the commies.

Little yellow men are now actively trying to infiltrate our borders.

I think it's time we found out what's going on with our local Chinese.

I'm sending you boys to Chinatown.

Chinatown.

The land beyond the borders of civilization. Behind the walls of Tong.

Just like China, it was a world that was torn in two.

A world with its own angels and its own devils.

The business of the Chinese people is business.

Who the hell do these Communists think they are to take away business from us?

They tell the Chinese guy, "Here, we put rice in your mouth,

"now you go and work for the good of your brother."

You think that Kai Ai is going to even bother to get out of bed in the morning?

You take away greed from the Chinese people,

you take away everything that makes us great.

You know, I am not the only one

holding this type of deep philosophies.

We want to help you get the commies.

Excuse me, Chen Jung Song?

FBI. We'd like to have a word with you.

Hey, you speak any English?

English? You speak?

It's not funny, boy.

Slow down, pal, or you could be in big trouble.

I'm stopped.

Maybe I didn't recognize you were calling my name.

- You're not Chen Jung Song? - No.

Song Chen Jung. In Chinese, you say your last name first.

Where were you headed?

I was on my way to the post office to mail a letter to my mother.

That against the law?

We're interested in your activities with the Chinatown Hand Laundry.

Yeah, I work in the laundry. It's a nice clean living.

We have reason to believe that this is more than just some social club.

That you're distributing subversive literature.

Yes, some of my buddies, we get together, compare brands of soap.

Were you responsible for the strike last November

leading to the five cent an hour wage hike?

There's murderers all over the city,

and you are worried about the cost of doing laundry?

You, what's your name?

Me? I'm Agent Ron Pirelli.

In America, we say the first name first.

So, Ron, how is the spaghetti?

What spaghetti?

The spaghetti you left on your shirt.

I hate that guy.

It seems like everyone can find commies but us.

May I pose a question?

It's always the highlight of my day.

Well, what if... I mean, just what if there

aren't any Communists?

What are you saying?

- Well, just... - Look, Cynthia.

The name of the country is Red China. The people are Chinese.

The place is called Chinatown. What else do you need to know?

Not all Chinese are Communists, Ron.

Tell him about law and justice. There is a difference, you know.

Oh, excuse me.

I guess they just passed over that during my three years of law school.

You know, it is no wonder you can't get a date.

Hey. I can get a date anytime I want!

Hey, hey. Kids. Please, please.

Would you bring her a cherry Coke?

We got a one-woman China relief fund here.

Look, we're not saying that all Chinese are Communists.

Just some of them.

Mmm?

It so happens that a lot of girls think it is very attractive

when a man stands up for what is right.

Not anyone I'd wanna date.

Believe me. No one is going to get indicted

without the proper evidence. Okay?

Ron, I got a bad feeling about this.

It's obvious that someone like Chen Jung Song has strong Communist ties.

The evidence we need for an indictment just isn't coming through.

Look at this editorial he wrote.

Some baloney about the struggles of the Chinese workers

being the same all over the world.

We can't lock up a guy just for writing that?

Yeah, there's this thing called the Bill of Rights.

We should be able to find our own loop hole.

Like when Hoover collared that Ku Klux Klan guy in Louisiana.

What was his name?

- You mean Kleagle Clarke? - Yeah, Kleagle Clarke.

He couldn't get a conviction the normal way,

so he caught him transporting a minor

across state lines to hump her.

Or the way they got Capone.

You're under arrest on 22 counts of federal income tax evasion.

And sending money home to your mother in China.

What did you say?

I don't know, I was just thinking.

It is a crime to engage in any trade with Red China.

And according to this ad, Song's group has a service

to send money to relatives in China via Hong Kong.

Now, strictly speaking, that's illegal.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. Stupid idea.

Listen, if I come up with one like that again, punch me before...

Kevin.

Like we're going to prosecute people for supporting their mothers.

Kevin.

Yeah, real American.

Kevin, you're a genius.