Thunder Bay

Wait a minute, wait. Hold on.

- Another shell? - Yeah.

If you hadn't blown our Musterin'-out pay

on this hare-brained idea,

you might have had a new pair of shoes.

Me too.

Two million dollars.

Can't be done for a penny less.

If you can promote one Confederate two-bit piece,

I'll kiss you in Yankee Stadium.

You really think your man will show?

He said he would.

Well, if he does, he'll miss us.

We're not gonna walk any twenty miles in one hour.

Yeah?

We'll run then.

Where are you going?

Only one place you can go on this road.

Port Felicity.

Good. We're late for an appointment.

Do you think you could speed this thing up,

or should we get somebody else?

Ah, uh, uh, please.

Uh, thanks, my friend. I'd appreciate the lift.

Say, it's worth $5 to us if you can get us to town

by 2 o'clock, okay? Thank you.

Five dollars to go twenty miles in one hour.

Foreigners.

Entertainment.

Can you, uh, juggle or anything like that?

We might pick up a few bucks.

I can imitate a movie star.

I'd rather go hungry.

Now you go rent a boat. Take good care of the jewels.

Give me that. See you in a few minutes.

Nice clean boat you got, skipper.

She's good to me and I'm good to her.

- Yours, huh? - For a long time.

How is the, uh, shrimp haul this season?

Some years is good, some years is bad.

- This year is terrible. - That's too bad.

Would you like to rent your boat?

Rent my boat? For what?

A partner of mine is in town, wants to look around.

Maybe take a spin on the gulf.

We'll give you, uh, $50 for the day.

This partner of yours give $50 just to look around?

Oh, he's a big money man.

He's interested in making an investment around here.

Oh, but there's nothing here but fish.

What kind of an investment? A fish cannery?

Well, that all depends upon how he reacts to the place.

We have no fish cannery here. It would be a good thing.

It would save me lot of time and money,

hauling my fish and shrimp to New Orleans.

I would like to meet this man.

Well, that's fine, skipper. That's fine.

Now, uh, have you got some,

uh, uh, deck chairs we can put out here?

- Deck chairs? - Yeah.

Dress the place up a little bit. Make a good impression.

Oh, but there's no room for chairs on a shrimp boat.

Okay. Skip it.

Well, Mr. Martin!

Come aboard! Come aboard!

See if you approve!

This is your partner?

Yeah.

This is Mr. Steven Martin. I don't believe I got your name.

I am Dominique Rigaud.

Mr. Rigaud. Well, it's a pleasure.

Yes, sir, I'm very glad all of us ran into each other.

You know, this just might be the most important day

in the history of Port Felicity.

Smaller places than this have been put on the map

just because some very shrewd investor comes in and, and...

and, uh...

Ah, Stella.

This is my daughter, my beautiful girl,

and the best sailor in port.

- This is Mr. Martin. - How do you do?

- I... I didn't get your name. - Johnny Gambi.

What's all this about, dad?

I have rented the boat to them. $50 just for today.

And this one wants to make an investment.

- Where is the $50? - Hm?

Well, miss, we, uh...

We haven't got to talk about the money yet, Stella.

With his kind, you don't talk about money, you ask to see it.

You don't talk about investments,

you check Dun & Bradstreet.

That's my daughter.

She's got her head on her shoulders for sure.

She spent three years in Chicago.

- Oh? - Where is the $50?

Why, miss, are you suggesting we're not good for it?

- Yes. - Uh-huh.

Well...

- Do you... do you hear that? - Yeah.

He's right on time. Come on.

Here he comes.

- There he is. - He did come.

There's our investor.

- And just in time too. - Yeah.

Do you think this is a lie?

Could be loaded with them.

We'll cast off the lines. You get underway.

Think you can remember how to handle a stern line, bosun?

I'm more at home on light cruisers, but I'll try.

Yeah.

Where did you get all your man training, pigeon?

In the hardest school there is, professor.

So stop trying to thrill me.

Hey, give me a lift out to that seaplane, will ya?

Gotta meet a fellow. Gambi, take her downriver.

I'll bring him aboard!

All clear aft! Let's go!

Hey, foreigner. Where is that $5?

Nobody around here makes a promise to Teche Bossier

and don't live up to it.

Where is the $5? Where is the $5?

When you come ashore, I'll take $10 out of your hide.

What did he say?

Oh, he was just wishin' us luck.

- Mr. MacDonald? - Yeah.

- I'm Steve Martin. - Glad to see you.

- How are you? Climb aboard. - Mr. Rawlings.

- Mr. Rawlings, how are you? - Yes. How do you do?

Oh, where do I meet you?

Why don't you anchor right here?

We're going for a boat ride.

Be back in a few hours.

Okay.

Alright. Over to that boat there.

This is my partner, Johnny Gambi.

- Hello, Johnny. - Hello, Mr. MacDonald.

Mr. Rawlings, my private secretary.

Come aboard, Mr. Rawlings.

He, uh, protects my interests.

Uh-huh.

Skipper, head for the gulf.

Well, Mr. Martin, your persistence has won out.

Here we are. Now what is this

you couldn't discuss on the telephone?

Well, Mr. MacDonald, I know your company

is in a lot of trouble and I think we can help you.

Oh, you think that, do you?

I know that MacDonald Industries has invested

$400,000 in an offshore oil lease,

and in three months, you're gonna have to put

$200,000 more into it or you're gonna lose the lease.

I also know that you've invested $500,000

in a converted LST to be used as a drilling barge.

You've got two air-sea rescue boats and a tug,

and they're all going to waste up in New Orleans.

You let me do all that?

Well, Mr. MacDonald, I've been trying to tell you.

I mean, this is precisely what the board of directors

has been complaining about.

How much did all this confidential information

cost you, Mr. Martin?

All of our Mustering-out pay.

- Get the jewel box. - Alright.

Now so far, nobody's been able to come up

with a drilling platform that will pass

the specifications of the insurance company.

Well, we've got one right here.

Now let's... let's say that this is the floor of the gulf.

Now here is the platform that will do the trick for you.

Prefabricated templates, built ashore

and brought out to sea by barge.

Put on the floor of the gulf.

Now we anchor them by these permanent pilings.

Driven right down through these verticals like this.

You drive them down 10, 20, 30, 35 feet

into the floor of the gulf, makes it solid as a rock.

Now the insurance companies have a big worry in this thing.

Storm damage.

Where's that history? Here.

Here's a history of the Gulf's storms from 1899 to 1945.

Now my platform and the rig,

they're built to stand the worst of these storms.

Not the average, the worst of any of these storms.

And the insurance companies have okayed the plans.

You collected all these figures?

You sort of took a lease on a dream of mine, Mr. MacDonald.

I know that that gulf out there is hiding enough oil

to make an inland field dry up in shame.

Johnny Gambi and I can get it out for you

if you'll just give us the go-ahead.

What do you think, Rawlings?

Mr. MacDonald, of course, I'm not,

but if I were in your place,

I'd go along with the board of directors, take the loss,

and proceed with much more caution in the future.

Yeah, but why take the loss

when I can turn it into a profit for you?

Profit?

I had Rawlings check your record, Martin.

We found the word profit conspicuous