UP PILL DOWN PILL
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Year Published: 1970
Creator: Bailey-Film Associates
Format: 16mm
Description: This short narrative film from 1970 is both an anti-drug PSA and as a quiet character study about two men and how they deal with the setbacks and disappointments of life. One of these men is Roger (Ron Fisher), a homeless dropout who takes "uppers and downers" (amphetamines and barbiturates.) While squatting on in abandoned boat, Roger is discovered by Charlie (Paul Backensten), an old man forced into retirement and left without a purpose in life. After Charlie buys the boat, he lets Roger live there while he restores it, and the two men slowly develop a friendship. At a doctors appointment, Charlie gets the low down on the pills Roger has been taking and the seriousness of pill addiction. Charlie then convinces Roger to stay onboard and help finish the boat project, giving both men something to live for, and Roger is able to kick his pill habit. Though they get the boat all fixed up, Charlie dies suddenly, leaving Roger heartbroken and once again unmoored. But not all is lost; in the last scene, as Roger boards a Greyhound bus, we see that he’s literally left his pills behind as he rides off to begin a new chapter in life. Starring Ron Fisher, Fred Ostero, Paul Backensten, Ben Freedman, and Pat McCallister. Written by Phillip W. Hoffman, produced and directed by J. Gary Mitchell. Distributed by Bailey Film Associates. 00:07 TITLE CARD; on a fishing wharf, Roger (Ron Fisher) empties trash and looks despondent 00:40 In a diner kitchen, a man cooks burgers on a griddle, Roger stacks clean plates 00:59 Woody (Fred Ostero) and Roger take pills 01:52 Woody and Roger sit on a bus stop bench and take pills, a Rexall Pharmacy in the background 03:22 Charlie (Paul Backensten) and Zoe (Ben Freedman) discuss a derelict boat on the beach 04:02 Charlie inspects the boat and discovers Roger 06:29 Roger and Woody party on the boat, take pills; Roger takes downers and passes out 10:07 Charlie wakes Roger as he works on the boat 10:37 Roger reluctantly helps Charlie, fixes a sliding door 12:13 Roger takes pills, Charlie talks about being forced into retirement 14:04 Charlie see his doctor (Pat McCallister) and shows him the pills Roger has been taking; doctor explains amphetamines and barbiturates, addiction 15:42 Roger and Woody walk on the beach 16:28 Roger tells Charlie he’s leaving 17:13 Wooden braces supporting the boat start to fail, the two men rush to secure it 18:02 Charlie offers to pay Roger to work on his boat 18:44 Roger, no longer taking pills, paints the boat and horses around 20:06 Roger prepares a brass plaque commemorating the boat’s completed restoration; "This Vessel Rebuilt and Refitted by Charles C. Wilkins & Roger M. Barlow, June 13, 1970" 20:28 Station wagon approaches, Zoe in the passenger seat 20:53 Zoe informs Roger that Charlie died the previous night but that he died happy thanks to Roger 21:26 Heartbroken, Roger throws the plaque into the ocean 22:09 Roger and Woody sit at the same bus stop from earlier; a Greyhound Bus pulls up and Roger boards 22:44 Woody, alone on the bench, notices the pill box Roger left behind, and takes a pill from it 23:05 CREDITS
Transcription
[Music] [Music] if you can't find out what life means where you're at you look somewhere else i couldn't handle the city i didn't like being on the road moving from place to place always broke and hungry i didn't know where to look anymore so i stopped got a job and there he was a lot of dishes for old ziggy in the last six months well you gotta eat that's about it angie's closing up [Applause] [Music] almost up i gotta score soon listen you think zigged alone is a few bucks sure if we both left my legs for security his old lady's got a sign for the car keys besides he's been nothing but uptight lately anyway it's a cold dude and no good why are you so down on him i mean he's been straight with us hasn't he look he's got problems of his own lighten up a little huh okay i just want to finish up and get out of here amen [Applause] [Music] tonight [Music] get out of here leave me alone see hey come on whale baby we'll do it together get out of here this is my place [Music] long-haired punk [Music] rest during the day sleep the whole night while you're waiting to sleep forever you got your pension charlie and your savings you feel that strongly about that boat down there but why don't you buy it mix it up ah an old man what would i do with her even if i got her fixed up i asked you so what would an old man like me do with a big boat get her off the beach charlie just get her off the beach [Music] so [Music] [Applause] you're living here boy what do you want oh i'm looking her over the buyer why it's just a wreck look um i'll be up by tonight you all right boy [Applause] i'll be working on this boat every day you want to stay aboard kind of watch things for me [Music] sleeping on piled newspapers like we used to during the depression remember though never slept on newspapers no light in no heat keeping his drinking water in the jug had a terrible cough and a whole supply of medicine his blankets looked like he'd been hit the buckshot seems like an old man like that want to be living out there old man playing as a mud fence not more than 18 or 19. just a kid what about the boat i bought here [Laughter] oh what happened i don't know man but something happened wow what is this electricity it's the 20th century all my tools in the bridge please turn off the lights when you leave thanks c wilkins hello cat's a real work freak really yeah they hit him up with some drapes in the sound system have one on ziggy hey they're all downers oh i work on ziggy get them to cut loose with the bread and you spend it all on on downers you've got to do the scoring from now on the other guy was so straight too it wasn't right here don't you want uppers no more just downers oh man that's no good i mean it's it's groovy to crawl up inside yourself sometimes but it's good to jump out and be on enough you just can't be out of it all the time freaked out on downers it ain't healthy man you'll get so you'll get so far inside yourself even i won't be able to reach you well maybe i dig it man [Music] maybe i don't want to reach anyone have anybody reach me what's there to be on and up about anyway washing dishes and sweating watching lousy trucks roll by in a lousy street look man i don't tell you what to do don't you tell me hey raj that's scooby you're right what about the old man he must have seen your stash he doesn't know anything he never bugs me just does his own thing it works hard done a lot in one week hey raj why don't we split hit jump hit up the big sur go somewhere somewhere new hey raj [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] my day off trying to get some extra sleep i said it's my day off i've got a lot of work to do and very little time to do it here it's a lot of work for an old man i know where i am boy follow me knows you go on back and get your sleep and i'll try to be as quiet as i can oh look uh why don't you just lay the planks up against this side of the boat and i'll lift them up all right uh you go on back get yourself oh come on you want to make me feel bad i'll just lay them up all right listen what are you gonna do with this thing when she's finished anyway get her off the beach [Music] really well a good enough job on it but it took you the whole week they say it'll be 10 years to get her off the beach i shouldn't have said that i sometimes get full of steam let go at the wrong time you see boy i didn't retire they retired me i reached 65 that's the top mark when they watch to see when you're all used up their gauge though not mine so my place moved up here to whispering willows whispering willows aches and pains and plenty of checkers can't stand it doesn't make any sense to you i was useless took the walking every day came out to this boat i liked her lines either somebody pulled her out i left her on the beach to rock got me mad so i bought her didn't know what i'd do with her after i finished i still don't think i'm crazy don't you worked all my life with these hands always building something and it's been pretty good living and when i die i'll stop living and not one minute before i don't care what it is you're doing it too hard either you slow down or you break where did you get through never mind where what are they amphetamine a peptide the others are centers where did you get them what are they for who gave you these young friend of mine the boy on the boat never did like small town folks they're medicines aren't they they must be sick yeah they're medicines all right charlie they're they're good drugs can be a big help when a doctor prescribes them for a specific purpose my kids kids don't get these from doctors cheap drunk well something like that at first they take them to relax only these barbiturates are addictive physically put enough of that in their system over a long period of time and from then on they have to take them they get hooked the more they take the more hook they get sometimes they sometimes they lose track of how many they've taken they overdose fall asleep never wake up that goes for the barbiturates cocktails are different too many of those could affect his brain if he was hooked could he quit on his own if he wasn't in too deep with the barbiturates quitting could be dangerous withdrawal's severe even fatal he might hallucinate like a trunk where the dts are going to convulsion charlie if you can't when you bring the boy in well it's like my first real date when the big moment comes the chick looks up at me and smiles and she's got a big chunk of spinach hanging out i mean what do you say to a chick i'd like to kiss you good night but you got spinach hanging out of your mouth hey raj what's up with you you've been uptight all day i should have been helping him woody the old man get him he's doing his own thing he tries too hard he'll hurt himself it's his life speaking of lies he's doing a great job of following yours up [Music] [Music] charlie i'm leaving uh just wanted to say goodbye this boat thing is yours not mine i mean i i've dug it and all that but uh it's your thing i mean it's too much for you all the time i'm working i'm thinking i'm going to come back find you stretched out on the ground with a heart attack or something [Music] look i i can't concentrate on my job and i i i don't want to get canned are you going someplace or running away look i don't want to hassle with you i just wanted to say goodbye that's all the braces [Music] before you get smashed hit this one help blockers [Music] which one do we do that's it well that's enough for me not much to live for huh you got something to live for you got something to die for i'm living to get that boat off the beach what are you living for son i ask you what are you living for you better get something then you haven't got a dream of your own help me get mine done what do you earn at that mind racking job of yours 1.50 an hour meals i'll pay the same to work on my boat you really think you're going to talk me into that really enough to finish yeah i think so i just got a thought here's those never [Music] it's cease be real pretty when we finish up but she goes down when we put her in she's gonna be really pretty on the bottom taking those pills again thank you what it's the same as you a good old natural hive [Music] hey uh you bring any turpentine with you yeah that's all right come on [Applause] [Applause] so it's me where's charlie charlie died last night son just let go in his sleep he talked about you last night before he went to bed happiest i've ever heard all excited about today you did it son you made the last days of his life the best days of his life you know it wasn't a boat he was trying to salvage it was you [Applause] you know it wasn't a boat he was trying to salvage it was you when i die i'll start living and not one minute before [Music] [Applause] [Music] you
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