48 Hours

"48 HRS." by Roger Spottiswoode and Walter Hill & Larry Gross and Steven E. De Souza FADE IN: OPEN COUNTRY - DAY Endless green hills bisected by a ribbon of highway. A road gang clearing brush by the side of the road... Twenty-five men in prison fatigues sweating through their mid-afternoon labor. THREE GUARDS Flank the working prisoners... Mountie hats, shotguns, sidearms, sunglasses; they look like they mean it. HIGHWAY A battered pickup appears...approaches. Suddenly, it coughs, shudders, stalls. A big Blackfoot Indian named BILLY BEAR gets out and starts cursing and kicking the vehicle.Then he begins walking toward the road gang... ROADSIDE BRADY is the Guard near the center of the work gang; he smiles at the oncoming man, pokes a prisoner beside him. BRADY Wonder what reservation they let him off of... The prisoner is GANZ who looks up, grins at Brady... GANZ Yeah, there goes the neighborhood. Brady laughs as Billy Bear closes in on him. BILLY Say, buddy, my engine's overheating and I got 30 miles before the next station... Could I get some water out of your cooler? Ganz leans on his hoe, speaks as Billy passes... GANZ Maybe you shoulda stole a better truck, Tonto. BILLY You got a real big mouth, convict. BRADY It's okay, chief.He's just joking... BILLY How about the water... GANZ Firewater, Tonto?Is that what you... Billy whirls, swings at Ganz. Both men roll to the ground. BRADY Hey! Jesus Christ! THE OTHER GUARDS Seeing the commotion, they run toward it.