Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime,
Dr. Sam Beckett led an elite group of scientists into the desert...
to develop a top secret project known as Quantum Leap.
Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding,
Dr. Beckett prematurely stepped into the project accelerator...
and vanished.
He awoke to find himself in the past,
suffering from partial amnesia and facing a mirror image that was not his own.
Fortunately, contact with his own time was maintained...
through brain wave transmissions with Al, the project observer,
who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Dr. Beckett can see and hear.
Trapped in the past, Dr. Beckett finds himself...
leaping from life to life,
putting things right that once went wrong...
and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.
Come on, old man.
Double or nothing. What do you say?
I'm...
I'm not sure that's such a good idea.
Okay. We'll just see who has the last laugh.
$300 says you can't make the shot.
Which ball was I shooting at?
$400.
- Oh. You got him on the ropes now. - Oh, yeah. On the ropes.
Come on. Enough stalling. Come on. Shoot.
Yeah, shoot! You'll never make that eight ball.
My man, you just bought me a new Cadillac.
Oh, boy.
What? Can I tell him?
P-Please, can I tell him now?
Yeah, sure. S-Son,
d-do you know who you are playing?
This is Charlie "Black Magic" Walters,
the greatest pool player in the world...
Including Chicago.
And he could get that p-pretty Cadillac of yours...
and... Vrroom... Drive it right up to the bank.
Y-Yeah. He sure put the hook through your nose.
And he's about to reel you in just like a big ol'catfish ready to fry.
A-Ain't ya?
Ain't ya, Magic?
Well, uh, that's... That's the general idea.
You really Charlie "Black Magic" Walters?
No! He's Minnesota Fats!
'Cept he lost 50 pounds. And got a tan!
Thank you.
You all wanna shout and carry on like that, get up on stage and do it!
And, Poppie, give the man back his money.
I haven't really, uh, taken it yet.
Here. Now, get on outta here while you still got some pants left to walk in.
$500 says I can still beat you. No, no, son.
You don't really want me to take your money, do ya?
- Well... - Grady, give the man his money.
All right.
And remember, he didn't even have to s-sink that ball to beat you.
Uh, Magic, I just wanted you to know...
Uh, I didn't mean any disrespect.
Well, that's okay. Uh, we all get a little carried away sometimes.
Y-You know, I was wondering...
Did you really beat Machine Gun Butler playing left-handed?
Is that this hand?
You see?
Well, yeah, then, uh... I guess I did.
And Teddie Fantastic in Detroit?
Uh, yeah. No, no, no, no.
Uh, you beat M-Mosconi in Detroit.
And Teddie Fantastic at the Palace in Frisco.
Oh, uh, right, right. Yeah. That... Well, that was a long time ago.
I heard it was just a couple years back.
Maybe I was thinking of somebody else.
Man. What a match.
I wish I would've been there. How many balls in a row did you run?
Quite... Quite a few.
Oh! 240.
Two-hundred and f...
Well, uh, now, you know, thinking back, I guess it was about two-hundred and f...
Maybe it was 241.
Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Magic. A real pleasure.
Well, uh, um, thank you, uh... Lester.
Uh, Lester.
Uh-huh.
Well, there go your earrings.
How'd you like to be known as "Lefty"?
Lighten up, baby. I'm just trying to make a living.
Hell, everybody gambles now and then, right, Magic?
- I'm sor... I'm sorry? - I said everybody gambles now and then.
Well, actually, I... I was thinking about giving it up for a while.
Oh, you can't do that... Not until you play me, can you?
Uh, till he whup you, fool.
You lookin' for a manhole to fall into, Grady?
Hey. Take it easy. Eddie, why don't you just beat it?
Could all the smoke in this joint be clouding your memory,
or have you forgotten I own the marker to this place...
that's due in two days?
How could I forget, with you hangin' over my shoulder to remind me every five minutes?
That's not why I'm hangin' on you, baby.
I've got to hand it to you, Vi.
You turned this ol' pool joint into a real nice uptown spot.
A real uptown spot.
It's gonna be a pleasure ownin' it!
Don't you worry, Miss Violet. That fool ain't gonna never own your place.
Magic gonna see to that. Ain't that right, Magic?
Uh, yeah, well, right.
How are your eyes, Poppie?
My... My eyes? My eyes. Uh, They're fine.
I love you.
Mm-hmm. They do look a little different.
Sam, this is just unbelievable.
That's Alberta.
- Alberta? - Oh, Alberta. You want me to take her?
That's Magic's stick. It's 21 ounces of pure African ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
Yeah, sure. C-Come on now, Alberta. I'll put you to bed.
Magic named that stick after his wife, Alberta.
It's as big a legend as he is.
Uh, n-n-no, no, no, no. Y-You can't put that there, man.
This is Magic's table.
I swear, some people ain't got no respect. Good night, darlin'.
Oh, Sam, not the head again.
Every time we leap in, we gotta go talk in the men's room. It's disgusting.
- Can you think of a better place to talk? - The ladies' room.
Al, everybody thinks I'm some kind of a pool giant.
Well, you are. You're Charlie "Black Magic" Walters.
I never heard of him.
Man, when I walked into that waiting room and saw him sitting there, I couldn't believe it.
I never thought I'd see Magic again. It's been over 40 years since I last saw him.
You know him? Know him?
I've held Alberta.
There's maybe five people in the world that can say that.
I've even used her to sink a ball.
Al, I've never seen you so excited about anything.
I mean, this is just a pool cue. It's not like it's a woman.
Okay. When I was 10 years old, I ran away from the orphanage.
After a couple of days, I was cold, I was scared, I was lonely.
I got so desperate, I even tried to pick a guy's pocket.
- Black Magic's? - Right.
Now, he didn't turn me into the cops. He fed me. He bought me a jacket.
He said to me that kids shouldn't be in orphanages, that a kid should be raised by a family,
and I should travel with him until we could find one.
Well, I did. We drifted around together, went to Chi, went to St. Louie...
Went to the Big Easy where he got busted for shooting pool in a "whites only" pool hall.
And you ended up back in the orphanage.
It wasn't his fault.
I wasn't implying that it was.
Oh, I... I'm sorry, Sam.
It's just that those few months were real important in my life.
He turned me around, that old guy, showed me that there were people in the world that really cared.
That's why you gotta help him, Sam.
Al, I'm gonna help him.
Mm. The only problem is Eddie Davis,
A slime-ball pool shark that Magic has never played,
because, well, he doesn't shoot pool with trash.
Eddie implied that I... That Magic has a game with him.
Well, Violet borrowed some money from a loan shark.
She was gonna change this old pool hall into a blues club.
And Eddie bought her marker, and that's what he's putting up to make this match with Magic.
It's an expensive way to get a pool game.
Well, that is if you lose, but Eddie doesn't figure to lose.
See, he knows that Magic's eyesight is gone.
But what he doesn't know...
is that your eyesight is 20/20.
Al, look, my eyes may be fine, but I...
I couldn't shoot a game of pool with a shotgun.
Well, you're gonna have to learn, or else Violet's dream is lost...
and Magic won't ever forgive himself...
for not coming through for his granddaughter.
And I'll never forgive myself for not coming through for Magic.
Morning! Wow. You're mighty chipper, Poppie.
Yeah, well, I, you know... I had some, uh, great sleep.
Um, you need a hand?
Two or three if you've got 'em.
Okay. Thanks.
You know, I, uh,
kinda woke up with this great idea this morning.
Uh, I think I know how we can keep the club...
without havin' to play Eddie.
This doesn't involve a cement mixer or anything?
No. No, no, no. It's... It's simple.
I don't know why I didn't think of it right away.
- Morning, everybody. - Morning, Grady.
Hey, Grady. Ohhh. Miss Violet, what happened?
I mean, is that broke?
No, I just got a new one.
Oh, no, no, no, no. See, that's the lamp for Magic's table.
Tell her.
Tell her, Magic.
Well, it is pretty beat up.
What about all the great games been played underneath this lamp, huh?
You see them dents?
Billy Blue Lightning made that with his cue...
the night you took him for 20 grand.
Yeah, well, that was, uh... That was some night, all right.
The lamp's old and worn out, Grady. It's gotta go.
What? No! What about me?
I'm kinda old. I'm... I'm kinda worn.
Does that mean that I gotta go too, huh?
Maybe...
Maybe we should keep the lamp.
It adds, uh, character.
Okay, Poppie. This is your table.
You can have whatever and whoever hangin' around it for as long as you want.
Good. Good. 'Cause I can't wait...
to see you shoot Eddie's eyes out.
Pop! Pop! Good night.
Poppie's gonna pay off Eddie's marker without shootin' pool. Oh.
- Well, how you gonna do that? - Yeah, Sam. How you gonna do that?
It's simple.
We go to a bank, get a loan, and buy back your marker from Eddie.
Poppie, we already tried the bank, remember?
Well, yeah, right. But that was a while ago. No, forget about it, Sam.
It's 1954. It never hurts to try again.
She's a woman, a single black woman, in a world of white male bankers.
No bank's gonna give no loan to a woman. Especially a Negro woman.
See? All I see...
is a businessperson with a going concern who needs a loan.
Businessperson?
Poppie, you been sneakin' onions again?
You know how they make you crazy.
The only thing crazy... Besides you.
Is to risk everything over a game of pool.
But, Magic, you could whup him sideways.
Your eyes are worse, aren't they, Poppie?
My eyes are fine.
Now, come on, what do you say? Where's the bank?
Across the street.
May I help you?
Yes, we'd like to see someone about a business loan.
- A business loan? - That's right.
Uh, I'm afraid all of our loan officers are busy at the moment.
I guess my eyesight is going,
because it looks to me like nobody's busy at the moment.
Maybe you should look again.
Perhaps you should talk to Mr. Griffin... In the back.
Thank you.
I'd really like to help you,
but, unfortunately, the bank doesn't view pool halls as a sound investment.
But it's not a pool hall. I'm only gonna keep a single table for my grandfather.
- It's mostly a blues club. - Which are also uncertain businesses.
Well, not this one.
The place was packed last night. And has been since we opened it a month ago.
Why do you need a loan?
To pay off... the money I borrowed to convert the place from a pool hall.
Wait. You want a loan to pay off a loan?
I borrowed the money from a loan shark, because arrogant bas...
Bankers like you wouldn't trust me.
Violet.
Borrowing from a loan shark was not the best way to get the money.
- That's for sure. - It was the only way.
But now that the club is happening...
Happening? Working.
Making money. Oh.
My granddaughter needs a legitimate business loan to protect her investment.
- I'd like to help you, but... - But you won't.
I am the first Negro loan officer in this bank.
Do you know what I had to go through to get here?
How many extra hours and weekends I had to put in?
How many times I had to swallow my pride...
and say "Well done" to men promoted into positions I earned?
Know how many nigger jokes I had to pretend not to hear?
I'm sorry, Miss Walters, but I don't see how I can recommend your request to our loan committee.
Come on, Poppie. We're wastin' our breath on this white man.
You've made it.
Maybe it took you twice as long, but you've made it.
And being the first bears some responsibility...
to those who are trying to make it behind you.
Violet!
We'll go to another bank.
If we couldn't get a loan from a Negro banker,
who the hell are we ever gonna get one from?
I don't know, but... but we'll find one. Before tomorrow?
It's okay, Poppie. You tried.
There's gotta be a way.
There is.
I gotta give Eddie what he's been after since I was 13. No.
Poppie, you can't see well enough to beat him!
There's no other way!
The club is my dream.
If I've gotta get a little tarnished keepin it,
well, that's life in the big city.
Three ball in the corner pocket.
Oooh-whoo! Man!
- Hot tonight, Eddie? - That depends on what game I'm playin'.
The one I have in mind is pretty old.
Yeah, I think I know that one.
I've been waitin' a long time to play it.
I'm just wonderin' why you wanna play it now.
Maybe I decided...
it's the only game worth playin'.
Magic? Magic!
Magic! Come on. Quick! Quick!
What's the matter? I-It's Miss Violet.
She-She's acting kind of sick!
I've been waitin' a long time for this, baby.
A long time.
- Magic! - Let go of her!
Poppie!
Be cool. Be cool.
Magic,
you been eatin' onions again?
Stay away from my granddaughter.
I wasn't takin' nothin' that wasn't bein' offered.
And I got the feelin' it was bein' offered 'cause you've turned chicken, Magic.
You see any feathers on me? Does that mean we got a game?
Poppie, you can't play him. Your eyes are bad.
Is that true, Magic?
There's only one way to find out.
Rack 'em. Not yet.
Marker's not due until tomorrow, and that's what we're playin' for, isn't it?
Yeah. That's what we're playin' for.
M-M-Magic's gonna c-clean your clock, doc.
Magic!
Tomorrow.
You know, maybe Eddie will make a mistake...
and get on the wrong train and end up in Peoria.
That way, he'll have to forfeit.
How am I gonna become a pool shark overnight, Al?
By listening to me.
I was taught by the best, remember?
You know, it's kinda weird when you think about it.
I mean, you were taught by Magic. I'm Magic.
So, in a sense, that means... So in a sense nothin'!
Shoot pool, Sam. Shoot.
Now let me see your bridge... just your fingertips...
No. The bridge. Like this. Like you're holding a cigar.
Holding a cigar? What do you mean? Yes. Like that.
Okay, okay. All right, I got it like...
I got it like a cigar. All right.
You say something, Poppie?
Um, I'm just practicing.
Blue, blue, blue
Okay, now let's see your stroke. Okay.
Now, wait a minute. Look at your arm. It's like a rock.
What do you mean a rock? Magic has a beautiful stroke.
It's slow and it's like on a hinge. Slow.
Smooth like a hand that's tracing up and down a woman's back. Huh?
Like that. Now, let's see your stroke again.
It doesn't matter where the ball goes. We're gonna work on that later.
We're just workin' on your stroke. Okay, like a hinge.
Poppie, who you talkin' to?
Alberta.
Take a break and come sit by me.
Yeah, go ahead. Looks like the kid needs a little company.
You feelin' blue? It's good for the singin'.
Hard on the soul.
When you're feelin' down
And there's trouble all around ya
When it seems like nothin'
Is gonna turn out right
When you just can't see
Any silver linin'
Put your hands together
And just hold on tight
He'll be there
When you need some comfort
There when you need a friend
He'll be there
When the darkness
Is closin' all around ya
But you gotta believe
When you get down on your knees
He'll be there to make the sun shine again
But ya gotta believe
When you get down on your knees
He'll be there to make the sun shine again
He'll be there to make
The sun shine
Again
Poppie, if I live to be a hundred, you'll never cease to amaze me.
I love you. Good night.
Gee. That was kinda nice, Sam.
Yeah, it was.
Okay. Now, what do I have to learn next?
Geometry.
Geometry? The geometry of the table.
You can't sink a ball until you've worked out the angles,
specially on the... The bank shots.
The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.
Something like that. Yeah. Yeah!
Once you've worked out the angles, then all you have to know...
is where to hit the cue ball and how hard.
That probably takes a long time to learn.
It takes years.
I wish there was some way I could draw it out for you.
All right. Give this a whirl.
Now, just hit the dot on the cue ball.
Nice and smooth. Your elbow's a hinge.
Medium-strong. Go for it.
Oh-ho, what a pretty sound.
Pythagoras, we are gonna shoot some pool!
Evenin', Magic. Evenin', Eddie.
- What's your poison? - Nine ball, Sam.
That was always Magic's favorite.
- Nine ball. - Nine ball's a lucky man's game. You feelin' lucky, Magic?
- Grady. - It's a pleasure.
Y-Yes, sir, a real pleasure.
It's already racked for nine ball.
It's-It's always racked for nine ball, fool.
That's Magic's game.
Take him, Poppie.
All right, nine ball is... is the game.
It's the race, seven to heaven. Winner take all, loser they take the fall.
Gentlemen, we lag for break.
Now, Sam, you're kind of on your own on the lag.
Uh, just hit it in the center really smooth, and maybe we'll get lucky.
Real smooth.
Smooth.
- Magic breaks! - Game's on now, y'all.
All right. Now, Sam,
put the cue ball right there at the end of the line.
Hit it right on the dot and smooth.
Hit right through it.
Whoo! All right.
Mercy, mercy! Nine ball on the break!
Loser jumps in the lake. First game to Magic.
Great shot, Sam.
Luck.
Nine ball's a lucky man's game.
- Did you hear what he said? - He owned that one.
Better look alive.
- Al. - Uh-oh.
- Hey? - Damn.
Something's wrong with him.
Who's he talking to? His cue.
What's it sayin'?
What's goin' on?
You're gonna have to stall.
Gooshie says that there's an energy drain.
The Pentagon is usurping our power supply.
For how long?
Hey, Magic, come on! This isn't a s�ance.
Shut up, Eddie! Poppie can talk to whoever he wants to!
It's gonna take a while, Sam.
They must be workin' on their vacation plans or something.
I'm gonna go work on it. You stall.
I, uh...
I need to take a break.
Ain't no breaks.
If the old man wants to kick back for a minute, that's fine with me.
As hot as he's shootin', let him take a break.
Maybe he'll cool off. Hmm.
Five minutes.
Uh-uh. No, no, no. I-I'll keep her company, Magic.
Thanks, Grady. You okay, Poppie?
Yeah. I just, uh... I...
I gotta splash a little water on my eyes, that's all.
Well, you go ahead. You're doin' great, just great.
G-Great.
I want Magic to go permanently cool.
Don't worry about it. I'll take care of him.
Not him, his stick.
For what's King Arthur without his Excalibur?
Nothin'. Good.
Now go to the head of the class.
Yes, sir. Alberta, you're the best.
Mmm! You're just like Magic.
Uh, you don't mind if I talk to you too, do you?
Oh. That's... That's just what I thought.
Grady, my man.
Listen, Grady, uh,
Magic wants to talk to you in the alley.
Oh, no, no. I thought he went to the bathroom.
Well, you thought wrong.
Magic?
Ma... He's in the bathroom.
See? That's what I said!
- What you want? - Alberta.
No, no, no, no, no!
No, no, no.
No, no! No, no! No...
Ooh, Lordy! This... Grady.
D-Don't worry about me. He got Al-Alberta!
Just wanted to look at it, Magic.
Hmm. Breaks in the middle, don't it?
Hand over Alberta.
Sure, Magic. Sure.
Aw, gee.
I should have unscrewed it first, shouldn't I?
I'm sorry. Here.
Don't even think about it, old man.
Oh! Aaah! Ooh!
Ohhh.
He shouldn't have done that to Alberta.
He... He knows that now.
Maybe it's past Magic's bedtime, and he decided to call it quits.
One thing Poppie'll never do is quit.
Neither will I, baby. Neither will I.
Then you're gonna be a lonely child.
Poppie!
Grady, are you all right? I'm fine.
I'm fine. And don't worry, I can fix her, Miss Violet.
Not in time to finish this game.
Grady, go pick me out a stick.
Y-Yeah.
My, my. What happened, Magic? Did you have an accident?
No, but your boy did.
M-Magic whuped him silly,
just like he's gonna do you with my stick.
N-Now, now, now, Magic, listen, she's not Alberta, but she's pretty good,
and I know if you talk to her, she'll listen.
- Thank you, Grady. - Shoot his lights out, Poppie!
Y-Yeah.
Does she have a name? B-B-Bathsheba.
Bathsheba. That's a real pretty name.
Yeah. Yeah, it is. Bathsheba.
You gonna shoot or hold a baptism?
- You gonna heft that stick all night? - You afraid to let him get the feel of it?
Come on! The man is stallin'!
Magic, take your time.
Quit smilin' and let's make this combination.
I could only get two more minutes of power. Now, hit it smooth.
All right! Rack 'em, Grady.
Game match. That's six games to six.
Look like Eddie better give up the stick.
Now, just relax. Take deep breaths. Don't panic.
Al. Yeah?
- Tell me where to put the ball. - Oh! The beam. Sorry.
There you go. Put it there.
Now, hit it smooth but hit it hard. We wanna make a couple of balls on the break.
All right!
Okay, Sam, now we sink the seven.
Give it a little right English so it'll slide off the rail ready for the eight.
Smooth. Nice.
Well, you're in a little tough on the eight.
But that's okay. Left English, bring it back with the nine ball.
Smooth.
Ohhh.
Aw.
Well, you didn't scratch, but you did snooker yourself. But that's okay.
Sweet shot, now you're hot.
- Magic's on the nine. - I told you to shut up!
Well, tellin' don't mean doin'.
Okay, we gotta go three rail, Sam, to win the match.
High English, nice and smooth.
Uh-oh.
Come on, Gooshie! Give me ten more seconds!
It's no good, Sam. We had two minutes and it's gone.
- And it's my fault! - No, it's not, Al.
Y-You think he's talkin' to B-Bathsheba?
I hope so. Mm.
You gonna shoot old man or talk to the smoke?
Do it, Poppie.
Nine ball.
He'll never make this. Mm-mmm.
You did it!
Go on.
My marker.
And I don't ever wanna see your ugly face in my club again.
Look, bitch, I...
I believe my granddaughter asked you to leave.
Poppie, if I live to be a hundred... I know, I know.
I'll never cease...
Don't mess up this time, Victor.
Ready?
Here I come.
Oh, boy!