Borderline (1980 film)
| Borderline | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jerrold Freedman |
| Produced by | James Nelson (producer) Richard L. O'Connor (executive producer) Howard Alston (executive producer) |
| Written by | Jerrold Freedman Steve Kline |
| Starring |
Charles Bronson Ed Harris Bruno Kirby |
| Music by | Gil Melle |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Edited by | John F. Link |
| Distributed by | ITC Entertainment |
|
Release date
|
October 31, 1980 |
|
Running time
|
99 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5.8 million |
Borderline is a 1980 American drama film directed by Jerrold Freedman and starring Charles Bronson, Ed Harris and Bruno Kirby.
The film follows a United States Border Patrol Agent in Charge, Jeb Maynard (Bronson), who is forced to track down the killers of a young Mexican boy and his colleague and friend, a veteran Senior Patrol Agent, "Scooter" Jackson, portrayed by (Wilford Brimley). Jeb Maynard is the Patrol Agent in Charge of the "fictional" Otay Border Patrol Station, located in the hills east of San Diego, CA. Otay Station is a composite of the actual El Cajon, CA and Brown Field, CA Border Patrol Stations. He is helped by the young boy's mother, Elena Morales, (Karmin Murcelo) and a rookie Border Patrol Agent, Jimmy Fantes, (Kirby).
Senior Patrol Agent Jackson and the young boy are murdered by Hotchkiss, a ruthless alien smuggler, also called "the Marine" by the aliens (portrayed by Ed Harris). The murders take place when a truckload of illegal aliens being smuggled by Hotchkiss is stopped by Senior Patrol Agent Jackson while on routine road patrol. The truck has boxes of tomatoes on top of a hidden roof on the back of the truck. Under the roof is a hidden compartment containing the load of illegal aliens. Hotchkiss shoots "Scooter" from a concealed position in the back of the truck with a sawed-off shotgun at close range. The Mexican boy is badly wounded by stray buck shot so Hotchkiss finishes him off with another blast from his shotgun. Hotchkiss drags the bodies into the bushes along the side of the road and conceals the Border Patrol sedan in the same bushes. The other alien smuggler driving the truck with Hotchkiss becomes very nervous about the murders so Hotchkiss later kills him to keep him silent after they drop off the load of illegal aliens at a local fruit ranch, owned by well to do fruit farmer Carl Richards, and used as a front to smuggle aliens. Hotchkiss later abandons the truck used to smuggle the aliens along a rural road. Hotchkiss leaves the body of the other alien smuggler who was driving the truck the night of the murders, along with the truck, and conceals some small bags of marijuana in the truck to make it appear to be a drug smuggler's vehicle. Other Border Patrol Agents find the bodies of Agent "Scooter" Jackson and the boy, and the Border Patrol car later in the morning. Agent Fantes finds some fresh tomatoes near the bodies. Agent Maynard notices some boot prints in the dirt among all the other foot prints at the crime scene. These particular prints were made by a pair of military style boots with some odd markings in the soles. One of a veteran Border Patrol Agent's professional skills is "sign-cutting." "Sign-cutting" is the skill to examine, analyze, and interpret tracks and marks made in the ground. Patrol Agents use this skill to track groups of illegal aliens crossing the border. Maynard has Fantes take the tomatoes to the Agriculture department of a nearby university for analysis. The F.B.I. is called to investigate. The F.B.I. has primary jurisdiction investigating the murder of any federal agents. A couple of days later the abandoned truck is found with the drugs. The F.B.I. agents investigating the murders wrongly conclude that Agent "Scooter" Jackson stopped some drug smugglers that night and was shot because of it. Hotchkiss is running a sophisticated and highly profitable alien smuggling operation between Mexico and the United States. Maynard and Fantes start checking the trails in the hills that the smugglers use to bring in illegal aliens and drugs. They find the same military boot prints along a trail where a Border Patrol electronic ground sensor has been dug up and disabled. Hotchkiss is a former U.S. Marine who had been trained on such equipment while in the Marine Corps. He discovered the sensor and disabled it on a prior smuggling run.
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