Tarzan of the Grapes

Sheriff’s Deputy Prescott surveys a sprawling vineyard and vows to flush out the man hiding within.  Brown, a local reporter, argues that the intruder is imagined.  Undeterred, Prescott picks up his riot gun and marches into the grove. Brown follows the deputy into the trellises. Overhead, a helicopter hovers in search of trespassers.  Prescott emphasizes his resolve to evict any squatters.

Brown recalls conspiring with his editor, Culough, to hire a hippie to take up residence in the vineyards for several days in the hope of drumming up a sensational story and boosting newsstand sales.  Several witnesses report sightings of the unkempt man, and an error at the press suggests an “ape man” is on the prowl. 

A barefoot man darts across Prescott’s path, the deputy fires his rifle, and Brown attempts to snap a photograph.  The reporter urges the deputy to exercise restraint, noting that the hippies living in the vineyard might be arrested when they leave to visit town. Prescott insists that many, including the ape man, must be hunted.  Brown insists that “Tarzan” is a myth whose perceived presence drew the hippies to the vineyard.  Prescott rails against the commune hidden among the vines, but Brown counsels empathy.