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Short filmTranscript
00:00:00© BF-WATCH TV 2021
00:00:30© BF-WATCH TV 2021
00:01:00© BF-WATCH TV 2021
00:01:30© BF-WATCH TV 2021
00:01:36We've arrived, turn right.
00:01:39Thank you, we'll leave.
00:01:48Do you need anything else?
00:01:50No.
00:01:51Hey.
00:01:55Me?
00:01:57Where are you going?
00:01:58I thought if you was heading north, I might be able to help you out.
00:02:02I'm pushing this whole lake, and I don't like to ride it alone at night.
00:02:05I'm one of those guys who's got to talk or I fall asleep.
00:02:08Oh, sure, you might.
00:02:10Pardon me, he's got Lou to keep company, but I ain't got nobody at all.
00:02:14Where you coming from?
00:02:16West.
00:02:17Yeah, sure, I know, but where, L.A.?
00:02:19Maybe.
00:02:20I've got a cousin out in L.A.
00:02:21You don't say.
00:02:22Yeah, he's been out...
00:02:24Do you know him?
00:02:27You're not much of a talker, are you?
00:02:28My mother taught me never to speak to strangers.
00:02:30Oh, wise guy.
00:02:31So wise.
00:02:32Okay, okay, don't get sore.
00:02:34He's trying to be sociable, that's all.
00:02:37Hey, Glamorous.
00:02:39Get changed for a dime, will you?
00:02:50Let's have something quieter this time, Joe.
00:02:52My head's splitting.
00:02:53Is that what's wrong with it?
00:02:56Done with your coffee?
00:02:58No, and don't rush me, will you?
00:03:08Hey, turn that off. Will you turn that thing off?
00:03:10What's eating you now?
00:03:11Yeah, what's eating you?
00:03:12That music, it stinks.
00:03:13Oh, you don't like it, huh?
00:03:14No, turn it off.
00:03:15Now, wait a minute, pal.
00:03:16That was my nickname, see?
00:03:18This is a free country, and I play whatever I want to.
00:03:23Okay.
00:03:24Okay.
00:03:25Sure, and if you don't like it, you don't have to listen to it.
00:03:27And you can leave here any time you want to.
00:03:29Okay, okay, I'm sorry I asked.
00:03:31First good piece played tonight, and you don't like it.
00:03:33Some people just ain't got any good taste.
00:03:47That tune.
00:03:49That tune!
00:03:50Why was there always that rotten tune?
00:03:53Following me around, beating in my head, never letting up.
00:04:00Did you ever want to forget anything?
00:04:02Did you ever want to cut away a piece of your memory or blot it out?
00:04:06You can't, you know.
00:04:07No matter how hard you try.
00:04:09You can change the scenery.
00:04:11But sooner or later, you'll get a whiff of perfume,
00:04:13or somebody will say a certain phrase, or maybe hum something.
00:04:16Then you're licked again!
00:04:18I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:20I used to love that song once.
00:04:22So did the customers back in the old break-at-dawn club in New York.
00:04:26I can't remember a night when I didn't get at least three requests for it.
00:04:30Sue, she was always selling it too.
00:04:33Those were the days.
00:04:48Your eyes are blue, your kiss is too.
00:04:51I never knew what they could do.
00:04:54I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:00You're telling everyone you know,
00:05:03that you're in love with me.
00:05:06You're telling everyone you know,
00:05:09that you're in love with me.
00:05:12You're telling everyone you know,
00:05:16You're telling everyone you know,
00:05:19that I'm on your mind each place you go.
00:05:22They can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:28I have always placed you far above me.
00:05:34I just can't imagine that you love me.
00:05:40And after all is said and done,
00:05:43I can't believe that I'm the lucky one.
00:05:46I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:58It wasn't much of a club, really.
00:06:00You know the kind.
00:06:02A joint where you could have a sandwich and a few drinks
00:06:05and run interference for your girl on the dance floor.
00:06:09I planted the piano in there every night from 8 until the place closed up,
00:06:12which usually meant 4 in the morning.
00:06:15A good job as jobs went in those days.
00:06:21Then too, there was Sue,
00:06:24who made working there a little like working in heaven.
00:06:27But how we felt about each other, well, there was nothing very unusual in that.
00:06:32I was an ordinary healthy guy and she was an ordinary healthy girl.
00:06:35And when you add those two together, you get an ordinary healthy romance,
00:06:38which is the old story.
00:06:40Sure, but somehow, the most wonderful thing in the world.
00:06:52All in all, I was a pretty lucky guy.
00:07:05Mr. Paderewski, I presume. It's beautiful.
00:07:08You're going to make Carnegie Hall yet, Al?
00:07:10Yeah, as a janitor.
00:07:13I'll make my debut in the basement.
00:07:15I don't blame you for being bitter, darling, but you mustn't give up hope.
00:07:18Why, someday...
00:07:20Yeah, someday, if I don't get arthritis first.
00:07:22In the meantime, let's blow this trap.
00:07:35Like to get something to eat, hon?
00:07:37Oh, I don't think so, Al.
00:07:39I lose my appetite working in this flea bag.
00:07:41Let's go home.
00:07:43Okay.
00:07:45I can't stand much more of that dump.
00:07:47Did you see that drunk tonight, trying to paw me?
00:07:50No, what drunk?
00:07:52Does it matter what drunk?
00:07:54Say, what's the matter with you, Al?
00:07:56I don't know.
00:07:58I don't know.
00:08:00I don't know.
00:08:03I don't know what drunk.
00:08:05Say, what's the matter with you tonight, darling?
00:08:07That's the third time you've started to tell me something, and then stop.
00:08:10We shouldn't have any secrets from each other, Sue.
00:08:13Next week we're going to make with a ring and a license.
00:08:15You and me will be a team.
00:08:17Yes, that's right. In the Bush League.
00:08:19I don't get you.
00:08:21We've been struck out.
00:08:23That's a funny way to talk, darling.
00:08:25Don't you want to marry me?
00:08:27Al, look, I love you. You know I do.
00:08:29And I want to marry you.
00:08:31Only after we've made good.
00:08:33Sunday I'm going away.
00:08:35I know you'll think it's silly.
00:08:37That's why I hesitated to tell you.
00:08:39But I'm going to California.
00:08:41I want to try my luck in Hollywood.
00:08:43That's the most stupid thing I ever heard of.
00:08:45Don't you know millions of people go out there every year and wind up polishing cuspid doors?
00:08:49I thought you had better sense.
00:08:51You sound as if you don't think I have any talent.
00:08:53That has nothing to do with it.
00:08:55I'll make out all right.
00:08:57Maybe. But what about me?
00:09:00Does it mean anything to you that you're busting up all our plans?
00:09:02We may not see each other for years.
00:09:04It won't be that long.
00:09:06I thought you loved me.
00:09:08I do. You know I do.
00:09:12Well, here we are.
00:09:16Al.
00:09:18Al, why can't you see my side of it?
00:09:20I'm young.
00:09:22We both are.
00:09:24And we've got all the time in the world to settle down.
00:09:26Really, darling.
00:09:28What I'm doing is the only sane thing to do.
00:09:32I hate the thought of being so far away from you.
00:09:36But we'll be together again someday.
00:09:39Maybe you'll decide to come out too later on.
00:09:41So long.
00:09:43Al.
00:09:45Aren't you going to kiss me good night?
00:09:47Sure. Why not?
00:09:51Good night.
00:09:56Good night.
00:10:26Good night.
00:10:56Good night.
00:11:26Say, Roberts.
00:11:28You hit the jackpot this time.
00:11:30Ten bucks.
00:11:32Thanks.
00:11:40So when this drunk handed me a ten spot after a request,
00:11:42I couldn't get very excited.
00:11:44What was it, I asked myself.
00:11:46A piece of paper crawling with germs.
00:11:48I didn't know what to do.
00:11:50I didn't know what to do.
00:11:52I didn't know what to do.
00:11:55A piece of paper crawling with germs.
00:11:57Couldn't buy anything I wanted.
00:11:59It couldn't...
00:12:03Then I thought of something.
00:12:25Long distance.
00:12:27I'd like to put a call through to Los Angeles.
00:12:29Miss Harvey.
00:12:31Sue Harvey. H-A-R-V-E-Y.
00:12:33The number is Crestview 65723.
00:12:55Hello, Sue? This is Al.
00:12:57Oh, baby, it's great to hear from you, too.
00:12:59What's that? You do?
00:13:01Oh, me too, darling.
00:13:03I thought I'd go batty without you.
00:13:05I just had to...
00:13:07Huh?
00:13:09You're working as a hash slinger?
00:13:11Gee, honey, that's tough.
00:13:13Those guys out there, they don't know what they're talking about.
00:13:15They don't know what they're talking about.
00:13:17They don't know what they're talking about.
00:13:19They don't know what they're talking about.
00:13:21They don't know what they're talking about.
00:13:23Gee, honey, that's tough.
00:13:25Those guys out in Hollywood don't know the real thing when it's right in front of them.
00:13:27You just stick it out, Sue, baby.
00:13:29Keep going around to those casting offices.
00:13:31I'm sure you'll click.
00:13:33Look, I'll tell you what. You stay put out there. I'll come to you.
00:13:35No, don't try to stop me.
00:13:37Just expect me.
00:13:39Train? Who knows? Train, plane, bus, magic carpet.
00:13:41I'll be there if I have to crawl.
00:13:43If I have to travel by pogo stick.
00:13:45And then...
00:13:47Let's get married right away, huh?
00:13:50That's the stuff.
00:13:52That's what I've been wanting to hear you say.
00:13:54Well...
00:13:56Goodbye for now.
00:13:58I'll be seeing you soon.
00:14:00Yeah.
00:14:02Bye.
00:14:10The only way I could cross country was to thumb rides.
00:14:12For even after hocking everything,
00:14:14I only had enough money to eat.
00:14:16Money.
00:14:18You know what that is.
00:14:20It's the stuff you never have enough of.
00:14:22Little green things with George Washington's picture
00:14:24that men slave for,
00:14:26commit crimes for, die for.
00:14:28It's the stuff that has caused more trouble
00:14:30in the world than anything else we ever invented.
00:14:32Simply because there's too little of it.
00:14:36At least I had too little of it.
00:14:38So it was me for the thumb.
00:14:48Ever done any hitchhiking?
00:14:50It's not much fun, believe me.
00:14:52Oh, yeah, I know all about how it's an education,
00:14:54how you get to meet a lot of people and all that.
00:14:56But me?
00:14:58From now on, I'll take my education in college.
00:15:00Or in P.S. 62.
00:15:02Or I'll send $1.98 in stamps for ten easy lessons.
00:15:08I'm not going to do it.
00:15:10I'm not going to do it.
00:15:12I'm not going to do it.
00:15:14I'm not going to do it.
00:15:17I'm not going to do it.
00:15:25Thumbing rides may save your bus fare,
00:15:27but it's dangerous.
00:15:29You never know what's in store for you
00:15:31when you hear the squeal of brakes.
00:15:35If only I had known what I was getting into
00:15:37that day in Arizona.
00:15:41Yeah, throw that in the back seat.
00:15:43Okay, let's go. Make sure that door is closed.
00:16:00You know, Emily Post ought to write a book of rules for guys thumbing rides.
00:16:04Because as it is now, you never know what's right and what's wrong.
00:16:08We rode along for a little while, neither one of us saying anything.
00:16:11I was glad of that.
00:16:13I never know what to say to strange people driving cars.
00:16:17And two, you can never tell if a guy wants to talk.
00:16:20A lot of rides have been cut short because of a big mouth.
00:16:24So I kept my mouth shut until he started opening up.
00:16:29Hand me that little box in the compartment, will you, pal?
00:16:35Hold the wheel, will you?
00:16:42How far are you going?
00:16:44L.A.
00:16:46Wow, you're really traveling, aren't you?
00:16:48Yeah, but I don't expect to make it for a couple of years at the rate I've been promoting rides.
00:16:52Not much luck, huh?
00:16:54Sure, all bad.
00:16:56Not many people stop for a guy these days.
00:16:58Afraid of a stick-up, maybe.
00:17:00They can't blame him.
00:17:02Where are you coming from?
00:17:04New York.
00:17:06Well, New York.
00:17:07You're in luck this time.
00:17:09I'm going all the way.
00:17:11Right through to Los Angeles.
00:17:13Can you drive a car?
00:17:15Sure, whenever you're tired, let me know.
00:17:17I'll holler.
00:17:20I guess at least an hour passed before I noticed those deep scratches on his right hand.
00:17:25They were wicked.
00:17:27Three puffy red lines about a quarter of an inch apart.
00:17:30He must have seen me looking at them because he said,
00:17:32Beauties, aren't they?
00:17:34They're going to be scars someday.
00:17:37What an animal.
00:17:39Whatever it was, it must have been pretty big and vicious to have done that.
00:17:42Right on both counts, New York.
00:17:44I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world.
00:17:47A woman.
00:17:49She must have been Tarzan's mate.
00:17:51Looks like you lost the bout.
00:17:53It certainly wasn't a draw.
00:17:55You know, there ought to be a law against a woman.
00:17:58A law against a woman?
00:17:59Sure.
00:18:01You know, there ought to be a law against dames with claws.
00:18:04Yeah.
00:18:06I tossed her out of the car in her ear.
00:18:08Was I wrong?
00:18:10Give a lift to a tomato, you expect her to be nice, don't you?
00:18:13Yeah.
00:18:15After all, what kind of a dame some rides?
00:18:17Sunday school teachers?
00:18:19Yeah.
00:18:21A little witch.
00:18:23Suppose I thought she was riding with some fall guy.
00:18:25To me, who's been booking horses around race tracks since I was 20.
00:18:28I've known a million dames like her.
00:18:30Two million.
00:18:32Yeah.
00:18:34Stop the car, open the door.
00:18:37Take it on the Arthur Duffy sister, I told her.
00:18:40That's the stuff.
00:18:42As I was done, huh?
00:18:44But if you want to see a real scar, brother,
00:18:46get a load of this.
00:18:48What?
00:18:50I got that when Julie.
00:18:52Julie?
00:18:54Yeah, we're just kidding, of course.
00:18:55My dad owned a couple of Franco Prussian sabers.
00:18:58Kept them on the wall for decorations.
00:19:00Well, one day, another kid and I took them down.
00:19:03The old man wasn't around, had a duel.
00:19:06He got me in the arm here.
00:19:08Pretty mean cut.
00:19:10Infection set in later.
00:19:12Yeah, I can see that.
00:19:14Now give me that box again, will you?
00:19:16Yeah.
00:19:26Pain made me lose my head, I guess.
00:19:28Began slashing.
00:19:30Before I knew it, I'd put the other kid's eye on.
00:19:33That was tough.
00:19:35Well, it was just an accident, of course.
00:19:37Do you know how kids are?
00:19:39I got scared, decided I was going to run away from home.
00:19:42Old man almost caught me when I was packing my duds.
00:19:46The bloody rag I had wrapped around my wrist
00:19:48hadn't caught his attention.
00:19:50He'd have seen the bundle for sure.
00:19:52But I beat it when I got home.
00:19:54But I beat it when he was phoning for a doctor.
00:19:57That was 15, 16 years ago.
00:19:59I haven't been home since.
00:20:05Pull in there for a bite of something, huh?
00:20:07A bite of something?
00:20:09Brother, was I hungry.
00:20:11I hadn't had anything in my stomach for hours.
00:20:14Yet even with that gnawing in the pit of my belly,
00:20:16I didn't want to be in too big a rush to put on the feed bag.
00:20:20First, I had to make sure this guy knew the score.
00:20:23If I got him down on me,
00:20:25it was goodbye ticket to Hollywood.
00:20:27I'll wait out here for you, mister.
00:20:29If it's the money, don't worry about paying for it.
00:20:31This time it's on me.
00:20:33Well, that's white of you, mister...
00:20:35Haskell, think nothing of it.
00:20:37You make your first million, maybe you can do the same for me.
00:20:39Come on, New York.
00:20:41I got to make the West Coast by Wednesday.
00:20:43There's a horse running in Santa Anita named Pirate Bicycle.
00:20:45You can sell it to me if I want him.
00:20:47We'll make it, all right.
00:20:49He did most of the talking during the half hour
00:20:51we were in the place.
00:20:53About his old man whom he hadn't heard from
00:20:55since he ran away as a kid.
00:20:57And how he happened to become a bookie.
00:20:59And then all about how he got rooked in Miami.
00:21:01One race, 38 grand.
00:21:03They cleaned out my book.
00:21:05How do you like that?
00:21:07That was tough luck.
00:21:09Yeah, and I'm supposed to be the smart guy.
00:21:11You just wait.
00:21:13I'm going back to Florida next season with all kinds of jack.
00:21:15And you watch those stinkers run for cover.
00:21:17Anything else?
00:21:19No thanks, I've had plenty.
00:21:23You got a check there, sister?
00:21:28Oh, just a miniature change, sir.
00:21:30Keep it, sister.
00:21:32Oh, thank you, sir. Call again.
00:21:34I'll be waiting outside for you when you finish work.
00:21:36Sharp check, huh?
00:21:45I drove all that night while Hesco slept like a log.
00:21:48After a while, I began to get sleepy myself.
00:21:53I was happy, though.
00:21:55Soon I'd be with Sue again.
00:21:57The long trip was practically over
00:21:59and there'd be no more hoofing it down the concrete.
00:22:02I began to think of the future,
00:22:04which couldn't have been brighter
00:22:06if I'd embroidered it with neon lights.
00:22:08It was nice to think of Sue shooting to the top.
00:22:13It's amazing what a full belly can do to your imagination.
00:22:16Your eyes, oh, your kisses, too
00:22:21I never knew what they could do
00:22:26I can't believe that you're in love with me
00:22:34You're telling everyone you know
00:22:39I'm on your mind each place you go
00:22:42I can't believe that you're in love with me
00:23:05Mr. Hesco.
00:23:08Mr. Hesco.
00:23:10Mr. Hesco.
00:23:14Mr. Hesco, wake up. It's raining.
00:23:16Don't you think we ought to stop and put up the top?
00:23:26Mr. Hesco, I'm going to put up the top.
00:23:40Up until then, I had done things my way.
00:23:43But from then on, something else stepped in
00:23:45and shunted me off to a different destination
00:23:47than the one I had picked for myself.
00:23:49But when I pulled open that door...
00:23:55Mr. Hesco, what's the matter?
00:23:57Are you hurt?
00:23:59Are you hurt, Mr. Hesco?
00:24:01Start your sermon.
00:24:03I'll listen to it.
00:24:05But I know what you're going to hand me
00:24:07even before you open the top.
00:24:09You're going to tell me you don't believe
00:24:11my story of how Hesco died
00:24:13and give me that don't make me laugh expression
00:24:15on your smug faces.
00:24:19I saw it once. He was dead.
00:24:21And I was in for it.
00:24:23Who would believe he fell out of the car?
00:24:25Why, if Hesco came too, which of course he couldn't,
00:24:27even he would swear I conked him over the head for his dough.
00:24:29Yes, I was in for it.
00:24:31Instinct told me to run.
00:24:33But then I realized it was hopeless.
00:24:35There were lots of people back down the road
00:24:37who could identify me.
00:24:39I would be in a worse spot then
00:24:41trying to explain why I beat it.
00:24:43The next possibility was to sit tight
00:24:45and tell the truth when the cops came.
00:24:47But that would be crazy.
00:24:49They'd laugh at the truth
00:24:51and I'd have my head in the noose.
00:24:53So what else was there to do
00:24:55but hide the body and get away in the car?
00:24:57I couldn't leave the car there with him in the gully.
00:24:59That would be like erecting a tombstone.
00:25:09What's up?
00:25:29My idea was to cover him with brush,
00:25:31not to rob him.
00:25:33But then I remembered that if I only drove the car
00:25:35for 100 miles or so, I would need money for gas.
00:25:36Besides, it was stupid of me to leave all that money on a dead man.
00:25:40Not only that, I'd have to take his driver's license in case I was stopped for something.
00:25:46I didn't like to think about it, but by that time I'd done just what the police would say I did, even if I didn't.
00:25:52My clothes. The owner of such an expensive car would never be wearing them.
00:25:56Some cop might pull me in on suspicion.
00:26:06I'd better go.
00:26:25Hey, you, this your car?
00:26:27Don't you know better than to leave a car with the wheels halfway in the middle of the road?
00:26:30That's the way accidents happen.
00:26:32I'm sorry, officer. I was just putting up my top. I didn't think...
00:26:35The next time, think. I'll let you go now, but watch your step in the future.
00:26:39I know that's a lonely stretch, but cars come by here once in a while and we have plenty of crack-ups.
00:26:43Thanks, officer.
00:27:06I left nothing in the car to give me away as Roberts.
00:27:09If they found a dead man in the gully now, it would be me.
00:27:20As I drove off, it was still raining.
00:27:23And the drops streaked down the windshield like tears.
00:27:28I kept imagining I was being followed, that I could hear sirens back in the distance.
00:27:32Just how long it took me to cover the 60-odd miles to the California state line, I don't know.
00:27:37I lost all track of time.
00:27:40But the rain had stopped and the sun was up when I pulled up to the inspection station.
00:27:49Hello.
00:27:51Carrying any fruits or vegetables?
00:27:53No.
00:27:54Any livestock or poultry?
00:27:55No.
00:27:57I'd like to see your registration and driver's license, please.
00:28:00Anything in the baggage compartment?
00:28:02Just baggage.
00:28:05Charles Haskell, Jr., age 30, brown eyes, dark hair.
00:28:09Identifying marks, none.
00:28:11Are you Charles Haskell, Jr.?
00:28:12Yes.
00:28:13Well, remember, if you're employed and you stay over 30 days, you take out California plates.
00:28:17All right, officer, but I'll only be in the state a short while.
00:28:21Right, you can go now.
00:28:30Good night, American.
00:28:34I couldn't drive any farther without some sleep, cops or no cops.
00:28:38I knew I had to hit the hay and hit it hard.
00:28:42I was dead tired.
00:28:59No.
00:29:17No, you can't, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:19No.
00:29:20No.
00:29:28Mr. Haskell, you can't die.
00:29:31Don't think...
00:29:33Don't think I did it.
00:29:36No, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:38No.
00:29:39No.
00:29:51Who's there?
00:29:52It's the maid.
00:29:53Can I come in and clean?
00:29:55Later.
00:29:57In a half hour.
00:29:58All right, sir.
00:30:21There was no time to lose.
00:30:23Every minute I had to be Charles Haskell was dangerous,
00:30:26and I'd have to be Charles Haskell until I got to some city
00:30:29where I could leave the car and be swallowed up.
00:30:37That meant driving the car as far as San Bernardino,
00:30:40maybe even to Los Angeles.
00:30:42In a little town, I might be noticed,
00:30:44but in a city, I should be safe enough.
00:30:45Then, after I ditched the car,
00:30:47I could go on to sue.
00:30:49But those five minutes at the state line
00:30:51made me realize it might be a good idea
00:30:53to find out a little bit about Mr. Haskell.
00:30:56Then, if anybody asked me questions,
00:30:58I could give the right answers.
00:31:00The first thing I found out was that I had $768.
00:31:04This was a lot of jack,
00:31:06but believe me,
00:31:08it was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:10It was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:12It was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:14It was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:23And then I found out from a letter
00:31:25Haskell was carting around in his bag
00:31:27that he wasn't the open-handed, easy-going big shot
00:31:29who went around buying dinners for strange hitchhikers.
00:31:32Before I got done reading it,
00:31:34I saw him more as a chiseler.
00:31:36It was written to his old man in California,
00:31:39the one he hadn't seen in so many years.
00:31:41In it, Haskell posed as a salesman
00:31:43of hymnals, of all things.
00:31:47It was easy to see where Haskell expected
00:31:49to raise a new stake for his book in Miami,
00:31:52by rooking his old man.
00:31:55That was about all I found out from his effects,
00:31:58and it was enough.
00:32:00I told myself,
00:32:02maybe old man Haskell was lucky his son kicked off.
00:32:05He would never know it,
00:32:07but it saved him from taking a flyer
00:32:08in sacred literature preferred.
00:32:35Near the airport at Desert Center,
00:32:36I pulled up for water.
00:32:39There was a woman.
00:32:45Hey you, come on if you want a ride.
00:33:07Come on.
00:33:08♪♪
00:33:18♪♪
00:33:28♪♪
00:33:38How far you going?
00:33:40How far you going?
00:33:42That took me by surprise, and I turned my head to look her over.
00:33:46She was facing straight ahead, so I couldn't see her eyes.
00:33:49But she was young, not more than 24.
00:33:53Man, she looked as if she'd just been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world.
00:33:57What a beauty.
00:33:59Not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you,
00:34:01or the beauty you dream about when you're with your wife,
00:34:04but a natural beauty.
00:34:06A beauty that's almost homely because it's so real.
00:34:10Then suddenly, she turned to face me.
00:34:12How far did you say you were going?
00:34:14Los Angeles.
00:34:15L.A.?
00:34:17L.A.'s good enough for me, mister.
00:34:19That's what I was afraid of.
00:34:21What'd you say?
00:34:22Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud.
00:34:24People get in trouble for doing that.
00:34:27What's your name?
00:34:28You can call me Vera if you like.
00:34:30You live in Los Angeles?
00:34:32No.
00:34:34Where you coming from?
00:34:35Oh, back there.
00:34:37Needles?
00:34:38No.
00:34:39Oh, sure. Phoenix.
00:34:41You look just like a Phoenix girl.
00:34:43Are the girls in Phoenix that bad?
00:34:45The girl must have been pretty tired
00:34:47because she fell asleep not 20 minutes after she stepped into the car.
00:34:51She lay sprawled out with her head resting against the far door,
00:34:54like Haskell.
00:34:56I didn't like that part of it much,
00:34:58but I didn't wake her up.
00:35:00It wasn't that this girl still worried me.
00:35:03I'd gotten over that funny feeling I had when she looked at me,
00:35:06which I put down as just my jangled nerves.
00:35:09With her eyes closed and the tenseness gone out of her,
00:35:12she seemed harmless enough.
00:35:14And instead of disliking her, I began to feel sorry for her.
00:35:18That poor kid probably had had a rough time of it.
00:35:21Who was she, anyway?
00:35:23And why was she going to Los Angeles?
00:35:26And where'd she come from in the first place?
00:35:28The only thing I knew about her was her name.
00:35:31Not that it made any difference.
00:35:33A few hours more and we'd be in Hollywood.
00:35:35I'd forget where I parked the car and look up Sue.
00:35:38This nightmare of being a dead man would be over.
00:35:41Who this dame was, well, it was no business of mine.
00:35:44Where did you leave his body?
00:35:47You leave the owner of this car.
00:35:48You're not fooling anyone.
00:35:50This buggy belongs to a guy named Haskell.
00:35:52That's not you, mister.
00:35:53You're out of your mind. That's my name, Charles Haskell.
00:35:55I can prove it. It's my driver's license.
00:35:57Save yourself the trouble, mister.
00:35:59Having Haskell's wallet only makes it worse.
00:36:01It just so happens I rode with Charlie Haskell
00:36:03all the way from Louisiana.
00:36:05He picked me up outside of Shreveport.
00:36:07You rode?
00:36:08You heard me.
00:36:09Then it all came back to me.
00:36:11All the talk about dueling and scars and scratches.
00:36:14There was no doubt about it.
00:36:16Vera must be the woman Haskell had mentioned.
00:36:19She must have passed me while I slept.
00:36:21Well?
00:36:23Well, I'm waiting.
00:36:24My goose was cooked.
00:36:26She had me.
00:36:28That Haskell guy wasn't dead yet.
00:36:30He wasn't stretched out stiff and cold in any Arizona gully.
00:36:33He was sitting right there in the car,
00:36:35laughing like mad while he haunted me.
00:36:38Well?
00:36:39There was nothing I could say.
00:36:42It was her move.
00:36:43Vera, whatever her name was,
00:36:45it was just my luck picking her up on the road.
00:36:48It couldn't have been Helen or Mary or Evelyn or Ruth.
00:36:52It had to be the very last person I should ever have met.
00:36:56That's life.
00:36:58Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot to trip you.
00:37:06I told her everything, but she didn't believe my story.
00:37:09I should have saved my breath.
00:37:11That's the greatest cock and bull story I ever heard.
00:37:13So he fell out of his car.
00:37:15Say, who do you think you're talking to, a hick?
00:37:17Listen, mister, I've been around,
00:37:19and I know a wrong guy when I see one.
00:37:21What'd you do, kiss him with a wrench?
00:37:23Now, wait a minute. What I told you was true.
00:37:25You see, that's why I had to do it.
00:37:26You think I killed him.
00:37:27Well, the cops would have thought so, too.
00:37:29Yeah, well, maybe they still think so.
00:37:31What makes you so sure I'll shut up about this?
00:37:34Vera, I'm innocent.
00:37:35Give me a break, will you?
00:37:38It won't do me any good having you pinched.
00:37:40The cops are no friends of mine.
00:37:42I thought there was a reward, but there isn't.
00:37:45Thanks.
00:37:46Don't thank me yet.
00:37:47I'm not through with you by a long shot.
00:37:49Let's see that roll.
00:37:57Is that all Haskell had?
00:37:59Isn't it enough?
00:38:00No, I thought he had more.
00:38:01Not that I know of.
00:38:02You can search me if you think I'm holding out on you.
00:38:03Well, maybe I will at that.
00:38:05He told me he was gonna bet $3,000
00:38:07on a horse named Paradisical on Wednesday at Santa Anita.
00:38:10He was stringing you along.
00:38:11He meant $300.
00:38:12Maybe.
00:38:13Sure, three bucks, $300.
00:38:14He was a piece of cheese, a big blowhard.
00:38:16Listen, mister.
00:38:17Don't try and tell me anything about Charlie Haskell.
00:38:19Remember, I knew him better than you did.
00:38:21Okay, then you knew he was a four-flusher.
00:38:22That explains the three grand bet.
00:38:24I'm not so sure he didn't have that three grand.
00:38:26Why should I believe you?
00:38:28You got all the earmarks of a cheap crook.
00:38:30Now, wait a minute.
00:38:31Shut up!
00:38:32You're a cheap crook and you killed him.
00:38:33For two cents, I'd change my mind and turn you in.
00:38:35I don't like you.
00:38:36All right, all right.
00:38:37Don't get sore.
00:38:38I'm not getting sore.
00:38:39Remember who's boss around here.
00:38:40If you shut up and don't give me any arguments,
00:38:42you'll have nothing to worry about.
00:38:44But if you act wise, we'll miss to you
00:38:46popping to jail so fast it'll give you the bends.
00:38:48I'm not arguing.
00:38:49I see that you don't.
00:38:50You know, as crooked as you look,
00:38:51I'd hate to see a fella as young as you
00:38:53wind up sniffing that perfume that Arizona
00:38:55hands out free to murderers.
00:38:56I'm not a murderer.
00:38:57Of course you're not.
00:38:58Haskell knocked his own head off.
00:39:00He fell.
00:39:01That's how it happened, just like I told you.
00:39:02Sure, and then he made you a present of his belongings.
00:39:04I explained why I had to do that.
00:39:05Oh, skip it.
00:39:06Doesn't make a difference one way or another.
00:39:07I'm not a mourner.
00:39:08I like Haskell even less than I like you.
00:39:10Yeah, I saw what you did to him.
00:39:12What do you mean?
00:39:13The scratches on his wrist.
00:39:14Sure, I scratched him.
00:39:16Well, so you did.
00:39:18So your idea was to drive the car a little way,
00:39:21maybe into San Bernardino, and then leave it.
00:39:23You weren't going to sell it?
00:39:25Sell it?
00:39:26You think I'm crazy?
00:39:27Somebody else's car?
00:39:28Say, all I want to do is leave it somewhere
00:39:30and forget I ever saw it.
00:39:31Not only don't you have any scruples,
00:39:32you don't have any brains.
00:39:34I don't get you.
00:39:35Maybe it's a good thing you met me.
00:39:37You'd have got yourself caught, sure.
00:39:38Why, you dope.
00:39:39Don't you know a deserted automobile
00:39:41always rates an investigation?
00:39:43Huh?
00:39:44Look, the cops find a car.
00:39:46Then they get curious.
00:39:47They wonder where the owner is.
00:39:49So all right, they don't trace Haskell.
00:39:51They trace you.
00:39:53I never thought of that.
00:39:54The only safe way to get rid of the car
00:39:56is to sell it to a dealer.
00:39:57Get it registered under a new name.
00:39:59Say, stop at the next store.
00:40:00I want to get a bottle and do some shopping
00:40:02before we hit L.A.
00:40:03OK.
00:40:04Since we find a place, I'll drop you off
00:40:06and pick you up later.
00:40:07Nothing doing.
00:40:08You're coming in too.
00:40:09From now on, you and I are like the Siamese twins.
00:40:12Yeah, but your way.
00:40:13I don't get the point.
00:40:14The point is, I don't want you to get lost.
00:40:16I'm not going to beat it if that's what you're afraid of.
00:40:18I'll say you're not.
00:40:19Well, I'm going to see that you sell this car
00:40:21so you don't get caught.
00:40:22Thanks.
00:40:23Of course, your interest wouldn't be financial, would it?
00:40:26You wouldn't want a small percentage of the profits.
00:40:29Well, now that you insist, how can I refuse?
00:40:32100% will do.
00:40:33Fine.
00:40:34I'm relieved.
00:40:35I thought for a moment you were going to take it all.
00:40:37I don't want to be a hog.
00:40:40A few hours later, we were in Hollywood.
00:40:43I was recognizing places Sue had written about.
00:40:46It struck me that far from being at the end of the trip,
00:40:49there was a greater distance between Sue and me
00:40:51than when I started out.
00:40:53Vera wasn't kidding with that Siamese twins crack.
00:40:57She rented a little apartment as Mrs. Charles Haskell.
00:41:01When I objected to this, she explained
00:41:03that it was on account of the car.
00:41:05A dealer might think something was funny
00:41:07if he called and found we were using different names.
00:41:14Home, sweet home.
00:41:16Yeah.
00:41:17Not bad either.
00:41:26In case there's any doubt in your mind,
00:41:27I'll take the bedroom.
00:41:29Yeah.
00:41:31Sure is stuffy in here.
00:41:41Keep the window shut.
00:41:42Okay.
00:41:45The old crow downstairs said there's a fallen bed
00:41:47behind this door.
00:41:54You know how to work it?
00:41:59I invented it.
00:42:04Some joint.
00:42:05One can't have everything.
00:42:11I'm first in the bathtub.
00:42:14I don't know why, but I figured you would be.
00:42:27Boy, oh boy.
00:42:29It sure feels good to be clean again.
00:42:32I must be 10 pounds lighter.
00:42:34You must be.
00:42:37Well, hitching rides isn't exactly the way
00:42:39you keep your schoolgirl complexion.
00:42:45I wish that guy with the sacks would give up.
00:42:48Gets on my nerves.
00:42:51Forget it.
00:42:55Have a drink.
00:42:57Aren't you afraid I might take you up on it?
00:43:01If I didn't want to give you a drink,
00:43:02I wouldn't have offered it.
00:43:04Why be a sorehead, Roberts?
00:43:06You got yourself into this thing.
00:43:09You should be grateful I'm not turning you in.
00:43:12Why, if I wasn't regular, you'd be in the pen this minute,
00:43:14being photographed, fingerprinted,
00:43:15and being pushed around by the cops.
00:43:18So cheer up.
00:43:19Get rid of that long puss.
00:43:23Or is your conscience bothering you?
00:43:30No.
00:43:32It isn't.
00:43:33Swell.
00:43:34That's the spirit.
00:43:36He's dead, and no moment around will bring him back.
00:43:42Anyway, I never could understand this worrying
00:43:44about something that's over and done with.
00:43:46Now look, Vera, for the last time, I didn't kill him.
00:43:48Haskell was a sick man.
00:43:49Maybe he was dead before he fell out of the car.
00:43:51I don't know.
00:43:52I'm sure he died of old age.
00:43:54All right.
00:43:56So if it'll make you sociable,
00:43:59you didn't kill him.
00:44:11Thanks.
00:44:23We're out of liquor, Roberts.
00:44:25Yeah.
00:44:27Too bad.
00:44:28I felt like getting tight tonight.
00:44:30Well, I think you succeeded.
00:44:32Am I tight?
00:44:34As a prima donna's corset.
00:44:35That's good.
00:44:37I wanted to get tight.
00:44:39Why?
00:44:40What have you got to get tight about?
00:44:41Oh, I don't know.
00:44:43A few things.
00:44:47You should have my worries.
00:44:49If I had your troubles, I'd stay sober.
00:44:51And I've got the key to that door.
00:44:56Yeah.
00:44:58Maybe you're right.
00:44:59I'm always right.
00:45:02You know, I don't like your attitude, Roberts.
00:45:05Well, there's a lot of things I don't like.
00:45:08Sure.
00:45:12But life's like a ball game.
00:45:14You got to take a swing at whatever comes along
00:45:16before you wake up and find it's a ninth inning.
00:45:19I bet you read that somewhere.
00:45:21That's the trouble with you, Roberts.
00:45:23All you do is bellyache.
00:45:26Taking it easy and trying to make the best of things.
00:45:30But maybe that's what's wrong with the whole world.
00:45:33Get the professor.
00:45:35People knock themselves out trying to buck fate.
00:45:38Now take you, for instance.
00:45:39You're lucky to be alive.
00:45:41Why, suppose Haskell had pulled open your door?
00:45:44You'd be playing a harp now.
00:45:46Think of that.
00:45:48You think of it.
00:45:50I'm tired of thinking.
00:45:52There's plenty of people dying this minute
00:45:55that would give anything to trade places with you.
00:45:59I know what I'm talking about.
00:46:02I'm not so sure.
00:46:04At least they know they're done for.
00:46:06They don't have to sweat blood wondering if they are.
00:46:10Your philosophy stinks, pal.
00:46:13We all know we're going to kick off someday.
00:46:15It's only a question of when.
00:46:18But what's got us on this subject anyway?
00:46:21We'll be discussing politics next.
00:46:24Yeah.
00:46:26Where'd you hide the butts?
00:46:29On the table, sucker.
00:46:38We bored each other with conversation for a couple of hours longer.
00:46:42Every five minutes, one of us was wishing we had another bottle
00:46:45or a radio or something to read.
00:46:48Then finally, we ran out of chat.
00:46:51I know it's only 11 o'clock, but I want to get up early
00:46:53and make the rounds of the used car lots.
00:46:55No hurry about that.
00:46:56We've got all the time in the world.
00:46:58Maybe you have, but if you think I want to stay cooped up in this place
00:47:00any longer than I have to, you're batty.
00:47:02It's not a bad place.
00:47:03They pay plenty for diggings like this in New York.
00:47:05I wouldn't like it if it was the Ritz.
00:47:09Rotten liquor.
00:47:11You've got a mean cough.
00:47:12Ought to do something about it.
00:47:14I'll be all right.
00:47:16That's what Camille said.
00:47:18Who?
00:47:19Nobody you know.
00:47:24Wasn't that the day in the diet of consumption?
00:47:26Yeah.
00:47:28Wouldn't it be a break for you if I did kick off?
00:47:31You'd be free with all Haskell's dough and car.
00:47:34I don't want to see anybody die.
00:47:38Not even me?
00:47:40Especially not you.
00:47:41One person died in me.
00:47:43If you did, well, that's all I need.
00:47:47You don't like me, do you, Roberts?
00:47:51I like you.
00:47:53I love you.
00:47:56My favorite sport is being kept prisoner.
00:47:59After we sell the car, you can go to blazes for all I care,
00:48:01but not until then.
00:48:08I'm going to bed.
00:48:19Good night, Roberts.
00:48:21Don't try and sneak away during the night.
00:48:23All the doors are locked.
00:48:24Anyway, if I find you gone in the morning,
00:48:26I'll notify the police.
00:48:28They'll pick you up.
00:48:29Don't worry. I know when I'm in the spot.
00:48:31Well, good night.
00:48:33I hope that portable rack isn't too uncomfortable for you.
00:48:36Don't lose any sleep over it, will you, girl?
00:49:06Chris, you...
00:49:09Six...
00:49:11Five...
00:49:13Seven...
00:49:15Two...
00:49:17Three...
00:49:20Hello?
00:49:22Hello?
00:49:24Hello?
00:49:26Hello?
00:49:28Hello?
00:49:30Hello?
00:49:32Hello?
00:49:35Hello?
00:49:43No.
00:49:45Not yet, darling.
00:49:48Tomorrow.
00:49:50Maybe.
00:49:55If this were fiction,
00:49:57I would fall in love with Vera,
00:49:59marry her and make a respectable woman of her,
00:50:01or she'd make some Supreme Class A sacrifice for me
00:50:04and die.
00:50:06Sue and I would bawl a little over her grave
00:50:08and make some crack about there's good in all of us.
00:50:11But Vera, unfortunately,
00:50:13was just as rotten in the morning
00:50:15as she'd been the night before.
00:50:18All right, all right. I'm coming.
00:50:20Look, Vera, it's almost noon.
00:50:23So what?
00:50:25The dealers will be there all day?
00:50:26They'll be there all year, too,
00:50:27but that doesn't mean I'm going to wait that long.
00:50:29Shut up. You're making noises like a husband.
00:50:34Well, do I rate a whistle?
00:50:36You sure do, but let's go.
00:50:38Let's go, let's go.
00:50:39I spend 85 bucks and two hours preparing bait,
00:50:41and all you can say is let's go.
00:50:44Come on.
00:50:51We passed a few used car lots last night down this way.
00:50:54What do you think we can get for this heap?
00:50:56I don't know. Plenty.
00:50:57You just let me handle everything.
00:50:59Think we can get $2,000?
00:51:01I don't know, but don't worry.
00:51:02I'll squeeze as much out of this guy as I can.
00:51:05I'll let it go cheap without a fight.
00:51:06He might think we've stolen the car.
00:51:08And listen, don't make any slips and call me Roberts.
00:51:11That'll cook us.
00:51:12I don't need you to tell me that.
00:51:14You better just sit by and keep your mouth closed.
00:51:17Remember, we're both in this soup if anything happens.
00:51:19Forget it and drive.
00:51:20You're my wife, Vera Haskell.
00:51:23Look, after the deal's closed,
00:51:25let's go back to that place on Hollywood Boulevard
00:51:27where I saw the fur jacket.
00:51:29I want to buy it.
00:51:30After the deal's closed, I'm saying goodbye to you.
00:51:33That's right. I forgot.
00:51:35I guess I'm getting kind of used to you.
00:51:38Well, that's a habit you can start breaking.
00:51:40Let's try this place in the middle of the block.
00:51:49Good afternoon. What can I do for you?
00:51:51We're interested in selling a car.
00:51:52If the price is right.
00:51:56Well, if it's in good mechanical condition,
00:51:58it should blue book for about $1,600.
00:52:01Tony, take a look at this motor.
00:52:03$1,600? Are you kidding?
00:52:16Well, maybe $1,850.
00:52:18Before I let it go for $1,850,
00:52:20I'll wreck it and collect the insurance first.
00:52:26Maybe this motor's seen a lot of driving.
00:52:35Well, the mechanic inspected the car.
00:52:37We haggled.
00:52:39At last, when we were all worn out, we hit a compromise.
00:52:42His price.
00:52:47Okay, it's a deal.
00:52:48All right, come in. We'll sign the papers.
00:52:50I have the ownership papers right here with me.
00:52:52Look, Vera, in the meantime,
00:52:53why don't you clean out the dash compartment?
00:52:54There may be some stuff in it.
00:52:55All right, darling.
00:52:59$1,850.
00:53:01That dirty crook.
00:53:10New York, huh?
00:53:11Yeah.
00:53:12But you bought the car in Miami?
00:53:14Yeah.
00:53:15Well, let's see about the insurance.
00:53:17We can either have it transferred or canceled.
00:53:19Uh, what kind of insurance do you have, Mr. Haskell?
00:53:23Well, uh...
00:53:25Aren't all the papers there?
00:53:29I don't see any.
00:53:30Surely you know what type of insurance you carry in the car.
00:53:33The name of the company?
00:53:35Yeah, but, uh...
00:53:37Well, if you'll just tell me the name of the company,
00:53:38I'd be very glad to take care of all the details.
00:53:40Well...
00:53:41Did you sign the papers yet?
00:53:43Not yet.
00:53:44Well, don't.
00:53:45We're not selling the car.
00:53:46Well, wait a minute, Mrs. Haskell.
00:53:47Come on, darling.
00:53:48What's the matter? You changed your mind?
00:53:49Yes, I'm sorry. I guess I have.
00:53:51But, Vera...
00:53:52Come on.
00:53:58You got me out of a tight spot, Vera.
00:54:00But I still don't understand all this.
00:54:02You will in a minute.
00:54:03I almost threw away a goldmine.
00:54:051850 isn't to be sneezed at.
00:54:07The car doesn't book for as much as I thought.
00:54:09We're not selling the car.
00:54:10You want to keep it?
00:54:12Now, wait a minute, Vera.
00:54:13You said yourself I wouldn't be safe
00:54:14until the car was in someone else's name.
00:54:16I'd like to be free of this mess when I go.
00:54:18That's just it, Roberts.
00:54:19You're not going.
00:54:21There's a driver at the next corner.
00:54:22Pull in there and we'll get a bite to eat.
00:54:24And I'll explain.
00:54:25What is this?
00:54:26Another one of your brilliant ideas?
00:54:33Hello.
00:54:34May I take your order?
00:54:35Make mine a ham sandwich and coffee.
00:54:36And for you, sir?
00:54:37Oh, I don't care.
00:54:38The same.
00:54:47Get this, Vera.
00:54:48I've been pretty patient so far.
00:54:50I've done everything you asked me to do, but no more.
00:54:52Shut up.
00:54:53You've taken Haskell's money.
00:54:54And you can have the dough we get from selling the car.
00:54:56But you're not going to keep me a prisoner.
00:54:58It's a good thing I bought the paper.
00:54:59Take a look at that.
00:55:00Vera, I'm in no mood.
00:55:01Read that.
00:55:12No.
00:55:13Yes.
00:55:14No, I won't do it.
00:55:15Yes, you will.
00:55:16You think I'm crazy?
00:55:17It's impossible, I tell you.
00:55:18Excuse me.
00:55:25Blow the horn when you're through.
00:55:30No one could possibly get away with an act like that.
00:55:32He'll be wise to me in a minute.
00:55:33Don't be yellow.
00:55:34You look enough like him.
00:55:35The same coloring and the same build.
00:55:37See how his clothes fit you?
00:55:39No kidding, you almost had me fooled for a while.
00:55:41Oh, grow up, Vera.
00:55:42Don't you think a father knows his own son?
00:55:44And there must be other relatives.
00:55:45The father won't have to know you.
00:55:46We'll wait till he gives up the ghost.
00:55:48He's an old geezer, and he won't pull through.
00:55:50And as far as other relatives are concerned,
00:55:52they haven't seen you in 15 or 20 years.
00:55:55Eat.
00:55:56I'm not hungry.
00:55:58And I won't do it.
00:55:59It's not as tough as it sounds.
00:56:01Remember, you've got all kinds of identification.
00:56:03His car, letters, license.
00:56:04I could never get away with it.
00:56:05It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
00:56:07The old boy has scads of dough.
00:56:09Look in the paper there.
00:56:10Personal fortune assessed at over 15 million.
00:56:12He'll leave plenty, I tell you.
00:56:14Maybe he cut off his son.
00:56:15How do we know?
00:56:16It's out, Vera.
00:56:17I won't have anything to do with it.
00:56:20I think you will.
00:56:22Look, Vera.
00:56:23I'll do anything within reason.
00:56:25But not that.
00:56:26So forget it.
00:56:27Find yourself another stooge.
00:56:28Giuseppe!
00:56:30You'll be fixed for the rest of your life as Charlie Haskell.
00:56:32You can take your inheritance and go away.
00:56:34No more worrying about the rent.
00:56:35No sweating, scheming,
00:56:36wondering where your next meal's coming from.
00:56:38Think about that, Roberts.
00:56:39Vera, please.
00:56:40You're talking too loud.
00:56:42Unless I'm splitting 50-50 with you.
00:56:43Sure, why not?
00:56:44We're both alike.
00:56:45Both born in the same gutter.
00:56:46Take it easy, Vera.
00:56:47There's people around here.
00:56:48You don't know who you're talking to.
00:56:50Well, wait till we read that old man Haskell's dead.
00:56:53Then you show up.
00:56:54Like you read in New York that he was sick.
00:56:57No.
00:56:58Suppose he doesn't die?
00:56:59He will.
00:57:00I know he will.
00:57:01Something tells me.
00:57:04But as much as I insisted I would have no part of her scheme,
00:57:07Vera was taking it for granted I would.
00:57:10Neither of us had our mind on the cards as we played that night.
00:57:14I knew we were just trying to kill time between newspaper editions.
00:57:18This was a death watch for Vera.
00:57:21Maybe it was for me, too.
00:57:23Don't you realize if I'm caught,
00:57:24they'll want to know where I got the car and stuff,
00:57:26and they'll have me on a murder charge.
00:57:28If you're smart, you won't get caught.
00:57:30I knock with seven.
00:57:31And if I'm caught, don't you realize you'll be out too?
00:57:3418 points, that gives me 30.
00:57:37How will I be out?
00:57:38You'll be out $1,850 we would have gotten on the car.
00:57:40Really, Vera, you'd be an awful chump
00:57:42if you threw away all that dough in a dizzy long shot.
00:57:44Let me sell the bus tomorrow.
00:57:45With the money it'll bring and what you've already got,
00:57:47a clever kid like you can run it up in no time.
00:57:49Then we'd both be in the clear.
00:57:50I'll be in the clear anyway.
00:57:51Maybe.
00:57:52Maybe.
00:57:53If I got caught.
00:57:55I'd get good and sore too, you know.
00:57:57You mean you'd squeal?
00:57:58Oh, no, not squeal exactly.
00:57:59Never mind what you meant.
00:58:03Even if you did,
00:58:05even if you did tell the cops I was in on it with you,
00:58:08what could they do to me?
00:58:10They might give me the same medicine they gave you.
00:58:13Yeah.
00:58:14A rope.
00:58:17But I'm on my way anyhow.
00:58:21All they'll be doing will be rushing it.
00:58:24All right.
00:58:25But think of the $1,850 you'd lose.
00:58:27You'd kick yourself along the block
00:58:28if you ever let get away from you.
00:58:29I'll take the chance.
00:58:31Want another drink?
00:58:32You're being a goon.
00:58:33That's the way people wind up behind the eight ball.
00:58:35Once they get a few dollars,
00:58:36they become greedy and want more.
00:58:38My, my.
00:58:39Caesar.
00:58:40Who?
00:58:41You know that Roman general?
00:58:42He got his for being greedy.
00:58:43He wasn't satisfied,
00:58:44so the final wind-up was he took the count.
00:58:46A couple of days ago, you didn't have a dime.
00:58:48While you were so broke,
00:58:49you couldn't pay cash for a postage stamp.
00:58:51Now you've got almost $700 with $1,850 in the offing.
00:58:55Take my advice.
00:58:56Don't try for more.
00:58:57I'm tired of this game.
00:58:58Let's have some blackjack.
00:58:59Play solitaire.
00:59:00I don't care.
00:59:01I will if that's the way you feel about it.
00:59:02That's the way I feel about it.
00:59:03Getting so on throwing things won't help much, Roberts.
00:59:06I'm really doing you a favor.
00:59:07I help you out of a jam by keeping my mouth shut.
00:59:09I show you how to make some soft money.
00:59:11And what thanks do I get?
00:59:12Thanks?
00:59:13Sure.
00:59:14I would rather call the cops
00:59:15and tell them you killed a man and stole his money.
00:59:16I didn't kill anybody.
00:59:17Yes, you did.
00:59:18No, I didn't.
00:59:19You know I didn't.
00:59:20All right, then.
00:59:22Suppose I call the cops.
00:59:24If you're innocent,
00:59:25what do you got to be scared of?
00:59:27Okay.
00:59:28Call them, you mutt.
00:59:29Go ahead and call them.
00:59:30See if I care.
00:59:31At least they'll give me a square deal.
00:59:33You want me to call them?
00:59:34You heard me.
00:59:35But I'm warning you.
00:59:36If I'm pinched, I'll swear you were in on it.
00:59:38I'll say that you helped me.
00:59:39If I fry, I'll get even with you.
00:59:41You wouldn't dare.
00:59:42You didn't.
00:59:43Yeah?
00:59:44Then try it and see.
00:59:45Call them.
00:59:46Yeah.
00:59:47Okay, I will.
01:00:01Information?
01:00:03I want the number of the Hollywood police station.
01:00:08Okay, I got it.
01:00:09Thanks.
01:00:13Wait a minute, Vera.
01:00:14You wouldn't do that.
01:00:15Wouldn't I?
01:00:16Give me that and I'll show you if I would.
01:00:17Take it easy now.
01:00:18Let's talk this over.
01:00:19This was early in the evening,
01:00:21and the conversation, while hectic,
01:00:23was at least pitched low.
01:00:25But as the minutes passed,
01:00:27and more obstacles to her plan popped into my head,
01:00:30the air got blue.
01:00:32Each word coming from our lips cracked like a whip.
01:00:35I reminded her that as Charles Haskell,
01:00:37I didn't even know my mother's name,
01:00:39where I'd gone to school,
01:00:41the name of my best friend,
01:00:43whether I had an Aunt Emma or not,
01:00:45my religion,
01:00:46and if I'd ever owned a dog.
01:00:48I didn't even know what my middle initial stood for.
01:00:51I also pointed out that the real Haskell
01:00:53had a scar on his forearm.
01:00:55His people never saw that scar.
01:00:57He told me he ran away right after putting out the kid's eye.
01:00:59Yeah, but his father knew he was cut.
01:01:01There'd have to be some kind of a mark.
01:01:02So what?
01:01:04The old man's dead or will be,
01:01:06I hope, by tomorrow morning's papers.
01:01:08Anyway, you could cut yourself a little, couldn't you?
01:01:12Boy, for that kind of dough,
01:01:14I'd let you cut my leg off.
01:01:16You're drunk and you're crazy mad, Vera.
01:01:18Turn him in if you want to,
01:01:19but I won't get mixed up in this.
01:01:20Besides, how do we know Haskell was such a phony?
01:01:22Maybe he wasn't the man's son at all.
01:01:23Maybe he just dreamed it up.
01:01:24Well, dream it or not,
01:01:26you won't be dreaming when the law
01:01:28taps you on the shoulder.
01:01:30There's a cute little gas chamber
01:01:32waiting for you, Roberts.
01:01:34And I hear extradition to Arizona's a cinch.
01:01:37Where's that phone?
01:01:39Vera!
01:01:40Leave me alone!
01:01:41Vera!
01:01:42I want a phone call, please!
01:01:44I hate you.
01:01:46You're a stinker.
01:01:48You leave me alone!
01:01:49I'll let you alone when you promise
01:01:50to leave the phone where it is.
01:01:51You're drunk.
01:01:52You don't know what you're doing.
01:01:53You're hurting me.
01:01:54Will you promise?
01:01:55All right.
01:02:02You hurt me.
01:02:04I'm sorry, but...
01:02:05And it's hot in here.
01:02:06Open up a window.
01:02:07It's not hot.
01:02:08Don't tell me.
01:02:09Now, do you do it or do I do it?
01:02:13You're an old gentleman, see?
01:02:15Yeah.
01:02:16All right.
01:02:17I'll open up the window.
01:02:21Vera!
01:02:27Vera, open the door.
01:02:28Please open the door.
01:02:29Vera, open the door.
01:02:30Don't use the phone.
01:02:31Listen to me.
01:02:32I don't like you, Roberts.
01:02:34You're an old gentleman, see?
01:02:36You hurt my hand.
01:02:38And I'm gonna get even with you.
01:02:40If you don't open the door,
01:02:41I'm gonna kick it down, Vera.
01:02:43Vera, don't call the cops.
01:02:44Listen to me.
01:02:45I'll do anything you say.
01:02:47Vera, let me in.
01:02:50I'll break the phone.
01:03:20The world is full of skeptics.
01:03:32I know.
01:03:33I'm one myself.
01:03:35In the Haskell business,
01:03:36how many of you would believe he fell out of the car?
01:03:38And now, after killing Vera
01:03:39without really meaning to do it,
01:03:41how many of you would believe it wasn't premeditated?
01:03:44In a jury room,
01:03:45every last man of you would go down
01:03:47shouting that she had me over a barrel
01:03:49and my only out was force.
01:03:53The room was still.
01:03:55So quiet that for a while,
01:03:57I wondered if I had suddenly gone deaf.
01:03:59It was pure fear, of course.
01:04:01And I was hysterical.
01:04:03But without making a sound.
01:04:06Vera was dead.
01:04:08And I was her murderer.
01:04:10Murderer.
01:04:11What an awful word that is.
01:04:13But I'd become one.
01:04:15I'd better not get caught.
01:04:17What evidence there was around the place had to be destroyed.
01:04:20And from the looks of things, there was plenty.
01:04:22Looking around the room at things we'd bought
01:04:23was like looking into the faces of a hundred people
01:04:25who'd seen us together and who remembered me.
01:04:28This was the kind of testimony I couldn't rub out.
01:04:32No.
01:04:33I could burn clothes and hide bottles for the next five years.
01:04:36There'd always be witnesses.
01:04:38The landlady, for one.
01:04:39She could identify me.
01:04:40The car dealer, the waitress in the drive-in,
01:04:41the girl in the dress shop,
01:04:42and that guy in the liquor store.
01:04:44It could all identify me.
01:04:47I was cooked.
01:04:48Done for.
01:04:49I had to get out of there.
01:04:52While once I'd remained beside a dead body,
01:04:54planning carefully how to avoid being accused of killing him,
01:04:57this time I couldn't.
01:04:59This time I was guilty.
01:05:02I knew it.
01:05:04Felt it.
01:05:06I was like a guy suffering from shock.
01:05:08Things were whirling around in my head.
01:05:10I couldn't make myself think right.
01:05:13All I could think of was the guy with the saxophone
01:05:15and what he was playing.
01:05:17It wasn't a love song anymore.
01:05:20It was a dirge.
01:05:43But my problems weren't solved.
01:06:12I had to stay away from New York for all time
01:06:15because Al Roberts was listed as dead and had to stay dead.
01:06:19But I could never go back to Hollywood.
01:06:22Someone might recognize me as Haskell.
01:06:25Then, too, there was Sue.
01:06:29I could never go to her with a thing like this
01:06:31hanging over my head.
01:06:34All I could do was pray she'd be happy.
01:06:48I was in Bakersfield before I read that Vera's body was discovered,
01:06:53that the police were looking for Haskell
01:06:55in connection with his wife's murder.
01:06:58Isn't that a laugh?
01:07:00Haskell got me into this mess
01:07:02and Haskell was getting me out of it.
01:07:04The police were searching for a dead man.
01:07:10I keep trying to forget what happened
01:07:13and wonder what my life might have been
01:07:16if that car of Haskell's hadn't stopped.
01:07:20But one thing I don't have to wonder about.
01:07:23I know.
01:07:26Someday a car will stop to pick me up that I never thumbed.
01:07:34Yes.
01:07:36Fate or some mysterious force
01:07:40can put the finger on you or me
01:07:43for no good reason at all.