find more Classic Movies :
https://rebrand.ly/CineTV-Classics
https://rebrand.ly/CineTV-Classics
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:30♪♪
00:00:44♪♪
00:01:09♪♪
00:01:24Well, here we are. I'd turn down here at the next block.
00:01:27Thanks, mister. I'll get off there.
00:01:30♪♪
00:01:36Want anything else?
00:01:38No.
00:01:39Hey, you.
00:01:43Me?
00:01:44Yeah, you.
00:01:45Where you heading?
00:01:47East.
00:01:48You're dead.
00:01:50I thought if you was heading north, I might be able to help you out.
00:01:53I'm pushing the Salt Lake and I don't like to ride it alone at night.
00:01:56I'm one of those guys who's got to talk or I fall asleep.
00:01:59Oh, sure, you might.
00:02:00Pardon me, he's got Lou to keep company, but I ain't got nobody at all.
00:02:04Where you coming from?
00:02:06West.
00:02:07Yeah, sure, I know, but where, L.A.?
00:02:09Maybe.
00:02:10I got a cousin out in L.A.
00:02:12You don't say.
00:02:13Yeah, he's been out...
00:02:15You're not much of a talker, are you?
00:02:17My mother taught me never to speak to strangers.
00:02:19Oh, a wise guy.
00:02:20So what?
00:02:21Okay, okay, don't get so off.
00:02:23He's trying to be sociable, that's all.
00:02:26Hey, Glamorous.
00:02:27Get changed for a dime, will you?
00:02:37Let's have something quieter this time, Joe.
00:02:39My head's splitting.
00:02:40Is that what's wrong with it?
00:02:44Done with your coffee?
00:02:46No.
00:02:47And don't rush me, will you?
00:02:56Hey, turn that off.
00:02:57Will you turn that thing off?
00:02:58What's eating you now?
00:02:59Yeah, what's eating you?
00:03:00That music, it stinks.
00:03:01Oh, you don't like it, huh?
00:03:02No, turn it off.
00:03:03Now, wait a minute, pal.
00:03:04That was my nickel, see?
00:03:06This is a free country.
00:03:07And I play whatever I wanted.
00:03:11Sure, and if you don't like it,
00:03:12you don't have to listen to it.
00:03:13And you can leave here anytime you want to.
00:03:15Okay, okay, I'm sorry I asked.
00:03:17First good piece played tonight,
00:03:18and you don't like it.
00:03:19Some people just ain't got any good taste.
00:03:36That tune.
00:03:38That tune!
00:03:39Why was there always that rotten tune?
00:03:42Following me around, beating in my head,
00:03:43never letting up.
00:03:49Did you ever want to forget anything?
00:03:51Did you ever want to cut away
00:03:52a piece of your memory or blot it out?
00:03:54You can't, you know.
00:03:56No matter how hard you try.
00:03:58You can change the scenery.
00:04:00But sooner or later,
00:04:01you'll get a whiff of perfume
00:04:02or somebody will say a certain phrase
00:04:03or maybe hum something.
00:04:05Then you're licked again.
00:04:09I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:11I used to love that song once.
00:04:13So did the customers
00:04:14back in the old break at dawn club in New York.
00:04:17I can't remember a night
00:04:18when I didn't get at least three requests for it.
00:04:21Sue, she was always selling it too.
00:04:24Those were the days.
00:04:35Your eyes are blue, your kisses too.
00:04:38I never knew what they could do.
00:04:41I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:47You're telling everyone
00:04:50that you're in love with me.
00:04:53I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:56I used to love that song once.
00:04:59So did the customers
00:05:01back in the old break at dawn club in New York.
00:05:04You're telling everyone you know
00:05:06that I'm on your mind each place you go.
00:05:09They can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:15I have always placed you far above me.
00:05:21I just can't imagine that you love me.
00:05:27And after all is said and done
00:05:30to think that I'm the lucky one
00:05:33I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:45It wasn't much of a club really.
00:05:47You know the kind.
00:05:49A joint where you could have a sandwich and a few drinks
00:05:51and run interference for your girl on the dance floor.
00:05:56I parted the piano in there every night from eight
00:05:58until the place closed up.
00:06:00Which usually meant four in the morning.
00:06:02A good job as jobs went in those days.
00:06:08Then too there was Sue
00:06:11who made working there a little like working in heaven.
00:06:14But how we felt about each other
00:06:16well there was nothing very unusual in that.
00:06:19I was an ordinary healthy guy
00:06:21and she was an ordinary healthy girl
00:06:23and when you add those two together
00:06:25you get an ordinary healthy romance
00:06:27which is the old story.
00:06:30Somehow the most wonderful thing in the world.
00:06:41All in all I was a pretty lucky guy.
00:06:56Mr. Paderewski I presume.
00:06:58It's beautiful.
00:06:59Are you going to make Carnegie Hall yet Al?
00:07:01Yeah.
00:07:02As a janitor.
00:07:03I'll make my debut in the basement.
00:07:05I don't blame you for being bitter darling
00:07:07but you mustn't give up hope.
00:07:09Why someday.
00:07:10Yeah someday.
00:07:11If I don't get arthritis first.
00:07:13In the meantime let's blow this trap.
00:07:29Would you like to get something to eat hon?
00:07:31Oh I don't think so Al.
00:07:32I lose my appetite working in this flea bag.
00:07:35Let's go home.
00:07:36Okay.
00:07:38I can't stand much more of that dump.
00:07:40Did you see that drunk tonight
00:07:42trying to paw me?
00:07:43No what drunk?
00:07:44Does it matter what drunk?
00:07:47Say what's the matter with you tonight darling?
00:07:49That's the third time you start to tell me something
00:07:51and then stop.
00:07:52You shouldn't have been drunk.
00:07:54I'm not drunk.
00:07:55I'm not drunk.
00:07:56I'm not drunk.
00:07:57Al.
00:07:58We shouldn't have any secrets from each other Sue.
00:08:00Next week we're going to make with a ring and a license.
00:08:02You and me will be a team.
00:08:03Yes that's right.
00:08:04In the bush league.
00:08:06I don't get you.
00:08:07We've been struck out.
00:08:10That's a funny way to talk darling.
00:08:12Don't you want to marry me?
00:08:13Al look I love you.
00:08:14You know I do and I want to marry you.
00:08:17But?
00:08:18But not now.
00:08:19Only after we've made good.
00:08:22Sunday I'm going away.
00:08:24Oh I know you'll think it's silly.
00:08:26That's why I hesitated to tell you.
00:08:28But I'm going to California.
00:08:30I want to try my luck in Hollywood.
00:08:33That's the most stupid thing I ever heard of.
00:08:35Don't you know millions of people go out there every year
00:08:37and wind up polishing cuspid doors?
00:08:39I thought you had better sense.
00:08:40You sound as if you don't think I have any talent.
00:08:42That has nothing to do with it.
00:08:43I'll make out alright.
00:08:44Maybe.
00:08:45But what about me?
00:08:46Doesn't it mean anything to you
00:08:47that you're busting up all our plans?
00:08:49We may not see each other for years.
00:08:50It won't be that long.
00:08:52I thought you loved me.
00:08:54I do.
00:08:55You know I do.
00:08:58Well.
00:09:00Here we are.
00:09:03Al.
00:09:05Al, why can't you see my side of it?
00:09:08I'm young.
00:09:09We both are.
00:09:11And we've got all the time in the world to settle down.
00:09:15Really, darling.
00:09:16What I'm doing is the only sane thing to do.
00:09:21I hate the thought of being so far away from you.
00:09:25But we'll be together again someday.
00:09:28Maybe you'll decide to come out too later on.
00:09:31So long.
00:09:33Al.
00:09:34Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight?
00:09:37Sure.
00:09:38Why not?
00:09:41Goodnight.
00:09:55Al.
00:09:56Al.
00:09:57Al.
00:09:58Al.
00:09:59Al.
00:10:00Al.
00:10:01Al.
00:10:02Al.
00:10:03Al.
00:10:04Al.
00:10:05Al.
00:10:06Al.
00:10:07Al.
00:10:08Al.
00:10:09Al.
00:10:10Al.
00:10:11Al.
00:10:12Al.
00:10:13Al.
00:10:14Al.
00:10:15Al.
00:10:16Al.
00:10:17Al.
00:10:18Al.
00:10:19Al.
00:10:20Al.
00:10:21Al.
00:10:22Al.
00:10:23Al.
00:10:24Al.
00:10:25Al.
00:10:26Al.
00:10:27Al.
00:10:28Al.
00:10:29Al.
00:10:30Al.
00:10:31Al.
00:10:32Al.
00:10:33Al.
00:10:34Al.
00:10:35Al.
00:10:36Al.
00:10:37Al.
00:10:38Al.
00:10:39Al.
00:10:40Al.
00:10:41Al.
00:10:42Al.
00:10:43Al.
00:10:44Al.
00:10:45Al.
00:10:46Al.
00:10:47Al.
00:10:48Al.
00:10:49Al.
00:10:50Al.
00:10:51Al.
00:10:52Al.
00:10:53Al.
00:10:54Al.
00:10:55Al.
00:10:56Al.
00:10:57Al.
00:10:58Al.
00:10:59Al.
00:11:00Al.
00:11:01Al.
00:11:02Al.
00:11:03Al.
00:11:04Al.
00:11:05Al.
00:11:06Al.
00:11:07Al.
00:11:08Al.
00:11:09Al.
00:11:10Al.
00:11:11Al.
00:11:12Al.
00:11:13Al.
00:11:14Al.
00:11:15Al.
00:11:16Al.
00:11:17Al.
00:11:18Al.
00:11:19Al.
00:11:20Al.
00:11:21Al.
00:11:22Al.
00:11:23Al.
00:11:24Al.
00:11:25Al.
00:11:26Al.
00:11:27Al.
00:11:28Al.
00:11:29Al.
00:11:30Al.
00:11:31Al.
00:11:32Al.
00:11:33Al.
00:11:34Al.
00:11:35Al.
00:11:36Al.
00:11:37Al.
00:11:38Al.
00:11:39Al.
00:11:40Al.
00:11:41Al.
00:11:42Al.
00:11:43Al.
00:11:44Al.
00:11:45Al.
00:11:46Al.
00:11:47Al.
00:11:48Al.
00:11:49Al.
00:11:50Al.
00:11:51Al.
00:11:52Al.
00:11:53Al.
00:11:54Al.
00:11:55Al.
00:11:56Al.
00:11:57Al.
00:11:58Al.
00:11:59Al.
00:12:00Al.
00:12:01Al.
00:12:02Al.
00:12:03Al.
00:12:04Al.
00:12:05Al.
00:12:06Al.
00:12:07Al.
00:12:08Al.
00:12:09Al.
00:12:10Al.
00:12:11Al.
00:12:12Al.
00:12:13Al.
00:12:14Al.
00:12:15Al.
00:12:16Al.
00:12:17Al.
00:12:18Al.
00:12:19Al.
00:12:20Al.
00:12:21Al.
00:12:22Al.
00:12:23Al.
00:12:24Al.
00:12:25Al.
00:12:26Al.
00:12:27Al.
00:12:28Al.
00:12:29Al.
00:12:30Al.
00:12:31Al.
00:12:32Al.
00:12:33Al.
00:12:34Al.
00:12:35Al.
00:12:36Al.
00:12:37Al.
00:12:38Al.
00:12:39Al.
00:12:40Al.
00:12:41Al.
00:12:42Al.
00:12:43Al.
00:12:44Al.
00:12:45Al.
00:12:46Al.
00:12:47Al.
00:12:48Al.
00:12:50MUSIC
00:12:57Hello? Sue?
00:12:58This is Al.
00:12:59Oh, baby it's great to hear from you, too.
00:13:02What's that? You do?
00:13:03Oh, me, too, darling.
00:13:05I thought I'd go batty without ya.
00:13:07I just had to...
00:13:08Huh?
00:13:10You're working as a hashlinger.
00:13:12Shee, honey, that's tough.
00:13:14Those guys out in Hollywood don't know the real thing
00:13:16when it's right in front of them.
00:13:17You just stick it out, Sue, baby.
00:13:19Keep going around to those casting offices.
00:13:21I'm sure you'll click.
00:13:23Look, I'll tell you what, you stay put out there, I'll come to you.
00:13:26No, don't try to stop me, just expect me.
00:13:28Train? Who knows? Train, plane, bus, magic carpet.
00:13:31I'll be there if I have to crawl.
00:13:33If I have to travel by pogo stick.
00:13:35And then...
00:13:37let's get married right away, huh?
00:13:41That's the stuff.
00:13:42That's what I've been wanting to hear you say.
00:13:45Well...
00:13:47goodbye for now.
00:13:49I'll be seeing you soon.
00:13:52Yeah.
00:13:54Bye.
00:14:00The only way I could cross country was to thumb rides.
00:14:03For even after hocking everything, I only had enough money to eat.
00:14:07Money.
00:14:08You know what that is.
00:14:10It's the stuff you never have enough of.
00:14:12Little green things with George Washington's picture that men slave for.
00:14:16Commit crimes for, die for.
00:14:19It's the stuff that has caused more trouble in the world than anything else we ever invented.
00:14:23Simply because there's too little of it.
00:14:26At least I had too little of it.
00:14:28So it was me for the thumb.
00:14:46Ever done any hitchhiking?
00:14:49It's not much fun, believe me.
00:14:51Oh yeah, I know all about how it's an education and how 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.
00:15:01Or in PS62, or I'll send a dollar ninety-eight in stamps for ten easy lessons.
00:15:06Thumbing rides may save you a bus fare, but it's dangerous.
00:15:10You never know what's in store for you when you hear the squeal of brakes.
00:15:15If only I had known what I was getting into that day in Arizona.
00:15:20Here, throw that in the back seat.
00:15:24Okay, let's go.
00:15:26Make sure that door is closed.
00:15:30You know, Emily Post taught her how to write a book of rules for guys thumbing rides.
00:15:34Because as it is now, you never know what's right and what's wrong.
00:15:38You wrote a book of rules for a guy who's a thumbing ride.
00:15:42You can't do that.
00:15:44You can't do that.
00:15:46You can't do that.
00:15:48You can't do that.
00:15:50You can't do that.
00:15:52You can't do that.
00:15:54You can't do that.
00:15:56You never know what's right and what's wrong.
00:15:59We rode along for a little while, neither one of us saying anything.
00:16:03I was glad of that.
00:16:05I never know what to say to strange people driving cars.
00:16:08And two, you can never tell if a guy wants to talk.
00:16:12A lot of rides have been cut short because of a big mouth.
00:16:16So I kept my mouth shut until he started opening up.
00:16:21Hand me that little box that can pop it, will you, pal?
00:16:26Hold the wheel, will you?
00:16:39How far are you going?
00:16:40L.A.
00:16:41Wow, you're really traveling, aren't you?
00:16:43Yeah, but I don't expect to make it for a couple of years at the rate I've been promoting rides.
00:16:47Not much luck, huh?
00:16:48Sure, all bad.
00:16:50Not many people stop for a guy these days.
00:16:52Afraid of a stick-up, maybe.
00:16:54Well, you can't blame him.
00:16:56Where are you coming from?
00:16:57New York.
00:16:58Well, New York.
00:17:00You're in luck this time.
00:17:02I'm going all the way.
00:17:04Right through to Los Angeles.
00:17:07Can you drive a car?
00:17:08Sure. Whenever you're tired, let me know.
00:17:11I'll holler.
00:17:13I guess at least an hour passed before I noticed those deep scratches on his right hand.
00:17:18They were wicked.
00:17:20Three puffy red lines about a quarter of an inch apart.
00:17:23He must have seen me looking at them because he said...
00:17:27Beauties, aren't they?
00:17:29They're going to be scars someday.
00:17:32What an animal.
00:17:34Whatever it was, it must have been pretty big and vicious to have done that.
00:17:37Right on both counts, New York.
00:17:39I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world.
00:17:42A woman.
00:17:44She must have been Tarzan's mate.
00:17:46Looks like you lost the bout.
00:17:48It certainly wasn't a draw.
00:17:50You know, there ought to be a law against dames with claws.
00:17:53Yeah.
00:17:54I tossed her out of the car in her ear.
00:17:57Was I wrong?
00:17:59Give a lift to a tomato, you expect her to be nice, don't you?
00:18:01Yeah.
00:18:03After all, what kind of dame some rides?
00:18:05Sunday school teachers?
00:18:07Yeah.
00:18:09A little witch.
00:18:11She must have thought she was riding with some fall guy.
00:18:14For me, it's been poking horses around race tracks since I was 20.
00:18:18I've known a million dames like her.
00:18:20Two million.
00:18:21Yeah.
00:18:24Stop the car, open the door.
00:18:27Take it on the Arthur Duffy sister, I told her.
00:18:29That's the stuff.
00:18:30As I was done, huh?
00:18:33But if you want to see a real scar, brother, get a load of this.
00:18:38Wow.
00:18:40I got that one during.
00:18:41Dueling?
00:18:43Yeah, we were just kidding, of course.
00:18:45My dad owned a couple of Franco Prussian sabers.
00:18:47Kept them on the wall for decorations.
00:18:50Well, one day, a kid and I took them down.
00:18:52The old man wasn't around, had a duel.
00:18:56He got me in the arm here.
00:18:58Pretty mean cut.
00:19:00Infection set in later.
00:19:02Yeah, I can see that.
00:19:04Now give me that box again, will you?
00:19:05Yeah.
00:19:16Pain made me lose my head, I guess.
00:19:18I began slashing.
00:19:20Before I knew it, I'd put the other kid's eye out.
00:19:23That was tough.
00:19:25Well, it was just an accident, of course.
00:19:27Do you know how kids are?
00:19:29I got scared, decided I was going to run away from home.
00:19:32Old man almost caught me when I was packing my duds.
00:19:36The bloody rag I had wrapped around my wrist hadn't caught his attention.
00:19:39He'd have seen the bundle for sure.
00:19:42But I beat it when he was phoning for a doctor.
00:19:45That was 15, 16 years ago.
00:19:47I haven't been home since.
00:19:53Pull in there for a bite of something, huh?
00:19:55A bite of something?
00:19:57Brother, was I hungry.
00:19:59I hadn't had anything in my stomach for hours.
00:20:02Yet even with that gnawing in the pit of my belly,
00:20:04I didn't want to be in too big a rush to put on the feed bag.
00:20:07First, I had to make sure this guy knew the score.
00:20:10If I got him down on me, he'd buy a ticket to Hollywood.
00:20:13I'll wait out here for you, mister.
00:20:15If it's the money, don't worry about paying for it.
00:20:17This time it's on me.
00:20:18Well, that's why I'm here.
00:20:19Ask him. Take nothing of it.
00:20:21You make your first million, maybe you can do the same for me.
00:20:23Come on, New York.
00:20:24I gotta make the West Coast by Wednesday.
00:20:26There's a horse running in Santa Anita named Powered Bicycle.
00:20:28You can sell it to me if I want him.
00:20:30You'll make it, all right.
00:20:32He did most of the talking during the half hour we were in the place.
00:20:36I ate.
00:20:38He rambled on about his old man whom he hadn't heard from since he ran away as a kid.
00:20:42And how he happened to become a bookie.
00:20:44And then all about how he got rooked in Miami.
00:20:46One race, 38 grand.
00:20:48They cleaned out my book.
00:20:49How do you like that?
00:20:51That was tough luck.
00:20:52Yeah, and I'm supposed to be the smart guy.
00:20:54Well, you just wait.
00:20:55I'm going back to Florida next season with all kinds of jack.
00:20:57And you'll watch those stinkers run for cover.
00:20:59Do you want anything else?
00:21:01No, thanks. I've had plenty.
00:21:04That check there, sister?
00:21:09Oh, just a miniature change, sir.
00:21:11Keep it, sister.
00:21:12Oh, thank you. Say call again.
00:21:14I'll be waiting outside for you when you finish work.
00:21:17Sharp check, huh?
00:21:34I drove all that night while Haskell slept like a log.
00:21:37After a while, I began to get sleepy myself.
00:21:42I was happy, though.
00:21:44Soon I'd be with Sue again.
00:21:46The long trip was practically over and I'd be no more hoofing it down the concrete.
00:21:51I began to think of the future.
00:21:53Which couldn't have been brighter if I'd embroidered it with neon lights.
00:21:57It was nice to think of Sue shooting to the top.
00:22:00It's amazing what a full belly can do to your imagination.
00:22:30I'm on your mind each place you go
00:22:34I can't believe that you're in love
00:22:40With me
00:22:56Mr. Haskell.
00:22:58Mr. Haskell.
00:23:01Mr. Haskell, wake up. It's raining.
00:23:03Don't you think we ought to stop and put up the top?
00:23:14Mr. Haskell, I'm going to put up the top.
00:23:31Up until then, I had done things my way.
00:23:33But from then on, something else stepped in and shunted me off to a different destination
00:23:37than the one I had picked for myself.
00:23:39The one I pulled open that door.
00:23:45Mr. Haskell, what's the matter?
00:23:47Are you hurt?
00:23:49Are you hurt, Mr. Haskell?
00:23:51Start your sermon.
00:23:53I'll listen to it.
00:23:55But I know what you're going to hand me even before you open your mouths.
00:23:58You're going to tell me you don't believe my story of how Haskell died
00:24:01and give me that don't make me laugh expression on your smug faces.
00:24:07I saw it once. He was dead.
00:24:09And I was in for it.
00:24:11Who would believe he fell out of the car?
00:24:13Why, if Haskell came too, which of course he couldn't,
00:24:15even he would swear I conked him over the head for his door.
00:24:17Yes, I was in for it.
00:24:19Instinct told me to run.
00:24:21But then I realized it was hopeless.
00:24:23There were lots of people back down the road who could identify me.
00:24:25That gas station guy and the waitress.
00:24:27I would be in a worse spot then trying to explain why I beat it.
00:24:30The next possibility was to sit tight and tell the truth when the cops came.
00:24:33But that would be crazy.
00:24:35They'd laugh at the truth.
00:24:37And I'd have my head in the noose.
00:24:40So what else was there to do but hide the body and get away in the car?
00:24:43I couldn't leave the car there with him in the gully.
00:24:45That would be like erecting a tombstone.
00:24:57THE END
00:25:16My idea was to cover him with brush.
00:25:18Not to rob him.
00:25:20But then I remembered that even if I only drove the car for 100 miles or so,
00:25:22I would need money for gas.
00:25:24Besides, it was stupid of me to leave all that money on a dead man.
00:25:28Not only that, I'd have to take his driver's license in case I was stopped for something.
00:25:34I 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.
00:25:40My clothes. The owner of such an expensive car would never be wearing them.
00:25:45Some cop might put me in a suspicion.
00:25:54Hey, you, this your car?
00:26:15Don't you know better than to leave a car with the wheels halfway in the middle of the road?
00:26:18That's the way accidents happen.
00:26:20I'm sorry, officer. I was just putting up my top. I didn't think.
00:26:24Well, the next time, think. I'll let you go now, but watch your step in the future.
00:26:28I know that's a lonely stretch, but cars come by here once in a while and we have plenty of crack-ups.
00:26:33Thanks.
00:26:57I left nothing in the car to give me away as Roberts.
00:27:00If they found a dead man in the gully now, it would be me.
00:27:11As I drove off, it was still raining.
00:27:14And the drops streaked down the windshield like tears.
00:27:20I kept imagining I was being followed, that I could hear sirens back in the distance.
00:27:25Just how long it took me to cover the 60-odd miles to the California state line, I don't know.
00:27:30I lost all track of time.
00:27:33But the rain had stopped and the sun was up when I pulled up to the inspection station.
00:27:41Hello.
00:27:43Carrying any fruits or vegetables?
00:27:45No.
00:27:46Any livestock or poultry?
00:27:47No.
00:27:49I'd like to see your registration and driver's license, please.
00:27:56Anything in the baggage compartment?
00:27:58Just baggage.
00:28:00Charles Haskell, Junior, age 30, brown eyes, dark hair.
00:28:04Identifying marks, none.
00:28:06Are you Charles Haskell, Junior?
00:28:07Yes.
00:28:08Well, remember, if you're employed and you stay over 30 days, you take out California plates.
00:28:12All right, officer, but I won't be in the state a short while.
00:28:16Right, you can go now.
00:28:25I couldn't drive any farther without some sleep, cops or no cops.
00:28:29I knew I had to hit the hay and hit it hard.
00:28:33I was dead tired.
00:28:46No.
00:28:47No, you can't, Mr. Haskell.
00:28:49No.
00:29:17Mr. Haskell, you can't die.
00:29:21Don't think.
00:29:23Don't think I did it.
00:29:25No, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:27No.
00:29:28No.
00:29:44Who's there?
00:29:45It's the maid.
00:29:46Can I come in and clean?
00:29:48Later.
00:29:50In a half hour.
00:29:51All right, sir.
00:30:16There was no time to lose.
00:30:18Every minute I had to be Charles Haskell was dangerous.
00:30:20And I'd have to be Charles Haskell until I got to some city where I could leave the car and be swallowed up.
00:30:30That meant driving the car as far as San Bernardino.
00:30:33Maybe even to Los Angeles.
00:30:35In a little town, I might be noticed.
00:30:37But in a city, I should be safe enough.
00:30:39Then, after I ditched the car, I could go on to sue.
00:30:43But those five minutes at the state line made me realize it might be a good idea to find out a little bit about Mr. Haskell.
00:30:50Then, if anybody asked me questions, I could give the right answers.
00:30:54The first thing I found out was that I had $768.
00:30:58This was a lot of jack.
00:31:00But believe me, it was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:05And then I found out from a letter Haskell was carting around in his bag
00:31:09that he wasn't the open-handed, easy-going big shot
00:31:12who went around buying dinners for strange hitchhikers.
00:31:15Before I got done reading it, I saw him more as a chiseler.
00:31:19It was written to his old man in California.
00:31:22The one he hadn't seen in so many years.
00:31:24In it, Haskell posed as a salesman.
00:31:27He was a man of the trade.
00:31:29The one he hadn't seen in so many years.
00:31:32In it, Haskell posed as a salesman.
00:31:34Of hymnals, of all things.
00:31:38It was easy to see where Haskell expected to raise a new stake for his book in Miami.
00:31:43By rooking his old man.
00:31:46That was about all I found out from his effects.
00:31:49And it was enough.
00:31:51I told myself, maybe old man Haskell was lucky his son kicked off.
00:31:56He would never know it.
00:31:58But it saved him from taking a flyer in sacred literature preferred.
00:32:02♪
00:32:26Near the airport at Desert Center, I pulled up for water.
00:32:30There was a woman.
00:32:36Hey you, come on if you want a ride.
00:32:39♪
00:33:08♪
00:33:25How far are you going?
00:33:27How far are you going?
00:33:29That took me by surprise and I turned my head to look her over.
00:33:33She was facing straight ahead so I couldn't see her eyes.
00:33:36But she was young, not more than 24.
00:33:40Man, she looked as if she'd just been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world.
00:33:45Yet in spite of this, I got the impression of beauty.
00:33:49Not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you.
00:33:51Or the beauty you dream about when you're with your wife.
00:33:54But a natural beauty.
00:33:56A beauty that's almost homely because it's so real.
00:34:00Then suddenly she turned to face me.
00:34:02How far did you say you were going?
00:34:04Los Angeles.
00:34:05L.A.?
00:34:07L.A.'s good enough for me, mister.
00:34:09That's what I was afraid of.
00:34:11What'd you say?
00:34:12Oh nothing, just thinking out loud.
00:34:14People get in trouble for doing that.
00:34:17What's your name?
00:34:18You can call me Vera if you like.
00:34:20You live in Los Angeles?
00:34:22No.
00:34:24Where you coming from?
00:34:25Oh, back there.
00:34:27Needles?
00:34:28No.
00:34:29Oh sure, Phoenix.
00:34:31You look just like a Phoenix girl.
00:34:33Are the girls in Phoenix that bad?
00:34:35The girl must have been pretty tired.
00:34:37Because she fell asleep not 20 minutes after she stepped into the car.
00:34:41She lay sprawled out with her head resting against the far door.
00:34:44Like Haskell.
00:34:45I didn't like that part of it much.
00:34:47But I didn't wake her up.
00:34:50It wasn't that this girl still worried me.
00:34:52I'd gotten over that funny feeling I had when she looked at me.
00:34:55Which I put down as just my jangled nerves.
00:34:59With her eyes closed and the testis gone out of her.
00:35:01She seemed harmless enough.
00:35:03And instead of disliking her, I began to feel sorry for her.
00:35:07The poor kid probably had had a rough time of it.
00:35:11Who was she anyway?
00:35:13And why was she going to Los Angeles?
00:35:15And where'd she come from in the first place?
00:35:17The only thing I knew about her was her name.
00:35:20Not that it made any difference.
00:35:22A few hours more and we'd be in Hollywood.
00:35:24I'd forget where I parked the car and look up Sue.
00:35:27This nightmare of being a dead man would be over.
00:35:30Who this dame was, well, it was no business of mine.
00:35:33Where did you leave his body?
00:35:35Where did you leave the owner of this car?
00:35:37You're not fooling anyone.
00:35:39This buggy belongs to a guy named Haskell.
00:35:41That's not you, mister.
00:35:42You're out of your mind.
00:35:43That's my name, Charles Haskell.
00:35:44I can prove it.
00:35:45It's my driver's license.
00:35:46Save yourself the trouble, mister.
00:35:47Having Haskell's wallet only makes it worse.
00:35:49It just so happens I rode with Charlie Haskell.
00:35:51All the way from Louisiana.
00:35:53He picked me up outside of Shreveport.
00:35:55You rode with...
00:35:56You heard me.
00:35:57Then it all came to this.
00:35:59Then it all came back to me.
00:36:01All the talk about dueling and scars and scratches.
00:36:04There was no doubt about it.
00:36:06Vera must be the woman Haskell had mentioned.
00:36:09She must have passed me while I slept.
00:36:11Well?
00:36:13Well, I'm waiting.
00:36:14My goose was cooked.
00:36:16She had me.
00:36:18That Haskell guy wasn't dead yet.
00:36:20He wasn't stretched out stiff and cold in any Arizona gully.
00:36:23He was sitting right there in the car laughing like mad while he haunted me.
00:36:28Well?
00:36:29There was nothing I could say.
00:36:31It was her move.
00:36:33Vera, whatever her name was,
00:36:35it was just my luck picking her up on the road.
00:36:38It couldn't have been Helen or Mary or Evelyn or Ruth.
00:36:42It had to be the very last person I should ever have met.
00:36:46That's life.
00:36:48Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out afoot to trip you.
00:36:52I told her everything, but she didn't believe my story.
00:36:55I should have saved my breath.
00:36:57That's the greatest cock and bull story I ever heard.
00:36:59So he fell out of his car.
00:37:01Say, who do you think you're talking to, a hick?
00:37:03Listen, mister, I've been around.
00:37:05And I know a wrong guy when I see one.
00:37:07What did you do, kiss him with a wrench?
00:37:09Now, wait a minute.
00:37:10What I told you was true.
00:37:11You see, that's why I had to do it.
00:37:13You think I killed him.
00:37:14Well, the cops would have thought so, too.
00:37:16Yeah, well, maybe they still think so.
00:37:18What makes you so sure I'll shut up about this?
00:37:20Vera, I'm innocent.
00:37:22Give me a break, will you?
00:37:24It won't do me any good having you pinched.
00:37:26The cops are no friends of mine.
00:37:28Now, if there was a reward.
00:37:30But there isn't.
00:37:31Thanks.
00:37:32Don't thank me yet.
00:37:34I'm not through with you by a long shot.
00:37:36Let's see that roll.
00:37:44Is that the one?
00:37:47Is that all Haskell had?
00:37:49Isn't it enough?
00:37:50No, I thought he had more.
00:37:51Not that I know of.
00:37:52You can search me if you think I'm holding out on you.
00:37:54Well, maybe I will at that.
00:37:55He told me he was going to bet $3,000 on a horse named Paradisical on Wednesday at Santa Anita.
00:38:00He was stringing you along.
00:38:01He meant $300.
00:38:02Maybe.
00:38:03Sure, three bucks, $300.
00:38:04He was a piece of cheese, a big blowhard.
00:38:06Listen, mister.
00:38:07Don't try and tell me anything about Charlie Haskell.
00:38:09Remember, I knew him better than you did.
00:38:11Okay, then you knew he was a foreflusher.
00:38:12That explains the three grand bet.
00:38:14I'm not so sure he didn't have that three grand.
00:38:16Why should I believe you?
00:38:18You got all the earmarks of a cheap crook.
00:38:20Now, wait a minute.
00:38:21Shut up.
00:38:22You're a cheap crook and you killed him.
00:38:23For two cents, I'd change my mind and turn you in.
00:38:25I don't like you.
00:38:26All right, all right.
00:38:27Don't get sore.
00:38:28I'm not getting sore.
00:38:29But just remember who's boss around here.
00:38:31If you shut up and don't give me any arguments, you'll have nothing to worry about.
00:38:34But if you act wise, well, mister, you'll pop into jail so fast it'll give you the bends.
00:38:39I'm not arguing.
00:38:40Well, see that you don't.
00:38:41You know, as crooked as you look,
00:38:42I'd hate to see a fella as young as you wind up sniffing that perfume that Arizona hands out free to murderers.
00:38:47I'm not a murderer.
00:38:48Of course you're not.
00:38:49Haskell knocked his own head off.
00:38:50He fell, that's how it happened, just like I told you.
00:38:52Sure, and then he made you a present of his belongings.
00:38:54I explained why I had to do that.
00:38:55Oh, skip it.
00:38:56It doesn't make a difference one way or another.
00:38:57I'm not a mourner.
00:38:58I liked Haskell even less than I like you.
00:39:01Yeah, I saw what you did to him.
00:39:03What do you mean?
00:39:04The scratches on his wrist.
00:39:05Sure, I scratched him.
00:39:07Well, so you did.
00:39:10So your idea was to drive the car a little way, maybe into San Bernardino, and then leave it.
00:39:15You weren't going to sell it?
00:39:16Sell it?
00:39:17You think I'm crazy?
00:39:18Somebody else's car?
00:39:19See, all I want to do is leave it somewhere and forget I ever saw it.
00:39:22Not only don't you have any scruples, you don't have any brains.
00:39:25I don't get you.
00:39:26Maybe it's a good thing you met me.
00:39:28You'd have got yourself caught, sure.
00:39:30Why, you dope.
00:39:31Don't you know a deserted automobile always rates an investigation?
00:39:34Huh?
00:39:36Look, the cops find a car.
00:39:37Then they get curious.
00:39:38They wonder where the owner is.
00:39:40So all right, they don't trace Haskell.
00:39:42They trace you.
00:39:44I never thought of that.
00:39:45The only safe way to get rid of the car is to sell it to a dealer.
00:39:48Get it registered under a new name.
00:39:50Say, stop at the next store.
00:39:52I want to get a bottle and do some shopping before we hit L.A.
00:39:55Okay.
00:39:56As soon as we find a place, I'll drop you off and pick you up later.
00:39:58Nothing doing.
00:39:59You're coming in, too.
00:40:00From now on, you and I are like the Siamese twins.
00:40:03Yeah, but your way.
00:40:04I don't get the point.
00:40:05The point is, I don't want you to get lost.
00:40:07I'm not going to beat it if that's what you're afraid of.
00:40:09I'll say you're not.
00:40:10Well, I'm going to see that you sell this car so you don't get caught.
00:40:13Thanks.
00:40:14Of course, your interest wouldn't be financial, would it?
00:40:17You wouldn't want a small percentage of the profits.
00:40:20Well, now that you insist, how can I refuse?
00:40:23A hundred percent will do.
00:40:25Fine.
00:40:26I'm relieved.
00:40:27I thought for a moment you were going to take it all.
00:40:29I don't want to be a hog.
00:40:32A few hours later, we were in Hollywood.
00:40:34I was recognizing places Sue had written about.
00:40:37It struck me that far from being at the end of the trip,
00:40:40there was a greater distance between Sue and me than when I started out.
00:40:44Vera wasn't kidding with that Siamese twins crack.
00:40:48She rented a little apartment as Mrs. Charles Haskell.
00:40:52When I objected to this, she explained that it was on account of the car.
00:40:56A dealer might think something was funny if he called and found we were using different names.
00:41:05Home, sweet home.
00:41:06Yeah.
00:41:07Not bad either.
00:41:16In case there's any doubt in your mind, I'll take the bedroom.
00:41:19Yeah.
00:41:21Sure is stuffy in here.
00:41:31Keep the window shut.
00:41:32Okay.
00:41:35The old crow downstairs said there's a fallen bed behind this door.
00:41:45You know how to work it?
00:41:50I invented it.
00:41:55Some joint.
00:41:56One can't have everything.
00:41:58I'm first in the bathtub.
00:42:01I don't know why, but I figured you would be.
00:42:14Boy, oh boy.
00:42:16It sure feels good to be clean again.
00:42:19I must be ten pounds lighter.
00:42:21You must be.
00:42:27Well, bitchin' rides isn't exactly the way you keep your schoolgirl complexion.
00:42:35I wish that guy with the sacks would give up.
00:42:38Gets on my nerves.
00:42:42Forget it.
00:42:45Have a drink.
00:42:48Aren't you afraid I might take you up on it?
00:42:52If I didn't want to give you a drink, I wouldn't have offered it.
00:42:55Why be a sore head, Roberts?
00:42:57You got yourself into this thing.
00:42:59You should be grateful I'm not turning you in.
00:43:02Why, if I wasn't regular, you'd be in the pen this minute,
00:43:04being photographed, fingerprinted, and being pushed around by the cops.
00:43:08So cheer up.
00:43:09Get rid of that long puss.
00:43:13Or is your conscience bothering you?
00:43:20No.
00:43:22It isn't.
00:43:23That's wild.
00:43:24That's the spirit.
00:43:26He's dead, and no moment around will bring him back.
00:43:32Anyway, I never could understand this worrying about something that's over and done with.
00:43:36Now look, Vera, for the last time, I didn't kill him.
00:43:38Haskell was a sick man.
00:43:39Maybe he was dead before he fell out of the car.
00:43:41I don't know.
00:43:42Sure, sure, he died of old age.
00:43:45All right.
00:43:47So if it'll make you sociable,
00:43:50you didn't kill him.
00:43:53Thanks.
00:44:02Thanks.
00:44:14We're out of liquor, Roberts.
00:44:16Yeah.
00:44:18Too bad.
00:44:19I felt like getting tight tonight.
00:44:21Well, I think you succeeded.
00:44:23Am I tight?
00:44:24As a prima donna's corset.
00:44:26That's good.
00:44:27I wanted to get tight.
00:44:29Why?
00:44:30What have you got to get tight about?
00:44:32Oh, I don't know.
00:44:33A few things.
00:44:38You should have my worries.
00:44:39If I had your troubles, I'd stay sober.
00:44:42And I've got the key to that door.
00:44:47Yeah.
00:44:49Maybe you're right.
00:44:50I'm always right.
00:44:52You know, I don't like your attitude, Roberts.
00:44:55Well, there's a lot of things I don't like.
00:44:58Sure.
00:45:02But life's like a ball game.
00:45:04You've got to take a swing at whatever comes along
00:45:06before you wake up and find it's a ninth inning.
00:45:09You read that somewhere?
00:45:10That's the truth, Roberts.
00:45:12All you do is bellyache.
00:45:14Taking it easy and trying to make the best of things.
00:45:17Maybe that's what's wrong with the whole world.
00:45:19Get the professor.
00:45:21People knock themselves out trying to buck fate.
00:45:24Now, take you for instance.
00:45:25You're lucky to be alive.
00:45:27Why, suppose Haskell had opened your door?
00:45:29You'd be playing a harp now.
00:45:31Think of that.
00:45:33You think of it.
00:45:35I'm tired of thinking.
00:45:37There's plenty of people dying this minute
00:45:40that would give anything to trade places with you.
00:45:44I know what I'm talking about.
00:45:46I'm not so sure.
00:45:48At least they know they're done for.
00:45:50They don't have to sweat blood wondering if they are.
00:45:54Your philosophy stinks, pal.
00:45:57We all know we're going to kick off someday.
00:46:00It's only a question of when.
00:46:03But what's got us on this subject anyway?
00:46:06We'll be discussing politics next.
00:46:09Yeah.
00:46:11Where'd you hide the butts?
00:46:13Where'd you hide the butts?
00:46:16On the table, sucker.
00:46:25We bored each other with conversation
00:46:27for a couple of hours longer.
00:46:29Every five minutes one of us was wishing
00:46:31we had another bottle or a radio or something to read.
00:46:35Then finally we ran out of chatter.
00:46:38I know it's only 11 o'clock,
00:46:39but I want to get up early and make the rounds of the used car lots.
00:46:42I'm sorry about that.
00:46:43We've got all the time in the world.
00:46:45Maybe you have, but do you think I want to stay cooped up
00:46:47in this place any longer than I have to?
00:46:48You're batty.
00:46:49It's not a bad place.
00:46:50Paid plenty for diggings like this in New York.
00:46:52I wouldn't like it if it was the Ritz.
00:46:58You brought me liquor.
00:47:00You got a mean cough.
00:47:01Ought to do something about it.
00:47:03I'll be all right.
00:47:04That's what Camille said.
00:47:06Who?
00:47:07Nobody you know.
00:47:13Wasn't that the day in that died of consumption?
00:47:15Yeah.
00:47:16Wouldn't it be a break for you if I did kick off?
00:47:19You'd be free with all Haskell's dough and car.
00:47:22I don't want to see anybody die.
00:47:25Not even me?
00:47:27Especially not you.
00:47:28One person died in me.
00:47:30If you did, well, that's all I need.
00:47:34You don't like me, do you, Roberts?
00:47:38I like you.
00:47:40I love you.
00:47:42My favorite sport is being kept prisoner.
00:47:45After we sell the car, you can go to blazes for all I care.
00:47:48But not until then.
00:47:56I'm going to bed.
00:48:06Good night, Roberts.
00:48:07Don't try and sneak away during the night.
00:48:09All the doors are locked.
00:48:10Anyway, if I find you gone in the morning, I'll notify the police.
00:48:13They'll pick you up.
00:48:14Don't worry.
00:48:15I know when I'm in the spot.
00:48:17Well, good night.
00:48:18I hope that portable rack isn't too uncomfortable for you.
00:48:21Don't lose any sleep over it, will you?
00:48:40Come on.
00:49:02Crisp fuel.
00:49:05Six.
00:49:07Five.
00:49:09Seven.
00:49:11Two.
00:49:12Three.
00:49:15Hello?
00:49:17Hello?
00:49:19Hello?
00:49:21Hello?
00:49:29No.
00:49:31Not yet, darling.
00:49:34Tomorrow.
00:49:36Maybe.
00:49:39If this were fiction, I would fall in love with Vera.
00:49:42Marry her and make a respectable woman of her.
00:49:44Or else she'd make some supreme class A sacrifice for me and die.
00:49:50Sue and I would bawl a little over her grave
00:49:52and make some crack about there's good in all of us.
00:49:55But Vera, unfortunately, was just as rotten in the morning
00:49:59as she'd been the night before.
00:50:03All right, all right, I'm coming.
00:50:05Look, Vera, it's almost noon.
00:50:07So what?
00:50:08The dealers will be there all day.
00:50:10They'll be there all year, too, but it doesn't wait that long.
00:50:13Shut up, you're making us like a husband.
00:50:17Well, do I rate a whistle?
00:50:19You sure do, but let's go.
00:50:21Let's go, let's go.
00:50:22I spend 85 bucks and two hours preparing bait
00:50:24and all you can say is let's go.
00:50:28Come on.
00:50:30Come on.
00:50:36We've had a few used car lots last night down this way.
00:50:39What do you think we can get for this heap?
00:50:41I don't know, plenty.
00:50:42You let me handle everything.
00:50:44Think we can get $2,000?
00:50:46I don't know, but don't worry.
00:50:47I'll squeeze as much out of this guy as I can.
00:50:50I'll let it go cheap without a fight.
00:50:51He might think we've stolen the car.
00:50:53And listen, don't make any slips and call me Roberts.
00:50:56That'll cook us.
00:50:57I don't need you to tell me that.
00:50:59You better just sit by and keep your mouth closed.
00:51:01Remember, we're both in this suit if anything happens.
00:51:03Forget it and drive.
00:51:05You're my wife, Farrah Haskell.
00:51:07Look, after the deal's closed,
00:51:09let's go back to that place on Hollywood Boulevard
00:51:11where I saw the fur jacket.
00:51:13I want to try it.
00:51:14After the deal's closed, I'm saying goodbye to you.
00:51:17That's right, I forgot.
00:51:19I guess I'm getting kind of used to you.
00:51:22Well, that's a habit you can start breaking.
00:51:24Let's try this place in the middle of the block.
00:51:28All right.
00:51:33Good afternoon.
00:51:34What can I do for you?
00:51:35We're interested in selling a car.
00:51:37If the price is right.
00:51:41Well, if it's in good mechanical condition,
00:51:43it should blue book for about $1,600.
00:51:46Tony, take a look at this motor.
00:51:48$1,600?
00:51:49Are you kidding?
00:51:58Well, maybe $1,850.
00:52:00Before I let it go for $1,850,
00:52:02I'll wreck it and collect the insurance first.
00:52:08Angie, this motor's seen a lot of driving.
00:52:17While the mechanic inspected the car,
00:52:19we haggled.
00:52:21At last, when we were all worn out,
00:52:23we hit a compromise.
00:52:24His price.
00:52:28Okay, it's a deal.
00:52:29All right, come on, we'll sign the papers.
00:52:31I have the ownership papers right here with me.
00:52:33Look, Vera, in the meantime,
00:52:34will you clean the dash compartment?
00:52:36There may be some stuff in it.
00:52:37All right, darling.
00:52:41$1,850.
00:52:43That dirty crook.
00:52:55New York, huh?
00:52:56Yeah.
00:52:57But you bought the car in Miami?
00:52:59Yeah.
00:53:00Well, let's see about the insurance.
00:53:02We can either have it transferred or canceled.
00:53:04Uh, what kind of insurance do you have, Mr. Haskell?
00:53:08Well, uh,
00:53:09aren't all the papers there?
00:53:13I don't see any.
00:53:14Surely you know what type of insurance
00:53:16you carry in the car.
00:53:17The name of the company?
00:53:19Yeah, but, uh...
00:53:21Well, if you'll just tell me the name of the company,
00:53:23I'll be very glad to take care of all the details.
00:53:25Well...
00:53:26Did you sign the papers yet?
00:53:27Not yet.
00:53:28Well, don't.
00:53:29We're not selling the car.
00:53:30Well, wait a minute, Mrs. Haskell.
00:53:31Come on, darling.
00:53:32What's the matter?
00:53:33Did you change your mind?
00:53:34Yes, I'm sorry.
00:53:35I guess I have.
00:53:36But, Vera...
00:53:37Let's go.
00:53:43You got me out of a tight spot, Vera.
00:53:45But I still don't understand all this.
00:53:46You will in a minute.
00:53:47I almost threw away a goldmine.
00:53:49$1,850 isn't to be sneezed at.
00:53:51The car doesn't book for as much as I thought.
00:53:53We're not selling the car.
00:53:55You want to keep it?
00:53:56Now, wait a minute, Vera.
00:53:57You said yourself I wouldn't be safe
00:53:58until the car was in someone else's name.
00:54:00I like to be free of this mess when I go.
00:54:02That's just it, Roberts.
00:54:03You're not going.
00:54:05There's a driver at the next corner.
00:54:07Pull in there and we'll get a bite to eat.
00:54:08And I'll explain.
00:54:09What is this?
00:54:10Another one of your brilliant ideas?
00:54:18Hello.
00:54:19May I take your order?
00:54:20Sandwich and coffee.
00:54:21And for you, sir?
00:54:22Oh, I don't care.
00:54:23The same.
00:54:32Get this, Vera.
00:54:33I've been pretty patient so far.
00:54:35I've done everything you asked me to do, but no more.
00:54:37Shut up.
00:54:38You've taken Haskell's money.
00:54:39And you can have the dough we get from selling the car.
00:54:41But you're not going to keep me a prisoner.
00:54:43It's a good thing I bought the paper.
00:54:44Take a look at that.
00:54:45Vera, I'm in no mood.
00:54:46Read that.
00:54:51No.
00:54:52Yes.
00:54:53No, I won't do it.
00:54:54Yes, you will.
00:54:55You think I'm crazy?
00:54:56It's impossible, I tell you.
00:54:58Excuse me.
00:55:05Blow the horn when you're through.
00:55:10No one could possibly get away with an act like that.
00:55:12It'd be wise to me in a minute.
00:55:13Don't be yellow.
00:55:14You look enough like him.
00:55:15You're not going to get away with it.
00:55:16You're not going to get away with it.
00:55:17You're not going to get away with it.
00:55:18Don't be yellow.
00:55:19You look enough like him.
00:55:20The same coloring and the same build.
00:55:22See how his clothes fit you?
00:55:23No kidding.
00:55:24You almost had me fooled for a while.
00:55:25Oh, grow up, Vera.
00:55:26Don't you think a father knows his own son?
00:55:28And there must be other relatives.
00:55:29The father won't have to know you.
00:55:31We'll wait till he gives up the ghost.
00:55:32He's an old geezer, and he won't pull through.
00:55:34And as far as other relatives are concerned,
00:55:36they haven't seen you in 15 or 20 years.
00:55:40Eat.
00:55:41I'm not hungry.
00:55:42And I won't do it.
00:55:44It's not as tough as it sounds.
00:55:45Remember, you've got all kinds of identification.
00:55:47His car, letters, license.
00:55:48I could never get away with it.
00:55:49It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
00:55:51The old boy has scads of dough.
00:55:53Look in the paper there.
00:55:54Personal fortune assessed at over 15 million.
00:55:56He'll leave plenty, I tell you.
00:55:58Maybe he cut off his son.
00:55:59How do we know?
00:56:00It's out, Vera.
00:56:01I won't have anything to do with it.
00:56:04I think you will.
00:56:06Look, Vera.
00:56:07I'll do anything within reason.
00:56:09But not that.
00:56:10So forget it.
00:56:11Find yourself another stooge.
00:56:12You sack.
00:56:14You'll be fixed for the rest of your life as Charlie Haskell.
00:56:16You can take your inheritance and go away.
00:56:18No more worrying about the rent.
00:56:19No sweat and scheming.
00:56:20Wondering where your next meal's coming from.
00:56:22Think about that, Roberts.
00:56:23Vera.
00:56:24Please, you're talking too loud.
00:56:26On this, I'm splitting 50-50 with you.
00:56:28Sure, why not?
00:56:29We're both alike.
00:56:30Both born in the same gutter.
00:56:31Take it easy, Vera.
00:56:32There's people around here.
00:56:33You don't know who you're talking to.
00:56:35Well, wait till we read that old man Haskell's dead.
00:56:37Then you show up.
00:56:39Like you read in New York that he was sick.
00:56:41No.
00:56:43Suppose he doesn't die?
00:56:44He will.
00:56:45Something tells me.
00:56:48But as much as I insisted I would have no part of her scheme,
00:56:51Vera was taking it for granted I would.
00:56:55Neither of us had our mind on the cards as we played that night.
00:56:59I knew we were just trying to kill time between newspaper editions.
00:57:03This was a death watch for Vera.
00:57:06Maybe it was for me, too.
00:57:08Don't you realize if I'm caught,
00:57:09they'll want to know where I got the car and stuff,
00:57:11and they'll have me on a murder charge.
00:57:12If you're smart, you won't get caught.
00:57:15I knock with seven.
00:57:16And if I'm caught, don't you realize you'll be out, too?
00:57:19Eighteen points. That gives me 30.
00:57:23How will I be out?
00:57:24You'll be out $1,850 we would have gotten on the car.
00:57:27Really, Vera, you'd be an awful chump if you threw away all that dough in a dizzy long shot.
00:57:31Let me sell the bus tomorrow.
00:57:32With the money it'll bring and what you've already got,
00:57:34a clever kid like you can run it up in no time.
00:57:36Then we'd both be in the clear.
00:57:37I'll be in the clear anyway.
00:57:38Maybe.
00:57:39Maybe.
00:57:40But if I got caught,
00:57:43I'd get good and sore, too, you know.
00:57:44You mean you'd squeal?
00:57:45Oh, no, not squeal exactly.
00:57:46Never mind what you meant.
00:57:49Even if you did tell the cops I was in on it with you,
00:57:52what could they do to me?
00:57:54They might give me the same medicine they gave you.
00:57:57Yeah.
00:57:58A rope.
00:58:01But I'm on my way, anyhow.
00:58:05All I'll be doing will be rushing it.
00:58:07All right.
00:58:08But think of the $1,850 you'd lose.
00:58:10You'd kick yourself along the block if they let it get away from you.
00:58:12I'll take the chance.
00:58:14Want another drink?
00:58:15You're being a goon.
00:58:16That's the way people wind up behind the eight ball.
00:58:18Once they get a few dollars, they become greedy and want more.
00:58:21My, my.
00:58:22Caesar.
00:58:23Who?
00:58:24You know that Roman general?
00:58:25He got his for being greedy.
00:58:26He wasn't satisfied, so the final wind-up was he took the count.
00:58:29A couple of days ago, you didn't have a dime.
00:58:32Why, you were so broke you couldn't pay cash for a postage stamp.
00:58:35Now you've got almost $700 with $1,850 in the offing.
00:58:38Take my advice.
00:58:39Don't try for more.
00:58:40I'm tired of this game.
00:58:41Let's have some blackjack.
00:58:42Play solitaire.
00:58:43Okay, I will if that's the way you feel about it.
00:58:45That's the way I feel about it.
00:58:46Getting so on throwing things won't help much, Roberts.
00:58:48I'm really doing you a favor.
00:58:50I help you out of a jam by keeping my mouth shut.
00:58:52I show you how to make some soft money.
00:58:53And what thanks do I get?
00:58:55Thanks?
00:58:56Sure.
00:58:57I would rather call the cops and tell them you killed a man and stole his money.
00:58:58I didn't kill anybody.
00:58:59Yes, you did.
00:59:00No, I didn't.
00:59:01You know I didn't.
00:59:02All right, then.
00:59:05Suppose I call the cops.
00:59:07If you're innocent, what do you got to be scared of?
00:59:10Okay.
00:59:11Call them, you mutt.
00:59:12Go ahead and call them.
00:59:13See if I care.
00:59:14At least they'll give me a square deal.
00:59:15You want me to call them?
00:59:16You heard me.
00:59:17But I'm warning you.
00:59:18If I'm pinched, I'll swear you were in on it.
00:59:20I'll say that you helped me.
00:59:21If I fry, I'll get even with you.
00:59:24You wouldn't dare.
00:59:25You didn't.
00:59:26Yeah?
00:59:27Then try it and see.
00:59:28Call them.
00:59:29Yeah.
00:59:30Okay, I will.
00:59:41Information?
00:59:45I want the number of the Hollywood police station.
00:59:49Okay, I got it.
00:59:50Thanks.
00:59:51Wait a minute, Vera.
00:59:52You wouldn't do that.
00:59:53Who wouldn't do that?
00:59:54I'll show you if I would.
00:59:55Take it easy now.
00:59:56Let's talk this over.
00:59:57This was early in the evening.
00:59:58And the conversation, while hectic, was at least pitched low.
01:00:02But as the minutes passed, and more and more people came in,
01:00:07but as the minutes passed, and more obstacles to her plan popped into my head,
01:00:12the air got blue.
01:00:14Each word coming from our lips cracked like a whip.
01:00:17I reminded her that as Charles Haskell, I didn't even know my mother's name,
01:00:21where I'd gone to school,
01:00:23the name of my best friend,
01:00:25whether I had an Aunt Emma or not,
01:00:27my religion,
01:00:28and if I'd ever owned a dog.
01:00:30I didn't even know what my middle initial stood for.
01:00:33I also pointed out that the real Haskell had a scar on his forearm.
01:00:37His people never saw that scar.
01:00:39He told me he ran away right after putting out the kid's eye.
01:00:41Yeah, but his father knew he was cut.
01:00:43It had to be some kind of a mark.
01:00:44So what?
01:00:46The old man's dead or will be, I hope, by tomorrow morning's papers.
01:00:50Anyway, you could cut yourself a little, couldn't you?
01:00:54Boy, for that kind of dough, I'd let you cut my leg off.
01:00:58You're drunk and you're crazy mad, Vera.
01:01:00Turn me in if you want to, but I won't get mixed up in this.
01:01:02Besides, how do we know Haskell was such a phony?
01:01:04Maybe it wasn't the man's son at all.
01:01:05Maybe he just dreamed it up.
01:01:06Well, dream it or not,
01:01:08you won't be dreaming when the law taps you on the shoulder.
01:01:12There's a cute little gas chamber waiting for you, Roberts.
01:01:15And I hear extradition to Arizona's a cinch.
01:01:19Where's that phone?
01:01:21Vera!
01:01:22Leave me alone!
01:01:23Vera!
01:01:24I want a phone call, please!
01:01:27I hate you.
01:01:28You're a stinker.
01:01:29You leave me alone!
01:01:31I'll let you alone when you promise to leave the phone where it is.
01:01:33You're drunk. You don't know what you're doing.
01:01:34You're hurting me.
01:01:35Will you promise?
01:01:37All right.
01:01:43You hurt me.
01:01:45I'm sorry, but...
01:01:46And it's hot in here. Open up a window.
01:01:48It's not hot.
01:01:49Don't tell me. Now, do you do it or do I do it?
01:01:54You're no gentleman, see?
01:01:56Yeah.
01:01:57All right. I'll open up the window.
01:02:02Vera!
01:02:08Vera, open the door.
01:02:09Please open the door.
01:02:10Vera, open the door. Don't use the phone. Listen to me.
01:02:13I don't like you, Roberts.
01:02:15You're no gentleman, see?
01:02:17You hurt my hand.
01:02:19And I'm going to get even with you.
01:02:21If you don't open the door, I'm going to kick it down, Vera.
01:02:24Vera, don't call the cops. Listen to me.
01:02:26I'll do anything you say.
01:02:28Vera, let me in.
01:02:31I'll break the phone.
01:03:02The world is full of skeptics.
01:03:04I know.
01:03:06I'm one myself.
01:03:08In the Haskell business, how many of you would believe he fell out of the car?
01:03:11And now, after killing Vera without really meaning to do it,
01:03:14how many of you would believe it wasn't premeditated?
01:03:17In a jury room, every last man of you would go down shouting that she had me over a barrel
01:03:23and my only outweighed hope was that I'd never see her again.
01:03:27Every last man of you would go down shouting that she had me over a barrel
01:03:30and my only out was force.
01:03:34The room was still.
01:03:36So quiet that for a while, I wondered if I had suddenly gone deaf.
01:03:40It was pure fear, of course.
01:03:42And I was hysterical.
01:03:44But without making a sound.
01:03:47Vera was dead.
01:03:49And I was her murderer.
01:03:51Murderer. What an awful word that is.
01:03:54But I'd become one.
01:03:56I'd better not get caught.
01:03:58What evidence there was around the place had to be destroyed.
01:04:01And from the looks of things, there was plenty.
01:04:03Looking around the room at things we'd bought was like looking into the faces of a hundred people
01:04:06who'd seen us together and who remembered me.
01:04:09This was the kind of testimony I couldn't rub out.
01:04:13No.
01:04:14I could burn clothes and hide bottles for the next five years.
01:04:17There'd always be witnesses.
01:04:19The landlady, for one.
01:04:20She could identify me.
01:04:21The car dealer, the waitress in the drive-in, the girl in the dress shop,
01:04:23and that guy in the liquor store.
01:04:25They could all identify me.
01:04:28I was cooked. Done for.
01:04:30I had to get out of there.
01:04:33While once I'd remained beside a dead body,
01:04:35planning carefully how to avoid being accused of killing him,
01:04:38this time I couldn't.
01:04:40This time I was guilty.
01:04:43I knew it.
01:04:45Felt it.
01:04:47I was like a guy suffering from shock.
01:04:49Things were whirling around in my head.
01:04:51I couldn't make myself think right.
01:04:54All I could think of was the guy with the saxophone and what he was playing.
01:04:58It wasn't a love song anymore.
01:05:01It was a dirge.
01:05:24♪
01:05:50But my problems weren't solved.
01:05:53I had to stay away from New York for all time
01:05:56because Al Roberts was listed as dead and had to stay dead.
01:06:00And I could never go back to Hollywood.
01:06:03Someone might recognize me as Haskell.
01:06:06Then, too, there was Sue.
01:06:10I could never go to her with a thing like this hanging over my head.
01:06:15All I could do was pray she'd be happy.
01:06:19♪
01:06:29I was in Bakersfield before I read that Vera's body was discovered,
01:06:33that the police were looking for Haskell in connection with his wife's murder.
01:06:38Isn't that a laugh?
01:06:41Haskell got me into this mess, and Haskell was getting me out of it.
01:06:45The police were searching for a dead man.
01:06:49I keep trying to forget what happened
01:06:53and wonder what my life might have been if that car of Haskell's hadn't stopped.
01:06:59But one thing I don't have to wonder about.
01:07:03I know.
01:07:06Someday a car will stop to pick me up that I never thumbed.
01:07:10♪
01:07:14Yes.
01:07:16Fate or some mysterious force
01:07:20can put the finger on you or me
01:07:23for no good reason at all.
01:07:25♪