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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
00:01:36Here we are. I'll turn down here at the next block.
00:01:39Thanks, mister. I'll get off there.
00:01:48Want anything else?
00:01:50No.
00:01:51Hey, you.
00:01:55Me?
00:01:56Yes, you.
00:01:57Where are you going?
00:01:59East.
00:02:00Too bad.
00:02:02I thought if you were heading north, I might be able to help you out.
00:02:05I'm pushing to Salt Lake and I don't like to ride alone at night.
00:02:08I'm one of those guys who gotta talk or I fall asleep.
00:02:11Oh, sure, you might.
00:02:13Pardon me, he's got Lou to keep company, but I ain't got nobody at all.
00:02:17Where you coming from?
00:02:19West.
00:02:20Yeah, sure, I know, but where, L.A.?
00:02:22Maybe.
00:02:23I got a cousin out in L.A.
00:02:25You don't say.
00:02:26Yeah, he's been out...
00:02:28You're not much of a talker, are you?
00:02:30My mother taught me never to speak to strangers.
00:02:32A wise guy.
00:02:33So wise.
00:02:34Okay, okay, don't get sore.
00:02:36He's trying to be sociable, that's all.
00:02:39Hey, Glamorous.
00:02:41Get changed for a dime, will you?
00:02:52Let's have something quieter this time, Joe.
00:02:54My head's splitting.
00:02:55Is that what's wrong with it?
00:02:59Done with your coffee?
00:03:00No.
00:03:01And don't rush me, will you?
00:03:10Hey, turn that off, will you?
00:03:11Turn that thing off!
00:03:12What's eating you now?
00:03:13Yeah, what's eating you?
00:03:14That music, it stinks!
00:03:15Oh, you don't like it, huh?
00:03:16No, turn it off!
00:03:17Now, wait a minute, pal.
00:03:18That was my nickname, see?
00:03:20This is a free country.
00:03:21And I play whatever I want to.
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 anytime 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.
00:03:48That tune!
00:03:50Why was there always that rotten tune?
00:03:52Following me around, beating in my head, never letting up.
00:03:59Did you ever want to forget anything?
00:04:01Did you ever want to cut away a piece of your memory or blot it out?
00:04:04You can't, you know.
00:04:06No matter how hard you try.
00:04:08You can change the scenery.
00:04:10But sooner or later you'll get a whiff of perfume
00:04:12or somebody will say a certain phrase or maybe hum something.
00:04:15Then you're licked again!
00:04:17I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:19I used to love that song once.
00:04:21So did the customers back in the old break-at-dawn club in New York.
00:04:25I can't remember a night when I didn't get at least three requests for it.
00:04:28Sue, she was always selling it too.
00:04:32Those were the days.
00:04:47Your eyes are blue, your kiss is too.
00:05:06I never knew what they could do.
00:05:09I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:14You're telling everyone you know that I'm on your mind each place you go.
00:05:21They can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:27I have always placed you far above me.
00:05:32I just can't imagine that you love me.
00:05:39And after all is said and done, to think that I'm the lucky one.
00:05:45I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:57It wasn't much of a club, really.
00:05:59You know the kind.
00:06:01A joint where you could have a sandwich and a few drinks
00:06:03and run interference for your girl on the dance floor.
00:06:09I planted the piano in there every night from eight until the place closed up.
00:06:13Which usually meant four 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.
00:06:28But 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.
00:06:41But somehow, the most wonderful thing in the world.
00:06:52All in all, I was a pretty lucky guy.
00:07:06Mr. Paderewski, I presume.
00:07:08It's beautiful.
00:07:09You're going to make Carnegie Hall yet, Al?
00:07:11Yeah.
00:07:12As a janitor.
00:07:14I'll make my debut in the basement.
00:07:16I don't blame you for being bitter, darling.
00:07:18But you mustn't give up hope.
00:07:20Why, someday...
00:07:21Yeah, someday.
00:07:22If I don't get arthritis first.
00:07:23In the meantime, let's blow this trap.
00:07:36You like to get something to eat, hon?
00:07:38Oh, I don't think so, Al.
00:07:39I lose my appetite working in this flea bag.
00:07:42Let's go home.
00:07:43Okay.
00:07:45I can't stand much more of that dump.
00:07:48Did you see that drunk tonight, trying to paw me?
00:07:51No, what drunk?
00:07:52Does it matter what drunk?
00:07:55Say, what's the matter with you?
00:07:57I don't know.
00:07:58I'm just tired.
00:07:59I'm tired.
00:08:00I'm tired.
00:08:01I'm tired.
00:08:02It doesn't matter what drunk.
00:08:05Say, what's the matter with you tonight, darling?
00:08:07That's the third time you started to tell me something and then stop.
00:08:11We 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.
00:08:16Yes, that's right.
00:08:17In the Bush League.
00:08:19I don't get you.
00:08:20We've been struck out.
00:08:23That's a funny way to talk, darling.
00:08:25Don't you want to marry me?
00:08:26Al, look, I love you.
00:08:27You know I do.
00:08:28And I want to marry you.
00:08:30But?
00:08:31Now.
00:08:32Only after we've made good.
00:08:35Sunday I'm going away.
00:08:37Oh, I know you'll think it's silly.
00:08:39That's why I hesitated to tell you.
00:08:41But I'm going to California.
00:08:43I want to try my luck in Hollywood.
00:08:46That's the most stupid thing I ever heard of.
00:08:48Don't you know millions of people go out there every year and wind up polishing cuspid doors?
00:08:52I thought you had better sense.
00:08:53You sound as if you don't think I have any talent.
00:08:55That has nothing to do with it.
00:08:56I'll make out all right.
00:08:57Maybe.
00:08:58But what about me?
00:08:59Doesn't it mean anything to you that you're busting up all our plans?
00:09:01We may not see each other for years.
00:09:03It won't be that long.
00:09:05I thought you loved me.
00:09:06I do.
00:09:07You know I do.
00:09:11Well, 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.
00:09:23And we've got all the time in the world to settle down.
00:09:27Really, darling.
00:09:29What I'm doing is the only sane thing to do.
00:09:32I...
00:09:33I hate the thought of being so far away from you, but...
00:09:36But we'll be together again someday.
00:09:39Maybe you'll decide to come out too later on.
00:09:42So long.
00:09:44Al.
00:09:45Aren't you going to kiss me good night?
00:09:48Sure.
00:09:49Why not?
00:09:52Good night.
00:09:56Good night.
00:10:26Good night.
00:10:56Good night.
00:11:26Say, Roberts.
00:11:27You hit the jackpot this time.
00:11:29Ten bucks.
00:11:31Thanks.
00:11:39So when this drunk handed me a ten spot after a request,
00:11:41I couldn't get very excited.
00:11:43What was it, I asked myself.
00:11:44A piece of paper crawling with germs.
00:11:46I didn't know what to do.
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.
00:11:54I 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...
00:12:04Then I thought of something.
00:12:26Long distance.
00:12:28I'd like to put a call through to Los Angeles.
00:12:30Miss Harvey.
00:12:32Sue Harvey.
00:12:33H-A-R-V-E-Y.
00:12:35The number is Crestview 65723.
00:12:5675...
00:12:5865...
00:13:03Hello, Sue?
00:13:04This is Al.
00:13:06Oh, baby, it's great to hear from you too.
00:13:08What's that? You do?
00:13:10Oh, me too, darling.
00:13:12I thought I'd go batty without you.
00:13:14I just had to...
00:13:15Huh?
00:13:17You're working as a hash slinger?
00:13:19Gee, honey, that's tough.
00:13:21Those guys out in Hollywood,
00:13:22don't know the real thing when it's right in front of them.
00:13:24You just stick it out, Sue, baby.
00:13:26Keep going around to those casting offices.
00:13:28I'm sure you'll click.
00:13:30Look, I'll tell you what.
00:13:31You stay put out there.
00:13:32I'll come to you.
00:13:33No, don't try to stop me.
00:13:34Just expect me.
00:13:36Train?
00:13:37Who knows?
00:13:38Train, plane, bus, magic carpet.
00:13:39I'll be there if I have to crawl.
00:13:41If I have to travel by pogo stick.
00:13:43And then...
00:13:44Let's get married right away, huh?
00:13:48That's the stuff.
00:13:51That's the stuff.
00:13:52That's what I've been wanting to hear you say.
00:13:55Well, goodbye for now.
00:13:59I'll be seeing you soon.
00:14:02Yeah.
00:14:04Bye.
00:14:10The only way I could cross country was to thumb rides.
00:14:13For even after hocking everything,
00:14:15I only had enough money to eat.
00:14:17Money.
00:14:19You know what that is.
00:14:21It's the stuff you never have enough of.
00:14:23Little green things with George Washington's picture
00:14:25that men slave for, commit crimes for, die for.
00:14:29It's the stuff that has caused more trouble in the world
00:14:31than anything else we ever invented.
00:14:33Simply because there's too little of it.
00:14:36At least I had too little of it.
00:14:39So it was me for the thumb.
00:14:49Ever done any hitchhiking?
00:14:51It's not much fun, believe me.
00:14:54Oh yeah, I know all about how it's an education,
00:14:56how you get to meet a lot of people and all that.
00:14:59But me?
00:15:00From now on, I'll take my education in college.
00:15:03Or in P.S. 62, or I'll send a $1.98 in stamps
00:15:06for ten easy lessons.
00:15:13I'm not going to do it.
00:15:16♪♪
00:15:24Thumbing 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.
00:15:34If only I had known what I was getting into
00:15:36that day in Arizona.
00:15:40Yeah, throw that in the back seat.
00:15:43Okay, let's go.
00:15:45Make sure that door is closed.
00:16:00You know, Emily Post ought to write a book of rules
00:16:02for guys thumbing rides.
00:16:04Because as it is now, you never know
00:16:06what's right and what's wrong.
00:16:08We rode along for a little while,
00:16:10neither one of us saying anything.
00:16:12I was glad of that.
00:16:14I never know what to say to strange people driving cars.
00:16:18And two, you can never tell if a guy wants to talk.
00:16:21A lot of rides have been cut short
00:16:23because of a big mouth.
00:16:25So I kept my mouth shut
00:16:27until he started opening up.
00:16:30Hand me that little box in the compartment, will you, pal?
00:16:36Hold the wheel, will you?
00:16:41How far are you going?
00:16:43L.A.
00:16:44Well, you're really traveling, aren't you?
00:16:46Yeah, but I don't expect to make it for a couple of years
00:16:48at the rate I've been promoting rides.
00:16:50Not much luck, huh?
00:16:51Sure, all bad.
00:16:53Not many people stop for a guy these days.
00:16:55Afraid of a stick-up, maybe.
00:16:57Well, they can't blame him.
00:16:59Where are you coming from?
00:17:00New York.
00:17:01Well, New York.
00:17:03You know, I've been to New York,
00:17:05but I've never been to New York.
00:17:07Where are you coming from?
00:17:08New York.
00:17:09Well, New York.
00:17:11You're in luck this time.
00:17:12I'm going all the way.
00:17:14Right through to Los Angeles.
00:17:17Can you drive a car?
00:17:18Sure.
00:17:19Whenever you're tired, let me know.
00:17:21I'll holler.
00:17:24I guess at least an hour passed
00:17:25before I noticed those deep scratches on his right hand.
00:17:28They were wicked.
00:17:30Three puffy red lines about a quarter of an inch apart.
00:17:33He must have seen me looking at them
00:17:35because he said,
00:17:37beauties, aren't they?
00:17:39They're gonna be scars someday.
00:17:42What an animal.
00:17:44Whatever it was, it must have been pretty big and vicious
00:17:46to have done that.
00:17:47Right on both counts, New York.
00:17:49I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world,
00:17:52a woman.
00:17:54She must have been Tarzan's mate.
00:17:56Looks like you lost the bout.
00:17:58It certainly wasn't a draw.
00:18:00You know, there ought to be a law against dames with claws.
00:18:03Yeah.
00:18:04I tossed her out of the car in her ear.
00:18:07Was I wrong?
00:18:09Give a lift to a tomato,
00:18:10you expect her to be nice, don't you?
00:18:12Yeah.
00:18:13After all, what kind of dames some rides?
00:18:15Sunday school teachers?
00:18:17Yeah.
00:18:19A little witch.
00:18:21Suppose I thought she was riding with some fall guy.
00:18:24To me, it was been booking horses around race tracks
00:18:26since I was 20.
00:18:28I've known a million dames like her.
00:18:30Two million?
00:18:31Yeah.
00:18:34Stop the car, open the door.
00:18:37Take it on the Arthur Duffy sister, I told her.
00:18:39That's the stuff.
00:18:40As I was done, huh?
00:18:43But if you want to see a real scar, brother,
00:18:45get a load of this.
00:18:48What?
00:18:50I got that with Dooley.
00:18:52Dooley?
00:18:53Yeah, we were just kidding, of course.
00:18:55My dad owned a couple of Franco-Prussian sabers.
00:18:57Kept them on the wall for decorations.
00:19:00Well, one day, another kid and I took them down.
00:19:02The 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?
00:19:15Yeah.
00:19:28Pain made me lose my head, I guess.
00:19:30Began slashing.
00:19:32Before I knew it, I'd put the other kid's eye on it.
00:19:35That was tough.
00:19:37Well, it was just an accident, of course.
00:19:39Do you know how kids are?
00:19:41I got scared, decided I was going to run away from home.
00:19:44Old man almost caught me when I was packing my duds.
00:19:48The bloody rag I had wrapped around my wrist
00:19:50hadn't caught his attention.
00:19:51He'd seen the bundle for sure.
00:19:54But I beat it when he was phoning for a doctor.
00:19:57That was 15, 16 years ago.
00:20:00I haven't been home since.
00:20:06Pull in there for a bite or something, huh?
00:20:08A bite or something?
00:20:10Brother, was I hungry.
00:20:11I hadn't had anything in my stomach for hours.
00:20:15Yet even with that gnawing in the pit of my belly,
00:20:17I 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, it 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.
00:20:32Well, that's quite of you, mister...
00:20:33Haskell, think nothing of it.
00:20:35You make your first million, maybe you can do the same for me.
00:20:37Come on, New York.
00:20:38I gotta make the West Coast by Wednesday.
00:20:40There's a horse running in Santa Anita named Pirate Bicycle.
00:20:43You can sell it to me if I want him.
00:20:44You'll make it, all right.
00:20:46He did most of the talking during the half hour we were in the place.
00:20:50I ate.
00:20:52He rambled on about his old man,
00:20:54whom he hadn't heard from since he ran away as a kid.
00:20:56And how he happened to become a bookie.
00:20:58And then all about how he got rooked in Miami.
00:21:00One race, 38 grand.
00:21:02They cleaned out my book.
00:21:03How do you like that?
00:21:05That was tough luck.
00:21:06Yeah, and I'm supposed to be the smart guy.
00:21:08Well, you just wait.
00:21:09I'm going back to Florida next season with all kinds of check.
00:21:11And you watch those stinkers run for cover.
00:21:14Want anything else?
00:21:15No, thanks. I've had plenty.
00:21:22That check there, sister?
00:21:24Mm-hmm.
00:21:28Oh, just a miniature change, sir.
00:21:30Keep it, sister.
00:21:31Oh, thank you, sir. Call again.
00:21:33I'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.
00:21:49After 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.
00:22:17Your eyes, oh, your kisses, too
00:22:22I never knew what they could do
00:22:27I can't believe that you're in love with me
00:22:35You're telling everyone you know
00:22:40I'm on your mind each place you go
00:22:44I can't believe that you're in love with me
00:23:06Mr. Hesco.
00:23:09Mr. 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?
00:23:27Mr. Hesco, I'm going to put up the top.
00:23:30Mr. Hesco.
00:23:43Up until then, I had done things my way.
00:23:45But from then on, something else stepped in
00:23:47and shunted me off to a different destination
00:23:49than the one I had picked for myself.
00:23:51But when I pulled open that door...
00:23:54Mr. Hesco, what's the matter?
00:23:56Are you hurt?
00:23:57Are you hurt, Mr. Hesco?
00:24:00It'll start here soon.
00:24:02I'll listen to it.
00:24:03But I know what you're going to hand me
00:24:05even before you open your mouths.
00:24:07You're going to tell me you don't believe my story
00:24:09about how Hesco died
00:24:10and give me that don't make me laugh expression
00:24:12on your smug faces.
00:24:17I saw it once. He was dead.
00:24:19And I was in for it.
00:24:20Who would believe he fell out of the car?
00:24:22Why, if Hesco came too, which of course he couldn't,
00:24:24even he would swear I conked him over the head for his dough.
00:24:26Yes, I was in for it.
00:24:29Instinct told me to run.
00:24:30But then I realized it was hopeless.
00:24:32There were lots of people back down the road
00:24:33who could identify me.
00:24:34That gas station guy and the waitress.
00:24:36I would be in a worse spot then
00:24:37trying to explain why I beat it.
00:24:39The next possibility was to sit tight
00:24:41and tell the truth when the cops came.
00:24:43But that would be crazy.
00:24:44They'd laugh at the truth.
00:24:46And I'd have my head in the noose.
00:24:48So what else was there to do
00:24:49but hide the body and get away in the car?
00:24:51I couldn't leave the car there with him in the gully.
00:24:53That would be like erecting a tombstone.
00:25:19My idea was to cover him with brush,
00:25:21not to rob him.
00:25:22But then I remembered that even if I only drove the car
00:25:24for a hundred miles or so,
00:25:25I would need money for gas.
00:25:27Besides, it was stupid of me
00:25:29to leave all that money on a dead man.
00:25:31Not only that,
00:25:32I'd have to take his driver's license
00:25:33in case I was stopped for something.
00:25:37I didn't like to think about it.
00:25:38But by that time,
00:25:39I knew I had to do something.
00:25:41I had to get out of the car.
00:25:42I had to get out of the car.
00:25:43I had to get out of the car.
00:25:44I had to get out of the car.
00:25:45I had to get out of the car.
00:25:46I didn't like to think about it.
00:25:47But by that time,
00:25:48I'd done just what the police would say I did,
00:25:50even if I didn't.
00:25:52My clothes.
00:25:53The owner of such an expensive car
00:25:54would never be wearing them.
00:25:56Some cop might pull me in on suspicion.
00:26:16Hey, you.
00:26:17This your car?
00:26:18Don't you know better than to leave a car
00:26:19with the wheels halfway in the middle of the road?
00:26:21That's the way accidents happen.
00:26:23I'm sorry, officer.
00:26:25I was just putting up my top.
00:26:26I didn't think.
00:26:27Well, the next time, think.
00:26:29I'll let you go now,
00:26:30but watch your step in the future.
00:26:31I know that's a lonely stretch,
00:26:32but cars come by here once in a while
00:26:33and we have plenty of crack-ups.
00:26:35Thanks, officer.
00:26:37I'll let you go now,
00:26:38but watch your step in the future.
00:26:39I know that's a lonely stretch,
00:26:40but cars come by here once in a while
00:26:41and we have plenty of crack-ups.
00:26:43Thanks, officer.
00:26:47Thanks, officer.
00:27:08I left nothing in the car
00:27:09to give me away as Roberts.
00:27:11If they found a dead man in the gully now,
00:27:13it would be me.
00:27:16As I drove off, it was still raining, and the drops streaked down the windshield like
00:27:26tears.
00:27:29I kept imagining I was being followed, that I could hear sirens back in the distance.
00:27:35Just how long it took me to cover the 60-odd miles to the California state line, I don't
00:27:39know.
00:27:40I lost all track of time, but the rain had stopped and the sun was up when I pulled up
00:27:44to the inspection station.
00:27:45Hello.
00:27:46Carrying any fruits or vegetables?
00:27:47No.
00:27:48Any livestock or poultry?
00:27:49No.
00:27:50I'd like to see your registration and driver's license, please.
00:27:51Anything in the baggage compartment?
00:27:52Just baggage.
00:27:53Charles Haskell, Jr.
00:27:54Age 30, brown eyes, dark hair.
00:27:55Identifying marks in the back of his head.
00:27:56No.
00:27:57No.
00:27:58No.
00:27:59No.
00:28:00No.
00:28:01No.
00:28:02No.
00:28:03No.
00:28:04No.
00:28:05No.
00:28:06No.
00:28:07No.
00:28:08No.
00:28:09No.
00:28:10No.
00:28:11No.
00:28:12No.
00:28:13No.
00:28:14No.
00:28:15No.
00:28:16No.
00:28:17Identifying marks, none.
00:28:18Are you Charles Haskell, Jr.?
00:28:19Yes.
00:28:20Well, remember if you're employed and you stay over 30 days, you take out California
00:28:21plates.
00:28:22All right, officer, but I'll only be in the state a short while.
00:28:26Right, you can go now.
00:28:33I couldn't drive any farther without some sleep, cops or no cops.
00:28:39I knew I had to hit the hay and hit it hard.
00:28:43I was dead tired.
00:29:14No.
00:29:16No, you can't, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:19No.
00:29:27Mr. Haskell.
00:29:29You can't die.
00:29:31Don't think.
00:29:33Don't think I did it.
00:29:35No, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:37No.
00:29:39No.
00:29:43No.
00:29:54Who's there?
00:29:55It's the maid.
00:29:56Can I come in and clean?
00:29:58Later.
00:30:00In a half hour.
00:30:01All right, sir.
00:30:14No.
00:30:27There was no time to lose.
00:30:29Every minute I had to be Charles Haskell was dangerous.
00:30:31And I'd have to be Charles Haskell until I got to some city
00:30:33where I could leave the car and be swallowed up.
00:30:41That meant driving the car as far as San Bernardino
00:30:43maybe even to Los Angeles.
00:30:45In a little town I might be noticed
00:30:47but in a city I should be safe enough.
00:30:50Then after I ditched the car
00:30:52I could go on to sue.
00:30:54But those five minutes at the state line
00:30:56made me realize it might be a good idea
00:30:58to find out a little bit about Mr. Haskell.
00:31:01Then if anybody asked me questions
00:31:03I could give the right answers.
00:31:05The first thing I found out was that I had $768.
00:31:09This was a lot of jack.
00:31:11But believe me
00:31:13this was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:22And then I found out from a letter
00:31:24Haskell was carting around in his bag
00:31:26that he wasn't the open-handed easy-going big shot
00:31:28who went around buying dinners for strange hitchhikers.
00:31:31Before I got done reading it
00:31:33I saw him more as a chiseler.
00:31:36It was written to his old man in California.
00:31:38The one he hadn't seen in so many years.
00:31:41In it Haskell posed as a sailor
00:31:43and a salesman of 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 maybe old man Haskell
00:32:02was lucky his son kicked off.
00:32:05He would never know it
00:32:07but it saved him from taking a flyer
00:32:09in sacred literature preferred.
00:32:14♪
00:32:35Near the airport at Desert Center
00:32:37I pulled up for water.
00:32:40There was a woman.
00:32:43Hey you, come on if you want a ride.
00:33:14♪
00:33:34How far are you going?
00:33:36How far are you going?
00:33:38That took me by surprise
00:33:40and I turned my head to look her over.
00:33:42She was facing straight ahead
00:33:44so I couldn't see her eyes.
00:33:46But she was young.
00:33:48About more than 24.
00:33:50Man, she looked as if she'd just been thrown
00:33:52off the crummiest freight train in the world.
00:33:55Yet in spite of this I got the impression of beauty.
00:33:58Not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you
00:34:00or the beauty you dream about
00:34:02when you're with your wife
00:34:04but a natural beauty.
00:34:06A beauty that's almost homely
00:34:08because 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.
00:34:16L.A.? L.A.'s good enough for me, mister.
00:34:19That's what I was afraid of.
00:34:21What'd you say?
00:34:23Oh nothing, just thinking out loud.
00:34:25People get in trouble for doing that.
00:34:27What's your name?
00:34:29You can call me Vera if you like.
00:34:31You live in Los Angeles?
00:34:33No.
00:34:35Where you coming from?
00:34:37Oh, back there.
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
00:34:49after she stepped into the car.
00:34:51She lay sprawled out with her head resting
00:34:53against the far door like Haskell.
00:34:55I didn't like that part of it much
00:34:57but I didn't wake her up.
00:35:00It wasn't that this girl still worried me.
00:35:02I'd gotten over that funny feeling I had
00:35:04when she looked at me
00:35:06which I put down as just my jangled nerves
00:35:07with her eyes closed
00:35:09and the tenseness gone out of her.
00:35:11She seemed harmless enough
00:35:13and instead of disliking her
00:35:15I began to feel sorry for her.
00:35:17The poor kid probably had had
00:35:19a rough time of it.
00:35:21Who was she anyway?
00:35:23And why was she going to Los Angeles?
00:35:25And where'd she come from in the first place?
00:35:27The only thing I knew about her was her name.
00:35:30Not that it made any difference.
00:35:32A few hours more and we'd be in Hollywood.
00:35:34I'd forget where I parked the car
00:35:35and look up Sue.
00:35:37This nightmare of being a dead man would be over.
00:35:40Who this dame was,
00:35:42well it was no business of mine.
00:35:44Where did you leave his body?
00:35:46Where did you 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.
00:35:54You're out of your mind. That's my name, Charles Haskell.
00:35:56I can prove it. It's my driver's license.
00:35:58Save yourself the trouble, mister.
00:36:00Having Haskell's wallet only makes it worse.
00:36:02It 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?
00:36:09You heard me.
00:36:11Then it all came back to me.
00:36:13All the talk about dueling and scars and scratches.
00:36:15There was no doubt about it.
00:36:17Vera 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.
00:36:25My goose was cooked.
00:36:27She had me.
00:36:29That Haskell guy wasn't dead yet.
00:36:30He wasn't stretched out stiff and cold
00:36:32in any Arizona gully.
00:36:34He was sitting right there in the car
00:36:36laughing like mad while he haunted me.
00:36:38Well?
00:36:40There was nothing I could say.
00:36:42It was her move.
00:36:44Vera, whatever her name was,
00:36:46it was just my luck picking her up on the road.
00:36:48It couldn't have been Helen or Mary
00:36:50or Evelyn or Ruth.
00:36:52It had to be the very last person
00:36:54I should ever have met.
00:36:56That's life.
00:36:58Whichever way you turn,
00:37:00it's the same old story.
00:37:06I told her everything,
00:37:08but she didn't believe my story.
00:37:10I should have saved my breath.
00:37:12That's the greatest cock and bull story I ever heard.
00:37:14So he fell out of his car.
00:37:16Say, who do you think you're talking to, a hick?
00:37:18Listen, mister, I've been around,
00:37:20and I know a wrong guy when I see one.
00:37:22What'd you do, kiss him with a wrench?
00:37:24Now, wait a minute.
00:37:26What I told you was true.
00:37:28You see, that's why I had to do it.
00:37:30What makes you so sure I'll shut up about this?
00:37:33Vera, I'm innocent.
00:37:35Give me a break, will you?
00:37:37It won't do me any good having you pinched.
00:37:39The cops are no friends of mine.
00:37:41Now, if there was a reward, but there isn't.
00:37:44Thanks.
00:37:46Don't thank me yet.
00:37:48I'm not through with you by a long shot.
00:37:50Let's see that roll.
00:37:56Is that all Haskell had?
00:37:58Isn't it enough?
00:38:00Not that I know of.
00:38:02You can search me if you think I'm holding out on you.
00:38:04Well, maybe I will at that.
00:38:06He told me he was going to bet $3,000
00:38:08on a horse named Paradisical on Wednesday at Santa Anita.
00:38:10He was stringing you along. He meant $300.
00:38:12Maybe.
00:38:14Sure, three bucks, $300.
00:38:16He was a piece of cheese, a big blowhard.
00:38:18Listen, mister, don't try and tell me anything about Charlie Haskell.
00:38:20Remember, I knew him better than you did.
00:38:22Okay, then you knew he was a four flusher.
00:38:24That explains the three grand bet.
00:38:26I'm not so sure he didn't have that three grand.
00:38:28Why should I believe you?
00:38:30You're a cheap crook and you killed him.
00:38:32For two cents, I'd change my mind and turn you in.
00:38:34I don't like you.
00:38:36All right, all right, don't get sore.
00:38:38I'm not getting sore.
00:38:40But just remember who's boss around here.
00:38:42If you shut up and don't give me any arguments,
00:38:44you'll have nothing to worry about.
00:38:46But if you act wise, we'll mister you,
00:38:48pop into jail so fast it'll give you the bends.
00:38:50I'm not arguing.
00:38:52Well, see that you don't.
00:38:54You know, as crooked as you look,
00:38:56I'd hate to see a fella as young as you
00:38:58wind up sniffing that perfume that Arizona
00:39:00sold you.
00:39:02Well, that's how it happened, just like I told you.
00:39:04Sure, and then he made you a present of his belongings.
00:39:06I explained why I had to do that.
00:39:08Oh, stupid.
00:39:10It doesn't make a difference one way or another.
00:39:12I'm not a mourner.
00:39:14I like Tasco even less than I like you.
00:39:16Yeah, I saw what you did to him.
00:39:18What do you mean?
00:39:20Well, scratches on his wrist.
00:39:22Sure, I scratched him.
00:39:24Well, so you did.
00:39:26So your idea was to drive the car a little way,
00:39:28maybe into San Bernardino and then leave it.
00:39:30And forget I ever saw it.
00:39:32Not only don't you have any scruples,
00:39:34you don't have any brains.
00:39:36I don't get you.
00:39:38Maybe it's a good thing you met me.
00:39:40You'd have got yourself caught, sure.
00:39:42Why, you dope.
00:39:44Don't you know a deserted automobile
00:39:46always rates an investigation?
00:39:48Huh?
00:39:50Look, the cops find a car.
00:39:52Then they get curious.
00:39:54They wonder where the owner is.
00:39:56So all right, they don't trace Haskell.
00:39:58They trace you.
00:40:00Stop at the next store.
00:40:02I want to get a bottle and do some shopping
00:40:04before we hit L.A.
00:40:06Okay, as soon as we find a place,
00:40:08I'll drop you off and pick you up later.
00:40:10Nothing doing.
00:40:12You're coming in too.
00:40:14From now on, you and I are like the Siamese twins.
00:40:16Have it your way.
00:40:18I don't get the point.
00:40:20The point is, I don't want you to get lost.
00:40:22I'm not going to beat it if that's what you're afraid of.
00:40:24I'll say you're not.
00:40:26Well, I'm going to see that you sell this car
00:40:28so you don't get caught.
00:40:30If you insist, how can I refuse?
00:40:32A hundred percent will do.
00:40:34Fine, I'm relieved.
00:40:36I thought for a moment you were going to take it all.
00:40:38I don't want to be a hog.
00:40:41A few hours later, we were in Hollywood.
00:40:44I was recognizing places Sue had written about.
00:40:47It struck me that far from being at the end of the trip,
00:40:50there was a greater distance between Sue and me
00:40:52than when I started out.
00:40:54Vera wasn't kidding with that Siamese twins crack.
00:40:57She rented a little apartment
00:40:58as Mrs. Charles Haskell.
00:41:00When I objected to this,
00:41:02she explained it was on account of the car.
00:41:04A dealer might think something was funny
00:41:06if he called and found we were using different names.
00:41:13Home, sweet home.
00:41:15Yeah.
00:41:17Not bad either.
00:41:25In case there's any doubt in your mind,
00:41:26I'll take the bedroom.
00:41:28Yeah.
00:41:30Sure is stuffy in here.
00:41:39Keep the windows shut.
00:41:41Okay.
00:41:43The old crow downstairs
00:41:45said there's a fallen bed behind this door.
00:41:53You know how to work it?
00:41:55I invented it.
00:42:00Some joint.
00:42:02One can't have everything.
00:42:08I'm first in the bathtub.
00:42:10I don't know why,
00:42:12but I figured you would be.
00:42:25Boy, oh boy.
00:42:27It sure feels good to be clean again.
00:42:30I must be 10 pounds lighter.
00:42:32You must be.
00:42:35Well, hitching rides isn't exactly the way
00:42:37you keep your schoolgirl complexion.
00:42:43I wish that guy with the sacks would give up.
00:42:46Gets on my nerves.
00:42:49Forget it.
00:42:54Have a drink.
00:42:56Aren't you afraid I might take you up on it?
00:43:00If 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.
00:43:08You should be grateful I'm not turning you in.
00:43:11Why, if I wasn't regular,
00:43:13you'd be in the pen this minute
00:43:15being photographed, fingerprinted,
00:43:17and being pushed around by the cops.
00:43:19So cheer up.
00:43:21Get rid of that long puss.
00:43:22Or is your conscience bothering you?
00:43:29No.
00:43:31It isn't.
00:43:33Swell. That's the spirit.
00:43:36He's dead and no moment around will bring him back.
00:43:41Anyway, I never could understand
00:43:43this worrying about something that's over and done with.
00:43:45Now look, Vera, for the last time, I didn't kill him.
00:43:47Haskell was a sick man.
00:43:49Maybe he was dead before he fell out of the car.
00:43:50I don't know.
00:43:52Sure, 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.
00:44:21We're out of liquor, Roberts.
00:44:23Yeah.
00:44:25Too bad.
00:44:27I felt like getting tight tonight.
00:44:29Well, I think you succeeded.
00:44:31Am I tight?
00:44:33As a prima donna's corset.
00:44:35That's good.
00:44:37I wanted to get tight.
00:44:39Why? What have you got to get tight about?
00:44:41Oh, I don't know.
00:44:43A few things.
00:44:45Huh.
00:44:47You should have my worries.
00:44:48If I had your troubles, I'd stay sober.
00:44:50And I've got the key to that door.
00:44:55Yeah.
00:44:57Maybe you're right.
00:44:59I'm always right.
00:45:01You know, I don't like your attitude, Roberts.
00:45:03Well, there's a lot of things I don't like.
00:45:06Sure.
00:45:10But life's like a ballgame.
00:45:12You gotta take a swing at whatever comes along
00:45:14before you wake up and find it's the ninth inning.
00:45:15I bet you read that somewhere.
00:45:17That's the trouble with you, Roberts.
00:45:19All you do is bellyache.
00:45:21You're taking it easy
00:45:23and trying to make the best of things.
00:45:26But maybe that's what's wrong with the whole world.
00:45:29Get the professor.
00:45:31People knock themselves out trying to buck fate.
00:45:33Now, take you, for instance.
00:45:35You're lucky to be alive.
00:45:37Why, suppose Haskell had pulled open your door?
00:45:39You'd be playing a harp or something.
00:45:41You'd be playing the piano.
00:45:42Why, 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
00:45:54that 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.
00:46:09Your philosophy stinks, pal.
00:46:12We all know we're gonna kick off someday.
00:46:14It's only a question of when.
00:46:17But what's got us on this subject anyway?
00:46:20We'll be discussing politics next.
00:46:23Yeah.
00:46:25Where'd you hide the butts?
00:46:27On the table, sucker.
00:46:37We bored each other with conversation
00:46:39for a couple of hours longer.
00:46:40Every five minutes, one of us was wishing
00:46:42we had another bottle or a radio or something to read.
00:46:46Then finally, we ran out of chat.
00:46:49I know it's only 11 o'clock,
00:46:51but I want to get up early
00:46:53and make the rounds of the used car lots.
00:46:55No hurry about that.
00:46:57We've got all the time in the world.
00:46:59Maybe you have, but if you think I want to stay cooped up
00:47:01in this place any longer than I have to, you're batty.
00:47:03It's not a bad place.
00:47:05They pay plenty for diggings like this in New York.
00:47:07I wouldn't like it if it was the Ritz.
00:47:11Rotten liquor.
00:47:13You've got a mean cough, ought to do something about it.
00:47:15I'll be all right.
00:47:17That's what Camille said.
00:47:19Who?
00:47:21Nobody you know.
00:47:25Wasn't that the day in the diet of consumption?
00:47:27Yeah.
00:47:29Wouldn't it be a break for you if I did kick off?
00:47:32You'd be free with all Haskell's dough and car.
00:47:35I don't want to see anybody die.
00:47:37Not even me?
00:47:38Especially not you.
00:47:40One person died in me.
00:47:42If you did, well, that's all I need.
00:47:46You don't like me, do you, Roberts?
00:47:49I like you.
00:47:52I love you.
00:47:54My favorite sport is being kept prisoner.
00:47:57After we sell the car, you can go to blazes for all I care,
00:48:00but not until then.
00:48:09I'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.
00:48:25Anyway, if I find you gone in the morning,
00:48:27I'll notify the police.
00:48:29They'll pick you up.
00:48:31Don't worry, I know when I'm in a spot.
00:48:33Well, good night.
00:48:35I hope that portable rack isn't too uncomfortable for you.
00:48:36You don't want to lose any sleep over it, do you?
00:49:07Crestview.
00:49:10Six.
00:49:12Five.
00:49:14Seven.
00:49:16Two.
00:49:18Three.
00:49:21Hello?
00:49:23Hello?
00:49:25Hello?
00:49:27Hello?
00:49:29Hello?
00:49:31Hello?
00:49:33Hello?
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 else she'd make some supreme class A sacrifice for me.
00:50:04I'd 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?
00:50:27They'll be there all year, too,
00:50:29but that doesn't mean I'm going to wait that long.
00:50:31Shut 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.
00:50:40I spent 85 bucks and two hours preparing bait
00:50:42and 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.
00:50:58You just let me handle everything.
00:51:00Think we can get $2,000?
00:51:02I don't know, but don't worry.
00:51:04I'll do what I can.
00:51:06I'll let it go cheap without a fight.
00:51:08He might think we've stolen the car.
00:51:10And listen, don't make any slips and call me Roberts.
00:51:12That'll cook us.
00:51:14I don't need you to tell me that.
00:51:16You better just sit by and keep your mouth closed.
00:51:18Remember, we're both in this soup if anything happens.
00:51:20Forget it and drive.
00:51:22You're my wife, Vera Haskell.
00:51:24Look, after the deal's closed,
00:51:26let's go back to that place on Hollywood Boulevard
00:51:28where I saw the fur jacket.
00:51:30I want to buy it.
00:51:32After the deal's closed, I'm saying goodbye to you.
00:51:34I guess I'm getting kind of used to you.
00:51:37Well, that's a habit you can start breaking.
00:51:40Let's try this place in the middle of the block.
00:51:48Good afternoon. What can I do for you?
00:51:50We'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.
00:52:02$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.
00:52:26Lady, this motor's seen a lot of driving.
00:52:33Well, the mechanic inspected the car.
00:52:35We haggled.
00:52:37At last, when we were all worn out,
00:52:39we hit a compromise.
00:52:41His price.
00:52:45Okay, it's a deal.
00:52:47All right, come on, we'll sign the papers.
00:52:49I have the ownership papers right here with me.
00:52:51Look, Vera, in the meantime,
00:52:53will you clean out the dash compartment?
00:52:55There may be some stuff in it.
00:52:57All right, darling.
00:52:59$1,850.
00:53:00$1,850.
00:53:02That dirty crook.
00:53:10New York, huh?
00:53:12Yeah, but you bought the car in Miami.
00:53:14Yeah.
00:53:16Well, let's see about the insurance.
00:53:18We can either have it transferred or canceled.
00:53:20What kind of insurance do you have, Mr. Haskell?
00:53:23Well, aren't all the papers there?
00:53:28I don't see any.
00:53:30Surely you know what type of insurance
00:53:32you carry in the car.
00:53:34The name of the company?
00:53:36Yeah, but...
00:53:38Well, if you'll just tell me the name of the company,
00:53:40I'd be very glad to take care of all the details.
00:53:42Well...
00:53:44Did you sign the papers yet?
00:53:46Not yet.
00:53:48Well, don't.
00:53:50We're not selling the car.
00:53:52Well, wait a minute, Mrs. Haskell.
00:53:54Come on, darling.
00:53:56What's the matter?
00:53:58Did you change your mind?
00:54:00But I still don't understand all this.
00:54:02You will in a minute.
00:54:04I almost threw away a goldmine.
00:54:061850 isn't to be sneezed at.
00:54:08The car doesn't book for as much as I thought.
00:54:10We're not selling the car.
00:54:12You want to keep it?
00:54:14Now, wait a minute, Vera.
00:54:16You said yourself I wouldn't be safe
00:54:18until the car was in someone else's name.
00:54:20I'd like to be free of this mess when I go.
00:54:22That's just it, Roberts.
00:54:24You're not going.
00:54:26There's a driver at the next corner.
00:54:28Pull in there and we'll get a bite to eat.
00:54:31Hello. Can I take your order?
00:54:33Make mine a ham sandwich and coffee.
00:54:35And for you, sir?
00:54:37Oh, I don't care. The same.
00:54:45Get this, Vera.
00:54:47I've been pretty patient so far.
00:54:49I've done everything you asked me to do, but no more.
00:54:51Shut up.
00:54:53You've taken Haskell's money.
00:54:55And you can have the door we get from selling the car.
00:54:57But you're not going to keep me a prisoner.
00:54:58It's a good thing I bought the paper.
00:55:00Take a look at that.
00:55:02Vera, I'm in no mood.
00:55:04Read that.
00:55:13No.
00:55:15Yes.
00:55:17No, I won't do it.
00:55:19Yes, you will.
00:55:21You think I'm crazy?
00:55:23It's impossible, I tell you.
00:55:25Excuse me.
00:55:26Come on, 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.
00:55:34Don't be yellow.
00:55:36You look enough like him.
00:55:38The same coloring and the same build.
00:55:40See how his clothes fit you?
00:55:42No kidding, you almost had me fooled for a while.
00:55:44Oh, grow up, Vera.
00:55:46Don't you think a father knows his own son?
00:55:48And there must be other relatives.
00:55:50The father won't have to know you.
00:55:52We'll wait till he gives up the ghost.
00:55:54He's an old geezer and he won't pull through.
00:55:56I'm not hungry.
00:55:58And I won't do it.
00:56:00It's not as tough as it sounds.
00:56:02Remember, you've got all kinds of identification.
00:56:04His car, letters, license.
00:56:06I could never get away with it.
00:56:08It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
00:56:10The old boy has scads of dough.
00:56:12Look in the paper there.
00:56:14Personal fortune assessed at over 15 million.
00:56:16He'll leave plenty, I tell you.
00:56:18Maybe he cut off his son.
00:56:20How do we know?
00:56:22It's out, Vera.
00:56:24I won't have anything to do with it.
00:56:26Forget it. Find yourself another stooge.
00:56:28You sap!
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, no sweat and scheming,
00:56:36wondering where your next meal's coming from.
00:56:38Think about that, Roberts!
00:56:40Vera, please, you're talking too loud.
00:56:42Unless I'm splitting 50-50 with you.
00:56:44Sure, why not? We're both alike.
00:56:46Both born in the same gutter.
00:56:48Take it easy, Vera.
00:56:50There's people around here.
00:56:52You don't know who you're talking to.
00:56:54We'll wait till we read that old man Haskell's dead.
00:56:56No.
00:56:58Suppose he doesn't die.
00:57:00He will. I know he will. Something 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.
00:57:11Neither 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.
00:57:32And if I'm caught, don't you realize you'll be out, too?
00:57:3418 points, that gives me 30.
00:57:38How will I be out?
00:57:40You'll be out $1,850 we would have gotten on the car.
00:57:42Really, Vera, you'd be an awful chump
00:57:44if you threw away all that dough in a dizzy long shot.
00:57:46Let me sell the bus tomorrow.
00:57:48With the money it'll bring and what you've already got,
00:57:50a clever kid like you can run it up in no time.
00:57:52Then we'd both be in the clear.
00:57:54Maybe, maybe if I got caught,
00:57:58I'd get good and sore too, you know.
00:58:00You mean you'd squeal?
00:58:02Oh, no, not squeal exactly.
00:58:04Never mind what you meant.
00:58:06Even if you did tell the cops I was in on it with you,
00:58:08what could they do to me?
00:58:11They might give me the same medicine they gave you.
00:58:13Yeah.
00:58:15A rope.
00:58:18But I'm on my way anyhow.
00:58:19All they'll be doing will be rushing it.
00:58:21All right.
00:58:23But think of the $1,850 you'd lose.
00:58:25You'd kick yourself along the block
00:58:27if you ever let get away from you.
00:58:29I'll take the chance.
00:58:31Want another drink?
00:58:33You're being a goon.
00:58:35That's the way people wind up behind the eight ball.
00:58:37Once they get a few dollars they become greedy and want more.
00:58:39My, my.
00:58:41Caesar.
00:58:42Who?
00:58:44You know that Roman general?
00:58:46He got his for being greedy.
00:58:47A couple of days ago you didn't have a dime.
00:58:49Why, you were so broke you couldn't pay cash
00:58:51for a postage stamp.
00:58:53Now you've got almost $700 with $1,850 in the offing.
00:58:55Take my advice.
00:58:57Don't try for more.
00:58:59I'm tired of this game.
00:59:01Let's have some blackjack.
00:59:03Play solitaire.
00:59:05Okay, I will if that's the way you feel about it.
00:59:07That's the way I feel about it.
00:59:09Getting so on throwing things won't help much, Roberts.
00:59:11I'm really doing you a favor.
00:59:13I help you out of a jam by keeping my mouth shut.
00:59:15I show you how to make some soft money.
00:59:17Yes, you did.
00:59:19No, I didn't. You know I didn't.
00:59:21All right, then.
00:59:23Suppose I call the cops.
00:59:25If you're innocent, what do you got to be scared of?
00:59:27Okay.
00:59:29Call them, you mud.
00:59:31Go ahead and call them. See if I care.
00:59:33At least they'll give me a square deal.
00:59:35You want me to call them?
00:59:37You heard me, but I'm warning you.
00:59:39If I'm pinched, I'll swear you were in on it.
00:59:41I'll say that you helped me.
00:59:43If I fry, I'll get even with you.
00:59:45You wouldn't dare. You didn't.
00:59:47Yeah.
00:59:49Okay, I will.
01:00:03Information?
01:00:05I want the number of the Hollywood police station.
01:00:10Okay, I got it. Thanks.
01:00:15Wait a minute, Vera. You wouldn't do that.
01:00:17Give me that and I'll show you if I would.
01:00:19Take it easy now. Let's talk this over.
01:00:21This was early in the evening,
01:00:23and the conversation, while hectic,
01:00:25was at least pitched low.
01:00:27But as the minutes passed
01:00:29and more obstacles to her plan popped into my head,
01:00:32the air got blue.
01:00:34Each word coming from our lips cracked like a whip.
01:00:37I reminded her that as Charles Haskell,
01:00:39I didn't even know my mother's name,
01:00:41where I'd gone to school,
01:00:43the name of my best friend,
01:00:45whether I had an Aunt Emma or not,
01:00:47and if I'd ever owned a dog.
01:00:49I 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 you ran away
01:00:59right after putting out the kid's eye.
01:01:01Yeah, but his father knew it was cut.
01:01:03It had to be some kind of a mark.
01:01:05So what?
01:01:07The old man's dead or will be,
01:01:09I hope, by tomorrow morning's papers.
01:01:11Anyway, you could cut yourself a little, couldn't you?
01:01:13Boy, for that kind of dough,
01:01:15I'd let you cut my leg off.
01:01:17You're drunk and you're crazy mad, Vera.
01:01:19Turn him in if you want to,
01:01:21but I won't get mixed up in this.
01:01:23Besides, how do we know Haskell was such a phony?
01:01:25Maybe he wasn't the man's son at all.
01:01:27Maybe he just dreamed it up.
01:01:29Well, dream it or not, you won't be dreaming
01:01:31when the law taps you on the shoulder.
01:01:33There's a cute little gas chamber
01:01:35waiting for you, Roberts.
01:01:37And I hear extradition to Arizona's a cinch.
01:01:39Where's that phone?
01:01:41Vera!
01:01:43Leave me alone!
01:01:45Vera!
01:01:47You yellow stinker, you leave me alone!
01:01:49I'll let you alone when you promise
01:01:51to leave the phone where it is.
01:01:53You're drunk, you don't know what you're doing.
01:01:55You're hurting me.
01:01:57Will you promise?
01:01:59All right.
01:02:02You hurt me.
01:02:04I'm sorry, but...
01:02:06And it's hot in here.
01:02:08Open up a window.
01:02:10It's not hot.
01:02:12Don't tell me.
01:02:14Now, do you do it or do I do it?
01:02:15All right, I'll open up the window.
01:02:20Vera!
01:02:26Vera, open the door.
01:02:28Please open the door.
01:02:30Vera, open the door, don't use the phone.
01:02:32Listen to me.
01:02:34I don't like you, Roberts.
01:02:36You're no gentleman, see?
01:02:38You hurt my hand,
01:02:40and I'm gonna get even with you.
01:02:42If you don't open the door,
01:02:43Vera, don't call the cops.
01:02:45Listen to me, I'll do anything you say.
01:02:47Vera, let me in.
01:02:50I'll break the phone.
01:03:13Vera.
01:03:29The world is full of skeptics.
01:03:31I know.
01:03:33I'm one myself.
01:03:35In the Haskell business,
01:03:37how many of you would believe he fell out of the car?
01:03:39And now, after killing Vera without really meaning to do it,
01:03:41how many of you would believe it wasn't premeditated?
01:03:44In a jury room,
01:03:46every last man of you would go down shouting
01:03:48that she had me over a barrel and 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.
01:04:19And from the looks of things, there was plenty.
01:04:21Looking 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.
01:04:27This was the kind of testimony I couldn't rub out.
01:04:31No.
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.
01:04:39They could identify me.
01:04:41The car dealer, the waitress in the drive-in,
01:04:43the girl in the dress shop and that guy in the liquor store.
01:04:45They could all identify me.
01:04:47I was cooked.
01:04:49Done for.
01:04:51I had to get out of there.
01:04:53While once I'd remained beside a dead body,
01:04:55planning carefully how to avoid being accused of killing him,
01:04:58this time I couldn't.
01:05:00This time I was guilty.
01:05:02I knew it.
01:05:04Felt it.
01:05:06I was like a guy suffering from shock.
01:05:07Things were whirling around in my head.
01:05:09I couldn't make myself think right.
01:05:11All I could think of was the guy with the saxophone
01:05:14and what he was playing.
01:05:16It wasn't a love song anymore.
01:05:18It was a dirge.
01:05:37© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:06:08But my problems weren't solved.
01:06:11I had to stay away from New York for all time.
01:06:15Because Al Roberts was listed as dead and had to stay dead.
01:06:19And I could never go back to Hollywood.
01:06:21Someone 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 hanging over my head.
01:06:34All I could do was pray she'd be happy.
01:06:38© BF-WATCH TV 2021
01:06:48I was in Bakersfield before I read that Vera's body was discovered.
01:06:52That the police were looking for Haskell in connection with his wife's murder.
01:06:57Isn't that a laugh?
01:06:59Haskell got me into this mess and Haskell was getting me out of it.
01:07:03The police were searching for a dead man.
01:07:08I keep trying to forget what happened.
01:07:12And wonder what my life might have been if that car of Haskell's hadn't stopped.
01:07:18But one thing I don't have to wonder about.
01:07:21I know.
01:07:24Someday a car will stop to pick me up that I never thumbed.
01:07:32Yes.
01:07:34Fate.
01:07:35Fate or some mysterious force
01:07:39can put the finger on you or me
01:07:42for no good reason at all.