Original subtitles

Our story is set in Manhattan in the early 1950s.

Hello?

Yes, Harry.

No, I just got in. What is it?

What's wrong with the Ferguson contract?

Well, why didn't we spot it before?

No, it's all right. I have the papers in my briefcase.

What clause do you want me to look up?

5A. I'll read it before I go to bed tonight, and I'll call you first thing

the morning.

No, it's all right, Harry. I'm here on my own anyway.

Ellen must have gone out.

Right? Right. Good night.

If you want my opinion, it won't be worth it. What do you want?

Close the drawer.

I said close the drawer.

What are you doing here?

I've come to kill you.

Did you hear me?

I heard you, yes.

Did you say kill me?

You seem to take it calmly. I admire that.

Well, I'm calm because obviously there's been some mistake.

No. Someone else, not me. There's been no mistake.

Now, how did you get in here?

What is this, a quiz show?

I expected more from you.

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Now, I tell you, you've got the wrong man.

Wrong man?

No. Somebody wants you dead.

Why? I didn't ask. It doesn't matter to me.

No?

So, mister, you've come to kill me. That's right.

It's a pity to die in ignorance.

Who hired you? Could you at least tell me that?

Maybe I came on my own account.

I don't think so.

How do you know?

I know my enemies and you're not among them.

My wife.

She hired you.

That's absolutely right.

Ellen hired you. I suppose you know her motive.

Same as yours, I expect. Money.

I have a great deal of it, and she wants it. All of it.

Could I get myself another brandy?

Be my guest.

How old are you? Fifty -seven.

In three months. Why?

Your wife?

Twenty -three.

There you are. You were stupid to expect anything lasting, weren't you?

I guess you're right.

Tell you the truth, I expected a divorce in a year or two.

An expensive settlement, but not death.

Yeah, it surprised me a little that a clever man like you should have married

her. Well, I thought I could manage her.

Besides, she's beautiful and I like beautiful things.

What went on beneath the surface didn't interest me as much.

You mean to say that unlike all the real estate you own, you bought her without

checking the foundations?

That's very good, mister.

To tell you the truth, it appears I have more interest in glass and cement than

I have of people.

Maybe because they interest me more. They last longer, for one thing, and

increase in value.

People tend to depreciate.

I don't have to tell you that. You're in business, too, I see.

You're clearly a professional.

I assume you've killed before.

Yes. And like every good professional, you enjoy your work.

Yeah, I enjoy it.

Ruthless, maybe, but I do enjoy it. Yes, buying and selling real estate can be

ruthless, too, at times when people get in the way of progress.

You've been in this room five minutes, and I'm still alive.

There's no hurry.

Oh, I see.

then it's not so much the killing that gives you your kicks, it's the moment

leading up to it.

Very shrewd.

Do I take it, as long as I keep you amused and entertained, I stay alive?

Within a time limit.

You're a professional killer, and yet you look like an educated man. I don't

understand.

Brought up on the wrong side of the tracks.

Lower east side.

Drugs? Prison, welfare, no regular job.

It's a popular theme.

You've seen it in the movies.

I only go to the movies when I own them.

How old are you?

28, 30?

No, I only ask because sitting there you could pass for one of my young

executives.

I don't think you could afford me, Mr. Williams.

We'll see.

Another drink, Mr... How about Smith?

Yeah.

All right, I'll have another drink.

My glass is here.

I'd like to watch you pour my drink.

I prefer not to take risks.

You knew there was a gun in that drawer.

That was a risk, surely?

Part of my pleasure.

Before the kill build up your hopes and take them away like taking a toy from a

child sit down Sure

Well

Here we are You waiting to kill me and me waiting to be killed and we're

drinking the best Bradley money can buy It almost makes murder respectable.

Oh, I see.

A silencer.

Well, that's very considerate. Nothing to disturb the neighbors.

Looks like an expensive piece of equipment.

You've come a long way from your Lower East Side.

I've noticed you're wearing handmade shoes.

You've noticed a lot about me. In business, it pays to know every detail

the people you deal with.

Now, in the space of ten minutes, I've learned a great deal about you. I wonder

how much you know about me.

Do you expect me to panic, perhaps plead?

Some do, yes.

And you enjoy that, don't you? Before you pull that trigger, that feeling of

intense power.

But without that, you're nothing, are you?

Whatever skills I have, Mr. Williams, and I have many, I taught myself.

You see, we're both alike.

Both self -made men.

Though I suspect you had a far better start in life than I did.

You think of the things I have to consider in my work.

The right gun for the right job. The right clothes to wear. The right accent

use. The know -how to get into a place like this.

You know, I even went to a drama coach to learn the necessary refinements.

I learned my trade step by step.

The hard way.

Congratulations.

You weren't born with all this.

You came to New York from a Chicago suburb where you built your empire on

and some shady deals. All right, all right, you've done your homework.

You rattled me there for a moment.

Can we talk about your client?

If you like. Where would she be tonight?

A party. Some people called the Emerson.

There'll be plenty of people to swear she never left their sight during the

of your murder. The Emersons.

There's irony for you.

Oh? It was at the Emersons I first met her.

Ellen always did have a good sense of the theatrical.

She sat in a corner of the terrace in a white satin gown.

Low cut, but not too low cut.

I fell in love with her right there. Three months later, we were married.

And so you made your first mistake.

So it seems.

The Emmertsons.

Jack Emmertson is not as rich as I am, but I'll have to admit, he's better

looking.

And I imagine you'll make it look as if I was shot by a burglar.

You really want to know?

Why not?

It intrigues me.

As I say, don't let me die without knowing all the thought and trouble you

my wife have taken over my death.

Then I'll tell you.

After I shoot you, I'll take the brandy glass and wash it and return it to the

bar.

Then, of course, I'll wipe everything else I've touched, including the desk

drawer, the key, and the brandy decanter.

If you wipe that clean, won't the police think it strange that neither my

fingerprint nor my wife's are on it?

I'll take care of that detail when you're dead.

I'll also mention that fact to your wife when my job's completed.

And before you leave, you'll take a few things to make it look like a real job.

That won't be necessary.

You see, the police will assume the burglar panicked after killing you,

everything, and ran.

It's a well -planned job.

Well, it's a comfort to know I won't be murdered by some unknown hoodlum in an

alley somewhere.

When was the last time you were in an alley?

Leave it.

I said leave it.

You expecting a call? Harry Blair. He's a company attorney. There's a question

about a contract.

He knows I'm here.

Well, whoever it was, it's too late now.

Look, look, Mr. Smith, you see that painting there?

It's pretty. It's worth $30 ,000.

Oh, I'm tempted, but I'm not a fool, Mr. Williams.

I don't want anything remotely connecting me with you.

Oh, it's a good picture. I appreciate art, especially what it's worth, but not

to the extent of going to the electric chair.

Anyway, once I take a contract, that's it.

It's a matter of professional pride.

Of course, you know all about that.

What are you waiting for, then?

For me to show fear?

They always do.

And you enjoy that, don't you?

They appeal to your humanity, and that, of course, is hopeless.

Yes. And let me appeal to another instinct, greed.

That painting, Mr. Smith, it's still worth $30 ,000.

I already gave you my reasons for refusing your offer.

Well, look at it. I won't move.

No, go on, look at it.

You appreciate art, so you say.

It's interesting.

Only interesting?

That's all.

Your victims, they offer you money?

Nearly always.

And that, too, is hopeless.

So far it has been.

Mr. Smith, behind that picture is a walled safe.

So? Inside that safe is $20 ,000 in cash.

That's a lot of money.

Easy, easy. I'm just going to the safe.

Why don't you stay where you are?

Somehow I don't think your professional ethics would allow you to shoot a man in

the back.

No, I imagine you get a great deal of pleasure from seeing the faces of your

victims before you kill them.

There you are, you see?

$20 ,000 in old bills.

Untraceable. I know Ellen didn't offer you that.

Every man has his price.

Is this yours?

Oh, I see.

You're a rarity, too.

An incorruptible murderer.

There, you see?

Old receipts and past checks, all completely valueless.

What the hell do you think you're trying to do, huh? Tell me what! It gave me a

chance of going to that wall safe and placing inside it your brandy glass with

your fingerprints on it.

That was your glass, not mine. I'm sorry, it was yours.

And I imagine the police will wonder, what are brandy glasses doing in my

After all, it's not the place to put a glass, is it?

And since this is going to be a case of murder, they'll have the intelligence to

lift those fingerprints.

I haven't taken my eyes off you.

You couldn't have switched those glasses.

You're wrong. You seem to have forgotten that at least twice you took your eyes

off me to look at that picture.

There, you see.

You just did it again.

Only for a second or two.

It was time enough, and you know it. No, there wasn't time. You couldn't have

switched those glasses.

Your hand's shaking, Smith. Sit down.

I said it was impossible.

You couldn't have switched those glasses. Those glasses were next to each

It was easy. I can assure you.

You're lying.

That was your glass, not mine. Well, then you're going to get a great

when the police come for you.

I wonder how you go to the chair, Smith.

Unlike your victims cringing at your feet, begging for mercy, offering you

anything if you'll spare their lives.

No, I imagine you said to yourself in bed at night, when my time comes, I

die with professional calm and dignity.

That's a common and comforting delusion, Smith.

You'll probably have to be drugged, head shaved, dragged to the chair.

Listen, you open that safe or I'll kill you. Believe me, I'll kill you.

We both know you will kill me if I do open it.

So what are you planning to do with the glass?

Let's talk about that, shall we?

Sit down.

Please.

Now, if you don't murder me, and somehow I don't think you will, I shall take

that glass to a private detective agency and have the fingerprints reproduced as

evidence. I'll place it in a sealed envelope along with instructions that in

event of my violent death, or even if it looks accidental or due to natural

causes... That envelope will be forwarded without delay to the police.

The rest will inevitably follow.

That won't be necessary.

I'll go out the way I came in.

No.

I now have a plan, and I insist on it being carried out.

It will provide protection for my future.

Why don't you go straight to the police? I have my reasons.

Your wife... Yes?

Your wife could hire somebody else to kill you.

Yes, you're right. She could.

With my glass and that safe, I could still be accused of your murder. I could

still go to the chair.

I imagine so. Yes, yes, you could.

For a crime I didn't commit.

Why don't you relax and have a cigar?

No. They're the best.

You still haven't answered my question.

What question was that?

Your wife could hire somebody else to kill you. I could still go to the chair.

Unless, of course, she were unable to hire anyone.

Unable to... You're not getting my point.

You said my wife was at the Emerson's?

That's right. She said she'd be leaving at 11.

11? Good.

That's good.

Why? Because it's time.

Time for what?

For what I have in mind.

I take it you don't know where the Emerson's live?

No. You've got exactly 45 minutes.

It's a big house, but what is especially convenient from your point of view,

it's set well back from the road.

There's a winding driveway, tree -lined.

It offers perfect concealment in the dark.

But I don't have to spell it out for you.

How you complete the job is up to you.

Here's the address.

Memorize it, and then I'll burn it.

It's something you have to do, Smith.

It's for your protection as well as mine.

Where are you going to be at 11 o 'clock?

I'll be at my club. It's only five minutes from here.

I always drop in there on Friday nights to play cards with a few friends.

Of course, they will sympathize with me when I get the phone call telling me

that my wife has been shot.

Wait a minute. I got to think about this.

Yes, think about it. But it'll be tonight.

It must be tonight.

I seem to have no choice.

Oh, Smith, that key to my desk drawer, you still have it.

Do you ever really love her?

I was very fond of this piece when I first bought it.

Now it bores me.

I'll have to have it replaced.

Good night, Mr. Smith.

Good night.

And, uh...

Drive carefully.

Harry? Jerry?

I'm fine, thank you.

I'm sorry to call you so late.

I wonder if I could meet you at the club in 10 or 15 minutes?

Yes. No, I was just going over the Ferguson contract, and I want to talk

it while it's still fresh in my mind.

Yes. Oh, Harry, one other thing.

I need something photographed.

It's a valuable object.

I want you to arrange it.

I'll leave it in the safe overnight.

Thank you, Harry.