Original subtitles

I couldn't really care less what Johnny does.

Won't you come down and rejoin us? Oh.

Would you like me to drive you home?

Just leave me alone. Miss Walker, I...

Miss Diana?

Miss Diana?

Dear?

Good morning.

It's a beautiful morning.

Hardly a cloud in the sky.

Are you all right, dear?

After my shower, Sonny, please.

You're sure you're all right?

Yes, please.

Joe, thank you so much for coming.

How are you, Jason?

It's good to see you.

You look fine.

Sit down.

Well, I can't say that you show any signs of wear and tear yourself.

Getting a newspaper out every day keeps a man fit.

How is Diana, Jason?

It's been four years now, Joe.

Things change.

People?

Nothing wrong, is it?

Hasn't been easy for Di.

A marriage, a failure.

I understand that you're your own man. I can't buy it, so I won't try.

I need your help.

With Diana?

Yes.

I realize what I'm asking, but I'm desperate, Joe.

Diana and I are out of touch.

Something's happened.

I don't know what it is.

And you think you can find me?

You're just about my last hope.

Jason, uh...

I don't know.

I don't know, Jason. I just wouldn't want to do anything to make it rough for

Diana.

How could you?

What, you had?

The two of you?

I know that now. I've known her for years.

I've had to live with the knowledge that I spoiled her for both of you.

Oh, you didn't do it, Jason.

I didn't have to be quite so stiff -necked.

I guess I've grown up a little, too.

But you were right.

You wanted a girl, not a newspaper empire. I should have stepped back.

Will you see her?

Sure.

Thanks.

We're having a dinner party at the house tonight.

Scotch, please.

Two champagne, please. Hello, Bill. Joe!

All look the same?

Yeah, it's a little strange to be back again after all these years. How have

been? Oh, still helping get out the paper.

Bill, I see you've got everything you need.

Joe? Well, everything except the other half of the wealth.

He means the pretty half.

I see what's keeping you.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Joe.

Joe, I want you to meet Judge Lee.

Joe Mannix?

Haven't we met before, Mr. Mannix? Yes, we have.

Pardon me, gentlemen.

A small domestic crisis.

Where was it we met, by the way? In court.

Yours. I was with an attorney named Knox who was petitioning for a retrial in

the Harry Meacham case.

Yes, you're the private detective.

That's right, Your Honor.

I developed the new evidence that Knox presented to the court.

I'm sure if Your Honor had taken the trouble to read it carefully... Of

weighed your evidence, Mr. Mannix.

Then why wasn't Harry Meacham released from San Quentin before the full

was served?

It was all right there in the report.

Law is the art of the possible, Mr. Mannix.

A retrial on the Meacham case would have been impossible.

Good evening,

Father.

My guests have been here for an hour.

I'm sorry, Father.

Are you all right?

What?

I said, are you all right?

Always worth waiting for.

Hello, Joe.

Are you coming down?

Or do I have to come up and get you?

I'm coming down.

Take it to a roll, Joe.

Make some excuse.

Hey, old Joe.

Always around to save little Di from nasty falls.

You must have radar tuned into falling women.

Doesn't every red -blooded American boy?

It's a pity you didn't step aside and let me break my neck.

Too late, Joe.

I'm sorry that Diana was ill. I am too, Jason. Good night. Good night.

You

can

clean up in the morning.

Good night.

Thank you very much.

How long has Diana been that way?

Some time now, since she came back from Europe.

What happened?

Happened? Something must have pushed her over the edge.

I don't think it was any one thing. It just started to build up till one day it

was all downhill.

Right to Johnny Molina.

What did you hear about Melina?

Diana and the cheap hood.

That kind of gossip gets around fast, Jason.

Like a dirty joke.

I tried to stop her.

What could I do, Joe?

Lock her in her room?

Handcuff her to the bed?

I'm not a jailer. I'm a father.

Hardly that sometimes.

There seem to be so many things we can't say to each other.

Can't be bright and cheerful. It has to be swept under a rug.

You didn't invent the generation gap.

But I have to build a bridge over it, Joe, somehow.

She's all I have.

If you can get through to her.

If you can find out why.

And I'm afraid we've blown it, Jason.

She figures that's why I was here.

Good night, Jason.

Hello? Mr. Mannix?

Oh, I'm so glad I could get you. This is Iris Meacham.

Well, hello, Iris.

I know I have no right to ask you this, but I was hoping that you could come

here. I was hoping that you could stop Harry before he... Before what?

All he talks about... is killing Judge Lee.

He's bought himself a gun, Mr. Mannix.

Pirates only have been home a little over a week. Maybe I should have waited,

giving him a chance to settle down.

Oh, I'm sure he'll settle down just as fast without a gun.

Iris, who is this?

Harry, Mr.

Mannix, from the building where I work.

I wanted to meet you, Harry.

Talk to you.

You met me, we talked.

Now come on in here, Iris.

Good night.

What is this?

Harry, a couple of Christmases ago, we had an office party. Iris was there.

It was kind of a sad time for her with you and San Quentin, so we tried to

her up.

Thanks. But as sometimes happens, the cheer up backfired. So she told us all

about it.

About you and your trial in Judge Lee's court.

Don't you think I want to forget about that?

You were railroaded, Harry.

I did a little investigating, so I know about the stolen goods the police found

in that warehouse you own downtown.

It was an obvious frame -up, and I tried everything I could to get you a new

trial. No luck.

I had five years to think about luck.

Sit there week after week in a coffin called a cell, try to drag

the clock around to five years.

Mr. Mannix?

Ask him about the gun.

Iris! Harry, you're smarter than that.

You know what would happen if you got busted with a gun in your possession?

I told you. I told you, Iris.

On top of everything else, you gotta have a wife that talks to cops. She was

with you all the way, Harry. She scrubbed floors to pay your attorney

Yeah, yeah, I know.

I got a wife.

She's got me.

That's all there is.

Nothing else to show for our life.

They tore down the warehouse.

Put up a skyscraper.

You know who owns it?

Macklin Reeves.

He tried to buy me out for years.

Had his hoodlums run off my help.

I fought him and it cost me everything I had.

Now he's got everything.

Reeves. He's a big operator now.

Clean. He just buys...

A building or a bank?

Or a judge?

Judge Lee?

In his pocket.

Can you prove it?

What difference does that make?

You get me any proof there's a connection between Judge Lee and Macklin

and you won't have to square accounts with his honor. I'll square them for

Where do I get proof?

That's your problem.

I'll pay you for your time. How about it?

Here's my card.

Call that number any time of the day or night. Now, if I'm not in, my answering

service will know where to get a hold of me.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Me, the girl who didn't come to dinner.

Hello, Diana.

I'm sorry I was such a monster last night. I was an unholy mess.

I'm sorry, Joe.

Let's just say last night didn't happen. I scrubbed the whole 24 hours.

I'd like to scrub the whole last four years.

I can meet you at the laundromat.

Or would you rather make a dinner?

We can make that dinner.

Gino really has a lock on time, doesn't he?

It's hard to believe it's been over four years since we sat at this table.

You've been here since with other women?

I'm hooked on the lasagna.

We candlelight.

Were you in love with any of them?

Oh, I thought so.

Once or twice.

What happened?

I stopped thinking so.

Once or twice.

I'll drink to that.

My poor Rudy.

My poor little prince.

So handsome, so dashing.

So sick.

But you married him.

Well, doesn't every rich American girl, she can find a prince who isn't taking

her.

What was wrong with Rudy?

Tommy and Mary, because they want a mother.

In Rudy's case, it was a little more complicated. He wanted his own mother.

So I sent him back to her.

I understand they're very happy.

Is that why you made the scene in Europe for three years?

I can't explain that, Joe. I just stopped thinking, started drifting.

I just went off in all directions.

That explains Johnny Molina.

There's no secret, you know.

Johnny just happened.

And once it started, I couldn't stop it.

I haven't painted here in a long time, but it makes a nice pad when I want to

get away.

There's really nothing to look at. Those are things I did a long time ago.

All the better.

By now, they may have become old masters.

Please, no jokes about hanging them upside down.

As long as you know.

I like them.

You ought to go back to work.

Maybe I'll do that. Or something more useful, like getting us a drink.

I tried.

I don't know how many times I tried, but I just couldn't quite catch you.

Well,

maybe you'll try again.

Someday.

Maybe I will.

Joe, it's so wonderful to see you again.

I feel so comfortable and warm when I'm with you. It's safe.

Safe?

Did I say that?

Safe from what?

From ghoulies and beasties and things that go...

Hello. Yes, just a minute.

It's your answering service.

Yeah, this is Mannix.

Put him on.

Mannix, I'm calling you from the Mirador Yacht Basin.

I got something.

All right, give it to me.

Judge Lee left his house about midnight.

Raced down here like a two -year -old.

Acton Reeves ties his yacht up here. He was waiting for him.

He just sailed out through the breakwater.

Well, good work, Harry.

Oh, that's just for openers.

They caught us another fish, a big one.

Jason Walker drove up and got on board just a minute after his honor.

And you're sure about that? You did recognize him?

Well, I was never seen his picture off, Anna.

Well, I'll get right to work on it, Harry. Thanks.

Morning, Jason.

Morning, Joe.

Good news.

Diana's moved out of her beach place.

Has to do some serious painting again.

Yeah, I know.

Picking her up for lunch.

Fine.

Coffee? Why, no, thanks.

Jason, I'd like to read you something from your paper.

Case for Judge Lee by Jason Walker, editor and publisher.

The Observer strongly urges the support of its readers for the senatorial

candidacy of the Honorable Y. Franklin Lee, Supreme Court Judge.

Why, Jason?

I wouldn't endorse Judge Lee if I didn't know he was the best man for the job.

Is that what last night's cruise on Macklin Reeves' boat was all about? Your

of getting to know your candidate?

I just thought you might like to try an explanation on me, Jason.

You know, sort of a dry run to see if it holds up.

I guess if you want to have a midnight rendezvous with a known hoodlum boss and

his political stooge, it's your business.

Goodbye, gentlemen.

What does it mean?

I hate to say it, Jason, but it could be a suicide note.

We've got to find her, Joe.

Who are you calling?

The police.

Not the police, not yet.

Jason, this is a job for them now.

Joe, try to understand.

If this is merely a mode, a fit of depression, and I press the panic

isn't there something we can do?

Jason, this is a big city. It would take a small army to check out the places

she might be.

Wait a minute.

You happen to have a small army working for you. Maybe they can find her.

Ellie, observer.

Observer.

Ellie, observer.

Observer.

Something wrong with the drink, miss?

No.

Well, maybe you'd like some chips or something, or fried shrimp? No, I'd just

like to be left alone.

Observer, ma 'am.

What's new, Artie?

It's all in the observer.

Hello?

Mr. Walker?

This is Arnie.

Blind Arnie.

I got the route in Santa Monica.

Yes, Arnie.

About your girl, Mr. Walker.

Could be she's in a joint here called the Glad Hand.

I ain't heard her voice in years, but it sure sounded like her.

She used to come around on the trucks.

Called me Mr. Arnie.

I never forgot her.

Bartender. There was a girl here. Tall, blonde, pretty. Yeah, she left this.

Where'd she go?

Out the side entrance, onto the beach. Hang on to that for me.

What is it?

Oh, Joe.

Oh. Oh, my Joe.

Oh,

Joe.

Oh, Joe.

Oh, last night with you.

I thought something was good for me again.

Something I'd lost, I'd found.

But I kept... I kept seeing his face.

And they just wanted to die.

It was an accident.

I could have swerved or maybe put the brakes on, but I didn't. I didn't.

I hated him, Joe.

Told you so.

She killed a man.

I know.

Johnny Molina. How long have you known?

I suspected.

I saw Diana come in that night.

She was hysterical.

I went out to the garage.

There was a dented fender on her car.

Jason, Jason, why didn't you go to the police? So a girl panics and runs. She

probably could have gotten off with a couple of years probation.

It wasn't hit and run.

It was murder.

Just because Diana has some crazy idea. Diana never said a word to me.

How could you know?

There was a witness.

Who didn't go to the police either.

The police don't own a newspaper.

I got a call from Macklin Reeves to meet him on his yacht and discuss a matter

of mutual interest.

He saw Diana run Melina down.

He was very sympathetic, most anxious to cooperate, more than willing to save

Diana from a murder charge, even if the victim was one of his boys.

It's all heart.

What could I do, Joe?

I can't turn in my daughter for murder.

I can't let her rot in prison for someone like Johnny Molina. I don't

endorsing Judge Lee was too high a price to pay.

Blackmail's always too high a price, Jason.

I'm going to retire.

Diana and I are going to go away somewhere.

Run somewhere, you mean?

Call it what you like. I'm going to stand by her.

That's not the answer, Jason, and you know it.

It's out of your hands now, Jason.

Diana stopped running today.

She knows what has to be done.

This place is open 24 hours a day.

Come on, there's something I want to find out first.

Joe, let's get out of here.

In a minute, Diane.

I want you to tell me exactly where you were when you hit Melina. Was it this

close to the house?

No.

It was back further.

You sure?

Back further.

All right.

You tell me where.

Here Here

You're sure this is where it happened?

Yes.

I remember going around the curve.

And, uh, Macklin Reeves was still in the house? You left him there?

Yes.

Yes, Joe.

Take a look at the house.

Go ahead, take a look.

I can't see the house from here.

So how could Reeves have seen where you hit Johnny?

Trees blocking the house.

It couldn't stand up, Joe.

It's his word against hers. The difference of a few yards.

How are you going to prove it?

Maybe I can get Macklin Reeves to prove it for us.

How are you going to do that?

A little fishing.

Oh, and if I don't get back, Jason, follow it up. Might be a good yarn.

You wanted to talk, so talk.

Macklin Reeves I want to talk to.

It's the same.

It was right hand, Cully Roberts.

Oh, you stepped into Johnny Molina's shoes.

They were getting too big for him anyway.

So that's what happened, huh?

Johnny stepped out of line, so you got the word to put him out of his misery.

Say it again, slow.

Come on now, Cully.

Just a little too packed.

Johnny's kind doesn't die stepping off a curb.

You've got nothing.

Zero plus zero.

I've been putting it together.

It adds up.

You take care of Johnny, just like Reeves planned it.

Then you prop him up in the road and let her hit him.

She takes the blame.

And then Reeves has her old man on the hook.

Everybody's happy.

There you are. Try it again.

You still got nothing.

The girl hit him.

I say she killed a dead man.

Lots of luck proving that, Mr. Mannix.

All right.

Tell me how you know Diana didn't run Johnny down.

I'm very interested.

I figure I'd be wasting my time, Mr. Reeves. She tells me you saw the whole

thing from the house.

That's right.

You'd better check the geography before you try and sell that under oath.

I stood on the spot where she hit Johnny. Can't see it.

From the house.

I wondered what would happen if I scratched the image of the new Macklin

Correct.

Impeccable business connections.

Pillar of the community.

Now you know.

Now I know.

Guy trying to change a tire too close to the road could have a real bad

accident. Yeah. Now give me a hand.

All right. Remember to step on the brake when you hit that puddle.

I want to get good skid marks so it really looks like somebody tried to miss

him.

I'm glad you happened along, Macklin.

Seems I've got attire needs changing.

Oh, hi, Joe.

Oh, hi, Joe.

I thought you might be interested in knowing what happened.

We won it all.

Macklin Reeves has been indicted and Judge Lee has withdrawn from the race.

And you're not listening.

Joe?

How do you like it?

I think you finally caught me.

Oh, no one will ever do that.

But if you don't mind, I'd like to keep trying.