1
00:01:42,827 --> 00:01:44,620
[Traffic light dings]
2
00:01:46,163 --> 00:01:47,665
[Truck honking]
3
00:01:47,707 --> 00:01:48,708
[Tires screeching]
4
00:02:14,025 --> 00:02:15,026
[Knocking]
5
00:02:19,114 --> 00:02:20,824
[Knocking]
6
00:02:29,583 --> 00:02:31,585
Why, hello there,
Mr. Neff.
7
00:02:43,889 --> 00:02:48,019
Working pretty late, aren't you,
Mr. Neff? Late enough. Let's ride.
8
00:02:51,355 --> 00:02:54,275
You look kind of all
in, at that. I'm fine.
9
00:02:54,734 --> 00:02:57,820
How is the insurance
business, Mr. Neff? Okay.
10
00:02:58,696 --> 00:03:00,490
They wouldn't ever
sell me any.
11
00:03:00,573 --> 00:03:02,283
They said I have something
loose in my heart.
12
00:03:02,367 --> 00:03:03,493
[Chuckles]
13
00:03:03,576 --> 00:03:05,870
I say it's rheumatism.
Yeah?
14
00:03:06,746 --> 00:03:07,998
Twelve.
15
00:04:27,997 --> 00:04:28,956
[Clicking]
16
00:04:36,547 --> 00:04:37,548
[Exhaling]
17
00:04:53,982 --> 00:04:55,275
[Buzzing]
18
00:05:00,739 --> 00:05:01,740
[Buzzing stops]
19
00:05:03,742 --> 00:05:05,410
Office memorandum.
20
00:05:06,536 --> 00:05:09,414
Walter Neff to Barton Keyes,
Claims Manager.
21
00:05:10,707 --> 00:05:12,918
Los Angeles, July 16, 1938.
22
00:05:14,878 --> 00:05:16,380
Dear Keyes...
23
00:05:17,965 --> 00:05:20,968
I suppose you'll call this
a confession when you hear it.
24
00:05:21,051 --> 00:05:23,387
Well, I don't like
the word confession.
25
00:05:23,470 --> 00:05:25,597
I just want to set you right
about something you couldn't see...
26
00:05:25,681 --> 00:05:27,349
because it was smack up
against your nose.
27
00:05:28,559 --> 00:05:30,644
You think you're such a hot
potato as a Claims Manager...
28
00:05:30,728 --> 00:05:32,897
such a wolf on a phony claim.
29
00:05:34,023 --> 00:05:37,902
Maybe you are, but let's take a
look at that Dietrichson claim.
30
00:05:39,070 --> 00:05:41,322
Accident and double indemnity.
31
00:05:42,198 --> 00:05:45,368
You were pretty good in there
for a while, Keyes.
32
00:05:45,618 --> 00:05:48,246
You said it wasn't
an accident. Check.
33
00:05:48,663 --> 00:05:51,082
You said it wasn't suicide.
Check.
34
00:05:51,916 --> 00:05:55,086
You said it was murder. Check.
35
00:05:57,255 --> 00:05:59,758
You thought you had it cold,
didn't you?
36
00:05:59,841 --> 00:06:03,053
All wrapped up in tissue paper,
with pink ribbons around it.
37
00:06:03,094 --> 00:06:04,638
It was perfect.
38
00:06:05,263 --> 00:06:08,225
Except it wasn't, because
you made one mistake...
39
00:06:08,308 --> 00:06:10,227
just one little mistake.
40
00:06:11,436 --> 00:06:15,274
When it came to picking the
killer, you picked the wrong guy.
41
00:06:16,191 --> 00:06:18,902
You want to know who
killed Dietrichson?
42
00:06:19,570 --> 00:06:22,614
Hold tight to that
cheap cigar of yours, Keyes.
43
00:06:24,074 --> 00:06:25,618
I killed Dietrichson.
44
00:06:25,701 --> 00:06:28,579
Me, Walter Neff,
insurance salesman.
45
00:06:28,829 --> 00:06:31,791
35 years old, unmarried,
no visible scars...
46
00:06:33,959 --> 00:06:36,045
until a while ago, that is.
47
00:06:37,505 --> 00:06:39,173
Yes, I killed him.
48
00:06:40,883 --> 00:06:42,927
I killed him for money...
49
00:06:42,969 --> 00:06:44,595
and for a woman.
50
00:06:46,389 --> 00:06:50,560
And I didn't get the money
and I didn't get the woman.
51
00:06:52,770 --> 00:06:54,397
Pretty, isn't it?
52
00:06:55,857 --> 00:06:57,817
[Buzzing]
53
00:07:04,658 --> 00:07:05,659
[Buzzing stops]
54
00:07:08,245 --> 00:07:10,122
It all began last May.
55
00:07:11,373 --> 00:07:12,582
Around the end of May, it was.
56
00:07:14,751 --> 00:07:18,881
I'd been out to Glendale to deliver
a policy on some dairy trucks.
57
00:07:18,964 --> 00:07:22,468
On the way back I remembered this
auto renewal near Los Feliz Boulevard.
58
00:07:22,551 --> 00:07:24,470
So I drove over there.
59
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,472
It was one of those
California Spanish houses...
60
00:07:26,555 --> 00:07:29,475
everyone was nuts about
10 or 15 years ago.
61
00:07:30,017 --> 00:07:32,978
This one must've cost somebody
about $30,000.
62
00:07:33,229 --> 00:07:35,523
That is, if he ever
finished paying for it.
63
00:07:35,564 --> 00:07:37,191
[Doorbell ringing]
64
00:07:38,401 --> 00:07:39,861
Is Mr. Dietrichson in?
65
00:07:39,944 --> 00:07:42,488
Who wants to see him? My
name is Neff. Walter Neff.
66
00:07:42,530 --> 00:07:45,783
If you're selling something... Look,
it's Mr. Dietrichson I want to talk to...
67
00:07:45,867 --> 00:07:46,993
and it's not
magazine subscriptions.
68
00:07:47,076 --> 00:07:49,495
Listen, Mr. Dietrichson is not
in. How soon do you expect him?
69
00:07:49,537 --> 00:07:51,748
He'll be home when he gets
here, if that's any help to you.
70
00:07:51,831 --> 00:07:53,541
(Phyllis)
What is it, Nettie? Who is it?
71
00:07:53,625 --> 00:07:55,418
It's for Mr. Dietrichson.
72
00:07:55,502 --> 00:07:57,587
I'm Mrs. Dietrichson.
What is it?
73
00:07:58,254 --> 00:07:59,714
How do you do,
Mrs. Dietrichson?
74
00:07:59,798 --> 00:08:01,716
I'm Walter Neff,
Pacific All Risk.
75
00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,970
Pacific all what? The Pacific
All Risk Insurance Company.
76
00:08:05,053 --> 00:08:07,013
It's about some renewals
on the automobiles.
77
00:08:07,097 --> 00:08:09,683
I've been trying to contact your
husband for the past two weeks...
78
00:08:09,725 --> 00:08:12,895
but he's never in his office.
Is there anything I can do?
79
00:08:12,978 --> 00:08:14,479
The insurance ran out
on the 15th.
80
00:08:14,563 --> 00:08:16,690
I'd hate to think of your
having a smashed fender...
81
00:08:16,732 --> 00:08:18,358
or something
while you're not...
82
00:08:18,442 --> 00:08:19,693
fully covered.
83
00:08:20,903 --> 00:08:23,197
Perhaps I know
what you mean, Mr. Neff.
84
00:08:23,239 --> 00:08:27,076
I've just been taking a sunbath.
No pigeons around, I hope.
85
00:08:28,077 --> 00:08:31,205
About those policies, Mrs. Dietrichson,
I hate to take up your time, but...
86
00:08:31,288 --> 00:08:32,623
Oh, that's all right.
87
00:08:32,707 --> 00:08:35,209
If you'll wait till I put
something on, I'll be right down.
88
00:08:35,251 --> 00:08:38,171
Nettie, show Mr. Neff
into the living room.
89
00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:42,175
Where would
the living room be?
90
00:08:42,258 --> 00:08:44,677
In there, but they keep
the liquor locked up.
91
00:08:44,761 --> 00:08:47,722
It's all right.
I always carry my own keys.
92
00:08:55,105 --> 00:08:56,773
(Walter) The living
room was still stuffy...
93
00:08:56,856 --> 00:08:58,525
from last night's cigars.
94
00:08:59,401 --> 00:09:00,569
The windows were closed...
95
00:09:00,610 --> 00:09:02,654
and the sunshine coming in
through the venetian blinds...
96
00:09:02,737 --> 00:09:04,948
showed up the dust in the air.
97
00:09:06,283 --> 00:09:09,912
On the piano, in a couple of fancy
frames, were Mr. Dietrichson and Lola...
98
00:09:09,995 --> 00:09:12,247
his daughter
by his first wife.
99
00:09:13,499 --> 00:09:15,751
They had a bowl of those
little red goldfish...
100
00:09:15,793 --> 00:09:18,212
on the table behind
the big davenport.
101
00:09:18,420 --> 00:09:19,630
But to tell you
the truth, Keyes...
102
00:09:19,713 --> 00:09:22,758
I wasn't a whole lot interested
in goldfish right then.
103
00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,762
Or in auto renewals, or in Mr.
Dietrichson and his daughter Lola.
104
00:09:26,846 --> 00:09:30,766
I was thinking about that dame upstairs,
and the way she had looked at me...
105
00:09:30,808 --> 00:09:33,519
and I wanted
to see her again, close...
106
00:09:33,603 --> 00:09:36,314
without that silly staircase
between us.
107
00:09:41,569 --> 00:09:44,030
I wasn't long, was I? (Walter)
Not at all, Mrs. Dietrichson.
108
00:09:44,113 --> 00:09:47,617
Hope I've got my face on straight.
It's perfect, for my money.
109
00:09:47,659 --> 00:09:49,119
Neff is the name, isn't it?
Yeah.
110
00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,454
With two "F's," like in
Philadelphia, if you know the story.
111
00:09:51,538 --> 00:09:54,124
What story?
The Philadelphia Story.
112
00:09:54,332 --> 00:09:56,334
Suppose we sit down and you
tell me about the insurance.
113
00:09:56,418 --> 00:09:58,920
My husband never
tells me anything.
114
00:09:59,004 --> 00:10:02,340
Well, it's on your two cars,
the LaSalle and the Plymouth.
115
00:10:03,842 --> 00:10:06,803
We've been handling this insurance
for Mr. Dietrichson for three years...
116
00:10:06,887 --> 00:10:09,431
and we'd hate to see
the policies lapse.
117
00:10:09,848 --> 00:10:13,644
That's a honey of an anklet
you're wearing, Mrs. Dietrichson.
118
00:10:13,852 --> 00:10:16,355
As I was saying, we'd hate
to see the policies lapse.
119
00:10:16,438 --> 00:10:19,233
Of course, we give them 30 days.
That's all we're allowed to give.
120
00:10:19,316 --> 00:10:21,819
I guess he's been too busy down
at Long Beach in the oil fields.
121
00:10:21,861 --> 00:10:24,071
Couldn't I catch him at home
some evening for a few minutes?
122
00:10:24,155 --> 00:10:26,073
I suppose so. But he's
never home much before 8:00.
123
00:10:26,157 --> 00:10:27,491
That's fine with me.
124
00:10:27,533 --> 00:10:29,577
You're not connected with
the Automobile Club, are you?
125
00:10:29,660 --> 00:10:32,038
No, the All Risk,
Mrs. Dietrichson. Why?
126
00:10:32,121 --> 00:10:35,082
Somebody from the Automobile
Club has been trying to get him.
127
00:10:35,166 --> 00:10:38,002
Do they have a better rate?
If your husband's a member.
128
00:10:38,044 --> 00:10:39,128
No, he isn't.
129
00:10:39,212 --> 00:10:42,340
Well, then he'd have to join the club
and pay the membership fee to start with.
130
00:10:42,423 --> 00:10:45,134
I never knock the other fellow's
merchandise, Mrs. Dietrichson.
131
00:10:45,218 --> 00:10:49,180
The Automobile Club's fine. I can
do just as well for you, though.
132
00:10:49,222 --> 00:10:51,433
I have a very attractive
policy here.
133
00:10:51,516 --> 00:10:54,185
It wouldn't take me two minutes
to put it in front of your husband.
134
00:10:54,227 --> 00:10:56,813
For instance, we're writing a new
kind of 50% retention feature...
135
00:10:56,897 --> 00:10:58,899
in the collision coverage.
136
00:10:59,441 --> 00:11:01,902
You're a smart insurance man,
aren't you, Mr. Neff?
137
00:11:01,943 --> 00:11:04,529
Well, I've been at it 11
years. Doing pretty well?
138
00:11:04,571 --> 00:11:05,948
It's a living.
139
00:11:06,698 --> 00:11:10,244
You handle just automobile
insurance, or all kinds?
140
00:11:10,327 --> 00:11:13,747
All kinds. Fire, earthquake, theft,
public liability, group insurance...
141
00:11:13,831 --> 00:11:16,250
industrial stuff and so on,
right down the line.
142
00:11:16,417 --> 00:11:17,668
Accident insurance?
143
00:11:17,751 --> 00:11:19,962
Accident insurance?
Sure, Mrs. Dietrichson.
144
00:11:20,087 --> 00:11:21,046
[Chuckles]
145
00:11:21,922 --> 00:11:25,092
Wish you'd tell me what's
engraved on that anklet.
146
00:11:25,551 --> 00:11:28,054
Just my name.
As, for instance?
147
00:11:29,639 --> 00:11:31,390
Phyllis.
Phyllis, huh?
148
00:11:32,058 --> 00:11:34,852
I think I like that.
But you're not sure?
149
00:11:34,936 --> 00:11:38,064
I'd have to drive it around
the block a couple of times.
150
00:11:38,147 --> 00:11:40,900
Mr. Neff, why don't you drop
by tomorrow evening around 8:30?
151
00:11:40,942 --> 00:11:42,819
He'll be in then.
Who?
152
00:11:42,902 --> 00:11:46,114
My husband. You were anxious
to talk to him, weren't you?
153
00:11:46,197 --> 00:11:49,117
Yeah, I was, but I'm sort of
getting over the idea...
154
00:11:49,159 --> 00:11:50,535
if you know what I mean.
155
00:11:50,619 --> 00:11:54,039
There's a speed limit in this
state, Mr. Neff. 45 miles an hour.
156
00:11:54,122 --> 00:11:57,375
How fast was I going, officer?
I'd say around 90.
157
00:11:57,667 --> 00:12:00,087
Suppose you get down off your
motorcycle and give me a ticket.
158
00:12:00,128 --> 00:12:02,381
Suppose I let you off
with a warning this time.
159
00:12:02,464 --> 00:12:04,174
Suppose it doesn't take.
160
00:12:04,258 --> 00:12:06,635
Suppose I have to whack you
over the knuckles.
161
00:12:06,677 --> 00:12:09,596
Suppose I bust out crying and
put my head on your shoulder.
162
00:12:09,638 --> 00:12:12,766
Suppose you try putting it
on my husband's shoulder.
163
00:12:12,850 --> 00:12:14,351
That tears it.
164
00:12:18,647 --> 00:12:22,026
8:30 tomorrow evening then.
That's what I suggested.
165
00:12:22,109 --> 00:12:24,779
Will you be here, too?
I guess so, I usually am.
166
00:12:24,862 --> 00:12:27,156
Same chair, same perfume,
same anklet?
167
00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,283
I wonder if I know
what you mean.
168
00:12:30,284 --> 00:12:32,161
I wonder if you wonder.
169
00:12:35,832 --> 00:12:38,251
(Walter) It was a hot afternoon
and I can still remember...
170
00:12:38,334 --> 00:12:41,254
the smell of honeysuckle
all along that street.
171
00:12:41,337 --> 00:12:45,550
How could I have known that murder
can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?
172
00:12:45,633 --> 00:12:46,801
Maybe you would
have known, Keyes...
173
00:12:46,885 --> 00:12:50,513
the minute she mentioned
accident insurance, but I didn't.
174
00:12:50,597 --> 00:12:52,474
I felt like a million.
175
00:12:53,183 --> 00:12:56,436
I went back to the office
to see if I had any mail.
176
00:12:56,686 --> 00:12:59,815
It was the day you had that truck
driver from Inglewood on the carpet.
177
00:12:59,856 --> 00:13:01,191
Remember, Keyes?
178
00:13:01,233 --> 00:13:03,652
Mr. Neff, Mr. Keyes
wants to see you.
179
00:13:03,694 --> 00:13:05,612
He's been yelling for you
all afternoon.
180
00:13:05,696 --> 00:13:07,656
Is he sore, or just frothing
at the mouth a little?
181
00:13:07,698 --> 00:13:09,742
Park this for me,
will you, sweetheart?
182
00:13:14,371 --> 00:13:16,248
Hello, Walter.
Hi, George.
183
00:13:18,375 --> 00:13:19,502
Come on. Come on, Garlopis.
184
00:13:19,543 --> 00:13:21,420
You're not kidding anybody
with that line of bull.
185
00:13:21,504 --> 00:13:23,547
You're in a jam and
you know it. Says you.
186
00:13:23,631 --> 00:13:25,841
All I want is my money. Says you.
187
00:13:25,925 --> 00:13:28,553
All you're gonna get
is the cops. Hello, Walter.
188
00:13:28,719 --> 00:13:31,806
This is Sam Garlopis from
Inglewood. Sure, I know Mr. Garlopis.
189
00:13:31,889 --> 00:13:34,809
Wrote a policy on his truck.
How are you, Mr. Garlopis?
190
00:13:34,892 --> 00:13:39,147
I ain't so good. My truck burned
down. Yeah. Now look, Garlopis.
191
00:13:39,898 --> 00:13:42,400
Every month hundreds of claims
come to this desk.
192
00:13:42,442 --> 00:13:44,736
Some of them are phonies,
and I know which ones.
193
00:13:44,819 --> 00:13:47,822
How do I know? Because
my little man tells me.
194
00:13:49,074 --> 00:13:51,910
What little man?
The little man in here.
195
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,205
Every time one of these phonies comes
along, it ties knots in my stomach.
196
00:13:55,288 --> 00:13:56,748
I can't eat.
197
00:13:56,790 --> 00:14:00,043
Yours is one of them, Garlopis. That's
how I knew your claim was crooked.
198
00:14:00,085 --> 00:14:01,628
So what did I do?
199
00:14:01,712 --> 00:14:04,298
I sent a tow car over to your
garage this afternoon...
200
00:14:04,381 --> 00:14:06,258
and they jacked up that
burned-out truck of yours.
201
00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:07,843
And what did they find?
202
00:14:07,926 --> 00:14:11,221
They found what was left
of a neat pile of shavings.
203
00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:12,848
What shavings?
204
00:14:12,932 --> 00:14:16,477
The ones you soaked with
kerosene and dropped a match on.
205
00:14:17,770 --> 00:14:22,233
Look, Mister, I'm just a poor
guy. Maybe I made a mistake.
206
00:14:22,525 --> 00:14:24,610
That's one way
of putting it.
207
00:14:24,694 --> 00:14:26,904
I ain't feeling so good,
Mr. Keyes.
208
00:14:26,988 --> 00:14:29,240
Here. Just a minute. Sign
this and you'll feel fine.
209
00:14:29,282 --> 00:14:32,160
Sign what? It's a waiver
on your claim. Right here.
210
00:14:33,411 --> 00:14:34,787
Here?
Here.
211
00:14:38,374 --> 00:14:41,544
Now you're an honest man
again. Goodbye, Garlopis.
212
00:14:41,628 --> 00:14:43,546
But I ain't got no more truck.
213
00:14:43,630 --> 00:14:46,007
$2,600 is lot of dough
where I live.
214
00:14:46,091 --> 00:14:48,593
What's the matter, Garlopis, don't
you know how to open the door?
215
00:14:48,635 --> 00:14:51,930
Just put your hand on the
knob, turn it to the left.
216
00:14:52,806 --> 00:14:54,808
Now pull it toward you.
217
00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,563
That's the boy.
Thank you, Mr. Keyes.
218
00:15:03,567 --> 00:15:05,194
What kind of an outfit
is this, anyway?
219
00:15:05,277 --> 00:15:07,988
Are we an insurance company, or
just a bunch of dimwitted amateurs...
220
00:15:08,072 --> 00:15:09,281
to write a policy
on a mug like that?
221
00:15:09,365 --> 00:15:10,991
Now, wait a minute, Keyes.
I don't rate this beef.
222
00:15:11,075 --> 00:15:12,618
I clipped a note to that
Garlopis application...
223
00:15:12,701 --> 00:15:13,702
to have him
thoroughly investigated...
224
00:15:13,786 --> 00:15:15,496
before we accepted the risk.
I know you did, Walter.
225
00:15:15,579 --> 00:15:18,249
I'm not beefing at you. It's the
company. It's the way they do things.
226
00:15:18,332 --> 00:15:19,417
The way they don't do things!
227
00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:22,211
The way they'll write anything just
to get it down on the sales sheet.
228
00:15:22,295 --> 00:15:24,797
And I'm the guy that has to sit
here up to my neck in phony claims...
229
00:15:24,839 --> 00:15:27,800
so they won't throw more money out the
window than they take in at the door.
230
00:15:27,842 --> 00:15:29,677
Okay, turn the record over,
let's hear the other side.
231
00:15:29,761 --> 00:15:33,097
Well, I get darn sick of trying to pick
up after a gang of fast-talking salesmen...
232
00:15:33,181 --> 00:15:34,849
dumb enough to sell
life insurance to a guy...
233
00:15:34,933 --> 00:15:36,810
who sleeps in the same bed
with four rattlesnakes.
234
00:15:36,851 --> 00:15:39,479
Walter, I've had 26 years of this
and let me tell you, I'm getting...
235
00:15:39,521 --> 00:15:41,523
Yeah, and you've loved
every minute of it, Keyes.
236
00:15:41,564 --> 00:15:45,402
You love it, only you worry about it
too darn much, you and your little man.
237
00:15:45,485 --> 00:15:47,821
You're so darn conscientious,
you're driving yourself crazy.
238
00:15:47,863 --> 00:15:50,615
You wouldn't even say today is Tuesday
unless you looked at the calendar.
239
00:15:50,699 --> 00:15:53,285
Then you'd check to see if it was
this year's or last year's calendar.
240
00:15:53,368 --> 00:15:54,745
Then you'd find out
who printed the calendar...
241
00:15:54,828 --> 00:15:57,623
and find out if their calendar checked
with the World Almanac's calendar.
242
00:15:57,706 --> 00:15:58,874
Now, that's enough
from you, Walter.
243
00:15:58,957 --> 00:16:02,169
Now, get out of here
before I throw my desk at you.
244
00:16:04,546 --> 00:16:05,547
[Flicking match]
245
00:16:05,631 --> 00:16:07,216
I love you, too.
246
00:16:14,181 --> 00:16:16,183
(Walter) I really did,
too, you old crab...
247
00:16:16,267 --> 00:16:19,562
always yelling your head off,
always sore at everybody.
248
00:16:19,770 --> 00:16:23,441
But you never fooled me with your
song and dance. Not for a second.
249
00:16:23,524 --> 00:16:25,985
I kind of always knew that behind
the cigar ashes on your vest...
250
00:16:26,069 --> 00:16:28,446
you had a heart
as big as a house.
251
00:16:29,030 --> 00:16:31,699
Back in my office there was a phone
message from Mrs. Dietrichson...
252
00:16:31,741 --> 00:16:33,493
about the renewals.
253
00:16:33,868 --> 00:16:36,746
She didn't want me to come
tomorrow evening.
254
00:16:36,913 --> 00:16:40,542
She wanted me to come Thursday
afternoon at 3:30 instead.
255
00:16:41,001 --> 00:16:44,337
I had a lot of stuff lined up
for that Thursday afternoon...
256
00:16:44,421 --> 00:16:46,381
including a trip
down to Santa Monica...
257
00:16:46,423 --> 00:16:50,218
to see a couple of live prospects
about some group insurance.
258
00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:53,388
But I kept thinking
about Phyllis Dietrichson...
259
00:16:53,513 --> 00:16:55,974
and the way that anklet
of hers cut into her leg.
260
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,068
Hello, Mr. Neff.
Aren't you coming in?
261
00:17:06,986 --> 00:17:08,737
I'm considering it.
262
00:17:10,656 --> 00:17:12,908
I hope you didn't mind
my changing the appointment.
263
00:17:12,992 --> 00:17:15,953
Last night wasn't so
convenient. That's all right.
264
00:17:16,037 --> 00:17:18,122
I was working on
my stamp collection anyway.
265
00:17:18,205 --> 00:17:20,374
I was just fixing some iced
tea. Would you like a glass?
266
00:17:20,458 --> 00:17:22,710
Yeah, unless you've got a bottle
of beer that's not working.
267
00:17:22,794 --> 00:17:25,380
There may be some. I never
know what's in the icebox.
268
00:17:25,463 --> 00:17:26,631
Nettie.
269
00:17:30,677 --> 00:17:34,264
About those renewals, Mr. Neff.
I talked to my husband about it.
270
00:17:34,305 --> 00:17:37,058
Oh, you did? Yes. He'll
renew with you, he told me so.
271
00:17:37,142 --> 00:17:39,686
As a matter of fact, I thought
he'd be here this afternoon.
272
00:17:39,769 --> 00:17:40,937
But he's not?
No.
273
00:17:40,979 --> 00:17:42,022
[Chuckles]
274
00:17:42,105 --> 00:17:43,690
That's terrible.
275
00:17:44,316 --> 00:17:46,318
Nettie!
276
00:17:47,110 --> 00:17:49,696
Oh, I forgot,
today's the maid's day off.
277
00:17:50,781 --> 00:17:53,659
Never mind the beer.
Iced tea will be fine.
278
00:17:53,742 --> 00:17:56,036
Lemon? Sugar?
Fix it your way.
279
00:17:57,746 --> 00:18:01,291
As long as it's the maid's day off,
maybe there's something I can do for you.
280
00:18:01,375 --> 00:18:04,545
Like running the vacuum cleaner. Fresh.
281
00:18:05,004 --> 00:18:07,423
I used to peddle
vacuum cleaners.
282
00:18:07,506 --> 00:18:09,425
Not much money, but you
learn a lot about life.
283
00:18:09,508 --> 00:18:13,179
I didn't think you'd learned
it from a correspondence course.
284
00:18:14,722 --> 00:18:16,974
Where'd you pick up
this tea drinking?
285
00:18:17,016 --> 00:18:19,227
You're not English, are you?
No. Californian.
286
00:18:19,310 --> 00:18:21,354
Born right here
in Los Angeles.
287
00:18:21,437 --> 00:18:24,524
They say all native
Californians come from Iowa.
288
00:18:25,650 --> 00:18:28,152
Mr. Neff, I...
Make it Walter, huh?
289
00:18:28,194 --> 00:18:30,071
Walter.
That's right.
290
00:18:30,488 --> 00:18:34,868
Tell me, Walter, on this insurance,
how much commission do you make?
291
00:18:35,035 --> 00:18:36,536
Twenty percent. Why?
292
00:18:36,578 --> 00:18:39,205
I thought perhaps I could throw
a little more business your way.
293
00:18:39,289 --> 00:18:41,875
I can always use it. I was
thinking about my husband.
294
00:18:41,958 --> 00:18:44,377
I worry a lot about him
down in those oil fields.
295
00:18:44,419 --> 00:18:46,713
It's very dangerous.
Not for an executive, is it?
296
00:18:46,797 --> 00:18:48,215
He doesn't just sit
behind a desk.
297
00:18:48,256 --> 00:18:50,550
He's right down there
with those drilling crews.
298
00:18:50,634 --> 00:18:51,843
It's got me worried sick.
299
00:18:51,927 --> 00:18:54,263
You mean, some dark night a
crown block might fall on him?
300
00:18:54,346 --> 00:18:56,807
Please don't talk like that.
But that's the idea.
301
00:18:56,890 --> 00:18:59,852
The other day a casing line
snapped and caught the foreman.
302
00:18:59,935 --> 00:19:02,730
He's in the hospital with
a broken back. That's bad.
303
00:19:02,813 --> 00:19:05,316
It's got me jittery
just thinking about it.
304
00:19:05,399 --> 00:19:07,610
Suppose something like that
happened to my husband.
305
00:19:07,693 --> 00:19:09,362
It could.
Well...
306
00:19:10,738 --> 00:19:14,033
don't you think he ought to
have accident insurance? Mmm-hmm.
307
00:19:15,076 --> 00:19:17,411
What kind of insurance
could he have?
308
00:19:17,495 --> 00:19:19,705
Enough to cover doctors
and hospital bills.
309
00:19:19,789 --> 00:19:21,874
Say $125 a week cash benefit.
310
00:19:21,916 --> 00:19:24,335
And he'd rate around
$50,000 capital sum.
311
00:19:24,419 --> 00:19:27,672
Capital sum? What's that?
In case he gets killed.
312
00:19:28,464 --> 00:19:30,884
Maybe I shouldn't
have said that.
313
00:19:30,925 --> 00:19:33,303
I suppose you have to think
of everything in your business.
314
00:19:33,386 --> 00:19:34,763
Well, your husband
would understand.
315
00:19:34,846 --> 00:19:37,641
I'm sure I could sell him on the
idea of some accident protection.
316
00:19:37,724 --> 00:19:39,267
Why don't I talk
to him about it?
317
00:19:39,351 --> 00:19:41,520
You could try,
but he's pretty tough-going.
318
00:19:41,603 --> 00:19:43,688
They're all tough at first.
319
00:19:44,481 --> 00:19:45,732
He has a lot on his mind.
320
00:19:45,774 --> 00:19:47,526
He doesn't seem to want
to listen to anything...
321
00:19:47,609 --> 00:19:50,445
except maybe
a baseball game on the radio.
322
00:19:50,779 --> 00:19:54,700
Sometimes we sit here all evening
and never say a word to each other.
323
00:19:54,783 --> 00:19:58,412
(Walter) Sounds pretty dull.
So, I just sit and knit.
324
00:19:59,788 --> 00:20:01,123
Is that what you
married him for?
325
00:20:01,207 --> 00:20:04,376
Maybe I like the way
his thumbs hold up the wool.
326
00:20:04,835 --> 00:20:07,088
Anytime his thumbs
get tired...
327
00:20:07,171 --> 00:20:09,548
Only, with me around,
you wouldn't have to knit.
328
00:20:09,632 --> 00:20:11,717
Wouldn't I? You bet
your life, you wouldn't.
329
00:20:14,804 --> 00:20:18,224
Wonder if a little rum
would get this up on its feet.
330
00:20:20,309 --> 00:20:22,812
I want to ask you
something, Walter.
331
00:20:25,064 --> 00:20:28,651
Could I get an accident policy for
him without bothering him at all?
332
00:20:28,735 --> 00:20:29,778
How's that, again?
333
00:20:29,819 --> 00:20:32,822
It would make it easier for you, too.
You wouldn't even have to talk to him.
334
00:20:32,864 --> 00:20:34,407
I have a little
allowance of my own.
335
00:20:34,491 --> 00:20:37,661
I could pay for it and he
needn't know anything about it.
336
00:20:40,122 --> 00:20:41,289
Why shouldn't he know?
337
00:20:41,373 --> 00:20:43,792
Because he doesn't want
accident insurance.
338
00:20:43,834 --> 00:20:47,796
He's superstitious about it. A lot
of people are. That's funny, isn't it?
339
00:20:47,838 --> 00:20:52,009
If there was a way to get it like
that, all the worry would be over.
340
00:20:52,968 --> 00:20:56,055
See what I mean, Walter?
Sure. I got good eyesight.
341
00:20:56,138 --> 00:20:58,849
You mean you want him to have
the policy without him knowing it.
342
00:20:58,933 --> 00:21:01,977
And that means without the insurance
company knowing that he doesn't know it.
343
00:21:02,019 --> 00:21:04,814
That's the setup, isn't it? Is
there anything wrong with it?
344
00:21:04,897 --> 00:21:06,232
No, I think it's lovely.
345
00:21:06,315 --> 00:21:08,734
Then, if some dark, wet night,
that crown block did fall on him...
346
00:21:08,818 --> 00:21:09,860
What crown block?
347
00:21:09,944 --> 00:21:13,030
Only sometimes it can't quite make it
on its own, it has to have a little help.
348
00:21:13,114 --> 00:21:14,449
I don't know what
you're talking about.
349
00:21:14,532 --> 00:21:15,950
Of course, it doesn't have
to be a crown block.
350
00:21:16,033 --> 00:21:19,120
It can be a car backing over him, or he
could fall out of the upstairs window.
351
00:21:19,203 --> 00:21:21,289
Any little thing like that,
just so it's a morgue job.
352
00:21:21,372 --> 00:21:23,583
Are you crazy?
Not that crazy.
353
00:21:25,668 --> 00:21:27,378
Goodbye, Mrs. Dietrichson.
What's the matter?
354
00:21:29,714 --> 00:21:32,342
Look, baby,
you can't get away with it.
355
00:21:34,219 --> 00:21:35,846
You want to knock him off,
don't you?
356
00:21:35,887 --> 00:21:37,389
That's a horrible
thing to say.
357
00:21:37,430 --> 00:21:38,723
What'd you think
I was, anyway?
358
00:21:38,807 --> 00:21:41,184
A guy that walks into a good
looking dame's front parlor and says:
359
00:21:41,226 --> 00:21:43,228
"Good afternoon, I sell
accident insurance on husbands.
360
00:21:43,270 --> 00:21:44,521
"You got one that's been
around too long?
361
00:21:44,605 --> 00:21:46,273
"One you'd like to turn into
a little hard cash?
362
00:21:46,356 --> 00:21:48,233
"Just give me a smile
and I'll help you collect. "
363
00:21:48,317 --> 00:21:51,987
Boy, what a dope you must think
I am. I think you're rotten.
364
00:21:52,071 --> 00:21:54,239
I think you're swell, so
long as I'm not your husband.
365
00:21:54,323 --> 00:21:57,243
Get out of here. You bet
I'll get out of here, baby.
366
00:21:57,326 --> 00:21:59,537
I'll get out of here,
but quick.
367
00:22:09,505 --> 00:22:11,924
(Walter) So I let her have
it straight between the eyes.
368
00:22:12,008 --> 00:22:14,552
She didn't fool me
for a minute, not this time.
369
00:22:14,761 --> 00:22:16,262
I knew I had hold
of a red-hot poker...
370
00:22:16,304 --> 00:22:19,057
and the time to drop it was
before it burned my hand off.
371
00:22:19,766 --> 00:22:23,686
I stopped at a drive-in for a bottle of
beer, the one I had wanted all along...
372
00:22:23,770 --> 00:22:27,607
only I wanted it worse now, to get rid
of the sour taste of her iced tea...
373
00:22:27,691 --> 00:22:29,609
and everything
that went with it.
374
00:22:29,693 --> 00:22:32,863
I didn't want to go back to the office
so I dropped by a bowling alley...
375
00:22:32,946 --> 00:22:35,449
at Third and Western
and rolled a few lines...
376
00:22:35,532 --> 00:22:38,618
to get my mind thinking about
something else for a while.
377
00:22:39,453 --> 00:22:43,707
I didn't feel like eating dinner when
I left, and I didn't feel like a show.
378
00:22:43,790 --> 00:22:47,169
So, I drove home, put the car
away and went up to my apartment.
379
00:22:49,004 --> 00:22:51,423
It had begun to rain outside
and I watched it get dark...
380
00:22:51,465 --> 00:22:53,550
and didn't even
turn on the light.
381
00:22:53,968 --> 00:22:55,427
That didn't help me either.
382
00:22:55,970 --> 00:22:57,304
I was all twisted up inside...
383
00:22:57,388 --> 00:23:00,224
and I was still holding on
to that red-hot poker.
384
00:23:00,599 --> 00:23:04,353
And right then it came over me that I
hadn't walked out on anything at all.
385
00:23:04,562 --> 00:23:06,898
That the hook
was too strong...
386
00:23:06,981 --> 00:23:09,525
that this wasn't the end
between her and me.
387
00:23:09,650 --> 00:23:11,277
It was only the beginning.
388
00:23:11,319 --> 00:23:12,361
[Doorbell ringing]
389
00:23:12,445 --> 00:23:16,783
So at 8:00 the bell would ring and I'd
know who it was without even having to think.
390
00:23:17,116 --> 00:23:19,786
As if it was the most
natural thing in the world.
391
00:23:23,498 --> 00:23:26,501
Hello. You forgot your hat
this afternoon.
392
00:23:27,294 --> 00:23:29,921
Did I? Don't you want me to bring it in?
393
00:23:30,630 --> 00:23:31,756
Sure.
394
00:23:33,550 --> 00:23:35,260
Put it on the chair.
395
00:23:43,977 --> 00:23:46,438
How'd you know where I live?
It's in the phone book.
396
00:23:47,314 --> 00:23:49,024
It's raining.
Yeah.
397
00:23:50,109 --> 00:23:51,986
Peel off your coat
and sit down.
398
00:23:55,072 --> 00:23:56,157
Your husband out?
399
00:23:56,198 --> 00:23:58,200
Yes. Long Beach. They're
spudding in a new well.
400
00:23:58,284 --> 00:24:00,453
He phoned he'd be late.
About 9:30.
401
00:24:01,620 --> 00:24:03,831
It's about time you said
you were glad to see me.
402
00:24:03,873 --> 00:24:05,333
I knew you wouldn't
leave it like that.
403
00:24:05,374 --> 00:24:08,377
Like what?
Like it was this afternoon.
404
00:24:08,461 --> 00:24:11,756
I must have said something that
gave you a terribly wrong impression.
405
00:24:11,839 --> 00:24:14,717
You must never think anything
like that about me, Walter.
406
00:24:14,801 --> 00:24:16,052
Okay.
No, it's not okay.
407
00:24:16,135 --> 00:24:18,972
Not if you don't believe me.
What do you want me to do?
408
00:24:19,973 --> 00:24:21,683
I want you to be nice to me.
409
00:24:22,475 --> 00:24:24,978
Like the first time
you came to the house.
410
00:24:25,061 --> 00:24:27,272
It can't be
like the first time.
411
00:24:27,355 --> 00:24:30,150
Something's happened.
I know it has.
412
00:24:30,942 --> 00:24:32,694
It's happened to us.
413
00:24:35,238 --> 00:24:39,243
I feel as if he was watching me.
Not that he cares. Not anymore.
414
00:24:40,619 --> 00:24:43,580
He keeps me on a leash
so tight I can't breathe.
415
00:24:43,622 --> 00:24:46,166
He's in Long Beach,
isn't he? Relax.
416
00:24:46,542 --> 00:24:48,544
Maybe I oughtn't
to have come.
417
00:24:48,627 --> 00:24:51,338
Maybe you oughtn't.
You want me to go?
418
00:24:51,422 --> 00:24:53,716
If you want to.
Right now?
419
00:24:53,757 --> 00:24:55,050
Sure, right now.
420
00:25:09,607 --> 00:25:11,025
[Walter sighing]
421
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,571
I'm crazy about you, baby.
I'm crazy about you, Walter.
422
00:25:14,821 --> 00:25:17,407
That perfume on your hair.
What's the name of it?
423
00:25:17,824 --> 00:25:20,410
I don't know.
I bought it in Ensenada.
424
00:25:21,536 --> 00:25:23,705
You ought to have some of that
pink wine to go with it.
425
00:25:23,788 --> 00:25:26,666
The kind that bubbles.
All I got is bourbon.
426
00:25:27,834 --> 00:25:29,711
Bourbon is fine, Walter.
427
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:38,637
Get a couple of glasses,
will you?
428
00:25:46,270 --> 00:25:48,188
Club soda?
Plain water, please.
429
00:25:49,857 --> 00:25:53,068
You know, about six months ago a guy
slipped on a cake of soap in his bathtub...
430
00:25:53,152 --> 00:25:55,446
and knocked himself cold
and was drowned.
431
00:25:55,946 --> 00:25:57,907
Only he had
accident insurance.
432
00:25:57,990 --> 00:26:00,493
So they had an autopsy and
she didn't get away with it.
433
00:26:00,576 --> 00:26:02,662
Who didn't?
His wife.
434
00:26:04,789 --> 00:26:07,250
Then there was a case of a guy
who was found shot.
435
00:26:07,333 --> 00:26:10,545
His wife said he was cleaning a
gun and his stomach got in the way.
436
00:26:11,254 --> 00:26:14,257
All she collected was a
three-to-ten stretch in Tehachapi.
437
00:26:15,091 --> 00:26:17,135
Perhaps it was
worth it to her.
438
00:26:19,345 --> 00:26:21,973
See if you can carry that
as far as the living room.
439
00:26:25,852 --> 00:26:28,939
It's nice here, Walter.
Who takes care of it for you?
440
00:26:29,022 --> 00:26:31,608
A colored woman comes in
a couple of times a week.
441
00:26:31,692 --> 00:26:34,736
Cook your own breakfast? Squeeze
a grapefruit once in a while.
442
00:26:34,861 --> 00:26:37,739
Get the rest down at the corner
drugstore. Sounds wonderful.
443
00:26:37,823 --> 00:26:39,533
Just strangers beside you.
444
00:26:39,992 --> 00:26:42,327
You don't know them
and you don't hate them.
445
00:26:42,494 --> 00:26:43,996
You don't have to
sit across the table...
446
00:26:44,079 --> 00:26:47,291
and smile at him and that daughter
of his every morning of your life.
447
00:26:47,374 --> 00:26:50,628
What daughter? You mean the
little girl on the piano?
448
00:26:51,003 --> 00:26:52,713
Lola. She lives with us.
449
00:26:52,797 --> 00:26:55,341
He thinks a lot more of her
than he does of me.
450
00:26:55,716 --> 00:26:58,135
You ever think of a divorce?
He wouldn't give me a divorce.
451
00:26:58,219 --> 00:26:59,637
I suppose because it'd
cost him too much money.
452
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,265
He hasn't got any money. Not since
he went into the oil business.
453
00:27:02,348 --> 00:27:04,100
But he had
when you married him?
454
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,688
Yes, he had.
And I wanted a home. Why not?
455
00:27:09,898 --> 00:27:13,193
But that's not the only
reason. I was his wife's nurse.
456
00:27:13,234 --> 00:27:16,863
She was sick a long time. When she
died, he was terribly broken up.
457
00:27:18,281 --> 00:27:20,367
I pitied him so.
And now you hate him.
458
00:27:20,575 --> 00:27:23,370
Yes, Walter.
He's so mean to me.
459
00:27:23,745 --> 00:27:26,373
Every time I buy a dress or a pair
of shoes he yells his head off.
460
00:27:26,456 --> 00:27:28,208
He never lets me go anywhere.
He keeps me shut up.
461
00:27:28,250 --> 00:27:29,960
He's always been mean to me.
462
00:27:30,252 --> 00:27:33,922
Even his life insurance all
goes to that daughter of his.
463
00:27:34,756 --> 00:27:37,134
That Lola.
Nothing for you at all?
464
00:27:37,259 --> 00:27:39,636
No. And nothing is just
what I'm worth to him.
465
00:27:40,721 --> 00:27:44,099
So you lie awake in the dark and
listen to him snore and get ideas.
466
00:27:44,767 --> 00:27:47,186
Walter, I don't want
to kill him. I never did.
467
00:27:47,978 --> 00:27:50,564
Not even when he gets drunk
and slaps my face.
468
00:27:53,442 --> 00:27:56,487
Only sometimes you wish
he was dead. Perhaps I do.
469
00:27:56,571 --> 00:28:00,283
Then you wish it was an accident,
and you had that policy for $50,000.
470
00:28:00,783 --> 00:28:02,910
Is that it?
Perhaps that, too.
471
00:28:05,079 --> 00:28:08,166
The other night we drove home
from a party. He was drunk again.
472
00:28:08,499 --> 00:28:12,086
When we drove into the garage, he just sat
there with his head on the steering wheel...
473
00:28:12,128 --> 00:28:13,880
and the motor still running.
474
00:28:14,381 --> 00:28:17,926
And I thought what it would be
like if I didn't switch it off...
475
00:28:18,802 --> 00:28:21,388
just closed the garage doors
and left him there.
476
00:28:21,471 --> 00:28:22,597
I'll tell you what
it'd be like.
477
00:28:22,681 --> 00:28:25,267
If you had that accident policy
and tried to pull a monoxide job...
478
00:28:25,350 --> 00:28:27,436
We've got a guy
in our office named Keyes.
479
00:28:27,519 --> 00:28:30,522
For him a setup like that'd be just
like a slice of rare roast beef.
480
00:28:30,647 --> 00:28:32,441
In three minutes he'd know
it wasn't an accident.
481
00:28:32,482 --> 00:28:34,610
In 10 minutes you'd be sitting
under the hot lights.
482
00:28:34,651 --> 00:28:36,820
In a half-hour you'd be signing
your name to a confession.
483
00:28:36,904 --> 00:28:38,739
But, Walter, I didn't do it
and I'm not going to do it.
484
00:28:38,822 --> 00:28:41,075
Not if there's an insurance
company in the picture, baby.
485
00:28:41,158 --> 00:28:43,244
They know more tricks
than a carload of monkeys.
486
00:28:43,327 --> 00:28:45,788
And if there's a death mixed up
in it, you haven't got a prayer.
487
00:28:45,871 --> 00:28:48,958
They'll hang you just as sure
as ten dimes will buy a dollar.
488
00:28:49,291 --> 00:28:51,293
And I don't want you
to hang, baby.
489
00:28:54,338 --> 00:28:56,299
Stop thinking about it,
will you?
490
00:28:59,844 --> 00:29:01,512
(Walter)
So we just sat there.
491
00:29:01,888 --> 00:29:05,975
She started crying softly, like the rain
on the window, and we didn't say anything.
492
00:29:06,226 --> 00:29:09,020
Maybe she had stopped thinking
about it, but I hadn't.
493
00:29:09,312 --> 00:29:10,313
I couldn't.
494
00:29:10,396 --> 00:29:13,858
Because it all tied up with something
I'd been thinking about for years.
495
00:29:13,900 --> 00:29:16,653
Since long before I ever
ran into Phyllis Dietrichson.
496
00:29:17,612 --> 00:29:19,573
Because you know
how it is, Keyes.
497
00:29:20,115 --> 00:29:21,283
In this business
you can't sleep...
498
00:29:21,366 --> 00:29:24,202
for trying to figure out all the
tricks they could pull on you.
499
00:29:24,244 --> 00:29:25,704
You're like the guy
behind the roulette wheel...
500
00:29:25,787 --> 00:29:29,082
watching the customers to make
sure they don't crook the house.
501
00:29:29,583 --> 00:29:32,836
And then one night, you get to thinking
how you could crook the house yourself.
502
00:29:32,878 --> 00:29:34,421
And do it smart.
503
00:29:34,505 --> 00:29:36,590
Because you've got that wheel
right under your hands.
504
00:29:36,673 --> 00:29:38,801
You know every notch in it
by heart.
505
00:29:39,051 --> 00:29:41,554
And you figure all you need
is a plant out front.
506
00:29:41,887 --> 00:29:43,681
A shill to put down the bet.
507
00:29:44,723 --> 00:29:45,850
And suddenly
the doorbell rings...
508
00:29:45,933 --> 00:29:48,394
and the whole setup is right
there in the room with you.
509
00:29:52,231 --> 00:29:55,318
Look, Keyes, I'm not trying
to whitewash myself.
510
00:29:56,277 --> 00:29:59,739
I fought it, only I guess
I didn't fight it hard enough.
511
00:30:01,366 --> 00:30:05,036
The stakes were $50,000, but
they were the life of a man, too.
512
00:30:05,995 --> 00:30:08,414
A man who'd never
done me any dirt, except...
513
00:30:09,124 --> 00:30:11,710
he was married to a woman
he didn't care anything about.
514
00:30:13,294 --> 00:30:14,504
And I did.
515
00:30:26,725 --> 00:30:29,645
Will you phone me? Walter?
516
00:30:32,564 --> 00:30:35,359
I hate him.
I loathe going back to him.
517
00:30:35,484 --> 00:30:38,362
You believe me, don't you,
Walter? Sure I believe you.
518
00:30:41,198 --> 00:30:44,326
I can't stand it anymore.
What if they did hang me?
519
00:30:44,410 --> 00:30:46,746
They're not going
to hang you, baby.
520
00:30:46,787 --> 00:30:48,372
It's better than
going on this way.
521
00:30:48,456 --> 00:30:49,582
They're not gonna
hang you because...
522
00:30:49,665 --> 00:30:51,459
you're gonna do it
and I'm gonna help you.
523
00:30:51,542 --> 00:30:54,253
Do you know what you're saying?
Sure, I know what I'm saying.
524
00:30:54,295 --> 00:30:55,797
We're gonna do it
and we're gonna do it right.
525
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,008
And I'm the guy that knows
how. Walter, you're hurting me.
526
00:30:59,092 --> 00:31:02,095
There's not going to be any slip-up.
Nothing sloppy. Nothing weak.
527
00:31:02,136 --> 00:31:03,596
It's got to be perfect.
528
00:31:16,443 --> 00:31:18,945
Call me tomorrow. But not
from your house. From a booth.
529
00:31:19,029 --> 00:31:20,906
And watch your step
every single minute.
530
00:31:20,989 --> 00:31:24,117
This has got to be perfect, you
understand? Straight down the line.
531
00:31:24,826 --> 00:31:27,329
Straight down the line.
532
00:31:54,649 --> 00:31:56,484
[Rain pattering]
533
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,030
[Car engine starts]
534
00:32:03,324 --> 00:32:05,076
[Car driving away]
535
00:32:09,873 --> 00:32:11,583
(Walter)
That was it, Keyes.
536
00:32:11,666 --> 00:32:14,669
The machinery had started to
move and nothing could stop it.
537
00:32:15,378 --> 00:32:18,840
The first thing we had to do was
fix him up with that accident policy.
538
00:32:19,299 --> 00:32:23,053
I knew he wouldn't buy, but all I wanted
was his signature on an application.
539
00:32:23,595 --> 00:32:26,640
So I had to get him to sign without
his knowing what he was signing.
540
00:32:27,891 --> 00:32:31,729
And I wanted another witness besides
Phyllis to hear me give him a sales talk.
541
00:32:32,479 --> 00:32:34,189
I was trying to think
with your brains, Keyes...
542
00:32:34,273 --> 00:32:36,400
because I wanted
all the answers ready...
543
00:32:36,483 --> 00:32:40,988
for all the questions you were gonna
spring as soon as Dietrichson was dead.
544
00:32:41,238 --> 00:32:43,532
A couple of nights later
I went to the house.
545
00:32:44,283 --> 00:32:48,371
Everything looked fine, except I didn't
like the witness Phyllis had brought in.
546
00:32:48,788 --> 00:32:50,915
It was Dietrichson's
daughter, Lola.
547
00:32:51,916 --> 00:32:54,502
And it made me feel
a little queer in the belly...
548
00:32:54,585 --> 00:32:57,630
to have her sitting right there in
the room, playing Chinese checkers...
549
00:32:58,715 --> 00:33:00,300
as if nothing
were going to happen.
550
00:33:02,260 --> 00:33:03,887
(Walter) I suppose you
realize, Mr. Dietrichson...
551
00:33:03,928 --> 00:33:05,221
that, not being an employee...
552
00:33:05,305 --> 00:33:07,599
you are not covered by the
State Compensation Insurance Act.
553
00:33:07,682 --> 00:33:10,977
The only way you can protect yourself is
by having a personal policy of your own.
554
00:33:11,061 --> 00:33:12,229
Yeah, I know
all about that.
555
00:33:12,270 --> 00:33:13,772
The next thing
you'll tell me I need...
556
00:33:13,814 --> 00:33:17,359
earthquake insurance and lightning
insurance and hail insurance.
557
00:33:17,442 --> 00:33:19,152
If we bought all the insurance
they can think up...
558
00:33:19,236 --> 00:33:21,029
we'd stay broke paying
for it, wouldn't we, honey?
559
00:33:21,113 --> 00:33:24,950
What keeps us broke is you going
out and buying five hats at a crack.
560
00:33:25,033 --> 00:33:26,743
Who needs a hat in California?
561
00:33:26,785 --> 00:33:28,495
Dollar for dollar,
Mr. Dietrichson...
562
00:33:28,579 --> 00:33:30,998
accident insurance is the
cheapest coverage you can buy.
563
00:33:31,081 --> 00:33:33,959
Well, maybe some other time,
Mr. Neff. I had a tough day.
564
00:33:34,001 --> 00:33:35,085
Just as you say.
565
00:33:35,169 --> 00:33:37,963
Suppose we just settle that
automobile insurance tonight.
566
00:33:38,089 --> 00:33:39,256
Sure.
567
00:33:39,507 --> 00:33:42,927
All we'll need on that is for you
to sign the application for renewal.
568
00:33:43,052 --> 00:33:44,887
Phyllis, do you mind
if we don't finish this game?
569
00:33:44,971 --> 00:33:47,306
It bores me stiff.
Got something better to do?
570
00:33:47,390 --> 00:33:48,641
Yes, I have.
571
00:33:49,934 --> 00:33:51,769
Father, is it all right
if I run along now?
572
00:33:51,811 --> 00:33:54,939
Run along where? Who with? Just
Anne. We're going roller-skating.
573
00:33:55,023 --> 00:33:56,774
Anne who?
Anne Matthews.
574
00:33:56,858 --> 00:33:58,818
It's not that Nino
Zachetti again, is it?
575
00:33:58,902 --> 00:34:00,320
It better not be
that Zachetti guy.
576
00:34:00,361 --> 00:34:01,613
If I ever catch you
with that...
577
00:34:01,654 --> 00:34:03,031
It's Anne Matthews,
I told you.
578
00:34:03,114 --> 00:34:05,200
And I also told you
we're going roller-skating.
579
00:34:05,283 --> 00:34:08,370
I'm meeting her at the corner of Vermont
and Franklin, the northwest corner...
580
00:34:08,453 --> 00:34:10,914
in case you're interested,
and I'm late already.
581
00:34:10,997 --> 00:34:13,542
I hope that's all quite clear.
Good night, Father.
582
00:34:13,708 --> 00:34:15,961
Good night, Phyllis. Good
night, Miss Dietrichson.
583
00:34:16,044 --> 00:34:18,046
I'm sorry. Good night, Mr... Neff.
584
00:34:18,130 --> 00:34:19,798
Good night, Mr. Neff.
585
00:34:22,843 --> 00:34:24,803
A great little fighter
for her weight.
586
00:34:26,180 --> 00:34:28,307
Now, if you'll just
sign these, Mr. Dietrichson.
587
00:34:28,349 --> 00:34:30,768
Sign what? The applications
for the auto renewals.
588
00:34:30,851 --> 00:34:32,811
So you'll be covered until
the new policies are issued.
589
00:34:32,853 --> 00:34:34,563
When will that be?
About a week.
590
00:34:34,647 --> 00:34:36,565
Just so I'm covered
when I drive up north.
591
00:34:36,649 --> 00:34:38,484
San Francisco?
Palo Alto.
592
00:34:38,526 --> 00:34:40,277
He was a Stanford man,
Mr. Neff.
593
00:34:40,361 --> 00:34:42,780
And he still goes to his
class reunion every year.
594
00:34:42,863 --> 00:34:46,409
What's wrong with that? Can't I
have a little fun, even once a year?
595
00:34:46,492 --> 00:34:48,161
Great football school,
Stanford.
596
00:34:48,202 --> 00:34:50,204
Did you play football, Mr.
Dietrichson? Left guard.
597
00:34:50,288 --> 00:34:51,914
Almost made the varsity, too.
Where do I sign?
598
00:34:51,998 --> 00:34:53,333
The bottom line.
599
00:34:57,962 --> 00:35:00,006
Both copies, please.
Sign twice, huh?
600
00:35:00,048 --> 00:35:01,341
Yes. One is
the agent's copy.
601
00:35:01,424 --> 00:35:05,387
I need it for my files.
Files. Duplicates. Triplicates.
602
00:35:11,143 --> 00:35:12,602
Thank you,
Mr. Dietrichson.
603
00:35:12,686 --> 00:35:15,522
Don't worry about the check, I can
pick it up at your office some morning.
604
00:35:15,564 --> 00:35:17,816
How much you taking me for?
$147.50.
605
00:35:17,900 --> 00:35:20,569
I think that's enough insurance
for one evening, Mr. Neff.
606
00:35:20,652 --> 00:35:21,862
Plenty.
607
00:35:25,741 --> 00:35:28,410
Bring me some soda when you come
up, Phyllis. Good night, Mr. Neff.
608
00:35:28,494 --> 00:35:29,536
Good night, Mr. Dietrichson.
609
00:35:29,578 --> 00:35:32,206
I think you left your hat
in the hall, Mr. Neff.
610
00:35:47,722 --> 00:35:49,515
Good night, Mr. Neff.
611
00:35:52,185 --> 00:35:53,394
All right, Walter?
Fine.
612
00:35:53,436 --> 00:35:55,355
He signed it, didn't he? Sure
he signed it. You saw him.
613
00:35:55,438 --> 00:35:57,357
Now, listen. That trip to
Palo Alto. When does he leave?
614
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:58,400
End of the month.
615
00:35:58,483 --> 00:35:59,484
He drives, huh?
He always drives.
616
00:35:59,567 --> 00:36:01,194
Not this time. You're gonna
make him take the train.
617
00:36:01,277 --> 00:36:02,821
Why? Because it's all
worked out for a train.
618
00:36:02,904 --> 00:36:05,282
Listen, baby. There's a clause
in every accident policy...
619
00:36:05,323 --> 00:36:07,200
a little thing called
double indemnity.
620
00:36:07,284 --> 00:36:10,162
The insurance companies put it in as
a sort of come-on for the customers.
621
00:36:10,245 --> 00:36:12,414
That means they pay double
on certain accidents.
622
00:36:12,456 --> 00:36:14,082
The kind that almost
never happen.
623
00:36:14,166 --> 00:36:16,668
Like for instance, if a guy
is killed on the train...
624
00:36:16,752 --> 00:36:19,171
they pay $100,000
instead of $50,000.
625
00:36:19,254 --> 00:36:21,673
I see. We're hitting
it for the limit, baby.
626
00:36:21,757 --> 00:36:24,259
That's why
it's got to be the train.
627
00:36:25,594 --> 00:36:28,430
It'll be the train, Walter.
Just the way you want it.
628
00:36:28,472 --> 00:36:30,391
Straight down the line.
629
00:36:49,786 --> 00:36:51,371
(Lola)
Hello, Mr. Neff.
630
00:36:52,789 --> 00:36:53,998
It's me.
631
00:36:54,749 --> 00:36:57,127
Is anything wrong?
I've been waiting for you.
632
00:36:57,168 --> 00:36:58,294
For me? Why?
633
00:36:58,336 --> 00:37:01,631
I thought you could let me ride
with you, if you're going my way.
634
00:37:06,803 --> 00:37:10,265
Which way would that be?
Down the hill. Down Vermont.
635
00:37:10,349 --> 00:37:13,310
Sure. Vermont and Franklin.
Northwest corner, wasn't it?
636
00:37:13,393 --> 00:37:14,728
Be glad to, Miss Dietrichson.
637
00:37:19,191 --> 00:37:21,151
Going roller-skating, huh?
638
00:37:21,276 --> 00:37:24,655
You like roller-skating?
I can take it or leave it.
639
00:37:25,823 --> 00:37:28,701
Only tonight you're
leaving it? Yes, I am.
640
00:37:30,119 --> 00:37:32,747
I'm having
a very tough time at home.
641
00:37:32,830 --> 00:37:36,208
My father doesn't understand
me and Phyllis hates me.
642
00:37:36,626 --> 00:37:40,171
Sounds tough, all right. That's
why I have to lie sometimes.
643
00:37:40,213 --> 00:37:41,631
You mean it's not
Vermont and Franklin?
644
00:37:41,714 --> 00:37:43,633
It's Vermont and Franklin
all right.
645
00:37:43,716 --> 00:37:46,844
Only it's not Anne Matthews.
It's Nino Zachetti.
646
00:37:48,012 --> 00:37:49,973
You won't tell on me,
will you?
647
00:37:50,056 --> 00:37:52,767
I'd have to think it over. Nino's
not what my father says at all.
648
00:37:52,851 --> 00:37:55,937
He's just had bad luck.
He was doing premed at USC...
649
00:37:56,021 --> 00:37:58,982
and working nights as an usher
in a theater downtown.
650
00:37:59,065 --> 00:38:01,693
Got behind in his credits,
flunked out.
651
00:38:01,860 --> 00:38:05,822
Then he lost his job for
talking back. He's so hot-headed.
652
00:38:07,032 --> 00:38:08,325
Becomes expensive, doesn't it?
653
00:38:08,408 --> 00:38:10,869
Guess my father thinks nobody's
good enough for his daughter...
654
00:38:10,953 --> 00:38:13,205
except maybe the guy that
owns Standard Oil.
655
00:38:13,247 --> 00:38:17,042
I wish he'd see it my way.
I can't give Nino up.
656
00:38:18,419 --> 00:38:20,629
It'll all straighten out,
Miss Dietrichson.
657
00:38:20,713 --> 00:38:24,884
I suppose it will sometime. This
is the corner right here, Mr. Neff.
658
00:38:27,303 --> 00:38:30,056
(Lola)
Nino? Over here, Nino.
659
00:38:38,773 --> 00:38:41,317
This is Mr. Neff, Nino.
Hello, Nino.
660
00:38:41,567 --> 00:38:43,027
The name is Zachetti.
661
00:38:43,111 --> 00:38:45,738
Nino, please. Mr. Neff gave
me a ride from the house.
662
00:38:45,822 --> 00:38:46,906
I told him all about us.
663
00:38:46,990 --> 00:38:48,366
Why does he have to
get told about us?
664
00:38:48,449 --> 00:38:50,410
We don't have to worry
about Mr. Neff, Nino.
665
00:38:50,493 --> 00:38:52,078
I'm not doing any worrying.
666
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:53,413
Just don't you
broadcast so much.
667
00:38:53,496 --> 00:38:55,248
Well, what's the matter
with you, Nino?
668
00:38:55,290 --> 00:38:57,792
Why, he's a friend.
I don't have any friends.
669
00:38:57,876 --> 00:39:00,128
If I did, I like to pick
them myself. Come on.
670
00:39:00,212 --> 00:39:02,547
Look, sonny, she needed a
ride, so I brought her along.
671
00:39:02,631 --> 00:39:04,758
Is that anything
to get tough about?
672
00:39:04,841 --> 00:39:07,302
All right, Lola, make up your
mind. Are you coming or aren't you?
673
00:39:07,386 --> 00:39:09,179
Of course I'm coming.
674
00:39:11,723 --> 00:39:15,018
Don't mind him, Mr. Neff.
And thanks a lot for the ride.
675
00:39:15,102 --> 00:39:17,438
You're awfully sweet. Nino?
676
00:39:22,735 --> 00:39:24,528
(Walter)
She was a nice kid.
677
00:39:24,820 --> 00:39:27,782
Maybe he was a little better
than he sounded.
678
00:39:27,823 --> 00:39:31,285
But right then it gave me a nasty feeling
to be thinking about them at all...
679
00:39:31,327 --> 00:39:35,039
with that briefcase right behind my head
that had her father's signature in it...
680
00:39:35,122 --> 00:39:37,250
and what that signature meant.
681
00:39:37,333 --> 00:39:39,544
It meant he was a dead pigeon.
682
00:39:39,794 --> 00:39:43,673
It was only a question of time,
and not very much time at that.
683
00:39:43,756 --> 00:39:46,467
You know that big market
up on Los Feliz, Keyes?
684
00:39:47,260 --> 00:39:50,805
That's the place Phyllis and I
had picked for a meeting place.
685
00:39:50,847 --> 00:39:52,974
I already had most of
the plan in my head...
686
00:39:53,016 --> 00:39:55,310
but a lot of details
had to be worked out.
687
00:39:55,393 --> 00:39:58,980
And she had to know them all
by heart when the time came.
688
00:39:59,356 --> 00:40:01,983
We had to be very careful
from now on.
689
00:40:02,150 --> 00:40:04,778
We couldn't let anybody
see us together.
690
00:40:04,861 --> 00:40:07,739
We couldn't even talk to
each other on the telephone.
691
00:40:07,823 --> 00:40:10,701
Not from her house
or at my office, anyway.
692
00:40:11,410 --> 00:40:15,664
So she was to be in the market every
morning about 11:00, buying stuff.
693
00:40:15,914 --> 00:40:19,376
And I could sort of run into
her there any day I wanted to.
694
00:40:19,418 --> 00:40:21,754
Sort of accidentally
on purpose.
695
00:40:22,630 --> 00:40:25,132
Walter, I wanted to...
Not so loud.
696
00:40:26,550 --> 00:40:28,260
I wanted to talk to you,
ever since yesterday.
697
00:40:28,344 --> 00:40:30,471
Let me talk first.
It's all set.
698
00:40:30,554 --> 00:40:33,015
The accident policy came
through. I've got it in my pocket.
699
00:40:33,099 --> 00:40:36,060
I got his check, too. I saw
him down in the oil fields.
700
00:40:36,102 --> 00:40:38,229
He thought he was paying
for the auto insurance.
701
00:40:38,312 --> 00:40:41,190
The check's just made out to the
company, so it could be for anything.
702
00:40:41,232 --> 00:40:44,027
But you have to send a check
for the auto insurance, see?
703
00:40:44,110 --> 00:40:47,197
It
704
00:40:47,238 --> 00:40:49,032
Open your bag. Quick.
705
00:40:49,908 --> 00:40:50,909
[Cash register bell dinging]
706
00:40:54,204 --> 00:40:55,580
Can you get in
the safe-deposit box?
707
00:40:55,664 --> 00:40:57,666
Yes. We both have keys.
Fine.
708
00:40:57,749 --> 00:41:00,043
But don't put the policy in
there yet. I'll tell you when.
709
00:41:00,085 --> 00:41:02,838
Remember, you never saw it, you
never even touched it, you understand?
710
00:41:02,921 --> 00:41:05,507
I'm not a fool. Okay. When
is he leaving on the train?
711
00:41:05,591 --> 00:41:07,050
That's just it. He isn't going. What?
712
00:41:07,092 --> 00:41:09,011
That's what I've been trying
to tell you. The trip is off.
713
00:41:09,094 --> 00:41:10,679
What happened?
714
00:41:12,264 --> 00:41:15,267
Mister, could you reach me
that package of baby food?
715
00:41:15,309 --> 00:41:16,977
That one up there?
716
00:41:18,938 --> 00:41:22,733
I don't know why they always
put what I want on the top shelf.
717
00:41:24,568 --> 00:41:25,736
Go ahead. I'm listening.
718
00:41:25,778 --> 00:41:28,155
He had a fall-down at the well.
Broke his leg. It's in a cast.
719
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:30,950
Broke his leg?
What do we do now, Walter?
720
00:41:31,075 --> 00:41:33,661
Nothing. We just wait.
Wait for what?
721
00:41:33,744 --> 00:41:35,204
Until he can
take the train.
722
00:41:35,288 --> 00:41:36,497
I told you it's got
to be the train.
723
00:41:36,581 --> 00:41:37,915
But we can't wait.
I can't go on like this.
724
00:41:37,957 --> 00:41:40,960
Look, we're not gonna grab a hammer and
do it quick, just to get it over with.
725
00:41:41,044 --> 00:41:43,796
There are other ways. We're
not gonna do it other ways.
726
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:44,964
But we can't leave it
like this.
727
00:41:45,048 --> 00:41:47,967
What do you suppose would happen if
he found out about the accident policy?
728
00:41:48,051 --> 00:41:50,095
Plenty. But not as bad as
sitting in that death house.
729
00:41:50,178 --> 00:41:52,973
Don't ever talk like that. Don't let's
start losing our heads, that's all.
730
00:41:53,056 --> 00:41:55,267
It's not our heads.
It's our nerve we're losing.
731
00:41:55,308 --> 00:41:56,309
[Cash register bell dinging]
732
00:41:59,146 --> 00:42:00,480
Excuse me.
733
00:42:03,609 --> 00:42:05,193
We're gonna do it right.
That's all I said.
734
00:42:05,277 --> 00:42:06,737
It's the waiting
that's getting me.
735
00:42:06,820 --> 00:42:08,322
It's getting me
just as bad, baby.
736
00:42:08,363 --> 00:42:11,408
But we've got to wait.
Maybe we have, Walter, only...
737
00:42:11,492 --> 00:42:14,912
it's so tough without you.
It's like a wall between us.
738
00:42:16,747 --> 00:42:20,042
I better go, baby. I'm
thinking of you every minute.
739
00:42:26,090 --> 00:42:29,635
(Walter) After that, a full week
went by and I didn't see her once.
740
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:33,222
I tried to keep my mind off
her and off the whole idea.
741
00:42:33,347 --> 00:42:36,184
I kept telling myself that maybe
those Fates they say watch over you...
742
00:42:36,267 --> 00:42:39,979
had gotten together and broken
his leg to give me a way out.
743
00:42:40,104 --> 00:42:44,067
Then it was the 15th of June.
You may remember that date, Keyes.
744
00:42:45,485 --> 00:42:48,822
You came into my office
around 3:00 in the afternoon.
745
00:42:49,489 --> 00:42:50,782
Hello, Keyes.
746
00:42:50,865 --> 00:42:52,075
I just came
from Norton's office.
747
00:42:52,158 --> 00:42:53,618
The semiannual sales
records are out.
748
00:42:53,702 --> 00:42:56,621
You're high man, Walter. That's
twice in a row. Congratulations.
749
00:42:56,705 --> 00:42:59,374
Thanks. How would you
like a cheap drink?
750
00:42:59,458 --> 00:43:01,960
How would you like
a $50 cut in salary?
751
00:43:02,044 --> 00:43:04,296
Do I laugh now or wait till
it gets funny? No, I'm serious.
752
00:43:04,379 --> 00:43:07,674
I've just been talking to Norton.
Too much stuff piling up on my desk.
753
00:43:07,716 --> 00:43:09,051
Too much pressure
on my nerves.
754
00:43:09,134 --> 00:43:11,178
I spend half the night
walking up and down in my bed.
755
00:43:11,220 --> 00:43:13,138
I've got to have an assistant
and I thought of you.
756
00:43:13,222 --> 00:43:14,598
Me? Why pick on me?
757
00:43:14,682 --> 00:43:17,184
Well, because I've got a crazy
idea you might be good at the job.
758
00:43:17,268 --> 00:43:18,686
That's crazy, all right.
I'm a salesman.
759
00:43:18,727 --> 00:43:21,939
Yeah. A peddler,
a gladhander, a backslapper.
760
00:43:22,523 --> 00:43:23,774
You're too good
to be a salesman.
761
00:43:23,858 --> 00:43:25,985
Nobody's too good to
be a salesman. Phooey!
762
00:43:26,068 --> 00:43:29,530
All you guys do is just ring doorbells
and dish out a smooth line of monkey talk.
763
00:43:29,614 --> 00:43:31,783
What's troubling you
is that $50 cut, isn't it?
764
00:43:31,866 --> 00:43:33,368
Well, that'd trouble anybody.
Now look, Walter.
765
00:43:33,451 --> 00:43:36,412
The job I'm talking about
takes brains and integrity.
766
00:43:36,496 --> 00:43:38,414
It takes more guts than
there is in 50 salesmen.
767
00:43:38,456 --> 00:43:39,582
It's the hottest job
in the business.
768
00:43:39,666 --> 00:43:40,875
Yeah, but it's still
a desk job.
769
00:43:40,959 --> 00:43:43,086
I don't want to be nailed
to a desk. Desk job?
770
00:43:43,169 --> 00:43:44,754
Is that all you can see in it?
771
00:43:44,838 --> 00:43:47,799
Just a hard chair to park your
pants on from 9:00 to 5:00, huh?
772
00:43:47,882 --> 00:43:50,594
Just a pile of papers to shuffle
around, and five sharp pencils...
773
00:43:50,677 --> 00:43:55,057
and a scratch pad to make figures on,
maybe a little doodling on the side.
774
00:43:55,098 --> 00:43:57,142
Well, that's not the way
I look at it, Walter.
775
00:43:57,225 --> 00:44:01,313
To me, a claims man is a surgeon,
that desk is an operating table...
776
00:44:01,396 --> 00:44:04,233
and those pencils are scalpels
and bone chisels.
777
00:44:04,274 --> 00:44:08,070
And those papers are not just forms and
statistics and claims for compensation.
778
00:44:08,153 --> 00:44:11,282
They're alive.
They're packed with drama...
779
00:44:11,490 --> 00:44:13,701
with twisted hopes
and crooked dreams.
780
00:44:13,784 --> 00:44:16,996
A claims man, Walter, is a
doctor and a bloodhound and a...
781
00:44:17,079 --> 00:44:18,539
[telephone ringing]
782
00:44:19,457 --> 00:44:21,584
Who? Okay, hold on a minute.
783
00:44:21,876 --> 00:44:25,004
A claims man is a doctor and a bloodhound
and a cop and a judge and a jury...
784
00:44:25,087 --> 00:44:26,756
and a father confessor,
all in one.
785
00:44:26,839 --> 00:44:28,424
And you want to tell me
you're not interested?
786
00:44:28,466 --> 00:44:29,634
You don't want to work
with your brains?
787
00:44:29,717 --> 00:44:31,761
All you want to work is with
your finger on the doorbell...
788
00:44:31,844 --> 00:44:35,390
for a few bucks more a week.
There's a dame on your phone.
789
00:44:35,473 --> 00:44:37,976
Walter Neff speaking.
I had to call you, Walter.
790
00:44:38,059 --> 00:44:39,435
It's very urgent.
Are you with somebody?
791
00:44:40,937 --> 00:44:44,065
Yes, I am.
Can't I call you back, Margie?
792
00:44:44,774 --> 00:44:47,944
No, you can't. I've only
got a minute. It can't wait.
793
00:44:48,028 --> 00:44:51,323
Listen. He's going tonight. On
the train. Are you listening?
794
00:44:51,406 --> 00:44:53,992
Walter?
Yeah. I'm listening, Margie.
795
00:44:54,701 --> 00:44:57,245
Only, make it snappy,
will you? He's on crutches.
796
00:44:57,329 --> 00:45:00,624
The doctor says he can go if he's
careful. The change will do him good.
797
00:45:00,707 --> 00:45:03,460
It's wonderful, Walter. Just the
way you wanted it, on a train.
798
00:45:03,544 --> 00:45:06,130
Only with the crutches it makes
it much better, doesn't it?
799
00:45:06,171 --> 00:45:08,632
Yeah. Yeah,
that's 100% better.
800
00:45:10,217 --> 00:45:11,510
Hold the line a minute,
will you?
801
00:45:11,594 --> 00:45:14,305
Keyes, suppose I join you in your
office? That's all right. I'll wait.
802
00:45:14,388 --> 00:45:16,849
Only tell her
not to take all day.
803
00:45:18,601 --> 00:45:19,727
Go ahead.
804
00:45:20,061 --> 00:45:23,147
It's the 10:15 from Glendale.
I'm driving him.
805
00:45:23,189 --> 00:45:25,024
It's still the same
dark street, isn't it?
806
00:45:25,107 --> 00:45:28,361
And the signal is three honks
on the horn. Okay. Anything else?
807
00:45:29,153 --> 00:45:30,154
No.
808
00:45:30,446 --> 00:45:31,447
Oh, uh...
809
00:45:32,031 --> 00:45:33,616
what color did you pick?
810
00:45:33,700 --> 00:45:36,578
Blue. Navy blue. And the
cast is on his left leg.
811
00:45:37,328 --> 00:45:38,496
Mmm-hmm.
812
00:45:39,038 --> 00:45:40,582
Yeah, that suits me fine.
813
00:45:40,665 --> 00:45:42,917
This is it, Walter.
I'm shaking like a leaf.
814
00:45:43,001 --> 00:45:46,004
But it's straight down
the line for both of us.
815
00:45:46,087 --> 00:45:48,215
I love you, Walter. Goodbye.
816
00:45:50,300 --> 00:45:52,219
Sorry, Keyes.
What's the matter?
817
00:45:52,260 --> 00:45:55,013
Dames chasing you again? Or still?
Or is it none of my business?
818
00:45:55,055 --> 00:45:56,932
If I told you
it was a customer...
819
00:45:57,099 --> 00:45:59,184
Margie. I bet she drinks
from the bottle.
820
00:45:59,226 --> 00:46:01,103
Why don't you settle down
and get married, Walter?
821
00:46:01,186 --> 00:46:05,232
Why don't you, for instance? I
almost did, once. Long time ago.
822
00:46:05,316 --> 00:46:07,067
Now look, Keyes, I've
got to call on a prospect.
823
00:46:07,151 --> 00:46:09,653
Even had the church
picked out, the dame and I.
824
00:46:09,737 --> 00:46:11,989
She had a white satin dress
with flounces on it.
825
00:46:12,072 --> 00:46:14,867
I was on my way to the
jewelry store to buy the ring.
826
00:46:14,950 --> 00:46:17,536
And then suddenly that little
man in here started working on me.
827
00:46:17,620 --> 00:46:19,163
So you went back
and had her investigated?
828
00:46:19,247 --> 00:46:21,666
Yeah. And the stuff
that came out...
829
00:46:22,625 --> 00:46:25,002
She'd been dyeing her hair
ever since she was 16.
830
00:46:25,086 --> 00:46:27,588
There was a manic depressive in
her family, on her mother's side.
831
00:46:27,672 --> 00:46:29,299
She already had one husband.
832
00:46:29,382 --> 00:46:31,467
He was a professional
pool player in Baltimore.
833
00:46:31,551 --> 00:46:33,595
And as for her brother...
I get the general idea.
834
00:46:33,678 --> 00:46:37,307
She was a tramp from a long line of
tramps. Yeah. All right, all right.
835
00:46:37,390 --> 00:46:40,101
Now what do I say to Norton? What
about this job I want you for?
836
00:46:40,185 --> 00:46:41,728
I don't think
I want it, Keyes.
837
00:46:41,811 --> 00:46:44,314
Thanks just the same.
Fair enough.
838
00:46:45,273 --> 00:46:47,484
Only get this,
I picked you for the job...
839
00:46:47,567 --> 00:46:49,736
not because I think
you're so darn smart...
840
00:46:49,778 --> 00:46:53,115
but because I thought you were a shade
less dumb than the rest of the outfit.
841
00:47:00,289 --> 00:47:03,292
Guess I was wrong.
You're not smarter, Walter.
842
00:47:03,542 --> 00:47:05,669
You're just a little taller.
843
00:47:16,597 --> 00:47:17,932
(Walter)
Yes, Keyes.
844
00:47:18,015 --> 00:47:21,602
Those Fates I was talking about
had only been stalling me off.
845
00:47:21,686 --> 00:47:25,064
Now they had thrown the
switch. The gears had meshed.
846
00:47:25,148 --> 00:47:27,775
The time for thinking
had all run out.
847
00:47:28,526 --> 00:47:32,280
I wanted my movements accounted
for up to the last possible moment.
848
00:47:32,322 --> 00:47:36,451
So when I left the office I put my rate
book on the desk as if I had forgotten it.
849
00:47:36,534 --> 00:47:38,578
That was part of my alibi.
850
00:47:39,996 --> 00:47:42,749
From here on, it was a question
of following the timetable...
851
00:47:42,832 --> 00:47:43,834
move by move.
852
00:47:45,669 --> 00:47:48,797
I got home about 7:00 and
drove right into the garage.
853
00:47:48,839 --> 00:47:51,800
This was another item
to establish my alibi.
854
00:47:53,176 --> 00:47:55,470
Hi, Mr. Neff.
Hello, Charlie.
855
00:47:55,512 --> 00:47:57,347
How about giving
the heap a wash job?
856
00:47:57,431 --> 00:47:58,599
How soon you gonna want it?
857
00:47:58,682 --> 00:48:00,059
I got a couple cars
ahead of you.
858
00:48:00,142 --> 00:48:01,644
Any time you get
to it, Charlie.
859
00:48:01,727 --> 00:48:03,979
I'm staying in tonight.
Okay.
860
00:48:04,063 --> 00:48:06,023
(Walter) Up in my apartment
I called Lou Schwartz...
861
00:48:06,106 --> 00:48:08,400
one of the salesmen
that shared my office.
862
00:48:08,484 --> 00:48:11,862
He lived in Westwood, so it was a toll
call and there'd be a record of it.
863
00:48:11,946 --> 00:48:14,240
I told him I'd forgotten my
rate book and needed some dope...
864
00:48:14,323 --> 00:48:17,243
on the public liability bond
I was figuring.
865
00:48:17,368 --> 00:48:21,164
I changed into a navy blue suit
like Dietrichson was going to wear.
866
00:48:21,205 --> 00:48:24,334
Lou Schwartz called me back
and gave me a lot of figures.
867
00:48:24,375 --> 00:48:26,836
I stuffed a hand towel and a roll
of adhesive into my pockets...
868
00:48:26,878 --> 00:48:30,882
so I could fake something that
looked like a cast on a broken leg.
869
00:48:30,965 --> 00:48:33,009
Next, I stuck a card
inside the telephone box...
870
00:48:33,051 --> 00:48:35,887
so that it would fall down
if the bell rang.
871
00:48:35,970 --> 00:48:39,474
That way I'd know if anybody
had called me while I was away.
872
00:48:39,558 --> 00:48:43,728
Then I did the same thing to the
doorbell in case anybody came to see me.
873
00:48:44,229 --> 00:48:47,858
I left the apartment by the
service stairs. Nobody saw me.
874
00:48:48,900 --> 00:48:52,154
I walked all the way from my
apartment to the Dietrichson house.
875
00:48:52,237 --> 00:48:53,572
I didn't want
to take the bus...
876
00:48:53,655 --> 00:48:57,326
because there was always the chance that
someone might remember seeing me on it.
877
00:48:57,409 --> 00:48:59,370
I was being that careful.
878
00:48:59,787 --> 00:49:02,373
I could smell that
honeysuckle again.
879
00:49:02,498 --> 00:49:05,668
Only it was even stronger,
now that it was night.
880
00:49:10,089 --> 00:49:13,259
I slid the garage door open
as quietly as I could.
881
00:49:13,593 --> 00:49:16,679
She'd backed the sedan in,
just the way I told her to.
882
00:49:16,762 --> 00:49:18,222
I'd figured it was
safer that way...
883
00:49:18,306 --> 00:49:21,392
in case he got into the car
before she drove it out.
884
00:49:21,434 --> 00:49:23,728
I got into
the back of the car.
885
00:49:23,811 --> 00:49:26,272
I lay there on the floor
and waited.
886
00:49:26,356 --> 00:49:29,442
All the time I was thinking about that
dark street on the way to the station...
887
00:49:29,526 --> 00:49:31,319
where I was to do it...
888
00:49:31,403 --> 00:49:34,155
and the three honks on the
horn that were to be the signal.
889
00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:36,616
About 10 minutes later
they came down.
890
00:49:36,700 --> 00:49:38,410
All right, honey?
Yeah, I'm all right.
891
00:49:38,493 --> 00:49:40,954
I'll have the car out
in a second.
892
00:49:58,806 --> 00:50:00,182
[Inaudible]
893
00:50:17,742 --> 00:50:21,037
Take it easy, honey. We've
got lots of time. Yeah.
894
00:50:40,390 --> 00:50:42,476
Remember what the doctor said.
If you get careless...
895
00:50:42,559 --> 00:50:44,311
you might end up
with a shorter leg.
896
00:50:44,353 --> 00:50:48,148
So what? I could break the other
one and match them up again.
897
00:50:48,524 --> 00:50:51,026
It makes you feel pretty good
to get away from me, doesn't it?
898
00:50:51,110 --> 00:50:54,822
It's only for four days. I'll
be back Monday at the latest.
899
00:51:10,880 --> 00:51:14,175
This is not the right street.
Why did you turn here?
900
00:51:16,636 --> 00:51:18,054
[Honking]
901
00:51:18,137 --> 00:51:20,264
What are you doing that for?
902
00:51:21,266 --> 00:51:23,726
What are you
honking the horn for?
903
00:51:24,060 --> 00:51:25,895
[Dietrichson choking]
904
00:51:46,375 --> 00:51:47,751
[Train horn blowing]
905
00:52:18,283 --> 00:52:20,451
[Bell ringing]
906
00:52:23,913 --> 00:52:25,874
You take care of the redcap
and the conductor.
907
00:52:25,957 --> 00:52:28,293
Don't worry. Keep away
from me as much as you can.
908
00:52:28,376 --> 00:52:30,837
Tell them I don't want to be
helped. I said, don't worry, Walter.
909
00:52:30,921 --> 00:52:33,131
You start as soon as
the train leaves.
910
00:52:33,215 --> 00:52:35,884
When you get to the refinery, turn
off the highway onto the dirt road.
911
00:52:35,967 --> 00:52:37,511
From there it's exactly
eight-tenths of a mile...
912
00:52:37,594 --> 00:52:39,012
to the dump beside the tracks.
Remember.
913
00:52:39,096 --> 00:52:41,598
I remember everything.
No speeding.
914
00:52:42,975 --> 00:52:45,644
You don't want any cops stopping
you with him in the back.
915
00:52:45,727 --> 00:52:48,105
Walter, we've been through
all that so many times.
916
00:52:48,147 --> 00:52:50,441
When you leave the highway,
turn off all your lights.
917
00:52:50,524 --> 00:52:52,609
I'll be back on
the observation platform.
918
00:52:52,693 --> 00:52:55,362
I'll drop off as close to
the spot as I can.
919
00:52:55,446 --> 00:52:58,491
Let the train pass,
then dim your lights twice.
920
00:53:01,035 --> 00:53:03,996
San Francisco train, lady? Car
9, section 11. Just my husband.
921
00:53:04,038 --> 00:53:06,540
Car 9, section 11?
This way please.
922
00:53:14,632 --> 00:53:16,551
Thank you. My husband
doesn't like to be helped.
923
00:53:16,634 --> 00:53:18,469
Car number 8. Up there.
924
00:53:23,808 --> 00:53:27,395
Car 9, section 11. Thank you.
925
00:53:30,023 --> 00:53:32,400
Here're the tickets. Take good
care of yourself with that leg.
926
00:53:32,484 --> 00:53:33,819
Yeah. You take it easy
driving home.
927
00:53:33,902 --> 00:53:37,364
I'll miss you, honey.
Section 11, sir.
928
00:53:39,241 --> 00:53:41,118
(Porter) All aboard! Thank you.
929
00:53:41,201 --> 00:53:43,328
Goodbye, honey.
All aboard!
930
00:53:44,621 --> 00:53:46,623
[Train whistle blowing]
931
00:53:49,168 --> 00:53:50,794
Good luck, honey.
932
00:53:59,387 --> 00:54:01,013
Porter, will you make up
my berth right away?
933
00:54:01,055 --> 00:54:02,139
Yes, sir.
934
00:54:02,223 --> 00:54:03,891
I'm going back to the
observation car for a smoke.
935
00:54:03,975 --> 00:54:05,685
Right this way, sir.
936
00:54:31,837 --> 00:54:33,797
[Train whistle blowing]
937
00:54:37,509 --> 00:54:38,969
(Jackson)
Like a chair?
938
00:54:41,180 --> 00:54:44,099
No, thanks. I'd rather stand.
939
00:54:45,517 --> 00:54:48,896
You going far?
Palo Alto.
940
00:54:49,772 --> 00:54:50,856
My name's Jackson.
941
00:54:50,940 --> 00:54:54,109
I'm going all the way
to Medford. Medford, Oregon.
942
00:54:54,527 --> 00:54:56,529
I had a broken arm once.
943
00:54:57,029 --> 00:55:00,324
That darn cast itches
something fierce, doesn't it?
944
00:55:00,449 --> 00:55:02,743
I thought I'd go crazy
with mine.
945
00:55:02,785 --> 00:55:06,873
Palo Alto's a nice little
town. You a Stanford man?
946
00:55:07,665 --> 00:55:11,878
I used to be. I'll bet
you left something behind.
947
00:55:12,629 --> 00:55:14,047
I always do.
948
00:55:14,213 --> 00:55:17,592
My cigar case. I guess I left it
in my overcoat back in the section.
949
00:55:17,634 --> 00:55:20,970
Would you care to roll
yourself a cigarette, Mister...
950
00:55:21,054 --> 00:55:22,055
Dietrichson.
951
00:55:22,555 --> 00:55:25,058
No thanks,
I really prefer a cigar.
952
00:55:25,767 --> 00:55:28,937
Maybe the porter could... Well,
I could get your cigars for you.
953
00:55:29,020 --> 00:55:32,399
Be glad to, Mr. Dietrichson.
If it's not too much trouble.
954
00:55:32,482 --> 00:55:36,278
Car 9, section 11. Car 9,
section 11. With pleasure.
955
00:56:20,532 --> 00:56:22,117
Okay. This has gotta be fast.
956
00:56:22,200 --> 00:56:25,662
Here, take his hat. Pick up
the crutches back on the tracks.
957
00:56:54,942 --> 00:56:56,819
Okay, baby. That's it.
958
00:57:12,794 --> 00:57:14,838
[Engine faltering]
959
00:57:43,659 --> 00:57:45,369
[Engine choking]
960
00:57:47,538 --> 00:57:49,748
[Engine starting]
961
00:57:55,129 --> 00:57:56,923
All right. Let's go.
962
00:58:06,808 --> 00:58:08,601
(Walter) On the way back,
we went over once more...
963
00:58:08,685 --> 00:58:10,103
what she was to do
at the inquest...
964
00:58:10,186 --> 00:58:13,940
if they had one, and about the
insurance, when that came up.
965
00:58:14,065 --> 00:58:17,110
I was afraid she might go to pieces
a little, now that we had done it.
966
00:58:17,193 --> 00:58:21,781
But she was perfect. No nerves. Not
a tear, not even a blink of the eyes.
967
00:58:22,824 --> 00:58:25,869
She dropped me a block
from my apartment house.
968
00:58:26,661 --> 00:58:30,123
Walter, what's the matter?
Aren't you going to kiss me?
969
00:58:35,045 --> 00:58:37,673
It's straight down the line,
isn't it?
970
00:58:42,428 --> 00:58:45,890
I love you, Walter.
I love you, baby.
971
00:58:59,028 --> 00:59:02,824
It was two minutes past 11:00, as
I went up the service stairs again.
972
00:59:02,865 --> 00:59:06,869
Nobody saw me this time either. In
the apartment I checked the bells.
973
00:59:06,953 --> 00:59:09,956
The cards hadn't moved.
No calls. No visitors.
974
00:59:11,458 --> 00:59:15,420
Then I changed my clothes again.
That left one last thing to do.
975
00:59:16,379 --> 00:59:20,383
I had to go down to the garage.
I wanted Charlie to see me again.
976
00:59:27,057 --> 00:59:29,977
You gonna use your car, after
all? I'm not quite through.
977
00:59:30,060 --> 00:59:31,895
Well, that's all right,
Charlie.
978
00:59:31,979 --> 00:59:34,064
Just going up to the drugstore
to get something to eat.
979
00:59:34,148 --> 00:59:37,109
Been working upstairs all night. My
stomach's getting a little sore at me.
980
00:59:37,192 --> 00:59:38,777
Yes, sir, Mr. Neff.
981
00:59:40,738 --> 00:59:42,698
That was all there was to it.
982
00:59:42,781 --> 00:59:45,451
Nothing had slipped,
nothing had been overlooked.
983
00:59:45,534 --> 00:59:47,912
There was nothing
to give us away.
984
00:59:47,995 --> 00:59:51,624
And yet, Keyes, as I was walking
down the street to the drugstore...
985
00:59:51,707 --> 00:59:55,127
suddenly it came over me that
everything would go wrong.
986
00:59:55,211 --> 00:59:58,381
It sounds crazy, Keyes,
but it's true, so help me.
987
00:59:58,589 --> 01:00:00,967
I couldn't hear
my own footsteps.
988
01:00:04,137 --> 01:00:06,389
It was the walk of a dead man.
989
01:00:14,272 --> 01:00:16,858
That was the longest night
I ever lived through, Keyes...
990
01:00:16,942 --> 01:00:20,779
and the next day was worse, when
the story had broke in the papers...
991
01:00:20,862 --> 01:00:22,781
and they started talking
about it at the office...
992
01:00:22,823 --> 01:00:26,076
and the day after that, when
you started digging into it.
993
01:00:26,118 --> 01:00:30,080
I kept my hands in my pockets
because I thought they were shaking.
994
01:00:30,122 --> 01:00:32,374
I put on dark glasses so
people couldn't see my eyes.
995
01:00:32,458 --> 01:00:36,378
And then I took them off again so they
wouldn't get to wondering why I wore them.
996
01:00:36,462 --> 01:00:39,173
I tried to
hold myself together, but...
997
01:00:39,506 --> 01:00:42,510
I could feel my nerves
pulling me to pieces.
998
01:00:45,262 --> 01:00:48,099
Oh, Walter?
Hello, Keyes.
999
01:00:48,349 --> 01:00:50,518
Come along. The big boss
wants to see us.
1000
01:00:50,601 --> 01:00:52,895
The Dietrichson case?
Must be.
1001
01:00:53,062 --> 01:00:55,022
Anything wrong?
Well, the guy is dead.
1002
01:00:55,106 --> 01:00:58,985
We had him insured and it's gonna
cost us dough. That's always wrong.
1003
01:00:59,068 --> 01:01:01,321
What have they got so far?
Autopsy report.
1004
01:01:01,404 --> 01:01:05,033
No heart failure, no apoplexy, no
predisposing medical cause of any kind.
1005
01:01:05,116 --> 01:01:06,951
Died of a broken neck.
1006
01:01:07,118 --> 01:01:09,120
When's the inquest?
Had it this morning.
1007
01:01:09,204 --> 01:01:11,289
His wife and daughter
made the identification.
1008
01:01:11,331 --> 01:01:14,125
The train people and some of the
passengers told how he went through...
1009
01:01:14,209 --> 01:01:15,460
to the observation car.
1010
01:01:15,544 --> 01:01:19,131
It was all over in 45 minutes.
Verdict? Accidental death.
1011
01:01:20,716 --> 01:01:22,175
What do the police figure?
1012
01:01:22,259 --> 01:01:24,928
That he got tangled up in his
crutches and fell off the train.
1013
01:01:25,012 --> 01:01:26,638
They're satisfied.
1014
01:01:26,680 --> 01:01:29,308
It's not their dough.
Come on, Walter.
1015
01:01:30,809 --> 01:01:32,644
(Norton) All right. Thank
you very much, gentlemen.
1016
01:01:32,811 --> 01:01:34,980
I believe the legal position
is now clear.
1017
01:01:35,022 --> 01:01:37,358
Please stand by.
I may need you later.
1018
01:01:37,441 --> 01:01:40,319
Come in, Mr. Keyes.
You, too, Mr. Neff.
1019
01:01:44,657 --> 01:01:46,951
You find this an uncomfortably
warm day, Mr. Keyes?
1020
01:01:47,034 --> 01:01:49,996
I'm sorry, Mr. Norton, but I
didn't know this was formal.
1021
01:01:50,079 --> 01:01:51,455
Sit down, gentlemen.
Thank you.
1022
01:01:51,539 --> 01:01:52,540
Any new developments?
1023
01:01:52,623 --> 01:01:55,251
I just talked to this Jackson long
distance, up in Medford, Oregon.
1024
01:01:55,334 --> 01:01:56,335
Who's Jackson?
1025
01:01:56,419 --> 01:01:57,962
He's the last man who saw
Dietrichson alive.
1026
01:01:58,046 --> 01:02:00,590
They were out on the observation
platform together, talking.
1027
01:02:00,673 --> 01:02:02,717
Dietrichson wanted a cigar
and so Jackson went back...
1028
01:02:02,800 --> 01:02:04,469
to get Dietrichson's
cigar case for him.
1029
01:02:04,552 --> 01:02:06,888
When he returned to the observation
platform, no Dietrichson.
1030
01:02:06,971 --> 01:02:08,848
Well, Jackson didn't think
anything was wrong until...
1031
01:02:08,890 --> 01:02:10,892
a wire caught up with
the train at Santa Barbara.
1032
01:02:10,934 --> 01:02:13,687
They found Dietrichson's body
on the tracks near Burbank.
1033
01:02:13,728 --> 01:02:16,231
Very interesting about
the cigar case.
1034
01:02:16,314 --> 01:02:18,316
Anything else?
No, not much.
1035
01:02:18,400 --> 01:02:21,361
Dietrichson's secretary says she
didn't know anything about the policy.
1036
01:02:21,445 --> 01:02:24,823
There's a daughter, but all she
remembers is Neff talking to her father...
1037
01:02:24,907 --> 01:02:27,117
about accident insurance
at their house one night.
1038
01:02:27,201 --> 01:02:28,535
I couldn't sell him at first.
1039
01:02:28,619 --> 01:02:31,580
Mr. Dietrichson opposed it.
He said he'd think it over.
1040
01:02:31,622 --> 01:02:34,833
Later I saw him in the
oil fields and closed him.
1041
01:02:34,917 --> 01:02:36,919
He signed the application
and gave me his check.
1042
01:02:37,002 --> 01:02:39,380
A fine piece of salesmanship
that was, Mr. Neff.
1043
01:02:39,463 --> 01:02:41,090
Well, there's no sense in
pushing Neff around.
1044
01:02:41,173 --> 01:02:43,134
He's got the best
sales record in the office.
1045
01:02:43,217 --> 01:02:46,470
Are your salesmen supposed to know a
customer is going to fall off the train?
1046
01:02:46,554 --> 01:02:50,349
Fall off a train? Are we sure
Dietrichson fell off the train?
1047
01:02:50,725 --> 01:02:53,019
I don't get it.
You don't, Mr. Keyes?
1048
01:02:53,102 --> 01:02:54,562
Then what do you
think of this case?
1049
01:02:54,645 --> 01:02:56,397
This policy might cost us
a great deal of money.
1050
01:02:56,481 --> 01:02:58,608
As you know, it contains
a double indemnity clause.
1051
01:02:58,691 --> 01:03:00,443
Just what is your opinion?
1052
01:03:00,527 --> 01:03:02,237
No opinion at all.
Not even a hunch?
1053
01:03:02,320 --> 01:03:04,697
One of those interesting
little hunches of yours?
1054
01:03:04,781 --> 01:03:06,074
Nope. Not even a hunch.
1055
01:03:06,157 --> 01:03:09,869
I'm surprised, Mr. Keyes. I've
formed a very definite opinion.
1056
01:03:09,953 --> 01:03:13,582
I think I know. In fact, I know I
know what happened to Dietrichson.
1057
01:03:13,665 --> 01:03:17,044
You know you know what?
I know it was not an accident.
1058
01:03:20,422 --> 01:03:22,966
What do you say to that?
Me?
1059
01:03:24,343 --> 01:03:26,762
Well, you've got the ball.
Let's see you run with it.
1060
01:03:26,804 --> 01:03:30,391
There's a widespread feeling that just
because a man has a large office...
1061
01:03:30,474 --> 01:03:31,600
[intercom buzzing]
1062
01:03:33,477 --> 01:03:36,146
Yes? Have her come in, please.
1063
01:03:36,689 --> 01:03:38,232
There's a widespread
feeling that...
1064
01:03:38,315 --> 01:03:41,610
just because a man has a large
office, he must be an idiot.
1065
01:03:41,694 --> 01:03:43,654
I'm having a visitor,
if you don't mind.
1066
01:03:43,696 --> 01:03:46,657
No, no. I want you to stay
and watch me handle this.
1067
01:03:46,741 --> 01:03:48,367
Mrs. Dietrichson.
1068
01:03:52,538 --> 01:03:54,958
Thank you very much
for coming, Mrs. Dietrichson.
1069
01:03:55,041 --> 01:03:57,794
I assure you I appreciate
it. This is Mr. Keyes.
1070
01:03:57,877 --> 01:03:59,337
How do you do?
How do you do?
1071
01:03:59,420 --> 01:04:01,423
And Mr. Neff. I've met
Mr. Neff. How do you do?
1072
01:04:01,506 --> 01:04:04,092
Mrs. Dietrichson.
Won't you sit down?
1073
01:04:06,720 --> 01:04:08,555
(Norton) May I extend our
sympathy in your bereavement?
1074
01:04:08,638 --> 01:04:11,099
I hesitated before asking you to
come here so soon after your loss.
1075
01:04:11,183 --> 01:04:14,853
But now that you're here I hope you won't
mind if I plunge straight into business?
1076
01:04:14,936 --> 01:04:16,480
You know why we asked
you to come, don't you?
1077
01:04:16,563 --> 01:04:19,149
No. All I know is that your
secretary made it sound very urgent.
1078
01:04:19,232 --> 01:04:21,360
Your husband had an accident
policy with this company.
1079
01:04:21,443 --> 01:04:23,153
Evidently you don't know that,
Mrs. Dietrichson.
1080
01:04:23,195 --> 01:04:25,948
No. I remember some talk at the
house, but he didn't seem to want it.
1081
01:04:26,031 --> 01:04:29,326
Your husband took the policy out
a few days later, Mrs. Dietrichson.
1082
01:04:29,368 --> 01:04:31,870
You'll probably find the policy
among his personal effects.
1083
01:04:31,954 --> 01:04:33,706
His safe-deposit box
hasn't been opened yet.
1084
01:04:33,789 --> 01:04:35,791
It seems a tax examiner
has to be present.
1085
01:04:35,875 --> 01:04:37,543
Please, Mrs. Dietrichson,
I don't want you to think...
1086
01:04:37,626 --> 01:04:39,045
you're being subjected to
any questioning...
1087
01:04:39,128 --> 01:04:40,755
but there are a few things
we should like to know.
1088
01:04:40,838 --> 01:04:41,839
What sort of things?
1089
01:04:42,256 --> 01:04:44,425
We have the report of
the coroner's inquest.
1090
01:04:44,508 --> 01:04:47,553
Accidental death.
We are not entirely satisfied.
1091
01:04:47,637 --> 01:04:50,223
In fact,
we are not satisfied at all.
1092
01:04:52,183 --> 01:04:54,811
Frankly, Mrs. Dietrichson,
we suspect...
1093
01:04:56,062 --> 01:04:57,355
a suicide.
1094
01:05:00,775 --> 01:05:04,154
I'm sorry. Would you like
a glass of water? Please.
1095
01:05:08,909 --> 01:05:10,243
Thank you.
1096
01:05:16,249 --> 01:05:19,795
Had your husband been depressed
or moody lately, Mrs. Dietrichson?
1097
01:05:19,878 --> 01:05:22,631
Did he have financial worries,
for instance?
1098
01:05:22,714 --> 01:05:26,051
He was perfectly all right and I
don't know of any financial worries.
1099
01:05:26,093 --> 01:05:28,220
Let us examine this
so-called accident.
1100
01:05:28,304 --> 01:05:32,433
First, your husband takes out this
policy in absolute secrecy. Why?
1101
01:05:32,600 --> 01:05:35,519
Because he doesn't want his family
to suspect what he intends to do.
1102
01:05:35,603 --> 01:05:38,230
Do what? Next, he goes on
this trip entirely alone.
1103
01:05:38,314 --> 01:05:41,901
He has to be alone. He hobbles all the
way out to the observation platform.
1104
01:05:41,984 --> 01:05:45,655
Very unlikely with his leg in a cast,
unless he has a very strong reason.
1105
01:05:45,905 --> 01:05:48,991
Once there, he finds he is not
alone. There is a man there.
1106
01:05:49,075 --> 01:05:52,787
What was his name, Keyes? His name
was Jackson. Probably still is.
1107
01:05:53,288 --> 01:05:57,000
So he gets rid of this Jackson with
some flimsy excuse about cigars.
1108
01:05:57,083 --> 01:06:00,378
And then he is alone. And
then he does it. Does what?
1109
01:06:00,462 --> 01:06:04,132
He jumps. Suicide. In which
case, the company is not liable.
1110
01:06:04,507 --> 01:06:07,385
You know that, of course.
Now, we could go to court...
1111
01:06:07,469 --> 01:06:11,264
I don't know anything. In fact,
I don't know why I came here.
1112
01:06:11,473 --> 01:06:14,768
Just a moment, please. I said we could
go to court. I didn't say we want to.
1113
01:06:14,810 --> 01:06:17,729
What I want to suggest is
a compromise on both sides.
1114
01:06:17,813 --> 01:06:20,274
A settlement for a certain
sum, a part of the policy value.
1115
01:06:20,315 --> 01:06:24,028
Don't bother, Mr. Norton. When I came in
here, I had no idea you owed me any money.
1116
01:06:24,111 --> 01:06:26,113
You told me you did.
Then you told me you didn't.
1117
01:06:26,196 --> 01:06:28,616
Now you tell me you want to pay
me a part of it, whatever it is.
1118
01:06:28,699 --> 01:06:31,035
You want to bargain with me,
at a time like this.
1119
01:06:31,118 --> 01:06:34,455
I don't like your insinuations about my
husband, and I don't like your methods.
1120
01:06:34,538 --> 01:06:38,292
In fact, I don't like you,
Mr. Norton. Goodbye, gentlemen.
1121
01:06:41,379 --> 01:06:42,421
[Door slamming]
1122
01:06:43,089 --> 01:06:46,342
(Keyes) Nice going, Mr. Norton.
You sure carried that ball.
1123
01:06:46,426 --> 01:06:47,802
Only you fumbled
on the goal line.
1124
01:06:47,844 --> 01:06:51,055
Then you heaved an illegal forward
pass and got thrown for a 40-yard loss.
1125
01:06:51,139 --> 01:06:54,058
Now you can't pick yourself up because
you haven't got a leg to stand on.
1126
01:06:54,142 --> 01:06:57,145
I haven't, eh? She can go to court
and we can prove it was suicide.
1127
01:06:57,228 --> 01:06:58,730
Oh, can we?
1128
01:06:58,813 --> 01:07:02,651
Mr. Norton, the first thing that
struck me was that suicide angle.
1129
01:07:02,692 --> 01:07:06,446
Only I dumped it into the wastepaper
basket just three seconds later.
1130
01:07:06,530 --> 01:07:10,075
You know, you ought to take a look
at the statistics on suicide sometime.
1131
01:07:10,158 --> 01:07:12,619
You might learn a little something
about the insurance business.
1132
01:07:12,703 --> 01:07:14,830
Mr. Keyes, I was raised
in the insurance business.
1133
01:07:14,872 --> 01:07:16,665
Yeah, in the front office.
1134
01:07:16,707 --> 01:07:19,877
Come now, you've never read an
actuarial table in your life, have you?
1135
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:22,212
Why, they've got 10 volumes
on suicide alone.
1136
01:07:22,296 --> 01:07:24,089
Suicide by race, by color,
by occupation...
1137
01:07:24,173 --> 01:07:26,133
by sex, by seasons of
the year, by time of day.
1138
01:07:26,217 --> 01:07:29,595
Suicide, how committed? By poisons,
by firearms, by drowning, by leaps.
1139
01:07:29,678 --> 01:07:32,348
Suicide by poison, subdivided
by types of poison...
1140
01:07:32,390 --> 01:07:35,017
such as corrosive, irritant,
systemic, gaseous, narcotic...
1141
01:07:35,101 --> 01:07:36,560
alkaloid, protein,
and so forth.
1142
01:07:36,644 --> 01:07:39,355
Suicide by leaps, subdivided
by leaps from high places...
1143
01:07:39,397 --> 01:07:41,524
under the wheels of trains,
under the wheels of trucks...
1144
01:07:41,607 --> 01:07:44,861
under the feet of horses, from
steamboats. But, Mr. Norton...
1145
01:07:45,111 --> 01:07:48,656
of all the cases on record there's not
one single case of suicide by leap...
1146
01:07:48,740 --> 01:07:50,074
from the rear end
of a moving train.
1147
01:07:50,158 --> 01:07:51,910
And do you know how fast
that train was going...
1148
01:07:51,993 --> 01:07:54,954
at the point where the body
was found? 15 miles an hour.
1149
01:07:55,038 --> 01:07:57,207
Now how can anybody jump off
a slow moving train like that...
1150
01:07:57,248 --> 01:08:00,126
with any kind of expectation
that he would kill himself?
1151
01:08:00,210 --> 01:08:01,878
No. No soap, Mr. Norton.
1152
01:08:01,962 --> 01:08:05,048
We're sunk, and we'll have to pay
through the nose, and you know it.
1153
01:08:05,132 --> 01:08:06,717
May I have this?
1154
01:08:10,095 --> 01:08:11,680
Come on, Walter.
1155
01:08:14,808 --> 01:08:17,019
Next time I'll rent a tuxedo.
1156
01:08:33,452 --> 01:08:35,913
(Walter) I could have hugged you
right then and there, Keyes...
1157
01:08:35,955 --> 01:08:37,540
you and your statistics.
1158
01:08:37,623 --> 01:08:40,334
You were the only one
we were really scared of...
1159
01:08:40,418 --> 01:08:43,129
and instead you were
almost playing on our team.
1160
01:08:43,338 --> 01:08:46,382
That evening when I got home,
my nerves had eased off.
1161
01:08:46,466 --> 01:08:48,468
I could feel the ground
under my feet again.
1162
01:08:48,551 --> 01:08:51,346
And it looked like easy going
from there on in.
1163
01:08:51,429 --> 01:08:53,681
That $100,000 looked
as safe for Phyllis and me...
1164
01:08:53,765 --> 01:08:56,434
as if we had the check
already deposited in the bank.
1165
01:08:56,476 --> 01:08:58,103
[Phone ringing]
1166
01:09:02,816 --> 01:09:07,237
Hello? Oh, hello, baby.
Sure, everything is fine.
1167
01:09:08,071 --> 01:09:09,615
You were wonderful
in Norton's office.
1168
01:09:09,698 --> 01:09:12,951
I felt so funny, I wanted to
look at you all the time.
1169
01:09:12,993 --> 01:09:15,537
How do you think I felt, baby?
Where are you?
1170
01:09:15,621 --> 01:09:18,207
At the drugstore.
Just a block away.
1171
01:09:18,457 --> 01:09:20,542
Can I come up?
Okay. But be careful.
1172
01:09:20,626 --> 01:09:22,378
Don't let anybody see you.
1173
01:09:33,723 --> 01:09:35,433
[Doorbell ringing]
1174
01:09:48,696 --> 01:09:50,156
Hello, Keyes.
1175
01:09:55,829 --> 01:09:58,456
What's on your mind?
That broken leg.
1176
01:09:58,999 --> 01:10:02,085
The guy had a broken leg.
What are you talking about?
1177
01:10:02,169 --> 01:10:05,672
Talking about Dietrichson. He
had accident insurance, didn't he?
1178
01:10:05,964 --> 01:10:08,008
Yeah. Then he broke his leg, didn't he?
1179
01:10:08,091 --> 01:10:10,052
So what?
And he didn't put in a claim.
1180
01:10:10,093 --> 01:10:13,847
Why didn't he put in a claim?
Why? What are you driving at?
1181
01:10:14,056 --> 01:10:18,852
Walter, I had dinner two hours
ago and it stuck half way.
1182
01:10:18,894 --> 01:10:20,604
That little man of yours
is acting up again, huh?
1183
01:10:20,688 --> 01:10:23,023
There's something wrong
with the Dietrichson case.
1184
01:10:23,065 --> 01:10:26,902
Why? Because he didn't file a claim?
Maybe he just didn't have time.
1185
01:10:26,986 --> 01:10:29,989
Maybe he just didn't know that
he was insured.
1186
01:10:32,158 --> 01:10:33,659
No. No, that couldn't be it.
1187
01:10:33,743 --> 01:10:35,912
You delivered the policy
to him personally, didn't you?
1188
01:10:35,995 --> 01:10:36,996
Yeah.
You got his check?
1189
01:10:37,080 --> 01:10:38,247
Sure I did.
1190
01:10:39,082 --> 01:10:42,001
Got any bicarbonate of soda?
No, I haven't.
1191
01:10:42,752 --> 01:10:46,381
Walter, I've been living with
this little man for 26 years.
1192
01:10:46,923 --> 01:10:49,551
And he's never failed me yet.
There's got to be something wrong.
1193
01:10:49,634 --> 01:10:52,053
Well, maybe Norton was right.
Maybe it was suicide.
1194
01:10:52,137 --> 01:10:53,722
No. Not suicide.
1195
01:10:54,347 --> 01:10:57,392
But not an accident, either.
What else?
1196
01:10:57,934 --> 01:10:59,186
Now look, Walter.
1197
01:10:59,269 --> 01:11:02,230
A guy takes out an accident
policy that's worth $100,000...
1198
01:11:02,272 --> 01:11:03,357
if he's killed on a train.
1199
01:11:03,440 --> 01:11:05,317
Then two weeks later,
he is killed on a train.
1200
01:11:05,400 --> 01:11:09,363
And not in a train accident, mind you,
but falling off some silly observation car.
1201
01:11:09,446 --> 01:11:12,116
Do you know what the mathematical
probability of that is?
1202
01:11:12,199 --> 01:11:15,077
One out of I don't know
how many billions.
1203
01:11:15,869 --> 01:11:20,541
And add to that the broken leg. No,
it just can't be the way it looks.
1204
01:11:21,083 --> 01:11:25,087
Something has been worked
on us. Such as what?
1205
01:11:33,137 --> 01:11:34,305
Murder?
1206
01:11:34,806 --> 01:11:36,682
Don't you have any peppermint
or something?
1207
01:11:36,766 --> 01:11:39,560
Sorry. Want a little
soda water? No, no, no.
1208
01:11:40,937 --> 01:11:41,896
(Walter)
Who do you suspect?
1209
01:11:41,980 --> 01:11:43,940
(Keyes) Maybe I like to
make things easy for myself.
1210
01:11:43,982 --> 01:11:46,025
But I always tend to suspect
the beneficiary.
1211
01:11:46,109 --> 01:11:47,193
You mean the wife?
Yeah.
1212
01:11:47,277 --> 01:11:49,821
That wide-eyed dame that just
didn't know anything about anything.
1213
01:11:49,904 --> 01:11:51,906
You're crazy, Keyes.
She wasn't even on the train.
1214
01:11:51,990 --> 01:11:53,283
I know she wasn't, Walter.
1215
01:11:53,325 --> 01:11:55,577
I don't claim to know how it
was worked, or who worked it...
1216
01:11:55,660 --> 01:11:58,080
but all I know is that
it was worked.
1217
01:11:58,163 --> 01:11:59,873
I've got to
get to a drugstore.
1218
01:11:59,956 --> 01:12:02,918
This thing feels like
a hunk of concrete inside me.
1219
01:12:03,001 --> 01:12:05,671
Good night, Walter.
Good night, Keyes.
1220
01:12:06,004 --> 01:12:08,966
See you at the office
in the morning. Yeah.
1221
01:12:10,008 --> 01:12:12,594
I'd like to move in on her
right now, tonight.
1222
01:12:12,678 --> 01:12:16,807
If it wasn't for Norton and his
striped-pants ideas about company policy...
1223
01:12:16,891 --> 01:12:19,560
I'd have the police after her
so fast it'd make her head spin.
1224
01:12:19,643 --> 01:12:21,187
They'd put her
through the wringer...
1225
01:12:21,270 --> 01:12:24,106
and, brother, the things
they would squeeze out.
1226
01:12:24,190 --> 01:12:26,192
Only you haven't got a
single thing to go on, Keyes.
1227
01:12:26,275 --> 01:12:28,569
Not too much.
Just 26 years experience...
1228
01:12:28,653 --> 01:12:32,865
all the percentage there is, and
this hunk of concrete in my stomach.
1229
01:12:35,034 --> 01:12:37,328
Can I have
one of those things?
1230
01:12:48,173 --> 01:12:50,634
Good night, Keyes.
So long, Walter.
1231
01:12:54,262 --> 01:12:55,430
[Elevator door shuts]
1232
01:13:04,064 --> 01:13:07,276
How much does he know?
He doesn't know anything.
1233
01:13:07,901 --> 01:13:10,070
It's those stinking
hunches of his.
1234
01:13:10,154 --> 01:13:11,488
And he can't prove anything,
can he?
1235
01:13:11,572 --> 01:13:15,534
Not if we're careful. Not if we
don't see each other for a while.
1236
01:13:17,578 --> 01:13:20,122
How long a while?
Until this dies down.
1237
01:13:20,206 --> 01:13:21,165
You don't know Keyes.
1238
01:13:21,248 --> 01:13:23,334
Once he gets his teeth into
something, he never lets go.
1239
01:13:23,417 --> 01:13:25,086
He'll investigate you,
have you shadowed.
1240
01:13:25,169 --> 01:13:27,964
He'll watch you
every minute from now on.
1241
01:13:28,047 --> 01:13:30,508
You afraid, baby?
Yes, I'm afraid.
1242
01:13:31,634 --> 01:13:35,596
But not of Keyes. I'm afraid of
us. We're not the same anymore.
1243
01:13:35,680 --> 01:13:38,850
We did it so we could be together, but
instead of that it's pulling us apart.
1244
01:13:38,933 --> 01:13:40,685
Isn't it, Walter?
What are you talking about?
1245
01:13:40,768 --> 01:13:44,439
And you don't really care
whether we see each other or not.
1246
01:13:45,940 --> 01:13:47,400
Shut up, baby.
1247
01:13:51,655 --> 01:13:54,074
(operator) Pacific All
Risk. Good afternoon.
1248
01:13:56,368 --> 01:13:57,953
Hello, Mr. Neff.
1249
01:13:58,954 --> 01:14:00,998
Hello.
Lola Dietrichson.
1250
01:14:01,373 --> 01:14:04,293
Don't you remember me?
Yes. Yes, of course.
1251
01:14:04,460 --> 01:14:06,628
Could I talk with you
just a few minutes?
1252
01:14:06,712 --> 01:14:09,131
Somewhere where
we could be alone?
1253
01:14:09,381 --> 01:14:11,592
Oh, yes. Come into my office.
1254
01:14:17,932 --> 01:14:20,101
Is it something about
what happened?
1255
01:14:20,142 --> 01:14:23,771
Yes, Mr. Neff.
It's about my father's death.
1256
01:14:24,814 --> 01:14:26,399
I'm terribly sorry,
Miss Dietrichson.
1257
01:14:30,153 --> 01:14:32,780
Lou, do you mind if I use the
office alone for a few minutes?
1258
01:14:32,822 --> 01:14:34,741
No. It's all yours, Walter.
1259
01:14:41,706 --> 01:14:43,249
Look at me, Mr. Neff.
1260
01:14:43,333 --> 01:14:46,795
I'm not crazy. I'm not
hysterical. I'm not even crying.
1261
01:14:47,879 --> 01:14:51,341
But I have the awful feeling
that something is wrong...
1262
01:14:51,675 --> 01:14:55,470
and I had that same feeling
once before, when my mother died.
1263
01:14:55,512 --> 01:14:56,555
When your mother died?
1264
01:14:56,638 --> 01:14:59,016
We were at Lake Arrowhead.
That was six years ago.
1265
01:14:59,099 --> 01:15:00,100
We had a cabin there.
1266
01:15:00,184 --> 01:15:04,480
It was winter and very cold. My
mother was very sick with pneumonia.
1267
01:15:04,813 --> 01:15:06,523
She had a nurse with her.
1268
01:15:06,648 --> 01:15:09,610
There were just
the three of us in the cabin.
1269
01:15:09,735 --> 01:15:12,446
One night I got up and
went into my mother's room.
1270
01:15:12,530 --> 01:15:14,365
She was delirious with fever.
1271
01:15:14,448 --> 01:15:18,160
All the bed covers were on the
floor and the windows were wide open.
1272
01:15:18,244 --> 01:15:19,412
The nurse wasn't in the room.
1273
01:15:19,495 --> 01:15:21,664
I ran and covered my mother up
as quickly as I could.
1274
01:15:21,747 --> 01:15:24,500
Just then I heard
a door open behind me.
1275
01:15:25,126 --> 01:15:27,003
The nurse stood there.
1276
01:15:27,545 --> 01:15:31,174
She didn't say a word, but
there was a look in her eyes...
1277
01:15:31,341 --> 01:15:33,009
I'll never forget.
1278
01:15:35,053 --> 01:15:38,181
Two days later,
my mother was dead.
1279
01:15:41,476 --> 01:15:43,812
Do you know who
that nurse was?
1280
01:15:44,020 --> 01:15:45,689
No. Who?
Phyllis.
1281
01:15:46,147 --> 01:15:48,525
I tried to tell my father,
but I was just a kid then.
1282
01:15:48,567 --> 01:15:51,737
He wouldn't listen to me. Six
months later she married him...
1283
01:15:51,820 --> 01:15:56,199
and I kind of talked myself out of the
idea she could have done anything like that.
1284
01:15:56,283 --> 01:16:00,746
But now it's all back again, now that
something's happened to my father, too.
1285
01:16:00,829 --> 01:16:04,667
You're not making sense, Miss
Dietrichson. Your father fell off a train.
1286
01:16:04,750 --> 01:16:07,753
Yes, and two days before he fell off
that train, what was Phyllis doing?
1287
01:16:07,836 --> 01:16:10,339
She was in her room in front of
a mirror, with a black hat on...
1288
01:16:10,422 --> 01:16:11,715
pinning a black veil to it.
1289
01:16:11,799 --> 01:16:15,219
As if she couldn't wait to see
how she would look in mourning.
1290
01:16:15,302 --> 01:16:17,346
You've had a pretty bad shock,
Miss Dietrichson.
1291
01:16:17,430 --> 01:16:19,056
Aren't you just
imagining these things?
1292
01:16:19,140 --> 01:16:20,558
I caught her eyes
in the mirror.
1293
01:16:20,641 --> 01:16:23,686
They had that look in them
they had before my mother died.
1294
01:16:23,769 --> 01:16:25,229
That same look.
1295
01:16:25,938 --> 01:16:27,732
You don't like
your stepmother, do you?
1296
01:16:27,774 --> 01:16:29,609
Isn't it just because
she is your stepmother?
1297
01:16:29,692 --> 01:16:32,111
I loathe her because she did
it. She did it for the money.
1298
01:16:32,195 --> 01:16:34,531
Only you're not going to
pay her, are you, Mr. Neff?
1299
01:16:34,614 --> 01:16:37,742
She's not going to get away with it
this time, because I'm going to speak up.
1300
01:16:37,784 --> 01:16:39,285
I'm going to
tell everything I know.
1301
01:16:39,369 --> 01:16:43,707
You'd better be careful, saying things
like... I'm not afraid. You'll see.
1302
01:16:44,791 --> 01:16:46,168
[Sobbing]
1303
01:16:52,007 --> 01:16:53,342
I'm sorry.
1304
01:16:56,720 --> 01:16:59,014
I didn't mean to
act like this.
1305
01:17:00,307 --> 01:17:03,352
All this that you've been telling
me, who else have you told?
1306
01:17:03,435 --> 01:17:04,603
No one.
1307
01:17:04,770 --> 01:17:07,231
How about your stepmother?
Of course not.
1308
01:17:08,232 --> 01:17:09,733
I've moved out.
1309
01:17:10,860 --> 01:17:12,987
I'm not living
at home anymore.
1310
01:17:13,070 --> 01:17:15,614
And you haven't told that
boyfriend of yours? Zachetti?
1311
01:17:15,698 --> 01:17:18,618
I'm not seeing him anymore.
We had a fight.
1312
01:17:20,203 --> 01:17:22,038
Where are you living now?
1313
01:17:22,121 --> 01:17:25,083
I got myself a little
apartment in Hollywood.
1314
01:17:25,375 --> 01:17:28,336
Four walls, and you just
sit and look at them?
1315
01:17:29,212 --> 01:17:30,713
Yes, Mr. Neff.
1316
01:17:33,550 --> 01:17:35,093
(Walter) So that evening
I took her to dinner...
1317
01:17:35,176 --> 01:17:38,805
at a Mexican restaurant down on Olvera
Street where nobody would see us.
1318
01:17:38,888 --> 01:17:40,890
I wanted to cheer her up.
1319
01:17:41,308 --> 01:17:44,728
The next day was Sunday and we
went for a ride down to the beach.
1320
01:17:44,811 --> 01:17:47,522
She had loosened up a bit,
she was even laughing.
1321
01:17:47,606 --> 01:17:51,151
I had to make sure that she wouldn't tell
that stuff about Phyllis to anybody else.
1322
01:17:51,234 --> 01:17:54,154
It was dynamite,
whether it was true or not.
1323
01:17:54,363 --> 01:17:56,198
And I had no chance
to talk to Phyllis.
1324
01:17:56,281 --> 01:17:58,492
You were watching her
like a hawk, Keyes.
1325
01:17:58,534 --> 01:18:02,871
I couldn't even phone her because I
was afraid you had the wires tapped.
1326
01:18:03,080 --> 01:18:07,084
Monday morning there was a note on my
desk that you wanted to see me, Keyes.
1327
01:18:07,168 --> 01:18:10,129
For a minute I wondered
if it could be about Lola.
1328
01:18:10,212 --> 01:18:11,672
It was worse.
1329
01:18:12,214 --> 01:18:16,177
Outside your door was the last
guy in the world I wanted to see.
1330
01:18:25,353 --> 01:18:27,313
Come in. Come in, Walter.
1331
01:18:28,856 --> 01:18:31,734
Hello, Keyes.
I want to ask you something.
1332
01:18:32,193 --> 01:18:34,028
After all the years
we've known each other...
1333
01:18:34,112 --> 01:18:36,031
do you mind if I make
a rather blunt statement?
1334
01:18:36,114 --> 01:18:37,699
About what?
About me.
1335
01:18:38,325 --> 01:18:40,994
Walter, I'm a very great man.
Yeah?
1336
01:18:41,077 --> 01:18:43,830
This Dietrichson business,
it's murder...
1337
01:18:43,914 --> 01:18:45,874
and murders don't come
any neater.
1338
01:18:45,957 --> 01:18:48,835
As fancy a piece of homicide
as anybody ever ran into...
1339
01:18:48,919 --> 01:18:51,171
smart, tricky,
almost perfect, but...
1340
01:18:52,089 --> 01:18:54,550
I think Papa has it
all figured out.
1341
01:18:54,591 --> 01:18:58,429
Figured out and wrapped up in
tissue paper with pink ribbons on it.
1342
01:18:58,512 --> 01:19:01,223
Go ahead. I'm listening.
You know what?
1343
01:19:01,599 --> 01:19:04,560
That guy Dietrichson
was never on the train.
1344
01:19:05,728 --> 01:19:07,730
He wasn't?
No, he wasn't.
1345
01:19:09,315 --> 01:19:11,609
Now look, Walter. You can't
be sure of killing a man...
1346
01:19:11,692 --> 01:19:14,820
by throwing him off a train
that's going 15 miles an hour.
1347
01:19:14,904 --> 01:19:17,365
The only way you can be sure
is to kill him first...
1348
01:19:17,448 --> 01:19:19,367
and then throw
his body on the tracks.
1349
01:19:19,450 --> 01:19:21,619
Now that would mean either
killing him on the train...
1350
01:19:21,703 --> 01:19:25,415
or, and this is where it really gets
fancy, you kill him somewhere else...
1351
01:19:25,498 --> 01:19:26,708
and put him on the tracks.
1352
01:19:26,791 --> 01:19:30,044
Two possibilities, and I
personally buy the second.
1353
01:19:31,296 --> 01:19:32,797
You're way ahead of me,
Keyes.
1354
01:19:32,922 --> 01:19:34,674
Well, look, Walter,
it was like this.
1355
01:19:34,966 --> 01:19:38,595
They killed the guy, the wife
and a somebody else...
1356
01:19:38,887 --> 01:19:42,265
and the somebody else took the crutches
and went on the train as Dietrichson...
1357
01:19:42,349 --> 01:19:44,101
then the somebody
else jumped off...
1358
01:19:44,184 --> 01:19:46,728
then they put the body on the
tracks where the train had passed.
1359
01:19:46,812 --> 01:19:49,481
An impersonation, see?
A cinch to work.
1360
01:19:50,315 --> 01:19:52,442
Because it was night,
very few people were about...
1361
01:19:52,484 --> 01:19:54,027
they have the crutches
to stare at...
1362
01:19:54,111 --> 01:19:56,572
they never really looked
at the man at all.
1363
01:19:56,655 --> 01:19:58,782
Fancy all right, Keyes, but
maybe it's a little too fancy.
1364
01:19:58,866 --> 01:20:02,244
Is it? I tell you, it all
fits together like a watch.
1365
01:20:02,912 --> 01:20:04,789
Now let's see what we have
in the way of proof.
1366
01:20:04,872 --> 01:20:07,792
The only guy who really got a good
look at this supposed Dietrichson...
1367
01:20:07,833 --> 01:20:09,961
is sitting
right outside my office.
1368
01:20:10,044 --> 01:20:13,464
I took the trouble to bring
him down here from Oregon.
1369
01:20:15,216 --> 01:20:18,052
Come here, Mr. Jackson.
Yes, sir, Mr. Keyes.
1370
01:20:18,136 --> 01:20:19,804
These are fine cigars
you smoke.
1371
01:20:19,887 --> 01:20:21,639
Two for a quarter.
That's what I said.
1372
01:20:21,681 --> 01:20:23,266
Well, did you study
those photographs?
1373
01:20:23,349 --> 01:20:25,351
Yes, indeed.
I studied them thoroughly.
1374
01:20:25,435 --> 01:20:27,270
Very thoroughly.
Have you made up your mind?
1375
01:20:27,353 --> 01:20:29,314
Mister Keyes, I'm a Medford
man. Medford, Oregon.
1376
01:20:29,397 --> 01:20:31,566
Up in Medford we take our time
making up our mind.
1377
01:20:31,649 --> 01:20:34,653
Well, we're not in Medford now.
We're in a hurry. Let's have it.
1378
01:20:34,736 --> 01:20:36,988
Are these photographs
of the late Mr. Dietrichson?
1379
01:20:37,030 --> 01:20:38,031
Yes.
1380
01:20:38,573 --> 01:20:40,784
Then my answer is no.
What do you mean, no?
1381
01:20:40,867 --> 01:20:43,036
I mean, this is not
the man that was on the train.
1382
01:20:43,120 --> 01:20:44,329
Will you swear to that?
1383
01:20:44,371 --> 01:20:46,373
Mr. Keyes, I'm a Medford man.
Medford, Oregon.
1384
01:20:46,456 --> 01:20:48,834
If I say it, I mean it. If I
mean it, of course I'll swear it.
1385
01:20:48,876 --> 01:20:50,502
There you are, Walter.
There's your proof.
1386
01:20:50,586 --> 01:20:52,254
This is Mr. Neff,
one of our salesmen.
1387
01:20:52,337 --> 01:20:54,298
Pleased to meet you, Mr. Neff.
Pleased, indeed.
1388
01:20:54,381 --> 01:20:55,758
How are you?
Very fine, thank you.
1389
01:20:55,841 --> 01:20:58,177
Never was better.
Sit down, Mr. Jackson.
1390
01:20:58,260 --> 01:21:01,639
Just how would you describe the man
you saw on the observation platform?
1391
01:21:01,722 --> 01:21:04,433
Well, I'm pretty sure
he was a younger man...
1392
01:21:04,558 --> 01:21:07,520
about 10 or 15 years younger
than the man in these photographs.
1393
01:21:07,561 --> 01:21:09,605
Dietrichson was about 50,
wasn't he, Walter?
1394
01:21:09,689 --> 01:21:12,066
Fifty-one,
according to the policy.
1395
01:21:12,149 --> 01:21:15,027
The man I saw was nothing like
51 years old.
1396
01:21:15,236 --> 01:21:17,739
Of course, it was pretty dark
out on that platform.
1397
01:21:17,822 --> 01:21:20,074
Come to think of it, he tried
to keep his back towards me.
1398
01:21:20,158 --> 01:21:22,785
But I'm positive just the
same. Thank you, Jackson.
1399
01:21:22,869 --> 01:21:25,288
Of course, you understand this
matter is strictly confidential?
1400
01:21:25,371 --> 01:21:28,458
We may need you again down here in Los
Angeles, if the case comes to court.
1401
01:21:28,541 --> 01:21:31,294
Any time you need me, I'm entirely
at your disposal, gentlemen.
1402
01:21:31,378 --> 01:21:34,673
Expenses paid, of course.
Oh, yes. Yes. Of course.
1403
01:21:36,216 --> 01:21:38,885
Get me Lubin,
in the cashier's office.
1404
01:21:39,553 --> 01:21:41,596
Hello, Lubin. This is Keyes.
1405
01:21:41,680 --> 01:21:45,767
Listen. I'm sending a man named Jackson
down to you with an expense account.
1406
01:21:45,851 --> 01:21:48,645
Well, we brought him down here from
Medford, Oregon in connection with...
1407
01:21:48,729 --> 01:21:50,481
the Dietrichson claim.
1408
01:21:51,565 --> 01:21:53,692
Well, take care of his
hotel bill, will you?
1409
01:21:53,776 --> 01:21:54,860
Ever been in Oregon, Mr. Neff?
1410
01:21:54,944 --> 01:21:55,945
(Keyes)
Yeah. He'll be right down.
1411
01:21:56,028 --> 01:21:57,529
No. Never been up there.
1412
01:21:57,780 --> 01:22:00,366
Wait a minute.
You go trout fishing?
1413
01:22:00,449 --> 01:22:04,078
Maybe I saw you up Klamath
Falls way. Nope. I don't fish.
1414
01:22:04,412 --> 01:22:07,707
You don't go fishing,
Mr. Neff. Neff. It's the name.
1415
01:22:08,249 --> 01:22:10,835
There's a family of Neffs
in Corvallis. No relation.
1416
01:22:10,918 --> 01:22:13,296
Let me see. This man's an
automobile dealer in Corvallis.
1417
01:22:13,379 --> 01:22:15,715
A very reputable man, too, I'm
told. All right, Mr. Jackson.
1418
01:22:15,798 --> 01:22:17,300
Suppose you go down to
the cashier's office.
1419
01:22:17,383 --> 01:22:18,843
Room 27 on the 11th floor.
1420
01:22:18,927 --> 01:22:22,222
He'll take care of your expense account
and your ticket for the train tonight.
1421
01:22:22,263 --> 01:22:23,264
Tonight?
1422
01:22:23,389 --> 01:22:26,601
Tomorrow morning would suit me better.
There's a very good osteopath in town...
1423
01:22:26,684 --> 01:22:29,479
I'd like to see before
I leave. Osteopath?
1424
01:22:30,021 --> 01:22:33,066
Well, just don't put her
on the expense account.
1425
01:22:33,984 --> 01:22:35,527
Well, goodbye, gentlemen.
1426
01:22:35,610 --> 01:22:37,904
It's been a pleasure.
Goodbye.
1427
01:22:40,198 --> 01:22:44,119
There it is, Walter. It's beginning
to come apart at the seams already.
1428
01:22:44,203 --> 01:22:46,955
Murder's never perfect. Always
comes apart sooner or later.
1429
01:22:46,997 --> 01:22:49,458
And when two people are
involved, it's usually sooner.
1430
01:22:49,541 --> 01:22:52,461
Now, we know the Dietrichson dame
is in it, and a somebody else.
1431
01:22:52,503 --> 01:22:54,546
Pretty soon we'll know
who that somebody else is.
1432
01:22:54,630 --> 01:22:57,466
He'll show. He's got to show. Sometime,
somewhere, they've got to meet.
1433
01:22:57,550 --> 01:22:58,843
Their emotions
are all kicked up.
1434
01:22:58,926 --> 01:23:02,346
Whether it's love or hate doesn't matter.
They can't keep away from each other.
1435
01:23:02,430 --> 01:23:04,890
They may think it's twice as safe
because there are two of them.
1436
01:23:04,974 --> 01:23:06,350
But it isn't twice as safe.
1437
01:23:06,434 --> 01:23:09,604
It's 10 times twice as dangerous.
They've committed a murder...
1438
01:23:09,687 --> 01:23:11,814
and it's not like taking
a trolley ride together...
1439
01:23:11,856 --> 01:23:13,649
where they can get off
at different stops.
1440
01:23:13,691 --> 01:23:15,985
They're stuck with each other
and they've got to ride...
1441
01:23:16,027 --> 01:23:17,487
all the way to
the end of the line.
1442
01:23:17,570 --> 01:23:19,906
And it's a one-way trip, and
the last stop is the cemetery.
1443
01:23:19,989 --> 01:23:21,783
She put in her claim.
1444
01:23:22,408 --> 01:23:24,994
I'm gonna throw it
right back at her.
1445
01:23:30,584 --> 01:23:32,335
Let her sue us if she dares.
1446
01:23:32,419 --> 01:23:35,213
I'll be ready for her
and that somebody else.
1447
01:23:35,297 --> 01:23:37,799
They'll be digging
their own graves.
1448
01:23:46,266 --> 01:23:48,936
Mrs. Dietrichson?
This is Jerry's Market.
1449
01:23:49,019 --> 01:23:51,981
We just got in a shipment of that
English soap you were asking about.
1450
01:23:52,064 --> 01:23:55,651
Will you be coming by today?
Thank you, Mrs. Dietrichson.
1451
01:24:22,721 --> 01:24:25,348
Hello, Walter.
Come over here.
1452
01:24:29,060 --> 01:24:31,980
What's the matter?
Everything's the matter.
1453
01:24:34,024 --> 01:24:35,359
Keyes is rejecting your claim.
1454
01:24:35,400 --> 01:24:38,028
He's sitting back with his mouth
watering, waiting for you to sue.
1455
01:24:38,111 --> 01:24:39,905
He wants you to sue,
but you're not going to.
1456
01:24:39,947 --> 01:24:42,866
What's he got to stop me?
He's got plenty.
1457
01:24:45,744 --> 01:24:47,079
He's figured out how
it was worked.
1458
01:24:47,162 --> 01:24:48,956
He knows it was somebody else
on the train...
1459
01:24:49,039 --> 01:24:50,874
and he's dug up a witness
he thinks can prove it.
1460
01:24:50,958 --> 01:24:53,294
Prove it how? If he rejects
that claim, I have to sue.
1461
01:24:53,377 --> 01:24:56,881
Yeah? And then you're in court and a
lot of other things are going to come up.
1462
01:24:56,964 --> 01:25:00,760
Like, for instance, about you
and the first Mrs. Dietrichson.
1463
01:25:00,968 --> 01:25:02,762
What about me and
the first Mrs. Dietrichson?
1464
01:25:02,845 --> 01:25:03,888
The way she died.
1465
01:25:03,971 --> 01:25:06,974
And about that black hat you were
trying on before you needed a black hat.
1466
01:25:07,058 --> 01:25:08,810
Lola's been telling you
some of her cockeyed stories.
1467
01:25:08,893 --> 01:25:11,229
She's been seeing you. I've been
seeing her, if you want to know.
1468
01:25:11,312 --> 01:25:12,981
So she won't yell her head off
about what she knows.
1469
01:25:13,064 --> 01:25:15,775
She's putting on an act for you, crying
all over your shoulder, the lying...
1470
01:25:15,859 --> 01:25:18,194
Keep her out of this. All I'm
telling you is we're not going to sue.
1471
01:25:18,278 --> 01:25:19,446
Because you don't want
the money anymore...
1472
01:25:19,529 --> 01:25:20,739
even if you could have it,
because she's...
1473
01:25:20,822 --> 01:25:21,990
made you feel like
a heel all of a sudden?
1474
01:25:22,073 --> 01:25:25,327
It isn't the money anymore. It's our
necks. We're pulling out, do you understand?
1475
01:25:25,410 --> 01:25:28,330
Because of what Keyes can do?
You're not fooling me, Walter.
1476
01:25:28,413 --> 01:25:30,665
It's because of Lola,
what you did to her father.
1477
01:25:30,749 --> 01:25:33,627
You're afraid she might find out
someday and you can't take it, can you?
1478
01:25:33,669 --> 01:25:35,629
I said, leave her out of this.
1479
01:25:40,592 --> 01:25:41,844
It's me I'm talking about.
1480
01:25:41,927 --> 01:25:44,096
I don't want to be left
out of it. Stop saying that.
1481
01:25:44,179 --> 01:25:45,556
It's just that it
hasn't worked as we wanted.
1482
01:25:45,639 --> 01:25:48,267
We can't go through with it, that's
all. We have gone through with it.
1483
01:25:48,350 --> 01:25:49,435
The tough part
is all behind us.
1484
01:25:49,518 --> 01:25:51,979
We just have to hold on now
and not go soft inside...
1485
01:25:52,396 --> 01:25:54,815
stick close together
the way we started out.
1486
01:25:54,857 --> 01:25:56,150
Watch it.
1487
01:26:13,918 --> 01:26:16,504
I loved you, Walter,
and I hated him.
1488
01:26:16,588 --> 01:26:20,091
But I wasn't going to do anything
about it, not until I met you.
1489
01:26:20,175 --> 01:26:23,803
You planned the whole thing.
I only wanted him dead.
1490
01:26:24,387 --> 01:26:27,015
And I'm the one that
fixed it so he was dead.
1491
01:26:27,098 --> 01:26:30,811
Is that what you're telling
me? And nobody's pulling out.
1492
01:26:30,977 --> 01:26:33,522
We went into this together, we're
coming out at the end together.
1493
01:26:33,605 --> 01:26:37,359
It's straight down the line
for both of us, remember?
1494
01:26:44,074 --> 01:26:45,701
(Walter)
Yes, I remembered.
1495
01:26:47,077 --> 01:26:50,372
Just like I remembered
what you had told me, Keyes...
1496
01:26:50,414 --> 01:26:52,875
about that trolley car ride...
1497
01:26:52,958 --> 01:26:55,378
and how there was no getting
off till the end of the line...
1498
01:26:57,004 --> 01:26:58,881
...where the cemetery was.
1499
01:27:00,341 --> 01:27:03,594
And then I got to thinking
what cemeteries are for.
1500
01:27:04,262 --> 01:27:06,514
They're to put dead people in.
1501
01:27:08,266 --> 01:27:11,895
I guess that was the first time I
ever thought about Phyllis that way.
1502
01:27:11,978 --> 01:27:13,521
Dead, I mean.
1503
01:27:14,689 --> 01:27:17,275
And how it would be
if she were dead.
1504
01:27:18,568 --> 01:27:21,404
I saw Lola three or four times
that week.
1505
01:27:22,072 --> 01:27:25,909
One night we went up into the
hills behind the Hollywood Bowl.
1506
01:27:26,118 --> 01:27:28,912
I guess it sounds crazy, Keyes,
but it was only with her that...
1507
01:27:28,995 --> 01:27:31,415
I could relax
and let go a little.
1508
01:28:01,612 --> 01:28:03,322
Why are you crying?
1509
01:28:05,241 --> 01:28:07,452
Not gonna tell me, huh?
1510
01:28:07,619 --> 01:28:11,539
Of course I will, Walter. I
wouldn't tell anybody else but you.
1511
01:28:12,791 --> 01:28:15,668
It's about Nino.
Zachetti? What about him?
1512
01:28:15,835 --> 01:28:18,713
They killed my father
together. He and Phyllis.
1513
01:28:18,797 --> 01:28:21,258
He helped her do it.
I know he did.
1514
01:28:22,092 --> 01:28:24,052
What makes you say that?
1515
01:28:24,469 --> 01:28:27,764
I've been following him. He's been
to her house, night after night.
1516
01:28:27,806 --> 01:28:30,225
It was Phyllis
and him all along.
1517
01:28:30,517 --> 01:28:34,563
Maybe he was just going with me as a
blind. And the night of the murder...
1518
01:28:34,646 --> 01:28:36,732
You promised me you weren't
gonna talk like this anymore.
1519
01:28:36,815 --> 01:28:40,319
He was supposed to pick me up
after a lecture at UCLA.
1520
01:28:40,402 --> 01:28:43,322
But he never showed up.
He said he was sick.
1521
01:28:44,114 --> 01:28:45,199
Sick!
1522
01:28:45,282 --> 01:28:46,659
[Sobbing]
1523
01:28:47,284 --> 01:28:51,664
He couldn't show up, because the
train was leaving with my father on it.
1524
01:28:57,295 --> 01:29:00,590
Maybe I'm just crazy.
Maybe it's all in my mind.
1525
01:29:01,632 --> 01:29:03,634
Sure, it's all in your mind.
1526
01:29:03,718 --> 01:29:07,847
I only wish it were, Walter,
'cause I still love him.
1527
01:29:14,187 --> 01:29:17,607
(Walter) Zachetti. Phyllis and Zachetti.
1528
01:29:19,317 --> 01:29:23,363
What was he doing up at her house?
I couldn't figure that one out.
1529
01:29:25,032 --> 01:29:28,118
I tried to make sense
out of it and got nowhere.
1530
01:29:28,619 --> 01:29:31,622
But the real braintwister
came the next day.
1531
01:29:32,080 --> 01:29:36,168
You sprang it on me, Keyes, after
office hours, when you caught me...
1532
01:29:36,251 --> 01:29:38,170
down in the lobby
of the building.
1533
01:29:38,212 --> 01:29:40,464
Walter. Walter, just a minute.
1534
01:29:45,094 --> 01:29:48,139
Hello, Keyes. Just hang
on to your hat, Walter.
1535
01:29:48,222 --> 01:29:50,182
What for?
Oh, nothing much.
1536
01:29:50,433 --> 01:29:53,311
That Dietrichson case
just busted wide open.
1537
01:29:53,603 --> 01:29:56,606
How do you mean?
The guy showed. That's how.
1538
01:29:57,815 --> 01:30:00,068
What guy?
The guy who helped her do it.
1539
01:30:00,109 --> 01:30:01,819
The somebody else?
1540
01:30:02,737 --> 01:30:05,406
No kidding? Yeah. She
just filed suit against us.
1541
01:30:05,490 --> 01:30:06,783
It's okay by me.
1542
01:30:06,866 --> 01:30:09,911
When we get them in that courtroom,
I'll tear them to pieces, both of them.
1543
01:30:09,994 --> 01:30:12,247
Come on. I'll buy you a martini,
Walter. No thanks, Keyes.
1544
01:30:12,288 --> 01:30:13,289
With two olives.
1545
01:30:13,373 --> 01:30:15,667
No, I've got to get a shave and
a shoeshine. I've got a date.
1546
01:30:15,750 --> 01:30:18,837
Margie. I still bet she drinks
from the bottle.
1547
01:30:19,463 --> 01:30:21,173
They give you matches
when you buy cigars, you know.
1548
01:30:21,256 --> 01:30:22,549
All you have to do is
ask for them.
1549
01:30:22,632 --> 01:30:26,762
Don't like them, they always explode
in my pocket. So long, Walter.
1550
01:30:31,099 --> 01:30:33,102
(Walter)
I was scared stiff, Keyes.
1551
01:30:33,435 --> 01:30:36,271
Maybe you were playing
cat-and-mouse with me.
1552
01:30:36,313 --> 01:30:39,483
Maybe you knew all along
I was the somebody else.
1553
01:30:39,900 --> 01:30:44,113
I had to find out, and I knew
where to look. In your office.
1554
01:31:16,688 --> 01:31:18,148
(Keyes on dictation machine)
Memo to Mr. Norton.
1555
01:31:18,231 --> 01:31:19,900
Confidential.
Dietrichson file.
1556
01:31:20,692 --> 01:31:23,487
With regard to your proposal to put
Walter Neff under surveillance...
1557
01:31:23,528 --> 01:31:25,238
I disagree absolutely.
1558
01:31:25,322 --> 01:31:27,658
I have investigated his movements
on the night of the crime...
1559
01:31:27,741 --> 01:31:31,578
and he's definitely placed in
his apartment from 7:15 p. m. On.
1560
01:31:32,162 --> 01:31:35,624
In addition to this, I have known
Neff intimately for 11 years...
1561
01:31:35,708 --> 01:31:39,003
and I personally vouch for him
without reservation.
1562
01:31:39,086 --> 01:31:40,087
[Buzzing]
1563
01:31:43,632 --> 01:31:44,633
[Buzzing stops]
1564
01:31:44,717 --> 01:31:47,637
Furthermore, no connection
whatsoever has been established...
1565
01:31:47,720 --> 01:31:50,056
between Walter Neff and
Mrs. Phyllis Dietrichson...
1566
01:31:50,139 --> 01:31:53,935
whereas I am now able to report that
such a connection has been established...
1567
01:31:54,018 --> 01:31:56,145
between her and another man.
1568
01:31:56,312 --> 01:31:59,190
This man has been observed
to visit Mrs. Dietrichson...
1569
01:31:59,232 --> 01:32:02,610
on the nights of July 9th,
10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.
1570
01:32:03,361 --> 01:32:07,073
We have succeeded in identifying
him as one Nino Zachetti...
1571
01:32:07,198 --> 01:32:09,659
former medical student,
age of 28...
1572
01:32:09,743 --> 01:32:12,037
residing at
Lilac Court Apartments...
1573
01:32:12,078 --> 01:32:14,998
12281/2 North La Brea Avenue.
1574
01:32:15,540 --> 01:32:19,002
We have checked Zachetti's movements
on the night of the crime...
1575
01:32:19,044 --> 01:32:21,880
and have found that
they cannot be accounted for.
1576
01:32:22,297 --> 01:32:25,551
I am preparing a more detailed
report for your consideration.
1577
01:32:25,592 --> 01:32:29,304
It is my belief that we already have
sufficient evidence against Zachetti...
1578
01:32:29,388 --> 01:32:32,433
and Mrs. Dietrichson
to justify police action.
1579
01:32:32,725 --> 01:32:35,686
I strongly urge that this whole
matter be turned over to the office...
1580
01:32:35,769 --> 01:32:37,730
of the district attorney.
1581
01:32:37,771 --> 01:32:39,857
Respectfully, Barton Keyes.
1582
01:32:39,982 --> 01:32:40,983
[Buzzing]
1583
01:32:43,569 --> 01:32:44,570
[Buzzing stops]
1584
01:33:16,061 --> 01:33:19,773
Phyllis? It's Walter.
I've got to see you. Tonight.
1585
01:33:21,233 --> 01:33:23,235
Yes, it has to be tonight.
1586
01:33:23,861 --> 01:33:25,279
How's 11:00?
1587
01:33:26,447 --> 01:33:28,240
Don't worry about Keyes.
1588
01:33:28,282 --> 01:33:31,285
Just leave the front door
unlocked and put the lights out.
1589
01:33:31,327 --> 01:33:34,288
No, nobody's watching
the house. Not anymore.
1590
01:33:34,830 --> 01:33:38,834
It's just for the neighbors. I
told you not to worry about Keyes.
1591
01:33:39,919 --> 01:33:42,797
I'll see you at 11:00. Yeah.
1592
01:33:44,632 --> 01:33:46,092
Goodbye, baby.
1593
01:33:50,054 --> 01:33:51,806
(Walter) I guess I
don't have to tell you...
1594
01:33:51,848 --> 01:33:54,517
what I intended to do
at 11:00, Keyes.
1595
01:33:54,600 --> 01:33:58,146
For the first time, I saw a way to
get clear of the whole mess I was in...
1596
01:33:58,229 --> 01:34:01,065
and of Phyllis, too,
all at the same time.
1597
01:34:01,399 --> 01:34:03,526
Yeah, that's what I thought.
1598
01:34:04,152 --> 01:34:07,530
What I didn't know was that
she had plans of her own.
1599
01:34:49,949 --> 01:34:51,284
[Car approaching]
1600
01:34:52,327 --> 01:34:53,328
[Car door closing]
1601
01:35:07,050 --> 01:35:08,635
In here, Walter.
1602
01:35:12,222 --> 01:35:14,057
[Jazz music playing]
1603
01:35:23,484 --> 01:35:24,902
Hello, baby.
1604
01:35:27,112 --> 01:35:29,823
Anybody else in the house?
Nobody. Why?
1605
01:35:31,367 --> 01:35:34,245
What's that music?
A radio up the street.
1606
01:35:42,753 --> 01:35:45,715
Just like the first time
I came here, isn't it?
1607
01:35:45,756 --> 01:35:48,593
We were talking about
automobile insurance.
1608
01:35:48,968 --> 01:35:51,512
Only you were thinking
about murder.
1609
01:35:52,597 --> 01:35:54,474
I was thinking about
that anklet.
1610
01:35:54,557 --> 01:35:56,434
And what are you
thinking about now?
1611
01:35:56,476 --> 01:35:58,770
I'm all through thinking,
baby.
1612
01:35:58,978 --> 01:36:01,272
I just came to say goodbye.
Goodbye?
1613
01:36:01,481 --> 01:36:05,485
Where are you going? You're the
one that's going, baby. Not me.
1614
01:36:05,777 --> 01:36:08,363
I'm getting off the trolley
car right at this corner.
1615
01:36:08,447 --> 01:36:10,907
Suppose you stop being fancy.
Let's have it, whatever it is.
1616
01:36:10,991 --> 01:36:14,453
All right, I'll tell you. A friend
of mine's got a funny theory.
1617
01:36:14,828 --> 01:36:17,789
He says when two people commit a murder,
it's sort of like they're riding...
1618
01:36:17,873 --> 01:36:20,501
on a trolley car together. One
can't get off without the other.
1619
01:36:20,584 --> 01:36:22,878
They're stuck with each other
and they have to go on...
1620
01:36:22,961 --> 01:36:25,255
riding together
clear to the end of the line.
1621
01:36:25,297 --> 01:36:27,633
And the last stop
is the cemetery.
1622
01:36:27,675 --> 01:36:30,845
Maybe he's got something
there. You bet he has.
1623
01:36:30,970 --> 01:36:33,681
Two people are gonna ride to
the end of the line, all right.
1624
01:36:33,764 --> 01:36:38,185
Only I'm not gonna be one of them. I've
got another guy to finish my ride for me.
1625
01:36:38,269 --> 01:36:41,731
Just who are you talking
about? An acquaintance of yours.
1626
01:36:41,814 --> 01:36:43,149
A Mr. Zachetti.
1627
01:36:43,191 --> 01:36:44,984
Come on, baby,
I just got into this thing...
1628
01:36:45,068 --> 01:36:47,695
because I happen to know a little
something about insurance, didn't I?
1629
01:36:47,779 --> 01:36:48,780
I was a sucker.
1630
01:36:48,863 --> 01:36:51,658
I'd have been brushed off just as soon
as you got your hands on the money.
1631
01:36:51,699 --> 01:36:54,369
Nobody wanted to brush you
off. Save it. I'm telling this.
1632
01:36:54,828 --> 01:36:56,871
It's been you and that Zachetti
guy all along, hasn't it?
1633
01:36:56,955 --> 01:36:58,540
That's not true.
1634
01:36:58,623 --> 01:37:01,751
Doesn't make any difference
if it's true or not.
1635
01:37:03,003 --> 01:37:06,506
The point is, Keyes believes Zachetti
is the one he's been looking for.
1636
01:37:06,590 --> 01:37:09,634
He'll have him in that gas chamber
before he knows what's happened to him.
1637
01:37:09,718 --> 01:37:13,096
What's happening to me all
this time? Don't be silly, baby.
1638
01:37:18,352 --> 01:37:22,523
What do you think is gonna happen to you?
You helped him do the murder, didn't you?
1639
01:37:22,606 --> 01:37:23,899
That's what Keyes thinks.
1640
01:37:23,983 --> 01:37:26,235
And what's good enough for
Keyes is good enough for me.
1641
01:37:26,318 --> 01:37:30,656
Maybe it's not good enough for me,
Walter. Maybe I don't go for the idea.
1642
01:37:30,698 --> 01:37:32,575
Maybe I'd rather talk.
1643
01:37:32,700 --> 01:37:37,204
Sometimes people are where they can't
talk. Under six feet of dirt, maybe.
1644
01:37:37,538 --> 01:37:41,584
And if it was you, they'd charge that
up to Zachetti, too, wouldn't they?
1645
01:37:41,667 --> 01:37:45,380
Sure they would, and that's
just what's gonna happen, baby.
1646
01:37:45,797 --> 01:37:48,299
'Cause he's coming here
tonight, in about 15 minutes.
1647
01:37:48,383 --> 01:37:51,845
With the cops right behind
him. It's all taken care of.
1648
01:37:52,929 --> 01:37:55,223
That would make everything
lovely for you, wouldn't it?
1649
01:37:55,265 --> 01:37:59,185
Right. And it's got to be done before
that suit of yours comes to trial...
1650
01:37:59,227 --> 01:38:00,729
and Lola gets a chance
to sound off...
1651
01:38:00,937 --> 01:38:04,024
before they trip you up on the stand, and
you start to go in drag me down with you.
1652
01:38:04,065 --> 01:38:06,401
Maybe I had Zachetti here so they
won't get a chance to trip me up...
1653
01:38:06,485 --> 01:38:07,903
so we can get the money
and be together.
1654
01:38:08,320 --> 01:38:11,448
That's cute. Say it again. He came
here first to ask where Lola was.
1655
01:38:11,531 --> 01:38:13,575
I made him come back.
I was working on him.
1656
01:38:13,659 --> 01:38:15,661
He's a crazy sort of guy,
quick-tempered.
1657
01:38:15,744 --> 01:38:17,913
I kept hammering into him that
she was with another man...
1658
01:38:17,996 --> 01:38:22,418
so he'd go into one of his jealous rages,
and then I'd tell him where she was.
1659
01:38:22,459 --> 01:38:25,170
And you know what he would've
done to her, don't you, Walter?
1660
01:38:25,254 --> 01:38:29,300
Yeah, and for once I believe you,
because it's just rotten enough.
1661
01:38:30,176 --> 01:38:31,844
We're both rotten.
1662
01:38:31,927 --> 01:38:33,596
Only you're
a little more rotten.
1663
01:38:33,679 --> 01:38:35,765
You got me to take care
of your husband for you...
1664
01:38:35,848 --> 01:38:39,393
and then you got Zachetti to take care
of Lola, maybe take care of me, too.
1665
01:38:39,435 --> 01:38:42,522
Then somebody else would have come
along to take care of Zachetti for you.
1666
01:38:42,605 --> 01:38:45,274
That's the way you operate,
isn't it, baby? Suppose it is.
1667
01:38:45,358 --> 01:38:48,653
Is what you've got cooked up
for tonight any better?
1668
01:38:49,487 --> 01:38:53,199
I don't like that music anymore.
Mind if I close the window?
1669
01:39:08,966 --> 01:39:10,300
[Gun fires]
1670
01:39:13,470 --> 01:39:16,432
You can do better than that,
can't you, baby?
1671
01:39:16,640 --> 01:39:18,434
Better try it again.
1672
01:39:21,186 --> 01:39:23,522
Maybe if I came
a little closer?
1673
01:39:34,033 --> 01:39:36,536
How's this?
Think you can do it now?
1674
01:39:45,545 --> 01:39:47,964
Why didn't you
shoot again, baby?
1675
01:39:53,678 --> 01:39:57,641
Don't tell me it's because you've
been in love with me all this time.
1676
01:39:57,682 --> 01:40:01,144
No, I never loved you, Walter,
not you or anybody else.
1677
01:40:01,394 --> 01:40:04,648
I'm rotten to the heart.
I used you, just as you said.
1678
01:40:04,690 --> 01:40:07,150
That's all you
ever meant to me...
1679
01:40:08,318 --> 01:40:10,028
until a minute ago...
1680
01:40:11,196 --> 01:40:13,824
when I couldn't fire
that second shot.
1681
01:40:15,409 --> 01:40:18,162
I never thought
that could happen to me.
1682
01:40:19,163 --> 01:40:21,707
Sorry, baby. I'm not buying.
I'm not asking you to buy.
1683
01:40:21,790 --> 01:40:23,542
Just hold me close.
1684
01:40:29,966 --> 01:40:31,467
Goodbye, baby.
1685
01:40:31,634 --> 01:40:33,386
[Gun fires twice]
1686
01:41:26,107 --> 01:41:27,358
Zachetti.
1687
01:41:29,527 --> 01:41:30,862
Come here.
1688
01:41:36,743 --> 01:41:38,411
I said, come here.
1689
01:41:41,122 --> 01:41:44,167
My name is Neff. Yeah,
and I still don't like it.
1690
01:41:44,250 --> 01:41:45,877
What do you want?
1691
01:41:45,960 --> 01:41:47,253
Look, kid.
1692
01:41:48,421 --> 01:41:51,675
I want to give you a present.
This nice new nickel.
1693
01:41:51,841 --> 01:41:53,927
What's the gag? Suppose you
go on back down the hill...
1694
01:41:53,969 --> 01:41:55,595
to the drugstore
and make a phone call.
1695
01:41:55,637 --> 01:41:57,764
Keep your nickel and buy
yourself an ice-cream cone.
1696
01:41:57,806 --> 01:41:59,599
The number is Granite-0-3-8-6.
1697
01:41:59,641 --> 01:42:02,227
Ask for Miss Dietrichson.
First name is Lola.
1698
01:42:02,311 --> 01:42:03,395
She isn't worth a nickel.
1699
01:42:03,478 --> 01:42:05,939
If I ever talk to her, it's not
going to be over any telephone.
1700
01:42:06,023 --> 01:42:07,065
Tough, aren't you?
1701
01:42:07,149 --> 01:42:09,151
Here, take the nickel and
call her. She wants you to.
1702
01:42:09,234 --> 01:42:10,986
She doesn't want
any part of me.
1703
01:42:11,278 --> 01:42:13,822
I know who told you that.
It's not true.
1704
01:42:13,906 --> 01:42:16,450
Lola's in love with you.
She always has been.
1705
01:42:16,492 --> 01:42:18,744
Don't ask me why.
I couldn't even guess.
1706
01:42:18,828 --> 01:42:22,081
Here. Granite-0-3-8-6.
Now go on and call her.
1707
01:42:22,748 --> 01:42:24,333
Go on. That way.
1708
01:42:34,594 --> 01:42:36,763
(Walter)
It's almost 4:30 now, Keyes.
1709
01:42:38,139 --> 01:42:39,182
It's cold.
1710
01:42:41,267 --> 01:42:44,854
I wonder if she's still lying
alone up there in that house...
1711
01:42:44,938 --> 01:42:47,065
or if they've found her
by now.
1712
01:42:48,733 --> 01:42:52,028
I wonder a lot of things.
They don't matter anymore.
1713
01:42:53,029 --> 01:42:54,531
[Coughing]
1714
01:42:56,324 --> 01:42:59,328
Except I want you to do
a favor for me, Keyes.
1715
01:43:00,203 --> 01:43:05,125
I want you to be the one to tell Lola,
kind of gently, before it breaks wide open.
1716
01:43:06,794 --> 01:43:10,506
And I want you to take care
of her and that guy Zachetti...
1717
01:43:15,094 --> 01:43:17,888
so he doesn't get
pushed around too much.
1718
01:43:19,890 --> 01:43:21,350
Hello, Keyes.
1719
01:43:31,277 --> 01:43:33,404
Up pretty early, aren't you?
1720
01:43:34,864 --> 01:43:38,201
I always wondered what time
you got down to the office.
1721
01:43:38,910 --> 01:43:42,080
Or did that little man of
yours pull you out of bed?
1722
01:43:42,163 --> 01:43:43,748
The janitor did.
1723
01:43:44,582 --> 01:43:47,210
Seems you leaked a little
blood on the way in here.
1724
01:43:47,294 --> 01:43:48,378
Yeah.
1725
01:43:48,878 --> 01:43:50,755
Wouldn't be surprised.
1726
01:43:52,174 --> 01:43:55,719
I wanted to straighten you out
on that Dietrichson case.
1727
01:43:56,094 --> 01:43:57,512
So I gather.
1728
01:43:59,181 --> 01:44:02,559
How long have you been
standing there? Long enough.
1729
01:44:02,601 --> 01:44:05,604
Kind of a crazy story
with a crazy twist to it.
1730
01:44:06,522 --> 01:44:08,524
One you didn't
quite figure out.
1731
01:44:08,607 --> 01:44:11,026
You can't figure them all,
Walter.
1732
01:44:11,652 --> 01:44:14,405
That's right.
I guess you can't at that.
1733
01:44:15,656 --> 01:44:18,242
Now I suppose
I get the big speech...
1734
01:44:19,285 --> 01:44:22,246
the one with all the
two-dollar words in it.
1735
01:44:23,456 --> 01:44:25,249
Let's have it, Keyes.
1736
01:44:26,626 --> 01:44:29,796
Walter, you're all washed up.
1737
01:44:32,423 --> 01:44:34,926
Thanks, Keyes.
That was short anyway.
1738
01:44:36,302 --> 01:44:38,429
I'm gonna call for a doctor.
1739
01:44:40,640 --> 01:44:43,268
What for?
So they can patch me up?
1740
01:44:44,311 --> 01:44:46,980
So they can nurse me along
till I get back on my feet?
1741
01:44:47,063 --> 01:44:50,484
So I can walk into that gas chamber
up at San Quentin on my own power?
1742
01:44:50,525 --> 01:44:52,110
Is that it, Keyes?
1743
01:44:52,194 --> 01:44:53,862
Something like that.
1744
01:44:54,821 --> 01:44:57,157
I've got a different idea.
Yeah?
1745
01:44:57,199 --> 01:44:58,575
Look, Keyes.
1746
01:44:58,951 --> 01:45:01,328
Suppose you went back to bed and
didn't find these cylinders...
1747
01:45:01,411 --> 01:45:03,789
till tomorrow morning,
when the office opens...
1748
01:45:03,831 --> 01:45:06,458
After that you can
play it any way you like.
1749
01:45:06,500 --> 01:45:09,128
Would you do
that much for me, Keyes?
1750
01:45:09,378 --> 01:45:13,340
Give me one good reason. I need
four hours to get where I'm going.
1751
01:45:13,382 --> 01:45:16,594
You're not going anywhere,
Walter. You bet I am.
1752
01:45:17,511 --> 01:45:20,389
I'm going across the border.
You haven't got a chance, Walter.
1753
01:45:20,473 --> 01:45:22,016
Good enough to try for.
1754
01:45:22,099 --> 01:45:25,520
You'll never make the border.
That's what you think.
1755
01:45:26,229 --> 01:45:27,730
Just watch me.
1756
01:45:28,189 --> 01:45:30,316
You'll never even make
the elevator.
1757
01:45:30,566 --> 01:45:31,567
So long, Keyes.
1758
01:45:53,715 --> 01:45:55,384
[Phone dialing]
1759
01:46:01,223 --> 01:46:02,516
(Keyes)
Hello...
1760
01:46:02,558 --> 01:46:05,185
send an ambulance to the
Pacific Building on Olive Street.
1761
01:46:07,396 --> 01:46:09,398
Yeah. It's a police job.
1762
01:46:29,210 --> 01:46:31,754
How you doing, Walter?
Fine.
1763
01:46:34,007 --> 01:46:37,552
Only somebody moved the
elevator a couple of miles away.
1764
01:46:38,094 --> 01:46:39,846
They're on the way.
1765
01:46:44,184 --> 01:46:46,812
You know why you couldn't
figure this one, Keyes?
1766
01:46:46,895 --> 01:46:48,396
I'll tell you.
1767
01:46:48,939 --> 01:46:52,192
Because the guy you were
looking for was too close.
1768
01:46:52,275 --> 01:46:54,903
He was right across
the desk from you.
1769
01:46:55,112 --> 01:46:57,072
Closer than that, Walter.
1770
01:46:57,990 --> 01:46:59,366
[Panting]
1771
01:47:01,243 --> 01:47:02,745
I love you, too.