- 6/26/2025
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00:00:00The End
00:00:30Oh, my God.
00:01:00Well, here we are.
00:01:26I turned down here at the next block.
00:01:28Thanks, mister.
00:01:29I'll get off there.
00:01:37Want anything else?
00:01:38No.
00:01:40Hey, you.
00:01:44Me?
00:01:45Yeah, you.
00:01:45Where you heading?
00:01:48East.
00:01:49Your dad.
00:01:49I thought if he was heading north, I might be able to help you out.
00:01:54I'm pushing to Salt Lake, and I don't like to ride alone at night.
00:01:57I'm one of those guys who got to talk or I fall asleep.
00:01:59Oh, sure not much.
00:02:01But pardon me, he's got Lou to keep him coming, but I ain't got nobody at all.
00:02:05Where you coming from?
00:02:07West.
00:02:08Yeah, sure, I know, but where, L.A.?
00:02:10Maybe.
00:02:11I've got a cousin out in L.A.
00:02:13You don't say.
00:02:14Yeah, he's been out.
00:02:16You're not much of a talker, are you?
00:02:18My mother taught me never to speak to strangers.
00:02:20Oh, wise guy.
00:02:21So what?
00:02:22Okay, okay.
00:02:22Don't get sore.
00:02:24He's trying to be sociable, that's all.
00:02:27Hey, glamorous.
00:02:28You change for a dime, will you?
00:02:40Let's have something quieter this time, Joe.
00:02:42My head's splitting.
00:02:43Is that what's wrong with it?
00:02:47Done with your coffee?
00:02:49No.
00:02:50Then don't rush me, will you?
00:02:58Hey, turn that off.
00:02:59Will you turn that thing off?
00:03:00What's eating you now?
00:03:01Yeah, what's eating you?
00:03:02That music, it stinks.
00:03:03Oh, you don't like it, huh?
00:03:04No, turn it off.
00:03:05Now, wait a minute, pal.
00:03:06That was my nickel, see?
00:03:08This is a free country, and I play whatever I want to.
00:03:13Okay.
00:03:14Sure, and if you don't like it, you don't have to listen to it.
00:03:16And you can leave here anytime you want it.
00:03:18Okay, okay, I'm sorry I asked.
00:03:20First good piece played tonight, and you don't like it.
00:03:22Some people just ain't got any good taste.
00:03:28That tune.
00:03:37That tune!
00:03:39Why was there always that rotten tune?
00:03:42Following me around, beating in my head, never letting up.
00:03:48Did you ever want to forget anything?
00:03:51Did you ever want to cut away a piece of your memory or blot it out?
00:03:54You can't, you know.
00:03:55No matter how hard you try.
00:03:58You can change the scenery.
00:03:59But sooner or later, you'll get a whiff of perfume
00:04:02where somebody will say a certain phrase or maybe hum something.
00:04:05Then you're licked again.
00:04:08I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:11I used to love that song once.
00:04:13So did the customers back in the old Break of Dawn Club in New York.
00:04:17I can't remember a night when I didn't get at least three requests for it.
00:04:21Sue, she was always selling it, too.
00:04:24Those were the days.
00:04:25Your eyes are blue, your kisses, too.
00:04:54I never knew what they could do.
00:04:57I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:01You're telling everyone you know that I'm on your mind each place you go.
00:05:09They can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:13I have always placed you far above me.
00:05:20I just can't imagine that you love me.
00:05:26And after all is said and done to think that I'm the lucky one.
00:05:33I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:37It wasn't much of a club really.
00:05:48You know the kind.
00:05:49A joint where you could have a sandwich and a few drinks and run interference for your girl on the dance floor.
00:05:54i pounded the piano in there every night from eight until the place closed up
00:06:00which usually meant four in the morning a good job as jobs went in those days
00:06:05and two there was sue who made working there a little like working in heaven
00:06:14but how we felt about each other well there was nothing very unusual in that
00:06:19i was an ordinary healthy guy and she was an ordinary healthy girl and when you add those
00:06:24two together you get an ordinary healthy romance which is the old story sure but somehow the
00:06:31most wonderful thing in the world
00:06:32all in all i was a pretty lucky guy
00:06:54mr paderowski i presume it's beautiful you're going to make carnegie hall yet al
00:07:01yeah as a janitor i'll make my debut in the basement i don't blame you for being bitter
00:07:07darling but you mustn't give up hope why someday yeah someday i don't get arthritis first in
00:07:13the meantime let's blow this trap
00:07:22like you get something to eat hon oh i don't think so al i lose my appetite working in this flea bag
00:07:39let's go home okay i can't stand much more of that dump did you see that drunk tonight trying to paw me
00:07:48no what drunk does it matter what drunk so what's the matter with you tonight darling that's the
00:07:55third time you started to tell me something then stop we shouldn't have any secrets from each other
00:08:00sue next week we're going to make with the ring and the license you and me will be a team yes that's
00:08:04right in the bush league i don't get you we've been struck out that's a funny way to talk darling
00:08:12don't you want to marry me yeah look i love you you know i do and i want to marry you but but not
00:08:19now only after we've made good sunday i'm going away oh i know you'll think it's silly that's why i
00:08:28hesitated to tell you but i'm going to california i want to try my luck in hollywood that's the most
00:08:34stupid thing i ever heard of don't you know millions of people go out there every year and wind up
00:08:38polishing cuspidors i thought you had better sense you sound as if you don't think i have any talent
00:08:43that has nothing to do with it i'll make out all right maybe but what about me doesn't it mean
00:08:48anything to you that you're busting up all our plans we may not see each other for years it won't be
00:08:52that long i thought you loved me i do you know i do
00:08:56well here we are
00:09:02al
00:09:05al why can't you see my side of it i'm young we both are and we've got all the time in the world
00:09:13to settle down
00:09:14really darling what i'm doing is the only sane thing to do
00:09:19i i hate the thought of being so far away from you but but we'll be together again someday
00:09:27maybe you'll decide to come out too later on so long al aren't you going to kiss me good night
00:09:36sure why not
00:09:38good night
00:09:42good night
00:09:52good night
00:09:57good night
00:10:04good night
00:11:09Say, Roberts, you hit the jackpot this time.
00:11:30Ten bucks.
00:11:31Thanks.
00:11:38So when this drunk handed me a tin spot after a request, I couldn't get very excited.
00:11:43What was it I asked myself?
00:11:44A piece of paper crawling with germs.
00:11:47Couldn't buy anything I wanted.
00:11:49It couldn't...
00:11:50Then I thought of something.
00:11:54Long distance.
00:12:19I'd like to put a call through to Los Angeles.
00:12:22Miss Harvey.
00:12:23Sue Harvey.
00:12:24H-A-R-V-E-Y.
00:12:26The number is Crestview 65723.
00:12:29Hello, Sue?
00:12:40Hello, Sue?
00:12:59This is Al.
00:13:00Oh, baby, it's great to hear from you, too.
00:13:03What's that?
00:13:03You do?
00:13:04Oh, me too, darling.
00:13:06I thought I'd go batty without you.
00:13:07I just had to...
00:13:09Huh?
00:13:10You're working as a hashlinger?
00:13:13Gee, honey, that's tough.
00:13:14Those guys out in Hollywood don't know the real thing when it's right in front of them.
00:13:18You just stick it out, Sue, baby.
00:13:19Keep going around to those casting offices.
00:13:21I'm sure you'll click.
00:13:23Look, I'll tell you what.
00:13:24You stay put out there.
00:13:25I'll come to you.
00:13:26No, don't try to stop me.
00:13:27Just expect me.
00:13:29Train?
00:13:30Who knows?
00:13:30Train, plane, bus, magic carpet.
00:13:32I'll be there if I have to crawl.
00:13:34If I have to travel by pogo stick.
00:13:36And then...
00:13:37Let's get married right away, huh?
00:13:41That's the stuff.
00:13:43That's what I've been wanting to hear you say.
00:13:46Well, goodbye for now.
00:13:49I'll be seeing you soon.
00:13:52Yeah.
00:13:54Bye.
00:14:00The only way I could cross country was to thumb rides.
00:14:03For even after hocking everything, I only had enough money to eat.
00:14:07Money.
00:14:08You know what that is.
00:14:10It's the stuff you never have enough of.
00:14:13Little green things with George Washington's picture that men slave for,
00:14:16commit crimes for, die for.
00:14:19It's the stuff that has caused more trouble in the world
00:14:21than anything else we ever invented.
00:14:23Simply because there's too little of it.
00:14:26At least I had too little of it.
00:14:28So it was me for the thumb.
00:14:30Ever done any hitchhiking?
00:14:48It's not much fun, believe me.
00:14:51Oh, yeah.
00:14:52I know all about how it's an education,
00:14:54how you get to meet a lot of people and all that.
00:14:57But me?
00:14:58From now on, I'll take my education in college
00:15:00or in PS 62,
00:15:02or I'll send $1.98 in stamps for 10 easy lessons.
00:15:05Thumbing rides may save your bus fare,
00:15:17but it's dangerous.
00:15:19You never know what's in store for you
00:15:21when you hear the squeal of brakes.
00:15:24If only I had known what I was getting into that day in Arizona.
00:15:30Yeah, throw that in the back seat.
00:15:31Okay, let's go.
00:15:35Make sure that door's closed.
00:15:36You know, Emily Post ought to write a book of rules
00:15:53for guys thumbing rides.
00:15:55Because as it is now,
00:15:56you never know what's right and what's wrong.
00:15:59We rode along for a little while,
00:16:00neither one of us saying anything.
00:16:03I was glad of that.
00:16:04I never know what to say to strange people driving cars.
00:16:08And two, you can never tell if a guy wants to talk.
00:16:11A lot of rides have been cut short because of a big mouth.
00:16:16So I kept my mouth shut
00:16:17until he started opening up.
00:16:21Hand me that little box, the compartment, will you, pal?
00:16:26Hold the wheel, will you?
00:16:27How far are you going?
00:16:40L.A.
00:16:42Well, you're really traveling, aren't you?
00:16:44Yeah, but I don't expect to make it for a couple of years
00:16:46at the rate I've been promoting rides.
00:16:47Not much luck, huh?
00:16:49Sure, all bad.
00:16:51Not many people stop for a guy these days.
00:16:53Afraid of a stick-up, maybe.
00:16:54Well, you can't blame him.
00:16:56Where you coming from?
00:16:58New York.
00:16:59Well, New York.
00:17:01You're in luck this time.
00:17:02I'm going all the way.
00:17:04Right through to Los Angeles.
00:17:07You drive a car?
00:17:08Sure.
00:17:09Whenever you're tired, let me know.
00:17:11I'll holler.
00:17:14I guess at least an hour passed
00:17:15before I noticed those deep scratches in his right hand.
00:17:18They were wicked.
00:17:20Three puffy red lines about a quarter of an inch apart.
00:17:22He must have seen me looking at them
00:17:25because he said,
00:17:26beauties, aren't they?
00:17:29They're going to be scars someday.
00:17:33What an animal.
00:17:34Whatever it was,
00:17:35it must have been pretty big and vicious
00:17:36to have done that.
00:17:37Right on both counts, New York.
00:17:39I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world.
00:17:43A woman.
00:17:44She must have been Tarzan's mate.
00:17:46Looks like you lost the bop.
00:17:48It certainly wasn't a draw.
00:17:49You know, there ought to be a law
00:17:52against dames with claws.
00:17:54Yeah.
00:17:54I tossed her out of the car in her ear.
00:17:57Was I wrong?
00:17:59Give a lift to a tomato,
00:18:00you expect her to be nice, don't you?
00:18:02Yeah.
00:18:03After all,
00:18:03what kind of dame's thumb rides?
00:18:05Sunday school teachers?
00:18:07Yeah.
00:18:09A little witch.
00:18:11She must have thought
00:18:11she was riding with some fall guy.
00:18:13And me,
00:18:14who's been booking horses
00:18:15around race tracks
00:18:16since I was 20.
00:18:18I've known a million dames like her.
00:18:20Two million?
00:18:21Yeah.
00:18:24Stopped the car,
00:18:25opened the door,
00:18:27taken on the Arthur Duffy sister,
00:18:29I told her.
00:18:30That's the stuff.
00:18:31That was done, huh?
00:18:33But if you want to see a real scar, brother,
00:18:36get a load of this.
00:18:39Wow.
00:18:40I got that one doing.
00:18:42Dueling?
00:18:43Yeah, we're just kidding, of course.
00:18:45My dad owned a couple
00:18:46of Franco-Prussian sabers,
00:18:47kept them on the wall
00:18:48for decorations.
00:18:50Well, one day,
00:18:51another kid and I
00:18:52took them down.
00:18:53The old man wasn't around,
00:18:54had a duel.
00:18:56He got me in the arm here.
00:18:59Pretty mean cut.
00:19:00Fraction sat in later.
00:19:02Yeah, I can see that.
00:19:04Now, give me that box again,
00:19:05will they?
00:19:06Yeah.
00:19:12Pain made me lose my head,
00:19:20I guess.
00:19:20I began slashing.
00:19:23Before I knew it,
00:19:23I'd put the other kid's eye out.
00:19:25That was tough.
00:19:27Well, it was just an accident,
00:19:28of course.
00:19:29Do you know how kids are?
00:19:30I got scared,
00:19:31decided I was gonna run away
00:19:32from home.
00:19:34The old man almost caught me
00:19:35when I was packing my duds.
00:19:38The bloody rag I had
00:19:39wrapped around my wrist
00:19:40hadn't caught his attention.
00:19:41You've seen the bundle,
00:19:42for sure.
00:19:44But I beat it
00:19:45when he was phoning for a doctor.
00:19:46I was 15, 16 years ago.
00:19:50I haven't been home since.
00:19:55Pull in there for a bite
00:19:56or something, huh?
00:19:57A bite or something.
00:19:59Brother, was I hungry.
00:20:01I hadn't had anything
00:20:02in my stomach for hours.
00:20:04Yet even with that gnawing
00:20:05in the pit of my belly,
00:20:06I didn't want to be in too big
00:20:07a rush to put on the feed bag.
00:20:10First, I had to make sure
00:20:11this guy knew the score.
00:20:13If I got him down on me,
00:20:14I'd buy a ticket to Hollywood.
00:20:16I'll wait out here
00:20:17for you, mister.
00:20:18If it's the money,
00:20:19don't worry about paying for it.
00:20:20This time it's on me.
00:20:21Well, that's why you're...
00:20:22Haskell, think nothing of it.
00:20:23You make your first million,
00:20:24maybe you can do the same for me.
00:20:25Come on, New York.
00:20:27I gotta make the West Coast
00:20:28by Wednesday.
00:20:29There's a horse running
00:20:29at Santa Anita
00:20:30named Powered Bicycle.
00:20:31It means it ought to me
00:20:32if I'm on him.
00:20:33We'll make it, all right.
00:20:35He did most of the talking
00:20:36during the half hour
00:20:37we were in the place.
00:20:39I ate.
00:20:41He rambled on about his old man
00:20:43whom he hadn't heard from
00:20:43since he ran away as a kid.
00:20:45And how he happened
00:20:46to become a bookie.
00:20:47And then all about
00:20:48how he got rooked in Miami.
00:20:50One race, 38 grand.
00:20:51They cleaned out my book.
00:20:53How do you like that?
00:20:54That was tough luck.
00:20:55Yeah, and I'm supposed
00:20:56to be the smart guy.
00:20:57Will you just wait?
00:20:58I'm going back to Florida
00:20:59next season with all kinds
00:21:00of check.
00:21:01And you'll watch those
00:21:01stinkers run for cover.
00:21:03Do you want anything else?
00:21:04No, thanks.
00:21:05I've had plenty.
00:21:12Let's check there, sister.
00:21:16Oh, just a minute.
00:21:17Your change, sir.
00:21:19Keep it, sister.
00:21:20Oh, thank you, sir.
00:21:21Call again.
00:21:21I'll be waiting outside
00:21:22for you when you finish work.
00:21:23No.
00:21:25Sharp check, huh?
00:21:34I drove all that night
00:21:35while Haskell slept
00:21:36like a log.
00:21:37After a while,
00:21:38I began to get sleepy myself.
00:21:42I was happy, though.
00:21:44Soon I'd be with Sue again.
00:21:46The long trip was
00:21:47practically over,
00:21:47and there'd be no more
00:21:48hoofing it down the concrete.
00:21:50I began to think
00:21:51of the future,
00:21:53which couldn't have been brighter
00:21:54if I'd embroidered it
00:21:55with neon lights.
00:21:57It was nice to think
00:21:58of Sue shooting to the top.
00:22:01It's amazing what a full belly
00:22:03can do to your imagination.
00:22:08Your eyes are blue,
00:22:10your kisses too.
00:22:12I never knew
00:22:14what they could do.
00:22:17I can't believe
00:22:18that you're
00:22:20in love with me.
00:22:25You're telling
00:22:26everyone you know
00:22:29I'm on your mind
00:22:31each place you go.
00:22:34I can't believe
00:22:36that you're in love
00:22:39with me.
00:22:56Mr. Haskell.
00:22:58Mr. Haskell.
00:23:02Mr. Haskell,
00:23:03wake up.
00:23:04It's raining.
00:23:05Don't you think
00:23:05we ought to stop
00:23:06and put up the top?
00:23:09Mr. Haskell,
00:23:17I'm going to put up the top.
00:23:32Up until then,
00:23:33I'd done things my way.
00:23:35But from then on,
00:23:35something else stepped in
00:23:36and shunted me off
00:23:37to a different destination
00:23:38than one I had picked
00:23:39for myself.
00:23:41The one I pulled
00:23:41open that door.
00:23:47Mr. Haskell,
00:23:47what's the matter?
00:23:49Are you hurt?
00:23:50Are you hurt,
00:23:51Mr. Haskell?
00:23:53Start yourself.
00:23:55I'll listen to it.
00:23:56But I know
00:23:57what you're going to hand me
00:23:58even before you
00:23:58open your mouths.
00:24:00You're going to tell me
00:24:00you don't believe
00:24:01my story of how Haskell died
00:24:02and give me that
00:24:03don't make me laugh
00:24:04expression on your
00:24:04smug faces.
00:24:09I saw it once.
00:24:10He was dead.
00:24:11And I was in for it.
00:24:12Who would believe
00:24:13he fell out of the car?
00:24:14Why, if Haskell came too,
00:24:15which of course he couldn't,
00:24:16even he would swear
00:24:17I conked him over the head
00:24:17for his dough.
00:24:19Yes, I was in for it.
00:24:21Instinct told me to run.
00:24:23But then I realized
00:24:23it was hopeless.
00:24:24There were lots of people
00:24:25back down the road
00:24:25who could identify me.
00:24:26That gas station guy
00:24:27and the waitress.
00:24:28I would be in a worse spot then
00:24:29trying to explain
00:24:30why I beat it.
00:24:31The next possibility
00:24:32was to sit tight
00:24:33and tell the truth
00:24:34when the cops came.
00:24:35But that would be crazy.
00:24:36They'd laugh at the truth
00:24:37and not have my head
00:24:38in the noose.
00:24:41So what else was there
00:24:42to do but hide the body
00:24:43and get away in the car?
00:24:44I couldn't leave the car
00:24:45there with him in the gully.
00:24:47That would be like
00:24:47erecting a tombstone.
00:25:01My idea was to cover him
00:25:18with brush,
00:25:19not to rob him.
00:25:20But then I remembered
00:25:21that even if I only drove
00:25:21the car for a hundred miles
00:25:22or so,
00:25:23I would need money for gas.
00:25:25Besides,
00:25:26it was stupid of me
00:25:27to leave all that money
00:25:28in a dead man.
00:25:29Not only that,
00:25:30I'd have to take
00:25:31his driver's license
00:25:32in case I was stopped
00:25:32for something.
00:25:35I didn't like
00:25:36to think about it,
00:25:37but by that time
00:25:37I'd done just what
00:25:38the police would say
00:25:38I did,
00:25:39even if I didn't.
00:25:41My clothes,
00:25:43the owner of such
00:25:43an expensive car
00:25:44would never be wearing them.
00:25:46Some cop might
00:25:47pull me in on suspicion.
00:25:47Hey, you,
00:26:14this your car?
00:26:15Don't you know better
00:26:16than to leave a car
00:26:16with the wheels
00:26:17halfway in the middle
00:26:17of the road?
00:26:18That's the way
00:26:19accidents happen.
00:26:20I'm sorry, officer.
00:26:22I was just putting up
00:26:23my top.
00:26:23I didn't think.
00:26:24Well,
00:26:24in the next time,
00:26:25think.
00:26:26I'll let you go now,
00:26:27but watch your step
00:26:27in the future.
00:26:28I know that's a lonely
00:26:29stretch,
00:26:30but cars come by here
00:26:30once in a while
00:26:31and we have plenty
00:26:31of crack-ups.
00:26:33Thanks, officer.
00:26:46I left nothing in the car
00:26:58to give me away
00:26:59as Roberts.
00:27:00If they found a dead man
00:27:01in the gully now,
00:27:02it would be me.
00:27:03as I drove off,
00:27:12it was still raining
00:27:13and the drop streak
00:27:15down the windshield
00:27:16like tears.
00:27:20I kept imagining
00:27:21I was being followed
00:27:22and that I could hear
00:27:22sirens back in the distance.
00:27:25Just how long
00:27:26it took me to cover
00:27:26the 60-odd miles
00:27:27to the California state line,
00:27:29I don't know.
00:27:30I lost all track of time,
00:27:32but the rain had stopped
00:27:34and the sun was up
00:27:34when I pulled up
00:27:35to the inspection station.
00:27:41Hello.
00:27:43Carrying any fruits
00:27:44or vegetables?
00:27:45No.
00:27:45Any livestock or poultry?
00:27:47No.
00:27:49I'd like to see
00:27:49your registration
00:27:50and driver's license,
00:27:51please.
00:27:56Anything in the baggage
00:27:57compartment?
00:27:58Just baggage.
00:28:01Charles Haskell, Jr.,
00:28:02aged 30, brown eyes,
00:28:03dark hair,
00:28:04identifying marks, none.
00:28:06Are you Charles Haskell, Jr.?
00:28:08Yes.
00:28:08Well, remember,
00:28:09if you're employed
00:28:10and you stay over 30 days,
00:28:11you take out California plates.
00:28:12All right, officer,
00:28:13but I'll only be in the state
00:28:14a short while.
00:28:16Right, you can go now.
00:28:21Good night, American.
00:28:25I couldn't drive any farther
00:28:26without some sleep.
00:28:27Cops are no cops.
00:28:29I knew I had to hit the hay
00:28:30and hit it hard.
00:28:33I was dead tired.
00:28:34Four hundred and a half.
00:28:38I was dead.
00:28:44I was dead.
00:28:45It's the donnствие.
00:28:46I felt like I wouldn't have
00:28:48been keeper,
00:28:48but I could take the heat
00:28:49while in ainch.
00:28:50Be a lose.
00:28:52All right.
00:28:53I've been infantile.
00:28:57And I'm a loser.
00:28:58You have been infantile.
00:28:59Hey, we've been infantile,
00:29:00three hundred and a half.
00:29:01No. No, you can't, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:08No.
00:29:17Mr. Haskell, you can't die.
00:29:20No, thank you.
00:29:22I think I did it.
00:29:25No, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:27No.
00:29:28No.
00:29:30No.
00:29:44Who's there?
00:29:45It's the maid. Can I come in and clean?
00:29:48Later. In a half hour.
00:29:51All right, sir.
00:30:00There was no time to lose. Every minute I had to be Charles Haskell was dangerous. And I'd have to be Charles Haskell until I got to some city where I could leave the car and be swallowed up.
00:30:21That meant driving the car as far as San Bernardino. Maybe even to Los Angeles. In a little town I might be noticed. But in a city I should be safe enough.
00:30:38Then, after I ditched the car, I could go on to Sue. But those five minutes at the state line made me realize it might be a good idea to find out a little bit about Mr. Haskell.
00:30:51Then, if anybody asked me questions, I could give the right answer. The first thing I found out was that I had $768. This was a lot of jack. But believe me, it was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:04And then I found out from a letter Haskell was carting around in his bag that he wasn't the open-handed, easy-going big shot who went around buying dinners for strange hitchhikers.
00:31:21Before I got done reading it, I saw him more as a chiseler. It was written to his old man in California, the one he hadn't seen in so many years. In it, Haskell posed as a salesman.
00:31:33Of hymnals, of all things. It was easy to see where Haskell expected to raise a new stake for his book in Miami. By rooking his old man.
00:31:45That was about all I found out from his effects. And it was enough. I told myself, maybe old man Haskell was lucky his son kicked off.
00:31:55He would never know it. But it saved him from taking a flyer in sacred literature preferred.
00:32:03And the people think he can listen.
00:32:05And now he does. And he said, is that he meant to groom our turn air off and the hose goes on.
00:32:08And he is a relative to our worn Leonard ultimately.
00:32:10And the date was uncanny of the sea Nobody dings will爽 up the desert center in the swan.
00:32:12near the airport at Desert Center I pulled up for water. There was a woman.
00:32:18And I'm keeping my eyes on the floor.
00:32:25Near the airport at Desert Center, I pulled up for water.
00:32:30There was a woman.
00:32:36Hey, you! Come on if you want a ride.
00:32:48Let's go.
00:33:18How far are you going?
00:33:27How far are you going?
00:33:29That took me by surprise, and I turned my head to look her over.
00:33:33She was facing straight ahead, so I couldn't see her eyes.
00:33:36But she was young, not more than 24.
00:33:40Man, she looked as if she'd just been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world.
00:33:45Yet in spite of this, I got the impression of beauty.
00:33:49Not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you,
00:33:51or the beauty you dream about when you're with your wife,
00:33:54but a natural beauty.
00:33:56A beauty that's almost homely because it's so real.
00:34:01Then suddenly she turned to face me.
00:34:03How far did you say you were going?
00:34:04Los Angeles.
00:34:06L.A.?
00:34:07L.A. is good enough for me, mister.
00:34:10That's what I was afraid of.
00:34:11What did you say?
00:34:12Oh, nothing, just thinking out loud.
00:34:14People get in trouble for doing that.
00:34:17What's your name?
00:34:18You can call me Vera, if you like.
00:34:21You live in Los Angeles?
00:34:22No.
00:34:24Where you coming from?
00:34:26Oh, back there.
00:34:27Needles?
00:34:28No.
00:34:29Oh, sure, Phoenix.
00:34:31You look just like a Phoenix girl.
00:34:33Are the girls in Phoenix that bad?
00:34:35The girl must have been pretty tired because she fell asleep not 20 minutes after she stepped into the car.
00:34:41She lay sprawled out with her head resting against the far door, like Haskell.
00:34:45I didn't like that part of it much.
00:34:46I didn't like that part of it much, but I didn't wake her up.
00:34:50It wasn't that this girl still worried me.
00:34:52I had gotten over that funny feeling I had when she looked at me, which I put down as just my jangled nerves, with her eyes closed and the testes gone out of her.
00:35:02She seemed harmless enough.
00:35:04And instead of disliking her, I began to feel sorry for her.
00:35:07The poor kid probably had had a rough time on it.
00:35:12Who was she, anyway?
00:35:13And why was she going to Los Angeles?
00:35:16And where'd she come from in the first place?
00:35:18The only thing I knew about her was her name.
00:35:21Not that it made any difference.
00:35:23A few hours more and we'd be in Hollywood.
00:35:25I'd forget where I parked the car and look up Sue.
00:35:28This nightmare of being a dead man would be over.
00:35:31Who this dame was?
00:35:32Well, it was no business of mine.
00:35:34Where did you leave this body?
00:35:35Where did you leave the owner of this car?
00:35:39You're not fooling anyone.
00:35:41This buggy belongs to a guy named Haskell.
00:35:43That's not you, mister.
00:35:44You're out of your mind.
00:35:45That's my name, Charles Haskell.
00:35:46I can prove it.
00:35:47He's my driver's license.
00:35:47Save yourself the trouble, mister.
00:35:49Having Haskell's wallet only makes it worse.
00:35:51It just so happens I rode with Charlie Haskell all the way from Louisiana.
00:35:55He picked me up outside of Shreveport.
00:35:57You rode?
00:35:58You heard me.
00:35:59Then it all came back to me.
00:36:01All the talk about dueling and scars and scratches.
00:36:04There was no doubt about it.
00:36:07Vera must be the woman Haskell had mentioned.
00:36:09She must have passed me while I slept.
00:36:11Well?
00:36:13Well, I'm waiting.
00:36:14My goose was cooked.
00:36:16She had me.
00:36:18That Haskell guy wasn't dead yet.
00:36:21He wasn't stretched out stiff and cold in any Arizona gully.
00:36:24He was sitting right there in the car laughing like mad while he haunted me.
00:36:29Well?
00:36:29There was nothing I could say.
00:36:32It was her move.
00:36:34Vera, whatever her name was, was just my luck picking her up on the road.
00:36:39It couldn't have been Helen or Mary or Evelyn or Ruth.
00:36:42It had to be the very last person I should ever have met.
00:36:45That's life.
00:36:48Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot to trip you.
00:36:56I told her everything, but she didn't believe my story.
00:36:59I should have saved my breath.
00:37:01That's the greatest cock and ball story I ever heard.
00:37:03So he fell out of his car.
00:37:05Say, who do you think you're talking to, a hick?
00:37:07Listen, mister, I've been around, and I know a wrong guy when I see one.
00:37:11What'd you do, kiss him with a wrench?
00:37:12Now, wait a minute.
00:37:13What I told you was true.
00:37:15You see, that's why I had to do it.
00:37:16You think I killed him.
00:37:17Well, the cops would have thought so, too.
00:37:19Yeah, well, maybe they still think so.
00:37:21What makes you so sure I'll shut up about this?
00:37:24Girl, I'm innocent.
00:37:25Give me a break, will you?
00:37:28It won't do me any good having you pinched.
00:37:30The cops are no friends of mine.
00:37:32Now, if there was a reward, but there isn't.
00:37:35Thanks.
00:37:36Don't thank me yet.
00:37:38I'm not through with you by a long shot.
00:37:40Let's see that roll.
00:37:42Is that all Haskell had?
00:37:49Isn't it enough?
00:37:50No, I thought he had more.
00:37:51Not that I know of.
00:37:52You can search me.
00:37:53You think I'm holding out on you.
00:37:54Well, maybe I will at that.
00:37:55He told me he was going to bet $3,000 on a horse named Paradisicle on Wednesday at Santa Anita.
00:38:01He was stringing you along.
00:38:02He meant $300.
00:38:02Maybe.
00:38:03Sure, $3, $300.
00:38:04He was a piece of cheese, a big blowhard.
00:38:06Listen, mister, don't try and tell me anything about Charlie Haskell.
00:38:09Remember, I knew him better than you did.
00:38:11Okay, then you knew he was a four-flusher.
00:38:13That explains the three grand bet.
00:38:14I'm not so sure he didn't have that three grand.
00:38:16Why should I believe you?
00:38:18You got all the earmarks of a cheap crook.
00:38:20Now, wait a minute.
00:38:21Shut up.
00:38:21You're a cheap crook and you killed him.
00:38:23For two cents, I'd change my mind and turn you in.
00:38:25I don't like you.
00:38:27All right, all right.
00:38:27Don't get sore.
00:38:28I'm not getting sore.
00:38:29But just remember who's boss around here.
00:38:31If you shut up and don't give me any arguments, you'll have nothing to worry about.
00:38:34But if you act wise, well, mister, he'll pop into jail so fast it'll give you the bends.
00:38:39I'm not arguing.
00:38:40I'll see that you don't.
00:38:41You know, as crooked as you look, I'd hate to see a fella as young as you wind up sniffing
00:38:45that perfume that Arizona hands off free to murderers.
00:38:47I'm not a murderer.
00:38:48Of course you're not.
00:38:49Haskell knocked his own head off.
00:38:51He fell.
00:38:51That's how it happened.
00:38:52Just like I told you.
00:38:52Sure.
00:38:53And then he made you a present of his belongings.
00:38:54I explained why I had to do that.
00:38:56It doesn't make a difference one way or another.
00:38:58I'm not a mourner.
00:38:59I liked Haskell even less than I like you.
00:39:02Yeah, I saw what you did to him.
00:39:03What do you mean?
00:39:04Well, scratches on his wrist.
00:39:06Sure, I scratched him.
00:39:08Well, so you did.
00:39:10So your idea was to drive the car a little way, maybe into San Bernardino and then leave
00:39:14it.
00:39:15You weren't going to sell it?
00:39:16Sell it?
00:39:17You think I'm crazy, somebody else's car?
00:39:20See, all I want to do is leave it somewhere and forget I ever saw it.
00:39:22Not only don't you have any scruples, you don't have any brains.
00:39:25I don't get you.
00:39:26Maybe it's a good thing you met me.
00:39:28You'd have got yourself caught sure.
00:39:30Why, you dope.
00:39:31Don't you know a deserted automobile always rates an investigation?
00:39:35Huh?
00:39:36Look, the cops find a car.
00:39:37Then they get curious.
00:39:39They wonder where the owner is.
00:39:40So all right, they don't trace Haskell.
00:39:43They trace you.
00:39:44I never thought of that.
00:39:46The only safe way to get rid of the car is to sell it to a dealer.
00:39:49Get it registered under a new name.
00:39:51Say, stop at the next door.
00:39:52I want to get a bottle and do some shopping before we hit L.A.
00:39:55Okay.
00:39:56As soon as we find a place, I'll drop you off and pick you up later.
00:39:58Nothing doing.
00:39:59You're coming in, too.
00:40:00From now on, you and I are like the Siamese twins.
00:40:03Yeah, but it's your way.
00:40:04I don't get the point.
00:40:05The point is, I don't want you to get lost.
00:40:08I'm not going to beat it if that's what you're afraid of.
00:40:09I'll say you're not.
00:40:11Well, I'm going to see that you sell this car so you don't get caught.
00:40:14Thanks.
00:40:14Of course, your interest wouldn't be financial, would it?
00:40:17You wouldn't want a small percentage of the profits.
00:40:20Well, now that you insist, how can I refuse?
00:40:23A hundred percent will do.
00:40:25Fine.
00:40:25I'm relieved.
00:40:27I thought for a moment you were going to take it all.
00:40:29I don't want to be a hog.
00:40:32A few hours later, we were in Hollywood.
00:40:34I was recognizing places Sue had written about.
00:40:37It struck me that far from being at the end of the trip,
00:40:40there was a greater distance between Sue and me than when I started out.
00:40:45Vera wasn't kidding with that Siamese twins crack.
00:40:48She rented a little apartment as Mrs. Charles Haskell.
00:40:51When I objected to this, she explained that it was on account of the car.
00:40:56The dealer might think something was funny if he called and found we were using different names.
00:41:05Home, sweet home.
00:41:06Yeah.
00:41:08Not bad either.
00:41:09In case there's any doubt in your mind, I'll take the bedroom.
00:41:20Yeah.
00:41:22Sure is stuffy in here.
00:41:23Keep the window shut.
00:41:33Okay.
00:41:35The old crow downstairs said there's a folding bed behind this door.
00:41:45You know how to work it?
00:41:46I invented it.
00:41:55Some joint.
00:41:56One can't have everything.
00:42:02I'm first in the bathtub.
00:42:04I don't know why, but I figured you would be.
00:42:07Boy, oh boy.
00:42:19It sure feels good to be clean again.
00:42:22I must be ten pounds lighter.
00:42:25You must be.
00:42:27Well, hitch and ride isn't exactly the way you keep your school girl complexion.
00:42:30I wish that guy with the sacks would give up.
00:42:38Gets on my nerves.
00:42:42Forget it.
00:42:45Have a drink.
00:42:48Aren't you afraid I might take you up on it?
00:42:51If I didn't want to give you a drink, I wouldn't have offered it.
00:42:55Why be a sorehead, Roberts?
00:42:57You got yourself into this thing.
00:42:58You should be grateful I'm not turning you in.
00:43:02Why, if I wasn't regular, you'd be in the pen this minute,
00:43:05being photographed, fingerprinted, and being pushed around by the cops.
00:43:08So cheer up.
00:43:10Get rid of that long puss.
00:43:13Or is your conscience bothering you?
00:43:20No.
00:43:22It isn't.
00:43:23Swell.
00:43:24That's the spirit.
00:43:25He's dead.
00:43:27No moment around will bring him back.
00:43:32Anyway, I never could understand this worrying about something that's over and done with.
00:43:36Now look, Vera, for the last time I didn't kill him.
00:43:38Haskell was a sick man.
00:43:40Maybe he was dead before he fell out of the car.
00:43:41I don't know.
00:43:42Sure, sure.
00:43:43He died of old age.
00:43:45All right.
00:43:47So if it'll make you sociable,
00:43:50you didn't kill him.
00:43:51Thanks.
00:44:13We're out of liquor, Roberts.
00:44:16Yeah.
00:44:17Too bad.
00:44:18I felt like getting tight tonight.
00:44:20Well, I think he succeeded.
00:44:23Am I tight?
00:44:24As a prima donna's corset.
00:44:26That's good.
00:44:27I wanted to get tight.
00:44:29Why?
00:44:30What have you got to get tight about?
00:44:32Oh, I don't know.
00:44:33A few things.
00:44:35Huh.
00:44:38He should have my worries.
00:44:39If I had your troubles, I'd stay sober.
00:44:42And I've got the key to that door.
00:44:47Yeah.
00:44:47Yeah.
00:44:47Maybe you're right.
00:44:50I'm always right.
00:44:53You know, I don't like your attitude, Roberts.
00:44:55Well, there's a lot of things I don't like.
00:44:58Sure.
00:45:02But life's like a ball game.
00:45:04You've got to take a swing at whatever comes along
00:45:06before you wake up and find it's a ninth inning.
00:45:09You read that somewhere?
00:45:10That's such a deal, Roberts.
00:45:12All you do is bellyache.
00:45:14Taking it easy and trying to make the better things.
00:45:18Maybe that's what's wrong with the whole world.
00:45:21Get the professor.
00:45:23People knock themselves out trying to buck fate.
00:45:25Now, take you, for instance.
00:45:27You're lucky to be alive.
00:45:29Why, suppose Haskell had put up in your door.
00:45:31You'd be playing a harp now.
00:45:33Think of that.
00:45:33You think of it.
00:45:37I'm tired of thinking.
00:45:39There's plenty of people dying this minute.
00:45:42It would give anything to trade places with you.
00:45:46I know what I'm talking about.
00:45:49I'm not so sure.
00:45:50At least they know they're done for.
00:45:52They don't have to sweat blood wondering if they are.
00:45:55Your philosophy stinks, pal.
00:46:00We all know we're going to kick off someday.
00:46:02It's only a question of when.
00:46:05But what got us on this subject anyway?
00:46:08We'll be discussing politics next.
00:46:11Yeah.
00:46:14Where'd you hide the butts?
00:46:16On the table, sucker.
00:46:17We bored each other with conversation for a couple of hours longer.
00:46:29Every five minutes, one of us was wishing we had another bottle or a radio or something to read.
00:46:35Then, finally, we ran out of chatter.
00:46:38I know it's only 11 o'clock, but I want to get up early and make the rounds of the used car lots.
00:46:42No worry about that.
00:46:43We've got all the time in the world.
00:46:44Well, maybe you have, but if you think I want to stay cooped up in this place any longer than I have to, you're batting.
00:46:49It's not a bad place.
00:46:50We pay plenty for diggings like this in New York.
00:46:52I wouldn't like it if it was the Ritz.
00:46:58You brought me a liquor.
00:47:00You got a mean cough.
00:47:01I ought to do something about it.
00:47:03I'll be all right.
00:47:04That's what Camille said.
00:47:06Who?
00:47:07Nobody you know.
00:47:13Wasn't that the day in the diet of consumption?
00:47:14Yeah.
00:47:16Wouldn't it be a break for you if I did kick off?
00:47:19You'd be free with all Haskell's dough and car.
00:47:22I don't want to see anybody die.
00:47:25Not even me.
00:47:27Especially not you.
00:47:28One person died of me.
00:47:30If you did, well, that's all I need.
00:47:34You don't like me, do you, Roberts?
00:47:38Like you?
00:47:38I love you.
00:47:42My favorite sport is being kept prisoner.
00:47:46After we sell the car, you can go to Blazers for all I care.
00:47:48But not until then.
00:47:49I'm going to bed.
00:48:06Good night, Roberts.
00:48:08Don't try and sneak away during the night.
00:48:09All the doors are locked.
00:48:11Anyway, if I find you gone in the morning, I'll notify the police.
00:48:14They'll pick you up.
00:48:15Don't worry.
00:48:16I know why I'm in the spot.
00:48:18Well, good night.
00:48:19I hope that portable rack isn't too uncomfortable for you.
00:48:22Don't lose any sleep over it, will you, Roberts?
00:48:24Don't lose any sleep over it.
00:48:54Please.
00:48:57Come oi.
00:49:01Chris Fium.
00:49:04Six.
00:49:07Five.
00:49:09Seven.
00:49:11Two.
00:49:12Three.
00:49:15Hello.
00:49:17Hello.
00:49:18Hello.
00:49:21Hello.
00:49:22No, not yet, darling.
00:49:34Tomorrow, maybe.
00:49:41If this were fiction, I would fall in love with her,
00:49:45marry her and make a respectable woman of her,
00:49:47or else she'd make some supreme class A sacrifice for me and die.
00:49:52Sue and I would bawl a little over her grave
00:49:54and make some crack about there's good in all of us.
00:49:58But Vera, unfortunately, was just as rotten in the morning
00:50:01as she'd been the night before.
00:50:05All right, all right, I'm coming.
00:50:07Look, Vera, it's almost noon.
00:50:10So what? The dealers will be there all day?
00:50:12They'll be there all year, too, but they'll wait that long.
00:50:14Shut up. You make us like a husband.
00:50:19Well, do I rate a whistle?
00:50:21You sure do, but let's go.
00:50:23Let's go, let's go.
00:50:24I spent 85 bucks in two hours preparing bait,
00:50:27and all you can say is, let's go.
00:50:30Come on.
00:50:36We've had a few used car lots last night down this way.
00:50:39What do you think we can get for this heap?
00:50:41I don't know. Plenty.
00:50:42He's let me handle everything.
00:50:44Think we can get $2,000?
00:50:46I don't know, but don't worry.
00:50:47I'll squeeze as much out of this guy as I can.
00:50:49If I let it go cheap without a fight,
00:50:51he might think we've stolen the car.
00:50:53And listen, don't make any slips and call me Roberts.
00:50:56That'll cook us.
00:50:57I don't need you to tell me that.
00:50:59You better just sit by and keep your mouth closed.
00:51:02Remember, we're both in the soup if anything happens.
00:51:04Forget it and drive.
00:51:05You're my wife, Vera Haskell.
00:51:08Look, after the deal's closed,
00:51:10let's go back to that place on Hollywood Boulevard,
00:51:12where I saw the fur jacket.
00:51:14I won't lie.
00:51:15After the deal's closed, I'm saying goodbye to you.
00:51:18That's right. I forgot.
00:51:19I guess I'm getting kind of used to you.
00:51:22Well, that's a habit you can start breaking.
00:51:25Let's try this place in the middle of block.
00:51:33Good afternoon. What can I do for you?
00:51:35We're interested in selling a car.
00:51:37If the price is right.
00:51:38Well, if it's in good mechanical condition,
00:51:43it should blue book for about $1,600.
00:51:46Tony, take a look at this motor.
00:51:48$1,600.
00:51:49Are you kidding?
00:52:01Well, maybe $1,850.
00:52:03Before I let it go for $1,850,
00:52:05I'll wreck it and collect the insurance first.
00:52:08Hey, this motor's seen a lot of driving.
00:52:19While the mechanic inspected the car,
00:52:22we haggled.
00:52:23At last, when we were all worn out,
00:52:25we hit a compromise.
00:52:27His price.
00:52:31Okay, it's a deal.
00:52:33All right, come in. We'll sign the papers.
00:52:34I have the ownership papers right here with me.
00:52:36Look, Vera, in the meantime,
00:52:37will you clean a dashed compartment?
00:52:39There may be some stuff in it.
00:52:40All right, darling.
00:52:44$1,850.
00:52:46That dirty cro...
00:52:47New York, huh?
00:52:56Yeah.
00:52:57But you bought the car in Miami.
00:52:59Yeah.
00:53:00Well, let's see about the insurance.
00:53:02We can either have it transferred or canceled.
00:53:04What kind of insurance do you have, Mr. Haskell?
00:53:06Well, uh, aren't all the papers there?
00:53:13I don't see any.
00:53:15Surely you know what type of insurance you carry in the car.
00:53:17The name of the company?
00:53:20Yeah, but, uh...
00:53:21Well, if you'll just tell me the name of the company,
00:53:23I'd be very glad to take care of all the details.
00:53:25Well, uh...
00:53:26Did you sign the papers yet?
00:53:27Not yet.
00:53:28Well, don't.
00:53:29We're not selling the car.
00:53:30Well, wait a minute, Mr. Haskell.
00:53:31Come on, darling.
00:53:32What's the matter?
00:53:33Did you change your mind?
00:53:34Yes, I'm sorry.
00:53:35I guess I have.
00:53:35But, Vera...
00:53:36Let's go.
00:53:43You got me out of a tight spot, Vera.
00:53:45But I still don't understand all this.
00:53:46You will in a minute.
00:53:47I almost threw away a gold mine.
00:53:501850 isn't to be sneezed, eh?
00:53:51The car doesn't book for as much as I thought.
00:53:53We're not selling the car.
00:53:55You want to keep it.
00:53:56Now, wait a minute, Vera.
00:53:57You said yourself I wouldn't be safe
00:53:58until the car was in someone else's name.
00:54:00I'd like to be free of this mess when I go.
00:54:02That's just it, Roberts.
00:54:03You're not going.
00:54:05There's a drive-in at the next corner.
00:54:07Pull in there and we'll get a bite to eat.
00:54:08Now, I'll explain.
00:54:10What is this?
00:54:10Another one of your brilliant ideas?
00:54:18Oh, can I take your order?
00:54:19Make mine a ham sandwich and coffee.
00:54:21And for you, sir?
00:54:22Oh, I don't care.
00:54:23The same.
00:54:26Get this, Vera.
00:54:33I've been pretty patient so far.
00:54:35I've done everything you asked me to do,
00:54:36but no more.
00:54:37Shut up.
00:54:38You've taken Haskell's money.
00:54:39You can have the door we get from selling the car,
00:54:41but you're not going to keep me a prisoner.
00:54:43It's a good thing I bought the paper.
00:54:44Take a look at that.
00:54:45Vera, I'm in no mood.
00:54:45Read that.
00:54:46No.
00:54:58Yes.
00:54:59No, I won't do it.
00:55:00Yes, you will.
00:55:00You think I'm crazy?
00:55:01It's impossible, I tell you.
00:55:03Excuse me.
00:55:10Blow the horn when you're through.
00:55:11No one could possibly get away with an act like that.
00:55:17It'd be wise to me in a minute.
00:55:18Don't be, Yella.
00:55:19You look enough like him.
00:55:20The same coloring and the same build.
00:55:22See how his clothes fit you?
00:55:24No kidding.
00:55:24You almost had me fooled for a while.
00:55:26Oh, grow up, Vera.
00:55:27Don't you think a father knows his own son?
00:55:29And there must be other relatives.
00:55:30So a father won't have to know you.
00:55:31We'll wait till he gives up the ghost.
00:55:33He's an old geezer and he won't pull through.
00:55:35And as far as other relatives are concerned,
00:55:37they haven't seen you in 15 or 20 years.
00:55:40Eat.
00:55:41I'm not hungry.
00:55:42And I won't do it.
00:55:44It's not as tough as it sounds.
00:55:46Remember, you've got all kinds of identification.
00:55:48His car, letters, license.
00:55:49I could never get away with it.
00:55:50It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
00:55:51The old boy has scads of dough.
00:55:53Look in the paper there.
00:55:54Personal fortune assessed at over 15 million.
00:55:57He'll leave plenty, I tell you.
00:55:58Maybe he cut off his son.
00:55:59How do we know?
00:56:00It's out, Vera.
00:56:01I won't have anything to do with it.
00:56:04I think you will.
00:56:06Look, Vera, I'll do anything within reason.
00:56:09But not that.
00:56:10So forget it.
00:56:11Find yourself another stooge.
00:56:12You sap.
00:56:14You'll be fixed for the rest of your life as Charlie Haskell.
00:56:16You can take your inheritance and go away.
00:56:18No more worrying about the rent.
00:56:19No sweating, scheming, wondering where your next meal's coming from.
00:56:22Think about that, Roberts.
00:56:23Vera, please.
00:56:24You're talking too loud.
00:56:25Unless I'm splitting 50-50 with you.
00:56:28Sure, why not?
00:56:29We're both alike.
00:56:29Both born in the same gut.
00:56:30Take it easy, Vera.
00:56:32There's people around here.
00:56:33You don't know where you're talking.
00:56:35Well, wait till we read that old man Haskell's dead.
00:56:38And you show up.
00:56:39Like you read in New York that he was sick.
00:56:40No.
00:56:43I suppose he doesn't die.
00:56:44He will.
00:56:44I know he will.
00:56:45Something tells me.
00:56:46But as much as I insisted I would have no part of her scheme, Vera was taking it for granted I would.
00:56:56Neither of us had our mind on the cards as we played that night.
00:56:59I knew we were just trying to kill time between newspaper editions.
00:57:03This was a death watch for Vera.
00:57:06Maybe it was for me too.
00:57:08Don't you realize if I'm caught, they'll want to know where I got the car and stuff.
00:57:12And they'll have me on a murder charge.
00:57:13If you're smart, you won't get caught.
00:57:15I knocked with seven.
00:57:16And if I'm caught, don't you realize you'll be out too?
00:57:20Eighteen points.
00:57:21That gives me thirty.
00:57:24How will I be out?
00:57:25You'll be out.
00:57:25Eighteen hundred and fifty dollars we would have gotten on the car.
00:57:27Really, Vera, you'd be an awful chump.
00:57:29You threw away all that dough in a dizzy long shot.
00:57:31Let me sell the bus tomorrow.
00:57:32With the money it'll bring and what you've already got, a clever kid like you can run it up in no time.
00:57:36Then we'd both be in the clear.
00:57:37I'll be in the clear anyway.
00:57:39Maybe.
00:57:40Maybe.
00:57:40Maybe.
00:57:40But if I got caught, I'd get good in sorts, will you?
00:57:44You mean you'd squeal?
00:57:46Oh, no.
00:57:46Not squeal exactly.
00:57:47Never mind what you meant.
00:57:49Even if you did tell the cops I was in on it with you, what could they do to me?
00:57:55They might give me the same medicine they gave you.
00:57:57Yeah.
00:57:57A rope.
00:57:58But I'm on my way anyhow.
00:58:05All they'll be doing will be rushing it.
00:58:07All right.
00:58:08But think of the eighteen fifty you'd lose.
00:58:10You'd kick yourself along the block and let it get away from you.
00:58:12I'll take the chance.
00:58:15Want another drink?
00:58:16You're being a goon.
00:58:17That's the way people wind up behind the eight ball.
00:58:19Once they get a few dollars, they become greedy and want more.
00:58:21My, my.
00:58:23Caesar.
00:58:23Who?
00:58:24You know that Roman general?
00:58:25He got his for being greedy.
00:58:27He wasn't satisfied, so the final wind up was he took the count.
00:58:30A couple of days ago, you didn't have a dime.
00:58:32Why, you were so broke, you couldn't pay cash for a postage stamp.
00:58:35Now you've got almost seven hundred dollars with eighteen fifty in the offing.
00:58:38Take my advice.
00:58:39Don't try for more.
00:58:40I'm tired of this game.
00:58:41Let's have some blackjack.
00:58:43Play solitaire.
00:58:44Okay, I will if that's the way you feel about it.
00:58:45That's the way I feel about it.
00:58:46Getting sore and throwing things won't help much, Roberts.
00:58:49I'm really doing you a favor.
00:58:50I help you out of a jam by keeping my mouth shut.
00:58:52I show you how to make some soft money.
00:58:54And what thanks do I get?
00:58:55Thanks.
00:58:56Sure.
00:58:56I would rather call the cops and tell them you killed a man and stole his money.
00:58:59I didn't tell anybody.
00:58:59Yes, you did.
00:59:00No, I didn't.
00:59:00You know I didn't.
00:59:01All right, then.
00:59:05Suppose I call the cops.
00:59:07If you're innocent, what do you got to be scared of?
00:59:10Okay.
00:59:11Call them, you mutt.
00:59:12Go ahead and call them.
00:59:13See if I care.
00:59:13At least they'll give me a square deal.
00:59:15You want me to call them?
00:59:17You heard me.
00:59:18But I'm warning you.
00:59:18If I'm pinched, I'll swear you were in on it.
00:59:21I'll say that you helped me.
00:59:22If I fry, I'll get even with you.
00:59:24You wouldn't dare.
00:59:25You did.
00:59:26Yeah?
00:59:27Then try it and see.
00:59:28Call them.
00:59:29Yeah.
00:59:31Okay, I will.
00:59:31Information?
00:59:45Information?
00:59:47I want the number at the Hollywood police station.
00:59:52Okay, I got it.
00:59:53Thanks.
00:59:57Wait a minute, Vera.
00:59:57You wouldn't do that.
00:59:58You wouldn't do that, and I'll show you if I wouldn't.
01:00:00Take it easy now.
01:00:01Let's talk this over.
01:00:02This was early in the evening, and the conversation, while hectic, was at least pitched low.
01:00:08But as the minutes passed, and more obstacles to her plan popped into my head, the air got blue.
01:00:15Each word coming from our lips cracked like a whip.
01:00:17I reminded her that as Charles Haskell, I didn't even know my mother's name, where I'd gone to school, the name of my best friend, whether I had an Aunt Emma or not, my religion, and if I'd ever owned a dog.
01:00:31I didn't even know what my middle initial stood for.
01:00:33I also pointed out that the real Haskell had a scar on his forearm.
01:00:38His people never saw that scar.
01:00:39He told me he ran away right after putting out the kid's eye.
01:00:42Yeah, but his father knew he was cut.
01:00:43It had to be some kind of a mark.
01:00:44So what?
01:00:46The old man's dead, or will be.
01:00:48I hope by tomorrow morning's papers.
01:00:51Anyway, you could cut yourself a little, couldn't you?
01:00:55Boy, for that kind of dough, I'd let you cut my leg off.
01:00:58You're drunk and you're crazy mad, Vera.
01:01:00Turn me in if you want to, but I won't get mixed up in this.
01:01:02Besides, how do we know?
01:01:03Haskell was such a phony.
01:01:04Maybe he wasn't the man's son at all.
01:01:05Maybe he just dreamed it up.
01:01:06Well, dream it or not, you won't be dreaming when the law attacks you on the shoulder.
01:01:11There's a, there's a cute little gas chamber waiting for you, Roberts.
01:01:15And I hear extradition to Arizona's Ascension.
01:01:19Where's that phone?
01:01:21Vera.
01:01:22Leave me alone.
01:01:23Vera.
01:01:23I want a phone.
01:01:25Call police.
01:01:27I hate you.
01:01:28You're a stinker.
01:01:30You leave me alone.
01:01:31I'll let you alone.
01:01:32You promise to leave the phone where it is.
01:01:33You're drunk.
01:01:33You don't know what you're doing.
01:01:34You're hurting me.
01:01:35Will you promise?
01:01:36All right.
01:01:43You hurt me.
01:01:45I'm sorry, but...
01:01:46And it's hot in here.
01:01:47Open up the window.
01:01:48It's not hot.
01:01:49Don't tell me.
01:01:51Now, do you do it or do I do it?
01:01:54You're no gentleman, see?
01:01:56Yeah.
01:01:57All right.
01:01:58I'll open up the window.
01:01:59Vera.
01:02:06Vera, open the door.
01:02:09Please open the door.
01:02:11Vera, open the door.
01:02:12Don't use the phone.
01:02:12Listen to me.
01:02:13I don't like you, Roberts.
01:02:15You're no gentleman, see?
01:02:17You hurt my hand.
01:02:19And I'm going to get even with you.
01:02:21If you don't open the door, I'm going to kick it down, Vera.
01:02:24Vera, don't call the cops.
01:02:26Listen to me.
01:02:26I'll do anything you say.
01:02:28Vera, let me in.
01:02:31I'll break the phone.
01:02:32I'll break the phone.
01:02:36I'll break the phone.
01:03:06The world is full of skeptics.
01:03:13I know.
01:03:14I'm one myself.
01:03:16In the Haskell business, how many of you would believe he fell out of the car?
01:03:20And now, after killing Vera without really meaning to do it,
01:03:22how many of you would believe it wasn't premeditated?
01:03:25In a jury room, every last man of you would go down shouting that she had me over a barrel
01:03:30and my only out was force.
01:03:32The room was still, so quiet that for a while I wondered if I had suddenly gone deaf.
01:03:40It was pure fear, of course.
01:03:42And I was hysterical.
01:03:44But without making a sound.
01:03:47Vera was dead.
01:03:49And I was her murderer.
01:03:51Murderer.
01:03:52What an awful word that is.
01:03:54But I'd become one.
01:03:56I'd better not get caught.
01:03:58What evidence there was around the place had to be destroyed.
01:04:01And from the looks of things, there was plenty.
01:04:03Looking around the room at things we'd bought was like looking into the faces of a hundred people
01:04:06who'd seen us together and who remembered me.
01:04:09This was the kind of testimony I couldn't rub out.
01:04:13No.
01:04:14I could burn clothes and hide bottles for the next five years.
01:04:17There'd always be witnesses.
01:04:19The landlady, for one.
01:04:20She could identify me.
01:04:21The car dealer.
01:04:21The waitress in the drive-in.
01:04:22The girl in the dress shop.
01:04:23And that guy in the liquor store.
01:04:25It could all identify me.
01:04:26I was cooked.
01:04:29Done for.
01:04:30I had to get out of there.
01:04:33While once I'd remained beside a dead body.
01:04:35Planning carefully how to avoid being accused of killing him.
01:04:38This time I couldn't.
01:04:41This time I was guilty.
01:04:43I knew it.
01:04:45Felt it.
01:04:47I was like a guy suffering from shock.
01:04:49Things were whirling around in my head.
01:04:51I couldn't make myself think right.
01:04:53All I could think of was the guy with the saxophone and what he was playing.
01:04:58It wasn't a love song anymore.
01:05:01It was a dirge.
01:05:02It was a joke.
01:05:32but my problems weren't solved i had to stay away from new york for all time because al roberts
01:05:57was listed as dead and had to stay dead and i could never go back to hollywood someone might recognize
01:06:04me as haskell then too there was sue i could never go to her with a thing like this hanging over my head
01:06:13all i could do was pray she'd be happy
01:06:29i was in bakersfield before i read that vera's body was discovered
01:06:34that the police were looking for haskell in connection with his wife's murder
01:06:37isn't that a laugh haskell got me into this mess and haskell was getting me out of it
01:06:45the police were searching for a dead man
01:06:50i keep trying to forget what happened and wonder what my life might have been if that car of haskell's
01:06:57hadn't stopped but one thing i don't have to wonder about i know
01:07:07someday a car will stop to pick me up that i never thumbed
01:07:15yes fate or some mysterious force can put the finger on you or me for no good reason at all
01:07:37so
01:07:43you
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