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00:00:00The End
00:00:30The End
00:01:00The End
00:01:30Well, here we are. I turned down here at the next block.
00:01:39Thanks, mister. I'll get off there.
00:01:48Want anything else?
00:01:50No.
00:01:51Hey, you.
00:01:52Me?
00:01:56Yeah, you.
00:01:57Where are you heading?
00:01:59East.
00:02:01You're there.
00:02:02I thought if you were heading north, I might be able to help you out.
00:02:05I'm pushing to Salt Lake and I don't like to ride alone at night.
00:02:08I'm one of those guys that's got to talk or I fall asleep.
00:02:11Oh, sure.
00:02:12No, my...
00:02:12For the part of me, he's got Lou to keep in company, but I ain't got nobody at all.
00:02:17Where you coming from?
00:02:19West.
00:02:19Yeah, sure, I know, but where, L.A.?
00:02:22Maybe.
00:02:23I got a cousin out in L.A.
00:02:24You don't say.
00:02:25Yeah, he's been out...
00:02:26You're not much of a talker, are you?
00:02:29My mother taught me never to speak to strangers.
00:02:31Oh, wise guy.
00:02:32So what?
00:02:33Yeah, okay, okay.
00:02:34Don't get sore.
00:02:35He's trying to be sociable, that's all.
00:02:38Hey, Glamorous.
00:02:40Let me change for a dime, will you?
00:02:51Let's have something quieter this time, Joe.
00:02:54My head's splitting.
00:02:54Is that what's wrong with it?
00:02:59Done with your coffee?
00:03:00No.
00:03:01Then don't rush me, will you?
00:03:03Hey, turn that off.
00:03:11Will you turn that thing off?
00:03:12What's eating you now?
00:03:13Yeah, what's eating you?
00:03:14That music, it stinks.
00:03:15Oh, you don't like it, huh?
00:03:16No, turn it off.
00:03:17Now, wait a minute, pal.
00:03:18That was my nickel, see?
00:03:20This is a free country, and I play whatever I want to.
00:03:24Okay.
00:03:25Sure, and if you don't like it, you don't have to listen to it.
00:03:28And you can leave here anytime you want it.
00:03:30Okay, okay, I'm sorry I asked.
00:03:31First good piece play tonight, and you don't like it.
00:03:34Some people just ain't got any good taste.
00:03:36That tune, that tune, why was there always that rotten tune?
00:03:53Following me around, beating in my head, never letting up.
00:03:56Did you ever want to forget anything?
00:04:02Did you ever want to cut away a piece of your memory or blot it out?
00:04:06You can't, you know.
00:04:07No matter how hard you try.
00:04:09You can change the scenery.
00:04:11But sooner or later, you'll get a whiff of perfume where somebody will say a certain phrase or maybe hum something.
00:04:16Then you're licked again.
00:04:20I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:04:23I used to love that song once.
00:04:25So did the customers back in the old Break of Dawn Club in New York.
00:04:28I can't remember a night when I didn't get at least three requests for it.
00:04:32Sue, she was always selling it, too.
00:04:36Those were the days.
00:04:37Your eyes are blue, your kisses, too.
00:05:06I never knew what they could do.
00:05:09I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:14You're telling everyone you know that I'm on your mind each place you go.
00:05:21They can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:27I have always placed you far above me.
00:05:32I just can't imagine that you love me.
00:05:39And after all is said and done to think that I'm the lucky one.
00:05:45I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:05:49It wasn't much of a club, really.
00:06:00You know the kind.
00:06:01A joint where you could have a sandwich and a few drinks and run interference for your girl on the dance floor.
00:06:05I pounded the piano in there every night from 8 until the place closed up, which usually meant 4 in the morning.
00:06:14A good job as jobs went in those days.
00:06:16Then, too, there was Sue, who made working there a little like working in heaven.
00:06:27But how we felt about each other, well, there was nothing very unusual in that.
00:06:31I was an ordinary healthy guy, and she was an ordinary healthy girl.
00:06:34And when you add those two together, you get an ordinary healthy romance, which is the old story.
00:06:39Sure, but somehow, the most wonderful thing in the world.
00:06:52All in all, I was a pretty lucky guy.
00:06:54Mr. Paderewski, I presume.
00:07:09It's beautiful.
00:07:10You're going to make Carnegie Hall yet, Al?
00:07:12Yeah, as a janitor.
00:07:15I'll make my debut in the basement.
00:07:17I don't blame you for being bitter, darling, but you mustn't give up hope.
00:07:21Why, someday...
00:07:22Yeah, someday.
00:07:22If I don't get arthritis first.
00:07:24In the meantime, let's blow this trap.
00:07:46Like to get something to eat, hon?
00:07:47Oh, I don't think so, Al.
00:07:48I lose my appetite working in this flea bag.
00:07:51Let's go home.
00:07:53Okay.
00:07:54I can't stand much more of that dump.
00:07:57Did you see that drunk tonight, trying to paw me?
00:08:00No, what drunk?
00:08:01Does it matter what drunk?
00:08:04Say, what's the matter with you tonight, darling?
00:08:06That's the third time you started to tell me something, then stop.
00:08:10We shouldn't have any secrets from each other, Sue.
00:08:13Next week, we're going to make with the ring and the license.
00:08:14You and me will be a team.
00:08:15Yes, that's right.
00:08:16In the Bush League.
00:08:18I don't get you.
00:08:19We've been struck out.
00:08:22That's a funny way to talk, darling.
00:08:24Don't you want to marry me?
00:08:25Al, look, I love you.
00:08:26You know I do.
00:08:27And I want to marry you.
00:08:29But?
00:08:30But not now.
00:08:31Only after we've made good.
00:08:34Sunday, I'm going away.
00:08:36Oh, I know you'll think it's silly.
00:08:38That's why I hesitated to tell you.
00:08:41But I'm going to California.
00:08:43I want to try my luck in Hollywood.
00:08:45That's the most stupid thing I ever heard of.
00:08:47Don't you know millions of people go out there every year and wind up polishing cuspidors?
00:08:51I thought you had better sense.
00:08:52You sound as if you don't think I have any talent.
00:08:54That has nothing to do with it.
00:08:56I'll make out all right.
00:08:57Maybe.
00:08:57But what about me?
00:08:59Doesn't it mean anything to you that you're busting up all our plans?
00:09:01We may not see each other for years.
00:09:03It won't be that long.
00:09:05I thought you loved me.
00:09:06I do.
00:09:07You know I do.
00:09:10Well, here we are.
00:09:15Al.
00:09:18Al, why can't you see my side of it?
00:09:20I'm young.
00:09:21We both are.
00:09:23And we've got all the time in the world to settle down.
00:09:27Really, darling.
00:09:29What I'm doing is the only sane thing to do.
00:09:32I hate the thought of being so far away from you.
00:09:36But we'll be together again someday.
00:09:38Maybe you'll decide to come out too later on.
00:09:42So long.
00:09:44Al.
00:09:45Aren't you going to kiss me good night?
00:09:48Sure.
00:09:49Why not?
00:09:52Good night.
00:10:08Good night.
00:10:09Good night.
00:10:25Good night.
00:10:31Good night.
00:11:36Say, Roberts, you hit the jackpot this time.
00:11:39Ten bucks.
00:11:41Thanks.
00:11:41So when this drunk handed me a tin spot after a request, I couldn't get very excited.
00:11:52What was it I asked myself?
00:11:54A piece of paper crawling with germs.
00:11:56Couldn't buy anything I wanted.
00:11:59It couldn't...
00:11:59Then I thought of something.
00:12:04Long distance.
00:12:28I'd like to put a call through to Los Angeles.
00:12:32Miss Harvey.
00:12:33Sue Harvey.
00:12:34H-A-R-V-E-Y.
00:12:36The number is Crestview 65723.
00:12:38H-A-R-V-E-Y.
00:13:08This is Al.
00:13:10Oh, baby, it's great to hear from you, too.
00:13:12What's that?
00:13:13You do?
00:13:14Oh, me, too, darling.
00:13:15I thought I'd go batty without you.
00:13:17I just had to...
00:13:18Huh?
00:13:20You're working as a hashlinger?
00:13:22Gee, honey, that's tough.
00:13:23Those guys out in Hollywood don't know the real thing when it's right in front of them.
00:13:27You just stick it out, Sue, baby.
00:13:29Keep going around to those casting offices.
00:13:31I'm sure you'll click.
00:13:33Look, I'll tell you what.
00:13:33You stay put out there.
00:13:34I'll come to you.
00:13:36No, don't try to stop me.
00:13:37Just expect me.
00:13:38Train?
00:13:39Who knows?
00:13:40Train, plane, bus, magic carpet.
00:13:41But I'll be there if I have to crawl.
00:13:43If I have to travel by pogo stick.
00:13:45And then let's get married right away, huh?
00:13:51That's the stuff.
00:13:52That's what I've been wanting to hear you say.
00:13:55Well, goodbye for now.
00:13:59I'll be seeing you soon.
00:14:02Yeah.
00:14:04Bye.
00:14:04The only way I could cross country was to thumb rides.
00:14:13For even after hocking everything, I only had enough money to eat.
00:14:17Money.
00:14:18You know what that is.
00:14:20It's the stuff you never have enough of.
00:14:22Little green things with George Washington's picture that men slave for,
00:14:26commit crimes for, die for.
00:14:29It's the stuff that has caused more trouble in the world
00:14:31than anything else we ever invented.
00:14:32Simply because there's too little of it.
00:14:36At least I had too little of it.
00:14:38So it was me for the thumb.
00:14:56Ever done any hitchhiking?
00:14:59It's not much fun, believe me.
00:15:00Oh, yeah, I know all about how it's an education,
00:15:04how you get to meet a lot of people and all that.
00:15:06But me, from now on, I'll take my education in college
00:15:10or in P.S. 62,
00:15:12or I'll send $1.98 in stamps for 10 easy lessons.
00:15:14Thumbing rides may save your bus fare,
00:15:26but it's dangerous.
00:15:29You never know what's in store for you
00:15:31when you hear the squeal of brakes.
00:15:33If only I'd known what I was getting into that day in Arizona.
00:15:37Here, throw that in the back seat.
00:15:44Okay, let's go.
00:15:45Make sure that door's closed.
00:15:46You know, Emily Post ought to write a book of rules for guys thumbing rides.
00:16:05Because as it is now, you never know what's right and what's wrong.
00:16:07We rode along for a little while,
00:16:10neither one of us saying anything.
00:16:12I was glad of that.
00:16:14I never know what to say to strange people driving cars.
00:16:18And too, you can never tell if a guy wants to talk.
00:16:21A lot of rides have been cut short because of a big mouth.
00:16:25So I kept my mouth shut until he started opening up.
00:16:30Hand me that little box in the compartment, will you, pal?
00:16:32Hold the wheel, will you?
00:16:49How far are you going?
00:16:50L.A.
00:16:51Well, you're really traveling, aren't you?
00:16:53Yeah, but I don't expect to make it for a couple of years
00:16:55at the rate I've been promoting rides.
00:16:57Not much luck, huh?
00:16:58Sure, all bad.
00:17:00Not many people stop for a guy these days.
00:17:02Afraid of a stick-up, maybe.
00:17:04Well, you can't blame them.
00:17:06Where are you coming from?
00:17:07New York.
00:17:08Well, New York.
00:17:10You're in luck this time.
00:17:12I'm going all the way.
00:17:14Right through to Los Angeles.
00:17:17You drive a car?
00:17:18Sure.
00:17:19Whenever you're tired, let me know.
00:17:21I'll holler.
00:17:23I guess at least an hour passed before I noticed
00:17:26those deep scratches in his right hand.
00:17:28They were wicked.
00:17:29Three puffy red lines about a quarter of an inch apart.
00:17:33He must have seen me looking at them because he said...
00:17:37Beauties, aren't they?
00:17:39They're going to be scars someday.
00:17:42What an animal.
00:17:44Whatever it was, it must have been pretty big and vicious
00:17:46to have done that.
00:17:47Right on both counts, New York.
00:17:49I was tussling with the most dangerous animal in the world.
00:17:52A woman.
00:17:54She must have been Tarzan's mate.
00:17:56Looks like you lost the bob.
00:17:57It certainly wasn't a draw.
00:18:00You know, there ought to be a law against dames with claws.
00:18:03Yeah.
00:18:04I tossed her out of the car in her ear.
00:18:07Was I wrong?
00:18:08Give a lift to a tomato, you expect her to be nice, don't you?
00:18:11Yeah.
00:18:13After all, what kind of a dame's thumb rides?
00:18:15Sunday school teachers?
00:18:16Yeah.
00:18:18A little witch.
00:18:20She must have thought she was riding with some fall guy.
00:18:23And me, who's been booking horses around race tracks since I was 20.
00:18:28I've known a million dames like her.
00:18:30Two million.
00:18:31Yeah.
00:18:34Stopped the car, opened the door.
00:18:37Take it on the art of Duffy's sister, I told her.
00:18:39That's the stuff.
00:18:40It's always done, huh?
00:18:43But if you want to see a real scar, brother, get a load of this.
00:18:48What?
00:18:49I got that one, too.
00:18:52Dually?
00:18:53Yeah, we're just kidding, of course.
00:18:55My dad owned a couple of Franco-Prussian sabers.
00:18:57Kept them on the wall for decorations.
00:19:00Well, one day, another kid and I took them down.
00:19:02The old man wasn't around.
00:19:04Had a duel.
00:19:06You get me in the arm here.
00:19:08Pretty mean cut.
00:19:10Friction set in later.
00:19:12Yeah, I can see that.
00:19:14Now, give me that box again, will you?
00:19:15Yeah.
00:19:16The pain made me lose my head, I guess.
00:19:30Began slashing.
00:19:32Before I knew it, I'd put the other kid's eye on.
00:19:35That was tough.
00:19:37Well, it was just an accident, of course.
00:19:39Do you know how kids are?
00:19:40I get scared, decide I was going to run away from home.
00:19:44The old man almost caught me when I was packing my duds.
00:19:48The bloody rag I had wrapped around my wrist hadn't caught his attention.
00:19:51You've seen the bundle, for sure.
00:19:54But I beat it when he was phoning for a doctor.
00:19:56I was 15, 16 years ago.
00:19:59I haven't been home since.
00:20:05Pull in there for a bite or something, huh?
00:20:07A bite or something.
00:20:09Brother, was I hungry.
00:20:11I hadn't had anything in my stomach for hours.
00:20:14Yet even with that gnawing in the pit of my belly,
00:20:16I didn't want to be in too big a rush to put on the feed bag.
00:20:20First, I had to make sure this guy knew the score.
00:20:22If I got him down on me, it was goodbye ticket to Hollywood.
00:20:27I'll wait out here for you, mister.
00:20:28If it's the money, don't worry about paying for it.
00:20:30This time it's on me.
00:20:31Well, that's what of you, mister...
00:20:33Haskell, think nothing of it.
00:20:34You make your first million, maybe you can do the same for me.
00:20:36Come on, New York.
00:20:37I gotta make the West Coast by Wednesday.
00:20:39There's a horse running in Santa Anita named Powered Bicycle.
00:20:42It means it ought to me if I'm on him.
00:20:43We'll make it, all right.
00:20:46He did most of the talking during the half hour we were in the place.
00:20:49I ate.
00:20:51He rambled on about his old man,
00:20:53whom he hadn't heard from since he ran away as a kid.
00:20:56And how he happened to become a bookie.
00:20:58And then all about how he got rooked in Miami.
00:21:00One race, 38 grand.
00:21:02They cleaned out my book.
00:21:03How do you like that?
00:21:05That was tough luck.
00:21:06Yeah, and I'm supposed to be the smart guy.
00:21:08Will you just wait?
00:21:09I'm going back to Florida next season with all kinds of jack.
00:21:11And you'll watch those stinkers run for cover.
00:21:14Do you want anything else?
00:21:15No, thanks.
00:21:16I've had plenty.
00:21:22That check there, sister?
00:21:23Mm-hmm.
00:21:24Oh, just a minute.
00:21:28Your change, sir.
00:21:29Keep it, sister.
00:21:30Oh, thank you, sir.
00:21:31Call again.
00:21:32I'll be waiting outside for you when you finish work.
00:21:34No.
00:21:35Sharp check, huh?
00:21:36I drove all that night while Haskell slept like a log.
00:21:48After a while, I began to get sleepy myself.
00:21:52I was happy, though.
00:21:54Soon I'd be with Sue again.
00:21:57The long trip was practically over,
00:21:58and I'd be no more hoofing it down the concrete.
00:22:00I began to think of the future,
00:22:04which couldn't have been brighter
00:22:05if I'd embroidered it with neon lights.
00:22:08It was nice to think of Sue shooting to the top.
00:22:12It's amazing what a full belly can do to your imagination.
00:22:18Your eyes, ooh, your kisses, too.
00:22:23I never knew what they could do.
00:22:27I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:22:35You're telling everyone you know
00:22:40I'm on your mind each place you go.
00:22:44I can't believe that you're in love with me.
00:22:57Mr. Haskell.
00:23:09Mr. Haskell.
00:23:13Mr. Haskell, wake up.
00:23:14It's raining.
00:23:16Don't you think we ought to stop and put up the top?
00:23:17Mr. Haskell, I'm going to put up the top.
00:23:28Well, let's go.
00:23:45Up until then,
00:23:46I had done things my way.
00:23:49But from then on, something else stepped in
00:23:51and chatted me off to a different destination
00:23:52than the one I had picked for myself.
00:23:54Mr. Haskell, what's the matter?
00:23:59Are you hurt?
00:24:01Are you hurt, Mr. Haskell?
00:24:03Start your sermon.
00:24:05I'll listen to it.
00:24:07But I know what you're going to hand me even before you open your mouths.
00:24:10You're going to tell me you don't believe my story of how Haskell died
00:24:13and give me that don't make me laugh expression on your smug faces.
00:24:19I saw it once he was dead.
00:24:21And I was in for it.
00:24:22Who would believe he fell out of the car?
00:24:25Why, if Haskell came too, which of course he couldn't,
00:24:26even he would swear I conked him over the head for his dough.
00:24:29Yes, I was in for it.
00:24:32Instinct told me to run, but then I realized it was hopeless.
00:24:35There were lots of people back down the road who could identify me.
00:24:37That gas station guy and the waitress.
00:24:39I would be in a worse spot then, trying to explain why I beat it.
00:24:42The next possibility was to sit tight and tell the truth when the cops came.
00:24:45But that would be crazy.
00:24:47They'd laugh at the truth.
00:24:48I'm not having my head in the noose.
00:24:49So what else was there to do but hide the body and get away in the car?
00:24:54I couldn't leave the car there with him in the gully.
00:24:57That would be like erecting a tombstone.
00:24:58My idea was to cover him with a gun.
00:25:28Not to rob him, but then I remembered that even if I only drove the car for a hundred miles or so,
00:25:32I would need money for gas.
00:25:35Besides, it was stupid of me to leave all that money on a dead man.
00:25:39Not only that, I'd have to take his driver's license in case I was stopped for something.
00:25:45I didn't like to think about it, but by that time I'd done just what the police would say I did, even if I didn't.
00:25:51My clothes. The owner of such an expensive car would never be wearing them.
00:25:55Some cop might put me in on suspicion.
00:25:58Let's go, Mr.
00:25:59Tom.
00:26:00It's a car, Mr.
00:26:01Pete.
00:26:02This car is a pretty nice car.
00:26:03No one else.
00:26:04Hey, you.
00:26:05This your car?
00:26:09Don't you know better than to leave a car with the wheels halfway in the middle of the road?
00:26:12Hey, you, this your car?
00:26:26Don't you know better than to leave a car with the wheels halfway in the middle of the road?
00:26:29That's the way accidents happen.
00:26:30I'm sorry, officer. I was just putting up my top. I didn't think.
00:26:34Well, the next time, think.
00:26:36I'll let you go now, but watch your step in the future.
00:26:39I know that's a lonely stretch, but cars come by here once in a while,
00:26:41and we have plenty of crack-ups.
00:26:43Thanks, officer.
00:27:08I left nothing in the car to give me away as Robertson.
00:27:10If they found a dead man in the gully now, it would be me.
00:27:21As I drove off, it was still raining.
00:27:23And the drop streaked down the windshield like tears.
00:27:29I kept imagining I was being followed, that I could hear sirens back in the distance.
00:27:34Just how long it took me to cover the 60-odd miles to the California state line, I don't know.
00:27:40I lost all track of time.
00:27:42But the rain had stopped, and the sun was up when I pulled up to the inspection station.
00:27:46I was like, sir.
00:27:47I'm going to go with my life.
00:27:48I was like, sir.
00:27:49I can't wait to see you.
00:27:49I'm going to go with my car.
00:27:50I'm going to go with my car.
00:27:50Hello.
00:27:52Carrying any fruits or vegetables?
00:27:54No.
00:27:54Any livestock or poultry?
00:27:56No.
00:27:58I'd like to see your registration and driver's license, please.
00:28:05Anything in the baggage compartment?
00:28:07Just baggage.
00:28:10Charles Haskell, Jr. eats 30 brown eyes, dark hair,
00:28:13identifying marks, none.
00:28:15Are you Charles Haskell, Jr.?
00:28:17Yes.
00:28:18Well, remember, if you're employed and you stay over 30 days,
00:28:20you take out California plates.
00:28:21All right, officer, but I'll only be in the state a short while.
00:28:25Right, you can go now.
00:28:34I couldn't drive any farther without some sleep,
00:28:36cops or no cops.
00:28:38I knew I had to hit the hay and hit it hard.
00:28:42I was dead tired.
00:28:43I'm tired.
00:28:51I'm tired.
00:28:53No, no, you can't, Mr. Haskell.
00:29:18No.
00:29:23Mr. Haskell, he can't die.
00:29:30I don't think, I think I did it.
00:29:35No, Mr. Haskell, no, no.
00:29:53Who's there?
00:29:55It's the maid.
00:29:56Can I come in and clean?
00:29:58Later.
00:29:59In a half hour.
00:30:01All right, sir.
00:30:02There was no time to lose.
00:30:15Every 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.
00:30:30That meant driving the car as far as San Bernardino, maybe even to Los Angeles.
00:30:35In a little town I might be noticed, but in a city I should be safe enough.
00:30:40Then, after I ditched the car, I could go on to Sue.
00:30:43But 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.
00:30:47Then, if anybody asked me questions, I could give the right answers.
00:30:50The first thing I found out was that I had $768.
00:31:07This was a lot of jack, but believe me, it was the kind of money I'd rather not have.
00:31:20And 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.
00:31:31Before I got done reading it, I saw him more as a chiseler.
00:31:35It was written to his old man in California, the one he hadn't seen in so many years.
00:31:40In it, Haskell posed as a salesman of hymnals, of all things.
00:31:46It was easy to see where Haskell expected to raise a new stake for his book in Miami.
00:31:52By rooking his old man.
00:31:55That was about all I found out from his effects.
00:31:58And it was enough.
00:32:00I told myself, maybe old man Haskell was lucky his son kicked off.
00:32:05He would never know it.
00:32:07But it saved him from taking a flyer in sacred literature preferred.
00:32:16Of course...
00:32:36Near the airport, at Desert Center I pulled up for water.
00:32:40There was a woman.
00:32:43Hey, you! Come on, if you want a ride.
00:33:13I'm going to be a little bit.
00:33:21How far are you going?
00:33:23How far are you going?
00:33:25That took me by surprise.
00:33:27I turned my head to look her over.
00:33:29She was facing her.
00:33:31She was facing her.
00:33:33She was facing her.
00:33:35She was facing her.
00:33:37She was facing her.
00:33:39I was facing her.
00:33:41She was facing her.
00:33:42I couldn't see her eyes.
00:33:44But she was young.
00:33:46About more than 24.
00:33:48Man, she looked as if she'd just been thrown off the crummiest freight train in the world.
00:33:52Yet, in spite of this, I got the impression of beauty.
00:33:56Not the beauty of a movie actress, mind you.
00:33:58Or the beauty you dream about when you're with your wife.
00:34:00But a natural beauty.
00:34:02A beauty that's almost homely because it's so real.
00:34:06Then, suddenly, she turned to face me.
00:34:10How far did you say you were going?
00:34:12Los Angeles.
00:34:14LA?
00:34:16LA's good enough for me, mister.
00:34:18That's what I was afraid of.
00:34:20What'd you say?
00:34:22Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud.
00:34:24People get in trouble for doing that.
00:34:26What's your name?
00:34:28You can call me Vera, if you like.
00:34:30You live in Los Angeles?
00:34:32Where are you coming from?
00:34:34Oh, back there.
00:34:36Needles?
00:34:37No.
00:34:38Oh, sure. Phoenix.
00:34:40You look just like a Phoenix girl.
00:34:42Are the girls in Phoenix that bad?
00:34:44The girl must have been pretty tired.
00:34:46Because she fell asleep not 20 minutes after she stepped into the car.
00:34:50She lay sprawled out with her head resting against the far door.
00:34:53Like Haskell.
00:34:54I didn't like that part of it much.
00:34:56But I didn't wake her up.
00:34:58It wasn't that this girl still worried me.
00:35:01I'd gotten over that funny feeling I had when she looked at me.
00:35:04Which I put down as just my jangled nerves.
00:35:07With her eyes closed and the test has gone out of her.
00:35:10She seemed harmless enough.
00:35:12And instead of disliking her, I began to feel sorry for her.
00:35:16The poor kid probably had had a rough time of it.
00:35:20Who was she anyway?
00:35:22And why was she going to Los Angeles?
00:35:24And where'd she come from in the first place?
00:35:27The only thing I knew about it was her name.
00:35:29Not that it made any difference.
00:35:31A few hours more and we'd be in Hollywood.
00:35:34I'd forget where I parked the car and look up Sue.
00:35:37This nightmare of being a dead man would be over.
00:35:40Who this dame was?
00:35:41Well, it was no business of mine.
00:35:43Where did you leave his body?
00:35:45Where did you leave the owner of this car?
00:35:47You're not fooling anyone.
00:35:49This buggy belongs to a guy named Haskell.
00:35:51That's not you, mister.
00:35:52You're out of your mind.
00:35:53That's my name, Charles Haskell.
00:35:55I can prove it.
00:35:56It's my driver's license.
00:35:57Save yourself the trouble, mister.
00:35:58Having Haskell's wallet only makes it worse.
00:36:00It just so happens I rode with Charlie Haskell.
00:36:02All the way from Louisiana.
00:36:04He picked me up outside of Shreveport.
00:36:06You rode?
00:36:07You heard me.
00:36:08Then it all came back to me.
00:36:10All the talk about dueling and scars and scratches.
00:36:13There was no doubt about it.
00:36:15Vera must be the woman Haskell had mentioned.
00:36:18She must have passed me while I slept.
00:36:20Well?
00:36:21Well, I'm waiting.
00:36:23My goose was cooked.
00:36:25She had me.
00:36:27That Haskell guy wasn't dead yet.
00:36:29He wasn't stretched out stiff and cold in any Arizona gully.
00:36:32He was sitting right there in the car laughing like mad while he haunted me.
00:36:36Well?
00:36:37There was nothing I could say.
00:36:40It was her move.
00:36:42Vera, whatever her name was.
00:36:44It was just my luck picking her up on the road.
00:36:47It couldn't have been Helen or Mary or Evelyn or Ruth.
00:36:50It had to be the very last person I should ever have met.
00:36:54That's life.
00:36:56Whichever way you turn, fate sticks out a foot to trip you.
00:36:59I told her everything, but she didn't believe my story.
00:37:03I should have saved my breath.
00:37:04That's the greatest cock and ball story I ever heard.
00:37:06So he fell out of his car.
00:37:07Say, who do you think you're talking to, a hick?
00:37:09Listen, mister, I've been around.
00:37:10And 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.
00:37:14You see, that's why I had to do it.
00:37:15You think I killed him.
00:37:16Well, the cops would have thought so, too.
00:37:17Yeah, well, maybe they still think so.
00:37:18What makes you so sure I'll shut up about this?
00:37:20Girl, I'm innocent.
00:37:21Give me a break, will you?
00:37:22It won't do me any good having you pinched.
00:37:23The cops are no friends of mine.
00:37:24Now, if there was a reward, but there isn't.
00:37:26Thanks.
00:37:27Don't thank me yet.
00:37:28I'm not the only one.
00:37:29Don't thank me yet.
00:37:30I'm not the only one.
00:37:31Don't thank me yet.
00:37:32I'm not the only one.
00:37:33Don't thank me yet.
00:37:34I'm not the only one.
00:37:35I've been around.
00:37:36I've been around.
00:37:37And I know a wrong guy when I see one.
00:37:38What'd you do, kiss him with a wrench?
00:37:39Now, wait a minute.
00:37:40What I told you was true.
00:37:41What if there was a reward, but there isn't.
00:37:43Thanks.
00:37:44Don't thank me yet.
00:37:45I'm not through with you by a long shot.
00:37:48Let's see that roll.
00:37:56Is that all Haskell had?
00:37:58Isn't it enough?
00:37:59No, I thought he had more.
00:38:00Not that I know of.
00:38:01You can search me.
00:38:02You think I'm holding out on you.
00:38:03Well, maybe I will at that.
00:38:04He told me he was going to bet $3,000 on a horse named Paradisical
00:38:07on Wednesday at Santa Anita.
00:38:09He was stringing you along.
00:38:10He meant $300.
00:38:11Maybe.
00:38:12Sure, three bucks, $300.
00:38:13He was a piece of cheese, a big blowhard.
00:38:15Listen, mister.
00:38:16Don't try and tell me anything about Charlie Haskell.
00:38:18Remember, I knew him better than you did.
00:38:20Okay, then you knew he was a four-flusher.
00:38:21That explains the three grand bet.
00:38:23I'm not so sure he didn't have that three grand.
00:38:25Why should I believe you?
00:38:27You got all the earmarks of a cheap crook.
00:38:29Now, wait a minute.
00:38:30You're a cheap crook and you killed him.
00:38:32For two cents, I'd change my mind and turn you in.
00:38:34I don't like you.
00:38:35All right, all right.
00:38:36Don't get sore.
00:38:37I'm not getting sore.
00:38:38But just remember who's boss around here.
00:38:40If you shut up and don't give me any arguments, you'll have nothing to worry about.
00:38:43But if you act wise, well, mister, you'll pop into jail so fast it'll give you the bends.
00:38:47I'm not arguing.
00:38:48See that you don't.
00:38:49You know, as crooked as you look, I'd hate to see a fella as young as you wind up sniffing
00:38:53that perfume that Arizona hands out free to murderers.
00:38:56I'm not a murderer.
00:38:57Of course you're not.
00:38:58Haskell knocked his own head off.
00:38:59He fell.
00:39:00That's how it happened.
00:39:01Just like I told you.
00:39:02I made you a present of his belongings.
00:39:03I explained why I had to do that.
00:39:04Oh, stop it.
00:39:05It doesn't make a difference one way or another.
00:39:06I'm not a mourner.
00:39:07I liked Haskell even less than I like you.
00:39:10Yeah, I saw what you did to him.
00:39:12What do you mean?
00:39:13Well, scratches on his wrist.
00:39:14Sure, I scratched him.
00:39:15Well, so you did.
00:39:17So your idea was to drive the car a little way, maybe into San Bernardino and then leave
00:39:22it.
00:39:23You weren't gonna sell it?
00:39:24Sell it?
00:39:25You think I'm crazy, somebody else's car?
00:39:27See, all I want to do is leave it somewhere and forget I ever saw it.
00:39:30Not only don't you have any scruples, you don't have any brains.
00:39:33I don't get you.
00:39:34Maybe it's a good thing you met me.
00:39:36You'd have got yourself caught sure.
00:39:38Why, you dope.
00:39:39Don't you know a deserted automobile always rates an investigation?
00:39:42Huh?
00:39:43Look, the cops find a car.
00:39:45Then they get curious.
00:39:47They wonder where the owner is.
00:39:49So all right, they don't trace Haskell.
00:39:51They trace you.
00:39:52I never thought of that.
00:39:54The only safe way to get rid of the car is to sell it to a dealer.
00:39:57Get it registered under a new name.
00:39:59Say, stop at the next store.
00:40:00I want to get a bottle and do some shopping before we hit LA.
00:40:03Okay.
00:40:04As soon as we find a place, I'll drop you off and pick you up later.
00:40:07Nothing doing.
00:40:08You're coming in too.
00:40:09From now on, you and I are like the Siamese twins.
00:40:11Have it your way, but I don't get the point.
00:40:14The point is, I don't want you to get lost.
00:40:16I'm not going to beat it if that's what you're afraid of.
00:40:18I'll say you're not.
00:40:19Well, I'm going to see that you sell this car so you don't get caught.
00:40:22Thanks.
00:40:23Of course, your interest wouldn't be financial, would it?
00:40:26You wouldn't want a small percentage of the profits.
00:40:28Well, now that you insist, how can I refuse?
00:40:31A hundred percent will do.
00:40:33Fine.
00:40:34I'm relieved.
00:40:35I thought for a moment you were going to take it all.
00:40:37I don't want to be a hog.
00:40:40A few hours later, we were in Hollywood.
00:40:43I was recognizing places Sue had written about.
00:40:46It struck me that far from being at the end of the trip,
00:40:49there was a greater distance between Sue and me than when I started out.
00:40:53Fira wasn't kidding with that Siamese twins crack.
00:40:57She rented a little apartment as Mrs. Charles Haskell.
00:41:01When I objected to this, she explained that it was on account of the car.
00:41:05The dealer might think something was funny if he called and found we were using different names.
00:41:10The dealer might think something was funny.
00:41:14Home, sweet home.
00:41:16Yeah.
00:41:17Not bad either.
00:41:26In case there's any doubt in your mind, I'll take the bedroom.
00:41:29Yeah.
00:41:31Sure is stuffy in here.
00:41:40Keep the window shut.
00:41:41Okay.
00:41:44The old crow downstairs said there's a folding bed behind this door.
00:41:54You know how to work it?
00:41:59I invented it.
00:42:04Some joint.
00:42:05One can't have everything.
00:42:10I'm the first in the bathtub.
00:42:14I don't know why, but I figured you would be.
00:42:27Boy, old boy.
00:42:28It sure feels good to be clean again.
00:42:31I must be ten pounds lighter.
00:42:34You must be.
00:42:37Hitch and Rides isn't exactly the way you keep your school girl complexion.
00:42:41I wish that guy with the sacks would give up.
00:42:47It gets on my nerves.
00:42:51Forget it.
00:42:55Have a drink.
00:42:57Aren't you afraid I might take you up on it?
00:43:01If I didn't want to give you a drink, I wouldn't have offered it.
00:43:04Why be a sorehead, Roberts?
00:43:06You got yourself into this thing.
00:43:08You should be grateful I'm not turning you in.
00:43:11Why, if I wasn't regular, you'd be in the pen this minute,
00:43:14being photographed, fingerprinted, and being pushed around by the cops.
00:43:17So cheer up.
00:43:19Get rid of that long puss.
00:43:22Or is your conscience bothering you?
00:43:24No.
00:43:26It isn't.
00:43:28Well, that's the spirit.
00:43:30He's dead and no moment around will bring him back.
00:43:34Anyway, 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.
00:43:37Haskell was a sick man.
00:43:38Maybe he was dead before he fell out of the car.
00:43:39I don't know.
00:43:40Sure, sure.
00:43:41He died of old age.
00:43:43All right.
00:43:44So if it'll make you sociable, you didn't kill him.
00:43:45Thanks.
00:43:46Thanks.
00:44:16We're out of liquor, Roberts.
00:44:17Yeah.
00:44:18Too bad.
00:44:19I felt like getting tight tonight.
00:44:20Well, I think you succeeded.
00:44:21Am I tight?
00:44:22There's a prima donna's corset.
00:44:23That's good.
00:44:24I wanted to get tight.
00:44:25Why?
00:44:26What have you got to get tight about?
00:44:27Oh, I don't know.
00:44:28A few things.
00:44:29Huh.
00:44:30You should have my worries.
00:44:31If I had your troubles, I'd stay sober.
00:44:32And I've got the key to that door.
00:44:33Yeah.
00:44:34Maybe you're right.
00:44:35I'm always right.
00:44:36You're right.
00:44:37I'm always right.
00:44:38I'm always right.
00:44:39Well, I think you succeeded.
00:44:40Well, I think you succeeded.
00:44:41Am I tight?
00:44:42There's a prima donna's corset.
00:44:43That's good.
00:44:44I wanted to get tight.
00:44:45Why?
00:44:46What have you got to get tight about?
00:44:47Oh, I don't know.
00:44:48A few things.
00:44:49Huh.
00:44:50You should have my worries.
00:44:51If I had your troubles, I'd stay sober.
00:44:53And I've got the key to that door.
00:44:57Yeah.
00:44:58Maybe you're right.
00:44:59I'm always right.
00:45:00You know, I don't like your attitude, Roberts.
00:45:04Well, there's a lot of things I don't like.
00:45:06Sure.
00:45:11But life's like a ball game.
00:45:13You've got to take a swing at whatever comes along
00:45:15before you wake up and find it's a ninth inning.
00:45:18I bet you read that somewhere.
00:45:20That's the trouble with you, Roberts.
00:45:22All you do is bellyache.
00:45:24But I've taken it easy and...
00:45:27we're trying to make the best of things.
00:45:30But maybe that's what's wrong with the whole world.
00:45:33Get the professor.
00:45:34People knock themselves out trying to buck fate.
00:45:37Now, take you, for instance.
00:45:39You're lucky to be alive.
00:45:40Why, suppose Haskell had pulled open your door.
00:45:43You'd be playing a harp now.
00:45:45Think of that.
00:45:46You think of it.
00:45:48I'm tired of thinking.
00:45:50There's plenty of people dying this minute.
00:45:53It would give anything to trade places with you.
00:45:56I know what I'm talking about.
00:45:59I'm not so sure.
00:46:02At least they know they're done for.
00:46:05They don't have to sweat blood wondering if they are.
00:46:08Your philosophy stinks, pal.
00:46:11We all know we're gonna kick off someday.
00:46:14It's only a question of when.
00:46:16But what's got us on this subject anyway?
00:46:20We'll be discussing politics next.
00:46:23Yeah.
00:46:26Where'd you hide the butts?
00:46:28On the table, sucker.
00:46:38We bored each other with conversation for a couple of hours longer.
00:46:41Every five minutes, one of us was wishing we had another bottle or a radio or something to read.
00:46:47Then, finally, we ran out of chatter.
00:46:50I know it's only 11 o'clock, but I want to get up early and make the rounds of the used car lots.
00:46:54Don't worry about that.
00:46:55We've got all the time in the world.
00:46:57Maybe you have, but if you think I want to stay cooped up in this place any longer than I have to, you're batty.
00:47:01It's not a bad place.
00:47:02We pay plenty for diggings like this in New York.
00:47:04I wouldn't like it if it was the Ritz.
00:47:11You brought me liquor.
00:47:12You've got a mean cough.
00:47:13I ought to do something about it.
00:47:15I'll be all right.
00:47:16That's what the meal said.
00:47:18Who?
00:47:19Nobody you know.
00:47:25Wasn't that the Dane that died of consumption?
00:47:27Yeah.
00:47:28Wouldn't it be a break for you if I did kick off?
00:47:31You'd be free with all Haskell's dough and car.
00:47:34I don't want to see anybody die.
00:47:36Not even me.
00:47:38Especially not you.
00:47:40One person died of me.
00:47:42If you did, well, that's all I need.
00:47:45You don't like me, do you, Roberts?
00:47:48I like you.
00:47:51I love you.
00:47:53My favorite sport is being kept prisoner.
00:47:57After we sell the car, you can go to Blazers for all I care, but not until then.
00:48:01I'm going to bed.
00:48:19Good night, Roberts.
00:48:20Don't try and sneak away during the night.
00:48:22All the doors are locked.
00:48:23Anyway, if I find you gone in the morning, I'll notify the police.
00:48:27They'll pick you up.
00:48:28Don't worry.
00:48:29I don't want him in the spot.
00:48:30Well, good night.
00:48:31I hope that portable rack isn't too uncomfortable for you.
00:48:35Don't lose any sleepover, will you, Roberts?
00:48:37Well, there you go.
00:48:38I'll let them get you back up.
00:48:39Here's the car.
00:48:40Take the car.
00:48:412-1-2-1-3-2-2-3-1-4-1-2-2-4-2-3-4-2-3-4-4-5-6-2-4-5-5-4-6-5-6-4-4-5-4-4-6-4-6-4-6-6.
00:48:46Oh, my God.
00:48:48Oh, Chris, Hugh.
00:49:18Six, five, seven, two, three.
00:49:28Hello?
00:49:30Hello?
00:49:32Hello?
00:49:34Hello?
00:49:43No.
00:49:45Not yet, darling.
00:49:47Tomorrow.
00:49:50Maybe.
00:49:55If this were fiction, I would fall in love with Vera, marry her and make a respectable woman of her, or else she'd make some supreme class A sacrifice for me and die.
00:50:05Sue and I would bawl a little over her grave and make some crack about there's good in all of us, but Vera, unfortunately, was just as rotten in the morning as she'd been the night before.
00:50:16All right, all right, I'm coming.
00:50:20Look, Vera, it's almost noon.
00:50:23So what? The dealers will be there all day?
00:50:26They'll be there all year, too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to wait that long.
00:50:28Shut up. You're making noises like a husband.
00:50:30Well, do I rate a whistle?
00:50:36You sure do, but let's go.
00:50:38Let's go, let's go. I spend 85 bucks and two hours preparing bait, and all you can say is let's go.
00:50:43Come on.
00:50:50We passed a few used car lots last night down this way.
00:50:53What do you think we can get for this heap?
00:50:54I don't know. Plenty. You just let me handle everything.
00:50:57You think we can get $2,000?
00:51:00I don't know, but don't worry. I'll squeeze as much out of this guy as I can.
00:51:04I'll let it go cheap without a fight. He might think we've stolen the car.
00:51:08And listen, don't make any slips and call me Roberts. That'll cook us.
00:51:11I don't need you to tell me that.
00:51:14You better just sit by and keep your mouth closed.
00:51:16Remember, we're both in the soup if anything happens.
00:51:18Forget it and drive.
00:51:20You're my wife, Farrah Haskell.
00:51:23Look, after the deal's closed, let's go back to that place on Hollywood Boulevard,
00:51:26where I saw the fur jacket. I want to buy it.
00:51:30After the deal's closed, I'm saying goodbye to you.
00:51:32That's right. I forgot. I guess I'm getting kind of used to you.
00:51:37Well, that's a habit you can start breaking.
00:51:39Let's try this place in the middle of the block.
00:51:48Good afternoon. What can I do for you?
00:51:50We're interested in selling a car.
00:51:51If the price is right.
00:51:56Well, if it's in good mechanical condition, it should blue book for about $1,600.
00:52:01Tony, take a look at this motor.
00:52:02$1,600. Are you kidding?
00:52:09Well, maybe $1,600.
00:52:18Before I let it go for $1,600, I'll wreck it and collect the insurance first.
00:52:26Hey, this motor's seen a lot of driving.
00:52:28Well, the mechanic inspected the car, we haggled.
00:52:38At last, when we were all worn out, we hit a compromise.
00:52:42His price.
00:52:47Okay, it's a deal.
00:52:48All right, come on, we'll sign the papers.
00:52:49I have the ownership papers right here with me.
00:52:51Look, Vera, in the meantime, will you clean out the dash compartment?
00:52:54There may be some stuff in it.
00:52:55All right, darling.
00:52:59$1,850. That dirty cro...
00:53:10In New York, huh?
00:53:11Yeah.
00:53:12But you bought the car in Miami.
00:53:14Yeah.
00:53:16Well, let's see about the insurance.
00:53:17We can either have it transferred or canceled.
00:53:19Uh, what kind of insurance do you have, Mr. Haskell?
00:53:23Well, uh...
00:53:25Aren't all the papers there?
00:53:28I don't see any.
00:53:30Surely you know what type of insurance you carry in the car.
00:53:32Is the name of the company?
00:53:35Yeah, but, uh...
00:53:36Well, if you'll just tell me the name of the company,
00:53:38I'd be very glad to take care of all the details.
00:53:40Well...
00:53:41Did you sign the papers yet?
00:53:42Not yet.
00:53:43Well, don't.
00:53:44We're not selling the car.
00:53:45Well, wait a minute, Mr. Haskell.
00:53:46Come on, darling.
00:53:47What's the matter?
00:53:48Did you change your mind?
00:53:49Yes, I'm sorry.
00:53:50I guess I have.
00:53:51But, Vera...
00:53:52Let's go.
00:53:58You got me out of a tight spot, Vera.
00:54:00But I still don't understand all this.
00:54:01You will in a minute.
00:54:02I almost threw away a gold mine.
00:54:041850 isn't to be sneezed at.
00:54:06The car doesn't book for as much as I thought.
00:54:08We're not selling the car.
00:54:09You want to keep it.
00:54:11Now, wait a minute, Vera.
00:54:12You said yourself I wouldn't be safe until the car was in someone else's name.
00:54:15I'd like to be free of this mess when I go.
00:54:17That's just it, Roberts.
00:54:18You're not going.
00:54:20There's a drive-in at the next corner.
00:54:22Pull in there and we'll get a bite to eat.
00:54:23And I'll explain.
00:54:24What is this?
00:54:25Another one of your brilliant ideas?
00:54:33Oh, can I take your order?
00:54:34Make mine a ham sandwich and coffee.
00:54:36And for you, sir?
00:54:37Oh, I don't care.
00:54:38The same.
00:54:47Get this, Vera.
00:54:48I've been pretty patient so far.
00:54:50I've done everything you asked me to do, but no more.
00:54:52Shut up.
00:54:53You've taken Haskell's money.
00:54:54You can have the door we get from selling the car.
00:54:56But you're not going to keep me a prisoner.
00:54:58It's a good thing I bought the paper.
00:54:59Take a look at that.
00:55:00Vera, I'm in no mood.
00:55:01Read that.
00:55:09No.
00:55:10Yes.
00:55:11No, I won't do it.
00:55:12Yes, you will.
00:55:13You think I'm crazy?
00:55:14It's impossible, I tell you.
00:55:15Excuse me.
00:55:25Blow the horn when you're through.
00:55:30No one could possibly get away with an act like that.
00:55:32Be wise to me in a minute.
00:55:33Don't be yellow.
00:55:34You look enough like him.
00:55:35The same coloring and the same build.
00:55:37See how his clothes fit you.
00:55:38No kidding.
00:55:39You almost had me fooled for a while.
00:55:41Oh, grow up, Vera.
00:55:42Don't you think a father knows his own son?
00:55:44And there must be other relatives.
00:55:45The father won't have to know you.
00:55:46We'll wait till he gives up the ghost.
00:55:48He's an old geezer and he won't pull through.
00:55:50And as far as other relatives are concerned,
00:55:52they haven't seen you in 15 or 20 years.
00:55:55Eat.
00:55:56I'm not hungry.
00:55:57And I won't do it.
00:55:59It's not as tough as it sounds.
00:56:01Remember, you've got all kinds of identification.
00:56:03His car, letters, license...
00:56:04I could never get away with it.
00:56:05It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
00:56:06The old boy has scads of dough.
00:56:08Look in the paper there.
00:56:09Personal fortune assessed at over 15 million.
00:56:11He'll leave plenty, I tell you.
00:56:13Maybe he cut off his son.
00:56:14How do we know?
00:56:15It's out, Vera.
00:56:16I won't have anything to do with it.
00:56:18I think you will.
00:56:20Look, Vera.
00:56:21I'll do anything within reason.
00:56:24But not that.
00:56:25So forget it.
00:56:26Find yourself another stooge.
00:56:27You sack.
00:56:28You'll be fixed for the rest of your life as Charlie Haskell.
00:56:31You can take your inheritance and go away.
00:56:33No more worrying about the rent.
00:56:34No sweating, scheming, wondering where your next meal's coming from.
00:56:36Think about that, Roberts.
00:56:37Vera.
00:56:38Please.
00:56:39You're talking too loud.
00:56:40Unless I'm splitting 50-50 with you.
00:56:42Sure.
00:56:43Why not?
00:56:44We're both alike.
00:56:45Both born in the same gutter.
00:56:46Take it easy, Vera.
00:56:47There's people around here.
00:56:48You don't know where you're talking.
00:56:49Well, wait till we read that old man Haskell's dead.
00:56:53Then you show up.
00:56:54Like you read in New York that he was sick.
00:56:56No.
00:56:57Suppose he doesn't die?
00:56:59He will.
00:57:00I know he will.
00:57:01Something tells me.
00:57:04But as much as I insisted I would have no part of her scheme,
00:57:07Vera was taking it for granted I would.
00:57:11Neither of us had our mind on the cards as we played that night.
00:57:14I knew we were just trying to kill time between newspaper editions.
00:57:18This was a death watch for Vera.
00:57:21Maybe it was for me, too.
00:57:23Don't you realize if I'm caught,
00:57:25they want to know where I got the car and stuff,
00:57:27and they'll have me on a murder charge.
00:57:28If you're smart, you won't get caught.
00:57:30I knocked with seven.
00:57:31And if I'm caught, don't you realize you'll be out, too?
00:57:3418 points.
00:57:36That gives me 30.
00:57:38How will I be out?
00:57:39You'll be out.
00:57:40$1,850 we would have gotten on the car.
00:57:42Really, Vera, you'd be an awful chump.
00:57:44You threw away all that dough on a dizzy long shot.
00:57:46Let me sell the bus tomorrow.
00:57:47With the money it'll bring and what you've already got,
00:57:49a clever kid like you can run it up in no time.
00:57:51Then we'd both be in the clear.
00:57:52I'll be in the clear anyway.
00:57:53Maybe.
00:57:54Maybe.
00:57:55But if I got caught,
00:57:57I'd get good and sore at you, you know.
00:57:59You mean you'd squeal?
00:58:00Oh, no, not squeal exactly.
00:58:01Never mind what you meant.
00:58:03Even if you did tell the cops I was in on it with you,
00:58:08what could they do to me?
00:58:10They might give me the same medicine they gave you.
00:58:13Yeah.
00:58:14A rope.
00:58:18But I'm on my way anyhow.
00:58:22All they'll be doing will be rushing it.
00:58:24All right.
00:58:25But think of the 1850 you'd lose.
00:58:27You'd kick yourself along the block if you ever let it get away from you.
00:58:29I'll take the chance.
00:58:31Want another drink?
00:58:32You're being a goon.
00:58:33That's the way people wind up behind the eight ball.
00:58:35Once they get a few dollars they become greedy and want more.
00:58:38My, my.
00:58:39Caesar.
00:58:40Who?
00:58:41You know that Roman general?
00:58:42He got his for being greedy.
00:58:43He wasn't satisfied so the final wind up was he took the count.
00:58:46A couple of days ago you didn't have a dime.
00:58:49Why you were so broke you couldn't pay cash for a post-it stamp.
00:58:52Now you've got almost $700 with 1850 in the offing.
00:58:55Take my advice.
00:58:56Don't try for more.
00:58:57I'm tired of this game.
00:58:59Let's have some blackjack.
00:59:00Play solitaire.
00:59:01Okay I will if that's the way you feel about it.
00:59:02That's the way I feel about it.
00:59:03Getting sore and throwing things won't help much Roberts.
00:59:06I'm really doing you a favor.
00:59:07I help you out of the jam by keeping my mouth shut.
00:59:09I show you how to make some soft money.
00:59:11And what thanks do I get?
00:59:12Thanks.
00:59:13Sure.
00:59:14Would you rather call the cops and tell them you killed a man and stole his money?
00:59:16I didn't kill anybody.
00:59:17Yes you did.
00:59:18No I didn't.
00:59:19You know I didn't.
00:59:20All right then.
00:59:23Suppose I call the cops.
00:59:24If you're innocent what do you got to be scared of?
00:59:27Okay.
00:59:28Call them you mutt.
00:59:29Go ahead and call them.
00:59:30See if I care.
00:59:31At least they'll give me a square deal.
00:59:33You want me to call them?
00:59:34You heard me.
00:59:35But I'm warning you.
00:59:36If I'm pinched I'll swear you were in on it.
00:59:38I'll say that you helped me.
00:59:39If I fry I'll get even with you.
00:59:41You wouldn't dare.
00:59:42You didn't.
00:59:43Yeah?
00:59:44Then try it and see.
00:59:45Call them.
00:59:46Yeah.
00:59:47Okay I will.
01:00:02Information?
01:00:04I want the number at the Hollywood police station.
01:00:09Okay I got it.
01:00:10Thanks.
01:00:14Wait a minute Vera.
01:00:15You wouldn't do that.
01:00:16Oh wouldn't I?
01:00:17Give me that and I'll show you if I would.
01:00:18Take it easy now.
01:00:19Let's talk this over.
01:00:20This was early in the evening.
01:00:22And the conversation while hectic was at least pitched low.
01:00:26But as the minutes passed and more obstacles to her plan popped into my head the air got blue.
01:00:33Each word coming from our lips cracked like a whip.
01:00:36I reminded her that as Charles Haskell I didn't even know my mother's name.
01:00:40Where I'd gone to school.
01:00:42The name of my best friend.
01:00:44Whether I had an Aunt Emma or not.
01:00:46My religion.
01:00:47And if I'd ever owned a dog.
01:00:49I didn't even know what my middle initial stood for.
01:00:51I also pointed out that the real Haskell had a scar on his forearm.
01:00:55His people never saw that scar.
01:00:57He told me he ran away right after putting out the kid's eye.
01:01:00Yeah but his father knew he was cut.
01:01:01It had to be some kind of a mark.
01:01:02So what?
01:01:04The old man's dead or will be.
01:01:06I hope by tomorrow morning's papers.
01:01:08Anyway.
01:01:09You could cut yourself a little couldn't you?
01:01:12Boy for that kind of dough I'd let you cut my leg off.
01:01:16You're drunk and you're crazy mad Vera.
01:01:18Turn him in if you want to.
01:01:19But I won't get mixed up in this.
01:01:20Besides how do we know Haskell was such a phony.
01:01:22Maybe he wasn't the man's son at all.
01:01:23Maybe he just dreamed it up.
01:01:24Well dream it or not.
01:01:26You won't be dreaming when the law attacks you on the shoulder.
01:01:30There's a cute little gas chamber waiting for you Roberts.
01:01:34And I hear extradition to Arizona's Ascension.
01:01:37Where's that phone?
01:01:39Vera.
01:01:40Leave me alone.
01:01:41Vera.
01:01:42I want a phone.
01:01:43Call police.
01:01:44I hate you yellow stinker.
01:01:48You leave me alone.
01:01:49I'll let you alone when you promise to leave the phone where it is.
01:01:51You're drunk.
01:01:52You don't know what you're doing.
01:01:53You're hurting me.
01:01:54Will you promise?
01:01:55All right.
01:02:00I'll open up the window.
01:02:01Vera.
01:02:02Vera, open the door.
01:02:03Please open the door.
01:02:04Vera, open the door.
01:02:05Vera, open the door.
01:02:06You're hurting me.
01:02:07I'm sorry, but...
01:02:08It's hot in here.
01:02:09Open up the window.
01:02:10It's not hot.
01:02:11Don't tell me.
01:02:12Now do you do it or do I do it.
01:02:13You're no gentleman, see?
01:02:14Yeah.
01:02:15All right.
01:02:16I'll open up the window.
01:02:17Vera.
01:02:18Vera, open the door.
01:02:19Please open the door.
01:02:20Vera, open the door.
01:02:21Vera, open the door.
01:02:23Don't use the phone.
01:02:24Listen to me.
01:02:25I don't like you, Roberts.
01:02:26You're no gentleman, see?
01:02:27You hurt my hand.
01:02:28And I'm going to get even with you.
01:02:29If you don't open the door, I'm going to kick it down, Vera.
01:02:30Vera, don't call the cops.
01:02:31Listen to me.
01:02:32I'll do anything you say.
01:02:33Vera, let me in.
01:02:34I'll break the phone.
01:02:35Because I'll get you.
01:02:36Come on.
01:02:37I'll do anything.
01:02:38I'll do anything.
01:02:39Vera, come on.
01:02:40I'll get you.
01:02:41I don't want to get you.
01:02:42Look.
01:02:43You see?
01:02:44You hurt my hand.
01:02:45And I'm going to get even with you.
01:02:46If you don't open the door, I'm going to kick it down, Vera.
01:02:48Vera, don't call the cops.
01:02:49Listen to me.
01:02:50I'll do anything you say.
01:02:51Vera, let me in.
01:02:53I'll break the phone.
01:03:05The world is full of skeptics.
01:03:31I know.
01:03:32I want myself.
01:03:35In the Haskell business, how many of you would believe he fell out of the car?
01:03:38And now, after killing Vera without really meaning to do it, how many of you would believe
01:03:42it wasn't premeditated?
01:03:45In a jury room, every last man of you would go down shouting that she had me over a barrel
01:03:49and my only out was force.
01:03:53The room was still, so quiet that for a while I wondered if I had suddenly gone deaf.
01:03:59It was pure fear, of course, and I was hysterical.
01:04:02But without making a sound, Vera was dead, and I was her murderer.
01:04:09Murderer?
01:04:10What an awful word that is.
01:04:12But I'd become one, and I'd better not get caught.
01:04:16What evidence there was around the place had to be destroyed.
01:04:19And from the looks of things, there was plenty.
01:04:21Looking around the room at things we'd bought was like looking into the faces of a hundred
01:04:24people who'd seen us together and who remembered me.
01:04:27This was the kind of testimony I couldn't rub out.
01:04:30No, I could burn clothes and hide bottles for the next five years.
01:04:36There'd always be witnesses.
01:04:38The landlady, for one.
01:04:39She could identify me.
01:04:40The car dealer, the waitress in the drive-in, the girl in the dress shop, and that guy in
01:04:42the liquor store.
01:04:43They could all identify me.
01:04:46I was cooked.
01:04:48Done for.
01:04:49I had to get out of there.
01:04:51While once I'd remained beside a dead body, planning carefully how to avoid being accused
01:04:56of killing him, this time I couldn't.
01:05:00This time I was guilty.
01:05:01Knew it.
01:05:04Felt it.
01:05:05I was like a guy suffering from shock.
01:05:08Things were whirling around in my head.
01:05:10I couldn't make myself think right.
01:05:12All I could think of was the guy with the saxophone and what he was playing.
01:05:16It wasn't a love song anymore.
01:05:19It was a dirge.
01:05:49But my problems weren't solved.
01:05:54I had to stay away from New York for all time.
01:05:58Because Al Roberts was listed as dead and had to stay dead.
01:06:02But my problems weren't solved.
01:06:05I had to stay away from New York for all time.
01:06:08Because Al Roberts was listed as dead and had to stay dead.
01:06:12And I could never go back to Hollywood.
01:06:15Someone might recognize me as Haskell.
01:06:18Then too, there was Sue.
01:06:21I could never go to her with a thing like this hanging over my head.
01:06:25All I could do was pray she'd be happy.
01:06:35I was in Bakersfield before I read that Vera's body was discovered.
01:06:40And that the police were looking for Haskell in connection with his wife's murder.
01:06:57Isn't that a laugh?
01:06:59Haskell got me into this mess.
01:07:01And Haskell was getting me out of it.
01:07:03The police were searching for a dead man.
01:07:09I keep trying to forget what happened.
01:07:12And wonder what my life might have been if that car of Haskell's hadn't stopped.
01:07:19But one thing I don't have to wonder about.
01:07:22I know.
01:07:25Someday a car will stop to pick me up that I never thumbed.
01:07:29Yes, fate or some mysterious force can put the finger on you or me for no good reason at all.
01:07:59To be honest with you.
01:08:00We don't have a full eye.
01:08:01Bye.
01:08:02Bye.
01:08:03Bye.
01:08:04Bye.
01:08:05Bye.
01:08:06Bye.
01:08:07Bye.
01:08:08Bye.
01:08:12Bye.
01:08:13Bye.
01:08:14Bye.
01:08:16Bye.
01:08:18Bye.
01:08:20Bye.
01:08:21Bye.
01:08:22Bye.
01:08:23Bye.