It's as much for me as for anyone.
I couldn't bear the thought of losing you so soon.
We're gonna be able to use your book for our case.
You... you'll write we never got to raise an insanity plea.
You wrote how terrible the lawyers was.
I... I haven't written a word yet.
What have you been doing?
Research. Talking to you.
All right.
I... I had hoped...
wh-what are you calling it?
The book?
I have no idea.
Perry,
if I知 going to write about you,
if I知 going to determine how to write about you,
we need to talk about,
you know, why you're here.
And,
you know, the murders,
and that night
at the clutter house.
Do you worry what I値l think?
Is that it?
Dick says you know Elizabeth Taylor.
I know a lot of people.
Perry, I have invitations to be in morocco, Greece,
and I prefer to be here
with you.
Jack, be patient with me.
I'm just missing this one piece.
Well, how long is that gonna take?
Why don't you just try leaving him alone for a while?
Come to Spain.
You can always visit him later.
I don't know.
Well, I知 off. I'm just... I致e got my own writing to do.
Well, do it in Brooklyn. Wait for me.
There's too many people around. I've...
I値l leave the address on the kitchen table.
Well, think about what I said, and join me when you can.
I will.
Ok?
Bye.
Hi.
Truman.
We never intended on killing that family.
Capote,
will you get that straight in your book, please?
No premeditation.
What are you doing?
I have to fly back east.
When?
An hour. I miss you already.
Write me every 5 minutes.
Hey, you know, we never did intend on killing that family.
Capote?
What?
Truman,
I致e not been able to tear myself away from your book.
It's that good.
It's... it's not good, it's astonishing.
This first half is astonishing. Oh, thank you.
When will you be done, do you think?
Yes, I... I知 already well into the third part.
But I...
I can't finish that till I convince Perry
to describe the night of the killings to me.
I was... I was planning to visit this fall, see?
Then I think you need to talk to him now.
And we all need to see how this ends for the final part.
I... I... I can't finish the book till I know what happens.
If Perry and Dick are executed, it's one thing.
And if not, weli...
Truman, you've got your ending.
I really don't know.
The Kansas court denied their appeal.
It came over the wire on Friday.
I mean, you need to talk to Perry now.
He'll be dead by September.
I mean, I知 sorry. I know how much you've come to care about him.
Right. Yes, right.
So I want to set up a reading for you in the fall, in New York,
and, uh, well, we'll build some interest,
and we'll publish in the fall.
Thank god. There's nothing in the house.
Why aren't you working?
Well, I knew you couldn't be counted on to stock the kitchen.
What are we going to feed our famous guest?
Oh, Jesus, I completely forgot.
Plus, I, uh, finished my novel yesterday.
What?
When was the last time you wrote to him?
I don't know.
What's this?
It's a letter for Truman I was asked to deliver.
It's from Perry.
Let's have it.
"Dear friend Truman, where are you?
"Read this item in a medical dictionary.
'Death by hanging is caused by asphyxia,
'by fracture of the cervical vertebrae,
'by laceration of the trachea.'
"Not too comforting, as we lost our appeal.
"Missing you.
"Alone and desirous of your presence.
Your amigo, Perry."
Mr. Shawn told me about the court decision yesterday.
I was wondering why you were in such a good mood.
That's a terrible thing to say.
I... I write him all the time I致e just...
I致e been so focused on- - on the book lately.
So Jack thinks I知 using Perry,
but he also thinks I fell in love with him when I was in Kansas.
Now, how both of those things can be true is beyond me.
Thank you.
Well, did you?
Did you fall in love with him?
I don't know how to answer that.
Truman.
It's as if Perry and I grew up in the same house,
and one day he stood up and went out the back door
while I went out the front.
Are you kidding me?
No.
Listen, you be nice to Jack.
Sometimes I think he's what I like about you best.
I'll see you at the reading in New York.
16th.
Adios.
What was he in jail for?
Well, they said it was for not paying his taxes,
but really, for being an outsider.
Refusing to go along.
Lowell, you're being moved.
Why?
You're going to final holding. No.
Come on, Lowell. Open the door.
Stand up.
Put your arms behind your back.
Ok, last chance.
Well, get up. Ah!
Turn around.
Put your arms behind your back.
Now Dick and me, we're next in line.
I'm so sorry I致e been away.
It was a long time.
I know.
How's the book coming along?
Oh, very slowly.
Will you show it to me?
I've hardly written anything.
Good evening, New Yorkers,
and thank you for coming to the first public reading,
the first offering of any kind,
of Truman Capote's new work, in cold blood.
Hello. My name is Truman Capote.
For this... for this evening's program,
I知 going to read, uh, some passages
from the first 3 parts of my new book.
"The village of Holcomb
"stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas,
"a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there.'
"Until one morning in mid-November, 1959,
"few Americans, in fact, few Kansans, had ever heard of Holcomb.
"Like the waters of the Arkansas river,
"like the motorists on the highway,
"exceptional happenings never stopped there.
"Perry Smith's voice was both gentle and prim.
"A voice that, though soft,
"manufactured each sound exactly,
"ejected it like a smoke ring issuing from a parson's mouth.
"The 4 coffins, which quite filled
the small, flower-crowded parlor
"were to be sealed at the funeral services,
"very understandably,
"for the effect was disquieting.
"Nancy wore her dress of cherry-red velvet,
"her brother a bright plaid shirt.
"The parents were more sedately attired,
"Mr. Clutter in navy-blue flannel, his wife in navy-blue crepe.
"And it was this especially that lent the scene an awful aura,
"the head of each was completely encased in cotton.
"A swollen cocoon
"twice the size of an ordinary blown-up balloon.
"And the cotton,
"because it had been sprayed with a glossy substance,
"twinkled like Christmas tree snow.
"One Tuesday at dawn, a carload of strangers,
"ignorant of the local disaster,
"were startled by what they saw as they crossed the prairies
"and passed through Holcomb.
"Windows ablaze.
"Almost every window in almost every house,
"and in the brightly-lit rooms, fully-clothed people,
"even entire families,
"who had sat the whole night wide awake watchful, listening.
"Of what were they frightened?
It might happen again."
Thank you.
And I slipped and I ripped a hole
from the bottom of my scrotum...
All the way up to the top of the crack of my ass.
And I sat there.
And I didn't know it. All I felt was a...
I... I didn't know it. All I felt was a cool breeze you know, between my...
Sorry. If I may, uh...
yes.
Your portrait of those men was terrifying.
Terrifying.
Thank you.
Stop that man! Come back here!
Dad!
Have any of you met my father?
He hasn't spanked me in years.
George didn't come backstage.
He had... he had a...
something that his wife had to rush him off to.
But he made a point of...
yeah, well, I知 still wal... I知 still waiting for a call.
It was beautiful. And everybody came. Hmm. Tennessee...
everybody came. Tennessee loved it.
Of course he loved it.
Should we do more?
No, we... we just sit and wait while people talk about it
and we let them do the work.
I mean, this... this book is going to change everything.
It's gonna change how people see your writing.
I think it's going to Chan how people write.
Are you gonna be finished by October?
I think so.
You know, they're scheduled for next month.
To hang.
Yeah.
We're gonna commit as many issues as it takes to publish.
Whatever it takes.
Well, I知 going to Kansas tomorrow, and...
and I値l get Perry to talk.
What's he got to lose?
Sorry, but...
hey, this may sound strange to you,
but I知 going to miss him.
You'll be able to finish now.
Need to check your papers, sir.
This is what we've been waiting for.
A stay of execution to make a federal appeal.
All thanks to you.
Thank you!
They're not gonna corner me now.
Not unless the U.S. Government says so.
Kansas has had it in for me for 10 years.
They can't corner me now. Mmm-mmm.
Hey, Perry, sit down
for a minute.
I... I need you to talk to me.
We've got all the time in the world to talk.
I've been thinking about Ricardo.
You really need to stop sending him those trashy books.
I won't even mention the pornography.
Now, I realize that
Dick probably can't grasp the literature that you gave me.
Uh, the books you send him only...
they only exacerbate the problem.
They only heighten or intensify it.
Maybe we can get him started on a program. Perry,
I know what "exacerbate" means.
Ok, well, just thinking...
there... there's not a word or a sentence
or a concept that you can illuminate for me.
There is one singular reas I keep coming here.
Truman. November 14, 1959.
3 years ago. 3 years.
Hmm?
And that's... that's all I want to hear from you.
Now I asked you not to. Ever.
This is absurd.
Do you know what absurd means?
I'm ready. I have a plane to catch.
I found your sister in Tacoma.
Maybe she'll talk to me about something useful.
Please don't go out there.
Hey, this is my work, Perry.
I'm working.
And when you want to tell what I need to hear, you let me know.
June's dead.
Frank shot himself.
Now Perry did what he did.
I used to love him. He was my little doll.
He scares me now.
When was the last time you saw him?
10 years ago.
10 years.
Could I borrow one of these pictures?
Take the whole thing. I don't want them anymore.
Don't be taken in by my brother.
He's got this sensitive side he'll show.
You believe he's gentle and so easily hurt,
but he'd just as soon kill you as shake your hand. I believe that.
Hello, handsome.
What's the name of your book?
I don't know what you're talking about.
"Truman Capote read last night before a packed audience
"from his nonfiction book in cold blood.
"The true-crime novel tells of killers Richard Hickock
"and Perry Smith,
who brutally murdered a Kansas family 3 years ago."
Wait, who sent that to you?
That's not your goddamn business.
It is my business, because it's not true.
The organizers of the reading needed a title.
They picked one,
a sensational one, I admit,
to attract a crowd.
They picked it?
Yes.
It's not your title.
Perry, I haven't chosen one yet.
How could I choose a title
when we still haven't talked about that night?
How could I? I couldn't possibly.
You pretend to be my friend.
I'm sorry.
I should have told you.
And I couldn't pretend to be your friend
'cause the truth is, I can't help wanting to be.
You don't have to tell me anything...
if you don't want to.
I have something
from your sister.
She misses you.
Look at my belly.
There must be something wrong with us, to do what we did.
We heard there was $10,000 in that house.
Once we tied up everybody and searched all over,
I knew the guy that told us about it was...
was wrong. There was... there was no money.
Dick wouldn't believe it
so he went tearing through the house,
banging on the walls
looking for a safe.
When he was done, he...
said he was gonna go up to Nancy's room and have his way with her.
I wouldn't allow it.
And I told him that.
So I sat with her.
Dick came up and got me.
We turned off the lights and went down to the basement
where Mr. Clutter and the boy was.
He kept saying, "no witnesses," but I...
I figured if I waited him out, he'd...
he'd give up and we'd leave them tied up there.
And we'd drive all night. They'd never find us.
We tied Mr. Clutter's wrists to a pipe over his head.
And he... he looked hurt, so I cut him down.
I... I put a box out there so he'd be more comfortable.
He asked how his wife and daughter was and I... I said they were fine,
and they were getting ready for sleep, and it wouldn't be long tili...
till morning when they'd find him.
He was just looking at me.
Looking into my eyes.
Like he expected me to kill him.
Like he expected me to be the kind of person who would kill him.
I was thinking, "this... this nice man is scared of me."
I was so ashamed.
I mean, I thought he was a... a very nice...
gentle man.
And I thought so right up till I slit his throat.
I didn't know what I did till I heard the sound.
Added up,
how much money did you get from the clutters that night?
Between $40 and $50.
I mean, the truth is,
I知 desperate to be done with it.
I've spent 4 years of my life on this book.
They got a stay of executive yesterday.
Another, yes.
Supreme court.
It's harrowing.
Me, all I want to do is to write the ending and there's no end in sight.
No, thank you.
"Dear friend Truman,
"haven't heard from you in such a long while.
"Please help find new lawyer.
"If not, Dick will have to write
"the supreme court brief himself.
"Our last appeal.
"What a pair of wretched creatures.
"Please help.
Your amigo? Perry."
Just put it with the others.
You know, at least for Nelle you should...
you should try and pretend you're having a good time tonight.
I thought I壇 find you here.
Oh, Nelle.
Nelle.
Thank you.
I'll have another, please.
How are you?
Terrible.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I mean, it's torture the way...
what they're doing to me.
And now it's the supreme court.
And can you believe it?
If they win this appeal,
I wili...
have a complete nervous breakdown.
I may never recover,
and I値l just pray that it turns my way.
It must be difficult.
Oh, it's torture.
They're torturing me.
I see.
And how'd you like the movie, Truman?
Yeah...
I frankly don't see what all the fuss is about.
Hello.
Mr. Truman Capote?
Yeah.
I have a call from Mr. Perry Smith
in the Kansas correctional system.
Will you accept charges?
Yes.
Mr. Smith, you're on the line.
Hello.
Hello?
Hello, Perry.
They let me make a couple of phone calls before I go down to holding.
Y-y-you heard the supreme court rejected the appeal?
No, I... I didn't. I hadn't heard that.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Yeah. They let me make 2 phone calls.
We got a date set for the warehouse, Dick and me.
2 weeks and finito.
April 14.
Will you visit me?
Truman?
It's... it's him again.
It is utterly inappropriate for me to talk to him.
Yes?
I'm sorry, he won't be able to make it.
Hello?
Mr. Shawn, it's Nelle.
I just got this telegram. Has he seen it?
He won't read it.
Would you put him on, please?
Nelle, he won't talk.
Mr. Shawn, if you have to hold him down and put the phone on his ear,
I need to speak to him.
All right.
Um,
um,
it's Nelle.
Truman.
"Miss Nelle Harper Lee and Truman Capote.
"Sorry that Truman was unable to make it here to the prison
"for a brief word prior to necktie party.
"Whatever his reason for not showin' up,
"I want him to know that I cannot condemn him for it.
"Not much time left,
"but want you both to know that I致e been sincerely grateful
"for your friendship through the years
"and everything else.
"I'm not very good at these things.
"I have become extremely affectionate toward you both.
"But, harness time.
Adios, amigos. Your friend, Perry."
Well, I didn't expect to see you again.
You can visit for a few minutes.
Yeah. No.
5 minutes.
Well, well.
He returns.
I don't know what you must think of me.
Well, you haven't been foremost on my mind lately,
as you can probably imagine.
You got the letter?
Yes, I did.
It's true.
I understand why you didn't want to come.
I wouldn't be here either if I didn't have to.
You got that right.
You know Ricardo donated his eyes to science?
Next week, some blind man will be seeing what Dick used to see.
Yeah, you could be walking in Denver or somewhere, Truman,
and suddenly these eyes will be staring at you.
That would be something, wouldn't it?
It would be. It would be.
You'll be watching?
I don't know, I値l be...
do you want me to?
I'd like to have a friend there.
Ok. Then I will.
It's all right.
I did everything I could.
It's ok.
I truly did.
I know.
It's time.
Mr. Capote.
Goodbye.
You're not rid of us yet.
We'll see you in a few minutes.
I wish I had... Mr. Capote.
Goodbye.
Nice to see you.
Perry Edward Smith.
For the crime of murder in the first degree,
by order of the cour t of Finney county
and the supreme court of the sovereign state of Kansas,
you are sentenced to hang until you die.
"I will fear no evil: For thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me."
You can say something if you want.
Is there anybody from the family here?
No, Perry.
Well, tell them...
I can't remember what I was gonna say for the life of me.
Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
...as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
It was a terrible experience
and I will never get over it.
They're dead, Truman. You're alive.
And there wasn't anything I could have done to save them.
Maybe not,
but, the fact is, you didn't want to.