Morning, friend. Say, it looks like we're...
Driving all the way into San Francisco. Going that far?
Now I remember the end of that story.
The other Scotchman says, he says,
"Well, since it's a long story,
"we might as well blow out the..."
"Candle," he says.
- Sixth floor, quick! - Okay, okay, mister.
- What's all the rush? - Get going.
Oh, Dr. Craig. You've come to see Miss Shelby off.
No.
I've come to take her with me.
You'll find a couple of cops in the car downstairs.
- Send one of them for an ambulance. - Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Right away!
Jo Jo.
- Hello, Jo Jo. - Hello, kid.
The box. The box!
- Take it easy. - There it is.
Give it to me. I want it.
- All right. - I want it.
Give it to me! I want it!
Careful, you'll cut yourself. That iron's rusty.
Careful? That's funny. You're funny, Jo Jo.
It's broken. He broke it.
He shouldn't have done it. It's mine, it's all mine now.
Everything's mixed up.
What mixes things up,
Jo Jo?
Simple arithmetic, kid. Remember?
Yes, simple arithmetic.
You're laughing at me.
You rotten...
Oh, I hurt inside.
Simple arithmetic.
Yes.
One and one make two.
I wanted money.
Frankie Olins had it.
He took it from a shiny red bank truck
two days before Christmas.
$400,000.
Only,
before he could take it,
he had to kill the driver.
Frankie was in jail now.
The people of the State of California said he had to die.
But only Frankie knew where the money was hidden.
- And he'll be three next Saturday. - That's swell.
It seems just yesterday...
We get to practice baseball twice a week now. Isn't that great, Pop?
Get hold of Vincent, tell him O'Hara's no good.
Tell him I want a new mouthpiece for the appeal.
The best mouthpiece in the world.
That takes money, Frankie, a lot of money.
Tell Vince to lay it out.
He told me he laid out 30,000 already.
Have you been seeing Jim Vincent?
No, Frankie boy, of course not.
He just phoned. Said he was running short.
Frankie, we may need part of that bank money to get...
Forget it.
The secret of where that money is doesn't walk out of here
unless I walk out with it.
Listen, baby.
You don't think I care anything about that money, do you?
No.
You're the only thing I care about.
That's all that money means to me, you!
Clothes for you, pretty things for you.
That's why I did it, that's why I took the chance,
even on a murder rap,
because I want you to be beautiful for me.
For me. Not for anybody else, just me.
All right, time's up.
Come on, come on, you'll see him again. He ain't going anywhere.
Listen, Margot, honey. Tell Vince he's gotta get up that dough.
You gotta go now, lady. Time's up.
He knows he'll get it back. I'll make it worth his while.
I'll get out on appeal. I'll get out.
- Goodbye, Frankie darling. - So long, honey.
Frankie was kidding himself. He was through.
And when he went, the money would go with him.
Unless...
There was still one small chance, a long shot.
Something I had read about a long time ago.
Something I hadn't mentioned before.
Something called Methylene Blue.
Yes, Methylene Blue.
What kind of stuff is it?
- It's a sort of chemical... - Hold it.
It's the stuff they use
when there's been an accident in a laboratory somewhere.
Is this straight? How does it work?
I don't know that. We'll have to get a doctor.
But I do know this, Frankie's appeal doesn't stand a chance,
and in California that means the gas chamber.
They'll execute him with something they call hydrocyanic gas,
and the antidote for that is Methylene Blue.
- What's the catch? - The catch?
It'll cost plenty and it's a long shot.
We'll have to find a doctor who's willing to risk it,
we'll have to get Frankie to him within an hour after the execution,
and we've got to make sure there's no autopsy performed.
Who's gonna pick up the body? Frankie's got no relatives.
Add another $5,000 to the bill.
Yeah? And who pays off?
Frankie, if it works.
And if it doesn't?
Oh, I know, two slugs.
Well, let's drink to your future, huh?
Look, honey, I spoke to Harry.
I think he'll find a spot in the show for you.
Oh, that would be wonderful.
Please, Sarge, no trouble.
He's kind of nasty when he's been drinking.
Why don't you keep that two-bit hood out of here?
Come here, Ruthie. I want you to meet an old friend of mine.
Well, well, if it ain't Little Boy Blue throwing his buffalos around.
Here he is, Ruthie. Jo Jo, the wonder boy himself.
The best dressed flatfoot in town.
Come here.
- Yes, sir. - Put her in a cab.
Okay.
I told you not to play with babies.
Don't call me Jo Jo. The name is Joseph.
Beat it.
I'm closing you up, Mike.
It ain't our fault, Sarge. Honest, it ain't.
Kelsey brought her in here.
Louie asked her how old she was, she said 23.
- If she's 20, I'll eat that glass. - Well, Kelsey brought her in.
Okay, okay. But if I catch you selling liquor to minors,
I'll bust this joint into toothpicks.
Oh, no, that's all right, Sarge. It's on the house. It's a pleasure.
Take it.
Playing the second team, kid?
- Frankie mightn't like it. - What's on your mind, Jo Jo?
A few hundred thousand dollars.
Why not talk to Frankie Olins about it?
I'd rather talk to you.
I've already told you I don't know anything.
Why don't you stop trying to push her around, you...
What?
I thought when I got Frankie you'd have sense enough
to climb up off the trash heap.
- To your level? - There's worse.
Do they have this kind of trash on your level, Jo Jo?
No.
Don't have this kind either.
Someday you're gonna go too far, Portugal.
Uh-huh.
When I do, I'll be coming after you.
I'd like to skin that flatfoot.
- His skin's pretty tough, Vince. - Maybe.
I'm gonna find out someday.
Well, what about Frankie?
- What about him? - That's up to you.
Look, honey, that appeal ran me 15Gs.
That means that altogether I've got 45 grand invested in that guy.
You'll get it back
if we get Frankie out.
I'm not so sure I want to get him out.
$45,000 is a lot of money.
Maybe I don't mind losing it.
Well, which is it?
Me or your $45,000?
I don't know.
Maybe I might wind up with both.
Jim Vincent was tough and shifty, like an alley cat,
and about as hard to handle.
But if I wanted Frankie out of jail, I needed help,
and Vincent was willing.
Simple arithmetic it was.
Step one was finished.
It was now time for step two.
Good morning. Can I help you?
- Is Dr. Craig in? - Yes. Come in, please.
Is it anything serious?
You see, the doctor is asleep right now. Of course, if it's terribly important...
Oh, no, no. I understand. Don't wake him. It's just a shoulder pain.
Doctors don't have much chance to rest, do they?
Dr. Craig doesn't.
There's a lot of work in this neighborhood. Then there's the free clinic
and, of course, two days a week at the state prison.
There was an execution at the prison late last night
and he's the officiating doctor.
Well, what would be the best time?
I couldn't sleep...
- I'm sorry. - This is Miss...
Shelby, Margot Shelby.
How do you do, Miss Shelby?
Miss Shelby's been waiting to see you.
Won't you come in?
- What seems to be the trouble? - It's my shoulder, doctor.
It aches a little.
I thought Lloyd Craig would be easy,
but only part of him reached out to me.
The other part clung desperately
to the ideals that have driven him all his life.
Ideals that have sent him into the slums to heal the poor.
Ideals so strong they've become a shield against his poverty,
his bitter Ioneliness.
I had to smash that shield.
I had to. I had to. I had to.
Darling?
What's the matter? You look so unhappy.
Oh, that. Don't think about it now.
I can't think of anything else. Day and night I...
Give me a cigarette.
Please.
Look, Margot. No, don't interrupt me.
I've got to talk about it now.
- I can't go through with it. - You don't have to, dear.
- But I thought you said... - I've been thinking about it, too.
I can't stand watching you fight yourself this way.
I don't want to hurt you.
I don't want to do anything that's going to make you unhappy.
And us?
- What about us? - What can there be about us?
What do you mean?
- What about all our plans? - Our plans?
Why do you think I want you to save Frankie?
Do you think I'd care whether he's alive or dead?
Not a bit. It meant money for us.
It meant being together, you and I.
- That's what I cared about. - We can still be married.
I have my practice, I have my prison work.
- We can start together and... - No, I couldn't, Lloyd.
- I just couldn't. - You said you loved me.
Do you remember the first time I came to see you in your office?
Your dingy, gloomy office in that dingy, dirty street,
the rotten smell from the factory chimneys
pressing down on the shabby little houses?
The slovenly old women, the gray-faced, dirty little children,
starting out with everything against them?
I remember that street.
- Do you love me? - Yes.
But I can't forget your street.
I remember every little thing about it.
And if I had never seen it, I still could have described it
because that street runs all over the world.
I know because that's the street I came from,
6,000 miles from here in a little English mill town.
But it's the same rotten street, the same factories, the same people,
and the same dirty little gray-faced children.
I need you.
Oh, it's no use, Lloyd.
I can't go back to that sick, unhealthy street,
the street I came from.
I can't go back to it. I can't, Lloyd, I won't.
And I can't leave it. I'm a doctor.
I've been trained to face things that are sick and unhealthy,
to make them better, not to run away from them.
And that's what you're trying to do, run away, run away from reality.
Reality? What do you know about reality?
You like the clothes I wear, don't you? You like to smell the perfume I use.
You like that, don't you?
That perfume costs $75 a bottle.
Seventy-five dollars.
That's as much as you earn in a week of sopping up running noses.
A bottle of perfume, that's our reality.
I can't do it your way.
That's what I said.
Doctor Craig's office.
No, he hasn't come in yet.
I couldn't say, he's usually in before this.
Yes, I'll have him call you. Yes. Goodbye.
Here, blow. Blow hard.
What did you say your address was, Mrs. Noonan?
Three hundred...
- Oh, good morning, Doctor. - Good morning, Doctor.
Excuse me a moment, Mrs. Noonan.
Mr. Pelletti's been waiting since 8:00.
He thinks his arm is worse.
I don't know who the girl is.
Mrs. Noonan, the lady with the boy, is new, too.
And Dr. Jones at the clinic has been calling
and wants you to phone him.
- Here's your call list. - Save it for later.
Send Pelletti in first.
Lloyd, what's troubling you?
You look as if you hadn't slept for days.
Why don't you talk to me anymore?
- Aren't you listening? - What?
What did you say?
Nothing.
Mr. Pelletti, the doctor will see you now.
Now, Mrs. Noonan, what did you say your address was?
- But, Doctor... - I don't care.
Let someone else deliver his papers.
He's got to stay in bed at least a week.
All right, Doctor. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Do you want your call list now?
- Tear it up. - What?
You heard what I said.
If any more patients come in, tell them I've gone away for the weekend.
But, Lloyd, you can't.
Darling, what's happened to you? You've never acted like this before.
What do you mean, what's happened to me?
Nothing's happened to me. I'm tired, that's all.
Tired of patients, tired of my work, tired of this shabby neighborhood.
And are you tired of...
No, I won't give you a chance to say it.
Good night, Lloyd.
Darling?
That's why I asked to have you brought here first, Miss Shelby.
Guard.
He won't speak to me, refuses even to see me,
and there are so few precious hours left.
If you could only make him realize...
Here we are.
Hello, Frankie.
Margot.
- What time is it? - 5:00.
Three more hours.
Come here, baby. I want to look at you.
New dress you got, isn't it?
And the gloves and the shoes.
And that silly little hat.
Oh, you're beautiful, Margot. So beautiful.
You're the only thing I hate to leave.
Maybe you won't have to, Frankie.
What do you mean?
Listen, and don't interrupt.
And I don't understand.
What is it that makes them willing to die without...
Yes, sir.
Yes? Yes, what?
Oh, well... That is...
So, see the Chaplain, Frankie.
Father, you can go in now. He'll see you.
D- I, di.
C- H-O-T, shot.
O- M-Y. Dishotomy.
Ain't that a lulu?
And get this one, didactic.
Hey, why don't you stop reading that junk?
What's the matter with the dictionary?
There ain't enough story to it.
All right, boys, bring him in.
- Anything else, Doc? - That's all, thanks.
- Okay, wrap him up. - Hey, Doc, what about the autopsy?
- What have I done now? - You would have to bring that up.
We can skip it tonight, boys.
There's somebody waiting for me and it's kind of late.
Okay, Doc.
Come on and help me with the box, Benny.
- Who, me? - Yeah, you.
Oh.
No, not like that.
How many times do I have to tell you? Fold it like this.
Now, what's wrong with the way I'm doing it?
Benny, don't be obfuscatory.
- Call Pete. - Who, me?
- Yeah, you. - Oh.
- Nice and tidy, Doc. - Hey, Pete!
Okay for the pick up.
Here's the order for cremation.
- All right, Pete. - That'll be all for tonight, Doc?
That's all, boys, thank you. Good night.
- Good night. - Good night, Doc.
Dishotomy, what a beautiful word.
Dishotomy.
Chotomy.
Hi. Got another oven job.
All right, Pete.
Okay, open them up.
- Everything okay? - Perfect.
They're gonna put him in the oven. I've got the orders in my pocket.
Good. Get moving, quick.
- Here's your dough. - Yeah, thank you.
Thanks, Mr. Vincent.
- Now beat it and keep your mouth shut. - Hey, wait a minute!
Where's the body you was gonna switch for Olins?
- Shut up, you. - No, where is it? You promised me.
I gotta deliver a body to the crematorium. I'll be in a spot, Mr. Vincent.
There's his body.
Let's go.
Come on, let's go.
All right, put him over there.
- Did you lock the door? - Yes. Don't worry about it.
Okay.
Here's yours.
It's worth more.
Well, I guess Pete won't be needing this.
Here's another five. Split it.
Okay, Vince.
Now, get out.
Well?
Sure, sure, we're going.
- Anything I can do to help, Doc? - Yes, be quiet.
Strap that ankle.
Reflex hammer.
Lloyd, you've done it!
- You've saved him! Oh, darling! - Keep quiet.
There's blankets in the closet.
He's coming to.
I'm alive.
I'm alive!
Margot, baby.
- Wait in the other room, Doc. - What for?
I wanna talk to Frankie. Go on outside.
- He's in no condition to talk now. - Get out.
Please, just for a few minutes.
It's all right now, Frankie boy.
Everything's all right now.
Yeah, it's all right now, isn't it?
I'm alive, Margot. Alive.
Everything's okay now.
Cigarette, Frankie?
Oh, yeah. Thanks.
You've been a good boy, Jim. I won't forget it.
Everything else I want to forget.
We'll go someplace, someplace far away.
I got dough, plenty of it. And we'll go now, right now.
- Jim, get me a car and some... - Snap out of it, Frankie.
- Snap out of what? - Do you think I'm crazy?
There are 5,000 cops in this state who know your face as well as their own.
- She's right, Frankie. - Who asked you?
Stop it, Frankie. You know it's true.
- We'd be picked up in an hour. - Maybe.
What's on your mind?
Simply this, you've got to get a new face, a face nobody'll ever recognize.
- Yeah, but... - Wait a minute. It's all set.
We've got a plastic surgeon who's gonna do the job.
It'll take about three weeks.
You can stay here meanwhile, but we've got to work fast.
What are we waiting for? Get him.
- It'll cost $25,000, Frankie. - So what?
It'll have to come out of that money you've got put away.
Nothing comes out of that money, until I take it out myself.
Vince'll pay for the doctor.
I'm into you for sixty Gs already.
60,000? For what?
Do you want an itemized account of what it cost to save your life?
Lay out the dough, Vince.
You know you'll get it back as soon as I can get out of here.
No soap, Frankie.
You've just been gassed.
How do I know what kind of shape you're in?
Maybe you wouldn't be able to pull through an operation.
What are you trying to say, Jimmy boy?
I got 60 grand coming to me now.
I can't afford to take a chance.
You better dig up that dough.
You think I'm going to die, too, huh?
No, darling. No, of course not.
It's just that if... If Vince is right, if something did happen to you,
what would become of me? What would I do?
You've got to think about me, too.
Why don't you tell me where the money is?
Don't you trust me, darling?
Yeah, sure I trust you. Sure.
Hey, maybe you're right.
Maybe you have gotta be protected.
Both of you. In case anything happens to me.
Yeah, maybe you're right.
I'll make a deal.
You lay out the dough for the new face,
I'll give Margot a map showing the place where I hid the dough.
Now, in case I don't pull through the operation okay, Margot pays off.
Is that okay, Jim?
It's okay by me, Frankie.
Here you are, baby. Here's your protection.
You don't have to be afraid any longer. You see, I do think about you.
- What have you done? - I also think about myself.
Don't be so disappointed, beautiful.
In case anything happens to me, I'll still be wearing these clothes.
Your protection will be waiting for you right here.
- I'll go for the doctor now. - Wait.
You haven't kissed me yet, Margot.
No, Frankie. Not now, there isn't time.
You're wrong, baby. There's time, plenty of time.
Just a little kiss, a little welcome back kiss.
- There isn't time, Frankie. - Why not?
Why not, Jimmy boy?
Why shouldn't I kiss my girl?
My little Margot, who doesn't have to worry anymore
about what's going to happen to her after I die.
Margot!
Dr. Craig?
Just dropped around for a visit
inside.
Gotta be an engineer too, eh, Doc?
Doc,
I came over to find out about Frankie Olins.
What about Frankie Olins?
You sign that?
Yes.
Well, I guess that takes care of that angle.
Sorry to bother you at this hour, Doc,
but there's been somebody playing pranks with Frankie's body
and I had to make sure he was dead.
Pranks?
Yeah.
Some hoodlums hijacked the morgue truck,
knocked off the driver, and walked away with Frankie.
Well, I gotta get going.
Oh, by the way, Doc, got a stay-awake pill handy?
- Stay-awake pill? - Yeah.
My office hours are worse than yours.
I still got a couple of house calls to make.
Thanks.
Guess you doctors don't get much sleep either?
Doctors and coppers.
A lot of coppers chasing shadows in the streets tonight.
- You mean Olins' body? - No.
The guys who took it.
I'm going out after a lad named Vincent.
I've been a long time saving it up for that guy.
When I get him, I'm going to lean on him heavy.
Thanks for the pill, Doc.
Oh, by the way, Doc,
I didn't find the autopsy report on Frankie.
Have it sent over to my office in the morning, will you?
I'll need it if the newspapers start screaming.
You can send an aspirin along with it.
- You murdered him. - Shut up, you fool.
I've got to get back to my apartment right away.
I'm a cinch to be number two on Portugal's list
when your place turns up empty.
He can't pin a thing on me.
Jo Jo doesn't play that way.
If he's after you, he must know something.
We've got to find out how much.
- What then? - We may have to run for it.
How? The roads will all be locked tight.
We can use Craig's car. It's got doctor's plates.
You'll have to drive.
Get out.
Both of you.
Get out.
Are you crazy?
Portugal's men are combing the city for Vincent.
I don't care. I'm through.
- You're nothing but... - You'd better care and you're not through.
You're in the middle. Deep. Over your head.
No matter what you do now,
you're still part of everything that's happened.
You're part of the grab for Frankie's money,
you're part of the murder that Portugal talked about tonight,
even the manhunt for Vince, you're part of that, too.
You're as guilty as we are and you might as well face it.
- No, no. - Yes.
Ask Portugal.
Ask him tomorrow when he finally gets tired of waiting for an autopsy report
that never arrives, because there never was an autopsy.
Vince, get the other half of the map.
I'll phone you from my place as soon as I know what's what.
All alone?
How did you get in here?
Makes two angles I misfigured tonight.
Must be the overtime.
How did you get in here?
Oh, getting in was easy.
I'm a little worried about getting out.
Georgia, what do you mean by letting him in?
He made me, Miss Margot. He made me.
- Said if I didn't, he'd put me in jail. - It's all right, Georgia. Go to bed.
- Cup of coffee? - Brave man.
Good coffee. Georgia made it.
What do you want?
Picked up a couple of knife-happy lads tonight.
They were out playing games, but they did a sloppy job.
One of the guys they stuck lived long enough to talk.
Yes?
One of the people he talked about was your little playmate, Vincent.
You mean you came here looking for Jimmy?
How disappointing.
I thought you came because you couldn't stay away from me any longer.
Don't let that face of yours go to your head.
Or to yours?
Wouldn't matter if it did.
People who use pretty faces like you use yours
don't live very long, anyway.
How do you think I should use my face, Jo Jo?
- You're rolling your own dice, kid. - Maybe.
I'd like to roll them for both of us.
The way you did for Frankie Olins?
He ran his own life and I ran mine.
We had the same ideas. Just add it up.
It's simple arithmetic.
Didn't add up so good for Frankie.
Why not? He had what he wanted, didn't he?
He spent more money in five years
than you'll make if you live to be 500.
- That's simple arithmetic, too. - Yeah.
Maybe I'll live.
Maybe you won't, if Jim Vincent sees you first.
Want some more coffee before you go?
Oh, no thanks. Save it.
You may wake up someday with an awful headache.
- Hello? - Vince?
Yeah, this is Vince.
Portugal's got you cold. We'll have to run for it.
I'll meet you at the corner of 16th and Cherokee in 15 minutes, right?
How is he?
Oh, he's all right.
No trouble?
No, no trouble.
We'll get it tonight.
Yeah, we'll get the dough right away.
Come on, Dr. Craig, get your hat and coat.
Come on, come on. We haven't got all night.
Turn right, keep going straight until you hit the State Highway.
You can ride this road right into Jordanville.
- How far is it? - About 150 or 160 miles.
The dough is in a place just off the highway about 12 miles past the town.
Step on it.
Police road block.
Don't be a fool.
All right, bud. Let's see your license.
- Hey, what's the matter with him? - He's sick.
I'm the doctor at Watchaprague.
Here's my Prison Bureau card.
Oh, okay. Sorry to hold you up, Doc. Go right ahead.
Close.
I need a drink after that.
Yeah, me, too.
Let's wait till we get through the town.
Good evening. Would you care to sit here, madam?
No, there.
Chili, hamburger, creamed chicken?
- The creamed chicken... - Get me a drink.
Tea, coffee? The coffee's fresh.
- Bourbon. - Oh.
I'll have some creamed chicken and some coffee.
And some Scotch first.
The same.
You handled that policeman beautifully, Lloyd.
Yeah.
I had to learn sometime, didn't I?
Didn't I?
Yeah.
Poor baby.
Dead baby.
You can't, Vince. We need him.
What for? He's too drunk to drive.
He's just dopey enough to start feeling loud and sorry for himself.
Maybe you need him.
All I need is half of that 400,000.
Half of that and me.
- When do we... - Oh, someplace between here and there.
Come on. I've got money singing in my brain.
Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's check that map first.
Ten feet from the eucalyptus tree,
a quarter of a mile off the highway.
Well, now, this is a cinch.
Let's go.
Try your luck on the punchboard, mister?
Five cents a chance.
Fellow in here yesterday won pretty near $2.
You know, dear, we really can't afford it yet.
You better get him.
I'll meet you outside.
You drive.
- Flat, huh? - Yeah, feels like it.
Yeah, it's flat all right. Got a spare?
Snap out of it, you. We gotta hurry.
We're on a State Highway.
He's in no condition. You'll have to do it yourself.
Take a look in the trunk.
Yeah, we got one.
All fixed. Got a puff?
Ready to roll in a minute. Just gotta let her down.
I'd like to kill you.
We're here! We're here!
Don't you understand?
Come on. Bring something to dig with.
Lloyd, hurry!
The eucalyptus trees. Where's the hatchet mark?
One, two, three,
four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
One, two, three,
four, five.
Lloyd, where are you, you fool?
Lloyd, here, I found it!
I found it, Lloyd! Come on! Come and dig it!
Come and dig for it! Dig!
There it is, in the ground.
It's right there beneath you, Lloyd. In the ground.
All our hopes, all our plans,
they're all right there beneath you!
Quickly, Lloyd, quickly.
Dig for it! Deeper! Faster! Quickly, Lloyd!
They killed for it! They all killed for it!
Frankie, Vincent, I killed for it!
And you, you too, you killed for it!
Get off! Get off it!
It's mine! It's all mine now!
It's mine, I found it!
It's mine!
Mine.
It's all mine now.
Jo Jo, please,
just this once,
come down to my level.
Simple arithmetic.
That's all it was.
"To you who double-crossed me,
"I leave this dollar for your trouble.
"The rest of the dough I leave to the worms."