Do you know the names of any of her boyfriends?
What is it? You can tell me.
Well,
I do remember, before she split,
her and Lorna...
Mertz?
Yeah. Her and Lorna Mertz.
I mean I don't want to tell any tales out of school
but I do remember them being up on Hollywood Boulevard
speaking to this older woman.
And she,
she was wearing a mars suit and had a mars short haircut.
But it was just that once.
Miss Saddon, are you saying they were talking to a lesbian?
(TRUCK HORN HONKING)
(WOMEN CHATTERING)
Your driver's here.
Yeah. I got to go.
We're not done yet.
Well, then, how about you arrest me?
Because the truck don't wait!
Why don't we take a look inside Lorna's bag, and then maybe you can go.
SADDON: That's her.
Christ, she's 15.
Do you know what studios Betty tested at?
They werert exactly studios.
MAN 1: Screen test, Elizabeth Short.
MAN 2: So, where are you from?
Boston.
How long you've lived here?
Two years.
Lost your accent. Yeah.
You know, when in Rome. Why? Are you looking for a girl with an accent?
No, no. That's all right.
Because I can just bring it back like that.
Because I'm a whiz with accents and I basically do every accent in the world.
We don't really need an accent, thank you.
'Cause I can be from anywhere.
Okay.
Let's hear that Boston accent.
Now? Yes.
No, I can't do it now.
I would have to meet with my dialect coach, Milton Perl,
who was introduced to me by David Selznick.
You know David O. Selznick?
I do.
He's been very, very, very kind to me.
He's taken me out to such beautiful dinners
in fancy restaurants.
And he's treated me like a lady
and with respect
and guess what.
He was very, very, very impressed
when I did my Scarlett for him.
MAN 2: (LAUGHING) You auditioned for Scarlett O'Hara?
No, I didn't audition for Gone With The Wind, but, the thing is...
Gosh, I just love that movie so much
that I decided that I had to memorize all of Scarlett's dialog.
Well...
And I want to do it for you
because I think you're handsome.
No, no, I don't think we need that... But I think you're handsome
and I'm going to do it for you right now.
"As God is my witness
"I will never go hungry again.
"Even if I have to lie
"or cheat
"or steal.
"I'll never go hungry again."
LEE: He hated her.
Bad, and he wanted the whole world to know it.
Lee, you got to eat something.
Get this off the table! God damn it!
Dwight, you got to do something.
He's been like this since last night.
Get some air. I'll take care of him.
Bucky, this ain't a random job.
He knew what he was doing every single step of the way.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
You learn anything about our girl today?
Nothing won'th you doing this to yourself.
Come on. Let's get out of here. No, I'm staying here with her.
Come on.
Go learn something about our girl!
(CARS HORNS HONKING)
WOMAN: Love
For sale
Advertising young love for sale
Beverage Control?
LAPD Homicide.
Who got snuffed?
Seen either of them?
The Dahlia's a sister?
I don't know. You tell me.
Never seen her except in the papers.
And the schoolgirl twist, I've never seen.
We don't truck with underage stuff, capisci?
Never seen her, man.
Don't fucking lie to me.
She's 15 fucking years old.
Come clean or I'll slap a contributing beef on you
and you'll spend the next five years
serving raisinjack to bull dykes in Tehachapi.
A couple of times. Two or three months ago.
She used to get drinks off the sisters,
though, she liked boys. I'm sure, man.
Not the Dahlia. Never.
For a trip to paradise
Love
For sale
Let the poets pipe of love
In their childish way
I know every type of love
Better far than they
If you want the thrill of love
I've been through
Excuse me, ladies. I'm sorry.
I was wondering if you've seen this girl.
Have you?
No.
Everything but true love
Havert seen her.
This girl?
Advertising young love
For sale
If you want to try my wares
Come with me and climb the stairs
Love
For sale
BUCKY: She wasrt the first Dahlia wanna-be I'd seen
but she was the best.
Was she the les that Betty and Lorna knew?
Or was she just some rich bitch with a taste for the low life?
(CAR DOOR CLOSING)
(CAR ENGINE STARTING)
I will not have these in my house anymore.
No!
It is insane!
After everything that's happened to us, Lee. I will nail this guy, Kay!
LEE: I'll do this, I will do this!
Talk to her, Bucky. Reason with her.
Jesus.
Lee, she's right.
There's at least three misdemeanors here.
You can't...
I promised him a week on this. Four more days, and it's over.
Dwight, you can be so gutless sometimes, you know that?
BUCKY: Three days since we killed four men.
Three days until Bobby DeWitt got out.
I tried to tell myself I was the sturdy leg in our little triangle.
I was worried it was true.
Slumming, Miss Linscott?
I am now.
Daddy spying on me again?
"Maddy, girl, you shouldn't be congregating
"in such unsuitable places.' '
I'm a policeman.
That's a new one.
Homicide.
Let's try Elizabeth Short and Lorna Mertz.
I know you knew them, so don't jerk me off.
Otherwise, it's downtown and a whole lot of publicity.
This is all a fluke.
I met them at LaVerne's last fall.
Betty, maybe one time. Lorna, a couple.
They'd come in to cadge a drink or a meal off a sister.
So why'd you rabbit last night?
Mister, my father is Emmett Linscott.
The Emmett Linscott?
He built half of Hollywood and Long Beach.
Imagine the headlines,
"Construction Tycoors Daughter Questioned in Dahlia Case.
"Footsie at Lesbian Nightclub.' '
Get the picture?
Technicolor.
So what'd you talk about?
When?
When you were playing footsie.
Lorna talked about her stupid boyfriend back in Hicktown, Nebraska, or wherever.
Betty talked about the latest issue of Screen World.
Starlets, Hollywood dreams, the whole sad nine yards.
So, did Betty ever tell you about a movie she was in?
On a conversational level, they were right up there with you.
Cute. Answer the question.
Look, I'm tired. Do you want my alibi so I can go home?
Sure.
My family and I were in Laguna from Sunday through Thursday, along with the servants.
If you want verification, call Daddy,
but please be discreet.
So,
what do I have to do to keep my name out of the papers?
What do you mean?
That's not very convincing.
I don't need your Daddy's money, if that's what you're saying.
You know it's not what I'm saying.
I might be convinced.
Tomorrow night, 8:00.
My address is 482 South Muirfield, Hancock Park.
I know the address.
Not surprised.
Pick me up.
Like a gentleman, not like a cop.
Oh, one more thing.
What's your name?
Bucky Bleichert.
Bucky?
I'll try to remember.
LEE: I can hear you just fine.
(PHONES RINGING)
Look, ma'am, you mind? I've just learned to type.
Yes, I understand. A werewolf and Red Sheridan.
What if the werewolf is Red Sheridan?
Yes, that would be more efficient.
I love tip duty.
How's Kay?
Not good.
You mind if I bunk out at your pop's place for a few days?
Sure.
Thanks.
(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)
DeWitt gets out tomorrow, Lee.
I was thinking maybe I should talk to him.
(RINGING)
Blanchard, Homicide.
Lee.
(RUMBLING)
MILLARD: All right, people, let's get back to work here.
Yeah, it's an earthquake. I heard it.
Look, I didn't know you were a boxer.
Daddy's heard of you and he insists you stay for dinner.
I told him we met at that art exhibit at Stanley Rose's Book Shop.
So, if you have to pump everybody for my alibi, be subtle.
BUCKY: Who's this?
Balto.
The paper is the L.A. Times for August 1, 1926.
Balto was bringing in the paper
when Daddy found out he made his first million.
He wanted to consecrate the moment,
so he shot him.
Here we go.
Mother, Father, this is my friend, Bucky.
Bucky, this is my mother, Ramona Cathcan't Linscott.
BUCKY: Nice to meet you.
MADELEINE: My father, Emmett Linscott.
BUCKY: Pleasure to meet you, sir.
And my sister, Martha McConville Linscott.
BUCKY: Hi.
Saw you fight Mondo Sanchez. Boxed the pants off him.
Another Billy Conn you might have been.
BUCKY: Thanks.
Can I get you something? Sure.
I'll get it, Daddy. Okay, darling.
Mondo gave a good show. Whatever happened to him?
Heroin overdose.
Too bad.
He shamed his family.
And speaking of families,
Ramona, Martha.
That's our best Glenlivet, laddie.
Madeleine says nice things about you.
Daddy,
can we eat?
Bucky and I want to catch a 9:30 show.
Of course, darling.
Dig in, lad.
Hearty fare breeds hearty people.
Haute cuisine breeds degenerates.
I want to draw Mr. Bleichert, Daddy.
You're in for a cruel caricaturing, Bucky.
Maddy's my pretty one, but Martha's my certified genius.
What kind of a name is Bleichert? Dutch?
German.
A great people, the Germans.
Hitler was a bit excessive.
But mark my words that someday we'll regret
not joining forces with him to fight the Reds.
You know, I killed a lot of your countrymen during the war.
Mr. Bleichert, have you met Balto in the hallway?
Yes. Very realistic.
EMMETT: An old friend stuffed him.
We were in the Scots Regiment together. Georgie Tilden.
He wanted to work in the flickers.
When did you move here?
1920.
Hollywood was a cow pasture but the silent flickers were booming.
Georgie got work as a lighting man, me building houses.
Georgie introduced me to Mack Sennett.
I helped him build that housing project he was putting up
underneath that god-awful sign.
Hollywoodland.
I used to love the Keystone Kops.
Me, too.
Old Mack knew how to squeeze a dollar dry.
He had extras moonlighting as laborers and vice versa.
Georgie and I used to drive them over to Hollywoodland
after 12 hours on a silent flicker.
Then put in another six hours by torchlight.
He even gave us movie credits a couple of times.
EMMETT: Mother.
Are you feeling well?
Would you like to contribute to the conversation?
Did you know, Mr. Bleichert,
that Ramona Boulevard is named after me?
I didn't.
When Emmett married me,
for my father's money,
he promised my family that he would use his influence
with the City Zoning Board
to have a street named after me.
But all he could manage
was a dead-end block
in a red-light district
in Lincoln Heights.
Are you familiar with the neighborhood, Mr. Bleichert?
I grew up there.
Yes, well,
then you'll know that Mexican prostitutes
expose themselves in windows.
I hear many of them know Mr. Linscott by name.
That's enough!
I will sing for my supper
when Mayor Bowron comes to dinner,
but not
for Madeleine's male whores.
He's a common policeman.
My God, Emmett!
How little you think of me.
(THUDDING)
I'm sorry. I'm really so sorry.
Mr. Bleichert.
(DOG BARKING)
BUCKY: You kept your name out of the papers.
Until the wedding.
Your mother would love that.
She's a snob.
The kind who takes pills the doctor gives her
so she doesn't have to admit to being a hophead.
Do you want to know a secret?
Sure.
Daddy bought rotten lumber
and old movie sets from Mack Sennett
and built houses out of them.
That's how he really made his money.
He's got firetraps all over LA.
His good friend Georgie, maimed in a car crash,
while running Daddy some errands.
And now he throws him scraps,
odd jobs, tending Daddy's rental properties.
You don't have to tell me this.
I like you, Bucky.
I didn't tell you all about Betty.
You didn't?
Don't be mad at me.
Last summer, I heard about a girl who looked like me.
I got curious.
I left notes at a couple of places,
"Your look-alike wants to meet you," things like that.
I left my number.
She called.
That's how I met her at LaVerne's with Lorna.
And that's all of it?
Yes.
Tell me something.
Why'd you want to meet Betty Short anyway?
I've worked hard to be loose
but the way people described Betty
it was like she was a natural.
"Don't walk out on me, Richard.
"Say you care. Say that you..."
MAN: Miss Short.
There is a pause after "care".
Are you familiar with the English language?
I try to be.
Okay.
Let's try it again.
And remember, go back to the beginning, you're begging him.
Begging.
He's walking out on you.
You're begging him.
So, come on, let's do it.
We're running out of film here. Let's go.
Richard, don't walk out on me.
Please say that you care.
Say that you think that I'm beautiful,
and that you love me.
Miss Short, you know, this is a very sad scene.
Do you think you're capable of playing sadness?
Sure.
I can do that.
(DUCKS QUACKING)
(DOG BARKING)
Miss!
MAN: Get your hands off her! I'm an emancipated minor
and if you touch me
without a matron present I'll sue you!
MAN: Leave her alone. No!
I'm a policeman. Policeman.
You and Betty made the casting rounds together, right?
Did you ever get any movie work?
No.
Well, then, what about the film can?
It's a movie.
What kind of movie?
Something tells me it's not David O. Selznick.
Now, you have to tell us the whole thing, sweetheart, so think it through.
I was cadging at a bar in Gardena.
This man started talking to me.
I thought I was pregnant
and I was desperate wicked bad for money.
He said he'd give me $200 to act in a nudie film.
He said he needed another girl, so I called Betty.
We made... Thank you.
...the movie at this big house
a couple of hours outside town.
Then he drove us back to LA.
Where was this house, exactly?
I was pretty out of it, if you know what I mean.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
What do you think, Russ?
This got anything to do with the girl's murder?
Long shot, Chief.
What's that about, gentlemen? Your boy can't hold his water?
I got you Warrants.
You're my men and you made me look like a fool
in front of the most powerful man in the department.
And you... Yeah, you. Look at me.
Blanchard? Look at me!
If you werert Mr. Fire,
you would be suspended from duty already.
You're a punch-drunk, washed-up fighter...
Stay out of this, Bleichert!
You're back on Warrants as of tomorrow.
I want you to report to me at 0800
with a letter of apology for Chief Green.
You are a political animal,
and for the sake of your pension,
I suggest that you grovel.
It is now 8:15 in the morning.
Where's your partner?
I don't know. I was hoping he'd be here.
Well, it is 8:15 and he is not here
and neither are his letters of apology.
Bleichert, get out of my sight.
Try and be a police officer.
OFFICER ON RADIO: Attention all units in the vicinity of Crenshaw and Stocker.
Code four.
Two dead. Suspect, dead.
Raymond "junior" Nash. Warrant number 5-6-0-9.
Repeat. Code four.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
BUCKY: We forgot about junior Nash.
Here he is, dead in the middle of a stickup.
He was trash and a killer
and I'd been right from the beginning.
We let him slip and the innocent died.
(SIGHING)
Blanchard!
He's in the mers.
No. I beat up a wall. For messing up Nash...
Not good enough.
I'm sorry, Bucky.
Not good enough.
(GROANING)
I'm sorry.
Oh, fuck, Lee! Fuck!
BUCKY: Losing the first Bleichert-Blanchard fight
got me local celebrity Warrants
and close to nine grand in cash.
Winning the rematch got me a sprained wrist,
two dislocated knuckles and the rest of the day off.
Smile at me.
Look soft and sweet.
I picked up Lorna Mertz yesterday.
She had a copy of a stag film,
her and Betty Short playing les.
Pretty spooky stuff.
Did she mention me?
No.
And I checked the case file.
No mention of that number-leaving note thing that you did.
Listen,
I'm withholding evidence for you.
It's a fair trade but it shakes me.
Are you sure there isn't anything
you haven't told me about you and Betty?
Betty and I made love once, that one time last summer.
I just did it to see what it would be like
to do it with someone who looked like me.
Jesus Christ.
Bucky, that's it. I swear.
Bucky, please stay.
You stupid slut.
Stay. Sugar, stay!
Hey.
We're famous, Dwight.
Notorious.
Where's Lee?
Bobby DeWitt's probably in LA. By now.
Lee always said I'd be safe.
You will be. You will be.
He had a sister.
What?
He had a little sister.
She was killed when Lee was 15,
and they never caught the guy.
Why...
Why didn't you tell me this before?
He made me promise never to tell you.
He thought it made him too easy to figure.
Well, it sure explains some things.
No, it doesn't.
Kay, where's Lee?
If you know, you should tell me.
Kay, Bobby DeWitt just got out.
Lee's all hopped up on Benzedrine,
so what do you think is going to happen?
Where is he?
Morrie Friedman called a couple of hours ago.
The guy from New Year's?
Bobby's got a drug deal somewhere
in a building Friedman owns, the Olympic, I think.
When?
Now. Jesus.
Dwight.
(DOOR CLOSING)
(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)
Bobby DeWitt?
Get your hands up.
Get up against that wall over there.
Keep your hands where I can see them.
Jesus.
I ain't out one week, and...
You're here for a drug deal with Morrie Friedman. I know that.
Look, I'm just looking for a place to take a piss.
Lee Blanchard's here. Did you know that? Blanchard?
Man-oh-Manischewitz, I ain't seen Blanchard since my fucking trial.
Yeah, but he's been on your mind.
And you've been on his mind.
I'm thinking that you let the word out there knowing he'd come down here.
Look, maybe I flapped my trap at trial. Maybe I was thinking revenge,
maybe talking trash to my cellies,
but all I know is what I read in the papers,
and when that fucker killed them niggers...
Finish up.
I don't know what his version is. What's your version?
Sir, all this between me and Blanchard
is that I fucked this big-tittied Dakota cunt named Kay Lake...
MAN: Hold it, pal.
(GUN FIRING)
Blanchard, behind you!
BUCKY: Blanchard!
(LEE SCREAMING)
(SCREAMING)