"DOUBLE INDEMNITY" Screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler Based on the novel "Double Indemnity In Three Of A Kind" by James M. Cain CHARACTERS WALTER NEFF PHYLLIS DIETRICHSON BARTON KEYES LOLA DIETRICHSON MR. DIETRICHSON NINO ZACHETTI MR. NORTON MR. JACKSON SAM GORLOPIS SEQUENCE "A" FADE IN: A-1 LOS ANGELES - A DOWNTOWN INTERSECTION It is night, about two o'clock, very light traffic. At the left and in the immediate foreground a semaphore traffic signal stands at GO. Approaching it at about thirty miles per hour is a Dodge 1938 coupe. It is driven erratically and weaving a little, but not out of control. When the car is about forty feet away, the signal changes to STOP. Car makes no attempt to stop but comes on through. A-2 A LIGHT NEWSPAPER TRUCK is crossing the intersection at right angles. It swerves and skids to avoid the Dodge, which goes on as though nothing had happened. The truck stops with a panicky screech of tires. There is a large sign on the truck: "READ THE LOS ANGELES TIMES". The truck driver's infuriated face stares after the coupe. A-3 THE COUPE continues along the street, still weaving, then slows down and pulls over towards the curb in front of a tall office building. A-4 THE COUPE stops. The headlights are turned off. For a second nothing happens, then the car door opens slowly. A man eases himself out onto the sidewalk and stands a moment leaning on the open door to support himself. He's a tall man, about thirty- five years old. From the way he moves there seems to be something wrong with his left shoulder. He straightens up and painfully lowers his left hand into his jacket pocket. He leans into the car. He brings out a light-weight overcoat and drapes it across his shoulders. He shuts the car door and walks toward the building. A-5 ENTRANCE OF THE BUILDING Above the closed, double-plate glass doors is lettered: "PACIFIC BUILDING". To the left of entrance there is a drugstore, closed, dark except for a faint light in the back. The man comes stiffly up to the doors. (CAMERA HAS MOVED UP WITH HIM). He tries the doors. They are locked. He knocks on the glass. Inside, over his shoulder, the lobby of the building is visible: a side entrance to the drugstore on the left, in the rear a barber shop and cigar and magazine stand closed up for the night, and to the right two elevators. One elevator is open and its dome light falls across the dark lobby. The man knocks again. The night watchman sticks his head out of the elevator and looks toward entrance. He comes out with a newspaper in one hand and a half-eaten sandwich in the other. He finishes the sandwich on the way to the doors, looks out and recognizes the man outside, unlocks the door and pulls it open. NIGHT WATCHMAN Hello there, Mr. Neff. Neff walks in past him without answering. A-6 INT. LOBBY Neff is walking towards elevator. Night watchman looks after him, relocks door, follows to elevator. Neff enters elevator. A-7 ELEVATOR Neff stands leaning against wall. He is pale and haggard with pain, but deadpans as night watchman joins him. NIGHT WATCHMAN Working pretty late aren't you, Mr. Neff? NEFF (Tight-lipped) Late enough. NIGHT WATCHMAN You look kind of all in at that. NEFF I'm fine. Let's ride. Night watchman pulls lever, doors close and elevator rises. NIGHT WATCHMAN How's the insurance business, Mr. Neff? NEFF Okay. NIGHT WATCHMAN They wouldn't ever sell me any. They say I've got something loose in my heart. I say it's rheumatism. NEFF (Scarcely listening) Uh-huh. Night watchman looks around at him, turns away again and the elevator stops. NIGHT WATCHMAN (Surly) Twelve. The door opens. Across a small dark reception room a pair of frosted glass doors are lettered: PACIFIC ALL-RISK INSURANCE COMPANY - FOUNDED 1906 - MAIN OFFICE. There is a little light beyond the glass doors. Neff straightens up and walks heavily out of the elevator, across reception room to doors. He pushes them open. The night watchman stares after him morosely, works lever, elevator doors start to close. A-8 TWELFTH FLOOR INSURANCE OFFICE (Note for set-designer: Our Insurance Company occupies the entire eleventh and twelfth floors of the building. On the twelfth floor are the executive offices and claims and sales departments. These all open off a balcony which runs all the way around. From the balcony you see the eleventh floor below: one enormous room filled with desks, typewriters, filing cabinets, business machines, etc.) Neff comes through the double entrance doors from the reception room. The twelfth floor is dark. Some light shines up from the eleventh floor. Neff takes a few steps then holds on to the balcony railing and looks down. A-9 THE ELEVENTH FLOOR FROM ABOVE - NEFF'S POINT OF VIEW Two colored women are cleaning the offices. One is dry-mopping the floor, the other is moving chairs back into position, etc. A colored man is emptying waste baskets into a big square box. He shuffles a little dance step as he moves, and hums a little tune. A-10 NEFF Moves away from the railing with a faint smile on his face, and walks past two or three offices (CAMERA WITH HIM) towards a glass door with number twenty-seven on it and three names: HENRY B. ANDERSON, WALTER NEFF, LOUIS L. SCHWARTZ. Neff opens the door. A-11 INT. NEFF'S OFFICE - DARK Three desks, filing cabinets, one typewriter on stand, one dictaphone on fixed stand against wall with rack of records underneath, telephones on all three desks. Water cooler with inverted bottle and paper cup holder beside it. Two windows facing toward front of building. Venetian blinds. No curtains. Waste basket full, ash trays not emptied. The office has not been cleaned. Neff enters, switches on desk lamp. He looks across at dicta phone, goes heavily to it and lifts off the fabric cover. He leans down hard on the dictaphone stand as if feeling faint. He turns away from dictaphone, takes a few uncertain steps and falls heavily into a swivel chair. His head goes far back, his eyes close, cold sweat shows on his face. For a moment he stays like this, exhausted, then his eyes open slowly and look down at his left shoulder. His good hand flips the overcoat back, he unbuttons his jacket, loosens his tie and shirt. This was quite an effort. He rests for a second, breathing hard. With the help of his good hand he edges his left elbow up on the arm-rest of the chair, supports it there and then pulls his jacket wide. A heavy patch of dark blood shows on his shirt. He pushes his chair along the floor towards the water cooler, using his feet and his right hand against the desk, takes out a handkerchief, presses with his hand against the spring faucet of the cooler, soaks the handkerchief in water and tucks it, dripping wet, against the wound inside his shirt. Next, he gets a handful of water and splashes it on his face. The water runs down his chin and drips. He breathes heavily, with closed eyes. He fingers a pack of cigarettes in his shirt pocket, pulls it out, looks at it. There is blood on it. He wheels himself back to the desk and dumps the loose cigarettes out of the packet. Some are blood-stained, a few are clean. He takes one, puts it between his lips, gropes around for a match, lights cigarette. He takes a deep drag and lets smoke out through his nose. He pulls himself toward dictaphone again, still in the swivel chair, reaches it, lifts the horn off the bracket and the dictaphone makes a low buzzing sound. He presses the button switch on the horn. The sound stops, the record revolves on the cylinder. He begins to speak: NEFF Office memorandum, Walter Neff to Barton Keyes, Claims Manager. Los Angeles, July 16th, 1938. Dear Keyes: I suppose you'll call this a confession when you hear it. I don't like the word confession. I just want to set you right about one thing you couldn't see, because it was smack up against your nose. You think you're such a hot potato as a claims manager, such a wolf on a phoney claim. Well, maybe you are, Keyes, but let's take a look at this Dietrichson claim, Accident and Double Indemnity. You were pretty good in there for a while, all right. You said it wasn't an accident. Check. You said it wasn't suicide. Check. You said it was murder. Check and double check. You thought you had it cold, all wrapped up in tissue paper, with pink ribbons around it. It was perfect, except that it wasn't, because you made a mistake, just one tiny little mistake. When it came to picking the killer, you picked the wrong guy, if you know what I mean. Want to know who killed Dietrichson? Hold tight to that cheap cigar of yours, Keyes. I killed Dietrichson. Me, Walter Neff, insurance agent, 35 years old, unmarried, no visible scars -- (He glances down at his wounded shoulder) Until a little while ago, that is. Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money -- and a woman -- and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it? He interrupts the dictation, lays down the horn on the desk. He takes his lighted cigarette from the ash tray, puffs it two or three times, and kills it. He picks up the horn again. NEFF (His voice is now quiet and contained) It began last May. About the end of May, it was. I had to run out to Glendale to deliver a policy on some dairy trucks. On the way back I remembered this auto renewal on Los Feliz. So I decided to run over there. It was one of those Calif. Spanish houses everyone was nuts about 10 or 15 years ago. This one must have cost somebody about 30,000 bucks -- that is, if he ever finished paying for it. As he goes on speaking, SLOW DISSOLVE TO: A-12 DIETRICHSON HOME - LOS FELIZ DISTRICT Palm trees line the street, middle-class houses, mostly in Spanish style. Some kids throwing a baseball back and forth across a couple of front lawns. An ice cream wagon dawdles along the block. Neff's coupe meets and passes the ice cream wagon and stops before one of the Spanish houses. Neff gets out. He carries a briefcase, his hat is a little on the back of his head. His movements are easy and full of ginger. He inspects the house, checks the number, goes up on the front porch and rings the bell. NEFF'S VOICE It was mid-afternoon, and it's funny, I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that block. I felt like a million. There was no way in all this world I could have known that murder sometimes can smell like honeysuckle... A-13 EXT. DIETRICHSON HOME - ENTRANCE DOOR Neff rings the bell again and waits. The door opens. A maid, about forty-five, rather slatternly, opens the door. NEFF Mr. Dietrichson in? MAID Who wants to see him? NEFF The name is Neff. Walter Neff. MAID If you're selling something -- NEFF Look, it's Mr. Dietrichson I'd like to talk to, and it's not magazine subscriptions. He pushes past her into the house. A-14 HALLWAY - DIETRICHSON HOME Spanish craperoo in style, as is the house throughout. A wrought-iron staircase curves down from the second floor. A fringed Mexican shawl hangs down over the landing. A large tapestry hangs on the wall. Downstairs, the dining room to one side, living room on the other side visible through a wide archway. All of this, architecture, furniture, decorations, etc., is genuine early Leo Carrillo period. Neff has edged his way in past maid who still holds the door open. MAID Listen, Mr. Dietrichson's not in. NEFF How soon do you expect him? MAID He'll be home when he gets here, if that's any help to you. At this point a voice comes from the top of the stairs. VOICE What is it, Nettie? Who is it? Neff looks up. A-15 UPPER LANDING OF STAIRCASE - (FROM BELOW) Phyllis Dietrichson stands looking down. She is in her early thirties. She holds a large bath-towel around her very appetizing torso, down to about two inches above her knees. She wears no stockings, no nothing. On her feet a pair of high-heeled bedroom slippers with pom-poms. On her left ankle a gold anklet. MAID'S VOICE It's for Mr. Dietrichson. PHYLLIS (Looking down at Neff) I'm Mrs. Dietrichson. What is it? A-16 SHOOTING DOWN FROM UPPER LANDING Neff looks up, takes his hat off. NEFF How do you do, Mrs. Dietrichson. I'm Walter Neff, Pacific All-Risk. A-17 PHYLLIS PHYLLIS Pacific all-what? A-18 NEFF NEFF Pacific All-Risk Insurance Company. It's about some renewals on the automobiles, Mrs. Dietrichson. I've been trying to contact your husband for the past two weeks. He's never at his office. A-19 PHYLLIS PHYLLIS Is there anything I can do? A-20 NEFF NEFF The insurance ran out on the fifteenth. I'd hate to think of your getting a smashed fender or something while you're not fully covered. A-21 PHYLLIS She glances over her towel costume. PHYLLIS (With a little smile) Perhaps I know what you mean, Mr. Neff. I've just been taking a sun bath. A-22 NEFF NEFF No pigeons around, I hope... About those policies, Mrs. Dietrichson -- I hate to take up your time -- A-23 PHYLLIS PHYLLIS That's all right. If you can wait till I put something on, I'll be right down. Nettie, show Mr. Neff into the living room. She turns away as gracefully as one can with a towel for a wrapper.] A-24 ENTRANCE HALL Neff watches Phyllis out of sight. He speaks to the maid while still looking up. NEFF Where would the living room be? MAID In there, but they keep the liquor locked up. NEFF That's okay. I always carry my own keys. He goes through the archway. Maid goes off the other way. A-25 LIVING ROOM Neff comes into the room and throws his briefcase on the plush davenport and tosses his hat on top of it. He looks around the room, then moves over to a baby grand piano with a sleazy Spanish shawl dangling down one side and two cabinet photographs standing in a staggered position on top. Neff glances them over: Mr. Dietrichson, age about fifty-one, a big, blocky man with glasses and a Rotarian look about him; Lola Dietrichson, age nineteen, wearing a filmy party dress and a yearning look in her pretty eyes. Neff walks away from the piano and takes a few steps back and forth across the rug. His eyes fall on a wrinkled corner. He carefully straightens it out with his foot. His back is to the archway as he hears high heels clicking on the staircase. He turns and looks through the arch. NEFF'S VOICE The living room was still stuffy from last night's cigars. The windows were closed and the sunshine coming in through the Venetian blinds showed up the dust in the air. The furniture was kind of corny and old-fashioned, but it had a comfortable look, as if people really sat in it. On the piano, in couple of fancy frames, were Mr. Dietrichson and Lola, his daughter by his first wife They had a bowl of those little red goldfish on the table behind the davenport, but, to tell you the truth, Keyes, I wasn't a whole lot interested in goldfish right then, nor in auto renewals, nor in Mr. Dietrichson and his daughter Lola. I was thinking about that dame upstairs, and the way she had looked at me, and I wanted to see her again, close, without that silly staircase between us. A-26 STAIRCASE (FROM NEFF'S POINT OF VIEW) Phyllis Dietrichson is coming downstairs. First we see her feet, with pom-pom slippers and the gold anklet on her left ankle. CAMERA PULLS BACK SLOWLY as she descends, until we see all of her. She is wearing a pale blue summer dress. PHYLLIS' VOICE I wasn't long, was I? NEFF'S VOICE Not at all, Mrs. Dietrichson. CAMERA PULLS BACK WITH HER INTO THE LIVING ROOM. PHYLLIS I hope I've got my face on straight. NEFF It's perfect for my money. PHYLLIS (Crossing to the mirror over the fireplace) Won't you sit down, Mr. -- Neff is the name, isn't it? NEFF With two f's, like in Philadelphia. If you know the story. PHYLLIS What story? NEFF The Philadelphia story. What are we talking about? PHYLLIS (She works with her lipstick) About the insurance. My husband never tells me anything. NEFF It's on your two cars, the La Salle and the Plymouth. He crosses to the davenport to get the policies from his briefcase. She turns away from the mirror and sits in a big chair with her legs drawn up sideways, the anklet now clearly visible. NEFF We've been handling this insurance for three years for Mr. Dietrichson... (His eyes have caught the anklet) That's a honey of an anklet you're wearing, Mrs. Dietrichson. Phyllis smiles faintly and covers the anklet with her dress. NEFF We'd hate to see the policies lapse. Of course, we give him thirty days. That's all we're allowed to give. PHYLLIS I guess he's been too busy down at Long Beach in the oil fields. NEFF Could I catch him home some evening for a few minutes? PHYLLIS I suppose so. But he's never home much before eight. NEFF That would be fine with me. PHYLLIS You're not connected with the Automobile Club, are you? NEFF No, the All-Risk, Mrs. Dietrichson. Why? PHYLLIS Somebody from the Automobile Club has been trying to get him. Do they have a better rate? NEFF If your husband's a member. PHYLLIS No, he isn't. Phyllis rises and walks up and down, paying less and less attention. NEFF Well, he'd have to join the club and pay a membership fee to start with. The Automobile Club is fine. I never knock the other fellow's merchandise, Mrs. Dietrichson, but I can do just as well for you. I have a very attractive policy here. It wouldn't take me two minutes to put it in front of your husband. He consults the policies he is holding. NEFF For instance, we're writing a new kind of fifty percent retention feature in the collision coverage. Phyllis stops in her walk. PHYLLIS You're a smart insurance man, aren't you, Mr. Neff? NEFF I've had eleven years of it. PHYLLIS Doing pretty well? NEFF It's a living. PHYLLIS You handle just automobile insurance, or all kinds? She sits down again, in the same position as before. NEFF All kinds. Fire, earthquake, theft, public liability, group insurance, industrial stuff and so on right down the line. PHYLLIS Accident insurance? NEFF Accident insurance? Sure, Mrs. Dietrichson. His eyes fall on the anklet again. NEFF I wish you'd tell me what's engraved on that anklet. PHYLLIS Just my name. NEFF As for instance? PHYLLIS Phyllis. NEFF Phyllis. I think I like that. PHYLLIS But you're not sure? NEFF I'd have to drive it around the block a couple of times. PHYLLIS (Standing up again) Mr. Neff, why don't you drop by tomorrow evening about eight-thirty. He'll be in then. NEFF Who? PHYLLIS My husband. You were anxious to talk to him weren't you? NEFF Sure, only I'm getting over it a little. If you know what I mean. PHYLLIS There's a speed limit in this state, Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour. NEFF How fast was I going, officer? PHYLLIS I'd say about ninety. NEFF Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket. PHYLLIS Suppose I let you off with a warning this time. NEFF Suppose it doesn't take. PHYLLIS Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles. NEFF Suppose I bust out crying and put my head on your shoulder. PHYLLIS Suppose you try putting it on my husband's shoulder. NEFF That tears it. Neff takes his hat and briefcase. NEFF Eight-thirty tomorrow evening then, Mrs. Dietrichson. PHYLLIS That's what I suggested. They both move toward the archway. A-27 HALLWAY - PHYLLIS AND NEFF GOING TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE DOOR NEFF Will you be here, too? PHYLLIS I guess so. I usually am. NEFF Same chair, same perfume, same anklet? PHYLLIS (Opening the door) I wonder if I know what you mean. NEFF I wonder if you wonder. He walks out. A-28 EXT. DIETRICHSON HOME - (DAY) Shooting past Neff's parked car towards the entrance door, which is just closing. Neff comes towards the car, swinging his briefcase. He opens the car door and looks back with a confident smile. NEFF'S VOICE (Over scene) She liked me. I could feel that. The way you feel when the cards are... A-29 ENTRANCE DOOR, DIETRICHSON HOME In the upper panel the peep window opens and Phyllis looks out after Neff. NEFF'S VOICE falling right for you, with a nice little pile of blue and yellow chips in the middle of the table. Only what I didn't know then was that I wasn't playing her. She was playing me -- with a deck of marked cards -- and the stakes weren't any blue and yellow chips. They were dynamite. I went back to the office that afternoon to see if I had any mail. It was the same afternoon you had that Sam Gorlopis on the carpet, that truck driver from Inglewood, remember, Keyes? A-30 NEFF He sits in his car, presses the starter button, looking back towards the little window in the entrance door. A-31 ENTRANCE DOOR The peep window is quickly closed from inside. A-32 STREET Neff makes a U-turn and drives back down the block. DISSOLVE TO: A-33 LONG SHOT - INSURANCE OFFICE - TWELFTH FLOOR - (DAY) - CAMERA HIGH Activity on the eleventh floor below. Typewriters working, adding machines, filing clerks, secretaries, and so forth. Neff, wearing his hat and carrying his briefcase, enters from the vestibule. He walks towards his office. He passes a few salesmen, etc. There is an exchange of greetings. Just as he reaches his office a secretary comes out. She stops. SECRETARY Oh, Mr. Neff, Mr. Keyes wants to see you. He's been yelling for you all afternoon. NEFF Is he sore, or just frothing at the mouth a little? Here, park these for me, sweetheart. He hands her his hat and briefcase and continues right on, CAMERA WITH HIM, to a door lettered: BARTON KEYES - CLAIMS MANAGER Keyes' voice is heard inside, plenty loud. Neff grins as he opens the door and goes in. A-34 KEYES: OFFICE - (DAY) A minor executive office, not too tidy: large desk across one corner, good carpet, several chairs, filing cabinet against one wall, a dictaphone on the corner of the desk. Keyes is sitting behind the desk with his coat off but his hat on. A cigar is clamped in his mouth, ashes falling like snow down his vest, a gold chair and elk's tooth across it. On the other side of the desk sits Sam Gorlopis. He is a big, dumb bruiser, six feet three inches tall -- a dirty work shirt and corduroy pants, rough, untidy hair, broad face, small piggish eyes. He holds a sweat-soaked hat on his knee with a hairy hand. He is chewing gum rapidly. As Neff opens the door, Keyes is giving it to Gorlopis. KEYES Wise up, Gorlopis. You're not kidding anybody with that line of bull. You're in a jam and you know it. GORLOPIS Sez you. All I want is my money. KEYES Sez you. All you're gonna get is the cops. He sees Neff standing inside the door. KEYES Come in, Walter. This is Sam Gorlopis from Inglewood. NEFF Sure, I know Mr. Gorlopis. Wrote a policy on his truck. How are you, Mr. Gorlopis? GORLOPIS I ain't so good. My truck burned down. He looks cautiously sideways at Keyes. KEYES Yeah, he just planted his big foot on the starter and the whole thing blazed up in his face. GORLOPIS Yes, sir. KEYES And didn't even singe his eyebrows. GORLOPIS No sir. Look, mister. I got twenty- six hundred bucks tied up in that truck. I'm insured with this company and I want my money. KEYES You got a wife, Gorlopis? GORLOPIS Sure I got a wife. KEYES You got kids? GORLOPIS Two kids. KEYES What you got for dinner tonight? GORLOPIS We got meat loaf. KEYES How do you make your meat loaf, Gorlopis? GORLOPIS Veal and pork and bread and garlic. Greek style. KEYES How much garlic? GORLOPIS Lotsa garlic, Mr. Keyes. KEYES Okay, Gorlopis. Now listen here. Let's say you just came up here to tell me how to make meat loaf. That's all, understand? Because if you came up here to claim on that truck, I'd have to turn you over to the law, Gorlopis, and they'd put you in jail. No wife. No kids -- GORLOPIS What for? KEYES (Yelling) And no meat loaf, Gorlopis! GORLOPIS I didn't do nothin'. KEYES No? Look, Gorlopis. Every month hundreds of claims come to this desk. Some of them are phonies, and I know which ones. How do I know, Gorlopis? (He speaks as if to a child) Because my little man tells me. GORLOPIS What little man? KEYES The little man in here. He pounds the pit of his stomach. KEYES Every time one of those phonies comes along he ties knots in my stomach. And yours was one of them, Gorlopis. That's how I knew your claim was crooked. So what did I do? I sent a tow car out to your garage this afternoon and they jacked up that burned-out truck of yours. And what did they find, Gorlopis? They found what was left of a pile of shavings. GORLOPIS What shavings? KEYES The ones you soaked with kerosene and dropped a match on. Gorlopis cringes under the impact. GORLOPIS Look, Mr. Keyes, I'm just a poor guy. Maybe I made a mistake. KEYES That's one way of putting it. GORLOPIS I ain't feelin' so good, Mr. Keyes. KEYES Sign this and you'll feel fine. He puts a blank form in front of him and points. KEYES Right there. It's a waiver on your claim. Gorlopis hesitates, then signs laboriously. KEYES Now you're an honest man again. GORLOPIS But I ain't got no more truck. KEYES Goodbye, Gorlopis. GORLOPIS (Still bewildered) Goodbye, Mr. Keyes. He stands up and goes slowly to the door and turns there. GORLOPIS Twenty-six hundred bucks. That's a lot of dough where I live. KEYES What's the matter, Gorlopis? Don't you know how to open the door? Just put your hand on the knob, turn it to the right, pull it toward you -- GORLOPIS (Doing just as Keyes says) Like this, Mr. Keyes? KEYES That's the boy. Now the same thing from the outside. GORLOPIS (Stupefied) Thank you, Mr. Keyes. He goes out, closing the door after him. Keyes takes his cigar stub from his mouth and turns it slowly in the flame of a lighted match. He turns to Neff. KEYES What kind of an outfit is this anyway? Are we an insurance company, or a bunch of dimwitted amateurs, writing a policy on a mugg like that? NEFF Wait a minute, Keyes. I don't rate this beef. I clipped a note to that Gorlopis application to have him thoroughly investigated before we accepted the risk. KEYES I know you did, Walter. I'm not beefing at you. It's the company. The way they do things. The way they don't do things. The way they'll write anything just to get it down on the sales sheet. And I'm the guy that has to sit here up to my neck in phony claims so they won't throw more money out of the window than they take in at the door. NEFF (Grinning) Okay, turn the record over and let's hear the other side. KEYES I get darn sick of picking up after a gang of fast-talking salesmen dumb enough to sell life insurance to a guy that sleeps in the same bed with four rattlesnakes. I've had twenty- six years of that, Walter, and I -- NEFF And you loved every minute of it, Keyes. You love it, only you worry about it too much, you and your little man. You're so darn conscientious you're driving yourself crazy. You wouldn't even say today is Tuesday without you looked at the calendar, and then you would check if it was this year's or last year's calendar, and then you would find out what company printed the calendar, then find out if their calendar checks with the World Almanac's calendar. KEYES That's enough from you, Walter. Get out of here before I throw my desk at you. NEFF I love you, too. He walks out, still grinning. A-35 EXT. OFFICES - TWELFTH FLOOR Neff comes out of Keys' office and walks back along the balcony. Activity of secretaries going in and out of doors, etc. Neff enters his own office. NEFF'S VOICE (Over scene) I really did, too, you old crab, always yelling your fat head off, always sore at everyone. But behind the cigar ashes on your vest I kind of knew you had a heart as big as a house... Back in my office there was a phone message from Mrs. Dietrichson about the renewals. She didn't want me to come tomorrow evening. She wanted me to come Thursday afternoon at three-thirty instead. I had a lot of stuff lined up for that Thursday afternoon, including a trip down to Santa Monica to see a couple of live prospects about some group insurance. But I kept thinking about Phyllis Dietrichson and the way that anklet of hers cut into her leg. A-36 INT. NEFF'S OFFICE Anderson, a salesman, sits at one of the desks, filling out a report. Neff enters, goes to his own desk. He looks down at some mail. On top there is a typewritten note. He reads it, sits down and leafs through his desk calendar. A-37 INSERT - CLOSEUP - CALENDAR PAGE Showing date: THURSDAY 23 May and five or six appointments penciled in tightly on the page. DISSOLVE TO: A-38 DIETRICHSON HOME - ENTRANCE HALL - (DAY) THE CAMERA PANS with Phyllis Dietrichson's feet and ankles as she comes down the stairs, her high heels clicking on the tiles. The anklet glistens on her leg as she moves. THE CAMERA PANS ON. Phyllis has reached the entrance hall, and as she walks toward the front door her whole body becomes visible. She wears a gay print dress with a wide sash over her hips. She opens the door. Outside is Neff, wearing a sport coat, flannel slacks. He takes his hat off. PHYLLIS Hello, Mr. Neff. He stands there with a little smile. PHYLLIS Aren't you coming in? NEFF I'm considering it. He comes in. PHYLLIS I hope you didn't mind my changing the appointment. Last night wasn't so convenient. NEFF That's okay. I was working on my stamp collection. She leads him toward living room. A-39 DIETRICHSON LIVING ROOM Phyllis and Neff come through archway. She heads toward a low tea table which stands in front of the davenport, with tall glasses, ice cubes, lemon, a pot of tea, etc. PHYLLIS I was just fixing some iced tea. Would you like a glass? NEFF Unless you have a bottle of beer that's not working. PHYLLIS There might be some. I never know what's in the ice box. (Calls) Nettie!... She pours herself a glass of tea. PHYLLIS About those renewals, Mr. Neff. I talked to my husband about it. NEFF You did? PHYLLIS Yes. He'll renew with you he told me. In fact, I thought he'd be here this afternoon. NEFF But he's not? PHYLLIS No. NEFF That's terrible. PHYLLIS (Calls again, impatiently) Nettie!... Nettie!... Oh, I forgot, it's the maid's day off. NEFF Don't bother, Mrs. Dietrichson. I'd like some iced tea very much. PHYLLIS Lemon? Sugar? NEFF Fix it your way. She fixes him a glass of tea while he is looking around. He slowly sits down. NEFF Seeing it's the maid's day off maybe there's something I can do for you. She hands him the tea. NEFF Like running the vacuum cleaner. PHYLLIS Fresh. NEFF I used to peddle vacuum cleaners. Not much money but you learn a lot about life. PHYLLIS I didn't think you'd learned it from a correspondence course. NEFF Where did you pick up this tea drinking? You're not English, are you? PHYLLIS No. Californian. Born right here in Los Angeles. NEFF They say native Californians all come from Iowa. PHYLLIS I wanted to ask you something, Mr. Neff. NEFF Make it Walter. PHYLLIS Walter. NEFF Right. PHYLLIS Tell me, Walter, on this insurance -- how much commission do you make? NEFF Twenty percent. Why? PHYLLIS I thought maybe I could throw a little more business your way. NEFF I can always use it. PHYLLIS I was thinking about my husband. I worry a lot about him, down in those oil fields. It's very dangerous. NEFF Not for an executive, is it? PHYLLIS He doesn't just sit behind a desk. He's right down there with the drilling crews. It's got me worried sick. NEFF You mean a crown block might fall on him some rainy night? PHYLLIS Please don't talk like that. NEFF But that's the idea. PHYLLIS The other day a casing line snapped and caught the foreman. He's in the hospital with a broken back. NEFF Bad. PHYLLIS It's got me jittery just thinking about it. Suppose something like that happened to my husband? NEFF It could. PHYLLIS Don't you think he ought to have accident insurance? NEFF Uh huh. PHYLLIS What kind of insurance could he have? NEFF Enough to cover doctors' and hospital bills. Say a hundred and twenty-five a week cash benefit. And he'd rate around fifty thousand capital sum. PHYLLIS Capital sum? What's that? NEFF That's if he got killed. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. PHYLLIS I suppose you have to think of everything in your business. NEFF Mr. Dietrichson would understand. I'm sure I could sell him on the idea of some accident protection. Why don't I talk to him about it. PHYLLIS You could try. But he's pretty tough going. NEFF They're all tough at first. PHYLLIS He's got a lot on his mind. He doesn't want to listen to anything except maybe a baseball game on the radio. Sometimes we sit all evening without saying a word to each other. NEFF Sounds pretty dull. Phyllis shrugs. PHYLLIS So I just sit and knit. NEFF Is that what you married him for? PHYLLIS Maybe I like the way his thumbs hold up the wool. NEFF Anytime his thumbs get tired -- PHYLLIS I want to ask you something, Mr. Neff. Could I get an accident policy for him -- without bothering him at all? NEFF How's that again. PHYLLIS That would make it easier for you, too. You wouldn't even have to talk to him. I have a little allowance of my own. I could pay for it and he needn't know anything about it. NEFF Wait a minute. Why shouldn't he know? PHYLLIS Because I know he doesn't want accident insurance. He's superstitious about it. NEFF A lot of people are. Funny, isn't it? PHYLLIS If there was a way to get it like that, all the worry would be over. You see what I mean, Walter? NEFF Sure. I've got good eyesight. You want him to have the policy without him knowing it. And that means without the insurance company knowing that he doesn't know. That's the set-up, isn't it? PHYLLIS Is there anything wrong with it? NEFF I think it's lovely. And then, some dark wet night, if that crown block fell on him -- PHYLLIS What crown block? NEFF Only sometimes they have to have a little help. They can't quite make it on their own. PHYLLIS I don't know what you're talking about. NEFF Of course, it doesn't have to be a crown block. It can be a car backing over him, or he can fall out of an upstairs window. Any little thing like that, as long as it's a morgue job. PHYLLIS Are you crazy? NEFF Not that crazy. Goodbye, Mrs. Dietrichson. He picks up his hat. PHYLLIS What's the matter? NEFF Look, baby, you can't get away with it. PHYLLIS Get away with what? NEFF You want to knock him off, don't you, baby. PHYLLIS That's a horrible thing to say! NEFF Who'd you think I was, anyway? A guy that walks into a good-looking dame's front parlor and says "Good afternoon, I sell accident insurance on husbands. You got one that's been around too long? Somebody you'd like to turn into a little hard cash? Just give me a smile and I'll help you collect." Boy, what a dope I must look to you! PHYLLIS I think you're rotten. NEFF I think you're swell. So long as I'm not your husband. PHYLLIS Get out of here. NEFF You bet I will. You bet I'll get out of here, baby. But quick. He goes out. She looks after him. A-40 EXT. DIETRICHSON HOME - (DAY) Neff bangs the front door shut, walks quickly to his car and drives away. DISSOLVE TO: NEFF'S VOICE (Over scene) So I let her have it, straight between the eyes. She didn't fool me for a minute, not this time. I knew I had hold of a redhot poker and the time to drop it was before it burned my hand off. I stopped at a drive-in for a bottle of beer, the one I had wanted all along, only I wanted it worse now, to get rid of the sour taste of her iced tea, and everything that went with it. I didn't want to go back to the office, so I dropped by a bowling alley at Third and Western and rolled a few lines to get my mind thinking about something else for a while. A-41 DRIVE-IN RESTAURANT - (DAY) Shooting past Neff sitting behind the wheel of his car The car hop hangs a tray on the door and serves him a bottle of beer. DISSOLVE TO: A-42 INT. BOWLING ALLEY Neff bowling. He rolls the ball with an effort at concentration, but his mind is not really on the game. DISSOLVE TO: A-43 EXT. APARTMENT HOUSE - (DUSK) It is late afternoon. The apartment house is called the LOS OLIVOS APARTMENTS. It is a six-story building in the Normandie- Wilshire district, with a basement garage. THE CAMERA PANS UP the front of the building to the top floor windows, as a little rain starts to fall. DISSOLVE TO: NEFF'S VOICE (Continuing) I didn't feel like eating dinner when I left, and I didn't feel like a show, so I drove home, put the car away and went up to my apartment. A-44 INT. NEFF'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - (DUSK) It is a double apartment of conventional design, with kitchen, dinette, and bathroom, squarecut overstuffed borax furniture. Gas logs are lit in the imitation fireplace. Neff stands by the window with his coat off and his tie loose. Raindrops strike against the glass. He turns away impatiently, paces up and down past a caddy bag with golf clubs in it, pulls one out at random, makes a couple of short swings, throws the club on the couch, paces again. NEFF'S VOICE (Continuing) It had begun to rain outside and I watched it get dark and didn't even turn on the light. That didn't help me either. I was all twisted up inside, and I was still holding on to that red-hot poker. And right then it came over me that I hadn't walked out on anything at all, that the hook was too strong, that this wasn't the end between her and me. It was only the beginning. The doorbell rings. NEFF'S VOICE (Continuing) So at eight o'clock the bell would ring and I would know who it was without even having to think, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Neff goes to the door and opens it. PHYLLIS Hello. Neff just looks at her. PHYLLIS You forgot your hat this afternoon. She has nothing in her hands but her bag. NEFF Did I? He looks down at her hands. PHYLLIS Don't you want me to bring it in? NEFF Sure. Put it on the chair. She comes in. He closes the door. NEFF How did you know where I live? PHYLLIS It's in the phone book. Neff switches on the standing lamp. PHYLLIS It's raining. NEFF So it is. Peel off your coat and sit down. She starts to take off her coat. NEFF Your husband out? PHYLLIS Long Beach. They're spudding in a new well. He phoned he'd be late. About nine-thirty. He takes her coat and lays it across the back of a chair. PHYLLIS It's about time you said you're glad to see me. NEFF I knew you wouldn't leave it like that. PHYLLIS Like what? NEFF Like it was this afternoon. PHYLLIS I must have said something that gave you a terribly wrong impression. You must surely see that. You must never think anything like that about me, Walter. NEFF Okay. PHYLLIS It's not okay. Not if you don't believe me. NEFF What do you want me to do? PHYLLIS I want you to be nice to me. Like the first time you came to the house. NEFF It can't be like the first time. Something has happened. PHYLLIS I know it has. It's happened to us. NEFF That's what I mean. Phyllis has moved over to the window. She stares out through the wet window-pane. NEFF What's the matter now? PHYLLIS I feel as if he was watching me. Not that he cares about me. Not any more. But he keeps me on a leash. So tight I can't breathe. I'm scared. NEFF What of? He's in Long Beach, isn't he? PHYLLIS I oughtn't to have come. NEFF Maybe you oughtn't. PHYLLIS You want me to go? NEFF If you want to. PHYLLIS Right now? NEFF Sure. Right now. By this time, he has hold of her wrist. He draws her to him slowly and kisses her. Her arms tighten around him. After a moment he pulls his head back, still holding her close. NEFF How were you going to do it? PHYLLIS Do what? NEFF Kill him. PHYLLIS Walter, for the last time -- She tries to jerk away but he holds her and kisses her again. NEFF I'm crazy about you, baby. PHYLLIS I'm crazy about you, Walter. NEFF That perfume on your hair. What's the name of it? PHYLLIS Something French. I bought it down at Ensenada. NEFF We ought to have some of that pink wine to go with it. The kind that bubbles. But all I have is bourbon. PHYLLIS Bourbon is fine, Walter. He lets her go and moves toward the dinette. A-45 THE DINETTE AND KITCHEN It contains a small table and some chairs. A low glass-and- china cabinet is built between the dinette and kitchen, leaving a space like a doorway. The kitchen is the usual apartment house kitchen, with stove, ice-box, sink, etc. It is quite small. Neff goes to the ice-box and Phyllis drifts in after him. NEFF Soda? PHYLLIS Plain water, please. NEFF Get a couple of glasses, will you. He points at the china closet. He has taken a tray of ice cubes from the refrigerator and is holding it under the hot- water faucet. NEFF You know, about six months ago a guy slipped on the soap in his bathtub and knocked himself cold and drowned. Only he had accident insurance. So they had an autopsy and she didn't get away with it. Phyllis has the glasses now. She hands them to him. He dumps some ice cubes into the glasses. PHYLLIS Who didn't? NEFF His wife. He reaches for the whiskey bottle on top of the china closet. NEFF And there was another case where a guy was found shot and his wife said he was cleaning a gun and his stomach got in the way. All she collected was a three-to-ten stretch in Tehachapi. PHYLLIS Perhaps it was worth it to her. Neff hands her a glass. NEFF See if you can carry this as far as the living room. They move back toward the living room. A-46 LIVING ROOM Phyllis and Neff go toward the davenport. She is sipping her drink and looking around. PHYLLIS It's nice here, Walter. Who takes care of it for you? NEFF A colored woman comes in twice a week. PHYLLIS You get your own breakfast? NEFF Once in a while I squeeze a grapefruit. The rest I get at the corner drugstore. They sit on the davenport, fairly close together. PHYLLIS It sounds wonderful. Just strangers beside you. You don't know them. You don't hate them. You don't have to sit across the table and smile at him and that daughter of his every morning of your life. NEFF What daughter? Oh, that little girl on the piano. PHYLLIS Yes. Lola. She lives with us. He thinks a lot more of her than he does of me. NEFF Ever think of a divorce? PHYLLIS He wouldn't give me a divorce. NEFF I suppose because it would cost him money. PHYLLIS He hasn't got any money. Not since he went into the oil business. NEFF But he had when you married him? PHYLLIS Yes, he had. And I wanted a home. Why not? But that wasn't the only reason. I was his wife's nurse. She was sick for a long time. When she died, he was all broken up. I pitied him so. NEFF And now you hate him. PHYLLIS Yes, Walter. He's so mean to me. Every-time I buy a dress or a pair of shoes he yells his head off. He won't let me go anywhere. He keeps me shut up. He's always been mean to me. Even his life insurance all goes to that daughter of his. That Lola. NEFF Nothing for you at all, huh? PHYLLIS No. And nothing is just what I'm worth to him. NEFF So you lie awake in the dark and listen to him snore and get ideas. PHYLLIS Walter, I don't want to kill him. I never did. Not even when he gets drunk and slaps my face. NEFF Only sometimes you wish he was dead. PHYLLIS Perhaps I do. NEFF And you wish it was an accident, and you had that policy. For fifty thousand dollars. Is that it? PHYLLIS Perhaps that too. She takes a long drink. PHYLLIS The other night we drove home from a party. He was drunk again. When we got into the garage he just sat there with his head on the steering wheel and the motor still running. And I thought what it would be like if I didn't switch it off, just closed the garage door and left him there. NEFF I'll tell you what it would be like, if you had that accident policy, and tried to pull a monoxide job. We have a guy in our office named Keyes. For him a set-up like that would be just like a slice of rare roast beef. In three minutes he'd know it wasn't an accident. In ten minutes you'd be sitting under the hot lights. In half an hour you'd be signing your name to a confession. PHYLLIS But Walter, I didn't do it. I'm not going to do it. NEFF Not if there's an insurance company in the picture, baby. So long as you're honest they'll pay you with a smile, but you just try to pull something like that and you'll find out. They know more tricks than a carload of monkeys. And if there's a death mixed up in it, you haven't got a prayer. They'll hang you as sure as ten dimes will buy a dollar, baby. She begins to cry. He puts his arms around her and kisses her. NEFF Just stop thinking about it, will you. He holds her tight. Their heads touch, side by side, THE CAMERA SLOWLY STARTS TO RECEDE as we DISSOLVE TO: A-47 INT. NEFF'S OFFICE - (NIGHT) Neff sits in the swivel chair, talking into the dictaphone. He has hooked the wastebasket under his feet to sit more comfortably. As he talks, a little cough shakes him now and then. NEFF So we just sat there, and she kept on crying softly, like the rain on the window, and we didn't say anything. Maybe she had stopped thinking about it, but I hadn't. I couldn't. Because it all tied up with something I had been thinking about for years, since long before I ever ran into Phyllis Dietrichson. Because, in this business you can't sleep for trying to figure out the tricks they could pull on you. You're like the guy behind the roulette wheel, watching the customers to make sure they don't crook the house. And then one night, you get to thinking how you could crook the house yourself. And do it smart. Because you've got that wheel right under your hands. And you know every notch in it by heart. And you figure all you need is a plant out in front, a shill to put down the bet. And suddenly the doorbell rings and the whole set-up is right there in the room with you... Look, Keyes, I'm not trying to whitewash myself. I fought it, only maybe I didn't fight it hard enough. The stakes were fifty thousand dollars, but they were the life of a man, too, a man who'd never done me any dirt. Except he was married to a woman he didn't care anything about, and I did... DISSOLVE TO: A-48 INT. NEFF'S APARTMENT LIVING ROOM CAMERA MOVES SLOWLY towards the davenport again. Neff sits in one corner with his feet on the low table. He is smoking his cigarette and staring at the ceiling. Phyllis has been sitting fairly close to him. She gets up slowly and crosses to her rain coat, lying over a chair. PHYLLIS I've got to go now, Walter. Neff does not answer. He keeps on staring at the ceiling. She starts to put the rain coat on. PHYLLIS Will you call me, Walter? Neff still does not answer. PHYLLIS Walter! He looks at her slowly, almost absently. PHYLLIS I hate him. I loathe going back to him. You believe me, don't you, Walter? NEFF Sure I believe you. PHYLLIS I can't stand it anymore. What if they did hang me? NEFF You're not going to hang, baby. PHYLLIS It's better than going on this way. NEFF -- you're not going to hang, baby. Not ever. Because you're going to do it the smart way. Because I'm going to help you. PHYLLIS You! NEFF Me. PHYLLIS Do you know what you're saying? NEFF Sure I know what I'm saying. He gets up and grips her arm. NEFF We're going to do it together. We're going to do it right. And I'm the guy that knows how. There is fierce determination in his voice. His fingers dig into her arm. PHYLLIS Walter, you're hurting me. NEFF There isn't going to be any slip up. Nothing sloppy. Nothing weak. It's got to be perfect. He kisses her. NEFF You go now. He leads her towards the door. NEFF Call me tomorrow. But not from your house. From a booth. And watch your step. Every single minute. It's got to be perfect, understand. Straight down the line. They have now reached the door. Neff opens it. Phyllis stands in the doorway, her lips white. PHYLLIS Straight down the line. She goes quietly. He watches her down the corridor. Slowly he closes the door and goes back into the room. He moves across the window and opens it wide. He stands there, looking down into the dark street. From below comes the sound of a car starting and driving off. The rain drifts in against his face. He just stands there motionless. His mind is going a hundred miles a minute. FADE OUT: END OF SEQUENCE "A" SEQUENCE "B" FADE IN: B-1 INT. NEFF'S OFFICE - (NIGHT) Neff sits slumped in his chair before the dictaphone. On the desk next to him stands a used record. The cylinder on the dictaphone is not turning. He is smoking a cigarette. He kills it then lifts the needle and slides off the record which is on the machine and stands it on end on the desk beside the other used record. He reaches down painfully to take another record from the rack beneath the dictaphone, looks at it against the light to make sure it has not been used, then slides it into place on the machine and resets the needle. He lifts the horn and resumes his dictation. NEFF The first thing we had to do was fix him up with that accident policy. I knew he wouldn't buy, but all I wanted was his signature on an application. So I had to make him sign without his knowing what he was signing. And I wanted a witness other than Phyllis to hear me give him a sales talk. I was trying to think with your brains, Keyes. I wanted all the answers ready for all the questions you were going to spring as soon as Dietrichson was dead. Neff takes a last drag on his cigarette and kills it by running it under the ledge of the dictaphone stand. He drops the stub on the floor and resumes. NEFF A couple of nights later I went to the house. Everything looked fine, except I didn't like the witness Phyllis had brought in. It was Dietrichson's daughter Lola, and it made me feel a little queer in the belly to have her right there in the room, playing Chinese checkers, as if nothing was going to happen. DISSOLVE: B-2 A BOARD OF CHINESE CHECKERS CAMERA WITHDRAWS AND GRADUALLY REVEALS THE DIETRICHSON LIVING ROOM - NIGHT The checker-board is on the davenport between Phyllis and Lola. Mr. Dietrichson sits in a big easy chair. His coat and tie are over the back of the chair, and the evening paper is lying tumbled on the floor beside him. He is smoking a cigar with the band on it. He has a drink in front of him and several more inside him. In another chair sits Neff, his briefcase on the floor, leaning against his chair. He holds his rate book partly open, with a finger in it for a marker. He is going full swing. NEFF I suppose you realize, Mr. Dietrichson, that, not being an employee, you are not covered by the State Compensation Insurance Act. The only way you can protect yourself is by having a personal policy of your own. DIETRICHSON I know all about that. The next thing you'll tell me I need earthquake insurance and lightning insurance and hail insurance. Phyllis looks up from the checker-board and cuts in on the dialogue. Lola listens without much interest. PHYLLIS (To Dietrichson) If we bought all the insurance they can think up, we'd stay broke paying for it, wouldn't we, honey? DIETRICHSON What keeps us broke is you going out and buying five hats at a crack. Who needs a hat in California? NEFF I always say insurance is a lot like a hot water bottle. It looks kind of useless and silly hanging on the hook, but when you get that stomach ache in the middle of the night, it comes in mighty handy. DIETRICHSON Now you want to sell me a hot water bottle. NEFF Dollar for dollar, accident insurance is the cheapest coverage you can buy, Mr. Dietrichson. DIETRICHSON Maybe some other time, Mr. Neff. I had a tough day. NEFF Just as you say, Mr. Dietrichson. DIETRICHSON Suppose we just settle that automobile insurance tonight. NEFF Sure. All we need on that is for you to sign an application for renewal. Phyllis throws a quick glance at Neff. As she looks back she sees that Lola is staring down at her wrist watch. LOLA Phyllis, do you mind if we don't finish this game? It bores me stiff. PHYLLIS Got some thing better to do? LOLA Yes, I have. She gets up. LOLA (To Dietrichson) Father, is it all right if I run along now? DIETRICHSON Run along where? Who with? LOLA Just Anne. We're going roller skating. DIETRICHSON Anne who? LOLA Anne Matthews. PHYLLIS It's not that Nino Zachetti again? DIETRICHSON It better not be that Zachetti guy. If I ever catch you with that --- LOLA It's Anne Matthews, I told you. I also told you we're going roller skating. I'm meeting her at the corner of Vermont and Franklin -- the north- west corner, in case you're interested. And I'm late already. I hope that is all clear. Good night, Father. Good night, Phyllis. She starts to go. NEFF Good night, Miss Dietrichson. LOLA Oh, I'm sorry. Good night, Mr. -- NEFF Neff. LOLA Good night, Mr. Neff. PHYLLIS Now you're not going to take my car again. LOLA No thanks. I'd rather be dead. She goes out through the archway. DIETRICHSON A great little fighter for her weight. Dietrichson sucks down a big swallow of his drink. Neff has taken two blank forms from his briefcase. He puts the briefcase on Mr. Dietrichson's lap and lays the forms on top. Phyllis is watching closely. NEFF This is where you sign, Mr. Dietrichson. DIETRICHSON Sign what? NEFF The applications for your auto renewals. So you'll be protected until the new policies are issued. DIETRICHSON When will that be? NEFF In about a week. DIETRICHSON Just so I'm covered when I drive up North. Neff takes out his fountain pen. NEFF San Francisco, Mr. Dietrichson? DIETRICHSON Palo Alto. PHYLLIS He was a Stanford man, Mr. Neff. And he still goes to his class reunion every year. DIETRICHSON What's wrong with that? Can't I have a little fun even once a year? NEFF Great football school, Stanford. Did you play football, Mr. Dietrichson? DIETRICHSON Left guard. Almost made the varsity, too. Neff has unscrewed his fountain pen. He hands it to Mr. Dietrichson. Dietrichson puts on his glasses. NEFF On that bottom line, Mr. Dietrichson. Dietrichson signs. Neff's and Phyllis' eyes meet for a split second. NEFF Both copies, please. He withdraws the top copy barely enough to expose the signature line on the supposed duplicate. DIETRICHSON Sign twice, huh? NEFF One is the agent's copy. I need it for my files. DIETRICHSON (In a mutter) Files. Duplicates. Triplicates. Dietrichson grunts and signs again. Again Neff and Phyllis exchange a quick glance. NEFF No hurry about the check, Mr. Dietrichson. I can pick it up at your office some morning. Casually Neff lifts the briefcase and signed applications off Dietrichson's lap. DIETRICHSON How much you taking me for? NEFF One forty-seven fifty, Mr. Dietrichson. Dietrichson stands up. He is about Neff's height but a little heavier. PHYLLIS I guess that's enough insurance for one evening, Mr. Neff. DIETRICHSON Plenty. Dietrichson has poured some more whisky into his glass. He tries the siphon but it is empty. He gathers up his coat and tie and picks up his glass. DIETRICHSON Good night, Mr. Neff. Neff is zipping up his briefcase. NEFF Good night, Mr. Dietrichson. Good night, Mrs. Dietrichson. DIETRICHSON Bring me some soda when you come up, Phyllis. Dietrichson trundles off towards the archway. PHYLLIS (To Neff) I think you left your hat in the hall. Phyllis leads the way and Neff goes after her, his briefcase under his arm. B-3 HALLWAY DIETRICHSON RESIDENCE - (NIGHT) Phyllis enters through the living room archway with Neff behind her. She leads him towards the door. On the way he picks up his hat. In the BACKGROUND Dietrichson begins to ascend the stairs, carrying his coat and glass. Phyllis and Neff move close to the door. They speak in very low voices. PHYLLIS All right, Walter? NEFF Fine. PHYLLIS He signed it, didn't he? NEFF Sure he signed it. You saw him. Phyllis opens the door a crack. Both look at the stairs, where Dietrichson is going up. Phyllis takes her hand off the doorknob and holds on to Neff's arm. NEFF (Looking up) Watch it, will you. Phyllis slowly drops her hand from his arm. Both look up as Dietrichson goes across the balcony and out of sight. NEFF Listen. That trip to Palo Alto When does he go? PHYLLIS End of the month. NEFF He drives, huh? PHYLLIS He always drives. NEFF Not this time. You're going to make him take the train. PHYLLIS Why? NEFF Because it's all worked out for a train. For a second they stand listening and looking up as if they had heard a sound. PHYLLIS It's all right. Go on, Walter. NEFF Look, baby. There's a clause in every accident policy, a little something called double indemnity. The insurance companies put it in as a sort of come-on for the customers. It means they pay double on certain accidents. The kind that almost never happen. Like for instance if a guy got killed on a train, they'd pay a hundred thousand instead of fifty. PHYLLIS I see. (Her eyes widen with excitement) NEFF We're hitting it for the limit, baby. That's why it's got to be a train. PHYLLIS It's going to be a train, Walter. Just the way you say. Straight down the line. They look at each other. The look is like a long kiss. Neff goes out. Slowly Phyllis closes the door and leans her head against it as she looks up the empty stairway. B-4 EXT. DIETRICHSON RESIDENCE - (NIGHT) Neff, briefcase under his arm, comes down the steps to the street, where his Dodge coupe is parked at the curb. He opens the door and stops, looking in. Sitting there in the dark corner of the car, away from the steering wheel, is Lola. She wears a coat but no hat. LOLA Hello, Mr. Neff. It's me. Lola gives him a sly smile. Neff is a little annoyed. NEFF Something the matter? LOLA I've been waiting for you. NEFF For me? What for? LOLA I thought you could let me ride with you, if you're going my way. Neff doesn't like the idea very much. NEFF Which way would that be? LOLA Down the hill. Down Vermont. NEFF (Remembering) Oh, sure. Vermont and Franklin. North- west corner, wasn't it? Be glad to, Miss Dietrichson. Neff gets into the car. B-5 INT. COUPE - (NIGHT) - (TRANSPARENCY) Neff puts the briefcase on the ledge behind the driver's seat. He closes the door and starts the car. They drift down the hill. NEFF Roller skating, eh? You like roller skating? LOLA I can take it or leave it. Neff looks at her curiously. Lola meets his glance. NEFF Only tonight you're leaving it? This is an embarrassing moment for Lola. LOLA Yes, I am. You see, Mr. Neff, I'm having a very tough time at home. My father doesn't understand me and Phyllis hates me. NEFF That does sound tough, all right. LOLA That's why I have to lie sometimes. NEFF You mean it's not Vermont and Franklin. LOLA It's Vermont and Franklin all right. Only it's not Anne Matthews. It's Nino Zachetti. You won't tell on me, will you? NEFF I'd have to think it over. LOLA Nino's not what my father says at all. He just had bad luck. He was doing pre-med at U.S.C. and working nights as an usher in a theater downtown. He got behind in his credits and flunked out. Then he lost his job for talking back. He's so hot- headed. NEFF That comes expensive, doesn't it? LOLA I guess my father thinks nobody's good enough for his daughter except maybe the guy that owns Standard Oil. Would you like a stick of gum? NEFF Never use it, thanks. Lola puts a stick of gum in her mouth. LOLA I can't give Nino up. I wish father could see it my way. NEFF It'll straighten out all right, Miss Dietrichson. LOLA I suppose it will sometime. (Looking out) This is the corner right here, Mr. Neff. Neff brings the car to a stop by the curb. LOLA There he is. By the bus stop. Neff looks out. B-6 CORNER VERMONT AND FRANKLIN - (NIGHT) Zachetti stands waiting, hands in trouser pockets. He is about twenty-five, Italian looking, open shirt, not well dressed. B-7 INT. COUPE - (NIGHT) - LOLA AND NEFF LOLA He needs a hair-cut, doesn't he. Look at him. No job, no car, no money, no prospects, no nothing. (Pause) I love him. She leans over and honks on the horn. LOLA (Calling) Nino! B-8 ZACHETTI He turns around and looks towards the car. LOLA'S VOICE Over here, Nino. Zachetti walks towards the car. B-9 THE COUPE Neff and Lola. She has opened the door. Zachetti comes up. LOLA This is Mr. Neff, Nino. NEFF Hello, Nino. ZACHETTI (Belligerent from the first word) The name is Zachetti. LOLA Nino. Please. Mr. Neff gave me a ride from the house. I told him all about us. ZACHETTI Why does he have to get told about us? LOLA We don't have to worry about Mr. Neff, Nino. ZACHETTI I'm not doing any worrying. Just don't you broadcast so much. LOLA What's the matter with you, Nino? He's a friend. ZACHETTI I don't have any friends. And if I did, I like to pick them myself. NEFF Look, sonny, she needed the ride and I brought her along. Is that anything to get tough about? ZACHETTI All right, Lola, make up your mind. Are you coming or aren't you? LOLA Of course I'm coming. Don't mind him, Mr. Neff. Lola steps out of the car. LOLA Thanks a lot. You've been very sweet. Lola catches up with Zachetti and they walk away together. B-10 INT. COUPE Neff looks after them. Slowly he puts the car in gear and drives on. His face is tight. Behind his head, light catches the metal of the zipper on the briefcase. Over the shot comes the COMMENTARY: NEFF'S VOICE She was a nice kid and maybe he was a little better than he sounded. I kind of hoped so for her sake, but right then it gave me a nasty feeling to be thinking about them at all, with that briefcase right behind my head and her father's application in it. Besides, I had other problems to work out. There were plans to make, and Phyllis had to be in on them... DISSOLVE TO: B-11 EXT. SUPER MARKET - (DAY) There is a fair amount of activity but the place is not crowded. Neff comes along the sidewalk into the shot. He passes in front of the fruit and vegetable display and goes between the stalls into the market. NEFF'S VOICE (Continued) ...but we couldn't be seen together any more and I had told her never to call me from her house and never to call me at my office. So we had picked out a big market on Los Feliz. She was to be there buying stuff every day about eleven o'clock, and I could run into her there. Kind of accidentally on purpose. B-12 INT. MARKET Neff stops by the cashier's desk and buys a pack of cigarettes. As he is opening the pack he looks back casually beyond the turnstile into the rear part of the market. B-13 ROWS OF HIGH SHELVES IN MARKET The shelves are loaded with canned goods and other merchandise. Customers move around selecting articles and putting them in their baskets. Phyllis is seen among them, standing by the soap section. Her basket is partly filled. She wears a simple house dress, no hat, and has a large envelope pocketbook under her arm. B-14 INT. MARKET Neff has spotted Phyllis. Without haste he passes through the turnstile towards the back. B-15 THE SHELVES Phyllis is putting a can of cleaning powder into her basket. Neff enters the shot and moves along the shelves towards her, very slowly, pretending to inspect the goods. A customer passes and goes on out of scene. Phyllis and Neff are now very close. During the ensuing low-spoken dialogue, they continue to face the shelves, not looking at each other PHYLLIS Walter. NEFF Not so loud. PHYLLIS I wanted to talk to you, Walter. Ever since yesterday. NEFF Let me talk first. It's all set. The accident policy came through. I've got it in my pocket. I got his check too. I saw him down in the oil fields. He thought he was paying for the auto insurance. The check's just made out to the company. It could be for anything. But you have to send a check for the auto insurance, see. It's all right that way, because one of the cars is yours. PHYLLIS But listen, Walter --- NEFF Quick, open your bag. She hesitates, then opens it. Neff looks around quickly, slips the policy out of his pocket and drops it into her bag. She snaps the bag shut. NEFF Can you get into his safe deposit box? PHYLLIS Yes. We both have keys. NEFF Fine. But don't put the policy in there yet. I'll tell you when. And listen, you never touched it or even saw it, understand? PHYLLIS I'm not a fool. NEFF Okay. When is he taking the train? PHYLLIS Walter, that's just it. He isn't going. NEFF What? PHYLLIS That's what I've been trying to tell you. The trip is off. NEFF What's happened? He breaks off as a short, squatty woman, pushing a child in a walker, comes into sight and approaches. She stops beside Neff, who is pretending to read a label on a can. Phyllis puts a few cakes of soap into her basket. WOMAN (To Neff) Mister, could you reach me that can of coffee? (She points) That one up there. NEFF (Reaching up) This one? She nods. Neff reaches a can down from the high shelf and hands it to her. WOMAN I don't see why they always have to put what I want on the top shelf. She moves away with her coffee and her child. Out of the corner of his eye Neff watches her go. He moves closer to Phyllis again. NEFF Go ahead. I'm listening. PHYLLIS He had a fall down at the well. He broke his leg. It's in a cast. NEFF That knocks it on the head all right. PHYLLIS What do we do, Walter? NEFF Nothing. Just wait. PHYLLIS Wait for what? NEFF Until he can take a train. I told you it's got to be a train. PHYLLIS We can't wait. I can't go on like this. NEFF We're not going to grab a hammer and do it quick, just to get it over with. PHYLLIS There are other ways. NEFF Only we're not going to do it other ways. PHYLLIS But we can't leave it like this. What do you think would happen if he found out about this accident policy? NEFF Plenty. But not as bad as sitting in that death-house. PHYLLIS Don't ever talk like that, Walter. NEFF Just don't let's start losing our heads. PHYLLIS It's not our heads. It's our nerve we're losing. NEFF We're going to do it right. That's all I said. PHYLLIS Walter maybe it's my nerves. It's the waiting that gets me. NEFF It's getting me just as bad, baby. But we've got to wait. PHYLLIS Maybe we have, Walter. Only it's so tough without you. It's like a wall between us. Neff looks at his watch. NEFF Good-bye baby. I'm thinking of you every minute. He goes off. She stares after him. DISSOLVE TO: B-16 NEFF'S OFFICE - (DAY) He is wearing a light grey suit and has his hat on. He is standing behind his desk opening some mail, taking a few papers out of his briefcase, checking something in his rate book, making a quick telephone call. But nothing of this is heard. NEFF'S VOICE After that a full week went by and I didn't see her once. I tried to keep my mind off her and off the whole idea. I kept telling myself that maybe those fates they say watch over you had gotten together and broken his leg to give me a way out. Then it was the fifteenth of June. You may remember that date, Keyes. I do too, only for a very different reason. You came into my office around three in the afternoon... Keyes enters with some papers in his hand. NEFF Hello, Keyes. KEYES I just came from Norton's office. The semi-annual sales records are out. You're high man, Walter. That's twice in a row. Congratulations. NEFF Thanks. How would you like a cheap drink? KEYES How would you like a fifty dollar cut in salary? NEFF How would I -- Do I laugh now, or wait until it gets funny? KEYES I'm serious, Walter. I've been talking to Norton. There's too much stuff piling up on my desk. Too much pressure on my nerves. I spend half the night walking up and down in my bed. I've got to have an assistant. I thought that you -- NEFF Me? Why pick on me? KEYES Because I've got a crazy idea you might be good at the job. NEFF That's crazy all right. I'm a salesman. KEYES Yeah. A peddler, a glad-hander, a back-slapper. You're too good to be a salesman. NEFF Nobody's too good to be a salesman. KEYES Phooey. All you guys do is ring door- bells and dish out a smooth line of monkey talk. What's bothering you is that fifty buck cut, isn't it? NEFF That'd bother anybody. KEYES Look, Walter. The job I'm talking about takes brains and integrity. It takes more guts than there is in fifty salesman. It's the hottest job in the business. NEFF It's still a desk job. I don't want a desk job. KEYES A desk job. Is that all you can see in it? Just a hard chair to park