you bet, honey.
mornin', ray. whaddya know whaddya say? me and sandra caught "the african queen" at the chinese last night. great picture, great picture.
what's with this "mr. appleton" crap? your boss hiding in there?
what's that mean?
louise.  what gives?
sort what out? are my pages done?
they took 'em? who took 'em? louise, what's going on.
leo.  what's going on?
i.  i don't believe this.
who the hell is this "they?"
no. yeah.  i.  i don't know. maybe i did. leo, this was before pearl harbor. i was in college. it was a bunch of kids, and i was just one of 'em. i didn't believe in what they were saying. hell, i didn't even know what they were saying!
leo, i was trying to impress a skirt. you know me, i'm non- political. republican, democrat, communist, there's not a dime's worth of difference between 'em anyway.
i don't know who fingered me, but i'm not a communist!
what? that i'm accused of being a communist when i don't happen to be one?
leo, you're my agent. tell "them" to take a flyin' piss. i didn't do anything wrong. i fought in the war, for crissakes!
i was decorated.
exactly.
at least i was on our side! look, they want me to testify? i'll testify. i'll tell 'em anything they want to hear! jesus, leo, this is my career!
why not?
yeah, well, that's enough.
"ashes to ashes?"
so, it is a blacklist.
yes. leo, goddammit.  this isn't fair!
huh. red.
what exactly did you hear?
i wasn't alone. wasn't frankie ruskin directing the picture you're in?
well, whatever frankie's got, it's catching.
they're saying i'm a communist, sandy. but i'm not, you know that. i'm gonna fight 'em, and i'm gonna win, but i'll need your help.
a lot of good people are being accused of things they didn't do. hell, even if i was a communist, this is america, goddammit, a person should be able to be whatever they want to be! right?
will you help me, sandy?
so nice to be a pariah.
bought the bottle, didn't i? to the united states of america. long my she wave.
thanks, jerry. tell me something.
you tight with j. edgar hoover?
zackly.
too bad. he says i'm a communist.
you know i'm not a communist, don't you, jer?
this is not a bender yet. this is the start of a bender. but i can see how you were confused, they look a lot alike.
sandra sinclair.
sandra sinclair. wanna know her real name? bella iskowitz. no one's who they really are, jer. everyone's someone else. even you. even me. especially me. i'm peter appleton, the communist who's not really a communist.
nope. can't. we're through.
i'll save you the trouble. i'm a cab. there. did it myself.
'sides, car's right outside. i'll be seein' ya, jer.
drive. drive. bad idea. too drunk to drive.
one-thirty. huh! early. can't go home yet.
oops.
huh? whatsa.
shit.
oh my god! i don't believe.  oh my god.
i.  i don't know.
i.  yes, i think so.
my head hurts.
ancestors?
i suppose. thanks.
i'm.  i.  i honestly don't know.
they all know you?
the war.
yes. very.
pie's.  good.
thanks. more coffee?
i'd remember this pie.
thanks. great pie.
thank you, mr. lawson.
no, sir.
i don't remember. i guess so. smells like it. tastes like it.
i guess i did.
thanks.
it's possible. i just don't remember.
i.  no, i.  i just can't.
call me.  ishmael?
she's very pretty.
wish i could say the same thing.
yes.
no. but.
well, this place sorta reminds me of something.
"it's a wonderful life."
"it's a wonderful life?"
i remember the picture.  but i don't remember where i saw it.
looks a bit puzzled, but the old man has such a sweet face.
my father?
the bijou?
we live in a theater?
am i under arrest?
i don't know what else to tell you. i wasn't hiding out. i hit my head and i didn't remember anything until a few days ago.
i already have.
my girlfriend. if she still is.
no. no, not miss sinclair. i'm talking about adele lardner.
no. absolutely not.
let's close up.
who's that?
hi.
yeah? i'm sure a lot more people down in l.a. want a piece of me.
this luke was a pretty good guy, wasn't he?
well.  let me tell you, i'm not luke. i know who i am now, and you don't. and.  i don't like me very much.
thanks, i like it. i think.
delly, i want to do the right thing.
the truth is, i'm a lot of things, but communist isn't one of them.
come on, delly, look at the country today. we're fighting communists in korea, we're paranoid about the russians, we've got this thing with the rosenbergs and the atomic bomb.  you think they want "suspected communists" entertaining the american public with party propaganda like, gosh i don't know, "sand pirates of the sahara?"
what about you, delly?
you'll stand by me?
well, that's a relief. i understand they usually don't let that stop them.
and i won't be a communist anymore.
so it doesn't make any difference that i'm not one now, and have never been one.
that's not the country luke fought for.
it's wrong, leo.
you found him.
this is a great honor. i'll treasure this always. thank you.
"i, peter appleton, do hereby renounce my membership in the american communist party, and by way of purging myself of my indiscretion, wish to provide the following names of fellow members to this committee, so that those persons may have the opportunity to do as i have done"
jesus.
old tim?
sure. come on in. i was just packing.
please, sit.
the customers? i don't know.
tim, i have to tell you something.
it's about me.
i'm.  i'm not luke. luke is dead. he died in the war. he's not coming back, and i'm not him. i don't even belong here. this whole thing started out as an accident, and that's all it is. an accident.
my name isn't luke. it's peter. peter appleton.
i thought you.
yeah. except a chance in hell of coming out of this intact.
i wish you were coming with me.
maybe we could train cat to run the projector. you know, a system of scratching posts, and gears, and levers.
damn.
delly.  thanks, thank you. i'll take good care of this.
okay. what's the second thing?
i do.
peter kenneth appleton. hollywood, california.
i'll do my best, mr. chairman.
a statement?
um.  no. i don't have a statement at this time.
sir, that is true.
luke trumbo? we never met. but i'd like to think i know him.
mr. clyde you're twisting things around. i wasn't masquerading. luke trumbo.  luke was a good man who gave his life for his country. i just.  happen to look a little bit like him. that's all.
yes, sir.
yes sir. but i didn't go to lawson to run the bijou, that was.  that was something that just happened. you see, i was involved in an accident in lawson, and i spent some time recovering there.
yes.
i'm sorry, what was the question?
sir, are you referring to the fact that i was suffering from amnesia, and i've since recovered my memory?
mr. clyde, i remember everything.
yes.  yes, i do.
yes it does.
mr. clyde, do you want to know what i knew then, or do you want to know what i know now? they're two different things?
well, i'd direct the attention of counsel and committee to line thirty-six of the document, and the name printed and signed there.
well, that's what i knew then. or who i knew, i should say. you see, i was trying to court miss angstrom. i went to the meeting to impress her.
well, if you'd seen miss angstrom.
you asked for the truth. that's the truth. i had no idea what the meeting was about. i just sat through it so i could be near her. i'm sure even a majority counsel like yourself is familiar with the concept of impressing a girl.
well, i know that i lost my job because of one meeting i went to when i was a kid in college. i know that i've been branded a communist, which i'm not, but even if i was, it shouldn't matter, or what do we have a bill of rights for?
i know that a lot of good, honest, decent people, people that i consider my true friends, feel betrayed by me, not because of who and what i am, but because of what you say i am! i know that i.
no, sir.
i'm not refuting anything.
that's not a contradiction at all, sir. i went to the meeting, but i didn't go as a member.
i'm a little hesitant to say.
well, i went as.  a horny young man.
i'm sorry, sir, i have no intention of making light of this committee. and i have no intention of incurring your wrath, mr. chairman. i have a few friends who have already incurred your wrath. they've sent me letters from jail.
mr. chairman, as i understand it, the fifth amendment pertains to self-incrimination, and i can't incriminate myself because i've done nothing wrong. besides, incrimination is why you have mr. clyde working for you.
i.  mr. chairman, i have a prepared statement i'd like to read.
"i, peter appleton, do hereby"
i.  i need a drink of water.
mr. chairman.  there's.  another amendment.  that i'd like to invoke at this time, but it's not the fifth amendment. i wonder if you're familiar with it.
"congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
he looks up at chairman doyle. now fully confident.
that's the first amendment, mr. chairman. it's the backbone of this nation. it's everything that gives us the potential to be right and good and just -- if only we'd live up to that potential. it's what gives me the right to sit in this chair and say my piece before this committee without fear. it's the most important part of the contract that every citizen has with this country. and even though this contract.  .  the constitution and the bill of rights -- even though they're just pieces of paper with signatures on them -- they're the only contracts we have that are most definitely not subject to renegotiation. not by you, mr. chairman, not by you, mr. clyde, not by any member of this committee -- or anyone else -- ever.
and when you get right down to it, that's really all i have to say to this committee. good morning.
i don't know.
no, of course not.
look, fellas, i don't have anything to say.
i'm not sorry for what i said.
no thanks.
luke didn't smoke.
not any more.
leo, you were in there, you saw what i did. you think they're gonna let me write pictures? hell, they're probably gonna throw my ass in jail.
besides, i don't even know if i want to write anymore.
what do you mean?
leo, i didn't give them the names. i wouldn't do that.
her name was right there in front of them. they gave it to me, i didn't give it to them.
leo, she was.  she was a girl i knew in college.
oh god, oh, god, no, i.
thank me publicly? for what? for ruining this woman's life?
thanks.
western union, please.
bob, congratulations! when'd you ask her?
i see you got the telegram.
dell, i can't write unless i'm happy, and i can't be happy unless i'm here -- and with you. this is me, delly. pete appleton. and i love you!
c'mon, dell, we gotta go. showtime in fifteen minutes.