can i come out? no. you had something to do for me - you didn't do it. no. you're dead, son - get yourself buried! from sidney's viewpoint. hunsecker is seated at a table which is cleverly his habitual position. we see him only in semi-back view, a broad and powerful back. he is listening to a man who has paused at his table, stooping over hunsecker to whisper in his ear. as the columnist listens, his hands play with an omni-present pad and pencil which lie on the dinner table amongst an assortment of envelopes, mimeographed sheets and a telephone. beyond hunsecker and the man talking to him are the senator, the agent, and an attractive, if fatuous girl. i'll check it in the morning, low - thanks. harvey, i often wish i were dead and wore a hearing aid. with a simple flick of a switch i could shut out the greedy murmur of little men. mac! i don't want this man at my table. forgive me, harvey. we were interrupted before - yes, the justice, that's right. but i think you had it in the column. now don't kid a kidder. everyone knows manny davis. . except mrs. manny davis. yes? go ahead, billy - shoot. uh huh. sports cars in california are getting smaller and smaller. the other day you were crossing hollywood boulevard and you were hit by one. you had to go to the hospital and have it removed. you're not following the column: i had it last week. manny, what exactly are the unseen gifts of this lovely young thing that you manage? what subject? why "of course"? it might, for instance, be politics. the brains may be jersey city, but the clothes are trainor-norell. how did you guess it, miss james? mr. falco, let it be said at once, is a man of forty faces, not one, none too pretty and all deceptive. see that grin? it's the charming street urchin's face. it's part of his "helpless" act - he throws himself on your mercy. i skip the pleading nervous bit that sometimes blends over into bluster. the moist grateful eye is a favorite face with him - it frequently ties in with the act of boyish candor: he's talking straight from the heart, get it? he's got about half-a-dozen faces for the ladies, but the real cut one to me is the quick dependable chap - nothing he won't do for you in a pinch. at least, so he says! tonight mr. falco, whom i did not invite to sit at this table, is about to show in his last and most pitiful role: pale face with tongue hanging out. in brief, gentlemen and jersey lilly, the boy sitting with us is a hungry press agent and fully up to all the tricks of his very slimy trade! match me, sidney. a single close up, to intercut with the above. i know - that loafer of yours opens at the latin quarter next week. say goodbye, lester! why don't you answer the man, sidalee? he's trying to take you off the hook. heaven dust. what, some cheap, gruesome gags? yes, with your clients' names attached. that's the only reason those poor slobs pay you - to see their names in my column all over the world! now, as i make it out, you're doing me a favor! the day that i can't get along without press agents' handouts, i'll close up shop, lock, stock and barrel and move to alaska. look, manny, you rode in here on the senator's shirt tails, so shut your mouth! this man is not for you, harvey, and you shouldn't be seen with him in public. because that's another part of a press agents life - he digs up scandal among prominent men and shovels it thin among the columnists who give him space. we're friends, harvey - we go as far back as when you were a fresh kid congressman, don't we? maybe it's a mannerism - because i don't threaten friends, harvey. but why furnish your enemies with ammunition? you're a family man. someday, with god willing, you may wanna be president. now here you are, harvey, out in the open where any hep person knows that this one. is toting that one. around for you. are we kids or what?. next time you come up, you might join me at my tv show. go, thou, and sin no more. mac, don't let the senator pay that check. president! my big toe would make a better president! find me a good one, joe. putting on his overcoat, he addresses another of the captains who has escorted him out of the club. dan, anyone calls, tell 'em i'll be at the morocco, maybe the embers. where's your coat, sidalee? saving tips? my curiosity is killing me; what are you so rambunctious about tonight? hello, harry. you see, sidalee, that shows that lt. kello likes your people. harry, am i supposed to say "uncle"? anything fit to print, tonight? hello, phil. how're the kids. any news fit to print tonight? incidentally, what happened to that doll? - you gave me the item last night. still alive? she mighta jumped. love suicide? check it for me, phil. it's a real heart throb. say hello to sidney falco. tickle him - he's been a bad boy tonight. he called you my fat friend. say, that's good - it's nice - in fact, it's apt, harry! i remember once when you didn't quite "put things together". boy! was the mayor mad! that's show business. thanks, phil. see you. i like harry, but i can't deny he sweats a little. i love this dirty town. conjugate me a verb, sidney. for instance, to promise! you told me you'd break up that romance - when? i'm a schoolboy - teach me, teach me. at this late date you need explanations? susie's all i got - now that she's growing up, i want my relationship with her to stay at least at par! i don't intend to antagonize her if i don't have to. now, be warned, son - i'll have to blitz you. i don't? i'll listen one more minute. are you finished? not "we", sidney, you! ha! my right hand hasn't seen my left hand for thirty years! what you promised - do it! don't finagle around. it's later than you think. hunsecker is hit: he stops in his stride; he pauses and he turns slowly to look at sidney. lowering, he hesitates, mind clicking. susie told you that? no wonder you've been so 'feisty' tonight. can you deliver? when? expressionless, he examines sidney. then he walks off toward the car. he tips the attendant, who thanks him, but instead of getting into the back of the car, he makes a small authoritative gesture to nikko to move over so that hunsecker himself may drive. while nikko does so, hunsecker turns back to sidney, whom the camera now includes. don't be a two time loser, sidalee. the sentence could be severe. hunsecker gets into the driver's seat beside nikko, the japanese houseboy. camera is close on hunsecker who does not look back but is clearly aware of the position of sidney as he puts the car into gear, revving the engine. yes? you sound happy, sidney. why should you be happy when i'm not? i'll see the papers when i get up. how do you spell picasso, the french painter? it's an item - i hear he goes out with three-eyed girls. we shall see what we shall see. and don't ever use this apartment phone again; i have a nervous sister. who was just there? you'll be the death of me. sidalee! why? didn't you just tell me that they've already traced this smear to you? all they have to do now is to put two and two together and i'm a chicken in a pot! don't come here. susie is up and about. he called her? you'd better see me at the tv - three o'clock. the table can wait. no calls. i have to think about my tv show. did you put the bread out on the terrace for the birds? susie! come in a minute, dear. susie, you're very much in my thoughts today. what a question, dear, with that newspaper in your hand. yes, he phoned. i don't know this boy too well. anything in these charges? not being partial, are you? susie, take it easy. i'll trust your judgment - you don't have to protest with me. why are you trembling, dear? yes. but that wasn't your fault, dear, what happened to leslie. i've told you that a million times. i wouldn't have called the boy exactly balanced. i'm not fighting with you, puss. you mean they've been fired already, on the basis of this crude smear? susie, you're sure there isn't some fire where there's this much smoke? then maybe you can tell me if he's as solid as you say, why does he rap me every chance he gets? who said sidney? you know, dear, we're drifting apart, you and i, and i don't like that. let me finish, dear. you had your say, now let me have mine. i started to say we're drifting apart. a year ago, in your wildest dreams, would you have walked by that door without taking up this situation with me? today i had to call you in! susie, i want to help you--, there's nothing i won't do for you. you're all i've got in the whole, wide world. well, what have i got? alimony to a pair of tramps? they're of no concern to me. it's you who count, but don't get me wrong - i don't intend to let you break your neck again! how? he means that much to you? you're picking up my lingo, hon. susie, i like this new attitude of yours. you're growing up and i like it! i don't like it when you're limp and dependent, when you're odd and wayward. this gives you a chance for real survival in a very lousy world. because, don't forget, dear, you won't always have me with you, will you? this dallas boy must be good for you. why not bring him around today, before the show? this time i'll clean my glasses for a better look. sure you can if you want to, and i know you'll want to. by the way, what's your beef against little sidney? a man couldn't ask for a squarer shake. let me have billy van cleve. don't ever tell anyone, susie, how i'm tied to your apron strings. billy! j.j.! what's this about that boy? what boy? where are we, lug, in a drawing room comedy? you're brain is warming up, sweetheart - yeah, dallas!. no, don't explain your point of view, but. "i was reminded of it this morning, when i noticed that the birds had gone south. we want the same kind of freedom for ourselves - that's what the man said! a man has the right to face his accusers! that's the american way! who said? the man said! from" burton, don't stand around. if i go over i'll cut some items off the tail. "from washington through to jefferson, from lincoln and f.d.r. right up to today - the democratic way of life! that's what the man said! nowadays it doesn't export to well. but you know. and i know. that our best secret weapon is d-e-m-o- of course, mildred. of course. you look fine. mary, help miss tam - anything she wants; she's our star today. i got that boy coming over here. what's so funny? i think you loused this up but good. if i can trust my eyes, and i think i can, susie knows all about your dirty work. can't hurt? i had to get him back his job. but it's too late. i got him back the job. well he's got her in a tizzy, i'll tell you that! and who's feet is she on now? what's this boy got that susie likes? what does that mean - integrity? full of beans, ain't you? but you know that you'll stand or fall by what you're doing now. i wouldn't like to take a bite of you; you're a cookie full of arsenic. looks like a wedding. well, son, looks like you went out and bought yourself a packet of trouble. give susie credit for that. i took her word that there was nothing to the smear. matter of fact, i'll have my say about smears on the show today. that's why i'd like your personal assurance, too. i'll by that, son. now, you owe me a favor. be good to my kid sister. susie likes to keep her girlish secrets. but in her heart of hearts i imagine, dallas, that she fancies you in an uncommon way. now, what about you, son? not just tom-catting around. i hope? take it easy, susie. he wouldn't be much of a man if he didn't understand my concern. would you, son? serious as a deacon. i like it. i like your style, son! in a world of old rags and bones, i like it! for instance, take sidney. if sidney got anywhere near susie i'd break a bat over sidney's head! sidney lives so much in a moral twilight that, when i said you were coming here, he predicted disaster. you wouldn't take my favor -- you'd chew up the job, he said, and spit it right back in my face! any truth in that? don't amplify. why, has he bothered you before? son, lots of people tell me i'm a gifted man, but i still can't see around corners. just exactly what are you so hot about? i mean, i know it's a difficult thing to be an artist in this crudest of possible worlds, but -- well, just be careful you don't knock her down, huh? frankly, son, you lost me on that last hill. just give us the punch line. why do you keep coupling me with falco? don't go wild, sidney. what about that? how did you mean it? both of you keep quiet! you've made more damage here in one minute than a plague of locusts! if you're tired, susie, sit down--- this needs investigation! how did you mean it? come on, let's go! let's go!. right now you're in no position to ask questions! and your snide remarks--- susie, did you know about this accusation? before you leave, son, i'll answer your question---susan hunsecker is the injured party here! or will i be hearing next that i don't even have my sister's welfare at heart. you hear that, susie. continue please. that's stout of you, dallas, but susie may not care to air her dismal views in public. susie, as always, is free to say anything she thinks. go on, dear, say exactly what's on your mind, dear. may i lift my eyebrows? what is this? what are you trying to do? son, you raise your voice again and you'll be outa here on your golden pratt! he interjects. susie, i'm sorry if--- you see, dallas, a plague on both our houses. we may have to call this game on account of darkness. if looks could kill, i'm dead. and what have i done to her, besides not buy her a new fur coat lately? sidney, you were right -- the boy's a dilly. son, i don't fancy shooting mosquitoes with elephant guns. so suppose you just shuffle along and call it a day. ten'll get you fifty you're playing hookey from a padded cell! there is some emotion in his face as he looks towards the girl. more gently, he moves forward past camera. you in a mood, susie, to run over to milgrim's later and buy a few new frocks? want sidney to drive you over? drive susie home. again we see some emotion in his face as he studies the girl. his eyes flick towards the stage behind him where sidney stands watching. he moves gently forward and then speaks in a quiet voice which reveals how desperately he needs her reassurance: susie. i. i'd have to take it very much amiss if you ever saw that boy again. call van cleve. tell him he was right. tell him i said the dallas boys are not worthy of his club. mary. for susie's own good. don't give her misplaced sympathy. so that's what "integrity" looks like. well, i'm always willing to learn. how is that slob, d'angelo, your uncle? what are you so chipper about? if i put a cross on every one of your mistakes, you'd look like a graveyard! sidney, i know human nature. susie lied to me - she'll see that boy again. these drinks are warm. what are you a critic? forget it. the real money ball is the boy. stop tinkering, pal - that horse radish won't jump a fence! this syrup you're giving out, sidney, you pour over waffles, not j.j. hunsecker! what do you mean that lousy kid will give up my sister? are you listening? from sidney's viewpoint. without turning, hunsecker interrupts: am i supposed to forget how that boy talked to me today? from sidney's viewpoint. pausing during the process of eating, hunsecker reaches into an inside pocket. brief epitaph: "the boy was talking when he should have been listening." bite on this. for the next sailing of the mary. susan's run down - she's never been abroad and as you so cogently put it, i'm not made of iron. as sidney makes no response, hunsecker slowly, carefully continues in a voice which is dangerously soft: i want that boy taken apart. she knows now. he wants no advice from sidney. he interrupts with quiet savagery. i know how to handle susie. you just handle the boy, sidney. . preferably tonight. hunsecker finishes eating. during the ensuing speech, which he begins quietly and sensibly, hunsecker's venomous feelings are unexpectedly betrayed. you've got that god-given brain - learn to use it! do you think it's a personal matter with me, this boy? are you telling me i see things in terms of personal pique? don't you see that today that boy wiped his feet on the choice, on the predilections of sixty million men and women of the greatest country in the world! if you had any morals yourself, you would understand the immorality of that boy's stand today! it was not me he criticized - it was my readers!. don't remove the gangplank, sidney; you may wanna get back on board. this crab gumbo - terrific! the man in jail is always for freedom. from sidney's viewpoint. sure you're in jail, sidney. you're a prisoner of your own fears, of your own greed and ambition; you're in jail. you, little boy, don't know who you are! talking around corners with the big shots, ten dollar dinners - fourteen suits and cashmere coats - you tell yourself that's who you are! later you won't know who you are without a penthouse on upper park! but underneath it all, ratting around from day to day, you do know who you are! you're a fearful, ignorant nobody - a poor wop kid from the slums of philly - hoping nobody else finds it out! hunsecker is prepared to give it out, but not take it. i told you what i want you to do tonight! sidney, i told you - and who do you think writes the column while susie and i are away for three months?. the man in the moon? thank you, sidney. and, sidney, i'll have that piece of paper back. he is taking off his overcoat near the door of the apartment. we don't know how long he has been there, how much he has overheard. without appearing to be consciously spying, hunsecker is listening to sidney's voice over scene. go to bed, susie. it's late. what is he doing here? that subject it might be better not to start me on. he's made all the papers tonight. is there something you wanted to say? i've put up with a lot of your guff, susie, because you were a child. but you're a woman now and i suspect, despite my best intentions, more than a bit of a slut. whose arms will i have to pry you out of next? not that i don't think you didn't invite it! i know that look of yours, that pose of being wronged - and how it arouses the crusading instinct in even a sidney falco - is that why you were romancing her, you mutt! let's call it quits, my dear. i'd like it fine if you found another home. that means the front door is open! pack your things, rent a moving van and git! and as for marriage, let me hit you with a few choice facts: you aren't ready for marriage! you're incompetent - a capricious and shaky frail with a sick fatality for frail and useless men! another crisis past. she'll be fast asleep in five minutes, loaded with those headache pills. now we'll get to you, sidney. as far as the column is concerned - tonight you have forfeited every ethical consideration i ever felt for you. let me finish what i started to say - hunsecker has come forward. but now, as he listens to the gramaphone record playing in the bedroom, hunsecker relaxes, assuming that this is a sign that sidney's suspicions are unfounded. what a cornball you are, sidney. susie, this is j.j.! open up! a close up. he looks down at his sister. he is badly shaken. the sharp bite of terror produces a reaction of something akin to anger. but he swiftly controls it. he moves past camera. susan!. talk to her, sidney. yuh. yuh. just a minute. susie, it's mr. d'angelo - from the hospital. hunsecker nods. he already knows this. then: that means a lot to you? but i have to warn you, susie - for your own sake - he'll still do time. he's a hop-head - that's a felony in new york. i can try, of course, to. get out of this house! you're incapable of the truth. he is perfectly controlled, smiling. like most italians, sidney's got a big gift for dramatics. i, however, prefer the cool and stubborn facts. sidney has not appeared in my column in weeks - check that fact with mary. that leads right to another fact: sidney had nothing to lose tonight! to the contrary, dear - only his obvious greed to mind you, not that one true fact didn't come out of sidney's mouth tonight: self-admittedly, he committed a vicious crime of jealousy against steve dallas! now we have to clear dallas, don't we?. but i'll have to sacrifice him. . to do it. am i doing right? yes or no, susie? no, he's admitted that, harry. my kid sister's a witness. no, he admits he planted the stuff on the dallas boy. yeah. jealousy. he's been trying to make my sister behind my back. that's a pretty coat. - but it's about time you had a new one. don't kid a kidder. i'll see you for breakfast around eleven. from susan's viewpoint, shooting through the big glass windows. hunsecker is at the parapet. he is impatiently looking down into broadway. framing him in foreground at the parapet. susan can be seen through the windows before she disappears to the door. hunsecker reacts as he catches sight of a vehicle on broadway below. a close shot, shooting sharply upward at hunsecker. he looks down, quiet impassively, and there is a slightly insane grandeur, a paranoiac superiority in the way that he turns back, dismissing sidney from his thoughts. susie? are you in bed? i don't have to tell you, of course, that i cleared your boyfriend's name; i didn't let you down. a close shot, reverse angle. we now see in his face a flicker of fear. with what is clearly an effort, he reassumes a confident manner. i was saving this news for breakfast, but i think i'll jump the gun! i'm gonna give you and susie? i'm getting the mayor to perform the ceremony and - no, i think i'll fly the governor down from albany. do you hear? are you listening?. a big close up. the sight of the empty room freezes his face for a moment. his eyes look round. susie!. you won't threaten me!. nobody walks out on j.j. hunsecker! camera now moves closer and closer to hunsecker. the angle is a weird one, tilting grotesquely upward. you need me - you all need me!. "the lord is my shepherd; i shall not want". that's bunk in a book! i'm the shepherd of millions of little men and women!. i don't ask them to get on their knees, but they come to me for advice and guidance! who are you to reject me! what makes you fit to sit in judgment on a man like me. only a great person understands another great person, and that leaves you out! - that leaves you all out! you're pigmies! you're all sick, weak midgets! i'm proud to be alone!.