Just came from Norton's office. Semiannual sales records are out. You're high man, Walter....
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Barton Keyes:
Just came from Norton's office. Semiannual sales records are out. You're high man, Walter. That's twice in a row. Congratulations.
Walter Neff:
Thanks. How'd you like a cheap drink?
Barton Keyes:
How'd you like a $50 cut in salary?
Walter Neff:
Do I laugh now or wait til it gets funny?
Barton Keyes:
I'm serious. I've just been talking to Norton. Too much stuff piling up on my desk. Too much pressure on my nerves. I spend half the night walking up and down on my bed. I've got to have an assistant and I thought of you.
Walter Neff:
Me? Why pick on me?
Barton Keyes:
'Cause I've got a crazy idea you might be good at the job.
Walter Neff:
That's crazy all right. I'm a salesman.
Barton Keyes:
Yeah, peddlar. Glad-handler. Back-slapper. You're too good to be a salesman.
Walter Neff:
Nobody's too good to be a salesman.
Barton Keyes:
Phooey. All you guys do is ring a doorbell and hand out a smooth line of monkey dough. What's troubling you is that fifty buck cut, isn't it?
Walter Neff:
That'd trouble anybody.
Barton Keyes:
Look Walter, the job I'm talking about takes brains and integrity. It takes more guts than there is in 50 salesmen. It's the hardest job in the business.
Walter Neff:
Yeah, but it's still a desk job. I don't want to be nailed to a desk.
Barton Keyes:
Desk job? Is that all you can see in it? Just a hard chair to park your pants on from 9 to 5? Just a pile of papers to shuffle around and 5 sharp pencils and a scratchpad to make figures on? Maybe a little doodling on the side? Well that's not the way I look at it, Walter. To me, a claims man is a surgeon. That desk is an operating table and those pencils are scalpels and bone-chisels. And those papers are not just forms and statistics and claims for compensation. They're alive. They're packed with drama, with twisted hopes and crooked dreams. A claims man, Walter, is a, is a doctor and a bloodhound and a
[phone rings. Keyes answers]
Barton Keyes:
Who? Okay, hold on a minute. A claims man is a doctor and a bloodhound and a cop and a judge and a jury and a father confessor all in one. And you want to tell me you're not interested. You don't want to work with your brains. All you want to do is work with your finger on the doorbell for a few bucks more a week. There's a dame on your phone.
Transcript
00:00:01.623 --> 00:00:02.916
Hello, Keyes.
00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:04.209
I just came from Norton's office.
00:00:04.293 --> 00:00:05.794
The semiannual sales records are out.
00:00:05.878 --> 00:00:08.755
You're high man, Walter. That's twice in a row.
Congratulations.
00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.508
Thanks. How would you like a cheap drink?
00:00:11.592 --> 00:00:14.052
How would you like a $50 cut in salary?
00:00:14.178 --> 00:00:16.043
- Do I laugh now or wait till it gets funny?
- No, I'm serious.
00:00:16.513 --> 00:00:19.808
I've just been talking to Norton. Too
much stuff piling up on my desk.
00:00:19.892 --> 00:00:21.185
Too much pressure on my nerves.
00:00:21.268 --> 00:00:23.312
I spend half the night
walking up and down in my bed.
00:00:23.395 --> 00:00:25.272
I've got to have an assistant
and I thought of you.
00:00:25.355 --> 00:00:26.732
Me? Why pick on me?
00:00:26.815 --> 00:00:29.359
Well, because I've got a crazy
idea you might be good at the job.
00:00:29.443 --> 00:00:30.819
That's crazy, all right. I'm a salesman.
00:00:30.903 --> 00:00:34.114
Yeah. A peddler, a gladhander, a backslapper.
00:00:34.656 --> 00:00:35.949
You're too good to be a salesman.
00:00:35.991 --> 00:00:38.118
- Nobody's too good to be a salesman.
- Phooey!
00:00:38.202 --> 00:00:41.705
All you guys do is just ring doorbells and
dish out a smooth line of monkey talk.
00:00:41.788 --> 00:00:43.916
What's troubling you
is that $50 cut, isn't it?
00:00:43.999 --> 00:00:45.542
- Well, that'd trouble anybody.
- Now look, Walter.
00:00:45.626 --> 00:00:48.545
The job I'm talking about
takes brains and integrity.
00:00:48.629 --> 00:00:50.547
It takes more guts than
there is in 50 salesmen.
00:00:50.631 --> 00:00:51.715
It's the hottest job in the business.
00:00:51.798 --> 00:00:53.997
Yeah, but it's still a desk job.
00:00:53.133 --> 00:00:55.219
- I don't want to be nailed to a desk.
- Deskjob?
00:00:55.302 --> 00:00:56.887
Is that all you can see in it?
00:00:56.097 --> 00:00:59.932
Just a hard chair to park your
pants on from 9:00 to 5:00, huh?
00:01:00.001 --> 00:01:02.726
Just a pile of papers to shuffle
around, and five sharp pencils...
00:01:02.809 --> 00:01:07.999
and a scratch pad to make figures on,
maybe a little doodling on the side.
00:01:07.001 --> 00:01:09.274
Well, that's not the way
I look at it, Walter.
00:01:09.358 --> 00:01:13.999
To me, a claims man is a surgeon,
that desk is an operating table...
00:01:13.001 --> 00:01:16.999
and those pencils are scalpels
and bone chisels.
00:01:16.999 --> 00:01:20.244
And those papers are not just forms and
statistics and claims for compensation.
00:01:20.327 --> 00:01:23.455
They're alive. They're packed with drama...
00:01:23.664 --> 00:01:25.999
with twisted hopes and crooked dreams.
00:01:25.916 --> 00:01:29.127
A claims man, Walter, is a
doctor and a bloodhound and a--
00:01:31.063 --> 00:01:33.001
Who? Okay, hold on a minute.
00:01:34.005 --> 00:01:37.001
A claims man is a doctor and a bloodhound
and a cop and a judge and a jury...
00:01:37.999 --> 00:01:38.929
and a father confessor, all in one.
00:01:39.012 --> 00:01:40.001
And you want to tell me
you're not interested?
00:01:40.639 --> 00:01:41.765
You don't want to work with your brains?
00:01:41.848 --> 00:01:43.934
All you want to work is with
your finger on the doorbell...
00:01:44.996 --> 00:01:47.521
for a few bucks more a week.
There's a dame on your phone.
00:01:47.604 --> 00:01:50.107
- Walter Neff speaking.
- I had to call you, Walter.
00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:51.566
It's very urgent. Are you with somebody?
00:01:53.998 --> 00:01:56.196
Yes, I am. Can't I call you back, Margie?
00:01:56.905 --> 00:02:00.117
No, you can't. I've only got a minute.
It can't wait.
00:02:00.002 --> 00:02:03.453
Listen. He's going tonight. On the train.
Are you listening?
00:02:03.001 --> 00:02:06.164
Walter? Yeah. I'm listening, Margie.
00:02:06.873 --> 00:02:09.376
- Only, make it snappy, will you?
- He's on crutches.
00:02:09.459 --> 00:02:12.999
The doctor says he can go if he's careful.
The change will do him good.
00:02:12.999 --> 00:02:15.001
It's wonderful, Walter. Just the
way you wanted it, on a train.
00:02:15.001 --> 00:02:18.999
Only with the crutches it makes
it much better, doesn't it?
00:02:18.999 --> 00:02:20.762
Yeah. Yeah, that's 100 % better.
00:02:22.001 --> 00:02:23.999
Hold the line a minute, will you?
00:02:23.999 --> 00:02:26.476
- Keyes, suppose I join you in your office?
- That's all right. I'll wait.
00:02:26.056 --> 00:02:28.001
Only tell her not to take all day.
00:02:30.999 --> 00:02:31.898
Go ahead.
00:02:32.232 --> 00:02:35.999
It's the 10:15 from Glendale.
I'm driving him.
00:02:35.001 --> 00:02:37.154
It's still the same dark street, isn't it?
00:02:37.999 --> 00:02:40.001
And the signal is three honks on the horn.
Okay. Anything else?
00:02:41.999 --> 00:02:42.999
No.
00:02:42.999 --> 00:02:43.577
Oh, uh...
00:02:44.161 --> 00:02:45.001
what color did you pick?
00:02:45.001 --> 00:02:48.749
Blue. Navy blue. And the
cast is on his left leg.
00:02:49.458 --> 00:02:50.667
Mmm-hmm.
00:02:51.209 --> 00:02:52.001
Yeah, that suits me fine.
00:02:52.001 --> 00:02:55.997
This is it, Walter. I'm shaking like a leaf.
00:02:55.013 --> 00:02:58.001
But it's straight down
the line for both of us.
00:02:58.001 --> 00:03:00.999
I love you, Walter. Goodbye.
00:03:02.429 --> 00:03:04.001
- Sorry, Keyes.
- What's the matter?
00:03:04.001 --> 00:03:07.142
Dames chasing you again? Or still?
Or is it none of my business?
00:03:07.999 --> 00:03:09.102
If I told you it was a customer--
00:03:09.001 --> 00:03:11.999
Margie. I bet she drinks from the bottle.
00:03:11.999 --> 00:03:13.019
Why don't you settle down
and get married, Walter?
00:03:13.315 --> 00:03:17.999
- Why don't you, for instance?
- I almost did, once. Long time ago.
00:03:17.999 --> 00:03:19.196
Now look, Keyes, I've got
to call on a prospect.
00:03:19.279 --> 00:03:21.001
Even had the church
picked out, the dame and I.
00:03:21.001 --> 00:03:24.999
She had a white satin dress
with flounces on it.
00:03:24.999 --> 00:03:27.006
I was on my way to the jewelry
store to buy the ring.
00:03:27.012 --> 00:03:29.999
And then suddenly that little man
in here started working on me.
00:03:29.999 --> 00:03:31.291
So you went back and had her investigated?
00:03:31.375 --> 00:03:33.001
Yeah. And the stuff that came out...
00:03:34.999 --> 00:03:37.013
She'd been dyeing her hair
ever since she was 16.
00:03:37.214 --> 00:03:39.001
There was a manic depressive in
her family, on her mother's side.
00:03:39.001 --> 00:03:41.999
She already had one husband.
00:03:41.999 --> 00:03:43.595
He was a professional
pool player in Baltimore.
00:03:43.678 --> 00:03:45.001
- And as for her brother--
- I get the general idea.
00:03:45.001 --> 00:03:49.434
- She was a tramp from a long line of tramps.
- Yeah. All right, all right.
00:03:49.518 --> 00:03:52.001
Now what do I say to Norton? What
about this job I want you for'?
00:03:52.001 --> 00:03:53.999
I don't think I want it, Keyes.
00:03:53.999 --> 00:03:56.483
- Thanks just the same.
- Fair enough.
00:03:57.001 --> 00:03:59.999
Only get this, I picked you for the job...
00:03:59.999 --> 00:04:01.863
not because I think you're so darn smart...
00:04:01.947 --> 00:04:05.999
but because I thought you were a shade
less dumb than the rest of the outfit.
00:04:12.999 --> 00:04:15.001
Guess I was wrong.
You're not smarter, Walter.
00:04:15.001 --> 00:04:17.002
You're just a little taller.
00:04:28.001 --> 00:04:30.002
Yes, Keyes.
00:04:30.999 --> 00:04:33.998
Those Fates I was talking about
had only been stalling me off.
00:04:33.998 --> 00:04:37.019
Now they had thrown the switch.
The gears had meshed.
00:04:37.315 --> 00:04:39.998
The time for thinking had all run out.
00:04:40.002 --> 00:04:44.001
I wanted my movements accounted for
up to the last possible moment.
00:04:44.998 --> 00:04:48.999
So when I left the office I put my rate
book on the desk as if I had forgotten it.
00:04:48.702 --> 00:04:50.001
That was part of my alibi.
00:04:52.999 --> 00:04:54.875
From here on, it was a question
of following the timetable...
00:04:54.003 --> 00:04:56.001
move by move.
00:04:57.001 --> 00:05:00.003
I got home about 7:00 and
drove right into the garage.
00:05:01.718 --> 00:05:03.001
This was another item to establish my alibi.
00:05:05.002 --> 00:05:07.596
- Hi, Mr. Neff.
- Hello, Charlie.
00:05:07.997 --> 00:05:09.001
How about giving the heap a wash job?
00:05:09.998 --> 00:05:10.999
How soon you gonna want it?
00:05:10.002 --> 00:05:12.003
I got a couple cars ahead of you.
00:05:12.267 --> 00:05:13.081
Any time you get to it, Charlie.
00:05:13.001 --> 00:05:16.998
- I'm staying in tonight.
- Okay.
00:05:16.998 --> 00:05:18.002
Up in my apartment
I called Lou Schwartz...
00:05:18.999 --> 00:05:20.998
one of the salesmen that shared my office.
00:05:20.998 --> 00:05:23.002
He lived in Westwood, so it was a toll
call and there'd be a record of it.
00:05:24.993 --> 00:05:26.998
I told him I'd forgotten my rate
book and needed some dope...
00:05:26.998 --> 00:05:29.999
on the public liability bond I was figuring.
00:05:29.999 --> 00:05:33.001
I changed into a navy blue suit
like Dietrichson was going to wear.
00:05:33.998 --> 00:05:36.003
Lou Schwartz called me back
and gave me a lot of figures.
00:05:36.541 --> 00:05:38.998
I stuffed a hand towel and a roll
of adhesive into my pockets...
00:05:39.983 --> 00:05:43.718
so I could fake something that
looked like a cast on a broken leg.
00:05:43.999 --> 00:05:45.998
Next, I stuck a card
inside the telephone box...
00:05:45.998 --> 00:05:48.024
so that it would fall down if the bell rang.
00:05:48.994 --> 00:05:51.001
That way I'd know if anybody had
called me while I was away.
00:05:51.998 --> 00:05:55.001
Then I did the same thing to the
doorbell in case anybody came to see me.
00:05:56.001 --> 00:06:00.025
I left the apartment by the service stairs.
Nobody saw me.
00:06:01.001 --> 00:06:04.999
I walked all the way from my
apartment to the Dietrichson house.
00:06:04.999 --> 00:06:05.999
I didn't want to take the bus...
Clip duration: 367 seconds
Views: 667
Timestamp in movie: 00h 42m 52s
Uploaded: 27 August, 2021
Genres: crime, drama, film-noir
Summary: A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
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