Scene 1:
Tracking toward the front door as Tom enters. He puts his coat and hat on the check counter.
Tom: What'd I do? Beryl: Stood me up is all! Made me wait an hour and a half is all! Or maybe you don't remember sayin' you'd pick me up after work last night. I seen heels in my time, sure, plenty of 'em! But none so low as couldn't tell me to my face when they was sick of me!
Scene 2:
A hand swings through frame to smash a gun butt into a surprised face. With a loud crash the surprised man stumbles back into a table and flogs to the floor. He is round, aproned, middle-aged. Coat-skirted legs approach and start kicking at him. The prostrate man rolls across the floor, trying to shield himself from the blows. Far Voice: Yeah, get up. He ain't gonna hurt ya. Round Man:He already hurt me! He broke my goddamn nose!
Round Man: I already paid Leo's men!
Bert: Not that I know about. He's been lookin', but I guess Leo's been movin' around and - hoist this over the bar, will ya? - things've been kinda hectic.
Tom: If you kill him, he won't be able to think things over. Rooster: He don't seem like such a hot thinker. Tom: You'll think about what you've learned here, won't you Louie? Round Man: You bet, Tom, I'll think plenty!
The three men head for the front door:
Rooster: Yeah? He die? Bert: I said, they slit this t'roat. Rooster: So what, genius? I had my t'roat slit. Bert: Sure, Rooster, but normal people's brains need oxygen.
Though there is commotion among the passers-by, Tom, Bert, and Rooster don't even turn to look.
Bert: Yeah, yeah.
Tom looks into the street. Rooster is staggering around as if drunk. He turns to face Tom and Bert. He lurches toward them. A red stain is blossoming on his chest. The ambient hubbub fades to silence; we hear only the crisp staggering scuffle of Rooster's shoes as he stumbles into the foreground, looking stunned. He drops. A woman screams. Noise wells up. Bert is unholstering his gun, looking up. Tom looks where Bert is looking.
A man with a distinctive shock of white hair - Dead Terry McGill - puts up his gun and starts running along the roof. BERT Starts running along the street to keep pace, firing up at the facing roof. A POLICE CAR Siren wailing, up on two wheels as it takes a speeding turn onto the street. It is hurtling toward Bert. PULLING BERT Running, pointing up, and bellowing at the oncoming car: Bert: Leo's man! Up there!
Cops with guns hang out every window. They start firing. TRACKING TOWARD BERT Running, pointing.
The police car squeals to a halt in front of his corpse. A sergeant and his men tumble out. Tom is sauntering over, smoking a cigarette. Tom: Caspar'll be thrilled. You just shot one of his apes. Sergeant: Balls! That's Two-Toe Jackson!
About a block away, a man with white hair is crossing the street.
As he leaves.
Dead Terry McGill sits at a stool looking angrily down at a cup of coffee. Tom enters to sit next to him. Through the windows behind them we see people running back and forth on the street, fire engine racing past - furious activity, its noise muted inside the diner.
Tom and Terry look at each other, Tom making no more to defend himself. After a long beat, Terry unclenches his fist and sneers: Scene 3:
Pulling Tom as he walks across the gambling floor, drink still in hand. Behind him we can see workmen busily repairing the damage done to the club in the police raid. Halfway across the floor Tom stiffens and slows, seeing something. Verna is entering the club. The two meet. Tom: 'Lo, Verna.
Verna: You should see him. He has something to tell you. Tom: Maybe I'll run into him. Verna: Bernie's funeral is tomorrow. You could stop by. Tom: Maybe Verna: ...Leo has something to tell you. Tom: So you said.
Tom: There was no point in telling you. It could only have queered things if it had gotten out- Verna: Jesus, Tom! You don't just talk to people for the play it gives you or doesn't give you! I suffered, you no-heart son of a bitch!
Verna tries to compose herself. Tom: You know now.
Tom: Yeah
Tom: Maybe I lied.
He raises the drink and rolls it across his slapped cheek. The ice cubes clink. |
Deleted Scenes | Tommy Gun Scene: Shot by Shot |
Classic Lines | Glossary |
Washington Post review / poster | Trivia |
Production Notes | Full Script |