Thief (1981)

It's a hot car from
Charleston. They're running a name check now.
- Calling Matthews...
- It's stolen or missing.
Wanted for robbery and escape...
Ford, uh, four-door.
Can you make it to Melrose and...
It's the north-side zone. It's...
1,300 feet a second?
See if 32 has got him.
Are you clear?
We have
a purse snatch that's just occurred...
You're clear here.
Yeah. Come on.
- Mornin'.
- Yeah, mornin'.
What to it, Captain?
Cold.
Mackerel run when it's cold.
You want a danish?
Yeah.
Thanks.
Look at that, huh?
Hmm.
That's magic.
That's what that is, man.
That's the Sky Chief.
Ain't that Sky Chief somethin'?
Huh?
Yeah.
You bet.
Yo, Bruce.
Want to finish cleanin' up that LTD?
Move it up to the front line.
Get rid of this green Merc.
Hey, Bruce.
Park the Mark IV
under the lights.
Hey, John!
Spot this Cougar
on the corner for me, will ya?
Hey, sugar, those transfer titles
come in from the Vehicle Bureau?
Nope. Ralph got tied up
on the Chrysler with the cracked block.
- Get Barry for me, will you?
- He also had to drop some parts...
and you wanted him to make
the Laundromat collection?
- Yeah.
- Barry? Hold on.
- You got him?
- Yeah, 232.
Hey. Listen, I don't know how long
I'm gonna be with the man...
so do me a favor and swing by
the Vehicle Bureau...
and pick up some transfer titles
in my name, all right?
Bye. Bye.
Put your hand out.
Morning, Frank. Didn't see you come in.
Would you like breakfast?
No, just some coffee, thanks.
Thank you.
All right!
What do you make it?
It's, uh, 59...
D flawless to VSI 1.
You got a one and a half
to three-carat spread.
550,000 wholesale.
I'll take 185,000.
- I'll take it myself.
- Fine.
Have someone swing around tomorrow morning.
Look, these people want to meet you.
What?
They're stand-up guys.
- I want to meet people, I'll go to a fuckin' country club.
- Okay, okay.
You want me to put some
of your end out on the street?
Barry will collect it.
You down the bread to him
at 3:00 this afternoon.
You'll double your money
in three months.
My money goes in the bank.
You put your money
on the street.
Hey, give me the check.
Forget it.
Listen,
we having dinner tonight?
Yeah.
That's a new sweater.
It's nice.
Oh. Yeah, thanks.
- Then I'll pick you up at 8:00.
- Bye.
Tell him to, uh, see me...
the minute he gets, uh,
back here...
and, uh...
Sure.
...shit under a hot rock, man.
Hey, Frank, Frank, Frank.
What's doin', boss man?
Hey, give me my wrench back!
Here's your tool.
Not the mama one you gave me.
Can't work without a tool,
goddamn it.
I try my best.
I see you didn't do it.
"Nothing new ever happens
around here...
Making your life happen...
like you said...
collecting your debt
back from society...
I gotta see ya.
Your pal, Okla."
"Gotta see ya."
In a moment,
Arizona senator denies as false and libelous...
rumors that he has connections
with the underworld.
News time, 1:02.
- Gimme a total, will ya?
- All right.
- Oh, Barry's been callin' you.
- When?
I don't know.
Couple of times last half hour.
- What?
- Three times.
532-9234.
- Gimme the phone, will ya?
- Yeah.
Hello?
- Where are you?
- The hell you been?
- You make the pickup?
- I'm in a goddamn phone booth.
Trying to find a phone that works in
this city. I have not made the pickup.
We got a problem.
Can you talk?
- No. You see our man?
- No, 'cause there was no man.
Gags took a walk
through his 12th-story window.
He's splattered
all over the sidewalk.
What do you want to do?
Did he down our merch?
Is he gone? Did he carry
the cash on him? What?
I'm talking
to somebody's somebody.
I will know in 25 minutes.
Get the work car and meet me
at Armitage and Lincoln.
Jimmy, here, here.
On the side,
Gags was laying down juice loans...
on the street
for this Attaglia, right?
He was turning in
the vig money...
but he was putting
in his pocket the principal.
They found out
he was screwing 'em over.
They went crazy.
Ba-boom.
- Gags down our merch?
- Yeah. At the R.D. Lounge.
Pauli saw it go down.
It was your money in Gags' pocket
when he went out the window.
You keep this runnin'.
Can I help you?
Yes, please.
I'd like to see a Mr...
- I want a cup too.
- Sure. Where's your cup?
Back by the machine.
I'm sorry. What were you saying?
Yes. Mr. Attaglia.
I'd like to see him.
You've made a delivery of some plating,
and I had problems with it.
Just a minute.
There's someone to see you
about some plating.
Okay.
- Back there.
- Thank you.
I'm Mr. Attaglia.
You didn't get a delivery
or somethin'? Sit down.
Zinc? What?
My name is Frank...
and that was bullshit.
- What is this?
- "This" is Joe Gags.
185,000 of my money.
We have this problem.
What problem?
What are you talkin' about?
He was moving
my merchandise...
so the money in his pocket when
he went out the window is my money.
This is a plating company.
What are you telling me this shit?
"Shit"? I want my money.
Hey, I don't know
what you're talkin' about...
Mr. Frank La La... whatever.
- Some guy die?
- Yes.
The estate goes to probate. Take it to
probate court. What do you bug me with this?
I come here to discuss
a piece of business with you.
And what are you gonna do?
You gonna tell me fairy tales?
Who the fuck are you, slick?
Somebody knows you?
What are you, crazy?
I don't know you.
I don't know
some clown named Gags.
Get outta here. Carl!
Go ahead,
get the fuck outta here.
- Hold it.
- All right, all right.
Jesus Christ.
All right, do what he says.
- Do what he says.
- Lay down.
Go ahead.
Put your hands on your head.
Spread your legs. Now.
Hey, you, you goof!
Look at the wall.
I am the last guy
in the world...
that you want to fuck with.
You found
my money on Gags.
Let us pretend you don't know
whose money it is.
That's right.
I don't know who you are.
Three hours.
I will call to set a meet.
You will pay me my money...
$185,000.
Sit down.
Thanks for comin' on down
so soon.
I was comin' anyway.
- How's it goin'?
- Me?
I am doin' terrific.
Every day is a surprise.
It is real fuckin' weird
out there.
It is nothing
like we figured out.
So what's to it, my man?
Same old shit. Morris finally busted
Red's pruno operation.
- And a lot of knifings going on.
- Yeah. Dope?
Yeah, that and sex.
You wouldn't believe the quality
of people they're puttin' in here.
Ten or 15 years ago, they'd have
dumped 'em in a funny farm somewhere.
Rapists, child molesters.
They put that shit in here
with the mainstream population.
Used to be, somebody like that,
if they lasted five days, it'd be a record.
Perverse.
How's the wife?
The wife?
There's nothing with the wife.
I pulled the plug.
What happened?
Uh, I, uh...
She does not know
I'm putting down scores...
and the rocket scientist that she is, she figures out...
That I am having affairs
with fancy ladies.
Anyway, it gets all screwy
and twisted.
What are you gonna do?
Well, I'm gonna
put it back together.
Look, I met this new chick,
this Jessie.
- You gonna marry her and have kids?
- Yes.
But, uh...
she does not know
what I do.
So what?
Do I bullshit her along, or what?
Lie to no one.
If they're somebody close to you,
you're gonna ruin it with a lie.
And if they're a stranger,
who are they you gotta lie to?
Hey, what do you need, man?
Get me out of here.
Ten months
and you're on the street.
- You know Doc Shelton?
- Yeah.
That old bastard's killed more guys
than the electric chair.
Well, I got angina somethin'
somethin' somethin'...
and I'm not gonna last
ten months.
And I don't want to die
in here, Frank.
Not in here.
Well, you got it.
Gotta go, kid.
You got it.
He downed the merch to Gags
is what he said.
I'm telling you, this cocksucker's trouble.
We whack him out.
Is this the prowler?
- The guy Gags had?
- Has to be the one.
My name's Leo.
How are ya?
How am I? I am Frank.
Here's your money.
Jesus Christ!
There's two inches
of money out there.
- Is it all there?
- I am sure that it is.
- Don't you say thanks or somethin'?
- Whose money is this?
Your money. But I stopped this guy
from giving you a hard time.
Well, thanks.
You're welcome.
It's no big deal.
I'll see ya.
- Where are you goin'?
- Where am I going?
- Yeah.
- I am late.
Come on.
I thought we'd talk
a little business...
get to know each other.
Uh, no offense.
You want to get to meet people,
join a lonely-hearts club.
I know you already.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- How you know me?
- That merch you put down to Gags.
Max Sherman.
Puerto Rican fence.
Cotazar.
Where do you think they down it?
To me.
I'm the bank.
I handle the fence for half this city.
You been puttin' down
two, three scores a month...
month in, month out.
I see your stuff.
You got great taste.
Regular highline pro.
So I said to Gags,
"I want to meet this guy."
- He tell you that?
- Yes.
- Fine.
- Let's cut the bullshit.
Who is he?
How the hell do I know?
You want to put down contract scores all
over the country, working directly for me?
I am self-employed.
I am doin' fine.
I don't deal with egos.
I am Joe the boss of my own body,
so what do I have to work for you for?
Maybe you don't.
I'll lay it out. You can be the judge.
You don't look...
you don't case,
you don't do nothin'.
We point you to a score.
When we say it's there,
it's there.
They're all laid-out scores.
How are they worked up?
Alarm system diagrams, blueprints,
sometimes a front-door key.
Sometimes the scores are in on it.
Everybody's ripping off the insurance company.
- Work cars? Drops? Tools?
- Whatever you need, you'd see me.
I'd be your father.
Money, guns, cars...
I'd be your father from here on out.
- What's my end?
- You get a price. No negotiation.
We got expenses you don't have.
But you'll know the price up front.
- How big?
- Boxcar.
Nothin' under six figures. I'll make
you a millionaire in four months.
I go to work for you,
I'm pullin' a lot of exposure.
- Our protection trades that off.
- Yeah, I take a bust.
Turn around,
there's gonna be a lawyer...
a bondsman right there...
you never spend a night in jail.
Look, I steal ice.
No furs, no coin collections...
no stock certificates, no cartage,
no Treasury bonds, no nothin'.
- Just diamonds or cash.
- Fine.
- No cowboy shit. No home invasions.
- Fine.
- I work with a partner.
- We take care of you.
A partner is strictly your responsibility.
He beefs on you, that's your problem.
He beefs on us,
that's your problem too.
- Who are your inside people?
- That's my end. You don't have to know anything about that.
So what do you say?
I don't know.
- What do you mean, you don't know?
- I don't know!
I don't believe
in lifetime subscriptions.
- Maybe it don't fit in with my retirement program.
- What are you gonna do retired?
Pick corn with the chickens. Watch daytime
TV the rest of my life. What's the difference?
All right, all right.
Two, three moves.
You want to keep goin',
that's fine.
But if you wanna split,
that's fine too.
Everybody's business-like.
Everybody's an adult.
So let me know...
'cause we'd be terrific.
Yeah, that's fine.
I'll call ya.
- You wanna pick him up?
- We'll see.
Sho lover
Sweet thing
I reached a turning point
In my life
I reached a turning point
Lord, Lord, Lord
In my life
I met a girl
She's one out of 110
And she don't get excited
No, no, no
By no slick-talkin' men
She's a wiz around the house
Neat as a pin
If I got a hole in my socks
got a hole in my shirt
Sweet thing, she'll mend
No more stayin' out
late for me
No more narrow escapes
I reached a turning point
Turning point
In my life
I reached a turning point
Lord, Lord, Lord
In my life
Come on,
let's groove it one time.
No more runnin' around
for me
Finally settlin' down
I reached a turning point
Lord, Lord
In my life
I reached a turning point
Lord, Lord, Lord
In my life
And I don't know
where I would end up
If that sweet thing
hadn't come along
If that sweet thing
hadn't come along
- Hurry. I got my car parked in red.
- What the hell are you doing here?
- Finding you.
- Get away from me, okay?
You are two hours late.
I do not need this.
I do not need to be humiliated.
- Wait. I want to talk to you.
- No.
Hey, you!
I will take you for coffee and explain.
What's the big goddamn deal?
You, take me anywhere?
That's a big laugh.
- Look, maybe there is a reason.
- Hey, I'm talkin' to you.
Hey! Take a walk, flash.
All right? Go on.
Hey, watch out, baby!
I don't know the reason.
I don't want to hear the reason.
There is no reason.
That's all.
What's the big goddamn... Look, you
were lookin' forward to this. All right?
Come on.
- Get in the car, darling.
- No!
Wait a minute!
- Hey!
- My God!
Oh, man!
- What did I do?
- Why did you push him?
Look, in what I do,
there are sometimes pressures.
What the hell
do you think that I do?
Come on, come on!
Come on! Every morning I walk in
for five months, say hi.
What the hell
do you think that I do?
You sell little fuckin' cars,
that's what you do.
I wear $150 slacks!
I wear silk shirts!
I wear $800 suits!
I wear a gold watch!
I wear a perfect D flawless,
three-carat ring!
I change cars like other guys
change their fuckin' shoes!
I'm a thief.
I've been in prison.
- So what? I don't care.
- "So what"?
- Don't tell me...
- I never even told my wife that!
- I don't care!
- Who is now gone.
- Did I ever come on to you?
- No.
- Well, you see?
- See? See what?
See... I am a straight arrow.
I am a true-blue kind of a guy.
I've been cool.
I am now unmarried.
So let's cut the mini-moves
and the bullshit...
and get on
with this big romance.
What?
I don't believe it!
Do you think I have been waiting
for you to come along?
What is this shit?
You think I'm kiddin'. I can tell.
This is strictly on the up-and-up.
Jesus Christ!
- You are scared to death.
- You're an asshole.
That's lovely.
What are you doing in your life
that is so terrific?
- My life is fine.
- Yeah, sure. Here.
- You don't know about me.
- Yeah?
- I know all about...
- You know bullshit.
Hey.
Why you gotta shout?
Excuse me.
Can we have two coffees here?
Sorry. So?
"So"? So what?
So tell me.
Menus?
No, thanks.
So, uh, what was it like?
You know, a lot of money.
Tucson...
Mexico City, Bogot.
Drifting, you know.
Okay?
Okay.
It got twisted
and ugly and empty.
It was over already, but we kept
moving through the moves.
It ended very badly.
Now I get up in the morning,
I take a shower...
I go to work, I have a job,
I have a Social Security card.
And my life is very ordinary,
very boring...
which is good,
because it's solid.
You're marking time
is what you are.
You're backing off.
You're hiding out.
You're waiting for a bus
you hope never comes...
because you don't want to get on it
anyway because you don't wanna go anywhere.
Do you have a license for this?
All right,
how much was he moving?
Nothing, till the end.
And then kilo amounts.
I don't... I don't know.
And then what?
- He's dead.
- Hmm?
He is dead.
That is good,
because he's an asshole.
- There was a lot of love in the beginning.
- The guy was an asshole.
- There was love in the beginning.
- A big asshole.
He put you in a box.
You know the things they do to you...
ten times a day
if you do a bit in Colombia?
- Do you? Jesus Christ!
- Don't shout in here.
I was alone.
I had no money,
no clothes, no visa...
standing on the corner
in Bogotin Colombia.
Things did happen.
Where were you in prison?
Would you pass the cream, please?
Joliet.
The warden...
Whoa, God!
Hey, can we have
some new cream here?
What's wrong with it?
"What's wrong with it?"
It's cottage cheese.
The warden there was,
uh, Joe Reagan.
"Meatball Joe."
If that slob was a penologist,
I'm a jet airplane pilot.
I did 11 years.
I got out, what,
four years ago.
What'd you go up for?
I stole $40.
Forty dollars?
Yeah.
Started with a two-year bit,
parole in six months.
And then right away...
I got into this problem
with these two guys.
They tried to turn me out.
So I picked up nine more...
on a manslaughter beef...
some other things.
I was 20 when I went in,
31 when I come out.
You don't count
months and years.
You don't do time that way.
What do you mean?
Why?
Why?
You gotta forget time.
You gotta not give a fuck
if you live or die.
You gotta get to where
nothin' means nothin'.
I'll tell you a story
all about it.
Once there was
this Captain Morphis...
this 300-pound slob.
He couldn't write his name.
And he had this crew...
of 16 or 17
guards and cons.
Prison groups, you know?
Crews.
They would go
into these cells...
and grab these young guys...
and bring 'em up
to hydrotherapy in the mental ward.
Uh, gang bang.
If a guy puts up a struggle,
they beat him half to death...
and he winds up
in the funny farm.
Anyway, word comes down
that I am next...
and I do not know
what I am supposed to do.
I, uh... I am scared.
11:30, 12:00,
lights come on.
I got this pipe
from plumbing...
and, uh...
I whacked the first guard
in the shins.
I go through a convict
and another convict and...
Anyway, I get to Morphis,
and I whack him across the head twice.
Boom. And then they jump
all over me, do a bunch of things.
I spent six months
in the hospital ward, but...
Morphis, he is also
fucked up real good.
Cerebral hematoma.
They pension him out,
he can't walk straight...
and he dies two years later...
which is a real loss
to the planet Earth.
Meanwhile,
I gotta go back...
into the mainstream population...
and I know the minute I hit the yard,
I am a dead man.
So I hit the yard.
So you know what happens?
Nothin'.
I mean, nothin' happens.
'Cause I don't mean nothin' to myself.
I don't care about me.
I don't care about... nothin',
you know?
And then I know
from that day that I survive...
because I achieved
that mental attitude.
Then, uh...
see, later, I...
I worked this out.
In the stone cell.
What is this?
That is my life.
And, uh...
nothin', nobody can stop me
from makin' that happen.
And right there,
that would be you.
Who...
Who's the old man here?
That is David Okla Bertinneau.
He's a master thief...
a master...
and a great man.
He was like a father.
He taught me everything...
that I know about what I do.
And I told him about you.
Did you cut these out
from magazines and...
Yeah. Newspapers, whatever.
Why...
Why all of these
dead people?
Inside,
you are on ice from time.
You can't even die right,
you know? And here...
here, people grow.
They get old, they die.
Children come after.
Just a cycle, you know?
I don't know. I...
Yes, you do. You do.
You don't know
from one day to the next...
whether you're going to be killed,
go home, or get busted.
Look, I have run out of time.
I have lost it all.
And so I can't work
fast enough to catch up...
and I can't run
fast enough to catch up...
and the only thing
that catches me up...
is doin' my magic act.
But it ends, you know?
It will end.
When I got this,
right there...
it ends, it's over.
So I'm just asking you...
to be with me.
I can't.
I can't, uh...
I can't have children.
I don't fit into this.
What? So we adopt.
I... I'm not ready, see?
And-And I have my life.
- So I... I can't.
- What?
I mean, what is going on
in your life that is so terrific?
Mine's been a mess.
I was just thinkin',
you know, that...
just maybe
between the two of us...
we could make
somethin' happen...
somethin' special,
somethin' really nice.
You know?
So I'm just, uh...
I'm just askin' you...
uh, to, uh...
Look, I got a way now
I can make it happen faster.
I mean, much faster.
And, uh, I'm just...
I'm just askin' you,
you know?
You're on.
They gotta be big scores.
They gotta be fast.
One, two tops.
Right.
- That's it.
- Where?
Third from the top, this side.
- Alarm systems?
- Five independent systems.
Four silent ringers into an alarm
company over the phone lines.
Infrared pots...
magnetics on the front door,
sonic alarm.
- Vault door's bugged.
- What's this?
This is the top floor.
Top of the elevator shafts.
Floors eight through 14's alarm lines
conduit with the phones...
through the top
of the elevator shaft.
What about taking the elevator
to the top floor...
open the hatch,
and goin' in that way?
No. Elevators are locked down
and bugged at night.
Your way, I gotta take out
two systems.
Chop through the roof
and get the lines that way.
Assuming we get the alarm,
what is the box?
Richmond-Lackett.
- Richmond-Lackett?
- Yeah.
Terrific. It's a burn job.
- No way to drill?
- "Drill"?
- Yeah.
- Drill what?
They're custom-made. You bang
on this box all day, nothin' happens.
And I am pulling
a lot of exposure.
Sixteen, 18 hours in there.
Your end covers the risk.
830,000.
Four million at wholesale
in unmounted stones.
- What's the fifth alarm?
- We cannot run it down.
Why?
Because it does not go out
over the phone lines.
We swept the lines
in the whole building.
But we know it is there.
How long?
Four, eight weeks...
assuming we get the alarm...
and what to cut the box with.
I need a couple Cal licenses,
and two new work cars here.
- Okay. I'll set it up. What time's our plane?
- We're on the 2:30.
Stay here
and make out that fifth alarm.
You like it?
I mean...
do you think it'll do or what?
It's okay?
Frank, I love it. I love it.
I think it's terrific.
What are you looking at?
You, that's all.
Sam.
How you doin'?
Me, I'm golden, glowin',
scorin' like a champ.
I need a favor.
How's Okla?
Angina. I'm makin' some moves
to get him out of there.
I got a hearing fixed up.
Who's the yo-yo
in the white coat?
Metallurgist.
Son-in-law's idea.
A load of tubing comes in...
I taste it, I smell it...
I chew it, I spit on it.
Hey, scientist cocksucker!
Eighteen percent zinc,
43 percent copper...
38 percent tin,
and one percent I don't know.
A white coat. Around here
he wears a white coat.
What's he?
Gonna discover penicillin?
You gotta be a real putz
to wear a white coat around here.
Huey, excuse us.
- What kind of steel?
- Swedish cold-rolled, 247.
Here, here, here, and here.
- One-inch plates.
- Copper to bind drills...
titanium alloy here.
This is a well-made,
very expensive...
very special vault.
- English?
- Mm.
Richmond and Lackett?
I need a very special
piece of equipment.
- Drill a hole in the lockbox...
- No. Each one is made different.
There's no way of telling
where the lockbox is.
I want to cut me
a whole new door and walk in.
Seven, eight thousand degrees?
Portable equipment?
- There's no other way to do it?
- No.
Sonny,
if I can build something...
it's gonna be
a son of a bitch to use.
Okay, so is it worth it?
It is worth it.
- You sweep the phone?
- Weekly. It's clean.
Hello? I'm Frank.
Leo said to call about
California licenses and registrations.
Yeah.
I'll be in Division 126 in an hour.
I'm wearing a gray leather coat.
Good.
So what's to it, Sam?
I gotta build
a section of vault to tell.
So I don't know if it's even possible
to build a tool that'll cut it like that.
See me in a week.
The nature of this petition is that David
Okla Bertinneau pleads for Your Honor...
to modify the instruction
of his 1958 conviction...
and to issue
a writ of habeas corpus.
But he violated Chapter 38,
Section 19-1: Burglary...
Chapter 38, Section 16- 1: Theft...
Here's two California licenses
I fixed in Sacramento.
...and dignity of the state.
That distresses me,
Your Honor...
'cause this man
is of reformed character...
advanced age, and suffers
from a severe heart condition...
and may not be able
to serve out his sentence.
He's spent over 21 years
of incarceration...
and has become
a different person.
I don't know.
I remain unconvinced.
- Are they pickin' their noses?
- Wait. I want to hear this.
However,
upon consideration...
I will issue
a writ of habeas corpus.
Thank you, Your Honor.
I'll write up the order.
I know
how busy your docket is.
My wife's in the market
for a fur coat.
I am a car salesman.
Sure.
Whatever you say.
That's right.
Okla will be on the street
in a week.
I need 6,000 for Earl Warren.
A week? Yeah?
Here. Ten thousand.
You're a prince.
Buy yourself a new suit.
- A week?
- A week.
All right.
Who lives here?
- Come on, who lives here?
- Hi.
It's gotta be
some millionaire guy, huh?
Hey, look at this.
Tree. Bush.
- Pink tree.
- Hello!
- Hi!
- Pink?
- Hey. It's real nice.
- Sure. Come in back.
- Hi, Frank.
- How you doin', Marie?
- This is beautiful, man.
- When did you get back?
Oh, uh, last night, late.
You, uh... you make
that fifth alarm?
I made the fifth alarm.
Good.
- So, uh, what's to it?
- Okay.
Alarm system number five
is a one-channel radio transmitter.
- How's it triggered?
- There's a sonic detector off the ceiling.
They set off the alarm every morning when
they walk in. Ring, ring, ring. It's tripped.
They have ten seconds to transmit a code
word to the alarm company to cancel it.
Now, the code word
goes over the radio.
That's why
there's no phone lines.
All right, I tell you what.
- You bug it.
- All right.
Call Joseph, have him fix you one,
go back out there...
and you bug 'em for the word.
Come on.
It's gettin' cold.
Oh. Uh...
this L.A. Move, you know...
it's home free for me
after it's done.
You happy?
Come on.
Frank,
want something to eat?
Well...
I see
on your application here...
By the way,
you misspelled "male."
It's M-A-L-E.
The other is what
we put in postboxes.
I see you put
under "employer"...
"1959 to 1976,
Joliet State Penitentiary."
- Yes.
- You worked for the state, I take it?
- After a fashion.
- What did you do at the prison?
Desks.
I, uh, spot-welded desks...
and then I got
promoted to shoes.
You were in charge
of the shop?
Lady, I was a convict.
I was doing time.
- You were what?
- Frank, let's go.
Uh, you have to understand...
we have more applicants
than children.
Then why do you still
have kids here?
As a kid, I would not be falling all over
myself to stay in one of these places.
We will relieve you
of some of the burden.
The point is, we establish
criteria for parenting...
and an ex-convict
compared to other desirables...
Wait. So we'll take a kid
that's not so desirable.
You got a black kid?
We'll take a black kid.
- You got a Chink kid?
- You don't understand...
No one likes older kids. You got an
eight-year-old black Chink kid? We'll take him.
- Frank...
- If it's a matter of, you know... here.
- What is that?
- "What is that"?
That is D flawless,
3.2 carats, emerald-cut.
- This is not a marketplace.
- Right.
You're not smart enough to take this any
more than you are to recognize good parents.
Get out of my office.
You did not ask about us,
what kind of people we are.
There is a child waiting,
and you are denying us him and him us.
- Who the hell are you?
- Don't make a scene.
- Our criteria...
- Your criteria?
Your criteria are so far up your ass,
they can't see daylight. This is bullshit!
Look, it's not happening.
Let's go.
I got some ABC-type
information for you, lady.
I was state-raised...
and this is a dead place.
A child in eight-by-four
green walls...
after a while you tell the walls,
"My life is yours."
- You grow up in the suburbs?
- Yes.
Right. Right.
What are you lookin' at?
Huh?
Jimmy's got better.
Yeah, it's 'cause
he charcoals them... charcoals.
- I'm gonna pull him over here.
- Yeah.
Hey, how you doin'?
- I'm wonderful, thank you.
- Yeah, that's good.
You know, a very important thing
for you to remember...
is gonna be my name:
Sergeant Urizzi.
Urizzi. Why's that?
Because I'm gonna do
good things for ya.
What for?
Good-conduct medal?
Nah.
I'm here to make life
easy for you.
- Oh, yeah?
- Smooth out the bumps and the humps.
You know...
your relationship with us.
I didn't know I had one.
Look, we're your new partners.
We're in for ten points.
What'd this set you back?
Ten points of what?
You know.
The guy? Leo.
Your action.
I don't get this.
What's with you?
Listen.
Our end...
goes with the territory.
Don't you know
you gotta come up?
I am a car salesman.
You guys want a deal
on a Buick, come on.
- Hey, motherfucker...
- Wait, wait.
Don't you come on to me.
And you...
You want to pinch me, pinch me.
I'll be out in ten minutes.
If not,
get the fuck off my car!
You all right?
What does this mean?
It means...
heat, police.
Means it's hard for me
to make moves from now on.
Beepers on the cars,
the works.
Are they in the walls? Can they
hear everything we say all the time?
Probably it's just the phones,
but I'll check.
You're uneasy.
Fuck this house.
We move.
I'm okay. I'm okay.
Bastards.
-
- Hey, Jos Greco, sit down.
I got this business deal
from your end of the L.A. Score.
Want me to put some of it
to work for you?
- Street juice?
- "Juice"? You couldn't get me out of bed for that.
We're not cuttin' up
nickels here.
Shopping centers.
Fort Worth,
Davenport, Jackson.
Strictly legit.
- My money goes in my pocket.
- Yours if you want in.
Gonna give you
everything you need.
You don't have to tell me now.
Let me know later.
Let you know?
What I want to know is...
why the minute I get locked up with you,
everybody knows my business.
My house is bugged.
My wife is upset.
The guy at the Vehicle Bureau
wants a fur coat.
There's a cop tail half a block
down the street. My car is bugged.
Here. This one behind the bumper
I'm supposed to find.
The other one in the wheel well is
supposed to fool me. What the hell is this?
- Leave it to me.
- Leave what to you? Do it!
I said I'll take care of it.
- What about burning the vault?
- What about it?
- Can you do it?
- I don't know.
Okay.
Fifth alarm system?
Nothing yet.
Okay.
What else you got
on your mind?
What are you talking about?
You got family troubles?
Somethin' with the old lady?
- What is this, Dear fuckin' Abby?
- You tryin' to adopt a kid?
How you know that?
Barry mentioned to Mitch,
Mitch to me.
You got friends.
Lighten up, for chrissake.
Why don't you come to me
with your problems?
What am I,
a fuckin' stranger?
I take care of my people.
Anything you want.
You and me, we do business.
I do not mix apples and oranges.
- Yeah, bullshit.
- "Bullshit"?
Yeah.
With my wife, with my kids...
that's my whole life.
We are very tight.
Kids are special, a miracle.
A little hoochie-coo,
drop of energy...
wham, bam, magic Sam...
there's something
sacred there.
That's my attitude.
What happens?
You state your model.
Black, brown, yellow or white.
Boy or girl.
Where from?
Couple of ladies.
They got babies to sell.
- Their own. They sell 'em.
- Jesus!
It's not the kid's fault
his mother's an asshole.
And you're not buyin' the mother. You're
not gonna get a kid on the straight.
I want a boy.
- Done.
- Hmm?
Done. You got a boy.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- I got a boy?
Yeah.
What else you want?
- You son of a bitch!
- Hey, Mitch, get the...
Yeah! You got a boy.
Get outta here.
Gimme a phone, will ya?
Right.
Hey, Jess.
It's okay. Go ahead.
Hey, pal.
What are you doin'?
You playin' sick in here?
I got three chicks
waitin' for you on the street.
You're gonna get me in trouble.
Goof.
Oh, this is my wife, Jessie.
Frank.
Code blue.
You'll have to leave.
- No.
- You'll have to leave.
Frank, come on.
After the hearing...
Judge Ramsey's court
writ him mittimus papers.
The board had
to release him to me.
On the stairs outside...
he just dropped.
What did he whisper to you?
He said, uh...
he said thanks, you know...
for gettin' him out.
That's the big thing,
you know...
not to die in that joint,
not to die in there.
It's a big thing.
- Who's Mr. Bertinneau's family?
- I am.
Look, I'm sorry
he didn't make it.
If there's anything
I can do, uh...
- Are you okay?
- I'm sorry.
Do you want to sit down?
Refill.
That's a nice baby.
You lucky you got
such a nice baby.
Thank you very much.
Can you warm this up?
Sure, no problem.
What his name, huh?
No name, not yet.
So... here we are.
Are you okay?
Long, long, long, long time.
You see that?
Okla dies,
and our baby is born.
Do you want to name him
after Okla?
Okla's real name was David.
David.
David?
David?
Hey!
Our kid,
his name is David.
David.
David good name.
Hey, David.
What's to it?
Light this,
then get out of the way.
Not bad.
I'll see ya, kid.
I don't think so. There's something
going around the school.
Did you call a doctor?
- He had to give her a shot.
- Yeah?
He gave Ruth a shot.
Twenty-four hours, it was gone.
Must've been a flu bug
or something.
Mexico. We're in, thanks.
Did you remember
cream and sugar for my coffee?
I have never forgotten
your cream and sugar.
Yeah. Have Julio
wax the floor, will ya?
- Yeah, Green Mill.
- Is Frank there?
Wait a minute. Frank?
Oscar, get Frank.
Hey, come back.
Telephone.
Yeah?
- Is that you?
- Yeah, hold on.
- Do me a favor.
- Psst! Move down.
- Yeah, go ahead.
- We are on.
You understand?
Yes. I understand.
Come on! Come on!
Give me an excuse!
Come on!
Get out of that car!
- You're pinched, jagoff!
- For what?
Driving without a taillight.
Pick him up, huh?
Fuck!
Hey, car salesman: Urizzi.
You remember my name now?
How can I not...
since the police department...
does not hire
too many Puerto Ricans.
Hey, asshole, I'm Italian!
I'm pleased to meet you,
ugly wop son of a bitch.
You motherfucker!
You're a stand-up guy.
You're a real stand-up guy.
You got a mouth.
You can take a trimmin'.
You could make things easy
for everybody. But no.
You gotta be a goof.
You're real good.
No violence.
Strictly professional.
I'd probably like ya.
Like to go to the track,
ball games...
stuff like that, you know?
Frank, there's ways
of doin' things...
that round off the corners...
make life easy for everybody.
What's wrong with that?
There's plenty to go around.
We know what you take down.
We know you got somethin' major
comin' down soon.
But no, you gotta come on
like a stiff prick!
Who the fuck
do you think you are?
What's the matter with you?
You got somethin' to say...
or you waitin' for me
to ask you to dance?
Did it ever occur to you...
to try to work for a livin'?
- Take down your own scores?
- Okay, fuck this guy.
Tell you something:
I'm gonna be on your ass so much...
you're gonna get careless,
and on that day...
I'm gonna be in that place.
And that is the last place...
that you want to be,
'cause no matter what happens...
I will never, ever
take a pinch...
from a greasy motherfucker
like you.
Motherfucker!
I'll kill you right here!
- Dancin' goes two ways, prick!
- Get this asshole out of here!
Cut him loose.
- John?
- Yeah?
You got eyes?
You got him?
Yeah, he's beepin' in good.
Okay.
Pull over!
He'll spot us.
He's stoppin'.
John, what's he doin'?
Just relax and stay put.
Hit it! Hit it!
He's movin'!
Hit it.
Okay, relax and fall back.
We got him.
We're right with you.
What do you think
he's gonna put down?
I don't know. But we're gonna be
right on this guy's ass.
This guy's gonna be history.
Gimme some coffee.
- Okay.
- Here.
Forty volts.
You got a phone line.
Phone.
Hold it. You got one.
Hook it up.
Go.
Phone.
Yeah.
Come on.
One more and we open her up.
Mexico.
All right, I'm inside.
Any surges on the line?
They held.
Come on. We own it.
- Lit?
- No.
Okay.
Hey!
You should come in.
The water's great.
Yeah. Enjoy it now.
We're goin' home.
Tomorrow we collect.
Just talked to Leo.
That's great, man.
Hey, Marie.
Marie.
I'll go get the bags.
- Come on in, Frank. Sit down.
- Thank you. - How you doin'?
- Good, good.
- You look great.
- Couldn't be better.
- I know this is what you're here for, kid.
That's it.
Mitch, what's to it?
Your tan is great.
How long were you in San Diego?
- A few days.
- Mitch told me all about the score.
Said that you were Dr. Wizard.
Yeah?
Hello, Frank.
- Where's the rest?
- Don't worry about it.
What is this?
This is the cash part.
Well, you're light.
830,000 is supposed be here...
and I count, what, 70, 80, 90.
That's because I put you
into the Jacksonville, Fort Worth...
and Davenport shopping centers
with the rest.
I take care of my people.
You can ask these guys.
Papers are at your house.
It's set up
as a limited partnership.
The general partner is a subchapter S
corporation. You've got equity with me in that.
- Well, count me out.
- I thought we had this good thing.
Plus, I got a major score
in Palm Beach for you in six weeks.
You talkin' to me,
or somebody else walk in this room?
What's that supposed
to mean?
It means you are dreaming.
This is payday.
It is over.
You know, when you have
trouble with the cops...
you pay 'em off like everybody else,
because that's the way things are done.
- But not you, huh?
- No.
They don't run me,
and you don't run me.
I give you houses.
I give you a car. You're family.
I thought you'd come around.
What the hell is this? What...
Where is gratitude?
Where is my end?
You can't see day for night.
I can see my money
is still in your pocket...
which is from the yield
of my labor.
What gratitude?
You're making big profits
from my work...
my risk, my sweat...
but that is okay...
because I elected
to make that deal...
but now the deal is over.
I want my end,
and I am out.
Why don't you join
a labor union?
- I am wearing it.
- Frank, don't.
Do it, slick.
My money in 24 hours,
or you will wear your ass for a hat.
Get him the hell outta here.
Did I tell ya?
What did I tell ya?
Where is he?
Where is he?
Where is he?
Hey, Barry?
Talk to him!
Answer him.
Answer him.
Answer him!
He's talkin' to you.
Answer him.
- Answer him.
- Frank!
You're set up!
Look.
I said fuckin' look at him.
Look what happened
to your friend...
'cause you gotta go
against the way things go down.
You treat what I tried to do
for you like shit.
You don't want to work for me.
What's wrong with you?
And then you carry
a piece in my house.
You one of those burned-out,
demolished wackos in the joint?
You're scary,
because you don't give a fuck.
But don't come on to me now
with your jailhouse bullshit...
because you are not that guy.
Don't you get it, you prick?
You got a home, car...
businesses, family...
and I own the paper
on your whole fuckin' life.
I'll put your cunt wife on the street
to be fucked in the ass...
by niggers and Puerto Ricans.
Your kid's mine
because I bought it.
You got him on loan. He is leased.
You are renting him.
I'll whack out your whole family.
People'll be eating 'em for lunch tomorrow
in their Wimpy burgers and not know it.
You get paid what I say.
You do what I say.
I run you.
There is no discussion.
I want, you work.
Until you are burned out...
you are busted, or you're dead.
You get it?
You got responsibilities.
Tighten up and do it.
Clean this mess up.
Get him outta here.
Back to work, Frank.
Joseph, get over here
right away.
You're goin' on a trip.
Frank?
What?
Wake up the kid.
Hmm?
You're going away.
It's not what was
supposed to be.
It can't be this way.
Don't you understand?
Hmm-mm.
Do not take anything.
Do not pack. Do it now.
- Where are we going?
- "We" are not going.
- You are going.
- Where? What's... What's wrong with you?
I don't understand.
When are you gonna come?
I am not.
You will work out with Joseph
where you're going to go.
Here is $410,000.
Wait. We just...
We just disassemble it
and put it back in a box...
like an Erector set
you just send back to a store?
I love you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You give Joseph 20,000...
for month number one.
What are you doing?
- He stays with you a month, you give him 25,000...
- Doesn't anything mean anything?
For month number two.
- I'm your woman. You're my man.
- 30,000 for the third.
Frank, Frank,
I made a commitment.
To hell with me, with you...
with everything.
I'm throwing you out.
Get out.
Get out!
Frank?
You want some milk?
No, I'm okay.
Aah!