Chinatown Page #4

Gittes has been staring outside the barbershop. A car is

stalled. The hood is up. A man watches his radiator boiling

over.

GITTES:

(laughing)

Look at that.

BARNEY:

Heat's murder.

OTHER CUSTOMER:

(end of conversation)

Fools names and fools faces...

Gittes has heard the word. He straightens up.

GITTES:

(smiling; to Other

Customer)

What's that, pal?

16.

OTHER CUSTOMER:

(indicating paper)

Nothing -- you got a hell of a way

to make a living.

GITTES:

-- Oh? What do. you do to make ends

meet?

OTHER CUSTOMER:

Mortgage Department, First National

Bank.

Gittes laughs.

GITTES:

Tell me, how many people a week do

you foreclose on?

OTHER CUSTOMER:

We don't publish a record in the

paper, I can tell you that.

GITTES:

Neither do I.

OTHER CUSTOMER:

No, you have a press agent do it.

Gittes gets out of the chair. Barney, a little concerned,

tries to restrain him, holding onto the barber sheet around

Gittes' neck.

GITTES:

Barney, who is this bimbo? He a

regular customer?

BARNEY:

Take it easy, Jake.

GITTES:

Look, pal -- I make an honest living.

People don't come to me unless they're

miserable and I help 'em out of a

bad situation.

I don't kick them out of their homes

like you jerks who work in the bank.

BARNEY:

Jake, for Christ's sake.

Gittes is trying to take off his sheet.

GITTES:

C'mon, get out of the barber chair.

We'll go outside and talk this

over -

17.

The Customer is shrinking back into the chair.

BARNEY:

Hey, c'mon, Jake. Sit down. Sit down -you

hear about the fella goes to his

friend and says, 'What'll I do, I'm

tired of screwing my-wife?' and his

friend says, 'Whyn't you do what the

Chinese do?'

Gittes allows himself to be tugged back to his chair.

GITTES:

I don't know how that got in the

paper as a matter of fact - it

surprised me it was so quick.

I make an honest living.

BARNEY:

'Course you do, Jake.

GITTES:

An honest living.

BARNEY:

(continuing)

So anyway, he says, 'whyn't you do

what the Chinese do?'

INT. GITTES' OFFICE

Gittes comes bursting in, slapping a newspapers on his thigh.

GITTES:

Duffy, Walsh -

Walsh comes out of his office, Duffy out of the other one.

GITTES:

(continuing)

Sophie -- go to the little girl's

room for a minute.

SOPHIE:

But, Mr. Gittes -

GITTES:

(insisting)

Sophie.

SOPHIE:

Yes, Mr. Gittes.

She gets up and leaves.

18.

GITTES:

-- so there's this fella who's tired

of screwing his wife -

DUFFY:

Jake, listen

GITTES:

Shut up, Duffy, you're always in a

hurry - and his friend says why not

do what-the Chinese do? So he says

what do they do? His friend says the

Chinese they screw for a while -

just listen a second, Duffy -

A stunning YOUNG WOMAN appears behind Gittes in his doorway.

She's shortly joined by a small, GRAY-HAIRED MAN. They listen,

unseen by Gittes.

GITTES:

(continuing)

-- and then they stop and they read

a little Confucius and they screw

some more and they stop and they

smoke some opium and then they go

back and screw some more and they

stop again and they contemplate the

moon or something and it makes it

more exciting.

So this other guy goes home to screw

his wife and after a while he stops

and gets up and goes into the other

room only he reads Life Magazine and

he goes back and he screws some more

and suddenly says excuse me a second

and he gets up and smokes a cigarette

and he goes back and by this time

his wife is getting sore as hell. So

he screws some more and then he gets

up to look at the moon and his wife

says, 'What the hell do you think

you're doing?

(Gittes breaks up)

... you're screwing like a Chinaman.'

Gittes hangs onto Sophie's desk laughing his ass off.

The little Gray-Haired Man winces. When Gittes looks up he

sees the Young Woman, apparently in her late twenties. She's

so stunning that Gittes nearly gasps.

YOUNG WOMAN:

Mr. Gittes?

GITTES:

Yes?

19.

YOUNG WOMAN:

Do you know me?

GITTES:

-- well -- I think I -- I would've

remembered.

YOUNG WOMAN:

Have we ever met?

GITTES:

Well, no.

YOUNG WOMAN:

Never?

GITTES:

Never.

YOUNG WOMAN:

That's what I thought. You see, I'm

Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray -- you know, Mr.

Mulwray's wife.

Gittes is staggered. He glances down at the newspaper.

GITTES:

Not that Mulwray?

EVELYN:

Yes, that Mulwray, Mr. Gittes. And

since you agree with me we've never

met, you must also agree that I

haven't hired you to do anything certainly

not spy on my husband. I

see you like publicity, Mr. Gittes.

Well, you're going to

get it

GITTES:

Now wait a minute, Mrs. Mulwray...

She's walked past him toward the door. He stop her.

GITTES:

(continuing)

-- there's some misunderstanding

here. It's not going to do any

good to get tough with me -

Evelyn flashes a cold smile.

EVELYN:

I don't get tough with anybody, Mr.

Gittes. My lawyer does.

Evelyn starts out the door and Gittes starts after her.

20.

This time he's stopped by the Gray-Haired Man who has also

come out of his office and up behind him.

GRAY-HAIRED MAN

Here's something for you, Mr.

Gittes --

Gittes turns to be handed a thick sheaf of papers, a summons

and complaint. Evelyn walks out the door.

GRAY-HAIRED MAN

(continuing; pleasantly)

I suppose we'll be hearing from your

attorney.

Gittes stares down at the papers in his hand.

INT. GITTES' INNER OFFICE - GITTES, DUFFY & WALSH

On Gittes' desk. there are empty coffee cups, the summons

and complaint -- and the newspaper Gittes had brought with

him from the barber shop.

The three men are sitting, worn and silent. Walsh chewing

gum is the loudest noise in the room.

Gittes looks to Walsh with obvious irritation. Walsh stops

chewing.

Duffy puts out a cigarette in the dregs of one of the coffee

cups.

GITTES:

(to Duffy)

There's seven ashtrays in this room,

Duffy.

DUFFY:

Okay.

GITTES:

That's a filthy habit.

DUFFY:

I said okay,. Jake.

GITTES:

Yeah, yeah -- if she'd come in here

saying she was Shirley Temple you'd

say okay to that, too.

WALSH:

Look, Jake -- she gave us Mulwray's

real phone number and address -

21.

GITTES:

All she needed for that was the phone

book!

WALSH:

No, no -- she said not to call, her

husband might answer.

GITTES:

-- when I find out who that phony

b*tch was --

Gittes is staring down at the newspaper. He suddenly grabs

the phone, begins dialing. A tight little smile breaks out

on his face. He buzzes Sophie.

GITTES:

Sophie.

SOPHIE:

Yes, Mr. Gittes.

GITTES:

Get me the Times -- Whitey Mehrholtz -(

as he waits)

And how about that snotty broad?

(the phone to his ear)

What does she think, she's perfect?

Coming in waving her lawyers and her

money at me -- so goddam smug.

She's no better than anybody else

in this town -

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