Dog Day Afternoon Page #11

SHELDON:

Why didn't you just wait and try to

take 'em out there in the street?

Moretti looks at him, cheerfully sarcastic.

MORETTI:

I made an error in judgment. I

thought the sons of b*tches would be

overwhelmed with remorse at the sight

of a police officer. And you know

somethin'? Nobody has said hostage

yet. Unnastan?

They are moving past Cops on the corner heading toward a

small barbershop across the street from the bank. We now

sense the growing crowd, standing quietly, just staring not

yet knowing what's going on.

NEW ANGLE:

From down the street come a group of odd-looking men in suits,

carrying all kinds of electric junk: The NEW REPORTERS.

They run heavily, sweating martinis and cigarette smoke...

they run up to Moretti and Sheldon, who walk along, trying

not to catch an eye.

MOVING SHOT - MORETTI AND SHELDON AMONG NEWSMEN.

VOICES:

How many in the bank?

Have they got hostages? Any shots

exchanged?

(Etc., AD LIB)

MORETTI:

No, we don't know that yet. This

young fella without the hat is FBI.

I'm Detective Sergeant Eugene Moretti

... M-O-R-E-double-T-I. Eugene. I

don't give a sh*t, but my wife cries

if you spell it wrong.

They have arrived at the barber shop where Moretti fights

his way inside.

INT. BARBER SHOP - DAY

A COP is talking on the wall phone as MORETTI, BAKER, etc.

are trying to get inside.

COP:

...no, just get hold of Al, tell him

to get the catering truck over to

26th and Avenue B, there's a bank

robbery in progress and big crowd.

Big! Tell him to bring ice cream --

I got to hang up.

He hangs up and immediately begins thumbing through a POCKET

PHONE BOOK. Throughout this Cop is engaged in personal

business on the fringe of this affair, and though he's on

duty he hardly knows what's happening on the robbery. He's

trying to get his brother-in-law with the ice cream truck

down here, etc.

Moretti has got the crowd cleared back, so that now we SEE

why this has been chosen as a tactical command post. From

here, while talking on the phone, Moretti can see the bank,

and through the uncurtained door he can even see some distance

inside.

Moretti picks up the phone.

MORETTI:

(to phone cop)

You get the phone company?

PHONE COP:

It's being set up... this phone'll

be a direct line into the bank.

Moretti is already dialing. The phone is answered.

INT. BANK - DAY

(Re Moretti's 3rd conversation on phone with Sonny.)

The group inside the bank have now been waiting approximately

twelve minutes since anything last happened. Sonny is seated

at Mulvaney's desk, all the phones off the hooks.

The rest of the group is huddled around the vault area where

Sal is keeping his eye on them.

Suddenly, Sonny jumps up and puts all the receivers back on

the hooks, crossing back to sit at Mulvaney's desk again.

PHONE STARTS TO RING and Sonny picks it up.

MORETTI:

Okay, you're in there and we're out

here. What do we do now?

SONNY:

I told you -- keep away. I don't

know what we do now.

MORETTI:

Awright, but I wanna talk to you.

First off, we wanna know if the people

in the bank are okay.

SONNY:

They're okay.

MORETTI:

You alone, or you got confederates?

SONNY:

I'm not alone.

MORETTI:

How many you got in there?

SONNY:

I got Sal.

MORETTI:

Sal? What's that for? Salvatore?

SONNY:

Sal. He's the killer. We're Vietnam

veterans so killing don't mean

anything to us, you understand?

A cop passing by presses a portable two-way radio into

Moretti's hand:
He accepts it and holds as though he expected

it. The Cop passes the same type of set to certain other

officers. These sets are tuned in to each other, and

throughout the movie, there is a constant background talk on

these sets. This is police procedure; the orders are for

everyone to talk about everything. If anyone has a question,

has heard a rumor or a sound, whatever, it is immediately

responded to, so that there can be the fewest possible

surprises. Sample dialogue might go: "Did I hear a shot?"

"Over here, by the bank, there was a report like a gunshot,

inside." "Roger, we heard that from the barbershop... it

was inside the bank." "Barbershop, you can see inside?"

"Roger, we heard from the barbershop... it was inside the

bank." "Barbershop, you can see inside?" "Roger, this is

the barbershop, we see inside, the perpetrator is moving

toward the rear of the bank." "Who's that guy walking through

the barricade?" "The blue suit?" "Yeah." "Off-duty

Inspector come down to see can you use him." Etc. They

really do use the word Perpetrator, Felon, etc. The Cop

handing out radios makes Moretti sign for it -- which Moretti

does during the following:

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