Double Indemnity Page #13

staying in tonight.

ATTENDANT:

Okay, Mr. Neff. Be all shined up for

you in the morning.

Neff is crossing to the elevator. He speaks back over his

shoulder:

NEFF:

That left front tire looks a little

soft. Check it, will you?

ATTENDANT:

You bet. Check 'em all round. Always

do.

Neff enters the elevator.

DISSOLVE TO:

B-31 NEFF'S APT. - (DAY)

Neff enters. He walks straight to the phone, dials, and starts

speaking into the mouthpiece, but only the COMMENTARY is

heard.

DISSOLVE:

NEFF'S VOICE

Up in my apartment I called Lou

Schwartz, one of the salesmen that

shared my office. He lived in

Westwood. That made it a toll call

and there'd be a record of it. I

told him I had forgotten my rate

book and needed some dope on the

public liability bond I was figuring.

I asked him to call me back. This

was another item in my alibi, so

that later on I could prove that I

had been home.

B-32 INT. NEFF'S LIVING ROOM

Neff comes into the living room from the bedroom, putting on

the jacket of his blue suit. THE PHONE RINGS. He picks up

the receiver and starts talking, unheard, as before. He makes

notes on a pad.

DISSOLVE TO:

NEFF'S VOICE

I changed into a navy blue suit like

Dietrichson was going to wear. Lou

Schwartz called me back and gave me

a lot of figures...

B-33 NEFF

He is folding a hand towel and stuffing it into his jacket

pocket. He then takes a large roll of adhesive tape and puts

that into his pants pocket.

DISSOLVE TO:

NEFF'S VOICE

(Cont'd)

I stuffed a hand towel and a big

roll of adhesive tape into my pockets,

so I could fake something that looked

like a cast on a broken leg... Next

I fixed the telephone and the

doorbell, so that the cards would

fall down if the bells rang. That

way I would know there had been a

phone call or visitor while I was

away. I left the apartment house by

the fire stairs and side door. Nobody

saw me. It was already getting dark.

I took the Vermont Avenue bus to Los

Feliz and walked from there up to

the Dietrichson house. There was

that smell of honeysuckle again,

only stronger, now that it was

evening.

B-34 & B-35 INSERTS OF OPEN TELEPHONE BELL BOX (ON BASEBOARD)

& DOORBELL (ABOVE ENTRANCE DOOR)

Neff's hand places a small card against the bell clapper in

each of these.

DISSOLVE TO:

B-36 FIRE STAIRS, APT. HOUSE (NIGHT)

CAMERA PANS with Neff going down the stairs in his blue suit,

with a hat pulled down over his eyes.

DISSOLVE TO:

B-37 EXT. DIETRICHSON HOME - (NIGHT) - LONG SHOT - NO

TRAFFIC:

Some windows are lit. Neff comes into the shot and approaches

cautiously. He looks around and then slides open the garage

door.

B-38 INT. GARAGE

Neff closes the garage door. Very faint light comes in at a

side window. He opens the rear door of the sedan, gets in

and closes the door after him. The dark interior of the car

has swallowed him up.

NEFF'S VOICE

Then I was in the garage. His car

was backed in, just the way I told

Phyllis to have it. It was so still

I could hear the ticking of the clock

on the dashboard. I kept thinking of

the place we had picked out to do

it, that dark street on the way to

the station, and the three honks on

the horn that were to be the signal...

About ten minutes later they came

down.

DISSOLVE TO:

B-39 EXT. DIETRICHSON HOUSE

The front door has opened and Dietrichson is half-way down

the steps. He is walking with crutches, wearing the dark

blue suit and a hat. The cast is on his left leg. There is

no shoe on his left foot. Only the white plaster shows.

Phyllis comes after him, carrying his suitcase and his

overcoat. She wears a camel's-hair coat and no hat. She

catches up with him.

PHYLLIS:

You all right, honey? I'll have the

car out in a second.

Dietrichson just grunts. She passes him to the garage, CAMERA

WITH HER, and slides the door open.

B-40 INT. GARAGE

THE CAMERA IS VERY LOW INSIDE THE SEDAN, shooting slightly

upwards from Neff's hiding place. The garage door has just

been opened. Phyllis comes to the car, opens the rear door.

She looks down, almost INTO THE CAMERA. A tight, cool smile

flashes across her face. Then, very calmly, she puts the

suitcase and overcoat in back on the seat (out of shot). She

closes the door again.

B-41 EXT. GARAGE

Dietrichson stands watching Phyllis as she gets into the car

and drives out to pick him up. She stops beside him and opens

the right-hand door. Dietrichson climbs in with difficulty.

She helps him, watching him closely.

PHYLLIS:

Take it easy, honey. We've got lots

of time.

DIETRICHSON:

Just let me do it my own way. Grab

that crutch.

She takes one of the crutches from him.

DIETRICHSON:

They ought to make these things so

they fold up.

For a moment, as he leans his hand on the back of the seat,

there is danger that he may see Neff. He doesn't. He slides

awkwardly into the seat and pulls the second crutch in after

him. He closes the door. The car moves off.

DISSOLVE TO:

B-42 INT. CAR

Phyllis driving and Dietrichson beside her, face TOWARDS THE

CAMERA. Dietrichson has a partly smoked cigar between his

teeth. They are in the middle of a conversation.

DIETRICHSON:

Aw, stop squawkin' can't you, Phyllis?

No man takes his wife along to a

class reunion. That's what class

reunions are for.

PHYLLIS:

Mrs. Tucker went along with her

husband last year, didn't she.

DIETRICHSON:

Yeah, and what happened to her? She

sat in the hotel lobby for four days

straight. Never even saw the guy

until we poured him back on the train.

B-43 CLOSEUP ON NEFF'S FACE LOW DOWN IN THE CORNER BEHIND

DIETRICHSON:

His face is partly covered by the edge of a traveling rug

which he has pulled up over him. He looks up at Dietrichson

and Phyllis in the front seat.

PHYLLIS' VOICE

All right, honey. Just so long as

you have a good time.

DIETRICHSON'S VOICE

I won't do much dancing, I can tell

you that.

B-44 HEADS & SHOULDERS OF DIETRICHSON & PHYLLIS - AS SEEN BY

NEFF:

PHYLLIS:

Remember what the doctor said. If

you get careless you might end up

with a shorter leg.

DIETRICHSON:

So what? I could break the other one

and match them up again.

PHYLLIS:

It makes you feel pretty good to get

away from me, doesn't it?

B-45 PHYLLIS & DIETRICHSON - FACING CAMERA

DIETRICHSON:

It's only for four days. I'll be

back Monday at the latest.

PHYLLIS:

Don't forget we're having the Hobeys

for dinner on Monday.

DIETRICHSON:

The Hobeys? We had them last. They

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