Double Indemnity Page #3

Where would the living room be?

MAID:

In there, but they keep the liquor

locked up.

NEFF:

That's okay. I always carry my own

keys.

He goes through the archway. Maid goes off the other way.

A-25 LIVING ROOM

Neff comes into the room and throws his briefcase on the

plush davenport and tosses his hat on top of it. He looks

around the room, then moves over to a baby grand piano with

a sleazy Spanish shawl dangling down one side and two cabinet

photographs standing in a staggered position on top. Neff

glances them over: Mr. Dietrichson, age about fifty-one, a

big, blocky man with glasses and a Rotarian look about him;

Lola Dietrichson, age nineteen, wearing a filmy party dress

and a yearning look in her pretty eyes. Neff walks away from

the piano and takes a few steps back and forth across the

rug. His eyes fall on a wrinkled corner. He carefully

straightens it out with his foot. His back is to the archway

as he hears high heels clicking on the staircase. He turns

and looks through the arch.

NEFF'S VOICE

The living room was still stuffy

from last night's cigars. The windows

were closed and the sunshine coming

in through the Venetian blinds showed

up the dust in the air. The furniture

was kind of corny and old-fashioned,

but it had a comfortable look, as if

people really sat in it. On the piano,

in couple of fancy frames, were Mr.

Dietrichson and Lola, his daughter

by his first wife They had a bowl of

those little red goldfish on the

table behind the davenport, but, to

tell you the truth, Keyes, I wasn't

a whole lot interested in goldfish

right then, nor in auto renewals,

nor in Mr. Dietrichson and his

daughter Lola. I was thinking about

that dame upstairs, and the way she

had looked at me, and I wanted to

see her again, close, without that

silly staircase between us.

A-26 STAIRCASE (FROM NEFF'S POINT OF VIEW)

Phyllis Dietrichson is coming downstairs. First we see her

feet, with pom-pom slippers and the gold anklet on her left

ankle. CAMERA PULLS BACK SLOWLY as she descends, until we

see all of her. She is wearing a pale blue summer dress.

PHYLLIS' VOICE

I wasn't long, was I?

NEFF'S VOICE

Not at all, Mrs. Dietrichson.

CAMERA PULLS BACK WITH HER INTO THE LIVING ROOM.

PHYLLIS:

I hope I've got my face on straight.

NEFF:

It's perfect for my money.

PHYLLIS:

(Crossing to the mirror

over the fireplace)

Won't you sit down, Mr. -- Neff is

the name, isn't it?

NEFF:

With two f's, like in Philadelphia.

If you know the story.

PHYLLIS:

What story?

NEFF:

The Philadelphia story. What are we

talking about?

PHYLLIS:

(She works with her

lipstick)

About the insurance. My husband never

tells me anything.

NEFF:

It's on your two cars, the La Salle

and the Plymouth.

He crosses to the davenport to get the policies from his

briefcase. She turns away from the mirror and sits in a big

chair with her legs drawn up sideways, the anklet now clearly

visible.

NEFF:

We've been handling this insurance

for three years for Mr. Dietrichson...

(His eyes have caught

the anklet)

That's a honey of an anklet you're

wearing, Mrs. Dietrichson.

Phyllis smiles faintly and covers the anklet with her dress.

NEFF:

We'd hate to see the policies lapse.

Of course, we give him thirty days.

That's all we're allowed to give.

PHYLLIS:

I guess he's been too busy down at

Long Beach in the oil fields.

NEFF:

Could I catch him home some evening

for a few minutes?

PHYLLIS:

I suppose so. But he's never home

much before eight.

NEFF:

That would be fine with me.

PHYLLIS:

You're not connected with the

Automobile Club, are you?

NEFF:

No, the All-Risk, Mrs. Dietrichson.

Why?

PHYLLIS:

Somebody from the Automobile Club

has been trying to get him. Do they

have a better rate?

NEFF:

If your husband's a member.

PHYLLIS:

No, he isn't.

Phyllis rises and walks up and down, paying less and less

attention.

NEFF:

Well, he'd have to join the club and

pay a membership fee to start with.

The Automobile Club is fine. I never

knock the other fellow's merchandise,

Mrs. Dietrichson, but I can do just

as well for you. I have a very

attractive policy here. It wouldn't

take me two minutes to put it in

front of your husband.

He consults the policies he is holding.

NEFF:

For instance, we're writing a new

kind of fifty percent retention

feature in the collision coverage.

Phyllis stops in her walk.

PHYLLIS:

You're a smart insurance man, aren't

you, Mr. Neff?

NEFF:

I've had eleven years of it.

PHYLLIS:

Doing pretty well?

NEFF:

It's a living.

PHYLLIS:

You handle just automobile insurance,

or all kinds?

She sits down again, in the same position as before.

NEFF:

All kinds. Fire, earthquake, theft,

public liability, group insurance,

industrial stuff and so on right

down the line.

PHYLLIS:

Accident insurance?

NEFF:

Accident insurance? Sure, Mrs.

Dietrichson.

His eyes fall on the anklet again.

NEFF:

I wish you'd tell me what's engraved

on that anklet.

PHYLLIS:

Just my name.

NEFF:

As for instance?

PHYLLIS:

Phyllis.

NEFF:

Phyllis. I think I like that.

PHYLLIS:

But you're not sure?

NEFF:

I'd have to drive it around the block

a couple of times.

PHYLLIS:

(Standing up again)

Mr. Neff, why don't you drop by

tomorrow evening about eight-thirty.

He'll be in then.

NEFF:

Who?

PHYLLIS:

My husband. You were anxious to talk

to him weren't you?

NEFF:

Sure, only I'm getting over it a

little. If you know what I mean.

PHYLLIS:

There's a speed limit in this state,

Mr. Neff. Forty-five miles an hour.

NEFF:

How fast was I going, officer?

PHYLLIS:

I'd say about ninety.

NEFF:

Suppose you get down off your

motorcycle and give me a ticket.

PHYLLIS:

Suppose I let you off with a warning

this time.

NEFF:

Suppose it doesn't take.

PHYLLIS:

Suppose I have to whack you over the

knuckles.

NEFF:

Suppose I bust out crying and put my

head on your shoulder.

PHYLLIS:

Suppose you try putting it on my

husband's shoulder.

NEFF:

That tears it.

Neff takes his hat and briefcase.

NEFF:

Eight-thirty tomorrow evening then,

Mrs. Dietrichson.

PHYLLIS:

That's what I suggested.

They both move toward the archway.

A-27 HALLWAY - PHYLLIS AND NEFF GOING TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE

DOOR:

NEFF:

Will you be here, too?

PHYLLIS:

I guess so. I usually am.

NEFF:

Same chair, same perfume, same anklet?

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