Fallen Angel

[Engine Rewing]

[Engine Rewing]

[Brakes Squeal, Hiss]

Hey, you. Come on. I've seen

that sleepin' act before.

You know your ticket

ran out the last stop.

- How much to San Francisco?

- 2.25.

[Bell Jingles]

Yes. Three days.

[Man]

So it's three days she's gone.

Where do you get off keepin' it

from the police 72 hours?

I didn't want it to get around,

Mr. Johnson. That's all.

People talk.

Stella's a good girl. Really she is.

I don't want them

to talk.

Well, we'll find

what took her.

Why not give her till morning, Johnson?

Stella'll show up.

Okay, till morning. You oughta know,

Mr.Judd. Good night.

- Night, Johnson.

- Good night.

-Way down this week, Pop.

- Nobody plays it with Stella not around.

Yeah, I guess not.

You don't think she might

have done something to herself?

Not Stella. Back in New York,

I handled 31 suicide cases personally.

Everything from poison to jumping

in front of the Flatbush subway.

Stella's not the type.

- Here's your receipt.

-Thanks, Atkins.

I'll be seeing you.

Cup of coffee, please.

It's after 10:
00.

We're closed up.

And a hamburger, well-done,

with onions, mustard, relish-

What else you want on that hamburger,

the whole state of California?

- What's the population?

- I'll fix you something.

[Sighs]

- Cigarette?

- No, thanks. Never touch them.

[Bell Jingles]

I knew you'd be back.

Okay. I'm back.

Well, here you are,

young man.

Stella. You-

- You're okay?

- I'm hungry.

Right away, Stella.

Right away.

You don't know what

it's been like since you went.

You won't go away, Stella,

will you, again?

Well, see you tomorrow.

The room's waiting for you.

I paid 'em not to touch a thing.

- You wanted it like that, didn't you, Stella?

- [Bell Jingles]

And you'll come back

to your job here.

Everything just like it was,

as if you'd never been away?

That's just how it'll be,

after a long rest.

- You sure look run out.

- So what?

One look at him and I knew

he wasn't any good. I knew-

You make me sick.

He's finished

his coffee. Go on.

It was the best hamburger

I never ate.

Sorry. Come back later-

I mean tomorrow. I'm closing up.

- How much?

- It's okay.

It's not okay. He got his coffee.

Let him pay for it.

Five cents.

[Dings]

[Dings]

- Good evening.

- Uh-huh.

- Professor Madley, please.

- Professor Madley?

He won't be here till tomorrow.

- Oh.

- Maybe Mr. Ellis could help you.

- Ellis?

- The professor's assistant.

He registered this morning.

Oh, Ellis. Oh, yes.

Uh, what's his room number?

It's 216,

but he's not in just now.

Of course.

He's getting tuned.

- Tuned?

- To the other world.

- He always does that

before the professor comes in.

- Is that so?

Oh, sure. Well, I'll wait

for Ellis up in his room.

- But that's against the rules.

- Don't worry. It's all right.

[Bell Tolling]

Oh. Mr. Ellis,

I presume.

Yes.

My name is Stanton.

Eric Stanton.

-Never heard of you.

-Professor Madley's an old friend of mine.

- When was that?

- The good old days.

- How old?

- Old enough to be good.

- Oh. Drink?

- My favorite brand.

Oughta be. I got it

out of your bureau drawer.

Huh. Help yourself to

everything in here...

long as you're a friend

of the professor's.

- From my cradle days.

- Then you'll do the professor a favor.

- Lend-lease him $30.

- $30?

Do him half a favor- 1 5.

- [Laughs]

- What's so funny? Tell me. I'd like to laugh too.

I came up to put

the bite on you.

Now let's hear

how you laugh.

- You can't sleep here.

- Wait a minute.

Consult the spirit of

my friend the professor.

- What's he say?

- I know what the manager says:

One more guest, one more dollar.

I haven't got enough to pay my own bill.

Then the extra dollar

wouldn't matter.

Don't take your shoes off.

I've enough to aggravate me.

- Don't worry. I'll get you out of it.

- What with? You're broke.

I've gotta have $15

by noon tomorrow...

or lose the hall downstairs

and my deposit...

besides being kicked out of here

and my luggage held.

What about

the professor's spooks?

Don't they generally come through

with an advance sale?

Sure, when there's nobody

to stop them...

but there's a certain woman in this town

who doesn't believe in spooks.

What she says goes

for the rest of the women.

She's not only the daughter

of the former mayor...

who donated a new organ

to the church...

but the president

of the ladies' auxiliary.

Against such a combination,

not even I could sell one ticket.

Go charm her.

Miss Mills'll have no truck with me,

not even on the phone.

- Well, let's sleep on it.

- I said no.

We're in this thing together.

Naturally, I'll sleep here.

- Stands to reason.

- What stands to reason?

You're in trouble, man.

I've got to pull you out of it.

- You got any tooth paste?

- In the bathroom.

- [Door Opens]

- Hopeyou like my brand.

Good morning.

- Your mistress, please.

- Who?

Miss Clara Mills.

I'm Clara Mills, and we're

not buying anything either.

Miss Mills, I'm here to speak

on behalf of the dead.

-Who?

-Walton's respected deceased.

They're having a rendezvous

tonight at the Walton Hotel at 8:00.

There's nothing to discuss.

I told you that over the phone.

Now please don't call again,

Mr. Ellis.

I'm not Mr. Ellis, and I'm not a part of

the spook act down at the hotel.

I'm Eric Stanton.

Now, would you listen to me for a minute?

Well, out with it.

I'm busy.

[Stanton]

So is Professor Madley.

Appointments with the dead

from coast to coast...

yet this soul of generosity

finds time...

to drop in on Walton

to deliver a message of hope.

[Clara] For money.

He's a charlatan, a fraud.

- Not the Professor Madley.

- Pretending to commune with the dead.

Now, look. He and Ellis are just a couple of

struggling artists trying to make a living...

like fortune-tellers

or a vaudeville team.

I won't let the poor,

gullible people of Walton be fooled.

If my father were alive, these fakers

would never have gotten a license.

- Your father?

- Yes. Abraham Mills was a real mayor.

He wouldn't have stood by and let frauds

take advantage of honest people.

Wait a minute.

What if Mayor Mills...

would like to make another speech,

or tell you something?

- Suppose he's depending-

- Suppose you leave right now.

Suppose I do.

But don't forget.

The curtain goes up tonight at 8:00.

Birds of a feather.

They won't hatch anything here.

Trading on people's

sacred feelings.

Everything that's dear

held up to ridicule...

by frauds in a trance,

rapping on a table.

We won't have any of the cheap,

vulgar tricks of spiritualism here.

- You think I'm wrong?

- I think he's right.

But how can he be? June,

don't be taken in by his glib manner.

He meant it. Just two people

trying to make a living.

-Why can't they make an honest living?

- Are we to judge?

Well, it's too late now.

There's nothing we can do about it.

-Yes, there is.

- What?

We can buy two tickets. If we go,

everybody else will. Shall I call the hotel?

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