Gangster Squad Page #2

- Yeah.

- Do you promise?

- I promise.

Beat it.

PETE:

Shine? Want a shine?

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

DOORMAN:

Go ahead, detective.

(BAND PLAYING "MR. FIVE BY FIVE")

JERRY:
Hey, sugar.

WOMAN 1:
Hey, Jerry.

WOMAN 2:
(SINGING)

Here comes Mr. Five By Five

JERRY:

Ladies.

WOMAN 2:
(SINGING)

Solid avoirdupois

Mr. Five By Five

He's 5 feet tall and he's 5 feet wide

He don't measure no more from head to toe

Than he do from side to side

Mr. Five By Five

Jack. Fancy seeing you here.

JACK:

Fancy that.

JERRY:

You look sharp.

JACK:
Take a pew.

- Yeah, okay.

How's it going, pal?

You got a steak la carte back there

with your name on it.

You're a peach.

Figure you must be starving.

You haven't picked a winner in what,

six weeks?

- Five.

- My boss can help you out with that.

You know we fix the damn races, right?

All you gotta do is ask me.

First, Jack, you're not allowed

to tell me that.

Second of all, you know I have

a warrant for your arrest, right?

- So, what's the charge?

- Usury.

What the hell is usury?

Loansharking.

Do you want me to pull it out?

- It's in my pocket.

- Keep it in your pants.

- I can read it and tell you exactly what it's for.

- It's fine.

- Jerry, can you listen to me for a second?

- Yeah, I'm listening.

- Cohen's on the warpath.

- Warpath?

Looks like he's on the

"give me some more" path.

JACK:
Just keep your eyes on the players, Jerry.

- Hard to know the players without the playbill.

(SIGHS)

Okay.

Up top you got the killer.

Wrevock's his name.

And down below,

the Honorable Judge Carter.

Max Solomon, Cohen's lawyer.

And Burbank Police Chief

Elmer Jackson.

On this side of the table,

one Eugene W. Biscailuz...

...the high sheriff of Los Angeles County.

Who's the tomato?

That's Grace Faraday,

Cohen's etiquette tutor.

- Is that right?

- He's getting all sophisticated.

- Oh, must be nice.

- What's that?

I haven't been sophisticated in weeks.

(JACK WHISTLES)

And it's not for lack of trying.

Roast peacock.

Romans couldn't get enough

of this stuff. The guys had class.

It's the other fork, darling.

Tonight...

...we're celebrating the birth

of a new city...

...built right here on the ruins of

Los Angeles.

CARTER:
Congratulations, Mickey.

SOLOMON:
Hear, hear.

CARTER:
Cheers.

SOLOMON:
Hear, hear.

(WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY)

I think I'll just have a cigarette.

Don't worry about it.

It's done.

JACK:

Don't even think about it, Jerry.

The penalty for poaching

the king's deer in this town...

...is still a permanent vacation

in a pine box.

Well, you gotta die of something.

Will you excuse me?

GRACE:

Thanks.

Sure.

I'm Jerry.

Say, Jerry, I bet you got a ducky

war story behind that lighter.

Yeah, sure, I got stories.

- Hey, Mac, can I get a Dirty Shirley?

BARTENDER:
Coming up.

I got shot down once over the Pacific.

I spent the night hanging on to the wing of the

plane, sharks bumping my legs in the dark.

Are you weak in the knees yet?

Sure, I am.

Let's see. You're not quite big enough

to be a shylock.

I give up.

What's your racket, handsome?

Mostly I just like to play games.

I bet. What kind of games?

I like to play Post Office.

Post Office? It's a kid's game.

Not the way I play it.

But my racket is I'm a Bible salesman.

You wanna take me away from all this

and make an honest woman out of me?

No, ma'am.

I was just hoping to take you to bed.

MAN 1:
Chief! Chief, what do you think about

those girls locked up at the Croesus?

MAN 2:

Rumor has it that was Mickey Cohen's place.

When you gonna do something

about Cohen?

GATES:
Chief has no comment.

MAN 2:
Hey.

Well, who's running this town, then?

Who took it down?

John O'Mara. Homicide.

Just one man did that?

Yes, sir.

(CHATTERING)

GATES:

Sergeant O'Mara, Daryl Gates.

Who the hell is Daryl Gates?

The chief's driver.

He'd like a word with you, sergeant.

Officer Gates, kill the fatted calf,

will you?

I've found my prodigal son.

Two Purple Hearts.

Silver Star.

Trained at Camp X?

I never heard of Camp X, sir.

Of course not.

But you are skilled in guerilla warfare.

All due respect, sir,

may I ask why I'm here?

Would you please have a seat,

sergeant?

I want to talk to you about the war...

...for the soul of Los Angeles.

You see, our forbearers fought

savage Indians and Mexican bandits...

...to win Los Angeles.

And now, we're losing her to an

Eastern crook.

No one will testify.

They know it's suicide.

This isn't a crime wave.

It's enemy occupation, and you've

fought in occupied territory before.

I have.

I need you to do it again.

To wage guerilla war against

Mickey Cohen.

We're finally going after him.

I'll need men.

Recruit them. And keep it quiet.

You're off the books.

You are to make no arrests.

- You want me to kill him?

- No.

With Cohen dead...

...his empire would only attract

others of his kind.

I want you to shatter his operations...

...destroy his establishments...

...and drive that bastard out of this city.

Yes, sir.

What are those?

I'm supposed to recruit a few guys

for this new outfit.

Oh, yeah?

What kind of outfit?

A small squad. Five, maybe six guys.

What kind of outfit?

We're going after Mickey Cohen.

Oh.

(PLATES SHATTERING)

Oh, Connie, Jesus.

We moved out here, you said we'd found

paradise, remember?

Wind was right, you could smell

the ocean right through that window.

That's exactly what kept me going when

I was over there, was raising a family here.

You can't ask me to just hand it

all over to Mickey Cohen.

Mickey Cohen can have L.A., John.

As far as I'm concerned,

he's welcome to the whole lousy town.

He just can't have you.

Sweetheart, look.

The war is over.

Stop fighting.

Come back to me.

I'm trying.

I need your help.

(BLUES MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS)

(GRACE CHUCKLING)

Hey, come here for a second,

I want to ask you something.

(GRACE KISSING)

Well, you see, the thing is...

I bet you say that to all the girls.

I don't...

...know what you're talking about.

Where have you been all my miserable life...

...Jerry the Bible salesman?

Drinking.

That's a noble profession.

He'll kill you if he finds out, you know.

Who?

Mickey.

Mickey Mouse?

What are you doing

with that knucklehead, anyway?

Doesn't really seem like your type.

I'm his type.

That's what matters.

You are something else, you know that?

CONNIE:

Yeah.

Top of his class. Top of his class.

This one made detective before his

If I'm Cohen, these are the cops

I'm gonna buy.

They'll be lieutenants in a few years.

So I should just find other bums

like me?

I'm just saying that you shouldn't be

looking at choir boys for this.

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING

AND MEN CHEERING AND WHISTLING)

I'm putting a squad together.

- I need an Indian guide who knows the territory.

- Oh.

I wish I could help. I'm just in the middle

of a very important case, so I can't.

Who's the lucky winner this time?

JERRY:

Mm.

(LAUGHS)

Well, good luck.

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