Infamous Page #8

What an extraordinary thing to say.

Extraordinary.

So how's the book?

Well, it's coming. I have to leave

in a couple days for their trial.

That's all pro forma, right?

They're not contesting anything, are they?

No, they hope for life, not death.

Death would be better for the book.

It would satisfy the readers more,

and it would make the title work too.

Honey, I've worked harder on this

than anything my whole life.

I don't want it ruined just because

a jury makes a dumb decision.

Gentlemen of the jury,

have you reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Will the clerk please bring the verdict up?

We, the jury, find the defendant,

Perry Edward Smith...

...guilty of the crime of murder

in the first degree.

And the punishment...

...is death.

- Will you appeal?

- Dick wants to.

But we'll hang. We should.

You think hanging is fair?

It's funny.

Last night I was laying awake...

...and thinking:

"What is punishment?"

Being in jail isn't punishment,

if you didn't like it on the outside.

And neither is death,

if it was painful to live.

I'll tell you what punishment is for me.

What?

It's hoping there's someone for you.

And after years of no one

you find him and you can't have him.

- We really connected, didn't we?

- Of course, we did.

You weren't being nice to me

just for the book, were you?

No! I think about you all the time.

- Dick too?

- Only for the book.

You're the only person

I ever feel real around.

Me too.

I don't have to act

like a little wind-up toy with you.

Perry...

...I don't want you to die.

Look, Ron and Nancy Reagan we're not.

We're apart for long times.

We know we have to have sex.

But we're men. We can have sex

just to release the desire to have sex.

What's not allowed is falling in love.

You see, that would be a betrayal.

A terrible breach of a very mature...

...and very sensible arrangement.

After the verdicts,

Truman buried himself in the book.

By mid-'63 it was done.

Perfect as a diamond,

as tough, as multi-faceted...

...only this time...

...it had kindness.

But we couldn't publish it

until it had an ending...

...until something had been settled

about the boys.

There were four appeals,

all the way to the Supreme Court.

It took five full years

for a final judgment.

That was hard on the killers, which doesn't

make a dime's difference to me. But...

Do you have any word yet

about when the book is coming out?

I don't know.

You simply cannot conceive

of the agony.

I've worked on this book ceaselessly

for four years...

...pouring the whole of myself into it,

head and heart.

And then to be waiting like this...

...unable to publish what I've done

until they're hanged.

I can hardly wait.

Do you feel that your book is worth

a human life?

- Well, it's certainly worth Dick's.

- What about the other man?

His name is Perry.

I mean, it's just an intolerable position.

Because to get an ending for the book

means an end for...

on death row,

you may only write two letters a week.

Every week, for five years...

...Perry wrote both letters to Truman.

Friend Truman, cold in Kansas today...

...though not as frigid as I imagine

it is in Switzerland.

How big are those Alps?

Friend Truman, do you know the song

"Gold Mine in the Sky"?

It was Dad's favorite.

Maybe you could use your influence

with the authorities in this shithole...

... and get me a tape recorder

so I could sing it for you.

Not much to say today.

Awful blue.

God, I miss you. Please write soon.

You can't imagine what it does to me

when they bring the mail...

... and there's something from you.

Friend Truman:

It's all over.

Our last appeal has been denied.

Dick and I are allowed

to have a witness at the hanging.

We both pick you.

- You have to come with me.

- I can't.

I'm getting desperate about my new book.

It's not coming together.

Anyway,

I thought this was what you wanted.

I know I said that...

...but to see him killed?

It's too much.

- I don't suppose Jack would?

- No.

He wouldn't anyway, but...

...for some reason,

he gets funny about Perry.

It's like he's jealous.

Truman...

...are you and Perry?

Please, Nelle.

I'm begging you.

But I couldn't.

And I wouldn't.

I'm sorry, he can't take the call.

It was the boys again.

They want me to help...

...but I can't help them.

Maybe they want you for comfort.

Rain is good.

I hope he apologizes.

That would really make him sympathetic.

Hey, Truman. Where you been?

I thought you were gonna spend

the whole day with us.

I couldn't get here earlier.

I was making calls on your behalf.

It's just so late now.

- Hickock, let's get ready.

- We have some time.

I have something I want to tell you.

They're gonna ask if you have anything

to say, and you must apologize.

- That won't bring them back.

- No. It restores your humanity to you.

It's time.

Anyone saying goodbye

needs to say it here.

Bye, Truman.

Thanks for it.

Did he say anything to you?

He said he loved me...

...and he always had.

Richard Eugene Hickock.

Do you have anything to say?

Just that I hold no hard feelings.

You people are...

...sending me to a better world

than this one ever was.

"The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down

in green pastures.

He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death...

...I will fear no evil,

for Thou art with me."

Not dead yet.

I still hear breathing.

Okay, he's ready.

Perry Edward Smith.

Do you have anything to say?

Friend Truman...

... I don't know what you did,

but the tape recorder arrived.

There's a gold mine in the sky

Far away

We will find it

You and I, some sweet day

There'll be a clover just for you

Down the line

Where the skies are always blue

Pal of mine

Far away

Far away

We will find that long lost gold mine

Some sweet day

And we'll say hello to friends

Who said goodbye

When we find that long lost gold mine

In the...

... sky

"The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He maketh me..."

Was he able to speak?

Yes, he spoke.

What did he say?

Smith did not speak.

He apologized.

Just chewed his gum.

You saw those two men hanged.

It must be...

Isn't it painful for you?

Babaling, life is painful.

It's the one experience

that unites rich and poor.

I suppose I'm able to endure it...

...because I can alchemize

what wounds me into art.

Yes, but...

...at what cost?

It made him the most famous author

in America and very, very rich.

He moved to Manhattan where, oddly...

...he had a very good view

of the place he had left.

Who ever knows

what our hearts will want?

Who can...

...defend themselves from it?

Seeing what's happened to him since...

...well, despite the bravado

that only appears to be confidence...

...I have come to feel

with great heart-sickness...

...that there were three deaths

on the gallows that night.

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