Roxie Hart Page #7

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I didn't do it.

I never had anything to do with him!

He was drunk.

I could have handled him.

He didn't have to shoot him!

Finnegan can tell him.

- Don't you understand?

- Roxie! Roxie!

It's important, Roxie!

I talked to that janitor.

- I interviewed him.

- Finnegan? You did? Let him in, Mike.

Mr. Howard, on the day after

the killing of Fred Casely...

did you have a conversation

with one Michael Finnegan...

janitor of the apartment house

in which the Harts lived?

- Yes, sir.

- Tell us what was said.

- When I talked to him...

- Your Honor, I object...

to the witness answering

on the grounds it would be hearsay.

Why wasn't this man Finnegan brought

here himself to tell what he knows?

Well, he's dead, Your Honor.

He died two weeks ago.

Was there any other witness

to the conversation?

- No, sir.

- Objection sustained.

- You mean I can't...

- I object to any further remarks.

- The witness will leave the stand.

- But this is important!

- It has an important bearing on...

- Such testimony is inadmissible.

Leave the stand at once, sir.

Step down, Mr. Howard.

The jury will disregard everything

that was said by the witness.

You see, in New York or Los Angeles

or some other sissy town...

that'd be the end of it.

Nothing but law. But in Chicago,

the law doesn't count.

It's justice we're after.

What do you say, kid?

- I'm scared.

- You can do it, you know.

They're gonna hang me.

Roxie, you know who's sitting

out front there?

I don't care. I'm scared.

- Ziegfeld.

- I don't ca...

- Who?

- Ziegfeld...

the greatest musical producer

in the world.

No kid.

Mrs. Hart, take the stand.

Hold it! All right!

Hold it! Hold it, Roxie.

Let's take a nice one now.

Big smile, honey. That's it. Open.

Flash! That did it.

All right, fellas, break it up.

Oh, I got a pip.

Do you swear the testimony you're about to

give is the truth and nothing but the truth?

Yeah, I do.

No drugs, no surgery,

no down payment.

- Were do you live, Mrs. Hart?

- County jail.

When did you first meet Fred Casely?

Ten minutes past 5:00,January 8.

- Where?

- At a bus stop.

Tell the jury the circumstances.

Well, it was rainin', and I was

standin' there with my girlfriend.

Mr. Casely drove up in his coupe

and says, "It's a nice day for ducks. "

- And we said, "Yes. "

- Both of you?

She said it first, and then I said it.

And then he said could

he drive us somewhere and...

well, you know

how crowded the buses are.

So, you said yes.

Well, she said it first,

and then I said it.

- And so he drove you home.

- Yes, sir.

How did Mr. Casely conduct himself

during this drive...

unusually friendly in any way?

Oh, no, sir. He was a perfect gent

in every sense of the word.

All he said was,

wouldn't I like to have a screen test.

When was the next time you saw him?

The next day.

It rained again.

Would you say, then, that, uh,

Casely was now pursuing you?

- I'll say!

- Other than these innocent rides home in the rain...

did you ever have any social

engagements with this man Casely?

- Yes, sir. Once.

- And that was?

The Policeman's Benefit Ball.

He asked you to go to this ball

and you consented...

- although you were married, Roxie?

- Yes, sir.

You believe in the sacredness

of the marriage tie, don't you?

I object, Your Honor!

What the witness believes is immaterial.

You know that the marriage tie

is sacred, don't you?

Oh, yes, sir. That's what I kept

tellin' him all along.

Tell us, then, why you went to the policeman's

ball that night with this man Casely.

Oh, I don't know.

So many things happen,

you don't know why.

I wouldn't have if my...

Mr. Hart and me

hadn't quarreled that morning.

Oh, Roxie!

And who was to blame?

Me, I guess.

It seemed like

I couldn't stop pesterin' him.

Pestering him?

What about?

Because I wanted a home,

a real home with little kiddies.

- That's why!

- Hold it! Hold it!

Hold it, Roxie. That's it.

Get in a little closer.

That's it, talkin' to the kiddies.

I said hold it.

Open. Flash!

That did it.

All right. Break it up, fellas.

Now, uh, what happened

at the policeman's ball?

He gave me a drink.

Really?

What kind of a drink?

Oh. I don't know.

It just tasted bad...

nasty... kaaa!

If that's what whiskey is... ugh!

That is just the kind of loose talk

that is giving whiskey a bad name.

Did Casely misunderstand your, uh,

ambition to put your talents on the stage?

Oh, yes, indeed, sir.

Roxie Hart! The state charges you

with the murder of Fred Casely.

- Guilty or not guilty?

- Not guilty!

Oh, not guilty!

Not guilty. I may have killed him, yes.

But not murder!

Oh, not that!

Do you remember

Friday, September 5?

Yes, sir.

Tell the jury now in your own way...

the happenings

of that day in the late afternoon.

Now, take your time and speak clearly.

Well, that afternoon

at Mr. Casely's request...

I went to his office

and gave an audition for a Mr. Marcus.

- What kind of an audition, my dear?

- I did the black hula.

- The black hula?

- It's a mixture of the hula hula and the Black Bottom.

- I invented it myself.

- That's enough.

Continue.

So when I finished, Mr. Marcus

turned to Mr. Casely and said...

- "Are you kidding?" and walked out.

- Go on.

So I took the Cottage Grove car

to South Melrose...

and stopped at a grocer's to buy some baking

powder for some biscuits for breakfast.

He loved my biscuits.

- And this was about what time?

- 6:
11 p. m.

So I was singing about my housework

when the doorbell rang...

- and thinking it was my girlfriend, Irma...

- Never mind what you thought.

I went to the door,

and who do you think it was?

- Casely?

- It wasn't his uncle.

And, oh, was he intoxicated.

So I said, "Go away, Mr. Casely.

You are intoxicated. "

- But do you think he paid any attention to that?

- He entered?

He forced his way into my presence.

Now, now, now, now, be strong, my dear.

Bear up.

So I said, "You certainly got a crust,

Mr. Casely. And please beat it.

"'Cause how do you think

this is going to look to my...

to my husband. "

- And he still wouldn't go?

- Well, he was really crocked.

- I mean, intoxicated.

- Well, why didn't you scream?

Oh, I was ashamed

for the neighbors to know.

Well, you know how you'd feel.

But I kept sayin' to him

we could easy get into a jam here.

So, finally, he said if I'd just

take one drink with him, he'd beat it.

- So I did.

- And then?

Oh, he was really

simply insane about me, you know.

- But you...

- Oh, I loved my husband.

I really did.

And when you told him that,

what did he say?

Nothing.

He just grabbed me.

And where were you at this time?

Uh, standing by the pianola.

Show the jury.

- Take it easy.

- Here.

- And Casely?

- On the floor... Uh, by the door.

Roxie, tell the jury...

what happened next.

Well, it just happened that Mr. Hart's

revolver was laying on the telephone table.

And Mr. Casely made a grab for it,

and I said, "Cut that out, Mr. Casely!"

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