The Bribe

Synopsis: In pursuit of stolen aircraft engines on a Central American island, federal agent Rigby meets chief suspect Hintten and his wife Elizabeth, a sultry cafe singer; and is watched by Bealer, a "pie-shaped man" with sore feet. Rigby knows he's on the right track when Bealer offers him money to leave Carlota. When Rigby and Elizabeth are drawn to each other, the gang realizes there's more than one kind of bribe. Everybody sweats.
 
IMDB:
6.7
APPROVED
Year:
1949
98 min
185 Views


Well, here's the storm,

Right on schedule.

Could be a break, at that.

Gives you time.

Yeah.

Time to think.

And how do you

like your thoughts?

How do you like

finding out

That maybe

you've got a price tag, too,

After all these years?

How much do you cost,

Rigby?

How much for you?

Or would you rather use

another word

For what you're

selling out,

One with a fancy

necktie on it-

Say, honor?

And what does that mean-

Honor?

Same thing to everybody?

Or different things

to different people?

Honor...

just a word.

Say it over often enough

And it's not even

a word anymore,

Just a sound-

A sound without

any meaning at all.

Who is it?

Your beer,

senor Rigby.

Oh, yeah,

put it over there.

Si, senor.

Good weather for sleeping tonight.

Yeah, for some.

Cooler, too,

maybe, huh?

Yeah.

Will there be anything else, senor?

No, thanks.

Here you are.

Muchas gracias.

Ah, wait a minute.

Come back in

half an hour,

I may want

to send a wire.

Muy bien, senor.

You don't have

to send that wire.

Wait it out.

Stall until it's too late.

Nobody will know.

Everybody misses sometime.

No hard feelings.

Sure, you could

make it look good,

But can a sellout

ever look good?

You never thought so

before, did you?

What changed you?

She did.

But is she guilty

or innocent?

You're not so sure

of her now, are you?

Think back.

When did you first

hear of her?

Gibbs was briefing you

that day in Washington.

Rigby, this is

a very important case.

Graft of public assets,

War surplus racket.

It means a lot

to the taxpayers

And, incidentally,

to your own record.

You've been chosen

because you're a good cop,

If you'll excuse

the expression.

I'll excuse it,

chief.

It's not

a dirty word by me.

We've discovered

that a very smooth racket

Is being worked in some of

the war surplus auctions.

Private operators

are purchasing huge lots

Of war surplus material

as scrap.

Most of it is fit

only for scrap,

But delivery

is being manipulated

So that when the scrap

is sent to the junkyard,

Surplus airplane motors

Are included in each lot.

The scrap is being

routed out

To South America,

as ballast on freighters.

That's O.K. As far as

the scrap's concerned,

But the motors

are also carried,

Illegally shipped out

of the country.

They are segregated

and unloaded en route,

We believe

in Central America,

Where they're conditioned

and tested

And then picked up

by purchasers

Who are paying

exorbitant prices.

The men who are

engineering this graft

Are really cashing in.

No regular fees,

no shipping charges,

And no income tax.

Just several million

dollars of illegal profits.

Right out of uncle

Sams hide, huh?

Bringing in as many

motors as possible

With engine numbers

intact and identifiable

Is your job.

Now, look,

You'll take the town

of Carlota,

Here on the island

of Los Trincos,

As your headquarters.

If you locate the motors,

You'll make the raid

and the arrest

In cooperation with the local

law enforcement agencies,

In this case, the police

at the town of Mateo

On the mainland.

You'll contact them through

a man named Rodriquez.

We think that the people

Handling the Central American

part of the fraud

Are united states citizens.

We've screened all

possibilities-

Only two suspects left.

A man by the name of

Tugwell Hintten

And a woman-

Elizabeth Hintten.

You'll be given everything

we have on them.

Carlota? Sounds

like one of those

Whiskey

and quinine resorts.

How's your fishing?

Just fair.

What's that got to do

with airplane engines?

In this case, plenty.

Nobody goes to Carlota

except to fish.

Then Ill fish. It's a

way to scout the islands.

Too bad you're not stopping at Carlota.

It's great

fishing.

Might try it sometime.

Right now Ive got

to get down south.

Peru you said?

Mmm, mining.

You're one of those boys that works

With a pick and a light on his cap?

None works harder.

I run the whole works.

It's tough to find

good men nowadays.

Take a young fellow

like yourself.

You don't want to start

at the bottom anymore.

Not even in the middle, Carwood.

For every year

in the army,

I'm for loafing

two.

You young men-

The world falling apart,

and you go fishing.

The world just finished falling apart.

This is that

brave new world,

The one you guys

promised us.

You hit Carlota

late that afternoon.

Looked like the local boys

Were getting ready

to whoop it up about something.

You wondered what

they were celebrating.

It couldn't be the weather.

You kept looking

for pitchforks and brimstone.

Room 204,

senor Rigby.

How'd you do

today, you liar?

200-Pound marlin,

that's all.

200 pounds?

And that's when you saw

the pie-Shaped man

For the first time.

Pie shape wasn't

on your list of subjects,

But he should have been.

Right up there at the top.

This way,

senor.

Thank you.

Two suspects on

your list...

two only.

So you went

looking for them.

Some coffee, please.

Si, senor.

Hintten-Elizabeth Hintten

it said on the list.

Entertainer at Pedros.

Unknown quantity.

Quantity unknown maybe,

but one look

And you thought

you knew the quality.

I placed an ad

in the paper

you'll find it

there today

the words reveal

the way I feel

this is what

they say

situation wanted

young and fancy-Free

want to meet a someone

I want him just for me

Im not a saint

nor sinner

I walk the middle ground

Ill stay right

on the level

too smart to play around

love is all that matters

that's the thing

Ive learned

and the sky's

the limit where

my gentleman's concerned

gettin' tired of waitin'

gettin' kind of blue

situation wanted

with someone

but who?

situation wanted

young and fancy-Free

want to meet a someone

I want him just for me

Im not a saint

nor sinner

I walk the middle ground

Ill stay right on

the level

too smart to play around

love is all that matters

that's the thing

Ive learned

a woman's always

needed where

a gentleman's concerned

now you know my story

what am I to do?

situation wanted

with someone

but whooo?

Muchas gracias,

senors.

About what you expected.

Easy would do it...

very easy.

Entre.

Knock on the wrong

door by any chance?

No. The right door,

exactly.

I said "come in"

to the wrong person.

I'm expecting

someone else.

You're North American,

aren't you?

Milwaukee. Is that far

enough north for you?

My favorite latitude.

Very friendly city, too,

as I remember.

Far, far away.

I could call the bouncer.

I usually do when strangers

get the idea you have,

But it means lots of noise.

It's too hot for noise.

I'll be back in a minute.

If you're a nice guy,

you'll be gone.

It will be simpler

that way.

For a man with bad feet,

Pie shape seemed

to get around a lot.

So you didn't go.

So Im not

a nice guy.

I think you're trying

hard not to be.

Which is real? The hot tonsils out there

Or the string

music in here?

Would it do me

any good to tell you?

People believe

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Marguerite Roberts

Marguerite Roberts (21 September 1905 – 17 February 1989) was an American screenwriter, one of the highest paid in the 1930s. After she and her husband John Sanford refused to testify in 1951 before the House Un-American Activities Committee, she was blacklisted for nine years and unable to get work in Hollywood. She was hired again in 1962 by Columbia Pictures. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Bribe" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_bribe_19845>.

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