The Damned Don't Cry

Synopsis: The murder of gangster Nick Prenta touches off an investigation of mysterious socialite Lorna Hansen Forbes, who seems to have no past, and has now disappeared. In flashback, we see the woman's anonymous roots; her poor working-class marriage, which ends in tragedy and her determination to find "better things." Soon finding that sex appeal is her only salable commodity, she climbs from man to man toward the center of a nationwide crime syndicate...a very perilous position.
Director(s): Vincent Sherman
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
 
IMDB:
7.2
APPROVED
Year:
1950
103 min
258 Views


Well, they finally got him.

Had to happen sooner or later.

He just got it sooner.

- I'll phone the sergeant.

- Right.

"The body of the notorious gambler

and racketeer...

"was found early this morning

behind a sand dune...

"three miles from the famed desert resort.

"As yet, the authorities

have issued no statements...

"concerning their line of investigation...

"but it is felt

that new disclosures are imminent. "

Hey, Red, when do we get a look inside?

Later. We're gonna have a 25-cent tour.

Hi, Bonnie.

Is it true he's got a radar system in there?

- Is that all?

- Yes, sir.

The coroner says he got it sometime

between 11:
00 and 12:00, night before last.

That checks.

According to his boy,

he left here at about 10:30.

- Know where he went?

- No.

At least that's what he says.

Look over this stuff.

- What's all this?

- Movies.

- I know that. Who is in them?

- Friends.

- Got a machine you can run this stuff?

- Yes, sir.

Get it ready.

Boy, he could really pick them,

couldn't he?

Hey, that's that Forbes woman, isn't it?

- Forbes?

- That rich oil heiress from back East.

She leased the Braddock house

this winter.

What would she be doing

with a guy like him?

Maybe we ought to ask her,

because, brother, that's who it is...

Mrs. Lorna Hansen Forbes.

That's enough.

When was the last time

you saw Mrs. Forbes?

Night before last.

I left the house around 6:30

and didn't return until midnight.

All her clothes, her luggage,

they were all here.

But she was gone.

Have you any idea who she was with

that night?

Hey, Sheriff, take a look.

- I suppose you don't know what this is.

- No.

No, I don't.

Well, I'll tell you.

It's blood.

"Widow of Wyoming oil magnate,

Denver socialite, Texas heiress."

Can't we get together on this?

Hand me those clips.

These only go back two years.

Where's the rest of them?

That's all there is.

Before then, nothing but a blank.

Just popped up one day

wearing a mink coat full of dough.

Well, where did it come from?

Where did she come from?

Ten days have passed

and the police still have no clue...

as to the whereabouts

of the fabulous woman...

who chose to call herself

Lorna Hansen Forbes.

A nationwide search

has left the darling of caf society...

completely shrouded in a veil of mystery.

Who is she? Where is she?

Is she dead, or is she alive?

The questions continue to pile up.

Where did she come from?

What was her source of income?

Did she kill the well-known racketeer...

whose bloodstains were found

in her home in Desert Springs?

Or is she herself the victim

of some kind of gang war?

How and why the obviously well-bred

and cultured society beauty...

could be even remotely associated

with members of the underworld...

is a question which baffles the authorities.

Hello, Dad.

It's me. Ethel.

Who is it, Jim?

Hello, Mom.

Ethel!

It's so good to see you. Sit down.

Jim, put some coffee on.

- Don't bother, Mom.

- It's no bother.

You look fine, Ethel, real fine.

Don't she, Jim?

She was too good to stay with us before.

Why did she have to come back?

It's all right, Mom. I won't leave again.

- I haven't any place else to go.

- Yeah, that's what I thought.

She's in some sort of trouble.

Where did you get the money

for all them clothes?

The money you tried to send us.

The money you couldn't tell us about.

Come, Ethel. You are tired.

Mom, has anyone been here

looking for me?

No.

- Gee, it's keen, ain't it, Mom?

- Yeah.

Say, can I get it?

I'll speak to your dad about it.

Maybe next Christmas, huh?

That's what you and Pop said

last Christmas.

Here you are, Ethel.

That'll be 69 cents.

Mighty nice bike there.

One of the best we've ever stocked.

Yes, it is. It's pretty.

But I'm afraid we can't afford it now.

I could probably let you have it

at a good price...

seeing it's the last one of that size we got.

Please, Mom.

I'd take awful good care of it.

Honest, I would.

I kind of hate to see you pass up a bargain.

It may be some time

before we get any more.

Roy would shoot me

if I came home with this.

I'll help pay for it.

If I had a bike,

I could get myself a paper route.

There you are.

We'll think about it. Come on, Son.

Don't think too long.

It may not be here tomorrow.

If we lose it, we just have to lose it,

that's all.

We can't always have what we want.

Can we, Tommy?

I guess not.

Come on.

- Good day.

- Bye.

- Thanks, Ed.

- See you in the morning, Roy.

Hi, Pop.

How do you like it?

Hey, take it easy.

Where is she?

She's taking the clothes off the line.

She'll be in, in a minute.

- Have a nice day, Roy?

- My days are all the same.

- Whose bike is that, Tommy's riding on?

- I don't exactly know.

Why don't you get washed up?

Supper will be ready in a little while.

Hello, Roy. Just get in?

- Did you buy Tommy that bike?

- Yeah. Ain't it a beauty?

I never saw him have so much fun.

- He hasn't been off it since we got home.

- Well, that's great.

It was a bargain, Roy.

It would've been crazy to pass it up.

- Besides, I only had to pay $10.

- $10? For a new bike?

- Well, the rest next month.

- How much is the rest?

Roy, practically all the kids

in the neighborhood have bikes...

I don't care if they have zeppelins.

Always what somebody else has,

we gotta have, too...

whether we can afford it or not.

How much was it?

$39.50.

It takes every cent I earn now

just to keep us going...

without wasting it on a silly bike.

- It's not silly. It's important.

- What's important about it?

Is it more important than my insurance?

Yes. I don't care about your insurance.

You hear that? She don't care.

Well, I do. That bike's going back.

Roy, you can't take it away from him now.

I'll go without something myself.

- That coat you promised me.

- What's that got to do with it?

If anything happens to me,

I want that kid taken care of.

Then take care of him now, why don't you?

He's just a kid.

He don't know about insurance.

That's in the future. He can't see that far.

And I don't want him to see that far.

Don't make it

so that all he's got to look forward to...

is something happening to you.

What's she complaining about now?

Same old thing. I don't do enough for her.

You'll never do enough for her.

I'm beginning to think you're right.

Tommy! Come here!

You're not gonna do it.

Come back here

and bring that bicycle back!

I gotta go now.

Okay, you take it away from him.

But that's the last thing

you'll ever take away from him.

I'm not gonna stand by

and watch him bury his hopes one by one.

You're not gonna do that to him.

He's gonna have a bike

if I have to go out and steal it.

Tommy, look out!

Ethel, where are you going?

I'm leaving you, Roy.

You can't hold him responsible

for what happened.

It was God's will.

A 6-year-old boy.

It's not for us to question.

I don't believe that.

- I don't believe God works that way.

- Then you do blame me.

- That's why you're leaving.

- No.

I'm leaving because I haven't anything

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Harold Medford

All Harold Medford scripts | Harold Medford Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "The Damned Don't Cry" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_damned_don't_cry_20017>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Damned Don't Cry

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    What does the term "plant and payoff" refer to in screenwriting?
    A The introduction of main characters
    B Introducing a plot element early that becomes important later
    C The payment to writers for their scripts
    D Setting up the final scene