The Grifters Page #12

LILLY:

Oh! Are you all right?

She goes to one knee beside the drunk, who clutches his own

throat with both hands, retching as he tries to inhale. Lilly

looks up at the astonished waitress.

LILLY (CONT'D)

I shouldn't have hit him that hard.

I guess I don't know my own

strength.

The drunk's friend arrives and helps Lilly get the drunk to

his feet. The drunk is breathing now, but shaken. He looks at

Lilly with reproachful eyes. His friend transfers his

annoyance at the drunk to Lilly.

FRIEND:

You didn't have to do that.

LILLY:

(matter of fact)

I thought I did. You should take

better care of your friend.

DRUNK:

(mumbled)

Outta here.

The drunk and his friend head for the exit, as Lilly turns to

the waitress.

LILLY:

I'm sorry a lady can't eat in here

without being bothered.

The waitress is apologetic, and also in awe of Lilly.

WAITRESS:

It won't happen again, Ma'am, I

promise. Dinner's on the house.

More chili? Dessert? We have lovely

pecan pie, my husband makes it

himself.

LILLY:

That sounds nice. Pecan pie. Thank

you.

Lilly sits down as the waitress goes back behind the counter.

AN ANGLE on the waitress, as she puts down the coffee pot,

brings out the pecan pie, prepares to slice it, pauses, looks

with wonder toward Lilly.

EXT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT

The setting is a wide porch or lanai pretending to be a 19th

century locale; a mix of western and antebellum south; the

usual tourist confusion of histories. The effect is both

romantic and false. Roy and Myra linger over wine, near the

end of their meal. Roy's relaxed, happy, expansive. Myra's

pleased but watchful, the bird watching the worm.

ROY:

You were right, I had to get out of

that hospital. Nothing wrong with

me any more.

MYRA:

(purring)

I'll sign that affidavit.

ROY:

Great to get away, take it easy.

Next week, I'll get back to work.

MYRA:

You already went back to work.

ROY:

(confused)

What?

MYRA:

(indulgent smile)

I watched you. Working the tap on

those soldier boys.

ROY:

(elaborate innocence)

Working the what?

MYRA:

Oh, come on, Roy.

She mimes rolling the die, slowly, showing how it will roll

out of her hand just so, then speaks to him as though to a

bright child.

MYRA:

The tap. What you do for a living.

ROY:

I'm a salesman.

MYRA:

You're on the grift. Same as me.

ROY:

(demonstrating patience)

Myra, I'm not following this.

MYRA:

(demonstrating

exasperation)

Roy, you're a short-con operator.

And a good one, I think. Don't talk

to me like I'm another square.

Roy leans back, studying her, thinking it over, makes up his

mind.

ROY:

You talk the lingo. What's your

pitch?

MYRA:

The long end. Big con.

ROY:

(shaking his head)

Nobody does that single-o.

MYRA:

I was teamed ten years with the

best in the business. Cole Langley.

ROY:

I've heard the name.

MYRA:

It was beautiful. And getting

better all the time.

ROY:

(skeptical)

Is that right?

MYRA:

(enthusiasm building)

It is, Roy! And now, right now,

it's the perfect time, the best

time since I've been in the game.

EXT. DESERTED DOWNTOWN - DAY

New skyscrapers are separated by blank fields or small older

buildings. Almost no traffic. A white limo drives alone down

the street.

MYRA (V.O.)

All over the southwest, you've got

these businessmen, they were making

money when everybody was making

money, they think that means

they're smart.

INT. LIMO - DAY

Myra, dressed expensively and fashionably, sits with

GLOUCESTER HEBBING, a stocky businessman, sixtyish. Their

manner suggests intimacy.

MYRA (V.O.)

And now they're hurting. Everything

they had was because of oil.

EXT. NEW BUILDING - DAY

Glossy, but no people around. The limo stops, the mustached

CHAUFFEUR hops out and holds the door as Myra and Hebbing

emerge and cross to enter the building, Myra carrying an

attache case.

MYRA (V.O.)

They still got money, but they need

more money, and that's just the

kind of guy Cole and me like.

INT. LIMO - DAY

The chauffeur gets back behind the wheel, adjusts the

interior mirror so he can see himself, peels off his

moustache, scratches his upper lip, refits the moustache more

to his liking.

INT. ATRIUM - DAY

This building has a central atrium with corridors circling

it, waist-high walls on the atrium side, glass-walled

elevators rising up through the atrium. Myra and Hebbing are

visible in an elevator coming up to a high floor. It stops

and they exit, moving down the corridor.

MYRA (V.O.)

When the oil money was good, they

put up all these office buildings,

and now they're half empty.

INT. OFFICE - DAY

ECU, translucent glass in door with company name: COE, STARK,

FELLOWES & ASSOCIATES, STOCK BROKERAGE - London - New York -

Dallas - Los Angeles - Tokyo. CAMERA PANS to follow Myra and

Hebbing as they enter the office.

AN ANGLE showing the well-furnished outer office, the

attractive and competent RECEPTIONIST welcoming Myra as

someone she knows, gesturing her through, Myra graciously

accepting, moving on. Hebbing's impressed by everything,

trying not to show it.

MYRA (V.O.)

They'll give you anything to move

in; first two months free,

redecoration, whatever you want.

AN ANGLE in a clerical office, four CLERKS at well-equipped

desks with computer terminals, hard at work.

Maps and clocks on the walls indicate the world. Myra and

Hebbing pass through.

MYRA (V.O.)

They help you set up the store!

AN ANGLE in the PRIVATE SECRETARY'S office, she on the phone,

nodding and smiling at Myra and waving her through. Myra

leads the way, opening a door marked HENRY FELLOWES, Partner.

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