The Grifters Page #13

MYRA (V.O.)

I'm the roper, I go out and find

them and bring them in. Cole ran

the store, and he was the best.

INT. COLE'S OFFICE - DAY

Myra and Hebbing enter an office decorated with sleekly

understated opulence; the view through large windows is of

apparently-prosperous skyscrapers. Cole, a plausible rich

businessman, happily greets Myra.

COLE:

Mary Beth! As beautiful as ever.

He lifts a dubious eyebrow toward Hebbing.

COLE:

(gentle disapproval)

I see you brought a friend.

As Mary Beth, Myra has a faint southern-belle accent and a

clinging flirtatiousness.

MYRA:

Mister Hebbing is my bodyguard, my

strong right arm. Gloucester

Hebbing, may I present my fine

stockbroker, Henry Fellowes.

The men shake hands, Hebbing open and pleased and dignified,

Cole clearly holding something back.

COLE:

(to Myra; gentle warning)

Mary Beth, what we have here, uh...

MYRA:

(gaily innocent)

Oh, I told Mister Hebbing all about

it, how brilliant you are at making

money for your special clients!

COLE:

(alarmed)

Mary Beth, I hope you aren't

spreading this good news too

widely.

MYRA:

Well, of course not! I know how

dangerous this is. But I would

trust Mister Hebbing with anything.

(to Hebbing; suggestive)

Wouldn't I, darling?

While Hebbing looks manly and flustered and pleased, Cole

brings from under his desk a partially full gray canvas sack

marked Federal Reserve Bank.

COLE:

Well, I'll have to take your word

for it, Mary Beth. Here's your

money.

MYRA:

(innocent avarice)

Goody!

Myra opens her attache case on the desk. Cole takes banded

stacks of bills from the sack, packs them neatly in the case.

Hebbing tries not to look envious and impressed.

HEBBING'S POV:
The top bill in each stack is a hundred.

PREVIOUS SHOT. Myra takes a stack, riffles it for Hebbing's

benefit.

MYRA:

Isn't that just beautiful?

HEBBING:

Yes, it is.

Myra returns the stack to the case, talks to Cole.

MYRA:

Henry, next time, couldn't Mister

Hebbing --

COLE:

(shocked)

Mary Beth! This has never been

anything but --

MYRA:

Oh, I know, I know, and you've been

wonderful since I was widowed. But

Mister Hebbing has--

(to Hebbing)

-- you don't mind my telling him,

darling --

(to Cole)

-- suffered reverses. If he

could...

She gestures vaguely, unable to describe the situation

accurately. Hebbing fills in, bluff and hearty.

HEBBING:

Top up the tanks, as It were. Until

this little glitch in the oil

economy comes to an end.

(man to man laugh)

Not that I understand exactly what

you do, not from Mary Beth's

explanation.

Cole broods, studying Hebbing, deciding at last to trust him.

COLE:

Well. If Mary Beth vouches for you,

and if she told you the story

already...

MYRA:

(girlish laugh)

So here we are!

COLE:

(solemn)

Mister Hebbing, we are talking

about breaking the law here, I want

to be sure you understand that. No

one gets hurt, but the law does get

broken.

HEBBING:

(a real sport; laughing)

Well, that's what the law's for,

isn't it?

COLE:

(still serious)

And I don't just mean the SEC. We

could have the FBI breathing down

our necks.

HEBBING:

(suddenly serious)

I certainly hope not.

COLE:

Loose talk is the one thing I worry

about.

HEBBING:

I can keep my mouth shut, Mister

Fellowes.

Describing the scheme, Cole becomes increasingly

enthusiastic.

COLE:

Okay, then. Sit down, sit down.

Hebbing sits on the sofa, Myra beside him, holding his arm in

both of hers. Cole paces, describing.

COLE:

The Tokyo Exchange is nine hours

ahead of us, New York one hour

behind. There isn't one hour of the

day when both are open. Information

moves, but it has to wait. Now, we

have a young fellow working here --

Do you know what a hacker is,

Mister Hebbing?

HEBBING:

One of those computer geniuses,

isn't it?

COLE:

You're right! And this boy tapped

into that main link between Tokyo

and the New York Stock Exchange. He

can give us, when it's really

useful, a seven second delay in

that movement of information. Do

you know what that means?

Hebbing doesn't want to admit ignorance.

HEBBING:

Well, you've got your information

ahead of New York, I see that.

COLE:

Every once in a while, a major

change comes through.

We have seven seconds to take

advantage, put our buy order, our

sell order, into the computer in

New York before the Tokyo data

comes in.

HEBBING:

Not much time.

COLE:

We have to be ready. We have to

have the money, and we have to know

what the information means, and we

have to move immediately.

HEBBING:

(impressed)

Seven seconds. I don't see how you

do it.

COLE:

These machines -- They're in here.

Cole crosses to an inner door, pushes it partway open, looks

back grinning with his hand on the knob.

COLE:

Want a look?

MYRA:

Oh, Henry, no, that's just boring.

INT. BARE ROOM - DAY

A bare dusty room. A ladder leans against a wall, a paint can

on the floor beside it. Only Cole is visible in the open

doorway. He speaks back into the main office.

COLE:

Come take a look. An entire-suite

of main-frame computer.

MYRA (O.S.)

We're not really interested, Henry.

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